Supreme BeastTamer: I Can Copy and Upgrade Skills 10x!

Nox's dagger flashed through the air as the Crimson Scourge Ant Queen closed in. Her spear shot forward in a red blur, aiming to impale his heart.

It was a deadly move, one that would end him very quickly. The ant queen was so fast, almost as fast as Hendrix. He didn't even see when she closed the gap between them. He had only attacked following his instincts, thus failing to block his chest.

"Shit! I got too confident!" Nox cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth as he stepped to the side, trying to minimize the damage. The spear tip slashed across his chest, spilling blood on the ground.

[-5HP]

[Ding! You have been poisoned]

[For each second, you'll lose 1 HP. To halt the HP reduction, acquire the antidote from the Ant Queen.]

[-1HP]

[-1HP]

"What the fuck!" Nox's eyes widened, but he didn't have time to ponder his predicament as the spear flashed through the air again.

This time, Nox was prepared. He used his shield to parry the spear, a loud clang ringing out. Nox panted heavily as he locked gazes with the ant queen. They stared at each other before red text covered his vision.

[-1HP]

The text was a rude awakening, and they resumed their fight. Nox clenched the dagger in his hands. He needed to finish the fight fast.

What happened when HP hit zero?

It was death!

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Nox's dagger split the air, flashing toward the ant queen. He closed the gap with each slash and used the shield to bash her head when he was close enough.

However, the ant queen was no pushover. She dodged, parried, and countered every attack Nox threw at her. Her spear flashed toward him, giving him mere seconds to react. Her movements were fluid, almost serpentine, as she evaded all of Nox's attacks.

[-1HP]

Coupled with his futile attempts and decreasing HP, Nox's irritation was slowly building up, and he was getting more annoyed, which made his thought process convoluted.

"I need to make her give me that antidote. If this continues, I'll die here!" Nox thought as he thrust his dagger forward, aiming at her exposed chest. But she twisted her body, and his dagger stabbed the air with a low whoosh.

'Dammit!'

The ant queen smiled triumphantly and thrust her spear at Nox's exposed chest, aiming for the same spot as before. As the spear was about to reach its target, her expression distorted as his shield viciously bashed into her face.

BANG!

[-1HP]

"Got you!"

As she staggered back, Nox lunged forward, his dagger poised for a strike. In her momentarily stunned state, the blade effortlessly wounded her chest, spilling her blood.

"Did you think you were the only one with a poisoned weapon?" Nox taunted as he savagely bashed the head of the Ant Queen, disregarding that she was a girl. Nox was no gentleman. Regardless of gender, Nox believed in equality!

He didn't stop and continued ramming her skull, causing her spear to fly from her hand. Nox caught it and plunged the spear directly into her chest.

[-20HP]

[Critical Hit]

Green blood splattered Nox's face, but he didn't mind and raised the spear. If he wanted to tame her, he had to weaken her considerably so she wouldn't resist. However, as he was about to strike the final blow, something happened…

She vanished!

"Dammit!" Nox cursed as the spear lodged deep in the ground. But there was no message announcing an HP reduction or a painful moan.

'Fuck, she used the invisibility skill,' Nox thought.

Earlier, he used [Analyze] on the ant queen, hoping she wouldn't use this skill.

'There is nothing more frustrating than fighting an invisible opponent.'

Although he lacked extensive battle experience, Nox instinctively knew this and kept his guard up, looking around.

"She's invisible, not indestructible. If only I could—" Nox's eyes shot open as a swarm of razor-sharp stingers flashed towards him from thin air.

The attack was so sudden that Nox clenched his teeth and braced himself for the pain.

"Argh!" Nox felt blinding pain shoot through his body as the stingers stabbed him. As if that wasn't enough, several red messages flashed before his eyes.

[-10HP]

[-2HP]

[-2HP]

[HP: 10/40]

Thirteen: [???]

Fluffington: [Brat???!]

The two beasts momentarily stopped in their tracks and looked at Nox, who was in pain. Although he didn't scream loudly, they could feel the internal torture he was passing through at this moment.

Thirteen's eyes blazed; he was about to run back and deal with the beast causing his papa this pain. Even Fluffington shared the same thought process.

Sensing their intentions, Nox issued a stern telepathic warning: 'Keep fighting. If you want to help me, spare no ant!'

[Fight, Fight, FIGHT!!] Thirteen repeated like a broken tape as he rushed into the horde, fighting tooth and nail. His eyes became so fierce and savage that the poor ants cursed whoever had created this war machine.

Since fighting was the only way to help his father, Thirteen swore to eliminate every single ant.

Fluffington hesitated, but slowly it also turned and joined the fight.

Nox nodded and turned his gaze to the empty spot where the stingers had come from.

"Since you want to be brutally beaten before I tame you, so be it!" Nox's dark eyes glowed intensely.

[Mimicry Activated!]

[Target: Crimson Scourge Ant Queen - Successfully copied Skill Improved Camouflage!]

[Improved Camouflage: user can blend into her surroundings, becoming 'nearly' invisible for 30 seconds. Cost 20 MP to activate, plus -2 MP per second activated. Cooldown: 2 minutes]

[10x upgrade detected new skill]

[Upgrading Improved Camouflage x10!]

[Ding! You've Awakened Phantom Cloak!]

[Phantom Cloak Description(Ultimate Skill): The user becomes "completely" invisible for up to 5 minutes. While in this state, they gain +10 increase in Agility and can pass through solid objects; also gain the ability to turn any object invisible. MP Cost: 20 MP to activate, plus -5 MP per second Activated. Cooldown: 3 minutes]

[Do you wish to keep this skill or bestow it to a pet?]

'I barely have ten seconds before my HP hits zero, let's finish this real quick! Keep it!'

Immediately after he said it, Nox turned invisible, stunning the ant queen as a cold shudder ran down her spine. In her stunned state, her camouflage duration ended, and she became visible.

Escape! Escape! The ant queen's instincts screamed at her to escape. Having a similar skill, she knew how helpless her prey felt when she used it. Now that she was the prey, she didn't want to suffer the same fate.

Desperately, she started shooting a swarm of stingers from her lower abdomen in all directions, hoping to impale Nox, as even in an invisible state, he could still be hit.

However, with his increased agility, Nox swiftly evaded all the stingers. Even the ones that managed to reach him were cut down by his trusty, invisible dagger.

With a burst of speed, he closed in on the panicked ant queen and drove the red spear into her chest.

[-40HP]

[Critical Hit]

SPLAT!

Green blood splattered his face, some of it touching his lips. When this happened, he received a message that the poison had been neutralized, stopping his HP from decreasing.

At that exact moment, even Fluffington and Thirteen finished dealing with the rest of the ants.

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[Mimicry capacity increased +2]

[Taming capacity increased +2]

"Hehehe, this is one of the most exciting parts of being a beast tamer. I can get EXP through my beasts. Even if I start being lazy, my beasts can always farm EXP for me." Nox smiled as he wiped the green blood off his face and looked at the ant queen. He then squatted and placed his hand on her.

As he began taming the beast, something strange happened.

'Huh? Where is this? How did I even get here?' Nox looked around with a lost expression.