Both of Zoe’s classes had upgrades. That was nice to see, even if she still didn’t have any Rank S ultra special god-killing options. One day, she reassured herself with great confidence. Regardless, her options here were simple but far from bad.


    [SANGUINE DISCIPLE]


    Rank B


    You have embraced your nature as a creature of flesh and blood. Continue down your path of carnage to further awaken your Vital potential.


    -Effects-


    > +120 Vitality


    > Greater bonuses to all body, blood, and life skills.


    > Increased chances to earn blood, body, life, and death skills.


    > Grants Blood Siphon, Flesh Manipulation, Life Ray, and Reap


    > Guaranteed core-related skill at next core evolution.


    > May grant additional skills at further advancement stages.


    > Guaranteed evolution at next threshold.


    > Increases Carnage Alignment.


    The blood must flow—unless you decide to magically clot it.


    The first looked like a direct upgrade to bloody devotee. Overall, quite solid, and the new skills included looked nice. Zoe did wonder what life ray did, because that sounded a little weird. Aside from that, there was the extension from just blood and body to also include life and death skills, and then the thing about a special skill related to her next core evolution. That had to be something Demon-exclusive—it wouldn’t make sense otherwise due to the dual monster core and class system thing she had going.


    I do wonder about how that stat increase works. Comparing it to her current class, it went from 60 to 120. Did that new boost get added on top of what she had, or did it replace it? Knowing her luck, it would be the latter.


    Zoe moved on to the next options.


    [BLOODRAGE BERSERKER]


    Rank D


    Taking as much damage as you inflict is fine if you heal faster than the other guy, right?


    -Effects-


    > +30 Vitality, +30 Power


    > Bonuses to blood, berserker, melee, and body skills.


    > Increased physical recovery.


    > Grants Blood Rage, Blade Cyclone, and Bloody Retribution.


    > Increases Carnage Alignment.


    You already tend to fight with bloody fury and little grace—so why not get class bonuses for it?


    Yeah—Zoe wasn’t interested. This was a straight downgrade. Even if she wasn’t put-off by the drop from Rank B all the way to Rank D, the entire effects section left much to be desired. The skills Blade Cyclone and bloody retribution did sound cool and useful, particularly the latter. I think I’ll still pass though.


    With that decided, Zoe moved on from the only two bloody devotee options. There were three for demagogue, and she read through all of them.


    [HUNTER OF THE SILENT STORM]


    Rank A


    Cloaked in shadow and ephemeral like the wind, dance with the secret truths and lies of the world—silent until you strike as lightning.


    -Effects-


    > +80 Perception, +50 Acuity, +20 Power


    > Bonuses to all deception, illusion, stealth, information, mind, lightning, shadow, wind, and weapon skills.


    > Increased chances to earn deception, stealth, mind, lightning, shadow, wind, and weapon skills.


    > Grants Hunter’s Mark, Shadestep, Silence Aura, Wind Manipulation, Lightning Strike, and Dagger Mastery


    > Grants additional skills at further advancement stages.


    > Adds Wind, Shadow, and Lightning Alignments.


    Lightning is actually quite loud—it’s a good thing this one comes with a skill to enforce Silence.


    [WEAVER OF THE ENDLESS MIRAGE]


    Rank A


    This world is an illusion. Many are those to pierce its veil—fewer are those capable of weaving it.


    -Effects-


    > +75 Perception, +75 Acuity


    > Extensive bonuses to all mind skills.


    > Bonuses to all spirit skills.


    > Grants Mind Manipulation, Light Needle, Create Illusion, and Soul Sight.


    > You can cast skills without expending mana.


    > Enables system privileges for displayed information.


    [INCARNATION OF THE WRAITH]


    Rank A


    Some are bound by the physical laws of this world. Others lack the means to affect material change. Take this opportunity to walk a path limited to neither.


    -Effects-


    > +50 Perception, +50 Power, +50 Acuity


    > Bonuses to all body and mind skills, all body and spirit skills, and all spirit and mind skills.


    > Bonuses to all shadow and metal skills.


    > Grants Mana Manipulation, Wraith Step, Spirit Conversion, and Withering Blade


    > Enables system privileges for displayed information.


    Becoming a Wraith is much better when you don’t have to die first. Or would it be the second time for you?


    A few things really jumped out at Zoe here. First, all three options looked excellent, and they were all Rank A. The second big thing she noticed was how excessively mysterious and complicated they sounded. Names like this were supposed to be for when she entered her god killing phase, right? This was way too early.


    And despite how dubiously ‘cool’ they all might sound, she was left with a lack of concrete information. Not that it’s any less than what any class description has—it was simply that the overall ‘vibe’ communicated in the descriptions was harder to pin to concrete expectations.Stolen novel; please report.


    With that, Zoe decided to bank the demagogue upgrades for the present moment. Bloody devotee, however, could certainly use an upgrade.


    You have selected to upgrade your secondary class to the Rank B class: Sanguine Disciple.


    Do you wish to proceed?


    Uh, yeah. Zoe was used to the particular way the system did these things by now. Just like when she’d first awoken the demagogue class back in that ancient, underground temple, nothing happened for a few seconds. Then the weight of the system slammed into her—and vanished just as quickly. It left her blinking brilliant spots out of her eyes and stumbling to regain her balance. A bit unpleasant, but she’d take this over what her core evolution had been like.


    You have successfully upgraded your secondary class.


    Primary class changed to Sanguine Disciple.


    Secondary class changed to Demagogue.


    Oh, huh. Zoe didn’t expect that last part. She was aware that which class was the primary class affected things in some way. She didn’t know that the system would automatically switch them like this, though. I can change them around if I want to, right?”


    Lilith had been oddly silent during the whole process, only to speak up once questioned. “Yes. Though it is often an exhausting process when done manually. That being said, it has its uses, so we should practice doing it. The more you practice the easier it gets.”


    That was good to know. Zoe would keep things how they were for now. She didn’t want to tucker herself out while still in this prison. And regardless, her blood-attuned class was the stronger one now—despite the remaining difference in rank.


    Zoe still had yet to encounter any more real enemies—any enemies at all, actually—so she checked her status. It had grown fairly long, but most of it was unchanged. The most notable changes were to her stats and one of her skill sections.


    -Stats and Bindings-


    Power 233


    Perception 140


    Acuity 125


    Durability 120


    Vitality (Blood) 249


    Vitality had regained its place as her leading stat. Zoe would like to say she could feel a deep well of life-bearing energy coursing through her veins—or something—but no, not really. Was she getting too used to stat increases? Maybe. At least she did feel pretty healthy.


    It was unfortunate that the extra 120 points from her new class were half fake. She only gained sixty. The other half seemingly replaced the original sixty that the preceding class gave her. Oh well. It was to be expected, and how could she complain about getting a whole sixty more points anyway? It was just a little scummy how the system presented it.


    The more interesting development was in her skills section, where her primary and secondary class skills had been all shuffled around.


    -Primary Class Skills-


    > Rejuvenate 7 (Rank F)


    > Mending Touch 11 - II (Rank D)


    > Rending Touch 10 - II (Rank D)


    > Surgeon’s Eye 10 - II (Rank E)


    > Blood Whip 10 - II (Rank E)


    > Blood Siphon 1 (Rank D)


    > Flesh Manipulation 1 (Rank E)


    > Life Ray 1 (Rank D)


    > Reap 1 (Rank C)


    All those Tier II skills were looking quite sexy, Zoe couldn’t help but think. There was, without a doubt, some special significance to that. Given what she knew of advancing to a higher tier and how the first advancement worked off elemental stat bindings, it had to be used for something.


    “It is.”


    No matter how much she might complain, Lilith was useful for some things. I’ll ask you more about that later, Zoe decided. She still had to find her spear. In the meantime, she could start getting a handle on these new skills. Which one first, though? Should she save the best for last or just go straight for the edgy-sounding Rank C?


    Remembering her very first investigation attempts with the system, Zoe took a secret, third route—one which was almost anathema to her very nature. She didn’t activate any of them. No—she pulled up the limited descriptions on each of them and began to read.


    _____


    Sasha felt as if she should regret following the haughty ‘pureblood’ woman. There was a critical word there—should. She didn’t regret following Lily because the ice summoner was proving to be useful. She was, Sasha had to admit, a fair bit stronger than her. She also fought with the casual precision characteristic of nobles who took themselves seriously.


    As opposed to the lazy useless ones, that is. Those were more common. But regardless, the practiced, honed skills of such noble-trained were notably distinct from the dirty, pragmatic combat of survival people like herself had to learn. That didn’t mean they weren’t willing to get dirty—oh no, that wasn’t the case at all, as Sasha was presently watching as her frosty companion checked to make sure the guards they’d smoked to death were, in fact, dead.


    The difference was more of a feeling. Something you could tell with a small amount of experience and observation.


    “You sure this is the right way? Because I feel like we’re just boxing ourselves into a cave.”


    Sasha sighed. “No, I’m not sure, but I’m betting my life on this too, you know?”


    Lily nodded. “Fair enough. But we should be getting close now, right?”


    Yes, they should be. Sasha didn’t know the layout of the whole prison—how would she? She did know that there was supposed to be a series of canals near the bottom levels that were a poorly kept secret among the guards. As in, most of the guards weren’t even supposed to know, but they did, and they were loose enough about it that even most of the prisoners talked about them as an avenue of escape.


    She hoped they were all right.


    So they moved on. The opposition was dying down. Whether that was due to their own choice of direction or due to some indication that the prison was truly and totally overwhelmed, well, Sasha didn’t care. She was content to let her mysterious companion lead the way by stabbing people.


    “Haha!” The Lycan kept her distance as her companion skewered a cowering Rank F guard with a javelin-sized icicle. Multiple icicles, actually—it was less of a stab and more of a pincushion situation. Nasty.


    Shaking her head, Sasha moved on. She almost ran into Lily’s back, not having realized that the other woman had stopped cold at the edge of the next passageway. “Is something wrong?”


    The woman raised a finger to her lips. She then pointed ahead, gesturing at the way ahead—and all the mutilated bodies strewn around. “Huh.” Sasha dropped her voice down to a whisper. “Looks like someone came through here already.”


    Lily nodded. Together, they advanced.


    From that point on they encountered no more opposition. Where before it had been light, composed of the weakest guards and in small numbers, here they encountered none. Someone had killed them all. And in many cases, they’d been quite messy about it. “That’s a lot of blood,” Sasha remarked. Lily nodded in silence—a developing habit.


    The Lycan eyed the stirred-up chest of the woman in front of them with a bit of nausea. ‘Stirred up.’ That was what came to mind, like someone had reached in and, well, stirred it around a bit. Like a messed up batch of concrete that ended up setting. Only, recently deceased flesh instead of… concrete. Freaky.


    “Yeah, I hope we don’t encounter whatever did this.” Lily sniffed. “I’d rather not deal with… that.”


    It was Sasha’s turn to nod. “Yeah. Definitely one of those ones where like, even if you defeat it, the whole thing still just sucks.”


    “Mhm.”


    Within a tenth of an hour they made it to the gate. And Lo! There truly was a water-filled canal with a single little boat docked at the edge. The whole area was quite sparse, though there was no sign of anyone there anymore. Whatever had fucked up all those dead people had definitely come this far—perhaps it had left through the gate. It looked like there were spots for at least one or two additional boats.


    Together, they advanced to the gate. Sasha reached for it, but it refused to open. Damn it. Lily also tried, but it refused to budge. Frowning, the fancy lady seemed to activate a bunch of different skills to poke at it, but none of them did anything. They shared a glance. “Do we just try to leverage both of our raw Power?”


    Shrugging, Lily looked around. “I guess. If that doesn’t work then I guess we both just start blasting.”


    A cough from behind them. “Alternatively, you could simply pay the toll.”


    They spun around as one. Sasha yelped as she came face to face with a devilish creature. “Hi. Remember me?”


    She calmed down a little as her mind put things back together. The beautiful, terrifying woman right in front of her was the same Demon who’d set off the events that freed her. That only made her a little less nervous, yet a response was still in order. “Uh, yeah. Uh, what’s the toll?”


    The Demon grinned—a little creepy, Sasha thought. “I want my spear back.”


    Now she blinked. “Oh. Uh, okay?” She went ahead and handed over the spear. Why not? She was the one who’d borrowed it anyway. The whole ‘appearing behind them’ thing was weird, and so was calling it a toll, but maybe Demons just liked to be dramatic?


    “Okay! Thanks!”


    Lily cleared her throat. “Hey Zoe. Were you the one who—took care of all those guards?”


    The Demon—Zoe—had gone up to the lock in the middle of the gate after retrieving her spear. She stopped and looked back at them when she responded. “Yeah, that was me. There was also that Lodtvik guy, but we took a different route to get here than you guys did. He left earlier though, so I’ve just been waiting for you.”


    Waiting? Why?


    Sasha wanted to ask that, but she didn’t. Lily, however, did ask what was on her mind. “How did you know I’d be here? I mean thanks for waiting, but—wait, did Basil drag you into this too?”


    “Huh? Oh, yeah, he did.” The Zoe-Demon finished fiddling with the lock, and the gate swung open. “But no I didn’t know he kidnapped you too. I meant the wolf girl. She had my spear, and I wanted it back.”


    What? That was easy enough to understand on a literal level, yet it befuddled Sasha. She just… waited around in a dungeon prison just to get back a Rank E spear? What? Surely this Demon had to be far more powerful—Rank C at least, right?


    It was a few seconds before she realized she’d been standing still, while the other two had made it all the way down to the boat. “Hey hunter forest animal girl! You wanna come with us?”


    Sasha blinked. Hunter forest—you know what, never mind. Sighing, she hurried up to join them. “Yeah yeah, I’m coming. Don’t leave without me.” She wasn’t going to squander her only means of escape—even if she was starting to get the feeling that accompanying these two would get her into even more trouble in the future.


    They’re a little odd—but they’re not actually crazy, right?