The World Cataclysm

[You have reached level 9.]

[You have earned 2 free points.]

'Cool! Now, I'm only a level short from my goal. It's surprising that the mutated rat levelled me up straight to the next level. Actually, it's crazy, considering that I gained a new level just yesterday.' Dave thought inwardly as he mentally praised his luck. Although Dave had killed the mutated rat quite fast, it would have been a troublesome opponent if not for several advantages he had over it.

Albeit being unable to use Flash Step freely in the narrow corridor, it has also benefited him greatly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to land a hit on him, not to say about catching up to its speed. Combining its explosive burst speed and mighty jaw's power, the mutated rat might have caused him many troubles.

The next advantage he had over the rat was the fact that Dave unlocked Muscle Expansion. Without it, he couldn't have enough strength to stun the rat. Though only for a minute, if it's played right, Muscle Expansion could save you from the most gruesome situations. Furthermore, even if additional 10 points wasn't much of a help at higher levels, it was a huge boost for beginners.

'But where did it come from? Despite having mutated, the mutated rat was still a rat and still had the basic instincts of a rat. They were prone to flock into large groups, forming a tide and devastating their surroundings. I could have clearly heard about the rat tide in the past. But there wasn't even a word about it.' Dave thought inwardly as he scanned the rat's corpse.

It had thin black fur, crimson eyes like they were dyed in blood and a sharp pair of teeth protruding from its mouth. Next to its corpse, a white Treasure Chest lied shined with a dim white light. Having no clues about its origins, Dave shifted his attention to a Treasure Chest as he decided to open it right away.

[Do you want to open the Treasure Chest (White)?]

'Yes.' Dave confirmed.

[You have obtained Stamina Potion.]

'Cool! With this, my stamina can finally catch up to my agility.' Dave thought as he checked its information window.

[Stamina Potion

Description: Permanently increases stamina by 2 points]

Having finished reading it, Dave immediately chugged down the vial as he received a system notification that his stamina had risen by two points. Next, he opened his backpack and pulled out of it a loaf of bread, eating it to restore his stamina. After using a Muscle Expansion to defeat the rat, Dave felt slightly tired from it since such skills as Muscle Expansion and Flash Step uses up a great deal of stamina. Anyway, he had plenty of it in his backpack and needed to restore his energy in case he met another rat.

'Status'

[David Murckly

Level: 9

Survival coins: 1547

Class: None

Mana: 34/64

Strength: 21 (+1)

Agility: 19 (+1)

Stamina: 19

Intelligence: 11

Spirit: 7 (+1)

Free points: 4

Innate ability: Regression

Skills: Elementary Cooking (LVL 2), Gaming (LVL 8), Mathematics (LVL 7), Leadership (LVL 2), Meditation (LVL 3), Flash Step (LVL 1), Mana Application (LVL 4), Mana Threads (LVL 4), Mana Barrier (LVL 2), Mana Enhancement (LVL 2), Reinforced Breathing (LVL 2), Swordsmanship (LVL 5), Battle Focus (LVL 4), Mana Sensing (LVL 2), Muscle Expansion (LVL 1)]

'Hmm...I have 4 undistributed points after two level-ups. I guess I would save it for later in case I meet a strong monster or obtain a class for myself. Interesting, what class did I end up with? I hope it'll be at least a hidden class.' Dave sighed lightly as he checked his status window.

...

Collecting the Survival Coins that dropped from the mutated rat, Dave decided to check the tunnels for the presence of any digging done by the rat. If it had appeared in these tunnels, it should have somehow entered them. Hopefully, it was just a single case with no signs of rat tide...

Fortunately or not, Dave hadn't found anything noteworthy on his way. Even if he had raised his guard by several levels and stayed vigilant all the way to Region C, Dave didn't meet any rats on his path and smoothly reached Luther's place.

...

"So, if I'm not mistaken, you said to your friend that you have something to say to me? What have you said? Something along with teaching me some peace of mind? I'm gonna save you from all the troubles and come right in front of you. And here I am."

When Dave entered a large circular room again, he first saw how Luther was beating out shit from one student, sitting on top of it. "Just say it directly to me instead of discussing it behind my back and turning people on me. Oh...Maybe you're dissatisfied with something. Then, don't be shy and spit it out."

Next to him, Oscar was cursing a student under his brother, while Brook was standing solemnly as he stared at it. Noticing Dave coming out of the door, Oscar stopped cursing as he started waving his hand to him, while Brook only nodded at him.

"Oh...you sure have taken your time," Luther said as his eyes fell on Dave. Then, he turned to Oscar and said, "Oscar, lock this guy up somewhere. Let's see what he would say after starving for two or three days."

Smiling slightly, Dave found that Luther was doing fine...Well, except for a floor with bloodstains on it. "I see you're managing fine with the gang even without any help. What has this poor guy done to you?"

Wiping the blood from his hands with a rug, Luther said slightly angry, "Hey, it's just totally unfair! Where have you been all the time? While you were gone, some guys already tried to revolt in the middle of the night. That guy from before was the main instigator of the revolt, so it serves him right. Better treat them harshly now, then regret it later."

His smile only broadened further when he heard it. It seemed that he made the right choice assigning Luther the role of a gang leader. Dave patted Luther on his right shoulder as he said, "But it wasn't so bad, right? Look at it from the bright side, now you've got a reputation to uphold among the group, so no guy would go against you again. So, any casualties?"

Grumbling a bit, Luther said in dissatisfaction, "Reputation my ass! Damn, you can't just brush it off like that...If it wasn't for a passing student who has heard about their plan and informed us right away, we would have been in deep shit. " But after spitting his complaints, Luther said more calmly, "No casualties so far, thanks to that student who reported on them."

"Whoa! It seems you've been truly stressed, but now you may heave a sigh, right? Except for some stubborn guys in the group, were there any problems?" Dave said, trying to console Luther a bit.

Sighing, Luther said in exhaustion, "Well, except for instigation of revolt and the student that bawled all night, there was nothing noteworthy."

"See, it wasn't so hard. But, just curious, how have you dealt with the bawling student?" Dave asked in interest. He was truly curious how Luther consoled people who lost someone close to them. Personally, Dave wasn't great at saying beautiful words when it comes to giving consolations.

At his words, Luther smiled oddly as recalling a funny joke, "Oh...Honestly, it wasn't me who dealt with a crying student. I tried everything to stop him from crying, yet nothing seemed to work. Oscar was the one to stop him."

"And what did he do? I suppose he didn't curse the student until he gave in, right?" Dave asked, raising his eyebrow.

Chuckling, Luther tried not to laugh as he said, "My dear little brother beat that crying student up. I didn't ask him about it in detail, but it seems Oscar said something meaningful to the student while thrashing him. Well, he stopped crying after that. Oh...and he's the one who reported about the revolt to me."

Finding it amusing, Dave said, "Quite a brutal way even for Oscar. That student should have irked Oscar a lot."

"Nah...Oscar just hates crying people. But look at them now, though Oscar had beaten that student, he quickly became friends with him." Luther said as he pointed at Oscar and the gentle male student next to him. They were dragging a beaten instigator of revolt to somewhere. Dave recalled that he was that student who cried over the corpse of that woman when he first came here.

Observing them a bit, Dave turned to Luther again and said, "Just wait a bit down here. I'll lead you out of the tunnels when we'll settle for a more safe dormitory building. It may take up a day or two, so you can sort things with the people down here. We'll meet later, then."

Parting with Luther and others, Dave headed to one of the pathways. As he reached the end of that pathway, Dave regretted entering it as he thought, "So that's why these pathways are coloured red rather than normal blue."