Chapter 14: Rabbit
Before Reese’s eyes, several cyclops-type monsters were running around the chamber. Upon the adventurers’ arrival, the monsters stopped, turned to look at Reese, and then resumed their frantic motions.
Entirely creeped out by that, Reese strained his eyes until he noticed that the cyclops were in fact chasing something much smaller than any of them. At random times, each cyclops would launch an eyebeam attack, but so far, none of them had directly struck the target.
Looking closely, the target, a monster being chased by all the cyclops, was a jackalope. Each time an eyebeam was launched, the jackalope would dive to the side at the last moment. It changed direction suddenly, escaping beneath a cyclops’s legs before it could get cornered at the edge of the chamber.
The jackalope didn’t seem to pay Reese’s party any mind. It continued its evasive maneuvers around the boss chamber, staying clear of the entrance.
“Reese, what do we do!?”
He wasn’t immediately sure how to answer his comrade’s question. The cyclops seemed like the aggressors, but they had to all be at least LVL 9. Due to that, the party didn’t have much experience taking down cyclops. Also, so long as the cyclops weren’t attacking them, they had no duty to come to the rescue of some jackalope—a monster. Still, perhaps this was some type of challenge that they could only clear by rescuing the fluffy creature in distress.
“Let’s try taking down one of the cyclops. If things get bad, we’ll escape up the stairs.”
The rest of the party nodded back at Reese. They proceeded into the boss chamber, keeping an eye on the door all the while. Just as one cyclops lumbered past, Reese shouted, “Now!”
An arrow flew. A fireball flew. Reese himself moved in for an attack, as did two of his allies. After a coordinated salvo, the cyclops wasn’t dead but it did appear to be heavily wounded.
The cyclops turned to look at its attackers over its shoulder. Defying expectation, the monster decided to disregard the attacks and resume chasing after the jackalope.
Feeling frustrated at being ignored, Reese gave the command to continue attacking. After a few more moments, the defeated cyclops fell to the ground. “Let’s ride this momentum. Next cyclops!”
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It took a few minutes but they brought down every cyclops. Each had prioritized chasing and attacking the jackalope over defending itself from the adventurers, oddly. Just as the final cyclops smashed into the ground, the jackalope came to a stop and turned to face Reese’s party.
One adventurer spoke through labored breaths. “Reese, what do we do with the jackalope?”
“I’m not sure. Saving it just seemed like the right thing to do…”
The jackalope took a few casual steps towards the party.
“…What have you done?” Stepping out from behind cover, a person, no, a morphling addressed their group. “…Do you realize what you have done?”
Reese looked back and forth between the morphling and the jackalope, finally addressing the morphling. “We rescued the jackalope from the cyclops…?”
“…Fools. That jackalope is… look out!”
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At that moment, the jackalope lunged at Reese faster than he could react. It slipped past the sword he had in hand, landing on his head. When it kicked off, the explosive force pushed Reese’s head to the side, causing him to fall over.
“Reese!”
The adventurer who called out to her friend barely even noticed the jackalope land atop her lightly-armored chest before it kicked off again, sending her tumbling backwards.
“It’s higher-level than the cyclops!” the healer shouted, but it was too late—their formation was already collapsing. The party members who hadn’t been pushed aside braced for their turn, but the jackalope didn’t bear down on them. It suddenly lunged at the approaching morphling, going right for the throat.
“…Save yourselves…” was the last thing the morphling said before it collapsed, dead.
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The first floor was the scariest. The jackalope was right on their tail the whole time. Once they ascended another level, Reese’s party started to encounter dungeon monsters again. The dungeon monsters allowed the adventurers through and instead attacked the jackalope, somewhat amazingly. Unfortunately, the jackalope made quick work of most of them. Still, any efforts to delay the jackalope’s pursuit were greatly appreciated.
The party had pulled ahead, but now the jackalope was catching up again. Although dungeon monsters continued to assault the jackalope, their levels were getting lower and lower as the party ascended the remaining levels within the dungeon. By floor 3, the equilibrium collapsed entirely. The jackalope caught up.
Reese shouted the command for his party to form up and face their enemy, but he was a moment too late. The jackalope got within their range following an impressive leap, landing on Reese’s shoulder. He instinctively twisted his head away from the jackalope, trying to protect his neck from its tiny but apparently razor-sharp fangs.
“Reese!”
“Save yourselves!” he yelled, resigning himself to his fate. There was no longer anything he could do from this position.
The rest of his party stared at him, mouths agape, unbelieving of their leader’s fate.
Then, once again, the jackalope defied their expectations. It launched off of Reese’s shoulder, rocketing past his teammates. Reese was nearly sent tumbling as the jackalope landed further down the corridor and then proceeded on, leaving the party behind.
The party was left unable to decide whether to continue their escape from the dungeon or not. The threat was now closer to the exit than they were. Should they stay where they are? Proceed deeper into the dungeon?
“…What are you doing?” A new morphling approached the party from a side passageway.
“We… we survived…” Reese answered.
“…You need to stop it from escaping the dungeon.”
“Huh? That thing!?”
“…Yes.”
“Are you serious!? What even is that thing!?”
“…My pet rabbit.”
“What?”
“…His name is Fluffy.”
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The party filed out of the dungeon proper into the lobby, exhausted but otherwise uninjured.
“…Sorry about that. I’ve resolved my rabbit problem. …Are you ready to conquer the dungeon now?”
“Conquer… the dungeon?”
“…Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“Reese, I’m not going back in there…”
Several fellow party members echoed their agreement, imploring Reese to call off the dungeon dive.
Reese stared at the door they had just emerged from. “Yeah, we’ll uh, give up on that. Would you answer a question for us, though?”
“…I suppose.”
“What is your relationship with the dragon that lives in the Upper Gordu Forest?”
“…Why don’t you ask him?”
“Huh?”
“…Do you need directions?”
Reese collapsed to the floor, somehow no longer able to support himself with his legs.
“Oh, there’s a party here?” Vera stopped short of the collapsed party members, having just arrived in the dungeon lobby.
“…They were going to conquer the dungeon but they’ve given up a bit early.”
“Oh, I see. May I come down?”
“…Sure.”
Vera stepped carefully around the prone party members, approaching the door. The sign bearing the circle puzzle was still posted adjacent to the door. She paused to read it.
“Priestess, I don’t know who you are, but solving that riddle just isn’t worth it…” said Reese.
“It’s not? Isn’t it easy?”
Reese laughed, although he was more mocking himself than anything else. “It may seem that way.”
Vera re-checked the wording of the question. “From the perspective of circle B, circle A goes around three times. But the question is from an outsider perspective, right? So it’s actually four times.”
“Huh?” Reese blinked at Vera.
“The same thing happens with the planet orbiting around the sun. After one day, the planet has spun around slightly more than one full circle.”
“It has?”
“Is that not right?” Vera turned to the morphling.
“…No, you’re right. Proceed.”
Vera smiled and passed through the doorway.
Reese looked back at his party members. “Just what is going on…?”