On the distant stone-brick wall, a broken hole large enough for a small-to-medium-sized beast to pass through was exposed.
In the pitch-black hole, a pair of red dots suddenly appeared.
Immediately after, accompanied by squeaks, a giant rat with a shoulder height nearly reaching Lynn's upper thigh crawled out of the stone hole.
The giant rat was entirely gray. Aside from being somewhat larger, it looked no different from an ordinary rat.
The only unusual thing was its fur. Despite being in a filthy sewer, there was not a speck of dirt on it; instead, it was incredibly smooth, as if it had been meticulously groomed.
Lynn frowned slightly.
His Echolocation had actually failed to detect this giant rat.
No...
Only after the giant rat appeared in his line of sight did Lynn realize that he had actually detected it with his sound waves earlier.
However, he had subconsciously ignored the giant rat's presence...
The effect of Stealth?
Lynn had a suspicion in his heart, so he raised his hand crossbow and aimed it at the giant rat before him.
No matter what trick this giant rat had used, he just had to kill it.
To his surprise, just as he cranked the bowstring tight, the giant rat in front of him suddenly stood up on its hind legs. It bowed to him twice and then raised its paws, indicating it harbored no ill intent.
This action was a spitting image of a weasel from the supernatural legends of his previous life coming to ask Lynn to borrow his lifespan.
This made Lynn even more cautious, and he held off on attacking for the moment.
After standing up, the giant rat's body began to change. First, its fur shortened slightly, and then its bones stretched out, making its overall appearance much closer to that of a human.
Immediately after, it actually spoke, and in the Common Tongue of the surface!
“Do not... attack, me.”
A talking giant rat?
Lynn raised an eyebrow and looked at Lupa beside him.
Lupa had a dazed look in her eyes, clearly unable to comprehend the scene before her as well.
But Lynn seemed to recall something. He focused his mind and opened the Monster Identification Manual.
“In the year 442 of the New Star Calendar, adventurer Lynn unlocked a new entry in the monster encyclopedia—Wererat. Current number of unlocked entries: 12.”
“To receive the next Rune reward, 8 more entries must be unlocked.”
It really was a Wererat.
This was a creature Lynn had heard of in his village when he was a child.
According to rumors, Wererats were humans who had been cursed in ancient times to look like giant rats. If children were kidnapped by them, they would turn into Wererats just like them.
However, after arriving in town, the prevailing theory among adventurers was that they were giant rats that had obtained the ability to shapeshift under the influence of the magic of the Underdark (the subterranean world).
As for the Wererat before him, it had suddenly appeared right after Lynn killed the Dungeon Slime. He had no idea what its purpose was.
While Lynn was checking the Wererat's information in the Monster Identification Manual, the giant rat had completely transformed into a humanoid form.
The reason it was described as humanoid was that although its paws had extended into well-defined limbs, its head still retained distinct rodent features, and a large portion of the gray fur on its body remained.
Perhaps because rodent features naturally looked somewhat youthful, Lynn got the impression that this Wererat was probably not very old.
After its transformation, the giant rat spoke much more fluently, though its voice still carried a hint of childishness.
“Lord Spellcaster, I would like to make a deal with you.”
Oh?
Lynn hadn't expected this Wererat to have taken an interest in his identity as a spellcaster.
Furthermore, it actually wanted to make a deal with him.
Making a deal with a monster...
Lynn remained noncommittal for the moment, gesturing for the Wererat to continue.
The Wererat pointed to the ground, at the Dungeon Slime's drop—
A regular tetrahedron made of metal, with four brass runes engraved with inscriptions connected to a circular crystal in the center.
Obviously, this was not something naturally found inside a Dungeon Slime.
It looked more like the remains of some unlucky Mage apprentice who had been swallowed by the slime.
“Lord Mage, you probably don't know how to use this thing, do you? I can teach you, but in exchange, I would like to ask you to help me subjugate a monster.”
Lynn looked at the Wererat with interest.
This monster before him was offering a price to have him kill another monster?
However, Lynn was quite interested in this deal.
After all, this drop from the Dungeon Slime looked like a magic item, and he indeed cared about it.
Thus, Lynn asked, “What kind of monster are we talking about? Let's get one thing straight: if the monster's level is too high, I'm out.”
Seeing that Lynn was inclined to agree, a smile squeezed onto the Wererat's face.
“It's just a specter. If it weren't immune to physical damage, I, Art, could have dealt with it myself. Why would I need Lord Spellcaster to take action?”
“A specter?”
Lynn did know of this kind of monster.
Specters usually appeared in cemeteries.
If a person died with too strong an obsession, their spirit might rise from their body and seek indiscriminate revenge on all living things.
It sounded terrifying, but most of the time, specters either had no Challenge Rating, or if they did, it would not exceed Tier 1 at most.
The only tricky part was that specters were formed from gathered 【psionic energy】.
【Psionic energy】 was different from 【mana】. Mana was the product of the combination of mind and matter, while psionic energy was the purest form of mental power.
This made specters, as incorporeal spirits, immune to all physical damage—this even included fire. Only lightning and magic could harm them.
However...
Lynn looked left and right.
There were specters in the sewer too?
Did someone dump a body in the sewer?
Art the Wererat saw Lynn's confusion. “The specter isn't here, Lord Mage. It's deeper in the sewer, where I live.”
“I can help you,”
Lynn agreed after confirming the target of the subjugation, but then he suddenly changed the subject.
“But first, you have to tell me what this thing is.”
Lynn picked up the Dungeon Slime's drop.
After being freed from the corrosive environment inside the slime, the object gradually regained its luster in just a short moment.
The regular tetrahedron emitted a faint glow, actually floating on its own above Lynn's hand.
Art the Wererat hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to agree to Lynn's demand.
“I can tell you, but as a noble Mage, you cannot go back on your word.”
Art's words gave Lynn a small surge of satisfaction in his heart.
However, he didn't show it on his face, merely waving the regular tetrahedron to signal Art to start speaking.
...
...
...
【Wererat】: A Tier 1 monster. A humanoid species evolved from ordinary giant rats that received underground magical radiation in the Underdark. They often frequent the borderlands between the Underdark and the surface. Because they enjoy trading, they occasionally play the role of merchants between the underground and the surface.
Most Wererats are happy to abide by order, though the order they abide by is not necessarily that of humans.
Rate on N.U.
