Lord Merek and Guudnash stood near the chamber of the Town Stone.  According to their calculations, the stone would be entirely corrupted very soon.  If they had arrived earlier, they would have run into Jude.  But since the timing was off, neither side knew of the other.

It wasn’t long before the black mist started to seep out from underneath the Town Stone.  The already dark chamber now seemed even gloomier.  A cold chill and the scent of brimstone began to fill the air.  As more mist rose, bright lightning started crackling forth from the stone landing on the mist. Each strike dispersed the mist making it less.  But this did not stop the mist from coming up.

The majority of the Town Stone was already corrupted, on this small bit that everyone could see was unaffected.  Still, the power it contained was not weak.

***

Jude waited for the Switch, not rushing her.  He knew the momentous decision that she was about to make.  Once she stepped over that invisible line, she would no longer be the Switch of Longdale.  Her future was uncertain, and she could die.

A flash of emotion crossed her face, but it was only for an instant.  Her cold and logical bearing recovered and with no more hesitation, she took that one step.  The one step that would change her life, the one step that could spell her doom and the one step that could free her or enslave her.

Once the first foot landed and the other raised, the connection she had with the Town Stone of Longdale was instantly cut.  Being weakened and sick already, she could no longer stand due to the shock.  

Jude reached out and gently caught her.

“Good,” he said in a kind voice.  “I will do all that I can to help you.”

She was too weak to respond, and Jude’s heart pounded.  He realized that he didn’t have much time!  Typically a Switch cut off from the Town Stone would have a few days before dying.  But this Switch was already weakened by the corruption of the Town Stone.  From her condition, she might only have a few hours!

As the Switch fell into unconsciousness, Jude picked her up and ran the rest of the way out of the tunnel.  To his surprise, it opened up into the Allur Forest.  Perhaps luck was on his side.

Jude still had on with the Ghost Commander variant activated.  He took a moment to locate where he was inside the forest before heading to the nearest node.

Each node had a way to keep it hidden, almost like a test to enter.  The first one Jude had been to before had a bewildering fog and brambles that surrounded it.  In the past, Jude had relied on Theodwin to navigate the fog and enter the node.  The node he was going to had a hidden valley test.  Not only did you have to get through a maze-like hedge of plants and trees inside the valley, but you had to find the valley itself.  The way the land formed made it hard to find, and the only entry to it was a small tunnel between two cliffs.

If Jude had not already seen the map and made notes with Theodwin, he would have never found it.  Nor would he have navigated through the maze in time.  Fortunately for him and the Switch, no monsters spawned in the node areas.  They were simply barriers to keep others out.  It didn’t take long for Jude to make his way through and enter the Node.

Much like the first one, this one was also surrounded by thick tall trees.  A clearing of roots covered by a canopy of leaves gave the place the same surreal feeling as the other node.

Jude put the Switch down and quickly began activating his magic to access the Node.  He was going so quick that he forgot to do the meticulous work of using ; instead, he activated it simply with the intent of connecting it to the node.  All by itself, the skill began operating according to his intent.  It quickly set up all the connections from his Modicuit to the Node!  If anything it was slightly faster than if Jude had done it himself!

Once his connection was established, he went through the various options until he found the one he was looking for: Node Upgrade.  It came with a small description, ‘Upgrade a node site with rare materials.’  He could only guess what this was used for and highly doubted that a Switch would be considered a material.  However, if he could alter the process, there was a chance that he could connect her to the node.

Jude activated the Node Upgrade and got a plethora of notifications.  At the same time, in the center of the node, a large pedestal grew up from the roots below.  The next part of the process would be controlled through the notifications that Jude had received, so he severed his connection with the node.  Then he picked up the Switch and placed her on the pedestal.  It wasn’t quite big enough to hold her without falling off, but the node seemed to be prepared for such a thing and grew out more roots to support her.

More notifications started appearing before Jude, but he ignored them for now.  He cast over the pedestal and Switch to form a means of manipulation he could apply during the process.  Then using he connected the Switch, Node and together.  Jude tried the automated function of and was surprised that it worked once again.

He quickly came to the conclusion that could work in this automated fashion, but it would only Rank Up with Jude using it manually.

Now that everything was set up, Jude turned to the notifications that he had received.  Many of them were warnings.  Warning him about a living organism placed on the pedestal, warning him about corruption in the set object, warning him that node control could change, etc.  He overrode each of the warnings and proceeded with the Node Upgrade.

The node’s reaction startled Jude.  A bright light shined up from under the roots, and the pedestal exploded in vines wrapping Switch up tightly.  Soon the Switch could no longer be seen, and all that remained of the stand and the Switch was an egg structure of wood.  The node then started to draw the egg downwards into the ground so that it could absorb it and begin the upgrade process.

Jude could not let this happen as it would mean the Switch dying and the corrupting the node.  Using his connection to the and its connection to the Switch and node, Jude began manipulating the process.

Jude was able to stop the egg from being drawn into the node underground.  But the process of changing the upgrade was a lot harder.  If he succeeded, the node would essentially be upgraded, just not in a typical way.

He fought the node all night and even expended a significant amount of his mana to fuel the process.  Every time he would get to full mana, he would then dump all of it into the node to stave off the absorption and give him more time to alter the process that the Switch was going through.  Because of his items, various levels, and titles he had a much higher amount of mana than normal people.  He also had a much faster mana regeneration, so he was able to pump a massive amount of energy into the node.

After frist light, things finally settle down.  His eyes were red, and he felt exhaustion from every part of his body, but it wasn’t over yet.  Next, he got this notification:

Life entity integration beginning.  Switch lifeform found.  Lifeform origins do not match required integration. Eject lifeform or transform?

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He couldn’t stop the process now, so he selected transform.  He was then presented with a long list of suitable lifeforms, but Jude needed to find just the right one.  And the one he chose was fairy; it was a small magical being that retained a human appearance but had insect-like wings.  These creatures often appeared as little dots of light from a distance and would be the perfect thing for removing the corruption from the Switch.

There wasn’t a lot of corruption inside of the Switch, but Jude was worried that it would fester like an infected wound if left alone.  The process of changing the Switch from human size to fairy size was also risky, but he saw no other way to remove the corruption completely.

When he selected the fairy option, the egg began to glow.  Jude was thankful that the Switch had lost consciousness as he could only imagine that the process would not be pleasant otherwise.  Then he began to monitor the process through the .

Everything seemed to be going smoothly when an error popped up!

Error: Subject incompatible.  Subject may not survive, continue?

Jude selected yes.  was partially a battery for mana, so Jude began transferring mana to the and then to the Switch through the .  It wasn’t the best way of sustaining her, but it was the only way Jude had at the moment.  The corruption was getting smaller, but some still remained.

He got the same notification two more times but persisted on.  Finally, by the third time he got the same notification, the corruption finally was gone.  Through he could see that the Switch was half way through the metamorphosis of becoming a fairy.

If he continued with the process, he wasn’t sure if he could keep her alive.  But if he didn’t continue, he wasn’t sure what the node would do with her.  Still, he was confident that he could manipulate the outcome with his so he decided to stop the process.

When he did, he got another notification.

Species mutation options: Due to the incompatibility of the first transformation, species mutation options have been opened.  Please select from the following list.

This time Jude picked something from the list that seemed more compatible with the node's environment.  There were no fairies in Allur Forest, but since it was a forest a dryad would be a good fit.  Jude selected Dryad and hoped for the best.

Jude continued to monitor the process as he was worried another error would happen.  But at this time Theodwin entered the node.

Theodwin entered the node and was slightly surprised.  Not at seeing Jude, but the thing that was in front of Jude.  Jude also noticed Theodwin, but he didn’t say anything due to him concentrating on the Switch.

“Jude, what is that thing?” Theodwin asked.  He had been to this site before and knew that the egg had not existed there the last time he entered.

“This is the Switch of Longdale,” Jude said.  Then he explained how he rescued the Switch and the corruption of the Town Stone to Theodwin.

“It’s amazing that you got this far in integrating the Switch into the node,” Theodwin said. “But what will happen to Allur Forest once she fully integrates with it?”

“I’m not sure, why?  You seem concerned.” Jude asked.

Theodwin was worried, “What comes out of that egg may no longer be the Switch you knew.  In fact, it is entirely possible that the whole of Allur Forest will become classified as a Dungeon and the Switch the dungeon boss!”

Jude hadn’t considered this, but it was possible.  However, he wanted to hear Theodwins full explanation, so he asked, “Why do you think that?”

“Because there is no other spawn zone with a node controller.  The only thing close to such an existence is a Dungeon Boss.  Remember how you told me about your experience in the Grimwar Caves?  The dungeon boss was located on the control structure or ‘dungeon node.'  Now we are here at a node site and what looks to be a boss level character is about to be born.

“Just look at the surrounding sites of the nodes.  Especially this one, it’s precisely the kind of thing you would have to go through to get to the boss.  I would bet that after she emerges, spawned monsters will start appearing in the maze outside.”

“That is all possible, but it is also conjecture,” Jude replied.  “I won’t say that I know this for sure, but I feel that you are not right this time.  And the reason why is because of me.  If this process had happened without me, then what you said may have very well happened.  But I have been here manipulating the process and investing my own mana into the node.  I’ve kept some of the fundamental parts of the Switch from changing.  This means that she should keep not only her old consciousness but also some of her abilities as a Switch.

“The of Grimwar Caves did not seem to be in control of the dungeon node.  If he had been, everything in the dungeon would have been a higher level or at least his two that guarded his door.  How he advanced in levels, I do not know, but it was not because he controlled the dungeon node.

“This Switch here will be able to control the node.  If she becomes labeled as the boss of Allur Forest, she will become something entirely different than any boss before her.  Especially when she keeps her memories from before.”

Theodwin wasn't entirely convinced, “If what you say is true, then perhaps there is a chance—”

BOOM!

Theodwin was cut off by an incredibly loud sound.  It didn’t come from the node but back from Longdale.  Soon after the earth shook and a dark cloud was forming over the town.

At the same time Jude got a notification:

Metamorphosis interrupted.  Error in computing species transformation.  Error lack of Divine or Mystical trees to support Dryad.  Error Unknown.  Error in node status. Error Unknown. Error Unknown.  Error in errors.

Please select a new species mutation: Trent, error in list generation.

Without another choice Jude chose Trent.  Things were apparently coming to an end in Longdale, but he couldn’t leave the node site until he was done.  After all, Jude didn’t want what Theodwin theorized to happen.  Only with him there would he be able to keep the Switch from turning into a boss.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too mad being made into a Trent.

“You are clearly busy here,” Theodwin said, “so I will find out what is happening in Longdale.”

Jude was about to say something, but Theodwin interrupted, “Don’t worry, I’ll be safe.  I may be a crafter, but I have the means to protect myself.”

The metamorphosis would take some time, so Jude nodded his agreement and went back to work.

***

The battle was finally won between the Town Stone and the corruption.  The Town Stone ended up blowing to smithereens taking most of the citadel with it.  By some unknown means, Guudnash and Lord Merek were unharmed.

After the Town Stone was destroyed and before the dust settled from the destruction of the citadel, a new stone formed to replace the old Town Stone.  This one was much different from the last one.  It was pure obsidian and formed itself like a monolith rather than an obelisk.  Blood seeped out of its surface and created archaic words and symbols that ran across only one side.

While the stone formed, the black mist started shooting up to the sky.  The mist gathered in the clouds turning them dark and spreading across the landscape.

“Ha ha ha,” Merek laughed, “Gather the slave demons and let’s begin my ascension!”

***

Dark clouds now encompassed the entire Allur Forest, and chaotic lightning danced through the clouds ominously.  Jude was still trying to keep the Switch alive and sane.  But he felt that he was running out of time.

He forced to speed up the process.  But as he did so, he felt as if he was losing himself in the process.  Not only was he fueling the transformation with his MP but his HP as well.

He took out a health potion and chugged it.  There was a limit to how often you could take health potions, so he would have to be careful how he used them.  But to his surprise, the health potion did nothing!

As his health and mana were draining, he noticed that the Switches transformation was speeding up.  But Jude wasn’t sure if he could sustain this process.  Especially without health potions.

When he reached half health, he tried to slow the process down but he couldn’t!  He was locked into what he had started!  His body ached, and he felt that he was getting thinner as if the loss of HP meant something else.  But what it was he did not know.

Watching the change inside the egg with made Jude depressed.  Not only were there clear signs of the Dryad still in the Switch but the fairy as well!  For everything to be complete and her transformation into a Trent to be final, those vestiges of the previous races would still need to go away!  But Jude didn’t have nearly enough health to pull that off.  If he couldn’t pull himself out of this 'speed up' cycle, he would die!

He tried to cancel the magic, disperse the magic, cut his connection.  But nothing he tried worked! 

He was now at a quarter health.

Then it stopped.  His health drain stopped.  The disappeared. And the egg crumbled away.

Jude let out a sigh and looked to see the new Switch in front of him.  What he saw left his jaw hanging.

It was a . (Fairy-dryad-trent)