Chapter 33: No Mercy

 Where is it? My vengeful eyes surveyed my surroundings as I ended the life of yet another foolish rat. This is utterly ridiculous. It must know I’m here. I had been looking for it for days after all. With a shake of my head I ended the lives of all the enemies coming toward me with an electrified air vortex. A loud sigh erupted from my mouth as I rubbed my hair with my free hand. Hmm. I might be in a predicament.

Once the battle was over, I had Viola gather the loot into a small pile while I made sure the area was secure. The rats had snuck up on me before while I was looking at some loot. Suffice to say, it was not a pleasant experience. As I listened with my enhanced hearing skill, I thought about my week and a half of training with Simon.

The training that I was forced to undergo helped strengthen me quite a lot. The only problem I had with it was that it was considerably exhausting. I had thought fighting with one type of magic was hard, but Simon soon proved me wrong. Telling me to fight a golem without using magic was almost impossible to accomplish. Especially when my best skills had to do with magic.

But that wasn’t all! I barely had time to even rest. Simon wanted to get the most out of me in as little time as he could. I was only able to sleep for a few hours a day since the time I used sleeping could be used to train my skills. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds though since my meditation helped with my exhaustion and sleepiness. Soon I wouldn’t even need sleep anymore since my meditation skill basically did the same thing.

Once I made sure the area was secure, I walked over to the pile of loot. It seemed that I had received two potions, a mace, and a wooden shield. Pocketing the two potions onto my belt, I grabbed the mace and placed it on the wooden shield. Once the mace was on the shield, I moved both of them to the side and surrounded them in an earthen pillar.

After the earthen pillar was done, I moved toward the bodies of the rats. The reason I had left the weapons inside of an earthen pillar was quite simple. I did not possess enough room on my body to carry them. Plus it would weigh me down if I brought every piece of dropped loot with me. Once I was done with my search, I would come back and drag all of the loot towards Simon’s base. The reason for the earthen pillar was to dissuade anyone else from taking my loot. It had happened before and I wasn’t taking any more chances.

Conjuring up a wind gale, I forced all of the bodies to move toward me. Although I could’ve just dragged them myself, there was really no point. Why do all that work when my magic could just do it in an instant? Once the bodies were in front of me, I examined each one of them to see how well their bodies were still holding up.

Since I hadn’t been focusing on not damaging their bodies, many of the corpses were charred. What could I say? An electrified air vortex was quite a powerful attack against a group of enemies, even if it used up a good chunk of my mana. In the end I chose two berserker rats and one giant rat. Placing them off to the side, I glanced at the other corpses. Although I could still technically use the corpses that were in pieces, I didn’t really want to. If I used mostly intact corpses, my necromancy ritual would go by way faster. Nodding my head to Viola, I turned back towards my corpses as she ate them in quite a gluttonous fashion.

Placing the bodies in the shape of a triangle I began to start my necromancy ritual. After a few brushed symbols here and a few chants there, I made a new addition to my group. A reanimated berserker rat. The reason this ritual had gone by so quickly was thanks to both my necromancy training and my level. A high level in necromancy not only made my rituals go by faster, but it also made my corpses stronger and more durable. I could finally tell the difference now that my necromancy level was high enough.

Giving my new berserker rat the order to follow me, I continued down the pathway I was on. As I walked I snuck a peak at my new reanimation. The first time I had made one, I assumed it would be useless in a fight. To my surprise, it helped the battles go by way easier. If I wanted, I could even have it fight two berserker rats while I dealt with the rest of the enemies. I had to be careful though because although it could fight two of them, the battle would virtually be a standstill. Now if my berserker reanimation was fighting one on one, that would be a different story.

The normal giant rats weren’t a challenge. At all. Even my reanimations could handle them easily. Once electrified wind arrow and they were dead. I didn’t use that method often though since it wasted too much mana. They did make up for this weakness though by swarming me with large numbers. Maybe if I didn’t possess any magic I would struggle. But since I did, it didn’t even make me break a sweat. And even if they somehow managed to attack me, their teeth wouldn’t even pierce through my armor. I could still remember the surprise on their face once they realized there attacks were useless.

As I thought about the rats, I kept an ear out for any suspicious sounds. The reason for this was because I was currently searching for the formidable rat that had fucked me up last time. When I found it, I would make sure it knew how much of a mistake it made by attacking me. The only problem with doing this was that I couldn’t find it. For some reason I had the sneaking suspicion that it was avoiding me. I had only been exploring for a couple of hours, but I had killed a good chunk of the rats. Sooner or later we would meet. I just had to be patient.

The next hour passed uneventfully until I approached a small room that I almost missed. Hmm, this room seemed quite familiar. Slowing my breathing, I crouched down and approached the doorway as quietly as I could. Peeking my head through the doorway, I took a quick glance around the room.

From what I could see there seemed to be ten or so giant rats, four berserker rats, and one formidable giant rat. That had to be the one I was looking for! A grin appeared upon my face as I began to formulate a plan. The past me would’ve charged right in, but thanks to Simon, I had learned the error of my ways. Even if I charged in right now, I would probably still win. But at the cost of more work. Why make it harder for myself when I could just kill most of my enemies with a well-placed trap?

Motioning my reanimations to get a good distance back, I came up with a plan. I took a few steps back the way I came and dug my fingers into the ground. Pouring my mana through my gauntlets, I began to manipulate the earth below me. After a few seconds of waiting, chunks of earth began to appear beside me. More and more appeared until I was finally done with part of my pitfall trap. I spent the next few minutes adding spikes and making the trap look like the rest of the earth. If the rats fell into this trap, a good bit of them would die. Even if they didn’t, they would still be trapped.

Once that trap was done, I surrounded myself with small earthen spikes. Although they wouldn’t affect me due to my boots, the rats were a different story. Their small little feet would be devastated by these spikes. By the time they reached me, a few hits would be enough to kill them. After I finished making the spikes, I approached the doorway once again. Now I had to figure out how I was going to start off the ambush.

Right now it seemed like that rats were taking a break from whatever it was they usually did. Some rats while sleeping while others were just wandering around. There were several ways I could go about attacking, but I wanted to find the best way. Shooting off a water bullet or a fireball wouldn’t work since their skill levels were too low. Running in there wasn’t even an option since that was the dumbest thing that I could possibly do. I would more than likely have to start the power with a powerful attack because I wouldn’t get a chance like this a second time.

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After thinking for a few more minutes, I finally came up with a plan. Peering out from behind my wall, I began gathering mana for an electrified air vortex. This attack would kill most of the giant rats while severely injuring at least one of the berserker rats. The reason I was so fond of this attack was that anything that didn’t weigh a considerable amount of weight would be sucked into my vortex. Once all of the enemies were inside of it, the vortex would burst in an explosion of electricity. If I got lucky it would paralyze some of the rats too.

As I was gathering a ball of air, the sound of it began to fill the sewers. The more mana I gathered, the louder and louder it became. While I waited for my spell to finish, some of the rats began to look around curiously. I watched calmly as a couple of rats began to approach my position. They couldn’t see me yet, but soon my position would be revealed. I didn’t have to worry though since my spell would be finished before they saw me.

The moment my ball was finished, I shot it off towards the largest group of rats I could see. The results? I didn’t know since I didn’t stay to find out. Turning around quickly, I made my way to my reanimations while I avoided all of the traps that I had placed down. As I ran toward them, I heard an explosion of energy go off behind me. Man, that had to kill a good chunk of the rats that were in there.

The next few moments were spent with me waiting for the rats to come chasing after me. They did not disappoint. A multitude of rats swarmed form the doorway and onto the hallway that I was in. Charging up a dark spear, I waited for them to notice me. I didn’t have to wait long.

With an angry squeal a giant rat ran towards me. Only to have its feet pierced by my earthen spikes. Not liking the pain, it tried escaping, only to be pushed further onto its spikes by its brethren. Having more numbers than your opponent wasn’t always a good thing.

Although the giant rats were slowed down by my spikes, the berserkers were not. With a graceful leap, they flew over my spikes and into my pitfall trap. I watched in amusement as their faces turned from triumphant to shock. Did they really think they were going to get to me that easily? While my enemies were distracted, I launched my dark spear directly at them. Because there were so many of the rats, the tiny hallway we were in was completely filled. This meant that there was nowhere for them to run. The only thing I can say is that my dark spear had quite a fun time in robbing these rats of their lives.

Soon there was only one berserker rat and one formidable rat left. Huh, this went a lot easier than I thought it would. I guess Simon was actually right in saying that I should always prepare for a fight when I could. I knew it would make the fight easier, but not this easy. My thoughts were interrupted by the two remaining rats jumping toward me with a synchronized leap. Gripping my spear firmly in my hands, I glared at the formidable rat. It was time for me to get my revenge.

Formidable Giant Rat - Lv.16

 Hp: 100/100

It seemed that the formidable rat was a higher level than it was before. Or maybe it was a completely different rat. I couldn’t even tell since they all looked the same. Oh well, either way it was going to get killed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed both of my reanimations attacking the berserker rat. I didn’t have to worry about them since Viola would have been enough on her own. But now that it was two on one, the berserker rat didn’t stand a chance.

Pouring my mana into the ground, I launched several earthen spikes at the formidable rat. With a powerful leap, the formidable rat jumped over my spikes and straight toward me. But that wouldn’t be enough. Raising my left hand towards the rat, I used a wind gale to push it right back onto the spikes. If it didn’t want me doing things like this, then maybe it should think about the way it attacked.

My eyes widened in shock as the rat turned around in midair and began gathering mana. What the hell was it trying to do? My question was soon answered by it skin taking on crimson hue. As it fell towards the ground, the muscles in its body began to get bigger while its claws and fangs grew sharper. I also realized that its skin was more durable when my earthen spikes broke against its fur. From the look in its eyes, I could tell it was getting serious. Good. I wasn’t playing around either.

In a blur of crimson, the formidable rat vanished from my view. By utilizing my advanced concentration skill I was able to see where the rat was going in slow motion. Thanks to this skill I would be able to tell what my enemy was about to do even if they were faster than me. The only problem was that my body wasn’t faster. Only my mind.

As I turned my head to follow my opponent’s position, I began gathering mana in order to launch some electrical bolts. Sensing my opponent behind me, I launched my electric bolts directly at it without even looking. Activating its special skill actually made the battle worse for the formidable rat since I could sense the mana that was surrounding it.

Once the electric bolts were launched, I spun around to face my opponent that was still heading towards me. It seemed that my electric bolts hadn’t been as effective as I thought it would be. The only damage that I could see on the rat was a small burn. I would need to do more than that if I wanted to defeat my opponent.

The next minute was filled with me avoiding the rat’s attack and knocking it off course with a  wind gale. Although it seemed like the battle wasn’t going anywhere, I was actually winning. Even though I only dealt a small amount of damage with each attack, it would begin to add up. Meanwhile the formidable rat had yet to touch me. The only thing I was worried about was that the more damage the rat received, the stronger it seemed to become. It must have something to do with the crimson haze that was surrounding it.

Readying my spear, I watched the formidable rat closely. It was no longer trying to jump at me since every time it attempted it, it was met with pain. The reason why I was watching it instead of fighting was that it stopped attacking me. The evil glint that appeared in its eye only made my suspicion grow. The moment my opponent’s leg muscles tense, I directed towards my spear. If it tried charging at me, a dark bolt would be there to welcome it.

But to my confusion, it began to spin around like a dog chasing its tail. While I was watching it, I began to notice a long pink thing coming towards me. But even though I could see it coming, I was unable to dodge the attack. I gritted my teeth in pain as my face went through a whiplash like motion. The hell? Did I just get his by its fucking tail?

Ignoring the urge to hold my aching cheek, I charged towards the formidable rat. It was time to go on the offensive.