I wasn’t sure what Ethan chose, but I knew he had chosen something. The older man reached out in front of him and gingerly touched some invisible option. Ethan suddenly sucked in air like he’d been punched in the gut by a club, his face scrunching in pain.
He collapsed to the floor, kneeling at my feet with his eyes affixed to the ground. For a moment, I saw something like hesitation in his eyes, but it quickly shifted into resolve. Still keeping his eyes on my feet, Ethan spoke. His voice was deep and rough, a constant growl in his throat causing his words to come out in a powerful rumble. “Thank you for this gift, my Queen. I will use it well.”
I grinned, not entirely sure what was happening if I was being honest, but wanting to appear as though I did. “Rise, Paragon. A great battle awaits us against those who have wronged you.” I motioned him toward the others, who had taken many steps away from us, leaving a large empty chasm between us. Even Dralos had retreated, admiration and awe shining bright in his black-tainted orange eyes. “Tell us of your experience.”
Ethan nodded and then straightened. I struggled to keep the surprise off my face as Ethan stood at least an entire foot taller than he had earlier. Every second that passed, he seemed to grow younger. His wrinkles smoothed around his eyes and forehead, muscles expanding like wild vines along his limbs even as he continued to grow. At first, I thought Ethan had simply regressed, but there was no way the System had so easily granted him enough heart energy for a reformation… was there?
When his body finally ceased growing, he towered over even Dralos, somewhere over seven feet tall. Ethan, as if knowing the exact reaction I desired, turned his gaze up toward the cavern ceiling and released a guttural warcry. The weaker battle slaves cowered away, hiding behind their friends, as the stronger ones gawked at Ethan’s display of primal power. As the energy radiated from him, there was a bright flash as the tattoo mark on his right forearm shattered, freeing him.
What in Ashwash’s name had the System turned the old man into? I wondered, reaching out with the remains of my sputtering heart energy to approximate Ethan’s new level of heart energy.
My attempt was quickly made void as a black box with red text appeared in front of me as if reading my intentions. And just like with Ethan, I suspected it had maybe read my desires somehow.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations! Paragon 001 has achieved successful metamorphosis and a class upgrade.]
[Name: Ethan Brooks]
[Class: Primal Berserker]
[Race: Human?]
[SYSTEM NOTE: Paragon’s initial level has been lowered by ten to match the amount of non-bonus heart energy obtained through the Main System before metamorphosis.]
[Level: 25]
[Open subwindow for additional statistics on Paragon 001]
I briefly wondered whether the 'levels' had some measure of comparison with Cores and heart energy and asked, “What is a metamorphosis?” I whispered the question so quietly under my breath I wasn’t sure even Dralos, standing at my side, had heard me.
[System Message: All Paragons will change and undergo a metamorphosis based on the Host’s overall potential]
“Explain more,” I hissed, but the System refused to respond. “Ashwash curse this stubborn thing.” I let out a breath and tried to refocus.
The System hadn’t actually explained what a metamorphosis was. And were all Paragons going to match me in raw potential then? That didn’t seem likely. The System had said "based on" rather than "equal to." I grit my teeth at the ridiculously ambiguous nonexplanation.
I waved my hand through the intangible subwindow button and a much larger black window opened. I scanned it for a moment. The Desire System was providing me with numbers for various characteristics like strength, intelligence, and others for Ethan. I closed the window without taking too close a look. Without others to compare the numbers with, they were just floating numbers that held no meaning.
“My level is lower,” Ethan said, “but all my attributes are higher now. And I can feel my potential, my ability to grow. It's like a fire in my gut, begging me to start on my path.” He dug his fingers into his torn shirt that dangled limply from his neck, just barely hanging on. “I will not waste this opportunity granted to me.” Ethan grinned wildly, all indication of his aged features gone. Even his personality seemed to have shifted, sparked with life and fire. “I… I feel like I can make the entire world tremble.”
It looked like he was going to say more, and the woman from earlier had opened her mouth again to interrupt, but a scrawny woman burst through the crowd. The two men she struggled to squeeze between parted and she tumbled forward, stopping hard when her back smacked into Ethan’s leg, now more like a tree than the leg of a man.
“Can… can you turn me into that?” the woman begged, scrambling to her feet sheepishly. Her face had turned a deep shade of red but her expression remained set. “I want what he has. I’ll give you whatever you want.”
I took the woman in for a moment. Not a woman. A girl. She looked only a few years older than me. No older than Romeo, so likely in her late teens. Even standing this close to her, I couldn’t tell exactly what color her hair was, so covered in dirt she was. The strands were so matted and dirty that I could only guess it was some lighter brown color. Maybe orange. She was excessively pale and slim, underfed, and bruises littered her entire body, except for her face. Yellow eyes in the shape of diamonds glared from under her matted hair, contrasting with the tentative, soft sound of her voice.
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“It doesn’t work that way,” I responded flatly, without emotion. Like Ethan, she didn’t need my pity. If what she wanted was pity, she would not have come forward, much less so quickly. “You will be granted an ability that suits you.”
Probably, anyway. It could be that all Paragons would upgrade to the same Primal Berserker. How would I know? I didn’t say any of that out loud though.
The girl bared her teeth in an unnaturally animalistic way, the ends of her lips coming up in a wolfish snarl. “I don’t give a shit. Give me that power too.” Her sudden outburst of aggression took me aback, and I raised an eyebrow. After a moment, the girl cooled, her sheepish smile returning. “Sorry. I really need it.” Her eyes lit up for a moment and she kneeled. “Please.”
I looked down at the girl, reopening the cut on my palm that had already started stitching itself together with Dralos’ dagger. “Keep in mind, girl. I am not salvation. I cannot bring you hope. I will not get your revenge or fulfill your desires. I simply give you a chance.”
The girl lifted her chin and stared straight at me. Not defiantly, but resolutely. “One chance is all I need.”
I extended the dagger for her to cut her palm and we repeated the binding ritual. This time, the room didn’t turn cold. It turned hot. A boiling heat filled the dungeon, turning all the buckets of water into condensation, and wisps of flame enveloped us, lashing out randomly to set afire beds or someone’s clothes. Where Ethan’s binding had been one of death and hate, this binding instead emanated desires of life and love. Though both were desperate, I could tell her desires were much different from Ethan’s. And my own as well.
The heat and flames eventually subsided, and I noticed the others had once again retreated away from us. A few of the stragglers had been caught in the flames, wailing in agony at their burned flesh. The girl and I remained in the center of a scorched circle, untouched by the flames. Just as with Ethan, a dark crescent moon was burned into the center of her palm. She closed her eyes, letting the feeling pass through her before she stood.
When she finally got to her feet, she too had begun to change. The first difference was her hair; the brown and red tint seemed to flake off, leaving only a bright, untarnished white with small black strands striking horizontally along the center. She grew only a few inches in height, but all her previous scrawniness vanished like Ethan’s age. Her muscles expanded and tightened into bundles of power. Her nails elongated and then retracted before elongating again like a tiger flexing its claws. She smiled at me as the metamorphosis came to an end, two sharp canines protruding over her bottom teeth. Just like Ethan, blue fluid began streaming out of her as the Desire System purified her of the Main System’s influences.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations! Paragon 002 has achieved successful metamorphosis and a class upgrade.]
[Name: Nida Keys]
[Class: Primal Tigerkin]
[Race: Therianthrope?]
[SYSTEM NOTE: Paragon’s initial level has been lowered by twenty-five to match the amount of non-bonus heart energy obtained through the Main System before metamorphosis.]
[Level: 15]
[Open subwindow for additional statistics on Paragon 002]
What in the nine hells was a Tigerkin? I figured it was something similar to a beastman, perhaps one from the Tiger tribe. I wanted to ask Nida what that meant and what she was, but the tension in the crowd had turned into outright excitement as people began to push forward, each wanting their turn to obtain power.
Some of the battle slaves refused to participate. I didn’t give them much mind and continued to grant the System to those who came forward.
Around fifteen battle slaves in total stepped forward, not including Ethan and Nida. The fifteen were a combination of species and classes I'd never heard of before, with abilities I could barely understand. I glanced over their Paragon files as they popped up, but didn't immediately pay the files much attention considering I barely understood any of it.
Seventeen was a substantially lower number than I’d expected, though, looking around at the scared expressions of most of the others, I supposed I would have been hard-pressed to say it was surprising. Those who had chosen to serve as Paragons stood behind me, opposing those who hid or scowled across from me.
After the last volunteer stood and underwent his metamorphosis, I pocketed my hand, hiding the slowly recovering scars. The many cuts on my palm screamed and throbbed with irritation. I’d been slowly draining what little energy my core had gathered in a constant attempt to heal it between each Deal in case I needed to act quickly. Luckily, passing on the System and creating Paragons didn’t cost me any effort. It was as painless as it was effortless, a simple exchange of words and blood. Unluckily, healing was not without great effort.
The woman who had argued with Ethan earlier stepped in front of the crowd, stalking angrily toward me until we were nearly nose to nose. A strand of her blonde hair slipped from behind her ear, falling to sway gently between us. “This is absurd. You are all being fooled by this little… by this insane child,” she shouted, poking my chest with an ugly, crooked finger that had clearly been broken at some time and never set properly.
“Are you blind, Narissa?” Ethan grumbled, taking a step in her direction as though she had personally insulted him. “You think this,” he motioned with his hands to his new body, “is a trick?”
“I don’t know what it is,” she hissed in my face, “but there is something wrong about all of this. How are you breaking the slave bindings? Are you going to take responsibility for everything when the Slavers find we’ve tried to escape? Will you be killed on all our behalf?” Narissa turned her back on me to face the others. “She’s going to get us all killed when the Slavers find out. For all we know, she is possessed by a demon. Do we really know what this System is? And haven’t you guys noticed who’s with her?” She glanced at Dralos and the tied-up Chella. “Who’s to say she isn’t with the slavers?” Narissa turned back toward me with her usual scowl. “You should know your place, Lady Lilliana. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to not cause trouble for others? Gods, just when I’d managed to get a little leeway with some of the guardsmen, you’re going to ruin everything and get us killed! I can’t say I’m surprised though, the guards did tell me your mother was your father’s pathetic little bitch—”
Dangling feet. Blood. Empty blue eyes. My father’s look of disgust as my mother’s life left her. As it left her because of me.
I plunged Dralos’ dagger through her heart in a single, swift motion. I gazed at her with a casual expression that disguised the pure rage her words had stirred. “You talk too much.” As Narissa slumped to the floor, blue eyes wide and mouth open in shock, I withdrew the dagger. “Luckily, you have your use.” I reached deep inside my Core, looking for a specific type of heart energy.
There it was. At the center of my Core, I found a bundle of hibernating heart energy. Energy with the attribute of a Soul Weaver.
With that, I reached into the puncture wound the dagger had opened and yanked out Narissa’s heart, surrounding it with the force of soul attribute heart energy. Before Narissa’s heart energy could resist the magnetic attraction of my soul attribute, I opened my Core to the homeless energy and pulled.
The raw heart energy didn’t need much encouragement. It flooded into my Core like a hurricane.