Marlon was now walking in the catacombs of Delia, and he was slowly getting used to the stench of putrefaction and human waste of all kinds. He took care to walk on the stone path evolving above the stagnant mass of water present everywhere around him.

Luckily, the torches always lit up as he walked, so he didn't have to resort to a rune for light, since he had no blood left to create it, other than his own.

The skulls adorning the walls were always watching him as he moved forward and he had a much harder time getting used to the sensation, the empty eye sockets seeming to follow his every step.

The deeper he went into the catacombs, the more intense the crunching sounds became, like teeth nibbling on something. He hadn't run into any rat-men yet, but his sword was already in the clear and his hand gripped the hilt tightly as his eyes darted back and forth between the dark corners of the hallway he was in.

He regularly looked at the map tab that revealed the corridor he was walking down, wanting to make sure he didn't miss an intersection because of the darkness.

He had already been walking for ten minutes in the city's underground, and although he had a rather slow walking pace, he was steady.

"A little further on, on your right, there is a corridor. Beware."

Loki's warning was timely, as the AI had been silent since they entered the catacombs.

Luna, who was following closely behind him, turned her back and feigned softly as she stared in the direction Loki had just pointed Marlon.

The stress invaded the young man's mind for a few seconds, but it quickly gave way to the excitement of the fight and the adrenaline that began to run through his veins.

His gaze turned cold and he found that icy smile that usually announced a very bloody episode of murderous madness. His victim would unfortunately not be human, he said to himself with a sigh of regret before advancing with determination towards the intersection now visible to the young man.

The screeching became more intense, and Marlon could see spots of what appeared to be dried blood on the floor. The smell of putrefaction became stronger and a new note reached the nostrils of the young Runist. A musky, animal scent, catching in the throat despite the other strong smells in the air.

Marlon motioned for Luna to be quiet and stay behind him, which she did immediately, her hair still bristling but no sound coming out of her snubbed muzzle.

He hadn't owned Luna for long, but he felt she had already grown a lot since day one. She could fit in the palm of his hand when Drevos gave her to him. Now she was almost the length of his forearm, without the tail, and reached knee height.

Her coat, which was originally subdued and mottled black and white, was now showing more and more bright yellow flashes, like a lion's coat, and looked even silkier than it did on the first day.

As for her fangs, he had noticed the day before that a second row was growing behind the one already present, composed only of teeth pointed like needles and looking sharp as razor blades.

He who laughed in the early days when she bit his hand out of affection, might not dare to do so again for fear of losing a finger or two in the process.

He was eager to see how far her growth would take her, eager to see the question marks attached to her status revealed.

He turned his attention back to the hallway that opened up to the right of the intersection and the magical torches lit up, revealing a surprising sight to the young man.

The first thing that caught his attention was the creature facing him.

It was a rat, that he expected, but it was bipedal, standing exactly like a human, standing on long muscular legs that ended in clawed paws. His upper body also looked very human, while retaining the dirty gray coat characteristic of rodents. The muscles were dry, braided, and slightly visible underneath the thickness of rough hair.

As for the head, nothing special, except for its size, which was equivalent to that of a human, with the long snout and sharp incisors visible as well. The humanoid beast's eyes were red, glowing as if a light had been placed behind its eyeballs. It gave off a disturbing impression, a latent madness in its gaze, which made the young man shiver, still with excitement and anticipation.

At the creature's feet was a human corpse in an advanced state of decomposition, the young man not dwelling too much on the bloated and rotten aspect of the body so as not to give back the little food he had in his stomach. It's not that he was sensitive, but somewhere a gregarious instinct made him want to return the contents of his stomach in front of such a spectacle, at least if he concentrated on it.

The head had been torn from the body and the monster held it in both hands, chewing on what flesh remained on the skull. The squeal the young man heard was from the rat's incisors sliding over the bone as it fed.

A puddle on the ground, blood, and other bodily fluids mixed together, still glowed slightly, not completely dry, and a swarm of insects flew around the swollen mass in a roar barely perceptible from where he stood.

All this observation lasted only a short moment, hardly a second, and the rat-man, surprised by the torches that lit up and dazzled him, let out a sharp cry filled with anger and madness.

Instantly, he dropped his sustenance and leaped at Marlon, who had, fortunately, mounted his guard high. In the blink of an eye, he was on top of the young man who swung to the side to let the creature pass while blocking one of the bloody claws that tried to pierce him.

Marlon's movements were precise, confident, and made faster by the wind armor he wore. At that very moment, he realized how much progress he had made, not finding the rat-man's strength or speed insurmountable to that of Jacob or even the other warriors he had faced for weeks.

The bipedal rat lost his balance slightly as his target let him pass, parrying only the blow with his right paw.

Taking advantage of this confusion, Marlon, swung his blade to accompany the movement of his opponent, and when the edge was against what was acting as a wrist for the rat, he put his strength in a vertical movement of the sword.

This movement was not very powerful, but with the speed of the creature, it was enough to slice the leg of his opponent.

Blood spurted out and Marlon let out a small, joyful laugh as a shrill cry came from his enemy, his severed paw convulsing on the ground.

The monster turned around, ignoring the wound that had just been inflicted on him, and threw himself at the swordsman again, bringing his left hand down towards his face.

This time, Marlon did not try to parry the blow, he dodged it by rushing to the side of the creature carried away by its momentum. The rat-man saw his target pass by him but was not fast enough to avoid the sword which fell horizontally in his back, cutting deeply into the flesh and exposing the bone of his spine.

The rat-man collapsed to the ground, paralyzed as his spinal cord was severed, and the Runist thrust his sword into his skull, piercing the cranium and ending his existence as a spray of blood gushed from the wound.

Only nine more creatures to kill, then he could go and return his quest.

"You really seem to enjoy it, don't you?"

Marlon nodded with his smile still frozen, his heart pounding with adrenaline. He had loved this fight, of course, but he had found it a little too easy for his taste.

Of course, he had made enormous progress in the handling of his weapon, and he was even more aware of it after this confrontation. It wasn't enough for him to learn from a master for a few weeks to finish off a creature with a simple gesture. He had to practice, again and again, until the gestures became reflexes, and his weapon became an extension of his body.

The spasms eventually stopped on the rat-man's body, and Luna sniffed it before walking away with a disgusted look on her face, probably because of the smell of musk and concentrated putrefaction that was emitted.

The young man did not linger and continued on the same path, but not without collecting three vials of blood from the creature. He didn't think it was a super-powerful catalyst, but it would still allow him to fight with some extra tools. He lacked the support, not having been able to retrieve any skin from the monster due to the effects of its flaming attack.

A few dozen meters further on, a new intersection came into view and squeals could be heard in one of the corridors served by this intersection.

Moving forward carefully, Marlon focused on the corridor that gradually lit up as his steps led him further. And this time, it was not one, but two monsters that were feeding on what had once been a human being.

This one was less advanced in the state of decomposition, but it still gave off a very strong smell to which the swordsman was getting used to.

The two rat-men were identical to the one he had confronted a few minutes earlier, so he was not more worried than that. The duo interrupted their meal when the torches lit up and looked for the origin of this unexpected change.

They spotted the enemy, but he had not stood still waiting to be attacked.

Making a sprint whose speed was multiplied by the wind armor he wore, he found himself almost nose to nose with the two monsters in less than half a second. Fortunately, he had gotten used to the speed provided by his equipment and his sword was drawn.

His blow to the creature on the left hit its target, slicing diagonally through his opponent from the neck down.

He felt the bones give way under the power of the blow, in which he had all his strength and which had been multiplied tenfold by the momentum provided by his sprint. Cut in two, the first rat-man died without understanding what had happened to him.

He felt the claws of the second rat digging into his leather armor, protecting him from what would have been a serious injury had he not been equipped with it. He turned around, pulling his sword from the belly of his first victim, just in time to parry a second attack from the surviving rat.

The latter seemed to be even more aggressive after the death of his fellow man, his red eyes flashing more intensely at times as if he had become a berserk.

The young man parried the next two attacks, enjoying the fight and the frantic pace of it, a simple mistake could cost him his life.

His arms were shaking from the powerful impacts he had parried, but he wasn't getting tired. He had been through much worse in the last month, and he felt like he was just warming up compared to what he had been through with Jacob.

He parried another attack, then raised his blade on which the two clawed legs of the rat-man had come to be blocked, he gave a violent kick in what must have been the plexus of his opponent.

This did not seem to be very effective, but this attack had the merit of pushing back the creature and of giving Marlon enough margin to attack with a thrust of the point in which he put all his force.

So he skewered it and a howl of rage came from his mouth as the creature squealed piteously as it felt its heart pierced by the cold metal.

Marlon was so immersed in his murderous trance, in the feeling of enjoyment he felt after having killed his two opponents, that he did not notice that there was still a slight spark of life in the rat's eyes.

It put all its remaining vitality into one last attack, wrapping its arms around Marlon and sinking its teeth deep into the young man's shoulder. The leather armor blocked much of the attack, but the razor-sharp incisors got through and Marlon felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as his flesh tore under the pressure.

The spark of life was extinguished in the rat-man's eyes and his arms fell down Marlon's body, standing only because of his fangs planted in the young man's shoulder.

He lifted the corpse brutally, dislodging the teeth planted in its flesh, then threw it on the second monster body almost cut in two.

The swordsman gritted his teeth as the pain in his shoulder grew more violent, the adrenaline slowly draining from his body and allowing the pain to return to the forefront. He read the three notifications and swore as he contemplated the contents of the messages.

Ding

You killed a Ratman. 2/10

Ding

You have been poisoned by the bite of a dark creature. -10 life points per minute. An antidote or healer is needed to remove the poison from your system.

Ding

You killed a Ratman. 3/10

"You need to get to the surface, kid. You have no way to heal yourself and if you die here it will all be for nothing."

"Thanks for the reassurance but I'll be fine, I'll hurry."

No sooner said than done. Marlon was no longer walking, he was running. He no longer paid attention to the surrounding scenery, concentrating only on the intersections to hear the telltale squeaks of his targets' presence.

He was very lucky and did not come across any more rat-men, only isolated individuals who, like the others, were feeding on a various animal or human corpses.

His increased speed allowed him to finish off the next three creatures very quickly, and almost without any reaction from his opponent.

But even running took time. He had now been poisoned for over thirty minutes, and his HP had dropped below the symbolic fifty percent mark. The pain was becoming more intense, and his vision was slightly blurred. Pervasive nausea made him want to empty his stomach at any moment, but he managed to restrain himself.

He focused on his goal, doing his best to ignore the various symptoms that were growing with each passing minute.

He was coming to a new intersection, looking around feverishly, when suddenly he heard a scream. A human scream, he was sure.

Ignoring the sour sweat dripping from his face, he rushed to the left fork in the road, where the sound had come from.

Marlon saw that the torches on this path were already lit, so he could see very quickly what was happening further along the passage.

A man was crouched down, resisting the assault of a rat-man with only a dagger. A sort of green light shield seemed to be holding the creature back as well, but the human really didn't seem to have the upper hand in this confrontation.

Marlon decided to help him, not out of correction or charity, but only because he hated these creatures that had managed to poison him much more than he hated other humans at that moment.

He took a deep breath and started to run, covering the hundred meters that separated him from the two fighters in just a few seconds.

Taking advantage of his momentum, he hit the rat-man with a shoulder strike and felt a few bones break on impact as the creature was thrown several feet away.

His vision blurred again, but he remained focused and lunged at the monster again, swinging his sword violently up and down, splitting the bipedal rodent's skull in two and ending its existence.

He ignored the message on the interface and used his sword to stand, the dizziness growing more and more urgent. Glancing at his status, he saw that his hit points were approaching the fateful thirty percent mark.

He turned and looked at the person he had just saved. The latter had straightened up and was talking to Marlon, but all he could hear was a high-pitched whistling in his ears as the poison now seemed to reach his brain.

He couldn't even move to guard himself as the stranger laid a hand on his shoulder. He could only see blurred outlines and his breathing was getting shorter and shorter when he felt something.

The man took out of a small bag a vial containing a bright red liquid and poured it directly into the young man's mouth. Marlon felt as if warm water was being poured directly into his veins. It was a strange sensation, but it was still pleasant.

He closed his eyes, feeling the wave of warm energy sweep away the poison that had invaded his entire body, enjoying the healing sensation in his heart.

After a few minutes, Marlon's vision returned to normal and he could finally see the person who was saving him more clearly.

The man was rather short, about 1m70, and his thin face made him almost feminine. Long black hair in a ponytail did not help the impression of femininity he gave off. His slightly slanted eyes indicated Asian ancestry if there are any such humans on this continent.

His face showed genuine concern and when he finally felt the last traces of pain disappear, Marlon was finally able to speak and thank the man.

"Thank you, I wouldn't have survived very long with that poison in my veins!"

"Please, if you hadn't come along, I would have probably ended up as rat-man food! My name is Xin!"

"You can call me Revenge..."

They talked for a few minutes and Marlon learned that Xin had a Druid class, but he had been caught by the last rat-man and had not been able to cast offensive spells in time. The strengths of this class were all kinds of buffs and partial animal transformations to increase the power of the strike.

The young man learned a lot about this class because Xin was a real chatterbox. Marlon thought he was a nice guy, but hearing his voice constantly for more than fifteen minutes made his nerves tingle, and he found himself tugging at the pommel of his sword as Xin told him about his walk in the catacombs.

"Xin, listen, I have three rat-men to kill before I complete the quest. I'm thinking of finishing and getting back up as quickly as possible. Is that okay?"

"Yes, of course! The last rat-man you killed validated my quest, I'll go with you until you finish! That way if you get poisoned again, I can help you."

Something in Xin's words titillated Marlon, but he didn't put his hand on it at the time.

He accepted his proposal, seeing only advantages, except for Xin's inexhaustible flow of words.

So they chased two more humanoid creatures, and Marlon looked at his status screen as they approached more and more audible squeals.

Luna had gained 4 levels and was now level 5, but no other incredible revelations. His strength and agility had each taken a point, which was already very good considering he had only been chasing rat-men in the catacombs.

The last rat-man was very easy to hunt, and it was a formality for Marlon who just dodged its first charge before inflicting a powerful sword blow horizontally, decapitating the creature in the process.

Once finished, they both sat down and the young man relaxed with a quick stretch before offering Xin to come up to the surface to collect their payment.

"Ha, yes, let's go! Then we could team up afterward? I think this game is much more fun if we're in a group!"

Marlon's heart skipped a beat as the Druid alluded to the game.

"Haha, that's a good one! This guy is a player!"

Since Loki had not recognized him, he must have been one of the players who were not part of the bet between the supreme beings of the Empire. And the young Runist had seen nothing coming.

He just thought he had stumbled upon another adventurer on a quest identical to his own, which wouldn't have been surprising with the way the Adventurers' Guild works.

A player meant a rune, and Marlon's mind became much more calculating as he followed Xin toward an exit. He knew that the player had saved his life, but the crazy part of his conscience could only think of one thing: killing him.

She whispered sweet words to him like strengthening, purpose, power. He, on the other hand, knew that he was still alive only because of him. Should he really kill this person? Should he continue on his murderous path?

Yes, without a doubt. But on the other hand, maybe a little goodwill goes a long way.

No, he had to be cold, to keep stoking his anger, to keep moving forward in blood and pain to finally dominate them all.

He had to warn him...

No, he had to act. And not wait. Under no circumstances should he give in to pity and complacency. Only death awaited him if he did that.

The inner struggle of the young man continued like this for many minutes, keeping the silence that Xin easily filled by telling all sorts of anecdotes that happened to him.

He didn't turn around, otherwise, he would have realized that something was wrong. He continued to speak with nonchalance and lightness.

"Still, you didn't have much foresight! You're wandering around in catacombs chasing rat-men without any potions or healing spells. I wouldn't have been there, you'd definitely be dead, haha!"

Marlon's thoughts were torn apart, and they finally reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the surface.

KILL IT

NOW

The sword had been drawn from its sheath without his knowledge, and Xin chose that moment to turn around. The only thing he saw was a face twisted in pain, a devilish grin on his lips, and tears streaming down the cheeks of the one he had saved.

Then a cold blade sank into his plexus, cutting off all breathing, and in a few seconds, the life left his eyes in a glow of incomprehension.

"HAHAHA, so...sorry, Xin. Haha, Haha!"

Hysteria had taken hold of Marlon as the man who had saved his life collapsed limply on the floor. A form rose from the blood that flowed from the wound, and in this alternation of laughter and tears that the young man did not control at all, a message appeared on the system interface.

Ding

You have discovered the rune Life