“Yazula finds your offer insulting.” The goddess of luck raises her nose haughtily. “Yazula will have to decline.”

  Leona smirks with the number thirty-nine hovering above her head. Her champion had risen in levels rapidly once she’d given him his advanced class. The same is true with most other gods, with near all of them in their thirties now.

  Leona glances at the goddess of nature magic sitting to the side of Yazula. The woman has the number twenty four on her head, which means she’s not exactly the lowest- but only barely.

  “Are you sure?” Leona grins. “It seems your champion is falling behind most of the others.” The goddess of the hunt raises a clawed finger to the remaining gods whose level exceeds Yazulas. “If you join me, I may be willing to offer your champion the ability to rapidly level.”

  “No! Yazula does not like your weak offer. Yazulas champion is the best and strongest. Yazula believes levels aren't everything.”

  Leona continues smirking at the exchange even though her stance shows annoyance. Over the course of months, many of her followers have died while her own competition has risen.

  “Gods and Goddesses,” Pandora takes to the stage. He claps two bolts of lightning, the strikes thundering for attention. “Once again, I must apologize for calling you all here so early. I know the formal get-together is scheduled in a month, but I have a warning to disclose to you all.”

  A thousand eyes gaze upon the remaining forty-six gods. Most of those remaining have a number in their thirties above their heads, with some reasonable outliers if you exclude the god of logic. What pandora does find a bit disappointing is the number of gods willing to work together to level rapidly. He’d hoped to have something of a battle-royale. Instead, it’s beginning to show something akin to factional warfare.

  With a vertical blink over a singular eye, he notes that four major factions have formed. They number near the double digits and their leaders are at the top of their ranking. He wonders how quickly these alliances will crash and burn as is likely when only one can rise above all the others.

  “Before I disclose my warning, I think we should get the rankings organized first.” On the stage, Pandora swings a spiked tentacle- teleporting the top five in ranking.

  “Gods and goddesses, these are currently the best of the best.” Pandora swings a club of hair. “At first place, we have Machina, the god of logic with a champion at level 53. At second, we have Spinak, god of violence, with a champion of 44. At third, we have a three-way tie between Gravis, god of gravity. Zeizil, goddess of lightning. And Amber, goddess of crystals. All are level 42. At fourth place we have Shevnir, God of sky at level 40. At fifth place, we have Leona, goddess of the hunt at level 39.”

  Pandora spins his antlers with a fifteen mouthed smile. “This is your competition, fellow gods. These are the individuals you must succeed not only in level, but in towers.” The god of chaos wiggles a thousand strands of hair. “Which is where my warning comes in.” He clicks seven bones together. The seven disappear to be replaced by Spinak, Machina, and a very surprised Yazula.

  “The towers are designed with a difficulty that can be reliably overcome by an expert classer or a team of advanced classes. This is true for all attempts other than the first.” Pandora tilts his third knee in a circle. “The towers have been left unconquered for over a century. This has allowed the beasts and monsters within to grow stronger not only in capability, but also in number.”

  Pandora bubbles around and cracks his spine. “Now, I could forcefully reset the towers so that they would become manageable.” The god of chaos clicks a sword and club between eighteen fingers. At the sound, a new number manifests above everyone's head, further above champion level.

  For everyone, that number is zero except for the three currently on stage. Spinak has one, Machina has three, and leading the charge is Yazula with four.

  “Alas, that would be very unfair for these three who have champions that’ve surmounted the increased challenge.”

  “How!” a goddess screams and points. “Her champion is only level twenty-nine. How’d they conquer four towers?”

  Pandora tilts his tail to Leona. The woman's fur is bristled and she looks both perplexed and outraged.

  The god of chaos bubbles. “Levels alone do not promise success. They are mere tools used to enhance your innate capability to ever greater heights. If you solely rely on them, then your champion will eventually perish.”

  Leona grimaces at the words while Yazula puffs out her nonexistent chest. “Scary chaos god is right. Yazulas champion is superior and better. Yazula knows how to choose the bes-” The goddess pauses as the number above her head rises to thirty. A portal opens once again under her feet. “Not agaaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnn-” she falls through while everyone watches.

  As the portal closes, the god of logic beeps audibly. “Are we done here?”

  ____________________________________________________________________

  The white room returns again in all its sterilized glory. As far as I can tell, nothing has really changed. My ship still hovers in the sky alongside four floating cards. The only difference now is that there is no floating eyeball to greet me. This is a good sign.

  “Now, she should be here soon…”

  Not a moment the words leave my lips does a portal open, followed by a scream, and then a bone-breaking thump that would shatter the bodies of mortals.

  Lifting herself up, the one-eyed goddess glares her singular teary-eye at me.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Yazula finds your timing horrible! Yazula requests a warning. Yazula needs proper time to gloat.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “Is there a way to communicate with you outside of me leveling?”

  She pouts. “Yazula does not know, but Yazula will find a way.”

  I nod. “So the answer is probably no.”

  “Yazula said she will find a way.”

  “Good luck, then. Before we move forward with skills, do you have any wisdom to impart to your champion?”

  “Yes!” She says confidently. I perk up with curiosity.

  “Yazula is the best goddess,” She exclaims.

  “So you’ve learned nothing.”

  “Yazula is not lying. Yazula is first place in conquered towers.”

  “How many do the others have?” I ask.

  “Metal man has three and ugly spike man has one.”

  I frown.

  “What's the average level now?”

  Yazula pouts. “Yazula does not find such information important.”

  “Yazula, this is important. Tell me.”

  The short goddess folds her arms across her chest. “Yazula did not count, but mouse-girl says the average is thirty four. Yazula believes mouse-girl is mistaken.”

  “What's the highest level?” I ask next.

  “Metal man with fifty three.”

  “Wait. Is the same Metal man the one with three towers?”

  She tilts her head. “Yes.”

  “What can you tell me about Metal-man? Actually, what's his name and what is he a god of?”

  “Yazula finds Machina mysterious. Yazula also believes the god of logic is boring. But, Yazula finds his metal body very shiny. Not like spiky man. Spiky man is ugly.”

  “That’s good information. Do you have anything else to tell me?”

  “Yazula is not sure. Yazula remembers Pandora praising Yazula for having the most towers.”

  “If that’s it, then lets move to skill selection. Are you prepared?”

  Yazula puffs her chest.

  “Yazula is the greatest goddess. Yazula is prepared.”

  She extends her hand and summons a large jar. It is a container even larger than those that came before.

  “Why is it bigger?” I ask.

  “More skills are available now, so Yazula writes all skills.”

  “Alright. Dig in and show me what I’m offered.”

  She reaches inside and grabs three papers. The moment she does, a screen appears in my vision.

  explains a hell of a lot for showing up as an option. The fact that I normally need permission from a dying animal is good to know. Granted, I suspected it when I obtained Hellion's soul instead of the souls from the third and fourth tower. Regardless, this knowledge is useful as is the skill. With it, I could just take whatever powerful beast I find within the towers as a new transformation. Hell, I could probably even transform into a boss like the Scorpion Matriarch and the Obsidian Worm.

   is another good, but much less useful skill for me personally. From myers explanation, many of the most powerful individuals in the world aren’t solely powerful because of their levels and class, but by their ability to wield a large amount of epic runed equipment simultaneously. Epic items can easily reach a single percent if not higher. This skill alone could be the difference between an additional piece of equipment or not for the average person. For me though, I have much less of a problem on account of my skill giving me an extremely high bonus.

   is a very interesting option. If the explanation is to be believed, I can enhance my Fenrimorph form with aspects from my others. The eyesight from my bird form would be tremendously useful, as would aspects from my wyvern and even cat. Hell, maybe I can access something from the leviathan. The only limit is that 5%. I probably can't cover myself in wyvern scales, but I could do so with only my fists.

  “These choices are difficult.” I say aloud. “What would you choose?” I ask.

  “.” She answers immediately.

  Huh. I was expecting on account that I could easily obtain a cuter transformation or something. I wonder if she’s becoming more mature.

  “What's your reasoning?”

  She grins eagerly. Her hands move to the top of her head. “You can grow cute cat ears or a cute fluffy tail.”

  I can't help but snort.

  She pouts at my reactions. “Cuteness is the best! Yazula knows you can beat anyone if you're adorable enough.”

  .

  I tap my chin in thought.

  As of right now, my options are or . Both have merit, but one has more than the other. I doubt I can easily obtain something stronger than my Wyvern form and have the mana to transform into it. An in-between could be useful if my Fenrimorph form wasn’t already a powerful item-wielding alternative.

  Which leaves me with the other choice. Though limited to 5%, the Shift Hybridization grants me immediate utility.

  “You know what, you’re absolutely right, Yazula. I need more cuteness in my life.”

  Her eye widens, she then grins, raises her nose, extends her chest, and places her hands on her hips. “Yazula is always right. Yazula knows what is truly important in life.”

  I reach out and give her a pat on the head. “Indeed you do.”

  She pouts, even blushes while pushing her head into my palm. “Y-Yazula is the best goddess and will allow Yazulas champion to feel Yazulas cuteness.”

  I remove “Yes, yes, you’re very adorable. Mind locking in my choice and putting my attributes into strength?”

  She nods silently.

  As Yazula disappears into a portal, I only have a moment before the room disappears and is replaced with the waking world.