We broke for lunch in the middle of the shantytown under Majorian’s orders. Samson ripped apart some small houses and built a fire before Obelisk started cooking. The smell of pork quickly filled the air making my stomach gurgle. I sat on a scavenged bench and reloaded my weapon.

Majorian stared down at me. “You should use your qi to anchor yourself to the ground when you shoot.”

“Have you had this kind of trouble before?”

“My brother did.”

“Let’s not bring up bad memories. You did well out there. Some noble-born would have frozen up. If you had more rounds, you wouldn’t have needed my help. Oh, I have something that might help you.” Swarm said.

“No, we aren’t a charity. He hasn’t agreed to be a member of our party.” Samson said.

“I want to join the Super Dragon Skyward Mountain,” I said.

Majorian chewed on a piece of crackling pork. “We won’t be active for 6 years after this run. So if you can make it to end with us, I’ll sponsor your entry.”

“Why are you disbanding for so long?”

“To us, 6 years is nothing. I’ve been alive since Emperor Tyranus.” Obelisk said.

“Who,”

“He’s a commoner; how would he know the name of the 6th emperor?” Samson said.

“I’m sorry, but what empire are you talking about? I’ve lived in the outskirts of Loon all my life and never heard about an empire.”

“You’re worse than the golem crafters south of Dante. What were they called? I think it was Psions, the children of Metatron?” Samson shrugged at Obelisk’s question.

Swarm perked up. “I’m a Psion, so no, the children of Metatron aren’t Psions, and who cares about their mechanical god. How could you forget the name of the people constantly prophesying the empire’s doom in so many details?”

Obelisk looked smug. “Then you must know what they’re called since you’re from that region.”

Swarm buzzed, and I scooted away from her.

Majorian spoke up. “Prophesies only come true when they’re told after the fact to the uninformed. And they are Metanites after their god.”

Samson grumbled. “That’s what they get for trying to translate the name of their god as lord in our language. Apparently, even saying the deity’s name is blasphemed against it.”

“Have you been there before?” I asked.

“There is a prophet there that can manipulate karma and curse others.”

“Oh,” I said and tried to drop the subject. Fortunately, in the distance, a few of the Uber vampires spawned, and I loaded a round in the chamber and clicked off the safety.

“Where did you learn how to use a handgun? Not many farmers have that skill, and it wasn’t a skill on your file.” Majorian asked.

I stared down at the sleek black curved pistol in my hand. Holding it made me feel much better against these monsters than wielding my sword. Even with my sword back on my belt, I hesitated to pull it. While the buff to my health pool was excellent, it wasn’t a good weapon. My gun didn’t just kill; it boosted my qi pool and output. Upgrading it would make me even more powerful. I just needed to make a lot more kills.

“My Pa was issued one when he was in the army. He taught me how to use it, but we didn’t have enough rounds to gain a skill.”

I had to make do with a wooden sword most of the time. Even after swinging it for what felt like forever, I didn’t gain much. Most of my stats were gained from lifting logs and boulders for strength training. Dexterity was increased by climbing trees and dodging the attacks of weak monsters. Of course, I had to be careful not to kill them, and the dogs would eat them in the end anyway.

“That’s right most empire mercenaries are hired from Loon, and he never said anything about the empire,” Samson asked.

I grabbed a handful of pork and shoved it in my mouth. The meat was a little gamy, so it probably came from a low-ranked orc. Higher-ranked orcs looked a little too human for most people to eat. Some people didn’t care about that and ate them anyway. Some villagers also have orc heritage from where I was from. Eating pork reminded me of a green-skinned red-haired tomboy who liked to follow me around. The last time I saw her, she was happily married to my ex-best friend, barefoot, and six months pregnant.

“Pa told me about the battles, but who he sided with didn’t matter if he was paid. My pa cared more about the sacks of gold offered to him than either side. Sometimes he would take gold from both and miss the battle if it looked like a massacre. That’s how a lot of mercenaries lived against the Dracons.” I recited what I’ve been told while I took aim.

You should never count on mercenaries when you’re up against an overwhelming force. They may decide the gold wasn’t worth their life and swap sides.

“How long are we staying here?”

Samson rubbed his cheek and met my eyes. “Until you reach lvl100 and rank up with your first job. I’m betting your first job will be an assassin or vampire slayer. Most of your levels were gained from killing vampires. Either one would be great in this dungeon. Vampire slayer is a big regen blocker, and long-range DPS, so go for that one if you can.”

Obelisk shook his head. “He’s missing a prerequisite.”

“Oh, what do I need.”

Swarm looked puzzled. “I thought he already met all of them.”

Majorian sighed and shook his head before opening a book. “I’m not getting into this.”

“A vampire has to kill your family.”

“How about no,” I said.

“Listen, vampire slayer is a great first job, but you can’t just get it from killing a bunch of vampires.”

“Yes, you can,” Samson said.

“You’re a werewolf; it doesn’t count. Vampires are your mortal enemy.”

“I thought his mortal enemy was the metanite prophet,” I said.

“Did his application say where he lived before coming to Loon?” Majorian nodded his head and turned a page in his book. “Swarm, let's add one of these vampires as your familiar and take a short trip. Then, we can be back in time for breakfast.”

I pointed Nirvana at Obelisk. “You aren’t killing my family.”

“Of course not; I would never do something like that. We’re just going to drop by and give them a vampire. What happens after that is up to the gods.”

Majorian turned another page of his book, pulled a pipe out of his bag, and lit it with a spark of black flames. “No one is leaving the dungeon we need 5 party members to enter, remember.” The man turned to me, and I saw his eyes flash through his helm. “Go kill those vampires and level up. I don’t care what class you get if it melds well with the party. Don’t listen to Obelisk; he gets his jollies from tragedies. You should have heard him when he found out about Samson’s fate.”

I stepped through the camp wards Swarm set up, and the vampires screeched and charged. The first vampire was faster than the ones before it. I aimed for the heart and prepared to squeeze the trigger. Just before the shot went off, I remembered Samson’s advice. My aura expanded, and I grasped at the ground for the first time. I normally tried to pick things up with my aura; this was my first time trying to stick to something. Nirvana went off, and the vampire’s heart exploded in a green burst. I could feel the bullet carry out my will, and my qi traveled with it.

The feeling was different than swinging a sword. After the bullet flew, I couldn’t add more power to it before it hit. With a sword, I could always alter the qi within it. But, of course, the distance was a factor; maybe if my INT was higher, I could affect the bullet even as it flew.

Something black slid out of the vampire and flowed into my gun.

Nirvana lvl2 Rank 1

Like flipping a switch, all the level bonuses for Nirvana doubled. I raised Nirvana and fired while anchoring myself to the ground. Small balls of black qi flew out of the bodies, with each kill flowing into the gun. I didn’t get to another level yet, but it was only a matter of time. Something had changed between Nirvana and me.

A dense body pushed against my aura like a hand against a waterskin. I moved away from it and turned my gun in its direction. The vampire screamed as its bladed throat tendrils shot out at me. I pulled my wooden sword free and batted one aside, and took a step closer. I saw an opening and blasted a hole through its heart. More of the black orbs erupted from the creatures and poured into Nirvana.

These vampires were giving me less and less exp with every kill, but Nirvana was making up for it. There were only 20 more vampires, and I felt like it would level up again. That would increase it's level bonuses by another 50%. I finally found a use for my sword as well. The weapon was great at batting aside tendrils to open the heart up for a one-shot.

Tendrils shot out of one of the vampires as I moved in close. One bladed limb slashed towards my arm while another aimed for my neck. The feeding tendril shot out behind the others to latch on to my open throat. I batted both aside and moved around the feeding tendril. Nirvana’s muzzle pressed against the vampire’s beating heart before I pulled the trigger.

Level Up

Red lvl50

+30VIT

VIT 380

+15DEX

DEX 535

+5AGL

AGL 705

Makeshift Swordsmanship lvl5

New Skill

Nirvana Gunmanship lvl1 – Deliver final death and put down those trapped in the world by their undead bodies. Higher lvls in this skill increase damage against undead and immortals.

I saw three vampire hearts open for a split second and fired on them, bracing myself with my aura. Small green explosions erupted in their hearts as empty shells fell on the ground. Either long or short-range, I was getting better at using my gun.

The sun was beginning to set, and already I felt like I had climbed a massive hill. A chill ran up my spine as it felt like dozens of hands were pressing down on me. I shifted to the side as a massive claw nearly took my arm off. Massive hearts beat in the bodies of red mist as they crawled up from wells.

Nameless Mist Caged Eldritch Touched Vampire Hearts lvl370

I pointed my gun and fired. A small explosion rippled through the mist but never touched the heart. The bullet barely touched and sunk into the red mist before it fell. A solid red bullet appeared in the mist and was shot immediately after. I felt it imbed itself into my shoulder, and my arm went limp. Blood shot out of my arm like a fountain, and 10% of my health spilled on the ground. Small crawling hearts using veins and arteries as tentacles crawled over quickly to feed off my spilled blood. They moved almost too quickly for my eyes to track when one wrapped itself around my leg.

“That isn’t fair,” I said as it shot towards my face.