Lucky Rabbit

Welcome to the System, v.2.0!

New options found since last use.

Would you like to view the Changelog?

When Pandy was about ten years old, one of her foster siblings discovered that they could make itching powder from maple seeds. Somehow, a child with the attention span of approximately one squirrel managed to make enough powder to douse Pandy in it. Now, she felt like she’d just dived into a vat of the itchy fuzz that had haunted her for months, but she absolutely couldn’t scratch, because she had no idea what in the world was going on.

Fortunately, the sensation faded after about ten seconds, though those were ten of the longest seconds of Pandy’s unlife. She quivered with the desperate need to scratch, all while knowing that if she did, she could attract a deadly amount of attention to Augustus, in whose shirt she probably still rested. At last, however, as the entirely-too-cheerful words faded from her vision, and her limbs ceased their trembling, the grating sounds coming from outside her warm, albeit slightly sweat-damp, pouch resolved into speech.

“Why d’we haveta do this?” a man complained, though his words were too quiet to travel much farther than Pandy’s ears. She couldn’t be certain, but she thought he might be the same person who’d been bitten earlier. Heehaw…Hawk…Hankin? She was going with that, anyway.

“Because the cargo’s too sick,” said another voice that was definitely Tired of Listening.

Hankin grunted, and Pandy heard a sound a bit like an oar cutting through water, but with a solid stop at the end. The sound repeated from Pandy’s other side, where the second voice had come from, and then Hankin spoke again. “I’m just sayin’, we coulda got a fresh load in, what, a night? Lookit this last guy. Just came wanderin’ in off the street! Practically askin’ for it!”

Augustus’s body rocked as if he’d been nudged or kicked none too gently, and Pandy felt his muscles tense beneath her, but he didn’t make a sound. As far as she could tell, he was pretending to be unconscious again. At least, she hoped he was just pretending, because now that she was paying attention, his skin felt more clammy than sweaty, and yet hot at the same time. Well, if he was hurt or getting sick, she could do something about that. Probably.

Pandy thought.

Excellent choice!

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Augustus Blackwood for 20 HP.

Did you know you only need 442 more uses to reach level 24?

You can do it!

Would you like to view the Changelog now?

What…was wrong with her System? What had Keros done to it? Whatever it was, she definitely didn’t like it. It had been strange enough to have impersonal words floating across her vision, but now there were far too many exclamation points involved. And words. It was a good thing she didn’t need to see, because for a few seconds, her vision was almost entirely blocked by unnecessary enthusiasm.

she ventured, trying to focus on the conversation occurring outside her little cocoon and the one happening in front of her eyes at the same time. Hurriedly, she added,

Would you prefer to return to the default setting?

That’s all right.

I understand.

Was her System…being passive aggressive? Because she certainly felt like it was, to the point that she could almost hear the martyred tone of its words.

Will you view the Changelog later?

Pandy told it.

Of course.

That’s your prerogative.

I won’t bother you about it anymore.

Pandy would have facepalmed if she could, but as it was, she just thought, as meekly as she could, and tuned in to the exchange between the two men on each side of her. Hankman was still whining about whatever it was they were doing, while his companion gave shorter and shorter responses.

She was just beginning to suspect that she wouldn’t actually learn anything from them when a loud THUD reached her ears, and a short earthquake shook the world. No, not an earthquake. Water, combined with a sudden hollow bump that shook everything, meant they were on some kind of boat. Were the two men actually paddling? The sounds weren’t quite right for that, though.

“Watch where you’re going!” an angry voice shouted from farther away.

Both men gave affirmative grunts, but then Whinekin muttered, “I’d like t’see him do better. I bet-”

“Shut up, unless you want to get out and push,” the second voice hissed. “I swear, if you weren’t Ginny’s brother, I’d pitch you in myself, Hankin.”

“Ain’t got no call t’talk like that, Jess,” Hankin said after a brief pause, sounding only mildly chastened. “You feel th’ same, admit it. S’all we ever do anymore, grab these sad sacks of waste and let that monster bite ‘em, then drop ‘em off down here. I’m almost startin’ t’feel bad about it.”

Beneath Pandy’s paws, she felt Augustus tense slightly, which reminded her that he’d taken a full heal, and might well need another one.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Augustus Blackwood for 12 HP.

Only 441 more uses to reach level 24!

Pandy was just starting to relax, hoping things were back to normal, when another line flickered across her vision.

Was that better?

I’d hate to be a bother.

Nope, Pandy did not like this. She wasn’t ready to talk to Keros about it, though. Not yet. So instead she thought, and left it at that.

“We get paid good, Hankin,” Jess said. “That’s all I know, because I get paid not to know anything else. Now push off that rock, and stop runnin’ your mouth.”

Everything shifted abruptly to the left, and Augustus released a small grunt as he rolled too, barely managing to get his arms in place to protect Pandy before they came into contact with something else that gave in a very fleshy way, but was far too warm to be healthy. Pandy briefly considered whether she could afford to try what she did next, but in the end, it came down to the fact that not trying simply wasn’t an option.

she thought. Hopefully, this new, upgraded System would be smart enough to understand what she wanted, even if she couldn’t name names.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Ollie Malone for 20 HP.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Barnaby Ambrose for 20 HP.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Adelaide Langston for 20 HP.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Hector Declaire for 20 HP.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Hankin ‘Hangin’ Hank’ Whittaker for 4 HP.

Pandy had been counting people and not paying much attention to names, right up until that last one.

You said anyone you were close to.

He’s close.

That was definitely smug, and if a self-righteous, passive-aggressive System was annoying, a smug one was even worse. Pandy thought, before she could talk herself out of it.

Return to default settings?

System may require restart.

May? Pandy ground her teeth together. She had no idea what would happen if the System restarted again. Would it take another two days to come back up? Would she pass out? she told it.

# Error Code 100 Operator Error.

print(”My apologies.”)

My apologies.

Feel free to file a bug report at your convenience.

Oh, she would. But right now, she needed to figure out a better way to help these people, without blowing through her Mana. Keros had said she could use Innate Magic to halt poisons, even if she didn’t cure them, and here she was with several test subj…um, people in need of assistance. Since a god said it would work – even if that god was Keros – Pandy shouldn’t blow herself or anyone else up if she tried.

Right?

she cast her mind back, trying to remember one of the names,

Innate Magic successful.

Halted Poison in Hector Declaire.

Yes! Could it really be that easy?

Maintenance cost -.16Mana/sec

No, of course it couldn’t. Pandy wasn’t terrible at math, but she wasn’t great, either. Still, that would be, what, one point six Mana every ten seconds, which was…around ten Mana per minute? It didn’t seem like a lot, especially when she had almost nine hundred Mana to play with, but it would add up, especially if she did it for everyone.

She’d been a little afraid to try this. What if resetting or ‘updating’ the System really had set her back to level one? But she obviously still had Innate Magic, so surely everything else would be all right.

Name: Pandy

Race: Rabbit? (Deceased)

Age: 24

LF: 2/2

Mana: 834/875

Stats▾

Strength: 23 Intelligence: 35 Agility: 30 Pain Tolerance: 2 Charm: 1 Fire Affinity: 2Skills▾

Hop: Lv. 20 (112/190) Bite: Lv. 24 (216/550) Scratch: Lv. 13 (3/46) Dance: Lv. 10 (4/19) Dual Wielding: Lv. 1 (0/2)Spells▾

Minor Heal: Lv. 23 (24/460) Wings of Glory: Lv. 2 (1/3) Verdant Surge: Lv. 1 (1/2) Vita Herbalis: Lv. 1 (0/2) Spark: Lv. 20 (1/190) Shifting Faces: Lv. 5 (5/6)     03:00:00 Radiant Presence: Lv. 2 (2/3) Innate Magic: Lv. 23 (42/460) Shield of Darkness: Lv. 1 (0/2) Air of Superiority: Lv. 1 (0/2)Boons▾

Ismara’s Blessing IMark of KerosAglaea’s KissCorruption Points: 510

Pandy couldn’t help but feel an enormous rush of relief at seeing the number of Corruption Points she had. The last time she’d been able to check, that number was ‘only’ around three hundred, but apparently, even though the System had been down, she’d still accrued CP. Really, if she could convince Suzanne to wear her as a hat, she would. Maybe in the winter, when the girl needed something to keep her ears warm?

Even as she watched, her Mana continued to tick down, and at her best guess, it was, indeed, around ten per minute. And that probably explained why Dark mages died from overusing their magic, while other mages didn’t. It wasn’t just that they didn’t have elementals, but since they didn’t just use magic to achieve a goal, but had to continue feeding magic into an ongoing spell, it would be all too easy to cast one more than they could afford to pay for. Pandy’s System would let her know if she was doing that, and she could probably use Corruption Points in an emergency, but a regular Dark mage would probably just keep feeling weaker and weaker, until their bodies simply gave in.

All that aside, however, if there were five victims of the poison within reach, plus Augustus, that would be sixty Mana per minute to keep them all stable. That gave her roughly fourteen minutes before she ran out of power, and not only didn’t she know where they were, but she would probably need at least some of that Mana to help them escape.

So, with great reluctance, Pandy thought,

Innate Magic complete.

she told it, already feeling guilty about the decision. But she knew – or at least hoped – that Augustus was everyone’s best chance of making it out of this alive, so investing in him was in all of their best interests.

Innate Magic successful.

Halted Poison in Augustus Blackwood.

Maintenance cost -.1 Mana/sec

Wait! She was certain it had cost point one six Mana per second to keep the spell on Hector, but it was only point one for Augustus? What was different? Was it like in every shoujo anime ever, and the power of…of…friendship was the greatest power of all?

Augustus shifted, and she could feel a new kind of tension gathering in his muscles. He might have been drifting or only semi-conscious before, but now he was fully aware. He was also right beneath her paws.

Until she had evidence to the contrary, Pandy was going to assume that distance was the key. She didn’t know where Hector was, but he couldn’t possibly be as close as Augustus. If the situation hadn’t been quite so dire, she might have tried using Innate Magic on one of the other victims who were close enough to use the spell on, just to see what the difference was, but that would have to wait. Right now was not the time, because their vessel had just come to a stop, and it sounded like dozens of people were jumping aboard.