James slinked back toward the group without making a sound. "I can see several small rats and one large rat. The large one is sitting on a pile of rubbish, while the smaller ones seem to be bringing the big one anything from torn cloth to half-eaten bugs."

Michail listened closely before nodding. "Normal mine rats we get from time to time. Mostly they leave the miners alone unless they get ravenous. Did you notice the color of their eyes by any chance James?"

James thought about the question for a moment before answering. "I can't be certain but I believe they were black."

Theo stood and unsheathed his sword before turning to his party. "Okay here is what I think. I will rush the big guy while Anita and Michail blast the small fries. James keeps in stealth and circle around to keep watch for anything coming to join the party and Tallia you stay near our casters to intercept anything getting too close. Any objections?"

Raising a hand, Michail coughed awkwardly before speaking. " I want to try using my scan skill on them if that is alright with everyone else?" Getting nods from them all, Michail followed James and quietly as possible to a slight crook in the wall.

James practically stuck his mouth to Michail's ear before whispering. "The rats are roughly fifty feet further down the tunnel slowly poke your head out to take a look. as long as you don't make any noise I think you should be fine... Ah I forgot to ask is this spell or whatever it is going to be flashy?"

Ignoring James last question Michail stuck his head out from the small alcove and pointed the finger at the closest rat -Scan-

Mine, Rat Level 1 Exp 7/10 HP-12. MP-0 AC-10. MR-0 Str. 2 Dex. 11 Con. 9 Int. 2 Wis. 10 Cha. 4

Frowning, Michail turned to James, relaying what he saw. "I am going to see if I can reach the big one it should be just barely inside the skill's range."

James frowned. "Are you sure about this their are a lot of the little critters between us and the big one if he somehow senses the spell we could be in a lot of trouble."

Michail considered the problem for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, good point lets do this. You head back and tell Theo to get ready to rush in Knowing our enemy seems like the smart course here since the smaller rats are stronger than I expected."

James was torn between following Michail's instructions and leaving him here alone. Or following Theo's instructions and not letting the squishy mage wander around alone. "Fine but don't cast the spell until either Theo or I get back, those rats can cross fifty feet in a matter of seconds." Michail rolled his eyes but agreed not to cast it until either James or Theo had arrived to watch his back.

Michail felt more than heard when Theo crouched down beside him. "Give the others a minute to get into positions then begin your spell."

Slightly taken aback by this Theo, who did not show even a trace of his usually joking nature, Michail could only nod while tensing his shoulders. I suppose it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering what he did for me right before getting sent to the mine.

A tap from Theo on his shoulder let Michail know it was time to begin. When He heard Theo draw his blade and shift slightly, Michail poked his head out barely and cast the spell. However, this time the Rat did notice something, and its beady eyes instantly swiveled toward the spot Michail hid. When it didn't find anything, it stuck its nose in the air and sniffed twice. With narrowed eyes, it squeaked at a couple of smaller rats that stopped tearing at a ragged cloth and began sniffing the ground but in the wrong direction.

Michail breathed a sigh of relief before tapping the flashing icon. Then whispered his findings to Theo.

Giant mine rat Lvl, 3 Exp, 12/75 HP, 26 MP, 5 AC, 12 MR, 5 Str. 8 Dex. 14 Con. 11 Int. 4 Wis. 10 Cha. 4 Call Rats. Calls 1-4 normal rats when HP drops below half. Cost 5 MP

Theo finished reading the screen then bent down, whispering to Michail. "Fall back and join Anita and Tallia. When I move start blasting the small rats. Tell Anita not to bother firing at the Big one if you finish all the small ones off. I don't think her spark spell will do enough damage, due to the Magic resistance." Michail nodded once and crept back toward Anita and Tallia.

Theo counted to sixty when Michail left and, with a shout, charged out from behind the outcropping and charged straight for the Large rat. He was barely halfway to his target when three blue flashes zipped by him, crashing into three separate rats turning them into nothing but red mist. Less than a second later, a yellow bolt flashed by Theo's ankle with an ominous buzz. The rat that was about to try and take a bite of Theo's ankle jerked and spasmed a few times before it lay still, streams of smoke wafting from the rat's unconscious body.

Ignoring the rats mobbing his ankles as their teeth didn't seem capable of penetrating the tough leather. Theo sprinted the last couple dozen feet to the Giant rat. Upon reaching the Rat, Theo gripped his sword tighter in both hands, bringing it up for an overhead chop screaming -Cleave- as he swung down. Unfortunately, the rat wasn't as stupid as its underlings and jumped backward and, in doing so, saved its own life. Theo's chop landed to the left of the rat's head, cutting deep enough to hit bone. Theo felt his grip slip on his sword and almost lost his balance but managed to plant his feet more firmly.

A red 19 floated up from the rat until fading away. So that's what show damage mean's. Theo thought right before the Giant rat squealed loud enough to make Theo take a couple of steps back and lose his hearing momentarily. As soon as the sound died, four rats roughly twice the size of the smaller ones appeared around the big one as if from thin air. All four had bright red eyes, and they all turned to Theo.

Theo raised his sword again, and the four rats lunged at him. He caught one mid-air, slicing it in two, but three sets of razor-sharp teeth clamped down a moment later. One on each ankle with their combined weight driving into him they nearly knocked Theo over. The third rat clamped down on the soft meat of his inner thigh, driving a scream from his mouth. Letting go of his sword with one hand, Theo grabbed the rat, chewing and scratching his inner thigh. Clamped his large hands around its throat, driving his fingers into its flesh, ignoring the sharp nails slicing his forearm.

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Glancing toward the Giant rat, Theo cursed to himself when he saw it charging at him. However, just as Theo had decided to let the struggling rat go and get ready for the big one's charge. Two blue missiles slammed into its side while a third hit one of the ankle biters. A split second later, a short sword cut deeply into the other, making it let go right as a yellow bolt of energy slammed into it. Leaving only the rat still struggling in Theo's grip, Suddenly all the conjured rats vanished. Leaving no trace that they ever existed except the wounds on Theo's legs and forearms.

It took Theo a moment to register that the rat he was trying to strangle to death had vanished. When he did notice, he dropped the hand to his side, trying not to pay attention to the growing puddle of blood beneath himself. "Everyone alright?" After counting the voices that called back, Theo nodded before sitting down right where he stood. Curious, he activated his HP bar on his hud, going slightly green when he saw only a third of the bar filled. "I don't suppose you can spare me a cure can you Anna?"

Anita, who was already hurrying toward Theo before he asked, quickly sat down next to him, grabbing his hand to examine it. "No I am short two MP to cast a cure wounds spell." After reviewing the cuts, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw the wounds were already beginning to close. "I can make a couple cups of water so we can clean up some of the blood."

Pulling back the water skin he was about to pour over his hand Theo took a long swig from it instead, acting as though that was what he had planned the entire time. "That sounds like a great idea. Even better while I sit here and get coddled by you I can leave examining the remains to everyone else."

Rolling her eyes, Anita opened her pack and pulled out a large bowl she brought for this exact reason. Well, not precisely, she hadn't intended it for washing blood, but she did intend to use it for conjuring water.

After cleaning his arm and wrapping a bandage around the still closing wound, Anita made Theo take off his pants, ignoring his jests about the wrong time and place. While examining the tear in the pants, a screen popped up asking if she wanted to mend the item with a cost of one leather strip. Turning around, Anita hollered at Tallia. "hey Tallia do you or Michail have a strip of leather I can use?"

Looking up from where she had been poking a dead rat that turned to dust, leaving a small pile of coppers behind, Tallia turned to Anita, a questioning look on her face. She noticed the torn pants a moment later, and she quickly ran to her and Michail's packs, digging out a small strip of Leather from one. In a small, still, slightly raspy voice, she asked. "Is this good enough?"

Tallia quickly ran to Anita, squatting down next to her to watch. A few seconds later, there was a blue and brown glow, and the leather pants stitched themselves back together. "Neat" was all Tallia could say. Then she went back to pick up the dropped coins.

A few minutes later, the rats were all cleaned up, dropping a total of six silver and five copper worth of coins. Theo looked up from where he had sat back to the wall. "According to the log the party gained one hundred and fortysix experience. My share is twentynine how about the two of you?"

Anita, who lay with her head in Theo's lap, flicked a finger before speaking. "I got the same." Michail nodded but otherwise continued to go through his damage logs with furrowed brows.

"Interesting I suppose that means that Tallia and James also got a share. I wonder how the system deals with levels for those without access?" A soft snore startled Theo from his musings. Looking down, he found Anita fast asleep, "well I guess we are taking a break. After were good and rested we will continue."

James shrugged. "Fine by me not like the time of day matters underground. I will take first watch." He then sat against the wall, looking out into the tunnel leading to the unknown part of the tunnel. Theo watched in fascination as James faded from view without moving from his spot.

A couple of hours later, James shook Theo awake, then walked to his pack, removed his bedroll, and lay down on top, falling asleep almost instantly.

Theo rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then stretched; however, when he tried to stand, he found Anita still asleep on his leg that is now numb. He slowly stretched his leg out, doing his best not to wake Anita up. He then leaned back against the wall doing his best to listen for any sounds coming from either direction of the tunnel. I wish I had James's ability to see in the dark would come in handy right about now.

Deciding it would be best to get up and walk around, Theo gently lifted Anita's head then slid his bedroll under. Getting to his feet, he nearly stumbled before catching his balance as it felt like a thousand tiny needles were stabbed into his numb leg. Theo paced back and forth, going a couple of dozen paces down the tunnel in one direction, then turning around and doing the same back toward the miner's camp. This kept him awake and alerted even though he had to fight the urge to open his menus to read up on some random fact about his stats.

About two hours later, Theo heard moven=ment from Michail and Tallia's spot they chose behind a large boulder. As Theo was on his way by, he inadvertently spotted them both putting their pants on. What why would they get undressed in a cave with people around, not to mention giant rats. However, after a moment of thought, he concluded that they are probably used to this since they spend nearly all their time underground with little to no privacy.

Deciding not to think on it further, Theo walked back to where he left Anita. At some point, she had loosened her shirt, giving Theo a pretty good view of what lay underneath. Slightly flustered, Theo decided to sit further away, where he couldn't see anything he shouldn't. I really don't feel like dodging flying daggers in a place without trees to hide behind or on.

Theo glanced up less than an hour later as Anita sat down next to him with a rather annoyed look on her face. To make things more confusing, she kept shooting jealous glances toward Tallia. "Hey whats the matter did Tallia do something to annoy you?" Anita didn't answer, only turned her face away. Theo couldn't be sure in the dim light, but her face seemed to darken somewhat.

Theo looked at Anita, still confused by her attitude. He noticed her front still hanging slightly loose, giving him a relatively good view from his angle. With an embarrassed cough, Theo began shifting uncomfortably. "You should probably fix your top before anyone else walks over."

Anita was about to obey when her hands dropped back down, and she turned to face Theo fully. "Do you like me?" Theo could only nod while trying not to stare down at what was right in front of his face now. "Do you find me attractive?" Again Theo could only nod as he felt his face start to burn. He could also feel the amused stares from the other three watching from the sidelines, hearing the occasional snort like someone trying hard not to laugh.

"Then why haven't you done anything about it I have gave you plenty of opportunities." Shocked, Theo tried to back up, but the boulder got in the way when he saw tears start to roll down Anita's cheeks.

Theo finally blurted out some words though he stuttered most of them, to begin with. "Last time I took advantage of you I had to dodge throwing knives and failed I might add. Also if you recall we met less than a week ago aren't you moving things along a bit fast... Not that I actually mind, it just seems strange for the girl to rush things. in my experience you ladies prefer to string guys along for months before even letting us even think about getting hands-on. if you know what I mean."

James finally burst into laughter. "Thats what you focus on not the fact that we are currently in a monster infested mine?"

Michail and Tallia glance at each other, deciding it best to keep their opinions to themselves for now.

As if only now realizing they were not the only two people in the mine, Anita flushed before quickly tieing her top closed. Then tried to hide her face in Theo's chest, hoping all the spectators would disappear. The first to say anything was Tallia. "Alright shows over lets scout ahead while these two talk things over." Tallia grabbed Michail's arm, tugging him along, glaring at the still laughing James. They held their packs and disappeared down the tunnel.

Five minutes later, a much calmer Anita walked toward the group, not daring to look into their eyes. She was followed closely by Theo, who looked both confused and happy at the same time.

James looked like he was going to say something he might regret later, so Theo saved him the trouble by talking first while staring him in the eye. "I wonder what class Tallia will unlock? Perhaps it would be better to use my next casting on her."

James closed his mouth with an audible snap. "Well since were all here I will scout ahead."

They were all about to set off when a man with a silver badge appeared from the direction of the Miners camp. "Hey, nubs, all four teams are needed for an emergency meeting.