Looking at his new skill, Leo couldn’t help but think about how getting a free upgrade to a rare skill from a common just from hitting level 25 was a bit of a cheat-like ability. When others hit E-grade they might get something similar, but he wouldn’t know for a while.

Although, it was only possible due to his apparently ‘unique’ class and he had no idea when he’d receive another, which could be a long time. This thought quickly left him as what was the point complaining about a free, powerful new skill.

A skill that arrived just in time to take out some leftover antlings.

With the increased stats from his level ups and the small break he had whilst prone. Leo was now up and ready to fight, albeit barely.

The fighting itself had broken down into small skirmishes as the remaining horde was battered, bruised and outnumbered. The remaining fighters didn’t look much better, blood dripped from their weapons and armour, both green and red mixed. Everyone’s eyes looked weary with the strain of combat, no doubt begging for it all to be over and to collapse in rest.

Some had died and were quietly taken back from the frontline, Leo was glad that it was none of his friends, but he was sad that they’d lost anyone at all.

With enough energy to lend a hand, Leo moved quickly towards the nearest group, where Maddie and Jules were taking on a few antlings with the help of Gareth. There was no reason to run distractions anymore, that job was done.

Activating his newly infused skill, Leo’s fist crackled with sparking blue energy as it was cocked back into a punch. His arm shot forward like a rocket as it connected with the closest antling.

A blast of lightning coursed through the ant, but not before the raw strength of his punch completely obliterated its body from the side. The lightning within the antling instantly shot out, ricocheting to nearby enemies with a crackling blue hiss as it happened in an instant.

Okay. Chain lightning punch is awesome. Leo thought, childlike awe filling his heart as he smiled.

The lightning chains did seem to do less as they bounced to the four nearby enemies, but it was enough to stagger them. The first hit by the chain seemed much worse off, looking shaky on its legs with some clear injuries and what smelled like burning flesh.

Maddie staggered into the most injured antling, impaling its head with a dagger strike coated in a buzzing saw made of water. It instantly died as its brain was scrambled from the attack. Maddie herself collapsed on top of it shortly after.

It was clear that these people were running completely empty.

The remaining two antlings were taken care of swiftly, Leo helping to quickly dismantle them with a few uninfused strikes. Shifting into another stance at this point was likely a waste of resources. This fight was over. At least for now. Leo’s eyes sat fixed on the Goliaths at the farthest end of the tight, bloody courtyard.

Gareth approached him, tired yet unfaltering. “Thanks for the assist. You’re a downright monster, you know that, right?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Leo said, smiling.

He looked at him cautiously, muttering. “As long as you remain one of the good ones.”

Looking over the group of fighters, he quickly found Ashley in the backline healing some small injuries.

Human - Level 20

She had hit the cap for F-grade, which was unsurprising considering the war they had just waged. Looking around, it seemed that quite a few others had also reached it.

“Hey…” he said, voice laced with guilt.

She raised an eyebrow at him as she turned her head, before smiling. “I think the words you are looking for are: thank you Ashley.”

Getting down gracefully on one knee, Leo kneeled before her. “Thank you, Princess Ashley. You have saved the day.”

“Shut up,” she groaned, before laughing it off. “Where is my child?”

“Your child?”

“Don’t act dumb, where is El–” Her words cut off as Ellie bounded over, a piece of detached antling flesh in her mouth.

Uh oh..

“What did you do?!” Her words boomed out in shock and horror. Alerting everyone.

“Take it easy, Ash, it’s going to be okay,” Leo said, trying to calm her down like she was a rampaging beast.

It didn’t work.

“You want me to take it easy after what you did?!”

Cecelia approached a moment after the first outburst, interjecting quickly. “Ashley. Do not blame him for the last attack, even if it was reckless. I had heard tales, but it was more than I expected. Without it, however, we may have all been killed anyway. Please calm down. You managed to defend us so everything should be fine.”

“Fine?! Nothing about this is fine!” She continued her descent into madness.

“She’s still the same little dragon!” Leo argued.

“I feel like I have missed something,” Cecelia realised, looking between them. “Care to inform me?”

“Ellie got bigger, Ashley is upset,” Leo explained quietly while Ashley sat in shock.

Cecelia closed her tired eyes slowly. If Leo was to describe her expression, it was one of being ‘completely done’.

“My baby has grown up and will be leaving me for her dragon school where she will meet new friends and forget about me!” she wailed, tears forming in her eyes.

“Dragon school? Ash, you’re talking complete nonsense. Calm down, she’s only a little bit more grown up.”

Ellie in the meantime continued to snack upon her latest kill with delight, either ignoring or entirely used to Ashley’s attitude already. Leo tried to give her a little mental nudge through their connection but she responded with the mental equivalent of waving him off.

They were on their own to ease the sorrowful, self appointed, mother in distress.

By this time, all those still able to stand had gathered around the commotion. Most of which were the more experienced fighters, such as Nolan’s group, Gareth’s main squad, and Leo’s party.

“Is the lass alright?” Bjorn asked in concern, wiping his face with a piece of cloth, looking at it, and wiping again.

“Health wise? Yes. Her sanity… yet to be determined,” Cecelia said flatly.

Ruby took this chance to stride right up to Leo with purpose, her face wasn’t one of love and affection like she had been displaying in previous interactions. She had an animosity to her that put Leo on guard instantly.

“What the hell was all that?! Are you some kind of cheat?!” she asked accusingly, finger hitting his chest repeatedly. “I thought you had a Lava Essence or maybe just Fire like me. But you have at least three! And what is that thing?” She pointed to Ellie. “Is that yours?”

Ashley’s cries of dismay ended in an instant, the tension in the air almost tangible as her own luminous aura flared. Before Leo could even try to answer she got right up into Ruby’s face.

“Do not call my daughter. That thing.”

Ruby glared right back, before confusion started to surface. “Daughter?”

“Daughter. She is my Ellie.” She paused. “Okay, Leo technically hatched her, but she thinks of me as a mother.”

“I see,” Ruby said slowly. But almost immediately shook her head.

“Wait a minute! I don't care if you’re its mother. I want to know what it is and where it came from. It looks like a fucking dragon!”

Leo stepped forward, the crowd’s full attention on him. “She’s my companion, and yes, I do have more than one Essence. She was given to me by a God within a realm I can’t really begin to describe.”

He left out all the details, keeping things vague intentionally. The only reason he revealed as much as he did was to try and diffuse the situation before fighting broke out. Ruby’s intensity wasn’t something to be ignored. It was like seeing a temper tantruming toddler, but if the toddler had ruinous fire magic.

Surprisingly, her expression went blank for a moment. Leo prepped himself for the incoming tirade of questions but she simply walked away.

That can’t be good. Leo realised.

“Did you say God?” Gareth asked suspiciously, glancing at Ruby as she left.

“I did.”

Leo then did his best to explain the multiverse they had joined. The factions he knew of, the path to divinity that was apparently possible through leveling up and growing stronger.

People started off looking skeptical, but soon were enamoured by the story. A few questions had to be asked as Leo skimmed important parts, but after he had finished, people seemed to be content. Or deep in thought, Leo couldn't tell.

“Enough story time,” Cecelia ordered calmly. “I want everyone to meditate and recover. You should have learned the skill by now. Anyone who hasn’t, come find me and I will help you learn.”

She continued after a moment. “If you have reached level twenty, I understand that you have a class and race upgrade available. The Goliaths do not seem to be attacking, but that does not mean they will not. Upgrade at your own risk.” Her words were to the point and without room for argument or question. Politeness had given way to exhaustion.

All of Leo’s camp members started meditating—those not healing or unconscious that is. Even Ellie started sitting in Ashley’s lap as she meditated to regain her mana, completely tapped from all the healing and shielding.

Leo detected a few aura surges as people around him began evolving their race and subsequent class. This fight had been a massive chance to level up and who could really resist such a gain after seeing Leo and Ruby fight.

All the members of his original party, plus all of Nolan’s, had evolved their race, all of which seemed to be still human. Cecelia gave them a few hours to decide their classes. He felt a hand poke him as he was regaining his resources.

“Leo. Can you help me decide on a class?” Ashley asked.

“You know you should decide that yourself,” Leo said without opening his eyes. “But I can tell you want to at least hear my opinion so lay 'em on me.”

She brightened visibly. “Sure!”

Ashley then listed her classes one by one.

She had been offered three classes: A generic healer upgrade similar to his Pugilist one. A class called Bastion of Healing, which was described as a defensive class that could heal those with its shields and its presence. Its stat points given were similar to Leo’s class with one less point. It sounded fairly strong overall, but the final class was why Leo was sure she had to ask him.

“It’s called; Lumen Sentinel. It has more stat points but it says that it almost abandons healing for shielding and constructs, basically. I don’t know what to do,” she said, downcast.

Leo opened his eyes upon feeling the emotion in her tone, and was stunned for a moment. Her evolution—even with blood, dirt and grime—had turned her into a supermodel. She was already beautiful, but now it was absurd.

“Leo?” She looked at him curiously, then she smirked. A devilish, gorgeous smirk.

“Were you stunned by my beauty?” She wiggled her eyebrows in question.

Quickly regaining his composure, he replied, maybe a bit too quickly. “No. Just thinking, that’s all.”

“Sureee,” she teased. Then sighed. “Help me. I know what my heart says, but I feel like if I go with it then I could be letting people down.”

Leo held her hand in both of his, the action racing his heart a bit more than he was expecting.

What am I? Some kind of blushing anime character?! Get it together man. Leo scolded himself, quickly regaining composure.

“You shouldn’t base your path on anyone but yourself. If you wanted to completely abandon your healing path to become a Dragon’s Dentist, then I’d support it. Even if the job would be pretty niche, to say the least. Take whatever feels right to you.”

She squeezed his hand softly. “Okay.” Her words carried a newly formed resolve, he could feel the confidence in her as she took a deep breath. Leo figured she was selecting a class.

“I will become a Dragon Dentist.”

Leo laughed hard, getting looks from people closeby. “I shouldn’t have suggested such a great career. There goes my super shields.”

“How did you know I’d picked the Sentinel?” Ashley asked.

Leo shrugged. “Kinda obvious. You were worried about losing your healing, but you made the choice I’d have made. Did you get any fun skills?”

“I sure did,” she smiled devilishly. “Are you going to keep holding my hand forever?”

Leo pulled his hand back as if he was touching a burning stove, although he was pretty sure a stove would be burned by him.

“Sorry,” he said embarrassed. The moment he did, he knew what was coming. All he could do was brace.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t,” Ashley teased in a somewhat pouting voice. “Did Leo get all embarrassed? We are parents, you know. We can hold hands.”

“More like Godparents.” His words were no more than a mumble.

“That’s a good one!” Ashley chuckled.

Another hour passed as people finished evolving their races and classes. Those who needed to learn meditation had successfully done so and were purely focused on regaining strength.

~

During this time, Ruby was having a revelation of her own.

It had only been a short while since she had evolved her own class and race. Before she had done so, she had been offered a skill that was unlike previous ones. At level fifteen she had been offered a skill, it was one she had used during the initial confrontation. Flame of Pyronis.

The skill came with a weird sensation, almost like a connection to a higher power. After her evolutions, she had been contacted. She had spoken to something or someone who called themselves Pyronis.

They claimed to be a god, but Ruby wasn’t certain. It felt like a scam. He explained that he had felt the love and excitement that fire brought her, and her talent. He had offered her a blessing, a way to strengthen their connection and through it, gain the power his legacy can offer.

Mark of Pyronis

The God Pyronis has blessed you with his mark. Though this is the second-lowest of his gifts, it is no small thing to carry the flame of a god. Your soul now burns a little brighter, and fire itself bends more willingly to your will.

Effects:

Fire damage increased slightly

Minor resistance to heat and flame

Fire-based skills and Classes are more easily attained

Upon receiving the Mark from the god, Ruby felt elated. She was being rewarded for how talented she was. How special she was. No one could compare, this tutorial would be hers. This world would be hers.

Then she met Leo.

At first, she was just excited to meet someone who was close to her level of power. That feeling he gave her, she believed it was love. That they were kindred spirits that even shared the same kind of Essence. But that feeling didn’t last.

Now she had witnessed true talent. True power. Glancing across the battlefield and seeing the almost frozen lake of antling sculptures had her biting her lip in frustration.

He had taken on an incredible number of monsters and survived, and not just survived, but thrived. He had displayed multiple powers, strength beyond comprehension and now what looked to be a dragon. It was unfair, it was cheating! It was–

Her thoughts were cut off by a deep, older sounding voice that spoke gently.

“Hello, young child of flame. You have been doing well with the blessing I gave you. I am contacting you because of what I sensed through the blessing you carry. Are you familiar with the creature known as a dragon?”

Ruby stood stunned for a moment, before she got angry. “Of course I know what a dragon is. Mythical flying thing, what is it you want? I’m kind of busy.”

The god chuckled in her head, an uneasy, yet comforting feeling. “Forgive this old one, It has been many eras since I have interacted with such a fiery mortal. You may not know this, but the dragon race is extinct.”

“Huh? Pretty sure to be extinct they need to exist. Dragons aren’t actually real. They’re in stories, myths, or movies,” Ruby explained with annoyance.

“Dragons are very real, my child. They were once the powerhouse of the multiverse, feared, adored, envied. Led by the Tempest known as Iskarion, the dragon race thrived and conquered those who stood against them. Eventually it was too much, and many across the multiverse turned against them.”

His words turned cold. “Cindralus. The monster who pushed for genocide. He dares call his fire the purest when it is as corrupt as they come.”

The god in her head seemed to be getting off track, his emotions were bleeding through the connection and the pressure started to get a bit much, causing her to grab her head. The god, quickly realising her discomfort, immediately let off on the pressure. From just this much, Ruby could tell that whatever this god was, he was immensely powerful.

“The reason I ask about dragons is that we believe one has been born once again, which should be impossible. I sensed the slightest hint of familiar—yet different—aura.”

“If you can sense all that, can’t you just see everything in this so-called “tutorial”?” Ruby questioned, her tone oozing some sarcasm.

The god didn’t flinch at her tone and began explaining.

“In the beginning, the tutorials are blocked to our senses. It is to give time for new initiates to come to terms with their new world without divine intervention and influence. I sense that initiates in your tutorial are reaching E-grade, which means that the time where gods will start interfering with tutorials will be soon. I am able to contact you due to your proclivity to fire and the skill you selected.”

“Pretty sure that cheater has a dragon, yes,” Ruby groaned, frustration still evident.

Pyronis’ tone was one of awe and bewilderment. “Truly? Thank you child. Your help has been incredibly useful.”

The connection cut off suddenly before Ruby could say anything, but as it did, it left something else in its place, a burning hot rush that flowed through her entire being.

Mark of Pyronis Blessing has been upgraded to: Favoured of Pyronis

Favoured of Pyronis

The God Pyronis has elevated you among his chosen. You are no longer a bearer of his mark alone, you are favoured. A mortal whose path burns brightly enough to catch a god’s eye. His fire flows deeper into your soul, shaping every step you take. To the world, your deeds now carry the echo of divine flame.

Effects:

Fire damage is moderately increased.

Strong resistance to fire and heat, immunity to mundane flames.

Fire based skills and Classes are more easily attained.

In moments of great peril, Pyronis’ flame may flare to shield you, though such intervention is rare and fleeting

Instantly, Ruby could feel the increase to her power. Although the power she gained felt empty and undeserved. She had gained an increased level of blessing just because she knew Leo.

Fury started to rise in her chest, fingers clenched into fists as hot breath exhaled. How else would he shape her?

Only time would tell, but the main question was:

How much would she let him?