If Sebastian was asked to pick out a moment in his life where he felt badass, it would be here, right now, darting into furious flames covered in monsters, blood and gore. Were the monsters rats? Yes, but still. It’s the principle.

Withdrawing his Vitality and releasing his control of the nearby mana, the temperature around him rose incredibly, the fur on the rats curling at the heat. They squeaked in their best attempts at roaring, but it simply caused them to swallow down the scalding hot air.

The bladesmen too felt the heat, but his Ice Attributed Vitality made it slightly more bearable for his body as it fought off the heat.

His hair still singed a little, and his skin still burned within the heat, but he powered through. Not allowing himself to be tied down by the Vanguard Rats, he was charging through the fire and the flames, slamming his body into the scorching metal and twisted car frames. His grunts were accompanied by the wailing screeches of the rats, often finding themselves between his body and the heated metal.

Tossing and turning, throwing his body to the ground, against the burning constructs. His jeans that had made it with him this whole time had burned into his skin at some parts, making every movement hurt just that much more. There was no strategy to this fight, he simply fought with his endurance.

If they burned before he did, he won.

His lungs roared out, ignoring the burning air as he charged at the largest vehicle nearby, at full speed. The impact shook his body, his bones feeling as if they were forcibly shifted out of place as he’s knocked back amidst the flames.

The Rats didn’t fall, so he continued. Over, and over, like forging a piece of steel. Sebastian slammed himself against the burning constructs as he refused to back down against the clingy Vanguard.

The vermin fell from his body, screeching in pain. He would catch them as they fell, making sure to snap their necks. If he missed them with his hands and they made it to the floor, he slammed his boot on their skulls.

[You have slain a Lv. 9 Infant Rat Vanguard]...

[You have slain a Lv. 9 Infant Rat Vanguard]...

[You have slain a Lv. 8 Infant Rat Vanguard]...

[You have slain a Lv. 9 Infant Rat Vanguard]...

[You have slain a Lv. 9 Infant Rat Vanguard]...

[You have slain a Lv. 9 Infant Rat Vanguard]...

His body screamed at him to stop. It screamed at him to run away and rest. It screamed at him to stop fighting as his flesh burned and his hair singed. His fingers bled as the layer of skin was scorched, the bandages across his body once stained red with blood now instead stained black and grey with ash and char; the bandages that were left, at least.

The pain was an overwhelming ebb and flow, and it took all of his mental strength to keep his vision from glowing white. The vitality, now circulating again within his body, gave him some small solace as it attempted to cool his body down. Knowing he wouldn’t last long if he stayed in this heat, he dashed outside.

His body was like a perpetual motion machine. His body will keep up so long as he keeps pushing it. If he rests for even a moment, he’ll stop for good. The burns were necessary to shorten the fight, but they’d also keep him out of commission for a while once he stopped moving.

Leaving through the way he came, he picked up his saber again as he sprinted towards the horde-

He understood now why he saw the swarm moving before he charged into the fire.

The cavalry had arrived.

Dallas and his crew had charged out of the doors to eliminate the horde and the Hivemind tried to overwhelm them with numbers. Ken and the big man led the way and they had been slaughtering the Swarmlings, but they were practically pinned down by the sheer amount of numbers.

His bandages seared into his flesh with his jeans, his Saber resting on his shoulder, his eyes exuding a cold chill. Gazing towards the horde, he saw the odd green rat that hardly moved. Subconsciously, his Vitality quickly started circulating and building up as he ran. His body began to release a freezing cold.

He felt furious. At himself for blatantly ignoring the fact that the horde would probably attack the supermarket, and at the horde for proving his worries right.

Lumbering forward, his burned, slashed and battered body tensed and built up energy. His Vitality swelled up at his throat, before it left his body in the shape of an earth shattering roar.

The horde froze up for a moment at the sound as it spread through the air like thunder, his boots stomping rats to pieces as he ignored the stunned looks on the faces of the survivors.

The Hivemind was the first to recover, it’s angry, fearful squeaks quickly ringing out and bringing it’s brethren back to their sanity. Dozens, if not over a hundred rats formed a tide that raged towards Sebastian.

The subconscious use of Vitality as a roar had drained a lot of it, but he still had plenty of energy so long as he kept on moving. This also meant that if this tide made him stop for even a moment, his injuries would overcome him and he’d most likely die here, even if the supermarket won the fight.

Bringing his arms together in front of him, his saber placed across his chest. He released a warcry as his speeding body met the wall of vermin. The onlookers, even as they fought, saw the rats completely cover the bladesman’s figure, before the silence suddenly grew deafening in the air from the lack of Sebastian’s roars.

Only Ken and Mariah did not have a fearful look for the man’s fate as they continued exterminating patches of the swarm.

Their confidence in him was quickly confirmed to be the right choice as a bloody, charred figure slashed its way out of the ball of pests, causing the entire horde to release furious squeaks of rage as they tried to intercept and follow behind him, even ignoring the group of survivors they previously had their eyes on.

The tiny pests leaped at his body from the front and back, trying to dig their dagger-like claws into his body as he charged his way towards the Hivemind, his killing intent almost solidifying in his eyes as he simply slashed the rats from the front in half. The rats on his back were allowed to crawl on, digging through his seared skin and muscle, sending a mix of sharp and dull pains shooting through his nerves as if his whole body was being dissected.

Leaving a trail of gore in his wake, footprints formed by a mix of both his own blood and the blood of his kills.

[You have slain a Lv. 6 Infant Rat Swarmling]...

[You have slain a Lv. 7 Infant Rat Swarmling]...

[You have slain a Lv. 4 Infant Rat Swarmling]...

[You have slain a Lv. 8 Infant Rat Swarmling]...

[You have slain a Lv. 5 Infant Rat Swarmling]...

[You have slain a Lv. 6 Infant Rat Swarmling]...

Sebastian would like to think that his body of scorched, blood covered flesh put the fear of God into the Hivemind; but he didn’t want them to fear God. He wanted them to fear him. Fear the Prime Aspect of Ice and Snow, Sebastian Albrecht. Have them serve as a warning to others.

His saber dulled by the spines and bones of the swarmlings, it instead simply crushed the insides of their bodies with every swing. He got closer and closer to the running Hivemind as it tried to flee the parking lot. So close now, in fact, he could finally identify the green rat again

[T1 Lv. 11 Vermin Hivemind]

[An evolved rat hivemind, this rat now has the ability to enact superficial control over most vermin rather than just it’s species of rat. Any vermin connected to the Hivemind have increased reproductive capabilities.]

The bladesman’s eyes narrowed as he read the name and description, a few things being different. T1, he assumed, meant the tier. He was confused about why the Demon Bird didn’t have the tier identification, but he’d see if he could ask Scorn if he survived his wounds.

Having also noticed the new title and level, his heart skipped a beat a little. The level was much higher than before, the highest he had seen, and was also the only other T1 he had seen. Maybe Lv. 10 brought a qualitative change? Would the same change happen for people, too?

… Couldn’t it have a better name than Tiers?

[Dissatisfaction towards categorization sensed, reallocating system categorization. Will replace Tier Name System provided the Host survives]

Sebastian would have frozen in place at the system’s remark if such an action wouldn’t literally kill him at the moment. Either way, he had learned a little bit more about the power system, and had more reason than ever to risk his life against this If he didn’t, it’s swarm would only grow to include every type of vermin.

The Hivemind seemed rather thin, it’s body strength clearly traded away for mental stats. He was sure that if this Hivemind remained away from human sight to grow, it would one day become a massive issue, but luckily it wasn’t that intelligent. It had thought it’s horde could overcome any obstacle, but it just hadn’t met a strong enough opponent smart enough to ignore the rest of it’s horde.

The environment definitely helped, too. Without the car bombs, the horde would have been far bigger, and the Vanguard wouldn’t have been forced out.

Slamming the edge of his blade down, the Hivemind continued dodging hurriedly as it waited for the swarmlings to back it up. The animal was smart, Sebastian would give it that. So he decided to play against its intelligence.

With a thrust of his saber, he filled the rodent's vision with the blade and caused it to screech to the side again. It was unknown to the Hivemind that he had let the handle of the weapon escape his grasp as he sent it forward, letting it soar through the air. He bent his body quickly, waiting for the rat to start dodging to one side, and-

Sparks flew through the air as the blade hit the ground with a blood curdling screech; the bladesman landing abruptly beside the Vermin. As it looked around in confusion, it finally saw the bottom of Sebastian's boot above it's head.

Then it saw nothing else.

[You have slain a T1 Lv. 11 Vermin Hivemind]

[Defeated Higher Level, Higher Tier]

[Awarded 275xp]

[Congratulations on reaching Lv. 9]

He had finally come to a stop as he felt the creature's body snap and crackle under his weight, it’s innards popping from it’s flesh and orifices like a popped balloon. His Vitality was exhausted, mind fatigued; body torn, ripped, burned, and battered.

It didn’t take long for his legs to buckle, falling backwards onto the parking lot asphalt. The vague warmth from the burning remnants of his car bombs and the accompanying orange light providing a hint of life to the dark night sky.

Sebastian’s breath escaped him as a soft sigh, his muscles relaxing without the energy to keep them tensed and coiled. He slowly closed his eyes, hearing the raging swarm come his way; stampeding footsteps not far off.

He could only hope now.