Chapter 2: Veil, Part 3
Just what is this thing, a friggin Caerbannog Rabbit?! Its head is badly damaged, as is the rest of its body but despite that it was still able to move around to such a degree!
I instinctively backstepped to prevent it from biting into my throat but that didnt stop it from pressing on the attack. It even threw an occasional body slam into the mix! And let me tell you, when it connected, I felt that with my whole body as a numbing shock spread throughout it! This is really dangerous. I cannot allow any more of those to hit me or I might be toast for sure!
I hacked and slashed at the damn thing but it was as if it had engaged some kinda Zombie-Berserk Mode or something, because no matter how many times I managed to cut it, it just refused to drop dead and die. Damn it, why are my attacks not working as well as they were just a few minutes ago?! Whenever I could I sneaked two or three strikes in, but it just completely abandoned any form of defense in favor of an aggressive offense. This is getting worse by the minute! If I dont do anything, I might die to this rabbit for real!
I somehow managed to avoid its subsequent attacks and regain my proper fighting posture and even hit the Slow Rabbit in the belly, making blood gush out of it. Good, it looks like that slash was deep enough to actually do something to it. If I can just keep this up, then I might be able to finally bring this bastard down!
But despite my best attempts, it still refuses to drop dead.
Another blow. And another one. Another one, another one, another one. At long last, after what seemed to be an eternity for me, the Slow Rabbit finally bites the dust and melts into the ground after emitting a puff of smoke.
Haaa.
I made a big sigh as my shoulders were frantically moving up and down in tandem with my ragged breath and the aching which was resonating throughout my whole body. That was beyond ridiculous now! Is the difference between a normal weapon and the one obtained through Bonus Weapon really that big? I mean seriously, compared to Durandal, the Copper Sword was like, thousand times weaker, maybe even more! Or could it be that this particular Slow Rabbit was bugged beyond all rationality with how insanely strong and tough to take down he was?!
Speaking of which, he should have had a Lv displayed next to his name? I know it was thoughtless of me not to confirm it when the battle started, but I just kinda sorta assumed that its going to be Lv1, the same as all the others. But now I know what to look out for, so from now on, I will be using Durandal to fight with every enemy that might show up to make sure that a fuckup such as this one wont happen again. I now see that the copper Sword is, without the shade of a doubt, the shittiest of the shitty weapons in this world. As for Durandal, did it not have some kinda life steal or absorption skill? Im sure that with it I will be healing my wounds faster than the enemies will be able to inflict them upon me, limiting the damage taken to the bare minimum or maybe even eliminate it altogether. With that in mind I put away the Copper Sword and all the Rabbits Fur I managed to collect and equipped Durandal again.
Not long after that encounter I happened upon another Slow Rabbit, but this time I made sure to check it out with Identify. So those things are Lv1 after all? I approached it while remaining cautious and prepared my Holy Sword, slashing at it while it was unaware of my presence. It disappeared in a puff of smoke while leaving the Rabbits Fur behind while relieving some of my bodys pain and recovering a bit of HP. Its great that this is an actual recovery, not a placebo effect. That way I should return to my best condition after defeating just one or two more enemies. I bagged another copy of Rabbits Fur to my Item Box and continued to look for more prey.
There werent that many monsters left in this neck of the woods anymore, but I continued my search in hope of finding even a single one, but I guess that has its merits too. With no monsters in the immediate vicinity of the village I will be able to live that much more calmly, at least until I will finally decide to leave this place for good.
There werent any shelves with products of any sort, but it was obviously a store of some kind.
Sorry for the intrusion.
I called out to him from the entrance as I made my way inside.
Oh, if it isnt Michio-sama! What brings you here today to my fine establishment? Do you perhaps want to do business?
That depends. What kind of goods are you selling here, exactly?
Oh, just a little bit of everything. This is the only store in the entire village after all. As for the amount of goods we sell, the exact amount depends on how much we order from the city and how long it will take for them to get delivered, hence the occasional shortages.
So thats why all the counters and shelves are almost empty? Awful. This level of civilization is just the worst.
Cant you do something to always keep some of the goods at hand instead of waiting for them?
Even if I wanted to do so, the only type of goods that could be managed in such a way would be slaves for sale. And that is, you know
The merchant spoke quietly.
I understand what he was getting at. Even if he wanted to do so, slaves were not a commodity that could be easily obtained even when there was a high demand for them, and they cannot be stored in warehouses like fruits or vegetables. They might not have any rights in this world, but that would be too inhuman of a treatment.
Wait a minute, does this guy think Ive come here to buy a slave for myself?!