As he sank into the deepest of slumbers, Murphy felt as if he were undergoing a long metamorphosis, lost in a daze.
Day after day, year after year, he transformed into a seasoned horseman within his dreams. His palms grew thick with calluses, and his arms became strong and powerful.
At first, he no longer needed to approach the feeding troughs. He could judge if the feed mixture was appropriate just by observing the rhythmic flexing of a horse's shoulder and neck muscles as it ate.
While other Grooms were still checking a horse's hunger by watching it or touching its belly, he could already gauge its digestive state with precision just by the clarity of its eyes.
Gradually, his skills became more and more refined. From several paces away, he could predict the onset of a cold merely from the frequency with which a horse's nostrils flared as it breathed.
He could detect signs of internal parasites three days in advance just by observing the subtle changes in the luster of a horse's coat.
While ordinary Grooms had to lift a hoof to find any problems, he could sense hidden ailments in the hooves just from the subtle shift in a horse's center of gravity as it stood.
And as the years passed, Murphy discovered he could perceive a horse's emotions without even touching it, relying only on signs so subtle they were nearly imperceptible.
When a horse at the other end of the stable merely twitched an ear, he could sense its faint unease.
When an unfamiliar horse had just stepped into the stable, he could even read its nervousness from the subtle rhythm of its breath.
This perceptive ability surpassed the experience of any ordinary horseman.
Other Grooms needed to touch a horse or observe its obvious body language to judge its mood. Murphy, however, only needed a glance from afar. He could capture their innermost feelings from the subtle changes in their eyes, the arc of a gently swishing tail, or even the minute shifts in their center of gravity as they stood.
A horse that appeared calm might, to his eyes, be suppressing agitation.
Conversely, he could tell that a horse pacing back and forth was actually full of vigor, not anxiety.
As years passed in the dream, Murphy's understanding of horses reached a state of near perfection...
SNARL!
When Murphy was jolted awake by a pungent, foul odor and a sudden, inexplicable sense of dread, he abruptly realized a greyish-brown wolf was lying in wait outside his shelter.
The beast was shockingly large, nearly 1.3 meters long and weighing at least thirty to forty kilograms. It had clearly been observing him for a long time.
The instant it saw Murphy open his eyes, it launched itself forward on its hind legs, gaping maw lunging straight for him!
But Murphy's reaction was unimaginably fast.
In the instant the wolf was airborne, he had already slipped out of the lean-to's low opening as slick as a fish.
What should have been a fatal pounce only shredded a few leaves from the shelter's roof. The sharp snap of the wolf's teeth colliding rang out with particular clarity in the early morning forest.
"Perfect timing."
A small smile touched Murphy's lips as he felt the power surging through his body.
He deliberately slowed his pace, luring the wolf into another attack.
The wolf took the bait. A low growl rumbled in its throat as it kicked powerfully off the ground, transforming into a grey shadow that shot toward him.
But this time, Murphy merely took a slight step to the side, and the wolf's claws brushed past the hem of his clothes.
In the moment they crossed paths, he even had the leisure to notice the look of shocked disbelief in the wolf's eyes as its attack missed.
The third time, the wolf was smarter. It feinted a lunge, then changed its attack at the last second, its sharp claws swiping at Murphy's legs.
To Murphy's eyes, however, the change in attack was laughably slow.
He retreated nimbly, scooping up a dead branch from the ground and striking the wolf squarely on the nose.
YELP!
The wolf recoiled in pain, a look of disbelief flashing in its eyes.
It couldn't understand how this seemingly frail human could toy with it so effortlessly.
Feeling the impact through the branch in his hand, Murphy gained a clear understanding of his enhanced abilities.
His strength had increased by nearly sixty percent. His mental faculties, which allowed him to sense the emotions of horses, and his reflexes were also far beyond what they were before.
He stopped holding back and took a step forward.
The wolf, intimidated by his sudden change in demeanor, actually took half a step back.
But the beast's ferocity quickly overcame its fear.
It bared its teeth, fur bristling, and gathered itself for a final, desperate lunge.
This time, Murphy didn't dodge.
As the wolf pounced, he ducked and lunged forward. His left hand seized the wolf's neck, while his right, balled into a fist, smashed down hard on the base of its skull.
With a dull thud, the wolf's attack came to an abrupt stop.
THUD, THUD, THUD!
After a few more punches, it collapsed limply to the ground. Its limbs twitched faintly, its eyes still holding a look of defiance and bewilderment.
Murphy stood in the midday sun, looking at the fallen wolf, then at himself, completely unscathed.
He remembered an old Groom once telling him that while wolves were ferocious, based on size alone, they were no match for a larger human.
It was just that defeating one without injury required extraordinary courage and skill.
And now, he had actually managed to kill it without taking a single scratch.
The shock of such a leap in strength left Murphy reeling for a long time.
He looked down, staring at his hands, as if he could still feel the astonishing power he had just unleashed with his fists.
'Is this the change brought by [Horse Trainer: Slightly Accomplished]?'
'Not only has my understanding of horses improved, but my physical abilities have also taken a quantum leap.'
'And this so-called "Slightly Accomplished" level of understanding is probably already on par with that of old Grooms with twenty or thirty years of experience.'
'No, this is a level that only the most gifted Grooms could ever hope to reach.'
'An ordinary Groom could never achieve this, no matter how long they worked with horses.'
'Especially that ability to sense a horse's emotions from a distance—even the Stable Master was nowhere near that level.'
Murphy clearly remembered that while the Stable Master was experienced, he still needed to get close to a horse, to touch and observe it carefully, to judge its condition.
'And now I can read a horse's subtlest emotional shifts with just a glance from afar. This ability is simply unimaginable.'
'It's probably enough to make me a Stable Master in the household of a Great Noble.'
'I wonder what kind of leap an even higher level of horsemanship than "Slightly Accomplished" would bring.'
At this thought, Murphy became even more certain he had made the right choice.
Option Two had seemed dangerous, but in reality, all he had to do was summon his courage and give it his all to earn such a generous reward.
If he had chosen to run away, he never would have received a reward like this.
Most importantly, this was only the beginning.
As long as he kept choosing Option Two and giving it his all, he would eventually succeed in his Cultivation and attain eternal life.
By then, he would be the true master of his own fate. He could refuse to eat beef if he wanted, and the humiliation Carter had suffered would never befall him.
Now then.
Murphy's gaze fell on the wolf's corpse. He considered eating some of the wild meat.
But after some thought, he decided against it.
Starting a fire or eating it raw would be a waste of both time and energy.
The system's reward had restored some of his stamina, and it was best to use it to escape the Twilight Mountain Range as quickly as possible.
Never mind whether the enemies who'd attacked the camp would give chase; it was only a few hours until sunset.
Spending the night in the wilderness was far too dangerous. Yesterday could only be described as good Luck—or perhaps a blessing from the system. But now that the reward had been granted, he couldn't count on having the same Luck again.
Having made up his mind, Murphy looked up at the sky. He used the Sun's position to get his bearings, then set off, heading back the way he came.
With his newfound strength, he moved with extraordinary ease. His steps were steady and light, and the mountain path that had once been rugged and difficult now seemed much smoother beneath his feet.
Just as he was about to cut through a dense thicket, a familiar cry for help suddenly drifted toward him on the wind.
Murphy stopped in his tracks.
'That voice... it sounds like Tommy Han's followers?'