Is this really a Game?!

Beast stepped forward and summoned his dragon, which immediately appeared next to him, its shimmering scales glistening under the sun as it surveyed the scene. The dragon exuded an aura of superiority and power, the aura alone enough to cause a great scene in the ranch as the animals immediately got restless.

"Beast, make it turn smaller and have it seal its aura inside its body, otherwise the animals are going to go crazy!" Shadow quickly yelled as the dragon started getting smaller and smaller while glancing over at Shadow with a calm expression, its eyes showing slight disdain at Shadow who was staring right back at it.

"Yo, why are you looking at me like that?" Shadow asked the dragon which now looked like a regular snake that was floating in the air.

"Dumb looking human." A voice echoed from the mouth of the dragon, causing Reign and the others to stare at it.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you that it recently managed to learn how to speak, the mark seems to have helped with that," Beast said as he glanced over at Reign and the others who nodded their heads at him.

"I see, I see."

"A smart dragon, huh?"

"No, a very dumb flying snake," Shadow said without batting an eyelid as he and the dragon stared at one another with the clear disdain they held for one another.

"Alright, enough, have it control the water of the pond, we need to be quick." Reign said as the dragon glanced at the pond, its blue eyes shining slightly.

The once-chaotic surface of the pond calmed immediately, the waves smoothing out as the dragon used its abilities to contain the ducks. With a flick of its tail, the water surged upward in a controlled spiral, gently capturing each duck as they flapped around in confusion. The ducks, unable to move with the same reckless abandon as before, were now trapped in the water spiral, floating helplessly.

Mia took the cue and began freezing the water. Ice formed quickly, solidifying the ducks in place without harming them. In mere seconds, the chaos was over, the ducks were safely immobilized within the frozen water. They quacked and flapped their wings in mild annoyance but were otherwise unharmed.

"That should keep them in check," Beast said with a nod of approval, his dragon retracting back to his side. "They can cool off for a bit, literally."

"Good thinking," Reign said, watching as the ducks stopped struggling. "At least we don't have to worry about them causing more damage for now."

The group breathed a collective sigh of relief as they watched the ducks safely immobilized in the ice. For the moment, the chaos had been contained, but they knew the peace wouldn't last long. The trial wasn't about to get easier, and the growing unpredictability of the animals kept them on edge.

"Let's not get too comfortable," Jin said, ever the tactician. "We managed to handle the ducks and the cows, but the rest of the animals could act up at any moment. We still have a full day and night ahead."

Reign nodded, scanning the ranch. "The animals seem to get agitated in waves, the system is probably doing so in order to make it somewhat easier for us. The key is staying ahead of it."

Wolf cracked his neck, his golden flames flickering faintly around his hands. "We'll be ready. We can't let our guard down for even a second, though. It's like babysitting a ticking time bomb."

"That's what worries me," Reign replied, his eyes narrowing. "The system might throw another curveball at us before this is over. We should prepare for anything."

The group nodded in agreement, silently acknowledging the weight of the unknown looming over them. The trial had been anything but straightforward, and their patience was being tested to its limits.

As the hours dragged on, they settled into a routine, constantly rotating between monitoring the animals, reinforcing structures, and calming down the occasional outburst from the more aggressive mutants.

There were more than double the outbursts compared to the previous day, and as the day neared the end, Reign and the others were clearly tired, having used quite a bit of energy and mana in order to keep the animals in check.

The sun had already begun to set, casting long shadows across the ranch. The peaceful silence was misleading, with the threat of chaos always simmering beneath the surface. Just when the group began to think they had everything under control, the ground beneath them trembled.

"An earthquake?" Shadow said, looking around, alert and ready to act.

"No... this feels different," Reign replied, his senses heightened. "It's not the ground. It's something else."

Before anyone could respond, a loud, thunderous roar echoed from the distance, making the very air around them vibrate. The animals, which had been relatively calm, immediately reacted. The pigs started squealing, the cows bellowed in fear, and even the ducks quacked nervously in their frozen containment.

Beast turned toward the sound, his eyes wide. "That... wasn't one of our animals."

"No, it wasn't," Reign said grimly. "Everyone, get ready. Whatever that was, it's coming."

The group snapped into action. Mia formed a perimeter of ice around the pens to keep the animals contained. Wolf's chaos flames roared to life as he positioned himself at the front with Tank, who readied his massive shield. Shadow, Beast, and Jin took positions around the animals, their eyes scanning the horizon for whatever was approaching.

Then, out of the dimming light of dusk, the source of the roar came into view. A massive creature, unlike anything they had encountered so far, stomped its way toward the ranch. It resembled a bull, but it was at least four times the size of any normal one, with molten lava-like veins running along its blackened hide. Its horns were twisted and jagged, glowing faintly with an eerie crimson light.

Its eyes burned with a fierce, unnatural rage.

"What the hell is that?" Beast muttered, his voice filled with both awe and dread.

"Looks like the system didn't want us to get too comfortable," Jin said, his tone tense. "That thing is no ordinary mutant. It's something else entirely."

"Whatever it is, we can't let it get near the ranch," Reign said, his voice firm. "If it gets into the animals, it'll be chaos."

"Guess we're not just babysitting after all," Wolf said, his chaos flames intensifying. "Let's take it down."

Ding!

[ The ranch has received a new animal ]

[ Lava Bison has arrived, please calm it down and find it a good spot in the ranch. ]

"We need to calm this thing down and keep it in the ranch?!" Continue your adventure at empire

"I don't think any manner of reinforcing will be enough to keep it inside, not to mention that this thing might be able to destroy the fences just by getting close to them, the temperature around its body is quite high, the fences might combust in its presence," Wolf stated as the others nodded and charged forward.

The bison was still outside, getting closer to the ranch.

The beast charged, its massive hooves tearing up the earth as it barreled toward them with terrifying speed. Reign leaped forward, his swords glowing with energy as he intercepted the creature, aiming for its legs to trip it up. But the moment his swords made contact, the beast's molten hide flared with energy, repelling the attack and sending Reign skidding backward.

"Damn, it's tougher than I thought," Reign muttered, steadying himself and striking at the bison again, of course, hitting with the wide part of his swords in order to not really wound the animal.

The Lava Bison roared, its molten eyes glowing with intensity as Reign's second strike landed. His swords clanged against the bison's rocky, molten hide, producing sparks but doing little to stop its momentum. The heat radiating from its body was almost unbearable, and Reign could feel the air around him distorting from the temperature.

Despite this, he managed to stay on his feet, sliding backward with the impact but regaining his balance swiftly.

"This thing is tougher than anything we've dealt with here," Reign shouted, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the situation. "It's going to be hard to calm it down!"

Wolf, standing nearby, grinned as his flames flickered around his fists. "Good. I needed something a bit more challenging!" With a roar of his own, Wolf charged forward, his body engulfed in golden flames. He launched a powerful punch aimed at the bison's side, hoping to at least stagger it.

The bison barely flinched. Instead, its hide absorbed the energy and flames from Wolf's attack, and the beast let out another earth-shaking bellow, its molten veins glowing brighter in response to the strike. Wolf skidded back, surprised by how little damage he had done.

"Careful, it is absorbing your flames, don't use them against it!" Jin said as he quickly arrived next to the bison and punched it from the other side, causing it to slide for a couple of meters and huff in anger as it stared at him.