Not once since Yuki had woken up in this world had she lamented the lack of a horn. The prevailing sentiment was that she was better without it. She was prettier without it. Yuki saw the trajectory of the weasel’s jump. If she had a horn, she could have positioned and let the enemy impale itself on it. That would’ve been the easiest choice. Alas, no horn. She hopped forward, past where the critter would land, and crouched, hind legs ready to thump it away.
The weasel sailed overhead, but contrary to Yuki’s expectations, it contorted midair, claws lashing out at her back.
She watched the movement, then took a small side hop away from the claws which grasped at empty air. Then, like a cat, it landed upright, facing Yuki.
Yuki’s hindlegs lashed out, and a delightful thump echoed, followed by the weasel’s squeal. That, she had to admit, felt incredible. Her thumpnators moved where she wanted, even if the power behind her thump was less than optimal. The degree of control over the movement was something she had never experienced in the before. She’d probably ace any paw-eye coordination test. Was this the effect of the Mind attribute?
A quiet, high-pitched growl heralded the next attack. The enemy jumped to the side and dashed, not toward Yuki but to a spot in front of her.
Yuki lost sight of the enemy for a moment. The intelligent little critter knew her most prominent blind spot was the area right in front of her face. She didn’t wait to see what else it would do; she hopped back and to the side. It took her a moment to locate the weasel; it had hidden itself amid brown leaves. She took a deep breath to calm down. It was, after all, just an animal. It had good instincts; it might have even worked if she wasn’t sapient. But as a former-human-turned-splendid-rabbit, she wouldn’t fall for such simple tricks.
Fear forgotten, Yuki’s heart pumped with adrenaline, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She leaped past the hidden weasel, and her thumpnators lashed out again mid-jump, harder, faster, stronger than before. It hit the weasel. The enemy squealed in pain.
Yuki landed triumphant. That felt good. Was she an unrealized bully?
In the before, she preferred solitude and virtual friends. She was never one for picking up fights unrelated to her obsessions, often choosing to give up on things if it meant avoiding confrontation. She basked in the feeling from her legs. That moment she hit the critter, the impact reverberated through her body, the squeal of pain in response. She wanted to do it again.
Oh god, she wasn’t right in the head. First was the need to control Bunbun. No, she had good reasons for that; Bunbun’s fur was something out of this world, and it would have been a sin not to. Now, she wanted to hit the weasel again. She wanted to hear it squeal again. She locked eyes with the weasel; it was still flat on the ground, hidden between leaves. Its ears swiveled, and its nose twitched.
Yuki’s body trembled in anticipation. The enemy was making this all too easy. They stared at each other.
The creaking of leaves behind was the only warning she got.
Yuki’s head snapped toward the sound. There, another weasel, this one smaller, already mid-jump toward her.
She leaped away, putting some distance between herself and the new attacker. This might complicate things. Two enemies at once might be more than she bargained for. Movement in her peripheral vision startled Yuki into dodging, but it was too late.
Pain spread on her shoulder, near the neck. Claws dug into her back, and the weasel’s elongated body tried to wrap around Yuki in a deadly embrace. She screeched like a trapped rabbit.
A slurry of notifications scrolled past the corner of her vision. The messages blinked, demanding attention. Yuki had none to spare.
The hunter held firm on the bite and tried to trap Yuki. Right then and there, Yuki decided that if she survived this, she would have learned at least one thing... She might be on the sadistic side, but pain wasn’t her cup of tea. She bucked and twisted, hind limbs lashing out at the grappler’s midriff.
The weasel grunted but didn’t let go. Even so, it was sent away, ripping off a piece of Yuki’s pelt.
Yuki cried out, her flesh torn apart by implacable teeth. She had to jump away again to avoid the second weasel that lunged toward her. She landed, pain flaring in her front leg. She stumbled but caught herself before falling on her face.
The trio stopped and stared at each other. Yuki contemplated what to do. The cheeky little murderer eating her flesh decided for her.
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She stood on her hind legs, ‘arms’ moving in crisp, forceful movements. She sang the magic mantra. She felt the power building into her core.
Her audience also stood, ears and nose twitching in her direction. Beady eyes promised murder, but for now, they seemed more intrigued by her strange movements than ready to pounce again.
Yuki didn’t waste the opportunity. She finished the magic, having made her choices on instinct. She increased the spell’s range; she wasn’t keen on tangling with the weasels anymore. There was one last detail to decide: how would the magic manifest in the world? She smiled sardonically and made the spell look like Bunbun. It seemed fitting.
The bunny sorceress unleashed the magic.
A spectral, half-translucent, red-eyed rabbit sprang forth, tentacles of inky darkness sprouting from its body. In the blink of an eye, it was already at the destination. The apparition lowered its head, then impaled the weasel holding a piece of Yuki’s flesh in its paws.
The weasel keened in pain. It fell, contorting. The apparition didn’t relent; it pounced, its mouth opening more than should have been possible for a rabbit, and then it bit down. There was a crunch, and Yuki saw the weasel’s head had been pierced and smashed. Startled, Yuki released her grip on the magic. The apparition disappeared, but the spell still was far from spent.
The second weasel bolted.
Yuki was too surprised to stop it from leaving. She had the sneaking suspicion the spell was a teensy-weensy bit evil.
Morbid curiosity drove Yuki to inspect her kill. It would not be surprising if the critter disappeared in a puff of smoke and left behind a treasure chest. It didn’t. The gory mess was still there when she got closer.
The coppery scent of blood and the vanilla scent of her magic power assaulted her nostrils. It wasn’t unpleasant; it even made Yuki wish for vanilla ice cream; even if her human sensibilities were screaming, the smell was wrong. She took one last look and one last sniff. Then she hopped away until she found a thick shrub to hide beneath.
Immediately, her heart calmed down. She felt safe. Rabbits and wide-open terrain didn’t go together. She concentrated on the blinking system notification. It was best to tackle the annoying ones first.
Brown-tailed weasel bit you.
You suffered a Minor Wound.
Brown-tailed weasel is now Grappling you.
You managed to dislodge the enemy.
You suffered a Minor Wound.
You invoked the spell [Wrack].
Your spell inflicted damage on the enemy.
Your spell inflicted damage on the enemy.
Brown-tailed weasel died.
You’ve gained 10 experience points.
Yuki glared at the last line of the log, willing the numbers to change. It didn’t. She kept glaring. The numbers stubbornly remained the same.
Ten experience points. She almost died, and that was worth only ten experience points.
Yuki closed her eyes and then decided to ignore the logs. Too many words, and not all that helpful at that! Who had time to read lines and lines of redundant text? A new notification popped up in her vision.
Verbose log disabled.
Nice. Yuki hadn’t tried, but would the system listen now if she talked to it?
“Hello, system. How are you doing?”
No additional notification popped up. No other lines in the log. She decided to check the differences in her landing page.
“Status.”
Immediately, Yuki saw differences. The green glow now surrounding the white rabbit had a red splotch, exactly where the weasel had bitten her. She saw other text there as well, below the rabbit.
Fatigue level: Winded.
Yuki paid attention to her own body. Her legs were sore, and the wound hurt. She still hadn’t fully calmed down after the chase and fight. Winded sounded about right.
Next, she looked at the skill gains:
Thump (A): 1 ? 3.
Invocation (A): 3 ? 4.
Shaping (A): 3 ? 4.
New skills learned.
Evade (A): 0 ? 2.
Resist: Fear (A): 0 ? 2.
Resist: Pain (A): 0 ? 1.
That confirmed Yuki’s assumption. The system punished mindless grinding and rewarded risks. Or that’s what she could determine based upon her having improved this much after a single small fight.
Lastly, Yuki looked at her mana situation. The goblet was still past half full. Mana: 13/20. She looked at her experience counter, then toward where the other weasel fled.
The spell would last a few minutes yet.
Dark thoughts churned inside Yuki’s mind.
A notification blinked in front of her eyes.
New quest received.
New quest: Hunt.
Description: Being a rabbit isn’t easy. You have, however, decided that instead of prey, you are the monster that prey on cute, innocent critters. Hunt those that intrude on your domain.
Reward: Experience.
Animals hunted: 0 / 10
Yuki read and re-read the quest, then dismissed the notification.
Without waiting, she hopped in the same direction the weasel had run off to.
