Ch #9
"Grasslands"
Rustle, rustle.
A small wabbit leaped out of the tall grass. It appeared to be lost and separated from its family. As it gazed around with its round beady eyes, it couldn't spot any other wabbits nearby.
Hopping onto a raised surface, it sniffed the air. A peculiar scent caught its nose, unlike anything it had encountered in these parts. Approaching the source of the unfamiliar scent, the wabbit noticed an odd object sticking out, resembling a carrot.
Its eyes gleamed at the thought of a tasty carrot treat. But before taking a bite of the strange carrot, it cautiously tapped it with its fluffy foot. After all, it was a smart wabbit!
The wabbit jumped away in surprise when it saw the strange carrot twitch. Peeking from behind the grass, it noticed the carrot had gone still again, leaving the wabbit in a dilemma. It remembered its mother's advice not to poke around, as the grasslands were full of danger. It couldn't resist thinking about the carrots, though.
Approaching cautiously, the wabbit tapped the carrot again with its paw. When the carrot twitched once more, the wabbit didn't retreat this time, continuing to investigate. Soon, the odd carrot began to convulse, and the wabbit leaped back behind the grass.
"Stop, stop! Hahaah! I can't... my foot..."
Kai burst into laughter as the wabbit tickled his foot. Sitting up, he found himself staring into a pair of red beady eyes. Glancing around, he saw vast grasslands with only a few scattered trees in the distance. Turning back to the harmless creature, he saw it observing him.
"Did you wake me up, little guy?"
The wabbit tilted its head in response and hopped closer to him. Before Kai could pick the wabbit up, it bit his toes squarely. Yelping in pain, Kai jumped up and swung his foot around, trying to shake off the critter.
Finally managing to grab it with his hand, Kai removed it from his foot and tossed it into the distance.
"Damn, what the hell!"
{You have killed a Dormant, Bronze core, Murder Wabbit.}
Clutching his foot, Kai sat down in the grass. His foot had swollen, with one toe turning a shade of purple. He cursed silently. After calming down, he looked around to check if anything else was nearby. Finding nothing, he opened his records.
***
Dormant Kaiser
Class: Fantasia Logia
Profession: ---
Core: Bronze(Heart core)
Attributes: {Moerei}; {Mark of the raven}
Artifact: {epoch},{clock of fantasia}
Abilities: {Inspection}
***
'A class, finally... Fantasia logia? A Heart core? It's grayed out; and a new Ability...'
Kai concentrated on the class, to see it's description, courtesy of the records.
***
{Class: Fantasia Logia}
A unique class with dual paths. Mages dream of it's power while Artificers covet it's abilities. A class created for the elite of the Order of Fantasia.
***
Kai stared at the words in front of him. A unique class made for mages and artificers. He still did not know how to get a profession but he was right about it being related to one's class.
'A class made for walking on two path's... and the records described it as unique'
"At least I got something good out of the ordeal"
Sighing Kai, moved to observing his core
***
{Core: Bronze(Heart core)}
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Status: Variant (Incomplete)
Shards: 300/6000
A Heart turned into a core. Molded under the pressure of a sea of mana, it has gained the ability to hold condensed mana.
***
"So my core is a variant?"
Kai recalled the excruciating pain during its creation and could only hope it would prove useful. Finally he looked at his new ability
***
{Inspection}
Type: Class specific
Allows the user to peer further into the truth of things.
***
"That's it? It just helps me see better? Well, it might be useful..."
Feeling disappointed, Kai got up. His foot had improved enough to walk on, and he would explore further later. As he extended his foot, he stumbled and fell face-first into the grassy field.
Confused Kai looked about his body unable to figure out why he had stumbled. Looking at his arms and legs, he finally got a clue...
"I seem taller, and no longer skinny as I was. How didn't I notice this before."
Thinking back he remembered what old man Reinhardt had told him.
'A class specific body... Is this my own body or did the records find me a new one? I need to find water'
Kai walked around a bit, adjusting to his new body. Heading out towards the south where he could see the most trees in.
"A long walk in grassy fields isn't so bad. Those hills in the distance look splendid in contrast to the grasslands."
As Kai strolled along, he noticed wabbits munching on grass, but they avoided him, hopping away as he approached. He decided to use his Inspection ability on them and found himself fascinated by the results.
***
Dormant
Race: Murder Wabbit
Core: Bronze
Attributes: {Fleet-foot}
A murder wabbit, famed for their speed and dexterity. These smart wabbits may be the weakest in the grasslands but they're enough to take you down.
***
"Damn, better steer clear than the rest of them. But this inspection is pretty neat."
Kai continued in the direction of the trees. With an abundance of trees there would be some source of water around as well. As he walked he threw inspection on all the things he could see.
{Tough grass...} * 1208
{Ordinary rock..} * 26
{Murder wabbit...} * 3
...
Soon, he reached a patch of trees where he saw a group of four-legged creatures grazing. Others were gathered around a small water body in the middle of the trees. To avoid disturbing the animals, he circled around them, casting Inspection on them as he went.
***
Dormant
Race: Gray Bison
Core: Bronze
Attributes: {Herd protection};{Bull Charge}
These peace loving animals love to eat grass and sleep. They always move together and act as one big unit. Their meat is also very tasty.
***
'Bison. They have more than one attributes too.'
Kai, reaching the other side of the patch of trees, approached the water taking cover in the tall grass beside a tree. Looking down, he saw his face reflected back at him. Sighing, Kai knelt down taking a sip from the water. While washing his face he saw the bison's starting to move.
'They seem agitated... No...anxious, afraid...'
Quieting down Kai stayed low observing the herd of bison gathering together. They were starting to move. Like a swarm of bees the bison's pulled out of the trees and into the open patch of land. As they moved he saw something a few hundred meters away from him rush out of the grass, heading straight toward the bison's.
The bison's were now in full panic, running in a massive group around the grasslands. he could finally see what was chasing such a big group of animals. A lean spotted beast was running besides the group of bison's crashing into it's side, causing the entire group to turn in the direction of the push.
'it's herding them...'
Throwing an Inspection he gasped at what he saw.
***
Kindled
Race: Acnionxy
Core: Silver
Attributes: {Stealth};{Rush}
Abilities: {Steel claws},{Steel jaws}
One of the Hunters of the grasslands, it's speed and stealth is unrivaled. Although not able to traverse long distance at great speeds, any close quarter fight is a death-match. Better hope you see them before they see you.
***
'A predator. Fucking great... It'll probably be full eating one of those bison's and leave me be, right?'
However, a few bison had gotten separated from the herd, and the Acnionyx was now chasing one of them. The bison zigzagged through the grasslands, and at one point, it charged straight at Kai's hiding place, with the predator hot on its heels.
"Fuck... For Fuck's Sake!"
Kai rolled away from where he was and readied an barrier for the clash. As he had expected, seeing him out of the grass, the Acnionyx turned at him instantly. The barrier got shredded in a second under the sheer weight of the beast and it's gleaming claws. But Kai was prepared, casting a fireball straight at it's snout. In a great feat of acrobat, it turned it's body at beat of heart, the fireball only slightly scorched it's sides.
With no way to beat it's speed, Kai could only cast his barrier followed by a fireball to keep the beast away. He rolled away at the last attack, now his back against a tree. He hadn't gotten a single hit in after the first one either.
The Acnionyx circled in front of him waiting to pounce on him, baring it's sharp teeth at him.
"I gonna roast you ya hear me! No, your not even worth eating!"
It jumped at Kai widening it's jaws to take a devastating bite, but he had cooked up a surprise for the little beasty. A flash of light went off in front of them blinding the beast. Shouting obscenities Kai dived as it crashed into the tree behind getting a mouthfull of saw dust.
Before it could find it's balance, Kai blasted it with an extra charged fireball.
{You have killed a Rank-2, Silver core, Acnionyx}
Sitting his tired ass onto the grass he observed the tree. Half of it's trunk was missing, taken out by a bite.
'I'd be dead as a door knob'
Understanding he couldn't stay in the open with monsters like this, Kai decided to rest on top of the trees for the night and head to the mountains tomorrow morning, far before any other horror took a fancy to the little meat he had on his body.