-
Volume 2 Chapter 1 – Adventures of HH (Book 1)
----------------------------------------
Past life... I don't remember anything from my past life... but I do know I have one because I have knowledge that cannot be obtained otherwise. Since I don't know who or what I am previously, I discard the idea to speculate... it will be a waste of time, since there is no way to verify... Regardless, I start out this life with as an interesting animal: A bunny at an unknown place.
Born a normal hare with a pure coat of reddish brown fur, my outer appearance is similar to every other hare in the area. Our breed has pure color coats, with slight variation of brownness. An hour after being born, me and my siblings are already exploring our home. While they are improving their vocabulary on things around us, I am studying the environment where our nest is located at.
Different from our distant cousins, the rabbits, hares are bigger, stronger and precocial. Rabbits are born blind and hairless, so they improvise by sheltering in barrows and warrens. Hares generally stay in nests create from piling grass because we are born cover in fur and able to see, 'escape-ready' shortly after birth. My species may be physically better then our rabbit cousins, but they seem to be smarter when comparing the places we live in.
Although I have abundance of knowledge, it doesn't help overcome my bunny instincts to simply feed and mate... Yes, that is what hares do: we feed, we mate and be merry until we end up in some carnivorous mouth. If you are thinking our lives as pitiful, think again... In my youth, I have over 200 partners and I spent most of my time procreating with them... 15-20 times a day...
At last count when my great great great great great great grandson (8 generations) is born, I have 5803 children, 85891 grandchildren and over a million descendants carrying my genes... less then 0.01% are alive though, but that doesn't matter... I can tell you, a Hare's life is short term paradise... ever wondered why only lucky people get harem?
Anyway, let me start with the location of the nest I use to live in. It is placed at the border between a forest and a mountain. A clearing about 50m wide between the foot of a mountain and a dense forest. The space stretches along the base of the mountain for about 600m. That place is very dangerous: From the forest, the lowest level beast are the Dread Wolves at 389. The lowest level monsters of the mountainside are Mountain Trolls at 414.
You may be guessing how we, the hares, survive with levels below 10... Our continuity relies on the special circumstances of our nests. We are located right between 2 great guardians that protect us from both the beasts of the forest and monster of the mountains. Things that feed on those high level creatures on a daily basis. They are called Dragons.
The forest in the direction where the sun rises, is ruled by Delporra, the Green Dragon of Nature. Anything within 10m from the forest is under its jurisdiction, so by staying near the forest, we are immune to the aggressive creatures that occasionally drops by from the mountain. Every once in a while some stupid trolls will chase us pass the boundary, just to be decimated by the patron of the forest.
The mountain on the other side, belongs to Garkanodi, the Yellow Dragon of the Earth. Similarly, it has claimed anything from the foot of the mountain and beyond as its territory. The Yellow Dragon has some major hate towards forest dwellers. There is once where I witness a Lv473 Cockatrice, that is over 8m tall, gets torn into pieces smaller then my paws. Anything that that enters the mountain from our lands without the Garkanodi's permission, suffers similar fate.
As insignificant creatures, we seem to be outside the radar of both Dragons. We simply run around the borders taking shelter on either side against the other. When Wolves, Basilisk, Centaurs or anything that threatened us emerge from the forest, we will run towards the mountain. And if Trolls, Sasquatch and denizens from the mountain comes to visit, we will shelter near the forest. By staying in between the two, cover the 20m distance means escaping our predator; running is something hares excel in.
That begets the question... What if both sides appear at the same time? Well, let me ask a question first... When you are out hunting for food, will you chase after an undernourished grasshopper or will you rather fight it out with a boar? The answer is obvious! The two sides will try to kill each other instead of chasing us. Hares are at most bite-size to the monsters of either sides, we have little to offer in terms of food volume.
Since running is very important, those with well developed legs become the Alphas. Hares don't really have the concept of Alphas, but those athletic males do invite long queues of females hungry for their genes. That seems to be how the doe brain is wired, wanting the best genetics for their offspring. I am not one who likes being an Alpha, because Alphas tend to trade their seeds for food, which means they cannot turn away the ugly hags. Doesn't their actions mimic gigolos prostituting themselves?
This has nothing to do with sour grapes. Although I don't have strong legs or powerful leaps, I have my fair share of hussies buzzing around me. Unlike those sprinters, my specialty is digging. Being able to dig a meter-deep hole within 20 seconds, I am always able to hide away before the monsters comes into assault range.
Due to my inborn knowledge, I understand that hiding is better then running. Even if it is not hare-like, more rabbit-like, as long as I keep my chances of fatality to zero, anything is fine. When running, there is still a chance to be wounded or dead, but hiding is 100% survival. None of the monsters on either side can dig faster then me, so I just have to dig deeper if anything ever tries to follow.
At first, I only focus on saving myself. As time passes, I start loitering around cute looking females. The sassy Doe-s that snort or sneer at the Alphas are also the luscious and pretty ones. Their pride originates from their well tone and proportional bodies. By staying around them, when danger presents itself, the two of us will be snuggling cozily into the barrow I have dug. With the smell of 'Death' lingering in the air, we will be doing actions that promote 'Life'. The stark contrast does much to enhance the experience, in fact it is addicting.
As life is, there are insensitive creeps that stick their noses into my lovely time... literally! Too many times, my happy sessions gets disrupted either by a wolf muzzle or bear snout, sometimes there are peeping Sasquatch or spying Trolls. To handle these irritating interruptions, I usually feed the sensitive nose or brittle eyes with a bunny kick. Very effective means to gain attraction points with minimum danger. Impressing many, I become the only buck with a drove of faithful monogamy mates...
With my winning formula, my harem grows rapidly and I father many leverets. My children follow my examples and their live expectancy becomes much higher then the average. To prevent too much inbreeding, I sent my kids to mix with other caste. With this, my family starts to become the dominant faction of the hares living in the area.
Time is the greatest enemy of all living things, by the time I am 5 years old, my old bones can no longer keep up with my libido. Grudgingly, I disassemble my harem and focus my remaining days mastering the art of digging. By constantly moving the earth, I have gained the Dig skill during my youth. For the whole duration of my life, I have created so many warrens that the skill goes from Beginner to Intermediate and now stands at Advance Lv9. My last wish is to have Dig skill reach Master-rank before my time expires.
Then, the event where the turning point of my life happens.
For reasons unknown to me at that time, Delporra and Garkanodi decides to duel. From their stance against each other, they are going to fight until only one is alive. How do I know all these? The duel ground the Dragons choose happens to be directly above where I am spending my last days... Right outside the sole entrance of the barrow where I live and work on mastering my digging skill.
Being 6m under ground does not feel safe at all. The destructive power of two raging Dragons is nothing to joke about. On their first clash, I already have a bad feeling, causing me to burrow further into the earth. It is solely due to this instinct that I am still alive now, because after I displace myself another 2m downwards, everything between me and the ground level disappears with a swipe of Garkanodi's tail.
Can you imagine? Looking up to see the sky when you are 8 meters underground... tons of earth are tossed away just from collateral damage... It is impossible to stay uninjured when assault by such raw strength. When the Yellow Dragon of the Earth flip the land without care, it also flip huge chunks my fur, causing major tears and minor scratches all over my body. Under extreme pain, I am overwhelmed and lost consciousness.
I don't know how long I have blacked-out, but I finally regain some sense of self when a huge blast happens nearby. With ringing ears and ceaseless pain on every inch of my body, I follow my animal instincts and dive into a hole in front of me. Without thinking, I rush and continue forward until I reach the end of the cavern. It isn't really deep, slightly less then 2m, which I feel totally inadequate as a safe haven. Checking the walls, they don't look like anything I have dug before. Ignoring any logic, I pick a random side and start pawing.
There isn't much progress, the material of the wall is just too sturdy, I cannot even create anything more then a tiny dent. While cursing, the whole cavern shakes and tremble, causing me to be flung around like a rag-doll. Like an earthquake that starts suddenly, it stops just as sudden. Grabbing this lull, I look back at the dent I have made earlier. In this Life/Death situation, I cannot think of any other alternatives, so I continue digging.
My paws are all bloody and I have lost all the nails of my front paws. My body, which is already covered in tears and scratches, start to accumulate even more of them; I don't think I can even find an inch of my fur that is left untouched. But that does not matter, as I mindlessly continue digging. It is not a fruitless endeavor as the dent deepens into the tough material. As replacement for my missing nails, I even use my teeth to further my quest.
Dig skill has level up to Advance Level 10
Skill is change to Dig Master Level
You can now pry into any substance or material
A life saving message appears, with renew vigor, I pin-point every bit of my being and break pass the solid wall that has cost me my nails. Pushing into the unknown, I find myself in some translucent slimy fluid. The hole I enter from seal itself rapidly, meaning I am now cut off from the outside... I am also safe from the fight between those gigantic reptiles... Before getting my bearing, the tremors starts again, this time, it goes on for much longer.
While rolling around as if gravity no longer exist, I bump around within the fluid. It is better here compared to the previous cavern because the viscose liquid slows down my movement. At least I now feel like a fish in a whirlpool instead of some rag in a crazy mutt's mouth. While rolling around some of my wounds tear further, the intense pain force me to scream. This effectively allows the fluid around me to replace what little air my lungs have been holding on to.
You have replace large amount of your blood with Dragon Cerebrospinal fluid
Your racial status is updated to 'Hare Variant – Dragon Infusion'
You gain the ability to use mana
You gain the ability to see your status window
You gain the ability to assign points manually after leveling up
You gain Dragon skill Absorption
You gain Dragon skill Self-Sustenance
You have lifted all restricted to evolution.
+50 to Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Wisdom
New Skill: Absorption (Dragon Skill)
This is a skill for new Dragons. With this skill, you will be able to absorb Materials, Elements and Energy. By gathering the types of your choice, it will change your affinity and turn you into the respective Hare (Dragon) variant. Your Fur (Scales) will change color according to what you have absorbed.
Example: By collecting only Fire elements, you will become a Fire Hare (Dragon) with Red Fur (Scales). Gathering both Fire and Earth elements, you will become a Magma Hare (Dragon) with Reddish-Brown Fur (Scales). You can also absorb metal or wood to become a Metallic Hare (Dragon) or Ligneous Hare (Dragon) with Metallic Silver and Grainy Brown Fur (Scales) respectively
Skill cannot be leveled.
Skill will be remove when you have successfully change your affinity and become a Variant.
New Skill: Self-Sustenance (Dragon skill)
This skill allows the caster to covert mana into necessary sustenance like Air, Food, Water and Rest. Using this skill, hunger, thirst, suffocation and fatigue can be ignored by replacing the need with Mana.
After seeing the floating panel appear, my mind becomes clearer and calmer. I am also able to stabilize myself in the viscose fluid due to enhanced physical. My need to breath is negated by a small drain to my newly obtain mana. Exiting from panic-mode, I now observe my surroundings.
I am stuck in a dome shape area with a huge object taking most of the space. That thing looks like an oversize walnut kernel with fluffy texture. Electric pulses can be seen traversing the surface of that huge walnut. The sight is something to behold and nothing I have seen before. After staring at it for a long time, I finally manage to add 2 and 2 giving me the answer I have forgotten to find.
With newly enhance intelligence, I am finally able to use the vast knowledge I am born with. From information of past events, I know that I am currently standing within the head of one of the Dragons. The 'hole' I enter from must be its ear, then digging pass the membrane, I now beside the Dragon's brain. Garkanodi's brain to be precise, because it is impossible to mistake an opening on emerald colored wall as somewhere safe.Delporra's scale color is too glaring not to notice.
Dragons are almost unkillable as they are covered in scales that are both magic resistant and highly resilient to physical damage. They pretty much reign over the food pyramid... Hares are on the other side, almost rock bottom, born as a means to convert flora into edible substance for carnivores. If a hare ever kills a Dragon, it will definitely become some historical event. Due to unusual circumstances, I am given a chance to become a legend.
Before doing anything drastic, I remind myself that there is still a monstrous fight outside. If I squash the brain in front of me, that will make the other Dragon win. What are the chances it will not tear the head open and kill me? Even if it ignores me, the Dragon corpse will lure high level monsters for a feast, those things can easily kill me too. I need a plan, rushing in for a few minutes of glory is not worth it. Survival comes first.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Thinking deeply, while my location continue to shake, sometimes violently, sometimes less so. The background noise of crashes, screeches and roars are filter out subconsciously. Basically, the only way for me to survive is for Garkanodi to kill Delporra. As it bask in its win, I will smash its brain into pieces, becoming the overall victor.
The objective is simple, but there is the remaining problem of how can I improve Garkanodi's chances of winning? From within the head, I can judge from the violence of the quakes to determine if the side I am rooting for is attacking or being plummeted. From the vibrations, I imagine them to be boxers in a ring, hitting each other. When receiving a strike on the head, 'my room' jerks and the brain shakes. Sadly, but Garkanodi's brain seems to be shaking very often... then an idea blooms.
Since Dragon scales are almost immune to magic, the two of them must be fighting out physically. In a pure physical fight, if I can make Garkanodi berserk, his chances of winning will rise. Even if he becomes mentally unsound or lose multiple limbs, it matters little because he will die soon after. Putting the thought into action, I move towards the brain with an evil grin.
The frontal lobe located at the front of the brain is associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving. Locating the parts that are related to reasoning, I use my newly acquire skill Absorption to siphon that part of the brain. Lucky for me, the skill does not need me to be physically touching the object I am sucking
I choose to use that skill because I don't have confidence in physically removing those brain cells, especially when the whole area shakes erratically without a fix pattern. If I accidentally damage parts that deal with movement, planning or problem solving, my plan will actually backfire. I want my 'Host' to win.
The result is what I have expected. There are much less of those sudden jerks, signifying Garkanodi is taking less hits on its face. My location has also become relatively calmer, allowing me to further examine the huge brain, finding more ways to enhance the Dragon I am rooting for. I cannot tell you how I know about frontal lobes, cerebrum or cortex. These are knowledge I have since birth, most likely residue from my past life... Maybe I am a Brain Surgeon then? Or maybe a mad scientist? Anyway, those don't matter.
The fight outside continues, with me doing slight alteration with Absorption. I have removed parts that are related to pain stimulus and speech, as well as destroy all emotions except pride and rage. From within I have turn my host into a mindless, mute, rampaging berserker who feels no pain. I have left its Dragon Pride alone, so I can get some signal when he wins the duel.
I also clean up the memory storage, which gives an interesting side effect: I gain the life story of the Dragon and all its knowledge becomes mine. Watching the important moments of its life, I finally understand why they start fighting after being peaceful for so long. Delporra and Garkanodi wants to kill each other since a long long time ago. My ancestors, the first hares of this region, are bought here to function as a timer. By the will of the Dragon King, their final bout will only happen when there is no longer any hares in the region.
With me turning the Hares into 'burrowers', these two have mistaken our absence as extinction, so they move along to duke it out. Either by the whimsical hands of Fate or simply dumb coincidence, as the fight occurs when we are still around, these two are doom to a pathetic ending, a hare (me) reaping benefits over their battle.
While dreaming of future glory, I notice the electric pulses of the brain becoming weaker. With lesser brain activity, it shows that the duel has ended. Using Absorption, I digested most of the remaining brain cells of Garkanodi. I left the part that governs organ function working because I remember something about Dragon-Heart...
Anyway, with most of its brain 'eaten' a panel pop-up with a lovely *Ding*
You have slain Garkanodi, the Yellow Dragon of the Earth.
For killing a Dragon,
- You gain +100 to all stats
- You gain the title True Dragon Slayer
- You gain 200 fame (nobody believes that a Hare can kill a Dragon)
As the first small animal to slay a Dragon
- You gain Max affinity to all Hares and Hare-Variants
- You gain high affinity to all Leporidae
- You gain some affinity to all small animals
For Wounding a Mythical Monster over 900 levels higher then you
- You gain the title Beyond Suicidal
- You gain a new stat: Insanity
- Insanity stat +300
For Killing a Mythical Monster over 900 levels higher then you
- You gain the title What is Fear?
- You gain a new stat: Fearlessness
- Fearlessness stat +200
- Insanity stat +200
- Exp gain from the kill +10,000%
You have level up x 497
New Title: True Dragon Slayer
Title gain from slaying a True Dragon.
Not Wyvern, Not Drake, Not Wyrm, Not Draconian, Not Hydra, Not Imoogi, Not Dragon-kin
This title proves that you have slain a Pure-Breed Dragon.
Any being that sees you for the first time will stare at you in awe.
- Able to deliver first strike if you attack
- Able to retreat away while they are awestricken
By gaining 497 levels, my total levels has exceeded 500... Woohoo!...Big profits!... then a new panel appears blocking my vision
You have exceeded the levels needed for evolution to Tier1
You have exceeded the levels needed for evolution to Tier2
You have exceeded the levels needed for evolution to Tier3
You have exceeded the levels needed for evolution to Tier4
Do you want to Evolve? Yes / No
'Yes' is my answer. This is a no-brainer (no pun intended)
The panel is replaced by another
Evolution to Tier1: Gain special ability. Hare will gain springs on their legs
Evolution to Tier2: Gain Volume and Mass, You will grow to 2m tall
Evolution to Tier3: Gain Language ability and able to learn/cast spells
Evolution to Tier4: Gain Sentience, Gain Transformation skill
My body starts to glow. The first thing I notice is my wounds, they close up and my new coat of reddish gray fur regenerates leaving no scars. Next is my limbs, they become slightly longer and pack more muscles. Following, my body expands proportionally like a balloon, by the time it stops, I am still myself, just many times bigger.
On the mental level, I become more aware of myself and find a deeper meaning to life then simply eating and mating. No longer feeling like the old hare I am... vigor and strength of youth comes back to me as I return to a young adult at the prime of my life. In addition, I gain some magic.
Feeling the space within the skull becoming more constricting due to my larger size, I dig my way out of the Dragon's head. With my Master-rank Dig, I break thru the skull and emerge from the crest of its head. My heart flutter slightly as I breath in fresh air. Something I have taken for granted, something I miss only when I am without. Wriggling my nose, I take my time smelling the sweet scent of the familiar air before looking at the surroundings.
There, I see Delporra lying unconscious around 20 meters away, with its emerald scales tainted orange by both blood and the lighting of the sunset. From the slight rise and fall of its chest, I know that the brainless Garkanodi have not dealt the final blow. To end the threat in totality, I will have to do it myself. Climbing deftly downwards, I reach the ground and hop towards the fallen Dragon
With my new enhance speed, I cover the distance quickly and start working. The ear is too small for my new body, so I go for the left eye. Lifting the eyelid using my paws, Absorption skill empty the socket and I worm my way inside. Dragons are almost impenetrable from the outside, so I have to end its life from within. Same thing with Garkanodi, I clean up Delporra brain, leaving only the most basic functions of brains.
You have slain Delporra, Green Dragon of Nature.
For killing another Dragon,
- You gain +80 to all stats
- Your title has change to True Dragons Slayer to signifying killing more then 1 Dragon
- You gain +200 fame (nobody believes that a Hare can kill a Dragon, not to mention two)
As a small animal that slays 2 Dragons
- You are already at max affinity to all Hares and Hare-Variant
- You gain max affinity to all Leporidae
- You gain high affinity to all small animals
- You gain the title Legendary Small Animal
For Killing a Mythical Monster over 400 levels higher then you
- Fearlessness stat +100
- Insanity stat +100
- Exp gain from the kill +5,000%
You have level up x 154
You have exceeded the levels needed for evolution to Tier5
Evolve to Tier5: Gain Immortality: You will no longer age but can be killed nonetheless
Ooh la la... another 154 levels and so many bonus... Not to mention the delicious life story and knowledge of Delporra. The best part! I am now Ageless, able to live forever when I am counting my last days just hours earlier. It is a good day today.
Then, the horror strikes... I don't want to be alone... even for the days of supposedly solitude to master my skill, hussies and tarts will visit me occasionally for a swing. With my new size, I am deprived of my most basic entertainment... also, I am now a unique breed of hare, with no companions at all... I will soon lose my pride of having the most children as I cannot produce more...
Putting both paws over my head, crying at my pitiful state, two information float up from my sea of knowledge... If I cannot devolve, why don't I evolve the others into something like me?
The first information I recover is about the Dragon remains. By consuming Dragon innards, the mana within will be infuse into the eater. This way, I am able to turn a portion of my previous species into special Hare-Variants like me. The next information that surface is about levels and evolution. I gain my new size from evolving, so if I make the other hares evolve, they too will grow to my size, that will remove many problems.
Putting thoughts into action, I move homewards leaving the two brain-dead giant lizards lying where they are. While hopping forward, I remember things about the Dragon-Heart.
----- To be continue in Book 2 -----
****
Closing the book titled
“Are you serious! I can't believe that this sort of books will contain the hidden skills to open portals to the Demon Realm? It reads too much like some Reincarnation Fan Fiction.” She complained
The trio: Bunny, Angel and Gene were currently at Serabroug Scholastic Library. Their next destination was the Demon Realm, to harvest meat with mana content for the evolutions of the animals. Gene had been the sole person doing experiments, Bunny and Angel were trying to learn the necessary skills so they could help.
Learning the 'Portal' skill was easily done, with clear concise instructions from Gene, they had both gain the skill by drawing duplicates of Magic Circles within the manual. The next part was the tedious one, where they had to read volumes of information to gain access to the various realms. Unlike skill manuals, these were written works in other forms... like Fiction Novels, Documentaries, Periodicals...
Bunny couldn't help but grumble as she was not accustom to reading fiction novels while playing RR. Thanks to Gene with his 'Gold-Membership' to the Library, the trio were given a private room. With no one else around, Bunny could openly voice her complains without fear of eavesdropper.
“You just finish the first book, the ability will only be granted after the third one, though the series has 5 volumes so far... To be more precise, you already have the Portal skill, that book only gives a destination” Gene replied offhandedly while flipping another wall of text he was reading
“If you think some Adventure Novel is bad, do you want to switch with me?” Angel questioned unhappily, while showing her book titled
“You girls have to read both of them either way... and they are actually quite interesting, so don't make those faces... Also, I think I found a new gateway to FairyLand” Gene reprimanded the girls while happily telling of his new findings. He had just finished a pile of Periodicals, which number more then 20 magazines. His action threw despair onto his friends' faces.
“Somehow, even if it is some fiction, it contain true information that is related to breeding”. Bunny commented after she noticed her Phantasm Encyclopedia glowing. The phantom book generated by her class-skill had the ability to siphon out the Truths from Trash and record them accordingly, but it only worked with information related to her rare Breeder Class.
“It may be Fiction to you, but most things written here are news, histories, autobiographies or journals from the people in this world” Angel threw the last statement before the trio went back digging into their respective books.
----------------------------------------
Back to Main
Forward to Volume 2 - Chapter 2