Poison stab

I held my breath, every muscle in my body tense as I stayed hidden in the tall grass, watching the Chunky Rattus chew on the precious red roses. "Those roses cost 100 cents, do something," the evil thief inside my head screamed, but I shook my head to remove those thoughts. Right now, I needed more info, so turned to the shivering cat inside my shirt.

"Got any idea about the chunky thing's stats?" I asked in a small whisper, to which the cat quietly nodded.

Long story short, these were its stats:

- Species: Chunky Rattus

- Level: 21

- HP: 54

- MP: 28

- Physical Attack: 50

- Physical Defense: 24

- Magic Attack: 24

- Magic Defense: 52

- Agility: 25

The chunky thing had absurd stats. It even hit 50+ in three different stats. My highest stat was my speed, and even then, it was only 24. I had no chance of winning.

"Any bright ideas on how to take down a level 21 monster?" I whispered to the cat, which just looked at me like I had developed some kind of mental disorder.

"I know you have some mental issues, but you aren't stupid enough to think you can win against it with your stats, right!? Right!?" the cat whispered while scratching my chest in outrage.

"Hey, ouch! Cut it out, that hurts," I said while peeling the cat away from my skin, but what it said was right. There was no need to fight that chunky rat. I was a thief; I just needed to somehow sneak past it and steal some of those roses while I was at it.

Scanning the chamber, I noticed a narrow path along the wall that led behind the Chunky Rattus. It was risky, but if I could sneak past it, I might find a safer way to gather some roses.

The path looked just like it was made to allow a single human to pass through it without disturbing the chunky rat, which was hella suspicious but hey I wasn't complaining.

"Stay quiet and don't move," I instructed the cat as I activated my <Lurk > skill and began creeping along the wall. Every step was deliberate, every breath shallow. I moved slowly, keeping my eyes on the Chunky Rattus.

The monster didn't seem to notice me, too engrossed in its meal. As I inched closer, I could see the roses more clearly. They were beautiful, with deep crimson petals that seemed to glow in the dim light of the dungeon. If only I could grab a few and get out of here without attracting the monster's attention.

Just as I was about to reach a clump of roses, the Chunky Rattus raised its head, sniffing the air. I froze, my heart pounding in my chest. Had it sensed me?

The monster turned its head, and I held my breath, praying that my <Lurk > skill was enough to keep me hidden.

*ding* 

*The opponent's level is too high; <Lurk > skill is inactivated.*

Well of course, what was I expecting?

The Chunky Rattus's eyes locked onto mine, and it let out a deep, guttural growl. I swallowed hard, realizing that I was in deep trouble.

"Run!" the cat shrieked, and I didn't need to be told twice.

I sprinted towards the narrow path along the wall, the heavy footsteps of the Chunky Rattus thundering behind me. My heart pounded in my chest as I dodged and weaved through the tall grass, desperately trying to outpace the monster.

As I was just about to reach the narrow path, the Chunky Rattus let out a piercing roar and jumped ahead of me, landing heavily and blocking my escape route.

The impact shook the ground, nearly knocking me off my feet. I skidded to a halt, my mind racing for a solution. But no matter how much I thought, nothing productive came to my mind. My mind went blank as the chunky rat approached me.

It opened its large mouth to take a chunk out of my body but before it could, the cat inside my shirt jumped out and clawed at its eyes. The chunky rat screeched in agony, thrashing wildly as the cat's claws dug into its eyes.

It rolled around trying to pry the cat away but instead smashed into the dungeon wall. A shock wave from the impact spread towards our escape path, blocking it completely.

The rat out another roar and violently shook its head, the rapid movements managing to send the cat flying. The furball landed on all four and hissed at the chunky rat. I could still make out the cat's limbs trembling but somehow it was showing far more courage than I ever did.

'What am I doing? The cat's protecting me, even though it's scared of rats just as much as, if not, more than I am' 

I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves. I couldn't just stand by and let the cat fend for itself. Think, Ervin, think, there has to be some weakness to that rat. 

Summoning every ounce of courage I could muster, I drew my kitchen knife, its cold metallic feeling strangely reassuring in my hands.

I can't take the rat head-on, I have to outthink it and make it somehow damage itself.

"Systie, run towards me," I screamed and the cat immediately darted towards me while dodging the rat's attacks.

As it reached me, I scooped it up like a sac of potato and plopped it on my shoulder. The cat wasn't very happy with that place and quickly dove inside my shirt, finding the warm embrace of my shirt much more reassuring.

I could only shake my head at its antics, how the furball went from being the bravest cat I know to the most cowardly cat was beyond me. Whatever, let's focus on the enemy.

The chunky thing was still recovering from the damage to its eye, it stared towards my swollen belly and charged.

It was fast, insanely fast for its size but I could still make out its trajectory, I waited till the rat was almost near me and then jumped towards my left to dodge its charge.

The rat couldn't stop its momentum, a resounding thud echoed as it slammed into the dungeon wall behind me.

"Ouch, that hurt! Didn't it" I say trying to taunt it while running towards a cluster of sharp glowing crystals.

The rat shook off the impact and charged towards me again. I waited till the last possible moment before dodging, causing the rat to slam into the sharp crystals. I could see a few crystals piercing its thick hide.

"That was savage, nicely done human" I heard the cat say, as it peeked through the gap in my shirt.

'Ya it's nice and all but I hope this doesn't attract any other monsters' I pray internally while jumping and taunting the chunky rat again.

I repeated the process, my dodging becoming smoother each time. After repeating the same thing about a dozen times, the rat's movements finally grew slower, more laboured. Finally, with one last desperate charge, it hit the wall with a sickening crunch, blood oozing from its neck.

I didn't miss the chance and leapt towards the rat, plunging my knife into the damaged neck of the Chunky Rattus. The blade slid in easily, hitting something vital. The rat let out a final squeal before collapsing in a heap.

*ding*

*you kill a level 21 monster*

*you killed an evolved monster*

*you gain a large amount of experience*

*you levelled up*

*you levelled up*

*you levelled up*

*you levelled up*

*you levelled up*

*you levelled up*

*you can now learn <poison stab> skill*

*use 3 skill points to learn the skill, yes/no*

Multiple notifications appeared in front of my eyes, and I also felt myself grow stronger. I looked around to make sure there was no new monster and then focused on the prompts.

Firstly I levelled up a total of 6 times, my body felt like it was brimming with energy, even though I was pretty fatigued due to the last fight.

There was also the skill,

<poison stab: a physical attack.< p>

Damaging skill. 

Consumes 3 MP to use.

The attack poisons the opponent. The higher the opponent level, the lower the effectiveness of the poison>

Finally an attack-type skill, I was dying to get one, with this I can do some decent damage. It's a poison skill and doesn't increase my attack instantly but still, I will take it.

I immediately pressed 'yes' and the information about the skill appeared in my brain.

My new status looked like this.

Name: Ervin 

Age: 12 years old 

Gender: Male 

Level: 14

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

Ability: Prankster

Stats

HP: 24

MP: 35

Physical attack: 35

Physical defence: 17

Magic attack: 15

Magic defence: 18

Agility: 36

Skills

Slot 1—Lurk

Slot 2—Poison stab

Slot 3— 

Slot 4— 

Skill points: 8