vs. Rat Boss

By sucking on the broomstick, the King Rat had prevented air from entering its insides; and without the oxygen, the flame burned itself out.

At least I broke its shield. I can now attack it directly. There’s a problem, however - I no longer have that makeshift torch. It’s half-cracked on the floor, half in the King Rat’s digestive tubes.

And though the King Rat is bulky and huge, it’s surprisingly nimble. If I were to attack it, it might escape - and I’ve got just one slow spark.

Maru | Level 10 Journeyman

Shld 0/105 | Atk 6 | Def 8  | Agi 16 | AP | 1/15 | Exp: 76/220

[You have a dormant art slot]

[You have an art refinement available]

…one slow spark, and an ‘art refinement’. I had always thought that ‘spark’ and ‘breathing’ were rather weak - if an art refinement is what I’ve inferred, I’ve no choice. I’ve got to upgrade an art.

I fly through the UI.

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COMBAT ARTS

[BREATHING] [SPARK] [DORMANT] [LOCKED]

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INFO: [BREATHING]

[An average mouthbreather’s innate ability]

Level 1 Ability

[Normal breathing in all situations]

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Level 2 Ability [REFINED]

[Normal breathing w??? a? ?l??y]

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Breathing’s useless of course. We have to use spark…!

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[SPARK]

[A gift from a misunderstood warrior]

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Level 1 Ability

Cast and maintain sparks from fingertips.

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Level 2 Ability

Create a l?rg? b??? that can be l????hed ?? a d??????,

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Upgrade [SPARK]..?  [YES] [NO]

-> [YES]

I don’t have time to read, or think - as to what the level 2 ability does, I make my best guess. An image of Zorro, clasping my hand lies bright my mind, brighter than any flame.

“SPARK!”

I shout. Sparks dance and wrap themselves into a fiery ball, and I launch it at the King Rat. The Rat bounds to safety, in an erratic twisted movement that I could not have foreseen. But it doesn’t matter, because my target is the barrels of ale.

They’re set ablaze, and the room’s smothered in light, smoke, and heat. Though the fire’s wide and spits embers, the glossy-coated Rat carefully avoids them. He chitters, almost as if in laughter. I ignore it as I drag myself up the flight of stairs. I stamp hard on each step as I climb, punching through the rotting planks so they collapse and block his way.

The King Rat bounds to the lower landing. He pauses, raises its haunches, and launches itself up and away. It flies over all the broken stairs, and I slam my foot against its head to send it tumbling down.

The smoke at this height is stinging and intense. I inhale poison with every breath, soporific weakness creeping in.

Knock…

Two more, just two more knocks. My arm feels like lead, but I just have to hit the door, hit the door, before the King Rat returns or I’m out of air. I can hear it chittering again.

Knock…

I can’t breathe, but I can move, I have to move, I have to-

The door slides open. I fall through it, and a kameleon slams it shut.

**********************************************************************

“...Guillaime?” I say, after a long coughing fit.

It’s the same old gray-scaled kameleon, same old sour expression.

“It would be a waste for you to die. You must survive to pay your debts after all. The price of the mop, the string, the rags, the whiskey… I’d hate to nag Bertrand.”

“Hey hey hey,” I say. “wouldn’t it make more sense for you to be in my debt? I completed the quest.”

“You were very brave, I admit. But being brave wasn’t a condition for completing the quest. Even if you had the misfortune to stumble on a King Rat, you were to ensure all rats were dead.”

“But the King Rat is dead.” I point out.

[KING RAT SLAYED]

The box pops up before both our eyes.

512 Exp gained!

Level up!

Level up!

“Wuh…? Guillaime eyes widen. If he were a human, he’d be blinking fast - alas, lizard-men lack eyelids, so he just seems stupefied. “The floors are made from stone. Even if you lit the leftover ale it would not be enough to burn everything.”

“Where there’s fire there’s smoke,” I say. “The basement’s airtight - the King Rat suffocated as the room filled with smog. Took him a while, that’s all.”

I take a seat at the bar. My chest, arms, and legs, ache all over and are coated in crusted blood; I look and feel like crap.

But Guillaime doesn’t wave me away. He pops the cash register and gives my reward - ten emprientes.

“Perhaps you are not the fool I thought after all…” He mumbles. “I may owe you not just money, but some kind words…”

“Did you say something?”

“Just that you are very lucky to have survived, fleshman” snaps Gullaime.

The kameleon selects a bottle from the shelf and pours out a drink. “On the house,” says Gullaime. “Your favorite, Daniel Jack’s.

I don’t have the heart to tell him I burned the first glass on that whiskey-soaked rag. I savor the oaky, amber drink - and drop it, startled, when a smooth voice flows from my left.

“Those bites… those scratches… you fought direrats, and King too. You slayed them all?”

It’s the ‘nun.’ She smiles. The dove inside her cage flutters, beating against the bars.

“You have nothing to fear from me,” she says, violet-eyes burning. “But I’ve been looking for someone like you for a long time.”

“DROP!” She calls. Water wells from her hands, and she presses them against me. It’s icy, soothing, and cold and when she removes them my cuts and wounds have vanished.

“I’m part of an order of knights,” she continues. “I won’t give you my true name, but you may call me Morada.”

She’s fwirls off her habit. Underneath she wears another cloak, but this one’s a vibrant purple cape. Her chestplate’s a deep black that hides her figure’s contour and below that runs a long formal skirt.

“The Inquisition fights for peace and justice, and against the bandits in Esterraria.” Morada says. “Your level is low, but I believe you have a sharp mind. Join us.”

She scratches me.

1 damage!

Maru, Level 11 Journeyman - my stat box says. And her stat box is shown too.

?????? | Level 100 Inquisitor