《Reincarnation: Rise of the Rodent》


 Chapter 1: Barely made it

    I stared up at the sky. Although it was only little past midnight, I couldn''t see the stars. Probably due to the city smog and lights. Still, I had a strange appreciation for the white moon in the dark sky that I never had before. Perhaps it was due to the massive blood loss, or the pain.


    I had been shot quite a few times after all. But I had few regrets. Such was the life of mid ranked gang member. i was lucky to have lived this long. More importantly, I had died helping win the gang war between my and a nearby rival gang, which meant that we now controlled the harbor. That meant a lot more money flowing into my neighborhood, so fewer children would have to scrounge and scavenge for food like I did in my younger day.


    I closed my eyes, and a few minutes later, I peacefully breathed my last breath as I passed on. i had thought I knew darkness, but when I died, true darkness consumed me. Absence of light, sound, smell,touch. My consciousness began to fade into nothingness.


    After what could have been a few moments or a few millennia, I began to hear voices around me. They were arguing fairly loud, and they were talking about things I could not comprehend.


    Voice 1: He''s a murderer! Not only has he killed many, but he has taught dozens of others to do the same! He deserves to be in hell as a common thug should!


    Voice 2: Borean you know why he did it! There was no malice in his heart, he just tried his best to survive! He may not deserve heaven, but certainly not hell!


    Voice 3: Then I take it you intend to have him reincarnate hmm? Do you really think he deserves to walk amongst men again Kyleah? I too do not believe he was evil, but.... Borean''s right, He was a thug, he never really contributed anything to the world other than bloodshed...


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Voice 4: Oh come on! First of all, he was a fierce warrior, where did you see a common thug? To rush that many enemies alone and still win albeit at the cost of his life?! There is no doubt this man deserves a second chance! I''ll definitely be sending my blessed one to battle him, he will be a truly worthy foe!


    Several other voices joined the argument as I listened. I soon realized they were discussing my fate. I had never been that religious, but I figured that these beings must be angels,or gods. Whatever the situation,I knew that I probably shouldn''t talk. Drawing attention to myself when i could possibly go to hell wasn''t smart.


    After quite a few days of arguing, it seemed a consensus was finally met. The goddess, Kyleah as I understand her name to be, addressed me.


    Kyleah: The gods of your world cast your soul away, I know not why. We picked up your soul, and were about to send it to hell, until I intervened. However several arguments have occurred, and we have come to the following conclusion. You will be given a second chance, BUT you will begin as the lowest of the low as penitence for your crimes. If you can prove by the end of this life that you aren''t complete scum, then you can choose what happens to your spirit. You don''t necessarily need to be a saint, but just prove that you''re worth something like I know you are. I will bless you, as you need a god''s blessing to reincarnate with your mind intact. Good luck Dorian...

 Chapter 2: Seriously?!

    When I regained consciousness, I realized I was surrounded by fluid. Suddenly I felt as if I was being pushed out. Am I... Am I being born? I feel the coldness of the air against my bare skin, and pain as I take my first breath, but I still can''t see. In my pain and confusion I attempt to shout, but all that comes out our high pitched squeaks.


    Suddenly, something enters my mouth, and some sweet, warm liquid enters me. I hadn''t realized I was hungry, and i quickly drank until I was full, then fell promptly so sleep. This continued for an unknown length of time. However, during this time, I grew fur, so I was no longer cold whenever a breeze touched me, my hearing improved, and finally, on the last day I received milk(I assume that has been what I''m drinking), I open my eyes.


    The day after my eyes opened, my mother told me and my siblings through a series of squeaks that we would need to gather our own food. My siblings all squeaked in displeasure. They wanted to be fed as usual then go back to sleep. I on the other hand, looked forward to it. I already know how to scavenge, unlike my inexperienced siblings, but it seems I''m the oldest, so I''ll teach them well. It''ll be just like in elementary when me and some of the neighborhood kids went to the rich neighborhoods to steal out of the trash cans. Rich people would throw away a perfectly uneaten sandwich just because it had a condiment they didn''t like on it.


    By the way it would seem we are mice(The gods weren''t kidding about me starting as the lowest of the low), judging by my siblings and mother, as I still haven''t seen my own reflection. There are twelve of us siblings, 8 are brown, 2 are white, 1 is black, and then there''s me, I think I''m gray by what I can see of my own fur. Mother takes us outside to show us the ropes. The direct sunlight blinds us all for a moment, then I finally see where I am.


    A huge field with amber colored wheat lies in front of me. I wouldn''t even be able to see it if our burrow wasn''t on the face of a small hill . As we descend the hill, I see numerous other families of mice doing the same. We headed towards the fields and began cutting down the tall stalks en masse. Then we began eating the grain at the end of the stalks.


    This... this was different than I thought it would be. It was kinda... well boring. I mean being a mouse isn''t exactly supposed to be fun but come on! Well, it seems that my thoughts were somewhat unfounded as we were attacked... by a scarecrow. Wait why is that scarecrow moving? they''re just supposed to stand there!


    It began pummeling the mice mercilessly, and we all retreated. Thankfully my family wasn''t near the area near where the scarecrow had emerged from. We all would return safe and sound... is what I thought. It seems this world enjoys proving me wrong. Out of nowhere, A large bird swooped down and took mother.


    My siblings didnt know what to do. they all just began squeaking in fear and sadness. I was a bit shaken up myself, but it wasn''t something I hadn''t seen before, figuratively speaking. While my own useless drug addict of a mother was probably still alive, I had seen my best friend''s father get shot right in front of him. Over 10 dollars, ten measly dollars. It had broken us at the time, but it taught us two very important lessons: death can come at anytime, for any reason or no reason at all AND people would do whatever it took to get what they want, if we want to survive, we have to be prepared to do the same.


    I hurry and get my siblings inside. It seems this world is no different than the last one, yet the gods expect me to be different. Contradictory assholes. Whatever, I need to focus on my siblings for now, its sad, but they''ll have to learn the same lessons that I and my best friend did. There''s no escaping the rule of survival of the fittest.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    The next day we woke up, the others didn''t want to leave the burrow. It seemed they had a fear of going outside. I tried to coax them out , but they wouldn''t budge. Eventually I got my black sibling. who I''m now calling Black, to trust me and take a step outside. Seeing that it was safe, he helped me get the others out as well. Now I had reached a dilemma.


    We need to eat... but it wouldn''t be smart to just rush in to those fields after the scarecrow totally destroyed us yesterday. I note a few other depleted families in the same position. Many of the parents had sacrificed themselves when the scarecrow attacked, that their children may live. There were still plenty of adults left, but they were mostly taking care of themselves. How human-like of them.


    I''ll take care of these kids. It''ll be just like back in the day when I was teaching new recruits for the squad. there are around 100 of us now. It should do. We head int the direction opposite of the grain fields, and climb the hill. In front of us lies a forest. I send my white siblings, Milk and Vanilla to go in the forest and scout it out. The reason I hadn''t died even sooner in my previous life is because I always sent a few newbies in to go see what the enemy was like. A man with no plan is planning to fail, and failure means death on the streets.


    They come back in around half an hour and give me the news. It seems like there''s no great amount of grass or grain in the forest, but there''s plenty of odd herbs, and insects. There were big spiders in the forest though, and snakes. I thought for a moment. what would the boss do against something like this...


    Then it hit me. The whole point of a gang was safety in numbers. Whatever''s in this forest wouldn''t want to deal with a whole horde of mice, and if they did, the mice could just gang up on it. I gave a loud squeak, signalling the mice to rush into the forest and eat all they could. I ate the most though, as the mice were still somewhat scared of the forest. After a few hours, everyone had eaten their full and returned to their burrows safely.


    That night, I dreamed. I never dreamed once since I arrived in this world. In front of me, a beautiful woman wrapped in silk appeared before me. She smiled warmly before speaking.


    Kyleah: We meet again, and so soon! It''s only been around three weeks since you were born and you''re already going to evolve! Most field mice never evolve at all, and when they do, it takes around half a year, if they live that long. Ah, you may recognize my voice, but not my appearance. It is I, Kyleah your patron goddess. I''m the goddess of diplomacy and strategy, so don''t expect any crazy powers just from my blessing. All you really get is a gift for leadership and persuasion as well as a slight growth enhancement along with some other minor bonuses. Anyway, Its time for you to evolve! You only have one choice now, but in the future, you may have more so remember these instructions! You have to run towards the evolution path you want. What did you expect? some game-like screen to pop-up? Isn''t that a little too convenient? but choose carefully since it cant be undone. Good luck!


    The goddess vanished. In front of me, the image of myself appeared in the distance, only bigger, with more prominent teeth and claws and a more powerful tail. A rat. Well, I figured I might as well run towards it, as it was the only option available. As I ran towards it, my body began to change until the image in the distance disappeared. I was now the rat I had seen. The dream ended right after, and I woke up to the pale blue morning light.

 Chapter 3: Schism

    As I wake up, I see Black has also evolved. We lead our sibling out of the burrow to meet up with the rest of our group. To my surprise, our group has grown. now all the children have left their families to join us, as most of the adults began to watch out for themselves more so. As usual, We head towards the forest and send my white siblings inside to scout it out. You can never be too careful.


    Only one came back and reported that there were strange creatures walking around, around half as big as the straw walker (scarecrow). They had green skin and yellow eyes. They had seen my other white sibling, caught him, and ate him. I boiled with rage at this news. I really liked my white siblings, they were always so bright and cheerful, and they followed orders with no problems.


    I squeaked to the others and told them we were going to kill the green walkers. They began to fidget around in fear and squeak about it not being safe. They had never really killed anything before. I sighed inwardly. All new recruits were like this, thats why you get them used to fights early, whether it be bar fights, or enemy gang members on the street. Then later once they''re used to it, you have them kill the person their fighting with. Thats how I was taught at least. You can rush the process, make them kill to get in it''ll harden them up kinda, but that way ends up producing quite a few  emotionally or mentally damaged ones, so i tried to avoid it. I produce only the finest troops the streets have to offer!


    But we don''t have the convenience of waiting and doing it my normal way. I convince them that we¡¯ll never be safe if we don''t take a stand. I wish we could speak with actual words, these squeaks that we communicate with only relay the basic meaning of what I''m trying to say. Luckily they understand though.


    As we venture into the forest, eating herbs as we go. I inform the mice of the plan. Rush over the creature one by one, never stop biting. They won''t be able to defend from all of us, especially since there¡¯s around 250 mice and a few rats now. Soon we see the first green walker. It...it looks like a goblin from the movies I read as a kid! First the walking scarecrow, now goblins? What kind of world is this¡­


    I give the signal to approach stealthily. When we¡¯re not far from it, the goblin begins to sniff the air, as if it could tell something was wrong. I signal to attack, and lead the charge. The goblin swings at me with a branch, but I jump and land on its shoulder, biting into its neck. The mice follow my lead, and soon, the goblin falls over, covered with rats.


    After eating all the goblin¡¯s flesh, we hunt the others in the area, before returning to some of the herbs. It goes without saying that we went home that night with our stomachs bulging. That night, I had the dream again. Kyleah appeared in front of me with an odd expression on her face.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Kyleah: Well¡­. this is soon, but I understand why now. despite your small body, youve been killing goblins. Well, I have to applaud you, but I don''t approve of your tactics. Just mindlessly rushing the enemy? You¡¯ve been blessed by the goddess of strategy! Ugh I suppose it was the most logical approach as a mouse after all, ah excuse me, rat. Well, thanks to those herbs you''ve been eating, as well as for defeating goblins, you''ve been granted another evolution. May I suggest the poison rat evolution, you¡¯ll gain more benefits as I am your goddess and poison is a tactical weapon. Well, then again, its your life.


    Kyleah vanished, but unlike last time, more than one path appeared. A rat with flames sparling through its hair, A rat with fangs and claws dripping poison, A rat with larger, sharper claws and a spear-like tail, and¡­ a bat all appeared. Why a bat? Whatever, it doesn¡¯t matter. The goddess told me I should choose poison, I''m choosing poison.


    When I awoke this time, All my siblings are rats. Ahhh, Its nice to see their growth. Black has also evolved, into the sharp clawed type rat. I think I¡¯ll call it battle rat. Although we both grew, he¡¯s bigger than me now, and has a bit of trouble getting out of the burrow. I see that there¡¯s very few mice left amongst the rodents under me. ¡®Gray!¡¯ they all squeak happily upon seeing me. I guess that the same they chose for me. I have no room to complain because I¡¯ve been calling people by their colors too.


    The adults approach us. Apparently they want to join us. I look, and there''s few rats amongst them. They probably want to join because now their children whom they abandoned are stronger than them. They want protection from the people they failed to protect. A memory of my former mother begging me for money flashed in my mind. I won''t let these children be used by useless parents. Not like I was. Thankfully most of them have the same mindset. Just as we were about to leave the worthless trash behind, Someone went over to their side.


    It was Black. He began squeaking about how we can¡¯t abandon them, how its not what our mother would have wanted. We have power now, we could kill the scarecrow and take the field for ourselves. But I know better. This field was planted, and I know of only one creature that plants crops. Humans. I know better than most how good humans are at killing, and if we make an enemy of them, more than a few of us would die. When I tried to communicate this to him, he called me a coward. That ungrateful bastard! If I wasn''t trying not to scare my new recruits, I¡¯d kill you right now! Whatever, Black is dead to me.


    I tell my gang to gather whatever they consider theirs and meet me in the forest. Two gangs can''t share one territory, and I don''t want a war right now. We gather together at the edge of the forest, and head inside. It¡¯s time to find a new home.

 Chapter 4: Furry Alliance

    We head deep into the forest, attacking whatever seems hostile or weak, avoiding whatever seems too strong. I want us to evolve again as soon as possible. I don''t know what''s out here, but strength is never a bad thing to have.


    On our third day of aimless travel, we come across an aged white tree in the middle of the forest. Is huge and hollow¡­ which is odd, but whatever, this would make an excellent base. The tree is the height of a large hill, and i takes me forever to climb it, but when I get to the top, the view is breathtaking.


    To the east and south, theres nothing but trees, as far as the eye can see. theres quite a few big white trees We found, but they''re all pretty far apart, then there are huge brown trees. these things are like mountains, there¡¯s one around 3 days from me I think. The others are a lot farther, but I can still see them on the horizon. That¡¯s how big they are.


    To the west however, there were fields, and a few houses, which looked kinda old. Like medieval old. On the horizon, I could see a town I think. See, I knew it wouldn''t be wise to provoke the people who owned that field. I know in my old world, humans hated mice, rodents in general, rabbits being the sole exception.


    The last thing I needed was the town declaring a rat epidemic and going all mass extermination on us. Trust me, I WAS human. I know how good we are at killing things. That idiot black is going to get those mice killed. Whatever, doesn''t concern me.


    I descend the tree and start organizing the mice. Damn this is a lot of work. I have to decide who gets to sleep closest to the bottom, where we store extra food, when we hunt and gather. I never had to do any of this in my last life, I just made plans, shot people, and stole things. Well I did more than that, but this was stressful. Why don¡¯t these rodents think for themselves?


    Another thing, I really hate this language. In my previous life, I never got all fancy with my words, but I can only get basic things across with these squeaks we call words. Complex words are out of the question. Well, I suppose the point of being reincarnated into a mouse wasn''t so things could be easy. No point in complaining.


    The next morning, I got up, and went hunting alone. I want to get an idea as to how to fight when I¡¯m alone. I¡¯ve been basically swarming other creatures with the rats, no need for a thought process there. I find a lone goblin with a spear trying to kill a rabbit¡­ with a horn? I swear to god this world is crazy, why does the rabbit have a horn?


    The goblin corners the rabbit, then right as he is about to strike the rabbit, I jump on its back and sink my teeth into his neck. He began to struggle, but in thirty seconds, the poison that leaked into his veins from my bite began to take effect. he collapsed, then began shaking uncontrollably on the floor. After another minute, he was dead.


    A minute and a half. Thats how long my poison takes to kill. I realize that its an incredible speed, compared to some of the venomous creatures on earth, but a goblin is only half the size of a human, and a minute and a half is plenty of time to kill a rat. Correction, he could only move for thirty seconds before being incapacitated. Still, plenty of time. I need to pump more than one dose of poison per bite then?


    As I thought about it, the weird rabbit approached, thanking me for my assistance. I squeaked positively, Then he asked if I wanted to join his group. I decline. His group didn''t really have his back obviously, and I have one of my own. When I told him this, he was surprised, then he began to squeak excitedly and ask all sorts of questions, wondering if he should bring his group to meet my group.


    A light flashed in my mind . Was this possibly a chance for a gang alliance? In the old world, we made a temporary alliance with some foreign triad guys who wanted to crush an old rival of ours for cutting them out of the insurance and loan fraud business. we had no interest in that kind of white collar crime, and the relationship worked out beautifully.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    In the end, our enemies were completely crushed, and we got their territory, and all their other business, and a good relationship with the triad.Everyone left happy, and I always wondered why we never made alliances more often.


    I told the rabbit where we lived, and to bring his group tomorrow. We part afterwards, and I continue with my hunting. I see a group of dogs that stood upright. I¡¯m not even that surprised anymore. I follow them for a while, and watch them hunt. they use swords and spears to hunt stocky goats. This is confirming my suspicion that this world is set in medieval times.


    This goes on for a while, until the group came across a particularly powerful goat that also walked upright. Why does everything walk upright??? The dogman who had been hanging back began to make weird chanting sounds, (kinda reminding me of the crackheads I used to see on the street) and pointed the staff he had at the goat monster. Then fire shot out!!!!!


    Seriously what is with this world??? Was that¡­ magic? I quickly began retreating as quietly as I could. It seems that instead of guns, they had magic. Well I guess that makes sense, I mean why advance technology like cars and airplanes if you could fly with magic? I wouldn¡¯t.


    This is bad though, my modern knowledge is kinda useless now. Everything I know how to use hasn¡¯t been invented yet, and it has been replaced with magic, which I know nothing about.


    I make it back to the tree around midday, and everybody was itching to go hunt. I had already killed and ate plenty in the morning, but I see no problem in helping them out. However, I take them in the direction we came from originally to hunt. They¡¯re not ready to go deeper into the forest yet. We kill around a dozen wolves and a few goblins, a good haul. As I slept, the goddess spoke to me again.


    Kyleah: Well, here we are again. You know, its going to get harder for you to evolve soon, this next evolution is pretty much the height of what most rats expect to reach, but I''m sure you¡¯ll go farther. By the way, I see you are attempting to make an alliance with the rabbits, good job. Since you''re blessed by me, the goddess of diplomacy, it should go fairly well. It¡¯s always nice to see you doing something other than killing. Remember, If you pray to me, I may answer, it¡¯s somewhat sad that I never speak to the soul I blessed except for when he evolves.


    She smiled warmly at me, and then disappeared. There was only one path ahead of me now. it was a humanoid rat, around the size of a goblin. Its hair was a shining silver. It¡¯s eyes glowed yellow, with no irises or pupils. There was no other choice, so I ran towards it, beginning my metamorphosis.


    The next morning, everyone was surprised to see that I had evolved. I got up, checking my new body out. Walking upright after all this time felt awkward, but I quickly readapted. I can also walk and run on all fours as well. My poison seems to be present as well, but although its still as potent¡­ there seems to be less.


    As I was running around, trying out my new body, I noticed around half of my group had also evolved, albeit one tier lower. Milk, my last white sibling, had become one of around a dozen bats, there were quite a few battle rats and poison rats, and all my brown sibling and a few others had become fire rats. I was admiring our new growth, when a familiar rabbit face appeared, with several pairs of pink eyes shining in the undergrowth behind it. I gave my best rat like smile as i prepare to welcome our guests.

 Chapter 5: Just the Beginning

    I sighed heavily, although because of my rat form, it sounded more like a hiss. The reason for my sighing however, was the fact that me and my clan (I grow tired of calling them group, and they''re not truly a gang, so I''ve accepted them as my clan) are now at war with the local goblin tribe.


    I can admit it: this is my fault. Two weeks ago I met with the local rabbits. The agreement we came to was this: They would be absorbed into our group, and we would make them strong. In exchange, they would act as our eyes and ears, supplying us with information. They would also gather herbs and vegetables for us, cause I feel our meat diet is somewhat lacking.


    Well, according to this world, what was the most efficient way of gaining strength? killing and eating creatures more powerful than yourself. So we would team up, and attack things, but always the rabbits kill it, and eat more. They had a bit of a problem with eating meat, but they eventually got past it.


    We hunted plenty of wolves, spiders and deer until all off the rabbits had grown a horn, and half the rats had evolved again, becoming either ratmen like me, or even bigger versions of themselves. Many battle rats, and all of the bats chose this option. The result was quite scary, their physical abilities were superior to us ratmen¡­ but the ratmen seemed to get smarter, while the larger rats simply stayed on a beast¡¯s level.


    Anyway, The leader of the rabbits had also evolved, gaining two more horns, and a lithe, agile body. we decided that we had to get at least half the rabbits to that level, and the rest of my rats evolved.


    Logically, the next step after hunting wolves and other beasts could only be goblins right? so, we hunted them¡­ and they didn''t like it. They sent out a rather large force and attacked some of my guys while they were out hunting. there were around five deaths on our side. The extremely wounded survivors ran back home to the tree, where for some reason, the goblins didn''t wish to follow.


    I was careless. These kids aren''t ready for a war, I never trained them for one, that''s partially why they ran, they were scared. But war is upon us nonetheless. But I don''t know what to do.


    I mean preparing them mentally won''t be hard, I have experience with that. But things are different here, the terrain, the weapons, magic, the creatures. Everything was outside my experience range. At least since I would only let around 75 fight, the numbers aren''t too different than what I¡¯m used to.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Wait there is something I can do! Luckily this new evolution comes with something Ive been dying for: proper vocal cords. I¡¯ve talked some with some of my fellow ratmen, but they prefer their native squeaks, so I haven''t gotten in much practice.


    But more importantly now, I can converse with Kyleah, my patron goddess. She can help me! I get on my knees and close my eyes. I don''t have much experience with this whole prayer thing, So I kinda just say some random official sounding stuff.


    MC: Dear Lord Kyleah, please hear my prayer and grant me your presence.


    My voice is annoyingly childlike. I know its probably because I evolved from a rodent but damn, How am I going to expect to be taken seriously with a high voice like this? This sucks man...


    After a few minutes, I got a reply. It was like her voice was directly in my skull, but it wasn''t a bad feeling.


    Kyleah: I see you''ve managed to contact me. Your prayer needs a little work, but itll do. How can I help you Dorian, or should I call you Gray now?


    MC: Gray I guess. But hey I kinda need your help, so if you could hit me with some kind of super blessing, that would be nice.


    I quickly informed her of everything that has transpired. However when I asked her for aid, I got an unexpected reply


    Kyleah: I cannot, or rather I will not help you. This is your first major campaign, yes? If I baby you now, you will become dependent upon my power. I will only tell you this. your enemy has 90  troops, you have 75 not counting rabbits, and they are coming to attack you tomorrow. Thats it. Do with that what you will.


    I felt her presence leave my mind. Well thats just great. There are more of them than us. I would have at least liked some information on goblin weaknesses! Oh well, might as well get to planning, being angry won''t get me anywhere.


    Wait I just realized¡­ they''re attacking US. which means, they have to come here, to our turf. Oh this changes everything. If I play this right.... none of mine will have to die. My golden eyes glowed in the coming darkness as I made plans for what was to come. The goblins will know hell by the time I¡¯m through.