Chapter 16 - The Predator’s Gaze
The waters around Eo were still, but he could feel the subtle shifts—tiny distortions rippling through the current. He had spent hours refining his control over mist and bloodlust, blending them into a single force. It was no longer just about pressure or concealment. It was both. A delicate balance, a shifting tide that could push or pull as he willed.
But something was watching him.
The sensation was faint at first, a distant awareness at the edge of his perception. Then, it sharpened. A presence—predatory, deliberate, calculating. It was not like the smaller creatures that reacted instinctively to his aura. This one did not flee.
It observed.
Eo stilled, letting his bloodlust retract further into his body. He suppressed it, letting only the mist flow outward, blending into the environment. The presence did not react immediately, but he could feel it shifting, adjusting.
It knows I’m here.
A flicker of movement. Then another. Shadows wove through the distant depths, circling. The pressure in the water thickened.
This was no ordinary beast.
Eo did not run. Instead, he focused. This was the perfect test.
He let the mist coil around him, suppressing his presence entirely. At the same time, he pulsed a thin layer of bloodlust—a faint ripple, just enough to bait the predator into action.
A second passed.
Then the water exploded.
The creature struck from the darkness, a blur of movement and force. Eo barely shifted in time, the attack slicing through where he had been just moments before. He caught a glimpse of razor-sharp fins, jagged and edged for the kill. Its body was sleek, built for speed, yet its eyes… its eyes did not belong to a mindless beast.
It’s testing me.
Eo didn’t retreat. He countered.
He let his mist flow, shifting the density of the water around him. The beast adjusted, sensing the change, but Eo was already moving. He did not attack head-on. Instead, he pulsed his bloodlust again—this time, not outward, but behind the predator.
The reaction was immediate. The creature turned, its instincts triggered by the false presence. In that split second of hesitation, Eo struck.
He didn’t need brute force.
He needed control.
His mist tightened, forming a pressurized current around the creature’s movements. At the same time, he withdrew his bloodlust entirely, vanishing from its senses.
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The beast hesitated. Confused.
It couldn’t track him.
For the first time, Eo felt it—the balance between fear and deception. A technique that did not rely on overwhelming strength, but on guiding the enemy’s instincts.
The predator circled again, slower this time. More cautious. But Eo knew—this battle was already over.
This wasn’t just a test anymore.
It was a lesson.
The predator circled again, slower this time. More cautious. But Eo knew—this battle was already over.
This wasn’t just a test anymore.
It was a lesson.
But lessons could be learned in two ways—through understanding or through pain.
Eo, in his growing confidence, let the mist flow outward once more. He had seen the creature react, stumble, hesitate at his manipulations. It was adapting, yes—but he was adapting faster. That alone made him believe that he was in control.
And in that belief, he failed to notice the shift.
The predator had stopped moving.
That single change should have sent alarms through Eo’s mind. No beast simply stopped in the middle of a hunt. Not unless—
The mist trembled.
A pressure built around him, subtle at first—then suffocating. The mist he had spread out compressed, thickening unnaturally. Before Eo could react, the water around him lurched.
He was dragged downward.
The force came from nowhere. One moment, he was stable—the next, the current turned against him. The mist, once an extension of himself, was now an enemy.
It was being controlled. Not by him.
Eo’s mind raced. That shouldn’t be possible. The mist moved on its own, shifting naturally through the water. That was how it had always been. But now, it was acting with intent.
And that intent wasn’t his.
A shadow loomed above.
The predator descended.
It had set a trap.
It had baited him—made him believe he was in control—only to strike when he was at his weakest.
Just like he had done to it.
Fangs gleamed, the beast aiming for his exposed throat.
Death. Real, imminent death.
Eo struggled, his body twisting against the unnatural current, but it was as if the water itself had turned against him. The mist he once controlled now crushed against his body, weighing him down, keeping him in place.
For the first time, he couldn’t break free.
For the first time, he understood—
This was how prey felt before the kill.
No control. No escape. Only the cold, suffocating grip of inevitability.
But deep within him, something stirred.
Not panic.
Not desperation.
Rage.
A raw, primal force, older than thought itself. It surged from his core, igniting his body in a way he had never felt before. His bloodlust **flared—**not as a pulse, but as a wave.
And this time, it didn’t just spread outward.
It collided with the mist surrounding him.
The suffocating grip wavered. The unnatural currents shuddered. For the briefest moment, the predator’s control over the mist broke.
And that was all Eo needed.
He twisted, forcing his body through the disrupted current. The predator flinched, sensing the sudden shift, but it was too late.
Eo ripped himself free.
The mist coiled around him again—not as scattered energy, but as something his alone.
This wasn’t just adaptation anymore.
It was evolution.
The predator had thought itself the hunter. It had used the mist as a weapon, manipulating the battlefield to drown its prey before the kill.
But now, Eo understood.
The mist wasn’t just something that existed.
It was something that could be taken.
And for the first time, the predator hesitated.
Because now, Eo wasn’t just reacting to the battlefield.
He was about to claim it for himself.
