NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Snow
The snowy, dainty - though a bit bigger than before, a size of a palm - snake was startled as well. Even so, despite the terrorized reaction hidden deep within her milky white pupils, she could not help but stared innocently filled with curiosity at Kaiju.
Kaiju's rapid breathing cooled down, not leaving his gaze from what seemed to be a harmless snake. He soon found her appearance cute, though not totally when he saw the blood on her mouth… and some traces of dark purple liquid, which obviously came from the poison of the mushroom he ate.
It did not take him some time to grasp why the dainty snake was near to him and why he felt some familiarity with it…
"Weird." he mumbled. "Why do I feel like I'm staring at my siblings? Does sucking the poison, inevitably including my blood, affect her bloodline?"
He furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head sideways.
"Wait, do I even have siblings?"
He shook his head and tossed the unnecessary thoughts at the back of his head.
He gazed at the dainty snake once again, finding it pristine even with the dirt on her lower body, finding her cute even though she was a snake, and finding her harmless even though it was a wild animal… or beast.
She was strange, but then again, the Tower was already strange enough.
Trusting his instinct, he slowly crawled forward. Due to curiosity, he quickly forgot about the Gacha System.
He observed the dainty snake, and the latter just continued to stare at him innocently. For some reason, the snake was not startled and seemed to be anticipating even more to get closer to him as he did.
It befuddled him.
Of course, he remained wary, heightening his guard up. Although he recognized that the snake had a faster reaction time than him, at least, he still believed the snake was harmless. He already deduced it was the dainty snake that saved his life.
When he was near the dainty snake, he halted, sat up and observed for a while patiently. They continued their staring contest until Kaiju desired to touch the dainty snake.
He slowly motioned his index finger to tap the dainty snake, and the latter just focused her eyes on the incoming gaunt index finger. When it arrived closer to her, she simply closed her eyes, moved her head sideways, and rubbed her cheeks at the index finger.
Kaiju's heart melted.
The bizarre connection he had with the dainty snake escalated when he touched her. For some reason, he did not want to let go of the dainty snake anymore. He felt like he should protect her, make her feel safe, and grew stronger with her.
He snapped awake from his imaginations.
He stared at the dainty snake again, and wondered, 'Why do I feel this way?'
Kaiju ruminated.
He opened his palm, landed it to the earth, and the dainty snake slithered toward his palm.
He stared at it dazedly, bringing it closer to him, as they continued to stare at each other once again. Their eyes were filled with inquisitiveness.
Kaiju scrutinized the snake.
"This is obviously a beast." Kaiju concluded. "Not a Feral rank one. This guy possesses a bit of intelligence. So, it should be a Savage Rank beast."
He shivered.
"A Savage beast posed harm on me. Thankfully, this guy… wait, what kind of beast is this?"
He pondered.
"This is a snake, yet it seems it feeds on poison alone. How else did I survive, then? This must be the fortuitous encounter the Gacha System was talking about."
The dainty snake was tilting her head, seemingly understanding what Kaiju was thinking about. Kaiju was awed by its intelligence, now more assured the snake was a Savage Rank snake.
However, it only feeds on poison, does it know to attack, then?
Just when he was asking himself, the dainty snake suddenly nodded, opened her mouth, and showed her fangs.
She was even appearing to be boastful, causing Kaiju to giggle.
"Mhm! You are filled with wonders. I want to know more about you. So, I guess I shall be keeping you as my partner. I think the best will be."
The dainty snake widened her eyes even more, nodding vigorously, and suddenly slithered towards Kaiju's index fingers.
Kaiju wondered what she was up to. His face instantly changed when he received a wave of pain coursing from his index finger after the dainty snake bit it.
Kaiju did not panic, entirely trusting the snake meant no harm.
When the dainty snake was finished, the familiar Tower voice echoed in his mind.
[A Savage Beast wants to form a contract with you. A master and pet contract. Do you want to accept it or not?]
Kaiju was stunned, but then hastily accepted it.
[You have formed a master and pet bond with the Savage Beast. You have obtained the title, Beastmaster.
Congratulations!
If you want to see your status, please call…]
[Error! Error! An unknown entity is interfering with the Tower system… Identifying the-
The Tower identified it's a system that once appeared in the Tower. It posed no harm to the Tower and to you…
The Tower will not intervene.
The Tower will now limit the interaction with you.
Goodluck!]
Kaiju was rejoicing about the Title he received. From what he knew, the Title boosted his abilities. For instance, if he gained the Title Swordmaster due to some stroke of luck, there would be an increase in sword mastery, attack speed (limit to sword only), affinity with the spirit sword, etc…
Of course, he recognized the Beastmaster title, for what he knew, it increased his affinity with the beast, possessing high affinity with them, even sensing their thoughts and could communicate with them.
He could even subdue and make them their pet.
However, there were ranks on the Title, and he was about to eagerly check the descriptions and its rank when the Tower suddenly announced startling information.
"Unknown entity was interfering with the Tower System? Was it talking about the Gacha System?"
[Congratulations! You have obtained your first pet. You have obtained a title, Beastmaster.
Calculating the Luck Points you will receive…
Congratulations! You have been rewarded with 50 Luck Points!
50 Luck Points are being multiplied ten times…
Congratulations! You have been rewarded with 500 Luck Points!]
Kaiju was still processing the endless bombardment of announcements in his head when the Gacha System was not finished yet.
[You have obtained your first pet. Do you want to name it?]
Kaiju glanced at the dainty snake and thought for a while.
He caressed her head with his index finger and mumbled, "Snow… I shall call you, Snow.
Do you like it?"