A hard won Victory

"Swish, Swish, Swish!" Swinging his chain and sickle rapidly, William injured one rabbit and cut the horn off of another, causing it to writhe in pain on the ground before glaring hatefully at the boy who struck him.

"SKT, SKT, SKT!" echoed through the air as a group of nearby rabbits remained motionless in the shadows. Their horns illuminated with a warm, brown glow, casting an enchanting light around them.

Small stones scattered on the ground shimmered under the same glow, rising gently into the air as if enchanted. With a sudden burst of movement, the fierce rabbits unleashed the floating stones, hurling them toward William with menacing precision.

"WHOOSH!"

The stones hurtled through the air with such speed that the sound echoed around William as he scrambled to dodge them. Despite his best efforts, one struck him in the thigh, forcing him to tuck and roll, only to collide with another stone that hit him in the shoulder.

"BANG, BANG!"

Small trickles of blood began to seep from the wound on his shoulder, and he realized he couldn't put his full weight on his leg.

[Hp - 120/150] [Mp - 90/100] [User is under the bleeding debuff]

These words flashed in his peripheral vision, but he ignored them and continued swinging his sickle blade at the pesky rabbits attacking him.

William's vision blurred momentarily. The forest, once serene, now seemed like a battlefield. The rabbits, with a ferocity he had never seen before, moved with unnatural speed. His breath came in ragged gasps, and the pain in his leg and shoulder intensified with each movement.

One agile rabbit lunged at him, its claws aimed at his face. William barely managed to deflect it with his blade. Another two rabbits emerged from the shadows, their eyes glinting with malice.

He needed a plan, and fast. With a grunt of effort, he pushed through the pain and scanned the area.

Seeing a dense cluster of spears embedded in the ground, William rushed toward them, positioning himself in the thickest part of the barricade. The rabbits clawed at him, their sharp nails scraping against his clothes as they searched for an opening. Without hesitation, he swung the weighted end of his chain and sickle, aiming for the closest attacker.

CRACK!

The impact shattered its spine instantly. The rabbit collapsed mid-leap, body going rigid before falling still in the dirt. Without missing a beat, William yanked the chain back, using its momentum to redirect the weight. The second rabbit barely had time to react before the iron ball struck its head with pinpoint accuracy. A sharp, decisive thud sounded as its skull fractured, and it dropped lifelessly to the ground, brain matter peeking through the clean break.

The metallic scent of fresh blood mixed with the earth beneath him, the once-dry soil growing damp and dark from the carnage.

[10/20 rabbits slain]

Hidden within the spear-laden battlefield, William remained watchful, eyes locked onto the remaining rabbits as they circled him with eerie precision. Their movements weren't wild or instinct-driven, they were calculated, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

William tightened his grip. Fine. If they wouldn't come to him, he'd go to them.

He flicked his wrist, sending the sickle hurtling through the air. The curved blade met fur and flesh in a single, seamless motion, slicing straight through a rabbit's midsection. The creature let out a single, short squeak before collapsing, cut cleanly in two.

The other rabbits tensed.

Sensing weakness, a group of younger ones made their move. Their small but powerful bodies launched forward, horns gleaming as they aimed for his chest and legs.

Several miscalculated, impaling themselves on the waiting spears. They twitched only once before going limp. The others twisted mid-air, adjusting their trajectory with remarkable agility.

William reacted instantly. He sidestepped one, letting it land behind him, then met the second with a precise downward strike of his sickle. The blade sliced through its neck in a fluid motion, severing the spine. It hit the ground without a struggle, its body shutting down before it could even register the fatal blow.

Another rabbit lunged at his exposed side, horn gliding past his ribs with a shallow cut. William turned, the chain already in motion. The weighted end swung up, catching the creature under the jaw. Its head snapped back, and it collapsed in an instant, its body motionless.

He took a breath, assessing the battlefield. The spears around him were slick with blood, but the number of threats was rapidly decreasing. Only a few remained, their once-fierce aggression faltering.

With measured precision, he dispatched the last of the reckless attackers, one with a well-aimed strike to the temple, another with a swift slash across its chest, severing vital arteries. Each kill was clean, decisive, and efficient.

As the last body dropped, silence settled over the field. The earthy scent of soil and grass remained, but now mixed with the distinct sharpness of blood.

William exhaled, rolling his shoulders.

[16/20 rabbits slain]

The remaining rabbits hesitated, their morale shattered as they turned to flee. But William had no intention of letting them escape. Ignoring his fatigue, he lunged forward, keeping his targets in sight as they bounded away in erratic, zigzagging patterns, each leap covering shocking distances.

Whoosh!

A sickle blade whistled through the air, narrowly missing one rabbit, only to snap back in a lethal arc. The creature barely had time to register its fate before its head separated from its body. Its lifeless form hit the ground with a dull thump, legs spasming violently before going still.

[17/20 rabbits slain]

Without hesitation, William launched his weapon toward another target. This one noticed at the last second, twisting mid-leap to avoid the strike. Clicking his tongue in frustration, he yanked the sickle back and swung again, this time in a vicious horizontal slash. The curved blade met flesh, severing the rabbit's right leg at the hip. It hit the ground with a pained screech, blood spurting from its torn arteries.

William didn't stop. He sprinted past the downed creature, already certain it wouldn't last long. And sure enough—

[18/20 rabbits slain]

Behind him, the rabbit exhaled its final, shuddering breath, its kicks growing weaker until they ceased altogether.

Sensing the danger, the remaining rabbits scattered in opposite directions. William cursed under his breath. He could only go after one group.

"Damn… I won't be able to complete both objectives. But I came close. That's something, at least."

William locked onto the horned rabbit creeping toward his farm, tightening his grip on the sickle's worn handle. With a swift step forward, he slashed at the creature, the curved blade whistling through the air. But the rabbit was fast, too fast, darting left and right, evading each swing with uncanny agility.

Frustration bubbled up as William adjusted his stance, shifting his weight between his feet. He feinted a wide arc to the left before twisting his wrist mid-swing, bringing the sickle down at an unexpected angle. The creature barely avoided the strike, its red eyes gleaming with an almost mocking glint.

Grinding his teeth, William knew he'd have to outthink it, precision over brute force.

"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SLASH!" Using a series of spins, William sped up the blade of the sickle by wrapping the chain around his neck and body before using those same spins to launch the blade toward the fleeing rabbit in a diagonal angle to its body and sliced it from its shoulder to its hip as the not so small critters body crashed into the dirt and spilled its lifeblood unable to save itself and died on the spot.

[19/20 rabbits slain]

William looked around for the rest of the rabbits, but they seemed to have fled from view, leaving the farmer boy alone in a fertile field covered in blood, guts, and bone of the slain rabbits. 

But seeing as there were no rabbits nearby, William slumped to the ground and sighed as he looked at the sky with a sense of accomplishment as he had successfully defended his farm.

[Ding Quest partially completed – Survive the attack and/or kill twenty critters!]

[Quest rewards granted based on completion - Amberroot Seed's (100) + 1900 XP]

"LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP, LEVEL UP—"

"4 Skill points gained"

"4 Attribute points gained

A series of Notifications appeared in William's peripherals.

[User - William (Nameless)

Age: 5

Class: Farmer (Apprentice) 

Level: 3 to 7

HP: from 150/150 to 250/250

MP: 100/100

Strength (STR): 10

Dexterity (DEX): 7

Endurance (END): 5

Wisdom (WIS): 10

Charisma (CHA): 7

Skills - Rock throw lvl 2 to lvl 3

A surge of energy coursed through William's body as he allocated points to Dexterity and Charisma. His muscles tensed for a brief moment before loosening, a newfound agility settling into his limbs. He flexed his fingers, noting how his movements felt more fluid, more precise, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, now fully in control of its own motions.

The effect of Charisma, however, was far less tangible. There was no sudden burst of power, no clear sign of transformation. But William knew better than to underestimate it. From his past life as a gamer, he understood that Charisma wasn't just about charm, it could influence conversations, sway decisions, and even bend the will of others under the right circumstances. A subtle yet potent force, lying just beneath the surface.

Still, it was the heightened Dexterity that excited him most. He crouched, then sprang up in a single motion, feeling the responsiveness of his body like never before. 

William's body rose up several feet higher in the air than normal, causing him to momentarily panic and crash into the ground nearby, just barely missing the spears, "I should probably clean up before I do anything else!"

After an hour of removing the bodies from the fields and placing them on a cart, William wiped the sweat from his brow before heading to a nearby water trough and cleaning the blood off of his face and body.

As William stepped into the warmth of the house, the dampness of his skin still lingering from the water trough, he was enveloped in a fierce embrace from his mother. Her eyes sparkled with a mix of relief and concern, clearly having watched his arrival from the window. He couldn't help but smile as she pulled back slightly to scrutinize him for any injuries. Her fingers gently traced the contours of his shoulder, where a small wound, now dried and no longer bleeding, lay hidden beneath a flap of flesh that remained. She then shifted her gaze to a prominent welt on his leg, an unwelcome souvenir, and inspected the light scratches that decorated his arms like whispers of his adventures outside.

William was unable to resist as his mother wrapped the wounds in bandages to prevent a possible disease or infection, as well as how she poked and prodded his leg to see where exactly it hurt before sending him to bed to recover from his hard-won victory.

He attempted to complain, but his mother wasn't having it and waited with patience until his eyes finally closed as her hands traced his face and hair before kissing him on his slightly pallid forehead.

A hundred leagues away, William's father, James, was locked in a savage struggle on a blood-soaked battlefield. His sword whistled through the air, slashing through the flesh of a Drakthari soldier with a wet, sickening sound. The force of his swing carried him forward, just in time to parry the brutal strike of another soldier's blade.

James felt the jarring impact up to his shoulders, muscles screaming in protest. He gritted his teeth, sweat mingling with the grime on his face, stinging his eyes. His breaths came in ragged gasps, each one feeling like it might be his last. He knew his leverage was failing, his stance crumbling under the relentless onslaught of the enemy.

Suddenly, a flash of movement caught his eye. One of his comrades, seeing James's peril, lunged forward with a spear. The weapon pierced the side of the Drakthari soldier, the tip emerging on the other side in a spray of blood. The demi-human's shriek was a spine-chilling wail, echoing across the battlefield before it crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

James felt a brief, shaky moment of relief. He spared a quick glance of gratitude at the soldier who'd saved him before steeling himself for the next wave. Around him, the chaos of battle raged on, screams of pain, the clash of steel, and the acrid scent of blood and sweat hanging heavy in the air.

James barely had time to nod his thanks to the soldier who had saved him before a new threat emerged from the chaos. A Drakthari sergeant, larger and more menacing than the rest, caught sight of the soldier's act of heroism. His eyes burned with fury and determination as he raised his large, curved blade high into the air.

With a roar that cut through the din of battle, the sergeant charged. The soldier, still catching his breath from saving James, turned just in time to see the death blow coming. The Drakthari sergeant's blade cleaved through the air with terrifying speed and force, connecting with the soldier's torso. The impact sent a spray of blood into the air, and the soldier crumpled to the ground with a gurgling cry, life draining from his eyes.

James felt a surge of horror and fury. His comrade's sacrifice had given him precious seconds, but now another life was snuffed out before him. He clenched his sword tighter, muscles trembling with both fatigue and rage. The Drakthari sergeant turned his gaze toward James, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Blood pounded in James's ears as he stepped forward to face the sergeant. Around them, the battle continued to rage, but in that moment, it felt as though the world had narrowed to just the two of them. With a defiant roar, James lunged at the sergeant, driven by the need to avenge his fallen comrade.