“They’re fun, eh?” Dion gestured to the assorted goblin chaos around us. He had summoned a small bar, which didn't quite exist in the world properly, for us to sit in. It was as though he had stolen a chunk of hawaiian beach and place it in the cave.

“At least as fun as you are,” I snapped, remembering the painful cocktail from before and the general mania that my life had become here, “could you not have given me a little heads up about… everything?”

Dion chuckled at that. He had felt gargantuan when I had a human’s perspective, but from my kobold size he was truly mountainous. His laugh was so full of mirth that I forgot it was at my expense.

“I really am sorry about that actually. I swear, I actually can’t break these rules.” His voice changed, the tinge of divinity in his words. I could hardly disbelieve it when he said it like that.

“Well… Still.” I said, no weight in it.

“Right, so, instead of dragging me over coals, which won’t work regardless, let’s move right along shall we?” Suddenly, I felt more in the presence of a god than ever. Ambivalence was the missing ingredient after all.

“Fine. You’re surprised?” I wasn’t even sure a god could be surprised.

“Aye,” the massive bartender said, cleaning his immaculate, magical bar with a dirty rag. “Hardly expected you to become a Boss Monster before you even levelled up. Still, it’s industrious and I can’t be upset at that.”

“How… do I level up?” It seemed the obvious question to ask. “Honestly I’d just assumed that it would happen on it’s own, passively increasing as I complete tasks and win battles and stuff.”

“Normally, it would. You wouldn’t have levels or experience points or any of that malarkey. Except we made you a little bit special, didn’t we? Fiddled around with your connection to the System, me and Nahariel.”

“You know Nahariel?” I had assumed that only I had been in contact with the strange, worried voice in my head. I realised now that was silly, considering the power that Dion seemed to wield.

“I do, I know a lot of people. Lots of parties, you understand? Anyway, I’m surprised you have to ask how to level up. Same way you boost your attributes or your skills. We can get to that in a minute,” He interrupted me as I quickly began to look at my status page, “for now, I’m just here to give you an upgrade.” He ended his sentence with a beaming smile, two rows of perfect, massive teeth showing.

“An upgrade?” I jumped excitedly at the word. “My boss promotion?”

“Yep. You can’t quite wander around as a little whelp like that if you’re going to have such a weight to your name. Being a Boss Monster will mean things start to move quickly, nothing I can do about that, but I can shift you up a gear. Here you go.”

Boss Promotion Job Options

Arcanolock

Bloodmage

Carnist

Demonologist

Eidolon

Incantor

Overlord

Plaguebringer

Wraith

“They’re class options? From the way you phrased it, it sounded like I was going to change forms again.” I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t slightly disappointed. Part of me hoped I could skip the pygmy phase and go straight to a massive dragon like Byzametiya, but that would have been too easy, I guessed.

“I wouldn’t worry,” Dion replied, tilting his head and smirking. “Take your time and figure it out, you’re more used to the Display now and shouldn’t be as lost as you were last time.”

It was true, I did feel different. A sense of realism about my situation had set in, and everything felt more natural to me now. Of course these goblins wanted me to be their leader, and of course I would know what each of these jobs were. I even knew that a job was essentially the step up from a class, and was more specialised.

As a warlock, my class abilities would be based around using mana and health for varying effects. Generally the effects that use my own health pool will be massively more powerful than the inverse. A job would essentially go over the top of that, moulding my abilities now and in the future towards the end result. Bosses grew at a slower rate than others, but that might not be such an issue for me. If my hunch was right, having a job before gaining levels was going to be huge for my future growth.

I inspected the jobs more closely, looking at the description of each one. I wasn’t choosing yet though, for now it was about ruling things out. For example, I would definitely not be choosing to become a plaguebringer. There was certainly destruction available in that path, but ruling the world was my end goal. Leaving a rotten corpse of a planet to watch over would be a little dull.

An Arcanolock can interact more closely with the other magics of the world than a standard warlock. If I chose that, I would be able to learn a wider array of spells than a warlock normally could. That felt enticing, but considering I didn’t even know everything a normal warlock could do, there might be too much choice in that option. Opposite to that, a bloodmage would only learn health manipulation spells and effects. They would be powerful, but always have a dangerous cost hanging over the top.

Carnist, I had first thought, would be about immolation and carnage. Instead, it was the illusion and mind control job, controlling masses through shared desire and charm. Carnal, not carnage. A shame, but the idea was interesting it’s own right. With carnist, I could make a whole city burn itself down. A little too hands off, but I could see the benefits.

Demonologist, eidolon and wraith all focused on summoning. A demonologist would find it easier to consort with and control demons, a wraith more easily able to control the souls of the dead. An eidolon was apparently linked with this world’s zodiac signs, or constellations. There was wording of cosmic powers that sounded exciting, but also seemed as though it wouldn’t actually be my power.

Overlord was the first option I checked, actually. And the one I looked at in between reading each other choice available. Dion had told me to take my time, so I had gone through a charade but the moment I saw it’s description, my mind had been made up. It was perfect, and easily understood.

Overlord - Job Description

An Overlord Warlock does not cajole or capitulate. Lesser warlocks beg higher powers to assist them, and fight their battles for them. An Overlord dominates with force of their own. An Overlord is the head of his army’s spear, and their unbreakable shield.

At the same time, any who chose to follow an Overlord will reap the benefits.

Not only would becoming an Overlord make me stronger, personally… It would reward the goblins. They didn’t necessarily do anything, but Grannda had given me bread and water after I destroyed her home. I had hated them for no reason other than fear.

“I’ve made my choice. Overlord.” Telling Dion, I chose the option and accepted the next prompt asking me to confirm. Instantly, it felt like I had grown eighty feet. I felt like a true dragon, a being of might and magic and monstrous potential. The world would crumble beneath my feet, the only things left alive are those smart enough to surrender before I destroy them.

Then, as the swell of my new power faded, I returned to myself. “Wow,” I blinked hard and said to Dion, “that upgrade stuff really gives you wings.”

“Overlord won’t. Demonologist would have eventually, but I like your choice better anyway. Demons are tricky bastards.”

“Wait, I could have had actual wings?”

“Wraith would have made you immortal, with enough time, but like I said, Overlord is a good choice.”

Wracked with a strange buyer's remorse, I tried to shake it off by seeing what changes I had actually undergone. Physically, I felt the same, though it was as though I could feel a pressure coming off my scales. Mentally, I think I felt the same, but my mind was changing by the day with all the new information. I was definitely still Izaark/Isaac.

My status page and beyond had shifted though. Before finishing, I used some experience points before looking at the page with happiness. I had a total of 466 EP to spend, so after seeing that I would need 1000 to go from level 1 to 2, I instead put the points into a tier of body and strength each. Saving the rest of my points, I did a final check and liked what I saw.

Status Page

Name: Izaark

Race: Kobold

Species: Gem Dragon

Level: 01

Class: Warlock

Job: Overlord

HP:88

Strength

Tier 1

MP:172

Body

Tier 1

EP:266

Magic

Tier 3

Will

Tier 1

Ability Page

Strong Constitution

Effect: You are immune to the effects of diseases and poisons.

You have a small resistance to physical damage.

You have an increased stamina, relative to your Body attribute.

Warlock Spells

Effect: You can learn and cast spells from the Warlock school of magic.

Ruler’s Right

Your standing is obvious to any who see you. Most will be quick to respect one of your stature, others will cower.

Becoming an overlord had giving me a new ability, which was the pressure I could feel coming off of myself. Others would feel it too, and be tested by it. In gamer terms, it was an area around myself that debuffed everything when it came to me. Less willing to attack, disrespect or disagree with me, anything that couldn’t fight off that aura wouldn’t even be worth looking at. A good ability for a ruler to have.

Known Spells

Spell Name

Description

Cost

Blast of Force

Emit a magical projectile.

Non-elemental damage.

25MP

Blast of Intent

Emit a magical projectile.

It will seek the intended target, without fail.

Non-elemental damage.

50MP

Forceful Rebuke

Emit a wave of force.

Non-elemental damage.

5HP

Hasten

Increase the speed of yourself or a target of your choosing.

Lasts for 1 minute.

60MP

Strengthen

Increase the strength of yourself or a target of your choosing.

Lasts for 1 minute.

80MP

As well as a permanent debuff to my enemies, I could also increase my own power. As I upgraded the tier of my strength and body attributes, I could feel the effects in real time. I was already much stronger and faster than I had been without the upgrades, these spells would turn me into an absolute monster. It was an exciting thought.

“Dion… I think I’m starting to forgive you.” I turned to him, almost ready to embrace the god. Instead of a massive bartender, I saw Grannda’s confused face looking up at me in horror. Time had restarted, and she’d just caught my new aura right to the face. She, and any goblins close enough, were frozen like deer in headlights. I would have to thank Dion another time, I supposed.

Instead of that, it was time to stretch my legs now that I didn’t have to hide and sneak around. With conscious effort, I restrained my aura and the goblins around me were able to breathe again. I smirked, but decided not to do it intentionally for fun. For now.

“Grannda… Can you show me around?” I realised, as I looked down as Grannda’s face, that I was taller than her now. I had grown a foot in an instant!

Today couldn’t get any better, I told myself as I explored the village. Absolutely nothing can go wrong.

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All over Zethian, Capital city of the country of Greus, magically aware people had been in a panic for days. The labyrinth below their city, a major source of income for the country as a whole, had begun leaking mana over the last two days, and it was only increasing.

Some scholars were warning that a calamity had awoken. Either the Pitch-Black Phoenix or the Eternal Dragon had risen, and it signalled the end times. Others were saying that an intensely valuable magical core had formed.

One of these theories promised the death of them all, the other promised riches, so most in the city had taken to believing the latter. Expeditions of adventurers were excitedly waiting for their chance to enter the dungeon in hopes of finding whatever treasure surely waited within.