Ivan walked along the path, looking out for what the Angel had sent him to find. He adjusted his grip on the war pick. It was hefty and quite awkward in his hands. He was unsure if he could ever get used to holding it. Could he even fight with it? Could he bring himself to kill something? He had never attacked anything, outside of the occasional fly or spider. Could he kill any living, thinking thing? His mind whirled with questions.
"Remember," The voice made Ivan jump in shock as the Angel spoke, breaking him from his mental torment "You are looking for a small white ball of fluff with long ears. Probably the easiest thing around here to kill. Other than yourself." The Angel added that last part under her breath before continuing. "Shouldn't be that hard to find; they travel in packs." The woman seemed to float effortlessly through the air beside him.
"I'm not sure about this, do we have to kill something? Can't we move on to something less murdery?" Ivan sounded nervous as he almost slipped on wet leaves, stumbling forward. "I mean, it didn't do anything to me, did it?"
"Don't fret Chosen; you shall be glorious in battle once we find our enemy! Look, there's what we need." The Angel pointed regally with her mace to what looked like a bunch of fat little bunnies. Fluffy little orbs with long ears.
"First, I am going to teach you a skill, the only one I can. It's called Analyze." The tiny winged woman reached for Ivans' head, making him lean away with a caution. The second she touched his forehead, Ivan suddenly learned what she knew. The information burned into his mind, causing a mild headache, but nothing damaging.
You have discovered the skill(s):
Analyze: Learn the Name, Level, and HP of a creature within 10 levels of you.
"Now, just focus on the enemy, and you should be able to get a read on it." The Angel kept pushing Ivan forward, toward the group of rabbit slimes. There were about ten of them bouncing around, all of them stopping at bushes and small plant life. Ivan focused on one of the rabbits, deeply missing the auto-targeting from his other games. A red line formed around the rabbit as words formed above it.
Whambit Lvl 3
Health 50
Ivan started to focus on the others, seeing each one pop up. All the same for each creature, all of them level three. He looked up to the Valkyrie with a confused stare.
"They are all level three; how do you expect me to take them all? I'm only level one!" Ivans' voice raised an octave as he spoke, looking at the group of Whambits back to the floating woman. "I would be overrun!"
"Maybe, maybe not. You won't know until you try and find out, so get in there and kill one." The woman's tone was impatient, motioning Ivan forward like a child. "Go, go, go."
Ivan took one last look at the flying nuisance before turning back to the group of little fluff balls, slowly making his way over to them, trying to be stealthy. They didn't even seem to care, bouncing from plant to plant. He couldn't see how they ate, but plants quickly disappeared where they stopped.
Ivan made his way up to one a bit further from the others, shaking a little as he held the hammer-like weapon in both hands. Trying to think of a way out of destroying something so innocent looking. With a deep sigh,
Ivan steadied himself. "Sorry little bunny, I hope you can forgive me." He brought the hammer up above his head and brought the blunt hammer down on the Whambit! Next to the creature, a number appeared, letting him know his damage.
Critical Hit! 20 Damage against Whambit!
Ivan slowly brought the weapon back up from the Whambit; it was like he tried to crush a water balloon. It seemed to have formed around his blunt hammer. As he looked over his damage prompt, he almost grinned. A critical on his first strike that felt a little good!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
As he turned back to look at his celestial companion, something slammed into his chest! Knocking him backward a few steps. A new prompt appeared in the corner of his eye.
10 damage taken from Whambit!
Ivan quickly looked back at his enemy; it was already leaping at him again! He lunged to the side to try and avoid it with a yelp! It was trying to kill him! It was going to kill him! As Ivan tried to regain his footing, it hit him again, this time from behind!
15 damage taken from Whambit!
"Come on, you overgrown child, kill it! Don't just swing the Pick around wildly! Plant your feet, choke up on the grip! Just don't let it kill you, I would never hear the end of it!" The winged woman was yelling at him like a parent from the sidelines. Ivan steadied himself like his characters in a video game, holding the hammer in both hands as he looks at the small rabbit-like slime before him. It was bouncing toward him once more, before leaping into the air at him. The tiny woman's voice roared at him from the sidelines "Keep your eye on the murderball you bastard!"
Ivan was never good at sports, not having the temperament or build for athletic endeavors. Though putting your life on the line does strange things to a person. He swung the hammer, his new stats making this more straightforward as he connected with the Whambit in midair. The slime got knocked aside, though it didn't look that hurt.
10 damage against Whambit!
Only ten this time? That's not enough! Ivan took another wild swing at the Whambit; he had to kill it before it killed him. This time he didn't connect, the slimeball just bounced away. It was infuriating, that dumb little ball, stand still! Ivan was growing angry again, his strikes becoming wilder, his vision blurring with a red outline. He chased after the Whambit, always one bounce ahead of him. It kept bouncing away until it came at him with no warning. No rhythm to the attack, no pattern!
Taken 10 damage from Whambit!
Ivan roared in rage as he received another attack from the stupid little fuzzball! In a fit of raw fury, he swung his hammer in a wild backhand swing. He was furious at everything. At his current and previous situations, at the woman bossing him around, but mostly at his own weakness! It was only after the prompt invaded his vision once more did he realize what he had done. Stuck on the spike of his War Pick, the little fuzzball sat leaking purple fluid from the puncture wound.
20 damage to Whambit!
Whambit Slain! 45 EXP gained! (15 x3 Level difference)
As Ivan read the words, a silly smile spread over his face. He did it, he won! He killed the monster before him. He gained experience and survived! The new dwarf felt giddy and did a little dance in his head before the mighty voice of the small Angel brought him back to reality.
"Good work, Hero! You have the makings of a champion in you, I can tell! Your strategy to lure your enemy into a sense of superiority only to fall to your daring counterattack was inspirational! You must have realized during the fight that a gelatinous monster would have a higher resistance to blunt attacks, so you switched to piercing. You must have the mindset of a legendary warrior in the making." She turned to look at her charge, having stared off into the distance, imagining the glory the dwarf would bring her. That was until her hopes and dreams crumbled under the dumbfounded stare on Ivans' blank face.
"Unless that was plain luck, and you accidentally killed it." As the woman realized what happened, her entire body seemed to drain of energy, her wings drooping, and her face falling. "Odin, help me!"
Ivan looked back at the little ball of puff stuck on the end of his weapon. The man's rough fingers slid along the soft fur. He whispered under his breath to the dead creature as the Angel kept cursing at him. "Sorry, little buddy, don't hate me, ok?" As he caressed the soft fur, another prompt appeared.
Items Obtained:
1x Scrap Fur
1x Whambit Foot
As the prompt appeared, the small body on the end of his War Pick dissolved into a rainbow-like glitter. Two objects fell to the floor in front of him. A tattered piece of white fur, and a small rabbit's foot of the same color. Staring dumbly at the small items, Ivan turned to the guide. In a confused tone, he asked the only question in his mind. "These things have feet?"