Father Chameleos doesn't take our laughter well, ordering the Ifrixians to detain the Inferni and kill the rest. A magic circle appears above us. But, before he can utter a single Spell word, I teleport next to him and cast Silence. The look of suprise on his face tells me he wasn't expecting me to be a Spellcaster. The magic circle disapates, but the tip of his staff glows blue and a fiery rock slams right into my face.

[Father Chameleos deals 89 Radiant damage!]

[You receive Debuff, Dazed for 3 seconds!]

[You receive Debuff, Blind for 3 minutes!]

"Healing Light!"

[Dawn Nobel heals you for 70HP!]

[Father Chameleos deals 87 Radiant damage!]

I'm doubled over from another meteorite this time to my stomach, but the Daze Debuff clears and I slap a hand over my eyes. The little used aspect of Minor Survival Craft that cures Blindness works its wonders and, once again, I shock the priest, giving me a precious second to get a good look at him, swat his staff to the side, and slash a couple of deep gashes across his chest.

[You deal 33 slashing damage!]

[You deal 32 slashing damage!]

He flinches hard from the pain, narrowly and rather unintentionally, dodges a flying Thunderstruck. Concern blooms within me when I notice the less than half damage I dealt to the priest. He dives behind the altar, but something so short and brittle looking won't protect him from the massive assortment of Spells and weapons at our disposal. My homing Arcane Bolts, Dawn and Vic's environment wrecking Thunderstrucks, El's exploding arrows, etcetera, etcetera…

But before any of us can use any of those things, the ceiling above us swirls around. Slowly, at first, then quicker, like water in a drain. A vortex in the center forms and I can see the staff sticking out from behind the altar moving in circles as if stirring the galaxy above like a basin of a dark and glittery liquid.

"… compounding the weight of sin. Gravity Bind II," Father Chameleos shouts from his hiding place, completing his Spell and all of us, Ifrix villagers included, get sucked up towards the ceiling. We all hit it like bugs on a windshield, arms and legs splayed out. Some hit front first, Vic and I slam our backs against it, me upside down compared to her with our heads side by side. The pressure on us deals single digit points of damage every second, but it's our inability to move that's worrisome.

The space cleric stands back up, dusts off his robes and glances up at us, "That'll hold you long enough for me to cast the finishing blow. He may have poor taste in travelling companions, but Brother Dez was right about you lot. A disgusting mixed band of degenerates and fornicators…"

"Hey!" Kona yells, voice getting muffled by the ceiling, "I'll have you know not one person has asked me to fornicate the whole time I've traveled with them!"

I can almost hear everyone's eyes collectively roll at her remark. Serenity clears her throat, about to add something else.

"Enough!" Father Chameleos shouts, thumping his staff on the floor. The rest of his words he mutters under his breath, but I am still able to hear, "Lustful demonesses with their seductive forms…"

For a brief moment I wonder if we underestimated this guy. He did have a suspicious smile when we first arrived, but I didn't think it hid power like this. With a wave of his staff, all the pews shift over to the side, dragging across the dirt floor. A Magic Circle appears below us, dimly glowing blue. I'm not sure what he's casting, but his soundless moving lips seem to indicate a Ritual type Spell.

"Kona," Dawn whisper shouts and our Warlock understands without further instruction. Her hands make a few quick motions and a large, ghostly tiger tackles Father Chameleos to the ground, interrupting his chanting and discharging the Spell Circle. It continues to maul the prone priest as we all drop to the floor. Most of us land gracefully, Serenity and Kona have the lowest Dexterity and they hit the ground hard. The jolt of pain disrupts Kona's concentration and her familiar evaporates. A quick Healing Wind fixes us all up and we surround the fallen priest.

Dawn kneels on his back, pressing the blade side of her Thunderstruck against the nape of Father Chameleos' neck, "Tell the others to back away or your head is going to back away from your neck." She looks back at me for reassurance and I give her a thumbs up. Just one though. It was good, but not great.

The threat isn't enough and a flick of his wrist has his staff filling the room with intense, white light. Even if one were to have their eyes closed at that moment, they would still have been blinded. Something I would painfully explain to anyone who asked while I was doubled over.

[You Received Debuff, Sensory Overload for 1 minute!]

My ears fill with a high-pitched static and my eyes can only perceive a landscape of white with fuzzy light grey shadows moving about. Since it isn't a simple Blind Debuff, I can't remedy myself like last time. I take a quick sniff and am glad that my Enhanced Smell still works, red dots on my screen indicating the Ifrixians taking advantage of our incapacitation. I don't want to risk hitting my allies by blindly striking at red dots, so I put up a guard around my head and tense my muscles, bracing myself for any incoming strikes.

I didn't have to wait long.

[Subjugated Ifrixian deals 12 bludgeoning damage!]

[Subjugated Ifrixian deals 11 bludgeoning damage!]

[Subjugated Ifrixian deals 12 bludgeoning damage!]

[Subjugated Ifrixian deals 10 bludeoning damage!]

It doesn't escape my notice that the ones clubbing me with their fists are under some kind of control Ability, so I just make a mental note of the notifications and barrel forward toward a space void of red and grey which turns out to be the altar. Running into it full force with my midsection knocks the wind out of me in what is probably a classic vaudvillian move and a current of energy runs through my body, trying to latch onto my brain.

In the span of a second the phrase, "Obey Father Chameleos" repeats itself in my head a hundred times. Fortunately, my Willpower is enough to shake off the icy tendrils of control, leaving me fully aware of what the altar must be doing to the others. I strike down blindly at where the stone met my pelvis and I feel, rather than hear the nerve rattling effects of metal cutting and grinding against stone.

[You deal 41 slashing damage!]

[You deal 40 slashing damage!]

By now, my vision slowly returns and the ringing subsides in time for me to hear Father Chameleos' throat shredding yell followed by another flaming rock soaring toward my face. A quick head tilt is enough for me to dodge it as he blocks incoming Thunderstruck attacks from Victoria with his staff.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Dawn asks after shoving an Ifrixian to the ground. I glance around and see Richter and Rachel giving me similar looks as the one I'm getting from our Infernus leader.

[You deal 41 slashing damage!]

"Why not? Look how mad he's getting," I say, pointing a thumb at the priest.

[You deal 39 slashing damage!]

"You…" Dawn is watching each slash with apprehension, cringing from what I think is the noise rather than the act, "You didn't read the Quest details, did you?"

"Why?"

[You deal 41 slashing damage!]

[Quest Complete! You have chosen to "Destroy the Altar."]

"Huh," I take a slight pause, then look around at the others after the lack of further consequences. Father Chameleos's cries of anguish bounce around the chapel as the stone altar continues to fall apart, revealing a much larger version of the stone that tips his staff. A rough, dark gold ore the size of a watermelon with veins of metallic red and black running through out. The ground shifts and shakes and rumbles enough to cause us all to stagger.

"No! What have you heathens done?"

Victoria cold cocks him and he finally falls to the floor, "What are we going to do with him?"

[The subjugation effects of the Stellar Ore have been lifted. Villagers are no longer under its control.]

"Guess we'll--" Dawn's words falter as the notifications continue. Everyone's eyes had shifted over to her as she spoke, but immediately shoot right back over to me as whisps of golden energy waft out of the ore and surround me.

"Hey, uh, my body is tingling and I can't tell what's happening…" I try to move, to shift my weight at least and I find myself incapable of even doing just that. Only my eyes seem free to move in their sockets as they jump from person to person.

[Ifrix landscape has been returned to it's default state following the arrival of Stellar Ore. Buildings will be kept in current, upright condition.]

[New Race has been registered. Ifrixian. New Players will be able to choose this Race during Character Creation.]

[As the liberator of the Stellar Ore and the one to complete the Quest "Altar Needs a Body", Ardacen Winters will be the first Player to play as an Ifrixian.]

"What!" All of our voices ring as one collected sound of disbelief.

[You received 1*Instantaneous Racial Transformation Voucher, 20*Gold Stellar Ore.]

The whisps grow in size, number, and density. They coil around me, wrapping me in a cocoon of golden energy and my last view is of Victoria's eyes growing wide and filling with terror. From my toes to the tips of my hair, I feel as though my entirety has fallen asleep. Sharp pins prickle every part of me. The golden glow brightens and a low humming can be heard from the energy, like a neighbor mowing their lawn.

"You okay in there, Ardacen?" Victoria asks, her voice low and unwilling to hear the answer to the question.

[Error: Status Changes will go into effect after the next sleep cycle. Physical Changes will go into effect immediately.]

"Yeah," I answer after reading my notification, "But I don't want to hear any magical girl jokes when I come out. If this is how they feel each time, I don't envy them."

I still can't move, but it's more like my body doesn't want to and not like I'm being restrained. "No Sailor Moon jokes especially."

I hear a grumbled "Damn," and I know that voice to be Richter's and I can almost hear the grin on his face.

It's then I notice that all three of my point bars are flashing at 1, but after a moment they begin their regeneration.

The lights and energy fade over several seconds after they refill and I just stand there for a moment, looking over everyone's gawking faces and trying to gauge how bad it turned out. I can't see the flames myself so I wait to ask them what color I got, pulling my mask to the side so they can get a better look at me.

"Well…?"

Kona, Rachel, Serenity, and Elsbeth look mildly amused, eyes roving over every inch of me. Richter and Dawn actually look impressed, whispering to each other and nodding. Victoria's expression is a puzzle to me. She's probably feeling just as puzzled as she looks, trying to decide on something before any words escape her lips.

"How do you feel, Duraflame?" Dawn asks, smirking. I smile back and everyone except Vic laughs, though she does seem to lighten up.

Rachel points an upturned hand at me, "Like, was that a smile? If it wasn't so funny it would've been so effing creepy!"

"Hey," a villager adds, "No offense taken, yeah?"

"Oops, forgot about you guys. No hard feelings about the ass kicking, too, right?" Rachel asks with a sheepish grin. El releases the barrier on the door while Victoria and I tie up Father Chameleos.

There's a pause, followed by the sweeping grass laughter. They thank us for helping them, still unsure what the whole ordeal was or what the outcome is supposed to be. Dawn and the others join them as they head outside, the priest drapped over Dawn's shoulder in a fireman's carry.

Vic and I are alone in the chapel, our hands entwined, watching the others leave. She turns to me, and I can see flames flickering in her eyes.

"What color is the fire?" I ask, searching her eyes but only seeing movement and getting lost in her sapphire blues. They half close from her big smile.

"It's the same color as my eyes. How do you feel?" she asks, her hand tentatively reaching for my face. I give my shoulders a slight shrug. After a moment's hesitation, I can feel her fingers tracing my jaw.

"Does it burn?" I ask, ready to pull my head back and grab her wrist.

She shakes her head.

I pull her in closer, "Wanna try?"

Her lips curl up and her eyes smile higher. A tiny comet shoots a thin trail over our heads. I can feel her lips on mine, though I know they aren't visible to her. I think she can feel them too as her embrace tightens. We end our kiss and both nod our heads, resting on each other's foreheads. She lets out a sigh of relief.

We turn to look at the altar, I can see a deep blue aura coming from the meteorite and another glow from the staff left on the floor. I pick it up and put it into storage for now. I mutter to myself, "That must've been Arcane Sight. I wonder what else--"

"Come on, Ard. Let's join the others. We still have to deal with Father Chameleos and see how the villagers want to proceed."

"Yeah. Okay." I tear my eyes away from the space rock and follow her outside. I know we received twenty ores from the Quest so I'm trying to suppress my natural looting mentallity. Besides, I'm still not sure what the Race change entails and I don't want to make it worse by disturbing the catalyst of that change.

"Huh…" I breathe out, impressed and intrigued by the current state of Ifrix. I saunter behind Victoria who also takes slow steps, taking in the overflowing blue mist. Any and all vegetation that seemingly stood unaffected by the impact is now barren of natural leaves, flowers, and fruits. In their places, growing on the stems and branches, are ghostly, fiery versions much like

what had happened to the Ifrixians themselves.

The others try to touch the flaming vegetation, but their fingers pass through, the leaves and flowers unfazed by the attempts. But when an Ifrixian woman reaches out for it, she casually plucks the hazy purple fruit from the bush and tosses it to a bewildered Kona.

"What the hells?" The shock on her face doesn't go away as her hands grasp the purple fruit. It becomes more opaque, but still resembles an extra large purple apple made of moving fire.

"It's… it's got a prefix now?" She holds it up in one hand, showing off the fruit to us, "It's now a 'Phantom' Gorgon Berry. I don't know what a regular one does, but I'm not going to be the first to find out what a Phantom one does."

We turn our attention to the Ifrixians gathering around Father Chameleos.

Dawn rests a hand on her hip, "What are you going to do with him?"

"Not sure," a female with a purple flame says, "I think our priority is going to be getting Ifrix back in order."

As the notification said, the buildings were left untouched by the arrival of the meteorite. But, surrounding the village is the crest of an impact crater capped by a pale blue dome of magic.

I toss the priest's staff over to Kona, trading for the Phantom Gorgon Berry, and her squeel was high enough that I couldn't hear it even with my Enhanced Senses, though I'm sure I could hear glasses cracking somewhere in the village. I left her and Serenity to paw and drool over her toy as I join everyone else as they carry the priest away.

The other players can't help but glance every now and again at my new visage. Rachel asks to see how I look with the mask over the skull and when I move it she gasps with a smile, "Now you can do the dramatic removal thing and it'll be, like, ten times more intimidating!"

"Thanks," I say, my shoulders sagging a little, "That's what I was hoping for when I was clawing up the altar." A quick hip bump and a flirty sideways look from Vic lifts me back up.

For now, the villagers simply barricade the priest inside a small hut, far from the church, and create a rotating guard post to make sure he stays in there until they can truly decide on what to do with him.

Dawn suggests that they create a container and guard for the meteorite, but not to move or touch it if they can help it, "There might be a correlation between all the changes and the fact that no one died during the impact. It's only speculation, but I believe the rock kept everyone alive for a reason."

Everyone nods in agreement.

Before heading back to the vardo with the others, I stop a group of the Ifrixians. I can see Kona still going over the staff's description screen while walking, guided by Serenity pulling and pushing her by the arm to avoid obstacles.

"Can you tell me about our race? I'm gonna have to do an update tonight and I just want to know what to look forward to." I reflexively scratch the back of my head.

At this range I can read the title over her, Renda Boarstalker responds first, "Well, from the few conversations we were able to have about the subject we managed to piece together some information. Firstly, we have an inate Arcane Sight Ability that we can turn on and off. Secondly, we might have a bonus to our Mana. We're not sure." She looks around at the others but some shrug, nod, or otherwise sit there like stumps. "I believe there are a few different Racial Feats that we were all given at random."

She raises both hands, lighting them on fire, the same reddish orange flame as her head, "I can add the Fire attribute to my hands and weapons. It also lets me shoot small bolts for fifteen MP."

"Kinda expensive for bolts, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but I'm not a spell caster so it's nice to have options."

Another villager, Jordo Hammerfell, takes his turn to speak, "My Feat allows me to use a soundless Stealth Spell twice per day, 0ne minute each time. It doesn't really help me with Smithing, but I can use it to dip out of the house to get a quick drink at the pub." His dark blue flames shift in a way that makes it look like he gives me a wink. So weird.

The third is another Herman, probably a popular name in Ifrix for some reason, Herman Mosscutter. "Aye, wishin' I be havin' that one. Alls I 'ken do is drain Mana. What use is that of mine? I'm a fisherman for Pserlakin's sake." This one peaked my interest, and not just because of the colorful language that followed. Something about Mages and prostitutes and back alleys.

"Thanks for the heads up, everyone. Pun intended." A round of grassy laughter is followed by similar thanks and a basket of Phantom fruits and vegetables. I know a Half-Orc and a Dwarf who will absolutely flip for a chance to experiment with these.