The Lust Gamer: A Naruto LitRPG (version 1) Chapter 12, a naruto fanfic

I immediately stopped all my movements. I didn't even swallow the spit I had in my throat.

Observe.

Observation target: Rejected Juvenile Rat Mage (level 56)

Threat level: Very High

…

Why wasn't I able to observe its stats?!

I was able to observe a level 44 rat runt at level 30!

But…I already knew why. For one, levels were harder to gain the higher it gets and a difference between levels 100 and 101 was enormous compared to the difference in levels 30 to 40. The exp required was higher each level you go.

Plus, somethings had tiers. Some of my skills had tiers that developed from basic to intermediate to advanced to mastery to tiers that I haven't even discovered yet. I was sure that the rat's growth tier was different to the runt ones. Each tier reset at level 30 and, like levelling, were harder to progress for each tier. A single level in the mastery tier took more time than 5 levels in the advanced tier. Often times a change in tiers even required a deep understanding of what you're doing. Other times it was actually a combination of advanced skills. It was why I was able to progress my weapons skill to the mastery tier after combining Advanced Kunai weaponry, Advanced Shiruken Weaponry, Advanced Senbon Weaponry and Advanced Marksmanship. Kenjutsu for some reason didn't combine into weapons mastery like the others.

It terms of hand to hand, since I hadn't picked a taijutsu style, I wasn't able to get my Taijutsu above the advanced stage. I simply hadn't discovered what I was talented at yet to decide which style works for me (despite all my spars with Sayuri). There was no use in learning Goken and other styles when you don't favour kicking during your fights. Nor use gentle first when you can't locate pressure points accurately.

In Earth terms It may be like taking a young Muhammed Ali and teaching him Taekwondo instead of boxing. In the ninja world, people were even more wildly different. Some were more flexible, some were faster, some were stronger, some were more precise, some were more durable and could allow to themselves to risk taking more hits, some even liked just turn into giant human bowling balls like the Akimichi.

I needed to discover what I was talented at in taijutsu after many battles.

…battles like this one.

I calmed my breathing and tried to become even quieter. I knew that one couldn't be completely silent. There was always something minuscule that could give you away. A quick intake of breath, a tiny pebble in your sandals, a brushing of your clothes against your skin, even the sound of your gastric juices working!

[Ding!]

[You have discovered a new skill: Sneak!]

…

That was very, very nice. I was a ninja. Sneaking was something I definitely needed to master.

The rat was about 10 meters away. Its whiskers were twitching imperceptibly almost as if smelling the air…

Oh shit. It could probably smell really, really well too…but how much did that matter in the stink of the sewer? Could it detect the difference between different kinds of awful smells? It probably could.

I needed a plan of attack. Rushing it may take too much time and its sharp sense could potentially alert it to my presence before I could reach it. Sneaking up to it was better but may risk exposure through scent rather than sound. If it detected me before I was close enough to strike, it could turn the tables against me. The longer I took to get to it, to more likely it was to discern my presence.

A mixture of the two then. I'll sneak up right until I am close enough, then rush in and stab it in the face. There was no need to backstab something that was blind.

I took a step forwards so slowly, I may as well be moving in a giant tub of quick sand. It was clunky, and my muscle fibres were too tense with stress. I made small involuntary movements that made the rat twitch slightly but luckily it went back to being neutral after I froze all my limbs in place.

[Sneak has levelled up!]

I needed to be more graceful. I couldn't get my muscles to relax and not tense up. I wasn't used to being in such a high-pressure stealth situation. Sneaking up on a rat runt that I had a chance to deal with was one thing, sneaking up on what seemed to be a mini-boss with extra sensory abilities was another thing entirely.

Then I had an idea. A stroke of genius and stupidity mixed together. An idea so outlandish that there was simply no way it would work.

My neglected skill.

Activate Dancing.

[Skill: Dancing Activated]

There was never a moment in my 15 years of Jin Takezuchi's life that I even wanted to try dancing. It may have been because it was a mundane skill…but to be frankly honest it was because of mental trauma. Unlike breathing, dancing was something Bob Hasek didn't do quite often. But when he did, he was very, very, very bad at it. And since Bob had no awareness or even a lick or care of other people's judgement, when the music turned on in a wedding or a group meeting, he would sometimes whip out whatever dancing moves his terribly slow mind could come up with. Some of them were inappropriate and even suggestive for all the wrong reasons. Humps that looked like a camel both procreating and giving birth at the same time was not far from something out of Bob's dancing repertoire. Just the thought of it sent a chill down my spine…and that was only one of Bob's many, many, many embarrassing dancing moments.

But this time, as the skill activated it was almost as if a strange warm yet also chilling sensation flowed through my body. My tense muscles started relaxing, my movements more graceful, and even my confidence in my own body's movements had increased. It was incredible. This skill was incredible! I could feel my limbs as if they were nothing but an appendage that was capable of immense artistic impression, they could flow like water and be as rigid as the earth. Each stride flowed into the next and what was previously 10 minutes of 3 painfully slow and nervous steps just to reach a few meters forwards became but a few seconds of confident strides. It was as if I glided to the rat without touching the floor!

[Dancing has levelled up!]

Levelling up through just walking gracefully! I should have done this ages ago!

Leaving my impression of the dancing skill aside, when I got in range, my hands struck as quick as lightning. It was the sheer pleasure of my achievement, the confidence of my abilities and the recently gained pride at the usefulness of what seemed to be a mundane irrelevant skill…that I was too arrogant to think that it would be that easy.

Because when my blade landed, it didn't hit bone and flesh, it didn't make blood gush out of the creature's neck, it didn't even touch the creature.

In my momentum and the blindsided affect of anticipating hitting something solid that I stumbled forwards…right through the rat.

I immediately looked backwards, staring at my enemy…only to find that it was standing in the exact same place in the exact same position…

Then the image of the rat fizzled then faded away. It was like…It was like…

…A genjutsu…It was an illusion!

A sudden rapid clicking sound to my left alerted me just in time to dodge and roll out of the way as a massive fireball blasted the spot where I was standing. I barely had enough time to get back on my feet before having to dodge again from another fireball. And no, these weren't even your regular run-of-the-mill uchiha fire ball jutsu type of thing. The fireball was blue. It was fucking blue.

The raging heat that emanated from the thing almost burned the skin right off my very body.

Then the clicking sound got more rapid and far louder than I would like. I turned to see a giant, writhing shadow indiscernible in features but easily monstrous in size, far bigger than the rat illusion ever was.

I dashed to the corner where I'd come from and narrowly made it by the skin of my teeth as yet another fireball blew past me. This thing was dishing these fireballs out like they were free tacos on taco Tuesday. If the residents of my old world were watching me right now, they would tell me to go back to face that giant…thing, then man up and fight it!

Absolutely not.

I glanced back at the object of my terror who seemed to be tracking me. First, there was nothing in sight, just the terrifying clicking sounds from the sewer corner that I came from.

Then, what seemed to be a giant mass of black ragged lump of fur ran past the corner and smacked itself to the opposite wall that connected it. And by the great bristles of Gandalf's beard, the thing was massive. It was probably five times as tall as I was when standing on its rear legs—which it was doing—and three times as wide. It looked exactly like the illusion of the rat I saw before but gigantified. The terrifying eye-less sockets held such a dark blackness inside of them, it was as if I was staring into my nightmares themselves.

…I've made an error. A grievous miscalculation.

Adrenaline rushed through me, kicking everything into high gear. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get back to the entrance.

I ran. I ran fast. In fact, I don't think I've ever run faster in all the days of my life…

…Only to then remember one more little detail that I may have forgotten about... The minimum limit of the dungeon was three days…and I'd only spent two here.

I was so dead. So very very dead.

I had yet to discover the maximum time one can spend in a dungeon but I should've played it safe and just camped out the first three days doing nothing, then start exploring once the 'leave' option was available. That way, if I was able to escape from hostile mobs and was able to make it back, I would be able to leave.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

The thing was, I'd already come up with that idea the moment I decided to come back to the dungeon…but I was overconfident. Even after my first traumatic experience, I was positive that I could handle the rat runts with relative ease with the help of the black death. What I didn't account for was a giant fucking mage rat that could use illusion magic and was capable of slinging blue fireballs from a giant wooden staff.

I needed it to lose its chase. Asap.

All that talk about honour and pride and vengeance against these rats and here I am, running again. At least this time I didn't blame myself. I blamed the dungeon. I mean, what the heck was this?! How did it justify stepping up from a rejected rat runt to this friggin' monster so quickly?

The rat roared and dished out another fireball. This time I wasn't so lucky in my evasive roll. I was a second too late in the manoeuvre and it cost me a fireball to the shoulder. The pain was debilitating like someone splashed boiling acrid acid on my behind.

Holy fuck, it hurts like hell.

Unlike some of the manwha's Bob read in his old life, there was no gamer's body or gamer's mind that allowed me to escape from physical pain and think rationally at all times. No. This was real pain. And by Gandalf's ugly pointed hat, it burns and stings like molten lava.

I reached into my waist pack and grabbed one of the soldier pills. I bit into it and immediately felt my draining chakra be refilled like the first rain from a long drought. Most obviously, I'd been channelling my chakra and using it to enhance my body the entire time—It was the only reason I was still alive at this point.

I rounded another corner as I finally felt the full effects of the soldier pill hit me. My chakra coils burned from being over-filled. The soldier pills were meant only for those with high-chuunin levels of chakra capacity—with the exception of those from the Akimichi clan.

I kept one in my waist pack just in case for emergencies like this where I was left with no other options. Now with fully matured chakra coils, most damages to my meridians or the coils themselves should be able to recover from most injuries done to them…probably.

It didn't make it any less painful.

With a quick thought—and another dodge to the left, avoiding another fireball—I dumped all my spare stat points into chakra capacity. Immediately I felt a tingle then an unholy itch that felt like ants were consuming my insides. Luckily, unlike levelling charisma, chakra capacity was relatively quick and easy to upgrade. The process was comparatively simpler after all. Unlike all the nuances of upgrading my appearance with its many factors, putting stat points into my chakra capacity just made my existing meridians sturdier and my chakra coils wider and thicker. The process lasted only about five minutes to finish. In those five minutes, with the skill of my dancing and 15 years of training, I managed to dodge about 3 more fireballs whilst trying to make it back to the general direction of the entrance.

One thing that I noticed when coming to this area was that the murky water that normally separated the two concrete walkways of the sewer was now dry. There wasn't a single drop of liquid to be seen. At the time when I initially noticed it, I didn't think too much of it, guessing that it was just a part of the dungeon appearance variety.

Now I knew why. With the blindness of a bat, the giant rat wizard would be able to swim if it fell in the waters. That meant that this entire area was meant for it alone. It was a boss zone.

The rat crashed into another concrete wall and got back up unfazed, continuing to track me down and occasionally hurling fireballs at me. Good thing it couldn't see so it wasn't as accurate as it could be. Else i'd be a charred husk already.

When my chakra coils stopped itching I still felt the strain of the soldier pill induced chakra within it. I'm guessing that the coils are still no where near the level it needed to be to handle the large influx of chakra.

And thus I came up with a stupid, absolutely reckless and dangerous idea.

I still had too much chakra in my system and I didn't know a fast way to get rid of the excess chakra quickly without it doing too much damage to my coils and meridians.

So I made a hand sign into a two fingered cross, willed my chakra to act as intended and shouted:

"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"

I was filled with hope with the jutsu. The dangerous situation allowed me to push past my limits and do something I've never done before. I haven't even mastered the regular clone jutsu!

And yet I felt the excess chakra leaving my system and then something akin to a smoke bomb exploded at my side, making a popping sound in the process.

It revealed…

A shadow clone of me…

…only it was about knee length in height and looked sickly pale.

[Chakra Manipulation has levelled up!]

I looked at the dwarven Jin and he looked back at me, blinking.

"This is your fault!" Dwarf Jin said, pointing a finger at me. His voice was squeaky and high-pitched. "Don't look at me like that!"

I mentally cringed. My chakra was ripped in half. My other stats however, thankfully stayed the same for both of us…maybe except of charisma for the dwarf Jin.

"It'll have to be enough." I said, gasping for air. "you already know what to do"

Mini-Jin nodded and dashed right on the upcoming intersection, screaming: "COME AND GET ME YOU GIANT BLIND UGLY RATTTTTTT"

I went to the left, got a bit of distance away and stayed as silent as I could.

The giant rat crashed into the wall of the intersection a moment later and I finally found the oportunity to cast my skill.

Observe.

[Observation Target: Rejected Royal Supreme Rat Sorcerer, Gannoth the Betrayer (level 124)]

[Threat level: Doomed]

Holy shit. Level 124!? The other rat runts didn't even go past level 50! Why was this a thing?!

The boss of this C-tier dungeon should've been level 75 at most! Heck, this was even the first time I saw a 'doomed' threat level.

I needed to get out of here. I've been saying this a lot but if repetition of words could magically teleport me out of here, then this was the moment to do so.

No such luck.

I continued my path to the left of the tunnel, trying to make as much distance and as little noise as I could.

It wasn't until five minutes later when I reached the first signs of the sewers being filled once again with water that my clone popped and a sudden rush of memories invaded my thoughts.

It was disorienting but didn't break my stride as I paved my way back to the dungeon entrance. I figured that I was already out of the boss zone but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The clone had tried to throw some senbon at it before it went out. It didn't work. Senbon are normally less deadly than kunai and shuriken but to make up for it, it had more piercing power. Thus it was a popular weapon with poison users.

The senbon bounced off the creature's skin. It didn't even leave a scratch.

It was all I gleamed from the shadow clone before it was popped by a fireball to the face.

Not a moment later, I heard a deep triumphant roar fill the tunnels as the giant mage rat thought it had killed its prey. I paid it no mind however as I continued my tactical retreat—yes, that was what I was labelling this as.

But the roar did more than just showcase a cry of victory. I heard a responding shriek of a rat runt.

Then another.

It felt like there were dozens of them there. All heading from the direction of the dungeon entrance.

That made no sense whatsoever. I've spent the last two days here mapping out the dungeon. So far I know every tunnel there is within a 2-mile radius of the entrance. They weren't there before!

Where had all these rats come from?

I hesitated in my stride. The screeching and chittering were echoing about the sewer walls.

Then, with the split decision to save my own hide, I dashed left when I was supposed to take a right.

I had no illusions that I could take on an army of the rat runts, much less one being led by that blind wizard.

I was headed towards unexplored territory, a place unmarked by the map, away from the sound of the rats.

It was a mistake.

Because as I turned another corner—the only corner—I was met with a sudden sharp decline. A cliff heading downwards. The sewage water was like a waterfall cascading into an endless abyss.

I turned back the other way…only to stop as the sounds of the rats grew louder and louder and louder.

…

How many of them were there?!

And they were all coming my direction. Had they sensed me? tracked me by smell?

What do I do now?

I was left with two choices. Jump down the abyss or fight the incoming hoard.

…

It's not a choice really.

I'm fighting the hoard.

I'd rather take my chances fighting these cretins than jumping down a well that goes who-knows-how-deep. I just hope that the wizard rat wouldn't tag along after its victory.

I readied my blades. I'd always practised kenjutsu with a tanto or a wooden katana but for some odd reason, they never felt right in my hands despite me leveling up my kenjustsu skill.

The first runt rat turned the corner and I immediately threw my poisoned senbon at it. It pierced the rat's skin before it could even react and started spasming on the ground.

Another runt rat showed up, holding its Dao sword at the ready. I dashed to the dropped Dao sword of the first rat and brought it up just in time to parry the strike of the second as it leapt towards me.

I could feel the immense strength these runts had and even though I've levelled my skills and stats plenty high for my level so far, I still wasn't able to match them. Perhaps it was because of their beastly physicality but I couldn't block their swings outright. I had to angle my blade as it met theirs for the strike to slide to the side and miss me.

The rat didn't expect retaliation and as it over extended in the swing, digging its sword to the concrete below, I spun with my counter, lobbing its head clean off as making it roll a few steps away. It's headless neck started spraying blood like a geyser.

Gross.

[You have slain Rejected Rat Runt (level 48)]

[You have levelled up]

I turned to first rat, still spasming and most definitely dying but I made sure to end its life by slicing open its throat.

[You have slain Rejected Rat Runt (level 41)]

[You have levelled up]

I took a moment to revel in my triumph before I detected more of the rats coming.

The burn I'd received on my left shoulder was now nothing but an after thought. I still made a mental note to check on it later.

A trio of rat runts turned the corner next and perhaps it was because they saw the two dead rat corpses next to me that they all became weary. They each took stances, all different in style. One had his sword horizontally above its head, with its other arm in front of it and palm facing towards me. Another had both its hand on its sword which was pointed upwards with the handle near the center of its chest like english knights of old. The last had its sword in front of it, taking more of a fencing stance.

They were all imperfect. With my religious studies in kenjutsu and taijutsu I could somewhat make out the optimal stances for the different styles. I had a knack to what each style demanded.

These rats knew how to wield a sword, but they were by no means masters of their weapons.

I took up a stance of my own, a normal kendo stance with my sword in front of me and both hands on the hilt. It wasn't proper for a Dao sword but it was what I was most comfortable with.

The three rats screeched and dashed me all at once.

The fastest and first one the reach me swung, its blade going wide and left many openings. A year ago, I would have panicked and ran. The rats were still physically stronger and faster than me.

But now, now that I've mentally prepared myself, now that I've survived that encounter with the rat wizard, I no longer gave a damn about my nerves or my panicking. I swallowed my fear.

I sidestepped the swing and with a swift upwards motion, I detached the rat's sword arm from its body. The movement was smooth and precise, a testament to muscle memory and practice.

The rat screamed in pain…as much as a rat could scream than screech. It fell to the floor, grabbing its bloody stump and writhing in agony.

The other two were unfazed and I gave it to them for keeping their composure. It didn't make me hate them any less though.

They came at me together, reaching me at the same time. One swung for my head, trying to decapitate me, the other swung for my legs. I caught the strike to my head with the flat of my stolen blade and redirected it to block its friends attack on my legs embedding the first blade to the floor. I couldn't out-muscle them but I could use their strength against each other.

As their two blades rang, I lunged forwards, snatching up a poisoned kunai from my leg holster and jabbing it into the closest rat's nose. It let out a spray of blood as the rat stumbled back, drenching my face and shirt. Before I could react, the other lashed out with its hind legs and nailed me in the ribs, knocking me a back and taking the wind out of my lungs.

I tumbled backwards into a roll, and coughed out a bit of phlegm stuck in my throat.

Yet I grinned.

I knew pain and Bob Hasek knew suffering.

I revelled in it. It brought me growth.

I got back to my feet and graced the remaining rat with my kenjutsu. Being the only one left standing, it didn't stand a chance. It may edge me out in strength and speed but its technique was subpar. I danced around its blows, subconsciously activating my dancing skill for more grace in my movements, whilst delivering devastating counters. Without long it, too, was rendered helpless.

[Dancing has levelled up!]

With a quick flick of my sword, I slit the rat's throat and it gurgled in its own bloodied bile.

[You have slain Rejected Rat Runt (level 45)]

[You have levelled up]

I finished off the other two as well.

[You have slain Rejected Rat Runt (level 49)]

[You have levelled up]

[You have slain Rejected Rat Runt (level 42)]

Huh…I didn't gain any levels from that last one. Maybe i'm reaching the point where murdering these runts won't give me too much experience anymore.

A roar, deep and bellowing, made the hairs on my arms stand on end, gooseflesh riddled my very pores.

Had the wizard been alert to my presence?

The next rat that turned the corner was big—not as big as the wizard—but still far bigger than these runts.

Observe.

Observation Target: Adult Rejected Rat (Level 78)

Holy shit. It wasn't the wizard. But it was still way higher level than me. It looked like the runts—dao sword and all—but all grown up.

It sneered at me and before I even realised it, it was in front of me, swinging its massive sword in an underhanded blow. I reacted just enough to bring my stolen dao sword up in a block.

The Dao sword I was holding bent and I was sent rocketing backwards into the deep dark abyss.