They had agreed to go to sleep.
They had said they would go to sleep.
And yet, there had been, in fact, no sleeping done.
Though to be fair, could anyone really be expected to sleep after what they had heard?
"You seem to be slacking on me," Victor said from his rock as everyone moved around below him. "Don't tell me you all arrrrrrre still waking up?"
Victor had apparently turned back mid-hunt and decided they could do morning sparring with each other to train and get practice.
Jax was with Selene.
Aiden was with Liora.
Little Fox was with Thalia.
However, everyone was distracted by two things.
The first was just how badly Jax was getting thrashed.
Selene had grown up in a place where people learned to hold a weapon before they learned their letters. Even still, Jax was not a slouch either.
What made it scarier was that Selene had not even used the trump card she had used when they were stuck with Ymer two days ago.
Jax tried again and again to land any kind of strike against Selene, but her left arm had changed, fanning out almost like a large tower shield that stood against every punch he threw.
Even when he had time to charge up a strike, his paw only left a dent.
A dent that rapidly healed.
To make it worse, Selene would occasionally shift her arm into something more blade-like and slash at Jax, often dealing thirty or more damage.
Which was a bit surprising, considering Selene was not known for her offense, pointing to her sudden development.
That was mainly the others' opinion, though.
Liora had seen her kick the tiger guy's ass last time.
Still, it was a bit awe-inspiring to see Selene performing at a level that seemed to help her feel more confident with her own strength.
With that, however, there was now a bit of a dilemma.
In the hierarchy of power in their party, Jax had led, with Selene as a close second.
Liora had been third.
Kaelen had been fourth.
Aiden had been fifth.
Thalia had been sixth.
Yet Liora had noticed she had slipped back.
Aiden had taken her number three spot.
Even Thalia was right behind her now.
And while that was not a bad thing, exactly, her pride was aching a bit.
Victor suddenly stood up and clapped his paws together.
A pulse of magic extended through the ground, and six chairs rose from the stone.
"You all seem too distrrrrrracted this morrrrrrning to learrrrrrrn frrrrrrrom sparrrrrrring," Victor said. "So we will instead go overrrrrrrr the otherrrrrrr thing I wanted to coverrrrrr beforrrrrrre yourrrrrrrr next confrrrrrrontation with little Ymerrrrrrr."
They looked between each other for a moment.
Then everyone began making their way over to the chairs.
Aiden fished through his bag and pulled out a healing potion for everyone, tossing them around.
"Only got eleven left," he grumbled. "Gonna have to make more soon."
They all sat down.
Victor took a moment to look them over.
Liora scanned his eyes, searching for something that would show he was different from yesterday.
She could not see it.
And yet, the conversation with Averith and Trent from last night had her listening to the smaller differences.
The lack of his classical, almost rhyming speech compared to yesterday was the most glaring.
And yet, just like the others, Liora kept her mouth shut.
"What we will be going overrrrrr today beforrrrrre we get on the rrrrrroad," Victor said, "is one of the basics that everrrrrry competent adventurrrrring party should be awarrrrrrre of."
His tail flicked.
"That being the seventy-seven differrrrrrrrrent classes."
Jax, Selene, Thalia, and Liora nodded along.
Aiden and Little Fox, however, seemed surprised by the number.
That was when Liora had to remember that, while Aiden had grown exponentially on the mountain, he was literally just over two months removed from living there his entire life.
He put on a good show.
But he still had a lot to learn about the world.
Victor sent another pulse of energy through the ground.
Behind him, a stone wall rose and divided into seven sections, each with a blank header.
As everyone stared at the display, Liora stared at Victor's paws.
Even as he continued to speak, he was drawing something into the stone at his feet. It was not his own reserve of energy draining, but the mana in his crystal legs that allowed him to draw the shape.
"Liorrrrrra," Victor said, "you seem to be paying extrrrrrra attention. Why don't you tell us the categorrriesss?"
Shit.
He had asked her a question.
What was the topic again?
Liora straightened and took a moment as if pretending to think.
Something about classes.
Wait.
He must mean the class categories.
Shit.
What were those again?
"Well," Liora said, giving up on trying to guess all of them, "I don't remember every one off the top of my head, but I know three are Melee, Ranged, and Support."
Victor nodded.
The first three sections on the wall filled in with headers.
Melee.
Ranged.
Support.
Better yet, under each one, a list appeared.
Counting quickly, Liora saw that Melee had eleven spots, Ranged had sixteen, and Support had seven.
"T-The other four categories are Mixed, Control, Other, and Production," Selene said, raising her hand.
Victor pointed a paw at her and nodded.
The remaining four sections filled in.
Mixed had ten spots.
Control had seven.
Other had eleven.
Production had fifteen.
Victor swished his tail over the list, and a few spots filled in.
Melee
1: ???
2: ???
3: ???
4: Pugilist
5: ???
6: ???
7: ???
8: ???
9: ???
10: ???
11: Berserker
Ranged
1: ???
2: Warlock
3: ???
4: ???
5: Wind Mage
6: Fire Mage
7: ???
8: ???
9: ???
10: ???
11: ???
12: ???
13: ???
14: ???
15: ???
16: ???
Support
1: Shrine Maiden
2: ???
3: Priest
4: ???
5: ???
6: ???
7: ???
Mixed
1: ???
2: ???
3: ???
4: ???
5: ???
6: ???
7: ???
8: ???
9: ???
10: ???
Control
1: ???
2: Puppeteer
3: ???
4: Cultist
5: ???
6: ???
7: ???
Other
1: ???
2: Werewolf
3: Vampire
4: ???
5: ???
6: ???
7: ???
8: ???
9: ???
10: ???
11: Mutant
Production
1: ???
2: ???
3: ???
4: ???
5: ???
6: ???
7: ???
8: ???
9: ???
10: Alchemist
11: ???
12: ???
13: ???
14: ???
15: Courier
They all took a moment to read it over.
Liora recognized seven of the classes.
Pugilist for Jax.
Alchemist for Aiden.
Mutant for Selene.
Puppeteer for Thalia.
Warlock for Little Fox.
Wind Mage for herself.
And Werewolf for Victor, despite the fact that Liora was pretty sure he was not actually a werewolf and was instead some kind of mage.
Yet looking over the list, Liora noticed five classes she did not know, and one she did, which only made her wonder about the rest.
Victor did not wait for questions.
He walked over to the Melee section, using his tail like a pointer, and tapped Berserker.
"The Beserrrrrrkerrrrrrr class is well known forrrrrr theirrrrrr durrrrrability and melee prrrrrrowess," Victor said. "What makes them trrrrruely forrrrrmidable is theirrrrrr ability to turrrrrrn damage taken into powerrrrrrr forrrrrrr theirrrrrr attacks."
He moved to the Ranged section without waiting for a reply.
Liora thought back to the tiger beastkin and made a mental note of his class.
"The Firrrrrrre Mage is one of the corrrrrre fourrrrrr elemental mages," Victor continued. "While Wind Mage, as an example, specializes in rrrrrranged attacks and pushing enemies, Firrrrrre Mage carrrrrres only about maximum damage."
As he moved on, Little Fox raised her paw.
It was a mimicry of how Selene had done it earlier, including the little fidgets Selene had made.
Little Fox, however, seemed more confused by those fidgets than anything.
"Um," Little Fox said, "sorry to interrupt, but why do you keep doing the weird rolling R thing?"
Victor stopped.
He turned back.
The rest of them froze.
No one looked at Victor.
No one looked at Little Fox.
Thalia and Jax, who were sitting next to her, both tried to subtly but urgently get her attention.
"It is something that I have always done," Victor said, as if explaining something casual. "The rrrrrrolling of the tongue. It just happens."
Everyone silently prayed to any god they could think of that Little Fox would not ask further.
Little Fox did not get the hint.
"No," she said. "That's something Victor does, and we were told you're not Victor."
The silence that fell was terrifying.
No birds chirped.
No wind blew.
Not even a bug made a sound.
It was as if the rest of the world around them had stopped for a moment.
They had failed to warn Little Fox beforehand.
And yet, even Little Fox knew something had gone catastrophically wrong as everything seemed to hold its breath.
She froze.
Her hackles rose so high they looked ready to leap off her body and run away without her.
Victor's eyes were closed.
He gave a soft smile that seemed far more ominous than calming.
A wave of fatigue passed over Liora.
A trickle of blood ran down her face.
A system screen appeared before her.
Warning:
Your soul is too weak to last long in the presence of—T̷̡̡̮̞̪̦͈͕̹͓͚̘͉̪̜̻̱̖̯͒̂̈́̃̉͑̇͒̋̏̍̇͆͛͋̈́̚̕͜͜͝ͅͅh̴̢̨̢̨̢̛̳͈̤̣͍̠̹̘̹̟̫̟͉̗͓̦̬̝͍̱̩͍̘̺̺̭̙̩̫̤̘̱̙̣̣̹̘͙̗͙̎͒͛̄͛̅̂̓̄͌͗͌̚͜ͅē̶̢̛̥͚̞͚̰͉̩̮͎͕͉̙̖̻̦͇͚̝̽̽̑͋̆͛͊̏͐̅̃̕͝͝͝͝ ̶̢̢̨̤͎͇̠͙͖͎̠̫̰̯̖͙͕̙̩̮͎̣͔͕͇̼͖̙̮͕̣̮͉͕̙͓̘̓͗̓̽͜͜ͅͅƠ̸̧̨̧̢̛̩͍͔̻̙̗͔̌̑͑̀͗̀̔̀̍̓̊͊́͂̈́́͆͗̓̀̄̍͌ͅb̸̡̲̗͚̫̥͔̱̼̦̝̻̐̊̒̈́̀̀́̃͊̑̄̇̈̌͛̒̽͗̂̒́̃̂͜͝͝͝ͅs̶̡̨̗̙͈̲̼̠̥̳͎͈̤͕̥̞͖͇̥̰̤͙͔̙̼̯̯̜̼͕͔̙̮̝͗̍̒̂͋̔̃̿̿͂͌̓̈̿͆͂̒̾̾͂̃̀̐̀̈́̈́̇͊͗̄̈̎̕̚̕͘̕͜͜͝͠͝͝͝͝ͅͅͅȩ̸̢̧̯̫͔̭̰̠̼̣̫̟͖̤̟̱̣̩͉̯̲̱̥͚͇͖͖̘̙̫̥͙̲̰̤̻͎̯͖̬̤̄̃͑̓̈́̉̌͊͒̂̅̈́̃̉̍̕̕͝ͅŗ̴̢̡̡̧̢̭̠͕̭̭͕̟̫̙̖͎̺͉̘͔͍̩̞͈̯͚̹̦̯͚͎̺̻̜̔́̃̂̒̓́͂̅̓̀̿̏̍͋͗̒̋͊̅̈́̂͑̒̑̋̂̅̈́̐̃̆̊̌̎̇͑̚̚̚͠͝ͅv̸̢̡̡̨̧̨̡̛̛̛̠̫͔̮̱̬̙͎̩̟͔̭̉͋͗̂̂̄͒̌͆̀͒͊̄͐̓̅̂̆͑̈́̊̎̈́͑́̒̿̐̇̽̿̆̚̚͝ę̶̛̛̛̠̫̞̤͕̮̥͕͇̳̟̱̖̬͎̪̙̭̭͖͈͉̝̯͕̼̯̱͌͛͐́̂̀̎͑͑̿̂̅̑̍̎̈́̐̈́̎̈́̓̑̉͊̿̊̉̾͑́̿͌͌͗̿͊͗̈́̅̂̕̕̚͠r̸̼̲̞̭̳̮̹̗͍̘̖͕͖̊͑͑̏͐̓̉̂̅̽̅͑̇̌̿̆̑́̈́̐̽͆̚̕͘͠͝ͅ.
Liora looked around.
The others seemed to be feeling the same thing she was.
Blood ran from noses, ears, eyes, and more.
Aiden stared down at his hand after wiping the trail of blood from his nose.
Instead of worry or confusion, determination sat on his face.
Victor seemed to stare at all of them at once.
And none of them.
"Really now," Victor asked, "and if I'm not Victor, who did they say I was?"
His eyes were still closed.
And yet it felt like they were being watched from every angle, the facade of the rolled R's dropped just as fast as it had been adopted.
Secrets were pointless.
The world revolved around the will of the watching thing.
In a creepy unison, they all spoke at the same time.
Their voices echoed off one another.
Their own words warbled, somehow both silent and too loud.
Guttural and soft.
Thundering and soundless.
Understandable and impossible to discern.
"Y̵̡̨̡͕̲̖̜̹͐̒̿̓̈̆͊̈͌̅̇̈́̒̒̽̎̒̓̋̀͐̂͗̍́͐̓͆̅͌͑̈̎͒̉̇̈́̕͘͠͠ơ̶̧̨̛̝̞̪̱͚͍͍̦̬̖̓͒̏̀̄̓̔̈́͑̈́̀̄̓͋̂̇̇̎̿̈́͒̌̎̂̾̏͗̍͋̈́̀̿̒͊͐͆́͂͑͆́̚̚͘͠ủ̵̡̫͔̯̻̫̝̹̘̭̱̓͒ ̸̡̨̧̳̜̪̲͚̺̜̹̙̭̩̹̳͙͖͖̝̤͙͇͓̖͎͓̫̻͉̦͔̩̖̐̑̾͊̃̿̂̓͜a̸̢͈̘̞̜̞̭̼̬̬̰̫̹̼͓̹̻͓͔̩̍̄̈̂̂̋̽̾̍̾͗̿̊͊̑̐̍̈́͑̌̒̉́̄͘͠r̶̨̧̛̛̙͖̯̬̲͇̲̤̲̮͈̤̩̭̣̥͕̣͍͈̮͎̹̖̖͖̹̱̺̭̹̳̤͈̻͍̞̳̘̗͎͆͑͐̒͒͋͊͂̐͑̓̈́̓̓͑̈́̓̋̍͛́̇̀̃̀͑̀̍͒͂̏̕͜͜͝͠ͅͅe̸̢̢̢̧̨͈̤͇̠̝̳̱͈̪̺̻̖͕͓̜̜̱͖͔͙̠̦̜̯̩͓̯̮̦̦͇̤̬̹͔͕̾́̾̓́̋̍͌̊͜͝ ̵̡̧̞̘̻͍̹̮̝͙̖̫̤̮͚̗̲̥͙̺̯͉̪͈̻̪̩̬͈̺̿͑̐͒̂̉̄̈͆̋́́̓́̃͌̍͋͛͐̇̚͘͜͝͠ţ̵̡̡̞̜̘̪̫͈͖̬͕̝̼̺͙̱̰̞̟̲̝̘̜̭̥͍͓̮͍͚͓̟̰̦̘̝̘͍͇̳̮̺̔͜͜ͅh̴̢̧̛͍͎̺̤͉̻͖̻͙̩̫̥͚̜̊̊̀͑́͒͑͑͆̉̿́̀̽͆͒̓͌̾̚̕͝͠ě̷̡̡̧̡̢̧̧̧̡͇̫̞͙͇̳̩̤̜͙͕̜̼͔̱̫͈̜̞̟͕̦̭̠̖̺̫̃̔͋̑͌́̍̃̋̄̊̈̃͒̂͒̆̊̾̅͋̒́̎͘̕̕̚ ̶̧̧̡̨̛̛̗͖̣̖͚̖̹̯̝̘̥̻̦͙̬̻͈̹̯͔̱̥͓̦̰̓͐̏̂͑̆̔̇͒͂̀̅͐̌̏̊̔̍͋̋̿̇̒̅̀̅̍̔̌̂̇̅͘̕̕͝͠͝ͅƠ̴̛̛̝̬͕͚̟̾͆͐̋͗͒̽͑̐̐̋̒̌̂̋̌̾͗̊͑̈́̔̂̒̾̋̑̽̈̋̾̓̀͘͠͝͝͠͠͝͠b̸̢̢̧̧̡̛̝͉̹͓̱̝̮͙͚̦̗̩̜̙̟̙̳̯̂̀̀͂̄͛̈́͐̇̾́̀̂̆̅̋͑̀̇͑̿͊́͌͊́́̿͋͜͝s̶̨̭̼͙̬͍͕̰͉͈̮͓͉̺̝̥̬̪͍͖͇̙̤̤̃͐̉́̓̽͒͌́̈̓̎̋̀́́͐͒́̿́̿̊͋̑̕͜͝͝͠͝ͅę̵̼̣͙͉̳̰̪̭̱̖̺̖̫͓̳͔̯̩̮̯̙̳̬̝͉̯͈͎̖̭͚̻̺͉̥̹͚̆̀̈́̑̀̾͌̓̒͊͜ͅͅr̶̡̛̫̟̟͔̗̹̼̠̼̰̠̳̃̅̔͆̐̾̌̓̉̆̐̈́̀̍̽͛̽̋̽́̅́̋̐͒̄͌̈͌̄͐͆̉̈́̇̇̂́̚̕͠v̴̨̩̥̘̹̺̭̣̣̬̞̖͇̥͙͙̬̙͖̝͉̟̘͔̪̘̖̝͌̌̉̾̒̂̃͐͐̽̓̀̀̿̔̑̋͂̏́̂̍̓͒̿̓͊̂̊̏̈́̌͂̕̕͘͜͜͠͝͠ͅę̴̨̛̛͓͔͕̫̹͕̙̥̺̮͖͈͓̯̬͎͕̪̘̪͉͚͕̜̺͍͍͎̼͆͆̍̄̅̓͛̀͊͗͋́͗̿͋̊̃̑̏̽̾̅̿̌̿̾̋̾̄͊̊̓́́̾̕͘͝͝͝r̷̨̧̡̨͇͉̭̰̣̩͚̝͕̦̣̣̹̣͍̎̆̊̊̓̓̋̆̾̆͋̔͒̎̇̽͘̚͝"
Whatever was wearing Victor smiled.
Then it finally opened its eyes.
Inside them was an endless well of stars, deeper than the night sky.