We head deep into the forest, attacking whatever seems hostile or weak, avoiding whatever seems too strong. I want us to evolve again as soon as possible. I don't know what's out here, but strength is never a bad thing to have.

On our third day of aimless travel, we come across an aged white tree in the middle of the forest. Is huge and hollow… which is odd, but whatever, this would make an excellent base. The tree is the height of a large hill, and i takes me forever to climb it, but when I get to the top, the view is breathtaking.

To the east and south, theres nothing but trees, as far as the eye can see. theres quite a few big white trees We found, but they're all pretty far apart, then there are huge brown trees. these things are like mountains, there’s one around 3 days from me I think. The others are a lot farther, but I can still see them on the horizon. That’s how big they are.

To the west however, there were fields, and a few houses, which looked kinda old. Like medieval old. On the horizon, I could see a town I think. See, I knew it wouldn't be wise to provoke the people who owned that field. I know in my old world, humans hated mice, rodents in general, rabbits being the sole exception.

The last thing I needed was the town declaring a rat epidemic and going all mass extermination on us. Trust me, I WAS human. I know how good we are at killing things. That idiot black is going to get those mice killed. Whatever, doesn't concern me.

I descend the tree and start organizing the mice. Damn this is a lot of work. I have to decide who gets to sleep closest to the bottom, where we store extra food, when we hunt and gather. I never had to do any of this in my last life, I just made plans, shot people, and stole things. Well I did more than that, but this was stressful. Why don’t these rodents think for themselves?

Another thing, I really hate this language. In my previous life, I never got all fancy with my words, but I can only get basic things across with these squeaks we call words. Complex words are out of the question. Well, I suppose the point of being reincarnated into a mouse wasn't so things could be easy. No point in complaining.

The next morning, I got up, and went hunting alone. I want to get an idea as to how to fight when I’m alone. I’ve been basically swarming other creatures with the rats, no need for a thought process there. I find a lone goblin with a spear trying to kill a rabbit… with a horn? I swear to god this world is crazy, why does the rabbit have a horn?

The goblin corners the rabbit, then right as he is about to strike the rabbit, I jump on its back and sink my teeth into his neck. He began to struggle, but in thirty seconds, the poison that leaked into his veins from my bite began to take effect. he collapsed, then began shaking uncontrollably on the floor. After another minute, he was dead.

A minute and a half. Thats how long my poison takes to kill. I realize that its an incredible speed, compared to some of the venomous creatures on earth, but a goblin is only half the size of a human, and a minute and a half is plenty of time to kill a rat. Correction, he could only move for thirty seconds before being incapacitated. Still, plenty of time. I need to pump more than one dose of poison per bite then?

As I thought about it, the weird rabbit approached, thanking me for my assistance. I squeaked positively, Then he asked if I wanted to join his group. I decline. His group didn't really have his back obviously, and I have one of my own. When I told him this, he was surprised, then he began to squeak excitedly and ask all sorts of questions, wondering if he should bring his group to meet my group.

A light flashed in my mind . Was this possibly a chance for a gang alliance? In the old world, we made a temporary alliance with some foreign triad guys who wanted to crush an old rival of ours for cutting them out of the insurance and loan fraud business. we had no interest in that kind of white collar crime, and the relationship worked out beautifully.

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In the end, our enemies were completely crushed, and we got their territory, and all their other business, and a good relationship with the triad.Everyone left happy, and I always wondered why we never made alliances more often.

I told the rabbit where we lived, and to bring his group tomorrow. We part afterwards, and I continue with my hunting. I see a group of dogs that stood upright. I’m not even that surprised anymore. I follow them for a while, and watch them hunt. they use swords and spears to hunt stocky goats. This is confirming my suspicion that this world is set in medieval times.

This goes on for a while, until the group came across a particularly powerful goat that also walked upright. Why does everything walk upright??? The dogman who had been hanging back began to make weird chanting sounds, (kinda reminding me of the crackheads I used to see on the street) and pointed the staff he had at the goat monster. Then fire shot out!!!!!

Seriously what is with this world??? Was that… magic? I quickly began retreating as quietly as I could. It seems that instead of guns, they had magic. Well I guess that makes sense, I mean why advance technology like cars and airplanes if you could fly with magic? I wouldn’t.

This is bad though, my modern knowledge is kinda useless now. Everything I know how to use hasn’t been invented yet, and it has been replaced with magic, which I know nothing about.

I make it back to the tree around midday, and everybody was itching to go hunt. I had already killed and ate plenty in the morning, but I see no problem in helping them out. However, I take them in the direction we came from originally to hunt. They’re not ready to go deeper into the forest yet. We kill around a dozen wolves and a few goblins, a good haul. As I slept, the goddess spoke to me again.

Kyleah: Well, here we are again. You know, its going to get harder for you to evolve soon, this next evolution is pretty much the height of what most rats expect to reach, but I'm sure you’ll go farther. By the way, I see you are attempting to make an alliance with the rabbits, good job. Since you're blessed by me, the goddess of diplomacy, it should go fairly well. It’s always nice to see you doing something other than killing. Remember, If you pray to me, I may answer, it’s somewhat sad that I never speak to the soul I blessed except for when he evolves.

She smiled warmly at me, and then disappeared. There was only one path ahead of me now. it was a humanoid rat, around the size of a goblin. Its hair was a shining silver. It’s eyes glowed yellow, with no irises or pupils. There was no other choice, so I ran towards it, beginning my metamorphosis.

The next morning, everyone was surprised to see that I had evolved. I got up, checking my new body out. Walking upright after all this time felt awkward, but I quickly readapted. I can also walk and run on all fours as well. My poison seems to be present as well, but although its still as potent… there seems to be less.

As I was running around, trying out my new body, I noticed around half of my group had also evolved, albeit one tier lower. Milk, my last white sibling, had become one of around a dozen bats, there were quite a few battle rats and poison rats, and all my brown sibling and a few others had become fire rats. I was admiring our new growth, when a familiar rabbit face appeared, with several pairs of pink eyes shining in the undergrowth behind it. I gave my best rat like smile as i prepare to welcome our guests.