In front of me were three bat-like creatures with elongated snouts and razor sharp talons. They looked extremely menacing with one big bat being flanked by two smaller bats. I backed off slowly and used {Identify} on the closest one to get a proper read on these guys.

  {Shadestalker Bat: Lv 2}

  {A species of chiroptera found commonly in areas containing large amounts of dark-affinity mana. These stealthy predators are famed for their piercing silver eyes, jet black fur, and silent flying. Their method of hunting involves stalking their prey using their stealthy movement before going in for the kill with an infused sonic blast that blinds and ultimately ends their prey}

  “Stealthy predators, no wonder I didn’t see them.” Just as I was about to make a plan of attack I got interrupted by one of the bats charging straight at me, panicking I fired a {Mana Bolt} at it. {You have inflicted 3 magical damage to Shadestalker Bat: Lv 2}. “Fuck it, no need for a plan just maximum effort.” I quickly {Identify} each of the bats to see their levels. {Shadestalker Bat: Lv 2}, {Shadestalker Bat: Lv 3}, {Shadestalker Bat: Lv 4}. The one that I had just hit was the level 2 one and he’s looking rather pissed.

  The bat started screeching and charging at me again trying to tear me apart with his sharp talons. Using {Float} I nimbly maneuvered and dodged the attack but the bat didn’t let up, I kept dodging waiting for an opportune time to retaliate. Suddenly I felt something wrong and quickly turned to look at the other two bats. It was lucky that I did, one of them was charging up some kind of spell in its mouth.Before I had the chance to stop it, the bat let loose the volatile energy in the form of a high-powered screech.

  The spell hurtled straight at me. My options of dodging were limited with the spell and the other bat pincering me. Acting quickly, I use every ounce of {Willpower} I have and push {Float} to its maximum potential to dodge straight up as fast as possible.

  {Float has risen to level 3}

  Narrowly dodging both the spell and the bat, I look down to see them both collide in mid-air. Seeing the opportunity given to me I quickly fire out a {Mana Bolt} at the dazed bat.

  {You have inflicted 4 magical damage to Shadestalker Bat: Lv 2}

  {You have slain Shadestalker bat: Lv 2}

  {You have gained 2 Exp}

  I quickly check my HP and MP to see how I'm doing on resources. {4/6 HP remaining}, {9/12 MP remaining}. “Okay, you have four more shots, better make them count.” Turning around to the remaining bats, I got closer to them to get a better shot. Apparently, they didn’t like this all too much because they let loose a monstrous howl and flew straight at me. I steadied my nerves and focused on the lower leveled one first.

  The level 3 bat tried to slice me with his talons but just before he was gonna hit me, I floated backwards, narrowly dodging his claws and retaliating with a {Mana bolt} to the face. {You have inflicted 4 magical damage to Shadestalker Bat: Lv 3}. The bat cried out in pain and began glaring at me, it then flew back and started inhaling a bunch of mana, in preparation for a spell.

  “Oh no you dont!” I have a feeling that letting him finish that spell would be very bad for me so I quickly {Float} over to him and fired a {Mana Bolt} right into the bat’s open mouth, instantly exploding its entire upper jaw.

  {You have inflicted 5 magical damage to Shadestalker Bat: Lv 3}.

  {You have slain Shadestalker Bat: Lv 3}

  {You have gained 3 Exp}

  {Congratulations, you have reached level 3}

  {+1 Intelligence, +1 Arcane, +2 Free stat points added}

  {Mana Bolt has risen to level 4}

  “HELL YEAH!!” A surge of power enters my body, making me grin a toothy smile. I want to celebrate right now but there’s still the matter of the final bat. Unfortunately, I should’ve paid more attention to my surroundings.

  {You have taken 5 physical & magical damage}

  {WARNING! You are on critical health}

  “FUCK!!!” I was so preoccupied with killing the level 3 bat that I completely disregarded the level 4 one. The bat managed to sneak up behind me and puncture the back of my head. It's now holding me tightly with its claws while I futilely try to free myself. I can feel its claws tightening around my skull, a single clench of its claws can easily end my life. Terrified for my life, I fire several {Mana Bolts} in rapid succession to try and escape, unfortunately the beast merely tilts backwards and dodges all of them. Being up close to this thing, I can now see its cruel silver eyes peering into me, Its mouth curled up almost in the shape of a sneer.

  The bat opens its jaws wide, a swirl of mana entering it. Preparation for its signature spell. “NO, NO, NO, FUCK, THINK, THINK, THINK!!!” My mind races to think of a solution out of this but nothing I can think of works. Looking at the beast’s looming jaw, something inside of me snaps. I was no longer thinking of ways to escape just ways to kill this fucker. “You want a piece of me, fine, THEN YOU CAN HAVE IT.” I start charging up a {Mana Bolt} filling it with all of my remaining MP. As the beast’s spell was nearing completion, its silver eyes locked on to mine almost as if to say “I’ve won.” Unfortunately, I wasn't going down without a fight. Moving faster than ever before, I charged up a powerful {Mana Bolt}, and just as the bat was looming down. I moved before the bat could react and sink my teeth into its skull.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  {You have inflicted 8 magical & physical damage to Shadestalker Bat: Lv 4}

  {You have slain Shadestalker Bat: Lv 4}

  {You have gained 4 Exp}

  {Mana Bolt has risen to level 5 [Max Level]}

  {Mana Bolt can be upgraded}

  {Congratulations, you have gained the [Mana Bite] skill}

  {Congratulations, for overcoming adversity you have gained the [Immutable] title}

  The bat’s head practically explodes and I'm instantly coated in viscera. I drop alongside the beast’s headless body but I manage to free myself and {Float} away before hitting the ground. I feel extremely drained and lethargic, I want to just lay down somewhere and take a nap but I have enough foresight to know that, that would be a terrible idea. I took one last look at the corpses of the three bats, feeling no small amount of vitriol for my assailants. “Should’ve thought twice before going after me.” I smugly but tiredly proclaimed before making my way back to the cave. I thought about exploring the tree but decided to play it safe and regenerate a bit before I get ambushed by another monster.

  Making my way down the corridor, I was thinking back on the recent battle and evaluating on what I could’ve done better when suddenly I heard the sound of numerous tiny feet moving my direction. I immediately recognize the sound of the rats and frantically try to find another hiding spot.

  Unluckily though, most of the walls around me were rock solid and had no cracks or crevasses. My eyes flicked back to the direction of the {Ruinwood Sapling} and I had a crazy yet ingenious idea. “Let’s hope they’re dumb enough to fall for the same trick twice.” I sped my way back to the tree and looked at its crown. After finding a spot with a large amount of leaves, I wiggled my way in and made sure to cover myself as best as I could.

  Not wanting to get caught but still curious about what the rats might be doing, I made a little opening in the leaves where I could see the rats and stayed stock still. Activating {Hiding}, I prayed that my camouflage was enough, while waiting for the rats, I decided to check up on my status to see what changed.

  “Huh, why is my Toughness so high, and when the heck did I get stamina.” Looking around my status screen, I eventually see who the culprit to my new additions are.

  {Immutable: You have gained this title from performing a feat of great endurance. Requirements = Survive an attack with the lowest possible HP and defeat the one who attacked you. Effects = +5 Toughness, +5 Endurance, grants the [Endure] skill}

  “Damn if all titles are this good, I’d try and die more often.” I close the tab to momentarily spy on the arriving rats. I almost lost my nerve right there and then when I saw the sheer number of rats streaming into the room. “Did these guys multiply or something!” Counting each rat that I see, I'm almost shocked to find out that the rat pack had more than double the amount of rats since I last saw them.

  Worst of all however, was when I saw the {Alpha Nuvarno Rat} again. I used {Identify} on him to see if anything had changed and to my annoyance something did {Alpha Nuvarno Rat: Lv 7}. The bastard had leveled up since I last saw him but strangely enough I wasn’t as scared of him as before. While yes, there is a four level difference between us, I still feel like I could kill him. Just not right now of course. I might be arrogant but I'm not stupid. “Just you wait rat, once I get strong enough, I'm gonna eradicate your entire species.” I vowed mentally.