Instinct Override

Ares moved cautiously. The cave was silent, but that only made it worse.
Something was watching him.He felt it.
Then—a sound.
Low. Wet. A guttural rumble, deep in the darkness.Ares froze.
System: [WARNING—THREAT DETECTED.]
It came from the tunnel ahead. Slow, deliberate footsteps—not human.Then it stepped into view.A predator.
It was wolf-like, but wrong.
Muscular, low to the ground, with a thick, compact frame built for short, explosive bursts of speed. Its fur was patchy, with exposed, leathery skin along its flanks, like a creature that had adapted to a harsh, cave-dwelling existence.Its eyes were milky white—blind.It didn’t need sight.
Its nostrils flared, sniffing the air. Tracking him.Ares took a slow step back.
The creature tensed.A pause.Then-
A blur of movement. Faster than anything that size had the right to be.Ares barely had time to react. He twisted his body—not fast enough.
Impact.The sheer force sent him crashing onto the cave floor. His ribs screamed in protest. Claws raked against his side, shallow but painful.He struggled, trying to push it off.The creature snarled, jaws snapping inches from his throat.
He couldn’t overpower it.It was stronger.
Faster.And Ares was still injured.
His vision blurred from the struggle. He felt the creature shift, claws digging deeper, pinning him down.No—he couldn’t let this happen.Ares thrashed, desperate—but it was useless.Then—
System: [WARNING—LIFE THREATENED.]System: [COMBAT PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.]
His mind snapped into focus.The pain dulled. His breathing steadied.
Every movement of the creature suddenly made sense—the tension in its muscles, the way its weight was shifting—Instinct.
Ares moved.Not thinking. Just reacting.The moment the creature lunged again, he twisted—using its own momentum.
Its balance broke.Ares drove his knee into its exposed underbelly, just below the ribcage. The softest point.The creature yelped, flinching.Ares struck again. Harder.It reeled back just enough.An opening.Ares moved without hesitation.His arm shot forward, fingers curling around its throat. Not to strangle—to control.
He twisted, forcing its head sideways—exposing the neck.Then, he struck.A brutal elbow, right where the skull met the spine.A sharp, sickening crack.The creature spasmed. Its limbs twitched.Then—it went limp.Silence.Ares knelt there, hands still trembling. His chest heaved.The system’s text flickered.
System: [Combat Protocol fully restored.]
Ares swallowed hard.Something deep inside him had changed.He could feel it.