The Isekai Game

Sacrifice

Looking at the time, Logan realized he didn't have long before he had to go. The elderly hamster was slowly walking its way to the bush where Dani and the rest of the hamsters hid.

It was a long journey. Given it was only Vanessa, her three friends, and the elderly hamster, they were able to get by without being detected by predators. If only Dani put in the same amount of effort.

Upon escorting the old hamster into the bush, a giant puddle of hamsters was seen dug into the dirt. Dani was in the center sleeping like a kitten.

"Dani," called Vanessa, "You were supposed to watch them".

"Nothing in this forest will touch them," she yawned, "I am fierce".

"You mean 'feerse'," said Logan looking at the time.

Mimi added, "Dani sleeping while the rest of us were running around like hamsters".

Vanessa rushed her lazy a*s up and assembled her fur babies. After taking count, she realized somehow none of them died. Logan mocked Vanessa for allowing two hamsters to die back in the beginning. It was an amazing gift of the feral cats he added, to watch over young while sleeping.

"We will not let another hamster die," said Vanessa.

Logan added with a smile, "Well you got one, maybe two hours before I leave... And Dani doesn't run".

Vanessa rushed the hamsters into place. As before, Dani was to sit on top of a hamster while Logan, Mimi, and Kiki ran like heathens. When Vanessa wasn't touching a hamster, Kiki whispered, asking Logan if he was trying to make her fail. Instead of sabotaging, he was rather proud she made it this far. He even admitted that these hamster abilities would come in handy for not just the team, but her as an individual as well.

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Despite her goofy nature, Vanessa was once again very careful about moving the hamsters across the forest. From bush to stump, she bound them away.

A fox was spotted on the radar. Using hand signals, Vanessa pushed everybody into hiding. The fox sniffed about the bushes, looking for food. She further signaled her three useful teammates into position. They waited for the fox to come near before striking.

Watching the predator from the radar, Vanessa studied its movements. It rushed over towards them. Logan and Mimi ran for a frontal attack, but the fox jumped clear over.

"f**k," said the two attackers as an eagle swooped down at them.

Vanessa created a magical ball around them to prevent the eagle from gripping them. Her energy took a big hit creating those two spheres. She yelled for them to get back into the bush.

Logan yelled for Mimi not to listen, but it was too late. The eagle saw Mimi running towards a bush and attacked it directly.

Everything within the bush rattled to no end. It was an obvious hunting tactic that Vanessa wasn't aware of. It was to be expected from a girl who never hunted. Nor has she been through many survival themes.

Just the bush was nearly tipping over, Vanessa ran her furbabies away. The eagle swooped again to grab a hamster. Vanessa guarded it with a sphere.

The eagle's claws clashed with the magical sphere, causing it to fly up. Vanessa seized the moment to run everybody in a single pack.

As the eagle turned around for another strike, Vanessa set her team into a diamond formation. Each wing of the bird stretched well beyond that of the formation. Probably the size of a normal human.

Just as it nearly grabbed a hamster, Mimi rushed on it. Fortunate to the hamsters, they weren't shredded by their friendly spheres. That didn't stop the eagle from landing in the back with Dani.

"No no no no no, you will not eat Dani," she pleaded shooting at the large bird.

Logan called out asking Vanessa not to shield him again as she placed a sphere over each hamster in the back row with Dani. Being on a hamster herself, Dani was also shielded.

It glided to the center of the formation to grab one of many hamsters. Kiki hopped over many to jump into the eagle.

Like rain, the eagle saw it coming. Sure enough, Vanessa encased Kiki in a magical sphere.

A slight tilt was all it needed to avoid Kiki's clever attack. That slight tilt positioned it perfectly to Logan's throw card.

That tiny paper cut to the eagle's eye felt like a full-blown peck from another eagle. The bird flew into a tree.

Logan picked up a tiny hamster and ran after the fallen eagle.

"Not my baby baby," cried Vanessa.

Once Logan threw the little guy at the giant predator, Vanessa had no choice but to place a sphere on it as well.

The baby hamster ripped down the eagle's thigh. Logan further pushed it on the crying eagle's foot.

Mimi and Kiki cheered on Logan's antics against the bird while Vanessa cried for her baby.

The eagle flew away defeated before it lost any more blood.

Kiki called over, "Vanessa, I think this is a race"!

"Bro, this entire f*****g trial is a race to not get eaten!" yelled Mimi.

Dani continued laying on her soft cuddly hamster, listening in on the team bicker. After a short minute, Vanessa decided to run her team through the forest.

The cliff wasn't far. But with a potential threat at any turn and her magic reserves low, only time would tell if they made it.

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Shortly after entering the desert, a foreign tremor was detected on the radar. It wasn't clear, but it was definitely headed their way.

"What is that?" asked Vanessa.

The elder shook while fumbling his words.

"It's a snake!" yelled Kiki.

Mimi and Logan grumbled under their breaths, not wanting to deal with anything. The cliff itself was in sight. Kiki asked to send her with Mimi or Logan.

Mimi rejected the moment she looked on the radar. The area of the tremor wasn't only moving fast. It was also a big area. Meaning they were either facing a big snake or a bunch of small snakes.

Dani laid on her running hamster and said, "How about no. Just no more. Dani's done for the day".

"Quick!" yelled Logan, "Sacrifice Dani! It's the only way"!

Dani quickly responded calling him a "f*****g traitor".

Vanessa shook her hands, refusing to let a single hamster go. The elder saw the anguish in her heart in sacrificing one of her own for the sake of the rest. With the group of snakes approaching, she was left with no choice.

She held one finger up at Kiki, signaling to cripple a single hamster. Kiki kicked a hamster's legs, causing it to fall back into the hoard of oncoming snakes. It cries screeched to Vanessa's now sensitive ears.

Dani yelled again, "That could've been me, asshole"!

The den of snakes ate at the hamster before continuing their chase. After noticing, Vanesa held out two fingers. Kiki and Dani each crippled a single hamster. They fell into the horde of snakes, stopping them near completely.

It was just the time needed to get up the cliff.

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Fully reunited, in the tunnel, Vanessa stood in front of the elder hamster.

Mimi couldn't resist pointing out how brutal it was. Logan even added that the fox pact wasn't hurtful. The very idea of sacrificing one's own for the sake of others was a challenging decision to be made. Ironically, it fell on Vanessa's shoulders.

The elder acknowledged Vanessa's contribution. And while many of her achievements came from the help of friends, it was her wise decision to listen. He held out his tiny cold paws out, releasing a light that went into Vanessa. The Isekai system appeared informing her that the hamster skill tree has been activated.

She immediately cheered through Logan's tutorial. He explained that the hamster skill tree was added to her training chart, but that she still needed to study each skill like she would a normal job class.

Though it seemed Vanessa ignored every word he said to hug and play with the hamsters, she was fully aware of everything he said.

The girls remained to enjoy their day with hamsters. Logan had to reschedule getting the two limit breaks for the next day. For now, he left to attend some important matters on behalf of the team.