Tunnel Rat

This wasn't a fight to first blood. They would keep fighting until one side or another yielded. Gilad urged them, yelling at them to keep moving, not letting either side pause to catch their breath. The three players were only in the first tier. They had stats only half of what Milo had. He was faster and better trained than they were. But they had numbers, and could use their claws. Milo had to keep moving continuously. If one of them pinned him down, the others would pile on that would be the end of the fight. Milo also wanted to avoid the bruises that would come from getting tackled and beaten by all three at once.

Milo swiped with his tail whenever he got the chance, tripping his opponents and making them trip over each other. He constantly moved so they got in each other’s way. His opponents had forgotten about their own tails and simply tried to claw at him or grapple. This gave him reach they didn't have. Again and again, he would slash at them with his tail after a half spin, and then retreat a few steps, circling the ring and making them chase him, only to suddenly double back and strike again.

Milo saw no reason he couldn't use his arms to block their attacks. The rule he was given was that he simply couldn't strike back with his claws. Blocks weren't strikes. Again, and again the three of them came close, leaving scratches on Milo's hands and arms. He took several swipes to his body, but they only had weak claws, and the cuts were shallow.

Eventually, he knew he would wear out, from loss of blood and stamina. He was putting out a lot more energy that his opponents. Of course, he started with far more than they did. Even so, where they could jog after him, spreading out to try and pin him one part of the arena, he had to be constantly sprinting.

But a curious thing was happening-he wasn't getting tired. His heart rate was a little faster and he was breathing hard, but he was barely sweating. His opponents were far worse. Their steps dragged on the ground and more and more Gilad's admonished them, his voice pushing them to charge Milo. Once he knew he had an advantage, Milo waited for the opportunity to take one of them out.

Blackwhisker volunteered to be his next victim. Gilad's voice cut through the noise of the fight. "Why do you fear him, Blackwhisker? I've heard your boasts and now is your chance." The larger ratkin charged Milo, the other two were slow to do so, panting hard. As Blackwhisker came at him, Milo feinted with his claws, sidestepped, and wrapped his tail around Blackwhisker’s ankles. As the player hit the ground face-first, Milo leaped and landed with both feet on Blackwhisker’s head, driving it into the ground. Milo tumbled forward, coming to his feet as the other two advanced.

MickyD and MightyMarmot were exhausted. The bout had only been going on for a dozen minutes, but for them it felt like an all-out sprint. Each of them had bruises where Milo's tail had slapped at each of them repeatedly. They looked at their opponent, knowing that Blackwhisker was out of the fight. Tall-Squeak was barely breathing hard, and to their surprise, the small gashes on his arms were healing. He was favoring one leg as he moved, but otherwise looked ready to continue.

Marmot stumbled to the edge of the arena and collapsed. "I yield".

MickyD just slumped to his knees. "Yeah, me too. Yield. Damned if I fight you again. You’re psycho dude, how do you fight like that?"

Gilad walked to the center of the ring. "He can fight like that because he's trained more and has a higher level. You three are a mix of level 3 and level 4. Tallsqueak is level 7 and probably has twice the health and stamina of the rest of you. I don't know all of his skills, but its obvious to anyone that he has trained his Sense Danger skill and raised his Regeneration. These are things all ratkin can do. If that is you work hard, and take on dangerous quests, or kill dangerous creatures."

"And fighting dangerous creatures changes you in another way: You learn to push yourself! You could have ended this fight earlier if you had given it your all, endured his attacks and pushed through them. Four on one and you lose? I see much training in your futures if you wish to become strong."

He held up one of Milo's arms. "Look at him, barely wounded after blocking dozens of slashes and taking many small wounds." He squinted at Milo, noticing his suspiciously clean pants and still shiny fur. "And I'm sure he has a few secrets, but don't we all? Let's get some healing potions into you four. You should see some good improvement in your claw attacks after this. The rest of you, switch partners, and do your claw exercises. Tall-Squeak, we must talk."

His four opponents were each given two small healing potions and a stamina potion, and sent to rest. Gilad led Milo away to where they could talk. "You seem to be favoring one leg. Are you wounded?"

Milo touched his leg, finding the sore spot, and realizing he had been limping slightly. "Not from the fight. This is an earlier wound. I went mushroom gathering and got stung by a spider."

Gilad wrapped him on the head twice, but lightly. "No, you did not get 'Stung by a spider'. You were bitten."

"It is important to use the correct words less others misunderstand you. Spiders inject poison with their fangs. You must have found a named spiderling in the caverns for it to affect you that way. The only spiders who have stings are from the Royal line, and they certainly do not hunt in the area where we train beginners in gathering. If you had gone far enough past our fields and into the far tunnels, you might encounter a Royal. But you would also be dead. They are fearsome foes." He looked at Milo, waiting for him to confirm his understanding of the lesson.

Milo thought back to the fight. "No, I'm certain it was a stinger that got me. I had wounded the Deathmonger and it retreated, so I left the Brute behind and went to finish it. The Deathmonger dropped on me and stung me in the leg, it was really painful, and the poison almost got me. But I'm better now."

Gilad stared at him. "Tallsqueak? Why were you foolish enough to go to the far caverns? A Brute and a Deathmonger together is a deadly combination of spellcraft and fighting ability."

"Well, I needed to get some mushrooms for Bleusnout, he had a list, and sent me past the big gathering fields. He also said to run if I saw a spider. And Old Healer needed some mushrooms too, and mentioned a cave it would be bad to go into. And... well...I think I went too far and didn't run when I should have. It was my fault I got in trouble."

The tail-master considered the youngster in front of him. How could he tell all the others to push themselves and work to get better, and then chastise this one for doing exactly that? Surviving the poison had obviously given him the ability of better regeneration and cleansed his body.

"You survived and didn't die. That is important. Did you learn a lesson about trying to fight spiders of the Royal bloodlines?"

Milo considered. What had he learned? "Drop on them so they can't drop on you. Kill the Deathmongers first. And always have an escape route."

Gilad patted him on the shoulder. "Yes, all good things to do. I'm glad you have learned something. You've had an exciting day. Go get some food in you, you look thinner. “Milo nodded, he was famished after the fight and it was breakfast time.

He was a dozen steps away when Gilad said something else. "We shall have to deal with them though. I will gather Justin and some of the guards, and you can lead us to them. We cannot leave a pair of Royals alive, so close to the Hollow."

Milo turned back to talk. "Oh, I got them all. It was hard, but all three of the big ones are dead. It really upset the rest of the spiders though."

Gilad looked at Tall-Squeak. "Three? You killed three Royal spiders?"

Milo nodded. "The ones with the stingers, yes. One was an Assassin, and two others were Black Widows."

Gilad sighed heavily. "Of course, you did." He waved Milo away. "Go get food, Tall-Squeak. Try not to do anything dangerous at breakfast."

Milo ran off to eat. Maybe it was little fishies day?