LEVEL EVERYTHING UP in my Eldritch Tribe

Lyerin stood his ground, with his sharp gaze unwavering as he stared down Velros.

His voice broke the silence, calm and laced with amusement. "Didn't you have an order to kill me first?" he asked, his tone casual yet biting.

His words hit their mark like a spear, striking Velros's pride. "Probably the reason why you're not attacking right now and was hesitant, right?"

Velros blinked, his hawk-like eyes narrowing at Lyerin.

The sharpness in his expression faltered for a split second.

Lyerin smirked, 'This bird's hesitation betrayed him already, is he really a leader? What a weak personality.'

However, he also knew he had struck a nerve.

The Jaldir leader didn't respond immediately, though the subtle twitch in his talons and wings was enough of a tell.

Lyerin knew he had just exposed a truth Velros wasn't prepared to admit: fear.

Lyerin grinned, a knowing glint in his eyes. "You're too cautious, aren't you?" he continued, not giving Velros a moment to gather his composure.

"You can sense it, can't you? Something's different about me. Don't be scared. You can attack now… Go on…" He let his words hang in the air, their weight pressing down on the Jaldir leader.

Velros remained silent, but his mind was racing. He'd been sent to assess the humans, maybe even wipe them out if they posed no threat.

The plan was clear. But standing before this human, who exudes an aura of unsettling confidence, Velros found himself hesitating.

It was unnatural.

Everything about Lyerin's demeanor suggested that this was not an ordinary leader of a weak tribe. His calmness, his boldness in speaking without fear—Velros couldn't shake the feeling that something more dangerous lurked beneath the surface.

The mission.

If this human can really be killed easily, why did the mission required the other participants to kill him immediately?

Lyerin's grin widened as if he could read Velros's thoughts. "Shall I tell you a little story?" Lyerin began, his voice low but full of amusement.

"I didn't come here by choice, you know. I was taken—without warning, without preparation." He stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling calm. "So naturally, my tribe wasn't ready. Of course, we wouldn't be. We didn't even know we were going to be part of this ridiculous game."

Velros's wings twitched, and he shifted uncomfortably, the more the human says that he and his tribe was weak, the more he was hesitating.

Lyerin's casual demeanor was unnerving. The confidence with which he spoke wasn't normal for someone whose tribe was supposedly unprepared.

"But here's the thing," Lyerin continued, his tone growing colder, more menacing. "Just because my tribe wasn't prepared... doesn't mean I'm not prepared." With that, a sudden surge of energy erupted from Lyerin, his aura flaring like wildfire.

The force of it swept through the maze, sending ripples of intimidation and power into the air.

The ground beneath his feet trembled ever so slightly, and even the surrounding air seemed to grow heavy under the weight of his presence.

He finally got a magical core.

A combat core.

Velros instinctively took a step back, his feathers bristling in response to the overwhelming energy radiating from Lyerin.

The sky above them seemed to darken for a brief moment, as if reacting to the sheer force of his aura.

"You feel that, don't you?" Lyerin's voice was now like a predator's, sharp and dangerous. "It's a taste of what I'm capable of. I may look like just another leader of a small tribe, but I've faced far worse than your flying warriors in the past. So… Don't be scared… Come… Let's have a blast!"

His words were laced with the authority of someone who had seen battle after battle, who had lived through wars and chaos unimaginable to the likes of Velros.

For the first time, Velros's confidence wavered.

He could feel the weight of Lyerin's daring challenge pressing against him, making it hard to think clearly.

He had expected a weak opponent, someone who could be easily dispatched, but now he was standing before someone whose strength he couldn't fully comprehend if he is really weak or not.

Without another word, Velros took a powerful beat of his wings, propelling himself back into the sky.

He soared upward, away from Lyerin and the maze, casting a final glance down at the human leader who now stood as a beacon of strength. He hovered above for a moment, his sharp eyes narrowed in both frustration and wariness.

"We'll see about that," Velros muttered under his breath, loud enough for his warriors to hear but not meant as a direct challenge to Lyerin.

With a commanding gesture, he signaled to the rest of the Jaldir warriors, and they began to circle higher, distancing themselves from the maze.

From below, Lyerin watched as Velros and his flock retreated to the skies.

He was speechless.

He was planning to engage to test his Magic Combat Core.

However, immediately, his eyes gleamed with amusement.

Velros had been cautious, perhaps too cautious than Lyerin had expected. In the past, Velros's kind—the arrogant warriors who thought themselves invincible—would have attacked without hesitation. But Velros had made a move he didn't think it would do.

That was all the confirmation Lyerin needed.

"Birds," Lyerin muttered to himself, shaking his head. "Right, they're hunters, not fighters. They strike when the advantage is theirs, but never in a fair fight." His grin widened, almost predatory now.

"They were sent here to kill me, weren't they? That's why he's so cautious. To the point that he would back down in a fair fight, hahaha!"

The maze around him was still, its thick stone walls towering over the open space where Lyerin stood.

He tilted his head upward, eyes piercing the clouds as the Jaldir warriors ascended higher, their shadows growing smaller against the brightening sky.

"But that's a terrible turn," Lyerin whispered to himself, a soft laugh bubbling up in his chest. "A very terrible turn…"

He took a deep breath, with his eyes flickering with the memories of battles long past, wars fought in a life far removed from this one.

"But who is to blame?" He murmured.

"If they attacked me now," Lyerin mused aloud, "I won't lose of course. But..." His voice dropped to a whisper, a wicked smile creeping across his face. "Their leader and a few of his precious warriors would die because of me. And that... Well, that flying away would be a victory in itself anyway."

His hand clenched into a fist, and he could almost feel the bloodlust of battle returning to him, the thrill of facing an enemy head-on. But as quickly as it came, he let it go, releasing a slow breath.

There was no need to fight the Jaldir today.

He hadn't expected to almost lose control just because he was too excited to try his new combat magic core, forgetting that he wouldn't become the leader of the Stonehooves Tribe if he acted himself.

"Having a combat core made me a little too excited for battle; I remember that the spirit system doesn't require me to do that," he mumbled.

The bird brain leader had already retreated. He should calm down a little and let his subordinate deal with all of them.

Lyerin's gaze shifted toward the thick stone walls of the maze, the towering structures that now enclosed his tribe like a fortress.

Beyond the walls, the open sky stretched infinitely, but Lyerin's eyes were locked on the flock of warriors disappearing into the distance.

"However," he mumbled and paused for a long time.

"Do these birds think they could just come and go?" Lyerin murmured, his voice soft but filled with quiet malice. His grin widened. "I'm sure that the Hornbull would be extremely angry now."