"You a hunter?" A man asked, holding a sword on his lap
Kai nodded. "Yeah. Just registered yesterday."
"Ha, I remember when I was a hunter. Times were simpler back then."
"Are you an adventurer now?" Kai asked, taking a good look at his weapons and armor. Judging by how decked out he was, it was obvious that he was an adventurer because no hunter would need heavy armor to hunt a rabbit or wolf.
"That's right." The man nodded. "Awakened my mana 7 years ago and switched occupations. These three are my companions."
"Hello." An Elf woman smiled, clearly a mage.
"Haha! It's always nice to see young ones taking up arms!" A dwarf bellowed, his beard wet with Alcohol.
"..." The last woman, a catkin, simply nodded at Kai.
"Kid, let me give you a word of advice." The man spoke, leaning forward.
"What's up?" Since he was new, Kai was open to advice, especially from someone who was an experienced hunter and adventurer.
"Take things slow. Don't try to become the next hot topic around town. Learn and understand the way of the hunt. Eventually, after honing your skills and taking on red areas, challenge the Primal Beasts."
"Primal Beasts?" Kai wondered
"Yeah. While they aren't as strong as monsters, they are the strongest of animals because they have mana. Only ten animal types have a primal beast form. You see your ID and how it's just wooden? Well, if you've slain a primal beast, you'll be given a metal orb that will be engraved on it, which symbolizes that you've slain a primal beast. If you have ten orbs, then you've slain all ten beasts. You'll be highly respected if you are able to accomplish that."
"Have you done it?" Kai asked
"Nah, I awakened my mana and went straight to adventuring. Primal beasts are a challenge for people without mana, or who haven't trained their mana, as an adventurer can easily kill them. Attack magic that is. If the magic that you know doesn't affect combat, like healing or storage magic, then you can still hunt them and earn respect."
"I see. Thanks for the advice." Kai handed the man five copper coins.
"Information is free, kid, no need to pay me."
"Time is money," Kai replied, standing up as he got off since it was his stop.
---
Looking around, Kai noticed that there were no trees at all, just a tall grass field with some bushes here and there. Further in the distance were beginner hunters like himself who were here to gain experience and earn some money.
'Glad to know I'm not alone. Alright, let's do this.' Kai pulled out his bow from his inventory and notched an arrow.
Thanks to his starter pack, he was able to use basic hunting skills, which included a bow, a knife, some traps, and a dagger. No sword, unfortunately.
'There one is! A horned rabbit!' He crouched, moving carefully and quietly as he aimed his arrow at the rabbit.
'Steady. Steady.' Taking a deep breath, he released the arrow and watched as it pierced into the rabbit's neck.
"Yes! First try!" He picked up the rabbit, placed it in his inventory, and continued his hunt.
After about three hours, he racked up twenty rabbits, which was good for his first hunt. He wasn't able to kill everyone he came across and had some embarrassing moments along the way, such as when a rabbit crossed him up so bad that he faceplanted into the ground, eating dirt.
"I wonder if there are any stronger animals around here? Wait, that's a stupid question, I'm in an area only meant for horned rabbits. Stupid Kai. I'll just hunt some more before the sun starts to set."
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Oh fuck no! I'm not sticking around to find out what kind of animal that is." Kai was about to bolt out of there when he saw a young boy around his age run toward the scream.
"Vanessa! I'm coming! Hang on!" The boy shouted.
"Oh, it was a girl who screamed. Phew, thought that was some type of blood sucking rabbit or some shit. Won't hurt to help." And so, Kai followed the boy.
The distance between them and the girl wasn't far, only about a thirty-second run. There, Kai saw a beautiful girl with big breasts and wide hips clutching her bloody shoulder as she crawled away from the animal that was chasing her.
"What the fuckkkkkk! I shouldn't have come, because what the hell is even that!"
Standing above Vanessa was a tall, jacked, horned rabbit with red eyes that stood on two feet like a person. The animal was ten feet tall and held what looked like a horn in its hand as a weapon, probably from a dead rabbit.
"Hey, bro! Get her out of here! I'll hold it off!" Kai shouted, shooting an arrow into the rabbit's leg."
The boy looked at Kai and was a bit lost for a bit, but he quickly came to his senses. "G-Got it! Come on, Vanessa, I'll get you out of here."
The rabbit was about to slam its horn-club on the two of them, but Kai quickly shot an arrow into its hand and another one in its eye.
"Yeah, that's right! Face me bitch!" Kai shouted, repositioning himself.
The rabbit hopped toward him, leaping a far distance in one jump, and opened its mouth to let out a piercing scream. "RIBBITTTTTTTTTTT!"
Kai was baffled. "T-THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE!"
He dodged an incoming swipe from the horn-club, swiftly notching an arrow and shooting it into the Rabbits' other eye.
"RIBBITTT!" It bellowed once more.
"Fuck, how am I even gonna kill this thing?!" As Kai wondered how to beat the rabbit, he noticed that its patterns started changing, and it was reacting to sound and smell.
"Ha! I got an idea." He went into his inventory. "Past Kai, I swear if you didn't pack the rope, I'm gonna kill myself! Aha! Rope! Oh shit!"
The horn-club slammed down right onto him, but he managed to move out of the way in time.
He cut the rope, making it a certain length. "Cut! Come on! Cut your stupid rope! Aha, got it. I saw this in a game. Let's hope it works!"
After tying the rope around his arrow, he aimed at the rabbit's eye once more. "I'm so fucked if this doesn't work." The arrow was released, soaring through the air as the rope trailed behind it.
Then it happened, it lodged into the damaged eye of the rabbit, and on instinct, the rabbit jerked its head back from the pain.
"Yes!" Grabbing the rope, Kai was flung toward the Rabbit, and he grabbed his dagger from his side. "They call me Wolf, bitch! Oh shit the horn!"
Kai extended his hand, grabbing onto the rabbit's horn. With his current momentum, he was able to spin around, landing safely on the head, then lodged his knife into its brain over and over and over again until it died.
"Now, just don't pull out your spine and become a headless Rabbit." He laughed, jumping off as the rabbit fell on the ground.
A/N: [If you understood those references, you're actually goated.]