74: Prana Rat Exterminator (Patreon)

Reposting this as it seems the prior one had some access issues.

“You have acquitted yourself admirably, Apramor,” the Kin’jal proctor said. Your tactics befit your weapon choice and martial style, and you adapt to your enemy during combat. “A crucial trait shared by all powerful warriors.”

Vir gulped. But? There’s always a but…

“It is clear that you have training in some very exotic arts. But it is your Talents that shine the most. Leap and High Jump are common amongst Talent wielders, but I have yet to see anyone master Shadow Blend and Shadow Movement to such an extent. Indeed, I must wonder whether this is some new undiscovered Talent?”

The proctor threw a pointed gaze at Vir, but then cleared his throat and continued. “No matter. With this, I hereby declare the exam concluded.”

“What about my Rank?” Vir asked.

“That’s not how it works, Initiate,” the helmed soldier replied. “Balarian proctors bestow ranks, yes, but to keep the system as standardized and as impartial as possible, your rank must be reviewed by the Balarian Council in Kin’jal. Only after they approve of the proctor’s assessment will your ranking be finalized.”

“There have been cases in the past where a proctor has failed to appreciate some aspects of a warrior’s performance, or overemphasized the value of a particular trait. The Balarian Council helps protect against such issues.”

“So, I’m not going to know my rank for a while, then?” Vir said. He’d been so excited to find out how powerful he was. “You can’t tell me now?”

“To gain my title as Balarian Proctor, I have gone through much training and rigor. Our system does not suffer those who betray it. However, considering your performance, I am willing to share your provisional rank now.”

“T-thanks,” Vir replied. It sounded like the proctor was putting his reputation at risk by divulging this information.

“I rank you at…”

Vir gulped. Would he break the Balar Thirty Riyan had mentioned? Or… Vera save me. What if it’s less than thirty!?

“Balar Sixty. You possess the might of sixty Kin’jal Balarian Infantry.”

The helmed warrior whistled.

Vir’s eyes shot open. Sixty!? That was practically double what Riyan had said. Then again, Riyan never knew of the full extent of Dance of the Shadow Demon. Vir wondered whether it might actually be greater than sixty, since the proctor had no knowledge of Prana Vision.

“Yesss!” he roared, pumping his arms. Take that, Maiya!

— —

Vir strode out of the arena with Neel, his official iron Initiate badge in hand, with a spring in his step. There really was nothing quite like external validation of his combat prowess; Balar 60 was likely far higher than even the knights who’d attacked Brij.

If he ever came across them again, he wouldn’t have to run or hide any longer. He could stand his ground. Neither knights, nor pirates, nor slavers would threaten him as they had in the past.

With excitement and haste, Vir returned to the Executor to accept his first mission.

— —

“You want me to kill sewer rats…” Vir said blankly, staring at the veiled Executor woman. Not the woman from his first visit—someone else. Like all the other Executors, she treated him as if she knew him already.

“Prana rats. They have been spilling out of the sewers and terrorizing local neighborhoods. While they are of no threat to someone of your capabilities, prana rats maim civilians regularly. You will be doing a public good,” said the Executor with a sigh. “look, this is your first contract, Initiate. What did you expect?”

“I… I dunno? Something a bit more dangerous?”

“Your Balar Rank is precisely why we have given you this contract. Most Initiates begin by running errands for civilians or acting as couriers. Now, do you accept, or do you decline?”

“I accept. How many do you need killed?”

“A thousand should suffice.”

“A thousand!?”

And so, for the next several days, Vir’s life entailed rising at dusk to enter the sewers at night, descending into the wet tunnels that made him want to puke, slaughtering prana rats by the dozens. He returned to the surface only when he couldn’t bear the stench any longer.

It was a small blessing that the Executor would judge his efforts based on the number of prana rat sightings aboveground, and not the number of corpses he brought back. He didn’t know if he could handle the stench of dozens of rotting rat corpses polluting his rucksack.

His reward for enduring such torture? A single paltry silver.

It wasn’t long ago that Vir would’ve salivated over an Imperium silver, but as his combat power had increased, so too had his standards. He blamed Riyan; the man’s abode had spoiled Vir rotten.

As the Executor had said, killing prana rats wasn’t difficult. Though they were about twice the size of a normal rat, they possessed no additional weapons apart from their larger claws and fangs, which Vir handled with ease.

Prana Vision revealed the shadow prana coursing through their necks as their primary vulnerability, and once he’d gotten the hang of it, he didn’t even need to rely on his Talents to take them out—a single slash of his katar usually did the trick.

He didn’t even need to chase them down. The foolish rodents were only too eager to attack him. Vir had soon tired of the novelty after dispatching a few dozen of them individually. The task was less like combat and more a chore, so he sought to up the ante wherever he could.

He fought left-handed. He entered narrow tunnels where his mobility was restricted, and he allowed them to surround him—all to create enough of a challenge for him to improve his skills.

While they may only have been rats, a thousand enemies were a thousand enemies, and Vir wasn’t going to waste this golden training opportunity.

The only one who really lost out on all of this was Neel. Vir refused to bring his precious friend down here, lest the bandy develop some incurable affliction from the insanitary detritus. To his four-legged friend’s chagrin, Neel had spent the last few days cooped up in his room.

Initially, some situations he got himself into devolved into chaos, forcing him to rely on the Dance to extricate himself. He wasn’t afraid of succumbing to the rats’ attacks—that was unlikely, even when surrounded.

The real danger lay in the afflictions they carried within their maws. One bite could mean death, unless Vir sought a Brotherhood Life Affinity mejai. And, after his first bite, he’d learned that their services were not cheap, nearly bankrupting him.

Ever since then, he’d been far more cautious, only engaging when he knew he could win. It slowed his progress somewhat, but the alternative was far worse.

At least, that was how he’d operated until now. Yesterday, he’d located their primary nest. The source of the infestation. While the contract hadn’t specified any extra reward for eliminating the entire prana rat colony, Vir was sure it’d put him in the Brotherhood’s good books, accelerating his goals.

It was his only hope at this point, as Amin had been oddly missing, and Vir had no way of contacting the boy.

With Prana Vision flaring, Vir turned the corner into a half-height tunnel that led into the prana rat lair.

Vir had already scouted all the entrances he could find, choosing this one since it was the least guarded. It was also the longest, forcing him through many twists and turns to reach the core of the compound.

Coming across his first prana rat guardian, he activated a micro Leap, dispatching the beast before it even knew what hit it.

He dispatched every rat along the way, barely even breaking stride to end their lives.

Would Reaper Ekanai be proud if he saw Vir reaping their lives? Or would his predecessor scowl and say he was wasting time? Either way, the voices in his head remained silent.

When Vir came across a tunnel leading to another entrance, he took it. It would lead him back away from the nest, but this was part of his plan. If he killed all the rats in the entrances, they couldn’t ambush and outflank him.

His tactic worked—right until he encountered a group of six. Vir lay into them, slicing their necks apart like a wraith, but he wasn’t fast enough. Two prana rats shrieked, bolting down the entrance to their brethren.

Vir killed them before they made it even ten paces, but their cry had alerted the colony.

A cacophony of shrieks and squeaks signaled the impending horde. Vir sprinted through the tunnel directly at them.

After getting as close to the enemy as he could, Vir activated Dance of the Shadow Demon, sinking into the ground. The rats, suddenly missing their target, panicked.

This was Vir’s ace up his sleeve. Instead of exiting the shadow realm, Vir remained within it. Here, in this pitch-black tunnel, the entire space was his domain.

His katar extended from underneath a rat, killing it before retracting into the shadow. He did it again, and again. Dozens of times, before his time was up.

All of this was possible thanks to the discoveries he’d made about his ability over the past few months. Ten seconds was the maximum time Vir could remain within the shadow realm—if he kept his entire body inside. The more of his body that protruded outside, the longer he could stay in.

On the other hand, the less of his body that occupied the shadow realm, the faster time flowed. In this way, Vir could control both the flow of time and how much of himself he hid within the shadows.

Crucially, he could extend different parts of his body through different shadows at will. He didn’t have an inkling how it all worked, but so long as a shadow was within range, Vir could poke his legs out of one and his arms out of another.

He did exactly this. With his legs protruding out of the original tunnel he’d entered through—a safe and empty tunnel—he attacked the beasts, allowing him to keep the ability active for a full thirty seconds.

When it ended, he reappeared in the first empty tunnel, and recharged the ability. Some seconds later, he reactivated Dance, repeating the process.

By the time he’d sucked the ambient prana dry, not a single prana rat remained. Only corpses.

But Vir didn’t let down his guard. When he’d taken this contract, the first thing he’d done was to consult the bestiary in Daha’s library, which told him that prana rat colonies always coalesced around a rat king. These beasts were both bigger and more vicious than their lesser brethren, capable of uniting colonies under their banner.

These kings were no joke. Some even had Balar Ranks up to ten. If Vir had encountered the king before eliminating the bulk of its colony, he’d have been forced to flee.

He proceeded with an abundance of caution, peering as far as he could with Prana Vision.

One moment, there was nothing, and the next, a great rat twice Neel’s size came hurtling at him with the speed of an Acira. Vir dove to the side on instinct, narrowly a vicious chomp aimed at his neck.

The rat’s jaws snapped with so much force, the sound echoed through the tunnel.

Vir immediately let loose a chakri, slicing into the beast’s flesh.

It might be fast, but its hide is pretty weak, Vir thought as he dodged another claw.

There was only one way to win this, and that was with Dance. He’d already exhausted the Ash prana in this area, but there was just enough for one more invocation. He’d have to make it count.

Vir threw a chakri, forcing the rat king back, buying time to charge Dance.

The prana rat king eyed him for a moment, then, seeing Vir standing still with no intent to attack, it lunged.

Not enough time! Vir thought.

The tunnel was too narrow to dodge, and Leap would take a full second to charge.

The rat’s maw opened, its saliva oozing from its gums. The beast craved Vir’s flesh, and at this rate, it would have its wish.

No choice!

He triggered Dance prematurely, sinking into the shadow realm.

He barely made it. The rat’s maw snapped shut, taking a tuft of Vir’s hair with it.

This time, Vir had no chance to choose his destination. Dance spit him out immediately…

And he fell. He fell from a great height.

Disoriented, Vir struggled to gain his bearings, but then instinct and his endless hours of training kicked in. Prana Vision flared. The ground rushed closer, but Vir was ready.

Activating Light Step, he set a knee down softly down onto the stone.

Vir stood up and looked around the great cavern he found himself in.

Where in all the realms am I?