So far in his exploration, Alan had encountered three more torture rooms. While the first had been a basic table with some scary implements, the second had upgraded the table to a rack. The third room skipped the table and had manacles hanging from the ceiling. The last room he had found had been a little bit of a shock. The first three rooms were all similar in that there was a hidden space attached to them with a fallen cherub hovering inside. Each had also turned into a holy finger relic on their demise.

  The most recent room, however, was occupied when he opened the door. That closed door should have been his first clue that something was different, since the other rooms had all had the door open.

  There were two beings in the room when he entered. The first was another fallen cherub. this one had not transformed yet, but it was also holding a rather gruesome looking knife. It was long, slightly curved, and rather thin. It was the kind of knife you used to fillet a fish. This one also had some extra pointy bits sticking off the back of the blade, as if for making small stab wounds or just looking intimidating. It was covered in blood.

  The cherub was also holding a strip of flesh that it had presumably just cut from the second occupant in the room. Lying chained to the table was another humanoid figure, but it was clear that it was not a cherub.

  Where the cherub was a small looking human, or possibly a toddler, with a large head, this being was full size. At around one hundred and seventy centimeters it would be about the same height as Alan. Its skin was also slightly red, like someone who had spent too long in the sun. The most obvious difference was the short horns sticking out of its head. At only a few centimeters in length, they barely protruded from its dark brown hair, but they were hard to miss.

  Angel: Repentant Cambion (uncommon) level 11, threat: moderate.

  This cambion was lower leveled than the cherub, but Alan wasn’t sure which was a higher threat, moderate or medium. That was something he should have asked Pixel about while she had been in such a sharing mood. He was also concerned that this was all the information he was getting.

  When first using identify, he had only gained info about the name, rarity, and level of the beast. As his skill leveled up, it had added on a threat level. Most recently it had started adding some basic information about the creatures. With both the cherub and cambion he had gotten no such details. Perhaps the higher level of the creature the less his skill would tell him. It was something to keep in mind, or maybe Tamee would be able to tell him after the battle. She said she could help more, after all.

  These thoughts flew through his head in less than a second. It seemed like with his upgrade to opal that not only was his body stronger, but his mind operated at a higher level as well. This was good because the cherub was already starting to change into its alternate form, with claws, bigger muscles, and wings.

  It also took the strip of flesh, which looked to have been removed from the cambion’s left leg , and slurped it into its mouth like a bit of ramen. Another ripple went through the demonic cherub and Alan could have sworn it was slightly bigger.

  This dungeon was starting to make more sense. There were fallen angels that were classified as demonic and they were torturing repentant demons that counted as angels. The details on why, and the specifics of what it meant for him, were still unclear, but at least he had the theme figured out.

  The fight with the cherub went just like the rest. He didn’t even bother to activate mana lode, his new shadow bolt spell was that much of an upgrade. It took most of his mana pool, but four or five max mana shadow bolts would bring down the cherub’s shield and then he was free to cut it apart with his spewn.

  This cherub took five bolts which left him with over a hundred mana in reserve. Mana lode took twenty minutes to refresh between uses, whereas his entire mana pool only took ten minutes to replenish itself. Unless he ran into something more challenging, he was better off not using it.

  With the cherub having been dealt with, he moved to check out the chained angel. It was definitely a contradiction because by all appearances it looked more like a demon than the cherub, even after the little man-boy’s transformation.

  Any fan of the D&D tieflings would tell you that horns don’t make you evil, but it was a natural reaction to have. Thousands of years of western religions had encoded an understanding of what a demon was in our DNA.

  Still, if this thing was being tortured by the bad guys in the dungeon, then maybe it was on his side. It was currently unconscious, that’s what happens when someone cuts strips of flesh off of you. If you’re lucky, anyway. Lots of screaming is the other option. Alan took the opportunity to probe it. Not the anal kind, the one where he stared at it with his aura reading skill.

  This thing had a definite aura, but then again, everything had an aura. It was similar to what he had encountered in other people’s as well, with one exception. Every aura he had seen in sentient beings, whether it was dwarves, elves, fairies, or humans, had contained regular mana. That was to say, mana that hadn’t been broken down into any of its constituent parts.

  Dracon had shared that this was a mark of sentient races, their souls were one of the few things capable of creating raw mana. Once mana had been split up into its parts, it could never be put back together again. What was flowing through the aura of the thing in front of him was not raw mana.

  He wasn’t sure what exactly it was at first, it was not one of the six basic types he was familiar with. After a little thought, and using his glyph book to confirm, he realized it was infernal mana. This was the antithesis of holy mana.

  Cultural norms would have him believe that holy was good and infernal was bad, but as he had already seen in this dungeon, it wasn’t so cut and dried. Since this thing didn’t have raw mana in its aura, did that mean it wasn’t sentient? There was a difference between thinking creatures and sentient ones in the Network.

  Many things he had encountered here were what would have been called sentient back on Earth. The kobolds in the dwarven dungeon, for example, were clearly a thinking race. However, under the Network, a sentient species had to contain a soul. No longer was Descartes ‘I think therefore I am’ good enough. Without a soul, a being was not truly sentient, and without a soul the kobolds were therefore not sentient.

  Whether it had a soul or not, and he was leaning toward the not, since he hadn’t seen one either, it was a potential ally. The first thing he needed to do was to free it from its bonds, and then the second thing was to heal it.

  The manacles were easy, since the key was hanging with the other torture devices. On his way back to heal the injured demon, he snagged the latest finger relic. He still wasn’t sure what to do with these, but loot was loot.

  Placing his hand on the injured cambion, touch wasn’t necessary, but it made it easier to focus the healing energy on the wound, Alan cast minor healing. The missing flesh filled in before his eyes and the other small cuts and slices he noticed were similarly healed.

  The small amount of leftover energy was absorbed by its body, and suddenly it was awake. It was at this moment Alan realized he’d messed up. This creature might have normally been sympathetic to his cause, but he had forgotten that he was cursed.

  As soon as the cambion saw Alan, it snarled and jumped off the table, directly at him. That was Alan’s second mistake, he should have healed it first and left it restrained until he ascertained if it was a friendly.

  That stupid piece of his heart that longed to be a hero had seen a mistreated captive and desired to right the wrong. The problem was, Alan had no idea what was right or wrong in this situation and he had also forgotten that with Anathema in place, everyone was going to view him as an enemy. Especially if they weren’t sapient, like he suspected of this thing.

  For better or worse, this demon turned angel appeared to be a melee type instead of a caster. If its first hostile action had been one of those glowing balls that the cherubs used, Alan might have been killed, or at least critically injured, right from the start.

  Instead it had jumped towards him and attacked with its hands. While still in the air, it also transformed. Its skin, rather than deepening to red, faded to a greyish black with dark red veins. The horns on its head had also lengthened and now ran from its forehead all the way back to stick out several centimeters behind it.

  The most concerning transformation was its hands. Rather than developing claws, they instead grew larger and the fingers seemed to fuse together to form a giant meat hammer. Its fist was easily as large as a cantaloupe and as the first one made solid contact with his chest he heard a hollow knocking sound. Apparently Alan’s chest was ripe and ready to eat.

  The punch dropped his chest into the red and knocked him back several meters, which might have saved his life, since it meant the second fist missed him. Alan had learned from his earlier fight, and before entering the room, had cast his minor regeneration spell. Not having taken any damage against the cherub meant that the healing energy was now available to start dealing with the organ damage and internal bleeding caused by that first blow.

  That left him free to take out his spewn and pugio and get set for its next attack. Whether this thing could have been an ally or not was a moot point with his curse in place. It tweaked his conscience a little, but if it didn’t have a soul then it was created by the dungeon and wasn’t real. That was the justification he was using, anyway.

  Now that he was facing it, he was better able to take in its features. It did look almost exactly like a human, other than the horns, strangely colored skin, and huge hammer fists. The only other difference was the row of sharp teeth it showed as it snarled at him.

  It followed that up by rushing at Alan with its fused fists swinging. It was fast, much faster than the cherub, but with his improved dexterity, and now opal phantom class, Alan felt no challenge.

  He ducked the first wild swing and met the second with the edge of his pugio. It cut most of the way into the meaty orb that was the former demon’s hand, and it howled in pain as it drew back. This left its chest exposed and Alan stabbed it with his spewn.

  After having gained his phantom class, he had felt his attacks almost drawn to his enemies' vitals. It was a combination of the backstab talent, which despite the name did not only affect attacks from behind, and the critical hit talent of his scholar class. Any time he struck in the vicinity of a target’s major organs, his talents helped him instinctually determine where the most critical area was, and even helped guide his hand to find them.

  That was why he was shocked when the cambion wasn’t immediately killed. Instead, it pushed forward on Alan’s weapon, further impaling itself, and hit him with another first. This one hit him in the head and he had to struggle to stay conscious.

  The thing must have a high constitution, but Alan’s wasn’t bad either. He hadn’t upgraded the class associated with it to opal yet, but with the remaining energy from regeneration, Alan managed to stave off the darkness and remain in the fight.

  His spewn was trapped in the body of his enemy, and since most of the shaft didn’t have a cutting edge, he did not have an easy means of either withdrawing it, or dealing more damage with it. The pointy end was now sticking out its back and they were standing too close for him to pull it all the way out.

  Instead, Alan relied on his other weapon and punched the pugio up through its neck and into its spinal cord and brain. However tough this thing was, that was apparently too much damage and it collapsed dead. Alan let it pull his spewn down with it while he cast minor healing on himself.

  That blow to his head had been a whopper, and even after using up the rest of his lingering regeneration energy, he still had a concussion. He knew that because he was having trouble forming his healing spell. It was a good thing he had needed to cast it so often, because even in his concussed state he was able to force it into being.

  The fog around his thoughts cleared as soon as the energy moved to his head. Once more fully in charge of himself, he bent down and retrieved his spewn. It seemed that dungeon creatures wouldn’t turn into lootnados until you had removed your weapons from their corpses.

  The repentant cambion also left behind a pouch, but this one contained an infernal horn tip. It was the last five centimeters of the demon's horn and it was swirling with infernal mana. It was too similar to the holy finger relics to be a coincidence.

  “Tamee, what is going on with this loot?” Alan and Tamee usually refrained from talking much during his dungeon runs. He didn’t want to be distracted, and she wasn’t allowed to really help him anyway. Unless they were necessary to complete the dungeon, though, she should be allowed to talk about the usefulness of the items he looted. Especially now that the restrictions on her help had been partially lifted.

  She answered immediately, “I have a guess as to why you are getting them, but I have no direct experience with this myself.”

  Alan was grateful she was willing to help, “I’ll take anything you’ve got.”

  Tamee took a moment to gather her thoughts, and then explained, “You might have noticed that there was a church at the start of the dungeon. I have already told you that God is not really a thing, so why would there be a church? Those who follow the Path of a seeker often bind themselves to higher powers, hoping to improve their souls. They worship these beings, not as God, but as creatures far more impressive than normal people.”

  “Ok, that’s maybe a little weird, but so is everything else. What are these bones and horns for then?” Alan asked.

  “Well, in order to strengthen their soul, they have to form a bond with their chosen higher being. Angels and Demons are a common choice, but there are many others as well. In order to contact their patrons they often use special magical circles. You have drawn your own circles using quartz powder. By grinding up these bones or fingers you would get a powder with either holy or infernal mana that could better attune your circle to your chosen deity.”

  Alan thought he understood, “So, this dungeon would be of great benefit to a person with a seeker class, allowing them to connect with a higher power and somehow improve their soul?”

  “That’s the gist of it.” Tamee answered.

  “Ok, but why would seekers want to improve their soul? Why not other classes as well?”

  Alan could hear her smile when she answered, “That’s a really astute question, Alan. Look at you.” He would really appreciate it if she stopped implying he was dumb. “The reason seekers are so interested in the soul, is that it is the foundation of their class. Most of their abilities and talents have to do with it, either as an energy source or as a means of projecting or protecting it. Think of your own talent, soul mending. The soul provides the energy for your aura, so all classes benefit from a strong source, but it is at a remove for them. Seekers, however, deal directly with souls.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The explanation helped Alan understand his class a little better, and it made him feel more comfortable with Tamee as an ally. That little exposition was a far better answer than he had ever gotten from her about something so specific. He still couldn’t trust her all the way, but it helped demonstrate that their relationship was moving in a positive direction.

  While Alan had no plans to rush out and bind himself to another being, he had already been forced into a type of binding with his mentor, the idea was something to explore. If he could get more information on the concept, and explore the options of who or what counted as a higher being, it sounded worthwhile.

  After finding and opening this room’s secret door, he was unsurprised to see that the space behind it was empty. It seemed the cherubs would retreat to these private areas when they weren’t busy torturing anything.

  Alan’s mana hadn’t finished restoring itself yet, but it was most of the way there and he felt confident in pushing forward. It was just as well, because the rest of the hallway was empty. After another fifty meters, he found a stairway leading down. There was more to this church below ground, than there was above.

  The next floor appeared to be more of the same. The only differences were that this stairway came in at the end of the hall, so there was no choice in direction, and there wasn’t as much light. It wasn’t far until he found the first doorway, which was closed. Alan cast his minor regeneration spell and scanned the area for any magical traps or wards.

  He didn’t have a similar way of checking for regular traps, only his high perception could help him there. This area checked out fine, the same as the rest, so he slowly pushed it open. Unlike the floor above, pushing on it did nothing. Alan thought the door might be locked, but then he noticed the hinges and realized it opened outwards. Oops.

  With a prayer that Tamee somehow wasn’t watching, he pulled the door open a little and peeked inside. The room was dark, no torches shed any light inside. There was a faint glow coming from the center of the room, but it wasn’t enough to provide any real illumination, even with his supernatural nightvision. The meager light of the hallway also did nothing to brighten the interior.

  Seeing no alternative, Alan opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside. As he did so he activated his fade ability. This was the perfect environment since there weren’t just shadows, it was thoroughly dark. As he made his way inside, he stayed to the periphery of the room.

  He got the sense that it was a larger space than the rooms above, but he couldn’t actually tell. As he continued moving along the one wall, though, he could confirm that at least in the one dimension it was far larger. When he hit a corner it was time to make a decision.

  He could continue making his way around the room and possibly find something of interest, or he could explore the strange glow in the seeming center of the room. Curiosity got the better of Alan, and he slowly made his way closer to the strange light.

  It wasn’t until he was halfway there that the illumination had reached a level where he could start making out details. The glow was surrounding a figure. It was large, approaching two meters and it was standing on the ground. The light was emanating from its skin.

  If he had to guess, Alan figured this was another angel or demon, and probably a more powerful one than the floor above. He had another choice, get closer to try and see more details, and possibly be in a position to make a surprise strike, or identify it from here while he had space to figure out what was going on.

  His phantom class was built for striking from the shadows, but if this thing had a shield like the cherub his attack would likely accomplish nothing. There was also the consideration that until he identified it, he wouldn’t know if it was actually a threat. Yes, with his curse everything he met was going to treat him as hostile, but he didn’t think that justification would sooth his mind after the fact. His conscience decided him and he backed up a few steps before using identify.

  Demon: Corrupted Soul Guide (Uncommon) level 15, threat: high.

  It seemed the theme was continuing, but the stakes were getting higher. This was not an opponent to take lightly so he activated his mana lode ability at the same time as his foe started to react to his probe.

  This one didn’t transform, but the glow around its body intensified. Where before the light was barely bright enough to register, it was now quickly building to the point it was difficult to look at directly. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t actually the light that was causing him to look away, it was some kind of presence coming off of the large demon that made him want to avert his gaze.

  Now that he knew what the problem was, he found it easier to resist. Alan also felt a similar presence, or energy, start to emanate from himself. In less than a second the two forces clashed and nullified each other which left him studying his foe properly for the first time.

  It was indeed a tall being. It was difficult to describe the rest of it as it appeared to be more of an outline than a real figure. It was af someone had cut a humanoid figure out of a piece of pure white paper, but in three dimensions. It not only made it difficult to track its movements, but to also measure its physique. If he had to guess, though, it was probably strong given the size of it and the thickness of its arms.

  Alan was unsure what weapons would work best on this thing. Was it a real physical creature or purely magical in nature? There was no way to tell except to engage it. So far, the creature hadn’t moved from the center of the room. Now that he was resisting whatever energy it was sending out, he realized that the light wasn’t as bright as it had seemed.

  Instead of lighting up the whole room, it was enough to cast a circle of illumination maybe three meters across. That left much of the room in partial shadow, and the edges still in deep darkness. Alan decided to retreat back to maintain his stealth and try to engage it with his magic first. He started with a mid power shadow bolt, and watched as it streaked toward the soul guide, whatever that was.

  The blot of darkness stood out against the pure white of the demon’s body, but when it hit, the results were unclear. It originally looked like an inky stain, but it quickly shrank until it disappeared. Any effect was impossible to detect.

  The creature spun to face the direction in which Alan had struck from, but he had already moved a good distance away. Switching it up for his second attack, he summoned two stone spears. They stabbed into the soul guide, and to all appearances they seemed to penetrate its body.

  There was no blood, and after his spell dissipated, there was no sign of damage on his enemy. It was little things like this that really frustrated him, sometimes. If his life was going to be torn apart and he was going to be taken to some living video game, it would be nice if there was a health bar at least.

  While there was no sign of damage, the demon had also not reacted. It seemed that it was still unable to find him, and without the tracer effect of a magic bolt to track, it was left without a target. Alan tried his stone spears again a few times, but there was still no change in its appearance.

  His patience was running low, so he decided to try out close combat. Taking out his spewn and pugio, he advanced. Having made his way behind the soul guide, or at least to what he assumed was the creature’s back, he prepared his first real backstab since becoming a phantom.

  With fade still running, it seemed his target was unable to track him, even in the partial shadows. The final approach would bring him into the brighter light around its body. There were no real shadows to hide in there, so he would instead have to try to be fast. With a quick step, and then a lunge, he pierced deeply into the corrupted creature’s torso. He didn’t get any kind of sense of where its vital areas were from his talents, so he aimed for center mass.

  The moment his spewn touched the soul guide, he felt a rush of energy surge into the rounded egg at the end of his weapon. As it plunged further inside the pristinely white being, the flow of energy increased, and he noticed a dimming in the area around his weapon head.

  Not only was this a sign of actually doing something, it definitely got a reaction from the demon. It shrank away from Alan, pulling itself off of his weapon and then spun around, lashing out with one of its arms. Alan was easily able to duck the swing, and then punched up with his pugio.

  Stabbing into the creature's arm, there was resistance, as if stabbing a flesh and blood being, but it was nothing like when he had hit it with his main weapon. The blade slid back out with no lingering sign of damage left behind, and there had been no rush of energy. He could still see the slightly darker area he had hit with his spewn.

  Confident in his speed and agility to avoid the demon’s attacks, Alan danced around it and sliced with his spewn. Every blow brought a new surge of energy into his weapon and another blot of darkness to his opponent. Shifting his grip he started to hit it with the rounded side of the egg.

  After two attacks he shifted back to using it like a long dagger. The egg had smashed into the soul guide, but little energy had been transferred and there was only a slight shadow left from the impact. It seemed that cutting deeper into the creature was more important than the force delivered.

  Alan’s attempts at aura reading had been relatively useless up to this point. The creature's body was bursting with so much energy that it was like staring at the sun. But, just as your eyes will eventually adjust on a bright day, his senses were starting to make out details.

  The demon seemed to be made entirely of its aura. He couldn’t see a difference between the body and the energy. Perhaps that is why his entirely mundane dagger had difficulties, but his incredibly overpowered spewn was able to damage it. Maybe it was one of the materials it was made of, or possibly an enchantment from its creation.

  Whatever the reason, the areas he hit with his weapon showed up in the creature’s aura as dead zones. Little to no energy flowed through those pathways. With renewed purpose, Alan proceeded to run a clinic on knife work. The soul guide was much larger and its blows would no doubt be harmful, but he was able to spin and dance his way around its attacks, stabbing and slashing at it until some threshold was finally reached.

  Over fifty percent of the once uniform white surface showed signs of damage when it finally crumpled to the floor. Rather than leaving a corpse, it collapsed into a puddle of softly glowing white. A short time later it swirled and disappeared, leaving behind another pouch.

  Inside of this one was a white crystal and a piece of paper that looked to have been torn from a journal or notebook. The crystal revealed itself to be a Soul Gem, which radiated holy energy. Alan assumed it was similar to the holy finger relics, but much more concentrated.

  The paper was harder to identify. With the corrupted soul guide gone, there was no more illumination in the room. Alan cast his light spell on the ceiling and for the first time was able to really take in the room around him.

  It was large, almost fifteen meters across and twenty meters long. The ceiling was just under three meters high. Most of the room was taken up by a metal circle that had been placed in the floor. It looked like a magical diagram, similar to the one he knew for summoning. The soul guide would have been positioned directly above the center at the start of their fight.

  At the far end of the room was an altar. This was a much simpler version of the one above. Moving around behind it, he found that it was hollow. The space inside of the altar contained a small chest. He studied it intently looking for any traps, but eventually decided to risk it. Opening the lid he found it divided into two sections. In the left section he found several more holy finger relics, and in the right, more infernal horn tips.

  It seemed that this room was meant for summoning holy or infernal beings, most likely to commune or bond with. After collecting the items from the chest he reexamined the metal diagram and found several sections that had small depressions where you would pour ground up angel/demon parts.

  Having assuaged his curiosity about the room, he turned his attention back to the tattered page. It did appear to be torn from a journal, and reading it, he could only assume it was from the dead priest upstairs.

  Long have I been bound to Gleena, a lesser Angel from a distant world. I have gained much from our connection, and I know she has also benefited. My soul has grown in power and my Presence has greatly improved. The calming nature of my Presence used to be a subtle thing, but now I am sometimes able to end even heated arguments just by unveiling it.

  It wasn’t until recently that I really understood what Gleena gained from our attachment. My teachers had me form our bond while I was still barely more than a baby seeker, and I didn’t truly understand what it meant.

  Recently, however, I have been made aware of the costs of our linking. As a lesser Angel, she will limit my growth as I become stronger. When originally making the bond, my teachers hinted that the angel and myself could grow together, but if that was the truth, I never learned how. If I ever hope to pass beyond the red grade I will have to find a way to sever our connection.

  With Gleena being so slow to improve, I will have to convince her to pass the bond to another, more powerful Angel. Or, more likely, I will have to find the means to cut it from my end. I am not sure yet how to do this, but I think I have discovered a way to find the method.

  That was where the page left off. As flavor text went, it wasn’t bad, but Alan wasn’t sure what to do with it. It seemed that Tamee was correct, and the temple above was to an Angel named Gleena. The priest seemed like he was going to betray her, which was no doubt why he was killed.

  What was still unclear was why he had found a demon-style creature, or why the holy creatures were classified as demons and the infernals as angels. It also didn’t really seem relevant to his quest. He was looking for whoever had killed the priest, but it didn’t really matter why.

  Perhaps, if this was not inside a dungeon, and therefore made up, he would be more interested in the details. Whatever was going on with the dungeon denizens, he had another mystery he wanted to explore. Why had his spewn been the only effective weapon against the soul guide?

  “Tamee, I’m not sure if this is against your rules, but can we talk about the last fight.”

  Her voice, when she answered, had an eagerness he wasn’t used to in their previous conversations. “Of course, what do you want to know?”

  “I was trying to figure out why my pugio and spells didn’t seem to affect that thing, but my spewn was able to absorb energy from it and damage it.”

  “Well, first off, your spells did affect it. Just not that much. A soul guide is a nasty creature in the mid-white grade. Everything you’ve fought before was still low-white. Those spells were hurting it, but only slightly compared to its overall health.” Tamee explained.

  “Then why was my spewn so capable? I know it's overpowered, but it seemed super effective.” Alan was still confused.

  “Well, a soul guide is more a creature of energy than a physical one. Your spells were able to disrupt its aura, thereby damaging it. If you remember, when you helped craft your spewn, you guys used ground up quartz and sphene. One of the results of this is that your weapon has its own energy pool. This is how it would power its enchantments.

  “Because of the quantity of mana enhanced powder, and the yellow grade sphene, it has a tremendous reservoir for mana. When you struck the soul guide, who was basically made of energy, it sucked the creature's mana into itself. This is actually one of the tried and true methods for taking on energy beings.”

  The more he learned about the universe of the Network, the more he realized he was truly ill prepared. There was so much knowledge that he lacked, it was only a matter of time until his ignorance got him killed. When he shared that sentiment with Tamee she laughed.

  “You forget how long I have been an adventurer. I am over two hundred years old. When I was starting out, I knew as little as you. And I wasn’t born with a silver spoon like you.”

  Alan was a little surprised to hear how old she was, but he wasn’t sure what she meant with the last comment. “Why do you say that?”

  “Look, your world may have gotten the rough end of the stick, but being part of an induction tutorial is a gift. Those who get chosen to participate are blessed. Sure, more often than not, almost half of the participants die, but those who survive have classes and items that most others would gladly kill for.”

  Alan scoffed at the idea, “Oh come on, you’re an orange grade, you can’t be jealous of us.”

  Tamee was getting fired up, “You have no idea. First off, most people, even adventurers, never evolve beyond white or red. It’s not a problem of skill, it has to do with the world you live on. But all that aside, do you realize what a gift you have been given. And by you, I mean just you, Alan Taylor.

  “You, who have managed to attain all eight starter classes. You, who have now evolved three of them into rare opal classes. You, the idiot who somehow still managed to get a powerful mentor. And you, at a piddling quartz level, were given a weapon that even your green grade mentor wouldn’t scoff at.”

  Alan got defensive, “You’re also skipping over the challenges I’ve had to overcome, or the fact that I am probably going to die alone soon, a casualty to a competition I never wanted a part in.”

  Tamee didn’t sound as light hearted anymore. “Boohoo. First world problems there Alan. Nothing in life worthwhile is gained without adversity. And be thankful you are the only human here. I have watched you long enough to realize that this was probably a blessing for you. If there were a bunch of other humans here, you would be sacrificing yourself to help them all. Sure, it would keep some of them alive, but in the end, you would be limiting your own growth, which would likely mean they all die when you run up against someone more ruthless.”

  Alan was enough of a realist to admit she might have a point there. He would have made sure to help as many as he could, even at a cost to himself. But was that a bad thing? Even after everything he had been through, he didn’t think so. But he had to admit that looking from the outside, it probably did seem like he was living a charmed life. After all, he had just killed a mid-white grade monster all by himself.

  Whether he was blessed or cursed, he still had a quest to finish and a curse to endure. Hopefully his enemies wouldn’t get too much stronger, or he might actually end up in real trouble.