"Dignity?"

"I hope you are questioning 'what happened' to our dignity and not 'if' we have any. Hehe."

"The former is my intent."

"Don't be so stiff. It was a joke. I have dignity, for sure... But I cannot speak for your other master."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Hmm... well, how much do you know about 'Masters' in general."

He's not asking about my class but the title both my teachers share.

"They are literally masters in their field and can be seen as powerhouses equivalent to an individual of the First Party, or rather equivalent to their direct descendants."

"Close enough. We are universally regarded as masters in our 'craft' and aren't members of the First Party. Although, being a descendent and a master are not mutually exclusive. All the 'families' or 'clans' have at least one master helming them, and most 'families' are actual family members from the First Party."

"I have a foreboding feeling about this."

"The head of the Ken family has privately chastised us in the 'Master' community, saying that we cannot control a roguish disciple even with the two of us. And that his hiding behind the law is cowardly."

"If you want, I'll beat up his clan members."

"Actually, that's not too far off of what might happen."

"?"

"Wang didn't tell you anything, right?"

"No, he was weirdly nice."

"That's because he didn't want you to fight."

"?"

"We are thinking of setting up a 'friendly spar,' and your old Wang is against it."

"That's surprising."

"He's against it because there would be rules, and it isn't technically a battle to the death. He'd rather round up the clan members and have you run in and kill them all."

"Oh."

"He'd even hold down the clan leader and let you get a few potshots in before taking over himself."

"How generous."

"Let me know if you want to participate in a sparring bout. No worries if you don't want to fight. I'll just have something else for you to do."

"Roughly when will it be scheduled?"

"Week or two? Nothing is set in stone."

"Then I'll do it."

"Learn about the Ken family from old Wang in a few days. Your tamed beasts might have a part in this fight, but it should be mostly you."

We exchanged pleasantries. Master Giles gave me the information on the ritual and looked through the collage. He likes it a lot.

Time to look at Prometheus' evolutions!

[Fire Glutton B]

[Molten Magma Ooze C

[Ancient Molten Magma Ooze C+

[Ooze Bombardier C]

[Ancient Ooze Bombardier C+]

I have a strange feeling about the first two options. It gives me Khan vibes. Revisiting a thought about naming conventions, things that sound like 'titles' and not 'descriptions' should be better, no?

The only proof of that claim I have is Khan, but oh boy, is Khan proof.

Job description, General species name, cluttered species name, and titles. Those are the four types of naming conventions I've noted.

I'm on a taming master's property, might as well shoot one last question for the road.

"Hey, Master Giles!"

After even more rambling, rambling I had before mentally, we arrived at a nothing answer of 'who knows.'

But Master Giles is willing to do that reversion ritual he did for my other beasts for Prometheus just to see what a [Fire Glutton] is. Also, it would keep him on the same rank as everyone else.

Once I get more tamed beasts, I'll do the same thing to keep them on the same playing field as the rest of my beats.

First, I lock in the evolution, then let's see the requirements...

[Evolution Complete!]

[Unique Servitude B lv5 > Unique Servitude A]

[Unique Servitude A (5/5)

Any creature can be designated as a servant with their consent or if they cannot resist. A servant is necessary for other [Unique Master] skills to work. All servants know the location of the [Master].

Servants must be unique in some way. Servants gain a passive +25% to all stats. ⬆

Servants cannot have a higher Spirit stat than the Designator

Registered Servants: Flash Gordon. Rob. Duchess. Khan. Prometheus

"..."

I almost fell over.

Now that's a notification I haven't gotten in a while, my taming skill leveling up. Huh, no extra room for tamed beasts and no levels.

Since it's a requirement for my class change, hopefully, there will be some change afterward.

But I have to ask, what were the requirements for Prometheus' evolution?

[Be exposed to earth fire for more than a century: Complete]

[Be bathed in life fire: Complete]

[Hunger for more: Neverending]

Ominous.

"Are you really that hungry? Should I up your intake?"

Prometheus doesn't answer. He turns red hot and stays that way. Inside his body, a hollow chamber forms. Although his whole body is technically a stomach, he grew another one.

Welp.

Prometheus is in and out like a microwave oven. The ritual is complete, and Prometheus evolves once more. Bing, bang, boom, let's look at his new abilities and stats. Let's look at everyone's stats. It's been a while.

[Evolution Complete!]

[Gain the skills [Swallow F] and [Regurgitate F].]

[The trait [Glutton] has been updated.]

[All skill ranks except for [Magmamancy] have increased by one.]

Name / Nickname

Flash Gordon

Species

Elemental Stone Elemental (Legendary)

Level

145 (20m/700m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

4480/4480

Mana Points

225/225

Armor Points

362 (181 x 2)

Might

0

Agility

0

Vigor

896 (480 > 705 + 25% + 15)

Mind

45 (36 + 25%)

Spirit

181 (100 > 145 + 25%)

Luck

13 (10 + 25%)

~~~

Name / Nickname

Rob / Lord Rob

Species

Skeleton Gravelord B (Rare)

Level

145 (20m/700m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

540/540 | 1080/1080 (+100%)

Mana Points

725/725

Armor Points

5 | 10 (+100%)

Might

234 (100 > 175 + 25% + 15)

Agility

358 (200 > 250 + 25% + 45)

Vigor

108 (50 > 82 + 25% + 10 - 5)

Mind

145 (75 > 100 + 25% + 20)

Spirit

180 (75 > 100 + 25% + 20 + 35)

Dexterity

275 (112 > 175 + 25% + 56)

~~~

Name / Nickname

Duchess / Thisss one

Species

Couatl B (Legendary)

Level

145 (20m/700m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

940/940

Mana Points

2250/2250

Armor Points

0

Might

125 (75 > 100 + 25%)

Agility

188 (100 > 150 + 25%)

Vigor

188 (100 > 150 + 25%)

Mind

450 (270 > 360 + 25%)

Spirit

225 (130 > 180 + 25%)

Charisma

125 (50 > 100 + 25%)

Luck

13 (10 + 25%)

~~~

Name / Nickname

Khan the Exile

Species

Calamity Man-eater B (Unique)

Level

145 (20m/700m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

970/970

Mana Points

940/940

Armor Points

382 (194+188)

Might*

372 (240 > 330 + 25%)

Agility

194 (110 > 155 + 25%)

Vigor

194 (110 > 155 + 25%)

Mind

188 (105 > 150 + 25%)

Spirit

188 (105 > 150 + 25%)

Perception

188 (105 > 150 + 25%)

~~~

Name / Nickname

Prometheus / Endling

Species

Fire Glutton B (Unique)

Level

100 (0/250m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

930/930

Mana Points

440/440

Armor Points

0

Might

186 ( 69 > 149 + 25%)

Agility

113 (40 > 70 + 25% +25)

Vigor

186 (69 > 149 + 25%)

Mind

88 (40 > 70 + 25%)

Spirit

88 (40 > 70 + 25%)

Let's look at Prometheus' new stuff.

[Glutton

The User's appetite will never be truly satisfied. Even the fires of creation cannot satiate the User.]

Damn, dude. I'm doubling your meals.

[Swallow F

The User can swallow [Fire], storing it in their stomach.

Types of [Fire] stored: 0/1]

[Regurgitate F

The User can spit up [Fire] from their stomach.

[Fire] stored: N/A]

I pat my pockets and pull out my lighter and light it. It has a [Continual Flame] stored inside, meaning it will never run out. The flame is weak, but let's test something.

"Come here and eat this. Keep the casing. Eat the [Fire]."

A hole forms on Prometheus' body, and a vacuum sucks the flame into his specialized stomach.

[Swallow E

The User can swallow [Fire], storing it in their stomach.

Types of [Fire] stored: 1/5]

[Regurgitate E

The User can spit up [Fire] from their stomach.

[Fire] stored: [Continual].]

I see. The two skills a deeply linked to one another, and to rank them up, I need to feed Prometheus a healthy array of [Fire].

Hmm, I want to do some tests... I want to spend the next week scavenging all the different types of [Fire] just to see the limitations of this skill - this race - and see why these creatures were kept in a god's forge.

Later. Later.

It's getting late, and I've been running back and forth across the city. Maybe I should go see my family now and have dinner with them. Give these gifts early.

Hey, Duchess, is this even a holiday you give gifts for?

[Thisss one wouldn't know.]

Alright.

[Neither thisss one, nor anyone else is complaining.]

It'll be fine. I'll spend the rest of today messing around with Prometheus' new evolution and see them later.

First, Duchess donates some of her [Life Fire] from her breath attack, and Rob hands over some [Spirit Fire] from his tail. I hop into the mansion so Prometheus can make some [Earth Fire], and we can burn other things to see if they give new fire types.

[Swallow D

The User can swallow [Fire], storing it in their stomach.

Types of [Fire] stored: 8/10]

[Regurgitate D

The User can spit up [Fire] from their stomach.

[Fire] stored: [Continual], [Life], [Spirit], [Earth], [Solid], [Lightning], [Radiant], [Mana].]

[Solid Fire] is from "solid" materials like coal, wood, people, etc. [Lightning] is like an electrical fire on steroids. [Radiant] is from light, and [Mana] is from Flash Gordon's elemental stone.

I noticed a pattern. [Fuel] and [Effect] is what matters, not the [Source]. That might seem contradictory to something like [Lightning], but it makes sense when you think of the heat lightning or light generate.

Although there's a cold version, 99% of [Fire] should be hot, if not warm.

Prometheus managed to [Swallow] roughly 40% of Khan's electricity or Duchess' radiance and converted it into something different.

Hotter but slower [Lightning].

Hotter but dimmer [Radiant].

The damage is all [Fire], but the means of transportation/form it takes differs.

Quite interesting. Before prowling the commerce district for more things for Prometheus to swallow, I test his other ability.

"..."

I see.

Prometheus can discharge only the amount of [Fire] as he swallows. Input a pound, output a pound. The damage seems roughly the same. Perhaps his flames are limited by the rank of his [Regurgitate] skill?

Duchess' [Life Fire] should be ranked A since - that's her [Breath Weapon] rank - but it's definitely weaker than Duchess'.

Even if her vigor makes her A-rank skill useless, it still should be better.

[...]

His weakest flame, [Continual], is the exact same. Dingy and barely F-rank. At least it looks like he has an infinite supply.

Next, I want to see if he can swallow/regurgitate more than one type of [Fire] at once, then see if he has a limit on how much [Fire] he can store. That shouldn't be the case, right?

Not even the fires of creation can satiate my Prometheus.

I wonder how many delicacies I must present Prometheus before the skill turns S rank.

I wonder If there's enough diversity in the universe for the skill to surpass the S rank.

Shit, what time is it? I should head over to where my parents are staying in the capital before the day ends.

Once the clock strikes 12, it officially begins. For 24 hours, it marks the end of the end and the beginning of the beginning. 180 years ago, our planet experienced its fate, and a 'new' one took its place.

It's a time to remember the tragedy, the casualties, and the old world. It's also an excuse for people to get blasted with alcohol.

Some people party for the entire 24 hours. 90% of business will close for the day. The ones that are open sell booze or other necessities. It's the first responders' busiest time of year.

The injury rate increases by 200% or something ridiculous.

I walk through the busy streets of the capital people are roaming the streets, most pre-partying.

A man wearing nothing but a paper hat and a sling-type lime green speedo runs around, drinks in hand. A group of enforcers is actively trying to arrest this man. He must be lubricated because everything they try slides right off of him.

My foster parents don't live too far from Auroran Institute. They were given a place to live in a protective community. The same place where envoys from other nations and other sensitive lives live.

They are in protective custody. They will probably stay that way until the relevant authorities track down exactly where the students who were actually death cult members are hiding.

They worry about retribution from the death cult since I inadvertently fucked up their plan of killing everyone in the capital that one time. It's their MO to murder an entire family because of an individual's transgression.

A neat bit of trivia, the various Theriomorph kingdoms are the only nations the Prime Territories have diplomatic relations that extend past non-aggression pacts.

Decades ago, the Prime Territories did have a trade pact with the Dwarvish empire. However, they ceased trade after a spicy diplomatic incident.

A human envoy committed a party foul and ruined dozens of kegs of quality booze.

I'm five minutes away, and as long as I don't get distracted, I'll be just in time for the countdown. I'll be there faster if I hitch a ride on one of my beasts.

Duchess?

…Duchess? Where did you go? Where is anyone, for that matter? The heat and energy of such a festive time slip away. The sounds of the city disappear.

The people surrounding me stop moving. Their colors bleed out of their "outlines" as their silhouettes become vague.

I wander around the frozen, melting city. My mana isn't responding, and my skills aren't triggering. My brain feels like an empty can of spray paint. There's a marble rattling inside me.

Besides that, I feel well. Weirdly empowered. Metaphorically.

It can't be. I refuse to believe it. This counts? The party didn't even start yet, and I didn't participate. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe what I think isn't happening and not as bad as it is.

But seeing a 'face' from the past broke any notion that it isn't as bad as it could be. No, it's much worse.

The only moving thing is a man in an ostentatious suit. A party suit.

The suit changes from one design to another. Dinosaurs one second, vegetables the next. No pattern or imagery is spared.

Instead of anything above the neck, a swirling, congealing mass of purple and black forms into the rough shape of a head.

The only thing different about the god of madness and parties is that he now sports a green monkey tail.

Swirling alcohol in his cup, he looks at me.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?"