To say that the people of New Haven were apprehensive about letting Aaron go down into the dungeon below them was an understatement. At first, they had formed a line, trying to dissuade him forcefully, yet peacefully. The commotion had caused Talia and the others to come running.

  The guards had tried to stop them, but a group cowardly enough to use a beast lord for protection wasn’t willingly starting a fight with people who outranked them as much as Talia and Aaron did.

  Surrounded, Aaron pleaded with them. He was going to go down into the dungeon one way or another, but he really hadn’t wanted to go throwing fists to force his way down.

  In the end, it was Talia who managed to calm the situation. Through her rank and a little grandstanding, she managed to convince them that they could help and that living atop the beast was dangerous. Which wasn’t too hard. Talia was on the cusp of her D-grade evolution, and between the two of them ,it wasn’t too hard to believe that they were capable of beating D-grade beasts.

  “Fine, fine,” Bobo said, raising his hands and looking among his people. “Perhaps we can make an exception this one time.”

  There was something about the man’s words that made Aaron uneasy, though. And he could have sworn the man winked when looking away from him.

  “We will let these people into Rawmuck’s lair if it is their wish to do so.”

  Aaron and Talia glanced at one another and shrugged. They were getting what they wanted, and couldn’t exactly argue with the man, even if his mannerisms gave them the creeps.

  There was definitely something off, but they couldn’t go slaughtering humans that hadn’t attacked first, and they were letting them do exactly what they asked.

  Bobo and his people then led them to the school’s old basement. There they found a cave passage leading to the dungeon below, and strangely, there were two little bear statues by its entrance, with wreaths and flowers scattered about, and even a couple of incense plates, with incense sticks still burning.

  “Odd.”

  “Tell me about it,” Talia said.

  “As you asked,” Bobo said. “You may meet Rawmuck. The furry one is believed to be in the dungeon as we speak.”

  Nodding to one another, like they were sharing a secret, Bobo then led his people out of the room.

  “So, are we just going through with this?” Ryan asked, watching as their strange hosts left.

  “Wait a minute, I still have this Skill to purchase,” Aaron said. “Don’t worry. I’ll be quick. I wanna get this over and done with as much as anybody else.”

  “No rush,” Talia waved.

  “No rush?” Ryan said. “Err, if you say so.”

  Ignoring his team, Aaron opened his System and scanned through the options. Sooty was back at camp, but he doubted the little guy would care about missing a Skill selection. With goblin girls to harass, he really was a lot more relaxed about, well, everything. Which was both a good thing and rather concerning.

  Precise Power [ Rare ]. The power of your strikes isn’t all about strength and energy, but precision. Passively provides a small amount of additional damage to the user’s strikes based on their Dexterity and Perception.

  Cool-headed [ Elite ] Rage is beneath you. You are at one with your senses, flowing calmly. Passively reduces or removes negative effects from rage Skills, while allowing the user to still benefit from their buffs.

  Empty-Handed Teamwork [ Epic ] The lesser monks of the Empty Hand have found powerful methods of working together to overcome their weaknesses. When activated, this Skill creates an aura that provides users with a Class containing the “Empty-Handed” label to get additional buffs to all Stats, and speed when fighting within a ten-kilometer radius of one another.

  Bulky Boy [ Epic ] You’re a little plumper than most, but don’t let that dissuade you from being the warrior you always wanted to be! When activated, the bulky boy gains additional toughness and resistance based on the size of their belly.

  Skill merge [ Soul Vortex ] + [ Gorgon’s Time Dilation ] [ Gorgon’s Soul Vortex ] [ Legendary ] You have adapted and forced these two Skills into one, gaining benefits from both. When activated, the user creates a field around them that detects entities both living and dead, while providing additional details not usually shown in the Inspection window. This Skill now also provides the additional benefit of time dilation, but with it, the mana cost is increased.

  Aaron nodded appreciatively at his options. Mostly because even though he didn’t take interest in most of them, it was nice to see higher rarities in general. It made him feel like skipping selections hadn’t been a total waste, and while his options weren’t comparable to the best he’d gotten in the trials, that was a special situation. One that wasn’t easy to replicate outside of them. At least not yet.

  Also, it wasn’t just the rarities on offer. There were a bunch of good options, even if they weren’t right for him. Precise Power, for example, was a straight-up damage buff, and he kinda wished he had a spot for it. Even if he replaced it later, it’d be a nice little buff for now.

  And Bulky Boy was similarly useful, even if he didn’t particularly appreciate the name or description of the Skill.

  But he had been aiming for a Skill merge, and he got a Skill merge just like he had hoped. Gorgon’s Soul Vortex didn’t really do anything special, but both Skills were already powerful and useful, and so it didn’t necessarily need to do anything extra.

  What it did do, and he was very grateful for it, was free up a much-needed Skill slot, and a Passive one at that.

  Eagerly rubbing his hands together, he made the selection and placed all free points into Dexterity. Then, he opened his status page, and his eyes gleamed with a mad satisfaction as he saw his gains.

  [ Name: Aaron Dober ]

  [ Age: 23 ]

  [ Race: Human [ Awoken ] ]

  [ Grade: E ]

  [ HP: 90500 ]

  [ MP: 45400 ]

  [ SP: 125700 ]

  [ AP: 3000 ]

  [ Class: Empty-Handed Energy Monk, lvl 71 ]

  [ Profession: Ogre Gastronomist, lvl 58 ]

  [ Stats ]

  [ Strength: 923 (+543) ]

  [ Vitality: 905 (+541) ]

  [ Fortitude: 1257 (+733) ]

  [ Dexterity: 760 (+440) ]

  [ Agility: 994 (+567) ]

  [ Intelligence: 633 (+369) ]

  [ Willpower: 454 (+295) ]

  [ Charisma: 417 (+297) ]

  [ Perception: 711 (+403) ]

  [ Titles: Shadow Trials Trailblazer, Stamina Control Prodigy, Mana Control Prodigy, Vitality Control Prodigy, Holder of a True Blessing, In the Eyes of the Gods, Aether Wielder, World Overlord, Endurer, Dominator, Challenger, Shadow Trials Hall of Famer, Behemoth Slayer, Pack Leader ]

  [ Traits: Fate Weaver (Alpha), Major Blessing of Oozagh the Rotund, True Blessing of Yendal the Empty-Handed, Herald of a God, Death Cheat, Pack Alpha ]

  [ Racial Skills: Inspect, Lingua Multiversa, World Map ]

  [ Profession Passive Skills (3/3): Mass Produced Cooking!, Conductive Gut, Adipose Fusion ]

  [ Profession Active Skills (6/6): Spirit Toes, Oozagh’s Breath, Foul Ichor, Unsightly Degustation, Perfect Measurements, Spirit Hands ]

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  [ Class Passive Skills (2/3): Reverse Cycle Faux Core, Equal and Opposite, ]

  [ Class Active Skills (6/6): Soul Shattering Strike, Spectral Projection, Gorgon’s Soul Vortex, Turbocharged Haymaker, Spectral Rush, Spectral Bullet Punch ]

  He had been feeling stronger than ever, and looking at his status page, it was easy to see why. Fortitude was already well over a thousand points, and Strength, Vitality, and Agility weren’t far behind.

  “Are you done?” Talia asked.

  “I thought I wasn’t in a rush?”

  “Ryan’s acting weird,” Talia said, and glanced across at their friend, who was pacing around.

  “Oh, right. Well, yeah, I’m good,” Aaron stretched and cracked his knuckles. “But I think Ryan and the others should stay in town. See if you guys can be helpful. Maybe even form some ties with the locals.”

  “No way! Mate, these people give me the creeps!” Ryan protested. “Besides, you have no idea what you’ll find down there. Don’t be stupid. We might not be as strong as you, but we can still be helpful. You know we did a lot to help back there against the bats.”

  “Yeah, mate, sorry. But this is different. We’re hunting a D-grade beast, and we’re going into a dungeon to do it. And if dungeons are anything like what I experienced in the trials, we could face all kinds of challenges. So me, Talia, and Zero are going to have to watch our own backs. I’m sorry, but bringing the rest of you along will be too dangerous. Also, I think these are good people. Weird, but good. And we’re building a settlement, aren’t we?”

  “We are…” Ryan nodded.

  “Right. So, we could use good people. C’mon, mate. Be useful. Show them the benefits of working with us.”

  “He’s got a point,” Talia said. “You’ve got a chance to show them who we are.”

  “Dammit, fine. I know you’re just trying to butter me up. But I’ll damn well show you. They’ll bloody love us by the time you’re back.”

  “Great, mate! That’s the spirit!” Aaron patted his shoulder and turned to the cave entrance. “Alright, shall we do this?”

  Zero barked.

  “You sound way too much like a dog sometimes.”

  “Yeah, I’m good,” Talia said, walking ahead.

  They continued down the rocky path into what appeared to be the beast lord’s lair. And what they found was a single nesting spot, with bones littered around it. There were also some of the flowers and wreaths from above.

  “Is this human clothing?” Aaron asked, crouching by the bones and pulling out a piece of torn cloth.

  “Maybe. But that’s certainly a human skull,” she pointed.

  “Fuck. It is, isn't it? What now?”

  “What choice do we have?” Talia said. “Besides, we have no idea when the beast lord killed them.”

  She was right, of course. If something strange was going on, the best way to get answers was likely to deal with the beast lord. And the townfolk weren’t exactly powerhouses, and so he wasn’t too worried about Ryan and the others.

  Still, something was off.

  “It’s a bit weird, not just the bones. Beast lord,” Aaron said, feeling the words in his mouth. “Beast lord. Lord kind of implies that this beast has a domain and followers, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe?” Talia shrugged.

  “Well, the bat certainly did. So do the ants. But not this guy? Why is he different?”

  “Maybe he’s not?” Talia offered. “Maybe we just haven’t found his followers.”

  “Right,” Aaron nodded, briefly glancing up. “Maybe we haven’t…”

  “Having second thoughts?”

  “No,” Aaron shook his head and stood up, and walked toward the dungeon entrance.

  A stone door marked by strange symbols stood before them, and when he pressed his palm against it, a System message appeared.

  Enter Dungeon of the Sunken Chapel alone or as a party?

  Aaron turned to Talia. “Ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Party selected, dungeon commencing in 5… 4… 3…

  ***Johan Svensson***

  Clashes of magnificent power rocked across the land in the distance, and the sky was occasionally lit up by the bright flashes of Skills, and explosions echoed throughout.

  The battle had been going on for hours now, and reports from the front weren’t great. It seemed all that they heard was a never-ending stream of losses.

  The brooding leader’s servants all stood silently, heads bowed as Johan watched from the old, destroyed tower. They were thirty stories up on a windowless floor and could see the entire battlefield from where they stood, some miles away.

  Hurried footsteps sounded, and a runner burst into the room and fell to his knees. “Sir!” He said no more, waiting for a response.

  Johan took a long while to reply before exhaling and turning to his minion. “Yes, what is it?”

  “The necromancer’s forces have pushed us back across the river. We managed to kill one of its D-grade monstrosities, but we lost several of ours in the process. But...”

  “What is it, dammit?!”

  “We thought that was the last of the monstrosities… but there are three more…”

  “Three more D-grades?” Johan’s lip trembled, and his brow twitched.

  “Yes, sir!”

  How was this possible? Three D-grades? The sheer numbers of the dead were bad enough, and while the D-grades weren’t the strongest he had come across, they proved extremely formidable when leading armies of the dead.

  But more importantly, how could the necromancer gather such an army so quickly? It hadn’t been that long since the trials ended.

  Johan’s fists clenched. He had no choice. He would have to make a retreat for now. He needed time to gather more forces. A bigger, stronger army.

  If he could find a few big settlements with powerful members and bring them under his control, then he still stood a chance against the necromancer. After all, his best elites were still able to go toe-to-toe with the necromancer's forces; he simply hadn’t had enough of them.

  He thought back to those he met in the trials. The crazy man, Aaron Dober, and the stoic woman, Talia Reinhart. They were likely the strongest humans on the planet. He hadn’t been able to put them under his influence during the Shadow Trials, but they would serve as powerful tools in the right hands. His hands.

  “Have Ernest and the other elites form a defensive line. They shall cover our retreat.”

  The runner almost protested the suicidal order, but then a blue rune glowed on his temple, and he nodded in obedience.

  “As you command.”

  Johan knew he would lose a lot of good followers today, but surviving was more important than anything else, and he needed a decent distraction. After all, the necromancer’s forces had already proven their speed by catching up to them and flanking their forces as they had.

  It was exactly the reason they had been caught at the river as they had. And Johan wasn’t about to risk his own life over a few mind slaves, regardless of their potential.

  Leaving the tower behind, Johan leaped out from the thirtieth floor with a gust of energy, his assistants in tow. Moving quickly, they cleared a mile or two, and he stopped briefly to glance back from a cliff’s edge that overlooked the land.

  Johan sighed. So much of his work was thrown away in a single battle. Worst still, the dead would only provide more corpses for the necromancer’s legion.

  I’ll have to be quick. No more games. No more second chances. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

  He had hidden his true self when trying to convince others in the trials, worried about outing his powers. But the situation was getting desperate. He couldn’t allow the necromancer to keep growing stronger at the speed he was going.

  He didn’t care how strong they were or the risks that came with showing his hand too soon. He had let too many of earth’s elites slip his grasp in the trials, and that wasn’t a mistake he would make twice. This was the only way he would build a strong enough and big enough army to defeat this scourge upon the land.

  He turned around, continuing his flight from the battle, but before he made it very far, he suddenly froze in place as he heard a soft, but familiar clicking sound to his side. He slowly turned to find himself staring down the barrel of Ernest Sheridan’s revolver.

  “Well, how unexpected,” he said.

  He had known from the beginning that Ernest Sheridan was not a willing subordinate, and he had expected something like this to happen eventually. This was a frustratingly inconvenient time for it, though. Fortunately, he had a contingency in place. He just needed to—

  “I suggest you don’t activate that Skill,” said Ernest. “Unless you fancy a hole in yer skull.”

  “What Skill?” asked Johan.

  “Don’t play dumb,” said Ernest, using his free hand to tip his hat. “This hat may be purty, but it ain’t just for show. It keeps all that mind shit ‘a yers away.”

  “Impossible.”

  Johan got feedback whenever his Skill was activated. If it wasn’t working, he would have known.

  “Well, maybe it’s more accurate t’say it gives me control, regardless of what kinda mind shit yer usin’. Yer Skill’s workin’, but I ain’t yers.”

  Dozens of thoughts raced through Johan’s head. The revelation that Ernest’s hat gave protection from mental magic was an unpleasant one, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Johan had other contingencies. He just needed to get Ernest’s gun pointed elsewhere for a moment.

  “Calm down,” he said. “Let’s talk this out.”

  “I’m open to talkin’,” said Ernest. “But I got some conditions. See, I got this fancy System contract as one’a my Trial rewards. I want ya t’sign it ‘n say ya won’t be doin’ none’a that mind shit anymore. And ya gotta let everyone else go too. Do that ‘n’ we can talk.”

  Johan gaped incredulously. A System-enforced contract that would prevent him from using almost all his Skills? The man might as well have asked him to cut off his arms and legs.

  “You want me to cripple myself?” he asked.

  “More or less.”

  “I can’t do that! I am one of the strongest humans on the planet! Crippling me is crippling humanity!”

  “That ain’t the answer I’m lookin’ for,” said Ernest, pressing the barrel directly into Johan’s forehead.

  “Wait, wait!” shouted Johan.

  “I’ll give ya five seconds to decide,” said Ernest. “Five.”

  “Wait, let’s talk!”

  “Four.”

  “We can compromise, right?”

  “Three.”

  “I’ll release you and your men!”

  “Two.”

  “You imbecile! You’re going to doom us all!”

  “One.”

  This time, Johan did not speak. Instead, he activated his last resort. A powerful Skill he had been charging up for months. He had been saving it to use on a powerful D grade, or perhaps even Darius himself, but his survival was more important.

  A blue mark on Ernest’s forehead started glowing so brightly it was blinded, and when it faded, Johan let out a long sigh. Ernest was standing motionless, eyes unfocused.

  “You absolute moron,” Johan muttered. “Take your men and go buy me some time.”

  He turned to walk away, then froze again as he heard Ernest speak.

  “Wrong answer.”

  Then, there was a deafening bang, and Johan thought no more.

  ***Ernest Sheridan***

  Ernest calmly reloaded his revolver, then pulled a cigar from his spatial storage, lit it, and took a long drag. For a moment, he closed his eyes, listening to the chaos and battle all around. The situation was dire. Many of the people around him were dead or dying, and they wouldn’t be the last. But there was a way for them to escape. A very difficult, risky way, but it was possible to get the majority of those remaining away from the battle alive. The only problem was that Ernest himself would need to put himself in extreme danger to do so.

  He opened his eyes and exhaled the breath, watching the smoke rise into the sky. Then, he lodged the cigar in his jaw and turned to face the oncoming undead horde.

  “Guess it’s time t’be a hero.”

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