by Ryan DeBruyn
“Listen, you are here while your body is still alive, and holding that connection taxes this place greatly. All of your crushed and dying bodies have been fully restored, and they are awaiting the spirit’s return.” Michabo glanced at his hand and fidgeted with his drooping rabbit ear, then looked up at Rocky and said, “Some of the others have already left, which has helped. Still, we used all of our stored Etherience rescuing you and your party from that Dungeon collapse.”
Perhaps the silent treatment was the correct response—Michabo had shared more information than Rocky had managed to tease out of the infuriating floppy-eared man to date. Rocky continued to flow into the high horizontal parry forms of the Kata.
Michabo sighed heavily and sucked on his pipe.
Well, at least Michabo was committed to attempting to convince him to leave. He was on his second Kata when Michabo spoke again. “Rockland, the longer you stay here, the more you put your citizens at risk. What is holding you here? Is it the loss of the Revenant class?”
Rocky’s teeth clicked, and his sword wavered for a moment before he locked it down. Yes, that was a huge problem. If only it was that easy to select a new class. Problem number one—only four options were open to him. Since Michabo had pulled him into the Spirit Realm, Rocky had lost access to classes that didn’t require Rebirth. From the information he had extracted from Michabo, Rebirth was somehow different from Resurrection. The only distinction that made sense was that Resurrection required you to die, and Rebirth somehow took your living self and recreated it.
Problem number two—of the four classes available, only one was selectable, and Rocky wanted none of it.
He finished his Kata and sat cross-legged on the ground to Meditate as he perused the four classes again. Maybe this time he would see something he had missed. He closed his eyes, entered his meditative state, and flipped through the classes available.
Chimera Knight (Assassin)
● A free and intelligent chimera is nearly impossible to tame. Now that you have bonded a chimera of the manticore subspecies, you can discover how to tame others for the creation of the order of Chimera Knights. As an owner of a manticore, your class will appear as Chimera Knight, but you will be a variant—assassin class.
1) One must find a chimera kit before they’re a year old.
2) One must either obtain permission from the parent or the parent must have died from a cause other than at the owner’s hands.
3) One must not use any item to subjugate or tame the creature through magical or physical means.
A Chimera Knight is strongly linked to his pet. Together, they grow and become a powerful force.
This class keeps all stats from the previous rank.
Chimera Knight
All skills from the previous rank remain.
All Etherience requirements for Levels are 60% higher.
+1 Strength per Level
+1 Stamina per Level
+1 Dexterity per Level
+1 Agility per Level
--
Seraphim
● A Seraphim must be reborn to ascend. During Rebirth, all automatically assigned stats during the previous rank are consumed, and the worthy shall have the free stat points to redistribute upon Rebirth.
A Seraphim is a class that is locked to individuals who are descendants of the Cathodiem guild leadership lines.
Seraphim
All skills from the previous rank remain.
All Etherience requirements for Levels are 90% lower.
+1 Strength per Level
+1 Stamina per Level
+1 Dexterity per Level
+1 Agility per Level
--
Dark-Hunter
● A Dark-Hunter is a powerful force of darkness. Death is but another side of the life coin, and a Dark-Hunter metes out death to those who deserve it. To become a Dark-Hunter, one must be reborn, and all stat points, including free stat points, will be consumed in the process.
Dark-Hunter
All skills from the previous rank are refreshed and can be reassigned in the Dark-Hunter tree.
All Etherience requirements for Levels are 50% lower.
+2 Agility per Level
+2 Dexterity per Level
--
Demon
● Demons are mighty beings that care only for themselves. To become a Demon, one must be reborn, and all stat points become free stat points. A Demon may choose to place them as they wish upon Rebirth.
Demon
All skills from the previous rank remain.
All Etherience requirements for Levels are 90% higher.
+2 Intelligence per Level
+1 Strength per Level
+1 Stamina per Level
Mentally, Rocky clicked on Seraphim again and received the same error message he’d seen a dozen times.
Error!
To select the Seraphim class, one must be in control of each individual emotion. Would you like to see a representation of your emotional state?
For the hundredth time, he selected yes, and a blob of colors took shape in front of him. A swirling kaleidoscope seemed intangible one moment, and concrete the next. The way they intertwined, then moved was eerie. Almost like machine gears and cogs that kept jamming and lighting on fire. Anytime Rocky tried to untangle the myriad of red and gold knots, the whole network would flash and squirm out of his grasp. The next second, he would be apoplectic, hopelessly sorrowful, ecstatic, and deranged. Today, he forewent trying to mess with this disaster. Last time, he ended up pacing for over an hour as his body came down from its adrenaline high.
Michabo choked. “Every time I look at your Chidi, I am disgusted. That creature you have created looks back at me with such coldness.” Michabo shook his head as if he could dislodge the image. “Did you tie your anger to your competitive spirit on purpose?”
As Rocky studied it, each throbbing vein of color snaked around a colossal aorta of red. Based on its pulsing pattern and his current mood, he guessed that was his anger. Michabo was partially right in his analysis, but Rocky corrected him and muttered, “More like I tied everything to my anger.”
The only emotion that was nearly free of the entanglement was a dark, cloudy color. A sharp pang of pain hit his chest and he knew—this was sadness. Was he really so depressed? This new world had a strange way of bringing it out in him. Magnifying it.
He shook his head. He’d been sitting here for too long, trying to untangle his emotions, with no success. He considered another class. One that he had tried to select out of desperation. But it also wanted him to fiddle with his emotional state. The Demon class wanted him to literally cram all of them into a single ball, each emotion indiscernible from the other.
I refuse to do that. I can’t imagine not being able to tell where anger ends, and something else begins.
Dark-Hunter, on the other hand, required him to basically reset his entire class, and he had just gotten used to being a Revenant. Rocky dismissed those issues and swirled his Ether along his inner channels. Soon, he had figure eights looping idly and creating a beautiful pattern that looked like a lopsided flower.
Chimera Knight, he admitted, seemed like an excellent choice, but he needed to have completed a defense of the Grotto before he could access it. Defeating Apothis hadn’t counted. Even though the bag of bones had assaulted his Territory, he didn’t count. No, when the timer ran out for Ether Assisted Protection, something would attack his people.
Michabo interrupted the perfect quiet of the Spirit Realm. “It doesn’t matter how hard you work, Rockland. I can tell you, from my own experience, that hard work doesn’t always beat talent. Sela, for example, is a natural leader, a fighter, and she has been chosen by a higher being. You, sadly, were just a means for her return.”
This was new information. Rocky didn’t understand this new knowledge. He cracked one eye open and stared at the infuriating little rabbit-man. Michabo puffed on his pipe, the smoke formi
ng a replica of the pattern Rocky had fashioned with his Ether flow. Was confusing information better than none?
Michabo smiled. “How many days have you been working to increase your strength in this new world? A few cycles of the moon? I worked for centuries, and still, the talented of this world practically chewed my family up before they spit out the fat.”
An image of a woman in chains popped into Rocky’s mind. The line of women who tried to save the chained one. And the subsequent slaughter of a bunny woman and girl. Could they be Michabo’s wife and daughter? He took a deep breath and asked, “What happened, Michabo? Why are you in this place?”
Michabo tapped the stem of his pipe against his chin, and Rocky closed his eyes and returned to his peaceful Meditation. He had just created a thin layer of flowing Ether below his skin when Michabo spoke again.
“This place is simple in some ways, and infinitely complex in many others. I can perhaps enlighten you to a part of it.” Michabo took a deep drag and then exhaled a smoky cloud. “You have seen some powerful creatures upon the surface world already, correct?”
Rocky nodded. The hovering smoke formed into an army of golems. Michabo frowned at it and then brought his hands together, forcing the smoke to join and create one giant golem that could be considered Everest, when compared to the foothills that the other golems represented.
Michabo pointed to the monstrous smoky golem. “Right now, the surface has even more impressive creatures upon it. Creatures so large and deadly that seeing one would result in catatonia for most humans. These creatures can neither be reasoned with nor beaten without resorting to extreme measures.”
After a moment, he clicked his tongue and raised a hand. “There is good news, though. These creatures, while immensely strong, aren’t inherently evil. They have no wicked agenda. If they do have a goal, they aren’t actively trying to hurt people to achieve it.”
Michabo took another deep puff of his pipe and blew more smoke, wiping away his gauzy Ether art. An army of undead, led by massive Abominations and Apothis—complete with his staff and riding atop his massive champions—slowly replaced the mountainous golem.
Rocky shivered.
“Creatures with ambition destroy everyone and everything in their way. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. Then you have inconsolable Evil. You have faced this evil, and beaten it back, but failed to defeat it. Apep lingers out there, on Gaia. His agents are still attempting to subvert all living creatures to their will.” Michabo held up his hand, with his index extended, “Apep is but a finger of the greater Evil my people faced.”
Rocky met Michabo’s eyes as a tear rolled down the rabbit-man’s cheek.
Michabo paused and collected himself. “Now picture a world where Evil has combined with a power that can’t be reasoned with.”
Rocky’s eyes widened. What Michabo described was horrific. He pictured the world overrun with undead and shivered.
I can’t allow that to happen, but if this evil is stronger than Apep—where would I even start?
“That is not even the whole of the problem, Rockland!” shouted Michabo. “Envision a world where that all-powerful Evil is so hidden that, on the surface, everything looks serene. The lake where Evil resides is deep—so deep that when it moves, all that can be seen is a small ripple on the surface.”
Rocky held Michabo’s gaze and eventually nodded. “Is the Spirit Realm an escape from that unseen Evil?” Rocky held his breath, hoping he wasn’t right. He didn’t relish the possibility of the rabbit-man telling him that this powerful place was an escape. But what else could it be?
Michabo laughed bitterly. “Absolutely not. The Spirit Realm is just a tiny part of the massive undertaking to stop that Evil. It was created to preserve the memory of the past. To hold the Evil at bay long enough to free Gaia, so she could one day fight and win against that creature. To teach the future not to ever create such unspeakable Evil again.”
“Do you mean Apep?”
Michabo laughed harder, almost choking on the smoke of his pipe. “Apep is powerful, but like Odin or Gaia, his power has limits. No, the Evil I speak of was created by sapient beings. The Evil I speak of spawned Apep and brought that chaos here. The Evil I speak of uses lesser evils like Apep to mask their slowly sprawling desiccation.”
“Did you succeed in removing this Evil from Gaia with the creation of the Spirit Realm?”
Michabo shrugged. “It is too soon to tell. At first, I had thought so. However, recent events have led me to believe that it still has some influence here.”
Rocky waited for Michabo to elaborate, but he didn’t. Instead, the rabbit-man dumped out the ashen contents of his pipe and looked off into the distance.
Rocky shook his head and seized the opportunity of his host’s talkative mood. “I can’t pick a class, Michabo. Don’t pretend you aren’t aware of my dilemma. I want to leave, but unless you want me to reset my class or become a Demon, I’m going to need your help.”
Michabo turned to Rocky.
A surge of hope flooded his body. “You seem to have some power in this place—can’t you do something?”
Michabo lifted his pipe and refilled it with tobacco—slowly. Rocky struggled not to punch the Native American rabbit-man. This was one of Michabo’s favorite time-wasting displays, and next, rabbit-wonder would say something completely unhelpful!
Michabo lit up and breathed out the smoke. “I can do nothing to help someone unwilling to help themselves. You must look deep within yourself and find the answer you seek—”
Rocky’s jaw and hands clenched and he glared at the man. Michabo stared blankly at the space in front of him. Rocky recognized that look. He probably looked the same way when he was receiving a notification. Michabo blinked rapidly at whatever he was reading and then looked between Rocky and the notice.
“Well, isn’t this interesting…” Michabo drawled.
“What is it?” Rocky was getting really tired of having to pull every piece of information out of Floppy. Maybe if he stole Michabo’s pipe and began stomping on it?
Michabo tapped his chin with the stem. “Your territorial protection has run out, and something is coming to invade in the next twenty-four hours. You are being granted temporary access to the Chimera Knight class. If you can defeat it and pass the assigned quest, you can keep the class—”
Rocky was already nodding his head. He was ready to accept the quest, but Michabo held up his hand.
“Do not accept so quickly, Rockland. If you fail to defeat this threat in twenty-four hours, not only will you lose the Apprentice Revenant skill tree and the Leadership Class, but you will be randomly assigned a class and start at Apprentice rank again. That’s if you survive.”
Rocky didn’t have to think too long. If a monster was invading his Territory, then its residents needed him. This wasn’t really an option for him. He had vowed to never let someone invade and kill his citizens again. And he meant to keep that promise.
“I will defend them,” he whispered as a wicked smile spread across his face. “Or I will die trying.”
Protection Quest
Leader of Territory Chimera Roost– Chimera Knight
Safeguard the Sanctum
The time of your Ether-Assisted Territorial Protection elapsed. A creature has taken notice and wishes to claim your Territory. Within twenty-four hours, it will enter Algonquin Valley and attempt to kill everyone located within.
You will be given temporary access to the Chimera Knight Class during this quest. Failure will remove this temporary class, all Etherience gains beyond Apprentice Rank, and revoke access to your Ancestral Class skill tree.
Stop this threat in the time limit given, or die trying. A knight is only as good as their oath.
Rewards:
Etherience
Chimera Knight Journeyman Class
Good luck, Leader!
Chapter Two
Rocky woke for the second time in what felt like hours. Michabo’s last wor
ds rang in his head. Do not panic, Rockland. You are being Reborn. Ask Sela about the strong women in her life.
An object rolled off his chest, and the sound of something soft hitting the floor nearby followed it. He shot up to a sitting position and froze. He felt his body, but his eyes couldn’t distinguish between open and closed.
What’s wrong with my eyes?
His heart rate increased in tempo, and sweat prickled his skin as the weight of desperation pressed on his chest. How would he do this in twenty-four hours with no sight?
His trembling hands clutched the flat surface under him. His hands explored the cold but well-defined—almost sharp—edges of some sort of table. The time between the feeling of something falling from his chest and the soft percussive sound told him that he was elevated.
Echoing voices—sometimes distant, sometimes next to him—bounced against the walls of this unfamiliar place.
He summoned his Soul Blade, preparing for a fight. His eyes watered as the Ether-blue light from his skill pushed back the darkness and blinded him.
They work!
As he blinked away the tears, he could make out some of his surroundings. The space almost looked like a large, open hospital room. But that couldn’t be right, could it? The blue light from his skill reflected off shiny surfaces and hopped over metallic-looking screens and desks.
Is this a morgue?
The blade dropped into his hands and the weight of it made him feel slightly better as he eased off of the cold slab table. He held the blade, admiring its honed edges and intricate hilt in the fading light. A link to his lost class and ancestor.
He jerked his head back. The blade was humming in his hands. It felt different than the last time he’d wielded it. Almost like it was more alive. The room was nearly black again. He Analyzed it quickly as the voices continued to echo in the background.
Congratulations! Your Soul Blade “Dark Tidings” has consumed enough souls to gain a level!
Dark Tidings – Soul Blade