“Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck.” I cried as I sliced my sword through the air. Trying as hard as I could to land a hit on one of the creatures as they flew past me. Nearly every strike missed as they somehow managed to move in the air. Each such shift allowed them to dodge my blade before they vanished back into the bushes. Slowly, the mass of creatures pushed me back. Almost as if they were being coordinated to drive me into a trap or corner.

  There was nothing behind me but the crater and it was coming up fast. The ground near me was already showing signs of the dirt my fireball had thrown into the air. Slowly, the dirt itself started to grow softer. Soon enough, over the sound of the plants rustling, I heard the sound of rocks tumbling down an incline. It was a sound that increased in intensity and duration as I got closer to the edge.

  As I saw it, I had four options here. I could stand my ground and hope for the best. Not that I thought I had much chance. They were utilizing hit-and-run tactics. Something that I was not trained for nor capable of countering.

  Then there was the option to run. Just put my sword in my inventory and take off at a flat sprint for the safety of the wall. It wasn’t that far of a run but I didn’t see myself as capable of making it even down the hill, let alone to the wall. Not when these things moved fast enough that I could barely see them.

  Of course, I could charge them. Take the initiative back. In most games I had played, such a move would usually confuse an attacker long enough to get a few good hits in. Only, I was facing an unknown, but not small, number of bunnies. If I didn’t manage to kill or hurt a significant number of them, I was dead.

  Lastly, I could turn and run toward the pit. Get down into it and to the center. As mentioned before, running was probably not a good idea, however, doing so here might give me the one or two things I needed if I was going to have a chance at survival. It would force the things out from their cover. After all, where would they be able to hide if there were no more plants to use? With the ability to see my attackers, I could get a count of how many I was up against as well as react to any attack before it came rather than react to the sound of grass as the creature started its charge.

  After a flurry of charging creatures disappeared into the grass, I saw my opportunity. Without hesitation, I turned tail and sprinted the last few feet that separated me from the edge of the crater and jumped. I was both horrified and surprised by just how far I managed to make it before my feet slammed into the ground. Off balance and unable to compensate for the amount of momentum I had built up, my body continued forward. Within moments, my face was deep in the dirt as I slid another foot.

  Down and practically defenseless, I spit dirt out of my mouth as I rolled to the left. As soon as I managed to get onto my back I lifted my blade up just as a fluffy brown missile flew past me. Judging by how my blade tugged at my hand and the splatter of liquid I heard above me, I managed to hit it somewhere. Hopefully a vital spot.

  Suddenly the world went silent. It was as if even the very air was waiting to see what was going to happen next. Given the opportunity, I slowly stood as I took a look around me. Bunnies of every earthly color were lined up on the edge of the pit. They all stood stock still as they watched me. Each of their beady eyes drilled into me as one. There had to be at least a hundred of the things.

  The largest five bunnies in the group were spread out but, as one, they lifted a single long foot. They struck the dirt as one with enough force that I could see the ripples in the very walls below them. Within a second, the rest of the bunnies repeated the stomp.

  The sound they made wasn’t as well coordinated as the first five, but it was nearly as powerful. A cascade of dirt and stone hit my legs as the sound echoed back from the other side of the crater. The first five repeat their stomp and are quickly copied by the rest. Over and over, faster and faster, the bunnies repeated this call and answer until eventually, it sounded like rolling thunder.

  As soon as I took a step back they froze. Not one or two but every single foot just stopped. Thoroughly creeped out, I contemplated throwing a fireball and killing everything here. And I do mean everything. I was under no illusion that such an explosion would kill me just as quickly and easily as the rest of these creatures. Maybe I should keep that as a backup plan. Albeit one that I hoped I would not have to use.

  Now that I thought about it, maybe using my mana wasn’t a bad idea. Not for killing the bunnies, at least not directly, but to enhance my body. In fact, enhancing my entire body might be the only way I could make it through this. Of course, that begs the question of whether or not I had enough mana to pull it off. With a glance at the two bars in the corner, I got some good and bad news.

  Turns out, even if the bunnies had only been headbutting me, they had been doing some damage. My HP was already down to half. That was the bad news. The good news was that my mana was also approaching half. While I could use the spell, I would have to be careful how often I did so. I almost wished that there was a way to restrict how much mana flowed into such spells. Maybe when I got back to town I would ask Mindi or Barti if there was a way to do so.

  As I thought that, I realized that I would go back. It hadn’t been her fault that she had to do that to me. It was something that had been drilled into her. Plus, I needed the training and they were knowledgeable and free so why not? However, I would have to see about getting them to promise to not do something like that again. But first.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  As I focused back on the army of bunnies I prepared my spell. I took my time to form and loop a single thread through and around my entire body. Making sure to focus on the larger muscles as I went. But, even when I had finished setting up the spell, I didn’t connect it to my core. I couldn’t and wouldn’t waste the little bit of mana I had until they attacked.

  The smallest in the bunch looked antsy. Its nose and ears twitched, yet it stayed where it was. Not daring to move or attack, even as the very earth below it started to give. Given that the dirt had been mostly stable until we got there, it was likely the combination of the extra weight as well as the stomping that destabilized the lip. Not that it mattered. The only thing that mattered was the end result. A result that started with the bunny falling and ended with all the others taking it as a sign to attack.

  As the first bunny fell, I connected the spell to my core and let the mana flow. The moment it did power flooded into me. With a shove off the ground, I flew forward to meet their charge with my own. I slashed at them even as they dodged. Most of them tried to headbutt me again, but many seemed to have another goal now. Now they simply aimed to bite or scratch at any part of me they could get a hold of. Blood blossomed around me as my Chisa Katana found purchase again and again. Killing one or two at a time all while I dodged five or more attacks.

  Not that I managed to do so sometimes. The first major wound was delivered by one of the smaller and faster bunnies. Its bite tore a piece of muscle right out of my calf. Searing pain from the bite nearly caused me to lose focus. Given that part of my mind was entirely focused on holding a spell going while the rest kept me alive, that would be a very bad thing.

  I chanced a glance at my health bar and nearly balked. It was flashing red as the levels inside slowly, but visibly, dropped. Not only that, my mana was already a fourth gone and this fight had barely even begun. I would not be able to keep this up. Not if I wanted to survive.

  Gritting my teeth, I switched to an entirely defensive posture as I dropped the spell. I had to think fast. I had to come up with some way to stem the bleeding and keep going without using up all my mana. If only the Body Fortification spell wasn’t so inefficient at healing wounds with mana. Then again, it wasn’t like the spell was designed to help with healing. Its purpose was to increase the strength and resilience of the muscles and bones in a limb or two by flooding said limbs with mana.

  Wait, what if I didn’t flood a limb with mana but a small region of it? Like, say, where the wound was. It would possibly speed up the healing without wasting much mana. A bunny got within my guard and I instinctively punched it. The body hit another bunny as part of my mind got to work threading the new mana thread through my body.

  As soon as I reached the missing chunk of muscle, I wrapped the wound in thread after thread of mana. Not stopping until it looked like there was a piece of cloth woven inside me. The moment it connected back to my pool and mana flooded it, I felt the skin and muscle squirm. I nearly threw up as I felt my cells go to work repairing the damage.

  Wound taken care of as well as I could with what little knowledge I had, I changed tactics as I moved from a defensive footing to a modified one. One that felt right as I removed my left hand from the hilt and pulled out my knife. Had I ever trained in dual weapon combat? Nope, but I needed the extra weapon now more than ever, even if my skill was subpar.

  I forced my mind to work faster and faster. To take in every piece of information the world was giving me and process it. To plan with it. All so that I could keep up with this pack? Army? What is a group of bunnies called again? Ah right, it was a fluffle of bunnies. Even then, I pushed myself to go faster. Pushed my body and my brain as far as I could. Based on the growing headache and the iron-tasting liquid that slowly trickled into my mouth, I was probably pushing it beyond what I should.

  My feet danced as my hands wove a tapestry of steel in the air. Hitting each bunny as if they were notes of a song in an older VR game that used lightsabers to slice blocks. Single notes quickly turned into combos as I danced.

  I received wounds, cuts, and deep bites, again and again. I simply focused my one healing spell on the worst of the wounds and kept going. My movements sped up and slow down as various wounds healed while others appeared. The blades of my weapons formed arcs of blood with each successful strike. With each such hit, more blood soaked into the dirt and eventually started to even form puddles.

  I ignored the sounds of bodies as they slid in the dirt. I ignored the sticky feeling of blood on my skin. I even ignored the iron smell that filled the air. I instead focused on one thing and one thing only; killing anything that attacked me as my bloody dance stirred the puddles of blood.

  Finally, just as I nearly reached my limit, the last of the bunnies fell. Its body was sliced in half lengthwise as it sailed past me. Everything hurt. Every muscle, including the one in my head. On top of that, I felt light-headed as hell. Likely from the amount of blood that I lost throughout the fight. Not that I was complaining. I was fairly sure that I would have been dead if not for my makeshift healing spell. Which apparently the system recognized as a real spell.

  Not bad for something I came up with on the spot. Though I would still have to ask about a real healing spell because I was pretty sure I wasted a ton of mana and time healing wounds with this one. I came too close to dying a few times as a wound took a little too long to stop bleeding.

  Arms relaxed at my side and shoulders back, I take a minute to look up at the sky. A crimson shade mixed with orange and yellow covered the sky as the sun sank below the horizon. Seeing it, I absentmindedly mumbled a few words I had read in a book once, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.”

  While I had never been a superstitious type, I had found this saying to be mostly true. Though not always in the way one might think. Given how much fantasy was packed into this game, I was sure that it would be the same but only time would tell.

  Dropping my head, I looked at the mess my fight had created. The mounds of bodies that were scattered here were bad enough but the mist of blood in the air was dense enough that drops came together and splashed into the pools scattered around. Seeing all of this, I heaved a sigh before getting to work collecting everything.