Flaze! Are you there! Help! I shouted in my mind as I knew I was more than halfway already towards her place. Maybe she's also looking for me to uuhhh... Help me? She's looking for me to help me.

No but seriously, what would she do?

I found myself thinking about the woman I've known since high school, as I was in the present being chased to death by a bunch of disgusting shit-hued rats.

I met her when I was trying to get into a friend's locker, for a prank. She didn't have the best impression of me, as the student body president. Her gaze alone spoke of how much trouble I was in.

I, of course, am not one to give up so easily. I began to rabidly explained my idea of stuffing a lewd body pillow inside as a fun and funny surprise, because a friend of mine had become obsessed over a certain fictional character. I purposely got the character wrong, because it would be funnier. Someone that looks so close, but is actually from an entirely different show.

Epic.

Even in my panicked state, I realized just how little I was actually helping my case. So I was all the more surprised when I found that Flaze was actually laughing. Not nearly as much of a stickler for the rules as most assume. Not that she endorsed my behavior, but I didn't get into any more trouble than a simple warning, and she even helped set up a prank that wasn't so... bad?

My friend, know once as Gary, edgy enough even well into adulthood to have it legally changed to Darkvoid. He was invited over to the student council office by Flaze, looking ever worried. Only to find the body pillow that was my present for his birthday, being sacrificed in the middle like an offering to some capricious god.

Ah, the shit we got up to.

I and Flaze really hit it off after that. She's actually the one that got me into theater in the first place, and we somehow became fast friends despite myself being a lot... noisier, back then. I hate the term, but it could be called my rebellious phase.

I got to know her more, I found myself grumbling a lot because she had a penchant for dragging me into stupid volunteer and charity work that held not my interest. She's cool, but everybody else there is typically so annoying.

No, I don't care, this changes nothing. And look at what the world has come to. i was right all fucking along.

I also saw how Flaze cared for her siblings, even though they didn't quite return the sentiment. She was like a mother figure to them, when their true mother was sent away. She's the one who stepped up, the world so hard to navigate for a bunch of kids, including herself.

I wondered to myself, if I would have cared as much for them, if I had little baby brothers and sisters.

It's not even worth questioning, I already know the answer.

No.

Even now, I'm only able to risk my life for my own sake. I wish to meet my closest friends again, I genuinely wish for them to be safe, but I'm also thinking that I need people I can trust to help me out here, an ulterior motive that cannot be denied.

But right now, I'm alone. And only I can kill, these motherfucking rats.

[Rogue - Lvl 15]

[Rogue - Lvl 17]

...

[Rogue - Lvl 19]

[Rogue - Lvl 18]

...

[Warrior - Lvl 21]

I took a single moment to complete the Identify on them. I'm glad that it worked for much of the group, all at once. The only ones that can actually keep up with my utterly boosted running speed are those with just that large of a level gap. I'm confident in being able to shake them off, maybe kill depending on how tough they are, but I need to be more economic with my resources.

I sped up, keeping my eyes on the road. I navigated across the piles of debris and cars crashed into each other. There was a still burning foodtruck, and a convertible sandwiched together. I went over them, stepping across their burnt husks before landing on a pickup truck on the other side. I took a sharp turn at that point, as the rats either scrambled over the jumbled structures or took a long detour.

I was just about to lose them at that point when I saw from the corner of my vision the high level warrior rat crouched over a tilted and fallen pole.

I recognized that pose, that of someone about to fucking jump. And I had a feeling she'd make it.

I bowed my head low in a desperate attempt to gain more speed, switching over to the adjacent road. The rat did just as I thought she would and jumped, shooting like a bullet before switching to a more forceful run once she landed on the ground. Her speed carried by the momentum.

[Horsekick Gambit]!

I had accelerated enough to throw off her aim, leading her instead to my hind legs. The rat caught up and I felt my leg muscles tear at the same time that my kick connected with the creature. The warrior rat flew back, doused in hellfire as I forced myself to keep on running, despite every single step feeling like I was drenching my legs in acid.

[Blessed Heal]!

[Blessed Heal]!

The first heal stitched back my rent muscles, the second closed the wound and stopped the bleeding. I didn't stop pumping my legs once through the process, screaming bloody murder in my head, and also my mouth, as I galloped with a bleeding thigh.

And still, I slowed down. The other rats had taken that opportunity to catch up. Just as I was beginning to feel really sick, having overexerted myself, my mana in specific.

I decided then, to fight. I can't outrun them like this, they'll tire me out and I'll slow down. From my earlier testing, I'd determined as well that jogging in place or slowing too much would cancel Longstrider

I perceived two of the rogue rats now on my tail, chomping at the bits. They were among the higher level ones, fast enough to catch up during my single moment of indiscretion. They came up to my hooves and that's when I kicked them from behind. For once, I took the initiative, the rats were not given the chance to react, nor ready their own attack.

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More of the rats began to catch up to me, I gave a passing glance at them to make sure the warrior one wasn't present. I turned a street and then another, the distance between us shortened each time as I actually deliberately slowed my speed just a tad in order to time my kicks with my run, to where they can't do anything to fight back.

[Horsekick Gambit]

[Horsekick Gambit]

Over and over they spilled into the road as I began to feel better, my mana returning to myself. I waited for one of them to once again catch up, this time a rat I recognized as having already taken damage, a slight limp to his gait. I kicked again, just a natural motion of my gallop, and the rat went flying. Now with an added lightshow as I had triggered my Horsekick to that result.

He went limp, laying into the ground. I listened for the System notifying me of the kill, but it never came.

The damn rat survived and was just sleeping.

Thankfully, Horsekick is my cheapest move so I kept on running, luring the unsuspecting rats to come for me. Specially the injured ones, so ready to throw themselves towards their deaths.

I kicked away two new ones still uninjured, before a rat bleeding from her face finally caught up. I kicked her just as she approached from my behind, causing hellfire to erupt from where I pummeled her head.

[You have defeated a Level 16 Rogue!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 11!]

Yes! A level up!

I immediately dumped all of my new points into magic, feeling a shot of invigoration, an important stat for my offense and heals.

I came upon a bend, and saw but a tiny gap between two totaled trucks. One was previously full of cars, brand new, now newly wrecked. The other was one full of diesel, a miracle it hasn't yet exploded.

I neighed. A loud whinny that surely got the attention of several passing monsters. Some goblins robbing a store turned around to run after me. Two orcs that were sleeping in the middle of the road woke up and growled angrily, even crows and cat-dogs took notice

My horse face contorted wildly, an approximation of a smile.

The gap between the two trucks was just barely wide enough for me to pass through without problems, and I did not hesitate for but a single moment. I squeezed myself into that divide and sped through as fast as I can, my gallop quickly carrying me out of the wreckage as I heard the creatures following behind me struggling for passage.

I gave one last look at their clamoring forms, a pile of mindless creatures giving chase blindly to what they thought to be prey. The rats were also among them, though I assume the infighting between the monsters had already culled their numbers.

A light shone down on me now. Bright and blood red. A single sphere of scorching hellfire, my knees already feeling weak from the exertion of my magic. But there was one more thing left to do.

[Hellish Fireball].

It was as if the world slowed down. Monsters and animals were pushing against each other, a party plucked straight from hell, unrelenting even in the surface. I saw an orc stand on his two legs, horrific screeches almost like a beat. Goblins danced to the music, a tantrum thrown as they climbed up the large dislodged trucks.

A red light shone upon them all, as if an approaching sun. Deer, in the headlights.

I watched as some widened their eyes and ran away from the hellfire, a witch-gnome shot an icicle that wouldn't quite make it, others yet were uncaring for the approaching fireball.

My spell cared not for any of this, only seeking to sail towards where I commanded. Steadily, loyally, it touched the truck of diesel.

Singularity.

There was a moment where nothing happened, a pause in the chaos.

The fireball stayed formed, it remained whole. A balance, perfectly achieved.

Peace, that lasted for less than a second.

And then its fires splashed against the tank. A spread that was fast and sure. And so fleeting. For it could no longer be seen as the entire world ignited.

The air shook, space itself rumbled. Screams resound, myself and the monsters'. Though the latter was quickly drowned out, their origins burned and scattered.

The shockwave reached me, I felt the force push into my form. I didn't fight it, instead I resumed my dash, and allowed the turbulent winds to carry me forwards.

The color of sunset, a blinding orange. The flash of light an implacable beacon. A single glance, a big mistake. With that alone, and I was nearly blinded. Like staring straight into the sun with nary an atmosphere for protection.

And still my sight adjusted. The flames that once seemed unbreakable rapidly grew dimmer. Revealed from within the veil, the incomprehensible destruction. One a gathering of monsters, gone without leaving a single trace. No proof that they were ever here.

The winds were twinkling, glass was raining from the tall buildings that flanked the area. Walls fell apart, a storm of stone and metal.

At the center of it all, was a still burning inferno. Clouds of fire and smoke continued to rush into the air, sending copious amounts of heat cascading into every direction.

I felt it, on my skin, the fur of my flesh burning. I ran then, even faster, to get away from the expanding death that had surpassed even my own expectations.

I saw, within my dwindling vision. Monsters within the range of fatal damage, but far enough away to escape instant disintegration, crawling for life that will soon leave them. Those who were a little bit further were instead shaken, confused beyond reason.

Most had instincts that told them to flee, others yet for inexplicable reasons chose to draw closer.

But none of them chose reason, not a single creature remaining calm. I wanted nothing more than to do the same. My base desires in full control. No need to think, just act.

I didn't do it, much as the temptation was there. I kept my wits about me, and controlled the adrenaline rushing across my altered system. That of a horse now, I galloped on my hooves as I rode the extreme tailwind. My tail had caught on literal fire, causing me to jump and neigh in protest. I nearly reared up and kick at nothing, but caught myself, remembering that I must never stop running.

[You have defeated a Level 14 Mage!]

[You have defeated a Level 20 Tank!]

...

[You have defeated a Level 31 Handler!]

[You have defeated a Level 28 Rogue!]

---

[You have defeated a Level 17 Warrior!]

[You have defeated a Level 25 Mage!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 12!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 13!]

---

[Your Level Has Risen to 27!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 28!]

[You have committed Singular Massacre: Level 1 before your Level 100 evolutions.]

[Future Evolutions have been very slightly enhanced]

I remembered then, to check my notifications. The absurdity far from over, I tossed half of my new gains towards my magic, some points spared for my intelligence. And then a hefty amount for my vitality.

A quick cast of my heal removed the superficial wounds. Another topped me right up. But I was still getting damage, my burning tail left unsolved. A problem I was forced to endure and shelve for later.

Many of the monsters running around were utterly dangerous, impossible foes even in my current level, nearly triple of what it was before.

Even against those weaker, I'd easily lose if surrounded and piled upon. But their movements have all become frantic now, chaotic, not a single glance nor drop of attention spared my way.

An indiscretion I took full advantage of, weaving across the chaos as the creatures bumped and fell over each other. All the while I didn't ever stop running, the extra Intelligence a massive boon to my frantic navigation.

I made a quick leap over a fallen goblin, a kobold I saw running into a building. Some crows I just rammed through, prepared to take the damage even if they make me bleed.It costs little to heal, so long as the wound is superficial.

The smoke cleared more and more, albeit gradual, with every step that I took. A land-dwelling lochness monster I found standing in my way, and after ducking under his jaws that shot out for me, I finally made it out of the immediate destruction.

Neigh.

_______________

Name: Jackal Dolmer

Level: 28

______________

(Unassigned MANA: 0)

Vitality: 50

Strength: 30

Magic: 90

Agility: 80

Intelligence: 30

_____________

Class:

[Thy Blessed Pony]

[Hell Baby]

Skills:

[Foal Blessing] (Level 1 / Integration 14% -> 25%)

[Hellborne] (Level 1 / Integration 15% -> 30%)

[Hellish Fireball] (Level 1 / Integration 23% -> 40%)

[Trailblazer] (Level 1 / Integration 4%)

[Blessed Heal] (Level 1 / Integration 20% -> 32%)

[Longstrider] (Level 1 / Integration 25% -> 41%)

[Horsekick Gambit] (Level 1 / Integration 33% -> 45%)

_____________