"Stew, I will fucking kill you!" I yelled. I pulled out the hatchet and hammer and ran right to the nearest Rat Man, a level 3 Rat Soldier. Bop in the head with the blunt end of the hatchet. ‡ You have defeated Lvl(3) Rat Soldier +50XP ‡ We got four of them in the first few seconds, leaving eight Rat Men. The three archers turned and scurried for the edge of the room. The Rat King's squeaky laugh as he resumed his measured staff tempo was starting to annoy me, I smashed the skull of a Rat Soldier about to stab Stew in the back. "Meagan! Take out the ones around the edge, fast! Let's get the Rat King guys." As Mike, Stew, and I moved forwards against the ever renewing tide of Rat Soldiers Meagan ran around beating archers senseless. You don't have any senses when you're dead. Trust me, I know. She couldn't get all of them though, not with as much room as there was to cover. An arrow went past my head. I tucked my head down a bit and kept going. It wouldn't get better until we took care of the source. At least our longer reach and the Rat Men's complete lack of strategy meant that as long as they kept splitting themselves amongst us we could just bop them on the head without much trouble. I was almost thinking Stew had been right about getting XP when he got shot in the ribs by an arrow. "Oh fuck! I've been shot in the fucking rib!" "Sorry, working as fast as I can." Meagan's words drifted through the sounds of fighting. The Rat Men changed their tactics as they saw Stew trying to gingerly pull out the arrow. They focused exclusively on him. This was definitely not good for us. "Keep swinging Stew! Mike give him some cover. I'll deal with Little Miss Disney." I called out. I started running, hitting a soldier as he passed within my reach. When I was twenty feet away from the dais I saw The Rat King start chanting. At five feet his staff struck the floor and I ran into something that knocked my feet out from under me. ‡ Lvl(5) Rat Knight ‡ Rolling onto my back I looked up and saw a figure wearing shining plate mail and holding a mace fully half its own height. It was braced to bring the mace down and crush me. Luckily the Rat Knight was only four feet tall so I scrambled out of range of its brutal looking mace. "HAHAHA. Now you will face my Martial equivalent. You will know the terror of the Rat Men!" Even though he was talking a good game the Rat King was looking really run down. Maybe all the summoning had drained its mystical batteries. I stood up and realized I didn't know where my hatchet was. First things first. I firmed my grip on my hammer and studied my opponent. While he lumbered from the weight of his armor when moving he was lightning fast at turning. He also looked comfortable with his weapon, it moved smoothly. Its length also meant I didn't have much reach on it. I guess if I couldn't get an angle on it then I would just have to go straight in. I tried to judge his range and stand right beyond it, daring him to move. He settled in to wait me out, I immediately brought my hammer down. Not having much reach on someone isn't the same as having no reach. His armor wasn't nearly as impressive as it looked. Shiny yes, strong no. My blow crushed in his helmet, blood ran down his face and out the bottom. Not only did I realize his armor wasn't much I now know that sometimes having a little bit of reach on someone wasn't enough. I felt my tibia shatter from his blow. ‡ You have received a serious wound -43 HP ‡ ‡ You are crippled, movement is limited. ‡ I fell over screaming and clutched my leg. I saw the Rat Knight was still alive as he labored to bring his mace up for another blow. I smacked his foot with my hammer. He screeched and dropped his mace. I decided he was still too tall right now, I smashed his other foot as hard as I could. I smashed his elbow when he hit the floor. I couldn't reach his head without dragging myself and my shattered leg closer to him. I screamed every inch of the way. ‡ You have defeated Lvl(5) Rat Knight +150XP ‡ ‡ You unlocked Rat Knight Bestiary entry +5XP ‡ + Rat Knight + One of the myriad minions of the Rat King who seeks dominion through Shadow. + Summoned by the Rat King this creature is among the elites of rat kind. + ‡ War Hammer Proficiency Unlocked ‡ ‡ Congratulations! You gained a level ‡ ‡ +1 Attribute point gained ‡ I left my hammer in the soupy mess of his head when I rolled onto my back. Forcing myself up into a sitting position I looked at my leg. The way my foot lay on it's side while my knee faced straight up looked unnatural. I needed both legs to go kick Little Miss Disney's scrawny ass. I took a deep breath and tried to use {Healing} through the pain. I found myself laying on my back screaming again. ‡ Congratulations! {Heal} is now level 2, +1 Skill Point ‡ Today was a day for learning I guess. It turns out that when all the bone shards and chips try to move back, it hurts just as much as when they moved the first time. Bracing myself I began {Healing} my leg again. It still hurt. When I noticed I could see the shifting inside my leg I closed my eyes. ‡ Congratulations! {Heal} is now level 3, +1 Skill Point ‡ ‡ Congratulations! Due to special actions on your part you receive Res+1 ‡ ‡ Congratulations! You are no longer crippled. ‡ ‡ You have successfully healed yourself for 3HP ‡ My Mana gave out and I opened my eyes. All in one piece, I still felt weak though. Looked like {Heal} fixed broken bones but didn't touch HP until after that. Back to business. I stood up and stepped over the Rat Knight. Stepping onto the dais I reached down to grab my crowbar. Reaching out my hand I felt a smooth something between me and the Rat King. I lifted my crowbar above my head and brought it down with everything I had. Glowing cracks appeared in the air. I brought it down again, I felt something tear inside this time. ‡ Congratulations! Desperation is now level 4, +1 Skill Point ‡ ‡ You injured yourself -4HP ‡ The cracks spread and widened. As I brought up my crowbar Meagan charged in and hit the barrier so hard her closet rod broke in two. Shards fell from the barrier and dissipate into glowing motes on their way to the ground. "No! I am king! I command you!" I reached through the hole grabbing the Rat King by the back of his neck and pulled him out. His barrier began to turn into a cylinder shaped collection of motes and fall apart. "No, no, no. I will do whatever you want. I can summon targets for you. You'll get better much faster!" I brought my crowbar down sharply. ‡ You have defeated Lvl(6) Rat King +200XP ‡ ‡ You unlocked Rat King Bestiary entry +5XP ‡ + Rat King + A force of Shadow this creature expands Shadow's reach thus expanding its own. + The Rat King wields Shadow, creating constructs to serve. + ‡ Quest Completed! Stop the Rat King ‡ ‡ You have foiled the nefarious plans of the Rat King to create a Kingdom to overshadow all others ‡ ‡ Reward: Scourge of Rats Title. Deferred until dungeon is cleared: One Shiny Gold Coin! ‡ ‡ You have wrested two shadow levels from an enemy! ‡ ‡ Will you attempt to absorb them? ‡ ‡ Will you expand Shattered but Whole? ‡ I wiped off my crowbar on the superman cape and turned towards where Mike was helping Stew stand. "I don't suppose anyone knows {Heal}?" I asked. Everybody shook their head. I looked at Meagan. "Thanks for the assist." "Anytime." "Let's head downstairs. I got a notification and I might have a draining death experience soon. Unless anyone wants anything?" I didn't really wait for anyone to say anything. "Stew you got something there." "Yea, it hurt when Mike touched it. I want to wait until I get something for pa- OW. What the FUCK man?" I had yanked the arrow out as I walked past Stew. "Put pressure on that." ‡ Congratulations! Basic First Aid is now level 4, +1 Skill Point ‡ I threw the arrow on the ground and started down the stairs. "Stew, after giving it a lot of thought I think your grinding idea is shit. This isn't a game." Everyone followed me down the stairs. "Right there with you, man." Stew said. DAVID SMITH - SHATTERED BUT WHOLE

ATTRIBUTES Dave Shattered HP(Regen) 81/125 (2.4/15Min) Str 8 Int 11 Per 7 XP Human Level 7 MP(Regen) 2/46 (2.4/Min) Dex 10 Wis 6 Cha 5 589/700 18 Job --- Stam(Regen) 59 (3.04/Sec) Vit 12 Res 6 Lck 3 6 Skill Points Buffs:

SKILLS Skill Level Skill

Level Martial Art

Level Analyze 7 Hurl 1 [Leap] 3 Desperation 4 Equip 1 [Swing] 3 Basic First Aid 4 Basic Cooking 1 [Crush] 2 Jump 3 Linguistics 1 Carry 3 Climb 7 Spell Level Basic CPR 2 {Heal} 5 Running 2 Martial Art Level {Mana Bolt} 1 Presence 2 [Stomp] 7 {Gentle Hands} 1 Leadership 1 [Sneak] 7

Ability

[Sprint] 4 Proficiency Level [Two Handed Blow] 4 Knife 3 [Throw] 4 Improvised Weapons 3 [Inspect] 3 War Hammer 1