Yuki glared at the system window. The message didn’t change. She remembered this story where one could forcefully induce an emergency system unlock by facing mortal danger. She looked outside. She smelled the lemony scent in the air. She heard the clack of mandibles and half of Bunbun’s body disappearing. Yeah, nope. Fuck it, she wasn’t dumb enough to try something that she didn’t even know if it would work.

What else could she do? Going out to bite the monsters was out of the question. She didn’t have a horn, unlike her siblings. Her system wasn’t cooperating. No skills or magic. Yuki turned away from the entrance and moved deeper into the burrow. Mobilizing the rabbits and suicide attack the enemies outside crossed her mind, but she didn’t know if it would work. And even if it did, the death toll would be too much.

Yuki needed another option, but none came to mind. The logical solution would be to kill the monsters outside: save the colony, get exp, avenge Bunbun, and get closer to evolution. But how? In all the stories she had read in the before, the challenges were always proportional to the hero’s strength, even if levels were skewed. What were her advantages?

Yuki looked around. Her meandering led again to the nest. Whisker slept; Sir Hopsalot dug at the walls, trying to find food, most likely. Her stomach aching in hunger, she laid down next to Whisker and closed her eyes.

Yuki had knowledge from the before. That was a good advantage. But she didn’t have opposable thumbs to put most of that knowledge to work. Bummer. She was small and fast. That was good. She was small and frail. Another bummer.

“Status,” she called out. The character sheet appeared again. She noted the differences from when she was a disembodied soul. The ‘landing page’ for her status now had an image of a rabbit. Luxurious white fur with dark circles around the red eyes. She clicked the first tab.

 

Personal info.

Name: —.

Age: 33 days.

Gender: Female.

Race: Mutant Dwarf Horned Rabbit.

Evolution tier: F.

Exp: 33/3000.

 

Nothing there of note. Yuki clicked on the next tab.

 

Attributes.

Strength (STR): 1.

Constitution (CON): 2.

Size (SIZ): 1.

Dexterity (DEX): 20.

Intelligence (INT): 20.

Power (POW): 20.

Charisma (CHA): 20.

 

Yuki sighed, ears flopping. Was she reborn as a rabbit because of the attribute’s selection? She might have miscalculated what things meant when distributing her attributes. She still remembered the system messages. A new tab had appeared after her reincarnation: Characteristics. It wasn’t available yet, though. Locked functions due to this age of maturity thing, probably. She clicked the next tab.

 

Abilities.

Heroic Trait: Reincarnation.

Heroic Title: Summoned Hero.

Trait: The Perfume of Power.

Title: None.

 

Yuki had wondered if that trait meant her scent for a while, but now she knew better. She could smell magic, or in this case, power. She didn’t think other rabbits shared this trait. Was this the reason for the “mutant” in her race?

She clicked the next tab.

 

Magic.

Tradition: Sorcery.

Skill: Invocation.

Manipulation: Shaping.

 

Invocation was an advanced skill. Yuki felt confident in assuming manipulation was the same, which was a bummer. Skills and advanced skills were still locked, and she had yet to learn the difference between them.

She clicked on the spells tab and decided to summarize the magics in case any idea popped into her mind.

 

[Contract Familiar]: Forge a bond with a creature.

[Dominate]: A spell that didn’t feel complete, almost like a question. Dominate what?

[Enchant]: More like a curse. From what Yuki understood, it could make magical effects permanent on an object or creature. The power expenditure was permanent while the effect lasted. Yuki could see it. A petty sorceress cursing a pretty girl to sleep forever after the girl’s finger prickled on a cursed needle.

[Neutralise Magic]: This was not a permanent dispel magic like Yuki had thought it would be. It did what the name implied: neutralized a magical effect, but only for a short duration.

[Protective Ward]: This was another selection that didn’t do what Yuki thought it did. It couldn’t be used alone. From the knowledge of the spell in her mind, it should be combined with another magic to create an area protected by the second spell.

[Regenerate]: This was a healing spell with limitations. It took hours to heal, and the caster needed to concentrate the whole time. It didn’t work on grave injuries aside from stabilizing the dying person, but it was a good choice nonetheless.

[Sense]: This did not sense magic like Yuki guessed, but it was more esoteric. The spell could sense a particular object, a substance, or even a mental state from someone. Imagine that! Yuki could now sense when people were lusting after one another! Should she open a dating consultation association guild?

[Shapechange]: The spell did what it said in the can. With this magic, Yuki could change herself or someone else into another creature. The magic offered no partial transformation.

[Spell Resistance]: This was another one that did what the description implied. It blocked all magic, friendly or otherwise. From Yuki’s understanding, this spell could be used with [Protective Ward].

[Wrack]: With this spell, Yuki could throw deadly bolts of… something at the target. The exciting thing is that once used, the spell lasted for a time, and the attack could be performed without dispersing the magic.

 

---

 

There were lots of options if only Yuki could use magic. It boiled down again to the system limitations and this age of maturity lock. How long until rabbits were ready to dance the horizontal tango? In lieu of answers, Yuki heard distant howls. Her ears perked up, and soon after, she dashed toward the burrow entrance.

Yuki dove and waved between the fleeing rabbits. The other rabbits wanted nothing to do with whatever happened up there. The colony fled to the lower chambers, further away from the noise. Yuki’s heart beat frantically in her chest; her legs wobbled, but she persevered. She was the master of the body, even if the body didn’t like to listen to her wishes.

She slowed down when she got closer to the entrance. She stuck to the burrow’s wall and approached with slow, measured hops. Yells and grunts were also added to the cacophony of noises from outside. Breath catching in her throat, she looked at the clearing.

The first thing she saw was the snakepards. A bright yellow coat of paint covered both of the monsters. The snake on their shoulders coiled and hissed. In one of the beasts, two of the snakes had been severed, their stump dripping dark, almost black blood. Arrows stuck out of both monsters.

Facing the creatures was a group of humans. Or humanoids. Yuki couldn’t see from the distance. It was a diverse group. Two in the front held bulking planks of wood, which they used as a barrier between themselves and the snakepards. Each also carried a sword. They were the most armored ones. Vambraced arms, metal breastplate, and helm. Sturdy leather boots and pants. Seven of the others behind wore lighter armor, mainly leather covering the significant bits. They also held a different assortment of weapons. Immediately behind the shield, the three ones held spears, which they used to poke the monsters from safety. The ones further back held crossbows and bows.

Yuki smelled the air. There was a different smell, but one she attributed to the paint. It lacked the same substance as the lemony scent from when the leopards used their invisibility. In her inept opinion, this was a well-organized and prepared group.

The rabbit observed the unfolding battle from the burrow entrance. The snakepards kept trying the same tactic: go invisible and then attack from where the prey was least expecting. But the paint prevented that from working. The splotches of yellow paint were a glaring indication of where the monsters were.

One of the creatures lunged, and the shielder turned, interposing his barrier between him and the attack. The spearman behind poked a hole in the creature’s shoulder. When the monster tried disengaging, the sword lashed from behind the shield, missing the serpents by a hair’s breadth. Soon after arrows peppered the creature, one found its mark on the monster’s flesh. On the other side, the scene was similar. One blocked the attack, while the others used that opportunity to counter.

Yuki realized it was a very methodical approach to battle. Nothing like she’d been expecting from a magic fantasy world with a system. No flashy attacks, magic, or solo hero going out of his way to kill the monsters and earn glory. Just ruthless men and women at work.

It didn’t take long for one of the monsters to fall. A lucky arrow impaled it through the eye. Even so, the monster hunters didn’t take a chance. The spearman impaled the fallen monster before the group turned to the remaining snakepard. The creature was on its last legs, peppered with arrows and cuts. It seemed to have also noticed its predicament. It turned invisible and tried to leave. It didn’t work. The shielder bounded forward and bashed the creature. Two of the spearmen impaled it.

After the battle, Yuki watched while the men and women hauled the carcasses away and collected the bits and pieces of the snake they’d severed. They even collected and removed the leaves and grass stained with the creature’s blood. Near the end, one of the archers, a woman with sun-kissed skin, took her bow and aimed straight at Yuki.

It happened too fast. One moment, the woman gathered the bloodied leaves, and the next, she looked straight at Yuki, bow-nocked and ready.

“Cut it off, Mave!” Yelled one of the shielders. Yuki didn’t understand the language, but the man sounded angry.

The woman lowered her bow and raised a finger. “It’s only one, Carlos. No one will miss it. I’ll make you a tasty stew tonight. Promise.”

“No, cut it off. You know who this farm belongs to.” The gruff man insisted.

“They won’t ever know!” Said the woman, a hand going to her hair.

The shielder stopped and moved closer. He put a hand on the woman’s shoulder and whispered, “Did you forget the tattletale is also here?”

Whatever the man said, it was enough for the archer. With one last look in Yuki’s direction, a look of pure hunger and greed, she turned away, carrying the leaves.

What had just happened? Yuki cursed her inability to understand the language. What were the two discussing? And where was her universal language spell, like any good isekai should have? Yuki took a few steps inside the burrow. She thought no one would see her from where she was, but the archer proved her wrong. It was best to be safe for now.

Yuki waited and waited. Time crawled at a snail’s pace. The hunters didn’t return. The lemony scent dispersed. Was it safe to go outside? Her stomach growled, and she made up her mind. Only one way to find out.