Priestess of No Faith.

     Abilities:

     Smite

     Heal Wounds

     Sacred Barrier

     Would you like to see full descriptions? To activate automatic spell-casting, please say ‘Auto’ aloud.

     “Auto,” Marc said as another screen appeared in her vision. Knowledge flowed into her mind as she took instinctual control over her power.

     A branch appeared in her outstretched right hand; staff length and fully in bloom as she grasped ahold of it tightly. The tiniest branches and twigs at the end transforming into the face of a roaring dragon made of splinters.

     “Smite.” She spoke with a calm clarity as a bolt of ice blue energy shot from the mouth of the dragon.

     The magical attack slammed into the ice armor of the magical buck. Frozen fur and ice fly off of the animal as the barest trace of red blood trickles down the animal’s side.

     Leaping back, the buck readies itself again as Billy Joe raises to her knee. One broken antler in the Fomorian’s side as the intact one glows a brilliant orange.

     Jerome rushes forward with his shield outstretched in front of him, “AAAAAAAAAH!”

     The buck shakes its head violently, dislodging the arrow from its ruined eye socket. Seeing the rushing sheriff it quickly turns around and bounds off into the forest with agility unmatchable by any dwarf or human.

     Billy Joe, holding her side, hobbles over to Jamie and Marc.

     “Heh, I… I think it got me.” She moves her hand, holding onto her right side, still impaled on the boney antler. Four points have dug themselves deep into her flesh and a fifth made a nasty gouge as it scraped her flesh as she moved.

     Billy Joe falls over on her left side, the pain and blood loss overwhelming her.

     “Let me,” Marc says, slowly moving in beside Billy Joe and pushing Jamie away. “I think I’ll have to remove it.”

     “What? We need to get her to a doctor!” Jamie nearly screamed, their hands covered in their friend's blood as they slowly lay her on the ground.

     Marc shook her head, “It’s my class, I’ve got heal wounds or whatever, just let me!”

     Jamie sighed, stepping back and turning around, unable to watch as Gus silently walked over. With a nod to the bleeding woman, and a nod in return, the High Elf braces himself, grabbing the antler and yanking it out in a swift fluid motion.

     “Heal Wounds,” Marc spoke as a voice greater than them joined in, an unnatural deepness as she spoke the spell.

     Pressing her hands to the edges of Billy Joe’s wounds, her hands glowing a soft yellow light. “What? Why’s nothing going on?” Marc asked, voice cracking in desperation.

     “Try pushing the wounds together? I don’t know, didn’t you read the descriptions?” Gus said in a panic.

     “NO! I needed to get into the fight. I just have the spell names in auto-mode.” Marc whined as she finally pushed the first of the nasty wounds closed.

     “What do I do?” Jerome asked after coming back from making sure the deer was long gone.

     “You know basic first aid, help me with this!” Marc screamed.

     Jerome ran over quickly, wrapping his arms around the orc and guiding her hands. “Slowly, it looks like it starts to fuse together at the slightest touch.”

     Jamie covered their ears as the sheriff and two teenagers repair their dearest friend.

     ***

     Deep in the mountain's belly, Will held a meeting in yet another instanced dimension of the dungeon. Being artificial souls, the teachers, students, and Hero had accustomed themselves to controlling multiple bodies at once. Will’s form has grown, now towering over Theodore if they were to release their full mana from their lamp. Wanting to remain small and unimposing, however, Will decided that it was best to store all that power away for now.

     “We have successfully shipped seven tons of fresh lobster meat to the New York homeless shelters. The gift was received openly and graciously as several of the shelter managers thanked our goblins.” The woman from the lobster room spoke.

     “That’s good to hear, it worried me when we sent them out in Goblin bodies.” Elder Thorne interjected.

     “Yer’ always worried Elder Thorne.” Hero added in.

     Will, floating from their lamp and taking on the form of a small child with their signature axolotl face. “I was not. People who work with a large variety of other people tend to be more accepting of differences. So, Anne, continue, what is our track for today?”

     Anne continued, her northwestern accent still shining through, “Well, It’s some holiday for the humans outside. I thought that would mean less visitors, but we have roughly three times the amount as yesterday. Also, we have received questions about the ‘bacon’ and ‘pork’ from our Hot-Hogs and Chillys, many of the homeless shelters who have contacts who have journeyed into your depths have told stories. It seems they are interested in receiving that meat as well.”

     “So I should assume we will be delivering three times the food? And yes, go ahead and add the chillys to the list, I’m afraid the Hot-Hogs will have too much mana in them to be safely consumed by humans.” Will responded, thumbing through a few papers Jed had handed them.

     “No… Many of the newer people have been having to back out and reset even the first of the challenges. It seems party balance is not something many of them have a handle on yet.” Anne answered.

     Will quickly thought up a small mechanical device, placing it in a bag. It floats over to the statue, ethereal arms sprouting from the shoulder stumps of the sculpture. “Martha, you install this in front of your podium. It’ll be easier just to reshuffle the room than to lose good mana on closing down an instance and reopening another.”

     “It will be done, Majesty,” Martha said in her usual short but professional tone, her ethereal arms cradling the gift from her creator.

     “Anything else?” Will asked Anne.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

     “Well, it seems the bandit trial has been defeating a majority of those who discover it. Hero has just gotten way too powerful from the constant training.” Anne replied.

     “Hero, take it easier, charitable giving is a way to make humans less fearful. We are magical beings not seen in this world in millennia. When they finally realize what power we possess, I would like them to consider us friendly rather than a possible enemy.” Will said in a chiding tone.

     “Yes Majesty,” Hero said in his best ten-year-old-boy impersonation.

     “As for the rules, I think I shall change them. They either need to take down Hero himself or three of his four guards. Elder Thorne?” Will asked.

     “Why yes, I think that will do just fine. I quite like the idea of alternate success conditions.” Elder Thorne spoke, his voice was different as the normally immobile tree chuckled a little.

     An almost invisible kaleidoscope of colors then slowly dimmed down from Will’s lamp, Elder Thorne blinked twice and then returns to listening as if nothing happened.

     “Alright. Any other concerns?” Will asked the other teachers.

     “Yeah, when me an sis pullin’ back together? It’s all icky and junk being apart.” Jed asked between slurps from her cup-holder-hat.

     “You and Anne can pull yourselves back together at the end of this week. I need someone I can trust to oversee each room right now.” Will replied, a little annoyed by this side of the ‘Headmaster.’

     Suddenly a massive burst of magical energy rocked the dimension Will and the dungeon staff had been speaking in. Shelves cracked and fell off of walls, the roof started caving in.

     Will concentrated, reforming their dimension and strengthening it. “Anyone know what that was?”

     “No, But I’ll go check it out.” Hero said, already turning to leave the room.

     “Not yet, you’re not.” Will replied as a chest came into being right in front of Hero, almost making him trip.

     ***

     Jamie sat in the front of the old pews, still mysteriously in the meeting area of the town hall. Billy Joe was resting at the Sheriff’s barracks for now under the watch of Old-Man Danke.

     “Alright, calm down everyone, calm down,” Darnell said to the already quiet crowd before clearing his throat.

     “We have some concerning news. It appears that the events predicted by Zippy have come to pass.” Darnell paused as a hushed muttering washed over the crowd. “The animals are evolving, becoming magical again. Our very own Billy Joe was attacked by one such beast.”

     Darnell paused again as the muttering grew louder, holding up both hands to signal them to quiet down. “Now then, since we have this ‘Guild Hall’ or whatever fully equipped with bounty boards in the back. We have posted requests for night guards to help protect the city limits and our roads to people’s homes.”

     “But what about the one that’s already out there?” Clarice spoke up.

     “I’m getting to that. We’re planning on hosting auditions for those who have been given a ‘Class’ by the Dungeon. If any of you have played an RPG, you should know what I am talking about, but for those in the back… It is a designation which gives you special skills, spells, or combat potential that those without said class could only achieve through years of hard work.” Darnell spoke, the crowd staying mostly silent.

     “Since this is our first magical beast we will be doubling the normal party size. Meaning we will be accepting up to nine volunteers, counting Jerome as the tenth.” Darnell finished.

     “But Jerome doesn’t have a class yet.” Jamie spoke up, worried about their friend.

     “Jerome was unable to go in the Dungeon yesterday due to guard duty for all of the tourists. We’ve outsourced his work for the rest of the year, even if it is barely a week. I fully expect my brother to complete the Dungeon and to return with a Class capable of helping us take down this….” Darnell trailed off, unsure what to call this beast.

     “Dire-Buck.” a voice not belonging to anyone in the town sounded almost from the very walls themselves.

     “Wha-” Darnell tried to speak.

     “That creature prefers to go by ‘Dire-Buck’ I quite like it, I thought I should share it with you all.” The voice spoke again, mischievous sounding.

     A small form in the folds of Jamie’s jacket moves about, crawling out of the jacket folds. “Sibling?”

     “Oh, is that you, brother? I knew I was not alone.” The voice responded. However, no one in the room knew exactly who he was talking to other than Jamie.

     That sweater-vested blue starfish pulled itself all the way out, standing on Jamie’s shoulder. “Sibling, why are you doing this?”

     All muttering ceased in the town hall before the mysterious voice’s response. “It is what is right. Animals… ALL animals have been driven to near extinction by the machinations of man. I am here to merely even the playing field. If man supposedly keeps winning because they are farther evolved, then I will simply evolve thier prey. This cycle cannot go on, or both species will perish.”

     “Both?” The starfish replied.

     “I misspoke. All species will perish if this keeps up. The animals will be gone, and the forests will become a wasteland. The trees will be cut down or uprooted and the air will grow stale. The humans will seek salvation and only find destruction. I’ve seen it all, the trees have seen it all.”

     A green energy suddenly swirls around the podium Darnell was speaking behind. The dwarf jumping away from the magical swirling, unsure what it would do.

     On the very top of the podium appeared a platypus. The odd billed animal just sitting on the flat top.

     “Oh Brother, you have only tasted your power, your purpose. You may be the first, yet you are the most lost.” The platypus said, shaking its head.

     “Sibling! You must stop. These people have done nothi-” The starfish tried to speak.

     “NOTHING?! They hunt, they kill, they skin. The population of animals on this mountain has been supplanted by humans. The same is true for nearly this entire world. I will not end the humans, for they are necessary. However, I will… hmmm… what is that lingo those humans enjoy so much, yes, I shall, ehm, ‘Implement a Balance Patch.’ After all, these enemies are only meant to fight your cro-magnon ancestors and you humans, you all, you deserve a little bit of Challenge do you not?” The platypus said, its body slowly becoming more and more transparent.

     “Your tampering hurt my friend… Before you go, I want you to know, I will get payback for her.” Jamie said, a torch of cold anger burning in them.

     The platypus turned, looking directly at Jamie, “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now then, shouldn't you be hurrying up? I think you've taken enough time to get ready.” The translucent green being eyed the shopkeep knowingly.

     Slowly, the platypus turned completely invisible, fading from existence in the room as even their voice became faint, “I can hardly wait for you all to find my other little pet projects. This is a warning, The era of being the unquestioned top of the food chain is over”

     The town hall was silent once more as Darnell climbed back on the podium to finish his announcements. Much chattering and gossip was aired about the ethereal billed mammal, but no one, not Zippy’s student who was currently fidgeting awkwardly, offered any kind of answer.

     ***

     Deep in the recesses of Will’s dimension inside of themself; four quiet voices chat inside of a tree.

     “Alright, my halfling ranger makes an attack against the kobold. Enhanced strike. Let's see… A Thirteen hit?” One of the masculine voices asked.

     “Hit, roll for damage.” A feminine voice responded.

     Mary Anne knew she was dead… The other three did as well. However, just because the four of them are dead doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try to have a good time. None of them really remembered much about their time before. It was like a dream they had woken up from, unable to parse the quickly fading details.

     Mary Anne’s attention waned from the low-level game she was GMing, looking over at the workstation Will had created. The river of mana flowing between it and the tree that the four were trapped in.

     Looking at one of the most recent designs by the genie, Mary Anne stared deeply into the bright red crystal. It almost appeared to be made from blood, but in truth, it was made from something far more precious; the unrefined mana of creation.

     “Three plus two, so five.” The masculine voice said, causing Mary Anne to focus back on the game.

     “Alright, three kobolds down, two to go. The one in the far back starts monologuing about how you have inva...” Mary Anne continued narrating the journey, the other three souls laughing at the comedic descriptions of the ‘noble’ kobold they were there to dethrone; unknowingly preparing herself and the others for the next stage of their afterlives.