|Rabbit-man Dungeon| Lvl.6
A dungeon. An honest to goodness dungeon. Like in Pokemon? Or DnD? Or one of them light novels? I mean this is a game, but what sort of story reason is there for it to exist? There is none. Why is it here?
Curiosity compels me to go in. Besides, it's a lvl.6 dungeon. It can't be that bad. It could maybe offer me xp.
I had no choice but to enter the hovel. It led me through to the starting area. It was actually kind of quaint. The walls were made out of mud and dirt, with the ceiling having sprouts of grass, with small holes for light to peek in through. The ground I stood on was almost entirely made out of what looked like hay and dead grass. If I didn't know it was a dungeon, I'd say it was a pleasant hideaway.
Following the path led to a split, which forced me to make a decision. Left or right? Does it matter so far? Not really. Left it is.
Half a minute of walking later, something came up in my vision. A rabbit. About as big as a baby elephant. It had a padded red vest on, with a spear about the same height as him in his hands. Or paws.
Rabbit-man: Foot Soldier lvl.3
HP: 500/500
It looked kind of absurd if I was honest. Also why is it showing me its HP without an Observe activated? Does that mean it's hostile?
I got a little closer to it. Upon the noise that I made coming in, the rabbit startled and turned.
"AH! An intruder! Attack!" It charged at me with its spear, big teeth clashing in its mouth.
Oh crap. What now?
I dodged out of the way of the spear thrust, and ducked under the swing after that. Hmm. He's not that strong. I could probably take him barehanded as is. I sweeped my leg under him, taking him off his feet and kicked him with my other foot into the wall. He squeaked and dropped his weapon.
HP: 316/500
Really? Just two kicks takes almost half? It's that weak huh. I picked up his weapon.
Observe.
Poorly made mini-spear (mediocre)
Description: A stick with a piece of metal on it.
Really? I probably wouldn't have even been hurt that much being hit by this. It's not even close to sharp.
I hit the rabbit with the stick a few times.
-67HP!
-73HP!
Oh it tells me how much damage I do. That's honestly pretty helpful. The question is how I do even less damage using the stick than my martial arts.
I threw away the stick. It wouldn't have much use.
One more kick to the groin..
HP: 13/500
"Any last words?"
"Ghe. Ghe!" Another kick.
+200 exp!
As soon as it got hit, it exploded into a thin purple smoke. In its place was a bit of money and a piece of a rabbit's foot.
Observe.
200 ryo.
Rabbit's Foot Earring.
Description: Earring made out of the remains of a rabbit's foot. It grants +2 luck.
Interesting. The spear vanished too. That (luckily) wasn't a part of the dropped items. I think now is a good time to finally use:
Inventory.
A screen popped up in front of me. Rows of empty boxes and a character cutout that looked like me with boxes interspersed on several different places of my body.
Sakura's Inventory
Equipment:
Head-
Body- Flowing Sakura Petal dress (uncommon)
Legs- Standard ninja pants (common)
Hand left-
Hand right-
Shoes- Standard ninja sandals (common)
Belt-
Ring-
Necklace-
Earring-
Total armor rating: 0
Balance: 200 ryo
Inventory:
-Rabbit's Foot Earring x1
Should I equip it? It's the only thing I have, so my inventory will be lonely…
Eh. Why not. I equipped it. Stats.
Name: Haruno Sakura
Lvl. 5
Next lvl. 28.44%
Designation: The Gamer
Occupation: Academy Student
HP: 1000
MP: 1000
Str: 8(+4)
Agi: 7(+1)
Cha: 9
Int: 12
Wis: 13(+3)
Luck: 3(+2)
Wow. My next level percentage went up by like 20%! Just off of this one rabbit!
That's it. I'm staying here for the rest of the day. Gotta get those levels!
I walked briskly on the next path and soon enough, two more enemies showed up.
Rabbit-man: Foot Soldier lvl.4
HP: 600/600
Rabbit-man: Martial Artist lvl.4
HP: 550/550
Oh there's two of them now. This might actually be a challenge.
"Rick! An intruder!" Foot soldier said.
"I see 'em. Attack!" Martial Artist said.
They both came at me at the same time. It kinda sucks that this place is so small since the Konoha Standard relies so much on maneuverability.
I guess I just gotta take what I can get. I dodged the spear strike, and blocked the kick from the martial artist.
- 14HP!
I grabbed the foot he kicked me with and put him in the path of the stabber, impaling him with the spear. Taking advantage of their surprise I kicked the spear guy away from his stick, still stuck in his partner and then smashed the martial artist into the wall.
-243HP!
-82HP!
-111HP!
I backed off from the spear guy's attempt at hand-to-hand combat and kicked him into his friend.
-156HP!
-59HP!
They were recovering now, and to be honest I'm a bit out of breath from that. But they were very much on the backfoot, and the momentary sting from the block was already gone. I was winning, yet they still weren't fleeing.
"Are you guys protecting something? A tactical retreat is the obvious option here."
"We can't let you get close to the queen's treasure! We will protect her! AAAH!" That answers that then.
They both charged, spear guy having picked up his stick again. I dodged the first charge and grabbed the stick, pulling him to me and punching him back.
-174HP!
I felt the rushing of air behind me, but didn't turn around quick enough to block the kick coming from the martial artist in the back.
Ow!
-82HP!
Spear guy tried to take advantage of the momentary opening, but I dodged just in time. They almost collided with each other again, but they missed each other nearly. This space really isn't big enough to fight like this.
I really wished I could use something else other than martial arts. Should have brought my kunai pouch.
Nothing to do about it. I jumped off the wall, using the momentum for a spinning kick, striking both of them against the opposite side. They both poofed into purple smoke upon impact.
-188HP!
-137HP!
Observe
500 ryo
300 ryo
Small Health Potion x1
Description: A health potion. If you drink the liquid inside, you gain a max of 300 HP back.
Oooo a Health Potion! Exactly what I need right now. Super convenient.
I drank the potion, and my HP immediately went back to 1000. Taking the money I made my way farther into the dungeon. Oh this is gonna be great! Xp here I come!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
The Konoha Standard Taijutsu (Passive) skill has leveled up!
The Konoha Standard Taijutsu (Passive) skill has leveled up!
The Konoha Standard Taijutsu (Passive) skill has leveled up!
The Acrobatics (Passive) skill has leveled up!
The Acrobatics (Passive) skill has leveled up!
The Observe (Active) skill has leveled up!
Inventory
Equipment:
Head-
Body- Flowing Sakura Petal Dress (uncommon)
Legs- Standard ninja pants (common)
Hand left-
Hand right-
Shoes- Standard ninja sandals (common)
Belt-
Ring-
Necklace-
Earring- Rabbit Foot Earring
Total Armor Rating: 0
Balance: 3800 ryo
Inventory:
-Small Health Potion x4
-Rabbit Foot Earring x2
-Rabbit meat x3
Oh this is perfect! Just to feel good about myself, I opened up
Stats
Name: Haruno Sakura
Lvl. 7
Next lvl. 78.54%
Designation: The Gamer
Occupation: Academy Student
HP: 1600
MP: 1000
Str: 8(+7)
Agi: 7(+3)
Cha: 9
Int: 12
Wis: 13(+3)
Luck: 3(+2)
Points:12
Description: Sakura is a young Konoha Academy student who excels in book learning and word problems. She has recently learned of her Gamer status, and is carefully optimistic on her prospects for the future.
Current state: Elated, smug.
I get to allocate my stat points however I want! I was kind of afraid I would be locked in with this body's IV's but I get to put in a single point for every single stat for every single level! That's insane! And broken!
Time to get all that streng— Wait. Maybe that's not wise. With my Konoha Standard Taijutsu skill I have a lot of strength already. I do need more for chakra, but Sakura is already specced into being an Int and Wis character, so I should probably follow suit. Better to be a specialist in a few things, than decent in all. I have a feeling I'll need Int and Wis for sealing as well.
So with that, my stats would actually look more like this:
Name: Haruno Sakura
Lvl. 7
Next lvl. 78.54%
Designation: The Gamer
Occupation: Academy Student
HP: 1600
MP: 1350
Str: 9(+7)
Agi: 8(+3)
Cha: 9
Int: 18
Wis: 17(+3)
Luck: 3(+2)
Points:0
In the end I couldn't resist adding a point each for Str and Agi. Without any jutsu, Int and Wis isn't gonna have much use until I acquire those.
Anyway. I was in front of a large door, which looked quite odd against the backdrop of a peaceful forest cave. I had already acquired a map of the place, found in an equally appropriate treasure chest a few turns away from here. The place isn't actually that big, it just has a few turns.
Now the question is, do I go back and grab my weapons pouch for what'll undoubtedly be the boss monster? Or just go straight in?
I was feeling confident. I had curbstomped most of what came in my way. I had four health potions in my inventory.
I opened the door.
Inside was a much larger space, with the same foresty theme as the rest of the dungeon. The only difference was a throne in the middle of the room, with a giant fat rabbit on it.
Rabbit-man Queen lvl.10
HP: 3000/3000
Oh crap.
The fat blob of fur opened her mouth, and steam came out of it. "Who dares enter my throne room!? Aiming to steal my treasure?! You will pay!" Her shrill voice shook the room, her red mantle billowing in the sudden wind.
Out of nowhere, a staff with a blue core came into existence in her right paw. She waved it, and I had the good sense of mind to dodge whatever she was pointing at me.
Turns out it was a strike of lightning!
Okay, I am wayyy over my head here. Anddd the door is closed. Locked too! They even went out of their way to show the lock over it.
Why is there a lvl.10 boss in a lvl.6 dungeon!? Is this the side-effect of hard mode?!
I dodged another lightning strike. Luckily this space is a lot larger, leaving a lot of wiggle room for Konoha Standard Taijutsu to dodge the attacks.
I stepped over the wall, a strong wind whip missing me by inches.
Rabbit Queen started panting. Is this my window of opportunity?
I rushed in, getting in as many kicks and punches in as I could.
-159HP!
-43HP!
-120HP!
-89HP!
-106HP!
Dang, the skin is tough! A swipe of her foot let me know she can also do close range attacks!
-387HP!
That. That was too much. Just one single swipe and close to a fourth of my HP is gone!
I ran away again. The lightning strikes came back, missing me just barely. I could feel all the hairs on my body stand up straight.
If I get hit by one or two of those, it's practically over.
She transitioned to wind again. They came out faster, but they were also noticeably weaker. She was going into cooldown again. This time, I drank a potion first before engaging.
+300 HP!
-142HP!
-57HP!
-93HP!
I just barely managed to dodge the swipe I knew was coming for my head, and we started the pattern all over again.
-128HP!
-155HP!
-18HP!
-92HP!
-141HP!
-158HP!
Wind whip!
-532HP!
I flew back against the door, my back impacting against the hard steel.
That thing shredded. I felt that in my veins what the—
I had to dodge another wind whip. She changed her attack pattern! Of course she would, she's not stupid!
How much more do I have left?!
HP: 1499/3000
She went over half, no wonder she changed her freakin' attack pattern!
A lightning strike, followed up with a water wave. I escaped the lightning strike, but the water wave caught me off guard and pushed me back to the edges again.
-214HP!
New plan! Next time she cools down, heal potions and then observe!
Utterly drenched now, I barely rolled out of the way of another lightning strike.
She's started panting again. Good, good.
I took out all three health potions and drank them all at once while using Observe.
Rabbit-man Queen lvl.10
HP:1499/3000
MP: 180/1900
Str: 25
Agi: 5
Cha: 20
Int: 13
Wis: 7
Luck: 25
Notable Skills:
Thick skin (Passive): Absorbs a third of low level physical damage.
Subjugation of the Storm Spirit (Passive): Allows usage of Storm magic, and absorbs mana from the captured Storm Spirit.
Luck of the Rabbit(Passive) : Luck stat gets multiplied by five.
Items:
-Staff of the Robber
-Mantle of Vitality
Yeah, the odds are so highly stacked against me it's honestly unfair. She ramped back up again.
So she gets all that power from the staff right? I think I have an idea then. She's not a ninja, so it might even work.
That's not to say it's a good one by any stretch of the imagination.
Lightning! Dodged. Wave of water? Jumped over. Wind whip in midair? Nope.
-336HP!
Odd how my breathing's so heavy, but I haven't run out of breath yet. Is that also a feature of the Gamer's Body? I can already tell I'm much too calm right now, so I know Gamer's Mind is working.
She's winding down again. Time to put the plan in motion.
Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake.
"Substitution Technique!"
A poof of smoke and I was right in the paw of the Rabbit Queen. And the staff wasn't. She hadn't realized yet, she was still panting from the MP exertion. But she was charging up quickly, I could feel it enter her body.
I quickly rushed out of her grip just after she saw her staff across the room.
We both raced for the staff, but guess who has the higher Agi stat?! Haha!
I took the staff and quickly slammed it into my inventory. I grinned.
"No! You have taken my weapon away from me!"
"What now you overgrown pest?! Just try and fight me now!"
I angered her now. Good. I got the aggro. She tried to tackle me, but I dodged around her.
"Haaa!"
-180HP!
-165HP!
-33HP!
Dodging another foot swipe. Then a tackle, and a bite. I was panting and sweating and everything, but I had never felt so alive!
"Try it again, Rabbit! I double-dog dare you!"
She screeched. Jumped and landed where I was a second ago.
"You may be stronger, but to me, you're a caterpillar!" I made sure to do several backflips escaping from that one, even if I flubbed the landing. There was a very good reason I did so.
The Acrobatics (Passive) skill has leveled up!
Perfect. I could already feel the increase in speed as I was running. An explosion of noise rocked the cave by the impact she made against the wall trying to tackle me.
-50HP!
Oh this is great! She's doing damage to herself now!
Oh that's a hammer fist over me.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
I switched with some of the debris she had created with her collision, escaping yet another attack.
"Time to counter!"
My fists flew.
-76HP!
-100HP!
-95HP!
-44HP!
-83HP!
I backed off. I could feel my body hitting its limit. Even though Gamer's Body was helping me tremendously, I was still only lvl.7 with lvl.7 stats. I can't do that much.
"You, have roamed free in here for far too long! I will catch you! And I will kill you!"
Yeah, yeah. Flavor text. Let's just get this done.
As soon as she charged, I jumped over her, kicking her head on the way out.
-210HP!
And then again at the back!
-206HP!
"HA! I got you now!" Paws closed around me and took my arms and ripped.
-499HP!
"AAAAAAHHH!" That hurts! Crap, I'm stuck! What now whatnowhatnowhatnow.
There's no one here to rescue me. If I die, I die. There's likely no respawning. I don't have any other skills or plans. This is it. This is the end.
"Why can't I rip you apart?!" She stretched me even wider.
-580HP!
I only had 185 HP left. It's now or never. And I'm not going down easy!
I kicked her face in as she leaned closer, as hard and fast as I could.
-147HP!
-170HP!
"Die!"
-160HP!
Only 25 HP!
ONE MORE KICK!
My heel smashed against her jaw, dropping me from her grip and falling gracelessly down on the floor.
-35HP!
Purple haze exploded across the cave.
Congratulations! You have defeated the Rabbit-man Queen!
The only thing I could do was just keep breathing. It didn't even register what just happened until probably a solid two minutes after. My pain went away, and I could look back on the battlefield again. And it was a battlefield. Scorch marks on the walls and wet floors, whip-like indents everywhere. Cracked stone and a large section of the cave just missing. Debris everywhere.
That was lvl.10.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
I dang well should have. I sighed and stood back up, making my way over to the rewards.
Observe.
7000 ryo
-Small Health Potion x2
-Mantle of Vitality (rare)
Description: A large red mantle that gives you an extra 200 HP.
I took the Mantle of Vitality into my inventory along with the money, then drank the potions. Didn't wanna die because of fall damage or something.
Stats
Name: Haruno Sakura
Lvl. 9
Next lvl. 78.54%
Designation: The Gamer
Occupation: Academy Student
HP: 625/1800
MP: 1150/1350
Str: 9(+7)
Agi: 8(+4)
Cha: 9
Int: 18
Wis: 17(+3)
Luck: 3
Points:12
I should probably allocate the points later. First…
Just when the Rabbit Queen died, another room opened up just behind the throne room. I walked in, convinced this was the exit. And yep.
Next to the trapdoor leading out of here, there was a treasure chest, looking very similar to the one I got the map from.
I opened it and inside..
5000 ryo.
-Cage of Trapped Low Level Storm Spirit.
Description: Contains a Low Level Storm Spirit forcefully contained to act as an MP source. To break out, requires Staff of Robbers to be broken first.
This is where she got her strength from. I searched through my inventory, and the staff was still in there.
Should I release it? It's not gonna come out hostile right? Eh, whatever.
I took out the Staff of The Robber and stepped on the blue orb. It immediately shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, blowing away into the wind. Just a few seconds later, the cage I was holding broke open in a display of flashing light.
"I..I'm free? I'm free!" A small fairy like creature barely the size of my forearm flew around the room, hovering this way and that. It didn't seem to have any wings.
"Are you the one who freed me?" It asked in a high pitch, waayy too close to my face. I jumped back a little. I had just been in the most stressful fight of my life. Could do with a little less action for right now.
I took a good look at the spirit. It had dark hair in two ponytails, and a pretty blue dress. It's most striking feature, though, was definitely it's eyes. They were yellow. Like sparkling yellow. And they danced! Little dots in her eyes moved from here to there.
Observe.
Low Level Storm Spirit.
Description: A spirit from the Astral Plane. Usually, spirits only come to the mortal plane to make contracts, ? ? ? ? and ? ? ? ? with summoners. This one was tricked into servitude instead. ? ? ? ? and therefore ended up with the Rabbit-men.
Uh huh. So I'm assuming my Observe skill isn't high enough to get the whole back story then?
Also I didn't really get any of her stats. But it's clear she's not an item.
"I did save you."
Her smile glowed. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She flew around in circles.
"So how are you going to get back to the Astral Plane?" I asked.
She suddenly got depressed, and stopped circling. "I can't. I'm stuck here forever unless I can get a summoner to send me back."
I see where this is going. "And how do we find a summoner?"
"Oh! You can be one! You just have to make a contract with me."
Ummm. That sounds.. Binding. "What does that mean exactly?"
"Well, you use your MP to summon me or send me back, and when you summon me I can lend you my powers!" I blinked.
"You mean your storm powers."
"Yeah that!"
"And what do you get out of that?"
She paused. "That's a good question. I don't know." A small question mark appeared above her head as she was thinking. "Yeah, I don't know."
Okay then. "So if I make a contract with you, you'll be able to go back?"
"Yes! What are we waiting for?!" I really hope I'm not being conned into something right now.
"I'm waiting on you to tell me how to make a contract."
"Oh right!" An exclamation mark appeared next to her head. "Just give me a name, and if I like it, I'll be your spirit!"
It's that simple? Seriously? Okay. "How about.." Mmmm, so maybe not that simple. All of a sudden I was in charge of naming a whole sentient creature. Is she sentient? I'm assuming she's from The Game, like the rabbits. So does that mean they're fake? Or are they an ingrained part of this world now? Am I overthinking this? Do I wanna think about this? I did just kill a bunch of Rabbit-men just for xp….
"Hm?" She hummed. Whoops, almost forgot she's waiting for me.
"You need a last name too?"
She tilted her head cutely. "What's a last name?" So no then.
Mmm. I need a name that really encompasses her, you know? Something that screams: "That's me!" What was the first thing I thought when I saw her?
Beauty. Unnatural beauty.
It was hard putting it into words. Even looking at her now, barely bigger than your average ruler and with a childlike face, her visage was almost inhuman. It didn't feel real in that ethereal way. Not in an unsettling way. More like she was a painting. A masterpiece, a magnum opus.
"How about Naomi?" Both the Hebrew and Japanese meanings fit nicely I think.
"Yes I love it!" Perfect.
Low Level Storm Spirit wants to make a summoning contract with you. Do you accept?
Y/N
This better not come to bite me in the butt later.
I clicked Y.
The world paused. Everything shifted. Contorted, compressed, transmuted, transfigured—
She wasn't new. She wasn't special. She had a future, but not a past. She was born in the storms. Winds roared and waves clashed, clouds colliding to form her. Delivered by the chaos, she was born into the world alone. But not anymore. She had a new master. She had a tie to the world. A connection. A link. And she wouldn't be letting go anytime soon. Even if her master was weird, having two souls in one body, being destined for things she couldn't understand. It didn't deter her. It wouldn't deter her.
No, Naomi would stick with her through thick and thin.
Spirit Contract with Low Level Storm Spirit: Naomi successfully formed.
Wow. I have no idea what just happened. I felt like I was her for a second, and then I wasn't. The memories are leaving too fast from my mind to remember anything more.
Naomi was nowhere to be seen.
Due to a newly signed contract, the skill: Summon Spirit (Active) was created.
Summon Spirit (Active) Lvl.1: Allows you to summon spirits you have formed contracts with and use their powers and assistance. Current spirits: Naomi (L, Storm)
Current MP use: 1000 MP.
That's a bit steep for a summoning. Though if she can do anything like what I just fought against that's worth it and a half.
Okay. Now that that's done, I can finally leave this place. To say this was an Icarus moment would be understatement. Next time, I come prepared!
Finally, my house! Feels like I've been out for like a week. I can take a shower, get this sweat from clinging to me. Get some sleep. Ah, sleep! How I've missed you!
"Hey, Sakura! Hold it right there!" A voice called out from behind me, just as I was about to put my foot on the doorstep.
What is it now?!
I turned around, and Ino of all people pointedly glared at me.
"We need to talk."
A/N. Can you tell I miss Gnome? I'm sorry I had to! She was unrightfully abandoned and I won't stand by it! I'm gonna be doing a whole lot with her I know already. I've written her for just a bit but I'm already in love with the character. Let me know how the more standard Gamer parts went, along with the fight scenes. Change it, leave it, alter it. Whatever suggestions you have I'm open.