3 Kicked Out

24 weeks in the tundra needed to pass by before Yuuki could even think of leaving the Red Gate, this brought a wild feeling inside of him, and instinctively knew that this tundra was exceptionally dangerous.

If he did not die to the frostbite, the Magic Beasts roaming the snow-covered woods would certainly be able to slice him into two with a swish of their claws.

Amusing himself by talking to the 'cub' Yuuki tried to keep his mental state high as it was necessary for his survival here.

However, it seemed that after two days in the cave, his stay was invalid. After the mama bear returned, it growled lightly towards Yuuki as it nudged him towards the entrance.

Yuuki could not understand the bear but it must have wanted him to leave, though he had no complaints whatsoever and took one final look before setting out into the tundra once more.

"Goodbye mama bear, little bear, let's hope I can live." After portraying a defenseless silhouette, Yuuki's pitiful figure disappeared behind a blanket of snow that fell from the sky.

Mere moments after he left, little bear's father returned. Should he have stayed any longer, it seemed that he would've been killed by the beast from the vicious aura it emanated outwards. Death had barely scraped past Yuuki.

Even if the Magic Beasts before were never attacking him, in this Red Gate maybe it was only mama bear who would pass up the chance to slaughter him.

---

In normal Dungeons accessed by normal Gates, the monsters there would have the idea to 'slaughter all the humans' placed in their brain but for the ones in a Red Gate, they had a different idea planted in their mind, 'protect this place'.

This idea overwrote the previous apprehensions that every Magic Beast had so far towards Yuuki, this was why only the Mama Bear was friendly towards him. Childbirth made the effects of the idea dissipate and it knew Yuuki would not be safe if he stayed around long enough for Papa Bear to return.

Yuuki's fortune was truly great, the only reason he was in the Red Gate was due to his supreme recklessness and overwhelming desire for power which led to his foolishness in running into the Gate without thinking. The reason his fortune was great was that he found another cave, this time it was empty.

Keeping himself safe from the ongoing blizzard was no feeble matter, his life and death depended on whether he managed to fight off the impending frost. Worn out from being struck by the snow, his eyes closed and he fell into a deep slumber for a second time. As he slept, his hands were clutched onto the steel dagger which had never been used on a Magic Beast to this day.

Against the wall, he leaned back and his grumbling stomach brought his mind to the topic of food. Water was easy for him to get as luckily he was surrounded by snow and just had to melt it. Struggling to keep his mind off the topic of food, his stomach grumbled as he imagined the food back at home and his mouth leaked drool.

His salivary glands were working overtime as though he was going to eat something but Yuuki knew there was no way he was going to get food in this place. His survival instincts denied despair any control over him and instead of mulling over the fact that he was too weak to kill anything, he thought he could make a trap before realizing that the beasts here would not be affected by some small traps which would barely trap a rabbit.

In the deepest part of the cave, he sat against the wall as he fought off the insane hunger which he needed to make the energy necessary to sustain his living.

"This place... this place cannot be my grave! I am not going to die here because if I do who would take care of Hana?! I must survive..." The resolution to live appeared in his bloodshot eyes and his wobbly steps got to the entrance of the cave with the dagger in hand. Crazily searching for any sign of life Yuuki scrambled around the cave, before he saw it...

Right there, a small bunny with fur matching that of the snow surrounding it hopped around. Yuuki activated his stealth and tread over the snow without leaving any footprints. As though his presence had disappeared entirely, Yuuki snuck behind the rabbit and viciously stabbed towards the back of its head.

Piercing through the air, his dagger cut straight towards the rabbit and struck the fur, but there was a problem... no blood appeared when his dagger hit the rabbit which meant that it was still alive and well.

Walking back slowly, Yuuki concentrated so hard the veins on his head slightly stuck out. As he was almost out of the radius of the rabbit, it turned and jumped so fast it was a blur.

Yuuki was hit in the chin and the force caused his brain to shake within his skull.

For the second time in recent times, Yuuki's vision turned blurry and threatened to stop altogether, his hearing stopped as a constant ringing appeared out of nowhere, his balance was lost and his feet fell out from under him as the rabbit leaped and launched into his stomach, winding him.

"Urgh!" Grunting in pain, Yuuki tried to retreat as fast as he could but the rabbit launched towards him again, and only after rolling with all his might did he manage to reduce the damage it caused him.

Strangely, he felt calm. He recognized that the rabbit only launched itself as a method of attacking and that it could not move whilst it launched towards him.

Immediately, an idea sprouted in his mind.

Looking around he saw what he needed, Yuuki dodged his way over there but still got hit multiple times and was on the verge of collapse. Fumbling with his hands, Yuuki, struggled to reach the rock but his fingers wrapped around it tightly and with both hands, as the rabbit launched towards him, he placed the rock in its path with the sharp spike on the rock pointing towards the rabbit.

Not realizing until it was too late, the rabbit pierced itself on the rock and screeched for a second until Yuuki stabbed its mouth with his dagger. Before removing it and stabbing again, and again. Venting his frustration and anger, Yuuki filled the rabbits head with 28 stab wounds before he panted in exhaustion and screamed towards the sky as he reveled in joy because he killed the rabbit.

Limping towards the cave entrance whilst dragging the rabbit with him, Yuuki's hands trembled as he saw some wood that matched what he remembered from a camping trip with his father.

"Remember Yuuki, the wood you use to start a fire needs to be dry or it will never light." Grabbing the wood with his free hand after holding his dagger in his mouth, Yuuki entered the cave and placed down the wood and the rabbit.