Hare of Misfortune

Accepting the Feat, Rachel felt a warm resonance within her that expanded outward, and a bright light condensed into a small, silver rabbit on the chair Nia often used. She expected Moongmor’s hyperactive voice, yet the tone was calm and feminine as the bunny bowed her head.

”I thank you for taking my mistress’ invitation, Lady Rachel. Allow me to introduce myself.” Another flare of white hues coalesced into a silver-haired young Chinese woman, dressed modestly in a gray, black, and white hanfu, dotted with gold rabbit patterns and floral designs. ”I am Mei, Chief Secretary of My Lady’s Lower Lunar Court.”

Rachel observed the radiant lunar animal-turned-human. ”Mei, like the month. It’s a cute name, and if I’m getting my Mandarin correct, it means something along the lines of flower or elegant, right?”

”Indeed it does,” Mei stated, ruby eyes drifting to Nike before returning to her. ”Mmm. I can only stay for a short time without harming you, ladies. So, I will be brief. By using Nike’s leaking ichor, you will be able to use the gift My Mistress has granted you, Lady Nia. By creating living pockets of moonlight, the summoned rabbits may absorb and metabolize Neutral Energy.”

Ears flying up at the implication, Rachel swapped to Nia’s Feats, looking at the one in question. ”It costs a chunk of Lunar Energy to create one, but it can rebuild over time? Does this work with Negative Energy as well?”

Mei gave a grave nod. ”It does. However, realize that you must keep such force away from Nike, as you have separated your Pools. Those Negative bunnies cannot enter a space where Nike is, or they will damage her. Now, I must go.” Offering another graceful bow, she slipped her hands inside her long sleeves. ”I will make contact again when you are more recovered. Rest well, my Ladies.”

Rachel had a million more questions but figured this was just the introduction. ”Haaa. Let’s take the Feat, Nia.”

The soldier frowned, tapping the Feat and scrutinizing its text. ”If I add another Synchro Point to bind our spirits tighter together, then I can get enough space to add another room for the buns. Also, this will cost all of my Feat Points. Should we save my Style Points for my next Grade Advancement to get a 6th Lunar Pool?”

”Probably,” Rachel agreed, scratching at the base of her tail as an itch came on. ”We shouldn’t start with the Unique Moons, either. How many can we make?”

Nia activated it, ears drooping a bit. ”One, at the first Grade, and we’ll need to feed it 50% of a Lunar Pool to create the Soldier Bun... They even have Classes. Interesting.”

Directing her Living Denier to the door, she said, ”Alright. Before you change, set up a new room and create it using the Greater Harvest Moon. It should start rebuilding the energy for us over the next few weeks, and we can test out how it works before moving to the bigger moons.”

”On it.” The suit-wearing rabbit got up, focus lingering on the area Mei had been. ”Do you think your mother may be able to help to communicate with them over a longer period of time?”

Rachel’s tail stiffened. ”Maybe...but we’ll get to that bridge when it comes. I still need to have a chat with her.”

”Understood. Until tomorrow, Major,” Nia said with a casual salute. ”It’s been really fun.”

”I’m glad to hear it,” she said after the bunny’s exit to decorate a new room.

Silence came over the area as Rachel swapped screens to the Feat Extension options, and a smile brightened her lips. ”[Divine Lunar Grace: Flash Step]... Allows the user to expend 5 charges to create an afterimage that bursts into lunar petals and instantly phases through space up to 3 meters. Huh. Well, that could be useful, and once upgraded, it could be a real problem for an opponent.”

Having flashbacks to the teleportation-like ability she had under Hell’s Moon—the one that instantly closed the distance between Relica and her—Rachel couldn’t pass it up.

* -- * -- *

[Lunar Pool - Advanced to A-tier]

[Divine Beast Empowerment - Advanced to E-tier]

[Lunar Coat - Advanced to D-tier]

[Bestial Instincts - Advanced to C-tier]

[Bringer of Misfortune - Advanced to E-tier]

[Strategic Mind - Advanced to C-tier]

* -- * -- *

”Select. And what’s this? I guess my Tiers advanced over the last few hours. Nice. I guess Nia is doing her thing, too. Now for the two Stats...”

She stared at her Dexterity, with each sub-stat increased by one due to [Lunar Grace]:

* -- * -- *

Speed: 4 (3+1)

Agility: 2 (1+1)

Quickness: 4 (3+1)

* -- * -- *

Rachel considered putting it into Agility to even out her Dexterity since a balance was necessary, but she couldn’t overlook her Defense, Energy, and Force. She made her choice:

* -- * -- *

+1 Power: 3

+1 Endurance: 2

* -- * -- *

Closing her sheet, she summoned her hammer across her lap, the weight pressing her down as she examined the crystal and smooth metal. She had a weapon, and she had very high Dexterity due to the multiplier on all its substats being Extremely High.

Toughness was at High, and would be important if she were fist-fighting instead of using her hammer. She saw it in a one-to-three ratio to her Dexterity Stats; her opinion might change in the future, but for now it was fine with its single point.

Her fight against the hobgoblin had totally drained her, whereas under the Unique Moons, she never once had trouble with her Stamina; if she had petered out due to her energy, the Legend Quest would have been impossible.

That made Endurance a much more important substat to consider, given how quickly she could tire out without a Unique Moon’s influence. Moving it from Below Average to Above Average had certainly made things easier from Anthony’s quest to Conner’s Legend Quest. Hopefully, the two points would see a significant return.

Then again, her Power multiplier was also Very High, and during the competition, she could feel the difference in her Stats between the various moon enhancements, especially the Blood Moon, when she’d practically been a demigoddess. The three points she’d spent on it should make an impact, and exponentially more when under more powerful moons.

Dismissing her hammer and opening her screen again, Rachel settled in to bite into what she’d learned thus far. There was far more to this System than it wanted to show them, and she set herself to uncover every last one of its secrets. If she couldn’t work on herself for a week or two, then at the very least, she could come up with a plan to draw people into her new organization.

However, her time ran out swiftly when her mother returned thirty minutes after Nia reverted to her childlike state. And, despite her tired mind and body, there had been something nagging at her that pushed her to have answers.

It was time to confront her mother about her side of the family and the spirits she channeled that upset her grandmother enough to disown her. It was time for answers.