In a damp sever constant clashes of metal resounded. Sometimes it was the grunts of a human, sometimes the shrieks of an unknown creature but one thing was for sure. The battle happening was intense.
Licht forced his step on the ground, gaining momentum for a big swing with his sword. Facing him were two Undead Rodents. They had dodged almost every attack he had thrown at them.
Licht charged at one of the Undead Rodents, delivering his sword in a swing that successfully opened a big cut to the rat's body.
The wounded rat stammered and shrieked. After the blow, Licht lunged back to gain distance and prepared for the other rat's incoming assault.
Going into a javelin thrower position, he threw his sword, lodging it in the ground toward one of the rats, stopping its further advance.
On the other hand, he ran towards the one he had already injured with nothing but his bare hands wrapped in bandages. Going in for a melee kill.
His hand first met the sharp claws of the rat. The claws were sharp enough to tear apart his skin. But Licht didn't care. He didn't even grunt in pain.
This much pain was a norm for him now, barraging the rat with his fists. Licht finally found an opening. He grappled the bony neck and twisted it, while his fingers pierced its eyes.
Within a few seconds, the rat was dead. Throwing the now cold corpse on the ground, he repositioned himself for his other prey.
The rat was wary of Licht now, but it couldn't let go of the food in front of it. Its endless hunger directed him to Licht's flesh.
Yet the result was the same. After some more moments of battle, the rat's lifeless corpse lay on the ground.
–Ding!
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[Two Undead Rodents were killed.] [60 Calamity Souls gained.]
[You have gained the myth 'Crazy Rat's butchering knife']
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Wiping his hands of all the blood, he sprinkled some water on them. Bending down, he took out a small knife he had made from their bones, cutting the fur of the calamities.
In the past days, Licht had fought the rats many times, albeit not getting any stats from them he gained something much more valuable, experience.
Unknown to him, in this process he was also losing something.
He had dissected every rat he met, cooking and eating the somewhat edible meat while studying their anatomy. In the process, he found some weak points and some dead ends.
The undead didn't have a heart nor did they have any blood circulation or anything similar. Meaning they wouldn't die even if their body was cut in half.
The only weak point was their brain, and Licht exploited that. With the small increase in his stats last time and from constant training he could now lift the sword relatively easily now.
Fighting longer battles and ending them faster. The minute decimal increase was by no means small now that he was getting used to it.
Finally being done with the butchering, he put the rotten meat inside a stove that appeared out of thin air. Placing the meat on it, Licht waited for it to cook.
After using the system for so long, Licht found out that it had a subspace.
'But the spaces are only limited to ten items.'
'Anyway, let's see what I got from them. I did see a weird thing being mentioned' thought Licht while opening the system panel.
'Ah, what a bummer. I still get low calamity souls.'
[Calamity Souls: 300]
The calamity souls gained from the calamity became lower the more he killed of the same species. At first, he had gotten something called a first-time killing bonus.
But on his second kill, the number dropped to a heart-shatteringly low number.
"Nothing I can change" saying that Licht gestured with his hand and the new screen came into his view.
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[Crazy Rat's butchering knife]
[The more you butcher rats with it, the sharper it will get. Makes food made from rat meat more tasty. Proof that the person enjoys butchering rats.]
[Crazy Rat's teeth: Slight sharpness enhancement from butchering.]
[Tasty Rat's meat: Makes rat meat tastier.]
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[Congratulations on gaining your first myth.]
[Myths are magical items tied to the essence of the Pantheon of Lost Gods. It is proof that a person has prevailed over many calamities, and can only be gained by killing calamities or transfer from others. The drop chances of gaining myths are very small.]
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[Call out 'Myths' to open the available Myths in your arsenal.]
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[May the blessing of dead gods be with you!]
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Reading through it all, Licht was stupefied for a few moments. He kept staring at the screen for who knows how long, only to be awakened by the dropping of water in the sewer.
Only one reaction came from his mouth, "This is soo cool!!"
"Ah, just imagining getting a stronger knife by butchering these damn rats is so good"
"Wait, does this mean I have questionable kinks? Meh, who cares…" said Licht, leaving the weird thinking for someday later, someday when he will have some greenery in his life.
Calling out the knife's name out loud, a thin-looking karambit came into his view, weird and erratic golden lines flowing on its black hilt, while the blade glowed in the presence of light.
'Too cool' Playing with it for who knows how long, and almost cutting his own finger. Licht only stopped when he smelled a burning odor.
Looking at the food on the stove, he saw burnt pieces of meat. Frowning some more after the happiness he had finally gotten, Licht ate the burnt food.
Cutting the pieces with the crazy rat's knife hoping to get better flavor but what he got was entirely different. Licht was in for a blissful crunchy and meaty flavor.
"This is just too damn good. I am just loving this knife more and more," said Licht, gulping down every single last crumble of the burnt meat.
"I guess I will just eat burnt meat from now on, hehe,"