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Status Update:
[Mana Manipulation] – Progressing…
[Minor Injuries] – Slight bruising on forearm. No status effect.
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The next morning was quieter than the last. No rain, no wind. Just the smell of wet hay and the low hum of city life stirring beyond the crumbling stable walls.
I sat up slowly, blinking sleep from my eyes. The healing salve the herbalist gave me had dulled the ache in my shoulder. I'd used just a dab—no point wasting it. I'd need the rest for real injuries later.
Today, I wasn't looking for plants. I was going into the sewers.
The City Watch wouldn't let just anyone post bounties, but a few unofficial ones had always existed. Rumors whispered in taverns and back alleys—'bring back five dire rat tails to old Kreg at the tannery,' that sort of thing. No paperwork, no records. Just copper under the table and a nod of thanks.
And more importantly: combat XP.
I pulled my coat tight against the morning chill and made my way toward the southern drainage tunnels—the ones that bled into the sewers like crooked veins.
By mid-morning, I stood before the rusted iron grate.
It was loose. Just like in the game.
I pried it open with a crowbar I'd bought for ten copper from a junk vendor. Not exactly a weapon, but good enough for smashing vermin. It groaned under the pressure and then gave way.
The stink hit me instantly—rot, mold, something vaguely acidic.
I climbed down.
---
The sewers were exactly as I remembered—dark, damp, and crawling with vermin. My footsteps echoed off stone, and the dripping of water never stopped. But I wasn't here to marvel at architecture.
It didn't take long before I spotted the first one.
[Dire Rat – Level 2]
Its red eyes gleamed in the dark. Bigger than a dog, wiry fur, bared yellow fangs.
It hissed and lunged.
I sidestepped on instinct, barely managing to keep balance on the slick stone. My crowbar came down in a wild arc—clumsy but forceful.
Crunch.
The rat squealed and thrashed, but I brought the bar down again—once, twice—until it stopped moving.
Blood spattered across my coat. My breathing was ragged.
[+EXP Gained]
[+Rat Tail Acquired]
I didn't stop.
One by one, I hunted them. Rats alone. Rats in pairs. A nest of three I barely escaped by luring them into a pipe too narrow for all of them to follow.
The fights were never clean. I got bit, scratched. Slipped once and landed hard. But I kept going.
Each encounter taught me something. How they moved. How to bait a lunge and strike during the recoil. How to channel just a sliver of mana into my muscles—[Mana Reinforcement], the most basic form of combat magic.
By the time I climbed out of the tunnel, my coat was soaked in blood and grime. My crowbar was dented and slick.
But I was alive.
And I had five rat tails in my bag.
---
Old Kreg worked the tannery just off Gutter Row—his shop reeked of lye and boiled fat, but his coin was clean.
He looked me up and down, squinting through milky eyes. "You ain't the usual runner."
"Five tails," I said, dropping them on the counter.
He grunted, prodded them with a bone hook, then handed over a small pouch.
[+60 Copper Acquired]
[+Faction Relationship: Slum Network – Neutral → Noted]
[+Skill Experience: Basic Swordsmanship → Progressed Slightly]
"You want more coin, bring me ten next time. Rats breed faster than whores down here."
Noted.
I left with a slight limp and a heavier purse.
---
That night, back in my stable, I inspected my gains.
Between the herbs, the bounty, and some copper I'd scrounged from gutter grates and half-rotted crates, I now had 175 copper.
Almost two silver.
Not enough for a room. Not yet.
But close.
I unwrapped a loaf of yesterday's bread, chewed in silence, and began my mana circulation drills again.
Sweat poured down my back within minutes. My vision blurred halfway through the second cycle. Still, I pressed on.
Mana shivered beneath my skin—resisting, unstable, wild.
But each pulse was smoother than the last.
Each day I survived, I grew.
Each day I acted, the future shifted—subtly, but surely.
I was no longer just an unlucky boy dumped into a fantasy world.
I was Cedric Veyne.
And this world would come to know that name.
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Next : The Progress [2]
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