Free Web NovelChapter 41: Talking With The Rat King
He dumped ten into Mana and five into Charm. The Mana would help him sustain longer fights, and Charm... well, Charm had proven useful in ways he hadn’t expected.
[Mana: 619 → 719]
[Charm: 58 → 63]
[MP: 2,190 / 7,190]
The mana boost was immediate, a rush of energy spreading through his limbs like warm water. He flexed his fingers, feeling the difference in the way his Talents sat ready at the edge of his consciousness.
Good. Now let’s see what else this place has to offer.
He didn’t head back to the city. Instead, he circled around to the dungeon entrance and stepped through the yellow mist again.
[You’ve entered the dungeon: Stone Hollow]
[Warning: Dungeon has not fully respawned. Current monster count: 4/9]
Four servants. No golem. The boss would take longer to regenerate, but the minions were already reforming from the rubble.
Nacho grinned.
Perfect.
He spent the next six hours farming the dungeon on a loop. Every time he cleared the servants, he’d exit and wait for them to respawn, then go back in and do it again. The experience trickled in steadily, and by the time dawn started painting the sky pink through the trees, he’d accumulated a respectable haul.
[You’ve slain: Stone Servant (Level 22) x32. +14,080 Experience]
[Level Up! Level 24 → Level 28]
[+20 Free Stat Points]
[First Tentacle: 11,281 → 11,249 Kills remaining]
He sat down on a boulder near the dungeon entrance and pulled up his full status, watching the numbers shift and settle.
[Status]
Name: Nacho
Level 28 : 522 / 2,800 Experience
HP: 2,660 / 2,660 (Regen 10/s)
MP: 7,590 / 7,590 (Regen 1/s)
Attributes:
Strength: 145 → 155
Stamina: 206 → 216
Agility: 223 → 233
Perception: 121 → 126
Mana: 719 → 759
Charm: 63 → 68 freewёbnoνel.com
He’d spread the new points around, boosting everything a little rather than dumping them all in one place.
Obviously, he could just put them all into Charm, since it was an overpowered stat. However, like the rest of his stats, he was able to increase his Charm so long as he did something lewd, and he was planning to do lots of that.
His body felt different now, stronger and faster in ways that were hard to quantify. When he stood up, the motion felt effortless, like gravity had loosened its grip on him. freēwēbnovel.com
Twenty-two more levels to evolution. At this rate, I might actually get there before Sera catches up with me.
The thought of the Grand General made him check the communication stone in his inventory. Still glowing faintly blue. Still unused. He’d save it for something truly important.
The sun was fully up by the time he made it back to Valdris. The streets were already busy with morning traffic, carts and pedestrians jostling for space as the city came alive. Nacho slipped through the crowds in his Tomas disguise, making his way to the Drowning Rat.
The Rat King’s people were expecting him.
A door opened before he could knock, revealing a narrow staircase that descended into darkness. He followed it down, his Apex Senses tracking the heartbeats of at least a dozen people hidden in the shadows around him.
Security’s tight. Good. Means he takes this seriously.
The stairs ended in a large underground chamber lit by oil lamps and decorated with mismatched furniture that looked like it had been stolen from a dozen different mansions. The Rat King sat in a high-backed chair at the far end, flanked by two bodyguards who looked like they ate people for breakfast.
"You came back," the old man said. His voice carried the same mild tone as before, but his eyes were sharp. "Most people who go into that dungeon don’t usually come back."
Nacho reached into his inventory and pulled out the chest of cores he’d taken from the smugglers. He set it on the floor in front of the Rat King’s chair.
"Sixty-two cores. Common, Uncommon, and Rare. Plus the ones I harvested from the dungeon itself."
The Rat King gestured, and one of his people scurried forward to open the chest. The glow of the cores cast strange shadows across the chamber as she counted them, her lips moving silently.
"Seventy-one total," she reported. "Including four Rare-grade."
"Impressive." The Rat King leaned forward, his leather face creasing into something that might have been a smile. "And the smugglers?"
"Alive. They’ll be paying tribute going forward, assuming they value their kneecaps." Nacho paused. "They mentioned a name. Lord Daven."
The Rat King’s expression didn’t change, but something shifted in the air around him. The bodyguards tensed almost imperceptibly.
"Did they now."
"Someone you know?"
"Someone everyone knows. Lord Daven is the Imperial Treasurer’s nephew. He has his fingers in half the illegal operations in this city." The Rat King’s smile widened. "And now I have leverage against him. You’ve exceeded my expectations, Siren."
Nacho shrugged. "I aim to please."
Definitely not because Nacho wanted this old man to let his guard down so he could take advantage of him.
"Indeed you do." The old man stood, and despite his size, the motion carried a weight that made everyone in the room straighten. "Keep up this level of performance, and you’ll find me a very generous patron. There are other problems that need solving. Other dungeons that need clearing."
Other opportunities to level up, he means.
"I’m listening."
"There’s a dungeon complex beneath the old quarry, three miles west of the city. Multiple floors, multiple bosses. The smugglers I used to run it went silent two weeks ago. I want to know why."
Nacho’s Combat Precognition tingled at the edges of his awareness. A dungeon that made smugglers go silent sounded dangerous.
It also sounded like exactly what he needed.
"What level?"
"The entrance floor is rated around thirty-five. The deeper levels..." The Rat King spread his hands. "Nobody’s mapped them yet. Or at least, nobody who’s come back."
Thirty-five. That’s higher than me. But with my Talents and the combat experience I’ve been building...
"I’ll check it out."
"Excellent." The Rat King gestured to one of his people, who stepped forward with a small pouch. "Advance payment. Five hundred gold. You’ll receive the rest when the job is done."
Nacho took the pouch and tucked it into his inventory.
"What exactly do you want me to do? Clear it? Map it?"
"Find out what happened to my people. If they’re dead, bring me proof. If they’re alive but trapped, get them out. If something else is going on..." His eyes glittered in the lamplight. "Use your judgment."
"And if I find something valuable down there?"
"We split it. Seventy-thirty, in your favor." The Rat King’s smile turned predatory. "I’m a businessman, Siren. I know how to incentivize good work."
Seventy-thirty isn’t bad, considering I’m only going to be giving him crumbs anyway.
"Deal."
