DING!

[You have slain {Horde Rat Listener(Evolved)/ Bound Familiar (Enhanced/ Meager Sonokinesis/ Perfect Memory}]

‘What?! It’s not just an ordinary rat? Some… type of evolved beast? With a description almost as long as that of a Knight of the military?’

However, before Miles could continue reading the notification, he felt something enter his body.

Nothing weird. It was just blood, or rather, blood points. Flowing into him and replenishing that which he had lost.

Throwing a quick glance at the dead rat skewered with four blood spikes, Miles could see that it was now quite a bit leaner and less fleshy than it had been before. Perhaps even resembling the collapsed corpse of Xavier, though not to that much of a degree.

It was obvious the blood spikes had transferred the blood of the dead rat to him, as promised by the skill.

Unfortunately, it was very little. Very little.

[Blood Source consumed. +0.1 BP gained.

Horde Rat Listener blood absorbed. Insufficient volume for stat points.]

‘Insufficient, huh?’

But Miles wasn’t disappointed with the result. If he had to guess, a single rat would at most have 50 ml of blood, which seemed to be in line with the blood points he had gained. Expecting more would simply be illogical.

At that same moment, a shout rang out from the side, shifting Miles’s attention. “Oi, did the fella just shoot out spikes of red crystal? What the hell type of ability is that?”

It was Luther, apparently surprised by the four Ironblood Spikes that he had suddenly launched.

It was true that if someone didn’t specifically know that the spikes were made of blood, it could be easily misunderstood to be some type of red crystal. Perhaps, stemming from some type of rare Fae ability.

Quite convenient, as not everyone needed to know that his power was highly dependent on blood.

Jimmy, however, seemed to have a different question, “How--How did you know there was a rat in the wall, at that exact position? And why… why did you kill it?”

Miles ignored the first question, answering the last one alone, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want vermin rats crawling in the walls of my property. Now be silent, please. I need a moment.”

And promptly shifted his attention back to the system.

Jimmy opened his mouth as if to say something, but… didn’t. He appeared to be conflicted, between following Miles’s request or saying something. But in the end, a knowing glance from Luther seemed to decide it wasn’t worth sharing.

Not paying much attention to what was beyond the system screen, Miles continued to read through the first notification, specifically the description that had appeared after he had killed the rat.

While the words carried meaning, he couldn’t exactly make out much beyond what was on the surface, especially with such vague phrases.

Except... for one.

In more or less the same way he had learned about Vampires and Werewolves, through books and stories, Miles was quite familiar with the term familiars.

He knew of Witches and their bestial servants, the familiars. So if the dead rat truly was one...

‘Could Witches be real as well?’

Well, with Vampires, Werewolves, and maybe even sun gods apparently existing in the world, Witches were really not that far-fetched.

‘And it clearly says, Bound Familiar in the notification. So there must be someone who the rat was bound to. If not a witch, something or someone else.’

But if that was true, why had the owner, the individual that the rat was bound to, sent it inside his walls?

Now that he thought about it, the way the rat had placed itself inside the wall, only separated from this room by a thin layer of concrete and ceramic, just after Miles had entered to interrogate the two thieves, seemed a tad bit too convenient.

Stolen novel; please report.

‘It couldn’t be… could it?’

Was it possible that the rat was listening in on their conversation? Eavesdropping?

The phrase ‘Listener’ in the rat’s description seemed to support this conjecture. Not to mention ‘Sonokinesis’, a fairly uncommon fae ability involving the manipulation of sound, and perfectly complementing a rat whose job was to listen.

It was theoretically possible that animals could gain Fae abilities, but no one had been crazy enough to waste serums on mindless animals, at least as far as he knew. It seemed there were some crazy enough to do so, as this seemed to be an exception...

A fae rat, enhanced, and with abilities. The icing on the cake, the rat was also a spy. Somehow not the strangest thing Miles had experienced.

‘But what the hell can a rat even do by listening in? Even if it could control sound waves, it wouldn’t have the intelligence to make sense of what it heard, unless... it didn’t have to.’

After all, there was the mention of ‘perfect memory’. Another ability? Perhaps one that enabled the rat to never forget what it experienced?

That would surely help in storing and maintaining the information it heard or saw.

But it still left a few questions.

How did the witch, or whoever the binder of the rat familiar might be, obtain information from a non-sentient animal?

Could they talk or converse? Enough to understand each other? Maybe it was some form of telepathic communication? Or something else entirely?

But, in the end, Miles knew the specifics didn’t matter as much.

What actually mattered was the fact that someone might have been spying on him.

He used might, as all of this was simple conjecture. Pure hypothesis without proof.

It was entirely possible that he was making a mountain of a molehill. But that was when he realized something.

‘Wait. What if it isn’t ‘might have been’? But ‘might be’? What if it isn’t limited to just this one rat?’

With a flash of red light, Miles activated Blood Vision and glanced around.

Beyond the two human-shaped silhouettes nearby, obviously Jimmy and Luther, there were dozens of blood-red-shaped figures within the walls. And now that Miles was actually inside the house, he could see them clearly.

Rat-shaped silhouettes, scuttling within the walls, the floor, and the roof as if the entire house was a maze of unseen tunnels, specifically built for these creatures. They were spread almost evenly throughout the house, about 3 or 4 per room.

However there were slightly more rats closer to this room for some reason, but not moving any closer. Almost as if they could sense the death of the rat and had arrived to check, but somehow seemed to know getting close might be dangerous...

‘What---What if all the rats in the walls are familiars?’

A terrifying realization. That everything he had done and said since coming here had been observed by someone, through rats in the walls. Someone with dozens of familiars, maybe even more.

The only comfort was the fact that this was only conjecture and not definite.

At least, until the proof arrived.

Ding!

[World Quest: The Walls have Ears, discovered!

You have realized that enemies lurk within your property, hidden inside the walls, listening from the shadows, and gathering information, for some unknown purpose.

It is the Kindred who are meant to be within the shadows, unseen and unheard. You are never to be on the receiving end.

Show what happens to those idiotic enough to spy on you, a Newborn Kindred.

Objectives: Remove all the Familiar Horde Rats from your property (1/78) (Primary)

True Kindred show no mercy to those who dare cross them. Kill all the Familiar Horde Rats before they may escape (1/78) (Bonus)

Prevent the owner from finding out (Bonus)

Rewards: Experience, Chance for Unique Evolution, New Quest. Rewards may vary depending on the user's performance.]

‘Well… f*ck.’

This notification all but confirmed it. Someone with the power to control this many familiars, a horde of 78 rats, was interested in him. Or more specifically, what he represented. Without a doubt, Lykaon Industries.

Miles shifted his gaze back towards the quest notification.

While the situation wasn’t ideal, it also seemed to be an opportunity.

This was the first world ‘quest’ that Miles had received, but he could easily understand the gist of it. Complete the objectives to get the rewards. Complete the bonus objectives to get better rewards.

A simple concept, but it was easier said than done. Especially the bonus objectives. But since it was him, he would naturally be aiming for perfection.

However, Miles knew very well that if he wished to do this, he would have to be smart about it.

Judging by the way the rats were acting, they could sense the deaths of their fellow brethren. Which meant, no rushing in and killing the first rat he found.

He needed something different, more subtle.

Instantly, Miles's eyes gleamed with blood-red light as he activated Blood Vision once more, and raised his head. It only took him a moment to find the human silhouette above him, amidst the many rats.

Obviously, this was Zhan Shen.

The old butler had said something about having dabbled in crafting poisons and toxins. He had even mentioned making a weak rat poison to get rid of the vermin in the walls.

While Miles was confident that ordinary rat poison wouldn't be enough to kill for these, it was still a start.

And simply put, he could think of nothing more fitting, or more efficient, to kill a bunch of rats.