Book 1 Chapter 21 The Cowardly Hero
…
The viper paused, its voice dropping to a conspiratorial, rumbling whisper. "I propose we divide the treasure. When it is ripe—in approximately one month—you get half. I get half. With my imposing presence here, the riff-raffs will not enter this place, and I… I'll nurse my shattered dignity and regenerate my life."
Rowan saw the information from his system that the battle was halted.
"It seems that this system knows what is happening. Is this thing sentient or something?" Rowan thought to himself, but then shook his head to return to the current situation.
Rowan had to make a decision. The sight of his weapons circling the massive coil, still waiting for their attack window, was strangely comforting, but the raw power of the beast was undeniable. If it decided to use a Demonic Beast technique, the system's automated Stone knife wasn't going to save him.
"Why would you trust me?" Rowan asked, his voice shaking slightly less now that he was negotiating property rights with a reptile the size of a small house.
The Rock Viper sighed—a long, drawn-out exhalation that smelled faintly of sulfur and stale cave air. "Trust? No, little meat-thing, not trust. Doubt. I doubt my ability to kill you before your absurd healing artifact kicks in again, and I doubt your ability to live through my next attack. Let's call it a mutually beneficial state of fear-based diplomacy."
A strange, pulsing sensation briefly flared in Rowan's chest. The system, once again, popped up a notification.
Mysterious Bond Created with Hostile Entity: Rock Viper.
Bond Type: Mutually Beneficial (Temporary).
Effect: Neither party may cause lethal harm to the other for a duration of 30 days while in proximity to the Red Dragon Heart Fruit. Breach of Bond results in (Undetermined Penalty).
Undetermined Penalty sounded profoundly unpleasant.
Rowan swallowed, his mouth dry. "A month. Half the Red Dragon Heart fruit... if it ripens."
"If it ripens," the viper confirmed, its voice now sounding tired, like a father trying to explain taxes to a teenager. "It is a fruit for Foundation Stage cultivators. If refined, it can help a Foundation Stage cultivator achieve a 30-40% boost toward the False Core realm. It's ridiculously valuable. For a mortal like you… I have no idea. Probably turn you into a small, glowing puddle of Qi, but who knows! Half of it is still a greater treasure than you could ever obtain in your miserable little lifetime."
Rowan's heart did a complicated flutter. Foundation Stage? False Core? He was a mere mortal; how would it benefit him, he did not know. But the sheer power implied by the fruit was exhilarating and terrifying. If he could take it and maybe exchange it for something useful to another person… like a cultivator who is a friend, then maybe he could get something from it.
Elder Jing suddenly pops into his mind as he thinks of the endless possibilities after obtaining the fruit.
"Fine," Rowan said, trying to project an air of calm confidence, which was difficult considering he was still pressing against a cold, damp wall. "Truce. Thirty days. You heal, then I return. No accidental pancaking."
The Rock Viper gave a curt nod with its massive snout. "Excellent. Now, leave. I need to spend the next hour calculating my losses and lamenting the structural integrity of my head."
Rowan didn't need to be told twice. He turned and sprinted, his mind reeling from the negotiation. He was now a co-owner of a mythological fruit with a demonic, house-sized reptile who secretly planned to murder him the moment it gained enough power to safely break their "fear-based diplomacy" pact.
That is… not great. But half a dragon heart fruit! That could be a whole semester of college tuition! Wait, no, different world. Still, I'm rich! And temporarily safe!
…
Rowan stumbled out of the serpentine tunnel and into the main cave chamber. The rest of his small, hapless exploration team was there, plastered against the cave walls like anxious wallpaper. Their faces were pale, eyes wide with horror, and they were utterly silent.
Leading them was the team's designated 'muscle'—a stout fellow, Captain Gong, currently trying to become one with a particularly rough patch of granite.
"Rowan!" Captain Gong gasped, his voice a strangled squeak. "You're alive! That thing entered the tunnel, and then we heard the awful sounds! The crashing and the hissing! We thought you were… absorbed!"
"I was not absorbed," Rowan said, trying to straighten his now slightly blood-splattered, but completely intact, robe, except for the missing sleeve of the left arm. He took a deep breath. "That was a close call, team. Very close."
He made a broad, sweeping gesture toward the dark tunnel. "The great beast is, ah… resting. It was very, very tired from its previous battle. It has decided to take a long, extended, and rather noisy nap. It will not be coming out any time soon. We are safe for the moment."
His companions looked at him, then at the tunnel, then back at his suspiciously whole body.
"Resting?" asked a merchant named Liu, his voice barely a tremor. "It sounded like two metal pots arguing on a rollercoaster, and then a primal scream."
"Oh, that was the sound of its stomach settling," Rowan explained, improvising wildly. "Demonic Beasts have very intense digestion. Trust me, if it were hungry, none of us would be having this conversation."
He kept them busy for the rest of the day, making them set up a rudimentary camp near the entrance while he kept glancing at the tunnel, half-expecting the viper to roll out and demand a progress report on his guarding duties.
…
The next morning, everyone was jumpy but mobile. They had survived a night in the presence of a sleeping Demonic Beast—a claim few mortals could make. The team, now collectively suffering from post-traumatic stress and a shared urge to be anywhere else, quickly packed their bags.
Captain Gong and the few guards led them out of the cave complex and back onto the winding mountain path. Rowan was feeling a profound sense of relief, already mentally spending his half of the Red Dragon Heart fruit money, when the system chimed again, this time with a far more urgent, high-pitched WHEEE-WOOO.
DANGER IMMINENT! Hostile Entity Detected.
[Opponent: Crimson Mauler (Red Panther): HP 1/2/0/1/0/5. Status: NEAR DEATH.]
Rowan stumbled to a halt, his heart plummeting. The Crimson Mauler! The Red Panther that had battled the Viper yesterday!
His team members, mostly town guards, simple hunters, merchants, and guides, didn't have a system prompt, but they didn't need one. They could feel the intense, blood-soaked killing intent radiating from the thick jungle on their right. It was a raw, desperate scent of a predator on the very edge of oblivion.
"Run! Run now!" shouted the lead guide.
Captain Gong was also aware of the dangerous situation and knew that another creature was lurking in the shadows. Everyone had seen the battle yesterday. The two behemoths almost took their lives in a single clash of their immensely powerful auras.
Since everyone could sense the strong killing intent, none of them dared to think twice when following Captain Gong and the others.
And run they did. The team scattered, disappearing down the mountain path in a panicked frenzy that would have made an Olympic sprinter proud.
Rowan ran too. He ran for about thirty paces, his legs pumping with adrenaline and his phlegmatic temperament briefly overridden by the sheer terror of another Demonic Beast.
Then, he stopped. He looked back at the dense foliage where the beast may be lurking, then down at his system display.
[Opponent: Crimson Mauler (Red Panther): HP 1/2/0/1/0/5. Status: NEAR DEATH.]
HP Breakdown: Head: 1. Body: 2. Left Arm: 0 (Severed). Right Arm: 1 (Crippled). Left Leg: 0 (Severed). Right Leg: 5.
One point of HP in the head, Rowan thought, his fear curdling into a dangerous, greedy calculation. A single, critical hit from the Stone knife is 6-8 damage. The Mauler is virtually dead already. This is not a Demonic Beast; this is a loot box with a broken health bar.
The thought of gaining a huge amount of EXP—enough to virtually guarantee his level up—and the promise of system coins was a temptation far greater than the fear. Rowan, the reluctant hero and accidental opportunist, turned around.
His face, once riddled with fear, suddenly morphed into a sinister, evil smile.
"Forgive me, team," he muttered to the empty forest. "But I cannot pass up a chance to mug a panther while it's on life support."
He crept back toward the dense undergrowth, carefully clutching the side of his mysterious vest armor underneath his robes.
He checked over and over the vial of Springwater in his inventory. He wanted to really make sure that it was full. He tried to quickly recall if he ever felt the pain of losing his arm at that time. Upon recalling that he had not felt pain, he stretched his left arm once again and muttered. "You are a hero, buddy. Take one for the team."
…
As Rowan cautiously parted the thick leaves, he saw the Mauler. It was a magnificent creature, the size of an elephant, but it was in a truly pathetic state. One front leg was missing, the other was mangled, and its head hung low, its breath coming in ragged, bloody gasps. It looked like a very expensive, very damaged taxidermy project.
Rowan swallowed, steeling himself. He knew the drill. The system would engage automatically. He just needed to stay alive for two seconds.
He took a shaky step forward.
Hostile Entities Detected. Engaging Automatic Battle System.
[Han Rowan (Level 2). HP: 3/3/3/3/3/3. Qi: 5: Status: Normal.]
[Opponent: Crimson Mauler (Red Panther): HP 1/2/0/1/0/5. Status: NEAR DEATH.]
When he entered the battle area range, the system quickly activated. This means that the Mauler was aware of his presence and is ready to fight him to the death.
The Stone knife and Wooden sword appeared with their signature shimmer and immediately locked onto the Mauler's head.
Clang!
Before Rowan could process it, he did not expect that the Mauler would actually sacrifice its right paw to protect its head.
The Wooden Sword hits first, taking with it the weak paw of the Mauler, which made it growl in pain. The loud growl shook the forest, making Rowan almost stumble to the ground.
The Stone knife hit next, aimed right at the barely-holding-together skull.
Damage Dealt: 8 Critical Hit!
The Mauler's head HP, which was 1, instantly became 0. The system had over-killed it by 7 points.
Crimson Mauler HP: 0/2/0/1/0/5. (Head Severed/Destroyed!)
The Mauler froze mid-gasp. Its remaining two eyes—one bloodshot, the other swollen shut—widened slightly, registering confused indignation that it had survived a battle with a Rock Viper only to be executed by a floating cutlery set. Then, it slumped, its last vestiges of life draining away.
OPPONENT DEFEATED.
But the Mauler's final, dying twitch had a brutal momentum. As it collapsed, its massive, muscled body swung sideways, a final, unguided, desperate act of violence using its remaining, but still powerful leg.
The impact slammed directly into Rowan's torso.
Rowan felt a jarring impact. He flew backward, landing hard on his back. The internal damage was significant, but the system calculated the defense instantly.
Mauler Base Damage: Let's assume 4.
Rowan's Defense: Mysterious Vest (+2 Defense).
Damage Taken: 4 - 2 = 2.
Rowan HP Update: 3/1/3/3/3/3. (Body HP: 3 -> 1)
All of this was in Rowan's mind as he panicky and calculated if he could die or not in this unexpected surprise attack.
Rowan gasped, the wind knocked out of him, the pain radiating through his ribs.
I survived! he thought triumphantly. Wait, no. I'm bleeding out on the side of a jungle path because I got hit by a dead cat.
Once again, the system decided that near-death was too much effort.
Item: Springwater has activated. HP is below 50%.
Heal 5 HP. Removing all non-specific status effects.
A soothing warmth spread through his chest. His Body HP snapped instantly from 1 back to a perfect 3. The pain vanished. Rowan sat up, feeling completely fine, if still heavily humiliated by his inability to avoid lethal damage even from a corpse.
A sudden, soft clink sound echoed in Rowan's head, and a small, spiky icon appeared in the empty 1x1 slot above the Springwater.
[Item Drop Detected: Thorns (1x1). Automatically Stored in Unlimited Storage.]
Rowan stared at the corpse of the Demonic Beast. He, a non-cultivating mortal, had just killed a creature that was fighting a Foundation Stage Demonic Beast to a standstill—albeit a dying one—and he had done it primarily by standing there and letting his magical implements do the work.
He was trembling again, but this time, it was from a mixture of shock, exhilaration, and pure, self-congratulatory greed.
100 EXP! I'm halfway to Level 3! And 10 whole coins!
Rowan quickly checked his total status.
[Han Rowan (Level 2). EXP: 106/200. Coins: 10.]
Although the 100 EXP is still a bit disappointing after killing a higher-level foe, Rowan dares not complain outwardly. He is already thinking about what to buy next in the system shop.
He turned and slipped back into the trees, following the path his companions had taken, a new, slightly used, but perfectly functional left arm swinging at his side, and a newfound sense of deeply illogical, system-enforced confidence filling his formerly terrified heart. He knew he should be shaken, but the metallic clink of those ten new system coins sounded sweeter than any spiritual music. He had a pact with a giant viper and a fresh Demonic Beast kill under his belt. This strange life was utterly terrifying, yes, but it was also, absurdly, lucrative.