Ice gripped at my body as I sank into the murky depths, dragged downwards by my armour. The darkness consumed me and though I thrashed mercilessly at the water, I couldn’t tell which way was up.

  My limbs grew numb with each panicked swipe and I longed for the feeling of one of Freja’s portals to whisk me to safety. Sadly, she was miles away in Cali Port and I had to assume that no help was coming.

  Think Kaleb, think! I willed myself.

  With a flash of inspiration I unequipped my armour and found immediate leverage on the water as I pulled at it with my arms: a badly executed front crawl.

  Reaching out, after a few successful strokes, my palm collided with something solid. It was an odd feeling, my hand was numb so there was no pain, no real feeling at all, just the abstract resistance which prevented my hand from moving further. It had to be the ice.

  Wait, the ice melted, it can’t be that, I thought as my cold addled brain worked desperately to untangle the murky web of confusion which threatened to send me to my death. The houses!

  The realisation hit me like a ton of bricks, of course, I was trapped under the houses. They were on stilts; I must have floated underneath them.

  Grabbing desperately at the wooden planks, I slid my hands across them, pulling myself along. I had to reach the side; I had to reach air.

  As I pulled I felt my numb limbs begin to burn. Was that oxygen deprivation or a feature of freezing cold? Either way it wasn’t anything good. I felt my consciousness slipping away and the urge to breath in was becoming painful to resist.

  Just keep going, I thought as I scraped my hands along the wood which trapped me underneath the marsh. I pulled and kicked and gave every ounce of strength I had to get to the edge. I felt drained, though I couldn’t tell if that was the effect of suddenly losing my 100% stat buffs when I’d unequipped my armour, or if it was the lack of air.

  Suddenly I felt weightless as my body seemed to lift on its own. Something grabbed me, but I could barely feel it and then I was breathing.

  The cold bit into my skin as I splashed through the water, held by strong, furry hands. The first thing I noticed was the smell of wet dog and as I looked up I saw Rex’s froth covered muzzle grinning at me.

  “That’s a weird looking fish, Rex,” Bell said, “you should throw it back.”

  Achievement Unlocked:

  Granny Basher

  You beat up and old dude so your friend could steal his coat. I hope you’re real proud of yourself.

  Reward:

  X1 Hooligan loot box

  ***

  It took about thirty minutes before I regained full control over my body. With Bell’s fire magic for help, I was soon warmed and my armour was dried. Once I reequipped it, I knew I needed to find the others.

  Rex had gone ahead with Panda and Asmodeus. The house in which we had met the locals was little more than firewood after the fight, broken planks and rubble littering the place where someone’s home had once been.

  Thankfully no one seemed to have died, but the locals had fled further into the hamlet – an area we had yet to explore.

  “We’re lucky,” Bell said quietly as we walked along the wooden planks. “That sword strike nearly destroyed our camper.”

  “Shame that it did destroy someone’s home,” I mumbled back, but I was a little too distracted with my notifications to spare much of my attention for the conversation.

  You have defeated The Winter Shogun (lvl 72)

  Bonus experience awarded due to level disparity.

  Congratulations! You have reached level 51

  An extra few stat points never went amiss and I threw my free points into vitality, it made sense to add points to the areas I had buffs for because those five extra points were doubled by the 100% buff.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  However, I was more concerned with our foe’s level.

  “Bell,” I said, “didn’t that shogun guy seem a little more powerful than only a level 72?”

  “He was ancient,” she shrugged, “and he was a trained fighter, a legend really. That probably makes a difference.”

  “Monsters tend to be stronger at lower levels than people,” Panda said, appearing in the doorframe of a small, stilted house nearby. “That’s why Director Lucas had such a hard time with that level capper dragon despite also being a level capper himself.”

  “Were you just waiting for a chance to pop out of the shadows and offer us your sagely wisdom?” Bell said, a fun-loving smile on her face.

  “…Maybe.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” I replied thoughtfully, “Clive the elder lich nearly took our entire party single handedly and he was a level capper.”

  “And a monster,” Panda agreed.

  “Then what are gods?” I asked, thinking back to the time I met Chrysus, a time that felt so long ago.

  “I don’t really know,” Panda replied with a shrug, “I can tell you that their power goes beyond the level cappers, though maybe not beyond the mithril rankers. As to how… your guess is as good as mine. They’ve always kept those secrets closely guarded.”

  “Those with power always do,” I said, “I don’t think I’ve met anyone above gold rank. What are mithril rankers like?”

  “Legends,” he replied wistfully. “I’m not even sure they really exist outside of the stories. Thus far we haven’t met a platinum or diamond ranker either, though we will once we reach the capital.”

  “Lucas’ father?”

  “Yes, he’s the only known diamond ranker in these parts – only one I’ve heard of at least.”

  “If he’s so powerful then why would Lucas send me to his aid, it doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I guess even the mightiest sword can rust.”

  “Oi!” Jord shouted and we all turned towards the sound of his voice. “Do ja want ja panda evolving or not? Ritual’s all set up and I don’t have all day.”

  ***

  Standing at the side of the pentagram, I watched with bated breath.

  Panda laid in the centre, blood soaking his fur, dying it a sickly scarlet. The entire ritual made me feel uneasy. It felt more like a blood sacrifice than a familiar upgrading ceremony. Still, Jord didn’t seem the murderous type, as a self-proclaimed pacifist I trusted that he would honour our agreement.

  More importantly, Panda assured me that despite my grievances everything was above board and I trusted my familiar more than anyone else in Celestia.

  Jord danced around the pentagram, sprinkling diamond dust and chanting in a strange tongue which almost sounded satanic. A chill drifted on the air and I shivered as I watched, eyes glued, to the dance.

  “This is some real fucked up shit, Kaleb,” Bell whispered from my side and though I agreed, I shushed her.

  Rex seemed unconcerned as he preened over his new armour. It was closer to an enchanted, sleeveless robe than what I’d call armour. However, he seemed happy with it.

  He’d said it would offer him a strength boost and, though I didn’t really understand his class, it seemed to be pretty close to that of a barbarian in a certain tabletop RPG game my wife had introduced me to. Those guys did worse when wearing real armour so maybe the enchanted robe would work better for him than full plate anyway.

  Asmodeus grinned, his fangs gleaming in the torchlit darkness, eyes alight with demonic intrigue. I wondered if a ceremony like this reminded him of home. He seemed to have memories shared with the demon lord who was his namesake, though the more I studied him the less I saw the similarities.

  Yes, he was born from a fragment of that power, but he didn’t share a conscious with the real demon lord – the big guy who’d flicked Clive across continents like he was a bogey.

  I had a feeling that there was more to my soul bonded little dragon than met the eye. More than perhaps he knew himself.

  “Kali ma,” Bell whispered as Jord danced like a tribesman around the pentagram, “kali ma.”

  “Be quiet,” I snapped in a whisper shout, though I had to dig deep to stop myself from sniggering. Growing up I’d watched that movie every day on boxing day. It was on at the same time every year and it was definitely the worst one. Well… apart from the one with the aliens but that hardly counted as a proper continuation of the series.

  My thoughts silenced as a foreboding, crimson light began to glow in Panda’s chest, shooting out in spirals.

  Jord backed up and proceeded to bow in an exaggerated fashion as Panda levitated into the air, his black and white fur seemingly turning to blood.

  The room shook momentarily and then he dropped to the floor with an unceremonious thud, the scarlet colouring leaking off his fur as the pentagram disappeared in a flash of flames.

  “It is done,” Jord said with an assertive nod.

  “Well that was anticlimactic,” Bell observed.

  Daemon Familiar (Panda) has evolved to phase three.

  The notification I received was even more unceremonious than the ritual. It gave me no new information at all. There wasn’t even a congratulations tagged in there like I got with a level up.

  The system must really hate familiars, I thought, or maybe it just hates me.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked Panda as I crossed the pentagram.

  “Lighter,” he replied dazedly, “and I got a new skill.”

  “What is it?”

  Though I asked, I simultaneously pulled up my HUD to see if I had access to it. It made sense that I would since he was my familiar. However, nothing had changed on my stat sheet.

  “It’s called impart thought,” he replied. “I can send you a thought, including all of those intricacies without having to type it out in the group chat. This could be a real game changer in battle, kid.”

  “That’s great!” I said. Panda having a skill that was actually useful could be a huge boon to the team. “Why can’t I see it on my HUD?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied with a casual shrug. “I can see your entire stat sheet.”

  “Strange, I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m glad you got a new skill. Is this the first time you’ve been a phase three?”

  “Yeah, my last summoner was a higher level than you but she never had the money to upgrade me. You’re the first one to do it.”

  “Like I said before, you’re a valuable member of the team and I want you at your best,” I replied with an easy smile. “I do wonder though: how does a backwater town like this have access to the materials needed to make you a phase three when it cost me millions in gold to get the Havarian king’s mage to get you to phase two?”

  “Millions?” Jord scoffed. He had clearly been earwigging on our conversation.

  “Yup, I had to place the coins in the middle of a magic circle and he used them for the ritual.”

  “Ha!” He said, “I didn’t know mages were still pulling that stunt. It went out of fashion on the continent decades ago, ja?”

  “Stunt?” I asked, feeling the heat begin to rise in my cheeks.

  “It’s a scam, ja?” He said with a shit-eating grin. “Oldest trick in the book. Ask the customer to place gold in a mana circle so you can take it. They used to be popular on the continent. All you have to do is place two mana circles on top of each other, the surface level circle transfers contents to your inventory, the one underneath performs the actual request. Easy.”

  “I got played,” I said, clenching my teeth. “If we ever go back to Havar I’m gonna murder that swindling fuck!”