13 more guards showed up and then pointed their spears at the rat.
… Well shit.
The guards and city had belonged to the Yloh Empire. Their banner was based off of the 4 monsters of life. The symbols depicted on the banner represented each monster: the mane of the sun-flare lion, the wings of the platinum dragon, the horns of the holy goat, and the body of the pure rat. The pure rat was the opposite of the black rat, a symbol of life and health. The guards had shown terror and animosity towards the rat because of its appearance. The dark rat and the shadow rat had similar appearances, so any discrimination against one would be shown against the other.
In other words, anywhere the rat went it would be hated. Especially in areas owned by the Yloh Empire. Like this one. The rat being surrounded, racked its brain for ideas. The guards had encircled the rat, so that left it with two options: up and down. The rat could've easily jumped over the guards and protected itself to an extent, however, it would still probably be hurt in the process. Painful things were painful, what could it say? That left it with one option left.
"GET THAT RAT BASTARD, IT'S DIGGING!!!"
The rat had begun to use [Excavate] and burrow through the ground. It began in the direction opposite of the city, but then it met with a spear tip right in front of it. The guards could see the ground shift and aim their spears accordingly. The rat had started to the left and was met with another spear. This went on for a while, and eventually the rat had been herded to right under the wall. At this point, the guards could no longer stab at the rat, and the rat had thought it escaped.
The rat had begun to think it was safe, and emerged from the ground. It looked around and saw it was in a dark alley. Fuck! It had gone into the city instead of away from it! It began to go back in its tunnel when it suddenly smelled something. It was a creamy, savory scent. The rat stuck its nose up and out of the whole; it began to take in a deep breath. The smell was delicious. The rat's mouth watered at this heavenly scent. It looked at the direction it thought it was coming from and saw it. A big wheel of cheese.
The rat looked at the wheel. For some reason, the stuff was hypnotic and drew the rat in closer. The rat arrived right in front of the cheese. The smell from it was overwhelming and extremely enticing. The rat opened its mouth and got in closer. It took a bite out of this alluring thing. An explosion of flavor washed over the rat's mouth. Something inside the rat had awoken and told it to devour the rest of the wheel. The rat complied. Before the rat knew it, it had consumed the entire wheel.
The rat looked around the alley in search of more cheese, but was disappointed to find there was none. The rat's focus then came back to its current predicament, it was still inside this city. The rat scales the wall of the building next to it, onto the building's roof. The rat took a gander over the city, with the help of [Pinpoint Precision]; it saw an immediate difference between the city and the kingdom: it was so damn messy! The kingdom had an organization system which made areas easier to find, but this had none of that. There were shops, houses, and factories all over the place. Even the mansion that was supposed to be in the center of the city was slightly off. The people here needed to get their shit together!
The rat looked on in dissatisfaction, the only good thing about this place was that fantastic food it found! If only there was more the rat had thought. Then it saw something in an alley three over to the left from its current one. A small cube of that delicious thing it ate. The rat scurried down the building and went deeper into the alley. It made sure to activate [Presence Erase] and the spell [Stealth Enhance] when sprinting. It wished it had been able to move faster, maybe use some force to pull it in the direction it wanted to go, but this was impossible. Just then, it felt a pull in the direction it wanted to go. The rat looked down and saw its fur pointing towards where it wanted to go.
[Skills: Shadow Enhancement and Shade Absorb have leveled up!]
[Skills: Shade Absorb have leveled up!]
[Skills: Shade Absorb have leveled up!]
… What? The rat, confused, had begun to think of the past events. It felt a pull in the direction it wanted to go, its fur had started pointing in that direction as well, and it got level up notices… oh. Oh? Oh! The rat then remembered when it first activated the skills [Shadow Enhancement] and [Shade Absorb]. It remembered a shadow cloak had formed around it, but then was absorbed into its fur. The shadows had been absorbed, so the skill [Shadow Enhancement] pulled in more shadows to make another cloak. The interesting thing is that the absorbed shadows must've still fallen under the control of [Shadow Enhancement], so with the shadows being a part of the rat's fur, meant its fur was under the control of [Shadow Enhancement]. The sudden influx of levels for [Shade Absorb] must be because it was getting used to an unexpected extent. This was quite neat!
With the small boost in speed, the rat made its way towards the cheese. It turned a corner to the left and saw it, in all of its beauty. Then something appeared, something which made the rat's heart stop. Another rat. It began walking to the cheese with the intent to eat it. The dark rat had then thought, with all of its mind.
[STOP!!!]
The rat had paused, a sudden urge told it to hold very still, but how could it resist this delicious slice of heaven in front of it. It began to move, but not quick enough. The dark rat shoulder slammed into the other rat. The other rat was sent flying for a solid 3 meters. It hit the ground and skipped off of it like a stone on water. It slowly decreased in speed and rolled into the street. The rat was then crushed by the wheel of a cart. Gruesome. The dark rat didn't really care though and began to dig in. It ate the cheese slice in a single bite, and then heard something.
[Notice: you have been poisoned, you will lose 1 Hp per 2 sec. All passive regeneration will stop.]
[You are poisoned -1 Hp.]
WHAT THE FUCK!? The rat had quickly used [Cure] in response to this startling message.
[You are no longer poisoned, passive regeneration will start.]
At this moment one could see a vein form on the rat's head. The monster's lips pulled back revealing its viscous teeth, and a deep growl had begun to start in the rat. The rat's head snapped up with extreme fury in its eyes. WHO THE FUCK RUINED MY MEAL!!!