Roman whipped out his Rusty Dagger as he firmly held it in front of his chest.
He heard flapping noises from both in front and behind him.
Roman hadn't entered the cave for more than ten minutes before something slashed at the back of his neck.
Fortunately for Roman, he was able to dodge a tiny bit and the cut wasn't too deep since he avoided enough of the attack in time.
Roman really did show improvements since the battle with the Red Ash Fox, albeit marginal.
Roman's ability to dodge the swipes could also be attributed to his heightened agility stat that was raised after earning combat experience from fighting the Red Ash Wolf and from the [Rusty Dagger] that he wielded.
Sometimes, battle experience was necessary to spur the improvement of the individual. This was exactly what happened with Roman.
Roman faced the danger in the dark. He kept his ears trained to the noises ahead and managed to pick out what he thought were wing flaps and swishes of air.
He figured the enemy he faced was some sort of bat species that was circling around his head waiting for the opportunity to take him down gradually.
Roman's eyes could not effectively adjust to the low light conditions and made a conscious strategic decision to retreat towards the entrance of the cave where the lighting would take the edge away from the beast attacking him.
After a couple of minutes of sprinting while avoiding attacks, Roman made it to a portion of the cave where the surroundings began to appear with greater levels of visibility.
He rushed behind a rock to his left to cover his back while attempting to observe his attacker.
From behind the place he had come rushing from, the bat-like creature was covered in light gray fur and bloodshot eyes. Its wings were a combination of webbed skin and silver scales. It was quite an ugly creature compared to the much more elegant Red Ash Fox.
This was an Alloy Shredding Bat. Alloy Shredding Bats lived in colonies of anywhere between ten to several hundred. This meant that the species of this beast was a social one - more social than most other beasts, at least.
The Alloy Shredding Bat was known for its affinity with metal. Quite the peculiar creature, these
Alloy Shredding Bats often feasted on smaller prey. Unlike other bat species, the Alloy Shredding Bat did not possess prominent canines that would pierce through the neck of its prey. Rather, these beasts used the sharp metal scales at the edges of their wings to clip a prey, taking it unawares.
The Alloy Shredding Bat would then proceed to swoop towards its prey for a drink of blood. The Alloy Shredding Bat, in fact, attained their nutrients from the iron content in the blood of other creatures. This included human beings.
The Alloy Shredding Bat glared towards Roman. It was flying rapidly towards him, and this time Roman was well prepared.
Roman jumped out from behind the rock he was hiding behind and swiped his dagger towards the beast, successfully making a hit.
The Alloy Shredding Bat's wings were clipped despite the metallic nature of the scales that it had grow on its skin.
Losing leverage from the clash, the Alloy Shredding Bat's trajectory was altered as it hit the large rock and was knocked out from the impact.
The fight was over before Roman knew it. In fact, Alloy Shredding Bats were creature that were used to ambushing prey in the dark. Its metal scales did nothing to protect its body, instead it acted as an offensive mechanism, not a defensive one.
Roman quickly rushed over and took its head while it was unconscious from the impact. Upon bleeding out, a dim orb floated out from the chest area of the Alloy Shredding Bat towards Roman.
*Ding*
[Host has gained 10 cultivation experience points.]
Roman was pleasantly surprised.
He had initially thought that cultivation would have to be improved with actually putting effort into cultivating.
The system was extremely versatile and had an in depth understanding of the challenges that
Roman faced. It provided an alternative method to improving himself.
[Host has gained experience through defeating the Alloy Shredding Bat, a copper ranked beast. The spirit of the beast was extracted upon defeat and converted into cultivation energy for the host.]
The system explained the process. It then confirmed that the experience points that came in the form of the spirit orb was only visible to him since he was the one equipped with the system.
The caveat was that Roman would have to be the one that contributed to the death of the beast in order for its soul to be extracted by the system.
Roman was pleased with the encounter with the Alloy Shredding Bat this time around. He had reacted faster and more accurately. He was also able to stay calm throughout the situation like he had been doing this for a lifetime.
Naturally, Roman's combat calmness could be attributed to the system, but Roman didn't bother thinking too deeply about it.
Roman decided that before he headed deeper into the cave to find his egg, he would first have to fight a light source.
Fortunately for Roman, he had packed a survival kit that Carl had recommended into his inventory prior to leaving. He had long planned to bring a kit just in case of emergencies like these. After all, having a kit would extend his ability to last out there.
The kit was originally stored in his backpack before getting transferred to his inventory. After all, the backpack merely served as a decoy.
Roman whipped out his flint and searched the entrance of the cave for some dry wood.
Fortunately for Roman, the mountain was littered with bushes and plants that survived for a long time in dry climates.
He could easily extract wood from a nearby bush with spares if needed.
Soon, Roman was well on track to finding his egg as he walked deeper into the cavern.
—-
Roman had been trekking his way into the cave for an hour, in the process, he managed to take out two other incoming Alloy Shredding Bats. The cave was probably their nest.
Since these beasts congregated with others of its kind, Roman wasn't too surprised to find more lurking around the corner. He just needed to stay vigilant and all would be fine.
Roman's search eventually brought him to the inner portion of the cave through a series of tunnels. However, this space in this part of the cave was quite special.
In the middle of the cave room contained a large pond. Towards the center of the pond was a small islet that had a tree growing in the middle. Roman took a gander and felt most strongly that the egg he was looking for would be on the islet.
But first, Roman would have to cross the water to get there.
Roman searched the area to see if there were more efficient ways to get across to the islet without having to get into contact with the water.
Water was a tricky substance in the world of Aeon. At times, it could be infested with microorganisms that would eat into one's flesh. At other times, it was entirely possible that the water was fine but contained larger life forms like beasts.
Roman would not take the risk especially when his end goal laid right before him.
Roman spent the next ten minutes scouring the shore of the large pond in hopes to find materials he could use to make a raft. However, due to the low levels of light in the cave, the plants that grew were mostly moss and ferns.
Other than the islet, the rest of the cave was not lit. This was also indication that the islet was special.
Unfortunately, Roman was unable to find any wood to build his raft and could only settle down to the side to brainstorm for the solution.
Just then, the ground shook, scattering small pebbles and dust from the ceiling of the cave. At the edge of the pond, the water began to recede.