Gi and his Elite Squad healed up and rested for a couple hours in the river before heading back into the Myshkin jungle. This time, they circled around the south side of the island, wanting to avoid the area with the Noose Snake.

As artificial as the battle between Myshk and Igna had seemed to him, he was starting to understand one aspect of it. If a Classer expended all their stamina or Aether fighting jobbies, other Classers became much more dangerous.

For two days, they'd rush into the jungle to clear out various groups of monsters and then retreat to heal and rest for a few hours before doing it again. The south side was less populated, but still had more groups of Leaf Elementals than anything else.

Overall, they cleared another five hundred and seventy four orbs, bringing all of their amounts to over a thousand.

Towards the end, it was becoming more difficult to find large groups of monsters without delving deeper into Myshk itself. Gi didn't want to alert whatever the Myshkin version of Sky Clans were to their presence so he'd suggested to Kumo that future raids needed to alternate between Myshkin and the Barrens just to be safe

After their battle with the Classer, Kumo had also managed to grab the catalyst that dropped from it, giving them a total of four that they could use to upgrade the Constitution of more otters.

Gi and the rest of his Elites dropped back down into the encampment. Even in the few days since they'd been gone, changes had been made. An area just outside the Encampment appeared to be cordoned off for kelp and another had several pillars supporting a giant net where some Dragon Pikes had been captured. Tiria had been busy.

For now, Gi and the rest headed over to the Encampment Crystal to level up. Gi's first consideration was what to do with his twelve hundred Soul Orbs. He planned on leveling up Agility all the way to C. Putting Soul Orbs into Wisdom would be nice, but it required a thousand Body Orbs to get to C1. Even if he knew how to get Body Orbs, that was a hefty price.

Either way, he needed the levels more than a slight increase in Wisdom.

He poured a thousand Soul Orbs into Agility and was about to dump two hundred more into Vitality, but he paused. Should I keep a backup in case I need healing from the Angelic Mice? Their prices were astronomical if he got injured, but they were also much better at healing than his current Healers.

Since Vitality would help him not get injured in the first place, he decided to take a risk and dumped two hundred into that as well, leaving him thirteen Soul Orbs remaining.

His current stats looked quite nice though.

Stats

Strength - D

Agility - C

Vitality - D2

Wisdom - C

Leadership - 5

The increase to his leadership score meant that he could include another otter into his Squad. That would be useful for what he had planned. More exciting though was his upgrades.

You have leveled up! Level 15 milestone reached. Reward: Skill Upgrade

[Leadership] -> [Skirmisher Commander] - Increases Leadership score by 1 and provides an additional +10% to evasion.

Trait: [Expanded Pocket] -> Skill: [Dimension Room] - Increases the size of the extradimensional space to a five foot cube.

[Divine Bolt] -> [Divine Ire] - Launch a globe of light that explodes into shrapnel of light on contact. Increases resistance piercing and current method of attack remains unchanged.

These options... were all far better than anything he'd received last time. He wanted all three of them desperately, but even still, he knew which one he'd pick as soon as he saw it. [Divine Bolt] was his primary attacking skill. Any improvement to that improved his overall power sixfold if he took into account his Domain. With this upgrade, he could have taken all of the Noose Snakes out by himself.

It would probably cost more Aether which made him wish he'd leveled Vitality first, but Gi supposed Agility was still better. Killing jobbies faster was good for leveling, but he'd need more than that if he wanted to start taking on Classers. He turned to his next upgrade.

You have leveled up! Level 20 milestone reached. Reward: Minor Racial Evolution

Trait: Twilight Eyes - Provides improved low light and bright light vision

Trait: Back Fins - Provides two wide fins that stick out from the back, allowing for a quicker swim speed.

Trait: Spined Fur - Fur becomes spines that can be extended to deal damage to melee attackers.

As Gi looked over the options, he cursed. He'd hoped the Prehensile Tail would still be an option as it would help him a lot personally. He didn't regret his [Expanded Pocket] especially with how well it synergized with his Domain, but there had been several times he wished he'd had it.

No point in getting mad over the past he supposed. Of these options, all of them seemed... mediocre. [Spined Fur] might be good for the Hunters and Templars, but how close would they need to actually be for it to be effective? How much damage would it actually do? It sounded good at first, but the limitations were high.

[Back Fins] sounded completely useless as they had no issues with their swim speed currently. It was so bad that he had to express his distaste aloud.

"One of these options is for giant back fins that help us swim faster. The other two are spiky fur and improved eye sight in the dark."

Samba leaned on his two handed mace and humphed. "Compared to our pocket trait, those are trash. Shouldn't the traits be getting better?"

Wax and Wane looked to each other as though they were communicating telepathically. "Perhaps, the system gave us options that would have helped during our last encounter?"

Wax took over for Wane. "The improved eyesight would have been helpful in the Myshkin jungle and the spines would have caused significant harm to the low Vitality Noose Snakes."

"And the fins?" Gi asked.

Samba cut back in. "We did technically swim, but not sure being faster would have helped."

"Well," Wax started and then Wane continued. "Perhaps the fins could be evolved into something better such as wings?"

Gi's initial assumptions hadn't been wrong exactly, but the twins did make strong points. Kumo who'd mostly stood there crossarmed while the others discussed finally put in her opinion. "Get the eyes."

He'd been leaning that way too before the twins' points. "Why?"

"I couldn't see shit in the Myshkin jungle. You had to keep a skill that produced light going just so we could see well enough to fight. That last fight with the Classer was almost entirely by feel. If you didn't have your Domain, we'd all have died."

Gi nodded, having to agree that she made sense, but she wasn't finished.

"As part of the Hall of War, we'll be making many raids into Myshk. If we can't see, we can't fight. If we can't fight, we're fucked."

"You make a good argument. Any disagreements?"

Samba shook his head and neither the twins nor Kumo had anything more to add. Gi decided that his next racial evolutions he'd discuss with his clan leadership since they affected the entire race.

Gi selected [Twilight Eyes].

An intense itching spread over his eyes and Gi had to make a fist to stop himself from trying to scratch at them. Samba didn't have the same deterrent and rubbed at his eyes vigorously. After ten seconds, it was over.

Gi didn't feel particularly different, but as he looked around the Encampment. The shadows did seem a bit lighter and the bright light of the Encampment Crystal perhaps a touch darker. He'd have to explore this ability more. Despite its less than flashy use, Gi was satisfied with it. He was especially satisfied with upgrading his main attack skill. [Divine Ire] would get a lot of use over his future campaign.

Before Gi could say anything else, Kumo stepped up to the crystal and slapped her paw on it. She didn't ask for advice or even look at their group. Gi assumed she was making her choices, but it was a few moments before they saw any difference.

Kumo's entire body turned into a white silhouette that reminded Gi of that place between Stages. That blank whiteness thrummed, growing more distinct as it expanded until it was at a height with Gi himself. A strange keening like a bow scraped across a violin string sounded and Samba took a step back at the same time as the twins took a step forward, curiosity burning in their eyes.

That sound marked the end of the transformation though and the white slowly faded to reveal a Kumo who'd ascended to the next Stage.

His clan had another Classer.

Kumo didn't often smile unless she was in the process of murdering another monster, but she grinned as she turned back to their group of Elites, glancing down at her paws. "I feel... powerful."

Wax poked at her arm as Wane examined her face. "Do you feel different other than strong? Did you upgrade any Skills?"

"I upgraded [Blunt Weapons] to [Dual Wield] and that turned into [Phantom Strikes] as my Class. Water aspected Aether strikes from above with all of my attacks and they can land anywhere in my Domain."

"Cool," Samba said. Gi asked her to reveal her status page and updated his notes for it. Using her Soul Orbs to get a C in Agility made sense and her Domain sounded excellent. He'd need to do some testing to see what impact Wisdom had on her domain.

Wisdom was her dump stat after all.

The twins barely waited for Gi to finish taking his notes before they stepped up as well and started pouring their Soul Orbs into themselves.

"Interesting..." Wane started, allowing Wax to finish. "We have upgrades available for [Twin Souled], [Divine Bolt], and [Twilight Eyes]."

Gi was surprised to hear that they'd received an upgrade option for [Twilight Eyes] already. "What do they do?"

"[Twin Souled] becomes [Thrice Souled]. It's a pure buff, turning our duo to a trio and increasing our output when together by another 25%. [Divine Bolt] becomes [Divine Ire]." The twins started to explain that upgrade, but it mirrored his own.

"Lastly, [Twilight Eyes] becomes [Aether Eyes], allowing us to see concentrated Aether passively."

Gi rubbed his cheek thoughtfully as the twins stared at each other, seemingly communicating in that unspoken way they had. "I'd grab [Thrice Souled]. It seems-"

The twins eyes widened. "Our apologies, Progenitor. We already selected [Aether Eyes]."

He was a bit irritated that they'd taken the time to explain and then not even listened for his advice, but he supposed Kumo had been worse. Still excited, the twins turned back to the Encampment Crystal and fed in more to unlock their Class.

Like Kumo, they turned into a silhouette of white, growing to a larger size before being deposited back down. They both yipped excitedly to each other.

"We got a special option to merge our Skills for our domain!"

"Merge? That is new." Gi opened a fresh page and started taking notes. "Which two merged?"

"[Aether Eyes] and [Danna's Light]! They became [Omniscience]. It expanded our Domain considerably and allows us to see anything within it. It has an active ability that burns anyone with light aspected Aether who don't worship Danna, but it does very minor damage."

Gi didn't understand their reasoning, but Kumo looked actively disgusted. "Why the hell would you pick that?"

"Knowledge is power."

"Power is power too."

Gi silenced them with a hand. He agreed with Kumo, but he could also see the benefit of such a versatile utility Domain especially if he understood it. "Can you see through walls?"

They shared a glance before seeming to focus on nothing. He could sense some slight fluctuation that he assumed meant they were using their Domain, but Gi's Soul wasn't that strong. "Yes. It gets distorted if the wild Aether is dense, but we can see everything."

Gi nodded in respect. It wasn't what he'd have chosen especially since he was curious how [Divine Bolt] would look as a Domain for them, but it did have its uses. Samba got up from where he'd been sitting on the ground.

"Guess I'm up next." He placed his hand on the Encampment Crystal. "I'm the Shield of the Underbridge Clan, right?"

"Yes."

"Vitality it is." As he poured in his Soul Orbs, he stopped as the twins had and looked through his options.

"I've got three options," he said, which had been true of all of them. "[Towering Physique] which upgrades from [Gluttonous Physique]. It increases my size again, but has some kind of light Aether aspect that prevents it from affecting my other stats.

[Charge] could become [Radiant Charge] which turns me to light as part of the skill and does some damage in a small area at the end. Last is a merged skill like Wax and Wane got. [Light Armor], [Medium Armor], and [Iron Stance] become [Defensive Master]. It's a completely passive skill that gives better armor, less effect of knockback, and some extra survivability.

What's your thoughts, Boss?"

Gi considered those options. As he said, Samba was the shield of the clan. That meant he needed to be able to survive, but also protect the others. "How different is [Defensive Master] from the individual skills?"

Samba scrunched up his face. "It seems like it treats me as wearing armor even if I'm not and a slight increase from Iron Stance on the durability and knockback resistance. If I'm understanding the system correctly."

"Why not just wear armor instead of wasting an upgrade on it?" Kumo asked. Again, Gi had to agree with her. Maybe he was biased that they had similar ideas, but he'd definitely chosen correctly for the Hall of War.

Wax and Wane provided their own unique perspective though. "It is clearing up two generic Skill Slots. Perhaps part of the power comes from that?"

"That's a good point," Gi agreed. "The real question is what Domain would provide the best means of protecting the clan? [Defensive Master] seems like it might be a good fit."

"Nah," Kumo said, "Just go with [Towering Physique]. It's the best one and then choose the best Domain after. Better not to guess."

The twins started arguing for [Defensive Master] and while Kumo vehemently thought [Towering Physique] was the best choice. None of them seemed to think that [Radiant Charge] merited much consideration. Frankly, it didn't do anything more than what Samba needed [Charge] to do.

Samba listened to the other Elite's argument for a bit before turning to Gi. "Boss, what do you think? I want to help protect the clan."

"[Towering Physique]. You'll become a wall for us to hide behind and the biggest target for anyone trying to fight us. You and the other templars are the ones we need to hold the line the most."

Gi whipped his notebook back to Samba's original status. "I suspect [Iron Stance] might be the best Domain for you, but see what [Towering Physique] gives. I don't think we'll be able to help you choose that one."

Samba nodded and turned back to the Encampment Crystal, selecting [Towering Physique]. Gi watched as the templar grew even taller than him without having passed into the Individual Stage yet.

Another moment later, Samba's increased bulk was enveloped in white and he grew even more. The silhouette turned back into Samba after only a short time and the new Classer looked down at his clan mates.

"This will take come getting used to."

At his current size, Samba was now about twice Gi's height. In comparison, Gi himself was probably a little below six foot if he had to guess. That made Samba over eleven foot tall and approaching twelve. The otter was a monster in every sense of the word.

Kumo whistled appreciatively. "Looking good, big boy."

Wax and Wane, who were slightly smaller than Kumo or Gi, started to knock on Samba's thigh. It was the only part that was comfortably within reach. "He is like a wall now."

Having seen many of the other clans of Igna in battle, Gi was pleased. Samba now rivaled the Ignition Wolves and Spiked Eagles in size and that might make all the difference in the world for his plans. "What is your Domain?"

"[Radiant Guard]. It used to be [Iron Stance]. A shield of light envelopes allies within my Domain and protects them from harm. I think it has some weakness based on Aether types, but it's great against non-typed damage."

"But what did [Towering Physique] look like as a Domain?" Kumo asked.

"It would have become [Luminosity of Giants]. Basically, it allowed any allies in my Domain to gain a [Towering Physique] temporarily."

An image of a squad of giant templars crashing through the Iron Ferrets' old estate brought a smile to his face and a pang of regret. Samba must have seen his expression as he quickly got defensive.

"I thought it wasn't a good selection since it would pass it to any allies in range, making them bigger targets."

"No, it was the right call, Samba."

Kumo cut in. "Still a damn shame though. I wanted to be huge."

The four of them continued to discuss the pros and cons as they returned to the Command building, but all of them had an excitement bursting from them. The clan had gotten three new Classers.

When they entered the Command, the entire clan was there along with the remnants of the Coastal Goblins and even Grung, the butcher from Underbridge. A few pots were going with Tiria's kelp stew from the smell. Someone had brought a giant table down here from the surface and Grung was chopping up Dragon Pikes and some other types of monster meat that Gi didn't recognize.

He found Tiria watching over the procession of food with her hands on her hips. She smiled at his approach.

"What's going on, Tiria?"

"Oh this?," she asked thumbing back towards the feast that was being prepared. "It's a celebration for our new Classers and our success in the Dungeon. It's important to take time to appreciate life and not stress all the time."

Gi's Religion skill kicked in with that last line and he recognized one of Danna's tenants. "Can we really afford the gold for this though? We need to be focused on growth."

"Don't worry. I am. We haven't had time to go over the specifics of the Encampment now that we have a clan, but Gang Otters will continue to spawn here every week. This is the formula."

She pulled out a notebook that looked very similar to his where she'd written out her own notes, mostly around the logistics of running a clan and Encampment. It also has the formula laid bare.

Spawn Rate = (1 + Encampment Level) * Morale * Sustenance

Tiria continued. "We've already gotten our first spawn since the Dungeon with two new Gang Otters. I've got plans to increase our Encampment Level and I'm experimenting with this to see how much a party impacts morale and sustenance."

Gi handed the notebook back to her, pleased with how she was focusing on the clan. A smile lit his face. "I suppose that means I should enjoy this... For the good of the clan."

"Only for the good of the clan" She winked and Gi grinned. He started to go grab some food, but one of his Otters brought over a bowl of kelp stew along with a skewer of Dragon Pike.

"Thank you... Remind me your name again?"

He gave the sign of the Mother and stepped into a low bow. "My name's Chum, Boss. I'm one of Tiria's Healers."

Tiria ruffled the fur on Chum's head. "And he's the closest thing I have to an assistant."

"Thanks for your help in the Dungeon, Chum."

The otter smiled wide. "Anything for the clan, am I right?" Then he practically bounced off. Gi didn't know if it was because they were Otters, but most of his clan were naturally playful it seemed.

One of the Coastal Goblins had started singing while the others beat on drums. A couple of their number grappled beside the drum circle, but many of his Otters were dancing instead. The templar in particular were notable by how bad they were. Samba, still towering over everyone else, boomed with laughter from where he sat with a bowl of kelp stew of his own.

Kumo's Hunters must have taken after their leader's aggressive streak because they were grappling each other trying to one up the Coastal Goblins who seemed excited about the challenge.

Kumo walked over with three skewers of meat in one hand as she tore off chunks from another. She saw his eyes. "Care for a tussle, Boss?"

Gi affected a shocked look. "You'd beat up on a cripple? Where's the respect for your Progenitor?"

Kumo snorted and ripped off another chunk of meat as she responded with her mouth full. "You expect me to believe that crock of shit? You only need one arm."

"Let's settle this like civilized monsters." Gi took a sip of his soup before summoning one of his all white otters.

"Deal." Kumo said and plopped down beside him before summoning her own summon from her [Commander] ability.

Even the industrious Tiria had a twinkle in her eye. "I've got next."

Once the others realized that some kind of tournament had started, they all wanted in, though Samba was barred from sheer size.

Gi's [Archbishop] dominated the competition, both from being able to use his [Fighting Style] and his summons just getting more of his stats now. That is up until Kumo replaced her summon for the final match and quickly dispersed Gi's summon into Aether.

She roared in her victory and the clan roared with her, each of them taking part in their own way. He was proud by how strong they all were. Much of his clan had been lost in the Dungeon and they'd all known each other in the Child Stage, yet they could still celebrate like this.

Throughout the night, Gi's eyes continued to drift towards Poe who flitted between all the groups. His dragonfly friend was always happy, but in this moment, he thought his Heart might ascend in joy. Poe finally had the big family that he wanted.