Legacy of the Sabretooth

Victor once thought he would go insane from the unbearable pressure, but he had underestimated the human capacity for adaptation and endurance.

"Damn old man! I'm not a demon! You'll regret this!"

Though his words were fierce, the reality was that Victor was being utterly dominated by Old Clyde, who pinned him to the ground and beat him mercilessly. Despite Victor's strength being comparable to that of an average adult, Old Clyde far surpassed any ordinary man.

It had been over a month since Victor had crossed over into this world, and his daily routine still revolved around his struggles with Old Clyde. Each day ended in defeat for Victor.

Facing a battle-hardened veteran, Victor, still just a child, was improving rapidly but remained no match for the old man.

While battling Old Clyde physically, Victor was also waging a mental war against the feral instincts brought on by his mutant abilities.

Victor Clyde, known as "Sabretooth," earned his name for good reason. Beyond his elongated canines and sharp claws, his bloodthirsty nature and heightened predatory instincts made the moniker fitting.

At this moment, Victor was fighting against these deadly instincts. Initially, he hadn't noticed how deeply these instincts were influencing him.

But he soon realized that his senses had become extraordinarily sharp. He could often predict the direction and location of Old Clyde's attacks before they landed.

If not for the chains restricting his movements, it would no longer be an easy task for Old Clyde to defeat him.

However, due to the chains, Victor could only try to avoid vital areas when he sensed an incoming blow (though his healing factor made this somewhat unnecessary).

As the injuries piled up, another instinct began to surface—the most primal and savage urge to kill.

When this instinct took over, Victor felt every cell in his body come alive. His healing factor accelerated, and the pain vanished. His mind was consumed by a desire to destroy, to tear apart anything that moved.

This state worsened after each encounter with Old Clyde. At first, Victor thought it was just rage driving his actions.

But soon, the mature, rational adult personality from another world within him recognized something was wrong. Despite the torment and the fusion with young Victor's memories, the desire to kill and dismember someone shouldn't have been so overwhelming.

Even though he hated Old Clyde for the abuse, his thoughts shouldn't have escalated to such extreme violence. After all, Old Clyde was still his father in this life.

Realizing something was amiss, Victor began to reflect more deeply on his changes and behavior. He noticed that, over time, he was acting more like a beast than a human.

"Ha, the old man was right. His second son is also being taken over by the beast," Victor muttered to himself with a bitter smile.

Though he had identified the problem, solving it was far from simple. It all came down to something everyone struggles with: self-control. We make mistakes daily, big and small. Often, we know what we're doing is wrong, but our desires and instincts take over.

Victor's situation was even worse. His very cognition was being eroded by his feral instincts. He had to discern not only right from wrong but also whether his actions were driven by his own will or the beast's.

This was no easy task, but at least he now had a direction to work toward, which was better than being completely in the dark.

However, things weren't so straightforward. Whenever he tried to suppress the beast, he would grow anxious and irritable, eventually losing control.

Victor jokingly referred to this as "ironic rebound." But when he tried ignoring the instincts, they would subtly influence him over time.

This was likely how Victor eventually became Sabretooth. Already just a child, after killing his brother, he never received proper guidance or a healthy worldview.

Apart from his mother's comfort, all he knew was his father's endless abuse and violence. All of this culminated in the birth of "Sabretooth."

When Old Clyde tried to beat the beast out of his son, the only response he received was more violence and growing ferocity.

By this point, Old Clyde and Victor were trapped in a vicious cycle. The more Victor responded with violence and savagery, the more Old Clyde intensified the abuse.

The result was that every time Old Clyde entered the basement, Victor would immediately enter a feral state, roaring and trying to tear out his throat.

But after their "passionate brawls," Victor would enter a sort of "post-clarity" state, where the beastly instincts would recede as if they had never existed.

Victor felt he had found a clue to solving his problem, but daily brawls with Old Clyde weren't a sustainable solution.

For now, though, he had no better option. Surprisingly, this routine improved his relationship with Mrs. Clyde.

Without the beastly influence, Victor seemed like an ordinary boy next door, which made Mrs. Clyde feel like her son had returned. The sight of his bloodied body, however, pained her deeply.

"Victor, why has it come to this? He is still your father," Mrs. Clyde said sorrowfully as she helped Victor change out of his bloodstained clothes.

Watching her husband and son hurt each other daily was agonizing for her. While she was comforted by Victor's improved attitude toward her, it also reminded her of her other son, who had died.

"I am his son too, but he doesn't see me that way. To him, I'm a demon, a beast—anything but his son," Victor replied, his words as painful as ever for Mrs. Clyde.

Victor knew his answer hurt her, but he had no better explanation. He couldn't very well tell her that he needed these violent encounters with Old Clyde to release his feral instincts, or else he might turn into a beast and tear her apart too.

Outside of his "brawling time" with Old Clyde, Victor behaved like a normal teenager. He began asking Mrs. Clyde for books, eager to learn about the world.

Seeing Victor act like a normal boy, Mrs. Clyde tried to persuade Old Clyde to stop tormenting him.

But whenever Old Clyde appeared, Victor would immediately fall into a frenzy, unable to control himself. The rapid healing of Victor's wounds, leaving no scars, only reinforced Old Clyde's belief that the demon hadn't left his son—it had just learned to hide.

(In a way, he wasn't wrong.)

Still, Old Clyde didn't stop Mrs. Clyde from bringing books to Victor in the basement, though he insisted she include a Bible.

From then on, Mrs. Clyde would bring a Bible along with some middle school textbooks when she visited Victor.

Victor's learning ability, however, far exceeded her expectations. He quickly grasped and mastered the knowledge in the books.

As for the Bible Old Clyde had insisted on, Victor occasionally flipped through it out of boredom. There were no dramatic scenes of the demon being driven out by the Bible or the Bible being torn apart by the demon, as Old Clyde might have hoped.

After mastering the standard middle school curriculum, Victor moved on to astronomy, geography, history, philosophy, physics, and even natural sciences.

Victor discovered that his learning ability post-transmigration was nothing short of genius. He could quickly understand and retain any knowledge he focused on, with no fear of forgetting.

"Maybe the healing factor ensures my brain cells recover, so there's no need for protective forgetting? That's why I have perfect recall and never get mentally fatigued?"

Victor didn't dwell too much on this theory, as he considered it a good thing. He had more pressing matters to attend to, like figuring out how to deal with the "beast" inside him.

He began experimenting with a solution that seemed out of place in his current world: meditation.

Both in his past life's memories and in the psychology books he'd read after transmigrating, the most basic method for improving focus and self-control was simple meditation.

The simplest form of meditation involved sitting cross-legged on a cushion. Since there was no cushion in the basement, Victor opted to sit directly on the stone bed.

He closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his breathing, feeling the air enter his lungs through his nose and then exhaling.

As he meditated, Victor felt a sense of peace and harmony. But this world wasn't as simple as he thought—after all, it was the Marvel universe, where even God and Mickey Mouse existed.

Unsurprisingly, Victor found himself in his own mindscape. Not far from him, a sabretooth tiger growled lowly, poised to pounce at any moment...