Aegis

“So let me get this straight,” Luke says, a hint of exasperation showing on his face as he massages his temples while looking down, away from the strange creature standing in front of him. “You led your people here to help out the ‘holy family of the Reaper’ in our fight against the Technocrats and the anthrovespids? And you’re willing to do anything we say as long as you get the chance to speak with his ‘holiness of the blue moon’?”

The creature in front of Wolf’s father is nearly two feet taller than the man, with pure white wings stretching on his back and two pitch black eyes on his face making it difficult to see where he is looking as he nods his head. It’s wearing a simple white coat with a similar appearance to Wolf’s, but without the crest or power that comes with it, along with a full set of blue and black armor beneath it.

“Even if for but a slim chance that his holiness would deem to bestow upon us his grace once he makes his way through the holy trial, then we would forever be in his debt,” the creature says while bowing his head slightly. Which is an action repeated by the various other creatures of a similar race to him behind him as they all stand at the entrance to what used to be called Safe Zone 52 but is now called Winter Haven. “We also wish to return our debt to the great Reaper of the Blue Moon by protecting his family in any way we can.”

Aidan and Katie carefully step inside of the city before snickering at the reverence the creatures are paying Wolf, only to be glared at by Wolf’s mother as she passes by to join Luke.

“And what debt would that be?” Luke asks, both unsure of the answer and unsure of if he even wants to know the answer.

A wide smile makes its way across the lead creature’s face, revealing the sharp fangs filling his mouth before he spreads his arms out and says, “Why, the class we have all been bestowed as his most faithful!”

Luke just blinks once, then twice, then frowns back at Aidan and Katie who quickly stick their heads back inside of the city walls to snicker again. He then turns back to them and asks, “Would you mind if I asked you about this class of yours?”

“Of course not!” the man practically bellows; his enthusiasm being shared equally by the hundreds of creatures behind him. “We were given the mutation class known as Blue Moon Acolytes!”

‘Mutation class?’ Luke thinks to himself before his eyes glance at the white wings on each of the creatures’ backs. ‘Could those wings be part of the mutation?’

Several seconds pass with the air filled by the cheering of the acolytes before Luke eventually shakes his head and says, “You’re welcome to join us, and I’ll be sure to give the Reaper of the Blue Moon a call about your visit.”

This just makes the acolytes grow even louder as Luke turns away and begins walking back into the city with the new creatures following behind him.

‘Time to push this problem to Wolf,’ Luke thinks with a sadistic light shining in his eyes before reaching for his System Call menu.

Wolf

Several days later, on the 108th floor

I yawn while sending another blizzard through the bridge of the flagship – which is the name I’ve begun calling the ships with the mini bosses in them. The blizzard freezes every last monster in the room, along with the control panels for the ship and even the exit. Although the exit itself thaws out a moment later thanks to the System.

“It’s your turn,” I mutter to Sapphire, who’s been resting in my shadow for the floor.

At some point we took to taking turns for the floors. We would alternate between clearing the floors out every floor, and this floor was my turn. So the 109th floor will be her turn to clear out while I focus on trying to figure out that stupid elemental shifting that I’m still struggling with despite having done it before.

“Awww,” Sapphire groans before coming out of my shadow in her humanoid form and pouting at me. But I just ignore her to touch the exit.

Right as I’m about to focus on my elements again though, a notification appears in my vision.

Administrator Dungeon Notification

You have entered a Duel floor!

In order to leave this floor and move on to the next one, you must defeat one of your fellow Competitors in a duel.

One other Competitor will be selected at random to appear on this floor, and if they manage to defeat you in this duel, then you will be sent back three floors to floor 106 and they will move up to the next floor – floor 110. However, if you win, then you will be awarded a legendary chest and be able to move on to floor 110. Meanwhile the Competitor you defeated will be placed back on their original floor with no punishment.

Damage done in the Duel floor does not affect Competitors’ real bodies, therefore if you die in here then you will simply respawn on the corresponding floor determined by who won or loss.

Before either Sapphire or myself can react to the notification, we find ourselves standing in the middle of a high-tech arena with some windowed off viewing area full of droids. Then, just a few seconds later, a man appears with surprise apparent on his face.

One that I recognize quite well.

“So…” Norbert mutters after a few seconds pass with the odd sounds of cheering droids echoing through the arena. “Do we fight?”

I stare at him for a few seconds before glancing at Sapphire, who is glaring pretty hard at the dhampir. But after I turn back to him, I see her shifting to her spider form at the largest size she can go.

“Well,” I call back with a shrug, “might as well. It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice, and neither of us will remain dead if we lose.”

Norbert just nods at that before drawing both of his swords. Meanwhile Sapphire begins to tense up slightly while I shift back into my hunter form, spreading both of my claws and my wings outwards with a howl to the sky. And as soon as that howl reaches the audience, the cheers increase in volume and Sapphire bursts into action, rushing towards the dhampir.