In Loki's Honor

I missed my siblings. That was the thought that occupied my mind as I nested in my chamber in the burrows. The hunters did a number on the rabbit population. And by a number I mean we were decimated. Sighing, I felt anger boiling back to the surface. I wanted to get back at them, to kill all of them but I lost my only offensive weapon. What were my choices? I remembered I had something called "jobs" and "Classes" to select. So, System, would you give me something like a "murder rabbit" so I can go and kill people?

I pulled my Status screen and noticed the bullet point lists were threatening to grow to ridicule size. Spoiler alert, they did later on.

Status Screen:

My Attribute points vanished again. It was infuriating, that I couldn't improve my Attributes.

I had a Class and two Professions to choose from. I felt that I could focus on the entries that said "None" and a selection would appear. I did for Class. I could swear a fanfare played when I did. Maybe it was just my imagination or the System shaping itself to my needs. I mean, the Status windows were all in plain English.

HARKEN, FOR A MOMENT OF CHOICE IS UPON THEE.

A Class is a path that you commit to following for your entire life. You might find forks and branches off this path, but your choice is absolute. You can postpone this selection forever. Not walking a path or making residence upon its margins is always a viable choice.

Upon selecting a Class, you may use Exp accumulated since your last level to improve your Class.

Based on your achievements, these are the Classes you unlocked.

Assassin (rare): You murdered sentients that didn't harbor hostility toward you without being detected.

Acrobat (uncommon): You displayed great grace and agility in movement.

Explorer (uncommon): You are learned in the ways of the wild.

Delver (uncommon): You are comfortable and able to move in the underground.

Guardswoman (common): You are used to patrolling your neighborhood.

Priest (uncommon): You share a close connection with the Divine.

Chemist (uncommon): You have an understanding of herbs and chemistry.

Scout (common): You have honed senses and displayed the ability to collect intelligence.

Guardian of Caerbannog (unique, racial): You are a rabbit and are dedicated to protecting your lair from intruders.

For more choices, gain achievements, Skills, and Attributes.

Rarity mattered. The rarer the Class better would be my growth for the same amount of Exp. The unique Class was too suspicious but I couldn't put my finger on it. Somehow it made me afraid of explosions. Also, Priest wouldn't be my pick even if it was the last in the world. I had enough of deities for a hundred lifetimes. I dismissed the Class selection and brought up the Profession.

Profession choices can be later changed. While Classes reflect what you are to the world, Professions represent what you can do for the world.

Upon selecting a profession, you can use Exp accumulated since your last level to improve your Professions.

Based on your Skills, these are your professions:

Miner (uncommon)

Digger (common)

Entertainer (uncommon)

Weaver (common)

Nurse (uncommon)

Builder (uncommon)

Gardener (common)

Good. I was almost level sixteen, but at one Attribute every three and two Skill Points, I could use my Exp better if I divided it between the three entries.

I instinctively knew that professions granted me only Skill Points and allowed me to improve certain Skills faster through training, while Classes gave me the tripartite of Attributes, Skills, and Perks from a tailored list. Furthermore, A profession didn't affect my HP or MP - not that anything could affect my MP with Loki's curses - while a Class would give sharp bonuses to either or both depending on the setup.

Looking only through the prism of rarity, I should pick the unique one. I should recognize what it was about, but I couldn't pin it down. Yeah. I wish it gave me more information on the Classes, but rarity should be the way to go...

You selected your Class: Guardian of Caerbannog (unique, racial)

Your HP growth is Abismal. Your MP growth is Abismal.

You gain 4 Skill Points per level.

You gain 2 Attribute Points per level.

You gain a perk every 2 levels.

You gain 2 fixed Perks at level 1.

You gained the perk Vorpal Teeth (very rare) - your critical hits using Bite can sever limbs or necks.

You gained the perk Improved Critical [Bite] (rare) - The critical strike range of your bite attacks is doubled.

Hooray! Now that's a nice Class. A level 15 Guardian of Caerbannog's Attributes would be comparable to a level sixty rabbit Nevermind that I was capped. And what about those perks? I could jump onto a knight's neck and bite the head off...

Oh. Wait a second. I remember now.

Bear with me. I wished for a murder rabbit Class, didn't I? And I just got it. The legendary one. And my eyes were already red. There was no coming back now. No, sir. I'm your murder rabbit. Ready to die my fur red. I just needed to watch out for hand grenades. That HP and MP growth were worrying, given that I had a divided by ten penalty on my stat. Better not get hit, that's what I needed to do.

About the professions, I had a few choices. The entertainer Profession was one I had my eye on. Maybe there was something for agility or dodging there. Even though Acrobat was a class. The three common were out. I'd worry about them in another life. Miner and Builder were also out. That settled my choices. Nurse and Entertainer.

You selected Nurse (uncommon) and Entertainer (uncommon) as your professions. Uncommon professions grant 5 Skill points every 2 levels. Should you drop your professions, these Skill Points are not lost.

That was all. Not I pulled my Exp gauge. It sat at 6,282,000 / 6,553,600 points. Less than three hundred thousand to rabbit level sixteen which was crap. Seriously, a high leveled herbivore small critter was just an Exp bag waiting to be popped. No. With some difficulty, I figured out that aside from the 3,276,800 points required for level fifteen, the rest could be distributed to the other three entries. That was a bit over one million Exp for each entry. All of them at level thirteen. No. I wouldn't compromise on a perk.

I added 1,638,400 Exp to my Class and divided the rest between my Professions. I reached level twelve in each, with more than a half-million Exp left. I read the messages.

You reached Guardian of Caerbannog (unique, racial) level 14.

You gained 56 Skill Points.

You gained 28 Attribute Points.

You gained 7 perks.

You gained 7 HP.

You gained 0 MP.

You reached Entertainer (uncommon) level 12. You gained 30 Skill Points.

You reached Nurse (uncommon) level 12. You gained 30 Skill Points.

My first stop was the perk list. I wanted to see what I had in store. There were two kinds of perks. Those that enhanced my fighting prowess, and those that granted me bonuses when defending my lair. I went for the former.

Favored Enemy: Humans (uncommon): Treat all your combat Skills as one rank above when fighting against humans.

Improved Natural Attack [Bite] (uncommon): You gain a bonus to hit and damage with bite attacks.

Natural Attack Specialization [Bite] (rare): Your bite attacks deal half as much damage and increase the critical range by 1.

Close Quarters Fighting (uncommon): If an enemy is within your reach and its attack range is longer than yours, you gain a bonus to all defenses.

Climb Giants (rare): While riding an enemy larger than you, you gain a bonus to attack and defense against that creature.

Drop from the Saddle (rare): You gain bonus evasion while riding a creature. Attacks that miss you hit your mount.

Unwilling Ride (rare): Hostile creatures you ride have a penalty to attack or dislodge you.

My combat strategy was to jump and latch on an enemy, then bite their heads off. Or limbs. Whichever I could reach. Next, over a hundred Skill Points! Shopping spree time. I wiggled my bunny tail and put myself to work. From my Skill Lists, I picked these Skills.

Bite (common) - Novice 9 - You are proficient in using your teeth to kill your enemies.

Dodge (common) - Novice 9 - You are better at evading enemy attacks.

Blind-Fighting (uncommon) - Novice 9 - You can use your other senses to determine enemy locations.

Giant-Fighting (rare) - Novice 9 - You have bonuses attacking and defending against creatures at least one size larger than you.

Harden Teeth (rare) - Novice 9 - Your teeth are less prone to break and ignore part of the enemy's defenses.

Bravery (rare) - Novice 9 - Fear effects on you are Wisdom x Rank x 0.2% less effective.

Double Jump (uncommon) - Novice 9 - While Jumping, if a horizontal or vertical surface is nearby, you can jump again.

Long Jump (uncommon) - Novice 9 - You increase the distance you jump by Dexterity x Rank x 0.5% (40.5%)

Backflip (uncommon) - Novice 9 - You can rotate up to 360º when jumping.

Staunch (uncommon) - Novice 9 - Reduce the duration of Bleeding effects on creatures under your care by Endurance x Rank x 0.2% (16.2%)

Vitality (rare) - Novice 9 - Increase the recovery rate of creatures under your care by Endurance x Rank x 0.5% (40.5%)

Health UP (rare) - Novice 9 - Increase your HP by Endurance x Rank x 0.5% (40.5%)

Available Skill Points: 8.

WARNING: Unused Skill Points will be randomly assigned in 2 hours.

My HP rose to 29. I had no idea if it was too much or too little, but then I remembered that I had a divided by ten penalty and a medium-sized creature in my situation would have two hundred and ninety. Sucks. I was pretty confident I could take on some hunters. Exhausted, I went to sleep.

The next day, after my self-made breakfast, I went out to chew some herbs and drink some water. I watched carefully for traps, my improved mind attribute allowing me to circumvent several. Halfway to the stream, I noticed a ton of footprints. I heard humans stumbling around and climbed a tree. I mean, walked up a tree, with my clinging perk.

Lots of humans. From my perch in the tree, I saw a dozen hunters and some women calling names. I recognized some of the names as the same from yesterday's messages. They were looking for the other hunters, the ones I and the jaguar killed.

That didn't stop them from ruining the whole forest. Bushes were wacked, critters were hunted. One of them had a dozen squirrels bound by a length of rope over his shoulder. I heard a familiar squeak and my heart raced. I ran and jumped over the limbs, drawing attention from one of the hunters. An arrow flew past me but my instinct told me I needed to hurry.

I arrived too late. What I saw broke my heart and made me see red. The hunters captured another bunny. Mom. My rabbit mother, pregnant with her next litter, had a cut down her belly. He held mom over the ribs and raised her. Then he drove her down as if he was about to slam her poor body down on the ground, but the swing brought his hands between his legs. With a sudden jerk, my mother's carcass was brutally evicted from the pelt, dangling by the legs, the only part where the two halves were still connected.

No.

I jumped toward the hunter's neck. He was looking away, bragging about something. What a catch, eh? My sharp lagomorph teeth went straight for his jugular. I bit and clung to the filthy hides he wore as clothes, delivering several fast bites. I wasn't there for the damage, I was in for a critical hit. In my blind rage, I didn't notice the ground was rising toward us until it was almost too late.

You killed level 28 Hunter. You gained 784,000 Exp (7,840 Base x 10,000 x 0.0001 x 100 Size Bonus).

Fuck that. I squeaked and looked around. A human was gawking at the scene and he was my next prey. I dashed over the trampled grass and leaped. He drew a copper short sword and swung at me. I twisted my back and spun mid-air, like a cat. The sword grazed my fur and I reached to touch and cling to the man's arm. I dragged the paw closer to me and bit his forearm. I could feel the stringy tendons yielding as my teeth ruined his left arm. I kicked off and jumped to his chest. Running up his furs, I saw him clumsily trying to stab me while he kept his chin touching his collarbones, staring down at his death. Me.

I bit off his nose, feeling the cartilage give way to my magically sharpened teeth. But I wasn't done. I walked over his head and came down on his nape. CHOMP. Like a woodpecker, I drove my teeth at the base of his neck several times until I obtained a critical hit and broke his spine. He screamed for a few seconds while his brain still functioned.

You killed level 26 Hunter. You gained 676,000 Exp (6,760 Base x 10,000 x 0.0001 x 100 Size Bonus).

I kicked off his back and dashed for a nearby tree trunk. Going around, I found a woman. She was not a huntress, wearing a leather apron and wielding a kitchen knife. In my berserk rage, I cared not. Humans ate rabbits and that was all I could think of. I jumped while she screeched in terror. The knife fell from her hand and soon her neck also failed to keep her blood inside her body.

You killed level 14 Farmer. You gained 196,000 Exp (1,960 Base x 10,000 x 0.0001 x 100 Size Bonus).

Not even a combat Class. I paused and sent my Exp to my Class.

You reached Guardian of Caerbannog (unique, racial) level 15.

You gained 4 Skill Points.

You gained 2 Attribute Points.

You gained 1 HP.

Gotta love those rounding effects. Humans were coming, attracted by the screams. I dashed into what undergrowth remained and hid. No use fighting large groups. This was a guerrilla.

You gained the Tactics (uncommon) Skill.

You gained the Guerrilla Warfare (rare) Skill.

You gained the Stealth (uncommon) Skill.

You gained the Backstab (rare) Skill.

Up a tree, I went, and I hide on the tallest branches. The humans gathered and examined the bodies. Some of the women that were helping in the search cried, shouted, and hit the men. One, in particular, an old guy with a hirsute gray beard, was currently being scolded by an old matron. I could bet she was yelling "this is all your fault!" to him. One of them found my blood paw prints running away from the farmer woman and called the leader. With hawk eyes, he stared at the trail. Speaking a word of power, his eyes glowed green and his gaze went up the tree until our eyes met.

We stared at each other. He drew a javelin and aimed at me. I squeaked. He pulled his arm back and tossed the wooden spear at me. Once he was committed to the attack, I dropped back and flipped to the backside of the branch, hearing the javelin whistle where I was and flying into the infinity and beyond. I ran sideways along the branch back to the trunk.

Graybeard, name pending, screamed in rage and frustration. I squealed as loud as I could, chuckling in murderous glee. No more javelins came in my direction. I looked at myself and I was drenched in blood.

Time to test something. I focused on the memory of my short amoeba life. I willed to sense the blood on my fur and to devour it. I felt a tingling and it was as if my fur came alive. It was a mix of warmth and tickles. I looked to my paws and the blood was slowly disappearing.

I shook my head, focusing. I was in the middle of a war, against a guy with glowing eyes that could find me hidden in a tree. I pulled up my Skills and dumped the four points I gained in Stealth. Then I went on the move.

Stealing a glance, I saw no humans chasing after me. I scuttled on the forest floor, using rocks and roots as cover. When I found a tall tree, I climbed it and perched on the highest branch I could. A quick check showed that my fur was spot-clean. I also felt less hungry. If anyone asks, I was bitten by a radioactive amoeba.

I searched and soon I found them. The humans were moving away from my domain. Following their path, I found a few columns of smoke about two kilometers away from where I was. I had no idea if they were bunny-kilometers or human kilometers.

With my attention focused on the humans, I paid no attention to the sky. Big mistake.

An eagle swooped down and grabbed me.