He molded the pieces of the Lich’s soul, attaching it to his own. The process was horrible, not because of the pain, but the concept. There would be no forgiveness for the actions he was doing now. Everything he was doing would be considered among the worst villains in history. He considered stopping and sticking to his morals, but he was afraid and kept going. He didn’t want to die and that thought easily broke through his morals. His resolve was nothing compared to his fears.

The Lich’s soul didn’t match his, but he saw that there were a few similarities. He pulled on those similarities within himself, tearing the Lich’s soul into smaller pieces until he was left with something he felt like he could use. His arm began to change to heal, but not in the way he expected it to. It remained hard like stone, but golden lines grew over it, spreading across the hole hand as if it were tattooed heavily. Feeling returned to his hand, but the pain didn’t vanish. He was left with a constant ache that was significantly better than earlier.

Luke just sat there moving his stone-like hand. It almost sounded like it was cracking when he moved it. The pain didn’t grow any better or worse, but it remained in a continuous state. The pain wasn’t unbearable, it was like he had dozens of small cats on the hand. Taking a deep breath, he considered what he had done, and found his thoughts drifting to places he didn’t want them to. He needed to go after the Lich, finish the trial and go see the others. He moved his arms beneath his chest, and pushed, trying to rise to his feet. A pain spread from his left hand, and he fell on his side. The pain wasn’t all that bad, he just hadn’t expected it.

The stinging pain in his hand reminded him of his loneliness, though he didn’t know why. There was no connection between the two things, but he couldn’t stop the feeling from filling him. He would feel better with them around. Spending months by himself with nothing to do other than work, had shown him just how much time he had been spending with the others. Almost every fun thing he had done in the past few months had been because one of the others pulled him along to do it. Thinking about it, he was like that before meeting them too. He tended to be a hard worker who rarely spent time just relaxing or playing. The only times he had ever done so was when his parents had pulled him away from doing work.

He put his good hand on the ground, and only pushed himself to a sitting position, only to find that he was no longer within the dungeon. He recognized the location, though it wasn’t what he expected. It wasn’t the exit of the dungeon, but rather it was where he had been when he first arrived. The land he had farmed was gone, and the mansion was nowhere to be found. However, something else was in its place. It was a portal, a way out of the dungeon. He guessed that meant that he succeeded. The Lich hadn’t been able to repair his body like Luke had. That knowledge was somewhat reassuring. Knowing that the trial had ended was a huge relief, and he took a moment to just be glad that he survived. Afterwards he focused inwards ready to accept his new class.

His consciousness got carried away, and he could see five pillars before him. Briefly he wondered why there were so many but decided to take it as an additional reward for clearing the trial. He was a little apprehensive of the pillars. Most of them radiated an aura of death that seemed to match the Lich he had met earlier. Taking the creature’s soul was probably influencing his classes. He just hoped that he hadn’t tied himself down to becoming a lich. He had done what he felt was necessary but wondered if he had made the right decision or not. The pillars varied in color, but they were all tinged with a grey aura or section.

There was one that shown golden and another that was silver. They were at opposite ends from one another, and he wondered if there was some significance to their position. Both of those didn’t feel as ominous as the others. He decided he would check those first, the other three in the center felt like death incarnate. The nearest pillar was the silver one, and he gently drifted towards it. The light had a greying outline that seemed to match the Lich’s soul. He tried ignoring it as he reached towards the pillar.

Grafted Demi-Lich: Having stolen a part of a Lich’s soul, you gain a fundamental understanding of their abilities. The soul is something to be changed and altered. It is within your power to control and change the souls of others. Become an immortal being that transcends the boundaries of life and death. Warp your healing skills to ones of manipulation and control.

Luke would be lying if he said that he didn’t expect something along these lines. He had done something that had earned him this class, and he knew it. Even if he ignored the moral implications of choosing this class, there were a handful of other problems that stopped his selection. The class itself would be powerful, but he would lose his role within the group. Plus, he didn’t want to become immortal yet. He wanted to be a few years older. As he thought about it, he realized that he probably wouldn’t have that much of a choice. They had gained a lot of levels quickly, and he would probably reach the next advancement soon enough. The final part that he couldn’t accept was losing his healing skills. They were the basis of everything he wanted to be, and he wouldn’t sacrifice them. The group needed a proper healer, and he wanted to fill that role.

He moved onto the golden pillar. It was at the opposite end of the pillars, but he didn’t really want to check the death coated pillars. They all felt like classes he wouldn’t like, and he just checked the furthest one next. The golden pillar had what seemed like a strand of grey hair. It flowed through the middle of the light, almost as if it were stuck within a river. The information flowed into his mind.

Grafted Demi-God: Having unnaturally attached the soul of another to yourself, you take upon the burden of carrying the souls of others. Souls corrupted by the unholy powers have only one hope for salvation. Act as a vessel for carrying the souls of the wicked, granting them redemption through your own actions. Gain a portion of their strength as their soul passes through you. Repair people’s souls, by sharing a portion of your own with them. As a God your soul is infinite.

Warning: This class will remove inherently unholy skills

His mind paused upon receiving the information. This was the first time he had ever even heard of a class coming with a warning of any kind. He felt like it was something that people would talk about. He wondered what the class meant by removing his unholy skills. Was it in reference to the skills he had stolen from the monsters? He knew that people would see something like that warning as a reason not to take the class, but to him, it was a huge incentive. To lose the skills that made him feel evil was something he never even thought was possible. Even if they had saved him against the Lich, he still thought he would be better off without them. Advancements were always better than their previous state, even if it wasn’t a linear increase.

The class had other things that interested him as well. From what he could gather, the class would be centered around working with souls. He would probably get attacks that targeted it though not in the same was as his old skills. Plus, it mentioned that his soul would become infinite and that sounded useful. If Lich’s and other beings could target his soul, having one that could handle the strain would be amazing. It felt like it would prepare him well if he ever fought against a Lich again. He had a feeling that he would eventually get that fight too. He realized that he had already convinced himself to pick the class, but he wasn’t going to make such a rash decision and went to check on the other three.

There was one reason he didn’t want to the class though. It would set him up to become a God, and he wasn’t sure if that was something he wanted. This choice would make him something that he couldn’t understand. He didn’t even know that getting something like this was possible. Sure, the others had guessed that it could happen, but he didn’t fully believe it. He had more traditional beliefs, that the gods were predestined. It wasn’t something that someone could stumble onto. Yet here he was with that very option before. Was this predestined? It certainly didn’t feel like it, but he couldn’t know.

The other pillar beside him shown with a pale grey color throughout. It didn’t seem to hide at all the aura of death it was producing. Still, he gave the class the benefit of the doubt, and approached it.

Death Wrought Arbiter: A enemy of death, you have emersed yourself within its stench. It coats you like a cloak. The aura of death effects all around you. Bring about the death of your enemies, while knowing when your friends are near the edge as well. Take from them their death and carry it onto another. Death is skill of balance, and you will maintain the equilibrium. To save one from the call of death is to condemn another.

Luke frowned at the class. What had he done to earn something like this? He could only think of Red. He had saved her from death but had never considered what that would mean for something abstract like the balance of life. A class centered around keeping order didn’t sound all that bad, but he didn’t like the idea of trading others lives for his friends. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do something like that, it was rather that he knew that he would. If he had the opportunity to bring them back or prevent their deaths by killing another, he would succumb to that temptation. His friends might hate him for it, but he knew that he would make that sacrifice every time.

No, this was not a class he could pick. It would turn him into something he didn’t want to be. Luke knew that he was a very selfish person, and his first concern was always to those closest to him. This class would give him an excuse to take that idea to an extreme. He moved onto the next one, not really sure he would get something better than the Demi-God class.

This pillar was white with black stripes and looked almost like some kind of candy. He barely felt anything from the pillar and wondered if that meant anything. People have speculated on what the pillars could reveal about the classes, and he knew that it was common belief that the stronger classes would feel stronger. The pillars on the edges certainly felt powerful, but it was simply too hard to know. He reached for the pillar, nonetheless.