Shivering with trepidation, I slowly worked my way down the hallway towards the central hall. The main school building here was built with a large square central room which went from the bottom floor all the way to the top floor with multiple steps leading up around it, and then from that lobby area on each floor, the floor itself was divided into four separate main hallways. Currently I was at the far southeast end of the building, in one of the side halls off the side of the main hallway. I guess the architects, or school officials, or somebody important, must’ve thought that putting the roof access in an out of the way corner was a good idea back when they designed this place. I wasn’t so certain of that now, as I had basically the whole building to traverse before I could get to the lobby area on the floor and use it to go down to the exit.

My newly acquired shoes rubbed my feet wrong as they made sticking sounds to the floor as I gingerly worked my way down the hallway. As I passed several classrooms, I glanced into them hoping to see a different scene, but it was all to no avail. Nothing but various scenes of carnage and destruction greeted my eyes, and before long I could feel them starting to water up once more.

After passing about the 6th classroom, my heart began to thump trying to escape my chest as I heard some sort of strange skittering coming from a different room just a little ways up the hall. I tried to pause a moment to figure out what I wanted to do, but apparently that choice wasn’t mine this time. I guess the things in the room must’ve heard my sticky steps at about the same time as I heard their skittering, as several oversized creatures that I could only describe as a cross between a porcupine and a rat came storming out of the room and began hissing towards me.

These porcu-rats were about the size of a large cat, and with a quick count I could tell there was a total of four of them spitting and hissing at me. I could feel my knees tremble, but I knew I had to do something before they all just suddenly swarmed me. Swallowing my fear, I charged forward at the nearest rat, closed my eyes and swung like a madman at it.

Of course, I didn’t hit a thing, but I did end up slipping and falling on my as.. rump. I suppose that’s what I get when I don’t have the courage to keep my eyes open! Gritting my teeth expecting to get swarmed and chewed upon instantly, I struggled to get to my feet – only to see that the rats had scattered backwards away from me even further! Apparently my insane change and subsequent rump flop had confused and started them and they were trying to sort out what was going on.

Realizing that these little beasts must not have been as brave as I’d first though, I barreled forward again and watched them scatter away from me as I swiped at the nearest one. This time I managed to smash my table-leg club into one of the creatures hindquarters as it skittered back, and I sent it flying into one of the walls where it make a sickening thump sound and reverberated off. Seeing it hit the ground and twitch in pain, I surged forwards and pressed my advantage and thumped it once, twice more, and then I heard that now familiar ding sound.

Congratulations, you have slain a Bristlebane Rat!

Your total Bristlebane Rat kills is: 1

You need 9 more to unlock the Apprentice Rat Slayer achievement.

Taking a moment to read the message that popped up, I was rewarded with some extra information. Apparently these creatures were known as “Bristlebane Rats”, and the game had some type of achievement system that only needed 9 more rat kills to unlock one. I suppose one of these message windows must’ve popped up when I killed the goblin last night, but I was too lost in rage and missed it. This one only floated in front of me for a few seconds and then it faded out on its own.

Of course, taking time to read messages while in the middle of combat might not be the greatest idea as the 3 remaining rats had taken my momentary distraction to circle around me and I was now trapped in a circle of the hissing little beasts. As I readied my club to try and charge and intimidate them once more, they swarmed me! All three surged forward all at once, and I swung my stick like a golf club at the first one and smacked it soundly half way down the hall where it rolled and slid into the wall and I heard that gratifying ding once more.

Unfortunately for me, the second rat dashed in and took a bite out of my left leg while the last rat had hopped up on my makeshift poncho and was climbing my back. Not knowing exactly what to do; I wasn’t a trained rat fighter after all; I hopped backwards and slammed my back into the wall behind me where I was rewarded with a satisfying crunch sound from the rat on my back.

The second rat wouldn’t fall away so easily as it surged forward as I hopped back and continued to gnaw at my legs. Its sharp teeth tore a second chunk out of my leg as I drop kicked it as hard as I possibly could into the opposite wall. As it made a thumping sound against the wall, I dashed forward and bashed it a couple more times until I heard that ding which signified that I’d defeated it.

Spinning around, I was expecting the last rat to attempt to jump on me once more, but instead it was trying to crawl away down the hall. Apparently I must’ve broken its back, or legs, or something when I it back between me and the wall. Having not a single ounce of pity for the beast, I took a step forward and thumped it several times with my club until it finally quit twitching and I heard several satisfying dings.

Congratulations, you have slain a Bristlebane Rat!

Your total Bristlebane Rat kills is: 4

You need 6 more to unlock the Apprentice Rat Slayer achievement.

Congratulations, you have achieved level 2!

You gain 10 HP, 8 MP, 4 SP!

You have been awarded 15 CP!

Congratulations, you gained a new skill: Club Use - Proficiency(1)!

Alright! My leg was hurting, but I felt good overall! Once again I’d leveled up, I’d unlocked my first skill for fighting, and I was about half-way to an achievement. If I was going to survive in this new world, I had to grow stronger and this was proof that I was doing just that!

“Stats.”

Name: Bloody HellTitles: The WitnessAge: 17Level: 2CP: 15STR: 9SYI: 8WIL: 7DEX: 8MYS: 8PRE: 7CON: 10SPR: 4LUC: 11HP: 42 (30)MP: 24SP: 12PD: 0DR: 0MR: 0SE: 1

It looks like I must’ve been right about what HP stood for. Mine had increased as I’d leveled up, but I was currently down to 30 out of my total of 42. I guess the rat that had chewed on me twice had managed to do about 12 points to me in total. That’s something interesting to keep in mind, as it might help me determine the potential for how dangerous the beasts could be to me.

“Skills.”

Witness Protection -- ????

- Witness Liquidation -- ???

- Witness Reconstitution -- ??? (Current death today: 0)Spiritual Manipulation – Allows the user to manipulate the energy of the spirit realm when the conditions are right to do so. (2)Club Use – Proficiency (1)

Well, apparently my death count had reset overnight, if that mattered for something…

Slowly I reached out and tapped the box for Club Use. I figured that being skilled at attacking would probably be one of the best things I could train in, the way things currently were, and I was greeted with a satisfying ding as my Club Use went up a point and my CP went down by one. Figuring I’d train up Club Use a bit more, I tapped it two more times and watched my CP go down by 2 and then 3 points. So far I’d trained my Club Use to 4, and I’d spent 6 of my 15 character points leaving me with 9 more. Wanting to see how much an increase training would make, I went ahead and tapped the Club Use bar two more times for 4 and then 5 points. Apparently I had to spend the points equal to its current level to improve it, and it was now up to a lv 6 skill and I had 0 character points left over.

Name: Bloody HellTitles: The WitnessAge: 17Level: 2CP: 0STR: 9SYI: 8WIL: 7DEX: 8MYS: 8PRE: 7CON: 10SPR: 4LUC: 11HP: 42 (30)MP: 24SP: 12PD: 0DR: 0MR: 0SE: 1

Witness Protection -- ????

- Witness Liquidation -- ???

- Witness Reconstitution -- ??? (Current death today: 0)Spiritual Manipulation – Allows the user to manipulate the energy of the spirit realm when the conditions are right to do so. (2)Club Use – Proficiency (6)

Tightly gripping my club, I made a few test swings with it and was impressed by how much lighter and faster it seemed to move for me. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it definitely seemed like it was easier to use and swing around now.

Smiling slightly to myself, I decided that I *had* to grow stronger, and if there was any more rats around here, they were going to become my targets for now. I’d already handled four of them, and I was stronger now than I was just a few moments ago. These beasts were now my prey: I was going to become a Rat Slayer here before I tried to move on and find something more dangerous which might decide to eat me.

Smirking and tapping my club in my hands menacingly, I started towards the classroom which the rats had came out of.