Slimes, Boars, Rabbits! - Where're the Rabbits? [solo]

[Pandemonium]

Now Pandemonium knew there had to be some reason why she, of all people; disliked camping in the woods. It wasn't until far late in the day, when the sun was already gone against the view of the tree-filled sky that she remembered why. It got dark. Really friggin' dark. And it wasn't even night yet. Nope, in fact she was fairly sure the it would still take at least another hour or hour and a half until she would be completely immersed in the darkness.

A heavy sigh left her kitten-like face as she cursed her own stupidity for leaving town when it was already so late in the day. 'I was just going to go do some quick leveling! It won't take long at all! In fact I won't even need a map or anyone to back since I won't go far! Hurdy-dur-derp...' "Frickin' genius Pan." The summoner inwardly cursed at herself, letting out a very audible hiss while she was at it. "Now y'know, this wouldn't be so bad if I had some wonderful babe to keep me company. It could've been like a little test o' courage, as they call it. But do I actually think ahead about this? Nope. Of course not Hawk, thinking would actually lead you to good things. Heavens forbid that ever happen!" Another sigh left the feline. One small hand pressed against her forehead while the other rested against the cloth armor that she could only call rags. How did she even get this far out - no, the better question is why did she get herself into this situation in the first place?

There was only one word she could use as justification for this horrible turn of luck. Slimes. Those nasty, gooey, booger things were absolutely everywhere. No joke. She was perfectly fine with running into them here and there since they were indeed a common find but it wasn't just here and there... They. Were. EVERYWHERE. In fact Pandemonium was absolutely positive that she hadn't seen one boar or rabbit since she had been out there. With such a large abundance of the nasty things, early training was to be easy. Well easier than going around and finding something different than a slime actually. And thus was how she pulled out her grimoire, focusing of singling out each of the nasty things and running whenever more happened to come. Keep a distance, shoot. Perfect. A wonderful plan if she did say so herself. She didn't even need to rely on her summoning yet. Summoning, seeing as how she only had one. Only a few times did she had to break to regain lost HP but it was time spent wisely.

And that's how she got here. In the middle of the wood with absolutely no handy-dandy supplies on hand. She had thought she was just sticking too close to the walls and perhaps some other groups of mages had drawn the hordes to them with their practicing. Of course it could've also been her horrifying bad luck (or that she was actually the one drawing them all) but for now Pan just wanted to blame her misfortune on others.

The Were-cat crouched down only to slowly shake her head before pushing herself back up. "Well... I guess I can't just be overly picky anymore when it comes to this 'ey?" A little 'hmph' left her as one hand pulled up her menu screen. She wasn't in a clearing but more towards inside a barrier of trees and brush and with her cat-like senses she could easily hear a twig snap much easier than she could if she were her normal self. Ah - times she loved being a cat even if she had no tail. Though figuring out how to walk was quite a bit of trouble at first seeing as how absolutely refused to change her height to the one she had been back in the real world.

It was times like these that Pan was so terribly glad she was a summoner. Summoners could not only solo but they also had companions (sort of) that they could talk to so they wouldn't go mentally insane. Literally. The girl's eyes practically teared at the Summon Follower: Carbuncle on her screen. Carbuncle was it? Then Carbuncle it shall be. A swift movement and the feline had closed her menu, "Carbuncle!"

Nothing.

Now that was odd. "Um... Summon Follower Carbuncle!" A mist of light then... BAM! A instant flash of light blinded the feline girl. A tingling sensation echoed in her gut as her eyes watched the bar representing her mana drifted down. Another bar below that had appeared along with a new-found form. An adorable, fluffy beast with the ears of a rabbit and the tail of a fox, and a single giant ruby sat smack dab on the majority of its forehead. Once, twice Pan blinked; then the cuddle-fest started. "Oh my goodliness! Your frickin' adorable!" The feline trilled, grabbing and picking up the smaller beast and practically smothering it against her cheek and chest. It was so very soft. Oh so very soft. Even it's little 'kyuus' and squeaks were adorable, although it didn't actually push away. In fact it's tail was flapping around like a dogs at the attention. She cuddled the poor summon far too much and for far too much time, since when she did finish her little bout of 'too-much-adorable'; it was pitch black. Well almost. If it weren't for her feline eyes and the fact the core on the summon's head just faintly glew, Pan would have probably been blind.

"Whoopsie... Well, what better training than some night trai..." The smile that was on her face instantly vanished at the feeling of something very slimey brushing against her leg. Slowly, ever so slowly; Pan let go of Carbsy (yes that's really what she just named her cute little rabbit-fox-thing) to look down to see... a faintly dark green blob lingering near her heels. Instantly she was just a giant fuzzball with eyes larger than her head could've possibly held. "Eee...eee... EEYAK! Kill it now! Kill it with fire!" Her scream echoed throughout the forest while the dagger that had been resting at her side slid free of it's sheathe quicker than the slime could've blubbed. Out of the frenzied swings she took at the thing only one slash actually nicked the creature, causing it to go on aggro. The booger was right about to pounce her when a beam of light smacked the nasty thing right in the... goober. Alas the attack didn't stun the creature long enough for the summoner to actually get away. More like she just realized that her cute little Carbsy could shoot laser beams from it's head like a robot.

She'd have celebrated that too but she was too busy getting punted away by a nasty little booger at the moment. A chunk of her HP vanished with the force of the attack; it was probably due to her small body but the female also took to rolling away while the slime readied itself back up to attack once more. Sheathing her dagger, Pan reached into her robes to pull out her grimoire. One hand held it open while the other instinctively waved over the torn pages. Another beam from Carbuncle drew the slime from its master, even for a dull goo-ball it understood that attacking the creature that was doing more damage would undoubtly give it a better shot. Or at least it would have if Pan hadn't ever seen Harry Potter before; another nameless shot split against the air - smashing into the artificial creature and turning it into digital dust. In truth, Pan was fairly sure that her action wasn't going to work in the slightest but somehow it did. Seems like Harry Potter had just saved her and her Carbsy from a jelly menace. Yup.

[Pandemonium]

The wood was silent for about, what - three seconds before the cat-girl was whooping and hollering and smothering her newfound 'best friend' (aka Carbsy) out of pure joy. It was a subtle grunt that crashed her little party. Slowly Pan crouched down, her tilting left to right in search of a moving bush. That scream earlier probably alerted some creature and last time she checked, slimes didn't grunt. If they did Pan would never enter the woods again. She'd be one of those pure crafters who clung to the safety of the city, town, whatever it was that people called London.

Thankfully she didn't need to resort to that. Unfortunately she found the source of that grunt. A pair of eyes reflected against what little light there was. Then another pair... and another. Loud cracks of snapping twigs along with the rustle of of leaves signaled a group of life in the darkness. It was a staring contest between a frozen cat and a rather unhappy looking Young Pittered Boar, er boars. How she happened to miss them, Pan would never know. Their breathing was heavy and they squealed at each other, on top of that they weren't the most pleasant smelling things either. Even the slimes weren't as bad. Slowly she let go of her summon who in turn just sat where she placed it. Looking between her health, her summon's stats, and the enemy boars; the data wasn't against them. Whether it was luck or another blessing force, their foes were all level one. All being four boars in total from what Pan could see. If she dealt with this smartly then she could run or better yet, defeat them all for their experience and drops.

Now the question was, which road was she going to take. Carbsy was a ranged summon and as such held literally no value when it came to taking or dealing hits. Much like herself unfortunately but at this point Pan didn't think that her beginner stats would bring her that much of a disadvantage. As if sensing its master's intentions the Carbuncle climbed to its feet. Curiousity lingered in the summoner's mind but was quickly banished as she reached for the dagger at her hip. Slipping the grimoire into a pouch at her belt, she made sure to keep her movements slow when sliding the beginner weapon from its sheathe. Slowly the dull thing was brought to the front where the head boar only huffed in response. 'Good... Very good so far...' The words in her mind hummed. Mimicking her actions Carbsy slowly edged away from the pigs, following its master step for step. 'Slowly... slowly... slo-'

Crack!

"Ffff-!" And wham, with that one little twig snapping the head boar squealed and charged. With the range they were at there was absolutely no way Pan could have avoided the strike. Her health, which had regen; was smacked back down by a chunk as the small cat went flying upward only to crash down hard against one of boar's group members. Clinging on for dear life with one hand and stabbing her dagger into its back with the other, all Pan could do was pray that she wouldn't fall off and get trampled by the latter herd. "I'm never going to pass up a slime again I swear!" Her voice screeched out. Carbsy, who had managed to avoid the attack somehow was now racing along with the stampede. It ruby core shined before it shot out a beam at the offending boars, striking Pan's ride. With that one strike, the whole line was turned toward the rabbit-fox.

Oh no they don't! No one messes with the bunny! Pan gritten her teeth, taking out the dagger she had earlier planted into the boar's hide only to slam it back into the hide. She did the same action over and over again, watching as the beast's health bar diminished after the third strike. It was probably the pig's dying squeal that drew the other boars to ram at it to get the parasite-cat off. Either way, one moment Pan found herself jumping off vanishing creature to being punted out of the path into a clearing. Her Carbsy, whom she had actually lost track of; became a cushion for her fall. Both summoner and follower's health were down by a fourth, Pan's a half-bit further. For a bunch of level one creatures, they sure did hit hard that was for sure. But it wasn't over yet.

The ground shook with the remaining creatures' coming. With dagger in hand, Pan pointed to her left about ready to say something but before she could Carbsy was already off. Like as if the follower could already understand its master's commands before the cat could speak them. Well no time to dwell on it now with the beginnings of the herd already baraging on into the clearing. Barrel-rolling off toward her right and Carbsy shooting out a beam at another follower boar, she took the opportunity to jump on the back of the damaged creature as the group halted to charge after the irritation of a rabbit-fox. Like before Pan held the blade with one hand and brought down into the pig's back. It's squeal brought the attention of its neighbors who in turn began to try and slam against their fellow beast to get at the cat. Gripping on for dear life, Pan was thrown off as the leader boar knocked over its own companion to get at her. Another boar appeared at her side, slamming into her hard enough to send her rolling with a third of her HP gone.

"Attack the wounded boar!" Pan commanded her follower who was aiming at the youngster who had attacked her. Obeying, Carbsy shot out its beam right as another follower boar smacked into it. The Carbuncle went flying while the struck boar fell, turning to virtual sparkles.

The process repeated itself until Pan found herself face-to face with the final boar. Her health had been knocked to less than half and Carbsy's was pretty much gone. She looked on over to the follower who stood at the opposite end, its ruby core glowing. The poor thing's body was all beaten up, like Pan's own figure. She didn't want to send the beaten up yet tireless creature to its demise and yet the summoner saw no other option in this scenerio. Sure she could've probably taken the blasted thing on but with summoners naturally having the least amount of HP out of any class, she highly doubted that she would survive three attacks let alone two. Sensing its master's intentions again, Carbsy core glowed with another beam that struck the beast right in the butt. Enraged it turned to charge. It was heartwrenching to see her own follower echoing her thoughts far too clearly. As fast as her little tired legs could carry her, Pan thrust herself onto the boar, striking into its side where it veered off, dragging her along into the brush.

[Pandemonium]

By the time Pan had managed to stab the damnable pig into virtual dust her health was practically gone. It was in the red zone, no doubts about that. Then there was Carbsy. Poor, poor Carbsy couldn't or rather didn't dive out of the way of the boar even though Pan had managed to turn it away. Somehow the little creature managed to get hit and thus, now where there was 'Carbuncle' there was a counter locking the skill off till it set itself back into place. All Pan could do was stare sadly as the seconds ticked away. She couldn't even bring herself to lay down, keeping to a outstretched sitting position. This was idle time, like when she had rested in the beginning of this crazy place. The only thing she could really be thankful of was the chance to really test out this different body of hers. Instinct or not she learned to not throw the book at first notice. Key lesson number one: you can shoot bolts with a book. Lesson number two: pigs are evil. Lesson number three: get a tank.

Pan pulled her legs underneath her, glancing about in case of another surprise. It was only times like these could she really take in the sights. Like how the trees were much more bare in this clearing, even the sky could be seen clearly along with its sliver crescent. No wind blew and the ground was dark with health and green. Nothing rustled nearby and no sounds made themselves known to the feline's ears. Seemed like Pan was safe, if for just the moment. But then it was only a moment she need while she waited for Carbsy's counter to click to zero.

Three, two, one; "Summon Follower Carbuncle!" Pan jumped to her feet, both arms outstretched as her mana drained from her with its tingling sensation. Like before a bright light suddenly flashed and its place appeared the same little fox-rabbit. Pan could have sworn that it was probably the happiest day of her life to see the bundle of ear, tail, and fluff. She swept up the creature, cooing; "Welcome back Carbsy. Welcome back." In return the Carbuncle gave out its little chirps and wagged its tail as it had done before. Thought to tell the truth, Pan wasn't entirely sure that this was the same Carbuncle seeing as how she hadn't known the last one for all that long in the first place. But that won't be something to rain on her parade. She had her cutie back and that was that, end of story.

Placing the follower down, Pan gave it one good rub around the ears before standing back up. Her health wasn't entirely regenerated yet but she wasn't planning on taking another horde of boars again. No way. This time her target were the incoming amount of slimes that had been drawn by the summoning. Time for round two... three? Whatever. Cracking her knuckles Pan gave the boogers her infamous devious smile. One hand vanished in her robes to pull out her tome. "Ready for the next round Carbsy? This time I won't be letting them drag us around." Pan smiled confidently, Carbsy shook itself before placing it body between the slimes and its master. Taking that as a cue, Pan began the attack. First she thought of Carbsy attacking, which it echoed. So it could read her mind or something like that! Beautiful. With a bit of more focused practice that kind of skill would be the key-point in battles. As the bolt hit one slime Pan readied her own and shot the thing. Over and over again they did the same thing.

Every time master and servant managed to take down one area of the slimes, another would respawn just as they finished giving them a rather easy trip with going back and forth. Was even better since the respawn was so bright. Alas Pan hadn't been able to spot one rabbit, plenty of slimes and boars but no rabbits. Kind of odd. They were supposed to be timid things but seriously, couldn't at least one pop up for just the sake of popping up? Nope. Slime here, slime there, revenge on a boar over there is how the routine went. Seriously. That is exactly what Pan and her Carbsy did until dawn. Oh no one could possibly understand just how freakishly happy the kitty was when she could see past her nose. Better yet she could actually see the walls of London! London, oh dear lovely London! How you will never have any food in any of restraints when this kitty got back there. 'Cause now that she had thought about it, Pan hadn't eaten since... midday yesterday. At the very least. If there was a debuff for starvation she would have already died from it.

Well even with how much she wanted to just go home and eat out all the restaurants Pan managed to hold out a little longer. Just a little longer. Why? Because she wanted to see a freakin' rabbit already! This was a Sparta moment or something 'cause Pan had absolutely no intention of leaving until finally spotted one. A few more slimes fell to the might of ranged attackers who kept running away every time they got near. Same with boars, well boar really. Pan never attacked those pigs when they were in groups of three or more. No more rodeos for her. Nu-huh. She did enjoy blasting the piglets to dust though when she find and fight them. No lies there. And yet somehow after what seemed to be like forever Pan still could not find one single stinking rabbit. Not one. Did she smell of danger that bad? Did she just smell in general? "Ugh! Carbsy you wouldn't happen to have some internal tracker would you?" The feline looked to her follower. Carbsy merely looked up at her and gave out a low kyuu.

"I'll take that as a no then... Blasted rabbits... When I find a cook I'm going to make them cook me one of you." Carbsy continued to look at its master with one ear wilted. Pan could just tell that Carbsy was looking at her like she was insane. Or severely sleep deprived. Either one would have worked since Carbsy was pulling at the feline's cloak toward the city. Letting out kyuus and chirps until Pan finally gave. Giving the worried summon a single pat on the head Pan had to wonder just how smart was the AI system in these summoned creatures. For a moment she just stood there and stared at the cutie before giving in. "Fine, fine. Lets head back to town. Maybe then we'll actually see one of those little tricksters as someones pet. Or dinner." She ended rather colorfully. Motioning for the beast to follow her, the two headed back to their home of London.