The bark of that tree is marred by rodent gnaw marks, and the roots are sprinkled with a few black droppings the size of fingernails.
"Their range of activity is quite large," Gauss whispered. "We're still nearly two hundred meters from the church."
"It's the work of the rat swarm," Aaliyah's voice sounded somewhat muffled through the gas mask. "They greedily plunder surrounding resources to sustain themselves and breed their accompanying creatures."
Both were fully armed before setting out.
Besides Aaliyah wearing protective gear, Gauss also cast [Gauss's Defense Guard] on her.
To avoid startling the rats, her wolf companion was positioned at a distance, on standby.
"Indeed, it seems they've occupied this area for a while now," Gauss nodded.
His Perception of 7, fully utilized under the [Insight Skill], even allowed him to judge the size of the rats from their paw prints.
