It was still dark outside when Leonard opened the front gate of the church.
Fife bright moons illuminated the strange scenery outside. For about five meters around the thick black walls of the church, there was nothing but grass. From there on out, a small village had formed, wooden huts lied up along narrow dirt roads. All in all, maybe about 100 houses.
This small village was surrounded by pine trees that were almost as big as the church's highest tower.
'In a world without modern technologies, this place should be hidden from any outsiders,' Mike thought.
But before he could even open his mouth, Leonard had already gestured him to be quiet. "Whatever questions you may have, now is not the right time to ask them. There is a reason for coming out this early. Follow me."
While following Leonard, Mike had to suppress a yawn. 'First I couldn't sleep, then my bed broke and now I have to follow this man into the forest in the middle of the night... Why am I even surprised?'
When they entered the forest, it suddenly became pitch black. The moonlight was blocked out by the trees, and Mike started freezing.
"Shhhhh, we don't want to alarm them. Your eyes will get used to the darkness," Leonard whispered.
He took Mikes wrist and placed it on his shoulder. Together they sneaked further into the woods until Leonard suddenly stopped.
Mike could barely see that Leonard was pointing forward, but beyond that, he still saw nothing, so he shook his head.
Suddenly Leonard held a wooden staff, which he gave to Mike. When Mike nodded, a tiny light appeared over their heads. Thankfully it was not bright enough to blind Mike. Otherwise, he would have been unable to see the little black ball rushing towards them.
Mike's first reaction was to swing the staff down on the little creature, but it got caught in a low hanging branch and left him completely open.
The black ball jumped towards him and bit him into the arm. He was able to shake it off, but it landed safely in a bush.
'That's why I always avoided doing sports. Otherwise, I would come home with new broken bones every day. Even though this thing is not much stronger than a chihuahua, I have a hard time fighting it. But I can't be reckless, otherways I might really die here.'
The black ball jumped at his arm again, but he couldn't shake it off this time, so he slammed his arm against a nearby tree. A striking pain rushed through his arm, but when the black ball fell down, it was still alive.
Before Mike could do anything, the small thing bit into his ankle.
"Ahhh, f*ck!" he shouted.
'I guess that's what Sonas meant when he said 'try to stay alive'.'
He kicked it into the same tree, leaving behind a red mark.
But at last, the black ball didn't move anymore. It turned into white light, being sucked into Mike.
*Ding
You killed a 'night rabbit'.
+34 Xp
Lv. 1 (34/100)
"Ah... it really took you that long to kill that thing. This will take longer than I expected." Leonard said.
"Ahhhh, goddamit, you bastard! Couldn't you help me instead of just watching?!"
"Shhh, be quiet. You will chase away all the animals. If I had helped you, I would have gotten all the experience, so you need to do it on your own," Leonard whispered.
"F*ck, I'm going to be killed today. Let's go, I want to..." but Mike was interrupted by Leonard.
"No, don't move."
He grabbed his wrist while the light flowed downwards until it stopped over his arm.
"Can you see that?" Leonard asked.
"Yes, I can see a nasty wound, but I have seen worse."
"No, that's not what I meant. Stay still please," said Leonard, putting his hand right in front of the wound. "This might hurt a little."
Mike couldn't even see Leonard's hand moving, but suddenly his entire body shook due to the immense pain.
"Alright, it's done. Look here," Leonard said, showing his open palm. In the middle, Mike could see three tiny teeth.
Ding*
You gained:
+3 rabbit teeth
Leonards eyes suddenly widened.
"Wait a minute, I can't believe he dropped his teeth. They are very rare."
"Really?"
"No, I'm just joking. Usually, we throw them away."
Mike couldn't help but smile. "Ah, f*ck you. Let's kill some more 'very rare' rabbits!"
Leonard smiled back. "The rabbits are actually pretty rare. They are one of the only animals that are weak enough for you to fight them. On the other hand, I have to find the exact right individual, a young rabbit, desperate enough to attack you. Every other animal weaker than you would just run away since they are not that territorial."
"And why exactly do we have to hunt them at night? They are animals, so they probably don't rely on sight as much as we do, so shouldn't we have a disadvantage here?" asked Mike.
"They are not strong enough to compete with the animals roaming around in the daytime, so they only come out at night."
"Hm, that makes sense. Alright, then let's keep on hunting them as long as it's still dark. Maybe I will not be beat up as badly once I level up, right?" Mike asked.
Leonard smiled. "Well, we will see... Ah yes, I have something for you."
He handed Mike a bandage.
"Does something like a healing potion exist in this world?" Mike asked.
"Yes, but it's a gift of the gods, so there is no way we would be able to just hand it out for anybody with a flesh wound," he answered while laughing. "I was warned that you otherworlders would ask some weird sh*t, but at least you didn't ask about humans with cat ears."
'Oh no, there must be degenerates here... why always me?'
We hunted rabbits for the next few hours until I finally killed my third rabbit, levelling Mike up for the first time.
You killed a 'night rabbit (Lv. 1)'
+34 Xp
Lv. 1 (68/100) -> Lv. 2 (2/200)
You have gained:
+3 stat points
+1 extra stat point (summon of Sonas)
+1 Skill point
"Ah, finally, I thought we would never get you to level up. You can Invest your stat points, but I would advise against using your skill point. With your current luck, you would only gain trash skills anyways. Better keep them for now," Leonard said.
"Alright!"
Ding*
Luck: -7 -> Luck: -3
'I can finally become luckier!'