I allow the magic to take my notebook away, then I accept the backpack it creates. I'm glad when it lets me go without taking my hoodie. Like before, I'm somehow transported to the bottom of the stairs. Good. Repetition is helpful if I want to learn how this works.

At the end, that was what I decided was most important in choosing a class. Try everything at least twice, just to make sure you understood the results. The mage class status parchment is open before me. I have no idea what it says, but I look at it very closely, trying to memorize the words. Ah, who am I kidding, I'll forget this in five minutes no matter how much attention I pay. I do notice there's the triple-loop symbol in one of the words on the stat list. Maybe this is my magic power stat? I want to try to keep this open, so I can check how it changes. It's annoying that it blocks my view, but it might be important. I move a step to the side, and it follows me, so at least moving around is not a problem. But first I need to check my situation.

I look up to check if the door to the room is closed, and realize the door is not there anymore. Instead, I find a door on the opposite wall. So the map is scrambled, each time? This is looking more and more like a rogue-like.

Ok then. I open my backpack and retrieve the potion and scroll.

Huh, this is unexpected. The potion is a different color. This time, it looks more like grape juice. The scroll's seal is different too. I'm not sure if that means anything: I've played too many rogue-like games in which the colors of the items are scrambled at the beginning of each run, just so we have to identify them again.

Last test before I go exploring. I wield my brand-new, unbroken mage staff, and try to push a mana bolt through it. It's surprisingly difficult, like all my progress in mastering the spell was lost. Well, not all. I now know what the mana feels like, and I can feel when it starts moving towards the staff. I close my eyes, and concentrate on that feeling, until I can repeat it with enough strength. Even through my closed lids I see the bright light that proves it worked. But now I feel tired, as if I had been working out for an hour. I look up at my status parchment, and... I think one of the symbols changed? In the line with the triple-loop? I think this might mean it's keeping up with my mana pool. But not sure. Ugh, why doesn't it have a bar like it would in a game?!

I wanna try the mana bolt again, but with the tiredness, it's even harder, and I eventually give up. I don't wanna be waiting here, nearly defenseless, for an enemy to arrive. So! I drink my grape-flavoured potion, and feel the refreshing mana flowing through my body. The tiredness vanishes, and I feel ready for anything. It's also a good feeling to know my hunch was correct, and the potion is the same regardless of the flavour change. And finally, I see the symbols in the parchment change before my eyes. Not only the symbols in what I think is the mana pool line change, but now a line of symbols appears. What is that, a special status? Well, I'm glad I did this test, even if I learned only a little.

Should I use my scroll now, too? If it too is the same one as before, then it's not very useful during a fight. Then again, the rats did stop attacking for a second when they were surprised by the spell, so I can probably use it as a distraction. With that thought, I put the scroll in my pocket, and move towards the door. Before I open it, though, I dismiss the Status. I really don't want to risk going into a fight with this thing in my face.

Here goes nothing! I open the door, and find a new corridor going left to right. Damn it, I can't avoid having somewhere unexplored on my back. It's hard to see in the torchlight but I think both sides turn left after six meters or so. Hm. I decide to go left first. When I get to the corner, I stealthy peak beyond it. A couple of rats, one black and one grey, are laying next to a door, eating something. It smells gross. I hold my breath and try to calm my nerves. As soon as I saw the giant rats, my pulse went up as if I was sprinting. I think being bitten to death might have given me a slight phobia, but I need to get over it if I want to survive. No more waiting for the rats to attack.

I steady myself. They're four meters away. I can attack at a distance. I'm safe. It's ok. I hold my staff with both hands, and step over the corner. Mana bolt! The mana flows naturally through me to the staff, easier than ever. Is this how a staff is supposed to work, when you don't break it using it as a melee weapon? The bolt of light is large and goes straight towards where I point it, that is, the black rat, who is pushed into the grey rat behind it. Both rats squeal, in pain and surprise. The grey rat quickly jumps over the black one and hisses at me. Huh, is it defending its friend? You know what, better not to think about it. It's a good thing you're not attacking, leaving me time to gather my mana again. I glance at the corridor to my left, making sure it's still empty. When I look back, the grey rat is halfway through the distance to me. Fast! Mana bolt! I shoot it in the head, and it rolls back a half meter. Phew!

The problem is, the black rat starts screaming like it wants to wake up the whole dungeon. Oh no you don't! My mana bolt shuts him up, but I don't think it was fast enough. Damn it, now I have to worry about more rats coming. The grey rat is furiously attacking again. After three mana bolts in such a short time, my magic muscles are tired, and I have to block with my arms and my staff. When this grey beast the size of a boxer jumps at me, my adrenaline is going through the roof. This is fucking terrifying! I yelp as I swing my staff to block, and still get a few shallow scratches on my arm. Thankfully, my hoodie protects me a little bit, at least from rat scratches. The rat is on the floor getting ready to attack again, so I Mana Bonk him on the head (yes, that's how I'm calling my melee mana bolt move). The rat falls unconscious. Is it me, or they are falling easier than yesterday? I'm pretty sure I had to shoot them more than two times each before they went down. Well, no time to think about that.

I rush to the end of the corridor, to make sure no one is gonna come through the door. The door is pull to open from this side. This is lucky! It means I can push it closed if the rats are coming from the other side. I open the door just a bit, to see what's coming. I see...

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Fuck me. I close the door so fast I don't even have time to be sure of what I saw.

I saw a large room, and at least three things moving in my direction. I don't even know if they are rats because I was so fast in closing the door. But they were about the right size and colors. There might have been more. The screaming rats definitely attracted their friends. I press my back against the door to keep it closed, and soon enough I start hearing screeches and scratching on the other side of the door. I think I'm very lucky these rats aren't actually all that strong, or they don't know how to push things with their strength. I keep my eyes on the corridor, waiting for the rats that will inevitably come from there.

I shift my body so I have an arm free to cast Mana Bolts, and wait.

Waiting is a good thing. It allows me to rest my magic muscles a bit, and regenerate mana. I need it, after casting four mana bolts. But it's also nerve-fraying, and the screeching and scratching on my back doesn't help one bit. Still, I keep my position.

I'm sure the rats from yesterday didn't fall with two hits, though. At least not until I had hit them on the head a few times. Is the Mana Bolt stronger because the staff is not broken? Or are these rats now just weak? Also, how many mana bolts can I cast before I have to rest again? Ugh, I just wished I had a mana bar, like in a game. Or a status window. I mean, there was a status window, but I bet I would need a magic word in the unknown language to summon it, and then I still wouldn't understand a thing it said.

I'm getting distracted. I listen to the scratches on the door... have they diminished? I think the rats are giving up on this door, which is good. I keep my eyes on the corridor. A few more anxious seconds pass. Then I see the first rat turning the corner.

I shoot my first mana bolt as soon as I see it. The bolt really is much better with the intact staff, and it smashes the rat against the wall. A surprised squeal comes from beyond the corner. I ready another bolt, and when the second rat appears, I hit it and push it back against the other one. I'm lucky these rats are not very smart. They keep coming one by one to be picked off, when they would probably overwhelm me if they came all at once. This narrow corridor helps too, since it makes it easier to push back two rats with one bolt.

Just as I think that, I hear squeaking from around the corner, and a pink snout appears from behind the wall. Hm, better to defeat these two guys quickly before this new one joins the fray. From the size of the snout, it must be large. I'm reminded of a similar pink snout coming through a door yesterday... I shoot another mana bolt as soon as I can, hitting the two rats again. The rat in the front bleeds from its head. The one in the back is making a pitiful sound. At the same time, a grey and white rat as large as a great dane appears in the corridor, running right at me, screeching. It's crossed more than half the distance before I can shoot a mana bolt at it. Then it quickly rolls into a ball, with its face between its paws, and the mana bolt hits its back. The big rat starts running again, so quick I can only prepare to use my Mana Bonk. But then, a white shape rushes from behind the big rat, coming at me from the side. Where did you come from?! I swing my staff at it. It dodges my mana-empowered hit by a few centimeters, but since the bolt didn't hit immediately, it still can be sent as a flying bolt, which hits the pincher-sized rat right in the belly. But then, the big one arrives. Shit. Are you guys coordinating attacks now? The big rat jumps at me and throws me back against the door with its weight. All I can do is put my staff between us before it hits. This scene is disturbingly familiar. In fact, I could swear this smelly rat face in front of me is the exact same from yesterday. Not that I am super familiar with many rats but. If I can respawn, why not these guys?

This rat is as tall as me and probably stronger. I remember last time I fought it after it had taken two shots to the face, and it was still strong. This time, it's a lot harder. When I try to shift my weight to get more leverage, it extends a paw and slashes at my face, drawing blood. This hurts! And he can still wrestle me one-handed? My mage class is not meant for close combat, at all. And my, uh, my nerdy university student body. Actually, my only strength is the mana bolt, so I should use it as much as possible. But with the rat holding onto the staff, I think the bolts might go awry. Well, there's one aspect my human body might be superior to the rat's body: the legs. I shift my weight to my left leg, getting a few more scratches for my trouble but freeing my right leg. Then I bring my foot up and kick the rat in the belly with all I have. Hah! Take that, smelly-teeth! It bends over its belly, squealing in pain and letting me go. Rat's bellies are kinda fragile, huh. The rat slashes at me, but I dodge, and it mostly just rips my jacket. I take my chance, and Mana Bonk it in the head while it's down. When the rat is stunned, I try to use my long-unused middle-school soccer training to kick it in the face a few times. It goes down, finally! I turn around, looking for that smaller rat that had attacked me earlier. It is... not wait, where is it... Where are you little r -- WHAT?! You're trying to open the door while I was distracted?! Are you that smart?! The rat is clawing at the door, trying to pull it open, with one small paw slipped between the door and the frame. I throw my weight against the door, causing a loud sound. The rat squeaks and runs away too fast for me to do anything about it. I wonder if it was the same fast rat from yesterday. It was the right size and color...

With that, the hallway is empty again. Except for all these rat corpses and knocked out rats. I take a deep breath and I try to listen for more approaching monsters.

I hear the rat I hit back a few times, still mewling where it fell by the end of the corridor. This is too sad. I don't wanna torture these critters. I'm just fighting them because they attack me. I wanna take it out of its misery, but I'm tired of using mana and I don't wanna leave the door unguarded. Hmm.

I pull the body of the large rat and push it against the door. Then, I pick up as many of the dead rats as I can and pile them up against the door. There. I bet no rodents will push all of this back! I carefully make my way to the agonizing rat, worried that more will come at any moment. But they don't. I look at the poor rat and realize the repeated hits against the wall must have broken its bones. It can hardly move. There's no good way to do this. I pick up the rat, and it doesn't even scratch me. I swing it head first at the wall, and it quiets. Aah, my soft heart. Killing animals is still unpleasant. I take its body to the pile, and wait with my ears open again.

A few seconds pass in silence.

Phew. This was... okay actually! Except for a few scratches here and there, I'm fine! As soon as I relax, a bunch of parchments appear in front of me. Six of them, to be precise. I count in my fingers, two rats that were here first, then the two that came after, and the big rat and the fast rat.. Hmm but I never killed the fast rat, it got away... So shouldn't it be five? Unless... I got enough XP to...?!