Frederick was not doing so hot. Then again, he was nowhere near as injured as Astrid was after I found her fighting the golden brown bear. As a matter of fact, comparing the two situations simply was not fair. Astrid was beaten to an inch of her life, and without the System, she would have died. Frederick had some cuts and bruises on his face and arm, but there was no real danger to his life. Not because of his injuries, at least.

The three of us were rushing down the one tunnel we, or should I say I, recognized to be safe. Or, more specifically, safer. Behind us, there was some skittering caused by those running creatures. Even without hearing what they were saying, which was a whole different kind of issue that I did not have time to think about right now, we could tell they were not happy about something. Likely the fact that we killed one of their friends.

But with that came a similar problem. How many of those were around? Was their group small, containing maybe 7 or 8 beings? Or were they more numerous? Could the sound of an army marching down mean that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of those beings here underground? All those possibilities were terrible, and I didn't know which one scared me more.

I was trying to keep my cool, but it seemed I was not doing very well, as Astrid kept glancing at me with a worried expression, which probably meant my own face was a mess. That was not just because of the sheer number of those giant rats that could exist here, but also because of how the System displayed them. They were not just a monster with a tier. Instead, they had names and then their species, followed by the tier.

The only other time this happened was during my fight with the spider, a spider who also had full access to the System. This could likely mean that those rats also had the same ability, the ability to use the System to the fullest extent. To make matters worse, they were not like I expected them to be. They also had some sort of society. Language was not needed for animals, and they went beyond that. That thing spoke English. Actual English. Broken English, but still. What the fuck was that?

My thoughts came to a halt as Astrid grabbed my shoulder and pointed to the left. It was another passage, but one with a large rock by its side. The boulder was clearly not attached to anything, and I could instantly understand what she was thinking about. It did not matter if the rats had a System or not, we had it. Meaning we could use it to make sure we would be safe from those creatures.

Jumping to the side, we went into that new passage. Just after it, the Frosted Lumberjack pushed that boulder in the middle of the path, setting it up perfectly for me to activate {Compression} and plug the hole completely. We did all that in front of Frederick, which was arguably a bad idea, since we had no idea if he would be quiet about this or trustworthy. But then again, we did not have much of a choice.

We kept moving for a few more meters [yd.] just to be far enough away from that blockade so our voices wouldn't carry through the other side before finally stopping to check up on the teenager.

"How bad are you hurt?" I asked.

"I'm ok. Just some pain," he glanced down the tunnel, "How did you make that rock bigger?"

I sighed and turned to Astrid, who shrugged. Like it or not, if we were going to really fight the creatures or have to fight our way to get out of here, having one more person with the System could be helpful. Especially if we did not have to keep protecting him. But something came to mind before I said anything.

"How old are you again?" I asked the boy.

"Just turned 17 last month."

I froze and turned away for a moment, 'Sys, how old do you have to be to be integrated?'

[A person can be integrated into the System from birth. However, only after their 18th birthday are they able to use its full capabilities. Before that, users are incapable of acquiring skills or assigning attribute points. The System will simply assist their bodies to grow in the best way possible.]

'Can you make an exception?'

[Exceptions are not permitted. This age requirement is present due to the need for someone to have a fully developed body in order for System to not interfere with the natural growth of the body.]

'Even if it is just for a few months?'

[System is unable to activate for users even if they have mere seconds left before they turn 18.]

"lovely," I said out loud and turned to Frederick. "I can do magic. That's how I made that reek bigger. I was thinking if I could teach you, but if you aren't eighteen, there is nothing I can do. It is a requirement for you to learn."

"What? What do you mean? Are you saying you are not going to teach me just because I am a kid?"

I stopped and stared at the boy. "When did I ever say that? I am telling you that is literally a requirement. If you aren't eighteen, you can't learn it. It's not because I think you're not mature or whatever you're thinking. You literally can't learn. If you could So we would have had more people to fight against those things, but that is not the case. So we are going to have to figure it out without you."

"Oh, ok," He was clearly disappointed about the situation, but at least the kid was smart enough to not start complaining.

Turning to Astrid, I asked, "What do you think? Do we lie low for a while or do we try to rush outside?"

She paused. "Wait. Too many outside."

She turned to me with a questioning look while pointing down the corridor. "Have magic?"

"I don't know," I nodded sighed. But quickly realized one big mistake, "Actually. Hang on."

'Sys, are those rats in possession of the System like the spider was?'

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

It took a few moments for the System to reply. I almost felt as if it was trying to come up with an answer.

[After analyzing particles acquired after killing Rakshu the Rodenti, System can confirm that yes. Being killed by user was in possession of a System and had full access to its capabilities.]

'So rats are one of the species that have a System?'

[It is possible that beings known as Rodenti do originate from rats, yes. However, System cannot confirm if that information is accurate.]

'I mean, what else could it be? They are giant rats.'

[System understands user's initial thoughts. However, due to a lack of information, System is unable to confirm if the being known as Rodenti truly came from rats.]

I rubbed my eyes. 'Ok' I replied before turning to the rest of the group and speaking up, "Let us get moving. We need to see if we can find another exit."

Both Astrid and Frederick nodded as we slowly continued ahead. Once more we had been using some branches to light our way, but the lack of Energy was starting to become an issue, forcing me to take a sip from the Eater's blood to replenish my reserves. At the very least, this time I was aware of what I was doing and had a decent idea of how much I could drink. A quick sip gave me three points, still leaving one missing, but that also meant I wasn't wasting some of it by converting it into particles. Hopefully, it would take a few weeks before I needed to hunt more Eaters to refill my waterskin.

We continued heading deeper into the tunnel until another light appeared after a zigzag corner. This time, it was much more intense than anything else we had seen so far, which gave us hope that we were about to reach a passage to the outside. But that hope was quickly destroyed once we arrived at the end of the tunnel. We were not looking at the outside world, but at a massive underground citadel.

There were maybe hundreds of those rats moving around down below in the middle of a large settlement dug from the rocks and built with some scraps of wood, going from house to house, building to building, as if they were preparing for a war. Some of them had weapons, mostly made out of stone and timber. A few had pieces of spiders attached to some of them, the ones that looked more important or were bigger than the rest. Any hope of just finding a way out or that those giant rats were just another thing went out of the window. Those creatures had numbers, and they even had a moderately advanced society.

Maybe it would be possible to talk to them and negotiate, but from everything I learned through history books, when two civilizations that were mildly different met, there was usually a war. I could only imagine how big the clash would be if we were talking about something that was completely different from us.

"What is all this?" Frederick asked.

"I have no idea. But stay quiet. The last thing we need is for them to realize we are here," I said in a hushed tone, setting the volume for our discussion.

The teenager looked around. "We need to tell people," his voice was louder than I would have liked.

"I know, and we will. But for now, we need to first figure out a way out of here without being seen."

"They are rats!" Frederick gasped.

"Again, I know. Now shut up." I turned to Astrid. "What do you see? Anything that might be a problem?"

"A lot," the Frosted Lumberjack replied. She pointed to a structure on the other side of the cave, one that had a large perch on top, together with some mirrors that created almost like a watchtower. "Might see us."

"I noticed. Yeah, that is going to be an issue. But, hang on." I glanced at the other side to our left. It was a bit awkward to see in the distance, but there was another large light about 800 meters [874 yd.] in that direction. It seemed to be a different settlement that had generally the same style of buildings. There were a large group of rats down below facing this direction, and at the same time after this settlement, I could see another group of rats facing the other direction. The two armies looking at each other.

Generally speaking, people would not do that kind of thing unless they were preparing for some sort of parade or preparing for war.

"They have armies!" Frederick almost yelled before I could grab him and pull him down.

"What did I say about speaking loudly? What did I say about shouting?"

"Sorry."

I sighed, "Yes, they have armies, apparently. And by the looks of it, they are about to fight each other. Or some sort of large monster. With any luck, they are evenly matched, then they will just kill each other and we leave without lifting a finger."

"We can't just do nothing!" Frederick protested.

"What the hell do you expect us to do?" I huffed before turning back to Astrid. "Any ideas which side should be stronger?"

The Frosted Lumberjack glanced around before shaking her head, "No. Too far."

"Yeah, I figured, but we really are going to need to make a decision here. Should we try to do something about all of this, or do we leave?"

"Can we leave?" she asked.

I looked around, not really seeing any other ways to get back to the surface. "Fair point. But still, do we go into those settlements? I don't know what is going on, so we jump in to find another way, or do we go back and fight whatever is there?"

"You want go surface?" A shrill voice came from the tunnel we just took. It was high-pitched but at the same time somewhat friendly as a giant rat, smaller than the one we had seen, approached. It was about 50 or 60 centimeters [1.6 to 2ft] tall with dirty white fur that had some black spots and a pair of sparkling brown eyes.

The rat was wearing what could only be described as leather armor, but it was not any type of leather that I ever had seen before. The stitching was also awful, parts of it were wrong, and a few places had just several types of string wrapped around to hold it together, but despite that, it was mostly clean. Much better than the clothing we had seen from the other rat.

Astrid and I quickly jumped into fighting positions, pointing our weapons at the creature.

"No, no. Friend. Friend of human."

I glanced at my companions. My instinct was to just kill this thing, but it was trying to be nice, trying to be polite. Maybe not all rats wanted us dead right away.

"Yes, we want to get out of here. Who are you?" I asked, not feeling like I went crazy. I was talking to a giant rat.

"Me, Rexeuska. Friends say Rex. I help get to surface."

"Why? The other one we found seemed to be wanting to eat us," I asked, still ready for anything and trying to see if {Predatory Sense} would warn me about any other threats in the area. But the skill was quiet. Not even this creature in front of me was giving me any weird signals.

"Friends. I help you. I like help."

"And how can we be sure that you are not just going to bring us to a trap?" I asked.

Rexeuska stopped and started tapping his finger on his head as if he was trying to remember something. After almost a minute, he snapped his fingers and his eyes sparkled like he had just discovered fire.

"Trust," he said with a large smile.

"You want us to trust you?" I asked, my voice completely unable to hide the sheer bafflement that I was feeling.

"I guess," Rexeuska replied. "Trust."

I glanced at Frederick, who was still staring at the rat with wide eyes and a worried expression. Then at Astrid, who lowered her axe, not letting go of it completely but setting up a more comfortable stance. Before I could ask what she was doing, the Frosted Lumberjack simply said, "Other option?"

Realizing she was right, I just nodded. "Okay then. I guess you are our only option. How do we get back to the surface, Rex?"