Chapter 7 - 7. What Does These Rats Eat To Be This Size?!

"Alright Prius, lead the way to the basement then. I've been itching for some action and it's high time since I've finally woke up. I think those 2 hours to make my blood circulate would be more than enough."

I said as I finished up the remnants of the gruel in the large bowl and I felt satiated with the food that had entered within me. It gave me a sense of fulfilment and renewed energy that I had not felt since I had been in bed for the last 6 months.

"Well, my friend. You looked fiesty after the meal and are raring to go, eh? That's the spirit, I like what's in you right now. I wish I could muster the confidence in you just to eradicate those damn rats that had been infested in our basements for quite some time now." Prius said as he too had scooped the last spoonful of gruel unto his mouth.

"What's the damn deal with those pesky rats? It doesn't need someone to have the courage just to go down the basement and start whacking on them. Even a grandmother with a broom would be able to clear those rodents in no time." I thought to myself and shrugged it off.

"Finders keepers, young friend. Come, let me show you where the door to the basement leads to." Prius said as he picked himself up from the chair and showed me the way. As we passed the door that leads out of the Great Hall, Patricia called out to me, "Please be careful, don't overexert yourself."

I heard Patricia's singalong voice, turned around and gave her a big smile as I waved my hand towards her, walking silently behind Prius. We walked through the kitchen and the space was as big as my room earlier, fully equipped with an earthen oven, 3 rocket stoves with firewood and coal for fuel, an island to prepare dinner, while an array of pots, pans and ladle were hanging above the island.

It was a nice and homely kitchen, very well organised and very clean. It seems that Patricia would clear out all the cookware right after she had prepared lunch so the place looked tidy. There was an assortment of bottles that contains herbs and spices as other condiments as well.

Given the chance, I would also love to cook in this kitchen, having been a while since I had cooked in a proper setup as I had been 'roughing it out' ever since with the Band Of Vagabonds.

A rather typical kitchen but however what lies underneath the basement is another question. I wanted to ask about their parents and other siblings, but at the moment, my mind was preoccupied on what Prius had mentioned about 'Finders Keepers'.

In other words, whatever I find there would all be mine, except for the sacks of grains and seeds, of course. Other than that, it does seem like I'm going for a little basement diving and grinding for all these pests.

"Here's the door to the basement. Whatever awaits there is a surprise for you. There are 5 levels in this basement and the stairwells that lead to the lower floors are alternatively placed on each end. Good luck, my friend. Be seeing you in 3 hours." Prius explained to me in detail before I embarked on the clearance of these rodents. It won't be quite hard, wouldn't it?

"Thank you too, Prius. But why 3 hours? Wouldn't it take like an hour or so?" I asked when I met his eyes. A twinkle seemed to appear at the corner of his eyes or so it seemed.

"You would soon see, my young friend. Take good care." Prius said as he slowly opened the wooden door with a heave as it was heavily set with huge metal hinges with its metal lapel almost covering half of the door's width.

As soon as I entered, there was a staircase that leads to the first level of the basement. As soon as I started to walk down the stairs, the torches at the walls soon burst into flames and lit up and the door what I had just entered through shut with a loud slam. I waited at the stairwell and as soon as my eyes got used to the dim lighting, I made my way down.

.....

"Prius, do you think its too early for him to start building up his character this way? I mean, he just woke up from his deep sleep just hours ago. Would he be alright?" Patricia asked with a slight worry on her face.

"Ach... Don't you worry about him, Pat. I wouldn't mention the basement if I don't see him fit enough. Furthermore, he needs experience as well. I did scan him and found out that he had lost his ability totally before as a Warrior and as weak as a newborn baby."

"Letting him go through the basement is a surefire way to get him to earn experience points as well as to find whatever he needs there for his own loot. He could use it or sell it for later. Its all up to him, as I've mentioned that 'Finders Keepers'." Prius explained with a smile and tapped Patricia's hand to give an assurance that everything is alright.

"Oh, I didn't know about him losing the ability as a Warrior. That means he's as good as any new and young adventurer out there who seeks the fame and fortune, right? I just hope he would do alright down there. Why do you call it the basement instead of a dungeon which we used to call them?"

"I changed the term not to scare him off. What would a basement hold nowadays? It would only mean a single level with nothing much except for some spiders and cockroaches. Hope he won't be surprised at how 'small' these rodents could be as he progressed on. Hah hah hah." Prius laughed at his ingenious idea of calling the dungeon as a basement hoping he would not be scaring me to enter it.

"Oh... I hope he would do just fine." Patricia said as she looked at Prius with the same worrisome look. "There would surely be something he could find that could be useful down there to fend himself."

"Don't you worry about it. He has to open up his eyes real big in order to find useful stuff along the way. He used to be a Warrior and hope his instincts would help him out." Prius mentioned as he rose from his seat and walked to the library where he could sit there and not be bothered with the noises that would come from the basement later.

.....

"Oh great, a stick. I hope this could help me ward off those pesky rodents...!" I said to myself aloud as I saw a stick lying down on the ground neat some wooden chest.

*Ding* Congratulation on the discovery of a broken axe handle. Damage +2.

"Hmm, a broken axe handle eh? Surely the axehead would be lying close by. Wooden chest, won't mind me breaking them, would you, Prius?" I said aloud as I gave a few whacks over the wooden chest that sounded empty. Once it broke, a pouch appeared and a remark appeared on my interface. 'Take', 'Take all' and a checkbox with 'Auto Retrieve'.

I pressed the checkbox on 'Auto Retrieve' and the pouch containing some credits began to automatically swoosh towards me and disappear, while the amount in the credits automatically rises.

"Wow, just like what I did with the weapon and armours back during party raids, but this is only set as an individual. Maybe when they're more than 1 person, I could gather just what I need in the future." I thought inwardly... "Hah hah hah... Thanks, Prius, you really made my day." I laughed as I knocked a few more wooden chest and barrels and automatically the spoils began to enter my interface automatically.

I closed the interface and let it not hinder my vision ahead as I was looking for the rodents that Prius and Patricia were mentioning earlier. A few more wooden barrels showed up and I bashed them with the broken axe handle. Some were empty while some contained just a few credits.

"Well, you can't complain as this is free, right?" I thought to myself as I trudged on looking for the rodents. Suddenly a large shadow swept past in front of me, its eyes glowing red as it cowered behind some crates and barrels.

"Squeak... Squeak... Squeak..." I made the squeaking soon with teeth, hoping to lure it out. The shadows from the lantern may have thrown off a shadow large enough for it to be a cat or something, but there's nothing to fear, or so I thought. Just as I was bashing one of the wooden barrels, the rat peeked out and stood in front of me hissing and spitting.

I jumped back in surprise and the first thing that came to my mouth was,

"H. O. L. Y F. U. C. K...!!! This is not a rat as big as a cat... This is a rat as big as motherfucking COW..!!! How it had gotten to be so big??? Are rats this big in this world?!?!" I shouted and asked at no one in particular.

The rat hissed and spat at me, it's red eyes flashing and it's yellow stained teeth gnashed at me menacingly as it advances slowly towards me, sighting me as its next meal. "Oh no, you don't...!!! " I shrieked at it as I swung my Axe handle down towards its head and swung back towards it snout and let it swallow its own broken teeth. The eyes turned bloody red and I knew a cornered rat would turn more vicious.

"T A K E. T H I S..." I jumped up and fortunately, the ceiling was high as I summoned all my strength and brought the Axe handle down forcefully over its head once, twice and thrice before it finally succumbed to it. I swing the stick towards its snout once and twice before I heard an announcement rang in the head.

*Ding* Congratulations on defeating Big Rat. Experience Points +2

"W H A T. T H E. F U C K... Just 2 experience points from this rat? And what... No spoils? What a bummer..." I exclaimed loudly as the rat's body disintegrated. I hope it won't spawn too soon nor at all.

I walked on and I killed another 2 more Large Rat and gained another +4 experience points. As soon as I reached the end of the passage and saw a stairwell heading downwards, I paused a while and bring up the interface.

Name: Audemars

Male, 21 years old, 1.75m tall, 60kg.

Level: 0/100,000

Progress: 17%

Attributes

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 3

Intelligence: 2

Vitality: 3

Toughness: 2

Damage: 2 (+2)

Recovery: 2

Free unallocated points: 0

Class: unknown (has yet to be unlocked)

Profession: unknown (has yet to be unlocked)

Skills: none

Wealth: 64 credits

Weapon: Dagger (+3), Axehandle (+2) (equipped)

Armour: none

"Eh, progress 17%, I need to find another 83% to get to Level 1/100,000. Oh. My. God... Does this levelling up take so long to progress? It means I need to hunt another 41 more of those damn rats... Urrgghh..." I lamented as I switched off the interface and went down the stairwell and landed on the 2nd level of the basement.