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CHAPTER 17 – RISE OF THE ARMY
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The 30 days of confinement ended, but Bunny, unlike other newbies, did not go out. Gene had some personal issues to attend to, so he wasn't online, while Angel was busy somewhere. The group had postponed their adventure for another game month. Bunny had already experienced the world outside, therefore focused on doing upgrades.
'Under Construction' went through many changes, Bunny had split her land into 2 equal portions.
The first area contained the house, warrens and trees, as well as the tannery and a large field for further expansion. This was called the leather factory, which would permanently stay in Serabroug, a profit making industry which would run on itself.
The second portion was created to harness the effect of her new skill 'Mobile Ranch'. Using this plot of land with various trials and errors, Bunny understood the skill would regarded any quadrangular area fenced up by her as a Ranch. Everything within that were created or moved into by the creator could be minimized into a model.
To have a place where the animals could stay while roaming the continent was essential. Able to design it freely was even better. Bunny had made several shacks on this piece of land which nets her the skills 'Construction' and 'Building Designing'. Shacks were cheap and easy to build, so she made more.
She had also mobilized the animals for new home making; The squirrels were on lookout when she stole a few oak trees, while rabbits dug more burrows and made warrens. Overall, on the portable ranch there were 4 living quarters for the humans, a large barn for the animals in case it rains, an alchemy lab, a smithy, a carving room and a tannery.
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Sometime, somehow, the number of cats increased. Nyaa happened to find some stray cats and brought them back. Bunny didn't mind the extra animals, since some rabbits had already given birth, increasing their total number above what she can command. In fact, she now encourage her animals to bring others back, as long as the newcomers were willing to work for food.
With the new 'invite your friend' system, the number of animals in the farm steadily increased. Since Bunny did not specify what type of animals to bring back, she managed to obtain hedgehogs, minks and racoons. A monkey was 'rejected' because it ended up fighting some rabbits over food, and died by multiple spear pokes... Not very smart to fight gluttons for food.
With more animals, Bunny started to notice an inclination; The babies did not have preconceptions of what they are and learn from any adults near them; Baby rabbits at level 1, that spent time with the squirrels tend to become more crafty and thrifty, exhibited by carrying little bags and storing excess food. Those that spent more time with cats were more cunning and ferocious, excelling when fighting under the city. Those that stay around other rabbits became gluttonous and passive... Bunny suspect they would have higher fertility too.
The inclination applied to all baby animals, as small raccoons started mimicking cats too. The newer animals were less popular adults as the little ones could sense the unwritten hierarchy. The original troops were all around level 25, at least 5 times stronger then the strongest newcomer.
As they were easier to mold, Bunny prioritize evolution for the young. She also used 'Growth Stall' on the young ones to keep their learning abilities up. Growth Spur was applied to adolescents so they could reach adulthood faster, thus able to reproduce. Regardless of age, all animals were to level up and work for food, only exceptions were pregnancy and death.
There was another reason for the focus on Level 1s, according to her Phantasm Encyclopedia: All Level 1 animals evolved at Level 10, and the rabbits that evolved had three horns, just like Shiva; Other evolved rabbits only had two.
One extra issue to note, Bunny tried rearing chickens too. If the chickens manage learn flight, having aerial coverage for scouting would be invaluable. According to the internet, Chickens were suppose to be exhibit intelligent behavior, but the chicks Bunny had seemed to disagree. Whatever taught to them would be forgotten in a few days, they sometimes couldn't even remember their owner, Bunny, when she wasn't around for more then 3 game days.
Bunny felt that somehow, RR creator associated feathered races as 'bird-brains'. Giving them little value to evolve. The chicks soon turned into some delicious meal, sold along with the 'Cheap Meaty Meals' that Bunny often sold.
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For the newcomers, when Minks evolved, their fur turned pure white, while moving around outside the ranch, the color would change to match its surrounding like a chameleon. They were also water loving and Bunny tasked them to fish in a nearby river while not sewer crawling. Fish unlike pelts were direct food sources for the minks, racoons and cats.
The cats were given new roles with fish as incentives. Instead of the pseudo guards that simply laze around all day. They were taught simple wood crafting, creating collars rings for any new animals. All animals seemed to fear fire, so none could smith, Bunny remembered her small wooden shields, decided that woodcraft would be the best alter-solution. This also prevented felines from scratching and destroying the wooden fences. Their instinctual clawing and scratching were put into good use.
Raccoons evolved their hands, growing the all important thumbs, making their already dexterous hands even more deft. Bunny put the raccoons to work with the cats, attaching leather onto the collars turning them into small capes with the help of some sewing. Body harness were also made for animals without natural weapons like claw and teeth, wooden spears were attached to the harness giving them a means of attack.
The equipments provided basic protection as well as differentiate Bunny's animals from the wild ones. A rumor had flowed around Serabroug, animals with cape were deemed more dangerous then wolves and avoided by newbies.
The hedgehogs gave Bunny the most headache. She only got two of them, both female adults. Unless she could obtain more, they wouldn simply die off. Initially, Bunny wanted to put them as tanks, but since they only numbered 2, they were not useful. There was also the problem of diet; Hedgehogs were mainly insectivores, although they could be sustained with berries and grass roots, they felt restless after meals.
Hedgehog pelts worth quite a sum due to the natural spines which added both offense and defense... Basically, this was the reason for Bunny's headache.
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Watching her army grow, Bunny thought of improving them further. Hunting in the sewers could let them level quickly till level 20, then exp gained slowed down to a crawl. After reaching Level 25, the animals were basically item grinding without much improvements. They needed a higher level hunting ground.
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Outside of the city, Bunny scouted the areas. Wolves were obsolete as their levels compared to rabid rats. Further into the forest, Bears at Level 30s could become the next step but the forest were usually filled with adventurers. Bunny needed an exclusive hunting ground.
While trolling around the area, toying with weak creatures there, Bunny saw a group of 40-50 soldiers riding back from their expedition led by a knight. From the direction they came from, Bunny assumed they were a punitive force retuning from the clean-up operation in the Lair of Litvart. Lance had been on such a quest before.
Lair of Litvart was a low level dungeon consisting of Kobolds and Goblins. Kobolds were at 20s, while Goblins range in the 50s. During the expedition, the NPC soldiers would clean out the dungeon of its inhabitants, leaving less hunts for players. Since the expedition just finished, the dungeon should be relatively deserted.
Thinking the meeting as another divine hint, Bunny decided to move her operations to the lair. Since Angel and Gene were not available, Bunny decided to explore the area first. Getting back into the city, Bunny bought a horse with a small carriage, which cost her over 75 gold.
Commonly, horses were high-priced commodity that cost at least 100 gold. However, Bunny didn't looked for well tame ones. She picked a rascal which the stable master wanted to be rid of, this way she spent less and gain some proficiency in her Animal Trainer Mastery and Nursing
When a normal carrot didn't work, Bunny used her oversized carrot bat. She had no qualms on beating disrespectful animals to near death, then healing them with her nursing skill. Doing such deeds in front of other animals instantly improved their servitude towards her.
To the animals, their master, Bunny, was kind and always lavish with rewards. She did minimal punishments leading to some corruptions of pilfering stocks. Even those found were not heavily punished. The circumstances of the horse, which openly oppose her, drove away all their sense of safety, none wanted to be in the same situation, thus productivity for the ranch raised by 20%.
After being 're-educated', the horse was attached to the carriage, ready to relocate Bunny and her specially picked troops. She brought along 20 metal armored rabbits, 2 squirrels, Meow and Nyaa. Not her full capacity to lead, but the what she could fit into the carriage. She had picked them from the original troops, the most combat worthy and highest leveled.
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The trip took 5 hours, it would have been half a day on foot or 3 hours galloping alone. Reaching the Lair, Bunny first expanded the portable ranch near the entrance. Settling the horse into the ranch, she then led the troops into the dungeon.
The horse had thought to escape, but decided again that idea. Dying would be simpler then sustaining another torturing session. Bunny had shown she could be a good owner by giving plenty of good hay and clean water as reward for the journey. The horse decided to stay longer before doing extreme actions.
Making a little headway, Bunny spotted five kobolds that were camping around a bonfire, cooking something. Surprised by the sudden appearance of the troops, the kobolds sprang to their feet.
“Grakht!”
“Food had come! Lets eat them!”
The kobolds were Level 20 midget-like monsters with the head of a dog, below four feet in height, armed with coarse wooden shields and bronze swords, they were worthy opponents for the mixed animal army. They thought the animals were food, so Bunny and her troops got a slight mental advantage.
“Kill! Kill!”
“Free food has arrived! Bless our great luck!”
When the kobolds rushed out, the animals got tense. This was the first time all the animals faced non-rat opponents. Even with their diminutive height, they were much larger then the animals. The cats were especially uncomfortable with their dog like appearances.
“Rabbits! Counter the charge!”
“Cats! Prepare ambush!”
Bunny calmly gave out orders. These were the same animals that she commanded when first fighting rats. Back then, they were weak even against the rats, and relied on formations to win. They still remembered the formations as well as their roles in combat.
The rabbits quickly formed a linear formation and charged against the wave of kobolds with their spears. A couple of kobolds flung stones with slingshots, but the projectiles barely scratch the metal armors. Outnumbering the enemy 5 to 1, as well as out leveling them, the rabbits gained supremacy over the kobolds with little effort. Adding the disruption caused by sneaking cats, the kobolds fell into disarray and were quickly wiped out.
Every time a kobold fell, a small piece of metal dropped on the ground, while their bodies vanished into gray smoke. Unlike rats which left bodies to salvage, the kobolds vanished leaving loot, which made the battles more game-like, compared to harvesting rat corpse.
With new gain confidence, the troops marched further into the dungeon. With 20 armed rabbits, the group quickly disposed of small groups of kobolds, even when meeting 2 or 3 groups at the same time, the animals won with little wounds. Since this was a recon mission, Bunny led the troops to the second level without clearing the first. They met and destroyed stronger kobolds;
The kobold rascals are level 23, and the relatively stronger kobold warriors nearing level 30, compared to untitled kobolds that were at level 20, they were stronger, but still easily dispatched by the army of animals, as they had numerical advantages.
After much scouting and testing the strength of both her troops and various kobolds, Bunny deemed this a good grinding area, easy enough to handle. She got the troops together and retreated back. She would be back again, with not only a more scary army, but two raid leaders.
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The trip back to the city was uneventful. Bunny's mind was occupied with thoughts on how to make the 'Lair of Litvart' her personal training ground. Having other players in the area would only complicate things.
Bunny had thought of using the rabbits to kill off other players, making them think stronger monsters inhabited the caves. But that idea would be counter productive, it would just attract even higher levels to the place. If she did too big of a commotion, the information would reach the forums, luring even more spectators to the scene.
“How do I make other players avoid the area in a discreet way, without causing too much disturbance?” Bunny asked herself as the city comes into view.
When Bunny returned to her ranch, she smiled... an evil evil smile... another divine hint she had received.
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