“Respawning?” Eileen asked, “What about it?”

The group had agreed to meet up the next morning at the front gate. Raymond decided to use the time to gather more information about the Temple and classes. She had gone back to the Temple to speak with Eileen.

This time, she wanted to know about ‘respawning’.

“How does it work? Are there any limits? What causes the respawn?”

“As far as we understand it, when we die our soul is caught by the nearest Temple. The magic inside the holy building reconstructs our body according to the blueprint attached to our magic system - the same way the system regenerates our injuries with health regeneration.”

“Is there anything it can’t regenerate?”

“It heals injuries, cures sickness, disease, poison and curses. However, it cannot remove negative status conditions related to hunger, thirst, fatigue or aging so if a person dies of starvation they often get stuck in a cycle of painful death.”

“That sounds…”

“Terrible. It is.” Eileen responded, shuddering. “I’ve seen it happen a few times. The unfortunate souls usually reject their respawn after two or three painful deaths.”

“Wait, you can reject it?”

“Yes.”

“...” Raymond thought about that for a moment.

“The respawn system is wonderful, but it’s not perfect. Sometimes… it doesn’t work right.” Eileen said softly.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s best if I show you.”

Eileen stood abruptly, walking towards the door. Raymond moved to follow. They moved to a portion of the Temple that Raymond hadn’t seen yet. It was a large, open room in the right wing.

As they walked through the doorway, Eileen gestured towards the room.

“We call this the Drone Chamber.”

“Drones?”

Raymond looked inside. She saw a large number of humans moving aimlessly about. Some of them were moving near the wall, staring blankly into space. Others were crawling across the ground, some had tears in their eyes as they soundlessly shuffled about. One person approached the doorway and Raymond observed his face. She gasped.

His eyes were empty... there was no life in him. He was nothing more than a living husk… a drone.

“Sometimes, when an individual suffers an extremely violent and traumatic death, the Temple reconstructs a body but the soul doesn’t return. When this happens, a drone is born. Mindless, helpless, soulless shells of humanity.”

Raymond stared into the room.

“How often does this happen?”

“It’s not all that common. How much trauma an individual can handle will be different on a case-by-case basis so some people will become drones for a simple stab wound and others have to be brutally mutilated.”

Raymond turned away from the depressing sight. Absently, she wondered if Bill’s death had been traumatic enough. He’d certainly screamed a lot.

“Let’s talk about something else.” she said, walking away from the room. “Tell me what you know about the magic-based classes.”

---

Though Raymond didn’t particularly feel tired, she slept through the night. The moment her head had hit the pillow in the Temple guest rooms, she was asleep. Her Endurance stat reduced the negative effects of fatigue to effectively zero but she still technically needed sleep. Maybe someday she would experiment with how long she could stay awake before she collapsed…

The next morning found Raymond walking through the front gate with the members of BMS. As she had suspected, Jantzen was a Cleric and the group’s healer. The other members of the group were Helen the Ranger, Ven the Rogue and Peter the Warlock. Lexi, for her part, had no combat classes and trailed slightly behind the group, her head hung slightly as she pulled a small cart.

“What’s the cart for?” Raymond asked, “Don’t you have a Bag of Holding?”

“You’re taking up her job as the tank, so we made her a pack horse instead.” Jantzen sneered. “Naturally, we each have a Bag of Holding but carts draw more attention and increase the chance of bandit attacks.”

Raymond glanced at Lexi, noting her strained arm muscles and the perspiration matting her dark hair. She casually reached out and grabbed the reins of the cart, pulling them out of Lexi’s hands.

“I see… I like the idea of attracting prey to attack us but I dislike your method.” Raymond said as she started pulling the cart with Lexi. She felt no notable strain, a result of her highly inflated strength values from her Vampiric Strength, A Fighter’s Strength and Art of War passives.

Jantzen ground his teeth slightly in annoyance. “She’s a slave... “ he started but stopped when Peter put a hand on Jantzen’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, no harm done, right?” Peter said, showing a bright smile. He shifted the dirty-blonde hair out of his eyes as he looked lopsidedly at Raymond.

“As long as she can still tank when we get in trouble, it’s fine if Eve helps pull the cart.”

Raymond studied Peter carefully, noting his carefree demeanor. Her discussion with Eileen about Warlocks had led her to expect a somewhat gloomier personality but Peter was the opposite.

Jantzen shrugged, throwing off his anger. Peter gave Raymond a wink. She felt a slight pain in her head and Raymond winced. She wasn’t sure why but something about Peter rubbed her the wrong way.

“What kind of Warlock are you, Peter?” she asked.

“Obliterator,” he replied smoothly, “I break things.”

Raymond frowned slightly, the pain in her head flaring. A notification crossed her vision.

Dominate Mind has been resisted due to Immortal Mind.

Raymond blinked, rereading the notification. Dominate Mind? But that wasn’t an Obliterator spell…

Raymond shook her head, breaking the line of thought. It didn’t really matter what Peter was trying to do because it didn’t change her plans. If he thought she was mind controlled, it would only make things easier.

“But I think you should be a little more understanding of our ways.” Peter suggested. The sharp pain flared in Raymond’s mind once more. She ignored it.

“Yes, I should do that.” Raymond replied, trying to sound like she was mind controlled. Notably, she had no idea what that would be like but she figured it might be similar to the drones. After all, was there really a difference between having no mind and having your mind controlled by another?

She shuffled forward, pulling the cart while looking forward with a blank expression. The hood of her cloak caught in the wind and billowed slightly, but she paid it no mind. She noted that Ven and Helen were now paying close attention to the conversation. They were supposed to be checking the road for traps and watching for ambushes.

“Who are you?” Helen asked.

Rather than come up with a fake story on the spot, she figured it would be better to tell the truth. Of course, she would have to embellish a few details, though.

“Eve.” Raymond responded simply.

“What’s your family name? Where are you from?”

“I have no family. I am from nowhere and I have no home.” The words rang true and caused a slight ache in Raymond’s chest. She pushed the feeling away, though. If she had no home now, she would just have to make one later. The next step towards that would be freeing Lexi.

“That platinum hair… is it from a unique trait?” Jantzen asked.

“Yes.”

“What does it do?”

“Increases my charisma.”

“Why did you want to travel with us?” Peter asked.

“I was hungry.”

“So you’re just a beggar? How did you get a combat class then?”

“I killed a really big bird.”

“By yourself?

“Yes.”

The group stared at her with mixed reactions. Ven kept his expression hidden behind a mask. Peter looked amazed while Helen looked mortified and Jantzen looked unimpressed.

Ven asked the final question they had for her.

“If you’re a Guardian, why don’t you have a shield?”

Raymond mentally facepalmed. Oops, she totally forgot.

“I forgot it. It’s okay though, I don’t need one. I’m really durable.”

The group relaxed visibly and Raymond felt the throbbing pain in her head disappear. She shook her head slightly as if coming out of a daze.

Ven and Helen returned their attention to the road while the group continued to move forward. Jantzen and Peter moved away, talking lightly to each other. Lexi tapped Raymond on the shoulder. Raymond glanced at the catgirl, ducking her head slightly to hide the expression behind the cowl of her hood.

“You resisted the mind control, didn’t you?” Lexi whispered. “I smelled a few lies in there.”

Raymond chuckled. “Of course.”

“Who are you really?”

“Did you see the system notification yesterday?”

Lexi nodded.

“I am Raymond.”

Lexi hesitated for a brief moment. Raymond saw comprehension dawn in her eyes and grinned, baring her fangs slightly.

“Legion is calling for you, Lexi. He desires that you follow him.”

Lexi wiped a tear forming in her eye.

“He… an Overseer knows my name?”

Raymond nodded.

Tears rolled down Lexi’s face. Raymond returned her attention to the four adventurers and watched. After they’d been on the road for a while now and the town was now very far behind them, Raymond prepared herself. The goblin village was supposed to be another couple hours down the road. It was about time to start hunting.

***

Lexi stared at the small, cloaked girl pulling the cart with her. The acts of kindness by this strange individual were bewildering in the extreme. She’d been a slave for fourteen of her sixteen years and in all that time she could not remember receiving a single act of kindness until Eve…

No, not Eve… Evelyn Raymond.

The First Sin, the Monarch of Ages, the Vampire Queen.

Tether of Legion, the new Overseer.

Legion was calling for Lexi. He knew her name. It was almost like a dream and Lexi was afraid that if she closed her eyes then the hope that had suddenly appeared before her would disappear.

She sensed a change in Raymond as the intensely violent smell of bloodlust filled the air. Lexi shrank away, feeling a tinge of fear and unease.

Raymond released her hold on the cart.

“Pull for a moment like nothing is wrong. When the fighting starts, hide.” Raymond whispered. Lexi nodded.

Raymond crouched down slightly, moving towards Helen. The Rogue and Ranger were both covering the left and right side of the cart, respectively. Unfortunately, neither of them were watching for an attack from within the group.

Lexi had traveled with several types of adventurer groups in her time as a slave. The difference in abilities between bronze and silver ranked adventurers was a wide gap and this team was firmly on the bronze side. They were overconfident in their abilities… a common bronze mistake.

Raymond withdrew a small, black rope and a sword from beneath her cloak. The rope attached itself to her left wrist while she held the sword up with her right arm. Lexi continued to pull the cart but the pain and fatigue in her muscles fled from her mind as she watched, enthralled by the scene before her.

Raymond struck quickly, piercing Helen through the heart and killing her instantly. Lexi dropped the cart and immediately ducked underneath it, hiding while looking out to watch the ensuing chaos.

“What the hell?!” Jantzen shouted.

Raymond ran forward, swinging the sword with a fierce, purple glow. Ven deflected the swing with his daggers and then grunted as a rope latched around his foot and pulled. He fell backward and Raymond’s glowing red fist landed squarely in his face, leaving a bloody crater. Ven smashed into the ground and rolled away, groaning.

Raymond ran towards Jantzen and Peter. Both of them were chanting spells.

“Delirium!” Peter shouted, pointing at Raymond. Lexi grinned as Raymond continued running forward, completely unaffected by the spell.

Jantzen finished his chant and pointed a finger at Ven’s crumpled form. Light surrounded the Rogue and his face started to reform. Ven slowly stood up as Raymond reached the Cleric and Warlock. She swung her sword and clipped Jantzen in the arm, drawing blood.

“I thought we cleared her…” Ven shouted as he ran towards them.

Peter stumbled backward away from the fight.

“We did… she’s only here because she wants food right? Why…”

Raymond grinned, throwing her cowl back. She bared her fangs as she hissed menacingly.

“Vamp…” Peter whispered, “So we’re the food?”

Raymond leaped forward, grabbing Jantzen by the neck and pulling him down. Ven came up behind her but she swung the fat man around, dragging his body across the ground as she intercepted his daggers with the Cleric. Jantzen screamed.

“Watch where you stick those, you moron!”

Ven stepped backward, watching for an opening while Peter channeled another spell. Peter’s spell fizzled against Raymond again.

“I… I don’t… what…?” Peter stuttered, falling backward. “My spells… I can’t do anything to her.”

Raymond struck forward with her free hand, hitting Jantzen in the jaw. The Cleric’s eyes rolled up as he blacked out and Raymond released him. Jantzen crumpled to the floor. She turned, glaring menacingly at Peter while licking her lips.

Lexi smelled Peter’s fear and laughed, delighted.

Peter was the worst of the four. He acted nice, but his friendly face was a front. He was a Dominator Warlock and he used his power to take what he wanted. Lexi had seen him drag two mind-controlled women into his room the previous night and neither of them had returned.

Due to his class, he was highly resistant to magical mind control effects but that did nothing against good ol’ fashioned fear. Raymond must have known that because she was playing one hell of a psychological game with Peter’s mind.

Ven appeared behind Raymond, stepping out of her shadow as he stabbed forward. His blade caught Raymond in the heart and Lexi gasped.

“No…” she whispered, despair settling into her heart. She sniffled slightly and then paused, noting that the scent of Raymond’s bloodlust was not decreasing. In fact, it was higher than before.

Raymond whirled around and grabbed Ven’s wrist. The magic rope latched onto his neck and tightened, strangling him. Ven choked, slashing wildly with his dagger at Raymond and at the rope. The rope frayed slightly but withstood the blows while Raymond ignored the slashes opening up on her neck, her chin and her arm. Ven’s struggling started to slow down as he asphyxiated. Eventually, he went limp.

Raymond dropped him, turning to walk towards Peter. The Warlock started to crawl away, his body shaking in terror as he wailed.

“N..n.nooo! Get away from me!”

Raymond stalked closer to him, her arm and face covered in bloody slashes. She grinned and Lexi shivered at the violent rage that filled the air.

“You pathetic humans dare to enslave us monsters… and when we fight back, you can do nothing but cower and scream. Pathetic.” Raymond growled.

The small girl reached down and picked up Peter by the neck. He screamed, tears streaming down his face. Lexi caught the faint scent of ammonia.

The rope wrapped around Peter, constraining him. Raymond dropped him to the ground and raised her sword, eyeing it with a dangerous glint in her violet eye.

“You tried to cast Mind Control on me. Obviously, it didn’t work… but I cannot ignore the attempt.”

“W..what are you going to do to me?” Peter asked.

Raymond crouched down next to his face and Lexi felt her heart stutter as Raymond gave an adorable smile.

“Why, I’m going to make sure the three of you that are left have a very… traumatic experience.” She raised the sword and pointed it at Peter’s hand.

Lexi watched, awestruck. Peter’s screams of agony pierced her ears and she flinched. Though the torture was slightly unpleasant to watch, the feeling was completely overpowered by the sense of joy she felt in watching her owners be the ones being beaten.

Thanks to Raymond and Legion, she would finally be free. Legion had called for her by name and sent his Tether to rescue her. Lexi felt her eyes tear up as her chest swelled with emotion. For the first time in her short sixteen years, Leximea Bloodclaw truly felt overwhelmed with joy.

The screaming stopped and Raymond moved away from Peter’s corpse, approaching the cart. Lexi crawled out, standing before the small, bloody girl.

“What is your answer?” Evelyn Raymond asked.

“Yes…” Lexi whispered nervously.

Raymond smiled warmly.

“What was that?” she asked, “You don’t sound too sure.”

Lexi leaped forward, throwing her arms around her savior.

“Yes!” she shouted, “Oh gods, yes!”

Raymond hugged her back and in that moment Lexi knew that her life was finally on the right track.

They broke apart, smiling.

A groaning sound from the side signaled Jantzen’s imminent awakening. Lexi met Raymond’s gaze.

“Shall we have some fun?” Raymond asked lightly, offering the sword to Lexi.

Lexi reached out hesitantly, her arm shaking. Phantom pains from years of gashes flared across her back. Watching Raymond kill and torture them was one thing but she knew the pain of defiance.

The mind was willing but the body was weak.

Raymond gripped Lexi’s arm firmly and placed the sword into her hand, gently closing Lexi’s fingers around the hilt.

“You know you want to!”

“I do… I really want to have fun...” Lexi purred softly as she allowed Raymond to pull her towards the prone forms of Jantzen and Ven.

She pointed the sword at Jantzen, fighting the instinct to run away. Raymond stepped back and nodded encouragingly. Lexi smiled back weakly, taking strength from her savior’s support.

She yelped as Jantzen stirred once more, stumbling backward.

Raymond stepped forward and caught her, leaning forward to whisper into Lexi’s ear.

“If it helps, you can close your eyes. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Raymond promised.

Raymond released her and took a step back again.

Lexi nodded, closing her eyes and folding her ears down to block out some of the sound. She took a deep breath...

And with a mighty roar, she stepped forward and plunged the sword down.

Congratulations! You have met 3/3 requirements to unlock the Fighter class!

- Endure receiving more than 50% of your total hp in damage from a single attack.

- Deal more than 25% of an enemies total hp in damage with a single attack. (Enemy must be of equal or greater level)

- Defeat an enemy of equal or greater level single-handedly.

Accept? Y/N

You have met 2/4 requirements to unlock a unique class!