After returning to the apartment, I met up with Cindy and told her about the overall experience changing classes, and with what happened at the house with the gems. She seemed like the brains of the small group here, and she would let everyone know about class selection as well as the escalating violence of the Gems on her own. Before I let her go and do what she wanted, I brought Donny, Kaitlyn, and Taylor into her room to let them know some of my thoughts.

“Alright everyone. I’m going to rank up, which means that I’ll be out of commission for two days if my menu is to be believed. Kaitlyn, if you feel up to it, I’d like you to keep working on recon. After what I saw at the house, these guys are becoming a bigger and bigger problem to deal with. The police station was bad, but the police were actively hunting the gems. That family was doing nothing and ended up dead anyway, and I want to make sure that it doesn’t happen to any of you.”

Kaitlyn set her jaw and gave me a curt nod. “I’ll do what I can... I have a few skills I'd like to try out.”

I turned to Donny next, seeing what he was up to.

“Donny, you’re working on smithing for a while, right? I’d like you to get working on armor crafting as soon as possible. I don’t think magic armor is going to be an option for a while, but with that crafting recipe, you should be able to whip something up, and I’d like us to have the ability to defend ourselves. I don’t know what your plan was, but I’m sure if you grabbed Nick and Trevor, they would be more than willing to help you bring that anvil back from the ruin. You remember my directions, right?”

“Yeah, I remember Vic,” Donny chuckled, “Though I’m fairly certain Cindy took notes through your whole speech, anyway.”

“Alright, sounds good. Taylor, I know I haven’t spent much time with you since this thing happened, but would you mind helping Steph and Cindy on the building next door? I don’t know what magic you are capable of, but I think that Steph’s guild idea was a good one, and it would be better to start sooner rather than later.”

Taylor sighed but followed that with a grin. “Yeah Ms. Boss. I don’t mind helping out, especially if it would help us with finding James. I seriously doubt he’s dead. It seems strange for these bastards to take him, only to kill him later, so he’s definitely out there somewhere. And just so you know, Vic, my magic is steadily growing too, just like Cindy’s, and I’m not all that far behind her. When you get finish your rank up, expect to see a lot more green around the apartment. I’m a dryad after all, and the lack of nature around here is really starting to piss me off.”

It was good to know that Taylor was doing okay. She was always strong, but I had been neglecting our relationship since this whole thing began, and I needed to stop that.

“Alright everyone. That’s about it. I’ll start my rank up in my room, then. See you on the other side!”

I headed out of the hall. Going into this rank up, I was in equal measure excited and scared. I was excited about the power that I know this rank up would bring. I loved feeling strong, and the level of strength I had already reached was insane. I was also worried for my friends. I was a monster, and I already lost myself in my tumultuous new emotions and my strange counter-intuitive instincts. It was hard to both desire companionship, and isolation in equal measure. I wanted more than anything to make sure that my friends were safe while I was out of it. I was terrified that while ranking up, someone would attack us, and we would not be able to defend ourselves. I was definitely the strongest combatant currently, and my friends would lose that strength while I was out of it.

I shook my head to rid me of those thoughts. There was no helping it. Fear of the unknown is a human trait, and I still held onto that even though I am now human no longer. It was time to start this thing. I shut and locked the door to my room and sat down on the bed to prepare myself.

I have no idea how much would change with the rank up, and what would happen after that. This system was a mystery still, and I desperately needed to find someone smarter than myself who could take all of these experience values and damage numbers and actually make some sense out of them. I could glean some information from it, but nothing concrete. I was still essentially flying by the seat of my pants, and that really needed to change. Perhaps the rank up would provide some insight into the strength of monsters, and some insight into myself as well.

To start the rank up, I only had to focus within myself. It would start at the gem on my head, as that was the source of my power, and where it was currently stored. It was my core; my true heart. If my chest was pierced, I would heal. If my mind was destroyed, that too would heal. Only this core was my weakness, and it could not ever truly die while storms rage across the world.

Alert!

Rank up initiated; insufficient material! Starting to source material for rank up…

I was in a daze as if I was in a dream. Nothing felt real. I went to the window, opening it up, and flew into the air. It was dark outside, and the clouds were blanketing the sky, covering the stars. First, I needed water.

I flew to lake Travis and dived right in. In the back of my mind, I panicked as I didn’t even bother holding my breath before I dove. The water around me suddenly poured through my skin, filling an internal reservoir that I was previously unaware of. After a few minutes of taking in water, I had enough.

I needed something else though. Something strong, strong enough to make up a core. It was hard to understand what was happening as I was working on pure instinct, but I knew that the material I gathered would be used to help form some type of magic within my body.

I sensed the material I needed. There was a jewelry store in the city. It hadn’t been looted just yet, and I flew through the windows, shattering them with a blast of lightning. I then took in diamonds. I didn’t need many, just enough to reinforce my core, but it was still probably worth more money than I had ever seen in my life.

Lastly, I needed what would form the veins, the channels in my body. I needed metal.

I flew to a junkyard on the outskirts of town and took in pounds and pounds of steel, which would form a part of me that I didn’t quite understand yet.

I was ready. I returned to my room, flying through the window and hovering there before anyone even noticed I had vanished. It was there that coherency returned, and I realized that I had just stolen thousands of dollars in diamonds.

After panicking for a few minutes, I whispered, “It’s okay, Vic. Pull yourself together. No one can blame you for following your instincts at the whim of the system, and no one saw you do it anyway.”

Alert!

Material component collected! Rank up is now possible.

Multiple paths available; please choose one.

Note: This choice is permanent and will determine your direction for the rest of your life. Choose wisely.

- Storm Paraelemental Scion

- Storm Paraelemental Warrior

- Minor Storm Paraelemental

- Lesser Water elemental

- Lesser Air elemental

- Lesser Ice paraelemental

When you are ready, state your choice out loud.

I wasn’t going to choose another lesser elemental, and while ice was intriguing, it didn't have enough power or importance to make me abandon the storm paraelemental tree. The fact that there were rarities for the races was significant too. That left only three choices. Not bad. At least I don’t have too many options to choose from. It's only going to affect me for the rest of my life, no big deal…

Storm Paraelemental Scion

This is a juvenile variant of sentient storm paraelementals. Storm Paraelemental Scions have not quite reached maturity, but they have started to progress their paths down a line of magic. Scions are one of the few elementals known to have human form, but they can revert to their cloudlike form at will if they so choose. They have a limitless lifespan, similar to all elementals with human form.

These paraelementals have relatively weak physical skills, though their ability to use magic more than makes up for it. They have a single unified core, which allows them the ability to cast massive spells without needing a spell circle to focus the mana, and their ability to passively move water, air, and lightning is greatly enhanced making them a terrifying foe.

These paraelementals have also been known to incorporate ice in their attacks, branching out even further, making them varied, and difficult combatants to face.

These elementals work best in teams with others, striking from the back line while defended, but they can also form shields of their own and function as front line combatants.

To hunters, it is recommended that they be taken out with extreme prejudice, and without mercy. If that cannot be accomplished, they fare worse in drawn-out engagements.

Storm Paraelemental Warrior

This is a juvenile variant of sentient storm paraelementals. Storm Paraelemental Warriors are the younger caste of warriors on the elemental plane of storms. They tend to master multiple forms of combat due to their limitless lifespan and can use their skills to terrifying effect. These paraelementals are humanoid and sapient, making them more powerful than their wild brethren. They are one of the rare breeds of elementals that possess a true corporeal body, making them different from many elementals of their kind. This comes with many intrinsic advantages and disadvantages. One of those disadvantages is that they lose the ability to become incorporeal and are forced to have a body at all times. The body, however, makes them very physically powerful and gives them the ability to use traditional exercise to increase their physical strength.

As well as this, they also gain greatly increased defense, incorporating precious metals into their bodies making them sturdier and stronger. Also, unlike most elementals, warriors do not have to be weightless in order to fly, though this is at the expense of mana. To facilitate this now corporeal body, warriors grow wings and a tail, similar to their wind elemental kin.

In order to make them better fighters, warriors have multiple cores scattered throughout their bodies, giving them the ability to survive what would otherwise be catastrophic damage to most elementals. In exchange, their ability to cast spells without a spell circle is hampered greatly, and their natural ability to control water, air, and lightning with their minds are limited.

These elements work well alone, as well as in groups. Due to their natural intelligence, they are known for forming amicable relationships with other races and can be reasoned with, and their inherent instincts are different than those of other lightning elementals.

To hunters, these elementals are a dangerous foe but can be managed. It is better to destroy them at this stage though, for higher castes of elemental warriors are much more powerful, and it is better to stop them before they reach that point.

Minor Storm Paraelemental

This is a young variant of the standard Storm paraelemental. Generally between five and ten years old, these paraelementals are much more mature than their lesser variants, showing increased decision making and some tactical skill. They are large, generally appearing as a cloud of vapor between four and five feet in diameter and can use lightning attacks to strike at those around them. This lesser variant of paraelemental is incapable of a corporeal form.

Magically immature, these paraelementals have yet to form a standard core but are capable of casting many basic spells anyway. They gain the ability to gather strength from storms outside of their body, increasing in mass and total strength for long periods of time, making them dangerous in the correct situations.

These paraelementals are known to often gather in large groups, directing lesser storm paraelementals to attack around them, acting as a weak commander monster variant.

To hunters it is recommended to attack them while they are by themselves with ranged magic. Because of their cloud-like nature, melee attacks have limited effectiveness.

I mean, it had to be warrior, right? Casting spells is cool and all, but it just doesn’t fit me as a person very well, and the minor storm paraelemental seemed so plain in comparison. That being said, I could tell intuitively that no matter what, I would be much stronger. The minor elemental variant was probably just a slightly more powerful form of what I was now. The other two racial types seem to only be possible because as a beta tester, I was forced into a humanoid form from the normal formless state that most elementals have. considering that, I wanted to take as much advantage of my humanoid form as possible, and see what interesting monster variants there were to take. From the remaining two classes, it seems like the scion is stronger in individual power, but the final comment in warrior about more powerful types of warriors, later on, intrigued me. I wanted to learn many different types of combat, and the information about sapience was encouraging. I always managed to forget that I was a type of monster and that there were probably many different monsters out there like me. One day, I might even run into a storm paraelemental in the wild and be forced to fight and being a part of a soldier caste seemed pretty cool.

My heart was beating quickly in my chest. I was nervous but ready.

“I choose warrior.”

Alert!

Please be more specific. Thank you for your patience.

Oh, for fucks sake.

“Storm Paraelemental Warrior”

Alert!

Would you like to select; Storm Paraelemental Warrior?

“Fuck, yes. I choose Storm Paraelemental Warrior.”

Alert!

Ha! Got ya. I understood perfectly the first time.

This transformation will take two full days to complete, and all of the material gathered will be consumed to fulfill the rank up.

More information on rank ups will be produced after you come to, but for now, enjoy! You are the first monster to receive a rank up, believe it or not. There have already been four superhumans, and three magic races that managed to beat you, but that only makes sense given the ease of the first rank up. Now, don’t get a swollen head though. There are four other monster races at level 30 just waiting to do it, and there are many closer behind. You’ll need to get a jump on it if you want to stay ahead.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Enjoy the power-up. You’ll be much stronger than rank 1s for a while, but they will catch up to you soon enough, and just a heads up, you’ll need all the power you can get for what’s coming for you. Rank 2 will not be nearly enough.

That’s all for now, Victoria Gale.

- H. G.

Oh, shit, that’s weird. I had just enough time to be surprised when I suddenly fell unconscious, and everything faded to black.

I was warm, and at peace.

There was liquid all around me, and I just floated there, existing for the longest time. I could feel only a vague sense of where my body was, but it didn’t matter one bit. I was simply content for the first time in a long, long time.

I faded into unconsciousness again.

I awoke again. I felt around my body and could tell that whatever change was going on was progressing. I felt groggy still, and I knew the change wasn’t done quite yet. There were walls all around me. I was in a perfect sphere, and with a start, I realized that I was inside of an egg. Was it time to come out?

No….

No, not yet. I was tired. I needed to sleep…

I woke up again. I could feel that whatever changes had taken place were done and that I was ready to leave the egg. I reached out to the shell and tried to push against it, but it was extremely firm and hard to move. I spent a long time using my hands to push against the walls. Eventually, I gave up, deciding that I would just use all of my force to push off with my feet.

With a mighty shove, I pushed out with all of my strength and felt something on my head pierce through the shell.

Looking up, I could finally see light, but it was bright. Way too bright. My eyes felt raw and fresh from whatever had happened to me during the rank up. Maybe I could just stay inside here for a little bit longer…

BANG.

Ughhh. What was that?

BANG BANG BANG.

Oh, shut up already. Vic’s not here right now, please leave a message.

“Vic, are you in there? Its Cindy. I saw something come out when I came to check on you. Are you okay? Do you need help?”

I opened my eyes again, looking out of the small hole on top of the egg. Cindy must have been knocking on the shell. I guess I’ve spoiled myself enough, for now. I would dramatically sigh if I wasn’t submerged in liquid.

I pushed the crown of my head against the shell once again, and this time, I managed to stick my head through all the way.

I was greeted with the sight of Cindy, standing next to my bed.

After a brief look of confusion flashed on her face, she suddenly bent over, clutching her stomach.

I was worried that she was hurt, when all of a sudden, she looked up. Tears were falling from her eyes, and she was belly laughing, trying her best not to make too much noise.

After calming down a bit, she was able to quickly stutter, “Vic, you look like a baby bird. Sorry, it tickled me in just the right way.”

I finished pushing myself out of the shell while she was pulling herself together and looked down at myself and the egg around me.

I was definitely bigger, that much was for sure. I could also tell that the changes to my body had been rather…

Significant.

The eggshell was made of what appeared to be polished steel, but the liquid within appeared at first to be simple water. I inspected them both, just to be sure.

Storm Paraelemental Eggshell - When storm paraelementals rank up, they consume materials and create their own eggs out of metals and stone. The shells can be melted down to make powerful storm aspect weapons and armor. Mana conductivity: lesser

Storm Paraelemental Tears - This liquid is produced within the storm paraelemental egg. It is used to gestate the growing storm paraelemental and is a rare ingredient in crafting higher tier lighting resistance potions.

Oh dang, that seems pretty useful. Kind of gross to use though, considering where its been. Or, I guess, what’s been in it. I carefully stood within the egg and climbed out of it. Now that I was standing, I was pretty unsteady on my feet. It only made sense that my balance would be off, considering the brand freaking new wings on my back. I wanted to see what I looked like in a mirror.

I carefully walked into the bathroom and could now get a good look at myself from the waist up. I glanced back and could tell that Cindy was patiently waiting for me to get done taking stock before talking to me.

Looking at myself in the mirror, if I wasn’t considered a monster before by most people during rank 1, I would definitely be called one now, as my appearance had been changed pretty significantly. My skin was actually much lighter and was now a light grey color, almost white. My hair was very similar to what it was before, though it was no longer luminous, and more metallic. My eyes were no longer glowing voids, and now had navy blue sclera, with luminous irises, but slit pupils like a snake. I was at least another six inches taller as well, and the gem on my forehead had been replaced by two horns, extending from the crown of my head about four inches. The horns were made of a clear glowing crystal, the same as the gem on my forehead. They each went up and back, gaining another prong near the end that seemed random and jagged, like lightning bolts.

I had two feathered wings. The feathers were an iridescent blue-black, like polished blued steel. Testing one, I could tell that the feathers were very sharp. I had a tail as well. The whole tail was covered in fur of the same silver color as the hair on my head and ended in a plume of feathers of the same size and color as those on my wings.

My torso was bare, but my limbs were not. Each limb was covered in silver fur, like that on my tail, and stretching through it were black lightning-patterned markings. My fingernails and toenails ended in points, extending from my finger with hooked talons. Experimentally, I clenched a fist but was upset to realize that my claws got in the way. The claws themselves were metallic silver, the color of polished metal, and banging them against each other produced a dinging noise that one would expect from steel. There were also four gems, one on the back of each hand, and one on the top of each foot. I guess I would need to relearn some of how to fight.

Honestly, I looked pretty badass, but putting clothes on was going to be a real bitch with the wings, tail, and claws in the way.