I appeared in the center of the flattened mountaintop with bright purple sunlight all around me.

  Nothing else appeared on my radar. The flat, solid rock stretched around me in a circle, much larger than I thought it would be. It felt like a sunrise, with the views of the rest of the mountains all surrounding this point.

  [Welcome to this floor's final challenge.]

  An image shimmered into view. At first, it appeared like a bear, before twisting and becoming more like a cat. It settled on the cat form with purple fur, then gained white wings sprouting from its shoulder blades.

  I tried to use my information skill on it, but nothing happened as it slowly gained density.

  It grew an extra-long tail, along with razor-sharp claws.

  The bright purple sun jumped from where it had been to directly overhead, removing almost all of the shadows.

  Only then did my insight work.

  [Air Construct, Level 110, Unknown, Inedible.]

  What the fuck.

  I yanked my spear out just as it launched into the air and out of reach. Flying in a circle overhead, it stared at me, like it dared me to make the first move.

  My eyes narrowed as I waited, then waited some more.

  Finally, after it had looped for long enough to frustrate me, I leaped up using the soarstone to get high enough and cut through its wing. My spear cut through the bright feathers, and its tail snapped at me like a whip.

  I snagged the tail with my hand just before it made contact. Pain ripped up through my arm, but I tightened my fingers as gravity took me down.

  Blood sprayed everywhere as it yanked its tail through my hand on our way to what was likely to be an unpleasant impact.

  I rolled as I landed, trying not to break anything on the stone floor.

  Unlike me, the cat landed on all fours without a problem. It flashed its teeth at me, and its wings vanished into nothing.

  Again I rolled across the ground, wincing at the pain coming from my hand. It’d already started to heal, but it itched something fierce.

  This time as I rolled I slowed down, then stabbed out with my spear when the Cat darted after me. It was too close to dodge.

  My spear gained an extra foot to stab into the creature, yet the spear simply pushed through the cat-thing like it was only air. Its paw swiped the spear, and only by tossing it into my inventory did I keep it with me.

  I rolled to my feet as I swiped back, claws growing from my knuckles. Three golden lines appeared feet ahead of where my claws passed through the air.

  The cat yowled in pain as it jerked away from me, studying my hands while baring its teeth.

  A burst of power washed over its fur as the wounds vanished and a rougher texture took over. The armor, or whatever it was, reinforced several areas on its body, like its neck, joints, and claws.

  This time when it leaped at me, I was ready. I dodged and clawed at it, but the golden lines did nothing against the newly textured fur.

  I growled to myself as my claws sank back in, thinking fast of the other weapons I had at the ready. This time I pulled out my knife. If the piercing damage didn’t work, I at least had the various types of energy to use.

  Again, the air cat rushed me, yet its attack didn’t really try to damage me. I stabbed it with my knife, catching a paw, and sent ice-cold energy into the creature. The Cat shivered, and screamed, which echoed over the mountains. It leaped as far away from me as possible while still remaining on the mountain top.

  Finally, I realized what it felt like. This entire thing felt like when I practiced sparring with my father, and he wanted to test my thought processes.

  I paused and waited. Then waited some more.

  The cat didn’t move closer. Instead, it sat down and stared at me.

  “What is the goal here?” I finally asked after several moments of it simply staring at me. “If you aren’t trying to attack me, I’m not going to attack you. This might have been a misunderstanding.”

  The cat smiled, then faded away.

  [You have passed the first challenge.]

  I sat on the rocky ground, frowning. Whatever this was, it wasn’t what I’d expected.

  I kept ending up in these situations where not fighting was the answer. Were all the variant paths in a dungeon based on that concept? And would future dungeons be the same? That would be a dangerous assumption to make.

  After a few minutes, the air shimmered again, and this time a person appeared. They weren’t quite human. The proportions were wrong, and they had too many fingers, but they were humanish, even though they were freakishly tall.

  The sun moved again toward my right, casting several shadows across the surface from other mountains.

  [Air Construct, Level 110, Predator, Inedible.]

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  This time, it charged at me with a sword.

  I leaped up as fast as possible and stepped three inches to one side into the shadows. My form vanished just as the construct passed by. My knife snapped out, cutting deep into its side, before I again pushed as much cold into it as I could.

  The construct shattered, then vanished.

  [You have passed the second challenge.]

  Again I sat as the air shimmered. This time, more than a single creature appeared; several smaller cats formed around me. All were very hard to see except for their outlines.

  [Air Construct, Level 75, Prey, Inedible.]

  Yet, as they formed, conversations reached me, something they were talking about before they’d appeared.

  “We cannot force them back, our forces are not strong enough,” said one, letting his head fall.

  “We need to find help,” growled another.

  “Who would help us?”

  “No one would help us…” argued one I couldn’t make out. “We will die and our parents will fall.”

  This time, it felt clear what I needed to accomplish. I stood up and everything suddenly appeared in crystal clear focus.

  “I will put up the quest, maybe the stars will provide,” growled one form, clearly in charge. “I must keep hope.”

  I opened the quest board to find a single entry.

  [Quest: Protect and defend the Spotted Pride from the invading Goblins. Reward: Whatever we can provide.]

  I accepted the quest with a frown. The reward gave me an uneasy vibe. This time, I appeared outside a cavern, with three cats prowling around the entrance. All three glared at me as I approached.

  “I accepted your quest…” I said before any of them could move. “To help with the goblins.”

  A cat launched itself out of the cavern, smaller than all the others.

  [Cub, Level 49, Prey, Tasty.]

  “Someone accepted!” The cub dashed to me, and I didn’t dare move. Each of the much larger cats stared between me and the cub.

  “Densi, what did you do?” asked a cat that stepped out of the shadows.

  The cub froze and turned to the other.

  “I…” He steadied himself. “Mother, I posted a quest for help defending our home, since I am not strong enough to protect our people.”

  A sigh escaped from the larger cat as she glanced at the little cub. “The goblins are not your concern.”

  “They’ve killed over half our pride, and father! We are all that's left, and we can only flee. Plus, sis…”

  I stepped closer. “I am here to help.”

  “What did my cub promise you? We have little…” ask the lioness with a frown. Her whiskers twitched.

  I shook my head. “I’m not here for a reward, I’m here to help.”

  Roars echoed out from behind me as I twisted about, pulling out my blade.

  Trees appeared that rustled in the far distance.

  “They are coming! We need to hide the cubs.” Voices came from behind me, all filled with panic.

  “What are they?” I asked, focusing on the trees.

  “Goblins.” The mother stepped up beside me. “They have killed most of our pride. We are all that’s left. They violated the law of the System and killed a cub as well.”

  A ping on my radar let me know something with a bounty had stepped into my area.

  Energy surged through my limbs.

  [An OFFENDER has been detected in your area with a bounty. You have been given a temporary boost to stats and abilities.]

  The notification popped up, and I smiled. At least I’d finally get my fight.

  “I’ll take care of them,” I said. I narrowed my eyes and darted into the trees. Each of the trunks was close enough to create a shadowy area in the dense canopy.

  The first small green creature came into view. It held a small wooden spear and peered around a tree, licking its lips.

  [Goblin, Level 99, Prey, Unknown.]

  A single slice across its neck took it out without it even noticing me. The second dashed into the small clearing as the first hit the ground.

  It stabbed at the air, but didn’t hit me.

  Small beady eyes darted around, trying to spot something. “Here kitty, kitty… I have dinner plans for you.”

  This time I took it out from behind.

  The actual offender approached much slower on my radar, and I climbed one of the trees as silently as possible.

  It stepped into the clearing, standing bigger than the others had.

  [Goblin chief, Level 110, Predator, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  It roared at the sight of the dead goblins, and it charged right past my tree.

  I leaped out with a smile, slamming onto its back, my weight knocking it down. My spear pierced through the creature’s shoulder to the forest floor below.

  The Chief flung its other arm back, knocking me up into the air. I snagged a tree branch to stop my fall and scrambled onto it.

  It was strong, but I had come a long way from the Carnitor, what seemed like forever ago, and I knew my own strength.

  The chief yanked my spear out and tossed it to one side. Blood gushed from the wound it had made, but it slowly started to close.

  “Whatever those cats promised, I can offer more. Gold, rewards, and as many levels as you want.” It chuckled darkly as I crept around the branches. “The Spotted Pride is not the first I’ve eliminated down to the last cub, and they won’t be my last.”

  Yet, even before his last word finished, I slammed into the side of him, my storm blade cutting into his neck. Again, I used ice to make sure the wound froze as I yanked my knife back.

  A fist slammed into my side, but my armor took the damage with ease.

  I responded by raking him with claws that popped surprisingly fast out of my knuckles. I didn’t even feel any pain. The golden lines tore through his face, spraying blood everywhere.

  Something tackled me from behind, but then a cat tore the goblin off of me.

  I jumped back at the chief, knife out as he tried to climb to his feet. He tried to block me, but stumbled. My knife sliced across the green throat again, and then that was that.

  A cry came from the goblin that the cat had taken out before she tore his throat out.

  Then the forest went still.

  Nothing else moved on my radar.

  [You have collected a bounty: Gained a skill Upgrade Token.]

  I paused my notifications as I waited to see if any more goblins would arrive.

  “You killed him,” whispered the enormous cat, staring at the dead goblin chief.

  I turned in her direction.

  [Kana, Spotted Clan Matriarch, Level 80, Prey, Tasty.]

  “You actually killed him to save our pride.” Her eyes narrowed as her hair stood out all over the place.

  “Of course. Your cub asked for help. I could do no less.” I nodded slowly, trying to figure out the best way to explain myself. “The chief had a bounty on him.”

  She shook her head as her fur lowered and looked intently at me again. “We have nothing to give but ourselves and our honor.”

  I held up a hand. “He had a bounty, and I collected that. I need no other reward.”

  Again, she shook her head. “You have our claws…”

  Her voice trailed off as everything around me faded from sight.

  [You have passed the third challenge.]

  I sat down, taking a deep breath, wondering about the bounty. The whole thing had seemed to be an illusion of sorts, so how could I collect a bounty? I hadn’t gained any experience from the fights, which kind of made sense. I opened my notifications and one stood out more than the others.

  [Current pledges: Lenna, Kabi, Strange, Spotted Pride.]

  “What?”

  I appeared back on the flattened mountain top, more confused than before. The purple sky suddenly rippled with dark energy. I almost didn’t notice, but at the last second I saw the faint shimmers.

  [Do you want to take a variant path?]