Observer

"Ugh..." With a groan, the White Rabbit slowly opened his eyes. He was met with the sight of a lamp hanging from the wall, slightly shaking, threatening to fall off.

The White Rabbit gently rubbed his temples and got up from the ground. Checking his surroundings, he had no idea why he was here.

"Oh dear..." The Rabbit silently muttered, "Did I use too much of my magic and fell unconscious? Nay- That can't be it. Why would I use my magic here?"

The white rabbit thought and thought, and eventually, a few tiny bits of memories came back to him. First, he went to the library in the pit to get a book about a special kind of plant that grows only in specific locations, high in the peaks of mountains. Second, after getting the book, he immediately walked toward his lab while reading the book and was disappointed by its content. The plant had a unique characteristic that could turn one insane by simply sniffing it, but its effects differed from the Madness beasts. And third, just when he was about to enter his laboratory, he...

The White Rabbit's eyes suddenly widened. He could've sworn he was attacked by something- a human- just as he was about to enter the lab! That freak even had the corpse of a rabbit in his hand!

'But alas!' Thought the rabbit, 'How come I'm not dead?' He was sure he saw the glint of a sword reaching towards him before he fell unconscious.

The White Rabbit hurriedly checked his body, and noticed there weren't any wounds or injuries. Perhaps he was paranoid and sleep-deprived from his research to the point he began hallucinating. No- what if Madness finally took a hold of him, and that was the cause of the illusion?

These thoughts troubled the old rabbit, but they all vanished as soon as he laid his eyes on the door next to him. It was the door to his lab, and it was open. The White Rabbit suddenly felt a surge of anxiety, and just as he was about to look inside the room-

*Vroom!*

He immediately ducked to the side and held his head in panic. A large, black object suddenly flew from inside the door and crashed against the walls of the hall, mere meters away from the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit's ears shook, and after breathing for a few moments, he carefully turned around.

His eyes widened once more as he gazed at the figure. It was a large, disgusting mass of what seemed to be ink. Its tentacles were plentiful, some of them extending several meters. It was spherical, three meters in diameter, and had an abundant amount of eyes. They all looked creepy and were triple the size of a normal eye. But, in its center, there was an ever bigger eye, at least six times the size of a normal eye. They all had black pupils, and there was an obvious expression in all of them.

Fear.

The White Rabbit immediately knew what this creature was- an Observer! it was the same creature he captured a few months ago! He had been experimenting and examining it all this time. He had made sure it was sealed in a jar filled with magic that specifically worked against it, and yet, it somehow let loose? Was the magic he used not enough?

No- the White Rabbit knew that wasn't the case, otherwise that monster wouldn't have had a look of fear in its eyes. Whatever launched it here, it clearly had to have been powerful.

It didn't take much for the White Rabbit to connect the dots. There wasn't anyone else in the lab, so the only thing that could've done this is-

'That human! It wasn't an illusion?!'

Before the White Rabbit could cast any magic on that creature, he saw a rather fast sword flung toward the Observer. It tried to block the sword with its tentacles, but somehow, it slipped from the gaps of the tentacles, as if whoever threw it had calculated it beforehand, and it tore through one of the creature's eyes. A massive amount of ink-like substance spilled from the wound. The sword managed to pierce it and even lodged the monster into the wall.

The creature tried to run away and immediately pulled the sword out. But, just as it was about to run away, the White Rabbit saw a figure flash by and grabbed the sword. The creature didn't even have a moment to scream as the figure slashed at it.

The White Rabbit finally managed to catch a glimpse of this freakishly fast figure, and just as he expected, it was a human. He had no clothes, short black hair, and in his rather dull eyes, there was a faint glint of killing intent. His face was expressionless as he continuously slashed at the Observer. The Observer tried to defend itself against the assault, but none of them seemed to work. The human easily dodged every attack it threw, and with every attack the human threw, it managed to somehow bypass all the observer's defenses.

He was shocked for numerous reasons. Ignoring how a human even managed to get here, the more important part was how the hell was he abusing the Observer this much? The White Rabbit noticed the human lacked any noteworthy soul characteristics, and yet, he managed to somehow look at the Observer without turning insane, and was even defeating it!

'Nay- The devilish creature will continue to regenerate. It is of no use!' Thought the rabbit, and decided he should help the human. Regardless of how he came here, evident by the fact he was butchering the Observer, and didn't kill the rabbit, it should at least show the human wasn't necessarily evil.

But, the rabbit didn't activate his magic. Because the longer he looked at the fight, the more surprised he became.

He was outright slaughtering that Observer! While Observer's regeneration was impressive, it takes quite a bit of stamina. For sure, it will take quite a while for it to consume all of its stamina, but...

'The Observer's regeneration is already slowing down?' The White Rabbit noticed how the Observer's regeneration was slower than usual. Did the human have a regeneration negation effect, or was it because he kept slaughtering the Observer for quite some time? These creatures could regenerate their entire bodies in just a few minutes, although it takes a massive amount of their stamina if they sustained massive injuries like destroying 99.9% of their body mass. That would slow down their regeneration, just like what was happening right here. Although the human lacked any way to destroy the monster's body like that, somehow, the Observer's regeneration kept getting slower.

What was more impressive was how he was dodging every attack the Observer threw. He didn't even block, he just dodged with the slightest movements possible! If it was a normal fight between humans, he would've thought it wasn't something impressive.

But he was fighting against an Observer! These beings, just like their name, observe everything in their surroundings, and their opponents. Their tentacles were numerous and operated purely on instinct. They can immediately grasp an enemy's actions, conditions, and habits, every vital area the opponent has, they'll aim for the weak points, and once they finally read their opponent like a book, they'll attack. Once they have read the opponent, even if all of their eyes were closed, they can defeat the opponent without looking at them. They can read all of their moves, from the beginning of the fight to the end of it.

They are a force to be reckoned with, and yet, the Observer in front of him was getting humiliated. It was bizarre, the White Rabbit thought, because the Observer's attacks all looked well calculated, and yet, none of them could touch the human.

"Leave... me... be...!" In the middle of the assault, the Observer 'spoke' in a horrified tone. It didn't know what was happening right now. This human was slower and weaker, and yet, he dodged every attack as if it was nothing. Additionally, the Observer noticed something horrifying.

Midway through the fight, something happened with the human. Every attack he threw, the Observer could easily regenerate from, but now that wasn't the case. Its regeneration slowed down by a lot, and it was certain it wasn't because it was tired. No- something happened with the human, as if he activated something to slow down the Observer's regeneration.

Not only that, but the gap in their strength and speed kept diminishing, as the human began to adapt. His stats all kept rising, and eventually, he surpassed the Observer in terms of stats!

Indeed, the Observer's assumptions were correct. Because in front of the man, there was a floating panel with words imprinted on it.

[Congratulations! Due to your monstrous adaptation, you have managed to adapt against the fellow Observer, and have acquired "Regeneration-Slowing" ability! All your attacks now significantly slow down the regeneration speed of your opponent!]

[Congratulations! "Regeneration-Slowing" ability has improved due to your constant fight against the Observer! The speed of the regeneration is further decreased!]

[Congratulations! "Regeneration-Slowing" ability has....]

[Congratulations...]

The human ignored all of them and just kept on fighting the Observer, cutting through its body as if it was butter.

"Stop...!"

"Let.."

"Me..."

"Go...!"

"Damn it...!"

In just 10 minutes, the black substance sprayed everywhere, and chunks of that Observer's flesh were everywhere. The Observer tried to regenerate, but its regeneration speed was too slow. Its consciousness was currently inside the largest chunk of flesh, which was an eye. With fear, it looked at the human.

"W-What are you?!" It screamed at the human, its pupil shaking. The man didn't answer, and instead, he just stared at the eye, his gaze empty.

Behind him, just a couple of meters away, was the White Rabbit, his eyes filled with shock. Whatever that human was, it was fantastic! He showed horrifying analytical and combat skills, it was a warrior that could stand against Madness Beasts! How long has it been since he has seen someone this powerful in terms of combat and swordsmanship?

The man slowly opened his mouth and said something unexpected.

"...What did the right eye say to the left eye?"

"...?"

"...?"

"...Between you and me, there's something that smells." Right after he said that the man began to giggle, looking at the eye, and even at the White Rabbit.

The White Rabbit and the eye of the observer were silent. To say such a random thing at a time like this...

"...Come on, it took me a while to think about it. It's funny."