I heaved air in and out of my lungs. I’d been in pain before, thank god for once. It was still nearly debilitating. It wasn’t that it was too much, just that it was in too many places in too many odd ways. One of my hands had to be carefully pried open, my fingers half bitten through. My chest hurt and it made me want to lean a certain way, except I couldn’t without causing a ton of other wounds to bother me.

I’d been more injured before but not with so many. That rat had carved me up like a turkey.

And I was so exhausted. I just wanted to lay down and sleep forever. But if I did, I probably would. The sewers were dangerous. I nearly laughed, that felt like saying a fire was a little hot after almost being burned alive. That rat had nearly killed me.

But I’d won.

I felt, of all things, a wide smile sprout on my torn lips.

I was a mess, I might even die, but I’d won. Not against something weaker than me but a level [7] creature. While I was only at three. A month ago, I’d have never believed either of those statements separately, let alone together. I would have called it impossible.

Yet I’d done it. I nearly died, might still die from my wounds, but I’d done it.

Slowly, in agony, I stood up. The rat had been big and if there was any saving grace, its claws had been fiercely aimed at my chest and stomach. It had nearly disemboweled me but my legs still worked relatively fine and I hadn’t lost my manhood or anything related. That was worth a miracle in and of itself.

But I was still bleeding. A lot. Maybe even out.

I briefly thought about taking off my Gi and trying to use it to staunch some of it but it would be like plugging a single hole out a million. I was just too scraped up for it to matter. I’d either live or I’d die.

More sounds, more skittering.

I made too much noise.

There was a battle, the battle was over, things were going to come investigate. I had to get out of here. Luckily, I knew which way not to go. The skittering came from the same area the other rat had come. That meant at the very least there was no decision paralysis. I booked it the other way, running, not walking.

There’d be a time for being quiet, that time would come when rats that can move almost faster than I can see and scratch down to bone and bite through my neck weren’t close by.

The running did not help my wounds. They did not help them a single bit.

Finally, I turned a corner and heaved like a mountain was crushing me. They were pained, aching breaths of air. I couldn’t believe the thought I was having but I was so immensely thankful to Master right now. Without the training pushing myself to the limit, without that agony, I’d probably be curled into a ball. I’d never thought about it before, but my pain tolerance was going to have to go up if I ever wanted to beat anyone, let alone Vega.

But I did beat someone. Or at least, something.

It still didn’t feel real. That I’d won. That I’d killed something. But that look of its soul leaving its body, the light going out of its eyes… I’d seen that twice now. I don’t think I’d ever forget it. They were both branded onto my memory.

The death of my mother, by an evil monster.

The death of a creature, by my hand.

Why did both have to die?

I shook my head, almost toppling over from how woozy I felt. One died because people are evil. Another died because creatures can be awful and greedy. Both paid the price for other's actions but at least the rat got what it deserved even if it was only following its nature. But so was I. Except I’d have let it live if I was stronger and it attacked me. It didn’t seem inclined to give me the same luxury.

I was thinking about this too much. The blood loss was getting to me.

I was weak, it was hungry, I was on the menu. That was all. I fought, I defended myself, I’d won.

It was just… the law of the powerful. The strong took and the weak endured or died.

I needed more. I understood, right then and there, what Master had meant. About my desires not being mortal enough. It was all good and fine to want to kill that horrible monster but it was never pressing. It was never do or die right now, this exact second.

If I didn’t get stronger right now I was going to be eaten and die in this damn sewer. My desire for power was desperate, clawing, and panicked. I needed to be stronger. There were going to be more rats and worse in this sewer. I was already horribly injured. If I ran into literally anything else, I’d die.

I breathed deep, feeling painful tugs from literally all over my body. I’d thought enough, I’d stayed still enough. I needed to find a safer place.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Time passed as I walked through the tunnels. The same stone brick, the same flowing water, but there were different passageways. Branches that would sometimes be singular, ones that would sometimes be a crossroads. Even a few wooden bridges between the walkways. But always, the tunnels would be extensive. Labyrinthian. Whoever had designed or made this sewer was a madman at best. My bare feet stepped on things I’d rather not think about. Mostly a slick stone walkway.

There were no manholes or way out that I saw. Unsurprising. The sewers had very few entrances and exits. All guarded, at least, that I knew of them. The sewers below the city were known to have giant man-eating creatures, insane and dangerous people, and worse. Any conversation that I’d ever heard about it, had mostly come from horror stories of something rising up from them.

It wasn’t a place anyone should actually go to.

Skittering. Closer now. My eyes went wide, realizing it was too close.

I turned… and froze.

[3]

A rat. But…

[4]

[3]

[4]

[4]

[4]

[4]

[3]

[3]

[3]

[4]

[3]

And more… and more. That… that was a whole horde of rats. They weren’t as big as the last one, only the size of a small dog but… there sure were a lot of them. Dozens. Hundreds? I swallowed, staring at them all.

They stared with their beady eyes, all glaring at me. Wait. Glaring?

Uh oh.

As one, they seemed to screech in a million different rat squeaks at once.

I ran.

I sprinted as fast as I could but I could already hear some of the rats catching up. I pushed harder. There was no way on this planet I’d survive that horde, they’d tear me apart in moments! I was going to die if I so much as tripped.

I barrelled down tunnels, the rats close behind, my blood falling in divets, sweat along with it, my wounds practically screaming at me.

I couldn’t slow down. I had to, I had to find a way to get away.

Faster. Harder. I took those lessons to heart, pushing for all I was worth and then some. My balance nearly killed me twice, but I was keeping up. But there was no end in sight. It was just more and more tunnels. Where did all these rats even come from?!

I tripped. The floor was slick and I tripped.

I skidded across, terror flowing over me. I saw it then, turning around. I saw the hoard of rats practically light up in glee. They paused, the same way a snake would pause right before going for the lunge. My eyes went wide in terror, but I readied myself as best I could.

I wasn’t going to die here! I wouldn’t! I would-

In a flash, in an instant, there was motion. It was so quick that it was only the single moment when it stopped that I truly saw it.

[??]

An alligator. A really, really big alligator. Big enough that it opened its mouth… and ate the whole hoard of rats in one bite. I froze, not moving a single muscle.

Faster than I could blink, it was gone, sinking back into the water. It’s meal sated. It hadn’t even looked at me. Even as it left, I didn’t move. My eyes, oh so cautiously, turned to my left to see the water.

There wasn’t even a ripple or any sign that it lurked there.

My heart hammered in my chest. My eyes didn’t leave the water. All was silent for a long, long moment. Finally, painfully, I let out the breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. I laid my back on the disgusting walkway, just taking a moment.

“That was too close.”

If that gator had decided to aim a bit more forward instead of for the rats… I’d have been gone. There was no way I was surviving or even realizing I’d been eaten by that thing before it was too late. How did it even fit in the water or the tunnel?

I glanced to my left and it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize something through my foggy brain.

I wasn’t in a normal tunnel. This one was huge. I’d have needed to swim across it to make it to the other side and it wouldn’t exactly be a short swim. What on Vega was going on with this sewer? This felt more like a small underground river.

I frowned.

Maybe that was exactly what it was.

Vega City wasn’t exactly coastal per se, but it wasn’t that far from the ocean. An underground river wouldn’t have been that weird. Why anyone would build a sewer around it or with that in mind, especially like this one, was beyond me. But a river meant it might lead to the ocean. The ocean wasn’t the sewer.

That meant I needed to follow this thing to find a way out. It was better than any other plan I had.

I tried to move… and couldn’t.

I felt… weak.

Weaker than I ever had.

That’s… weird.

I struggled. I knew what this was. I was passing out. I couldn’t… I couldn’t…

No! I couldn’t pass out here, I’d die!

I had to find someplace… someplace safe.

Through a titanic effort of will, I rolled onto my side.

One arm on the wall. One foot underneath.

Standing. I was standing.

I had to keep going. I needed to. I had to find somewhere safe or I’d die. Had to- to-

My eyes swam as black nearly took over my vision and my body tried to topple.

No! No. I had to, to find…

Tired.

No.

Step. Step.

Safe. I just needed… somewhere…

Safe.

Safe.

Safe!