“HE’S ALIIIIIIIVE!” Jon cried when I walked into the café after logging off.

“Missed you guys too.” I said, chuckling.

“Sorry you couldn’t partake in your world events.” Derrick said. “We, however, have been having a blast picking off unsuspecting groups of adventurers.”

“They head out into the wilds and not bring enough protection?” I tried to ask innocently, but was grinning like the Cheshire Cat at the end.

“Ha. Don’t you know it. I don’t care how specced out you are as a tank, when a troll throws a stone disk twice your weight at you, the only thing you can do is go ‘SPLAT!’” He emphasized the splat by smashing one palm into the other and grinding it back and forth. “After that, mopping up the wizards and collectors is a piece of cake. I, I just love squishies.” He said, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye.

“Hahahaha, oh god we’ve got a sentimental troll.” We all chuckled at Jon’s quip.

“God, it’s good to be back in the group.” I said. “E-mailing just doesn’t do it justice.”

“Hear, hear!” Jon said, raising a glass. We all clinked and took a sip of the impromptu toast. “So, how’s the new city?”

“Absolutely gorgeous. The buildings have no corners, everything is curved. Gives it a very smooth look, and several buildings are polished to a glass like reflection. I haven’t made it into the upper tiers though. Had to spend most of the day either at the alchemists guild or catching up with the main quest givers before I went and evolved. Any of you guys got plans to come a visiting soon?”

“I might, but I want to evolve first.” Derrick said. “I’m also one of the closest, only a few mountains over. Heck, I was close enough to get a bonus for seeing the tower of energy you unleased with my eyes.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Glimpse of the Divine, gives me a boost to perception and luck. Nothing to sneeze at.”

“Yeah, I would be complaining if I got a boost to two of the hardest attributes to increase.” Jon mocked.

“Says the guy who managed to add blinding effects to his favorite curses.”

“Heh, I did come out fairly well in the spell area, didn’t I?” Jon asked.

“Oh hun, blinding your foes is fun, but it pales to my claws.” As I made a circular ‘keep going’ motion, Phoebe continued, “See, my claws were already sheathed in shadow energy and had a ten percent armor ignore. Well, when I activate [Reaping Darkness] I ignore all armor and gain a frenzy boost for every enemy killed. Double boost for a heart strike, triple it for any decapitations. I’m stronger fighting an army than I am in PvP.” She said with a self-satisfied smile.

“Damn, I really missed out.” I lamented.

“Bullshit.” Derrick pointed out. “You got incredible fame gains, the devs made a unique monster race for your evolution, and you have to be basically a god now.”

“Almost true. I’m a demigod, not a god.”

“Well excuUUse me!” He replied with an incredible amount of sass before I could keep going.

“As I was saying, I missed out on the skill alterations.”

“And just which of your skills would benefit from a shadow infusion?” Jon asked.

“Well, shadow mana causes things to break down. I would love to have something like Death’s Necrotic Gaze and be able to add a poison with a glare that outlines critical areas.”

“Why though?” Jon asked. “Sure, it sounds good, but you do massive damage as it is. How many times have you actually hit something with all of your death skills active and not killed it? Uh huh, exactly.” He pointed at me as my mouth gaped like a fish out of water.

“Damnit, that’s a good point.” I laid back in my seat and sipped my drink, everyone else relaxing for a while as well.

“So, how’s city life going?” Derrick asked.

“Well, I get to do training with the guard captain as I slowly poison myself for the next few days.”

“Sounds like a blast.” He chuckled. “Going for a boosted poison resist?”

“The book I got the process from says it will give poison immunity.”

“Really?” Phoebe said, leaning forward. “You uh, you gonna share that wealth there?”

“Heh, sure. I’ll even be the guinea pig for it. But you gotta do it right after an evolution, as the length it requires is level dependent.”

“That’s disappointing.” She said, flopping back into her seat. “Still, let us know, yeah?”

“For sure. Hey, speaking of city life, got a question for ya Jon. You made it to the bugbear encampment, did they seem. . . different? From the goblins.”

“Definitely. A loot more aloof. Pretty much any goblin would interact with you, but the bugbears kept their distance. You seeing the same thing?”

“Eh, I can’t really tell. Everyone seems to be putting me on a pillar because of all the fame. But there was another player that was in the city, and he kept complaining about not getting any quests. I was trying to figure out if he was just an idiot or if they are upping the difficulty after evolutions.”

“Now that you mention it, they could be. My home camp seemed a lot more like a human starter city than what a camp full of gnolls should really be.” Phoebe said.

“Hmm, I could say the same of the goblins. I think Derrick is the odd man out, but then again trolls don’t have much of a culture.” Jon added. “I can’t really check it out though, as I’m out with Phoebe wandering in the wilderness. I’ll send an email to Emily, copying everyone on it. See if it is a bug or what.”

“You know devs.” Derrick chuckled. “We call it a bug, they are gonna come back and say, ‘It’s a feature, not a bug.’ Hahahahaha!”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Phoebe laughed. “Oh, speaking of the devils, I mean devs, log off early tomorrow Marty.” I raised my eyebrow in silent question, so she answered, “They are going to have the counter video ad for what they released with the light siders. I have a feeling we are all going to be on there.”

“Well, if it is half as inspiring as what they threw together for the light side, I’ll be here with popcorn. Actually, screw the popcorn, we’ve been thinking too small. Let’s treat it like a Superbowl party. We shall have a large buffet, full of foods that are more fat than nutrients. Heck, let’s see if Jon can swing getting the medical testers to come over for the party and liven things up.”

Jon’s eyes got big at the possibilities. “NOW YOU’RE TALKING!” He practically shouted. “I’ve got a fort coded, that we can defend. I even convinced the devs to allow us to use our game avatars out here for it. The kids get to storm our fort, using water guns and water balloons. I’ve even gotten them to make trebuchets.”

“That sounds like a blast.” I chuckled. “I suppose we are going to lose to the invading horde again?”

“Of course we are.” Jon said with a smile. “But we are going to lose in style.” Chuckling, we spent the rest of the night coming up with more and more absurd scenarios to play out with the kids. Derrick wanted to offer rock troll climbing, but took a kick to the shins when he offered the winner got to play fetch with Phoebe. I was just happy to be back in virtual reality, where visiting friends was so much easier and cheaper than going out in real life. Glad I could interact with my friends in person again, I headed to bed. Khaliss was going to do his best to run me ragged tomorrow, and I wanted to be up for the challenge.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I don’t know why I thought that Khaliss’ training would be any easier. If anything, he expected me to multitask even more. Oh, it started out simple, use earth magic to make a few gears. No hands allowed, I had to make a handle coming out of the top to turn with my magic. Once I had two gears going, I had to create a third one. But this one had to be connected with shadows. I spent nearly three hours trying to figure out how to connect them without constantly recreating a shadow link. In the end, I had to make a fourth gear on the same axle as a previous one, and create a belt of shadow that could be gripped by the previous gear and the new one. I had to sit incredibly still, concentrating on that shadow so that it wouldn’t dissipate, as well as the handle that I had to keep turning.

“Not too shabby.” Khaliss said, slapping me on the back and completely disrupting my concentration. “Oh, that’s too bad. Looks like you need more training.” He chuckled.

“OH COME ON!” I yelled. “You did that on purpose!”

“Of course I did. What good will magic do you in battle if you can’t cast it without maintaining perception of everything around you?”

“Khaliss, I would really hate you a lot more by now if you didn’t always have a logical response to all my complaints.” I muttered. “Alright then Mr. Miyagi, how do I train my concentration.”

“Are you sure you want to know?” At my reluctant nod, he gave me an answer that I had been dreading. “Good. First, add one more gear that is connected to a bar that swings in a circle. Give it a good bit of room.” When I had finally created this terrible looking bar, Khaliss effortlessly created a hooked pole that he hung a small bell from, close enough that the arm would ring it on every revolution.

“Excellent! Now, you are to keep this bell ringing thirty times per minute. All the while, Shrik and I will be testing how well you remember our little game of counters. For now, we will go at snail pace while you get accustomed to maintaining your manipulations.”

“Ok.” I said, taking a centering breath. “Let’s go.” Khaliss started with an exaggerated overhand slash, and I slowly started dodging to one side.

*WHACK!*

“GODDAMNIT!” I yelled in pain as Khaliss suddenly sped up and cracked his spear against my collar bone.

“Pay attention. You stopped ringing the bell. Did I forget to mention that every time it stops you get hit?”

“No, you just happened to neglect that bit of information.” I replied in a surly tone. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

Once again the bell started ringing, once every other second. We restarted, and the constant ringing of the bell slowly faded into the background, becoming a rather soothing noise. I still took several slow speed blows in the meantime, but they had no force behind them. At some point, everything blurred together. The bell was keeping time, one ring per attack. I was starting to get flashes of what Khaliss’ next attack was going to be, and caught his eyes widening while he smiled as I moved to counter at the same time as he started his attack. He started adding in variations at that point, just enough that I had to modify my counters unless I wanted to get hit.

Khaliss was a master of controlling the tempo, increasing it so slowly that I had no idea we were even moving into full speed combat, three and four attacks per ring of the bell. “Speed up the bell, one ring per attack.” He commanded and I instantly responded, slipping easily into the groove of combat. I was hyperaware of every twitch of his muscles, waiting for them to betray whatever move he was plotting. The tightening of his thing to indicate a spin, a dip of a shoulder to prelude a strike, tightening his hands to betray his need for a better grip for a powerful thrust.

Once again we reached an equilibrium, until I felt it. His will, intruding upon the construct I was using to keep the bell ringing. Hissing in displeasure, my mind reaching out to ruthlessly crush his weak probes. Shoring up my defenses, a web of energies invisible to all but me encasing my construct, thick bands creating a diamond scaffolding. Gossamer threads interlinked between the rigid structure, ready to swell at the slightest brush to cut off any attempt to bypass them. I even spread the construct through the ground to prevent attacks from all sides. Reveling in the constant thwarting of Khaliss’ probing attacks. Reacting on instinct to weave support through the webbing as he switched from finesse to brute force, construct flexing under the pressure before launching it back at him in a massive rebound, both of us panting with effort now, yet ecstatic with the challenge, the thrill of the fight. Nothing more exciting than finding an opponent who instantly counters your evolved fighting, forcing you to an even higher level.

Khaliss somehow found a way to speed up once more, and it was all I could do to keep up. Three blows. Eight blows. Twenty blows. All countered, flowing through a dance that would have been deadly had we made a mistake with a sharpened weapon. I saw my doom. The butt of his spear would push my hammer across my body, out of position to counter the overhead diagonal slash that would follow, striking me in the head. Without thinking, I leaned forward, tilting my head to catch his spear on the budding horns coming out of my head, a quick spin of my training weapon to leave the scythe poised to disembowel on a backhand slash. Unsure if the horns could take the blow, I reinforced them with the essence of stone. Not the marble golems I had defeated, nor the glittering walls of the Bone Citadel. Even the massive golems that now guard the walls of our city, I needed something impossible to smash. A gleaming block of enchanted obsidian, glowing with silver runes to reinforce the already strong material. Shadows reaching out to embrace his spear tip, thickening even as it cleaves through them, becoming a molasses like consistency to rob him of his momentum. Eyes widening in shock, I hissed in annoyance as I felt his spear attempt to move out of its path, using my own shadows to guide it back where I needed it to go. Satisfaction as his strength and reaction speed wasn’t up to the task, the fraction of a second it took to respond to the changing forces not enough before his spear clicked impotently against my reinforced horn. Smiling in victory as I finally landed a hit on his stomach.

“Victory is mine.” I said, barely containing my glee as we both froze.

“Hmph. You finally show improvement. We will take five minutes, and then I will start the serious fighting.” As I was cursing myself for getting cocky, I started sifting through a slew of notifications from the game.

Skill

Previous level

New level

Bonus

Stone manipulation

Advanced level 1

Advanced level 6

Can shape stone up to 30 meters. Mana cost reduced by 20%

Shadow manipulation

Advanced level 1

Advanced level 6

Can shape shadow up to 30 meters. Mana cost reduced by 20%

Hammerscythe mastery

Intermediate level 8

Advanced level 5

Damage increased by 35%, attack speed increased by 20%

Blunted weapons mastery*

Intermediate level 8

Intermediate level 10

Damage increased by 20%, attack speed increased by 10%

Parry

Advanced level 1

Advanced level 6

+36% chance to parry an attack, damage reduced by 35%

Dodge

Advanced level 6

Advanced level 9

+39% chance to dodge a detected attack

Counter attack

Intermediate level 7

Advanced level 2

Counter attacks cause +82% extra damage, +32% critical hit chance

* - In order to advance blunted weapons mastery any further, reach advanced skill with a different blunted weapon.

New skill acquired!

Battle trance

Intermediate lvl 2

Fighting for long enough with the same opponent can begin to give you insight into their fighting style. Predicting their moves becomes easier. In order to enter the trance, must maintain a constant battle tempo within 20% for at least five minutes. Once the trance has been entered, gain boosts to damage, parry, dodge, and critical hit chance.

New skill acquired!

Mental domination

Advanced level 8

You successfully detected and defended a continuous spell from a much more skilled opponent, though they weren’t trying hard at the beginning. Defense of spell forms from outside interference increases with increased skill level, increased chance of disrupting or taking over enemy spell forms.

Current level: +48% chance to successfully defend spell

+30% chance to disrupt enemy casters

New skill acquired!

Essence assimilation

Advanced level 6

You have successfully transformed parts of your body to resemble elements that you have a mastery of. Bonuses from skill dependent on element used and mastery level of said element.

Current elements and properties:

Stone: Grandmaster 10. Increases defense and mass.

Shadow: Grandmaster 10. Increases stealth. Can foul enemy attacks.

“Uh, anyone know what time it is?” I asked after going through the notifications.

“Just past three in the afternoon.” A trainee that I didn’t recognize said, shocking me. Khaliss and I had been battling for hours, and it honestly felt like only one or two.

“Thanks.” I said, giving the trainee a nod before heading out of the courtyard and eating some lunch from my inventory. I sat there for a while, thinking back through our fight. Trying to analyze the feelings, wondering if I could ever recreate them again. Before I could head back in, I got a ping for an email.

Marty,

Hey man, it’s Jon. We finally figured out that if you knew someone’s in game name you could contact them even if you haven’t met before, you just have to both have evolved to a second tier monster. Phoebe tried ranting at Emily about it, but she was adamant that it was in place to prevent power leveling, which I tend to agree with.

Anyway, that’s not the important part. We just heard that they are planning to release the monster commercial tonight, and wanted to give you a head’s up. We are all planning to head to the café in an hour or so, hopefully meet you there.

Jon

As soon as I got done reading that, I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Everything all right?” Khaliss asked.

“Yep. I have to be heading out in an hour or so though, sorry to cut training short.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve made some fantastic strides today. Tomorrow you meet your dwarves, yes?” I nodded so he continued, “Good. Then we start the poisoning and training. Reflect on what you felt today, and how you overcame my assaults. We’ll make a great warrior out of you yet.” Patting my shoulder in farewell, he went back to training some of the other drakelings. It still felt weird calling them that, having been a kobold with them for so long. Shrugging my shoulders, I sat down cross legged and started going over the training for today once again.