Shadowborn
Chapter Thirty-Three: Evolutions

Chapter Thirty-Three: Evolutions

Rhallani let out a happy squeal and threw her arms around Noelle. Serena wasn’t far behind her. Before I could even recover from the sudden and frantic kiss, Noelle was sandwiched between a teary-eyed Rhallani and Serena. Tears flowed down her own cheeks, but she was still smiling. She had an adorable smile.

In their rush to wrap Noelle up, they pulled her from my lap. That was probably for the best considering Noelle’s orgasm and the kiss after, followed by seeing her devoured by Serena and Rhallani’s busts, were already waking my member up for another round.

I slipped away and stood, pulling a set of pants out and donning them before any of them could see my growing erection and get any ideas. Tiana stood as well, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders with a bewildered expression on her face.

“What did I miss?” she asked me out the side of her mouth, still looking at the pile that was my three girls.

I was thankful she’d covered up. As much as I appreciated looking at her, if we didn’t get moving soon we’d never leave this cave. “Noelle had a bad class. We managed to evolve her out of it.”

She nodded. “Like me?”

“Yes and no.” She shot me a questioning look. “She didn’t have much say in her class.” I debated for a moment on how much to tell her, but I figured I at least owed her the basics. “Her last Patron forced her to take a class that made her stronger the more pain she was in, then tortured her. I told her I’d help her switch class trees, and it looks like I was successful.”

Her look shifted to one of horror. “You can’t just force someone to take a class!”

I wished that were true. “You can when you’ve got a slave collar.”

She put a hand over her mouth. “That’s…awful.” Then her brows knit together and looked at me. “You can change people’s classes?”

I pulled out a shirt to avoid answering immediately and thought while I slid it on. “I can’t change them, but I know enough about them to help guide them towards more…preferable evolutions and options." She bit her lip and I could practically see what was going on in her head. “It’s possible you could move away from your secondary class, but it would be difficult.”

An unreadable look flitted over her face. “How difficult?”

“Not utilizing your passive difficult.” I could tell by her grimace that she understood. Dealing with the arousal and not being able to get herself off. Detriment classes like hers were so often a trap there was simply no escaping from.

“Fuck.” She pulled the blanket tighter, her expression turning miserable. “I really fucked up, didn’t I?”

“You hate your class that much?”

She pointedly avoided my gaze. “I don’t hate it, I hate…”

“You hate that it relies on someone else so much when you don’t have anyone in your life worth relying on?” I guessed. I’d bet my left nut that the effects of her class were pitiful if she tried to take advantage of them herself. The fact that she reacted so much more to my fingers than her own was enough to tell me that much.

She gave me a curt nod. “And, to make matters worse,” she shifted from foot to foot, clearly hesitant to say, “girls don’t help as much either. Only guys really take the edge off. I tried going with an all girls group, but I could barely make it through the first mission. I couldn’t sleep, could barely eat, and my dreams…”

Tiana looked to be on the verge of tears, so I put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me immediately, resting her head on my shoulder. “I thought I’d lucked out with Finnegan. He was an asshole, but he was just enough of a perv to keep the heat in me down while not forcing me to do anything completely horrible. Though he was starting to get worse and worse by the end.”

Rhallani and Serena were both excitedly asking Noelle questions while Elisa sat nearby, listening with great interest. That left me and Tiana standing off to the side. I gently rubbed her shoulder with my thumb. “You’re powerful, Tiana.” She went still, then looked up at me with a carefully guarded expression. I continued. “It may be because of a detriment class, but your long range spells are deadly. It’s in no small part thanks to you that the people I care most about are alive.”

She swallowed, but didn’t dare take her eyes from mine. I slid my hand across her back to her near shoulder so I could step back and face her fully. “That’s not a debt I intend to forget. I’m headed to the capital, and when I get there I’ll need to build a strong household. One that could use a mage like you in it. If you’d like, I’ll replace you a place.”

Her cheeks took on a rosy hue. Her eyes left mine long enough to flick to where the other three were still celebrating. “What kind of place did you have in mind?”

I smiled. “I figure we can party up for now and see how things look when we get to Amesseria. I’m sure we’ll come up with something between here and there. That sound like something you’re interested in?”

She nodded vigorously. “Very much so. As long as you promise not to send me after any more godsdamned spiders.”

I chuckled. “Not if I can help it. I’ve had enough to do with spiders for several lifetimes.” Literally.

A small smile fought its way onto her face, then it widened. She stepped forward and pressed her forehead into my shoulder, and I felt her hands snake around my midriff. “I’ll think about it,” she said. I ran my fingers through her full, auburn hair just when Rhallani stood up and walked over to me with a smile that hid the worry I could see in her eyes.

“Ren, got a minute?”

Her eyes flicked to Tiana, who straightened hastily with some color in her cheeks, but I nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Noelle wasn’t kidding. She really got the class.”

“I heard. A guardian class will be a much better—”

“Not a guardian class,” she cut in. “The guardian class. Spirit Guardian. Ren, she jumped from her class to a mythic in a single evolution. In a single level. I’m no expert, but—”

“But that shouldn’t be possible.” It was just as I’d feared. Or hoped, maybe. Either way, there was no keeping it from Rhallani any longer. “Wait here.”

My bare feet were silent on the cold stone, bringing up the memories of what I’d seen. Of what I’d relived. Normally I’d have pushed them down, but this time I didn’t. They still hurt, like an open wound, but they felt…lighter than before. More bearable. I felt like something had changed in me. I’d realized something when I was back there, talking to young me, but I wasn’t quite sure how to put it into words just yet.

The golem was outside standing sentry, the cursed blade in its hands. The scabbard was on and the clasp was done. I looked the golem over while my mind wandered, trying to see if I could see any interruptions in the magic that might suggest the blade had affected it.

Now that I was fully awake and the girls had helped clear my head of any residual arousal that came from Serena’s skill, more and more of yesterday’s events were coming back to me. I should have died in that ambush, and only the interference of the cursed blade saved me. It had managed to slip back into my storage before, but this was the first time it had ever slipped from it. It had protected me when I couldn’t protect myself. Strapped its sheath to my back and fused with my shadows to keep them powered while I slipped in and out of the past.

Rhallani wasn’t around to give the golem orders, so my plan had been to simply banish the sword into my storage straight from the golem’s grasp, but that went out the window when the golem flipped the sword over in its hand and held it out to me.

What the fuck?

I took the sword’s hilt in my hand and the golem’s grasp released. It held its hand open until I summoned a greatsword and placed its pommel against its palm, then its fingers curled around it and resumed a ready stance. I moved to stand before the golem, once again raking my eyes over the bits of magic etched into the stone beneath the armor.

“We knew you were no ordinary golem, but we didn’t know how right we were, did we?” I asked it. It brooked no response, but I knew I was right. It was getting smarter. Smart enough to intuit our needs without us voicing them and with enough autonomy to act on them. I rapped my finger on the golem’s chest. “Guess I’ll have to add you to the list of mysteries I need to figure out when I get to the capital. It’s a long list, though, so you might have to be patient. Sorry.”

I tried not to feel too foolish talking to a construct. After all, I was beginning to doubt it was just a construct. Still, wild theories were no good to me right now. I left the golem to its vigil and returned to the others. Rhallani’s gaze flicked to the sword uncertainly, and I knew she’d already begun to make the connections I had.

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m starting to think the sword is capable of influencing classes.”

Tiana’s eyes bulged, and Rhallani sucked in her breath. “You’re sure?”I held it up, scabbard and all. With the clasp done, any emotion I felt coming from the blade was muted. Not only that, but the sword itself felt…tired. Like forcing its clasp open had exhausted it. “Two more of my skills evolved. That makes three evolutions and one skill I’d never seen before, all able to be used on allies to defend them, and each one of them after I wielded the sword. Once is an occurrence, two a coincidence. Three is a pattern.”

Tiana took a step back. “I don’t like it. You didn’t see what you looked like back there. That thing is bad news.”

I lifted it. It was heavy, as usual, but not as heavy as a blade its size or the corresponding metal scabbard should be. “It is, but it’s also near indestructible. And, from what little research I’ve been able to manage, I’m the only one who’s ever swung this blade and not died or tried to take over the world.”

Tiana’s brows shot up, and I wondered if she was rethinking joining my household already. She took another step away from me, a look of pain flitting across her features. “What makes you different?”

I turned the blade so it was point down and set it on the ground, leaning on it. I shook my head. “Honestly? No clue. But I’ve got a bad guy class and a potentially evil sword, yet no inclination to use either. Not for my own gain, at least.”

Tiana seemed to shrink, then she took a breath and stood up straight and met my gaze, a challenge in her eyes. She was tall for a girl, maybe a hair over six feet. That put her just below me, and when she rose up she felt even taller. “It’s enough to make me wonder what it is you do want. What the deal you made is.”

My blood ran cold. The room had gone silent, and I knew the others were listening for my answer as well. Keeping my emotions under careful control, I looked at Rhallani. She flinched. “You mentioned it when you were hallucinating. Among…other things.”

My jaw clenched and unclenched. Tiana’s nostrils flared, but she wasn’t done. “You were reliving something horrible. Even I could tell that much. Whoever you were seeing, you cared for her before she died, and you said you could help her.”

She pulled the blanket so tightly around her I wondered if it would tear. “Your class is terrifying. You use shadows and violence like an extension of yourself, and you’re strong. You saved us. Protected us. I didn’t want to judge a book by its cover after all that. Then you mentioned you could fix the death of your friend. Now you tell me you’ve got an incredibly powerful artifact that has been used to do evil in the past. Like you said yourself, three is a pattern.”

I couldn’t help but respect how she didn’t so much as flinch while she held my gaze. There weren’t many who could when I was struggling with my emotions as I was now. Years of living like an animal meant I had a tendency to glare like one on occasion. “I’d think getting out of here alive would be a little more important than this conversation.”

Her chin lifted higher. “I don’t want to die, but I’ve got family out there in the world. I’m no fool. I know a Chosen conflict is brewing, and you fit a lot of the descriptions for an evil one. I want to survive, but not if it means helping someone who could hurt a lot of innocent people.”

I felt Serena rise somewhere off to my side. She touched her fingers to the gem at her neck and her armor materialized, but Tiana never took her eyes from me. Her expression was intense, but I noted the slightest of tremors that shook her. She was scared of me, but she was still willing to put the world first.

I knew in that moment I wanted her around for more than just this ill-fated expedition.

“You don’t know much about me,” I said carefully, “so I won’t hold it against you that you assumed I was a Chosen. I get your logic, but I would respectfully ask that you not make that mistake again.”

I pushed the sword forward, drawing her gaze to it. “This sword was the property of a man who committed atrocities you can’t even imagine. He forced me to take my class for the sole reason of wielding it for him, but I managed to escape from under his thumb. Now I have the sword because I don’t trust anyone else not to use it.”

Her gaze quivered, and I saw some of the intensity drain from her eyes, but she still wasn’t ready to back down. I felt a hand slip into mine. Small and callused and warm. Noelle’s. I didn’t look away from Tiana, though, and she didn’t look away from me. “And the deal?”

“Between me and a goddess and nobody else,” I said in a tone that invited no argument.

Her eyes widened a fraction. She looked at Rhallani, who was standing next to me holding her breath. “Not even you?” Rhallani shook her head. “And you’re okay with that?”

Rhallani wrapped around the arm holding the blade and pulled it into the valley between her breasts. “I am. Ren’s a good man, and one that I love very much. Whatever deal he made, I know he didn’t do it for himself. He can’t stop himself from helping anyone he comes across that needs it, and that’s good enough for me.” She glanced at Elisa, who’d been watching the exchange with wide eyes. “He took one look at how much pain your friend was in and dropped everything to come save you, after all.”

Tiana seemed to deflate. “I’m sorry. I had to know.”

I inclined my head. “I can’t blame you. I’d probably have done the same in your position.”

That didn’t make her seem any less miserable. “No, I imagine you wouldn’t have. Still, if you’re reconsidering your offer, then I’d understand.”

I snorted. “Hardly. I, more than anyone, understand the importance of keeping someone around who isn’t afraid to call me out on my shit.”

She blinked in surprise, but Rhallani’s grip tightened around my arm. “Offer? What offer?” she demanded.

I grinned at her in an attempt to diffuse the tension that remained in the room. “I might have offered her a yet-undetermined spot in the household.” I looked back at Serena and squeezed Noelle’s hand. “Pending approval, of course.”

“Fuck yes!” Rhallani said immediately. “Strong, hot, and horny? She’ll fit in perfectly!”

I ruffled her hair. “Color me shocked.”

Serena hid a giggle behind her hand. “I approve as well. She’s not just powerful, she has very good battle sense and performs well under pressure. She’ll be an invaluable asset.” She tilted her head at Tiana with a soft smile. “She has a good sense of right and wrong too, it seems.”

Noelle squeezed my hand and simply gave me a nod. I looked at Tiana. “Well, sounds like the job’s yours if you want it. Take some time to think on it, though. We’ll hardly be going our separate ways any time soon.”

“Yes!” Rhallani let me go to throw her arms around Tiana. “You should definitely say yes!” Then she pulled Tiana down and whispered something in her ear that I couldn’t hear and Tiana turned a shade of crimson. Before I could even ask, though, Rhallani whirled on me. “Now that’s all out of the way, spill! You said two skills evolved?”

I nodded. “Two evolutions, two levels.”

Rhallani squealed. “A new skill, too? Oh, Ren, you spoil me so! Way to upstage my level, I just got two more measly points in Arcane that don’t help me at all.”

I crossed my arms with a raised brow. “No, but it’s one level away from twenty. That’s kind of a big deal. I glanced at Serena. “And you?”

“A level in both, but odd numbers. Just more points into Divine.”

Tiana frowned. “Wait, hang on a damn minute. Didn’t you all already level?” She looked at Rhallani. “You’re only level nineteen?”

She beamed proudly. “Yep. A Scholar, so my only real offense is my golem.”

Tiana shook her head, then gestured at Serena. “And I’m gathering you’re power leveling a second class right now.”

Serena inclined her head. “My primary hit twenty-one, and my secondary is now seven. My primary is an offense class, my secondary is a support healing class.”

“Twenty-five Spirit Guardian,” Noelle said softly, a hint of her smile still tugging at her lips. “My other class is fifteen.”

Almost fearfully, Tiana turned her gaze to me. I scratched the back of my neck. “Eighteen, now.”

She chewed her words for a moment. “And your primary class?” she asked hopefully.

“That is my primary class.”

She had to sit down. “Un-fucking-believable. You’re a monster.” Then she winced. “Power-wise! Monstrously strong, not an actual monster!”

I chuckled. “I get it.” I held my hand out to pull her and she grabbed it. Her hands were warm and soft and, I couldn’t help but notice, still a little damp. I pulled her to her feet and she stayed standing next to me. “Mythic classes are something else.”

“But as for my new skill…” I focused on [Umbral Barrage]. I felt a shadow trickle down my arm and I flicked my wrist, sending three spikes about three inches long flying out hard enough to impale the stone across the room.”

Rhallani squealed. “A ranged skill! Finally! That’s so fucking cool! Do it again!”

I laughed. “When we aren’t under threat of death, I’ll be happy to explore it with you. Until then, I think you’ll like the first of my evolved skills even better.” She stopped breathing entirely, her eyes wide. “[Armor of Shadows] turned into [Dark Armorer].”

She was starting to vibrate again. “Ren, please tell me that means what I think it means. Don’t tease me, for the love of the gods. Please, Ren. Please please please.”

With a laugh, I pulled out one of the red gems that had been deposited in my storage by my skill. I’d barely held it up before she started abandoning clothes. When I raised a brow, she shrugged. “What? Serena had the right of things. Now gimme!”

I held it out to her with a chuckle and she snatched it hard enough to send her breasts bouncing. She held it up, then frowned. She put a hand to the collar she already wore. “I’m not sure a double collar will look too good,” she admitted.

It was just a gem, no band, so I grabbed her hand and pushed the gem to the inside of her wrist. The same black fabric that made up the collar currently around Serena’s neck wrapped around her thin wrist and she grinned. “It’ll be useful not needing you to cast it all the time. Moment of truth. Please be something sexy.”

She touched two fingers to the gem and shadows flowed across her skin. It first formed a glove that wrapped over her thumb and went the length of her forearm, stopping halfway up her bicep. Then another identical one on the other arm. Her shoulders were bare, and only a tight black cloth top hugged her chest. It was low cut, though it extended all the way down to just past the tops of her thighs far enough to barely cover her modesty. A corset that looked like it had sheets of black metal along the sides extended to her waist, stopping at a belt that hung loosely on her hips. From the front her thighs were bare, but her top flowed to her knees in the back, meaning she’d show off plenty of leg any time she moved. Her black leather boots stopped above her knees, and they had heels that must have been at least two inches tall.

“Oh! It’s so cute!” She did a spin, which caused the tail of her top to flare out. Like Serena’s, it had red accents and at least one gem in each of the different pieces. Then she grabbed her breasts and gave them a squeeze. “And warm. Serena wasn’t kidding, it’s probably the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn.” She ran her hand along the corset then, Rhallani being Rhallani, lifted the front of her top to reveal a set of black lace panties underneath with the hand that bore the main gem.

She grinned at me, then touched her fingers to the gem and her panties dissolved. “What do you think?”

In answer, I pulled her into me and shoved my tongue down her throat. She returned the kiss with just as much eagerness and caressed my erection with a happy groan. She made a disappointed sound when I pulled away. “I’ll fuck you in it after we get out of the spider kingdom,” I said pointedly.

She pouted. “Fine. You’d better, cause we both know I’m hot as hell in this.”

Elisa was glaring at Rhallani like she agreed very much, and Tiana’s jaw was on the floor. “How the hell does that count as armor?” Tiana demanded.

Rhallani fished her dagger out from the belt she’d tossed aside and stabbed herself in the leg. The same barrier of red energy deflected the blade. “Magic. What, you think Serena’s outfit would be practical otherwise?”

Tiana just shook her head. “And I thought my class was pervy.”

Rhallani’s breath caught. I could see the wheels turning in her head, but I stopped her. “Hang on a second.”

She looked at me pleadingly right up until I conjured another gem, then she beamed. “Oh hells yes!”

“I’ve got one more, the only question is who it would be best on.” I looked to Noelle. “You’d be in the frontline, so it might make sense to give it to you.”

She shook her head adamantly. “I have all seven hundred of my health.” She looked at Tiana. “How much do you have?”

Tiana blanched. “Not seven hundred, that’s for fucking sure.”

I held the gem out to her. “You don’t have to take it, but something tells me it’ll serve the same purpose as your normal outfit while being a lot more protecting.” I now understood that her normal outfit was designed to give her party members easy access, and I had a feeling my skill would take that into account.

She just sighed and let the blanket finally fall to the ground. I had a hard time keeping my eyes off her swaying bust while she took the gem from me. “Honestly, what even is my life?”

But she pressed the gem to her throat anyways and a collar sprang to life around it. Then she summoned her armor and whatever thoughts Rhallani’s new outfit had left behind disappeared. Like Rhallani’s, the “armor” was made entirely of fabric.

Long silken sleeves that covered the backs of her hands, connected by a loop that went around her middle fingers, stretched nearly to her elbows. Like Rhallani’s, her shoulders were left bare. Unlike Rhallani, there was nothing that could be considered tight about her top. Long swathes of smooth black fabric started at the collar around her neck, splitting into two trails of cloth. Each one went over a different breast, leaving the cleavage in the center and on the sides exposed, then they reconnected just below her navel and wrapped around her midriff. She had a similar belt that hung a little off kilter at her wide hips, and the cloth went underneath it to fall between her legs trailing all the way to her ankles. An identical strip of cloth fell behind her, covering her modesty, but the sides of her robe were cut all the way up past her belt, showing off long stretches of skin from above her hips all the way to the boots that she wore. They went even higher than Rhallani’s, though her heels were slightly longer.

If I hadn’t been straining against my pants before, I was now. I didn’t know if I should thank the sword, Allura, my desires, or the clear perversion that seemed to lurk in each girl’s mind. I thanked all of them just to be sure.

“Fuck me,” Tiana said, raising her arms to get a good look at herself. “I can’t tell if this is the best thing to ever happen to me or the worst. At least it’s comfortable, even if I’ll be flashing every other person I see.”

There wasn’t a set of eyes that weren’t on her when she walked to the end of the cavern and back, her breasts bouncing and her ass jiggling in a way that was very difficult to ignore. But her nipples never slipped out of the confines of her shirt. In fact, wherever her breasts went, the fabric stuck with them. She shook her head. “Fucking magic. At least I won’t get arrested for indecency.”

I tried to covertly adjust myself, something that I might have actually gotten away with from the way Rhallani was drooling over Tiana. “Ren?” she said. “I know I’ve said this before, but you stumbling on me in that tower was officially the best day of my life. I fucking love you right now.”

I pulled her into me with a laugh. “You think that’s hot, wait ‘till you see what else I can do.”

Her head jerked up at me and her eyes glowed. “There’s more?”

I looked to Tiana, who put her hands on her hips. “Something tells me this day is about to get weirder.”

“You could say that.” I cast [Conjure Shadow], summoning a tendril on Tiana. It snaked out from under her belt, waving in front of her, and she jumped. It was a spectacular jerk that sent all her assets bouncing beautifully. “I can do that from range, and my tendrils will both defend you further from attacks and attack anything nasty that gets too close. My other skill involving my shadows evolved too, which means I can do this now.”

Operating on instinct, I focused on the tendril sprouting from her. I flexed my will into it, and suddenly I could feel what it felt. I wrapped it around Tiana, reveling in the soft warmth of her body, and curled it up between her breasts.

“Oh what the fuck!” she exclaimed with a laugh. I used it to slip a breast free, then wrap around it and gave it a squeeze. Her eyes widened. “Oh shit.”

Rhallani clutched me. “Ren…”

“Easy, I do need to conserve mana.” She pouted and I released the tendril. Tiana slid her breast back into the confines of her outfit hurriedly. “I can control them manually, but I can also give them a command.”

Her eyes shot to me. “Oh no, don’t tell me—”

I focused on the tendril again and felt the connection between me and it. I charged some mana into it, along with a single command. Edge. The tendril whipped around her waist, then her thigh. Still momentarily connected to it, I could feel it slide up the outside of her thigh, over her asshole with enough force to make her squeak, then up her front. It wedged itself between her lower lips and reached up to prod at the nub at the hood of her core and her knees buckled, and I let the connection go.

“Fuck!” She ripped the front of her outfit aside to show that she wore nothing underneath it. My tendril was slowly sliding back and forth, twisting around her clit and prodding it every so often. “You can just do that whenever you feel like it?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“Actually, I’m not even connected to it right now. It’ll keep going until it runs out of mana, and they don’t do that very quickly unless they’re attacking or defending.”

Rhallani’s fingers dug into my arm. “Ren…”

I laughed. “Unfortunately, commands also costs mana. I can afford to demonstrate on Tiana here because it’ll help keep her boosted and my hands free. If it works like I think it does, I can also do this.” I walked over to Elisa. “May I?”

She shot a fearful glance at a wriggling Tiana, then nodded. I touched her hip and conjured a tendril, then sent another simple command. Assist. She squeaked when it wrapped its way down her leg, then it collected around the break and reinforced it. Her eyes widened, then she pushed herself uneasily to her feet. I offered my arm to help her balance and she took it gratefully, then tentatively tested her bad leg.

“It still hurts, but I can handle it,” she said. “At least this way I won’t be slowing us down.”

I nodded, then turned to a pouting Rhallani. “Mana rationing is in effect when we’re trapped in hostile territory,” I told her.

Her shoulders slumped. “Ugh, why can’t you be one of those perverts with no regard to their surroundings for like, five minutes?”

I understood her reluctance. The longer we stayed in here doing indecent thing the longer before we had to return to the reality that we were in a really bad position. We were deep beneath the earth surrounded by intelligent spiders more than capable of setting traps and they’d had nearly ten hours to prepare for our attempted escape. Not to mention there was every chance there was something down here that we wouldn’t be able to take on.

I lifted the cursed sword behind me and pressed the scabbard to my back. It headed up and I felt a leather strap manifest over my shoulder, attaching it to me. When I did, I felt a pulse of gratitude. The sword didn’t want to go back into storage, and it wouldn’t hurt to have an indestructible scabbard watching my back. I turned to Noelle.

“You’ve got a new core skill?”

She nodded, humming happily. “[Tormented Rage] was replaced by [Summon Basic Guardians]." She briefly explained the skill in full, epigraph and all.

It was a powerful skill for a core skill. I wasn’t sure, but it sounded unevolved. That meant it would only grow stronger in time, just like mine had. It was also a powerful compliment to mine. A wider defense skill to balance my own, much more targeted, skills. “Feel it out, it’ll take time to get used to a new core skill. It’ll take time for your body to get used to it, too.”

She nodded, her focus entirely on me. I gave her head a pat. “You’ll want to spend tonight in a bed. There’s a good chance you get an evolution or two tonight, which means you’ll need sleep.”

Noelle walked to the corner of the room and started pulling on the leather armor she’d stacked there. “Then we should move so we get to the inn with time to spare.”

I barked out a laugh. “And your other skill? The one from your secondary hitting fourteen?”

She paused, halfway through buckling her pants. “Should I tell you my options?” she asked hesitantly.

I grabbed her chest guard while the others packed away the rest of our things. “If you’d like, but I think it would be best for you to get used to choosing your own skills. Take the one you think fits you the most.”

Her eyes unfocused while I slipped the chest guard over her head and started buckling the straps in place. Then I heard her gasp. “I think this one is good. Um, very good.”

I finished with her chest guard and slipped a bracer on her. “Alright, lay it on me.”

“[Vital Attribute] will raise another of my stats to the same as my Vitality. I could double my strength with it and be free to spend my attribute points on my Primal since my class skills will scale with it. Then, at sixteen, I can take another Sacrier skill to give me even more vitality.”

I raised a brow, slipping her other bracer on. It was an impressive analysis, and probably the most words I’d seen her speak in one go. I finished strapping it on and stood, then pulled her to my chest. She leaned into me eagerly. “That sounds like a good plan, but you don’t have to convince me. This is your class now. These are your skills. I want you to take the ones you think you can live with.”

She nodded against me, and I felt her shudder. She pulled away and hefted her axe, then frowned. She gave it a few test swings and it cut through the air with an ease that seemed to surprise her. She looked at me. “Do you have anything…heavier?”