For the next several days, Mom and Dad continued taking the three cubs out every evening to practice hunting.
For James, learning how to hunt wasn't particularly difficult. Even though he was now living as a saber-toothed tiger, he still had the mind of a human. Once he understood the basic hunting patterns of his species and practiced them a few times, the rest started to come naturally.
Over the next few days he managed to catch several small animals by himself — things like weasels and cottontail rabbits.
Mom and Dad were clearly pleased with their eldest son's progress.
The situation with Zack and Zoe, however, was very different.
Zoe was the youngest cub, and her body was still smaller than the others. It was understandable that she struggled with hunting.
But Zack was another story.
By now his body length had already passed one meter, and he weighed more than seventy kilograms. He was big, round, and full of energy.
Logically, an animal his size should have no problem catching small prey.
Yet after several days of training, Zack still hadn't successfully hunted anything.
He mostly played with the prey that Mom and Dad caught for practice.
From James's perspective, the reason was painfully obvious.
Zack's "hunting strategy" was basically nonexistent.
Every time he spotted prey, he didn't try to hide or sneak closer. He simply charged forward at full speed like a runaway train.
It was honestly a miracle he hadn't scared away every animal in the forest.
Of course, Zack had only started learning recently, so it was normal for him to struggle.
The problem was that James had performed too well.
Because of that, Mom and Dad now expected Zack and Zoe to learn just as quickly.
There was no choice.
Under the shining example of their older brother, the two younger cubs could only keep trying.
Besides hunting practice, Mom and Dad also trained the cubs in other survival skills.
Climbing trees.
Swimming.
And fighting.
These were often called the three essential skills of big cats.
Saber-toothed tigers were no exception.
That evening Dad went out hunting on his own, while Mom brought the three cubs deeper into the forest.
The trees there were enormous, stretching high into the sky.
Climbing trees was something James had never learned when he was human.
He never expected his first attempt would happen after becoming a tiger.
Mom demonstrated first.
She walked around the forest for a while before finally selecting a tall tree that looked suitable for climbing.
It was a plane tree more than twenty meters tall, with thick bark and wide branches.
After choosing the tree, Mom stepped back several paces.
Then she suddenly jumped.
Her front claws dug deep into the bark with a sharp scraping sound. At the same time her hind claws pressed firmly against the trunk to support her weight.
Step by step she climbed upward.
Her movements were slow and careful.
Each time she moved a paw she made sure it had a solid grip before shifting her weight.
Her short tail swung from side to side as she climbed, helping her maintain balance.
Eventually she reached about halfway up the tree.
Even from the ground it was clear that climbing wasn't easy for her.
After all, Mom weighed several hundred kilograms. Supporting that much weight on a tree trunk required a lot of effort.
Compared to her, the cubs were much lighter.
Mom soon climbed back down and looked at the three of them.
It was their turn.
"Rrrr."
Zack looked up at the tall tree and immediately tried to turn around and leave.
Unfortunately for him, Mom blocked his escape.
She pushed him forward with her head and forced him to stand right under the tree.
Zack clearly looked like he wanted to protest.
But Mom wasn't giving him a choice.
With a reluctant expression, he stepped back and prepared to try.
He ran forward and jumped.
Unfortunately, he completely forgot one very important step.
Extending his claws.
Instead of grabbing the tree trunk, Zack slammed straight into it head-first.
The impact made a loud thump.
A second later he dropped back to the ground and lay there with his paws in the air.
Stars practically appeared in his eyes.
Luckily his thick fur and chubby body protected him from any real injury.
James watched the whole thing and covered his face with one paw.
"This guy…"
Mom didn't even bother reacting.
She simply turned toward Zoe and motioned for her to try.
To James's surprise, Zoe turned out to be very good at climbing.
She jumped onto the trunk and began climbing quickly, her small body moving smoothly as all four paws worked together.
Within moments she had already reached the height Mom had climbed earlier.
Then she climbed onto one of the branches.
"Rrrr!"
She looked down proudly at James and Zack below.
The meaning was obvious.
Come up here if you can.
"Little sister, you've got some nerve challenging your big brother."
He walked over to the tree and prepared himself.
Standing under the trunk, James took a deep breath.
Then he jumped.
His claws dug firmly into the bark.
Once he confirmed his grip, he began climbing upward step by step.
At first he felt confident.
But the higher he climbed, the less confident he became.
Cold wind brushed past his tail.
And when he accidentally glanced down—
The ground looked very far away.
Yeah… that's definitely high.
If he fell from here, it probably wouldn't end well.
"Nope. Don't look down."
James quickly shook his head and forced himself to focus on climbing.
Unfortunately, his imagination refused to cooperate.
His mind immediately filled with vivid images of himself falling all the way to the ground.
His paws started trembling slightly.
After struggling for a while, James finally managed to reach the branch where Zoe was sitting.
He collapsed onto it and panted.
"See? Your big brother is still your big brother."
Below them, Zack continued trying to climb the tree under Mom's supervision.
Each attempt ended the same way.
With him falling back down.
Eventually Zoe grew bored and quickly climbed back down the tree.
Her movements were smooth and effortless, almost like she was walking on flat ground.
James watched her disappear below.
And suddenly realized something.
He was still up here.
Very high up.
Very far from the ground.
A sudden sense of unease crept into his mind.
"Alright… time to go down."
James carefully moved one paw downward.
Then another.
But the moment he looked down again, his paws started shaking.
Climbing up had been one thing.
Climbing down meant staring straight at the ground the whole time.
And that height was terrifying.
James froze on the branch.
"Rrrr…"
"Mom ...I might need help."