The afterlife sure wasn’t what Mary had expected it to be like, or at least, it sure differed a great deal from the heaven and hell that the priests always preached about.

Then again, apparently what she – and a few others, one of whom was a name she was most definitely familiar with from history – experienced now was less an afterlife and more of a second chance of life, of sorts. That said, being reincarnated as some sort of Gremlin? Goblin? Some particularly ugly fae? Whatever she was right now sure wasn’t something Mary had expected to happen to her, for sure.

Granted, this reincarnation thing does come with its benefits. For one, no more crippling headaches, or pain in the joints that had started to plague her days in her final years. She was young again, even if she couldn’t call her new body human, and the vitality that youth brought with it was an exhilarating feeling to say the least.

Then came the news from those who claimed to have summoned them, something that further confirmed to Mary that they were in a different world than their own. It reminded her of some of the more fantastical stories she had read in her life, though none were quite like her circumstances, of course. Of all the things that surprised her, these… people who summoned her had considered her a [Champion], one of great might who would lead them in their eternal war against their foes.

That those foes were humans was another surprise, but an acceptable one when she considered that she had become something that was decidedly not human.

Her worry about having to fight – she never had anything to do with violence in her previous life, other than maybe writing about some of it – was soon alleviated when the locals explained to her about the classes and skills they were gifted by the gods themselves, or whatever these locals believed in, at least. She was rather surprised to see that her class was so… personalized, but more so when she learned how her skills seemed to pay homage to stories she had written before.

It was a strange feeling to be called a [Champion] when all she ever accomplished in her previous life was to write some stories, at most, much less to have her path laid out according to them.

Still, it was something she could – and would – make use of. She was granted this second chance at life, and if that meant she had to fight for it, then so be it. The locals had explained to Mary how people could grow to great power in this world they had been brought to, and even offered to support her and the other summoned [Champions] so that they could grow smoothly on that path of power.

One of them refused, however, the man gruffly saying that he would climb that path of power on his own instead of needing their help.

That was a rather surprising matter for all involved, both the summoned [Champions] and the locals. In the end, however, it was decided to send the three remaining [Champions] to the dungeon to help them level quickly, accompanied by hand-picked members who were expected to be their companions and aides in the future, including ones that had been prepared for the one who went off on his own.

It was a very fortunate thing that they had the help from those locals.

As it turned out, none of the three [Champions] that remained, Mary included, had skills that were useful for direct combat at first. If anything, Mary was the most fortunate one, as after she animated her first undead, she at least had a minion who could do the fighting for her, even if it was weak compared to their local companions.

The other two were less fortunate. The other girl was something the locals called a buffer, as in her abilities were used to make others stronger, and apparently she was a rare one who could do so on a large scale. That was still somewhat useful in small groups, but it was clearly not her forte. The girl herself didn’t have much ability to defend herself and needed guards to keep her safe.

In comparison, the other man was more of a crafter than a combatant. Fortunately the locals prepared a smithy for him to do his work, and he was the first to gain a few levels and a skill out of the group, not counting the one who left on his own. The crafter had created a pair of swords that according to the locals were far beyond what someone of his level should be capable of creating, though still relatively weak in the overall scale of the world. Even so, the crafter was satisfied with his handiwork and insisted on carrying the swords with him despite being offered better equipment before they headed to the dungeon.

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Once they reached the dungeon – which was honestly more like a section of a forest than anything dungeon-y – that was when the group was faced with their first monsters, some sort of six-limbed lizardlike creatures that held themselves in a centauroid pose, with their four hind legs supporting their bodies and their two forelimbs functioning as arms.

Since she was the one who had the most ability to fight – at least according to the locals – Mary had taken on the first one, or rather, had sent her minions – she had five of them by then – against it. The other girl gave those minions a buff from the skill she had, which made them somewhat stronger, but it was obvious that the minions were weaker than the monster by a good bit.

And that was after taking into consideration that the monster had no weapons and her minions had some.

In the end, Mary had to animate another set of minions – one of the locals had brought dozens of sets of skeletal remains for that purpose – before they could take down the monster after a long, grueling fight. The victory granted both her and the other girl a level, but the more important thing was that she realized that she could directly reanimate the dead body of the monster without needing to reduce it to bones like other [Necromancers] do.

Naturally, an undead creature that kept its flesh would be stronger than one that was just bones pieced together by magic. They still had their muscles, and their bodies had more weight, which translated to more force behind their blows. Intrigued by the possibility, Mary had the undead lizard take one of the weapons from her fallen minions, and had it engage the next lizard creature they ran into with the support of the other minions.

This time they took down the lizard monster without too much difficulty and in a much shorter time, Mary taking the chance to replace another of her skeletal minions with the newly killed lizard creature as well.

When they ran into another lone lizard, the crafter asked for a chance to try his hand at the monsters, which the group tacitly allowed, though some of them remained close to guard him. To everyone’s surprise, the crafter simply lifted one of the paired swords he created, and the other one flew through the air and struck at the lizard monster on its own.

It was mesmerizing to watch as the sword flew in the air on its own and danced around the lizard monster, landing wounds with every pass. Even so, while the fight was one-sided, it still took the crafter a while to kill the monster, as his sword was still too weak. He did not seem discouraged by that, however, and only seemed more eager to make a better sword instead.

Mary naturally reanimated the corpse of the third lizard, and from there, their progress through the dungeon was pretty much smooth sailing. The other girl kept the whole group buffed, which in turn apparently gave her part of the experience they gained, while the crafter supported Mary’s minions with his flying sword.

Their skills improved as they used them more, their levels soaring, and new skills improved their capabilities by leaps and bounds. By the time they reached the dungeon’s boss, Mary had ten minions all of which were reanimated from the stronger lizard monsters they faced, but that was not the limit of her abilities. She found that she had become capable of grafting parts from different corpses together to create a stronger one, much like a character in a story she wrote in her past, and as such had modified all ten of her minions as best she could.

Similarly, they were supported by multiple buffs from the other girl – Mary herself was given one such buff skill, but in her case, it was only applicable to her own minions – and the crafter, who apparently received skills that would directly improve his ability to create weapons as well as ones that would strengthen the equipment of others.

It was not a difficult fight against the dungeon’s boss, especially since their twenty local companions also pitched in and helped them out as best they could. By the time the dust settled, the boss was dead and the three [Champions] had gained their second tier class choices. Mary didn’t know of the others, but for her, one of the options just seemed to fit everything about her newfound life, and she chose it without hesitation.

From that point onwards, Mary and the other [Champions] were brought to other dungeons to train and level. They were taught about the history of the world they had been brought to, though other than the other girl, none of them really paid too much heed to it. Sübügätäi, the warrior who claimed that he would pursue power on his own – and did it – only cared if there was a good fight to be had or not, while the crafter mostly cared about his creations.

Mary herself was mostly ambivalent. This was not England, after all, and she had no stakes in the war, nor anything like patriotism to move her. That said, the idea of growing stronger does appeal to her, as apparently it was a necessity to survive in this world, and at least repaying the favor of the locals who helped her grow stronger – even if that meant fighting against other humans – appealed to her.

After several more dungeons, the [Champions] swiftly reached their third tiers, and was brought towards where the frontlines of the war were situated. Sübügätäi had been there ahead of the three of them, due to his greater drive and pursuit for power, and he had already participated in the war, often leading charge from the very front gleefully, even.

While Mary knew that death no longer mattered for them, the idea of dying – again – still bothered her, which was something the wild warrior seemed uncaring about. He had gleefully charged to his death over and over again, without the slightest hesitation, only withdrawing when he suspected a trap intended to capture him.

Which was the one thing they were told to avoid at all costs, in the end. Death no longer worried them, but should their enemies manage to capture them alive, they would end up in a situation which was even worse than death.

Because of that, Mary always stayed in the rear of the battle, safe in the protection of a [Champion’s Aide] and several [Champion’s Subordinates]. Instead of going to the frontlines, she just sent one of her heavily modified undead minions on a rampage, a disposable pawn. She kept another near her for safety, but unlike the disposable ones, this one had been created with care and constantly upgraded to ever greater powers as she leveled up.

That day at the frontlines was the same. Mary cast several of her skills to improve the capabilities of her newly created undead minion, and sent it through the valley to wreak havoc on the human defenses that awaited them by the valley’s mouth on the other side. It was just another day for her, another day of enjoying the new life she had been given, and living up to her new title.

For she was Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, née Godwin, the [Mother of Monsters].