In the instant before James stepped through the portal, he could see where he was going. It was a dark tunnel lit by torches that lined the walls, and he could see a rat with glowing red eyes scurrying along the wall.
As soon as he crossed the threshold, however, everything changed. The hallway was replaced by pure darkness and purple lightning. Inara’s hand slipped out of his, then so did Desiree’s.
And then he was through, stepping out of the portal just as easily as if nothing had happened, except that he was alone in what looked like a prison cell.
Well. Alone as in, without Inara and Desiree. Not entirely alone, however, as several rats caught sight of him from across the small room.
You have entered combat!
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” James groused, then realized it was his turn. “Mana Bolt, Mana Bolt, Mana Bolt!” he shouted as quickly as he could. One after another the magic missiles shot out, and since he was in such close quarters with the rats, each attack landed squarely.
Defeated lvl 5 Scorch Rat! EXP +500!
Defeated lvl 5 Scorch Rat! EXP +500!
Defeated lvl 4 Scorch Rat! EXP +400!
The good news was that he could one-shot the vermin, but the bad news was that there were still so many of them. The creatures swarmed over each other, so he couldn’t properly count how many of them remained.
Enemy turn!
One by one, the rats scurried over to James and nipped at his heels. At first they did nothing, but after several attacks they were able to tear a hole in his pants. After that, each attack knocked down one percent of his health, finally leaving him at 92%.
Scorch Rat has inflicted Burn! HP -5
This was not good. If he could only take down three rats per turn, they’d whittle him down in a death of a thousand cuts. Dying to rats sounded painful, drawn-out, and plain embarrassing.
He unsheathed his sword. Under normal circumstances, chasing after rats with a glowing sword would have been the height of idiocy… but with turn-based combat, they were all frozen during his turn. Not to mention, they were climbing all over each other, so he was able to kill multiple rats with every swipe.
Defeated lvl 4 Scorch Rat! EXP +400!
Defeated lvl 3 Scorch Rat! EXP +300!
…
Defeated lvl 5 Scorch Rat! EXP +500!
You are Burned! HP -5
Level Up!
James managed to kill nine rats, and the combined experience was just enough to take him to the next level. The burn from the scorch rat wasn’t fading, however, and even now he could feel the heat on his leg, like a fire he couldn’t put out.
Enemy turn!
One after another the rats charged teeth-first into his exposed leg. Each bite hurt worse than the last, until he would have sworn the damned creatures had gnawed all the way to the bone. Worse, it felt like flames were licking at the insides of his wounds. The rat bites left behind a burn that didn’t fade at the end of his turn, and it was hell to endure.
You are Burned! HP -5
Your turn!
There were only ten rats, and they were all clumped together. James channeled all his pain into rage and swept his blade through the pile of rats with as much precision as he could muster.
Defeated lvl 4 Scorch Rat! EXP +400!
…
Defeated lvl 5 Scorch Rat! EXP +500!
Until there was only one rat left. James had never been one to hurt animals, but he had to admit that he was looking forward to killing this one. The small creature glared at him and bared its vicious teeth. James thought he could see tiny flames flickering between its fangs.
You are Burned! HP -5
The burn in his leg flared up, and James stumbled over a raised stone. He managed to catch his balance, but it was too late. The stone beneath his foot seemed to sink down, and then he heard the grating of stone on stone.
He looked around, but couldn’t find the source.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Enemy turn!
God. Dammit.
Even as he watched, more rats streamed in through a hole in the wall that James would have sworn had not been there a moment before.
HP -1
HP -2
…
HP -1
You are Burned! HP -5
By the time the rats were finished, James’s health was knocked down to half. Death by a thousand tiny bites was no fucking joke, and he was beginning to worry. Not that he would die — even in the worst case, these little monsters wouldn’t be able to do that, but he might burn through his stock of apples.
Not to mention how much the whole ordeal hurt. He’d read books where the character goes through enough physical pain that he stops recognizing it. He gains a sort of perspective-based immunity, and what used to be debilitating is annoying instead.
James was still waiting for that to kick in. As it was, every bite stung like a papercut, and the continued burn was absolutely maddening. It felt like having jalapenos in his veins, and the more the rats went after the same spot, the worse it got and the more it spread.
Your turn!
James wasted no time. He suspected that what he needed to do was wipe the rats out during his turn, and anything less than a full route would bring in a new wave. It was pure speculation, but it was all he had.
He swung his sword, not caring when the tip clanged against the stone, and as he strode forward, he once again heard the stone against stone movement, but he didn’t let it distract him this time.
He just focused on one rat, then another, until every. Single. One of them. Was dead.
…
Defeated level 5 Scorch Rat! EXP +500
James spun around, waiting for the next attack. The haze of combat faded, and he finally relaxed. There were no more rats. He was safe.
For now.
The next problem was getting out of the cell. Now that he wasn’t fighting for his life, he had a second to look around. The cell was giving some classic “dungeon” vibes with ancient stone walls and metal bars with a locked gate.
James rattled the gate, hoping it might give way. Maybe if he had his STR higher it would have, but he was determined to keep funneling his stats into INT and WIS. Magic was where it was at. That was easy damage, no combat experience required. Point and click like a gun.
Speaking of which, he’d gained a level during the fight against the rats. He pulled up his status.
Name: James
Race: Human
Class: Hero
Level: 9
HP: 61/120
MP: 230/290
EXP: 10,810/20,000
Stat Points Available: 10
STR: 14
AGI: 14
INT: 49
WIS: 29
CON: 14
Skill Points Available: 0
Skills: Meditation 1, Mana Bolt 2
Ten stat points, zero skill points. It was bullshit, in his opinion, that he had to wait five levels before he got any skill points. It was especially bullshit that the skills were based on things he already knew how to do. Shouldn’t knowing how to do something give him a shortcut into doing it?
Not that anyone was asking his opinion. Life wasn’t fair, on Earth or Grimora.
James still wasn’t running into his mana limit, so he dumped another ten points into INT. Even with only one basic spell, it stood to reason that with almost sixty points of intelligence he would be able to deal some serious damage.
With that settled, he returned his attention to the metal bars that separated him from the rest of the dungeon. He gripped two bars and shook them. They rattled slightly but didn’t bend. Across the door hung a thick chain and a padlock. That, too, was sturdy.
Damn. Should have taken the STR upgrade. James sighed and rested his forehead against the bars. Stupid. He liked to think he’d outgrown his tendency to rush into things, but it was a tough habit to break.
He scratched the back of his head. He’d have to make it work. Either that meant waiting for Inara or Desiree to find him, or he’d have to find another way out.
The cell was small, only five feet on each side. There was nothing to do but pace it again. He walked in a plodding spiral with his head down. It was nice. Meditative. It even activated his Meditate skill, and his mana began to tick upwards.
Ever since he’d arrived in Grimora, it had been one adventure after another. Sure, a dungeon wasn’t the nicest place to be, but with the rats gone, nobody was trying to kill him.
James stepped on a rat, and the tiny body squelched beneath his boot. He gagged.
This was bullshit! Even in death, the rats were making his life miserable. If only he could— oh, wait.
James reached down and touched the rat with one reluctant finger. He thought about taking the rat into his inventory, and as soon as his finger connected with the skin of the rat, it poofed out of existence and left an item behind.
Scorch Rat Pellet
Looks like that little guy was FOS! And now it’s yours! Lucky day!
James gagged again and dropped the pellet. Was rat poop seriously the best he was going to get from these little assholes? He wrinkled his nose, then, after further consideration, added it to his inventory. With his luck, it would turn out to be a valuable alchemy ingredient later, and if he let himself be grossed out now, he’d miss out on some kind of epic gear later.
Doing his best not to breathe, James went to work looting the rats. For a while, he held out hope that he’d pick up something more valuable than rat poop, but that never happened. By the end, the cartoonish picture of rat poo was accompanied by a small number twenty.
He whistled. Twenty of the little bastards, huh? Each one only gave a small amount of experience, but with so many of them he’d been able to gain a level and a half. It was almost enough to make him wish for more. They were hardly life threatening, and another wave like that would take him to level ten.
His smile faded. He wasn’t going to be fighting anything while he was stuck in this cell. The peace and quiet of the small space was already losing its luster. There had to be a way out. Video game logic demanded it.
James walked around the perimeter of the cell, touching the walls and pressing on stones in case there was some kind of level.
Halfway around, a stone sank beneath his foot. He almost lost his balance, but then he heard it. The grating of stone on stone, the same noise he’d heard just before the second wave of rats.
This time, he stayed put and scanned the wall. No new rats appeared, so it took him a second, but then he saw it. There was a hole in the wall that opened up when he stood on this pressure plate.
He stepped off, keeping his eyes on the hole all the while. He counted to ten before the mechanism triggered again, closing it back up.
That was good. He didn’t have anything he could have used as a weight, but it looked like there was enough time for him to run from the pressure plate into the hole. It also looked like, since he’d triggered the plate during the fight, he wouldn’t have to worry about rats while he made his escape.
Assuming it was an escape, and not just a rat-sized hidey hole.
That thought was enough to make him hesitate, so he triggered the pressure plate again. There was no harm in being thorough.
