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Bookbound Bunny: Chapter 57
🕑 Added 2025-03-13 06:15:01 +0000 UTCChapter 57 - Conflict
Lily tried again to remove her hand from her pocket, but her arm wouldn't budge. Tim was just far too strong.
Has he been copying what Rose did to get stronger? Lily thought with fear.
If he'd been solo hunting gremlins or other monsters, then who knew how strong he was now? The boys had mentioned a pack of gremlins, and if Tim had killed them all… Lily shuddered.
Her frantic thoughts had her briefly consider just randomly activating the glyphs in her pocket, but common sense overruled her as she would more than likely burn herself in the process. Her shield glyphs were all of the talisman variety, so unless she applied them directly, they wouldn't activate.
That left her Astral magic… Arakil had warned her off trying it while unsupervised in this state, but she easily reckoned that this situation required it. But the issue was, how would she chant? No doubt Tim would grow suspicious if she started trying to whisper something, and he no doubt had good hearing.
I need to use gestures… But the only one I know is for Starlight…
Then, she recalled her own blinding misfortune. Obviously, the circumstances now weren't ideal—it was the afternoon, not the darkness of the night. Still, she needed to try something.
If I can at least startle him, I can get proper access to my glyphs. Or I can use Nebula Veil or maybe even Starburst!
Tim was flaunting, almost daring the kids to try something. But any bravado they once had seemed to have been extinguished. He began pulling her towards the forest.
"Come, Lily, you've spent enough time with these losers," Tim demanded.
"You're hurting me, Tim…" Lily said in a desperate attempt to reason with him.
"Hurting you? Try taking a punch from that stupid dragon!" Tim snapped. "If anything, I'm helping you. No way these idiots could keep you safe; they struggled to kill a single gremlin!"
Lily wanted to defend them but instead tried to use the opportunity to begin her casting with her free hand. She hesitantly pulled on her Mana Core, expecting Tim to somehow sense it, but he remained clueless.
I have to do this one-handed and behind my back—talk about being unfairly difficult! At least the Mana flooding my body is soothing the pain a little…
Tim kept saying things, but Lily was so focused on her concentration that he was effectively blocked out. Not that she wanted to listen to him; it was probably just profanities about Rose and painting himself as the victim.
She fumbled twice in the casting, both times producing an unideal result with too few stars. Lily silently thanked Arakil for teaching her so much about control, as otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to feel how many tiny stars she had created.
When she finally succeeded, she smiled and realized that Tim was glaring at her.
"Why do you have that goofy look on your face?" Tim demanded.
Lily shook her momentary happiness away as she nervously gulped. Tim also finally noticed that she was obscuring her free hand behind her back.
"You hiding something from me, Lily? If you do something stupid, you might force me to do something I'll regret…" Tim warned.
"No…" Lily whispered nervously.
"Show it!" Tim ordered threateningly.
Before clenching her fist, Lily ensured the stars were grouped as tightly as possible. She then proceeded to nervously reveal her closed hand to Tim.
Tim stared at her slightly trembling closed hand with curiosity before shaking his head and making his subsequent demand, "Open it!"
Tim was focused intently on her hand, so instead of opening it slowly, she did it as abruptly as possible. Lily explosively released her tight grip while throwing as much Mana as possible into her link with the spell and controlling the luminous orbs to rush toward Tim's face.
The Starlight spells were much brighter than she anticipated, which she was grateful for due to their daytime diminishment. She hoped the sudden bright light would be enough to startle him and perhaps even release her to shield his eyes.
"What!?" Tim cried in shock moments before the hurtling stars of light rocketed towards his face.
Lily had expected Tim to scream, but the boy was clearly tougher than that and only gave an unpleasant grunt. However, to her joy, he did release her to shield and rub at his assaulted eyes.
"What the hell is that? Glowbugs!?" Tim complained as he swatted at the array of magical stars practically glued to his face.
Lily took the opportunity to distance herself from Tim and pull out some glyph paper. She immediately identified a shield one and applied it to herself before taking out two firebolt ones.
She held them out in a defensive stance and made her demand, "Leave me alone, Tim! I don't want to hurt you!"
The boy jumped away from the blinding assault and then sneered at her. He pointed at the Starlight spells, "I don't know what the hell those are, but trying to blind me isn't good enough!"
Lily silently cursed when she realized her speed control over the Starlight spell could not keep them stuck to his face if he used any actual speed.
"Just leave me alone!" Lily repeated and held out the glyphs threateningly.
Tim chuckled, "You going to give me a paper cut?"
"I'm not afraid to burn you! These are firebolt glyphs!" Lily warned.
Tim's expression darkened, but not out of fear—anger. "Firebolt? Do you think you're some dragon like that malicious woman?"
"Don't insult my sister!" Lily screamed.
Rather than respond, he took that opportunity to lunge at her. Lily was prepared, though, and with even the slightest trickle of her Mana, activated one of the glyphs, sending the magical firebolt directly at Tim.
Tim's eyes widened, but he still dodged in time despite being taken entirely by surprise. Lily couldn't help but frown with disappointment before grabbing another from her pocket; she wanted to keep two on hand at all times.
Tim's predatory eyes watched her pull another from her pocket, and he snarled, "That stupid red bitch is still getting in my way, even when she's not here!?"
"Rose has nothing to do with this! Just stop it already, Tim!" Lily cried.
"She gave you that magic fire paper or something, didn't she?" Tim accused, pointing at Lily's pocket. "Well, it's fine. You'll either run out, or I'll rip them from your pockets. Guess I'll need to rough you up a bit…"
Before Lily's next breath, he had already charged again. Lily almost forgot to cast the spell in her panic, releasing another firebolt. Tim dodged again, expecting it, but she was also prepared this time as she released a second one. This time, the spell struck him and released a small burst of flame where it hit.
Tim winced momentarily before rapidly patting away at his shoulder, which had been struck. To Lily's horror, he then grinned and laughed.
"Ha! If that's the best she gave you, then you'll be in big trouble, little bunny!" Tim jeered. "Looks like the big old dragon is all bark and no flame; I've taken gremlin bites with more punch!"
Lily nervously swallowed. She didn't expect her firebolts to be that ineffective. She'd prioritized them to be efficient, and it was more than enough for slimes, gremlins, or dire rats, but not the Leonia before her.
Maybe if I use all my firebolts? Otherwise, the only other thing I have is Starburst… Or hoping one of the other boys had the foresight to go call one of the guards! But would they even get here in time?
Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out her entire supply, causing the boy to whistle.
"Did you tear apart an entire book for that collection?" He taunted. "Not that it will help you. Those flames are nowhere near hot enough! That girl should be embarrassed to call herself a Dragia!"
Lily wanted to defend Rose, but the boy charged again the second she opened her mouth. He caught her off guard this time, clearly going for a gut punch.
But his fist collided with her magical barrier, cracking and shattering it. This sent Lily tumbling backward. Tim halted and began frantically waving his hand around while muttering curses.
"It's like punching a brick wall!" Tim whined as he clutched his fist, which was mildly bleeding.
Before recovering from her tumble, Lily slapped on another shield talisman and then turned to face him. Thankfully, he was still clutching his self-inflicted injury.
Gods, what if that punch hit me!? Lily thought with horror. Either Tim didn't care about holding back, or he didn't know how to.
Both outcomes terrified Lily, so she activated every firebolt glyph. Each page burnt up as it was activated, but utilizing her Mana control, she held each spell on a hair trigger—like a loaded crossbow bolt.
"Stop this, Tim!" Lily screamed. "That punch might have crippled me, or worse!"
"No! Look what your cheap trick did to my bloody hand!" Tim shouted at her accusingly.
Before he could respond further or try another surprise attack, Lily unleashed her spells. The firebolt spells, loaded and waiting, were floating before her. Each one was a tiny representation of the fire crest, glowing a fierce orange that turned red as it fully activated.
Seeing almost a dozen firebolts go off immediately made Lily think she had gone too far. But at this point, she was so scared about what he might do to her that she almost didn't care. The barrage of spells looked like a fireworks display, surging toward their target.
Tim momentarily paled and tried to get out of the way before he was struck by a good portion of the spells. At first, he grunted, but after more hit him, he started wailing in pain. When the last micro-explosion of flame finished, Lily had expected to see him lying on the ground, but instead, he was snarling and glaring—pure hatred in his eyes.
His clothes and hair were burnt, and his impressive mane of hair was badly singed. But he stood and let out a challenging roar.
"Looks like your tricks have run out!"
Starcluster! I need Starcluster!
Lily began to chant frantically. She didn't care if she hadn't practiced it since her alignment; she needed it now.
Seeing her doing something, the boy pounced. Rather than a punch, this time, he attempted a sweeping kick. Despite his attempted caution, he still struck her second barrier and winced in pain. He must have been moderately holding back as, this time, there wasn't blood.
When the barrier shattered, he snickered triumphantly and rushed at her. But Lily had finished her chant and held out her hand. There was nothing there, so the boy had no idea what she was trying to pull off when a spray of stardust burst from her hands and erupted into his face.
"What the hell!? More tricks!?" Tim cried out and began sneezing and spitting. A vast quantity of glittery magical dust had coated him and his face almost entirely.
Lily had momentarily freaked out at her rotten luck of getting a zero-star result but immediately went into a second chant like she had done before against the gremlin. As she rapidly went through the chant, she started backing up in retreat.
I just need one star! He's coated in stardust! One star! Please!
Lily hadn't even finished the chant when her Mana surged. She thrust her palm outward toward Tim, unleashing a massive star of brightly glowing silver. The spell struck him and exploded, an enormous shower of stardust erupting forward and sending him flying backward.
His body tumbled and rolled until he came to a dead stop. Lily was midway through another chant when she noticed that he'd stopped moving and instead let out a breath of relief. It looked like it was over.
"Holy shit!"
"She beat Tim!"
"Was that magic!?"
Lily turned toward the voices and saw the other boys hiding behind trees—spectators to her entire debacle. Part of her wanted to scream at them for not helping her, but she realized they were just as helpless, so she held her tongue.
The boys began cheering and celebrating, but Lily felt somber. Two of the older boys went to check on Tim while the rest unleashed a barrage of questions at her.
"That was magic, right?"
"I thought Lagia couldn't do magic?"
"Was that fire?"
"Of course, it was, just like Rose could do."
"I guess you and Rose really are sisters!"
Lily's heart jumped at that last comment, and then she noticed a familiar Oz rushing to the scene ahead of one of the younger boys.
"Is everyone okay!?" Oz shouted frantically.
Lily silently cursed. Her secret was revealed far sooner than she would've liked. But at least with adults here, she would be freed from the relentless questions of the curious boys.
Comments
Roombot
Honestly I hope she killed him. Fuck that wannabe rapist.
Oatmeal
Hmm, from what I've seen I'd equate this to Tim being "high"/under the influence and going on a rampage because of lacking management and preparation from the Orphanage staff, so it's not entirely Tim's fault. In our world the equivalent would perhaps be orphanage staff leaving drugs on a table, a kid taking it thinking it's candy, and then assaulting another kid. Well, it's not quite that bad because the bloodline thing is innate to Tim and the awakening is not the Orphanage's fault, but it is very much their fault for not adequately preparing for the situation.
Antony Claughton
Nice chapter. So want to see the reveal in next chapter of her magic. It does point out she needs to improve her shield spell and have some heavy duty fire bolts as back up. I’ve been surprised she and the book haven’t produced any more of the glyphs that she used against the dire hawks. Sure, it would wipe the book for a week, but when she was out hunting alone if something big had attacked she’d have some chance.
Purpleninja
"Lily hadn't even finished the chant when her Mana surged." I don't know if that was starcluster... I think she might have just instinct-cast starbolt or smth
Tab
Thanks for the chapter!!
Oatmeal
They seemed to be too intimidated to act. In the end they're still kids
Jeanean
You know, I just realized a little something. In the last chapter, some people complained about how badly the orphanage seems to be handling what they think is Tims "second puberty". But honestly, it may simply be they haven't had a chance to even notice for a few reasons. First, it seems like Tim has always been a bit aggressive and a bully, so noticing him becoming worse might just be seen as that, differently from Rose who was aggressive, but previously only acted in defense of herself or Lily. Second, there are a lot of different races, so it's unlikely they have had to deal with a lot of Leonide before. This also means they may have simply thought that it was his Lion-like territotialsm flaring up after having been suppressed by Rose for so long. And finally, it seems he has spent a lot of time releasing his pent up aggression mostly on the local monster population. And finally, Iirc this whole "magic second puberty" thing only happens if you have a strong bloodline, which is supposedly rare. So, yeah, its pretty likely they simply didn't notice that he needs help. This situation might be similar in a way to Rose attacking the teacher, meaning now they take note and get him the help he needs.
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter! Yeah lock him up with the equivalent of Lady Deishu and honestly even then assign a babysitter that guy should not be allowed to walk around unaccompanied after he gains "control" of his power the "beast puberty" certainly played a part here I think but he himself also has a very unhealzy attitude and fixation on Lily which is something a psychiatrist needs to look at and try to help with.
Gopard
Yeah exactly it's kind of like a psychiatry if you think about it... Only that in this world it's not optional because the patients could literally blow up building and tear people apart if they loose control.
Hammy
Agreed, you would think orphanages would have methods of helping kids with bloodlines control there bloodline, considering how often this seems to happen. There is no excuse for Tim's behavior but I can not help but think that if he had received help to control his blood line this never would of happened in the first place.
Gopard
No man he would have killed Amy other small Girl that's way beyond "tough love" that one punch alone should see him locked up in some detention center until both learns control and that me next he does shit like this he will get locked up for good...
phillip page
Looks like Tim is in for some tough love from the ladies at the orphanage. Hopefully it course corrects his petulant additude
Engineer4God
Tank oo fur da chap!
Guilherme Silva
Luckly Oz reached them soon enough to save poor Tim for the crazy bunny girl and her bloodthirsty followers.
CataFlan
TFTC
Umut Numanoglu
I think spells react to the intent so it was not a coincidence that she rolled one.
Umut Numanoglu
More likely it is education with someone more experienced like Rose. She had the same problem and got home jailed for it.
Fi
Skulls for the skull Throne
Fi
Tftc ❤️
Arkeus
A weird amount of the other boys just watching
Xan
Lily's lucky that the second Starcluster spell only rolled a single star, more might have killed Tim. On another note, orphans (or kids in general) with bloodlines seem crazy dangerous in this world. There was the incident where Rose almost killed a teacher, and now this one where Tim probably would have killed Lily if she didn't have magic.
crazybot
Blood for the blood god!!
Blanc
TFTC! Time to give Tim his personal Lady Deshu to beat the hormones out of him.
CringeWorthyStudios
Kinda hope he’s at least crippled. What a dick. Nice to see Lily finally showed her magic though. Thanks for the chapter!
Daniel Mountain
In the name of the moon.
Daniel Mountain
Now now, there are more civilized responses. Imprisonment is my choice.
Daniel Mountain
Yeah... no. I've known boys like Tim. He needs some time behind bars to reflect on his actions.
Oof Oof
Badass little bunny evidently
crazybot
I hope he's either dead or about to be banished. What an asshole
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter!
Shai182
TFTC! Time to Punish Tim?!
