The White Death!
She was death! Her claws were razors; she cut through the snow with silent ease. Her ears were all hearing; they reacted to the slightest sound. Her fur was pristine; it hid her completely in her icy home. She was death, and she knew it.
The Snow Rabbit, with her small size, was used to being looked down on, though never more than once. In life, she had been a terror to the monsters and people of the region of Tir Eira. She had been known far and wide. None had ever seen her, so she had been called simply: The White Death. She liked the name.
If someone ventured into her frozen tundra and didn’t return, people knew it was the work of The White Death. Adventuring parties had been sent after her, never to return. The higher her bounty grew, the prouder she became. The Snow Rabbit had hoped that one day, a truly powerful Adventurer would be able to give her a challenge, but none ever did.
She met her death, as many of her kind had before, in the trap of an accursed fox. But that was fine. She still held some hatred for the foul creature’s ignoble trickery, but most was washed away by the position she was provided in the afterlife.
In this Trial, she was able to train those rare few of her kind who were strong enough to be worthy. The one in a million Snow Rabbit who could make it to level 25 and earn the right to evolve. The White Death had been content with her role, able to raise the next generation of terrors, but her peaceful life ended when a human entered her Trial.
When she first noticed the error, she was excited. Perhaps this was a return to her youth. Maybe she could finally have an honest fight with a human strong enough to circumvent the System. She had been careful, only moving when she was certain the creature would have no chance of catching wind of her.
It was behaving strangely, digging a warren like one of her kind, something she had never seen one of the five races do. Then again, everything the two-legged ones did was strange to her; she was just grateful; it gave her an opportunity to sneak even closer.
Then her chance came; its head emerged over the lip of the opening. The White Death launched her attack, a claw aimed at its neck; she guarded against the counterattack she knew would come. He must have dodged; she felt no resistance as she shot past. No. It… it was dead.
She reset, back to the start. The White Death was confused. She had assumed the human would be strong in order to get inside her Trial; it should have been able to put up a fight. But that wasn’t what really bamboozled her. The human had respawned. It had not just snuck into her world; it was undergoing her Trial!
She wanted to rail against the System for allowing such an indignity. This was her Trial! The place where she could teach her kind how to hunt the two-legs. But there were rules; the System controlled what she could do. She could only attack the creature and not the System, so she did.
She ran straight for the human’s den; she wanted him to hear his death coming and fear it. Despite her best efforts, it was impossible for her to be loud enough for the oblivious creature to notice.
Whatever the White Death did, she couldn’t make the stupid human scared. Her anger waned, and she resigned herself to whacking the bipedal mole each time it surfaced from its hole. Once, it even killed itself, proving its kind’s inferiority. This was boring. She wasn’t getting the challenge she craved.
Then, the human stopped emerging from its hole. She was patient; to hunt, one had to be. Even so, he was not coming out, and the System demanded they fight; she could only restrain its compulsions for so long. She would have to venture into the human’s den.
With contempt, the White Death jumped into the humans pitiable attempt at a warren. The walls were uneven, and the opening was clearly visible; this creature would never stand a chance of beating her with digging Skills that bad. She would be stuck with it.
Tisking in disgust, the Snow Rabbit knocked down the thin layer of snow that blocked the den with the thump of her foot. This creature would learn not to keep her waiting!
She spied into the snow cavern. It was lying in the corner, asleep. It was sleeping? In her trial? This couldn’t stand! She launched herself across the room at it, intent on making the thing’s existence short and miserable.
The red gleam of madness in her eyes reflected the blue of something she didn’t understand sparkling in the air. Droplets of water began to appear all around her, glistening as they rapidly froze in the harsh tundra weather. Seconds too late, she realised, this was a trap!
“Accursed Fox!” she screamed as she froze solid.
You have defeated the Lv 26 White Death:
Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a greater level. Xp awarded 1072. Xp automatically placed in escrow, US 2.7.1
Congratulations!
You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Snow Rabbit.
Grade: C
Objectives:
- Defeat the Evolved Snow Rabbit without dying: ?
- Defeat the Evolved Snow Rabbit in under 45 minutes: ?
- Learn The White Death’s secret technique: ?
Rewards:
You have earned the right to Evolve from a Snow Rabbit into 1 of 3 Snow Rabbit Evolutions:
- Greater Snow Rabbit
- Arctic Hunter Rabbit
- Snow Blinder Rabbit
Choose Now!
Elijah let out a breath of relief. He hadn’t been sure he would succeed. Even with the Water Manipulation Skill working in tandem with Mana Manipulation, the teen was just barely able to figure out how to summon water at will. He wasn’t able to create water cutters, pressure jets, or thunderstorms as he had seen his favourite characters do. There was simply no substitute for actual knowledge, and about magic, the young man had very little.
Despite this, he had still been able to devise a plan, using his limited powers. The sixteen-year-old knew that he would never stand a chance at catching the Snow Rabbit in the open; it was simply too good. He hadn’t even seen it once. So, he did the only thing he could; he set a trap.
The little motes of water mana weren't really alive, as such. However, Elijah was able to gather a large group of them from the surrounding snow, making it strangely dry, and order them to remain together in the middle of the chamber. Then, he could keep one close by; it would dance when the others were excited by something.
Elijah didn’t hear the rabbit enter the snow cave. He would have doubted the signal dance of the water mana spark if not for the increase in light as his sanctum was breached.
Elijah made all his mana imitate water. He had discovered that this really excited the water mana and allowed it to draw power from him, and in turn, it did what it did best: created water. He felt there must be a better approach; his mana was sucked up in seconds, giving the teen a terrible headache and making him feel slightly sick.
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The white mana of cold, seeing the water mana moving about freely, quickly moved to put a stop to that. It froze the giant sphere of water, which filled the snowy den in less than a second. Something about the magic here reinforced the cold climate, and Elijah had taken full advantage.
There was only one downside to his plan. Feeding the motes of water mana all 80 points of his own mana produced a lot of water. He knew he would be trapped as well; if the rabbit escaped, he would have been screwed. It did not; now the young man was given a choice between Classes.
Evolution Unlocked:
Greater Snow Rabbit: F
The larger version of a Snow Rabbit, the Greater Snow Rabbit, Evolves more towards strength than speed. While formidable, their greater size makes them lose the Snow Rabbit’s high ability with stealth.
Evolution Unlocked:
Arctic Hunter Rabbit: D
A hunting-based Evolution; the Arctic Hunter Rabbit leans into the Snow Rabbit’s innate stealth. You will become harder to detect, and stealth attacks will deal more damage.
Evolution Unlocked:
Snow Blinder Rabbit: C
A Rare Evolution of the Snow Rabbit that was obtained by demonstrating an ability with magic. This Evolution uses a mixture of stealth and sudden, blinding light spells to take down its enemies.
Elijah was slightly bummed that the System wouldn’t reveal what stats each of the Classes provided; he was still feeling put out after wasting so many on a ‘rank S’ Class, but he couldn’t deny the info was useful.
Greater Snow Rabbit was immediately ruled out. It sounded like a tanky Class, and he already had Cerberus Slasher for that.
Snow Blinder Rabbit had an almost irresistible draw to him. Elijah had a love for magic, and now that he had had a taste, he longed for more. But he followed his grandfather’s way of thinking.
He should complete one thing to the best of his ability before starting another. Light magic could wait; besides, he assumed that Mana Manipulation had given him the tools he would need to wield all mana. After all, Water Manipulation hadn’t really added an ability; it only improved his aptitude with water mana.
That left Arctic Hunter Rabbit only a rank D Evolution, but a tempting one all the same. Elijah had spent many hours playing a certain scrolls-based game, and each of his characters would always default to stealth archer; it was just so strong. In addition, it would help balance his Classes, hopefully giving the young man points in Perception, Agility, or Dexterity. He chose Arctic Hunter Rabbit.
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? … Unlocked!
New Class Skill Unlocked!
New Class Skill unlocked:
Light Footed: D
When active, you are 50% harder to detect. Uses 1 point of Stamina per second when not moving, Stamina consumption rate increases with speed.
ERROR:
You are not a Monster and, as such, cannot Evolve.
ERROR:
You have completed a Trial of Evolution and must Evolve.
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E????R?????R????O?????R????:????
????Y?????o????u???? ?????a?????r?????e????? ????n????o???t???? ????a??? ???M????o????n???s????t?????e???r????? ???a???n????d????, ????a???s????? ????s????u????c????h???, ???c?????a????n???n????o?????t????? ????E????v????o????l????v????e????.?????
Blackness engulfed the young man once more as the System yet again exploded.
patrons: