Phew, this chapter was fun to write. This should be how the alpha wolf fight will be rewritten, complete with details and more epic struggles. Le me know what you guys think.

edit- Thanks to Blacksmith for an honest review. (He's the first one in a long time I can actually SEE). Sorry about the grammar, I'm trying to fix it :p.

Enjoy!

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"Due to its earlier rampage, the floor is pretty clear of any small debris in the way." Mary reported, "So besides a few large rocks, it's a clear shot to him from anywhere on the ground."

"Any chance you can see his name and level?" Steel asked.

Mary shook her head, "We need to be within his aggression range to see it. From what we've seen though, I believe he has a lower base speed than a normal rat. He makes up for it with strength and most likely vitality. Besides that, I can't begin to guess the possible abilities he may have, including the suicide skill. I'd be cautious when his health begins to redden."

Steel nodded at her words, "Well then, I'll take his attacks while you use the rocks to hide while throwing your fireballs. Echo and Shadefur, you use the rocks to hide between attacks as well. That should confuse him enough to let me be the focus of his attacks."

They nodded, and the group slowly made their way onto the battle field. The giant rat was much too busy trying to dig Whisper out to notice them. Mary, Echo, and Shade all took positions behind a sizable rock to hide them, while Steel made his way up to the elevated platform. He could finally see the rat's information.

Opponent InformationNameLevelThreatHealth[tr]Rat Pack Leader10C175DescriptionThe secret rat boss of the first floor. It will only reveal itself to chase a bright enough light. Lacking the speed of its smaller brethren, it has increased strength and health compared to them. its fur glistens in the light it chases.

'Nice. It looks like we'll be getting a nifty reward too!' He gleefully thought, readying his shield. The Rat Pack, paused its digging and finally turned around to stare at Steel. It growled at him, scratching the rock beneath it with retractable claws.

".....Leavvvveeee..." It hissed out slowly. Steel dropped his shield in shock. The rat could speak! "......Steel...." It slurred out, than roared in anger and threw it self at him.

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The battle began as the massive rat landed in front of Steel. Its head was at Steel's chest at normal height, and its tail was 4 arms lengths long. The rat made the first move, whipping its body around and slamming Steel with its tail on his right side, knocking his shield away. It bull rushed him and threw its head up, throwing Steel into the air and back toward the rocks.

He landed on his back and gave a small groan of pain.

-15 impact damage.

He jumped up and retook a battle stance. He hadn't gained the rat's full attention yet, so the others couldn't afford to reveal themselves yet. "I don't know how you know me, but it won't save you!" He roared at the rat, releasing Leader's Roar and Rallying Cry. As expected, the Roar didn't affect the rat, which ran forward toward Steel.

Steel changed position, pulling his shield arm back as the rat approached. Eyes red and filled with hatred, the rat Jumped at him, using its full body as a body slam. This is what Steel had been waiting for.

Steel pulled back his Shield fully, than swung it forward in a counter boxing movement. As his arm swung out toward the rat's body, he stopped it, letting the shield only softly tap the rat.

-Sca-douche!-

The rat went flying at top speed into the elevated area, skipping across the ground and spinning before slamming into the wall behind it. This was Steel's ultimate combo, Shield Falcon Punch and Impact Tap together, and it had a devastating effect on both the rat and Steel himself.

Injury acquiredtd4]Recoil damage from your attack has broken your arm.[/td4]Broken Arm75% penalty to all attacks that require the use of your broken arm.Duration3 Days

Steel grimaced as he lost 25% of his hp. Still, losing 55 hp was nothing compared to the 131 damage he had just inflicted. (Yes, I did math for once, praise me). He hurriedly switched his shield to his other arm as he watched the rat for any signs of red. The so called secret boss was quite literally, almost dead. The rat shakily lifted itself up and wobbled into a standing position.

The rat let out a loud cry that reverberated around the cavern, amplified by the natural acoustics. Steel was frozen by a paralyzed status condition, and watched helplessly as the rat let out a second cry, this one higher pitched.

'Dammit, it's another reinforcement’s ability." He realized, still awkwardly frozen in place. Sure enough, a pack of 12 rats appeared from hole in the walls. They carried food in their mouths and dropped their loads in front of the leader rat before turning toward Steel and hissing. Once the last rat had dropped its food, the head rat made a quick bark and began eating the food.

At his bark, the rats moved together and ran at Steel in a V formation. He struggled against his status, but the timer still had a few more seconds to go before he was freed. When it finally disappeared, Steel had barely enough time to activate his entire defensive arsenal before they hit.

16 bodies pounded against his shield, pushing him back some more from the elevated wall. They had rolled up into balls and bounced off of his shield, not doing any damage. Instead, they landed quickly and ran around his shield, taking large bites from him before scurrying back. Their teeth cut into his legs and arms, some getting through his armor and others failing to pierce it.

-150 pierce damage

Now it was Steel's turn to panic. He only had 95 hp left, 2 bleed debuffs, and was out of mana. He was forced to chug 3 of his minor mana potions to recover his mana fully, than cast Milna's Blessing on himself for 3 seconds. He healed himself 90 hp and spent 60 out of his 100 mana to do so, and by the time he had finished the rat squadron had returned again.

Not willing to put himself in the same position, this time he swung his arm out in a Shield Bash and knocked most of them away. However, 4 were late enough that they missed the bash and pounced at him. A flash of dark fur was all the warning Steel had before a body knocked him to the side and intercepted the rats’ mid-air. Shadefur had arrived, with Echo on her back, sword slashing in the air.

The wolf managed to bite and swipe two of the rats, while Echo stabbed one and slashed the other rat with the first rat still squirming on his sword. When they landed, he stabbed the sword through the rat fully into the ground, killing it with a fatal crit. The slave smiled at him and raised his sword in the air, Shadefur hopping on her back legs as he did so.

"Yeah yeah, you’re the hero I get it." Steel smiled at the happy slave, "Now hurry up and help me finish the job." Steel activated Shield Cover as he said this, taking an attack from a rat that had snuck around them.

-7 impact damage

Steel grimaced at the damage. Using his right arm meant weaker attacks and defense, but the training from Eric at least reduced the penalties to only 10%. He pommeled the rat with a Shield Slam before returning to the fight at hand. 11 rats were left, and they had given up fighting in formation. Instead, they scattered around the three of them and attacked in small waves, forcing each of them to concentrate on defense. One rat crashed into Steel's shield, but he had to sing it around to punch another rat back before blocking two more. Echo was forced to use his sword like a shield, because slashing and stabbing used too much time before a rat landed on him. Shadefur was having the most trouble, having to dodge their ground attacks and preventing them from sinking their teeth into her legs again.

"Wall of Flame!"

An ethereal bubble popped into existence around them, incinerating the rats that came into contact with it and trapping the ones inside onto the ground. The three slashed, bit, and pounded the remaining rats into the ground, watching their tails twitch in their death throes. Steel looked over to find a concentrating Mary putting her hands down.

"Don't be distracted Steel! Hurry and kill the other one before it finishes regenerating!"

Startled, his eyes found the rat leader again. His health was rising rapidly as he was eating, almost to 75% now. "Not on my watch!" Steel shouted as he used the last of his mana to create as many Earth Spikes as possible. The rat hissed as they hit it, most failing to pierce its hind. Distracted now, it stopped feeding and locked murderous red eyes with Steel. With a squeak, it bounded forward and round 2 began.

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The rat lord had 75% hp left. Steel had a broken arm and a little more than 50% hp left, with low mana and stamina. Echo, Shadefur, and Mary were at full health, though Mary still had a stunted mana pool. The battle was leaning toward the rat's side.

"Echo, you ride Shadefur and harass ratty over there while I brawl with him. Mary, shoot from the back there." Steel ordered.

Mary spoke up behind him, "Are you sure Steel? Your fighting arm is broken still, can you go toe to toe with that big rat?"

He shrugged, "Not like anyone else can. Let's go!" He charged in, his right arm holding the shield parallel to his body. A quick sip provided him the mana and stamina needed for a little while, and he turned his body to the left. He reached the rat and swung his arm out in a slingshot Shield Bash. It hit the rat's head and pushed aside, but didn't move its body at all.

I seemed to give him a smug grin as it back-slapped him, moving him back a few steps. Fairly annoyed by the strength difference, Steel delivered a straight Shield Slam to the rats’ head, this time forcing the rat back a few steps. The rat growled and launched itself suddenly forward. It knocked Steel onto his back and proceeded to swipe rapidly with its claws at him, Steel's Shield barely taking the blows as he struggled against both the claws and the weight.

Suddenly, the rat moved back with an angry roar. Echo and Shadefur were attacking its tail while it had been distracted. Echo was hacking down with his sword while Shadefur was biting and trying to tear into it. The rat swiped its tail at them and they beat a hasty retreat from the whip. Mary used the opportunity to fire 3 regular size fireballs at the rat's head, each exploding on impact and pushing the rat back.

The smoke cleared to reveal a very pissed off rat. It threw itself over Steel and began running at full speed toward Mary, intent on gutting her where she stood.

"Mary, look out!" Steel cried, scrambling to his feet. He was far too late to anything to save her, and could only watch helplessly as the rat stretched out its mouth, teeth pointing out and dripping with saliva, closing around. . . nothing.

The rat bit into Mary as her form faded like an illusion. The rat skidded to a halt in confusion, head jerking side to side and sniffing the air, searching for its quarry. A second volley of fireballs exploded on its side and knocking it into a rock. Mary stood triumphantly smiling a little away from her original spot. "Don't worry Steel, fires is my specialty. I can make mirages all day if I need to!" She winked at Steel.

Steel stared on in horror, "Mary, you're up against a beast, not a human. It'll smell you out!" Mary cocked her head, than the image of her disappeared as a rock thrown by the rat's tail flew through her

The rat sniffed the air again, than bunched back and threw itself at one of the rocks on the ground. Mary, the real Mary this time, barely made it out before the rat crushed it to smithereens. She rolled and started running, but tripped over one of the loose rocks and fell. She cried out in fear, for the rat lord was casually making its way over to her. It knew she couldn't escape, so it was taking it's time walking toward her, step by step, gnashing its teeth and drooling.

Mary froze up in fear, finding herself for the first time in a situation where she was actually in danger. It terrified her so much her mind stopped working.

Steel roared out a battle cry as he ran at the rat, but the rat didn't bat an eye in his direction. As Steel close in, it lazily whipped him square in the chest knocked him back into his side, not even putting the strength in to do real damage. "This is one freaking sadistic rat." He muttered as he got back up, "I need some fail proof way to get its attention."

". . . . . .Shit, this is going to hurt a lot."

Steel drank the last of his mana potions to fill his mana, then also refilled his health and stamina. Taking a deep breath, he uttered, "Domination!"

Instantly, the black fog rolled out of his shield and enveloped the rat lord. For a few moments, it persisted, than faded away. The rat lord was frozen, its front paw locked in the air as it was about to crush Mary. Slowly, it turned its head toward Steel like a clockwork toy.

NoticeYour domination has failed. Rat Pack Lord has entered a berserk state

"Oh yeah, this is really going to hurt."

Raw fury burst out of the rat's mouth, the emotion infusing every bit of its body. As it bristled up, Steel called out, "Echo, feel free to attack however you like. This thing won't pay attention to you until I'm spread across the floor." He heard a bark of acknowledgement.

The rat's red eye color began spreading throughout its body, making it glow in the torch lit cave a disturbing red and black color. Even its previously white teeth were blood red now. Where a sadistic intelligence had been before, now its eye were only focused on one thing, Steel's death. 'Right, let's avoid that skill if possible in the future.' He thought to himself.

The rat lord began to squeeze its body closer, like a jack-in-the-box antique toy, as the red began to brighten. When the color turned bright red, it launched itself forward by kicking off the ground at full force. Steel didn't even try to block it, he activated Dodge and rolled the hell away from the red missile. It slammed headfirst into the rock Steel had been standing in front of, and moved off it like it hadn't made a dent. It roared pure hate at Steel as it ran at him at full throttle. Steel dodged again, this time rolling his body into a ball and rolled over the rat's back as it went under him.

Of course, such flashy dodges infuriated the rat even more. It didn't even pay attention to the pair who were hacking and biting at it as it turned to charge again. It whipped it's tale at them, but its eyes never left Steel so it missed their quick jump back. The rat leaned over and grabbed stones with its paws. It reared back on its hind legs and launched a never ending barrage of stone at Steel, who was forced to run and Dodge every 2 seconds. He raised his shield to block the smaller rocks from hitting him, and ducked or jumped over the larger contenders. Finally, the rat lord picked up a giant stone and hurled it at Steel. As he prepared to avoid it, a second rock smashed into it; turning it into a meteor shower of sharp stones. He grimaced as he was forced to take the attack under his shield, knowing full well what would happen if he couldn't move.

A body flow from the charging rat sent him flying onto the elevated platform, the rat pack finally landing a solid shot on his person. He glanced at his hp; 32% left after the rocks and blow. At this point, the rat was at 45% health; with Echo and Shadefur inflicting 2% damage every time they attacked. Mary was still experiencing battle shock for the first time, and he was on his last leg.

He really had not wanted to use it so late in the day, but he had no choice now. It was time to match fury with fury.

"I call upon the elements, let nature's will guide through me." Steel began the incantation, "Let no force stand in my way. Let no person impede my path. I am not vengeance or justice, I. am. FURY!" He screamed out his anger, calling out from the depths of his soul. Nature's Fury eliminated mana cost for Earth Spells as well as doubling their power. It also increased all three physical attributes for 10 seconds. The downside was the complete loss of mana and stamina, which would kill him without any help and the spell would be off for the next 24 hours.

Still, his form glowed the tell-tale ethereal green as his Earth Armor and Earth Wall spells returned him to his juggernaut form. Resembling a warrior wearing a full armor set of stone and limbs, he gave his mighty battle cry and charged the rat. The Rat Pack Leader returned his cry with one of his own and also charged. They met at the center of the elevated platform, shield to body slam. They met in a concussive blow that shook the cavern and sent Echo and Shadefur flying back beside Mary. They would be no help for this fight.

The rat alternated scratches and tail swipes to injure Steel. First left hand, than right hand, than a turn as the tail slammed into his right side. Steel braced against the blow by creating pillars of Earth to support him, than infused his shield with earth mana to create the piercer. He used the same stone pillars to strengthen his blow into the rat's head, Shield Bashing first and then followed by a Shield Slam. The rat jerked back, eye socket smashed to smithereens and growled. It jumped onto Steel and used its pure size and weight to bring him to the ground. It wrapped its mouth around the stone helm and bit repeatedly at it, stone chips flying in every direction form the fast attack. Steel was trapped underneath it, unable to move a part of his body.

The earth, on the other hand, was still all under his control. Eight pillars in a circle shot up underneath the rat and sent it flying into the ceiling. It slammed into it with a crash as stalactites pierced its body. With a groan, it fell back toward the ground, where Steel was waiting. His fist back, using the stone to make up for using the wrong hand, he prepared his special move.

"Shield Falcon Punch!"

The blow bent the rat in half as its spine snapped. The red glow dimmed as its breaths slowed down. Finally, only its eyes were red, and they stared deep into Steel's soul. It seemed to smile at him, than relaxed as the life completely faded away. It fell over to the ground onto its side and lay there.

Steel canceled his spells and lay on the ground, exhausted physically and mentally. "Hey Echo, I'm about to be in real danger, so be sure to keep me alive." Steel called out.

His last glance revealed Echo and Shadefur running over to him, as the world turned black and he stopped thinking.