Harry awoke to strange popping sounds as if someone was working right beside him, or knocking within his ear.
He blinked, clearly confused and disoriented; he felt fine, which was strange.
He felt rejuvenated, fresh, and full of a little bit more vitality than before. The caved-in section of his chest had been completely repaired and looked as if nothing had happened to it. Harry knew this was the work of the HP function of his authority, but it felt almost absurd, to recover from such lethal injuries within a mere day felt unreal, unnatural.
He called upon it in his mind, blinking when he realized that there was a section he hadn’t explored at all, and instantly sent his mind into it.
Name: Harry [####]
Species: Common Rat
Authority: Predation
Facets:
HP: 1/1 (1HP/D)
STAM: 100/100
AGI: 10
STR: 3
INT: 10
WIS: 10
Biomass: 151
Souls:
Traits:
Iron Stomach (0) (0/50)
Iron teeth (0) (0/50
Adrenal Burst (0) (0/50)
Harry blinked rapidly at the sudden manifestation of the crimson screen before him; it was the last thing he expected to happen.
He was confused, but that confusion rapidly faded as the screen blinked, and a full understanding of what it did flowed into his mind, settling in with his existing knowledge of his authority.
There was no knowledge of the souls section, but he finally understood what biomass did; they were a form of energy used to upgrade his body and traits. The first trait he upgraded was, of course, [Adrenal Burst].
Fifty units of biomass vanished in an instant, and Harry felt the strange power commanded by his authority swell up and seep into his head and brain, then flow through the rest of his body before vanishing.
-Trait upgraded: Adrenal Burst (0)→Adrenal Burst (1)-
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Cost (0): Reduce STAM consumption by 5%
-Surge (0): Gain a 5% chance to gain an additional surge of adrenaline for free.
-Cost (1): Reduce STAM consumption by 10%
Harry blinked at the sudden manifestation of multiple tiny versions of the larger crimson window, each detailing what each upgrade did. The rat read them over carefully and considered his options and future.
[Adrenal Burst] was integral to his survival and fighting style; being able to use it more times would be a great boon to Harry. The surge upgrade didn’t really interest him that much; it was thought-provoking, but wouldn’t really be of much use at the moment.
He selected the last option; it was the best choice for him at the moment; 10% wasn’t a game-changing amount, but it would help.
The windows vanished after that, and the main one manifested, showing him his updated trait and new biomass balance.
The rat looked over to the facet section, where his attributes were. His strength was abysmal; everything else was just fine, though, according to the status screen, 5-10 was average; it was only his strength stat that lagged for whatever reason.
That was about to change now, though. Harry gathered his will and sent all the remaining units of biomass into his strength attribute and braced himself mentally as the last unit vanished.
Reality seemed to crack as a crimson glow manifested around Harry’s body, spinning off into countless bloody ethereal threads that pressed into his body, passing right through it as they firmly anchored themselves in his skin and began to change his body fundamentally.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Popping sounds filled the hole as Harry’s body swelled, shifting from palm-sized to football-sized in an instant. His obsidian-like fur rippled like water as bones and muscles rearranged themselves, shifting into a version of themselves and a higher state of existence as power seeped into them, otherworldly and sinister power draped in blood.
Harry squealed in utter delight as raw physical might flooded his system; he felt utterly unstoppable and invincible as if nothing could withstand his blows now.
Then, the high faded, replaced by a calm, cold, and collected rationality as Harry’s usual thought process reasserted itself.
The rat blinked a few times, then stood on his hind legs, blinking once more when his head touched the dome of the hole.
He’d grown by a lot.
Harry almost couldn’t believe it; he, a malnourished and ill-treated rat, managed to grow to a size that wasn’t normally possible in Lu Town unless you were the son of Ballcrusher or had an extremely powerful and unique trait, or spirituality.
But he didn’t have any of that, only a strange, otherworldly authority that denied any form of understanding or reason.
It was absurd, looked absurd, and even felt absurd; such rapid progress in any form wasn’t unheard of, but it usually came at a steep price, either paid by the person or via mass sacrifices to strange, wicked immortals.
All of this was just hearsay, though. Harry had no real way of confirming if they were true or not. Perhaps one day, when he had the strength to travel the immortal world freely without worry of encountering a terrifyingly powerful enemy or something he couldn’t deal with.
The rat shook his hand and looked around; the hole was starting to feel small to him. It was fine before, but now that he’d grown, it simply couldn’t suit his needs anymore.
Harry wasn’t even sure if he could fit through the hole he crawled in from anymore.
His first thought was to expand with the [Iron Teeth] trait, but dismissed it a second later; that would take too long, and while his teeth were as hard as iron his claws weren’t, they’d sustain damage eventually and while he knew they’d heal it wasn’t worth the effort.
Moving was the best option, the best option of all his thoughts, and numerous benefits existed.
Not only would it cover his tracks better, but it would also remove his scent from the area and offer a change in scenery, which was always good for the mind.
Harry cast one final glance at his straw bed before he made his way to the hole’s entrance, squeezed through, and shook off the filth that clung to him before heading east, in the direction of the town walls.
Why that direction specifically? Harry knew that the edges of Lu Town were sparsely populated; this was especially true for the outer section of the wall, which was a vast area populated only by thick grass, foreign rats wanting to enter, and the occasional snake.
Despite all this, it wasn’t very appealing to those inside the city; the city was like heaven when compared. Food was abundant, lots of potential mating partners roamed the streets, and you had a far higher chance of survival if you joined Ballcrusher.
This made it the perfect place for Harry, who was actively running from Ballcrusher. That wasn’t the only reason, though; the outer lands, as the rats called it, are the home of another prominent solo rat, one called Pink Lump.
Pink Lump was a rat with the terrifying trait of regeneration; the reason why he eventually gained the nickname Pink Lump was because of a duel he had with Ballcrsuher, which left him so badly wounded that his trait simply couldn’t keep up and went awry, causing pink growths to grow from his wounds instead of healing up normally.
They caused him intense pain and nearly left him crippled, which eventually led to his expulsion as he no longer had any use to the Ballcrusher and his gang. He was a close friend of Ballcursuher, which was why he wasn’t instantly killed the moment he became useless.
Harry had no idea how he found himself so far while being crippled but he didn’t mind; an old cripple with a powerful and useful trait was the perfect target.
∞
A black blur danced across the wooden rooftops of Lu Town, its dark, polished obsidian-like fur rippling like water as the wind whipped past it and twilight beams of light shone down from above, illuminating the blur and giving it a rather mysterious and otherworldly, immortal look.
The reason why Harry chose to move on the rooftops instead of the alleys was because of the time; all of the Ballcrusher gang came out in the evening, filling every street and alley, discreetly waiting for opportunities to rise, either by stealing or bringing in other rats who managed to offend their lord Ballcrsuher and still remain alive.
The streets of LuTown gradually became filled with rats, though they weren’t in plain sight; they hid between cracks, under pots and lids, in trash cans, and even in plain sight, in the most unexpected places.
Harry’s thoughts raced as he observed this; it wasn’t unusual, but the timing felt off, nothing like this happened yesterday night, so why now, when he was moving? His guard instantly went up a few level,s and Harry began to sweep his surroundings with his perception.
That was when he spotted something unusual; it was a wooden tile on the roof a few meters ahead of him, slightly propped up with a dark fury shadow underneath. Harry’s heart leaped in his chest as he saw this, pounding wildly as he instantly activated his trait.
-Trait: Adrenal Burst (1) activated-
-30 STAM
+10 AGI (TEMP)
A faint, ethereal crimson glow surrounded him and Harry vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing on the far end of the rooftop next to him a second later. The spot where he was exploded into a shower of wooden tiles and planks a second later as something incredibly heavy landed on it.
It was a massive burly melon-sized rat that stood on its hind legs. Its deep crimson fur was like water, flowing and rippling under some unseen force that wafted off it in alternating waves that seemed to warp the world around it subtly. Within its blood-red eyes was a savage and calculating intellect; it wasn’t just some unthinking beast, spirituality bellowed off it in terrifying waves that pressed down on anything around it.
Harry recognized the rat within an instant, it was Ratcrsuher, one of Ballcrusher’s sons!
Ratcrusher had an even nastier reputation than his father; he had a twisted inclination for crushing his foes into meatballs with his savage strength before eating them, using their flesh as fuel for his unholy strength.
The fact that he’d come for Harry only meant one thing: they wanted him dead, not alive.
-Trait: Adrenal Burst (1) activated-
-30 STAM
+10 AGI (TEMP)
-Effect stacked, +10AGI-
The crimson glow around Harry intensified tenfold, and reality around him vibrated as intense waves of otherworldly power that didn’t belong erupted with terrifying force, blessing him with insane speeds.
The world slowed down for Harry; it was as if everything started moving in slow motion, and his vision grew so sharp that he began doubting if he was in the same reality.
He could see the slow and precise movements of Ratcrsuher as he crouched low and prepared for another leap, how his facial muscles twitched, or how the oppressive pressure wound him retracted and seeped into his bulging mucles that were gathering strength.
Harry saw it all and understood with crisp clarity that left no room for misunderstandings; if he allowed Ratcrsuher to catch him, he’d die.
The rat’s gaze hardened, and his mind moved at lightning speed; the city wall was a single house away from him, which was about 20 meters, roughly. Harry’s mind raced; the furthest he’d ever leaped was five meters, but that was before leveling up the trait and transforming.
He wasn’t sure he’d make it, but what other choice did he have? The next best option was to leap down and find somewhere to hide, which was laughable; the Ballcrusher gang likely had members waiting in every corner, waiting for him to show up.
Harry tapped into his strength, pulling every last scrap and infusing it into his being, even going as far as to call upon his authority once more as he put everything on the line.
Crimson light exploded out of Harry as he leaped forward, heart racing as he soared into the sky.
This leap would determine whether he lived or died today. It was a massive leap, one held together purely by faith in his abilities and authority.
