Chapter 202: Population boom

Soon the smell of roasting Horned rabbit legs filled the air, Walker was extra vigilant since he was worried it would attract other predators, however as it cooked he found none had come. Gil and Midnight were sulking since they did not want to be stuck with the watch all by themselves, however Walker refused to budge. Maria was visibly drooling, not a single person had realized just how underfed she must have been while with Vincent, they should have stopped sooner or given her some bread to snack on as they walked. This was something they would remedy when they returned to their travels in the morning. 

The horned rabbit had been fully cooked, the crispy smoky flavors brought them all to heaven. The meat may have been a bit tough but the flavor was much better than any of them expected. Hilda would have a field day with this when they returned to the mansion, Walker would definitely be hunting a few more and asking the guild to dissect them for their meat. He also wondered what the horns were for, he knew that there was a paralyzing poison in the females horns and this gave Walker an idea. He had received the throwing needles from Rodney as an extra when he enhanced Remey's knuckles and crafted sewing needles. Walker had been letting the throwing needles waste away in his inventory for too long and felt that if the poison could be properly extracted he could coat the needles with them to give him a good way to subdue monsters. This was yet another thing added to the to do list for when they got back.

Having stuffed themselves everyone was ready to sleep. Walker created a flame doll in the shape of the speckled fox that Gil and Midnight had brought back. This was his trick to add another guard to their night watch and also keep a fire unkempt. The wind had not been too brutal and the fire had been easily sustained. Gil took the first half of the night being unable to resist Midnight's sad look wanting to sleep after dinner. 

The sun started to break the horizon bringing the plains back to life. The sparkling Ice was enough to push everyone back to the world of the awake. Maria had not had the chance to ever sit and watch the sunrise, Su sat with her as the two did so, Maria was having trouble understanding that this was actually real and not a dream, her life so far had been a dull grey. Now it was suddenly starting to show colors she had never been able to imagine before. Walker had warmed some bread on the fire that the flame doll fox had kept going, he was very proud of his idea to use it in this way. 

With a warm breakfast and an easy camp clean up they were all on the move yet again. Gil seemed a bit more tired than the others, his excitement to run ahead and scout had been slightly diminished. He had definitely learned his lesson after running off on his own. Midnight seemed to lag behind a bit as well but she was able to pick herself back up in energy once she had eaten, there didn't seem to be anything that food could not solve for her. 

The morning was still early and lucky for them the wind had almost died down to stillness. The peaceful plains were only brought sound by the party's crunching steps. Gil was able to lead them off the path they strode a few times to avoid some horned rabbit tracks but that did not seem to stop the party from seeing one in the distance, the number of horned rabbits coming out of hibernation was increasing. The one in the distance seemed to be snacking on the dried grass that was above the snow. Since the green grasses were yet to be unearthed this was all there was for them to eat. 

Gil held up a hand to the party wanting to take a long range shot at the stationary rabbit, he wanted the practice on a real target to keep improving his long range. Walker understood this and had everyone else prepare themselves while Gil took his aim, they had learned that the horned rabbits could use their speed to easily make up the distance to them the day before.

The arrow Gil released flew in a large arc in the air, it curved downward toward the horned rabbit. The arrow landed right along the rabbits back, the sudden pain caused it to jump high in to the air and roll a bit when it fell. The horned rabbit was panicked and quickly found the attackers. Su had already settled in to her ready position and Midnight was by her side. Onyx was watching from Walker's shoulders as Walker shot a long range fire bolt. He wanted to see how well he could aim from long distance. The fire bolt went much further than he expected, missing the charging horned rabbit by a significant distance, however it was well within the area to hit if the distance was adjusted. With this knowledge Walker sent a second fire bolt at the horned rabbit that had now covered a third of the distance between them. 

Once adjusted, the second fire bolt was much better on course than the previous, it landed head first on the horned rabbit causing it to stumble and fall in shock. The tumble seemed to push Gil's arrow deeper causing it to be much slower getting up. The timing was perfect for Gil to land yet another arrow. The plains were really an advantageous hunting ground for them as long range attackers. The rabbit was still not done, Walker realized that while he had been too focused on the second fire bolt Onyx had left his shoulders and was furiously closing the gap between him and the rabbit. The stunned rabbit was struggling to stand after the long ranged attacks and was just about to continue its aggravated sprint. Onyx rose from the grass and snow around the horned rabbits feet rapidly entangling it. 

Onyx was using his bind skill to its full ability to try and subdue the rabbit, however Onyx was still too small to fully wrap all four of its legs. The rabbit could not get Onyx off of it and was now under increasing pressure pushing on its back and ribs. With less and less ability to breath it struggles to attack the serpent coiled around it. Watching this Walker said a silent prayer that Onyx would never do that to him as he was almost always wrapped around his shoulders. Bleeding and losing oxygen the Rabbit soon felt its bones crush, the damage done it could not survive much longer. Just seconds later the party was notified by their systems that the Horned rabbit was defeated. It was another two hundred experiences on the pile they needed. 

Onyx unwrapped himself from the bind, slithering over to Walker he waited for him to speak. "That was very good timing, but don't forget you are still a bit small. You couldn't fully wrap around the horned rabbit."

"Yes brother, I know, but if i get bigger I won't be able to ride on your shoulders or sister's back." Walker shook his head as how shameless Onyx was, he would keep small just so he wouldn't need to slither around himself. 

Gil was retrieving his arrows when he glanced up out of habit to survey the area. He immediately hit the ground flat, this caused everyone else to stop cold. Gil was motioning for them all to get down. Walker slowly crawled along the snow to get next to Gil. He used the chance when he got there to store away the horned rabbit body in case they needed to make a speedy escape and couldn't take it with them. "There are at least fifty of them over there. They dug away a ton of snow and are eating all the grass. It's crazy, I thought they would fight each other for territory." 

Walker slowly pushed himself up just enough to see over the grass ahead. Gil was right, just ahead of them there was a huge torn up area, the ground looked like it had constantly been trampled and dug at. There was no grass alive or dried remaining. The horned rabbits easily numbered over fifty, they were scratching at the ground moving snow in search of more grass. When one would find some the others around it would jump at it trying to swallow it up first. 

Lowering himself back down he gave Gil a dangerous look, should they retreat and hope none of the horned rabbits see them, or should they fortify some defenses and start unleashing some dangerous attacks. "Gil, do you feel like making a dent in the last of the experience we need to get to level fifteen?"