Faced with the disappearance of her enemies, Renata didn't stumble or waver. The spell she was casting had an area of effect. As it didn't target a particular monster and blanked the vicinity, no matter how hidden the enemy was, the spell couldn't be interrupted nor miss.

All Horned-Rabbits would suffer just fine.

Curling her lips in a devilish grin, her red hair flared up taken by the piercing gales. In just a second or two the air temperature had plummeted down, dissipating the warmth of the sunshine. In this particular part of the field, the late spring day instantly made way, skipping two seasons. Now, winter had come.

Glistening white frost covered the soft stalks as they hardened. And the sprinting rabbits beneath experienced a similar fate. Their hide grew heavy, their blood chilled and their muscles stiffened under the cold gales. This made their moves sluggish and even exposed them to a certain extent. It was impossible to proceed stealthily in such an environment.

It was unknown when Raven had taken the first step, but in the blink of an eye, he had jumped down and rushed to intercept the first enemy. His bastard sword was already in his hands.

Thud

He firmly stuck his right foot into the ground, rotated his waist, and swiped horizontally.

Swish

The heavy blade cut through the grass sending it flying. And its movements were followed by a beautiful sound; clear and fresh.

It's much better than the previous monster choir. They were overly out of tune. Yes, they must be lacking both practice and musical sense. Hehe, work hard if you want me to buy a ticket for your next concert in the capital of the Southern Empire. Of course, I doubt you will survive long enough to consider such matters. One of us will surely perish today.

His blade landed perfectly on the neck of a rabbit. The poor creature couldn't even scream as its head was cut from the root and traveled a mesmerizing arch in the air.

With a last twinkle, its eyes froze. They lost their luster and dimmed. But they remained open, staring unseeingly toward Raven.

A deep crimson fountain emerged and sprayed everything. It was colorful and horrendous.

Twitching his nose assaulted by the thick scent of iron, Raven stepped to the side evading a horn. He tensed his back muscles, pulled his arms back, and forced the sword to retract its previous course.

Slash Squel!

A deep cut appeared on a hasty grey rabbit and it was sent flying far to the side.

Thud

At the same time, the head of the first enemy finally fell to the ground. It broke the ice crystals coating the grass and flattened the stalks. It rolled for a while and stilled in a tiny puddle of blood.

This is so gruesome...Raven grunted inaudibly but didn't have the time to mourn for his prey.

The tiny hairs on his neck rose and he felt cold. It wasn't a chill born from the low temperature, it was a sense of foreboding and premonition. One of his Origin Skills was Precog! He had the inborn ability to feel the bloodlust of his enemies and thus anticipate their attacks! And it activated only when the danger was imminent!

An enemy from behind! Without the time to turn his body around, he instantly came up with a risky idea.

After his previous slash, he had already taken a standard standing position. His sword was in front of his chest.

With no further ado, Raven guessed the location of the Horned-Rabbit behind him and moved the sword in his hands to his left. It was just a couple of centimeters, but now the blade was sticking outside his muscular body. Then with a swipe of his fingers and wrists, he reversed his grip on the hilt. It was similar to how one often wielded a dagger!

This action naturally made the blade fall, it accelerated further thanks to its weight, passed through the grass cutting it in its wake, and instantly rose behind him. Exerting some force, Raven clenched his hands and stopped the blade from swinging upwards. If I was a bit shorter, the blade would have broken hitting the ground. A thought passed through his mind, but before long it was interrupted by the sound of metal piercing flesh.

Glurnk

The rabbit was already in the air, its prey right before its small eyes. Yet the next thing it saw was the tip of a blade while the human was still facing forward.

Unable to stop its motion in time due to inertia, it skewered itself on the weapon.

Squel...

Raven heard the painful cry overflowing with hatred, anger, confusion, and indignation and his hands trembled from the strong impact.

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He felt the tip of his sword cutting through hide, muscles, blood vessels, and bone. He sensed the rupturing of its organs, the blood filling its lungs as it coughed and gagged drowning itself. He could imagine the crimson dripping on the ground and melting the frost particles. Everything was transferred through his blade and into his brain.

Sigh

This is so gruesome...He couldn't help but repeat his previous thoughts.

Euclex was too realistic and there was no censoring whatsoever. The hardships of life, the cruelty of survival, and the sadness that came with one's death were depicted with all their ugly and brutal details. It was a world of dog-eating-dog. A place where the hunter could turn into prey and the prey wouldn't bat an eye to reveal its fangs devouring its hunter.

Whistle, Shplort!

A condensed icicle passed by his side and pierced into the flesh of a monster hidden under the grass. And at the same time, Renata's morbid and angry voice entered his ears, "Oh damn it! This fucking hurts! To think I even described these bastards as being adorable fluffs!!! Don't stop me. I am so gonna rip their heads off! Let's screw the development team too!"

Raven's lips twitched and he moved his hands slashing his sword once again.

Meanwhile, Renata who had just created an icicle and benevolently killed a monster near Raven, instantly regretted her choice. He is capable of defending himself. Why did I even try to assist him this time? What a newbie mistake.

Busy with her actions her mana perception momentarily faltered, but this was enough for a Horned-Rabbit to sneak and attack. She side-stepped in a hurry, but the creature still managed to pierce its horn into the side of her thigh.

What came to her mind at this moment was surprisingly an irrelevant thought, Horns are not made out of bones, but of keratin. And just as that notion dissipated out of her head, acute pain sent her brain buzzing.

It coursed through her nerves and wreaked havoc in her mind. It was so painful that she furiously cussed at both the fake rodents and the dev team of Euclex.

This game was too damn realistic!

Squeak Squeak

The rabbit dangled still lodged in her leg. It trashed and squirmed in an attempt to enwiden the wound, rupture more vessels, and disable the woman in front.

Not good, Renata hissed through her teeth and used her energy to straighten her thoughts. She analyzed her situation, My humerus wasn't broken. It hurts but it's still in the boundary of a flesh wound. Heh, this bastard was weakened by my previous spell. I can't concentrate on casting magic, nor do I have time.

She bit down on her lips until they bled too and made a decision. With no more time to waste, she lifted the staff in her hands and smashed it down like a blunt weapon. Anyway, it didn't provide much assistance in magic with its pitiful stats.

Bang Bang Bang Crack

"Damn, this garbage equipment!"

On the third strike, her staff finally couldn't handle the pressure, creaked, and broke down. It sent a downpour of splinters and pieces of wood varying in size throughout the air.

However, its sacrifice bore a result. The staff wasn't the sole thing that broke down in that moment.

The rabbit's mangled head bled, its hide sticky and nauseating. And from its nose blood and some transparent liquid dripped down and soaked into Renata's attire.

Brain liquor? The final strike successfully cracked the base of its cranium!

Renata felt both disgusted and elated. The concussion had sent the rabbit into a world of darkness and sealed its fate.

Huff Huff Huff

She forced herself to bear with the scorching hot pain and breathed heavily. Her stomach was churning, but she swallowed back the acid filling her mouth. Then knowing well that the battle wasn't yet over, she threw the leftovers from her weapon, grabbed the rabbit with both hands, and pulled it out of her leg.

Casting aside the dead body, she glanced at her tight and ripped the pants exposing her wound. As she expected the flesh was punctured and lacerated with blood gushing out in an unstoppable manner. It contrasted greatly with her otherwise white and delicate skin.

The healing spells I can muster can't deal with this...Sigh, if only Harumi was around. Gritting her teeth, she put a hand in her bag and pulled out a tiny bottle of salve.

This was one of the products sold in Lesotte's General Store. An over-priced healing medicine that could stop bleeding, and accelerate healing. Of course, as something generally available to the players, its effects weren't too good and it couldn't mend serious wounds. For those as well as broken bones, one had to visit a doctor, or a priest, or rely on complicated healing spells in which the Holy race specialized.

With trembling hands, Renata unscrewed the cork and splotched a huge amount of the thick greenish-blue liquid on top of her wound. Finally, she used some of the linen fabric to bandage it. The ending result was a bit sloppy, but it was far better than bleeding to death.

"You ok?"

Raven came closer and narrowed his eyes. The wound wasn't life-threatening but looked perturbing and painful. He inwardly hissed at the sight.

"As you can guess I have had better days than today," Renata snapped back with a snarky remark. Then she hurriedly added, "What about the rest of the rabbits?"

Without waiting for Raven to speak, she concentrated and sensed their vicinity, All clear. I can't feel other monsters lurking around. It seems the battle didn't attract unwanted attention. Although haste makes waste, finishing a fight swiftly is always a good choice...

Phew

She finally calmed down, exhaled, straightened her back, and rubbed her sore temples. She tried her best not to put too much weight onto her injured leg and slowly limped to the tree, leaning on it. She didn't even glance at the remnants that once were her staff.

"Killed them all. Eight in total." Raven said in passing and plopped on the ground. Then he took a handkerchief out of his bag and carefully cleaned the blood from his sword. No matter how cheap and low quality this sword was, it was still considered a partner in arms. Unlike his vice-leader, he treasured his items much more.

Renata didn't know she was judged at the moment, nor did she care. With the tree as her aid, she looked at the nearby corpses and furrowed her brows. "Good. Heh, as I said we can deal with a couple of bunnies," she said simply, unwilling to bend on her previous words. Besides the final result matters the most. We are alive and they died, she mumbled convincing herself.

Raven couldn't be bothered to argue and just nodded his head. Their hunt this time was indeed a success. The harm they endured resulted from the elf's blunder. It could be said that they did pretty well for the first time facing multiple enemies. They definitely had the strength to triumph over a couple of rabbits.

Tho I don't know if this is something worthy of pride. Horned-Rabbits are the weakest monsters around. Yes, even Hog-Pogs are ranked a bit higher, but they rarely travel in packs. Raven pursed his lips and became even more silent. His actions of cleaning the sword visibly turned sluggish as well. At this moment, he felt complicated emotions preventing him from celebrating the hunt.