HAIL AIAG I’M ALIVE!

Laying down on the dirt floor of the village’s entrance, I hear the ragged breathing of the others.

And I thought rabbits on moon steroids was scary…but these fire elementals…oh my Aiag.

Having a peek at what used to be the calmly jumping blazes all I see is something equivalent to hell; the ashen fields have become a turbulent sea, white fire blazes madly zipping in random directions making crossing this hell seem like one terrible game of cross the road…

I almost died just running through there…actually I think one of us did (probably Rakshak, didn’t have time to look at it).

At least on the brightside I got the Dodge skill…

“Everyone count up” I hear Dillydally bark an order as he stands up, receiving a chorus of ‘here’s from everyone.

“Still alive” I stand up

…

..

.

Where’s Squirrel?

As if on cue, she appears in a pillar of light in the village centre...looking rather unhappy with the outcome.

“Damned ashes”

Wait she died so early on?

I did not look back at all when we had left the caves, mostly because everything was on adrenaline it seemed; The Living Ashes were one monster whack-a-mole’s popping here, there, everywhere within instants.

They weren’t exactly the simplest to kill before, but now it was quite literally trying to find a gem in a field of ash…

Glancing round, I spot half our group isn’t actually here…oh my, a lot of us died on that run through the speed blazes.

“Right, so everyone, we’ve got around 7 in game hours till the NPC’s are back in order, so until then take a break if you’ve lived and if you haven’t…” He points back towards some crazed looking blazes.

“What about loot distribution?” Squirrel asks, mostly out of curiousity.

“Did anybody find anything?” Dillydally glances round, while the rest who died revive and join the group once more.

Everyone solemnly shakes their heads…wow for people spending an hour looking they’re really bad at it.

“I’ve got those boots” Everyone nods, already knowing their use “And a diary” Mostly everyone looks at me like I’m an idiot. Hey wait a minute! I’m sure there’s something better than just diary gossip in this!

“Right, well SirStripy gets the boots” nobody goes against that choice “And the diary…do any of you want it?” Dillydally looks towards Yinroh and Jerriah.

“Well if it’s got saucy details” Jerriah gives a little smirk.

“I can’t read the writing…so good luck to you” I hand the diary over to Jerriah…who just takes one look at it and gives it straight back to me.

“Yeah, I’d rather wait for something I can use”

Fine by me…I get some free loot!

It is just a diary…but if I can’t read it there’s definitely something special about it…because I should know whatever language Tarakiel did (apparently), so in the minimum it’s a gateway to learning a new language.

But it could also be more…

"I guess we will give those who are deemed rewards as soon as we can" Dillydally says to his suqad, which they all acknowledge.

“Well this has been interesting and all…” Rakshak, quite obviously not happy with anything that’s been going on, logs out before finishing his sentence…

Well he did continuously die without getting any rewards of any sort…that really sucks for him.

Dillydally just shrugs his shoulders at the not so unexpected logging off.

“Squad Animal!” They all immediately line up “Let night training begin!” He leads them outside and into the literal sea of flames…I don’t want to watch.

“Squirrel, what are you goi-” She’s off running with them

...

..

.

Ok, fine, whatever, not like I was getting lonely and needed someone to party with for the next 7 hours…

Dammit, don’t want to go out into that hell…but that means that I have to log out which isn’t exactly a fun choice either.

Maybe I’ll just go practice some magic or som…Oh I can try get that fire resistance shield or whatever it’s supposed to be magic.

Heading through the village and out the southern gates, I kind of don’t want to go out where madly zipping white blazes are…but skills are paramount and I am way too far behind!

I was supposed to be getting 2 skills every hour…yeah I’ve not been getting anything close to that for too long.

“AAHSCHOASCNVLVHSIOSDHFPCPAHOASDSHASDOIAWHDOIASHDAOHADAAAAAH”

…

..

.

Heading back into the village…because no way in hell am I going towards that screaming fit echoing from the forest...seriously just what was that.

Sounded like someone screaming while having a heart attack…

Dammit I’m curious now.

But I’ll have to go through the sea of blazes to get there, do I really want to?

Ah screw it, I’ve got nothing better to do so this might be interesting.

Taking a deep breath, I sprint through the blazes, yelling as I burn my lower body.

…

…

(Anoobis’ POV)

I feel…a sort of warm grainy layer of something on my face, mixed with the blood from my newly broken nose.

Wait…wasn’t I falling down the stairs a second ago? And who dares mark ME!?

Moving my free hand to my usually grand face, I wipe away what sort of feels like ash or soot, and reset my nose…which got broken when my face planted into a layer of ash apparently…but I’m standing up…

Opening my eyes, I see a sparse number of burnt trees along an ashen floor

…

..

.

Wait a second…where am I?

“A...Anoobis?”

That…voice.

Swiveling round, I see the zombie girl with her vibrantly glowing purple eyes looking at me half in shock.

HALF IN SHOCK?!

“YOU” I squint my face and take a step towards her “What did you do, tell me, what did you DO!” Realizations are slowly seeping into me as I take another step forward.

“Nothing, I swear. I was just thinking about you when I was attacked” She takes a step back

“You…were THINKING ABOUT ME? You brought me here BECAUSE YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT ME?”

“I didn’t do any-”

“You BROUGHT me here by THINKING ABOUT ME! DO you KNOW how LONG I’ve spent blacksmithing? 19 hours….19 HOURRRRS, 19 HOURS of my life…GONE, RUINED BECAUSE YOU HAD TO THINK OF ME!?! I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DID, BUT YOU JUST TOOK THE PAST 19 HOURS OF MY LIFE AND RIPPED THEM INTO SHREDS WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT…19 HOURS OF HAMMERING OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN THE SAME BLOODY PIECE OF METAL WITHOUT REST BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT WHEN I’D BE DONE THAT WAS IT! I WAS THIS CLOSE, THIS CLOSE AND YOU JUST HAAAD TO THINK OF ME AAHSCHOASCNVLVHSIOSDHFPCPAHOASDSHASDOIAWHDOIASHDAOHADAAAAAH”

…..

….

…

..

.

She’s crying now…well she deserved it…but she didn’t really do anything, NO she ruined my life; completely screwed me over for her own personal whims! But she didn’t really know what she was doing; how she did it so can I really blame her?

…

..

.

Dammit, why does it make me feel like an asshole when I see her cry! AAAAAAAUGH! It’s no fair! I should be the one crying, I’ve just had my life ruined!! But she didn’t mean it and she’s probably got less of an idea about what happened than I do…huuu, dammit it’s too disconcerting watching her cry!

Squatting down to where she’s lying on the floor, tears streaming silently down her eyes, I hang my head I self defeat.

*Sigh*

“Are you sorry” I look up at her, looking directly at her lustrous purple eyes. “Are you sorry that you’ve unexplicably destroyed my ent-…are you sorry?”

She nods slowly, gulping.

“…Then I…forgive you……Just don’t ever think of me, or have anything to do with me without my permission, ok”

She nods, tears still slowly dropping from her eyes.

…I give her a light pat on the head…make that two…not sure, it felt like that’ll help…

*Ding*

What was th-

*Bash*

I’m on the floor, and it feels like I’ve been hit by a sledgehammer…not that I’ve ever been hit by one before for the record.

Rolling round, I spot a mound of ash rocketing towards me like a wave and I brace my sword, letting the monster rush into it, letting the tip hit the small glowing that’s inside.

I think it’s something important…and sure enough it is as the monster crumbles to the ground moments later, revealing half my sword lying shattered in the ground

…

..

.

“AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-

…

…

(Joat’s POV)

“IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-”

Well it sounded like a terrible idea before…now it sounds like I’m walking towards one of the seven depths of hell.

The bloodcurdling high-pitched scream still echoes through the forest still going after more than a minute…

I should REALLY turn back, because going towards that sounds like a TERRIBLE idea

…

..

.

And now it’s gone. WELL THAT ISN’T TERRIFYING AT ALL!

The silence after that bloodcurdling noise is hell of a lot worse for my slightly ringing ears…its way too freaky out here!

Yup I am turning baa….there’s a living ash there

…

..

.

RUN!

Sprinting away from the adrenaline junky Living Ash I get forced deeper into the forest…because no way in hell am I going to be able to run past it without getting hurt enough to die to the blazes when it comes to it.

Looks like I’m headed towards this bloodcurdling scream…because if I’m going to die might as well sate my curiousity and be done with it.

…

…

(Miss Nameless’ POV)

“Hey, Anoobis it’s fine….it’s fine” I give him a pat since that made me feel slightly better…so it should work for him…

Though he’s just staring at the shattered edge of his sword in silent shock, mouth hanging wide open…

Oh no, what have I done?

I had just wanted to play an hour or so before bed and Krudel was busy with something so I sneaked in here alone.

Everything had changed so much; all the trees were burnt and there were scary hopping fires everywhere.

Though I didn’t have a problem getting through them since they didn’t want to get close to me for some reason and then I came here…mostly because I was bored.

Then one of those ash piles came at me and I was in the middle of thinking about a strange window that I got and I thought Anoobis might be able to help me with it.

Next thing I knew he was here and he was angry…

I never should’ve come online, I’ve hurt him so.

Looking him over I see that he’s riddled with drying sweat and neither does he smell the freshest but it’s not a bad smell either.

He must’ve worked really hard and I screwed it all up for him.

“It’s alright Anoobis, you can make another” I give him another hopeful pat on the head between his long ears.

“Another?” He turns towards me, somehow registering me now “You want me to spend another 19 hours hammering away for a sword that breaks like a toothpick?”

“No…I can make you one if you want”

“Ah..ha..HAHAHAHA” He starts laughing uncontrollably but the laughter isn’t a happy one...rather it’s quite scary with the way he’s trembling as he laughs. “That was quite a funny joke”

“Joke?” What is that?

“..You’re kidding me…you’ll actually make a sword for me?” His face is full of disbelief…well he is right; I have no idea in the slightest what to do.

“Yes” I can try…because I feel like I owe him that at least.

“Do you even know the first thing about smithing?”

“Nope, but I can learn”

“…Fine, but I will teach you and you will listen, you got that?”

“Yes”

“And you must call me your Geniousity rather than simply Anoobis”

“Ok, your Geniousity?” Is that how I’m supposed to say it? An odd nickname too…never heard that word before

He smiles, happy!

Standing up after him, he begins walking back towards the village.

“It’s nighttime so it’s a bad idea to be out here” He suddenly swerves towards me “Wait, why are you out here…and by yourself again?”

“I just wanted something to do before bed…”

“So rui-thinking about me was on your list of things to do?”

“Well I got this strange window earlier and didn’t know what it meant, so I was wondering whether you’d know what it’s about”

*twitch*

…

..

.

“Ah…I see...show me the window” Oh he doesn’t look too happy.

Going through my notifications, I see there are a few more odd ones, so I send them to him as well…another odd thing; I have him on a list called minions…?

…

…

(Anoobis’ POV)

Your Master has sent you multiple notifications

You have gained a Class

Class:Fel ApprenticeA Fel Apprentice is one who is touched by Fel magic and begins dabbling with suchFel Apprentices can cast Beginner level Fel magic as well as make a contract with a single demonic being or another willing beingAll non-magic related skills cannot increase beyond Beginner rank.

All magic related skills cannot increase beyond Intermediate rank.

All spells cannot increase beyond Beginner rank.Class Bonuses:

Able to cast Fel magic

+10 to Intelligence

+5 to Wisdom

+10 to Mana

+10 to Fel

Have learnt Fel Aura

Have learnt Fel Bolt

Have learnt Fel Healing

Have learnt Fel Sight

Have learnt Summon Minion

Class: Penalties:

Cannot learn non-Fel magic

Cannot wear armour beyond ClothDue to becoming this Class, Fel-touched race has been unlockedThis class is permanent unless another Class is chosen upon character creation

xp increases by100%

……

…..

….

…

..

.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???

Wait she has a class!?

WAIT THAT’S RELATED TO ME IN SOME WAY BECAUSE OF ONE TINY BIT: can make a contract with a demonic being or another being that is willing.

WAIT, BUT I’M NOT WILLING!

Wait…it’s was that DAMNABLE RABBIT, I JUST KNOW IT!

But she has a class now! How the hell do I explain this to her, it’s a magic caster!??!

Wait, if she’s got a class…

You have gained a Class

Semi-Class:Contracted MinionA contracted minion is a being that has made a contractwith a Magic User, binding their soul with theirscontracted minions can be summoned by their Master and based on their Master gain a bonus their abilitiesAll magic related skills cannot increase beyond Beginner rank.

All spells cannot increase beyond level 5 Beginner rank.Semi-Class Bonuses:

Able to cast Fel magic

+1 to Intelligence

+1 to Mana

+1 to Fel

Have learnt Fel SightDue to becoming this Semi-Class, Fel-touched race has been unlockedThis class is permanent as long as Contract is kept going and Master remains as contractual ClassSemi-Class' do not count towards your class limit. They are an addition to any normal class you may become.

xp increases by 50%

…

..

.

I’m ...a minion…without having being given a choice.

EVEN If I get some bonuses…like a new RACE…I’m still a literal slave.

Wait, I have a contract? Where’s that?

Flicking through the notifications, I take out one that has the big words CONTRACT written on it.

CONTRACTS:

Anoobis(Your Geniousity)

…

..

.

CONTRACT (Anoobis/Your Geniousity), Signed by both partiesAnoobis may only be Summoned when he has given permissionDuration of contract:Permanent

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I CAN NEVER ESCAPE HER!!

Though I can only be summoned when I’ve given permission…so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice…

So we’ve both got a class (well semi-class) which uses Fel magic? What the hell is that?

Fel magic is a dark magic costing soul as well as normal mana. It is highly destructive and may be used for various damaging purposes.Fel magic uses both mana and Fel conjoined to castThose touched by Fel magic cannot go near a place of holy worship

..

.

Huh…well using soul to cast…well that is never going to happen, especially if it's mine!

My mind is literally hurting me right now, it’s a bit too much to handle in one sitting!

“So…what is it?”

Oh god, she doesn’t even understand this. Oh how do I explain something I don’t know to her?

“Well you gained something called a class”

“Class?” Oh god, does she not know anything?

“It’s a job basically…like a…”

“Butler or maid?” Odd examples but sure yes

“Yes. And the class you have is an apprentice magic user”

…She didn’t understand.

“You get to cast magic, you know what that is?”

“Nope”

SERIOUSLY… HOW HAS SHE NOT HEARD OF MAGIC!? I MEAN EVERY KID HAS ONCE DREAMED OF DOING MAGIC…

“Magic is…well magic. It’s doing things you can’t do normally, like flying!”

“Oooh!” Yes she understands?

“So basically you can cast magic, but a certain type”

“There’s types?”

“Well yes, but they don’t make much of a difference…you can still cast magic…just in a different way” She looks confused again. “Ok, so let’s take flying again. With normal magic, you’d sort of float off the ground. With this Fel magic, I’m guessing you’d sprout black wings which let you fly”

Her eyes widen in both excitement and understanding…phew ok, she’s learning.

“So essentially you can cast magic and you’ve been given a few spells, which do something. One example of a spell, is summon minion…which as we both know, brings me here whenever you want me”

“OH” Yes she realizes that she accidentally summoned me…by casting magic (which is pretty cool but I’m still pretty miffed) “Sorry” She says meekly.

“Now we have a contract for that summoning, and you can only summon me when I allow you to…which is what we agreed on earlier remember?” She nods. Good.

“So how do I cast my spells?”

“I don’t know yet, I’ve still got to look at the things you got from your class” I feel like I’m babysitting her…but at the same time I’m learning too so this is helpful for me as well (also I’m her contracted minion which has SOME bonuses I GUESS so might as well keep them).

“OK” she sits down happily in the ash, not really caring that her cowgirl outfit is getting blackened by the ash.

I’m just going to ignore her for a while, because she is way too much to deal with right now.

“Oh hey there Anoobis, have you heard screaming like Chewbacca being analled by a high velocity drillll…oh hey Princess…just ignore everything I said…” Joat comes half sprinting out of the forest, slowing down when he spots me and too late, the zombie girl on the floor.

“What’s Chewbacca…and what’s analled?”

I glance towards Joat who glances towards me, a mixed look of pure terror and horror sparking between us.

…

..

.

“Well I’ve got to r-”

“Not so fast” I grab hold of him before he sprints away leaving me with the mess that is the unknowledgeable zombie girl.

“Really don’t have any time” He points to my right and I see another ash mound heading our way at lightning speed.

Oh great…but I do see the weak spot in the top left.

“Top left” Both of us blurt out at the same time, turning towards one another in mild shock before bracing for the monster.

It smashes into Joat and I skirt round slamming the shattered blade (I’m still holding it) into the glowing thing inside.

The ash plummets to the floor unceremoniously into a small heap.

“How’d you do that?” We both point at eachother accusingly.

“Detect magic” Joat answers…ooh he knows magic!?

“No idea” Honestly I don’t…but it might have something to do with Fel Sight?

Joat’s eyes squint deviously, first towards me but then roam towards the zombie girl.

He grins…oh no.

“Ah Princess, you look fantastic as always” Sauntering over to her, he plops down next to her. “But do tell what is going on with you two?”

“Apparently I’ve learnt something called magic and his Geniousity is helping me understand”

“Oh really?” He peeks towards me with a devious grin…you bastard, going to steal all this delicious information! "Well his...Geniousity...should continue teaching you" He's ruining my title!

"Su-”

“-Don’t tell him anything” I blurt out before she can. She looks at me with a confused expression “I’m here to help, he’s…just here"

“Well I do know magic already so I would be more help to her than you…since I assume you don’t know how you’re using your magic” So he noticed…well duh anyone with a half a brain would, or who know about magic anyways…

*Sigh*

Fine...he’ll get the information from her one way or another...so no point trying to stop him. Might as well try steal whatever information he has...

“Fine, she got a class”

His eyes widen and jaw drops to the floor. Heh, he wasn’t expecting that

“Well don’t just stop there, continue” He recovers quite quickly, probably from the excitement.

“It’s call Fel’s Apprentice and it’s a Fel magic user, whatever that is”

“Fel magic?”

“It’s a dark magic that costs soul”

“EH?” Oh right, forgot to tell her about that part…

“Wait a moment, so you have to use your soul to cast it?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t looked at how to cast it yet”

“Right…so go look at that, because I’m sure Princess here is dying to know how to” More like you are but sure she needs to know how to as well.

I’m miffed about him just sauntering in and getting some really good information for free…but still he knows magic so he could be of some use.

STAT:FelPoints in Fel give you a Fel pool and will affect skills and spells related to FelThis Stat has been put into one of your stat slotsStat: Fel has been added to your stat slots. It has used up 1 slotDue to your Race, Fel begins at 0, but due to your Semi-Class it becomes 1Due to Fel stat being above 0 you have learnt the Spell: Soul Collect

SPELL:Soul Collect, Beginner [lvl1] (Active)Soul Collect allows caster to collect souls from dead monsters, filling up Fel pool, which may then be used to cast spellsCost: 10 mana, Duration: 1 minute, Cooldown: 10 minutes

…

..

.

Holy lord…that’s hell of a stat!

Looking at my character sheet, sure enough there’s a Fel stat with 0/1 …so I can have one soul stored? So I can cast one spell?

Ok..?

But this is great; I don’t have to use my own soul to cast spells…which is awesome.

“Ok…so to cast spells we use mana and Fel together. Mana, I don’t know how to get or use…Joat does though” He nods, ok at least he’s playing along with this “And Fel is an empty pool which is filled up with souls using a spell called Soul Collect. Essentially when a creature dies, you use Soul Collect to add it to your Fel pool and then use that and mana to cast magic”

Doesn’t look like she gets it that much…or at all really.

“Ah” Joat jumps up and takes a tiny fiery shard out from the air. He hands it over to me “Take a soul out of that”

Raising my eyebrow, I hold the shard in one hand and imagine sucking something out of it while thinking Soul Collect.

Funnily enough that seems to work as the shard slowly goes dull and cracks, and my Fel Pool, a little green circle just under my hp, fills up to max as I feel something slightly slimy snake it's way up my hand.

“So I just used soul collect to gain a soul” The zombie girl looks at me still not quite with me. “Can you see a green circle under your red bar?”

“Yes…but its many circles”

Ah so 1 soul per circle? “Each circle is a soul, so when you soul collect you will each one. When you cast a spell you will use one of those circles up, understand?”

“I think so” Ok that’s something.

“But you said you needed mana and Fel to cast…so do you have a blue bar anywhere there?” Joat adds in.

“No”

“Hmm, well guess I have to got to teach you mana then. Also do you have intelligence or wisdom either?”

“Neither”

He glances towards me. Really, do you think I wouldn’t have either of those?

“I only need mana” Why of course because I am just so marvelously intelligent and wise.

“Right, well let’s head back to town, where it’s a lot less dangerous shall we?”He points towards a zipping rumble in the ash…probably another monster, just a little distance away.

Yep, let’s get out of here before another comes around…they’re quite dangerous must I say, but nowhere near as dangerous as this thieving little bastard called Joat who’s stealing all this information for barely anything…

damn that sneaky blighter!

"So you never told me, what is analled?"

…

…