Chapter 7 Back at home

When I scurried back to the rat cave, I was assaulted my the new scent, that of filth and of rats. Didn't realise it before but after a week away from the cave I finally now notice how filthy everything here is. They actually have a separate toilet or a poop room but due to the poor ventilation the smell is everywhere.

Back when I was living below the chicken I had a separate room for all that, offcourse I couldn't really just push it out and risk discovery but the filth of one rat does not compare to that of a hundred. Following the scent I recognise I arrived at the place of my birth, most of my siblings still with her. I also see that I have a few new siblings, who were all small and pink. There were kind of gross and I was starting to feel kind glad that I mostly spend those time blind, definitely don't want to see myself as that.

I wonder if my skin is still pink underneath the fur. Mother rat is still big as hell, bigger than the cat even. How highly evolved is she? Does she have mana? So many questions, too bad we can't really communicate. My other siblings are mostly at growth+2, none seems to have reach the +3. Some of them came close and started sniffing and other rat thing. But one of them got a little too close, started squeezing and pushing me.

What the hell! Don't welcome me anymore since I go independent? He clearly wants a fight and I don't know how mother rat would response if the child who got out came back and started beating the one that stayed. I look to her and she wasn't even looking, she probably thinks this we are playing or just don't care what happens to her children in general. Can't really tell what's going on in her head.

Since mother rat doesn't seems like she would interfere, I'm not gonna put up this disrespect. With a quick movement my siblings didn't expect, I elbowed here on the nose. It knocked the rat back not really damaged but just mildly confused. Due to the rat anatomy elbow attacks are not really effective.

Might have struck a nerve there, I could clearly see the rage in its eyes. Some of the other rats surround us, clearly interested in how this goes down. I haven't evolve aside from the one I did at the start of my egg heist, by growth we should roughly be on the same strength.

It came charging at full speed and I received it's charge. Putting my back muscles at work I supplex the rat with full force. And again the rat anatomy came into play resulting an awkward situation for both of us. I really need to stop fighting like a human.

The fight continue on without much though from me. I was mostly just a contest of strength and I have a clear edge on that due to what I think are my monstrous muscles. I focused on observing how a rat fight with pure instincts. Dodging a bite here and there, the claws are too weak to do any actual damage. If I fight like this rat I'll be dead in seconds against anything stronger than me.

Guess I wouldn't be going full rat on anything, but I can't really fight as a human. So I will have to combine the best of both, it's a good thing I have a sparring partner. Let begin the experiment shall we? I thought to myself. As in response my rat sibling shreek and charge. Good rat.

The next hours consists of me trying my best to do some of the martial arts skill I could remember, try them, fail at it, make adjustments for the rat body to make them more effective without really understanding the move I'm trying to do, fail again. Rinse and repeat with my sibling charging me with reckless abandon and you have our little sibling banter.

The other rat got bored at some point and move away just ignoring us in general. Mother rat ignored us at first, was concerned for a bit and ignored us again.

At some point I learned that the rat I was fighting was female. The tenacity she had was quite something, most rats would stop after a few minutes but her, oh boy. She had been going at me for three hours now, or what felt like three hours probably more probably less. I'm exhausted at this point and she is the one that does most of the moving.

But enough is enough, a few more minutes and I really will collapse, I also have no idea what she will do to me once that happens. So I grab her by the face and grab her one of her leg with my tail, twist her body and take her to the floor. And started to repeatedly bash her head against the floor, until she eventually fainted.

It was a learning experience but it goes on for way too long. I walk towards mother rat, we make eye contact and I sleep under the cover of her arms. I swear mother rat is a lot more intelligent then she let on. Eyes closed I scrolled through the evolution menu.

I have 24 evo point. This one is going to be big, my biggest consideration went to how I could defeat the cat. I don't want to be too big, cause when your small most of the more bigger animal ignore you. But getting bigger is also the easiest way to get stronger.

Wait with my superior rat intellect, my body doesn't have to be my only weapon, I can use tools! I remember what my body looked like. I can evolve myself to use tools! I corrected myself. As I am now there is no tools I could just use and making them is much harder than using them.

With my mind set, I searched for the evolution that would best serve my goals. So for this sub-evolution I choose one that would sharpen my claws, stronger finger muscles, more flexible arm and a better control on my tail. I want better eye sight as well but growth+3 cost 5 evo points and the I don't have the budget for it so it will have to wait.

My choices confirmed I went into the familiar evo slumber.