Jill P.O.V

Jill stared at the ‘monster’ she was supposed to kill. It was one of Priscilla’s bodies. A living being in its own right, and a high-leveled one too. Currently, it was coiled tightly on the ground. She hesitated to look at the beautiful color-changing scales and distinct black beak. Priscilla was an incredible creature and looked at it too.

“Can you make something else? This feels kind of wrong.”

She glanced toward Mash who was giving her a look that made her shudder. He wasn’t doing anything, but there was something about his gaze that had changed since his advancement. He raised an eyebrow, and she stared at his white snake-like pupils as they were framed in the pitch-blackness of the rest of his eye.

“Priscilla is offering to do this too. Plus, they don’t have individual thoughts. The other monsters I make would probably want to live. The other option is way more disturbing.”

He said the words simply, and she grimaced. That would be worse, but she didn’t like the way he said it. In her opinion, he was being a little too casual about being able to create life with nothing more than magic. What if he made a human? They would get classes and grow independently of him. He could clone himself, though that would be dangerous. Unlike Priscilla, Mash wouldn’t be able to control the clones he made.

“Just do it or let me go first!”

Red was standing off to the side, not so patiently waiting for Jill to kill the body of Priscilla. She was eager to advance too but had lost the coin flip.

“I’m doing it.”

Jill raised her voice as she shouted back at her. Then she held her hand to the side and summoned the javelin. She could’ve used the explosions to kill a vast group, but they were going to do it with as few dead bodies as possible. The body of Priscilla didn’t shift in the slightest as her spear pushed through the creature’s head and into the ground. The tip actually struggled to penetrate Priscilla’s body, which had never happened before. Her spear could pass through anything like it was open air, but her scales felt more like soft butter.

“There was some resistance! That shouldn’t happen.”

She glanced toward Mash who just shrugged.

“Uh, Priscilla says it's cause her body is made of all of my magics, including anti-magic, which as it turns out is another form of magic.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

She snapped back at his unsatisfying response. All it earned her was another shrug, and she sighed and moved to another body. Then she repeated the process for another five bodies before leveling up the first time.

“I did it! That’s one. How many do you think I’ll need for the next?”

Jill looked around and the others just watched with blank faces. Luke was muttering how this was unfair, but Red responded to her question.

“I’m thinking around one or two hundred. Maybe a little more.”

Mash groaned and complained loudly.

“That would take all day.”

Jill turned on him to give him a very flat gaze. One that said how dumb he was being. Red wasn’t silent with her ire.

“Oh, of course. We shouldn’t do this if it's going to take the better part of the day. Let’s instead go and find a dungeon or kill random people for the next few weeks for it.”

Her sarcasm was as thick as it could be, and Mash hunched his shoulder protectively.

“I know that, but it’s me who has to make all the bodies.”

He sat down and made more bodies despite his weak protests. He knew how childish he sounded complaining about it.

“You won’t though, right? Can’t Priscilla use your body to do it?”

Lisa’s genuine question was the best retort possible. Mash nodded begrudgingly.

“Yeah, she can. In the meantime, let's figure out what this does.”

Mash held out his right hand, and Jill noticed an interesting tattoo across his fingers. The word ‘teeth’ was printed across his hand. One letter on each finger just past his knuckles. He opened his hand, and a staff of bone-white metal appeared in it. The weapon was jagged, and with the tattoo, she assumed it was just a bunch of teeth glued onto a rod. It certainly looked like it. Lisa asked the most obvious question.

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“What is it?”

“It was a staff, and a non-magical one. It changed when I advanced, I think. I’m not sure, but I can tell you it’s magic now.”

Mash clearly had no idea what the item was. How did he not know?

“Wait, why did you bond an item that you don’t know? What if it’s useless? You can’t just throw away items like the rest of us.”

She eyed the very simple staff and raised an eyebrow at him. She wasn’t the only one waiting for his response. Mash coughed awkwardly before responding.

“It’s a long story, but I made something like a promise.”

He talked normally but turned his head to the side and away from them. At first, she thought he was embarrassed, but then she followed his gaze to see his new friend. The dragon Ythass walked toward them and shouted as she did.

“That’s what you said to me! Does that mean it’s story time now? I can tell you what the item does if it is.”

The dragon’s voice was as beautiful as her appearance. Jill knew that high-leveled people tended to look good or fierce, but they still looked like people. The dragon’s humanoid form was even more stunning than the gods and her scales were radiant. Jill stared at the dragon’s smirk and felt her heart jump a bit. Was it too late to try and become a dragon?

“Sure, but tell me what it does first since my story is going to take a lot longer. Especially, if you actually want everything.”

Jill flinched a little at the casual and unimpressed way Mash talked to the dragon. He spoke like they were equals, and the dragon seemed not to mind. How was he so relaxed around someone like that? He was more awkward with Lisa. The dragon replied simply enough.

“It’s not that great. It changes to match your bones. It will probably heal or regenerate as you do too.”

“That doesn’t sound all that useful.”

Jill chimed in, trying to sound as casual as Mash did. Mash nodded but added something else too.

“I don’t know about that. I’ve been in several situations where magic doesn’t work, but now I can just use the staff. I guess that assumes I have it manifested like this, but I could just keep it like this all the time.”

Jill nodded, but it was Ythass that asked a different question.

“Why not just stay in one of your other forms? You were stronger when I first saw you.”

Jill listened to their conversation and talked a little with others, but went back to killing the bodies of Priscilla. The rest of the day continued like that for a while. She only took a break for dinner. Several hours later Jill felt the final level up.

It just happened while she was killing the bodies, and she froze in her next stab. That was easy. The vain thought made her pout a little. She didn’t have to kill some grand tiger of flame without any magic for this advancement. Leveling wasn’t supposed to be this easy.

“This feels wrong. It’s way too easy.”

“Would’ve been easier if you took my mark.”

She hadn’t spoken very loudly, but Mash responded right away. He wasn’t looking at her, but he noticed when she stopped. Even if his eyes weren’t on her, she could feel it when he focused on her. It was a little scary.

“I told you; I don’t want a class related to you.”

Ythass snorted. It was a gesture that didn’t fit with her angelic appearance.

“You should use whatever you can. The fact that you can get this mark should be enough of a reason. With how weak you all are, it’s not like it matters.”

Jill shook her head and spoke. Her voice was more spiteful than she intended.

“You don’t know us, or our stories. Mash tells you his perspective, but we aren’t all the same. My class is important to me. I want to choose my own path.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be rude…”

The dragon replied quickly, but her voice got quieter as she spoke. It sounded honest, which made her earlier words sting more. Jill grumbled and walked a little apart from the group.

“Whatever. I’m going to advance now.”

As she walked, she teleported forward a bit. They had been in this grassy clearing, and she teleported to the edge of it before advancing. Lisa’s advancement had affected her surroundings considerably, and she didn’t want to be near the others for it. She glanced back at them one more time before shifting her focus inward.

The world around her vanished, and her sense of self disappeared too. Then she was in a space of pure darkness that was only illuminated by three very beautiful pillars. She didn’t hesitate in the slightest and drifted toward the shimmering purple pillar. It looked almost like falling stars. It made her feel purple. Not sick, but the color purple if that was even possible.

Fallen Astral Valkyrie: You follow a path of vengeance but put forth a face of joy. You lie to friends and enemies alike, hiding the nightmares that continue to haunt you. Gods are not just beings, and you have borne their ire. Your vengeance cannot be appeased by anything short of blood. No boundaries, whether it be space or time, could stop you. A hunter and a chaser, you are an angel of death.

Now that was a class that she wanted. The thing about lying to her friends caught her attention, but she ignored it. It was the truth, and one she had been avoiding for a while now. She trusted the others, and it wasn’t even that big a deal when she thought about Mash’s very existence. Why was she justifying herself here? It was pointless compared to the rest of the information. The class might be classified as evil by some, but it fit her desires well. Then she looked toward the next pillar.

It was pink and bright and clear. The color felt girlish, like the kind of thing you would see on dolls. Honestly, it felt a little familiar to her.

Timeworn Astral Doll: Time has touched you like no other. You care not for more power, act to fit the intentions of your friends. You seek to hide your true thoughts and belong with your friends. Revenge has worn your body down, but space and time stop it from breaking. The god you seek will never be found, and you give up in your revenge to find something new. Under the presence of a great being, you are offered a new beginning.

Jill liked the name, even if others found it creepy. The familiar feeling of the light made the name feel right to her. However, the description was another matter. She didn’t like it. Revenge and hate burned within her heart. An image of a god with many eyes twisted in her mind, and she knew that she would not give up her revenge. That left one pillar left. It was a glorious golden light.

Temporal Astral Being: A being of space and time, you exist outside of it.

She felt the information stop. That couldn’t be everything, right? A class couldn’t have such a short description. What did it even mean? She hated things like this. An evil class would’ve been better in her mind. Why was it golden? She didn’t understand anything about it, but she had to make a decision nonetheless.