Into The Unknown

My trap worked brilliantly, if only after I chucked that Blighted meat chunk into the sewage stream. Apparently even rats wouldn't go near the stuff.

I'm sure the river turning grey around the point of contact is harmless; or, at the very least, not my problem.

I managed to kill four more normal sized rats for twenty exp, bringing my level up by two. I used the points to bring my endurance to ten before giving into temptation and raising intelligence to thirty, using the remaining points to raise agility and strength to eleven, and just for shits and giggles made my charisma a nice solid two.

As always the change felt good, a rush of power and improvement I'm sure could well be addictive. After the improvements my mind seemed to work slightly faster, my thoughts coming quicker than before; though it was notable that I didn't make connections or summon up memories any faster, presumably such was covered by Wisdom rather than Intelligence. Doubling my endurance made my stamina drain slower but also simply made it feel as if I was more sturdy. I have no idea what effect Charisma had on me; I could see no obvious changes to my physiology, but I just felt more attractive.

I didn't waste the time I wasn't killing or eating, using it to spam Observe and Scent Scrubber; both leveled twice while Night Vision and Stealth naturally leveled once each.

Unfortunately, even with additional meat from my victims, creatures stopped falling for my trap. I actually saw a slightly abnormally large, red-furred rat look at my trap from the entryway, sniff a few times, then look me dead in the eye and leave. I have no idea how it detected me as I had scrubbed my scent, but that rat was clearly more intelligent than the average. Since then, no other rats (which oddly seemed to be the only thing inhabiting this section of the sewer (if not all of it)) had fallen for my trap and my bait had long since turned rancid.

Lacking prey and halfway to my first goal, I was forced to do something deeply unpleasant; venture out Into the unknown. While I still fully intend to ambush my prey, I may well have to abandon my current trapping methods if this unfortunate pattern continues. While I was deeply displeased with this new change, I was more than capable of noticing patterns and extrapolating; this method wasn't bringing in decent prey.

I wasn't truly surprised; if every creature was able to level and evolve then even the most base of creatures will connect violence to that rush leveling grants. I have no idea if non-sapient creatures somehow arrange their points or have them done automatically, but if they feel anything like what I do they'll quickly prioritise killing over mere survival. All creatures seek pleasure above all things, even survival; these creatures may not have wholly abandoned survival, but they will doubtless prioritize killing over just eating. Food that doesn't also award experience would have little appeal.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The only creatures that had really been tempted by my trap were either too young to crave levels or too hungry to be fussy; decidedly suboptimal prey to say the least. Low level trash may be easy prey and considering I'm also low level garbage it's not surprising they'd be my main prey, but my ambitions will not be satisfied with merely “adequate” when I could have “exceptional”.

And so I cautiously set out from my temporary abode; seeking things to murder. Not the most noble of goals, but then again, I really couldn't give less of a fuck about such nonsense. Honour is for the dead.

I moved slowly, constantly scrubbing myself down and clinging to the walls. I realised I was developing paranoid ticks, but I felt the circumstances more than justified such behavior.

I was vindicated when a far less cautious though significantly bigger rat rushed around the corner just as I reached it. On sheer instinct I went for the throat, long teeth (grinding down teeth that don't stop growing is painful and annoying) slicing easily through fat, muscle, and trachea. One jerk of my head and a push from my forelegs had me tearing away well over a cubic inch of their throat, showing the fruits of multiple murders teaching efficiency.

Perception +1

Seems the system found my comparative situational awareness admirable enough to reward.

I skittered backwards rapidly, keeping my gleaming eyes on the beast as it rapidly regretted its life choices. It bled to death in a matter of seconds, saving it from drowning in its own blood for whatever that's worth.

Skill Gained: Throat Ripper

20 Exp Gained

Level Up! 5 Points Gained!

I sighed, scrubbing the blood from my fur near-subconsciously as the beast twitched its last. Out of sheer paranoia I dumped my newly gained points into Perception. I knew what I should be putting points into, but regardless I wanted to not get jumped when I'm trying to jump someone.

As soon as I punched in the points I felt the rush of the system flowing through my senses, heightening them as it flowed and ending up feeling even better. For a moment I wondered if I had been blessed by the god of sex, drugs, and rock and roll but I decided it was unlikely the prince existed here (or, at least, I hoped I wasn't that irrevocably fucked).

I shook off the dread inducing pleasure, quickly glancing around and going through my paranoid skill usage twitches.

Scent Scrubber +1

Twitches that appear to be quite justified if the system is anything to go by. Still, as much as a feeling of unease settled in my guts at thoughts of where I might be, nothing around me matched my darkest fear. Even if it did… sitting around doing nothing wouldn't help.

There's no such thing as non-combatants before madmen, demons, and nature. Only power means anything, but even that withers before time. Even having faced death before, the mere thought is entirely unacceptable and terrifying beyond measure.

My world had only science, something I spent copious amounts of time and resources trying to utilize towards eternity. It didn't work. But this world has magic, and if I must send billions screaming to their deaths for my goal, then I will.

Mere fear and some dark sewer filled with monsters will not hold me back. With this thought in mind, I ventured into the twisting unknown of the sewers.