Royal Cat

'Useless crap!'

It took me some time to check everything, but I eventually found nothing but junk. Well, from the perspective of a cat of course. There was not a single piece of magical whatever lying around, and I understood now that the three humans must have hidden everything of real worth somewhere else. The hunchbacked moron had a staff and a bunch of rings on his finger – most likely magical stuff. He didn't look very senile and his crap sure didn't disappear just like that.

"Frickin humans and their paranoia!" I hissed a bit gloomy.

The only thing left for me to do now was to find a way outside. However, this endeavor proved to be quite simple, and I already spotted a large cave that was connected to the cavern. It was most likely the path into my freedom.

'Entering this place should be harder than escaping from it' – I thought in the back of my mind as I left the cavern into the cave.

It was only logical. Why killing your successor if he wants to leave this place? Humans can't be that stupid. Hmm… no, wait… they very well can. Still, I hoped that the hunchbacked old geezer and the other two fools weren't only looking like they were important.

…

Three or four hours in, and the cave that was hopefully my path to freedom didn't prove to be a deathtrap, but extremely boring and monotonous just like the first one that brought me to this place. However, I couldn't really complain since I got more than I could ask for.

That being said, I kept running at top speed like a dog chasing cars in the hope that I could soon feel the softness of the earthy forest ground below my paws.

...

...

...

No idea how much time passed, but I eventually left the cave into the forest at the edge of the mountain. The entrance disappeared as soon as I stepped out, and I couldn't help but marvel the endless wonders of magic when I tried to get back into the cave only to feel a solid stone-wall blocking my way.

It was also dark outside now, and I cheered happily when I saw a bright moon hanging in the sky. Because that meant that it was time to increase my affinity to shadow magic!

"Let's see how this shit works," I meowed with enthusiasm before climbing a tree where I was safe enough to practice my cat-magic.

Now that I found a cozy branch that suited my purpose, I made myself comfortable and started gazing at the moon as if I wanted to drill a hole into it. There were no operations manuals on how to do this kind of stuff, but I soon sensed that I was doing everything correctly, and I was swiftly captivated by a mysterious feeling that made me fall into a strong trance similar to how I imagined a drug trip would be.

…

I started hallucinating of white tigers, black panthers, red lions, and even golden jaguars. We were all living in a vast kingdom, and everyone was happy. However, the evil hyenas were envious of us and were plotting together with the ever-hungry crocodiles to act against our glorious nation. And I was surprised to see that I was the king, their leader, me the little house cat. That didn't stop me from beating up all these nasty hyenas, though.

My control over shadow magic was without equal, and I summoned primordial powers to turn myself into a behemoth that looked like a black panther. But I wasn't an ordinary oversized wildcat, and I saw two long tentacles sprouting out of my shoulders while my body was shrouded behind a dark veil. I was additionally constantly flickering around as if I wasn't real but the creation of a defective hologram-projector.

*whip* *whip* *whip*

The hyenas had no chance against me, and I whipped their sorry asses back into the smelly wastelands they came from. Lions, tigers, panthers, leopards, ocelots, and many more, everyone fought alongside me to protect our precious kingdom.

I was a good king, and everyone was happy again.

…

[Catnip: Keep recalling the vision you saw and try to understand the magic you wielded]

"W-What?" I miaowed sleepily.

It was surprisingly already morning, and I could see that the rising sun was just about to start its shift.

"Did my crazy drug trip really last the whole night?" I miaowed to myself in confusion.

The stuff I experienced during the night made my head feel dizzy as my mind was full of black tentacles like in one of these perverted commercials from a particular country I saw once. Never mind, I was more shocked about the fact that I had a tentacle growing out of each of my shoulders. It was a bizarre experience and made me feel as if I had a third pair of limbs.

What was even more cryptic to me was that these tentacles were supposed to be made out of shadow magic, and still, I could feel them as if they were a part of me… but how?

That was the big mystery I had to solve, and I felt that I had to work hard on it in order to become stronger. Not only on the tentacle stuff. I also had to figure out how to use shadow magic to shroud myself in it, just like in my vision. The hyenas were totally helpless against it, and they fought my shadows while I was actually already behind them. My ability Illusionary Glamour was quite similar to it, and I decided to put more effort into actively trying to understand my skills from this day forward.

"How comes that there was no angry bird or something else attacking me during my trip?" I miaowed in a questioning tone.

[Catnip: Don't worry too much about your safety while you experience a vision for now. Your inborn ability shrouds you in a protective sphere out of shadow magic that makes you very difficult to detect]

"Good stuff!" I purred happily.

Finding a safe place in the wilderness was easier said than done. I felt relieved that my inborn ability had a security system installed that will keep me protected while I am drugged with the mysterious magic I obtained from the moonlight.

Never would I have thought that my inborn ability would actually work in this way. I expected to meditate under the brightness of the moon while acting like a wizened monk, searching for knowledge and wisdom, but no, I was fighting evil hyenas all night long. It was fun though.

'Is that the reason people are so fascinated about drugs?' – I wondered.

Drugs or not, my cat-instincts told me that I have to focus my attention on the vast forest around me now. I was back in town again, and the goblins needed a good beating.

There wasn't much else I could do anyway, and so I climbed down the tree before making my way towards a random direction. I was now also aware of the cornfields and orientated myself by looking at the mountain to guide myself in which direction I have to travel.

Why do I have to find civilization?

Well, apart from easy food in the form of chicken, I wanted to see how advanced people were here in this magical world. Sure, a farmer wasn't the best indicator for such stuff, but I had to start from somewhere – one little step at a time.

…

However, finding civilization was still a side mission. My primary task was to hunt some goblins or any other creature I was able to kill so I can start to empower my first rune.

I snuck from tree to tree, bush to bush, always keeping my eyes open for threats and potential future victims of my claws. Being a cat was hard, and you had to work even harder if the world was full of greedy humans and crazy goblins.

'What the-… What the heck is that?'

My eyes blinked in bafflement when a human that looked like a lizard, or lizard that looked like a human appeared in front of me. The scaly guy didn't pay attention to me and sprite up a tree before analyzing the situation for danger.

'He looks agitated' – I noted in the back of my head.

The lizardman below me looked close like a human with a strong build only that he had a mix of small green-and-brown scales covering his body. His head was also less human, but more like an iguana with sharp teeth and reptilian frills at the side of his jaw. Not to mention that he had a long reptilian tail as well, and dagger-like claws instead of nails at the end of his fingers.

'Is he maybe a mutant?'

I couldn't understand the lizardman's weird hissing, but he gave me the impression that he was arguing with himself about something important. His clothes were shabby, and he had an iron collar around his neck that made him look like he just escaped from jail.

'Dogs?!'

The sound of barking dogs entered my ears all of a sudden and I was now sure that the lizardman isn't just taking a casual stroll in the forest, but that he is on the run. And yes, the scaly guy rushed off into the opposite direction from where the barking came from. I could only sit here on my cozy branch and watch everything with interest.

One minute later, and a group of five humans that were led by two beefy dogs that looked like bears run past below my tree in the direction where the lizardman escaped.

'Looks like I am closer to civilization then I think!' – My eyes lit up with excitement.

The little incident didn't stop me from killing goblins, and I climbed down the tree before I continued my search for my first prey of the day.

…

The first goblin I encountered was one of these crackpots that simply couldn't stay still. I was on the verge of ignoring the little shithead but recalled the fact that I was a LvL 3 beast now.

Wouldn't it be extremely shameful if I was afraid of a LvL 0 shithead?

My level up wasn't just an empty promise for power. I sensed that my body did become somewhat physically stronger while I felt that I could run faster and a lot longer now without feeling tired — small changes, but changes nevertheless. I was still a small kitty-cat, and fighting a bear was suicide, goblins were easy peasy in comparison – should be.

'Assassin mode: online!'

I lowered myself to make my body look even smaller and snuck closer to the unsuspecting goblin that didn't spot me so far. I moved closer and closer before I pounced at the wide-eyed green-ass fucker to scratch his red eyeballs out.

'Shadow Strike!'

My attack was surprisingly more potent than last time, and I shredded the oversized nose of the goblin with precise razor-sharp swipes into a bloody mess.

"SKREEEEEEE!!!" The goblin wailed in agony when it saw what I have done to its precious nose.

I didn't stop and jumped in circles around the enraged green-ass bastard, showering it in a relentless attack of frenzied swipes. My new power after leveling up didn't only increase my strength but also my speed. The vision I had this night was in some way like a training instruction, and I could feel my blood boil as I continued to scratch the goblin into a bloody massacre.

"Huh… I really got a lot stronger!" I miaowed cheerfully.

The fight was rather quick, and I absorbed the mana of the goblin before I left the corpse in the search for my next prey. And as for its blood? No way! These green crackpots were as stupid as a brick, and their blood stank strongly like a mix of chlorine and piss. My runes could wait because I sure won't defile my cute little cat body with low-quality crap.