NOVEL WEB 10. First Blood
"There it is. Hopefully your first kill."
It stood around 15 meters away rummaging around in something laying on the ground. Its stench was abhorrent now I knew why this whole place reeked this bad or maybe that's why the rat smelled so bad. Either way, it was getting stronger the closer I got. Normally I would say rats are claim rats to be quite cute but not this one either it suffered from some disease or these monsters once are just like this. I couldn't get close enough to see details but just its overall feeling made aware of that.
"Ok. Stop now it's distracted a good chance for an ambush. If you remember back to the animation your race is just like cats from your world an ambush predator. To successfully ambush you need to hide both your body and your presence. Hiding your body is easy for example hiding behind a wall or staying low. Hiding your presence is a lot harder it means breathing low making no sound while walking or even giving off less body heat. The old owner of this body probably grew up sheltered like a normal house animal so its abilities are quite low and you have access to only a few. Right now you only possess Hide and Hide-Presence. These are the basic hide abilities later you can specify each type with for example quit steep also a lower level spell but specialized on the sound of your steps. Hide and Hide-Presence just lowers the overall viewability or presence so they are a mix of all but obviously a low weaker than all the specialized once together. Both of these are active abilities meaning they can be active over a period of time but you still have to activate them. Since they are low level they are quite easy to use. For example, to use hide all you need to do is try and hide from view by, for example, staying low or trying to breathe low. Hide is an F tier spell meaning it's quite easy to use learn, use, and not as difficult to master as higher spells. Compared to it Hide-Presence is a lot harder to use but weaker animals like this rat don't have any passive presence detection abilities meaning they won't notice you walking up behind them unless you make a lot of noise.
These are active abilities but you also have passive in your case Scratching and Biting cause your bites or claws to deal extra damage. There are also active abilities that cause your claws to be stronger, for example, poison claws which coats them in poison for a set period of time.
And last for now there are spells. They are somewhat like abilities but if you activate them they make one thing, for example, Strick a simple attack spell in which the user strikes once with their weapon. They can be used with almost no cooldown just like the other two but they require more energy and concentration. So a trained fighter can swing a sword for example 50 times but only use Strick 10 times before he needs to rest. Right now you don't have any of them but don't worry you will get them sooner or later.
Obviously, you can do most of these without using abilities or spells but it will make them less effective and more seasoned fighters, or generally everyone more experienced will use them without paying much attention kinda subconscious. The best example is Run a passive ability making on run faster its equivalent active is sprint making you even faster but consuming more energy. Basically, everyone uses Sprint while doing sports or even when running to get your pizza but you don't need to think about it anyone it's just natural.
So in conclusion passive abilities give a small boost to effectiveness with no drawback. Active abilities give more effectiveness but need more concentration and energy and spells are the strongest but they also cost the most work to activate and most importantly use all energy in the activation.
Ok so now you know the basics of magic in this world or at least what's important for now so let's get to the real important thing right now combat. The one thing I recommend you do before fighting anything is getting to know your enemy. If you know who or in this case what you're dealing with will help you immensely. There are two main ways you can enquire info about anything reading up in a database, for now, this is not an option but once you have one it's the main source of info on common enemies like in this case the rat. The other one is a little more difficult but helps in more delicate cases like an unknown monster or just stronger once in general because they will differ quite a bit even from others of the same species. And that is magic.
In this case, as well spells are way more effective in what they do compare to abilities. While some abilities give you a general feeling of what you are dealing with some more advanced spells can even tell you what kind of magic a monster or even human has. But they are also quite hard to come by. For example, the stone they used to see if you were blessed by me was enchanted by a high-level spell revealing even the most hidden things about the one who touches it.
A seasoned hunter or explorer uses both the database to learn about behavior and magic to see abilities but as you know you don't have any magic so can't use either option luckily I did my homework and research the monsters we would meet here since I can't use any magic to see their magic either and I can't let you run into them blind I had no choice.
And with this rat were quite lucky but still, this isn't your average rat most people call them mutant or monster rat, and as you can see they are quite a bit larger than a normal one but even so this is one of the smaller exemplars probably not fully grown yet once they are adults they will grow up to about a meter tall so not quite gigantic but definitely scary big especially for how they look.
As their quite low-level monster, they don't have access to any high tier magic. Especially small once like this which means they are still young and thus haven't learned any beyond the very basic like biting and scratching. Just like you. All they have to fight are their claws, teeth and in a clutch slapping with the tail.
Since they live in the dark their vision isn't anything special but their smell is a lot better. That's also why I stopped you so far away. Once you start moving in you have to act quickly or it will smell you and you will lose the element of surprise which is your biggest strength right now. That's why I think your best approach is to slowly sneak up until you are 1 to 2 meters away then start running and jump on its back and bite its neck. I know I know. Biting something to death is even more gruesome than it sounds but unfortunately, this is how it's going to know from here on. This world is brutal and death is common if you are an adventurer or hunter. Your old life had none of that not that there was no brutality on earth but I understand hearing about it and experiencing it is quite different. So if biting is too much you can 'just' use your claws to cut its throat or break the neck.
Normally going with the save instant kill should be the top priority but as I've said before rats are weak and at the bottom of the food chain so if you jump on them and let them escape they should run away and hide. And you can search for a new one. Buuuuut you shouldn't risk it. But in the end, it's up to you.
Good luck"
Miia is right I should be scared about killing even if I know it's a monster but somehow, I guess it's this new body, somehow the idea of crushing its neck with my teeth isn't that insane to me right now. But somehow the thought that I'm not scared scares me. I just hope I'm not changing too much. But I guess that's a concern for a different time.
I got a little closer until I was about 10 meters away Miia told me it could smell me but considering the stench down here it shouldn't be able from this distance. I could finally see what it was munching on and now even the little bit holding me back disappeared. It was eating a Cat. This gigantic rat was eating a fucking cat a normal cat looked tiny compared to it not even half its size. Normally I'm not the kinda person to lose my mind whenever an animal dies in a movie but firstly this isn't a movie but more importantly, I'm pretty sure it's still alive. I don't know how it survived the initial attack and being EATEN ALIVE but it's definitely still breathing.
I know cats themself are known for playing with their prey but I always thought if you have to kill at least do it quickly and that's what I'm gonna do right now.
What Miia told me seemed logical a surprise attack is the best option but now on the point of utilizing my Magic. The only magic I can actively use is, if I remember correctly, Hide and Hide-Presents with the later one not being as important to me right now.
She said to activate them just imagine it feel it get in the Zone. Ok...
just walk slow make no noise and stay low. One step at a time.
And...
Idk nothing feels different. I made almost no sound but with my paws that just seems natural to me. But does that mean it's working? I literally have no idea. My best option is just to go on. Miia hast said anything new so seems like I haven't done anything totally wrong.
The stone floor made a perfect surface for me to walk on its clean-cut made walking easy and the sounds minimal. The few things laying around blocking my paths, such as small sticks or pieces of trash, were easily maneuvered and with half of my path behind me putting the rat out of its misery was getting closer. But then my first real obstacle revealed itself.
A big piece of plastic covering the entire width of the tunnel leaving no room for me to move around it. With the rat only around four meters, away stepping on it would most definitely crunch and alert it of my presents. So my only other option would be to jump over it. But failing the landing will alert it as well.
But maybe I had an escape plan a large piece of the wall was broken loose and fell into the tunnel probably bearly enough for me to hide behind it. The only light near it came from a bit further down the hallway. So the dim atmosphere would help me hide but if I was in the open my white fur wouldn't do me any favor. But still, nevertheless, my plan was hatched jump over then hide behind it just in case and finally move in to kill.
So I took a step back and...
Jump.
The landing was a lot quieter than I anticipated the combo of stone and paws even better than expected. But then something I didn't account for the plastic still crunched a lot louder than my landing. My long tail hit it I completely forgot to hold it in the air and it slapped onto it in full force. Still sticking to my plan I quickly hid behind the rubble hoping this prey wouldn't flee. Just as I got into cover the crunching eating sounds I heard since getting closer stopped. It heard me.
Still, I kept hidden there was still a chance that I could get away with it. A few seconds passed but nothing no sound no footsteps and no resumed eating. After what felt like a minute I was ready to peak out to the left of my block and maybe spot the rat. But then I heard it quiet but slowly getting louder. Breathing. My view was fixed in front of me making sure nothing came around the corner and attack me.
But somehow the breath didn't seem to come around rather it was still on the other side of the wall piece until it wasn't.
Suddenly I realized what happened the rat didn't see the rubble as cover but rather as a viewing spot and decided to climb onto it. At least that's what I gathered from the sound being above me. But this could be a surprising possibility if I could somehow attack it from below it would be an easy kill. But first to make sure it's above me I needed to look up and in my current position that was quite difficult.
My best choice was to roll onto my side with my back to the wall so I could look up to my right. But that would make some sound for sure so my best choice was to attack as soon as I see it. And use my claws to cut its throat. So I turned.
And there it was, even more, terrifying up close I had no time to look closer but one thing immediately fell into my view it didn't seem to have any lips, and its shart pointy teeth still stained in blood were revealed into the open. But no time to think I turned all the way onto my back and by arching it I closed the short distance between it and me. It's Head now only a few centimeters away from my belly I used my front paws to reach over its head and pressed them into its throat.
But then it dawned onto me I forgot to draw out my claws. Panicking I did the only thing that seemed logical to me. Pulling down my front legs and with it the rats head. Probably thanks to pure luck but the rat froze in surprise didn't react fast enough and as a result, lost its hold on the rock and tumbled down onto the floor to my right now on its back as well. But I reacted quicker going back the 180 degrees from before I was back on my feet. The rat realizing its situation also tried to get back up but before it could run I took my chance this time not playing it safe opening my jaw as far as I could and biting down in the rat's neck as hard as I could. Its fur tasting like a combination of all the worst things and just like the smell but even worst.
The rat was struggling this wasn't as clean as I would've liked it but biting down one last time with all my force I heard a crack. It was finally over.
