A few minutes later, Josh could hear the sound of galloping. That's when a peerless jade beauty appeared on the horizon. She was so beautiful! He couldn't help but gasp in admiration.
If she dared call herself number two in terms of grace and good looks, no one would have dared to claim number one. She was so elegant with her penetrating and intelligent eyes, her cute braided hairstyle, and her well-defined figure with curves in all the right places.
She looked like a princess straight out of a fairytale. She had a white coat, a pure aura, a white mane, four powerful legs, and a long face. This horse was so white that it would have never figured in a Neetflix adaptation!
"Stunning, isn't she?" Linda murmured.
"Yes, very," Josh admitted.
"She's a member of the B-Rank Basilisk."
"Are we both talking about the horse here?"
Apparently not. There was a moment of awkward silence. Josh could understand where the confusion came from.
The rider had pretty dark hair, delicate features, and she too looked like a princess somewhat. But, Josh quickly disregarded her. She was stylish but also had an air of arrogance to her. He could feel it.
Thus, he simply kept observing the horse with a glint in his eyes. This one was so much harder to read than the others. Perhaps because it had done competitions? This creature oozed elegance and discipline!
That's how he began to stare heatedly, very obviously. He felt like he was confronted with an alluring mystery, one that he was about to solve.
That's when the horse finally came to a halt. He couldn't help but advance toward it. Just as he was a few meters away, a cold voice tinged with anger was heard.
"Have you no shame, you disgusting man! Do you think I'm blind? I saw you stare at my ass all this while! Leave this place right now! Otherwise, I'll send you back home crawling with your teeth in your hands."
Josh smiled slightly, but his eyes remained cold. "They say pretty roses have thorns. I have to say it's pretty refreshing to see you get away from that stereotype. You'd be a 'Gastrodia Agnicellus' with thorns instead."
"What are you blabbing about?!"
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That's when Linda jogged over, trying to stop the pointless conflict.
"Lydia, wait for a second! I'm pretty sure he was staring at Izabella rather than you. It's a misunderstanding. He's been observing the other horses too, see!" She pointed at the animals that were now curiously watching them.
"Tch, he should still apologize for causing a misunderstanding in the first place." She pouted before continuing. "Right, what flower did you call me before? Gastrodia Agni—something." She happily looked it up.
No pretty lady disliked being compared to a flower, especially if the compliment was personally tailored to them according to symbolism. Except, as she pulled a picture of it, she couldn't help but retch as it was simply way too disgusting!
Before she could overcome her shock and disgust, Josh smilingly added:
"Yes, It's a misunderstanding. There is no way I would show any interest in such a self-absorbed, arrogant, and blind woman such as yourself." He then turned around, heading to play with the cute donkey.
As far as Josh was concerned, he had already accomplished his objective here. He didn't want to become a horse expert, but just to brush up his equestrian body language reading. That's when came a shrill scream behind him.
"How dare you, asshole! I'll beat you up!" That's when she guided her horse to charge forward while fiercely summoning a spear.
Josh could feel the oppressive aura she emanated and a tinge of killing intent.
She seemed way higher level than him. Could Josh defeat her? Perhaps, but it would not be an easy fight.
There was one good point. She was riding a mortal horse, no matter how strong she was as a Climber. From an outsider's point of view, the scene that followed would have seemed like an illusion or a nightmarish one.
Josh first activated his Piercing Eyes skill to render his eyes glowing red. Then, he summoned his bloodstained outfit. He began dripping with blood, reminding one of the scariest horror movies. Finally, he released lots of killing intent.
The most important remained the timing. He activated all three just long enough to appear like a mirage or even a trick of the mind. "Go to sleep." Suddenly, the horse neighed as it reared, throwing its rider straight to the ground.
THUD!
Her ass crashed on the ground making a heavy sound. Her shocked expression was priceless. What had happened?! She didn't know. She saw a red flash, she saw blood, and she felt death.
She began shivering. Somehow, facing that man felt like being in the Tower again. In her dismay, she remained on the floor.
That's when her horse became unsteady on its feet. It took a single step backward in fright before collapsing. Its eyes were rolled up, it had foam at the mouth, its tongue was out, and that's when it fell on its mistress, almost impaling itself unto her spear.
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"What's wrong, Izabella?! No! C'mon, get up! You can do it! Open your eyes! Don't go! Noooo!" She began half screaming and half crying.
What the Hell?! Was the horse going to be fine? He had barely shown his killing intent for a fraction of a second. Surely it wasn't that effective, right?! Was it the bloodstained outfit?!
Linda rushed next to the horse, showing a worried expression. "She's still alive. It's weird. It's almost as if she's in a …coma?! How did that happen?!"
"I charged at him and…Ah! We need to call an ambulance first!" Josh saw her steady herself. She was evidently struggling to do so, but she did. About 10 minutes later, there was a flying ship landing right next to them.
A medic hurriedly shouted directives: "Quick! Get the horse in here!" Josh naturally complied. As much as he disliked the girl, he had just possibly killed her horse. He would at least make this small effort.
Before long, they were at the general hospital. Why had they come here with a horse as a patient? What had happened to veterinarians? Whatever there would be another time for that.
They actually put the big horse on a rolling cart, bringing it all the way to a white table with lots of tools to operate, or so it seems in a small private room.
That is when a doctor took a huge tube with a needle in front. Then he inserted it very deeply in the equine patient. They all awaited the rest of the operation. That's when the doctor began leaving.
"Where are you going?! Is she going to be fine?" The girl asked the doctor.
"Honestly, it's impossible to know. On all accounts, this horse is healthy. We are giving it a solution to take care of its body, but it's not doing anything. This must be hard for you. Eh, stay strong."
Josh was already in the process of leaving the place. What could he do better than a doctor? Would he remaining there help in any way? Definitely not. That's when the doors clanged violently as the lady entered the corridor, spotting Josh.
She stepped forward with haste. Was she going to assault Josh right there?! This was a public space!
He expected her to scream in rage. He expected her to attack! He expected her to do anything, but what followed. She dropped to the ground, kneeling.
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"I don't know what you did, and I don't care! Please save her! Would you please save Izabella? I won't ever try to take revenge. You can do whatever you want with me! You can have my money! I'll serve you! I'll give you my body! I'll—"
"I'm not even sure what happened myself. You charged at me, I took a fighting stance and—"
"I don't care! Please try! Just try!" She howled in lamentation. The snobbish and arrogant girl was nowhere to be seen. She was just a loving girl that wanted her friend back—nothing else.
Nodding, Josh headed toward the room where the horse rested. It appeared to be sleeping peacefully. But at this rate, it would perish like this. How was he supposed to do anything?
He couldn't help but give a self-deprecating smile. No matter how much he racked his brain, it was all useless. He came closer and slightly caressed the creature. There was one thing he could do, to apologize.
"Sorry, I'm sorry." He felt like shit. He didn't mind killing, but he hated killing a target involuntarily. It left a bad aftertaste inside his mouth.
That is when Josh suddenly had a thought. It did not make sense at all. It was incredibly ridiculous. The horse had gone into a coma when he had told it to sleep, right? He summoned his outfit, killing intent and Piercing eyes.
The atmosphere in the room became intolerable. It was akin to hell on earth, or that's how it felt.
He then simply approached the creature: "Enough sleeping, it's time to wake up." He murmured. As if that was going to work!
That's when the horse opened its eyes. They were clear, without any shadow. Had it just been awaiting the permission to wake up all this time?! What would have happened to it if Josh had just left?
That is when Josh heard a cry. Then a delicate body threw itself his way. He was sandwiched between the girl and the horse.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! Thank You!.." She kept repeating that over and over. Still, her hug was so very warm and her sincerity touching. It was 100% pure relief and emotions.
As Josh was 'prisoner' of the woman's embrace, he left his thoughts to wander toward the Tower. It was really time for him to Climb...
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[A/N] Golden Ticket Update: these will probably have an awesome effect on the novel. If you have any please throw a few this way! =) As for Goals we'll see, maybe art? Thoughts? (PS: Trying to increase efficiency to 3/day atm, while keeping the same word count, haven't forgotten)
Creator's Thought
Sometimes I would tell this story to some acquaintances. For some reason, they always had the same reaction. It went : - When the Devil tells you to sleep, you fucking sleep. - When the Devil asks you to wake up, you fucking wake up. - If you have to pick between the literal Devil and Josh Malum to disappoint = Devil 100%.