My senses sharpened as the energy of a portal crackled nearby. But the sudden appearance of Illyanna, glowing in her divine ethereal beauty, caught me off guard. The realm was no stranger to magic, but the very essence of a deity materializing was unsettling, even for a Drow Warlock of my new-found stature.

As she urgently whispered to me "Blake, you must leave this place. Now. We'll talk after you're safe.", I quickly weighed the situation. My fingers twitched, calling Lilura's attention and told her to toss the intruder through the portal. The succubus, a creature of immense power and unparalleled loyalty in this circumstance, responded without hesitation. With a sweeping motion of her hand, she hurled the limp form of the intruder through the portal.

Illyanna's expression was one of shock, but before anyone could further react, Blake signaled his companions. "Emma! Jacob! Stella! With me!" Without a moment's hesitation, they jumped through the portal with the stunned deity following behind.

We emerged on the other side, the scenery shifting dramatically. It was an expansive, undulating field, bathed in soft sunlight. But what struck me was the eerie stillness. Birds hung motionless in the sky, and even the rustling leaves were frozen mid-swirl. The only ones seemingly unaffected by the temporal stasis were me, Lilura, and Illyanna.

"Quite the welcome," I remarked sarcastically, adjusting to the serenity of the environment, in stark contrast to the tumultuous moments before.

Illyanna, regaining her composure from the unexpected maneuver, responded, "Blake, you don't understand. Clemoria is on the brink of chaos. Your presence, your power, it’s disrupted the very essence of this realm."

I smirked. "Well, being a hero wasn't exactly on my agenda when I woke up today. Funny how one moment you're doing end game content in Questcraft, and the next, you’re... this." He gestured to himself, the embodiment of a Drow Warlock.

The deity sighed heavily. "This was unintended, a colossal blunder on my part. I sought to bring you here, but I never anticipated your entire digital arsenal would fuse with the very fabric of Clemoria. Now, you have the ability to switch between all your Questcraft characters."

“Yeah kinda figured that out when I swapped to my pink haired gnome priest my second day here. I already figured out that I can only change after I have slept for a time.” I retorted.

"It's more than that," Illyanna stressed. "Until the champions of this realm can adapt to the new cap, you, Blake, are the fulcrum on which the balance rests. You must ready your companions. Train them, lead them. The threats will escalate, and Clemoria needs you."

I snorted. "So, no pressure then?"

Illyanna gave him a stern look. "None of this is a jest, Blake. I cannot reverse what has been done. I cannot fix the imbalance I've created. The only way out of this is through. Like it or not, my fault or not you need to face it that this is your world now and if it collapses I can’t just pluck you out and send you to a third world on a whim. It doesn’t work that way."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Alright, alright. So, where do we start?"

Illyanna pointed to the horizon. "Begin by understanding your strengths, and prepare for what lies ahead."

"Blake, when you use your original human form at level 0, you'll serve as an experience funnel," she explained.

I raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Experience funnel?"

"Yes. While you won't be gaining any experience in that form, it'll be channeled to the rest of your party. As long as they land an attack on a monster, even if it's just once, they can acquire experience. From what I can tell now that I am aware of the issue your party will work similarly to how it did in Questcraft. A level 0 would get bonus experience but since you can’t actually level in that form it will have to go somewhere and in a party all experience is shared equally based on levels and ability to gain experience."

I contemplated this, my lips curving into a smirk. "So, you're saying that if I play the weak human, I'm basically giving my friends a power-up?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Essentially, yes. And given the urgent need to strengthen your party against the imminent threats, it's a strategy you should consider. And you can hardly call yourself a weak human despite your level. From what I can see you have the highest stat in each category as your character with the highest stat in said category. Speaking of your party, why haven’t you been utilizing the party system you brought with the rest of your game mechanics?"

I nodded, trying to connect the dots. "My what? What do you mean I can form a party?”

Illyanna frowned, her celestial visage showing a hint of exasperation. "Blake, in Questcraft, weren’t you able to form parties, share experience, and strategize battles?"

"Well, yeah," I shrugged.

"You can use a similar system here just like everything else you brought along with you no matter how unintentionally. I'm perplexed as to why you haven’t been utilizing it."

I grinned cheekily, "Been a bit preoccupied, you know? One disaster after another. And frankly, I’ve been too busy running around to play with my user interface. Besides, it's not every day you're transformed into a sexy Drow Warlock with a succubus sidekick, shit has been crazy and complicated and I am figuring it out."

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide a slight smirk. "As sarcastic as you are, I’m both happy and horrified that it was you who was chosen to come here. You have resilience and a sense of humor even in the face of adversity. But now, you need to take this seriously."

I chuckled, "Alright, alright. I am sure it will be just as easy as the other stuff I have learned to do. Once you unfreeze everything I will start to invite everyone to join my party…. Hey, what do you mean I was chosen?”

Illyanna snapped her mouth shut but then quickly said “It’s nothing slip of the tongue. You know how you were brought here. A hundred percent chance encounter with an evil deity no more no less. Well look at the time I got to get back to Goddess things. Get better and train hard. The world needs you and your party sooner than later.” and with that she was gone and the world began to move again.

Emma, Jacob, and Stella slowly adjusted to their surroundings as the temporal stillness lifted. "I had a visit from Illyanna, the deity," I began, catching their attention. I explained everything she told me, trying to relate it to game mechanics from Earth.

Jacob scratched his head, his sleepwear robe hanging loosely. "Wait, so you're saying we can... 'party up' and share the experience? And that's supposed to help us?"

Emma, adjusting the strap of her nightgown and still clutching her bloodied dagger mused, "So it's like friends, but with extra benefits?"

I nodded. "Exactly! Wait no not friends with benefits. You are definitely too young for that conversation but just know you do not want that. More like companions with advantages… In the games I played back on Earth, players would team up to take on tougher challenges, sharing rewards and experiences."

Stella frowned, "That sounds quite... unnatural. Here, we train and earn our strength as individuals, how will we be able to get your experience?"

I tried to put them at ease. "Look, it's different, I know. But it's an advantage we have right now, especially if we're going against greater threats. Before you got experience for participating in the fights but all the experience that should have gone to me was wasted because I am max level. Now all the experience that would normally go to me as a level 0 which will be insanely high because of how under-leveled I am will go to the whole group evenly."

Jacob sighed, "Well, if it's a way to get stronger and defend Clemoria, I'm in."

Emma nodded, "Same here. But first, can we find some proper clothes?"

Stella agreed, "Indeed. I've faced many threats in my lifetime, but never in my nightwear."

I surveyed the field, glancing at my friends before looking back at the unconscious intruder, still lying motionless on the grass. "One last thing," I murmured, my voice carrying a gravitas that silenced any further discussion among the group.

I approached the intruder, my fingers tingling with energy as I conjured a dark, swirling energy from the palm of my hand. "Soul Harvest," I whispered, invoking one of my most potent spells.

The dark energy latched onto the intruder, slowly sapping away at his life force. The intruder's face contorted in pain, though he remained unconscious. As the seconds ticked away, his breathing grew shallower until it stopped entirely.

I pulled back, the energy dissipating as the intruder's lifeless body lay before us. The powerful spell not only ended his life but also absorbed a part of his essence, empowering me in the process.

Lilura, observing the scene, murmured in appreciation, "Efficient and without hesitation. A true Warlock's approach."

I turned back to the group, his face unreadable. "It was necessary," i said simply. "We can't afford any loose ends. And he attacked one of us; there was no going back from that."

Stella nodded in agreement, her warrior's instinct kicking in. "Agreed. If we hesitate, we give our enemies an advantage."

I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders. "Let's go find some clothes and set up camp. We need to regroup and plan our next move."

I squared my shoulders, determination flashing in my eyes. Whatever challenges lay ahead, I would face them head-on. After all, this was my game now. First I needed to hurry up and sleep and get out of this sexy elf body and back to normal.