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Path to Prosperity - B1 Chapter 5
🕑 Added 2024-06-29 11:57:43 +0000 UTCRaewood was located near a small forest at the edge of a plains region called Meiso Plains. The same forest was Percy’s current target, its outskirts, to be precise.
A faint gust whistled through the air, filling the surroundings with a waft of nature’s scents. The growing grass blades rustled around Percy as he paved his way to the small forest. To his left were the remains of lumbered trees and hoarse voices.
If everyone to my left is relaxed enough to talk this loud, I probably won’t encounter any monsters. Or they will attract monsters with their voices.
Percy shuddered imagining a small horde of monsters charging him and the lumberjacks. The lumberjacks should be strong enough to protect themselves since they didn’t seem particularly worried, but Percy didn’t want to take the risk.
He turned to the right and moved around the forest with enough distance to prepare for anything that would emerge from the undergrowth.
Time passed eerily slowly as he walked around. The bushes rustled sometimes, drawing Percy’s hand to his dagger handle, but no monster jumped out of the small forest.
That was until he discovered a bundle of white hair amid a thick thorn bush. The bush rustled, and Percy’s eyes darted to the white spot. He swallowed hard and couldn’t hear anything, but his wildly beating heart as a bundle of white fur jumped out of the bush. The bundle of white hair had long ears and a small, bushy bun as a tail.
It was a rabbit.
Percy calmed down a bit upon recognizing that the monster was a rabbit. It hopped closer to the bush again and nibbled on something.
It doesn’t even notice me. How am I going to kill something like…this? It’s way too cute!
As if the rabbit heard Percy’s thought, it turned around and stared at him. Percy expected the rabbit to turn around and flee at his sight, but the opposite happened. The rabbit’s crimson eyes locked onto Percy and started glowing. A shudder ran down Percy’s spine, and his heart beat wildly again.
His drive to survive overwhelmed Percy and he retreated without thinking.. It was only one step, but the rabbit took that as a sign of weakness. It fleched its razor-sharp teeth, fresh blood trickling on the wet grass. Then it pounced forward, charging straight at Percy.
You are not cute, okay? I totally agree. You are not cute at all!
The rabbit was faster than Percy, who realized his life was on the line. He readied himself instinctively, his eyes glued on the ferocious rabbit. The monster was fast, but Percy wasn’t as slow as he used to be. He grasped the handle of his dagger and unsheathed it…only for him to pull on his oversized shirt and get stuck as well.
Percy’s mind blanked, holding both his shirt and dagger in one hand. It was simple to solve that issue, but Percy’s mind staggered before it turned blank. Nothing seemed to work, and he fell into a state of panic. He broke into a cold sweat, and his eyes quivered in fear as the rabbit accelerated.
It reached him quickly, yet Percy was still frozen. Something changed only when the rabbit was right before him. Its crimson eyes stared at him, but not like he was an equal foe. It considered him nothing more than prey. Fragile and unworthy. That was all Percy was in the ferocious rabbit’s eyes.
I’ll die if I don’t move.
The realization of his incoming death was too late. Percy took another step back in an attempt to flee, but he tripped over his foot and fell to the ground.
Great fortune was on his side this time around.
The rabbit didn’t expect Percy to fall. It was at full speed and leaped at Percy to reach his neck, ready to tear his throat into shreds. But now that Percy was on the ground, the ferocious rabbit missed its target and jumped past him.
Percy’s head flicked to the rabbit. He scrambled to his knees and jumped up with trembling legs.
I’m not going to die here!
He clutched his dagger tightly and stared straight into the ferocious rabbit’s crimson eyes. The monster charged at him again, squealing loudly.
Percy had enough of the monster and grit his teeth. His lips parted, and a roar filled with terror, frustration about his uselessness, and anger toward the ferocious rabbit escaped his lips. He pulled his dagger upward.
Whether it was his instincts, amplified reflexes or sheer luck would forever remain unknown, but the rabbit leaped at Percy again when he pulled his dagger upward. The monster dived right into the blade, impossible to evade mid-air.
The monster shrieked in pain as the blade slid cleanly through its chest. Percy felt almost no resistance. If anything, the blade pierced too easily into the rabbit as the monster’s momentum pushed the blade deeper. Blood poured out of the wound and onto Percy’s hand. It was warm… and disgusting. Percy trembled, and he was about to release the dagger when he heard the pitiful squeals of the ferocious rabbit. It was in pain and writhed desperately, trying to escape death. But Percy didn’t let go.
It’s either you or me! He screamed in his mind, holding tightly onto the dagger. It was the only object protecting him from deadly predators like the ferocious rabbit. The only thing separating him from life and death.
Merely moments passed before the ferocious rabbit stopped moving.
Percy sighed in relief, but he was trembling all over his body. His legs caved in, and he found himself slumped to the ground a moment later. The rabbit’s lifeless body slid from the blade and landed on the ground with a thud.
Only then did realization strike.
I…killed something.
Percy stared at the corpse, a wave of nausea filling his mind. He shuddered and retched, but his empty hand shot toward his mouth, sealing it tightly.
There is no way I’m going to empty my stomach. I’m not even full yet!
He was still unsure what to think about the situation but couldn’t afford to vomit his breakfast. Percy shuddered again, but the mana circulating through his body helped him. The surge was stronger than before. It didn’t invigorate him, but a calming notion spread through him.
Percy swallowed and stared at the corpse for a while until he was interrupted by new sounds. The bushes rustled again.
A pair of rabbits, one black and one brown, emerged from the bushes.
They looked as cute as the white one did at first, but Percy wouldn’t let that delude his mind. These rabbits were ferocious and deadly, and now there were two of them staring at their dead brethren before sniffing the blood in the air.
A moment later, the rabbits looked at him and screeched. Then they charged just like the white one did.
Percy struggled a little to keep his body under control, but he didn’t step backward anymore. He’d learned that while the rabbits were faster than him, they were fragile and attacked with the same pattern. Percy understood that they might change their tactic mid-battle, but he didn’t want to give the duo enough time to overwhelm him.
He’d killed one of them and could kill two more. If not, Percy would die next to his first prey.
The rabbits were not equally fast. The brown rabbit was slower than its partner. Percy used that to his advantage and did something that could either help him survive this fight or die a foolish death. He kicked the brown rabbit with every ounce of strength in his body. That was a lot more than expected. The rabbit was struck heavily and hurled against the nearest tree. Something cracked, but Percy had no time to appraise the situation further. His head flicked left to study the battlefield.
Where is the other one?
Percy lost sight of the black rabbit when he kicked the brown one, but it was only a second before he realized where the black rabbit was. His left arm hurt from a sudden sting spreading along his lower arm. That was where he found the black rabbit, its razor-sharp teeth digging through his skin and deep into his flesh.
Percy suppressed a pained scream as the ferocious monster tried to rip a chunk of meat out of his arm. The iron dagger in his right hand flashed and pierced one of the black rabbit’s crimson eyes. It couldn’t even squeal in pain before Percy twisted the razor-sharp blade in the monster’s eyes.
The rabbit twitched only once before it let go of his arm. It slumped dead to the ground.
Your teeth are sharp, but my dagger is sharper!
Only one more ferocious rabbit was missing. The brown rabbit didn’t wait, either. It appeared near its fallen comrade, ready to attack.
You’re even slower now. Percy realized and jumped into action. He faked a kick similar to before, forcing the brown rabbit to stop or leap at him. Since the ferocious rabbits had been too aggressive from the beginning, Percy expected it to leap at him. That was exactly what it died.
The brown rapid pushed forward and jumped at Percy, where it encountered the flash of a razor-sharp blade that cut deep into the monster’s soft belly.
