One of the older Vampires appeared before me. He emerged from the shadows, his expression ice-cold and his presence one of immense power.

"Outlaws," he spat at the 2nd Tier Demon. "I knew the Elder should not have trusted your kind with this. You are not to be trusted."

Flicking his hand, he twisted the Demon’s claws, breaking one of them effortlessly. The 2nd Tier Demon moved frantically, twisting its own claws as it struck out with its tail. At the same time, it released a series of demonic energy blasts that whipped past the older Vampire. The Vampire waved his hands, stirring the shadows around him. They emerged from the ground and absorbed the beams easily enough.

But something was off. The older Vampire didn’t kill the 2nd Tier Demon right away. He glanced back to see me standing motionless, my eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Then, before he could do or say anything, the Demon’s tail whipped across his head.

"You! How dare you?!" the older Vampire roared at the top of his lungs, conjuring spears of blood around him a moment later. He was about to retaliate and finish the 2nd Tier Demon when something unexpected happened. At least, I thought the Vampire didn’t expect it.

A bright, glistening blade tore through the Vampire’s neck. It pierced through and jutted out of his throat. I twisted the blade and ripped it sideways, but not even my strongest version of Blade of Astor was powerful enough to behead him in one move.

He nearly discovered me, so I took the chance—which turned out to be a mistake. The blood spears spun around and would have struck me if I had maintained my form. Instead, I transformed into a Lesser Wisp and floated right into the gap in the Vampire’s neck.

The Blade of Astor faded, but the damage inflicted did not. The Vampire tried to move into the shadows, but the 2nd Tier Demon held tightly onto him. Sensing the opportunity, it released more demonic energy beams, which tore through the older Vampire. He cursed out loud, but I didn’t catch the details as I moved through his body, doing what every Lesser Wisp does—consuming energy.

I wasn’t quite sure whether Lesser Wisps consumed Essence, lifeforce, or some other energy, but I felt myself growing in multiple ways. My Core surged slightly, and even my previously unchanging Accessible Shifts changed ever so slightly. The Lesser Wisp form expanded, growing faster and more formidable than before, further accelerating its ability to drain energy.

Entering the Vampire’s body had been a good decision—if it had worked out as well as I’d expected. Alas, that was not the case. Everything worked out as intended, if not better, in the first few seconds. Then my hopes were crushed. The older Vampire conjured spikes and needles made of blood within his body. He formed them wherever his energy was being drained and shot them around wildly.

That confirmed that the Vampire couldn’t sense me directly, but it also showed that he was not afraid of hurting himself. Blood spikes pierced through my body several times, causing gaping wounds. Those wounds were quickly mended as the Lesser Wisp shrank to stabilize itself before consuming more and more energy once again.

I twisted and weaved my way through the Vampire’s body, my movement technique much better than I could have hoped for, but the situation was dire. A single precise strike that inflicted too much damage, and I would be dead—not severely wounded, but dead. Dead dead.

I could not afford that. Not after all I had achieved in the last few months. Those months had been crazy, to say the least, but they had been fulfilling all the same.

As soon as I was ready, I extracted myself from the older Vampire’s body through one of the wounds the 2nd Tier Demon had inflicted and went into action.

My fleshly body was repaired, and it overflowed with energy. So I did the only logical thing I could think of. But that was not transforming into the Gale Wolf to throw around wind blades. No, I did something much better.

I shifted into the Juvenile Nature Dragon.

Xavier Halur

Core: Tier-2 (91%)

Primary Power: Shift

Racial Trait: Dragonbreath, Nature’s Call, Dominion

Defect: Flightless

The bones in my body cracked as they expanded and changed. My skin unfurled, and it wasn’t long before I stood on four legs. Verdant scales covered my body, spreading everywhere and highlighting my pristine form.

And while I looked like a green-scaled lizard, I was much more than that—so much more. Both the older Vampire and the 2nd Tier Demon sensed as much.

Shift screamed at me, and my Core threatened to rip apart, but I maintained the Juvenile Nature Dragon form for several seconds.

Seconds in which I wreathed the older Vampire and the 2nd Tier Demon in Dragonbreath.

Their screams echoed in my ears. The older Vampire even tried to move away, but the 2nd Tier Demon stopped him. At the same time, the 2nd Tier Demon tried to leap aside, but the older Vampire stopped him in turn.

Holding each other, the two powerhouses’ screams died down, their bodies collapsing to the ground. Not even the fire-resistant hide of the 2nd Tier Demon helped it survive a bath in dragon’s breath—not from that distance, let alone from right before the dragon’s muzzle.

My body tore apart even as Shift terminated the transformation. I nearly collapsed, but the influx of Essence kept me standing. It flooded me with the power needed to push the exhaustion aside. It was, without a doubt, only temporary, but I was brimming with energy, feeling as though I could fight the world.

Demon (Ternoa) has been defeated. Shift has been updated.

Khörs Vampire (Elite) has been defeated. Shift has been updated.

My Core saturation shot up to 98%, leaving barely any space left to fill. Yet, as it turned out, the last two percent felt as though they would require three to four times the amount I had just absorbed. And that... honestly, that was simply not possible. My vision was already blurry, and my legs threatened to give out at any moment.

Forced back into the Chimera form, I wanted nothing more than to collapse. But that was not feasible—not with the attention of everyone and everything lingering on me. The presence of the Juvenile Nature Dragon still lingered where I stood, and before me lay the corpses of two of the strongest beings that had invaded Cintre.

"Fuck," I cursed, even as the corner of my lips curled upward.

I knew exactly what I had to do, and even though I was a little unwilling, I was ready to do it.

I was ready to break through to the 2nd Tier—mid-combat—but not before subduing a few more Lesser Demons. A lot more, if possible.

Using Burst even though my body was already falling apart, I reached the first demon my subordinates had pinned to the ground. Pressing my palm against it, the Insignia triggered and forced my will upon it. Then I did it again, and again, and again.

By the time I had subdued two dozen Lesser Demons, I was totally spent... and ready to break through.