The sewers were worse than I remembered. Which was saying a lot. It was a mix of things. My hearing had improved, or at least, became deadly focused on sounds. My own sounds had grown quieter and quieter and even breathing too loud caused me to wince. And because of those things, the sewer had opened up to me.

  I could hear water dripping down, echoing throughout the tunnels. The rush of the current between the walkways, all feeding into the bigger river and down through other areas. The squeak of rats all throughout and then periods of nearly deafening silence. That wasn’t all. I hadn’t thought about it, but I could hear an… airflow. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from but the passage of air through the tunnels created a nearly imperceptible ambient sound.

  My own breathing mixed in made it all the worse. It was like I was surrounded by noise, despite how quiet it all was. I never thought near silence could be so loud.

  The worst parts were the mysteries. I could hear things that weren’t rats out there. Some made… slopping sounds. Like meat slapping and dragging against stone. Others made sounds like rattling chains. They were far but the thought of running into them chilled me. I was healed, I was ready, and my soul had been lightened but, I was still in danger. So much danger.

  I stalked the tunnels, moving from dark alcove to dark alcove. My goal today was simple. It was time to start another fight to the death. This time without suffering nearly as terrible injuries, hopefully.

  I needed another big rat.

  There were smaller groups I ran into. And for once, I didn’t avoid them.

  [4]

  [5]

  [4]

  [4]

  They turned a corner. I’d realized something interesting. The rats were somewhat starving. They formed groups and then ate other rats. I’d seen it. Any lone rat was usually prey. Sometimes bigger groups came out ahead or rarely, formed into an even bigger group. In a way, it was fascinating. In another, it was horrifying. It was only a matter of time before I ran into another horde.

  I waited in the dark. The rats this time were only the size of small dogs. Hopefully an easy fight.

  They approached my side of the walkway. Normally I’d have run long before this, having heard their approach. This time I didn’t, waiting in silence.

  They didn’t like the dark. They hesitated, trying to peer in, hoping to see if there was a predator there.

  There was.

  I burst out, running at them. I aimed for the strongest first, feeling my foot launch it back and down the pathway. The rats were surprised and jumped back in fear. A far cry from the first rat I’d fought. They were fast, they could get away, but running away didn’t seem to be in the blood of rats down here. Cowards, they were not.

  I was on the second one immediately. I’d been taught the aggression of rats and I used those lessons well. My fingers wrapped around dirty fur and slammed the creature's head into the stone as fast and as hard as I could. It was dead within moments.

  The other two came at me then. Biting, flailing, scratching. Beads of blood ran down my legs but another quick kick launched another and I made short work of the second. The first rat was coming back now. Stronger, faster than the others. Even stronger than me. It was faster, more durable, and had more strength, but it didn’t matter.

  I dodged its lunge and grabbed its tail, taking another lesson from another creature. This time the toad man. I swung and huffed, as I slammed the rat into the stone. I tried to go for a second swing but that turned out to be a mistake. I felt the second to last rat latch onto my foot and not let go. I hadn’t been paying enough attention to it, too in the moment.

  It made me drop the rat and from there, it devolved into an annoying fight of claws, teeth, biting, and stomps and kicks.

  I won in the end, but with an annoying amount of damage. Not dangerous or deadly or anything but another ten of those and I’d be right back where I was before. I needed to be more careful.

  Especially with the prey I was going after.

  I continued on my way, idly tearing off the fur of one of the bigger rats and eating its flesh. I was used to it by now. It was amazing what you could get used to.

  Finally though, I saw what I wanted.

  [6]

  I frowned.

  It was bigger. The same size as the rat that had nearly killed me. But a whole level weaker. But, I knew. I could tell. This wouldn’t be the same as fighting the [5] rat. This was… a qualitative difference. A big jump up in strength and power and speed.

  Not to mention, it’d be less lopsided like the weaker rats. The last [5] rat had only very technically been as strong as a human. Its weight and size had hampered it, a lot. This rat was going to sail past that point.

  I waited, cautiously. But this time, I wasn’t going to waste an advantage. Tools in fighting only made you weaker. No one who had ever used a weapon regularly had gotten that much stronger than someone who used their bare bodies and fists. It was frowned upon for a reason.

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  But this wasn’t just some training, this was a fight to the death.

  It approached and I held my breath as the tap of its claws against the stone echoed out. Closer. Closer. Till finally-

  A bright light erupted into the rat’s vision. It hissed and squeaked but I was on it in a flash, punching into its head. I’d learned. I didn’t have claws or fangs. I had fists and teeth. And my teeth were broken. For once, that was in my favor.

  One fist didn’t do anything but I didn’t let up, wailing into it. But the rat proved different than the weak ones. Even half blind, it attacked, lunging at me with teeth open to latch on and claws ready to rake into me. I didn’t let it. Fast it may be, so incredibly fast, but I was stronger now. My perception and speed had grown and it wasn’t as fast as the last one. Barely, I dodged. It soared past me and by the time I turned it was already jumping at me again, teeth nearly at my head.

  So fast-!

  A panicked duck was all that saved me from losing an eye at best.

  This time I reacted the same moment I heard its claws touch the ground. I threw out a punch, feeling its nose connect with it. I couldn’t let this thing get on top of me. That tackle was far more deadly than it seemed. If they got you on the ground they could maul you with every claw as fast as they could run. You’d be dead in moments. I had the dozens of crisscrossing scars across my chest to prove it.

  I didn’t let up. Letting up on aggression meant death with these things. Blow after blow rained into its head while it snapped and tried to bite at me, bulldozing into my legs, trying to latch on. I moved, knees smacking into it when it decided to stay low but injuries were unavoidable. It clawed at my thighs and bit into them, nearly taking a chunk before a sharp combo of knee and elbow made it let go.

  Finally, I realized I’d been going about things wrong. I’d never kill it. Not with fists in the realm of human still. The skull was too thick. I couldn’t shatter bone yet with them. I needed to learn further from the rats.

  I backed away, pretending like I was going to run. It was only prior experience that let me avoid its flying form going through the air. The moment it sailed past me, I leapt, crashing on top of it. It bucked and railed, going ballistic as it felt my full body weight press it down. It rolled, it tried to bite me, but I held on. Both arms wrapped around it as I bit into its neck.

  My broken front teeth acted like the world’s least effective shiv. But I’d done this with flat teeth once, I could do it with this. I bit and bit and bit, my teeth sinking in, causing it to bleed. I aimed for the artery but a bucking, frantic, angry rat was a difficult opponent to aim for at the best of times.

  Minutes passed and finally, I bit into something more important. Or had just torn my way inside.

  Blood came out in torrents now, far more than the last time I’d done this. Blood poured into my mouth but I’d been eating raw dead rats. I was used to this by now and didn’t stop biting and biting and biting and-

  And it was dead. I blinked, before quickly moving. It was dead but fighting was loud. Something would come. I needed to get the hell out of here right now, immediately.

  Turn after turn came and went and finally, I slowed, hiding in a dark alcove I’d prepared, the light already busted.

  I waited, listening. Focusing, making sure not a single sound was missed. A dozen minutes must have passed. Nothing was growing louder. Nothing was coming after me.

  I breathed a sigh of relief, that just came out as a mouthful of blood. I found it amusing. I had spit out a mouthful of blood but it wasn’t mine for once. I had also won. And far easier than last time.

  My body was covered in wounds, yes, but they were mostly minor. Scratches and divots, sure, but the only really bad one was that bite on my leg. I’d say that one was going to take stitches but it’s not like I had that down here. I’d simply have to hope for the best like the rest of my wounds. More parts of me might be going green though. The flesh that didn’t close had a habit of doing that I’d noticed.

  I breathed, thinking back to the battle.

  I’d underestimated their speed again. I thought I had it, that I was ready, but the jump from [5] to [6] was crazy. It was a miracle and a half that I’d won the fight against that first rat. The next problem was damage. I’d had half a plan but I should have thought about it more. I’d thought I’d just fight and maybe win but I hadn’t planned far enough ahead. I was always going to have to bite into its neck, I had no other realistic ways of killing these things right now. Well, not quickly at least. A half hour of bludgeoning its head in might work but by that time something else would’ve shown up and then it was my speed against both of theirs. A losing battle if there ever was one.

  What else?

  Half an hour must’ve passed while I thought about it. I wasn’t stupid but I also wasn’t a fighting prodigy. Hell, I’d been in a grand total of three fights now where I wasn’t single handledly destroyed.

  Pride and joy lit up inside me at that.

  It wasn’t that long ago that I was permanently stuck at power level [1]. Now I was- No. No it didn’t matter what I was, I had to use my own skills here to judge that. Listening to a machine about how strong I was, even looking up at my own, it was a disaster waiting to happen. But still, I’d progressed. I’d grown to at least [4] and was well on my way to growing farther.

  I almost couldn’t believe it. That I was [4] times stronger than I used to be. That I had won three fights. It felt like a dream come true. How strange, to feel so much joy and pleasure at purely winning. It almost felt, sacrilegious. Like I was defying the world and the heavens. Maybe I was. But more than anything, even diseased, infected, and with a litany of health issues… even through all the pain and the misery, I took in the sewer.

  The river of piss and shit, the squeaking of massive rats, the faint noises of flesh smacking on stone, the rattling of chains, the dark alcoves, the terrible grime seeping into me. In all ways, it was horrible. Beyond horrible. Others might have just given up long before they had to eat raw rat.

  And yet…

  I felt so much joy. It almost scared me.

  I was fighting things, dangerous things. And I was winning.

  This, This! This was what it meant to be a Warrior!

  *****

  In the deep darkness below the city…

  A broad grin stretched over broken teeth and through torn lips. Eyes lit up with passion.

  And a new monster was born.

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