All but one of my children stood around me. Linus had decided to stay back and protect the eggs. He had sealed the entrance and told me he would defend them with his life. I almost cried. I was so proud!

Diana walked over to me as we stood over the burrow. “My Queen! The ditch is almost done. All that's left is to connect it to the lake.” I nodded and smiled. “Oh I’m so proud of you all! Alright everyone! Remember the plan.”

Jack and Felix stood next to the hole, eagerly waiting. My plan was simple. Flood the tunnel and kill any rats that came out. Hopefully all of the younger rat’s would drown. Like a nice soup, filled with corpses.

I smiled and patted Diana on the head. She smiled and waddled away. Smiling as a Mud Skink was strange. It was just opening our mouths. I yawned and flopped onto my belly. The water would take a while to flow over here, it had taken almost the entire day to dig this ditch.

While killing the rat’s was nice, my main objective was to level me and my kids up. If I could get one of them to evolve then I wouldn’t have to worry as much. Diana was most likely the closest to level ten.

Although did they evolve at level ten? Was it different for everybody? This system is too damn confusing. I sighed and rolled onto my back, staring up at the sky. After a few minutes of just chilling I got up and went to check on the ditch.

There was a small constant stream spilling into the rat’s nest but most of it was absorbed by the dirt at the entrance. I shrugged and placed myself right where the rats would come out from. I wonder if the scarred one is here?

Ooh that'd be nice. Haven't seen him in a while. I’m gonna make a necklace out of his intestines. I’ll make his skull into a cup. Actually how would I carry the cup? With my tail I guess. Oh well, it was all just wishful thinking unless I can figure out a way to find him.

I started making small trenches in the mud as we continued waiting for the rats to start fleeing. Jack and Felix had already become bored and were wrestling around like always. Diana was focused and seemed to be having a good time.

I hope Linus is doing okay, I wonder if when I get back I should try to make the tunnel more secure. Maybe I can pile the skeletons of rats around the tree? Intimidation tactics are always fun. Although they haven't seemed to work so far.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a familiar squeaking noise. Jack and Felix were already back at the side of the entrance. I stretched out and readied myself. I held my tail over the entrance, ready to grab any rats that came out.

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After a few seconds the first rat arrived. I wrapped my tail around the rat's throat and quickly snapped its neck. I threw the corpse back into the hole. I heard a satisfying squeak and smiled.

The next rat got its throat ripped out by Diana. It went like that for almost ten minutes. Dozens of rats streamed out of the tunnel one at a time. I wonder how intelligent these rats are? Surely they realized that we’re killing their brethren. We literally throw their corpses back into the hole!

I smiled. “This is why we don’t interact with poor people's children. Look at them! Blindly fleeing into our jaws. A rich dragon like me would never allow this! Stomp on them my children! Stomp on the impoverished masses!”

I had only killed a few rats this whole time, mostly letting my children rip into them. I had hoped Diana would evolve but so far Jack and Felix had gotten most of the kills. I would have to correct that. “Jack! Felix! Let Diana kill more of them. I need her to evolve.”

Jack and Felix looked disappointed and their dejected gazes were like inflation to my economy. I looked away quickly, focusing on Diana. For the next five minutes we would paralyze rats and throw them over to Diana.

After a while the rats slowed down and I noticed that the tunnel had filled up with water and rat corpses. I smirked and grabbed the last rat biting its shoulder before tossing it behind me.

I turned around and saw a surprising pile of still alive rats. I walked over towards Diana and saw that she was fast asleep. And glowing. “Why the fuck is my daughter glowing?” Is this evolution? Did the rats cast magic?

I nudged her and she limply rolled over. Holy shit my daughter is dead! I turned towards the nearest rats and screamed. “Jack, Felix! Kill them! Murder the poor out of them!” Jack and Felix gleefully set to work as I turned back towards Diana.

“Okay breathe, just breathe. She is probably just evolving. Leave her alone and make sure all the rats are dead. You can do this. Deep breathes.” I took a few seconds to compose myself before turning to check on Jack and Felix. They had created quite a impressive pile of corpses.

Actually how many were still alive when Diana started evolving? I looked around for Jack and Felix for a few seconds before noticing them collapsed just like Diana. Holy shit are they evolving too? How many rat’s did we kill? I started counting but quickly gave up. We had killed over fifty of them. I checked my notifications and smiled.

You have killed a level 1 Giant Rat. x 17

You have killed a level 2 Giant Rat. x 21

You have leveled up. You are now a level 20 mud skink Queen

You have leveled up. You are now a level 21 mud skink Queen

You have leveled up. You are now a level 22 mud skink Queen

You have leveled up. You are now a level 23 mud skink Queen

Wow, that's a lot of levels. Why do the rats never seem to be higher than level two? Is their lifestyle that deadly? But wouldn’t a few survive and take over then? I shrugged and was about to go back to my kids when I heard a rumbling.