8: Grid of Beasts.

Drones found their way to them as their badges turned red.

{Even though it's a theory, I still have no clue what his true powers are,} Lynx thought, looking confident.

"Let the game begin!"

The man's pupils flared into glowing white.

A low, thunderous growl broke through the trees as the first wave of wild beasts charged onto the glowing blue grid. Black wolves with thick fur rushed across the glowing lines, their fangs bared.

Lynx cracked his knuckles and spoke without looking back. "Focus on killing the beasts. Don't worry about the board yet."

Lucia nodded, drawing her daggers as she stepped into her stance.

Lynx moved fast. He drove his dagger straight into the skull of a leaping black wolf.

The moment the monster collapsed, a glowing black energy token materialized beneath Lynx's feet, locking in his first point on the grid.

{It automatically played the move I was thinking about.} Lynx blinked in momentary surprise, staring at the token with a raised brow.

On the left side of the grid, three more wolves charged straight at Lucia.

Lucia dropped into a low crouch start position. Her eyes locked onto her targets.

In a split second, she moved like lightning. Her body turned into a light blur as she sliced through the air. Three silver flashes passed through the trees before she even seemed to touch the ground.

The three wolves froze in place, then collapsed at the exact same time. Three black tokens materialized on the board under her position.

Lynx rubbed the back of his head, watching her clean movements.

{I didn't even notice what she did,} Lynx thought, warming up. {Guess it's my turn.}

Her sudden speed caught the attention of the strange man, but he only let out a soft laugh.

The man smoothed his expression and spoke. "Impressive speed. But speed alone will not win this game."

Before a pack of shadow boars even burst through the thick bushes, the man casually raised his hand. He fired condensed bolts of light into the empty, dark trees.

Seconds later, five boars jumped into the open, plunging headfirst straight into the incoming light bolts. They died instantly, hit precisely between the eyes before their feet even touched the grid.

Five glowing white tokens materialized instantly, claiming a huge section of territory.

Lynx and Lucia pushed forward, killing two more wolves to place black tokens.

But the man was already moving again. He raised his palm toward an empty patch of tall grass.

Seconds later, two giant serpents dropped from the canopy above, landing directly onto the traps he had already prepared.

In less than two minutes, the man was already seven points ahead. The glowing white territory was quickly swallowing up the board.

Lynx watched him carefully out of the corner of his eye while slashing through another beast.

{Something is wrong. Having good senses is one thing. You can hear footsteps or smell monsters coming. But knowing the exact position of their heads before they even break through the trees?}

The man glanced at Lynx, not showing a single drop of sweat.

The man crossed his arms and spoke. "Are you getting tired already? At this rate, I will have the entire board locked down before the third wave even starts."

Lynx did not answer. He stepped over a fallen beast and narrowed his eyes.

{Boring, I should end this now. I'm faster than her after all.}

Lynx stood completely still for a fraction of a second. He did not move a single muscle. He did not shift his weight or adjust his grip on his daggers.

Instead, deep inside his own mind, Lynx forcefully constructed a specific thought:

{I sense a beast behind him so when it's out I'm going to sprint forward and slice his throat open.}

The reaction was instantaneous.

The man's glowing white eyes widened in sudden panic. His human instinct to defend himself kicked in automatically. He quickly brought both arms up, casting a thick energy shield in front of his chest to block a frontal attack from Lynx.

Bushes rustled loudly directly behind the man.

Yet the man did not shift his focus toward the noise behind him at all. His entire defense remained locked straight onto Lynx.

And Lynx was just standing there, holding his daggers casually at his side, without having moved an inch.

The forest fell quiet for a second, except for the growling of distant monsters.

Lucia narrowed her eyes and asked. "Why are you pointing that out against Lynx?"

Lynx smirked beneath his dark collar.

Lynx twirled his daggers and spoke calmly. "Nice shield. That would be an interesting defense against a high speed attack, although the monster was supposed to be behind, you defended against me, like you knew there won't be any."

The man's face froze. His white eyes twitched slightly.

He realized immediately what had just happened. He had been tricked into defending against an attack that only existed as a sentence inside Lynx's mind. By reacting to a pure thought, he had completely exposed his own powers.

Lynx confirmed the truth internally. {So you can see some seconds ahead into the future, but your mind reading skill works separately. That's why you knew the sound behind you wasn't a beast but my doing. What you fear is speed.}

The man slowly lowered his arms. His glowing white eyes narrowed sharply as his expression turned cold.

The man dropped his voice into a dark tone. "So you figured out that much. It does not change anything. Your analysis skill is good but that's nothing in comparison to mine. You still cannot beat me in this game if I know your every thought before you act."

Lynx tilted his head. "We will see about that." {Does he really think I have any special ability to see his System skills}

Another pack of horned beasts rushed out from the treeline, charging straight toward Lucia and Lynx.

Lynx gripped his daggers tightly and used his precise physical control to snap the metal blades against each other at a specific angle.

{I need to use IiR to force these blades to vibrate at max speed.}

The collision created a strange, high pitched vibration wave that rushed outward, bouncing off the trees.

The incoming beasts winced, instantly disoriented by the piercing sound around them. Lynx stepped forward and easily finished them off with two swift slashes.

To the man's analysis System, it looked like Lynx had just cast an acoustic shockwave skill to stun his targets.

The man smiled wickedly. "A sound wave distraction skill? Useful."

The man's white eyes flashed bright as his System activated. He raised his hand toward a fresh group of wild bears charging from the left side of the forest.

He mimicked Lynx's exact movement, casting the exact same vibration wave.

The bears stumbled, clutching their ears in pain. The man easily eliminated them with a wave of energy, claiming three more white points on the grid.

The man sneered with a smug look on his face. "Thanks for the skill. My System lets me steal whatever techniques you show me. Now your little distraction belongs to me."

Lynx did not look panicked at all. Instead, he raised his daggers again and snapped them together a second time.

The exact same high pitched sound wave blasted outward, stunning another beast nearby. Lynx casually sliced its neck and placed another black token on the grid.

The man stared at Lynx, his eyes widening in shock and confusion.

The man threw his hands up and shouted. "What? How are you still using it? My System is supposed to steal the ability entirely!"

Lynx looked back at him, his face completely blank.

Lynx narrowed his eyes. "Just as I anticipated. You can only copy what you can see."

The man was genuinely impressed. A total stranger he had just met had already figured out all three of his trump cards.

Lynx gripped his daggers tighter as the ground began to shake beneath their feet. A massive wave of heavy beasts was crashing through the trees.

Lynx stepped forward into the center of the glowing board and called out. "Lucia, make sure whatever skills you use, he doesn't get the chance to see it!"

{Alright then, let's start the real game.}