Angie tapped the new-skill notification for her class level 30 upgrade, and a list of five options unfolded before her.

  [Valkyrie’s Roar (Rare)]: The Valkyrie unleashes a fierce battle cry that intimidates nearby enemies, shaking their focus and briefly reducing the accuracy of their attacks. Ideal for creating openings in close combat.

  [Strength of Arm (Uncommon)]: Temporarily increases the Valkyrie’s physical strength and muscular endurance, boosting the impact of heavy weapon strikes and slowing fatigue.

  [Steadfast Gaze (Uncommon)]: The Valkyrie’s resolve becomes her shield. For a few seconds, she resists fear, panic, and intimidation effects, maintaining absolute focus in battle.

  [Lesser Valkyrie Healing (Common)]: The Valkyrie takes her first step into sacred restorative magic, awakening a faint spark of protective mana meant for her master. Though limited, this ability allows her to channel healing energy to mend light injuries.

  [Courage Aura (Uncommon)]: The Valkyrie activates an aura that drives fear from within herself. Useful when facing enemies who rely on intimidation-based attacks. Courage can be just as lethal a weapon as the spear she wields.

  No way. A healing skill?

  Luke felt a surge of excitement, but he masked it before Angie could notice.

  “My lord… you said you would work together with me so I can grow stronger and support you. If you have a suggestion, I welcome your advice.”

  “Well… we should think about how each one could be used. I was just surprised to see a healing skill in your list. I didn’t know your class could even unlock something like that.”

  Honestly, a frontline warrior who can also heal is a little broken.

  “I liked that one too,” she said.

  “I can’t see like you two do,” Charlie muttered. “What do you mean, a healing skill?”

  “Among the options, there’s one that lets me heal. Not like a full healer, but… it’s still an important first step toward learning stronger restorative skills,” Angie explained.

  “That’s good, isn’t it? If Master Luke gets hurt… that’s bad. This way he won’t have to rely only on potions,” Charlie said softly.

  “That was my thought as well,” Angie replied.

  “Sounds like you’ve already made your decision,” Luke said.

  Angie confirmed the choice.

  [Angie has acquired the Class Skill: Lesser Valkyrie Healing]

  “Show me your injury, Lord Luke.”

  “It’s on my stomach,” he answered, lifting his shirt.

  Charlie brought both hands to her face, but she was clearly peeking between her fingers.

  Angie held her palm close, almost touching his skin, and a soft green glow spread from her hand. Warmth seeped through the wound, and part of the damage began to close.

  “Interesting. I can sense a little about the state of the injury. Very little, but still… I imagine true healers can read far more than this. Vital response, survival likelihood, recovery timings,” Angie murmured, studying the effect.

  The shallow wounds knit together under the healing light. The deeper injury remained, no longer bleeding thanks to the Dark Blood, but stubborn all the same.

  They reached the top of the temple stairs. The structure looked like a fortress while still carrying the aesthetic of a Japanese shrine. Even the concept of onis existed in this world because of the system’s influence on the universe.

  Luke opened his interface and summoned Franky from within his soul.

  “Hello, snake.”

  “Hello… human,” Franky replied, glancing around. “Looks like you finally found the place you were looking for.”

  “Something like that.”

  Luke filled him in on everything that had happened since their last meeting.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “Wait, what’s that thing flying behind you?” Franky asked.

  “That’s the new familiar I told you about,” Luke said.

  Lulie fluttered to Luke’s side, and Franky suddenly burst into laughter.

  “A rat with wings?”

  “In that sense, you kind of have a point,” Luke said. “A bat really is just a winged rat. But she’s useful.”

  “Useful?” Franky laughed even harder. “Look at the size of those fangs. What’s she going to tear apart? An ant?”

  The young wyvern kept laughing to himself while Lulie let out a series of irritated squeaks.

  “Listen to that noise. It doesn’t even talk,” Franky said, still laughing.

  “All right, snake. Did you at least understand what I told you about our situation?” Luke asked.

  “I understood, I understood,” Franky replied. “But man, I’m going to cry. So this is the amazing new super familiar? A tiny little winged rat? Listen to her complaining. Who is that supposed to scare?”

  Charlie stepped forward. Her eyes glowed crimson as her Vampiric Aura flared to life.

  “Hey, human, she is walking toward me in a weird way,” Franky muttered, finally stopping his laughter.

  “I haven’t forgotten the things you did when you were still a snake,” Charlie said, her voice cold.

  “Hey, hey. I have an agreement with the human,” Franky said, scrambling behind Luke. “We go our separate ways and never see each other again. You can’t attack me or anything like that.”

  “I do not have any agreement with you,” Charlie replied. “I haven’t forgotten that you swallowed me, or when you tried to kill Master Luke. Step out of line again and I will rip off both your wings and your legs, so you can crawl like a snake again.”

  She returned to her place beside Luke, and he realized that sometimes she could be genuinely terrifying.

  Once things settled, the group decided to enter the temple. They pushed the doors open. The interior was silent, empty, with no oni in sight. Luke walked across the hall, passing scattered anvils and tools. It looked like no one had entered the place in a very long time, which only made him wonder how the guardian had been living there.

  “Look, my lord,” Angie said.

  They turned toward the stone walls lining the corridor. Carved scenes depicted a group of horned, shadow-skinned beings working at a forge.

  As they continued forward, more images appeared. The figures held hammers beside anvils, and from some of them thin threads extended outward, connecting to something that resembled a beast.

  “They’re demons, but different,” Luke murmured.

  He did not know what a real demon truly looked like. In popular culture they were red-skinned creatures with horns, and Luke was certain Samael had never shown him his real form.

  At the very least, the part about demons having horns seemed accurate enough.

  They kept moving through the corridor.

  “Where did Cassandra say she found the treasure?” Angie asked.

  “She only mentioned a large room with a seat that looked like a throne. The chest was right in front of it.”

  He kept repeating the riddle of the dimension in his mind, trying to pry meaning from the words: “Among the four weapons I created… which one holds my true treasure?”

  As they moved through the hall, they began recognizing familiar spaces, places identical to the ones in the military village temple.

  “A map,” Charlie murmured.

  Luke stepped closer.

  It looked like a map of that section of the dimension.

  “That temple had a map of its own region too,” Luke said.

  Why separate them instead of showing the full layout of the dimension?

  They continued deeper into the fortress, drawing steadily toward its center. Charlie and Angie walked with a quiet curiosity, their eyes tracing the carvings and reliefs along the walls. Luke studied the drawings of black demons shaped from smoke and horns.

  “Human, look, cores,” Franky said.

  The chamber was littered with shattered beast cores, fragments scattered across the floor.

  Luke knelt and touched one. “Some of these still hold mana. You got lucky, snake.”

  Franky pressed himself against a core.

  [Your familiar Frankzaroth has successfully absorbed a Rank E Mana Core.]

  [Rank E Cores (32/100)]

  “You should’ve waited,” Luke muttered.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. This stuff has probably been sitting here for thousands of years. Could be dangerous.”

  “Mana is mana, human. Stop being a coward,” Franky replied, and scampered off to the next fragment. He could feel which ones still pulsed with power.

  [Rank E Cores (33/100)]

  [Rank E Cores (34/100)]

  [Rank E Cores (35/100)]

  “At this rate, our little partnership is going to end sooner than I thought,” Luke said, pleased despite himself.

  Then Franky suddenly stopped.

  “I should quit while I can…”

  “What? Why?”

  “Could be dangerous,” Franky answered, coughing once before drifting back to Luke’s side.

  Weirdo.

  They walked on until they reached a massive double door made from dark wood. The moment Luke laid his hand on it, a system window flickered into existence.

  [‘Here lies one of my masterpieces…’]

  The room beyond was swallowed in darkness. One by one, torches along the walls flared to life, bathing the chamber in wavering gold.

  “Stay alert for anything,” Luke said as they stepped inside.

  Their footsteps echoed across the wide stone floor. At the center of the chamber rested a large chest.

  “The treasure,” Charlie whispered.

  Luke approached, and another window appeared.

  [‘Here lies one of my masterpieces! A weapon capable of ascending in power alongside its wielder. A weapon… alive.’]

  Alive?

  https://discord.gg/znGSjCxhkR