Standing on the edge of the swaying wooden planks, I gazed out at the risen marsh.

Murky water rose to the height of the stilted town. It felt like I was standing on a jetty, not twenty feet up in the air. High mana regions were really something else. I could almost see the edge; it seemed to drop away like a chasm.

However, I knew that in reality we were the ones floating above the rest of the land. It was as if the marsh itself was contained by invisible walls which allowed the water level to rise and fall.

Gazing into the murky abyss I saw my reflection for the first time in a while. When had I gotten so gaunt? My chubby, round face was no longer present when I looked at myself. I looked thin. Yet my body filled my armour in an imposing way, cutting a domineering figure.

Despite those revelations, it was my eyes which had changed the most. They no longer glistened with the youth of a life barely lived. No, I looked older, more experienced, and I guess I was.

Though that didn’t help me to supress the overwhelming feeling of loss I felt.

How long had it been since the last time I’d thought about my wife and our infant child. A child I hadn’t even met.

I’d started this journey with a single goal: get powerful enough to bring them here. In Celestia I could give my family the life they deserved. I could settle down somewhere safe. In Havar I’d be among the most powerful by then, assuming I ever reached the level cap.

I could offer them something more. More than the life I’d been able to provide back home. More than the paltry existence I’d grown numb to. Celestia, despite all its drawbacks, had offered me more freedom, more opportunity than Earth ever had and I longed to share that with them.

They say you can’t have your cake and eat it too but I say fuck that. In this world I was certain that I could have it all… if I just got powerful enough.

A ripple in the water caught my eye bringing me back to reality.

Suddenly I was alert and I watched as the water at the marsh’s edge began to creak, slowly freezing before my very eyes: a black surface which reflected only the moon’s dim glow.

“It’s time,” I said in a low voice and the rest of my party joined my side as we vigilantly watched the water’s edge.

“Remember team, just as we planned,” Rex growled, unsheathing the double-sided great axe he’d purchased in Forge Town.

We stood silently as a large figure approached, floating along just behind the moving line of ice which silhouette him.

The marsh froze over as he drew near and I unsheathed my daggers. I was to be a close combatant for this encounter. My role was to, alongside Rex, keep him away from the town.

Of course I would also be dealing all the damage I could. Perhaps I’d level up from this kill, one step closer to the level cap.

As he drew ever closer, his outlined shadow became clearer as the moon’s glow revealed his features.

Aging blue skin set into the hollow of an oriental helmet. Levelled armour, the likes of which ancient samurais wore, adorned his imposing body. In place of legs the edges of tattered rags, cast in shadow, hung loosely from his torso.

My eyes, however, were drawn mostly to the double handed katana which rested threateningly over his left shoulder. The blade looked rusted, yet an eerie glow clung to it in dark teal.

Fire burned in my dragon’s eye as it picked up on the menacing mana which oozed from his pores. This was a powerful foe, yet there were cracks in the mana glow. I’d never seen that before.

“A welcoming party?” He said, his voice as cold as the ice he created. “It has been an age since I was greeted. An offering perhaps? Where are my conscripts? I hope they are ready for the eternal glory of battle.”

“There are no children here,” I lied. “This town is deserted.”

“DECEPTION!” He roared in a voice so powerful I had to brace myself as not to be forced backwards. “I can smell the delicate naivety of youth in this place, taste the fear. It is delicious. Young cannon fodder, like clay ready for sculpting. I will make warriors out of them. My army needs warm bodies for the final battle.”

“How obscene,” Asmodeus huffed.

“He speaks like you do, Azzy,” Bell laughed.

“Preposterous!” He exclaimed. “His lexis lacks the decorum of one as wise and refined as I.”

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“What is this final battle you keep going on about?” I asked. Another part of my role was to keep him busy whilst Rex flanked him. I’d argued that I should be the sneaky one, given my skills, but he’d said my soul aura would likely draw the monster’s attention. I’d have to ask him about that later, I thought I’d been hiding it.

“Ragnarök,” The Winter Shogun replied. “The time in which my armies will descend on this decedent plane and vanquish the corrupt, shrouding this land in eternal darkness. It is… a cleansing.”

“Why do you want that?” I asked, focusing hard on not glancing at Rex as he made his way around the monster in a large arc.

“WHY?” He bellowed, “light is a cancer. It sparks mortal eyes with false morality, forces them to witness their depravity, shun it, smother the very laceration of their being in dishonest shame. Light is the perpetrator of falsehoods. Mortals were created to indulge in their impurities, and yet they shy away from them, pretending they are better than their baser instincts. Darkness is the cure. Darkness… will be their salvation.”

“Ok…” I said, “you’re clearly… opinionated. But I don’t think we mortals want to be saved.”

“Does the wolf ask the sheep for permission before it feasts?”

“No, but the wolf doesn’t claim to be the sheep’s salvation either. It sounds to me like you have a bit of a god complex.”

“It is no complex, for I am a god,” he said and in my mind I willed him to keep his attention on me as Rex finally got into position, ready to strike. “I tire of this tarrying folly. You will fetch my warriors.”

“I really, really won’t,” I said, readying my weapons.

Rex jumped from behind the Shogun, great axe raised high above his head and slammed down with a barbarian’s war cry.

“FOOL!” The Winter Shogun bellowed, catching the haft of the axe with his shrouded hand and throwing it downwards, smashing Rex into the ice with a thud. “A warrior doth never announce their presence before a strike. You indominable wretch.”

On that cue, the rest of the team jumped into action.

I dashed forwards, daggers at the ready, and slashed at the hand which gripped Rex’s weapon. Bubbles and pustules burst from his blue skin as black blood leaked through the gaps between his fingers.

Bell cast a fireball at the same time which hit him squarely in the jaw, forcing his head back at an unnatural angle as flames shrouded his haggard face.

Simultaneously, Panda grabbed onto Asmodeus and took to the skies, looking for any advantage which could aid us.

“Pathetic,” the Shogun hissed, cracking his head back into place and grasping the hilt of his blade with both hands. “This is how you strike down an enemy.”

Ferocious wind ripped at me as his blade came down with devastating speed, splitting the icy marsh in two and sending a rippling slash through the stilted house.

The svartalfs… REX!

With quick thinking and even faster reflexes, Rex had rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a bisection. His eyes wide and froth sticking to the fur on his muzzle, he reclaimed his dropped weapon and dashed towards his foe.

“Does the puppy want to play?” The Shogun said with a sadistic edge to his voice.

Rex slashed down hard, the blade of his axe biting into the monster’s shoulder. Had he been a person, it would have been fatal.

Taking my cue, I moved to the other side and unleased a myriad of slashed across The Shogun’s upper chest and side, ripping through his rotten samurai armour. Acid leaked from the wounds I’d created, peeling skin from bone and armour from flesh.

He winced.

I slashed again, hoping to activate the one new upgrade that might actually affect him: spider’s web. But it didn’t work. I guess a 5% chance to immobilise is pretty slim odds and it was unlikely the poison or infection upgrades would work on… whatever he was.

Panda: Disengage. Bell use fireball.

Bell: How many?

Panda: All of them.

As Panda’s message blinked onto my HUD I jumped backwards, turned and sprinted away. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that thing when Bell unleashed a barrage of searing flames.

This agility increase is incredible! I thought, supressing the urge to laugh as my feet moved across the frozen marsh with the speed of Hermes.

Hoping Rex had done the same, I dismissed my daggers and drew my bow. If I was to be adaptive in battle I needed to learn to switch weapons decisively, plus I had an idea of where Panda was going with this change of plan.

I turned around, as I reached the wooden planks, just in time to see a hailstorm of fire rain down on our opponent. I couldn’t even see his outline against the vast, vibrant flames which smothered the battlefield.

“Holy…” Rex trailed off as he joined me, staring dumbly at the artillery fire. It was like bonfire night, ramped up to eleven and crossed with New Year’s Eve. “I think being a glass cannon suits her, look at that raw power.”

“Definitely,” I agreed, pulling on my drawstring. “And I’m almost ready to add to it.”

Bell: I’m almost out of mana!

Panda: Kaleb, use soul shot.

Kaleb: Already charging one.

Bell’s rain of fire sputtered out almost as quickly as it had started. Left standing on the iced over marsh, decrepit and broken, was The Winter Shogun.

His massive samurai sword dropped limply in his hand; his armour burnt entirely away leaving a floating corpse of blue skin as a sentinel.

“That…” he began, his words slurred and tired. “…Is how you… strike down… an enemy.”

“Close,” I said, “but not quite.”

Releasing my bowstring a soul infused arrow flew towards him, splitting the air with a crack which threatened to blow out my eardrums.

My feet skidded backwards on the ice and if not for my increased strength and agility skills working in tandem I likely would have flow through the shattered town leaving Kaleb shaped holes as I went.

The arrow collided with The Shogun, shattering his form entirely. As the tip pierced him, his entire body exploded like an overfilled water balloon filled with guts and rotten organs.

He was gone in an instant.

I hadn’t thought about the impact my soul shot could have with increased skills, having been too distracted by my shiny new daggers, but holy shit, it was awesome!

As I stood, dumbfounded at what I had done, the ice below my feet disappeared and I dropped into the murky marsh water with a splash.

“Man overboard!” Bell cried.