The First Archmage

(Michael)

"Michael?" Warren whispers. I turn onto my side without knocking us off the hammock and crack open an eye. "Did I wake you?"

"No," I smile, feeling my tail swishing, striking the hammock's netting as I do. "What's up?"

"How close are you to your next Class?"

"I could take it now," I answer. "Gavin's Training Dimension let me get the last of what I needed."

I changed my decision while working on Novice before, so once I mastered it, I removed it, then grabbed other Secondary Classes. The Blood Knights have mentioned a powerful Tier IV Class, and I felt that with Gavin's aid and determination, I'd be able to manage it.

"What's the Quest?" He asks.

"Retroactive," my tail swishes harder. "For the one I want to take on. I'm gonna take it on when we wake, so I can play around with its powers."

If I took it on now, I'd want to play around with it now instead of sleeping, and we need our sleep.

"What is it?" He asks.

"Armageddon Knight."

"What happened to Disaster Knight?"

That's the Legendary version, the Class that the Dark Knights knew of. It's a bit weaker than the Armageddon Knight, though, considering this one's a Mythical Class.

"It's a step down," I grin at him.

"Mythical?"

"Yup!"

Warren sighs. I know that sigh.

"He really is amazing, isn't he?" I ask, and Warren gives me a curious look. "You had your Gavin sigh."

"Oh," he sighs again, his zierna mark changing to a deep red to match his blushing face, though his hair, eyes, and wings remain the golden they usually are when he's in summer. "Yeah, he is. Such a powerful Skill."

"Yeah," I nod. "And he's planning on making a place that does the same thing. The regeneration rates probably won't be as high, though, yet they would still be a massive boon."

"Are you planning on going with him?" Warren asks, and I raise an eyebrow. "To the Dark Knights. I know it's been awhile, and you've talked about going back there again."

I enjoy the Dark Knights' presences. Disaster Knight and Dragon Knight are both Legendary Classes, and while I'll probably go for Dragon Knight after mastering Armageddon Knight, taking on Novice and Martial Artist then, Armageddon Knight seems cooler to me now. Especially since the Dark Knights didn't know about it.

It requires shadow-based, fire-based, and blood-based powers. Thankfully, not everything is as impossible as the magical Classes or Gavin's Classes, but then, that's what happens when one goes for the Mythical or Legendary Classes intentionally. My Tier III Classes did end up being all Legendary Classes, though, but that was coincidental. I was expecting Rares, but had Legendaries to pick from as well.

I'm not a moron, so I picked them. Having a bigger bonus every time the bonuses pop, as well as every second Class instead of every third, is a huge difference. To someone like me, even if not to someone like Gavin, to where the hundreds or so Overall Stat Points he'd get from a Rare or Legendary Class wouldn't be even noticeable in comparison to the rest. Maybe two hundred.

Thankfully, the Quests I've had for my Classes weren't too difficult, and I didn't need an absurd amount of Skills for it.

"Michael?" Warren says, and I focus on him again. "You spaced out."

"Oh, right," I say. "Yeah, I'm probably going to go. He wants to check out the place that might have a Grimoire there. Tristan can't remember if he put one there or not. His memory's not the greatest, you know. So I wanna go with him so I can prove to the spiders that I'm not scared of them anymore!"

"Michael!" Warren yelps as I punch a fist out and jerk, causing the hammock to swing and Warren to fall onto me. "You did it again!"

The hammock swinging is one of the things that scares him. Even though he can fly if we fall. It's hilarious, and I like doing it to see his reaction.

I giggle, holding him against me, then twisting, making the hammock swing even more, doing that until we both fall off. I land on top of him, staring down at the pouting Fairy, but he can't keep pretending he's mad at me, eventually smiling up at me.

"You're bad," he says.

"I'm Michael!"

His zierna mark returns to its golden color, and I gently stroke it, causing the Fairy beneath me to blush. That's a normal reaction, though, if someone strokes someone's zierna. Not something he can control.

It only works if they have an innate zierna, and it's funny. I got into trouble in the Fairy Kingdom for doing it to a bunch of Fairies I saw who had them.

Well, 'a bunch' is relative. There were only, like, ten I saw while we lived there who did. Oooh! Will it happen if I stroke Gavin's?

I need revenge for him grabbing my tail!

Warren suddenly sighs again.

"What?" I ask.

"Gavin has two," he says. "No one ever has two. How come he got two when he took on his Secondary Species."

"He had one," I say.

"But he-"

"Probably doesn't want people to realize he Advanced his Secondary Species already," I stand up, then hold out a hand to pull Warren to his feet. "He had one last night, then two this morning. The rune also changed a little as well. He definitely Advanced his Species."

"How far are you?" He asks.

"To Level 25?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"One point."

"Seriously?" He asks.

"Yep!" I say, feeling my tail swishing again, then immediately blush when I remember the time Gavin impulsively grabbed it for the second time in a couple of minutes.

Even with Acting 7, I often have a hard time stopping the tail if I get too excited. It'd be no issue right now, but since it's not needed, I'm not. Man, I wish I had it back then, though. Father was right in that someone would eventually grab it.

I'm just glad the only person who did was Gavin, and not some random person on the street. I probably wouldn't have minded if it was a little kid. They're fun to play with.

I actually get Species Experience for playing with kids. The younger they are, the more likely I'm going to earn Experience from it. Part of the nature of my people is to care for children and make sure they have fun while still growing.

Training others helps me, too. Another part of the nature of Beastborn of a wolf nature is to help others of our kind grow stronger, so that they can protect themselves. It works better if they're young.

"So how long before you think you'll hit Level 25 and be able to try for the next Tier?" Warren asks.

"I'm not sure," I shrug. "Training today was fun, and helped boost it a lot, because of the Experience bonus."

I ran around a lot and chased after them, and we sparred a lot. Warren has a contract to boost Experience gains, so that helped us all a little, too, but not by much. Warren said that the Spirits told him Gavin has the best version of it ever, which would be awesome to use. With everything on his mind, he probably forgot to give it to us, but had intended on doing so.

In addition to that training, I helped Ryan with some of his magic, and used my Howl a lot.

The Human Wizard was amused by that. He didn't acquire a resistance to it, but it was still fun. I gained 12 Species Experience from the training today. Another session should bring me up to Level 25, and then, I'll get to see what I can take on.

"How far are you?" I ask.

He was Level 22 before the training.

"I only gained 9 Experience," he shrugs. "You seem to get it easier than me, but then, you get it more from combat and training and stuff, and I don't do a lot of Fairy things."

"You summon Spirits," I grin at him. "And you-"

"Sh!" He blushes. "Don't continue that! Gavin might hear it!"

We're not in a building Gavin constructed of his magic with anti-eavesdrop wards, but one of the settlements some of the Fairies who came here wove together with their Arcane and Aether. It's cute, how he finds that embarrassing. It's not even inappropriate!

"He might," I giggle. "But is it really that embarrassing? I mean, if he didn't believe he was going to die in the next few years, he'd probably join us, and-"

"No!" He covers my mouth, pushing me back until I'm pressed against the hammock. "Don't!"

He's blushing again, his zierna crimson once more.

I love teasing him so much. I know the Spirit that harasses him about his crush on Gavin's probably saying stuff to him as well. I haven't managed to sense it yet, but he sometimes reveals his presence to me so I can practice speaking the Spirit language with an actual Spirit, instead of with just Warren.

Warren hates the teasing, but he never gets too mad, and making it up to him is always fun.

As he stares into my eyes, I smirk, then start tickling his sides.

"No!" He flies up into the air, hovering near the ceiling, parallel to it. "No tickling!"

He's extremely ticklish.

"Aw," I pout at him, knowing he'll come down once I start laying it on. "I can't help it, Warren, you know that. It's so hard to resist. You're so hard to resist, I just want to keep touching you."

He sighs, but comes back down, giving me a hug.

"Sorry," he says into my chest. "I shouldn't have gotten mad."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"Even though I'm going to tickle you again?"

I start tickling him, but because my arms are wrapped around him this time, he can't get away, and ends up squirming until we're both on the ground, though he landed on top this time.

"You're bad," he tells me.

"I know!" I stick my tongue out at him.

He thinks for a few moments as we lie like that, then decides on something to say.

"What are you-"

I pull him down so that his face is beside mine, only my Acting Skill preventing me from smiling before he can't see my face.

I bite his ear, and he yelps.

+1 Beastborn (Wolf) Experience!

Beastborn is Now Level 25!

+2 INT, HLT, MNA!

+1 AGI, STR, CON, PER, LIF!

"Oh, cool!" I shove Warren off of me.

"Oof!" He grunts as I sit up. "What?"

"I'm now a Level 25 Beastborn!" My tail is swishing heavily now. "Let's see what I can become!"

I pull up my selection.

Grand Beastborn (Wolf)

+3 INT, HLT, MNA, +2 AGI, STR, CON, PER, LIF each Level

Magic Beastborn (Wolf)

+4 INT, MNA, +3 HLT, +2 AGI, STR, CON, PER, LIF each Level

True Beastborn (Wolf)

+4 INT, HLT, MNA, +3 AGI, STR, CON, PER, LIF each Level

Wolf Beastborn

+4 INT, HLT, MNA, +3 AGI, CHA, STR, CON, PER, LIF each Level

Wolfborn

+4 INT, HLT, MNA, AGI, CHA, STR, CON, PER, LIF each Level

Those options… are amazing! Especially the last two! They've got to be a step down from Ascendant Beastborn, I'm sure of it!

"Your tail's going crazy," Warren says. "Good options?"

"Yeah!" I nod. "The pick's a no-brainer! Lemme read the description on it!"

Wolfborn: Formerly a beastborn, your outward appearance hasn't changed much from your days as a lower Species, but your body is vastly superior, becoming stronger, faster, and more durable, your senses sharper, your life far, far longer.

"It's awesome!" I tackle Warren into a hug. "Imma take it on! Oh! But I'll probably pass out! Maybe? Gavin didn't pass out while his body underwent the changes, but he's an utter beast!"

Warren snorts, then we return to the hammock. We're exhausted anyway, so this probably will knock me out. Once we're back to snuggling in the hammock, I close my eyes and pick the option, feeling my consciousness slip away as my body strengthens.