A few minutes later, I was back on my feet.

My right foot was good as new. The same could not be said of my newbie shoes. It had endured the heat of the previous sector better than it had being skewered.

Fingering the large hole in my abused shoe, my gaze drifted to the ratmen. Neither had any footwear to speak of. Sighing, I slipped the shoe back on and investigated the corpses.

The two guards carried nothing of use besides their weapons, but I was ill-suited to wielding either. Leaving the spear and club where they lay, I considered the ratmen’s clothing. They were stained, torn, and disgustingly filthy. Hardening myself, I brought one of the rags up to my nose and took a deep whiff.

Urgh.

My stomach heaved rebelliously. The ratmen’s clothing smelled as awful as I’d feared.

But I needed them.

I’d not forgotten how the pair had located me, and if I didn’t want to be found out again, I would have to disguise my scent. Working quickly, I stripped both corpses of their garments and took my sword to the rags, fashioning one into a crude skirt and the other into a misshapen vest.

Then for good measure, I pulled out tufts of fur from one of the ratmen and brushed my arms, legs, and face with it. Straightening, I took another deep breath.

All I could smell was rat.

Good enough, I decided. On the off chance that it would fool any other ratmen that happened along into believing the guards’ deaths the work of the trap and not an intruder, I flung the two corpses and the club into the pit.

Then I inspected the trap itself.

It was simple in concept—a false floor set above a deep hole—but the execution had been brilliant. Not even my sharp senses had spotted anything amiss until too late.

Where there is one trap, there are likely more.

It was this thought that spurred me to retain the spear. It just might come handy after all. There was just one more thing to see to. Turning my attention inwards, I considered the waiting Game messages. There were disappointingly few.

Only two of my skills: chi and mediation had increased during the encounter, and I’d not even gained a single level. Oh well. It was not unexpected given my foes’ low levels. But I was sure whatever else awaited me in this sector, it included plenty more ratmen.

My work done, I doused the torches and ventured deeper into the tunnel.

~~~

Inky darkness suffused the corridor the moment the torches were snuffed. I didn’t let this lull me, though. Activating trap detect and moving no faster than at a crawl, I meticulously probed the ground ahead before taking each step.

My precautions were tedious and perhaps unnecessary, but a few dozen yards later, I was thankful for my care as the glowing dust particles flitting at the edges of my enhanced sight coalesced into a red line, revealing the tripwire stretched across the tunnel.

You have spotted a trap! Your thieving has increased to level 53.

Drawing to a halt, I scrutinized the trap carefully. The tripwire was held taut by two stakes driven into the ground. A second cord ran from the trigger and up the tunnel wall before disappearing into a hole in the ceiling. There were four other holes in the roof, too, spread evenly in a line above the tripwire.

What did they conceal?

Knives? Darts?

Whatever it was, I was sure it couldn’t be anything pleasant. Stepping gingerly over the tripwire, I resumed my journey.

~~~

I encountered six more traps.

Five of them, I spotted early enough to avoid triggering. The sixth foiled my best efforts and only the outstretched spear and my reflexes saved me.

Jumping back from the pressure plate the spear had uncovered, I shook my head ruefully at the axe that swung like a pendulum over it. Too close, I thought. Ducking beneath the axe, I continued onwards.

Since encountering the two ratmen warriors, the tunnel had not diverged from its arrow-straight course. I judged I must have walked at least a half mile down its length, and inevitably I began to wonder if it was ever going to lead me anywhere.

My musings were cut short though, as a little past the sixth trap, the passage began to brighten again. Noise, whose source I couldn’t quite place, was also filtering down the tunnel. I sniffed delicately. There was a familiar stench in the air too.

There are ratmen up ahead, I concluded. Keeping a wary watch on the gradually brightening surroundings, I continued my cautious advance down the passage.

Eventually, I reached a bend in the tunnel.

This one was just as sharp as the one that heralded the start of this particular stretch of passage. Drawing up short, I braced my back against the wall and peered around the corner.

Multiple hostile entities have failed to detect you!

Twelve yards up ahead, the tunnel came to an abrupt end.

A large underground chamber lay beyond. Tall poles with torches affixed on their ends had been staked in the ground, illuminating the cavern’s entirety. However, it was not the brightly burning torches that drew my attention, but the ratmen.

The cavern teemed with the creatures—the source of both the noise and smell. Most of the ratmen held a pickaxe or other sharp implement and were industriously chipping away at the walls and large boulders strewn about the cavern.

They’re mining? I thought in amazement. What are they mining for?

It seemed a wholly strange occupation for a dungeon’s denizens, and I was curious to find out what the ratmen were unearthing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t advance closer just yet.

While the cavern entrance wasn’t barricaded, it was guarded by six ratmen.

Despite my proximity, I went undetected. I glanced down at myself. I guess that means this ridiculous getup is working then, I thought wryly.

Satisfied I was safe for the time being, I began counting the ratmen in the cavern, but had to stop when I reached a hundred. Whatever their actual number, there were too damn many of them. Pursing my lips, I considered my next move.

Retreating was not an option. I had to locate the sector boss and exit portal, and wherever they were, they weren’t behind me. I’d encountered no forks or branches in the tunnel, after all. In fact, the only thing waiting for me to my rear were probably my hunters. No. I had to go forward.

How though?

Fighting my way through the horde of ratmen in the cavern was certainly not an option. And sneaking past seemed equally unlikely. That left only… deception. My gaze slid back to the chamber’s entrance.

The six guards bore an assortment of weapons and looked entirely too alert for my tastes. I didn’t fancy my chances of strolling past them unchallenged. They would have questions. Questions I was in no position to answer.

The guards will have to die, I decided. And in a manner that doesn’t alert the cavern’s inhabitants.

A tall order. Reaching out with my will I analyzed one of the sentries, then for good measure, some of the workers beyond.

The target is a level 118 ratman warrior.

The target is a level 103 ratman miner.

The target is a level 105 ratman miner.

I nodded thoughtfully, my suppositions confirmed. It was the ratmen’s numbers, not their levels that was the true threat. Satisfied I understood what I was facing, I withdrew deeper into the shadows to formulate a plan.

~~~

A little later, I was ready to act.

Peeking around the corner, I checked the position of the guards. They remained where I’d last seen them. Keeping my movements slow and deliberate, I crept out from behind the wall and to the opposite wall.

Six ratmen warriors have failed to detect you!

Crouching down, I measured the distance between me and the guards. Twelve yards separated us. Just a little nearer. Eyes fixed on the ratmen, I shuffled closer.

One foot. Two feet. Three… Six.

Perfect.

Six ratmen warriors have failed to detect you!

I was now close enough to react instantly in case my plan went awry. Time for the next step. Opening my mindsight, I sent tendrils of psi racing towards the clump of guards.

You have cast mass charm. 4 Ratmen warriors have failed a mental resistance check! You have charmed 4 of 5 targets for 10 seconds.

I realized there was no way I could quietly slay all six guards, not while they remained in open view of the miners. So, I planned on doing the next best thing: drawing them away.

“Come,” I ordered, reaching out to my minions across our newly-forged mental link.

The four bespelled ratmen abandoned their post and, in lockstep with each other, marched towards the corner. One of the guards had resisted my spell. But there was no helping it, and anyway, I’d know beforehand that I wouldn’t be able to draw all six away in one go.

There was a chance, of course, that the remaining guards would sound the alarm, but I was banking on the fact that as long as my minions took no hostile action, the pair wouldn’t realize anything was amiss.

“Hey, Gurk!” one of the unaffected guards called. “Where you go?”

Gurk obviously did not answer.

Narrowing my eyes to slits, I watched the two guards still at their post. If they became suspicious, I would have to accept the risk of being spotted and shadow blink forward and kill them.

But the two didn’t raise the alarm.

When no response from Gurk was forthcoming, the pair exchanged uneasy glances and hurried after their fellows. I relaxed. Things were proceeding even better than anticipated.

In obedience to my commands, my four minions had hurried past me and turned down the unlit corridor. They were still running through the tunnel and would keep doing so for as long as the charm spell remained active—which I saw was only another five seconds.

The other two guards, meanwhile, failed to spot me as they hurried past my crouched form. Their gazes fixed on the backs of their disappearing companions, they didn’t spare a glance in my direction.

I waited until they, too, rounded the bend.

Then I acted.

Rushing through the aether, I emerged behind the pair. Neither ratman sensed me at their back and my sneak attack caught them wholly unprepared.

You have killed a ratman with a fatal blow.

You have killed a ratman with a fatal blow.

Wrenching my blades free, I raced down the tunnel. My charm spell had expired and the cries of the freed ratmen carried to me clearly. None of them could see me of course. Without torches, they were completely muddled. Barely able to see each other, they milled about in confusion.

Drawing within striking distance, I struck.

You have teleported 9 nine yards.

You have backstabbed a ratman warrior for 2x damage!

You have killed a ratman.

My blade dripping blood, I whirled away from the corpse and plunged ebonheart into the next closest target.

You have killed a ratman with a fatal blow.

By now, the three remaining guards had realized something was amiss. Not hanging around, they fled. One directly into a side wall, another farther away from the cavern, and last, more by luck than anything else, towards safety.

I chased him down first.

Diving through the aether, I appeared beside the fleeing ratman, keeping pace easily. Some sixth sense must have warned him of the danger. The whites of his eyes showing, the guard swerved away abruptly.

Not fast enough as it happened.

Before he could take more than a step away, my blades flashed, snuffing out the light from his eyes.

You have killed a ratman with a fatal blow.

Drawing to a halt, I turned about. Time to finish this.