What happened next was horrifying. Anyone who was outside my room in the hallway, or outside my window would have heard my screams of pain.

  It was nothing compared to what I felt being slowly burned alive. Nothing compared to being stabbed, blasted with magic, or bitten by a giant wolf. It felt as if every atom of my being was being blasted with the most pain inducing thing imaginable. I lost all senses except for the ability to feel my body be overcome by this unnatural feeling.

  I couldn’t feel the connections to any of my summoned creatures, each of them disconnected from me, even Agnox. Waves of cold and heat eventually replaced the pain. I had no idea how long it all lasted, just that it did.

  Eventually it all stopped, I was breathing heavily and only my sense of feeling existed. I was laying on something, but couldn’t tell what. The floor?

  I started to worry about what caused this. Surely this isn’t only because I gained level 10 right? Was I attacked?

  I felt something on my shoulder, and tried to move away from it, but my body wouldn’t comply. It shook me and I started to regain my senses slowly.

  “...”

  “...y…”

  “..up!”

  “Hey! Wake up!” The voice belonged to an older gentleman, he was shaking me and in my broken doorway stood two others, who seemed to avoid coming in, holding their noses.

  I blinked and groaned loudly.My throat hurt like hell, and when I tried to speak, it came out as a hoarse whistle.

  “Oh shit he is alive!” The older guy said.

  I then almost passed out at the smell, as it was my last sense to return to me. It smells like a dump! What happened?

  I looked around and saw that I was lying in a pool of black goop. Obviously the source of the smell. The worst part was all over me, seeping into my clothes. Thank god I wasn’t wearing my robe, otherwise I wouldn’t dare wear it ever again.

  I started to sit up and a wave of nausea stopped me from standing up all the way. I looked at him with a questioning face, I tried to speak again but couldn’t. Luckily he picked up on my expression.

  “I heard you shouting from in here. I’m in the room across from you. You were screaming for over 10 minutes. It took me a little longer to find someone to help get in here. Are you alright?”

  That explained why I couldn’t talk right now.

  Several little blinking lights were near the edge of my vision, I had no idea what they were, but I ignored them for now. Not blue boxes, that’s new.

  I nodded to his question, since I am unable to talk.

  “Alrighty, let's get you out of that goop and to a doctor.” He turned to the doorway with more people showing up to see what was going on. “Hey, all of you get your asses in here and help me with this man!”

  “No way, how can you stand the smell!”

  “I worked as a trash truck driver for 30 years, this isn’t even the worst smell I smelt. Quit being pussies and one of yall grab an arm.”

  A woman came in, and after swallowing a bit of bile, she helped me up and out. The walk to the medical ward was long and slow. Luckily halfway there I could walk on my own. I was still covered in goop, so I was rushed into a side room to change and clean up.

  Once I stripped and looked down at my body, I saw I looked amazing! My scars still remained, but what once was a mildly shaped body, is now a guy with abs and muscles. Any minor imperfections were gone from my body also.

  I went over to the mirror and saw my face was slightly different as well. I wasn’t bad looking before, but now my jawline was more noticeable. My hair even seemed thicker and the years of law school were no longer apparent in it.

  I walked out of the bathroom with a patient's gown on, since that was all on hand at the moment. I flagged down a nurse and motioned for a pen and paper. I was quickly given a marker and a white board. I wrote down ‘Gloria’ and they soon rushed to find her.

  As I waited, I started to feel better, much better in fact. The pain I felt slowly faded out of my memory and the only reminder was my inability to talk. While I waited I took a glance at the blinking light in the corner of my vision. When I did a couple of blue boxes appeared.

  Wait, so what just happened to me was getting Level 10? Does everyone go through that? Fuck, I need to warn Leo and Captain Franks!

  I would still want to wait till I had a professional look at me, I felt amazing physically, but something still felt off. Nothing bad, but like something inside me kept moving and I couldn’t tell what it was.

  I then started to panic. My summons! I looked inwardly and only found Agnox there. “Agnox?” I asked mentally to him.

  “The Monkey lives! Praise Morth- I mean uhh, shit, I can’t use that one anymore can I?” Agnox responded gleefully.

  I groaned. “I thought you were going to stop that? Do you know what happened to me?”

  “Not really. I have never seen a rank improvement that bad before.”

  “What do you mean? Rank Improvement? Infernals do this too?” I asked him.

  “Yea, when you reach the first level of any rank, just like skills, your body improves and your class gets an upgrade. Our guys normally have a headache or get really tired, but you practically exploded. I was worried you were going to die. I mean, I was inside of you! What would have happened to me?”

  “Thanks for worrying about me Agnox.” I said flatly. Why was mine that bad?

  I was going to go through my other notifications, however Gloria walked in. “Mathew! You look completely fine?” She was confused looking at me. “Did you get a haircut? I was told you almost died and expelled black stuff. However you look fine to me. What’s going on?”

  I pointed at my throat then started to write. ‘Level 10 did this to me. Agnox says it’s not normal, however I feel fine minus a weird feeling inside me where I normally feel my mana.’

  Gloria nodded. “Well I am going to look at you still. Lift your gown so I can listen.” She said, pulling out a stethoscope.

  She gasped a little bit seeing my abs. “I didn’t know you worked out. Why do you have such a high strength score Mathew? I thought you were a mage.”

  I shook my head and wrote down, ‘Level 10 changed my body for some reason.’

  She continued to check out my body and vitals. Everything seemed to be in perfect shape. My heart rate was normal, my body didn’t hurt, and even my leg moved when she hit it with the little hammer.

  “Alrighty let’s take a look at your throat, open wide for me.” She said, pulling out a wooden stick and light. She looked around a bit, holding my tongue back with the stick.

  “Looks like the effects of people who sing for a long time, or go to concerts. You were yelling loudly and for a long while weren't you?” She asked

  I smacked my mouth to remove that wood taste and nodded.

  “Alrighty, well you are not allowed to talk for a day or two, and luckily for you I normally prescribe tea with honey as well to soothe your vocal cords. I don’t think you will have a problem with that.”

  I smiled at her and gave a thumbs up.

  “Well, off you go, if anything else is weird you let me know. If this happened to you, I worry about other people. I will let Captain Franks and my medical staff know and to spread word that Level 10 might hurt people temporarily. In a couple of days come back so we can do more tests on you. I need your voice to hear your opinion and will schedule time slots to use the machines here.”

  I was given some lost and found clothing and returned to my room with the promise in two days I would get a full body scan done. Sadly since I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t summon Wispy or Jeffery back. Luckily our deal understands my inability to do so, otherwise I would be in trouble.

  Only Agnox was my company along with the few more blue boxes. I opened them up and took a gander at everything.

  Agnox was right, I did have an Infernal upgrade option because of him. However they were not bad. On paper, the Infernal Master upgrade was far outclassed by Summoner II. The only things that stopped me were actually the names and the idea of future upgrades.

  “Agnox, do the upgrades I pick now matter down the line? Will the choice I don’t pick appear later?” I asked him mentally.

  “No clue, I don’t know anything of that, just that you get upgrades. The choices given are always influenced by a multitude of things. Class, Titles, Achievements, stats, even your skills and spells all affect them.”

  With that sort of thinking, I was betting that the one I don’t pick won’t occur later. I also imagine that the one I pick will receive an improved version later on. For example how I have Summoner II as an option.

  It was a tough choice, I won’t lie, however I selected the second option. Only because I had a feeling I could gain another familiar following that path. Only one blue box left.

  This was the first thing I acquired that gave a base percentage boost to a stat. My mind exploded with possibilities of what it could mean down the line. I remembered I had stat points to allocated and opened my menu. My intelligence currently was 43, and my max summons was 7. I wasn’t worried about Intelligence for a while. If Level 10 put me just under 50 with titles, then by Level 100, I should be over a thousand.

  A glance told me that Top 10 rounded down, which made sense. I saw my new achievements also were already applied as well.

  I couldn’t let myself become too unbalanced. My body feels stronger, but it didn’t transpose to my stats it seemed. With my new interest in throwing daggers I put two points into Dex, Two points into Wisdom and 1 point into Vitality. I can put future points into Intelligence, no use making me super vulnerable in battle.

  All that was left were upgrades for Staves and Agnox. I looked at Staves first.

  That was a simple and easy choice. I selected the second option and moved toward Agnox.

  Fucking sucks I don’t get to know. Wait, don’t I have a new submenu that shows me? I brought up his Submenu.

  Skills 6/8

  Spells

  It was a limited view, but I finally knew what my Familiar was capable of. However, someone was not happy about that.

  “Hey now Boss, whatcha looking at? I can tell you saw my menus, how much did you see?” He asked harshly

  “Enough to help pick your upgrade.” I responded mentally.

  “You could have just asked. No need to invade my personal space.”

  He was right, I should have asked, but I still wanted to know for sure what he was capable of. To be honest it wasn’t much at all.

  “I’ll make it up for you. You can pick your upgrade.” I said mentally.

  Agnox gasped, and without seeing him, I couldn’t tell if it was fake. “Really?”

  “Sure” And I explained the two choices to him. He seemed conflicted.

  “Oh those are both great, and very typical for Imps. Luckily, I have an idea of what to expect from the two.”

  “Oh? Do tell.”

  “The first will make me a spy/assassin down the line. Depends upon further upgrades. The skill will help me stay hidden or help me observe others. However, the skill will count to my normal count. The spell should be invisible.

  As for Fire, it’s pretty self explanatory. More explosions, fire, and damage. I honestly won’t be upset with either of them, though I am your only source of fire damage and scout. So pick your poison Boss.”

  Shit, I was hoping he would pick for me, I am starting to hate this! Wispy and Frosty more or less had the same paths each. Frosty being an assassin who strikes at opportune moments, and Wispy for his high damage and explosions.

  However one aspect of the spy path Agnox mentioned I liked. I had the Share Sense ability, and with it I can see what he sees. With his increased ability to scout ahead, it would work wonderfully. Plus invisibility would be perfect so he can stay out and about, but also remain unseen.

  “Going with Spy, last chance to change my mind.”

  “Nope.”

  I whistled at the spell. “3rd Tier? I don’t even have that.”

  “Upgrades give cornerstone rewards for whichever path you pick. They are normally really great and help out in the long run. Remember that higher tier spells take longer to increase in rank, so I doubt this will become Beginner rank in even a year, unless I use it to its fullest potential.”

  “Makes sense, your knowledge seems very mismatched.”

  I could feel Agnox shrug. “It’s just things I have picked up over time. Listening to demons here or there, and the one time I was given access to Morthrus’s personal bed chambers. I acquired the perception skill for a reason.”

  Gross. “That reminds me, what was the item you got? I haven't seen you carry anything around.”

  “Are you going to make me tell you?” He asked.

  I thought about it. The only way I could make Agnox less annoying and more useful without having to force him, was to be nice, but I couldn’t be stupid.

  “I just want to know what it does, is it useful?” I asked.

  “Oh yea, it works great with both the spy or fire upgrade, hence why I didn’t care which you picked. Since you picked my Spy path, it can be used as a weapon for stealthy attacks if needed. You sure know how to take care of your favorite Familiar boss.”

  “Agnox, you are my only Familiar.” I responded flatly.

  “Exactly! That makes me your favorite.”

  I didn’t bother responding. The only thing left were my two new spells. I didn’t care about the new spells that I could have, I didn’t want to be tempted by them either, I picked two spells I wanted and needed.

  Ritual of Health and Frozen Shield

  I wanted a Storage Bag, but without Crow we had no real tank anymore, plus we won’t be fighting fire based creatures, and I imagine a future upgrade will give me the choice to resist fire damage over time.

  Hopefully in two or three levels I can get another Tier 2 spell and I will grab that one for sure. I imagine I get a Tier 1 spell next level, so I can grag Blazing Edge then, unless one of the other choices seemed nicer. For now, I don’t want to worry about it, best to stick to my plan.

  Only thing left to do was look at all my new items. I went to my bag and fished them all out, except the chain whip, which was sitting on my table still. It was heavy and I didn’t want it to accidentally tear a hole in my bag.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  The Blue Ring seemed like a typical low tier item. A minor increase to mana regeneration wasn’t bad, I could give it to Park or Marcus, who would need it more than me though. For now I would keep it.

  The Ritualist Tools were interesting. It was a small box full of paints, chalks, and other items for engraving. When I held them, I knew how to use each tool, but didn’t want to test them out yet. One extra ritual would be fantastic in the future if I plan to sell the rights to use my rituals.

  Wait, can we transfer credits? I haven't even tried that yet.

  I opened my menu back up and looked at the shop submenu for any ideas, and nothing there showed any inkling of trading. I started to think really hard about new submenus. ‘Transfer, Marketing, Trade, Sh-’

  Well that’s nice, and it makes me wonder how many submenus there are.

  The knowledge of them could be useful and valuable. I doubt everyone knows about them, though overtime word would get around. A timed resource, currently rare, but in the future will be common and cheap.

  It reminded me why the color blue was used by royals. The color blue was very difficult to have. Also why it’s my favorite color still to this day.

  I opened all my menus to look at everything I had so far, a smile across my face at all the progress I have made.

  Abilities

  Skills 6/8

  Spells

  Equipment:

  I closed all of the boxes, and started a pot of tea. I have come so far in this new way of life, and it’s only been three months. Thankfully I am not forced to fight anymore right now. Here in a week or so, we would be traveling to the nearby cities to help out, and start trying to rebuild our ways of life.

  I was worried what is to come, and where my place in life would be here now. Lawyers wouldn’t be as needed until legal systems are re-created. Could I help do that? My profession makes it so any contract or deal I make is magically binding. However could that be done on laws?

  There were also the plans of selling my rituals and enchantments. Dollar bills and raw resources are going to change in worth drastically. Not to mention how Dungeons can be re-harvested for materials, so Credits are going to be the only thing worth it in the long run.

  The shop has two functions, though the second one isn’t noticeable unless they have experience in business. The shop acts as a ‘baseline’ for everything priced. Why sell a healing potion for more than what someone could get at a shop? Unless that healing potion was better.

  It’s both convenient and prevents monopolies. No one organization could only sell healing potions and drive up prices, because the Shop submenu can’t be removed. At least, I don’t think so.

  I never saw anything in the shop like my Ritual of Learning, and the only benefit from my other Rituals is convenience. I could rent them out like bowling shoes. No bad example. Rent them out like cars? Better.

  My pot started to whistle and I took a long drink. It hurt my throat a bit, but at the same time soothed it. I have a long way ahead of me, luckily I have a unique situation. If I stay smart about it and stick to my plan, I should have a place in this world. Either as a fighter of Dungeons, A lawyer, or a businessman.

  For now, I need to get stronger. I won’t let someone else like Madison die like that. I am disowned by my family, but I am still a McGonalds. McGonalds don’t bow before someone stronger. Generations of Politicians, Lawyers, Money Makers, and the occasional Officer in the Military ensured our families blood ran thick and strong.I just would make due myself, like I always had.

  I looked at my tea and a small thought of my brothers appeared. I wonder what they are all doing.

  Mark, Luke, Aaron, John, and Abraham. I hope you are all dead as well. Wonder if Daniel is with Mom and Dad, looking at the crazy shit we are doing. I frowned. Well, not Luke, I still need to run him over with a tank for stealing my ex. I imagine General Dritzka would let me borrow one.

  I finished my cup of tea and opened a book to read. It was one of the last M&M books Crow left for me, and I had one goal to achieve with it. It took only twenty minutes before I smiled gleefully.