[A DUNGEON'S PURPOSE]
A massive flood of energy poured into Lasair. Probably the most she had ever gotten from one fight. That meant the battle had been incredibly close. Wasn't Apollo just supposed to be giving them the ability? and why hadn't she gotten any pledge notifications yet?
As her viewpoint floated into the Aviary, all she saw was chaos. One boy was petting a [FIRE-BIRD] that she strangely couldn't feel anymore. Another was crouched over a golem doing knife tricks as he watched the rest. The last two were both locked in struggle against a creature each.
And the little thief, along with Apollo, were unconscious on the floor. Midas was chewing on the wisp, and Mirage was in her perch overseeing the room with a smirk. She was a bird, how could she even smirk?
Lasair commanded the remaining two monsters to leave, and began infusing some mana with the life affinity. After about thirty seconds, the strands finally took on a green tint, and were woven into Apollo and Tobias.
Both began to rise, although the wisp shrunk in on himself when he noticed her attention. Lasair gave a mental sigh, and grabbed hold of him with mana.
Time out young man.
A slingshot of blue strands flung Apollo out of the ceiling, his light quickly fading as he got higher and higher.
"I regret nothinggggggg..."
The five elves all gathered in the middle of the room, with a few sending glares towards the little thief. They argued for a moment, but eventually all of the new ones made a pledge. As they did, the menus popped up into her view.
[[MATEO [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S PRIEST
CORE'S PALADIN
CORE'S CULTIST
[[GEOFF [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S PRIEST
CORE'S PALADIN
CORE'S CULTIST
[[SAM [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S PRIEST
CORE'S PALADIN
CORE'S CULTIST
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
[[HENDRICK [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S PRIEST
CORE'S PALADIN
CORE'S CULTIST
One session of bribing Midas with gold coins later...
[[MATEO [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S PRIEST
CORE'S PALADIN
CORE'S HARBINGER
[[GEOFF [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S SUMMONER
CORE'S PALADIN
CORE'S CULTIST
[[SAM [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S PRIEST
CORE'S INQUISITOR
CORE'S CULTIST
[[HENDRICK [LAST NAME NOT FOUND]] HAS PLEDGED TO YOUR CAUSE. CHOOSE DEVOTEE CLASS]:
CORE'S HERALD
CORE'S PALADIN
CORE'S CULTIST
The unique options were accepted, and Lasair made a point to ignore the fact that one of them was a replaced [CORE'S CULTIST].
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[CORE'S HARBINGER]
Mateo felt the class settle into his soul. It almost felt like it was...talking to him. It whispered in his mind, not words, but ideals. Futures. Glory. And about all he had to do to realize them, was to lead the way. To smite and preach and kill and convince his way through any who stood in his way.
But what took his attention most was what it failed to tell him. A small portion of the whispers fell short of his mind. A portion who joined him in clawing and grasping and pulling until the knowledge broke through the thin resistance his mind had mustered. Mustered against the burning, the broken, the unnatural name.
Ļ̵̡̡̮̙͈̼̲̰͇̭̝͍̪̼̲̫̳̦̞̪̠̮̦͕̠̠̘̼̻̣͔̼̜̭̿̍̅̂͒͌̿̂̒̇͋̌͊̈͗͌̏̑̔̂̇̓̏͒̒̀̈́́̓̇̊͌̎̀̇̈́̌̂̀͒͋̋͋̊̎͘̕̚͘͜͝ͅͅą̸̡̡̨̨̤̟̗̤̗͙̦͙̫͇̤̣͓̳͕̺͚̭̞̼̫̘̉̑̽̈́̑̈́͐͛͗̈́̍͑̂͌̀̽̔̓́̒̓̊̉̈́̇͌̽̾͐̅̊̑̓̄̍̏͘͘̚͝͝͝͝ͅͅs̸̠̥̫̳̩̩̘͚̞̩͓̫̫̥̤̍̄̄̊̒̅͒́̑̒̇͐̕͠ͅä̴̫́̂̀̇̆͐̋̌̆͐̾̉͘͝͠i̷̡̡̭̘͇͎̯͕̘͇͙̝̦͙̪̺͙̞̞̫̯̖͎̳͎̬͕̹͕͓͇̣͈̝̣̳̲̞̮̮̘͙̬̾̍̍̈́͊͑̐͜͜͠͝͝͠ͅŗ̶̰͚͓̥̠̤͂͑̽̉̿̐̈́͘͘͝
As his eyes turned a deep crimson, and the name faded from his mind once again, Mateo could conjure only one thought,
What a lovely week for a crusade.
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[CORE'S SUMMONER]
Geoff felt warm. It was an understandable feeling, as a bird that could throw fire was perched on his arm. But he also felt a different kind of warm. Like the feeling after a nice hearty meal. Yes, that was it. He felt full. Like his soul was straining against his body. And looking within, he found out why. His soul wasn't alone. There was another, smaller but no less bright.
He pulled.
And another bird was perched on his shoulder. It was smaller than Larry, but the connection was just as deep. It was made of a glowing orange light. Besides for size and composition, the beast was a mirror image of Geoff's new familiar.
[ABILITY UNLOCKED: LESSER FLAME SUMMON.]
The two birds immediately began fighting over the rest of his jerky. Neverminded the fact that one was a creature that didn't need food to live and the other was made of pure mana and light.
"Harry. Harry and Larry."
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[CORE'S INQUISITOR]
[DEMEANOR] HAS UPGRADED TO [DISGUISE].]
Sam's mind felt bloated. Or like someone was taking a hammer to it. Perhaps both. A flood of information had entered his mind, all of it foreign and confusing. All for use by his new ability. New emotions, new languages, and new professions.
What was an 'engineer? What skills did a 'tiktok girl' wield? What were the sage secrets of a 'crypto bro'? How would one defeat a 'discord mod'?
It was no matter. They were just more faces to wear, more cards in the deck. And he would use them to the fullest of their abilities.
Nobody would expect the Core's Inquisition!
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Hendrick passed out.