Monster Lore Expanded.

Ambush Rabbit information has been updated!

Ambush Rabbit

Dungeon Creature - Small Mammal (Lapin)

Rank D Threat level

Region - Forest Biome (Common), Tundra Biome (Very Common)

Diet - Omnivores (Herbivore as a preference, but not necessary)

Elemental Affinity - Shadow, Wind, Ice

Best Trait - Speed (Agility), Strength (Ambush)

Preferred Method of Attack - Ambush, Bite, Force Strike

Breeding Group - Mammal (Lapin)

Known Drops: General - 1-2x Rabbit Haunch, Lucky Rabbit’s Foot, Ambush Rabbit Pelt

Known Drops: Regional - Rabbit Fur lined gloves, Rabbit fur-lined hat, Rabbit fur scarf

Ambush Rabbits are most commonly found in the forested regions of the dungeon’s first floor despite their home being in the colder climates of the world. They are a common pest in the underbrush but little more than that unless guided by a more intelligent force, namely the lapin royalty, or in large numbers.

Ambush rabbits get their name from their preferred method of attack and usually work in groups to achieve their goals and hunt when vegetation is scarce. Though it is rare to encounter a group of Ambush Rabbits that have developed their Skills, it is advised to avoid large groups of these monsters. Their agility coupled with their ability to generate limited force strikes can cripple an unprepared party if caught unaware.

Class Specific Information: [Monster Tamer]

New information has been added to Monster Husbandry Skill concerning Skill Modification.

Note: New observations have shown that Ambush Rabbits in their home region have access to an elemental force-based attack, Lesser Ice Strike, in place of Lesser Force Strikes. Based on prior information, it can be extrapolated to show that Skill Adaptation can be applied to any Force based skill.

More observation is necessary to confirm this.

After the third ambush in an hour, Myles was getting sick of the Ambush Rabbits. Despite the nostalgia of when he’d first started fighting for his life, the quick, brutal fights got old just as fast as they had the first time, and that was on top of the fact that the rabbits were just another reminder of what he’d been missing. Thankfully, the fights were good for his targeting practice.

By that third group, Myles could reliably crack one in the skull from over ten feet away when it was stationary, but for all the good that did to get him used to his new wand, Myles was practically ecstatic when the party was attacked by something different.

Monster Lore Unlocked.

Tundra Fox information Obtained!

Tundra Fox

Dungeon Creature - Small-Medium Mammal (Canine)

Rank D+ Threat level

Region - Tundra Biome

Diet - Omnivore

Elemental Affinity - Ice

Best Trait - Speed

Preferred Method of Attack - Bite, Misdirection, Pack Tactics

Breeding Group - Mammal (Canine)

Known Drops: Tundra Fox Fur lined coat, Tundra Fox Fur Scarf, Tundra Fox pelt

Tundra foxes are an uncommon predator in the tundra region. They are larger than Ambush Rabbits but smaller than wolves and wolven. Their bite isn’t nearly as horrifying as their bark, if such a noise could be called that, but they can still kill an unprepared adventurer if they are not taken as a proper threat.

Observe, fight, or Tame Tundra Foxes to expand this entry.

The tundra foxes were a bit more dangerous than the ambush rabbits, but they were about as effective as the party dispatched them with an ease Myles was more than comfortable with. Part of it came from their teamwork. They were used to each other now, and a bunch of minor monsters were nothing compared to what they’d been through. However, no one could deny the difference a defensive shield made. The way Mitchel was able to mitigate so much of the damage was enough to make Myles start toying with the idea of a dough-based defensive wall, but without more mana on his end, it wasn’t a viable option for his abilities yet. Besides, snapping limbs with bread dough was about all the defense he needed while he had Mitchel and Will as allies.

In short, the beasts never stood a chance and soon rejoined the aether.

A few pelts and a tundra fox-lined fur coat claimed by Kendra later, the group checked the map again. The terrain looked so much nicer on the map, but that wasn’t what made Myles want to smile. They were so close to the X that Sindra had marked, so close to the next step of their goal, so close to making things right. Each step they took was a step closer to the end, and Myles felt his nerves begin to fray. Evening coming this far, he still didn’t have a solid plan yet, and no one had anything better than to talk her down and into coming back.

When the location stone glowed, he hoped that was all it would take…

“So, was this one of the dungeons you cleared?” Lyna asked, interrupting his train of thought as Mitchel dropped some of the kindling. Kendra prepared a ring of stones soon after for a proper break.

Mitchel took his time answering as he set an emberstone at the edge of the newly constructed firebreak, just touching the edge of the wood before he wobbled his hand back and forth in the air. “Not quite, but we do have a nonaggression pact between our party and the Monsterkin living there though, seeing as we’re trading with them and the naga in the desert regions for supplies.”

Myles wasn’t sure whose surprise he was feeling, but he was pretty sure it was everyone when Lyna plopped herself down next to him as he began tracing the emberstone’s runic trigger. Myles felt just a pang of jealousy as the stone ignited, remembering his own lost tool. “How’d you manage that?”

Mitchel shrugged as the fire ignited, and he sat down next to the [Master of Arms]. “We brought Verass.”

“Verass?” Will asked, taking a seat. “The twig of a girl that runs the Item Exchange?” Mitchel nodded, and Will balked. “She’s barely able to hold a knife let alone a conversation with a boss monster.”

“Say what you will, but I’d bring her into any dungeon with Monsterkin,” Mitchel said proudly, stoking the fire with a small stick before tossing it on the pile. “Verass might just be a [Merchant], but with the Tongues Trait, she can negotiate with any sapient monster in their native language. You wouldn’t believe the clout a monster gives your group when you can talk the talk, you know?”

“Sounds useful,” Will said pulling out a skewer of all things and sticking a hunk of rabbit haunch on it to hold over the fire.

Myles agreed and made a note of the woman to talk to later. He’d never gone to the Item Exchange, but it was more because he never had anything worth trading. He had a feeling he’d have a few things to talk about with the [Merchant] though.

After a meal and warming by the fire, the group continued out again.

***

As it turned out, Myles didn’t need the locater stone to find the entrance to the dungeon that the Ambush Rabbit Monsterkin called home— the uncovered crater in the snowbank revealing a decorated entrance lined just beyond the threshold with torches did the job well enough for a newborn to identify.

Well, that, the splashes of deep blue, and the piles of loot scattered around the entrance.

“Hold on,” Myles said, taking time to take in the scene despite his racing heart. Sindra wouldn’t have given him such an expensive item if she knew it would be this easy.

Something was wrong, and it couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

The world was quiet save for the wind as it scratched the snow across the ice as Myles bent over to study the few patches of purple-blue snow. The color was so scorched in his memories that he didn’t need his Item Lore to tell him what he was looking at. The colored snow was the same color as Ashra’s blood had been. The deep splash of color that painted the white of the tundra was the blood of Ambush Rabbitkin, of Ashra’s people. Myles wanted to leave it there. He wanted that to be the only story the field told, but he needed to know it all.

So, he kept looking.

Looking around and still hearing nothing more than the wind, Myles whispered his intentions as loudly as he dared back to the party and inspected the larger area and the damning story it told.

Myles was no tracker, but his Keen Eyes, higher Will, and common sense picked up on quite a few things right away. There was a path leading towards the chaos from both ends of what he could tell. Then everything went to the Mists and back.

It wasn’t exactly easy, but there was enough there to piece the battle together. There were large gaps in the combat area that had no coming and goings, patches of upturned snow and earth and blood that led to nowhere new and culminated near a pile of coins, weapons, or clothing. If it had been something that flew, Myles assumed he’d find something to say that, maybe a feather or a wing imprint in the snow, but there was nothing out of the ordinary except for a few slightly larger divots around the rest of the footing. Then, remembering the Monsterkin, he realized what those dips were— jump points. If he took that as truth, the story came together to tell him just how these Monsterkin met their fate, and it made his stomach drop.

When he returned to the group, he took in the cold tundra air and spoke. “Ashra did this.”

“Why?” Tail asked, mirroring the confusion of the others—

Except for Silpha

“Because she had to.” The words held a finality to them as she spoke, but there was no power there. Myles felt her radiate sorrow as she explained it in a way only another Monsterkin could. “She is no longer one of them, so she could not be admitted back into their dungeon.”

Myles’s heart broke.

“So, she…” Myles began.

“She did,” Silpha said quietly, leaving off the Master title as she replied.

No one spoke as they looked past the now-obviously-controlled chaos of combat and down into glow stone lit passage of the Monsterkin dungeon. It was not unlike the first dungeon the group had conquered. The entrance was better lit, the path lined with form-fitted stone, and radiated a warmth that the slime dungeon hadn’t, but there was a fear there in the unnatural stillness. A fear that didn’t need words and had a presence all its own as Mitchel put words to it.

“That isn’t good.”

No one responded, and even someone without an empathic link to his party could feel why. But, someone had to ask.

“Besides the obvious ominous cave?” Lyna asked.

Mitchel nodded. “Besides the obvious cave.” He drew his shield and, for the first time since they’d been together, a rounded, rune-carved mace. " Whatever is going on in there, this isn’t normal. They always send the guards back up when there’s a fight at the front gate.”

So whatever Ashra was doing, it was taking everything they had to try and subdue her even a day later.

If she hadn’t already wiped them out, that is.

“Well, sket.”

With the new information, Myles and the group discussed a new organization for the party. Without anyone to greet them, they’d be treated as hostiles, but they had a way around that.

In a wash of mist and illusion later, a group of six Ambush Rabbitkin matching the white snow entered the dungeon. As always, it was strange to the [Monster Tamer] to see out of the illusion. He could see his party easily enough, but each of them had the distinct ethereal outline similar to Ashra. Mitchel and Will led the way, the former never lowering his shield in the same way that Will kept a spell on the edge of his tongue. Kendra, Lyna, and Silpha were ready to strike at a moment’s notice while Myles kept Tail fed with his impromptu mana potions while keeping a running map of the area when they reached landmarks.

If they had to escape, he wanted to be sure he knew how.

***

As they continued, the Dungeon was set up more like an underground bunker than a regular place to murder adventurers. Not that there wasn’t the potential for it. Close quarters in cramped hallways would end any group that tried to push too hard. Myles didn’t doubt there were hidden pathways they’d missed that the Monsterkin could use to double back on them either, making it all the more dangerous.

For what seemed like an hour of near-silent travel, a simple hallway led deeper below into the well-lit tunnels. When they reached the crossroads, it was even more bizarre. There were clearly marked signs pointing out what was in each direction, though Myles was the only one that could make them out thanks to his language Skill he’d earned from bonding with Silpha.

Aetheric Translation

Skill Type: Passive - General (Dungeon Bound Required)

Cost: 1 Mana per minute

Distance: Clear Hearing required

Success Determination: None

Effect: Using the ambient mana in your body or the area around you, the Dungeon Core Codex you are bound to will translate any and all languages within its power for you. This ability is lost if your connection to your Dungeon Core is broken.

Even though the skill was meant for the spoken language, the characters were close enough to common that he could speak them, and that loophole in the Skill was all it took to give him a rough translation to go by.

Quickly running down the signs, he informed the group that they had three choices: the Warren, the Proving Grounds, and the Fields.

“Where would she go?” Tail asked studying the signs in the order Myles read them.

“Where the royal family is.”

Tail pondered that as Silpha spoke. “As I understand it, Master Myles, the warren is where the kin rest and recover, and the proving grounds would be where the warriors train. She did not share with me the deeper constructions of her home.”

Myles nodded, considering their options. “Warrens first then.”

No one argued, and the group began their exploration of the right tunnel. That turned up with a quick dead end not two minutes later. The warren was sealed by doors made of a polished white metal of some kind Myles hadn’t seen before. It was almost soft to the touch but was firm as any steel he’d used. Fortunately, they had a dwarf in their midst.

“Pantheon above, they can work Silentsteel,” she said in near reverence, knocking a knuckle of her armored hand against it. Though the metal of her gantlet rang, the door made no noise. “I’m not a smith, but even I know how rare the talent is for it and the demand for crafters that can work it. Too much heat or too many strikes and it loses the sound dampening properties.”

Myles nodded, but it only made him feel worse.

“If it makes you feel better, Myles, this is a precaution the dungeon takes when there are violent invaders and the young are threatened.”

It did not, in fact, make him feel better, but it begged a larger question as the implication of the words sunk in.

Can you talk to the other dungeon?

She hesitated as the group turned to return to the crossroads they’d come to. “I have been trying, but he is not happy about my arrival here. He is waiting to see what happens before establishing proper communication, seeing as in his eyes, whatever happens, is good for him. Though, he has promised not to rat us out as outsiders unless they figure it out for themselves.”

Not if, when…

Perfect.

Myles wished he had time for more questions, but the fact that the dungeon was considering her a threat was telling. With the words still ringing in his head, he picked up the pace.

The other path led them deeper, leading to another split with the same three options: the fields on the left, the warrens on the right, and the proving grounds down below. Deeper and deeper the ground went, past two more of the splits until they reached another Silentsteel door. Myles cursed in frustration, but the premature words flew as Mitchel pushed against the door. The hinges gave no sound of defiance, but it seemed to take the warrior a bit more than a casual push to make it move.

It had been unlocked, of course.

The moment the crack of the door passed the threshold on the other side, a cacophony of chaos crashed against their ears with a physical force. Mitchel pulled the door shut again and turned to Myles, “Myles?”

Myles rubbed his ears, which must have looked disturbing seeing as they would have been inside the Monsterkin’s head. “What was that?”

Mitchel carefully pulled the door open again and looked in, this time, the group had been ready for the silence to shatter like so many windows against the hail of their noise. A moment later, Mitchel was back inside looking a bit disturbed. “Nothing much, seemed like the entire population of the dungeon is in there watching something.”

Of course, they were. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the only thing that would warrant the entire dungeon’s attention. Walking to where Mitchel guarded the door, Myles pushed it open and took the full brunt of the light and sound. Sure enough, the door led into a dell covered in rolling green grass. There were indentations everywhere of what looked like long, narrow impressions in the green and a winding path that seemed to travel between them. Whatever had been here recently had been removed to make way for… all this.

Down in the center was like his home city of Hazen during the Festival of Firelight. A sea of rabbit ears cheered and hollered as they surrounded a large center stage that had at one time been bone white, it had since been painted azure with a spattering of silver. In the distance, Myles saw a building’s exterior carved into the mountainside. It looked like the front gate and portcullis of a keep, not as fancy or large as a castle, but it cut a distinct image all the same.

Bringing his attention back to the center, he watched as Ashra crushed the face of another Monsterkin, banishing it back to the aether before the blood of its broken nose could reach her stained, silver fur.

He closed the door carefully and returned his attention to his team.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” he began, trying to wrap his head around what he’d just seen.

“Looked like a martial arts meet to me,” Mitchel said simply. “Deadlier, but about the same down to the ring.”

Myles looked at him, more than one question on his mind before looking at the others. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe there’s more to it than we can see,” Mitchel offered. “They’re very formal about their dealings, so many it follows that they’d be the same way with someone seeking their help?”

“Or maybe she’s already gotten the help she needed, and she’s celebrating,” offered Lyna.

“Or they won’t let her see the royal family without proving who she is,” countered Kendra. “She was one of their strongest, right?”

Each idea made as much sense as the next, but they wouldn’t know anything until they got closer. Thus, the ingredients came together for what Myles called his grand plan.

***

“If I wasn’t ordered to protect all of your asses, I wouldn’t be doing this,” Mitchel pointed out as he took point. “This is the most reckless thing I’ve ever heard of, and I’ve heard a lot of bad plans.”

“We’ve had worse,” Will said, smirking with an eye towards Kendra.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Kendra hissed as the group made sure to close the door behind them.

“The illusion will hold,” Tail whispered. “Trust me.”

“Oh, I trust you, Tail. Remember the party?” Kendra quipped as a grin crossed her face in a way that shouldn’t have been possible on the near-transparent Monsterkin face. “Our fearless leader’s plan though?”

“You aren’t the only one with a few tricks,” Myles promised as they got closer. As they approached, there was a cheer and a heavy whoosh as the shimmering form of Ashra launched herself into the air, hit the ceiling, and used the momentum to kick off and straight into a collection of foes, leaving gore and glimmering dust in her wake.

A strange chittering followed, but the words translated easily enough for the once [Baker], becoming common in a matter of moments.

“— more to the exile.” A wave of chittering replies followed and another pair of Monsterkin went to the stage, cleared the loot, and then washed the blood of the white stone clean. In less than a minute, the stage was ready again and the first Monsterkin returned. “To be given an audience with the monarch, the exile requires more prestige than this.” It didn’t take a genius to know who the speaker was talking about. “As is the right of any of our kin that makes it to the proving grounds, her request has been taken and her achievement of prestige has been set at one-hundred tandem victories against our stronger warriors for such a right. The exile has earned ninety-six. Are there any left that would deem to challenge her for the glory of your people?”

The speaker wasn’t the kind of announcer Myles expected as he stepped down. There was no flare to his words, no real intonation to make it more exciting or interesting. There was only the fact of his words as Ashra, bloodied further in glistening silver, stood off to her side of the staging area, gathering her breath and bouncing on the balls of her feet as if stopping would be the end of her.

Myles watched in surprise as another Monsterkin stepped up, then another, then a third, all of the three hulking variations of the otherwise slender Monsterkin race. They wore no armor, but their muscles spoke to any questions with extreme prejudice. Myles wasted no time learning as much as he could.

Monster Lore Updated!

Ambush Rabbitkin Race information expanded!

Ambush Rabbitkin Enforcer information obtained!

Ambush Rabbitkin Enforcer

Dungeon Creature - Monsterkin

Rank C+ Threat level

Best Trait - Strength, Endurance

Preferred Method of Attack - Hand-to-hand combat

Special Attack: Force Strike

Known Drops: Strength Enhancement Gemstone (Low Tier)

Every family needs their protectors and their combatants, the [Enforcer] Class can handle both. Skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well as augmented with enhanced strength and endurance, these Monsterkin are hand-picked to protect the heirs of the Lapin Kingdom of the Kessivan Dungeon. Unlike their kin, they prefer head-to-head combat rather than hit-and-run tactics.

Observe or defeat Ambush Rabbitkin Enforcers to learn more.

Myles blinked, taking the information in before he even realized the fight was on again with a loud crack of metallic thunder.

He had to get closer.

As the Rising Star team picked their way through the remaining crowd, careful to avoid touching the other Monsterkin, Ashra was doing her own. Near the far side, Myles found his way to the front, getting a clear view of what the newly born Monsterkin was capable of as one of the [Enforcer]s took a strike to their face, followed quickly by a Force Kick to the gut. The raw power of the attack took the Monsterkin off his feet and continued until he was off the stage and into the crowd. The storm continued unabated as the other two moved in without a second thought. Another cheer rose from behind Myles, a confirmation that the other wasn’t dead, but from the sounds of pain a few rows behind Myles, the Monsterkin probably wished he was.

For her part, Ashra made no sounds other than the echo of crashing thunder as her fists and feet collided with flesh and bone. From his position, he watched as she took obvious hits barely pausing to return the attack as she reeled. The graceful fighter was slower than she had been but seemingly making the most of her situation as the silver fur and flesh rippled and recoiled rather than break or bruise.

But she was getting slower as the second fell, taking more hits as she reached into her pouch, stuffed a red glob of something into her mouth, and recovered some of her vigor, but the final [Enforcer] took the opening she gave, slamming a fist into her side and sending her reeling into the floor.

There was no hesitation as he pounced, slamming two fists into her prone form, crushing her ribcage like a spoon snapping the shell of a chocolate delight.

“Ashra!”

Myles couldn’t help himself, and the world seemed to freeze for just a moment as something flickered across his mind—

“Myles!”

Recognition of how little he valued his own life as the hundreds of eyes now turned to him.

“What have you done!”