Along his way to the nest, Ronan encountered rats more frequently than when he'd first entered the sewers. At the very least, the system seemed to have the decency not to send people who'd just finished the tutorial right into the jaws of death.

The rats were gradually increasing in level the further he went, but still none came close to his own. He blew smoke from his finger after frying one with a lightning strike, as though he was a cowboy who'd just won a shootout. That furry fucker had been level 36.

He was hoping the matriarch would at least give him a few levels. Given that these rats weren't sapient and hadn't even used a single magical skill, he didn't hold out hope that the fight would be a challenge. Instead, the gains from defeating a higher level monster were all he wanted. And a good skill, perhaps, though that would have to wait until at least his next iteration.

Eventually he reached a dead end. The tunnel didn't actually end, but it was blocked by a makeshift wall of sticks, rubble, and mud. For rodents, it was an impressive construction. Ronan thought it looked like crap.

A single punch at about a tenth of his full strength blew it apart as though it were made of paper. Three rats threw themselves at him instantly, but he smacked them into paste.

Stepping over the broken wall, he appraised his surroundings. Not much different from what had been before the wall. Except for the stench. Rat droppings lay everywhere, oversized, given the explosive growth the rodents had experienced due to the terraforming.

Fighting his way through the faeces-filled battlefield, Ronan eventually made his way to a large cavern. The sewer water fell through a grate and into the depths of… God, who knows what chaotic labyrinth exists down here after the terraforming? Ronan suddenly thought to himself.

Turning to the main exhibit, he saw a bed of branches, mud, fur, and plenty of rat shit occupying the vast majority of the space. There were a few regular rats snoozing in the corners of the room, but none seemed to dare get close to the colossal rodent laying on the bed.

The matriarch was about nine feet from nose to tail, had claws that were large enough to tear him in two, and her large teeth seemed powerful enough to bite through bone. Ronan would have been terrified too, if he was only a level twenty-or-so, newly arrived from the tutorial.

[Terrorwhisker Matriarch Lv.62]

Despite understanding the position of the others, Ronan found himself disappointed in the monster. It wasn't even an elite, and the fact it was lacking the mini-boss tag meant the matriarch was just a normal, if powerful, monster.

She, too, was sleeping. Ronan figured he would wake her up with a nice jolt. Everyone liked a jumpstart in the mornings.

He'd already discounted the possibility of using the skill stealing mirror on her. Not that he doubted she might have a few useful melee skills, but the targets he had in mind already took him near to the chrono cost limit. More than that, monsters like Vulparis and Veloxis were certain to have far more potent skills than a mere rat.

Decision made, Ronan started to channel lightning strike. The minimum time was two seconds, but the skill made a point of mentioning that damage increased with channel time.

Eleven seconds later, the crackling electricity that coated his hand woke one of the sleeping rats. It screeched. That woke the others, who joined in. The cacophony woke the matriarch. Ronan unleashed the lightning.

You have killed [Terrorwhisker Matriarch Lv.62] and [Terrorwhisker Lv.41-49] x3!

+1 Bronze Credit

+496 Copper Credits

+3 [Mana III] Mastery

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+Rat Whiskers (Common) x3

+Terrorwhisker Tooth (Uncommon)

You have leveled up to Lv.51!

…

You have leveled up to Lv.59!

You have been restored x5!

+27 Vitality

+99 Endurance

+18 Wisdom

+27 Resistance

+63 Strength

+18 Agility

+18 Intelligence

+27 Acuity

+81 Tenacity

+36 Free Stat Points

His absurd stat gain was made clear by the victory, earning him a full nine levels in an instant. An evolved class was a great boon, and he was hoping to figure out how to evolve sorcerer soon, to gain those benefits all the way from level 1.

After assigning his free stat points to dexterity and wisdom, Ronan finished off the rest of the rats. The death of their matriarch had whipped them into a murderous frenzy. Despite the clear strength gap, they seemed uncaring as he cut them into pieces and fried them with further lightning strikes.

Once that was done, he was forced to shove the huge, fried corpse of the matriarch out of the way so that he could reach the ladder behind her nest. Climbing up, he reached the ceiling, where he found a manhole. Placing his shoulder against it, he braced, and then shoved upwards.

He almost flew out of the hole with the iron disc as it was sent flying dozens of metres into the sky. Having just gained over 60 strength, it was easy to forget that ordinary materials could no longer stand up to him.

After hauling himself out of the sewers, he tried to find and replace the manhole cover. It had fallen into a ruined building and he couldn't be bothered to rummage through the rubble. There were more important things to search for.

First and foremost, he wished to check on Keith. Would the man have survived without Ronan in their party? Would he still stay alive after returning to the sector alone?

His first stop was their usual base. Thanks to the map, which he had filled out quite a few iterations back, Ronan could find his way around the sector almost as easily as he'd been able to navigate London before the integration.

Finding the base was a breeze, which was why he was disappointed to find it empty. I'm an idiot, he inwardly cursed, slapping his forehead. Why would he come here without me leading the way?

Next, he searched around their old office, where Keith should have spawned. No sign of the man himself, but there was some blood sprayed across the asphalt. A fight had taken place.

Worried for his friend, Ronan searched the surrounding streets, but found nothing except a few foxes. He tried not to kill them, remembering Veloxis' speech, but when disturbed they attacked without fail.

The day came to an end and Ronan took shelter in a random building for the night. He woke up feeling refreshed, and invigorated to continue his search. Halfway through the day, he spotted a group of five people in the distance.

Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me, he inwardly moaned. Four of them he recognised instantly. Lord Rockmore's goons. The fifth was standing behind one of the others and he couldn't see their face.

As they drew near, the man became visible. Ronan sighed and rubbed his temple. Really Keith? I didn't think you'd stoop that low.

Given Rockmore's personality, there was every chance that Keith had been dragged into this nonsense of his own accord. Giving it some consideration, he supposed there was safety in numbers. Even if Rockmore was a fairly shitty dude, humans surviving was better than them being wiped out by mutated foxes and the like.

Unfortunately the lackey in charge shattered any illusions Ronan held about the group. Repeating the same shrill screech about taxes and territory, he ordered the others to march ahead and confront Ronan.

"Ronan? Is that really you?" Keith exclaimed as the group drew close. Ronan was about to show some mercy when the man spoke again. "How the hell is a useless piece of crap like you still alive?"

Oh, I really want to kill you, now. Am I really that much of a great influence on his personality? How did he survive the tutorial behaving like this with Dana, Terry, and the others? Ronan had many questions, but no time. The first goon jumped at him, club swinging.

Not wanting to be too callous, Ronan settled for knocking the weak group out with the blunt edge of his sword. Leaving the unconscious men in the middle of the street, he made his way to where he'd first encountered Vulparis.

Peeking around the corner of a building when he arrived, he saw the sleeping fox. His vision blurred, and the scene changed. Vulparis was slinking about in the ruins of one of the towers, keeping a close eye on the street while seemingly cultivating.

Leaving the fox to its business, as killing it wouldn't even net him a single level, Ronan headed towards the tower that held Veloxis. It was time to end this iteration. At the very least he wanted to earn a few percentage points in his mutations.

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