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Bookbound Bunny 2: Chapter 41
🕑 Added 2025-08-23 06:15:01 +0000 UTCB2 - Chapter 41 - Break
[I'm still baffled as to why I attracted the ire of the skeletons. I've certainly been in your presence with other monsters, although obviously not in this floating form, and it's never been an issue before.]
Lily had reunited with Arakil as they moved to the next room, where the next batch of students was getting their chance to go. Since Lily was now at the back of the pack, she used the opportunity to briefly talk with him.
"If it were all monsters, they would have attacked my basket when I left you aside," she whispered.
[Spot-on. And when I was in your pocket, the monsters would have targeted you over others in the past if that were the case. If we examine what's different now compared to the past, we only really have two: the Familiar ritual and the fact that we are in a dungeon. There is the wildcard possibility of someone else's interference, but I couldn't detect any foul play, magical or otherwise. Similarly, even with our modifications to the Familiar ritual, I couldn't see it having such a strange side effect as an outcome.]
"Which only leaves the dungeon?"
[Precisely my thinking as well, after a process of elimination and discarding wildly absurd factors outside of possibility. Then the question becomes, why did the dungeon decide to attack me?]
"The dungeon?"
[Well, why else would the monsters behave outside of their expected norms? This could only be orchestrated by the dungeon itself. Unless the undead have suddenly taken an extreme hatred towards literature in recent times?]
"That's too crazy…"
[Agreed. So, perhaps the dungeon has an inkling of what I really am, and thus decided to treat me as a threat? Either that or it has a grudge against me, which seems utterly improbable considering the sheer eons of time since I was last active.]
Lily could only shrug. This was heading into territory she knew nothing about.
"Is Arakil okay?" Lotte eventually asked.
"Not even a scratch," Lily replied with a smile. "I could really use the book as a shield if I wanted to."
Lotte rolled her eyes. "As if you need another shield. Your cloak already blocked that molten fireball spell. Maybe you should let me borrow him to protect myself in the next class."
[As much as I'd like to help your friend, I'd rather not have my reserves drained by blocking anti-magic. The inefficiencies in converting Mana for me would mean it could actually be a serious threat to our savings.]
"Uhh… wouldn't it be better to learn a new spell instead?" Lily suggested.
"Yeah… plus I doubt they would let me borrow someone else's Familiar for an official test," she sighed, then turned to look at Jade by her feet. "Maybe you should learn to block things for me?"
The strange lizard's head recoiled in shock, almost retreating back into her body. The look of outrage was palpable.
Lily smiled. "I'm guessing that's a no."
"Sadly, I think you're right. Although I'm still not sure what Jadey here can actually do besides eat food and Mana."
"I'm afraid that's the case with everyone's Familiars," Hana replied, walking up to them. "Tach is a glorified nightlight at the moment. The worst part is I can't even turn it off, so I have to banish Tach to the closet when I want to sleep."
"Weren't we supposed to learn a summoning spell for this type of thing?" Lotte asked.
"Desummoning," Hana corrected. "But yes… We were supposed to. I've admittedly asked a few times and got told 'later when both of you are ready'."
"Well, that's frustrating," Lotte replied.
They continued chatting while watching each group of students have their turn against the monsters. Lily even took a sneaky peek at the monsters dying and confirmed that they were releasing potentially harvestable Mana for her Core.
Of course, with so many students nearby, the minute traces were gone before she could even blink, so there was nothing she could conceivably do at the moment. Still, Lily was glad that in the future she could work on reinforcing and adding new layers to her Mana Core without needing to sneak out at night or fight for scraps with the other orphanage kids.
The monsters behaved as per usual, even when Lily and Arakil entered the room. When everyone had had a chance, Alice called Lily up to the front to see if it would happen again.
Lily and Arakil entered the room, with Hana and Arthur joining in as the all too eager volunteers. And, just as before, when the skeletons awakened to attack, they ignored their actual opponents and went for the book.
"Very strange," Alice muttered, tapping her foot against the stonework floor. "You three, try attacking them without destroying them, see if that gets them to wake up?"
Hana and Arthur nodded, quickly casting a weak wind spell each that struck the skeletons. Lily didn't think the skeletons could survive even one Starburst, so she opted to go for none and spray it with stardust instead.
Despite the two skeletons being rattled by the wind and the other coated in sparkling dust, they refused to give up on attacking their target. Even though their attacks were doing absolutely nothing, they would not relent.
"I really don't get it," Alice grumbled, looking quite peeved now. "Whatever, finish them off, and then let's take our lunch break. The next safe zone is nearby."
They finished off the distracted skeletons with ease and then started following Alice. She was making a beeline for specific doors and dispatching whatever was inside before anyone could even recognize it. She didn't once draw her weapon, and each skeleton was handled by a single swift kick at most. Some didn't even need that, as the dismantled corpse of their skeletal companion went careening into them.
Eventually, they reached the room Alice was aiming for. It was a circular room with a few doors and a large stone pit in the center. There was no fountain, but around the pit were raised rocks that could act like makeshift stools and benches.
Alice immediately got to work opening dimensional bags and dumping out various bits and bobs. The end result was her using the open pit to start a fire and placing a large cauldron over it. Alice had some students fill it up with water, and then she threw various cubes into it. The cubes dissolved into the water, darkening it with coloring and releasing a flavorful odor as it boiled.
"Soup bombs," Alice explained. "You can buy 'em or make 'em yourself. You could even sell them if you can make some good flavors. Either way, they are great for the lazy adventurer. Otherwise, you can just buy some rations, jerky, stuff like that. But, I've always been of the opinion that you perform way better with a hearty meal, so I'd avoid the slog of eating that stuff if you can."
Everyone received a bowl of soup, some bread, hard cheese, and some dried meat. Lily was a little surprised that Alice had put this much effort into it, and had almost expected the woman to make them endure with a light meal.
Alice had even brought a flask that produced water, although she encouraged the students to create their own water and share it with others who can't. One or two did end up using her flask, though, either too shy or stubborn to request help from another student.
Lily expressed her bemusement to her small group while they sat together on a stone bench, eating and drinking.
"Maybe she wants us to experience her philosophy firsthand?" Thomas suggested. "I can bet that some students will think this is too much and get only the bare minimum when it's up to them to get supplies. If they fail, they will remember this lesson when their stomachs are full."
Arthur clicked his tongue. "I was literally just thinking that. Are you secretly a mindreader now?"
"No, just being pragmatic," Thomas replied.
While he was conversing, Yona had snuck down from his shoulder and began devouring all of the soup in rapid succession. Before anyone could even react, it was utterly gone. Thomas was left staring at his empty bowl, while Yona was licking her lips.
"I think the bigger question is, how can you bring enough food to feed such a gluttonous beast?" Hana asked, pointing towards the smug feline.
"I don't understand… they're supposed to feed on Mana, but she constantly wants real food," Thomas replied, looking quite distraught.
"Jade is the same. Although I have to admit she doesn't eat that much," Lotte pointed out.
Thomas sighed, shaking his head in defeat. "Maybe I should have picked Beast Handling as one of my electives."
"For a cat?" Hana asked. "I had a few pet cats growing up. I know they can be a handful, but surely it's not that bad."
"Oh, trust me, you've never had to deal with Yona," Thomas replied, pointing at the meddlesome cat.
Yona simply stared at him; you could practically feel the sense of smug superiority radiating off of her.
"I swear, once I can desummon you, you're staying that way during meal times!"
"Mraaawr!" she cried out, swatting at his leg.
"On second thought, maybe Tach isn't so bad," Hana said, briefly chuckling at her own joke.
"I think the real winner is Lily and her book," Lotte replied. "No food, no nighttime troubles, carries her notes, and not only is a shield, but apparently also a monster magnet?"
"That's certainly one way to put it," Arthur agreed. "If it works on all monsters, then you could probably cheat your way through the dungeon, couldn't you?"
"I wouldn't want to cheat," Lily replied defensively.
"I mean… is it really cheating?" Arthur pressed. "You're using your Familiars' ability to attract monsters, and then you could focus on attack rather than defense. Easy as pie."
"I hope Familiars aren't allowed during the dungeon test then," Hana commented. "Couldn't she just have the book distract them and run through to the end?"
"I wouldn't do that!" Lily insisted.
"I'd argue she could already do that with her cloak, so your point is a little moot," Thomas said.
"Or just blow them with stars, you should rather worry about yourselves than others," Lotte also chimed in.
"Yeah, you're right," Hana agreed. "Sorry, Lily, I didn't mean to offend or imply you would, I was just thinking about it from a maximum competitiveness angle."
Lily accepted the apology, and the group continued chatting for a bit longer until Alice called the lunch break to a close.
"Right, I want everyone to get into groups of three for the next section. Ensure that at least one of your members focuses on defense, and another on attack. Doubling up is fine, of course."
Lotte grabbed Lily's arm. "You got defense, I've got attack. So we can take any third as our wildcard."
Lily nodded.
"I'll be the wildcard if that's okay?" Thomas asked.
"Sure! Team Maranix!" Lotte replied cheerfully.
"Ah, damnit, that means we need to find a third," Arthur said to Hana.
Hana shrugged. "That shouldn't be too hard. Let's see if we can get a Zephyrix to match their theme."
Arthur nodded, and the pair walked off to find a third.
The students didn't need to wait too long, as everyone had found their groups, with one group being four due to a miscount in students.
"Okay. In the next area, there aren't going to be boring skeletons. Instead, we will be fighting Brassbound. Does anyone know what that is?"
Hana's hand shot up.
"Does anyone else know?" Alice asked.
There were a few murmurs, but nobody else raised their hand. Lily herself had no idea, and Arakil didn't speak up either.
"Okay, go ahead," Alice said, pointing to Hana.
"They are animated suits of armor that walk around. Since they are hollow and with no magic involved, it is often speculated that they are haunted. Oh, and despite having brass in their name, their armor is actually made up of copper or sometimes bronze."
"Well damn, full marks for that response, I guess," Alice replied.
Hana puffed out her chest, looking delighted at the praise.
"Anyway," Alice continued. "Brassbound are walking suits of armor. They sometimes have weapons and such, but they focus more on defense, especially from the front. As your group of three, I want you to have one person draw the threat and defend against it, while the other two attack it from behind.
"You'll find these won't go down nearly as easily as the skeletons. Also, unlike the skeletons, they don't activate when you enter a room, only when you approach them. This can be pretty dangerous if you accidentally mistake them for a decorative piece in the dungeon.
"Anyway, I want each group to defeat at least three, with you rotating the defender role if possible. I'll be observing and jump in if needed, but honestly, in terms of attack, they are quite pushovers, so I shouldn't need to."
"Oh, this sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun," Lotte replied excitedly.
Lily and Thomas both nodded. It looked like the next part of the dungeon was going to be quite exciting.
Comments
Zorgdub
> "Does anyone else know?" Alice asked. I really wonder if the accent shouldn't be on "else" here. That would imply "yes, Hana, I know you can answer, give the others a chance". Having the emphasis on "anyone" implies "is there REALLY no one else who knows this?"
Zorgdub
> The students didn't need to wait too long, as everyone had found their groups, with one group being four due to a miscount in students. Did the faculty actually miscount the students? I don't think that's the right term to use to say that the number of student happen to not be divisible by 3. I'm genuinely confused as to whether this sentence means that a mistake was made when managing the groups, or just taking note that there was one person left over.
Lycaon
"Or just blow them with stars, you should rather worry about yourselves than others," I think that a word is missing here. Perhaps "Or just blow them away" instead?
Kasamuri
Thanks for the chapter!
mbncd
Thank you for the chapter!
Cathsaigh
>"Couldn't she just have the book distract them and run through to the end?" At the level the first competition is likely to be at monsters are probably not an issue. Lilys bottleneck will be her running speed/endurance. If they're going the same time instead of taking turns Arakils taunt would probably end up helping everyone else more.
Cathsaigh
"Sadly, I think you're right. Although I'm still not sure what Jadey here can actually do besides eat food and Mana." Cure poisoning. Arakil explained earlier that it eats poison mana, if Lily though about it for a bit she could tell Lotte to have Jadey lick any accidental victims.
Engineer4God
Tank oo fur da chap!
CataFlan
TFTC!
JAndy
> so I'd avoid the slog of eating that stuff if you can." Either "so I avoid ... if/when I can" or "so avoid ... if/when you can"
Tsorov
I read the latest chapter just bevore this and thought exactly the same thing!
FuriousDee
Taken over by what?
FuriousDee
Also they are going to die if they touch her cloak given they are animated by magic
FuriousDee
It isn’t breaking a rule though is it, the monsters still woke up when they entered and didn’t follow them into other rooms I don’t think there is a rule about who the dungeon targets
Michael Zinkstein
Thanks for the chapter. Only a question of time that either the Dungeon is taken over or the director gets involved somehow. I bet he is the Dungeonmaster.
Napalm078
Hold up, Yona is the same name as the MC of Cat Girl Evolution, which is made by a friend of the author. This smells deliberate, especially considering one of the characters in that book was supposed to have the same name as the MC of Fish Gir. Evolution (Lunadea's new work) but was changed for plot reasons.
11037
They probably should have left the moment they realized the dungeon hates Arakil. If it's willing to break one rule to target him, it might be willing to break others.
Shongesabbe
Ok calling it now that all of them activate and pile on the book hate bus.
Fi
Tftc ❤️
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter!
Chris Adamcik
Oh im early TFTC!!!!!
Shai182
TFTC!
