A stone gargoyle sat atop a great castle as war raged below him. The Branem Empire had commissioned every sculptor and stonemason for nearly three generations to build the grandest castle in all of The Valley of Night.

The gargoyle had been crafted and perfected by dozens of hands over many years. Starting as just a slab of stone, a sculptor gave him a rough shape of a head, arms, legs, and wings. A few years later, another sculptor decided to give the gargoyle eyes, a mouth filled with sharp teeth, and smooth horns. This process happened every few years until the gargoyle had every little detail of any living creature, including well-defined muscles and trousers to keep him modest.

The gargoyle was one of many that watched over the tower, yet they were all unique. Throughout the years, passersby admired them from the ground. Today, however, the crowd below did not marvel as they fought with various melee weapons, arrows, and the occasional blast of magic.

Although the gargoyles were just pretty blocks of stone, they were in danger of being destroyed as large boulders, slung from catapults, smashed against the castle's exterior. The expert stonemasons that had been hired over the years had done an admirable job in their construction and the castle held strong, but eventually, it would crack from the barrage.

A Grand Mage of the Branem Empire scaled the walls of the castle in his robes in search of a perch large enough for him to stand. The Grand Mage found such a spot when he found the gargoyle’s flared stone wings.

The man’s lips curled into a smile as he pulled a wand out of his robes and pointed it at the warring people below. A small glow appeared at the end of his wand and began to grow, slowly at first, until it reached the size of one of the boulders that the catapults threw. The Grand Mage did not need any mechanism to aid him in throwing his glowing orb. Instead, it shot in a straight line at the invading army. The glowing orb immediately incinerated the first man it touched, but it didn’t stop there. It bounced from soldier to soldier, incinerating each one until it fizzled out, effectively eliminating over a thousand men.

The mage appeared to become tired from the spell and slouched on the stone gargoyle. He must have overtaxed himself with the spell as he suddenly began to violently shake beneath his robes. A blue liquid began to run from his eyes and mouth, spilling onto the gargoyle, causing the Grand Mage to visibly decay. Even his wand and jewelry that contained magical properties began to melt, bathing the gargoyle in the blue liquid.

It didn’t take long for the Grand Mage’s body to completely waste away, leaving nothing behind except one small object in his robes. A simple seed. The seed clattered down the wings of the gargoyle and landed at his feet.

The gargoyle looked down at what had landed by his feet.

For the first time, he felt the sensation of surprise. Had he moved? How odd, he thought.

Wiggling his clawed fingers and toes, the gargoyle caused gray dust and flecks of stone to fall off of him. He moved his wings up and down, showering the warring men below him in more flecks of stone and dust. He noticed that his skin underneath wasn’t gray anymore. It was tan, like the color of sand on the shore. Not that he knew what sand looked like, but it was different than what he had always been.

He clutched the plain-looking seed in his clawed hand and shook himself from side to side to rid himself of the dust that still caked his body. The gargoyle only had one thing on his mind. He wanted to fly. He instinctively began to pump the now leathery wings on his back, feeling the rush of air that his wings caused for the first time.

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The wings slowly lifted him off the side of the grand castle and he looked down at the battle below him one last time. Soldiers began to stop and peer up at him, eyes wide and mouths agape.

Unbothered by their stares, the gargoyle flew up and away from the castle, enjoying the feel of the wind on his face. Soon, the city was behind him and the landscape was covered in rich, green trees.

In the distance, there was a blue sheet as far as his eyes could see. The sheet of blue seemed to move while he stared at it and there was a hint of salt in the air. In the other direction, there were massive mountains covered in shadow and the tops were obscured in clouds. The gargoyle ultimately decided to fly toward the mountains. They looked like they may be made of stone, and he was accustomed to stone.

Almost forgetting the seed he carried in his hand, he brought it up to his eyes while he flew and wondered what made it so special. It was the only item that didn’t melt and become a part of him. The gargoyle thought that perhaps it was lucky and promised himself he would keep it.

Suddenly, his vision was invaded by a text. Instinctively, he understood the words of the text, but he didn’t quite understand what they meant.

First Child 5 minutes until returning to Level 1

4:59

4:58

4:57

The numbers ticked down and the gargoyle realized that he would return to Level 1 when they reached zero. What was Level 1? The answer would reveal itself soon enough as the numbers ticked down, so he focused on the mountain range ahead and kept climbing higher in the air to see if he could reach the top.

It didn’t take long for him to get that high, but the air became cold the higher he flew and he wasn’t used to the sensation. He also noticed that the seed felt larger in his hand and his wings were becoming harder to flap. Looking down at his hand, he soon realized that he had been shrinking. In a slight panic, the gargoyle began to descend towards a flat area between the tops of the mountain. There was a smaller version of the large blue sheet he saw before in that spot as well.

The numbers ticked down to 0:00 and his wings could no longer keep him afloat. He plummeted down to the flat area between the peaks and everything went black as he hit the ground. At least it hadn’t been painful.

With his eyes closed, he received another message.

Name: Choose your name Race: Gargoyle Class: Level: 1 Vitality: 1 Strength: 1 Dexterity: 1 Energy: 1 Skills: Camouflage (Active): 10% chance to remain undetected. Traits: First Child - As the first of your kind, you have been granted building plans for a Level 1 Incubation Chamber