A poor undead chicken and rat were soon forced to learn an entirely new skill set: gardening! Jack stood behind them with an encouraging gaze as he barked instructions:
"Dig a little deeper. You want to get the roots properly, or it might not work!"
Right now, they were grabbing the flowers as if they were some rare treasure, carrying them with a comical overly-careful demeanor.
"Be careful. Bring it here and bury it around this stone stele." He tapped the precise location with his foot.
The entrance to the dungeon was extremely easy to miss. It was half-hidden by the vegetation and so ancient it crumbled in places. Still, the engraved fairies hinted at the secret it contained.
Next to it, there were 13 holes of different depth that Jack had already filled with the offering from the three types of forest creatures.
All that remained was to bury the five plants of Black Charm Lilly around the target.
This part should have been troublesome because of the properties of the plant. It was odd: it confused whoever touched its petals but was hard to use alchemy-wise.
This made Chicky and Durdoc the perfect candidates for the tasks as the undead were utterly immune to that effect. Before long, everything was ready.
"Good job all. Brace yourself. Teleportation is coming!!" Jack warned before driving mana in it all.
The fairy engravings seemed to come alive as they shone a pure blue light that soon engulfed them whole. Then they were gone….
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The first thing they saw upon entering were flowers, dead flowers everywhere. Withered, crooked, and an obvious sign that something here was very wrong.
[Welcome to the Fairy Garden!]
[Enjoy the Magnificent Sights and the Peacefulness!]
[You are the first to come into contact with fairies!]
What was up with the messages? This place was to "Magnificent" what a rotting cadaver was to a beauty queen. Heck, even the air smelled of death.
"Woo?!" (Frowning!)
"Yes, it's bad. Good thing we're here…." Jack whispered.
It sure was strange that the decay was that pronounced. After all, players would have usually taken even longer since they had to figure out the trick to enter.
They cautiously advanced until a slightly angry yet melodious high-pitched voice broke the silent atmosphere.
"Bad Mister Fluffles, bad rabbit! Fairies aren't for eating! Fairies are friends!"
A tiny fairy appeared before them. She was flying all over the place, restlessly dodging the attacks of a Savage Horned Rabbit.
The fairy looked delicate, had translucent wings, and was reprimanding her opponent in her cute voice while dodging. She didn't seem to be realizing the danger…
"Let's take care of this, shall we?" Jack decisively charged at the bunny.
How hard could it be to defeat a single rabbit? It could be annoying with opposition. As soon as she saw him, the fairy gasped in shock:
"W-who are you?! What do you want with Mr. Fluffles?!" She hurriedly threw herself between him and the creature to protect it with her body.
Jack stared at her go while sighting. Yes, fairies were dumb AF! A second later, a horn drilled her chest open, along with most of her body exploding.
"Mr. F-fluffles….why?" Those were her last words. She died utterly bewildered, her spirited eyes dimming forever.
"Mr. Fluffles" 1
Fairy 0
With the fairy gone, they could dispatch the creature quickly, a little too easily even. This had to be one of the most useless deaths ever.
"Woo!" (Intrigued!)
Moon Moon curiously tapped the body with its paw. What was this tiny creature, and why had it committed suicide? More importantly, were those things edible?
"There's something wrong with their brains, but they are comestible. For now, let's keep exploring. A horned rabbit is obviously not the cause of the desolation here."
They started roaming, as silently as ghosts, noticing a shitload of bunnies. The things were everywhere! Sometimes they were even in packs.
No kidding, but a pack of those fluffy creatures was actually a nightmare. If they coordinated correctly, they could essentially become impossible to avoid.
They would see a fairy from time to time, only for her to end up devoured by the wildlife. A regular player would have definitely saved them.
After all, they looked so cute, so gentle, and so friendly!
Luckily, Jack knew the truth. Those things were one of the most horrible creatures in Infinite. They were trouble magnets, annoying chatterboxes, and complete airheads.
There were countless tales of fairies aggroing all enemies in an area, only to fly to safety while leaving their new "friends" behind in the panic.
Luckily, no one was judging either. Moon Moon was the only one looking at them die with a sorrowful gaze. Why?! Why would they waste meat like that!!
But just as they were getting bored of sneaking around, a very peculiar scene appeared.
In a small flower field, stood one fat fluffy creature! It wasn't a boss, but definitely an elite. Behind it, there was a wooden cage with a fairy locked inside.
< Savage FAT Horned Rabbit Lv 20 ??>
But what was truly peculiar was that the fairy was completely silent, not chattering endlessly and pointlessly. Special NPC?
Moon Moon was already wagging its tail in expectation of the hunt. Finally, they would fight!
"Wait, if I'm not wrong, this guy has a pack calling ability. We need to shut it up somehow, or we won't be able to win." Jack whispered.
"Woo?!" (How unexpected!)
Was there any way to sneak past it? Nope.
What about one-shotting it? Not possible either.
They could only make sure it kept its trap wholly shut.
"Alright, get ready. Here's how we'll proceed." Jack patiently instructed his pets. The training back in the forest would prove in handy…
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
In the cage, a young-looking fairy was twiddling her thumbs in boredom. This was so annoying! Why wasn't anyone coming over?!
But right as she complained, they suddenly appeared. No, it was more accurate to say that they flew right at the fat rabbit! An orange wolf and an undead chicken?! What the hell?!
She hadn't expected anyone in particular from Infinite, but certainly not this! What the fuck was this?!
At this moment, she wondered if her information about the human realm had been wrong. Was it possible the humans were gone? Had they been replaced by strange animals?!
Her heart still beat faster at the prospect of all the fun to come!
The fat rabbit quickly opened its mouth, ready to call its brethren to the rescue. But before it could do it, the chicken suddenly landed right in its maw…what?!
She knew how it felt to have a bone in her teeth, but a whole undead?! It would soon get destroyed, right?
Except, this was only the beginning. Just as the chicken kept the creature's mouth open, a ball of acid suddenly flew in and landed right in the creature's throat!
The undead chicken did not care one bit about this, but the fluffy monster instantly started screaming in pain. That's when the fairy realized their strategy!
This horrible scream sure was loud, but the noise was too distorted to be a real call to help. It sounded more like it was insulting its brethren!
That's when the wolf cleverly used the opportunity to attack the enemy! It swiped its claws, bit the target, and …even summoned flaming chickens?! What kind of wolf was this?!
Soon enough, the fairy found herself rooting for the little wolf as it burned its opponent in a fiery flame.
Still, she knew that the rabbit wasn't one so easily defeated. Now that it was angry, the poor wolf was doomed!
The fairy half-closed her eyes, expecting the graphic scene of the noble creature getting torn apart by a horn— but then she jumped in surprise. What the hell?!
Out of nowhere, a man had appeared, and the monster had no idea he was there! He had the perfect positioning: right in the burning creature's blind spot.
The fairy then witnessed the most magnificent backstab of her entire life, the man's weapon lodging itself deep into the thing's brain!
Ah, amazing! She felt her entire body shudder just picturing the cold arc ending a life so quickly! The bunny fell, and he turned toward her.
She liked this one a lot! As she met his eyes, the fairy decided that she'd make him her plaything!
This would be as easy as flying! After all, she knew how much his species loved fairies…
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[A/N] Hype! Feb Mass Release Time! ??
A wild naive fairy appears….and instantly disappears!! Is it magic?!