Shane smiled for the first time since he woke up under that tree.

"I wish the games of my past had a class system that felt this rewarding."

Shane let the inventory screen fade away as he glanced at his skeleton minions, who shared a side-glance with him in return. Even though he knew his minions were code and subroutines, there was a tangible warmth in how they returned his gaze. It made Shane happy, happy to be alive in Endless Veil.

Shane would look back at this moment and know that this had been when he started seeing Endless Veil's world as more than just a game he helped make. At this moment, it was real to him. The warmth of his companions and the even warmer not-quite-fall weather. The immediate physicality of the sky above, down to the dirt beneath his boots, and everything else in-between.

No! This is just a procedurally generated world made of data! His mind tried to tell him, and while that would always be true, wasn't his interpretation equally as valid as long as he didn't willfully ignore the truth?

As if to illustrate this, Shane began to see more of the world around him beyond the other-worldly flora and imposing landscapes. Like a curtain being lifted, he began to notice the air buzzing with animal and insect life around him. Small gnat-like bugs were swarming beautifully odd-colored flowers. Larger bird-sized insects with thin elongated bodies feasted on the oblivious gnats.

Usually, if one of those got too close, he would freak out and try to swat at the bastard. In the current moment, however, things were different, more connected. Like it was a part of this world just as much as he was, and unless it hurt him, he had no reason to lose his cool.

Shane's gaze was drawn to a pack of majestic red-furred wolf-like animals in the distance. They looked to be hunting smaller but very numerous bipedal creatures as a pack. He watched them complete the cycle of life for a few moments in awe—his jaw agape in the majesty of nature.

Shane remembered the earlier notice of his digital body adjusting to this world. His eyebrows raised in cautious delight as he wondered what he would see and experience when fully acclimated. He assumed it would be like cranking the "Environmental Details" setting on a computer game to the highest. Allowing for more visual detail at all distances.

Shane continued walking and shelved the thought for the time being. It was time to focus on the slowly-growing blue pillar of light that represented his map marker for Krooth.

There were only about one-thousand meters between him and his destination. Worry for what he would find in Krooth kept creeping into his mind as he let it wander while watching for points of interest to appear. It didn't take long for a new icon to appear on his virtual compass. The icon showed a larger coiled oval over top of a smaller, more rigid oval. Luckily, Shane knew this to be a portal icon, and almost anything could come out of it—good or bad.

The trees, tall grasses, and wildlife began to thin out as Shane neared what looked to be a large open meadow. One hundred meters away in the center of the clearing sat a massive portal floating only a foot from the ground. Shane looked beyond the pulsating doorway towards the treeline behind it, then back at it. It was wider than the tree he had just passed and just as tall.

"Depending on what comes out, this could be a good test of my abilities." he thought out loud as he walked towards the portal.

The brilliant deep sea blue of the portal's outer edge merged seamlessly with its bright-aqua inner circle. Tiny swirling pieces of energy poured from the rift in all directions, like glowing raindrops moving in slow motion. As Shane stepped within fifty meters of the portal, its color began shifting from blue to red.

Electricity crackled across its surface, and he could feel powerful shockwaves emanating from the other-worldly opening. They were heavy enough to cause Shane to stumble and lean against Tank, who was already bracing against the blasts.

Suddenly, the blasts and electric crackling stopped. A figure confidently walked out of the now blood-red portal. The humanoid looked like it was over six feet tall. Shane had a gut feeling whatever it could be wasn't going to simply hand him some fun new loot.

It wasn't looking in Shane's direction and didn't need to for Shane to feel intimidated. Its aura was a vibrant orange, meaning its abilities were plainly above Shane's, even after his mana siphon evolution and morphing.

The humanoid creature looked like a man around thirty, maybe a little older, in a smooth red and black trench coat that went down to a pair of rich leather boots. He had long, straight black hair and pale blue skin. Shane took a single step forward, more out of wild excitement for what was ahead than anything else, and the man turned to look at him, giving Shane a devilish smile. Shane realized he was in the midst of a vampire after seeing sharp fangs and pointy ears.

Upon locking eyes, a new screen appeared, interrupting their staring competition.

-Level 5 Boss Quest-

Explore the vampire's lair

-Bonus Objective-

Gather physical proof of your victory over this opponent

Accept/Reject

Shane frowned for a second, then realized the portal must lead back to the vampire's lair. Could he kill this creature? Was he strong enough? Would he have to sneak in? All of these were thoughts firing through Shane's mind one after another.

While his aura-vision was a good indicator of relative strength, other vital factors still didn't go into that kind of ability measurement. He had gotten lucky with the bandit leader with an orange aura, as there wasn't too much to the guy beyond his physical strength, vitality, and impactful weapon.

Shane wasn't necessarily shocked to see a vampire step out of that portal, as he knew Endless Veil held many different kinds of entities on a conceptual level. He wasn't heavily involved with Endless Veil's initial closed-room production stage of development. Yet, he knew his colleagues wanted to dip their toes in almost every pot of fantasy soup.

With the game being largely procedurally generated, the actual design was focused on creating as many interesting non-player characters as possible—picked from nearly every branch of the fantasy genre tree.

He looked past the quest window to see the vampire was still standing there, giving him that same creepy smile. Shane re-focused on the screen, accepted the quest, and closed the window to resume staring at the undead man. To his unfathomable shock, the vampire's suddenly stern face was a mere foot from his own.

Anything outside of the vampire's bright orange irises was pitch black—his gaze was sharp, almost oppressive. Shane stiffened from the fright and surprise while making a reactionary "HUP!!" sound. Tremors coursed through his clenched fists and braced legs as his mind shook from the shock.

He was going to give his skeleton crew a command to attack simultaneously, but with the vampire now this close, he would need to reposition. Shane was seconds away from providing a new mental order when the vampire's gaze softened—his devilish grin returning.

"You can sense how strong I am, can't you, boy."

The vampire's voice was smooth and deep. An inkling of jealousy rose in his chest, as he never loved his barely medium pitch. Shane was a couple of inches short of six feet. This man was easily a foot taller than he was, giving him cause for concern.

"Yes, I can…and I'm 28, by the way," said Shane, as he delayed the order to attack.

This could be an interesting conversation; he almost accidentally thought out loud. The vampire gave a short but loud laugh.

"You're still quite the young man given my age."

He eyed Shane's undead companions. "You have some interesting friends. Can you command them at will?"

Shane couldn't think beyond simply answering, "Yes, I can."

Shane was already calming down from the initial surprise. He thought of adding emphasis to his statement by making all three skeletons bow in unison.

The vampire's grin widened, showing several knife-like fangs.

"Marvelous!" he said while giving a golfer's clap.

Shane backed a couple of steps away as the imposing man leaned in closer—his eyes wide with delight.

Shane suddenly realized the sun was still high in the sky. Even more shocking was that this vampire stood out in broad daylight, outside of the shade Shane was standing half-in.

"Wait, doesn't the sun hurt you? Mr…"

"Please, call me Alabaster, and your name is?" said the vampire, as he stopped leaning forward and stood straight.

"My name is Shane Carther," he paused, unsure what else to add. "It's nice to meet you."

This isn't what he expected from a "Boss Quest," but as long as he completed it, that's all that mattered. He wanted power, but what he wanted most was revenge. Shane held out his hand to properly "greet" the man. Alabaster confidently accepted the handshake greeting.

Shane could feel the tip of the iceberg of Alabaster's power through the handshake alone. I'm shaking hands with a boss, he thought to himself with wild discomfort. The pale vampire let go of Shane's hand as if sensing this. Alabaster's face was now devoid of all emotion.

"So here is my proposition Shane. As a lover of all things magical, please show me the extent of your magic and abilities. If you can impress me, I will not feast on your essence."

Shane's eyebrows shot up as his gaze shifted to the ground while weighing his options in deep thought. I don't see any weapons. What makes him so strong? Can my skeleton crew and I take him? He thought frantically.

Shane didn't see Alabaster frown, but he did hear him give a single loud clearing of his throat.

He looked to see one of Alabaster's eyebrows arched in an impatient expression. It was essential not to forget this vampire NPC was still a boss. With that in mind, Shane gave himself some distance from Alabaster to show him what he desired to see.

"No hard feelings if I hurt you, okay?" Shane tried to sound confident while taking a stance with one palm aimed at Alabaster.

Alabaster huffed, "Certainly not! Unless you insult me by holding back."

Even as he raised his pale palm towards Shane, there was still an air of elegance. Shane gave a mental instruction to Mage, ordering them to use the fireball spell he had used against the now-dead bandit leader.

Mage turned a boney palm to the sky as a tiny fireball roared to life in their hands. The glowing mini-sun grew until it was nearly the size of a beachball. Mage then aimed the bright orb at Alabaster and fired. As the sizzling spell traveled through the air Shane cast "Ice Gun" and watched as three large icicles materialized in front of his hand.

The ball of fire lit the grass it traveled over before ultimately slamming into Alabaster's outstretched palm. Shane kept his spell from firing. He was waiting, expecting to see an explosion like the one he experienced nearly firsthand.

To his surprise, a yellow pulsing circular barrier emanating from Alabaster's palm kept the fiery spell at bay, stopping any chance of it igniting.

Shane was shocked and impressed as the barrier curved around the vampire's entire body length, only leaving him open from behind where the barrier didn't reach. As Shane studied his opponent, he saw the fireball slowly absorbed into the barrier. This is my chance! Shane thought as he released "Ice Gun."

The three arm-length icicles shot forward at a blistering speed. Alabaster saw this coming and shouted over the magic.

"I specialize in defensive magic, boy. Those frozen toothpicks won't be able t—"

Without warning, the three icicles embedded themselves into the fireball at its center, expanding it in all directions and setting off an explosive chain reaction of fire and steam.

Shane had Tank shield him against the shockwave created by the blast. A nauseating wave of heat washed over them, and he groaned in response to its unpleasant welcome. Discomfort aside, he felt lucky that spell combo worked as well as it did, and now was time to follow it up with some fisticuffs.