The Only Thing I Can Upgrade is Strength chapter 29

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As I looked at the job board, I realized I had never really taken a job for the adventurer’s guild. Hunting horned rabbits and wolves didn’t really count since those were constant bounties. Most of the other jobs were for higher level adventurers- at least C or D rank. Those quests were approximately for people level 15 or higher, and while my Strength itself might have brought my attributes up to the appropriate level, I didn’t have the skill ranks or equipment to match. Those quests could also be done by groups of 4 or 5 people- even those who had just started adventuring- but there was only myself and Kantrilla in our little group.

Just as I was able to go hunting again after all of the hullabaloo with the assassins, a B-rank quest appeared. That was pointed out to me by some of the other adventurers. After all, it was better suited for me. It needed to be done soon, so if I didn’t take it someone else would, but they gave me the chance.

I looked over the quest. It was upper B rank, which was doable. With wolves being low B-rank monsters, it would be of an approximately equivalent difficulty to fighting several of them. Of course, everything was only approximate, because different people had different strengths and weaknesses. An Archer or Wizard might find defeating a flying monster trivial, but a Barbarian of equal level might fight it quite difficult, even if they had a bow or other ranged weapon. Likewise, the former two might have trouble against an ambush at close range and the Barbarian would excel.

The quest was simple: defeat a two-horned rabbit. Presumably, this was different from defeating two horned rabbits. I looked up the details of a two-horned rabbit in the guild’s monster catalog. It didn’t have every sort of monster, but it covered everything that was likely to appear locally. A two-horned rabbit was essentially just a bigger version of a horned rabbit. A boss monster version, or mini-boss technically. In this case, a ‘boss monster’ was not necessarily a stronger monster, but one that attracted other monsters and directing them. Thus, it was their boss. They were also called leader monsters, but boss monster sounded better to me.

A two-horned rabbit’s subordinates were, not surprisingly, regular horned rabbits. The two-horned rabbit wasn’t particularly dangerous itself, but combined with a dozen or more horned rabbits it could be a challenge. More importantly, it led them to be more aggressive than normal. This particular one had been spotted by several farmers and they were worried it would come after their crops soon.

It seemed like just the right sort of quest for us, and Kantrilla agreed. Thus, we prepared our gear and headed out of town toward the last area it was seen in.

—–

We visited a few farms in the area before we found a farmer who had seen it less than an hour before. It had gotten near his farm, but his guard dog had scared it off. That wouldn’t have been enough if it was starving, but it would prefer to go for easier meals otherwise. I would too- the dog was big, and I thought it could probably take on a wolf or two. In fact, it was probably about as big as me… which was big for a dog, if not for a person. I was taller, of course, but if we were oriented in the same direction I wouldn’t be much longer, and it was definitely thicker. It might have weighed more than me, but I wasn’t sure how much weight I had gained since coming to this world. It would certainly be a least 20-30 pounds, but I wasn’t sure if my bonus points in Strength gave me more mass… and there weren’t scales sized for people in town. Regardless, it was a big dog, which made sense in a world where one had to fight off strange horned rabbits and curiously large numbers of wolves.

It didn’t take us long to find the two-horned rabbit, as it left a trail of small dirt mounds from where it and its smaller companions dug up any buried vegetables they could find. Once we got close, it was rather trivial to spot a rabbit the size of a medium dog surrounded by around a dozen others. The two parallel horns that neared a foot long also didn’t hurt in spotting it.

Previously I would have had to move in, but once I got to a good distance I pulled out my sling. Kantrilla cast a blessing for my Dexterity, and I began chucking rocks. Well, they were actually lead bullets made specifically for a sling, but the idea was the same. They were just more of the kind of rock I wanted, even if they weren’t really considered rocks. A few rotations of the sling around my head and the sling was going the fastest I could control the accuracy.

I couldn’t see the bullet easily as it traveled, but I knew about how long it would take to reach its target. It was flying toward the two-horned rabbit, and though I couldn’t be sure to kill it, something would break. There was a strange screeching noise… and I saw my aim had been true. Unfortunately, a smaller rabbit had jumped in the way at the last moment. It didn’t seem to be a coincidence, because the screech had come from the two-horned rabbit, and even from the distance we were at I could feel its eyes on me. It was frustratingly perceptive and fast to react.

Normally the sight of a dozen rabbits running through the field would be cute, but I found it rather intimidating. Nonetheless, I didn’t stop slinging bullets at the two-horned rabbit boss. As before, a smaller rabbit jumped in front of each bullet like a secret service member in front of the president. It didn’t help the feeling of intimidation to see the two-horned rabbit had red eyes, and now that it was spattered with the blood of its subordinates it had red fur too.

By the time they arrived near me, there were merely eight horned rabbits and the two-horned rabbit boss. I pulled out my club, and Kantrilla cast a sanctuary spell. It was going to be tough watching out for myself with so many enemies, so Kantrilla had to defend herself. Sanctuary would make her seem like a less appetizing target to attack, though the more she cast other spells or did anything but stand still the less effective it would be. Still, it would keep her safe but able to participate when she needed to.

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