A little while longer than expected, Tommy reached level 4, and soon after, he hit level 5. Killing the Ducks was not the problem; the problem arose when word got out about where Tommy obtained his pet. The area was now flooded with players giving Tommy side-eye looks. After they finally finished, a pretty girl back in town flirted with Tommy, and he disclosed the location. News spread, and now they needed a new hunting ground before the two could start bickering. Steelheart requested to join their party and initiated a group call, saying, "Guys, what are you up to? I just finished SB, and I made something for you. It's nothing special, but it will last a few levels." The three agreed to meet outside the area the old man had marked off on John's map. It had been approximately 12 hours in the game, and the night had descended. Half an hour later, they arrived at the edge of the King Rabbit's domain. Steelheart lagged briefly behind them, saying, "Hey dudes, what's been happening? Are we ready to slice up a Rabbit? Oh, SB, here, I made this for you." Taking the axe, Tommy checked out the stats.
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Superior Iron Axe (uncommon)
Damage: 15-20
Ignores 5% armor
Durability: 100%
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"Bro, this is amazing! You managed to make this? Damn, you must be a top-level blacksmith," Tommy exclaimed, laughing it off. Steelheart responded, "I just got lucky creating axes, and this one came out. No big deal." After a brief discussion about the axe, John and Tommy called their mutated Ducks out from the soul space, and the group proceeded to enter deeper into the Rabbit King's territory. Just as they arrived, a system message appeared: {First discovery of King's burrow, rewarding 50 reputation points and 100XP}. "Seems like we have arrived in the creature's lair," John quickly shared the quest with the other two as they headed forth into the zone. It was eerily quiet, as if there were no living creatures, not even insects, in the area. Staying vigilant, they came across a large burrow-like hole in the ground in the middle of a clearing. This was clearly the lair of the King Rabbit, who they guessed was inside. Not wanting to potentially face the beast in a confined underground space, the trio decided on a plan to lure the beast from its lair.
John, with his enhanced agility, would enter the burrow and kite the beast out into the open field where Tommy and Steelheart would ambush it. John slowly advanced through the tunnel, and as he went further in, he heard the sounds of battle. Someone was already there fighting the King Rabbit. John sent a message to the party chat, asking the others to join him. He continued to move forward, staying hidden in the dim lighting and hiding behind a large rock when he rounded a corner. From there, John could see into a large underground chamber with small streams of light coming through holes in the roof. Sniddy Steve and three others were fighting the King Rabbit. If they played things right, they wouldn't even need to fight the King Rabbit themselves; they could let this team take care of it and steal their prize, just like Sniddy Steve had done before. Steelheart and Tommy joined John, and the three of them watched as the fight proceeded. The Rabbit was now down to about 70% health, and one of Steve's allies was close to death. Even if they did nothing, it didn't look like this team could finish the boss. At around 60% health, the first of the team fell. The King Rabbit bit down on the player called Sneaky Pete, causing severe bleeds. Three seconds later, Sneaky Pete dropped dead. With no tank, it was only a matter of time before the team wiped. At around 55% health, the mage called In Your Face dropped dead, leaving only Sniddy Steve and a weapons master named Hades. At this point, the trio made their move. John launched a trick shot at Sniddy Steve, stunning him in place. "Fuck, someone's here," was the last thing he said as the King Rabbit bit down on him, taking the last of his HP. Hades, seeing this, backed off and headed for the entrance, only to be blocked by Tommy's shield. "Who the fuck are you? Do you know who we are? We're part of the Blood Forge guild. You don't know who you're fucking..." Before he could finish, Steelheart appeared and delivered a triple strike, removing the last of his HP. With the other team wiped out, the trio quickly engaged the King Rabbit before it had time to regenerate. Tommy charged in and stunned the Rabbit for three seconds. John, Tommy, Steelheart, and both Ducks wasted no time and launched their attacks as the stun wore off. Shortly after, Tommy launched another charge, but unfortunately, the stun didn't land. "Pull back! Stop attacking when it hits 35% health left, and what happens next doesn't get shared with anyone," John instructed. The other two followed his instructions, and John pulled out his whip, lashing it towards the King Rabbit. A silver aura once again emanated from the end of the whip, surrounding the King Rabbit. After struggling for 20 seconds, the King Rabbit lowered its head. "Ding! King Rabbit Taming successful."
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Name companion
Y/n
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Selecting yes John typed in Bugs Bunny and brought up the system profile.
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Bugs Bunny: (Rare)
Level: 5
Hit Points: 800
XP: 0\/600
Stats:
Strength: 20
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 15
Constitution: 18
HP: 82
Mana: 150
Defence: 66
Skills:
Charge: Charge 10 yards in any direction, dealing 20-25 damage. 5% chance to cause a stun status for 1.2 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Bite: Deals 15-25 damage. Cooldown: No cooldown.
Stomp: Stomps the ground, causing all players in a 10-yard radius to suffer an unsteady state, losing 10% defense for 5 seconds and stunning them for 4.8 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Puncture: Causes 30-38 damage and inflicts Bleed, causing the target to lose 10 HP per second. Cooldown: 5 seconds.
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It was a rare beast. This was a real jackpot. Its stats were really high; this would cause some real damage and be of major help to John. Steelheart stood there with his mouth open in shock. "Dude, what did you do? What was that? How did you make it your pet?"
Laughing, John explained about his special class. In more shock now, Steelheart's mouth opened and closed, no words coming out. "Don't worry, Steel. I was just the same when I found out," Tommy said, slapping him on the back. After the initial shock wore off and everyone had calmed down, they proceeded to explore the burrow for loot, checking out the last passage. So far, they found nothing, but there was a glow coming from the end of the passage. Proceeding towards the light, the three stopped dead in their tracks. There was a treasure chest made from gold and fine jewels, with a golden glow coming off it. None of them had ever seen something like this before. Stepping forward, John lifted the lid. The golden glow filled the room, blinding them. As it simmered down, in place of the treasure chest were three items and a bunch of coins. Picking them up, John shared the details with the other two.
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Blueprint
Short sword of the viper (Rare)
Inflicts poison damage on the target
Dealing 5 damage per second for
10 seconds
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Fine iron helmet (Uncommon)
Defense +10
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Steel tipped whip (Rare)
Damage 15-20
Increase taming by 20%
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30 silver, 50 copper
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Sharing out the loot, John took the whip, Tommy took the helmet, and Steelheart took the blueprint. They split the money between the three. They searched around a bit more but found nothing further. At this point, Steelheart pointed something out. "Guys, the quest was to bring the rabbit's foot as proof that it was dead. But John tamed it. Will that void the quest?" This was something John had not considered. Maybe the beast being tamed and no longer a threat would be enough for the old man, but there was only one way to find out: head back and see.
Meanwhile, back at the town outside the temple, Sniddy Steve and his party revived. "Those scumbags, who do they think they are? Contact the boss, let him know what happened. They won't last a day. Blood Forge will track them down and destroy them, back to level 0," Sniddy Steve raged. Who were these people? This was the second time they had targeted him. Then a memory floated up. Did he kill one of them and steal their kill? He had done the same to so many; it was hard to remember. But so what if he did? He was part of Blood Forge. Some nameless solo players thinking they could mess with him were sorely mistaken. Once backup arrived, he would hunt them down and destroy them fully.