Jun winced as he approached a large manhole-cover, already the smell hit him hard. There were so many eyes on him he considered finding a way to cover his face.
His stomach grumbled deeply, reminding him to hurry up.
From the rat seller, he learned these enormous rats could be found easily enough in different parts of the sewers. Apparently, these rats in great numbers were able to drag people off, so she warned him to be extra careful of them. At his request, she loaned him an old kitchen knife which he now clutched in his left hand.
Jun stood a few feet away from the manhole cover, he braced himself to use his ability, as well as the inevitable odor he would be hit with.
He focused on the cover, gripping it with his mind and pulling up. The cover slowly rose quietly into the air. Jun smiled as he set it aside away from the opening. He flexed his fingers as he looked around him, catching a few eyes dart into shadows as he did. He shook his head, descending into darkness.
This is a bad idea.
He knew he didn't have much of a choice. The fact was, without cash, ATM card or his phone, Jun had no access to money. He was stranded on this side of town. Robbing anyone of what was theirs never crossed his mind, so Jun resolved to work for what he needed.
And that rat smelled so good.
His feet touched down on a mushy and soft area. Each step he took squelched, reminding him of the filth he was surrounded by.
Those girls must live in a different part of the sewers.
He was in a dark underground tunnel connecting to a vast network of tunnels that funneled the city's waste… somewhere. Jun had no idea where he was going, or where the tunnels ended. The rat seller had warned him not to get lost in the winding tunnels and Jun felt like he was about to. He had been walking for several minutes, occasionally hearing scurrying movement, but he couldn't lock in on anything.
This is taking forever.
He grumbled to himself as his hunger kept making him more intolerant. He wanted a way to accelerate his hunt.
Oh yeah.
He took out Shu'er's phone. Its flashlight illuminated a cluster of cockroaches that tried to disperse in the light. Jun caught a few and began to crush them in mid-air, smearing their juices along the walls as he went. Eventually, Jun caught a larger roach, holding it upside down to wriggle in some liquid filth.
Thank the heavens my ability is telekinesis.
He heard scurrying. A lot of it.
Am I holding bait, or am I the bait?' He briefly wondered. Jun retreated as the sounds got closer. He remembered the large rat corpse the seller sold. It was the size of a small dog and if there were many of them.
Jun gulped.
"This might have been stupid."
The sounds of scurrying grew much larger. "Damn!" Jun cursed and moved faster. A few turns later he knew he was lost. He tried to remember the way, but the sounds of shrieking rats scurrying up to him for dinner shook his mind.
Jun turned a corner, moving as fast as he could, searching for his exit ladder. Behind him, SQUEEEII.
There were dozens of them, running over one another as they rushed towards the lone human ahead. Jun's eyes widened.
So many. So big.
He threw out his hand and pushed back against the lead rats. They froze mid-stride however those behind swiftly climbed over their frozen comrades, coming for Jun.
Jun sped up, turning another corner and coming to a dead end where the space funneled into a large pipe too small for a human to fit through. Jun's flashlight though showed that the pipe quickly curved downwards, going deeper down the sewer systems.
Okay. Let's do that then.
Jun turned and hardened his resolve. "No way I'm dying to mutant rats." He told himself.
As his eyes met the first set of tiny eyes, Jun gripped them from a distance and pulled harder than he had ever done before.
As he the creature sailed past him, Jun didn't look back - he relied on his memory of that pipe to mark the trajectory of where he intended the beast to go, instead, keeping his eyes locked on his next targets. Into the pipe, shrieking and wailing the creature went. Jun immediately picked another one and repeated, hurling rats in ones and twos into the pipe behind him.
He had never used his ability so desperately before. Yet, as the constellation flared and dimmed and flared again, it began to feel more natural to him.
Jun could feel each rat as he threw them. He felt them squirm fruitlessly, he occasionally felt their pulses, felt their paws and feet scratch at the invisible binds that held them. He felt his ability slightly weaken each time they fought back, it was a miniscule reduction, not enough to matter before he piped them, but now he understood more of his own ability; someone could, with enough force, shatter his hold on them.
There were three rats left. These were the runts of the litter, last in the horde and perhaps the last to eat after each hunt.
He gripped one by it's tail, slamming it into another. The third turned to flee, but when Jun gripped for it, it had moved, disrupting his targeting; his grip landed on its lower back and when Jun yanked it back, even he could hear the sound of snapping bones – the creature began to thrash and shriek in confusion, yet Jun noticed only its upper half thrashed about; he had snapped it's spine accidentally.
The other two had untangled themselves and had tried to flee. Jun gripped one, then another. Doing his best to focus on both at once. Both creatures floated above their thrashing fellow. They squirmed and struggled against their invisible binds as Jun began to feel mild perspiration form over his chest.
Okay, I have to end this.
The kitchen knife floated over to a rat. The blade wobbled as it moved; Jun was not used to controlling three objects with high precision, but he wanted to try.
When the knife blade made contact, Jun found he couldn't transmit enough force to drive the blade in. A few tries later, Jun slammed one rat into the side of the tunnel headfirst, cracking its head and knocking it out, so he dropped it. He repeated it with the second rat, but he used more force than before, so as he did, the rat's head was crushed, killing it instantly.
Jun was stunned as he felt a familiar energy leap from the rat to himself. The process was instantaneous, digging into his temple and resting within his constellations. He checked.
It grew!
Like what happened after his fight with Destur, after the rat's death, a portion of some unknown energy entered him. What Jun didn't know at the time, was this was a natural process for Dark Matter; a portion of the loser's strength would always be sacrificed to the victor, ensuring ever dynamic growth of a Dark Matter infused life-form.
The amount it increased was nowhere near the amount Destur gave him, however, Jun had slightly less reservations about killing the remaining rats. He received a nearly identical amount of energy each time.
"It's almost as if I am gaining experience points per kill…" he wondered aloud.
And a successful circulation is my eventual level-up!
He bound all three rats together and pushed them ahead of him. Now that he wasn't In immediate danger, Jun recalled the many turns he made during his escape dash. Several minutes later, he found the manhole opening and climbed up.
The eyes immediately returned.
Jun closed up the opening without letting go of his kills. He stank and he knew it. He looked around, sensing the many eyes on him. A single rat floated to him and he rose it higher.
"A bath and clean clothes for this!" he declared into the chilly night.
First there was silence. Then scuffling. Then a young boy emerged from what seemed at first to be a wall. He waved over at Jun to approach. Jun did, but then he slowed. He pushed his ability towards the wall where the boy emerged from, he wasn't trying to move anything, instead he used it only for the tactile sensation he perceived when it moved through the air. Jun felt the shapes and forms of two men at either side of the large opening the boy had used. They held daggers and were positioned to attack him the moment he crossed the hole.
Jun swore.
He turned around and walked away, dragging the rat corpses close enough to his own hand that it looked like he was actually holding them.
Jun made his way back to the rat seller, ignoring the looks he got from people he passed. He knew he stank.
The rat seller was really low on meat. These rats had become a popular dish in the neighborhood as recently stores and markets were no longer being restocked regularly, not to mention the occasional looting and acts of destruction rendered fresh food difficult to find.
She had more than enough seasoning, but getting the rats themselves was another problem. Over a period of three days, the rats went from being easy enough to catch to becoming a life threatening hunt. They moved in packs in the sewers and in those numbers, not even gunshots frightened them, allowing them to swarm groups of people in moments. She shook her head, still in disbelief that a day had come where she feared rats as much as she feared people.
Despite that, she had taken the rat meat to a displaced diagnostician in the neighborhood who helped her analyze the meat. She knew she was going to eat of her own wares and needed to be certain. Shockingly, the meat had no significant parasites or harmful diseases present in it. It was safe to eat and surprisingly nutritious. Stranger still, most people would only eat small amounts of it and quickly become full.
Yet, with the danger the rats presented to regular people, only the police, armed hunters or supers could safely hunt these rats… she doubted any member of these groups would deign to hunt in the filthy sewers.
As she had that thought, she perceived a terrible odor. As she recognized that odor, she was stunned and happy. She immediately connected that the youthful stranger who had asked about the rats had indeed successfully returned with more.
Indeed. Jun approached her with a few rat corpses beside him.
But the smell would drive away her customers.
"Long! Come, take our guest for a bath." She immediately began to bark out orders.
A man with a large build rose from his seating position. Even Jun had to look up at the man as he rose.
Huge. Jun thought.
"Dear," Long spoke calmly to the woman, "If I leave here," he nodded to the large crowd.
Without missing a beat, she called out again, "Howlang!" she stared at a group of youths playing handheld gaming consoles. When none moved she screamed louder this time, "Howlang get here this minute before I smash that thing!"
After a tired groan, one of the youths moved. He played as he walked, moving slowly.
The rat seller looked to Jun then shot a glance at Long.
Long moved with a speed that belied his size. He snatched the console away and smacked this Howlang in the back of his head.
"Get a move on. Do you wanna eat tonight!?"
"Hey!" he whined pitifully, "I'm almost at the end of the level."
"Shut it you!" the rat seller shouted, "Get our guest here," she nodded at Jun, "to the house and get him a bath?"
Long perked up, "the house dear… but he." The man wrinkled his nose.
"Don't worry dear, Howlang and his friends can help us clean up," she then added louder, "if they wanna keep freeloading off of us."
"Fine." Groaned Howlang, he faced Jun, "this way, Sir" he added very sarcastically.
"And these?" Jun asked, raising the carcasses.
"If you don't mind, let my husband Long take those. We'll get them cleaned up and on the fire in no time."
"Fine." Jun said and caught up to Howlang who had left without him.