John logged in the next morning and immediately got a prompt.

[Quest: Bunny Business Redux!]

[Description: They’re back! And this time no wall will dissuade them. Prevent the bunnies from eating the Prismatic Sprout at all costs!]

[Reward: 250 Leveling Points.]

John immediately created a hole in the wall and stepped out, sealing it behind him. There was a small army of bunnies outside, at least 30 of them. They were throwing themselves at the wall and some of them had started digging.

“Oh, not even!” John said as he brought up his hands. This was his land and his tree and no bunnies were going to even nibble on it! With a gesture and a thought fire blossomed in his hands. He began to throw the fire around with reckless abandon. He didn’t care if the entire plains burned at this point, he was not going to lose to a bunch of rabbits!

The rabbits nearby screamed, a sound eerily close to that of a human, but those further away merely turned and hissed. John played the fire over them like a flamethrower. The stench of burnt hair and flesh was thick in the air around him. The rabbits, for their part, weren’t going to take it laying down. And they began to charge at him. The ones in front fared poorly, getting caught in the bursts of fire. But the ones behind him were the real danger. He felt them impacting his legs and lower back. For something so small they could certainly pack a punch.

One rabbit hit him just right, causing his knee to fold beneath him. John suddenly found himself on the ground and the bunnies surged in, their little teeth gnashing as they bit and scratched at him. With a yell of anger John created a burst of flame all around himself. Nothing said the fire had to come from his hands, so he expelled it from every portion of himself. The rabbits screamed and John rolled back to his feet. The bunnies were scattering but John had no intentions of letting them go. He called up Move earth and slammed gouts of dirt into the fleeing pests, knocking them about and dazing them. He then finished them off with fire.

John huffed and puffed as he looked around at the leporine carnage. A prompt flashed in his vision.

[Quest “Bunny Business Redux” Complete]

[By extensive application of fire you’ve managed to thoroughly eradicate the rabbit menace, saving the Prismatic Sapling from becoming their meal.]

[250 Leveling Points banked.]

John sighed in relief and looked around. Some of the nearby grass was on fire, but it wasn’t spreading quickly. With an effort of Control Flame he corralled the errant flames and let them burn out. Then he saw it, something moving at speed through the grass, coming right for him.

[Quest: Bunny Business Finale]

[Description: Though you may have killed the bunny horde, the colony Matriarch still survives. And boy is she mad at you! Defend yourself and the Prismatic Sapling from her wrath!]

[Reward: The Prismatic Sapling’s quality will increase by one (1) rank]

With a shrill cry a rabbit the size of a large dog barreled out of the grass and rammed John in the midsection. It was like being punched in the gut, and all the air went out of him as he tumbled back to the ground. For its part the rabbit was off again like a bullet, bounding back into the grass. John tried to stand only to be rammed again, this time from the side, knocking him to the ground once more. Again and again John was tenderized, unable to get his feet beneath him and catch his breath.

Slowly the bruises were piling up and John realized that, given enough time, the creature would eventually ram him to death. He needed a plan, a way to stop the creature. With that thought in mind he began to move, rolling to the side until he ran into the nearby wall. Now the rabbit could only attack from three sides instead of four. With an effort of will John Created another section of the wall to his left, even as the rabbit rammed him from the right. Again it was off like a shot, and John created another section of the wall to his right. Leaving the rabbit no choice but to attack from the front. He clambered to his feet, using the walls for support. The rabbit rammed into his stomach once more and then bounced off. He was slammed backward into the wall as the air was knocked out of him again.

John, however, was getting used to gasping for air, and this time motored through the distress and pain. He could see the grass moving and the rabbit was coming around for another attack. He readied himself, and, just as the grass nearby began to part, he moved the wall to his left in front of himself. There was a solid thunk as the rabbit collided head first with the barrier. With a flick of his wrist John moved the wall out of the way so he could see his foe. The large bunny lay on the ground stunned by its sudden interaction with a solid object.

Without missing a beat John leapt forward and got his hands close to the giant leporine creature. Fire burst forth, searing the flesh and hair of the rabbit. The monstrous bunny let out a high-pitched scream that was loud enough to make John’s ears ring; but he didn’t stop. He poured on more fire until his mana pool finally bottomed out and there was nothing left to give. The rabbit, for its part, still moved weakly, making little mewling noises. John let out a ragged breath, then reached down and wrang its neck.

[Quest “Bunny Business Finale” complete]

[Despite the speed and power of your opponent you came out victorious, defeating the leporine matriarch an ensuring the safety of the Prismatic Sapling.]

[The Prismatic Sapling’s quality will increase by one (1) rank]

John stumbled back to the wall and slumped against it. He felt pulverized and it hurt to move and breathe. There were even little spots swimming in his vision, which he was sure was a bad sign. Slowly his vision stabilized and John dragged himself back to his feet. He wobbled unsteadily, and he didn’t seem to be getting any better. He checked his debuffs.

[Debuff: Ruptured Organs]

[Description: Some of your insides are leaking into your other insides, this is not ideal and you will slowly die unless medical care is obtained.]

[Duration: Until Healed]

[Debuff: Mild Concussion]

[Your brain has been bruised, leading to some (fortunately temporary) loss of cognitive ability, receive medical care to clear this debuff faster.]

[Duration: 5 hours]

[Debuff: Fractured Bones]

[Many, many of your bones have received enough trauma to become fractured. These will heal over time; however, medical aid is advised.]

[Duration: 4 weeks]

John stared at the entries. It took him more than a little time to figure out what he was looking at, the concussion at work, no doubt. He hadn’t realized this game was so brutal in terms of healing. Forcing himself to his feet, he started walking toward town with a stumbling gait.

It took him two hours to make it to town, and when he got there it took him a moment to recall his reason for coming in the first place. He looked around dully, his eyes weren’t working quite right, everything kept fuzzing in and out. Several people were giving him funny looks as he swayed in place and he was starting to think maybe he needed to lay down. That was when the ground came up and hit him.

John awoke with a start to find Excelsior crouching over him. Ex had his wand in hand and streamers of green light spilled out of the equally green stone on its end. The light seemed to be flowing into John, and he was slowly feeling better.

“Good lord John, how much con do you have? I bottomed out my entire pool, which is a thousand mana by the by, and now I’ve used most of a stone,” Ex said, sounding annoyed.

“Uh…” John blinked up at him, then his brain started working. “30 something, let me check, yeah, 37.”

“37 con and you’re this beat up? What the hell lives out there that can do that and why haven’t we seen it before?” Ex asked.

“A Rabbit Matriarch, size of a large dog, fast as a speeding bullet. It kept ramming me until I burned it to death,” John explained as the healing magic stopped, the stone was almost entirely spent.

“Seriously, a rabbit?” Ex said incredulously as Sally helped John to his feet.

John was about to reply when a popup obscured his vision.

[Congratulations on increasing your level! 5 à 6]

[You have received 600 Leveling Points, please distribute them now]

“That’s weird, I just leveled up,” John muttered.

“Not really, the game holds your notices for leveling until you’re out of danger or finished doing things.” Sally explained.

“Huh… Bank all leveling points,” John said.

[600 leveling points banked]

“I can see why you guys are leveling so fast, I got a whole level out of that, and I only just leveled up a few days ago,” he continued, then looked around, there was a small crowd around them, but it was starting to disperse now that he was on his feet.

“You owe me a life stone, these things aren’t cheap,” Ex said.

“Yeah, alright, I’ll make you one later,” John said.

“Make one?” Ex echoed.

“Ooo did you take the Mana Stone Maker feat?!” Sally asked excitedly.

“Yeah, I got four feats. Domain, Green Thumb, Magriculture, and Mana Stone Maker,” John admitted as Ex started leading them back toward his booth.

“Cool! What do they do?” Sally all but bounced as she asked the question.

“Domain gives me the benefits of Dynamo, Expanded Pool, and Increased Size while I’m on my land. Green Thumb increased my chances of getting a higher ranked crop by 25 percent, and Magriculture lets me plant and raise magical plants and animals,” John explained as they walked.

When they reached Ex’s booth, they found Grandma Loren sitting on the stool.

“I figured you didn’t want anyone taking anything while you were gone.” The old woman said. “I also figured you’d be coming back this way with John. What happened?”

“Rabbits attacked and I had to fight the Matriarch,” John said.

“That’s never going to sound less lame,” Ex said.

“Hmmm,” Loren said. “They attacked? I take it you planted the seed then?”

“Yeah, then when I logged in this morning they were everywhere,” John said.

“Oh! Oh! What seed?! Was it a magic seed?! Do you have a magic plant?!” Sally asked excitedly.

“Yeah, I got a seed on auction that turned out to be magical. I planted it yesterday and it’s a little sprout now. The rabbits wanted to eat it. Honestly, I should probably go back and check on it. I wasn’t really thinking when I started walking this way,” John said, sounding a bit worried.

“Do you have to do magic things to help it grow? Are you going to feed it mana stones? What about more herb slime goo?!” Sally continued.

“Maybe? I don’t know yet. I already fed it some mana stones, but I’ll probably make more for it later. I’m definitely going to want more Herb Slime goo, speaking of…” John pulled the empty urns from his inventory and put them on the stall’s counter.

Ex made the urns disappear into his own inventory even as he spoke. “How many this time?”

“All of them,” John answered.

“Herb Slime ooze as fertilizer, now there’s an idea,” Loren muttered.

“Yeah!” Sally said exuberantly. “And John is going to try other slimes too!”

“Too bad there’s no space slime, I could really use some more space attuned materials,” John said and then made an annoyed grunt. “I should have fed some of that void stone to the dungeon, now I’ll have to buy more.”

“Let’s not go too crazy with feeding the dungeon,” Loren cautioned. “There are laws about that sort of thing. Besides, it probably isn’t powerful enough to produce anything of very high rarity or quality.”

“Right, still I should feed it some things now that I have access to the auction and a way to make money,” John said.

“Just so long as you don’t feed it anything too expensive,” Grandma Loren said with a nod. “Anyway, I’m glad to see that you’re doing better, and it’s good to hear that you got the seed in the ground on time.” The old woman stood up and started heading toward the square. “Good to see you three as always, but I’m heading back to my spot before someone else steals it.”

“Bye!” The three chorused.

“Why does she like that specific spot?” John wondered.

“Because it gets the most sun!” Sally supplied.

“She asked a while back,” Ex informed John.

“Ah, thanks again Ex, I’ll bring you a mana stone next time I’m in town,” John said.

“Alright, try not to be bleeding next time,” Ex advised.

“See you later John!” Sally said as John headed off.

“Bye!” He waved to them as he left.