## CHAPTER 31: Rabbid II
The scream had been a catalyst, a sharp blade cutting through the monotonous boredom of the trek. Zerav didn't just run; he moved with a deceptive, low-gravity glide that devoured the distance between him and the clearing. As he vaulted over a massive, moss-covered log, the obsidian scythe was already in his hand, its weight feeling like a natural extension of his own arm.
He skidded to a halt at the edge of a wide, shadowed basin, and for a moment, even Zerav felt the phantom itch of genuine surprise.
"A Rabbid," he murmured, his voice barely a breath.
Towering in the center of the clearing was a creature that defied the gentle name it shared with common garden pests. This was no soft, white-furred herbivore. It was a **Goliath Rabbid**—a massive, hulking wall of obsidian-black muscle that stood nearly ten feet tall. It possessed the silhouette of a Silverback gorilla, but its features were twisted into a grotesque parody of humanity. Its face was dominated by a single, colossal eye that swiveled with manic intent, and its wide, flat lips were pulled back to reveal a complete set of oversized human teeth, grinding together with the sound of tectonic plates.
Zerav's jaw dropped slightly. His mind raced in confusion .
" What business would a Rabbid be doing in a controlled environment like this?" he wondered. This was a war-beast.
Ahead of him, Diane was frozen against a rock face, her pink hair vibrant against the grey stone, watching in horror as Ben and Kael attempted to play the heroes they clearly weren't.
"This is bad," Zerav said to himself, raising a hand to thumb his chin in a habitual gesture of calculation. "This isn't the common breed. This is the Black Rabbid—the rarest, most aggressive species of their kind. If they aren't careful, this thing would kill us."
He watched as Ben, fueled by a mixture of adrenaline and toxic ego, jumped high into the air. He raised his sword, channeling every ounce of his meager mana into the blade, and brought it down in a vertical arc.
*CLANG!*
The sound was jarring—not the wet thud of steel hitting flesh, but the high-pitched ring of metal striking reinforced iron. Ben's sword bounced off the Rabbid's shoulder, sending a shockwave back through the boy's arms that nearly dislocated his shoulders.
"But what is a Black Rabbid doing here in such a small terrain?" Zerav paused, his expression shifting back to a dull, detached mask. "Those guys are dead. They just don't know it yet."
The Rabbid let out a huff of warm, foul-smelling air. It raised both of its massive, trunk-like fists high above its head and slammed them into the earth.
*BAM!*
The impact liberated a massive shockwave. The ground rippled like a disturbed pond, the force of the blow throwing Ben and Kael backward. They tumbled through the dirt, their activity gear scuffing against the roots, until they hit the perimeter trees.
"Are you guys alright?!" Diane yelled, her voice trembling.
Ben groaned, coughing up a cloud of dust as he struggled to his feet. "I'm fine!" he barked back, though his legs were shaking like a newborn farm animal.
"It's gonna take a lot more than that to take us down!"
Kael scrambled up beside him, his face pale but his eyes bright with a dangerous, desperate pride. They charged again, their swords flickering with weak elemental light.
Zerav sat down on a nearby root, resting his scythe across his knees with a lack of sympathy that was almost chilling. "Well, they're both dead. Too bad. At least there's no better honor than dying in battle, right?"
---
"Let me help!" Diane's feminine voice rang out, sharp and determined. She stepped forward, her hands beginning to glow with a soft light.
"Don't worry, princess! We got this!" Ben yelled over his shoulder, his voice strained as he narrowly dodged a swinging fist. "We don't want your cute face to be bruised!"
Diane's face twisted into a fierce frown at the remark. She was no damsel, but the boys were too blinded by their own theater to see the reality of the situation. The Rabbid was getting more agitated. Every time their swords struck its hide, it only served to sharpen its rage. Their attacks were too shallow, their mana too thin to pierce the natural armor of a creature bred for the frontlines of ancient wars.
Zerav reached into his ration pack and pulled out a small bag of chips. He popped one into his mouth, the *crunch* echoing softly in the tense air. He watched the "heroic" struggle as if it were a poorly directed play.
Ben attempted a flanking maneuver, sprinting past the monster and jumping toward its spine, aiming for a weak point in the vertebrae. Even with its massive bulk, the Rabbid moved with the speed of a coiled spring. It spun on one firm leg, its fist connecting with Ben's ribs mid-air. Ben was sent flying, crashing through a thicket of ferns.
Zerav let out a long, heavy sigh. The crunch of his chips felt a little hollower now. Despite his "hollow" nature, the weight of his guilt was starting to prick at him. He couldn't just sit here and watch three children get pulverized by a creature that shouldn't even exist in this forest.
He stood up, the chips forgotten. He walked over to Diane, moving so silently that she didn't notice him until he was standing directly by her side. She jumped slightly, her eyes snapping to him. Her anger flared at his apparent lack of effort.
"Aren't you going to join them?" she snapped, her tone dripping with frustration.
Zerav didn't reply immediately. He kept his gaze fixed on the Rabbid, which was currently raining a barrage of thunderous punches down on Kael. Each missed blow caused the ground to rumble like a localized earthquake.
"They're fools," Zerav said flatly.
Diane's eyes widened. She stared at the Commoner beside her, shocked by the cold bluntness of his voice. She opened her mouth to retort, but something in his eyes—a depth she hadn't seen before—stopped her.
"Maybe they would have gotten rid of that Rabbid if they had allowed you to help," Zerav continued, his eyes following Kael as the boy barely avoided a strike that pulverized a boulder. "But they're too busy playing a futile game or heroes ."
"Wait... Rabbid?" Diane looked at the monster. "You mean that thing is a rabbid?, I've never seen one in real life before"
"Yes," Zerav explained, his voice clinical. "Most are white and docile. But the rare ones, the black ones... they are built for war. They have armored bodies and strength that exceeds most mid-level sorcery."
"But why is it here?" Diane asked, her pump-up for battle momentarily replaced by confusion. "In a student test?"
"I have no idea," Zerav said, his eyes narrowing. "Could it be part of the test? Or perhaps something darker?"
"It's definitely a test," Diane said, trying to convince herself.
Zerav looked at her. This girl has yet to understand how dangerous these things can be, he thought. Even in a hundred years, this beast is too powerful for young sorcerers to handle. He watched the monster's eye—it was bloodshot, pulsing with a mana-signature that felt artificial.
"So, what do we do now?" Diane asked, her hands glowing with a dark pink energy as she looked at Zerav for guidance.
Zerav's obsidian scythe began to hum. A low, purple charge started to ripple along the blade, giving off a dark, menacing glow that seemed to drink the surrounding light.
"We charge," Zerav replied, his voice shifting into a tone of command. "We wait for the right moment to strike. I'll break its guard. You bring the fire."
"Right!" Diane agreed, her resolve hardening. She brought her hands together, a sphere of swirling pink energy forming between her palms, its heat rising.
Zerav stepped into the light of the clearing, the scythe trailing behind him. He looked at the Rabbid and let out one last, bored breath.
"Time to go to work."