Chương 13: Thistlebound

"You're going to do what!?" Lina asked for the third time. I'd figured something important out. It was right there, plain as day in the description of the class.

"Eat what you kill… kill what you eat"... I had to collect core ingredients myself. And that meant my hands must do the killing.

"Well, if I need to find or kill to get the core ingredients myself, then I better get on with it," I explained.

"I got lucky with the goblin. The rabbits should be easier."

"Dire-rabbits," she corrected.

"A rabbit is small and can be caught with a simple trap. A dire-rabbit is as large as a dog, with vicious teeth and a taste for blood. Luckily, they steer clear of established settlements, but if you go into their territory… they'll eat you alive. Literally." That finally gave me pause. I'd seen an anime before where someone was eaten alive by rabbits… Not pleasant.

"How strong do fighter classes find them? Challenging?"

"Not in the slightest," Aldric said, opening the door and stepping into Lina's shop. The bell above the door chimed, and a little gust of street air followed him in, carrying the smell of dust. His armor caught the light from the front windows, polished silver against the darker shelves of Lina's shop.

"Thank the gods," Lina said.

"Will you please talk some sense into this idiot? He wants to go out and hunt a dire-rabbit." Aldric shrugged.

"Sounds like a proper test, to be honest."

"I… wait, what?" Aldric ran a hand through his brown hair.

"The system gave him this class for a reason. The system is our link to the gods. If the gods think he can do it, then he can do it. Still, I'd exercise caution." I snapped my fingers, an idea coming to me.

"Maybe you and your party can help me? The food I can make with the dire-rabbit hearts grants buffs. It can be useful to you. Maybe I can be useful—" Aldric held up a hand.

"I know what you are going to ask, and the answer is no. We aren't looking for a fifth party member."

"But I'm a support class and your party doesn't have one."

"Support class… in a way you are, I suppose. Although I feel as if the support you provide is better suited to yourself. There are two main issues… the first is that my party is bought and paid for, and we are only paid for the four of us."

"I don't need to be paid. I can—""The second issue is that my other party members do not trust you. Please… don't judge them for it. There is a stigma that is hard to overcome. You'll experience more of it in the future. It is best if you become… self-reliant."

"Special grade class…" I murmured under my breath. Aldric sighed.

"I'm afraid so." This class was beginning to feel more like a curse from the gods rather than a gift.

"Well then," I asked, "why are you here?" Aldric held out a hand.

"To wish you good luck. I've seen your heart… you're a good man. Or at least you're trying to be. That's more than I can say for most." I reached out and shook.

"Thank you, Aldric… for everything." The knight nodded and turned to step outside. He swiveled his head back.

"If you ever find yourself in Stoneford, find the Radiant Hall. If I am available, then we can grab a drink and catch up. I'll be eager to hear about your journeys." With that, he turned and stepped outside. The bell chimed again, and the shop seemed quieter once he was gone. Lina grumbled to herself.

"Worthless knight… can't even talk someone out of doing something stupid."

"Lina… I need to do this." I looked at my hands, shaking with anticipation.

"It feels like it's calling to me. It's like you; that moment when you make a good trade. The thrill of every level. I need this." Lina sighed.

"Alright, alright—but if you die, I'm buying you a cheap headstone. And it'll say, 'Here lies Rook, the idiot who tried to eat a dire-rabbit and got eaten instead.'" I chuckled.

"Fair enough." I looked out the window.

"Well, I'd better get going if I'm to make it before sundown."

"Fine, fine—one more thing." Lina reached behind the counter and pulled out a bag. The canvas was worn but sturdy, cinched with a leather cord and packed tight enough that it thumped against the counter.

"It's just some basic supplies: a rolled blanket, some dried-out meats, a compass, and some other such things. I even gave you the supplies for both the Goblin-Eye Soup and the Dire-Rabbit Heart Skewers. And… one last thing—" She reached behind the counter once more and came back with a pretty-looking knife. A blackened leather grip with a silver pommel and a silver heel to match. The blade looked sharp and ready.

It caught the shop light in a clean, dangerous line, far better than the little kitchen knife I'd been using before. Stolen novel; please report.

"Think of it as a gift," she continued, "and as a bribe."

"A bribe?" I asked.

"What do you want for it?" Lina smiled mischievously.

"Come back alive, and I'll tell you. Let's just say I have a business proposition." Darwin finally made himself known, floating into the room. The tadpole had been rummaging through some of Lina's things in the back, and there was an old shoe floating absently in the water. Lina sighed and reached in, pulling it out. Water dripped from the leather onto the floorboards.

"And promise to take this thing with you."

"I don't think I have a choice there," I replied. Lina suddenly reached out and gave me a hug.

"Do try to come back alive," she said.

"It would really suck if you died."

Harvesters Way was my destination. Instead of heading east and landing where I had originally found Darwin, if one were to veer off to the south, they'd find themselves on a path to the aptly named Thistleburrow Fields. Once said to provide a legendary bounty for older generations, it had been abandoned once monsters had begun to move in. Yet without the settlement, those monsters were quickly decimated by the population of dire-rabbits, who tore them to pieces and feasted on their flesh. I swallowed hard…

yet I suppose I couldn't judge the rabbits. Wasn't I about to eat monster meat myself? What made me so different from them? We both consumed to survive. Most of the day had come and gone. It was farther than I had anticipated. I stopped and spent the night just off the trail. It was well-used, and I saw a dozen or more come and go before the sun fully dipped away. Farmers with carts. A pair of hunters. A small group of adventurers with worn armor and tired eyes.

I made sure not to accidentally wander into monster territory. I did not want to get stuck out there for the night. The evening air cooled quickly, and the grass along the road whispered whenever the wind moved through it. I shared some dried meat with Darwin, and the tadpole slept nearby, complaining of moving shadows out in the dark. His water orb glowed faintly whenever he shifted, making the brush around us shimmer in strange, rippling patterns. I woke up bright and early.

Today was the day I killed me a monster. I veered south on the path and made my way into monster territory. I saw fewer and fewer people as I went, and those I did see stopped being simple farmers and started becoming parties of fighters and adventurers. Their gear looked better; their eyes sharper. A few warned me off, but I assured them I was going to be fine. I wished I felt as confident as my words to them had seemed.

I walked upon a hill, and as I stepped over to the other side, I was greeted with quite a sight. Flowers atop spiky green leaves of purple, pink, white, and yellow spread out as far as my eye could see. It was clear that nature had taken the land back, and that land had been bountiful. The fields rolled in uneven waves, tangled with thistles, wild grass, and pale seed-heads that flickered under the morning light. At first glance, it almost looked peaceful. Then the grass twitched. Not with the wind.

I made my way down the hill. Darwin bounced back and forth, the vast colors illuminating faintly in his floating water orb. The water around him caught the light and scattered it across the thistles, making the sharp leaves flash blue and silver for half a second at a time. At the bottom of the hill, soft grass gave way fully to the thistles, which were waist-high. Their thorny leaves crowded the path until it barely existed at all. If I wanted to continue, I'd have to do so nearly blind to what ran near my feet.

Now I understood why most stayed away from this place. I plodded forward, unheeding of the danger. Bugs assaulted me, buzzing precariously close to my mouth and ears. I swatted at them the best I could, but it did little good. They came in whining little clouds, drawn by my sweat and breath. And then… Snap! Darwin shot out his tongue and ate a particularly large one that had landed on my head. Snap! Snap! Snap! Bugs were disappearing from all around me in a flurry of tongue lashes.

Silently, I thanked Darwin, and my companion bounded back and forth, happy as could be. And then I felt something near my feet. I jumped, drawing my knife. I could see the thistles moving around me, but nothing that lay below. The stalks shivered in little bursts, one ripple here, another there, too quick and too low for me to follow. Something else touched me, and I spun to face it… Nothing. Something bit the back of my leg; superficial, but hard enough to hurt.

I swung my leg to kick it off, moving back toward the safety of the hill. Something else grabbed hold of my pant leg, and I stabbed downward, my knife finding something soft that was not dirt. I heard a cry, and whatever it was let go, scampering away through the thistles. I found the edge of the jungle of thistle, escaped, and leaned back against a tree. I stared down… Red. Blood.

"Shit…" I muttered. It didn't hurt much… But it did hurt. Before I could do anything, I saw scampering in the thistle in front of me. There was a chittering-like sound, and then, unexpectedly, a large scorpion stepped out, walking straight at me. It was black, with large red marks and two giant claws. Its tail was raised and poised to stab me. Each leg clicked against the dry earth as it moved, and its pincers opened and closed with a hard, hollow snap. I stood, ignoring my injury.

I reached up and grabbed a tree limb, pulling myself up. Bark scraped against my palms as I climbed into the tree and stared at the scorpion. It chittered in anger at the base of the tree, snapping up at me. Its tail stabbed once into the trunk below my foot, sinking into the bark with a wet thunk. It stayed that way for a few moments before something quick seemed to hit it from the side, knocking it over. Then another. And another.

Soon, three large rabbit-looking creatures with long black nails and sharp, jagged teeth descended upon the scorpion. Their fur was mottled gray and brown, blending perfectly with the dry grass and thistle shadows. Their ears were long but ragged at the edges, and their eyes glowed with a hungry, awful focus. The scorpion tried to flip itself right-side up, but it couldn't. One rabbit tested it, leaning forward and biting into the abdomen. The scorpion skittered out a scream.

Then all three descended on it in a ravenous fury. Blue blood exploded from the carapace, covering the monsters who gleefully ate it. The sound was wet and frantic: teeth cracking the carapace shell, claws tearing, bodies shifting over one another as they fed. Within moments, there was almost nothing left of the scorpion. For a moment, I thought they would go back into the thistles… Until one turned to stare up at me with red glowing eyes.