Chapter 10
Alternatively, it could make them swarm him, but he didn't have a clue what else to do other than a frontal assault. So he went with his plan, but noted the need to develop long-ranged skills at some point.
Carefully manoeuvring himself as quietly as possible around the horde of rats, Issei barely managed to avoid standing on one rat's tail before finally getting to the back of the Packmaster. Releasing a sigh of relief, he considered how best to do this before reaching up with his bronze sword and flicking the hood off his head.
Almost immediately, a rat-dog spotted him and opened its mouth to shriek, but Issei cut the head off the Packmaster with one clean cut of his steel sword before it could so much as twitch.
The effect on the pack was rather interesting; they scattered and fled into cracks in the wall that he didn't think rats of their size should be able to squeeze through.
You have slain a Packmaster! You earn 75 EXP!
By assassinating the Packmaster, you have scattered a pack of Giant Rats! You earn 100 EXP!
When the option whether or not to loot the body came up, Issei hit the 'Y' key.
- Filthy Robe X1
- Ragged Whip X1
- Crude Iron Knife X1
- ¥500
He sold the whip and robe (¥100 each), but kept the dagger, as it was a damn better one than the flint crap he had in his inventory.
Considering the fact that no special clearing conditions had appeared, Issei took it to mean that it was a very basic kill-the-boss type dungeon as he wandered down the corridor. Quite why this hadn't been the case for the last dungeon was a bit confusing, but he guessed it was generated at random by his [Gamer] ability.
On his way down the corridor, Issei had to deal with two more packs of Giant Rats. The first he dealt with in a similar way to the initial pack and netting similar rewards.
The second, however, was a pain in the backside. The ratman standing behind the pack had some kind of glowing crystal in place of one of its eyes and spotted him even with the hood of his cloak up.
"Man-Thing! Kill-Kill!" it squeaked before lashing out with its whip, egging its charges on to attack Issei.
"Crap on a stick!" Issei cursed as he flipped his hood down and readied his swords as the wave of dog-sized rats descended upon him. He bisected the first one to reach him before he had to leap back to avoid the ravening maw of another one.
The next few minutes were tense as Issei cut a swath through the rats. Individually, they weren't close to being a match for him. As they came at him in a large mob, however, he had accumulated a small number of cuts and a bite mark, losing fifty HP altogether.
"OW!" he shouted in pain as yet another rat bit him on his right arm, "Gerroff!"
-35 HP!
Issei stabbed the rat with his bronze sword several times before it died and released his arm. He made short work of the remaining three Giant Rats before turning his attention to the Packmaster, who backed off nervously, whip held at the ready.
"Die-Die!" it shrieked before drawing the whip back in preparation to strike. Issei leapt in close and severed the hand holding the weapon, making the Packmaster let out a shrill screech of pain.
Dispassionately, Issei finished the ratman off with a thrust to the chest.
You have slain X20 Giant Rats! You earn 400 EXP!
You have slain a Packmaster! You earn 75 EXP!
Do you wish to loot the bodies? Y/N
Impatiently, Issei hit yes.
- Giant Rat Teeth X15
- Ragged Giant Rat Pelt X10
- Giant Rat Pelt X5
- Unknown Magical Device (False Eye) X1
- Enchanted Whip (Unknown Enchantment) X1
- Ragged Robe X1
- Crude Iron Dagger X1
- ¥1000
Marking the robe for disposal (¥100), Issei kept everything else. He wondered what he was going to do with all of the crap he had in his inventory? He'd checked the previous night and all of the armour, including the helmets, were too small for him. The flint knives were tiny little things the length of his pinkie and were almost all chipped and ready to break. The only usable spoils were the copper swords.
Shrugging again, Issei pulled his hood up and advanced down the corridor again. At the end of the corridor was a large circular room with three doors leading in different directions. A screen popped up.
[Choose a door to advance]
"That's all the clues I'm getting?" Issei complained. He examined the doors for any hints. Nope. Three plain doors with three identical levers next to them, no hint as to what was behind them.
"OK, I'll just pick at random then." he stated. Selecting the one on the right, he pulled the lever down, triggering the clanking of gears as the door sank down.
A loud roar emerged from behind it and Issei leapt back, holding his swords at the ready. What emerged from the tunnel made his jaw drop.
It was a massive rat, far larger than Byral Warfang had been. Hell, it towered two feet over Issei's head! Large muscle rippled across its chest and arms, the massive head twitched and jerked spasmodically as the glowing red eyes locked onto Issei. Two large clawed arms dragged along the ground as it thumped out of what Issei could see was a holding cell. Attached to the monster's back was an odd machine that glowed green and had several tubes and wires leading into the flesh of the monster. Drool fell from the gaping fanged maw of the ogre as it breathed.
Rat Ogre LV6
[Mad Beast]
"Hell." Issei cursed mildly as his [Gamer's Mind] kicked in and calmed him down from his rising panic.
With another loud roar, the Rat Ogre leapt at Issei with both arms extended, attempting to grab him. With a curse, Issei leapt to the side and lashed out with his bronze sword at the arm of the Rat Ogre. It bounced off the skin of the monster like it was steel.
"Bloody bastard hell!" he cursed before dodging another swipe of a clawed paw. Those claws were the same size as carving knives and looked just as sharp, if not sharper.
This time he attacked with the steel sword he had taken from Byral, scoring a hit down the monster's right underarm. Then, to Issei's surprise, it just regenerated the wound in seconds.
"…you have got to be freaking kidding me!" Issei yelped as he dodged another clumsy swipe from the Rat Ogre, "It's strong, fast AND it regenerates?! C'mon, gimme a break here!"
An idea came to mind. Issei returned the bronze sword to his inventory and drew out one of the Iron Daggers he had taken from the Packmasters. He held it clumsily and threw the knife at the Rat Ogre's face, scoring a hit just below the eye that made the monster recoil and cover its face with one massive paw.
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