The fatigue still dominated his body, but now it was a manageable fatigue, the kind one feels after a marathon, not after magical paralysis.
After thinking for a bit, Kyne decided. It was already late at night. There were not many hours of darkness left, since he had spent some being burned in the bonfire and now had remained motionless for several more.
"I should take advantage of the rest of the night to rest." He murmured, his voice still weak.
"Tomorrow I'll think about what to do."
Decided, he dragged himself completely out of the remains of the bonfire, lay down with his head on a relatively flat stone, closed his eyes, and, to his own surprise, fell asleep within a few minutes.
…
Kyne woke up with something gently touching his face.
The sensation was light, almost affectionate, as if someone were stroking his forehead with a soft brush. He opened his eyes slowly, his blurry vision adjusting to the dawn light filtered through the treetops.
"Hm? A rabbit?"
In front of his face, at a distance that would be intimate for any stranger, there was a small creature. It was approximately the size of a terrestrial rabbit, but its fur was a deep, velvety black that seemed to absorb light instead of reflecting it. And, in the center of its forehead, a single twisted silver horn rose, like a small crystal pin.
The animal looked at him with bright red eyes that showed no fear, only an intense and almost intelligent curiosity.
"Hi, little friend." Kyne said, his voice still hoarse from sleep. He slowly extended his hand, as if trying to calm a wild animal.
"Do you—
He could not finish the sentence.
The rabbit's horn glowed.
It was not a gradual glow, it was an instantaneous ignition, like a star being born within the space of an inch. The silver horn turned black, but a black that emitted a light that made Kyne's eyes ache just from looking at it.
Then, before his mind could process the threat, before his instincts of self-preservation could even begin to function, a beam of energy came out of the horn.
It was not fire. It was not light. It was solidified darkness, a ray of absence that seemed to consume the very air in its path.
It moved so fast that Kyne did not see movement, only the instantaneity of the horn glowing, and then…
Then, half of his head simply disappeared.
There was no explosion, there were no fragments. The black energy touched his forehead, and everything it came into contact with ceased to exist.
Bones, brain, flesh, everything simply disintegrated into particles so fine that not even dust remained.
Kyne's body fell to the side, blood pouring from the remains of his head in all directions in a grotesque and symmetrical pattern.
The Shadow Rabbit observed for a moment, its red eyes blinking slowly. Then, unhurriedly, as if it had merely completed a mundane task, it turned and disappeared into the forest, its black body merging with the shadows of dawn.
…
[You were killed by the dark energy beam of a Rank C Shadow Rabbit.]
[You received: Shadow Resistance (D-)]
[You will respawn in 3… 2… 1…]
Kyne opened his eyes again.
The rabbit was already gone. The sky above showed the first rays of the two suns rising on the horizon, tinting the clouds orange and pink.
For a moment, he just lay there, processing. The death had been… instantaneous. No pain, no awareness of the end. Just existence, then non-existence, then existence again.
"Heh." The laugh slipped from his lips, soft, almost reverent.
"What a terrifying existence for such a cute appearance… this forest really is dangerous."
The smile on his face was genuine, mixed with admiration. The rabbit had surprised him, not only by its lethality but by the nature of the attack. Dark magic. That opened up an entirely new field of possibilities for death and adaptation.
Kyne stood up and looked at the sky. The two suns were already high. He had slept quite a bit, after all. He no longer felt tired or exhausted.
His body was perfectly restored, his mana, the little he had, seemed to have recovered during sleep or during death, he was not sure which.
He was ready to move on.
"Now, where should I go, that I don't know…" He murmured, his eyes scanning the forest stretching in all directions.
"But one thing is certain. I need to find the civilization of this world to learn more about where exactly I ended up."
His mind worked through the possibilities. If this world had magic, if it had creatures classified by ranks, the Shadow Rabbit was Rank C, which made it considerably more powerful than the Horned Monkey he had encountered before. Then it certainly had civilizations, cultures, and systems of knowledge.
"But while I don't find it, I'll continue exploring more deaths and adaptations." He concluded, his smile becoming determined.
"Yes, that's what I should do."
Kyne decided to begin to walk, choosing a direction that seemed slightly more open, where the vegetation was less dense. The logic was simple: following where it was easier to walk could eventually lead him to a natural path, perhaps even to a river.
Along the way, he tried something. He stopped, extended his hand, and concentrated, trying to make flames appear from his empty palm.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, imagining heat accumulating, particles of fire forming out of nothing.
Nothing.
"Looks like fire manipulation really is just manipulation… I can't create fire out of nothing." He concluded, somewhat disappointed but not surprised.
The description of the skill was clear.
'Manipulate existing flames.'
He could control fire, move it, and concentrate it, but he could not create it from nothing. To use his magic, he would first need to have a source of fire.
"Well, for now I can't create fire with my bare hands." He said, continuing to walk.
"But I'm sure that when I have more mana and more information, I'll be able to perform real magic."
The idea excited him. Real magic. Not just manipulation, but creation. Summoning. Transformation. How many forms of death could that provide? How many adaptations could it generate?
His step became lighter, his mind already exploring the possibilities. Fire was just one element. There were others. Water, earth, air, shadow, as the rabbit had demonstrated, light, and perhaps even more exotic elements.
Each with its own ways of dying.
Each with its own adaptations to gain.
Kyne Fritz smiled at the unknown forest, his gray eyes shining with anticipation. The path ahead was filled with dangers, with certain deaths, and with guaranteed suffering.
And he could not be happier.