Pressure and pain are the first things I feel when I wake up, I try standing up, but everything feels weird. Moving my left leg moves the right one, and moving my head moves a fifth limb I Didn’t know I had.
The pressure around my body that I feel fades away leaving me numb and in pain. I hear the sound of rain after a few seconds, and then the cold. I try opening both eyes, but my body still refuses to listen, opening my mouth instead.
After a few more tries I finally managed to get an eye open. Revealing to me a world of blurry greys and blacks. I blink a few more times and my eye focuses on the scene in front of me.
Grey walls surround me as rain pours from the sky. The ground, an almost inky black with a grainy texture I hadn’t seen before on any flooring or paved road. Various cracks dotted both the walls and ground of what I can only assume to be an ally. Rusting cylindrical tubes dug into the walls as if they were holding on for dear life.
As I continue to take in the view I feel my thoughts grow sluggish. Only then do I realize that I’m slowly dying, for the second time.
I panically try to cast Heal only for nothing to happen. I feel for my mana, only to find that my mana core is smaller than any commoners I’d seen. Only big enough for a single level 0 spell.
I try to grit my jaw which results with my other eye opening only for me to try to cry out in pain. As something resembling a muffled meow comes from my throat, I quickly try shutting my eye, my body thankfully listening to me this time. Relief washes over me as the pain subsides. I sigh and no longer hold back.
[Minor Heal]
I pass out, the last thing I see being a blue popup.
----------------------------------------
A nasty combination of hunger, thirst, wet fur, Ice cold body temperature, and pain woke me up. I opened my good eye successfully and looked around wondering how much time had passed.
It was no longer pouring, but the sky was still very cloudy. I could only guess I was out for about 5 or 6 hours. Considering that people who experience mana exhaustion are out for 3 or 4. The extra two hours coming from almost dying again.
I try raising my head to get a look at my body. It works, albeit at a lower height than I wanted. I Observe my small body and black fur. I will move one of my front legs and it moves the back one. I twitch again only to raise the other front leg. I feel frustration begin to set in. I try again and succeed, if only barely twitching instead of moving the leg. I sigh as I look further down my body and find a black tail.
I let out a sigh and feel frustration wash away only to be replaced by absolute fatigue. I lay my head back down and close my eye intending to go back to sleep. Only to open it again at the instance of my throat that’s feeling dryer than any desert, not that I’ve even been to one but still.
I move my eye to look around in the narrow view I have, to tired and groggy to lift my head. My eye eventually rests on a puddle of rainwater almost out of sight 10 feet away.
[Observation level 1New]
Startled I stare at the blue screen that just appeared in my vision, unsure what it means. It disappears seconds later without a thought. Stunned I cant help but wonder what I just saw. A word surprisingly comes to mind as I’m compelled to say “status”.
[???]
[ hU--C_T]
[ErrOr…]
[Level: -49]
[Errr: ]
[HP: 13/-99999]
[Mana: -8/2536]
[Erorr… ]
[SkiLLs: Observation level 1, Heal level I]
[Err0r…] …
I lay still for a moment as a blue screen fully appears in front of me. It feels wrong somehow. I’ve got no clue what the numbers mean or if it’s even supposed to look like that. So it begs the question, why does it feel so wrong? Like the screen shouldn’t exist in the first place. I close it quickly as a feeling of dread slowly creeps up on me.
Shaking my head, I focus back on the puddle of water. Dreading the process it’s going to take to get over there.
----------------------------------------
“Mew”
I jump a little, still not used to the fact that I’m no longer human. With no water insight and still thirsty I begin to walk. Stumbling from time to time as I’ve never walked on four legs before. The front legs are easy it’s the back legs making my life difficult. I just can’t seem to control them no matter how hard I try. Leaving that part of my body to slowly drag behind me sometimes.
I focused on walking puddle to puddle until my thirst was satisfied. I finally paused and looked around. Noticing nothing new except for the occasional puddle I hadn’t drunken yet. A maze, and I had no idea where I was… great…
Seeing as I had nothing better to besides practicing how to walk and run. I do just that and pick a random direction. I stick to one wall as I walk. Until I Eventually come to a dead end full of boxes and iron pipes. I wince in pain as hunger reminds me that thirst is not the only thing I need to quench. I look around the boxes and pipes hoping to find anything. I curse when I find the boxes empty, and the pipes deserted. I start to leave before I spot something black out of the corner of my eye.
[Observation level 1 à Observation level 2]
I spot a black, misty hole behind one of the empty boxes. I stare at for a bit, having an internal struggle about exploring dark places you can’t see in for the first time, the potential for finding food, or exploring because I can’t be bothered to keep walking in the same unchanging maze for the next who knows how long.
After a while I step forward without hesitation and jump into the dark, misty hole. Food and curiosity won.
----------------------------------------
5 minutes after an unusual black cat jumped into a black portal, turning it blue. A young woman arrived sporting black sweatpants and t-shirt. Her hair, black with light green bangs and eyes a deep green.
Her eyebrow twitched looking at the blue portal. Sighing she pulled out her phone, grumbling about how unlucky she was. She stared at the portal while waiting for the other line to pick up.
“Olive dear, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO GO IN UNIFORM!”
Olive pulled her phone away from her ear as her mentor started scolding her on her attire again for the nth time.
“Yes, Yes I know I’ll wear my school uniform tomorrow, but I have a serious problem right now.”
“Sigh… excluding the problem of you never listening to what I say, what is it?”
“Someone took my portal…”
“…”
“…”
“Girl, you’re making me age faster than milk spoils, you know that right?”
A small smile couldn’t help but find its way to Olive’s face.
“I know.”
----------------------------------------
I fly out of the portal feeling incredibly nauseous. Collapsing breathlessly in a heap I observed my surroundings with my eye.
What comes into view is a bleak cave lit by some kind of mushrooms growing on the walls. A path leading down, the bottom of the slope be obscured by the dark. Water dripping into a puddle nearby sounding more like a clock than it should. Rats scattering behind rocks after my ‘elegant’ entrance. Rocks litter the entrance with lots of nooks and crannies to hide in. Turning my head, I find the entrance I just come through, nowhere to be found. Portal is the only word that comes to mind. I shrug and continue to look around the small opening I’m in. I spot a rat thinking it’s hidden behind some small rocks.
[Observation level 2 à Observation level 3]
I don’t think I’m THAT hungry yet, so I look around some more, not bothering to move until I have too. Which comes quicker than expected as there’s basically nothing in this room. I sigh as I start moving my sore body. I start moving quietly, there’s no telling what’s in here that I can’t see or haven’t seen yet.
[Stealth level 1New]
My footsteps get softer somehow, even when I start walking normally. As I walk down the passage I feel my mana starting to drain from my body… a very interesting and useful spell… how come I haven’t heard of it before?
I get down to the bottom of the passage and see it leading further down to a set of doors. A hole leading off to the left in the middle of the path. I try walking quietly again and my footsteps deafen. I continue to walk and think. Aren’t portals something that only high wizards are capable of-
I look left and my thoughts freeze. A goblin and I make eye contact with each other. We stare for a second before I watch him pull out a WHISTLE, A DAMN WHISTLE.
SCHHHHHREEEEE!
I wince and backpedal, only to get caught on my back legs and fall over. I start panicking as my instincts kick in. I get up and start sprinting the way I came. Shouts ring out behind me, and I turn to look back, only to find a spear hurling my way. I instantly roll to the side, hitting the wall as the spear PIERCES THROUGH the rocks.
I get up and sprint even harder than before, my body screaming at me to stop and rest. Something blue pops into my vision but I have no time for it. I make it up the entrance and look around frantically before spotting a fairly hidden nook I can barely squeeze into. I sprint towards it before being thrown towards it by a shock wave, a spear hitting that’s rocks I was just standing on.
I sigh in relief as I make into the nook right before a large rock falls on the entrance sealing me in. Only tiny cracks providing a small bit of light for the nook. I calm my sporadic breathing, trying to breathe as quietly as possible.
[Stealth level 1 à Stealth level 2]
Stealth taking a lot of pressure off and making it much easier.
Not long after, I hear a lot of small footsteps enter the room and trace the walls. A set of heavy footsteps approach the spear lodged in the ground. I listen to it dislodge with the rocks around it cracking. I close my eye and pray that it doesn’t find me. The footsteps continue for a while before the goblins finally give up, their footsteps receding. I listen for a very long time, before letting out a large breath I didn’t know I was holding. The tension leaves my body and I instantly fall asleep.
----------------------------------------
I wake to blinding hunger and a sore body, running like mad only made the hunger worse, now I’m also thirsty, again… just great.
I tried standing up but find my tail stuck under one of the rocks that fell earlier, blocking the entrance. I struggle pushing the rock aside. Wincing as I finally push it off, I can’t help but notice that that part of my tail looks flatter than it probably should be.
I cast heal on my tail leaving myself exhausted. I need food, and I’m desperate. The thought of eating rats is no longer as disgusting as before. I look around the room until a small movement makes me shift my vision. As I stare, I slowly outline a mouse that’s frozen in place.
----------------------------------------
After having my fill of rats I saunter back over to my nook. Running like mad has made moving this body much easier. Entering my nook, I find a lone rat freeze and slowly turn it’s head to stare at me. It doesn’t have time to utter a squeak before I shove the thing down my throat, fully satisfied.
[Level 1 à Level 2]
I look at the blue screen in front of me as I feel energy course through my body. Satisfying my thirst and dulling the ache of my body significantly. I can’t help but check my status again.
[???]
[CaT]
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
[ErrOr…]
[Lvl: -1]
[CLaSs: ]
[H: 13/-4]
[Mana: 5/1]
[Sr: -2]
[Dex: 54-2]
[ItE: 5]
[_is: -2964]
[a: 25]
[Lck: 956]
[SkiLLs: Observation level new, MinEr Heal level 23, DasH lvl 1, SteAlth level p]
[A noRMal caT?]
It’s still emitting a small amount of wrongness, but not as potent as the last time I looked at it. It seemed to have added things too. Though the letters before the numbers confuse me. I thought about what Dex meant as it looked to be the most normal out of all the things on my status.
[Dexterity: how flexible and nimble your limbs and anything attached to them are.]
So Dex means Dexterity… Interesting. I try thinking about the other letters, but nothing comes up except for lck.
[Luck: Odds of lucky things happening to you | Increase the rates of rare drops]
I look at my skills and think about them too.
[Observation: Things in your vision appear sharper, you notice the fine details]
[Dash: Sprint very fast for a short period of time using mana | Cost: 5 mana / 10 seconds]
[Minor Heal: Heal your body using mana, most effective on cuts, bruises, and burns | Cost: 15 mana]
[Stealth: Using mana, make your footsteps and breathing softer | Cost: 3 mana / 12 seconds]
Good to know, but I can’t help but think about if the blue screen is describing what I can do, or am I being given these abilities by someone else? Something to think about I guess. Now that I’m full and have time to think, time to try something I’ve been dying to try, can I still use my magic?
Everyone has fixed affinities at birth, but now I’m in a different body. As someone who’s been a fire mage since childhood, I’m very familiar with the feeling of summoning fire balls. So I try casting one, and nothing happens, leaving me in disappointment. Looks like this body has different affinities. At least I can still use common magic. Before I can try another spell I hear footsteps again.
I shrink back into my nook, barely making use of my tail to curl it around a rock and move the rock to cover the entrance.
Light footsteps echo inside the room, I hear two sets of them. The footsteps stop as the goblins start speaking to each other, not that I can tell what they’re saying. The footsteps retreat in a hurry, but I don’t move an inch. I can only thank myself for my smart decision as I hear three sets of footsteps not to long after they left, one of them sounding much heavier than the other two.
The two goblins start communicating to what I can only assume is the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin says nothing, that I can hear at least.
[Stealth level 2 à Stealth level 3]
I hold my breath as they walk closer. The hobgoblins steps making my body tense. I can’t help but hope they can’t find me. I find myself trying to sink deeper into the shadows around me. Holding breathe for longer than I should be able too. My body tenses up even further as I hear their footsteps right next to me.
[Stealth level 3 à Stealth level 4]
Holding my breath becomes a bit easier, it still doesn’t help. As the Hobgoblin seems to sense me somehow, the rocks in front of me start moving. I panic, without thinking or knowing what I’m doing, Mana pluses through my body almost on instinct, my only wish is to not be found. The rocks in front of me are all gone, and I freeze. Mana still pulsing through my body. I wait for something to grab me, but nothing does. I wait for agonizing seconds my mana running dry.
A spear suddenly hits the ground where I’m hidden, cracking the ground and shattering rocks around me. I look in fear at the spear right in front of my eye. The bottom of my eyesight blurs red as my eye screams in pain from the mere shockwave of the spear. The blood soaks into my fur as the mana pulsing through my body starts to become weaker.
Whatever I’m doing to stay hidden is ending, the small amount of mana I have running dry. I can only pray for them to leave.
I hear an unsatisfied snort from above me. Silence stretches on, I’m running out of time. The footsteps begin to leave. As they turn away I run out of mana. Becoming what I can only assume, completely visible.
Tension fades from my body as I try to stay awake, listening to where the footsteps go, I hear more ‘speaking’ and then hear one step of footsteps leave, with two stopping at the rooms entrance. I wait for them to leave, they don’t.
----------------------------------------
I awake a while later, my body immediately becoming tense as my ears twitch in attempt to listen. Sure enough I hear two heavy breaths at the entrance of the room still. One of them seems to be slower than the other, having fallen asleep. Thoughts run through my head as I think about how to go about this.
I move as quietly as I can-
[Stealth level 4 à Stealth level 5]
Stealth deciding to level up at the perfect time. Walking almost without a sound I peek around my nook to find two goblins. One laying sprawled on the ground asleep, the other leaning against the wall, with a knife in hand.
I don’t know if I can kill them, my chances look slim especially with that knife, I flex my claws and work my jaw, unsure if I can kill the goblin. I’ve really only used my paws to catch mice, so I haven’t had much practice with biting and clawing. I observe the two, try to determine which one I should go after first. The one sleeping looks more built, I decide to kill him first then engage with the weaker one. If only it didn’t have a knife.
[Observation 2 à Observation 3]
I check my status again in hopes that something useful will show up this time.
[???]
[Cat?]
[Racial Trait: Hide in Plain Sight level 1]
[Affinities: Shadows / ? / ?]
[Lvl: 1]
[Class: N/A SubCLass: N/A]
[Health 0 / 20]
[Mana 20 / 20]
[Str: 3]
[Dex: 5]
[It: 4]
[Wis: -25]
[Ca: 25]
[Luck: 956]
[Skills: Observation level 3, Heal level -o, Dash level 1, Stealth level 5]
[You couldn’t find this Cat? even if you tried… the 3d6 damage bonus is real]
I look at the new trait and affinities. It bugs me that whatever this is won’t tell me about all my affinities, but I guess since it didn’t show me them when I checked them last time, it’s still probably trying to figure them out. Nice to know I have affinity with the shadows… to bad I don’t know any damn spells to go with it.
[Strength: How strong you are | Effects the amount of Health you have]
[Wisdom: Talent and ability to learn new concepts | Effects the quality of mana | Stronger spell effects]
I’m a little shocked that wisdom effect the quality of my mana. Only ancient treasures and mythical herbs could do that, though the strength stat makes my breath hitch. It’s that easy to increase your physical strength, a crazy thought that numbers define how strong you are, each level granting more to each stat.
Putting the absurd blue screen on the back burner I look at what I assume to be the blue screen comment about me. Not sure what 3d6 means, but the thing I’m most interested in is hide in plain sight. As I think about it more information about it pops into my head.
[Hide in plain sight: You blend into the shadows. Even if someone is looking at you, you will slowly turn translucent until disappearing completely. If enemies attack you in this state they have an 80% miss chance. Cost: 10 mana / Minute.]
How do I cast it? I look through the description again, and again, and see no casting instructions. I started rethinking this blue screen. I had assumed that all the skills were level 0 spells so far, as they require no chant to cast, but the Hide in Plain Sight spell, being a skill worth more than a level 0 spell by the description, is something I’ve never heard of before. Much less knowing how to cast it.
Maybe if I think about the skill it will automatically cast? I ty it out with my trait and feel the mana drain from my body. Confirming my guess and doing simple math, I figure that I have 2 minutes of hide in plain sight. More than enough for what I’m about to do.
----------------------------------------
Olive let out a sigh, she couldn’t believe how long this person was taking to finish a class one dungeon. She would’ve thought it was a civilian who stole her portal if it weren’t for this place’s heavy security.
“sigh… what is this person doing?”
Olive was growing tired of waiting. It’d had been an hour; a class one gate takes 10 minutes not days. Olive wished her mentor had just given her another portal instead of telling her to wait for this person to come out. Couldn’t SHE have done that instead?
The Blue mist began to tremble slightly, drawing Olive’s attention. Her Excitement showed no bounds as she was finally going to teach this rude person a lesson. Only for the color to change from blue to green, shattering her excitement instantly.
“…”
A sudden string of loud curses and insults startled a few people in the school’s monitor room. Followed by an aged sigh from someone pinching the bridge of their nose in that very same room.
----------------------------------------
I curl my tail again, having gotten really good at it in the past few hours. I eventually decided that I had no chance using my claws and mouth. So I’ve switched my attention to the knife that the skinny goblin carries. I peek at the skinny goblin, fast asleep and then at the muscular one yawning with a hand over his mouth.
I take a deep breath and step out of my nook. Activating Hide in Plain Sight I sneak over silently. With the bulky goblin looking away from the skinny one, I extend my tail. It curls around the knifes handle and I slowly pull it away.
The knife feels lose and I tighten the curl, my tail aching in protest at being used in a way that it really isn’t meant to. I walk slowly towards the Goblin currently on watch. I’m inches away from his back when I hear shouting from down the slope. The Bulky goblin becomes alert and starts to yell back. I don’t hesitate to stab at his neck with everything I’ve got. The shot becomes a surprise gurgle, and he looks back at me wide eyed. I pull the knife and hear the second goblin stirring awake from all the noise. Not bothering to see the fate of the first goblin I turn around and confront the small goblin. Thrusting the knife at it’s neck.
Apparently my strike isn’t strong enough this time, the knife going only an inch into its neck. Definitely not enough to be fatal, and definitely not enough to keep it from yelling. The Goblin rolls to the side with the knife in his neck, my grip on the knife failing. Now fully awake, the goblin starts shouting after taking the knife from his neck and looking at his companion bleeding out on the floor.
I grit my jaw, no time to think. I swipe at his hand with the knife, hoping to disarm him. The goblin slightly leans back, barely dodging my claws. It rushes forward, knife aiming for my neck.
[Dash level 1 à Dash level 2]
I dash forward and slide between his legs. Immediately activating Hide in Plain Sight. The Goblin Immediately turns and I watch as his pupils dilate. I’m simply gone from his perspective; I swipe at his knife again catching it with my tail, I yank it out of his grasp. The Goblin stumbles in surprise, I waste no time in stabbing a knife in his neck.
The goblin crumples to the ground, eyes wide in disbelief. I pull the knife and turn around, throwing the knife into a random corner of the room. I Dash back to my nook and cover it with a rock.
Shouts and scrambling insure. Swords, spears, and knifes poke into every corner and hidden nook. Some barely missing me. Rocks and other weapons are thrown around the room, in attempt to hit anything.
[Level 2 à level 3]
I wait for the noise. To clam down before checking my status
[???]
[Lvl: 3]
[Cat]
[Traits and Affinities ▾]
[Classes▾]
[Health 20 / 20]
[Mana 15 / 30]
[Str: 5]
[Dex: 9]
[Int: 7]
[Wis: 11]
[Cha: 5]
[Luck: 9]
[Stat Points: 6]
[Skills ▾]
[… Not a normal Cat]
My status looks and feels normal. Whatever had was wrong before hand was now fixed. Looking at my affinities I notice it still hasn’t figured then out yet, or maybe I’m just not strong enough to know. I look at my new stats, not quite sure what I started with but everything looks normal? I don’t really have a base line to compare with so I can’t really tell.
[Intelligence: Effects Mana capacity and Reaction Speed]
[Charm: Resistance to negative status effects | Changes how you look]
[Status Points: Free points to distribute to your stats as you chose | Hard to come by, use them wisely]
I just feel numb at this point. Cha is just spell resistance, Intelligence is another broken stat to add numbers to, and I can distribute free stat points how I see fit. I try not to think about the implications of being given partial free reign over my stats as I still have things to do, like leaving this damn cave.
----------------------------------------
It feels like it’s been days since I first jumped into that damn black hole. I can’t decide how to feel about it. One the one hand, I’ve been running and hiding for my life almost everyday due to the hobgoblin. On the other hand, I’ve grown incredible stealthy, used to my body, and very proficient at using a knife with my tail.
I’ve killed 4 more goblins since I last checked my status. They finally got smarter as they left three guards instead of two, two of them being awake at all times. I leveled up from 3 to 5, the last fight against goblins being incredibly difficult. I can only guess that I level up more quickly if I fight things stronger than me by a large margin. I bring up my status.
[??]
[Cat]
[Lvl: 5]
[Traits and Affinities ▾]
[Classes▾]
[Health 35 / 40]
[Mana 40 / 50]
[Stats ▾]
[Skills ▾]
[A cat only detectable by special means]
My stats hadn’t changed much, and I hadn’t used my free points either. I decided to save them for dangerous situations. Sighing I close my status, I push the rock covering my nook and activate Hide in Plain Sight.
I walk past the guards and down the passageway. Confident I won’t be found unless I confront the hobgoblin I walk past the entrance leading to the goblin tribe. No whistles or shouts of alarm ring out as I walk by, completely undetected.
I finally get to see the rest of the cave, which isn’t much at all. Walking for a few minutes more, I come across two large iron looking doors. Feeling slightly intimidated I walk forward and try pushing one of the doors, only to fail miserably in opening it. I add one of my free points into strength, and another which finally seems to do the deed as the door starts creaking as it slowly opens. I wince at the noise and push as hard I can, hoping to get inside whatever room on the other side before Goblins come to investigate.
I slip inside as soon as the door opens just enough for me to fit through. I turn and start pushing the door back into place, heaving a sigh of relief as it closes entirely. With my front leg feeling a bit sore, I finally turn to take in the room I just slinked into. Spears and swords litter the ground, along with puddles of dried blood.
I look towards the end of the hall and what I see makes my blood run cold. I finally see an exit portal, tainted green instead of pitch black. Only something sitting in front of it staring into my eyes. Wielding a spear it stands up, never breaking eye contact. It hurls the spear and I dodge.
The spear flies past me. Snapping two when it hits the iron doors. That doesn’t stop the hobgoblin though, as it picks up another spear from the ground and gets ready to hurl it again. I instantly Dash activating Hide in Plain Sight as I go. The hobgoblin still tracking me anyways.
He hurls the second spear missing by slim margins this time, I feel the air split as it whistles behind me into the rock walls. I dash towards it as it picks up a sword. As I get close it swings at me, I duck and slide between it’s legs cutting it’s ankles with the knife on my tail as I slide by.
It growls in pain, turns, and swings again. Cutting of fur as I barely dodge. I turn off Hide in Plain Sight as it’s just draining mana. A blue screen appears in my vision as I dash towards the hobgoblin again. I dash at as it swings at me again, I put all my points into intelligence and the sword slows down a lot. No longer the blur I could barely see.
I jump, landing on the sword, the hobgoblins face lighting up in alarm. I jump and stab my knife into its eye. It screams and drops its sword as I lose my grip on the knife leaving it stuck in its eye. I land on a sword cutting my paw make me hiss in pain. I warily turn around to check the damage I’ve done, praying that it was enough.
A Stare of pure hatred is directed back at me as the hobgoblin pry’s the knife out of its ruined eye and throws it at me. It falls short skittering on the ground and coming to a stop at my feat. I wrap my tail around the knife, watching as the hobgoblin shakily picks up his dropped sword.
I check my mana, and discover it nearly empty, enough for one last dash. I walk forward, before sprinting into a dash. The Hobgoblin suddenly reaches down and picks up another sword. Standing up it swings at with the first, I slide underneath it again, and then stabs at me with the second. I can’t stop my momentum and end up dodging sideways, straight into his foot. My back pulses in pain as the hobgoblin falls backwards.
I get up as quick as I can, the hobgoblin is already swinging its swords from a sitting position. I jump onto the blade again and jump off. It covers its eye with the other sword, too bad I stick the knife in its throat. A last stabbing motion comes from the sword covering its eye. I dodge barley, the sword cutting a thin line across my cheek.
Sound reaches my ear again after I lost it at some point. Heavy, ragged breaths and the sound of the hobgoblin trying to breathe with a knife in its throat. I pull the knife and jump off feeling a bit nauseous. The hobgoblin clutches its throat, clear unwillingness in its eyes as it dies. It glances at me, the cut on my cheek and looks down at my paw, giving a victorious smile for a second before all light vanishes from its eyes.
A confused look passes through my eye as I can’t help but wonder about the final smile the hobgoblin gave me. I shakily turn around, my limbs a bit numb, probably from all the jumping I did. Blue screens flash in my vision but I shake them away, just wanting to get the hell out of here. I step into the portal and vanish. Leaving nothing a room full of rusty swords and spears behind.
I step out of the portal feeling incredibly nauseous. My vision starts swimming, I brush it off as just the effect of the portal, until it starts getting worse. A victorious smile appears in my head, I finally understand. The blades were poisoned, and then I collapsed.
----------------------------------------
Olive was growing impatient, an hour for a rank two dungeon could have been believable, but two hours was absurd. Whoever this was, was definitely the bottom rank of the school. Which pissed her off even more, why was trash who didn’t even try taking her opportunities AND making her wait for more than two hours. Wait for this top student to teach you a lesson.
The Portal trembled slightly, she perked up, smiled a perfect smile, prepared a string of curses, and started circulating her mana, she waited. Olive opened her mouth to speak as she saw a foot step out of the portal only to stop, stunned silly. What walked out was a black bloodied cat, hold a bloody knife with its tail. It swayed for a split second before collapsing. For the first time in a very long time, Olive really didn’t know what to say.
----------------------------------------