Three days of quiet recovery had left William restless in a way sleep alone couldn’t fix. His shoulder had healed enough to move freely, his stats sat comfortably ahead of where they’d been a week ago, and every hour spent cooped up in his apartment felt like time wasted against skills he still barely understood how to use.
’Training in the Realm only goes so far. I need to know how Doppelganger and Hellfire actually hold up against something that’s trying to kill me.’
He chose a Tower on the district’s northern edge, smaller and less trafficked than the one where everything had gone wrong, its first three floors rated low enough that solo hunters occasionally cleared them for practice rather than profit. Cerberus walked beside him in its puppy sized form, drawing the usual handful of curious glances and nothing more, and William felt something loosen in his chest at how easily the disguise still held.
’Floor one. Just testing, nothing reckless.’
The first floor manifested as rolling grassland dotted with low stone outcroppings, and it didn’t take long for William’s improved senses to catch the telltale pulse of nearby monsters, weaker signatures than anything from his last Tower visit, easy prey for a hunter with even modest ability.
"Time to see what you can actually do," William murmured, and Cerberus’s small form rippled with pale light, expanding back to its true size in the space of a breath, red eyes already scanning the grass ahead for movement.
A pack of horned rabbits broke from the outcroppings first, quick and aggressive despite their unassuming size, antlers sharp enough to gore an unwary hunter’s leg open. William focused inward, calling on Doppelganger before the pack closed distance, and felt that same disorienting split as two bodies formed from one, strength divided but still enough to matter against Common grade prey.
[Doppelganger Active: 2 Bodies]
[Combined Strength: 65% per body]
Both copies moved in tandem, one flanking left while Cerberus’s single form crashed through the pack’s center, jaws closing on the lead rabbit before it could react. William’s second copy caught a straggler trying to break for the treeline, tackling it down with strength that felt diminished but still more than sufficient against something this weak.
The fight ended in under a minute, the pack scattered or dead, and William released Doppelganger with a controlled breath rather than the exhausted collapse from his first attempt in the Realm.
’Better. Manageable, when I’m not fighting for my life at the same time.’ He flexed his hands, testing the fatigue settling into his limbs. ’Still costly, but I held the split through an entire fight this time without burning out halfway through.’
Cerberus finished off the last of the pack with a low burst of Hellfire, black flame licking hungrily across the creature’s fur before it stilled, and William watched the display with careful attention, cataloging the way the fire consumed rather than simply burned.
They pushed deeper across the floor, William alternating between direct combat and cautious use of his own Hellfire, testing the drain against his stamina in smaller, controlled bursts rather than the single reckless attempt back in the Realm. By the time they reached the floor’s descent point, his mana reserves had thinned considerably, but nothing about the exertion felt unsustainable the way it had during his first clumsy attempts.
It was on the second floor, a shallow cave system lit by faint phosphorescent fungus, that William’s aura sense caught something different from the grassland’s simple prey. A low, wary pulse, cautious rather than aggressive, tucked into a shadowed crevice near the cave’s rear wall.
"Something’s hiding back there," William murmured, and Cerberus’s ears pricked forward, following his lead rather than charging ahead uninvited.
They found it curled tight into the crevice, a small fox like creature with silver fur and unnervingly intelligent eyes, one foreleg held awkwardly against its body, clearly injured and clearly frightened, its aura registering as Uncommon grade rather than the Common grade prey they’d cleared so far.
[Target Identified: Silverfrost Fox (Uncommon Grade)]
[Condition: Injured, Weakened]
The fox bared its teeth at their approach, more warning than genuine threat given its condition, backing itself further into the crevice with nowhere left to retreat. William held up a hand, motioning Cerberus to stay back, and crouched slowly at a careful distance, letting his Taming Talent stretch outward the way it had a hundred times before, gentler this time, without the desperate force of the hollow.
’It’s hurt, not hostile. Might actually be willing, if I give it a reason to trust me instead of forcing the issue.’
[Tame (Mythical) — Activating]
[Target: Silverfrost Fox (Uncommon Grade) — Weakened, Wary]
[Resonance: Injured creature, non-hostile intent detected]
[Calculating Resistance...]
The fox’s ears flattened, a low growl building in its throat, but the resistance William felt pressing back against his reach was nothing like the crushing weight Cerberus had thrown against him in that hollow. This was hesitation, not defiance, a wounded animal weighing survival against instinctive distrust.
[Resistance: Low]
[Bond Attempt: 72%... 85%...]
William held perfectly still, letting the pull settle rather than forcing it, and after a long, tense moment the fox’s growl faded into something quieter, its tense posture easing by degrees as the bond took hold.
[SUCCESS]
[Silverfrost Fox (Uncommon Grade) has been Tamed]
[Taming Realm: 2/3 slots filled]
[Inheritance Available: Frost Step]
The fox crept forward cautiously, sniffing at William’s outstretched hand before pressing its head against his palm, some of the wariness in its posture finally bleeding away into something closer to trust. Behind him, Cerberus watched with what felt through the bond like quiet approval, an older guardian observing its master’s growth with patient satisfaction.
"That’s one down without nearly dying this time," William said, relief coloring his voice as he gently checked the fox’s injured leg. "Let’s get you somewhere safe to heal properly."
He called the Taming Realm forward, and the fox slipped through the opening rift without hesitation, already trusting the bond enough to follow where he led. Cerberus lingered a moment longer, red eyes fixed on William with an impression that felt distinctly like pride, before following the fox through into the quiet, dawn colored field beyond.
’Two slots filled. One left.’ William allowed himself a tired, genuine smile as he made his way back toward the floor’s descent point. ’And this time, nobody had to almost die to make it happen.’