Jayden’s jaw physically dropped. How had Skye killed so many so fast?

And judging by how relaxed she looked, she had been waiting here for quite a while.

He walked over to her. As soon as she saw him, she leaped up, prancing around her mountain of meat.

Master, look! Skye killed so many beasts! Even more than Master! she said with excitement. And Skye finished first, so Skye wins!

Jayden sighed in defeat. He knew he couldn’t actually outpace her; he had only initiated the game to exploit her massive Exp generation. And it had absolutely worked. A free 3,000 EXP was an incredible haul.

Now Master has to give Skye fifteen crystals as promised, Skye demanded, jumping up and down. Crystals! Crystals! Crystals!

"Alright, alright," Jayden smiled. He opened his inventory and pulled out exactly twenty beast crystals, dropping them onto the grass.

Skye stared at the glittering pile for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth as if she were doing the math in her head. After finishing her count, she looked up at Jayden, her expression souring.

Where are the extras? she asked.

Jayden raised an eyebrow. "Why would there be extras?"

Because Skye killed more than thirty beasts! she argued. That means Skye should get more than fifteen!

Jayden shook his head. "No, that’s not how a bet works. We agreed on a race to thirty. If you won, you’d get fifteen. You chose to kill the extra twenty-two beasts on your own time. They don’t count toward the wager."

Skye stared at him, utterly perplexed, as if her entire worldview had just been shattered. Then, the tantrum began. She stomped her heavy paws on the ground, puffing out her cheeks.

Master is a bad person! Master doesn’t want Skye to get stronger and faster! Master is so cruel!

Jayden rolled his eyes, walking past her. He won’t be falling for her antics again. "The world is a cruel place, Skye. You should know that by now."

Ahhh! Master is unfair! Skye continued to project a stream of telepathic lamentations for another minute before finally deciding to be content with the hoard in front of her, happily crunching into the crystals.

While she ate, Jayden approached her massive pile of fifty-two corpses to claim his loot. He extended his hand, expecting a massive influx of crystals to hit his inventory. But instead....

[Five Beast crystals have been added to the inventory]

Jayden froze. Five? How was that possible?

He stepped closer, examining the carcasses. That was when he noticed the gruesome detail. Every single beast in Skye’s pile had a massive, bloody hole punched straight through their chest cavity.

Something had ripped their cores out.

He turned slowly to look at the massive feline crunching loudly behind him. He let out a long, exhausted sigh. "Skye... what happened to the crystals from the beasts you killed?"

Skye ate them, she replied simply, not even pausing her chewing.

Jayden facepalmed, dragging a hand down his face. Of course she did. That was why it took her so long to bring the bodies back to the clearing. She wasn’t just hunting; she was ripping the crystals out and eating them like an appetizer after every single kill. She had eaten nearly forty-seven crystals out in the woods, was currently eating fifteen more, and had still possessed the audacity to demand "extras."

And Jayden was so sure that the five crystals he was even able to acquire were just the ones Skye couldn’t get to in time.

He let out a sigh. "Skye, we had a deal. You get crystals after the race, not during it," he explained. "You weren’t supposed to eat the crystals of the beasts you killed."

Skye shook her head. No, master said the deal was to bring the bodies back here. Not the crystals. she defended.

Jayden’s words died in his throat. She was right. He had said: kill beasts and bring the corpses to the clearing. He didn’t say anything about the crystals. And Skye had exploited that flaw.

Jayden couldn’t believe it. He had been outmaneuvered by a three-month-old beast.

He sat down on the ground.

Skye walked over and sat next to him with the easy comfort of something that had won an argument and bore no hard feelings about it.

Skye is very clever, she said, and it wasn’t bragging. It was just an observation delivered with the same matter-of-fact quality she applied to everything.

"Yeah. I noticed," Jayden chuckled. "And perhaps I should be more specific next time and tell you not to eat the crystals," he muttered.

Skye paused, giving him a look that closely resembled a smug smirk. Even if Master says so, Skye won’t listen. It is Skye’s kill, so Skye has every right to eat the crystals.

Jayden couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She was incredibly cunning for her age. "I have to do something about your crystal addiction.

[It is not an addiction, Jayden] Luna chimed in, correcting him. [Sapphire Sonics require an exponential amount of crystal energy to rank up and maintain their physical output. The crystals act as high-density battery cells for her. She can never get enough]

Jayden hummed. That explained why Skye consumed so much crystals. It wasn’t addiction or gluttony, she simply needed the energy.

But then a thought came to his mind.

If the crystals were just pure energy batteries, that meant Skye wasn’t actually eating any real food this whole time.

"Skye, aren’t you hungry?" Jayden asked in concern. "You should eat something tangible. Would you like to have some of the beast meat? I can roast it for you if you want."

But Skye shook her head. Skye does not eat the beasts on this planet. she said.

Jayden raised a brow. "Why not?"

The meat tastes bad, she replied matter-of-factly. They are not good enough.

"Then what kind of meat do you eat?" Jayden asked, thoroughly confused.

Skye’s eyes lit up. Skye eats the beast meat from other planets! They taste very good, and they are strong too!

"Strong?" Jayden furrowed his eyebrows.

The beasts Skye normally hunt and eat are much more powerful than the weak ones here, she explained proudly. They are almost like Skye. But Skye is still superior!

Jayden froze. That’s when it hit him.

When Skye said she eats beasts from other planets because they are strong and therefore taste better, she was actually talking about B-Rank and A-Rank beasts.

While Earth was fortunate enough to mostly deal with F, E, and D-Rank threats, other human-colonized planets... Beta, Omega, Zeta, and Geneva, were infested with catastrophic high-ranking beasts. It was a testament to humanity’s resilience that those planets survived at all. And this "cub" was casually treating those apex predators as her personal buffet. Even Jayden wasn’t sure if he could comfortably take on a B-Rank beast in a straight fight yet.

"I see," Jayden said, suitably impressed. "I can check the online Black Markets. I might be able to find someone smuggling B-Rank beast meat and buy it for you."

Master shouldn’t worry about Skye, Skye dismissed confidently. Skye can get her meat herself! It is more fun that way.

"Okay," Jayden said. "But aren’t you hungry right now?"

Skye’s ears drooped slightly. Skye is. But Skye doesn’t want to leave the planet yet. Skye wants to spend time with Master.

Jayden smiled softly. Despite her lethal nature, her affection was entirely genuine. He buried his hands in her thick fur, scratching her behind the ears. "I want to spend time with you too, Skye. You’re the most incredible beast I’ve ever met."

Skye’s large blue eyes widened. Really?

"Yes, really. You’re amazing. And incredibly strong too," Jayden assured her. "But you need to eat real food so you can regain your stamina."

Skye leaned into his touch, suddenly acting very sober. But Skye doesn’t want to leave Master all alone. she purred.

"I’ll be fine," Jayden promised. "And I’m not alone. The girls are with me, remember? They’ll keep me company while you’re gone hunting."

Skye hesitated for a long moment, wrestling with her instincts. Finally, she let out a soft purr. Okay. Skye will go. But Skye will be back as soon as possible!

"No problem. I’ll be waiting for you," Jayden said.

Skye pressed her whole face against Jayden’s chest—a brief, complete gesture that needed no translation.

Then she pulled back.

Goodbye, master. she said, her body igniting in a blinding aura of blue light. Then she took off, tearing across the clearing.

"Goodbye, Skye?" Jayden said, watching as she darted across the clearing.

At first, her paws hammered the ground, but as her velocity exponentially increased, she began to angle upward, her feet slowly leaving the ground and threading lightly on the atmosphere. She was literally running on the air, her paws creating glowing blue ripples in the air with every step.

Jayden watched in awe as she rapidly ascended into the sky, becoming a streak of blue light that pierced the clouds until she broke orbit entirely.

Jayden reached out through their telepathic link, but met only static. He couldn’t get across to her, The connection obviously had a planetary range limit.

He exhaled, watching the fading trail of light. He had convinced her to hunt on other planets so she could harvest stronger beasts and farm massive amounts of Exp for him. It felt entirely exploitative, but he reasoned it was a mutual benefit; She needed to eat, while he needed the experience points.

Still, as the forest quieted down, Jayden had to admit he already missed her chaotic energy.

Turning his attention back to the clearing, he looked at the massive pile of 83 beast corpses. He had planned to just leave them for the scavengers; beasts, hunters or anyone lucky enough to stumble upon the pile. He had already secured the three D-Rank Tremor Gators carcasses he wanted to take home for a feast, and he wasn’t particularly interested in the tedious process of selling low-grade beast corpses anymore. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But leaving them felt like a waste.

Making a last-minute decision, he walked over to the pile and systematically stored all 83 corpses into his inventory.

Then he took off his tactical suit and equipped a fresh set of casual clothes before walking out of the forest.

With his newly acquired speed, the concept of using his hoverbike now seemed almost unnecessary.

He dropped into a runner’s stance, then vanished in a blur of kinetic force. The trees whipped past him as he bolted toward civilization, heading towards the Black Claw restaurant.

It was time to visit an old business partner.