It had been many hours since his flight began and Noah hadn't stopped ever since. At this point, everything was starting to blend together in an endless series of fights and tunnels. All the while had been alternating between a jog and a fast walk to keep his stamina at reasonable levels.

Stamina:128/200 (0.2% per sec / 0.4 per sec)

When he met a group of rats, which was surprisingly often at this point, he jumped into battle with far more ferocity than before, trying to end the battle quickly and move on.

HP: 632.3/679.4(5% per min / 33.29 HP per min) Total HP regen 1.53 per sec

His combat style had been forced to evolve and adapt to the new pace and had improved quite a bit. Noah had tried ignoring or just scaring away the monsters when possible, but they always pursued him, forcing him to fight.

For some time now, he had been fighting almost constantly. Since the rats had a hard time landing any significant hits on him at this point, he was being liberal with his skill use and it showed.

Sacrificial strength and Sacrificial dexterity were up to 85% efficiency and his control had improved drastically. When at full health he constantly sacrificed small amounts, between 1 and 2 HP, hovering around 99% and having 1 extra stat point at all times, that usually went to dexterity.

He had also increased his understanding of the stats and how they worked thanks to the constant shifts in their amount. Dexterity made his moves smoother, more accurate and efficient, increasing his reaction speed and reflexes and making him generally faster. It also improved his senses, but, the higher the dexterity the less impact his strikes had, lacking weight behind them.

Strength, on the other hand, was more straightforward, increasing his physical power and making his moves more explosive. At higher amounts, his strikes became increasingly devastating but less efficient and accurate.

All in all, the stats balanced each other out. You needed both strength and dexterity but at different ratios, depending on your goals and needs.

With the breakneck pace and constant battles, the speed of his circulation had steadily increased and at this point, it took only seconds for a full cycle to be completed. Noah noticed that in crucial moments during a fight, the flow towards certain limbs or areas would increase. The capillaries would open up and the circulation would loop around, increasing the amount running through that particular spot.

He realized it was actually his doing on an instinctual level. After he found out, he started controlling it consciously and saw a huge improvement to his performance. He was able to increase the strength of his strikes or improve his reactions and dodges and with the increased circulation speed the effect was instant.

With the faster flow and the total amount of Arcane essence rising, the electrical charges building inside it became stronger and more pronounced. Noah had made another breakthrough in his understanding and now realized that thanks to the electrocution his arcane essence was attuned to the lightning element and exhibited similar properties.

That discovery was crucial in the improvement of Sacrificial nova. Noah was executing a bastardized version of the skill due to his unique situation, and exploding pure arcane essence, instead of altered and enriched health. Relying on the former's unique properties was much more beneficial than trying to change it, which actually weakened it.

So, to improve and strengthen the skill, he tried taking advantage of that lightning attunement. Noah had started spinning and compressing the sacrificed essence before releasing it in an attempt to build up a charge, that would shock those hit by the nova.

One unexpected side effect was that the spinning continued while the nova was expanding, dealing more damage since the enemies were impacted by a larger amount of energy.

The spin had an additional effect - depending on the direction it would crush enemies into the ground or push them back and even launch them in the air. This effect was less pronounced on the sides but it was still enough to rattle the rats.

And yet, the skill was being held back. Noah's arcane essence was bound to his body and in normal circumstances was impossible to get it out. Due to that fact, he had realized most of the energy in the nova was used up for exiting his body and further expanding, making the efficiency terrible.

That all changed with the next battle, his first encounter with a regular level 3. He had been jogging, his stamina sufficiently regenerated to allow it. As Noah neared the end of his tunnel and a T-intersection, he heard the squeaks and screeches of a swarm coming from the left.

By this point, he had gotten used to fighting, his skills had grown significantly and he had been in similar situations many times already. The best strategy so far was to just round the corner and rush the enemy. There was the possibility of them being Avenger Rats but the sounds were getting closer fast, and in the end they would see him either way.

So with the element of surprise on his side, he jumped out the corner and came face to face with a swarm of several dozen, led by four level 3's.

The smallest and most numerous rats were in the front, followed by level 2's and the leader formation in the back. Noah reached the first line and exploded a 50 HP Sacrificial nova.

The emphasis wasn't on the damage but the spin. By this point, he knew what to expect from his improved skill and the level 1's were thrown up and into the other rats' midst.

Moving in on them he released another nova this time a 250 HP one intending to take care of the level 1's and 2's, rattle the other four rats and crush them into the ground.

He had spun and compressed the sacrifice and it was brimming with energy and lightning. As the nova was exploding, a charge that had built up in the essence circulating his body arced and connected with the expanding sphere.

In the next moment, all of the electricity in his bloodstream discharged in a thick arc connected to the nova, causing it to massively expand, laying total waste to the swarm, killing everything except the level 3's that were left in a story state.

You have killed Dark Rat LV.1

.

You have killed Dark Rat LV.1

You have killed Dark Rat Scout LV.2

.

You have killed Dark Rat Warrior LV.2

You have killed Dark Rat Leader LV.2

Noah quickly finished the survivors, noting the new variations, before getting back to Sacrificial nova and trying to understand what happened.

You have killed Dark Rat Tracker LV.3

You have killed Dark Rat Elite Warrior LV.3

You have killed Dark Rat Elite Warrior LV.3

You have killed Dark Rat Commander LV.3

HP: 338.7/682.9(5% per min / 34.14 HP per min) Total HP regen 1.81 per sec

He kept going while trying to figure out what had happened. The nova hadn't been simply overcharged, the change was more fundamental. It was as if the skill was released from the chains holding it back.

Instead of mulling it over, the best course of action was to just replicate the damn thing. And Noah did just that when his health got back to reasonable levels. Even with his curiosity and excitement about the new development he wasn't about to leave himself vulnerable.

Instead of 200 he sacrificed just 50 HP, again arcing an electrical charge to the expanding nova and again getting wildly improved results. This time he wasn't caught off guard and was paying attention.

The lightning connected the arcane essence inside his body with the one in the skill, outside of it. That not only increased the damage potential but eliminated the resistance the nova met for not being inside of him. It even gave him limited control of the expanding sphere allowing him to continuously strengthen the spin even outside.

All in all, the power of the skill had increased 3 times, or from a different perspective, the cost was reduced 3 times.

Moving on from that point become much easier thanks to Sacrificial nova being a lot more useful and powerful. At some point, Noah realized the name had changed to Arcane essence nova and now had the same red colour as his Traits.

He had essentially changed and improved the skill, tailoring it to his special circumstances and making it his own. After realizing that was possible, he tried doing the same for Sacrificial strength and Sacrificial dexterity, but no amount of spinning, compressing, charging and zapping the energy at any step of the process had an effect.

After that first encounter with the level 3 Dark Rats, they started appearing more and more often. At this point, Noah was using Arcane essence nova constantly, since even at 15 to 20 HP, it was still powerful enough to momentarily throw the big rats off balance, not to mention the level 1's. Soon there was at least one level 3 in every group he fought.

At some point, he reached a T-shaped intersection were a group consisting of more than a hundred level 2's and 3's surprised him. Usually the bigger the swarm, the more squeaks, and screeches could be heard. This particular one had been moving in total silence, tricking Noah into thinking it was a much smaller group.

Running wasn't a viable option, since he didn't have the speed or stamina to lose them and at the current rate he would meet another swarm almost immediately. This was actually the first group in a while, where he couldn't just rush in, sow chaos and blitz the rats without giving them a chance to react.

Noah had no choice but to fight a prolonged defensive battle. There seemed to be enough leaders and commanders in the swarm for them to be wary of him. At this point he was practically covered in rat blood and reeked of death.

His clothes had suffered significantly in his non-stop dash. The rats sometimes managing a bite on his shins or just clawing them while getting kicked, resulted in his jeans currently being knee length. His jacket was ripped under the armpits and down the back, the padding gone in most places but still had some use. Most unfortunate was the imminent demise of his boot, the one damaged in the beginning. The other one was holding strong, but he couldn't run around with only one shoe.

Anyway, the fight started with Noah trying to stop the swarm from surrounding him, sweeping them back, trying to slap away the jumpers instead of dodging and using the walls to get over those that managed to go past him. He optimized his circulation for speed, focusing on the legs.

In the beginning, it was mainly the smaller rats that attacked him, the larger ones staying back only occasionally flying at him if they found the moment opportune. The jump skills of the level 3's were much more impactful and harder to stop, what with them being the size of dogs.

The battle was progressing, Noah using Arcane essence nova and the sacrificial stat skills more sparingly, trying to conserve resources. Even doing that his HP was decreasing, his stamina was steadily draining and yet he hadn't killed a single rat.

HP: 511.7/696.1(5% per min / 34.80 HP per min) Total HP regen 2.02 per sec

Stamina:113/200 (0.2% per sec / 0.4 per sec)

He realized his enemies were rotating, never staying close to him for long. He hadn't noticed sooner since there were so many of the monsters and they all looked the same.

From that point onward, Noah changed his fighting style. Instead of slapping or punching the monsters away he tried to strike them down and follow up with more attacks and Arcane essence novas.

His damage started building up and the level 2's were starting to look ragged and hurt. When the first rat finally died, the level 3's took a more active role in the fight. With the stronger monsters joining in, the rodents started putting increasingly more pressure on Noah.

Their fighting style differed quite a lot from their smaller brethren. Much of the differences came from the increased size, weight and strength, but also the fact their claws were large enough to inflict significant damage.

It was good they hadn't started using their jumping skills en masse since it was quite difficult to knock them down.

The fight was starting to settle down again when the large rats rushed him like a living wave. There were probably 40 of them and still more than 50 smaller rats alive.

Noah rolled forward releasing a 100 HP nova with a backward spin, strengthening it and manipulating it to the best of his abilities. The first few lines were lifted up and dumped on the heads of those behind.

Next followed two consecutive 50 HP Arcane essence novas, one with a left and the other with a right spin. A big part of the rats was left rattled, disoriented and tangled as they were thrown around.

Then he was amongst them, stomping and kicking, with a rat in each hand to use both as shields and weapons. He was pushing the circulation of his arcane essence faster and faster now, trying to get the most out of it and making any adjustments take even less time to take full effect.

Noah was constantly moving, never staying in one spot with rats jumping all over the place. A level 3 activated his jump combo right next to him and he acted accordingly but the rat instead of jumping at his throat raked and then bit his leg.

Another one jumped at him normally, not using a skill, then spun around and over Noah's strike midair and whacked him with its white glowing tail. The hit landed oh his side, almost folding him over.

The level 3's had different skills from their smaller brethren and even from each other. They started using skills with increasing frequency, pushing their advantage. Noah had gotten used to the smaller rats' skills and dealing with them. He knew what to expect from them and how to handle it. Now with the new skills, he was thrown off balance and the monsters were taking advantage of that.

At that point, most of the level 2's started enraging and Noah could do nothing about it since the others were covering them. His HP was running low and with the rats managing to land so many hits it was too dangerous to rush in for an arcane essence nova. Noah wasn't even sure if he could since the level 3's became extra aggressive and reckless when he tried pushing the attack.

With his flesh shields starting to fall apart, he discarded them grabbing two new bodies and falling back in a defensive stance, preparing to stall the fight. The rats were just as disheveled as he was but lacked his regeneration and he would take full advantage of that fact.

It turned out the enrage of the level 2's was in his favor. The frenzied monsters lost some of their disciplines and weren't even trying to rotate anymore, rushing and pressuring him hard, but also slowly dying to Noah's strikes. The level 3's were forced into action lest they lose all their smaller brethren and the advantage, which made them sloppy and more vulnerable.

As the fight was progressing and the rats were taking the advantage again, Noah felt his regeneration spike. At this point, he could easily feel his relative health at all times and extremely accurately at that, wasn't checking the numbers and hadn't realized.

HP: 276.8/700(5% per min / 35 HP per min) Total HP regen 3.83 per sec

Stamina:48/200 (0.2% per sec / 0.4 per sec)

His stamina was concerningly low and he couldn't feel it like his HP but with the increased regeneration his health started steadily ticking upward. Half of the rats were still alive but that became the turning point of the fight as he could now support the cost of novas and sacrificial stats.

Before the 700 milestone the rats had managed to land just enough hits to keep his HP down. They were still dying but it was slow and his stamina was running out. Now Noah regenerated enough for a weak nova or a small stat boost every few seconds, which was sufficient to put the rats on the back foot and keep them there. The less living rats remained, the more aggressive Noah became and the fight soon came to an end.

Left in a field of carnage, battered but rapidly healing, he had a choice to make. He had two options- right, where the huge swarm had come from and left, where they were heading. A group this big and strong was probably either coming from or returning to a nest. The monsters looked fresh so coming from, was the more likely scenario. Following that line of thought, there was the possibility of them going to fight a similarly sized opposing group.

Going back towards the avenger rats wasn't an option, the earliest split in the path an hour back, and Noah had some bad memories from the last nest he was at. In the end he took the left tunnel and started walking.

So far during his stay in the layer, most of the monsters had come from the front. There was, of course, the occasional group that appeared behind him, and in his crossroads training sessions, rats were coming from everywhere.

Now however fresh groups of rats were constantly coming up behind him. Thankfully they were on the smaller side and easily dealt with, but his suspicions of walking towards a big battle were getting more and more likely. Nevertheless, this was probably the least dangerous of his three options and Noah was hoping for a split somewhere along the way.

While walking, another problem reared its head - he was starting to feel thirsty. So far he had seen just two sources of fluids on this layer, himself and the rats.

"When in doubt ask the system. Can I drink my own blood? Is it going to kill me?"

Noah was sure that wasn't the case but played it safe nonetheless. The entity or whatever it was didn't deign him with an answer, but he was almost certain he heard a sigh.

"Well I am like almost sure you wouldn't let me die sooooo..."

After a short debate with himself he just went for it and sucked some of his blood from a cut he'd gotten in the last battle. That had no effect whatsoever, the blood just going through his stomach and rejoining the circulation with the rest of the arcane essence. At this point in time, Noah wasn't thirsty enough to go for the rats and dropped the issue.

In the end, his hopes did not come true and he started hearing a rat cacophony behind the next corner. Noah took a peek around the bend to asses the situation and his prospects.

He did not expect to look down a short five-meter tunnel with another turn at its end. The cacophony grew louder as he was walking forward for another peek.

Before his eyes, a large cavern opened up filled with hundreds if not thousands of rats and right in front of him was a patriarch in a tight group of level 3's. Above his head floated a LV.4 confirming his earlier suspicions about the power scale. It was sticking out from the rest, quite literaly, as it was as big as a large dog.

Luckily they weren't paying attention to the back, more pressing matters inside the room demanding their focus. In front of the patriarch's group were rows and rows of level 2's and 3's with the ordinary Dark Rats running between. And on the other side of the room in front of a similar opening in the wall another patriarch with his own swarm.

The atmosphere in the room was tense and the situation was about to erupt at any moment. Both swarms were huge, but Noah had done a number on his side's supply of fighters and it was visibly smaller.

He had been looking at the swarms for probably thirty seconds at this point, only his eye poking around the corner, trying to not alert the rats. The sheer amount of monsters was stunning and he couldn't look away, his guard slowly dropping.

The hood of Noah's jacket was currently the least damaged part of his attire and together with the collar made it hard to pinpoint his neck accurately from the back. He heard a screech from behind and then something sailed by the side of his head.

"Shit!"

The arcane essence circulating in his right ear disappeared, followed by a sharp pain. He managed to catch the flow before it started bleeding, but still ended stumbling out of the corner and into the room cursing.

All eyes focused on him, the patriarch and his level 3 bodyguards turning and a small group of level 1's, led by a single level 2 coming out of the tunnel behind him.

If the tension in the room could be felt before, you could cut it with a knife now. The situation was so ridiculous and at the same time so dangerous, that Noah did the only thing that came to his mind.

"Hey there fellows! Nice day we're having!" he said in a cheerful voice. "I see you have something going on so I'll just take my leave." The system just started laughing in his head.

It was the straw that broke the camels back and all hell broke loose. With all the rats in the room looking at him, the other side, which had the advantage even before that, came down on their unsuspecting opponents like an avalanche.

The patriarch on Noah's side screeched at him and rushed forward with his bodyguards, eliciting a loud curse from him.

"FUUUUUUUCK"

Noah who could think of nothing else to do jumped forward and cast a 400 HP Arcane essence nova pushing the spin to the max and launching the patriarch and most of his guards in the middle of the melee and leaving the other side's leader to deal with them.

"YOUUU" He finished his curse while flipping them off.

He also totally annihilated the cursed group responsible for the whole thing but that didn't even register in his mind.

Noah thought about rushing through the room to the opposite side but found it unlikely for the other patriarch to allow it or let him go, even if he managed to get through. So with that, he turned around and vacated the premise post haste.

Turning the corner of the short tunnel, touching his slowly regrowing ear, what awaited him, was a group of Avenger Rats rushing towards him from the other side.

"OH COME ON! GIVE ME A BREAK! "