Neska saw one rune that looked grimly familiar: fire.
“My guess is they’ll be back in larger numbers tomorrow. If not sooner,” Risha muttered. She traced down a rune of bright orange paste, and Neska watched as it sank into the earth, as though it never was. “A little greeting for them, in the likely case they do.”
Neska gave her a discerning look. {What kind?}
Risha cackled as Neska tapped out the quick question. “The kind that will make them regret their unforced error. I always wondered when I’d end up killing the Seekers. Not if, but when. They’re zealots about killing monsters. The kingdoms of Juiksen, Valos, and the remnants of Arivol look the other way if they need to take care of…other activities.”
That other part worried her. I’m going to kick myself so hard if I already know all this, and a reincarnation-induced amnesia is actively hurting our survival. Wait. I don’t have legs. Add them to my list of things to evolve back.
Not all the wards the witch affixed were hostile; she quickly coated the cottage and doorways with reinforcing runes that remained hidden from view. “That’ll hold them…for a while. The runic effect should extend outward from the house. They can bash it down, but it might be easier to pick apart the spell with casters. All of which takes time. If we’re fortunate, we’ll be long gone before they return.”
Instead of returning to the house, Risha walked over to the barn first, where chickens flitted about, and the horse grazed nearby. She shook her head, cursing softly. “Of all the things I expected to use this thing on? It wasn’t this.” Her boots clomped on the wooden floor, to the corner on the far side of the entry. She then pushed away some straw to reveal a small hatchway. One that Neska wasn’t aware of before this.
Risha’s expression turned forlorn as she gazed at her snake, hesitating at the hidden hatch. “I’ve always wanted what’s best for you. You’re not a monster. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.”
I know, Risha. I understand why you have to say that every day.
The witch pulled the hatch open and descended the stairs to a recessed area below the barn. Neska followed the witch down the flight of stairs, musty but clean, with stone slab walls, and drains in case it rained; surely, she must have had this set up in advance.
There was also an impressive arsenal of weapons and equipment, along with locked tomes and a few locked chests stored on a metal rack. Staves, daggers, and ingredients for what Neska presumed were for alchemy or ritual construction. All the items were arranged neatly.
This is…immense. Who are you, Risha? You weren’t exaggerating when you said you helped keep the monsters at bay. And I don’t think it was just about giving people a second chance to defend humanity.
Risha pulled a small container off the rack and opened it, showing the contents to Neska. It appeared to be a bracelet that could be worn around Risha’s forearm, made of metal links that flexed gently. Housed within the bracelet's recess was a glass vial, a little wider and longer than her forefinger, containing a material that seemed to glow.
She tapped the vial gently. “Neska…there are things I haven’t told you, by design. I did so because I wanted this to be my burden alone to bear.” She brought the device closer, and Neska noticed something new. Inside the vial was a single translucent crystal, glowing a dim purple, roughly hexagonal in shape, with several sharp offshoots. She flicked her tongue at the vial. It tasted cold and seemed odorless, with Risha smiling in response.
“This is a shard of Ceruli crystal. It contains memories of those who use it. This one has mine,” she added quietly. “The vial surrounding it is impossible to break, with a protective ward from one of my hexes. A potent one. But it will break under one condition. I do this as a contingency, if…”
Risha let out a soft sigh, her eyes glistening with moisture. “...In case anything happens to me.”
How dangerous is this for me? Or…how dangerous is it for you? The thought of Risha not being there–no, no, that couldn’t happen. She was well-accomplished. She didn’t make mistakes.
The witch took the device and slipped it gently over Neska’s neck, along her body. It flexed over the serpentine form, expanding as needed, but felt secure. “This will grow with you. You will need to evolve before it unlocks, and you’ll be able to open it when you reach Tier three. By the time it unlocks…you will understand why I had to take such safeguards.”
Evolve...
All of a sudden, the weight disappeared from her body, and she saw the device dissipate into her scales. Risha stroked her scales gently where the device had been snug against her. “It will only appear when you want it to, just like the Interface. You just have to think of it, and it will materialize. A close friend prepared it for me. Someone I would trust with my life.”
The witch tugged at her hair, twirling her fingers through the red strands now marked with a few errant greys. She glanced at the device, lips pressed tightly. “Serkin…you were right. You were always ahead of all of us.”
Risha…who are you?
Neska realized there was still so much she didn’t know about Risha. About her past. Her joy. Her love.
The pain she tried to hide with every dawn.
She wasn’t her kind, but she acted as a mother would to their young. And she wanted to know more about her.
Risha then pulled a container off the shelf and placed it on the table. The small chest seemed relatively mundane, constructed of dark wood and patterned metal. But it was distinguishable by the small squiggly runes on the metal bands that emitted faint white light. The light faded from them as her hand slid across them, and she gazed at the container contemplatively. “Neska…I did something terrible, a long time ago, out of love. I pray that something good can be done, for the same reason. If Marikand knew this item was here…he would level this town to find it. He would kill anyone in his path to claim it.”
She opened the chest and reached in, and Neska was surprised. The witch held in her hands a small crystal, jet black and containing innumerable facets, glowing with a dim light. Neska could feel a prickle of power from it, just being near it.
Risha turned it in her hand, frowning. “We have only been able to take a total of six Tier five cores from the Varadur, a leftover core from their body that contained their magic. The only thing that might make this work. Other than my own core. Maybe,” she muttered. She glanced at Neska, sliding her hand gently across her scales. “Any objections before we start?”
Neska would frown if she could. We’re spending what I presume is an absurdly rare magical component on a dodgy ritual held together by theories and hope. And, we’re putting ourselves in the middle of it? Assuming this doesn’t blow up in our face–unlikely, because it’s you doing this–we’re going to be running from Seekers. And monsters. And then seeking refuge with a bunch of other misfit souls stuffed in monster bodies.
Then, it gets better: we’ll train our bodies to combat living nightmares in a Hail-Sethira attempt to defeat the Varadur, and send whatever ungodly thing that Lachmir created back into the void it originated from.
Was I this crazy before I died? Or did becoming a snake do that to me?
She tapped ‘no’ on the message scribble. There was zero chance she was going to telegraph that much anxiety.
The witch spent a small period of time finishing the circle, locking in the runes. Her efforts were fluid, fast, and deliberate; tendrils of energy extended from her hands, dancing across the glyphs as she empowered the runic effects, and soon enough, the ritual circle lay complete. Neska’s contributions were double-checking the runes and the shape. She gave a tails-up after consultation.
Next, the witch heated the runes with a light flame from one of the wands–an artifact with simple, predetermined magical effects that hardened the rune compound and bound it together. If I have evolution powers and a class? How does that work? Then again, we are in complete unknown territory, and my memories suffered a slight case of death.
She needed to get this baggage of a broken Interface fixed first. She pulled up the display again; it hadn’t changed. It neither identified her as a monster nor listed her class. So, broken like before. {How will this work?}
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Risha scribbled the letter taps and nodded. “I’ve built in one little feature. You should be able to roam within the house. The wood in the walls came from a dryad grove, taken from trees felled by storms or rot. It has magical ley lines that conduct rituals and provide great strength. I don’t expect this to take…well, too long.”
Neska glanced at the setting sun. The sooner we do this, the better. Risha had already donned some of the items from the secret storage–a dark robe with a strange, silky texture, and small runes stitched onto the back, shoulders, and front. Her witch hat remained unchanged. It was a very ‘her’ look, in retrospect. Soft leather gloves were set aside for now, but she did slide on light bracers and boots with small linked metal plates that provided additional protection.
Then, she donned a light vest to carry alchemical components, a dagger, and a few extra wands. She looked ready for war, and probably could fight one, too.
“Here’s how I think it will work, Neska. The interface will activate once the mana core begins constructing your soul shell–essentially, the skeleton of your magical core. I do not know what it will look like. No one has ever needed or dared to use a tier five core,” Risha said, wincing. “Serkin will murder me when he finds out I had that. I reported the core destroyed. A lie that likely kept him from getting stabbed or otherwise disappeared by Seekers.”
And these people are given a license to do whatever to save humanity? Grim. Risha set down three black wax candles in a triangular pattern, one at each point. Then, she returned to sit in a small control circle, cross-legged, looking composed.
Risha then settled in, pulling a ceremonial dagger. “Neska, I will need you to sit in the middle for just a minute.”
She slithered in and took a look at her witch. She looked lively, but her blue eyes were weary. Her wrinkles stood in contrast to the youth in her eyes, and Neska didn’t remember the few grey hairs in her otherwise bright appearance. “I’m beginning now.”
Risha held her cut hand over a fine mound of the salt mixture. She read from a dark leather-bound tome propped up on the floor. Blood dripped from the wound in a controlled manner, one drop at a time, and only when her hand was aligned with the powder.
Something must have happened, because Neska felt a tingle across her scales. She glanced down at her serpentine body, roughly six feet in length, and her green and blue scales stood in contrast to the dark wooden cottage.
But that hadn’t been the color they were before. Something had changed. They were brighter, with flecks of gold like the sun. Not only that, her vision felt like someone had put it through a magnifying lens, making far objects much easier to see. Did it…start? She flicked out her tongue to taste the air.
Blood. And incense. Yet she felt no worry, not in the home of her witch. Risha was, if nothing else, dependable.
She traced a smaller subset of runes using the blood; Neska knew the runes played a part in the activation of the ritual. Blood was a highly symbolic conductor for mana, and the most reliable ‘natural’ conductor. At least Risha didn’t need to slaughter whole people for it–usually, she only needed a small amount.
“I’m almost done, Neska.” Her witch spoke barely over a whisper, her hand guiding along other runes traced with the white powder. Each drop of blood was carefully placed, solidifying the material into a glossy red texture.
Then, she placed the black crystal in a small stand, sitting atop the mount. Almost immediately, the blood started to glow–not red like Neska thought it might, but with a strange magenta and violet color, far from the angry color of its source. “It’s done. Now it just needs to charge."
I don’t feel different. Should this be more dramatic? More agonizing pain? Power slowly diffused from the crystal in a wave of vigor that made her scales tingle, made her fangs itch. Risha adjusted the flow of energy with a siphoning current from her hand. It appeared as though she was adjusting the intensity, working to some hidden rhythm.
Then, something new happened. Letters and symbols visualized in Neska’s mind, not just in front of her eyes. Her Interface came back to life.
Interface manual activation triggered. Initializing. Calibrating for vessel soul strength…Input required. Class Root Seed Required.
Neska projected the information by instinct, with Risha’s eyes brightening.
“It triggered. Oh, thank the gods. It’s working!” She eyed the dark crystal, emanating scintillating colors at its core, keeping focus on it. “I think it’s the nature of–never mind, we’ll get into that later.” She gently pulled her hand away from the crystal. The tether of energy remained intact, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the energy continued to flow steadily. “Mentally give the interface an affirmation. If it’s like human classes, it will give a list of choices. At least with the ritual as-is, I can see what is displayed.”
How do you know so much–never mind. We’re on a clock. Neska composed herself mentally, sinking into a coil.
Interface, I’m a little snake with big ambitions and apparently, lots of enemies I’ve earned for no reason. What is this Class Root Seed?
The response she received was strange. And not just in the small word glyphs, but what she thought was an airy, female voice echoing in her mind.
Greetings, Neska. This is where you will make your first choice on your Class–
Oh. You’re classified as a human, but have…monster evolution structures. Reconciling options for resolution.
Neska and Risha glanced at each other warily. “I think I broke it,” Risha said sheepishly.
Oh, now you admit that? If I had hands, I’d strangle you! Her only current response at present was to flick her tongue in annoyance.
Resolution available. Recombining class and monster Interface into a single shared advancement configuration. Monster species, evolution paths, and Class advancement paths will impact Abilities and Passives gained.
These paths are available to you.
- Path of the Trickster
- Path of the Witch
- Path of the Warrior
- Path of the Primal
Neska glanced at Risha for an opinion. She was still in awe. Tell me more about them.
Very well.
Path of the Trickster - your abilities and body will evolve to support your favorite pastime, trickery! Remain unseen, play havoc with your foes! And especially mice. You seem to have a thing against them.
Primary powers: Anti-magic, evasion, single-target damage
Secondary powers: trapping, stealth
I don’t hate mice! I love mice! I love giving them big hugs.
May I continue, uninterrupted? I shall avoid commentary on my end, too.
Neska bobbed her head. Yes, please.
Path of the Witch: You choose to follow in the footsteps of the person who raised you, with abilities to aid you in your efforts to understand and shape your world. You are attuned to the natural rhythms of the world and the old magics that flow beneath the surface of reality, and the reformation of magic through skilled matter manipulation.
Primary powers: hexes and blessings
Secondary powers: rituals and alchemy
Path of the Warrior: You choose to use your body as a weapon, wielding claws, fangs, and spines with unusual capability. Meaning, you get to give mice and small lizards bigger hugs.
Primary powers: physical might and durability
Secondary powers: crowd control
Path of the Primal: You choose to embrace that which makes you, you, and enhance it to unimaginable heights. You are perfectly at ease in your scaly, legless form. Though it may help with power napping.
Primary powers: upgraded monster evolutions
Secondary powers: durability enhancements
Risha wagged her finger gently, frowning. “Please, do not pick instantly, as much as you probably want to. I’m still reeling from what combined growth means. You evolve, and your class tier is tied to it, too?”
Yep. Apparently. She considered her options.
Option one, trickster. Kind of cool, kind of leaning into her mischievous side. It was a decent choice.
Option two, warrior. She didn’t really see herself swinging a sword or sharpened fangs at foes. That one was not for her.
Option three, primal. It sounded like it leaned into all things snakely, which was tempting. It was also a decent choice.
Or, option four: attaining a life goal, and donning a cool hat. Risha wagged her finger in front of her snout again; how rude! But not without reason, as she spoke. “See if you can open any more information about evolutions, before you make the choice I think you’re about to.”
She let out a wailing hiss. Fine, geez! Witch, don’t kill my vibe! She then went back to the visible Interface. Uh, can you tell me anything about my evolutions?
Soul shell core must be completed to calibrate attributes, initial titles, and evolutionary paths.
Risha did not seem happy about that. “Well, worth a try. Guess we're going in blind,” she muttered. “Neska, this is your choice. Though…I had a feeling it might turn out this way. Go ahead, dear.” She couldn’t help but notice a proud smile creasing her face. A genuine, happy smile.
Let’s hope that picking ‘witch’ wasn’t the reason I died last time around. This is who I was born to be! Also…you make it look fun, Risha.
She wanted to be able to tell her that herself. Someday. With her own voice. Hopefully, sometime in the near future, in the safety of the academy.
She took a deep breath and held it. Alright, interface, I choose the Path of the Witch. Like my witch before me.
Path of the Witch Selected.
Initial abilities assigned based on personality and external factors:
Mana Bolt (magical, energy): cast a small magical charge at a target. Increases with Intelligence and Soul. Given your lack of hands, you may use your tail or mouth to project it. Projectile velocity and damage increase with Intelligence. Projectile piercing properties, tracking, and imbued effects increase with Soul.
Rooting Hex (physical, control, geomancy): Conjure a group of vines, roots, or other vegetation to slow or immobilize a target. Root strength and durability increase with Vitality. Maximum area of effect, fidelity of control, and number of elements increase with Intelligence.
Beginning soul shell fabrication.
Awakening process ongoing. Soul shell fabrication at 10%.
Risha let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t anticipate this will be flashy, but…Neska? It’s going to be good to have you back.”
Why was she crying? Risha tried to hide it, but couldn't. She was smiling, even as tears welled up, and her body shuddered.
I must have been someone important to you. To keep that bottled in, to not have false hope, for a year? Neska nudged her hand, and Risha stroked the back of her neck.
“Sorry…I just…there’s so much to tell. When we’re far from here, I’ll–”
Risha’s eyes snapped wide as a familiar chime sounded, with a deeper, more ominous tone. She bolted upright, grabbed her wand, and checked to see if her dagger was easy to draw.
Neska glanced up at the brightly glowing gems housed within the shadowcat skull. Even now, she could feel the tremble of hoofbeats. Many of them, growing louder and more urgent.
Awakening process ongoing. Soul shell fabrication at 20%.
Risha waved her wand over Neska, and a bluish mesh hovered over her scales. Two words were all she needed to confirm the imminent nightmare approaching.
“They’re coming.”