Caleb watched anxiously as the red dots got closer and closer to their position. His army was already working tirelessly to fortify their base. While he did have his army make some changes to their base beforehand, it hadn't been with a focus on the defenses. Most of it had been cosmetic or to make the base run more efficiently. Now he regretted not setting up traps or barriers to get enemies out. "Karen, how long before they finish setting everything up?" he asked. "Things are going smoothly. We should be able to finish in an hour," she said, looking away from the demon rats digging a hole in the ground. He grimaced. An hour might not be enough time, as the red dots weren't slowing down. They weren't quite fast either, but they were crossing the ground at a decent pace. It would be cutting it close, and that was only if they didn't suddenly speed up. Caleb didn't like it. There had to be a way to speed up the process and get everything ready for their enemies. "Tell them to go fas
"I found one!" the human screamed, causing Caleb to jump out of his hiding spot.Immediately, everything devolved into chaos as the humans attacked him with their wooden sticks and farming tools. Fortunately, they didn't appear to be very good at aiming, as none of them were anywhere near close to hitting him. That didn't stop him from running and heading down the cave towards where the traps had been set out. He could hear the humans following closely behind him.His army also didn't stand idly by. The moment he jumped out into the open, the ones nearest him attacked the closest humans. People screamed and cursed as the demon rats sank their teeth and claws into their skin. However, despite Caleb's orders not to stick around after the initial attack, they continued to attack the humans.Caleb flinched when he heard the crunching and splattering noises behind him. He didn't look back to confirm what he already knew. The demon rats hadn't been as lucky as he was and had been killed by
Karen observed the scene in front of her and knew all was lost. She might not be as smart as their leader, but she could tell that there was no way they could win. Perhaps if they had been a little bit stronger, they would have stood a chance. However, with the way things were, it was unlikely the army would make it out intact. She had to report to Caleb as soon as possible.Going against her instincts to fight the humans, she scurried away to hopefully find him. She dodged the swinging hoes and rakes as she went down one of the winding paths. Relying solely on luck to lead her to him, she ran nonstop. Around her, demon rats were dropping like flies at the hands of the weak. It riled her up, but she couldn't afford to ignore her mission.After what seemed like eternity, she finally caught Caleb's trail and raced down the path to see him working with Andrew. However, there were several humans standing between her and her goal. Without stopping, she jumped onto one of the humans and scu
It didn't take Caleb long to reach his intended destination, and he took a moment to examine his surroundings. There was no damage along the walls or humans nearby, which meant their retreat would be unhindered. All he needed to do was wait for Karen and Andrew to grab the other demon rats and lead them to where he was. Checking the map, he grew uneasy as time passed.Even though it had only been a short while since they separated, it seemed like hours had passed in the time it took him to reach the exit. As the number of green dots dwindled, Caleb kept glancing back the way he came. He considered rushing back to help with the evacuation, and the only reason he didn't make a move was because he was afraid to be killed by the humans. He had been lucky so far.However, he was afraid to push it when the exit was so close. Besides, he was sure Karen and Andrew could handle it themselves. All he had to do was wait for them, but with each passing second, that confidence wavered. None of the
It took some time before Caleb could finally bring himself to get up. His mind was still reeling from what happened. Everything that he had done and accomplished had been swept away in an instant. The worst part was that it wasn't because of heroes. It had been because of the people he had saved and allowed to leave with their lives. If he hadn't done that, none of this would have happened.A burst of anger erupted inside him as he slammed his head against the ground. He had been so stupid. Even though he had known it would probably bite him later, he still had done it anyway. Now he was paying for it. The army he had worked so hard to build was gone, leaving him completely alone. He didn't even have a place to stay. All he could do now was run and hide."What do I do?" Caleb muttered to himself as he stared off.[The system suggests that the user leave the area and find a place to rest.]"What's the point? I lost everything," he said as he sat back down. "It's pointless."[The user i
Caleb studied the town where the humans had come from as his mind cooked up several different plans. He had woken up feeling refreshed thanks to the skill the system had given him. Unfortunately, it meant he had to miss out on picking a new skill once he reached level 8, but if it meant sleeping well, he would take it. It also helped him deal with what happened back in the cave.He was still haunted by what happened, but the skill muted the memory. It probably wasn't healthy to rely on a skill. However, he didn't have the luxury of time or the resources to get through it. This was just another reason for him to level up as soon as possible so he could get out of this messed up place. He couldn't wait to be back home."System, do you think the humans have returned?" he asked as he looked at the map.There were a decent number of red dots on the map. It was reasonable to assume that the humans had returned before he got there since they could travel longer and he had gone to sleep, but
When Caleb said they had a lot of work to do, he underestimated just how hard it would be to plan and start his revenge. It wasn't that he didn't know how difficult it would be. He had already accounted for the possibility of being found out before he could carry through with his plans, but he couldn't even properly come up with a plan until he got information about the town.He could plan all he wanted. It wouldn't mean anything if he got the wrong impression from the people. If he thought they got their water from one place when they got it from another, then he would have wasted time and effort. That was why he was trying to scope out the town and listen in on their conversations. His size was actually a benefit, as he could slip into places he couldn't before as a human.Unfortunately, he was a rat, and they had precautions against rats. The number of times he nearly got caught in a trap meant to kill regular rats. It was quite humiliating. His tail even got stuck at one point, an
It was far too soon for the heroes to show up. At least Caleb thought so. He had slowly lost track of time since he no longer had a way to track time outside of how many times the sun set and rose. Even then, he lost count a while back and hadn't been in the right state of mind to consistently count them. All he knew was that it couldn't have been a year yet.[It has been about eight months.]At the system's words, Caleb stared at the screen in shock. He knew he had been there a while, but he hadn't realized it had been that long. In hindsight, it made sense. Every time he screwed up while trying to gather information, he would hide out for about a week before trying again. Since it happened several times, eight months wasn't exactly outrageous.However, he was now in a tight spot. He had no clue what kind of skills they had, and his [Stealth] skill was currently on cooldown. That meant he had to rely solely on his ability to stay quiet and hidden until they passed. If he was lucky, t