《Reincarnation Gone Wrong》 Chapter - 1 The truck crashed through the wall of the fifth floor of the convention center, sailing straight toward the girl on the stage. Yuki knew her time was up. Truck-kun had finally gotten to her. Any explanation of how it managed to get to her on the fifth floor wasn''t important. It was here, and she was dead. Time slowed down. Yuki didn''t close her eyes. She faced Truck-kun head-on. A small part of her was vindicated. She had prepared the locker, the email, and the time-gated delivery. No one believed her when she said Truck-kun was real. Her death would expose the interdimensional serial killer. Then someone tackled Yuki out of the way. Time resumed its regular cadence. The truck sailed past, and hit the electrical devices behind the stage. The noise was deafening. Smoke billowed out from the crash site. Yuki groaned, then sat down, face hurting where it hit the ground from the tackle. She looked around. Across from her, a handsome guy also sat, eyes piercing blue, his hair perfectly styled even after the tumble. His eyes widened when he saw Yuki looking at him. A smile blossomed on his face, and he opened his arms wide. "I''m so glad you''re¡ª" Yuki punched the guy in the face. She was so done with this bullshit. She should have never left the house today. She knew it was one of the days she predicted Truck-kun would be active, but she''d been preparing for this convention for months. Now her cosplay was in shambles, her stalker saved her, and she needed to get back home and turn off all the dead-man switches. Yuki ignored the growing ruckus from the other convention attendees. She got up and dusted herself, then kicked the stalker for good measure. She turned, intending to leave. The stage was on fire, and dark, brooding smoke billowed from the truck. It exploded, propelling one of the tires straight at Yuki. This time, time didn''t slow down. The tire hit Yuki in the head, and she saw no more.
Yuki didn''t open her eyes. She had no eyes to open. At some point, she was just aware. She also had no body, even if agony crawled behind eyes she didn''t have. The eyes that didn''t exist were drawn to a hovering window where strange letters scrolled. Yuki took stock. She died. Somehow, Truck-kun managed to get her even after the stalker saved her. Now she was in some dark place with a system window in front of her. She nodded a head that didn''t exist. Isekai''ed. Well, it could have been worse. At least now all that effort to compile the evidence wouldn''t be wasted. She was curious what would happen when it hit the news, even more so now that she died under such strange circumstances. But that was in the past, she had a new adventure ahead. At least now, all those hours she spent checking out isekai novels, ice cream, and pizza recipes weren''t in vain. She had a list of things to create to get rich fast in this new world, but first, she needed to deal with the system. "Hello?" Yuki called out with a voice that had no sound. No one answered. That was good. No meddling god or goddess to screw her up in this process. She turned her attention to the system window and noticed something else: there were a lot of messages there. With hands that didn''t exist, she scrolled up and up and up. The messages didn''t seem to end. They were mostly the same message over and over again. Strange, was this the broken system trope? She could exploit that. The translucent system window shimmered, and new lines appeared, this time in English. Language sample detected. Calibrating¡­ Yuki didn''t need to wait for long. A god-blessed character sheet popped in front of her non-existent eyes. It had several tabs. She clicked the first, with fingers that weren''t there. Personal info. Name: ¡ª. Age: Locked. Gender: N/A. Race: Locked. Troubling. Yuki had no name. Age and race were locked. She clicked on gender and set female. She liked gender bender like every sane person, but she didn''t want to live the bender; she just liked to read the bender. Yuki closed that and clicked the next session of her interface. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Attributes. Points available: 84. Strength (STR): Locked. Constitution (CON): Locked. Size (SIZ): Locked. Dexterity (DEX): 0. Intelligence (INT): 0. Power (POW): 0. Charisma (CHA): 0. Seven different stats, the names self-explanatory, but she wasn''t sure what Power did. She clicked the attribute in question, but nothing happened. "Identify!" She called out, to no avail. "System, what power do?" She asked to no answer. Unhelpful broken system trope. Yuki could deal with it. Would it turn out to be snarky with the log messages as well? She liked those. She hoped it would. After a moment, she added one point to int and sighed in relief when the undo symbol appeared next to the attribute. Good, she could play with her options without wasting the points. Yuki added points to int. It capped at twenty. No matter how she tried, she couldn''t add more. That was a shame. Twenty didn''t seem enough for how smart she was. With no other choice, she did the same with the three remaining attributes, which left her with four points and nowhere else to add them. She confirmed the selection and moved to the next tab. Abilities. Heroic Trait: Reincarnation. Heroic Title: Summoned Hero. Trait: Locked. Title: Locked. Nothing here Yuki could change. She tried clicking. It was read-only information, but it shed light on the setting. Summoned hero. Was this a world with a Demon King? She would need to be careful here. A broken system and hero summoning usually meant the system was there to harvest the hero''s soul after he completed the quest. Yikes, she would need to be really careful with this one. Skills and Advanced Skills tab was grayed out, and impossible to access. Which was a shame; Yuki wanted to know what kind of skill the system used. She guessed it would have to wait. That left the last one. With trembling fingers, she clicked it. Magic. Tradition: N/A. Skill: Locked. Manipulation: Locked. "Yes!" Yuki danced to music she couldn''t hear. The magic part of her system wasn''t locked. She clicked on tradition and saw a list of options. Choose from: -Sorcery. -Theism. -Mysticism. -Animism. -Elementalism. Yuki glanced at the choices, but there was only one option for her. She wasn''t sure what Mysticism and Animism were; at least the second one she thought was related to animating things, necromancy or golem, maybe? But Mysticism, she had no clue. Elementalism, she guessed, was the elements. Theism was faith and gods; she wanted no part in that. She clicked sorcery. Bubbly happiness moving in her core. The previous interface came back. Magic. Tradition: Sorcery. Skill: Invocation. Manipulation: Shaping. Yuki didn''t know what skill and manipulation were but decided it was the first thing she would learn after character creation. She confirmed the choices and a new tab appeared. Giddy energy started from her non-existent toes to the tip of her nose. The new tab read: Spells. "YES!" She screamed in glee. Time to get those juicy spells! She clicked on the tab. Choose 10. With trembling hands, Yuki selected the list. It was long and with no descriptions whatsoever. How was she supposed to know what each spell did? She took a deep breath she didn''t need and read the complete list. Her final selection was: Contract Familiar. Dominate. Enchant. Neutralise Magic. Protective Ward. Regenerate. Sense. Shapechange. Spell Resistance. Wrack. Her reason was that she needed a healing spell, a dispel magic, some shield, a way to create magic items, etc. She mainly was guessing what those spells did based on the name, but she was happy with the choices. Content, she confirmed the list to see a different message. Confirm selection? Yes / No This was it. Before her death, Yuki had dreamed of having magic, and going on a magical adventure. Days lost in books and fantasy worlds, wishing she was the protagonist, to brave dungeons, slay monsters, save princes or even better, seduce the princesses. Yuki wasn¡¯t a hero, but if her adventure led her to save the world? All the better! One thing for certain, she was going to be the bestest sorceress this world had ever seen! She clicked yes, giddy anticipation for the start of her adventure. Calibrating¡­ Error. Insufficient Attribute points. "What?" Yuki exclaimed. What was this about attributes? She even had four points she couldn''t use. Calibrating¡­ Calibrating¡­ Calibrating¡­ No matching template found. Extending parameters. Calibrating¡­ That didn''t look good. Had she broken the system even more? Solution found. Setting race as per heroic reincarnation trait. Distributing remaining attribute points. Applying user-defined choices. Calculating starting skills. Selecting spawn point. Setup finished. That didn''t sound good at all. What happened here? Why were her non-existent bones trembling? Welcome traveler. May you enjoy your third and last life. Yuki yelled, but too late. Without ceremony, her consciousness faded, and she saw no more. Chapter - 2 Awareness returned, and Yuki couldn''t open her eyes. Her body felt strange, unresponsive, and wrong. There was no noise ¡ª no whooshing wind, no common city noises ¡ª and she couldn¡¯t hear her breathing. She cried out but heard nothing. Was she deaf and blind? Then she noticed the trembling. It was freezing, and she felt no clothes on her body. Had she been reborn as a deaf and blind baby and abandoned in the wilderness? Fear gnawed at her now existing bones, but a rough¡­ something, she wanted to say hands ¡ª it didn¡¯t feel like hands ¡ª pushed her into a warm, fluffy blanket. The thing was so comfortable she immediately relaxed and forgot all about her blindness. Then soft, warm, leathery something pressed all around. It was heaven, it was safe, it was comfortable. Better yet, amidst the incredible fluffiness, someone pressed a tit to her strange-shaped mouth. She didn¡¯t have time to question things. She sucked on that with all her strength. It was ambrosia, her favorite ice cream, a hot cocoa cup in cold winter, and it was over way too soon. Not that Yuki was still hungry. The small amount of nectar she managed to drink left her feeling full and satisfied, but it was so good that she wanted more. Warm, safe, and cozy, she decided it was time to face the music. ¡°System,¡± she called it out. Her mouth moved, and she felt the scratchy air leave her throat, but no sound and no system. ¡°Menu,¡± she called again. The warm, fluffy blanket moved. Was Mom still around and responding to her calls? ¡°Status!¡± she all but yelled the last one. The window showed up, and at the same time, something moist and ticklish pressed into her, several spots in sequence. What was that? She hoped it wasn¡¯t anything gross, but she relaxed. She still wasn¡¯t sure ''bout these instincts, but whatever that was, she felt safe. Personal info. Name: ¡ª. Age: 0 days. Gender: Female. Race: Mutant Dwarf Horned Rabbit. Evolution tier: F. Exp: 0/3000. Yuki decided it was too soon to worry about this. She was warm, safe, and cozy. The twitching of the leathery pillows around her wasn¡¯t enough to disturb the paradise. Maybe she was blind and deaf, but she had a family that loved and cared for her. And she would have years to grow up. Anything else could wait; now, she would enjoy being a baby again. She wasn¡¯t a rabbit. No, the system was just pranking her. She would see her actual status tomorrow after a nice nap.
The air reverberated around Yuki. Something startled her awake. She felt for things around; the fluffy pillow wasn¡¯t nearby anymore, and some of the leathery pillows were also missing. She sniffed the air. Mom¡¯s scent was nearby. The air vibrated again like an impact had happened close by. Yuki heard nothing but felt it. Then, the brief coppery scent she knew all too well ¡ª blood. Yuki¡¯s heart sped up, beating so fast she was afraid she¡¯d die her third death by cardiac arrest. She froze, body locking down against her will. There was no flight or fight response. There was just raw, freezing terror. But the smell soon dissipated. Time passed, and nothing happened. Mom¡¯s smell returned, and with it, a hint of blood. Yuki remembered some half-watched documentaries about wild rabbits: the mom sometimes ate the babies. No, that was just paranoia. She wasn¡¯t a rabbit, and there was no way Mom just killed and ate some of her siblings, right? Right?
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Exp: +1. Yuki had long accepted she wasn¡¯t human anymore. Blind and deaf, and now growing fur. The warm, leathery pillows? Her siblings. The awesome heavenly fluff? Her mother¡¯s fur. Whatever she was, she fed from ambrosia once a day. Mother¡¯s milk, thankfully not laced with poison for this newborn. Now that the litter grew fur and could keep themselves warm, Mom did a vanishing act. She came once a day, fed the kids, then left again. Yuki knew why. She wanted to protect the litter. Mom had a strong scent. Earth and pines and grass, mixed with sweet vanilla. It didn¡¯t make sense, but that¡¯s how she smelled. The kits in the nest had no scent. Even after days of just sleeping and eating and pooping, there was no smell. ¡°Status.¡± She called out. Personal info. Name: ¡ª. Age: 11 days. Gender: Female. Race: Mutant Dwarf Horned Rabbit. Evolution tier: F. Exp: 11/3000. One measly exp point per day. That would take more than eight years to reach full experience. Did rabbits even live that long? She still couldn¡¯t see, even if it felt like her eyes were about to open. That was good because she noticed how fast the other kits in the nest grew. They were, like, double her size already. She didn¡¯t mind. Their fluff was heavenly, almost as good as Mom¡¯s.
¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t!¡± Yuki charged at Sir Hopsalot. Her screech attracted her sibling¡¯s attention. Four weeks had passed since her rebirth, and she could see and hear again. Bunnies, who would have thought? She charged her brother. He was tall, handsome, and had terrific brown silky fur. His white eye glowed in the darkness of their burrow, and the horn on his forehead was the biggest of the litter. Despite that, Yuki was faster. Who would have thought 20 in DEX was enough to run rounds around her siblings? Sir Hopsalot was too late to react; before he could even look her way, Yuki had already zipped past, carrying the last nibble of the nut in her mouth. She had no idea where Mom got it, but it was divine, almost as good as the ambrosia milk Mom was not feeding them anymore. Yuki posed in victory. Head high, displaying the nut between her teeth. Then the vixen showed up and walked closer, red eyes gentle and forelegs moving elegantly. Bunbun McFluff had the most fluffier of the furs, even Mom didn¡¯t hold a candle to that. Bunbun wasn¡¯t as big as Hopsalot, but she was still two times Yuki''s size. Her sister didn¡¯t waste time; she enveloped Yuki in an almost hug, the soft, warm fur enough to make Yuki forget everything. Even her hard-earned prize. When Yuki returned from fluff heaven, Bunbun and the nut were long gone. Dangit. She needed to get her shit together. A bit of soft fur, and she lost her mind. Dejected, she walked to Flopsy Mopsy. He wouldn¡¯t betray her trust. Mainly because he was always sleeping. Big, but not the biggest of the litter, he was cuddly and floppy, which made him the perfect pillow, even if Bunbun¡¯s fur was nicer. But that little vixen had learned how to weaponize her fluffiness. Yuki needed to steer clear of that. From her comfortable spot, she saw the biggest of them, Captain Nutjob¡¯s smug face. He glanced at her and sneered. His nose twitched with self-importance. Poor Whisker Wigglebottom waited by his side, nose twitching in desperate calls for help. Yuki felt sorry for not saving her sister from the big bully, Captain Nutjob, but what else could she do? The one time she tried, Nutjob almost skewered her with his horn. A horn Yuki didn¡¯t have. Even if her race was called Horned Rabbit. No, Yuki¡¯s fur was white and silky when her siblings were shades of gray and brown. In her modest opinion, her fur was even better than Bunbun¡¯s S Tier fluffiness.
Exp: +1. Today was finally the day! Yuki bounced up in the cuddle pile; her siblings'' noses twitched at her sudden movements. She jumped and bounced and danced. Yuki and her siblings had explored every nook and cranny of the burrow. She knew every scent, every curve, and dead end. Some of those, Yuki knew, led to outside, but Mom always kept those shut. Bored out of her mind, Yuki had explored every part of her new home. She even picked a fight with the neighbor''s litter. They were annoying. They kept smelling her, pushing her, shoving her. In retaliation, Yuki stole their food and ran behind Captain Nutjob for protection. Her bully of a brother had grown even bigger, and when presented with the chance to bully others, he always picked the strangers. Yuki was sure to leave a bit of the klepted food behind in his corner of the nest, just as a safety measure. She wasn¡¯t afraid of him ¡ª nope, not at all. She also explored all her system tabs. Skills and Advanced Skills, for some reason, were still grayed out. She couldn¡¯t use them. No [Analyze] or [Identify] either. She jumped, ran, sang and danced. No skill increased. Which was a shame. Was she locked out because of her race? The only thing that ever changed there was her daily experience pittance. But to say she learned nothing was untrue. She knew how to cast the spells she selected. Somehow, the knowledge had been implanted in her mind. The only problem was¡­ There was a chant, hand-waving, material components, and ritual circles. The only one she could cast from the selected ones was [Contract Familiar], which needed a ritual circle, which Yuki guessed she could draw with her paws. With this one, the chanting just enhanced the chances of attracting the attention of something better, and the same was valid with the hand-waving and material components. Still, technically, she could cast it; it just wouldn¡¯t be worth it. But enough of that. Mom was finally here. As usual, her pine and vanilla scent spread out in the warren the moment Mom stepped in. The kits lined up, and Yuki bounced more than Sir Hopsalot. Even Flopsy Mopsy was awake and alert. It was finally the day to see the sky again. The big blue, the sun, the stars! Yuki was sure nothing would go wrong. They were just going to enjoy the open air, the fresh food, the new neighbors. Right? Right? Chapter - 3 Yuki couldn¡¯t do it. The burrow entrance was there, just a few paces away, but she couldn¡¯t do it. She stood stock still, frozen and terrified. A few seconds ago, she was over the moon, bouncing, jumping, and pushing Mom to open the burrow faster. Mom was taking forever to dig open the entrance. First came the new scents: the earthy smell of damp soil, the musky aroma of decaying leaves, the sweet fragrance of flowers in bloom, a strange and faint lemony smell, and the acrid odor of animal shit. Then there was the light. Oh, the freaking light! Yuki never thought about it during those past four weeks. Deep down into the bowels of the world, how had she seen things? Yuki¡¯s ears were flat against her head. Her legs wouldn¡¯t support her weight. She lay still, unmoving, hoping the world wouldn¡¯t notice her there. Why was this happening? Yuki was never one to be afraid. On the before, she all but waged a clandestine campaign against interdimensional killers. No, that wouldn¡¯t do. Enough was enough. Yuki got up and took deep, frantic breaths, then a step forward. From the burrow¡¯s entrance, Mom thumped, impatient. Yuki jolted at the sound; a few drops leaked. But she wouldn¡¯t be denied. What was a vast, new, wild, and possibly dangerous above world? It was nothing! She dealt with worse in the before, like that flying cockroach one time. No, Yuki could and would do it! In her mind, she saw a handsome, rugged man with short, curly dark hair and a braid on one side, wearing the iconic black crew-neck T-shirt and dark pants in front of a green screen. Both his hands were open, almost touching. She could even hear his voice: ¡°What are you waiting for? Just do it! Yes, you can! Just. Do. It!¡± Yuki did it. She took one step, then a hop, and finally a dash. The world opened in front of her eyes. The wide-open blue sky she had anticipated wasn¡¯t there. The sky was dark and purple. The stars were different, closer, and more vibrant. Her eyes trailed down. In the distance, the silhouette of mountains was almost hidden behind the trees. The clearing she bounded into was surrounded by gnarled, contorted trees, like the worst nightmares of a demented mind. Bushes and shrubs that were more trap than flora. Yuki stopped in her tracks. She wasn¡¯t the only one. All her siblings, now finally out of the burrow, huddled with her, their ears swiveling in all directions. Each slight insect buzzes enough to send the whole gang into a flash freeze. But as the milliseconds passed, old instincts took over. Yuki was no wild feral bunny scared of every hum and chirp. She would master the body, not the other way around. She wanted to quote that famous fear mantra from that renowned book series but decided it was too much cheese. In the clearing, she saw more of her kin. The neighbors from the next corridor chamber in the borrow were also out. The group, eight of them, all looked condescendingly at Yuki¡¯s fear. They didn¡¯t even bother to turn their ears Yuki¡¯s way, so much was their derision. A range of adult rabbits stood in the outer perimeters, eyes on the horizon, ears perked up and at attention. More details filtered in: rabbits grazing in the nearby shrub, others hidden beneath leaves, and kits racing and exploring. There was no need to worry or fear. The distant cry of some bird of prey sent the whole clearing to the ground. The young froze while the adults perked up. Then, moments later, the relaxing thumping from one of the sentries calmed down the colony. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Yeah, everything was fine. There was no danger!
There was nothing better than the taste of freedom. Yuki enjoyed her best life with no bullies or vixens to distract her. She nosed and dug. She had found these yummy orange mushrooms beneath a pile of decomposing leaves. It was her new favorite food; she lost count of how many she¡¯d eaten. It dissolved in her mouth and sent tingling into her head. The world was lit with music and lights. She laughed, standing on her hind legs, paws at her waist. She was on top of the world- not even Bunbun fluff compared. ¡°All of you mortals bow before me!¡± She cackled. The peasants basked in her glory, their noses twitching in adoration, ears perked in reverence. She was the queen of her domain, and not even Mom could convince Yuki otherwise. Even the stars paid obeisance; their light cast an ethereal glow into the clearing. The trees ungnarled themselves and knelt. The bushes and shrubs danced. The insects and birds paraded for her glory. Lemon cake was served to all her subjects. It was perfect.
Exp: +1. Yuki steered clear of the tasty mushrooms. It gave her strange ideas. In her heightened state of being, she realized that casting spells might not be out of the picture entirely. Sure, she would have trouble with the hand-waving and chanting, but she had an inkling that what really mattered there was the intent behind the spell being cast. She eyed Bunbun, waltzing in the clearing, batting her eyelashes at everyone. Yuki would need a bit of blood, and the spell might not even work, but¡­ If she could. Imagine the possibilities. If she [Dominated] Bunbun, Yuki could claim the fluff all for herself. No! Yuki would not give in. No matter how amazing Bunbun¡¯s fur was. The spell was too much. Could she make Bunbun her familiar, then? Was that a form of nepotism? Yuki had much to ponder. She smelled the air. There it was again, that lemony scent. It was stronger today. Yuki followed her nose, but the smell led away from the clearing guarded by the adults. She wasn¡¯t dumb enough to follow strange scents into unknown and unguarded territory. Yuki shrugged and went back to her pondering. To [Dominate] or not to [Dominate]? It was such a difficult question. Exp: +1. Something wasn¡¯t right. Yuki felt it in her ears. The clicks huddled together. The adults were skittish and irritable. The wind was ominous, and the shadows darker. A warm nose pressed against Yuki¡¯s cheek. Bunbun¡¯s big, expressive eyes looked at Yuki. The bigger rabbit carried a piece of grass in her mouth, whiskers twitching in concern. ¡°So cute!¡± Yuki squealed. She couldn¡¯t handle it. Bunbun was the best. Ignoring the assumed offering, she tackled her favorite sister in a hug. Bunbun didn¡¯t budge. She was enormous. Yuki decided to make Bunbun her familiar. The vixen was just too cute to resist. Magical nepotism be dammed. Yuki needed it. A branch snapped nearby, and the whole colony of rabbits froze. Yuki turned toward the sound, ears perked. A gnarled tree. A trap-shrub. A broken branch near the leaves on the ground. The lemony smell spiked, and for a moment, Yuki swore some leaves moved by themselves. Yuki shook her head. Her heart thumped so hard; it affected her mind. She still hadn¡¯t got the hang of all these rabbits¡¯ instincts. She was afraid all the time. Then, the thumping started. It was the first time Yuki ever heard it so frantic and urgent, but she knew what it meant: danger. Yuki whipped her head around. She and Bunbun were at the far end of the clearing; the nearest entrance to the burrow was close to where she saw the leaves moving. Then, one of the sentries bolted, and the colony descended into chaos. Bunbun didn¡¯t wait. She leaped toward the nearest entrance. ¡°Bunbun, no!¡± Yuki screamed, which only made the other rabbit run even faster. Like those sci-fi camouflages in games, the air shimmered, and where once was empty, now a ginormous leopard-like cat with emerald eyes stood. Six long dark green serpents sprouted from its shoulders. Each serpent was over ten times Captain Nutjob in length. The serpents lashed at the fleeing rabbit. Bunbun jumped away, but not fast or far enough. Like a circus choreography, the serpent latched into the rabbit and threw Bunbun up in an arc toward the main body. The rabbit screeched and contorted, but not for long. With a step forward from the monster and a heavy clack, half of Bunbun¡¯s body disappeared inside the maw. Yuki didn¡¯t stay to see what else would happen. She bolted in the opposite direction, to the burrow entrance further away from the beast. Chapter - 4 The snakepard wasn¡¯t content with a single rabbit. From the corner of Yuki¡¯s peripheral vision, she saw the monster move toward her, one of the shoulder snakes lashing in her direction. Yuki leaped out of the way and closer to the burrow¡¯s entrance. The snake lunged at empty air and hissed a shrill, bone-shriveling noise. The leopard bounded forward and, with a huge leap, landed between the entrance and the fleeing dwarf rabbit. Yuki whirled and ran toward another entrance with speed born out of raw fear and desperation. She was prepared to jump away again, but the monster didn¡¯t give chase this time. The snakepard was busy. It lashed and grabbed at the larger and slower rabbits who had also moved toward that entrance to their underground warren. On the other side of the clearing, she saw another snakepard materialize, the shoulder snakes lashing at unsuspecting prey. From the corner of her eyes, she saw another rabbit, the biggest one yet, run toward the monster instead of away. Its head lowered, horn pointed at the enemy. Yuki didn¡¯t stay to see the result. She didn¡¯t believe the rabbit would win. She leaped, dashed, and scurried until she was back again at her corner of the burrow, huddled in the nest.
It turns out rabbits can¡¯t shed tears, and it wasn¡¯t for lack of trying. Yuki didn¡¯t go through the five stages of grief. There was no denial, Bunbun was dead. Huddled in a corner of the burrow, she glared at the others. How had this happened? Weren¡¯t there rabbits on the lookout for things like this? But she knew the answer. She¡¯d seen the creature appear as if from thin air. The only clue she had was the smell. The lemony scent spiked before the monster showed itself. Yuki knew that her new family was just rabbits. Even with all the anthropomorphizing, they were animals. But maybe she managed to convince even herself because right now, the hurt was too real. She shut off her mind and let the body take over. Like a feral animal, she snarled when Whisker Wigglebotton tried to join the nest. She nipped Nutjob¡¯s paws when he moved closer. She screamed when Flopsy Mopsy approached to sleep. Not even Sir Hopsalot escaped Yuki¡¯s anger; she ground her teeth and thumped whenever he tried to approach. Yuki slept alone and cold. It was the thirst that took her away from the funk. Her mouth was dry, her throat sore, and her eyes stung like sand. She glanced at the system message. Exp: +1. It was hard to believe only one day had passed. Yuki got up, and then, like a zombie searching for brains, she shambled through the warren tunnels. Her thoughts went back to the clearing and the ambush. What else could she have done? Could she have prevented it? Yuki had no illusions she could fight. She was fast, but what else? She had magic. From the knowledge implanted in her brain, [Wrack] was an offensive spell. But the magic was strange, like it missed a part or something. Yuki stumbled, falling face-first into the water. She ignored the other rabbits in the chamber and drank her fill. It was convenient that the burrow had an underground chamber reserved exclusively for water. Yuki never knew rabbits could be this ingenious. Wet and refreshed, Yuki shambled away, dripping like an old rain gutter after a heavy downpour. She passed by other rabbits, kits exploring the burrow, and adults moving to and fro. Nothing seemed different like the disaster from the previous day wasn¡¯t important enough. Yuki wanted to be angry at them, but that was silly; they were just rabbits. Yuki¡¯s shambling led her back to the nest. Without a care for the mess left behind, she fell asleep again as soon she hit the leaves and fur. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Yuki woke up to a warm something pressed against her side. She opened one eye. Dark gray fur, twitching whiskers, and the black eyes of Whisker Wigglebottom greeted her. For a moment, both rabbits stared at each other. Content Yuki wouldn¡¯t snarl, Whisker continued grooming Yuki¡¯s fur. Yuki closed her eyes and went back to sleep. If she wiggled her bottom closer to Whisker, it was one¡¯s imagination. She woke up again; it was warm. She opened her eyes and noticed that Flopsy Mopsy slept by her other side. Yuki flipped around to stare in the wall¡¯s direction. If that made her press harder against Flopsy, it was a coincidence. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep. When she next opened her eyes, Yuki noticed something was off. None of her siblings were nearby, and the nest was torn to shreds, fur scattered everywhere. None of the comfy dry leaves and grass interwoven with the fur. On cue, her stomach growled. She peeked at the log messages¡ª Exp: +1. It was time to get her shit together and move on. Moping around wouldn¡¯t change anything. Yuki got up and shambled away from the nest. The warren was different. Rabbits still moved up and down the chambers but weren¡¯t as lively as the days prior. Inside the chambers, a lot more rabbits lay there, unmoving. Some dug at the walls, which was a new behavior. Down the tunnels she went. Once at her destination, Yuki drank her fill without an impromptu bath this time. She moved away and toward the upper chambers of the burrows. Between one tunnel and another, she met Captain Nutjob. Both stared at each other. Nutjob¡¯s brown fur coat wasn¡¯t as pristine anymore, and no Whisker followed him like a sad puppy. His nose still twitched with self-importance, but the giant rabbit was the first to look away and slunk out of Yuki¡¯s path, giving a wide berth while he passed near her. ¡°Damn right!¡± she said, ¡°move along.¡± That would teach the big bully that size wasn¡¯t everything. So what if he had a big and splendid horn? Yuki might be hornless, but she could bite like the best of them. With a pep in her step at the small but important victory, she continued her path. She stopped a few meters away from one of the burrow entrances. Rabbits milled about, looking at the outside but not daring to go out. Yuki could guess why. The lemony scent was strong here. She¡¯d bet there was one of the snakepards by the entrance, waiting for the tasty little rabbits to leave the safety of their home. They would get their just dessert in a moment. How should she do this? Yuki closed her eyes and thought again about the spell she had in mind. It needed hand-waving and chanting. It didn¡¯t need a material component, which was a plus, but it still felt like something was missing. The casting could be modified in several ways, but part of the knowledge was missing. The broken system trope wasn¡¯t helping here. Yuki took a deep breath. There was only one way to find out. She propped herself up, standing on her hind legs and freeing her ¡®arms¡¯. Then, she began the sweeping gestures needed to cast the spell. Soon after, she started the chanting. Around her, the other rabbits¡¯ ears swiveled in her direction. From outside, the sounds of leaves stepped on. Yuki ignored it. This was nothing. She wasn¡¯t embarrassed. Nope, she was a cosplayer. She¡¯d worn strange costumes and done stranger stuff at others¡¯ request. Yeah, this was RP, nothing else. No need to worry about what her fellow rabbits would think. Yuki followed the knowledge implanted in her mind. She took her time. The magic could be cast at a moment¡¯s notice, but there was no need. Instead, she executed each movement with care, each chant articulated to the best of her rabbit capabilities. What could have been a magic cast in mere seconds turned out to be minutes instead. After minutes of labor and interested nose twitching from her audience, Yuki was ready. She held the complete spell in mind, ready for release. She pushed her own power into the spell, willing it into existence. A new scent spread into the air. It reminded Yuki of the nest, of happy days, of Mom¡¯s vanilla scent. Then the magic stopped. The power receded; the smell disappeared. Yuki was left with nothing aside from several blinking system messages. Failed to use Advanced Skill [Invocation]. Age of Maturity not yet reached. System Skill Functions Locked. Yuki eyed the message with distrust. ¡°Dafuq is that?¡± She yelled. Chapter - 5 Yuki glared at the system window. The message didn¡¯t change. She remembered this story where one could forcefully induce an emergency system unlock by facing mortal danger. She looked outside. She smelled the lemony scent in the air. She heard the clack of mandibles and half of Bunbun¡¯s body disappearing. Yeah, nope. Fuck it, she wasn¡¯t dumb enough to try something that she didn¡¯t even know if it would work. What else could she do? Going out to bite the monsters was out of the question. She didn¡¯t have a horn, unlike her siblings. Her system wasn¡¯t cooperating. No skills or magic. Yuki turned away from the entrance and moved deeper into the burrow. Mobilizing the rabbits and suicide attack the enemies outside crossed her mind, but she didn¡¯t know if it would work. And even if it did, the death toll would be too much. Yuki needed another option, but none came to mind. The logical solution would be to kill the monsters outside: save the colony, get exp, avenge Bunbun, and get closer to evolution. But how? In all the stories she had read in the before, the challenges were always proportional to the hero¡¯s strength, even if levels were skewed. What were her advantages? Yuki looked around. Her meandering led again to the nest. Whisker slept; Sir Hopsalot dug at the walls, trying to find food, most likely. Her stomach aching in hunger, she laid down next to Whisker and closed her eyes. Yuki had knowledge from the before. That was a good advantage. But she didn¡¯t have opposable thumbs to put most of that knowledge to work. Bummer. She was small and fast. That was good. She was small and frail. Another bummer. ¡°Status,¡± she called out. The character sheet appeared again. She noted the differences from when she was a disembodied soul. The ¡®landing page¡¯ for her status now had an image of a rabbit. Luxurious white fur with dark circles around the red eyes. She clicked the first tab. Personal info. Name: ¡ª. Age: 33 days. Gender: Female. Race: Mutant Dwarf Horned Rabbit. Evolution tier: F. Exp: 33/3000. Nothing there of note. Yuki clicked on the next tab. Attributes. Strength (STR): 1. Constitution (CON): 2. Size (SIZ): 1. Dexterity (DEX): 20. Intelligence (INT): 20. Power (POW): 20. Charisma (CHA): 20. Yuki sighed, ears flopping. Was she reborn as a rabbit because of the attribute¡¯s selection? She might have miscalculated what things meant when distributing her attributes. She still remembered the system messages. A new tab had appeared after her reincarnation: Characteristics. It wasn¡¯t available yet, though. Locked functions due to this age of maturity thing, probably. She clicked the next tab. Abilities. Heroic Trait: Reincarnation. Heroic Title: Summoned Hero. Trait: The Perfume of Power. Title: None. Yuki had wondered if that trait meant her scent for a while, but now she knew better. She could smell magic, or in this case, power. She didn¡¯t think other rabbits shared this trait. Was this the reason for the ¡°mutant¡± in her race? She clicked the next tab. Magic. Tradition: Sorcery. Skill: Invocation. Manipulation: Shaping. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Invocation was an advanced skill. Yuki felt confident in assuming manipulation was the same, which was a bummer. Skills and advanced skills were still locked, and she had yet to learn the difference between them. She clicked on the spells tab and decided to summarize the magics in case any idea popped into her mind. [Contract Familiar]: Forge a bond with a creature. [Dominate]: A spell that didn¡¯t feel complete, almost like a question. Dominate what? [Enchant]: More like a curse. From what Yuki understood, it could make magical effects permanent on an object or creature. The power expenditure was permanent while the effect lasted. Yuki could see it. A petty sorceress cursing a pretty girl to sleep forever after the girl¡¯s finger prickled on a cursed needle. [Neutralise Magic]: This was not a permanent dispel magic like Yuki had thought it would be. It did what the name implied: neutralized a magical effect, but only for a short duration. [Protective Ward]: This was another selection that didn¡¯t do what Yuki thought it did. It couldn¡¯t be used alone. From the knowledge of the spell in her mind, it should be combined with another magic to create an area protected by the second spell. [Regenerate]: This was a healing spell with limitations. It took hours to heal, and the caster needed to concentrate the whole time. It didn¡¯t work on grave injuries aside from stabilizing the dying person, but it was a good choice nonetheless. [Sense]: This did not sense magic like Yuki guessed, but it was more esoteric. The spell could sense a particular object, a substance, or even a mental state from someone. Imagine that! Yuki could now sense when people were lusting after one another! Should she open a dating consultation association guild? [Shapechange]: The spell did what it said in the can. With this magic, Yuki could change herself or someone else into another creature. The magic offered no partial transformation. [Spell Resistance]: This was another one that did what the description implied. It blocked all magic, friendly or otherwise. From Yuki¡¯s understanding, this spell could be used with [Protective Ward]. [Wrack]: With this spell, Yuki could throw deadly bolts of¡­ something at the target. The exciting thing is that once used, the spell lasted for a time, and the attack could be performed without dispersing the magic.
There were lots of options if only Yuki could use magic. It boiled down again to the system limitations and this age of maturity lock. How long until rabbits were ready to dance the horizontal tango? In lieu of answers, Yuki heard distant howls. Her ears perked up, and soon after, she dashed toward the burrow entrance. Yuki dove and waved between the fleeing rabbits. The other rabbits wanted nothing to do with whatever happened up there. The colony fled to the lower chambers, further away from the noise. Yuki¡¯s heart beat frantically in her chest; her legs wobbled, but she persevered. She was the master of the body, even if the body didn¡¯t like to listen to her wishes. She slowed down when she got closer to the entrance. She stuck to the burrow¡¯s wall and approached with slow, measured hops. Yells and grunts were also added to the cacophony of noises from outside. Breath catching in her throat, she looked at the clearing. The first thing she saw was the snakepards. A bright yellow coat of paint covered both of the monsters. The snake on their shoulders coiled and hissed. In one of the beasts, two of the snakes had been severed, their stump dripping dark, almost black blood. Arrows stuck out of both monsters. Facing the creatures was a group of humans. Or humanoids. Yuki couldn¡¯t see from the distance. It was a diverse group. Two in the front held bulking planks of wood, which they used as a barrier between themselves and the snakepards. Each also carried a sword. They were the most armored ones. Vambraced arms, metal breastplate, and helm. Sturdy leather boots and pants. Seven of the others behind wore lighter armor, mainly leather covering the significant bits. They also held a different assortment of weapons. Immediately behind the shield, the three ones held spears, which they used to poke the monsters from safety. The ones further back held crossbows and bows. Yuki smelled the air. There was a different smell, but one she attributed to the paint. It lacked the same substance as the lemony scent from when the leopards used their invisibility. In her inept opinion, this was a well-organized and prepared group. The rabbit observed the unfolding battle from the burrow entrance. The snakepards kept trying the same tactic: go invisible and then attack from where the prey was least expecting. But the paint prevented that from working. The splotches of yellow paint were a glaring indication of where the monsters were. One of the creatures lunged, and the shielder turned, interposing his barrier between him and the attack. The spearman behind poked a hole in the creature¡¯s shoulder. When the monster tried disengaging, the sword lashed from behind the shield, missing the serpents by a hair¡¯s breadth. Soon after arrows peppered the creature, one found its mark on the monster¡¯s flesh. On the other side, the scene was similar. One blocked the attack, while the others used that opportunity to counter. Yuki realized it was a very methodical approach to battle. Nothing like she¡¯d been expecting from a magic fantasy world with a system. No flashy attacks, magic, or solo hero going out of his way to kill the monsters and earn glory. Just ruthless men and women at work. It didn¡¯t take long for one of the monsters to fall. A lucky arrow impaled it through the eye. Even so, the monster hunters didn¡¯t take a chance. The spearman impaled the fallen monster before the group turned to the remaining snakepard. The creature was on its last legs, peppered with arrows and cuts. It seemed to have also noticed its predicament. It turned invisible and tried to leave. It didn¡¯t work. The shielder bounded forward and bashed the creature. Two of the spearmen impaled it. After the battle, Yuki watched while the men and women hauled the carcasses away and collected the bits and pieces of the snake they¡¯d severed. They even collected and removed the leaves and grass stained with the creature¡¯s blood. Near the end, one of the archers, a woman with sun-kissed skin, took her bow and aimed straight at Yuki. It happened too fast. One moment, the woman gathered the bloodied leaves, and the next, she looked straight at Yuki, bow-nocked and ready. ¡°Cut it off, Mave!¡± Yelled one of the shielders. Yuki didn¡¯t understand the language, but the man sounded angry. The woman lowered her bow and raised a finger. ¡°It¡¯s only one, Carlos. No one will miss it. I¡¯ll make you a tasty stew tonight. Promise.¡± ¡°No, cut it off. You know who this farm belongs to.¡± The gruff man insisted. ¡°They won¡¯t ever know!¡± Said the woman, a hand going to her hair. The shielder stopped and moved closer. He put a hand on the woman¡¯s shoulder and whispered, ¡°Did you forget the tattletale is also here?¡± Whatever the man said, it was enough for the archer. With one last look in Yuki¡¯s direction, a look of pure hunger and greed, she turned away, carrying the leaves. What had just happened? Yuki cursed her inability to understand the language. What were the two discussing? And where was her universal language spell, like any good isekai should have? Yuki took a few steps inside the burrow. She thought no one would see her from where she was, but the archer proved her wrong. It was best to be safe for now. Yuki waited and waited. Time crawled at a snail¡¯s pace. The hunters didn¡¯t return. The lemony scent dispersed. Was it safe to go outside? Her stomach growled, and she made up her mind. Only one way to find out. Chapter - 6 With a hop, Yuki left the burrow¡¯s safety. She counted the milliseconds in her mind, ready to bolt inside at the first smell of danger. Nothing jumped at her. ¡°A small hop for a rabbit, but a giant leap for rabbitkind.¡± She appropriated those famous words from her world. It indeed felt like a giant leap. She took another, further away from the entrance, then another when no monstrosity or worse, humans appeared. She lowered her head to grab a bite. Given her almost all-around vision and inability to use her paws to hold food, she wondered if she would be in the first or second Judge¡¯s group? Yuki shook her head. It wasn¡¯t time to ponder passages from the before¡¯s holy book. Other rabbits, emboldened by Yuki¡¯s daring display of courage, also hopped outside¡ª first just a few, then more and more. Yuki ate, tension releasing from her body as time passed. While she ate, she remembered her favorite, and now only sister slept inside. Yuki took the biggest leaf she could find and, grabbing it with her mouth, ran inside the burrow. She ducked and weaved between rabbits. At some point, she stopped and snarled at an oversized rabbit who tried to steal her food away. She nipped his paws when he didn¡¯t heed her warnings. It took two more aggressive negotiations with other rabbits until she finally arrived at their nest. Sir Hopsalot was still here, still digging at the walls. So was Whisker. Yuki cut a portion of the leaf and put it near Hopsalot, who immediately stopped digging and dug in. Satisfied, she took the other part of the leaf and teased the sleeping Whisker. It started with the twitching nose. Yuki moved the leaf closer, and for a moment, the sister opened her eyes, but no one was home. Whisker¡¯s eyes closed again, and her teeth ground against each other. Soon after, Whisker bolted awake and dove toward the leaf. Yuki held back her laughter.
Just one. That was Yuki¡¯s promise. She looked at the orange ¡®shooms piled in front of her. A few days had passed since the monster incident. Things were calm again¡ª and boring. Yuki had re-explored the whole clearing and burrow. No other monsters showed up, but there was nothing else to do aside from eat and sleep. With Bunbun gone, not even the fur temptation remained. Flopsy¡¯s fluff just wasn¡¯t up to snuff. Yuki glanced at the mushrooms again. Just two, she promised herself, then never again. Although eating them wasn¡¯t a problem. Yuki was an independent rabbit who wasn¡¯t compelled by society¡¯s preconceptions about the recreational eating of strange flora. What was the harm? She glomped down the mushroom. It dissolved almost instantly when it touched her tongue. The taste was earthy and sweet. The tingles started from her mouth, moved up her nose and eyes, and finally sparkled in her head. A shiver of pleasure ran down her spine and to her legs. She leaned down and ate another. The tingling spread from her head to her whole body. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The world looked vibrant and alive. The dark purple night sky was inviting and happy. The stars played an endless song. She hopped and whirled and danced. She ate another ¡®shoom and watched the clearing lit with music and life. She looked at the other mushrooms she¡¯d gathered. It would be a shame to let them go to waste, right?
Yuki woke up with warm, pleasant sunlight bathing her fur. She stretched, paws and spine popping in the best of ways. The gentle breeze caressing her whiskers added a new layer of goodness on top of it all. It had been so long since she last took a nap¡­ in¡­ the sun? Nah, it wasn¡¯t possible. No sane rabbit would sleep in the open, outside the deep safety of their home. She opened a single eye and looked around. Tall, gnarled trees loomed over her, the sunlight peeking through the foliage. The ground was covered in leaves and shrubs. Fallen logs here and there, covered in bracket fungi. Tree ferns, king ferns. A vast network of vines extended over the canopy, between the tree leaves. The air was damp, humid, and smelling of fungi. Yuki closed her eyes. This was a dream or a hallucination. There was no clearing or familiar gentle grass and leaves surrounded by trap-shrubs and trees. No elevated mound dotted with entrances to the burrow. The leaves rustled in an unfamiliar way. Not the same gentle sound when the winds moved them. Yuki¡¯s ears perked up, her eyes opened wide, and her heart beating a mile a minute. Then she forced a deep, slow exhalation. She was the master of her body, not the other way around. The wind carried a pungent, musky odor that set off alarm bells in Yuki¡¯s mind. Her eyes focused, and her legs tensed, ready to jump away. She didn¡¯t know what scent that was, but instincts told her to stay still, hidden from the predator. It walked from behind a log, an elongated body with four legs and a short tail. The brown fur on the upper body, the white belly, and the narrow head and small ears were enough to identify the creature. They locked eyes. Yuki¡¯s panicky and frantic, the weasel keen and gleaming. The would-be ambusher opened its mouth, displaying sharp, pointy teeth that promised pain and death. It chattered, the sound like a trilling laughter. Yuki squealed and lost control of her body. Instincts took over. She bolted, all rational thought forgotten. The weasel gave chase. Yuki scurried under a shrub, past a tree¡¯s roots on the other side. She didn¡¯t know where to go, but the leap carried her past a fallen log and across vines and rocks. Behind, the weasel tittered, weaving through the forest like it was his yard. A few things jumped to the forefront of Yuki¡¯s thoughts. The stalker¡¯s tail was brown, the same color as the fur. It confirmed then the creature wasn¡¯t a stoat. Other tidbits came amid the blind run. Weasels are relentless hunters. Agile and flexible. Most important of all, avoid their bite at all costs. Other rational parts of Yuki¡¯s mind supplied more details. She wasn¡¯t faster than the weasel. She could maneuver better around obstacles, but she wasn¡¯t gaining distance, and she¡¯d learned over the weeks that rabbits were not endurance runners. She¡¯d need to stop and recover. Yuki dove past a bush, then around a tree, and stopped. Her heart still beat faster, and her legs wanted to keep running. But no matter how much she thought about it, she didn¡¯t believe she could escape the weasel. The tittering announced the arrival of the predator. Yuki turned, whiskers trembling in anxiety. She took a deep breath. ¡°You can do it.¡± She could kick and nip like the best of them. She didn¡¯t need to kill the weasel; she just needed to show that she was far more trouble than it was worth. The weasel stopped, then stood on its hind legs, staring at Yuki. She stared back, body lowered and ready to move. The weasel tittered again. Yuki growled. It jumped at her, and she hoped fighting wasn¡¯t a bigger mistake. Chapter - 7 Not once since Yuki woke in this world 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 weasel jump¡¯s trajectory. If she had a horn, she could position herself and let the enemy impale itself on it. That would be the easiest choice. Alas, no horn. She hopped forward, past where the critter would land, and crouched, hind legs ready to thump the critter 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. Claws grasped at empty air. Then, like a cat, it landed on its four paws, already facing Yuki. The rabbit¡¯s back legs lashed out, and a delightful thump echoed, followed by the weasel¡¯s squeal. That, Yuki 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-to-eye coordination test. Was this the effect of DEX or INT? A low, high-pitched growl heralded the next attack. The critter 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; were she not sapient, it might even have worked. But a former human, now turned splendid rabbit, wouldn¡¯t fall for such simple tricks. Fear forgotten, Yuki¡¯s heart pumped with adrenaline, mischief gleaming in her eyes. She leaped past the hidden weasel and mid-jump, her thumpnators lashed out again ¡ª harder, faster, stronger than before. It hit the weasel. It 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 confrontations. 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 dominate Bunbun. No, she had good reasons for that; Bunbun¡¯s fur was something out of this world, and it was a sin not to. Now, she wanted to hit the critter again. She wanted to hear it squeal again. She locked eyes with the weasel; it was still in the ground, hidden between leaves. Its ears swiveled, and its nose twitched. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. 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 like a death¡¯s embrace. Yuki squealed 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; despite the pain, information dumped into her frontal lobe. Bits and bobs missing in her knowledge of the system now fit into place. Skills, Advanced Skills, Characteristics. The details flooded her mind, but a jolt of teeth tearing into her body took her attention away. The original hunter held firm on the bite and tried to trap Yuki in its vicious embrace. Right then and there, Yuki decided that if she survived this, at least one thing she learned. 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 yelped but didn¡¯t let go. It was still sent away, dragging a piece of Yuki¡¯s pelt with it. 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. 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, picking choices on instinct. Terms and details she didn¡¯t know a few moments ago. She finally understood what [Invocation] and [Shaping] did. One controlled her spells¡¯ power; the other acted like a governor to limit how much a spell could be modified. Yuki made things simple. She increased the spell range, then dumped everything else into how hard the magic was to resist. 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. Then she 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 that still held a piece of Yuki¡¯s flesh in its paws. The weasel squealed 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 evil. Chapter - 8 Morbid curiosity drove Yuki to inspect the dead weasel. 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 open wide terrains didn¡¯t go together. She concentrated on the blinking system notification. Best to tackle the annoying one first. Deadly situation detected. System lock removed. Good luck. That was the first time Yuki felt the system was talking directly to her. Was the good luck a pre-programmed message? Next, she read the system logs. She skipped the daily exp notification. Brown-tailed weasel bit you. You took 1 point of damage. You suffered a Minor Wound. Brown-tailed weasel is now Grappling you. You managed to dislodge the enemy. You took 1 point of damage. You suffered a Minor Wound. You invoked the spell [Wrack]. Spell Magnitude overwhelms the enemy¡¯s Willpower. Your spell caused 3 points of damage. Your spell caused 4 points of damage. Brown-tailed weasel died. You¡¯ve gained 10 experience points. Brown-tailed weasel fled. You¡¯ve gained 2 experience points. Yuki glared at the log, willing the numbers to change. Nothing changed. She kept glaring. The numbers refused to change. 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 annoying. Who had time to read lines and lines of redundant text? A new notification popped up in her vision. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Verbose log disabled. Nice. Had the system finally decided to listen? ¡°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 character sheet. ¡°Status.¡± On the landing page, Yuki already saw differences. The rabbit image was now surrounded by a green outline, except for a red splotch, exactly where the weasel had bitten her. She saw text there as well. 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. Yeah, that made sense. She clicked on the attributes tab, but nothing had changed there. She clicked on the characteristics tab. One of the three that were previously locked. Yuki looked at the numbers and names. None of which made any sense. No, some made sense, but she didn¡¯t want to deal with it. She sighed, deep and tired. If magic points and hp were also shown on the landing page, she would never open this tab again. A notification blinked into existence. Layout updated. Yuki returned to the landing page, where the rabbit now held a crystal cup, blue liquid sloshing inside. When she focused on the cup, numbers shimmered into existence. 17/20. The same happened with the rabbit, she noticed. When she focused on the injured area, a 1/3 appeared as well. She looked at the tabs again. Characteristics weren¡¯t there anymore. Good, that would help. Yuki didn¡¯t want to treat this as a video game. She was on her last life already. She selected the next tab and saw a list of skills. She stared hard at the first one, willing the system to spill its secrets. Somehow, it obeyed. [Athletics] (STR + DEX): 21. Athletics skills cover a range of physical activities, including but not limited to climbing, jumping, and running. Armor interferes with this skill. Yuki counted the other skills. She stopped when it got past thirty. She skipped to a subsection that read resistances. Resistances. [Brawn] (STR + SIZ): 2. [Endurance] (CON x2): 4. [Evade] (DEX x2): 40. [Willpower] (POW x2): 40. Her numbers were all over the place. She glanced at a second subsection named passions. Passions. [Love] fluff fur: 70. [Love] fluff rabbits: 70. [Hate] the stalker: 63. That kinda made sense, even if Yuki had no idea why her hate for the stalker was listed there. She put the obnoxious person out of her mind. She was free and an unknown universe away. Lastly, she checked Advanced skills. Maybe conforming to her mood, Yuki saw several grayed-out skills disappear, leaving only relevant things. The list wasn¡¯t long. Invocation and Shaping were both here, both at 40. Yuki also saw Sewing and Leatherworking. Making those cosplays wasn¡¯t in vain. Other notable skills included Seduction, Commerce, and Language (English). Yuki didn¡¯t go in-depth about those skills. She thought back on the costumes she created. If she had hands, she could craft them again. The system didn¡¯t seem to limit what she could do. It hadn¡¯t given her any new knowledge aside from the sorcery skills. Yuki closed her eyes and willed all the tabs, aside from her spell list, to disappear. She didn¡¯t need them. If she ever did, she would just call them up again. Layout updated. With the boring part out of the way, Yuki took stock. The spell she cast had faded. She would need to cast it again if she wanted to use it once more. It lasted for a long time, which was nice. The fatigue level on her landing page now displayed ¡°Fresh.¡± It also matched how she felt. She wasn¡¯t tired anymore. That left the injury. She at least needed to know how regeneration worked. Yuki chanted the words and moved her hands. When she finished with the cast, without alteration this time, the injury itched, and the scent of vanilla filled her nostrils. She waited, holding the magic while it did its thing. She tried to count the time. It was half an hour later and a renewal of the spell when the itching stopped. Yuki let the magic falter, then looked at where the weasel had bitten her. The fur was still bloodied, but no more bite puncture. She glanced at the magic points on her landing page. The crystal cup was three-quarters full. She used two magic points in this exercise. Not bad, but not good. Rested, healed, and hungry, it was time to leave and find the burrow. Chapter - 9 Yuki peeked from behind the fallen tree trunk at the patch of earth with no trees, bushes, or vegetation. Her nose itched. The area ahead smelled like pepper, vinegar, and ammonia. But across the barren patch of land, she recognized a big tree she often watched from the clearing. This was something made by the humans, of which she had no doubt. Yuki didn¡¯t understand why. Burnt marks populated the space here and there. Trees had been cut, and their stumps burnt. There was no place to hide, rocks, vegetation, shrubs, or anything. Yuki¡¯s legs trembled at the sight of that. Rabbits¡¯ instincts warned her that a rabbit in the open was a dead rabbit. That and the smell. It was like someone got all the things she didn¡¯t even know she hated and mixed it all, then threw buckets and buckets of the stuff in the barren area. Yuki was curious how she managed to cross it in the first place. She remembered nothing after the seventh mushroom¡­ Well, that might be the reason. The damn ¡®shrooms. Why did they have to be so tasty? Enough procrastinating. Yuki didn¡¯t want to cross the open space or face the smell, but home was on the other side. She crouched low and donned her metaphorical sunglasses. She was the master of the body and could stealth in open space like the best of them! Yuki took a step forward, humming a theme song. ¡°Dun dun, dun-dun, dun dun¡­¡± With each beat, she took a step. Despite the open area and horrible smell, she smirked. ¡°Ta nan nan!¡± she belted and ran simultaneously. ¡°Ta nan nan!¡± Two small bursts and mission accomplished. Who said it was impossible? With one last leap, Yuki was past the desolation and back in the safety of the understory. From there, she took her time. She nibbled on new types of leaves. She smelled this purplish mushroom that sent her salivating, but she avoided that one. No more unknown flora consumption. Yuki investigated an abandoned tunnel, probably made by some other rabbit. She crossed it, hopping outside and ready to explore. She stopped dead in her tracks. There were two humans in front of her. An old man, his face wrinkled, hands callused. He wore sturdy, if beaten, clothes in shades of grey. The man¡¯s eyes were black and energetic despite his old age. He wore something like a cowboy hat and even had a piece of grass in his mouth. The other, besides the old man, was another, younger, barely out of his teen years. He wore tight trousers and a shirt too small for him, like he had outgrown them and his family hadn¡¯t yet replaced them. A bag hung on his broad shoulders. He had huge hands and a freckled nose, tanned skin, and eyes a deep brown. Eyes locked on Yuki. Yuki stood there frozen. She looked at the boy, and the boy glanced at her. ¡°Hey, gramps, this one doesn¡¯t seem dangerous.¡± The boy said, his voice a little playful. He nudged the old man. Gramps turned around, eyes widening at Yuki¡¯s sight. Gramps squinted. ¡°I¡¯ll be dammed. This one doesn¡¯t have a horn, and look at the size. It¡¯s a quarter of what it should have been.¡± Yuki was ready to bolt, but none of them made any sudden gesture. She kept listening to their conversation, even if none of the words made sense. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Might be a newborn kit?¡± Asked the boy, looking around. ¡°Might be, but no, the other kits are bigger than that.¡± The man reached for the boy''s bag and took something in his hands. Then he offered it to the boy. ¡°Well, feed it then. That¡¯s what we are here for. Let¡¯s start with this one.¡± The boy nodded and took whatever the old man gave him. He took a knee and extended a hand toward Yuki. He made noises, baby noises if she had to guess. The old man rolled his eyes. Yuki wasn¡¯t sure what to do. After seeing the hunters, she was interested in meeting with other humans, and these two didn¡¯t seem to pose any danger. She sniffed in the direction of whatever the boy offered. It smelled amazing like those nuts mom gave them when they were little. Yuki never found them again outside. The boy shook his hands, slow and gentle. His voice took on even more of that characteristic baby-talk tone. Yuki wanted to roll her eyes. She didn¡¯t because the old man had already done it for her. He slapped the boy on the back of the head. ¡°Stop being silly. It can¡¯t understand you.¡± The old man chastised. The boy looked back, betrayed. The human-turned-rabbit considered what to do. She did want to meet with humans, but should she risk it? Well, it was just food. If anything happened, she could always use magic to escape. Decision made; Yuki took a tentative step forward. Should she try to talk with them? She wasn¡¯t sure if sapient animals were a thing here. They might overreact. She took another step forward. Best not to spill all her secrets on the first date. She took another step, and none of the two did anything to stop her, or even reached for anything they might use to capture her. Not that they needed anything else than their hands. Damnable opposable thumbs. She took a last hop, dashed closer, took a nut, and bolted away. Both the boy and Gramps watched. The old man smiled. ¡°That is a feisty one.¡± The boy looked back at the old man. ¡°Will it work?¡± The old man shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t see why not.¡± Yuki listened to the conversation but ignored it. From up close, the scent was better than she remembered. She took one last look at the duo, but they didn¡¯t approach. Yuki ate. She relished in the taste. It was the taste of happy days, of mom¡¯s fur and warmth, of indulging in Bunbun¡¯s awesomeness, of hopping along with Sir Hopsalot, of sleeping with Flopsy. She didn¡¯t know she missed it that much. Thank god rabbits couldn¡¯t cry. Imagine crying because the treat reminded her of the first days of her rabbit life. Now, she wanted to cuddle with them again. No more exploring. She yawned. Thinking about that even made her sleepy. A log message scrolled past faster than Yuki could read. She stopped eating and then tried to focus on the message. ¡°See? It¡¯s already working.¡± Said the gruff old man. ¡°What should we do?¡± Asked the boy. Yuki focused harder. It wasn¡¯t working. She wasn¡¯t sure why. It was like eating her orange mushrooms, but without the colors or the euphoria. After much effort, the log message showed up again. Poison overwhelms your Endurance. You¡¯ve been poisoned. ¡°Aw shit. I knew it was too good to be true,¡± Yuki complained. She tried to run away and enter the tunnel again, but her legs wouldn¡¯t move. ¡°I¡¯ll take it to the Lord. No one told me about a new breed.¡± Said the old man. The boy fidgeted. The old man barked a laugh. ¡°You go and take it to the Lord. My bad back can¡¯t make the trip in time.¡± The boy perked up. He approached and picked Yuki up. ¡°Let go of me, creep! Heeeeeelp!¡± She yelled, but her throat didn¡¯t cooperate. Her body was stiff, even if she was still awake. ¡°Are they always like this?¡± The boy asked, looking at the rabbit in his hand with interest. ¡°Nah, this one is a screamer. You get them sometimes.¡± The man took the bag from the boy and turned toward the clearing. ¡°Off you pop and try not to drool when you see the girl,¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll finish feeding this colony. Tomorrow we finish the last two.¡± Chapter - 10 Paralyzed and at the mercy of her captor, Yuki was an unwilling spectator while the boy took her wherever they were going. To make things even worse, at some point, the damn bully stopped carrying Yuki in his hands and instead gripped her sensitive, frail ears. It was humiliating and painful. With each step he took, jolts of pain spread from her ears to the rest of her body. Yuki feared her precious ears would be ripped out of her head. She couldn¡¯t even cry out; her body was paralyzed and unresponsive. They crossed into a farm field from the contorted trees and shrubs, with tilled land and crops tended to. They crossed paths with worn-out men, women, and children toiling under the sun to care for the produce. ¡°Whatcha got there, Bo?¡± Yuki couldn¡¯t see the source of the high-pitched, young voice. A young girl? She heard footsteps, then saw a freckled, bony girl with a mane of dark hair running toward them. Bo moved fast; he opened his arms and caught the girl in a hug with his free hand. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be helping Nan?¡± ¡°But it¡¯s sooo boring...¡± The girl whined, and then she looked at Yuki. ¡°Is it dead? Can I hold it?¡± Bo smiled, then handed Yuki over. With his other hand now free, he tousled the girl¡¯s hair. ¡°It¡¯s not dead, I gave it some of the sleeping seeds.¡± The girl wrinkled her nose. At Yuki or the boy¡¯s attention, it was hard to say. The girl took glee in inspecting every part of Yuki¡¯s body. She pulled on the ears, tugged the tail, pinched the paws, and poked the nose. All the while grinning or laughing. Yuki wanted to find a hole and hide inside forever. It was bad enough that the boy held her by the ears like a living bag, the inspection and poking like she was a novelty, was traumatizing. ¡°Don¡¯t they have horns?¡± The girl asked. ¡°Yah, that¡¯s why Gramps asked me to take this one to the Lord.¡± The girl giggled; she squeezed Yuki like a doll. ¡°To see Jenny, you mean?¡± Bo turned beet red and looked away for a moment before turning back to the girl. ¡°Not you too, Bee,¡± Bo complained. ¡°Give it back here, I gotta run, or the guards won¡¯t let me see the Lord.¡± Said Bo, hand going for Yuki. Bee laughed and gave the rabbit back. ¡°Ma said you should invite her for dinner.¡± Bo got even more red. ¡°Off you pop, go help Nan.¡± The boy said, tousling Bee¡¯s hair. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Bee ran, laughing and yelling. ¡°Bo and Jenny under a tree, kiiiissssiinnnng!¡± ¡°Brat!¡± the boy muttered, but he watched the girl run across the fields with a fond smile on his face. Yuki didn¡¯t know what to make of it. In one paw, they poisoned, kidnapped, and manhandled her. On the other paw, even without understanding the language, the guy didn¡¯t seem to be a lousy chad. Then he picked Yuki by the ears again, and all the good thoughts died in a fire. They left the sprawling fields, and the landscape changed from the open tilled land to a bustling small town. Rustic houses with thatched roofs and mud-hued walls lined the narrow, cobblestone streets. Most of the houses had decorations hanging on the doors and windows. Yuki saw arrangements of colorful flowers and small carved wooden figurines. Inside the town, new smells and noises assaulted Yuki. The acrid scent of sweat and horse manure mixed with smells of meat roasting on an open fire. The hubbub of conversation. The voices of street vendors peddling their wares. Kids running and yelling. The painful noise of metal hitting metal. They passed through the city square, and any hope Yuki had of reaching an understanding with humans died. There, a high platform of piled wood was raised to a central pole. Exactly like those she saw in history books of witch burning and prosecution. These savages burned people alive! The boy crossed the square, waving at people here and there. Then, they were in front of a vast walled manor. Bo approached the guard and displayed the rabbit he held by the ears. ¡°Got something to show the Lord at Caretaker Brander¡¯s request.¡± The guard, a heavy-set man wearing leather armor and holding a spear, looked at Bo, then at Yuki. ¡°Have you now, Boris?¡± The guard smirked, ¡°I¡¯ll send in for her.¡± He said and walked inside, leaving Boris waiting. Yuki watched, and the boy fidgeted. He fixed his shirt and dusted his trousers. He spat on his palm and used the moisture to fix his hair. He sniffed under his arms, coming up with his nose scrunched. Gross. Too much information. Yuki didn¡¯t need to see that. It took minutes of awkward torture until the guard returned. The man threw open the gates, and the boy froze. On the other side of the gate was a blonde woman. Young, Yuki guessed she had about reached her twenties. The woman had sapphire eyes and golden hair, honey-colored skin, and Yuki recognized the applied makeup to give the girl a rosy complexion. The girl wore a white long-sleeved shirt with a dark orange corset and skirt decorated with a blue frill that matched her eyes. The girl¡¯s smile dazzled. She curtsied. ¡°How have you been, Boris? It¡¯s been a while since you last visited.¡± Yuki watched the bizarre show. The boy blushed and looked away. He mumbled something not even Yuki could hear. ¡°And Isabella? Has she recovered well?¡± Jenny pressed, not minding the lack of response. Boris shuffled again and looked at the girl¡¯s feet. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. ¡°Bee¡¯s fine.¡± He mumbled it so low Yuki barely caught the unfamiliar words. She doubted the blondie heard them. Jenny seemed satisfied. She smiled, turned to the guard, and curtsied again. ¡°Thank you, Edgar. I¡¯ll take him to see the Lord.¡± Edgar grunted, still looking at the street. ¡°Well, come on then, I¡¯ve already sent someone to inform the Lord you¡¯re here to see him. We don¡¯t want to leave the Master of the House waiting.¡± Jenny turned and walked inside. Boris mumbled something while he passed by Edgar. The guard snorted and laughed. The door of the mansion loomed across a carefully manicured lawn. It was foreboding and dark. Yuki feared what horrors waited for her inside. Chapter - 11 The cobbled path framed by the well-arranged, beautiful garden was a sight many admired in the lord¡¯s manor. The greenery and plants cared for and trimmed, the sweet smells of flowers in bloom. For Yuki, each step on this path was one step closer to hell. Boris hunched his back and shoulders. His heavy steps on the path were more painful than before. Yuki couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, she cried out. ¡°Heeeeelp! Gemme outta hereeee!¡± Her voice was low, her body still paralyzed. Her legs twitched. Movement was still impossible. Jenny stopped, then turned around. She looked at the rabbit. A flicker of something passed on her face before she smiled at the boy. ¡°Is it still alive?¡± Boris nodded so fast it surprised Yuki he didn¡¯t get whiplash. Bo raised Yuki, showing his prize to the girl. ¡°Right, it is.¡± He mumbled. Jenny stepped closer, invading Boris¡¯s personal space. ¡°Let me handle it?¡± She asked, her voice sweet. Boris turned redder than before and all but threw Yuki at the girl. Jenny caught the rabbit in both hands. She curtsied. ¡°Thank you, Boris.¡± She turned around, blocking Yuki¡¯s vision from the boy. Jenny looked Yuki over, pausing, when she noticed the patch of bloodied and mangled fur. Her face twisted into a scowl before settling again into a pleasant smile. Jenny crossed the heavy oak doors into a grand foyer without waiting for Boris. The cool air carried to Yuki new smells: cooking meat and burning wood. High above, the vaulted ceiling was supported by thick, wooden beams. The walls were adorned with tapestries depicting scenes of hunting and feasting. The floor was a mosaic of smooth, dark stones worn by countless steps. Yuki¡¯s gaze stuck to the images in the tapestry. The festivities, people roasting rabbits. Now, indeed, in the thrall of panic, she yelled, trying to break free. Her limbs responded, but small jolting movements weren¡¯t enough to free herself. ¡°Shhh, it¡¯s okay.¡± Jenny brought Yuki closer, whispering in a soothing voice. ¡°You¡¯re going to be okay.¡± The words, even in the unfamiliar language, were calming. Yuki stopped struggling, consigning herself to the oven. She hoped they at least choked to death with her bones. They moved through a series of interconnected rooms. The great hall was expansive and imposing, with a long wooden table that could easily seat dozens of people. Massive chandeliers wrought from iron hung from the ceiling, the candles unlit during the day. Adjacent to the great hall was the smaller but no less grand dining room. A large fireplace dominated one wall; the hearth¡¯s fire was unlit. The table set in the room had plates and goblets. Rich wooden paneling lined the walls, and a small gallery overlooked the room. Jenny crossed the room into a kitchen. Yuki¡¯s nostrils twitched at the aroma of baking bread and simmering stew. Servants moved with frenetic energy, tending to fire and large cauldrons. On the wall-mounted shelves, an array of herbs and spices. Large baskets of produce sat on the floor beneath it. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. They climbed a spiraling staircase. At the top, Jenny walked into a long, dimly lit corridor lined with doors. Jenny ignored all of them. She walked straight to the last door in the corridor. Once there, with a quick look behind to make sure Boris followed, she knocked at the door. ¡°My Lord,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯ve brought Brander¡¯s grandson.¡± Yuki heard rustling on the other side, then a tired voice. ¡°Come in.¡± Jenny pushed open the dark, polished wooden door, then waved Boris inside. The boy hesitated, bowed and entered. Jenny followed. The inside decoration was rich but functional. A large, heavy desk covered with parchments and quills, ate almost all the space. Behind the desk, a tall window gave a view of the surrounding lands, the farms, and, even in the distance, the field of gnarled trees. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with leather-bound volumes and scrolls. Yuki noticed the man sitting behind the desk. He was in his forties, had pale skin, and had an angular beak nose. His eyes, dark brown made more prominent by the man¡¯s huge glasses. The man was dressed in tasteful yet straightforward clothes; a white shirt and dark pants. But most of all, Yuki felt it more than she smelled it. The room reeked of burnt wood and fresh blood. It had the same texture she came to associate with power in use. The scent was so strong that she sneezed. The constant noise of quill to parchment stopped before it started again. Jenny looked at Yuki with a strange gaze, Boris¡¯s eyes were glued to the floor, the lord hadn¡¯t raised his head yet from the parchments. ¡°What''s the news?¡± The man asked without looking up. ¡°Er¡­ well, milord¡­ Grandpa, I mean, caretaker Brander found a white rabbit, smaller than the others, with no horns.¡± ¡°Did he now?¡± The lord said. He kept penning his missive. ¡°Did you bring the specimen?¡± ¡°Yes, milord.¡± Said Boris, bowing again. ¡°Jennifer?¡± The lord asked, without looking from his table. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Dispose of the thing.¡± The lord commanded. ¡°Of course, my Lord,¡± Jenny said and curtsied. ¡°Boy, tell the caretaker to prune this new breed. We don¡¯t need any contamination of the livestock.¡± The four fell silent. The lord kept penning his missive. Jenny kept looking at Yuki, Boris kept shuffling on his feet, and Yuki kept wishing she was anywhere but in this room; the smell was so strong it almost hurt. The lord paused, and finally looked up. ¡°You have anything else to report?¡± ¡°No sir,¡± Boris said, his voice barely more than a whisper. ¡°You¡¯re dismissed,¡± said the lord of the house, then turned to his papers again. Boris bowed and left. Jenny followed the boy and closed the door behind them. Yuki could finally breathe again. She would have hugged the girl if she could; so much was the relief. She settled for the next best thing. She licked the girl¡¯s palm. Jenny giggled, and nodded down the corridor when Boris looked at her. She led the boy back to the manor entrance, stopping short of leaving the compound. ¡°Give your mother my regards,¡± she said and picked something from the inner pockets of her uniform and handed it to Boris. Yuki couldn¡¯t see what it was. ¡°That is a late birthday gift to Isabella. I didn¡¯t have time to visit, but I didn¡¯t forget. Please give it to her for me.¡± Boris nodded, swallowed. He opened his mouth seeming to gather his courage to say something. Jenny stepped closer and kissed the boy¡¯s cheek. Yuki could even see smoke coming out of his ears. Whatever he was building up the courage to say died in the crib. ¡°Now, I have to go back, can¡¯t give the others a reason to complain,¡± Jenny said. She smiled and waved. Boris swallowed again, bowed, and left, the heavy gates closing behind him. Jenny¡¯s cheerful demeanor evaporated faster than water in the desert. She rolled her eyes, still looking at the gate, she spat to the side and cleaned her mouth. Her gaze wasn¡¯t gentle anymore. It was piercing and predatory. She smiled again, full teeth on display. The dimples in her cheeks would have been cute if Yuki wasn¡¯t so scared. ¡°Now, what do we have here?¡± Yuki trembled. Couldn¡¯t she catch a break? What was wrong with this world? Chapter - 12 Jenny¡¯s smile faltered; she sighed and turned around. With Yuki held in both hands, the blondie entered the manor. She strode past the foyer and dining room to the kitchen. Yuki still couldn¡¯t move other than jerky, uncontrolled spasms. The more she tried, the firmer Jenny¡¯s grip got. Now, near other servants, Jenny¡¯s gentle smile and demeanor returned. She bowed and smiled and waved. Inside the kitchen, she turned right and stopped in front of a countertop. There, Yuki saw a cutting board. Tied to a wall was Yuki¡¯s current worst nightmare. Knives of every type and shape. Cleavers, carvers, boning and paring. ¡°Not the knives! Anything but the knives!¡± Yuki yelled as loud as she could. ¡°Hush,¡± Jenny said, voice soft, ¡°it will be over in a moment.¡± Jenny covered Yuki¡¯s eyes with her hand, pinning Yuki¡¯s head to the countertop. Yuki tried to bite or buck away. She tried to invoke magic, but they all needed the damn hand-waving mystic bullshit. She willed herself to teleport away. Nothing happened. She abandoned all her pride and begged. ¡°No, please. I¡¯m too pretty to die! Don¡¯t do this, please!¡± A moment later, Yuki heard and felt it. Metal scrapping against metal. The tugging in her fur and no pain. She stopped still as a rabbit, waiting for the inevitable. ¡°There, all better now,¡± Jenny said, removing her hands from Yuki¡¯s eyes. The girl had scissors in her hand. Nearby, a mangled and tangled patch of white fur. Jenny hung the scissors on the wall and then threw the fur away. Gently, she picked Yuki up and left the kitchen. Yuki didn¡¯t even complain; she was too tired. Jenny crossed corridors and doors, all a blur to Yuki. Finally, the girl opened a dark room. The air was damp and stale; wood crates rested against the wall. Yuki saw bags that smelled of seeds, tools to work the land, and other farm equipment. Jenny walked to one of the crates, opened it, and placed Yuki inside. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll come get you later.¡± The blondie closed the crate, leaving Yuki alone and in the dark. A few moments later, Yuki heard the door closing and the keys jiggling. She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. The dark helped, even if she was still trapped. Against her best judgment, she fell asleep. Yuki woke up startled. It was dark, and the floor texture was strange. The smells were all wrong. Old musty wood, manure, soil, and seeds. She could move and got up to her four paws. Another scent reached her. Something she recognized but not from this life. Old memories surfaced, and she remembered the tantrum when her nanny insisted Yuki ate the damn thing. Across from her was a low bowl filled with water and a carrot. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Not believing her nose, Yuki first walked to the water. She drank deep and long. She sat by the carrot, nibbling at the treat. She needed to think about this whole situation. On the one paw, she was alive, which surprised her at this point. On another paw, she¡¯d been kidnapped and locked away. On the third paw, the girl left food in the crate, and now that the fear had subsided, Yuki realized her bias made things worse than they were, at least with the girl. On the last paw, Yuki missed the other buns already. But this was also a good opportunity. Now that she wasn¡¯t paralyzed, she had choices. She could dominate any of the humans to take her away from here. Did the magic work even without a shared language? That was something she could test. More than that, Yuki was curious about the scent in the Lord¡¯s room. Yuki nibbled the carrot. It was good, the taste, the smell, the crunchiness. Not as good as the damn poison seeds or magic ¡®shrooms, but still good. She sighed again. If she kept with the sighing, she¡¯d become a granny rabbit soon enough. The decision was a poor one. She wanted to stay, even if the logical thing to do was to escape. She shook her head. She also needed to ensure no one realized she was more than a rabbit. If these people burned innocent girls in the pyre, she didn¡¯t want to think what they would do with talking magic rabbits. She was still mulling over things when she heard the jiggling of keys and the door opening. Yuki prepared the spell. If the blondie tried anything, Yuki would not hesitate this time. She crouched, ready to jump away at first notice. Footsteps got closer, then the crate lid slid open. Jenny peeked inside. Yuki stared back at the girl. With slow, deliberate movements, Jenny extended a hand toward Yuki. She didn¡¯t try to hold the rabbit; she just presented the hand. Yuki realized this was the famous pet bonding technique. You let them smell you and get used to your scent. She had a strange feeling bubbling in her chest. The blondie was pretty enough; she wouldn¡¯t mind playing the pet part in another life. But now? The hand edged closer until it almost touched Yuki¡¯s nose. Yuki closed the gap and sniffed the offered hand. A strong scent of soap with a hint of something sweet and flowery. Did the girl wash her hands before coming here? That was an excellent detail. Yuki gave the hand a lick, then edged away. The soap tasted funny. Jenny giggled. With the back of her fingers, she caressed Yuki¡¯s fur. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a sweety?¡± She whispered. ¡°I know it was Boris¡¯ fault. The idiot doesn¡¯t know how to handle a cute thing like you.¡± Yuki recognized the word. Boris, that was the boy¡¯s name. ¡°Tomorrow, I¡¯ll go into town and get a proper cage for you. Until then, I¡¯ll need to keep you here.¡± The blonde placed her hand on the crate, palm up and open. With her other hand, she tapped her palm. Yuki sighed, so much for being a pet. For survival and research, she walked into the girl¡¯s palm. The fingers gently stroking her sensitive ears and the involuntary leg thumping were things Yuki decided she would never talk about. Chapter - 13 Despite all her early misgivings, Yuki saw her current situation for what it was: a wake-up call to reality. She had taken things for granted, living her best rabbit life, and ignoring the rest of the world. The most important thing now was to understand all her options; how her magic worked, how her skills worked, and how the system worked. Some themes in her current situation were achingly familiar. She was a monster, she had an evolution tier, she could gather experience from killing things. Fingers traced gentle circles on Yuki¡¯s forehead, then trailed down to her cheeks. Yuki wasn¡¯t a cat, but she purred, nonetheless. The reaction was as instinctual as the involuntary thumping. Eyes still closed; Yuki did her best to ignore the giggling from above. Yes, right now she was making plans for her survival and wouldn¡¯t indulge in the crafty hands. She wouldn¡¯t be distracted by the petting. Yuki¡¯s second priority was to learn about magic. With the system now unlocked, she could cast her spells, and think of ways of using them. Her selection wasn¡¯t ideal. Some of the magics didn¡¯t do what she expected them to do when she selected them at character creation. [Dominate] and [Shapechange] were the spells she needed to understand. Both seemed incomplete, like it missed some part of the magic. The fingers that rubbed gentle circles in Yuki¡¯s ears and cheeks ceased their movements. Yuki pressed against the hand. The gall of the human to stop! Jenny giggled but didn¡¯t resume the petting, instead, hands enveloped Yuki. ¡°That¡¯s enough for now, Biscuit.¡± She got up from the bed, crossed the room, and placed Yuki inside the wooden cage. The girl then tidied her uniform, left the room, and locked the door. Yuki opened her eyes. She glared at Jenny¡¯s retreating form. She didn¡¯t appreciate the new name but let it go for now. She didn¡¯t want to alert the girl to any other weirdness. She looked at Jenny¡¯s room. The large four-poster bed dominated most of the space with its frame carved out of dark wood. The carving and varnishing were dulled and faded. The bed linens on the bed were well made but of simple fabric. The room¡¯s wall was adorned with faded tapestries that depicted pastoral scenes, but their color was muted, washed away. A small leaded glass window let the sunlight through, casting gentle patterns on the wooden floor. Jenny¡¯s wardrobe stood in one corner; doors slightly ajar. Inside, neat arrays of dress uniforms: the white long-sleeved shirt and orange skirt and corset combo. Besides the wardrobe, a small dressing table held a few personal items: a comb, a simple mirror, and a vase with a fresh flower. A picture of a dark-haired girl. In another corner of the room, a small unlit fireplace. A couple of well-used books and needlework laid on the hearth. Across from the hearth stood the mystery door. At first, Yuki thought it was a bathroom, but it wasn¡¯t. Jenny often locked herself there for hours and always triple-locked the room once she left. Yuki was curious about what was in there, but she had more immediate things to worry about. It had been three days since her kidnapping. Thankfully, Jenny ¡ª or Jennifer ¡ª wasn¡¯t keen on making rabbit stew. Yuki¡¯s new home was now a large wooden cage. Jenny had covered the bottom panel with dried grass and then added a wooden bowl filled with water. Once Jenny left in the morning, she took hours to return, which gave Yuki the perfect opportunity to practice and test out her magic. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Status,¡± she called out. A moment later the white rabbit holding a crystal goblet appeared in her vision. It took three days to fill the goblet again. With that confirmed, she willed the system to bring back the Advanced Skill tabs, and concentrated on the two skills that governed her magic. [Invocation]: 41. Invocation, base value: INT x2. This skill represents the sorcerer¡¯s ability to wield the magic. The skill covers magical principles from understanding the philosophy of how the magic works, and how to achieve the mental state necessary to manipulate reality. [Shaping]: 41. Shaping, base value: INT+POW. Shaping is the method used to change the parameters of a spell to meet the needs of the sorcerer. Invoked spells can be shaped by the sorcerer to meet specific requirements, such as extending their range, adding multiple targets, increasing duration, and so on. Yuki willed the system to hide the tab again. She noticed the skill had gone up by one point. Was that because she used the magic for the first time? Or because she tried to understand the magic? Did disabling verbose mode make the system also ignore skill increase messages? Yuki would need to test that later. The text on those two skills wasn¡¯t the most obtuse. Yuki had a good grasp on them, even more after using [Wrack]. Then there was also the price she needed to pay to invoke the magic. At their base form, each spell cost one magic point to invoke, with the price increasing with each parameter she shaped. Right now, it effectively meant each of her spells cost between one and four magic points. Based on the past three days, Yuki restored one magic point per day. For this test session, Yuki decided to cast the spells at their most basic value. No need to use more magic than necessary. Two spells she decided to skip, after thinking about their requirement. To [Enchant] something, Yuki needed tools and materials. Most important of all, she also needed opposable thumbs to work those tools and materials. [Contract Familiar] was another choice that right now she couldn¡¯t risk. What if the spell summoned a creature from another plane? Worse, how would she hide the familiar? She wouldn¡¯t deny it was tempting, but the more she delved into the magic details, the more she realized she wasn¡¯t ready for this one. The spell created a contract between the caster and a creature. If no creature was present at the time of casting, the magic would act as a beacon to entice would-be familiars, based on the materials components used. Yuki also noticed something else: the ritual had no built-in protection for the sorcerer. Yuki read enough novels to know what would happen if she summoned something from a different plane without any way to protect herself. [Regenerate] and [Wrack] she didn¡¯t need to test again. She¡¯d seen their effects firsthand. Yuki started with something safe, she picked the [Sense] spell. She got up on her legs, and with slow deliberate movement, traced the necessary lines and arcs. Soon after she chanted the mystic words. Yuki took her time, she was in no hurry to finish, more than that, she wanted to understand how this whole thing worked. At some point in the casting, Yuki needed to select what she wanted to sense. It was a versatile spell, but contrary to her first impression, it didn¡¯t allow her to sense someone¡¯s mental state. The choices were more pragmatic. An object, water, a unique substance. She pictured in her mind Jenny¡¯s earing. The pretty blue stones hung on a thin delicate metal chain. The vanilla scent that represented her magic blossomed in the room, but nothing changed. Yuki peeked at her status; the goblet wasn¡¯t full anymore. She looked around, but there was nothing. Was this a bad job? Then she heard it, low and far away, the clinking of precious stones tied to metal chains. It was faint, and growing fainter, but Yuki knew if she went in that direction, she would find Jenny. Yuki opened her eyes, and victory danced. ¡°That is so cool!¡± Even if she had already used magic before, it still took her breath away. Now she could properly appreciate the magic in play. Yuki was magic! The world wasn¡¯t ready for it. She hopped in circles, she jiggled and giggled. ¡°Yuki the magic bunny!¡± Chapter - 14 Yuki opened the status landing page and cast a glance at the bunny and the crystal goblet it held. The liquid inside sloshed languidly, it had three-quarters remaining. In the past hour, she had tested three spells: [Protective Ward], [Spell Resistance], and [Neutralize Magic]. The first two she combined in a single casting with shaping. There wasn¡¯t much to say about both spells. A quick dip into [Wrack] told Yuki what she already knew. Inside the area created by the protective ward, wrack didn¡¯t work. If she left the area, she could activate the spell, but not inside. If Yuki wanted to cast magic there, she needed to invest more magnitude while casting the spell. After that test, she cast [Neutralize Magic] and had to decide whether she wanted to cancel her magic or not. Yuki turned her attention to [Dominate]. She was on the fence about this one. She remembered back at character creation another spell in the list, [Enslave]. At the time, she decided that a straight dominate person from D&D was better than whatever bullshit this world cooked up with enslave. She hated those novels where enslaving others was the main theme. With those stories, she always wanted the MC to go murder hobo and kill every single one of the slavers. She hoped this world wasn¡¯t one of those. [Dominate] spell duration was tied to how much shaping she modified. That was a relief, no permanent domination here, no temptation to become what she despised. Yuki reaffirmed her convictions on this matter: dominate was a last resort, at least against sapient creatures. Monsters were fair game, as far as she was concerned. Propped on her hind legs, paws waving in circular movements, Yuki chanted the mystic words of the spell. As usual, she took her time, working the magic in small increments. Like she always felt, the magic was incomplete, and now she understood how. She had two choices. The first one was to specialize the magic, narrow down its scope, and assign a common denominator: Dominate Humans, dominate canines, dominate avians. With this version, the spell was harder to resist, and she wouldn¡¯t need material components. The second version was a generic version of the spell, but it was easier to resist, given the lack of focus. She would also need a piece of the creature species she wanted to dominate. A strand of hair, a feather, a claw. The choice was no choice at all. Yuki selected the generic version. Specializing could help, depending on the setting, but she preferred the weaker and broader version. The spell shifted in her mind. Some parts of the arcane formulae changed, others got removed, and others were added. The spell name also changed. It now was [Dominate Creature]. Once the knowledge settled in her mind, the casting failed. Yuki had no material component or a target. She sighed, doubt gnawing her inwards. She shrugged, the bed was made, and now she needed to lay on it. She stretched and drank a bit of water. One last spell to test. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Again, Yuki performed the movements and chanting necessary for [Shapechange]. Again, she was prompted with choices: Specialize or make the magic generic? In for a penny, in for a pound, as some said. Yuki picked the generic version. The spell name remained the same, and like dominate, now she needed a material component to cast it. The generic version also demanded more from the sorcerer to bypass the difference in size between the original and the desired form. The greater the difference, bigger or smaller, the higher the [Invocation] requirement. Dang, that was a shame, no bunny-to-dragon transformation then. Yuki didn¡¯t even want to think how far away she was from casting such a transformation. Satisfied, Yuki laid down next to the carrot. She deserved a treat after all that hard work. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Jenny walked the corridors that led to the Lord¡¯s office. She stopped by the door and took one last look at her uniform. She patted the skirt, pushed the strand of hair out of her face, and put on her best smile. She knocked. ¡°You sent in for me, my Lord?¡± ¡°Please, come in.¡± Said the voice inside the room. Jenny took a deep breath, fixed her smile again, then opened the door. The room was the same as always. The big wooden desk with parchments and books pilled on it. The sparse decoration, and the big window. She glanced at the lord, then at the other person in the room, the lord¡¯s son. Baron Baldwin of Thornfield looked up from his papers. The baron''s son turned in his chair to face the door. The Baron looked at Jenny with fondness, a father¡¯s smile breaking on his face. The son leered at her, his gaze roaming her entire body. Baldwin picked up a sealed scroll from the table and offered it to Jenny. ¡°Here, this is for you.¡± Jenny¡¯s heart sped up, she looked at the envelope, and her hands trembled. She approached the table and took the offered envelope. The boy leaned toward her, his gaze intent. ¡°Gregory just arrived from the capital for the festival.¡± Said the baron. Jenny took a deep breath and reigned in her emotions, now was not the time. She turned to the boy and curtsied. ¡°Thank you, young master Gregory.¡± Gregory raised his chin, with a smirk on his face. He nodded, then turned back to his father. The boy tried to appear nonchalant, but Jenny saw how he kept glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. She turned back to the father, ¡°Is there anything else, my Lord?¡± The man opened one of the drawers and took a set of papers. ¡°I need you to deliver these orders to the guild. The harvest is almost over, and they need to prepare the caravan.¡± Jenny took the papers and curtsied again. She turned to leave, but the baron stopped her. ¡°When you¡¯re done, you don¡¯t need to worry about work for the rest of the day and tomorrow. You¡¯ve been working hard, go and enjoy the festival.¡± Jenny turned to the baron and curtsied. The boy leered at her, ¡°I¡¯ll seek you out later Jenny. It¡¯s been a while, and we should catch up.¡± ¡°It would be my pleasure, young master,¡± Jenny said with yet another curtsy. Then she fled the room and all but ran out of the manor. First, she had to settle the guild order, after that, she could take her time to read the letter. It had been so long and finally Gizelda sent another letter! That was worth all the hassle of enduring Gregory¡¯s unwanted advances would be. Chapter - 15 Yuki had a plan. Granted, it wasn¡¯t a good one, but she guessed she had about half the chance it would work. The goal was simple: to escape the cage. The lock was a wood contraption with a single wood bolt holding the door closed. Yuki¡¯s paw could barely reach the lock, but she was confident she could reach the lock. She hopped closer, then looked at the lock again. Sturdy, heavy, and smelling of fresh-cut wood. She sniffed it, the scent was pleasant and calming, it made Yuki think of lazing on a comfy reading chair, a book in hand, and hot tea in the other. She shook her head, now wasn¡¯t the time to get distracted. She extended her paws outside and tried to pull the bolt out. It didn¡¯t work. Yuki¡¯s claws scraped the wood but found no purchase. She tried from another angle with the same result. No matter how she tried, she couldn¡¯t move it. She sighed and tried one last time. The claw stuck on something, and the bolt shook. Yuki held back her euphoria and finished dislodging the thing blocking the door. The piece of wood clattered away, and the door opened with its familiar creaking. She jumped out and hopped about, overjoyed at her newfound freedom. The door to Jenny¡¯s room flew open, it hit the opposite wall with a bang. Jenny ran inside the room, holding two envelopes in her hand. She turned and closed the door then locked it shut. Yuki froze. Jenny shouldn¡¯t be here at this hour. It wasn¡¯t even noon! Why was she here? Jenny locked eyes on Yuki and strode forward. With an agile movement, she cooped the rabbit in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s finally happening Biscuit!¡± The girl giggled, twirling. ¡°Finally!¡± Yuki closed her eyes, dizzy from all the whirling. When the movement stopped, she opened her eyes again. Jenny sat on the bed shoes and all, with two envelopes laid in front of her. One, a simple piece of parchment, the seal already broken, the other an opulent letter with the wax seal still intact. The simple envelope had blocky, utilitarian letters, while the fancy one was written in flowery cursive. Yuki couldn¡¯t read any of those, but the cursive looked pretty. Jenny smiled at the rabbit, then tapped the one with the blocky script. ¡°This one is from Ferdinand.¡± She picked up the parchment inside and scanned its contents. ¡°He¡¯ll arrive today and stay for the festival tomorrow.¡± One of those words pinged something in Yuki¡¯s memory. Ferdinand, Yuki was pretty sure it was a name. Somehow, she disliked it. Her teeth ground against each other. Jenny sighed, her nose scrunching. ¡°He¡¯s the son of a viscount.¡± She placed the parchment in the bed and sighed. It was a tired, defeated gesture. ¡°Not anywhere close to a duchess, but it will have to be enough.¡± She crushed the parchment into a ball and then threw it across the room. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Yuki hopped closer and sniffed the fancy envelope. It smelled of roses. There was another sigh, and Jenny took the envelope in both hands. With gentle and cautious movements, she broke the seal and took the white paper from inside. She sniffed the letter, a small, pleased smile breaking on her face. Yuki watched the girl read the correspondence. Jenny¡¯s face shifted between a range of expressions. She furrowed her brows, then growled like enraged beast. ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill that bastard!¡± At some point, her eyes were wide and disbelieving. Then she giggled like a lovestruck girl, and when she finished reading the letter, she was in tears, full-on ugly crying. Jenny hugged the letter and choked between sobs. ¡°Oh Gizelda, you silly girl.¡± Yuki had heard that name a few times, Gizelda. If she wasn¡¯t mistaken, it was the same girl Jenny kept a portrait by her bedside. Awkward and not sure what to do, she hopped on Jenny¡¯s lap and pressed herself against the girl. Jenny hugged Yuki and the letter. At some point, she had laid down on the bed, crying in silence. Yuki wasn¡¯t sure how much time they spent there, but Jenny sat up and cleared the tears with the back of her hand. She then put Yuki on the bed, and with the letter in hand, she went to the mystery door. She unlocked the triple lock and stepped inside. Unlike past times, Jenny forgot to close the door behind her. Yuki debated. Should she do it? Jenny seemed to need some time alone, but Yuki was curious about the room. Why the triple lock? What did Jenny do inside it for hours on end? She knew she shouldn¡¯t. It broke the trust between them, it was an invasion of privacy, and it was wrong. She hopped closer. Why was she even thinking these silly thoughts? She was a rabbit, and rabbits were curious creatures. Of course she was going to check out the mystery door. Donning her spy persona, code-name: Ivory Intel, Yuki sneaked around the room, then across the door. The room on the other side was small and dark. A small cubicle, maybe it once was an indoor wardrobe, now the walls were bare, the flickering candle on the far end casting ghostly shadows. Jenny sat on a floor cushion near the source of the light. Yuki¡¯s eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, and she wished it hadn¡¯t. Jenny sat in front of what could only be some sort of altar. In the center, a portrait of the Gizelda girl. Arranged around it were a carefully arranged stack of letters, small glass containers with a variety of colorful liquids inside, and an assortment of flowers in elegant configurations. No, the altar wasn¡¯t the problem, the problem was the wall behind it. Nailed to the wall, some with knives, forks, stakes, and even nails were hand drawn pictures. There were a lot of them, all arranged in a way to emphasize the picture in the center of the wall. A fat, balding man with beady leering eyes. A knife pinned the picture to the wall, piercing it exactly on its mouth. A red, blood-colored X crossed the face. Jenny reacted to Yuki¡¯s entrance. The girl turned, her eyes were wide and unfocused. Her smile was unhinged and with too many teeth. On one hand, she held a portrait of the girl on the altar. Jenny beckoned. ¡°Biscuit! Come, let me introduce you to my best friend!¡± Yuki heard the words; she understood her ¡ª not wanted ¡ª new name. She saw the inviting gesture. Yuki turned tail and ran out the door. She needed to escape, and she needed to escape now! Chapter - 16 ¡°Nope, nope, nope!¡± Yuki noped out of the mystery room. Desperate, she dove into the first hiding place she found, the crevasse between the wardrobe and wall. She wanted nothing with whatever that in the room was. Did she stumble on a forbidden witch ritual? No, it couldn¡¯t be. She smelled no power there. Yuki tried to move deeper, only to realize she was stuck. She couldn¡¯t go any further, and she dared not go back. ¡°Biscuit! Come here cutie.¡± The witch¡¯s voice called out from behind. Yuki froze, praying to whatever god out there that Jenny wouldn¡¯t find her here. ¡°Biscuit?¡± The voice called again, uncertain. ¡°Where did you go?¡± Jenny paced the room, closer then further away. ¡°Biscuit?¡± She called one more time before heading back into the cult room. Yuki waited a few more minutes, and when nothing happened, she unstuck herself from behind the wardrobe. She looked about, trying to find another place to hide. Inside the wardrobe was risky; Jenny always went to great lengths to keep her stuff organized. If Yuki hid there amid the clothes the chances of discovery were high. She cast her gaze about, looking for other places. The room had no restroom, and the furniture was sparse. An ideal place of hiding was near the door, so she could leave once it was open, but the walls there were bare, with nothing to hide in. In the end, Yuki huddled in the darkest corner beneath the bed. The plan was to wait until Jenny tried to leave, then use that opportunity to run away. Hours dragged on and Jenny didn¡¯t leave. Yuki wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed, but the sunlight had turned orange, and the room was cast in gloom. The boredom of the wait was made worse by how tired her eyes felt. She hadn¡¯t tried to stay still after becoming a rabbit, it was hard, and it made her sleepy. When the mystery door finally opened, Yuki jolted, sleep forgotten. She perked up and crept closer to where the bedroom exit was. Jenny didn¡¯t leave immediately, she walked here and there, near the room¡¯s corners and places where a rabbit could hide. Yuki watched in trepidation the feet approaching the bed. Jenny knelt and peeked under it. Her eyes locked with Yuki¡¯s. ¡°Ah, there you are!¡± Yuki took a step back, deeper into the darkness. Jenny beckoned. ¡°Come here Biscuit.¡± Yuki didn¡¯t budge. ¡°What¡¯s up with you boy?¡± Said the blondie. Yuki heard the lilting in the words that indicated a question, she had no idea what Jenny was asking. Jenny called Yuki over a few times, but when the rabbit refused to budge, the girl gave up. She went to the cage, took the water bowl, the nibbled carrot, and placed them under the bed. After she got up and went to the wardrobe. Yuki¡¯s fear softened a tad. Was she overthinking stuff again? The mystery room had no window and was dark, illuminated only by the flickering light of a candle. She might have seen things that weren¡¯t there. Rabbit eyes weren¡¯t the same as humans. It was difficult to put into thought, but it wasn¡¯t the same as how she saw things on the before. Jenny wasn¡¯t any different from normal. Granted, Yuki hadn¡¯t known the girl for more than a few days, but the blonde seemed normal now, not like whatever Yuki saw inside the cult room. The rabbit sighed and looked at the carrot and water again. No, it was best to leave. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Jenny finished whatever she was doing in the wardrobe, then walked closer to the bed. She placed something on top of it, before moving to the room¡¯s exit. Midway there she stopped and looked under the bed again. Satisfied, she got to the door, opened it quickly then left, closing it behind. Yuki watched all this from her corner. Her mind churned with the possibilities. She would leave after it was dark. It was too risky to cross the manor corridors while everyone was still awake and about. She had a plan, a good plan this time. She crept closer to the bowl, drank water, and ate the carrot. With a quick jaunt to the cage, she pooped and took a leak. Yuki would never agree she was a domesticated bunny, but she had standards. No need to pee the whole room when she had a place reserved just for that.
It didn¡¯t take long until Jenny returned, but she soon left again. When she next came back, it was smelling of soap and flowers. Yuki snuck closer to observe the witch. She watched while Jenny undressed from her uniform and underthings. Then, in fascination, she gawked while the blonde wore white bloomers and a chemise, followed by a light blue corset. After that, Jenny tied the hoopskirt over the bloomers, and finally, the petticoat to finish the ensemble. Jenny fixed her hair, applied makeup, and put on a pair of sandals in the same light blue color as the corset. She double-checked everything and smiled satisfied, took a small pouch from a drawer and after one last glance in the mirror, left the room. Yuki wasn¡¯t going to lie and say she didn¡¯t enjoy watching the whole thing. One because Jenny was gorgeous, the uniform didn¡¯t do her justice, and second, because she was fascinated by the dress style. If she wasn¡¯t mistaken, that was straight out of the Victorian era. It also raised a lot more questions. Who was Jenny? At first, Yuki thought she was just another servant, but things weren¡¯t adding up. A servant didn¡¯t have a whole noble bedroom to themselves. A servant didn¡¯t wear noble dresses. Yuki shook her head, she was getting distracted again, now wasn¡¯t the time for that, she needed only wait until the manor went to sleep. An image of a medieval house, drawn in comic style, with z¡¯s floating over it, and a drool bubble leaving one of the doors sent Yuki snorting in laughter. Outside the sky was already dark. In a few more hours, after Jenny returned and went to sleep, Yuki would escape this place.
Jenny never returned. Hours passed, the manor descended into silence and Jenny didn¡¯t return. Yuki had a bad feeling about that. She wasn¡¯t sure why. It wasn¡¯t jealousy, far from it. It was like a bad smell, sickly sweet and nauseating, or when the teacher made you stand in front of the whole class to present homework you didn¡¯t complete. She felt uncomfortable and restless. She shook her head, she needed to leave, and the more she waited, the worse it would be. With small and quick hops, Yuki left her hiding place. Without further delay, she ran to one of the corners and picked up one of Jenny¡¯s hairs. Material component secured, she chanted the spell, low and steady. She moved her paws in the required arcs, and decided to invest all her four¡­ no, it was five now, five points of shaping into the duration. That would keep the spell for two hours. More than enough to flee this place. Yuki came up with this plan after seeing the hair on the ground when fleeing the mystery room. With one last push, she cast [Shapechange]. The world blurred and distorted. Yuki¡¯s bones creaked and popped. Her flesh squirmed, like worms under her skin, her body writhed and warped. The fur receded; her eyes moved from the side of her head to the front. Her arms elongated, legs popped and twisted. When it was over, Yuki panted, face on the floor. She blinked and shivered; it was cold. She sat up and looked at her hands. They were small and delicate. She pulled a strand of hair in front of her eyes. It was milky white, almost transparent. She looked around; everything was still too big. She got up, wobbly legs barely enough to support her. She compared herself with the bed height. Yuki looked at her hands again, then flexed her new fingers. ¡°At least I have opposable thumbs now,¡± she said in a high-pitched voice. ¡°So, what if I look like a toddler?¡± Chapter - 17 Yuki waddled, wobbled, and swayed, her arms akimbo while she struggled to maintain balance and avoid tumbling on her behind. She never realized how hard it was to walk on two legs. Instincts told her to crawl on all fours like a baby, which her pride refused. Yuki was a human-turned-rabbit-turned-human; she could deal with walking on two legs. The cold air prickled her exposed skin, and she shivered. The shapechanged rabbit hadn¡¯t considered the lack of fur when making her escape plans. She walked to the wardrobe with slow, deliberate steps and picked one of Jenny¡¯s white blouses. It would serve as improvised garments. Yuki looked about, searching for anything else she could use, but decided against taking anything from Jenny. She wasn¡¯t a human anymore; she didn¡¯t need any other human things. What would a rabbit do with coins after the magic wore off? A lot of things, it turns out, but Yuki didn¡¯t want to steal from Jenny, so she left at that. She hopped toward the door, lost her balance, and fell. She got up and took careful steps instead of hopping. It was slow going. Her center of gravity was all wrong, and her legs didn¡¯t move the way she expected. The arms were the worst of all; they kept flying about, trying to find balance. With only three more falls, she arrived at the door. On the tip of her toes, she grabbed the handle, pushed the door open, and stepped outside. The manor was dark and silent. In the corridor, with no light from the moon, it was hard to see things. She already missed her rabbit eyes. The forward-facing field of view was so overrated when, as a rabbit, she could see almost all around and better in the darkness. Yuki shook her head; that was silly and whiny. She focused on the task, escaping this house of madness. One hand on the wall to help with balance, she looked left and right. On the wall opposite the door, she saw paintings of fancy people. Around the corridor, jars and other fancy noble things were placed here and there. The wall on the same side she was had other doors to the right and left. She had no idea where to go. When Jenny brought Yuki to her room, she¡¯d hidden the rabbit inside a pile of fabric. Yuki didn¡¯t know where she was in the manor or where the closest exit was. She took a step to the right. She walked with care, preferring to go slow and avoid noises rather than try to escape faster and cause a mess. The portraits she could barely see on the wall judged her every step. Their shadowy form casting condemning glares at Yuki for disturbing the place. Yuki ignored her overactive mind. She walked to the end of the corridor. It turned there to her left and continued with a row of closed doors on the right side. She backtracked, old JRPG gamer instincts telling her that, like usual, she picked the wrong path in the dungeon. Instincts proved correct. Before the passage on the left ended, it opened to a room with stairs, up and down. Yuki pondered which path to take. Up was risky, but if she could find an open area and maybe a feather, she might be able to fly away from here. She wobbled downstairs. There were too many maybes and risks to go up. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Climbing down was more of a challenge than Yuki wanted to admit. Tiny legs and lack of balance were a danger. She settled to sitting down and going one step at a time, risk-free and noiseless. After a while, she considered if the [Sense] spell could help her find a way out of the manor, but she couldn¡¯t think of anything to sense that would point her to the exit. Yuki stopped after crossing the first landing and preparing to delve into the next. She sniffed the air. Another rabbit sense that was better than the human counterpart; human noses could barely smell things compared to what her rabbit senses provided. She thought she had imagined it at first, but there it was again. It was that same sickly sweet, cloying smell from before. She couldn¡¯t remember what it reminded her of, but it made her stomach churn. She had to fight back the urge to puke. Yuki had felt that same smell when she was in Jenny¡¯s room, only there it was faint. She chalked it to anxiety at the time. Maybe because she left the room, the odor from the floor below was more pungent. Worst of all, it also had that same consistency that identified as magic in use. Yuki continued down the stairs, and the smell grew stronger. She stopped and looked up at the path she came from. Should she go back and try to find another way down? The sound of a slap and a whimper caught her attention. Her heart sped up. It wasn¡¯t the sound of a couple in the throes of passion. Whispers reached her next. Two different voices, one harsh and demanding, another low and suffering. She recognized the second one. It was Jenny¡¯s voice. What was happening here? Yuki¡¯s mind went to the worst possible scenarios. Was someone attacking Jenny? Should she do something? Could she live with her choice if she didn¡¯t? Worse, the nauseating scent got stronger. Without realizing what she¡¯d done, she stepped toward the sound. If Jenny was in trouble, Yuki could distract the assailer and, in the confusion, dismiss the spell and turn back into a rabbit. There was no light anywhere; she might be able to escape in the darkness if things turned sour. She held her breath when she reached the end of the stairs; the scent was so strong now. Immediately to her right, a passage led to the foyer, the same one where the manor entrance was. Yuki scanned the place and then saw it. The good: Jenny was here, next to the entrance. The bad: She was pinned to the wall, and a man dressed in fancy noble clothes had one hand at her throat. His other hand tried to remove the many layers of clothing Jenny wore. Jenny looked out of it. Her eyes were unfocused, and a trickle of blood escaped her mouth. She tried to resist the man, but her movements were feeble and unfocused. The man was disgustingly familiar. He was an older, handsomer version of the stalker. He was something in his late thirties but with the same carefully sculpted face and chiseled jaw. The hair was still immaculately styled. ¡°Why isn¡¯t the magic working?¡± The man cursed. It took a moment for Yuki to realize he spoke in English. Yuki forgot about not attracting attention, she forgot about being small, and she even forgot she had magic at her disposal. In the corner of her eye, a notification blinked, then disappeared. Yuki ignored it. She bounded forward, lack of balance not interfering with her movements. She growled. It sounded like a rubber duck being squeezed. The man stopped trying to undress Jenny and looked back. Yuki met the stalker¡¯s eyes, and hate consumed her thoughts. Before the man could react, she was by his side. She chomped down the first place she could reach. Chapter - 18 ¡°What? Ugh, Get off me!¡± The stalker snarled, voice raised in surprise. Something hit Yuki¡¯s head, hard and painful. She lost grip on the man¡¯s trousers, her teeth slipping free from its mark. She tasted blood and wasn¡¯t sure if it was from her bite or from being punched in the head. She fell to the side, crashing into the nearby furniture. The sound broke the calm in the silent manor. The stalker ¡ª now Yuki remembered his name, Ferdinand ¡ª walked closer, a hand massaging the spot at his waist where she¡¯d bitten him. Yuki couldn¡¯t move; her head spun. Ferdinand kicked Yuki in the guts, and she passed out.
Yuki awoke gasping for air. Her head hurt, her arms hurt, her whole everything hurt. She moved one arm, and a spike of pain made her give up on that idea. She moved the other arm, and the pain was tolerable this time. She pushed herself from the floor and inspected her body. Her arm bent in ways that weren¡¯t possible, which explained the pain. With her good hand, she touched her mouth. A gash divided her lips in two, and she missed a few teeth. Breathing hurt, broken ribs probably. It all felt so very surreal like it was happening to someone else. Even the pain felt distant. She willed the system to show the notification. Your passion [Hate] the stalker overwhelms your Willpower. You failed an Endurance check. What the fuck was that? The system could interfere with her mind? That was bullshit. Yuki summoned her status landing page. It was red all around. Chest, abdomen, left arm, head. Her legs and right arm were the only parts that didn¡¯t hurt. She cast her gaze about. She was still in the foyer. The room was a mess. The door lay ajar. Near the entrance, crumbled and bloodied, was the heavy-set guard she had seen when Boris had brought her here. The smell of decaying flesh also came from the entrance. A wheezing, gurgling sound caught Yuki¡¯s attention. She looked in the direction, and the pit in her stomach grew. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Jenny lay sprawled on the ground, a dagger sticking out of her stomach. The gurgling, wheezing sound came from the woman¡¯s breathing. Yuki got up hissing in pain, then approached. She slipped on the blood pooling on the floor and fell. A strangled cry of pain escaped her mouth. An agonizing eternity later, Yuki was back on her feet, and next to Jenny. Somehow, the girl was still awake, with tears dripping. Jenny¡¯s eyes hurt Yuki the most. The bright, vivid sapphire was gone, replaced with dead, despairing shades of indigo. In them, Yuki saw unrealized ambition, unfulfilled love, and bitterness at meeting her end. Yuki looked away. She was afraid that if she kept looking, she might just give up as well. She looked at her mana points, considering her options. Any choice she made here was problematic. If she helped, she would put herself into greater danger. The [Restoration] spell took forever to work. Worse, she wasn¡¯t sure how long [Shapechange] would still last. What would happen when it ran out? Would it cancel the restoration and waste her efforts? The rabbit-turned girl shook her head. She already knew her answer; the manor was quiet as a grave, and she had to try, at least. In a way, she owed her life to Jenny. She doubted the girl was supposed to keep the ¡®rabbit¡¯ as a pet, not with all the pains Jenny went to keep Yuki hidden. Yuki closed her eyes and took deep, slow breaths. She braced for the pain, then jarred her broken arm back into place. The agony was exquisite. She whimpered, cried, and sobbed. Yuki was pretty sure she was full-on ugly crying right now, snot running down her nose, but she didn¡¯t have the time to stop. When she finally regained her faculties again, two notifications greeted her. Pain overwhelms your Endurance. You succeeded a Willpower check. ¡°About right,¡± she muttered. Yuki then blocked everything out. She ignored the pain, ignored the rising fear, and the voice in the back of her head yelling at her to escape. She ignored the dying girl before her and concentrated on the magic she wanted to cast. It was hard; moving a broken arm and chanting with broken teeth wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience, but somehow, it worked. Yuki pressed her good hand over Jenny¡¯s abdomen near the knife. The scent of her magic spread in the room, flowing out from her core. A new system notification blinked in existence. [Regeneration] failed. Target magic essence has been usurped. The spell faltered, and Yuki balked. After the system unlocked, among all the sorcery knowledge implanted in her head, there was a small nugget she didn¡¯t touch or even think about. Magic was a scarce resource. A spell, shaped to be usable, took a lot of power. Yuki¡¯s system interpreted her power like magic points because that is how she understood things. But Yuki was way above the norm in magic capacity when compared to the ordinary person. For the average caster, with ten magic points, casting modified spells was taxing, with magic points regenerating at one per day. That small nugget of knowledge was a way to regenerate magic power by consuming someone else¡¯s. Blood magic, in short. That was a line Yuki didn¡¯t want to cross. It was a slippery slope. Run out of power to enslave this person? Easy, sacrifice this other person, and problem solved. Clearly, the stalker didn¡¯t have any such moral considerations. Yuki glanced at the dying girl in front of her. She was surprised Jenny was still alive. Yuki could think of one other way to try and save Jenny: in for a penny, in for a pound. Chapter - 19 Pinned to the wall in the foyer, short of breath and dizzy from the slap to her face, Jenny fought against the tendrils crawling in her skull. The insidious whispers that told her to obey, to love, to want the disgusting pig in front of her. Ferdinand''s hand roamed her body, trying and failing to remove her petticoat. She''d worn Gizelda''s gift today; she wanted to make a good impression on the man. The clothes were a pain to wear and to endure. Small mercies that now prevented a worse fate. But the stalemate couldn''t continue for much longer. Ferdinand''s muttering increased, and the whispers in her head got stronger. Jenny didn''t know how much more she could resist. Even the memories of her time with Gizelda weren''t helping anymore. The poisonous murmurs in her mind took too much focus to keep at bay. In the corner of her eye, she saw the girl walk into the foyer. The child''s gait was strange, like she wasn''t used to walking. Her nose was scrunched like she fought a bad smell. The white hair and red eyes glowed in the darkness of the room. The girl wore one of the female servants'' white shirts. It was too big for her petite frame. She didn''t wear shoes, and her lips were thin and severe. A strange expression to see in a kid. Was she the child of one of the other''s servants? Jenny didn''t remember hearing about any girl with white hair and red eyes, which was not something she had ever seen before, but Jenny wasn''t on the best terms with all the other servants and wasn''t pry to the details of their lives. Jenny and the girl locked eyes before the girl''s gaze turned to Ferdinand. The child''s eyes widened, mouth open in surprise. Her face morphed into a snarl, and the girl ran towards them, not on two feet like a normal person but on all fours like a beast. Ferdinand looked back, maybe alerted by the high-pitched snarl. The girl was at his side, teeth clamping on the bastard''s waist. The whispers in her mind relented; at the same time, Ferdinand turned around and punched the girl away from him. The girl¡¯s body flopped to the side like a puppet with its strings cut. The feral girl crashed against one of the decorative porcelain vases, and the decoration, in turn, fell to the ground with a loud crash, breaking into pieces. After that, things moved almost too fast to keep track of. Ferdinand whirled and punched Jenny in the face; she fell down, creating an even greater ruckus. The disgusting pig walked to the white-haired girl and kicked her one, two, three times. The girl didn''t move, and Jenny wasn''t sure if she was alive. Not satisfied, the pig stepped on the girl''s arm, and the bone snapped with a sickening crack. He spat, still speaking in that strange language. "Serves you right, bitch!" Jenny tried to crawl away, her head still spinning, but Ferdinand was on her in an instant. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged Jenny toward the communal room. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The entrance door to the manor flew open; there, bathed in the moonlight, was Edgar, dressed in his leather armor, sword held in both hands. The manor guard''s eyes scanned the scene, stopping for a moment on the body of the child. He took one step inside the foyer, sword ready. "Stop right there, or I''ll kill you." The guard commanded. Ferdinand stepped on Jenny''s neck, pinning her to the ground. His hand moved fast, fingers a blur. His voice rose to a crescendo. The air was heavy and malignant. The light of the moon vanished, leaving them all in complete darkness. There was a whistling sound, like something moving fast. Edgar screamed. The sound crawled into Jenny''s ears and into her mind. It reminded Jenny of the time her father forced her to kill one of the pigs they grew on the farm. She had done a horrible job. She was supposed to kill it with one single hammer blow to the head. It took seven. The pig screamed during it all. Edgar''s screams were so much worse. The repugnant man turned back to Jenny. "Shit, I''m out of mana, and this mess is bound to attract attention." His hand went to his back and returned with a wicked-looking dagger. He cut his finger, then drew something on Jenny''s forehead. "Shame I don''t have the time to enjoy it anymore." He slid the dagger into Jenny''s stomach with slow and deliberate movements. Jenny screamed. Her belly was pure agony. The more she tried to get away, the worse the pain became. Something squirmed inside her, then fled through the wound the man created. The pain stopped, and her senses were muted. She couldn''t feel anything; not pain, not fear, not despair. Only a faint sense of amusement. After surviving the exodus and prosecution throughout all her homeland and escaping in one of the legendaries sky-ship to another flying-island, her death wasn¡¯t because of the sins of her parents, but because she wanted to become a noble. Ferdinand got up, and without looking back strode inside the manor. His gait relaxed and unhurried. Jenny''s mind wandered, darkness encroaching at the edges of her vision. She didn''t really mind dying. She should have died eleven years ago. Her only regret was not seeing Gizelda again. Would Gizelda cry when she learned Jenny died? She hoped not; she didn''t want the person she loved to be sad. There was a sound nearby. Jenny couldn''t move, but soon after, she saw the source. She couldn''t believe her eyes. Maybe she was hallucinating. The feral girl stood at Jenny''s side, covered in blood, arm bent the wrong way. She''d taken the girl for dead. The white-haired girl grabbed her broken arm and pulled it back into place, her face contorting in agony and rivers of tears spilling from her eyes. She moved her arms and spoke. The air reverberated, and nothing happened. The girl shook her head, then looked about. Jenny chuckled at the hallucination. The girl reminded her of Biscuit. In the end, instead of thinking of the woman she loved, she thought of Biscuit, the cute rabbit she wasn''t supposed to keep. The girl walked around Jenny, fingers tracing something on the ground. Jenny didn''t know and couldn''t care. The end had come. Darkness replaced the surroundings, and cold consumed her soul. The hallucination brought by death didn''t relent. An old, crumbling piece of parchment appeared in the darkness. It demanded her attention. She read the words and chuckled again. She was bonkers and past the point of salvation if the pet rabbit was now offering a chance to live. Biscuit offers you a contract. Biscuit promises you power, knowledge, and a chance to live. You promise your soul in return. Accept / Refuse Chapter - 20 With her good hand, Yuki drew in blood ¡ª Jenny¡¯s blood ¡ª the contract ritual circle. Jenny had stopped moving some time ago, and Yuki feared the worst. The diagram was complicated, and Yuki didn¡¯t want to waste her only chance. If Jenny didn¡¯t survive until she was ready, Yuki would¡­ she wasn¡¯t sure what she would do. Be sad, probably. Crazy witch persona aside, Yuki liked Jenny. The servant girl was always caring and gentle with her pet rabbit, and the ear massages were divine. Amid Jenny''s blood and gore, a new scent spread out. It was faint but permeated the whole room. It was sickly sweet and nauseating ¡ª the smell of Ferdinand¡¯s magic. Yuki tensed, waiting for whatever was about to happen. Nothing did. The man cast a spell, but Yuki didn''t know what it did. She didn¡¯t have time to question things. With one last line traced in life carmine, Yuki was ready. Her hand, still drenched in blood, performed the unfamiliar movements for the spell. She chanted, low and steady. Apart from the circle, none of the other steps were necessary, but the more she did, the better the spell outcome. What should the terms of the contract be? Yuki imagined herself dressed in skimpy BDSM leather, bat wings sprouting from her back, and curved goat horns in her head. She held a whip in one hand, and in the other, she displayed a piece of parchment. The heart-shaped tail pointed to the terms of the contract. ¡°Do you want power, knowledge, and a chance to live?¡± The Yuki-turned-succubi asked. ¡°You need only sign away your soul.¡± The demoness whispered in seductive temptation. And like any goody-two-shoes devil, she¡¯d follow the letter of the agreement and fudge the details. All of that, to laugh scornfully at the naive human when Jenny realized her mistake. A notification blinked in the corner of her eyes. Yuki shook her head, Succubus-Yuki was interesting, but now wasn¡¯t the time or place to fantasize about these things. Keeping with the spell movements, she willed the system to show the text. Contract parameters accepted. Familiar contract initiated. Terms sent to entity Jennifer of Ravenshade. Uh, no. The spell wasn¡¯t complete yet. And what was this about terms? Jennifer of Ravenshade accepted your terms. You promised Jennifer power, knowledge, and a chance to live. Jennifer promised you her soul. Terms agreed, pact accepted. Initiating contract System. Please wait. No, no, no. This wasn¡¯t how it was supposed to be. Yuki didn¡¯t want to abuse that moment of despair to impose a choice that wasn¡¯t a choice on Jenny. Contract System initiated. Calibrating¡­ This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Calibrating¡­ ¡°No, stop! Those are not the terms I want!¡± Yuki yelled. Number of boons granted: 3. Number of penalties imposed: 1. Exacting toll. Cold, indifferent claws dug into Yuki¡¯s soul. She gasped, then fell, unable to control her body. The claws dug something out of her core. When they left, they took a part of Yuki with them and left something else behind. By Yuki¡¯s side, Jenny gurgled, started breathing again, then coughed. Yuki didn¡¯t know what those claws were, but other sensations washed over her. The contract followed the letter of the agreement. Jenny''s magical essence was restored, and knowledge about magic was implanted in her head. Up this close, Yuki could feel Jenny¡¯s life force. It was fading, and fading fast. She didn¡¯t get up. Instead, she dismissed the shapechange spell. She didn¡¯t have time to relish how comforting it was to be back in her body. The girl-turned-rabbit waved her paws and chanted the words for [Regeneration]. She invested one point of shaping into the number of targets parameter and the rest into duration. She hobbled closer and laid against Jenny¡¯s arm, letting the magic flow into both simultaneously. Yuki¡¯s injuries from the human form transferred back to her rabbit body. The spell wasn¡¯t a life-save utility like those D&D wild shapes. She settled down, keeping the spell going. The soothing magic eased the pain of her many injuries. Jenny¡¯s breathing by her side slowed down, and the gurgling stopped. The knife slowly slid out of her stomach and clattered to the ground. The weapon¡¯s edge was wicked-looking. The first word that came to mind was evil ritual dagger. ¡°Status.¡± She called out. The rabbit on the landing page was still red all around. The goblet, however, caught her attention. It was different, but she couldn¡¯t figure out why. Did it look smaller? That was for another time. Right now, Yuki needed to heal Jenny and herself and leave before the whole shitstorm in the morning when the entire manor woke up. She could check her status later, once she was back at the burrow, safe and among family. Yuki missed Whisker and Flopsy. She even yearned for the chance to see Captain Nutjob''s smug mug. The hours whittled away, and the sky outside turned from dark purple to gray to orange. When the first panicked scream sounded inside the manor, Yuki knew it was time to leave. She stopped her magic and got up. Her paw and mouth still hurt, but not like before. By her side, Jenny stirred. The rabbit looked at the crazy witch. She hopped closer and pressed against the girl¡¯s cold face. It was brief, but Yuki enjoyed her time with Jenny, even if the last day was something she could live without. She rubbed her head against the girl¡¯s face, then gave a lick for good measure. Without looking back, Yuki hopped outside and toward the back of the manor. She didn¡¯t want to leave by the front gate and enter the town ¡ª it was too dangerous. She would find another place to squeeze through, then return home to rest and spend time with family. The sun was already out and about, the manor was in complete uproar, and the shrilly women''s and men''s screams were Yuki¡¯s background music. Not long after she found it, a small crack in the wall led to the outside. Yuki squeezed through the small passage, fur scraping against the mortar and ragged stone. With one last push, she broke free on the other side, and with a pep on her hops, she bounded toward the burrow. She found the farms again and found it strange that no one was working them. It could be a holiday. It was a lucky break for her. She slowed down her hops. Yuki took her time crossing the field and sampling the delectable produce. She added the fields as a place to visit again later. From the farms, she crossed into the gnarled tree fields; to make sure, she cast [Wrack] with the last drags of her mana and let the spell rest. She wasn¡¯t taking chances anymore. Anything jumped her, and it could eat some creepy tentacle bunny in return. Maybe it was her magic, perhaps it was her luck, but nothing accosted Yuki. She crossed the barren and obnoxious-smelling patch of land. After the night she had, the horrible smell was tolerable. The tall, gnarled tree that indicated the burrow was already in sight. Yuki bounded at speed in the burrow¡¯s clearing. She noticed the lack of rabbits outside but remembered the sun was out. Most of the rabbits preferred to leave at dawn and dusk. She entered the burrow with light hops and happy thoughts, navigating its familiar twists and turns. She was ready for a long break. With one last turn, she entered the nest. It was cold and empty. Yuki stopped in her tracks and looked about. ¡°Whisker?¡± she called out. No one answered. ¡°Flopsy?¡± she called again. There was only silence. Yuki turned around and ran deeper into the burrow. Now, focused on things, she noticed how empty it was. Before, it bustled full of rabbits prancing about, but now she could barely find anyone. ¡°Captain?¡± she called out. Even his ugly face would do. But there was nothing. The burrow was empty and deserted. She found one rabbit here and there, but none of her siblings or even Mom. What happened? Where did everyone go? Defeated, tired, and lost, Yuki returned to the nest. She laid down in the cold nest and smelled the scent of happy days. Rabbits can¡¯t shed tears, but Yuki gave it a good attempt that day. Chapter - 21 Jenny woke up to screams. She got to a sitting position, dried blood flacking from her movements. A touch of something warm and soft faded from her cheeks. Her hands went to the injury at her stomach. The skin was tender and raw; she traced with her fingers the place where the knife punctured. She felt only the lingering scar. She looked around. She stood in the center of an intricate circle drawn in blood. Like remembering something she hadn¡¯t seen in a long time, she knew what this was. A ritual circle. Magic, the domain of witches, the damned, and the cursed. By her side was a white servant shirt stained with blood. On the other side, the dagger Ferdinand had stabbed her with. The white-haired girl was nowhere in sight. It wasn¡¯t a hallucination? Jenny didn¡¯t know what to think anymore. Someone yelled inside the manor. Something fell and broke in the distance. Jenny took the knife and got up. If Ferdinand was still here, she didn¡¯t want to be defenseless again. She adjusted her grip on the weapon, old memories and lessons helped her understand what to do. The blade pointed downward, the palm facing up ¡ª a grip not for finesse but for close-up combat. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d ever need those lessons again. By the door, Jenny saw Edgar¡¯s corpse. The flesh was decayed and rotting. Knowledge churned from the depths of her mind. Entropy Magic. Was the contract thing real? She needed to find Biscuit. Another yell broke the silence. Jenny ran inside the manor, up the stairs, and across the corridors that led to her room. She passed by other servants. Most stopped and stared. A few shied away from her. The door to her room was open. Jenny got inside and looked beneath the bed. The water bowl was half filled, just a few pieces of carrot were left, and no rabbit was in sight. She checked the cage. Biscuit wasn¡¯t there. Jenny looked inside the wardrobe, behind the door, and over the bed. Biscuit wasn¡¯t in here. Jenny left the room and ran into Thaddeus. The manor head butler''s attire was impeccable, as was his posture: a tailored suit steeped in tradition, with a few subtle modifications, given his personal style. He wore a crisp white shirt and a black tie. A silver pin tied his lapel ¡ª a discreet emblem of his long years of service to the house. The man was in his late sixties, but his gaze held authority. He looked at Jenny, at her bloodstained dress, at the dagger in her hands. ¡°Follow me, " he ordered. The butler didn¡¯t wait for Jenny; he turned around and walked toward the inner manor and the lord¡¯s office. Jenny sighed in relief. Thaddeus wasn¡¯t her favorite coworker, but he was one of the few who didn¡¯t judge her. She followed the butler, observing things. The manor was now in uproar, with servants running and crying. They walked to the lord''s office. Thaddeus opened the door, which surprised Jenny. She thought only the lord had the keys to that room. Once inside, Thaddeus pointed to one of the chairs. Jenny sat. Unsure of what to do with the knife, she held it gingerly over her lap. ¡°What happened?¡± The butler asked. Jenny debated what to say. She decided to tell the truth or at least parts of it. ¡°I left yesterday to meet with Lord Ferdinand Grimward. We¡¯ve been exchanging correspondences for months.¡± Jenny looked at the dagger in her lap. ¡°He¡¯s the son of Viscount Ducan Grimward. We talked about marriage in our letters.¡± Memories of the previous night came back. Jenny knew her explanation wasn¡¯t making any sense. ¡°Ferdinand said he knew Gregory, that the young master had offered to house him in the guest room. I talked Edgar into letting the man inside the walls.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. She stopped again, more images of the previous night in her mind. How Ferdinand changed as soon they were inside the walls and out of Edgar¡¯s sight. She barely managed to resist his words, insidious whispers, and compulsion. But she didn¡¯t say anything regarding the curse and magic. She knew well enough how these people reacted to the supernatural. ¡°Ferdinand tried to force himself on me, but Edgar showed up and demanded the man stop.¡± Jenny looked at the butler, but his gaze gave nothing away. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened after. I could swear Ferdinand stabbed me with this dagger.¡± She said, showing the curved and jagged blade. ¡°But that couldn¡¯t be because I¡¯m still alive.¡± Thaddeus said nothing for a while. Then he walked to the door. ¡°Wait here, and don¡¯t leave this room,¡± he ordered again. The man left and locked the door behind him. Jenny couldn¡¯t fault the butler, she didn¡¯t believe her own story either. Minutes ticked by, and Jenny wanted nothing more than to get out of the dress, but she had no other clothes to wear. The door opened again, and Thaddeus stepped in. His face was gaunt, and his eyes hard. ¡°The lord is dead. The killer left a dagger in his chest.¡± The butler looked at Jenny¡¯s dagger. ¡°Young Master Gregory has informed the guards you¡¯re the culprit, and as the new Baron of Thornfield, he demands you be given to him to meet justice for his father''s death.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Quiet, girl.¡± The man snapped. He ran a hand through his hair, the movement sharp and abrupt. Thaddeus walked to one of the bookcases and took away a few books. Jenny had no idea what that was for. The butler took something out of his pockets, and a few moments later, he pushed the bookcase out of the way. The furniture slid without sound, and behind it, a stair Jenny never knew existed. ¡°Follow and be quiet.¡± The man commanded again and climbed down. Jenny followed, still not sure what was happening. Was Thaddeus helping her? Why? Counting the number of steps, they had only gone down to the bottom floor of the manor. She tried to think which room was beneath the lord''s office but couldn¡¯t think of anything. The stairs led to a dark room illuminated by candlelight with a simple bed, a wardrobe, a table, and writing utensils. She saw bottles of wine and a casket of beers, as well as a piece of women''s underwear partially hidden in one of the corners. Thaddeus walked to a big chest against one of the walls, took a key chain from his pocket, and opened it. He took trousers, boots, a sturdy dark blue shirt and green cloak, and leather armor from inside. He tossed everything on the bed. Then he walked to another chest, opened it, and took from there a bow, a crossbow, a sword and a shield, a bundle of arrows and bolts, and a leather bag. Done that, he looked at Jenny again. ¡°Take the ones you think you can use, but don¡¯t take everything. It will only burden you.¡± From another inside pocket, he took a pouch that jingled with coins. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to prepare supplies, so you must arrange that yourself. The coins will help.¡± He placed the pouch on the bed and walked closer. ¡°Now, you¡¯ll need to strike me with that dagger. A blow to the head with the pommel and a small cut in the arm will do.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Jenny asked. Thaddeus looked at Jenny for a few moments, then looked away. ¡°It is not for you; I¡¯m simply repaying a favor.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do it,¡± Jenny said again. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Thaddeus shrugged. ¡°If Gregory doesn¡¯t kill you, the church will accuse you of witchcraft.¡± The man straightened his back and then pointed at the trapdoor behind Jenny. ¡°That will lead you beyond the walls and into the fields. Do not go to the town.¡± The butler settled his stance, legs apart and arms open. ¡°A hit to the head with the pommel and a stab to the arm. Don¡¯t overdo it, I¡¯d prefer to stay alive after this. Stay here until nightfall. Gregory doesn¡¯t know of this room.¡± Jenny looked at the man, then at the dagger. She bowed and opened her mouth, but Thaddeus shook his head. Jenny stepped forward and brought the knife into the man¡¯s temple. Before he fell, she stabbed his arm. Thaddeus cried in pain. Jenny turned toward the bed. Thaddeus shuffling steps and grunts of pain echoed up the stairs. Chapter - 22 Jenny removed the petticoat, hoopskirt, and corset and donned the trousers and shirt over her underclothing. Before wearing the leather armor, she walked to the chest from which Thaddeus had taken the items. Inside, there was a variety of other pieces of gear. Jenny studied their construction and quality. For her untrained eyes, it looked expensive and well-kept. If this was a nobleman''s escape stash, it made sense that the quality was higher than what ordinary people could afford. The chest had other pieces of armor: Vambraces, greaves, and a quilt. She took it out and placed it by the leather armor. Jenny put the greaves over the boots and tied the quilt around her waist. Afterward, she donned the chest piece and placed the vambrace on her arms. The room had no mirror, but she felt ridiculous wearing the oversized protection. The armor was crafted for Baldwin, and while the flexible material ¡ª wasn¡¯t leather like she first thought ¡ª adjusted to her body, it wasn¡¯t a perfect fit. In the end, it didn¡¯t matter; any protection was welcome. Inspecting the chest again, Jenny didn¡¯t find anything else interesting, even if she took another pair of trousers and shirts from there. She saw no reason not to take another set of clothes. She turned to the other chest. She picked bolts for the crossbow, a waterskin, a knife, flint and tinder, a lantern, and five oil flasks. She didn¡¯t find any cooking utensils or any other tool she could use. They never expected the noble to cook for himself, even if he was fleeing for his life. Jenny returned to the bed and picked up the coin pouch. Inside, three small, shining gold coins and an assortment of copper and silver. That was enough money to keep her for months if she didn¡¯t waste it. A private room at a cheap inn was two silver pieces. An inexpensive meal added one more. She counted the coins. Three gold, thirty-seven silver, and twelve copper. A hundred copper per silver, a hundred silver per gold. That was enough for more than a hundred days at a cheap inn. Jenny sighed. It wasn¡¯t that much money; she had saved a lot more in the past ten years ¡ª she hoped no one would find her stash ¡ª but it was still a considerable amount. She¡¯d need to find a way to thank Thaddeus. She packed everything in bag, folded the bed blanket, and stuffed it inside. It would serve as a bedroll in a pinch. With everything packed, Jenny sat on the bed. Questions about the last night kept vying for her attention. Why did Ferdinand do what he did? How had he known about Gregory? She didn¡¯t find it strange then but she never said anything about the lord¡¯s son to the man. He was the one who brought up the matter of staying in the guest room. Why had Gregory immediately blamed Jenny for his father¡¯s murder? She hadn¡¯t seen the boy and was nowhere near the lord''s bedroom. Could she escape the accusations of being a witch? How would she face Gizelda now? Jenny couldn¡¯t stay still; she got up and explored the room. She opened the drawers and read all the notes on the table. Some were accounts of Baldwin¡¯s indiscretions. He and one of the servant girls often came here for some alone time. Jenny should have seen that; she even knew which servant girl it was. The woman was arrogant and frequently behaved like she owned the house. Jenny opened one of the wine bottles and took a sip. Bitter and strong. Not to her taste. She moved the chests and inspected the places behind it for any secret compartment. She spent minutes, maybe hours, examining every corner but found nothing. Lastly, she came to the bed and looked beneath the mattress. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. A puff of dust blew on her face. Jenny held in a sneeze. Under it, she saw a torn sheet of paper. She picked it up and read it. ¡­ I¡¯ve sent Gregory to the Capital Academy and impressed him with the importance of Legacy. If the boy isn¡¯t as stupid as he looks, he¡¯ll know I want him to research the family medallion. It¡¯s been passed from father to son for millennia, and I suspect it is one of the cursed artifacts the church preaches against. We cannot afford to¡­ The note ended there, leaving more questions than answers. The handwriting was the lord¡¯s own. Jenny had read enough messages to the guild to recognize it, but she didn¡¯t know anything about a medallion. Jenny took the crumbled piece of parchment and placed it in the bag. At one point, hours dragged on. Jenny fell asleep. She woke up in the darkness. Panic was her first reaction, but then she relaxed. She was in the secret room. The candle burned out. That was enough time already. She picked up the bag and weapon and, in the darkness, found the trapdoor. With some difficulty, she opened it and then climbed down. She walked for minutes, using the wall as a guide until she found another trapdoor. Jenny opened it slowly and peeked outside. She stared at the bony, freckled girl, who stared back wide-eyed. The girl yelped and fell or her behind. Voices called from outside. ¡°Bee? Are you alright?¡± Isabella sprang up and approached the trapdoor. She looked inside and around and urgently whispered, ¡°Hide, they¡¯re here!!¡± The girl stepped on the wood, forcing Jenny into the darkness again. Jenny stood quiet, hands gripping the crossbow. She put a bolt on the weapon and armed it, and aimed it in the trapdoor''s general direction. From above, she heard heavy footsteps and voices. ¡°Bee? What¡¯s wrong?¡± An older woman''s voice asked. Jenny heard a slap, then a cry of pain. Isabella yelled. ¡°Stop it! Nan did nothing wrong!¡± A gruff voice sounded in return. ¡°She¡¯ll learn her place. Now, what is this fuss about?¡± The voice demanded. ¡°I saw a mouse, and it scared me.¡± The steps approached, and there was another slap. Something fell, and Bee started crying. ¡°Lord Gregory won¡¯t tolerate his servant''s laziness as his father did. Get back to work if you don¡¯t want to be punished again.¡± Bee kept crying; her steps moved away from the trapdoor. ¡°Now!¡± The gruff voice yelled. Jenny waited, anger burning in her mind. She wanted to kill the bastard; most of all, she wanted to kill Gregory. Why was he doing this? Ideas bubble in her mind¡ªterrible, terrible ways to get what she wanted. Forbidden magic knowledge told her precisely what she could do. She could dominate him and order him to gouge his own eyes out. She could invoke magic bolts to burn away his soul. She could regenerate his injuries, only to do it all over again. A gasp escaped Jenny, and she took a step back. She lost her balance and fell. The crossbow clattered to the ground, the bolt released and hit the wall with a loud twang. What in the Gloom¡¯s darkness was that? Chapter - 23 Jenny held her breath, the bolt noise still echoing in her ears. Then she heard the footsteps: heavy and slow. She picked up the crossbow and retreated further into the darkness. With trembling hands, she armed another bolt and pointed it at the trapdoor. ¡°What¡¯s it, Joel?¡± ¡°Heard sometin¡¯,¡± answered a different voice. ¡°The rat the girl said?¡± ¡°Dinnae sounded like it,¡± Joel answered. Jenny heard footsteps and things falling down. She listened to the men grunting, and heavy things dragged on above. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here.¡± The first voice complained. ¡°I ¡®eard it, Carlos. I know I ¡®eard it.¡± Joel said. ¡°Come, we need to keep an eye on the workers. The new lord won¡¯t be pleased if we don¡¯t do our job.¡± The footsteps faded away, and Jenny lowered the crossbow. Her hands trembled, and she let out a shaky breath. That was too close for comfort. She sat down and waited. It was clear now she was wrong about the time. The farmers were still working the field, and night hadn¡¯t fallen yet. She lay against the cold wall of the tunnel and thought back at the cursed knowledge. The information came quickly and eagerly. The components of magic and how to shape the power to her will. The metaphysical energy that powered spells and how to extract the same energy from living creatures. There was more, but Jenny realized something. She knew of magic and not magic itself. The knowledge in her mind told of magics weaved in the fabric of reality with pre-defined concepts: [Regenerate], [Dominate], [Wrack]. It was the same as knowing a recipe existed without knowing its instructions. She searched deeper. She knew how to modify magic, make it affect more targets, and extend the duration and range, even if she didn¡¯t know any magic to invoke. Jenny sighed and pushed that knowledge away. Magic was dangerous, and in this island even more so. She hadn¡¯t forgotten the Gloom and what happened when sorcerers toyed with powers that shouldn¡¯t have been. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. During the wait, Jenny heard noises up above ¡ª steps and conversation. The workday ended, and the workers stashed their tools in the storage shed. That bit of information helped Jenny pinpoint her location. The farm shed built near the manor walls. Another eternity later, Jenny approached the trapdoor and pried it open. Or at least, she tried to. The thing wouldn¡¯t budge; something above blocked the movement. She fixed her position and anchored against the wall. She flexed with slow but forceful movements, pushing against the trapdoor. It was cumbersome, but the wood moved, a small line revealing the dark interior of the shed. Above, she heard something else heavy moving. Jenny redoubled her efforts and pushed harder, against the blocked passage. There was a moment where nothing happened, and then the trapdoor flew open and something else crashed to the ground with a loud bang. Jenny didn¡¯t wait to see what would happen. She picked up the bag, the dagger, and the crossbow and climbed out of the passage into the dark shed. Outside, she heard voices. ¡°What do you think it is? A thief?¡± Someone asked. ¡°Maybe is the murderer," another joked. "Heard the lord is paying a heft sum to anyone who brings him the lass alive.¡± Jenny armed the crossbow and pointed it at the door. Her breath sped up, and her hands started to tremble again, but she did her best to hold still. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we inform the others and get more people?¡± The first voice asked. ¡°And share the money?¡± The footsteps got closer. ¡°Now quiet; it is probably some tool fell. You know how lazy those farmers are.¡± Jenny heard the jiggling of keys, and the door opened. The moonlight shone inside, illuminating the place. Walls of sturdy timber, assembled from rough-hewn planks. A roof thatched with straws. The heavy wooden door creaked while it opened. Against the walls, wooden racks and shelves laden with tools: hoes and shovels, scythes with their keen, menacing edges, plowshares, and sickles. In one corner, a workbench with odds and ends: twine, nails, and simple tools for mending. The rays of moonlight cast half of Jenny¡¯s face in stark contrast to the surroundings. The light didn''t hide the armed crossbow pointed at the door. An unkempt, thin man with crooked teeth looked at her, then the crossbow. He turned around, the start of a yell in his throat. ¡°She¡¯s he¡ª¡± Jenny pulled the lever and released the bolt. The noise ¡ª a sharp, resonant twang ¡ª was followed by the whistle of the bolt cutting the air and the impact of the metal tip piercing flesh. The man fell, his call of alarm transforming into screams of agony. ¡°Shit, shit, heeeelp!¡± The second voice yelled outside, getting further away. Jenny ran out of the shed. After briefly orienting herself, she ran into the fields and toward the trees. If she managed to get there, she might be able to lose anyone pursuing her in the dark. From behind, a commotion grew. The man she¡¯d shot kept his agonized ruckus. Voices raised behind the walls. Light of torches illuminated the surrounding darkness. Jenny pulled the cloak over her head, hiding the mane of yellow hair. She was glad for the cloak''s dark color. It would help her hide in the dark. Chapter - 24 Yuki woke up tired. The pain in her jaw and chest felt inviting, something deserved. She shook her head, pushing those thoughts away, she looked around. Dark, twisting corridors under the earth, the turns and paw marks in the tunnel wall were unfriendly and unfamiliar. At some point, she had left the nest, shambling blindly into the tunnels away from where her family had slept. The burrow was deserted. She didn¡¯t remember falling asleep, but she had at some point. Boris¡¯ ridiculous smile came to Yuki¡¯s mind. The imbecile who wore shirts too small for him and was so blind he couldn¡¯t see Jenny didn¡¯t want to touch him with a ten-foot pole. It was all his fault, she reveled in the sudden anger. Yuki would have been here to protect her family if he hadn''t poisoned her. She could have scared any silly human who dared to hurt the other bunnies if he hadn''t taken her away. Yuki ground her teeth, the sound echoing in the empty tunnels. The next time Yuki saw the despicable human, she¡¯d exact her vengeance. Oh, Yuki knew how to be evil and petty, she lived in the internet era. First, dominate him and make him gouge his own eyes out. Then she¡¯d summon eldritch bunnies to burn him from the inside. But she wouldn¡¯t let him die, no. She¡¯d heal him back up, only to start it anew. His suffering would be unending, mothers would tell unruly children of Boris¡¯ Folly. Yuki walked to the nearest wall and hit her head against it, hard. She let go of her legs, flopping in a sprawl of limbs. She shook her head, clearing it from petty revenge thoughts. It wasn¡¯t Boris¡¯ fault. Yuki¡¯s family lived on a livestock farm, and she took too long to realize it. The girl turned rabbit got up. She couldn¡¯t stay here anymore, she just couldn¡¯t, even if venturing outside was suicide. ¡°Status.¡± The landing page appeared in Yuki¡¯s vision. She looked at the yellow parts of her body that still hadn''t fully healed. She focused on the cup, and the numbers showed up again. Magic Points: 6/18(20). Yuki focused on the numbers, willing the system to explain things. For once, it did, in its own way. Total Magic Points: 20. Reserved Magic Points: 2 (Familiar Contract). Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Usable Magic Points: 18. Current Magic Points: 6. Magic Regeneration: 1/day. Additional Regeneration from Familiar: 1/day. Current Magic Regeneration: 2/day. She considered the numbers and their implications. Yuki decided that now wasn¡¯t the time to think about all the mistakes from the past days. She turned toward the first exit she found. Yuki couldn¡¯t stay here, but at least her MP was enough to cast two or three spells to defend herself. It would have to be enough until she found somewhere else to rest, away from the burrow. Out in the moonlight, she observed the purple sky and strange stars. Was her family observing from there? She hoped this was some wannabe lion king cosmology, and each star represented one happy rabbit living their life away from any predator. A sound caught her attention. Heavy and noisy, it waded through the trees, breaking branches and crushing leaves. Yuki heard panting breaths and, in the distance, barking dogs and calls of men. Yuki lowered to the ground. She wouldn¡¯t flee anymore. If they wanted to take away the rest of the rabbits, she''d teach them a lesson. Jenny burst into the open clearing of the burrow. The woman¡¯s eyes were wide, and she had several minor cuts on her face and hands. Immediately, they locked eyes as if the woman knew where Yuki was. ¡°Biscuit!¡± The woman gasped; she hadn¡¯t stopped her frantic dash. ¡°Run!¡±
Jenny ran with her hands held in front of her face. In the darkness, she couldn¡¯t see the gnarled branches and shrubs. More than once, she fell. Her hands were scraped, and her knees bruised, but she couldn¡¯t stop. From behind, the loud bark of dogs and the constant yells of the people chasing her. The quiet escape Thaddeus had planned went up in smoke the moment she shot down the guard. Like a wasp nest, men poured out of the manor, carrying torches, holding hunting dogs on leashes, armed with hunting bows and swords. Before she lost vision of the group assembling near the shed, she saw Gregory mounted atop a horse, yelling at everyone around. She had no idea where he¡¯d found a horse. Baron Baldwin didn¡¯t keep any in the manor besides those used in the carriage. Running blindly into the tree fields wasn¡¯t the instant solution to Jenny¡¯s problems like she thought it would be. After her second fall, she had to slow down. She couldn¡¯t see the obstacles in front of her; the trees blocked most of the moonlight. The voices and torch lights from behind were getting ever closer, no matter how much she tried to pick up the pace. The forbidden knowledge was eager to tell her about magics she could employ to save herself. To bend the light, muddle the mind, and transform into a harmless creature. It taunted her with knowledge of all the magics she could use but never the actual magic itself. Jenny didn¡¯t know how long she ran or where she was going. For some time, her steps seem constantly going in the same direction. The more she followed that instinct, the more she was sure it was the right way. At some point, she waded through a thick patch of branches into an open clearing. Immediately, she knew what this was, one of the rabbit burrows. Her eyes locked on the single, small, almost glowing white, hornless bunny. The rabbit¡¯s position was strange. Its head was lower to the ground, almost like it was preparing to pounce. Jenny didn¡¯t stop. She had no idea how she knew or how her pet rabbit got here. She called out, ¡°Biscuit!¡± From behind, a dog barked. ¡°Run!¡± Jenny cried out. Chapter - 25 Only after the words escaped her mouth did Jenny realize what she just said. The rabbit didn¡¯t answer, of course. He kept his pose, lowered to the ground. Jenny turned in Biscuit¡¯s direction. She didn¡¯t stop; she couldn¡¯t. She passed by the rabbit and picked him up, carrying him in her arms. She couldn¡¯t leave her pet there; the dogs might hurt him. Biscuit didn¡¯t resist. Jenny had never realized how strange the white rabbit was. Horned Rabbits were infamous for all the dangers of dealing with them. If you weren¡¯t careful, they might skewer you. Biscuit was docile ¡ª too docile for a wild rabbit ¡ª and small when compared to normal rabbits. That and the horn, or lack thereof. Jenny remembered the old crumbling scroll and the words in it. Something whistled past her side. It took Jenny a moment to realize someone just shot an arrow at her. On delayed reflex, she ducked, even if the arrow had already passed her by. She redoubled her pace, head down. She hugged Biscuit, hiding the rabbit from any stray branch that might hurt him. She peeked down at the critter. The white rabbit flopped boneless on her arms. He didn¡¯t move, didn¡¯t make a sound, and didn¡¯t even seem aware of his surroundings. He looked sad, but that couldn¡¯t be. It was just a rabbit. Jenny¡¯s breath came in labored puffs of ice air. The bag strapped to her back was cumbersome, and the crossbow handle kept jostling her back. She hadn¡¯t had the time to gather water or food before she made her escape from the manor. She didn¡¯t know how long she could keep this up. Her legs were on fire, and the cold air pricked her face. She had a bad case of running nose, and her hands and cheeks stung from the many invisible branches in the darkness. With each step, her legs protested the moment. The bag, clothes, and armor all felt too heavy now. Each breath sent painful spikes of pain in her chest. Jenny wanted to stop, lay down, and rest. She kept running, the discomfort growing with each passing moment. Around Jenny, the trees all looked the same, as if going in circles, were it not for the people behind her. She needed to figure out where she was and which direction to go. In front of her, two yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. ¡°Gloom curse me!¡± she swore, running in another direction. The woods around the city were tame compared to the rest of the island, but they had their fair share of monsters. Like the ones she heard attacking the livestock, they were terrible creatures that could hide in plain sight. The chase continued, and the terrain changed, becoming ever more rugged and unfamiliar. Jenny crossed a steep incline, then a rocky outcrop. In a blind panic, she jumped across a small ravine only to fall face-first into a thicket so dense and thorny she had no choice but to find a way around it. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The voices in the distance rose to cries of surprise, then fear and anger. Howls of dogs and another unknown creature sounded ever more distant while Jenny pressed on. She had to slow her pace. The ground had become so treacherous that a single misstep would send her tumbling into darkness. She took deep, frantic breaths in an attempt to get her bearings. In front of her, the earth was torn and jagged, crumbling. She didn¡¯t remember hearing about anywhere closer to the city that matched this description. Jenny picked her path with care; the area around didn¡¯t look safe to walk on. She stopped and looked back. Torchlights flickered in the distance ¡ª further than they had been since the start of this madness, but still too close for comfort. Jenny wasn¡¯t sure if she could evade them if she went back. Maybe if she turned straight to the left or right. With another glance at the still-quiet rabbit, Jenny took another step forward. After a few more minutes, she would cut to the left. She picked a sturdy piece of land amid the treacherous terrain. The ground shifted and moved. Jenny didn¡¯t have time to escape; she fell into the darkness. She hugged Biscuit against her chest, protecting the frail rabbit with her arms. She hit her head on a rock, and everything after that was a blur of movement and pain.
Yuki let herself be carried by Jenny, even if she wanted to stay and fight. It was suicide, she knew, but right now, her depressed mind insisted she lashed back, that she made them pay, that she made them bring back her family. Instead of following illogical wants, Yuki flopped in Jenny¡¯s arms and let the woman carry her. She¡¯d already owned Jenny¡¯s soul and might as well accompany the woman until the end. And end that seemed closer with each moment that passed. The people and animals in pursuit were ever closer. One even tried to tag Jenny with an arrow in the dark ¡ª almost got her, too. Yuki knew this apathy wasn¡¯t normal. She should have been doing her best to help Jenny, or most likely, be so scared that she couldn¡¯t think of anything else. Right now, she just didn¡¯t care. Was this the system messing with her head again? She smelled a familiar scent ¡ª the old lemony one that had taken Bunbun away. Jenny yelped and changed directions. Yuki saw the snakepard''s yellow glowing eyes following the woman before they turned toward the bigger ruckus approaching in their wake. Seconds blurred into minutes and maybe even into hours. Yuki wasn¡¯t really aware of the things around her. She did notice, however, when Jenny fell. The woman stepped into a dangerous-looking patch of ground, and it broke with her weight. They fell into the darkness, Jenny¡¯s arms tightening protectively around Yuki. Jenny impacted rocks and jagged stones, yelps and whimpers of pain escaping the woman¡¯s throat. She never let go of Yuki, and maybe that was what took Yuki out of her funk. Jenny cared, even if Yuki didn¡¯t know why. They hit the ground in complete darkness. Jenny groaned but didn¡¯t move. Yuki cried out but couldn¡¯t move, pinned between Jenny¡¯s arms and the ground. An insistent notification blinked in front of Yuki¡¯s eyes. You have entered the Emberbind Conclave dungeon. Act One, Author recap. Well, arc one is done. It was fun. At least I had fun writing. I hope you also had as much fun reading! With arc one, even if a bit low on the progression side of things, I wanted to establish the characters and setting without info-dumping by adding a few tidbits here and there about the world. It has magic monsters; people burn witches. Artifacts exist. Jenny has the hots for Gizelda, that kind of stuff. Writing Yuki is fun, even if she sometimes seems a bit stupid and silly. With Arc Two, I want to explore more of the world, dungeons, and growth, if not personality-wise, at least in power. There should also be a lot more action, adventure, and exploring. Like usual, if any of you remember Twisted Machine, I write action and battle scenes to be fast and often brutal. I don¡¯t think that will change much with this story, which also translates to a quicker pace than usual. No chapters and chapters of the same ongoing fight. Mostly because I can¡¯t write them or even read them. Whenever I get to a novel with pages upon pages of the same battle, I usually skip to the end of the fight. Yeah, I¡¯m silly that way. I also have acts three and four planned, but nothing much after that. We¡¯ll see how it goes. This story started as a way to take my mind out of the tiresome work it was to rewrite Twisted Machine. As my first attempt at writing, that one was/is a mess: Passive voice, filter words, clunky sentences, and adverbs galore. Reincarnation also suffers from some of those, but it got better. Again, writing is somewhat new to me, and I¡¯m still trying to learn the tricks of the trade. Some of the things changed from my original plans. I planned an antagonist and an overall story, even if it wasn¡¯t finished. I hadn¡¯t planned for a second transmigrator, and that one was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Still, he fits the same antagonist I needed, so no harm, no foul there. For my own enjoyment, I don¡¯t think adding any other will work. Mostly because I don¡¯t like stories that get many other isekai¡¯ed ppl, and I don¡¯t think I can pull it off and make it enjoyable. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I also decided to bite the bullet and pay for Grammarly Pro. English not being my native language, and I never ¡°formally¡± studied it (like every other nerd, learned playing those rpgs), I struggle with punctuation and awkward phrases. I like Grammarly because it doesn¡¯t try to rewrite my sentences, just shuffle the words around. Other tools often suggest different words or even rewrite the whole sentence, which I don¡¯t really like. Going forward, I will also see if I can convince some of my elf friends to beta-read stuff for me. Maybe I¡¯ll be lucky like that. A few things I learned with Reincarnation Gone Wrong: 1 - Don¡¯t introduce cute rabbits and kill them. Readers don¡¯t like it. About 20% of the readers don¡¯t get past that chapter. I mean, I knew it was a bad idea when I wrote it. I still miss Bunbun myself. 2 - Don¡¯t add funny magic mushroom scenes to your story. That one got the novel its first 0.5 Rating. Recreational use of strange magic flora should not be encouraged. Do not eat magic ¡®shrooms! 3 - Don¡¯t imply that medieval society was brutal and kids were mistreated. I mean, that possibly happened in the past, but I can¡¯t mention it in the story. Ppl will rate you low for that. Just pretend everything was okay and no one ever suffered. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. 4 - Don¡¯t let the character act out in what is perceive as ruthless without immediate feelings of remorse. Yah, some people really, really don¡¯t like this one. Get those low rates If Jenny isn¡¯t spewing her guts seconds after shooting someone in a moment of tension. Lesson learned: needs puke. 5 - Having a stable release is good. Ppl like that. I went with a different approach with this story. I¡¯m writing less than I did for Twisted Machine, but releasing chapters every weekday. It seems readers appreciate that more than bigger chapters. That said, if you are still here, what do you think of the story so far? I¡¯d be more than happy to read your comments and theories about it. What were your favorite moments? Was there any part that made you laugh or, god forbid, cry? Thank you all for reading this long ramble, and I¡¯ll see you for tomorrow¡¯s chappy! Chapter - 26 Yuki blinked the notification away and pushed against Jenny until she squirmed free from the woman¡¯s grasp. Moonlight barely filtered through the cracks; aside from their immediate surroundings, she couldn¡¯t see anything. The place smelled of burnt wood and the smoky, almost sterile scent of ash. They were surrounded by plants that twisted and sprawled across the ashen soil with thin, contorted dark green and washed out red leaves. Stone benches cast shadows in the pale light just outside the overgrown area. From above, Yuki heard the pursuers and their dogs. Just behind her, Jenny''s groans of pain. She couldn¡¯t hear anything from where they were ¡ª no wind, no scurrying creatures, no distant drips of water. Yuki hopped closer to Jenny and inspected the woman. She hadn¡¯t paid attention before, but Jenny wore dark, sturdy clothes. Gone was the cute and colorful uniform. The trouser was a coarse, heavy fabric. The boots were rustic but strong-looking. The shirt had a bit of color, dark blue and faint shades of purple. The cloak was a deep green. She wore some sort of armor; it covered her arms, chest, and legs. The girl was prepared for a fight, just not for the amount of people chasing her. ¡°Status,¡± she called out again. Still at 6 MP. At least Yuki wasn¡¯t hurt this time, even if being smushed between arms and boobs wasn¡¯t the comfy paradise she often fantasized about in the before. She settled near Jenny¡¯s face. Maybe Jenny should have named her Medkit instead. Tomorrow, Jenny would need to deal with the dungeon itself. Yuki would do her part as a magical creature and heal her pet human. Jenny was her pet now, right?
Jenny woke in the dark and cold, except for the bundle of ash-covered fur near her face. In front of her eyes, moving together with her vision no matter where she looked, was another crumbling parchment. You have entered the Emberbind Conclave dungeon. Jenny¡¯s hand moved, fingers primed to pick up the paper, but it crumbled to dust before she could. One of those words was familiar: dungeon. Cursed places that one should never enter. Not even title holders and adventurers with specialized perks ventured into them. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The Gloom was proof of that. With Biscuit held in her arms, she sat up and looked about. She remembered falling and hitting her head against the stone. Tentative fingers explored her face and head, then touched her arms. Her fingers carried dried blood but no signs of any injury. She felt better than the day before. Even the slight pain from the dagger wound wasn¡¯t there anymore. Jenny raised Biscuit to eye level. The rabbit stared back, nose twitching. ¡°Tell me true, Biscuit. What are you?¡± The rabbit ears twisted her way at his name. Of course, again, he didn¡¯t answer. Jenny sighed; she was losing her mind. First, the magic, then the cursed knowledge, and now she wanted to cast blame on the pet. She placed him on her lap, finger trailing gentle circles on his ears and cheeks. She learned ¡ª it wasn¡¯t even hard to notice ¡ª Biscuit really liked it when she massaged those spots. The purring and thumping started soon after. A smile broke on Jenny¡¯s face. She looked around. Faint sunlight exposed what looked like an overgrown garden. Plants she had never seen before scattered about. Stone benches placed in circles around the central area where she fell. The cavernous chamber was huge. She looked at the ceiling in the distance and the plant that had broken her fall. The math didn¡¯t add up. It made no sense how she wasn¡¯t hurt. A monstrous growl from her stomach stopped her hands. As usual, Biscuit pressed against her palms, but Jenny couldn¡¯t indulge for long. ¡°Alright, but just a bit more,¡± she said, resuming the petting. Maybe it was dumb luck she escaped. Perhaps she had been cursed not to die. Her plans were in shambles, and the church had probably already branded her as a heretic. But she was alive. She just needed another way. A forbidden way? Magic would work; it would be easy if she managed to keep anyone from finding out. She wasn¡¯t cut for a life of danger and fighting, but maybe that was what she needed. The first thing would be to find the magic. Troubadours gave her a good idea of where to start. Old ruins of old places. Jenny looked around again. Exploring a dungeon was suicide. What if she unleashed another catastrophe on the island? But she was trapped and without options. She was also hungry unless she decided to eat the rabbit. The content purring and thumping convinced Jenny she wouldn¡¯t. For now, her priority was to escape this place. Once she managed that, she could revisit her plans. She placed Biscuit on the ground, and the rabbit gave her a not rabbit-like look. She pretended she didn¡¯t see it. Jenny collected the bag and inspected its contents. One of the oil flasks had broken on the fall, but the others were still intact. The lantern had also survived. Dagger, crossbow ¡ª everything accounted for. She packed her things, strapped the bag, and armed the weapon. ¡°Time to explore, Biscuit.¡± By her side, Biscuit honked. Jenny blinked, confused. It almost sounded like he said Jenny. She stepped toward the only passage in the distance. The rabbit followed by her side. Jenny amended her list. Survive the dungeon. Find magic. Stay in the possible-not-rabbit¡¯s good graces. Chapter - 27 Jenny navigated around the strange vegetation with care. Past the place where she fell, the dim sunlight created a path she followed. The twisted plants gave way to taller trees and what looked like an underground orchard. Biscuit chirped and hopped away, going deeper into the unfamiliar garden and away from the orchard. Jenny started in the same direction. ¡°Biscuit, wait!¡± The rabbit stopped and looked back. Biscuit cleaned his face, then snorted. A quick, sharp sound, almost like a laugh. Again, Jenny had to do a double take. Was the rabbit laughing at her? Despite all the weirdness, Jenny wanted to dismiss it as her overtired imagination. ¡°Did you find something?¡± Biscuit tilted his head just a fraction, nose twitching. It was cute. ¡°Lead the way then,¡± Jenny said, hand waving toward the direction the rabbit had started. Biscuit grunted, then huffed. He turned his head away with sharp and decidedly not rabbit-like movements. It reminded Jenny of pouting kids. She could even hear the irate kid¡¯s voice. If you wanted me to go, why stop me in the first place? She imagined the white-haired girl with short, cropped hair and a scrunchy nose, arms crossed, and face turned away. It wasn¡¯t even hard to think of Biscuit like that. If it wasn¡¯t for the girl¡¯s long hair, Jenny certainly couldn¡¯t say if the kid was male or female. The idea was so cute, Jenny giggled, then laughed. Biscuit grunted again but didn¡¯t stop. Between the maze-like flora, she walked, following the possible-maybe-cursed rabbit. At times, Biscuit stopped, then rose on his hind legs, ears swerving and nose twitching fast, only to move in a different direction, but never backtracking. It continued for a few minutes until the rabbit chirped and bounded forward. Between the overgrown reedy plants, another type of climber. This new plant had delicate-looking tendrils wrapped around everything it could reach. The other vines, trees, even the stone benches. The leaves were heart-shaped, deep emerald green, with small serrated edges. Among the vines, Jenny saw tiny star-shaped flowers of pale lavender hue. The air smelled sweet and peppery. Biscuit waded through the vines and dug the plant¡¯s hidden bounty: a cluster of small, amber-orange berries, each the size of a marble, with smooth, glossy skin shimmering in the faint sunlight. The rabbit bit down on one of the berries, and the sweet scent intensified. Jenny¡¯s stomach growled. Biscuit stopped eating, looked at Jenny, and then the berries. The rabbit pushed the remainder of the cluster toward Jenny and disappeared between the vines. Jenny still hadn¡¯t decided if she wanted to eat when Biscuit brought another cluster, left near the first one, and dove into the vines again. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Jenny sighed. Wasn¡¯t she supposed to provide for her pet? She took the berry and popped it into her mouth. The thin, smooth skin broke with the slightest pressure, and the flavor exploded in her taste buds.
Like Yuki already knew, rabbit noses were the best. The berries had the faint texture she often associated with magic, but not enough to cause alarm. Jenny gasped, then let out a loud moan. Yuki stopped in her tracks and looked back. She shook her head, found another cluster, and dragged it toward outside. The noises hadn¡¯t stopped; if anything, they had become even more lewder. Yuki¡¯s ears would be red if rabbits could blush. Between the languid, low moans of foodporn, there was the high-pitched whines of pleasure. Before hopping outside, she peeked between the foliage to ensure no unmentionable fondling occurred behind the leaves. Jenny held a hand to her mouth, eyes rolled to the back of her head. The woman¡¯s face was tomato red, and she panted hard. Confirmation: It was PG-13 at least. Yuki left the vines with her prize. She settled down and ate. These things were good. It was like the sweet chili sauce from the before, but sweeter and spicier. Unlike her pet, Yuki had class. She might have let out a happy chirp here and there, but nothing like Jenny. ¡°You¡¯re embarrassing me, Jenny. Get a hold of yourself!¡± Jenny jolted, wide eyes glued to Yuki. Was it bad that trying to talk to Jenny was too funny? Yuki wasn¡¯t going to hide anymore, at least not from her pet. She had been trying to speak or repeat some of the words. At this point, she thought she had Jenny pretty spot on. Jenny always looked freaked out when Yuki did it. It was funny. Was that bullying? Was Yuki a bully? Things to consider for the future. She dug into the sweet and chili berries again, savoring each bite. She had provided for her pet already. Now, it was up to Jenny to do her thing.
Jenny¡¯s heart hammered in her chest. She wasn¡¯t mistaken this time. Biscuit really said Jenny, even if it sounded like the cavernous noises of a dying cat. She popped another berry in her mouth. She shuddered. Tingles spread from the tongue to the tip of her toes. She held back another sigh of contentment. These things were so good. A crumbling parchment appeared in front of her eyes. You have consumed Fiery berries. 1 Magic Point restored. Magic points? What was that? She didn¡¯t even bother with the parchment this time. Once she finished reading, it crumbled to dust. Jenny took the waterskin from her bag, opened it, and sipped. A bitter, lukewarm liquid invaded her mouth, and after the sweet, deliciousness of the berries, the bitter ale almost made her gag. Without water, however, she had no other choice. She took another sip. Biscuit climbed on her lap and pawed the water¡¯s skin. ¡°Do you want some?¡± she asked, gesturing with the waterskin in the rabbit¡¯s direction. He pawed it closer. Jenny cupped one hand in front of Biscuit, then spilled a few drops from the skin for the rabbit to drink. The rabbit smelled the liquid and drank a sip. Then it shied away, mouth open and tongue out, almost like it was trying to spit it out. ¡°It tastes horrible after the berries, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Jenny closed the waterskin and cleaned her hand. She took the remaining berries, gently enveloping them on one of the spare shirts, hoping the skin wouldn¡¯t burst. She got up, dusted her trousers, armed the crossbow again, and then turned toward their original path. She had a dungeon to explore. Gods save her soul. Chapter - 28 Things had taken a bizarre turn. Out of the illuminated garden, Jenny relied on the lantern to navigate the dark passage. It wound downwards in a labyrinth of twisted, unnatural walls. The walls¡¯ texture and indentations bore an unsettling resemblance to heavy burn scars. Jenny¡¯s skin prickled, and fear gnawed at her neck ¡ª or at least it should have. Biscuit ran a few steps ahead. The rabbit scurried to a corner, face closer to the ground, and cotton tail in the air. He looked around the corner, then scurried to the next. All the while, he hummed what Jenny was pretty sure was a song. A song she had never heard before. It was adorable and freaked Jenny out more than the walls and what might have created them. Ahead, Biscuit stopped at a sharp bend. He peeked and looked back. ¡°Eh-nyeh, eh¡¯s ah oooj oom hee!¡± the rabbit tittered away. Jenny couldn¡¯t mask the shudder and goosebumps. Was it too late to run? She forced a smile and took a deep breath. Biscuit was just a little strange. He was a cute and caring rabbit. Better see what he was excited about, though, no reason to take any chances. She approached and, following the rabbit example, peeked around the bend. The cramped tunnel opened to a vast room that stretched into the shadows of the lantern¡¯s light. The walls near the passage where Jenny looked from were lined with intricately carved reliefs. The images showed several different scenes: People dressed in flaming red robes battling against a giant made of water, or a single imposing woman, her hair depicted as flames, burning a whole city. On the other side, a group of robed cultists, hands in the air, faces lost in bliss around an altar. Biscuit took a step inside and froze, then sneezed. Spreading from where they were, torches on the wall lit, revealing the room in flickering lights. Dominating the center of the hall was a massive structure. The surface was blacked and scarred yet still majestic. Around it were old and rusted anvils and workstations. Far off in the distance, Jenny counted five other passages. Jenny took a step inside. The air was warm and tinged with the faint smell of burning. She looked at Biscuit, who still stood frozen. She walked toward the structure at the room¡¯s center. It was a enormous forge, now cold and lifeless but still imposing. How old was this place? Around the forge, she saw unfinished and rusted weapons: Daggers, swords, spearheads, axes. Biscuit approached and got on his legs, pawing Jenny¡¯s trousers. Jenny looked askance for a moment, then picked the rabbit up. It made sense; he was too small to see inside the forge. ¡°Don¡¯t get used to it,¡± she admonished. Where should they go next? The circular forge hall didn¡¯t indicate where each passage would lead. Biscuit squealed loud and urgent. Jenny looked back. The cold, rusted metal at the forge¡¯s center now bubbled with heat. The flames spread fast around the center point. Jenny took a step back, and when the heat wave hit her, she took several others. The molten metal now bubbled like boiling water. Stolen novel; please report. A searing orange claw emerged from the fire, followed by a sleek and sinuous body. Jenny turned and ran. She placed Biscuit on the ground and then picked up the crossbow. She armed a bolt and took aim. In the forge, the creature was already halfway out of the flames. It looked like a colossal lizard made of fire. The lizard eyes, twin orbs of pure fire and incandescent light were locked on Jenny. Even from a distance a wave of heat emanated from the creature. Biscuit hadn¡¯t stopped squealing, Jenny glanced at him to make sure there was no other enemy. She took aim at the lizard and shot before the beast could leave the forge. The bolt sailed toward the enemy and sunk deep into its molten flesh. The salamander growled, its movement faster. It leaped out of the molten metal and opened its mouth, a glob of fire shot in Jenny¡¯s direction. Jenny lept out of the way; it was not a graceful dodge, she sprawled on the ground, scraping her elbows and almost letting go of the weapon. She got up and looked at the forge. The salamander had left, leaving a trail of sparks and embers in its path. Panic set in, she walked backward, eyes still glued to the approaching monster. With trembling hands, she started to reload the crossbow. The salamander opened its mouth again, but this time, Jenny was prepared. She ducked behind one of the anvils before the monster shot its payload. She wasn¡¯t unscathed. Molten metal splashed around the anvil, tiny droplets falling on her back and arms. After she finished loading the crossbow, she peeked out and ducked again. Another glob of fire flew by where her head had just been. Jenny took another breath, got up, aimed, shot, and then ran away before checking if she had hit. She hid behind another anvil and armed another bolt. In the distance, Biscuit still squealed urgently. Had the rabbit gotten hurt in the flames? Jenny took a deep breath, holding the weapon ready, and left her hiding place. The salamander was just in front of her. The creature had extinguished its light, and she felt no heat emanating from the monster. It lunged, fanged maw promising a painful death. Jenny raised the crossbow in front of her. She didn¡¯t have time to shoot, so she interposed the weapon between her and the salamander, hoping against hope that it would be enough. The maw bit through the wood, almost taking Jenny¡¯s hand with it. The broken weapon clattered to the ground. Jenny took the dagger, knowing it was a lost battle. A dark, translucent demonic horned rabbit¡¯s with bright red eyes and tentacles waving out of its body, collided with the monster. Jenny watched in horror as this new abomination skewered the salamander. The tentacles dug into its flesh. She looked around in fear. Biscuit was a distance away, paws waving in the air. His eyes glowed the same evil red of the demonic rabbit. The salamander ignored Jenny; it focused on fighting the evil rabbit, but the thing was immaterial, and nothing the salamander did even affected the new horror. The flames on the salamander¡¯s body ignited again, molten metal leaking from the many punctures caused by the tentacles. The rabbit was unaffected; it kept its gory work, biting, and rending the salamander until the fire monster dissolved into a glob of molten metal. Jenny¡¯s eyes were glued to the macabre display. The evil rabbit continued its attacks, tentacle ripping chunks of the fire monster for a few more moments before dissipating into the air. From Biscuit¡¯s direction, she heard more squealing ¡ª high-pitched and loud. Was this it? Had the rabbit decided to finish her now that she knew his secrets? With mechanical, jerky movements, Jenny turned to face the new threat, dagger firmly gripped in both hands. Biscuit hopped in circles, squealing in what could only be happiness. He pranced and danced and even jiggled his fluffy tail. A parchment appeared in the corner of Jenny¡¯s vision. The dagger fell from her hand, and she collapsed, too tired to care. Chapter - 29 Your party defeated Fire Elemental. Exp: +100. Yuki read the notification and squealed in joy. A hundred fucking exp points! It was her first ever real battle, and they won! She hopped around, too excited to stay still. When hopping wasn¡¯t enough, she danced and even shook her tail. ¡°Yuki, the hero! Yuki, the adventurer!¡± Something clattered, and Yuki paused briefly to ensure it wasn¡¯t another enemy. Jenny sat, looking at the ground, both hands covering her face. The woman¡¯s breath was frantic and irregular, but Yuki understood. The short battle had also taken its toll on the rabbit, even if she didn¡¯t move as much as Jenny. She could imagine how tired the girl was. Yuki left Jenny to rest and continued her celebration. It was just a hundred exp, but better than the ten points she got from killing the weasel. She had stopped paying attention to the exp counter back at the manor. Watching the single daily exp point made her too anxious, but now she was on the path of evolution. The room still reeked of magic. When Yuki entered the forge, the smell was so strong she even sneezed. Worse, the smell ¡ª burnt wood, blood, and a hint of sulfur ¡ª made her think of the lord¡¯s office. She never got to explore the room and see what the magic there was about. She danced toward the fallen elemental. The remainder of the elemental cooled fast. It left a glob of black metal behind, and Yuki couldn¡¯t smell any more magic from it. She inspected the thing for anything valuable, but it was just a slag of metal. Jenny still sat looking at the ground. Yuki hopped closer, then on the woman¡¯s lap. Jenny jerked, startled. ¡°It¡¯s safe, pet,¡± Yuki said, trying to calm down the woman. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you!¡± she boasted. She settled into a comfortable position and rubbed her cheeks against Jenny¡¯s hands. It took a moment, but Jenny¡¯s fingers moved to the right spots. The purring started soon after. Jenny was proving to be a good pet. Yuki didn¡¯t even have to teach the woman about petting needs, Jenny offered them freely! Comfortable and content, she called out her status. The goblet on the landing page was almost empty. Yuki did the math. She started with six magic points and used two to heal Jenny after the fall. The regeneration hadn¡¯t kicked in yet, and she used three more points to cast [Wrack]. She eyed the goblet. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Magic Points: 2/18(20). Where had that extra magic point come from? Yuki willed the logs to display past messages. She looked at the message about the berries. That was nice ¡ª a way to restore magic points. She hopped out of Jenny¡¯s lap and into the bag. She dug the berries out and dragged them to the woman. With careful movements, she untangled the shirt and looked at the berries. Some of them had burst open, but most were still intact. Yuki nodded in satisfaction. They deserved a treat after that battle. She took one berry, hopped on Jenny¡¯s lap, dropped the berry, and went down to get more. Jenny looked frazzled, she took the berry on her lap and popped it in her mouth. She sighed, long and lewd. Yuki snickered at the girl¡¯s reaction. What was with that? It was like the girl had never eaten anything sweet and spicy at the same time. Since they had time, she also looked at her magic skills. Invocation sat at forty four while Shaping was at forty three. That was good progress, but it was probably the low-hanging fruit. Yuki nibbled another berry. The sweet spiciness left a pleasant tingle in her mouth. She ate a few more until the MP notification popped up. She could cast [Wrack] again with three more magic points if needed. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but it was better than being defenseless in this place. If Jenny could use magic, it wouldn¡¯t be so bad. ¡°We¡¯re going to long rest.¡± Yuki sighed. ¡°A lot,¡± she added a few moments later. Jenny startled again. What was up with the girl? Yuki¡¯s mind wandered, thinking about the series. Add the horn and pink skin, and Jenny could play Nixie. Keep the sapphire eyes, though. Jenny¡¯s eyes were too pretty to replace with Nixie¡¯s all-black. Yuki hopped out and set to explore. Now that the crossbow had broken, Jenny needed a new weapon. It would have been easier if Yuki had known which weapons Jenny could use. She stopped in her tracks and looked back. Jenny still sat, munching on the berries. The battle must have taken much more from the blondie than Yuki expected. Yuki hopped closer and then called out. ¡°Status.¡± Her landing page showed up. ¡°System, can you show me my familiar character sheet?¡± She called out. Yuki waited and waited, but no additional information showed up. Shouldn¡¯t Yuki be able to check her own familiar status? Wasn¡¯t this how it worked on all those games she played? Even if she couldn¡¯t see the entire thing, the summoner usually had access to some information about their familiar. She willed the system to provide the character sheet. It didn¡¯t. She hopped around Jenny, thinking. Could it be that Jenny didn¡¯t have a character sheet? Yuki had assumed everyone in this world had one, but maybe she was wrong. If only they could talk with each other. Yuki¡¯s attempts at speaking weren¡¯t good enough, and she still didn¡¯t know the local language besides a few words. There was one way to test things, though. Yuki could access her system by speaking the word status. She only needed to convince Jenny to repeat it. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard, right? Just keep saying status until the blondie repeated it. Easy peasy. Even a baby could copy things, right? Chapter - 30 ¡°Sah tus¡±. The crossbow prod was still intact, but the tiller had broken into pieces, and the string snapped during the attack. Jenny let the broken weapon fall down and looked around the abandoned forge. Perhaps she could find another weapon here. She never trained with a sword, axe, or hammer. Jenny reached for another berry. She couldn¡¯t keep the moan from escaping. These things were so tasty. Better than honey, and the heat it left in the mouth, she never had anything like that before. She got up and walked toward the workstations, looking for a spear. Jenny had no illusion that fighting anything in melee combat was viable. The burns on her back and arms still stung, and the creature hadn¡¯t even hit her. She didn¡¯t know how to use a bow, even if she found one here. A spear was the only viable weapon. Biscuit hopped alongside, sniffing things and jumping around them like a curious puppy. The beginning of a smile broke on Jenny¡¯s face. Biscuit looked at her. ¡°Tah us.¡± He bleated. Jenny shuddered and looked away. No, the cursed rabbit wasn¡¯t cute. The workstations around the forge had several weapons, most lost to time and disrepair. An unfinished sword caught Jenny¡¯s eyes. It was a massive blade, bigger than herself. How could anyone wield that thing? Jenny¡¯s inspection didn¡¯t reveal anything that would help. She found one of the workshops that forged spears, but the metal head was rusty, and the wooden shaft was brittle and broken. Could she rely on Biscuit¡¯s evil magic? That wasn¡¯t feasible either. All the stories she knew about the folly of sorcerers before the shattering always spoke of the same thing: Magic demanded a heavy price, the sorcerer¡¯s lifeforce and sanity. More often than not, a sorcerer could work a single significant piece of magic before being incapacitated. Or at least that was how it was in the books. The hero always attacked after the enemy expended all his magical power into a single big spell, which left the sorcerer defenseless for weeks. Jenny remembered the parchment and the contract. Assuming Biscuit was responsible, he wove a magical contract and healed her from a mortal wound in a single night. Healed her again from more injuries after a possible fatal drop and now summoned demonic rabbits to save her from a fire demon. There was no way the rabbit could keep this up. A distant corner of her mind also realized the many times the rabbit saved her life. ¡°Aah tus.¡± The rabbit bleated again. Goosebumps spread from her legs to her back and arm. Jenny suppressed a shudder. She had no idea what Biscuit wanted, but she wished he would stop with the creepy sounds. Was this some sort of petty torture? If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. A glint of rusted metal behind one of the anvils caught Jenny¡¯s attention. She walked closer and around the anvil, and Biscuit followed. The metal tip turned out to be a spear, its surface marred by patches of rust that crept along the shaft with the reddish-brown hue of corrosion. Even then, the weapon looked imposing, with intricate patterns barely visible beneath the rust. The spear shaft, different from the others, was an entire piece of metal, rusted and decorated in fading designs. What remained of the leather gripping clung stubbornly to the metal shaft. Despite everything, the weapon looked dangerous, even if it the rusted implement wasn¡¯t something any sane person would use in battle. Jenny picked the spear. She wasn¡¯t sane, anyway, and she also had no choice. ¡°Staa tuuss¡±. Biscuit said again. It was heavy, almost too heavy. Jenny inspected the whole thing. It was not ideal; it needed urgent repair, but it was better than the dagger. Jenny sat down and put the spear by her side. She picked up the bag and one of the trousers, cut the coarse fabric, and used it to clean the spear. It didn¡¯t work like she expected, but better than nothing. Then Jenny carved the trousers into two thin strips and tied them on the spear shaft, where the leather handles were before. She made sure to tie it as tight as possible. The end result wasn¡¯t good, but it was better than directly touching the rusted metal. She got up and settled into a stance. ¡°Staaaa usss.¡± Jenny closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and ignored the rabbit. Why was he doing this? He¡¯d been repeating the same thing for hours. It freaked Jenny out, even if it was also annoying as hell. How could something be creepy and annoying at the same time? With her posture ready, Jenny thrust. Unprepared and unfamiliar with the weapon¡¯s weight, she lost balance and took several steps forward, carried by the spear¡¯s momentum. ¡°Staa tuuss¡±. Jenny resettled her stance, closed her eyes, and took deep breaths. ¡°Thrust, remember the weapon is heavy; ignore the demonic rabbit,¡± she muttered, preparing for another attempt. She cleared her mind, focused on her legs and hands, and prepared the movement. ¡°Sta uss¡±. Jenny whirled, weapon pointed at the rabbit. ¡°Would you stop it!¡± She screamed. She released the spear ¡ª it clattered loudly ¡ª hands going to her head, clutching at her hair. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Biscuit watched her for a moment. He hopped closer and pawed at her legs. Jenny recoiled, then shook. After another deep breath to calm down, she picked up the rabbit. She didn¡¯t want to, but was afraid of denying the cute critter. The rabbit nuzzled Jenny¡¯s hand. He rubbed his nose gently against her palm. Jenny sat down. Something was wrong here. If Biscuit wanted to torture her, why was he being so affectionate all of a sudden? ¡°Why are you doing it?¡± She asked again. ¡°Why do you keep saying staaus?¡± Biscuit perked up at the last word. His ears pointed in Jenny¡¯s direction. He licked her hand and then did a little dance. ¡°Staa uss,¡± he said again. ¡°Wait, you want me to repeat that?¡± Jenny eyed the rabbit, incredulous. ¡°Staaus.¡± She said. Biscuit shook his head, then stopped. ¡°Staaaa tuuuusss.¡± He repeated. Jenny thought back at all the iterations of the same nightmarish sound from the past hour. It was apparent that Biscuit couldn¡¯t make the sound he wanted, so he kept trying variations of the same. ¡°Staatuusss.¡± Jenny said. Biscuit hopped, happy. He nuzzled Jenny¡¯s hand again, licked it, then danced. ¡°Sta tus.¡± Jenny took a deep breath. The word was shorter than before, but it had the same sound. ¡°Status,¡± she called out. Biscuit squealed, happy and high. A different parchment showed up before Jenny¡¯s eyes. Chapter - 31 Biscuit danced a storm; the happy squeals didn¡¯t stop, but Jenny couldn¡¯t pay attention. In front of her, the new parchment, fancier and not crumbling, didn¡¯t have words. Instead, she looked at a portrait of her own image. Portrait-Jenny wore a dress that hugged her figure. Crafted from a rich black fabric, which seemed to absorb light, the dress fell just above her knees in a perfect A-silhouette. A white, pristine apron wrapped around her waist. The crisp fabric had delicate laces along the hem. Portrait-Jenny¡¯s blonde hair cascaded in golden locks, pulled back from her face, and secured under a small, frilly white cap atop her head. The sleeves of the dress were short and puffed, edged with white cuffs that matched the high, lace-trimmed collar encircling her neck. A small round metal disc hung from the collar; it had a strange inscription inside, blocky lines that didn¡¯t match any of the languages she knew. ¡°PET¡± was inscribed on the disk. The woman in the image wore sheer white stockings that climbed to mid-thigh, and the footwear was a pair of polished black shoes with modest heels. Portrait-Jenny had chains that tied her wrists and pulled her arms up and to the sides. She sat on the ground, face cast down. Behind Portrait-Jenny sat another woman. White hair flowed like waterfall of moonlight down her shoulders, framing a face that was beautiful and otherworldly. The woman¡¯s eyes, glowing with predatory glean, were fixed intently on Portrait-Jenny, their color a profound, mesmerizing crimson. Horns grew from the woman¡¯s head, curving forward at the sides. It reminded Jenny of goat horns. The red-eyed woman¡¯s attire was made of leather but far from conventional. It was black, polished to a high sheen, and fashioned into an ensemble that left nothing to the imagination. It hugged her body in a series of straps and bands, each piece accentuating the curves and contours of her body. Two bat-like wings grew from her back. The woman had one arm wrapped around Portrait-Jenny from behind, resting possessively at the waist, the fingers splayed against the fabric of the dress. The other hand held a crystal goblet with blue liquid sloshing inside; the goblet was less than half full. The woman¡¯s tail, long and sinuous, wrapped around Portrait-Jenny¡¯s thigh. The woman leaned forward, her white hair mingling with Jenny¡¯s blonde locks. The half-smile on the woman¡¯s face was smug, self-satisfied, and revealed sharp teeth. In front of the Duo, arranged neatly on the ground, were several stone tablets, each with different words, ones she could read but didn¡¯t know what they meant. Personal Info, Attributes, Abilities, and many others. Biscuit still danced his happy dance. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± Jenny yelled, eyes still glued to the parchment. ¡°Is this what you wanted me to see? Why? Who is this woman?¡± Biscuit stopped his dancing and tittered. Jenny glanced away from the image. The rabbit had tilted his head in question, nose twitching inquisitively. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. What does this mean? Why did you want me to see it?¡± Jenny asked. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Biscuit nuzzled her hand again, then tittered away. It was a long, complicated, and nonsensical string of sounds. This time, it didn¡¯t sound so creepy. It was even a bit cute now that she knew he was only trying to talk, but it didn¡¯t help. With one hand scratching the base of Biscuit¡¯s ears, Jenny focused on the parchment again. The image was like looking at a reflection in the mirror. Not like Jenny¡¯s cheap one in her room, but those fancy ones owned by wealthy nobles. The clothing, from the horny lady and Portrait-Jenny, looked made from fabric she had never seen before. The thread on the dress was impossibly small, and she never even knew leather could be polished to that degree. Jenny glanced at the tablet, focusing on the first one. It moved, coming to the front of the parchment, the text changing. Personal info. Name: Jennifer of Ravenshade. Age: 7497 days. Gender: Female. Race: Human. How did this thing know her name and age? Jenny brushed the tablet away, and it returned to its resting place. She glanced at the next. Attributes. Strength (STR): 12. Constitution (CON): 14. Size (SIZ): 11. Dexterity (DEX): 14. Intelligence (INT): 11. Power (POW): 11(9)[Contract]. Charisma (CHA): 14. Jenny had no idea what any of those meant. The words were known, but not what they meant in this context. She waved this one away, still feeling strange that the parchment responded to her movements. She focused on the next. Abilities. Trait: Magical Familiar. Title: One of a kind. This made so little sense. Jenny knew of title holders, they were often regarded as living legends. Was this the same thing? Did she have a title? Shouldn¡¯t she know what it was? She looked at the following tablets, eyes glossing over the massive amount of numbers and words that made no sense. Skills and Advanced skills seemed to map her whole life, listing things she knew and learned over the twenty years of her life. Jenny stopped at the second-to-last tablet: it read Magic. She didn¡¯t notice her fingers trembling. She pointed at it, and the thing moved forward, displaying its content. Magic. Tradition: Sorcery [Contract]. Skill: Invocation. Manipulation: Shaping. And there it was. Jenny remembered the words: power, knowledge, and a chance to live. In the attribute tablet, she noticed the power linked to contract. Now, here is magic knowledge, also related to contract. She guessed the last part also happened; since she was alive, the dagger wound should have killed her. She glanced at the last tablet. It read spells but had no new info there. Jenny didn¡¯t know any spells, which was not a surprise. ¡°Stauus¡±. Biscuit said. Jenny glanced down at the rabbit. It made sense he also had something similar. What was he? Where had he come from? ¡°Shaaare.¡± He said, and something else appeared by the parchment¡¯s side. It was a sleek, blue-colored panel written in the language she knew, but the text was blocky. The image this time was Biscuit, sitting down and holding a crystal cup. Like hers, it was almost empty. At the bottom of the blue panel, the same words displayed on the tablets. She pointed at Personal info. Personal info. Name: Biscuit. Age: 49 days. Gender: Female. Race: Mutant Dwarf Horned Rabbit. Evolution tier: F. Exp: 161/3000. Biscuit was only 49 days old? Wait, female? ¡°Are you a girl?¡± Jenny asked, looking at her pet. Chapter - 32 Yuki glanced up, confused. Something in Jenny¡¯s demeanor had changed, and Yuki hoped for the better. Jenny didn¡¯t look that scared anymore and was even talking back when she usually ignored all the attempts at conversation. Nose met hand, and the nuzzling started once more. Guilt prickled at Yuki¡¯s ears, she knew her ears would be tomato red in shame if she could blush. Teasing Jenny was just too funny, but Yuki hadn¡¯t realized the girl was scared. It took the outburst to finally connect the dots. ¡°Status, share,¡± Yuki said once more. She was sure Jenny could see her status. The way Jenny kept glancing at the air and then at Yuki again was obvious. Jenny nodded, still scratching Yuki¡¯s ears. ¡°Status shae.¡± Jenny repeated. ¡°Sha re,¡± Yuki enunciated again, slowly this time. Rabbit talking was so tricky. ¡°Status share,¡± Jenny said. An elegant parchment appeared in front of Yuki. She glanced at the chained-up Jenny in a maid outfit with the pet collar and Succubus-Yuki holding the imprisoned woman possessively, the smug smile broadcasting how she had tricked the gullible human into a contract. Yuki covered her eyes with her paws. Oh god, why? She peeked again at the parchment; the image was hot. She covered her eyes once more. It had been idle musings and silly thoughts to distract herself from the nightmarish pain and all the blood and gore. It tied Jenny down with an unfair contract, and now it even objectified Jenny with the maid outfit and the collar. It was horrible for Yuki to think about Jenny like that. Somehow, she would need to apologize. Yuki glanced at the tablets in front of the Duo. Succubus-Yuki¡¯s heart-shaped tail moved away from Jenny¡¯s leg and propped the tablet up. Yuki read the information and noted the differences between her own character sheet. Jenny¡¯s had no experience counter or even evolution tier. Jenny¡¯s also didn¡¯t have heroic abilities. Her skills were a mix of different things that reflected how she was raised. She noticed Jenny also had the same magic skills; they were at forty-three, which Yuki guessed was what her skills were at the time of the ritual. Jenny had no magic, which was Yuki¡¯s fault. In her delusions, the contract would give Jenny knowledge, the attribute power, but not spells. She found the combat-related skills down the list. Jenny was trained to use the crossbow, dagger, and short spear. Yuki looked at the long metal monster at their side. It wasn¡¯t a short one, but maybe some of the principles transferred over. Lastly, she looked at the detailed description of Jenny¡¯s magic points. Magic Points: 9. Additional Magic Points: 2 (Familiar Contract). Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Total Magic Points: 11. Usable Magic Points: 11. Current Magic Points: 5. Magic Regeneration: 1/day. Regeneration from Familiar: -1/day. Current Magic Regeneration: 0/day. Another thing Yuki had to apologize for. She gave Jenny more power but took away her magic regeneration. That contract was too predatory, but she didn¡¯t even know if it was possible to cancel it or what would happen if she did. The strange bundle of something in her core was still there, and Yuki did her best to not even think in that direction. She had made enough mistakes already; no need to rush headlong into others. Jenny had gone silent, but the petting hadn¡¯t stopped, so everything was right with the world. Yuki dismissed Jenny¡¯s landing page after ogling Succubus-Yuki again. It was very narcissistic, but the demonic girl was pretty. If it wasn¡¯t straight out of her imagination, she would never think of that woman as another version of herself. ¡°What do you think we should do next, Jenny?¡± Jenny¡¯s fingers stopped, and the woman looked down, head tilting in question. ¡°What is it, Biscuit?¡± How to bypass that barrier? Yuki got on her legs and pointed at the path they came from, which led to the garden. After ensuring Jenny looked there, she pointed at another path, the next one to the right of the garden passageway. Jenny furrowed her brows. ¡°Maybe we can explore a little more before we go back and gather berries. We also need to find water.¡± Yuki nodded, she had no idea what Jenny said, but like usual, she would follow wherever the girl decided to go. After all, they were ¡ª self-proclaimed ¡ª adventurers, so they needed to adventure.
Jenny sipped from the bitter ale, then tucked the water skin down in the bag. She placed the broken crossbow near the forge, intending to take it out with her when they found a way out of this place. If she switched the tiller and string, the weapon could be repaired. She hung the bag over her shoulder and picked up the spear. The heavy weapon was almost too much to wield, but it would have to be enough. Jenny glanced again at Biscuit¡¯s spell list. There were ten spells there. Of those, Jenny knew three: the contract, the evil bunny magic, and regeneration. Maybe a fourth as well. Jenny suspected the white-haired girl was Biscuit all along, given the fourth spell: Shapechange. After confirming everything was packed and ready, Jenny set out toward the following path. The passageway tilted downwards, but it wasn¡¯t the twisting maze of the garden path. Instead, it curved gently to the right. The tunnel¡¯s walls held the same texture, like something had created the path by melting the stones. Jenny didn¡¯t want to meet anything capable of that. She doubted that even Biscuit¡¯s evil magic could harm a monster capable of that feat. Out of the illuminated forge hall, Jenny had to rely on the lantern again. For the minutes they walked in silence, nothing accosted them. Even Biscuit wasn¡¯t rushing ahead this time. After a while, the path opened into a large room. A circular, open space with tiers of stone seating surrounding a central pit. Jenny stepped inside, and like the forge, rolls of torch lit around, casting the strange arena into brighter light. The ground was blackened and scarred. It looked like an amphitheater or an arena. A row of weapons was arranged along the wall on the far side of the room, illuminated by the flickering light. In the center of the arena, a suit of metal armor crumpled to the ground, a large sword fallen on its side. Biscuit sneezed again. Jenny debated if she should continue. From the entrance, she couldn¡¯t see any other passage leading away from this room. She looked at the weapons on the far wall. She took another step inside. The crumpled armor moved, a rust covered gauntlet grabbed the huge sword, and with creaking movements it stood. Then the armor bowed and took a fighting stance. Chapter - 33 Jenny eyed the rusted armor, wondering if she should still try to reach the wall behind it. The thing stood silent and unmoving, weapon at the ready. It hadn¡¯t immediately attacked, which was a plus. The right choice was to avoid this room, back track, search somewhere else. But if Jenny couldn¡¯t fight an enemy that bowed to her, and waited until she was ready, what chance did she have against an ambush? She looked back, sighed, and dropped the bag near the entrance. She held the long spear in both hands and stepped forward. As a precaution, she bowed without taking her eyes from the armor. By the door, Biscuit stood on his¡ª her legs, watching the proceedings. Jenny took a deep breath, pushed all distractions away from her mind, and zeroed in on the enemy. Tarnished and corroded, each piece covered in a patina of rust. Some decorative etchings in the metal still resisted the corrosion and passage of time. The helm, with its visor lifted, revealed nothing inside. The surface was pocked and scarred. The breastplate was dented and discolored. The gauntlets¡¯ fingers curved around the hilt of a massive, equally rusted sword. The greaves and sabatons were also affected with similar rust and decay. A mercenary part of Jenny¡¯s mind wondered if disabling whatever magic animated the armor was possible. Even a rusted, old, and battered full suit of armor could fetch a fortune. After one last look, she lunged, spear aimed at the leg joints. The fight would be much easier if she could disable its mobility. The armor stood its ground and let Jenny approach. At the last possible moment, it brought down the sword faster than Jenny could see. It parried her lunge, then, with the flat of the blade, slapped Jenny away. Biscuit squealed, a sharp, high-pitched sound, almost like a shriek. Jenny fell down and tried to roll with the momentum. The armor re-settled its stance and stood waiting again. Jenny got up, and Biscuit¡¯s panicked rattle died down. That was strange. The armor could have used the blade edge as easily, and Jenny would have been in a heap of trouble, blood, and gore. She massaged her arm, where the flat of the blade hit. It stung, but it didn¡¯t hurt. She settled the stance again, considering what to do. Instead of a lunge, she tried something else. Jenny stepped closer and feinted another attack at the legs, only to sweep the spear up, aiming a slash at the arm joint this time. It was one of the primary short spear drills she had been taught, but pulling off with the heavy spear was much more complicated. Heavy sword parried her attack, pushing the spear away and leaving Jenny¡¯s stance open. The armor moved forward, steps fluid despite the bulky size. The sword edge scraped along the metal spear with a grating high-pitched noise. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Jenny tried to move back but couldn¡¯t escape the sword¡¯s range. The blade stopped short of hitting Jenny. The armor stepped back to its initial position and resumed its previous stance. Jenny panted, her heart beat fast. She was no match for whatever this thing was, and it could have killed her two times already. But somehow, it didn¡¯t. She looked around again ¡ª at the seats, the circular arena, and the weapons on the far wall. Was this some sort of training ground? Magic training ground? Cursed training ground? Magic knowledge churned in her mind. The forbidden knowledge told her the only way it could be done was by combining several different spells. The power expenditure was absurd, and someone had to control it at all times to have the armor move and react to things. Another glance at the dilapidated place didn¡¯t reveal anyone else. Behind Jenny, Biscuit hopped excitedly, chittering away. She sighed, then smiled. She could shore up her training with the heavy spear here, where the armor stopped without inflicting any serious injury aside from her pride. She wanted to move away and find the exit to this place, but that was desperation speaking. The smart choice was to stay and fight. She still had about half a waterskin of ale. Jenny could practice, then leave later to try to find water, possibly in the garden. If there were plants there, then probably there was water as well. Jenny cast the thoughts out of her mind and settled her stance again. She recalled the basics of spearmanship: thrust, lunge, parry, slash, feint, sweep, buttstrike, bind and pin, withdraw and counter. She took another step toward the armor.
Yuki wished she had popcorn. It was an unfathomable teacher in a long-forgotten dungeon! At some point during the training, Jenny had thrown the cloak away, the woman¡¯s face glistened with sweat, the left side of her face bore a red bruise. Yuki thought back on that one. Jenny had tried something fancy that made no sense. Jenny had attempted to step inside the armor space, but the unfathomable teacher took an easy step back and slapped Jenny¡¯s face with the flat of its sword. Yuki had realized the armor punished silly mistakes harshly. In situations where Jenny attacked but didn¡¯t leave herself open to counters, the armor would brute force its way past Jenny¡¯s defense and just push her away. A slap to the face was pretty obvious whenever Jenny tried something silly or weird. Worse when it was delivered with casual disregard, with the flat of a motherfucking Guts sword. Jenny looked angry. Yeah, Yuki would be angry, too, given the sheer disregard from the armor. She could even imagine whatever was controlling the thing, laughing at Jenny¡¯s attempts. But aside from hurt pride and bruises, Jenny was unscathed. Maybe it was time to stop this? Yuki hopped to the bag and picked up the last of the berries. She was getting hungry. ¡°Jenny?¡± She called out. The blonde had just stepped toward the armor, but stopped and looked at Yuki. The armor reacted fast and mercilessly. Yuki tried to warn Jenny, but it was too late. The metal armor kicked Jenny in the guts, throwing her away from the arena. Jenny rocketed back, spear forgotten, hands clutching at her stomach. She fell down, gasping for air, then coughed up blood. The woman tried to sit down but groaned in pain and fell back to the ground. Yuki¡¯s guilt stabbed her in the heart again. She shouldn¡¯t have distracted Jenny. She hopped closer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Pet. I shouldn¡¯t have distracted you. Wait just a bit, and I¡¯ll make the pain go away.¡± Jenny¡¯s fingers reached Yuki¡¯s and scratched at the base of the rabbit¡¯s ears. Yuki closed her eyes and shuddered in pleasure but then shook her head. Healing first, petting later. Chapter - 34 One step and a scowl. Another step and a wince. Jenny wasn¡¯t happy at all. Every step hurt. Her sides smarted, the welts on her face burned, and her stomach ached. Even Biscuit¡¯s magic hadn¡¯t taken all of it away. She hadn¡¯t managed to hit the rusty piece of armor once. Still, Jenny felt good about it. After so many years, training again was a novel experience ¡ª even if she had to suffer under a brutal piece of metal. She reviewed the details of her new weapon. The spear still felt heavy and strange, but it was not unwieldy anymore. After hours of moving and trying different things, she felt more comfortable. She could see its advantages. For one, it was heavier, making parrying or overwhelming other weapons easier. Jenny imagined someone with a one-handed sword trying to block her attacks. Also, with the reach, she could keep enemies at bay. If they couldn¡¯t get closer enough, they couldn¡¯t attack her. But it also had its cons. Unlike the short version of the weapon, Jenny couldn¡¯t use a shield, the spear was simply too bulky for that, and if anyone did manage to get past her range, then she¡¯d be relegated to trying to hit the enemy with the butt of the spear. She would need to focus a lot more on footwork. The meandering tunnel upward led them to the overgrown garden. Jenny wanted to find more food and water before exploring the place. She also considered training with the rusted armor for a few more days. By now, she was probably a wanted criminal and branded a witch by the church. Getting used to weapons again was a good choice. The weak orange sunlight cast the garden in a different light. Arriving from this side, Jenny imagined how it must have looked before it was abandoned. An underground garden was a novel idea. Despite all the overgrown flora, the place still looked majestic. Biscuit hopped around and nibbled at the plant¡¯s leaves. Jenny left the rabbit to his¡ª her devices. Jenny had her own priorities. She moved toward the orchard from early on before Biscuit led her to the berries. Jenny approached with caution, spear ready, eyes open. She didn¡¯t think anything was here; otherwise, it would have attacked when she fell, but there was no reason to lower her guard. The narrow pathway meandered through the overgrown vines until Jenny found the orchard again. The air was cool and moist. The faint rays of sunlight illuminated fungi and moss-covered walls and ceiling. The trees, with their deep green leaves, different from the ones on the surface, were short and laden with fruits that hung low, easy to pick. The fruits were also peculiar, akin to apples but rounder and redder. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Dripping water sounds caught Jenny¡¯s attention. She closed her eyes. After a moment, she set out in the sound¡¯s direction. It led to a crack in the cavern wall and, from inside, the noise of running water. Jenny was too big to go inside, but Biscuit wasn¡¯t. Jenny turned back toward the tunnel, where she last saw Biscuit. She didn¡¯t pick any of the fruits. Better let Biscuit sniff them first. A rabbit would know if they were safe for consumption, right? She saw no sign of the white rabbit by the tunnel entrance. ¡°Biscuit?¡± Jenny called out. A moment later, she heard the squeal in response. Biscuit hopped out of one of the bushes. Her fur was in disarray and full of vines. Biscuit¡¯s mouth was stained green, and she munched on a leave. The rabbit hopped closer, doing its silly dance around Jenny¡¯s legs. ¡°Wah eh eet, Eeh-nye?¡± Jenny chuckled and then picked the critter up. ¡°I found water, but I need your help.¡± Biscuit nuzzled against her hand, still eating the leaves. Jenny carried the rabbit to the orchard. Biscuit¡¯s ears perked up before they even reached there. By the trees, the rabbit¡¯s nose twitched a storm. Jenny held back a laugh; it was cute. They approached the crack, and Jenny dug inside the bag for the water skin with her free hand. She placed the rabbit down and pointed at the water container. ¡°I can¡¯t reach it,¡± she started, ¡°I need you to go in and fill the container for me.¡± Biscuit nodded along with her words. Could the rabbit understand it? The rabbit dashed toward the rift in the rock, and soon after, Jenny heard a splash and a loud squealing. ¡°Biscuit? Are you alright?¡± She called out. Her response was more squealing. Jenny got worried when a drenched rabbit walked out of the crack. Biscuit shook like a wet dog after a bath. It looked at Jenny and tittered away. It sounded interesting, but Jenny had no idea what the rabbit was talking about. Biscuit bit down on the water skin and dragged it inside the crack. Jenny heard grunting and dragging and, at some point, panicked, squeaking. A few minutes later, Biscuit returned, pulling the heavy, wet container. Jenny took it when the rabbit deposited it near her. She drank, long and slow. The water tasted fresh and cold. It had an earthy taste Jenny actually liked. It didn¡¯t taste as bitter as most cistern water after being boiled down. She kept drinking until the thing was empty. She sighed, happy and refreshed. She needed only a bath now. Jenny placed the waterskin in front of Biscuit. The rabbit looked at her, hurt and almost betrayed. Biscuit bit down and dragged herself inside the crack once more. Jenny heard grumbling that sounded like a kid complaining that it had to do chores. She smiled; it was cute. Chapter - 35 Yuki dragged the damn water skin up the fissure again. It hit a snag, and she pulled harder. She lost control of the container, and it struck her in the face. ¡°The things I do to keep my pet happy.¡± This wasn¡¯t the second or third time Jenny puppy-eyed Yuki into chores. No, the first time, Jenny just drank the whole thing. It was astonishing. Where had all that water gone? The second Jenny just dumped the entire water skin on her head and hair, and the same with the third. For the fourth, the woman spilled it all over pieces of fabric she took from her bag. The gall of that woman. With one last pull and another grumble, Yuki left the small passage. She looked for the taskmaster. She let the water skin drop, mouth open in surprise. Jenny still sat near the fissure, but the blonde had removed the armor and shirt. With the damp fabric, she wiped her body. Yes, Jenny was beautiful, and given another occasion, Yuki wouldn¡¯t mind watching. The mess of a scar on the woman¡¯s back was what got Yuki¡¯s attention. It started on Jenny¡¯s right shoulder blade and sneaked down her back and sides like those creepy anime infections or corruption. ¡°Ah, thank you, Biscuit,¡± Jenny said. She picked up the water skin, took another small sip, and put it inside the bag. ¡°I¡¯ll be done in a moment.¡± Yuki tore her eyes away from the scar and noticed other things. Jenny had nasty bruises on her stomach, chest, and arms, consequences of the training. Yuki could have healed all that, but that would use too much magic and leave them defenseless in case anything else attacked. That¡¯s another thing she¡¯d need to apologize for later. Jenny placed one of the red fruits in front of Yuki. ¡°Here, what do you think?¡± Yuki looked at the fruit. Rounder and redder than an apple, but the skin looked and felt like mango. She sniffed it: sharp, tangy, and sweet. She licked it, then nibbled carefully. Red-mushy fruit flesh and sweetly sharp. It was like eating sugary lemon-flavored gelatin. What was this place and contradictory tastes? She looked at the logs, even willing it to go verbose again. No poison or resistance check or anything that might say it had any adverse effect. It was just too strong of a flavor, at least for Yuki. ¡°Should be safe to eat,¡± Yuki said and pushed the fruit toward the blonde. Jenny looked at the rabbit skeptically. ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Yuki nodded, ¡°You can eat it! I even stamped the Yuki¡¯s nibble of approval!¡± She pushed the fruit closer. Jenny picked up the fruit. ¡°Are you saying I should eat it?¡± ¡°Tastes tangy and sweet, but too strong for me, I¡¯ll keep to the leaves.¡± Yuki agreed. She was proud of the conversation, even if she had no idea what Jenny said. It was a conversation nonetheless. Yuki skipped out, leaving the partially undressed woman to her own devices. She couldn¡¯t stay there to ogle Jenny in a moment of vulnerability. It wasn¡¯t her fault she had already gotten a good eyeful. She couldn¡¯t have known. Watching Jenny train gave Yuki some ideas. Should she train as well? She didn¡¯t have hands to wield weapons and couldn¡¯t think of anything a rabbit could use. No, that was a lie; she could think of several things. A headpiece with a small needle she could use to poison people. Or, copying her siblings, a horned rabbit-themed helmet with a metal spike. She just had no chance of finding anything here, or anywhere for that matter. If she wanted to fight as a rabbit, she probably would need to custom-make things. But that was silly. It was like those players who pick glass-cannon characters and tried to build a tank. It just wouldn¡¯t work. Yuki was too frail to stay close to any enemy. That one time she tried to use magic in the burrow came back to her. She did the motions, built the spell, and thought about all the details but didn¡¯t finish the casting. Maybe she could do something similar here? Practice the motions, analyze the spell effects, think of the intricacies of magic, and how to manipulate and apply it. It might work. Yuki wouldn¡¯t know until she tried. Yuki looked again in Jenny¡¯s direction. Her strength was magic; she needed magic points to use magic. ¡°The things I do for my pet.¡± She grumbled, then moved towards the berries. Binge eating wasn¡¯t ever one of her obsessions, but she¡¯d do it for Jenny.
Jenny finished wiping herself, wrung, and hung the cloth to dry on one of the nearby branches. She hadn¡¯t intended to clean herself, but it was just too funny watching Biscuit grumble her way into getting more water. She¡¯d pay that later with some ear massages. She¡¯d make them extra long sessions. Jenny picked the fruit again and took a tentative bite. Sweet, sour, and pungent. Jenny scowled, tongue out, breathing through the mouth. She knew now why Biscuit hadn¡¯t eaten. The flavor was strong enough to give her pause. She took another bite and pretended it was something else. She couldn¡¯t live on berries alone; and in the worst case, she could eat leaves like Biscuit had done. It didn¡¯t sound tasty, but it was an option. She munched on the thing and ignored how it was bloody red. Memories of the previous hours came back, the bolt piercing the man¡¯s flesh and the screams. Jenny shook her head. She¡¯d confront that later like her mother taught her, just not right now. Maybe she could teach the rabbit the language to distract herself. Biscuit was as intelligent as a human, but their languages differed. She could help with that. Jenny got up, dressed again. Biscuit was nowhere in sight. She shook her head, picked the bag, the spear, and a few more fruits, then set out to find her mischievous pet. Chapter - 36 Finding Biscuit wasn¡¯t hard. Jenny moved back to the entrance from the orchard and from there to the berries. Biscuit lay sprawled on the ground, paws up and twitching, belly distended to an absurd amount. The rabbit¡¯s mouth, neck, and even ears were stained with berry goop. Around the critter were half-eaten berries and still whole clusters of uneaten ones. ¡°Biscuit?¡± The paws twitched, and the ears moved, but the only response was a low, pained groan. Jenny studied the rabbit. She looked at the berries and stains, remembered the parchment, and Biscuit¡¯s characteristics. She also remembered that Biscuit had only one magic point out of eighteen. She picked up her pet, and Biscuit twitched some more, eyes half open but not really there. Jenny shook her head; rest today and start tomorrow with the language problem. She moved back to the orchard, deciding there was as good a place as any to camp. Once there, she took the blanket from the bag, placed it on the ground, and sat atop it. She put the rabbit on her lap and seized the chance to deliver her apology through ear scritches. In what followed, Jenny cast her mind back to the previous day, from meeting Ferdinand to the contract and the escape. Like her mother had taught, Jenny imagined herself in an empty room. Gradually, the room filled with mists, and from them, she reconstructed the scenes from her mind, casting herself as someone else. Jenny observed from outside, like watching a theater play. Now distant from it, Jenny watched again the meeting with Ferdinand. Memory-Jenny¡¯s checking out the man and the small, surprised smile at his appearance. He was beautiful in a way she had hardly seen in other men. Jenny watched while the two talked, the small gestures, the subtle body language shift, how the man led Memory-Jenny around. She saw the moment Memory-Jenny decided that marrying wouldn¡¯t be the torture she imagined it would be. Jenny shifted her mind¡¯s eye to the man. The eager anticipation in his posture. How he kept glancing at her breasts, waist, and face. Jenny shook her head. How had she not seen it at the time? The smirk, the pointed jokes. It should have triggered all alarm bells in her head. The image dissolved, and another formed in its place. In this one, Memory-Jenny was already wounded and waiting for death. Jenny saw the white-haired girl get up and re-settle the broken bone, something Jenny didn¡¯t think herself could do. Then, the spells and the magic contract. The knowledge came quickly. The girl, or Biscuit, tried to heal Jenny and failed. The contract probably was a last resort attempt. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Jenny unmade the images and recreated the moment the girl appeared in the foyer. The scrunched nose, the detail caught Jenny¡¯s attention. Biscuit sneezed in the lord¡¯s office. She looked like she was smelling something terrible in the foyer; she sneezed again at the forge. Jenny went back to the girl, and the wide eyes of recognition when she saw Ferdinand. She knew who he was, which shouldn¡¯t be possible. Biscuit was less than two months old, and Ferdinand hadn¡¯t visited these lands for years unless he lied in the letters, which was a possibility. She made another note. Lastly, Jenny recreated the shed, the man who wanted to capture her for money, the bolt, and the pained screams. Memory-Jenny had followed all the advice from her father. Aim for center mass, pull the lever as you breathe out, and don¡¯t look at where you want to hit; look at where you¡¯ll hit. The bolt had hit the man on the shoulder. A small sigh of relief escaped Jenny. It was a painful injury but not immediately fatal. She wouldn¡¯t mourn the man¡¯s death if it happened, but she also didn¡¯t want to kill for no reason. Greediness wasn¡¯t that heavy of a sin on its own. The image evaporated into mist. Jenny considered reviewing the training with the rusted armor but gave up on that. It was too recent of a memory. Instead, she returned to that day, ten years ago, when she first met Gizelda. It was her most cherished memory. Jenny had lost count of how many times she re-watched that day.
Yuki groaned, half in pleasure, half in pain. The fingers trailing her ears were divine, but her stomach ached intensely. She had eaten as many berries as she could. She was at eleven magic points, and with the daily regen, she¡¯d be at thirteen, a safe enough amount of power. She opened her eyes and glanced at the provider of heaveness and owner of the divine fingers. Jenny¡¯s eyes were unfocused and dilated. The woman had that same skewed, not right smile on her face. Yuki closed her eyes. Nope, nope, she didn¡¯t see anything. Not a thing. She was just going to sleep this one out, enjoy the fingers, and not think anything else. Sleep didn¡¯t come easy, but it arrived at some point. Yuki woke up warm and safe. She opened her eyes and took stock of the situation. Jenny was still asleep. The girl lay down on the blanket and hugged Yuki like a plushie. That was fair; Yuki would have done the same, her fur was top-notch. A slew of notifications blinked in the corner of her eyes. She willed them to show up. Your familiar used a new Advanced Skill. Proficiency detected, calibrating rate. Advanced Skill [Memory Manipulation] set to rate 76. Advanced Skill [Memory Manipulation] is above the first threshold. Check Advanced Skill to select a suitable perk. Perk? Perk, as in those ultra-powerful special abilities that are more like magic than magic itself? This system had perks. Why didn¡¯t Yuki have any? Jenny mumbled something in her sleep, then turned around, hugging Yuki even closer. Yuki stopped and then thought about the previous days and everything that had happened. Yeah, there was no need to hurry things up. She and Jenny deserved a break. She closed her eyes, snuggled closer, and went back to sleep. She needed Jenny anyway to check the girls¡¯ status page. Chapter - 37 ¡°Biscuit!¡± Jenny said in her most stern voice. She conjured her best impression of Father Dearest¡¯s perpetually disappointed tone. ¡°Pay attention.¡± Biscuit got on her hind legs, one paw going to her head, just above the eyes, in a strange movement. Jenny had yet to learn what that meant; she ignored it and started again. Jenny pointed to herself. ¡°Me.¡± Biscuit deflated, her gaze shifting from Jenny to the ground and back again. The rabbit grumbled, flopping belly up. ¡°Ee.¡± She repeated. It wasn¡¯t the best of pronunciations, but that was fine. Jenny next pointed to the rabbit. ¡°You.¡± Biscuit looked even more dejected; she whined, got on her paws, and nuzzled Jenny¡¯s hand; the rabbit even danced. Jenny kept her face stern, with no hint of her smile showing up. ¡°Yuu.¡± Biscuit repeated after what felt like an eternity. Trying to teach the rabbit wasn¡¯t going well. For some reason, Biscuit wouldn¡¯t concentrate. She had, well, the attention span of a rabbit. They had already gone over this, and Biscuit hadn¡¯t forgotten, even if it was a hurdle getting the rabbit to repeat things. The pronunciation was still horrible, but Jenny couldn¡¯t ask for more. She¡¯d taken to drawing stuff on the floor with a stick and naming them: beds, doors, windows, cups, plates, as well as everything she actually had in hand. The rabbit was a quick learner, though she disliked the repetition needed to practice her pronunciation. Jenny sighed. It was enough for now. She picked up Biscuit, fingers scratching the critter¡¯s ears. Rewards encourage good behavior, right? She settled the plans for the following days. Her immediate concern was getting used to her new weapon. She had two goals. The first one was to be able to hit the armor consistently. For that, she would need to visit even older memories and the years of training. The second goal was to get used to the weapon¡¯s weight and parry, deflect, or evade most attacks. She didn¡¯t have expectations that she could defeat the thing. How do you stop something that doesn¡¯t feel pain or fear or even get tired? The mornings to teach Biscuit, afternoons to train, and evenings to revisit old memories and re-learn from them. Jenny sighed; she hadn¡¯t forgotten the parchment in the morning with the advanced skill. The name [Memory Manipulation] wasn¡¯t what her mother called it. Mother had a fancier name, ¡°Theater of the Mind.¡± Jenny didn¡¯t want to revisit the years before meeting Gizelda but also didn¡¯t want to die. She hated that she agreed with her father, but any advantage should be abused to the best of her abilities. She looked at the rabbit flopped on her hands, paws twitching. Teach the rabbit the language, then convince Biscuit to share the spells. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. And what about the outside situation? Jenny didn¡¯t care about being blamed for the Lord¡¯s death, aside from how Gizelda would react to that. Should she confront Gregory? Would that make things worse? Jenny suspected that Gregory and Ferdinand knew each other or were even acting together. She put that idea aside. There was no way to do anything before leaving this place. The only plan she was sure was sending Gizelda a letter as soon as possible and telling her the truth about the events. Gizelda would believe her. Jenny was sure of it. Jenny packed the bag again but left it by the orchard. She picked only the water skin. Her only plan for today was to train and revisit the memories. Carrying the bag around wasn¡¯t needed. ¡°Biscuit, come.¡± She called out. The rabbit hopped closer a few moments later, mouth stained with berries. Biscuit chattered away, head tilting in what Jenny thought was a question. Jenny even heard ¡°you¡± there amid the many incomprehensible sounds. ¡°We,¡± she started, finger moving from herself to the rabbit and back, ¡°are going,¡± she mimicked them walking, ¡°fight,¡± Jenny choreographed the fight with the armor, even being hit a few times, ¡°the armor,¡± she finished moving her hands up and down her body in the same silhouette. She felt ridiculous doing that. By her side, Biscuit laughed. Jenny snorted, ignoring the blush creeping on her cheeks and ears. Biscuit needed to learn the language and learn fast. Jenny wasn¡¯t a shy woman, but even she had her limits.
Yuki sat on one of the stone seats around the arena. It had been a few hours, and Jenny was still at it with Rusty. Yuki was starting to think that aside from being a crazy witch, Jenny was also a masochist. Rusty slapped Jenny up and down without mercy, and the girl always went in for more. ¡°Go, Jenny! You can do it!¡± Yuki yelled her encouragement. Jenny stiffened but didn¡¯t look; she leaped away from another attack from Rusty. One of Yuki¡¯s goals was to ensure her pet was happy and motivated. The other was to learn more about sorcery and magic and maybe skills. She hadn¡¯t forgotten about Jenny¡¯s new skill, but now that they were learning to communicate, she didn¡¯t see the harm in waiting until she could discuss things with Blondie instead of scaring the girl into doing stuff. Yuki hadn¡¯t been idle for the past hours. Even if she kept an eye on Jenny, she also reviewed the more esoteric things about shaping. Biscuit poked around things in her mind, and almost reluctantly, the implanted knowledge gave her more. Yuki realized that with time and patience, she might be able to recreate the original version of dominate or even create one of the specialized versions. The same with shapechange. Another thing she learned is that there was a limit to the number of spells she could keep in her mind-space, ready to use. She was halfway there; ten more spell slots then. The same as her INT. Coincidence? Yuki didn¡¯t think so. She¡¯d seen Jenny¡¯s attributes and realized that depending on how evolution worked here, having super high mental status might not be harmful, even if Yuki was liable to die to a flying cockroach. Metal hit metal and Yuki looked at the arena. Jenny tried to parry Rusty¡¯s attack, but the armor overpowered her block and sword-slapped the woman away. Jenny fell, and this time, she took some time to get up again. When she did, instead of facing Rusty again, she turned around and hobbled away, dragging the spear behind. Yuki got up from the stone seat and hopped toward her pet. She¡¯d do her part as a magical creature and heal her magical girl. She could also take her time to examine the spell [Regeneration]; perhaps she could learn more about it. Chapter - 38 Beast of Burden Yuki dragged the water skin from inside the fissure to the outside for the sixth time. Even though Jenny looked exhausted, she pantomimed the request. ¡°Biscuit, please bring,¡± she mimicked Yuki dragging the water skin, ¡°water,¡± she pointed inside the container, ¡°for me,¡± she finished by pointing at herself. Yuki did as her pet asked, she even mulled over the words in her head. They were easier to remember and make sense of. A lot easier than her own memories of the many attempts to learn more languages in the before. Was it the INT again? She dragged the container the last stretch. Jenny had forgone any semblance of modesty. After drinking the whole thing in the first run, she had just removed all of her clothes and dumped the water over her head again and again. The girl was bruised all over. Yuki would care for those today; she finally had the magic points for it. With this last water run, Jenny was already dressed, with just her undies and a shirt. She sipped from the water before placing the container by her side. She looked at Yuki and beckoned. ¡°Biscuit, come here, girl.¡± Yuki was conflicted about things. Now that they were almost talking; should she tell Jenny her name? She hopped on the woman¡¯s lap but shook her head when Jenny tried to play with Yuki¡¯s ears. Perhaps later she¡¯d tell Jenny her name, right now, it would just confuse things. Yuki concentrated on the spell she was about to cast, she chanted the words and moved her paws. She tried to learn all it could and couldn¡¯t do. When she finished casting, she settled down and focused on keeping the magic flowing. It would take some time to finish healing all of Jenny¡¯s bruises. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Jenny looked surprised at the rabbit. Since when did Biscuit refuse ear scritches? Biscuit said something, her voice strange and unnatural. The hair on Jenny¡¯s neck and arms stood on end, but she recognized the spell. She released a breath held for too long. It was still strange to see a rabbit using the cursed magic openly. How did she combat the corruption? Mother had told her about magic, and to avoid it, lest she lose her mind. Sorcery corruption was anathema to the tradition passed down by her mother, but Biscuit didn¡¯t seem affected by any adverse effects. Jenny shook her head, another reason to teach the rabbit the language. She took a deep breath and centered herself. It wasn¡¯t as easy here as in the room she had prepared at the manor, but Jenny was used to this by now. She conjured the empty room, and the world around her fell into nothingness. Memories from before her mother taught Jenny weren¡¯t as reliable, usually blurred, unless they were about intense emotions or moments. Jenny decided to start from the beginning. The first lessons were the hardest, but they might offer better insights. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Mist filled the room, and it became blurry and strange. Hidden behind the fog were the manor walls and the trees Jenny was never allowed to climb. The cobbled path led outside to the city, but it was guarded day and night. Father had sent the servants to remove all the flowers and other plants in the courtyard, ¡°they only distract the girl,¡± was his response when mother questioned him. Memory-Jenny was six years old. She wore simple clothes, a gray shirt, trousers, and shoes. She held a stick in both hands, trying and failing to maintain a proper stance. Father walked around Memory-Jenny holding the cane. Jenny couldn''t see the man''s disappointed eyes, in a moment of rage, she had shredded his face from all her memories. She could still conjure the whole memory, but his face was always a blur. The cane lashed out. Memory-Jenny was too focused on her trembling legs to see it. It hit the girl in the face. She fell, crying out in pain, stick clattering to the ground. ¡°Get up!¡± Father ordered, ¡°and fix your stance!¡± He barked. Jenny dismissed the memory. Too early; these weren¡¯t the ones she was looking for. That continued for weeks on end. Father always finding any possible excuse to lash out and teach his ¡®little girl¡¯ how to hold the spear properly. At the end of the day, the man would hug Memory-Jenny and soothe her pain and bruises, always whispering that his ¡®little girl¡¯ did her best. Jenny regretted destroying the memories of her father. Anger burned in her mind. How could she recognize the man now and repay all his ¡®love?¡¯ Another memory formed from the mist. Memory-Jenny performed basic spear thrust drills. A step forward, and the stick lashed out. The cane would soon follow. It was never enough. No matter how much Memory-Jenny practiced, it was never enough. Jenny watched it with detached anger. She conjured the memory of yesterday¡¯s fight with the rusted armor and compared both stances. She was still using the bigger weapon like the smaller version. The balance was wrong; the footwork was out of sync with the spear movements. Jenny dismissed the old memory and summoned another, this one a spar with Father. He wielded a larger quarterstaff like a spear. Even with his lame leg, his posture was impeccable. Memory-Jenny stepped forward and thrust. Father¡¯s staff moved faster and without mercy. It hit Memory-Jenny¡¯s head, and the memory dissolved. Jenny replayed the attack, comparing her own stance to Father¡¯s. She adjusted the legs¡¯ position in her mind and the way she held the weapon. It looked better. Another memory formed in the mists. This one Memory-Jenny was older, eight years old. They were still in the courtyard. She remembered this day. The sky was overcast, and the wind blew strong. It would rain later and rain for weeks. Memory-Jenny faced Father again. Memory-Jenny held a staff, the same as a short spear. Father and Memory-Jenny stared at each other. Father moved first. He feinted a high trust, only to bring the staff down in a low sweep. Memory-Jenny didn¡¯t see it. She tried to parry an attack that never came and had her legs swept from under her. The additional strike at her ribs was just to remind Memory-Jenny that an enemy would never show mercy. The girl got up again, her face a storm. Father retook position, as did Memory-Jenny. Father tried the same thing, a feint, and a sweep, but Memory-Jenny anticipated it; she counter-feinted and evaded the sweep, then lunged and hit Father¡¯s face in the counter. Memory-Jenny grinned; she¡¯d finally done it; she finally hit Father. The staff lashed out hard and fast. Jenny went back into the memory. She didn¡¯t need to see the beating again. She still remembered the weeks of pain that followed. Instead, she observed the man¡¯s stances and attacks. She adjusted her own approach with the heavy weapon. Another memory formed in the mists. Chapter - 39 Yuki sat on the stone benches around Rusty¡¯s arena, she half paid attention to the ongoing fight down there. It started with analyzing [Regeneration], Yuki was sure there was something strange about the spells. Not odd as in wrong, but strange as in they should do more. With regeneration, for instance, Yuki felt the spell wasn¡¯t designed to heal minor injuries like how she¡¯d been using it, but regrowing new limbs kind of regenerate. It was like Yuki was using a dumbed-down version of the better spell. It made no sense because Yuki remembered her first impression of the spell before the system unlocked. The impression she got at the time was that the spell healed minor injuries, often not working on serious ones. Yuki glanced at the elegant parchment and Jenny¡¯s new advanced skill. The description was cryptic, and none of the possibilities Yuki could imagine were good. [Memory Manipulation] (INT+POW): 76 Relive the past and shape the future. Another small parchment showed ¡°Perks¡± available for selection, just two. Memory Merge: Combine two or more memories. Memory Wipe: Remove a memory. Yuki¡¯s guts squirmed in discomfort. She hoped Jenny wasn¡¯t stupid enough to modify her own memories. That was beyond dumb. She also wouldn¡¯t select one without consulting Jenny. Maybe Jenny could select a perk by herself; perhaps she just didn¡¯t know how. Clear communication couldn¡¯t come fast enough. Yuki shook her head and focused on the important part. It was this ¡°First threshold¡± that she wanted to explore. From all she was able to gather, seventy-five was the threshold. Her current theory was that the effects she thought regeneration missed were due to this; if she managed to get Invocation past that value, the spell might be more potent. Her own character sheet was on the other side of Jenny¡¯s parchment. Yuki checked the progress from the past few days. Invocation sat at forty-eight and shaping at forty-nine. Yuki also had the impression she reached the end of all the low-hanging fruits with the implanted knowledge. By assimilating and reviewing things, she pushed both skills up almost ten points. From here on out, she¡¯d needed experimentation and practice instead of just theory. Get isekai¡¯ed to study magic. Even if magic was fun, studying wasn¡¯t. Down in the arena, metal hit metal. Jenny held her spear diagonally by her side, and Rusty¡¯s sword was embedded in the arena¡¯s floor. Rusty tried to move back and away, but Jenny had the upper hand. She twirled her spear; it sneaked along the armored arm and clanked against the shoulder joints. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Both combatants stood still for a moment. Rusty, being Rusty, never moved more than necessary. Jenny panted hard. Yuki could hear the woman¡¯s gasps from here. Even for Yuki¡¯s untrained eyes, Jenny had progressed fast. She couldn¡¯t tell how, but the woman¡¯s movements were sharper, more forceful, and she looked much more comfortable wielding the bigger weapon. Well, it was to be expected; this was a fantasy world. Rusty dislodged his Guts sword and walked to the arena¡¯s center again. Once there, he bowed to Jenny and pointed at the wall behind him with the hanging weapons. Jenny burst out laughing while still gasping for breath. She fell on her back, arms and legs sprawled. The woman didn¡¯t look injured, just exhausted. Yuki glanced at Jenny¡¯s combat skills. It now also included the spear, and had risen a few points, sitting at sixty-eight. She hopped down the seats and toward Jenny. ¡°Jenny, we go orchard?¡± She asked, repeating the words they had practiced the past days. Jenny looked at the rabbit, still grinning. ¡°Yes, we¡¯re done here. It¡¯s time to find a way out of this place.¡± Most of that sailed past Yuki¡¯s head. Jenny didn¡¯t pantomime her message this time; Yuki had no way of figuring out what it all meant. Yuki had considered using shapechange again in the past few days. She had the magic points now; the goblet was full. Jenny¡¯s fingers found their usual place by Yuki¡¯s ears. Yuki pressed against the hand, trying ¡ª and failing ¡ª to stop the purring. That was one of the reasons she didn¡¯t, however. Yuki didn¡¯t mind all the petting, touching, and ear scritches while she was a rabbit. It would be awkward were she to turn into a human girl now. Jenny had never tried to talk about the contract, and in the end, Yuki was more than happy to leave things as they were. No need to complicate things while they couldn¡¯t even talk properly, even if the only complication was in Yuki¡¯s own head. Jenny got up, still breathing hard. She picked Yuki and crossed the arena toward the fabled wall of weapons. Yuki guessed they could have tried to bypass Rusty by going around the seats or attempting to neutralize the magic. Jenny never asked for it, though, and Yuki didn¡¯t dare step into the arena or try to go around it alone. The weapons hung on the wall were all expertly crafted, decorated, and utterly rusted. Yuki could see the designs of each weapon and the intricate rusted details, but the wood had rotted away, the metal corroded. These might have been once impressive weapons, but not anymore. Jenny inspected all the weapons anyway, even picking one spear off the wall and trying a few thrusts. In the end, they left without taking anything. Jenny bowed to Rusty, but the armor didn¡¯t bow back. Yuki wasn¡¯t sure how aware the armor actually was. Jenny hadn¡¯t put Yuki on the ground, and the scratching hadn¡¯t stopped. ¡°We rest today,¡± Jenny said, ¡°and explore tomorrow.¡± Jenny stumbled up the passageway to the orchard in the darkness. After using the second oil flask with the lantern, she had stopped using it, crossing the passages they already knew in the darkness. Yuki understood the first part of the message, but the second was lost to her. ¡°Can you teach me magic?¡± Yuki perked up at that question. She moved the words in her head. ¡°Yes, me can,¡± Yuki started, ¡°No. No words.¡± She hoped Jenny would understand. ¡°You can, but you don¡¯t have the words?¡± Yuki nodded; if that also made her snuggle closer to Jenny¡¯s palm, it was just a coincidence again. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Right, thank you,¡± said the blonde. Chapter - 40 Jenny donned the armor and packed her bag. She used the third oil flask to refill the lantern since today¡¯s exploration would take them toward a place they hadn¡¯t explored yet. Over the past few days, she hadn¡¯t had any issues with any other monster and had calmed down considerably, but there was no need to risk things. Teaching Biscuit went well once she realized what the rabbit didn¡¯t like was repeating the same thing over and over. Biscuit had a good memory, Jenny needed to say the word and pantomime the meaning only once, and the rabbit would know it next time. Biscuit could already talk in rudimentary sentences, even if her pronunciation was horrible. Trying to force the rabbit to speak better had been a mistake Jenny wouldn¡¯t make again. With everything happening, she had forgotten rabbits aren¡¯t meant to talk, and Biscuit probably couldn¡¯t produce the necessary sounds. Jenny took a bite of the sweet and acrid fruit. She was tired of those. The leaves Biscuit ate looked better with each passing day. Even so, there was no need to venture out with an empty stomach. With luck, they would leave this place today, and she could forage in the wild for something else to eat. Biscuit was her energetic self, hopping around Jenny¡¯s legs. ¡°Eh-ny, go!¡± Jenny smiled and crouched down to pat the rabbit¡¯s head. They crossed the passage without much problem and were in the forge hall again. Instead of going past the arena passage, she went to the forge, collected the broken crossbow, and arranged it inside the bag. After that, she turned to another unexplored passage. She lit the lantern, then set off. The passage wound slightly downwards, and strange stain marks marred the area. Dried and burnt leathery something clung to the ground. Jenny took the dagger and tried to pry some to inspect, but it crumbled to small pieces. It wasn¡¯t something recent. Jenny looked around and inside the entrance. More of the burnt leathery stuff marred the tunnel and stones. ¡°What do you think it is, Biscuit?¡± Jenny asked, looking at her pet. Biscuit hopped closer, then nipped the thing. The rabbit recoiled, shaking her head furiously. ¡°Aastes aad.¡± Jenny smiled, even as she made a mental note to explain to Biscuit she should not try to eat everything she found. After the brief inspection finished, they entered the passage. Like all the other tunnels, this one also had melted rock for walls. Unlike the others, cracks marred the walls, and holes drilled out the melted stone like something dug from underneath it. Jenny looked at the many holes, some small, others big enough she would fit through. She glanced at the rabbit, inspecting one of the smaller burrow holes. ¡°Biscuit,¡± she whispered. Jenny moved her index finger over her lips. ¡°Shhhh.¡± The rabbit nodded frantically. Biscuit eyed the hole again, then went around it. Was this the work of the fire monster? Jenny wondered but immediately dismissed the idea. All these holes, big or small, had one thing in common, the rock had been carved from beneath. The way the rock deformed, it almost looked like they were clay someone played with instead of solid rocks. The passage continued for long, oppressive minutes. The only sound was the rustling of Jenny¡¯s steps and clothes. When the tunnel ended, it led to an already illuminated room. It was yet another enormous circular chamber. Dim ember light from the chain tip hung far above the ceiling. At first glance, it looked like a starlit sky. The shadows in the room shifted constantly, unsettling. The walls are decorated in flaming designs, with different scenes carved in the fire. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. On the opposite side of the room, on a raised dais, a pew of stone without adornments, and behind it, a double-sized metal door that barred passage. The old, rusted iron door glowed with sparks of ember. Cursed magic, again, even from where she was, Jenny felt the heat emanating from that metal door. Five massive pillars of eroded stone connected the obsidian floor to the ceiling. Each pillar had a different symbol etched on it. A grasping hand, a wide eye, a hand wrapped in bandages, two people embracing each other, and a sword raised in defiance. Between the pillars, long stone benches lined the room. By the base of the pillar with the image of the hand wrapped in bandages was a creature Jenny had never seen before. Pale, almost translucent, vaguely worm-like, with numerous undeveloped eyes. Rows of tiny, glowing nodes ran along its segmented body, trailing glistering slime across the pillar. ¡°Ehnny,¡± Biscuit rasped by her side, ¡°agik.¡± Jenny looked at the rabbit, trying to puzzle the word. The rabbit pawed her nose. Something clicked in Jenny¡¯s mind. Somehow, Biscuit could smell magic. She nodded and looked back at the pillar. The worm looked straight at them, no, not at them, but at the lantern, Jenny realized too late. It began to disentangle itself from the pillar, its many milky-white eyes trailing the slightest movements of the lantern. Jenny looked at the path behind her and the many holes. She glanced again at the worm-like creature. She let the bag fall from her shoulders. She placed the lantern on the ground. The light wasn¡¯t needed here. All the while, the creature continued its silent movements, slowly peeling itself free. With one last glance at Biscuit ¡ª who stood on her hind legs ears primed and focused on the monster ¡ª Jenny dashed forward, crossing the distance with long steps. Using the momentum from her charge, she lunged at the creature. The rusted, pointy end of the spear struck leathery, hard flesh. The impact wasn¡¯t entirely like hitting something solid. The flesh deformed, and the pike penetrated, blue glistening blood spilling out of the injury. Jenny pulled the spear back, ready for another thrust. The creature contorted, its many eyes swirling. The lower part of the body opened up in a grotesque maw of slimy teeth and pallid flesh. From behind her, Biscuit whined. Jenny didn¡¯t look back. The creature moved fast; the lethargic movements gone. The part still wrapped around the pillar moved like it was another worm. While the upper part recoiled, the lower lashed out, a spike growing out of the tip, aimed at Jenny¡¯s legs. With a a horizontal arc of the spear, Jenny deflected and stepped back. She held the weapon by its far end and abusing the greater range. She thrust again toward the part still tied to the pillar. She managed to pierce it four more times before the thing finally freed itself. It was enormous, the many segmented body parts moving like a caterpillar on steroids. It lashed again, maw and spike at the same time. Jenny sidestepped the spike, positioned the spear in the mouth¡¯s path, and thrust. Rusted metal met soft flesh, and flesh gave way. The worm writhed and contorted. From behind, Biscuits whine rose. Jenny risked a glance back. The rabbit had lowered her head to the ground, paws covering her ears. Which was strange. The creature had been silent; even after the many attacks, it hadn¡¯t uttered a sound. With one more heavy thrust, Jenny impaled the monster. Its many segments still twitched in its death throes, but no other attack came from it. The battle was over, and it was an easy one. The crumbling parchment agreed. Your party defeated Luminescent Burrower. Jenny took deep breaths. She pulled the spear, and it left the monster carcass with a squelching sound. She observed the creature. Now, after the battle, she saw more details about it. The many segments of its body still glowed with faint blueish light even after its death. She poked it again with the butt of the spear. The skin reminded her of the burnt stuff she found at the tunnel entrance. ¡°Ehnny!¡± Biscuit called from behind, the cry urgent. Jenny looked back. The rabbit looked at the tunnel, her ears pointed in the passage direction swiveling fast and frantic. ¡°Oonters, ruun!¡± The rabbit cried out, running inside the room. Chapter - 41 Things had started well enough. Yuki followed her pet through the new tunnel, giving a wide berth to the burrow holes scattered in their path. She smelled this faint smell, a scent which she couldn¡¯t place, but it was old. It got stronger the more they progressed into the passage. At the new chamber, it had turned into a nightmare. The now familiar smell of burning wood and blood mixed with this new odor. The only thing that came to mind was those weeks-old road kill carcasses in the before. Worse yet, the scent felt hungry. It seeped out from the monster around the pillar. ¡°Jenny,¡± she called out to her pet. ¡°Magic.¡± Yuki wasn¡¯t sure if Jenny knew what the word meant, but Jenny nodded. The blonde dropped the bag and lantern, spear already ready to deal with the thing. Yuki watched with anticipation and a tinge of worry. The creature looked disgusting, and in her eyes, anything that looked and smelled that gut-churning couldn¡¯t be a good thing. The monster moved slowly, a fact Jenny took advantage of. She lunged, the spear piercing the strange, glowy flesh. Then the thing screeched. A high-pitched sound that was like nails to a chalkboard, only higher and worse. Yuki whimpered. It hurt. She wanted to claw out her ears to make the noise stop. Only it didn¡¯t; it got worse the more the monster was injured. She was so out of it that she forgot to cast the spell to help Jenny. The monster screech finally died, and a new notification popped up. Your party have defeated Luminescent Burrower. Exp: +50. Yuki didn¡¯t have time to breathe in relief. From the tunnels behind her, she heard a screech, then another, and another. She remembered the many burrow holes, ones bigger enough to fit Jenny. It had been a while since Yuki had been afraid, but the fear returned in full force. ¡°Jenny!¡± She cried out in panic. ¡°Monsters, run!¡± Yuki ran inside the room, away from the noise. Contrary to her expectations, Jenny didn¡¯t run. She marched toward the entrance and picked up the bag and the lantern. She carried them inside, placing them in one of the many stone benches before she turned again to the entrance. Jenny walked to the side of the passage, spear clutch firm in both hands. Yuki¡¯s frantic heart did a flip. She realized what Jenny already knew. They were trapped inside this room, and Jenny didn¡¯t want to risk checking the possible magic door on the other side. The woman wanted to use the tunnel to funnel the enemies into a place where she could simultaneously fight as few as possible. Jenny was right. Leaving the tunnel and letting whatever came from there inside the room was a death sentence. Yuki took deep breaths. The noises hadn¡¯t stopped, they had only grown louder. If there was ever a time to abuse her spells, now was it. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Jenny focused on the tunnel. She couldn¡¯t hear anything, but Biscuit seemed spooked enough. She would prefer to fight inside the tunnel, where space meant she needed only thrust forward. The worms wouldn¡¯t have room to dodge. But the tunnel was dark, and she didn¡¯t want to risk losing the lantern¡¯s light in the middle of a fight and be in a worse situation. The next best place was the tunnel entrance. Jenny couldn¡¯t retreat; lest she gave the enemy room to enter the chamber. Biscuit¡¯s spooky cries changed to the cursed words of magic. The hair on the back of her head stood on end. She was happy that at least Biscuit was on her side. She¡¯d much prefer to deal with whatever these worms were than face Biscuit¡¯s evil bunny magic. She shuddered at the memory of the demonic thing ripping into the fire monster. The chanting stopped, and Biscuit hopped closer. Jenny focused again on the tunnel. Faint sparks of bluish light shone from around the bend in the passage. A worm crawled toward her. It was big, bigger than the one at the pillar. It slithered, the unnatural glow illuminating the passage. Its skin had a slick sheen and the bristle-like feelers protruding from its segmented bodies waved in Jenny¡¯s direction. It made wet slapping sounds with each segment that hit the stone. Jenny¡¯s only consolation was that, given how it approached, it couldn¡¯t attack her with the tail spike, only the mouth. She settled her stance and prepared to stab when the thing reached range. A demonic translucent rabbit rushed inside the tunnel, its many tentacles waving dangerously above it. The rabbit collided with the incoming worm, tentacles digging into the creature. The worm writhed and recoiled. Biscuit whimpered again. The worm¡¯s mouth opened, the ghastly thing wide and full of glistening teeth. It bit down on the demonic rabbit, teeth ripping the translucent bunny to shreds. Biscuit yelped, a keening sound painful to hear. The worm rose again, mouth open and ready to bite down on the demonic bunny. Jenny lunged, throwing caution to the wind. She stabbed hard and fast at the open mouth, the soft fleshy inside. The spear perforated the mouth and penetrated through the creature. The worm fell writhing, and trapped Jenny¡¯s spear. Jenny tugged the weapon away, but failed to dislodge it. Biscuit whimpered again, and the demon rabbit dissolved into thin air. Jenny¡¯s worry about her pet had to be put on hold; from behind the worm, another one came, smaller, its many malformed eyes trailing her directly. It lunged faster than any of them had moved yet. Jenny didn¡¯t have time to remove her spear from the fallen creature; she released her offhand, grabbed the dagger, and plunged it deep into the open mouth descending on her. The dagger¡¯s edge plunged to the hilt, but in its death throes, the teeth raked across Jenny¡¯s arms. The vambrace stopped most of the damage; the teeth still pierced the leather and skin, leaving fire in her wound. Another worm slithered into view. It didn¡¯t lunge; instead, from afar, it opened the vertical mouth and spit a glowing glob of something at Jenny. The blonde threw herself forward and out of the thing¡¯s path. She released the dagger and pulled on the spear, removing it from the worm¡¯s body. She got up, preparing to attack, only to sidestep another glowing glob. A spectral rabbit passed her by, rushing directly at the worm. Following Jenny¡¯s example, the tentacles dug into the fleshy inside of the open mouth. Unlike Jenny¡¯s attack, the worm¡¯s mouth closed on the rabbit. Jenny heard a slurping sound, and the demonic rabbit dissipated. Biscuit keened again. It was erratic and weak. Jenny chanced a glance back. Biscuit wobbled on her hind legs. Blood poured out of her mouth, eyes, and nostrils. Her fur was stained red. Chapter - 42 Red tinted Yuki¡¯s vision, copper filled her mouth. She glanced at the notifications, her ears flattening in frustration. Luminescent burrower overwhelms your Shaping. You have succeeded a Willpower check. Luminescent burrower overwhelms your Shaping. You have failed a Willpower check. Two times those damned things had tried to eat her magic; their slimy teeth and grotesque mouth could bite on her spell. She felt the things slurping the magic in her bones, like maggots squirming under her skin, escaping through her eyes, nose, and mouth. It was disgusting, she felt unclean. Jenny did her best, but they were woefully unprepared for this fight, or any fight, really. Yuki wobbled on her legs and summoned another bunny. It was fainter than before, and it felt like a piece of her was ripped off with it. She focused on the worm and their screeching. She didn¡¯t have much control over the magic once cast, but she willed the rabbit to dodge when the burrower bit down again. The rabbit didn¡¯t. A new notification appeared. Luminescent burrower overwhelms your Shaping. You have failed a Willpower check. Yuki lost control of the magic, and the spell dispersed. Not like before, when she could conjure the bunny again. The magic ended prematurely, drained. She fell back. The noises from the tunnel increased. Jenny panted harder; the wet slaps of the worms moving were now a constant thrum, some smaller, others bigger, every one of them getting closer. Offensive magic wasn¡¯t the one-bunny solution to all the problems like she had thought. Yuki went overt the happenings since Jenny and her had entered this room: The worms ate magic, they didn¡¯t go to the forge, burned things at the tunnel entrance, no worm near the door that glowed with fire, the salamander, the worm trailing the lantern, a single worm trying to eat the pillar, the smell of burning wood. The burrowers ate magic but were afraid of fire. The burnt leather at the tunnel''s entrance, that''s why the worms didn¡¯t enter the forge; the salamander attacked them when they tried. They¡¯d eaten most of the magic in the pillars but didn¡¯t dare go near the ember door. Door, magic, fire. ¡°Jenny!¡± Yuki rasped, gurgling over the blood in her mouth; ¡°The lantern!¡± She hoped Jenny would understand because Yuki was about to gamble on something stupid. She turned around and hobbled toward the ember door. The sounds of the fight intensified behind her, as did Jenny¡¯s breathing and panting. Yuki ignored the kill messages; they wouldn¡¯t help now, and she couldn¡¯t lose focus. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Yuki leaped onto the dais, circling the pew to reach the ember door. It was massive, and the heat it emanated suffocating. The closer Yuki got, the worse the heat, until she stopped a few meters away. This was going to hurt a lot, Yuki realized. She ignored the pain, the discomfort, the sounds from behind. Paws moved, and words chanted. When the spell was ready, she dove toward the door. Her eyes boiled, her tongue shriveled, her fur burned. Yuki crashed against the metal. The fire ended, and the embers disappeared. The door was only metal now, even if it was still burning hot metal. Yuki¡¯s paw sizzled against it, but she couldn¡¯t let go. She put every single point of shaping into magnitude, hoping it would be enough to neutralize the magic. If she released it, the magic would return. ¡°Jenny!¡± Yuki yelled as loud as she could. ¡°The door!¡±
Jenny¡¯s arm burned more with each passing second. Was it venom? A burning sensation crept along her arm from where the teeth pierced her skin. Her movements turned sloppy, her arm harder to control. She stabbed another worm trying to get closer, then ducked from another glob of spite. Jenny didn¡¯t know what those were, and she didn¡¯t want to find out. The dead worm in front of her moved, buckling, and for a moment Jenny thought the thing was still alive, but it soon disappeared, dragged into the tunnel crawling with its brethren. She stabbed another of the beasts and took a step back towards the tunnel¡¯s entrance; the worms were relentless. For each of the monsters she killed, two more seemed to take its place. Worse was that the things were getting more intelligent. Some stood out of reach, further back into the tunnel spitting at her, while the others crawled closer, their feelers waving frantically in her direction. ¡°Eehnny!¡± Jenny heard Biscuit squeak from behind. The rabbit had stopped using the evil bunny magic, which wasn¡¯t as effective as it had been with the salamander. ¡°De anterrrn.¡± Jenny evaded another projectile, but failed to dodge the second. It hit her belly, the disgusting glowing glob smearing her armor and splashing her arms and neck. The burning started soon after. What was Biscuit on about? The lantern; how would it help? Jenny didn¡¯t want to go for the thing, but she had no choices. Another worm lunged, forcing her to jump out of the tunnel, lest she risk the monster eating her. Jenny glanced back, watching while Biscuit hopped toward the door leaving a trail of blood behind her. Jenny looked toward the tunnel overflowing with worms and remembered all the times Biscuit had saved her life. The decision wasn¡¯t conscious. She dove for the lantern, the question hitting her only after she held it. What was she supposed to do with this? The biggest worm yet bulldozed its way to the tunnel entrance. Stopping before it entered the room, the monster opened its maw readying to spit. Jenny threw the lantern at the monster; It sailed through the air before bouncing off of the thing and into the wall. The glass portion of the frame shattered, spreading quickly combusting oil across the tunnel''s entry. The worms recoiled as if struck. They pushed each other back, the bigger one, even going as far as to attack the other worms to expedite its escape from the spreading flames. Jenny ran to the bag, taking out their last two oil flasks before lobbing them towards the entrance. She missed one, but the second broke over the small fire, further fueling the blaze. From behind her, the constant orange light faded and Jenny heard Biscuit again. ¡°Eehnny! De ooor!¡± Jenny looked back. The door that once glowed amber was now just metal, she couldn¡¯t see Biscuit, but her squeaks came from there. Jenny grabbed the bag and her spear, casting one last look at the tunnel; the two of them weren¡¯t leaving through that way any time soon. She ignored the burning in her arm and neck and crossed the dais to the door. A charred smell hit Jenny accompanied by whimpering and the sizzling sound of scorched flesh. She peeked over the pew, spying where Biscuit lay against the door with patches of burnt blood-soaked fur, one of her front paws a blackened husk. ¡°Biscuit!¡± Jenny ran toward her pet; her spear and bag all but forgotten. ¡°Oo!¡± Biscuit yelped. Jenny stopped in her tracks. ¡°De oor.¡± Chapter - 43
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Chapter - 44 Swirling mist greeted Jenny when she opened her eyes, she didn¡¯t remember closing them. The blonde flexed her fingers, moved her neck, looked at the mists, the pillars, focused on the eerie feeling when she moved. It felt like when she used the tricks taught by her mother, but different. ¡°Biscuit?¡± The critter didn¡¯t answer. Jenny looked around for her pet, trying to find the white bundle of fur between the mists. The only thing she found was the pillars with the strange symbols. She walked around, and into the mists, only to arrive again in the same empty room with the pillars. None of this was real. Jenny willed the mists to change, the same as when she reviewed her memories, it didn¡¯t. She couldn¡¯t feel a connection to them. Jenny tried to dissolve the room and return to where she was but was unable to. She was trapped. Jenny walked around the pillars examining the symbols. Each evoked a different emotion within her. The grasping hand made her think all her plans and dreams were within her grasp. In the eye she remembered the days cowering in fear Father would find her. The bandaged hand the many times she had to wrap those around her own body after the training sessions. Jenny spent long minutes watching the embracing couple, mind cast back at the nights spent reading dirty books under the covers with Gizelda, two children thinking themselves adults. The sword evoked different emotions, anger, and frustration. Father dearest¡¯s blood spilled, and the detestable man put down like the rabid dog he was. Each pillar had an indentation holding a key. Jenny¡¯s hand was halfway toward the sword pillar when she wrenched her hand away and took a step back. She didn¡¯t know what these pillars and keys represented, but she refused to make a choice influenced by him. Jenny cast another brief glance at the couple, she wanted to pick that one, but what she really needed and wanted was power. If she was powerful enough, she didn¡¯t need to worry about the consequences, she would be able to support Gizelda¡¯s dreams, and pursue her own. She walked to the pillar with the golden hand and grabbed the key. The mist swirled and changed. Jenny observed the room in front of her. Enormous pillars like legs of ancient giants supported a vaulted ceiling cast in constant darkness. High, narrow windows framed by it allowed the barest slivers of sunlight inside. The room smelled of old wax. Beneath the polish, the rot of old wood and the iron scent of blood seeped through. The hall bore no tapestries, its walls instead decorated with spoils of conquests, weapons of vanquished foes, preserved skulls of beasts slain in combat. The throne where she sat was not an elegant chair, but a massive, almost brutal construction of dark oak and hammered iron. The back rose like a grasping claw. There was no cushion to soften the seat. Standing in silence by the walls were her subjects. None were permitted to sit or talk in her presence unless ordered. The petitioner walked the length of the room alone, head held high, gaze fixed on the throne and ignoring the house of lords who watched his every step like vultures waiting to feast. The man knelt before the throne. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Jenny noted that his clothes looked new but lacked the same grandeur of established families. His skin was darker than most in the house of lords, his hair black with shades of burnt red. He was one of the new nobles, one who¡¯d bought his title through bribes and coercion. Jenny watched the man in silence. With each tick of the unseen clock, a bead of sweat rolled down his brow, his fingers twisting his tunic''s fabric. The petitioner did not dare to look up, as was proper, but he also lacked the patience of a true noble. ¡°Speak.¡± She commanded. ¡°Your Majesty,¡± the man began, his eyes still fixed to the floor. ¡°I declare House Favious Oathbreakers.¡± The court gasped, horrified at the accusation. Jenny stared at the man. She had already been informed by the spymaster of the situation. ¡°On what grounds?¡± The petitioner gulped. ¡°We signed an alliance, and they went back on their word, going so far as to kill my servants.¡± Jenny looked at the lords standing near the walls. A woman whose perfume Jenny could smell from the throne, the burly lord with scars barely concealed by his finery, eyes tracking Jenny with hunger. ¡°Lord Favious, what say you about these accusations?¡± An overweight man walked forward. His beady eyes glued to the petitioner. ¡°Slander, Your Radiance! This upstart lies!¡± ¡°How so?¡± Jenny asked. ¡°By your law, Your Radiance, an alliance is only valid between noble houses. He¡¯s houseless!¡± The overweight noble accused. Many of the lords present nodded in agreement. Jenny turned to the petitioner again. ¡°What is your claim?¡± She asked. The kneeling man gulped again. ¡°I ask Your Majesty to see justice done. My son and heir was among those killed. I demand weregild.¡± Whatever this magic was, it wanted Jenny to act as justice, or her own version of justice. More information trickled into her mind. The petitioner had lied about the number of people killed, even going so far as killing some of his own people and blaming their deaths on the oath-breaker. Lord Favious on the other hand, signed the alliance fully intending to break it on the grounds that the petitioner wasn¡¯t a real noble, since he didn¡¯t have a house title. Jenny didn¡¯t know what the right choice was here, or if even there was a right choice. Both were greedy men trying to exploit each other, worse, both wanted to use her toward their own gain. Jenny never wanted this kind of authority. The whole thing made her sick. There was more to consider, however. The petitioner was a wealthy merchant, one that was owed favors by most of the noble houses. He was also one of the lead figures within the faction of the new nobility, mostly formed by wealthy merchants who had bought their titles. The spymaster couldn¡¯t find how the merchant would benefit by demanding weregild, but they agreed it was a plot of some sort. Perhaps to make her lose prestige with the house of lords. Favious had a huge backing within the conservative faction, and this scheme was a way to force her into picking a side. All of these choices were bad ones. If she picked a side, it would mean war, and like every war, the peasants would bear the brunt of it while nobles sought glory and fortune. Jenny drummed her fingers against the dark wood of the throne, surveying the increasingly nervous noble audience. She raised her hand, and the hall fell silent. There were no good choices. ¡°Liars and oath-breakers.¡± She declared to the court. There were no good choices. ¡°Execute both and their families. Their assets now belong to the crown.¡± The nobles exploded in protest. Jenny flicked her hand, fire swirling in her grasp. The room once again fell silent. ¡°Let that be a lesson to you all. I do not care for your petty squabbles, and I will not tolerate any of you trying to manipulate me into playing your insipid games.¡± She rose from her throne, casting one last glare at the assembly. If she sided with one side or the other, a war would break. The only way was to cow both sides into submission. ¡°Now get out of my sight.¡± She ordered. Mists invaded the throne room, obscuring everything. When Jenny could see again, she was on the ground, burnt and injured with Biscuit by her side. In her hand she held an iron key crusted over with blood, the iron still warm to the touch. Chapter - 45 Yuki couldn¡¯t take it seriously. She was in a bright, spacious throne room with large windows draped in rich fabric, ample sunlight filtered in. The room¡¯s walls were built of imposing stone, softened by lush tapestries of the ancestors; of their wisdom and benevolence. She sat in a chair placed near one of two thrones. Both were hewn from burnished wood and accented with elaborate gilded reliefs. The larger throne bore carvings of clasped hands and intertwining vines, while the smaller throne was adorned with depictions of a mother bear protecting her cubs. Aside from the banners, the walls bore heirlooms and relics of the family¡¯s forebears. In a case up against one of the nearby walls, the first king¡¯s sword rested beside the crown of the first queen. Nestled behind the thrones, woven into a tapestry on which most of the room¡¯s natural light was focused, was a tapestry with the family tree, displaying the lineage of the long and enduring dynasty. Contrasting the bright chamber, the people huddled to either side were tense. A messenger still panting, blood staining his tunic, kneeled before the throne delivering the news. Sat on the central throne was her brother, King Sevious. Like all descendants of their bloodline, he had black hair, a royal unibrow, a cleft chin, and gray eyes. Brother¡¯s wife sat upon the smaller throne, her fiery red hair looking out of place amid the surrounding sea of black. The queen subtly shifted, looking at the messenger, a hand protectively resting against her belly. Apart from the king and queen, seven others sat on chairs. Advisers, ministers, influential nobles. All grim-faced. General Marcus sat stiff, his spine ramrod straight; even the current crisis wasn¡¯t enough to shake the man from his habits. His armor was immaculate, each buckle and strap polished to a defiant gleam. His eyes were fixed on the king. ¡°Your Majesty, the enemy will not reach the city. I¡¯ll make sure of it!¡± His knuckles whitened on the chair arms, his eyes radiating loyalty, yet Yuki could see the doubt and fear beneath the mask of courage. ¡°It may be wise to evacuate the royal family,¡± said Lord Bartholomew, a bulky man whose heft threatened to spill from the ornate chair. Beneath thick brows, his gaze flickered from the king to the queen and her considerable belly. Ink smeared his pudgy fingers, and his eyes cataloged every slight movement in the room. Yuki was one of the king¡¯s generals, and the war wasn¡¯t going well; it had lasted for years, and now the enemy marched an army to the capital¡¯s door. Yuki didn¡¯t think they could repel the forces massed against them, and Spymaster Barthy¡¯s solution was to evacuate the royal family and let the city fall. Marcus disagreed with that proposal. He was adamant he could stop the invaders. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The raspy whispering voice of Lady Isidora cut through the silence. ¡°I¡¯ll need time to prepare. If you wish to perform the rite, I¡¯ll need to start by tomorrow at the latest.¡± The woman was a wizened, ancient thing, hands gnarled, holding firm to a walking stick. Her bird-like eyes peered sharply from beneath the heavy furs she wore. Yuki could feel the magic waving through her mind, trying to find purchase but failing. While she still held the knowledge it imparted regarding this trial, the compulsion to behave in a particular way didn¡¯t work on her, maybe because she wasn¡¯t human. The magic urged her to choose from a defined set of options. The situation was complex, the battle was lost, they had no numbers to defeat the invaders. Barthy wanted them to flee through secret tunnels. Marcus wanted them to fight and die in glory. Isidora had offered a way out that demanded a heavy price. Yuki guessed that in a normal situation, she¡¯d need to take one of the three proposed choices or devise a different one. Lady Isidora¡¯s offered solution was a sinister one. The woman had knowledge of a long, complex ritual that would give one the power to repel the army. It was a blood ritual, forbidden magic. To achieve the goal, the blood of royalty needed to be spilled. If Yuki decided to go with this route, she¡¯d need to choose between sacrificing herself, her brother, or her sister-in-law¡¯s unborn children. The resulting ritual would give her, or the king, the necessary power to win the war. It was all terrible and grim, but Yuki giggled in her seat. The NPCs ignored her weirdness, maybe the same way they ignored her being a rabbit. A rabbit dressed in full plate. Whoever created this magic never considered the possibility of a rabbit with a human mind. She looked fabulous and utterly ridiculous at the same time. Yuki was still her tiny self, but the armor had somehow reshaped to fit her rabbit¡¯s form. Even the sword tied to her back was rabbit-sized. She wore a helmet with elegant red plumage. But that wasn¡¯t the worst. The armor was too heavy to move in, and Yuki was effectively stuck fast to the chair. Worse, none of the NPCs would respond to anything she said. Maybe rabbit talking wasn¡¯t clear enough for the spell. She¡¯d seen this script replay about five times. The king would sometimes look at her and ask questions but return to his advisers, ignoring whatever Yuki said. Like the man couldn¡¯t hear her. Buggy magic spells broke the immersion. Which Yuki found amusing and annoying at the same time. Yuki couldn¡¯t move or interact with the people around her; she could only think about the situation. She was glad she couldn¡¯t make a choice here. All the options were terrible. Make one last stand and let the city burn? Flee and leave the people to their fates against an enemy army? Sacrifice one life to save countless others? Yuki decided that she had been misled by the symbol. What any of this represented love and friendship? What kind of sick bastard thought that sacrificing a loved one or an unborn child is the definition of familial love? Maybe Yuki had misinterpreted things, and the couple embracing didn¡¯t represent love. Or perhaps it was glitched because she wasn¡¯t a human in the first place. Instead of watching the script replay itself for the sixth time, Yuki decided to take a nap. With luck, the magic would run out of juice soon and she¡¯d be out of the dream world when she woke up. Chapter - 46 Jenny moved carefully, picking up Biscuit and placing the rabbit on her lap. She put a finger near the rabbit¡¯s nostrils and sighed in relief when the rabbit twitched her nose. Biscuit wasn¡¯t in good shape. The fur on her head and paws was burnt, the skin cracked, oozing with blood. The rabbit¡¯s left forearm was little more than a blackened husk. ¡°Biscuit?¡± Jenny called out, but her pet didn¡¯t answer. She looked around, thinking about recent events. There was only an empty corridor on this side of the metal door. The walls were lit with more torches and decorated with images of fire. At the end was another door, one that looked made of wood. Jenny pulled the bag and spear closer, deciding what to do. A quick look in the previous room showed her the burrowers hadn¡¯t left, even if none dared to approach the ember door. The monsters seemed afraid of fire, like Biscuit had realized. Jenny remembered the globs of spit that had hit her, patted herself, and checked her armor. The burning sensation had gone away, and the slime dried. She didn¡¯t feel any injuries. After confirming she was somewhat safe and Biscuit was still alive, Jenny cast her thoughts back into the memory she experienced. Now, outside the clutches of the magic, things were easier to understand. Jenny still remembered the iron in her voice and heart, the anger when she condemned the two whole families to death. She¡¯d also been forced into three apparent choices and a hidden one. The first two choices were similar. Side with tradition or embrace the new customs the merchants represented. The third she picked was to assert her authority without caring for what others would think. The fourth option she only realized now, was to maintain the status quo. Punish both sides, but not enough to anger them. She picked up the key again. It was still warm, and the blood was still fresh. There was no point in regretting her choice, even if she wished she¡¯d taken the fourth, hidden one. ¡°Biscuit?¡± Jenny called again, gently shaking the rabbit. The rabbit still hadn¡¯t moved, but with each breath, it let out a ragged wheeze, her tiny chest rising and falling slowly. Jenny got up, still cradling Biscuit in her hands. She moved closer to the door at the end of the hall. It was a simple wooden door without a lock. It had no marking or carvings. She tried it, and the door was open. On the other side was a small, undecorated room with five pedestal stands. Of the five, only two still held items. One of the pedestals held a dagger. At first impression, Jenny thought it was also a rusted weapon, but she was wrong. The weapon had been forged from a rust-colored metal, but it was still pristine. The pommel was made of wood and decorated with a red-colored crystal. Two pedestals over, held a book, not ornate but starkly functional. Instead of decorations or even text, it bore several scorched marks in the shape of hands. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Jenny hesitated at the door; she looked back down the hall, and at Biscuit, she bit her lower lip and took a step inside. The room was much warmer than the outside, suffocating. Sweat beaded on her brown, threatening to run into her eyes despite the dryness of the air. Jenny couldn¡¯t see where the heat came from. A strange scent lingered in the room, making her nauseous. It wasn¡¯t smoke but an unsettling mix of dry parchment and a metallic tang, almost like blood. She examined the pedestals and the items atop them. There were no locks she could see or anywhere she could use the key. Jenny stared at the two items while she considered her options. Could she take both? If she couldn¡¯t, which one would she want more? She glanced at the dagger and remembered the one she lost fighting one of the burrowers. It was helpful to have a smaller weapon, and it looked valuable and well-made. The book, on the other hand, was a gamble. She didn¡¯t know what information it had, or if it was helpful, but she guessed it held something of value; otherwise, why keep it here? After a deep breath, Jenny moved closer to the book and took it. She waited a few moments to see if anything would happen. She eyed the dagger. Jenny juggled things around, holding the book in her armpit. With one free hand, she picked the dagger as well. She let out a deep breath when nothing else happened. Aside from the other three empty pedestals, the room held nothing else of interest. No artwork, decorations, nor other doors or passages. Jenny considered what other things they might have held in the past but cast the idea aside. The blonde stepped out of the chamber, her shoulders relaxing when she escaped the room¡¯s unnatural heat. Jenny walked closer to her bag and put down the book and dagger. She fished out the water skin and took a sip. She splashed a few drops on her hand and brought it closer to Biscuit¡¯s face. The rabbit didn¡¯t wake. She tried guiding a few drops into the rabbit¡¯s mouth, but Biscuit still didn¡¯t stir. It was a long shot, but Jenny was still disappointed. She placed the rabbit on her lap and laid the book on the floor in front of her. She opened the first page. Emberbind Grimoire, read the text inside. It was written in a language Jenny had never seen, but could still somehow read. After further thought, she realized her knowledge of the language had come from the strange, dream-like vision. She turned the page only to be greeted by diagrams, illustrations, and more of the odd text. Eternal Ember Light. The fire burns eternal. The text that followed was a detailed explanation of how to cast the spell. Jenny devoured the whole text, magic knowledge from Biscuit helping her understand the complicated bits. It was a fancy name for a spell that was a glorified candlelight. She flipped a few pages, stopping on another. Conflagration Vortex. May you burn everything that bars your path. Chapter - 47 After reading the book, Jenny learned that whoever created those infernal spells was a pyromaniac with delusions of grandeur. She glanced again at the list of twelve spell formulae the book contained, some of them with downright absurd names. Phoenix Pyre Ascension was a fancy name for a spell designed to burn people alive. From what Jenny understood of the magic, as long as she focused on the spell, the target¡¯s skin and muscles would blister and burn as if set aflame until either the target died or she released the magic. On the other hand, Conflagration Vortex summoned a localized firestorm that ignored natural vegetation but burned everything else. The area, size, and the intensity of the flames depended on her mastery of the magic. The issue being that once cast the spell would burn for a long time. The magic didn¡¯t give any control over its duration once the spell manifested. Scorchfire Dart was another one; by absorbing nearby flames, she could throw fire darts at her enemies. Jenny scanned the list again, stopping on the spell Flamebind Dominion. The more she read about this one, the more she was confident it was a variant of Biscuit¡¯s Dominate Creature spell but focused on fire elementals, creatures made of fire, like the fire demon they fought in the forge. That was how the magic described them. But while she could make sense of each of the spell¡¯s texts and know what they did, learning to cast them was a different matter. She would need days, maybe weeks of effort to learn even a single one of these. How had Biscuit managed to learn ten spells in less than two months? Given how complex the ones in the book were, it didn¡¯t seem possible. Jenny closed the book and put it inside the bag. Next she took the dagger. She performed a few experimental swings and stabs; the dagger was heavier than Jenny had anticipated, and the handle was warm in her hand. The blade¡¯s edge looked sharp, but she refused to place her finger against it to test, like so many others she¡¯d seen doing in the manor. Trapped inside the corridor with monsters at the door, Jenny contemplated what else she could do here. From the main forge hall, there were still three other passages to explore, but doubt crawled into her mind. What if they encountered yet more monsters? What if there wasn¡¯t a way out? Everything here seemed too old to have gone undiscovered for so long. She never heard about a dungeon near the town. The king had declared all of them forbidden places where none should ever enter, a crime punishable by death. Well, it wasn¡¯t surprising. This island feared and condemned magic in equal measures. The ever-present pyre in every city square was just a reminder to anyone who dared to practice the craft. In some ways, Jenny agreed with their sentiment, if not their methods. Her own island had been consumed by the folly of magic uncontrolled. She didn¡¯t know precisely what happened, having only heard part of Father¡¯s diatribe about the disaster. Their sorcerers had attempted to summon a heroic titleholder to help in the war. Something went wrong with the ritual, and soon after, the Gloom consumed the capital. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Jenny didn¡¯t know what the Gloom was exactly; from afar, it looked like a dark fog that covered the whole land and blocked the sunlight. Few who ventured inside ever came out, and anyone who did was never again right in the head. The blonde got up and walked to the iron door. After peeking outside, Jenny hooked her spear against the heavy door and pulled it close. She moved to the bag, taking the blankets from inside and placing them on the ground. Jenny created a small, cozy fabric cocoon and placed Biscuit inside with great care. She laid down by her pet side, fingers wandering instinctively toward Biscuit¡¯s ears before she pulled her hand back. With how hurt Biscuit was, petting her wasn¡¯t such a good idea right now. She placed the dagger by her side and closed her eyes. With luck, the monsters would leave while she slept. ¡­ When Jenny awoke, the first thing she did was check on her pet. ¡°Biscuit?¡± She called in a soft voice, shaking the rabbit with gentle movements. The burnt paw had stopped oozing blood but still looked severely injured and painful. Biscuit didn¡¯t wake up. Jenny suspected Biscuit wasn¡¯t sleeping but trapped in the same magic dream she had gone through. She had no way of knowing whether or not that was the case, nor of doing anything about it if it was. Her only thought was to leave the corridor and hope whatever affected the rabbit didn¡¯t work outside. Jenny walked to the door and, taking care not to touch it directly, pushed it open a tiny crack. The temple room outside was, thankfully empty. Jenny still needed some illumination to leave this place. Perhaps the ember light spell? She took the book and started rereading the spell description and formulas. Not ten minutes later, she put the book down. Even with prior knowledge about magic, she had no idea how to use the spell from what she read. It wasn¡¯t something that she could do in a short period. The lantern had broken in the fight; and she had no more spare oil. Jenny looked around, thinking. She stopped, then face-palmed. Ever burning, cursed, magical, unending torches hung from the walls, not only here; but in the forge hall, and in the arena. Why hadn¡¯t she thought of using them? Jenny got up and approached the nearest sconce; she hesitated for a moment but grabbed the iron wrought torch. It felt cool to the touch. She pulled it up and out of the metal loop in the wall. Confirming that the torch continued burning, she placed it back into the sconce and turned to her things. Jenny took Biscuit from the blanket cocoon and placed her on the ground. The rabbit moved in response but didn¡¯t wake up. Next, Jenny wrapped the book with her blanket and packed the bundle into the bag. Her dagger she slipped into a loop on the belt of the armor she still wore. Jenny removed her cloak and enveloped Biscuit with it. Having read the tome, Jenny now recognized the ember light on the door. The maniacs who created this place warded the area with Phoenix Pyre Ascension. Jenny hoped the cloak would be enough to protect Biscuit against the spell effects when they crossed back into the temple room. Rabbit safely hidden within the thick fabric and nestled in the crook of her arm; Jenny slung the bag over her shoulder and took up the spear with her free hand. She utilized the butt of her spear to leverage the door back open before resting the spear against her shoulder. Then Jenny walked to the wall and retrieved the torch. Jenny had to juggle things a bit, keeping Biscuit held with her left arm, the spear over her shoulder secured with the crook of her elbow, while her right hand held the torch in front. It wasn¡¯t a comfortable position, but it would have to do for now. Jenny walked to the door. She looked around one last time, took a deep breath and ran outside. Chapter - 48 The warm ember magic let Jenny pass without inflicting any damage. She had squinted, not daring to close her eyes in this place. Once she was on the other side, movement immediately caught her attention. At the far edge of the room, a burrower propped itself up, mouth open in Jenny¡¯s direction. A second one, curled by the wall, also started moving. The glowing spit flew at Jenny, who ducked but kept running. She remembered the previous day and how more had shown up, but only after she struck the thing by the pillar. Lantern first, head down, and Biscuit hidden, Jenny dashed inside the tunnel. Marks of the prior day¡¯s battle marred the obsidian floor and the melted rock of the passage. The stone was charred in places and suffused with viscous dried blood; the lantern lay broken and bent by the entrance. Inside the tunnel, there were no other burrowers. Absent were those she¡¯d killed the previous day; six of them, she had counted the lines in the crumbling scroll. Her discarded dagger, covered in glistening blood, still lay where she¡¯d killed one of the worms. Jenny didn¡¯t stop to pick it up; she had no free hands and no desire to stop anywhere. She quickened her pace, glad the way was still open. When she reached the area with the holes in the path, she stepped carefully to avoid falling but didn¡¯t stop. From below, she heard the same slithering, wet slapping sound the things made when they moved. Jenny didn¡¯t look down; she jumped the last few holes. Soon after, she burst into the forge room, the torches along the walls coming to life at her entrance. In Jenny¡¯s arms, Biscuit moved. The bundle of fabric jerked and spasmed. The rabbit let out an anguished, pained squeal, then fell silent again. Jenny wanted to stop and check on her pet, but not here, not until they were safe. From the forge hall, Jenny ran toward the arena. She had given some thought to it. The orchard wasn¡¯t the best place to go, even if they would still need to travel there for water and more fruits and berries. Instead, she ran through the gently curved tunnels that led to the arena. More torches lit when Jenny entered the chamber. The armor still stood in the same place at the arena¡¯s center. Jenny didn¡¯t approach. Instead, she turned to her left and climbed the stone seats. She moved down the chamber, as far away from the entrance as possible. The magical armor neither moved nor did it acknowledge her presence. She hoped none of the burrowers would follow her here, and if they did, the cursed construct would take care of them. Jenny sat down, facing the entrance. She placed the torch on one of the stone seats nearby and the spear by the floor in easy reach. With care, she opened Biscuit¡¯s cocoon in front of her. Biscuit didn¡¯t look good. The burned skin around her paws and face was cracked and oozing blood. The rabbit¡¯s eyes were open, but they were angry red, and leaking. ¡°You¡¯re going to be okay, Biscuit,¡± Jenny murmured, fingers tracing slow movements on Biscuit¡¯s back and hindquarters where she still had fur. The rabbit ears moved in Jenny¡¯s direction. Biscuit¡¯s nose twitched. ¡°Eehny, uaater.¡± The rabbit rasped. In her haste to get the water skin, Jenny fumbled with the bag, almost letting it fall on top of the bun. Once she had it, Jenny cupped one hand in front of Biscuit¡¯s mouth and poured water for the rabbit to drink. Jenny¡¯s shoulders dropped, and she breathed deep, muscle relaxing while watching her pet slurp water one mouthful at a time. She still thought the critter was creepy at times, but Biscuit was very affectionate in a way that reminded her of the puppies some nobles chose to carry around. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The rabbit finished drinking, and to Jenny¡¯s surprise, Biscuit fell asleep as soon as she got her fill of water. Jenny looked at the door, the cursed armor, and the sleeping rabbit. No burrower had followed her here. Jenny took the book out of her bag. With Biscuit out cold and still hurt, and monsters outside, studying the grimoire seemed to be the best use of her time. She opened the book, checking out the spells again. Aqua Recant Sigil was helpful; it¡¯s just not right now. The spell removed the need to drink water while its effect lasted. It could be beneficial later on, but it wasn¡¯t what she needed. Cinder Dance Rite was another helpful magic. With this one, Jenny could control nearby flames, even giving them a semblance of form, and attack enemies with them, but to control the fire, Jenny needed to focus only on the magic, which would leave her vulnerable to attack. Worse, she needed a source of fire to control. Torrent Exile Chant was a strange spell. If Jenny understood the text, it banished creatures made of water back to their homes, though the description didn¡¯t detail where that home was. Inferno¡¯s Might Blessing sorely tempted Jenny; it was at the top of her list. When applied to a weapon, the spell enhanced the damage it dealt. Even a tiny nick could cause grave injuries with this cursed magic. Emberfade Curse was, as the name implied, a horrible curse. It eroded the target¡¯s spirit and willpower. Jenny could see the use for such magic, but again, it wasn¡¯t immediately useful. Flamebind Dominion was a magic that Jenny was also tempted by. A different version of Biscuit Dominate Creature, but focused on controlling monsters made of fire. This spell would be primarily useless were it not for the next one. Pyroclasm Gateway horrified and amazed Jenny in equal amounts. The spell created a magical gate to a world of fire, which she could go to or bring fire creatures from. The reason for some of these spells was evident in her mind. Aqua Recant removed the need for water in a plane of fire, pyroclasm to open a gate, emberfade curse to lower the creature¡¯s willpower, and flamebind dominion to take control of the monster. Blazeheart Fortification, this one was the direct opposite of the curse. It enhanced the target¡¯s spirit and willpower. Scorchfire Dart; Jenny wanted to learn this spell, but she needed a source of fire, which she had no way of providing for now. She looked at the burning torch on a nearby bench and the many others in the room; those would maybe work, but the many lessons beaten her by Father dearest wouldn¡¯t let her do it. There were too many issues with lugging a magic torch everywhere, not to mention she didn¡¯t even know if the torch would still work after the flames were absorbed by the dart spell. This was one of the reasons this one wasn¡¯t on the top of her list. If it wasn¡¯t for it, Jenny could imagine herself flinging fire at any enemy that dared to approach. Maybe in the future. Conflagration Vortex was a horrifying magic that burned everything aside from natural vegetation. Jenny could see it, conjuring a firestorm to destroy everything in her path, but as excellent as that was in her head, it was too much destruction. Jenny needed to stay hidden, and conjuring fire storms to kill her enemies wasn¡¯t the way to keep out of the church¡¯s notice. Eternal Ember Light was, despite its fancy name, just an illumination spell. The magic created a glob of illumination for an area, barely more than candlelight in intensity. Phoenix Pyre Ascension was another cruel spell that tempted Jenny greatly, but she needed to keep concentration while the spell took effect, which posed the same problem as the cinder rite. Staying still, waving magic around while the enemies attacked you, wasn¡¯t conducive to winning battles. Like Jenny already knew, she flipped the pages until she was back at the blessing. She had a spear, and the magic was the best choice. Or so she hoped. It didn¡¯t matter much in the end. It would take weeks to learn enough until she could cast any of those spells. chapter - 49 It turns out you can¡¯t sleep in a magic-induced dream. Trapped inside the metal armor and unable to proceed with the dialog with the NPCs, Yuki practiced her magic casting. By practice, she meant testing her patience and acquiring more than a few units of frustration. Moving her paws restrained by the armor wasn¡¯t easy, but she had nothing else to do. Yuki lost track of time and the looping dialog. Pudgy Spymaster, Evil Witch Old Lady, and Mister Shiny General kept repeating the same conversation again and again. The king kept glancing at Yuki, waiting for input from her side, and the queen touched her belly protectively. Yuki trained, forcing the movements through the heavy metal constraining her paws. There was no warning of change. One moment, Yuki waved her arms, simulating casting the magic; the next, pain assaulted her face, arm, and eyes. Yuki jerked, crying out in surprise. She felt the strong smell of burning wood and fresh blood. She heard the panting breaths of Jenny. Movement jostled Yuki up and down and to the sides. Yuki¡¯s heart beat fast, but in the darkness, surrounded by soft something, she calmed down. Even in pain, Yuki noticed the thirst. She wanted water, and not only that, but she was tired, so tired she almost fell asleep while Jenny ran. The movement kept going for a few minutes until they finally stopped. The darkness faded to reveal blurry colors and the blonde¡¯s silhouette. ¡°You¡¯re going to be okay, Biscuit,¡± Yuki heard Jenny say before the girl¡¯s fingers traced slow movements on Yuki¡¯s back and hindquarters. It wasn¡¯t comforting, but Yuki didn¡¯t have the energy to complain. Instead, she pleaded for water. ¡°Jenny, water, please.¡± Cool, refreshing water splashed near Yuki¡¯s face, and she lapped it, not caring that she looked more like a dog than a rabbit. When lapping wasn¡¯t fast enough, she tried to drink like she would do on the before. The noise she made was gross, but quenching her thirst trumped all that. She drank until she couldn¡¯t anymore and promptly fell asleep after. ¡­ Yuki woke up but didn¡¯t move. The pain hadn¡¯t gone away, and even with her eyes open, she could barely see. She spotted Jenny sitting nearby, looking at the ground. Yuki took a deep breath and sat up. Her left paw didn¡¯t move like she wanted, but it didn¡¯t hurt as much as she expected. Well, it didn¡¯t hurt at all. That was bad, right? Jenny made Jenny noises by her side, but Yuki was too scared to pay attention. Had she lost her paw? That couldn¡¯t be it; she could still ¡ª barely ¡ª see and move the paw. She just didn¡¯t feel anything. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Yuki¡¯s vision was also horrible, her eyes stung, and the more she blinked, the worse it felt. Her mouth felt swollen, and she smarted. Putting all the growing panic out of her mind, Yuki concentrated on casting the spell. It wasn¡¯t easy. She couldn¡¯t chant properly. Her paw didn¡¯t move like she wanted. In the magic dream, Yuki had practiced moving with her arms restrained, but it didn¡¯t help with the situation in the real world. Her arm just refused to move like she wanted or moved too much. It took Yuki four attempts, plus a five-minute panic break before she got it right. She applied all the possible shaping to the spell duration and waited for the effects to manifest.
Two castings later, Yuki was mostly herself again. With the first casting, the pain subdued and her vision improved. After the second, she felt as good as new, even if her fur hadn¡¯t regrown. Yuki had never seen a furless rabbit before, but if they were anything like those sphinx cats... Oh god, she hoped Jenny wouldn¡¯t think she was ugly just because of a momentary bout of baldness. Yuki looked around, having not paid attention to her surroundings while concentrating on the spell. She was on Jenny¡¯s lap, lying on a pile of soft fabric. The girl¡¯s attention was directed to a book Yuki hadn¡¯t seen before. The book had several diagrams and numbers and scribbled text. To Yuki¡¯s surprise, she could read it, knowing her command of the language came from the magic dream. Where had Jenny found a spellbook? Was it a dungeon reward? Weird. Well, enough procrastinating. If Jenny was going to hate Yuki because she lost her perfect fur, she would like to know it sooner rather than later. The rabbit hopped out of the cocoon, looking around. They were in Rusty¡¯s arena, far away from the door. She nuzzled the girl¡¯s arm. ¡°Thank you, Jenny.¡± Jenny started, then yelled. ¡°Biscuit!¡± Yuki prepared for the look of pity, but Jenny just picked Yuki up and hugged the rabbit. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you are okay, and I¡¯m sorry for letting you get this hurt, I¡¯ll do better.¡± Yuki didn¡¯t understand what the woman said, but by the reaction, she guessed Jenny didn¡¯t care about the lack of fur. Given further consideration, Yuki realized that it was expected. The blonde didn¡¯t know the joys of the top-tier fur fluffiness. Yuki would have to educate her pet when her fur grew back. She enjoyed all the pampering, talking, prodding, and touching. Perhaps it was because of the iron tang of the magic in the room that it took Yuki so long to smell the blood on Jenny¡¯s arm, but once she had she couldn¡¯t ignore it. Yuki briefly considered if she should check for other injuries but It wasn¡¯t needed. A quick peek into her status showed eight magic points left. Yuki cast the regeneration spell again, mentally patting herself on the back for her foresight. Everyone needed a healing spell in a fantasy world or tame a pet healer if using the magic yourself wasn¡¯t possible. Chapter - 50 Biscuit looked pretty strange after her burns healed. She was still the same rabbit, and just as quirky as before, but half of her body was now devoid of fur. The soft white fur hadn¡¯t grown back with the magic. Jenny had expected the rabbit to look pristine after she woke up. Biscuit¡¯s face and paws were marred with burnt scars, the magic hadn¡¯t removed those either. Jenny already missed the pretty black fur around the rabbit¡¯s eyes. She had never paid too much attention to those, but now that half of Biscuit was angry pink skin with a few patches of burnt fur here and there, she noticed how the black fur around her eyes worked to make the whole better. She hoped the fur would grow back in time. Biscuit still reacted the same to ear scritches and petting, and that was what mattered. ¡°Biscuit, we need to get more water and food, then find a way out of this place.¡± The rabbit stopped nuzzling against Jenny¡¯s hand and looked up. ¡°Moove?¡± Jenny picked up the dagger and scratched the lines and symbols on the stone while the rabbit watched. She drew the arena, the tunnel connecting to the forge, the orchard, and the tunnel leading to the room with the pillars. Lastly, she drew the three remaining paths leading away from the forge that they hadn¡¯t explored yet. ¡°First we go to the orchard.¡± Jenny pantomimed walking and traced the path to the orchard on her improvised map. ¡°We get water,¡± she took the water skin and pretended to drink a few sips, ¡°and food.¡± Jenny finished by taking some of the fruits she picked from inside the bag. Hairless Biscuit nodded, looking between Jenny and the map. ¡°After that, we go back to the forge,¡± Jenny said, pointing at the forge in the map again, ¡°and from there, we explore this passage,¡± the blonde said, pointing at the tunnel closest to the arena. It was in the opposite direction of the room with the pillars, and she hoped that it was also further away from any other monsters inhabiting the dungeon. Jenny packed her things, slung her bag over her shoulder, and picked up the spear and lantern. She walked down the seats towards the room exit, casting one last glance at the rusted suit of armor. She bowed, ignoring the tittering from the rabbit, and strode into the tunnel, the faint pink tint in her cheeks hidden by the darkness. Biscuit followed by Jenny¡¯s side, not hopping ahead like she had done before. The duo crossed the tunnel without encountering any issues. It was at the forge they ran into their first obstacle. Near the central contraption were two burrowers. The creatures seemed afraid to approach the forge, even while they kept moving ever closer to it. Jenny tapped Biscuit with her feet gently, and when the rabbit looked up, she placed a finger in front of her mouth. The universal gesture for silence. The rabbit nodded. Jenny walked inside the room as quietly as possible, staying close to the walls. The creatures didn¡¯t notice her moving about. Jenny mused that despite their many eyes, the monsters might be blind and view the world through sound or by some strange, esoteric sense. Jenny reached the tunnel leading to the orchard and sidled into it with a quick look toward the forge to ensure they weren¡¯t spotted. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Traversing the tunnel went as any other time before, with the difference the passage was coated in the same slimy, glistening substance from the worms. By the amount, it might be one, perhaps two of the monsters. ¡°Biscuit,¡± she whispered to the rabbit. ¡°Two monsters ahead.¡± Jenny mimicked worms moving with her hand while showing two fingers. Biscuit nodded in response. The duo immediately moved to the orchard when they stepped inside the overgrown garden. They walked in silence and were attentive to anything around them. They reached their destination without meeting any additional enemies. Jenny handed the waterskin to Biscuit, the rabbit dragging it into the fissure without any grumbling; that was a first. Once the rabbit brought the filled thing around, Jenny drank as much as she could before handing the now emptied vessel back over to Biscuit. While the rabbit got them water for the journey, the blonde picked up fruits and placed them inside the bag. After a few moments, she also picked up a handful of leaves and stored them. ¡°Eeries?¡± Biscuit asked when she got back from filling the container. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Agik.¡± Jenny considered the situation. Berries could be used to restore magic. Biscuit had used a lot of magic over the past two days: evil bunny magic against the worms, neutralize magic to suppress the magic door, and a lot of regeneration. There was still a chance of a burrower or two lurking about, and if they went toward the berries, there was a good chance of meeting them. ¡°Can you still use magic?¡± Jenny asked. ¡°Status, shaare.¡± Biscuit replied. The blue panel with the white rabbit appeared in front of Jenny again. The girl looked at the image, but aside from noticing the rabbit there still had fur, she didn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary. ¡°Why show me this?¡± She asked, glancing at Biscuit. The rabbit tilted her head, ¡°Cup.¡± Cup? Did she mean the goblet? Jenny looked at the goblet again. It was almost empty. Was she supposed to see something else? As if answering her unasked question, Jenny got the impression the contents of the cup showed how much magic Biscuit still had. Jenny blinked twice. ¡°Status,¡± she called out, and once the parchment showed up, she added, ¡°share.¡± With the parchment in front of her, she looked at the goblet in the white-haired girl¡¯s hand. Like with Biscuit, it was nearly empty, which made no sense. The goblet was full the day before their exploration disaster. Jenny hadn¡¯t used any magic; how was the goblet emptied? She reflected on the fight and another detail that had bothered her since then. The worms spat at her, and at the time, it had burned. Jenny had thought it was poison or something corrosive, but when she woke up, she was fine, and the slime didn¡¯t burn anymore. She¡¯d put all that into something meant to cause pain or maybe a way to distract the enemy, but what if that stuff absorbed magic? It would also explain why monsters were trying to eat the pillars. Biscuit had said there was magic in that room, but they didn¡¯t attack the door because of the fire. It was an interesting theory Jenny hoped she wouldn¡¯t need to prove. ¡°No berries,¡± Jenny said after thinking for a while. ¡°Maybe monsters there.¡± She added. Biscuit nodded, looking in the direction of the berry patch. ¡°Eehny, we oo?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready,¡± Jenny confirmed, picking up the bag, spear and torch. ¡°Come, Biscuit. Let¡¯s find a way out of this place.¡± Chapter - 51 Before once again stepping back into the tunnel, Jenny looked at where she had fallen at the start of all this when she¡¯d first entered the dungeon. From a distance, illuminated by the faint sunlight, she saw a few branches and bushes moving. Probably the burrower; Good thing they didn¡¯t go pick more berries, even if they could use a bit more magic right now. Jenny ventured toward the forge, leading the way with Biscuit right behind. ¡°Eehny, ooise.¡± Biscuit rasped. Jenny stopped walking and focused on listening. Soon after, the wet slapping noise of the worm moving reached her ears. She placed the torch by the wall and gripped the spear, taking a stance. The slithering slapping sound got closer and closer, and when the pallid, glowing fleshy worm turned the corner, Jenny lunged. The burrower was smaller than the others she¡¯d faced. Even so, it sensed the movement and reared its head, feelers weaving in her direction. The speartip hit one of the malformed eyes with a grotesque squelch and pierced through the creature¡¯s head. The many segments of the monster kept moving, and the mouth opened and closed, trying to bite at the air. Behind Jenny, Biscuit whined. A new parchment appeared, informing the creature¡¯s death. Jenny chanced a glance back toward the rabbit. ¡°What is it, Biscuit?¡± ¡°Iell, ooud.¡± Jenny looked at the silent monster in its death throes. She hadn¡¯t heard a thing. The same happened back in the room with the pillars. What did Biscuit hear? Jenny pulled the spear out of the creature, picked up the torch, and ran toward the forge. The last time this happened, they were besieged by monsters, and she didn¡¯t want to be trapped again. They hadn¡¯t even made it to the forge before their path was barred by the next worm. This one was more aware and pounced at Jenny as soon as she turned through a twist in the path. Jenny ducked low, releasing the spear and in the same movement pulled out her dagger, the monster too close to use the cumbersome polearm. The burrower¡¯s maw, already open, came down on Jenny. The blonde waved the torch in front of the monster, but even before the fire reached the thing, it recoiled as if it had been burnt. Jenny pressed forward, shoving the torch into the creature''s face while simultaneously stabbing with the dagger in her other hand. The blade sunk to the hilt with no resistance, the red gem at its hilt glinting in the darkness. Glowing blood flowed freely from the injury. However, it wasn¡¯t enough to stop the burrower. The monster recoiled, twisting around itself faster than Jenny could react, flinging its spiked tail at her. The spiked tail lashed out, and Jenny tried to parry but neither of her weapons had enough mass to intercept the attack. Jenny succeeded in partially deflecting the spike, her dagger cutting a thin furrow into the tail. It was not quite enough, the monster still pierced the armor and clothes, slicing into her flesh just below her breast. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Biscuit squealed, and started to cast magic. ¡°No!¡± Jenny yelled without looking back. The image of her rabbit with blood leaking from its every orifice popped unbidden into Jenny¡¯s mind. She remembered what had happened the last time Biscuit tried magic against these things. Ignoring the pain, Jenny stepped closer to the monster, waving the torch with one hand and stabbing with the other. There was something strange about the dagger. It cut too easily; each stab sunk to the hilt, and she barely had to put any effort into it, a thought for later. From this close, Jenny could prevent the beast from bringing its spiked tail to bear, limiting its avenues of attack. The burrower tried to maneuver around her again, maw open and ready to bite, but Jenny had already managed to stab it many times over, each new puncture spilling even more glowing sticky blueish blood. A new parchment appeared, and Jenny didn¡¯t wait. She tied the dagger to her belt and retrieved the spear. ¡°We need to run.¡± She said to Biscuit before escaping down the passage. Biscuit followed, right on the blonde heels. ¡°Eeehny, eehind, oonster!¡± That was easy to understand. The creature in the overgrown orchard had heard the commotion. Good thing the battle didn¡¯t last long, even if her injured side still hurt a lot. Jenny put aside her pain, just like she did back when she was a kid, training with Father. Pain was a construct of the mind, and she could ignore it. Jenny arrived at the forge hall to see one of the other worms moving toward the orchard passage. She didn¡¯t wait. Releasing the torch, she gripped the spear with both hands and lunged. The spear tip punched through the creature in a single strike, skewering it before it even had a chance to do anything. Jenny didn¡¯t stop; she swung to her left, inertia pulling away body impaled on her spear, and then charged the second monster in the hall. This was a larger specimen than the previous one but not as large as the burrower she¡¯d fled from in the pillar room. It didn¡¯t have feelers; instead it¡¯s malformed eyes glinted black in the torchlit room. The beast reared back, and instead of opening its maw like all the others she¡¯d faced before had done, it pointed in Jenny¡¯s direction with its spiked tail. Jenny looked on, trying to understand what the creature intended when, with a wet popping sound, the beast shot out its tail spike. The spike flew toward Jenny, missing her by a hair¡¯s breadth. She hadn¡¯t even seen the spike move, let alone been able to dodge it. Spurred on by the dangerous attack, Jenny lunged at the monster, aiming for its head. The spear struck the hard, leathery flesh, piercing it. Jenny jumped to the side, avoiding the retaliatory tail slap from the creature, pulling the spear free with the same movement. She thrust again, ripping another hole into the creature¡¯s head. The burrower¡¯s tail lashed out in a horizontal sweep, hitting Jenny¡¯s stomach and throwing her away. Jenny still held onto the spear, the metal tip tearing a chunk out of the monster. Jenny got up to her feet and lunged again. The burrower tried to slap her away one more time, but Jenny used the spear to stop the attack before bringing the weapon down, perforating the monster. ¡°Eehny, ee neeed unn!¡± Biscuit warned. Jenny chanced a quick glance down the path they¡¯d come from. She saw a bluish glowing light approaching from the passage. The blonde stabbed the dying monster in a parting blow; and when a new parchment appeared, Jenny turned around and dashed for the passage opposite to the pillar room, ignoring the discarded torch and looting a new one from the wall near the passage. She hoped the exit would be there. Chapter - 52 Your party defeated Luminescent Burrower. Exp: +50. Your party defeated Luminescent Burrower. Exp: +50. Your party defeated Luminescent Burrower. Exp: +50. Your party defeated Luminescent Spike Thrower. Exp: +100. Yuki ran away from the incoming monster following Jenny into the passage. Right now, she could only hear one of the things shrieking, but she guessed it wouldn¡¯t be much longer until more of them appeared. She dismissed the kill notifications, noting one of the monsters was a different race. Maybe a different evolution? It also gave more exp. How much exp did she have? Yuki remembered some other notifications while she tried to neutralize the magic door, but she hadn¡¯t paid attention then. ¡°Status,¡± she called out. The landing page with the rabbit, thankfully still entirely white and pretty, showed up. The goblet was one-third full, which was enough for now. Yuki had wanted to eat a few berries to restore more magic points, but Jenny had been right. With monsters roaming the place, exploring there would have been a mistake. Even more, now that Yuki suspected these things ate magic, the berries were the prime target if that was the case. Yuki willed the system to display the personal info tab. She hadn¡¯t looked at that since her fight with the weasel an eternity ago. Personal info. Name: Biscuit. Age: 56 days. Gender: Female. Race: Mutant Dwarf Horned Rabbit. Evolution tier: F. Exp: 767/3000. Oh, nice. That was a lot of exp. Has it been almost two months already? Somehow, it felt a lot longer. And the name made Yuki hungry. She missed cookies from the before. Yuki dismissed the page, a faint feeling of something wrong that she couldn¡¯t place her paw on. She willed advanced skills to show up next and checked on the magic-related skills. [Invocation] was fifty, while [Shaping] was fifty-one. That was good progress. Getting trapped inside the dream at least served for something. It was also nice that her efforts there weren¡¯t in vain. Even if that was a magic simulation, practicing there helped increase her skills in the real world. Yuki opened her personal info tab again, the nagging feeling of something wrong too strong to ignore. She reread it. Personal info. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Name: Biscuit. Age: 56 days. Gender: Female. Race: Mutant Dwarf Horned Rabbit. Evolution tier: F. Exp: 767/3000. Wait, name? When did that happen? Biscuit? Was that what Jenny had been calling her all this time? Yuki felt cheated and fuzzy inside. Biscuit was a cute name for a pet rabbit, but she wasn¡¯t the pet! Jenny was the pet! Yuki had often wondered what Jenny had named her meant. To Yuki, it was just a strange string of sounds that had meant nothing until now. Learning she¡¯d been named Cookie was weird. Even more, knowing the damned system accepted the name. What bullshit was this? Just because she responded to the name didn¡¯t mean she agreed. That was it. Yuki would clear the air between them as soon as they were out of this place. It had taken long enough, but one casting of shapechange should be enough to let them talk face-to-face. Distracted from her thoughts and following on autopilot, Yuki didn¡¯t stop in time to avoid hitting Jenny¡¯s legs. The blonde stopped just past at the end of the passage. Unlike the other chambers, torches didn¡¯t light up when they entered. Tall, charred wooden shelves, now mostly empty or holding remnants of scorched scrolls and books, greeted the duo. The air here was thick with the smell of burnt parchment even after god knows how many years. Jenny didn¡¯t go further. She looked at the partially illuminated room, then at the tunnel they just came from. ¡°You think the exit would go through the library?¡± Yuki didn¡¯t understand all the words, but she thought she got the gist of it. They were looking for an exit. This looked like a library. Yuki shook her head. ¡°No.¡± Jenny looked down, eyes wide. She blinked a few times, maybe surprised. Why was that? They hadn¡¯t talked about libraries before, but figuring out the word by context wasn¡¯t that hard. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡± Jenny looked one last time at the burnt chamber before returning to the forge hall. Yuki followed. That left only two more paths to explore. Yuki got traumatic flashbacks from her time playing JRPGs in the before. She always, always, picked the wrong routes when going through a dungeon. When she wanted to explore and find new things, the first path always led to the boss room and dungeon exit, but whenever she was tired and just wanted to finish the place, every path she chose ended up being the wrong one. It was annoying as hell, even more so in those old-school RPG games where you had to fight a random battle every two steps. Surprisingly, the forge hall was empty of enemies. The corpse of the spike thrower was still there. Jenny inspected the surroundings before setting off toward the nearest passage to their left. Given the circular shape of the forge, this one was opposite to the path that led to the orchard. They were halfway there when things changed. It started with a faint sensation. Yuki stopped, ears perked. It felt like someone had just thumped a gigantic drum. Yuki felt it in her bones, even from far away. It was like a giant rabbit thumping the ground. Jenny had noticed the rabbit stopping and stopped as well. ¡°What is it, Biscuit?¡± Yuki wanted to ignore the woman, a silent protest at the name, but that was dumb and childish; Jenny hadn¡¯t known Yuki already had a name before, and now really wasn¡¯t the time to do that. But Yuki couldn¡¯t articulate her feelings; they hadn¡¯t discussed thumping or drums. She didn¡¯t know the words. Instead, she mimicked it. ¡°Listen,¡± Yuki said, then she thumped the ground. ¡°What?¡± Jenny looked at the rabbit, at her surroundings, a hand scratching the sides of her head. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Yuki felt the thump again. ¡°Listen,¡± she said and thumped once more. Jenny stopped looking around, sat down, and placed both hands on the ground. She closed her eyes and waited. It didn¡¯t take long until whatever that was thumped again. The blonde shot up to her feet, eyes frantic. ¡°What was that?¡± That one was easy to understand, but Yuki didn¡¯t answer. Before she could, her ears swirled toward the pillar¡¯s room passage. The same high-pitched shriek came from there and the wet slapping noises of the burrowers¡¯ movement. ¡°Uh, I think we are in trouble,¡± Yuki said, looking in the sound¡¯s direction. The thump sounded again, and this time, the ground trembled. Even Jenny felt it. Rabbit and woman looked at each other, and without a word, they turned and ran toward the next passage. A horde of worms spilled forth from the tunnel with the holes, big and small. The ground burst open near the forge, and the largest burrower yet crawled out. This one, the eyes weren¡¯t malformed, instead, black and red orbs zeroed in on the fleeing duo. Its body glowed with intense blue light, and tentacle-like feelers covered the exposed body. The creature opened a gigantic maw full of slimy, sharp teeth. A new smell spread in the room, overpowering the constant scent of burnt wood and blood. It smelled of hunger and starvation. ¡°Dodge!¡± Yuki yelled before jumping to the side. Jenny might have understood, or maybe she was just aware of the situation and threw herself away and to the side. Soon after, a glistening blue glob of something flew toward the path they were on and splashed on the far wall. The thump resonated again in the room, closer than before. Chapter - 53 The narrow tunnel barely wide enough for two, led onward with its subtle inclination. Ancient stonework cracked underfoot, and dust motes swirled in the dim light of the flickering torch. Jenny¡¯s ragged breaths echoed. The scrapping and slithering were now distorted sounds. It was impossible to tell how many followed. A spike flew past and embedded in the wall next to Jenny, and she ducked out and to the sides out of reflex. Biscuit forged ahead, leading the way. At some point, the melted walls gave way to worked stone, cracked and old. It might have been Jenny¡¯s impression, but the walls seemed to bulge, rocks dislodging. She even smelled something rancid wafting through the many cracks in the ground. Jenny didn¡¯t know for how long she¡¯d been running, barely keeping ahead of the horde of monsters, but her legs burned, and every time she breathed, it felt like someone stabbed her in the sides. She couldn¡¯t take in air fast enough to get what she needed. The tunnel opened to a larger passage, the torchlight illuminating rusted, jagged metal spikes from the floor and ceiling. To the side, mounted on the chamber wall, was a sizable iron-wheeled winch. A thick, rusted metal chain disappeared upwards into a shadowed recess above. Besides the winch, a corroded metal panel protruded from the wall. It was a faded mess of what had been levers and dials. At the center, a symbol was carved into the metal. ¡°Shit,¡± Jenny cursed. The spikes blocking the passage were too close to each other. She wouldn¡¯t be able to pass through them. She approached the winch, pulled the levers, and turned the dials. The portcullis didn¡¯t move. Biscuit stared at the portcullis like it had personally wronged her. Jenny pulled the lever harder, but it didn¡¯t budge. Jenny¡¯s throat closed up. She held back the urge to yell. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she wasn¡¯t afraid anymore. ¡°Biscuit,¡± she called out, mind racing, eyes fixed on the rabbit. ¡°Can you use your magic to make me small?¡± Biscuit shook her head. The rabbit fired off a long, complicated string of words, from which Jenny understood only magic. Jenny could guess the meaning from her own magic knowledge. The difference between the original size and the desired transformation was based on the caster proficiency. Biscuit wasn¡¯t proficient enough to transform an adult human into a small mammal. Jenny looked around for anything else. She moved to the chain and pulled it, giving it her all. Jenny¡¯s hand burned, her muscles ached, but the chain didn¡¯t move. A sigh escaped the woman and she turned back to the tunnel. The path was blocked, and magic was cut off, Jenny had only one chance of survival. Hard as it might be, she would need to fight her way out, but the rabbit was small enough to escape through the blocked passage. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Biscuit,¡± Jenny called out. The rabbit had gotten closer and stared at the control panel. ¡°You go on ahead. There¡¯s no need to stay here.¡± The rabbit was small enough that she wouldn¡¯t have trouble squeezing through. It had been hubris to think for a moment that she could survive a dungeon. She knew the stories; no one survived entering one of those places. ¡°Eehny.¡± The rabbit started, but Jenny interrupted. ¡°Go,¡± she said, turning toward the tunnel they had come from. I¡¯m sorry for dragging you into this mess.¡± What would have happened if she had never accepted the contract? Or if she had never even met Biscuit during her flight? Biscuit pawed at Jenny¡¯s trousers urgently. ¡°Eehny,¡± the rabbit said again, then let out a string of incomprehensible sounds. Jenny smiled. The first worm showed up from the bend in the path. Jenny lowered her hand to pat her pet one last time. At least one of them would survive this. ¡°Go, Biscuit. There¡ªouch!¡± Jenny looked at her hand. Biscuit had bitten her palm, a small droplet of blood pooling near the bit mark. The rabbit had torn a small piece of Jenny¡¯s skin. ¡°What was that for?¡± ¡°Eehny, uupid. Iight!¡± Biscuit said pointing to the worms. Soon after she started chanting magic. Jenny didn¡¯t have time to question what had happened; the worm was almost on them. She let go of the torch and grabbed the spear. Before the worm could spit at her, she lunged, piercing the soft interior of its mouth. The creature bucked and twisted in its death throes; Biscuit whined but didn¡¯t stop her casting. Jenny turned toward the tunnel to greet yet another worm. Before the thing could do anything, she was upon it, weapon-ready.
Jenny deserved that bite and a thousand more. Yuki didn¡¯t need to understand the language to recognize the death flag and sacrificial ¡®go ahead, I¡¯ll meet you later¡¯ speech. Granted, more often than not, the dead character would appear again an arc or ten later, bad-ass and super strong, usually to save the MC from some dastardly charming villain while said villain monologued, gloating over their victory. Yuki had noticed something Jenny didn¡¯t. The symbol at the center reeked of magic after Jenny tried to move the chains. She had tried to get Jenny to use that, but the woman wasn¡¯t listening. It was a good thing Yuki was the responsible adult in this contract. She needed no familiar to do things, only a small piece of the girl. Yuki wanted to ask for a strand of hair, but a piece of skin served the same. The casting finished, and her body morphed. Her bones popped, her arms and legs elongated, and her eyes moved from the sides of her head to the front. Yuki¡¯s flesh moved like someone had thrown a pebble in a water pond, turning from a rabbit¡¯s angry pink to a human¡¯s pallid pink. The little fur in her legs and chest receded, leaving skin behind. Yuki looked at her hands in amazement flexing the opposable thumbs. A grunt and a cry of pain from the tunnel woke her up. Yuki jumped to her feet and threw herself at the control panel. Now closer, the smell was strong. It made her think of old diesel trucks. Yuki¡¯s small hand slapped on the symbol. The battle sounds continued behind her, and the portcullis didn¡¯t move. Was she wrong about this? Yuki tsked, then slapped her face with her free hand. ¡°Stupid.¡± She closed her eyes and moved her magic power, envisioning it flowing from her core into the symbol. The magical rune, at least Yuki was pretty sure it was one, drank her magic eagerly, like a dying man in a desert. She cut the flow of magic once she¡¯d used two magic points. The symbol wanted more, but she had only two points left. When Yuki opened her eyes, the symbol glowed faintly. She turned the dials and pulled the levers¡ªa groan of metal, blessedly followed by the shriek of chains. A slow, rusted noise resounded in the tunnel, and slowly, like a giant waking up after hibernation, the chains moved. Yuki looked at the thing blocking their path, happy to discover it also moved. Now, they needed only to survive until the path was open. She looked at the tunnel behind them and saw Jenny facing off with the worm with black and red eyes. Yuki could swear the thing was watching her every movement. Chapter - 54 Jenny ducked and waved, avoiding the grasping feelers protruding from the creature¡¯s bulbous head in front of her. This new burrower didn¡¯t spit or throw spikes. Instead, tentacle-like feelers grasped at everything. Around Jenny, there were the corpses of several other worms. Jenny¡¯s arms ached, her breathing coming more ragged with every passing moment. The pain in her sides, she didn¡¯t know if it was from when the creature slapped her with its tail, the spike that almost pierced her chest, or lack of air. The relentless monsters left no room for resting. Her only saving grace was that the number of the creatures she¡¯d had to face off against so far was nowhere near what she¡¯d seen spilling into the forge room. The feelers moved again, coming from all sides. Jenny stepped back, away from the grasper, her feet heavy and arms aching. She thrust at the bulbous head but missed. The muscle in her arms protesting the action. Slithering movements brought the creature forward, and Jenny had to step back again. Behind the worm lay others she had killed¡ªspiters and throwers. Thankfully, this one was the last. There was no more glowing light from the tunnel they¡¯d run though. With a grunt of effort, Jenny lunged. The worm retracted its feelers and tried to retreat, but it couldn¡¯t. Leathery flesh gave way, her spear perforating the thing¡¯s head, while at the same time, Jenny¡¯s legs gave out and she tumbled forward. The blonde pulled her spear back just in time to catch her fall. She used it like a walking stick, holding on to the worm-blood-soaked weapon. She bent forward, gasping for air. Jenny¡¯s heart pounded, she leaned against the wall, the cold stone soothing. Glowing blue light shone from the tunnel. It seemed Jenny¡¯s luck didn¡¯t hold. More enemies were coming, and Jenny didn¡¯t think she could fight for much longer. Their spit burned her face, and the spike in her leg made it hard to move. Jenny took deep, quick breaths and straightened herself. A fourth type of worm appeared in the tunnel. Larger than any of the others, it also explained why so few of the monsters had attacked her here. The burrower took up all the space in the passage. It crawled with slow, wet slapping sounds. Its many black and red eyes fixed on her. It didn¡¯t have feelers, and its mouth was circular, just as full of sharp, slimy teeth and just as unnerving. Jenny hoped Biscuit had fled. The creature¡¯s circular maw opened even wider¡ªit retched, spitting melon-sized globs of goo. Jenny didn¡¯t need to question for long what that was because the goo vibrated, shook, and broke apart. From inside crawled small worms, almost transparent, looking more like headless snakes than burrowers. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. A horrible shriek from behind sent Jenny¡¯s heart thumping even faster. The monsters had been silent until now, but had another one appeared? She glanced back. A white-haired girl, about seven or eight, fiddled with the levers and dials. The noise came from the chain by the controls, its movement created a cacophony. Was that Biscuit? From the corner of her eye, Jenny saw movement and threw herself to the side. A glob of something, spat by the black-eyed worm passed where she just was. Not only that, scurrying around the walls, the tiny worms slithered toward the white-haired girl. Jenny threw her dagger toward the girl. ¡°Biscuit!¡± She cried out. ¡°Monsters!¡± Jenny couldn¡¯t help more than that. The black eyed worm slithered closer, the skin around its maw puckering again. The good thing was that the monster was too big for the tunnel, so it couldn¡¯t move easily. The bad thing was that it was massive. ¡°Noo, get away!¡± Jenny heard a high-pitched, young voice from behind. ¡°I refuse to be in a tentacle hentai isekai!¡± The language trickled through her memory, something she had heard before. Jenny approached the worm, her eyes focused on the folds of the skin around the mouth and the ululating movement of the burrower¡¯s segments. Even before the attack came, she saw the segments contracting in sequence, as if pushing something forward. The maw opened, and Jenny moved in and down. The spit passed above her head. The glob splashed against the wall, and droplets fell on her arms and armor. Where the droplets hit, smoke soon arose. When it touched her skin, it stung worse than fire. The acrid smell of acid burning through leather and flesh. This one could actually spit acid? Jenny lunged closer and poked out one of the monster¡¯s many fist-sized eyes with her spear. The burrower recoiled, and for the first time, Jenny heard a sound from it¡ªa high, strident, and painful screech. From behind, the girl kept shouting in her strange language. ¡°Die, yuck, die, gross, die, disgusting, die!¡± Worm and woman stared at each other. Jenny breathed hard, fighting the pain in her chest and legs while she considered what to do. She didn¡¯t think she could kill the creature¡ªinjure it, yes, kill, not likely. It also didn¡¯t seem keen on getting close to her again, not if the puckered maw was any indication. The shriek of old, rusted metal moving continued, and a quick glance at the spikes confirmed they were retreating into the ceiling and floor. They needed more time. Instead of spitting acid again, the creature regurgitated even more melon-sized globs of slime. Jenny moved closer, but the wall pulsed beside her before she could do anything, oozing some slimy substance. It rippled, then burst¡ªa fresh spitter emerging toward Jenny. The large burrower spat again in the confusion, but its mouth pointed toward Biscuit. She swore, piercing a dead worm carcass with her spear and shoving it in the acid¡¯s path. The glob of spit splashed against the dead burrower, showering everything around in acid. Jenny raised her arms to cover her face, to avoid the worst of it, drops of the liquid burning through her clothes to reach the skin. She staggered back, the acid seared through worm flesh and her armor, the stench worse than any rot. A steady stream of the vomited tiny worms sneaked past Jenny, crawling toward Biscuit. Chapter - 55 Icky slime coated Yuki¡¯s hands and legs, mixing with the red of her blood. When stabbed, the worms bled a blue and viscous liquid. The almost see-through creatures kept coming, no matter how many she killed. They died easily enough, thanks to Jenny¡¯s dagger. With each stab, the pommel jewel flashed, and the scent of magic flared, mixing with the cloying earthy smell of their blood. Yuki brandished the dagger again, the edge slicing yet another of the snake-sized worms. Pain flared on Yuki¡¯s calf. She gasped, agony jolting through her leg. Yuki turned and brought the dagger down, slicing another worm. The metal spikes blocking the path were halfway retracted, but there still wasn¡¯t room enough for them to leave. Another batch of worms slithered past Jenny and toward Yuki. The blonde was on her last legs, fighting both the black-eyed monstrosity as well as the other burrowers spilling from the walls. She¡¯d already done enough by tossing Yuki the magic dagger. Yuki couldn¡¯t kill the worms fast enough to prevent them from reaching her. Worse, the damned things tried to climb her legs. It was disgusting and their bite was painful. ¡°Die, gross!¡± Yuki regretted not shape-changing earlier, if only for the ability to communicate. It was refreshing to be able to speak again correctly, but she didn¡¯t miss her old body. Perhaps the human form felt strange to her now because she was born a rabbit here. Even wielding the dagger was strange; her movements uncoordinated. Yuki stabbed another worm, then turned around and cut two more. A fourth and fifth lunged, and she couldn¡¯t dodge. One bit down on her sides, while the other bit down on her arm. She raised her arm with the offending worm dangling there. With a swift cut, she sliced the thing. Before the severed part hit the ground, she grabbed the other slimy and disgusting monster at her sides and cut it too. The chains screeched to a halt. Yuki looked at the passage. The spikes hadn¡¯t retreated fully, but it was more than enough. ¡°Jenny,¡± Yuki yelled, already moving toward the discarded torch. ¡°Path free!¡± She called out, trying to remember the right words. Yuki grabbed the torch and Jenny¡¯s bag before running toward the passage. She heaved the heavy bag and threw it into the opening soon before she jumped across herself. Yuki miscalculated the distance, and her hand hit one of the spikes where it cut a gash. She cried out in pain and dropped the torch. She hit the other side with a thud.
Jenny couldn¡¯t fight anymore. Every ragged breath hurt more than the last. Her vision swam, and each thrust felt as if someone stabbed her arms and legs instead of the other way around. Far behind, the black-eyed worm vomited even more melon-sized worm-bearing globules. Suddenly, both the walls to her left and right and the floor below rippled and burst open, even more worms spilling through. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The shrieking sound of the chains stopped. ¡°Jenny, path free!¡± A young girl¡¯s voice called out from behind. A jolt of adrenaline and hope shot through Jenny. She didn¡¯t look back; instead, she retreated, thrusting with each step to keep the worms at bay. The attacks didn¡¯t do much damage to the burrowers, but they were enough to keep the monsters from getting too close. The things had learned that getting close meant getting stabbed. Her enemies had switched to whittling her down from afar. Sweat dripped into Jenny¡¯s eyes, the sting blurring her vision. She heard the retching from a worm spitting and blindly threw herself back and out of the way. Acid splashed the wall above, a shower of burning droplets falling on her. Jenny scrambled up and ran toward the other end of the tunnel. She saw the small opening in the spikes, large enough to jump through. Without pausing, she threw herself forward and through the gap. Pain laced her shoulder, and for a moment, Jenny thought she had hit the metal blocking the passage. She crashed on the other side, and the movement jostled the worm spike impaling her shoulder. She cried out from the pain. Jenny got up and didn¡¯t look back. She hobbled down the path and turned a corner. Biscuit was already a few meters ahead, holding the torch. The girl had stopped and looked back at Jenny. The naked girl was covered in bite marks, with some of the dead worms dangling from her arms and legs like oversized leeches. ¡°Run!¡± Jenny yelled to the girl. She knew the worms wouldn¡¯t stop because of metal spikes. They could dig through the stone. They had only bought a few minutes of respite. Jenny hobbled onward. Biscuit nodded, but instead of running away, she ran toward Jenny. The small girl grabbed onto Jenny¡¯s arm and started pulling. The bag strap around the girl¡¯s shoulder was stained with blood. The girl heaved with each step, pulling Jenny and the bag along. ¡°Damn, this is heavy. How do you fight carrying this all the time?¡± Biscuit asked in that same strange language. Jenny stumbled and used the spear as a walking stick to avoid falling. Biscuit pulling on her arm made things worse instead of helping, but Jenny had no energy to tell the girl off. Jenny¡¯s breath still came fast, but it was manageable. She couldn¡¯t believe they had survived. The duo walked in silence, except for groans each time they stepped. The path climbed ever upward. Jenny didn¡¯t pay attention to where they were going, concentrating on putting one step in front of the other. ¡°Huh?¡± She heard Biscuit speaking. ¡°Why is the magic torch dying?¡± Jenny focused on the girl. She remembered hearing something similar. Like a bell resounding on her head, the memories flooded back. She had watched them recently, that night, when Ferdinand attacked her in the foyer. He spoke in the same language. ¡°Biscuit?¡± Jenny called out, not sure what she wanted to ask. ¡°Yuki!¡± The girl huffed, then hit her chest two times with the hand still holding the dagger. ¡°Yuki, no biscuit.¡± In the dim and dying light of the torch, Jenny noticed the girl pouting. She had raised her head and looked away like a kid pretending to be angry. A smile broke on Jenny¡¯s face. Her hand moved forward and tousled the girl¡¯s hair. ¡°Thank you.¡± Biscuit, or perhaps Yuki, huffed again, then looked forward. ¡°But Jenny can call me Biscuit.¡± Jenny laughed even with all the stinging pain in her leg, shoulder, and ribs. She still laughed when they climbed stairs into the open forest air. The torch died at the same time they stepped outside the dungeon, leaving both in the dim light of the setting sun. Chapter - 56 Cold evening wind brushed against Yuki¡¯s skin. The soles of her feet hurt; each small stone or branch she stepped on felt like stepping on broken glass. Songbirds sang around her, insects chirped, and the whooshing of wind brought the smell of damp earth and grass. The dungeon entrance led them to an opening in the base of a cliff wall. A row of trees created a natural barrier, hiding the place from view. There was no visible path among the trees and bushes. Not knowing where to go, Yuki decided to follow the cliff, hoping to find a place where they could rest. Yuki forged on, staring ahead, eyes scanning the surroundings for anywhere they could stop and hide for the night. She didn¡¯t look back; she didn¡¯t dare look back. What kind of bullshit was this? Her neck, cheeks, and ears burned in shame. When had she become a tsundere? The only thing that was missing for a complete manga knockoff was the ¡®Jenny no baka!¡¯. Hadn¡¯t she resolved to do away with the name Biscuit? Why the hell did she ¡ª after only a head-pat ¡ª let Jenny still call her Biscuit? Yuki gritted her teeth; her gums ached with how much force she put into the act. She sighed, shoulders loosening. The bag hit the ground, and she heaved it up again with another grunt. The transformation wouldn¡¯t last much longer, so finding a place to rest soon was best. She could deal with the onset of anime idiocy later. Jenny had been silent since they left the dungeon, the blonde hobbling along while Yuki led the way. Yuki didn¡¯t know what went through the woman¡¯s head, but she noticed Jenny¡¯s glances. The woman¡¯s eyes looked confused and unsure, which didn¡¯t surprise Yuki. Even if Jenny had seen the spell list, knowing and seeing the human transformation were two different things. After walking around a thick bush, Yuki saw a small, recessed section in the cliff wall, similar to a shallow cave. She walked around the bushes and toward the alcove. Once there, she opened the bag, removed the blanket, and spread it on the floor before guiding Jenny to sit down. Yuki grabbed the spear and tried to pry it away from Jenny. The blonde wouldn¡¯t let go. Yuki sighed and whispered, ¡°We¡¯re out; you can let go.¡± She spoke in English since she didn¡¯t know the right words to use in Jenny¡¯s language. Perhaps it was the tone of voice, but Jenny released the spear. Yuki placed it by the blonde side, in easy reach. Now that they had stopped, Yuki looked down at her own body. Dead worms still dangled from her legs and tummy. The creature¡¯s teeth didn¡¯t let go after they died. She considered pulling them out, but she gave up on the idea. The shapechange would end soon enough. Yuki looked around, then inspected Jenny. The woman was a mess. Pockets of burnt leather and skin marred her arms, back, and face. Her sides were bloodied, a broken worm spike stuck to the leather armor. Another wound on her thighs still bleeding. A spike impaled her shoulder. ¡°Jenny, we need to take care of these wounds,¡± Yuki said, more to herself than to her familiar. Jenny made a noise, and Yuki wasn¡¯t sure what the woman meant. ¡°Status,¡± she called out. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The landing page presented the familiar white rabbit holding an empty crystal goblet. Yuki¡¯s shoulder dropped. Where had her last two magic points gone? She eyed the dangling dead worms in her legs. Yuki dug in the bag for the shirt Jenny had cut a few days early to make a makeshift handle for her spear. She cut a few strips with the magic knife, eying Jenny¡¯s leg. ¡°Let me do it,¡± Jenny said, hands moving to the cloth. While Yuki watched, the woman untied her belt and removed her trousers. With just a wince and a groan, she tied the cloth firmly around the injury. ¡°Can you remove the spike?¡± Jenny asked, hand waving toward her back. Yuki understood what the woman wanted even without understanding the words. She moved to the woman¡¯s back and pulled after gripping the bony thing. Jenny cried out and fell forward. Yuki threw the spike away. She guided Jenny to lie on her face while pressing a cloth to the injury. ¡°No magic.¡± She whispered, ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Jenny whispered before closing her eyes. Soon after, the woman¡¯s breathing took that slow, melodious cadence of someone sleeping. Yuki looked on conflicted. What was she supposed to do now? She shrugged. As the responsible adult in this contract, it fell to her to keep watch while her pet rested. While Jenny slept, Yuki looked over the changes in her character sheet. On the personal info tab, she noticed the experience counter. She was at almost fourteen hundred. Incredible gains for just a few days. Next, she looked at her skills. Athletics had gone up a few points, and the same was true for brawn, willpower, and perception. Yuki didn¡¯t know what those skills did since she acted like she usually did. Was it just a number to represent her current abilities, or like a game, increasing the number also increased her maximum capabilities? Giving up on that line of thought, she looked at a new line that had been added to combat styles. It listed a single weapon, a dagger, at twenty-nine. Yuki didn¡¯t mind the low value; she had no idea how to use a dagger in combat. But why was the combat style called ¡®Ineffective Flailing¡¯? Ignoring the insulting name, Yuki looked at her advanced skills next. Only her magic skill had changed. Shaping and Invocation had gone up another point. Yuki had an inkling that using that magic symbol was responsible for her gains. She hadn¡¯t had the time to internalize things yet, but she had several ideas about that rune. On a whim, Yuki willed the hidden characteristics tab to show up again. After reading the numbers, she noticed that the shapechange transformation added four, on average, points to her physical attributes while leaving her mental numbers unchanged. She scanned the numbers again and was about to hide the section once more when she noticed something else. A new entry had been added after the one called Experience Modifier. Experience modifier: +2. Experience stack: 2. Yuki glared at the system, willing it to convey what that meant. Experience stacks: System granted aid to heroic title holders used to improve existing skills, improve attributes (temporary improvement), learn new advanced skills, or new spells. When used to improve skills, it permanently improves skills between 1 and 5. Used to increase or improve a single characteristic at the cost of reducing the number of stacks gained while that increase is maintained. One stack point is used at each attempt to learn an advanced skill. One stack point is used on each attempt to learn a new spell. Yuki blinked at the system text. While she read it, the shapechange transformation had ended, and to her surprise, she wasn¡¯t a furless rabbit anymore. The injuries had still transferred from her human form, the dangling dead worms had fallen off, but her fur had regrown as well. Yuki sighed and wanted to hit her own head. What other secrets did her character sheet held? Was this the system¡¯s punishment after she ignored it? Chapter - 57 In the middle of the night, Yuki¡¯s companions were soft breathing, the wind¡¯s whooshing, the chirping of night insects, and the occasional firefly. She glanced again at the crystal goblet on her landing page. A small trickle of blue liquid sloshed inside. Yuki turned her gaze to the many other system windows open in front of her. While she read, Yuki concentrated on the sounds around ears turning at each new noise. Guilt prickled at her ears, but she couldn¡¯t use the little magic she had to heal Jenny. What if they were attacked in the middle of the night? With Jenny out of commission, the only way Yuki had to defend the both of them was [Wrack], and she barely had sufficient magic points for a single casting. Even if she wanted to heal Jenny and herself, logic wouldn¡¯t let her. Logic and fear. Yuki was in her last life already, and she didn¡¯t want the blonde to die. Jenny wasn¡¯t a bad familiar to have. Yuki once again scanned the list of unlockable advanced skills. She didn¡¯t see [Memory Manipulation] there. The list had only generic-sounding skills: [Acting], [Engineering], [Gambling], etc. Some looked like magic-related ones, like [Trance] or [Exhort]. Yuki eyed the advanced skill [Healing] and re-read the already open description of it. Healing (INT+POW): In-depth knowledge of medical procedures based on cultural practices. This skill provides knowledge on treating serious wounds, diseases, poisons, and performing surgery. The appropriate equipment and resources are needed to use this skill successfully. To the other side, she reread the list of available spells. It was still the same list she had seen when she had been reincarnated, but now, at least, the system gave descriptions of the magic; some of which was vile. [Extract Heart], for example, ripped out the still beating heart of a living creature. [Trap Soul] did what the name implied. [Exsanguinate] caused the target¡¯s blood vessels to rupture. Yuki looked away from the list. The sadistic side of her wanted two spells. [Torment] and [Transfer Wound]. Torment was a copy-paste version of the cruciatus curse, while transfer wound temporarily transferred a wound from one creature to another. The first was her fangirl wannabe evil witch speaking, while the second could be used in combat in an emergency. Before any decision, Yuki needed to know how it worked. She looked at [Invocation] skill and willed the system to improve it. Improve advanced skill [Invocation]? Yes/No Yuki glared at the yes. Calculating¡­ Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [Invocation] check successful. Calculating upgrade value. [Invocation] skill upgraded. New details about magic flooded Yuki¡¯s mind¡ªthough not as many as when the system first unlocked. Small details she had overlooked, even a few conjectures about the nature of the magic runes. It was over in a blink. Yuki looked at her invocation skill again, and it was now at fifty-three. The improvement gave her two new points. Yuki felt a pang of regret. It didn¡¯t seem worth using the stack points to improve existing skills if the improvement was this minor. Acquiring a new skill or even a new spell seemed to be the better investment. Depending on how rare these stack points were, she might benefit more from hoarding them until she needed a new skill or a new spell in an emergency. Yuki looked again at the system information about stack points, but nowhere did it say how she earned those. She didn¡¯t even know if she had received them before or after the dungeon. With a mental command, she updated the landing page to also show the number of stack points. Layout updated. The quiet night dragged on, and Yuki had trouble sitting still. It had been a few hours already, and the smells of the forest called to her. Yuki wanted to hop between the bushes, dig beneath the leaves, and eat some of the tasty foliage she could smell from here. Instead of doing all that, she hopped around the alcove. What should they do now? Yuki wanted to go back to the burrow and look for her siblings. She knew it was a pipe dream, but maybe some of them survived? But that would put Jenny at direct risk. The woman barely managed to flee from that place; given how they¡¯d met in the forest, asking the blonde to return didn¡¯t seem fair. But if they didn¡¯t go back, where should they go? Yuki realized she knew nothing about this world aside from the things she managed to infer by herself. Could they become adventures? Was that even a thing here? Jenny was a competent fighter, and if they managed to add magic to the blonde¡¯s repertoire, she¡¯d be hard to deal with. But that was considering Jenny even wanted to adventure in the first place. Aside from the Gizelda girl Jenny often mentioned, Yuki didn¡¯t know anything else about Jenny either. But that also didn¡¯t answer what Yuki wanted to do. Deep down, Yuki just wanted to live a magic adventure; the thought of a monster girl evolution made her giddy with happiness. But she couldn¡¯t ignore Ferdinand and the things he had done. Yuki wasn¡¯t delusional in thinking his actions were her responsibility, but whenever she thought about the creep, hate burned behind her eyes. She wouldn¡¯t mind sending the murderous freak to the abyss where he belonged. Yuki sighed and shook her head. She needed to be careful. After suffering the effects of the passion system thing, even thinking about the stalker was enough to send her into an evil mood. Yuki wanted to stop the guy, mostly because she didn¡¯t want another reincarnator ruining her own magic fantasy life. Yeah, it was a selfish reason and a bit on the evil side, but she didn¡¯t care. Yuki wasn¡¯t a hero, despite what the title proclaimed. She wanted to go on a grand adventure and didn¡¯t really care about saving the world. The night forest sounds kept Yuki company while her thoughts wandered. Fortunately, no predator showed up. Dawn broke over the trees with a warm orange glow when Yuki made a decision. She would check with Jenny what the woman wanted to do, and if the blonde decided to settle down, Yuki would let the woman be and leave after resting and restoring her own magic. It would be a shame to leave Jenny; Yuki had grown fond of the girl, but if her pet didn¡¯t want to adventure, Yuki wouldn¡¯t try to force the woman into that life. Yuki felt better after deciding on things: have a grand adventure, find out what Ferdinand wanted, stop the creep if possible, and be happy. Those seemed like reasonable enough goals. Yuki hopped back and nested beside the sleeping blonde. Better yet, if Jenny decided to join, too. Chapter - 58 Jenny woke up to a pounding headache she recognized all too well. It was the same when she had a day free from work, when she slept half the day and didn¡¯t drink enough water, when she wanted nothing other than to curl beneath the sheets and sleep the day away. A cold breeze brushed past her face. Jenny shivered. Had she forgotten to close the windows again? ¡°Jeenny.¡± A squeaky, high-pitched sound called her name. Jenny didn¡¯t want to wake up. She was tired, and her whole body ached. It was almost as bad as the training days in her childhood. ¡°Wakee uap.¡± The voice called again, and Jenny opened her eyes. White soft fur, black rings around red eyes, a twitching nose, and almost transparent whiskers. Behind the rabbit, the bright blue sky. ¡°Hi, Biscuit,¡± Jenny whispered. The rabbit hopped closer, humid and cool nose touching Jenny¡¯s cheek. ¡°Yuu, guud?¡± Jenny didn¡¯t answer. Memories from the past days crawled back into her mind: the escape, fall, dungeon, worms, battles, the many injuries she suffered, the magic book, the bloody key, and the cursed dagger. A groan escaped when she tried to sit down. Everything hurt. ¡°Uhm.¡± Jenny gritted her teeth. Pain was a construct of the mind. She could ignore it. Moving only one arm, Jenny pushed herself up. She took deep breaths, ignoring the stinging agony on her shoulder, legs, and sides. Biscuit looked on, her nose twitching fast. The rabbit looked at the alcove and trees around them and then at Jenny again. Biscuit tilted her head and hopped on Jenny¡¯s lap. ¡°Heal, no agik, spear, yuu.¡± Jenny heard the jumbled words and understood what Biscuit meant. After using heal, the rabbit wouldn¡¯t have any magic left, so it would fall to Jenny to protect them. Jenny considered just for a few moments before she nodded. Biscuit chanting started soon after and the rabbit settled down. A hand moved to the critter¡¯s ears, and Jenny took her time doling out scritches. She had much to ask her pet, but the language barrier was still problematic. ¡°We eed to taak.¡± Came Biscuit''s soft voice. For a moment, Jenny couldn¡¯t make sense of things. She had never heard those words before but she still understood them, even if Biscuit¡¯s pronunciation was horrible. The magic dream and the choice she made came to her mind again. Biscuit had spoken in that same language. ¡°How?¡± The blonde asked back. Biscuit stared at Jenny in silence. Had she asked something she shouldn¡¯t? Why was Biscuit staring? Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Still staring Jenny down, the rabbit spoke with gravitas, the squeaky voice deep. ¡°Agik.¡± Jenny blinked. What? Biscuit¡¯s tittering sounded soon after. Had her pet¡­ played a prank on her? A smile tugged at Jenny¡¯s lip, and she pinched one of Biscuit¡¯s ears. The rabbit tittered louder. The pain started to fade, the burning in her sides abating. Jenny knew the healing would still take a few hours, but she already felt much better. ¡°Was it the magic dream?¡± She asked in the same strange language. ¡°Chek skill, status.¡± Biscuit instructed. Jenny did as her pet said. On skills, she didn¡¯t see anything different, but under language in advanced skills, there was a new entry: Old Aetheri. ¡°You also have this Old Aetheri skill?¡± Biscuit nodded. There was so much she wanted to ask, but maybe it was best to start from the beginning. ¡°What are you?¡± She didn¡¯t think the rabbit would answer, but that at least would inform her next choices. ¡°Was a uman, now am a abbit.¡± Jenny¡¯s fingers stopped, and Biscuit huffed in protest. Biscuit was a human? How? Why? She had never heard of anything like it. Not even myths spoke about humans living again as rabbits. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Died uman, born abbit,¡± said Biscuit, ¡°tell yuu moor later, wen sape ange.¡± That took Jenny a bit more to puzzle out. Died human, born a rabbit. It made sense that Biscuit wanted a regular human mouth to explain that one. Jenny was curious and afraid. All Mother¡¯s warnings about magic, and here she was, dealing with a cursed rabbit sorceress and trying to learn magic herself. Jenny steeled herself for a question that weighed on her mind for a while. ¡°What is this contract?¡± ¡°Istake.¡± ¡­What? Saving her life was a mistake? But why? Jenny remembered Biscuit tried to cast regenerate, and only when it failed did the girl use the contract magic. ¡°Oh,¡± Biscuit exclaimed before Jenny¡¯s mind got even more confused. ¡°Price istake,¡± the rabbit enunciated, slow and precise, ¡°wanted to save yuu, but price was a istake.¡± The rabbit repeated again. Jenny¡¯s fingers started moving once more, searching the spots Biscuit liked. Jenny took a deep breath to calm down, and the rabbit started thumping. A small smile cracked on the blonde¡¯s face. It always amused her, the rabbit¡¯s reactions. Jenny had a lot more to ask, but only one more question couldn¡¯t wait. ¡°Who is Ferdinand, and how do you know him?¡± The thumping stopped, and the rabbit jerked. She looked up, staring at Jenny with wide eyes. Biscuit didn¡¯t respond, just staring and breathing heavily. ¡°Hate him.¡± Biscuit''s intense voice came. ¡°Knew him efore died.¡± Jenny wasn¡¯t an expert in rabbit tells, but even she knew Biscuit didn¡¯t want to talk about this, maybe when she changed into that girl again. Both fell silent for a long while. Biscuit kept the magic flowing, and Jenny kept up her ministrations. Now that she was out of the dungeon, Jenny knew her priorities. She didn¡¯t know what Biscuit wanted to do, but she had better inform the rabbit of her plans, even more so because Jenny wanted Biscuit¡¯s help. ¡°I want to go back to Thornfield,¡± she started. ¡°I need to send a letter to Gizelda, tell her the truth about what happened. Her father died, and her brother blamed me for it.¡± Jenny fell silent for a long time, and Biscuit said nothing. ¡°The baron was more like my father than my own,¡± Jenny admitted. ¡°He even offered to adopt me.¡± The rabbit nuzzled against Jenny¡¯s hand. The gesture was comforting. ¡°I need to send that letter, and I want to know what happened and why he was killed.¡± Jenny started again after a while. ¡°Gregory, that¡¯s the baron¡¯s son. I think he¡¯s in cahoots with Ferdinand.¡± Jenny needed to put her mind in order lest she confuse her pet even more. She started again. ¡°I want to return, but I need your magic to help me enter the town. By now, the church and the militia are probably looking for me. I also want to pay Gregory a visit. With your magic, with Dominate, I can learn why he wanted his father dead, and why he blamed me for it.¡± Chapter - 59 Yuki considered the blonde¡¯s words. On one paw, it was nice that they had similar goals. Both wanted to go back; both wanted to learn about things and Yuki was all in favor of that. On the other paw, the methods? Yuki¡¯s gut churned in discomfort. When talking about this Gregory person, Jenny¡¯s tone of voice was one Yuki knew all too well. Even so, in Yuki¡¯s opinion, [Dominate] was too much. Jenny hadn¡¯t pressed for an answer; most importantly, the ear massage hadn¡¯t stopped. What was the correct answer here? There was other magic Yuki could employ other than [Dominate]. [Enslave] was out of the question; Yuki wanted nothing to do with that, but spells like [Switch Body], which would let them pose as this Gregory for a time. Or maybe [Clone]. A clone knew everything the owner also knew up to when the sample was taken, and it only lasted for the spell duration. Was it immoral to extract information from a clone? On the less evil side of things, there was [Project Sense]. If Yuki understood it correctly, it could function like the Arcane Eye spell, with the benefit that the eye, in this case, was invisible and intangible. The spell wouldn¡¯t allow her to hear anything, but maybe explore the manor for clues. In her zealotry, Yuki hadn¡¯t considered how [Dominate] would make her feel. She was so engrossed in video game assumptions about minor spells such as Friends, Charm Person, and Suggestion that she thought only about Dominate Monsters from DnD. Now that she was inside a world with such spells, using them on a person was a line Yuki didn¡¯t want to cross. What other options did they have? No, magic wasn¡¯t the answer. Magic points were hard to come by, and if, for every problem, Yuki tried to use magic as a solution, they¡¯d be caught on the wrong foot with no magic points eventually. The current situation was a perfect example. She could barely heal herself, let alone dream about getting more spells. Yuki asked another question while pondering Jenny¡¯s request. ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous to go back? People were chasing you that night.¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°If I were alone, I wouldn¡¯t try to go back,¡± she admitted. "It is only speculation, but I¡¯m guessing the guards are looking for me and maybe even the church.¡± Yuki¡¯s purring stopped to ask a question. ¡°Why the church?¡± ¡°This place fears magic, and you left a magic circle drawn in blood at the manor. If he wants to keep his lands and title, Gregory must report that and blame it on someone else.¡± ¡°Is the church that powerful?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The woman sighed. ¡°Worse if an Inquisitor shows up. A part of me just wants to move away from Thornfield and to the capitol, book passage on a skyship, and flee the island. But I left all my money hidden in the manor, and Baldwin was almost like a father. I know going back is a bad idea, but I need to at least try. With your magic, we have a good chance to learn what happened and get provisions and money. After, we can decide what to do next.¡± It felt like Jenny¡¯s motivation was more complex than Yuki could place. Going back was something Yuki was already planning to do, but still. ¡°I don¡¯t mind helping with Shapechange,¡± Yuki said after a long while. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to dominate another person.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Jenny¡¯s fingers stopped for a moment before they started again. ¡°I understand.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was calm and guarded. Yuki didn¡¯t know what to make of the situation. She felt terrible about the whole thing. Immediately, she wanted to go back and say yes, but that would also make her feel worse. To assuage her anxious mind, she asked another question. ¡°Can¡¯t we do it the old spy way?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yuki considered her words. ¡°We could sneak into the manor while they sleep and try to find anything that would give us more information,¡± she thought back to the time when she entered the lord¡¯s office. ¡°I smelled magic when you took me to the lord¡¯s office. Maybe it is related?¡± Jenny giggled. ¡°The sneeze?¡± Yuki ruffed and looked away. ¡°The smell was too strong. I couldn¡¯t help it.¡± ¡°It was adorable,¡± Jenny said between giggles. ¡°It was that sneeze that made me want to keep you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your pet,¡± Yuki grumbled. ¡°You¡¯re my pet.¡± Jenny burst out in laughter.
The hours idled away while Yuki concentrated on her magic. Jenny talked about the island, its king, and the lords, about the church and how magic was feared and abhorred, about title holders and specialized perks. Yuki interrupted the infodump there because that was something she needed to know. ¡°Wait, title-holders? Like the one you and I have?¡± ¡°Do you have a title too?¡± Jenny asked, surprised. ¡°Your blue tiles didn¡¯t say you had one.¡± ¡°Status,¡± Yuki called out. ¡°Share,¡± she added soon after. From the landing page, she navigated to the abilities tab and glared at the two heroic lines, demanding the system spill its secrets. She should have done this a long time ago. Heroic Trait: Reincarnation. Upon death, you are reincarnated as a random animal or creature. Uses remaining: 0 Heroic Title: Summoned Hero. Grants access to the system user interface. Allows limited manual selection of system options. Yuki didn¡¯t remember her second death. She only remembered Truck-kun exploding. There was a gap between dying on Earth and Reincarnating as her bunny self she couldn¡¯t remember. Did that mean no one else could access the system? Yuki guessed it was like that, even if Jenny took to the system like a fish to water. Since she was on this tab, Yuki also glared at the trait. Perfume of Power: Allows the user to sense magic. The method used to sense magic is based on race. Did the trait give her the ability to smell magic because of the name, or did the trait name change because she got the ability to smell magic? Was this a chicken or egg first type of question? Was it even worth considering? Jenny¡¯s voice took Yuki away from her musings. ¡°I can see the trait, but the title is empty.¡± ¡°I have two others. Heroic Trait and Heroic Title.¡± Jenny inhaled sharply, her fingers stopping. The woman looked down, eyes wide. She opened her mouth a few times, breathed deeply, and looked away. ¡°What is it?¡± Yuki asked. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just a coincidence.¡± Yuki insisted. ¡°Tell me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story and has a lot to do with my childhood,¡± Jenny sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve been revisiting those memories a lot in the past days. Can we talk about this later?¡± Yuki guessed that whatever those memories were, they weren¡¯t pleasant. In the end, aside from her curiosity, Yuki didn¡¯t mind waiting until Jenny felt comfortable sharing. ¡°I was just curious. Tell me when you feel comfortable.¡± The fingers started again. ¡°Thank you, Biscuit.¡± It was still strange to know Jenny had named her cookie, and it was even more strange that she had done a dere thing and accepted it. ¡°Do you know what my title does?¡± Jenny asked after a while. ¡°Focus on the title,¡± Yuki said, ¡°and demand the parchment tell you what it means.¡± ¡°Humm,¡± Jenny mumbled, her eyes glazing over. ¡°Oh,¡± the woman exclaimed. Jenny¡¯s hands moved away from Yuki, and the blonde covered her face. Jenny¡¯s shoulders shook and at first Yuki thought the woman was laughing, but from behind the hands came muffled, pained, choked sounds. It made Yuki want to cry as well. What had happened? Chapter - 60 Title: One of a kind. Magic is part of your bloodline, passed from mother to daughter. You are the last of your line. It had been more than a decade since Jenny last saw Mother. She remembered their last moments, the urgent whispered advice, Mother¡¯s sad smile, and their fingers slipping from each other. If her title was accurate, then Mother hadn¡¯t survived. Deep down, Jenny already knew it; she¡¯d already mourned many years ago, but she always kept a slim hope. Jenny¡¯s escape had gone downhill from their plan, and she arrived in Blackthorn months later than planned. Biscuit had gone silent, which Jenny was glad for. The blonde closed her eyes, one hand cleaning the tears from her face while the other sought comfort on the rabbit¡¯s soft fur. Jenny willed her mind to bring back the last memory of her mother. ¡­ Jenny wasn¡¯t aware of how much time had passed, but she felt better. She was still sad, but just the usual sadness of remembering a loved one. The injuries didn¡¯t hurt as much anymore; her shoulder and leg still stung, but it was more like a pinprick than burning agony. The blonde opened her eyes and looked at the rabbit. Biscuit slept on her lap, nose twitching from time to time. A smile blossomed on Jenny¡¯s face. Her stomach rumbled, and the rabbit jolted up, ears swirling in all directions. ¡°Good morning, Biscuit.¡± The rabbit sagged after hearing Jenny¡¯s voice. Biscuit opened her mouth in a big yawn. ¡°Mornin¡¯.¡± Jenny drank water and ate the fruit she¡¯d gathered from the orchard. She placed a few of the leaves for Biscuit and pooled water on her hand for the rabbit to drink. Morning routine done, Jenny packed things again. ¡°Our most pressing problem right now is magic.¡± Biscuit made Biscuit noises, which Jenny agreed with. ¡°Back in the dungeon, we had the berries, but even then, those worms sucked us dry of magic.¡± Biscuit tittered at her comment, but Jenny didn¡¯t know what the rabbit found funny about it. ¡°I know there¡¯s another way to recover magic,¡± the blonde said, weighing her words. Jenny didn¡¯t want to antagonize the heroic titleholder turned rabbit. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯m tired of eating these fruits. If I can hunt down game, we could eat better and use the wild animal to replenish our magic. What do you think?¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Biscuit was silent for a long while. The rabbit stared at Jenny unblinking. ¡°Jus¡¯ animals and monsters?¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°Just wild animals and monsters.¡± The memory of Ferdinand and what he had done surfaced again. Jenny shuddered. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be like him.¡± Maybe the rabbit understood. Biscuit didn¡¯t ask who. ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Jenny looked at the rabbit, ¡°Why tomorrow?¡± ¡°Safe, have agik to heal.¡± Something Jenny hadn¡¯t felt for a long time crept from her stomach to her chest and face. She blinked a few surprise tears away, Biscuit¡¯s words taking her by surprise. ¡°Right you are.¡± She said, doing her best to speak through the thick throat. Revisiting the memories of Mother and confirming her death affected Jenny more than she wanted to admit, if even a logical suggestion by her pet rabbit brought her to tears. For the rest of the day, Jenny kept watch and studied the spellbook while Biscuit slept. Night soon arrived again, and Jenny settled beneath the blankets to avoid the cold wind. Like the previous night, Biscuit kept guard, but nothing happened. Jenny relieved herself, ate, and drank the last of their dwindling water reserves. After packing the improvised camp, she slung the bag over her shoulder, tied the dagger around her belt, and picked up her spear. She also packed the torch in the bag, hoping they could reignite its magic in the future. After they left the makeshift camp, Jenny looked around for any familiar landmark. With none in sight, she oriented herself by the sun, judging the town¡¯s probable direction. She set a steady pace towards it, keeping an eye open for any wild creature they might encounter.
Jenny pressed the spear down into the animal in front of her. The tip had pierced its flank, not enough to kill, but enough to immobilize it. It was one of the strange creatures from this island. Smaller than a horse but larger than a dog. The head resembled a long tube, with small beady eyes on the sides. The fur on the legs and tail was long and flowing, a white line dividing the grey fur on its back and the black fur on its belly. Jenny didn¡¯t know what it ate, but the wicked claws on its forepaws looked mean. The creature was slow and not known for being aggressive, she leveraged that knowledge to hit the beast first and bring it down before it could retaliate. Biscuit squealed, jumped, and frolicked, repeating ¡°anteater¡± many times. Jenny hadn¡¯t figured that out yet. The sight now wasn¡¯t as pretty as before. With a spear stuck in the animal¡¯s flank and a foot pressing its head down, Jenny looked on while Biscuit used the creature¡¯s blood to draw symbols. Then the chanting started. Eerie words resounded in the area. The sun seemed to lose its luster, and cold air crept up Jenny¡¯s spine. Unbidden, the memories of that night came back. But she noticed something different. Whatever Ferdinand did, it wasn¡¯t the same as Biscuit. Biscuit burned the creature¡¯s life force, converting it into magic, whereas Ferdinand did something... Jenny¡¯s gut squirmed at the phantom sensations on her stomach, that sensation of something fleeing through the wound. ¡°Kill et!¡± Biscuit squeaking ripped Jenny from the memory. She blinked before pulling the spear up and piercing the creature¡¯s head. She felt the flesh giving way and bones breaking. It was never a good thing to feel. The animal¡¯s blood boiled and bubbled, seeping from the injury and gathering where Yuki had drawn the symbol. When the animal stopped struggling, no blood leaked from the wound. A deep red stone sat by the side, gleaming in the sunlight. Even in the sun, Jenny shivered. Chapter - 61 Yuki observed the red stone on the ground, questioning her life choices. It was one of those times she regretted the decision that led to this situation. Just animals and monsters, she had asked. Well, it was an animal, alright. The creature in front of her looked a lot like an anteater. The same head and eyes, the same lush fur and colors. Yuki wanted to jump on that fur and feel the fluff if it wasn¡¯t for the bloody ritual. The ominous sunlight glint on the red stone reminded Yuki what must be done. This was a slippery slope. Magic was scarce in this world, and the ritual to extract the creature¡¯s life force and transform it into magic sounded evil, but in the end, it was just magic¡ªblood magic, for sure, but magic nonetheless. How could she solve this magic problem? To make things worse, the whole ritual and magic, aside from the coppery smell of blood, reminded Yuki of the strong smell of Parmesan cheese. Whoever decided that a blood ritual to extract life force from something should have a cheese smell was a really evil person. Now, Yuki yearned for cheese coated in that berry from the dungeon. With her eyes still closed, Yuki followed her nose and gulped down the red stone with a single bite. At first, it felt like when she was a kid and decided to lick a battery. The tingling sensation was horrible and fantastic, which explained why Yuki did it even after growing up. After eating the red stone, it started the same. A tingling that grew to the same burning as drinking strong soda drinks without stopping. Another thing Yuki still did even after she grew up. The burning sensation was, again, horrible and incredible in equal measures. When the stone reached her belly, a fire spread through her body, and Yuki had to walk, hop, and then dash around. It wasn¡¯t like drinking an energy drink, but it felt like she was invincible for a moment. The euphoric feeling soon abated, and a new notification joined the previous one. Your party killed a Talonlicker. Exp: + 20. You have eaten a magic stone. 5 magic points restored. A long while later, Yuki reported the results. ¡°Five magic points.¡± Jenny nodded, her eyes still focused on the dead animal. ¡°One more?¡± One more, and Yuki would be sitting at over ten magic points. It was a comfortable amount of magic if they didn¡¯t use any until they arrived at the city. In the end, more magic was better and safer. ¡°One more.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Jenny nodded again, removed the spear from the animal¡¯s head, scanned the surroundings, and started moving again. Yuki wasn¡¯t ashamed to admit she was lost and afraid. She had no idea how to return to the dungeon if necessary, and while Jenny explained why they moved in the direction they moved, Yuki didn¡¯t understand the woman¡¯s logic. Something related to the sun¡¯s position and the mountains in the distance. That was fine. Yuki was a city girl. Back in the before, GPS was the order of the day; she was never good with remembering directions. Here and now, she was just concerned with the next shrub to hide under. The trek lasted for about half an hour when Yuki smelled magic¡ªthe old lemony scent of the snakepards. Her heart sped up, and she all but froze on the spot. ¡°Jenny,¡± she called out, squeaky high and panicky. "Trouble.¡± The blonde stopped and looked back. ¡°What is it, Biscuit?¡± How to explain? Yuki didn¡¯t know the monster¡¯s name. ¡°Big cats with snakes on their shoulders that can become invisible. I smell one nearby.¡± Yuki could see Jenny trying to puzzle the words out, and the moment she understood it. The blonde eyes widened, and she took a step back. ¡°Gloom, take me!¡± She cursed and turned around, dashing in the opposite direction. Yuki followed, relief dispersing the fear. She was glad the woman didn¡¯t want to fight that monster. Yuki¡¯s ears trembled just thinking of it. No, better not provoke such a creature. Their new path took them around a copse of tall trees that resembled pines. Whenever Yuki smelled the lemony scent, the duo immediately cut away from that path, circling around that area. Yuki remembered the journey from the manor to the farm and burrow, and while she wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed while Jenny carried her in the darkness, it couldn¡¯t have been more than a couple of hours. It was noon and the tall, imposing trees were nothing similar to the short, gnarled ones around the manor and burrow. Peeking from beneath a fallen log, Yuki glanced at her travel companion. ¡°Are we lost?¡± Jenny huffed, eyes scanning the surroundings. ¡°Of course not!¡± Yuki¡¯s ears pointed at the woman, almost an ingrained reflex. She had heard something in this calm forest area. Yuki noticed the rosy complexion on the woman¡¯s ears and the accelerated thump-thump of the blonde¡¯s heart. ¡°We are totally lost,¡± Yuki sighed, flopping on the dry leaves. ¡°Let¡¯s rest for a bit,¡± Jenny deflected, sitting down. The woman took a handful of leaves from the bag and placed them near the log. Yuki¡¯s nose twitched a storm. The leaves smelled nice and tasted even better. She munched slowly, observing Jenny. They¡¯d talked a lot in the past few hours, with Jenny explaining the current political situation. The way Jenny spoke of the island led Yuki to think of countries in the before. This island was called Blackthorn, after the first Blackthorn emperor. The empire¡¯s capital was also named Blackthorn. Didn¡¯t these people get confused by this? How would one know if they were discussing the island, emperor, or capital? The manor was unsurprisingly called Thornfield Manor, and the city had also been named Thornfield. Aside from the strange naming convention, it wasn¡¯t that different from medieval times in the before, except for the fact that magic was real. ¡°Why is magic so feared?¡± Yuki asked between leaves. Jenny stopped chewing on the fruit, her gaze still distant. ¡°Because it never ends well.¡± Jenny had that haunted stare of someone who had seen too much. ¡°Magic corrupts, and every sorcerer¡¯s end is madness, becoming a raving lunatic, vying for power beyond mortal ken, and inviting calamity into our sacred world.¡± Yuki almost expected to hear an amen after Jenny¡¯s speech. The tone, cadence, and words made it clear that the blonde repeated the words of a sermon. ¡°Or that is what I¡¯ve been told. I¡¯m not sure anymore.¡± Jenny took another bite from the fruit, scowling. ¡°You¡¯ve been using magic nonstop and seem just fine.¡± Chapter - 62 ¡°You¡¯ve been using magic nonstop and seem just fine,¡± Jenny said, taking another bite of the fruit. Yuki glared at Jenny. That was a red flag if she ever heard one. Jenny needed to learn about those things and learn soon. There was magic here, and while no god meddled in character creation, Yuki wasn¡¯t convinced they didn¡¯t exist either. Any bored divine being hearing that would take the blonde words as an invitation to cause trouble. The sharp, creaking noise of a branch stepped on resounded from behind. By the log, Yuki stood on her legs, ears pointed in the sound¡¯s direction. Shivers started from her fluffy tail to her legs, spine, and ears. She looked about, confident Jenny had just invited disaster on them. ¡°What is it, Biscuit?¡± Yuki took her time to answer, listening for any other noise. ¡°Heard something.¡± Jenny tossed the half-eaten fruit away ¡ª was that a sigh of relief? ¡ª and picked up the spear, looking in the same direction. ¡°How far?¡± ¡°Not far.¡± The blonde nodded. She put the bag near a tree and threw leaves over it. A careful onlooker wouldn¡¯t have trouble finding it, but it was better than nothing. Jenny crouched behind a tree trunk and waited. Yuki waited hidden, listening to the approaching sound. With careful, slow steps, a deer crept into view. The fawn walked closer, often stopping and listening and sometimes even retreating a step or two. The thing was cute. The white spots on its coat and long, gangly legs reminded Yuki of that famous baby deer from the children¡¯s movie. Yuki wanted to get closer and play around with the fawn. The calf took its time and stopped next to the discarded fruit. It sniffed at it for a long time before eating it. The baby animal shook its head a few times while it ate. Done with the discarded fruit, it moved toward the bag. It didn¡¯t take long until it had uncovered and had its snout inside the leather bag. The nearby movement startled Yuki and the fawn. Yuki ducked down, and the fawn reared its head. Jenny was on the animal in no time, spear held in both hands and ready. ¡°No!¡± Yuki yelled. The fawn let out a chirping cry. Jenny impaled the cute almost-Bambi. Using the momentum, Jenny twisted the spear, and the deer fell. Before the animal could resist, Jenny had already stepped on its neck, pinning it to the ground. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Yuki watched in horror, the dream breaking in front of her eyes. Jenny had a broad smile on her face. ¡°Lucky!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I ate deer.¡± After a while, the blonde looked toward where Yuki was hidden. ¡°You think we¡¯ll need another one after this?¡±
Yuki didn¡¯t want to remember the past hour. Suffice it to say she ate the magic stone and restored four more magic points. Jenny, the monster, sat by an improvised fire, cooking meat at daggerpoint. It was her third serving. ¡°Tastes strange.¡± That was all the blonde said after eating the first cut. Cute animal culture wreaked havoc on Yuki¡¯s mind, even if it was stupid. It was just an animal; no matter how cute it was, Jenny needed to eat, and Yuki needed the magic. What if Yuki didn¡¯t need magic anymore? Given how it worked here, enchanting with a spell effect seemed more tempting each time she needed to cast spells. Her magic pool would take a hit, but imagine if Yuki created a healing collar for her pet and maybe an amulet of Wrack for herself. With attack and healing covered, she wouldn¡¯t be so pressed for magic all the time, even if her pool was smaller. Yuki did the math regarding how much magic would be reserved. For [Regeneration], the efficacy of the spell was based on her [Invocation] skill. She could enchant the magic to work at range or affect more people to be safe. With both options, the total magic points reserved would be four points. [Wrack] needed magnitude and range, two other parameters, which meant another four magic points reserved. Or Yuki could do a basic [Regeneration] for two reserved points and [Wrack] for four. That would still leave her with twelve magic points to work with. Yuki could always undo the enchantment if things went south and regain her reserved magic. ¡°Are you angry?¡± Jenny¡¯s voice cut through the raze of math and magic. Yuki sulked a bit, the question bringing her back. ¡°Maybe.¡± She admitted. The blonde looked away from the fire and at Yuki. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It was cute.¡± Thankfully, the woman didn¡¯t laugh. She nodded a slow, deliberate movement. ¡°Come here,¡± she said, putting the dagger down and placing both hands on the ground. Yuki hopped closer, then on the woman¡¯s hand. Jenny hugged Yuki, bringing the rabbit closer to her face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She apologized. ¡°Should we avoid cute animals in the future?¡± Yuki considered the words. What were cute animals? That was a hard question to answer; she liked creepy-cute things as well. But Yuki knew what she wanted already. ¡°No,¡± she said after a while. ¡°Only rabbits, cats, and dogs.¡± Jenny didn¡¯t say anything, just stared for a long while. ¡°We kill only when needed,¡± she agreed. ¡°And not rabbits, dogs, or cats.¡± Something strange was in Jenny¡¯s voice that Yuki couldn¡¯t place. ¡°Thank you,¡± Yuki said, nuzzling the woman¡¯s cheeks. After the brief respite, they continued on. Yuki was sure they were lost and just trying their luck; but after a few hours of trudging through the wilds, Jenny found a trail and, soon after, a road. This one, the blonde recognized. It wasn¡¯t the main road leading to the capital, but a small one leading to nearby farming villages. ¡°Just a few months ago, I had to visit Bramble Village with Baron Baldwin. There was a spot of trouble.¡± Jenny had a smile on her face, her voice full of energy. She looked at both sides of the road before pointing. ¡°If we follow that, the town should be a few hours away. We might arrive there before nightfall.¡± Yuki didn¡¯t trust the woman¡¯s sense of direction. She eyed both sides of the road. ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Yes, I know where we are; come on,¡± Jenny said and started walking. Yuki had the nagging feeling the woman had no idea where she was going. She could only hope for the best. Chapter - 63 After a while, the path opened up into a more significant road. Immediately, Jenny walked off the packed earth, staying hidden from view in the trees off to the side while following in the same direction. Yuki agreed with that decision. She could hear things from far away in both directions, the noise of heavy animals and the groaning of wood under a heavy load. Merchants, she guessed. ¡°The baron pays the guild to patrol the region each year,¡± Jenny said, breaking the silence. The guild sends adventures to hunt down the more dangerous creatures.¡± ¡°How come no one ever found the dungeon?¡± Yuki asked. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not sure.¡± The blonde admitted, looking back.; though,Yuki was confident the girl was looking in the wrong direction. ¡°The entrance wasn¡¯t even that hidden, and it is near the main road.¡± ¡°Laziness?¡± ¡°Could be,¡± Jenny agreed. In the end, it was yet another mystery that Yuki wasn¡¯t sure if it was worth solving. The sun had taken on that warm orange glow that indicated night would soon follow when Jenny stopped. ¡°We¡¯re not far from the town.¡± She placed the bag down and sat on the dried leaves. ¡°How long does the magic last?¡± [Shaping] hadn¡¯t changed since the previous day. If she invested all her available points in duration, she could make the spell last a little more than two hours. All things considered, it wasn¡¯t that long. ¡°Two¡ª¡± Yuki stopped mid-sentence. She was being stupid again. She could cast a permanent [Enchant] [Shapechange] on Jenny for two magic points. Since the spell didn¡¯t need any other parameters, it was cheap to cast. Yuki thought about the spell [Enchant], checking the details. This was one she hadn¡¯t paid attention to since she needed tools. But that was to craft artifacts. Yuki wanted to make an effect permanent on a person, not craft a pretty dagger. ¡°Biscuit?¡± ¡°Gimme a moment, thinking,¡± Yuki answered. Yes, the spell still needed a few material components, even if she wanted to cast it on a living person. Yuki would need ink, silver, gold, and precious stones to be ground to dust. That mixture would then be used to write the correspondent symbols on the target. She could even include herself in the casting, immediately she rejected the idea. Yuki liked opposable thumbs, but she enjoyed being a rabbit more. ¡°Two hours, give or take a few minutes,¡± Yuki said. She eyed Jenny¡¯s blue sapphire earrings. ¡°With the right materials, I can make the effect last as long as needed.¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°What do you need for that?¡± ¡°To make it last, I need ink, silver and gold dust, and precious gems also ground to powder.¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Jenny¡¯s hand went to her ear. ¡°How much of it?¡± ¡°A few of the coins of each, and both earrings.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Jenny said, looking away. Yuki didn¡¯t press. She couldn¡¯t cast the spell right now anyway. ¡°Man or woman?¡± Jenny looked back, confusion written on her face. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Is it normal for a girl to travel alone in these lands?¡± Yuki asked instead of answering. ¡°I see what you mean,¡± Jenny said. ¡°Unusual, but not unheard of. Male would make it easier to avoid suspicion, but female would make it easier to meet the new baron.¡± Jenny had a scowl on her face. Yuki waited while her companion deliberated on what to do. After a while, Jenny sighed. ¡°Woman, but with darker hair, and make me bigger.¡± Yuki snickered at the woman¡¯s words. She couldn¡¯t help it. There was too much fifth-grade internet sloshing in her head. Jenny misunderstood the giggle. ¡°Right now, I look like a runaway girl who stole her dad¡¯s armor. I need to at least fit the clothes properly.¡± Yuki hadn¡¯t stopped giggling, but she did her best to. Jenny¡¯s words were innocent enough. ¡°Right, I need a strand of hair,¡± she said after calming down. ¡°And don¡¯t resist.¡± Jenny plucked the hair and placed it on the ground. Yuki caught it on her paws and cast the magic. It was fascinating to observe the changes wrought by the spell. Jenny¡¯s bones didn¡¯t crack or bend; instead, her skin rippled and bulged, filling the once-large clothes. The hair, starting from the root, changed from inviting golden to dull, sun-burnt brown. The eyes changed from blue to black, and Jenny¡¯s button nose transformed into a high-bridge, aquiline nose. The new looks weren¡¯t bad. Jenny looked like a warrior girl that meant mean business; Yuki approved. ¡°How do I look?¡± The woman asked in her new, deeper, more resonant voice. She held her hair in front of her face, observing it. Soon after, she removed her earrings and stashed them in the bag. ¡°Like you¡¯re mean, and mean it.¡± A broad smile blossomed on Jenny¡¯s face, all teeth and malice. ¡°Good. It¡¯s time for Larissa to cause some trouble,¡± Jenny or Larissa said. She got up, adjusting her now properly fitting clothes before she slung the bag over her shoulder. She knelt open palm on the ground. ¡°I need to hide you,¡± she said with troubled eyes. Rabbits are a delicacy, and someone might try to steal you if they see you.¡± Yuki nodded, a pang of sadness stabbing her heart. ¡°Can we visit the burrow?¡± She asked. ¡°Oh, Biscuit. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Jenny said, picking up the white rabbit and hugging it closer. Yuki didn¡¯t say anything. She just enjoyed the moment for what it was. It didn¡¯t last, however. They were on a timer, and soon after, Jenny hid Yuki inside the bag, making sure it wasn¡¯t wholly close and that Yuki could at least peek outside. ¡°I¡¯ll go straight to one of the inns and reserve a room.¡± The woman said, walking toward the road. ¡°Tomorrow morning, I¡¯ll visit the blacksmith to see if I can have the coins and jewel ground down, and also the cost to repair the crossbow and spear.¡± From inside the bag, Yuki nodded. That sounded like a good plan. Jenny walked in silence, the spear used like a walking stick. Her strides were long and confident. Men and women they passed on the main road stared. It didn¡¯t take long until they were at the town walls, stopped by a guard. ¡°State your Business.¡± A hoarse man called out. Yuki moved deeper into the bag. Better to avoid complicating things by being discovered at the gates. Chapter - 64 Jenny strode toward the town guard. She recognized him, having met with the man a few times before at the baron¡¯s request. He was a newish hire from a couple of months ago. In this new form, she towered over him. What had the man asked? What was her business? Send a letter to Gizelda, deal with Gregory, find Ferdinand, and recover her money stash. Of course, she didn¡¯t say any of that. Jenny grinned, displaying teeth. ¡°Got separated from my party a while ago.¡± She started, looking over the man and into the city. ¡°Need supplies and to send a letter to the guild.¡± The guard eyed her up and down, eyes often roaming to where her armor had been pierced and the bloodstains she hadn¡¯t cleaned, then to the huge heavy metal spear she held. The man gulped, ¡°It¡¯s a silver piece to enter.¡± Jenny grinned wider. Finally, she didn¡¯t need to hide behind a gentle smile anymore. She wouldn¡¯t have minded parting with a few coppers had the man not been greedy. There was no fee to enter the place. The man just thought she was an easy mark. Unfortunately for the guard, Jenny knew more about this town than him. ¡°Is it now?¡± she said, taking one step closer. ¡°I wonder what Captain Elias would say about this.¡± She said, looking the man down. ¡°No one asked me for a fee last time Baron Baldwin sent for my team two seasons ago.¡± The guard took a step back, ¡°T-the new baron¡¯s rules!¡± Jenny stopped. Was this something Gregory had ordered? She could see the dip-shit imposing a fee to enter the town, but the price was excessive. Even if he had instituted a fee, no merchant would pay silver for each caravan member to enter the town. And if Jenny paid the sum, she knew all too well that other guards would soon bother her with more excuses for even more money. The guard hadn¡¯t asked for money from the merchant that entered before her, he had barely interacted with the man before ushering the cart in. ¡°A new baron?¡± She asked instead, then laughed. ¡°Good, good!¡± she clapped. ¡°Take me to him,¡± she demanded. ¡°The previous baron hired my team. This new baron probably knows where they went.¡± The guard looked right and left. Jenny knew that all too well. He wanted nothing but to be out of here. She dug into her bag and picked two coppers, she threw them at the man. He caught the coins before they fell. Jenny glared, daring the man to ask for more. Her gaze promised terrible things if he said anything else. The guard got the message. He pocketed the coins quickly and nodded. ¡°Please enter, ma¡¯am. I hope you have a good stay.¡± He said, then looked out at the road again, pretending Jenny wasn¡¯t there anymore. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Jenny snorted and walked down the main road. The atmosphere in the city was strange. Before, she would have seen people walking and talking and kids playing and smiling. Now, the few outside seemed to have somewhere urgent to go. No old women gossiped at the windows, and kids stared from behind partially closed doors. Some of the houses still had the decorations from the festival a few days past. When she reached the main square, she took the right road by the pyre, away from the Church. The town had few options for lodgings, but staying close to the city center was risky. Instead, she went to the Drunk Donkey Inn. The owner was a no-nonsense matron. She hadn¡¯t met the woman before, only knowing of the place by reputation. Simple but clean rooms, and zero tolerances for drunkards causing problems, which was ironic, given the place¡¯s name. Jenny didn¡¯t delay upon reaching the place. She barged in, her entrance attracting a few gazes. She walked toward the counter, a few patrons scrunching their noses. ¡°A private room,¡± she said, placing a few silver coins on the countertop. ¡°Three nights, food, and a hot bath,¡± Jenny added before the woman took the coins, ¡°Parchment and ink to send a message.¡± The old matron looked at the bloodied garments and the considerable metal spear. She didn¡¯t take the coins. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Larissa,¡± Jenny said. ¡°Are you here to cause trouble?¡± The old woman squinted. Jenny grinned. ¡°On the contrary. I¡¯m here because I heard you don¡¯t tolerate troublemakers. I want a hot bath and a safe night of sleep.¡± The old woman nodded. ¡°They call me Peg, or Peggy,¡± she counted the coins. ¡°Three silvers a day, meal and bath included.¡± She took nine of the eleven coins Jenny had placed on the counter. ¡°Eat here or in your room?¡± Peg asked, handing over a key. ¡°My room.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°Up the stairs, third door on the right.¡± Jenny hesitated for a moment. ¡°How long until the bath is ready? I¡¯ve been on the road for days.¡± Peg took a tankard and filled it with beer. She placed it in front of Jenny. After that, she rummaged through a cabinet. When she was done, she also placed a piece of parchment, ink, and quill by the tankard. ¡°Give it a quarter bell, then you can come down for your bath.¡± Jenny took the offered beverage, but before she drank, the woman continued. ¡°After the bath, leave the clothes, the laundress charges a few coppers to wash them.¡± Jenny nodded. She drank half of the tankard before climbing the stairs to her new room. The room was simple: a wooden window opened to the alley, a bed with a thin mattress, a wooden chest by the bed, a small table, and a single chair. On the table, a small oil lantern was placed. Once inside, Jenny locked the door. She opened the bag, fishing the white rabbit from inside. ¡°You know, you could have also transformed into a girl.¡± Biscuit shook and stretched. ¡°No,¡± she said after a while. ¡°Too much agik.¡± Jenny put the rabbit on the bed. ¡°Right.¡± She took a new set of clothes from the bag and set them out. When she was done, she took the parchment, ink, and quill. She¡¯d better write the letter while they prepared the bath. She¡¯d send it first thing tomorrow, while gathering the materials for the magic. Until Biscuit solved the problem of the shapechange duration, she was confined to two hours of time as Larissa per day. Better to keep a low profile until that risk was dealt with. Chapter - 65 Tired as she was, Yuki didn¡¯t complain or resist when Jenny hid her in a bundle of clothes and went to take a bath. She enjoyed the hot water and the woman¡¯s fingers cleaning her newly regrown fur. Yuki didn¡¯t need cleaning; she was a clean rabbit, and the bath was lovely. She even played in the warm water once the instinctual fear abated. She wasn¡¯t proud of that. The moment Jenny had dunked her underwater, Yuki lost it for a moment, splashing wildly. She was fine as long as she could keep her head above water, which Jenny learned soon enough and didn¡¯t try the same again. After the bath, she ate a few leaves while Jenny devoured dinner. Soon after Jenny and Yuki were both tucked into bed and beneath covers; Yuki was out before she could count to ten rabbits. ¡­ ¡°We don¡¯t have much time,¡± Jenny said while fixing her clothes and hair. ¡°I¡¯ll go down for a quick breakfast, and once done, I¡¯ll come here and pick you up.¡± Yuki nodded, munching on yet more leaves. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet how I¡¯m going to explain to the blacksmith why I need him to grind gold, silver, and precious stones to powder for me.¡± Yuki stopped her breakfast and asked. ¡°What are your ideas so far?¡± ¡°My best bet right now is saying I¡¯m doing it at a physician¡¯s request, but this is a poor town, and we don¡¯t have a physician that needs the powder.¡± ¡°Why a physician?¡± Yuki asked, not seeing the connection. Jenny sat on the bed, fingers soon reaching Yuki¡¯s ears. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± she shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s something I heard the late baron complaining about. A few years ago, when Gregory got sick, a famous physician requested for it: silver, gold, and precious stone dust. The man said he needed to balance the fluids on Gregory¡¯s body to cure his disease.¡± That sounded a lot like that old faulty theory. ¡°Humoral medicine?¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the name.¡± Yuki considered things. ¡°What other choices?¡± ¡°Gilding or art, but I¡¯m worried that the man will think I¡¯m getting those for nefarious reasons or worse, for a magic ritual. Some sermons at the church often condemn alchemists and sorcerers and their use of such things.¡± Yeah, that would make things complicated. ¡°Larissa is an adventurer, right?¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°You can say you know a physician who taught you a salve to help balance your humors, and since you¡¯re alone and separated from your party, you are willing to part with your hard-earned gold to be better prepared for the next leg of the journey.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Jenny got up, and the nice ear massage ended, unfortunately. ¡°That might work. I¡¯m ready for the magic.¡± Yuki cast [Shapechange], imagining the same transformation from the previous day. With their time limit set, Jenny moved out of the room as soon as the transformation was over, leaving Yuki alone with her thoughts. She planned out what she wanted for the near future: to visit the burrow and search for the other rabbits, investigate the lord¡¯s office, and find more information about the stalker. Jenny didn¡¯t take long to return. The woman grabbed her spear; opening the bag so Yuki could hop inside before collecting that as well. It was strange and comforting traveling inside the bag. As a rabbit, Yuki was afraid of open spaces and the sky. Logically, she knew those fears were a question of instinct and that she was safe, but her body did what it did. She didn¡¯t peek outside this time; she just listened to the sounds and smelled the scents. The busy ambiance of the inn soon abated, replaced by the dry scent of earth, horse manure, and piss. The more Jenny walked, the more that the voices of those nearby and other things reached Yuki. Closer, she heard the sounds of animals and what sounded like clucking chickens. A dog barked in the distance, and a horse neighed. The hubbub of conversation and the new smells of herbs, baked goods, and food told Yuki they were in some sort of mercantile street or something similar. In the distance, she heard the loud, strident clang of metal against metal in rhythmic strikes. That would be the blacksmith, but another sound, closer and fainter, caught Yuki¡¯s attention. A soft, low keening, almost drowned by all the other noises. It sent Yuki¡¯s heart beating fast. She¡¯d heard that sound before. She knew that sound. Yuki thumped the bag hard. Jenny¡¯s steps faltered for a moment before she started walking again. Yuki thumped the bag again. Jenny¡¯s hand sneaked inside the bag and rested on Yuki¡¯s soft coat. Jenny¡¯s finger tapped Yuki two times. Yuki waited, anxiety growing with each second that passed. Not long after, the sound of voices grew distant and Jenny stopped. She opened the bag and peeked inside. ¡°What is it, Biscuit?¡± Yuki all but yelled. ¡°I heard Whisker!¡± Jenny looked confused. ¡°Who?¡± Yuki didn¡¯t have time to explain. ¡°A rabbit, she was crying. Can we find her, please?¡± The blonde woman looked back, then inside the bag again. ¡°I did see a stall selling live animals. What does she look like? Is she like you?¡± Biscuit shook her head. ¡°Dark gray fur, black eyes, a white spot on her left ear. Her horn isn¡¯t the biggest.¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the bag open and inspect the rabbits, thump to signal me I have the correct one.¡± Yuki waited in anxious silence while Jenny walked back to the shopping street. Merchants peddled their wares, but Yuki ignored them. Whisker¡¯s keening had gotten louder like she was in pain. Every muscle in Yuki¡¯s body wanted her to jump out of the bag and summon [Wrack] to teach whoever was hurting Whisker a lesson. ¡°Excuse me,¡± Jenny said in her native language. ¡°Can I look at your livestock?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be with you in a moment,¡± a man¡¯s voice said. And here¡¯s your order, ma¡¯am. That¡¯s the last one of the bunch. I reckon it¡¯s gonna make a fantastic stew!¡± Yuki peeked outside, and Jenny froze. Whisker cried out louder. From the gap between the folds of the leather bag, Yuki saw a grizzled man holding a dark gray furred rabbit to a customer by the ears. The rabbit¡¯s fur was marred in some spots; her horn had been cut at the base, but Yuki would recognize those twitching whiskers anywhere. Jenny¡¯s hand sneaked inside the bag and tightened around Yuki before she broke free of her surprise. ¡°It will!¡± The middle-aged woman smiled back. ¡°It¡¯s been ages since we last got one,¡± she said, raising the rabbit by the ears. ¡°My little Anya has her tenth birthday coming up, and she¡¯s wanted to eat one of these forever. Such a special treat for a special girl!¡± Chapter - 66 Jenny watched the money swapping hands, the silver glint of coins disappearing inside the man¡¯s pocket. She looked at the cages behind the seller: chickens, ducks, and piglets, but no rabbits. She saw the mother¡¯s earnest expression. The man placed the gray rabbit on the wooden countertop. Jenny saw the white spot on the ear. The rabbit was about four times bigger than Biscuit, even if it was still small for a horned rabbit. ¡°These can be quite dangerous,¡± the man said. ¡°Should I do it for you?¡± His hand rested behind the rabbit¡¯s head, on the neck. Even if she had an inkling of it, Jenny still wasn¡¯t clear why Biscuit wanted to save this one. Maybe she was getting used to recognizing rabbits¡¯ emotions, but Biscuit looked desperate and ready to cause a commotion if necessary. ¡°Excuse me, ma¡¯am,¡± she interrupted before the woman could answer. "I need that rabbit,¡± she stated. The woman turned to her, and the seller opened his mouth. ¡°Alive,¡± Jenny added. ¡°What?¡± The mother started, looking Jenny over, then at the seller. The man had his brows furrowed, ¡°Look here, Missy, you can¡¯t just¡ª¡± ¡°Shade Stalkers,¡± Jenny declared, cutting off the man¡¯s response, ¡°not a day¡¯s away. And that,¡± she pointed to the rabbit, ¡°is how me and my team can lure and kill those monsters.¡± ¡°No!¡± the woman said, taking a step back, her hand going to her mouth. ¡°You can¡¯t! That¡¯s for my Anya.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying you should give it to me for free,¡± Jenny continued, ¡°I¡¯ll pay you and add a few more for your trouble.¡± The seller interrupted, his eyes gleaming. ¡°If bait is what you¡¯re after, I can arrange it; why don¡¯t you let me finish this sale, and we can talk the details after?¡± The mother talked at the same time, her voice louder. ¡°No, I can¡¯t! I promised my daughter she¡¯d have a rabbit stew tonight for her birthday.¡± ¡°I am sorry, ma¡¯am, but I¡¯m already late to meet my team. We¡¯ve been tracking these stalkers for days. They¡¯re getting bolder, closer to town. I tried to get bait from the Lord¡¯s manor, but the new Lord... let¡¯s just say he¡¯s not concerned with the safety of common folk.¡± Jenny¡¯s voice rose slightly. Doubling down on the lie and including Gregory was a spur-of-the-moment thing. The mother recoiled, eyes wide. ¡°But... my Anya...¡± The woman looked left and right like she wanted to flee. Jenny raised one hand to appease the mother. ¡°I understand, Ma¡¯am,¡± Jenny softened her tone. ¡°But those creatures, they¡¯re drawn to children. We¡¯ve seen it before. If we don¡¯t stop them, your Anya... every child in this town is at risk.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The mother gasped, and the already gathered crowd around gasped with her. ¡°How about this, you let me take this one, and I¡¯ll pay you enough to buy two others,¡± she patted her bag, ¡°that way, you can get another rabbit from the nice merchant and maybe a new dress for Anya?¡± The mother clutched at her chest. Some in the crowd murmured, shifting uneasily. The seller, however, scoffed. ¡°Nonsense! Scare tactics to get what you want. This is the last rabbit,¡± the merchant said. ¡°But if you want to talk about bait, I know another way to lure the lurkers.¡± There were more people closer eying Jenny cautiously. Was it because of her size? The mother looked scared, and Jenny was carrying a huge metal spear, but she hadn¡¯t threatened anyone. She turned to the seller again. Something was fishy here. If she remembered correctly, wild-caught rabbits weren¡¯t that rare to see on sale, but this one, by Biscuit behavior, was one of the animals bred on the Lord¡¯s farm. ¡°Where did you catch this one?¡± she asked the man. He still hadn¡¯t released the rabbit, the animal¡¯s head pinned against the wood. The merchant squinted his eyes. She saw the moment they changed. Early, he looked eager to fleece her off coin, now he looked suspicious. Before the merchant could answer, a gruff voice cut through the commotion. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Disrupting business in the town square?¡± A guard pushed through the crowd, his hand resting on his sword hilt. The seller beamed. ¡°Officer! This woman is trying to disrupt an honest merchant business and scare a good mother!¡± He thrust the rabbit toward the guard. ¡°See, this fine beast was destined for a birthday feast, but she¡¯s demanding we hand it over.¡± The guard glared at Jenny. ¡°Is this true? Causing trouble?¡± Jenny shook her head; she looked between the guard and the merchant. She¡¯d seen the brief exchange of glances between them and how close the man had stopped to the stall. ¡°Of course not,¡± she said, voice calm and deliberate. ¡°You must know this as well, there¡¯s stalkers not a day away¡ª¡± There was a thug at Jenny¡¯s bag, and a yelp. Jenny turned around. Behind her, a lanky, thin man held his hand, fingers trailing blood. She hadn¡¯t seen the man get closer. A quick glance at her bag showed a small splattering of blood near the opening she left for Biscuit. The man moved fast. He ducked in, ramming this shoulder into Jenny and throwing her at the merchant¡¯s stand. Surprised, she didn¡¯t have time to evade. She fell over the stall, odds and ends on display jostled out of position and clattering to the ground. The mother yelled, the guard roared, and the merchant cursed. From the corner of her eye, Jenny saw the gray rabbit turn its head and bite the hand holding it. The merchant let go, and the rabbit dashed out of the countertop, jumping between the many onlookers¡¯ legs. Soon after, a white blur moved in fast pursuit. Was that Biscuit? The moment of heightened perception ended, and Jenny fell, the heavy spear clanking onto the floor by her side. The merchant was the first to react. ¡°Catch that rabbit! Catch that thief!¡± The crowd yelped, a few jumping and trying to move away while others tried to catch the fleeing critters. In the confusion, people jostled each other, getting in each other¡¯s way. The would-be thief slipped into the crowd and vanished. The mother looked surprised at all that had happened, and the guard glared. ¡°Look what you¡¯ve done!¡± The merchant yelled, face red. ¡°You broke my stall, and the rabbit fled!¡± Jenny groaned and stood up. Things had just gotten complicated. The rabbit fled; the guard and merchant seemed intent on making things worse, and she couldn¡¯t take too long here. The transformation wouldn¡¯t last that long. She needed to diffuse this situation, appease the guard, and find Biscuit before the magic ended. Chapter - 67 A hand intruded into Yuki¡¯s sanctuary. Yuki¡¯s total focus was on the discussion at hand. She understood a few words here and there, but most of it flew over her head. From the small gap in the leather bag, Whisker was the rabbit being sold to the older woman, and by the range of voices, gasps, and gathering crowd, things weren¡¯t going as expected. Jenny¡¯s voice in Larissa¡¯s form was deeper and rumbling, and she spoke with a low confident cadence. The older woman looked afraid and surprised, and the merchant, well, looked like a merchant. To her surprise, a hand reached inside the bag and felt things around, touching places it shouldn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t the soft caramel color of Jenny¡¯s skin. Instead, rough, thin, stick-like fingers grasped about. Yuki didn¡¯t give it time; she glomped on the intruding appendage, biting as hard as possible. The hand retreated, and a man yelled. Jenny moved, the bag swishing about, and soon after, the world turned around, and Yuki lost her sense of direction. Jenny impacted the wooden countertop, and from the bigger gap, she saw the events unfolding. Whisker, cute, adorable, twitching Whisker, did what any sane rabbit should do. In the moment of surprise, she bucked and moved and bit. The merchant let her go on reflex, and the rabbit bolted off. Yuki ran out of the bag in pursuit. She leaped onto the countertop, thumped the man¡¯s hand for good measure, and dashed off behind her sister. Pandemonium broke around her. The giant¡¯s legs moved in a chaotic dance, stomping, jumping, and kicking. A foot came toward Yuki. She jumped to the side, dodging the incoming attack, only to hop into another stomp. A pair of hands descended on the place she would pass by. Yuki hopped forward to the side, thumping the hands for increased momentum. A yelp followed her passage. She dodged more kicks and hands until finally, blessed space free of giants. Things came in sharp relief. The blur of gray fur ran ahead toward the area with fewer people. A young girl held a cord to her left, tying a dog down. Said dog strained against it, loud barks, eyes glued to the fleeing Whisker. Yuki bolted after Whisker. The city¡¯s many colors were distracting, the market smells filled her nostrils, and each yell from the crowd sent her head spinning. A teenager slipped out of the crowd and started after Yuki. The dog barked louder, pulling harder against the rope. The girl yelped and let go, and the chase was on. It made Yuki think of the old children¡¯s story of the old lady and her pig. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Hot on Yuki¡¯s heels, barking and spitting saliva, the dog chased. If being afraid for Whisker and being in the wide open wasn¡¯t enough, Yuki¡¯s heart jolted, and instincts almost took over. She wanted to find somewhere to hide under, away from the predators and the open sky. But Yuki reigned that in. She needed to deal with the dog before it caught up to her. The market¡¯s stink of manure and rotting vegetables choked Yuki. Whisker sprinted onto a cobblestone street, a blur barely evading the pounding hooves of a cart-horse. She let out a high-pitched squeal, nearly inaudible under the animal¡¯s snort and the clatter of the cart. The dog¡¯s barking, a ragged drumbeat in Yuki¡¯s head, grew louder. What would happen if they got caught? Whisker turned into a corner and under the legs of a distracted vendor. The man flailed, knocking over a stack of baskets she had to jump over, and the dog bulldozed through. Yuki kicked over a water bucket, hoping the dog would slip, but it didn¡¯t work. A horse reared up in front, scared by Whisker bolting between its legs, spooking a group of people. Yuki dodged between their legs, not fast enough to escape a kick aimed at her. It was a glancing blow, but pain lanced her leg. Relentlessly, the dog chased. Yuki vaulted over obstacles, zigzagged between legs, and tumbled around those she couldn¡¯t evade. The dog just pushed through. Yuki slowed down, letting the dog get closer. Ahead of her was a stall cluttered with all manner of things. Whisker had run past and around it, but Yuki wanted something else. She measured her pace, letting the dog get closer and closer. She was about to collide with the stall when the dog got close enough to pounce. Yuki abused her higher dexterity and greater control over her movements to leap away. The dog¡¯s maw bit down on the space she had been just a moment before. The dog crashed into the stall. Things fell, the dog yelped, and Yuki continued her pursuit, free of any chasing dog. When they encountered people, most would often jump out of the way in surprise, some kick reflexively. Yuki managed to evade most of that, though Whisker suffered one or two hits. Yuki was faster than the other rabbit and would¡¯ve caught up already if not for the fact that she had no idea how to calm her panicked sibling down. Her current plan was to see where other rabbit would stop, prevent anyone from getting to her, and go from there. The further they went from the marketplace, the rougher the houses became, and fewer people were on the roads. Whisker had started to slow down from her frantic escape and turned yet another corner, away from a horse drawn carriage moving down the road. Yuki heard a yell and a yelp. She turned into a small alley with no exit to see a bony, freckled girl dressed in simple clothing wrestling down the rabbit. Yuki froze. Something sparked in her mind. She¡¯d seen that girl before. At the time, she¡¯d been smiling and dressed in old but well-kept clothes. The girl¡¯s mane was matted and dirty. She had a bruise on her face and no shoes. With a triumphant yell, the girl got up, Whisker firmly held in both hands. Bee jumped around happily and turned toward the street. The girl stared at Yuki, who stared back. Bee¡¯s eyes widened. She pointed at Yuki, mouth flapping. From the corner of her eye, Yuki caught movement, and on reflex, she hopped away. At the alley entrance ¡ª panting, puffing, and sweating ¡ª stood a nasty-looking boy with crooked teeth, a smile, and a crude knife in his hand. ¡°Gotcha!¡± He said. From behind, Bee yelled. Chapter - 68 Yuki was stuck between a frightened Bee and the threatening thug. Instantly, the alley snapped into focus; it was a dingy little place between two wooden buildings. Old but well-kept wooden walls enclosed the alley. A closed door stood off to one side, framed by mounds of discarded trash while the wall opposite featured neither door nor window. The cloying smell of rotten fruit and the buzzing of flies emanated from the garbage scattered about; sticky liquid oozing from the worst areas. Bee was backed up against a pile stacked planks. The wood, water damaged and splintered, completely filled one half of the alley; leaving the only exit, the one guarded by the thuggish boy. It painted a strange picture, and Yuki wondered why Bee was even there to begin with. ¡°It¡¯s my lucky day,¡± the boy gloated, ¡°not only one, but two.¡± A garish smile broke on the boy¡¯s face, looking between Yuki and Whisker. What could Yuki do in this situation? Using magic was out of the question, not inside the city unless it was a last resort. But how else could she fight? ¡°Gimme that rabbit.¡± The thug demanded, brandishing his knife. Bee took a few steps back, closer to the pile of planks blocking the passage. ¡°No!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be daft, girl, ain¡¯t nowhere to run.¡± ¡°No! It¡¯s mine! I saw it first.¡± Bee argued back. An ugly smile crept on the thug¡¯s face, wide and full of rotten teeth. He took a fast step forward, hands darting toward Yuki. The beginning of an idea sparked in Yuki¡¯s mind. She didn¡¯t have much time to think things through. She squealed loudly and dashed toward the trash pile away from the boy¡¯s reach. The thug¡¯s hands followed Yuki¡¯s movement. She hopped over the appendage, using the trash as a springboard to leap up behind the boy. She¡¯d lead him away and track down Bee again later. Arms waving frantically, the boy started to turn toward Yuki, but Bee took a step forward. ¡°Shit!¡± The boy cussed and turned back to face Bee, brandishing his blade her way. Yuki stopped dead in her tracks. Knife first, the thug approached, and Bee stepped back. Her feet hit the woodpile behind her, and she almost fell, one arm catching her balance while the other held Whisker even more tightly. Whisker bucked and twisted, trying to get free but couldn¡¯t. At the same time, the boy stepped closer, and Yuki leaped back, this time silent. A memory from childhood, of school and that annoying girl and all the bullying, surfaced in Yuki¡¯s mind. She was upon him between the boy¡¯s steps, her hind legs thumping his feet as hard as she could. Like those bullies from school who would wait until you¡¯d turned your back to them to gently trip your feet while you try to walk away, the boy lost his balance with a surprised yelp. He tried to keep standing but his legs tangled with one another, and he hit the ground face first. The boy¡¯s nose and forehead met the dirty cobblestone of the alley with a crunch. Fresh blood spilled, the boy curled on himself, both hands holding his face, while a pained moan escaped him. The knife clattered away in the chaos, coming to a stop by Bee¡¯s feet. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Wide-eyed Bee stared, her gaze quickly flicking between the knife, Yuki, and the boy. As if in a trance, she lowered herself to pick up the blade. ¡°Run!¡± Yuki yelled. ¡°EEep!¡± Bee squeaked in surprise. She grabbed the dagger and ran around the boy. One of his hands lashed out, trying to catch her, but Bee jumped away, making it past the fallen boy and into the larger road. Yuki turned to follow, but a movement caught her attention again. The boy had started to get up, one hand still holding his bloody nose. His eyes were full of anger, glaring toward the alleyways exit and the road proper. She knew in her gut he would follow. Could she afford that? Tripping him once was a stroke of luck. The magic words left her mouth before she had finished processing the situation, her arms weaving in the now familiar pattern. The boy was already on his knees, preparing to move. Instead of pushing the magic as much as she could, Yuki did the contrary. No shaping was invested in range or magnitude. She hopped closer, faster than the boy could react, and unleashed [Wrack] by biting his shins. Her plan was to disable, hurt, and leave the boy in no shape to chase, but hopefully alive.
Life stunk more than Bo¡¯s armpit after two weeks without a bath ever since the old baron jumped into the Vortex. Work, beatings, work, more beatings, and always more work. Bee legged outta there at the first opportunity, but things¡¯d gotten even worser. Outghta become an apprentice; twas the plan, but n¡¯one even paid any attention to her asking. Too bony, the uncle at the store complained; too weak, the butcher retorted; not my problem, that one at the stall yelled. The cobbler, the tanner, the carpenter she tried. Even the birdcatcher she talked with, but they all wanted silver to take her as an apprentice. Bee wouldn¡¯t go back to the beatings. It was better to hide in town. But the town had no food, or at least n¡¯one was willing to give her any. Not two nights after, she¡¯d resorted to ruffling through trash for leftovers. It was icky and disgusting, but Bee refused to pocket and steal. She¡¯d found this one alley, where the old lazy lady just threw away the things that wouldn¡¯t sell no more. Rotten fruits, maggot-ridden meat, slimy veggies. It was horrible, but it beat being hungry, so long as Bee managed to keep hidden, that was. The old hag didn¡¯t like anyone going through the shit she threw away. The day had the beginnings of another stinking mess until the rabbit dashed into the alley. Bee reacted before her nogging did the thinkin¡¯. She lept and wrestled the big critter down, only noticing after the rabbit had no horn. Lucky for her, she didn¡¯t want to get skewered by a rabbit. Jester¡¯s luck, these rabbits sold for a handful of silver. With that silver, she could pay to be an apprentice. She caught it, but then the second one showed up. Bee knew that one. She remembered it. Small, all-white with black circles around the eyes. Last time she saw it, it was like a dead thing, she poked and tugged but it hadn¡¯t made a sound. Now it was here, staring unblinking. What happened next happened too fast. Big bully Vince blocked the alley and demanded the rabbit. Somehow, the white rabbit tripped Vince and yelled at her to run. Bee fled the alley, but a strange sound made her stop. It was worse than believing the rabbit could speak; it was like a sound from a nightmare, like when you yell at a big empty room and hear your own words. She moved back and looked inside the alley. Vince was on the ground, yelling and crying and full of snot and blood. The rabbit, if that was a rabbit, had dark, soot-colored snake-like things leaving its body and ripping chunks of flesh from the crying bully. The white rabbit stopped, turned glowing red eyes toward her. Bee might have gasped or cried. She wet her undies. The rabbit took a small hop toward her, and Bee fled screaming. Chapter - 69 Yuki dashed forward while the boy still glared down the street where Bee had fled. He looked back, perhaps having seen the white blur of her movement. She bit his shin before he could react. Coppery liquid filled Yuki¡¯s mouth and shouts reverberated in her ears. It wasn¡¯t her proudest of moments, applying violence to prevent more and greater violence. There was a morbid philosophical debate there, but she¡¯d leave that for later. [Wrack] cast at touch was a strange experience. It almost scared her to death when the ghostly-looking appendages left her body to attack the boy. He waved his arms frantically, his pained vocalizations taking on a higher pitch and hysterical note. He didn¡¯t manage to get up but twisted on himself, one hand lashing toward the magical effects and the other toward Yuki. In her rabbit form, Yuki had far faster reactions. She saw the hand coming as if in slow motion. She released the bite, dodged the hand, and returned to bite again. The boy tried two more times, his screams hysterical and unhinged. After the third attempt, he pissed and soiled his pants, curling into a fetal position, crying, and yelling. In hindsight, she didn¡¯t need to bite the boy¡¯s shin; she just needed to touch him. A lesson learned for next time. Right now, she fought the smell of soiled pants and the tinnitus ringing in her ears from all the yelling. The vanilla smell of her magic mixed with odor of urine and shit created a nausea inducing effect that made her want to puke. Bee poked her head around the corner, wide-eyed, looking into the alley. The thug wasn¡¯t trying to fight Yuki anymore. Most of the injuries from the magic were patches of ripped skin where the eldritch appendages had taken their toll on the thug. Bloody and ugly to look at, painful, and not that serious, Yuki hoped. It¡¯d leave nasty marks and sting for weeks; it might get infected if the boy didn¡¯t wash it properly, but it was not immediately dangerous. She pushed the guilty thoughts out of her mind; it needed to be done; otherwise, he¡¯d keep chasing after Whisker. Yuki hopped away from the boy and toward Bee. The freckled girl ¡°Eeep¡¯ed¡±, turned around, and ran still clutching Whisker. Yuki gave chase. Bee avoided the main road, darting toward quieter alleys. Houses thinned, and the pavement turned to dirt. A speeding carriage forced Bee to leap into an overgrown lot, and city noises receded. The new terrain didn¡¯t help Bee¡¯s escape; she fell more than once but always got up, still clutching Whisker. The girl¡¯s pace slowed from running to jogging to hobbling. When she fell for the fourth time, she didn¡¯t get up. Bee just sat and broke down crying. Yuki hopped around the girl, giving her a wild berth until she could see Bee¡¯s face. A pang of guilt gnawing her bones. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Bee noticed her as well. ¡°Don¡¯t eat me, please. I don¡¯t taste good.¡± Yuki wished Jenny was here. If nothing else, the older woman would at least be able to talk with Bee. The girl trembled, stuttering and babbling amidst her crying. She looked resigned. She placed Whisker on the ground. ¡°Here, you can have it.¡± Strangely, Whisker didn¡¯t run away after being released. The gray-furred rabbit stood in the same spot, head close to the ground and trembling. Yuki hopped closer with slow, deliberate hops. Bee gasped and hugged herself, but Yuki had only eyes for Whisker. The gray-rabbit¡¯s nose twitched in what Yuki hoped was recognition. Yuki stopped by Whisker¡¯s side and pressed her nose against Whisker¡¯s face, breathing the smell of family. Whisker nuzzled her back. For a moment, all was good in the world. Whisker¡¯s horn had been cut off. Given how cleanly it had been snapped at the base of her head, it wasn¡¯t an accident. In some spots, her fur was matted and dirty, and one of Whisker¡¯s ears flopped forward. Yuki started grooming Whisker¡¯s fur like they had always done in the burrow. It seemed to calm down Whisker. By their side, Bee watched with a snot-covered face and wide eyes. Yuki didn¡¯t think she had anything to fear from the girl right now; she let her mind wander over the past events, leaving Jenny to run after Whisker, the dog, the chase, the thug. She was aware of Bee observing them, the not subtle movements like she also wanted to pet Whisker, the glinting of curiosity in her eyes. Yuki understood the girl. Even matted and abused, Whisker was cute, and her fur, while not S-Tier like Bunbun¡¯s, was at least A-tier. But right now, Yuki had a few problems to work through. As a precaution, she kept one eye on Bee while thinking about how to find Jenny, what to do about Whisker, and what to do about Bee. Yuki¡¯s heart pounded, considering the mess they were in. If Jenny made it back to the inn, everything might be okay. But her stomach twisted¨Cthe [Shapechange] magic never lasted long. Soon, Jenny, a hunted girl among enemies, would be trapped in their room. And what could she do about Whisker? Yuki didn¡¯t want to leave her sister now that she found her. Whisker might be just an ordinary rabbit, but Yuki¡¯s everything rebelled at the thought of leaving her sister behind. But Yuki didn¡¯t have any way to take care of the bigger rabbit herself. Living in the wild was too dangerous; the burrow was a death trap, and the city was a worse death trap. Then there was Bee. Yuki was sure the girl saw her using magic, and given that she tried to talk, she might think she was something other than a rabbit but more than that, Bee seemed to be in trouble. Somehow, Yuki knew it was her fault, even if that was a dumb thing to consider. Bee sniffled, cleaning the snot on her face with the back of her hands. The girl¡¯s eyes were still glued to the two rabbits. Of her problems, Bee was the least worrisome. She knew well enough how adults treated children talking about strange things. Chances were that if Bee told anyone anything, it would just be ignored. Could she use Bee? Yuki needed to meet back with Jenny, and the first place to check was the inn, but unless Yuki wasted even more mana with another [Shapechange], it wouldn¡¯t help that much. She couldn¡¯t speak the language well enough to talk to the matron and convince her she was there to meet with Larissa, not to mention clothes. Walking naked inside the town was bound to attract all sorts of attention. Bee could help with that. She could enter the inn and talk with Jenny. Things would be much easier after that. Once reunited, Yuki could also talk with Jenny about Whisker and enlist her help. That was a good enough plan, but how could she convince Bee to go along with it? Chapter - 70 Yuki stared at Bee, and the girl stared right back. Crusted snot trailed from the girl¡¯s nose to her cheek. Her eyes were puffy and still red from crying. There were graze wounds on the girl¡¯s hands, knee, and forehead. Bee looked skinnier than Yuki remembered; back then, the girl was already too skinny. ¡°I need your help,¡± Yuki said for the third time. Whisker was between Yuki and Bee. The gray rabbit¡¯s occasional thump and purr did things to Yuki¡¯s heart. Yuki¡¯s human side was aghast, even more so after she had to spit clumps of matted fur, but her rabbit side was content and happy. Bee shuddered but didn¡¯t start crying again like the last two times. But still, there was no answer. Was it her pronunciation? Something similar had happened with Jenny. It took a while until the blonde started answering back, and before they switched to the new language, Yuki sometimes had to repeat the same thing a lot of times. ¡°Status,¡± Yuki called out, checking how many magic points she still had. The goblet had little less than half. This reminded Yuki of when she played that survivor horror game with zombies ¡ª the second one, the best of the franchise. Yuki had hoarded all the good ammo the entire game, evading, running away, or, when not possible, killing the zombies with weaker weapons. Then, she had an inventory full of powerful weapons and ammo at the endgame boss, but the boss died on the fourth shot. This made her think of the same situation. Because magic points were hard to restore, her hoarder mode had activated, and she hadn¡¯t noticed it. Yuki draped herself over Whisker; it wouldn¡¯t do to let the rabbit flee again, afraid of the magic. Under Bee¡¯s ever-widening eyes, Yuki chanted and waved. [Shapechange] took effect, and while the transformation was taking place, Yuki kept Whisker held down. The gray rabbit startled at the popping sound and strange movement of Yuki¡¯s flesh, but when she tried to flee, Yuki had already grown big enough to pin the rabbit down. Bee gasped and scurried away but didn¡¯t flee and didn¡¯t stop watching. When the transformation was over, Yuki sat on the rough ground and plopped Whisker on her lap. Her sister resisted until Yuki¡¯s fingers scratched Whisker¡¯s cheeks and the base of her ears. A smile spread on Yuki¡¯s face when she felt Whisker purring under her hands. Bee¡¯s mouth hung open; the girl opened and closed it but did not say a thing. ¡°Hi!¡± Yuki waved. ¡°I¡¯m Yuki, and I need your help finding Jenny.¡± The other girl didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she scurried closer, mouth still open. With one wavering finger, she poked Yuki¡¯s cheek, ¡°eep¡¯ing¡± a few paces back when her finger touched Yuki¡¯s skin. Yuki didn¡¯t mind. She kept a smile on her face and let Bee come to terms with the situation. It hackled a bit that Bee was still bigger than Yuki¡¯s even after the transformation. A hand touched Yuki¡¯s cheek, and another touched her white hair. ¡°What? But a rabbit? Who? How?¡± Bee babbled. Oh, that Yuki understood. The answer was a good old one. She fixed her gaze on Bee and dropped the smile. The other girl stiffened. ¡°Magic,¡± Yuki said with all the gravitas she could put in her voice. Bee¡¯s eyes were wide as saucers, and her mouth hung open again. Yuki burst out laughing. Bee¡¯s reaction had been even more funny than Jenny¡¯s. Bee pouted, arms crossed over her chest, looking away from Yuki. It only made Yuki giggle harder. Soon after, Bee started giggling too, which only fueled Yuki¡¯s giggling fit further. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Can you help? Find Jenny in a sleeping place.¡± Yuki asked when she managed to get her giggling under control. It occurred to Yuki that now that she had discarded the hoarder mindset, she still had one experience stack point left, and she could try to learn the local language via an advanced skill. She didn¡¯t remember seeing one on the list but hadn¡¯t explored the full list of available skills. Bee looked confused. She tilted her head. ¡°Help? Jenny?¡± ¡°Tall, yellow hair, blue eyes, pretty,¡± Yuki said, thinking of her pet. ¡°Magicked to look different. Called Larissa, sleeping place.¡± Bee scrunched her nose and scratched her head, then she gasped. ¡°She¡¯s hiding with magic?¡± Yuki nodded. That was a reasonable interpretation. Bee smiled. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Sleeping place, old mean lady boss.¡± While Bee puzzled that one out, Yuki took a handful of leaves and grass from around and fed them to Whisker. This was so annoying. Why couldn¡¯t they understand each other? ¡°Sleeping¡­ old lady¡­¡± Bee repeated back, still scratching her head. After a while, she shrugged. ¡°Can you take me there?¡± Yuki¡¯s cheek burned, and she looked away. ¡°No clothes.¡± She mumbled. Bee gasped. ¡°Oh!¡± Soon after, she added. ¡°Wait here.¡± After that, the girl got up and ran. Yuki watched the girl run towards the town. She was sure the girl misunderstood the situation, but Yuki knew the girl would help. She had no idea how she knew that and where that trust came from. Yuki willed the system to display her log messages, but there were no new entries. She looked over the Advanced Skills, but no skill matched her feelings. Yuki looked at the Skills tab. After a brief read, she willed the system to bring the description of one of the entries there. [Insight](INT+POW): 40 Insight: The ability to read or intuitively understand another¡¯s verbal and non-verbal behavior to determine their motive and state of mind. That was interesting. Yuki was never good at reading people. She remembered that time in high school when she was crushing on one of her classmates. Yuki had met her boy crush in the library during break and remembered wanting to kiss him but didn¡¯t know if he wanted it back. When the crush tried to steal a kiss, she startled and turned her head away, which killed any future chances. Or that other time, a few years later, when the girl she walked home after school had to slap Yuki¡¯s face with innuendo, so Yuki noticed the girl was interested. This kind of subtle manipulation of her mind by the system should have freaked Yuki out, but it made her happy instead. Was she on the path to becoming an average human, perhaps? Or maybe an ordinary rabbit. She was still thinking about it when Bee returned running and panting, holding a shirt and skirt. ¡°Here, wear these,¡± the girl said between gasps for breath. Yuki held Whisker to the other girl. ¡°Hold her, please?¡± With her hands-free, Yuki took the clothes and wore them. They were made for someone bigger; she had to tie a part of the skirt so it wouldn¡¯t fall, and the shirt kept sliding down on her shoulder, but that was fine. Even if Yuki preferred her rabbit body now, transforming into a human again was always a novel experience, even if sometimes uncomfortable. Her hearing was wrong; she couldn¡¯t smell things the same way, and her vision was limited to forward facing view. Once dressed, she picked Whisker up again and nuzzled her sister. The fur still felt fantastic, if not better, when she was a human. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Bee smiling at the scene. ¡°We¡ª¡± Yuki started, then stopped. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air. She took several deep breaths, her heartbeat rising with each one. Amid the now dulled smells of the wild area, she smelled the dirt, the leaves, and manure carried on the wind. Yuki sensed another one. A familiar lemony scent drifted through the undergrowth, chilling her more than the morning breeze. She shot up, looking around. The smell grew more substantial, a predator¡¯s tang. Panic clawed at her throat. She slapped her own face, panic flooding her mind. ¡°Snakepards!¡± Yuki grabbed Bee¡¯s hand, ignoring the girl¡¯s confusion. ¡°Run!¡± She yelled. She had to pull on Bee¡¯s arm, but the bigger girl did not understand their danger. They had taken a dozen hasty steps when a growl sent all the hairs on Yuki¡¯s arm and neck standing. Yuki didn¡¯t look back, and thankfully, Bee had stopped resisting. They bolted toward the town, something big moving amidst the branches behind them. Chapter - 71 ¡°See what you¡¯ve done? You¡¯ve lost all my livestock and broke my stall!¡± The merchant accused. ¡°What do you have to say for yourself, Miss?¡± the guard demanded. His eyes glinted with malice, and he couldn¡¯t hide the leering grin on his face. ¡°My dog is missing!¡± Someone else added. Jenny held a sigh and kept her stare fixed on the guard. The commotion hadn¡¯t died down after the rabbits escaped. Instead, it had grown. The merchant¡¯s accusation matched the increased crowd, and the guards accepted each new demand from the merchant like gospel. The mother who had wanted to buy a good meal for her daughter had left in the confusion. The morning sun shone over Jenny, and she felt hot under all the layers of clothing and armor. The crowd buzz was constant, their many voices pressing down on her. The heat of bodies pressed together didn¡¯t make things easier. It was the clothing. Jenny''s attire was of good make, even battered and dirty, fit for a noble. Her whole ensemble reeked of coin. ¡°Larissa¡± was a stranger with no one at her back for support. The merchant saw an opportunity, and his accomplice guard was there to back him up. Or at least that was Jenny¡¯s guess about this whole thing. She¡¯d dealt with shady merchants before while in the baron¡¯s service. They showed up from time to time, thinking the noble an easy mark. Jenny didn¡¯t know what to do. Setting her supposed debt would rob her of most of the coins she needed for supplies and materials for Biscuit¡¯s magic. Denying it would probably end with her in jail for one fake accusation or another. Picking a fight with a trained guard in a crowd was all but suicide. Was the town guard always this corrupt? The image she had of the place was idyllic and peaceful, with the occasional monster attack. Had the baron¡¯s influence shielded her from this much corruption? She needed to get away from here and find Biscuit and get away fast before the magic ended. It would be a disaster if it happened. No amount of talking would save her if it did. The guard stepped closer, his stern facade not hiding his eyes, calculating the worth of her armor and bag. Jenny hadn¡¯t also missed the way his eyes lingered on her chest for far too long. The idea of using female guile left a bad taste in her mouth. She had been nine when Mother shoved the memories into her mind. Jenny¡¯s stomach churned remembering the occasion, the desperation and sadness in Mother¡¯s eyes, the wake-up call and loss of innocence. Jenny had never needed that knowledge, but it was still an option. Whatever the case, she needed to act fast. Biscuit had been gone for a while now, and the more she hesitated, the more the merchant demanded. ¡°Alright,¡± Jenny said in her more resounding voice. The merchant stopped with a grin on his face. The guard looked her up and down again. ¡°If you¡¯re going to prevent me from completing the quest to kill the lurkers, you might just lock me up as well,¡± for effect, her shoulders slumped, ¡°that way, it saves our dear baron time to send the guard after me for failing.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. That, again, was utter bullshit. The old baron never pursued reparation with the guild for failed requests since if a group failed, he expected the guild to send another to complete the task. Knowing Gregory, he¡¯d been a massive jerk since becoming baron, and she was banking on that reputation now. ¡°Now, missy, look here. You can¡¯t just¡ª¡± Started the merchant, but Jenny cut him off. ¡°Unless you want to track my team in the wilds, I only have a few silvers for the bait,¡± she looked at the man with dead eyes, ¡°I can¡¯t pay whatever ridiculous sum you¡¯re demanding.¡± She didn¡¯t wait; she turned to the guard; she wanted to take him away from the crowd. While she talked, Jenny¡¯s hand sneaked into her pocket and took a few silver coins. The guard looked at her, then the merchant. The crowd started muttering, and Jenny heard angry muttering about the guard''s actions. The guard furrowed his brow, considering. Jenny stepped closer into his personal space. She hated using the ¡®woman tricks¡¯ taught by Mother, but if she let this go for much longer, she¡¯d be in worse trouble. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can reach an agreement that will satisfy you.¡± She made her voice low and husky, a whisper for his ears only. Discreetly, she passed him the coins, ensuring the merchant didn¡¯t see the act. The guard inhaled sharply. Jenny kept observing his face and body posture. His pupils dilated, and he straightened his back. His eyes hovered over her body once again. What a disgusting pig. He looked at her, then the merchant, and again at the crowd. ¡°Right, come along then.¡± The guard said. The merchant¡¯s head spun toward the guard. ¡°What? Edric? What is this?¡± Edric turned to the merchant. ¡°I got this, Osgar.¡± He shot the merchant a warning look, then addressed the crowd, ¡°Off with you all, commotion is over, nothing to see here.¡± The crowd dispersed, some grumbling, others casting sympathetic glances at Jenny. A woman muttered, "Poor girl, getting mixed up with the likes of Edric..." Osgar''s face was a scowl. He moved about, fixing his stall and picking up the many things strewn about after Jenny¡¯s fall. He kept closer, trying to overhear their conversation while casting dirty glances at Jenny. Edric led Jenny away from the market and past the city square. Her gaze lingered on the witch pillar and the old burn marks in the stone around it before it moved to rest on the facade of the Church. An acolyte stood at the entrance. Dressed in white and gold, the woman smiled at the people walking by. Jenny dragged her eyes away, following the man. If she remembered correctly, the guardhouse was located near the main entrance and main road in town. Now seemed a good enough time to convince the guard to let her go. Getting locked out was out of the question. ¡°Edric, was it?¡± Jenny approached the man, glancing at his attire, the battered leather armor he wore, the spear he held, his weathered face, and shifty eyes. ¡°Maybe we¡ª¡± A horse neighed in the distance, followed by a panicked yell. The guard stopped, and Jenny did the same. Like a wave crashing through the streets, Jenny saw the fear spreading among the people and animals. Frantically, dogs barked in the distance. More people yelled, and from a corner in the far street, the rush of the scared crowd moved toward the inner city. From a corner, far down the street, she saw a flash of white hair and a recognizable mane of dark hair. Her thoughts hadn¡¯t registered the scene when the large Shade Stalker bounded into the streets, chasing the girl. Even from this distance, she saw the snakes on its shoulder lashing at everything nearby. ¡°Shit!¡± the guard cursed, turned around, and ran away without glancing in Jenny¡¯s direction. Chapter - 72 Yuki¡¯s feet slapped hard against the dirt. Her breath came fast and ragged. Her eyes watered and stung from what was either her own hair or a flying bug. On her arms, Whisker squealed in panic, bucking, clawing, biting, and trying to flee. If she survived the day, she¡¯d make sure to exterminate every single snakepard. It would be her new life goal. Bee ran just a few meters ahead, the freckled girl not that much faster than Yuki despite her longer limbs. From behind, the monster growled again, its bulky body crunching leaves and snapping branches. Bee jolted at the sound, yelled, and ran faster. Yuki drew more frantic breaths, clutching the panicked Whisker against herself. She felt the sting of claws and bites, but she wouldn¡¯t let go. Yuki burst from the shallow line of vegetation into the cobblestone street. The round stones did not feel any better to her unprotected feet. Without stopping, she turned and ran toward the town center. An old woman perched on her window, people watching, grumbled at their passage, baleful eyes following the girl¡¯s run. A horse pulling a carriage coming down from the road whinnied, bucking and kicking while the girls ran by. A merchant cursed, and some passersby stopped to watch the commotion. The snakepard burst from the shallow vegetation and into the road; all hell broke loose. The old hag gasped, baleful eyes turning inside her head and collapsing from her window, fainted with fright. The horse bucked harder, the leather support tying it to the cart snapped, and the horse bolted off in a panic. The merchant cursed until he saw the monster, he ran after his horse still cursing, leaving the cart behind. Passersby gasped, screamed, yelled, and pissed themselves. Some fainted, others ran, and some others stood frozen with fright. The hissing of serpents spurred Yuki''s mad run. A not-inconsiderable part of her mind felt relieved that there were now more targets for the monster. Another part called her evil, and yet another demanded she shut up and keep running. She wasn¡¯t losing another sister to the beast. Up ahead, Yuki saw the fleeing back of a guardsman, and standing by the road, mouth open, was Jenny in her bulkier form. In what seemed like a blink, she was upon the woman. ¡°Run!¡± Yuki yelled. Her feet and legs hurt, and she didn¡¯t think she could run for much longer. She thrusted the rabbit at Jenny. With her sister safe, Yuki could release the transformation and flee in her smaller, faster body. Jenny didn¡¯t take Whisker. She bodily grabbed Yuki with one arm¡ªpressing Yuki against Whisker and Whisker against her chest, the metal spear pressed over both¡ªand with another hand, she grabbed Bee¡¯s arm. Jenny spun around, running away from the monster, carrying Yuki and dragging Bee along. Hisses and growls and yells of pain sounded behind. Yuki closed her eyes, pressing her head against Jenny¡¯s neck. She was alive. Whisker was alive. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Move! Move!¡± Jenny growled, pushing past stunned people and busybodies trying to see what the commotion was about. That continued for seconds which felt like minutes, and Yuki wasn¡¯t in the right frame of mind to think about it. A jolt of impact and the thunk of wood startled Yuki into paying attention to her surroundings again. Jenny dragged a panting Bee through the inn¡¯s door she¡¯d just kicked open. Once they were inside, she whirled, still holding Yuki in her arm, and threw herself against the door, closing it. The old matron innkeeper walked out from the kitchen, a scowl on her wizened face. ¡°What are¡ª¡± ¡°Bar the windows!¡± Jenny yelled. ¡°Shadow Stalkers on the street!¡± There was a moment of silence. Some of the patrons stood frozen at her declaration. The matron opened her mouth and then closed it with a click. Then, like a whirlwind, everyone reacted at the same time. One serving girl gasped and ran toward a door that led to who knows where. The matron cursed and ran back into the kitchen. Some of the men who were eating a late breakfast launched themselves at the windows in the room. Jenny placed Yuki down. She used the metal weapon in place of wood to bar the door. Thankfully, by now, Whisker had calmed down, resting quietly in Yuki¡¯s arms. A flood of relief and gratitude filled Yuki. She launched herself at Jenny, hugging the woman¡¯s waist. ¡°Thank you.¡± Now they were safe, Yuki realized two things. She hadn¡¯t been afraid of the snakepard, or at least not scared of the monster itself. She had been frightened the beast would kill yet another sister. More than that, her desperation seemed too abrupt. It had that same feeling of being amplified by something else, like when she thought about Ferdinand. Was the system messing with her head again? ¡°Are you hurt?¡± Yuki shook her head, still hugging Jenny. ¡°No.¡± She would examine her feelings and emotions more carefully after they settled down. She could also ask Jenny if she felt something similar. Yuki moved her head to watch the rest of the room. The bigger woman turned to Bee, who was still shaking, tears on her face and snot running from her nose. ¡°Isa¡ª Are you hurt?¡± She asked in the local language. Bee jumped, looking at Jenny. The girl blinked, looking at Yuki hugging Jenny, the inn, and Jenny. ¡°Jen¡ª¡± she started before slapping her mouth shut with both hands. Some of the inn customers had approached, looking at Jenny. Others started talking among themselves. Despite all the urgency and momentary fear, most seemed resigned instead of truly afraid of the monster. The matron joined soon after, looking at the barred door, her face severe. ¡°Another attack?¡± The matron looked at the two girls, and her face softened. ¡°Are they alright?¡± Jenny nodded. ¡°Think so. I apologize for the trouble and for bringing them without asking first. I didn¡¯t want to leave them for the lurker.¡± The matron scoffed and waved dismissively. ¡°I¡¯d be mad if you left them outside.¡± She eyed Bee up and down. ¡°You,¡± she said, pointing at Bee, ¡°need to eat.¡± Jenny nodded, looking at Bee, who shrunk beneath the twin gazes bearing down on her. ¡°Could I trouble you to prepare food for both girls? I¡¯ll pay for it.¡± Jenny asked, motioning to Yuki and Bee with her head. ¡°I¡¯ll take them to my room upstairs and make sure they don¡¯t trouble your customers until I can take them outside to find their families.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± the woman said, looking at the customers around her. Some patrons had sat again, while others still stood together, talking and muttering. She turned on her heels and walked towards the kitchen again. Given how calm everyone was, Yuki guessed this wasn¡¯t the first time something like that had happened. Jenny nodded, then led Yuki and Bee upstairs. The trio and a rabbit silently walked until they crossed the bedroom door. When the door clicked open, three voices sounded at the same time. ¡°Jenny!¡± Bee squealed. ¡°Isabella, what are you doing here?¡± Jenny asked. ¡°Jenny, I think Bee can help us,¡± Yuki said. The three stopped, looking at each other. Whisker yawned, and the girls burst out giggling. Chapter - 73 Yuki polished the bowl with the last chunk of bread, catching all the remaining stew. Satisfied that none of the broth had escaped, she nibbled the soup-soaked bread, delighted at the taste. Yuki might have sighed, eyes closed, and a happy chirp may have escaped her mouth once or twice. After the bread went down the hatch, she licked her fingers and patted her extended belly. A burp escaped, but she was too content to care about it. Yuki opened one food-coma-laden eye to find Jenny staring at her. ¡°What?¡± By Yuki¡¯s side, Bee had already eaten her bowl and now devoured Jenny¡¯s portion. Whisker lazed on Jenny¡¯s lap, enjoying Jenny¡¯s ear massage. The grinding purr and occasional thump echoed over the noises of eating. Yuki wasn¡¯t jealous of her sister, not at all. Jenny¡¯s gaze followed Yuki¡¯s, and the older woman¡¯s stare softened. She shook her head, looking back at Yuki. ¡°Did you enjoy the food?¡± Yuki burped again, patted her belly, and then just sprawled on the bed, looking at the ceiling. ¡°It was amazing!¡± she declared. ¡°Been forever since I ate anything other than leaves, grass, and berries.¡± Bee had taken her face off the stew bowl and looked at the two. ¡°What language is that?¡± Jenny opened her mouth, but before she spoke, her skin rippled, her bones popped, and her clothes sagged. In a moment, she wasn¡¯t Larissa anymore, but pretty baby blue-eyed Jenny. ¡°Hidden by magic,¡± Bee muttered, eyes filled with wonder. ¡°Do it again?¡± Jenny adjusted her clothes and fixed her hair. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the language,¡± she said in the local dialect. ¡°What are you doing here, and what happened to you?¡± she asked, ignoring the request to use magic again. Bee put on a brave front. She went back to eating, but her posture was tense. ¡°Too much beatin¡¯,¡± she said after eating some more. ¡°Legged it outta there when I could.¡± Jenny frowned, lips drawn in a severe line. She pressed. ¡°What about your mom? And Boris?¡± ¡°Workin¡¯,¡± Bee shrugged. ¡°Why did you flee from home, Isabella?¡± Jenny asked, her voice soft, even if intense. ¡°Carlos and Joel gotten meaner after you fled.¡± Yuki noticed the girl¡¯s hunched shoulder and tight voice. ¡°New Baron made everyone work till they can¡¯t, and when they can¡¯t, still get beatin¡¯s.¡± Yuki got up from her lazy sprawl on the bed. She didn¡¯t understand all of what Bee said, but the girl looked uncomfortable and hurt. Those same system induce instincts told Yuki how scared and hurt Bee was. Yuki sat behind Bee and hugged the freckled menace. ¡°Shh, it¡¯s alright, you¡¯re fine.¡± ¡°Eeep!¡± Bee yelped, almost spilling her food. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Jenny and Bee continued their conversation, but Yuki¡¯s mind drifted elsewhere. She hadn¡¯t wanted to admit it, but was her human and rabbit body also messing with her mind? Rabbit-Yuki was flitty and curious, like a hyperactive puppy. She found it hard to stay still then, and she was touchy-feely with Jenny, with all the nuzzling and petting. Kid-Yuki was immature at some points, emotional at others, and prone to strange behaviors, like the dere moment in the dungeon. She hadn¡¯t spent too many hours in this body, but she found most of her actions childish. Even now, she wanted to dismiss these concerns as dull. Did it matter, however? In the before, Yuki had been strangely beholden to what other people thought about her, constrained in things she did by fear ¡ª she would never have admitted that ¡ª of what others would think, even if everyone already thought her crazy, given all her different obsessions. But did it matter? No, in the end, it didn¡¯t. ADHD rabbit or sentimental child, Yuki always felt herself, aside from the passion part. But that one, she also realized only amplified things that were already there. She had always hated the stalker and loved fluffy things. Those things were already there even before she died. Those sentiments were just¡­ amplified here in a way that might push her to make decisions she wouldn¡¯t have otherwise. ¡°Biscuit?¡± The conversation had died down between the other girls. ¡°Biscuit? Wasn¡¯t it Yuki?¡± Yuki still hugged Bee, her head resting on the girl¡¯s shoulder, hands locked around Bee¡¯s waist. Now that Yuki paid attention, Bee reeked something fierce. Old sweat, trash, and dirt¡ªshe even smelled a bit of manure from the girl¡¯s clothes. She turned toward Jenny. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t keep the rabbit¡ª¡± ¡°Whisker.¡± Yuki corrected. ¡°¡ªWhisker and Bee here for long. People would talk about me keeping two girls locked inside my room, and we don¡¯t want more attention than what we already have.¡± Yuki nodded. ¡°I think I can convince Peggy to let you two stay here for the day and probably night because of the lurker, but tomorrow morning, you¡¯ll need to go with Isabella somewhere. She promises it¡¯s safe and will wait for me there until I¡¯ve gathered the materials for your magic. After that, we¡¯ll go to the farm, like you asked.¡± Yuki nodded again; the strange, morose mood hadn¡¯t abated. ¡°And after?¡± Jenny¡¯s jaw tightened, and her face was a careful blank mask. ¡°Then we deal with Gregory.¡±
It had taken the rest of the morning, until the bell¡¯s toll. Yuki¡¯s transformation had ended, and she was a rabbit again; she rested on the bed, snuggling with Whisker. Bee was asleep on the other side, and Jenny read from her grimoire. Whisker startled at the loud gong but soon calmed down again. Bee grumbled and rolled, mumbling something in her sleep. The blonde closed the book. She looked at the bed, a soft smile blossoming on her face. Her eyes met Yuki¡¯s. ¡°It is still early. Do you think you can use the magic again? I might be able to get the material still today,¡± Jenny whispered. Yuki snuggled closer to her sister, gave Whisker one last hug, and then got up and trotted toward Jenny. ¡°I can do it, but I¡¯m running low on magic.¡± ¡°Hum,¡± started Jenny. ¡°That livestock market gave me an idea. Maybe we can purchase animals there.¡± Yuki opened her mouth, about to refuse, but shook her head. That was a good solution, even if somehow she thought it shouldn¡¯t be. ¡°That¡¯s a nice idea.¡± She hopped out of bed and stopped beside Jenny. ¡°Ready?¡± Jenny nodded. Yuki recited the magic mumbo jumbo and waved her paws in familiar movements. Magic moved from her core, spreading through her paws and flowing into Jenny. Jenny¡¯s skin rippled and changed. The woman grew, her bones popped, and her hair changed color. Magic never ceased to amaze Yuki. She didn¡¯t have words to explain how giddy she felt every time she cast the spell¡ªlike butterflies spreading through all her body. ¡°I¡¯ll close the door on my way out,¡± Jenny said in Larissa¡¯s voice. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone inside.¡± Chapter - 74 It wasn¡¯t difficult to convince Peggy to let the girls stay in the inn, not after Jenny confided the girls had fled from the new Baron¡¯s farm. The matron¡¯s face had softened, and she asked no other questions regarding the girls¡¯ stay. The mood outside the inn had changed. There were more people outside than in the morning, a pocket of people grouped together whispering to one another, watching every shadow with suspicion and fear. Jenny got a fair share of stares. Her disguise¡¯s size, the spear, and being an unknown in these parts all came together to make most of the simple folk cast suspicion, even more so after the lurker attack. She ignored stares, whispering, and not subtle finger-pointing. It had been the same when she arrived ten years ago: the cursed child, a scrawny girl fleeing from disaster. With brisk steps, Jenny crossed the mercantile street. Some merchants and customers had returned, but more hadn¡¯t bothered to set up stalls again after the attack. Thankfully, Osgar was one of the merchants who hadn¡¯t returned. She didn¡¯t see any other stall set up to sell animals, which could be a problem. Jenny shook her head, reflecting on her thoughts about her talk with Isabella. Gregory had always been a stuck-up jerk. Maybe it was the curse of the nobility? Gregory¡¯s behavior wasn¡¯t that different from all the other noble scions from her island. But if Bee wasn¡¯t lying, which Jenny didn¡¯t think the girl was, Gregory treated his servants worse than slaves. Constant punishments, no resting days, and pay that often wasn¡¯t enough for food. This made people desperate enough to eat the produce from the farms they worked on. Flogging. The damn bastard had started flogging people as punishment. The reason why Bee had fled. She¡¯d been caught eating from the farm¡¯s produce. Jenny¡¯s gums ached with how much her teeth ground against each other. She wanted to strangle that good for nothing. Jenny¡¯s steps took her to Theo¡¯s workshop. The Sparksmith, as many called the man. The place was huddled amongst the crooked, half-timbered houses of the town. The building was imposing, built from rough-hewn stone and topped with a thick, slate roof perpetually coated in a fine layer of soot. A wide double door, reinforced with iron bands, stood ajar, occasionally groaning on rusty hinges when puffs of hot air laden with the smell of burning coal escaped. Through the doorway, Jenny glimpsed the fiery heart of the shop. A massive forge glowed orange, sending flickering tongues of heat across the interior. Beside it, an anvil sat like a sleeping beast, its surface dented and pitted from countless hammer blows. It was impressive, even if it also paled in comparison to the anvil in the dungeon. Stacks of horseshoes, unfinished blades, and tools leaned precariously against the walls while a trough of water waited to cool the man¡¯s sweat and the metal both. The rhythmic clang of hammer on anvil formed a constant counterpoint to the hiss and roar of the furnace. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Jenny stepped inside and was immediately assaulted by the forge¡¯s heat. The clangs stopped, and Theo turned toward her. ¡°I¡¯ll be with ye inna moment, lass.¡± He said in his rumbling voice before the staccato beat of his hammer started up again. Jenny took the opportunity to check the place over, noting there were no finished weapons or armor on display, and most of the things she saw were farm tools, rough cooking pots, and shoe¨Chorns. After a few minutes, the man stepped away from the anvil, using a cloth to wipe the sweat. ¡°Whatcha need lass?¡± The man¡¯s eyes were glued to the metal spear. ¡°Needa work on that one?¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± Jenny shrugged. ¡°I need some silver and gold ground to powder. And maybe someone who can repair a crossbow.¡± Theo dragged his eyes away from the spear and looked Jenny in the eyes. ¡°Did ya now? What for?¡± Jenny considered her options but didn¡¯t take long to answer. ¡°You heard the lurker in town?¡± ¡°Aye.¡± ¡°My team is trying to find the lurker¡¯s nest. Two of the beasts attacked the Baron¡¯s farm a ten-day ago. I got separated from my team and¡­¡± she hesitated, leaning forward and lowering her voice. ¡°An apothecary taught me to brew a salve that helps with healing. I prefer to part with my gold rather than my life, at this point.¡± ¡°Potion brewing? Ye walking a dangerous line, lass.¡± The man said, but his demeanor hadn¡¯t changed. ¡°Everyone wants these monsters gone. None appreciates how hard and dangerous it is to deal with them.¡± She said, opening her arms in a what can I do gesture. ¡°It is just how things are.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± the man said, still wiping his hands on the cloth. His eyes were back on the spear. ¡°Can you help?¡± Jenny asked after a few moments of silence. ¡°Aye,¡± Theo said for the third time. ¡°Come back in two days.¡± Jenny sighed, looked around, and saw a half-finished project in the anvil, it looked like a sword. ¡°Is it possible to do it today? I can compensate you for your time.¡± She tried. ¡°No can do lass. Gotta meself a new order from the new Baron. Lord Gregory doesn¡¯t seem the sort ta ¡®priciate delays.¡± That damn Gregory. Even here, that waste of space caused problems. ¡°What if you let me use your tools? Show me what they are and how to use them; I¡¯ll do the work myself and pay your usual rates.¡± Theo dragged his eyes from the spear and looked Jenny up and down. It wasn¡¯t the type of lecherous gaze she felt all her life. Theo looked at her like one would a horse, observing the width of her shoulders, the muscle in her arms, her height, and her large hands. ¡°Ye have any experience with forging?¡± ¡°Not forging, no. But I¡¯m no stranger to hard work.¡± Theo scratched his chin. He looked at his workshop, Jenny, and her spear. ¡°Tell ye what. Ye tell me where that thing is from,¡± he said, pointing his finger to the spear. ¡°Leave it here for a few days, and let me take a gander at it. For ten silver, you can use me tools ta grind your silver and gold.¡± Jenny snorted. ¡°For ten silver, I might as well buy the powder I need.¡± She pointed to the spear. ¡°Three silver and I¡¯ll tell you where I found this little baby, and you can hold it,¡± she looked the man in the eyes, ¡°for half a bell.¡± It was Theo¡¯s time to snort, but the man was smiling. ¡°Tell you what, lass. Five silver, and ye let me work on that thing while you do your stuff,¡± he said, offering his hand. ¡°Deal!¡± Jenny said, squeezing the man¡¯s rough hands. Chapter - 75 Jenny wiped the sweat from her face, straightening her back with a satisfying pop. The grinding wheel was one of those which moved with a hand lever. As opposed to the one she was used to using back at the manor; this one was a monster of a thing. Worse yet, Jenny couldn¡¯t take her time with the process. She was on a time limit. She scraped the gold from the grinding wheel, placing the ground metal in a small container the blacksmith had provided. A second container rested by the side of the grinding wheel with the ground silver. Her arm muscles stung from the repetitive movement required to operate the wheel. The silver had been harder to ground than the gold. Jenny placed the second container near the first and then picked up the earrings. Tear-shaped sapphires, held with filaments of steel-covered gold, were her favorite¡ªand only¡ªpiece of jewelry, a gift from Gizelda. With care, Jenny placed the earrings on the stone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If she ever wanted to see Gizelda again, she needed to hide. To hide, she needed Biscuit¡¯s magic. And Biscuit needed the powder to make the magic last. Jenny clenched her fists and bit her lips. She didn¡¯t want to do this. Jenny opened her eyes and took the hammer she¡¯d gotten earlier. With one last look at the earrings, she swung the tool. The sapphire broke into small bits with a clang louder than she expected. Another blow and the pretty metal deformed. She reached out and placed the metal bits inside a pocket. Jenny swung the hammer again. At least she didn¡¯t need to use the wheel with gems; she could just pound her precious gift into dust. The water leaking from her eyes was just sweat. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Jenny entered the forge room, the three types of powder secured into containers hidden in her pockets. Theo was doubled over a table, eyes moving from something he drew on a piece of coarse paper and her spear. The weapon looked nothing like before. The blacksmith had cleaned, filled, and oiled the metal piece. The cloth straps had been replaced with leather. The nicks on the speartip had been ground out and polished with zeal. The weapon didn¡¯t look new; it still had several spots where rust had done its work, but at least now, it looked like a cared-for weapon instead of a piece of rusty junk. ¡°Ya done, lass?¡± The man asked, his eyes not moving away from his drawings. Now closer, Jenny saw the numerous yet faint details in the weapon¡¯s shaft. She couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it. It didn¡¯t look like a language, nor like decoration. ¡°You polished it?¡± Jenny asked instead of an answer. ¡°Right, ya, I did,¡± the man said, straightening his back. He turned to Jenny. ¡°Interested in selling? Ye can have your choice of spear,¡± the man said, pointing at the many spear tips nearby. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Jenny looked over the drawings. The man had sketched four miniature versions of the spear and the many intersecting squiggly lines. Some lines were broken, and others ended without rhyme or reason. She guessed it was the damage done by the rust. ¡°Not right now.¡± She answered. ¡°It takes time to get used to a new weapon, time which I don¡¯t have to spare.¡± She told a misleading truth. ¡°Aye,¡± the blacksmith said, looking at the weapon again. ¡°It was worth trying.¡± He muttered, ¡°Where did you find this one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t quite know,¡± Jenny answered. ¡°I got separated from my group and was pretty much lost.¡± She admitted. ¡°It was some sort of ruins. I had to fight a monster, and my weapon broke in the battle. This one was lying around there, lucky.¡± Theo shuddered. ¡°Damn monsters.¡± He cursed, going silent after. Jenny paused in the conversation to pick up the silver coins from her purse and hand them to the man. ¡°Thank you for your help, Theo.¡± The man wrenched his eyes from the spear to look at Jenny again. He gave her another calculating look, then just shrugged. He pocketed the coins and hefted the spear. ¡°If ya change ya mind, bring this lassy to me.¡± He said, handing the spear to Jenny, butt first. Jenny took the weapon and turned away from the man, settling on a stance. It was still the same weapon, but the change in grip and the maintenance made it feel like an entirely different spear. She tensed her muscles, about to stab, but stopped and relaxed. Jenny rested the spear on the ground and turned to the blacksmith again. ¡°Can I buy the tools to maintain this baby in the field? And where can I find a woodworker to repair a crossbow?¡± Theo, who had taken a few steps away from Jenny, smiled, and his shoulders dropped. Was that relief? ¡°I got what you need, lass.¡±
Jenny stepped out of the Smith¡¯s workshop with a new name and a direction to find the woodworker; though she didn¡¯t head there immediately. She had spent too much time here and wasn¡¯t sure if the magic would last enough to visit yet another workshop. Jenny shook her head and started walking toward the city square. It would be best to return to the inn and avoid any issues. Nothing happened until Jenny reached the town square. A crowd blocked most of the view. She wasn¡¯t sure what she expected to see after the attack. Maybe more town guards patrolling, or the town¡¯s people running from one location to another, still not trusting in their safety. The darker side of her mind even considered that maybe she¡¯d see the aftermath of the battle with the monster¡ªa corpse, a pool of blood. Jenny pushed past the many people around her until she could see the commotion. A priest stood in front of the church. He was dressed in red and gold robes used by the high clergy, with a conical hood included. The man held a book, voice raised high, preaching to the crowd. By his side stood junior members, dressed in simple gray robes and hoods covering their faces, but judging by their height, barely out of their teen years. Each held a link of chains from which an incense burner hung. Faint red smoke wafted from the burners. A group of holy warriors stood in front of the church, dressed in heavy metal armor, helmets, shields, and swords. But more than that, cut, slashed, bludgeoned, and carved open, hung spread eagle on some sort of wooden structure was the Shadow Stalker on display. It didn¡¯t take long to understand what the commotion was. The guards hadn¡¯t killed the lurker. No, it had been the church inquisitor and his holy warriors to do the deed. Jenny turned around and toward the inn. She had hoped to leave this place before the inquisitor arrived, but this only made things more dangerous. She couldn¡¯t stay here, not with her almost failing magic. Jenny¡¯s hurried footsteps guided her toward the inn. Suddenly, this didn¡¯t seem like a good idea anymore. Chapter - 76 Snuggling Whisker below the bed was nostalgic. It was not a burrow-level feeling of safety, but the illusion was there. Whisker had also calmed down. She hadn¡¯t tried to flee again. Yuki wanted to believe the other rabbit felt safe near her and recognized family, but she wasn¡¯t that lost to her fluffy obsession. It didn¡¯t change the fact that she wanted to, well, Yuki didn¡¯t know what she wanted. A part of her wanted to use the contract spell, even if she didn¡¯t really understand what the effects of that spell would be. Another wanted to permanently inscribe Whisker with [Shapechange]. Would a rabbit-turned-human develop like a human? The idea fascinated Yuki more than she wanted to admit. Silly modern ethics and morals kept badgering her mind that experimenting on siblings, even if they were animals, was a bad idea. Time idled away, sometimes napping, other times making sure Whisker¡¯s fur was clean and fluffed. Yuki heard Jenny¡¯s footsteps way before the woman reached the inn, even if she only recognized them when Jenny was all but entering the room. The sound of her boots was accompanied by the metal spear hitting the cobblestone. Yuki had a superb hearing, even if, most of the time, she just pushed it to the background. If she focused on it, she could hear the entire town simultaneously. It would have been maddening if she couldn¡¯t ignore most of it, the noise retreating like background ambiance. Jenny had stopped by the door, probably searching for the key. Yuki willed her character sheet open. The skill tabs had a [Perception] skill. [Perception](INT+POW): Perception is passive observation and focused detection, whether hunting for something specific or simply being aware of surroundings. Ambient conditions affect Perception. Like everything else in the system, the skill description wasn¡¯t that helpful. Yuki started to believe that things would only leave the realm of the mundane when someone unlocked a perk. This reminded Yuki that she had never talked with Jenny about her perk. The door opened, and Jenny stepped inside. She placed the spear by the door. The woman walked closer to the bed, where Bee still slept. ¡°Biscuit?¡± Jenny whispered. Yuki disentangled from Whisker and hopped from beneath the bed. ¡°Welcome back.¡± ¡°I got the powder,¡± Jenny said first thing. Then she moved closer to the window and peeked outside. ¡°Everything went well?¡± Yuki asked, examining the spear. The weapon looked polished, even if it still had that old weapon feel. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know if the blacksmith believed my story, but he didn¡¯t make a fuss either way,¡± Jenny said, looking away from the window. She knelt, open palms on the ground. Yuki hopped on the woman¡¯s hand. It was a nice gesture that Yuki appreciated. Jenny sat by the table, placing Yuki on top of it. Soon after, she dug into her pockets, taking out three small pouches. It looked and smelled like leather. Jenny untied them, and Yuki peaked inside. Silver, gold, and sapphire dust. Yuki didn¡¯t know why she needed those components. It didn¡¯t make much sense because she knew the gem dust could even be a different precious stone as long it was something valuable. Magic was weird and awesome. ¡°That should be more than enough.¡± Yuki nodded, satisfied. ¡°What about the animals for magic points?¡± Jenny shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anyone else selling on the market, but we can ask Peggy where she purchases her meat; that might help.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Yuki said. She looked at Jenny, still transformed. The magic wouldn¡¯t last much longer. ¡°Can you check something for me?¡± Jenny looked at Yuki briefly, fingers sneaking over the table, finding the right spots near Yuki¡¯s ear. ¡°What is it?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Yuki held back the urge to purr. The mischievous glint in Jenny¡¯s eye made it clear the woman was doing it on purpose. Yuki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could survive this. She was stronger than some fingers. ¡°Check your parchment? There¡¯s a tablet called Characteristics. Do you have anything called experience stacks there?¡± ¡°Status,¡± Jenny said, her eyes focusing on something only she could see. After a moment, she shook her head. ¡°Nothing.¡± She started humming. Yuki fought the urge to thump. Jenny¡¯s fingernail scratched a nice spot, and Yuki¡¯s teeth ground for a moment before she stopped. ¡°Skills,¡± Yuki said, eyes still closed. ¡°Memory Manipulation. Check. Perk.¡± She managed to say. Jenny¡¯s humming stopped, but the fingers did not. ¡°I can see it.¡± ¡°Pick. One?¡± Yuki stuttered. Jenny giggled. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Yuki opened her eyes and reluctantly hopped away from the fingers. She hated the idea of losing here. She lost by giving up first, by escaping the attention, by no longer being pampered. But this was too important to get distracted. Yuki collected herself, ignoring the victorious grin on Jenny¡¯s face. The [Shapechange] had ended, and Yuki hadn¡¯t noticed. Dangerous. ¡°Which one do you want?¡± Yuki asked after evading the enemy''s fingers. ¡°I don¡¯t know?¡± Jenny asked, sounding confused. ¡°Mother,¡± she started and stopped. The hands slowed down for a moment before starting again. ¡°Mother told me about my family tradition. She was a mind weaver. She could make people forget.¡± That was¡­ ¡°Can you do it to others as well?¡± Yuki asked, jumping over one hand and then duking under the other. ¡°I never learned how to,¡± Jenny admitted. ¡°I can only change my own memories.¡± Yuki ran to one corner, facing the woman¡¯s fingers. The hand stopped, digits splayed open, blocking the path. The second hand approached from above. The enemy thought her defeated, naive! The hand was almost on her when Yuki hopped side-to-side and then up. With a small thump, she used the hand as a springboard to escape the trap. ¡°Do you want to pick one now?¡± Yuki asked, voice not hiding her triumph. Jenny giggled again, moving her hands back. One hand stayed over the table, chasing, while the other moved under. Sneaky blonde! ¡°Give me some time to think?¡± Yuki just bobbed her head. ¡°From that spell book, which magic would you want the most?¡± she asked, changing the subject. Jenny¡¯s head moved a bit to the side. She blinked. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to learn Inferno¡¯s might blessing.¡± The woman said, not missing a beat. Yuki ran toward the wall, the over-hand chasing openly, while the under-hand threatened from the sides, still partially hidden. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Yuki assumed her best spider-Yuki persona, jumping at the wall, then thumping herself over the chasing hand. ¡°Not well,¡± Jenny said, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s more complicated than I thought,¡± she admitted. ¡°I want to try something,¡± Yuki said, ducking under the over-hand again while sidestepping the under-hand. ¡°It might help.¡± ¡°Help how?¡± Yuki hadn¡¯t stopped fleeing from the seeking hands. ¡°I think I can help you learn the magic, but I¡¯m not sure.¡± Jenny waited a long moment before speaking, concentrating on their game of chase chase. Finally, Jenny said, ¡°Okay.¡± Yuki didn¡¯t wait. She willed her status open and zeroed in on the spells. Yuki scrolled on the list, finding there, added after all the base spells she had, the same twelve spells she had read from the grimoire. She selected the blessing and willed the system to spend her last stack point to teach and give the spell to her familiar. Use one stack point to attempt to learn the spell Inferno''s Might Blessing? Yes/No Yuki selected yes. Calculating¡­ [Invocation] check successfully. Imprinting knowledge¡­ The chasing hands stopped. Jenny grunted. Soon after, both hands moved up, and the woman held her head tight. Yuki blinked, not sure what was happening. Imprinting knowledge¡­ Jenny moaned in pain. Blood seeped from her nose, and bloody tears escaped from her eyes. Imprinting knowledge¡­ Knowledge Imprinted. Jenny sighed in relief. ¡°What wa¡ª¡± she started, then stopped. ¡°I think I¡¯m¡ª¡± She didn¡¯t finish. The woman wobbled and fell down unconscious. Chapter - 77 A moment of panic and fear spiked through Yuki at the sight of the blood and the grunts of pain. She became acutely aware the system didn¡¯t care how things happened, only that they did. Jenny hit the floor with a loud thump resounding in the room. On the bed, Bee stirred, mumbling. She rolled around, dragging the blanket over her head, and fell asleep again. Yuki jumped off the table. Her first instinct was to cast [Regeneration], but glancing at the still-opened parchment by her side gave her pause. Picture-Jenny had blood coming out of her eyes and nose, just like Real-Jenny, but focusing on the image, the numbers the system gave her made no sense. Whatever caused the bleeding dealt minimal damage to the girl¡¯s head. Jenny¡¯s status marked her as unconscious. Yuki wasn¡¯t sure it was worth using a magic point to cast the healing spell. How could she help? Maybe Jenny failed some resistance check? It was still strange thinking about this, but last time, when Yuki also bled because of the burrower¡¯s magic-eating attack, her bleeding only started after she failed a check. Endurance or Willpower, Yuki wasn¡¯t sure which. Something clicked in Yuki¡¯s mind. The injury didn¡¯t seem serious, and things she had never considered before came to the surface of her thoughts. She jumped until she was by Jenny¡¯s head and, with one paw, opened one of the girl¡¯s eyes. Sclera looked typical, a faint pink hue she attributed to the bloody tears, not blood in the sclera. Iris remained a vibrant blue, and the pupils, while dilated, didn¡¯t look out of place. Yuki was sure there was nothing to worry about at the moment. Jenny would wake up in a few hours, probably with a headache. Knowing these things was strange when she was never one to pay attention to biology classes, or even watch medical TV shows many people were obsessed with. Yuki willed the system to display the logs in verbose mode again. It didn¡¯t take much to find the explanation for the newfound knowledge. [First Aid] check successful. Yuki looked at her skills, and first aid was among those in the relevant system tab. Yuki closed Jenny¡¯s eyes and settled down near the woman¡¯s shoulder. She thought back on the previous moments. What had she thought at the time? How could she help? Did the system initiate a [First Aid] check in response to her desire to help Jenny? It seemed silly now, but apart from situations where a reactionary test somehow popped up on her logs, like a willpower check, Yuki had ignored all the other skills aside from the magic-related ones. Early in the day, she noticed the effects of Insight when she wanted to know what Bee was thinking about, and now the seriousness of Jenny¡¯s injuries by wanting to learn how to help. Even now, Yuki knew she could do more: clean the blood, change Jenny¡¯s position, and massage the muscles on the woman¡¯s neck to help circulation. If she did that, somehow, it would help Jenny recover faster. It cost nothing to try, she thought, getting up from her cuddle position and following the instructions from first aid. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
A few minutes later, Yuki finished kneading ¡ª for lack of a better word ¡ª the woman¡¯s neck and shoulders. Without hands, Yuki had to improvise, taking care not to scratch the caramel skin. A rabbit''s nails weren¡¯t as sharp as a cat¡¯s claws, but given the situation, it would scratch and maybe even draw blood if she wasn''t careful. The parchment representing Jenny¡¯s status showed that the minor head injury had healed up during the ¡°treatment.¡± Yuki hadn¡¯t smelled magic, and changing the body position and kneading muscles shouldn¡¯t be enough to speed up healing to this degree. This all smelled of system chicanery. Right now, according to Jenny¡¯s character sheet, she was just sleeping instead of unconscious. That opened up a whole jar of pickled carrots. Yuki already knew she was missing a lot from the system. Her current theory was that whatever explanation she had received, it had been done in her second life, the lost life, the one she had no memories of. She had a few theories about the whole situation: Ferdinand was old. That was a fact she had ignored until now. The man she saw in the manor was not the same young adult she remembered from the before. The man looked rugged, past his thirties, not reaching his twenties. Log messages. When Yuki first woke up after her death, she remembered the absurd number of log messages. She scrolled up, never reaching the beginning of the system log. She gave up on that task because she didn¡¯t understand the language, which was mostly the same message repeatedly. She hadn¡¯t given it too much thought, assuming it was the broken system trope. But what if the system wasn¡¯t broken, and Yuki just didn¡¯t know what it could and couldn¡¯t do? What other hidden functions were there she didn¡¯t know about? Yuki¡¯s eyes moved toward her own character sheet tabs. She had ignored most of the skills there, thinking they only represented things she knew how to do, a numerical representation that didn¡¯t change anything about how she actually did things. But now, with [Insight] and [First Aid], she had proof the system had other functions and drip-fed her knowledge she wasn¡¯t aware she had ¡ª when she succeeded in a check. Once more, she willed the system log into view and read the entries she had mostly ignored until now. Yuki grouped a few more pressing logs, thinking about what they represented. ¡­ [Love Fluff: Rabbits] passion check failed. [Evade] check successful. [Evade] check failed. ¡­ That made no sense, even if it explained a lot of things. Yuki could point out the moments in question for each of those checks. It started with her failing the passion check. She all but panicked inside the bag when she heard Whisker. The following two were easy as well. She evaded grasping hands and failed that one kick. These weren¡¯t the only evade checks on the list; there were many more. ¡­ [Love Fluff: Rabbits] passion check failed. [Insight] check successful. [Love Fluff: Rabbits] passion check failed. [Willpower] check failed. ¡­ That would be her talk with Bee. She remembered the same unnatural feelings about things, mostly dismissing them at the time and then noticing Bee''s body language, followed by panicking about the snakepard''s arrival. ¡­ [Love Fluff Rabbits] passion check failed. [Perception] check successful. ¡­ [First Aid] check successful. This last group of messages was already back at the inn. Yuki had lost her composure when thinking about how Jenny had saved her and Whisker. Just a few minutes ago, she recognized the sounds of Jenny¡¯s steps, even from afar, followed by the first aid after Jenny got hurt. Yuki peeked at the skill¡¯s tab. If the system somehow let her do things she couldn¡¯t before, then it was worth checking the skills in detail and picking some useful ones. Then, she could grind them for perks. Was that the path to power in this scenario? Chapter - 78 Some of Yuki¡¯s character sheet skills represented concepts instead of individual actions. [Athletics], for example, covered a bunch of things: climbing, jumping, running, walking, and throwing. At first, she thought it was all manner of physical activities, but [Brawn], which was somehow a resistance and skill at the same time, dealt with lifting, breaking, and contests of strength, according to the skill description. That raised another question: Could she grind the resistance side of [Brawn] by lifting stuff? A not-so-distant part screamed at the possibility of becoming a gym bunny. Yuki put her other skills out of her mind for now. No matter how much she liked [Driving], she didn¡¯t think she¡¯d find any rabbit sized vehicles just laying around for her to drive anytime soon. Same with [Boating]. Not that Yuki had ever gone boating in the before; yet somehow, her skills page insisted she knew how to do it. Yuki willed the system to organize things again according to her vision: first, resistances, followed by useful skills, and then lastly the not immediately useful ones. Layout updated. Yuki looked at the improved list. Now, she needed a grinding plan. Should she also enable the improvement notifications? Maybe seeing the numbers go up would help? Yuki thought hard about the system and the modification she wanted. Preferences updated. Done with that; she glanced at the Advanced Skills tab. There were far fewer skills here that she had access to; and most of them she had no real way of training right now. There were three crafting skills: [Leatherworking], [Sewing], and [Cooking]. Strange that cooking was an advanced skill. She thought it would have been common. She guessed those three being advanced represented all the effort she had put into creating her own cosplays and cooking for herself in the before. In the more recent years, prior to Truck-Kun¡¯s visit, Yuki had changed to purchasing cured leather and designing the costumes herself. [Acting] and [Disguise] Yuki guessed were, well, all the acting and dressing and makeup while cosplaying. She hadn¡¯t been good at it, but it seemed to count well enough for the system. Casting her mind to the skills in question, she had a general feeling these were nothing like what she had done in the before. More of a con man skill. Yuki had no clue as to why she had [Bureaucracy], all she could think was that maybe a more modern world was bureaucratic by nature and that somehow was enough to get her the skill? The last ones were Earth culture and languages, which didn¡¯t apply in any situation she could think of, nor did it need to be trained. She did the same here, grouping the functional advanced skills together. Layout updated. Yuki only needed to think of a way to train all these up. For now, she concentrated on her common skills, given that all the advanced ones required opposable thumbs and raw materials to practice. Maybe she¡ª Jenny moved, lumbering awake and into a sitting position. ¡°Urgh.¡± Yuki stopped her nascent training plan to check on her familiar. ¡°Jenny? Are you good?¡± Immediately, she regretted asking that question. Jenny shook her head. ¡°I¡­ drank too much?¡± She asked, sounding confused. Yuki hopped on the woman¡¯s lap. ¡°No, I tried to use the system to teach you magic. I didn¡¯t know it would hurt. I¡¯m sorry.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. A finger rose to the woman¡¯s face, and she removed a bit of dried blood from the corners of her eyes. ¡°Ah, I remember now. Head still hurts.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, pet,¡± Yuki said, nuzzling the woman. ¡°Go to bed. We can check over things tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Jenny took Yuki and placed the rabbit on the ground before she lumbered up and shambled toward the bed. Slowly, she laid down near Bee and, not long after, was asleep once again. Yuki guessed this was an excellent time to put that training idea to the test. She hopped beneath the bed and cuddled with Whisker. Yuki would start with [Perception]. It seemed easy enough to pay attention to things around her and try to identify what the sounds were. On the plus side, she didn¡¯t need to move, make noise, or even be away from Whisker¡¯s A-Tier fur. Win-win if there ever was one.
Hours whittled away. It was already dark. The girls had woken at some point but stayed in bed whispering to each other. Yuki caught a few of the words at the start. Enough to get the idea, Jenny wanted to know how things had been since she fled. Yuki hadn¡¯t seen a single improvement log message yet, but that was fine. She would keep trying whenever possible. The sooner she understood how the system worked, the sooner she could take better advantage of it.
Exp: +1. [Perception]: +2. Yuki woke up to Whisker¡¯s nuzzling and a few, short log messages. The same old daily pittance of exp was there, followed by a [Perception] increase. If she remembered correctly, the system always gave the daily exp somewhere in the middle of the night. She didn¡¯t have a clock to know the time for sure, but she would guess around 3am if it was in the before. Her magic points also regenerated at that same time. Did the system only show the improvement information at the end of the ¡°day¡± as the system saw it? In the bed above, Jenny stirred. Yuki paid attention to the sounds: the rustle of fabric, the wet noise of gulping saliva, the creaking of wood, and the popping of bones. It was freaky; all the small noises she had never paid attention to were now audible and clear. She shuddered. It was icky. Yuki didn¡¯t like it. Jenny got out of the bed. ¡°Biscuit?¡± She whispered. Yuki nuzzled Whisker one last time and hopped out. ¡°Good morning. Did you sleep well?¡± A smile broke on Jenny¡¯s face. She knelt, fingers tracing Yuki¡¯s fur along her back. ¡°Yes, thank you. Head doesn¡¯t hurt anymore, and I know how to cast magic!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± Yuki sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know it would hurt.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. It just took me by surprise. I won¡¯t have that problem next time.¡± ¡°Next time?¡± Yuki asked. ¡°We¡¯ll do it again, no?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Yuki sighed. Would she hurt her pet again? Jenny seemed happy with how things went. Was the blonde really a masochist? Should Yuki enable her? ¡°I can¡¯t do it again. Not right now,¡± Yuki admitted. ¡°It uses something called stack points, of which I had only one left.¡± ¡°Are those what you asked me about yesterday?¡± Yuki bobbed her head up and down. ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t know how I earned them. I¡¯m not sure if it was before or after the dungeon.¡± Jenny¡¯s finger trailed circles in Yuki¡¯s back coat. It wasn¡¯t as good as when Jenny massaged the ears or cheeks, but it was nice enough. ¡°I see. Thank you for teaching me the magic when you could have used it yourself.¡± Yuki looked again, demurring, more like mumbled. ¡°I did use one myself.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Yuki said, louder this time. Better get started with the day. ¡°Are you ready for the magic?¡± Bee had also woken up by now, but the girl still sat on the bed, observing the conversation. ¡°Yes,¡± Jenny agreed. ¡°What do I need?¡± Yuki thought about the [Enchant] spell and the things it told her she required for what she was about to do. ¡°I need a knife,¡± she said, shaking her head when Jenny grabbed the magic dagger. ¡°Not that one; anything that can make a cut will do.¡± Jenny looked about, then took one of the crossbow bolts she¡¯d been carrying. ¡°Will this work?¡± Yuki nodded. ¡°Then the powder, you¡¯ll need to undress and lay on your belly. I¡¯ll draw the symbol on your back.¡± ¡°Remove everything?¡± ¡°No, just the upper part and the trousers.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Jenny said and started removing her shirt. Then she stopped. ¡°Isabella, Biscuit will cast magic on me. I need to lay still for a moment. Can you stay quiet while she does it? We can go downstairs for breakfast and washroom once she¡¯s done.¡± Bee nodded, head moving so fast. What had Jenny told the girl? Yuki was surprised Bee didn¡¯t get dizzy with the movement. ¡°Status,¡± Yuki called out. She checked the number of Magic points she had¡ªsix after last night''s regen. It was more than enough. Yuki cleared her mind and started chanting. First, she needed to transform herself. She needed fingers for this, then she¡¯d curse Jenny. Easy. Chapter -79 Yuki stretched, hands up over her head. Her back popped pleasantly. She looked around. A wide eyed, open mouthed Bee sitting on the bed. A half-naked, grinning Jenny lay upon the ground. It was time for some serious magic. Yuki bounced a bit, feet moving in an almost dance. She couldn¡¯t help it; it was finally time to become a real sorceress! But first, clothes. Yuki walked about and dressed in the same clothes as yesterday. The mental image of drawing arcane doodles on Jenny¡¯s back in her birthday suit had too many bad occultism¡¯s connotations from the before. Better to not taint the experience. Dressed, Yuki sat by Jenny¡¯s side, powder satchels, a bowl, and the crossbow bolt deposited in front of her. Following ingrained system instincts, she poured the three types of powder inside the bowl. Yuki laughed, low and sinister. ¡°Huhuhu ha he ha.¡± She took the bolt and cut a nick on her hand. ¡°With a wave of my hand, you know who¡¯s in command.¡± Blood seeped from the wound and into the bowl. ¡°I¡¯m the quintessential queen of sorcery.¡± Her words lilted at the end, trying to imitate the pitch and tone. With the blood still dripping, she used her fingers to mix the powders into the ink used in the magic. It took more blood than she thought it would until Yuki was satisfied with the mixture and consistency. ¡°I keep a potion in my purse,¡± Yuki sang, kneeling by Jenny¡¯s side. She put the bowl nearby on the floor and dipped a finger into it, ¡°That¡¯s worse than any curse; no, you wouldn¡¯t want to mess with me.¡± Yuki drew, still humming the music. She remembered the tune and melody but not the rest of the lyrics. She drew circles and lines and pictographs. Yuki lost herself to her own fantasies, her finger never once stopping its work. A distant part of Yuki¡¯s mind, not entirely focused on the magic, noticed the things around her. Bee wide-eyed, watching, a hand covering her mouth. Jenny¡¯s struggles to stay quiet and the subtle squirming. Was Jenny weak to tickling? Sooner than expected, Yuki was done. She observed her work. It was beautiful¡ªbits of silver, gold, and sapphire mixed with viscous blood and infused with magic. Yuki checked the drawing one last time before starting on the second part. She waved her hands and chanted the words, adding the movements of the [Enchant] spell. With a final wave of her hands, she willed magic to obey. The symbols she drew glowed for a moment before being absorbed by Jenny¡¯s shifting flesh. Jenny¡¯s bones popped, her hands grew, and her hair changed from blonde to burnt brown. When the transformation was over, no symbol adorned Larissa¡¯s back. Yuki felt the connection to the magic flowing from her core and sustaining the transformation. Her shoulders drooped, releasing all the tension she hadn¡¯t been aware was there. ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Yuki announced, hands raised in triumph! Yuki¡¯s whole body ached like she¡¯d just run a marathon. It was the first time casting magic felt this draining. Yuki glanced at the ink bowl; a respectable amount remained. Not enough for another spell ¡ª unless she bled even more ¡ª but it seemed a shame to just let it go. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Jenny sat down, looking herself over, then over her shoulder, trying to catch a glance of her back. A smile broke on the woman¡¯s face. She put her clothes on and tousled Yuki¡¯s hair. ¡°Thank you, Biscuit.¡± Yuki looked away from the bowl. She wanted to do more magic, but she had only two magic points and no natural way of working those points into a permanent magic item. She shook her head, trying to dispel the ideas. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Yuki asked. Unfortunately, Jenny stopped the head pats and did a basic stretch routine. ¡°I feel normal.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Yuki said, cleaning her hands with fabric. After that, she tied the powder satchels and tidied things up, storing their personal belongings inside Jenny¡¯s bag. ¡°What¡¯s the plan now?¡± she asked while organizing things. Jenny had finished getting dressed and putting the armor on again. ¡°Breakfast first, then check out Isabella¡¯s secret hiding spot.¡± ¡°Fair.¡± Yuki agreed, looking at Bee. The girl perked up at the mention of her name but just looked between the two. Right, they were speaking in a possible dead language. ¡°Isabella,¡± started Jenny in the local dialect. ¡°Washroom, then breakfast. Will you guide us to your hiding spot after that?¡± The girl nodded, head bobbing up and down so fast Yuki thought someone pressed the x2 speed button.
Breakfast was a quiet affair. Yuki ate with gusto. Sausage, smelly cheese, hard bread, and some bitter herbal tea she couldn¡¯t name. She ate it all until her belly was stuffed and uncomfortable. She had to use the opportunity since Rabbit-Yuki ate leaves and mushrooms and was more than satisfied with those. Human-Yuki¡¯s senses were leagues below from her rabbit self, but probably still better than a baseline human. She had noticed people staring at her hair and flinching when they met her eyes. Yuki guessed because white hair and red eyes weren¡¯t something familiar here. Apart from that, even from the table at one corner of the inn, she could hear the hushed conversation between Jenny and the inn''s old lady. She didn¡¯t understand all the words, but something about taking girls to find a home or something similar. The conversation didn¡¯t take long before both women approached. Bee had already eaten two servings and was in the process of devouring her third. The freckled girl looked guilty when Jenny and Peggy arrived. ¡°Look here, girl,¡± Peggy spoke to Bee after a brief look in Yuki¡¯s direction. ¡°Did you learn how to do the dishes and wash clothes?¡± Bee nodded before squeaking. ¡°Y-yes!¡± ¡°Right,¡± Peggy said after glancing at Jenny, then back to Bee again. ¡°If you can¡¯t solve things with your folks, come back here, and I¡¯ll put you to work.¡± Bee gasped, food forgotten. She got up and hug-tackled the old woman. ¡°Thank you!¡± Peggy rolled her eyes, but her lips twisted in what could be interpreted as a smile. ¡°None of that.¡± She said, pushing Bee away. ¡°Now, shoo, I have more important things to do.¡± Yuki picked up Whisker, who had fallen asleep, from her lap. She got the general idea of things. ¡°Go?¡± She asked in her broken language. Jenny turned to Bee. ¡°Have you eaten enough, Isabella?¡± Bee blushed, looking away. It was Jenny¡¯s turn to roll her eyes. She passed the girl a few copper coins. ¡°Ask Peggy for food for the rest of the day; we¡¯ll leave once you have it.¡± Bee took the coins and ran towards the counter. Jenny turned to Yuki. ¡°Something¡¯s changed since yesterday.¡± ¡°Bad news?¡± Yuki asked. ¡°Maybe; Yesterday I saw¡ª¡± Jenny didn¡¯t finish. The inn door was pushed open, clanging against the wall loudly. In stepped a man dressed in heavy metal armor with a sword on his hip and a shield at his back. Yuki noticed the small details in the armor; nicks and dents, as well as subtle gold and red decoration. The man looked apologetic toward the door and Peggy. He took in the inn and the patrons, eyes lingering on Yuki for far longer than he had at anyone else. Then he sat down at an empty table on the opposite side. Jenny looked from the man back to Yuki. ¡°¡ª saw some church warriors in the town square.¡± Chapter - 80 For a moment, Yuki thought things would escalate. Somehow, the man would accuse them of something, ask questions they couldn¡¯t answer, or blatantly accost them for no reason. Nothing of the sort happened. Bee got the food and ran back to their table. Still holding Whisker, Yuki followed the two other girls out of the inn. The man glanced at them leaving, but soon returned to his food and drink. The mood in town had changed again. It was charged, somehow. There was this undercurrent of expectation and fear. Was it related to the church people? Yuki remembered the pyre. She hugged Whisker closer. It was better not to provoke those people. Bee led them around a meandering route. They walked through alleyways, crossed roads, and jumped over fences. She led the girls behind a thicket which hid an opening in the otherwise solid rock face. Bee waved them closer and walked in. It was some sort of hidden grotto. A scattering of small trees covered the area. It wasn¡¯t dark; there was an opening in the ceiling that let sunlight in. Scattered about were a blanket, an old pair of shoes, a rotting bag, decaying paper, and old clothes¡ªall too big and too old to belong to Bee. ¡°What is this place?¡± Jenny asked. Bee just scratched the back of her head and shrugged. ¡°I found it some years ago. It¡¯s only bad when it rains.¡± Yuki wanted to explore, but the shapechange decided that now was the time to end. One moment, she held Whisker. The next, she was looking at the bigger rabbit and her adorable twitching nose. Yuki might have squealed. Just a bit. ¡°This place seems good enough,¡± Jenny said in the local language. ¡°Will you wait for me here?¡± She asked Bee. The girl nodded. Jenny turned to Yuki, switching to the old language. ¡°Biscuit, I¡¯ll see if I can buy livestock for the magic. And see about repairing my crossbow. I might take a while to return, be safe, alright?¡± Yuki stopped her nuzzling of Whisker and looked at Jenny. She nodded. ¡°Be safe. Don¡¯t do anything suspicious. That churchman scared me.¡±
Church templar Robert Thomasson finished his meal. It was good food. The owner knew her craft. He could taste the careful blend of spices used to preserve the meat during the salting process. He got up from his chair, paid the woman her well-deserved coins, and bowed again in apology. ¡°Thank you for the meal, ma¡¯am. And I apologize for the door earlier.¡± The matron just brushed him off. She took his coin and went to serve another patron. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Robert stepped outside the inn. He closed his eyes and breathed the fresh air. This was a beautiful town. Even if they had a lurker infestation. According to the church, the late Baron hired a group of mercenaries to kill two of the things which were harassing his livestock. And now another attack on the town? Those creatures are solitary hunters. If there¡¯s more than one, there¡¯s a nest nearby. It wouldn¡¯t be the last of the attacks. Shame he wasn¡¯t here for that. More urgent matters to deal with. It was still hard to believe that in this day and age someone openly defied the church and king. The Baron¡¯s life force had been usurped according to the Inquisitor''s reports. A summoning contract drawn in blood left at the entrance of the manor. The guard was killed by entropy magic. Two different styles of magic. He picked the paper with the name. ¡°Jennifer of Ravenshade.¡± The new Baron blamed everything on the girl. Thank the gods, the priest kept his mouth shut and didn¡¯t alert the Baron about the facts they already knew. Robert intended to ask questions about Jennifer to see what could be learned. She was their only lead¡ªor she was. Now they had another, the girl with white hair. Maybe people forgot; it had been years. But the signs were all there: unnatural hair and eyes, the shape of the face, and the way the girl moved. The girl had the gift. This took priority over everything else. He didn¡¯t see any madness in her eyes or actions. And she was young. Too young, maybe. It was possible the girl hadn¡¯t awakened to her magic yet. Robert hoped that was the case. The madness was an insidious thing. Paranoia, hallucinations, extreme fits of rage, cannibalism, obsessions, murderous rampages. The list went on and on. If the taint wasn¡¯t too severe, depriving the sorcerer of their magic usually was enough to bring them back, even if it was a process that took years or decades. Most refused, and quite violently at that. Robert retrieved his bell. Invoked a prayer to his god. Pleaded for the girl''s life. He begged that it wouldn¡¯t be too late. The bell rang. A sound only he could hear. He held it between his fingers and followed the noise. He didn¡¯t know how the bell worked; only that it did. It was a gift from the Inquisitor. The man had been vehement about the restrictions. The bell could be used only once a day. No more than three times a month. Anything else invited disaster. Robert never questioned the man¡¯s wisdom. He obeyed, and only used the bell in extreme cases. This was one such case. The girl¡¯s life was worth it. His heavy steps led him on a circuitous route. More than once, he had to backtrack to avoid trespassing in places he shouldn¡¯t. Other times, he had to go back and search for a different path when the sound of the bell simply stopped. It took hours, but such was the nature of the gift. Robert stared at the opening in the wall. The bell¡¯s reverberations were strongest here. The girl had gone inside. He pocketed the bell and donned his shield. It paid to be ready, even if he didn¡¯t believe it would be necessary. With one final prayer, he ducked down and walked inside. The grotto he walked into wasn¡¯t what Robert had expected. He scanned the place, trying to find the girl. Near the entrance, he found a discarded set of folded clothes. On the far side of the grotto, the thin, freckled girl looked scared. Wide eyes fixed on his sword, she held the gray rabbit¡ªthe one missing the horn¡ªthe one the white-haired girl had carried before. Another quick scan revealed old, decaying clothes and other things. Robert didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to them, he needed to find the white haired girl. From behind the freckled one, a small, unassuming white rabbit hopped. Looked in his direction. White, luxurious fur. Red eyes. The rabbit didn¡¯t behave like a rabbit. ¡°God dammit!¡± Robert cursed. Chapter - 81 Jenny retraced her steps through the trail until she was back in town. She looked around and noted the landmarks: the crumbling building to the left, the broken cobblestone path to the right, and the crooked tree just ahead. She took a deep breath and walked forward toward the town center. There was a lot to do. The first stop was something Jenny had wanted to accomplish the previous day, but the time limit on the transformation and the lurker attack didn¡¯t help in that regard. Jenny crossed the streets and noted how the ordinary people¡¯s eyes followed her movements. Was it her size? Maybe the weapon? Or just because she was an armed stranger just after an attack? Jenny shook her head and set aside those thoughts for later. No one bothered her, which was more than enough. The mercenaries guild, or just the guild, as many called the place, was a two-story building crafted out of stone and wood. Painted white and blue, it had a board outside with news and notices. According to some, it was a den of villainy and depravity or to others just hardy folk who would risk their lives for coin. Jenny looked over her own clothes and made sure everything was in place. Her armor still had a few blood stains here and there, but that was fine. She pushed the door open like she¡¯d done so many times before. The interior was a mix of tavern and office. On one side of the room, there was the guild¡¯s bar and a number of tables where mercenaries could meet, talk, and drink. Opposite that was the countertop where the guild receptionists talked with the guild¡¯s clients. The place had been built to accommodate many more people than it currently housed. There were a few patrons sitting at the bar, with most of the tables sitting disused; chairs having been piled atop them. Though that could be more due to the time of day than anything else. The receptionist area wasn¡¯t much better. It had space for three workers, but only one station was currently manned. The receptionist was a pudgy woman named Becka. One who enjoyed her gossip. Jenny turned to the woman and walked closer. ¡°Hello, I¡¯d like to hire a courier.¡± Jenny said. ¡°Oh my, a new face!¡± Becka clapped, her face opening with a big smile. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you before. Are you new? A mercenary?¡± She asked, after taking a gander at Jenny¡¯s armor and weapon. Jenny smiled back. ¡°Not yet, ma¡¯am. I haven¡¯t registered.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re going to, right?¡± The receptionist asked. ¡°You already look the part!¡± Jenny scratched her cheek. ¡°A friend told me I should register at the capital.¡± ¡°Nonsense! I¡¯ll help you with the process. I¡¯m Elenora Becklam, but everyone calls me Becka. What¡¯s your name, dear?¡± Becka said, rooting inside a drawer and taking out a form. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Registering as a mercenary was something Jenny wanted to do; well, it couldn¡¯t hurt to register here. ¡°I¡¯m Larissa.¡± She said finally. Becka noted the name and looked up expectantly. Jenny shuffled her feet. ¡°Of Nowhere.¡± She added. Becka¡¯s gaze softened; she nodded and wrote something else down. ¡°What¡¯s your specialty, Lari?¡± ¡°I know my letters and numbers. I can shoot a crossbow; I know how to handle the spear and shield.¡± Jenny hesitated for a moment but forged on. ¡°I know how to deal with people.¡± ¡°Right, that¡¯s excellent!¡± Becka clapped excitedly again. ¡°We often get those musclebound idiots that don¡¯t even know how to use their tool!¡± The pudgy woman wiggled her eyebrows. ¡°Do you have a team, Lari?¡± ¡°Not yet?¡± Jenny said back. ¡°I¡¯ve plans to meet with a friend at the capital, but it will take a while until I can go there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s understandable, dear,¡± Becka wrote more things and looked back at Jenny. ¡°Anything else you¡¯d like to add?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Right. The registration fee is ten silver. You know the benefits?¡± Jenny shook her head. ¡°At Copper Fang, that''s your starting rank; you have access to guild missions, crafters, and stores. You can also stay at any guild inn at a discounted rate. At this rank, the guild¡¯s overhead is two parts in ten for any commission you complete.¡± Becka looked up to make sure Jenny still followed. Nodded in approval when she noticed Jenny was paying attention. ¡°Next rank, Silver Talon, gives you a discount on services, the guild fee lowers, and you can take higher paying requests.¡± Jenny nodded; out of curiosity, she asked. ¡°What about the ranks after that?¡± ¡°Oh my, ambitious, are you? There are three more ranks. Gold Claw, Platinum Scale, and Diamond Heart. Don¡¯t ask me about the benefits, I don¡¯t know.¡± Jenny¡¯s hand sneaked inside her bag, took a few coins and the letter, and placed them on the counter for the woman. ¡°I¡¯d like to send a letter to the capital as well,¡± she said, and she slid the letter to the woman. Becka took the envelope and checked the destination. Her eyes were full of pity. Thankfully, the pudgy woman didn¡¯t comment on the address. ¡°That¡¯s another five silver.¡± Jenny took yet more coins from her bag and paid the woman. Becka took everything and checked her paper one more time. ¡°The badge will be ready by the afternoon. Do come by to pick it up. The letter will be dispatched with the next courier to the capital.¡± That was more than enough. ¡°Thank you, Becklam. I appreciate your help.¡± ¡°Call me Becka, dear, and it¡¯s nothing. Only doing my job!¡± Jenny walked out of the guild building and sighed in relief. It would take some time, but at least now Gizelda would know the truth. She looked about; she was near the woodworker¡¯s shop. Jenny turned and walked in that direction, crossing the market street, passing closer to the blacksmith. She turned near the general store and stopped in front of the carpentry workshop. She walked inside, soon finding herself sat across from the master woodworker, the broken crossbow between them. ¡°Can you do it?¡± Jenny asked. ¡°Where you find this?¡± The man asked, he had a small notebook in hand, and kept comparing reading from his book and checking over the broken crossbow. That sounded a few alarm bells. ¡°A few days down the road to Bramble Village. It looked good aside from the obvious broken part.¡± ¡°Right,¡± the man said, looking at Jenny again. ¡°I crafted this one for the late Baron; it was an exclusive commission.¡± The man pushed back the broken weapon. ¡°You should take this to the Lord¡¯s manor. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be interested in anything you can tell them about the weapon, and they might even give you a reward.¡± Chapter - 82 The idea wasn¡¯t bad. Jenny ran a few scenarios in her head. Pretend she found the weapon, probably talk with Gregory. Tell some lies about her own whereabouts to throw off any pursuers. Get some money on top of all that? It would also let her see what had changed since she left. Like Biscuit had said; scout the place all spy-like? And with her now permanent disguise, she didn¡¯t need to worry about anyone recognizing her anymore. It might not work like she wanted, but the most Jenny thought could happen was Gregory taking the broken weapon and throwing her out of the manor. Gregory may be petty and arrogant, but she never knew him to be cruel. ¡°That¡¯s a good suggestion. Thank you.¡± She said to the master carpenter. The man gave her one last measured look before pushing the weapon back towards her. ¡°I do have another crossbow if you need a replacement.¡± He tapped the broken weapon. ¡°This is a light crossbow, made easier to handle, weaker than normal crossbow for someone who hasn¡¯t trained for it. A strong woman like you might as well use the heavy version of the weapon.¡± The man got up from his chair. ¡°Just a moment.¡± He said and left the room. Not long after, he returned with a monster of a heavy crossbow. One with no easy-to-use hand lever crank but with a metal structure, you¡¯d push down with your feet while pulling back the strings with both hands. ¡°And how much does that cost?¡± ¡°This one here,¡± the man said instead of answering, ¡°was built from the finest hardwood. I molded and measured every piece myself. Pardon my lack of humility, but it¡¯s the work of a master.¡± Jenny observed the sturdy construction and all the small details that went into creating the weapon. It was a beautiful tool of killing. ¡°It¡¯s a good weapon.¡± She agreed, even if she didn¡¯t know enough to say more than that the weapon looked well made. ¡°She¡¯s great, isn¡¯t she? Only five gold coins.¡± The merchant smiled like he hadn¡¯t asked her for half a fortune. Jenny thought about the lone gold coin in her pouch and the dwindling number of silver. She smiled back. ¡°It¡¯s a wonderful weapon, but out of my means for now.¡± The master carpenter''s smile took a dive, but the man was still polite, ushering Jenny out of his workshop almost immediately. Jenny shook her head. Chuckled at the blatant attempt at selling her an overpriced weapon. It was her clothes, wasn¡¯t it? Jenny had a few hours before she could get her badge. She looked toward the northern area of town, where the manor was. Shrugged. It was worth a try. Jenny followed the cobblestone street that led toward the manor. At the entrance, she was greeted by another new guard, not Edgar, not any of the other estate guards. He was a tall, muscular man dressed in leather armor, with black hair and a burn scar on his face. His look was more of a glare. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°What¡¯s your business here?¡± the guard demanded, hand resting on the pommel of his sword. ¡°My name is Larissa. I found a broken weapon a few days away by the road,¡± Jenny started with her tale. ¡°The master carpenter recognized it as something that belonged to the late Baron and hinted there might be a reward for me for bringing this thing over.¡± The guard¡¯s face worsened by the minute. He scowled and spat to the side. ¡°Wait here, don¡¯t go anywhere.¡± The man demanded. ¡°Damn mercenaries.¡± Jenny heard him mutter. It didn¡¯t take long until the man was back. He threw the heavy door open. ¡°Leave the spear here; you can pick it up when you leave.¡± He looked Jenny over for any other visible weapon, finding none, let her inside. They walked familiar corridors and decorations. Rooms and passages that, until a few days ago, were home. Up they went until Jenny stood in front of the Baron¡¯s office. There was a muffled argument from inside, voices that sent tingles through Jenny¡¯s memory, voices that stopped when the guard knocked at the door. ¡°The mercenary is here, my Lord.¡± The guard said. ¡°Send her in.¡± Gregory''s annoying, high-pitched voice called out. Jenny took a deep breath. She wasn¡¯t sure why Gregory had blamed her for his father''s death or if he was involved at all. But this was a chance to learn something. She would know after seeing his face. She nodded at the guard and passed by him. The guy hadn¡¯t been polite, but no need to stoop to his level. The office was mostly the same. The decoration was rich but practical. The large, heavy desk was covered with parchments and quills, with almost no free space. Behind the desk, a tall window gave a view of the surrounding lands, the farms, and, even in the distance, the field of gnarled trees. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with leather-bound volumes and scrolls. Sat on the Lord¡¯s chair was the leering face of Gregory, dressed in his finest silk, wearing all the adornments of his station: the chest medal, the silk half cape pinned to his left shoulder, the golden signet ring. Behind him and to the side, hands behind his back and posture straight was Thaddeus, dressed in his immaculate uniform. Those things she expected to see. What she didn¡¯t expected was the third person in the room. A young woman with short, wavy black hair and large, expressive black eyes. Her perpetual friendly smile was replaced by a severe frown, which didn¡¯t diminish her approachable and warm demeanor. She wore elegant black clothing with gold accents. She wore the small, gold hoop earrings that Jenny had given her for her fifteenth birthday. ¡°I asked for your name!¡± Gregory''s high-pitched voice brought Jenny back. She tore her eyes away from Gizelda and looked at her brother. His leer had been replaced by a frown, like the boy had smelled something unpleasant. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my Lord,¡± Jenny said, bowing. At least she hadn¡¯t stuttered. ¡°I found a broken crossbow a few days away on the road toward Bramble village.¡± She said, pulling her bag closer, and pulling out the broken crossbow. She noticed the guard tensing at her movement. The man hadn¡¯t stayed outside. ¡°I took it to the master carpenter, who said he¡¯d made it for your Lord father, my lord.¡± She said, bowing again. Gregory looked her up and down and noted the dried blood on her armor, her arms, and her stature. ¡°And who are you? Would the carpenter confirm your story?¡± Jenny hesitated for a moment, then gave out her fake name. ¡°I¡¯m Larissa of Nowhere, my lord, and yes, I was just at the man¡¯s workshop.¡± From the corner of her eye, she saw Gizelda¡¯s widening gaze. The rapid blinking of surprise before her face dropped into a mask of neutrality again. Jenny was sure of it. Gizelda recognized the fake name they often joked about as children. Shit. Chapter - 83 Gizelda¡¯s gaze stayed on Jenny all throughout the interrogation that followed. Jenny felt naked under the woman¡¯s continued attention. The small, impish smile on the Duchess''s face set all the butterflies, rabbits, and everything else on a rampage. But Jenny didn¡¯t miss the tenseness in Gizelda¡¯s shoulders, the harsh line of her jaw, the anger lines around her eyes. ¡°Describe to me again where you found this,¡± Gregory demanded, not for the first or second time, tapping the broken crossbow. Jenny looked at Gregory again and opened her mouth but was interrupted. ¡°Leave it, Greg.¡± Gizelda said, her tone monotone and bored. ¡°You want to pin the guilt on this woman as well?¡± Gregory¡¯s head spun so fast to Gizelda it was a surprise the boy didn¡¯t get whiplash. His glare was fierce. ¡°I told you to call me by my title or full name in front of guests!¡± He barked out. Gizelda rolled her eyes. ¡°Why are you wasting your time here?¡± She said, ¡°Weren¡¯t you going to pay respects to the inquisitor? Are you sure it¡¯s wise to make the man wait or force him to seek you out here in the manor?¡± Gregory¡¯s voice was all but a whiny complaint. ¡°But we might find her, Gi!¡± Gizelda sighed, got up, and patted the boy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Let me ask the questions. And you go fulfill your obligations as the new Baron. How about it?¡± The new Baron slumped on his chair. Thaddeus cleared his throat. Gregory scowled but sat up straight again. He glared back at Jenny. ¡°If I find you lied, there will be hell to pay.¡± The boy declared. He got up, glanced at his sister, and left the office. Thaddeus followed the Baron. Gizelda returned to her chair, gaze fixed on Jenny, and smiled wider, predatory. ¡°Leave us,¡± Gizelda said, and for a moment, Jenny thought it was directed at her. ¡°But Duchess, I can¡¯t¡ª¡± The guard started. ¡°Leave,¡± Gizelda commanded again. Her gaze did not leave Jenny for a single moment. Her eyes were intense, unblinking. The smile, a mixture of their secret shared smile and something else. The butterflies, the rabbits, and all the electricity in Jenny¡¯s body went berserk. She knew that look; she missed that smile, even if it was a warped version. The creaking of the opening door and the sound of it closing felt like the hangman¡¯s noose slipping around Jenny¡¯s neck. Or maybe her wildest dream came true. Jenny wasn¡¯t really sure. The Duchess got up, eyes still fixed on Jenny. Walked closer, then behind. Jenny started to turn, but a low ¡°shhh¡± kept her in place. The finger trailing on Jenny¡¯s shoulder from one side to the other didn¡¯t make things better, the nail digging into her back held the promise. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Now, Larissa.¡± Gizelda¡¯s voice was a demanding, a husky, angry whisper. ¡°Tell me everything.¡± Jenny opened her mouth, words ready to spill out. Biscuit¡¯s wide red eyes, innocent smile, rabbit Biscuit¡¯s leg thumping under Jenny¡¯s ministrations, popped into Jenny¡¯s mind. She¡¯d tell Gizelda, but maybe she should keep a few things out. Jenny heard movement behind her, warm breath by her ear. ¡°Tell me everything,¡± Gizelda demanded in a harsh whisper, ¡°Who killed my father?¡± ¡°Viscount Ducan Grimwald¡¯s son.¡± The words escaped Jenny¡¯s mouth before she knew what happened. ¡°How?¡± The whispering demanded again. Jenny¡¯s ear, face, her whole body burned. But she knew the rules; she couldn¡¯t move, not yet. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Jenny admitted. Hot breath grazed Jenny''s neck. Gizelda''s hands threaded roughly through her hair, pulling her head back in a not-so-gentle grasp that kept her in place. Soft lips brushed against Jenny¡¯s ear, then stinging agony. A whimper escaped Jenny¡¯s mouth. ¡°Tell me everything,¡± Gizelda demanded again. ¡°And I might reward you.¡± Words spilled from Jenny¡¯s mouth like a broken dam. Idly, she remembered to edit some of the info. The person who saved her wasn''t Biscuit, her pet, but an unknown sorceress. The rabbit was just a connection to that power, a connection to her patron. Jenny admitted to her suspicions and plans. To find what Ferdinand wanted, if Gregory was involved, to learn mind magic so she could help Gizelda achieve her dream. Jenny spoke of all that had happened since that tragic night. Gizelda listened. Then they talked again, a different type of talk that required no words but expressed much of their mind. It was passionate, angry, and often marred by bouts of violence from both sides.
Yuki tried stuff: pretending she was an ordinary rabbit, frolicking about a bit, eating some leaves, hopping around, and looking like any other rabbit out there. It didn¡¯t work. The tin-can guy''s eyes followed her every movement. The man had his sword and shield out, but aside from the initial outburst, he hadn¡¯t said a thing. Didn¡¯t seem like he was about to attack. What to do? ¡°You there, witch,¡± The man''s voice was grave and deep, a pleasant baritone. ¡°Are you human?¡± Bee squeaked. The man¡¯s eye fixed on her. The bony girl froze. Sure though Bee was scared, but then again, Bee had been scared of everything aside from magic. Tin-can soon looked at Yuki again. ¡°Answer me.¡± Well, the game was up anyway. How to salvage this. Nothing for it. Yuki understood some of the words. She really needed to learn the local language. ¡°Hi, mister Tin-can,¡± Yuki said in the old language. ¡°Nice weather we¡¯re having, right?¡± The man looked bewildered like a rabbit just tried to talk. Yep, that was an excellent start. Whatever kept Jenny away, it better be good, or Yuki would have words with her pet. ¡°What did it say?¡± The man demanded, looking at Bee. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Bee cried out. ¡°Jenny is the only one who can understand Biscuit!¡± The man stopped and blinked. ¡°The witch''s name is¡­ Biscuit?¡± He didn¡¯t seem to believe his own words. ¡°That¡¯s what Jenny calls her.¡± Bee admitted meekly. She had a death grip on Whisker. ¡°Jenny?¡± The man tilted his head. ¡°As in Jennifer of Ravenshade?¡± Bee opened her mouth, closed it, and looked away. Yuki looked from one to the other, but it didn¡¯t seem like a battle was about to happen. Which was good; with luck, Jenny would return soon. She hopped closer to Bee and nuzzled the frightened girl. ¡°Worry not, almost pet,¡± she said. ¡°Jenny will be here soon; just stay calm.¡± That didn¡¯t seem to calm down Bee at all. The girl whimpered even more. Where the fuck was Jenny, anyway? Chapter - 84 ¡°You¡¯ll stop acting stupid and leave.¡± Jenny laid on her back, the duchess sitting on her midriff. Jenny had her hands around the woman¡¯s waist, caressing Gizelda¡¯s lower back gently. ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± Gizelda interrupted. She leaned forward, grabbing Jenny¡¯s head on both sides before she looked Jenny in the eyes; their faces almost touching. ¡°Staying here is too dangerous now with the inquisition''s arrival.¡± Gizelda kissed Jenny¡¯s mouth again, interrupting when Jenny tried to speak. The kiss lingered, but not for long. Once they pulled away for air, Jenny asked something that had been on her mind for a while. ¡°Why did Gregory blame me?¡± Gizelda stayed silent for a while. ¡°I threatened Gregory to make his life hell if anything ever happened to you.¡± The duchess said in a non sequitur. ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Gizelda sighed. ¡°He won¡¯t admit it, but I think he panicked. Thought the only way to save you was to declare you dead, to hide you from the church, after the magic mess left at the front door.¡± Jenny¡¯s hands tightened on the woman¡¯s waist, nails digging into her skin, drawing a gasp from the duchess. ¡°It doesn¡¯t explain why he blamed me for your father¡¯s death.¡± Gizelda nodded, eyes half-lidded, face rosy. ¡°Leave the investigation of the necklace, Gregory''s involvement, and the killer''s whereabouts to me. Meanwhile, go to the capital and form a mercenary team like you planned. Get stronger, learn more magic from your patron.¡± The duchess kissed Jenny again, pulling away a moment later. ¡°Once I find him, I¡¯ll send for you, and we¡¯ll kill the bastard.¡± The anger clear in Gizelda¡¯s eyes was contrary to the many pecks she showered Jenny¡¯s face with. ¡°You can¡¯t help me if you¡¯re dead, my love.¡± She whispered amid a flurry of kisses. Jenny pulled the woman into a deeper kiss, but a knock on the door interrupted them. ¡°Duchess?¡± It was the voice of the guard with the burned face. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± Gizelda sat up and looked toward the door, Scowling. She stood and gathered the discarded articles of clothing scattered around. ¡°Nothing is amiss, Anderson. Thank you for your concern.¡± ¡°Of course, duchess.¡± Reluctantly, Jenny followed her lead. They dressed in silence, even if Jenny eyed Gizelda the entire time. Gizelda stopped midway through putting on her dress, and looked at Jenny. ¡°You never told me why you didn¡¯t come with me to the capital? Why did you refuse Father¡¯s offer?¡± Jenny looked away and sighed. ¡°If I went with you, I¡¯d be no more than a servant, to be hidden and out of the way. And I can¡¯t be your sister.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Gizelda finished donning the dress. Still barefoot, she approached and hugged Jenny from behind. ¡°Silly girl, you¡¯d be a servant only in name.¡± ¡°I just can¡¯t,¡± Jenny whispered. ¡°I understand,¡± Gizelda said. They stayed there like that a few moments longer before they finished dressing. Jenny helped ensure Gizelda didn¡¯t look out of place, and Gizelda did the same for Jenny. Once they were ready to leave, Jenny spoke again. ¡°I need to visit my room. All the coins I¡¯ve saved are hidden there.¡± Gizelda gave Jenny a curt nod. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±
Yuki sat facing the tin-can man, or maybe she should call him by his name and title: Templar Robert Thomasson. If she understood things, Robert learned about Jenny from Bee, and now the man wanted to talk with the blonde about something related to Yuki, something regarding magic. The man had tried to pick Yuki up, but she opposed that. Followed by a few minutes of dancing around the man¡¯s legs. He was tall, bulky, and wearing heavy armor. He didn¡¯t have the speed or mobility to catch a small agile rabbit hopping around. Yuki didn¡¯t miss that the man could have taken Bee hostage, or worse, Whisker. But maybe he didn¡¯t think of such or wasn¡¯t the type to act on such drastic measures. In the end, Robert decided to talk again, so here they were. It was worse than when she tried to talk with Jenny. Somehow, Yuki started to believe the contract helped with communication because things Jenny easily understood, didn¡¯t make sense to Robert. Since he couldn¡¯t understand her, she took to drawing again. Which wasn¡¯t as easy as it sounded. But Robert was patient, and after a few hours, the man explained things. First, he was confident that magic was detrimental, one way or another. Something related to madness and disaster. Second, he wanted Yuki to follow him to the church, which was a big no-no. After that, they got to an impasse again, which turned into more conversation attempts. Yuki understood some of what the templar spoke of; it was probably the tale of the creation of his religion. It went something like this: From nothing to something. Gods toiled day and night to create the world, and for a time, creator and creation lived in peace, and harmony flowed on the land. Then, there was war in the heavens, and the gods were forced to leave the world. The harmony they kept left with them. The war shattered the world, and the madness sneaked out from the cracks. To fight this madness, the gods sent a savior using their last vestige of influence. A savior who fought madness itself and sealed it under the vortex. Or at least that was what Yuki understood from the whole tale. There were a lot of assumptions and blind guessing; most of the words she didn¡¯t know, but the story''s shape was familiar, similar to any tale of creation and religion she¡¯d heard. Yuki didn¡¯t discount the story as just that, this being a world of magic; but the tale didn¡¯t explain what she had to do with everything. She was guessing some sort of propaganda bullshit. Bee seemed to know the tale. She nodded at the appropriate times and even repeated a few of the ritualistic-sounding phrases. Did they have Sunday school here as well? A few minutes after the tale ended, Yuki heard it. Firm, unhurried footsteps. The loud clanking of the metal spear rhythmically tapping the cobblestone. She recognized Jenny¡¯s footsteps. Yuki did her best not to attract attention to that. It even worked. Jenny ducked under the passage and entered the grotto. She had a huge smile on her face. In one hand, she carried.. a duck? Tied to her belt were ropes attached to two goats and a piglet. But Yuki zoned in on the important part: Was that a hickey on Jenny¡¯s neck? Robert turned around to stare at the newcomer. Jenny¡¯s smile faded like it had never been there in the first place. The woman juggled the duck to her left arm, gripping her spear with her right. Face serious. ¡°Who are you?¡± Jenny demanded. Yuki¡¯s mind buzzed. Did her pet do a pervy-sage routine? Chapter - 85 Jenny followed Gizelda out of the lord¡¯s office, past Anderson and a few other servants. Gizelda glared down anyone in their path, not that any made the mistake of trying to stop them. Anderson followed behind but also apparently knew enough to stay quiet. This was a new version of her friend Jenny hadn¡¯t seen before. Gizelda had always been confident, bordering on arrogance, but now, she had this aura around her. One every servant would recognize from miles away. Someone not to be messed with. It took a few minutes to reach the room. ¡°Wait here,¡± Gizelda commanded the guard without looking at him. She opened the door and entered. Jenny followed. The room was a mess. The bed had been overturned, and the mattress lay haphazardly against one of the walls. The cabinet¡¯s door was busted, with all Jenny¡¯s belongings scattered about. Jenny went straight to the inner room. Her private room. Inside, the small table with Gizelda¡¯s picture and other memorabilia had been thrown aside. The drawings were removed from the wall, except the duke¡¯s image. The one pinned to the wall with the dagger. Gizelda looked at everything with interest. ¡°If I didn¡¯t know, I would think you wanted my husband dead.¡± The duchess''s tone was one of barely contained mirth. ¡°Why did you keep it?¡± Jenny shrugged. ¡°I will. Someday.¡± Gizelda laughed. ¡°Haha. Don¡¯t let Anderson hear you. He¡¯s oath-bound to protect the man.¡± Jenny moved opposite the table, and the area of the room had nothing other than empty walls. She counted the wood panels from the door, crouched, and then pushed the panel in and up. With a groaning sound, the wood moved, revealing a small alcove in the wall. From inside, Jenny fished out a heavy coin pouch. Gizelda peered over Jenny¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You have enough?¡± Jenny nodded and placed the pouch in her bag. She turned, grabbed both of Gizelda¡¯s hands, and pushed the woman against the wall, hands trapped over her head. Jenny kissed the duchess. Gizelda gasped, but she soon kissed back like it was their last time. Jenny pulled away, face flushed. ¡°Gods, you¡¯re so beautiful.¡± Gizelda smirked. ¡°I like this version of you, but blonde Jenny has my heart.¡±
Jenny stepped out of the manor, spear in hand, and felt happier than she had been for years. Ever since Gizelda married and moved to the capital, life hadn¡¯t been the same. Jenny had just endured one day after another, not knowing life had fled her. It was a shame to separate from Gizelda again. It almost made Jenny want to go back in time and reconsider her decision. Almost. Not that it mattered anymore. She was a wanted criminal. She might not ever be on the side of rightness again. It was so very worth it. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. With the biggest smile on her face, she went to grab her badge and buy livestock for Biscuit¡¯s ritual. Jenny also wanted some magic herself. She noticed her regeneration didn¡¯t work like her pet, but that was fine. She preferred not having natural magic to being dead. And with the ritual, magic was just an animal away.
Jenny crossed the streets under the townsfolk''s eyes. It was the smile, wasn¡¯t it? She couldn¡¯t stop smiling. Even waved to all the gossip grandmas sneaking glances from their windows. It wasn¡¯t the duck, the goats, or the pig. No, it was the smile. Maybe she hadn¡¯t thought this through: buying all these animals. But what was done was done. Jenny retraced the steps she remembered, leaving the cobblestone path under a hidden trail. Soon, she was at the grotto entrance. She ducked in and pulled along the goats and the pig. The scene inside wasn¡¯t what she had expected. Bee sat holding Biscuit. Whisker grazed at some of the nearby leaves. Bee and Biscuit were trying to talk with the same church warrior they saw in the inn. Shit. How had they found them? She juggled the duck and held the spear. It probably looked ridiculous. ¡°Who are you?¡± The heavily armored warrior looked at Jenny, the duck, the goats, the pig, and the spear. He looked up and closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. Muttered something before addressing Jenny. ¡°I¡¯m Templar Robert Thomasson,¡± Robert said, opening his eyes and looking at Jenny again. ¡°Jennifer?¡± Jenny tried to hide her surprise. ¡°Jennifer? Who¡¯s that?¡± Robert shook his head and sighed again. ¡°Don¡¯t bother. Isabella already told me your name.¡± Bee shrunk at the call out. Jenny gripped the spear even tighter. If it came to a battle, she¡¯d attack first. Even if that meant letting go of the duck. ¡°What do you want?¡± With creaking movements and that annoying sound of metal against metal, Robert got up. He picked his sword, hooked the scabbard on his belt, and arranged the shield on his arm. ¡°That depends.¡± The man said when he was done. The weapon remained sheathed, but Jenny knew it didn¡¯t change anything. A warrior could pull a sword free in the blink of an eye. ¡°Will you come if I invite you to meet the inquisitor?¡± Jenny scoffed. ¡°And never see the sun again until you burn me in the town square? I know how you church savages behave.¡± Robert¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°I disagree with the extreme cases, even if they are needed, but most people with the curse aren¡¯t burned. We help them. It is hard, but the taint can be cleansed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not happening.¡± Jenny denied instantly. The goat tugged at the rope tied to her waist and almost pulled Jenny out of her stance. There was a beat of silence before she asked back. ¡°What do you mean by cleansing the taint?¡± Robert took a step forward. Jenny swung her spear on a threatening arc. The templar stopped and raised his hands. ¡°It can be done. Depending on how severe it is, it might take years, but it can be done.¡± The man gesticulated and seemed about to take another step. The goat bucked again, this time harder. Jenny looked back at the animal, which looked agitated. Robert''s eyes were drawn to the animals, maybe for the first time since the conversation started. "What are the animals for?" His hand, Jenny noticed, rested on the pommel of the sword. An unconscious movement or subtle threat? ¡°None of your business.¡± Jenny shot back but had to shift her stance. The other goat, maybe spurred by the first, also started to pull on the rope, bleating. Robert looked from the animals to Jenny, then to Yuki. ¡°Please,¡± the man begged, ¡°you¡¯re dealing with things you don¡¯t understand. Please, let me help you. Come with me to meet the inquisitor.¡± Jenny gritted her teeth, ignoring the ruckus of the animals behind her. Even the pig started to squeal. ¡°No.¡± Robert sighed, looking defeated. ¡°You leave me no choice then.¡± His hand moved to the pommel of his sword. Jenny threw the duck at the man and all hell broke loose. Im alive, somehow. Heya my elf friends. I¡¯m alive! Sort of. Sum of things: Moved, learned a few concerning medical news, wasn¡¯t in a good headspace for a while. Now, I look at the story and I see things I really don¡¯t like. What I like: Yuki. I like her character and persona. She¡¯s fun, silly and overall a good bunny. Jenny. I like her as well, even if her personality didn¡¯t come the same I wanted when I started the story.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. What I don¡¯t like: Language barrier: That sucked way more than I wanted to admit. The system rules: They suck. Really. It might be good for a tabletop rpg game, but I clearly failed to translate that into interesting writing. Stuff after Jenny leaves the manor: The original plot called for Jenny getting captured, and Yuki braving the human town to save her ¡°pet¡±. Well, I was ¡°struck¡± by a moment of ¡°inspiration¡± dumbness and changed the whole thing: added a dungeon that wasn¡¯t supposed to be found at the time, discarded the whole ¡°skypirate¡± plot-line with Jenny and Yuki fleeing the island. I even had images for the pirates! Anyhow, that¡¯s to say, I¡¯ve been tying to get finish book one of this story and it¡¯s just can¡¯t continue writing. I do want to finish it, however. Give it about a month and I¡¯ll revise the first 20 something chapters post a new story. Thank you all for reading.