I saw the frightening massive horns of the new Shinehorn further down the tunnel. Unlike the previous ones, this one seemed different in almost every way. It had the sleek muscular body of a panther, its goat-shaped head easily a meter and a half off the ground, and its two massive red glowing horns pointed forward like two javelins ready to strike. “Forced evolution,” whispered Kiszo.

The three of us stared at one another for a few breathless moments before Kiszo’s upper arms blurred and shot three arrows down the tunnel’s length. The Shinehorn easily dodged the first two shafts but caught the third in its shoulder. Kiszo had to have planned that.

The massive Shinehorn growled again as it tried to reach the arrow with its jaw but couldn’t turn its head to the side far enough. It looked back at us as it slowly began to creep forward with its body closer to the ground. I could see it now sported a slight limp in the injured front leg.

Kiszo didn’t wait to send the next barrage hurtling towards the illuminated dark green and black Shinehorn. It took another arrow to its side before it began to full-on sprint towards us.

Kiszo landed two more shots, one on its neck and the same side as before. The creature leaped towards us. I fell onto my back and swung up, hitting its hind leg with a large audible crack of bones. Flash. Kiszo took the jump’s full force. Her bow pushed forward to receive the jaws of the goat-faced feline while keeping its horns the space of a hand away from cooking Kiszo’s chest.

I turned my head to see that the Shinehorn still held the bow between its jaws while Kiszo held onto the non-injured leg with her third arm to keep it from raking her chest. Unfortunately, the injured paw found her chest, leaving long bleeding lines from shoulder to abdomen.

I jumped to my feet to rush the creature and slammed my hammer into its side with all my strength. Flash. I could hear a whimper come from the giant beast. Kiszo kept hold, and I swung the hammer again at the same spot. The hammer’s ability triggered, and the entire center of the Shinehorn now painted the wall a dark red before the corpse and splatter began to turn into bright blue floating sand.

Pushing the dust’s new color out of my mind, I ran over to Kiszo. She was now lying on the tunnel’s floor and bleeding heavily. I created a dim light orb and placed it on the wall to her side. I removed a water skin from the side of her pack and began to clean out the wound to her dismay and shouting. I began to go through her pack until I found linen wraps and the white God’s Tear’s petals. I began shoving as many as I could into my mouth before chewing.

Turning back to Kiszo, I cut away the heavily damaged leather wraps across her breasts and cleaned the wound one more time. I spat the leaves into my hand and began to pack the wound as best I could before putting more of the leaves in my mouth and repeating.

With the wound packed with the chewed-up herbs, I had to hold her up as I began wrapping the linen around her shoulder and then chest to cover the wound and keep the paste in place.

“Get the dark blue skin from my pack. It will dull the pain and give me the energy to leave this place on my own,” came from the wounded and pained Kiszo.

It took me a few moments to find the skin within her bottomless backpack, but she drank the entire thing once I held it to her mouth. Her pain seemed to ease within a few moments, and she was on her feet a minute later. “This will last me no more than thirty minutes. I will go ahead and leave to seek out a healer. Thank you for taking care of my wound, Zeal.”

Then she was gone, moving as a blur down the tunnel. I stared after her for a few minutes before I heard a faint cry come from behind me. I looked to see Luin curled up in a ball and shaking. I looked around the cave but found no blue core. “OH no, what did you do, Luin!”

What had Kiszo said, too much energy would force a rank up or evolution? Not seeing any other loot, I picked up the blue shacking creature and began to run after Kiszo. As I reached the miners’ cavern, I could feel Luin begin to grow hot. Knowing I wouldn’t make it, I stopped inside the cavern, ensuring the door behind me was closed. I sat on the guard’s chair and held Luin in my lap as I stroked her head as she continued to grow warm. “I wish I knew what was happening to you, little one.”

She began to grow hotter until I had to lay her onto the stone floor. The heat was too much for my hands and legs to bear. Moments later, she began to glow, the image of her distorting and growing outwards in all directions. A blinding flash happened a moment later. A wheezing but much bigger Luin lay on the stone floor.

The Kobold was easily twice as big now. Luin was now the size of a medium-sized dog. I could see her belly from her neck to the tip of her tail was now covered with light blue scales. Her horns, now around six centimeters long and beginning to curve backward, looked almost metallic and had changed to a golden color.

Her ears were now comically larger than they should be and sported golden markings on their backs. Her snout was covered in blue fur, with a line of gold fur running up the center of her face and coming to a point at the top of her head.

Picking her up, I could see lines of golden fur running down her arms and legs, with golden circles at the sides of her hips. She looked absolutely adorable, but now with much longer claws on her hands and feet.

I tried to wake her, but she wouldn’t stir. Hefting her up so her head rested over my shoulder, I began to jog towards the dungeon’s entrance. By the time I reached the gateway out, the two guards assigned to me had weapons drawn and were staring at the door I came out of. “Did you kill whatever wounded Kiszo?” they asked in unison.

“Yes, it’s dead. Bring me to Kiszo,” I ordered.

They didn’t need to be told twice. Both were through the portal in an instant. I followed right behind them. My eyes burned as I walked out of the gate. The sun was high above the village. Those around the dungeon entrance were wide-eyed as they stared at us. “Let’s go!” I shouted.

The lead guard began running towards the center of the village, the second just behind him. When we reached the center, I was surprised when they led me straight into the tavern. Just inside the doors was Kiszo, swearing up a storm as a Snake Beastkin was stitching the wound up.

“Stop squirming. I still do not detect any decay or poison within the wound. You will make a full recovery, yet you may not be able to nurse your future young from the left breast if you choose to bear offspring,” said the snake as she rapidly finished stitching the wound.

The snake applied a much darker paste onto it, with the wound fully stitched. Kiszo’s face gave away how much it stung. I walked over to the table, Luin still being carried like a sleeping child. Kiszo cursed again when she saw me. “Oh, don’t be a baby! I haven’t even done anything more yet,” The healer said.

“What happened to her?!” shouted Kiszo.

“I think she ate that blue core from the evolved Shinehorn. Then she either ranked up or evolved. I have no idea.”

The entire tavern went silent, all eyes on the sleeping Luin. Then at once, I watched as a few Kobolds ran out of the tavern. Then people began shouting all at once. I noticed a few comments about evolved beasts in the dungeons and a blue core being found inside.

Moments later, I felt a hand on the shoulder opposite Luin’s head and turned to find Hollow. “Follow me. When Kiszo is able, have her meet us in my officer.”

I followed the ferret to the ornate door at the tavern’s back. Once inside and the door closed, the sounds of the tavern vanished. “Your office is in a tavern?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ve always felt a tavern was the best place for meetings. That way you don’t have to bring the food or ale, it’s simply there. Now, despite the priestess’s clear change, what has happened inside the dungeon. Kiszo was hurt, and she’s among the strongest of our village.”

I lay Luin down on a small cot I spotted in the corner of the room. The chief explained the cot as I looked back at him; he slept here sometimes if he worked late. Sitting at the offered chair across from Hollow’s desk, I told him about clearing the stronger creatures inside. About the wave of Shinehorns coming over the wall and the much larger and evolved Shinehorn.”

“You mentioned a blue core. How did Luin get ahold of it so fast after killing this evolved Shinehorn? She dug it out herself?”

“I’m not sure if you don’t know or if you’re teasing me. Anyone from the original Ray’tha village would have known I was Classless. I wouldn’t be surprised if those details hadn’t already reached you. If they had, you would have known what happens to those I kill, just like the four Kobolds who died by my hands a few days ago.”

“Ah yea, I just wanted to confirm it and hear it come from your very lips. It’s too late to kill those rumors about you now. Many villagers heard you say Luin consumed a blue, or Azure Core. One of those hasn’t been seen around here, that I recall. Now every damn fool who wants to get rich is going to enter the dungeon to either get their hands on one or die trying.”

A rapid and hard-knock came at the chief’s door before I could ask the significance of the blue core. The chief got up as the second set of knocks came a moment later. Opening the door, I watched as the chief was pushed aside by a group of Kobolds who barged into the room. I sprang to my feet and constructed two ice lances that began floating above my hands a moment later.

The Kobolds at the front of the pack froze at the sight. The ones behind, not seeing the threat, continued to move forward, plowing into their now frozen comrades and toppling them over and then falling on top of them. This continued comically with the next two rows.

Then the massive alpha Go’gie ducked under the door’s frame and began yelling at those on the ground before he looked up to see me between them and the sleeping Luin. Floating death above my hands. “Not here to fight! We bring energy water for Luin!” barked out the chief.

He tossed a skin of liquid at me. I let the ice lances go, and they fell to the floor, shattering as I caught the skin. “What?! I asked.

“If the Priestess has evolved, she needs the water. The process of evolution takes up all the available energy in her body. You must feed her energy-water so she may regain her strength faster. It’s water with crushed-up cores.”

“All of you, get the hell out of my office now! Go’gie, you stay!” Shouted the now very pissed-off-looking ferret as he got back to his feet.

The Alpha seemed to grow fearful and barked out a command in their language before they began to pick themselves off the floor and run out the door with their ears pressed firmly to their heads.

As soon as the last Kobold left the officer, Hollow slammed the door shut and stared at the Kobold’s Alpha. “You really need to learn social customs if you want to bring the Kobolds into our civilized society, Go’gie.”

“I’m sorry, chief. I had them slam fists on the door. Is that not the custom?”

I couldn’t help myself. I began laughing, trying to hold my hand over my mouth. This conversation between these two people of power was too much for me. Both turned and glared at me, but I waved my hand as Hollow had done to excuse us. Hollow glared harder at the gesture. I tossed the pouch back towards the confused Kobold, turned around, and walked over to the sleeping Luin.

I pulled out a green core and made sure it was clean with a fast wipe of my shirt. I pulled on Luin’s chin to reveal some very serious, sharp teeth. Once I got her mouth open wide enough, I dropped the core inside. I watched the core dissolve into nothingness and waited. I grabbed two more cores when nothing happened, cleaning and dropping them into her maw. As soon as the third core dissolved, she began to stir.

I stood up from my kneeling position and waited for her to come too. Looking back at Go’gie, I could see the surprised expression on his face. Was it the number of cores I just used on her, or maybe the fact I used cores in the first place? I wasn’t going to ask.

“Papa!” I heard an excited cry before I cried out in pain as clawed hands dug into my back. I looked down to see the now awake Luin wrapped around my waist.