Then she stuck out her palm and used her [Summon Lesser Beast] Skill, summoning five of her fluffy allies into the courtyard. They were hidden behind a set of dense bushes, that way the guards wouldn't notice them yet.
The Snow Rabbits looked confused for a moment, looking around the area to find their master.
Liora smiled and stuck her hand up high, waving it around to gain their attention. The Snow Rabbits noticed her and started to hop closer to her, but she stopped them by shaking her head and making an X-sign with her arms.
The Snow Rabbits understood immediately and stopped. Liora then began to motion with her hands the plan to them to the best of her abilities. She couldn't use her voice; otherwise, the guards would notice her.
The Snow Rabbits looked at her and then back at themselves, before nodding to each other and running off towards the guards.
"Yes!" Liora said to herself as she raised her fist in the air in victory.
A guard was walking around the area, his eyes darting around as he held his spear in his hand. The sounds of a few squeaks caught his attention as he turned around swiftly, his eyes widening a bit in surprise as he caught sight of ten little rabbits a few meters away from him.
"What are these animals doing here? How did they get in?" the guard thought as he continued to stare at the Snow Rabbits.
Another guard caught sight of him weirdly standing, almost as if he had seen a ghost. The guard walked up next to him, his expression showing annoyance. "Hey! What are you staring at?" the guard asked as he stood next to him, and he too became surprised upon seeing the Snow Rabbits.
"They're just staring at us..." the first guard said, gripping his spear a bit tighter.
"What do we do with them?" the first guard asked.
"It's obvious," the second guard said, rolling his eyes as he stepped closer to the Snow Rabbits. "We're just going to have to remove them from the premises."
One of the Snow Rabbits walked up to a nearby, neatly cut bush, adorned with a few flowers next to it. The guards stared at it, waiting for what it was going to do. Unexpectedly, the rabbit aggressively attacked the bush, tearing at it with its paws and teeth.
The other rabbits also followed suit, scattering in different directions and ripping apart any plant their little eyes could find.
"Quick! Catch them! They're tearing up the garden. If Alfred sees this, he's going to be pissed!" the second said as he began to chase one of the Snow Rabbits. The first guard understood and also gave chase immediately.
The other guards were confused at the second guard's shout at first, but when they caught sight of the little white creatures wreaking havoc in the garden, they immediately started to chase them.
Liora watched the guards chase the rabbits around, laughing under her breath as she found the situation really amusing. One of the Snow Rabbits looked up at her for a second before running toward the back of the mansion.
The other rabbits followed that rabbit, and the guards chased them as they were led behind the mansion.
"Alright, now's my chance," Liora thought as she quickly grabbed her dark robe and practice sword. She climbed on the windowsill, steeling herself as she loomed at the ground below her.
Then, she leaped from her window and onto the ground. She sharply grit her teeth as pain coursed through her legs, shockwaves coursing through her being as she stood there for a few seconds.
"I can't waste any more time. I have to leave before the guards come circle this place again," Liora thought as she forced herself to run toward the mansion walls, despite the pain in her legs.
As she reached the walls, she cast her [Golem Summoning] Skill and a Rock Golem appeared, standing tall and ready to serve its master.
"Quick, carry me over," Liora commanded, and the Rock Golem nodded, kneeling down on one knee and reshaping the ends of its arms to create human-like hands, laying them perfectly on the ground for Liora to step on.
Liora then walked into the hands of the Rock Golem and watched as the creature lifted her over the wall effortlessly. Liora jumped down from the monster's hands and landed on the other side.
She then deactivated her Skill, and the Rock Golem vanished. She then pulled the hood of the dark robe over her head and quickly ran out into the night.
---
On the other side of the mansion, the guards had finally caught all of the Snow Rabbits, holding their ears tightly in their hands. The guards let out a sigh of relief as they then carried the Snow Rabbits toward the gates and let them out, watching them scurry off into the streets of the Royal Capital.
"Stupid pests..." a guard sneered as he closed the gates of the mansion before returning to his post.
---
Liora arrived at the Slime hunting grounds again. As she had expected, the slimes were already back due to their quick reproduction rates. She walked toward them and slowly unsheathed her practice sword before breaking into a sprint and running toward them.
The slimes charged at her but were quickly defeated. Her sword cut through them effortlessly as she kept on killing them, her movements refined and graceful.
[Liora has slain a Slime! +1 Exp(x10) +2 Beast Points(x10)] The notification sounded with every slime she killed.
[Liora has leveled up! +2 Stat Points(x10)]
After about an hour of continuous slime murdering, Liora had finally leveled up. The entire field was now devoid of any more slimes, except for two, which she decided to let go as they would help speed up the reproduction process.
"Alright, let's see..." Liora thought as she opened her status window.
---
[Status Window]
[Name: Liora Rohart] [Race: Human]
[Profession: Grand Beast Master] [Level: 16]
[Talents(S): Nature's Gift, A Master's Blessing]
[Stats]
[HP: 130] [MP: 130]
[Strength: 130] [Defense: 50]
[Agility: 130] [Intelligence: 40]
[Skills]
[Summon Lesser Beast-Lv2] [Tame-Lv1]
[Blood Contract-Lv1] [Golem Summoning-Lv2]
[Misc]
[Beast Points: 3000]
[Stat Points: 20]
[Exp: 2000/14000]
---
Liora saw the good amount of Beast Points she had accumulated. She then decided to convert all her Beast Points into Stat Points. She then received thirty points, bringing her Stat Points up to fifty.
She then poured everything into Defense, bringing it up to one hundred. Now only Intelligence had to be brought up to one hundred as well.
"I should check the shop the next time I get a lot of Beast Points. There could be an item that would help me escape the mansion better next time. I don't want to repeatedly tear up the garden," Liora thought, already imagining Alfred's mad reaction at the guards. "Haha, he is going to be so mad."
As Liora was planning on leaving, one of the remaining slimes charged at her. The slime jumped to tackle her, but she quickly sidestepped and dodged the attack.
"Now that I think about it, I have yet to use the [Blood Contract] Skill," Liora thought while looking at the slime, a dark glint in her eye, a sly grin forming on her face.
"And since our slime friend here wants to attack me, I think he'll make the perfect test subject."
The slime then quickly spun around and charged at Liora again, leaping to tackle her for the second time. Liora quickly spun around on her heel and delivered a kick to the slime, but not with too much force, so it wouldn't die.
The slime fell to the ground weakly and didn't have the strength to move. Taking this as an opportunity, Liora walked up to the slime as she withdrew her sword.
Now towering over it, she held her finger over the slime as she pricked it with her practice sword.
Liora flinched as she momentarily felt a sharp pain in her finger before a warm red liquid seeped out of the wound. A small drop of her blood fell onto the slime, and Liora smiled as it was now time to begin her experiment.
"[Blood Contract]" Liora activated the Skill in her mind.
A blood-red magic circle materialized over the slime's body, pulsing with a powerful, eerie aura. The slime's body began to twitch before going crazy, flinging its non-existent limbs in any direction in an attempt to resist the magic.
The slime felt like its body was set on fire, its vision turning blood red and its mind splitting apart.
Liora took a few steps back just to be safe as she watched the process carry on for a few more seconds before the slime finally went limp and silent. The blood-red magic circle had vanished, and a strange symbol appeared on the body of the slime.
[Liora Has Successfully Blood Contracted A Slime +1(x10) Beast Points]