The Supreme Taming System was designed to facilitate the development of the host. The original design meticulously structured a plan to develop the skills and mental fortitude of the host through challenging missions despite the advantages of each Beginner Package.
Roman was only just beginning to experience the difficulty of the system, but little does he expect, the system was not planning to hold his hands all the way through.
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Roman trudged along the path toward the forest as he conversed with the system.
The new sub-mission seemed easy enough. It was even concurrent to the trajectory of his life. First, find the egg.
He believed that the system's sub-missions would lead him along a path of completing the main mission. But this was merely an assumption.
Soon, Roman arrived at the forest. But before he could set off along the path towards the mountains, the bushes at the entrance of the forest began to rustle.
Roman got on guard but unfortunately, he was in the middle of the dirt road and had no cover. He could only wait to evaluate the danger once whatever was behind the bush popped out.
If it was too risky, he would be prepared to book it.
Roman prepared his running stance.
Soon, a furry gray figure pranced out from the bushes, and Roman dropped to his knees in relief.
It was just a common grass rabbit. It was almost the kind that was reared as companions at Branch Village. The Grass Rabbit was a surprisingly reliable companion for the villagers. While the Oxen of the village could pull carts and help in tilling the land, Rabbits did their part utilizing digging skills to unearth root crops like potatoes, carrots, and onions.
The rabbit glared at Roman as if to show its confusion as to why Roman had reacted so drastically.
To signal to the rabbit that he was fine, Roman reached out his arm toward the rabbit to give it a pat on the head. Although initially cautious, the rabbit gradually inched closer to Roman.
But just then, a large figure jumped up from behind the bushes toward Roman, already clasping the rabbit between its jaws.
The beast glared straight into Roman's eyes as Roman frantically stumbled backwards. His heart was in his throat, and he couldn't react as quickly as he thought he would.
It was a fox that stood about two feet tall, with reddish grey fur and a white-tipped tail. Roman's mind flashed with the different kinds of beasts he read in the books his father forced him to read.
Then his eyes dilated, and his heart began pounding loudly through his ears. It was a Red Ash Fox.
Red Ash Foxes were bronze ranked beasts that had the fire affinity, and the bacteria between its teeth caused a hot, searing pain as if getting burned when mixed in with its saliva. The burning sensation would linger on before finally burning off each limp that got infected. Naturally, these foxes had a natural immunity to the effects of the bacteria and saliva. However, the same was not to be said for its prey.
The fox held the struggling Grass Rabbit between its jaws before clamping down, ending the rabbit's misery. It then tossed the dead Rabbit, with blood oozing from its neck, to the side before turning its attention to the shivering Roman who laid on the ground attempting to push himself further away.
No amount of book knowledge and running around the fields had prepared Roman for this. This was real, and the danger was imminent.
[Host needs to calm down. Initiating emergency protocol.]
All of a sudden, a wave of chills flashed throughout Roman's body. The system had reset Roman's emotions, thereby giving him an opportunity to keep his nerves under control.
This time, Roman didn't pass up the chance. As the Red Ash Fox charged at him, aiming for his neck, Roman rolled to the side. However, Roman was not nearly as quick as an adult Red Ash Fox. If Roman's agility stat was at 0.8, the Red Ash Fox's agility stat would easily fall between 2 and 3 ā naturally, Roman had no sure way of knowing what it was exactly.
The Red Ash Fox successfully bit Roman's left upper arm as Roman rolled to the right, leaving a set of deep teeth marks that elicited bleeding. In response, Roman quickly grabbed at his arms to attempt to stop the bleeding and sooth the pain as he yelled out in pain.
Roman was simply outmatched by the Red Ash Fox.
However, the situation was do or die for Roman. He needed to overcome this, or his life was as good as over. Fortunately, Roman's quick roll enabled him to avoid certain death and the permanent loss of his left arm. The clash only resulted in a flesh wound.
Roman struggled on the ground for a bit before mustering his strength to get up on his feet. This time, the Red Ash Fox noticed that Roman was quick on the uptake and managed to dodge. It would have to be more meticulous when charging at Roman the next time.
Just as Roman was repositioning himself, the Red Ash Fox did the same.
Roman had to think as quickly as he could in order to get himself out of the situation. He gazed at his surroundings, but he was at least a solid twenty meters from any large rock or tree around him. The situation presented itself as completely unideal for a successful distraction and escape.
Roman's only solution for now was to face the Red Ash Fox with his fists even though he didn't have any combat skills and didn't have the opportunity to improve his stats with his new cultivation technique from the system.
Roman would have to make a reactive assault upon the Red Ash Fox as his agility could not match the fox. This meant that when the Red Ash Fox dived towards him, he would have to attack at the same time and hope that he wouldn't get too drastically injured in the process.
"Come on!" Roman egged the Fox on as he began his challenge.
As if the Red Ash Fox understood Roman's call to challenge, it crouched down before lunging towards Roman.
As the Red Ash Fox opened its jaws, hoping to clamp down on Roman's throat for a second time, Roman threw a right hook. Fortunately, the hook connected and Roman only got a graze on his chest as the Red Ash Fox was thrown off course.
"Yeah! You see that!" Roman continued to goad the Red Ash Fox.
Obviously, the Red Ash Fox couldn't take Roman's jeering and refused to stand down as it tried shaking off the pain.
Roman's right hook must have at least caused internal bleeding to the Red Ash Fox's left flank, but the damage was not severe enough to incapacitate the Red Ash Fox.
The Red Fox gnashed its teeth in anger before charging at Roman once again. This time, instead of utilizing its jaws where it wouldn't have been able to pay attention to Roman's attacks, the Red Ash Fox swiped its claws at Roman.
The Red Ash Fox's claws naturally did not contain the same effect as its saliva and the bacteria but could still cause lacerations.
This time, Roman was unsuccessful. The moment Roman had stretched out his arm for a second hook, the Fox timely dodged the blow before slashing into Roman's right arm. As Roman failed to react quickly enough from the blow, the Red Ash Fox took advantage of Roman's weakness.
Once again, it tried at biting towards Roman's neck. But right as it was about to clamp down on Roman's thin, stick-like neck, the Red Ash Fox paused its actions and jumped backwards.
It cocked its neck toward the end of the road, growled, and bolted back into the woods.
Seeing this, Roman fell to his knees in relief. However, just at that moment, Roman's attention was attracted to the end of the path.