#11 The tribe

Just like Doran had described, he had found a crystal, as big as a fist, inside of the rat kin. After the extraction, Daniel decided to scout the dungeon, continuing onwards in search of an exit.

He had wondered already how no other inhabitant of the cellar had found him and his foe, while he had been resting. It appeared to him as he continued to search room after room. They were completely lacking any sign of life, rotting away slowly. The only lifeforms in this hole of a dungeon had been tiny rats and a few snakes.

'Why had the rat even been at the beginning of this labyrinth? There's nothing here!'

Daniel couldn't find an answer. He would have to hold off on solving that question until he had further information.

Five empty rooms later, Daniel finally found a clue.

He could hear soft squeaking when he listened closely. On silent soles, he approached the next room and peered over the edge of the connecting door frame.

It was empty like the other rooms and only a few destroyed and decaying barrels lay in the corners, but the walls were decorated with small marble figurines, standing in different poses inside carved holes. In the middle of the room, Daniel could make out a small well, distributing water by gutters integrated into the floor. And around that...

Daniel froze, as he made out three more rat kins crouched in a circle. They resembled the first rat a lot, but their stature appeared smaller. Nonetheless, they still easily reached Daniel's chest.

Daniel also couldn't spot the body armour that his last opponent had worn.

'Had the rat earlier been a warrior of some kind? These fellas are more in number, but far easier to deal with! The armour must've been a serious upgrade!'

Daniel scanned his next prey for weapons or any kind of dangerous object, but couldn't see anything. He sneaked closer to get a better view.

The rat kin appeared to be eating, discussing hectically in a language unknown to him. He could make out different tonal expressions and little changes in the squeak each one made, reminding him of the simple form of communication humans had fostered in the stone age back on Earth.

Daniel returned to the room he had come from and gathered his thoughts.

'They are more intelligent than I thought if they even have their own language… Maybe I should kill only two of them and try to converse with the third? It would definitely be able to provide some interesting informations.

On the other hand, what if it calls for assistance? I've already crossed paths with four rats! Are there more of them? What if they have tribes too!'

Against a full tribe of rats, he surely stood no chance and escape wasn't a possibility… Rats had been known for their intelligence and sense of smell even back in his world - there was no way that rats with their own language were less competent. They would be able to find him if he had to hide.

Daniel saw no other way. He had to slaughter every single one of them. He glanced around the corner once more.

They were still focusing on the rations in front of them. Good. Daniel wondered what and why they were eating. He hadn't eaten himself for more than a day and he wasn't even hungry. Maybe another advantage of the protection of the goddess? A question for Doran at a later point in time.

He scanned their health bars.

[ 130 / 150 ] [ 150 / 150 ] [ 150 / 150 ]

One of them was slightly hurt, giving Daniel a small edge, but he wouldn't be able to finish them off all at once, that he knew.

He could kill one of them with air blasts that he would prepare. Another one he would be able to finish off by hand. What about the third though?

'I have to somehow lure it over here…' Daniel thought. 'But how?'

_____________

"I haven't seen another adventurer in ages. Why does the leader even want us to guard this place?" Kij'rin, the biggest, but least intelligent of the rats asked into the round.

"In case another human appears obviously!" Ahr'ski, the rat next to him, answered, annoyed by his ignorance. "Just because there hasn't been another adventurer for a month that doesn't mean there won't be any more of them! They are of utmost importance to our tribe. You know that!"

"Yeah, but Bahl went ahead, didn't he?" Kij'rin checked. "There is no one in our tribe that is stronger than him but the boss! Shouldn't that suffice?"

"Still, you idiot, more protection is always better! Now eat your food and be quiet. I can't concentrate!" Ahr'ski exclaimed in anger.

"Come on Ahr'ski… You know that he can't know better. It's his first time after all" Sni'ski, the oldest warrior of the circle, interfered. "He just freshly finished his training… cut him some slack! It's better to have questions than to have none. Don't mind him Kij'rin, he is just a little on edge today. After all, the boss told him to cut back on the rations and make himself useful instead!" Sni'ski laughed, earning himself a few muffled curses from Ahr'ski.

*Click, click click click click*

"Quiet!" Ahr'ski hushed his two companions and jumped up. "I heard something!"

The three of them listened in silence. Nothing.

"See? I told you he is on edge. Now he even hears things. Sit back down Ahr'ski. You can have some of my portions!" Sni'ski offered.

*Click, click click click*

"There! Just listen! There it was again!" Ahr'ski exclaimed, now on edge.

"It's nothing. And even if there was, it would most likely be a small animal. Didn't you say yourself that no adventurer has come this way for a whole month?!" Sni'ski got annoyed.

"I'M SERIOUS!" Ahr'ski shouted.

Sni'ski grinned at him. "So go check!"

_____________

The rats had been discussing passionately, while Daniel prepared his coup. He had heard some louder screeches, leaving him wondering what they were talking about.

When Daniel had finished summoning his air bolts, sure they would immediately kill the biggest one of the rat kin, Daniel grabbed a stone. Carefully, he put it inside a crack in the wall he was leaning against and nudged it off the edge. The sound needed to be accidental to be believable.

It worked! One of the rats had heard his bait and jumped up in surprise, staring in his direction, but Daniel was confident that it couldn't see him, only peeking around the wall to check if his plan would work.

He prepared a second stone and repeated the procedure. Angry squeaking could be heard from the next room. Daniel prayed. 'Let one check! Let one check!'

He was relatively confident that not all of them would show up immediately, but you could never be sure.

The squeaking faded and Daniel heard approaching footsteps instead. Two at a time.

He grinned.

Standing up, he hid right next to the corner, preparing his sword to immediately penetrate the skull of his enemy.

Ahr'ski approached slowly, listening closely, while he tried to figure out what could have created the noise. He looked back. His tribesmen didn't even give a damn. Happily, they continued to chat and eat their rations. Tense, he cleared his throat and stepped through the doorway into the next room. He didn't have a good feeling about this.

It didn't betray him. From the edge of his vision, he noticed a familiar flash and tried to scream, but it was already too late. The blade penetrated his skull. The last thing Ahr'ski saw was a figure, trying to catch him before he hit the ground.

'First rat kin down!' Daniel noted, excited that his plan had worked. He wanted to jump and clap but pushed the celebrations to a later point in time.

He still had two more to deal with.

Peeking into the next room once more, he saw the other rats still sitting on the ground.

They hadn't noticed anything yet!

As quietly as humanly possible, Daniel sneaked into the room. He had stocked up on air blasts as much as he could, now awaiting his command, completely draining his mana pool. 'Let's make it worth it!' The first part of his plan had already worked, but the second was just as crucial, given that there really were more rats waiting for him in the following chambers.

Four meters. Three meters. 'Almost in reach! Come on!' Daniel exclaimed in his head.

*Knack*

The rat kin immediately turned around, confused as to what had triggered the sound.

'Of course not. It would've been too good to be true…' Daniel sighed, immediately jumping into a sprint towards the hurt rat kin, releasing a shower of air blasts on the other one.

The latter was given no chance to react. His body got pestered by about 20 invisible missiles, dropping him dead to the floor in less than a second.

The older rat kin jumped up in surprise, unable to utter a word before Daniel reached him. He swung the sword from above, aiming to split the last head in two. The blade fulfilled its purpose and blood splattered, but it wasn't enough.

The rat kin had been well trained, immediately flinging its head to the side. The sword cut into its chest and got stuck at the rib cage. It had avoided the most lethal blow!

The rat was certain to die, but Daniel had failed nonetheless and now it was him in a dire situation. The rat wasn't dead and he wasn't able to retrieve his sword!

Sni'ski felt like puking, while unimaginable pain rushed through his body. He tried to scream, but he was unable to do so. 'The sword must've damaged my vocal cords…' he thought while he tumbled backwards, his body showing first signs of giving out.

How did he get so unlucky? First, he got paired up with a recruit and Ahr'ski, the most detested warrior of his tribe, and now they were under attack! He had even made fun of Ahr'ski for believing it…

'Damn it! I can't die yet! Not like this!' Sni'ski bundled his thoughts and tried to tackle the attacker, but he dodged it by an inch. Sni'ski already knew that was playing against time. He already felt the paralyzing weakness make its way up his body. He didn't have much left!

'All or nothing, old boy!' Screaming, or attempting to do it, he ran at Daniel, claws extended, biting and ripping whenever he could in a beserk-like state, ignoring all the rules of combat he had learned.

Daniel danced around, dodging whatever he could. He had given up the idea of predicting much less countering his enemies' next move, who was wildly hacking and biting at him, steadily grinding his health bar.

[ 50 / 115 ] - 5

[ 45 / 115 ] - 3

[ 42 / 115 ]

Daniel tried to glance at his mana bar while continuing to dodge. 'Come on! One air blast! Just one!'

[ 3 / 100 ] + 1

[ 4 / 100 ]

'Damn it!' He would need to hold out for one more minute! He looked at his opponents' health.

[ 12 / 150 ]

He needed to change strategies! His sword was still stuck in the rat kin's body though. Could he catch it by surprise and nudge it for enough damage? Or should he wait and hold on until one more mana point had regenerated…

[ 30 / 115 ]

His health was continuing to drop rapidly. He ran out of time himself. Now or never! Daniel sprang forwards, pushing the rat kin on its back. Both fell to the ground. Daniel, who landed beside the rat kins feet, jumped back up and pulled on the rat's leg, running in the direction of the first rat he had slain.

The rat kin continued to wail its hands in the air, unable to hit him while cleaning the floor with its already dirty fur. Finally, the last mana point had regenerated and Daniel let go. He summoned the air blast and aimed straight at the rat kins head. Its hands stopped and fell to the ground when Daniel finished it off.

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