Aldrin read through the alerts as he surveyed their newest jungle battlefield that was littered with small craters, fissures, and overturned trees. “How many levels, guys?” He asked.

  “I got two levels! I’m still deferring my next tier until we are out of here though and talked to a Beastmaster,” Jared said.

  “Two levels to my class and five to my profession,” Pierre calmly said.

  “Still none for me!” Evie smiled.

  “I need only one more level and then I can rank up both,” Aldrin said, the anticipation enhancing his confidence that was bordering arrogance.

  “Now we just have to find the guardian of their statue,” Pierre said, gesturing to the broken remnants of the Jade Golem Ambushers that littered the surrounding ground.

  Aldrin stood, scrutinizing his surroundings, hoping to spot something that would give a clue to where the Ambusher hid. He knew they had to be watching from somewhere because of how directed the golems had fought them.

  “Stay on guard, but distribute your skill points,” Aldrin commanded, his senses kicking into overdrive. Every smell, pinprick, and things that moved did not escape his notice. Yet no matter how he tried, the Ambusher still waited.

  One by one, they each took turns distributing their skill points they had accumulated thus far. When it got to Aldrin’s turn, he looked through his skills, eagerly awaiting to hit level 30. He figured he only needed another round of endless enemies to really push himself to the level barrier and breakthrough, granting another boost to his already growing power.

  He wasn’t the only one that felt that way either, as the excitement in the way Jared looked around for more enemies and Pierre was checking his blades for any chips and scratches. They were just as eager as he was to reach a new benchmark.

  Vampire Skill Tree

  Resistance Skill Tree

  Night Reaver(Tier 2) Skill Tree:

  Happy with what he spent so far, he left himself with 29 SP for when he crosses the threshold to Tier 3 to at least get some skills and spend some in his actual stats.

  “Everyone ready?” Evie asked once she saw Aldrin return his focus to the rest of them. Each of them nodded, checking their weapons and armor.

  Aldrin looked around once more, peering into the dense brush, examining each tree that looked slightly different from the rest, but to no avail; there was not a single hint nor sign of what awaited them.

  “We are gonna have to trigger one of its traps. I’m not picking up on anything out there. Still, just be ready,” Aldrin said, using his senses to the max to scrutinize every sound and movement.

  “Well, we should have a better grasp on how to fight it now anyway,” Pierre said, looking at the remains of the Golem Ambushers, then took a step forward.

  Aldrin noticed the hair thin tripwire too late before Pierre tripped it, triggering wooden spears to shoot from behind them from the deep brush. He pushed Pierre down while Evie reacted quickly and tackled Jared down. Aldrin was the first to hop back onto his feet, his eyes scanning every dark corner. There was a glinting flash followed by a thick, jade crossbow bolt. It punctured him in the shoulder, forcing him into a spin that knocked him over from the force behind it.

  He grunted and growled as he pulled the bolt out of his shoulder. His already ruined leather armor further becoming a tattered mess the longer he stayed in the dungeon. Evie rolled and hopped to her feet, throwing a flat oval-shaped runestone that skipped across the land and into the area the bolt came from, exploding on impact in a burst of ice.

  It was no use as another bolt fired from behind them, and with quicker reflexes thanks to her higher tier, she spun and threw another oval-shaped runestone at the target. Jared followed her lead, coming up in a kneeling position, letting loose three arrows in quick succession, each imbued to be explosive as they collided with Evie’s runestones, bathing the area in fiery might.

  Pierre ducked into stealth, his form becoming almost an ethereal shadow as he slinked off to find the Golem. Aldrin shifted into black fog and seeped into the ground to stay low as he rushed to downed Golem that was face first in the ground, unmoving. He reformed, aiming to sever its head, but the Golem reacted by rolling over and fired a quick snapshot from its hand crossbow that Aldrin barely deflected with his swing.

  Following with the momentum of the swing, he spun with the blade, but the Golem rolled backwards with more dexterity than Aldrin expected it to have. Fortunately, that was when Pierre appeared from stealth with a double backstab, one where the kidneys of a human should be and in the neck. If it was actually human or a living thing, it would have been immediately dead, but the Golem simply threw its roughly shaped jade head backwards, head-butting Pierre, making him lose his grip on his daggers.

  The Golem then stepped forward out of Pierre's grip, his daggers still buried in the molded gem body, and twirled on his feet, delivering an open-palmed strike into Pierre’s chest. A crack and a muffled grunt followed as the Golem's strike pushed Pierre back into a roll, stopping him flat on his back. Aldrin flashed forward as the Golem turned, adopting a fighting stance, bracing itself for Aldrin.

  Aldrin grinned to himself as he used his newfound ability and called forth the shadows from beneath the Golem and entrap him. Thick inky tentacles viciously erupted from the shadow of the Golem, wrapping themselves aggressively tight to make the Golem immobile. Without thinking, Aldrin jumped over the Golem, just in time for one of Evie’s runestones to have another direct impact on the Golem, this time resulting in the electric net she had used for the fox.

  He landed next to Pierre and grabbed him to throw him back to safety and then imbued Sin-Screamer with Cleaving Strikes and Leech Imbuement, making the blade’s runes glow with a shifting sickly yellow and a deep crimson red. He clenched his jaw and swung with all his might, Sin-Screamer easily slicing through the air and through its head. The trapped Golem went still, then crumpled to its knees and fell over.

  Aldrin re-read the system message three times, blinking in disbelief. "Guys, I did it. I reached it," he said almost breathlessly, afraid that if he raised his voice, the message would disappear. He had never achieved level 30 when he was a human and now here he was. The anticipation was killing him, so he hurried and selected yes.

  Aldrin read through everything carefully. He had made it and none worse for wear, either. He felt the changes within himself gradually overcome his current abilities as he felt more of himself settle and unlock something deeper. Before looking at his other skills, he bought the first levels of his new class’s skills.

  Vampire Skill Tree

  Vampire Progenitor Skill Tree

  Unique Skill Tree

  Resistances & Immunities

  Velgrave Revenant(Tier 3) Class Tree:

  “You all did well.” Evie beamed at each of them when she noticed they had finished. “How do you all feel? Well, actually, how do you two feel?”

  “Subtly stronger,” Pierre said, flexing his nimble fingers and twirling a blade with his other free hand.

  “More complete,” Aldrin smiled, excited to tackle his new abilities. He had two skill points leftover, but he figured he would wait and focus on his stats next level up. He had a feeling higher stats were going to be needed soon.

  “Ready to take on the world?” Evie continued to beam at them while they nodded in agreement.

  abilities

  “Well, don’t. Don’t get cocky because you’re now Tier 3. A lot of people will tell you that this tier is when you really start to face life and death. The higher you go, the more danger there is. Monsters who are a tier below you will try to run from you now as you exude a subtle pressure. Well, it'll be more so in your case, Aldrin, since you already have aura. But the others, the others that recognize you as Tier 3 will see you as a threat to whatever territory they claim,” Evie warned them.

  “What about people?” Jared asked.

  “They will tell the difference, but not like monsters can, although if they have a Noble for a class or profession, then that is a different issue we will address when and if we encounter someone like that,” she said. “Now, why don’t you pay a visit to the last holder of the statue?” She grinned.