《The Adventures of a Reincarnated Rat! (ON HIATUS FOR NOW)》


 01. The Life Of a Failure

    Last year I decided to be a soldier! I gave up after only one week of training¡­ The year before that I wanted to be a researcher! I was bored as hell during the learning parts.


    The year before that I wanted to be a blacksmith! I burned down the whole house while making my first item¡­


    It seems that I am not really suitable for these kinds of jobs. This year I decided that I will do nothing but enjoy life. I failed at that too. I died not long after I came to this decision.


    My life is a compilation of fails. I failed in school even though I know the subjects and I learnt almost always, even though it was boring. I failed in keeping a girlfriend, mostly because she thought that I was bad luck for her.


    I mean¡­why? What did I do for my life to be such a failure? I can''t even do one thing correctly.


    After my death I was happy. I was actually really delighted to hear that my life would end. I guess I failed at that as well because I was reincarnated. I gained the body of a rat. So now, with the intelligence of a human and the body of a rat I will live my life hoping that I don''t have bad luck anymore!


    I didn''t really know much about the world I was reincarnated in. I knew that I was in a forest and that the weather was a bit cold. Snow was falling during the night but it melted during the day. I didn¡¯t meet any other living beings on my first day though. I saw a few bugs though, they looked weird, and there was a bug with cyan eyes and a single horn on its head.


    I didn¡¯t approach any of them though. I continued to explore the forest. When night fell I decided to find a shelter from the cold weather and snow.


    There¡¯s one thing I didn¡¯t tell you though. Even though I know I¡¯m a rat I still don¡¯t know how I look like. The reason I know I¡¯m a rat is because I just have the felling I¡¯m a rat. You get me?


    I guess not¡­


    After half an hour of me searching for a shelter I found a really quiet place in a hollow tree. I decided to gather a few leaves that were on the ground and place them in the tree. And so the first night in this new body passed slowly.


    I honestly hoped that nothing bad would happen, I was so wrong though. In the middle of the night I felt that the ground started shaking, I looked outside while still hiding myself if it was some kind of predator.


    What I saw was a small green humanoid creature and a deer like creature with crystal-like horns and white fur. It was so beautiful! The green humanoid creature on the other side looked like an ugly fat otaku had a child with a troll, and it smelled as well.


    *screech* *screech*


    The green creature started screeching and jumped at the white deer like creature! I didn¡¯t want to watch the scene so I closed my eyes.


    I was waiting for the battle to be over. I waited¡­and waited. Half an hour must¡¯ve passed until I decided to look at the white deer and green creature. But when I looked at the scene I was shocked! The green creature was lying on the floor dead, there was a hole in its abdomen area and the deer creature was nowhere to be seen. That wasn¡¯t the only thing that shocked me though.


    The thing that shocked me the most was the screen that was shining brightly in my field of view. The screen was light blue in color with words on it.


    [Lesser Goblin slain. Gained 120 xp] [You leveled up!] [You leveled up!]


    As I guessed. This is truly a weird world. I am still shocked though. What''s a goblin? I know what levels are but I wasn''t really a gamer in my past life. I was fascinated by weird things so I didn''t bother myself with normal things like games.


    Levels? I wonder how do I see them?


    [Name - Undefined] [Level 3] [Race ¨C Lesser Rat]-


    As soon as I thought about it another screen appeared in front of me. I looked at it and it only made me more confused. What is a Lesser Rat? What are these screens? How do levels work?


    If this is a game world shouldn¡¯t there be a tutorial of some kind? Also skills! I read in some online guides that most games have skills!


    -[Do you wish to start the tutorial? Y/N?]


    AHA! I knew it! There¡¯s a tutorial! One more thing. How does it know what I¡¯m thinking about?


    [Do you wish to start the tutorial? Y/N?]


    The screen is still there? Ah yes. I need to choose. Yes of course!


    *silent screech*


    I tried to say yes. I remembered I am a rat. I failed once again. But it seems that the blue screen still understood me. It said : [Tutorial is starting. Time remaining 1:00]


    I have one minute to prepare. What should I prepare for? I have no idea. So I¡¯ll just wait that one minute. As the countdown came up to zero slowly¡­3..2¡­1¡­0


    [Tutorial Starting] [Tutorial for ¡°Rat Race¡± stage 1 begins] [T1 quest initiated, [Learn how to use the system]]


    A whole shit load of screens just appeared in front of me. What the hell?


    *To use the system status screen think or say status. Be wary that this only works for demons and not for humans or devils.*


    I heard a voice! And it was in English! How does it know English? Aren¡¯t I in a foreign world?


    Let¡¯s not think about that now though. Let¡¯s finish the tutorial first. Status? Ah,right that screen with my name,level and race! I just need to think about it.


    [Name - Undefined] [Level 3] [Race ¨C Lesser Rat]-


    It appeared once again! This is so awesome man!


    *It seems that you don¡¯t have a set name. Would you wish to name yourself?


    The voice asked me a question. A name? Why the hell not! I will need one in the future anyways. Let me see. Ah! I have the best name!Stolen story; please report.


    [Name: NotAFailure] [Level 3] [Race ¨C Lesser Rat]


    Hehe¡­what do you think? An awesome name for an awesome person¡­rat.


    [Name set.]


    *To see your skill screen please think about it.


    The voice gives another order! I shall follow it! Skills,skills,skills!


    Active skills available - [Sharp Fangs Lv.1]


    Passive skills available - [Cold Resistance Lv.1] [Wind Resistance Lv.1] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Night Vision Lv.1]


    Toggle skills available - //


    Oooh! I have so many skills! I must be a rare species! Lesser Rats are the rulers of this world! So¡­what does each skill do?


    *To see information about each skill think about the skill you want to know.


    Enhanced Regeneration!


    [Enhanced Regeneration ¨C a skill that all lesser and higher ranked demons have. Due to their innate physiques.]


    So¡­ it¡¯s not a special skill? Boring.


    Next is¡­Sharp Fangs!


    [Sharp Fangs Lv.1 ¨C A unique skill that only demons with fangs can use. It is a low ranked skill with good offensive power. It makes your fangs sharper and harder for 2 seconds. 0/100]


    I don¡¯t need to see the other skills. I already know that I will be disappointed. What¡¯s next oh great Voice in my head.


    *To gain skills you need to either evolve into a stronger species by special methods or leveling up or you can train and obtain certain skills with certain actions. Take note that some unique skills can¡¯t be gotten by just training.


    How do I evolve though?


    *Evolution is initiated when the item, being or something else achieves level 20. Take note that this is the worst methods to evolve because the next evolution is only a stronger version of your current race. There¡¯s some exceptions though if you have a unique skill or did a special deed.


    So I either kill and level up or do something special? I wonder if there¡¯s another way to level up instead of killing oh great Voice?


    *You can level up by leveling up some of your skills as well.


    I feel that this voice is a living being talking to me. Alright. Let¡¯s see¡­I only have an offensive skill that I can level up right now. Also it¡¯s getting a bit cold. Is there more to this quest?


    [T1 quest finished.] [Quest reward: 1 skill point.]


    The quest is finished! That means there¡¯s no more of the Voice! I will miss you Voice in my head. What¡¯s a skill point though?


    [T2 quest initiated, [Reach level 2!]]


    [T2 quest finished] [Quest Reward: Skill [Rat Demon Sense]]


    A new tutorial quest! And I already finished it! Let¡¯s go to sleep though. I will be frozen to death if I stay here. Also how did I kill the Lesser Goblin? Didn¡¯t that white deer kill it? There¡¯s a hole in its abdomen area, it must¡¯ve been that deer!


    Let¡¯s go to sleep. I¡¯ll continue the tutorial tomorrow.


    And so the first night passed without worries. But as soon as I woke up in the morning I found out that I am starving. I really wanted to eat something but since I couldn¡¯t find anything during my morning search for food I decided on a last resort and started eating the corpse of the Lesser Goblin.


    It tasted disgusting. I puked 4 times while I was eating. While I was eating I heard a voice in my head.


    [Skill gained - [Poison Resistance Lv.1]]


    A skill! And a dangerous one. I ate poisonous flesh? Won¡¯t I die? I wanted to make myself puke but I couldn¡¯t. I then calmed down and noticed that I have the resistance skill now. Doesn¡¯t that mean that I can eat this freely? I am really bad at noticing stuff.


    Didn¡¯t I get another skill as well yesterday?


    Let¡¯s see...Skills!


    Active skills available - [Sharp Fangs Lv.1] [Rat Demon Sense Lv.1]


    Passive skills available - [Cold Resistance Lv.1] [Wind Resistance Lv.1] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Night Vision Lv.1] [Poison Resistance Lv.1]


    Toggle skills available - //


    Rat Demon Sense¡­I want to guess what it is. Since it is a an active skill I will guess it¡¯s something like a tracking skill? What use do I have for that? Please don¡¯t be a tracking skill.


    [Rat Demons Sense Lv.1 ¨C Rat demons are one of the lesser kinds of demons if they are alone, there are races of rat demons that like to be alone, all of those races have this skill. The skill allows you to find corpses, items, and other living beings. 1 skill point needed to level up the skill.]


    Let¡¯s level it up! I don¡¯t care I want to see what it does.


    [Are you sure you want to level up [Rat Demon Sense]?]


    Yes I am sure!


    [Rat Demons Sense leveled up to Level 2.] [Rat Demon Sense allows you now to find low leveled demonic crystals and demons with low leveled demonic crystals as well.]


    See¡­it was worth it. Though¡­ I still don¡¯t know what demonic crystals are.


    Let¡¯s use the skill. I just need to think about it and it will activate! I think so¡­


    [Rat Demon Sense]!


    ¡­


    ¡­.


    What? Nothing happened? Is there a delay or something?


    A few minutes passed while I waited for the skill to activate. Just as I was about to give up I felt my head starting to hurt and I noticed that a small black cloud of mist was floating above the head of the Lesser Goblin.


    As soon as my head stopped hurting I started to break into the skull of the goblin. I thought it would be easy but it wasn¡¯t. I needed to use [Sharp Fangs] thrice until I broke through the skull.


    Due to that , [Sharp Fangs] managed to get experience points, now it is at 3/100. Only 97 more uses to go for it to level up!


    When I looked into the head of the gob I saw a small 1 cm<sup>3 </sup>crystal . It was still somewhat normal sized to me though. Since I was small as well.


    I didn¡¯t know what to do with the crystal but I was feeling hungry as soon as I saw it so I decided to eat it. I didn¡¯t hold back, I ate it straight away.


    As soon as I ate it the all so familiar light blue screen appeared in my field of view bringing me good news.


    [Lesser Goblin Lvl.4 Demonic Crystal eaten.] [Lesser Rat has gained [Essence of Goblin] Do you wish to absorb it? Y/N? ]


    I have no idea what [Essence of Goblin] is and at this point I am too afraid to ask¡­


    Yes I will absorb it! I don¡¯t care what it is anyway I¡¯m a rat what is the worst that could happen? I will become a goblin? Haha no way!


    Absorb it!


    [Absorption process beginning¡­ Insufficient energy. Minimum level needed is 5. Saving the essence for later. ]


    ¡­Well¡­this is a disappointment. What now? I just need to level up right? Let¡¯s kill some demons then!


    A week has passed since then. I managed to kill another few lesser demons. One of them was a Lesser Goblin while the other one was a Fluffy Eared Cat. I wonder who names these demons.


    The Lesser Goblin that I killed couldn¡¯t catch me at all. Mostly because I have higher intelligence than him and I can plan out traps. As for the Fluffy Eared Cat, I killed it by accident, as I was gathering leaves I made a small patch of mud behind me unnoticed and the Cat started running towards me, she slipped on the mud and its head was pierced by a sharp stone that was near my hollow tree home. I also discovered how the first goblin died,even thought it had a hole in its body it didn''t die that way. I found out that the neck of the goblin was weirdly turned around, like it slipped on something, I still don''t know how or why I got the experience for that.


    I don¡¯t know how to describe this other than. I failed at gathering leaves but I managed to kill a level 6 demon!


    I reached level 5 just like that. The Lesser Goblin also left me a nice Demonic Crystal but it didn¡¯t have the [Essence of Goblin] that the other one had. The Fluffy Eared Cat didn¡¯t have a Demonic Crystal though. What a waste.


    I ate the crystal and waited.


    A few minutes after eating the crystal a light blue familiar screen appeared in my field of view. It said:


    [Absorption of [Essence of Goblin] initiated. Minimum energy requirement achieved. Absorption starting. Time left until fully absorbed : 30:00 ]


    A whole 30 minutes.


    I waited.


    [Pick a skill : [Goblin Language] [Water affinity] [Goblin Demon Sense] ]


    A skill! So this is what the essence does! It doesn¡¯t change my bloodline or anything. Good,good. Very good!


    Can I get a detailed explanation of these skills though?


    [Goblin Language ¨C Understand the language of the ancient race of goblins.Leveling up the skill allows you to understand more complex sentances]


    [Water affinity ¨C [Passive Skill] ¨C Allows you to use water as a element and comprehend the laws of water. Law of Absolute Zero is given if you pick the skill. ]


    [Goblin Demon Sense - [Active Skin] ¨C Goblins are beings that live in tribes. They used to be descendants of elves but the devolved into feral beings that only know how to hunt. With this skill you will be able to call the spirit of a dead goblin near you in your help. This skill can¡¯t be leveled up.]


    I ¡­ what is with these skills!? These skills are so good! I want them all! Well..the language skill is a bit weird. Goblins are an ancient race? They come from elves? What the hell!?


    I will pick¡­


    <hr>


    Status screen


    [Name:NotAFailure] [Level 5][Race - Lesser Rat]


    Skills


    Active skills:[Sharp Fangs 5/100][Rat Demon Sense Lv.2]


    Passive skills:[Cold Resistance Lv.1][Wind Resistance Lv.1][Enhanced Regeneration][Night Vision Lv.1][Poison Resistance Lv.2]


    Toggle skills: None


    Guys...I really like my naming sense. I mean NotAFailure and Fluffy Eared Cat. This is a heavenly gift guys!

 02. I have really bad luck...

    I shall choose¡­


    I don¡¯t know. I want the [Ice Affinity] skill because it sounds cool, but I also want the [Goblin Demon Sense] because I want to bring back the dead! As for the [Goblin Language]¡­ I can learn it in the future.


    So¡­ [Water Affinity] or [Goblin Demon Sense]? I¡¯m having a hard time picking¡­


    Considering that I have [Cold Resistance] I could take [Water Affinity] and see what the Law of Absolute Zero does. On the other hand the [Goblin Demon Sense] seems pretty useful if I''m fighting against goblins but against other demons I''ll have nothing to use againts them.


    That means that my only choice is [Water Affinity]!


    I will take [Water Affinity]!


    [Skill gained: [Water Affinity]] [Title gained: Lesser Elemental Demon] [Lost the ability to use other elements besides [Water]]


    ¡­


    What¡¯s a title?


    *A title is a name that will be shown on your status screen if you chose to activate it. Certain titles have special abilities and enhancements.


    The Voice is back! I missed you...


    How do I activate the title Oh great Voice?


    *¡­ You activate the title by opening your status and finding the title screen. Be wary that you can only have one main title on display.


    Let¡¯s do that!


    [Name: NotAFailure] [Level 5] [Race - Lesser Rat] [Title: [Lesser Elemental Demon]]


    The title is already there, Voice what is going on?


    *Your first title is automatically set as the main one.


    Great! What does the title do then? Does this title have a special ability of some sort?


    [Lesser Elemental Demon ¨C A demons that started uncovering the laws of the world. The title can be received when a demon gains enlightenment on a certain law.]


    A law? Right,I saw that the [Water Affinity] skill also has a law, it was the Law of Absolute Zero,Voice, explain to me what a law is!


    *A law is a law. What¡¯s there to explain? By gaining enlightenment on a law you can control that law to some extent. After mastering a certain law you can fuse it with you physical body or soul.


    Too complicated! Not interested! Let¡¯s try out my new ability!


    ¡­


    ¡­


    How do I use the ability?


    *The ability is a passive one. Since you gained the skill by in a different way than usual you already have a set law in your memories you just need to find it. Good luck...


    Find it? That''s too bothersome. Since I can''t use the ability now I''ll wait until I have some time to spend and ponder on the ability.


    *Alright...Don''t bother me then.


    The Voice is definitely a person. An irritating one as well!


    *Shut up idiot!


    Don¡¯t you have other things to do?


    *¡­I¡¯ll be back.


    Hahaha! Now that the Voice is gone I can finally do something worthwhile. What should I do? I could explore, I didn¡¯t really go out as much. I only explored around the hollow tree.


    Alright, I decided that I will explore! But where?


    Let¡¯s go north!


    And so¡­ 1 week has passed. I didn¡¯t really discover anything worthwhile though, I found a dark cave and decided to explore when I travel back on the 4<sup>th</sup> day. I also found a few fruits that looked weird. I ate them. I fell unconscious after eating them, after I woke up I noticed that my [Poison Resistance Lv.2] has become [Poison Resistance Lv.3]¡­


    I really don¡¯t know what to say to that. I ate poisonous fruits, after that I decided that I won¡¯t eat any of those fruits and will only eat goblin flesh. I was lucky to find 2 goblins during my little expedition.


    One of them had a club so I didn¡¯t fight it but I did lure the one without a weapon to a safe spot and killed it. I was during the fight so I rested for a few hours before continuing my little exploration.


    It was getting colder during nights as I travelled north. It couldn¡¯t be that I travelled so far? On my seventh day I decided to go back. On my way back I met the White Deer that I saw on my first night. It was as beautiful as ever! I hid and watched it for a whole hour before continuing my journey.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    I am still not close to the dark cave I discovered but I saw a bigger version of the goblins that I killed during my time here. I didn¡¯t know what it is but I guessed that it must be a [Goblin], since the goblins that I killed were [Lesser Goblins].


    The [Goblin] had a club with spikes and some worn down clothes that were covered in blood. I wanted to kill it but considering that it wasn¡¯t a [Lesser Goblin] but a [Goblin] I gave up on that idea.


    I still didn¡¯t move though. I just knew that it must be here for something. I know that the White Deer is near here. Is it here because of it? Judging by how furious he looks like I think he is.


    I shall hide here and wait for a spectacle. Too bad I don¡¯t have popcorn.


    *Growl*! *growl*!


    The [Goblin] started growling. My ears hurt. Stop it already¡­


    As I thought, the White Deer appeared! The deer didn¡¯t hold back and it started to rush towards the [Goblin]. I still don¡¯t know what kind of demon the deer is though.


    I noticed that the deer has gotten a lot faster during the rush, white particles also appeared behind it that looked like stardust. If it didn¡¯t look like a deer I would¡¯ve thought that it was a unicorn.


    The [Goblin] just took a defensive stance and blocked. His club flashed with a red light when he put it in front of him and he pulled his left leg a bit backwards.


    The deer slammed its horn into the club! The deer was hit with a bit of recoil damage which could be seen on its horns. They had little cracks! The goblin and his club were a bit better though, it seems that the goblin had a defensive skill that could block the rush from the deer.


    The goblin¡¯s club was broken in half though, there were some white marks on it that filled up the cracks that the deer made. I could feel the chilly energy coming out of those cracks because I had [Water Affinity]. The deer is an Water elemental demon I guarantee,and most probably an ice based one as well.!


    The goblin used the moment in which the deer was still recovering from the recoil damage to attack! But since he didn¡¯t have the spiked club anymore he needed to use his hands and fangs.


    He wrapped his arms around the deer¡¯s neck and bit into it. He didn¡¯t let go!


    The deer panicked and started shaking its head left and right. The goblin still didn¡¯t let go though. After 10 minutes the deer had given up and just fell on the ground. It seems that it died. Too bad¡­Such a beautiful creature died so easily. I shall revenge you deer!


    But on the other hand let¡¯s see if the goblin will leave the corpse. I want to see if it has a demonic crystal.


    The goblin didn¡¯t leave the corpse behind. It seems that it is more intelligent than the other goblins.


    Well¡­he did kill it so it¡¯s his corpse. I just hoped a bit.


    And so I continued my journey towards the dark cave after the goblin left in the opposite direction. I only needed 2 days to find the cave. Before I enter the though I will need to bring some food with me. I want to explore the whole cave!


    I needed one whole day to find another suitable goblin for me to bring in the cave. I will have enough food for at least 2 days.


    Let¡¯s enter!


    [Nightmare Dungeon [Earth Dragon¡¯s Tomb] entered!] [Title gained [Dungeon Explorer]] [Bonus experience gained from kills.]


    ¡­


    See! This is what I was talking about! I have really bad luck, and due to that I was regarded a failure. I will 100% die here I tell you. What¡¯s this Nightmare Dungeon? Earth Dragon? Great! I really want to see how I¡¯ll fight a damn dragon! Just imagine it : Rat vs Dragon! The ultimate fight! Don¡¯t miss it!


    *You do get that the dragon is dead¡­it¡¯s his tomb.


    Voice! Thank God you¡¯re back. You see there¡¯s a problem with this dungeon thingy. I can¡¯t leave!


    *It¡¯s not a problem. Nightmare dungeons only open up again after you defeat the boss. You are really lucky to find one in such a desolate forest. Well¡­I can¡¯t deny that the weather of the forest is a bit weird.


    ¡­You know. You¡¯re not funny. Please die, I quit. Leave me alone. Nope nope nope. Not going to do this. I¡¯ll die here you know? Help me a bit.


    *If you want to you can stay on the first stage of the dungeon forever. I don¡¯t really care. If the higher ups find me talking like this to you I¡¯ll get fired anyways so let me give you some advice. There¡¯s only a few living beings on this stage. You only need to kill them all and hope that some of them have demonic or plant crystals.


    Plant crystals? What¡¯s that?


    *Just imagine something that looks the same as those demonic crystals but more pure and precious. They can strengthen your body. You can find them in some rare plants.


    Alright! I can do that!


    *Good. I¡¯ll leave you alone for now.


    Don¡¯t care. Still¡­thank you.


    *Right¡­


    I mean it!


    *Alright¡­


    Bye.


    *Goodbye damn rat.


    ¡­


    Damned voice don¡¯t call me like that you will see the wrath of This King! You hear me? You will see my wrath!


    Now that I think about it where can I find you?


    Hello? You still there? Dumb voice.


    Now what? I can¡¯t really find other beings that easily. Using [Rat Demon Sense] hurts a lot but it seems that I have no other choice to use it if I want to live.


    Let¡¯s eat first.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    As I ate half of the goblin¡¯s body I was feeling full and I decided to use [Rat Demon Sense] to see if I could find some low leveled demons.


    Here goes nothing!


    ¡­Nothing happened. Oh yeah! I need to wait a few minutes.


    And so a few minutes passed and the pain from before appeared once again. Due to that though I found out that there¡¯s at least 4 demons in my vicinity. 2 of them have demonic crystals so I decided to leave them alone until I kill the other two.


    One was just right below me. It seems that it¡¯s an underground type. A mole probably¡­


    I started digging, and I dug, and dug. Until I finally fell into a small underground area. It seemed to be a house of the demon. It had a resting place and a few bones near it.


    I tried to remember where the demon was while I was using [Rat Demon Sense]. I couldn¡¯t remember.


    While I was trying to remember something appeared behind me. I noticed it and turned around quickly and dodged.


    It was a mole like creature with red eyes and pale skin. It attacked me pretty quickly and I barely dodged the first three attacks. The fourth and fifth attack scratched me and I decided to go on the offensive.


    Aiming for neck area and abdomen area with my attacks I used [Sharp Fangs] and attacked the mole.


    The mole dodged my attack that was aimed at the neck but I managed to wound its abdomen area.


    It is slowly bleeding out. As long as I hold out a bit longer it will die from blood loss.


    What is it mole? You didn¡¯t expect to run in a demon with intelligence? Too bad for you.


    [Blood Mole slain! Gained 200 exp.][200 experience points remaining until next level up.] [You have been wounded.]


    After a long fight I managed to kill the mole though. I was hurt a bit and almost died from blood loss as well. I ate the whole mole and even the bones. I slowly regenerated inside the moles home.


    After I regained my vitality I stood up. Well¡­not really because I¡¯m a rat but you get the point, and searched the mole¡¯s home.


    I didn¡¯t find anything exceptional besides some fruit that recovered energy. Too bad I ate them already. How was I supposed to know that they recover energy?


    While I was searching the mole¡¯s home my [Night Vision Lv.1] became [Night Vision Lv.2]. I could see more clearly during the night right now.


    I decided to go and find the other demon that didn¡¯t have a demonic crystal and hope that it gives me enough experience to level up. This time though I will try to lure the demon into a trap.

 03. The Rat of Mischief!

    So¡­You remember when I said that I was going to kill the other demon, right? Well¡­I have good news and bad news. Let me tell you the bad news first, the thing that didn''t have a demonic crystal isn''t really a ¡°demon¡± per se.


    When I found it even I was a bit shocked. It is a plant, at least I think it is. This thing didn¡¯t move at all until I came close to it. It just whipped one of its vines at me and it almost killed me. The bad news is that it didn¡¯t have only a few ¡°vines¡± It had hundreds of them!


    I barely got out of its range in time. That¡¯s the good news.


    Right now I¡¯m in a dilemma. I don¡¯t know what to do. I could kill the goblins that had demonic crystals easily because they are low ranked beings, namely [Lesser Goblins], I still don¡¯t know how one manifests such a crystal but I guess that it has to do something with intelligence and wisdom, goblins aren¡¯t as humans but they are more intelligent than other demons. One could see that from the fight between the [Goblin] and White Deer.


    I¡¯m still in a pinch here. My only way of getting stronger is meditating while using [Water Affinity] to gain some understanding about the Law of Absolute Zero I got. Others get the affinity abilities by comprehending laws, I got it in an essence, which means that I already have a set law somewhere in my memories.


    The law is somewhere in the dump of information called memories. I am still a bit confused as to why I don''t have any memories from before I took over this body though.


    Getting on with it I decided to use my time here to meditate on the Law of Absolute Zero, find it actually. I really don''t know how to meditate so I just sat down and silently waited.


    I hope that is how you do it. I sat down, I think I did sit down, I don¡¯t really know I¡¯m a rat, and started meditating. I just tried to copy those old monks that were in living on mountains in my world. They meditated all day only stopping to eat and wash themselves.


    I sat and waited, and waited¡­ nothing is happening. Am I doing something wrong? Isn¡¯t this how you meditate? You sit and wait.


    It seems that isn¡¯t how you meditate. Let me try something different.


    Feel the world. Feel your surroundings. Feel yourself¡­.


    I repeated these thoughts until my breathing started to harmonize itself with my thoughts. With every thought my breathing became more unstable and more harmonized at the same time.


    I repeated this for fifteen breaths of time then I felt an icy cold aura come slowly towards me. It slowly entered my body! I don¡¯t know what it was but it hurt really badly. I thought I would freeze to death.


    I stopped meditating and looked around. I couldn¡¯t see anything. Was that just my delusion? No way! This feeling was just too realistic for it to be a delusion.


    I started meditating again. This time I managed to hold out for twenty breaths of time, each time it was more and more painful but I continued doing it. The pain only vanished after I stopped meditating.


    For some reason I was hungry so I decided to eat the rest of the goblin that I brought with myself. It was delicious! For the first time in ever was it delicious for me. The rotten flesh just seemed to be perfect for my current situation. I of course decided to leave some for later because I remembered that I ate the [Blood Mole]¡¯s whole corpse during my little recovery session.


    After I ate I started to meditate once again. This time I lasted thirty breaths of time, during my meditation I could once again feel the icy energy around me.


    I gave up on meditation after the third time you see. I was scared of losing my little precious life to that icy energy. So¡­you ask yourself how I¡¯m going to kill that damn plant if I don¡¯t meditate, right?


    Easy, I¡¯ll lure the other demons that were near me at that time so they fight it out in a battle royale. I, of course will be watching on the sidelines while imagining that I¡¯m eating popcorn.


    Now¡­how to do that is the question. You see I could use the goblin flesh to lure the demons but¡­ I really want to eat it too! No! Listen up myself! You need to live, a bit of delicious goblin can¡¯t be worth as much as your life!


    But it¡¯s so delicious¡­


    No!


    Alright then¡­


    And so I set my plan into motion! I needed a few minutes to activate [Rat Demon Sense], I confirmed the locations of the other two demons.


    I carefully slipped pass the territory of the plant and found the other demon. It was a pitch black bat with red eyes. Does every demon have red eyes in this dungeon? I don¡¯t know¡­Probably.


    I think I¡¯m going crazy, I¡¯m not right?


    You¡¯re not.


    Good.


    I threw some goblin flesh at the bat and ran towards the plant. Due to my weak little physique I managed to only throw it near the bat and not at the bat directly so I was a bit nervous that it wouldn¡¯t notice.


    It noticed though, but now that I think about it there were better way of luring it to the plant other than directly throwing rotten flesh at it¡­


    It still followed me though. I entered into the range of those vicious vines and so did the bat! I immediately left the range of the vines while the bat needed some time to react it seems. But before it came out of the range the vines started their barrage of attacks. The bat also noticed the vines and started furiously screeching and sending out what seemed some kind of air bombs from its mouth.


    It looked so badass! I mean, it¡¯s basically using your voice to kill! Badass!


    I decided to use the spare time to find the other demon so I can watch this battle royale from the sidelines.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The next demon was a snake. Due to me being a rat I decided to be a bit more careful. Aren¡¯t snakes natural predators to mice and rats? I mean I saw a friend of mine feeding his snake some mice.


    I carefully put some goblin flesh in a line going towards the plant and screeched the loudest as I could. The snake noticed me but it didn¡¯t follow. It followed the line of flesh! Great! My great plan worked. I think it did¡­ What was my plan again?


    Whatever, it worked.


    The snake followed the line and entered the range of the vines as well. I was so happy! The vines split apart and started attacking the snake as well.


    I thought that the fight would end quickly because the plant was so strong! But the snake and bat didn¡¯t disappoint me.


    [*Ding* Title earned [Rat of Mischief]] [Rat of Mischief ¨C once upon a time there was a little demon rat that liked to play pranks and trick other people into doing stuff. The title gives you +50% chance of succeeding in any trick or prank if it is your main title, 25% if it is your secondary title.]


    Great! Just what I needed, even more guarantee that the plan would work. I will put it as my main title immediately!


    [Name: NotAFailure][Level 5][Race: Lesser Rat][Title: Rat of Mischief (main), Lesser Elemental Demon (secondary)]


    Great. Now I only need to wait and watch.


    The battle is pretty intense. The snake is managing to withhold the barrage of attacks from the vine because of its scales while the bat is dodging the attacks. They still can¡¯t escape the range though. It seems that I was lucky to escape twice.


    Haha¡­my luck is really good ever since I came into this dungeon.


    Let¡¯s see, the bat is barely dodging the attacks it seems that it doesn¡¯t have a lot of stamina. As for the snake, not enough mobility, shouldn¡¯t snakes have mobility? Why is this one so tanky?


    The vines are also not in such a good shape. One third of the vines were just ripped apart from the air bombs that the bat threw out, while another third is being rendered useless by a certain toxins that the snake spit out.


    This fight is worthy of being called the fight of the century in my old world! It¡¯s better than some high quality movies. It¡¯s like watching real life superheroes fighting. The snake is pretty good though, I want it as my mount. If only I had a beast taming ability.


    *What are you doing?


    Fuck¡­Nothing?


    *What are you doing?


    Making demons fight between each other? You got a problem damn Voice?


    *¡­Are you mentally unstable? How did you even come up with such a dumb ide-they are really fighting each other. How?


    I lured them! I put on a proud face while saying that.


    *Y-you lured them?


    You need something? Why did you come here?


    *I sensed a weird energy undulation in this place so I thought it¡¯s you. It seem that it¡¯s not you but those three. I¡¯m going now.


    Damn Voice won¡¯t even help me.


    *Shut up damn rat, you aren¡¯t worthy of my help, I¡¯ve got higher ranked people to attend to and not a damn rat that somehow can come up with this kind of plan.


    Hehe¡­I¡¯m pretty smart aren¡¯t I?


    *¡­I¡¯m going now and not returning. I¡¯ll let someone else take care of you.


    Great. You were kinda becoming boring.


    *¡­I¡¯m going for real now


    Go,go and don¡¯t return.


    Now that the voice is gone I decided to watch the battle.


    It seems that during my little talk with the Voice the battle came to its peak. The snake had almost half of its scales broken or missing from its body, the bat was bleeding out slowly and the vines and plant were ripped apart and had black patches on them.


    The snake hissed and threw out a big ball of toxins towards the core of the plant. The bat just slowly bleed out and fell on the ground. It seems that it died.


    The snake and the plant didn¡¯t bother with the bat so I just sneakily took the corpse of the bat and started eating it. The bones were really crunchy and salty, just like popcorn! The bat also had a demonic crystal so I decided to keep it and eat it after the fight ends.


    The battle was slowly coming to an ending because the snake was moving even more slowly than before. In the end it was slow but this is just like a snail right now!


    The vines were ripped apart and the plant core is covered in those toxins. It should die as well if nothing unexpect- no¡­let¡¯s not say that. I have a bad feeling for some reason.


    Go,go snake! Go,go plant! I cheered.


    After another half an hour the snake died. Another hour passed and the plant seemed dead as well. I carefully sneaked into the vines range and took the snake¡¯s body. I even took the scales that fell off.


    Then I decided to check up on the plant. It seems that it didn¡¯t die. But¡­it is hibernating. I better get rid of it right now.


    I used [Sharp Fangs] at least a fifty times until I managed to get the light blue screen that I wanted to see.


    [[Bramble Plant] slain. 300% experience gained.] [Level up!] [Level up!]


    I leveled up twice! That means I¡¯m level 7 right now! Only 13 more levels until my evolution.


    As for the demonic crystals from the snake and bat. Let¡¯s eat them now and hoped that one of them left me an essence that I can absorb immediately.


    [Black Scaled Shiny Viper lv. 2 Demonic Crystal eaten] [Noisy Bat lv. 12 Demonic Crystal eaten] [Lesser Rat has gained [Essence of Bat], do you wish to absorb it? Y/N?]


    Noisy Bat? My name is better! Wait¡­that its species. My name is still better!


    Absorb the essence yes.


    [Absorption process initiated¡­ Energy level needed : 7, level achieved. Absorption starting. Time left until fully absorbed : 2:00:00]


    2 hours¡­no problem. Only one problem actually. Why was the snake level 2? It was clearly stronger than the bat. Why is its level 2 then? Shouldn¡¯t it at least be level 19?


    Maybe it evolved?


    Yeah you¡¯re right me.


    Glad to help.


    Thank you.


    I slept during the absorption process. When I woke up there was that all so familiar light blue screen in my field of view. There were four screens this time! I¡¯ve hit a jackpot. At least I thought until I read what was on each screen.


    [Bat Language ¨C You can speak the language of bats]


    [Sonic Boom lv.1 0/100 [Active skill] ¨C An sound based attack that has shredding attributes when it impacts.The skill resonates with your vocal cords and lets out an silent or loud bomb that sherds opponents. Leveling up the skill increases the range and damage of the attack. Can only be used if the demon has vocal cords of any kind. ]


    [Glide Lv.1 [Passive skill] ¨C Increases the effectiveness of gliding and similar actions by 50%. Skill can only be used by beings that have wings or have the required items for gliding or flying. Each level adds 5% to the bonus. Max lv. 10]


    [Sonic Wave Detection Lv.1 0/1000 ¨C allows you to detect things with a silent sonic wave. The user has to be adept at using sound based skills or the skill will have a backlash. Each level of the skill increases the range and efficiency of the skill.]


    I can only use one of these in combat. The others are either useless or can¡¯t be used.


    So that means my only choice is [Sonic Boom]¡­Well, it is the second best out of the batch. I really want the [Sonic Wave Detection] for this kind of dungeon but I¡¯m a bit scared of the backlash. I might lose my vocal cords or even worse, die.


    I chose [Sonic Boom] and decided to level it up while I¡¯m still on the first stage of the dungeon. I also want to level up the [Sharp Fangs] skill because it is currently at 57/100. Just 43 successful uses left.


    The first stage of the dungeon also seems to be pretty large. The only bad thing is that there must be even stronger monsters and demons down the road. There was a second stage evolved snake on the first stage. Then what kind of things were on the second stage?


    I don¡¯t want to think, I think I¡¯ll piss my imaginary pants.


    But now I became a pretty powerful rat! I shall fear no one! Because this King fears no one!


    I took on a proud pose and vented all of my feelings at once¡­


    <hr>


    [Name:NotAFailure][Level 7][Race : Lesser Rat][Title : Rat of Mischief(main),Lesser Elemental Demon]


    Active skills [Sharp Fangs lv.1 57/100][Sonic Boom lv.1 0/100] [Rat Demon Sense Lv.2]


    Passive skills: [Cold Resistance Lv.1][Wind Resistance Lv.1][Enhanced Regeneration][Night Vision Lv.2][Poison Resistance Lv.3] [Water Affinity - Law of Absolute Zero]


    Toggle skills: none


    My naming sense strikes back with the all mighty Noisy Bat and Shiny Black Snake! I actually feel proud of those right now.


    Edit : The affinities and elements that can be got are as following : Metal,Water,Wind,Fire,Earth and Lightning.


    Every element has a variation or mutated version like Water has Ice and Steam as the two variations. Earth has Nature and Destruction as a variation and a mutation of some sort. While Fire has Light and Explosion as a variation. Darkness isn''t considered an element because Darkness is just a by product of Light.


    Each element has its own unique attributes that will be revealed later in the series.

 04. [Wine Masters Delight] and the [Green Scaled Lizard]!

    -


    [Unknown POV]


    I was just finishing up with my job when I heard an all so familiar voice calling me out. I turned around and saw my junior brother named Luck calling me out to come to him.


    I stood up and went to him and asked : ¡°What is it junior brother?¡±


    He looked at me with an excited expression and started talking : ¡°Senior brother look at this!¡±


    He put a dagger on the table and gave me a description. Not that I needed one because I had the legendary skill [Appraisal] on lv.10 already. I could easily check how it was made and what it is any time.


    ¡°Listen to this, I was fooling around with my wine storage yesterday when I decided to fuse a law into a vine bottle because of my boredom, never did I expect that the great me would accidently make a unique rank weapon due to this! It is this dagger, I named it [Wine Master¡¯s Delight]!¡±


    I already knew but I put a surprised expression on my face and congratulated my junior brother : ¡°Congratulations junior brother you made your first unique rank item, and it is a weapon at that! You¡¯re really lucky. My first unique rank item didn¡¯t even have a law infused in it¡­what a shame of a big brother am I!¡±


    Not really though, making a unique rank item without a law is at least 100 times harder than making one with a law, and I am not so dumb to use the laws that I comprehended in such a way. I¡¯d rather fuse them in my body.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry senior brother I didn¡¯t want to make you feel inferior. Here you can have the [Wine Master¡¯s Delight], I don¡¯t need it. For your information, the weapon has two unique settings. The first one is that it can produce medical wine anywhere as long as there¡¯s water, the second one is even more important, if the user of the weapon is in danger it will directly absorb the vapor from the air to make a water layer on his body to protect the user! Isn¡¯t that ¡­overpowered!?¡±


    Overpowered? It is, but you wasted your knowledge of a law on a weapon, of course it would be overpowered! I thought, there¡¯s no way I could say that though.


    ¡°Junior brother I can¡¯t take this, you used your law to make it, even if I took it I can¡¯t use it. You remember that I am training in the laws of Metal and not Water.¡±


    I replied quite simply and turned around. I still need to do something.


    ¡°Senior brother it seems that you aren¡¯t really the brightest! Don¡¯t you remember that senior sister is training in the Water laws such as I do! She¡¯s even training in one of the Origin laws! Doesn¡¯t that mean that this is the perfect item for her? Senior brother there¡¯s no reason to hide it! I knew that you liked senior sister ever since I saw you two together!¡±


    This brat! Don¡¯t say that out aloud what will you do if that guy hears you?


    ¡°Junior brother you really are fearless. What will you do if eldest brother hears you? Don¡¯t you know that he¡¯s be trying to catch senior sister¡¯s attention for at least fifty years now?¡± I said and continued walking.


    Luck followed me though.


    ¡°I know, I know! But senior sister doesn¡¯t like eldest brother! They are polar opposites! She uses laws of Water while he uses the ones of Fire!¡±


    ¡°They say that polar opposites attract each other, Luck, focus on your training there¡¯s no need to focus on such trivial things.¡± I said. While we were talking we already came to the place I wanted to go.


    It¡¯s senior sister¡¯s workplace. She was an overseer that was keeping track of all the happening in the mortal realm. She also controlled the [System] that mortals are using.


    ¡°Senior sister what did you want to see me for?¡± I asked. That¡¯s right, I wouldn¡¯t even dare to come here on my own.


    ¡°I want to switch places. Let me control the dungeons and you control the [System], please¡­¡± Senior sister looked really irritated. Her hair looked was all disheveled and her clothes were really untidy. Something must¡¯ve happened.


    ¡°Senior sister you know that master doesn¡¯t allow such things. Can I ask what happened?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You remember when a Nightmare dungeon appeared in the mortal realm, precisely on the planet named Galatine?¡±


    Of course I do.


    ¡°Which one precisely?¡± I still asked. In the last week there were three different nightmare dungeons that activated.


    ¡°The [Earth Dragon¡¯s Tomb]! I just found out that there are 3 different instances of the same dungeon. Why does a Nightmare dungeon have three different entrances? Shouldn¡¯t you do something about it? Now I have to take care of those three abnormals. I¡¯ve had it enough with just that rat now I have to deal with a mutated demonic butterfly and a dark elf devil at the same time!¡±


    Three entrances!? Not possible! Nightmare dungeons don¡¯t allow others to enter when there¡¯s someone in it already. They are meant to be solo-type dungeons.


    ¡°What do you mean senior sister? The [Earth Dragon¡¯s Tomb] doesn¡¯t have different entrances besides that one entrance in the [Forest of Dreams]! How can that be?¡± I was shocked! If a dungeon of that caliber actually allowed others to enter then that wouldn¡¯t be on the level of mortals. It would be hard for even us to clear the dungeon without injuries. I think only master would survive the dungeon without injuries.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! Do you know what those abnormals are doing? One of them is luring other demons to fight each other, the dark elf is taming one after another and the butterfly is using hypnosis to find out the secrets of the first stage from the demons! The rat is the worst of them! He doesn¡¯t even want to listen to me anymore!¡± Senior sister had a vein popping out of her forehead. I still can¡¯t change my position with her though.


    I decided to give her advice though.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just ignore them? They are abnormals anyway, there¡¯s no way they can survive the dungeon. Just ignore.¡± I said and took a moment to appreciate senior sister¡¯s appearance.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I just need to ignore them.¡± Senior sister said and tied her pitch black hair into a ponytail and continued working.


    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡± I heard a shameless voice. I completely forgot that Luck was next to me!


    ¡°Ne~¡­ Senior brother do you still want to keep quiet?¡± Luck asked me.


    ¡°Of course! No way am I risking it. Take the [Wine Master¡¯s Delight] and train. You¡¯ll need it.¡± I said and went to report the abnormal happenings to master.


    [NotAFailure¡¯s POV]


    I was still exploring the first stage of the dungeon. I didn¡¯t find anything exceptional besides another [Blood Mole] with my [Rat Demon Sense].


    As I am exploring the first stage more and more I found out that the first stage looked like a natural labyrinth. The walls of the first stage had some strange language on them sometimes and sometimes there were pictures on them as well.


    It felt like I was watching a movie of someone¡¯s life when I looked at some of the pictures.


    It still felt a bit weird. I can¡¯t seem to find any living beings. I must¡¯ve been travelling for at least 5 hours. How big is this dungeon!?


    I decided to stop and eat the rest of the [Blood Mole], this was didn¡¯t have a demonic crystal either.


    After I ate my fill I continued my exploration of the first stage. The pictures on the wall were really pretty though.


    During that time my [Night Vision Lv.2] became [Night Vision Lv.3]. My status screen looked like this right now.


    [Name: NotAFailure] [Level 7 12%/100] [Race: Lesser Rat] [Title:Rat of Mischief(main), Dungeon Explorer(secondary)]


    I put the [Dungeon Explorer] title as my secondary one because of the ability I get when it is set.


    [Dungeon Explorer ¨C Skills level up faster as long as you are in a dungeon. 100% increase if the title is main, 50% increase if the title is secondary.]


    Pretty good right? I am really pleased by the effects. For every use I get 1.5 points instead of 1.


    Due to that I managed to get 12 points in my [Sharp Fangs] skill and it is now at 69/100.


    Every 100 meters I would use [Rat Demon Sense] to see if there¡¯s something around me. I used it earlier and found out that there are 2 demons without demonic crystals. I also managed to find out how to detect different auras with the skill. Due to that I only attack the demons that have the same strength as the [Blood Mole] or are weaker.


    These two demons are weaker that the [Blood Mole] but there are two of them.


    I came close to the location of the two demons. As I came closer to the two demons I saw two silhouettes in my field of view. I couldn¡¯t really make out what one of them was because it was hidden but the other one was definitely a [Blood Mole].


    I immediately engaged in a fury of attacks with the [Sonic Boom].


    The skill has a 2 second cooldown but I was still a considerable distance away from the two demons so I could attack them freely for at least 10 seconds. I managed to let out 4 attacks before I needed to move and find a better position to engage in close combat.


    The hidden silhouette was moving slowly and also trying to position itself. I saw that and immediately noted that the demon has at least some kind of intelligence. The [Blood Mole] on the other hand just attacked me with vicious attacks.


    I dodged most of the attacks and decided to get rid of the [Blood Mole] first. I managed to use [Sonic Boom] once more on the mole and managed to shred its front legs to nothing! The mole fell on its face and it started crawling slowly towards me. I used [Sonic Boom] once more and got rid of the mole for good.


    [Blood Mole slain! 10% experience gained. ]


    Then I focused on the other demon that was slowly positioning itself behind me. It may be weak but it has intelligent so I was a bit more cautious.


    The demon still didn¡¯t show itself. I used [Sharp Fangs] now because I was feeling a small pain in my vocal cords, I didn¡¯t dare to use sonic boom anymore until my vocal cords regenerate a bit.


    *hiss* *hiss*


    I heard hissing sounds from the demon. I guessed that it is a snake or lizard and I backed up a bit. I still didn¡¯t attack and due to that [Sharp Fangs] deactivated after 2 seconds.


    The demon that was hiding itself up until now has finally shown itself. It had dark green scales that had some kind of demonic aura on them, the surface of the scales was really sharp looking and shiny. The demon had legs so I guessed that it is a lizard of some kind of reptile. The eyes of the demon had a keen light in them that scared me for a second there. The eyes honestly looked like swords for a second.


    I was a bit disappointed though. If this demon had a demonic crystal it would be a mid-grade one I guarantee!


    Still¡­ I will need at least 1 minute to regenerate my vocal cords so I can use [Sonic Boom] again and the [Sharp Fangs] skill shouldn¡¯t be able to penetrate the scales on the first attack.


    I really hate reptile type demons. They are my greatest bane! The worst part is that I¡¯m in the tomb of a dragon, doesn¡¯t that mean that there¡¯s a high chance of the boss being a descendant of the dragon, which means the boss is a reptile!


    I better be careful then.


    I managed to hold out during the exchange. My previous guess that the [Sharp Fangs] skill shouldn¡¯t be able to penetrate the scales was correct. I needed to use the skill 5 times in a row to penetrate a small part of the scales.


    During that time I was hit twice by the tail of the lizard demon.


    It hurt like hell! I almost thought that I would throw up my intestines if I got hit once more.


    I saw the lizard swiping its tail at me once more so I decided to dodge the tail before it hit me. I used [Sharp Fangs] and aimed at the place that was penetrated. I didn¡¯t manage to come to the place quickly enough so I aimed at the most risky place one could imagine. I aimed at the eyes.


    The eyes are the ones closest to the brain right? True, there¡¯s one problem though, those gigantic jaws from the lizard aren¡¯t normal! Each time it opens its mouth I can see those sharp teeth and immediately back off.


    But no! I had to attack the eyes now! I had no other choice. I can either risk the attack or risk being attacked by the tail.


    The lizard opened its jaws but I still didn¡¯t jump or anything I waited for the right moment to use the [Sonic Boom], a minute didn¡¯t pass but my vocal cords did regenerate a bit so I was sure that it wouldn¡¯t backlash on me.


    I used the sonic boom at the right moment barely and unexpectedly hit the lizard right in the forehead. The impact made the lizard a bit dizzy. I took the opportunity and used [Sharp Fangs] on the eyes of the lizard.


    The lizard couldn¡¯t see now so it focused on sensing me by smell and noise.


    I silently came close to the head of the lizard and stabbed my fangs into the eye balls of the lizard. I didn¡¯t stop biting and just furiously attacked. I used [Sharp Fangs] a few times during the exchange. I broke the skull of the lizard and heard a ding sound.


    [Green-Scaled Lizard slain! 60% experience gained!][Sharp Fangs is evolving!]


    Huh? Evolving? Shouldn¡¯t it level up? Why is there an evolution?


    Voice you there?


    Hello?


    It¡¯ not there. Dumb voice¡­ I feel sleepy¡­ Why?


    I¡¯m going to sleep. Nighty,night¡­


    <hr>


    [Name:NotAFailure][Level 7 82%/100%][Race:Lesser Rat][Title:Rat of Mischief(main),Dungeon Explorer(secondary)]


    Active skills [Sharp Fangs lv.1??/100(in the process of evolution) ] [Sonic Boom lv.1 10.5/100] [Rat Demon Sense Lv.2]


    Passive skills: [Cold Resistance Lv.1][Wind Resistance Lv.1][Enhanced Regeneration][Night Vision Lv.3][Poison Resistance Lv.3] [Water Affinity - Law of Absolute Zero]


    Toggle skills: none

 05. I mutated?

    In NotAFailure¡¯s dreams.


    Snow was falling slowly on the small wooden house. In the wooden house was a family of three. A mother and two sons.


    The eldest son had black hair and was burly and strong. His green eyes emanated a powerful and keen aura.


    The younger son had dark brown hair and light blue eyes. He looked fragile and weak. His face was only average in comparison with his handsome brother. He looked at the dying figure of his mother and silently wept.


    As their mother died the two boys that didn¡¯t even have 20 years old decided to go out and find work.


    A few years later the snow didn¡¯t stop, it only grew more and more fierce. The eldest brother managed to find a stable job and established a family. He had a beautiful wife and two adorable children.


    As for the younger brother, he tried and tried, he didn¡¯t manage to become a soldier when he wanted to so he gave up.


    He didn¡¯t manage to become a researcher, so he gave up.


    He tried to get a job for years. He still lived in the wooden house where he and his brother lived in since they were kids.


    One day the younger brother decided to just live peacefully in the wooden house, his brother gave him food and water and he lived peacefully.


    Not long after a silhouette could be seen behind the younger brother. The person behind the younger brother was NotAFailure. He looked at the figure of the lone younger brother and stared at him for hours.


    For some reason he didn¡¯t know why he was here. He just followed the younger brother everywhere. He didn¡¯t even notice that the snow was starting to fall even more quickly.


    He looked at the brother for who knows long. Maybe weeks have passed, maybe years¡­


    ¡°Why do I feel that he resembles me so much?¡± NotAFailure asked himself. He then noticed the snow outside. He knew that the younger brother wasn¡¯t him, but for some reason he just felt that he had some connection with him.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± He asked the younger brother. The younger brother didn¡¯t hear him though. NotAFailure tried and tried but couldn¡¯t reach out to the younger brother.


    NotAFailure followed the younger brother for a while and then stopped after following him for a few hours. He decided to see where he is.


    He somehow flew out and passed through the walls of the house. He noticed then that he wasn¡¯t real in this world. He looked at the world covered in snow and was shocked!


    How can these people live in this snow? How long has the snow been falling? This isn¡¯t normal.


    He thought.


    He then looked down at the wooden house and saw that the house was chained down with a white crystal chain.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He asked himself and touched the chain.


    ¡°So cold!¡± Immediately after he touched the chain he felt a sharp and cold pain appear in his hands.


    He let go of the chains and waited until the pain went away. He was surprised by the fact that he could touch the chains though, he thought that he could pass through everything but the chains didn¡¯t let him go through them.


    ¡°Huh? Why do I feel sleepy? Ah right! I was sleeping! Am I still sleeping? Is this a dream? What are those chains?¡± He finally found out what he was doing and before he could get a hold of the chains once more he felt a strong suction power moving him away from the chains and from this world.


    [NotAFailure¡¯s POV]


    Huh? Where am I now? Wasn¡¯t I in the city? No, I¡¯m in the dungeon, the city was a dream. What was that dream? It felt real and imaginary at the same time.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Let¡¯s get up first though¡­Wait what? Why am I so high up? Oh,fuck I will die!


    God help me please! I prayed and closed my eyes.


    ?


    Am I dead? I didn¡¯t feel any pain though¡­ why?


    I opened my eyes and saw that I was alright and that there was a light blue screen flashing in front of me. I looked at the screen once and was shocked!


    [Demonic crystal impurities were eradicated, demonic crystal energy absorbed, gained 500% experience!] [You leveled up!] [You leveled up!] [You leveled up!] [You leveled up!] [You leveled up!]


    [Race has mutated due to consumption of demonic crystals!] [Race changed from [Lesser Rat] to [Lesser Aquafang Rat (variation)]]


    [Aquafang Rat ¨C A mutated variation of the Lesser Rat species, due to the high consumption of demonic crystals and other demons you have initiated a mutation in your species. The prerequisites for evolving into this race are as following: must have touched the basics of a law based with water, must have a maxed out fang type attack.]


    [Aqua Fang (Frost Variation),[Passive skill] ¨C Your fang attacks have a chance of freezing the target. 10% chance.]


    A new skill! A new race! I evolved, well, mutated to be precise.


    It seems that it¡¯s a good thing that I ate the demonic crystals. But¡­they had impurities? How was I supposed to know that?


    The skill is all good and nice but why am I so strong now? It says that I¡¯m a variation but¡­this is too strong for me to only be a lesser demon. I still have no idea what the rankings of demons are but I must be at least as strong as the black snake from that battle with the bramble plant.


    Well¡­now that I have this new strength it seems that I need to test it out! Let me see if there are some strong demons around. I¡¯m looking for demons at twice as strong as the [Blood Mole] or a huge group of demons that have the same strength as those moles.


    I used [Rat Demon Sense] and found 2 demons with pretty good power. One of them was at least 2 and a half times stronger than the [Blood Mole]! I decided that that one will be my first kill in this new form!


    Let¡¯s go! I ran towards the place the demon was located and during that time I tried to get a feeling on how to control this new body.


    ¡­


    Found it! It is a bright crimson snake. The scales look really thin and weak just like its body but the sword like eyes remind me of the lizard from earlier. I carefully planned out a surprise attack and only set out in motion after I managed to get a hang of controlling the new body.


    I must say though, the speed of the Aquafang rat is pretty good, the defense on the other hand is not so good. I silently bit into the body of the crimson snake and tried to rip it in pieces. It was harder than it looked like so I backed down and hid.


    The snake was startled and it looked for the attacker, namely me.


    I hid and tried to attack the snake once more with a surprise attack but it seems that my luck isn¡¯t that good and I was found. I dodged the first attack but due to not being full accustomed to this new body I accidentally slammed my whole body into the snake. The snake started to surround me and left no opening for me to run away.


    I wasn¡¯t worried though. I could still jump out! At least I thought so. The snake was smart enough to form a strategy against me.If I tried to jump out the snake would start to become quicker and would try to bite me as fast as it could andoh boy, was it fast.


    I then formed a new plan to counter the snake¡¯s plan.


    The plan goes like this. I will wait for the snake to encircle me completely and attack it only after it doesn¡¯t have enough space to make quick movements.


    The plan worked fantastically! The snake didn¡¯t expect this from me and I managed to hurt it pretty badly, but I was hurt as well. My abdomen area was slashed by the snake¡¯s tail.


    After escaping the snake¡¯s range I ran back in and tried to use [Sharp Fangs] but then I realized that it is still undergoing the evolution process of some kind so I used [Sonic Boom] and aimed at the head of the snake.


    After making the snake dizzy and shredding the scales on its head a bit I bit into the snake and didn¡¯t let go. I only waited for the snake to die a slow and painful death.


    I was biting into the snake until I heard a *ding* and then I let go.


    [Crimson-Jade Snake lv.17 was slain! 20% experience gained!] [Level up!]


    I leveled up? How?


    I looked at my status screen for a second.


    [Name: NotAFailure][Level 13 2%/100%][Race: Lesser Aquafang Rat][Title: Rat of Mischief(main),Dungeon Explorer(secondary)]


    I am already level 13? I remember being at Level 7 with 82%, I still don¡¯t get how experience works but it should be like this:


    100% = 1 level, right?


    But that is only if the experience is static. Isn¡¯t there a different experience cap each level? Or what I¡¯m getting is static experience? If I¡¯m getting static experience then that¡¯s great! I don¡¯t need different amounts of experience for each level.


    But I do get smaller amounts of experience when I kill lower leveled demons so I think that¡¯s the problem. I mean, that¡¯s how it works.


    That means that I all together got 520% static experience from the mutation. Why? I don¡¯t care. As long as I am getting stronger.


    But it¡¯s still weird seeing myself this powerful. I need to get used to this new body quickly, good thing that it¡¯s a rat type and nothing different.


    Let¡¯s hunt the other demon quickly. This snake doesn¡¯t have a demonic crystal but even if it had one I wouldn¡¯t eat it. I am quite wary of those impurities ever since I saw the message on the screens.


    ¡­


    After a bit of travelling I took a few detours and killed the lower ranked demons to test something. It seems that I was right. The demons that are of lower rank and level than me really to give a pitiful amount of experience. I only got 2% when I killed a [Blood Mole], they used to give me around 12% experience before.


    I killed 3 [Blood Mole]s and got 6% experience in total.


    After I found the other demon that has the same power as the [Crimson-Jade Snake], I thought that the snake would be twice as powerful as a [Blood Mole] but due to its intelligence I was having a hard time.


    Luckily the second demon was just strong and didn¡¯t have intelligence. I killed it easily and continued on with my exploration of the first stage.


    I do find something weird though. How do I enter the second stage? I tried digging under the walls but it seems that there is a barrier there so my only chance of leaving this place is ending this damn labyrinth. I still can¡¯t find the way out of the labyrinth though.


    It seems that I only need to continue going there where there are stronger demons. My guess is that the strongest demons are gathered at the center of the labyrinth.

 06. Sena the Dark Elf

    *drip* *drip*


    What''s this?


    Water? It can''t be water¡­it''s green. Let me taste it since I have [Poison Resistance Lv.3] it shouldn''t be able to damage be a lot.


    It tastes weird but I am not feeling anything special. But¡­since there is water in here then that means that there must be a spring of some sorts somewhere. I will follow the path that the water came from.


    Still¡­It seems weird, why was there water in a dungeon? I would be able to accept it if I was somewhere where there¡¯s a ton of water around but I¡¯m in the middle of a forest, at least I was.


    I just followed the path, killing a few demons that I met on my way and leveling up once.


    My status looks like this now:


    [Name: NotAFailure][Level 14 0/100%][Race: Aquafang Rat (variation)][Title: Dungeon Explorer (main), Rat of Mischief (secondary)]


    Active skills [Sharp Fangs lv.1??/100(in the process of evolution) ] [Sonic Boom lv.2 0/100] [Rat Demon Sense Lv.2]


    Passive skills: [Cold Resistance Lv.1] [Wind Resistance Lv.1] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Night Vision Lv.4] [Poison Resistance Lv.3] [Water Affinity - Law of Absolute Zero]


    Toggle skills: none


    I am really pleased by my skills, [Sonic Boom] has become level 2 and [Night Vision] became level 4 after I changed my main title to the [Dungeon Explorer] one.


    As for [Sharp Fangs], I still don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with it so I will leave it alone for the time.


    Let¡¯s get back to business now. I followed the way that the water came from and drank some of the water during my journey and noticed that the water really is just normal water, but due to some reason, it was green. It was still transparent, though.


    I continued to follow the water. Ever since my [Night Vision] skill became level 4 I could see even farther than before. I could see at least more than 50 meters away from me.


    The water collecting on the walls and the ceiling was getting denser so I was sure that the spring of the water was close.


    But before I came to the spring there was an obstacle. There is a broken down wall that is at least 20 times taller than me. I can¡¯t jump over it and the ground is too hard to dig under it.


    I thought for a second and decided to use the new and upgraded [Sonic Boom Lv.2] to shoot myself over the wall. I needed some time to make preparations, though.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    After a few minutes, I came back with a corpse of a reptile demon called [Shiny Head Viper] that I¡¯ve slain when I came here. It had really soft and elastic scales on its head. I used them to make a landing spot if I fail somehow, which is not going to happen.


    I used Sonic Boom on the ground and used the impact that it made to propel myself over the wall, I only managed to jump up to 2/3 of the wall. I used the wall to kick myself off so I can land on the scales.


    I missed the scales and slid on the ground, my face must look pathetic now. I ate a lot of dirt as well somehow.


    I took a moment to recover and then tried to jump over the wall again. This time I came closer to the wall.


    This time I couldn¡¯t kick myself off the wall because I¡­well¡­slammed into the wall directly. I did, however, go higher than last time.


    I landed on my little rat butt and waited until I recovered, I also got hungry during my recovery so I decided to eat the rest of the [Shiny Head Viper]. Leaving the scales behind if I accidentally break those that I already used.


    They say that third time¡¯s the charm, right? I will manage to do it now. I positioned myself not too close and not too far from the wall. I took a few seconds to calm myself and then used [Sonic Boom] once again.


    I missed and didn¡¯t even go higher than my last attempts.


    And so my struggle to overcome the wall began¡­


    <hr>


    [Dark Elf POV]


    Hi, my name is Sena, I¡¯m one of the devil race¡¯s most hated subspecies. Mostly because of our appearance and our connections to the now extinct Snow Elves. If you didn¡¯t guess already, I¡¯m a Dark Elf. A harbinger of death.


    At least that¡¯s how humans see us. They are on good terms with the High Elves and Wood Elves, though. Maybe because they don¡¯t look like us and are actually beautiful.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    We dark elves have crimson red or dark purple eyes that look so devilish and menacing that humans think that we are the harbingers of death. The truth is that we are not. We are the same as the High Elves, the only difference is that our skin is darker and we live in dark caves under the earth. That¡¯s why most of us are born with a good or extraordinary affinity in fire and earth type of magic.


    There were even some clansmen in our clan that had a double affinity. They were like legends to us.


    I, however, was born with a good affinity towards soul type magic. I say soul type but it¡¯s nothing special. Most of us that are born with this affinity are either beast-tamers or enchanters.


    I am the former. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a great Magus that was going to rule the underworld. But on my 12th birthday, I had to undergo an initiation ritual that determined which type of magic I was most proficient at. It was soul magic. The hardest magic to learn, it is said in some legends that one can use soul magic to steal the abilities and power from other souls but that magic isn¡¯t recorded anywhere in our clan records.


    I decided to be a beast tamer and trained for 6 years ever since then. Beast tamers have different ranks depending on which rank of demons they can tame. They go like from 1-star beast tamer to the legendary 12-star beast tamer.


    I am a 3-star demon tamer but I only have one 3-star ranked demon in my possession and I only managed to tame it because it was going on a rampage with the hypnosis spell.


    It is a butterfly that I found in this dungeon. I almost died when I tamed it. It may have been weakened but it was still on a rampage in its berserk mode so I had a tough time taming it.


    I did tame it though in the end. I am quite pleased with it also. It seems that it was a variation demon of the [Five Phases Butterfly] that entered its fourth phase already. The [Five Phases Butterfly] is only a 2-star ranked demon normally. It shouldn''t have been a 3-star demon until it achieved the fifth phase.


    Right now I am following a little stream of water towards its center. I think that that''s where the next stage might be located. I entered this dungeon accidentally when I was searching for a demon that could be my mount.


    After I entered I saw a screen appear in front me and I already knew that I entered a dungeon then.


    The screen looked like this:


    [Nightmare Dungeon [Earth Dragon¡¯s Tomb] entered!] [Title gained [Dungeon Explorer]] [Bonus experience gained from kills.]


    I was fucking scared man, a nightmare dungeon isn''t something that I am allowed to even think of, let''s not even speak about what will happen if I clear one.


    The humans monopolize most of the dragon type dungeons and if they find out that I enter a dragon type nightmare dungeon I will be in danger. Not even my clan would be able to help me.


    I decided to sneak around for a few hours first when I entered the dungeon to see if it has multiple stages or only one. I was delighted when I saw that the dungeon had multiple stages.


    Ever since then I went on a rampage with my beast taming and soul magic. I tamed most of the demons in my vicinity so I decided to travel a bit. My soul magic also advanced during that time and when I met the [Five Phased Butterfly] I barely managed to tame it because of that and the fact that it was weakened.


    As I was following the stream of water I saw a cracked wall and a rat demon trying to jump over it. I hid and thought that the rat wouldn''t notice me.


    The rat demon was light blue in color with white lines going over its eyes and a sharp looking scaled tail. At first, I thought it was an [Aquatic Rat] but the scaled tail told me differently. I looked at it more closely and noticed that the rat used the ability [Sonic Boom] that only sound based demons used.


    I was even more confused now. The [Sonic Boom] seemed to be at the third level already as well. It seems that this is my lucky day, though. 2 abnormal demons in a multi-stage dungeon. I wonder what will I find in the lower stages.


    I decided to use my soul magic to talk to it first. It seems that this rat demon has at least a bit of wisdom.


    "Little Rat, what are you doing?" I asked.


    <hr>


    [NotAFailure''s POV]


    "Little Rat, what are you doing?" I heard in my head. Voice is that you? I stopped with my futile attempts at jumping over the wall and decided to look around.


    I saw something shocking! I saw a dark purple skinned human hiding behind me! The human has pointy ears and black hair.


    There''s one thing that confuses me, though...why is he wearing a skirt? I can''t see the face, though, maybe it is a girl.


    "Little Rat, do you hear me? Nod your head if you do." The voice appeared in my head again. The voice didn''t sound like a male or female though so I can''t tell if the human is male of female. For all, I know it could be a transgender retard that wants to ruin my hopes at seeing a real girl in such a long time!


    I still nodded my little rat head.


    "Great! You''re mine!" The voice said something like that and jumped at me. I fought back of course. I didn''t feel any killing intent from the human but I didn''t hold back and directly wanted to make the human faint at least. How does he dare attack me?


    I used my newly leveled up [Sonic Boom lv.3] at the human and aimed at the chest.


    The human didn''t dodge or anything but a black snake appeared in front of the human and it took the attack directly. I killed the snake though and received a bit of experience too.


    The human stood there in a daze. What is it, lowly human? Are you scared of my majestic [Sonic Boom]? I knew it! I still wonder why that snake protected him.


    I used [Sonic Boom] at least 5 more times until I heard the human''s voice once again.


    "Stop! I give up! What''s wrong with you!? You killed half of my precious demons!"


    Hehe...you started it! I put on a smug face! Still, I need to thank the human. I managed to level up while killing its demons. Wait...did the human say that those demons were its? Does that mean that he is the boss of the first stage?


    ...


    Kill! If the boss is so weak then I shall kill!


    "Wait! I don''t mean you any harm. I just want to tame you!" The voice of the human interrupted me.


    Tame me? The majestic me is not someone you can tame! I shook my head and continued with my charge.


    "Alright, alright, I won''t tame you but you need to help me clear the first stage of the dungeon. I will award you with nice food if you do so!"


    ...Nice food?


    I stood there with a doubtful expression looking at the human. Can he really give me nice food? Yummy food? I don''t doubt it! If he can take out so many demons as cannon fodder then that means he is rich!


    I shall follow you. I nodded my head in agreement.


    "Great! Let me help you go over that wall. I can tell that that''s where the first stage boss is." The human is pretty knowledgeable.


    "Oh right! Let me introduce myself, my name is Sena, I''m a dark elf. You don''t have a name, right? Let me give you one...Your name shall be Xiao Lan"


    [Name changed.]


    ...What!? Not my precious name! How dare you! You scum! My precious name was changed because of you!


    oh...it''s a girl. I don''t care. Scum, I must say you are pretty cute. You look like a young lady from a clan in those stories I read when I was little.

 07. Silver and the History of the Great Tombs!

    It seems that I¡¯ll have to pretend that I¡¯m going to help her clear the first stage. Even though I have a better plan.


    But looking at her now I feel weird. Like I¡¯m not looking truly at her. What¡¯s going on?


    ¡°I¡¯m going to throw you over the wall. Is that alright with you?¡± NO!


    Are you crazy? Just let me climb on you and you climb over the damn wall.


    I shook my head and climbed onto her shoulders.


    Now go!


    ¡°¡­Alright then.¡± What¡¯s with that tone? You don¡¯t like it? You think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing? You¡¯re trying to harm little me so you can use your damn demons to do something bad to me! I may be a failure but I still did study a lot! I know a lot about strategies.


    Now climb. I nodded my head indicating that she can start climbing.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    <hr>


    That was slow as fuck. You¡¯re the worst climber I ever saw. Who needs 5 fucking minutes to over that damn wall!?


    Still¡­good job. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s over here on this side of the wall. I want to know where the water comes from.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Find the source of the green water. Oh yeah¡­she can¡¯t understand me. If only I could speak¡­


    Just follow me. I moved my head a bit and tried to tell her that she should just follow me.


    It seems that she managed to understand my meaning.


    The other side of the wall is still a bit weird. The water is somehow being pulled up to the ceiling and the walls are all slippery and wet. The pictures on the walls are also more preserved, now I can see what each of them represent clearly.


    The first ones have a bear painted on them, a cub to be precise, it was black in color with white runic patterns on its fur. I think it looks awesome and mysterious as well. The pictures after that seemed to represent the bear¡¯s life. How it had hunted, its battles and its friends.


    The pictures of the bear ended and new pictures appeared after we went deeper into the labyrinth. The pictures were of a weird reptile like being with horns. It stood on four legs and had dark brownish red scales and black eyes that had a weird keen light in them that could be seen even in the pictures. I was scared stiff! How menacing would the real thing then look like?


    I continued to observe the pictures. The reptile like being grew more and more, on one picture it was fighting against short looking humans with beards. With my little knowledge of games I deduced that those humans were actually dwarves. They wielded axes and giant hammers that were out of proportion with their small bodies.


    The reptile like being seemed to have been in a battle with the dwarves. The next picture showed the reptile like being without a horn and an eye. But it didn¡¯t show any dwarves. It seems that the reptile like being won with some casualties. The being used its body to dig out a cave and ordered its subordinates to make a labyrinth on top of the cave.


    Looking at this it seems that the reptile like being is the Earth Dragon that died in this dungeon.


    As we went even deeper we saw something that shocked me. I guessed that the girl also observed the pictures up until now.


    The bear from the first picture was displayed here together with the reptile like being from before. They seemed to have been protecting something. The picture was damaged by someone or something. The only thing that I could notice are those devilish bone wings behind the bear and reptile like being.


    I was shocked stiff. What is this? It has such an aura.


    I looked at the girl and was even more shocked. She had almost no life in her eyes, her legs were shivering and she seemed to have been on the verge of collapsing.


    What is going on? I tried to wake the girl up but she didn¡¯t react.


    I then heard a familiar *ding* sound and an unfamiliar black screen appeared in front of me.


    [ Corruption shall rule this world. Listen and obey my fellow servant, the queen has spoken. This is a fate painted in blood.]


    [Obtained the skill [Appraisal Lv.1] for understanding the basic history of the dungeon ]


    [Obtained 10 skill points.]


    [Obtained the title [Messenger of Corruption]]


    [Messenger of Corruption ¨C One that shall serve the queen of corruption and disease in conquering the mortal world. Skill [Corruption Magic Lv.1] is given to anyone who has the title.]Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    [Obtained the skill [Demon Language]]


    ¡­


    What the hell!? What¡¯s going on...?


    I became a what? What¡¯s with this dumb childish name? What¡¯s next? I will become the king of corruption? Like hell will I!


    It¡¯s enough that I became a rat and now this? Just imagine it. A rat ruling over thousands of dragons and strong demons! Actually now that I think about it I really want to see that scene now.


    But¡­who is the queen of corruption? The one with bone wings? That means that I am in the tomb of her subordinate.


    Right, has the girl woken up? She has. She¡¯s staring at me like she saw a ghost. A rat ghost! Is she alright?


    ¡°You¡­do you know what these pictures represent?¡± She asked me with that weird technique.


    I shook my head. Who knows what she would do to me.


    ¡°Good¡­It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t know. Let me give you a warning though. Anyone who can understand these pictures are the enemies of the whole Underworld and Central Continent.¡±


    What is the Central Continent? I still nodded my head indicating that I understood and continued to go deeper into the labyrinth. Towards the core and center of the labyrinth.


    ¡°Listen. There¡¯s something I need to tell you. When we get to the core. Don¡¯t do anything and just stay behind me. I will speak with the boss first.¡±


    Speak with the boss? The boss is 100% a demon, so how can she speak with him? With the technique that she¡¯s using right now to speak to me? No way will that work. The boss will attack on sight.


    I¡¯ll let her do as she pleases. Not like it can hurt me. I want to test something before we get to the boss.


    Appraisal!


    [Race:Elf] [Profession: 3-star Beast Tamer, Soul Magician, Illusionist]


    It works! It shows less than my status screen but that¡¯s enough. What¡¯s a profession though? A job? Weird¡­


    Can I level [Appraisal]? Let me see¡­


    I need 1 skill point to level it up to level 2. Alright, I¡¯ll do it.


    [Appraisal Lv.1] became [Appraisal Lv.2]


    Let me try it again now.


    Appraisal!


    [Name: Sena] [Race: Dark Elf] [Profession: 3-star Beast Tamer, Soul Magician, Illusionist] [Title: None]


    It is like my status screen right now. Let me level it once more. Now I need 2 skill points.


    [Appraisal Lv.2] became [Appraisal Lv.3]


    It should display more information now.


    [Name: Sena] [Race: Dark Elf] [Profession: 3-star Beast Tamer, Soul Magician, Illusionist] [Title: None]


    Mental Status : Frightened


    Strength: 10


    Agility: 34


    Lifespan:25


    Vitality:10


    Intelligence:52


    Wisdom:13


    Stats¡­a lot of them. It seems that I won¡¯t need to level the [Appraisal] skill anymore.


    Now¡­let me appraise myself.


    [Name: Xiao Lan] [Race: Aquafang Rat(variation)] [Level:15] [Title: Dungeon Explorer(main),Rat of Mischief(secondary)]


    HP: 220/220


    MP: 84/84


    Mental Status : Excited


    Strength: 25


    Agility: 25


    Lifespan: 45


    Vitality: 110


    Intelligence:42


    Wisdom:14


    What¡¯s with my abnormally huge Vitality stat? Do all rats have this kind of abnormal stat? On the other hand my wisdom stat is somehow weird. How does this even grow? Do I need to train or something?


    Well¡­now that I have stats I know what I should do.


    Let me see the Corruption magic I got now.


    [Corruption Magic Lv.1 ¨C you possess the power of corruption. Control it and cover the world with the veil of corruption.


    Available Magic: Lv1 [Tainted Touch]]


    So¡­how does this work? It uses mana right?


    Let me try it.


    [Tainted Touch]!


    !!


    Fuck¡­it hurts.


    What¡¯s going on?


    My HP, now, display it!


    HP: 100/220


    ¡­I lost 120 HP! How!? Why?


    Corruption magic you are an asshole. Appraisal-san is a god though. Thank you Appraisal-san.


    I should just act like nothing happened.


    ¡°Did you hear something?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± She looked at me weirdly and continued to go deeper.


    <hr>


    After an hour or so we managed to find the center of the first stage. Finally¡­I would¡¯ve really like to be happy but there¡¯s something I didn¡¯t expect to see here.


    A fountain. The fountain looked ancient and archaic in every sense. But there was no boss around here.


    I looked around and tried using appraisal on the fountain.


    [Appraisal didn¡¯t work.]


    Why? I don¡¯t know but I can tell that this is not an ordinary fountain.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? A fountain? Great! I was getting thirsty after all this walking¡­¡± Are you fucking retarded girl? This is clearly a trap! You little bitch of a dark elf!


    No! No! Don¡¯t you dare go near that fountain. And you touched it. Great. Now what?


    Lights¡­my night vision stopped working. The burst of light blinded me.


    ¡°Who dares to wake me up from my slumber? I¡¯m Silver, the keeper of the Labyrinth of Truths!¡±


    I heard a voice and then I heard something that the girl shouldn¡¯t have said.


    ¡°Silver? No wonder your shooting skills are so damn bad! You missed me by at least 2 meters!¡± What has gotten into your head girl? Are you crazy?


    I finally managed to see what is going on. The girl was standing in front of me bad-mouthing a 3 meter tall giant with white skin and a horn.


    Did she go crazy from the water right now?


    ¡°Y-you dare! I shall kill you right now!¡±


    ¡­You know. Now that I think about it I had enough of the girl anyways so you can kill her.


    ¡°HAHA! With what? Your shooting ski¡ª¡°Die!!¡±..¡±


    I heard the girl¡¯s voice stop in the middle of her little speech and heard an ancient voice that seemed to come from the depths of hell.


    I closed my eyes for a moment and noticed that I was in some kind of liquid. I opened my eyes and saw blood and brain matter splattered all over me. I wasn¡¯t scared though.


    ¡°You¡­what are you doing here? Who told you that you can enter the labyrinth?¡±


    The voice was directed at me?


    ¡° I¡­.I don¡¯t know.¡± I tried talking for the first time in my new body. For some reason I could understand everything I wanted to say.


    ¡°You are?¡± The giant looked at me.


    ¡°I am an Aquafang Rat.¡±


    ¡°Aquafang? I didn¡¯t see that one in a long while. Tell me¡­how is your race doing right now?¡±


    Why would he be asking me about my race? I am a loner. I was taken to this world alone. There¡¯s no one with me.


    ¡°My race?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes¡­the rat demons from the Eastern Chaotic Ocean. How are they doing? Is that old man Blue still alive?¡±


    This guy has connections to the rat demons? Lucky!


    ¡°Sir¡­I¡¯m nothing more than an orphan. I don¡¯t know a lot about my race.¡± I lied. I hope he doesn¡¯t see through my lie.


    ¡°Orphan? What kind of parent leaves their child in the area of the great Tombs? Tell me. From which entrance did you enter?¡±


    Great Tombs? Chaotic Ocean¡­? Too much damn information you giant.


    ¡°I entered from an entrance in a forest.¡± I still answered.


    ¡°You were on the Central Continent!?¡± The giant was shocked for some reason.


    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡± My stuttered a bit and answered.


    ¡°It seems that your parents were not normal commoners in the rat demon kingdom. Let me guess. You want to go outside of this dungeon? Am I right?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± You¡¯re still pretty smart for a giant.


    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re not the first one that accidentally entered the dungeon. Let me tell you something. You can¡¯t leave the tombs if you are a normal demon. Only servants of the queen can enter and leave freely.¡±


    Servants of the queen? You know nothing giant! I am a servant already!


    That means that I just need to leave the dungeon normally¡­wait¡­ I didn¡¯t mark my path or anything. How should I find the way out?


    ¡°Hmm? It seems that we have company little rat.¡±


    Company? Who?

 Chapter 08 - Corruption magic

    ¡°It seems we have company little rat.¡± The giant Silver said.


    I¡¯m curious who it might be.


    ¡°You. Are¡­what?¡± A broken voice, a dull voice could be heard. It sent shivers down my spine.


    ¡°A¡­giant? Color¡­gray? Silver? Horns¡­codex¡­scan¡­insufficient data.¡± This¡­is definitely a living being. Why is its voice so dull then?


    ¡°You seem to know our language. You¡¯re definitely not from this world, I can tell that much. The question is¡­what do you want?¡±


    ¡°Codex¡­scans¡­knowledge¡­harness¡­the¡­ELEMENTS!¡±


    *Heeek* that scared me. Something flashed behind me. I ran behind Silver and looked at the place the flash happened.


    It¡¯s¡­a butterfly? It''s colorful. Blue, yellow,green,red and purple. The red and purple parts have a darker hue than the others, though.


    ¡°Rat demon¡­bloodline¡­mutated¡­impure¡­tainted.¡± It¡¯s talking about me? Weird ass butterfly if you ask me. I am going out of this dungeon. Silver can deal with this guy.


    ¡°Little butterfly, what do you want to know? I can fulfill you 1 wish, since you¡¯re not from this world after all. You look like a [Five Phases Butterfly], that¡¯s true¡­but¡­the energy fluctuations are wrong! The [Five Phases Butterfly] harnesses the most basic elements of fire,earth,wind,water and lightning! You however have a holy energy in your body instead of the earth element!¡± yeah yeah¡­I don¡¯t get it. I don¡¯t care. Just going to take my leave then. Okay?


    ¡°wish¡­?¡± Wait what¡­? He gets a wish?! The hell you damn giant want me to ¡°ora ora¡± you to the moon? You are good friends with my rat clan then you should give me a wish and not to that damn butterfly!


    I stared angrily at Silver until he noticed.


    ¡°hmm? You still haven¡¯t gone away?¡± Nope. Want my wish.


    ¡°I feel dissatisfied. I want a wish as well.¡± I said while pouting.<sup>1</sup>


    ¡°No. Now go away.¡± ¡­You¡¯re so dead when I come back here with end-game skills and gear.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re irritating. It¡¯s because I already fulfilled your wish. You wanted to know the way out of this dungeon, right? I told you. Now go away.¡± Alright¡­I shall come back.


    And so¡­I, the rat with no sense of direction finally found my way out of the damn dungeon. But before I came out I found a high level [Blood Mole] and used it to vent out my pent up anger.


    Due to that and not letting it die. I feel sorry for it. A few of my skills leveled up.


    [Name: Xiao Lan] [Race: Aquafang Rat(variation)] [Level:15] [Title: Dungeon Explorer(main),Rat of Mischief(secondary)]


    HP: 230/230


    MP: 84/84


    Mental Status : Calm


    Strength: 25


    Agility: 25


    Lifespan: 45


    Vitality: 120


    Intelligence:42


    Wisdom:14


    [Sonic Boom lv.3] became [Sonic Boom lv.4] ¨C range increase and shredding power increased.


    [Tainted Touch lv.1] became [Tainted Touch lv.2] ¨C less HP usage,longer duration (duration : 10s)


    Pretty good ,huh?


    I directly left the dungeon and finally saw the sky again. I kneeled and started¡­kissing? The ground.


    I felt¡­pleased.


    Also. My skills.


    Active skills [Sharp Fangs lv.1??/100(in the process of evolution) ] [Sonic Boom lv.4 0/400] [Rat Demon Sense Lv.2] [Appraisal lv.3] [Corruption Magic Lv.1]


    Passive skills: [Cold Resistance Lv.1] [Wind Resistance Lv.1] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Night Vision Lv.4] [Poison Resistance Lv.3] [Water Affinity - Law of Absolute Zero] [Demon Language]


    Toggle skills: none


    Spell book : Corruption


    Rank 1 : [Tainted Touch lv.2]


    I suffered enough! Now¡¯s the time to strike back! I shall build my own army.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    But firstly. I need to find suitable candidates. My army is going to prioritize quality over quantity.


    Goblins seem like a good starting point to be honest.


    Let¡¯s find some high level goblins.


    If I remember correctly¡­it should be in the west!


    Where is the west again? Can¡¯t see the sun¡­canopy blocking the way. Moss? None? What the hell how did I not notice this before? This forest sure is weird~¡­


    Let¡¯s go this way then and hope I find some goblins with potential.


    1 week has passed. At least I think it has.


    I¡¯ve lost track of time. I¡¯ve been following this weird black goblin for who knows how long. He has golden colored eyes and black skin. He¡¯s using a sharpened stone spear instead of a club like the other goblins.


    I¡¯ve found my first subordinate! That¡¯s what I thought¡­But this guy!! This guy has two fucking female goblins following him around. And they aren¡¯t [Lesser Goblins] but the adult versions, [Goblin].


    I used appraisal on the black goblin and found out it¡¯s stats.


    [Name : Ro] [Race : Lesser Goblin (variation)][Level: 10][Title : Outcast]


    HP: 150/150


    MP: awakening


    Mental Status : drowsy


    Strength: 20


    Agility: 40


    Lifespan: 25


    Vitality: 50


    Intelligence: 70


    Wisdom: 10


    His agility and intelligence is higher than mine. What does MP awakening mean? Does it mean that he can¡¯t use spells until it awakens?


    Good thing it is a lesser goblin. That just means that I need to get rid of those two horny adult ones.


    I can deal with them easily if they were one on one. But it¡¯s three on one. And I can¡¯t hurt the black one.


    I could sneak attack one of the goblins with [Sonic Boom] and one shot it. But what about the black goblin? It would run away while the other one starts searching for the attacker.


    I need a better plan. I¡¯m at a disadvantage when it comes to making traps because of my body.


    ¡­


    I know! Since I can understand their language now I can spy on them and find out their plans and secrets, and then..hehe¡­use that against them.


    ¡­And so night fell and I was spying on the goblins.


    ¡°Ro¡­you¡¯re mother. She died right?¡± One of the females asked the black goblin.


    ¡°Hm.¡± Ro nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯re not sad?¡± The other female added.


    ¡°Why should I be sad? She¡¯s in a better place now. She won¡¯t be abused by father¡­no,that man ever again!¡± Ro said.


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one that has a human mother. You were discriminated because of that. Other children don¡¯t like you. Is this why you ran?¡±


    ¡°No. also I just wanted to ask you this. Why are you following me?¡±


    ¡°Your mother was my friend.¡± Lies. But a good lie. Bonus points for that female. Negative points for the other one though, who brings up their dead mother in such a conversation?


    ¡°Really?¡± Whoa, whoa, whoa there. Shouldn¡¯t you, like,have a higher intelligence than me? Why are you so na?ve then?


    ¡°Absolutely!¡± The female goblin said while puffing her chest out and slamming it.


    ¡°Good, you can stay.¡± You know. I changed my mind I want the girl as my subordinate. I¡¯m killing the other one though. Black guy can stay as a servant.


    ¡°1..2¡­maximum power [SONIC BOOM]!¡± Her head was blown up. Looks so tasty. The other two are petrified. They are mine!<sup>2</sup>


    ¡°Hm¡­hm¡­My name is Little Blue. I am here to tell you that you¡¯re under my wing now. Thank you for listening. Let me rewrite your memories then.¡± Rewriting memories, a new function I found out. It¡¯s part of the [Corruption Magic] skill. I only found out about it after using appraisal on the skill. I didn¡¯t even think about using appraisal on skills.


    I came up close to the female and casually rewrote her memories. The cost was only 40% of my HP. Not a lot. I can always regenerate after eating. I mean¡­I¡¯m a demon after all! Next is¡­Ro!


    Ro¡­you little fella. Thank you for giving me such a good subordinate. Let¡¯s see¡­what should I do with your memories? Should I make you into a slave of the female or a servant? Let¡¯s make you into her little boy toy!


    Alright now that that is over. I need a base.


    ¡­


    This place seems good!<sup>3</sup>


    I¡¯m going to eat the other corpse before the other two awaken.


    Fuu¡­health was at 46 after rewriting the memories. After eating the corpse it was on 150.


    Around 65%.


    Those two still haven¡¯t woke up.


    I should probably wake them up. Hehe¡­subordinates huh. Step 1 in my plan is complete. Step 2. Begins now.


    <hr>


    ¡­After around half an hour they woke up.


    I spoke first.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally awake! No slacking off. Gather some wood for the fire. Ro you stay here with me I need help with something.¡±


    ¡°Yes master.¡± It worked!!! Haha. Honestly I was kind of nervous that it would fail. I¡¯m relieved that it worked now.


    ¡°Ro¡­you. Do you know magic?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Master¡­my mother taught me dark magic before she died. She said that I have potential.¡± I knew it. Is that why he is black?


    Must be.


    ¡°What kind of dark magic? Necromancy? Soul magic?¡± I asked. These two are the only type of dark magic I know of.


    ¡°Corruption magic.¡± Aha¡­wait what?


    ¡°Could you repeat that. I think I didn¡¯t hear right.¡±


    ¡°Corruption magic. I know a few spells as well. Mostly decay type though. I can make a body age much faster for a huge price though. I can infect minds as well.¡±


    Aha¡­should I kill him? I will learn all the spells he knows then kill him.


    Sounds like a good plan.


    ¡°Teach me the spells.¡± I ordered. He couldn¡¯t refuse and started teaching me the spells. The female goblin, I found out her name is Uso, came back. I told her to make this place our base camp. Any lesser demons that enter this place are either be killed or become our slaves.


    Another week has passed and I finally learned the first spell. [Withering lv.1]


    I used appraisal on it and was pleasantly surprised.


    [Withering lv.1] ¨C range 10 meters. Has the power to speed up the aging of things. The speed of aging can¡¯t be controlled until the skill becomes lv.3. Speed multiplier 2x. cost : 10 HP/s


    It could be useful in some situations. Torture mostly.


    Now¡¯s the time to learn the other spell as well.


    ¡°Ro. Next spell. You have 1 day to teach the formula for it.¡± I decided to only learn the formula of the spell and then master the spell on my own. Ro can go and die after that. Don¡¯t care if he has potential. The female has even more potential for my own uses.


    ¡°Yes master.¡± Good boy.


    ¡°Master! We¡¯ve got trouble!¡± What now?


    ¡°What is it Uso? Some lesser demons again?¡± I asked. Can¡¯t she see that I¡¯m in the middle of learning.


    ¡°No. Three two-star demons have entered our territory. The lesser bug demons have reported that one of them is a [Goblin].¡±


    ¡°A goblin? You can deal with it on your own. I¡¯ll take care of the other one.¡±


    ¡°Yes master. As you command.¡± Damn¡­so bothersome. I need some guards.


    This¡­could be trouble.


    <hr>


    ¡°Uso¡­this is a [Hobgoblin]¡­am I right?¡± I asked my subordinate. I already knew the answer. But I had to confirm.


    ¡°T-That¡¯s right.¡± Don¡¯t be so discouraged! We still have my [Withering lv.1] skill. I will use 3 skill points to level it up to lv.3.


    [Withering lv.1] became [Withering lv.3] ¨C speed multiplier 10x. Range : 20m Cost: 10 HP/s., control is possible.


    My plan is ready.


    The [Hobgoblin] the first evolution of the [Goblin]. The [Lesser Goblin] could be called a stage of life and not and evolution. But the [Hobgoblin] can be only achieved when one has earned enough experience.


    They are smarter,stronger and quicker than normal goblins.


    My plan is this.


    First. Wound the [Hobgoblin] and then smear some poisonous paste Uso made into the wound.


    Second. Use [Withering] to accelerate the poisoning. With that. The [Hobgoblin] will be paralyzed for 10 seconds. Enough time for me to kill it.


    While all that is happening , Uso will fight the other goblin.


    Good plan isn¡¯t it?

 Chapter 8.1 - Dont underestimate me!

    Let''s get started with my great plan.


    Firstly I need a diversion! I will use [Sonic Boom] at maximum power on the Hobgoblin, hoping the shred power makes a cut on him.


    ¡°Uso. You attack the goblin. I will fight the hobgoblin while you do that. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± She saluted. Why. Why did she salute? Well¡­whatever. (£þ^£þ)©g


    ¡°Attack on my sign.¡± I prepared my [Sonic Boom] and shot it and then yelled ¡°THIS IS THE SIGN!!¡±


    ¡°Yes ,master! I¡¯m sorry!¡± Why the hell are you yelling out you¡¯re sorry!?


    Fuck I got distracted. My throat hurts but it will regenerate after I eat the Hobgoblin. Let¡¯s go!


    Come over here you dumb hobgoblin. Look at me! I¡¯m a rat!


    Heh. Noticed me? Good. Now, I ask you. Do you want to die? No? Okay¡­dying it is then.


    ¡°Heh. A rat? Only a small cut. You¡¯re dead.¡±


    You¡¯re lucky I can¡¯t speak properly now or you would¡¯ve died just by me speaking to you.


    ¡°Come.¡± Don¡¯t say it so calmly. You¡¯re going to regret it.


    The hobgoblin just stood there waiting for me to attack. He didn¡¯t know that I already put the poisonous paste onto my fangs. Now I need to attack the place he was cut. Easy. Normally I would use [Sonic Boom] to launch myself over to him but¡­I¡¯m hurt. I can¡¯t overexert myself!


    Let¡¯s do it the traditional way. Running up to him like a true rat! Fufufu...


    ¡°Dumb rat.¡± *humpf* he dares to call me dumb. Let me say this but I have higher intelligence than you! Only Ro has higher intelligence than me!The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He isn¡¯t even bothering to defend. This is your end. I jumped and bit into the small cut. Now! [Withering] max power go!


    ¡°What is this? My arm, no! What did you do! Why¡­numbness is spreading. No! It can¡¯t go close to the heart!¡± heh. Die!


    The die is cast. It¡¯s your loss hobgoblin. The poison has entered your blood. Due to [Withering] it has been sped up and now it¡¯s circulating in your whole body.


    ¡°Your next line is: I can¡¯t die by a lowly rat!¡± heh.


    ¡°I can¡¯t die by a¡ªwhat!?¡±


    ¡°You lost.¡± I said while sacrificing my health for more power. (?¡ö_¡ö)


    My health fell below 40% and the hobgoblin collapsed. His heart has stopped beating. This was easier than I thought.


    [You leveled up!]


    This¡­I sure haven¡¯t seen this in a while.


    *grumble*


    I need to eat¡­.


    I started eating the hobgoblin while watching the fight between Uso and the goblin.


    Uso was sending a barrage of punches each second while the goblin was blocking almost every single punch. She looks like a certain character from a popular Japanese franchise.


    It looks like she has the upper hand but the goblin is pretty good at blocking. His offensive power is weak. Too weak. He¡¯s like a dumbass that only maxed out one of his stats in an RPG.


    This fight it over. ¡°Kill him.¡± I said with a smirk.


    ¡°Yes master-su! Aiya!!¡± She sent out one last punch that directly crushed the skull of the goblin.


    I was right when I said that she has potential. But I didn¡¯t mean this kind of potential. More like¡­diplomatic potential.


    This fight¡­is over.


    ¡­Back at base camp.


    I was eating the hobgoblin while Ro was teaching me the last spell¡­it is called [Infested Invasion]. Basically. I can go into the minds of people. There¡¯s a restriction however. I can only enter the minds of people that have lower wisdom than mine.


    After I learned the formula of the spell I had no need of Ro so I went to a hidden place and ate him. He also had a demonic crystal in his body so I ate it. I figured that if he was a corrupted type goblin that his energy will benefit me. I was right it did benefit my growth.


    [HP increased by 10]


    [MP increased by 10]


    [Corrupted essence gained 1/3] [You are missing 2 Corrupted essence to gain a new spell in your spell book]


    Now that I think about it. I haven¡¯t heard anything from the voice lately. Don¡¯t even need the voice anymore when I have [Appraisal]. Fufufu. Such a rare skill truly is the best.

 Chapter 9 - Plan

    So¡­


    What is it doing here?


    Who? You might be asking yourselves.


    The butterfly of course.


    I was just ordering Uso to find 2 more subordinates while I was away. I was planning on getting to level 20 and the evolving. Due to some unexpected reasons,not like I care or something, the butterfly that I met while in the dungeon has come and found me.


    It said something along these lines : ¡°After learning the language of this world I decided to do research on the mutated demons and species on this planet. Hope you don¡¯t mind me staying with you for a while.¡±


    I don¡¯t mind. Also, it seems that it learned our language. Which¡­is good?


    The problem with the butterfly is the fact that it doesn¡¯t stop talking.


    ¡°There¡¯s a system in this world? Seems quite familiar. In my former world we relied on ourselves and the power of laws to breakthrough and evolve. This is a lot easier than it was in our world.¡±


    Don¡¯t care.


    ¡°Wow! This is a Goblin from a Crimson tribe! Their eyes are the same. Please let me scan you and the dissect you!¡±


    Uso. Run away!


    It still gave me useful information. The best part is. It taught me about laws.


    Basically each world has their own set of laws. They are divided into low,mid,high and top tier. The laws are further divided into the elements. Fire,Water,Wind,Metal,Earth and Lightning.


    I was confused at first as to why there were 2 similar elements. By that I meant the Metal and Earth ones.


    ¡°The laws created are completely different. I can¡¯t really explain it to you unless you comprehend both of them.¡± It said.


    But! Due to his explanation I now know the true reason as to why I mutated!


    The accumulation of energy that was stored from the demonic crystals was fused with the energy that I gained after I gained the [Water Affinity ¨C Law of Absolute Zero]. After the initial burst of energy it changed the composition of my body and added frost attributes to my primal energy.


    As for what primal energy is.


    I don¡¯t know. The butterfly won¡¯t tell. That asshole.


    After finally getting used to having a new member in my group I decided to finally go and level up for real.


    My stats now are.


    [Name: Xiao Lan/Little Blue] [Race: Aquafang Rat(variation)] [Level:15] [Title: Lesser Elemental Demon(main),Rat of Mischief(secondary)]


    HP: 240/240


    MP: 94/94


    Mental Status : Excited


    Strength: 25


    Agility: 25


    Lifespan: 45


    Vitality: 120


    Intelligence:42


    Wisdom:19


    I changed my main title to [Lesser Elemental Demon],why?


    Because. Of this!


    [Lesser Elemental Demon ¨C Laws are what makes the world. Gaining enlightenment into a law has allowed you to use an elemental energy. Due to various reasons the only element you can use now is [Water].]


    [Error! ¨C Corruption magic changed the nature of the title [Lesser Elemental Demon]! Allows the use of other elements as long as there is a source of energy. Wisdom increased by 5.]


    It is. OP.


    Corruption magic that is.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°You¡¯re going somewhere?¡± huh? It¡¯s the butterfly.


    ¡°Yeah. Going to grind levels.¡± I answered calmly.


    ¡°I am coming with you. Already scanned everything that could be scanned in the vicinity.¡± So it says. Why? I don¡¯t want you to come with me.


    ¡°1 condition.¡± I told it. I want compensation if you want to come with me.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I want you to teach me how to gain deeper understanding of laws and how to gather primal energy.¡±


    ¡°Deal. But you have to provide me with a goblin from the Crimson tribe.¡±


    ¡°Deal. You know¡­I think this is the start of a long friendship.¡± I said. Getting a goblin from the so called Crimson tribe? Easy! Isn¡¯t Uso one? I asked her where her former tribe is and she gave me the exact location. I was planning on going there to gain some levels. She said that the tribe has 3 hobgoblins. One warrior and 2 shamans, we already killed the warrior one.


    The shamans will be easy to deal with.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said and started on my little journey.


    The tribe was pretty close by. It was only 1.5 kilometers south of here. Listening to the explanation of the Crimson tribe that the butterfly was giving me during the travel I¡¯ve learnt a lot of things about them.


    The Crimson tribe.


    A tribe of goblins with red eyes and green skin. They have the average height of 150cm and their body strength is like a human 20 year-old.


    ¡°We¡¯ve come.¡± I said.


    ¡°It seems so.¡±


    Time for my killing spree to begin.


    ¡°I want to ask you something before you start though.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I am somewhat impatient.


    ¡°Actually¡­I¡¯m going to ask you after we finish this up.¡± Make up your damn mind.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start then. This is the plan¡­¡±


    After telling the butterfly my plan we split up and waited for around 2 hours before striking the Crimson Tribe. I didn¡¯t manage to order Uso to get me more subordinates so I decided to do it myself during this mission.


    I¡¯m in need of physically strong goblins that can help me build a small village. And maybe a shaman so I can learn magic.


    The first phase of the plan.


    Assassination of one hobgoblin shaman. If Uso¡¯s intel is true then there¡¯s a shaman in the tribe that wears red fur clothes with a runic design. That¡¯s the weaker one of the shamans and the one that doesn¡¯t know how to use a detection spell.


    I decided to kill this one and make the stronger one my subordinate.


    The problem is¡­


    This guy is too social!


    What the hell!? He is almost never alone! He has 4 wives it seems and a lover. He seems to be friends with the whole village. I tried appraising him as well.


    [Name : Moire][Race: Crimson Hobgoblin][Level 5][Title : Goblin Shaman (main)]


    HP 200/200


    MP 160/160


    Mental Status : Unable to appraise


    Strength: 15


    Agility: 19


    Lifespan: 50


    Vitality: 100


    Intelligence:80


    Wisdom:10


    His intelligence and lifespan is higher than mine but everything other is lower than mine.


    I also found out how some of the stats work.


    Strength is basically the physical power of the user. The average strength of a goblin is around 10. If it¡¯s a fighter then it¡¯s around 15-20.


    Agility is basically the stat that allows you to use that power more efficiently, it also allows you to have quicker reactions. If the strength and agility stat are out of proportion then you¡¯re going to have a bad time.


    Lifespan is basically the number of years one can live.


    Each point in vitality is 2 points of HP. It also improves your healing abilities and resistance toward certain poisons.


    Intelligence is the same as vitality as it gives 2 points of MP for each point in it. It also improves the ability to store large amounts of information.


    Wisdom is by far the most important stat for me. Each point of wisdom increases the ability to think rationally, increases mental capabilities and resistances and also gives you higher MP regeneration. Each point increases the MP regeneration by 1MP/per hour.


    My MP regen is 19MP/per hour if I¡¯m not sleeping. The regen doubles when you¡¯re sleeping.


    ¡°It seems that he¡¯s finally alone.¡± I sighed when I saw Moire the hobgoblin alone. He seems to be going out somewhere. Lucky!


    As for the tribesmen? It seems that they didn¡¯t notice.


    Moire,today is your unlucky day.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said to myself. Leaving the tribe.


    Phase two of the plan is going to be done by the butterfly after I kill the first shaman.


    I waited for a few minutes for Moire to get a bit more away from the tribe then jumped on him.


    I sneak attacked him and managed to proc the frost passive. He was startled and stumbled back a bit. I used that as a chance and bit him into the flesh near his ankle.


    It seems that I am really lucky today, I actually managed to proc the frost passive twice in a row.


    Moire seems to be shocked. He still hasn¡¯t said anything though, he is just panting.


    He started mumbling something.


    He¡¯s pointing at me? Shit! A spell! An incantation spell at that!


    A line of fire started appearing around Moire. His black rough looking hair turned into a combination of black and red. His eyes become completely crimson.


    Is this a buffing spell? Now that I think about it my main element is water while he is fire. I should have an advantage.


    Come at me!


    I thought while starting to run around him in circles looking for an opportunity. He seems to use close-range magic as his main attack type.


    Sounds good to me. Because¡­I¡¯m a close range attacker as well! Activate [Withering lv.3]!


    ¡°Come at me. You scum.¡± I said silently hoping that he would hear.


    It seems that he didn¡¯t. I aimed the charged [Withering] spell at the wound at his ankle and made his ankle gain an infection. The wound has become bigger as well for some reason.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± He finally spoke.


    Alright. It¡¯s time for my finishing touch. Literally! [Tainted Touch lv.2] activate!


    Sacrificing 30% of my health for this last attack better be worth it!


    ¡°What is-!?¡± Shocked aren¡¯t you?


    This is it. Headshot.


    I though as I bit right through his skull. His whole skull was in fragments. I searched for the demonic crystal and then hid it away somewhere safe so I can come back for it.


    It¡¯s time for phase two to begin.


    I need to signal the butterfly.


    After sending out a signal that didn¡¯t alarm the tribesmen I met up with the butterfly and started phase two.


    The butterfly will hold the hobgoblin down while I go on a killing spree. I also asked him to heal me before that. He¡¯s really something, knowing 5 types of spells from different elements is quite something to me.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He replied with a serious tone.


    Let my leveling/killing spree begin. Level 20 here I come!

 Chapter 10 - Chains in the dream

    Okay, I have something to tell you.


    What would be your reaction if you heard something unbelievable and not possible by any means? You would deny it right? You would feel shocked and try to deny it as much as possible. That¡¯s a fact!


    That¡¯s what¡¯s happening to me right now.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you deny it?¡± He said.


    ¡°The system I mean. It¡¯s just a piece of trash system to keep the residents of this world locked in place. They can¡¯t truly advance anywhere.¡±


    I don¡¯t get it! Is he serious?


    The butterfly. His name is Chrono Seville, I knew he was someone that reincarnated but knowing that he used to be the God of Knowledge in his former world had shocked me.


    The reason we¡¯re talking about the system is somewhat weird. We began clearing the whole village of goblins and cleared around 70% when the hobgoblin appeared.


    We started fighting eachother. By ¡°we¡±, I meant the hobgoblin and myself. I used appraisal a few times during the fight to check on his HP and defeated him in less than an hour. This must¡¯ve been one of my longest battles since I came to this world.


    But! This is unimportant. What¡¯s important is what happened after I killed the hobgoblin.


    [Conditions for evolution achieved]


    [Evolution beginning]


    [Evolution forcefully cancelled. System error]


    I was shocked! To be honest, I thought that the evolution would start again in a matter of seconds but it didn¡¯t. And for some reason I couldn¡¯t open the system screen again.


    ¡°You¡­are using that piece of garbage?¡± This is where is all began.


    He, the butterfly, started talking about his former world and how the system is a piece of garbage¡­well you know the story¡­


    The thing that piqued my interest was something else. The mention of primal energy.


    ¡°This piece of garbage is nothing but a seal on your primal energy. Did you ever ask yourself if others have the system as well? No? Let me tell you, when someone manages to generate primal energy. Be it by your own means or outside means, the system will appear and stop them from generating more.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± I wanted to say something.


    ¡°Let me finish.¡± He looked at me with a resolute face and continued telling me this with a friendly tone. I actually thought I was speaking with my brother for a second¡­


    ¡°So¡­why are you not denying the system? You must¡¯ve had that dream. Those chains¡­are the system. I stopped your evolution process right now but I don¡¯t have a lot of primal energy in this body. I want you to try and have that dream again. Destroy those chains. Ignore everything else.¡±


    ¡°Why¡­ Why are you lying?¡± I didn¡¯t believe him of course.


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying. I¡¯m doing this for your good. You¡­are the same as I was when I started my little adventure. I didn¡¯t have the barrier called ¡°The System¡± in my world. But I had family,enemies and lovers that stopped me. I was betrayed¡­a lot.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Sounds like main character material. But he feels like the old grandpa the main character would have. Don¡¯t ask why I know that.


    ¡°Lies. All lies.¡± I was still saying this. I couldn¡¯t stop.


    Don¡¯t listen to him. Lies. He¡¯s a liar.


    Why do I keep hearing this? Why am I not stopping?


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you fall asleep. This is your last chance Blue¡­Please¡­¡±


    That¡¯s right¡­my name is Blue. I never told him that¡­did I tell him?


    Fuck¡­I feel something familiar¡­this sensation is the same one I had moments before I mutated.


    Should I listen to him?


    No.


    Yes.


    I can¡¯t decide. Something¡¯s telling me no but I feel the urge to listen to him stronger.


    I will try.


    Hopefully¡­he¡¯s right.


    <hr>


    As such¡­I once again saw that dream¡­


    A house. A lonely man. Chains around the house. This time I can think clearly. At least a bit.


    He said that I need to destroy the chains but how?


    This world is weird. I can¡¯t touch anything. Last time I touched the chains I was awakened.


    I need a plan. I need¡­the younger brother. He needs to be the one to destroy the chains. This is his world. I¡­ am only an observer.


    A dream, huh? Feels weird anyways¡­


    The sense of belonging¡­ two brothers, a failure and a prodigy. The prodigy looking after his younger brother while the younger brother tries to live peacefully.


    ¡° *sob*¡­*sob*¡± This¡­


    ¡° *sob*¡­¡± Who¡­is that.


    Pale skin, mid length bright red hair with yellow stripes at some places and small eyes filled with tears. A girl, she¡¯s crying in front of the small house.


    The younger brother saw the girl in front of his house but didn¡¯t go out and help her.


    I don¡¯t remember this. Who is this person? Isn¡¯t this supposed to be a world made from my memories? Who is the girl, why is that guy not helping her?


    Get up you moron!


    I wanted to scream out to him but I knew that he wouldn¡¯t hear me. I just continued to watch this.


    This was abuse. I am not like this! Help her. Ask her what¡¯s wrong!


    Don¡¯t just sit there and stare at her!


    Why¡­Why don¡¯t I remember this?


    This isn¡¯t how it supposed to be.


    I¡¯m a good guy. I am¡­


    No¡­I¡¯m not a good guy. I am a killer. I¡­


    Fuck it. If he won¡¯t do it then I will. That¡¯s not me. That¡¯s not me.


    I kept on repeating the same sentence while coming closer to the chains. I don¡¯t know what I did but for some reason I could feel the chain vibrating. It had scratches and patches that looked that something just shred through it.


    It was weak though¡­it didn¡¯t manage to break the chain.


    I need to think.


    What can shred something like a chain and it¡¯s something that I can use? Sonic boom of course! But I can¡¯t use it here. At least I think, whenever I try to activate it the system doesn¡¯t appear. Is this the seal Seville was talking about?


    The reason I could use any of my abilities I the system? But I definitely use sonic boom just now. The proof is right there on the chain!


    ¡°Too obscure. Too cold.¡±


    This¡­is the girl¡¯s voice? She was calmer but her voice was hoarse, not calming and sweet like one would think she would have.


    She is cold? But¡­there¡¯s no snow this time? It seems that it¡¯s summer.


    Can she feel the energy from the chains? Who is she supposed to be in my life? Who does she represent? My mother? My girlfriend?


    The latter is of course impossible, I never had a girl friend, no less a girlfriend.


    My mother wasn¡¯t like this though¡­She was a cold woman, only caring about her sons.


    Of course she loved the older one more. Not that it bothered me.


    Who is it then?


    Uso? She¡¯s a goblin. Not human. It isn¡¯t her.


    I don¡¯t really know a lot of females. One of my former classmates? Why would she be here then? I never really had a crush on anyone besides a girl in fifth grade. She already had a boyfriend though.


    So I just forgot her until now.


    But¡­if she can feel the energy from the chains that means she can destroy them. I can¡¯t figure out why but I could use sonic boom a while ago but I can¡¯t use it anymore. The only way to destroy the chain is to use the girl.


    Let¡¯s call her Myst.


    Short for Mysterious.


    My naming sense though¡­


    Myst¡­this is your trial as well.


    Please help me. I wonder if she can hear me?


    ¡°Uh¡­hey.¡± I tried communicating.


    ¡°Yo-su!¡± She replied? Can she hear me? Or did she just say that randomly.


    ¡°Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say ¡®yo-su!¡¯ if I couldn¡¯t hear you right?¡± Weird girl.


    ¡° I want to you to help me. You feel cold right? Can you go a few steps forward and start punching the air in front of you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course-su! I mean¡­you¡¯re¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m?¡±


    ¡°Nothing-su. I will do it. He-he¡­¡± Okay¡­something is wrong with this girl.


    ¡°Just start already.¡± I said.


    You could say my hopes were meaningless. She did manage to feel the energy but she can¡¯t touch the chains. I need to use sonic boom again it seems.