Killing the rats wasn’t an issue, none of them seemed to have much in the way of defence and lightning was faster than most animals the last time I checked. Finding them was where problems began to arise.
The sewers were like a maze, and I quickly found myself completely lost and disoriented. The air down here wasn’t clean, and sometimes I heard something squelch outside the ring of light I created with my lightning.
They must have a nest or something, so I just need to keep wandering until I find it. I’ll be fine.
After a while of aimless wandering, interspersed with the occasional rat that I killed on sight, I began to notice something appearing more and more. At first I was worried that I was walking in circles, but after specifically not making any turns I still saw the same marking appearing again and again. Right at the bottom of the wall there were two claw marks crossing each other and a line pointing either away from it to the right, or towards it from the right.
It almost looked like something someone marked in the wall to avoid getting lost, but who would need to do that? Most people try to stay away from the sewer, and I’ve never heard of a monster that was both smart enough to come up with a system like that, could actually see, and lived in the sewers.
It was a curiosity, but I couldn’t see anyway that it could be related to what I’m down here for. It could still be quite useful though, if I used them, then maybe it would be easier to navigate down here.
----------------------------------------
As it turns out, the markings were quite helpful, suspiciously so. Since I had no real destination in mind, I decided to just follow the lines until I reached something significant. The amount of rats I was encountering began to increase slowly, until I actually managed to get a level out of it.
Robert Zeneki Lightning Adept 18 Level 6 Willpower 8 Wisdom 5 Strength 5 Agility 6 Path Skills Lightning Generator 7 Lightning Bolt 4 General Skills [2/5] Walking
6 Condense Mana
2
I can’t tell if that was fast, or if I’ve been down here long enough that it’s slow. It’s really hard to tell how much time has passed when nothing seems to change.
I was beginning to suspect that there was something up ahead and if I was lucky that something would be the nest that these rats are coming from. Then I could just leave and get paid, although I was wondering if this was even worth the money at this point.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to travel long before I finally found what I was looking for. Through a side tunnel that I couldn’t figure out the use for, there was a largish opening that was absolutely full of rats of varying colours. They were standing in a circle around a lone rat, which notably had no strange colouring, that was eating what looked like some of the herbs that were on display in Pill’s Alchemy Supplies.
Rats didn’t often make noise, but for some reason the silence with which they stood there unnerved me. It felt unnatural, and I was sure that this wasn’t regular behaviour for them, so I was all but certain that there was something larger at play here. Could something have been controlling these rats to act like this?
Before I could ponder further, the rat in the centre finished eating its leaves and seemed to vibrate on the spot for a few seconds. I felt the anticipation building, not only in myself but something about the way the rodents leaned forward made me think that they felt the same, but then something went wrong.
The rat spasmed and collapsed on the ground, obviously still alive but dazed and unable to move. I thought that would be the end of it, but the circle parted at one side to allow for the passage of an absolutely massive beast of a rat. Its fur was pitch black, which is probably the only reason I didn’t see it in the dimly lit room, and it must have been several times larger than its brethren, certainly large enough to reach past my knee, maybe higher.
It stalked towards the rat in the centre and, as it neared, pounced on it. The poor thing didn’t stand a chance, and was swallowed in one disgusting gulp. I shuddered as I thought about how it must have still been alive in there, and began to slowly walk backwards. The ones I’d fought so far were easy to kill in one shot, but there were easily a dozen of them in there, not including the massive one that would surely tank a Lightning Bolt, so my chances of victory were far from assured.
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I must have made a sound as I backed away, because the rat closest to me spun around and began to screech, which obviously drew the attention of the rest of its peers. They were completely still and, once the first one stopped, completely silent. Then, all at once, they attacked.
Usually the rats would just run away, but being in such large numbers clearly gave them some measure of confidence because not one of them hesitated in jumping at me and latching onto different parts of my body. Instinctively, I flared Lightning Generator and a few of them recoiled and fell to the ground, where they were trampled by the last of their allies to reach me before just getting back up and charging once more.
The only reason I thought I might win was the fact that the big one was standing at the back, watching silently. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I started to properly fight back, grabbing one rat in each hand and not letting go until I could smell something burning, then moving onto two more. Whilst I was doing this, I had to fight off the rats trying to crawl up my legs by kicking wildly and slamming my feet into the walls. Thankfully, they weren’t yet actually biting me, but that surely meant that they were trying to reach a more vulnerable spot.
Getting desperate, I fired a point blank Lightning Bolt at the next rat I picked up, which must have been the 5th one by this point. Whilst the rat didn’t explode like I had silently hoped, its muscles seized and I was able to easily throw it at another one on the ground. Both rodents were stunned just long enough for me to stomp my boot on them both, killing them instantly but definitely not cleanly.
Counting them, I realised that there were only 4 rats left, plus the big one, so I decided it was time to use a little more Mana. I shot a Lightning Bolt from each hand and they seemed to bend in the air, one striking a living rat, and the other being drawn to one of the many corpses that were left on the ground.
At last, the three that remained seemed to realise that they were outmatched and ran away, leaving me remarkably unscathed. Since when did rats only go for vital points? Actually, nevermind. That’s not nearly the strangest thing I’ve seen today.
The big one chuffed, reminding me of its presence, and began stalking towards me just as it did for its last victim. The only difference was that this time it wouldn’t be swallowing me in one bite. Hopefully.
I wasn’t quite stupid enough to let it get close to me, so I began to charge a Lightning Bolt between my hands, using both Condense Mana and Lightning Generator. I hadn’t had a chance to test this yet, so I was mildly surprised to see the lightning begin to gather in a ball, as though being sucked in.
That looks fucking awesome, this rat doesn’t stand a chance.
It must have sensed something was off, because the big rodent picked up the pace and bared its fangs. A dark glow came from its tail, and a trail of shadow was left in its wake. My mana dropped below half, but I couldn’t be sure that it would be enough, so I charged another quarter as quickly as I could and felt the ball in my hands begin to burn my skin.
I didn’t realise that could happen. This could be bad.
I panicked and, without thinking any further, shot the Bolt at the rat. The light blinded me, forcing me to close my eyes, but not before I was able to see the lightning arc towards the rat and hit it directly.
Hah! There’s no way that thing could survive that! It must have been halfway to an actual lightning strike!
A massive force slammed into me, knocking the air from my lungs and throwing me onto my back. My chest was overtaken by a searing pain, and I belatedly realised that I never actually got my ribs checked after slamming into that rock on my awakening. By this point my lightning had stalled and I was able to open my eyes to see the dank roof of the sewer above me. Looking down proved what I already knew, the rat had been moving fast enough that its momentum still launched it into me, and my lightning was barely able to slow it down.
Combat Cleared
1 Small Alchemical Rat Horde [Levels 3-6] Defeated
1 Rat Shadow General [Level 8] Defeated
Reached Level 7
Path Skills Lightning Generator 8 Lightning Bolt 6 General Skills [2/5] Walking
6 Condense Mana
4
I struggled to breathe for a moment, not even able to enjoy the improvements I’d made in such a short fight, then realised that the rat was still on top of me and shoved it off. At the same time I tried to stand up but realised that my legs felt weak and only ended up collapsing back onto the hard, stone ground.
Gods Above, that hurts.
I needed to get out of this sewer, but I wouldn’t be going anywhere like this. All I could do was lay on the ground trying to catch my breath, feeling as every inhale strained my ribcage, and every exhale relaxed it.
For a while I simply focused on my lungs, carefully breathing in… and out… in… and out… in-
Proficiency Gained Would You Like to Take The General Skill [Breathing]?
That sounds- I wheezed- Nice
Skill Gained
Existing Proficiency Detected
Altering Level
General Skills [3/5] Walking 6 Condense Mana 4 Breathing 5
The change was fast, I could feel the pain begin to fade away. Or maybe I was just breathing in a way that didn’t disturb it. It was almost starting to feel pleasant, pleasant enough to just fall asleep…