What was that indeed. As the adrenaline faded, my legs went weak. The surge of power I felt before was gone, replaced with an emptiness within me where my mana should be.

MP: 0/160

So this is what it was like to be out of mana. A textbook case of resource depletion, though experiencing it firsthand was... unpleasant.

Exhaustion All stats -10%

But the real horror show lay at my feet.

My broken blade lay in several pieces in front of me, its metal discolored and warped from the magical overload. I held the longest fragment in my hand while smaller chucks were on the ground like shattered glass. The crossguard had twisted at an odd angle, and the grip's leather wrapping was scorched and peeling.

I staggered, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. The mana exhaustion wasn't helping, but the gut punch was staring at my shattered sword. Just the thought of having to replace yet another sword made me sick in stomach. Why is being a knight such an expensive profession? Damn. Whoever wrote the class description should have included "warning: rich people only" in the fine print.

"Noctus!" Tirion's voice echoed off the walls. I felt his powerful grip supporting me as I swayed, overcome by giddiness.

“Thanks,” I muttered under my breath as I held onto him. He guided me to a wall that I could sit and lean against.

“That was spellblade wasn’t it?” Tirion asked. His eyes widened, his jaw slack. He stared at me like a priest witnessing a miracle.

I offered a feeble nod, too exhausted to engage in conversation.

“What’s spellblade” Estella asked, her curiosity piqued. She moved closer, unconsciously biting her lower lip."

Tirion straightened, adopting what I'd begun to think of as his 'knight-instructor' pose.

“Well, it’s quite a common skill among knights,” he explained. “Usually a knight doesn’t have any use of mana. We prefer to make use of our physical attributes instead.” He swung his sword a few times as if to emphasize the point.

“Spellblade lets us draw from our mana and use that to strengthen our strikes. But the effects are usually subdued. In most cases, knights simply lack the mana reserves to properly utilize it.”

Spellblade

Tirion raised his sword, eyes narrowing as he focused. The gang watched his blade intently, eagerly anticipating another spectacle. Seconds ticked by. Nothing. Estella edged closer, squinting as she tiptoed and brought her face right up to the blade’s surface

“Hmm, I guess it’s shinier now.” Her tone was flat as she stepped back with a small shrug.

“It’s ok, I know I can barely make my sword glow.” Tirion sighed. “It’s nothing more than a party trick.

“That’s the thing though....” He paused as he stared at me, eyes wide with renewed amazement. His lips parted in silence, searching for the right words, then he shook his head, as if in disbelief

“I’ve never seen anything like what you did.” His gaze lingered, more intense now. “ How… how did you do it?” His voice lowered. “Just who are you?”

Estella settled beside me with a smile on her face. She inched closer, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her dress before gently touching my arm. "I knew there was something special about you."

"Noctus, he came from beyond the gate." Her words bubbled with enthusiasm, pride radiating from every syllable

Lysa, who had been quietly observing until now, suddenly perked up. “Wait, what?” she blurted, leaning forward. “He’s from topside?”

The word 'Topside' hung in the air, heavy with unspoken implications. I could feel the atmosphere shift, awe and curiosity rippled through our small group.

“Well, that would explain a lot.” Tirion's deep voice echoed off the sewer walls as he paced around the area. His heavy boots splashed in shallow puddles, the sound emphasizing the weight of his words.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Is coming from above really that unusual?” I interrupted. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal to me.

Tirion stopped pacing as he turned to face me. “A long time ago, many ventured beyond the gate in search of adventure topside. We sent them off in celebration, hoping to hear tales of grandeur when they returned.” He paused, his eyes distant, as if seeing ghosts of the past. “But none of them ever did.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad.” Estella objected. She stood up and raised her fist in protest. "Some of them did return!"

Tirion's gaze snapped to her. "Far and few in between, Estella. Yorukishi, J.Rippa, the legends who could survive topside and return to tell the tale. We call them topsider. And some of them were never from the Undercity in the first place."

Estella fell silent. Her earlier excitement gone as a grimace formed on her face. “Yoru…” She mouthed the words in a barely audible whisper that the others didn’t seem to notice. Our eyes met for a fleeting moment but she flinched away as though begging me not to inquire.

Lysa stepped forward, her eyes studying me with newfound interest. "The topsiders, they spoke of horrors above ground." She paused, lips curving into a knowing smile. “Although I suppose you would know that better than us”.

I nodded but before I could reply, Estella jumped in, practically bouncing with excitement.

“It’s all true. Noctus told me all the stories. He battled monsters of light, creatures so bright they could blind you with a glance”

I suppressed a wince. Pretty sure I'd never described it quite that dramatically but I decided to let her continue her embellishments. But then again, thinking back to that level 30 light zombie… and Ada… Maybe she wasn't exaggerating after all. Would I have survived if Solcaeli hadn't shown up?

The desert itself was brutal enough with its endless light and burning sand, but those creatures as well. Maybe the topsiders weren’t making that up.

“So what now” Tirion looked at the black flames blocking the exit. They crackled ominously, burning strong with no signs of diminishing. “How do we get out?”

Rats slain: 723,133 /1,000,000

“It’s not over yet.” I said. Surveying the surroundings, there were still rats scattered all over the room. They were no longer aggressive but the quest log seemed to hint that we still needed to get rid of them. “There’s still more rats.”

“Urg, seriously?” Lysa complained. “I’m completely spent”

“So am I.” I raised the remnants of my broken blade. Sure, I still had my Nightsky blade. But to use a legendary weapon to fight rats… no, just no. “Let’s take a break. It’s not like the rats are going anywhere”

The others nodded in agreement and we gathered around in a circle to rest.

Three hundred thousand more rats. There’s got to be a smarter way to do this. If we fought the rats manually, we would be here forever. Another spellblade would probably do it. But I definitely didn’t have the mana for it. And even if I did, would I really want to risk my Nightsky blade?

Lysa was the other one with a significant area of effect skill. A few shadow crushes would get us through. But when I took a look at her, her breath was ragged and heavy with panting. Her face was pale as a ghost. She looked as drained as I was and probably didn’t have much mana left either.

The rats continued to scurry around the room, oblivious to the torment they were causing us. Their tiny claws clicked against the stone in a maddening rhythm. There’s still too many of them. If only there was a way to fight fire with fire. To match their endless numbers with...

Wait.

That was it. Of course. You don't fight an army with a sword. You fight it with an army. I had an idea. The world around me began to fade, sounds growing distant as I reached for a different kind of solution.

“So, does anyone have any idea who that hooded masked man was?” Estella asked.

“Well, I’m not a hundred percent sure,” Lysa paused, deep in contemplation, her robes swayed as she shifted her weight. “But that mask, I’m sure I’ve seen it before.” She stared up into the roof and grabbed her chin. “If I’m not wrong, only those from The Veiled Crown wear those”

“What!” Estella’s exclamation bounced off the sewer’s walls. “Those Demon King worshipers.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Gross.”

Tirion nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” he grunted. “Just what are they doing here”

Lysa eyes darkened. “No doubt conducting one of their sick experiments,” she answered, her voice filled with disdain. “They have always attracted the weirdest followers. Ask any necromancer where their power comes from, nine times out of ten, they'll whisper the Demon King's name.”

“What about you Lysa?” Estella asked as she gestured at Lysa black shadowy robes. “Those robes you’re wearing and that magic you wield. You follow the Shadow Lord, right? "

“Yup, as if it wasn’t obvious enough.” Lysa chuckled, the sound oddly warm in the cold sewers. “Tirion and I are both followers. And I have dedicated my life to him as his cleric”

Tirion nodded, a smile breaking through his stoic demeanour.

Lysa's gaze shifted to Estella. "Are you a believer as well?" she asked.

“Not really, I follow the Goddess of Death” Estella responded.

"Oh..." Lysa's mouth tightened, clearly holding back judgment. The silence that followed spoke volumes about the religious tensions even here in the darkness.

The conversation lulled, and Estella's attention turned to me. “Hey Noctus, are you there?”

Estella waved her hand in front of me, noticing that I was absent from their conversations. I blinked but otherwise remained unresponsive.

Concern crept into Estella's voice. “Noctus, are you ok?” She started poking me with her index finger, trying to elicit a reaction. “He’s not moving, something’s wrong”

Tirion moved over and gripped my shoulders, giving me a firm shake. “Noctus, wake up.” The shake rattled my teeth, but my mind was somewhere else.

“Sorry, Noctus” Estella apologized as she gave me a tight slap.

The sting snapped me back to reality. "Oww," I cried out, my hand reflexively moving to my reddening cheek. "Was that really necessary?"

"You were completely gone!" Estella's worried expression warred with relief. "What happened? We thought you'd been cursed or something."

A slow smile spread across my face as I looked at my companions. "I was just thinking." The plan was fully formed in my mind. "I know how to solve our rat problem."

"Oh?" Lysa raised an eyebrow. "This should be interesting."

Preparations were completed. I drew my Nightsky blade. Time to show them what I could do.

I could already see the ending.