Between the additional Power and Speed, we made record time getting back to street level. Several times I simply leapt an entire flight of stairs, the landing impact sending little shockwaves through me but barely slowing us down. From somewhere on my back, Prometheus let out little squeaks of terror.

[Do you have to keep jumping like that?]

[Nope,] I said, my tongue lolling. [But it’s fun!]

[For you, maybe, but some of us are built a little more delicately,] he grumbled.

[Hey, don’t blame me. If you still had any charges for your teleportation wand, we wouldn’t need to have taken the long way. Might as well enjoy the ride!]

The little rat groaned as another flight of stairs appeared. We cleared it in a single leap, and then the door leading to the ground floor lobby was in front of us. I twisted and hit the push bar with my whole side, slipping through the moment I landed.

We found ourselves in what appeared to be the lobby for a rather fancy hotel. Gold filigree covered the ceiling in intricate designs, and the surrounding walls were filled with lavish works of art. The carpet under my paws looked nice, if a bit faded with time. Even the signboards showing the directions for the pool and the exit were done in a lavish, ornate script.

It was in stark contrast to the dilapidated apartment next door, though in all fairness, I had no idea if that building’s current state had occurred before or after everything with the system.

Just as I made for the main doors, I noticed a yellow dot appear to our right. I turned, and from behind the hotel concierge’s desk rose a... fish man? He definitely had a human look to him, but his face and neck were covered in scales, and instead of ears he had what appeared to be a pair of fins.

A box appeared over my vision.

Mermanta (Advanced)

Level 7

Ever wonder what happened to those guppies you flushed down the toilet as a child? Well, wonder no more, because they’re back to see you, and boy, are they pissed.

Mermanta are semi-aquatic creatures, usually only coming onto land to lay eggs or search for food. If you’ve run into one inland, might be time to inspect your local aquifer, because trust me, you do NOT want to drink any water these things have been swimming in.

[Uh, Bubba?]

[I see it, I see it!] I dismissed the box and kept moving towards the doors. The mermanta screeched and flopped over the desk to try and get to us, but as I suspected, it was slow-moving on land and couldn’t keep up with me. [We’ll come back and deal with it later. Right now, we need to get the chief before he has a chance to slip away!]

I loped out of the hotel and started back along the street in the direction of the apartment. A full half of the building had sloughed off and collapsed by now, and the street was filled with dust.

Circling around the collapsing section, I found the main entrance intact. The building groaned dangerously as I entered, but nothing further collapsed, so I continued on.

[Do you still have the quest marker?] I asked, looking for any stairs further away from the compromised sections. With luck, there was a second roof entrance somewhere.

[I do, and he’s on the move.] Prometheus directed me down one hallway, and then another. Slowly, we moved through the building. Not towards the collapsing section, but parallel to it.

Eventually, we emerged into what appeared to be a central courtyard. The back half had broken away and joined the mountain of rubble, but the courtyard itself was surprisingly intact.

[Why are we here, Prometheus?] I asked.

[I don’t know. The quest marker pointed me here, but now it disappeared. I’m not... I don’t know where we’re supposed to go.]

Stepping cautiously out into the courtyard, I scanned either direction, looking for the chief. Unless his advanced age was some trick of the system, such a geriatric monster shouldn’t be able to move that quickly. For that matter, how did he get off the roof so fast?

I took another step forward. My nose raised into the air. Sniffed.

Afterwards, I couldn’t have said what it was that alerted me. Some shift in the wind. A change in barometric pressure. Just a hint of some scent, familiar and yet confusing.

My legs sprang of their own accord, and I sailed through the air, landing a good ten feet away. Behind me, an enormous chunk of the building crashed into the space I’d just vacated, sending shards of cement in all directions and blocking the exit route.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

A dot appeared at the top of my vision, its color an angry yellow. I looked up, and up, and up, finally seeing the goblin chief standing on the roof above us. He leaned over, and shook an angry fist at us, then leapt into the air.

With a tremendous thud, he hit the ground about thirty feet away from us. I thought he’d explode like a rotten piece of fruit, but instead he bounced nimbly back up, apparently unharmed, and shook a fist as us again.

[Is he... surrendering?] I asked, as much to myself as to Prometheus. [Why didn’t he stay up there, out of the way?]

[I’m not sure. But I have a bad feeling about this.]

Prometheus wasn’t the only one. As much as I wanted to lunge forward and rip the monster’s throat out, nearly getting pulverized by a half-ton of stone had left me on edge. I began circling the goblin chief cautiously, trying to sniff out what he was planning.

The monster let out a cackle, warbled something in our general direction that, even without understanding I knew to be incredibly rude, then turned around and smacked its open palm against its ass.

Okay, it’s definitely trying to taunt us into attacking. Pity it doesn’t know what I’m capable of.

Thanks to my upgrades, I still had five stun shots left before my wands needed to recharge. Between that and a Claw Slash, this goblin wasn’t going to know what hit it.

I launched a stun beam, freezing the goblin mid-slap. Then I leapt forward, my paws extended, ready to strike.

[Wait!] Prometheus yelped. [We don’t know it’s safe!]

[How much of a threat can one little goblin possibly—] I began, but never got to finish. A black-brown blur shot from the shadows of the building like a lightning shot. My eyes barely had time to register it barreling towards us before my survival instincts kicked in and I activated my bracelet. Immediately I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck and hurled backwards.

I lay in a jumbled heap, unharmed but utterly confused about what I had just seen. From somewhere underneath me, Prometheus moaned.

Slowly, I rolled off of him and onto my paws. I turned and surveyed the wriggling, writhing mass of black and brown fur that stood between us and the goblin chief. It was easily twice my height, and maybe three times as wide. I couldn’t make sense of what I was looking at, until the system helpfully filled in the gaps.

Rat King (Advanced)

Level 9

Boss

In ancient times, a rat king formed when several rats nested close together during the winter months. Their tails became inseparably intertwined, leaving the rats a panicked, scrabbling mess. While interesting from a historical and zoological perspective, rat kings are not particularly dangerous to anyone other than themselves.

This one here ain’t yo gramma’s rat king. It’s the giant, diseased, souped-up-on-steroids-and-a-whole-lotta-caffeine variety. The kind that hates you with a personal vendetta, that wants nothing more than to steamroll you into the ground and feast upon your rotting and crushed remains. It’s fast. It’s deadly. And it’s got a hundred beady eyes waiting for you to finish reading this so they can send you to your maker.

Warning: This entity is a boss-class monster. It is recommended you engage with a party of at least four members. CGI is not responsible for any negative experiences resulting from disregarding this advice.

My hackles rose, even as I started to back up. A growl rumbled in my throat, deep and low.

This, this right here was everything I hated about rats personified. I’d mostly put those feelings aside concerning Prometheus, since he was sapient like me and clearly not a diseased ball of fur like so many other city rats.

But this thing? It needed to die. And the quicker the better.

I heard a little grunt as Prometheus leapt into the air, then the soft pressure of him landing on my head. He gripped my fur so tight it actually hurt a bit.

[Friends of yours?] I joked.

[Yes.] The sound in Prometheus’s voice was heartbreaking: a strangled, sobbing gasp. I froze in surprise, my eyes still locked on the writhing mass of rat fur on the opposite side of the courtyard. [I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.]

[Tell me what?] I asked. Only to realize immediately afterwards.

Of course.

His friends. His community. He’d said there were close to fifty rats there, unawakened by the system. I hadn’t seen any bodies back in their nest. I’d just assumed he’d removed them.

Now I saw the truth before me.

We didn’t have a chance to talk further. The ball of rats began rolling towards us. It was a little shocking how quickly it seemed to gather speed. Within seconds, it was almost on top of me.

Again, my body reacted without thinking, firing off a blast of stun magic right in the rat king’s face.

Only, the boss monster didn’t freeze up when struck. Or, more accurately, it did, but with its forward momentum, the stun didn’t actually make a difference. It kept barreling towards us at terminal velocity.

I yelped, then leapt out of the way. Unfortunately, I was only partially successful. The rat king struck my back half with terminal force, sending me into a wild spin. From his perch on my head, Prometheus let out a loud scream.

I hit the ground. Bounced. Rolled. My back legs were a fire of agony, and I howled in pain even as my roll eventually slowed to a stop.

[Bubba! Are you alright?] Prometheus scrambled down my nose and looked directly at me. His tiny paws grabbed at the loose skin around my mouth and shook it, trying to rouse me.

[Ughhh...] I tried to stand, only to collapse back again. My legs were in searing pain, broken beyond my ability to move, as were at least several other bones in my hindquarters. It was all I could do to stay conscious.

[Hold on!] The little rat’s eyes flashed as he activated his interface. [I’ve still got a couple scrolls of healing.]

[Don’t... Don’t bother...] I mumbled, already pulling open my own inventory. Five cores later and I could feel the bones in my hind legs snapping back together.

But slowly. Too slow.

Behind me came a rumbling cacophony. The ground around us shook. Prometheus yelled something that I couldn’t hear or understand or care to take the time to parse. Instead, I swung my head around, snatched the little rat with my teeth, and hurled him away as hard as I could.

Not a moment too soon. The rat king rolled over me, its forward progress as brutal as it was indomitable. I felt all the bones in my body simultaneously fracture, liquify, then turn to dust. My organs exploded. My brain was reduced to a soggy pulp. Everything went dark as my eyes were pulverized, and my last thought was the fact I could taste my own insides in the back of my throat.

And then I was fine again. I gasped with the sudden lurch in perspective, standing on shaky legs. Words flashed in front of me.

Second Chance Dog Tag has activated automatically. Its ability will reset at midnight.