Mash had no idea what to say. He glanced toward the others who were waiting for him to do something. The expectation in their eyes was a little overwhelming.

“What do I say?”

The first word echoed through the city, but Mash cut his connection to the crystal for the rest of his question. That was a mistake, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

[Mash! Say anything! Stall.]

Red’s message came clearly. Priscilla was bouncing messages around, using much of her focus to keep others informed of what was happening. Lisa had a similar answer.

“Just tell them who you are and what happened. They need to know. Try to calm them down.”

Mash nodded. That was good enough. He could talk, but that wouldn’t be the difficult part. The rest he would figure out. He pushed a little more energy into the crystal and began speaking to the city.

“Sorry about that. Uh, you all are probably confused.”

Timothy whispered something, though the device carried it through the city too.

“Introduce yourself.”

“I’m Mash. I am an adventurer, and I killed the king. Oh, also the earl too. You are free. If you have a slave crystal break it. This city is going to change and…”

Mash trailed off as he received a string of very heated, very angry messages. Priscilla told him it was the general a second later. Apparently, Arthur had relinquished Priscilla to her for the conversation. Mash hadn’t even thought to tell his brother. As the messages streamed in Mash amended what he was going to say.

“Ok, here is the plan. The Castle Keeper, the great general of the Kingdom under the Sun. My home has promised salvation to any that wants to go there. Everyone that is not a slaver that is. Slavery is outlawed there.”

Mash listened to the messages and relayed the words as they came. It worked, and it was a plan.

“The kingdom will provide a place to live and money for a year. There is plenty of space and work available. Do not fear the journey, we can get you there safely and quickly. The general says this city will struggle to survive, but that we can’t force you to come with. Guards of the city, you will similarly have work if you want. Even if you don’t start organizing the city. Gather people into groups, it shouldn’t matter where but do it in open spaces if possible. And I will deal with the slave army in the meanwhile.”

He had been repeating much of what the general had been saying, but he was also nervous. It was a lot easier to just repeat someone else, but then he said too much. He had just barreled through the last sentence before he realized that it was just meant for his ears. How exactly was he supposed to deal with a high-level army that was also angry? After a second he sent that exact message to the general.

[They won’t kill you. You are the savior. Take someone who can confirm that and try and convince the army to avoid a slaughter.]

The general had calmed down a bit, and this message wasn’t as angry. He glanced at the three of them and then spoke. This time he remembered to cut his connection to the gemstone.

“I’m going to need one of you to come with me and help me convince the army to not just raze the city to the ground.”

“I’ll go.”

Lisa seemed eager to help, and Mash nodded. That was fine, the question now was figuring out where they were.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where they are?”

Timothy knew. He had been with the army until the sudden teleport had dragged him away.

“The army is just to the north of the city. There was an outbreak in a spider cave, and they had gone to deal with it. They will take several hours to make it back.”

Mash nodded quickly and turned toward Lisa.

“Do you have the ability to fly?”

“No, but I’m fast enough.”

Mash shook his head. Even if she was fast, flying would almost certainly be faster. Plus, it would be easier to spot the army that way.

“Not worth it. I can just carry you.”

Mash's body shifted and his robes changed with them. Slits formed on them to allow wings to sprout from them. They were scaled and fashioned in the shape of a wyvern’s wings. She only nodded. Within a few minutes, they were gone, flying straight into the city. He didn’t take them toward one of the exits. That would take too long, instead, he went towards Jill. Lisa spoke as they flew. Mash manipulated the wind so that they could hear one another.

“How did you do that? I mean with the poison and the shackle. No one has ever gotten out of it.”

Lisa whispered the question into his ear. Mash for his part laughed and replied openly. Showing her that they could talk freely despite the flight and also glad to receive a normal question. He felt like everything was so difficult all of a sudden, but this was an easy thing to answer.

“The poison was easy enough. I have a skill that makes it so that I can eat anything without worry. Immunity to everything I eat.”

“That is strangely narrow in application, but I guess it has proven its usefulness.”

Mash was carrying her with one hand. Wood had grown from it turning it into an oddly shaped hook She sat there as if it were a swing. His other hand was open for other gestures and he waved it to indicate his whole body.

“Everything about my class is kind of reliant on the skill, so trust me, it is way too useful considering when I got it.”

“And what about the shackle? I’m sorry about what I did but I couldn’t…”

She had gone from interested to depressed quickly. A flip switched and her mood changed. Mash didn’t let her linger on the apology. She didn’t need to give one. Even if the shackle had worked, He wouldn’t want an apology from her.

“It’s nothing. Also, I don’t know what happened with the shackle. But the skill just slid off me. Actually, give me a minute to check, I leveled earlier.”

Lisa started to say something, but Mash had already begun checking his status. What had happened?

Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Chimeric Vagabond

Level: 121 → 131

Health: 3330 / 3330

Energy: 481 / 4590

Fortitude: 333

Endurance: 229

Strength: 278

Agility: 279

Intelligence: 230

Wisdom: 130

Charisma: 110

Free Stats: 230

Skills: Hunt, Magical Layered Wood, Inhuman Hibernation, Chimeric Transformation, Wooden Birth, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Chimeric Domain, Reconstructed Adaptable Monster Core , Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, A Touch of Nothingness → Harbinger of Nothing, Golden Body

A Touch of Nothingness → Harbinger of Nothing (Passive): Belonging to no race or group, you have embraced the nothingness that is a part of everything. You are free and deny others' attempts to bind you. Constantly emit the aura of nothingness within your domain. Your allies will gain some of the freedom you possess. You are a bringer of nothingness. Your power causes all that would oppose it to fray and slip.

Golden Body (Passive): Having stolen the techniques of another world, your body evolves beyond its old limitations. However, even this transformation is incomplete. Seek out the next Step and truly make this power your own.

Trial of the True Body: 27 → 77 / 100

Mash stopped mid-flight and nearly dropped Lisa, as he saw the result. The change to his true body and skill was important, but it was the change in levels that stumped him. How? Why? That was better than the insects and wolves, which were both definitely stronger than the king and earl combined. Priscilla had access to the same information he did, though she got it from his memories so there was a slight delay. She had been busy ferrying messages, but she stopped too.

[That is good? You should kill more kings.]

It wasn’t a joke when it came from her, and Mash thought the same thing. Not that he should kill kings, but he assumed that was the reason for the huge boost. Although, the upgrade lacked the usual improvement to his stats. Now that he saw it, he should probably use those free stats. He had been holding off, hoping that he could get a skill like Luke.

“Hey! Are you okay? Why did you stop?”

Mash blinked a few times, as Lisa shouted directly in his face. He started moving again and told her about it.

“I gained ten levels!”

Now it was Lisa’s turn to freak out. She similarly couldn’t believe what had happened.

“What is your class? You had said you were a vagabond but what else. King Killer?”

Mash replied quickly.

“No, god that would be terrible.”

King killer classes were rare and more importantly infamous. They weren’t inherently problematic like necromancers or slavers, but it was like Jill’s class. Something that would require minders within any major city. But he did see where she was going. Every class could be leveled outside of combat. Usually, that method was painfully slow, and he hadn’t even bothered trying to find what he might be. He thought of the change to his skill and had an idea. It wasn’t killing the king or earl that had given him the levels, it was freeing all those people. His class, his very nature, was about freedom. And he had just freed tens of thousands of people. Even if he hadn’t meant for all of that.

“I think it was because I freed so many people.”

“Your class is dedicated to freedom?”

Lisa glanced at him and just stared into his eyes. Mash replied as she turned away.

“Sort of.”

She glanced away, and Mash saw the tears she had tried to hide. His domain was a little bad in situations like these. He didn’t say anything and just thought about what it all meant. Was his class the reason he didn’t feel bad about killing the king or the earl? Honestly, Mash felt good about the whole thing. Like he had done something good, and he knew he would do it again. Mash asked Priscilla to check, even if she would need to slow down in her messages. Jill wasn’t that far away anyways.

[I do not think so. I believe the recent change indicates the opposite. You are freer now than ever before. This is what you are.]

Priscilla made her point, by showing him what was happening around the city. She showed him the people cheering and celebrating because of their freedom. If that was all she revealed, he wouldn’t believe it. But she did show him the darker aspects too. The slavers who had been mutilated and hung up for all to see. Innocent people that had suffered from the sudden chaos. They flashed between the good and the bad.

Mash thought about what Priscilla meant, and he took in everything his actions had caused. It reminded him eerily of the mistakes he made before, but they didn’t weigh on him in the same way as before. As he thought it through, he accepted two things. The things he did would always have consequences. And that he didn’t need to doubt himself so much. The king and the earl were monsters, people who deserved worse than they got. More importantly, he realized that he was okay with that. He didn’t regret his decisions this time.