Hunter gritted his teeth, swallowing down the disappointment that threatened to bubble up. He was back where he started, the woods eerily silent and that goddamn burrow leering at him like the mouth of hell itself.
His spat with Tower had been about as productive as pissing in the wind. Hunter swore to himself that if he ever lived as long as the ancient structure, he'd be just as stubborn.
The ground growled beneath his feet, same as last time.
Hunter swiftly drew his weapon, taking several steps back. A notification blinked in his vision, one he had ignored earlier. Maybe he had time for a quick peek before the mother of all bunnies and her demon spawn rained hell on him.
“Status!” Hunter roared, summoning his scroll interface. Did he have to bellow like a damn bull?
No, of course not!
But it made him feel like he was in control.
[Health: 100
Stamina: 1.2/2.5
Physical: 18
Mental: 11
Weapons Mastery: 11
Armor Mastery: 1]
While he had zero progress in armor mastery for obvious reasons, he found some solace in a ten point increase in physical and seven point increase in weapons mastery. Even in failure and death, he gained experience, making the bitter sting of defeat a little easier to bear.
His progress as a First Star Refiner was at eighty percent, though these were unrefined chi particles. Once refined, he only needed half a chi particle before he could break through to become a Second Star Refiner. A step closer to increasing his chi pool and projecting chi once he hit Third Star Refiner stage.
That brought something urgent to mind.
“Tower, what happens if I break through while fighting a monster?” From his past experience he knew it would leave him vulnerable to attack and he wondered if he could suppress an imminent breakthrough until he’d defeated the monster.”
But the silence that followed was a stark reminder of their recent fallout.
The absence of Tower felt like a missing limb.
After Hunter had called Tower a past-less wonder, his guide had made it clear he was on his own this time. He was starting to regret his bullheaded insistence on winning the argument. But swallowing his pride would've been like choking on glass. At least Tower was keeping busy with renovation quest prep.
The ground grumbled again, but there was no sign of the monsters. Was Tower's absence screwing up the timing?
“Come on Tower, send the monsters to fight me!” Hunter’s barked order scattered birds from the trees.
Only silence answered.
Hunter watched the shadowy murmuration of birds darken the sky, a morbid foreshadowing—like he was under the watchful gaze of Gypas, the harbinger of death.
Hunter’s impatience was legendary, often clashing with his natural caution. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he knew what he had to do. “Alright, I’m sorry for calling you a past-less wonder. It was petty.”
The rumbling continued. No answer.
“I mean it, Tower." Hunter leaned on his weapon, "You don’t want to waste your time any more than mine. Once you’re done with all this, we need to hash things out."
Still, there was the rumbling, but it seemed to grow a little louder, faint growls echoing from the tunnel entrance. Or was it his imagination?
No message appeared from Tower. A sudden shift in Hunter’s awareness indicated that Tower was listening.
His answer came in the form of the familiar swarm of killer bunnies and their overprotective Rampage Rabbit parent, lumbering right behind them. Just like before, the burrow walls cracked and gave way to its titan form.
Hunter’s blood ran cold.
The same monsters, but now, a brand-new threat revealed itself.
His plan to divide and conquer went up in smoke as they charged. The Mega Rabbit seemed even larger, its aura pulsating with pure hatred, mirrored in its glowing amber eyes.
Hunter barely dodged the first attack, his gaze locked on the writhing mass of bunnies. "Gypas, help me!" He swung his weapon, but the bunnies swarmed around him, relentless.
Fear rooted him to the spot, until adrenaline kicked his survival instinct into gear.
Chi swirled in his core, his legs springing into action just as a claw struck his foot. Blood spurted, painting the ground red. The swarm paused, lapping up his blood like those damn vampiric leeches.
Damage Taken.
[Health: 80/100]
“Damn bunnies are supposed to be leaf munchers.” Hunter cursed, biting back a howl of pain begging for release. Those twitchy-nosed furry bastards stared up at him, their sharp little fangs dripping with blood.
His blood!
Their overhead status bar flipped:
[Berserker Bunnies!]
As if it wasn't shit enough that these fluffy fucks could corrupt each other in groups, his blood had sent them into a frenzy because there wasn't enough to go around. Now they were coming for him. Chug! Chug! Chug! They'd bleed him dry.
Summoning every ounce of strength, focus, and will to survive long enough to grind these little monsters to dust, Hunter unleashed a flurry of retaliatory strikes, splinters flying from his weapon under the force of his blows.
But trouble was a two-headed beast.
[Health: 40/100]
He was burning through chi to dodge the Mega Bunny's punishing blows, and there was a second more crippling problem when his foot began to swell and turn a nasty shade of purple.
And to add to his growing panic, he realized he couldn't feel his leg.
[Health: 35/100]
"Oh, Tower!" Hunter unleashed a series of expletives unfit for a transcript. "I've been poisoned! Necro-toxin!"
[Health: 30/100]
He fell to one knee, his heart racing, and in a desperate scramble, grabbed his homemade healing elixir with his free hand. Chugging the pulpy liquid down proved a Herculean task, considering his other hand was occupied twirling the broom like a whirlwind of bone-smashing devastation.
The Mega Rabbit's eyes glowed the color of blood oranges. It reared back on its hind legs, ready to come crashing down on him.
Hunter had to move, and fast.
[Health: 20/100]
His vision dimmed, and his muscles threatened to lock up. A rush of warmth flowed through him reversing the effects of the poison.
[Health: 100/100]
Thank the gods the healing elixir kicked in, restoring him to full health. Before the Mega Bunny could flatten him like a pancake, he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding its bone-crushing stomp.
He jumped to his feet, the pain still gnawing at his foot. A war dance erupted between Hunter and the relentless bunny horde. He dodged, parried, and countered, the broom and knife acting in tandem to fend off the incoming Berserker Bunny assault.
In the brief lull between waves of attack, he snagged a few prized monster cores. The unrefined chi they contained trickled into his core, particle by particle, each one a tiny surge of power. Just a few days ago, he thought island dire beasts would be his only source of progression, but he was clawing his way out of the broken system and forging a new destiny.
One of his own making.
While he was back to full health, the poison had left its mark on his stamina. It was slowing his footwork to a near stumble, and Hunter had to use every ounce of his concentration to dodge each incoming strike.
After a few hours—or who knows how many Tradakas—he'd wiped out the bunny horde, leaving enough looted items to fill a land bridge back to Death Island. But the Mega monster bunny was still on his tail, growing more enraged each time he killed one of its offspring.
Many of the looted items remained unclaimed, turning amber, then red, before fading away. A remote looting artifact could be a game changer. Hunter made a mental note to add it to his list of things to acquire.
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He quickly pushed that thought aside as the ground split open under the Mega Rabbits's thundering bounds. Now that the bunny horde was gone, the big bunny wasn't held back by the fear of injuring its offspring.
Tower's warning echoed in his mind: choose your battles wisely.
Hunter feigned left, then sprinted right, pouring all his remaining chi into the dash towards the tree line. He didn't look back, even as he heard the Mega Bunny's claws tear through the air behind him.
He dove into the welcome shade of the trees, expecting them to come crashing down around him. He zigzagged over grassy mounds and fallen branches, only stopping about twenty paces inside the forest.
Using a tree trunk as a shield, he rounded it and stared back towards the clearing, his breath heavy from exhaustion.
No sign of the big bunny. Not even a growl or a thundering foot stomp. The silence was suffocating in the muggy forest air. Taking a cautious step, pine needles crunched underfoot, giving away his position.
He had to be smarter than that.
Hunter had about as much chance of killing the bunny with his puny weapon as winning an arm wrestling match against the monster.
But if he could bring it down... the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
The big bunny was out there, waiting for him. The Tower Monster wasn't going anywhere, and neither was Hunter. Not until he killed the damn thing.
With slow, stealthy steps, he inched back towards the clearing, moving west of where he had entered. When he found what he was looking for—a large gap in the trees that led into the clearing—he saw the bunny sitting on all fours, ready to pounce if he returned the way he had entered the forest.
Hunter gathered a few fallen branches and set to work. He whittled them into sharp spikes using the knife end of his broom. He was never more thankful for all the skills he'd learned on Death Island.
As he worked, he thought about the insults he'd hurl at the big dumb bunny to get its attention.
Unfortunately, he was in for another rude awakening: the bunny wasn't as dumb as it looked.
Hunter was on the verge of finishing when the damned bunny caught his scent. It whipped its head around as he frantically worked and reworked the Soulvine knot around the tree trunk, the vines slipping in his clammy grasp.
"Come on, come on." His fingers worked in a blur of motion.
The enraged bunny bounded at a frightening speed in his direction. Cracks in the ground snaked towards him, and he jumped clear just as he completed the knot.
He prayed to every god he knew that he'd tied the knot tight enough to hold against the monster’s brute force.
Judging by the towering height of the bunny, Hunter backed away about twenty paces but stayed in the bunny's line of sight, standing in the gap between two giant pines at the edge of the treeline.
Once again he prayed to the gods that the gap was wide enough and the Soulvine foot trap tied between the trees was robust enough to ensnare a beast of that size.
Timing was everything.
He had to place more than one Soulvine trap for a four-legged beast. As suspected, the bunny's front legs missed the first Soulvine trap strung up between the two trunks. But the second one further in the forest snared its front legs as the back legs got caught in the first trap.
With its legs swept out from beneath it, the monster crashed head first to the ground, where Hunter had positioned a few welcoming spikes to greet it.
[Shadow Boss Monster Health: 15/100]
Hunter wasn't taking any chances.
As the bunny thrashed and writhed on the ground, its right eye impaled on an anchored branch spike the size of a titan boar tusk, he knew he had to act fast.
Now that it was down and gravely injured, it was safer for Hunter to close in for a melee attack. He had to finish this now; his chi stores were dwindling down to his reserves. While his core wouldn't drain completely, using his reserves would strain his core and even with the best healing elixirs, that would take more time to recover than he currently had.
Using the broomstick like a warhammer would be useless given the Mega Rabbit's resistance to damage from blunt force trauma. Hunter needed a sharp weapon to strike a killing blow, despite its incapacitation. The knife end would be much more effective than the broom end in this situation. While the knife could get lodged or destroyed by certain types of armor like the hoplites wore, he'd learned that aiming attacks at the neck and exposed limbs of his straw foe was the most effective technique.
But with a monster this size, there was only one vulnerable area.
Gathering all his strength, he lunged, aiming for the bunny's injured eye, its head resting at shoulder height to Hunter. The blade pierced the eye with a sickening squelch, showering Hunter in bright orange gelatinous gore. It didn't stop him from driving the knife deeper and deeper, reaching the soft brain matter.
The bunny shuddered; a reflexive claw strike narrowly missed him, forcing him to fall back on his rear.
Sitting there, he watched the beast take its last dying breaths before going deathly still.
[Shadow Boss Monster Health: 0/100]
Hunter retrieved his weapon and cleaned it on pine leaves before wiping the orange globs off his face with the back of his hand. The stench of rotten eggs made his stomach churn.
Moments passed, and the bunny dissolved in a rainbow haze, leaving behind a monster core the size of his fist. More complex than the smaller cores, it swirled orange and silver, humming with raw power.
In his palm the core unfurled into an intricate web of silvery orange threads that snaked up his arm and wrapped around his chest, constricting for a moment before dissolving into particles and seeping into his skin.
The flood of chi into his core was almost enough to make him feel better. He quickly used his Earth Strider cycling technique. The chi particles were rich in Earth affinity, consistent with the orange strands.
Yet, he couldn't identify what the silver strands were, so he focused his concentration on refining them using the Emperor’s Sun technique, forcing his core to accept it.
That didn’t work as well as he’d hoped.
Soon the sensation of well-being passed and the rotten egg odor overwhelmed his senses once more. He retched black vomit onto the pine-strewn forest floor until his stomach had nothing left to expel.
When he stood, there was a full feeling in his core, like it was stretched to the brim, almost like having a full bladder but nowhere to pee. Ignoring his discomfort, he turned his attention to the unclaimed loot as it began to turn orange.
His eyes widened when he saw three items lying on the ground. Wasting no time, he began identifying them.
Number one: a Divine Order Skills Scroll.
It was an ancient parchment, edges frayed and browned with age. The scroll was adorned with ethereal symbols that seemed to glow in the dim forest light. Hunter didn't recognize the script, but he knew it for what it was—a divine edict from a forgotten god.
He quickly stowed it for later examination.
Number two: a Lucky Rabbit’s Paw.
It looked ordinary enough, but Hunter could feel a faint aura radiating from it. Could it be... a charm? A talisman of some sort? He'd heard tales of such things, but never thought he’d ever be lucky enough to find one.
Number three: Chi Storage Pendant.
He couldn’t quite make out what it was in the dim light. As he picked it up, it sparkled under the moonlight, revealing an intricate pendant with a single glowing gem at its center. He slipped it into his inventory, planning to examine it later.
With a sense of accomplishment swelling in his chest, Hunter staggered back through the dark forest towards the Refiner Gate entrance. He’d slain the First Star Refiner Gate boss, and he was now ready to break through to become the Second Star Refiner.
He only wished Jo could witness his progression. She’d always been his number one supporter, her excitement infectious whenever he achieved anything, significant or not.
But with Claude’s pact and his own amendment, the information he could tell her was limited. He had told her he had access to the tower to grow stronger, but he couldn't share the details of the thirteen chi cultivation paths and his mission to recruit the other twelve initiates.
While he could visit Jo when time allowed, that privilege would disappear when he was traveling through space and time to gather the new recruits for Claude's divine army. The god said she’d be safe, but she needed to be freed. His heart grew heavier with each step, further compounded as he exited the Refiner Gate and returned to the guild room.
Tower: Well done, Hunter. I am not too proud to admit that you exceeded my expectations. I hadn’t considered your clean slate status, which previous initiates didn’t have. I will not make that error again. Once you reached the first gate peon boss, it took you 0.076 tradaka moments, or 24 hours, to kill the Tower Defender. Another 0.051 tradaka moments, or 16 hours, spent fighting the fiend, wraith, and shadow gate bosses, and you’re left with 0.33 tradaka moments to grind your way through the next two Refiner levels and defeat the Peak Star Refiner Gate Tyrant boss.
“Let me get this straight. The straw hoplite Tower Defender I eventually killed was a Peon boss. Remind me again what level boss the Boomerang Bunny and Rampage Rabbit swarm were.”
Tower: The Boomerang Bunny was a Fiend boss and collectively the swarm is considered a Wraith boss. Both of these bosses are on a par for power, one level above Minion bosses which outnumber them four to one–the same for peons.
He rubbed his temples. “Okay thanks Tower, that better explains how the bosses compare to each other. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how many hours I’ve left to complete the Refiner Gate?”
Tower: 0.33 tradaka moments are equivalent to 104 hours.
Hunter frowned, running a mental calculation.
That was a tight schedule. He tried not to worry himself. He’d experienced a steep learning curve in the beginning with a lack of knowledge and limited fighting skills as a First Star Refiner.
It meant he could use one day to dispatch the final boss and three days focused on cultivating. He had yet to break through to the Second Star Refiner stage. More time would be needed to break through two more levels to reach the Peak Star Refiner stage so he could unlock the Founder Gate.
While he was getting faster as he gained experience and progressed in cultivation, the monsters and defenders he faced would more than match him as powerful adversaries. He checked his inventory. With the Divine Order Skills Scroll, he figured he’d have a better advantage.
The time crunch was an unnecessary burden, one he didn't understand even though there were vague details about it in the pact, but no explanation was given.
"Why is there such a tight time limit on each gate? Claude is a powerful god, why can’t he give me more time?"
Tower: I am not at liberty to tell you the reason why. But know this, I once had an energy core, crafted by my creators and designed by a nameless god. The ogres tainted my core and did a list of unspeakable things I will not get into beyond what I’ve said before. It was Claude who reconnected me to a divine energy source. I believe that he is the source, yet he has not directly told me this. Gods gain power through their followers who worship them at their shrine. That is all I can say unless Claude wishes for me to tell you more.
Hunter's mind raced with questions, and his impending mission to gather recruits weighed heavier on him. The pressure in his core became increasingly intense, and a new notification appeared in his vision.
Breakthrough to Second Star Refiner. Yes/No?
Hunter clutched his stomach as he staggered towards the library door. His voice was nothing more than a coarse whisper, "You’ve been busy, Tower. Not just with renovation prompts but cultivation ones too."
Tower: Yes, you took such a long time to kill the Mega Rabbit, I got bored. So, I thought I’d start with the cultivation system prompts too. And the good news doesn’t end there and is rather timely given your already ripe odor and filth-stained body. I finally have access to clean water. All you need to do is craft a few pipe connectors, a simple task for a skilled tinkerer like you. Then there will be plenty of clean water for you to have a nice cold invigorating bath.
Hunter shivered at the thought, though he was no stranger to cold baths or plunging into icy depths; he certainly didn't look forward to one.
"Sounds amazing. Something to look forward to!"
Tower: Yes, I’d say take time off to celebrate your win, but that’s not advisable given your near-impossible time limit remaining. Still, you should check your notifications when they appear and not ignore them. You made significant gains on many fronts, not only in Physical and Weapons Mastery but Mental too because you used your knowledge to adapt a Soulvine trap for two-legged and smaller four-legged beasts, to take down a four-legged Tower Monster of immense size. Well done.
Hunter smiled through the pain and bowed his head in thanks.
That was all he could do to keep upright.
Leaning on the door frame for support, he pushed himself to take one step after another. Once inside the chi-rich environment of the library, he flopped down on the cushions he’d set aside for seated cultivation.
He stripped off his filthy tunic.
Drawing himself fully upright made him feel like his core would split open. He closed his eyes and before allowing his mind to drift into the Earth Strider technique, he relished in his thoughts, time to take the next step in growing stronger.