Solarion teleported into a room full of gods, all sharing the same goal, for now. There was Mazu, the Mistress of the Tides, one of many water gods but undoubtedly one of the most powerful. She was skilled in fighting the undead, as her domain was close to the Eternal Dominion. Next to her stood Amoja, Flamebearer of the Eternal Pyre, a goddess of fire. Then there was Atheos, a stone-turned warrior of incredible strength and one of the first to reach godhood after the extinction. Beside Atheos was Shargas, the blood-frenzied Ravager, a giant orc who had killed many gods since his ascension. To his right stood an archer in a green-brown cloak with a bow slung around his shoulder: Aeta, the Pathfinder. Next to Aeta was Maher, a blademaster who fought with two curved short swords.
The last two were Erynodor and Isis. Erynodor was one of the strongest mages in existence and his wife Isis, a healer who had achieved godhood.
"So, what is the current situation?" Solarion asked the group, it shouldn't be too good.
"It is fine; the humans got a significant buff and might be able to fight the undead in the tutorial," Amoja said with a smile.
"It is not fine," Mazu interjected. "The Eternal Dominion has mostly blessed survivors at the fourth stage, while most humans still reside at the third stage. They are not gaining power fast enough. Are you ignoring the fact that they got integrated with an entire planet of vampires?"
"True, but there are also the elves," Solarion said. The elves were their own faction, thinking themselves superior to everyone else. They immediately began blessing their kind upon entering the tutorial.
"They haven’t responded to our messengers, and the elves and the undead at the fourth stage have some kind of non-aggression agreement," Mazu explained, hiding her anger.
"Don’t they know the undead will come for them too?" Aeta asked confused, but the elves had always been a weird race.
"They do know, but they see it as an opportunity to reap more rewards after both sides are weakened," Solarion said. "They most likely believe themselves superior to everyone else since they were the first to achieve godhood."
"We need them on our side. The elves have already been gathering human slaves since the beginning of the tutorial," Isis mentioned; this can't continue."
"Indeed. When the humans have to fight both the undead and the elves, the future looks bleak," Erynodor agreed in a serious tone.
"When they’re already planning to reap rewards after we defend against the undead empire, they could even instruct the elves in the tutorial to attack the humans when they advance to the next stage," Maher added, worried.
"What about the other orcs?" Solarion asked Shargas, the only orc in the room.
"They also don’t want to pick a side. Most likely, they’re hoping for war too," Shargas rumbled with killingintend mixed in his voice.
"Could you bless the orcs on the third stage?" Mazu asked hopefully. She had already blessed many, but without the support of the other gods, it would be useless. She alone couldn't match the undead dominion.
"Yes, only one, but he is with the humans. The other orcs on that stage are already blessed by other orc gods. You know my standing with the other orc gods isn’t good. If I bless someone, they’ll just get killed," Shargas answered with burning hate in his voice.
"It’s not just the orc faction; it’s every faction. The witches, the Spider Queen, and the TechnoSyndicate," Solarion thought. And those weren’t even all of them, but probably the most powerful.
"This situation is getting out of hand. We need to prepare for war. If we let the Eternal Dominion gain this asset, they might become the strongest gods in existence."
<--
After a short walk, they entered a room resembling the entrance hall of a small palace, with many couches around a fireplace and even a bar.
"So, what do you want?" Kai asked with a smug grin from behind the bar, which was slightly out of character for the calm light warrior.
Thalion took a beer, like most of the others, except for the orc and the teenage girl, who grabbed several bottles of vodka. They then sat down in front of the warm fireplace and began sharing their stories.
"So, we went after one of the blue robes who messed with us when we were slaves and often whipped us," Annie started, with Jakob nodding along.
"We sneaked into his house, and when he noticed us, we struck. After a short fight, we killed him. Next were the slaves in the basement. It broke our hearts, but there was no way to save them," Jakob continued.
"Wait, you killed slaves from Earth?" Sylas asked in surprise. "You never told that part of the story."
"Well, we’re not proud of it, but the plan of the blue robes was to kill them and feed their bodies to the fish. We had no choice; they would have died anyway," Jakob said, looking at the ground.
"We managed to break into four more houses until we were noticed, and after too many came, we triggered the evolution and escaped," Annie finished their story.
"How many slaves did you smash?" the orc, Kargul, asked laughing after downing two bottles of vodka.
"We killed around thirty slaves before we left," Annie answered, still upset.
"Cool. No wonder you had so many credits," Kargul nodded, reaching for another bottle.
"You already know our story," Kael said with a smile. "After running from Thorwald, we made camp and leveled everyone to level 25. Then we teleported to the third stage. We had a few clashes with humans and orcs, but nothing we couldn’t handle."
"For me, it was different," Evelyn said. "I was in a party of ten humans. Then a woman named Cathrin, a mage, started murdering everyone after we teleported to stage two. I managed to run from her and hide until I found Kargul."
"Where is that woman now? She could have been blessed by a god back then," Thalion said, deep in thought.
"No idea, and I’m happy I haven’t seen her since. She always had an evil look in her eyes," Evelyn said, shuddering.
"Don’t worry, Eve. If we meet her again, I’ll smash her for good," Kargul said, patting her shoulder.
"I, the great Kargul Blackrock, was betrayed by my two brothers. They tried to kill me, but I was stronger, so I smashed their heads," Kargul roared in triumph. "But they managed to injure me badly, and I was out of health potions. Then I met Eve, and since then, we’ve been smashing people together. Well, mostly me, but she’s getting better."
"I haven’t smashed anyone yet; I’m a healer," Evelyn laughed, and the others smiled as well.
"Yes, but I can see that you want to," Kargul continued with a grin. "One day, you will become a great head-smasher."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
After they laughed for a bit, Kael asked, "What’s your story, Thalion? I think you have the most interesting one of all."
There it was, the moment Thalion had thought over for some time. What should he say? How could he explain that he had lied? But he decided that telling the truth was best. The only detail he wouldn’t share was that he once had a glowhorn form. If it were up to him, that detail could be lost in the river of time, never to appear again.
"Before I tell you about what happened after we parted, I need to come clean about one thing," Thalion began. "When I said I was a mage, that might not be the truth. I’m actually..."
But he couldn’t continue, as Kargul interrupted loudly, "Because you’re a berserker! Why else would the umbral predator talk with you?"
"Wait, no, I am not a Berserker," Thalion said in confusion. Just what was up with that orc?
"So, you're a light warrior mage," Evelyn interjected before he could continue. "Sylas said you were super fast and dodged all his spells."
"No, not really," Thalion replied. "My class is a little different..."
"A pyromancer! I knew it!" Sylas cheered. "That’s why you used the fireball and the other spells. You must have been setting your blood on fire to give yourself extra speed."
"Okay, can you let me speak for one sentence without interrupting?" Thalion said this was getting really annoying. "It also has to do with the umbral predator. I didn’t really meet it because..."
"You lied!" Kargul concluded. "You never met it because you're not a berserker, and you're not strong enough for the mighty being to show itself. Ah, you humans are truly so easy to read."
At that moment, Thalion was holding his head with both hands. He had fantasized about how this would go, but nothing like this had crossed his mind.
"But if you didn’t meet it, how could you tell everyone that it wouldn’t be a problem?" Kael asked confused.
"Oh, because of all the flowers," Jakob exclaimed. "Now I understand!" Jakob and Annie both started laughing loudly.
"Wait, we still don’t know how you met it, and why do you know more now?" Evelyn asked, still puzzled.
"You should just use the skill and scare them a bit," Annie suggested with a big grin.
"This is getting way out of hand," Thalion thought. Whether in a good or bad way, he couldn’t tell.
Thalion tried again, "So, my class is actually a shapeshifter."
"What does that have to do with the umbral predator?" Kargul exclaimed, shaking his head. "Ah, those silly humans."
"That sounds so cool! Can you transform into me and use my spells?" Sylas asked, his eyes gleaming. "I really want to fight myself one day."
"Well, no, actually. I can only take the form of beasts after I kill them or if they let me," Thalion explained. "But the second part has never happened so far."
"Okay, you're not a mage but a shapeshifter. So, what’s the big deal? And why did Annie and Jakob already know?" Sylas asked while taking a sip from his drink.
"You were the speaking wolftiger," Kai said in a calm voice.
"Bingo!" Annie and Jakob shouted in unison. "He killed the guard, but we didn’t manage to destroy the cuffs fast enough, so he sprinted with us in a different direction so the others could escape."
"Wait, but if you spin the story further, are you saying he's the umbral predator?" Kael asked, pushing his chair back.
"Haha! Silly humans, you truly have a great sense of humor. I almost fell for it!" Kargul laughed loudly.
"What happens when you shapeshift?" Kai asked, intrigued. "Do you feel a surge to kill or something like that?"
"No, I stay the same. Just my body transforms. There are no negative effects," Thalion explained, wondering what was happening at the moment.
"But what happens with your human body? Do you even get skills?" Kai pressed the issue.
"Well, I’m not just a shapeshifter since I got to F grade. But until then, yes, I pretty much didn’t get any skills," Thalion said. "Ah, wait, I got a skill that lets me transfer attributes from one form to another, but that’s it. The rest I bought from the system shop."
"Okay, doesn't sound that strong anymore," Kael commented with a smile.
"So, which forms do you have? I say you’ve got at least twenty," Sylas guessed.
"Never! I say five," Evelyn interjected.
"I bet he's got more than thirty," Kael mentioned.
"Haha! You humans are funny. I want to guess too," Kargul laughed, clearly feeling the effects of the seven bottles of vodka.
The others joined in with their guesses, the wildest being Kai's, who said sixty-one forms.
"You’re all wrong. I just have one," Thalion sighed a bit embarrassed.
"Wait, only one? That sounds like you're not really using your class," Kael laughed and grabbed another beer.
"For me, it’s all about quality," Thalion replied, trying to explain his situation.
"Enough talking! I want to see what the umbral predator looks like," Annie shouted. "Was it the normal path of evolution or all those flowers you ate to boost dark affinity?"
"I think a bit of both, I guess," Thalion said as he triggered the shapeshift skill. In the next moment, the umbral predator was sitting on the armchair.
"What the fuck?" Sylas exclaimed, almost falling off his chair.
"Okay, enough! Umbral predator spit our friend out again, or I’ll have to smash you," a completely drunk Kargul mumbled.
Thalion didn't want to push the issue further and transformed back.
"How does it feel?" Kai asked, very interested. "And how many times can you transform?"
"Well, strong, of course," Thalion said, shrugging his shoulders. "The mana I used for the skill has already regenerated, so many times, I guess."
"Haha, it would be so funny if you had transformed in front of Michael. That would have scared the guy for good," Kael laughed loudly.
"Well, I would like it if you could keep it a secret. I don't want everybody to know," Thalion said, trying to stay serious.
"That's understandable," Kael said. "The umbral predator could actually be a big thing, keeping Steven away from us."
"Yeah, that guy is super pissed after I killed a lot of his men when he slaughtered the people in Michael's base, Thalion commented. So, better not tell that guy."
"Wait, so you fought him?" Kai asked, surprised.
"Not really. I fought Thorwald after I killed his group. Just as I was about to finish the guy for good, Steven saved him, and I had to flee," Thalion said with a shrug.
"Wait, you fought Thorwald after killing his entire team? How many were there—ten?" Kael asked in surprise.
"Uh, more like twenty," Thalion replied, or were it more. He didn't remember.
"What? Twenty? Just how strong is that form of yours? What rarity is it?" Kael questioned quickly.
"Yeah, not telling," Thalion smiled. "But you could actually help me a lot with that. Can you order everyone out there hunting to put the corpse of the beasts in a special ring and bring it back?"
"Sure, I can do that, but a lot of the beasts are used by all the craftsmen," Kael explained the current situation.
"Hm, that sucks. How about plants that can increase dark affinity?" Thalion asked. That would be very important for his E-grade evolution.
"Actually, we already have a whole granary filled with that stuff," Kael said. "Since we don't have enough alchemists for everyone and there is no money, we made rules that the more you contribute, the more access you gain to an alchemist or craftsman."
"So you wouldn't mind if I snacked a bit on the stuff?" Thalion said with greed, the understatement of the year; he would devour everything.
"Sure, it’s one of the things the alchemists haven't used yet, so it should be fine. I could even give out some instructions to look out for those plants," Kael mentioned with a lazy wave of his hand.
"That would be perfect," Thalion urged the man on. This was going better than he could have ever imagined.
"There’s still one other thing," Thalion sighed, "and it has to do with the gods."
"Wait, why with the gods? We already know about Ankhet Sekhmara," Sylas said, confused. "Everyone in the room except you is blessed by a god."
"Do you remember back at the makeshift camp when the orcs attacked and later Thorwald?" Thalion asked Kael.
"Yes, of course. How could we forget?" Kael nodded while taking a big sip from his bottle, with Kai and Sylas nodding along.
"Well, after I killed the two vampires..."
"What? You killed them?" Kael interjected loudly, almost shooting out of his chair. "How is that possible?"
"Yeah, I did. Anyway, when I did, I got a plant that is now in my body and feeds on blood and also allows me to cast blood spells," Thalion continued. It was maybe a bad idea to tell them his secret like this, but they should know about what the undead were planning on the higher stages. He could only hope that it wouldn't backfire in the future.
"Okay, what is so special about it? So you can use blood spells?" Sylas asked, one eyebrow raised.
"It’s more about the god that invited me," Thalion said. They were pretty chill when he told them that he could do blood spells, but in the end, why was it so special? Others were burning people with fireballs. How you killed someone probably didn't really matter as long as it got the job done.
"So you do have a blessing, Sylas exclaimed. Now this all makes much more sense."
"No, I don’t. I rejected the god," Thalion replied, regretting that he had mentioned it.
"Why would you do that? A blessing gives so many benefits," Sylas argued, now confused again.
"I was invited by the vampire god Tenebrice, and he told me about the plan of the undead gods," Thalion explained with a sigh. Maybe they should have talked before getting drunk.
"What? How? What is their plan?" Kael exclaimed with wide eyes.
"They will be waiting for us on the fourth or fifth stage, and they will help Ankhet Sekhmara. He tried to recruit me for that job, but I declined," Thalion explained his situation.
"This is bad," Kael said. "We need to speed up a lot. It will take at least two weeks to get everyone to 50,000 credits, and the undead should be stronger or, even worse, could have already set up traps."