My companions and I suddenly appeared back outside the entrance to the Moonwake Jungle. Then, a slew of system messages and popups began to appear around me.

  Second? Does that mean Lunarius technically got first?

  [Lame.]

  Holy crap!

  On top of the mythic item, I was also given a large sum of Exp, pushing me all the way to level twelve. Two Level Up screens shimmered in front of me.

  [Use that thing on me!]

  Items don’t work on you, remember?

  [Fuck!]

  I had a slew of decisions to make, and I started with my Level Ups. I had recently met the requirements to evolve Summon Greater Fire Spirit, and so I decided to start with that.

  [Summon Greater Fire Spirit has evolved into Summon Lesser Named Fire Spirit!]

  [Yeah, that’s not happening.] Joshua laughed.

  Next, I decided to test something.

  [Unique skills cannot be upgraded through Level Up!]

  [Then how the fuck do you upgrade me?!] Joshua raged, giving me a minor headache.

  Too bad.

  I decided instead to select a new skill, and worst case, I could just use the Skill Fuser to eventually get rid of it, but an unexpected hurdle stood in my way.

  [You have reached the max number of skills (8), would you like to delete a skill?]

  “No!” I shouted out loud, and the message disappeared while my companions stared at me oddly.

  Fine, then, I guess I’ll use the Skill Fuser first.

  I attempted to determine the item's limits by combining Lesser Cognition and Abyssal Rift. The result was as expected.

  [You may not use Skill Fuser on a unique skill!]

  Then, I tried using the item with Command Demon Duke and Lesser Cognition to see if it could bypass the evolution requirement.

  [Must complete evolution requirement before using Skill Fuser!]

  Shoot, maybe I should’ve waited to use it on the fire spirit skill instead…

  [That’s why you should think before acting.] Joshua reprimanded.

  The fact that there was a skill slot limit meant that the Skill Fuser was even more valuable than I had thought, and considering the item had only three total uses, I decided to save it for now. There was no defined limit on the rarity, so it would probably be best to save it for a higher-tier skill in the future rather than something like Blood Chain or Lesser Water Resistance, which were only Rare and Common tier, respectively. I still hadn’t completed the requirements for Claws of Mutilation or Command Demon Duke, so I could potentially use the item on those in the future.

  It might also be a good trump card if something dangerous happens again…

  I then decided to use the Level Up on a random reward instead.

  [You have received Portable Forge!]

  Perfect!

  [Oh, so they’re just handing this shit to you now?] Joshua complained.

  I opened my profile screen to check my progress so far.

  My gold count and Exp had skyrocketed after completing the dungeon, and I was slowly climbing my way towards the next breakpoint to evolve my race at level twenty.

  “What did you guys get from that?” I questioned, turning to my companions.

  “I leveled up a bunch,” Viressa started. Kril and Lioren nodded in agreement.

  “It says I got third, so I got this thing,” Kril said, raising a glowing dice-like item into the air.

  “What’s it do?” I asked.

  The Imp looked into the air, likely reading the item’s description before speaking. “It says that it can reroll one skill into a new one of the same rarity.”

  “Does it have a cooldown or usage limits?”

  “I can only use it once per week, and only ten times in total,” Kril explained. “Also, it says I can’t share it with anyone else.”

  Dang it.

  “Lioren?” I prompted. The lion-like beast was still weakened, but it seemed the Exp gained from the dungeon had allowed him to heal some HP through leveling up.

  “I received a skill,” He started, struggling to stand.

  I rushed forward, supporting the large beast as we slowly traveled back to Mount Boom. “Don’t waste your energy, let’s just make it back home. Ossara can probably heal you.” My companion nodded in pain, the four of us making our way back from the swamp.

  “So, Lucivar,” Kril suddenly said. “How exactly do you know that guy?”

  “He gave me tea,” I explained.

  “You did say you met Lunarius, but I didn’t realize you were being serious,” Viressa said with exasperation.

  “It’s a long story,” I began. “But essentially, I accidentally went back to Hell—”

  “You fool!” Kril shouted. I ignored the tiny Imp.

  “Then, I was kidnapped by some lady named Valestra—”

  “The Primordial Sapphire?! Who haven’t you met?!” Viressa exclaimed.

  “Lunarius saved me, gave me tea, and put a mark on me that allows teleportation,” I continued to explain. “He thought I, or at least my unique skill, was interesting, so he doesn’t seem to want to kill me.”

  “How can we trust him?” Lioren strained, weighing in on the conversation.

  I shrugged in response. “He seems pretty genuine, plus, he didn’t kill us.”

  “Yet,” Kril interjected, flying in front of me. “You remember what the last Primordial we met did to us? I died!”

  “Yes, yes, I understand. But Lunarius said that the Primordials don’t even get along anyway. Plus, wouldn’t it be useful to have someone like that on our side?” I argued. My companions all looked at me, then Viressa sighed.

  “If you say so,” she said, eyeing me suspiciously. “I’m willing to trust you, and by extension, him.” She added, gesturing back towards the fading entrance to Lunarius’ domain. “But don’t believe everything he has to say, Lucivar.”

  “Got it,” I replied.

  It took a few hours, but we eventually made it back to Mount Boom. As soon as we entered, Cedric and Ossara approached us with a scouting report.

  “Welcome back, Lucivar,” the huge centaur greeted. Cedric smiled widely, running up to wrap me in an embrace.

  “Good to see you too,” I laughed, ruffling the demon's hair. “What did you guys find?”

  “There is an Elven settlement not too far from the borders of my forest,” Ossara began. “They look to be expanding aggressively, but we couldn’t figure out why.”

  “Does it seem like they may attack again?” Viressa questioned.

  “Perhaps,” Ossara nodded gravely. “The settlement was guarded by a large platoon of Elven soldiers, and they had scouting parties venturing into the forest.”

  “They didn’t follow you, right?” I asked nervously.

  Cedric crossed his arms at the accusation. “Not a chance! Plus, the centaur here has some pretty impressive stealth magic of her own!”

  I smiled, patting the demon’s shoulder affectionately. “Good, we can reconvene tonight to discuss our next plan of action. Now, where is Zorrack?”

  Cedric led me towards the fire pit where we had cooked the Barkmaw Stag meat. The warrior demon sat beside the flames, poking at the charcoals with a long stick. Fang lay beside him, his head resting against the thigh of the large demon. They both turned at the same time as we approached, recognizing my footsteps.

  “Boss! You made it back! You seem stronger, too!” Zorrack exclaimed happily.

  “I brought you something,” I said, pulling the rare drop I had received from the Draskil. It was a small, glass vial filled with a sickly green liquid. Zorrack eyed the bottle suspiciously, then gulped it down.

  “I feel better!” The demon shouted in excitement, jumping up from the ground and flexing his muscles. Fang leapt into the air as well, hopping back and forth like an overjoyed puppy.

  “Then that means Lirien’s weapon or skill or whatever is some type of long-lasting poison,” I contemplated out loud.

  [It’s not an issue if we just don’t get hit by him.] Joshua proclaimed cockily.

  As far as I remember, I never actually got hit by him, but you lost an arm.

  [Don’t piss me off, Carter.] The parasite warned. I grabbed the greatsword I had gotten from one of my random rewards and handed it to Zorrack as well. He began to swing the weapon wildly, accidentally sending a spark of lightning careening towards a nearby tree.

  A Dryad angrily poked their head out from their home, scolding the large demon. “Watch where you're aiming that thing!”

  “Thanks, Boss! Sorry about your tree!” He shouted back, running off with Fang to do who knows what.

  With that, I turned my attention to the item I had received from my most recent random reward. I selected the item, activating it and stepping backwards as an anvil suddenly appeared in front of me.

  [You have used Portable Forge, what would you like to do?]

  I assume that the more gold I put in, the higher the tier of the item. Since I haven’t found a use for it so far, I might as well use it all.

  I selected the random armour option and elected to use all of the gold I currently had.

  [Gold -4,725]

  [Magma Ball -10]

  [Iron Bar -3]

  [Blood Marked Claw -1]

  [Magma Worm Hide -4]

  The anvil glowed with golden light, then it faded, leaving behind a beautiful armour piece.

  [You have successfully forged an Epic Item!]

  Synergy baby!

  It was a pair of black and gold shoulder pieces, laced with red accents like a stream of flowing fire and blood. I equipped the item, immediately noticing my health stat jumping upwards.

  [Forge 1 Epic or higher rarity gear (1/1)]

  Alright, now the last thing…

  A sudden voice answered my call.

  “Brother!” Azazel shouted, bounding towards me in his human form. Around his neck was an intricate black chain connected to a large sapphire gem.

  Taxes!

  [Which class skill would you like to upgrade?]

  [Finally, it’s my time.]

  You have been on your best behavior recently…

  I paused for a moment, mulling over the decision.

  [Parasitic Manifestation has evolved into Parasitic Nemesis!]