Monster Born, Kara immediately guessed. It was rare, but not unheard of. Sometimes monsters escaped the Dungeon or Raid they were created at. He could have recently escaped his. The real question was why he was still level 20. He should have gotten stronger since the last time she saw him.

This did not bode well. Why did The Game allow him to be a Dancer?

He’s a Shapeshifter, Kara read again.

Stories told of a monster that was able to transcend the limitations of the Soul and change bodies at will, something that no being could do. Souls weren’t something you could plop anywhere—if that was the case, then Kara wouldn’t be stuck with a corpse. The same likely applied to Sirens with probably limitation she was not aware of.

She was immensely curious about it, but the status screen wouldn’t give her any information on any of the skills.

When Kara heard footsteps, she fought against every instinct to run and laid back into her original spot.

She still couldn’t control her feet. The throbbing was there, and she could shake them, but complex motion was still out of the picture. She needed to remember more before she could try to escape. If Caldain was going to carry this body with him, she might as well take the free ride—she just couldn’t alert him to her presence. Friend or not, his morals applied to everyone. He would not approve of her.

“Damn it that was a wash,” a young man said. Kara did not open her eyes, nor leave the body, but her Siren Skills still worked. Her Notes hovered around. By focusing on them she could see the vibrations it drew.

“Your clothes are dirty, Yan?” Horn said, his accent giving him away. He was from one of the Free Tribes, a group of people Kara held in high regard. There were hundreds of tribes in the East, ever fighting over precious oases, both from among themselves and the monsters that also required the water supply. With a limited population in the desert, many warriors leave it for adventure in the outside world.

Instead of the experience boost humans had, the Free Tribes had a base stat increase of 30% to Strength, Agility, and Soul, making them better Life Force warriors than any other race. Horn was no different-- Just like his kin, he was wide, around seven feet tall, and naturally muscular with likely dark skin.

He was covered in pieces of heavy metal that acted as if it was armor. The bends, twists, and holes were clear even in her Siren Vision. It shouldn’t have been made the sounds it made sound. If she had to guess those pieces of the metal was a significant reason behind his incompetence.

“He meant that it sucked,” Aron said, his voice bitter and frustrated.

“Such things happen more often than you would like,” Caldain said. “The lesson here is that life sucks, and that you always have to be prepared when it really wants to tear your day up.”

Good. Make jokes. They took a bad fighting, and this is the point where everyone starts blaming each other.

“Did… did you just…?” Aron began speaking, then stopped. He twisted his face, and even without being able to see it, Kara was genuinely impressed by the disdain on his face. From the shape of his body and the two metal pieces by his sides, Kara assumed he was the rogue. “What type of curse were you inflicted with to sink that low?”

“Oh, I get it!” the other warrior said. “It’s because the Thalls wanted to tear us up with their swords, and they were short-- low. Nice, both of you get spear points for those clever puns!” he said, pointing both his fingers at Caldain and the rogue.

“I didn’t mean…” the rogue began, and upon noticing looking at Kara’s direction, stopped.

“The kid is still out,” Caldain said, walking towards her. He bent down, placing two fingers on her neck.

Kara almost jumped, even when she prepared for it.

“His Danger Rank turned into Wolf, for some reason,” Caldain said, letting a heavy sigh escape. He stood up, shaking his head.

“How the hell?” Aron said, looking from her to Caldain. “He was a Cub a moment ago.”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out. Aron, take care of him. He’ll be joining our regiment. Everyone else prepare to leave. We sustained heavy damage for these points.”

Yan picked her up, plopping her on his shoulders. Her head swung against his back as they began to walk towards the center. Every bruise in her body spasmed, causing her to almost yelp.

Scent was something Kara never appreciated. Rarely did she have a particular need for it, but only after losing it did she realize how precious it was. It made things more real, gave objects concrete attributes. Seeing the forest was one half—the other was smelling. That’s what sparked emotion. True, all she was able to smell were the different variety of blood and sweat, but mixed with it was the smell of wet leather and dirt, both which Kara had dearly missed.

Touch, and pain in extension, was another sensation Kara had mixed feelings about. Its absence was peaceful at first, but as time went on it became emptiness.

Thus, as the warrior hopped, tripped, tripped, and bounced her on the sharp edges of his shoulders, combined with the branches which poked and cut her, a part of her couldn’t help but feel nostalgia.

The other part, though, wouldn’t have minded beheading the warrior for his incompetence at walking in a straight line.

She almost did hurt the bastard when his hands got too frisky, but a warning from her Notes froze her in track. Caldain was looking in her direction.

Sound—she was making it. She was humming out of habit. These past few days she had gotten used to keeping her Notes active that she had not noticed.

“Say, did you have fun babysitting the kid while we fought for our lives, Yan?” the rogue said.

“I did more damage than you,” Yan replied.

“That’s because you were the only one that didn’t fight two battles in a row, idiot.”

“That’s…” Yan hesitated for a moment, causing Kara to wince as his shoulders sunk further into her guts.

“Stop, little Aron. You're being foolish,” Horn said.

True. Caldain’s attempts, and my suffering, to lighten the mood is going to naught because of you.

“Fighting each other won’t solve anything,” Horn said.

“Alright, I’ll give the kid a break. Here is the deal. Criminals are bad. We soldiers are good. Good soldiers kill bad criminals that attack us. People who would have been killed by bad criminals now happy. Follow?”

“That's bull, and you know it," Yan snapped. “Most of them are commoners like us who were on the wrong side of things. Who are you to decide that they should die for you to get points?”

“Ah, the classical words of a coward. Missed a spot? Maybe about how they have daughters and mothers waiting for them at home?”

Yan chuckled, his grasp tightening around Kara’s hips. “If that was the case, Aron, then my level wouldn’t be higher than yours, so fuck off, prick.”

“You’re avoiding the subject, coward. We’re not asking you to murder, we’re asking you to defend yourself from humans.”

He’s about to have to defend himself if he doesn’t hold me better.

“They’re pressured to attack others. They don’t know any better, but we do. It’s straight murder, and I am not going to become lik-”

“Enough," Caldain said, his voice barely above a whisper. Still the same, everyone silenced as if he had bellowed. "Do not be conceited. I did not pick you five for your petty squabbles. Focus on the task."

As time passed, and Kara grew comfortable with moving her fingers and toes. Caldain avoided every fight, conserving their resources. These were still the beginner dungeons, but for a 4 star even Tigers would struggle. The fact that this dungeon supported team killing was quite troublesome.

Just a few more minutes. Kara began moving her other muscles—shoulders, biceps, neck, mouth, and even her tongue. They were damaged and bruised, but miraculously enough there were no injuries. It looked like he was beaten with blunt force, likely fists, which made it even more strange. He had to have a skill that prevented internal damage, as well.

Kara’s attention returned to Nilbog's character sheet. Seventh Sense was an interesting one. She'd never heard of senses beyond the sixth. Murderous Lolie she knew about. It another bad Joke by the game—Kids that killed a Sentient creature below the age of 10 received it. It increased the chances of learning more unique skills that leaned towards…gorier outcomes. It wasn’t an entirely beneficial skill—the increased risks and chances of attaining cursed equipment made other Reward Modifiers much more useful. Besides that, it was not healthy for kids to go on murder sprees.

There was another odd thing about him—from his age, which could be anywhere from a single month to eleve, he shouldn’t have much battle experience, but the way he fought showed otherwise. Dodging, parrying, and astute judgment under pressure was not something easily attainable. Being talented plays a big role, but not to his degree.

In addition, why a level cap of 20? Even goblins had more than that. Even if the rumors were wrong, Shapeshifters are extremely rare—you would think it had a respectable rank.

Little was known about how to become a Shapeshifter, or the different variants of Shapeshifters, as there was no way to identify them.

It was said, however, that they could become any race if they meet the requirements, and not just in looks. They could gain racial skills, like a Lordan's Dual Source. Unfortunately, she was the last Lordan on the surface.

She had rushed to judgment—the joy of living again had distracted her from all the flaws this body had. Skills came from the Soul, meaning it was very unlikely she’ll be able to use his skills, or even allocate stat points. Life Force and Mana was another issue. His Soul was bond with this body. Just because she was inside his body it did not mean she owned it.

His class was another issue. She didn't know much about it, but if it was solely focused on hunting Sentients, then that was an issue. The best items and skills are gained from Dungeons and Raids, not killing other people. It did not bode well if the same rules applied to monsters as to Sentients when it came to classes. Changing someone's class without doing at least a 7-star Dungeon is impossible, and she'll have to find that Dungeon too.

That might mean she’ll be left her with a body that cannot gain experience, skills, or effectively use Life Force and Mana.

Her hope was that Requisition will fix that. If it doesn’t, she’ll have to reconsider her relationship with Nilbog once he wakes up. She felt like she could prod him, but she didn’t dare do that yet. There was so much she wanted to experience before risking it. She hadn’t eaten for forty-two years.

And a shower. She dearly missed a hot bath.