“One shot, one pelt,” I muttered under my breath before exhaling, firing twin mana beams and making cute button-nosed bunny heads disappear like some sort of gruesome magician. Well, I guess I technically was one now that I did use actual magic.

This is how I had spent the last few days-sniping the female Carbuncles, striking fast then running only to return hours later after their guards lowered to repeat the process. In between runs, I’d chill in my hideout to “sample” my captive male to boost my powers. That was how I now referred the process of collecting orgasmic fluid as, since any other way of saying it made me feel ashamed of myself. Sure, the action was the same no matter which word I chose but it mattered. I mean, would you rather "milk” a creature or “sample” it?

My hit-and-run tactic had been working splendidly, slowly chipping away at their defensive capabilities but this round, I finally compromised it. After my two shots landed, all the females brought up their shields as usual, but their numbers had decreased enough that their defense couldn't encompass the entire area.

I spotted a large, unprotected group of level mid-twenties Carbuncles just ripe for the picking. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I immediately cast Aero. An explosion of shredding winds in their midst caused chaos. I used the spell five more times, creating a crude circle of whirlwinds on the outer edge of their group, each sending many of them in the air to be violently slashed while leaving dozens of bunnies trapped in the middle area. Those were buffeted by violent air pressure from all directions, jostling them to the point they struggled to stay on their feet.

I then began raining down mana beams in that zone, picking them off with ease. Fish in a barrel? Naw bro. Bunnies in a vortex. A little jingle told me I had leveled up.

Many Carbuncles fell to my magic combos and everything was going well until I noticed the ones behind the shields running away. Weird, I hadn't seen that behavior before. Normally they just waited out the threat behind their walls but now they were retreating back into their warren.

There had been well over two hundred Carbuncles at any given time before, frolicking about and making a loud chorus of squeaking noises, but now the fields were empty except for the bodies of those I had just killed. It was eerily quiet. I waited a while to see if they’d pop back out of their hole but seems like they weren’t. Fine, guess I’ll go to them then.

Before I did, I looked at my notifications. 37 carbuncles fell to my spells, netting me nearly 16 000 EXP. I put the points I got from leveling up to 9 into MP and Smarts, going for a magic build since it was versatile and playing to my current strengths. I’ll have to look into increasing my physical attributes at some point tho, to make sure I can defend myself in case magic failed.

I went down the hill and approached the nearest tunnel leading to their warren, keeping an eye out for potential surprise attacks. When I reached it, I cautiously peered inside. There was a earthen tunnel burrowing deep into the ground at an angle. Then there was the lone female Carbuncle a few meters in blocking access with a shield.

Did they just did what I think they did? I made my way to another entrance, looked inside and saw the same thing. These crafty motherfuckers. They had all the entryways blocked off with their shields. Guess I caused such an uproar that I scared them into hiding in their very own patented panic room.

Got to admit, that was a smart move but it’d be annoying if they decided to hunker down for a long stretch. I had a demon lord to get rid of and less then a year to get strong enough to do it; I couldn't keep being held up by this shit.

I picked up a large nearby stone and chucked it at the shield. The stone bounced off like it was nothing, but it did make the little bastard flinch. Yep, those barriers were getting on my damn nerves.

“WHAT’S UP, DOC?” I screamed belligerently. Maybe I could goad them out. “YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?” I turned and slapped my ass in a provoking manner. ”COME OUT AND GET IT YA HORNED CUNTS AND GEM SOCKET HEADED BITCHES.” There were no takers unfortunately.

There wasn’t anything left to do here other then to loot the corpses so I made my way to the recently deceased, trying not to step on all the bunny droppings as I did. Seriously, it was everywhere.

I passed by the decomposing corpse of one I had killed days ago and noticed It was lacking the telltale glow around it, which meant I couldn’t loot it. Interesting. There was probably a short window to collect before it spoiled and the option disappeared. I’ll have to keep that in mind so as not to waste valuable materials.

While looting the fresher ones, I found a few survivors, tho they were in pretty bad shape. One was cut all over and twitching so I put it down. Another was injured but still had some fight in it. Shot a damn beam at me at point blank range, which I only barely managed to dodge thanks to the horn shinning before the attack. I avoided death but did lose a few fingers as it struck my flailing hand. Repressing my desire to stomp it to death, I broke off its horn and struck it over the head with it to stun it. I wanted to keep it alive for sampling. The more of them I had, the faster I could power up.

After I was finished looting, I had two male Carbuncles wrapped up in straight jackets ready to transport to my hideout. I also got plenty of new materials. Most of it was the horn, pelt and meat combo I normally received from the males but I did get two gems from the females, which was a first. I read the info on it.

Lapis Lazuli (basic): Blue bio-magical aether stone typically found growing on a Carbuncles forehead, who uses it to focus high concentrations of mana into a focal point. Can store a small amount of mana for later withdrawal, or one lower-tier spell. 1MP to activate. Will break after one use.

Wow, that item was an awesome find. I could use it a one-time mana recharge or incorporate it into my combos when fighting. It could open a lot of options. They were disposable tho, so I’d have to think carefully.

Done here, I went back to my place and spent the next couple of hours pacing back and forth under the glare of my three involuntary pets. I wanted a female. No, I wasn’t horny and looking to get laid, I just wanted to sample the female Carbuncles. If I received mana beam from the males then it wasn't hard to imagine I’d get the shield spell from them. That’d be very useful in battle. Besides, I had an idea percolating in the back of my mind about something I could do with it to break the current stalemate with them. Hope it worked…

A much needed nap later, I returned to the burrow. My fingers had grown back thanks to a belly full of grass before I slept. The fact that I could say something crazy like that and it not being a lie spoke volumes about the strange world I had relocated to.

I let out a relieved sigh when I got there. The bunnies had returned out in the open, tho there were a lot less of them and those that were there nervously went about their business. Seems like many of them were still too scared to come back out. I was lucky that they were dumb animals that couldn’t learn their lessons quickly but how long would it last.

I repeated my actions from yesterday, getting into my vantage point and shooting two females. This time tho, I aimed at their legs, wanting to immobilize them instead of killing them. The ones I had tagged were too injured to put up a defensive shield. A few others did but once again, it didn't offer much coverage. I killed a dozen defenseless males with Aero and like before, the rest tucked tail and ran. Good, that’s what I wanted. With reinforcements out of the way, I was able to loot my quarries and grab the downed females in peace. I reached them, smashed their gems with a well place swipe then brought them to my place for a “tasting”.

Learned spell Mana shield (Lv1) - Create shield out of concentrated mana. 150MP to cast, 5MP/s upkeep. Centered on caster. Blocks outside elements but lets things inside pass through.

Learned skill basic mana sense (passive) - Perceive aether

Earth affinity leveled up. Earth magic cast power and resistance increased by 5%.

I shouted in celebration of my new found abilities, upsetting my squeaky peanut gallery. “Hey, quiet back there, or I’ll stop this journey right here and take us back home,” I yelled jokingly. I looked at my hands then the wall in front of me. Due to the mana sense skill, I could see ghostly fog everywhere in empty spaces-not thick enough to block my vision but I could tell there was aether in the air. As for my hands or other solid structures, it was like a ethereal copy was superimposed on them, given them a ghostly outline. It was trippy.

When my eyes fell on my captured Carbuncles tho, I was surprised to see, besides a large quantity of mana emanating from their horn, red squiggly lines on each of their necks. Weird.

I approached them then rubbed the lines with inquisitive fingers but couldn’t interact with it. It wasn’t carved on their flesh or drawn on their fur, it was just there. I had no idea what it was but something told me it was magical in nature. Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to figure things out myself so gave up.

Now that I possessed the shield spell, I could finally try my idea. It took two days for the Carbuncles to come out of hiding this time. This was it, if my idea didn't pan out, I would leave the area. There was no point in wasting my time waiting for enemies that hid increasingly longer, all for diminishing returns. I returned to the burrow once more repeating the same tactic. Bunnies were shot, slain and spooked.

“COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME, YA PUSSIES. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.” I ran down the hill screaming like a madman but unfortunately, only a few Carbuncles took the bait while the other fled to safety inside the warren. Those who stopped to oppose me shot beams at me, but their spells hit my shield, the energy dissipating like fleeing snakes across the surface. I reciprocated in kind. They weren’t so lucky.

This exchanged made me happy. I would be able to tank a bit now, instead of taking a few shots and running. With the shield still on I approached the first tunnel I saw. Like before, there was a female blocking access. I walked towards her until our shields collided. This is were my idea was put to the test.

I had wondered if just like how they did it, my shield could merge with theirs. The fear the Carbuncle exuded as I stepped inside her space, after our shields melded into one, was confirmation enough.

“Here’s Johny,” I said with a wolfish grin.