"Well…at least there's sun?"
In the much warmer top floor was a small meadow surrounded by a forest. The sun melted some of the ice and snow adorning my cloak, and I trembled like a leaf. Sneezing from the cold, I tried to wipe at my nose with a drier corner of my cloak. Too sudden. At least give me a moment to get used to it.
[Dungeon Activation ETA 9:59]
The countdown began, and I cursed. Can't I even rest? What should I do? What's going to be on this floor? Will it have only one type of monster or two? I should check my status. Hmm. I lost over four hundred mental energy points.
Should I learn how to use this stuff? I grabbed the bow from the Inventory and played with its string. How does this work?
What do I do? Right, right. Just like in the movies. Get an arrow. I nocked an arrow and tried to shoot it like a pro.
It fell straight to the floor.
"Time to learn how to use a knife, then."
Boo meowed and I shushed him. "Later Boo. I have to try to do something."
He meowed again, and I sighed before turning around. Oh shit. I backed up as three white little bunnies with red eyes hopped forward. They would have been adorable if not for the long tusks growing from their mouths and red glowing horns protruding from their heads.
[Demonic Hare LvL 5]
[HP: 500/500]
[MP: 2000/2000]
"..."
[DungeonActivated]
"Son of a—"
The demon bunny blew fricking fire at me and I squealed before running away into the trees. Surprisingly, they kept up without too much difficulty. Their agility must be off the charts. Not the time to appreciate it, though.
I hopped over a log, and they followed me. Ran into the meadow, and another one joined in the hunt.
I'm so tired. Whatever. Can't run forever, I learned that lesson last time.
I turned around and climbed a branch.
Then I swung my legs and hopped up. The bunnies blew fire at me, and I reared back. Although I would love to just crush them, I have to consider that I probably won't just get food handed out to me anytime soon.
Maybe I should just bring them a little closer. I grabbed my knife and used my other hand to mentally grab a rabbit. I turned it around so it wouldn't breathe fire at me and inched it closer. Once it was close enough, I averted my eyes and dragged the blade across its neck.
[+ 200 EXP]
Hot liquid and flames burned my hands, and I almost dropped the knife. Welts from the flames immediately started forming, and I whimpered from the pain. The remaining bunnies screamed at me, and I grabbed them too. With a quick slice their neck was slit open, my hand was burned again, and I forced my fangs to drop down.
I don't have to eat them, but I should at least drink them. Ugh. It took a few tries and pep talks before I actually put my mouth on their necks.
Greedily, I gulped down their blood and tried not to focus on the way their bodies reflexively kicked at me. My mouth and chin were covered in boiling hot blood when I was done. Boo meowed and I told him to hold his horses with my glare.
No floor clear message?
Which means there must be more.
I sat back on my branch and threw the corpses into the inventory for later. So what else is here? More rabbits or something else?
Perhaps attracted by the smell of blood, more rabbits hopped closer and breathed fire at me. My eyes glowed, and I licked my lips.
About an hour later, I had my answer. There were only rabbits on this floor. Carnivorous demonic rabbits. Their leader, the [King of Demonic Hares], had run away after I caught its scent and crawled into a burrow.
I was still coming up with ways to kill it when out of nowhere Boo jumped out of my backpack and crawled inside after it. I screamed and tried to pry it out.
A little while after, the sound of a fight commenced, and a winner emerged slightly injured but victorious.
"Boo, don't you ever do that again. You scared me!" It carried out the larger animal within its teeth and jutted it out towards me with a puffed-up, pride-filled chest.
I tilted my head, and he placed it at my feet and made a hissing sound. Blinking, I tried to understand what it meant when it nuzzled the neck of the dead animal.
Oh. Oh, that's so sweet!
A grin split my face, and I picked up the precious baby. Boo pushed my face away with it's jelly paws as I smothered it in kisses. After I was done giving him enough praise, I made a show of drinking from the carcass.
Boo yelled at me and meowed at it. Just for that. I picked up the prey and threw it in the inventory. Boo cried and I brought out one of the smaller hares for him to eat. One that I had caught.
He tilted his head and then bit the rabbit's head. He spat out fur and then went to town on the remains. Enjoy, little buddy.
[Floor Two Cleared]
A circle appeared in the meadow, and I eyed it with hesitation. If I leave through that thing…I'll probably not get another break. Maybe I should stay for a while. Just so I can cook and get enough rest.
"Boo do you want stew?"
He meowed and I scratched him behind his round furry ears. Yeah. Let's have some stew.
I grabbed a couple of branches, threw them in a pile with some hay from the rabbit's burrow, and used my knife to scrape against a flint rock I found in the forest. Sparks flew and landed in the pile.
It lit on fire, but it seemed pitiful. Hmm. Maybe something flammable? I don't want to waste real oil. So let's use some of that hair oil Nanny and I made.
I dripped a few drops on it, and it roared with more intensity. A few more stacks of hay later, and I had a blazing, delicious-smelling fire.
Alright.
The cauldron sat on top of the fire and I rung out my clothes for more water. It barely covered the bottom, but I had wrung out enough to be satisfied. Adding some water from one of the few bottles I had to make up for the rest.
The rabbits. Using my knife, I skinned three of them and tried to take out anything that wasn't supposed to be in there. No bones for now, definitely no fur, guts should come out, I think, and I think that's it, right?
The skull was left aside, and I chopped up the skinned rabbits and prepared the meat with the same knife. Then I lightly sprinkled it with seasoning and dropped it in the pot when I was done. Using my knife, I stirred the concoction around and added some egg fried rice to the mixture. Just so I have something more to eat. Golden rice and vegetables swirled around in the stew, and I added some oil.
Things started smelling better from there. Boo sat in my lap while I kept an eye on the fire and the glowing teleportation circle. It's not disappearing. That's good. So it seems like once I clear a floor, I'm allowed to take a little break on the same floor. It's not clear how long, though.
Boo yawned and his poor tummy grumbled. "I know. It's ok. Almost done."
Thankfully, one of the boxes of rice had a non-stick metal spoon in it, so I used it to test the flavor. Huh. Tastes like really gamey chicken, fried vegetables, and egg soup. It's not that bad. I sipped it a bit more and decided it was ready.