My Guardian System: The Trader

Chapter 13 - Fear And Resolution

<Be careful, Host. This monster called Furious Black Snake. It can intimidate his prey.>

Jem heard a warning. But he had no time to absorb it because the beast in front of him with the estimated length of 16ft hastily came charging towards him. Reflexively, Jem threw his body on his right to avoid it.

Though Jem Hansen successfully evaded the beast's attack, he did not notice when the tip of its scaly tail whipped on him. He felt a rib-crushing impact on his side. Jem was thrown like a ragdoll and rolled several times on the ground.

"Ngh…" he groaned in pain and groveled. The ground was chilly, yet all he could feel was intense pain on his side. The blood that splattered from his mouth tainted the ground. His vision turned quaky and blurry. He wanted to shout and scream, but even that was a difficult task for him. All he can do at the moment is to groan and bear the pain.

But Jem had no time to wait for the pain to subside. The beast was once again rushing towards him! It would be a sure death on him if he continued lying on the ground. He needed to evade, dodge, and avoid getting hit again. When he tried to look at it, he noticed the beast's fierce eyes gleamed, and it was hissing while rushing towards him. Jem's whole body shuddered in fright. He felt an inexplicable fear towards it. The sensation of getting frightened crept at the bottom of his very soul.

"Damn it…" Jem bit his lip as he forced himself to get up. "C-could it be the intimidation that the system mentioned?" Jem asked himself in suspicion.

He was so scared of those beasts that chased him the whole time after their blunder, but the fear he was feeling at the moment was so different. He could not even stare at it directly. He scowled just by looking at it. He wanted to run and hide, but his feet turned numb.

Looking at the gaping mouth and the long pointed pair of fangs, Jem felt his soul wanted to run away, ahead from his body. That mouth could certainly swallow him whole. Jem gave up on standing. He was as good as dead before he succeeded in it. Right after he rolled, the beast's massive gaping mouth passed an inch away from his head. He managed to survive somehow. But, if he did not choose to roll, it was over for him.

Since his mind was in chaos, Jem failed to control the force of the roll. Thus, he skidded a little. At the corner of his eyes, he noticed the hatchet beside him. It got away from his grip a while ago when the monster hit him.

Right after reaching out, the monster was already in the act of biting him. Jem felt a cold sensation trailed on his spine. The beast in front of him was like the incarnation of death itself. Once again, he bit his lip. He noticed after doing it a while ago, the fear he felt had lessened a little.

After biting his lip once more, his hypothesis was proven right. However, he had no time to evade or dodge the attack. Instinctively, Jem swung the hatchet to the incoming mouth of the predator.

*Thonk!*

Luckily, the stone head of the hatchet hit the monster's fang.

But Jem felt his attack did not have much force on it. Therefore, it did not cause severe damage to it. Still, that hit gave him a little time, but it was futile. The monster was able to punch him in the stomach, using its tail. Fortunately, Jem was able to use his Fortification ability in time. For that reason, the force was not as powerful as the tail-whipped a while ago.

Jem was once again found himself thrown away. His back landed on the and bounced a few times, then slid. "Ugh!" Jem groaned in pain. 'It's painful!' He thought with tears in his eyes. 'Why? Why did he have to suffer like this?' He wanted to rest. Should he let himself get killed, then be done with it? But he wanted to survive too. Even though Jem Hansen knew it was difficult in his current situation, he would never let himself get killed without giving his all. He would certainly give this monster a lot of pain before he succeeded in feasting on him.

Jem endured the pain and managed to lift his body in a sitting position. Yet, he grimaced. The enemy's fang was already a few inches away from his face. But Jem already resolved himself that he would not give this enemy an easy meal.

His eyes hastily rolled around. He noticed something underneath it. He did not waste more time and pulled it out of sudden with all his strength. It was the furry skin he looted from the Little Brown Swine.

The result of his action caused the monster to stagger. He did not think more and took the claw knife on his side. He then stabbed it. Jem felt the sensation of having the tip of the knife cut the monster's skin.

However, he noticed it was a shallow cut. The monster screamed an ear-piercing noise. Though, Jem wondered if it was a scream of pain or it was angry. Probably, both.

He felt his whole body turn stiff after the scream. Although his body was still aching, he must not show weakness in front of it. Jem stabbed his leg to lessen the effect of intimidation. While alerting himself, Jem's mind pondered briefly. If he chose to run now, there was a little percent that he could escape alive. But, the monster will surely come chasing after him. Is he confident of his speed? A little, even with his leg injury, however. The terrain was a big problem. He had no idea what kind of place was beyond here.

Jem put back the knife then hastily picked the furry skin. He dove to his side to avoid getting eaten by it. Using his arm, he pushed his body to get up immediately. The monster looked at him. But what greeted it was the furry skin. He threw on the monster's head. It was big enough to block its vision.

He rolled towards the monster and took the hatchet in the process. Then bashed the monster's head using it. A dull impact had transmitted on his hand. He noticed the monster's head swayed from left to right.

Jem grinned.