The bull-man let out a deep, guttural snort, his nostrils flaring as he stomped his massive hoof-like foot against the concrete. The alley trembled under his weight.


    Jordan cracked his knuckles, flexing his rhino-enhanced arms. “Alright, big guy. You and me. Let’s do this.”


    Before Elion could throw in his own taunt, a sharp caw echoed through the alley.


    "Something is coming!" Elion shouted to warn his friends.


    His instincts flared just in time for him to duck as something black and fast swept past his head, slicing through the air like a dagger.


    "Elion!" Jordan shouted. He was shocked to see that.


    Elion barely caught a glimpse of razor-sharp talons retracting as the attacker landed gracefully on a nearby rooftop.


    "What now…" Jordan was caught off guard by the newcomer.


    A humanoid crow stood above them, draped in a tattered coat of sleek black feathers. His beady red eyes gleamed under the city lights, and his sharp, hooked beak twisted into something resembling a grin.


    “Interesting,” the crow-man mused, tilting his head. “The order from Lady Leo only mentioned one Slayer. But now... there are three?”


    He flared his wings slightly, adjusting his stance. “That’s going to be a problem.”


    Jordan snorted. “Oh, trust me. We are a problem.”


    Elion, however, wasn’t listening. He sensed another presence.


    Because slithering out from the shadows, creeping way too close for comfort, was the third arrival.


    A lizard-man.


    His entire body was covered in shimmering green scales, his limbs unnaturally long, his yellow slit eyes locked onto Jordan. His forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air.


    Jordan tensed.


    Elion saw it immediately. Jordan’s entire body stiffened.


    “Oh, no,” Elion muttered, realization hitting him.


    Jordan’s face had gone slightly pale.


    The bull-man? No problem.


    The crow-man? Bring it on.


    But the lizard-man?


    Jordan took a slow step back, muttering under his breath. “I… I hate reptiles.”


    The lizard-man blinked, tilting his head. “Oh? A Slayer with herpetophobia?”


    Jordan’s eye twitched. “I''m not afraid. It just... You. I don''t like the way you move, man."


    The crow-man cackled, clearly enjoying this. “This is delightful.”


    Elion sighed, slapping Jordan on the back. “Jordan, focus.”


    Jordan gritted his teeth, shaking off his unease. “Fine. But if this guy licks me, I’m burning this whole alley down.”


    The bull-man snorted impatiently, clearly done with all the talking. He charged first.


    “Whoa! This bull-guy is really not into chatting,” Jordan said, gearing up for the hit. “But I guess this is cool, too.”


    "Don’t get too full of yourself, Jordan," Ronan said.


    As soon as Ronan finished speaking, the force of the impact alone sent shockwaves through the alley as Jordan met the bull’s charge head-on, his plated arms locking against the beast’s massive horned skull.


    Jordan gritted his teeth, planting his feet on the pavement. He barely held his ground.


    "Okay," Jordan muttered through clenched teeth. "You''re—stronger—than I thought."


    The bull-man snorted in his face before jerking his head forward, ramming Jordan full force in the stomach.


    Jordan went flying.


    CRASH.


    He smashed straight through a stack of crates, knocking the wind out of him.


    “Jordan!” Elion shouted—but he had his own problems.


    The lizard-man struck fast. Annoyingly fast.


    Elion tried to weave out of the way, but the lizard’s whip-like tail lashed out, catching him in the ribs.


    CRACK.


    Pain exploded through Elion’s side as he was slammed into the alley wall.


    He barely had time to recover before the crow-man swooped in from above—razor-sharp talons aiming straight for his throat.


    Elion rolled away at the last second, barely dodging. But he was too slow.


    The crow-man’s wing clipped his shoulder, sending him sprawling.


    Elion coughed, spitting blood. “Okay. Ow.”


    Now he realized—just having a beast ring and three open Mana Gates didn’t mean jack. All it did was keep him from dying instantly.


    Winning? Yeah, that was a whole different story.


    For that, he needed something way more valuable.


    Experience.


    And—unfortunately—stupid amounts of reckless courage.


    Ronan smiled and was just chilling, leaning back and watching his students go at it. It was not the time for him to meddle yet.


    The lizard-man grinned, his forked tongue flicking out. “You’re quick. But not quick enough.”


    Elion gritted his teeth. He wasn’t used to fighting with his new panther legs yet. He had the speed, but his reactions were still off.


    Jordan, meanwhile, had recovered—but just barely.


    The bull-man stomped toward him, raising a massive fist to crush him into the pavement.


    Jordan rolled aside at the last second, panting. “Okay. Blocking? Bad idea.”


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Still, as confident as they sounded, Elion and Jordan were getting wrecked.


    No sugarcoating it—they were getting knocked around like punching bags at a gym where the only rule was "hit harder."


    Jordan had taken a direct hit from the bull-man''s charge, crashing through a stack of crates like a human wrecking ball. Elion had barely dodged the lizard-man’s whip-like tail, but his side still burned from where it grazed him.


    And the crow-man? That guy was playing with them. Swooping in, clawing at them, retreating before they could counter. It was humiliating.


    Elion wiped the blood from his lip, panting. “Okay. So, uh… we suck at this.”


    Jordan groaned, pushing himself up from the ground. “No kidding. Thought we were supposed to be Slayers, not a live demonstration of getting our asses handed to us.”


    The bull-man snorted, scraping his hooves against the ground.


    The lizard-man flicked his tail, eyes narrowing.


    The crow-man? He was smirking.


    Ronan, completely untouched, leaned against the alley wall, arms crossed. “You do remember what I taught you, right?”


    Jordan’s eye twitched. “If you say ‘stop getting hit,’ I swear—”


    “No.” Ronan pushed off the wall and tapped his temple. “Aura sensing.”


    Elion and Jordan froze.


    Oh.


    Right.


    Ronan sighed. “You two were so busy flailing around that you forgot everything you learned this morning.”


    Elion and Jordan shared a look.


    The pressure of the fight, the chaos, the pain—it had drowned out their training.


    But now, as they forced themselves to focus…


    They felt it.


    A shift in the air. A flicker of movement before it happened. The weight of their enemies pressing into the space around them.


    Elion took a slow breath, blocking out the noise, the pain, the adrenaline.


    The crow-man swooped in again, talons gleaming—


    There.


    Elion moved. Not because he saw the attack coming. Because he felt it.


    He ducked just before the claws could rake across his back. Sidestepped at the last second, kicked off the wall, and flipped over the crow-man’s attack.


    Then, mid-air, his panther-enhanced legs coiled.


    BOOM.


    His heel smashed into the crow-man’s wing, sending him spiraling off-course.


    The bird-man crashed onto a rooftop, cawing in pain.


    Elion grinned, breathing hard. “Oh, you felt that, huh?”


    Meanwhile, Jordan adjusted.


    Instead of charging headfirst like an idiot, he let the fight come to him.


    The bull-man lunged—again—horns down, ready to turn Jordan into roadkill.


    But this time?


    Jordan didn’t block. He didn’t punch. He dodged.


    At the last second, he twisted his body, stepping to the side just enough for the bull’s own momentum to send him stumbling forward.


    The beast-man staggered, off-balance.


    Jordan grinned. His turn. He planted his feet, swung his rhino-armored fist upward—


    BOOM.


    A devastating uppercut connected with the bull-man’s jaw.


    The bull staggered.


    Jordan cracked his neck. “Oh yeah. That’s more like it.”


    Then, Elion locked eyes with the lizard-man. His heart was pounding, his breath ragged, and his body screamed at him to slow down.


    But... no chance.


    He wasn’t about to get smacked around again.


    The lizard-man hissed, his serpentine tail flicking behind him like a whip, ready to strike. The first few times, Elion had been caught off guard—pressure, panic, and the simple fact that he had never been in a real fight before had thrown him completely off balance.


    But now?


    Now, he wasn’t just reacting—he was reading.


    The training with Ronan, the aura sensing—it was finally kicking in.


    Elion’s instincts flared. He felt the shift, the smallest change in air pressure, the way the lizard’s muscles tensed before the attack.


    Too predictable.


    The tail lashed out—fast, brutal, deadly.


    Elion didn’t think. He moved.


    He dodged left, just barely avoiding the scaly whip cracking past his face. He could feel the heat of the attack skimming his skin. Way too close.


    But now?


    Now, it was his turn.


    The lizard-man had overextended. Left side—wide open.


    Elion planted his foot, pivoted, and drove his knee straight into the beast’s gut.


    THWACK.


    The lizard-man let out a strangled hiss, his claws spasming wildly as he staggered back.


    Elion pressed the advantage. Momentum. That was the key. And if there was one thing he understood?


    It was momentum.


    He had played soccer all his life—not martial arts, not combat, but footwork, balance, and control? That was something he knew.


    And now, his stats were higher. His body moved faster, stronger, sharper.


    Elion twisted mid-air, coiling his core the way he had done a thousand times before when going for a shot—


    Then, he unleashed his leg, bringing his heel down like a meteor crashing into Earth.


    CRACK.


    His foot smashed into the lizard’s skull.


    The beast-man collapsed in a heap, hissing weakly, his forked tongue flicking out one last time before his body went limp.


    Elion exhaled sharply, shaking out his leg. “Holy crap.”


    His heart was still pounding, adrenaline burning through his veins. Did he actually just—


    Jordan’s voice snapped him out of it.


    “Yo, bro, did you just bicycle kick a lizard-man dead?!”


    Elion blinked, only now realizing that yeah… he kinda did.


    His lips curled into a grin. “I mean… yeah. Guess I did.”


    Jordan whistled. “Damn, dude. If that’s how you fight, maybe you should’ve been kicking people instead of a ball this whole time.”


    Elion smirked, rolling his shoulders. “Yeah? Well, you should shut up and punch something before I take your fight, too.”


    Jordan cracked his knuckles. “Oh, don’t worry. I got this.”


    And with that, he turned back to the bull-man.


    One down. Two to go.


    Jordan saw his chance. He didn’t rush in recklessly this time. No. He had done that before, and it had almost cost him.


    This time, he controlled the charge.


    A deep breath. A shift in stance. His feet were light, ready to move.


    The bull swung wildly, throwing out a massive fist, aiming to take Jordan’s head clean off.


    Jordan weaved under the attack, shifting his weight like he was back in a Muay Thai gym in Thailand, sparring against an opponent twice his size.


    Wait, no. Scratch that. Nothing in those gyms had ever looked like a damn minotaur.


    The bull kept swinging, desperate, reckless.


    Jordan sidestepped, feeling the beast’s energy shift, predicting where the next attack would come.


    Another wild punch. Jordan ducked.


    The bull grunted in frustration. He was too slow compared to Jordan.


    "Eat this!" Jordan said as he planted his foot, twisted his torso, and drove his elbow forward. His right elbow, which instantly morphed into its rhino-enhanced form, was thick and armored.


    CRACK.


    The impact smashed into the bull’s jaw, making the beast stumble back, dazed.


    Jordan grinned. "Yeah, that felt good."


    The bull-man snorted angrily, shaking off the hit, then lowered his horns.


    "Oh, hell no." Jordan barely had time to react before the bull charged straight at him.


    Instinct kicked in. Muay Thai clinch.


    Jordan caught the beast’s head mid-charge, gripping him by the thick, coarse fur near the base of his skull.


    With a quick shift of weight, he brought up his knee. His leg transforming mid-motion, his knee hardening into rhino-plated armor.


    BAM.


    The knee slammed into the bull’s snout with enough force to send spit and blood flying.


    The beast reeled, stunned.


    Jordan went all in. One moment, his left leg was normal. The next? Rhino-plated shin. He pivoted, spinning into a devastating roundhouse kick—


    WHAM.


    The bull crashed into the alley wall, shaking bricks loose from the impact.


    Jordan huffed, rolling his shoulders. "Damn, that felt good."


    But then, just as he was about to finish it, his transformation fizzled. His rhino-armored legs vanished, leaving just his regular, human ones.


    Jordan blinked. “Oh, come on—”


    "You really should''ve taken my advice," Ronan said, glancing at the crow-man that was perched up on the rooftop, keeping an eye on things.


    While he was healing up, Elion stayed super alert. He couldn’t catch the crow-man, but he definitely couldn’t let the crow-man catch him either.


    Back to Jordan''s fight, the bull-man recovered faster than expected.


    Before Jordan could dodge, a massive hoofed foot swung up—


    SMACK.


    Jordan’s world blurred as he was sent skidding across the pavement.


    Pain flared through his ribs.


    Jordan groaned, forcing himself back to his feet. “Okay… still figuring that part out.”


    His transformations weren’t consistent.


    Sometimes, his body would fully coat itself in beast armor, making him look like a futuristic warrior. Other times? His body just partially transformed, switching forms based on the attack.


    The worst part?


    He had zero control over which one happened.


    Jordan gritted his teeth. No time to overthink it.


    The bull-man was charging again.


    Jordan shifted his stance and prepared himself. If he couldn’t rely on a full transformation, he’d fight like he always had—just with a little extra.


    The bull swung again.


    Jordan blocked with his forearm, which, thankfully, transformed into a rhino-plated shield just in time.


    CLANG.


    The force rattled through him, but he held firm. Then, Jordan countered. He threw a straight punch, his knuckles shifting into hardened beast form mid-swing.


    CRACK.


    The bull-man staggered back, his nose bloody.


    Jordan took one steady breath.


    The bull was on his last legs. One final hit.


    Jordan rushed in. His muscles coiled, his fist tightening. At the last second, his beast ring flared.


    His entire right arm morphed, fully coated in golden-black rhino plating.


    Jordan didn’t hesitate. He twisted his hips, poured every ounce of force into the strike and unleashed a brutal uppercut.


    BOOM.


    The bull-man’s head snapped back. His massive form lifted off the ground for half a second then he crashed down, motionless.


    Jordan exhaled, shaking out his fist. “Damn. Finally.”


    He flexed his arm—his beast form already flickering away.


    Elion walked over, panting. “You good?”


    Jordan winced, rolling his shoulders. “Took some hits, but yeah. You?”


    Elion grinned. “I think I might be a soccer player and a fighter now.”


    Jordan laughed, then groaned when his ribs protested. “Alright, alright. Let’s wrap this up before I pass out.”


    Two down.


    One to go.