In Deicide as a player levels up the character's class evolves. Their base class determines what they can evolve into. For human and non-transforming races like elves, orcs, dwarves and lamia they gain new abilities without physical changes to their characters. This is typical for mortal races from Tonantzin although there were a few exceptions. Then there are races such as angels, demons, genies, etc, which would gain new forms as they level up. This gave them one class with multiple forms called racial leveling which will physically evolve a player's avatar permanently or temporarily to use certain skills.

The class evolution and racial leveling happened at levels twenty-five, fifty and seventy-five. There are a few exceptions to racial leveling such as the angels and demons. They will not change appearance until they have access to the seventy-five racial level. At which they will gain a transformation they can switch to at will. This will give them a boost to all skills and access to their highest tier abilities.

Hyperion was a hember which was one of the few celestial races that did not have multiple forms and instead had evolved classes. His base class was the Imperial Manhunter which was one of the few mounted classes. It allowed him to put levels in Cavalryman, Flame Knight and Dragoon Knight General. Beside Harahel he was the fastest member of the guild while on his summoned mounts.

As a hember, Hyperion was a living inferno. Fire burned from his molten body which glowed like hot iron. His armor white hot from the heat that it contained which due to his level he was in complete control over. A baby could touch his breastplate and would feel cold mythril under its delicate hands. Now however, he needed the extra illumination to act as a beacon to anyone lost that may be wandering around.

Hyperion was in the forest looking for more survivors that have come to be known as the “Blinked”. The sun dimed in the horizon although beneath the canopy it had been night for hours. He was riding on top of his scarlet drake named Marybell, one of many mount summons which was easily his most agile non-flier. Like all of his mounts she was immune to his heat. The great lizard was about the size of a horse with the sleek look of a red scaled jungle cat. The large creature slipped through the forest faster than a formula-1 racecar on a smooth race track.

“Do you see anything?” Pneuma’s voice radiated over the guild chat.

“Not yet Neu, am I still going in the right direction?” Hyperion asked through the chat.

“Yes, keep going as straight as possible.” Penuma stated. “You are reaching the edges of my vision now though.”

“Damn, we are eighteen miles out and still finding people?” Hyperion said frustrated. “I should have been able to do something to prevent this.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about this.” Svaralfer states in the chat. “None of us saw this coming, not even the guild masters. There is nothing we could have done if they didn’t even see it coming.”

“True, but… I don’t know. If I had been more vigilant.” Hyperion said self depreciation lining his words.

“If anyone should have seen this coming it should have been me.” Pneuma stated. “I am the diviner and anti-surveillance. I should have picked up magic this large in scale.”

“This is not helpful talk guys.” Frederick’s grizzled voice rang through the chat. “Get your heads out of your asses, we can throw your pity parties after we find everyone. The guild masters have already put together a plan, just do what you are told.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how they are able to think so rationally at a time like this… I would be so lost had it not been for them.” Hyperion stated as he dodged a branch. “You are right Freddrick, we have a job to do. Thanks.”

Hyperion comes to a stop as they approach a town house that looked to have been ripped from its adjacent homes and placed there. Marybell swiftfully circles the home and comes to a stop at the front which appeared to be destroyed by something that forced its way in. Hyperion dismounted as soon as he saw the marks all over the frame. He summoned his weapon the lance [God Craft] Sun’s Retribution which appeared from ripples in reality into his hand. As Hyperion entered the door, Marybell climbed the side of the townhouse and broke in through the second floor window. Since the creature is Hyperion’s summon he can direct her with his thoughts without need to communicate.

The inside of the townhouse was only being lit by the fires that radiated from Hyperion’s body. The house looked like it had been ransacked and all of the valuables stripped. He was disheartened to find the corpse of a man sprawled across his living room floor with a fireplace poker in his right hand. The dead man’s blood drenched the hardwood floor which boiled under Hyperion’s intense heat as he grew angrier. Marybell slinked her way down the stairs just as fast as she was outside. She sat down next to her master and he pet her a few times and calmed down.

“Fuck,” Hyperion exclaimed as his flames became cold to the touch and he walked over to the mans body.

Hyperion then closed the man’s terrified and lifeless eyes and placed the man in a neutral position to give him dignity in death. He looked over his body and saw that a single slash across the man’s torso was the cause of his death. Hyperion quickly deduced that this had to be the work of people and not animals. He then ran outside with Marybell following behind him before he mounted her again and they took off to the next house.

“We have a problem.” Hyperion stated his obvious anger catching everyone's attention. “I just found a body and it had sword slash wounds on it.”

“Are you sure?” Svaralfer responded. “Of course you are… Pneuma where is he? I am on my way.”

“I am going to check more of the houses out here.” Hyperion stated.

“Vara, he is southeast of you. Hyperion, be careful you are out there by yourself.” Pneuma said. “Everyone was directed not to fight anything until we know how strong things are out here. You are scouting so don’t do anything rash.”

“I am just checking the houses.” Hyperion said through his frustration. “I will pull back if I encounter anything.”

“Can anyone get in contact with the guild masters?” Svaralfer asked.

“I think Lilitu may have sealed off communication from them.” Pneuma stated. “Even I can see them.”

“I just sent Cullen to the meeting room to inform them.” Frederick stated.

Hyperion came across his second building which this time appeared to be a bakery. Two dead men lay outside both looked to have been dragged out and had their throats slit. The inside was ransacked like the first building and had no signs of life. Hyperion found three more buildings and ten more bodies, all men and all apparently executed. The homes and businesses had been raided and there were no signs of the women and children. With each body and ransacked home he grew angrier and angrier until he was a raging inferno both figuratively and very literally. His control of the heat of his fire was the only thing that kept the forest from catching.

“Hyperion, calm down, we are here.” Svaralfer’s voice cut through the blaze.

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Hyperion dismounted Marybell and the flames were subsumed into Hyperion's molton body. He turned to see Svaralfer and a few of her personal guards run up to him. Svaralfer’s estate guardsman had the silver crest of her estate on one sleeve and the gold crest of the guild on the other. Unlike the guards from the guild they were all humans in black suits and looked more like butlers than combatants. However they moved like a unit through the uneven terrain with determination across their faces. Each had two scissor katar on their waists that they were ready to pull out at any time.

“Kill them all.” All of the avatars heard Kevin’s angry voice growl over the guild chat. “Bring the bodies of our fallen back for their families.”

Normally the guild chat only allows for voices to travel through the magic flow. However, this time the avatars felt the pressure of Harahel’s level 150 rage against their own souls. The sensation caused Hyperion and Svaralfer to shutter before righting themselves. They looked at each other for a second as shock turned into determination to see the vice master's words through.

“You heard that right?” Hyperion asked.

“I-I felt that.” Svaralfer stated one hand over her heart now beating uncontrollably.

“Can you see the people that did this?” Hyperion questioned.

Svaralfer’s eyes began to glow with a soft light as she activated [Sight Beyond] [Awakened]. She skimmed the forest, locking on to something in the distance. Her eyes sharpened as she raised her bow, the air trembled as she pulled back on the naked string with grace. The air swirled around her becoming visible as a torrent of energy which quickly crystallized in the form of a glowing arrow. The ability was [Magic Radiance Bolt] [Awakened] a skill that would only hurt the target and would fly straight through obstructions and allies harmlessly. The attack was strong enough to instantly kill anyone without high magic projectile resistances.

“No, all I see are dead men.” Svaralfer said as she loosed the arrow.

A group of ten men in crude leather armors were approaching a house in the middle of the forest. They had with them several battered women whom they had tied up and dragged behind the group completely naked. This house was just like the others that had appeared in the area around their hideout. At first they thought there may be a new settlement popping up in the forest but the homes and business were sporadic and full of goods. Their leader didn’t want to waste a good opportunity to get supplies and new women to enjoy.

The small group had been raiding the homes all day and decided it would be best to just take the women and kill all of the men. As they approached the new untouched home they saw lights inside. The leader had licked his dry lips like a starved animal preparing to pounce. He approached the door, his iron sword in hand still caked in the blood of the last family he slaughtered.

In the blink of an eye a light trailed through the man’s torso and out the other side. He stood stock still, already dead and his entourage were all just as confused. The world seemed to slow down for a second before the man’s upper and lower halves were separated at least what was left of it that hadn’t vaporized into a mist of blood. A gale of wind and force, flung the remains of the corpse far into the forest. Nine more streams of light appeared coming from the same direction as the first. The men had no time to run or process what had just happened before all that reminded them were strewn across the forest as well.

Moments later Hyperion on Marybell came crashing through the forest. He scanned his surroundings for any more of the bandits. His eyes rested on the terrified and battered women who had been tied up and left in the nude. Hyperion dismounted, sending Marybell to scout the area and make sure all of the bandits were dead.

“Everything is going to be alright.” Hyperion said as he reached into his inventory and pulled out healing potions. “I am here with the AFKIRL guild. You are safe now.”

The women were relieved and crying at the ordeal they had been put through. Hyperion cut the ropes of the bound women and gave each of them potions. He then turned his attention to Svaralfer who had just arrived with her guards. The five guards quickly moved to secure the perimeter, while two checked on the house and knocked at the door. The remaining either checked on the women or continued to follow Svaralfer.

“We aren’t done, there are still more out there.” Svaralfer stated. “Everyone secure this area Hyperion and I will be going forward alone.”

Marybell returned to Hyperion’s side and he mounted her and Svaralfer hopped on behind him. They took off in the direction that she pointed out. It wasn’t long before they came to another group of five men carrying bags of looted material. Hyperion immediately stabbed and killed one of the men with his lance which also incinerated the corpse to ash in seconds. Marybell’s jaws locked down on a second man’s neck, nearly separating his head from his shoulders before brigand’s could react. The remaining three men freaked out when they saw Hyperion and the scarlet drake and they fled screaming in a language neither Hyperion or Svaralfer understood.

The looters could not outrun Marybell who could instantly catch up to them; instead Svaralfer wanted to follow them to their base camp. Even with her Sight Beyond [Awakened] ability which allowed her to see and target any number of beings within 500 meters she did not see the base. They followed just far enough behind them that the looters would know they are still there but not close enough to see. It wasn’t long before she was able to see not only the base but also groups of men returning with captured women and children along with sacks of looted goods.

“I see their base. We can take out the ones we have been following.” Svaralfer stated her voice cold and decisive.

Hyperion didn’t say anything as he used Mounted Flash Step [Awakened], an ability that allowed for a quick flash of incorporeal movement enabling he and Svaralfer to instantly catch up to the fleeing looters. Hyperion did not give the men a chance to defend themselves as his weapon passed through their bodies hotter than the sun. They instantly combusted into dry streams of withered flesh as the water in their body expanded in a steam explosion.

“Where do we go for the rest of them?” Hyperion asked.

“Their base is that way.” Svaralfer states as she points into the dark forest. “I could take them out from here but the hostages may get caught up in my shots. Looks like they have taken twenty-two women and sixteen children. Forty brigands in total.”

“Did you recognize the language they were speaking?” Hyperion asked.

“No, but it doesn’t matter, we aren't taking any alive.” Svaralfer stated in the guild chat as she jumped off of Marybell. “This is a good spot for me. I will cover you from here.”

The camp was surrounded by a log wall with several crude log towers as defensible positions. Archers were normally stationed at each tower however tonight they were all celebrating. They saw today’s raids as a complete success as they were able to not only take supplies but also had slaves they could sell or enjoy as they saw fit. The bandit chief had everyone enjoy themselves with a feast and enough women to go around.

Hyperion rode Marybell directly into the unsuspecting camp of the bandits. Marybell was too fast for the human bandits to see and in an instant she clawed three to death in what looked like a single motion. The world seemed to slow down to a crawl as Hyperion activated the skill [Temporal Rider] [Awakened]. The skill slowed the flow of time for everyone except for Hyperion and Marybell. They moved as a blur in the silent stillness of the world. Hyperion's flames left a tail of light behind them as the world struggled to process the impossible movements. At this speed there was no need for grandiose attacks. Hyperion simply tapped the skulls of the men he wanted dead with his lance, twenty-two in all. He could feel their skull cave in like puddy behind even the light taps he was giving them.

The skill ended as Hyperion made it to the center of the camp where the bandit leader was cheering with a mug of strong ale he held in the air. The chief was a burly man roughly six and a half feet tall and covered in bear fur almost too small for him. As time returned to a normal flow the chief’s cheers became choked with fear as he recognized the presence of the inhuman creatures in front of him. The heads of all of the men that Hyperion tapped popped as if they were hit by a high caliber sniper.

Streams of light from Svaralfer skill [Magic Radiance Bolt] [Awakened] could be seen throughout the camp passing through forest, trees, tents and the Blinked harmlessly. The targets of the streams were the bandits that Hyperion left alive in his initial pass and they were dead the instant the lights appeared and were blown into pieces by the attack. The bandit chief fell backwards on the ground as all of his men were either bloody chunks raining into the forest or headless corpses on the ground.

Hyperion hopped off of Marybell who was glowing with the residual magic that coursed through her when he used the [Temporal Rider] [Awakened] skill. The bandit chief could not even stand up; he was choked with fear. The air itself seemed to burn his lungs from the heat that Hyperion was radiating. Hyperion was sure to focus the heat from his body onto the chief alone. Hyperion's lance disappeared into his personal inventory as he walked over to the frightened man.

Hyperion stepped on the man's legs to stop him from crawling away. The heat alone instantly severed the limb as Hyperion reached down and grabbed the man by the neck with less intense heat but still enough to brand the skin. He lifted the man into the air, choking the life from him before burning the corpse to ash. In just under three seconds all forty bandits were dead.