Zulu's heavy eyes slowly opened to let in the "morning light." The almighty-torch laid nearby, beside the chef rat's skeletal remains.
'I guess it's some form of a sunrise,' Zulu thought as he watched the dancing flame on the tip of the torch.
The first thing Zulu noticed was a new stream of information rooted deep inside his mind. It felt instinctual, something he'd always been aware of. The [Bite] skill was now a tool in his arsenal that he could unleash on his enemies.
'Doesn't sound too threatening, though, if I'm being honest. Well, I'll find out soon enough whether or not it's useful,' Zulu thought as he began to rise from his slumber, shaking off the remaining lethargy.
Zulu carefully snatched the flaming torch between his jaws, trying to avoid scorching his sensitive nose. Like that, he launched his advance into uncharted territory.
'At least I can see this time.'
Zulu felt comforted by the golden glow of the torch; He wouldn't be caught blind again.
After half an hour of silent roaming, Zulu began to notice a change on the floor of the cave. The once barren ground of stone gradually became littered with gray fur. After a further ten minutes of walking, Zulu felt as though he was an ant excavating through the hide of a bear.
'These things, they really do shed a lot. I must be getting close to their nest.'
The fur, of course, belonged to the chef rats. Zulu could clearly identify that they were of the same color and texture as the rat he killed and stripped clean.
As if verifying his judgment, a savory smell assaulted Zulu's nose.
'The smell is stronger this time. Is there more than one? Or maybe even their pack? Guess I'm about to find out.'
Zulu slowed his approach and carefully crept forward.
When Zulu finally felt as though the source of the smell would become illuminated by the boundary of light created by the torch, an ear-piercing screech echoed throughout the cave.
'Right, they can see the light.'
As Zulu thought that, two chef rats revealed themselves from the darkness. They were slightly shorter than the first rat Zulu fought but were otherwise identical.
The two hideous creatures remained at the edge of the light and sized up the prey before them, deciding whether or not to engage.
'They seem a little smaller. They should be a bit younger than the first rat I fought. Alright, if I'm only dealing with some pesky baby brothers, I can do this.'
At that thought, Zulu prepared himself for battle.
'Even if they do outnumber me, I have a new attack.'
The two chef rats came to a unanimous decision and charged. It was obvious that the smaller creature wouldn't be match for the two of them. It was an easy meal in their eyes.
The rats moved to encircle Zulu from either side, using their numbers to their advantage, but also to avoid the small flame dangling from his mouth.
'Oh? They're kind of smart for some dirty rats, but not smarter than a former human.'
When both chef rats were only a few feet from his position, Zulu quickly swung his head and lobbed the burning stick at the rat to his left.
The rat noticed the rapidly approaching flame; However, due to its previously built-up momentum, was unable to dodge in time. The torch struck the creature's left eye and temporarily blinded it as the flame was in the direct center of its vision. It could only screech as it jumped back, trying to avoid the searing sensation that invaded its eye.
After throwing the torch at the chef rat to his left, Zulu leaped backward with haste. The other rat instantly arrived at his previous position, clamping its grotesque maws together, biting only air.
As the chef rat investigated its empty jaws in bewilderment, Zulu hurled himself forward before latching onto its throat with his teeth. His smaller frame allowed him to easily get under his opponent.
The rat cried in pain as blood began to pour from the wound on its jugular. Zulu's teeth pressed through the rats scrappy fur and neck muscles, puncturing the carotid artery located there.
'This [Bite] skill really works wonders.'
Zulu admired his new skill inwardly before yanking his head backwards, ripping the chef rat's throat open. It soon collapsed listlessly like a doll.
Zulu didn't have time to celebrate his victory before a loud shriek captured his attention.
'Someone's not happy that I killed their brother.'
The other chef rat had regained its composure, however, its left eye was now noticeably scarred from the flames. It rushed toward Zulu again with reckless abandon. There was only malice in its one good eye. It seemed to lack the intelligence to learn from its fallen comrade.
Zulu used his superior agility to evade to the left before clamping down on the underside of the rat's neck, reactivating the [Bite] skill. After a short moment, it too collapsed in a pool of its own blood.
'It seems I've found a reliable technique to kill these rats. Let's just hope I don't run into more than two of them at any given time, or I might really be screwed. Two should be my limit. Now, chow time.'
Zulu dragged the rat's bodies together before beginning his breakfast meal. To his astonishment, he found that he could consume them both with little problem, reducing their corpses to skeletons in only a couple of hours.
'I don't feel full at all. These two rats were a little smaller than the first, but they were still two giant rats the size of Labradors. Technically speaking, it shouldn't even be possible to eat this much. Is this a trait of magical creatures? I'll have to ask the guide next time.'
As Zulu pondered about such strange phenomena, he suddenly remembered something.
'Status!'
Nothing happened.
'Open status!'
Still, nothing happened.
'Guide, show status!'
Unexpectedly, nothing happened.
'Dammit! Really? Can I not open my status while awake? I have to sleep to upgrade and evolve? So inconvenient. I'm not even tired; I only woke up a few hours ago after all. Whatever, I'll just have to upgrade later. Onward!'
Zulu pushed away his annoyance, snagged the almighty-torch, and resumed his journey into the unknown.
After traveling through the cave for another hour, Zulu encountered a crossroads. The cave split into two directions: One of fur, and one of webs.
'Fuck. Why did it have to be spiders?' Zulu cursed inwardly as he imagined running across a man-sized, eight-legged freak of nature.
'This left path should lead to the chef rat den, and the right, I'm not sure I want to find out.'
Zulu shook his head and began to contemplate his choices.
'Thinking about this logically, the web route should be the correct choice. Even though I know how to defeat the rats, who knows how many I'll find in their den? Five? Ten? Fifty? What if they have a powerful leader? It's simply too reckless to believe I could take on all of them. As for the web tunnel, it's likely created by the actions of a single spider. Spiders aren't pack creatures and are almost always solitary. Also, the almighty-torch allows me to destroy any webs that block my path. Okay, let's do this.'
Zulu crept into the right path, carefully avoiding the loose strains of web strewn across the floors and walls.
After only a few minutes of walking, the density of webs substantially increased.
'I'm getting close to the main web. These should be the equivalent of alarm bells, which send vibrations to the main web when disturbed, alerting my eight-legged friend.'
At that thought, Zulu paid extra attention to leaving each web untouched. His compact size in such a large cave allowed him to casually dip under and between threads of silk.
'A perfect infiltration! This spider will never now what hit-'
However, Zulu's self-congratulatory praise abruptly halted at the site of a complex maze of webs, packed from wall to wall. It was far denser than before.
'This is why I carry the almighty-torch; It simply solves all of my problems!'
After thinking that, Zulu touched the end of the golden flame to one of the outer lines of silk. It quickly caught fire before proceeding into the maze of webs. A spiral of flame ignited with intensity as the flame spread in each direction with incredible tempo.
'Wow. Almighty-flame meets ridiculously flammable web. What an unfortunate outcome for you, Mr. Spider.'
The fire quickly expanded, engulfing the entirety of the outer web before beginning its advance deeper into the cave.
Zulu actually had to take a couple steps back as the heat became more intense than what he could endure.
'Oh, this spider's gonna be pissed.'
Zulu revealed a sly grin at that thought.
'What will you do, Mr. Spider? Do you want to battle with the great torch master that is I?'
As if answering Zulu's challenge, a powerful shriek from the depths of the web reached him.
'I'll take that as a yes.'
The raging inferno soon destroyed the vast majority of the outer and inner web, leaving ample real estate for Zulu to move forward. Only a few webs still burned in the corners. The remaining embers of scorched silk flickered on the ground momentarily before losing light entirely. Nearly fifty meters of web had been cleared in under a minute.
As Zulu walked through the now empty but warm cave with caution, another shriek reached his fuzzy ears.
'It's coming.'
Soon the lighting in the cave returned to normal as all the fire-inflicted web disappeared into smoke and ash. Only the golden light from the still-burning torch remained.
Then Zulu froze. At the edge of the light stood the resident of the home he razed.
The spider was a shiny black with a large smooth carapace. It was hairless and stood at three feet tall, triple Zulu's height. It had a dozen beady black eyes and two razor-edged, fang-like pincers in place of its mouth.
'It's no wonder there are no chef rats in this tunnel.'
The spider watched Zulu with resentment; The small orange pest had ravaged its home.
Only one of them would leave here alive, and the other would be food.
Zulu didn't wait for the spider to charge but instead took the initiative and lobbed the torch at it like a grenade. The spider merely stood still and watched the attack with curiosity.
'Confident, eh? I'm afraid you chose the wrong enemy… Even though I destroyed your home but we won't talk about that.'
The blazing torch hung in the air for a short moment before crashing onto the spider's carapace, bouncing off and sliding away behind it.
The spider inspected its back with interest and found that it was in perfect condition.
'Hmm, flammable webs; Not so flammable carapace. Fuck. Almighty-torch, you've failed me.'