Found them!
I'm currently hiding in a patch of tall grass. In front of me, there's a patch of tall grass behind a tree. Six Horned Rabbits are hiding inside that patch of tall grass.
They're hiding from me because they've already noticed me. I wonder why they are hiding instead of-
"-Whoah!"
That was close! One of them started attacking me first while I was thinking to myself. The remaining five of them already joined in the attacks.
This is dangerous, they're attacking me without giving me time to rest!
"Kh!"
One of them just barely scratched my left leg, and the others aimed for my right leg and my body.
Barrier!
"Gah!"
It hurts... But only a little bit. They're attacking my barrier now, which is actually just hardened, solid magic. Since my magic is still a part of me, I still feel some pain through the barrier.
Lightning!
It worked! I got them to distance themselves from me. I removed my barrier as soon as I cast lightning.
This is bad! I can't fight-
"-Whoah! Give me a break! Stop attacking my legs!"
I can't fight all six Horned Rabbits without magic, but they can easily dodge my magic because they're fast...
Horned Rabbits are weak, though. Their speed and horns are what makes them troubling.
If that's the case... Let's fight speed with speed!
Stones!
My magic split into the size of pebbles and hardened, and propelled themselves towards the Horned Rabbits in the blink of an eye. There were about eight projectiles, some of which missed.
Nice! There's only two of you Horned Rabbits left! Now I can fight using my strength, so this should be finished quickly.
One! Two! Punch!
Knock out! That was quick as expected. Now, storage!
Papa fox was right, I really can fight six Horned Rabbits by myself. I need to tell him about this later!
----------
And... Done.
Another two Wild Boars have been killed by me. With this, I think I have enough to confidently say that I have contributed to the hunt.
There's... 22 Horned Rabbits and 8 Wild Boars in my storage now, I think? I don't know how, but I'm sure that that's the amount I have in my storage. I've been using it ever since I separated from Mama wolf and Papa fox.
So far, I'm only seeing Wild Boars and Horned Rabbits. I'm supposed to avoid everything else, especially the Orcs, but where are they?
Well, it should be time to meet back at that place now. The sun is high up in the sky, currently, and it seems to be almost afternoon.
...
(I'm back!)
(Welcome back.)
(Welcome back, Mimin! Are you injured anywhere? Did you meet anything other than Horned Rabbits and Wild Boars?)
(No. I'm perfectly fine!)
Mama wolf, you can tell I'm fine just by looking at me, you know?
(Well, that's a relief. So, how many did you manage to hunt?)
(Umm... 22 Horned Rabbits and 8 Wild Boars.)
I still don't understand how I know exactly what amount I have in storage, without needing to look at it.
(Oh! That's really good, Mimin! That's around as much as half of what we normally manage to hunt! Excluding Orcs, of course.)
(Thank you, Mama wolf!)
(Let's hurry back. I told you Mimin will be fine by herself, didn't I? You didn't need to worry about her at all.)
I just have to be a little careful, but I'm much stronger than those Horned Rabbits and Wild Boars! I wonder, how many can I kill next time? Hehehe~
(Yes, yes! I get it! Mimin is incredible...)
(...)
Eh? What's wrong? Why are you both silent now? Is there something behind me?
(Mimin, you should really work on that in the future.)
(Work on what?)
(We'll talk as we return. Let's go.)
Mama wolf is quiet now. What is Papa fox talking about now?
----------
(Bloodlust.)
(Eh?)
(You need to work on supressing your bloodlust. It's something I forgot to teach you.)
(Bloodlust?)
(It's something that you release into the atmosphere when you have an intent to kill. The stronger you are, and, the stronger your killing intent, the more bloodlust is released.)
(What does bloodlust look like?)
(Well, it's not something you can see, but something you can feel. I used it to scare you once before, you know? You should remember it...)
...!? So this is bloodlust! My ears and tails stiffened and my fur stood up again, like last time. Except, I'm more calm this time compared to the last time Papa fox used it?
(Oh? I'm using the same intensity of bloodlust, but you're not as scared as last time. That means you've gotten stronger since last time.)
(Y-Yes... So you w-wanted to-)
(-No, I didn't actually want to kill you for teasing Mama fox. I already said, that I only used it to scare you.)
(Is t-that so...?)
(So, you need to work on supressing your bloodlust. For now, let's hurry back.)
That's a relief to hear, and I know that Papa fox didn't mean to make me cry last time.
Eh? Didn't Fluffy also use this a while back? When he was scolding me for being rude too often? It was a lot stronger than this too, and the atmosphere changing was really obvious. I even fainted when he released his bloodlust.
Fluffy may be really strong and I just don't know it, but... How much did he want to kill me back then? To release that amount of bloodlust which could suffocate me...
...
(What's wrong, Mimin?)
Mama wolf finally said something, reacting to my silence after learning about bloodlust.
(It's nothing.)
(I know you're thinking about something, Mimin. You can't hide from me. But, if you say it's nothing, then I won't ask. We're almost back, by the way.)
(Yes...)
Looks like we're going to make it back in time for lunch. I still can't stop thinking about Fluffy's bloodlust, though.
Fluffy... Why?