HE parted the heavens and came down, death swarmed around HIM, the Heavens shook, because HE was angry. With a snort, the foundations of the Earth were laid bare, it trembled because it knew HE had arrived to punish it for its folly and falsehood.

  –Excerpt from [REDACTED], by [REDACTED]

  Trait upgraded: Sharp claws (1) → Sharp claws (2)

  Please select an upgrade option:

  -Rending (1): The power to rend now flows through your claws.

  -Serrated claws (2): Adjust your claws and adapt the ability to grow serrated versions at the cost of some [STAM].

  -Rending (2): Your claws love to rend, it would seem.

  Harry played with his whiskers as he gazed at the upgrade options. None were particularly impressive, but that was fine; the rat didn’t expect much from this trait anyway, at least not until the nature of his [Iron Teeth] trait reached it.

  Presently, Harry did not need different versions of his claws; he just wanted them to cut, and cut very well at that, not much else, hence why he picked rending two.

  The menu vanished, and the rat’s claw glowed crimson for a split second before returning to normal. Harry attempted to test them, frowning when he only managed to leave superficial marks on his armored skin, even when he pressed down with a bit of strength.

  Satisfied, Harry shifted his gaze to his trait list, specifically the [Sixth Sense] trait. This trait was an interesting one; it reminded Harry of his innate intuition, but seemed….more. The trait felt like it could do more than just give him weak warnings or signals of impending doom.

  The rat thought back to that strange rat who seemed to be able to peer into the future and how unnaturally flexible he was, despite the emaciated and malnourished build he sported.

  With a thought, it was upgraded.

  Trait upgraded: Sixth Sense (0)→Sixth Sense (1)

  Please select an upgrade option:

  -Third eye (3): Awaken the eyes of the soul, and see what was previously unseen, but be careful, when you gaze upon them, they might look back, too.

  -Sharp intuition (2): Further attune with thyself, unlocking a sharper version of the mysterious sense called intuition.

  -Sharp intuition (3): Further attune with thyself, unlocking a sharper version of the mysterious sense called intuition.

  [Third eye] was tempting simply for the fact that Harry felt like it would unlock an entirely new world, similar to how [Spiritual sense] had. It wouldn’t be a nice or safe one, though. But Harry squashed the thought, he was already in enough danger as it is; he didn’t need any more.

  Perhaps one day, when he was strong enough to peer into another layer of the world and survive to tell the tale.

  With that in mind, the rat crossed off [Third eye] and picked [Sharp intuition (3)] as it was the only logical choice remaining.

  Harry was surprised when he didn’t feel or see the characteristic burst of crimson power normally associated with upgrades. Instead, he felt a sharp stab of pain in the back of his head, followed by a soothing sensation, then everything returned to normal.

  At least until his right eye started twitching and a sudden feeling of dread welled up within his stomach anytime he thought about setting off to Ratkin Forest. At first, Harry was confused and attempted to ignore it, right until the dread turned cold and the rat felt like he’d been dipped in a bath of ice.

  The feeling persisted until he shifted his thoughts from entering through his regular route and instead thought about finding a new path, only then did he didn’t feel like he was freezing.

  His right eye was still twitching, though not as intensely as before.

  Harry knew that this meant that the path he shifted to was bad, but not as bad as his previous one.

  The implications were numerous; did that mean the Ratkins had somehow figured out where he came in and out of? That wasn’t too surprising, Harry just didn’t expect them to lie in wait there for him.

  That was what his attuned intuition was trying to tell him, if he read it right. Thinking back to how he felt them at the edge of Kin Forest with the [Kin Link] trait, it made sense that they’d find the sloped hill eventually.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Intrigued, the rat instantly summoned thoughts of going back to Lu Town to see how things were, only to be consumed by the sensation of roaring fire and death, nearly knocking him out. Harry gasped for breath as he steadied himself, each intake sharp and deep.

  The reaction was too much; he never expected fire, either, nor the accurate and chilling sensation of death that lingered at the back of his mind even now.

  The experience wiped out any thought of returning for the time being; whatever he’d stirred up there was waiting for him, and the rat felt like it would be waiting for a very long time.

  That was bad news, but there was little Harry could do about it; this only motivated him to become stronger.

  It also made him regret going there prematurely; if he hadn’t been drunk on the tiny amount of power he’d managed to gain, none of this would’ve happened.

  At the time, he’d been certain of victory, but now the rat laughed at the sheer amount of hubris it took to believe that.

  The foundations of the Ballcruhser Gang ran deeper than he originally thought. It made sense, now that he was thinking about it objectively, the gang had been around for longer than he had been alive, and managed to survive and thrive through an incredible amount of calamities under the leadership of Ballcrusher.

  That also made Harry wonder if his escape was natural at all; if they had such a powerful leader and solid foundation, there should’ve been no logical way for him to escape, yet he somehow did.

  The fact that he managed to escape from the Ballcruser himself also didn’t add up.

  The more Harry thought about it, the more suspicious everything seemed; something wasn’t right, but the rat couldn’t pinpoint what, which made it even worse.

  The previously clear future now looked like a graveyard of uncertainties and complex schemes, all entwined around him. Harry didn’t like that, but there was little he could do to change that.

  The change Harry wanted required strength to enforce, and this was especially true in a world as brutal as this one.

  Only by growing stronger could Harry pry himself free of the forces at play in this world.

  The rat sighed and pushed the heavy thoughts to the back of his mind, shifting his focus back to his growing status screen and dwindling units of biomass.

  There wasn’t much he could do with only 650 units of biomass, but the rat was determined to make it work.

  Fifty units vanished with a thought as he poured them into [Enhanced Eyes], smiling as the upgrade menu unfolded.

  Trait upgraded: Enhanced Eyes (0) → Enhanced Eyes (1)

  Please select an upgrade option:

  -Keen eyes (3): Accurately pinpoint potential weak spots on a foe.

  -Hawk eyes (3): Increase range of vision by 30%

  -Nictitating membrane (2): Grow a translucent film over your eyes that can be drawn across the eye to protect and moisten it.

  Harry ignored the [Nictitating membrane] upgrade; he wasn’t looking for a utility upgrade right now. He could see its usefulness, but that wouldn’t be helpful combat-wise outside of extremely niche situations.

  The only two useful upgrades were [Keen eyes] and [Hawk eyes]; one would help him spot foes from a greater distance and easily avoid traps, ambushes, and grant him the ability to sneak up on enemies. If he could see them first from a great distance, he could plan out accordingly and adjust his position, and the target would be completely unaware of his presence.

  It would be extremely useful and could boost Harry’s survivability by a huge margin; with this, he didn’t have to worry too much about sneak attacks or traps, he’d see them from a mile away before they even got to him.

  The rat wanted it, but he also wanted [Keen eyes]. This upgrade would shine in combat, allowing Harry to rapidly dispatch foes with minimal moves and effort, conserving stamina and abilities.

  He wouldn’t need to attack blindly and with brute force; with [Keen eyes], Harry could become a beast with surgical precision, striking only to kill or cripple. His battles would last only seconds instead of minutes.

  Harry was sure that this upgrade would boost his range of sight, too. Just not as much as [Hawk eyes] would’ve, which disappointed the rat slightly.

  That was alright, though; Harry didn’t mind that. In the end, he went with [Keen eyes]. His reason for this was simple; he already had a good chance of surviving most of his battles, what he lacked now was a real way to do a lot of damage at once.

  He was fast, tough, and could heal. The only way to truly kill him was to do so twice, and if he met a foe so dangerous, he could fall back with his last stance upgrade if things truly came to the worst.

  Harry felt his eyes burning for a split second before the feeling was washed away by a cool, numbing sensation.

  He blinked experimentally and tried to feel the difference, but couldn’t; the world looked a lot better, but that was a result of his [PER] stat going up, not the [Keen eyes] upgrade.

  Harry thought it made sense; the upgrade said foes, and he wasn’t facing anyone presently, so it would’ve been odd if it had triggered.

  With that out of the way, Harry’s eyes moved over to the [Super strength] trait and dumped 500 of the 600 units of biomass into it, wincing as he thought about how poor he was becoming with each upgrade.

  Trait upgraded: Super strength (2)→Super strength (3)

  Please select an upgrade option:

  -Roid Trooper (3): Gain access to a new resource called [Roid] which builds up naturally or with the consumption of meat. You can temporarily sacrifice a percentage of your roid and stamina pool to enter an enhanced state which grants you +50 [STR] for 60 seconds.

  -Core strength (2): Further adapt your muscles slightly to better make use of the [STR] stat.

  -Gains (3): Gotta get those gains somehow, right? +30% muscle and [STR] gain when exercising.

  Harry looked at the upgrade options and laughed. Was there even a need to think about which one to pick? [Core strength] couldn’t compare to [Roid Trooper], and neither could [Gains].

  The upgrade was perfect; it was scalable, provided a massive boost to both his offensive and survival capabilities, and didn’t have a huge and costly cooldown or restriction, which would make it impractical or cumbersome.

  The rat selected it and felt something shift as a new sensation, for lack of a better term, manifest within him. He also felt a little bit stronger as his strength soared by ten points, bringing it to 50 in total.

  The rat summoned his status sheet and gazed at it happily; he wouldn’t be opening it for a good while as it was time to hunt, replenish his biomass stash, and test his new and upgraded traits.

  Name: Harry [####]

  Species: Common Rat

  Authority: Predation

  Facets:

  HP: 2/2 (1HP/D)

  STAM: 1000/1000

  VENOM: 100%

  Roid: 10/10

  AGI: 20

  STR: 50

  INT: 20

  WIS: 21

  DEF: 50

  PER: 20

  Biomass: 100

  Souls: 1

  Traits:

  Iron Exoskeleton (5) (3000)

  Wall (2) (4000)

  Telepathy (0) (2000)

  Spiritual sense (0)(1000)

  Adrenal Burst (4) (2000)

  Super strength (3) (1000)

  Regeneration (2) (600)

  Sixth sense (1) (100)

  Iron skeleton (1) (100)

  Venom Glands (2) (400)

  Enhanced Eyes (1) (300)

  Iron teeth (1) (100)

  Iron Stomach (1) (100)

  Iron lungs (1) (200)

  Thermal vision (1)(100)

  Dual Heart (1) (100)

  Fast clotting (1) (100)

  Sharp claws (2) (300)

  Forced Hibernation (1) (100)

  Fat storage (1) (100)

  Photosynthesis (1)(100)

  Kin link (-)

  Enlightenment (-)