-
CHAPTER 11 – TROUBLES IN THE SEWERS
----------------------------------------
[/hr]
“You want a special class for rearing rabbits?”
“Yes!” Bunny nodded
“Then I will test you, wait here.”
Shiva left Bunny, went into his shed, and returned with a kitten in his arms.
“This is a kitten, you must raise it to a Lv10 Housecat” Shiva instructed.
“Can't it be a kitten at Lv10?” Bunny questioned.
“You don't seem to understand, animals gain level when they grow”
“Whatever, so I just have to get the kitten to Lv10?” Due to mental fatigue, Bunny was grouchy.
“Yes.” Shiva confirmed.
Care taker of the Kitten
You have to take care of the baby cat called Meow, until it reaches lv10. If well taken care of, animals will grow and level up without outside interference. Meow is currently 4 weeks old, and requires around 6 to 8 weeks of care. The completion of this quest will open a path to a special type of Breeder.
Difficulty level: Unknown
Quest Requirement: Failed if Meow died
“This should be easy”
You have accepted the quest.
“Any questions on how cats are raised?”Shiva asked
“None, but do you have more kittens, it would be lonely since there is only one kitten.”
Thinking about it, Shiva passed Meow over to Bunny and went back to his shed. On his return, he was so shocked that he almost dropped the second kitten.
Due to the hunting speed in the sewers, Bunny couldn't skin all of rats as they died. To make efficient use of time, she kept the corpse in her bag, and skin them only while the rabbits were feeding. In fact, the rabbits used more time feeding then hunting, causing Bunny to increase the number of kills per carrot. As the party left the sewers after the last kill, Bunny had some corpse in her bag.
In the time frame Shiva used to retrieve the second kitten, Bunny took out the rat corpses she had and started teaching Meow how to skin them. Cats eat mice, its normal enough, so Bunny taught Meow how to use its claws to carve open the rat from its belly, eating the inside while leaving a good pelt behind. Luckily the rats in RR didn't had innards to clean.
“What in the world are you doing?” Shiva screamed.
“I am teaching Meow the correct way of eating, leaving the skin intact.”
“...” Shiva was speechless for various reasons.
1. He had never expected Bunny to carry rat corpse around.
2. He had never expected Meow to obediently follow orders
3. Most importantly, it had happened within a few minutes.
Seeing the other kitten, Bunny took it from Silva and set it on the floor beside Meow, handed a rat corpse to it, the pointed at Meow deliciously eating. The new kitten learned fast and immediately mimic its counterpart. While stroking the fur of the second kitten, Bunny muttered. “Identify”
Small Kitten named Nyaa (Level 1)
A small baby of a spotted Tabby Cat. As its fur hasn't been fully grown yet, the spots are not obvious, but this gives it extra cuteness. This animal is 4 weeks old. It has just been weaned.
Taking the leftover pelt, Bunny clean them up before packing them away, she then took out more rat meat and fed the kittens till they are full. Passing 50 units of rat meat to Silva, she said.
“I need to be away for about 30 hours, I will collect these two fur-balls later”
Silva just nodded blankly, he hadn't got over his shock.
After leaving Silva, Bunny headed to orphanage. She wanted inform Emma she wouldn't be around, and help with lunch if necessary. Other then raising her Cooking Proficiency, building familiarity with the orphans was important. Orphans make a good source of cheap unskilled labor, they could care for the rabbits or kittens whenever she went offline. They would also help if Bunny started her own Farm or Ranch.
Bunny also needed to stock up on food. Checking that Thomas was still online, she PM her order. This time, she needed lots of carrots, more cabbages and less grass. While waiting for the merchant to reply, she did her best at peeling and cutting vegetables for Emma.
*****
By the time Alan exit the capsule, it was almost 11pm. He had spent an additional 4 online hours getting ready. First thing on his mind was food. He had been playing for 7 hours straight and missed dinner.
Immediately ransacking the fridge, Alan manage to secure 3 ham sandwiches, which he devoured without hesitation. With his tummy satisfied, Alan went to bed, setting his alarm to 6am before dozing off. Lying in the capsule, he was physically rested, but mentally exhausted.
*****
Waking up to his alarm ringing, Alan got up. Unlike people his age, getting up was less difficult for him; especially when he would be playing. After taking care of his personal hygiene, Alan did some basic stretching then his daily workout. It consist of 10 sets of 10 pushups, 10 situps and 20 jumping jacks; not something great, but enough to keep him in shape.
After a hearty breakfast, Alan went into RR.
*****
It was late afternoon in RR, when Bunny logged in, the first thing she did was to check out on the rabbits. Inside the abandon house, the rabbits are all without armor and lazing around. There were ample amount of grass, so all seemed fine. Then something caught Bunny's eyes. There were bloodstains on the floor, as well as a pair of newbie pants.
'Oh man... some idiot came and attack the rabbits, got killed by them.' Bunny deduced. 'Did that idiot kill anything or steal the rabbit armor?'
“Event Window”
Rabbit has mated with Rabbit
Rabbit has mated with Rabbit
Rabbit has mated with Rabbit...
“Arrrgggg! Why must the event window record such stuffs” Bunny complained
Scrolling pass the long list of Rabbits mating, she finally found the combat information
A human kicked Rabbit
Rabbit speared the human
Rabbit speared the human
Rabbit speared the human, Human died
Rabbit mated with Rabbit
Rabbit is now pregnant ...
After reading, Bunny took out a carrot, knocking the floor with it. “Attention!, Gather here now!”
The trained rabbits immediately assembled in front of Bunny in their respective squads, they also had their armor equipped. It seemed that rabbits had inventory spaces like players and stored their armor when lazing around. Looking at the rabbits, Bunny counted 20, and was relieved.
“All the pregnant ones, come forward.” Bunny commanded, which 2 large rabbits complied.
Bunny identified all the rabbits and regrouped them according to levels. She also named all of them, R1 to R20, with the 12 males taking the front, while 8 females behind. The pregnant ones took the last 2 places.
Your Identify Skill has reached beginner 3
New Skill: You have learned Scan
Scan
You are now able to read the names, health and levels of all allies in your party or raid group
You are now able to read the names, health and levels of enemies up to 5 levels above
Bunny was both happy and sad by this. The 'Scan' skill was mostly generated by identifying the rabbits multiple times, it helped in organizing troops, pulling the weak ones back. However, it took up her last skill slot.
Testing her new skill “Scan”
Above each rabbit, their name, level and a red bar was shown. It was a useful skill.
Regretfully, Bunny decided, “Delete Skill the Song Serenity”
Skill Deleted: Song: Serenity
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Both Courage and Serenity were common bard songs which cost 20 silver each, she would be able to learn them again. The ability to learn new skills was more important to her.
Keeping her emotions in check, Bunny needed to find a new place. The abandoned house had been discovered. Although the discoverer had been killed, there was the chance more players would visit. Losing the rabbit while offline would be a huge lost for Bunny.
Giving each rabbit a carrot, she ordered them to remove their armor while getting onto her push cart. The two cages were only big enough for the females, so the males found random places to sit while munching on their food. Pushing the overweight cart, Bunny took a route less traveled, making her way towards the orphanage, she was threatening the rabbits with every step.
“The children at the orphanage are good kids, if you hurt them, I will personally make BBQ rabbits”
Upon reaching, Bunny instructed the orphans about the rabbits.
“You can feel free to play with them, but don't distress them, they are armed and dangerous”
Showing the orphans the rabbits' armor didn't cause them fear, it made their eye glow with interest.
Leaving the rabbits, Bunny went to retrieve the kittens, then helped Emma with dinner. The whole episode kept Bunny on her toes, luckily, nothing happened.
*****
After dinner, Angel had logged in, so Bunny PM her about doing a night hunt, as well as a change of location. “Alright, I will join you at orphanage, I got a surprise for you.”
When Angel appeared, she was holding a cage. Within there were 5 baby squirrels.
“Where did you get these?” Bunny asked
“A friend of mine accidentally kill their mother, so I thought you want to raise them”
“I am a rab... never mind, I like squirrels too.” Bunny surrendered.
“I knew you would say that.” Angel beamed.
With that, Bunny left to buy some squirrel food, nuts, as well as a few iron rings and a few small hunting knives. Using food, the squirrels and kittens were added to the raid group. With everything set, the group went into the sewers via another entrance, near the orphanage.
While Angel led the group in the beginning, Bunny was busy sewing equipment for the new additions. Using iron rings, which were meant to be collars, she attached a small cape to it for additional protection. These were given to the squirrels and kittens. She made small backpacks too, to collect loot.
The progress was simple, the rabbits would kill, the kittens and squirrels would collect. After every battle, the kittens and squirrels would scavenge the remains, the obvious difference was the kittens ate the meat while the squirrels trade them for nuts. 5 meat + fur per nut. Since squirrels didn't have claws, they were giving hunting knives to cut with. It took some tries, but soon they mastered holding the knives with their mouth.
Your Raid Commander Mastery has reached beginner 4
You can now assign EXP distribution
“Hmm... that new” Bunny commented on her skill. Using her party options, she set it to 'Equal' then fiddle around giving extra to herself, Angel, Meow and Nyaa.
“I am giving me, you, Meow and Nyaa 10% exp for each kill, the rest will be split among the rabbits.”
“Meow and Nyaa?” Angel questioned.
“Oh, those are the two kittens, I got a quest to raise them to Lv10.”
“Why not set them to full exp?” Angel asked
“10% is the most I can do at my current skill level, I am removing the exp from rabbits who reached lv10, so the whole group should be at the same level.” Bunny explained
“You could reduce my gains, I am here for the fun of hunting”
“I will, but not before you reach lv10, since killing things 5 levels lower yields little”
With this small change, the group resume their hunt. The pace was faster then the previous runs due to having helpers doing clean-ups. Bunny was forced to carry a large carrot as a weapon, she knock the kittens when they start lazing around due to being happily fed. This forced them to learn how to salvage meat like the squirrels. There was one difference, unlike the rabbits whom eat everything given, the kittens and squirrels stash food into their mini backpacks.
The kittens had good sensitivity, they discovered a path not registered on Bunny's map. Following the path, the party found a downwards staircase. Reaching lower floor of the sewers, they were greeted by Dire Rats. Using scan, Bunny found them to range from Lv9 to Lv13. As with any dungeons, the further they proceed, the stronger the enemies.
Attending to each rabbit individually, Bunny repaired their armor, checked their conditions before exploring this new area. By now, Angel as well as most rabbits had reached Lv10, while Bunny was 9, the kittens at 7, squirrels at 5. The new enemies gave good exp, so Bunny set Exp Distribution back to 'Equal'. With further exploring and fighting, they met with Rabid Rats, from Lv11 to Lv15. These rats were guarding the entrance to the next floor. Since the group had good exp from the current floor, they continued hunting Dire Rats instead of proceeding further.
Then, things started getting interesting. When the kittens reached Lv10, they glowed and evolved into twin tailed cats, slightly larger then their kitten forms. Similarly, when the squirrels reached Lv10, they evolved with a small pouch on their stomach, since all 5 evolved at the same time, the hunting stopped while they started emptying their small backpacks then stuffing all their collected nuts into their tummy pouch. As for the rabbits, when the small rabbits reach Lv15, they evolved to have a pair of tiny horn on their forehead, sticking out right in front of their ears. None of the larger rabbits evolved.
Bunny thought of a theory: When the animals are lv1, they evolved at Lv10. For animals at Lv2, evolution starts at Lv15. As for when those starting at Lv3 will evolve, she will find out soon.
After more hunting, morning arrives. The rabbits became more docile while the rats no longer charge them recklessly. Moving the group into a secluded corner to rest, Bunny decided to use this lull to explore the lower floor. Using her Scan skill, Bunny found that the next floor was filled with not only Rabid Rats but Plague Rats too. The Plague rat she saw was Lv18, just in range for her at Lv13 to view using Scan.
Throwing a pebble at the rat, she lure the plague rat up the stairs attempting a 1v1 fight. The rat wasn't difficult to kill, but it was poisonous. Making her way back to the group, Angel used Healing Hand to sustain Bunny's health but she didn't have a spell to cure the poison. While Bunny was feeling relieved that they didn't venture further, things got busy.
A squirrel nibbling a nut near Bunny got poisoned, a rabbit lazing nearby got poisoned too. Grabbing onto the two poisoned animals, Bunny commanded the rest to stay, then rushed with Angel towards the entrance. They had not expected to meet enemies with poison, so neither had antidotes. If Bunny was the only one poisoned, they could slowly move back. But in the situation where anything near Bunny would also be poisoned, they couldn't take it easy anymore.
Angel was talking silently to the air while rushing, after some time she said:
“I got a druid friend who learned alchemy, she will meet us at the orphanage”
Bunny nodded and led the way towards the exit.
It only took a few minutes to reach the meeting point, a druid was standing there waiting. Upon seeing the group, he immediately took out 4 antidotes, and passed them to Bunny and Angel. The antidote worked on both humans and the squirrel, but the rabbit was still dying.
“What is this? Don't die on me, R2” Bunny cried out, she didn't want to lose a rabbit.
“Must be the ingredient, it consist of rabbit blood, so the rabbit didn't react” the druid replied clamly
“Is there anything we can do?” Angel was slightly hysterical, her mana pool was dried and she had grown fond of the rabbits.
“I can do a Life-Link, so if it died, I can revive it.” The druid replied before casting the spell
So, the poor rabbit died... and was revived. Lucky rabbit.
Thanking the druid, Bunny then recognized him.
He was the 'petty, grudge bearing, unfeeling, naive, bane of cute things' she met earlier.
----------------------------------------
[/hr]
Back to Main
Forward to Chapter 12