levelling up and mutation

Inside the Guildhall

I looked at the mission poster in my hand. 'Right, a collection mission.' I need a few things to do such missions; I need info. Turning towards the pink-haired receptionist, I asked just that.

"Um, can I get a map of the surroundings and some equipment?"

The guild receptionist gave me a predatory look and extended her arms. "100 cents for a map and another 100 for a kitchen knife."

Did she just say a kitchen knife!? What am I going to do with that? Chop onions? I kept my complaints to myself; something told me that complaining now would lead to a hike in the price of that knife. I silently took out two large bronze coins that I 'borrowed' from the adventurers and gave them to her.

After collecting the map and the knife, I entered a secluded alley in the city.

"Ah, finally I can talk. Keeping my mouth shut was torture," the cat grumbled while stretching its tiny limbs, but I ignored its complaints and spread out the map on the floor.

The city we ended up in was called Chandola, and the map was a city map of that very city.

Chandola had a sturdy circular outer wall that acted as its perimeter and was the city's first line of defence against any monster attacks. The map also showed the inner city wall that separated the noble estates from the commoner folks. At the very centre of the inner city was the mansion of the city lord. Truly a medieval setting.

The city had a dedicated market area, a residential area, and even an army recruitment area. There was a large grassy plain just outside the city and a lush jungle further apart from the city.

"How much longer are you going to stare at the map? I thought you were just an irredeemable thief, but you're a bookworm too," the cat asked while lazily stretching its arms.

At that point, I was already getting used to its sharp tongue. I just shook my head internally and walked out.

"Hey, don't ignore me," the cat complained but still followed me.

Outside the City, in the Grassland Area

I walked around, turning every damn rock and searching every nook and cranny, but for the life of me, I just couldn't find that flower. After fruitlessly searching for half a day, we decided to call it a day, but as we were about to return, the black cat stopped me.

"I heard a rustling sound," it said while looking towards the direction of the forest. The cat looked pretty stiff, almost as if it was scared of whatever was approaching us. Turning around, I found a tiny rat-like monster squeaking at us.

"It's a level 2 forest rat," the cat screamed and climbed atop my shoulders.

Wait! Aren't cats supposed to be stronger than rats? Why is she freaking out? Something doesn't add up. Don't tell me!

"Hey, are you actually scared of a rat?"

"I am not scared. Why would I be scared of a r-rat? I am just letting you take care of it so that you can level up, yep. Th-that's right, I am doing you a favour, be grateful you damn human. Now quickly get rid of that abomination."

Yep, she is scared of a rat. What have I gotten myself into? I sighed, something the cat didn't miss.

"You don't need to worry; it's just a level 2 rat. Its highest stat is its speed, and that too isn't too high, just 10. You can easily take care of it and level up."

"You can tell about its level just by looking?" I asked amazed. That ability would be incredibly useful. The cat nodded in affirmation while still clinging to my shoulders.

Well, at least the cat is useful in some way, even though it's scared of a rat.

I suppressed another incoming sigh and rushed towards the rat while unsheathing my knife.

We clashed a few times. I was barely faster than it and managed to narrowly dodge its attacks and deliver multiple small stab wounds. Over time, due to blood loss, its movements slowed, and finally, I managed to land a hit on its head. The hit was strong enough to end the rat's life.

*ding*

*You killed a forest rat.*

*Experience gained: 30.*

*Level up.*

*Congratulations on becoming level 2.*

*Experience required for next level up: 38.*

I felt my stats increase and muttered <status >.

Name: Ervin 

Age: 12 years old 

Gender: Male 

Level: 2 

Class: Rogue (basic class) - evolves upon reaching level 20 

Ability: Prankster

Stats

HP: 11 → 12 

MP: 9 → 11

Physical Attack: 9 → 11 

Physical Defense: 4 → 5 

Magic Attack: 2 → 3 

Magic Defense: 5 → 6 

Agility: 10 → 12

Skills

Slot 1: — 

Slot 2: — 

Slot 3: — 

Slot 4: —

Skill Points: 1

Wow, that's almost a 10 stat increase. This is amazing. I jumped up in delight. As I was celebrating, the cat jumped down from my shoulder and congratulated me.

"You levelled up, that's great. A-anyway, there are no roses here, and there might be more rats around. Let's go back," it suggested while glancing around warily.

Looking at her like that, I couldn't help but chuckle. I guess rats do spook her a lot. With a sigh, I gave up on my first quest, and we returned to the town.

For the next few days, we did the same thing: searching for the flowers in the entire grassland. I even killed 2 more forest rats and levelled up to level 3.

My new stats were

HP: 12 → 13 

MP: 11 → 13 

Physical Attack: 11 → 13 

Physical Defense: 5 → 6 

Magic Attack: 3 → 4 

Magic Defense: 6 → 7 

Agility: 12 → 14

Even with all that, we couldn't find a single flower, making us endlessly frustrated.

"Ah, why am I here? Why did you register in the guild? Why are we even doing this quest nonsense? Weren't we supposed to just gather info about a dark organization and inform it to Terra-sama?" the cat screamed in frustration.

"Gee, calm down. My level isn't high enough for us to rush into some noble house and collect info. I have to fight monsters and grow strong anyway; what's wrong with doing a quest and earning some money along the way?" I huffed back, equally annoyed.

The fact that we couldn't find even a single rose flower had been weighing on us. That, along with not having money to have a proper meal, had taken its toll.

It's not like I didn't understand the cat's frustration. It just wanted to return back to its master, but this is my second life. I had lived and died as a nobody in the first one, but at least in this life, I wanted to become genuinely wealthy, buy a home, settle down, and lead a normal life.

As we were quarrelling, the cat's ears suddenly perked up, and it looked towards the forest. Following its sight, I saw something that made my face go pale.

With grey fur, large teeth, and a long tail, an almost 2m tall giant forest rat was rushing towards us with incredible speed.

"Wa-what is that thing!?"

"It has to be a mutation. It's at level 10. Let's run away," the cat proposed, and before I could even respond, it bolted away with its tail between its legs. What happened to collecting info about the mutations? I complained internally, but I was no better either.

We ran as fast as we could, but the giant abomination was just way too fast. It easily caught up and, with a loud shriek, overtook us!? and ran away.

"What was that?" 

"No idea," the cat replied back as we dumbfoundedly looked at the fleeing rat.

For some reason, I felt that it looked scared, but what could even scare that?

I found the answer to that question in just a few seconds.

A red-haired, black-eyed girl holding a magic staff approached us from the direction of the forest. She looked no more than 15 years old and had a annoyed look on her face.

"Hey, did you see a chunky rat running along this way?"

We silently pointed towards the direction in which the rat ran away.

"Thank you," was all she said before running in the direction of the rat.

"What was her level?"

"Level 15 mage."

"I saw enough for today; let's go back." The cat nodded at that, and we returned to the city, confused and exhausted.