“Don’t move, demon, or I swear by the Aspects that I will gut you where you stand!” A shaky voice called.

  Viressa, Cedric, and Fang followed closely behind me as we stalked closer to the “house” where Zorrack had been sleeping. A group of six humans surrounded him, weapons pointed, and Zorrack had two hands raised into the air.

  The humans were each dressed in varying attire, ranging from dark brown to vibrant blues. One held a sword up against Zorrack’s neck, and another had a wizard's hat and a long staff. One held a bow with a quiver strung around their back, another with a small dagger. The last two consisted of a spear-wielding man and a girl with a grimoire.

  They kind of look like an adventuring party…

  “What should we do?” Viressa whispered.

  “Just wait a second,” I said, holding a hand out to stop my companions. It was one thing to kill beasts like the Sizzle Slimes or the Plains Wargs, but killing humans was something else entirely. Despite my new body, I was still a human mentally.

  “How is it possible for a demon to be here in Terra? Weren’t they all banished to the demon realm a hundred years ago?” The bow-wielding human asked.

  The sword against Zorrack’s neck pushed closer, “Answer, demon,” the swordsman spat. But the hulking demon did not speak, staring straight ahead.

  “I will not hesitate to kill the likes of you,” the adventurer continued dangerously.

  You may be humans, but you can’t threaten one of my companions without suffering my wrath…

  [Thank god, some action.]

  I glanced behind me, meeting Cedric’s gaze. We nodded in an unspoken agreement, and he vanished from sight. I activated my new skill as well.

  [Bloodrazor Claws]

  My nails sharpened into blackened claws, longer than the ones from the Demonic Claws skill, and were tinged with red at their tips.

  “On my signal, we go. Viressa, aim for the one with the bow. Fang, go for the one with the staff.” I whispered. Both companions nodded back and began to stalk closer through the grass.

  Zorrack stayed silent, and the swordsman's face reddened in rage. He cocked back his blade and swung…

  It was deflected by a bone-white dagger.

  Everything happened at once: a fireball from Viressa flew straight at the archer. They fell, screaming in pain. Fang leapt forward, using his tiny jaw to latch onto the ankle of the wizard-looking one. I moved forward, slashing at the grimoire-wielding adventurer, likely some sort of healer, but I only managed to cut her arm. Blood sprouted like a geyser, and she yelped in pain.

  “There's more!” The spearman shouted, twirling his spear through the air and charging towards Cedric and Zorrack. But now, without the sword at his neck, Zorrack was free to fight. He grabbed the weapon by its shaft, redirecting its path, then crushed the wooden spear in his hands. The spearman stood still in shock, then took a heavy blow to his head.

  Cedric engaged in a fierce melee against the swordsman, clashing steel against bone. Fang drew blood from his target, but was easily kicked away. The wizard raised their staff and began to cast a spell.

  “Oh, Aspects give me strength, Justice magic, Chains of Law!” Glowing golden chains burst from portals in the air, latching onto Zorrack’s limbs and rendering him immobile. I ran forward, cutting at the chains, but my claws bounced off harmlessly.

  Fine then.

  I switched targets, instead trying to help Cedric defeat his opponent. But I hadn’t realized that the dagger-wielding adventurer was closing in on me. His blade cut into my shoulder, drawing a stream of bright red blood. I swatted his arm away, and the adventurer dashed backwards, creating distance. Suddenly, Fang jumped up, grabbing hold of his arm, and a bolt of fire slammed into his chest. He fell to the ground as Fang ravaged his body.

  Turning my attention back to the swordsman, I stepped forward, sending a claw careening towards his arm. He parried, but Cedric was quick, stabbing him in the side.

  “You bastards—”

  I didn’t allow him to finish his sentence, slashing at his arm, severing it from his shoulder. I felt the effects of the skill, a soft warmth emanating throughout my body; its healing properties replenishing my HP pool.

  The man screamed in pain, running towards the grimoire-wielding girl who was frantically trying to heal the injury on her arm. It continued to bleed, creating a pool of red around her feet.

  “Nora! Heal me goddamnit!” The swordsman shouted. The girl moved her hands, glowing with green magic as her book floated in the air, but nothing happened.

  “It’s not working!” She shouted frantically.

  I guess the upgrade came in handy after all.

  I felt a tinge of sadness for the pain we were inflicting on the humans, but threatening Zorrack was crossing the line. Cedric ran up behind the swordsman, finishing him with a sickening stab through the back.

  “Aspects, heed my call, Chaos magic—”

  The wizard's spell was cut off by my attack, his head slowly tumbling from his neck to the ground. The chains restraining Zorrack dissipated, and he rushed forward, finishing off the spearman writhing in pain in the grass.

  All that was left was the girl, Nora, cowering in fear. Viressa stepped forward, fireball forming at her fingertips, but was stopped by my voice.

  “Wait, Viressa,” she glanced back hesitantly, but allowed her skill to slowly fade away. I slowly strode towards the healer, letting my skill deactivate, claws returning to normal fingernails. The girl recoiled, scooting backwards in the grass, but her arm had stopped bleeding.

  Seems like the bleed damage only lasts for a few seconds.

  “I won’t kill you, human, but if you or anyone else comes into my territory and threatens one of my friends again,” I paused, gesturing at the field of corpses behind me, “this is what will happen.”

  [Ooh, evil. That’s more like it.]

  I’m just trying to make sure they don’t come back.

  The girl, too stunned to speak, nodded multiple times. She turned quickly and ran towards the forest. Several objectives were completed as a result of the battle, and with it came a slew of blue panels, as well as a single red panel.

  [Defend from invaders (1/1)]

  [Kill 5 humans (5/5)]

  [Unlock your fist Dominion Power (1/1)]

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Some interesting skills here…

  [See what you can get when you listen to me? Now, how about this?] Joshua said cockily.

  Wouldn’t it be beneficial to tell me what the reward was if you wanted me to do your evil quests, Joshua?

  [Curiosity is the greatest motivator.] He responded, somehow speaking words of great wisdom.

  I looked around at the dead bodies and severed body parts, holding back the bile building up in my throat, although I was unsure if demons could even throw up. Even though this world felt like a video game, killing humans, or at least things that looked like humans, still felt wrong to me.

  “You guys, clean this up, please,” I said queasily, walking back towards the den to lie down. My companions nodded, and I faced away, not wanting to look at the gory battlefield any longer. I decided to use my newly acquired Dominion Power to view the first page of each of my companions' profiles.

  Cedric had become the strongest, probably because of the Exp from the ruin we found, and Zorrack had by far the most HP. It seemed like killing the humans had not granted us any Exp, so I guess mass genocide wouldn’t exactly be the greatest tactic to get stronger.

  [Yes, it is.]

  I ignored Joshua and attempted to bring up the second pages of each of my companions' profiles.

  [Ruler’s Sight does not have that authority!]

  Couldn’t I just ask them what they said, though?

  [DON’T ASK QUESTIONS!]

  OK, OK.

  I brought up my profile screens, wanting to check how I had progressed.

  My power rating has doubled. I guess the rare skills are worth a lot more than the common ones.

  A thought popped into my head.

  Wait, how much power rating are you worth, Joshua?

  [Who knows?]

  [Unique skills are not calculated as a part of your PR!]

  [I guess it knows.]

  Interesting. So, how does race work…

  Suddenly, another panel opened up.

  Has this been here the whole time?

  [You’re such a dumbass.]

  I mentally poked at the rest of the buttons on my profile, making sure I hadn’t missed anything else. The only other icons that responded, however, were my active quests and skills, which just brought up their info pages.

  Evolution quest unlocked at level 5… I guess that's my next goal, and I’m already halfway there!

  No new territory quest had popped up, so I figured I would have to complete the system’s main quest first. I selected the quest icon.

  I stared at the scaly dragon egg beside me, its warmth radiating outwards and creating a pleasant atmosphere inside the Warg den.

  If only the dragon would hatch and become my fifth companion…

  As if heeding my call, however, a notification showed up in front of me.

  [Dragon egg has accepted your friend request!]

  [Recruit five loyal followers (5/5)]

  [Are you fucking serious? The unhatched egg counts as a follower?!] Joshua angrily shouted.

  The system message popped up, notifying me of the quest completion, and a new panel appeared.

  A mystery class? What the hell is that?

  [It might be because of me.] Joshua said calmly.

  What are you talking about?

  [The system doesn’t truly recognize me.] He explained without really answering.

  I sat in contemplation for a few moments, thinking about my choice. I was always the kind of person in video games to play a summoner or necromancer. Being alone, leveling alone, and fighting alone had no appeal to me. If this mystery class were based on the parasite in my body, perhaps it had something to do with a symbiotic relationship?

  But it was a major gamble. Joshua was also a stern believer in chaos and murder. If I got a class entirely based around that, I might end up regretting my choice down the line…

  What should I do?

  [Pick my class.] Joshua prompted.

  [Whatever your heart desires!]

  I waited, my head splitting in agony from indecision.

  Fuck it. I do, “feel luckier” after all.

  [You have chosen the class Vessel!]