Smilodon

The night passed quickly. When Soren woke the next day, the caravan seemed unchanged, but he knew that some things had been altered forever.

Amber City, for instance.

Perhaps that city would no longer exist in the future, because he had finally remembered where he had heard its name before.

It had been a battle within the Legendary Domain!

Legendary Professionals would begin stepping onto the stage of history from this night onward. Their war against the Godsbane had only just begun.

And at this moment, Soren only wanted to stay as far away from them as possible.

As a former Legendary Rogue, he understood far too well the gap between the Legendary Domain and the non-Legendary Domain. When he had been a level 19 Rogue, he had still been within the bounds of mortality, without any dramatic changes. But when he became a level 20 Legendary Rogue, he gained the ability to travel back and forth between the Material Plane and the Shadow Plane, directly crossing space with powerful Spell-like Abilities!

Even Dimensional Anchor could not lock him down.

If he had not been limited to traveling between the Shadow Plane and the Material Plane only once a day, he could have gone anywhere in the world at will.

Monks, Barbarians, priests, and so on—the abilities of the Legendary Domain already approached the realm of deities. Even Warriors, who had always suffered so much, finally came into their own. They could bathe in Magma and emerge unharmed, or engage Dragons in head-on melee combat. The Swordmaster advancement of the Legendary Domain was even more outrageous. A single Blade Storm could directly negate all Spell attacks below the sixth circle, and its destructive power put other professionals to shame. Of course.

It was still best not to provoke Wizards of the Legendary Domain, because quite a few of them knew Time Stop. At the very least, he should not provoke them before obtaining a Demigod Divine Rank.

Soren needed to keep his distance from them.

At least until he was strong enough, he needed to stay far away from these dangerous beings and avoid dying without even knowing why after getting caught in the crossfire!

He did not brood for long.

Some commotion outside soon roused everyone. Something big had come near their camp.

It was an adult Smilodon!

The Beast Lord of the wilderness. When food was scarce, it would even add Landwyrms to its diet.

One of the most dangerous felines in the world!

When Soren appeared, the others were clearly terrified. Some caravan hands were so frightened that they collapsed straight onto the ground. Before them stood an adult male Smilodon, 4.5 meters long, with a 2.7-meter tail, a shoulder height of around 2 meters, and a weight of roughly 800 to 1,000 kilograms. It did not look vastly different from other tiger-like creatures, except for the pair of saber fangs in its mouth, each about 15 centimeters long. They were natural +3 Masterwork Daggers, usable after only minimal polishing, with astonishing piercing power. Back then, they had been something many Rogues dreamed of obtaining. This king of the wilderness approached the lake, its unusual intelligence apparent as it stared at the humans before it.

After briefly assessing them, it lost interest and lowered its head to drink by the lake. The caravan guards nearby had initially been frightened, but some soon began itching to try their luck. A few even cautiously took out Heavy Crossbows. Perhaps they believed that since they had already killed several Bulettes, dealing with a Smilodon was not impossible.

"Don't act rashly!"

Soren swiftly reached out to stop them, then glanced at the Guard captain and said gravely, "This is a Smilodon."

"Its diet even includes Landwyrms."

"Do you really intend to let these hotheads attack it?"

A one-ton Smilodon.

It was clearly nearing the realm of supernatural creatures. If it went one step further and underwent an elemental mutation, it could directly cross Planes and enter the outer realms.

Attacking it would be pure suicide!

An ordinary Smilodon had a CR of 12. This one had a CR of at least 16.

Unless that mysterious mistress intervened, everyone present combined would not be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.

"Do you see those gleaming claws?"

Soren pointed from afar and said in a low voice, "Those things can tear through chainmail with one swipe. Even the Draconic Dragon Hide of a Landwyrm could not withstand many blows."

"Don't disturb it."

"A wilderness king like this will never lack food. As long as we do not anger it, it will leave after drinking."

Soren's judgment was correct.

After drinking, the Smilodon quietly departed. Before leaving, it glanced toward the large carriage in the center.

The Guard captain was clearly a little angry. He dragged out those impulsive men who had been ready to make a move and gave them a harsh reprimand.

Soren's expression was grave.

He seemed to have recalled something. He silently watched the direction of a certain forest before saying, "This is the South."

"You are not familiar with this place, so you'd best not act recklessly!"

"Smilodons are creatures on the same level as Winter Wolves. An adult male Smilodon can challenge a small pack of Winter Wolves head-on."

"If Winter Wolves were not so numerous, the North would probably be their territory too."

Winter Wolves.

Large supernatural beasts with language abilities. They could speak Common and Giant, breathe frost, possessed exceptional sensory Tracking abilities, and were about as intelligent as ordinary humans, though exceptionally cunning and cruel. Winter Wolves were among the most dangerous creatures of the icy plains. Their pelts could sell for around 2,000 Gold Daler in the North, while prices in the South could rise to more than 3,000 Gold Daler.

They had once been one of Soren's favorite prey!

Without Winter Wolves, he would have found it very difficult to amass the enormous expenses needed to advance into a Legendary Rogue in such a short time.

As for that Smilodon just now, it could practically be treated as half a Legendary Warrior.

However, wilderness kings like Smilodons were exceedingly rare. Logically speaking, one should not have appeared in an area like this. Did they not prefer roaming the plains alongside herds of bison?

Could something have forced it to migrate?

Creatures like Smilodons were rarely forced to abandon their territory. Even when facing Draconic creatures, they dared to fight to the death. Unless something utterly beyond their ability to resist had appeared.

"Could it be!?"

Soren calculated his position, and his expression suddenly turned extremely ugly. He realized that he was not very far from where the Ancient Red Dragon would appear.

The Ancient Red Dragon would reveal itself several months later.

But that did not mean it had not arrived nearby several months earlier. It was simply not discovered until then.

It seemed that many great events were already brewing ahead of schedule.

The time when they became known to the world was merely when they happened to erupt.

"Brother."

At some point, the little girl had already gotten up. She looked toward the direction the Smilodon had left, and rather than being afraid, she tugged Soren's hand excitedly. "That big cat was so pretty and so majestic!"

"Vivian wants to raise one someday too."

Soren, who had been somewhat tense, could not help but laugh. He rubbed her little head and joked, "Once Vivian advances into a Sorcerer, she can bind a Familiar."

"Maybe she really can bind such a majestic and imposing big cat."

The little girl was still very naïve.

She had basically never seen a tiger. Tigers did not appear near Amber City, and since she had never left Amber City before, this was her first time seeing one. He had not expected her to think it was a big cat.

But she was not wrong.

A Smilodon was a feline too!

The innocent little girl did not notice at all that Soren was only joking. Instead, she seriously imagined it for a moment, then happily asked, "Really?"

"Then it can carry me around to play."

"If anyone dares bully me, I'll make it bite them."

"It's so big!"

"It must be really good at fighting."

Soren did not interrupt the little girl's innocent fantasy. He merely picked her up, set her on a carriage beside them, and casually said, "Then Vivian needs to work hard."

"Big cats like that are not so easy to tame!"

After saying that.

He began packing up. White Horse City was still four or five days away, and the journey ahead would probably not be peaceful.

Soren busily packed the tent and prepared breakfast.

The adorable little girl sat by the carriage with her head tilted, resting her chin on one hand as she muttered to herself, "How can I make that big cat obey me?"

"It's so big, and I'm so small. I definitely can't beat it!"

"What should I do?"

The little girl rubbed her head in distress, seemingly realizing that she truly had no solution.

Sigh!

It would be wonderful if she could raise a big cat like that.

Its fur looked so warm.

The little girl was still lost in thought when, at some unknown moment, the mysterious mistress of the caravan came to her side.