"Fuck!" Varian opted for strategic retreat and ran.
The one chasing him was the small rabbit.
The sense of deja vu only increased.
'Rats then, rabbits now. What the fuck?!' He lamented and glanced back at the creature.
The small rabbit looked no different from a normal rabbit except for its golden hair, golden eyes and…
'Level 4!' Varian cursed.
Even though it seemed to be only an early Level 4, Varian wasn't sure of winning.
His overall strength was higher than a Peak Level 3, but lower than an early Level 4.
'Even though this is the same as the rat chase, I'm better than last time.' He sped up.
He didn't want to be fried by the lightning arcs.
The lightning rabbit, of course, couldn't outrun him physically. However, lightning coiled around its feet and a lightning board was present under it.
The rabbit was literally chasing him on a sliding board. Except this one was formed and powered by lightning.
Varian's speed didn't give him any advantage.
Adding to his woes was the barrage of lightning arcs threatening to roast him alive.
Zap!
Zap!
Zap!
Varian hopped and dodged the lightning arcs.
These lightnings arcs scorched the grass, bombarded the soil and formed a big pothole at least 5 meters deep.
He used lightning mana to cover himself and put on a secondary defense against the lightning.
The lightning emanating from his body seemed to irritate the rabbit.
"Kikii" The rabbit squealed and prepared to lunge at him.
Right then, he channeled his space power and blocked the space at its front legs.
Creak!
Lightning was wrapped around its legs and the moment he tried to block the space, it was broken instantly.
Varian didn't mind and splurged all his space power.
Creak!
Creak!
Creak!
Each space binding broke in the split of a second.
However, it all added up to one effect and when it was about to jump, rabbit's front legs were mismatched with its hind legs.
"Kiiii!" It flipped around and crashed to the ground. At the final moment, lightning covered its whole body and protected its fragile flesh from damage.
Shuaa!
Right then, a few spikes shot at the rabbit at full force. They were the spikes of Varian's broken gauntlets.
They reached the rabbit in the blink of an eye but—
Zap!
The lightning barrier around the rabbit stopped the spikes and slapped them away.
The spikes turned red, and soon; they melted away.
Thankfully, it brought a few extra seconds.
Varian was fast and was already out of its lightning sense.
"Kii" The little rabbit squealed and a couple lightning arcs flew around it, decimating the surroundings.
In a desolate valley, Varian panted and sat on the rocky surface.
"Fuck. I can't even break its defense in a frontal fight." He slammed the ground.
His estimates were right. He was stronger than a peak Level 3 but won't be able to fight Level 4.
'But my lightning powers give me some resistance against their attacks.' He rubbed his chin.
One of the lightning arc grazed his arm. He checked his arm and there was only a light injury.
'Having lightning mana means I can reduce the damage by lightning. But what if I run out of it?' He wondered.
Zap!
A lightning ball floated around him. Its power was around Level 1.
Varian touched it without the protection of lightning mana.
"Urgh." He pulled back his hand and saw a red bruise on his palm. There was no sign of bleeding or skin tear.
'I am really getting more resistant to lightning.' He noted.
'I can forget about mid and high Level 4s for now. Low level 4s… I can't win them head on, but why should I fight them head on?' His lips curled up.
'I prepared these just in case.' He opened his space ring and saw the heap of Level 3 beast cores.
'That's one day of restless hunting.' He was about to close the view when he caught a few long brown tentacles in the space ring.
'Hm?' After inspecting them, he confirmed they were the branches of the tree-like creature he fought in the special location.
'They must be some sort of prize. So they directly got into my space ring.' He didn't understand how it was done, but it must be a mechanism of the dungeon.
"Now then, time to 'hunt'." Varian stood on the cliff and looked down at the vast plateau.
Through the binoculars, he scouted the surroundings.
Thanks to his greater human sight on top of the advanced binocular technology, he covered a large range.
He discovered there were only lightning beasts around. Thunder Rabbits, Thunder Lions, even thunder boars!
'Am I in a thunder zoo or what?' He wondered.
'But this is good as well. The higher my lightning level, the easier it would be to fight against lighting magic beasts.' He nodded.
'The easiest way to increase my lightning level is to fight lightning beasts.' A huge grin spread across his face.
'Isn't this convenient?'
*** *** ***
The recent days were not so good for the teen rabbit. It had advanced to Level 4, and could now hunt on its own.
In the Inner Zone, it wasn't the strongest, but for the local area, it was strong enough.
However, it couldn't get any prey for the past few days.
"Kii" The teen rabbit spread its lightning sense.
Everything within a few hundred meters was perceived.
It found an Azure deer by the river. These creatures didn't hunt much and lived off chewing the blue grass.
Of course, they were formidable runners. That was the reason they could stay in Inner Zone.
But to the teen thunder rabbit, they were prey.
"Kii" The lightning mana in its body surged.
It formed a five meter long lightning spear. This was unlike a normal lightning attack. The lightning mana was very concentrated and packed the power of a small missile.
Then, using its lightning sense, it locked the target and launched the spear.
Shuaa!
The lightning spear blasted into the air at a breakneck speed and reached the location.
"Ki!"
The Azure deer was already running!
The teen thunder rabbit didn't give up and pursued it with the lightning spear.
However, the range it could accurately control the lightning spear was only so long and it just reached the limit.
Boom!
Clap!
The lightning spear exploded in the air, and a loud thunderclap reverberated across the valley.
"Ki!" The teen thunder rabbit continued its search but failed to hunt down any prey.
Right then—,
"Ki…?!" It sensed a few lightning beast cores a hundred meters away.
They were only Level 3. It wasn't suspicious since many adult magic beasts had children that were Level 3.
Still, the teen thunder rabbit spread its lightning sense and habitually looked around.
There was no one.
"Ki"
A lightning board formed under its body and drove it to the beast cores.
It was about to dig in when the hair on its neck erected.
Boom!