“Um… I don’t think this is a good idea.” “Yeah… this is way too real.” There were three knights in front of the group, and in the middle were the two twins, each side to side with a spear in their hands. Jack had expected these two to be the first to get cold feet, but they hadn’t even made it ten feet into the dungeon before they had started acting this way. It was annoying.

He had to change the subject, before they infected the others with their fear. “Enough. The knights are here to protect us, so even if things went wrong we have nothing to fear. I think it's best if everyone said their skills out loud. We can properly place ourselves in terms of strength.” He already knew some of their classes, but he didn’t know most of them. He didn’t need the details, though, there wasn’t any time.

“Only class, highest attributes and basic information. We don’t have much time before we find something.” The group nodded, and he looked to Arturo. The big man understood. “Heavy defender, my greatest attribute is constitution and strength. That's why I have the shield.” So, he would be in the front then. Mary was next. “Purist, My greatest attributes are willpower and strength. I fight with my fists and magic.”

Elijah stepped in when he heard that. “Yeah! Me too, I think. I’m a spell breaker. My highest attributes are arcane and strength. My body’s supposed to be resistant to spells.” Oh, good. He was also going to be put in the front, then. Liam sighed when he heard all of them, downtrodden for some reason. “I… My class is champion. I got an A in everything except in luck and Arcane. Though I got a higher Luck than everyone except Jack.” Despite the obvious disappointment in Liam’s voice, Jack couldn’t help but feel envy for what that class represented.

He only just realized how good such a thing meant for Liam. A-rank strength alone was already superhuman, to have that in four different attributes… He was probably going to be the most essential person in the group. He turned to Charlotte, who hadn’t spoken despite her twin brother having done so. “And you, Charlotte?” She fidgeted, looking almost embarrassed of her role. “Um… I’m a Hierophant. My greatest strengths are, uh, Willpower and Perception. I’m only just meant to heal.”

Jack almost tripped when he heard that. The same healing that had made him zone out before? The one that had almost short-circuited his brain? He shuddered at the thought, promising to himself he wouldn’t even get a scrape during this mission. He was so caught up in the thought he almost missed Abby’s turn. “True mage. My highest attributes are Arcane and Willpower. My spells are naturally stronger and hit harder.”

And that was that, he heard everyone’s class, so all that was left was to put them in a strategic spot. …Why was everyone looking at him? “And you, Jack? It's not fair if you don’t get to say anything.” He raised an eyebrow. They’d all seen his paper, what more was there to say? “Yeah, man… You made us talk so you should at least explain your weird voodoo shit. Gah.” Liam was hit on the head by Arturo, who was looking at him with worry.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, Jack… It’s fine.”

…It’d be suspicious if he just didn’t say anything now. “My class is puppeteer. I can control the strings of magic, or something. My highest attributes are Luck, Willpower and Arcane. I think I can turn things into puppets… I’m not sure.” The group went silent, until Arturo finally said what everyone was thinking. “Dude, It's bullshit that you have such a high Luck rank. We all got pissed at Liam for having it that high, but you blew him out of the fucking water.”

Jack just laughed. “I don’t know anything about that. Honestly I'd have chosen Liam’s class rather than mine.” Liam puffed out his chest in mock pride, before stopping when he was glared at by the girls. “Hey, I didn’t say it.” He cried, pointing to Jack defensively. Jack kept the satisfaction of shifting the ire to someone else other than himself, watching them bicker.

Until the guards in front of them immediately stopped. “Goblins. Prepare yourselves.” Surprisingly enough, the knights went behind them, stepping to the sides of the tunnel walls to let them pass. He knew they’d have to fight, but he at least expected some help for the first battle…no matter. “Arturo, Elijah, stay in front with me. The rest will hit them with the spears from the back. We’ll make sure to warn you guys to run if its too much.” Surprisingly, those words hadn’t been his own.

The words had come almost flawlessly from Liam’s mouth, and for a second Jack saw a new perspective of the usually sarcastic and immature kid. It was better than him giving orders, at least. From the front of the tunnel came a few people, wrapped in clothes that seemed to have been haphazardly put on and wrapped around them. They looked more like mummies than the ‘goblin’ mythology. The only thing noticeably demonic about them were their small, deformed stature and green skin that could be seen in certain, torn parts of their clothing.

That, and the daggers that looked like swords in their small, clawed hands.

They were dangerous. “Use all your skills, even the ones that don’t make sense. We’re here to learn what they do, so go crazy with them.” Everyone nodded at his words, and before he could even properly hold his spear he saw Liam and Arturo charge in. “Tough Body! Speed! Mighty Instinct!” “...Iron Body, Heavy Body, Strengthen…” He couldn’t help but wonder why they said such things, before he saw the effects. Jack watched as Arturo’s feet suddenly hit the ground with a massive noise, deep footprints smashed into the ground below. Liam was a bit less noticeable, but his speed was insane, overpassing the big guy like nothing.

They had activated their skills by speaking them out loud… was that how it was supposed to happen? Did they just guess what their powers were? If they did that was bad for him, since his skills were vague and hard to understand. He made his way forward. “...Everyone, forward. Keep a good couple of feet away from those two, and only attack if you don’t see anyone in front of you. The last thing we need is someone to hurt someone else.”

He didn’t bother hearing their reactions. If these two died then it’d be a horrible thing to their morale. He hardly expected the guards to stand by and watch if that happened, but still… This was almost certainly a test, one they wouldn’t fail. He made it to their side, watching them closely as they attacked the small creatures. Arturo was having a hard time hitting anything, his swings long and heavy, despite being filled with enough strength to kill an elephant. These ‘goblins’ danced around him like they enjoyed playing with him, occasionally going in to attack before being swatted away once more.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The sword looked clumsy in his hands, almost as much as it did in Liam’s. His friend was attacking like his wrist couldn’t turn, more smashing the blade into the goblins than actually attempting to cut them. But he was hitting them. His speed combined with some unnerving glow in his eyes allowed him to properly hit the dancing goblins, if only by the odd glance of the sword here and there.

At least it made it easier for Jack to figure out who needed the most help. He crouched, sneaking to the side of the big man to keep out of sight. He waited until Arturo attacked the goblin behind him, causing it to jump back impishly. He took that moment to stab his spear into its back. The sound was horrific, and it turned to him with a ghastly look as it flailed and pulled away from its spear. Despite everything, he hadn’t expected it to not die immediately.

Adamant, Jack pushed the spear further in, pushing the goblin along until it hit the tunnel walls. Nowhere to go anymore. His hands ached as the goblin tore itself on the spear, trying to escape while occasionally trying to hit him with its knife. He inched his hands farther back on the spear to make sure it didn’t do so, even though the goblin couldn’t reach him already. Better safe than sorry. Despite its ruined back, it still didn’t seem to die, only becoming more frantic as the seconds ticked by.

At that moment, he was thinking it a chore forced on him. He turned back to the others, fighting a group of three more goblins as a group. Even Charlotte was contributing, words escaping her mouth as she pointed at one of her team members, causing a beam of light to shine around them. It was good to see them learn their skills, but it irked him that he was too busy with this creature to actually do anything…

Unless.

As if he did it subconsciously, the black paper appeared in front of him. It showed him his attributes and description. As well as…

Puppeteer- (Lvl 1)

The strings of magic are something everyone in the world uses, to some extent. Whether they mold and stretch them through spells, or flex and harness them through their tempered bodies. Even the simple act of living a quiet and mundane life can pull the strings in large and conflicting ways. The strings of magic are universal, and through proper preparation and training you can be the one to control their strings, whether one wants to or not.

Strength- D

Constitution-C

Perception- C

Agility- C

Arcane- A

Willpower- A

Luck- S

Skills- (Strings of fate) (Weaving fortune) (Capture Puppet) (Train Puppet)

“Strings of fate…” The words came out cautiously, yet with a reverberation he hadn’t expected. He didn’t expect the words to almost appear in front of him. Blue lines appeared around him, weaving through his muscles and out his fingers, latching onto the spear as he gripped it tightly. He looked up to see the demonic creature in front of him. Despite the look on its face, the pained cries, it was all he could think to call it at the moment.

While the strings of fate were weaved into Jack’s body, the creature in front of him was as if the dungeon itself was controlling it. Its shell of a body was empty, instead dark lines were latched onto its skin, being pulled and commanded by the walls around it. It was so grotesque to look at that he almost couldn’t believe he couldn’t see it without the skill. He watched a few more seconds before deciding to keep experimenting. The description of his class said he could control the strings… he’d see to it to figure out how true that was.

The skills activated through word of mouth, would the strings respond the same. He opened his mouth to speak, but the strings reacted to his thoughts before he could. The strings from the goblin pulled, stretching around and pulling in erratic, wild ways. As if he could see them, the goblin decided to go overdrive, pushing against the wall and shoving the spear deeper into itself, desperately trying to escape. He almost lost his grip on the spear, until the Strings of magic in his hands elongated, twisting around the spear ever so slightly more, embedding itself deep inside the wood.

He expected his hands to get stronger or something, but it was a bit more subtle than that. His hands relaxed, shifting in a way that made the spear easier to hold in place. The goblin even stopped fighting as much, the spear jamming into the wall as Jack pulled it up, allowing for a better stranglehold on the beast.

This was… interesting.

He wanted to do more.

“...Weaving Fortune.” The words were much heavier than the first spell, and something in his mind strained to fit its power. The strings on the goblin normalized, only to be pulled towards the ground in a massive, jerking motion. It didn’t pull the goblin down, weirdly enough, but after a few seconds it slipped on its own blood, its claws desperately scratching at the wall as it fell to the ground. Jack only just then realized how much blood there was all over him.

He moved his feet to properly stay on top of the goblin, and for a moment he almost slipped before he saw the strings on his feet latch onto the ground. He caught his balance easily enough afterwards, stabbing the spear directly into the goblins chest to get a proper foothold. It stopped moving so much after, only giving out the occasional groan and the offhand attempt to crawl away. He didn’t even need to put force on the spear, the weight alone enough to keep it down.

He didn’t have much problem slipping afterwards.

The strings of fate… Weaving Fortune. He recalled the vague way the Puppeteer class explained his power, how it made him luckier… It couldn’t be that simple, right? The goblin suddenly broke out, and in the suddenness Jack let go. It was so sudden, seeing the goblin turn around and hearing the sudden, gross snap inside it. It fell limply to the floor, the strings of magic around it snapping before fizzling away.

He turned around, seeing if the group had done anything to finish up the goblins. To see them right behind him, staring at him with varying emotions as the goblins let out a few final death moans on the floor… He could see some of them on the floor, with their hands over their faces. Surprisingly, it seemed the girls had taken killing the easiest, maybe because they had less of a direct hand in the deed. Elijah, Liam and Arturo looked like shells, their eyes filled with an emotion he had yet to see in someone… something strangely familiar.

Mary, who had as much blood on her as the guy’s, blood on her from the girls, seemed to be taking it a little better than the three. All the girls still seemed a bit out of it, but it wasn’t to the point where it was crippling. She was with Charlotte and Abby, making sure the others were alright. Speaking of which… Abby had walked up to him with an uncertain look on her face. It might have been disgust, he had been smothered in blood just now.

Now that she was nearer, he noticed the strings of mana writhing and pulling inside her, escaping from her skin for a moment before being pulled back in abruptly. She reached a hand out to touch him, before hesitantly pulling back. “Jack… Are you ok?” She was hesitant on what to do with him, but there was no need. He wiped the blood from his face, a sense of satisfaction falling over his mind. He’d won this fight, and gained some valuable information. So… “Why wouldn’t I be fine?” He asked, his face never once changing as he continued to clean the blood off him.

He felt great, actually.