One hour. Two. Three. Four. Okay this was taking a while. He might as well go back to his cooking idea from before this mess started. Floating one of the cuts of meat in front of him with mana, chef class in another world 101 began. Channel light magic. Check. Make it gather in front of his paw like a small flame. Check. Imagine the ball of light searing the meat and cooking it. Check. Infuse that intent into the light and hold it up to the steak. Maybe Check? After a few moments of concentration there was a sizzling sound. Then the meat began to go brown taking on a cooked appearance. Next was the smell. Sooooo good. How would he know when it was done? As it turned out, how he had wanted the meat had also been infused into the magic so once the meat was cooked the light mana near his paw just stopped gathering. Seemed simple enough. Yay for magical cooking.
*DING*
Skill: [LIGHT FLAME] granted.
*DING*
[LIGHT FLAME] has reached Level 1
*DING*
Skill: [INTENT] granted.
*DING*
[INTENT] has reached Level 1
*DING*
Skill: [SCORCH] granted.
*DING*
[SCORCH] has reached Level 1
Look at that. Skills were seeming to fall from the sky. As the scent of the juicy steak continued to permeate the small space there was finally a shuffling from beside him. GRUMBLE GRUMBLE. “Food” the fox huffed out weakly.
He had a quite hungry fox on his hands. Both its stomach and mouth told him so. “Here you go” the bunny communicated while handing over the freshly seared steak, before reaching over with his mana for another one.
*DING*
Skill: [TELEKINESIS] granted.
*DING*
[TELEKINESIS] has reached Level 1
The rabbit was pretty happy with this most recent skill but he did wonder why it took until the second use that it was granted to him. He had wondered about the system from the moment he woke up but had been too occupied with his new bunny life to worry about it. Even now that was still true. He might have beaten all his enemies so far but he wasn’t stupid enough to think that streak would continue, even with all his [LUCK]. Caution would prove wise, especially while he was still so weak. He wouldn’t let his victories blind him with unfounded pride. He would… TNYHT TNYHT TNYHT. Man, the little fox could really chew. It was going all out like it hadn’t eaten in weeks. In all fairness it might not have. The rabbit finished cooking his next batch just as the fox finished the last. “More?” it pleaded.
He was such a sucker. The cooked meat was again passed on and the next raw batch was put over the [LIGHT FLAME]. Each skill he was using went up another level. At least all this work was good for something. As the bunny finished using [SCORCH] on the piece of meat before him he looked over to see whether his current roommate was ready for the next lot. To his surprise it was curled up already fast asleep. The rabbit decided it was time to focus on himself again. BITE. The meat. The juice. The char. The taste. This was officially the best meal of his life. Yes, he hadn’t actually consumed anything besides milk in this life but that wasn’t the point. This meal was absolutely heavenly. After finishing he felt very full. Who knew Turtle Lizard steak was so filling. With that thought he came to the very important decision to join his now companion in blissful slumber. And so, drowsy from sleep, the rabbit and fox took a nap together.
*****
SNIFF SNIFF. “Hungry” came a whispered snuffle “Meat. More hot meat.”
“Nnnghn” Slowly waking from the rudely interrupted rest he groggily opened his eyes “Who would dare… to wake… me?” the bunny asked sleepily.
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“Meeeaaat. Fooooood” came the reply.
Great. More responsibility. He did this to himself really. He knew this. Didn’t make him any less grumpy in this waking state though. “Alright, alright, just give me a minute” he said while yawning.
Getting up the rabbit shook his body before once again channelling [LIGHT] and [AIR] mana to begin the cooking process.
Five minutes later. TNYHT TNYHT TNYHT. Finishing up their meals both bunny and fox were once again content. Now, questions. Keep it simple or it might not understand. “Do you want to go back to your leash?”
He shook his head no. By now they had spent enough time together that he could tell the fox was male. “Do you want to live and hunt with me?”
The fox nodded. “Well if you’re going to stick around I can’t just go around calling you fox. Can I give you a name?”
The fox looked confused. “Name?” he asked.
“Yeah, a name. When I talk to you, I will refer to you by your name.”
Come to think of it, why didn’t he himself have a name? Had Mother just not gotten around to naming him. He was pretty sure none of his siblings had names either. Was it just a monster thing? An animal characteristic where they just didn’t feel the need to identify themselves? He would ask Mother later. Now that he thought about it, since he had been born, he had never referred to himself as ‘Roger’ except when he recalled memories of himself from his previous life. Even now he felt a disconnect from the name as though even if it used to be his, it no longer was.
“Name. Okay, have name”
The fox’s words were broken. No doubt due to the [INTELLIGENCE] stat. “Alright then. Let’s see. Something fox related.”
Foxes were known to be tricksters right? Tricky. Trick. Loki. Nah. How about… He was a male fox, right? When naming female foxes, a lot of people call them ‘Vixen’. From his sketchy educational memories, he recalled a male fox was called a Reynard. That seemed like an alright name. Nothing to make fun of a least. It did sound a little old fashioned though. Reynard for the name, but maybe Rey for short. “What do you think of Reynard? And your nickname can be Rey. Oh right. A nickname is… a nickname is a name that’s shortened, a name that’s usually said between friends. Ahhh. You might not want that. Do you want to be friends?”
The bunny was nervous now. He’d made a bunch of assumptions without fully thinking it through. What if the fox didn’t want to be friends and just saw it as an alliance kind of relationship?
“Friend” the fox repeated.
He seemed to be processing all the information dumped on him and his meagre [INTELLIGENCE]. It took a while. Finally, the fox answered. “Friends. Yes. Name. Yes. Nick… name. Yes.”
*DING*
[UNNAMED] fox has accepted your name suggestion: [REYNARD]
You are not currently strong enough to name a being of this level – Level 7
[PROCESSING]
Your Title: [BARON] gives you the ability to name any being below or equal to your current rank.
A [NAME] increases a beings Attributes by 15%. The amount increased is not set and resets each level to allow a constant 15% increase of stats even as the being grows stronger.
Do you wish to sacrifice 10% of your attribute points to name [UNNAMED] fox [REYNARD]? This is a one-time sacrifice and does not reset as the named being levels.
[Y/N]
The notification surprised him but it shouldn’t have. There were myths in fantasy stories about naming monsters after all. From his memories the sacrifice was just supposed to use mana though. Like casting a spell. All well, myths were just that, myths. Anyway, thinking it over it seemed like the trade off was worth it. A one time 10% sacrifice in turn for a constant 15%. The rabbit said yes.
You have 150 Attribute points total
15 Attributes are required in order to [NAME].
Select which attributes to sacrifice:
STR – 21
VIT – 6
AGI – 24
DEX – 22
CON – 22
INT – 23
WIS – 6
CHA – 20
PER – 6
Yay. Choice. He got to choose what went and what stayed. Thinking about it, he could have temporarily lost the ability [WHIMS OF THE WORLD] if the system had just taken all the needed points from [INTELLIGENCE] or [CHARISMA]. Bugger. He really needed to think things through more. What’s done was done. Move forward. Take three points from [DEXTERITY] and [CONSTITUTION], take four points from [STRENGTH], and take five points from [AGILTY].
You have chosen to sacrifice 3 [DEXTERITY], 3 [CONSTITUTION], 4 [STRENGTH], 5 [AGILTY] in order to [NAME].
Confirm?
[Y/N]
He agreed. There was an uncomfortable feeling as the attributes decreased. Weird. Gaining attributes was also a weird feeling but it was a good weird. Whereas the current loss was a bad weird.
*DING*
You have named [UNNAMED] fox [REYNARD]
Great. He was glad that was out of the way. Maybe it was time to go hunt some more frogs.
*DING*
As a [BARON] you may bestow 3 Titles to those linked to you.
Only [RULERS] may bestow definite Titles.
A Title bestowed by other Title bearers is randomised under your own rank.
Would you like to bestow a Title on [REYNARD]?
[Y/N]
Ummmm. Why not? Confirm.
*DING*
[REYNARD] has been granted the Noble Title [BARONET]
Awesome. He waited for a few moments to make sure that was all. It was. “Alright Rey, my new best friend, let’s get out of here. It’s time to go hunt some frogs.”