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Chapter 30: Legion of Rats
🕑 Added 2025-01-24 14:53:39 +0000 UTCJames brought out his crossbow. Like a meteor, golden light drew a straight line toward the dark abomination. Like a star sinking into the abyss, the light was eaten by the mass of darkness incarnate. Squeaking sounds echoed as the beast charged toward James.
James took flight. The corridor was narrow, so there was no room to dodge. A bulbous rat was spat from the abomination. James deflected the rat bomb with an ice shield. The rat exploded and corroded the shield, turning it back into water as white smoke rose from the remains of the green goo.
“That doesn’t make sense!” James cursed.
When he finally reached the office room, he turned around to find the rat legion crashing into nearby furniture.
“This is a Novice dungeon. Show no fear!” James tried to convince himself.
Like most modern people, he hated rats, bugs, and cockroaches. Seeing the abomination before him raised goosebumps on his scaly skin.
Nevertheless, James steeled himself. Golden light gathered on his axe. Leaping into the darkness, the golden light cleaved right through it. Not stopping, the golden light curved back, forming a V-shape. The skill [V-Slash] bisected the abomination into three pieces. Red and green blood mixed as the amalgamation of rats scattered.
“What the hell…” James shuddered as the rats scurried to the other corner of the room and formed another body.
They were many, but they were also one. What James had done was merely kill ten, maybe twenty rats. There were still thousands more to kill. Another bulbous, fat rat was thrown in James’ direction.
Instinctively, James shielded himself with an ice shield. He then leaped toward the darkness with his trusty axe. Another skill struck the monster right in its body—yet it did nothing. Similar to before, the rats dispersed and formed another abomination in different places.
A green blob of tumorous rats was thrown again in James’ direction. Again, James shielded himself with his ice shield.
The exchange of blows continued, but James didn’t feel like he was winning. Scratches began to appear as the rats bit and chewed through his armor and into his scales. Moreover, his axe was also deformed due to corrosion. James felt cornered. He didn’t think his axe would last more than three more blows.
He had already hit the abomination in several different places, trying to find the brain or core. However, there was no such thing.
James began to take a more defensive position as he assessed the situation. Green goo splattered on the floor here and there, spreading corrosion. It didn’t last forever, as it turned earthen brown after several minutes, signaling the corrosion effect had stopped.
“I need that lightning axe!”
[Shop cannot be used during combat.]
The system cruelly responded. James clenched his teeth as he observed his surroundings and noticed that the amalgamation evaded the green goo on the floor.
An idea popped into James’ mind as he threw down his axe. He still had a sword on his back, but he didn’t think it would last longer than his axe.
Using his spinneret, he spun a crude net and held it between his hands. As the tumorous rat was thrown at him, he caught it with a water shield. Then, he dropped the fat rat into his makeshift net and threw it at the abomination. Green goo splattered on the dark mass.
The effect was immediate. A wail like nothing before bellowed from the abomination.
At first, James thought nothing had changed, as the rats spread and formed another abomination like usual. But he soon realized he was wrong. The next abomination was clearly smaller. James smirked—now he knew what to do.
Another bomb rat was thrown at him. Thanks to James’ increased stats, he formed a water ball between his hands, preventing the bomb rat from exploding. Like a pro basketball player, he then threw the bomb rat back at the abomination.
The beast might have been strong, it might have been scary—but it was certainly not smart.
The bomb hit it square on the stomach, spreading green corrosive liquid everywhere. The abomination screeched again for the umpteenth time.
James smirked. But the beast had not played all of its cards yet. It could do more than just throw bombs at James.
This time, it formed a claw.
James wondered how it was possible, but nothing was impossible in the dungeon. Rats gathered at the newly formed hand and hardened, forming white claws.
The rat incarnate then formed a mouth, then legs. Its form was more defined. James, who had faced countless monsters, found its form less menacing than before. If only its red little eyes didn’t dot everywhere around its body, its form would be no different than the previous furry James.
The new beast charged, and its claw was met with James’s sword. James deflected its strike and slashed. For the first time, James wielded the longsword as he was supposed to—with both hands. The strike was powerful, but James felt like he was attacking air. There was no resistance or substance to the beast before him.
Knowing it would lose in melee combat, the beast fled all the way to the back. It knelt and opened its mouth. The gaping maw stretched to an impossible degree, growing as wide as James himself.
James thought he was going to be swallowed, but with such clumsy movement, he believed he could dodge it.
The beast howled. A sonic boom assaulted James’s eardrums.
James felt the wind blast against him, his feet lifting off the floor as he was thrown back by the force of the howl. The glass table and furniture shattered from the impact.
James felt the world spinning—he almost vomited his lunch as nausea washed over him.
Sensing danger, he formed a thick ice shield around him. It cracked.
Before it shattered, James rolled on the ground. The beast had stabbed its claws into the floor where James had been. James shook off his nausea and refocused his attention on the beast before him.
A golden glow gathered on his sword as he slashed upward, drawing an arc toward the beast.
The beast didn’t bleed as James once again slashed at thin air.
James was cornered. The rat legion no longer threw bombs at him, and James didn’t have any wide-area attacks to damage it.
Or did he?
“Now or never.” James made a gamble.
Using his water magic, he summoned a flood of water from his hand. Water soon filled the enclosed space, drenching both him and the rat monster.
“Ice magic! Freeze!”
James was over 30, but the heat of the fantasy battle he was in now brought out dark memories within him. He cast out his hand into the water, and ice shards spread from it and into the abomination.
His eye caught the blue mana swirling from his hand into the beast.
Soon, the beast was frozen solid.
[Congratulations, you have leveled up to level 32! You have earned 50 coins.]
[Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 32
Coins: 765
Stats:
STR: 112 (up 2)
DEX: 108 (up 3)
Magic: 59 (up 3)
Mana: 700 (up 20)
Skills:
Novice Axe Mastery Level 2 (Powerstrike, V-Slash)
Beginner Sword Mastery Level 7 (Hurricane) (up 1)
Beginner Bow Mastery Level 7 (Quickshot)
Magic:
Mind Flay
Mana Sonar
Unique Skill:
Chimera:
Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spell: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Orc’s Left Arm (STR+10%) (Arm Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR+30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Sahuagin’s Webbed Feet (+10% Dexterity in Water) (Leg Slot)
Sahuagin’s Lungs (Underwater Breathing) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance) (Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Orc’s Head (Head Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot) (New)
Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
Equipment:
Leather Armor Set (+10 DEX)
War Axe
Longsword
Crossbow
Waterspout Dagger
Mask of Identity
Leather Bag
Cloak of Dark Night]
[Do you wish to modify your body? Y/N]
[Available Body Parts:
Rat Union’s Liver (Corrosion Level 4) (Liver Slot)
Rat Union Fur (Skin Slot)
Rat Union’s Claw (Arm Slot)
Rat Union’s Tumor (Corrosion Resistance) (Extra Slot)
]
“Rat union?” James smirked at the system’s naming sense. However, who was James to judge someone else’s naming sense?
James dismissed the naming sense and looked at the Chimera parts. Having a corrosive body like a certain movie about aliens certainly intrigued him. However, was it useful?
“System. What do you know about this corrosive effect? If the rat was immune, why was it hurt by its own bomb rat?” James asked the system.
[The liver is the place where the bomb rat stores its corrosive substance. The organ alone is immune to corrosion; however, the rest of the body is not.]
“I don’t understand… Why was the rat not immune to its own poison? My skin is immune to fire, right?” James tilted his head.
He remembered that Chimera couldn’t plunder the organ because it was too damaged.
[Your dragon scales protect your skin from heat. However, they don’t protect your internal organs from heat. Your internal organs will be safe merely because the heat doesn’t pass through your skin. The liver and the tumor work similarly. The liver produces the corrosion, but not all of their body parts are resistant to it.]
“Ugh… if I changed my liver…”
[The tumor could be placed anywhere, but once it explodes or detaches from the body, that body part will not regenerate.]
“That’s basically useless!”
[That is correct!]
James winced at the snappy remark from the system. He could only sigh as he put away the ice statue in the corner of the room.
[The teleportation portal to the second floor has been opened in the boss chamber. You may enter at your own discretion.]
“Thank you! Please fix the damn golden sphere next time,” James answered sarcastically.
The wind mana core from the angel that he had missed because someone else triggered the golden ball still hovered in his mind even now. Nevertheless, it was not his problem now.
He scanned the once-luxurious office space. It was destroyed now, but there was nothing James couldn’t fix with his spinneret.
After fixing the sofa, James lounged on it.
James was not in a rush. Regardless, there was no TV, laptop, or even phone signal.
James soon got restless and ventured into another room, looking for the chest’s key that stood unscratched beside the now-melting ice statue.
