Damian sat hunched over his laptop, scrolling through countless articles and forums. After several minutes of searching, he sighed in frustration. Aside from a handful of news posts warning about sudden feral animal sightings, there was nothing concrete.

“I don’t think people have learned anything about the mana stones,” Damian muttered, scratching his chin. The faint glow of his screen illuminated his furrowed brow.

“If they don’t know, maybe I can get ahead of whatever is coming. This isn’t normal—and it’s going to get worse.”

He had seen enough apocalypse shows to recognize the signs. If this was the beginning of something big, preparation was key.

Lost in thought, Damian’s concentration shattered when he heard a strange noise from outside. A faint rustling, almost imperceptible, broke the silence.

Then the house went dark.

The hum of electricity stopped abruptly, leaving him in complete silence.

Gripping the edge of the table, Damian glanced toward the window. What caused the power outage? he wondered, though deep down, he already suspected the answer.

His mind raced. Another creature might be lurking outside. He needed to prepare.

Pulling up the status window once more, Damian’s gaze landed on the remaining 10 unspent status points. If he was going to face another one of these creatures, he needed an edge.

Without hesitation, he allocated five points into Agility, reasoning it might help if he needed to outrun something.

As the points distributed, a warm sensation surged through his body, but he couldn’t pinpoint any immediate change. He hoped it would be enough.

Moving quickly, Damian rummaged through the closet for a weapon. The bow was still in the shed, which was too far to risk fetching in the dark. Instead, he made his way to his aunt and uncle’s bedroom, searching for his uncle Ben’s K5 pistol. He remembered using it at the gun range a few times before and felt confident he could handle it.

With the gun secured and a flashlight in hand, Damian descended the stairs cautiously, his ears straining for any sound. He scanned the dark corners of the house, using his flashlight to pierce the shadows. Everything seemed still—until another noise came from outside.

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A loud crash echoed through the yard, followed by the unmistakable sound of something rummaging through the trash cans.

Carefully, Damian stepped outside, his heart hammering in his chest. What he saw froze him in place.

A rat, unlike any he’d ever seen, was tearing into the trash. Its glowing red eyes glinted in the darkness, sending a chill down his spine. The creature was the size of a large dog, its matted fur clinging to its muscular frame.

Damian held his breath, his hands trembling as he gripped the gun. This wasn’t like the rabbit he had encountered earlier. This was far worse.

It’s huge, he thought, swallowing the lump in his throat. Fear threatened to paralyze him, but he took a deep breath, forcing himself to steady his aim. If he didn’t act now, things could spiral out of control.

He squeezed the trigger.

The gunshot echoed through the night, the sudden flash of light illuminating the rat’s monstrous form. The creature reacted instantly, dodging the bullet with a speed that defied its size.

“Damn it!” Damian cursed, firing again. The rat lunged toward him, its movements unnervingly fast. It weaved through the darkness, using the shadows to mask itself.

I can’t lose it, Damian thought, adrenaline surging through his veins.

“Where are you going?!” he shouted, firing wildly into the night.

Finally, a shot connected. The rat let out a blood-curdling screech before collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud. Its massive body twitched, blood pooling beneath it.

Breathing heavily, Damian approached the fallen creature, his gun still raised. It was still twitching slightly, its glowing eyes dimming. To be sure, he aimed at its head and fired one last bullet.

The creature went still.

Damian stood over the massive corpse, his legs shaking. The rat must have weighed roughly sixty pounds, its hide unnaturally thick. This was no ordinary animal—this was something out of a nightmare.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” Damian muttered, his voice trembling as he caught his breath. He glanced at the gun in his hand. Two bullets left. These things aren’t easy to kill.

Dragging the enormous rat to the shed, Damian prepared to investigate further. Using a knife, he carefully searched the creature’s chest. Sure enough, embedded near its heart, he found what he was looking for—a mana stone.

But this one was different. It was larger than the stones he had seen earlier, its glow brighter and more intense.

“Identify,” Damian muttered, holding the stone up.

Mana Stone - A stone filled with mana.

His eyes widened. This wasn’t an Inferior Mana Stone like before. This was something stronger.

Without hesitation, Damian placed the stone in his mouth. It dissolved almost instantly, and a surge of energy coursed through him, filling him with warmth.

Then came the sound he had been waiting for.

Ding!

“Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!”

Damian smiled, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. Whatever was happening, he was getting stronger. But as he glanced back at the rat’s corpse, a shiver ran down his spine. If creatures like this were becoming more common, he would need all the strength he could get.