The Red-light District

I couldn't catch any sleep.

Apparently the building I was sleeping under was a brothel that opened late at night. Trying to sleep over the sounds of girls trying to sound like squeaky toys was goddamn impossible. "FYI buddy, you were paying her to fake it!" I yelled.

The blue rats have calmed down and started to go out of the hole and to look for food. Since I can't get any sleep I might as well do that too. The Blue rats made way for me as I got up and walked out of the hole. "Fear me peasants, For I am your god!" I said jokingly.

As I walked out of the hole I was nearly blinded by the amount of neon signs that lit up the streets. But they don't have electricity...Do they? Upon closer inspection I saw that the sign's glow was powered by small magic gems. So this is what they use instead of electricity?

Must be valuable… noted.

Prostitution laws must be very lenient in this world. Fun fact, The only state in the USA with legal prostitution is Nevada But it's very regulated. Anyway, where does one get a bite around here?

I tried following some of the blue rats but once they noticed me they scurried away. I sighed. Guess I'm eating alone today, eh who needs them!? I'll just have to find food myself in this busy neighborhood. It can't be all brothels, there must be some kind of restaurant or something close.

I saw a building with white smoke coming out of a chimney. Must be water vapor from some food that's cooking. I'll take a look at their garbage and see if they've thrown away something that's at least fresh. As I got closer to the building I could hear some kind of music and people cheering coming from it.

Must be nice…

My stomach growled and I was reminded of my objective. I got to the back of the building and saw a large dumpster. It smelled rancid, whelp time to eat.

After some careful jumps I managed to get inside where there was a bunch of old and half eaten food. I started nibbling on a moldy piece of bread. My mind was blank, all I could think of was eating this piece of bread. I wasn't paying attention and someone came to throw away some more trash. I didn't react quickly enough and got covered in wet garbage.

I paused. I took a deep breath, my eye twitched a little. As I was sitting there covered in trash I felt something mentally snap. I felt anger boil within me like never before.

"THAT'S IT I'M DONE!!! Have I forgotten who I was!? I'm NOT putting up with this BULLSHIT any longer!!! If I ever wanted something I would TAKE it! I and right now what I want is a DECENT meal!!! I don't care who stands in my way, I'll burn this whole city to the GROUND if I have to!!!"

My body and mind was starting to feel numb from the pure rage within me. I ran towards the front door of the building. With one thing on my mind, to take what I want.

---------------------------------------------------

It was a long day and I've decided to take a break at the Club, to grab a bite and maybe see a show. I'm not that high level, I mostly pick herbs for guild requests and such. But i do have to fight the occasional goblin or slime, people always tell me that the monsters on the surface are always less aggressive than the ones in the sewers and that I'm really not that strong.

A Rat extermination happened recently so the sewers may be safer to explore for a few weeks.I would have taken the job but my guild ranking was too low. A barmaid came up to me "Hi sir, could i take your order please?" she asked me. "Just a pint of mead." I said.

As I was sitting there waiting for my drink I saw the front door swing wide open with a lot of force. At first I thought some big-shot wanted to make some kind of showy entrance but then I looked down and saw a lone rat.

Its red eyes glowing brightly like two red lights and black fur shimmered like midnight. Everyone looked at it with confusion. Except for me, I know how dangerous black rats could be. It let out a loud "Squeak!!!" and ran towards a table with food on it. I got on a table and started eating, the costumers at that table were disgusted. If i don't say something quick they could end up provoking it!

"Don't Startle it! Back away slowly and just let it keep the food." I said to the man at the table. "Screw that! I was having a nice time till this thing showed up!" The man reached for the rat. This made it mad and it bit him on the hand! "OW! Stupid rat!" The man was starting to sweat and was turning red. "S-stu p-pid Rat." The man collapsed to the floor. Everyone at the club went ballistic, they all tried running out the door. Someone thought it was a good idea to throw a Lantern at the rat.

The lantern shattered and a bunch of flaming oil went everywhere setting things on fire! A bit of oil landed on the rat's back and it started squeaking in pain. I thought this would've been enough to finish it off but then it grabbed a tablecloth and covered itself smothering the flame. It recomposed itself and had fury in its eyes.

It let out an ear piercing "Squeeeeek!" It looks like it's ready for a fight, good thing they let me bring my blade in here. The fire from the lantern was starting to spread but most of the employees and customers had exited the building. I unsheathed my sword and pointed it at the rat. The rat slapped the floor with its tail and stared right trough me, I guess that means it accepts my challenge.

The rat ran right for me, it jumped and swung its tail at me. I parried it with my sword, it's tail was so hard and strong it felt like I was actually hitting another sword. I retaliated with a swing but it jumped out of the way. It picked up a bottle with its tail and threw it at me. I blocked the bottle with my sword but I ended up shattering it and got covered in booze. This ain't a normal rat I'm fighting.

The fire around us started to spread faster. The smoke made it hard to see. The rat used this to its advantage and hid in the smoke, all the while it threw more bottles at me. I had to block them all with my sword. After 5 or so bottles more it suddenly stopped, but by that point I was drenched in hard liquor.

It had gone quiet, all I could hear was the crackling of the fire. I stood in silence anxious as to what the rat would do next. I then saw it slowly coming out from the smoke. It was holding a single glass bottle with a flaming rag stuffed in the bottle's hole. It looked at me with those beady red eyes, seeing it's face nearly shook me to my core.

It was almost like it was smiling.

The rat bolted towards me, the bottle being dragged behind by its tail. At that moment I realized what the rat had been trying to accomplish. But it was too late, is this what one would call checkmate? I trusted my sword at the rat as a last ditch effort, It jumped out of the way and smashed the bottle over my head.

The fire quickly spread throughout my body. The pain was Excruciating. My entire entire body had caught fire. I trashed around and rolled on the ground trying to put the fire out but it was no use. My mind was going numb from the pain and it had gotten impossible to breathe. The last memorie I ever made was of that rat looking at me with its red glowing eyes.