Central Ruk

Grand Fae City of Orion, Royal Palace.

War room.

The table shuddered as Cherry slammed his fist flat onto its stone surface, said surface cracking and caving in after collision with his gauntlet. The large armoured Guardian clenched his other fist as he breathed out, relaxing his body as he turned around and leaned onto the table. He glanced around the room, at the other members standing there with him.

Each member was completely silent, either standing around or sitting down each was dead quiet as it all sank in. Within the room with them stood several Devils and a single Fae, Legion, Lilith and three others stood with Liliana as at the front of them was Sistine. The new Devil had just told them everything she knew, from what Sly had told her to her meeting with Kyle several hours ago.

Liliana was being assisted by two of the Devils, she was severely weak and could barely stand but demanded to meet with the gathered guild. To show them one window, a small part of it that they had every right to see.

[Chosen of Dagger]

[Lich Killer]

SlyOkami

Status: Heroically Deceased

Each member was in their own world at the moment. Cherry crushing the stone table within his clenched hands as he leaned onto it. Death sitting at one end of the table, resting his face into his right hand. Seren being held by Steph as both sat, as both wept. Soren stood facing the wall, his forehead planted into it as the stone around it lay caved in.

Skill sat leaning back into his chair, facing up at the ceiling with hollow eyes. Woody sat facing Liliana’s party, staring emptily at them since Sistine had finished speaking. Ch stood straight next to the table with Cherry, arms crossed as he stared down at the floor. Jacky stood in the corner of the room, his back to the wall, arms down and eyes closed.

Even Jane, Rico and Vain were there, each standing around Jacky with their own sullen expressions. Lilior was nowhere to be seen, the room’s mood being too much for her. Sparta had also joined her outside, also unable to stand it.

Each of them, being old or new members knew Sly, each having spent much time with him. Each seeing him as he saw everybody else, family. But none showed it more than Birse, none needed to contain themselves more than him as he sat at the other end of the long stone table.

Tendrils of shadow grew around him, their form like vines riddled with spikes that would shrink and regrow somewhere else without pattern or sense. His eyes were closed, his arms crossed as they clenched each other to the point of causing himself pain.

The room was entirely quiet other than Seren’s sniffles, the Devils and Liliana not daring saying a word to be respectful but this scene had been going on for over an hour now. Not even the whispers outside made anybody move, not even as the door opened but…

“Looks like you’re all up to date.” Each turned to face Kyle as he spoke, standing at the door with Lilior in Fairy form hugged to his chest. He gazed around the room, his eyes showing no sign of sadness, no sign of weakness. His entire expression was the meaning of cold, emotionless and solemn.

Gaining no response he stepped into the room and around Liliana’s party. Briefly he stopped and glanced down at Lilior. Nodding down at her he then gently pushed her away, leaving her to hover behind him as he stepped to CH.

Kyle forwarded his open palm to CH “It’s good to have you back.” He said while staring him straight in the eyes “Hopefully not temporarily?”

CH’s eyes widened for a brief moment but he dropped his gaze, unable to look Kyle in the eye as he didn’t take the handshake.

“Coward.” Hissed Kyle as he suddenly grabbed CH by the collar of his cloak of leaves and threw him down to the floor, nobody moved to help.

But Birse spoke up “Kyle…Not now.” his voice was restrained, his tone even more so.

Kyle looked up from a pathetic CH who lay on the floor, to meet Birse’s hardened glare with his own empty stare “Look around you, is this what we’ve fallen to? You’ve wept, you’ve sulked. Isn’t it enough already?”.

“Enough?!” Snapped Jane surprising everyone, as she stomped over to Kyle and got in his face, her eyes red with tears and anger “He’s dead!”

“Yes he is. He’s dead.” Said Kyle with a straight unmoving face, which caused Jane to suddenly lunge forward at his face with her right hand. But Kyle caught it by the wrist before it made contact, she briefly tried to struggle out but her body lost the last bit of strength she had left and collapsed onto the ground. Kneeling as she wept.

“Sly…Justin is dead and most of those who stand, sit or lay in this room have had a hand in that outcome.” Kyle’s eyes moved over each individual around the table, watched each person in the corner or by the wall. He took in every change, the smallest to the most minute difference in expression as he spoke “Even though we Let him get hurt, even though We were too blind to see his wounds. Albeit disappointing him, albeit giving him every reason to make him lose faith in us.”

Kyle stopped to let it all sink in, letting go of Jane’s wrist at that moment to step back and continue “He sacrificed himself, gave away his Immortal fucking life to give Us more time. He Died for us. Because he truly Cared for each member of this damn guild. His last words to me…” everyone raised their gaze to look at him again “He told me…he told us to live on. I’m sure he meant that to every person in this room…” Kyle glanced down and met CH’s eyes “Every single one.”

Kyle knew exactly what he was doing, as cold hearted as it was he knew just how much Sly meant to everyone. Each member of the guild was family but, just like Silva was a cousin to most Sly was a brother to everyone. Even to him. So he knew he needed to use that before it was too late. Before the family he knew and loved was torn apart by this loss.

“He…may no longer be here.” continued Kyle as he helped Jane back to standing “His life has been extinguished, his soul gone but…” afterwards he reached out his hand to CH who still lay face up on the floor “But we still hold his memory, he still exists within our thoughts and past.” CH leaned up and took his hand, also being helped up back to standing.

Kyle clenched CH’s hand and looked him straight in the eye “So in his memory, for his sacrifice. Let’s live on, for the dream he gave his life protecting. Let’s fight on.” CH clenched back and nodded, Kyle nodded back before letting go.

He glanced over them all, still sensing the dry sadness but this time it was surrounded by something else. A burning determination “We all know the saying ‘History is written by the victors’. So let’s be the victors, let’s write history how we want it to be remembered. Let’s remember Sly not for his impractical foolhardiness, not for his bad temper or insanely stupid plans.” A few chuckles went around the room, but most remained silent “Let’s remember him as the warrior he was, as the fighter he became. Not as a defeated ally, but a fallen Hero who gave everything he had to give for not his but OUR dream.”

Kyle watched as they rose to stand, watched as the sadness in their eyes disappeared and was replaced by a fire “Because this is no longer simply us fighting for what we want, this is no longer us tripping about in a world we know little about and hoping for the best. No this is now a matter of pride for ourselves and a matter of honour for our fallen. This is now a matter of respect for what they stood for, so we can ingrain their memory into this world’s core.”

He sensed the tension caused by the sulking burn away, he sensed the Spirit overflowing the room with pressure that radiated resolve “Be it the darkest corner of reality, be the Demon of light and be it a fake God. We will face it all, win or lose, live or die. Because this is now bigger than ourselves, we risk more than our lives.”

Kyle turned to face Birse who was the only one still sitting, gazing into the table’s cracked surface “I stake my life on this, I bet my soul on not just protecting this world but making it our own. Because we are done searching, we are done looking for it. We have found it, the place we belong is right here, right now. So will you join me? Will you make this place home with me?”

Birse raised his gaze and met Kyle’s determined eyes “Do you even need to ask? That is my question, why does someone have to even ask?” he glanced over the others until his gaze stopped on CH “We’re all family, and family sticks together.” He then glanced over Jane, Vain and Rico “Each of us, no more solo mission.”

Birse stood up and briefly stared off at some windows remaining silent “We’re done hiding in the shadows, it’s time we shine.” A couple notifications appeared for Kyle.

Guild [RedHawkDown] has been disbanded. You have been invited to the guild [Blood Pack Mercenaries] Do you wish to join?

Everyone accepted the invite immediately and once the last member had joined, Birse slammed his hands over the stone table gaining everyone’s full attention “Death, Steph, CH and Cherry, you four head back to Ruk and continue pumping out Mageks for Esfelt. Skill, Sparta, Seren, Woody and Soren you five are with me, we’re heading back to Hasharr to get to know the Orcs a bit more.”

Birse pointed at each member as he told them what each were going to do until he stopped at Jacky “Jacky, you’re taking Vain, Rico, Jane and Kyle. You know the areas, get their levels up to par with ours.” He then pointed at Kyle “No arguments from you, all four of you are sorely low level. After you’re done, I’ll need you at Hasharr.”

He glanced over everyone once more “Understood?”

Grunts and hums of acceptance sounded off from the group “I asked…Understood?!” Birse exclaimed, his tone demanding and voice harsh.

“Understood!” exclaimed each member almost in unison, all but Kyle who smiled as he glanced over everyone.

“Understood.” He then also said, his smile widening into a grin.

Central Ruk

Grand Fae City of Orion

Southern streets.

Kyle followed after the others as he glanced around, taking in the Fae architecture that surrounded him. Walking with him were three old members of the guild he did not know well. Jane a female Merfolk rogue, Vain a male Dwarf monk and Rico a male Dark Elf spearman. Ahead of them was Jacky leading the way with Legion, who had agreed to show them around.

The Devil glanced back at Kyle from time to time, looking anxious but kept his cool. Still disturbed by recent happenings.

Kyle ignored him entirely, his attention entirely taken by his surroundings and the child-sized Lilior hanging over his back “Master mean, leaving me alone with bossy creepy man.” She mumbled with a pout, causing Jacky’s shoulders to slump down as he resisted retorting.

Kyle chuckled lightly “I didn’t leave you alone with bossy creepy man though, the others were there too weren’t they?” he asked her with a smirk.

Jacky glanced back with a raised brow “Oi who you ca-”

But the others cut him off.

“Keep walking bossy.” Said Rico with a smirk.

“No point in arguing creepy.” Added Vain with an even wider smirk.

Jacky turned away grumbling, causing even Legion to chuckle alongside the rest. All but Jane who had been silent since leaving the Palace.

Kyle sighed quietly as he unintentionally sensed all their emotions. Lilior was as happy as she could be, Legion was anxious and slightly afraid, Jacky was annoyed and mildly angry but seemingly not at them. Rico was bored, looking for any outlet of entertainment. Vain was tired and slightly anxious.

But what stood out the most to Kyle was Jane’s Spirit, the Mer adventurer was in deep thought and highly distracted. She had bumped into several citizens on their way and her emotions reflected her expression.

(“This could be dangerous.”) Kyle thought as he sensed her depression, they were on their way to farm monsters for experience after all and nothing was more dangerous than a distracted ally during live combat.

Yet there was nothing he could do about it, he didn’t know her nor did he feel the need to butt in on her life. It was none of his business, he only wished he could shut off his senses and ignore it all but ever since the healing he found it almost impossible.

He began to wonder why that was when suddenly “Here we are, the sole Dungeon contracted with the city of Orion.” announced Legion as they reached a guarded gate. Spanning to either side was a wall just as large as the one surrounding the city itself, cutting this area off like a district from Eslet.

The six Fae guards saluted as they saw Legion and let their entire group inside, where they found themselves in a vast field of blood red grass with black roses mixed in. They followed a path of cobblestone that took them all the way to the centre of the field, were four large pillars rose up forming a square and connecting all four at the top was a roof.

The pillars were made of a dark blue stone and the roof was almost as red as the grass, vines of black had grown around the building giving it an antique feel. Over all the pillars were each twenty meters apart, leaving a fair bit of room below its roof where several tables had been set up.

Legion explained as they approached the building “This is where our three people’s warriors come to explore their limits and surpass them. The building up here is just a resting area where people gather and find parties to explore the deeper parts of the Dungeon together.”

He pointed at the centre of the resting area “That is the Dungeon’s actual entrance.” He was pointing at a large spiral staircase that took downwards into the ground.

“Why would a Dungeon allow invaders?” asked Rico as he and everyone else glanced around at the many Fae, Dwarves and Demons that sat about in groups big and small.

“The four races of Devil, Demon, Dwarf and Fae have made an agreement with the Dungeon.” Legion continued to explain as he politely nodded at each person they passed by, who would rise and bow respectfully to him “We let it live, it allows us entrance to test ourselves with its creations. We let it drain a mild amount of mana from the entries and it makes sure our warriors survive the encounters below. Along with several rare materials we import for its…ah…artistic creations, it provides us with basic materials.”

Jacky snorted “What’s the point of testing yourself if your life isn’t even in danger?” both Rico and Vain smiled awkwardly at that.

Legion pointed to one of the pillars which like the other three had a door on the inside, from time to time people would step out of the doors but nobody ever walked in “Similarly to the Respawn platforms Tempres has and the ability your Dungeon…Err..Fae companion?...Has…This Dungeon also provides such a system.” he explained as they reached the staircase’s edge.

“Why not militarize it then?” suddenly asked Jane causing them all to glance at her awkwardly.

“The Fae tried to convince it but, the Dungeon only accepted to come to the defence of Orion if need be. Watching over so many souls takes a lot of its attention already, it simply doesn’t want to be a slave.” Legion explained in response.

“And what’s with the…aesthetics?” Asked Kyle as he gestured at the field of red grass.

“Nature-magic.” said Legion with a shrug “Anti-corruption barrier, just in-case. Anyway you wanted to change sub-class right?” Kyle nodded and Legion gestured upwards “The Obelisk is there, just take a seat and go for it.”

Kyle looked up and as the Devil had said the long stone obelisk was hanging off the stone ceiling seemingly merged into it “I’ll go for it then, you all heading out now?” he turned to ask Jacky.

“We’ll head down now, these three are lacking worse than you.” He replied with a sigh “You sure you wanna go alone?”

“Master won’t be alone!” Exclaimed Lilior from Kyle’s back, rudely poking out her tongue at him.

“I’ll be fine, go ahead.” Kyle told him and turned to look for an empty table, finding one he briefly glanced back to see the four of them head down and Legion step through a rift that quickly closed behind him.

Kyle reached back and grabbed Lilior by her wing stems, causing her to whimper and pulling her off his back. Bringing her to face him he asked “Watch my back for a moment alright?”

Lilior nodded “Yes Master!” and suddenly her form melted into a light blue slime causing much attention to turn to them as she reformed into her normal-height form. Lilior had formed into sitting position with her back to the table, grinning up at him.

Kyle sighed as he quickly glanced around, he heard many of the citizens around them now whispering enthusiastically. Not only were they personally shown around by a full-fledged Devil of the Pride Dezol but Lilior -A Fae- calling him ‘Master’ had just used a strange magic.

They had gained a bit too much attention for his taste, but it was too late now. Shrugging he sat down onto the stone bench with arms over the wooden table, before interacting with the Obelisk though he moved his attention to older notifications he had not found time to look at yet. The notifications that were newer moved down like a chat box in his lower left view, making way for older ones until he found what he was looking for.

Through skilful use the skill [Surge] has reached Level 10 – Tier 5!

You have now Mastered this skill!

[Surge] Mastery: The skill now has no cooldown

Through long-term contact with [Imbue Body] the skill [Ooze] has gained the variation (Spirit)! Through continued use the skill [Dimensional Force] has reached level 2! You have unlocked the [Dimensional Sense] passive skill! Level up! (x4) Attribute points (x40) are waiting to be allocated! Under watchful training you have learned the active skill [Spirit Manifestation]! From attentive training you have learned the passive skill [Spirit Manipulation]! With ease you have learned the active skill [Spirit Form]! Passive skill [Spirit Detection] has evolved into [Spirit Master]!

Kyle was now level 131, he believed those levels came from his extensive days of training with the Ancients but they could have also come from his time back on Mars. He just wasn’t sure if the system allocated experience for out-of-dimension experiences.

He pulled up his [Ooze] skill and quickly read through the new Slime type.

Slime type: (Spirit) (Spirit) Effect: The slime changes colour depending on the most prevalent type of Spirit surrounding it and is capable of storing that Spirit.

He garnered this slime could prove useful in a battlefield or a highly-populated area, it allowed him to absorb Spirit and store it somewhere other than his own body which was dangerous in mass amounts.

Next he pulled up the [Dimensional Sense] skill window.

[Dimensional Sense] ((EXP 0%)Level 1): The capability to detect fluctuations in the space surrounding you. Range: 300 meters (Radius)

This skill’s usefulness was limited but useful nonetheless. He skimmed over [Spirit Manifestation], [Spirit Manipulation] and [Spirit Form] being very basic skills for a Spirit user and moved on to…

[Spirit Master] ((Mastered/Evolved) Level 5 – Tier 5): The ability to sense the constantly changing emotions of any Mortal being. You are capable to perfectly tell someone’s mood down to the millisecond, able to detect a quick emotional reaction or response from anybody within range.

Range: 100 meters (Radius)

Mastery effect: (Pinpoint); Detection, range and location are pinpoint accurate.

Kyle blamed this skill for being unable to shut off his Spirit detection, he regarded it as a double-edged sword. Simply thinking about it reminded him of his childhood, a nightmarish ability for any kid to have. But at the very least he was capable of reducing its range down to a few feet.

As he read the last of the notifications though…Kyle’s eyes widened with surprise and confusion.

Hidden [Heroic Feat] has been completed! Your [Heroic Class] is now available for selection!

He sighed figuring this was the same as his title and skill, Ymir wasn’t able to tell him anything about it until he gained it and asked about it. He focused on [Heroic Feat] and [Heroic Class] separately to gain their descriptions.

[Heroic Feat]

Each Hero or Chosen have a feat or achievement allocated to their progression within the world of Chaoz. This feat is chosen by their Chooser, their Deity.

Your chosen feat was:

Overcome your past, accept your darkness…Unleash your true self.

Your chooser, your Deity is:

The God of the never-ending winter,

The God of the Frost Giants,

The God, Warrior and King of the Jötnar,

The God Aurgelmir Brimir Bláinn Ymir.

He grimaced at the feat, thinking Ymir had put too much trust in his capability. Kyle was also surprised to read a God’s full name, he had little clue as how to pronounce most of it.

[Heroic Class]

Heroes come in many shapes, colours and sizes.

They come as Knights in bright shining armour,

They come as a Light to the moths that are people,

They come as Warriors for their own beliefs,

But they also come as Shadows, unseen by the world.

Heroic classes are powerful identities, sharing the power of your chosen Deity making you on-par with their Demi-children. Each Heroic Class focuses around a Chosen’s Heroic Title and Skill, building on that foundation to create a champion.

He smiled after reading that one, Kyle was a sucker for poetry and irony. But it didn’t change the hollow feeling that still enveloped his gut, despair was a powerful emotion in ways much more different than anger or hatred.

Kyle was trying not to think about it but even as he read through the notifications they all seemed like a distraction, he couldn’t focus. He tried his best to hide it, he even put on a smile for the others but the truth was he was affected by Sly’s death as badly as Birse, Soren and Death who knew him the best and as badly as apparently, Jane who he knew very little about to know why.

Sly wasn’t just a friend to Kyle, he was just like an overprotective older brother. He had taught Kyle everything he knew about combat, taught him the ins and outs of watching your opponent, moving depending how they moved, countering said moves and learning from defeat.

To Kyle, Sly was a teacher, a role-model.

Forcing himself to move on Kyle glanced at the obelisk and opened the class manager.

[Class Manager]

Level: 131

Main Class: Lord of Slimes

Sub Class: SpellBlade

Available Classes: Wrestler, Golemancer, Taoist, Wizard.

Available Heroic Class: {Chosen of Frost}

Warning; Changing class will remove your capability to use said class’s active and passive skills.

These skills cannot be learned without being said class.

Kyle had chosen SpellBlade for simple reasons, he needed simple power. He didn’t know if the system would work outside of Chaoz, which he found out later it didn’t. So he needed a class that screamed ‘Power House’, a class that gave him flat stats and not complex capabilities like [Golemancer] or [Wizard].

Now that he was back on Chaoz and still sure of his stay, SpellBlade had outgrown its use. [Imbue Blade] was only useful when Kyle used his ancestral sword, to which he preferred his slime and cannons. But [Imbue Body] had proven its usefulness, to cover his [Spirit Form] or slime body created through the sub-class [Body Shift] of his main class’s skill [{True Slime}].

Even then Kyle garnered he could do the same by combining the base skills themselves. Using [Body Shift] for his body and instead of [Imbue Body] he’d use [Spirit Manifestation] and [Spirit Manipulation] in conjunction with [{Tails}] to bring out the same or similar form.

And even if he couldn’t, [Body Shift] surrounded with Spirit would be enough of a defence. As for mobility he had [Surge] which he had mastered and [Quick Surge] for agile movements. For sustain he had (Vampiric) slime within each of his projectiles which regenerated his mana and health ever so slightly, [Contact Shift] another sub-skill of [{True Slime}] that covered damage done to his body to slime which he could regenerate at the cost of mana and at the end of it all Spirit.

Kyle mostly used his Spirit for casting spells now, leaving his normal mana bar as a last resort and when he ran out of Spirit. His Spirit bar was limitless but had no regen rate like his mana, instead he found that the more intense a fight became the more Spirit he would gain from both himself and his enemies.

Sustain covered, Kyle needed to focus more on his attacks. His [Gatling Slime] was a powerful weapon in of itself but sustaining it was extremely difficult, [Slime Cannon] was powerful in a single shot but slow due to its reload time. [Slime Pistol] was simply weak in every way while [Slime Scattershot] was simply several [Slime Pistols] but much less accurate.

As for his ancestral sword [Kōritsuku] -created by evolving the first sub-skill of [{Tails}]- was simply too short ranged for his tastes. Kyle wasn’t sure which of his ancestors had first wielded this blade and neither was Celica but he wasn’t the type to think much of what was customary. He didn’t care if the sword was passed down generation after generation, it just wasn’t his style as using it didn’t feel right.

Kyle preferred ranged weapons or magic spells. So that left him with the need to change class, the question now was which to pick?

Again [Wrestler] was a definite no. [Taoist] gave him nothing he was interested in, he also wasn’t sure he wanted to walk the same path the Ancients had. This would have left him with two options, two he was quite interested in. [Wizard] and [Golemancer] were his prime choices but…[{Chosen Of Frost}] was now apparently a thing.

From what he understood [{Chosen Of Frost}] continued to build upon his Heroic skill [{Cold Soul}] which was an ability he rarely ever got to use. The skill required 10 points of a bar called (Chilled Aura) which required his emotions to run rampant and allow his hatred to be let loose. Kyle wasn’t a fan of that.

But he couldn’t deny the fact that the skill was extremely powerful. If it wasn’t for this skill Belial would have completely cleaned the floor with him, without even using any magic what so ever.

On the other hand [Golemancer] had the potential of allowing him to create and control many more Golems, giving him his own personal army.

And last but not least [Wizard], it was completely Kyle’s style. Utility, power, versatility and creativity all in one.

Kyle sighed as he stared at his choices, even if he based his choice on both his needs and personal taste it was an impossible one. He couldn’t pick on his own, he needed outside assistance and he knew that. But as he thought of who to ask, the first person’s name to pop up in his head only worsened the hollowness he felt inside.

As he drowned in his thoughts Kyle opened his character page and began mechanically allocating his attribute points, each one into INT for more mana.

What snapped him out of his thoughts was the constant humming sound that suddenly began from his right, glancing to the side he saw Lilior leaned back onto the table and glaring forward sort of menacingly.

Kyle raised a brow at this behaviour, he wondered what she was so annoyed about as he turned to follow her glare. The answer to that question immediately became obvious to him once he had.

“Yo, it’s Goo-Guy.”