Luke’s trial ended as the last soul vanished from the dungeon. With the soul’s disappearance came his advancement. The souls had been the only things to illuminate the world. Now that they were gone, he was surrounded by nothing but darkness. The familiar darkness was an echo of his last advancement. It was as if he had drifted within his conscious, but he knew that he hadn’t. He flexed his fingers and felt the grass beneath his feet. This was a physical place; the same one he had been in for the past few days.

Some of the souls he had touched let him experience far more than a single moment. One of the souls had even granted him the memory of a month. The person’s memories, ideals, and beliefs still resonated in Luke now. Oddly, his mane had been blank. For all that Luke felt he knew the man, he had never learned the person’s name. Whenever he tried to focus on it, his head would ache like it was some ancient curse. Many of those memories had belonged to beastmen, and a lot was recent too.

They let him see something he had been denying. Mash’s actions were wrong. Luke hadn’t believed or hadn’t wanted to believe it at first, but enough memories and thoughts pushed against any excuse. Fundamentally, he didn’t consider Mash a very responsible person and excused his actions because of it. Mash treated power crudely for all he was an expert at gaining it. Luke couldn’t see his body, but he felt old. Doubting his friend felt both very wrong and very right. It was something he should’ve done before. Luke wanted to trust Mash, and had, in a way, twisted his thoughts to do it.

A dim light began to fill the darkness. It touched the dead ashy grass and gave it life. The dead world regained its color, the skies regained their stars. Light flooded the world like a glorious storm. The power washed over him, and his mind felt a little clearer. His head had hung with despair, but the newfound clarity let him raise his head and he saw it.

A tiny shard of pure golden light hovered just out of reach. The pure crystal was thin as if it were a sliver of something far larger, and he knew what it was. A tiny piece of divinity. An item that would let him break from the class system. It would change him into a god. He looked at it and hesitated. Mash’s advancement hadn’t been like this, it had been more normal in a sense. Luke didn’t understand the difference although that wasn’t what was making him hesitate. He felt like grabbing the shard would end his relationship with Mash. It would certainly change it. What of the others? This might be the end of their team.

His hand touched the shard, and everything changed. The world spun around him; the light twisted and spun around him. The vortex of power sunk into his body like the summer sun. It filled him with power and memory. Hundreds, not thousands of years of memories and thoughts followed the power. The class’s information bounced in his head with everything else.

Beastmen God of the Holy Soul: You have forsaken all that you were and committed to a shard of true divinity. As the God of the Holy Soul, your goal is to provide salvation to everyone. None are truly evil, though some may only find salvation in death. As a God, you are bound to your beliefs even more strongly than any of your followers. There has been one person who has held this shard before you. You will gain all of their knowledge and understanding. A god is not one being, but a culmination of power from many.

As a god, you inherit a part of divinity. Your world will change to accommodate the new owner of the shard. Your power is fundamental to the structure of the world, as such you will be bound to that world and those it has suborned.

This choice will change the Class System to the God System.

As the information passed so did the light. He stood then, in a starlit grassland. Flowers of every color were scattered around him. He took in the sight. The scenery helped him calm down and cope with the memories. So much information had been jammed into him and it had changed him. Luke was no longer just one person. Despite his condition, he focused inward.

Name: Lukas, Beastmen God of the Holy Soul

Status: 1

Size: 1

Authority: 1

Level: 1

Health: 5800 / 5800

Stamina: 4000 / 4000

Mana: 6000/ 6000

Fortitude: 380 → 580

Endurance: 300 → 400

Strength: 310 → 410

Agility: 300 → 400

Intelligence: 400 → 600

Wisdom: 400 → 600

Charisma: 400 → 600

Free Stats: 0

Skills: Soul Redemption, Visage of Demi-God → Godly Visage, Soul Blessing, Soul Repair, Divine Soul, Soul Grafting, Soul Shaping, Word of Power, Domain of Gods, Divine Soul, One in Mind and Body → Body and Soul, Demi-God’s Soul → A God’s Holy Soul, Untouchable Spirit, War Cleric’s Bond → Blessing of the Holy Soul, Demi-God’s Mentality → Mentality of a God, Soul of Purity, Eyes of a Demi-God → Eyes of God, Shard of the Holy Soul

Soul Redemption: Observe and judge the souls around you. In judging the soul of those you vanquish; you act as a vessel to carry their souls to redemption. Send them to the river of souls and lead them to the afterlife.

Visage of Demi-God → Godly Visage: Let your soul manifest around you. It forms as the perfect sword and shield. Transcend the limits of the world.

Soul Blessing: Improve their constitution and strengthen them. The bonus is improved based on their belief in you.

+0 - 200%

Soul Repair: Heal people in their entirety. First, tear off a piece of your own soul, and use it to restore their soul. Shape a damaged soul, restoring their body from any wound. Perfect healing of both their soul and body.

Divine Soul Marks: Bless the souls you deem worthy. Improve their abilities while gaining them as well. Get a small portion of the benefit you provide. Grows with the person’s belief in you.

­ +50-100% increase, you gain 1-5% of the power.

Soul Grafting (Unique): Whenever a soul passes through you, you take a portion of your power. Their souls are yours to graft. Any soul that passes into you will leave a piece of itself behind. Shape and warp the souls of others. Your power allows you to reach into the very nature of their existence.

Gain 1/10 of the soul’s lowest stat, and a glimpse into their experience.

Soul Shaping: Tear a piece of your soul off and manifest it in reality. Shape it into anything you can imagine. Any creation will have durability equal to twice your fortitude.

Word of Power: Empower your words with your shard or authority. Words that fall under your authority are more likely to work.

Domain of Gods: You gain an aura that grows along with belief. Mark a location as an extension of your domain to establish and construct a temple.

Divine Soul (Passive): A chosen soul of divine nature. It emanates from the power of gods. Resist any attempt to manipulate your soul. Your soul belongs to you and is protected by the very nature of the divine.

Demi-God’s Soul → A God’s Holy Soul (Passive, Unique): Your soul is infinite and repairs itself instantly. It can be further restored with mana. Repairing your soul heals your body. Your soul is balanced, all mental stats are now equal. Its nature also influences your appearance, matching your charisma to your mental stats.

One in Mind and Body → Body and Soul (Passive): Your soul has guided your mind and body to equilibrium. Raising your mental stats increases your physical ones as well.

Untouchable Spirit (Passive): Your dedication is firm, and your path is undaunted.

War Cleric’s Bond → Blessing of the Holy Soul (Passive, Unique): Those who follow in your path have the right to inherit your blessing. Cast your magic directly upon them from anywhere. So long as the connection is maintained, they are conduits for your magic.

Demi-God’s Mentality → Mentality of a God (Passive): The chosen path of a God allows you to resist the temptation of evil. Gain resistance to any effects that would manipulate the mind or seal your skills. Your mind is more durable and whole.

Soul of Purity (Passive): Your soul is pure and compatible with any other.

Eyes of a Demi-God → Eyes of God: See beyond the realms of mortal. As a god of souls, you gain insight into a person’s nature.

Shard of the Holy Soul (Passive, Unique): You are connected to an aspect of divinity. It changes your nature and life. You cannot die so long as the connection is maintained.

Luke looked around and didn’t bother trying to analyze his new abilities. He knew them already. He knew what the shard did, and what he needed to do. His friends, if he could even call them that anymore, might fight him. It was his duty though, and he would fulfill it.

______________________________________________________________________________

Mash P.O.V

Mash watched as Ythass chased and attacked Jill. The dragon was admittedly faster than him, a fact that she had brought up several times now. Despite that, she was still slower than lightning, so Jill dodged or blocked her easily enough. It was practically just a game at this point. Ythass would try and hit Jill, and she would block with her singular wing. It was an odd thing to see. If Jill’s wing moved quickly enough, it tore a hole in space. He never really understood what people meant by darkness until he caught a glimpse of that.

It was an interesting spar to watch. He didn’t do nearly as well against Jill. Although, he thought that was just because Jill was more willing to strike back when they fought. Against Ythass, she barely even retaliated. Whereas, she had swatted him into the sky several times. For all that her wing was supposed to be a shield, it was also a really good bat. Whatever she hit just got sent flying with all of the swing’s speed. He couldn’t block it either. It just dragged him through space ignoring any and all force on it. Once she advanced and got a second one, she might actually be invincible. At least to all conventional attacks.

“How do you hit her without magic? Actually, scratch the ‘with magic’ part. How do you even hit her?”

He asked Red who was sitting beside him. She had spent the last hour destroying wooden dolls, and now she was bored. Mash himself had tried punching Jill for a while before giving up. The only other person who was actually having fun was Lisa. She wouldn’t instantly die from any attack, physical or magical. Nor did she feel any pain. Finally, she was messing around with her ritual magic for a while now. She had casted several different things successfully on all of them. One ritual had even managed to work on him. It had taken Priscilla all of two minutes to break it, and it had taken her an hour to cast. She found it unfair, but there were a lot of things she could do with her rituals, and she had only scratched the surface.

Red was about to say something in response, but she stopped. Mash’s head swung around as he felt something enter his domain. Luke stepped out of the portal with a face that looked tired. Not old though. Luke had never been bad looking, but now he looked artistic. The fur on his ears was now golden. His whole body was golden, and the stone-like appearance of his arms had vanished. Now his entire body was freakishly gold. He was more a sculpture of metal than flesh and bones. It was the most disturbing change he had ever seen. That being said, he wasn’t ugly by any means. In fact, most people probably wouldn’t care about his golden body. He looked like the kind of person people made statues of. Chiseled features and a sharp chin gave him a masculine face. His whole body looked more filled out too. Mash waved at him like he had done for the last advancement.

“Hey! I guess you’re a god now.”

Luke didn’t reply but raised a shaking hand up. Mash expected him to wave, but Luke’s hand froze halfway, and his palm opened toward Mash. Luke spoke a single word.

“Salvation!”