“Yeah. Yeah, we can keep going. You good?” He asked Bixby who nodded in return.

“Excellent. I suggest that you expend your experience slowly. While the statistic gain per level is easy enough to assimilate, going more than five levels at a time could prove problematic to your health and sanity. As well, it will allow you to choose your Skills, Abilities and Spells as you gain them every five levels.”

Joe did some quick math, “Yeah, okay that’s totally doable. That’s only a plus five to a few statistics, the dragon gave me plus ten to all of them at once.” He looked up to Master Keeroq, “It did drop me to my knees, but I managed it.”

Master Keeroq raised an incredulous eyebrow at Joe’s matter of fact statement but otherwise did not comment. “Very well. This time you will push your combined Mana and Experience pool inwards where you will feel your Class Core residing. Imagine wrapping the energy around the Core and feeding it the energy slowly and steadily. You will feel when it has brought you up a single level. You may stop there and go a level at a time, or you can continue feeding it until you feel a few more levels have been obtained.” He turned his attention to Bixby, “This goes for you as well. You will now control your own leveling.”

Joe closed his eyes and felt for the Class Core with the Mana infused ball of Experience. It was far easier than he expected and the oddity of “feeling” the Core in his chest was surprisingly natural. He pushed the energy into it, which it greedily absorbed. Whoa! This thing is hungry! It felt amazing. It was close to the feeling he got when he absorbed the soul of the crocodile general but where that had a component of pain, this was pure bliss. Joe felt comfortable enough to push more energy and the Core happily devoured it and then demanded more. Greedy much? Joe thought with a smile as he fed it more energy. He was so enrapt with the euphoric feeling of feeding his Core that he barely registered Master Keeroq’s voice. It took a great amount of effort to pull himself away from the feeling of near ecstasy and it was only Bixby’s bark and licks on Joe’s face that finally pulled him away.

Immediately Joe’s body and mind were on fire. The beauty of his Core was replaced by spasms all over his body as his statistic boosts were forced into him. He could barely discern his changing body through the physical pain which was enhanced by something in his head that felt almost broken, like a wound to his spirit. He crashed to the floor, thrashing, and crying out in pain, his True Grit ability gave him no succor from the intense pain. It was just like when the integration was over and he and Bixby were torn apart and rebuilt over and over only worse. At least then, he had passed out, this he felt every second of. Vaguely he heard Bixby howling and Master Keeroq yelling and after what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally subsided leaving him in a puddle of sweat and vomit on the floor of the Class Room.

Joe’s vision cleared and he trembled as he sat up. Hands assisted him and something cold was pressed into his hand, “Drink.” It was a stern command and Joe obeyed without resistance. He placed a ceramic cup to his lips and took a drink. The liquid was ice cold and burned like alcohol going down, but when it reached his stomach, a warmth spread quickly through his body and the remnants of pain disappeared.

He downed the rest and his mind cleared enough to speak. “Double fuck. What happened?” He looked around and was surprised to see half a dozen Void Wolves in the room, all of them giving Master Keeroq a look like he was lunch. But they were all off to one side with Bixby standing between them and Joe and the Class Master who was kneeling next to Joe.

“I am truly sorry Young Sir; I was remiss in warning you about the possibility of Leveling Addiction. I assumed because of your experiences that you would not run afoul of it.”

Bixby nudged Joe’s shoulder and it took Joe a second to remember that the dog had grown so large. “I’m alright. That was amazing and then it was awful.” He dismissed the notifications that had popped up as he was still reeling from the experience influx.

“I am pleased that you appear mostly unharmed, you jumped twenty levels. That would have driven most insane or possibly even killed them outright.” Master Keeroq’s voice held a tinge of awe as he stood and then addressed Bixby. “If you would be so kind as to dismiss your pack?” He indicated the Void Wolves that stood looking ready to devour him.

Bixby blinked then turned to the wolves and let out a few barks. The wolves as a group shimmered out of existence. Joe watched in fascination, “Wow.” He stood, pulled out his cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders. He noted that the mess on the floor was already gone, and Joe wanted his soiled clothing cleaned as well. “Twenty levels? Damn.” He opened his Status screen and looked at his gains. He had sixty points to allocate to his statistics and he thought they were already amazingly high.

“I suggest you allocate your free points slowly?” Master Keeroq gave Joe a questioning look.

“Yeah.” Joe agreed sheepishly.

“And when next you Level, perhaps you will be more frugal in allocating your energy and do it in stages as I originally suggested?”

Chagrined, Joe sat back at the desk. “Will do.” He sat and began to allocate his free points all the while marveling at the process and the feeling of change throughout his body as his statistics increased dramatically. At one point, he looked over at Bixby who seemed engrossed in his own evolution and leveling. Joe shook his head in wonder of it all.

The pair spent another couple of hours Leveling, choosing where to allocate their points and what Skills, Abilities and Spells they wanted. They finally came to a point where Master Keeroq stopped them. “You have reached a threshold in Leveling. You are currently at level forty-five. In five more levels you will reach the Advanced Grade at which point you will have the option to either change or upgrade your Classes. And judging by how much experience you still have left to spend; you will most likely reach close to the middle levels of the Advanced Rank.”

Joe whistled. “Whoa. That’s crazy.” He rolled his shoulders even though he felt amazing and allocated the last few levels, bringing him to Level forty-nine. He quickly checked his notices and was glad that he did. He dismissed the ones that were congratulating him on the various levels he had attained as there were no rewards or necessary information in them. It was the other notices that caught his attention.

Notification! Your ability, Hard to Kill, has been activated.

Congratulations! Your ability, Mental Fortress, has increased to 30%.

Congratulations! Your ability, Mental Fortress, has increased to 35%.

Congratulations! Your ability, Mental Fortress, has increased to 40%.

Achievement Unlocked! Unrelenting Leveler! You have survived Leveling over 20 Levels in one go! Impressive! Reckless and severely dangerous, but impressive. Rewards Unlocked! You and your companion gain +2 Willpower, +2 Luck. Exp earned, 5,000 (Banked). Gold earned 3,000.

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“Master Keeroq, do people normally get achievements for leveling?” Joe asked offhandedly.

“Yes. When you achieve each Rank, there is an accomplishment associated with it.”

“Cool.” Joe brought himself out of his screens and asked, “So now that I’m about to hit Advanced Rank, do I do anything differently?”

“Now, Young Sir, you have a choice to make. Your Class will have alternate paths you may choose to explore or you may continue on the main path you have been on. You may also take on a secondary Class, although I do not recommend it as it will dilute your ability to quickly advance in your main Class. Here, allow me.” He waved his hand and the main wall scroll shifted and a handful of Class options became visible. Joes current Class, Umbral Warden besides continuing on with its own Advanced sets of Skills, Abilities and Spells, could be split off into three other Class upgrades. Umbral Justiciar, Umbral Traveler and Umbral Guardian.

Joe spent some time looking over the descriptions and the changes from his current path were minor between it and Umbral Guardian. Umbral Traveler focused more on exploration and movement but Umbral Justiciar had some interesting differences. After some thought he compared the two with a vague Earth equivalent. Umbral Warden was like a Texas Ranger and State Judge combined, judicial type power but limited in scope. Umbral Justiciar was like a Federal Marshal and a Supreme Court Judge combined, but with some very cool combat abilities. He weighed the options and even consulted Bixby who guessed that he’d probably get pushed to stay an Umbral Warden, but it couldn’t hurt to try. Joe gave Bixby a look and sarcastically said, “Um, yes, it can absolutely hurt to try. Have you been paying attention?” Bixby snorted and went back to his own screens.

A bit nonplussed, Joe went back to the options. He looked Master Keeroq, “I’m going to try for Umbral Justiciar, but my guess, and Bixby’s is that whoever is yanking my strings won’t let me. So, in case I fall over twitching and foaming at the mouth or die or something, you know what’s going on.”

Master Keeroq gave a small smile at the gallows humor and nodded his understanding. Joe focused his Mana and Experience energy once more and pushed for the Umbral Justiciar Class.

Congratulations! You have obtained a Class [Umbral Justici…ldas08(&*^&360)*kjjhsd!!!

The screen glitched out and a new message appeared.

Congratulations! You have obtained a Class [Umbral Ward…;aokP)8734*(5)(*&@!!!

This screen also glitched out and a repeat message appeared.

Congratulations! You have obtained a Class [Umbral Justici…ldas08(&*^&360)*kjjhsd!!!

This went on a few more times until the screen went blank then text appeared.

Warning System tampering detected!! Secondary Security Protocols engaged!!

The scroll closed and Joe waited for several seconds until one more popped up.

Congratulations! You have obtained an Advanced Rank Class [Umbral Justiciar]! As a reward you have earned 10,000 Gold!

“Well hot damn! The System finally fought back!” Joe stood up in his excitement. “Take that you secret System manipulating fucker!” Joe was very pleased that he finally got to choose something on his own and have it stick. “Alright then, let’s take a look at this Class.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully.

Umbral Justiciar

Justiciars are both defenders of the weak and dispossessed but also Judge, Jury and at times Executioner. Where they differ from Wardens is in their acceptance within the Pan-Dimensional community of the Chosen. All Realms have their own laws and codes of conduct and as such they have their own forces to police their populations, however, Justiciars are accepted in all realms and their decisions given heavy consideration when asked to make judgements. Like the Umbral Warden path that they branch from, Umbral Justiciars command the powers of Shadow and Death to defend the weak, protect the world from the most dangerous of threats and dispense justice as they see fit. The Justiciars Guild is highly regarded in all Realms and has a stringent control on who is allowed to train as a Justiciar. Kingdoms and Empires can rise and fall on the judgement of a Justiciar.

Joe sat a moment contemplating the ramifications of the Class. Shit. I hope I made a good choice. Roaming cop? Well, no sense in second guessing myself, gotta make the best of it. Joe took a look at the Class perks.

Umbral Justiciar (Advanced Rank)

+1 Constitution per Level

+1 Perception per Level

+1 Willpower per Level

+3 Statistic Points per Level for free distribution

+10 Health per Level

+5 Stamina per Level

+5 Mana per Level

+1 Skill per every 5 Levels

+1 Ability per every 5 Levels

+1 Spell per every 5 Levels

Joe was pulled from his inspection of his latest Class information by an odd feeling. Instinctively he knew it was Bixby. He closed his screens and turned to his companion. Bixby had just crossed the threshold to Advanced Rank and his body changed once more. His large body became slightly sleeker and a bit more angular around the face and muzzle. His jet back fur became even darker. So much so that Bixby now looked like a black, wolf shaped hole in reality. The effect broke somewhat when he moved, but when he was still, Joe thought he’d be practically invisible at night time or in a dark tunnel. He did a brief inspection and saw that Bixby had chosen to take a branch of his own Class as well. He was now Classed as a Void Stalker. Bixby sat panting a bit after the change then licked Joe. His tongue practically covered Joe’s face. Joe spat and playfully pushed Bixby’s head away, “Dude. Your slobber’s kinda nasty. You need a Tic Tac.” Bixby raised an eyebrow and snorted in amusement.

At Master Keeroq’s urging, the duo spent another hour spending the rest of their experience and allocating their Statistic points. When they were done, they had reached just past level eighteen in the Advanced Rank. Joe felt amazing and unbelievably healthy. His physical statistic gains had changed his body as well, but not anywhere near the extent that Bixby had changed. After a quick consultation with both Bixby and Master Keeroq, Joe found that he had grown at least an inch in height, possibly two and he had filled out quite a bit. He had been muscular before, but not brawny. Now his shoulders were wider and his body felt more substantial. Jeez, I’m less Matthew McConaughey and more Chris Hemsworth now.

“You have now completed the expenditure of your current pool of experience and have allocated all of your Statistic points, Skills, Abilities and Spells. You are ready to go out and face the challenges that lay ahead of you.” Master Keeroq intoned ceremoniously.

Joe smiled, “Thank you so much for your assistance, Master Keeroq. Do we come back when we have enough experience saved to level up again?”

“That is not necessary. You may come back any time, however you only need to return if you wish to reclass, take a secondary Class or level to the next Rank and wish to take a branch of your current Class.” He placed a hand on Joe’s shoulder, “But I would ask that you return in a week or so. That will give me time to query my colleagues as to your curious situation.”

Joe nodded, “I will.” He offered his hand to shake and Master Keeroq took it in a firm grip, “I absolutely appreciate everything you’ve done for Bixby and me.” He gestured to Bixby, “It’s definitely going to take some time to get used to seeing him like that.”

Master Keeroq smiled as Bixby came up to him and butted him with his head. Hesitantly, Master Keeroq patted Bixby’s head which produced a tail wag. “It was my pleasure Adventurer Sherman. Safe travels and may the system be kind to you.”

Joe laughed, “We’ll see. Batting a thousand so far.” He turned towards the door. “C’mon Bix, let’s go find our friends.”