"Anybody there?" Roth's calls echoed in the tunnels over the slow flow of filthy water running through them. Roth kept running and calling out until he finally heard something.

There were inhuman screams and high-pitched shrilling sounds in the distance. It sounded like ratans were battling. It differed from what he had heard when players hunted the mutated beasts. This was darker and more primal.

He took off running toward the source of the sound. The echoes of the tunnel didn't let him make out precisely what was happening, but he could hear the familiar squeaks of his ratan friends. They sounded desperate, angry, and pained.

Turning around the corner in the tunnel, Roth came across a gruesome spectacle. Against the wall was a mound made of hay, garbage, and rags. He saw one little ratan pup shaking in fear through one of the holes in the structure. Further ahead, a group of ratans jumped, biting and clawing furiously at an invader. Roth stepped closer to try to make out what it was.

It seemed like a disfigured ratan. Its eyes were completely black, and cracks in its fur oozed with black liquid. Even though it looked like it was on the verge of death, he kept fighting viciously through the fierce attacks thrown at it.

There was a bigger ratan that was pinning the invader down. Its hit points were in the red. Roth figured that it was probably the local elite. As he danced around the adversary, other ratans darted and jumped, trying to leave gashes in the invader with their claws and teeth.

Behind it, a trail of dead ratans showed that the battle had already been going on for a while. Even though the attacker was wounded and had sustained multiple injuries, the monster was still trying to gain ground.

Roth was not sure of what to do. On the one hand, he hated to see his ratan friends fighting desperately like this... on the other hand, he didn't want to fight. He couldn't even if he wanted to. He was not building his character that way.

He looked through his titles and skills to determine a possible course of action. His eyes landed on the Polyglot title.

Polyglot (Uncommon)

Title description: You have worked hard and are now fluent in six languages. You have become a bridge between peoples. Your intellect expands by learning different ways to express yourself.

Title effects:

+2 wisdom;

+2 intelligence;

It’s easier to learn new languages;

Voice-related skills are more effective.

He remembered that when he'd gained the title, one of the benefits awarded to him was a boost to his voice-related skills. He went back to the description of one of his skills.

Shepherd’s Shout (Common)

Skill description: Your vocal cords have grown resilient and robust. All can hear you better, and your voice can herd weaker creatures.

Skill effects:

Active. Scares away monsters;

The skill’s effectiveness increases when a monster is low-leveled or has low health.

He couldn't endure seeing this battle going on. He just hoped that the fact that everyone was in low health and his title bonuses would be enough. He had also put several points in charisma. It was above 50, even when he was in human form. Hopefully, it was a stat that boosted the skill.

Shepherd's Shout!

Although Roth didn't get any notifications indicating the power of the skill, the animation had undoubtedly been upgraded. His voice shook the air and froze everyone doing battle. The voice had been enhanced so much that little ripples disturbed the sewage in the canal beside them.

The strange dark-eyed rat stopped momentarily and, turning its tail, ran.

You have saved this ratan nest.

+31 reputation with all ratans.

Roth started spamming his healing skill on every ratan he could find.

Healing Ray!

Healing Ray!

Healing Ray!

You have eased the pain of the ratans.

+6 reputation with all ratans.

"Squeak? A human?" The ratan addressing him was a level 15 elite. It had a scar crossing one of its cheeks. Its hit points were shown in yellow even after Roth used [Healing Ray] on it several times,

"Hello, I'm Pax. Are you alright?"

"Hello. I'm Scar." That meant Scar's scar must already have been there before the battle. "Thank you for saving us. We couldn't have endured much longer. We could stop two creatures, but the third proved too much to handle."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"What was that thing? What happened?" More ratans started gathering around Roth as they heard him speaking in Ratan. The ratans surrounding him lacked the neat look of the ones he'd met in the Green Woods. Their fur was scruffy, and they constantly scratched it to drive the relentless fleas biting them away. They also seemed slightly bigger than the average Ratan he'd seen in the woods.

"We don't know."

"Was it a rat?"

"Squeak? Did it look like one of ours? No! That thing was no ratan."

"Oh my... you smell so good, human," said one of the other ratans that had sneaked up behind Roth. Hearing this, Scar came closer and sniffed him too.

"You do smell like one of us." Was this an effect of the Zoomorph race? The baroness had said something similar.

"I'm a friend of King Rattatoile. I come from the Green Woods." The crowd made a collective gasp.

"The king?" A commotion broke among the ratans surrounding him. They all started bombarding him with questions:

"Is it true what they say about his throne?"

"Does it have a sun in it, shining radiance and bliss on all furry ones?"

"Is it true that there are no fleas in the woods?"

"What about the tapestries?"

"Are they as beautiful as they say?"

"Well, I can tell you that there are no fleas. There isn't a sun, per se, but there is a beautiful chandelier filled with glowshrooms that give off gorgeous light. As for the tapestries, they are fantastic. You'd love to see them."

As the rats listened excitedly to Roth's account, one of them scratched himself right next to Roth, sending little black dots everywhere.

You have received a [Flea] debuff. -5 to all stats for thirty minutes.

Seriously? He started to feel itchy, especially on his scalp. He tried to resist the urge to start scratching.

"How long..." he was having a hard time thinking with all the biting and itching he was feeling. Had it not been for Loki and his evil plan, he would have turned off the pain settings long ago, but now he had no choice but to live these sensations so intensely. "How long has this type of creature attacked you?"

"This is the third attack. But they're getting stronger. They kill us faster than we can gather our numbers. It had never gotten this close to the nest before." So that's what the mound of rags and hay was. It was a ratan nest. "The truth is that we can't hold out much longer. If things continue, all ratans in the sewers will be eradicated.

You've received a new quest: [Call for Backup].

[Call for Backup] (Uncommon)

The ratans in the sewers of Hilsford are taking a beating. They can't hold out much longer. Call for backup and save them.

Quest Objectives: Reach out to the rulers of the ratans. Perhaps they can send some assistance.

Roth stared at the window. He had just gotten here and was already being put to work? He didn't have time for this. He had to get out of there and find a way to throw his old team off his scent.

"Squeak? Human. Why are you here? Usually, humans stay in the upworld," asked one of the curious ratans around him.

"Actually, I'm lost. Could any of you show me a way out of here?" All the ratans looked at the elite.

"Scratchy! Take the friend of the king." Scratchy. How appropriate. "Don't leave our turf, though. Hurry, Scratchy. We'll need every claw and tooth we can spare to resist the next attack."

"Tell me where you want to go, Martyr."

"Just wait a second, Scratchy." Turning to Scar, he asked, "You mentioned that you took out two of them?"

"Yes, they're right there."

"Stay right there, Scratchy. I'll check it out."

Roth took a few steps toward the corpses of the dead ratans. The sight of the dead beasts made his chest feel tight and hollow. There were at least twenty dead sewer rats. Two of them leaked black ooze from their wounds.

Roth had never looted a corpse in this game. But since he was issued a quest to investigate this, it would be foolish of him not to check these remains. As he approached the corpse, he kneeled on the ground and touched it. The corpse faded into motes of light, and an item materialized in its hand.

It was a small black sphere. When he tried to study it, all he got was question marks. He needed to have this appraised before he could find what it was. Too bad that Red wasn't here. Turning, he went again to meet his guide.

"I'm ready."

"Where do you want me to take you?" asked Scratchy. Scar was off to the side, trying to comfort the scared pups inside the nest, but Roth noticed how one of its ears was pointing toward their conversation.

"I'm supposed to meet a merchant in the city."

"Hmmm. They all work in Merchant Street. You should be able to find him in the western district. That's way out of our turf, but I can point you in the right direction."

"See you, Scar. See you, guys!" The ratans waved him goodbye, and Roth turned around the corner, back where he came from.

Now that Roth had nothing to take his mind off the annoying itching, he scratched his whole body and felt like a lunatic, but he couldn't help himself. It wasn't making it any better—good thing he was being accompanied by an expert on the subject.

"If you want to get rid of the fleas, you just have to dive in," said Scratchy, pointing at the filthy water in the tunnel's center. "Fleas drown." Roth pondered which would be worse. To be itching and scratching, or to dive back into that cesspool. "Will it have any..." what would be the word that an NPC would understand as a debuff, "Anything worse than the fleas if I dive in?"

"Hmmm... There aren't many slugs in this part of the tunnels. Not many leeches either. I think it will be OK. I don't know." I don't know? Roth was feeling annoyed and irritable. No one enjoyed this kind of rotten smell and feeling itchy all over.

He considered diving into the water that had brought him down here. He risked getting an even worse debuff. Maybe he'd been spared getting leeches or slugs because he'd been in his miniature size when he'd arrived. Now that he was bigger, he was a walking piece of delicious meat. He shuddered and decided he would not risk it for now. He could take it for a short while.

"Scratchy, Scar was saying something about turf. What did he mean?"

"This ain't the woods, human. Look around. There isn't exactly a surplus of resources and food to go around. Here it's every nest for itself."

"Does that mean that ratans fight each other?"

"We would never attack another nest. That's why I say those beasts are no ratans. No ratan would ever attack a nest and scare little pups like that. That's barbaric. But we do dispute territory and have small skirmishes in our borders."

"Do you guys... get violent with each other?"

"It's all harmless stuff, human. We just wrestle."

Darn it, complained Roth. Things in the Green Woods were much more accessible. Over there, factions were united, but here there was in-fighting?

"Don't worry, human. Although here, ratans aren't chummy with each other, you are a friend of our king. Even though he's very far away, we all respect him. None of us will harm you; I can guarantee you that. After all, ratans are famous for their loyalty."

Are they? Thought Roth. Why is it then that there's the expression to rat someone out? The itch of the flees and the stink of the sewers was getting to Roth. He was in a bad mood. Everything that Scratchy said made him want to slap him. He tried calming down and breathing deeply, but only more stench went in. He had to leave this place.

"Is there a place down here that... smells nicer? Or that has clean water?"

"Hmmm... If we leave the area with houses above and go closer to... let's say one of the parks, it's cleaner there."

"Thanks. Do you mind taking me there? Please?"

"Sure, I think it will be alright. It's within our turf. But if this is too much for you, human, I'm worried about you going to the commercial district. The stench there is much worse! You won't be able to take it."

He'd worry about it when he got there. For now, he just had to get rid of the exasperating itch. He couldn't think straight. Roth prayed that the place Scratchy advertised as being clean was nearby.