Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race

Chapter 2: Defeat the Demon Wolf

Enjoy his new life his foot. Caleb wasn't sure what the system or who created the system was on, but there was no way he could possibly enjoy his new life when he was a demon rat about to be eaten by a demon wolf. He didn't even know wolves ate rats. He thought only birds did, and they were both demons too, so what was with this unfair treatment? He demanded a refund.

[Refunds are not possible.]

Caleb glared at the screen that was currently mocking him. If he wasn't worried about getting the demon wolf's attention, he would be swearing right now. However, that didn't stop him from uttering all kinds of insults in his head. When he woke up after bonding with the system, he had thought he might have gotten a lucky break, so what were his stats?

[Caleb Gonzales]

[Level 1]

[Species: Demon Rat]

[Strength: 1]

[Intelligence: 1]

[Stamina: 1]

[Endurance: 1]

[Dexterity: 1]

[Mana: 0]

It was basically telling him to drop dead with those stats. Yes, he was a rat, but this was too much. It could have at least made his stats higher since he was a demon. Was it telling him that he was no different than a regular rat? Pausing to look down at his body, he had to admit he didn't look like the demon rats in the game. Well, his new life was going to be cut short at this rate. Maybe if he died, he could go back home.

[The user will just die.]

His rage toward the system was distracted by the fact that the demon wolf had found him and was clawing at the hole he was hiding in. Shaking with terror, he tried to burrow himself further into the hole. He could feel the demon wolf breathing down on him. Tears streamed down his face as he frantically told the system to do something. Even if he were a demon rat, he didn't want to die yet.

[The user is in distress. Patching through to the administrator.]

As his tiny paws dug into the dirt, he squeaked, "Hurry!"

[An error has been detected in the user's stats. Recalibrating.]

"Recalibrate faster!" Caleb squeaked loudly.

[Recalibrating complete.]

[Caleb Gonzales]

[Level 1]

[Species: Demon Rat]

[Strength: 2]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Stamina: 2]

[Endurance: 3]

[Dexterity: 5]

[Mana: 7]

His new stats weren't any better. They barely went up at all, but he supposed he should be happy that the system even bothered to modify them. It even increased his Mana stat more compared to his other stats. However, that wasn't what caught his attention. What bothered him more was the next message that had popped up after the stats.

[Quest]

[Defeat the Demon Wolf]

[You have been cornered by a demon wolf.]

[Defeat the demon wolf.]

[You will be rewarded once the demon wolf is dead.]

The system was really telling him to die, wasn't it? Even without comparing their stats, the result was very obvious. What was the point of fixing his stats if it was going to assign a quest like this? What did the system expect him to do? Bite the demon wolf to death? It would only make the demon wolf angrier, and that was only if he managed to get close enough to bite it in the first place.

[Would the user like help?]

"Yes!" Caleb squeaked.

[Initiating request.]

[The user's life is currently in jeopardy.]

[Reevaluating the current quest.]

[The current quest cannot be modified.]

[Scanning for possible solutions.]

"Hurry already!" he demanded right as he felt something catch his tail and pain shoot up through his tiny body.

Suddenly, he was pulled out of his hiding spot despite his best efforts to dig his paws into the dirt. As he laid helplessly on the ground, he realized that the demon wolf's paw had somehow caught on to his tail. Caleb pawed uselessly at the ground, trying to run away, but the demon wolf's firm grip on his tail made it impossible. All he could do was wait for death to come.

"Help!" he cried as the demon wolf temporarily let him go to snatch him up in its mouth.

[Solution found.]

[Temporarily allowing the user access to one of their past lives.]

[Past life selected.]

[The user can now use their abilities from their life as Nelson Garrett, the strongest mage in the Nazinar Empire.]

Caleb could honestly care less about what the system was talking about. All he wanted was for the system to get him out of this mess right now. He struggled in the demon wolf's mouth, which wasn't biting down on him, when it suddenly threw him up into the air. As he was coming down, he saw the demon wolf open its mouth wide open to eat him.

He waved his tiny legs as he cried, "No!"

[Searching for available magic for the user to use.]

[Warning]

[Mana stat is insufficient.]

[Will the user still proceed?]

"Yes!" Caleb said as the demon wolf's mouth shut closed around him.

[The user is currently unable to cast magic.]

[Selecting the weakest magic.]

[Fireball will be cast.]

Fire erupted from the demon wolf's mouth as it howled in agony. Caleb flew out of its mouth and rolled across the ground, covered in saliva. He took the moment to catch his breath after surviving his near death experience. That was far too close for comfort. He was lucky that he had landed directly in the center of the demon wolf's mouth.

Otherwise, he would have been a goner. However, it was too soon to celebrate, as the demon wolf was not dead yet. In fact, it was already recovering from the sudden fire that only left smoke pouring out of its mouth and was glaring in his direction. It looked seriously pissed and eager for revenge. He might not survive this time if he didn't do something quick.

"System. Cast another fireball," he commanded.

[It is ill advised.]

[The user's condition is quite poor. Casting another fireball might cause the user to lose consciousness or die.]

"I'm going to die if you don't do it. Just cast a fireball," he ordered.

[Fireball will be cast.]

Just as the demon wolf lunged at him, a fireball formed and launched itself at it. Fire and smoke engulfed his vision, leaving him unable to determine if he had killed the demon wolf or not. Suddenly, his vision blurred, and his body felt weak. He tried to keep his eyes open as his body swayed, but he was unable to keep himself from losing consciousness.