Sender: Suscellu
Subject: Dangerous Monster in the Forest — Subjugation Request
Good morning, Swift! A Giant Rabbit in the Avan Forest has just come to my attention. Would you and your friends kindly dispose of it? You were going for a hunt, anyway, were you not?
Regards,
Suscellu
“Suscellu sent a message. There’s a rabbit in the forest he wants us to hunt.”
“A Giant Rabbit?”
“Yes, a Giant Rabbit.”
“If it’s only that, I’m sure we can take care of it.”
“I’m surprised you’re not that surprised about the rabbit.”
“Well, Giant Rabbits aren’t that dangerous. It’s just they can decimate fields and forests for years if it’s not hunted quickly. So it makes sense for it to be hunted as fast as possible.”
“I see, Raiden, lead the way.”
We follow Raiden to the eastern parts of the forest. I speak what’s on my mind.
“I wonder why Suscellu told me to bring you with me…”
“Have you ever hunted a monster?” Seth asks.
“No, I haven’t. Is that a problem?”
“No, not really. This should be the first Monster Hunt for Young Master as well. So how do you usually hunt?” Seth asks.
“I make pitfalls with my Earth Magic and shoot them with arrows.”
“That could be a problem with the Giant Rabbit. Giant Rabbits can dig through any ground with ease. Try using Lightning Magic instead. Fire Magic should me effective as well, but we’re in a forest.”
Lightning Magic… let’s just tell them.
“I may have high levels in all magic, but I haven’t actually used Lightning Magic before.”
“So you’ve been born with innate skill in magic?”
“Yeah…” I need to stay with that origin story! It’s not like I can just tell them I’m from another world!
“I’m sure you can manage. Just be careful not to zap any of us.”
“I’ll try my best.”
The Giant Rabbit slowly comes into view. It’s big; I think it about twice my height. At least it’s not white and throwing snowballs. It’s calmly eating, a lot.
“So what’s the plan?”
“Young Master draws its attention. You stun it with magic. After that, you flip it on its back and kill it by stabbing it in the belly. If anything goes wrong, we’ll jump in and assist you.”
“O… OK!” Matt answers. I can hear the tension in his voice.
“Don’t worry. You can do it.” Seth says.
Matt moves around so the rabbit is between us. I can hear him mumbling something, but I can’t make out what it is.
“Hey, you damn rodent! You’re for dinner today!”
For some reason, the rabbit reacts and charges towards Matt, roaring. I guess it’s a Provoking Skill. It bounces off Matt’s shield.
I try to think about a Lighting Spell. Chain Lightning? No, my feeling tells me it would hit Matt as well. I could enchant my weapons! Or I could channel lighting through the blades. Let’s try and see what’s better. I draw my short blades and close in. I imagine my blades emitting electricity from their tip.
“Enchant Lightning!”
I jump and ram my blades into its neck. I retreat several steps. My blades are still stuck to its neck. The rabbit turns towards me. It’s all or nothing. I stretch out my hand. Lightning from my hands.
“Chain Lightning!”
A bolt of lightning from my hands hits by blades in the neck of the rabbit. Upon impact, the rabbit convulses. It looks like it’s a success. The rabbit drops to the ground. Is it dead? Seth rushes over and flips the rabbit on its back with just one move.
“It’s not dead yet!” he says.
The rabbit is still breathing. Matthew draws his sword and stabs into the belly of the rabbit. Blood starts spraying around. Finally, it stops breathing.
“Seems like it’s dead.”
I pull my blades from its neck and try putting the body into my Infinite Storage. It works — it must be dead.
“Yeah…” Matt doesn’t sound that happy. I look at Matt. He’s completely drenched in blood. I put my dominant hand on his shoulder.
“Clean!”
All traces of blood vanish. Matt examines his clothes. His mood instantly improves.
“Thanks a lot. I didn’t know there was such a spell.”