Constant fighting, unending battles. Hordes upon hordes of enemies filled the dark corridors, some weak and some strong, and yet still insufficient to earn me a level.

There was no time to let our guard down, our minds exhausted already at this point. And yet I still found my thoughts wandering, even as I got covered in more blood and guts, some my own, most of other beings.

The reason why I do this to begin with, is to rescue a friend who might not even be here. A wild goose chase that we've set up for ourselves. And yet still, we have to try.

A time long past, myself unrecognizable to me now. A high school boy with disheveled brown hair, a bag openly depicting a cute anime girl.

I want to die, just remembering it.

That was when I first met that goofball, Gary. hat was still his name back then, before he had access to his own legal documents that allowed him to become, Darkvoid.

We hit it off then, from the very first day. We had the usual Class introductions , and I predictably said some weeb shit. I cringe at it now, and I realize so too did most of the people there. But Darkvoid was impressed, and he did the same thing for his own introductions.

We both became very fast friends. A scenario that typically doesn't last, but for us it did.

And it shall last evermore.

I bet Magic will allow us immortality.

There are so many friends that I wish to see again... Like, four.

I'm so excited to behold their powers, the Classes that they have chosen. It better be strong, for how else will we succeed with our grand plan of world domination.

After we find Darkvoid, we'll look for Orlean Piercer, and then Halbert.

Briella as well, can't forget her. She's new, a kid from Europe, England I think. She saw one of our performances when she was here visiting, and then the girl just decided to move here for college and join our theatre group, fully believing that we'll take the world by storm.

Briella declared it loudly on her first day, confident, without a shred of humor.

Ah to be young. For your dreams to still feel more than mere fantasies in your mind.

Flaze and the rest laughed pointing at me, while I winced and cringed. Briella thought she said something wrong, but none of us had the heart to tell her.

Fly little one. Do what I couldn't do. Succeed where I never did.

I think I now know how parents feel. And why they kidnap you away from whatever path you're walking, blindfold your eyes, shout loudly about where you're going, and then drop you in front of the new road that you're supposed to ride, except your car is totaled now for some reason, and every single sign is written in a separate language.

Breathe.

"Breath, Jackal."

I looked at the Flaze on my back, wide-eyed.

She laughed harder at my horse face.

Fuck.

We reached the next stairwell as I felt hopeful, knowing that we were only two stories away from our goal.

We poked our heads into the next floor, and immediately I felt the ground beneath our feet shake a little. Then a lot.

A red bipedal elephant had immediately spotted us and was barreling our way. I nearly fell over with how loud the honking of its nose was.

[Warrior - Lvl 82]

Fuck!

I immediately jumped down the stairs, into the landing by the turn, and then down towards the prior floor.

I heard a crash behind me, and I galloped away. The elephant honked its nose horn again as I looked behind myself, feeling for the creature's approach. I crossed several hallways, before I halted by the next stairwell down, ready to jump off from even higher up than last, if that is what it will take.

"Clone's dead." Flaze said before she summoned another one. The prior clone must've stayed behind to delay and confuse.

I perceived a slight shudder from Flaze's shoulder, reminding me once again that the pain of her clone is also her pain. Would I be able to use an ability like hers to its fullest if I had to experience the agony of death each and every single time?

No wonder she's gotten a lot more fucked up. And even then, she's still better than me. Damn.

She did tell me once, that the sensations she feels through her copies are not as vivid as normal, but it still sounds like a fucking hellish experience.

"Barely noticeable, the difference, honestly. But, I just had to get used to it. This is too good a skill to waste on not using, and well, it's one of those things that you just have to jump into. I was definitely a lot more squeamish to it at first."

That's what she told me before, but it's clear to me that she doesn't like it.

Obviously. She never said that she did.

I neighed.

That elephant is bad news. A much higher level warrior, perhaps the worst matchup for us. They're typically still fast and tanky enough to be a big problem, and that monster certainly seemed like so. We could try herding it around, it'd fall faster than a typical tank of its level, but not only would it be more dangerous given its speed and power, we're also inside a fucking building.

The space is too fucking narrow, the elephant creature barely even fits in the comparatively narrow corridors.

We'll be forced to take a more direct approach.

That is, of course, if we wish to defeat it. The other option is to just have Flaze's clone lead it away while we make a break for it for the next floor.

Flaze picked up on what I was suggesting, and thought about it. She shook her head. "We can't leave it alive. The monster actively chased us the moment we came into view. Maybe even before. There are many monsters that we could maybe dodge and evade during a hasty retreat, but this is not one of them."

I jumped down he stairs, suggesting that we just jump down from many stories high, like we did last time.

Flaze thought about it for a second. "Possible, but we might not always have that option. It's too risky. Let's at least try and consider if we can beat it. We've face a monster in the 70s before. That rat."

Hmm. Fair.

I gave it some genuine thought, the levels such a kill would give extremely enticing.

I eventually arrived at an idea that's likely stupid, but still worth a shot. I faced away from a nearby wall, and kicked against it with my hind legs. A loud crash resounded upon impact, dust billowing out as small cracks webbed around the green-painted concrete wall.

Flaze looked at what I did, her brows raised. She understood what I meant. "We're not going to clear up space by destroying the walls. Hell, I'm glad the monsters haven't quite thought that far ahead; It might literally collapse the building. Even if the building stands, it'll delay us far longer than what it'd require for that elephant to reach us, not to mention the sounds alone would easily give away our position."

Okay! Okay! I get it. Terrible plan. Next plan. Let's make the next plan. I pouted.

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"And, if, on the off chance we succeed on this," Oh, she's not finished... "I doubt it'd be that easy to maneuver around all the rubble destroying the walls would create. So our mobility is fucked regardless."

All I could do was nod, and we were quiet for a short while after that. Eventually, we decided that since we were wasting time anyway, we might as well kill the nearby monsters that we've chosen to leave alone earlier so we could get to our goal faster..

~~~

What if we scaled the building from outside? I neighed, in between kicking a burning orc and stomping on a feathered snake. They both died and I gestured against a window, making climbing motions.

Flaze beheaded the other orc in the room, pink skin that'd nearly turned red from the hundred cuts all over is body.

She looked at making climbing motions on a nearby window.

Flaze answered flatly, some of her disappointment leaking into her tone.

"No."

[Your Party has defeated a level 23 Warrior]

...

[Your Party has defeated a level 37 Tank]

[You have reached Level 44!]

"Oh hey, I just leveled up." Flaze said, and I identified her to be a level 48 tank.

Bragging? I tilted my head, my eyes narrowed like stalking prey. I leveled up too, asshole.

"No, not bragging." She chuckled, before going quiet and sinking deep into thought.

She pondered for a while, about my wordless question.

It was but a single look, a single neigh, be that I cannot speak. And still, what little of my thoughts are conveyed, already warrants such deep introspection.

Deep.

"I got it!" She exclaimed and raised her hand, before lowering it again. "Well, maybe not."

Well which is it!? I fumed.

She ignored me and continued. "You see, when I first got my Classes, I had a choice on different 'costumes' I may adorn. The squire was something that came free with the class, and then from among my choices I picked knight as my second. Because it was the most useful. Not because it would've looked awesome or it was thematic or whatever, Jackal. The other choice was bandit with a scimitar, and squire already seemed to provide decently well for offense."

Okay, a lot to unpack there. I neighed. But first off. You don't know how I chose my Classes!

I call slander.

"One of my skills in specific," she ignored me, "denotes that I'll get a new form I could use every 50 levels. I'm only two levels away, and I might be able to get something that can kill that fucking elephant."

Sure. Why not. I neighed. In fact, I'm all in. I was just about to suggest that.

"Alright!" Flaze cheered, grabbing a bottle of wine from a cabinet that she brought up to her face in order to read the label better.

She realized that it was an unnecessary gesture with her agility, a habit from when her perceptions were still that of a typical human's. "This is a really good one. Antique. Aged. Want some Jackal?"

Sure. I neighed. I'm healing us before the next confrontation though.

Also, how do you even know this stuff? I wondered.

Flaze shrugged, poured herself a glass, and then stuck the remaining bottle into my horse mouth. I bit down, arched my neck back, and then drank the contents dry.

"You never were interested in specifics like that, Jackal." Flaze chuckled, "People say it says something about a person, but while Orlean doesn't care either, Darkvoid does know his shit. And you're just as stupid."

Hey! I called bullshit. I can't afford this shit to begin with. I gestured to the apartment that we, and the apocalypse itself, had thrashed. It wasn't the most opulent, but its TV was comically large, and there was one of those multi screen setup for a computer over at the bedroom.

She chortled. "And you think Darkvoid can afford it?"

No. Other people afford it for him. I neighed.

~~~

Flaze had left me alone, to fester in my thoughts. She went out to kill monsters by herself, to hopefully earn more levels faster.

I did try to dissuade her, stating the danger, but I acquiesced easily, knowing that she's probably stronger than me.

Just be safe. Don't be reckless. All the other horseshit. You know what they are.

I give good advice.

[Hellish FIreball].

I hovered a fireball near me, for better sight in the darkness, nighttime having arrived. My agility stat is enough to mitigate most troubles, but I... I'm bored, so why not?

H E L P

That was written on a nearby wall, the ink used a suspicious dark red, illuminated by flames of a similar color, if only more vibrant. Whoever wrote the message is long gone, likely eaten by a monster if the pile of bones below the writing is any indication.

Or hey. Maybe it was a person that ate them. No reason to assume it was a monster.

I shook my head, letting my thoughts wander to a different time, from a long bygone era of three weeks ago.

I was back at The Listening Bard, standing on the wooden and scenic stage. The ground was painted over in brown and red, pieces of swords and armor littered haphazardly, the scene of a war.

There was a tall woman sitting on top of a ladder. She was adding some artful splashes of blood-colored paint onto the depiction of a huge towering spire. With spikes.

"Hey Jackal, grab that alien skull for me."

Orlean Piercer spoke, a good friend of mine that I'd known since high school. She was wearing a shirt that depicted aliens coming to invade earth, not as some fiction that she enjoys, but as a prophecy, something she genuinely believes will happen.

Conspiracies that often got her laughed out of the room, but no one's laughing now.

I did as she asked and picked up the prop that she made. She's always been the one to make the trinkets that we need for our performances, both big and small, and she's a good actor too, not shying away from the stage. Though, in exchange for her being here, we had to honor her hobbies and add some of the more outlandish plot elements, upon her request.

Case and point, what I had on my hands.

"Remind me again, why there's a literal vagina-headed alien in this romantic fantasy?" I didn't really mind her additions, it adds a unique flavor to our work, but me grumbling about it has basically become a ritual for the both of us.

"Oh. That's actually a new one that I discovered. There were depictions of them found underwater, and..."

She had started on her own tirade, and I made a genuine effort to listen. We were only taken off the subject by the inclusion of someone else, whose presence was announced by the jingling sound of jewelry.

"Is it making you want to fuck it?" Darkvoid laughed, coming up from behind us. "A whole new meaning, to 'face-fucking'."

I turned around and sighed, looking at him. He wore a leather jacket, ripped jeans for pants. There was plenty of edgy jewelry on his body, showcasing different satanic images and various thorny skulls. Most prominent of which was an oversized chained necklace that hung from his shoulders, depicting the image of a demonic lamb eating an unborn child. It jangled with every movement he made, and I could tell that it was heavy enough for him to strain, if only a little.

"I'm not you, Darkvoid." I responded. "I don't just want to fuck everything that moves."

"Of course," he grinned, "You also want to fuck that which does not move."

I was about to protest, but another voice interrupted my words.

"You speak the truth," Flaze chimed in, speaking in a regal tone. She had just exited the dressing room, dressed fully in her character of a benevolent queen, going all out even for rehearsal. "I once had an experience, myself and Jackal in a reserve park, a trip taken in order to wash away the filth of man. He chose to add to it instead, by attempting to fuck a tree."

"I wasn't trying to fuck a tree!" I mocked, gesticulating wildly. "We've been there for hours! It's not my fault the toilets were sparse and few, the single one nearby, old and unmaintained!"

"One is only so defensive, when there is something to defend." Came the singsong voice of Briella, gentle and guiding. She had animal ears on her head, but otherwise wore a normal dress. Her full costume would make her look like an entire fox, so it was impractical to always have it out, but she's taken a liking to the headband that Orlean had made, wearing it on or off the set.

I rolled my eyes, noting that she too was acting in character. I did the same. "O, wise sage. I only acted in defense of my honor, the gruesome insinuation that I was attracted to a bloody plant."

"Oh? No one ever said it was a bloody plant. Just a normal one, really." Briella smirked. "Your real thoughts are spilling out, Lorjack of Traint."

I was going to continue our banter, but Halbert spoke over us all, starting to give out commands. He stood at the stands, wearing a common business suit, and slacks. He was the scriptwriter of our plays, only ever acting for minor roles in our performances. But he does make sure that he's on stage at least once for every play.

"Enough dallying. Jackal, get in character. Flaze, stand over by the spire once Orlean's finished with it. Briella and Darkvoid..."

A single step echoed, and I immediately jumped, tensing like a wound up spring. Another step follow, I identified the sound as that of metallic boots against floor. It was likely Flaze, but I thought back to how we've traveled together, during this apocalypse. Her footsteps, I should be familiar with, and this sound just ever so slightly off.

[Hellish Fireball].

I hovered my fireball ahead, just in case, the approaching person drawing closer with every passing second.

I saw the visitor now, a person clad in samurai armor, hand casually resting upon the hilt of a sword that hung by the waist.

[Warrior - Lvl 50]

"Hello, Jackal." The person said, and I visibly relaxed upon hearing the familiar voice.

Of course it's Flaze. Who the fuck else would it be?

I'm too fucking on edge.

First a squire, then a knight, and now a samurai. I did not yet know what her new form does, but it looks pretty fucking awesome.

Lame. I neighed. What is this, cosplay for some weeb convention?

Flaze laughed. "Don't worry Jackal. I'll help you get a big sparkly anime ass for when you evolve."

That's not what I said. It had nothing to do with that. I lied.

Flaze just knows what I'm saying at the worst of times. For some fucking reason.

We unfortunately were unable to reach Darkvoid today, because of the fucking elephant. But thankfully, the rooms have been cleared because of Flaze's need to level up. So we just picked a random room, and then tuckered in for the night.

I felt some sort of powder land on me, just as I had closed my eyes in an attempt to doze off.

I heard Flaze laughing her ass off, and I worriedly opened my eyes.

What did you do? I squinted my eyes at her, and Flaze waved me off, trying to hold back her laughter.

"Look." she managed to eventually say, pointing at my butt.

I obliged, summoning a fireball to get a better view of my ass. The light of my flame was reflected back in a thousand different hues, like my horse buns were a canvas for the starry skies.

"Sparkles!" She laughed. "Told you I'd help!"

Glitter. It was glitter.

I sighed.

She'd found a pack of the thing, and dumped it all on my butt.

It was actually pretty funny, so I was unable to suppress a giggle.

I hovered my fireball closer, just to see its shine better. And also to burn it all down.

"Noooo!" Flaze cried, "Not sparkles!"

Yes sparkles.

My ass went up in flames.