Kara stood in front of the Dungeon. A blue force shield extended all around it in a dome. Through the mucky shield, Kara could see the storm spitting fire, lightning, and Kinetic rays. They exploded on top of each other with enough power to shake the ground. Nothing could be seen beyond it.

Just how is she able to pass it with her Life Siren’s Soul? It was difficult, but it should have been impossible. Just what are Sirens? Did they blatantly break the laws of magic, or did does it seem that way because Kara lacked understanding of it?

With a click of her tongue, Kara gave up on the matter. No point about fretting about unknown answers while her new body might break itself somewhere off. Time in Dungeons moved at different rates, most often faster. A minute in here could be five in there.

He was too important to lose. She couldn’t bear stay in this condition for another day now that she remembered how everything was supposed to feel. She didn’t know how rare Dancers were, and how hard they were to tame, but after almost a week, he was the only one she had felt to be compatible with her. Some were a match, but not like this. Not to the degree in which she could use their body. She wasn’t about to let this chance go. This was everything she had been holding to cursed life for.

When Kara had failed to use Life Siren’s Acquisition on him, a notification informed her that the creature had gained resistance to her for the next three days. She'll keep him safe over the next three days, or maybe even negotiate some terms. She'll have another go then.

She laid down on the grass, setting her cane beside her. She had found a suitable spot within the forest dense line of trees, close enough to the storm, but still concealed from anyone's sight. She hid her Life Force, mana, and heat signatures, and just in case, she cast a 5th rank Kinetic Shield. A value of 500 Kinetic Shield would slow down a good barrage. It would give her enough time to blink back to her body.

Her three Notes gathered in front of her, combining into a Greater Note. A milky liquid form floated from her body into it, changing its form from a large black sphere into the dark outline of her human body.

Being in Life Siren’s Soul did not mean invincibility, of course. Her Greater Note was just a seal. Whenever she would lose focus, the dark shell of her skin would peel off, letting a bright white light escape. Every bit of that was precious Mana escaping.

Milky white was the color of pure, unconverted mana. It was like match—harmless until a spark turns it, and the rest of the forest, ablaze. It would be a lie of Kara wasn’t proud of the destruction she could bring. It would be tragic, of course, but impressive nevertheless.

And all it takes for all that Mana to change form is one careless inclination. Emotional stability was the core foundation of a Mage. The weaker the shell, the easier for emotions to unwittingly convert mana into a different state.

Now, Kara thought, snapping her eyes to the gloomy clouds above. Time to hunt that brat.

The storm was impossible to pass through using normal means. The ground was likely just as protected, if not more so. Nothing was diggable. Rarely anything was exploitable. The Game liked its rules.

Siren’s, among a few other support classes and professions, were exceptions. She could use her Siren skills on low levels without penalty, and as long as she was in Life Siren’s Soul, she was allowed to enter forbidden areas—but being allowed and actually getting there were two different things. The storm would not be kind to her. She was immune to physical damage, but passing through Mana, such as torrents of fire and lighting, did make it difficult to keep herself together.

After a slight build-up, Kara bolted towards the top in a curve, wondering if there was a limit. She was technically still going towards her Dancer, which allowed her to increase the range that she could travel in.

Nope, the limit is still 20 meters up, Kara noted as she plummeted back to the ground. It was the same as the last time she had lost control; her Soul forcibly returns to her physical body at a vastly increased speed when she leaves the boundary lines.

Though she was in ethereal form, the ground offered enough resistance to feel as if she had fallen into hard mud.

She floated out, thinking of her destination just as she had done earlier, when she first reached her Dancer. Just like how Notes needed to be connected to each other, a similar concept was applied here.

Tightening her fists, Kara floated towards the storm. She would have to take the gamble; last time, the storm was thinly clad, and Kara was able to pierce through the layers easily. This time, however, the storm had expanded greatly, increasing the distance she would have to travel through.

It made her hesitate. She knew little about what would happen to her Soul if she were to make a mistake in there. Unlike other Souls, hers was a fragile little thing. Four decades of exploding, reforming, gaining consciousness, and then exploding once her rage resurfaced took its toll.

Oh well. Her hand stretched in front of her, attempting to push against the pressure. She took one heavy step after another, her legs sinking into the ground every so often. At least it wouldn’t be the first time.

It was far worse than she imagined. Lightning, torrents of fire, flying boulders, trees, and carcasses of dead beasts made each step a tortuous process, and that was the easy part.

She was a fool to think Fusion Mana would not be created here. In concentrated pockets of the storm, Gravitational Mana attracted all other states of Mana into miniature black holes the size of a speck of dust. The pressure would increase exponentially, fusing the different Mana states into one unstable form. Like a pulled arrow, the moment the Gravity Mana runs out, it would be released. Everything in the range of a couple of meters would into nothingness, and then collapse just as quickly as it stretched.

It was the greatest known power to exist since the beginning of history, and it was something Kara had once solely desired.

Amusingly ironic, considering what she wanted now was just a functioning body.

Things became a blur as the ravaged ground under her flashed by. She wasn’t moving herself anymore—something just pulled on her. A few seconds later, she found herself way past the storm.

Directly below was her collapsed Dancer. Beyond the cover of the tree were a group of humans battling it out against… a group of kids? Their arms were much longer than their short legs and squat bodies. They barely topped 4 feet but had more reach than a typical person. It allowed them to attack with some funky angles.

Either they were goblins, or a human family with a very special genetic line. There were 6 of them, each equipped with a variety of different weapons—maces, daggers, swords, shields and spears.

The human party fought in a circle with their backs against the trees. The corpses of other humans laid around them-- a different party-- and some basic guesswork let her know that these goblins just joined the party.

One person’s Life Force signature caught Kara’s attention. If she wasn’t familiar with him already, she would have mistaken him for another goblin. He barely had a foot on them.

Caldain is well beyond level 50, and there are six in this party, not five.

One of his support class skills, then. Just like Kara, it probably meant to allow him to teach and guide younger rankers. Caldain is a Survivor, just like Iron-Eyed Ovalia. While he can no longer level up anymore, and was a few years from dying of old age, finishing The Game forty years ago gave him a few tricks. He was a Dragon when she first met him ages ago. The decades on his human body, however, brought him down to a Tiger. Not powerful, but he was reliable, and dare she say trustworthy. He had a couple of hundred soldiers under him in Dlar, and was one of the reasons she chose to rest inside this kingdom in the first place. He was one of the only few people that knew of her current existence.

He was in the center of the party, parrying and slicing. He kept his body low, almost on a crotch as he fought with the two, sometimes three goblins at the same time. Caldain provoked a strike by stepping forward with his small hand shield and, stepped back before the monster even moved to strike. Once the monster swung at empty space he went in with precise thrust at the creature’s neck.

If only one of them swung, then Caldain blocked the strike with the shield and thrust his blade at the other.

Now that’s what I call being a step ahead of your opponent.

The others, on the other hand…

Now that’s what I call being a step behind your opponent.

The goblins played around with their tank in a fashion similar to how Caldain played with the goblins, using their mobility to strike him from below and around the protection of his shield. His Life Shield was quickly diminishing as the big oaf waved his sword around.

The female Warrior was obviously low on STM and Life Force, while the other, though lacked a sense of tactical thought, did have decent reflexes. He dodged strikes through pure reaction skill and held his own well against two, and sometimes even three different goblins.

The Rogue and the Ranger on the flank had some decent teamwork. The Archer fired arrows from the back, and whichever goblin attempted to charge him down was harassed and focused by the Rogue, constantly using his Agility to engage and disengage until the Empowered Arrows did their work.

Interesting, but not what I came here for, Kara thought as she floated back to her ticket to glory. She inspected it, and then was quickly horrified to find out it was a broken mess. Even with her limited vision she could sense the dents all over his body. What the hell happened? More importantly, if he was beaten that badly, why was he even alive to begin with?

She hadn’t planned on using Requisition again, but this changed things. It wouldn’t hurt to at least try. She was at 70 Siren points, but him being a Dancer removed the point cost.

She hummed, gently at first, and then let it grow in intensity.

Life Siren’s Requisition

You are in the process of possessing this body. Maintain control until the Soul submits to exert dominance over their body.

Be warned that if Life Siren’s Requisition is successful, it will permanently damage your Dancer’s ability to be impacted by your Songs.

To complete your Dancer’s Initiation, you must fully explore their Essence.

Would you like to begin the dive?

Kara opened her eyes, all other thoughts ceasing. She saw trees towering above her, almost covering the sky gray as it intersected with the branches of another. She smelled the dirt and tasted the blood and sweat in her mouth. It was all so beautiful. She remained still for a few moments, trying to remember how to move once again.

In the spur of battle her instincts had taken over, but now that she had the time to relish in every sensation, she found that moving her limbs, and even breathing was incredibly awkward. Her fingers poked her cracked lips and rubbed her nose. Pain spread wherever she touched, but she couldn’t stop. She pressed her hands against her cheeks, pushing and tugging, and was surprised to feel something dripping down. Her vision blurred as her Dancer’s eyes shed water.

What a weird malfunction, she thought, sniffing. She wiped them away and feasted on the world one again.

She didn’t care how she looked, or whether this was a male body that belonged to a monster—she used every sense to its fullest, but most of all, she felt…peace? Joy? It was an odd feeling that threatened to explode. Not the usually violent one that needed to be pushed down but a warm and pleasant one that shook this body.

After delivering her Soul to this body, her Greater Note broke apart into her Notes. They zig-zagged in random directions around her, doing a poor job of imitating what she was feeling. Instead of thought, they resonated with emotion. That was new.

She still couldn’t move her feet, otherwise, she would have started running just for the sake of it. She needed to get her money’s worth before her Dancer gained consciousness. If he could boot her once, he could probably boot her twice. Out of selfishness, Kara declined the "dive." If the process had any resemblance to what she experienced with others, then it must have involved exploring an important event of their lives. That would likely wake him up.

What about his character sheet? Surely, if he was able to resist my powers, then he must--oh spirits below, what am I looking at?

Nilbog

Stats & Parameters

Level

20

Strength

8

Species

Human (Shape-Shifting)

Agility

17

Class

Sentient Killer

Endurance

14

Profession

Life Dancer

Constitution

13

Age

1

Soul

12

HP

31/130 (+13/Hour)

Life Force

96/120(1.2/Minute)

STM

140/140 (+7/Minute)

Mana

83/120 (1.2/Minute)

Overall STM

323/700 (+12/Hour)

Danger Tier Wolf Skills

Soul Siphon (Racial Skill)

Shaper (Racial Skill)

Shifter (Racial Skill)

Sentient Killer (Class Epic)

Murderous Lolie (Unique)

Seventh Sense (Monster Unique)

Lesser Bleed Resistance (Common)

Dodge (Common)

Short-Breath (Common)

Agile Hunter (Enhancer Uncommon)

He was one year old. How did that make any sense?