Darkness blossomed around Dahlia and her minions when the black bolt thrown by the wight struck the ceiling above them. The darkness writhed as semi-solid things that felt terribly like snakes, if snake’s scales were covered in a milky and corrosive goo, attempted to grasp and ensnare them. Accompanying the corrosive touch of the nasty things was a terrible cold radiated from the darkness itself. Pain registered through her nerves at the same time as a low growl emerged from Mr. Disapoofer’s throat.

The warp wolf ran and then reality bent around her, and Mr. Disapoofer and Dahlia appeared on the far end of the crypt’s main room. The stairs they had come down were swallowed in absolute darkness which even Dahlia’s ability to see in the dark could not pierce—and in the back of her mind it registered that each of her followers were under attack by that spell.

What also registered in Dahlia’s mind was a voice. This asshole has level 3 spells? It was her own voice, tinged with bitterness, jealousy, and envy. Why should this pathetic creature that failed to properly bargain with a patron be able to cast level three spells when she couldn’t? How did she know it was a level three spell? She’d never even seen it before in her life, but the raw power of the spell dwarfed her own level two spells significantly.

“Raw power isn’t everything in a magic duel, that’s why Deborah keeps beating you, little Dahlia,” Lady Nyxaria had frequently chided Dahlia’s attempts at brute strength in magic against the slightly, barely, more powerful Deborah. But Dahlia wasn’t the same Dahlia who’d been kicked out of the Soulweald over the stupid bet Nyxaria and that Vaeldork guy, and clever ideas flooded her mind.

♫"From fey-bound hands, this gleam takes flight,

A sparkling web of dazzling light!

No shadow hides, no veil can stay,

All secrets fall to the light of the fey!"

"Dust of mirrors, bright and clear,

Shroud their steps and make them appear!

From unseen depths to the world they come,

Bound by glitter—your tricks are done!"

"By fey decree, let colors bloom,

Expose the hidden, dispel the gloom!

A burst of light, your masks undone,

In glitter’s glow, the hunt’s begun!" ♫

Dahlia’s voice shocked the undead when it came from behind him. With each beautifully chanted word motes of magic spread from Dahlia’s glowing wings. The motes of light clung to everything in the room except Dahlia’s minions, and Dahlia herself. The wight, the undead, none were exempted. Even the floor, walls, ceiling, and every other object in the range of her spell got covered in fairy dust. The drab, dark crypt transformed from a gloomy dark place to a brightly lit glistening, glitter filled pastel paradise.

Half of the area covered by Glitter Bomb had been plunged into absolute darkness, while the other half shone bright with fey magic. Xeras and the others could target their enemies without penalty and find their way out of the lingering spell.

Get out of there! Dahlia gave the mental command, even as reverberations of pain echoed through her psychic connection to her minions.

Xeras was the first to emerge from the darkness. The Gloamknight appeared to be unphased by the negative energies of the evil spell, and he stopped the moment he exited the darkness. Xeras raised his free hand, and unleashed torrents of green flame from his hand in the shape of a cone. The snarling, hungry ghouls who had rushed towards the darkness to pick off weakened targets found themselves caught right in the full blast. The green flames scorched the putrid flesh of the ghouls and they continued to burn even after the torrent of flames ceased flowing from Xeras’s hand. None of the five ghouls died, but each looked haggard.

Behind Xeras came Ruth, and her double fire attack finished off two of the five ghouls. Unlike Xeras, Ruth’s spectral form looked lesser than she had mere moments ago. Xeras, the resilient Gloamknight, could shrug off much more than the fragile mage spirit. Dahlia pondered what sort of trickery she could commit with Spirit Merge to give Ruth more survivability.

You have gained (50x2) 100 experience.

Bzzzzzz! The spectral hornets flowed out of the darkness of the spell and moved around Xeras and then through each of the ghouls, stopping at the last ghoul. Each of the undead along its path withered under a barrage of stings and bites.

You have gained 50 experience.

Another of the ghouls died under the swarm’s assault.

“My hard work!” The wight cried out in anguish, before he turned and swung a spectral claw at Dahlia and Mr. Disapoofer.

“Ruff!” Nope! Mr. Disapoofer mocked the undead, the spectral claws found only air as the Warp Wolf vanished and reappeared between the ghast, the ghouls, and the Spirit Swarm.

“Confounded fey!” The wight cursed and flung a bolt of necrotic energies at the Warp Wolf’s new location. This time the bolt of negative energies struck the glowing white fur of the wolf, and Mr. Disapoofer yowled in pain.

“Haha, got you!” The wight bragged.

♫”Wisp of life, wisp of death,

Heal the heart, leave no trace,

Shimmer soft, spirits guide,

Mend the pain, heal inside.”♫

Dahlia’s voice rose urgently, and a Wisp appeared next to her shoulder. She immediately discharged two motes to heal her beloved Familiar.

In a flash of mist and magic Xeras stood behind the wight and lashed out with his sylvan blade. The wooden great sword pierced tattered clothing, sliced through bone, and left a trail of destruction across the body of the caster.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“What fey bullshit is this!? A wooden sword can’t harm me!” The wight screamed in agony, and confusion.

“You dumb ass! Gloombough is a Feyblade forged from the ancient heartwood of one of the Black Towers of Mourning, trees whose sole purpose is to honor fallen Archfey! There’s nothing it can’t cut!” Dahlia stuck her tongue out and blew raspberries at the wight, who went from angry to fearful. Things had taken a dire turn for the wight. As ridiculous as the tiny, glittering, purple haired fairy appeared, her magic and minions annihilated his forces in short order.

You have gained (50x2) 100 experience.

The voice’s notification murmured into Dahlia’s mind moments after Ruth incinerated the last two ghouls.

Bzzzzt! The swarm flowed to cover the ghast, and bite and sting a new opponent. The ghast flailed under the spectral swarm’s wrath. The ghast futilely tried to bite and claw at the intangible enemy. Yet no matter how it clawed at the hundreds of spectral hornets, it failed to strike even one.

Dahlia lifted a hand while she stared at the wight, and a blast of positive energy shot from her hand to smite the ghast. She failed to kill it entirely, but Ruth’s fire bolts finished the nasty thing off, leaving only the wounded wight.

You have gained 112 experience.

“Why? I was fully prepared to kill that idiot Bennet, and you came and ruined everything!” The wight screamed.

“You could be one of my minions,” Dahlia offered.

“Set would never allo—” the wight couldn’t finish his sentence. A telepathic command passed between Dahlia and Xeras. Gloombough severed the wight’s head from its shoulders, and Mr. Disapoofer walked over to chomp the skull into bone shards.

You have gained 275 experience.

Quest complete, report to local authorities for your reward.

“Good job everyone!” Dahlia cheered for her minions. “Especially you, Xeras. You’re a great fighter.”

The Gloamknight bowed his head to Dahlia in subservience, a creature of few words even when praised.

“Let’s look for shiny things while we’re down here!” Dahlia discharged more motes of her Wisp Heal to bring all her crew up to full health, before they each split up to poke at the debris of the tomb. Shockingly, there wasn’t much to be found of any use to Dahlia. She helped herself to a few bone fragments and a pinch of grave dirt, before they exited the tomb. If she merged Shade into another spirit, she’d need the material components to summon a new one.

“Back into my shadow or the Between, everybody,” Dahlia instructed her growing horde. Like good soldiers they followed their orders. Xeras seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if he might say something to Dahlia, but he simply vanished in the end. The fairy didn’t give it much thought and whooshed into the air to take the swiftest path to the Pillars of Ascension.

Whatever Ol’ Menes Book of the Dead might have for secrets paled in comparison to what she might gain from leveling up. Four was a fantastic number, and something about leveling up felt deeply satisfying—it was almost as good as eating sugar cookies.

The familiar darkness surrounded Dahlia when she touched the Pillar.

You have reached level 4. You have gained an additional 2nd level spell slot.

Choose one of the following spells to learn: Alter Shape (2nd), Call Weapon Spirit (2nd), Cloud of Swords (2nd), Summon Beasties (2nd), Webbing (2nd).

“Weapon Spirit!” Dahlia decided after she did a quick run through the options. Alter shape was a bad version of shapeshifting. Why was it bad? Because it didn’t let her change size, and turning into a miniature human or elf wouldn’t do anything. Beasties were actually animals, not spirits or undead, webbing was sticky, and Cloud of Swords sounded neat, but not as neat as weapon spirits. Dahlia didn’t linger on the choice when she felt drawn so strongly to one option.

You have learned the spell Call Weapon Spirit.

Call Weapon Spirit (2nd level necromancy)

Components: Fragment of a broken sapient weapon, consumed on use.

Description: You coax one of the many slumbering spirits of the Soulweald to revitalize a damaged or dead weapon spirit. Weapon type matches that of the material component used. The resultant spirit will be an unpredictable mixture of the new and old spirit. As a Soulshaper you may choose one trait from the original artifact and one from the answering spirit from the Soulweald.

“Crud,” Dahlia whimpered. The spell seemed perfect on paper, except for one problem. Sapient weapons were super rare and hard to find. “Where am I going to find weapon fragments?”

The voice of Nantes did not address Dahlia’s despair over the exotic material component of her new spell. Instead, it moved on.

You may choose between adding +2 to an attribute (cannot exceed 20) or choose from the following list of features. You meet the prerequisites for the following.

Gloamcaller Specific:

Ebon Conductor: Your summoned creatures can channel your spell energy. When you cast a spell, you may deliver it through a summoned creature you control if it is within 60ft. Additionally, you gain the reaction “Take this, too!”, which allows you to cast a damage cantrip in parallel with one of your summoned creatures attacks. Once per day you may cast a leveled spell using Take this, too!

Echoes of the Fey Realms: Your summoned creatures gain the ability to teleport up to 15ft as a bonus. When one of your summoned creatures teleports, it leaves behind a shimmering echo that grants allies within 5ft a bonus to defense.

Oath of the Fallen: Summoned creatures gain a bonus to defense while within 10 ft of you. Additionally, you can mark a creature within 30 ft. If your summoned creatures attack that marked creature, they deal extra damage.

General:

Fast: Your speed increases by 10ft, environmental hazards don’t slow you down, and you gain +1 to Dexterity.

Healer: You gain a bonus for using herbal and medicinal items.

Inspirational Leader: Increase Wisdom or Charisma by 1, to a maximum of 20. Once per rest you can inspire your allies, who gain temporary health.

There were more general features, but most of them were so bad Dahlia muttered “Next!” while the strange voice described them. Dahlia rationalized that most general feats must be for people like Griff. Plain Jane humans with boring classes like logger, and absolutely trash for those who could fly, use magic, and were amazing super Fey like Dahlia herself. She cut the listing short.

“Ebon Conductor!” Dahlia emphatically chose the spell that seemed most useful for her. Visions of her delivering massive attack spells, or even simple cantrips through her minions appealed to her delusions of grandeur far more than any of the others. Teleporting minions would be powerful, but fifteen feet didn’t seem like it would be enough to provide a true, meaningful contribution to any fight.

Thus, Dahlia never saw the option to choose Telekinesis as a General feature.

Level up complete.

The darkness vanished and Dahlia returned to the world of Nantes. People bustled around the town, and the sun hung in the late afternoon position.

“I’ll go find something sweet,” Dahlia proclaimed to the world, and launched herself towards the few food carts and vendors still peddling. Most were helping prepare for the festival.