The hooded man approached Ian slowly, unnoticed by the other players. However, Zad felt something pass by him and flinched. Although he concealed it from others, the hooded man smiled with satisfaction.

Eventually, the man sat down on a rock next to Ian. He was busy making some potions and food rations, and slowly healing himself with Regeneration. His legs still hurt from all the love the goblins gave him.

The man looked with displeasure at the pile of what everyone considered expendable remains. "Don't dispose of the bones and entrails of your enemies. They can be used later, even though they may seem like unnecessary weight. It may take some time without Irum's favor, but I can teach you a more efficient use for them. Something that will make survival easier.”

Aware that no one else could see or hear the stranger, Ian did nothing to reveal that mental conversation. He didn't even look in his direction.

"Long time no see…! What's so interesting about that garbage?"

“Garbage?! Have you paid attention to me, by any chance? I'm not doing this for myself, but for you.”

“Spit it out! What do you want in exchange?!”

The hooded man interpreted that as an agreement and placed his scarred hand on Ian's shoulder. A slight tingling sensation ran through Ian for an instant, forcing him to stand up.

“What the hell are you doing?!” asked Ian with an intense, murderous look.

“Take it easy! I’m not your father!”

“Don't ever touch me again!!”

"You okay, man?" Zad interrupted.

Ian looked around. Many people stared at him in confusion. Especially Zad, Yaros, Ilya and Daowm.

He relaxed his expression and waved his hand apologizing for the commotion. Then, he approached the next goblin corpse in an attempt to hide his mental conversation.

“Relax! I won't need to touch you again after this. I just activated a kind of… private line. Now you can make offerings and sacrifices. Only corpses remains and whole corpses will do. Of course, only your own victims. No stealing. This will open up new paths, although you will only be able to choose one. Mine!”

“Paths?”

"Come on, you know what I mean! The exclusive attributes that grant access to new skills. The ones that few others have. In fact, you could have them from now on! You haven't selected the available skills from your character creation. Plus, you will soon gain enough experience to level up. Therefore, you could…”

Ian regarded him suspiciously; his timing seemed too convenient. "What do you gain from this?"

"Allies."

"Allies against what?"

The scarred man stood up and walked towards the group. "You'll need a lot of help if you want to reach your mother, so don't get rid of them! Not just because you're going to need them. They'll be good allies over time. Trust me!"”

“Is she okay?”

The hooded man remained silent as he watched what the members of the group were doing. A silence broken by the whispers.

“[You must select two »Magic skills« within the next 4 hours, or they will be assigned by default.]”

Ian gritted his teeth and selected the bones and entrails from his inventory. Instantly, a new option appeared.

“[Offer them as a sacrifice to Shoum.]”

“Is that your name? I thought it would be Freddy Krueger!”

The man turned around and smiled while slowly disappearing. "Welcome to the club, Ian! Enjoy your new path and… Hurry up! Your mother doesn't have as many new friends as you do."

“[After completing the potion crafting process, you have gained enough experience to »Level Up«. Would you like to proceed now? Keep in mind that this process cannot be undone and you will need to rest for at least a few minutes.]”

Ian looked at those present suspiciously. He decided to trust them and take a nap. But before, he sat down again. "Yes! Proceed!"

Until now, he had let himself be guided by whispers, but the result had not lived up to his expectations. Although they had done a good job, he still felt weak and slow. Nothing was like before.

It was time to learn something about skills and attributes. But what should he focus on first? Weapons ranks or magic skills?

He tried to upgrade one weapon mastery rank to expert, but it was impossible for now. He needed 15 points in Dexterity. It seems he would have to focus on magic skills first.

He thought about choosing something that would bring him closer to the concept of cleric or druid classes. Further healing was imperative, and he didn't rule out healing others over time either. The girls were really pretty, he was sure they would find some way to thank him.

However, a new option appeared. One that allowed him to change the original Heavy Warrior class to Dark Knight. This would also change the other classes to Predator, Reaper, Necromancer, Dark Herald and Plague among others.

“[Do you wish to embark on this new path? The decision is irrevocable.]”

“What does this path imply? What kind of new skills does it offer?”

“[Provides vampiric skills of great lethality. As you continue to sacrifice your victims and favor increases, you will gain access to more deadly magical skills than before.]”

“What are the drawbacks?

“[Great care must be taken to avoid harming allies. In addition, selecting this path will eliminate other options. You could try to reach an agreement, but spirits don't get along with each other. That's why breaking a pact means death.]”

“Ok! And my appearance? Will I become an abomination or something similar? I don't think Shoum picks up many girls...”

“[The appearance of that spirit is his own choice.]”

“Really?! What a masochist… I accept, I guess.”

“[You have acquired a new attribute, »Darkness«. The »Dark Knight« class will replace the base »Heavy Warrior« class. (+1 to Strength, Dexterity, Toughness and Resistance, plus a free +1 assigned to Willpower, only in this situation, to maintain the initial configuration.)]”

“[Your SP, HP and MP have been unified by » Dark Shroud«.]”

“[»Regeneration« have transformed into »Draining Aura«.]”

[Dark Shroud] (Basic): Dark magic passive skill. Unifies your SP, MP and HP values. Its value is ([SP+MP+HP]x2) and its regeneration is the sum of the regeneration of each of them. Transforms any SP, MP or HP drain into Dark Shroud.

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Ian understood that the skill made him very powerful, but if he didn’t mediate his actions well, he would always be between life and death. More of the latter than the former.

[Draining Aura] (Basic): Dark magic skill. Support. Upon activation, continuously channels your Dark Shroud to drain very small amounts of HP from non-player creatures nearby. Can be temporarily boosted to quintuple the normal effect, including players. Has a range of 2 meters and drains HP every second.

Suddenly, everything went dark. At the same time, a panel visible only to him emerged with new skills. Magic skills that depended on the amount sacrificed on the new path. Their amount increased the Darkness attribute. At the moment its value was 1, and it offered him few skills. He couldn't improve any of the current ones until he reached at least 5, so he settled for two that looked promising.

"If I understand correctly, to be able to acquire new dark skills when I level up, I will have to unlock them by sacrificing first, right?”

“[Yes.]”

“Great! New currency, corpses."

[Drain Touch] (Basic): Dark magic skill. Upon activation, continuously channels your Dark Shroud to drain small amounts of HP each time you hit your enemies.

[Resilience Aura] (Basic): Dark magic skill. Upon activation, continuously channels your Dark Shroud to increase your Toughness by 1 for each nearby enemy. (Maximum of 5.)

Ian wasn’t very happy with the first skills this path offered him. Although all of them provided him with a high level of survivability, at its basic rank, he would only be able to get the most out of them if he faced a lot of weak enemies. Against a strong enemy, he would have a hard time.

“[Do you want to upgrade the »Dark Knight« class?]”

"Yes."

“[The »Dark Knight« class has reached Level 2. Which attribute do you want to allocate the extra point to?]”

"Regarding that! Now that I have Dark Shroud, which attribute should I raise to get the most out of it?"

"[If you want to take advantage of your new path, the most optimal will be your lethality. »Dexterity« and »Agility« are your new priorities, since you already supply the others with Dark Knight."

“Dexterity? Agility? What exactly do they do?”

Just a few steps in front of him, the familiar purple smoke rose. It quickly took the form of Ian himself. The image changed like the ones he had encountered before.

Ian couldn't help but smile. Although it was constantly changing, one thing was common to all of them. Their destructiveness made them a whirlpool of death. Strong, fast and dexterous, but also hard as rock. Unstoppable thanks to his vampiric skills and a regeneration that made him invincible.

"You've convinced me! Let's see what skills I'm going to need to become like this. I need something that gives me an advantage against a single opponent."

[Weakening Link] (Basic): Dark magic skill. Curse. Upon activation, continuously channels your Dark Shroud to create a link that drains very small amounts of HP from a single enemy. Drains 1% HP every 10 seconds. In addition, for every 1% of HP it drains from the enemy, it also reduces one point to a random attribute. It has a high consumption of Dark Shroud. The link breaks if the enemy is more than 3 meters away.

Strength: 13

Dexterity: 9

Agility: 8

Toughness: 7

Resistance: 7

Wisdom: 5

Intelligence: 1

Willpower: 8

Perception: 2

Darkness: 1 (136/1100)

After accepting the changes, he fell into a deep sleep. It was only 2 minutes, but he woke up refreshed. Sensation interrupted by the uncomfortable feeling of someone touching him. His eyes shot open as he abruptly grabbed the hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, man! I was just trying to wake you up!” Yaros clarified.

“You… You've leveled up, right? You look different!"

Ian let go of his hand. “Different?”

"Yeah! Stronger… I guess."

“Am I the only one?”

"You're not special, asshole!" Kham interrupted.

He had also leveled up. He had killed a few less goblins than Ian, but he had created some basic items that helped him make up the difference. A primitive bone armor for the torso and a new bone spear that he didn't plan to stop bragging about.

"I think we should get out of here. And you?" Zad asked.

Ian looked at the group, attempting to conceal his dissatisfaction. He didn't want to do it, but for now he would have to help them and do everything he could to ensure their survival. If they become a nuisance, he won't hesitate to leave them behind. There is only one person in the world for whom he would risk his life.

“Which way is my mother?”

The whispers led to the east, where he could see mountains. A little to the right, a large hill with ruins of a wooden fortification.

He stood up and headed towards Kham, making his intentions clear before anyone could try to stop him. “I'm just gonna talk to him!”

Ian walked slowly, his eyes fixed on him. He had not previously had the opportunity to analyze him carefully, but in the brief time he did, his desire to get rid of him had only increased. That haughty expression that belittled others, and that hyena-like behavior that constantly sought to do harm whenever the opportunity arose.

"I will say this just once! If for some reason I see that you're stupid enough to hinder the group, or you interrupt us again while we're trying to save someone…"

“You haven't apologized yet, asshole! You put me in danger!”

Ian smirked. "My apologies! I thought you were capable, but… It seems I was wrong! You're just a damn crybaby who hasn't thanked me for being at level 2 now!"

His two new companions looked at Kham expecting rebellion. Their aura changed to orange. However, as soon as Ian looked at them for what they were, four seconds, they quickly looked away.

"Maybe with this body it will take a little longer to slit them. Let's make it six."

“As I was saying…”

Kham moved the spear to point it at Ian. His red aura and his constant interruptions were a terrible nuisance. "Someday you're going to kiss my ass. Wait and see!"

Ian turned around and refocused on the group. Talking to him had been a complete waste of time.

“You will die for sure! It may not be in my hands, but it will happen sooner or later!”

Dar-Hok pointed north to a large fortress in the mountains. "We should rescue the rest of the humans captured by the goblins."

“I see your point, Dar-Hok, but we are almost naked and it is dangerous to venture out in that fortress without planning. First we must explore the area, get stronger and then…”

“What are you saying?! Cockscomb is right! I'm not going to stand by and let these people suffer! Imagine what they're going through. Especially the women."

Kham marched first. "Follow me! Let's kill those motherfuckers and level up. The more powerful we are, the more they will fear us!"

Most of the newcomers began to follow him, thinning the group until only Ilya, Zad, Daowm were left. They didn't move in the slightest.

Ian glared at Kham. He had to get to his mother as soon as possible and that bastard was delaying him. With just the three of them, he wouldn't survive. He needed the whole group.

Ian let his emotions take control of him. "Go ahead! Follow that stupid into the lion's den! I bet you'll be dead in no time!"

Kham raised his tone and strutted. "Do you hear him?! You coward! I saw through you as soon as I caught you running away! You only helped that nigger because we were watching you! If you were alone, I'm sure you would run away without looking back."

Ian didn't bother to look around because he would be very disappointed if anyone believed that nonsense. He simply turned his back on Kham and walked towards the ruins in the distance.

"It's a shame! I was hoping to see him die."

Ilya, Daown, and Zad followed Ian. The group was confused, particularly Yaros. He hoped his bond would follow him. "You're not coming? There are people suffering!"

Zad had no choice but to explain the obvious. He didn’t want to regret it later. "You head straight to the camp of these creatures. A place where goblins could be the least of our worries!"

Most stopped hesitantly. Daowm and Ilya followed Ian without looking back. Zad followed them when he saw Yaros and Dar-Hok also turn around to follow Ian. The next to leave Kham's group was the female archer.

Kham exploded in anger. "You too, Erish?! Would you rather join that coward?!"

Erish didn't respond. She walked with her head down until she reached Ian. She gathered what little courage she could, and stood in front of him, looking him into his eyes. "Give me one good reason to let those people suffer."

Ian narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He disliked civilians and their hypocritical view of life. They just wanted to feel fulfilled, to be happy and to love those who love them. For Ian, life was not so simple. It never had been. Although since he had started looking for his mother, something seemed to be changing.

“You see, people often forget something very simple. Death is an unpredictable bull with very sharp horns. Always waiting in the ring for some brave fool who thinks he can tame it.”

He then looked at everyone present. “Are you sure it won't catch you? Are you sure you won't die with the one you intend to help? And all for what? Do you think that stranger will care about you? That he'll come back for you if you get hurt?”

Ian turned and walked away without saying anything else. There was no need to. One by one, everyone began to follow him. Even those who seemed convinced to follow Kham.

Upon realizing that he and his two companions were the only ones left, Kham reluctantly followed the group. "Cowards, cowards, cowards!"