8 Chapter 8

The light shines like a beacon of hope to me since I've been stuck in the dark sewers for so long. Especially because the company down here is horrible, they've had no manners at all. The mind insects in particular, killing their colony was probably the best thing I've done since I've become a cat. Seriously, screw those guys.

Anyway, I trot towards the light with more than a little excitement. I can't tell what's beyond the light yet, but I can't wait to find out. It's been bugging me ever since I got here, not knowing what's going on outside.

I don't see any living creatures inhabiting this tunnel, but the ground, walls, and ceiling are covered in scorch marks from fire and holes from acid burns. Parts of the tunnel look like they've been sliced through cleanly, like someone took a certain laser sword and started chopping away. There are actually a few old-looking wood spears, fire-axes, knives, modified baseball bats, and more on the ground too. I also spot some arrows, some of them look like the ones you could find at a hunting store, but others look homemade. And by homemade, I mean that they're fashioned from wood or bone, iron scraps, and feathers.

There's also bones and carapaces everywhere, the ground is a mixed assortment of human and monster remains. I step gingerly, trying to avoid touching any of them, but especially the human-looking bones. Some of them look a little recent, with flesh still attached. The scent of rotten flesh and damp ground penetrates my nose. It's absolutely gross.

If it were before, I would have been vomiting. But now... well, I'm not vomiting. Or even retching. I guess I really have changed. I feel like my grandfather would be happy about that. I wonder if he's still alive...

That's the first time I've considered that possibly. To be honest... I don't know if I want him to be or not. I don't remember much about him, but... that's just the way I feel. For now, I'd rather not think about it.

Moving on then. Well, it's possible that everything that I'm seeing here is from when the humans first started sealing the tunnels. The monsters probably surged up to fight against them, and the humans must have rained hell down on them with their mana and weapons. There were clearly a few archers. And since some of it looks like it could be recent, there's most likely a cleanup crew that comes by that tries to thin down the monsters' numbers.

From what I've seen, they probably don't have to come down too often. I mean, the monsters seem to have their own ecosystem thing going on. Except... well, I kind of ruined that. The insects and spiders may have taken a rather serious hit, leaving this tunnel free for something to expand in, like the rats or the alligators, or any other creatures that live in here. It's possible that the other tunnels have more of them, so I probably haven't wiped them out, but... But it'll probably be okay, right? I believe in a world where everything works out, so yes, it's definitely going to be fine!

As I get closer to the light, it becomes more and more blinding. But soon enough, I reach it and my eyes start to adjust. The first thing I notice are iron bars, similar to a prison cell, blocking the exit. I couldn't see them before because they were glowing with mana and blending in with the sunlight coming in behind them. But as disappointing as it is to see the bars, they're not what draw my attention.

What does draw my attention is the sun that shines down on me, filling me with peace and warmth. Clouds dot the sky like marsh-mellows, and just seeing them is comforting. I was worried I'd never see the outside again.

The wind blows through trees and dense amounts of foliage and overgrown grass. The sound is like music to my ears, though I could do without the buzzing of some kind of insect, cicadas maybe? I'm less than thrilled at the thought of more bugs, but I'm too happy right now to care. The sewer mouth opens up into a stream which flows from a small lake that's surrounded by hills covered thickly with trees. I have no idea where I am, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now though... I need to get outside.

I know I said earlier that I shouldn't try to break my way out of the exits the humans blocked, but now that I can see, hear, and feel the outside... there's no way I'm holding myself back. In fact, I can't help but feel claustrophobic at the thought of going back into the sewer to find an open exit, which there probably won't be.

No, I'll leave the sewers here and do my best to patch up whatever I destroy. The question is... how do I exit? I can try using my tendrils to cut the bars, but the humans' mana will interfere like it did with the sewer plate. I might be strong enough to overpower it now, but in case that fails I should have a backup plan. What if I were to create acid like the rats do? Maybe I can use the tendrils and acid at the same time to burn the bars as I cut.

The problem is, I don't know how to overpower the mana covering the bars to begin with. At this point, I can only try whatever I can think of. And if one plan doesn't work, I'll just have to come up with another.

I start by summoning four of my shadow tendrils. I'm a little worried that the light will weaken them, but I don't notice a difference in them as they curl and whip around my body. This time I construct them with thick serrated blades on their ends. For my first attempt I'm planning to use my tendrils to saw my way out. Let's see if it works.

I wait tensely as the blades start sawing loudly. Sparks fly as they buzz through the metal bars, dancing like fireflies. I'm afraid to move or make a noise as this moment almost feels holy to me. I want to be outside, no, I need to be outside, both my body and mind yearn for it. But as expected, they only get about a third of the way through before the humans' mana kicks in, preventing my tendrils from cutting any further.

Why is that though? If they were going to reinforce the bars, shouldn't they have reinforced it entirely? It feels like they're mocking me! I whip my tendrils at the bars angrily. They clash against them and draw more sparks but otherwise make no progress. I'm tempted to continue lashing out, but I hold myself back.

Alright, take deep breaths Cathan, just calm down. I'm going to get out, I just need to be more creative. I use my mana to summon the most potent acid possible, or at least that's how I try to imagine it. A black floating ball of bubbling liquid appears in the air in front of me. It took a lot of mana to summon it though, about twice as much as it costs to summon my tendrils... I have a thought about that, but it can wait till I'm outside and in the fresh air.

I throw the acid onto the section of bars I've been working on. The acid sizzles into the metal, eating it away slightly, but not doing much. Next, I hurl my tendrils at the bars soaked in acid, doing my best to saw through them now that they're weakened. I get halfway through the bars before I stop making progress, but now I can actually see the yellow, soft glowing barrier that's been blocking me this whole time.

The barrier is a solid wall composed of hexagons connected firmly together. It's located halfway through the bars, and it's obviously the reason I can't progress any further. It might also be reinforcing the metal slightly, because I can see them shining a little too, but that hasn't been as much of a problem as the barrier itself... alright, so how do I get through?

I put my paw against the barrier, hoping to feel a weak spot, but no. The mana flows evenly throughout the entire barrier, as far as I can tell, and it's incredibly dense. I whip at the barrier with my tendrils experimentally. The barrier vibrates where I strike it and the impact of my wave travels along the hexagons, spreading out across its entire surface. Okay... so basically, this wall can disperse force and block the burning of my acid. My best bet should probably be to penetrate through the barrier at one point in order to overload it, as opposed to wildly slashing it all over the place.

With that in mind, I mold my tendrils to have sharp spear points instead of the serrated blades. Once they're ready, I hurl them all at once to attack the same spot on the barrier. They clash violently against the glowing hexagons which shake violently with my attack. I launch the tendrils again, and again, and again, doing my best to pierce through the barrier but... nothing happens. The barrier remains there, untouched, as if I had never even tried to break it down. It's so frustrating...

Grr! Dammit! Just you wait, barrier! I'm going to tear you down and feed you to the rats, I'll make sure they have lots of fun with you! Grr! I lash at the barrier angrily with my claws, not caring that they rake ineffectually against it.

Its resistance spurs my anger even further though, and now I'm raking at the wall with both paws. My instincts are provoked by my anger, driving me into a mad rage. I start bashing at the barrier with my tendrils, creating a deafening racket. I lose track of time, lost in my anger at the barrier, at being trapped in a sewer, at being inside of a cat's body, at this fucked up monster-infested world, and at my grandfather too, though I'm not sure why.

I don't know how long I've been attacking the barrier, but not a damn thing has changed... I lay on the ground tiredly, heaving for breath while laying on my back. My tendrils are on the ground beside me as if they're taking a break too. At some point I must have molded them to have medieval mace-like heads, though I don't remember when I did that. I stare at the barrier angrily, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Instead, my thoughts turn to my parents. I remember a little bit about them, but not much. I know that they used to work all day, so I never really saw them that much, except at dinner time. But we never really had anything to talk about, so even that was a little lonely.

But I had my brother, didn't I? And he would get into arguments with my dad over dinner all the time. They would go on and on about any little thing, and even though that sounds unpleasant, I remember they always had fun with it. It made me feel better about not really knowing them too well, despite them being my closest family.

After we finished eating, my mom would retreat to her room to lie down and read books or to watch TV. My dad would spend all his time outside in the garage, working on a bunch of different projects. I remember that I'd go out and help him every now and then. Even though we didn't talk much, it was the most I'd ever felt connected to him.

I remember our first project together, when I decided to help him put up a fence around our house. He had me nailing the fence together to a board that ran behind it, but I was thin and weak and couldn't do it well. So instead he gave me some screws and a screw gun to use, making it go a lot faster. I can't remember how old I was when we did that. But I do remember that he never liked to ask for help, and yet he would wait expectantly for me to show up anyway. I miss them a lot...

I little out a tiny cat sigh. That's what I need right now, a giant screw gun, no, a drill, to open my way to freedom. A drill, huh... if only.

...I'm an idiot. If there's one thing I've learned here in the sewers, it's that my mana can become pretty much anything I want it to. So if I want a drill, then I'll just make a drill!

I spring to my feet, re-energized by my thoughts and the hope that takes root in my mind. There's still a chance for me to get out of here, and there's no way in hell I'll let it pass me by!

I picture as vividly as possible an image of what I want, for my shadow tendrils to become thicker and for them to end in large, pointy, rifled, cone-shaped drill heads. My mana drains from me again, leaving me with about half. But it works! My tendrils are all ready to drill through the barrier and hopefully to let me get through.

I start with only one tendril, just to get used to it. I place the point of the drill onto the barrier, then start slowly rotating the tendril to become familiar with the motion. I gradually speed it up, until the the drill starts spinning incredibly fast. The impact of the drill gets spread across the hexagons, causing the barrier to tremble slightly. It's not enough! Let's see how you like four drills at once, you jerk!

I get the other three drills into place, spacing them out a bit so that they don't clash against one another. I don't know when it happened exactly, but at some point I've become accustomed to using the tendrils. My control isn't perfect yet, but it's starting to feel a lot more natural now, similar to how I've adapted to my new cat-body. I'm incredibly glad for that, because maintaining four drills all at once while they're at full power is incredibly difficult, much more so than controlling only one. The drills slip and slide against the barrier, but I do my best to hold them in place. The barrier beings to tremble like it's starting to weaken.

I press up against the barrier, ready to jump through as soon as I can. I don't know if the barrier will come back into existence or not once I make a hole through it, so I'm not going to take any chances. The barrier is both trembling and flickering now, so it shouldn't be much longer... oh! There! One of the drills is actually getting through! The tip is through and it's eating into the rest of the bars. If I let it go a little bit longer, it'll tear a hole big enough for me to get through! Ahahaha, victory will be mine!

As I whip my tail around in excitement, I hear something behind me that ruins the moment a little.

REET REET REET!

REET REET REET!

I turn around to see exactly what I didn't want to see. The rat horde has arrived, those annoying bastards!