In the year 3994, during Lilith's month of Agony, somewhere in the vast land of Rerk'u,

* Pack! *

* Pock! *

* BANG! *

The constant barrage of headbutts caused the main character to stagger backward with each hit, sending shrapnel of splintered wood scattered in all directions, chipping at the shield's durability with every crash.

* Bang! *

The enemy's attack impacted his shield's tip, smacking his head against it and leaving him dazed in his wrenching pain.

Holding tight like a drunken dwarf, he tripped over the tiniest pebble, briefly exposing his unguarded lower body for his foe to exploit.

* Tack! * " Ack- "

The creature seized the moment and bolted past his shield and to his feet to plow its head into his crotch guard and dented it, hammered into his baby-creating factory, and gave him one heck of an exquisite anguish. He fell to the ground, holding his injury in pain with his knees pressed together.

Not giving him a break, the creature darted around the guy's position, circling him with several swift maneuvers before suddenly stopping, launching into a flurry of vicious attacks. The man had seen enough of the creature's antics and decided to take action.

* Whoosh~ Bam! *

As he attempted a hasty swing to bash the attacker away, the shield missed its mark and slammed with a thunderous thump against a nearby tree, sweeping away a field of fallen leaves and cracking the already battered shield even further. Topped with the overly exhausted condition, his entire body froze up for a good one second, deserving of another hit.

* Smack! *

His vision went black as the little creature lunged up to give his eye a devastating blow, sending him a new wave of pain. With an eye still functioning, the sturdy man targeted the attacker with his gaze and hurled himself forward. His massive frame, combined with his shield, obliterated everything beneath it. But the creature has slip away with its agile movement.

In a swift motion, the man rolled and removed his shield, flinging it at the fleeing creature with stunning precision. With luck on his side, the shield struck the target, causing it to tumble end-over-end several times. But that's not enough to subdue it.

The man gasped out his breath, his voice filled with gaps and trembles,

" You aren't, escaping. "

Downing a stamina potion and taking a deep breath, he charged after the fleeing creature, slamming into trees and rocks along the way, bouncing off each obstacle and veering around them with relative ease. The potion effect kicked in as he gained more strength to increase his speed and reoriented himself, launching towards the prey like an ICBM.

The pursuit didn't last long before the guy cornered his foe at the edge of a cliffside - a spot where one can gaze down upon the town below from a lofty vantage point.

* Breathe *

A stand-off breathing battle.

* Bang! *

And the winner has been defined.

The creature wracked its brain for a way out, finally deciding to rely on its skills and some good fortune by running headlong into the guy and got whacked in the head, sent rolling a few turns on the ground in a daze far away.

Stunned and dazed, the creature watched as the man did something that he always did when killing its brethren. A body slam.

* Thump *

A little jump and a heavy drop exhausted all the air that was left in its lungs, shattering the bones of its leg and body.

The guy then picked up the creature, flung it down to the ground, took his shield, and continued to beat it.

Soaked in blood, the creature's life ebbed away as the rapidity of the blows began to subside. The man's arm grew tired and his leg gave out, he threw his shield aside and collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

" Ten. Hare. "

Gazing up at the sky so his body could rest naturally, he propped the corpse under his head to use as a makeshift pillow while he rested. His blond hair swayed in the puddle of blood but he paid no mind to it. It's his rest time, and rest is rest.

He lay there momentarily and recalled where he had left the other corpses of his other hunted hares. After planning a route in his mind, he rises and drinks a stamina potion before retracing his steps through the woods.

" Dang, some got stolen. Curse those corpse thieves. "

* Sigh * " Down to four hares it is. "

He packs up his belongings and begins his walk home, which lies at the outskirts of the jungle. Struggling through the trees and trampling over the leaves, the guy finally reaches an opening, a vast meadow blanketed in a sea of purple flowers, surrounding one supercalifragilisticexpialidocious mound. Amidst the meadow, there is one unique violet, standing out among the other flowers but still easy to overlook.

It is where his hidden home entrance is.

The guy picked the flower up to reveal a bare spot of dirt, placed it aside and sank the soil flatform, revealing a hollow beneath. He throws his stuff down and then himself down with the violet flower. After turning the light on, he places the flower back on the soil pad and raises it back up, covering the hole back to its former stage.

Down below, he hauls his belongings through the door and into the first chamber of his underground settlement - the invention room. He placed the shield against the wall and went straight to the next chamber - the cold room where he deposits his game. After entering the third chamber on his right, he selected some meat, skewered it, placed it over a firepit, and then proceeded to the Treasury chamber, where he deposited his armor and immediately fell flat, sleeping right away while hugging his pillow.

" ! ! ! "

The guy startled awake and immediately scrambled to his knees, running on all fours to reach his skewered food as though his life depended on it.

" Phew, still safe. "

With the meat turned, the guy strained his eyes open, determined to watch as it finished cooking. The stamina potion was coursing through his veins, but his eyelids felt like they were being pulled by many tons. After a moment, he carefully removed the medium-well steak from the fire, devouring it in just a few bites before sleepwalking back into his bed and crashing onto it, continuing his beloved and much-needed sleep.

After a restful few hours, the guy awoke feeling refreshed. He goes wash himself and immediately sets about fixing the flaws in his shield designs right after, drawing up new concepts and ideas in the process. Upon completion, he cast the sheets aside and grabs the hunted hare corpses in the cold room, heading to the nearby Culess town to sell it.

. . .

* Foot steps *

" Oh hey! Who's that beggar-looking guy? "

" Oh hey! Who's that bald fatso? "

* A bag was hurled from one and received by another *

The bald middle-age man chuckled and grabbed the bag and took a peek inside, then admired it out loud.

* Whistle * " Nice hoard. Gimme a bit "

While sorting out the stuff, he couldn't help but asks,

" Stayed in that jungle and lived for a week then returned alive every time, where did you hide? "

" ... Nowhere? They are just small fries, why must I hide from them? Plus, I'm only working around the perimeter. "

" Not hunting anything big all that time? "

" Yup, I wanna play safe. "

" My guy, what can you get from those easy little preys? And why do you only hunt hares?! Did you know that people have started to call you the Hare-guy? "

" Hehe, I have too many nicknames to care about. I just do shield testing. "

" Hunt something different, or bigger, you are endangering the entire race of it all by yourself at this point. "

" Heh, it's not that bad. "

" Says someone who gives me a bag full of hare corpses that I conjecture to have at least fifty of them inside. God knows how many families that you have ended. "

' Well, there's more that I have eaten and more that I have lost to the corpse thief... Maybe I did kill too much. '

" Joke aside, real monsters are ten times the trouble than those lil rabbits and you can't survive them if you keep sticking to these starter creatures. "

" I will work something out soon don't worry. " He said with a thumb up, " I'm close to finishing my designs. After that, I will give you bigger stuff to deal with. "

" Aight bet. Try a cheetah. That one doesn't have much attack power but has high speed. "

" Nope! Those are still too over the league for me. "

" Heh, whatever. Why don't you use sword along with shield? Or hammer and shield if you have god's amount of stamina. People your class tend to do that if they wanna be damage dealers. It's more balanced than just with Shields you know? "

" Too classic. Also, all them people no matter melee or ranged, all have some type of Shield with them. Wind shield? Earth shield? "Fire" shields?! Heck, even one time I see Human shield. They rely too much on the magic. "

" Pff, I get you. Here's your pay. Just, buy something for yourself. You look the same as when I saw you a year ago before all this hare-massacre thing happened. "

" Aight thanks, I will keep in mind. By the way, what's on the list? "

" Top three are Snake venom - Any type; Boar meat - No babies, no oldies; Hare viscera - As whole as possible. I know you like the hares but please drop it. Let the youngsters do it. "

" Fine, I will get the boars. See you man, I'm heading Guild. "

" Have fun and good luck, virgin boy~ "

" Shut it, "uncle Shaun". "

" Hey! I'm not that old! "