-White Bunny POV-
The two of them kept moving. The bunny watched the sky. Based on the glimpses of light between the thick leaves, the sun was almost directly overhead. The [Tutorial Quest] would be over soon. The leaves rustled in the wind, but the forest was quiet, so quiet she almost forgot-
Thump. A crow fell dead from the trees, body slamming against the earth. Dozens more birds and insects came tumbling down after him, dead bodies hitting the ground one after another.
The foliage above them vanished, a window appearing in its place. But perhaps calling it a window was inaccurate, considering the window stretched across the entire fucking sky. All around them, creatures seemed to pause, looking up to see what had happened.
A new quest had appeared.
╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
Main Quest #1: The Dark Forest
Ashes still linger from when the humans last tried to burn the forest alive. But the forest always finds a way to survive, doesn't it?
Time Remaining: Until death
Conditions for Participation: Claim the [Dark Forest] as your home
Requirements for Completion: Defend the dungeon core
Reward: +1 Free Skill Level
Penalty for Failure: None; possible death
━━━─── • ───━━━
Main Quest #1: The Dark Forest
Sixteen years ago, your finest adventurers killed the boss but failed to clear the [Dark Forest]. It would be amusing, really, if you failed once more.
Time Remaining: 30 days, starting when you challenge the [Dark Forest]
Conditions for Participation: Challenge the [Dark Forest] with your party
Requirements for Completion: Destruction of the dungeon core
Reward: +1 Free Skill Level
Penalty for Failure: None; possible death
╚═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╝
She scanned the window again, memorizing the objectives for both sides. The [System] truly treated this like a game, didn't it? She couldn't remember how long she had until the window disappeared- her consciousness had been fuzzy the first time the sky-window had appeared.
Now, she had enough consciousness to not only consider the details of the quest, the possible motives of the [System], but also the most interesting aspect of the window-
She could see the window through the trees.
The window was translucent, allowing her to see the faint outlines of clouds behind. Her mind whirled. The potential implications of being able to see through anything-
[Black Wolf: Dark Forest? Destruction?]
The wolf asked, panic ringing through his voice.
[White Bunny: Of the dungeon core. The forest will be fine.]
She lied through her teeth. It wouldn't necessarily come down to that, but-
Every time the wind shifted, a few more dead insects would be blown off the leaves, hollow bodies falling across the earth. There was no way the [System] would allow the forest to exist in peace.
The bunny eyed the giant spider which drifted dead in the wind, still connected to the branch by a glimmering strand of silk. She didn't know how the spider hadn't managed to kill anything, only that hiding in the trees, there were dozens of spiders just like it which had.
[Black Wolf: The forest is not fine!]
The wolf said, voice rising higher with each word. That was... a little more difficult to refute. Especially with the giant spider hanging right there.
[White Bunny: Just think of it as a bad winter! A lot of the creatures died because they couldn't find food in time, but the forest will survive.]
The bunny said brightly, acting like nothing was wrong to make the wolf feel like he was just overthinking things. The words left a bad taste in her mouth, but as long as the wolf survived... the words on the [Monster] window glowed a little brighter.
Ask a monster what makes them a monster, and they will answer this: “the willingness to sacrifice everything to achieve their goals.”
Damn it. She really hated when the [System] was right.
The wolf nodded reluctantly, convinced for now.
[White Bunny: Let's go. Even if you're a human now, I doubt joining a party will be easy.]
[Black Wolf: Hold on. Must... goodbye.]
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The wolf closed his eyes. He took a deep breath in, and the trees stirred to life. Smaller spiders skittered down the branches to watch him. The bunny eyed their surroundings warily. Even if the wolf was in control, she didn't like this. Not at all.
[Black Wolf: May you bloom again with the next spring.]
He whispered, words ringing with power. The branch connected to the spider unfurled, lowering the spider to the ground. Roots emerged from the dirt once more, dragging the spider under. All around them, the other dead creatures disappeared, the earth claiming their bodies.
The grass shimmered where insects had fallen, lengthening with new life. Red streaks twisted around the gnarly trees, growing darker, bolder. Finally, the wolf exhaled, and the trees grew still again.
The wolf opened his eyes. His golden eyes burned with new determination.
[Black Wolf: Okay. Forest good now. Let's go.]
The wolf started moving. The sun shone in full glory above them, yet none of the light filtered down to the earth. The shadows of forest remained long and dark, invisible leaves still blocking out the sun.
The [System] really enjoyed fucking with reality, huh? She thought, then she turned her attention to the window hovering in front of her.
[Tutorial Quest [Hunt or Be Hunted] has been completed! Claim rewards?]
She claimed the rewards. Three more windows popped up.
[[Status Window] has been unlocked!]
[You have gained: 3 skill points! View skills and allocate points in the [Status Window]!]
[Skill: [Double Jump] has been unlocked!]
The last window crackled, then exploded violently in a shower of sparks.
[Automatic Skill Assignment does not match targeted creature! Creature is being re-evaluated... new skill has been formed!]
[Skill: [Devourer] has been unlocked!]
The windows slowly faded, the [Monster] window disappearing with them. After a moment of consideration, the bunny summoned the [Status Window].
╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
-Status Window-
A shortened description of your various titles, skills, and quests. Click to view full information.
Name: ???
Class: Monster
Title(s): [Child of the Forest]+
Skills: [Sixth Sense], [Time of Death], [Devourer], [Communion]+
Active Quests: [The Dark Forest]
Completed Quests: [Hunt or Be Hunted]
Additional Attributes: Health: 15, Strength: 6, Speed: 15, ... [click to view full list]
*Skills with + are shared from the pack.
╚═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╝
From the [Status Window], she opened every single window she could. One, two, three... eight in total. Her eyes widened, and she shivered with delight. She didn't even know what she would do with that many windows, but- the windows gave her power, and more power was always better.
The bunny scanned the windows. [Sixth Sense] and [Time of Death] were both approximately what she expected. [Sixth Sense] activated automatically and enhanced her natural senses, while [Time of Death] activated "near death," increasing adrenaline and buffing all skills and attributes. [Child of the Forest], on the other hand- she re-read the description again.
Creatures of the forest will not attack unless provoked or pushed into a life-or-death situation.
She stared at the words, and then she huffed a laugh. No wonder the wolf wasn't afraid of anything. She wasn't complaining- now that [Hunt or Be Hunted] was over, the title meant nothing in the forest would try to eat her again.
The other thing that caught her attention was [Devourer]. Not because it was useful, but rather because of how utterly useless the [System]'s description was.
Make me happy and maybe I'll tell you, hm?
The [System] had written in lieu of a description. She glared bitterly at the window. If [Double Jump] functioned the way she assumed, it would've had amazing synergy with her ability to land on the windows. Instead, she had to deal with this.
It wasn't much longer before the wolf reached the edge of the forest. He squinted out from the cover of the trees, unused to brightness of the sun.
[Black Wolf: Which way?]
[White Bunny: West, towards the sun.]
Thankfully, the [System] had been so kind as to provide her directions after forcing her into quests and dictating her life.
━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━
-Black Wolf POV-
The wolf glared at the stupid sun. That thing was the root of all evil, he was certain of it. He had no idea how the bunny could tolerate the light, the heat, but-
Where was the shade? The wolf silently cried. There were no trees anywhere!
They had been walking in the same direction for over an hour. The grass was soft under the soles of his feet, especially in comparison to the sharp thorns and gnarly roots of the forest. Still, his new legs began to ache, unused to walking for so long, so far.
After spending far too much time in the sun, he finally saw the beginnings of a fuzzy silhouette forming in the distance. The edges of the silhouette became sharper as they drew closer, slowly coming into definition.
It was the strangest thing he had ever seen. It was made of trees, but it did not expand with the breath of the wind. Instead, the trees had been flattened, formed into strange boxy shapes.
The two of them paused at the edge of the not-forest. The wind shifted towards them, blowing a bitter scent he would recognize anywhere.
Smoke. He sucked a sharp breath in. Humans loved their fire, didn't they? It took him a few moments to blink away the stinging in his eyes.
Why did he have to be a human?
[White Bunny: Why don't I go first?]
She suggested, giving him the easy way out. He wanted to argue- he was fine, why couldn't he just be fine- but all he could manage was a shaky nod. Weak. The bunny slipped off into the grass, disappearing quickly.
She could stay hidden easier on her own, the wolf told himself, watching her go. His throat tightened anyway.
She wasn't gone for long. He sensed her through their bond long before he saw her. She made her way through the grass in strange zigzag patterns- to avoid predators? His shoulders tensed up, only relaxing when she finally appeared out of the grass.
[Black Wolf: You're back!]
[White Bunny: Here.]
The bunny dumped a pile of strange stuff in front of him. He had no idea how she managed to carry all of it, considering it was the size of her body. He picked up the thing on the top of the pile, sniffing it. It didn't smell like anything, at least to his human senses. It also folded across itself strangely. Perhaps it was edible...?
[White Bunny: I swear- you can't eat everything, okay?]
The wolf froze. The bunny glared at him. Slowly, he lowered the thing back down again. He felt a little guilty, but- she hadn't told him! What else was he supposed to do with this?
[White Bunny: They're "clothes." You're supposed to wear it. ]
She said, exasperated. He stared at the "clothes."
[White Bunny: You stick your legs through the long one, and you stick your head through the other one.]
The bunny clarified. It did not help.
[Black Wolf: No.]
He decided finally. It was bad enough that he had lost his fur- this was not happening. She narrowed her eyes.
[White Bunny: Put it on.]
[Black Wolf: No.]
[White Bunny: This isn't a negotiation, okay? You're a human. Humans wear clothes. I don't make the rules, so don't argue with me. Put. it. on.]
He glared at the clothes, hoping it would make them disappear. It did not.
[Black Wolf: I hate this.]
Taking a deep breath in, he shoved his head through the thing. It took some wriggling to figure out how to get his arms through the other two holes, but eventually-
[Black Wolf: Still hate.]
He muttered, trying to shift the collar around his neck to be less restricting.
[White Bunny: Just put the pants on already.]
She said impatiently. It was easy for her to say- she didn't have to wear this stupid stuff!
Once his clothes were on, he glared at her.
[Black Wolf: Happy?]
[White Bunny: I'll be happy when the quests are over and there's nothing left in the world which can hurt me. Now, come on. As the humans say it, we're burning daylight.]