Gifted Rabbit

It’s been about sixteen years since I reincarnated into this world. Grandma Cassandra and I had been living inside a cave all this time.

The snowstorms were frequent, but with magic we could heat our bodies and shield ourselves with mana.

But… a few days ago, Grandma Cassandra passed away. She’d already been frail and sickly when I was still a baby, and living in a cave did nothing to help.

What frightened me most was the emptiness I felt when she died. She wasn’t my real grandmother, yet she was the one who raised me, and still, I felt nothing.

Almost as if it were natural.

Why? Probably because I’d already lost people I loved in my past life, my father, my mother, even my little sister.

I haven’t buried her yet. Thanks to the cold, her body hasn’t rotted as fast as it should. No insects swarm her, though the faint smell still clings to the air.

But worrying about her body isn’t what matters now. What matters is… what I should do next.

Staying in this cave forever, wasting away like I did in my old life, I refuse.

This time, I’ll become someone special. Someone people need.

“But how… how should I do that?” I muttered, staring at the campfire as if it might answer.

If only I knew more about this world…

“Maybe I could visit the kingdom—” My words were cut off by a sudden grunt.

Pain ripped through my skull as foreign knowledge and words crashed into my brain, flooding me until the pain subsided.

And then came realization. One after another.

What is magic?

The answer slipped from my lips, beyond my control.

“Magic is the manipulation of attributes. Attributes...? Elements? By merging them, new attributes are born, Unique Attributes. Unique magic.”

My mind spiraled. The essence of magic… the essence of elements… What if every attribute, even the unique ones, could be fused together?

What would it become then?

A concept? A path to the infinite? Boundlessness?

But what is infinity? Something untouchable? If it cannot be touched nor seen, how does one know it’s real?

My chest burned. My face flushed. I’d felt this phenomenon before, but never this intense.

The first time was in my past life, when I was drowning, hallucinating glowing attributes as the ocean swallowed me.

This must be my gift. It has to be.

Grandma Cassandra told me once, when I was five:

“When you come of age, your gift will fully awaken, just like everyone else’s.”

Her words never left me. Her gift had been silent chanting, the power to control her fire attribute directly, through sheer will.

“So this is mine… sudden realization,” I whispered, looking up at the ice clinging to the cave ceiling.

“Ice… which attributes would you merge to create ice?”

The urge to answer clawed at me, but I shook my head.

“No. This gift is dangerous…”

Sudden Obsession, that’s what it was. Realizing the surface of something, then desperately wanting to dig deeper.

I forced a deep breath, letting it out slowly as my heartbeat settled.

First things first, breakfast. Then I needed to find people. A village. A city. Anything.

Usually, I hunted Rapid Rabbits. With magic, they weren’t too hard to kill.

With my mind made up, I took a black robe and a bag.

Cutting off a piece of my hair and placing it next to Grandma Cassandra, I said my last goodbyes before heading outside.

***

Outside, the air was even colder than inside. Without magic, I’d have froze to death.

Five flickering flames floated around me, casting small halos of warmth as I trudged through the snow.

Fire magic was my specialty. But ironically, my strongest attribute was water.

Besides fire and water, I also had earth and wind. Four attributes. According to Grandma Cassandra, and even my own realizations, that was unheard of.

“Maybe one day, another realization will give me the answer,” I murmured.

And then—

“Found one.”

A Rapid Rabbit. It nibbled dead wood beneath a withered tree, its long ears twitching. While distracted, this was my chance.

I raised my hand and chanted:

“Flames, heed my call and scorch the enemy, Fire Arrow!”

A flaming arrow burst forth, heat rolling from it as it shot toward the rabbit. But the little creature leapt aside, dodging with inhuman reflexes.

“Tch. Too fast…”

I shortened the chant, sacrificing power for speed. Normally, one strike was enough. Why wasn’t it working?

Then I saw it, the golden crest on its forehead.

A gift.

Some monsters were born with them, just like humans. The crest marked them, granting greater power, mana, and abilities.

“Fire arrow! Fire arrow!”

I unleashed a barrage, but the rabbit dodged them all. Its mouth opened wide, where black flames began to form.

“Magic? That's impossible... unless?!” I exclaimed, dodging as a black fireball scorched past me, burning a hole through my cloak.

Silent chanting…

A rabbit casting spells.

I almost laughed. “A rabbit using magic...”

We traded attacks, neither landing a hit. This could drag on until one of us ran out of mana.

But a rabbit is still just a rabbit.

I touched the ground and chanted:

“Earth Spike!”

A jagged spike erupted beneath the rabbit, forcing it aside. But just as it moved, another spike jutted from the first, piercing it clean through.

Blood dripped into the snow.

That was variation. The art of modifying a spell after or during activation. Something an animal could never achieve.

“Earth Spike, Ricochet.”

Inspecting my cloak with a sigh, I walked over and skinned the rabbit with the dagger Grandma had left me. After collecting firewood, I roasted the meat over a fresh fire.

What once terrified me now felt routine. Grandma had been strict, forcing me to hunt until I could do it myself.

As the meat cooked, I whispered a quiet prayer:

“Forgive me for taking your life… and thank you for letting me live longer.”

My father used to say every life was precious. Now, showing gratitude before a meal had become my habit.

I raised the meat to my mouth—

“Kyahhh!!”

A woman’s scream tore through the dead forest.

With a sharp bite, I tore off a chunk and stood, chewing as I ran toward the sound.

If I had the chance to save someone… I wouldn’t hesitate.