Chapter 32: Offering

As Van kept running, the ground behind him burst.

He turned around to see a hole in the ground, a white, fluffy ball peeking out of it. 

'... A rabbit?'

The rabbit looked around with beady red eyes before seeing Van. It glared at him before disappearing.

Van was left confused, but not for long. He felt mana begin to pool beneath his feet.

"Finally!" 

Van jumped to the side, the ground where he previously stood bursting, the rabbit flying out of it. It landed in front of Van before immediately charging at him.

"Thank you!"

Van wrapped both his hands with mana before grabbing the rabbit mid-air by the ears, turning and swinging it into a large tree. The rabbit squeaked in pain, but was overall fine. 

Thinking quickly, Van swung a mana-powered kick at the rabbit, sending it flying. He ran over to the rabbit and killed it with some mana-powered stomps. After he was finished, the rabbit was mostly reduced to a red paste, a small, black and blue rock shining in the middle of it.

Smiling, Van bent over and picked up the mana core. Van had read about the rabbit he just killed in the study during his breaks. It was a Low rank mana beast called geyser rabbit. 

Van looked at the details of the mana core that popped up using Fendor's status screen.

GEYSER RABBIT CORE (LOW)

MANA: 18/20 

AFFINITY: NONE

"No skill." 

Van pulled out a small sack he took from the servants quarters and placed the core inside it. Now he just needed a couple more of these. 

The ground burst multiple times around Van, revealing many more geyser rabbits. Van stood up, calmly put away his sack, and grinned. Simultaneously, they rushed at each other.

Van covered his arms and head with mana and targeted the rabbits in front of him. He took some kicks from the rabbits, but thanks to Pain Resistance, he could barely feel them. He also didn't worry about taking damage as his body was sturdier now that he was in the Knight rank.

Van grabbed one geyser rabbit and pummeled it to death, jumping forward to avoid the rest. Van grabbed two branches off the ground, turning and swinging them at some rabbits that were jumping at him. 

One of the branches broke while the other stayed intact. Van used the broken one to stab a rabbit while still swinging the other branch. Right now, the street fighter in Van was enjoying the fight. 

Van continued to dodge and attack, grabbing whatever sticks and rocks he could use as weapons off the ground, occasionally killing a rabbit with a good old mana punch or kick. He was bruised and had a few cuts, but the number of geyser rabbits remaining could be counted on one hand.

Van kept fighting, punching one rabbit while grabbing the other. While he slammed the rabbit he held on the ground, another started gnawing at his leg. Van made quick work of the one in his hands before kicking away the one biting him.

Suddenly, Van felt quite tired and weak, the mana around his body also weakening. He quickly killed the rest of the geyser rabbits before sitting down, breathing heavily. 

'My mana…'

Van opened his status.

<> Status <>

Name: Van Brown

Mana: 4/30

Rank: 1st Sword Knight

<> End <> 

"I used too much mana…" Van panted. He had gotten too excited while fighting, he forgot that mana exhaustion was a thing.

"Gotta get these cores before something else comes…" 

Van got to his feet, and began to scrounge around the corpses of the geyser rabbits for the mana cores. After a few minutes of finding and picking up cores, Van had them all in the sack.

Van was pleased with his haul. He had collected over 19 low rank mana cores in total. Unfortunately, none of them had a skill, but he wasn't sure if the geyser rabbits had one in the first place.

The first phase of his plan complete, Van decided to start the next phase.

"Whoever's watching me, please don't kill me yet." 

Van spoke aloud, getting only the silence of the night in response. Van continued.

"These cores are for Lord Raphael."

The moment Van finished those words, as if a veil was removed from his eyes, Van noticed that there was a dagger placed to his neck.

Van had spoken at the perfect time. Verro, who had been watching, assumed that Van went looking for cores to sell at the town to pay for transportation, and went for the kill while he was tired. 

"What do you mean?" 

Van heard a raspy voice. If he had to guess, the one holding the dagger was one of Lord Raphael's cloaks, or another hidden asset of his.

"I wasn't trying to escape." Van explained. "I wanted to go hunt for mana cores, and give them to Lord Raphael to show my usefulness."

Verro stayed silent. He was suspicious, but seeing how Van didn't try to run despite knowing that he was being followed, Verro was inclined to at least hear him out. 

Verro removed the dagger from Van's neck and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"I shall take you to the lord."

Van nodded in agreement, gulping. 

Verro wasn't worried about Van pulling anything. A measly 1st Sword Knight that had just entered that rank couldn't do anything to him, let alone Lord Raphael.

The two vanished from the forest, leaving behind the corpses of the geyser rabbits. 

******

Van had just agreed to speak directly to Lord Raphael, and the next thing he knew, he was inside a warm, lavish room. He saw Lord Raphael reading a book on an armchair, Verro walking over to stand guard beside him.

"My lord, I have brought him." Verro greeted Lord Raphael, who looked away from his book. Surprised filled his face as he saw a dirty Van on his floor, covered in blood. 

He looked to Verro with confusion, who only gestured to Van to begin speaking. Van cleared his throat.

He pulled out his sack of mana cores and dumped out 15 mana cores on the floor before bowing. 

"Lord Raphael, I wasn't trying to escape. This is my offering to you."