03 - Storm

The rabbit flopped limply against his leg every time he took a step. The hind paws were inserted into his belt. It started to annoy him after the first half hour, but he was not hungry enough yet. Theo was not a cruel person in nature, he was simply logical. If an over-powered bunny tried to kill him, it gave him some rights as to what he did with the corpse after he defeated it.

The last time he checked, bunnies were herbivores so it was possible it had been trying to defend it’s territory.

And territory meant more rabbits.

With that said, he had no concrete knowledge about what was going on. When he tried thinking about the situation, the world stopped being dream-like for a few seconds, just enough for him to realize he was really there, before returning to the normal hazy feeling.

All he knew was that more walking was ahead and thinking about random things distracted him.

He carried his bag on his shoulder by the strap. It also had joining handles, but he never used those unless he was trying to hit someone. The bag was kind of sentimental to him so he couldn't bring himself to putting the rabbit inside.

He occasionally tried to activate his skill but it still wouldn’t respond. He also tried to open the “status” window, which, to his surprise, opened. The window also showed that he was now 38% into the next level.

Figures. I suppose getting more diner would make me level up? Anyways, I’m dead if one of these guys catches me off guard.

So he eyed the surrounding forest as if the traitorous brush was hiding the bunnies.

Midday slowly turned to mid afternoon and nothing exciting happened. The dead bunny was beginning to look more appetizing to Theo but he kept walking forward. The thought of not knowing how to skin, dress or cook a rabbit made him think twice.

Please, let there be a town!

But still nothing. At some point, he found a good-looking stick that he took with him. A solid six foot staff that he could whack at things instead of getting too close.

It also doubled as a walking stick.

He finally arrived at a clearing. In the middle of it was another rabbit; alive and light brown, this time. It appeared to be sleeping, nesting in a kind of loaf shape. It took a while for Theo to think up a game plan. He could walk away from an encounter with the rabbit, but that wouldn’t help him in the long run. Besides, the rabbit’s charge was too slow to hit him even if it woke up. He could easily dodge it.

Martial arts taught him two things aside from fighting: be prepared to get hurt and fight with as much honor as you can without dying. Of course, he did not plan on dying yet.

He dropped his bag and started to sneak up on the critter with his knees bent to keep his centre of gravity low to the ground. He stepped carefully; making a sound could get him killed. Still a few feet away, he dared not get any closer for fear of being discovered. He held his staff at chest level behind him with his forward arm (like a dab) for maximum reach before swinging it at the creature.

Its trajectory was true and in one blow the rabbit lay even more motionless on the ground with its head done in. It did not look good, but Theo wrung its neck to make sure it was very dead before tying it to his belt, satisfied. Checking his status, he saw his progress was at 93%. Why was the rate different for this rabbit? As he was trying to understand this, a cacophony of noises came from the forest.

*Growl*

Theo spun around towards the loudest spot of the treeline. To his horror, he witnessed dozens of bunnies spilling out of the woods and surrounding him. All of them had incandescent red eyes.

I’m so dead, he thought calmly. Adrenaline had never made him go into a frenzy. It instead made him think quickly and coldly.

He kept his eyes on the rabbits. They growled in spurts, so it would be comedic if not for their deadliness.

Out of nowhere, one rabbit jumped, or rather, launched itself towards Theo. It seemed to fly through the air to attack him. Theo, without hesitation, held his staff firmly and batted it back into the swarm. The other bunnies followed suit and he simply stayed still and fought back.

He quickly understood that the rabbits were fat little bastards. They were easy to hit so he simply timed his swings and kept up a combo of movements. He could do this.

A few stray bunnies caught him by surprise. He had not seen them coming at all. One collided into his back and another into his thigh. Surprisingly, they did little to no damage so Theo ignored them and kept hitting away. He counted around twenty rabbits in total, but their numbers diminished quickly as one hit from Theo killed them instantly.

Soon, army turned to squadron as the little soldiers were snuffed out one by one. Theo decided inwardly that bunnies were evil and that unless they were domestic, he would kill them to avoid being stabbed in the back.

You’d think they’d stop after seeing so many of their comrades killed, but I guess they’re not that intelligent...

The storm of white, gray and brown stopped after about a minute with many casualties lying in the grass. Granted, a few rabbits turned tail and ran near the end of the killing spree so Theo couldn’t call all of them stupid. A few had enough instinct to keep them from approaching him. A thought kept nagging at him until he remembered something.

That reminded me of my training! Sensei used to toss bean bags at me and I had to hit them with my bo staff...

Long time, sensei, he added sadly. He shook his head in an attempt to physically straighten his thoughts.

He noticed the weird flashing notification icon. Upon focus, it revealed a cascade of windows across his vision.

SYSTEM Congratulations! You are now [Level 1]! SYSTEM Congratulations! You are now [Level 2]! SYSTEM Congratulations! You are now [Level 3]! SYSTEM Congratulations! You are now [Level 4]! SYSTEM Congratulations! You are now [Level 5]!

One thing he was sure of: he did not feel stronger after leveling up, though he did feel somewhat refreshed and nostalgic after fighting with the staff properly.

SYSTEM Congratulations! You have unlocked a skill slot! SYSTEM You have defeated the monster Bunny Jumper. Learn its skill [Jump]?

Jumping rabbits were easy to deal with so long as you knew where to bat. If he’d been against that many charging rabbits he’d have been shredded to pieces in seconds. A shiver went down his spine at the thought.

Wanting to fly as much as the next guy, jumping great heights was a close second to him. It might even have the “no fall damage” effect if he was lucky. That charging bunny didn’t get hurt from the tree collision, per say, now did it?

Feeling slightly lost, Theo accepted the new skill.

SYSTEM Congratulations. You have learned the [Jump] skill.

Thinking about it, he opened up his status once again and noticed his progress was at 26% already. He wanted to test out his new skill, but he decided to try that later. He wasn't confident in using skills. His first skill still hadn't worked so he began to doubt both their activation and their uses. Charging bunnies were plenty dangerous so he couldn’t afford to also be worrying about falling back down and killing himself.

Sighing, he looked around him and realized something important.

Man... how will I carry all of these with me?