Ryuji guided the group through the first two rooms, which were empty chambers. Because he could tap into dark vision using the Kobold Tattoo, he used it instead of the goblin tattoo.

Ryo and Akari lit torches at the back of the group and followed with slow steps.

"It seems there are no hidden enemies in the second chamber."

Ryuji turned to Yumiko, who nodded. Her nose sniffed for traces to avoid ambushes. "Let's go to the third room."

After a few more minutes of walking, Ryuji suddenly stopped in front of a large wooden door, possibly leading to another chamber. The others behind him stopped as he held up his hand.

"This might turn into a battle the moment we open it," he said. "Ryo, stand to the left, Akari to the right. Yumiko, stand just behind me, okay?" Ryuji turned to face them as each member followed his order.

"On three, Ryo. One, two, three!"

Ryuji burst through the wooden door in a smooth motion. Yumiko rushed in behind him, ready to attack, while Ryo and Akari drew their weapons and followed in the back. The dark chamber was huge and empty—or at least it seemed to be.

However, on the roof were dozens of sleeping bats, all hanging upside down with their eyes closed.

"Damn."

Ryo gritted his teeth as he realised they had entered a vast colony of bats.

"Why do things like this have to happen?!" he muttered, at least keeping his voice down. "They might wake up at any moment! We have to get out of here now!"

"Do you think the bats have already detected our presence?" Yumiko asked. Her tail and ears flickered as she noticed a few sounds humans couldn't quite hear.

Ryuji lowered his stance, gazing around the room with narrowed eyes until he saw a few rats also parading through the room. They were huge, almost 1m in size. They were moving erratically between the groups of bats, their short whiskers trembling.

"The bats' presence must have driven those rats crazy," Ryuji stated, wondering what to do. If they woke the bats, it would be troublesome. He also wondered why the bats didn't attack the rats.

"Maybe because they both belong to the dungeon?"

Akari seemed a little more focused, shaking her head. "Stopping in the middle of the hall is not a good idea," she said. "The rats might wake the bats any moment now."

Ryo nodded in agreement. "Come on, let's retreat."

They tried to return to the door, only to find the wood doors closing. Before they could escape, they slammed shut with a resounding thud, grabbing the attention of every creature in the room.

"Crap..."

Ryo held his meat cleaver forward while Akari held a basic knife. Both were non-combatants and trembling with fear. Yumiko and Ryuji were lucky that all classes adjusted their mental capacity to deal with fear, shock, and terror at this threat level.

"Tch... Fucking rats are not very dangerous alone," Ryuji mumbled, glaring at the rats. "But in a group of 20, with bats, they are troublesome."

Yumiko, however, appeared composed. Not because of her power, but she trusted Ryuji, and knew he would come up with something. She watched him closely, ready to attack whatever came their way.

"Alright, there are no other entrances to the chamber apart from that locked door past the monsters," Ryuji said, shifting his gaze from rat to bat and analysing their movements. "We can't just sit here. If we do, a flying stampede will slaughter us."

He turned his head back and frowned at the still-trembling duo.

'I guess I'll have to put myself at risk to make them believe....' Ryuji thought before saying. "There are bats and rats ahead of us. If we choose one, the other will attack us without mercy. That's a given."

Akari and Ryo nodded.

"Then, which one should we go for?" Akari asked.

Ryuji smirked. "Both."

His answer surprised Akari and Ryo. "What?!"

Before he answered, his body rushed forward, his feet slamming down to make the most sound possible while holding his heavy iron axe.

Ryo and Akari frantically chased after him, while Yumiko, now realising his intentions, followed with graceful steps.

Ryuji felt the gigantic rats rushing toward him with great speed while gripping his axe tighter. The bats were also rushing at them in the air.

'Perfect.'

When he was just a few meters away from the bats and rats, Ryuji jumped above the rats' heads and pulled his body back before throwing his left shoulder forward to strike the first bat.

His bronze armour and bat collided, prompting Ryuji to feel a piercing pain as if the collision had crushed his bones. But he didn't falter, rolling to the side and stopping on his left knee. He swung his axe to the left, slicing two bats in half.

'A crappy consolation...'

Although it hurt like hell, Ryuji stood up and faced the bats.

"Ryo, Yumiko, Akari! Don't move!" he shouted. His eyes and body oozed a red aura, and he activated the whirlwind skill.

His axe struck three bats before his whirlwind ability activated. The power lowered because of the three bats, but he pushed through the pain so intensely that he felt it would turn his lower body to dust and shoot through his left leg.

Ryuji gritted his teeth in pain but still held his ground as the bats tried to claw him. There were so many that even his whirlwind couldn't kill them all.

"Yumiko, activate your shadow clone and kill the rats that pass me!" Ryuji held his axe, a little dizzy and sore from the whirlwind, as he cleaved apart several bats and stomped on two rats.

Yumiko was not far behind him and killed a few rats who had passed him. When he used a whirlwind, an explosion of force destroyed the rats, shredding their bodies into flesh and meat.

The battle dragged on, with Yumiko using her martial arts to crush and pulverise the skull so of the rats. However, none of his injuries were lethal or critical.

'These things are simple beasts. There is no challenge with these critters.' Just as Ryuji's thoughts settled down, an overpowering force rushed behind him.

'My sense of danger and the tingling on my skin is telling me it's not a rat!' Ryuji narrowed his eyes while gripping his axe higher. Ready to fight anything that appeared.

He whirled around, his axe in position to swing, only to see a humongous 70-kilo rat with a strange-looking piece of metal in its mouth.

Ryuji's eyes widened in shock, and they tried to stop the giant rat in its tracks. However, before he could reach it, it threw the metal thing at Ryuji with significant force.

"Haaah?!"

Ryuji moved his left shoulder to deflect the metal, only to realise too late that the metal was long and sharp. It grazed his armour and cut into the thin armour on his side.

He felt a sudden jolt of pain, like when catching your face with a razor without using shaving cream.

Fortunately, thanks to the adrenaline, Ryuji felt nothing and smacked his axe through the strange rat's back with a loud thud, blood and meat squelching as it screeched in death.

—Level Up!

Name: Ryuji Vincenzo

Class: Berserker: Lv.6

Rage: 0/40 (60 Reserved)

Rank: C

Attributes

Strength: 18->22 (+2)

Agility: 11->12 (+2)

Stamina: 13

Grit: 20-> 21

Intellect: 8