Ten minutes later, Khrx was lying on the side of the road, munching on a biscuit while staring up at the sky. His limbs were splayed like a starfish, his tail curling up and down as a breeze passed over him. Not too far away, Swift’s Peak loomed over him. He finished chewing on his biscuit and swallowed before reaching over to the basket beside him, pulling out a wineskin filled with water. He drank half of it in one go and sighed as he wiped his mouth. “Why are my legs so short?” he muttered to himself, shaking his head while placing the wineskin on his chest, letting the cool feeling soak in. There were a few clouds in the sky, and Khrx squinted at them, trying to see if there were any outlines of winged cows. He couldn’t tell. He closed his eyes and let his mana sense take over. Compared to reality, the mana levels in [Resolution] were about the same, but there seemed to be a lot more budding earth spirits in [Resolution]. Tiny wind spirits filled the air, and the clouds were laden with mana. There was something inside of each cloud, and they all shivered as his mana sense touched upon them. Khrx mumbled, his eyes still closed, “So close, yet so far. I wish Lorin was here.”

“Hey.”

Khrx opened his eyes. A man dressed metal armor stood over him. Green camouflage clothes filled in the gaps between the armor. There was a shield strapped to the man’s back and a sword hanging from his waist. The soldier tilted his head. “Are you alright?”

Khrx sat up. His eyes lit up when he saw the horse standing by the side of the road. It was just an ordinary horse that he didn’t even notice with his mana sense, but it was a horse nonetheless. Khrx ignored the soldier and dragged the basket over to the horse. He pulled out a biscuit and held it in front of the horse’s mouth. It sniffed it before opening its mouth and leaning forward to take a bite. Khrx pulled the biscuit away at the last second, causing the horse’s teeth to clack. “If you want it, let me ride you.”

The horse snorted. “A child without the horseback-riding skill wishes to mount the noble me? If you know what’s best for you, hand over that biscuit.” It leaned forward and leered at Khrx.

“Kid…?” the soldier asked, raising an eyebrow. What was this child doing? He just wanted to check to see if the child was alright, but he decided to talk to his horse instead. Could a catlike beastkin even understand horse?

“A mere horse dares to rodomontade in front of the great me? Kneel for me!” Khrx raised his arm and slapped the horse’s muzzle. Its eyes widened to the size of saucers, tears forming in the corners. It let out a pitiful wail as its knees buckled, bringing its stomach to the ground. Khrx snorted twice as he took slow deliberate steps to the side of the horse, slinging the basket of food over his shoulder. He hopped onto the horse’s saddle and slapped its side. “Rise.”

The horse whimpered as it rose.

The soldier was speechless. One slap had instantly tamed his half-wild horse that he hadn’t had the chance to break in yet. By the time he could register what was happening, Khrx and his horse were already riding off into the distance. The soldier blinked and regained his senses, shaking his head. He knew roadside muggers were common, but he didn’t expect to be robbed by a child. At least he was already at his destination. The Regman soldier sighed as he walked down the road to Swift’s Peak.

Meanwhile, Khrx was reading the screen that had popped up when the horse started running. He had his legs wrapped around the horse’s side, squeezing the horse’s ribs to prevent himself from falling off.

[Skill acquired: Horseback Riding]

[Rarity: Common]

[Passive: You can ride a horse. As you become more proficient, the stamina of any horse you ride will increase. Current proficiency: Abhorrent. Your mount is in pain.]

“In pain?” Khrx raised an eyebrow. He patted the horse’s back. “Are you in pain?”

“Stop squeezing my ribs!” the horse wheezed as it trotted along. “My poor, poor ribs. My poor, graceful ribs. My crying, sobbing ribs. Oh, my ribs hurt so much. Please, stop hurting my ribs.”

“If I don’t squeeze your ribs, what’s stopping me from falling off?” Khrx asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. His ears swiveled like tiny beacons.

“Put your feet in the stirrups and grab the horn of the saddle,” the horse said, tears falling from its eyes. It let out a breath as Khrx’s feet stopped digging into its sides.

“My legs are too short,” Khrx said. They dangled above the stirrups, unable to make contact. So he squeezed them against the horse’s side again, much to its dismay. “You can only blame yourself for being taller than me.”

The horse let out a whimper as Khrx hung the basket on the saddle’s horn before leaning forward. He frowned as the horn pressed against his chest. How was he supposed to sleep with something digging into him? In one fluid motion, he released his legs, raised them up, and spun on his butt until he was facing the other way. He brought his legs back down, wrapping them around the horse’s side. “Keep following this road,” Khrx said as he leaned forward and hugged the horse’s haunch, resting his head near the horse’s dock. It didn’t take long for a line of drool to leak from his mouth, his limbs loosening as he fell deeper and deeper into sleep. Yet, the horse didn’t dare to slack off, continuing ahead on its course with its newfound owner. That single slap from Khrx had thoroughly terrorized it. It didn’t expect something so small to have greater strength than itself. It should’ve just accepted the deal with the biscuit instead of spouting nonsense, then it would’ve gained something at the very least. With a stomach full of regret, the horse pressed on to the city-state which was barely peeking over the horizon.