My Guardian System: The Trader

Who will become the meal and the eater? These words repeated in his mind as he crawled towards the snake to finish it.

Shing!

Jem pierced the ground with a claw knife to help him pull his body forward. It was a difficult task for him but he managed somehow.

When he noticed the snake trying to escape, Jem took back the knife and pierced the snake's tail. Although it was a little scaly, the claw knife was very sharp and durable.

The snake hissed in pain. Then, it tried to free itself but failed as it was too weak to do it. Jem did not release his grip on the knife.

The Snake's only option was to drag him along. Still, the snake only managed to move a few seconds before it stopped moving on the ground, seemingly lost too much blood, and was defeated by exhaustion.

Finally, Jem got time to rest before he ended it for good using the knife. Honestly, he didn't look better. His body was so ragged. Gashes and bruises were all over his body. He was so lucky to win against it.

Familiar notifications appeared in his vision right after killing it.

[You killed a C-rank Beast Furious Black Snake!]

[Obtainable Parts: Black Scales, Furious Black Snake Skin, Snake Beast Fang, Snake Beast Meat!]

But aside from these notifications, there was a new one that excited him.

[Congratulations, Intimidation ability is now available in the Trading Shop!]

Jem went directly to the Trading Shop option. There he saw the newly unlocked Ability panel.

When he tapped on it, the system brought him to the list of skills, but at the moment, there was only one in it, the Intimidation ability.

"100 Trade Points?" Jem voiced out as he read the price. If he remembered correctly, he only had 70. But he checked on it just to become sure.

Right as he remembered, he had 70 Trade Points only.

But Jem did not mind it as he had in front of him the valuable materials he could trade. A grin was on his mouth as he began butchering the carcass of the dead Furious Black Snake.

"This is it, the law of the jungle. Though in reality, I am inside what seemed like a cave. So maybe it is more fit to say the law of the cave."

"Kill or be killed and eat or be eaten."

Jem voiced out his thoughts to lessen the boredom and lightened up his head that was about to overload and lose his sanity.

It was already applaudable that he was still sane even after all that he had suffered.

But Jem, himself, believed that only a little more and he would certainly lose it.

While he was thinking of such things, his hand didn't stop working.

He found out that shaving off the scales was quite a difficult task. But little by little, he showed development.

He noticed that the Furious Black Snake wasn't like a typical snake. Only around the half of its body towards the tail that the scales were on.

Jem wondered why it was like that. Perhaps it was still a young snake. If that was the case, then it also explained why its scales weren't so hard. Since the Rank-D beast and above wasn't your ordinary beast, it wasn't weird of him to think that it was still young.

Also, it was pierced easily by the claw from a lower rank beast. Maybe the scales had yet to mature, to become as hard as steel. Though soon, Jem Hansen took back his words. Not because the snake scales were truly tough. But because he noticed a scaleless part of the snake, to where he impaled it.

Looking at its dilapidated skin, it looked like it suffered an attack. Jem thought so after noticing that only on that part that scales had been shaved. Also, just by looking at it, he could assert that it forcibly was peeled off.

"It must be the work of a much stronger beast," his heart sank as he thought of the possibility.

Not only that, Jem noticed it wasn't an ordinary peeled-off. It seemed like something bit on it. Perhaps this snake managed to escape before it became a good meal by a stronger predator.

No wonder it looked so weak when Jem fought it. Even his slow attack was able to hit it.

Regardless, he could not loiter longer in this place knowing that such a dangerous creature lurking around. There was a high probability that whatever kind of powerful beast that attacked this snake was prowling nearby.

At this thought, he hurriedly butchered the snake without thinking any more unnecessary matters.

[You obtained a Black Scale!]

Each time he picked up a snake scale, this same notification appeared. But he had no time to count them. He traded it right away after picking it up.

Jem did not even bother checking the price. His intuition was demanding him to hurry. After selling off all the scales, next, he skimmed it for the skin.

Though, he was a little surprised when he came to the upper part of the snake. Specifically, the back part of it from head to the middle; in this part, the skin was elastic like a rubber.

But it only surprised him for a brief moment before he continued his task.

[You obtained Furious Black Snake Skin!]

It didn't take him long to skim it. But never expect professional work from him. He was only a tad bit above a newbie in this regard. Well, since he used to hunt animals in the mountain, at the back of their house. So, he had a little experience with butchering.

Still, a little experience can't make him good at this. He knows it.

Like the scales, he also traded it all without minding the price.

Last was the flesh.

Working with just a hand wasn't convenient; it took him longer than he expected, even though he wasn't meticulous in skimming it. There were even some leftovers. It was a waste of materials, but he had to think of his safety first.

Using the furry skin of Little Brown Swine and the rubber-like skin of Furious Black Snake, he made a DIY knapsack out of it.

He stored in it the Beast Cores of both the Little Brown Swine and the Furious Black Snake.

He also stored the leftover grilled meat of the Little Brown Swine.

Then he strapped it behind him.

Now he was ready to continue searching for the exit. But before he could step forward, he noticed something on the ground.

After picking it up, he found out that it was the fang of the snake. He also saw the other one near the boulder.

Jem traded it while walking along the path where he was initially going on.

He also did not forget to learn the Intimidation ability while on it.