“We need to go,” I told Professor Springston. “More could be coming any time now.”

“You are correct. We should loot them before we leave.” Springston replied.

The first hero I looted was Sigrid. It turned out her sword wasn’t a magic item, but rather what made it explode in flames were her powers. It was a nice sword though, so I took it anyway. It could probably be sold for a pretty penny later on.

I looted the rest of the heroes after her, the only thing worth taking was their gold. Hero’s gold was worth more than any of the Villain’s currency. It was real gold and not the cheap gilded stuff that us villains make. After I finished looting everyone, I felt a strange sensation inside of me. I felt as if I could do anything, I wanted to jump off of something high. I started climbing a tree.

“Get down from there moron.” Springston said. “You’re leveling up, give it a second and the feeling will pass.”

“Leveling up? Awesome!” I exclaimed.

When I returned to the ground a text appeared in front of me.

You have leveled up, well fought villain! New powers unlocked:

Choose combat ability:

Sword Splitter - Turn your greatsword into two light shortswords

Or

Growth - Your greatsword doubles in size, you will still be able to handle as normal

Choose Magic Ability:

Fire Blast - Unleash a blast of fire that can burn a large area

Or

Arctic Freeze - Unleash a blast of ice that can freeze opponents for up to 2 seconds

Additional magic abilities gained:

Healing I - Be able to heal yourself of minor wounds

And

Poison I: Make your enemies feel nauseous, effect increases over time

“Holy shit, this is awesome!” I read the text. I chose Sword Splitter, that would come in handy to throw faster strikes. I also chose Fire Blast, I was a Villainous after all, and fire seems more evil than ice.

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“Good choices,” Springston said. We mounted our torrents and began our journey home. We would be back in Deathville in two days. Our plan was to stop in the town we had got our torrents at, Springston wanted to do something there, I wasn’t sure what. Then it’d be about a day's travel from there on our torrents to Deathville, and we’d report to the AVS with our finds.

* * *

We finally arrived in Deathville after our long journey. I was much different than when I was here last, I was definitely more powerful. We made our way to the AVS, but Springston insisted we stop at the bar before reporting back.

“Professor, are you sure it’s a good idea to get lit before dealing with the AVS?” I asked him

“Don’t question me boy. That was more training and time than I intended to give you, and I want my ale.” You don’t stop a man from getting his ale, especially this man.

After the tavern we made our way to the AVS. As we entered the building Roger came out hurriedly. “We’ve been waiting for you Mr. Villainous, please come with me.” He led me and Springston to Chancellor Keddrick’s office. The old vampire wasn’t even there. We took a seat.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” Keddrick said as he entered his office. “There are many pleasantries to being the head of the AVS, however being on time isn’t always one of them. A meeting held me up.”

Springston stood up and shook his hand. “It’s been a while, Chancellor.”

“That it has.” The vampire agreed.

He sat down at his desk and looked at us. “Do you have a report?” Springston handed him an envelope. Springston had been writing in a notebook every night for the report, I knew that was what was inside the envelope. Chancellor Keddrick started reading. “Interesting..” he said while scratching his chin. He looked very evil, probably what he was going for.

“You have both done good work. I will put a stronger villain on this mission, they can take Hero’s Pride. You two will be rewarded, and Frederick, this report helps your reputation. You will be getting a promotion.” Keddrick said all of this matter-of-factly, as if we were done here.

“Excuse me Chancellor, but you know what kind of defenses Hero’s Pride has. Wouldn’t it be best to send a team of villains?” Professor Springston asked.

“We are villains, Arthur. You of all people should know that, you are afterall teaching our future villains. As such, we don’t fight in teams, that is the heroes’ way.” The Chancellor’s fangs were showing, but I don’t think he was trying to be aggressive.

“This is the pride I was teaching you about Frederick.” Springston said to me.

“That is enough. Please leave my office Mr. Springston.” Springston walked out of his office, angrily.

“Frederick,” Keddrick and I were alone now. “This new promotion is a big step up, but I think you can handle it. It’s more suited to your strengths. Starting as soon as you can, I want you to start taking out hero camps on the border.” “Yes sir,” I said, and was dismissed.

This promotion was great! Normally the next promotion after ‘Entry Level Boss Fight’ is to terrorize the neutral towns on and around the border. Of course this goes against my moral code, so I was happy I could go straight to brutally murdering more heroes. Unfortunately, the next step from here is to start burning towns on the other side of the border once I gained enough notoriety. “Whatever,” I said to myself while I walked the streets of downtown Deathville. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there eh? Or maybe I’ll burn it.”