Now, I have a problem.

I think I have to avoid levelling up anymore.

The problem is, what evolving implies.

The problem I have with my eyes makes me wary of evolving since it could change my body even more.

But the way I evolve is making my head hurt.

[...]

Level: 11

XP: 455/1100

[...]

Evolution Progress: 6.955/10.000 XP

As you can see, I already have made quite much progress in evolving.

And I realized, what the reason for that is.

6.955 is the total amount of XP I gained since starting from level one.

So, let's assume, this thing will continue to count my XP.

If that's the case, then I won't be able to reach level 25 or in other words, my class change, without having to evolve.

Maybe, it asks if I want to evolve, and I can decline, but that is still too risky for me.

[But you have to pay that as a price if you want to secure your survival chances!

You can't avoid your class change, since you won't be able to avoid the stronger monsters forever!]

/Strength is all that is important. If you are strong enough, people won't be able to say anything against you./

Dorminil might be right about that, but I think he misses the point. I don't want to become a tyrant who forces people to obey me like some kind of sociopath.

Then, I'd rather keep living alone without bothering other people.

They insistently keep talking to me, to make me change my mind, but this is a really hard decision for me to make.

"Zabula, how high has my illusion skill to be, so I'm able to hide something like horns, wings, or a different skin colour?"

{That's hard to tell. It depends on the Size of the wings or horns. And it also depends on whether your skin colour only changes or if you also get scales or something like that. Depending on that you may need to reach tier 2, or even tier 3 illusions.}

That could take forever! I still didn't even get close to reaching tier 2 illusion even though I train it every day!

I guess I'll have to get to a city as fast as I can. Maybe I don't have to get stronger if I can live in one.

The problem of them not letting me in could be solved by copying the looks of an adventurer, that leaves the city. Zabula could do that for me.

I'll first eat as much as I want since this crocodile has plenty of meat and is surprisingly tasty.

...

Now then let's get going. It kind of hurts to leave this cave behind, where I spent more than a month. But this has to be done.

I'm not that sure, in what direction I should go. I only remember the vague direction, in which the People went, that I met 2 weeks ago.

I'll just use that as a start and walk in that direction, maybe I get lucky and meet some other people who could guide me.

But what else should I have expected? Of course, I got lost. I already spent 7 hours walking in the same direction, but there are no signs of humans. Should I turn around and go in the other direction?

And why are the guys this silent all of a sudden?

"Hey, are you still there?"

[Yeah we just have mixed feelings when thinking about, what you plan to do...]

Am I doing anything wrong?

"What do you mean by that?"

[It's not "wrong" it's just, ... what about us? We would really like to regain bodies, but how would that be possible, if you stop getting stronger?]

He's right! I was so focused on surviving and living with humans, that I completely forgot about our main problem!

It's wrong for many souls to stay in one body! I just got used to it way too easily. But why? When did I just accept this, as if it's normal?

Why, even now, is there no feeling of me needing to get them out?

"I am so sorry, I..." Boom

Suddenly I hear a loud explosion and the whole cave starts shaking. At the same time, I see a flood of colours pouring onto me from in front of me.

This is mana! This explosion made the surrounding mana move! Only magic could do that, so there must be a fight somewhere near here.

Without thinking, I just start running to the source of the magic.

and there I see them. Humans, at least 30 of them. What are they fighting?

I stay hidden in this tunnel that leads into the wall of this giant room. From here I can overlook the whole battlefield.

Currently, there is a giant cloud of dust, but that is no problem for these eyes of mine, I can still see who, or rather what they are fighting.

It's a dragon. But it's not a grown dragon, this is only a cub. If it was a grown dragon, it could have wiped out everyone here by raising a single claw. The dragon seems like it is badly hurt, but still, no one dares to go near it.

/Those bastards! This child isn't even a month old! How could they?! They must have taken him from his nest when his mother left it in search of food!/

I have never seen him this angry. I can almost feel his anger flowing into me. That is new.

"Dorminil, calm down! We can't be noticed!" I yell in my mind.

With that he tries to keep his calm at least a little bit, that is enough for me since his emotion now stopped influencing me.

Now I'll use something I noticed a few hours ago when I was bored while walking. I can inspect the stats of living things with my system.

I choose one of the people that seems especially strong.

Name: Rigal Owlstone

Class: Elite-Knight

HP:2534/2790

Mana:98/140

Level: 70

Title. Dragon-Slayer

| Vitality:143 | Strength: 250 | Dexterity: 112 | Agility: 93 | Intelligence: 50 | Willpower: 65 | Mana:12 |

Skills:???

What are these stats? He has his third class! There is no way I could ever fight someone like that!

/Fuck! If I had even a thousandth of my old power, I could have wiped them all out with a single glance!/

Right, if what they said is true, they had stats in the millions. Compared to them this guy is nothing, but I am still too weak.

But what do I do now? Somehow I feel really sad when thinking about this situation. I'd like to save the dragon, but I can't!

What? Why do I want to save the dragon? I'd bet this is because Dorminils emotion got over me. I have to be careful in the future. I don't want to even imagine, what could happen if I get too carried away by their emotions.

But what do I do now? Should I just leave? Or should I put on an illusion and then go down there? I guess I was too absorbed in my own thoughts because suddenly I hear steps behind me. And they are already close. Damn, I have to act fast!

"Zabula! please put an illusion over my eyes, so they don't panic at my sight!"

{I'm already preparing it!}

Suddenly I can feel my magic move to my eyes. It seems she succeeded in her plan.

Then I turn around. The people that are coming my way are still about 50 meters away, so they can't see me yet in these twisting tunnels.

Just as I think, if it would have been a better idea, to just run, I see them coming around the corner.

And I really can't believe it. What are the odds?

I know this skinny man. He is the one who pierced the brain of the troll two weeks ago.

Maybe he doesn't remember me?

Just at this moment, when two of his mates also came through the tunnel, he signals them to stop.

Then he squints his eyes while examining me.

"Please don't recognize me" I pray in my heart.

Then his eyes grow wide with realization and he draws his weapon.

Instinctively, the others follow the moves of their leader.

They get into battle formation within just a few seconds.

And there is even one more than the last time. He wears some kind of clothing across his face, but according to his stature, he should be male and of a fighting class.

The leader asks me:

'What are you doing here, you monster?'

This conversation again.

"I already told you, I ain't no monster!"

Did the masked warrior just start shaking? What is going on here?

'Where are those demonic eyes of yours? Did you improve your abilities to get rid of them? So you can fool us, humans, better?'

It's like talking against a wall. No matter, what I say, He won't believe me.

"Could we please just go separate ways? I don't want to fight you."

'You should have never come here. Last time, we let you leave because you saved us. But we can no longer leave such a dangerous shapeshifter live near our city!'

His Voice grew increasingly loud until he almost screamed the last word. And like a battle cry, he starts attacking with that.

He rushes at me alone, since he seems to be the strongest fighter, and the narrow tunnel limits their agility as a team.

I have no choice but to draw my weapon. I want to try to parry his attacks in a way that creates an opening, that allows me to knock him out without killing him.

Although I killed people while I was on a rampage, this still creates nightmares for me, so I try to avoid killing someone as much as possible.

But I underestimated him. He is faster, stronger, and more skilful with his weapon.

I barely manage to block the first attack, but without any time between his attacks, a second attack is coming in the form of an upward slash at my face.

I manage to barely doge, but the sword wind still blows of the hood, I created from wolf leather.

'NO!!' suddenly I hear a scream from behind the man, who's attacking me.

In the corner of one eye, I see the masked man drop his weapon on the floor.

What did just happen? And something weird is suddenly nagging me in the back of my mind.

The man is distracted, so I take this chance to create some distance between us.

The Leader looks back for a second, and after evaluating the situation as safe, he turns back to me.

Just then the masked man shouts again.

'Stop! Don't fight him'

The leader seems just as confused, as I am.

And now I can tell, what this weird feeling was. I know this voice, but I can't remember who it belongs to.

The leader asks back, half confused and half angry:

'What is wrong with you, why shouldn't I fight this monster? You don't have to worry about me, I can defeat him without a problem.'

Yeah, he probably is right about that.

So what is this whole "Don't fight him" thing about?

Then something I expected even less is said.

The masked man asks:

'I think he is no monster. May I ask him something?'

Since no one seems to stop him from that, the man follows along with his plan.

'Are you perhaps... Civitas?'

When was I called like this name the last time?

The last time, a living human called me like that was in jail.

The there who called me like was...

"Are you perhaps...?" I ask with wide eyes, but can't seem to finish this question.

The man doesn't answer, he just silently takes off the cloth around his face.

And there I can see the face of the only person that seemed to care about me, when everyone else abandoned me, even if it was only for a weak

I see the face of the person that rescued me when I was a baby.

I see...

"Miles..."