Because of these rats, Tang Shaoyang did not have a footing to land. The area right below him was filled with the giant rat. Hundreds of the giant rats tried to rip him apart in the air and thousands of them were waiting below.
However, he had something that the giant rats would not expect, the ability to walk in the air. As soon as he reached the height the giant rats could not reach, he activated the [Sky Walk]. Instead of falling off, he was floating in the air. If it was another person, they would fall into the giant rats' trap.
As soon as he fell off, he would be surrounded by thousands of giant rats. It was a hopeless situation, not for him though. Even though he did not have the [Sky Walk], he would be okay.
—Dark Tremor, they are a giant rat that hunts for food in a big group. Even though they are weaker individually, in a group, they will tire out even a strong individual before eventually killing their prey.
Rosalie told him the information about the giant rat. The giant rat was around two meters in length and around a meter in height. Their small forelegs were equipped with sharp claws that easily ripped apart flesh. The black fur covered the whole body but the lower part of the belly. If Tang Shaoyang had to include the tail, the giant rat might reach three meters or even maybe longer.
He then cast [Basic Detection] on one of the rats to get more information about this guy.
Just like Rosalie said, Dark Tremor was weak individually, but in a big group. They might even hunt a stronger individual than them. Failing to hunt Tang Shaoyang, the Dark Tremor did not escape. They stayed below and looked at him. The thousands of pairs of red eyes focused on him.
The rats were squeaking at him. If he could translate them, they might call him cowardly and tell him to come down to fight them. Of course, he did not understand what they were talking about. It was just his interpretation in his head.
"So they are part of a tribe, let's kill half of them and follow the rest." A plan was formulated in Tang Shaoyang's head. If he could find their leader, he might talk to them and hope the leader could speak human language. His mission was to unite all the tribes in this forest, after all.
Conquering this Dark Tribe would be his first step. Clearly, Dark Tremor might be useful in the war and might be a key to find the dwarves who also lived underground. He took out his battle-ax and he was about to go down until he heard a growl.
Tang Shaoyang looked to the side and all the giant rats looked toward the side as well. There, he saw the black-furred kitten, growling at the giant rats from the edge of the crater while showing its canine. The immature growl sounded funny to his ears.
'That kitten is done for!' That was what he thought until he saw the shocking scene. Thousands of the giant rats scrambled around, running away from the Dark Predator. He witnessed that the giant rats returned into the underground, digging their way back. The little kitten pounced toward the crowd of the giant rats.
To his surprise, the kitten managed to catch one of the Dark Tremors. The two long canines dug in the flesh and the giant rat squeaked in pain. The Dark Tremor tried to shake off the Infant Dark Predator. Despite being smaller in size, the little kitten easily tore apart the flesh. He then saw the little kitten raise its paw, glowing in mana. The paw then hit the giant rat on the head and it instantly died.
The giant rat's eyes popped out as blood sprayed from the nose. The Dark Tremor instantly stopped moving after the hit. This was a shocking scene for him. First of all, the Dark Tremor was much bigger than the kitten, why would they be afraid of the kitten that was about his palm-size? Second, the Dark Tremor was much higher in level, with about a hundred levels gaps. Third, there were thousands of Dark Tremors while the little kitten was alone.
No matter how he looked at this, the Dark Tremor should have easily overwhelmed the kitten. He could not understand who they were afraid of the kitten that was not even level 200 and dared to attack him who was level 701. This made no sense to him. In the blink of an eye, the Dark Tremor vanished, leaving two Dark Tremors and a kitten.
Yes, the Infant Dark Predator managed to kill another Dark Tremor. A strike of its pawn killed the second Dark Tremor while they tried to escape from the little kitten.
"This does not make any sense at all, I can't understand this." Tang Shaoyang shook his head in disbelief.
—I told you to keep and raise the Dark Predator. The Dark Tremors escape from the Dark Predator is because of their natural instinct as the Dark Tremor is not an intelligent beast. They used their instincts to live and the Dark Predator is the natural predator of the Dark Tremor.
Rosalie tried to explain the confusion. It made sense when she said it like that, but still, it was just a tiny kitten. Why would they be afraid of a tiny kitten that looked so weak… Not so weak, since the tiny kitten one-pawed the Dark Tremor.
Meow!
Amidst the quiet night, the tiny kitten meowed. It spoke to him. The Infant Dark Predator nudged the Dark Tremor toward him. He did not know what it talked about, but he understood the intention. The Infant Dark Predator paid back to him for the hand he gave it earlier. The human's for the Dark Tremor's corpse.
"If it could hunt its own food, why would it starve?" The more he knew about this Dark Predator, the more confused he had become. From how it killed the Dark Tremor in one hit, it should not be a problem to hunt by itself.
—I told you that this Dark Predator should be living in the inner part of the forest. Of course, the creature that lived in the outer part of the forest would avoid this Dark Predator even if it is an infant. Just raise it, it's worth your time.
Rosalie kept persuading Tang Shaoyang to raise the Dark Predator.
Meow!
The Infant Dark Predator meowed at him again while nudging the corpse. Tang Shaoyang landed in front of the Dark Predator. It did not escape like before but kept nudging the Dark Tremor's corpse. It was giving him the corpse.
"It's okay, little guy. You can have it, I don't eat rats." Tang Shaoyang replied while waving his hand. Now, this little creature successfully drew his interest.
The Infant Dark Predator squinted its eyes, seemingly asking, "Are you sure?" He did not know for sure but he perceived it like that.
"Sure, you can have it." Tang Shaoyang nodded his head. Then the little kitten made a face of, "Don't regret it later!" before it devoured the two Dark Tremor's corpses. Yes, devouring was the right word to describe the scene before him. The little guy ate the Dark Tremor from the head, the brain, and then the body. It took the Infant Dark Predator less than a minute to finish the two meters long Dark Tremor.
After it finished the first one, it did not forget to offer the last Dark Tremor to him again. It seemed to say, "Are you sure you don't want this?"
"You can eat it, little glutton." Tang Shaoyang then realized that the little guy had intelligence, allowing them to communicate. It no longer offered him the corpse and ate it cleanly, leaving only the bone and the tail.
Tang Shaoyang shook his head and looked at the hole in the crater. There were many holes made by the Dark Tremor. He only needed to follow the hole and he might find where this Dark Tribe was. The problem was, the holes led in all directions. He did not know which one to follow.
Tang Shaoyang looked toward the little kitten, "Little glutton, do you know where they live?" He was joking around, of course. However, the Infant Dark Predator never stopped to surprise him. It nodded its head while pointing at its nose with its paw, telling him that it knew where the Dark Tremor went to.
Then the Dark Predator waved its paw at him, telling him to follow it. The little kitten walked toward a specific hole. Tang Shaoyang followed but the hole was too small for him. He needed to crawl if he wanted to follow the little glutton.
"Let's see what I can do with my [Elemental Manipulation]." Tang Shaoyang placed his hand on the ground and molded the hole into his size. But it was very hard to control Elemental Power, especially for something specific, but he had Rosalie the Flame Queen to help him, "Teach me how to control the Elemental, Rosalie!" He was not asking but commanding the spirit to teach him.
—Who will teach you if you act bossy like that!
Rosalie the Flame Queen humphed at him despite his order.
Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brow when he heard the response, "Do you know the reason why I decided to establish a contract with you, Rosalie? Because you wield Elemental Power. If you don't want to teach me, I am fine with it. I will make you more useful than just a spirit that keeps talking back at her Master by sacrificing you. That way, I might get a skill that allows me to control my Elemental Power and also some levels since you are a Grade A Spirit. If I don't get anything useful, I have Crystal and Ashley to teach me as well."