"I killed them, brother!"

Anna shouted with a bright smile on her face.

She was standing in the middle of Angry Rats’ corpses, her blade dripping with blood.

"...I can see that."

Fang Raon said with a wry smile.

He then walked ahead, and after a moment of walking, they arrived at an empty chamber. It had some pipes running along the walls and some water dripping from the ceiling.

It was a little damp on the floor.

"Do you think the fire can spread here?"

Fang Raon asked and touched the floor that was slightly damp.

"Mage’s fire is powerful. It cannot be extinguished by mere water."

Anna said.

"...Good. Then, we shall go ahead with the plan. Are you really sure that you want to do this? You’ll be put in a lot of danger."

Fang Raon asked.

"I will do it."

Anna said with a smile.

She didn’t want to disappoint her brother, so no matter what, she was going to do this even if it was dangerous.

"Are you sure that you don’t accidentally attract the King Angry Rat? That would be really bothersome."

Fang Raon asked.

"That creature never leaves its underground lair. It is completely fine."

Anna said.

"Okay. I will go hide now. Be careful, Anna."

Fang Raon said and touched her on the shoulder before he left, walking down the same path where they came from initially.

With a smile, Anna walked to the end of the chamber until she reached the pipes, and she then turned around to face the entrance.

She took a deep breath.

And then she raised her sword and the shield, and she started hitting the shield with the sword.

"TANK’S TAUNT!"

...

In the depths of the sewer, the Angry Rats heard the loud clanging and woke up startled at first.

But that wasn’t all.

Tank’s Taunt wasn’t just loud clanging. Everyone heard different things when the Tank’s Taunt was used.

Some Angry Rats thought that someone over there was insulting their mother. Some heard insults directed straight at them.

Tank’s Taunt also had the magical effect of making them angrier than they would be normally even after all those insults.

Squeak~ squeak~!

Angry Rats all woke up one by one in their sleeping nests, and they screeched angrily like they had never before.

They were called Angry Rats for a reason. They were easy to get angry. So Tank’s Taunt was very effective.

Hundreds of Angry Rats all started heading towards the source of the noise—hundreds of big rats with large bellies and disgusting faces charged forward with their teeth bared and eyes filled with rage.

In that moment.

They arrived at the chamber, where the noise came from, and they only saw some foolish-looking human.

’Kill! Human!’

’Kill! Human!’

Hundreds of Angry Rats swarmed inside the chamber, and they brought with them an unbearable stench.

"Disgusting..."

Anna spat out under her breath.

If any normal player saw this many Angry Rats charging at them, they would be scared shitless and would be crying for their mommies.

Imagine getting mauled to death by a hundred Angry Rats.

Frightening!

’This should be everyone. Now there won’t be any Angry Rats near the King Angry Rat, so it is left completely defenseless.’

Anna thought.

However, she now had a problem.

She was trapped in the chamber with the Angry Rats, as there were so many of them that they were clogging the only exit.

’Time to leave!’

She raised her shield and sword again and started smacking them together loudly.

"TANK’S TAUNT!"

It worked even better this time around since she was so close to the Angry Rats, and they all lost their reasoning.

With angry squeaks, they all started rushing towards her, wanting to rip her from limb from limb.

They neared. The exit wasn’t blocked anymore.

"INTIMIDATION!"

Anna’s intimidation wave swept across the Angry Rats, and they froze in their places like a group of statues.

In that moment.

Anna started running, and before she reached the Angry Rats, she suddenly somersaulted over the hundreds of the Angry Rats.

She landed right at the exit and ran straight out.

At that moment, the Angry Rats shrugged off the intimidation and turned around to see that she was standing over at the exit.

They screeched angrily.

And then, they started charging her again.

"BROTHER, NOW!"

Anna shouted.

At that moment, Fang Raon ran back over to help, and then he summoned his grimoire, the pages flipping open.

"Earth Wall!"

A wall of earth rose from the ground and blocked the exit.

On the other side, Angry Rats smashed their heads into the wall and started clawing in anger, but they couldn’t break through!

"We did it!"

Anna said excitedly.

"The plan is not done yet."

Fang Raon said, and he then opened his second page in the magic grimoire and whispered, "Fireball," with a mystical voice.

"HAA!"

Anna punched at the Earth Wall using Maxima, and she was able to create a fist-sized hole, where they were able to see hordes of red-eyed Angry Rats.

"Fireball!"

Fang Raon aimed his hand at the hole and shot the Fireball straight through the hole, smashing into the red-eyed Angry Rats, setting them ablaze.

"SQUEAAAAAAAK~ SCREEEEEEECH~!"

The fire started spreading across the chamber, and the smoke started rising high into the ceiling, but it had nowhere to go.

Fang Raon quickly plugged the fist-sized hole in the Earth Wall.

"Is it working?"

Anna asked.

She could hear the Angry Rats screaming in terror and pain, yes, but it still didn’t mean that they were dying.

[You have killed an Angry Rat!]

[You have killed an Angry Rat!]

[You have killed an Angry Rat!]

[...]

"Yes, it is definitely working."

Fang Raon said with a smile.

He also saw his percentage going up at very rapid speed after each Angry Rat kill, and since there were hundreds of them, if they all died, he might just level up!

"That plan was brilliant. Now there are no Angry Rats left. There is only the King Angry Rat, but we’ve saved a lot of mana and stamina for that fight.

"I think we can take it down!"

Anna said with a bright smile.

She remembered that the last time she tried this raid with the party of ten people, the Angry Rats were a big problem.

They protected the King Angry Rat, so they couldn’t take it down, and because they had to fight like two hundred Angry Rats, their low-level selves simply couldn’t keep up with the mana and stamina required to clear the quest.

"When will they respawn?"

Fang Raon asked.

He asked that question because these Angry Rats weren’t going to stay dead forever, as they, of course, would respawn again.

"In six hours. We have plenty of time~"

Anna said.

[You have killed an Angry Rat!]

[You have killed an Angry Rat!]

[You have killed an Angry Rat!]

The screeching and screaming was getting quieter. It seemed like most of the Angry Rats were already done, with only a few remaining.

[Next Level: 99%]

[...]

[100%]

[LEVEL UP!]

"I leveled up."

Fang Raon said in a surprise.

But after killing like a hundred Angry Rats, it wasn’t surprising at all that he was able to level up.

"That’s amazing! That will help greatly with the King Angry Rat!"

Anna said in excitement.

She hadn’t leveled up yet, but she wasn’t far away either, and she believed that she would level up tomorrow.

***

[Choose your class!]

[=LEVEL 2=]

[Rat-Slaying Mage - Innate Skills: Pest Sense/Exterminator’s Instinct/Filth Tolerance]

[Candlelighter - Innate Skills: Heat Affinity/Heat Gaze/Warmth Draw]

[Earthman - Innate Skills: Earthen Grip/Stone Skin/Grounded Flow]

***

’Hmm...’

Fang Raon rubbed his chin, and he then turned to look at his little sister, who was waiting on the side.

"I’ll quickly choose my class and innate skill, and then we’ll go, alright?"

"No need to hurry!"

Anna said.

It was an important decision for him to make, so she didn’t want him to hurry because of her, as she had no hurry to go anywhere.

The longer this quest lasted, the longer she could spend time with him, so it was a win-win situation for her.

’Rat-Slaying Mage... Hah, what an interesting class name. Let’s check out those Innate Skills...’

He tapped on their description, and a long sheet of words appeared in front of him on the interface windows.

***

[Pest Sense: You can faintly detect small creatures nearby (rats, insects, etc.) through walls or in darkness]

[Exterminator’s Instinct: Slight bonus accuracy and damage against small or swarm-type enemies]

[Filth Tolerance: Reduced negative effects from poison, disease, or foul environments]

***

’Pest Sense would be pretty useful here, but on any other floor, I would never really need them. I rarely come across rats or any insect-type monsters.

’Exterminator’s Instinct is alright, but it would also be kind of useless for me right now and in the future.

’Filth Tolerance... I wouldn’t mind getting rid of this disgusting stench, and it’s especially useful against that King Angry Rat, but I still don’t find a lot of use for it.’

He then moved to the next one—Candelighter—and opened the description of their innate skills.

***

[Heat Affinity: Minor resistance to fire and heat-based damage]

[Heat Gaze: Able to shoot a beam of heat for a short distance with your eyes]

[Warmth Draw: Recover a very small amount of mana when near active flames or sources of heat]

***