Gray leaned against the stone wall of the dungeon hallway, breathing hard. Blood, not his, splattered the floor and streaked the blade in his hand. A flickering notification glowed before his eyes.
Level Up!Gray: Lv 1 → Lv 2
A beat passed. Then he threw his head back and laughed.
"Finally!" he shouted. "I'm officially not useless!"
Eliard stood a few steps away, brushing goblin ichor off his coat with the same energy one might use to swat lint from a sleeve. "Congratulations on your first confirmed kill, Master."
Gray looked around the room. Three goblin corpses lay scattered, two of them clearly Eliard's work. The third, Gray's, was twitching slightly less than a minute ago.
Victoria floated down from above, smirking. "Let's not forget, Eliard's got about fifteen confirmed kills so far."
"We're not counting those," Gray said. "He took them by surprise; it doesn't count!"
He pulled up his stats.
:🧍 Character Overview:
Name: Gray
Level: 2
Class Type: Invocator / (Additional Class: Possible)
Primary Attribute: Luck
❤️ Core Stats
10 HP (Health Points)
10MP (Mana Points)
1 Strength
1 Agility
2 Intelligence
2 Luck
4 Endurance
A blinking button appeared beside his class. Add Secondary Class?
Gray hesitated, then tapped it.
A list opened.
Then the list kept scrolling.
Thousands of class names, flashing, shifting, merging. Far too many to choose from.
Then the whole list compressed into a glowing orb.
"It's random?" Gray shouted.
Victoria answered from above. "Invocators like you don't get a choice. Your secondary class is random. Good luck!"
He stared at the orb, which now pulsed with soft color shifts, blue to green to red to gold. Eliard watched it carefully.
"Should I be worried, Master?"
Gray didn't answer. The orb stilled.
A single name appeared.
Trickster
Gray blinked. Then blinked again.
Victoria floated lower. "Oof."
"Is it bad?" Eliard asked.
Gray rubbed his chin. "No. Not bad. Just... ridiculous. Trickster is one of the hardest classes in the system. It's got a skill tree that looks like a spider diagram written by a madman."
A system panel popped up.
Class Type: Invocator / Trickster
Skill Tree: [Expand]
Gray opened it.
The screen filled with branching paths. Dozens of them. Each skill had long, cryptic descriptions.
He squinted at one that read:
Fake Fireball: Create an illusion of a fireball. Causes no damage, but may scare enemies.
Gray sighed. "This class is a joke. Literally. I remember nobody ever leveled it past four stars."
"And yet here we are," Victoria said with mock cheer.
"Maybe it's not so bad," Gray said. "I just need to adapt. Fast."
He reopened the stat screen and placed his single point from the level-up into Strength, raising it to 2.
Eliard sheathed his sword. "Shall we continue, Master?"
Gray nodded. "Apprentice, it's time for our first real challenge."
He pointed toward the large set of doors ahead. An aura of heat and pressure radiated from the seam.
Victoria hovered a bit higher. "That's the boss room. Goblin Shaman. Thirty HP. Fire spells. Good luck."
Eliard looked down at the dagger on his belt. "Is this weapon sufficient for a magical adversary?"
"If not," Gray said, "we throw Victoria at the boss and run."
"You're not throwing me anywhere!"
Gray grinned, pushed open the heavy wooden doors, and stepped into the boss chamber.
The hall was wide and dimly lit, a ring of torches illuminating the walls. At its center stood a hunched goblin cloaked in red rags and bones, leaning on a crooked staff topped with a flaming skull.
Goblin ShamanHP: 35/35
A boss bar appeared overhead.
Eliard took a defensive stance. "Shall I engage?"
"Wait for it..." Gray muttered.
The goblin hissed and raised its staff.
A fireball roared to life at its tip.
"Now!" Gray shouted.
Eliard dashed forward, cloak fluttering. He moved faster than expected, closing the distance just as the fireball launched. He spun aside and slashed upward. The dagger nicked the shaman's side.
-3 HP.
The goblin screeched and summoned a second fireball.
Gray rushed in from the flank. He didn't try to look cool for once, he just stabbed. The goblin parried with its staff and kicked Gray square in the gut.
Gray hit the floor. "Ow."
"Focus, Master!" Eliard called, blocking another fireball with his armguard.
The shaman was fast for its size. It moved like it knew the terrain, dodging left, throwing sparks, casting spells. Its staff unleashed small flame waves that forced both of them to move.
Gray gritted his teeth. "This isn't fair. I'm not built for this!"
Victoria zipped above the fight, calling out. "Distract it! Eliard, rotate left! Gray, if you have anything in that Trickster tree, now's the time to learn it!"
Gray focused. Opened the tree. One skill was glowing.
Coin Toss (Passive): 50% chance to double any Trickster skill effect. 50% chance to backfire.
Below it:
Fake Weapon: Create a copy of your current weapon. Lasts 10 seconds. Costs 1 MP.
He clicked it.
A shimmering copy of his sword appeared in his other hand. It was weightless. Slightly translucent.
Gray charged again, this time swinging both swords. One real. One fake.
The shaman blocked the fake one. The real one caught it in the side.
-7 HP.
The goblin shrieked.
Eliard took the opening and landed two quick strikes, one to the ribs, the second to the leg.
-5 HP. -5 HP.
"Now we're going somewhere!" Gray shouted.
But the goblin wasn't done. It slammed its staff into the ground, releasing a pulse of flame. The room flashed orange. A wide ring of fire surged outward.
Gray leapt back. Eliard was caught in it and staggered.
-1 HP.
"Apprentice!"
"I'm fine," Eliard said, coughing.
Victoria's voice rang out. "Only few HP left! You're close!"
Gray gripped his sword. "New plan. I'll bait it. Eliard, take it down."
He ran forward, swinging wildly. The goblin raised a flame, but too slow. Gray ducked, slid, and smacked the staff aside.
Eliard came in from behind.
The dagger flashed.
-10 HP.
The shaman whirled. Cast one last fireball.
Gray raised both swords and crossed them.
The fireball hit.
His screen flashed red. -2 HP.
Then,
Eliard stepped in and drove the dagger into the goblin's chest.
-5 HP.
The boss bar vanished.
The goblin collapsed.
Silence filled the hall.
Gray dropped to his knees. "We won?"
Dungeon Cleared!Tutorial 3/5 Complete. Heal Granted.
He laughed again, breathless.
Eliard stood over the body, blade in hand. "It appears we did, Master."
Victoria landed on Gray's shoulder, panting.
"You did good," she said.
Gray nodded, smiling despite the pain. "One small step for me..."
He looked up at the flickering torches.
"...and one giant leap for my future empire."