Chapter 23: Newbies’ Dungeon Trial
[Sizzle & Burn]
The air around her staff stirred.
Orange flames crackled at the tip of her staff, writhing like a living serpent.
CRACKLE!! BOOM!!
The spell shot toward the giant rabbit like a bolt of lightning.
’I hope that looked good on camera,’ Firestar thought. She maintained a confident smile.
The giant rabbit raised its head from the grass.
It sensed danger.
But before it could understand what it was, it was already too late.
The crackling orange flames struck the side of its body.
BOOOM!!
A ball of flame exploded outward.
The rabbit’s fur turned crisp black.
"SSKKREEE!!"
The rabbit let out a pain-wrenching shriek into the air.
Before the giant rabbit could recover, Executioner Five and Abel closed in from behind.
[Executioner Hands]
Executioner Five muttered under his breath.
He stamped his foot on the ground and launched himself high into the air.
An ethereal slender blue arm appeared from under his arm and caught his feet, propelling him even higher.
WHOOSSH!!
Now within striking distance of the giant rabbit, Executioner Five swung his blade forward, cutting deep into the beast’s neck.
SLASSH!!
"SKKREE!!"
The rabbit’s ruby-red eyes quickly spotted him, and its powerful jaws snapped toward his body.
Another pale blue arm emerged from his left side and surged beneath his feet like a platform. Using the other ethereal hand, he pushed against the beast’s body and launched himself backwards.
SNAP!!
Seeing that its attacker had fled, the giant-legged rabbit stamped its foot against the ground and launched its massive body several meters into the air.
SWISSH!!
An arrow wrapped in a red rose shot from a distance.
The giant rabbit twisted its body mid-air.
It dodged the arrow by a hair’s breadth.
Boom!!
It landed skilfully on the ground.
It turned towards Executioner Five and lowered its body.
BOOM!!
The ground exploded beneath its feet as its body transformed into a white blur, charging directly at Executioner Five.
"So fast!"
Executioner Five exclaimed.
He leapt into the sky. Five ethereal hands appeared from the side of his right hand and extended under his feet. He stepped on them like a staircase, using his momentum to launch himself further into the sky.
He did not stop until he was several meters away from his previous position.
The giant rabbit halted in his previous position.
Dust clouds surged from the ground and gathered in the air.
TWANG!!
TWANG!!
Poison Rose released two arrows consecutively.
PUCCI!!
One pierced the giant beast’s back.
Another struck its shoulder.
The rose dissolved into corrosive acid that melted against the beast’s body, burning and scarring it black. The wounds were then sealed over by the poison, searing deeper into its body.
The giant rabbit staggered backwards.
Its eyes immediately turned violent.
"SKREEE!!"
A gut-wrenching shrill escaped its jaws.
CLINK!! CLINK!! CLINK!!
A figure suddenly emerged from behind the beast.
It was none other than Abel.
He swung his double-bladed axe overhead rapidly and released it.
The axe shot forward, slicing through the air with a whistle.
The giant rabbit sensed danger and hopped sideways.
But Abel had already predicted it. His arm tugged on the chains and jerked backwards.
The battle axe curved in the air like a hooked fang.
SLASSH!!
Its giant feet were sliced open.
The giant rabbit screamed in pain as it fell on one foot.
But Abel did’t stop there, he reeled in his axe, then swung it overhead once more, and released it.
BANG!!
It pierced the rabbit’s head with a resounding, ’bang.’
Fresh blood sprayed into the air.
Like a puppet losing its strings, the rabbit fell to the ground, unconscious.
It was dead.
[You’ve slain a Level One Giant-Feet Rabbit.]
Abel reeled in his battle axe with a tug on the chain and caught it by the handle.
A mysterious energy flowed into Abel’s body.
’Was this what Hunters felt after slaying a beast?’ Abel thought.
It wasn’t mana, but something similar yet different. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
The group reassembled around him.
"That was a close call," Executioner Five remarked.
"Yes, it was. Nice work on finishing the job, TYRANT," Firestar responded, looking at his chained axe and the rabbit’s corpse.
"Good work," Poison Rose said, lightly tapping his shoulder.
Abel simply nodded.
He was lost in thought as he realised that the individuals before him were far more experienced than he had initially assumed. He ruled out the possibility that they were ordinary civilians.
Not everyone was like him, capable of awakening a strange system and obtaining skills and battle experience while lying in a hospital bed. He quickly formed two deductions: either they were already familiar with Hunters, or they were wealthy enough to find someone skilled enough to guide them before registering with the Hunter Association.
Regardless, this meant that neither of them was in the same rank as a helpless commoner like him.
Thinking about this, Abel sighed in relief.
At least, they weren’t going to hold him back.
[War Sherif has donated three coins to your party’s Livestream.]
"A donation! Yes!" Poison Rose abruptly let out a surprisingly loud yell before sealing her lips and clearing her throat.
"Congratulations on your first donation. You all did a good job on your first dungeon monster. But this is only the beginning. Remember, you still need to defeat the Dungeon’s Final Boss to pass this trial," Bear Bard said as he approached the group.
He gestured at a green hill in the distance.
Several giant-legged rabbits were gathered around the hill. They had been startled by the anguished cries of their slain companion and had huddled together.
"You don’t need to worry about the corpses of the slain monsters. The compensation will be given to you by the Hunter Association if you pass the trial," Bear Bard added.
The group nodded.
"Everyone, get ready," Poison Rose said. She drew an arrow and lined it on her bow.
"What’s the plan?" Abel asked, glancing at his teammates.
"How about we see who can eliminate them the fastest?" Firestar turned to look at the others and asked with a smile. "Hunter Bear Bard is here to protect us from getting seriously injured. And we just got our first donation, so why don’t we give our audience a good show?"
