Now. "We run," Rex said before turning around and started to dash through the tunnel. He didn't have to say twice as I followed him, not wanting to know what kind of army was going to come after us after that screech.

It was very strange that the Rodenti had a skill that was able to physically interfere with each other. Whatever that other one did caused even Rex's eyes to turn white for a moment. But at the same time, I had no idea how they functioned. Maybe they all shared some sort of strange hive mind or something like that. Either way, this was a talk for later, as right now, our focus had to be surviving.

Rex seemed to know where we were going and just rushed ahead without any hesitation. Every step filled with determination and confidence. But I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that he was just running out of instinct and that there was actually no knowledge behind it. We started speeding up very quickly, but I had to ask everyone to slow down, as Frederick was struggling to keep up. This was one of the reasons why I considered giving him the system. If we had to run, he obviously wouldn't be able to keep up. Not when the three of us were already at tier 1.

We started hearing more and more skittering, echoing in behind us in the tunnel, sometimes closer, sometimes farther away. Until we reached a large open area where we were essentially running across the sides of an open underground mountain. We could see dozens, if not hundreds, of Rodenti in the settlement down below, some focused on their own tasks but a few pointing at us and throwing various rocks and arrows in our direction. Luckily, none of their attacks were strong enough to reach us. We were far enough away that we were mostly safe.

That is, until one Rodenti with black fur and thick leather armor, much more well made than anything else we had seen those creatures wear, jumped on top of one of the tallest buildings aside from the watchtower. It grabbed a wooden spear that didn't look to have any special decorations or anything of the sort and threw it towards us at a blinding speed.

It took only a heartbeat for the projectile to traverse the air before it became clear I was struggling to keep track of it. Activating {Mind Of Possibility} might be a waste, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance. And my decision quickly proved to be the right one. As the initial throw landed on Rex's shoulder, causing the rat to stumble forward and fall down from the highway we were taking.

My mind returned to the moment when I triggered the skill and this time I pushed my staff forward, trying to block or at least parry the attack. The collision caused the wooden weapon in my hands to shatter but the spear didn't hurt anyone. Instead, it crashed onto the rocks, sending out a shockwave that knocked me out of the passage we were taking, forcing me to grab on the ledge. Astrid was able to hold her ground by taking a knee, but Frederick ended up tumbling to the side and falling down below, lost in the darkness.

I returned to the moment when I triggered the skill once more. This time I just used {Compression} to push myself forward and tackle Rex falling to the ground. Once again, the thrown javelin slammed on the rocks but was embedded deeply inside it. The wood shattered, covering Astrid and me with splinters, but the Frosted Lumberjack was able to cover her eyes, not to be blinded by the shards of wood. Frederick was pushed off by the shockwave caused by the attack and held on to the ledge. We were still able to pull him up quickly enough, but by the time he was back on his feet, some rats were already arriving through the tunnel we had just taken.

It was an option, but not the best one. I tried something else, swiping at Rex's legs to make him fall down while trying to tackle Frederick, to no avail. Our delay was also long enough, so the rest caught up. Another attempt made me use {Formless Ice Devil Lunge} at the spear itself, trying to either break it or destroy its momentum before it landed on the wall. Unfortunately, after three tries, I wasn't able to find the timing to properly do that, not to mention that I lost my footing every time I did that, causing me to fall down the darkness below.

I could tell {Mind The Possibility} was starting to run out, but I still hadn't found an answer. That's when I looked back and noticed something that I didn't realize before. Astrid's eyes were moving very quickly. Not just at Rex and the Frederick but also to the sides and back. There was no reason for her to be doing that kind of thing.

Unless…

This was what she was doing before I triggered my skill. The only reason I could think of for that strange motion was if she was also using {Mind of Possibility}. But I wouldn't be able to confirm that since our skills couldn't work together. Or maybe they could and we just had to figure out how. Either way, I had to make a decision.

Astrid was behind me, closer to Frederick than I was, and I was closer to Rex. If she truly was using {Mind Of Possibility}, the better option for her would be to protect the kid while I take care of our guide. Going back to one of the first attempts I performed, I decided to take a chance and took that specific path.

The skill was deactivated as I placed my staff on the ground, triggering {Compression} to propel me forward. In the air, I glanced back and saw Astrid stopping and jumping at Frederick, tackling him to the ground and covering his head with her arms. Relieved with that decision, I focused on my motion.

Rex barely noticed what I was doing and let out a yelp as I clashed with him, causing us both to tumble forward a couple of times. But his reaction time was better than I was expecting as the Rodenti dug his claws into the dirt to hold him in place just before the shockwave of the impact hit. There was a loud thundering sound that echoed throughout the cave, causing even some of the rats down below to cover their ears before I looked back to see Astrid and Frederick perfectly fine, even if a few small rocks hit them on top of it. And no splinters. The spear was still embedded into the wall.

Rex looked back at where the spear had landed and then at me with a smile. "Thanks, friend."

I smiled back and helping him to his feet quickly. "Thank me later. Let's get out of here first."

We started running again, but I also made sure to glance towards the giant rat that tried to attack us. He was still there. On top of one of the tallest buildings in the settlement below, just staring at us with an angry expression. It was very far away but I couldn't afford not to try one thing. Telling the System to check its level and modification of the rat in front of me.

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- Rodenti - Tier 2 - Saturated

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"Fuck me," I mumbled as we entered another tunnel on the opposite end of this area, leaving that open space behind. The attack that specific rat used was extremely powerful, but I was hoping it was just something that cost a lot of Energy for him when instead he was probably just doing a regular thing it could do.

We already had to worry about Eaters being Tier 2, maybe even 3 and beyond, and now, it seemed like the Rodenti were also at the same type of power level. Maybe even not. Eaters could still be the strongest creatures around. But it only meant that we had more enemies between us and them.

We continued past a few corridors that were much more well lit than the ones we took to get here. It didn't seem like this was just a random tunnel that someone had found, but a proper passage the Rodenti used with frequency.

As we turned, I noticed that there were also several other tunnels connected to this passage as we kept running forward. "Rex, is there any tunnel here that can also take us to the surface?"

The rat turned to me with the confused expression. "Yes. Many."

"Show me one," I asked.

"What?" Rex looked at me with the confused expression.

"Just point me to one. One that we're not going to use."

We continued rushing until he gestured to his left. "That one."

I quickly grabbed my staff and slammed it against the wall, scraping away a small piece of rock from it and placed the debris in front of the passage. Everybody slowed down to see what I was doing, but I just motioned for them to continue as {Compression} was triggered creating a boulder in place of the rock. It wasn't enough to completely cover the passage, and it would probably be very easy for someone to just pick the rock up and throw it somewhere else. But that's exactly what we needed to do, just something that maybe would seem like we were going somewhere where we're not.

The plan might not even work since our footsteps would still be going towards somewhere else too, but maybe it would be enough to split off our pursuers. At least, that's what I hoped to do.

We continued running for a few more minutes. While Astrid, Rex, and I seemed to be doing just fine with all that, Frederick was clearly struggling due to the lack of rest. It made sense since it wasn't easy to maintain this pace for long. The entire time we were acting like this was a sprint, when in reality it was clearly a marathon. Without some points in body, or the help of a skill, very few people would be able to keep up with this pace.

I noticed the teenager starting to slow down but forcing himself to push through to keep up with us not jus,t because he didn't want to be left behind but because right now, it was a matter of life or death.

"How much further?"

"Not far. Getting close."

"Are you sure about that? I don't know how long we can keep going."

"Rex sure. After tunnel, surface."

I turned back to face Frederick. He clearly understood that the reason why I was asking about that was for his benefit. But unfortunately, just as we were about to reach another passage, a pair of Rodenti came from the tunnel that we were going to take and they rushed out and blocked our path.

It was just two of them, but they had their weapons drawn and, after a quick look with the System, I confirmed that they were both at Tier 1 and also saturated. Meaning they were at least level 10, maybe even more. That was far from an ideal scenario, since I was the only one who could be close to their level. But it wasn't like we had much of a choice. The creatures were right in front of us and the only way to leave was going through them.

Rex also seemed to be of the same idea and quickly prepared a few of his stone projectiles to attack. Astrid also followed along without me having to say anything as they charged at one of them. The Frosted Lumberjack swinging her axe with some particles covering it. By the amount, I assumed she was using Chop instead of her more powerful skills. The two of them aimed at the same enemy while I attacked the other one.

Unfortunately, the only attack I had was a bit expensive, but I wasn't about to be stingy with my Energy right now. The one that defended against Astrid's attack was pushed back by the strength behind the blow. Which caused it to fail its timing to dodge the rocks sent by Rex. But on the other hand, the projectiles were far from being as effective as the attacks he used earlier. It didn't seem like the problem was happening due to his lack of Energy, but duets something that allowed it to withstand attacks better than the one we killed.

In my end, I turned to the second enemy trying to use {Formless Ice Devil Lunge} once again. The particles covered the staff before I jumped. The attack struck the giant rat, pushing it a few meters back, but it was clear it wasn't able to do that much damage. Still, it gave me enough of a distance between us for me to take a swig of my water skin with Eaters blood in order to refuel my Energy.

Astrid and Rex were dealing with the other Rodenti, meaning I had to fight this one off on my own. The creature lashed out at me, trying to bite my arms while growling and snarling every chance it got. But the speed with which I moved allowed me to evade most of the attacks. However, once its tail started to join in the fight, things took a turn for the worst.

It was already complicated to evade the incoming spear attacks and the bites, but having a third thing to worry about made me focus too much on defense, not allowing me any openings for a counterattack. After slamming my staff on the side of its body, I noticed why being attacked wasn't as strong as I was expecting. There was a strange layer of oil covering the creature.

Almost as if to confirm my discovery, the rat yelled something, and it spat at me one giant ball of black tar like liquid. I managed to dodge the attack, but Frederick started screaming from behind. The attack, the snot, slammed into the kid straight in his face. And the thick liquid seemed to glue his right eye shut. I wanted to help him, but there wasn't much I could do right now.

The creature in front of me spat a couple more times, trying to hit me with that sticky glue. I dodged the attacks again and again, letting that substance cover part of the tunnel. I needed to be a bit more careful not just so Frederick wouldn't be hit by that but also that Astrid and Rex were away from the trajectory of those projectiles.

I tried to attack it again, but that liquid made my staff slide off its skin. And the more I got closer to the creature, the stranger its smell became. It was somewhat familiar but I couldn't wrap my head around it. The rat slashed the air in my direction, as its tail became sharper and it stabbed my leg. It wasn't a deep wound, but it hurt like hell. The smell of iron quickly rising as the splatter of blood reached my face.

And that's when it hit me. What I was smelling was oil. Something that we very rarely used back in the Hidden Horn village. And as far as I was aware, oil was extremely flammable.

Rushing forward, I triggered {Firestarter} and slammed the flame into the giant rat's fur. The creature quickly ignited and started to scream for help. Taking advantage of that, I kicked it off towards the back of the tunnel while telling Frederick to stay away. His face was already covered in that oil. He shouldn't end up burning, as he would be lucky to survive with just a scar.

Frederick moved just as I commanded him, but he wasn't quick enough. The flaming rat brushed off against his face, causing the oil that was stuck to his eyes to ignite. I jumped over to him as quickly as I could and shoved his head into the ground. That was the only thing I could think of that might be able to kill the flames. Suffocating it with the dirt.

To the left, a large wave of ice emerged, piercing the body of the other Rodenti and making it stuck to the ceiling. Particles rushed out from that rat and into us just a few seconds before the ones from down the tunnel arrived. We managed to kill both creatures. But there was no time to waste. Grabbing Frederick, who was now unconscious thanks to the impact of me slamming his head against the ground a bit too forcefully. I picked him up and started running together with Rex and Astrid. We were close to the surface and hopefully we would be able to hide after that.