Chapter 5 - Hunt One Rabbit, Be Chased By Dozens
I know I just said "time to hunt" to sound cool.
But I am quite scared to attack these rabbits.
Yes, I am scared of rabbits…
But that is without justifications!
You see, the rabbits I fought were quite brave.
The little thing actually came to attack me.
Me, a little dragon!
How come a rabbit does not fear a dragon-like me?
I bet these Rabbits are actually quite fierce, I was lucky when I managed to evade the first one I encountered, or I would have gotten impaled by that giant crystal horn they have.
I do have scales but… I do not think they can resist piercing attacks like those.
At least, I would need to level up my Dragon Scales Skill, but I have no idea how to, maybe if I hit myself? But without dealing damage to myself, it is useless.
And my defense… There is no defense in this system!
There is only… Strength I guess?
Well, whatever.
Anyways, as I was saying, these rabbits are deadly.
I cannot take them lightly.
What if I run there and they quickly notice, and I get impaled by dozens of rabbits?!
Even with my regeneration, without Mana or energy to fuel it, I will surely die.
And I am currently starving, so I do not have enough fuel to boost my regeneration…
Also, I am terrible at using mana, so I cannot really use magic, which is also too strong for someone so terrible at it.
Life is a pain.
I am filled with cheats, yet I am already struggling to see how I can hunt a rabbit.
I guess with great cheats come great responsibilities.
Wait, that did not make any sense at all.
Anyways, now what?
I cannot run straight to them because I am going to get killed.
Do these rabbits eat meat?
Well, they are eating grass, but maybe, if they are aggressive, they might even fancy my tender ice dragon meat…
Just picturing all these rabbits ravaging my body with their fangs and taking away all of my flesh makes me reconsider this whole thing.
I need a way to distract a single one of them, bring it out of the group, and strike it down…
Hmm, like the lion documentaries I have seen on Earth!
Hahh… Lions have it rough.
I keep looking at the rabbits slowly eating until finally, a little one begins to stray away from the big ones…
It hops around, sniffing the snow and trying to find more grass to eat.
Suddenly, it walks away quite considerably… it is around ten meters away from the rest!
The other seems quite oblivious…
I bet having giant horns and being all packed together really makes them confident that nothing wrong can happen, huh?
I lick my fangs as I stealthily move through the snow… I think my reflective, ice-like scales make it hard for me to be seen, especially if I walk so slowly and near the snow.
I find the rabbit finally finding a patch of bluegrass, which it begins to eat rather carefreely.
I glance back at the other rabbits, they seem just as relaxed.
Really, they are way too confident!
I am about to break that confidence right about now.
I quickly approach the little rabbit, but it quickly notices my presence!
Damn it!
I have to do it now!
I quickly infuse some little mana into my legs, which enhances my speed for a few seconds, a little technique I learned while practicing mana control… but it is nothing fancy because it has a duration of about 3 seconds and I waste more Mana than it needs because I am quite bad at using it yet.
Flash!
I quickly leap into the scared rabbit, but it hops right before I put my claws over it!
The rabbit glares at me with anger as it charges at me with its horn!
I use my ice breath, but it seems to not affect the ice-type monster at all, I guess I should have expected it, but I tried anyway.
CLASH!
A piercing pain fills my mind as the horn pierces through my stomach!
I knew it, these scales are useless!
Agh, you damn ball of fur!
However, now that it has its horn stuck in my stomach, it's mine!
I open my jaws as I bite on the rabbit's neck, breaking it instantly!
Victory is mine.
Ouch…
The pain really is horrible, but I endure it… I think I can regenerate as long as I eat the rabbit and gain calories and energy thanks to Immortal Body.
However, the other Rabbits quickly notice what I did!
Time to run for my life!
I grab the smaller rabbit I killed from the neck, and dart away with all of my might!
I run as fast as I can, but the rabbits are actually catching up?!
Shit! Are they spiteful or something? Will they chase me down to the ends of the world by taking their young?!
Well, I am not planning to give up!
I have some mana left… and I begin to absorb all the energy I possibly can through Ice Absorption!
Suddenly, a burst of icy winds emerges down my legs, as I run incredibly fast all out of a sudden!
Oh woah, what is this?
I never thought that by infusing mana into my Ice Absorption Skill, I could get this boost in speed!
The rabbits keep running towards me, but I am now incredibly fast.
I am literally an icy rocket!
I run and run until suddenly, I realize that I jumped off a cliff.
Eh?
I glance down below.
We are so high that I cannot see anything below.
Shit.
I give one last look at the rabbits, as they… jump too?!
Are they stupid or something?
Well, I am too, because I am falling to my death right now!
The distance I am falling is tremendous, it fills my entire body with a chill… this is the chill I felt when I was dying.
This fear for imminent death.
Despair quickly takes hold of my senses, as I am paralyzed while falling, and even my heart begins to beat furiously.
Damn it…