Chapter 8: The Rat King's Due
The cellar door groaned open, releasing the same foul cocktail of musk, straw, and decay. This time, however, Leo didn't feel the cold grip of panic. He felt the cool focus of a hunter. The [Whisperer's Cloak]settled around his shoulders, muting his presence, and the[Empathic Catalyst]hummed against his chest, a steady anchor.
He descended the steps, his movements silent. The cellar was darker now, the slivers of moonlight from above insufficient to pierce the deep gloom. But he didn't need just his eyes.
He reached into the [Beast Nexus] and summoned Whiskers and the other, unnamed Dire Rat. They appeared in a shimmer of light, their forms sleek and alert. He had fed them well, and the constant, gentle reinforcement of the [Soul-Link] had made them sharper, more responsive than any wild rodent.
"Scout," he commanded, pushing the intent through their bond.
The two rats scurried ahead, their padded feet making no sound on the stone floor. Leo closed his eyes, relying on the shared sensory input. Through Whiskers' eyes, the cellar resolved into a landscape of greys and heightened shadows. He could smell the scent trails of the new pack—sharp, aggressive, and numerous.
There were more than last time. At least eight, maybe ten.
They were clustered around a smashed crate of dried grains, feasting. And among them, one stood out. It was half-again the size of the others, its fur a mangy, scarred tapestry of old battles. One of its ears was torn, and its incisors were stained a dark, bloody brown. This was the Pack Leader.
[Target Analysis: Dire Rat Pack Leader (Vermin-class Beast - Elite)]
Health: 100%
Stamina: Very High
Affinity: Shadow (Dormant)
Status: Aggressive, Territorial, Cunning.
Taming Chance (Current Method): 2%
Recommended Action: Isolate and subdue. [Calming Aura] will be less effective. Overwhelming force recommended.
Leo's lips curled into a grim smile. Two percent. Those were better odds than the gryphlet had started with.
The plan formed in an instant. He couldn't take the whole pack head-on. He had to split them.
He focused on Whiskers and the other rat, pushing a complex series of images and intentions through the [Soul-Link]. Distraction. Lure. Separate.
The two tamed rats broke from the shadows, chittering loudly. They didn't attack. They darted towards the grain, snatched a mouthful each, and then fled, leading a group of four enraged rats on a chase into a side tunnel of stacked sacks.
The Pack Leader screeched, a sound of pure fury, but it didn't follow. It was too smart. It stayed with the remaining four rats, its beady red eyes scanning the darkness, searching for the source of the intrusion.
It was now five against one. Better odds.
Leo stepped out of the shadows, no longer hiding. He let his [Calming Aura] wash over the remaining pack, but as the system predicted, it barely dented the Leader's aggression. The smaller rats hesitated, confused by the conflicting signals of their leader's rage and the aura of peace, but the Pack Leader just bared its teeth and charged.
Leo stood his ground. He had no pitchfork this time. His weapons were his will and his bond.
As the massive rat lunged, Leo didn't dodge. He met its charge with a focused blast of empathic pressure, a raw projection of [Dominance] and [Will] he'd been honing in the Nexus. It wasn't an attack of force, but of spirit.
I am the greater predator here.
The Pack Leader faltered mid-leap, its animal mind reeling from the psychic shock. It wasn't pain, but a profound, instinctual confusion. This soft, two-legged thing held the presence of an apex creature.
It landed clumsily, scrambling back a few feet, hissing. The other rats milled around, unsure.
This was his chance. Leo pushed the [Soul-Link], not with the gentle empathy he used on the gryphlet, but with the sharp, piercing intent of a conqueror. He drove it into the Pack Leader's mind.
He was met with a wall of feral instinct—images of tearing flesh, of claiming mates, of crushing rivals. It was a mind of pure, unadulterated survival. There was no pain to share, only a bottomless hunger for power.
Submit, Leo commanded, pouring his will into the link.
The Pack Leader resisted violently, thrashing its head as if bitten by flies. It tried to break the connection, to retreat into the simple clarity of fight or flight. But Leo held on, the [Empathic Catalyst] glowing warm, stabilizing the turbulent link.
He saw his opening. Beneath the aggression, there was a deep-seated fear—the fear of being overthrown, of becoming weak. Leo amplified that fear, reflecting it back at the creature. You are strong, but I am stronger. Serve me, and you will be more than a king of filth. You will become shadow itself.
It was a promise. The same promise held in the evolution materials waiting in his Nexus.
The Pack Leader's resistance broke. It wasn't a gentle yielding, but a sudden, total collapse of its will, like a dam shattering. The psychic backlash made Leo stagger, but the connection snapped into place, thick and dark and potent. It felt different from the bonds with Whiskers or the gryphlet. This was a bond of subjugation, not mutual understanding.
[Taming Successful!]
New Bond Forged: Dire Rat Pack Leader (Unnamed).
Tamed Beast has been assigned to [Beast Inventory].
The remaining four rats, their leader suddenly gone and its intimidating presence replaced by the tamer's dominating aura, froze. A few turned to flee.
"Not so fast," Leo muttered.
He turned his [Soul-Link] on them, one by one. With their pack structure broken and their spirit crushed, they offered little resistance. It was swift, efficient work. In less than a minute, all four were bound to him, their simple minds added to his growing network.
A moment later, Whiskers and the other rat returned, having successfully lost their pursuers in the maze of sacks. The cellar was his.
[Quest Complete: The Scavenger's Bounty.]
Reward: 300 System Points, [Minor Evolution Catalyst] x1.
[Bonus Objective Complete: Tame the Pack Leader.]
Reward: 150 Bonus SP, unlocks [Pack Mentality] trait for rodent-class beasts.
[New Trait: Pack Mentality]
Rodent-class beasts under your command gain a minor increase to coordination and attack power when fighting together.
Leo let out a long, slow breath, the tension draining from his shoulders. He had done it. He now commanded a swarm of seven Dire Rats, including a powerful Elite. And he was rich.
[System Points: 515]
He was over halfway to the 500 SP needed for the evolution. He had the materials. He had the catalyst. All he needed was a quiet moment.
He collected the required [Rat King's Fang]—a long, cruelly curved incisor he pried from the Pack Leader's jaw in the Nexus—completing the quest's harvest objective.
As he climbed out of the cellar, the first hints of dawn tinting the sky, he felt a new kind of power thrumming within him. It wasn't just the points or the new beasts. It was the confidence that he could face a threat and bend it to his will.
He slipped back into the dormitory undetected, the perfect Unassuming dreg. But as he lay on his cot, he entered the [Beast Nexus]. The seven rats waited, a small army of shadows and potential. The Pack Leader stood at their head, its scarred form radiating a subdued, lethal energy.
Leo looked at Whiskers, his first tame. He took the [Shadow Affinity Crystal], the [Nightshade Berries], and the new [Minor Evolution Catalyst]—a small, multifaceted gem—from the inventory shelf.
"It's time," he said.
He focused on Whiskers, selected the evolution path, and willed the process to begin. The system prompted him to consume the 500 SP. He confirmed.
The materials dissolved into streams of dark, shimmering energy that coiled around the Dire Rat. The [Minor Evolution Catalyst] flashed, stabilizing the violent process. Whiskers squealed, not in pain, but in transformation. Its body contorted, growing leaner, longer. Its brown fur darkened to the color of soot, and its eyes shifted from red to a luminous, predatory yellow. Its claws elongated, becoming razor-sharp shards of darkness.
When the light faded, Whiskers was gone. In its place stood a creature of nightmare and shadow. It was nearly two feet long, sleek and silent, with an aura of cold menace.
[Evolution Successful!][Evolution Successful!]
Dire Rat (Whiskers) has evolved into: Shadow-Stalker Rat!]Dire Rat (Whiskers) has evolved into: Shadow-Stalker Rat!]
[Beast: Shadow-Stalker Rat]
Name: Whiskers
Rank: D- (Shadow-class)
Potential: C (Medium)
Skills: [Gnaw], [Shadow Blend] (Passive Stealth in darkness), [Pouncing Strike]
Traits: [Low-Light Vision], [Disease Resistant], [Pack Mentality]
Leo watched as his first evolved beast melted into the shadows of the Nexus, becoming little more than a ripple in the mist. A fierce pride swelled in his chest.
He had a spy, a scout, an assassin. He had a nascent bond with a legendary gryphon. And he had a swarm of rats waiting for their own turn.
The Unassuming dreg was building an empire in the shadows, one bond at a time. And soon, the Aviary would learn that the quietest whispers could herald the most devastating storms.
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