Summoned Again?

When I was nearly done looting and storing the bodies, one of the rats squeaked at me and pointed. I took out a crossbow and turned to look down the street at the patrol that was walking across it. I aimed and pulled the trigger, a bolt on a weightless rope flew across the distance instantly. It stuck into the being and covered it in a blue glow. Before it could react, I grabbed the rope and pulled.

“Meooooooooow!” The being howled as it flew through the air towards me, also weightless. I took out my sword and held it out in front of me, then watched as it was impaled and came to a stop at the hilt of the sword. It died and I received 1,375 experience. The other patrols must be taught to ignore loud sounds or something, because none of them diverted from their areas.

Either that, or they are concentrating so much that they can't be distracted. I though to myself and looted the body and stored it. I looked at my one use crossbow and sighed. “This thing is a pain in the ass to ravel back up again.” I stored it to do later and stored my sword as well. I finished the last few bodies in the clearing and walked over to the rats.

“Squeak! Grrr, squeak squeak.” The one with two eyes said.

“Yeah, thanks.” I said and looked at the other one. It still had a hand over its eye, so I reached for him. I wasn't as repulsed by them as I was when I first saw them and I wondered if it was an effect of the world as I adjusted to it or if it was being surrounded by puddles of blood and the battle that had eased my worry.

“Squeak!” The other said and blocked me.

“Relax.” I held both hands up, then pointed to his eye and at his friend.

“Squeak?” It asked, clearly confused.

“Yeah, squeak. Whatever the hell that means.” I said and very slowly reached over and put my armored hand on the rat's head. I concentrated on the Minor Healing ring I still wore and cast the spell, except I used my armor to power it and not its own enchantment. The rat's head glowed and there was a slopping sound for a few seconds.

“Squeak!” The rat said in surprise and moved its hand and looked at the other rat with two eyes.

“There, see?” I let it go and waved at it. “No more boo boo.”

“Squeak?” The other one said and knelt. “Grr? Squeak?” It waved a hand in front of it and saw the eye tracking. “SQUEAK! Squeak, squeaksqueaksqueak squeak squeaksqueak.”

“Shh! It's just unrestricted Minor Healing. It's not that big of a deal.” I said, walked over to the closest building that the big cat had come from, and it still had a red dot inside.

“Meow?” The being chained to the wall asked.

“Please tell me you speak Common.” I said as I walked over to it.

“Mrow? Meow, grr, merrow.”

I stopped next to it and realized something. It was female. The clothes she wore hid her figure almost perfectly and now that I was listening, the voice sounded more feminine and wasn't so rough. I reached for her and she hopped back.

“Meow!”

“That was definitely, 'don't touch me'.” I said and reached past her to the chains touching the wall. I thought about impressing her with my skills by crushing the chains, then chuckled at my stupidity for having that thought. “Unlock.” I said, using the ring I still wore. Her chains popped open and jumped away from her as if they had to get away.

“MEOW!” She exclaimed.

“Yeah, you're welcome.” I said and looked around. The place was pretty lavish, so I looted everything and she didn't move to stop me. I even took some horribly looking rusted weapons, guessing who they belonged to. Before I left, I decided to impress her anyway. “I hope he wasn't your mate or anything.” I said and took out the sabertooth tiger man's severed head.

“Merrow! Meow, meow mrow meow?”

“Yeah, I killed him and he's quite dead.” I said and pet the top of the head. “I might even mount it. It's pretty cool looking, isn't it?” I turned it and looked into the glazed eyes. “Now I need a taxidermist.” I chuckled and stored it and walked out the door. I looked to see the two rats were still hunkered down in the middle of town, I assumed to hide from the patrols, so I went to the next building. Two beings immediately attacked and I killed them, gaining the experience, loot, and their bodies. I was really glad they stacked and didn't take up a slot each.

I wasn't really sure why I was taking them, then I remembered all the bonuses I had gained when I absorbed all of those evil creatures on the last world. I just hoped it was possible to do it again here, otherwise, I was wasting my time.

I killed the last of the roaming patrols and found three more females in the buildings, who were quite impassive as I dispatched the males with them. I unlocked their chains and they gave me confused looks, until I showed them the severed head of the sabertooth. They reacted the same as the first one I had freed, which wasn't a surprise, really. I walked back towards the center of town.

“Why are you still here?” I asked the two rat men and made shooing motions with my hands.

“Squeak! Squeak squeak, grr, squeak!”

“I have no clue what you're saying.” I said. One of them pointed behind me at the four cats. “I know.” I said. My Search spell told me so. It would end when I left the village, though. It was an area specific spell and not a rolling one, which meant that I couldn't cast it and walk more than the spell's distance away. It would end and I would have to cast it again.

“Squeak?” One of the rats asked.

“I can't stop them from following me.” I said. “I won't attack non-combatants.”

“Squeak! Squeak, grr, squeaksqueak...”

“HISSS!” The four female cat people behind me hissed as one and the rat shut up.

“Well, that worked.” I said and turned to look at the cats. “I.” I pointed to my eye. “Walk.” I did a walking motion with my fingers across my armored hand. “That way.” I pointed down the road.

“Mrow?” The one I had found in the big cat's building said. “Meow.” She turned to the other three, then a quick snarling and hissing argument happened. The next thing I knew, I had her on my arm, one cat woman in front, and two behind.

“Do I even want to ask?” I asked her.

She put her arm around mine and easily intertwined her articulated paws with my armored fingers.

“Oh.” I said. “Okay, I get it. Hierarchy.”

“Meeeow.” She said softly with an undercurrent of a little purr.

I did not realize that I was someone who liked cats until that moment, because whatever she was purring, it went right through me and down my spine. To my surprise, it also gave me an erection.

“Oh, damn.” I whispered and her purr was interrupted as she meowed happily. I immediately realized that I hadn't rejected her, which probably meant she thought her bid for me had been accepted. “Definitely 'oh, damn'.” I said.

“Mrow!” She said and the one in front nodded and started walking where I wanted to go. I was urged to follow and started walking, too.

“Oh, before I forget.” I took out the weapons and tossed them to the rats. “Good luck!”

The rats just stared at us as we walked away.

“Well, they'll figure it out.” I said and walked to the edge of the village. We were like taking a leisurely stroll and I needed to get to the next village quickly. I had a mystery to figure out and to find out what the hell I was supposed to do to save the world. Maybe I should have stayed and listened to the goddess?

I looked at the four cat people around me and wondered if I did the right thing by slaughtering them all. The cat women didn't seem to be too bothered by it, at least. Of course, they were chained up and restrained, so they were probably just grateful to be free. I looked at them again and I couldn't see their faces, not that I could determine what they might be feeling if I could see their faces. Assuming they had actual cat faces like the big guy.

I held in my sigh and I hoped that whatever the next village held, wouldn't automatically try to have me killed. As soon as we left the outskirts of the village, my Search spell ended. I walked a little faster and they kept pace. I walked even faster and they kept pace. I chuckled and the one holding my hand let out a happy meow.

I had a quick flash of Divine Sight and saw us running happily. That was it. No fight, no ambush, no anything else. It was just us running. “All right. Let's run.” I said and ran. They easily kept pace, which was great, because we could cover a large amount of ground if this was our travelling speed. I wasn't going as fast as I could, either. I knew there was no way they could keep up if I went all out, thanks to the vision, and maintained a fun pace for everyone.

The cat woman beside me purred loudly and gripped my armored hand tightly.

*

“Squeak.” One of the rats said.

“Squeak, squeaksqueak, grr.” The other said.

“Squeak, squeak.” The first said and picked up the old and rusted weapons. He handed the other one his share, then the two of them crept out of the village. They saw the armored being, whatever it was, disappear into the distance. They crept along the ground almost soundlessly as they approached the hidden burrow that was nestled inside the roots of a tree. When they opened it, it was filled with other rats.

“Squeak.” The scout whispered.

“Squeak. Grr squeaksqueak squeak.” One of the others responded.

“Squeak squeak.” The scout said and pointed down the road, then it stepped back and a hundred rats poured out of the burrow. It was attached to a tunnel they had dug to assault the village. Now that everyone was dead and it was empty, the rats claimed it for their own.

The scouts were sent back to the colony to tell them the good news. Soon, several hundred rats would be living there and giving birth to help populate their forces. The buildings were huge and there was a lot to forage in the area, which would make it the perfect breeding pit.

The scouts were given high squeaks as praise, choice of their own females, and then positions inside the new village. Their contribution to the colony was recognized and respected. Their words of warning about the powerful armored stranger that spoke the language of the gods were laughed off as a good story. They moved off with their fellow settlers and exchanged low squeaks, then promised each other to stay vigilant.