The black portal was crackling with so much mana. It was overwhelming and felt as if the entire air was cold and heavy. The galloping sound of the Nightmares and the chimes served as a harbinger to the Boss's arrival.
It was an imposing scene for sure. Yet, Josh found it funny. These Tower Protocols were just discovering music it seemed. How long before orchestras began playing when a monster showed up? He couldn't wait.
In the meantime, the portal rippled as a monster emerged from it. It had an imposing appearance. Horse features, but way too big. There was a peculiar thing, it only had one mouth. It did look both scary and deadly, however.
If anything, the entire creature looked more corporeal than the little ones. Would it be easier to hurt it because of that fact? Chances were not. It still looked shadowy, magical, and powerful.
<Prime Nightmare The Untamed Lv 28 ☠️>
What was up with the untamed part? Oh my fucking god! Did that mean that it could be tamed?! This was Hellish, so there wouldn't be any information about it. Yep, people were pretty much all too lazy or too fearful to explore it.
"Tower! I have a question! It is vital. Please answer! Can I tame this horse or not?!"
But it didn't reply. The only one paying attention to Josh was the Boss. It was looking at him intensely. Fun fact, this one had eyes. They were bluish, flaming, and quite intimidating. As if they could set one's whole soul ablaze. Then, it charged at him!
Now, the best way to avoid a quadrupedal is to get out of their way completely. But, this one was humongous and crazy fast! It was already on him! Its maw was trying to tear him to pieces. As it did so, it extended its neck. Josh jumped and managed to slide on it, soon reaching the creature's back.
He was now in a perfect spot. In front of his face, there was the creature's long mane that swayed, but without actually following the creature's movements. This would have been the perfect hair for a shampoo commercial! Josh almost expected it to come alive.
That's when he could feel his entire body tremble. It was an instinctive reaction: there was killing intent! Without thinking, he threw himself toward the Nightmare's tail.
Right where he had been before, he could see the dark skin split apart, revealing a gaping maw. Then, it seemed to realize that Josh wasn't there anymore as it slowly returned to its default state. There was not even a hint revealing the true nature of it.
It could even move the maw and control where it opened. How crazy was that?! It would have sent anyone seeing it up close scurrying away for sure. Instead, Josh kept dodging the maw with a grin on his face. He even leaned next to it.
"Let me see: lots of teeth, very hungry and coming out of nowhere…I'm gonna call you Jaws' from now on."
Josh didn't know if it hated its new nickname or just how elusive he was, but the creature began neighing angrily. That's when he figured out that it was time to prepare himself for the ride of his life.
"Kids, always remember to buckle up! Some would say there are no seatbelts on a horse. Not yet!"
It was time for spider threads! He threw some all over the place. These weren't sticky but were relatively solid nonetheless. He tied some to the mane, some to the neck, some to the tail, all while dodging Jaws'.
That's when the Nightmare decided to evacuate his frustration by running. Great choice! Running provoked the release of endorphins, which would definitely make it feel better. Well, perhaps it was different in Nightmare biology.
Josh had a hand firmly on a thread that he was using to help himself navigate the back of the creature. That's when the turbulences started. Yes, the monster began rearing and sometimes stopping abruptly.
"Seatbelts are OP motherfucker HAHA!"
He could picture himself making a safety video. It would be way more entertaining than the boring ones he had seen on Earth. Perhaps he would have to tone down the swearing a bit. Ah! But what if it motivated the kids to try monster rodeo by mistake?
At first, the creature was confused. It didn't seem to understand how Josh was evading its maw at all. It also had expected the tiny but pesky thing to fall off a while ago. That's when it noticed what was happening.
It gave up on eating Josh and instead moved the mouth toward the threads. It then began snapping one after the other mercilessly. What about all the hard work Josh had put into it?! Talk about bullying!
Josh found himself screaming something he never thought he would:
"Stop eating my white stuff!" But not only did the creature not listen, it also swallowed. Josh felt himself tear up. There went a bit of his threads collection.
As soon as it was done, it happily began running everywhere again, trying to throw Josh off its back. It did one lap, then another one, and finally one last. But no matter what, Josh remained standing.
This feat was possible thanks to his perfect balance, but mostly the spider set ability. He was now on a timer. He could feel the mana in his body getting depleted. He had 30~ minutes to end this fight, or he'd be on foot.
Josh took out his weapon, swung it a bit, but ultimately decided to be magnanimous like the obvious pacifist he was. He unsummoned the weapon and decided to use patience to deal with the Nightmare. The fact that he couldn't hurt it did influence him a tiny bit on his decision.
Sadly, it didn't know how to appreciate his good intentions as it adopted a new deadly tactic. It started rolling on its side! Okay, that didn't sound deadly, but it was. Just the weight would be enough to crush him into paste!
Soon enough, he could be seen looking like a log rolling champion. Well, Nightmare rolling in this case. It looked so ridiculous, but it kept him alive.
That peculiar-looking scene kept going for about a dozen minutes. The Boss kept glancing at Josh, annoyed. They were supposed to fight! Eventually, the creature understood that this tactic, too, wouldn't work.
The man was like a tick! He just wouldn't let go! It was impossible to take him by surprise, and it was impossible to make him fall off. It pondered for a little while, but it eventually found a solution.
That's how the creature just kept galloping around peacefully. Had it given up? Not at all. It figured that the human would eventually tire out. Surely a man of flesh and blood wouldn't be as resilient as it.
Well, it was right. Josh had about 20 more minutes left to the ability. He felt he would be able to sustain it slightly longer. Probably from the level-ups. But, the creature would outlast him for sure.
It was time to chug mana pots!… Is what he'd have said if he had any. Was that even a thing? If not, the first one to come up with that would be rich!
Josh felt quite helpless. It seemed he would have to get off soon and fight it from the ground. The only issue was that the creature showed adaptability. That would make it even harder to kill.
He'd have to be careful not to slip on the Horse Meat strewn everywhere. Actually, could he perhaps make the creature have an accident thanks to it? Quite like the famed banana peel, but less evident.
But that's when he got another idea. This sounded crazy, but perhaps it would work? He had a devouring ability. He knew it gave HP, but was it all? He had to try it!
Now, how to acquire horse meat from where he was? He turned his morphing weapon into a fishing rod. Then he tried hooking some–. It was so damn difficult! The fact that he was in motion didn't help.
But perseverance was key, perhaps luck a bit even. He victoriously caught a piece. There was no mention of his success whatsoever.
If it had been the alter Tower, he would have had a message like: "Ta-da-da Gratz on the raw meat! Are you really going to eat this?" The answer would have been yes too. Josh greedily devoured it.
That is when he felt his mana recover very slightly. It wasn't at a level where it would normally be useful in battle. But, right now was an exception. He felt like he was playing a riding simulator.
This discovery would allow him to remain in the white and sticky mode for so long! He had spent so long killing Nightmares before the Boss that there was 'food' everywhere.
It was the first time that his Gluttony bloodline was being useful in an obvious way. It felt amazing. He kept eating, and the horse kept running. That is when he began entertaining the possibility of trying to tame this horse for real.
He refused to believe the 'Untamed' was there just as flavor text! He could remember a scene from a movie where the villain did the exact same thing to make horses submit. He would ride them until they gave up.
Riding till surrender...That made him remember some…no! He had to focus! This would be one hell of a fight. Right now, he had a plan, but it was an incredibly hard one. It would require mad skills. Lucky that he was Josh...
Comments