Until now, the boy had faced about fourteen rats in combat and had successfully won against all of them.

His fight with the first rat had been his hardest, every consecutive battle after that growing easier and easier.

He did not know how the white mist functioned and what actual effect it was having on his body but there was no doubt his power had grown considerably after absorbing it.

With every white wisp that had flowed into his body, the rats had seemed weaker as the volume of his aura increased and grew denser.

At his current level of power, he could effortlessly beat down a grey rat even without his sword.

All of these were reasons why the boy was confident in his face off against the large dark rat.

And they were also the reasons why he was shocked when the dark rat’s blow sent him whirling back into the wall beside the door.

Blue lights had erupted from inside his suit, forming a barrier to shield him from the violent strike and the subsequent collision.

He hits the dull grey polished wall with a loud crash, his body bouncing off the wall from the strong impact.

The barrier absorbs most of the force behind the collision but not completely. Dull pain rocks through his body, starting from his back and flowing down to his arms.

He looks down and finds himself several feet up in the air. The hit had literally sent him flying.

Dropping down to the floor, he lands on his feet and immediately retakes his stance. Ready to react to any incoming attacks.

But no attack came.

The dark rat was still standing in its previous spot.

It’s blood-red eyes surveying him calmly.

The matriarch found the biped curious.

Usually, when she hit something with her full power it stopped moving but this was not the case for this strange creature.

Her strength could easily rip apart her pack’s small and silly males.

This creature was just as small and yet it had not only wiped out most of her pack but also survived her blow.

She had seen it tear through her pack but to her, it did not seem that strong.

She had seen worse outside in the dark.

Unlike most of her pack that were born inside this safe haven, she had struggled out there in the dark.

Solely relying on her sense of smell and hearing in the pitch blackness, she had survived hundreds of encounters with predators much bigger than her.

She had even managed to kill and eat a drone of the dark hive. An encounter very few would survive let alone win.

It was a tough and brutal life that had become easier with the discovery of this safe haven.

And now this strange biped had come into her territory, swinging that sharp black stick and attacking her pack.

It was unforgivable, especially for one so weak.

She was going to take her time with this biped and tear it limb from limb.

“God damn *pants* ……that almost knocked the wind out of me.”

The boy takes in gulps of air, a little shaken from the collision.

“What the *pants* fuck is *pants* that thing?”

From its size, the dark rat was easily twice as big as the average gray rat so he had expected twice the power.

But what he got hit with was much higher than that.

This thing was packing over three times the power of the average gray rat.

“Where the hell…..did that power come from?” He asked himself but already knew the answer inside.

It came from the dense aura surrounding its towering dark body.

The brighter, denser, and more voluminous the aura the higher the power. If he had any doubts about this simple equation then they were blown away alongside his body with that hit.

He steadily raises his sword, his gaze fixed on the dark rat’s aura.

The dark rat begins advancing, walking slowly as if it were out on a casual stroll.

At first glance, it looked as if the rat was looking down on him.

But the boy was not fooled, the slow and dramatic walk was a ruse. Its aura was spiking, radiant golden maroon color emanating from its body. The thing was ready to burst into momentum any second.

The rat takes a few slow paces before the golden maroon aura on its body flares out.

The boy reacts immediately to the spike, not waiting for the rat’s physical movement. From the speed and strength of its blow, he knew that if he waited for the rat to move then it would be too late.

Turning around he places a foot on the wall, channeling energy into his legs, and using the wall as leverage he jumps up, flying up several feet parallel along its length.

Barely a second after jumping he spots the flaming dark blur of mass make contact with the wall below. However, there is no collision.

The dark rat had sensed his rapid jump and adjusted accordingly. Flying into the wall it lands softly, using its four powerful limbs to absorb the impact and just like him it uses the wall as leverage to fly up behind him.

Since it used all four limbs to push off the wall its jump was stronger and had more momentum behind it but the boy was ready.

As he begins to drop down onto the incoming black rodent he points his blade down, aiming to skewer its skull.

Seeing the boy pointing the same deadly black stick he had used to dismember its pack; the dark rat knew it could cause a lot of damage.

No longer wanting to take the risk of a head-on collision, the rat’s aura concentrates around its muscular limbs and it pushes off the wall, flying away horizontally from the wall and into the chamber.

“Clever rat.”

The boy thinks as he too pushes off the wall, flying in a similar trajectory as the dark rat, chasing after it.

His jump, however, falls short compared to the rat’s due to the difference in their power.

It lands softly in the middle of the chamber while the boy lands a bit further away.

Upon making contact with the floor, he rolls over and bursts into a sprint toward the towering dark rat.

Flaring his energy to the max, he rushes in for a horizontal swing into the tall dark figure, his sword burning a dark scarlet color.

The dark rat follows his movements with its blood-red eyes and backsteps before the sword touches its body.

“It's fast!”

The rat had dodged while he was in mid-swing, displaying its superior speed.

Undeterred the boy continues advancing, slashing at the rat with short quick swings.

“I don’t have to put too much power behind the swings, the sword can do its job without my strength. Focus on speed.”

Using just the motion of his arms, he gives a diagonal downward slash but the rat just tilts its body to the right to dodge.

The boy instantly reverses the trajectory of the blade for a fast upward slash, trying to catch it off guard but the dark rat avoids it by tilting its body to the left.

A little frustrated, the boy increases the flow of his gold energy as much as possible to give himself a speed edge.

He unleashes a combination of quick slashes, starting with a downward, then upward, then horizontal, and ending with a lunging stab.

The dark rat avoids them all flawlessly by tilting and backtracking its body away from the assault. At the boy’s lunging stab, it sidesteps out of the way, and before he can react it delivers a lightning-quick swipe using its large forepaw.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The boy only sees a blur heading for his head, never making out the actual attack.

The hit ignites a sharp blue glare from his suit and sends him rolling a few paces away. There was enough power behind the swipe that if it weren’t for the barrier, it would have been a fatal blow but the barrier did not stop the searing pain in his head and neck.

He rolls into a crouching stance and looks up only to find the rat’s flaming red kick swinging into his skull.

Frantically lowering his head, he feels a strong breeze blow across his hair as the dark rat’s kick passes overhead.

With his gaze down he noticed the rat was standing on one leg because of its wide swinging kick, leaving it open to an attack.

“Chance!”

While crouching he swings his sword, targeting the leg it was standing on.

His swing misses as the rat senses the attack and leaps up in the air with one leg, dodging the attack completely.

The boy’s senses had realized what had happened but his body did not react in time even with the increased strength and speed.

While he was in the middle of his slash the rat had jumped and landed on top of him, pinning him down beneath its immense weight.

“FUCK!!”

The dark rat places both of its forepaws on top of his arms, fixing them in place. Without wasting time, it channels all energy into its fangs and clasps its jaws around his head from behind.

Using its rippling muscles and the dense aura emanating from them, it pulls at the boy’s head, trying to tear his head off.

He tries to free his arms from the grip of its forelimbs but they refuse to budge.

He feels the rat’s long curved fangs dig into the barrier of his suit, softly needling his head with their tips.

His suit’s barrier blazes, straining under the assault of the dark rat’s fiery red energy. He feels his neck extend and strain from its pull, only holding together because of the protective barrier covering his body.

“MY NECK’S GONNA BREAK!”

Alarm bells were ringing throughout the boy’s head, he was in a very dangerous situation.

He pulls at his sword arm furiously, desperately trying to free it. The arm tilts under the dark rat’s deformed forepaw, but it increases pressure and his arm stops moving completely.

The dark rat’s aura flares with red energy as it pulls on his head with greater force, yanking at his head with the momentum of its whole body.

Pain shoots up and down the boy’s neck and head. He feels his neck strain even more and a few cracks pop out. It might have been his imagination but he even felt his suit’s barrier crack under the dark rat’s pressure.

“…I have…to stop it…quickly…or this is …the end.”

His vision was beginning to fade. The rat’s jaws had not torn through the barrier but their pressure was enough to restrict blood flow into his brain.

Right as he was about to go under, a last-ditch plan popped up in his mind.

He glances toward his arm holding the sword and instead of channeling energy into it, he channels it outward. The red glow covering his arm recedes inward into the rest of his body and the energy around the blade flows back into the emblem at the hilt’s center.

The black blade disintegrates into an amorphous black cloud, freaking the dark rat which hadn’t seen the phenomenon before.

It yanks its head and forelimb away from the flowing black cloud, releasing the boy’s head and sword arm.

He does not waste the opportunity and quickly before the ring even settles around his finger, reignites the aura on his arm. Energy flows into the stone of the ring and it gives a brief white shine before changing back into a sword.

Using his now free arm, he slashes behind his body at the dark rat on top of his back. The blade manages to slice through a couple of deformed fingers on the rat’s right forepaw before it leaps back to dodge.

He swiftly rises to his feet, the muscles on his neck flaring from pain. His fading vision blurs into clarity as the blood flow to his brain resumes.

The dark rat is thumping its legs on the floor from pain. Bringing its cut forepaw to its face, it starts grooming the injury with its tongue while glaring at the boy who had barely recovered.

The aura around the dark rat’s body swirls aggressively, reacting to its bubbling rage.

“…Can…I…even…beat this thing?”

Things were not looking good. The rat was stronger and faster than him but that wasn’t the only thing. It had more fighting experience and was easily countering his attacks.

The previous gray rats did not hold a candle to it.

“Can…I even…run away at this point?”

After leaping off his back, the dark rat was standing in between him and the exit door. And with the way the angry rat was glaring at him, it wasn’t about to let him get away.

Having stopped the bleeding in its forepaw, the dark rat begins growling at him. The aura around its body grows higher and denser, signaling that things were about to get violent again.

It takes a step forward, slowly advancing toward him.

The spiked aura around it threatening to burst into a high-speed rush any second.

“Looks like I don’t have much of a choice……..I can’t win in a direct confrontation so I should fight smart……If it wants a piece of me so badly then let's give it to it.”

Willing away all weakness and gathering his strength, the boy does something that even surprises the dark rat.

Instead of backing away, he charges toward it again.

Sword ready in arms, the boy rushes into the bulking rat, letting loose another set of quick slashes.

“Keep the movements fast and light, don’t go for any lunges.”

The dark rat swerves away from the attacks, dodging them easily but the boy keeps closing in. The light slashes allow him to keep up a constant attack, forcing the dark rat on the back foot.

The assault continues for a few moments as he keeps swinging his sword.

If the rat seemed like it was about to counterattack then he would quickly whirl another slash to stop it. Since the slashes were light, they did not have enough momentum behind them but this sword did not need any momentum to be deadly.

They were also less taxing on his tired beaten body.

The rat dodged and weaved away from the unrelenting assault; its eyes fixed not on the boy but on the deadly black blade in his hands. The sword had effortlessly sliced through its forepaw which meant it could easily cut into its flesh.

“I knew it, it's afraid of the sword. As long as I don’t rush in like an idiot it can’t attack carelessly.”

The continuing slashes push the rat back along the length of the chamber. It tries to swipe at him but the threat of the swinging sword keeps it in check. The aura around its body thrashes wildly, responding to its frustration.

“That’s it, keep the pressure up.”

The boy wasn’t attacking blindly. He had come up with a plan but for it to work the dark rat had to be angry.

He keeps the slashes going, carefully observing its dodging movements.

After a few minutes of the nonstop dance, the dark rat leaps back, putting some distance between them.

It snarls at the boy who quickly rushes in, trying to close the distance. Before he gets close enough to resume attacking the rat’s aura spikes across its entire body, signaling an incoming tackle.

A second before it bursts into motion the boy instantly stops in his tracks and starts slashing at the empty air in front of him. The swings were fast and light, planned to intimidate the rat rather than to actually attack.

The tactic works.

Not wanting to risk damage the dark rat adjusts its trajectory and instead of tackling him, it passes by his side.

The boy immediately turns toward it and darts in, resuming his assault. The failed attack frustrates the dark rat even more and it snarls at him while dodging his incoming slash.

“Alright, it's mad enough.”

All the while he was constantly slashing at the rat, he had been observing its subtle movements and the way it tilted its body out of the way of each and every slash. This was in preparation for his actual attack.

In the middle of the now-familiar rhythm of sword attacks, the boy suddenly delivers a feint.

A fake attack like this would never work on the dark rat under normal conditions but because of the constant repeating slashes and its own building frustrations, it reacts to the feint blindly.

The dark rat tilts its body to the right in anticipation of a strike that never comes and while it is tilting the boy delivers a devastating slash.

He was aiming to cut through its abdomen because it was the easiest target to inflict critical damage but as the blade made its trajectory the rat quickly realized its mistake.

In less than a second, golden flame erupts around its body as it leaps up in the air.

The boy looks up at the flying dark rat and then at his sword, seeing black blood trickling along its edge. He looks down to find the its black amputated leg flopping on the floor, spurting out black blood.

“Jackpot.”

The dark rat falls ungracefully to the floor a few paces away from him. It rolls over on its back from pain, snarling and thrashing wildly.

Dark blood poured out of its open wound, forming black splotches on the dull grey floor. It looked eerily similar to the black ooze floating inside the transparent tubes at the edges of the chamber.

The boy’s aura flares around his body as he rushes in to quickly end the flailing dark rat. The rat catches his advancing figure and rolls over to its three feet, heavily leaning on its injured right side.

When he gets within striking range the rat jumps away, using its three muscular limbs. It lands a few paces away from him, creating some distance.

The boy doesn’t stop or slow down and sprints after it, his sword glistening scarlet red from the energy inside as if it were alive and thirsting for blood.

The rat had its eyes fixed on his advancing figure. It was panting heavily, no doubt because of immense pain. However, from the glare it was giving it was clear that the fight was not over.

Running up to the injured dark rat, the boy takes care not to get too careless. He knew that despite its injuries it could still easily pin him down if he made a single error in his movements.

An animal is at its most dangerous when cornered.

Just as he gets close enough to the rat to slash at it, its golden maroon aura flares, concentrating around its limbs.

“It’s going to jump again.”

And the rat does exactly that, it jumps away from him again, desperately trying to maintain distance between them. It lands on the left side of the chamber, its back to the tubes with the green liquid inside.

The boy shifts his direction toward it and continues running. The constant jumping away did not anger him.

“This is all it can do now. It’s just a matter of time.”

Losing a hind limb was devastating for the dark rat. It was no longer agile enough to dodge any of his fast strikes from close range.

Victory was within his grasp.

As he is closing in on the rat, its aura flares once more. However, the color of its aura was no longer a shade of golden maroon but a deep scarlet and it was concentrating around its front forelimb.

“Is it trying to throw a punch? What is it doing?”

With the amount of energy focusing into its arm, it was going to be a powerful straight blow but it would never work. A telegraphed straight thrust like that was easy to counter or dodge so the rat was needlessly risking its front limb for a hit that was probably not going to connect.

“Is it because its panicking?”

From his previous war experience, he knew that people reacted rashly under threat of life. They made lethal mistakes that they would have never made otherwise. Watching them lose their lives was how he quickly learned that fear and panic were life’s greatest enemies in such conditions.

“Who knew animals in another world would react so similarly.”

But the rat was not reacting out of fear, it was carefully laying out a trick of its own.

Just as the boy steps into range, his arms raised up, poised ready to deliver a sharp downward slash, the rat unleashes its blow.

“I’ll slice through its arm!”

But he could not because what hits him wasn’t the dark rat’s arm but its pure energy.

As it snapped its arm forward, the stored energy pulsating throughout its arm flowed up to its forepaw and then it did something that shocked the boy’s eyes out of their sockets.

The glaring red energy burst out of its forepaw, separating from the rest of its aura and shooting straight toward him.

Just as his ring had surprised the dark rat, this extraordinary phenomenon completely takes him by surprise and he fails to react despite his caution.

The red energy bullet doesn’t fly straight toward him. Instead, a little above him, toward the sword held up in his arms.

It hits the hilt of his sword, its strong force jolting the sword’s grip straight out of his hands.

The fiery blade flies away from him, revolving in the air in a wide arching trajectory that’s too long even for the spacious room. It stabs high up into the wall on the other side of the chamber, fixing itself in place.

The boy had not seen the flying motion of his sword, his eyes were fixed on the dark rat’s eyes as they stared into his own.

“Very clever rat.”

It had completely played him. The previous jumps were all diversions leading up to this attack to separate him from his sword.

He could see the determination and fighting spirit in the rat’s eyes.

His lack of information about the mysterious energies enveloping their bodies costed him dearly.

The dark rat raises its body. Its muscles twitching with rage under its sleek black skin. Drool seeping out from the spaces between its curved fangs as it growls at him.

Balling his fists up in the air, the boy takes a step back.

“Damn, I’m in a tight spot.”