Alex turned around again. Blub had gone past the next corner but didn’t move any further. Faint, frightened burbling could be heard right behind the protrusion. The slime was hiding and waiting. Maybe he was afraid of being alone and stumbling upon another rat’s nest? Alex hadn’t seen Blub so timid before. Apparently, the second level of Pedigree could make one either a fearless warrior or a timorous healer. On the other hand, Blub wouldn’t have been much help anyway — his spits seemed to only heal now. Let him stay in a safe place.

The first rat emerged from the half-lit corridor. It was as white as chalk. Somewhere the claws of its kin clicked on the stone floor, the sharp echoes bouncing off the walls, but fortunately, the rest of the creatures hadn’t shown up yet.

Alex gripped the stone shard tighter. Time was short. He had to deal with the first runner quickly or he would be overrun by the horde. Act!

He lunged at the enemy, stopped abruptly, then took quick, small steps. Alex lifted his right leg. The square toe of his boot shot straight into the rat’s muzzle. Kick! The animal collided with the sole of his boot, yelped, struggled, and collapsed to the ground. With a hoarse roar, Alex abruptly lowered his leg. Gotcha! The rat was subdued. The pain from the impact shot up his leg, but he didn’t care. Clutching the stone, he dropped to his left knee and delivered three powerful blows! The rat squealed and died.

Alex exhaled and immediately winced in pain. His torn pants resembled a Hawaiian grass skirt. His legs were covered with new, deep scratches — three gruesome marks, oozing blood. He wasn’t in good shape — poison and fatigue started setting in.

But the enemy was defeated, and just in time — the darkness of the dungeon had spat out three more fat gray rats. Alex lifted his gaze and froze. The rats’ tiny red eyes glowed with rage and malice. Their mouths were curled in snarls, and drool dripped from their sharp fangs.

In a split second before the collision, Alex understood one thing: he wouldn’t be able to handle them. The rats were going to tear him apart.

He watched the approaching enemies intently, and a heavy sigh escaped his chest. He didn’t want to do this! Damn it, he really didn’t! But there was no other option.

Okay, where’s the window? After all, he had killed a rat. And not just one. Where were the activation commands?

Something flashed at the edge of his vision. Alex quickly pressed the icon, expanding a scrolling message. It was the System’s request.

Do you wish to activate the Tower technique? Yes/No.

The windows had been appearing all along the way, but they didn’t flash before his eyes, they minimized to tiny icons in the corner. Alex simply hadn’t noticed them. He had more important things on his mind.

He had to choose the rat as a familiar. Well, it was barely knee-high, but what else could he do? If the System allowed it, as the pedigree progressed, it would grow into a giant rat, a terror of the caves. Gritting his teeth, Alex pressed ‘Yes.’

Congratulations!

You chose your second familiar! The Common Rat will be your loyal companion forever!

Number of familiars: 2/3.

“Activate the Tower!” Alex shouted into the drooling muzzles of the approaching rats. “Second familiar!”

Instantly, the cave became a platform for lightning-fast special effects right out of a Hollywood movie. First, the pitch-black tower appeared in the air. The body of the Common Rat turned into a bright white ball and disappeared through the arched window. Then a white beam of light shot out from the mark on Alex’s hand. Like a projector beam, it drew a climbing white rat.

“Charge, Marshmallow!” Alex ordered abruptly and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

He went limp, his right hand pinned painfully to the stones by his thigh. A harsh growl and muffled squeal echoed from his right as Alex struggled to pull his hand out from under himself and looked around, nearly losing consciousness.

The albino rat needed no convincing. Without hesitation, the familiar attacked her former kin, now fighting not for life but for death. The animals tangled in a snarling tangle of fur. Their claws, fangs and fiery red eyes sparkled. Blood spattered in all directions. There were too many enemies to count. Alex’s pet stood out among the gray mass of enemies with a white spot.

While Marshmallow was busy biting the ear off the fattest rat, Alex checked his status. His gaze was drawn to the most critical characteristic at the moment:

Endurance: 0/8.

Well, predictable. Summoning the familiar had drained all his strength and turned Alex into a vegetable.

Marshmallow became tired. Bright red spots appeared on her white fur, and a white rib gleamed in a wound on her side. One of the gray rats managed to get through to Alex. The beast limped on one paw. Alex didn’t panic and kicked the rat in its wet black nose, causing it to roll away. But it immediately jumped up and lunged back.

“Blub, heal Marshmallow!” Alex yelled, fending off the rat with his legs.

If the albino rat was killed, Alex would only have a few seconds to live.

The green slime peered out from around the corner, looking frightened. It hesitated for a moment, shivered a little, and even let out a little gurgling, as if to show how much he didn’t want to crawl towards the scary rats. But Alex gave it two demanding looks between kicks, and it obediently moved toward the struggling ball.

Finally, it crawled closer. Two splashes of spit on the white fur and the wounds healed instantly. Marshmallow continued to tear at her former brethren, while Blub healed the albino rat with his spittle. After several minutes of fierce fighting, three rat carcasses lay on the ground.

The rat and slime rushed to Alex’s aid together. He was on the verge of death, with a dozen new bites and cuts covering his legs. In one swift move, Marshmallow solved the problem with her jaws — she grabbed the gray rat by the throat from the side, lifted it up, and tossed the already lifeless foe aside.

“Blub, heal,” Alex ordered in a whisper. The ground beneath him was red with blood.

“Blub-Blub-Blub,” the slime stared at Marshmallow in confusion, not seeing any wounds on her white fur.

“Heal me, Blub!”

“Blub-Blub,” the green pet turned and began to spit on Alex’s legs. The wounds closed. Healthy skin blushed amid the shreds of the torn pants.

The pain subsided, the bloody haze in his eyes cleared, and Alex was able to look around. One of the dead rats was glowing faintly.

“Marshmallow, bring the glowing rat over here.”

His fanged companion grabbed the rat by the scruff of its neck and dragged it over to Alex. The man inspected his weapon. The surgical stone had served its purpose and the sharp edges were blunted.

“Looks like you’ve got more work to do, my sweet,” Alex said, looking at the albino rat. She seemed to smile for the compliment. “Will you get the Magic Rat’s Heart for me?”

She lowered her head and bit into the corpse of her kin. Alex turned away —the sight was anything but pleasant. Soon, a jade green ‘candy’ fell onto his pant leg. Alex wiped the blood off the heart on his dirty shirt, then tossed it into his mouth and swallowed without chewing. Almost immediately, his muscles filled with strength.

Sitting down, Alex quickly examined his body, massaging and wiping his limbs. The painful weakness was completely gone. He stood up and looked down at Marshmallow. The rat lifted her head and looked into her owner’s eyes with devotion. Her snout was stained with blood.

“You looked bigger from the floor,” Alex muttered.

The rat’s size didn’t please Alex at all. The albino was much smaller than her gray counterparts. Maybe because she was female?

“All right, what is your potential, Marshmallow?”

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Alex opened the Technique’s window and entered the list of pets:

1. The Spitting Slime — an F-rank monster with the first level of Pedigree.

2. The Common Rat — an F-rank monster with the zero level of Pedigree.

3. -

“Zero level... So, Marshmallow, you’re the smallest one here?” The rat seemed to give him puppy eyes. “Hm. You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you?”

He clicked the second entry.

Select a function:

Advance the Pedigree to the first level. Cost: 10 White Faint Essences.

It was amazing that upgrading from zero to the first level cost the same as upgrading from the first to the second. Upgrading Blub to the Healing Spitting Slime had cost exactly ten White Faint Essences. So the System’s pricing was consistent, to say the least. Of course, Marshmallow needed an upgrade. There was no question about that. The only thing was, what about the loot today?

“Status.”

Alex scanned the list of messages that had appeared until the end. The line about his loot was far from satisfying:

Accumulated Essences: 5 (White, Faint).

Only half of what was needed... Whether he liked it or not, he had to face another encounter with five more rats. The dungeon was intimidating, and surviving in this realm of darkness and mold without a strong companion was uncertain. Besides, he was genuinely curious to see what Marshmallow might become.

Alex walked around the other dead rats, examining their gray fur carefully. None of the corpses were glowing anymore. It was a pity. Blub and Marshmallow would soon be gone, and he’d have to spend Endurance points again to summon his pets.

“System, why not to give me another heart?” Alex sighed and licked his dry lips. “Well, I’d better look for water. I’m really thirsty.”

He found water on the way in a small cave. It seeped from the walls and ceiling, shaping huge stalactites. Unfortunately, he had no containers, but he remembered a show he had seen on Discovery. Alex tore the sleeves of his shirt into strips, soaked them in the moisture, and put them in his jacket pocket. As he walked, he could use these damp cloths to quench his thirst by chewing on them.

Pieces of ice floated in puddles on the ground. Alex picked up a few and put them in his mouth. It was more comfortable than cupping water with his palms. The ice cracked between his teeth and cooled his mouth pleasantly. True icy freshness.

After five more repetitions, Alex finally quenched his thirst. Marshmallow bent down to the puddle next to him. Her pink tongue quickly lapped up the water. Blub refused to drink.

Regretfully, Alex left the small cave. He knew he’d get thirsty again, and he’d have nothing left to do but chew on the dirty, wet rags.

Unexpectedly, a message appeared before his eyes:

Attention!

Preparations for the Major Arcana Council have begun! Wait for further messages...

The message faded and quickly disappeared. Watching it, Alex felt a mixture of hope and fear of the unknown: a meeting meant communication and negotiation, but with whom? In what format? In person, remotely? An online conference wouldn’t help him much in the monster-filled caves.

The thirst no longer plagued him. With renewed strength, he could think about what to do next. After some thought, Alex decided to go back and examine all the dead rats. They hadn’t moved far, and the glowing rat from the previous battle was probably still there. The fickle hand of chance was lightly offended, and its gifts could easily be spurned with neglect. It was better not to let that happen.

He walked back at a measured, leisurely pace. Yeah, that Discovery show really worked: the measured pace made you less thirsty and reduced the risk of tripping over rocks and breaking a leg.

Finding the glowing rat was no problem. Marshmallow, under Alex’s command, gnawed through its chest and retrieved the heart.

“You’re my smart girl,” Alex stroked the albino rat’s withers, and she stretched in content. “You’re my little white sugar.”

He continued his journey with his pets along the same route. They passed the last battlefield with the fallen enemies still there. The caves alternated between narrowing down to a tight tunnel where it was barely possible to squeeze through, and widening out to hundreds of meters.

At this point, Blub and Marshmallow disappeared somewhere. They had probably gone back to the Tower. Alex tried to estimate the time of the monsters’ manifestation — it would be about ten to twenty minutes, more or less, but he couldn’t be sure without a watch.

He continued on his way alone, without his familiars. He needed to conserve his Endurance. As he walked, he did what any player would find the most satisfying — allocating some of his Unspent Points. He put four into Endurance, two into Strength, and two into Agility. The result was as follows:

Characteristics:

Strength: 8.

Agility: 9.

Endurance: 9/12.

Unspent Points: 2.

Accumulated Essences: 6 (White, Faint).

Notes: A rat and a slime? Seriously?

“Like I had a choice?” Alex snorted. “Stop criticizing. You’d better get me some useful loot.”

In general, his body had become much stronger and his reactions had improved. Alex carefully tried to lift a rock the size of Marshmallow. It seemed lighter, much lighter to him. Still difficult, but his back didn’t ache, his biceps didn’t split at the seams, and his joints didn’t hurt.

He pressed on cautiously. The landscape remained the same — yellow mold everywhere and the looming teeth of stalactites. The only difference was that it had cooled noticeably, and in some places the walls were covered in silvery frost.

A few wide caves later, Alex almost ran into another slime. This one was much more formidable than Blub. Its blue, jelly-like body was covered in sharp, white spikes. The monster lunged at Alex, shooting the spikes along the way. One of them, covered in the repulsive sticky slime, narrowly missed Alex. The man jumped back and immediately summoned his second familiar. One-on-one with a spike-shooting blob? No thanks.

Marshmallow darted fearlessly toward the jagged slime. It responded with several spikes. One of them scratched deep into the rat’s side. It let out a short squeal, but didn’t stop.

Alex summoned Blub and ordered:

“Heal Marshmallow!”

“Blub,” the familiar spat vigorously at the rat.

The healing spit quickly closed the wound. Marshmallow lunged at the enemy with renewed vigor. A bite followed by a claw strike, and the slime exploded into pulsating blue fragments.

Alex approached Marshmallow, crouched and carefully examined his pet. The rat’s paw was bleeding; it appeared to have been grazed by the flying spike.

“Heal,” Alex said to his ‘doctor’ familiar.

“Blub-Blub.”

The slime obediently performed the task, and the scratch healed. The rat gratefully licked Blub, causing it to gurgle in protest.

Alex checked his statistics. He had three Endurance points left.

“Goodbye, last Magic Heart,” Alex sighed, pulling the jade stone out of his pocket. “At least the whole gang is here.”

After consuming the heart, his Endurance increased to eight. Perfect! Eight was now Alex’s favorite number.

The one thing was for sure — traveling threesome was a bit more fun.

Soon Alex spotted another slime. This one was orange and emitted a cloud of shimmering yellowish color around itself — poison, for sure. The slime didn’t notice Alex and his familiars, so he wisely decided to avoid the unknown monster by taking a long detour behind the boulders.

They managed to avoid the slime, but there was no time to relax on their way around, as they came upon a group of five rats, led by an unusual rat. Crimson plates shimmered on its gray fur, and disproportionately large claws crowned its paws. The chief rat dwarfed its companions in size.

Alex became really nervous. He imagined the crimson rat’s claws tearing his legs to shreds. But to his surprise, the rats didn’t attack. The pack didn’t move from its place behind the circle of boulders. The monsters just stared menacingly at Alex.

They must be guarding something, he surmised, trying to peer behind the rats’ backs into the half-light of the cave. But the beasts twitched restlessly, baring their fangs and growling, so Alex decided not to tempt fate. He retreated and returned to his previous route.

They walked peacefully for a while, but soon were attacked by a trio of ordinary rats. The battle took a while. Alex managed to quickly take down one of the rats: the increased Strength gave his boots devastating power. Meanwhile, Marshmallow was fighting two opponents at once. Alex picked up a decent-sized rock and, approaching the white-grey snarling tangle, delivered a crushing blow to one rat from above, then to the other.

After the battle, Blub healed Alex and Marshmallow. As the wounds closed, Alex looked at the dead enemies. His eyes fixed on the gray bodies and his mind sorted them. One, two, three...

“Oh, I finally have more than ten Essences!” Alex suddenly realized. “Marshmallow, it’s your time. We’re going to evolve you now.”

The rat looked at its owner with an adoring gaze as Alex selected the option to ‘Advance the pedigree to the first level.’

Choose the development direction for the Common Rat:

1. Giant Rat.

2. Poisonous Rat.

3. Armored Rat.

4. Hunter Rat.

5. Alpha Rat.

So many interesting options, it was hard to choose. Alex had wanted a giant monster for a long time, so the first option was quite tempting. On the other hand, armor would be invaluable for Marshmallow — she would be practically a tank, a living shield. But a deadly poison from her single bite would be a dream!

After some thought, Alex decided to take the last option. An Alpha Rat would definitely not yield to ordinary rats. They needed to have an ace up their sleeve. So, without a doubt, the last one. System, Alpha Rat.

Marshmallow transformed into a glittering ball and disappeared into the window of the emerging Tower. Alex had to call his familiar again. The albino rat returned, refreshed. However, not for the better. It was already quite small before, but now it seemed even smaller. Its fur had become even whiter, like a living target.

“Damn, I should’ve gone with the Giant Rat!” Alex sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. Let’s go, gang.”

They passed through two caves when they encountered another trio of rats. This time, however, the enemies didn’t attack them, but formed a line before Marshmallow. Like a brave commander, she began pacing back and forth in front of them, letting out occasional snorts.

“Wow, so that’s what an Alpha Rat means!” Alex exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. “Well, now the booty will flow like a river. Gang, our hunt is entering a new phase! Marshmallow, send your minions ahead of us. Let them scout.”

The rat wagged her tail, then growled at the rats, causing them to sprint toward the next cave without looking back.

In the encounter with the next rat mob, it became clear that Marshmallow’s limit was controlling three rats. But it worked quite well. Now Marshmallow’s minions did most of the fighting, with Alex and his pet only stepping in as a last resort to tilt the balance of power in their favor. Blub was hardly involved. Why bother? They didn’t heal the wounded minions, but replaced them with new recruits who immediately killed Marshmallow’s former subordinates. This was how the familiar dealt with several groups of rats. Alex accumulated ten White Faint Essences again, and he decided to invest them in his rat.

Choose the development direction for the Alpha Rat:

1. Rat King.

2. Rat Dominator.

“Rat King,” Alex chose without much hesitation. In a cave with only rats and slimes, he needed a Rat King. Later, once Alex left this strange place, he could switch the pedigree.

Marshmallow changed again — now she had a bony tiara on her head.

“You’re not a king, you’re a real queen,” Alex chuckled.

The embarrassed Marshmallow wagged her tail.

The subterranean journey continued. Marshmallow easily subdued every pack of rats they encountered. This continued until the mini-army of rodents counted ten. All surplus rats had to be killed, which wasn’t a bad thing — Essences were always welcome.

“Let’s go back,” Alex decided after some thought. “To that crimson rat. Let’s see what it’s guarding. It’s something so valuable that it can’t leave the post for a tasty human.”