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Chapter 22 / RnR

  I need rest-

  That’s what the doctor ordered. I’m dangerously low on blood and I have to wait for my body to make more on its own. I asked for a blood transfusion, but Jammie didn’t even know what that was. Even if he did, it’s not like they have the equipment for it.

  Said doctor sits cross legged at my side. “So, if two people have ‘matching blood’, they are able to share their blood without consequence?”

  I nod at Jammie whilst laying on the hard and uncomfortable ground. “Yep! Although, some blood types can match perfectly fine with others. For example, I’m B+, so I can receive blood types, O-, O+, B-, and B+.”

  Jammie blinks at me with an hilarious uncomprehending expression, “I- I don’t know what that means.”

  I grin as I suppress a laugh. I look at the far end of the cave to see Toulif and Eva discussing something. In the other direction is Gent who is still slowly moving rocks one at a time.

  I let out a sigh as I rested my head back onto the ground. I may not be able to do stuff right now, but I still have some things I need to sort out. “Status.”

  Jammie chuckles, “What are you, a child?”

  My eye darts to him and I frown, “I missed when you were scared of me.”

  He shrugs, “An insane human is far more manageable than a dangerous demon.”

  I scoff, “I’m manageable now, is that it? What if I decide to kill everyone here out of boredom.”

  Jammie grins at that, “But then your ‘oh so precious friend’ would be upset.”

  I pause… You bitch! “You ass!” I can’t believe he proved his point in just one sentence. Jammie starts laughing and I can’t even be that mad at him for it. I calm myself down and close my eye. “You know, I’m the reason your friends are dead.”

  Jammie stops at that. I can feel him stare at me in silence. “Maybe, Trent died to the Fledgling Atrocity, and Charlie-” I opened my eye to see Jammie look towards Toulif and Eva. I feel resentment coming from his soul. “Was an acceptable loss.”

  I raise an eyebrow at that as Jammie turns back to me and shakes his head. “It’s fine, I’ve been used to people dying around me for a long time now.”

  I look back at Toulif with a frown, my own annoyance about what happened to Charlie being stoked by the conversation. I grin. “I say we eat Toulif first. We lost all our food after all.”

  Jammie lets out a surprised chuckle, his earlier dour mood vanishing “W- what? If we really resort to cannibalism, you’d eat me since I’m the lowest level here.”

  It is my turn to be surprised. The ridiculous part of that was Toulif’s level and not cannibalism? I decided to just roll with it. “Nuh -uh. You’re our last healer, and since Toulifs level is so high, his flesh will taste better.”

  Jammie starts laughing again at that. Good, for a second I thought he might actually consider eating people. Elves are friends, not food. I start laughing with Jammie at the joke in my head.

  After the moment passes I let out a sigh. “Alright, I wanna figure out what I want to spend my points on.”

  Jammie blinks, “Oh, I should too. Should I say status for you?”

  I scoff, “Whatever-”

  Name (Tiffany Day) / Age (23) / Race (Human)

  Alignment (Chaotic Neutral)

  Class (Excessive Monk) / Level (45)

  Stats / Stat Points (35)

  Strength (117)

  Durability (149)

  Agility (57)

  Endurance (57)

  Intellect (57)

  Soul (117)

  Intrinsic Status

  Vitality (78%)

  Stamina (26%)

  Sanity (82%)

  Mana (100%)

  Traits

  (Interloper)

  (Serial Killer)

  (Ydri’s Jester)

  (Sadistic)

  Skills

  (Pain Tolerance) level 10

  (Observe) level 3

  (Mana Cycling) level 9

  (Instant Thought) level 2

  Class Skills

  (Obscene Presence) level 2

  (Magical Aura Perception) level 9

  (Magical Aura Manipulation) level 10

  (Frost Breath) level 10

  (Instant Position) level 8

  (Aura of Constitution) level 6

  (Soul Conjuration) level 5

  (Excessive Momentum) level 5

  (Terrifying Presence) level 3

  [Title Available]

  I blink at the words plastered onto the bottom of my status screen. I grin ear to ear. This system is just like a game so much it tickles my soul. I wonder what a title means. I focus on the new notification, trying to mask my excitement.

  Titan’s End / Rarity (Legendary)

  (Time and Time again, you have sought out battles against those far higher level than yourself. Through grit, wit, and sheer luck, even those over twice your level have fallen by your hands. To your enemies you are the encroaching march of death, no matter how powerful they think they are and to your allies you are an incomprehensible monster in mortal skin.)

  Grants the Title Skill (Titanic Presence)

  Strength (+30)

  Durability (+30)

  Agility (+10)

  Endurance (+10)

  Intellect (+10)

  Soul (+20)

  I nearly coughed on my own breath, “Now that is just absurd!”

  Jammie looks back at me from presumably his stat screen “What?”

  “I got a title, but this is broken.”

  “You got a title?! Wait, how is it broken?”

  I shake my head at his confused look, “No, not like that. It's just that the stat increase is big, and a skill on top of it as well.”

  Jammie leans back, literally taken aback by what I said “Woah, I heard titles are like hitting a level milestone. What’s yours called?”

  I blink at his enthusiasm and smirk “Titan’s End. It says I got it from constantly killing monsters far higher level than me.”

  He looks at me with a newfound admiration and I bask in my awesomeness. I don’t indulge myself for too long as I accept my title. It really does feel like I hit level 25 again and I’m close to getting to level 50, which I think is the next boost in stats. My next class advancement will be…

  Wait, when will my next class advancement happen? I feel like I should get another one at some point, but my first one sort of just happened. I don’t think it’s some sort of level milestone I’ve reached. Level 31 isn’t really a special level to reach.

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  “Hey Jammie, when do class advancements happen?”

  He breaks out of his admiring look to look at me with confusion, “Huh?”

  I sigh and repeat myself “When do class advancements happen? My first class advancement kinda… came out of nowhere and I don’t know when the next one is supposed to happen.”

  He blinks at me and crosses his arms, “Well…”

  A voice suddenly cuts him off, “The first class advancement usually happens between levels 35 to 40, but your level isn’t what solely determines when a class advances.”

  I turn towards Eva who is now standing at my feet. She has her head in a halfway tilt, “It’s ridiculous that someone who gained a title doesn’t even know how advancements work.”

  I grin at her “So what does it then?”

  She continues “Your level, the level of your class skills, and whether or not your god or devil would consider you ready. They all play a part in when your class advances.”

  “My god or devil? Are you referring to The First Monk?”

  She nods, “Yes, you should have already met them when you went under your class advancement. Your second advancement will happen around level 70 and your third will be around level 100. After that, class advancements apparently become more dubious. They happen when they happen, regardless of level.”

  Now that is interesting. Considering that my class advancement gives me an increase in stats every level, “I want to have my class advancements as soon as possible. So I can increase my stats more each level… You said the first advancement usually happens at levels 35 to 40, right?”

  Eva sighs “Yes, and considering when your advancement happened. You will have a permanent edge against almost anyone your level.”

  Jammie swivels his head back at me, “Wait, when did your advancement happen then?”

  I grin at the chance to brag, “I hit my class advancement at level 31… Wait a minute.” I turned back to Eva, “How did you know when I reached my class advancement?”

  She scratches the back of her head, “I have Summoner’s Insight to keep track of my summons, which is you… a human…” She seems to drift off for a moment before snapping back, “That strangeness aside, when you got your advancement, I felt it. It was a similar feeling when I underwent my advancement and concluded that you were the cause.”

  I blink at Eva’s explanation. Not the content of it, that made sense, but the cadence of it. My eye widens at the realization. Oh, I’m not used to Eva being so calm. I bite back apologizing again.

  Thankfully Jammie interrupted my thoughts, “So, who is The First Monk? Are they a god or devil?”

  Eva perks up at that “I’m curious as well.”

  I blow air as I think about the question. I tell them about Bogodhan and that he is the God of Patience. They had a hard time believing my god's concept was patience, but that's what it was, so I didn’t bother trying to convince them. The conversation went on for a long while and I learned a couple things.

  Every god or devil has a concept. The concept is what they are the god of, and they have a corresponding class to them as well. For example, The First Cultist is the Devil of Worship and her name was Deighngon.

  That got me thinking on how gods and devils worked in this world. How did Bogodhan become The First Monk and Deighngon The First Cultist? According to Eva the gods and devils didn’t always exist and that gods are made from lesser beings reaching apotheosis. The continent we are on is actually named after the Goddess of Light, Soteria, and she was The First Gardener. It was named after her because she reached apotheosis on this continent 2000 years ago. Interesting-

  I of course asked how exactly becoming a god or devil worked and she obviously had no idea.

  I expected that and the conversation moved onto more menial topics. Eventually I noticed that Gent started moving towards us. Gent walks behind Jammie and collapses against the wall from exhaustion. I furrow my brows as I look at him.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  He scoffs at me and rolls his eyes “We’re trapped, I’m doing my best to get us out of this, but the dungeon is unstable. I pull one rock, and the entire thing collapses on us and we’re all buried alive.”

  I blink at him, “I thought you were good at earth magic.”

  He predictably snaps at that, “I am! But someone destroyed my wand!”

  Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Jammie turns and looks at Gent. He ruffles through his robes and tosses a wand at him. “Here, use mine.”

  The wand lands at Gents feet and he stares at it for a moment in complete silence. He slowly buries his face into his hands and lets out a long and strained groan.

  I, of course, start laughing my ass off, but quickly stop as my lightheadedness suddenly gets worse from it. Gent lets out a sigh and picks up the wand. “I’m low on mana so I was planning on just resting, but seeing I have the means… I guess I’ll just start cycling mana and deal with it now.”

  I blink at Gent as he gets back up, “You have Mana Cycling too?”

  Gent looks back at me with tired eyes, “Yeah- anyone who does magic has Mana Cycling, it’d be more surprising if I didn’t.”

  Huh, didn’t consider that. Gent walks over to the collapsed exit and readies the wand, however Toulif stops him. He calls out to him as he gets up from brooding by himself. “Gent, wait. Let the vice captain summon a Nav Imp while we are still shielded from the rest of the dungeon.”

  Gent lowers his wand and I blink at Toulif, that was actually a good idea. I look over back at Eva who is now looking at her brother. Eva sighs “Alright then, I’ll get started.”

  I brighten at that, I get to see a demon summoning for the first time. Well, the first one that didn’t involve me. I force myself to sit up to watch.

  Eva takes the staff that's strapped to her back and starts carving into the ground. Red glowing lines of magic are left in the wake of her staff. She waves her free hand as symbols form around the magic circle carved into the ground. She chants under her breath as she continues carving.

  “Direction… Enlightenment… Forage… Darkness… World… Break… Guide…”

  Eva backs away from the red magic circle now engraved into the ground. She raises her staff in front of her and her chanting becomes unintelligible. Familiar black hands emerge from the ground and grip onto something invisible at the center of the circle.

  I try to make out what's going on with Magical Aura Perception, but the process completely escapes me. What’s happening is so far removed from my own class, that the magic happening here might as well be gibberish to me.

  The only thing I catch is Eva’s soul has grown slightly and that's it.

  The Nav Imp slowly starts to fade into existence. He has ashy grey skin and his face is slightly elongated. His hair is black and my eye widens as I break into a grin. The Nav Imp blinks as he fully manifests in the mortal realm. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

  I burst out laughing as Geltor sits staring with wide eyes. Toulif groans to himself and Jammie is trying to hold back from laughing with me. Gent simply shakes his head and Eva looks around confused. “What is it?”

  I hold back my laughter enough to explain, “That’s the same Nav Imp we used to find you! What are the chances!”

  Geltor looks around exasperated, “It’s bullshit I got summoned again so soon, but by the same people.” He opens and closes his own mouth as he fails to find his words, but fails. That only makes me laugh harder at him.

  I have to force myself to stop so I don’t pass out. “Oh man, whew! Hehe, it must be fate.”

  Geltor looks at me with a dumbfounded expression, before scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe…”

  I pause at that. Is fate a real thing in this world? I squint at Geltor as I ponder about it. Eva shakes her head and speaks to Geltor “Anyway, as you can see, you have no chance if you fight, so are you willing to make a deal?”

  Geltor lets his arms and head go limp, before shaking as he talks “Yesss. Let’s just get this over with!”

  Eva nods “Very well, I want you to find a path that leads out of this dungeon. Oh, and Tied Tongue.” A strange magic suddenly pours from Eva’s mouth. I feel a strange locking inside my mind. “You know what that means right?”

  I frown, what the fuck was that?

  Geltor scoffs, “Yeah yeah, you got all your bases covered. Good job. I’ll still need some basic information about the dungeon before I can start however.”

  “Yes, the dungeon we are in is approximately 200 miles across, with the nearest exit likely less than a week's travel away at this point. The dungeon is located underneath the abandoned capital of Dawnguard.”

  Geltor raises his brow, “Did you say Dawnguard.”

  Eva nods “Yes.”

  Geltor stokes his chin “I see.” He remains stoic, but I feel joy coming from his black soul. Huh…

  He claps his hands together and smiles “Alright, these conditions are acceptable. Go ahead and finish the summoning.”

  Eva raises her staff again and the red magic circle glows brighter, “Ratify.” The magic circle suddenly vanishes and Geltor starts stretching his body.

  He looks around the room until his eyes land on Toulif and Geltor raises a brow. I decide to look at Toulif and he is still stoic as ever, but his soul. He seems disengaged. I had never seen him like that before. What happened?

  Eva turns to Gent “You can excavate the rubble now.”

  “Yes vice captain-”

  Gent starts waving his wand through the air, creating brown lines and he chants under his breath. While I watch that happen, I feel something land on my shoulder. I turn to see Geltor perched on me.

  “So, how's my favorite Eldritch Horror doin’.”

  I pause as the words streak through my head. I look at Jammie and he gives me a wry smile. I grin as I turn back to Geltor. “I’m doing great! Tormenting the foolish humans has been real fun.”

  Jammie holds back another laugh and Geltor looks at him confused, “They don’t look so tormented to me.” He chuckles as he turns, “Except for Toulif. Whatcha do to him?”

  I blink as I turn to Toulif. He sort of just stares at Gent as he continues to cast his magic. It’s like he is just resigned to the entire situation. Something must have happened while I was unconscious.

  “You see, I’m just that good.” I look back at Geltor mischievously.

  He blinks at me. “So wasn’t you then. You're good, but not that good. You need to get better at lying.”

  I grin at Geltor and Jammie accidentally lets a burst of air escape his mouth. I scream at him internally and Geltor looks back at him with furrowed brows. He looks back at me and I switch back to smiling innocently. “I think I’m quite good at lying actually!”

  Geltor’s frown deepens “You’re hiding something from me.”

  “Yes, but the question is- What?”

  He harrumphs “I’ll take your challenge.”

  Me and Jammie share a grin and a shout is heard from Gent.

  “Excavate!”

  Suddenly the dungeon starts to shake and rocks all around us start to shift. I turn to Gent standing near the cave-in as the collapsed rock pulls itself apart. Toulif walks forward to the opening exit and gestures to all of us.

  “Everyone! We have rested long enough. Let us leave this dungeon!”

  I raise an eyebrow and everyone else gives a similar muted reaction. Eva sighs and shakes her head.

  I slowly rise to a standing position and my lightheadedness gets worse before slowly subsiding. Jammie helps me from losing my balance. I walk over to Eva’s side and look down at her. Huh…

  I blink as I realize I’m a full head higher than her now. Before we were about the same height, but now?

  I guess I really am getting taller-

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