Chapter 22: Fighting to Survive

Glaring at both the giant rat and the berserker rat, I began to quickly formulate a plan. Since they were both running towards me, I needed to find a way to dodge both of their attacks. What did I have available to use? I had some tupas but I didn’t know if I would be able to grab one quick enough. Tch, so that was out. This meant that I would have to use magic, and I would need to use it quick!

Pumping mana into the earth, I quickly created a wall that jutted out from the ground. Since the wall was on my right, the berserker was now unable to see me. It either had to go around, or break through my wall. Either way, it would take several seconds for it to do either one. And I could do a lot in a few seconds.

My thoughts were interrupted by a jolt of pain as the giant rat that I was fighting bit me. Grimacing in pain, I dropped my spear and grab the head of the giant rat with my hand. It was about to regret ever biting my arm. Digging my fingers into its skull, I began to pour electricity into its body. I continued pouring more and more into it even after it let go off my arm. Thanks to the paralysis effect of my attack, the giant rat couldn’t resist. It never stood a chance. With one last shock of electricity I let go of its head. I still had one more enemy to deal with.

As I reached for my spear, the berserker rat burst through my earthen wall and charged toward me. Shit, I wouldn’t have enough time to grab my weapon. Leaving my spear on the ground, I immediately jumped to the side so I could dodge the berserkers attack. As it raced past me, I quickly reached into my belt and ate a red tupa. The giant rat’s bite had taken a chunk of my health away and I wanted it restored before I fought the berserker.

Swallowing the tupa with a big gulp, I glanced warily at the berserker. I did not want to be hit by that thing. If I did, I wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. As it stared at me with unconcealed hate, I glanced at its status. I needed to see how close I was to defeating it.

Giant Berserker Rat - Lv.8

Hp: 20/50

Thanks to my explosive wind arrows, more than half of his health was gone. That goes to show just how powerful my wind attacks could be. If I conjured up two more of those, the berserker rat would be defeated. The only problem with doing this was that creating those arrows took time. And I highly doubted that the berserker was just going to stand there and let me gather mana. If I wanted to do this, I would need to make the berserker unable to attack me for a few seconds…..Somehow.

Shaking the dirt off its fur, the berserker rat began to slowly circle me. Keeping him within my eyesight, I began to create an explosive wind arrow. If he wasn’t going to attack me, then I might as well use the time wisely. But before I could finish the spell, the berserker attacked. In a burst of speed, the berserker rat arrived in front of me. Shit, it was too quick. With a powerful swing of its tail, I was thrown across the sewers.

Crash!

My eyes widen in agony as my back slammed against the wall. Gah, why was that attack so painful? Right now my back felt like it was on fire. Not only that, but a good chunk of my health was missing. As my body slid toward the ground, I stuck my hand in my belt and ate two red tupas. Thanks to this, some of my health was restored. However I couldn’t keep on eating tupas in order to restore my health. I only had a limited amount after all.

As I felt the pain  in my back fade away, I sighed in relief. These tupas were something else. Stumbling onto my knees I kept a lookout for the berserker rat. I was not going to get hit by its tail again. Although it was coming towards me, I had a couple of moments to prepare myself. For someone reason it decided to walk towards me at a moderate pace. Not too fast, not too slow. I guess it didn’t think I would be able to run after what it did to me. Well it would be in for quite a surprise.

Step after step the berserker rat got closer and closer to me. Placing both of my hands on the ground, I began manipulating my mana into the earth. Sensing that something was off, the berserker rat began to quicken its pace. But it was far too late, my mana was already in the ground.

The berserker rat yelped in pain as several earthen spikes erupted from under it. Thanks to its speed, it managed to only get pierced by two of them. And one of them only grazed it. Still with that attack it now had eight hp left. One more attack and it would be dead.

Although the berserker tried charging towards me, I cut it off with my earth spikes. If it wanted to get closer to me, it would have to take some damage. And if it took some more damage, then it would likely die. I kept on creating earthen spikes until the battle was finally at a standstill. If this was a normal giant rat, it would already be dead. However this berserker rat was more intelligent than normal. After dodging my attacks for some time, it managed to figure out just how far I could shoot them. By keeping this distance away from me I would be unable to attack it. I would even take some time to be impressed if I wasn’t in the middle of a battle.

Time passed by slowly as I maintained eye contact with the berserker rat. I needed it to attack me soon since my mana was depleting at a fast pace. I wouldn’t be able to keep this standstill lasting for much longer. Suddenly as if it was giving up, the berserker rat turned around and started running the opposite direction. Huh, I must’ve scared it off. I guess it was only naturally with how good I was on the battlefield. But where was it running off to? There was nothing in that direction except….Viola!

Shit! Sprinting after it as fast as I could, I began to charge up some wind arrows. I wasn’t making explosive ones this time since they would take too long and time was of the essence. This berserker rat had me struggling to fight it and I didn’t think Viola would stand a chance. Plus she was still fighting that other rat. Sure it was almost dead but the berserker would be there before she killed it. I did not want her to be killed. She was too valuable to lose.

Sending Viola a quick mental message, I warned her of the oncoming attack. As I did this, I launched three wind arrows toward the berserker. They soared towards the berserker quickly and reached it in less than a few seconds. But before they would’ve struck the berserker, it turned around and swiped them out of the air with its tail.

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Although it took some damage deflecting the attack, it still wasn’t enough to kill it. Tch, I was running as fast as I could but I still wouldn’t make it. Seeing my spear on the ground, I picked it up and threw it towards the berserker. Normally it wouldn’t have reached the berserker, but I used a wind gale to strengthen the throw. Would my spear make it in time?

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With a ferocious bite to the neck, the giant rat was dead. It had taken her quite a while to kill it, but in the end Viola had won. Thanks to the spell her master gave her, the battle went by far more smoothly than it would’ve gone without it. Once she removed her mouth from the giant rat’s neck, she turned around only to see the berserker rat bounding towards her. Her master had warned her off the berserker, but she thought she would’ve had more time to prepare. It seemed that that misconception would be her downfall…… or so it seemed.

With a determined look on her face, Viola faced the berserker rat and began gather mana. Once her mana was almost completely empty, she launched the strongest wind gale that she had ever used. The berserker rat, which was currently in mid jump, never stood a chance. Her wind gale threw it directly into her master’s spear with a sickening squelch. A look of triumph filled her face as the life faded from its eyes. That would teach it to mess with her.

As her master ran toward her with a worried look in his eyes, Viola couldn’t help but be filled with love. She truly adored her master. Even though he could’ve treated her like trash, he didn’t. Based on some of her memories, her master might be a one of a kind. But who knew? Maybe she just didn’t meet enough people. The moment her master was close enough, she jumped into the air and landed on his shoulders. Yes, this was where she belonged.

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Whew, it seemed that Viola was okay. I also noticed that she was able to handle her own. At least that was what her wind gale told me. To be honest, I didn’t think that last attack Viola did could’ve gone any better. Thanks to it, berserker rat had landed splendidly on my spear and lost all of its remaining hp. The moment it died, I was notified of a level up. Nice, this battle had been hard, but it had been worth it in the end. Now my spear would be even stronger.

As I allocated my skill points to intelligence, Viola flew up on my shoulders. Nudging her with my head, I glanced over my status until I was satisfied.

Status WindowNameColm MarythouAge: 16Race: HumanLevel: 7Gender: MaleTitlesThe Peerless Descender, Undead ProphetHealth: 120/160Mana: 60/170Stamina: 90/160~Strength: 10[5]Agility: 13[3]Vitality: 8[1]Dexterity: 9Intelligence:25Wisdom:25Luck:0~SkillsMana Affinity, Air Magic, Earth Magic, Necromancy, Meditation, Enhanced Vision, Electric Shock, ConcentrationUnallocated Points: 0

My level was not the only thing that had risen in this fight.  My mana affinity skill was now level eight while my necromancy skill was now level five. I guess Viola killing things gave the skill  a decent amount of experience. If I raised my necromancy skill up a few more levels, I would be able to learn the life force spell. But getting it up that high would take a bit of time so I put that thought to the side of my mind.

After examining everything I walked over to the berserker corpse and retrieved my spear. As I was wiping the blood of my spear, I noticed that wisps of darkness were beginning to surround the edge of my spear. It would be hard to notice if you were looking from a distance, but since I was so close to it I noticed it instantly. I guess the darkness rune must’ve activated since I finally met the requirements to use it. Taking a quick look at my status, I noticed that my intelligence increased by three. Yes, now I could use my spear to its fullest potential.

Turning my head away from my spear, I began to look around for loot. Maybe I would have a higher chance of getting some since I was fighting stronger enemies. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found one item of loot.

Gauntlets of Fury

Description: Crimson steel gauntlets that imbue the user with strength

Effect: +10 Strength [The user has a small chance to succumb to rage]

Durability: 40/40

I thought the name of the gauntlets was fitting seeing as how I received the loot from the berserker rat. The steel gauntlets I had in my hands had crimson colored flames etched onto the steel. Once I read the effect, I realized that this was the best equipment I had seen so far in the sewers. It might even be better than my spear. The gauntlets gave me a whopping plus ten strength which raised mine to twenty five. That was as high as my intelligence and wisdom!

The only problem with it was that I had small chance to succumb to rage. Although it was small chance, it was still possible for it to happen. Thanks to my Peerless Descender title, my mind was more resistant to psychological effects. And I was pretty sure rage was in that category. Therefore I shouldn’t have to worry about the rage….Or so I hoped.

As I put them on, I shivered with the cold metal touched my hand. Man, these gauntlets were freezing. Hopefully they would warm up now that they had something inside of them. As I moved my fingers around I glanced at the corpses that were strewn around the ground. Hmm, what should I do with them?