Ethan came to a halt. He drew his [Frostblade], keeping his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.
Cautiously, he moved toward the source of the sound.
Soon enough, a black rat the size of a hunting dog appeared in Ethan's line of sight.
The massive black rat was gnawing on a blood-stained bone with dagger-like front teeth.
Before Ethan could make a move, the huge black rat suddenly stopped gnawing. It lifted its head and looked straight at Ethan.
Only then did Ethan notice that the mutant rat's eyes were red, locked onto him with a bloodthirsty hunger.
The fight broke out in an instant.
Without any hesitation, Ethan gripped his [Frostblade] tightly and launched an attack at the mutant rat. He immediately spent 2 points of energy to activate the [Frostblade]'s special effect.
An icy chill swept through the sewer, and the mutant rat's speed dropped noticeably.
Ethan seized the opening, thrusting his blade straight at the rat's eye.
He didn't have many vulnerable spots to aim for, but the eyes were clearly the mutant rat's biggest weakness. Even if it didn't kill the rat outright, he could at least take away some of its vision.
But to Ethan's surprise, just as his blade was about to reach the rat's eye, it suddenly curled up into a ball.
The tip of the [Frostblade] stabbed deep into the rat's black fur, as easily as popping a bubble.
In an instant, the mutant rat let out a piercing, miserable shriek and died on the spot.
Ethan was stunned for a second at the sight. It wasn't until a ball of purple light floated up from the rat's corpse that he realized he had killed it.
Come to think of it, this was just a newbie quest, only available to players below level eight.
Even though Ethan was only level five, the weapons and gear he carried were far beyond what most players had. Taking out a mutant rat like this was child's play for him.
After figuring out what was going on, Ethan quickly turned his attention to the Intel reward in his watch's [Inventory].
[Guild Hidden Quest Intel]
[Quality]: Purple Quality
[Requirement]: Guild Leader
[Description]: This is a hidden guild quest in Safe Zone 9527, and only the Guild Leader can accept it in person. After completing the quest, you'll be rewarded with 100 guild reputation points and a blue-quality weapon.
A hidden guild quest?
Ethan didn't know much about guild matters. He only had a general idea from the forums that the Coffin Guild was the strongest guild in Safe Zone 9527, and it was a level two guild.
Of course, that was before Coffin Guild messed with him—now, it probably couldn't be called the strongest guild in Safe Zone 9527 anymore.
A newly established guild starts out as level one. Only by doing guild quests and raising the guild's reputation high enough can you level up the guild and become a level two guild.
Other than Coffin Guild, there weren't any other level two guilds in Safe Zone 9527.
Rumor had it that Coffin Guild spent hundreds of thousands—aside from all the manpower and time—just to complete the guild quests and level up their reputation to reach level two.
Right now, Ethan wasn't in a guild, and he wasn't planning to start one anytime soon.
So this Intel reward wasn't something he could keep for himself.
Still, this [Guild Hidden Quest Intel] would definitely be valuable for other guilds.
Aside from the [Guild Hidden Quest Intel], Ethan also received all the information on the mutant rats. Their real name should be [Slightly Infected Common Rat].
They fear sunlight. They fear fire. Their eyes and bellies are their weak points. They love eating fresh flesh and blood. They were originally just ordinary rats, but when they ventured into the deepest part of the sewers, they became infected...
The deepest part of the sewers, huh?
Ethan figured there had to be other monsters down there—or maybe even the source of whatever was mutating these rats.
Based on the names of these mutant rats, Ethan guessed that, besides the [Slightly Infected Common Rat], there must also be heavily infected mutant rats.
He just wasn't sure if killing those rats would count as killing a new type of monster, and whether that would drop a new Intel reward.
The [Guild Hidden Quest Intel] wasn't much help in boosting his own strength right now. Maybe he could trade it with other guilds for some high-quality weapons and gear.
But that would take some time, and Ethan figured it wouldn't be long before Coffin Guild's players showed up in the sewers.
He needed to power up fast, kill new monsters, and get Intel rewards that could help him become stronger quickly.
With that in mind, Ethan continued heading deeper into the sewers.
The farther he went, the worse the smell got, and more [Slightly Infected Common Rats] kept appearing.
Ethan killed about seven or eight of the [Slightly Infected Common Rats], but his level still didn't change much.
Then, after taking down another [Slightly Infected Common Rat] and collecting its incisors, he suddenly heard something unusual behind him.
He turned around to see a massive, two-headed rat drooling foul-smelling saliva, its four crimson eyes fixed on him with a greedy stare.
Ethan didn't panic at all. His hand, gripping the [Frostblade], trembled slightly—not out of fear, but excitement.
If he could kill this giant two-headed rat, he should be able to get a new Intel reward, right?
Both the giant two-headed rat and Ethan saw each other as prey.
Ethan tightened his grip on the [Frostblade] and immediately activated the weapon's special effect. Except for killing the very first [Slightly Infected Common Rat], he hadn't used any energy or the Frostblade's ability.
Now, facing a clearly stronger enemy, Ethan went all out.
Man and rat collided in an instant.
Ethan aimed for the giant rat's eyes, but just as the [Frostblade] was about to strike, a thick, powerful tail came whistling toward him.
Ethan had no choice but to abandon his attack and switch to defense.
His [Defense] stat was pretty low—if he got hit, he'd definitely take some serious damage.
He managed to block the giant two-headed rat's tail perfectly with the [Frostblade], then had a sudden idea and reached out to grab the tail.
Before the giant rat could react, Ethan's [Frostblade] came down fast, slashing right at the tail he was holding.
The razor-sharp blade sliced through the rat's tail in one smooth motion.
The giant two-headed rat let out a scream that echoed through the whole sewer.
In"Dawnfall Online," pain isn't just something players can feel—monsters can feel it too, and they'll howl when they're hurting.
When those dagger-like incisors of the giant rat bit into Ethan's arm, his expression didn't even flinch—his movements didn't slow down at all.
This pain was nothing compared to the headaches Ethan endured every day.
With speed and precision, his [Frostblade] stabbed right at the spot where the two heads joined—and he twisted the blade hard.
The searing pain forced the giant rat to let go of his arm.
Ethan gripped the [Frostblade] with both hands and pressed down with all his strength.
Foul, reeking blood gushed out like a fountain.
In no time, the giant two-headed rat went limp and collapsed onto the ground, dead.
Ethan didn't even glance at his wounded arm. Instead, he stared at the giant rat's corpse and let out a disappointed sigh.
No new Intel reward dropped. Looks like the giant two-headed rat and the [Slightly Infected Common Rat] are counted as the same type of monster.
Still, the faint warmth flowing from his wrist device eased his disappointment a bit.
He knew what that meant—he'd just leveled up.
Sure enough, when he checked his stats on his watch, his level was now six, and he had one attribute point waiting to be assigned.
Blood was still streaming from the wound on his arm, but Ethan wasn't worried. Among the loot dropped by the Coffin Guild players earlier, there were some healing items.
He gave the wound a quick, basic treatment, and as he watched his HP slowly tick back up, Ethan started collecting the monster's incisors.
Just as he tossed the fangs into his [Inventory], dust began to rain down from the wall above the sewer, and the filthy water at his feet started to ripple violently.