Chapter 15: Complete My First Mission
Kael came out with the notice.
While on Earth, Kael had worked part-time on a farm during the summer. He'd shoveled manure, mended fences, and—yes—killed rats. The little bastards had a knack for sneaking into the grain silos, gorging themselves until their bellies dragged on the ground. The farm's senior worker had taught him the trick of it: wait until dusk, when they got bold, then take them out one by one with a pellet gun. Quiet. Efficient.
The Guild gave him the address of the warehouse where he had to kill rats.
It was on the outskirts of the city, so it took him about an hour to get there.
He saw an old man there.
"You the rat boy?" the man grunted.
Kael paused. "...Yeah."
"Follow me."
The man didn't waste time. He led Kael through a side door into the grain warehouse. Inside, it was dark—just the filtered light of wall slats and the overseer's lamp. The smell was worse than any barn Kael had ever worked in.
"Ten crates of grain ruined in the last week," the overseer muttered. "Bastards chew through the sacks like it's their birthright. Regular traps ain't working. Couple of my boys went in last night and saw something big. Real big."
"How big?"
The overseer gave him a flat look. "One said the thing looked like a damn dog. Ran up a wall and vanished."
Kael frowned. That wasn't just a rat. That was anime rat-tier nonsense.
"I'll take care of it," Kael said, keeping his voice steady.
"Door locks behind you. Safety and all. When you're done, knock twice."
The man handed him a stubby oil lamp and shut the door behind him with a solid clunk.
Kael waited a second—just listening. There were distant scuffles. Scratching.
He tightened his grip on the dagger—Shadowforged.
Then black smoke emerged from the runes carved on the knife and wrapped itself around Kael's wrist, curling in a spiral and disappearing into his skin.
Kael flinched. "...What the hell—?"
Too late for questions.
A sharp skitter echoed overhead. Kael's eyes flicked up.
THWIP.
The dagger flew from his hand without conscious thought, leaving behind a ripple in the air—like heat distortion, but darker.
CLNK—THMP.
The rat hit the floor, blood hissing against the stone like acid. Shadowforged spun in midair and returned to Kael's grip, the blade impossibly clean.
"What the..."
He crouched low, heart thudding in rhythm with the faint hum of power crawling through his veins. The warehouse stretched ahead like a maze of death and silence.
More giant rats emerged. Their eyes glowed red.
With a terrifying roar, they charged toward Kael.
—FLASH—
His blade left trails of violet light, each slash ringing out like a chime of tempered glass breaking perfectly.
The first rat burst into ash midair.
The second lunged.
Kael countered, and time fractured.
For a heartbeat, he saw through the rat—its bones, its fear, the coiled instinct in its chest.
He twisted. Slammed it with the force of ten men. The impact left a sigil-shaped scorch on the wood.
Smoke curled. Kael exhaled.
"Okay... something's up with this knife."
Then, from the dark, a growl.
The beast stepped out.
Like a boss fight. Eyes glowing. Armor scrap in its maw. Every footfall echoed like a war drum. The collar around its neck shimmered with cursed light.
Kael's dagger pulsed harder now. The runes flared—bright violet—and a ring of glyphs hovered in the air behind him, spinning slow and ominous.
The music would kick in now, if this were a show.
The rat charged.
Kael moved.
His blade exploded into five mirrored copies—shards of blackened light orbiting him like a crown of blades.
—KRAKOW!
He kicked a grain sack. Dust filled the air like glittering fog.
The rat leapt.
Kael hurled the lantern.
The screen would go white.
WHOOMPH.
Cut to silence. Then the sound returns—slowly. Flames dancing. The beast screeching in agony.
Kael stood, silhouette framed in the inferno. The dagger hovered beside him, spinning once before sheathing itself at his side.
Ah, this knife is great. I thought it was just a regular knife. Hmm, if it's a magic knife, there are more like it in the basement. Hmm, I'll have to check those out later.
Kael looked at the dead bodies.
Huh? It had a collar around its neck.
It wasn't a wild rat. Someone had trained it. The collar had a sigil—a spiral rune etched in bronze.
He took it.
Hmm... should I give this to the Guild or use the Exchange to earn some money?
Kael then walked to the door. He knocked twice.
The door opened, and the overseer squinted through the smoke. "You alive?"
"Barely," Kael muttered. "But your rat problem's solved."
The man stared past him, saw the smoking corpse of the beast, and let out a long, low whistle.
"Gods. That's no rat. That's a damned demon in fur."
Kael handed over the Guild slip. "Job's done."
The overseer didn't argue. He scribbled his seal on the slip and handed over a small pouch.
"Twelve bronze. As promised."
Kael weighed the pouch in his hand. Not much by Earth standards—but it felt good.
...
Back at the Guild, the receptionist raised an eyebrow when he turned in the slip and the collar.
"You found this… on a rat?"
"That's what I thought, too. But look at the rune."
She studied it, her brow furrowing. "That's a binding mark. Not common. Used by rogue mages to bind lesser beasts. This wasn't a natural infestation."
"So someone's testing trained monsters in a grain warehouse?"
She nodded slowly. "It's possible. I'll report it to the Guildmaster. But you… You did well."
He turned to leave, then stopped. "One more thing. How much would a rune-marked collar like that go for?"
"Depends. If it's active, you could get two or three silver from a mage. Even more if it belonged to someone on the watchlist."
Kael pocketed the collar. "Good to know."