The farm was ok looking, or, at least, that was the joined opinion of the three. It had a farm house, with a barn and a big garden up front will all kinds of vegetables. But the vegetables were all chewed up. And the missing chunks were big. Bigger than what a normal rat could do.

"We could do a ritual. To force the rats back into the forest," Morris suggested. If they killed each rat, it would take them more than the day they had left.

"Sure. I will need a barrier stone, though," Leander said, and he looked around for any mana rich rocks. He felt a slight pulse from a pile of rocks by the barn, and went to inspect it.

The topmost rock was rich in mana. And so were the others.

"Illegal mana stone mining?" Leander asked the other two. If the farm was a sanctioned mining spot, it would have been written that it was so in the quest detail.

"Could be. Could not be. Not our job to judge," Morris said, and the three took as many stones as they could carry back to the garden.  Arraying them into a circle, they each went to a spot and began pouring mana into the circle.

There was a slight hum, and the stones buried themselves in the soil.  The barrier became visible, and then it pulsed and extended to envelop the barn and the farm house.

What followed was not what the three adventurers expected. A rat, as big as the house, came out from behind it.

"Well, what now?" Leander was backing away as the rat's red eyes zeroed onto him. The rat twirled its tail, patted the ground, and charged.

Leander, who had trained for this for an entire month, put up a barrier around himself just as Morris and Dorian ran to the side. The rat slammed into the barrier, and it became a spider web of cracks.

Morris was the first to charge. He smashed his axe down on the rat's paw, taking away a couple of toes. Blood gushed from around the wound and the rat gave out a roar. Like a whip, his tail turned around and hit Morris on his chest, sending him flying pass the barrier and into the vegetable patch.

"Morris!" Yelled both Leander and Dorian. Morris raised a hand.

"I am ok. That tail needs to go. Dorian, keep its eyes on you for a while," commanded Morris as he got up. Dorian slammed his saber to his shield and the rat turned to him.

It opened its mouth and green miasma came out. Dorian swayed on his feet, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

Seeing this, Leander used one of his spell slots to force slime to close up the rat's maul. But, the miasma was already in the air. Still, Dorian made a couple of play lunges at the rat, keeping it focused on himself.

Then, the rat suddenly gave out something like a gurgle and Morris came from behind him with the tail in his hand. He waved it triumphantly, and received a paw slash aimed to his chest.

Rolling away at the last second, Morris threw the tail at the rat.

"What? Berserker got your tail?" Morris teased, and the rat's eyes narrowed. Dorian, seeing his chance, leaped and hit the rat a little above where the knee was supposed to be. He heard the satisfying crunch of bones, and he felt a spell pick him up and lower him gently to the ground.

"Thanks for the save, Leander," Dorian called, and he made a couple of steps back so that he could not be hit with a paw.

"I only have two slots left, so be careful," yelled Leander, and he continued to repair his barrier. It looked sturdier now, but there were still cracks in it.

The rat looked at him, and wiggled its bum like a cat. Then, the rat was in the air.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Morris was running towards the barrier as fast as he could. The same as Dorian. Meanwhile, Leander was expanding it as fast as he could. But the rat landed on the ground with a deafening crash, and they were all sent flying. The barrier braking from the shockwave. 

Morris felt his ribs crack as he landed. He looked at the other two. Leander was holding his leg and whimpering, while Dorian was up on his feet, but swaying dangerously.

The rat shook its head and stood up. It did the but wiggle again and jumped. But, this time, Leander used a levitation spell to keep it in the air.

"Get in the farm house and on the ground," yelled the healer, and the two warriors limped to the farmhouse. When the door closed behind them, Leander looked in the hateful eyes of the rat.

"How tough is your skull, vermin?" He asked and then positioned the rat, so his head was pointing to the ground. Then, he used the last spell slot to stick himself to the ground and began using the rat's head as a battering ram.

By the time the rat stopped twitching, there was a crater, and only its jaw remained of its head. The shockwaves had broken quite a bit of Leander's bones. His leg was broken in at least four places. His arm in five. And he felt broken bones that he hadn't even known he had.

But the rat was dead. He heard the door of the farm house open, and he was grateful because he knew that he couldn't stand up. His weight too much for his broken leg.

"That was," Morris began, looking at the gore that was once a rat's head.

"Reckless, stupid, desperate?" Suggested Leander, head bowed.

"Awesome," finished Dorian, and Morris nodded. "I didn't even know that a levitation spell could be used like this!"

"Good thinking, Leander," Morris looked at the way Leander's leg was folded by his side and bitt his bottom lip. "I'll call the guild to send a wagon."

But, just as the two were about to move Leander to the farm house, they heard squeaky roars. They turned as one and saw cat sized rats get out of the stomach of the house-sized rat. As if the rat had been a kangaroo with a bag all this time.

"Morris, get him in the farm house," Dorian yelled, and he raised his shield. Morris, who was much stronger than Dorian, swung Leander over his shoulder as gently as he could and took off running. Hearing the final cries of rats from behind him.