CHAPTER 15: Meat! Glorious Meat!
Food was becoming a finite resource for him right now. He could only rely on another mutated rat showing up so he could hunt it. His immediate goals were to find where he could locate food—maybe a monster nest or something. Next was to find additional clues and information about this place that he could study when he wasn't busy staying alive.
Marching forward was a painstakingly slow crawl. He was obviously a paranoid and cowardly person, and putting him in the dark just amplified that by a hundred times.
Every step he took was measured and gut-wrenching. He couldn't see past a hundred feet with the little light he had, weapons ready. But he also had to use good judgment about when and when not to use them.
Gauging distance was incredibly difficult, so he had no idea where he currently was relative to the sanctuary. Often, he might have just been going in circles since he'd somehow end up back at the sanctuary entrance.
He had to memorize everything, and the further he went, the more he began marking places as waypoints. He also kept looking for the blocked entrance he knew about.
As for monsters, he'd only encountered a second mutated rat so far. It wasn't as close to the sanctuary as the first one, so he had to either drag the bastard back there or make it chase him. He opted for the second approach—acting as bait, he shouted at the rat.
He knew it was more sensitive to sound than its useless eyes could ever be.
"Hey, bastard! I'm over here!" he shouted, enraging the rat, which located him fairly quickly. Now he'd have to be nimble and agile while running and evading the rat's fierce attacks.
Of course, it wasn't easy, but his stamina seemed to hold up much better now. Still, running in the dark with only limited knowledge was always going to spell disaster. He fumbled and got tripped up by a rock. Luckily for him, though, the rat overshot its frustrated attack.
This happened when he was already near the sanctuary's entrance.
"Whoooooo, you fucker! You made me stumble and fall—you'll pay for that!"
He knew he could somewhat handle the bastard now, but he still felt it would be a close call to be this confident. Wait, why was that? What the fuck? Since when did he have this kind of confidence?
That moment of distraction during his internal monologue was enough for the mutated rat to reengage him in battle. But somehow Benny caught on and evaded while preparing his own counterattack.
Another sidestep, then a slash to the rat's neck. He managed to cut it, though it was shallow. Now the mutated rat was bleeding, spurting everywhere. He was more surprised at how easy it was this time compared to fighting the first mutated rat.
Time to finish it off. But first, he made sure to observe the rat's behavior.
Obviously, this dumb fucker didn't know any better and attacked Benny right away. It was more enraged about being wounded than concerned about its own life. Of course, Benny's movements weren't all just luck—he'd practiced over and over again while in the sanctuary, recalling what he could have done better the first time he'd killed a mutated rat. Now he had some understanding through mental visualization of how to do it next time.
As the monster charged at him once more, he only adjusted a few movements and repeated almost the same technique. But this time it was clean and precise—he lopped off the rat's head cleanly even with his broken sword.
He was out of breath, shivering, and sweating buckets, yes. But this time he'd done it with just two slashes. He was more surprised at himself than at the fact that something was definitely different about him since waking up before. His power had increased significantly—or maybe it was just because he had a clearer mind. Either way, it wasn't a loss for him and would make hunting these rats faster, safer, and more efficient.
With that accomplished, he began the process of butchering the monster for its meat and other usable parts.
The work was messy but familiar now. He'd gotten better at separating the useful bits from the garbage. The hide could be useful for bindings or patches. The bones could be sharpened into weapons or tools. The meat, though tough and gamey, was protein he desperately needed.
As he worked, he couldn't shake the feeling that something fundamental had changed about him. The way he'd moved during the fight, the confidence that had bubbled up from nowhere, the clean precision of that final strike—none of it felt like the old Benny.
But he was still the same coward who'd rather hide than fight. Still the same guy who talked to himself and jumped at shadows. Whatever was happening to him was gradual, subtle. Like his body was changing faster than his mind could keep up.
"Acquisition of food supply complete!" he announced to the empty darkness, grinning despite himself.
For once, something had gone according to plan. He had meat, he had materials, and he'd proven he could handle himself in a fight—at least against these rats.
Now he just had to get it all back to the sanctuary without running into anything worse than a mutated rodent. In this fucked-up labyrinth, that was probably asking for too much luck.
But hey, he was still breathing and still had food. For Benny, that counted as a major victory.