You know, I’m really not sure what I think of this whole ‘family’ thing. So far, it isn’t bad though. I mean, Charles seems like he is genuinely worried about me going out and getting killed. Henry just taught me another application of Source. It’s not like I have any other ties. So… yeah. If they invest in me, I will return the favor as soon as I can. I think they can grow on me. Before that, I’m gonna kick Henry’s ass and keep on beating this Dungeon. I have a jealous husband to outwit, an unfaithful wife to steal away, and a Guildmaster to escape from. Plus that whole list of things I wrote down for myself. Too busy to stay here, that’s for sure.

“Don’t get cocky, brother.” Henry says, the shadows around him growing into a great cloud, obscuring his form. “The fun is just beginning.”

The cloud of writhing shadows splits into five large pieces. Out of each piece walks... Henry? Five identical Henry’s with five identical swords and smirks stand before me. The casualness of their stances readily informs me that I am not being taken seriously by them at all.

“It’s only a spear head brother,” a voice behind me echoes in my ear, stiffening my spine with fear. “Make something that acts on its own like my shadow clones here, and I’ll be impressed.”

From the corner of my eye, I can see Henry standing behind me. His sword is sheathed, his arms are crossed, and he looks rather chummy.

“Defeat the clones or survive for ten minutes and I’ll consider it a pass,” he smirks at me. “It would be unfair for me to fight you myself. It doesn’t matter how much of a variant you are, it would be like bullying a child.”

He snaps his fingers and the 5 clones charge. They all come at me from all different angles. One to each side, one high, one low, and one head on. Their rapiers are fast and nimble, looking to draw blood.

Weeks of daily fighting with Honey and Co. has not really prepared me for this moment, but at least I don’t just stand there and wait. They are all converging on my current position, so I need to move. My body working at optimal Source infused power for the first time, I leap and roll out of the way faster than ever. Stick to what you know. I’m not out here trying to get stabbed by shadow men by being overconfident.

The Shadows turn on a dime, repositioning to chase me. I roll back to my feet, deciding on a plan of action. I don’t want to channel fire through my staff, because I’m worried that it will weaken my spear-tip. However, given the ambient cold radiating from said tip, I may have benefits if I use ice.

I coat my shield in a layer of water and push it at my attackers, just like Honey did to me all those weeks ago. Instead of charging behind it, like Honey did, I swipe my staff at it, slicing it into droplets with my spear tip. During the swiping motion, I channel my raging Core Source through my staff into the water, willing it to steal all of the energy from the water and push away whatever is left.

The result is a high-speed hail storm ripping through the Shadow forms fast approaching me. Large chunks of shadow are ripped from their flesh and dispersed. A very effective area attack. One of the Shadows splits and merges with the others, healing their wounds. Still outnumbered I beat a hasty retreat. A surprise attack like that probably won’t work out for me again.

Now more cautious, the Shadows fan into a half circle to surround me. The two of them slowly begin to edge around me, looking to take my flanks or attack me from behind, no doubt. The two in front of me rain attacks to hold my attention. My trusty shield weathers their storm and I keep on my toes, constantly moving so they can’t encircle me.

Like a turtle, I wait, hiding in my shell. The Shadow on my blindside, the side where my shield blocks my vision, does something unexpected. He explodes. His form collapses into a multitude of bats made of shadow. The bats swarm my face, harassing me and allowing for the remaining Shadows to charge forward.

A multitude of long lacerations furrow their way across my skin. Love taps from Henry’s minions and their thin blades. Desperate, I pull at the energy around me, trying to slow the Shadows down like I slowed that Death Knight. Frozen, the bats drop from the sky. The Shadows, continue their attacks however, too strong to be stalled.

I beat a hasty retreat, my wounds furiously itching as they mend themselves. Only three shadows left, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. Blocking strikes from two of them, I accept a blade on my shoulder in order to impale the third. My Spear sinks into flesh, which wafts shadow from the wound. The face, a mimicry of Henry’s, grins at me my spear in its belly.

‘Fuck,’ I think. ‘I need to do lots of spread out damage all at once to make it fall apart. It is made of shadows, it doesn’t have real vitals.’

The Shadow, still impaled, draws back for another strike, but before it can stab me it explodes from the inside. The benefits of having a spear-head created from magic. I can make it explode. The ice shreds the Shadow’s body, easily dispersing it. Only two left now.

My shield is wrenched from my arm by a large hound with glowing red eyes. It tears at the shield with its teeth and claws, pursuing some sort of personal vendetta against it. With my staff, I parry a rapier searching for my heart. One hound and one Henry are all that are left to face me. One of the Shadows must’ve transformed to take away the shield from me.

I build up power in my staff, trying to think of a sure-fire way to kill both in one hit. If they both don’t go down, without my shield it is highly likely that one of them will live long enough to shred me. These Shadows are too fast for me to be rolling and dodging away from.

Clapping resounds through the ballroom. Startled by the noise, I turn to the source. Henry is walking toward me.

“Congratulations brother!” He beams, waving his had to disperse the last two shadows. “You did a good job! Much better than expected, honestly. Now, because I don’t want Father to worry about you, here are a few gifts. First, some armor to keep you alive.”

Out of what looks to be a bag with a pocket dimension, Henry pulls a suit of armor matching his own. Flexible black armor that has an air of elegance and wealth.

“Don’t worry about the size, the rune formations will adjust it to fit you.” Henry says. “My second gift is a word of advice. Find out what your elemental affinity is. Everyone can do little bits of each magic, but if you want to be truly powerful, you should focus on one or two. Last but not least! A gift from Father. He noticed you have a preference towards magic and spears, so he had this dug out of the archive during your transformation.”

Henry hands me a small leather bound book, along with the suit of armor and sound advice.

“Thank you… brother,” I stammer. “These are very generous gifts. I’m not sure I can accept them.”

Henry promptly dismisses my objections, saying that such gifts are nothing between family members. He also says that once I can clear level 50 of the Dungeon by myself we will have a proper duel him and I. I stress that it is a little out of my reach at the moment and that he may have to wait. He doesn’t seem to mind and encourages me and my party to head on our way.

Mordai irrevantly asks why we should leave instead of trying to defeat him. Henry responds with a show of force. A massive black snake forms from the darkness, wrapping the whole room in its coils. With a head large enough to swallow Mordai in one gulp, it stares him down, dissuading such thoughts.

Ra’hel looks like she has come face to face with a god. I find the look on her face to be quite amusing, but I keep it to myself.

The group of Death Knights escorts us to the end of the Dungeon floor, like a parade. No boss waits for us at the last room, but Charles is nice enough to send us the experience we would’ve gotten from beating it, anyway.

Level Up!

‘Thanks Charles,’ I think gratefully.

The boss room has a large feast laid out on a long table, as well as six large beds in private alcoves.

“Stay here the night,” Henry offers. “Read the book and become accustomed to your changes.”

With an intimate kiss on my cheek, he turns to leave, but not without offering a final piece of advice.

“Brother,” he says. “Explore the powers of your blood. The process of enlightenment will be quite beneficial to you. I will give you two clues. All energy has to come from somewhere and purity will strengthen your body.”

With those words, he is gone. I pick up Nevasca’s heavy frame and waddle over to one of the beds with her in my arms. I need some time to process everything that just happened. I also need some emotional support in the form of a fuzzy companion. Tag Nevasca, you’re it.

***

Name: Snowflake *(Bodyrk)

Race: Monster Variant

Title: *Snowflake

Class: Spellspear

Subclass: None

Job: None

Level: 6 (+1)

Health: 118.5/118.5

Energy: 67.5/67.5

Strength: 11 (+2)

Stamina: 13 (+2)

Dexterity: 15.5 (+2.5)

Intelligence: 14.5 (+2.5)

Wisdom: 12.5 (+1.5)

*Adaptability: 6 (+1)

I stare at the screen in front of me, ding what I hate most. Math. Nevasca’s solid presence at my side provides a soft and comforting weight against me. Today I’d been tricked, transformed, attacked, and then showered with gifts. Mordai, the resident armor fanatic, told me the armor I was gifted with is made from the leather of a rare beast on the higher levels, and the scales of some sort of dragon-kin. Not as tough as pure dragon scale armor, but high quality protection indeed.

But even that gift is outweighed by the small book they gave me. That book provided me with a class. I am no longer class deficient! I get bonuses just like every other Awakened! My race has also changed into ‘Monster Variant.’ It probably has something to do with having a Standard Core instead of Lesser one, now. The question to be begged becomes, what happens if I get a different racial evolution other than monster in my next upgrade?

What sort of horrific patch work of creatures will I become? How different can I get before Quinn stops sleeping with me? Very important questions one and all, but back to the math. Ugh.

By my calculations, as meager as they are, my bonuses per level up are as follows:

Familiar Bonus: +0.5 points in Intelligence, Dexterity, and Wisdom per level.

Monster Bonus: +1 point in Strength and Stamina per level.

Class Bonus: +1 point in Dexterity and Intelligence per level.

As far as I can tell, health is the sum of physical stats multiplied by 3. My Energy, the amount I can control and store in my body, is the sum of intelligence and wisdom by a multiple of 2.5.

All in all, a pretty sweet deal. Unfortunately, if everyone else has been getting this kind of deal since level one, I may be further behind than I thought. I intend to ask Honey, my dearest mentor, what other things come along with having a class. I mean, its kind of pointless to just have bonuses, right? Stats aren’t everything, I’ve quickly come to find.

The little book that gave me the class described some kind of class based movements and spells, but didn’t say how to do them or anything. It seems to focus on ‘Here is the concept! Figure out how to do it yourself!’ A problem for another time, I guess. I’ll just add it to my ‘To Do’ list.

For now, I’ll just wallow in my thoughts until I fall asleep. So many things have happened to me today that I can only describe as ‘good.’ But… There is this increasing pressure in the back of my mind. Like something ominous is looming just around the corner. Bad things are going to happen.

I try to convince myself that I’m just being anxious about the unknown, but I’m just not sure. It feels so real. The feeling of impending doom bears down on me. Shapeless. Formless.

I lay in the dark, my familiar at my side, afraid of my future.