A Rat In Wolf’s Clothing

Cannibal: You have consumed the flesh of your own kind. Others of your race will feel uncomfortable around you but you now gain a permanent 10% bonus damage against your race.

Percentage based damage boosts? There must be some sort of hidden damage calculation; clearly I could see the numerical value of damage done to myself, so it makes sense for enemies to have the same values. Still, even with the caveat of making my own race uncomfortable, this is looking like a solid advantage. I have very little interest in making friends with other rats and will undoubtedly be hunting more of them if I want to reach max level and see what that gets me.

On the matter of potentially evolving, I’ve found only one method of gaining experience; killing. I want to evolve. Obviously, that means I need to keep killing. Which means putting my life at risk.

I don’t like putting my life at risk.

This fight only went so well because I heard them coming when they attempted to ambush me; I’m under no illusions that I wouldn’t currently be the one dead if they hadn’t fucked that up. Ambushes and sneak attacks are a venerable institute with a long and proud history of successfully killing even superior foes. The presence of MP suggests the existence of magic, but even if it does exist I have no way of using it, nor would it be immediately helpful at a base level.

Magic is typically the sort of thing that takes decades of dedicated study before it really becomes useful. I have two years at best. Maybe, if I manage to become something with a centuries-long lifespan, I’ll set aside some time for really learning magic; for now, I need to focus on what will keep me alive and that which provides immediate benefits. As a rat, my options for confrontations are basically stealth or death; anything stronger than me will easily kill me in an open battle and most that are weaker than me either won't be worth killing or will be too quick and mobile to catch.

The one thing that can neutralize both superior combat ability and higher mobility is a sneak attack. If you don't see it coming, then you can't use those superior abilities to avoid or counter it. Quick and decisive opening attacks are what I need to focus on.

Which means speed and strength. If stealth was a stat I'd be focusing on that, but it doesn't appear to be so I'll just have to improvise that part. I need the speed to close the distance quickly, the strength to ensure my opening strike is the last strike, then further speed to GTFO in case the first strike doesn't do it.

I can make guesses about what each stat does, but unless (and until) I can increase them and see a difference, I can't be sure. Some are obvious, like Strength probably increases physical strength and Intelligence probably increases brain capacity; but how exactly do they do that? And what do things like Charisma and Agility change to increase those about me? Will Charisma make me more attractive? If so, how will that work for everyone or will it just be by increasing factors other rats find endearing? WIll it actually magically influence others to look more favourably upon me? The description of Cannibal certainly suggests as much. Vague things like that are best left for when I have time and/or points to experiment with. For now, I need to figure out an efficient method for ambushing prey.

My eyes turn to the ragged remains of the rat I just killed. My initial thoughts of covering myself in blood are still sound, but clearly scavengers exist and cannibalistically omnivorous rats could well be attracted to the scent of blood and decay. If I can find a good hiding spot to conceal myself in, I can use these gibbets as bait to lure in new prey, then use their corpses as further bait ad infinitum.

I looked around, observing my environment more carefully: Curved walls and ceiling that meld into each other made from stones that were probably grey at one point in the distant past, two side walk like walkways likely for maintenance that almost never happens if the state of this place is anything to go by, a river of partially frozen sewage flowing between the walkways (and occasionally overflowing onto them), multiple smaller branching tunnels. Faint light filtered in through infrequent grates and cracks in the ceiling, bringing with it the distant sounds of civilized inhabitation; both showing I likely wasn’t far from the surface.

Skill gained: Night Vision Lvl 1

Evidently the light was faint enough for even this system to register my eye straining effort to see in it. As soon as the notice appeared my vision got marginally better, things that had once been hidden in darkness becoming just barely visible. Things like a small pipe recessed in the stone a few feet off the ground with no sewage flowing out of it several feet before the end of a dead end tunnel.

A grin spread across my snout at the sight; I could hardly have asked for a more perfect place to set up an ambush. Using that big nose I had been granted I sniffed around as I slowly, quietly maneuvered closer; while this level of caution was probably unnecessary, I know sound can travel very far in a locale like this.

Skill gained: Stealth.

Okay, now that is interesting. And slightly worrying considering stealth skills are only usually leveled or gained when actively avoiding something’s awareness. A quick but careful glance around revealed nothing obvious, but if predators were obvious they would never catch anything.

Still my schnoz didn’t detect anything over the pungent and overpowering smell of rotting shit and garbage and my sensitive ears only heard the stream flowing and faint, distant sounds of movement. I wasn’t used to using hearing to detect where things were coming from to this degree so I couldn’t tell exactly how far away the movements were, but I could distinctly tell they were getting closer.

Well, that explains the Stealth skill.

I scurried forth with as much haste as I could manage while still keeping Stealth active and dragging a partially eaten corpse behind me. Rats were not meant for dragging things almost equal their size, but my three legged scuttle eventually got me into the branching tunnel.

Strength +1

Apparently even the miniscule weight of half a rat was just on the edge of what my pathetic strength could manage, as suddenly the load became much easier to manage. Well, that confirms what Strength does; my muscles seem simply more efficient and powerful, if only by a little. My enhanced strength allowed me to reach the pipe I was aiming for ever so slightly quicker.

Tossing what meat hadn't been scrapped off on the ground slightly past my hiding spot, I wiped off as much of the blood I had managed to once more get all over me on the wall. Giving the recessed pipe a sniff to see if it was occupied, I slathered some blood just above it before crawling inside.

I quickly encountered a slight problem; I took up almost all of the space in my tiny home and turning around requires more than a scant few millimeters. Based on the sounds coming from the entrance, my mysterious pursuer had found and taken the bait (makes me wish I had poison available… Blight, maybe? Thoughts for the future.), so backing out is probably not the best idea.

I sighed, crushing down my fear of being trapped in here as I came to a dead end (where something had obviously crushed the pipe externally) in my attempt to find a place to turn around. I let out all the air from my lungs, sucked in my gut, compressed my muscles, and ground my bones together; anything I could do to take up less space as I tried to turn around.

NIght Vision +1

Agility +1

As the notifications pinged in my mind my body felt looser and more flexible. It wasn’t enough, mind you; but it was something. My new Agility did effectively allow me to more thoroughly wedge myself sideways; I had just enough leverage to wiggle forward and back a tiny bit.

Agility +1

That was it, that little bit more flexibility allowed me to wiggle past myself. Scurrying down the tiny tunnel with as much haste as I could (noticeably faster than before); I have no idea how long I was stuck down there (felt like years), but by the time I reached the entrance, my bait had been completely devoured and a much larger rat was licking blood and gristle off its paws.

This gargantuan specimen of rattliness was almost thrice my size; standing at nearly three feet tall and with teeth the size of my head. Staring at this thing I began to wonder if rats were the only creatures in this small ecosystem.

I hunkered down in my pipe, carefully watching the (comparatively) hulking creature clean itself; looking for any potential opening to deal a lethal blow. Unless I could bite on its back and burrow inside, my only hope is for it to reveal its throat to me.

Luckily, I had thought of exactly that. I backed up slightly, reflexively attempting to scrub away my scent as the giant rat sniffed the air and turned its putrid yellow gaze to the wall around my pipe.

Skill gained: Scent Scrubber

Stealth +1

Let’s just hope this works.