Despite the rain pouring down on the capital, Aytin was optimistic. He'd actually made it. Wild beasts, unfriendly forests, impossible flights, and bloodthirsty brigands. Nothing had managed to stop him in the end.

  He had a smile on his face as he stepped out onto the street.

  And was immediately hit by an out of control cart.

  There wasn't any time to realize what had happened. One moment, walking. An instant of terrible pain later, nothing.

  Well, not exactly nothing. Instead of rising up to one of the god gates, there was only a formless grey void surrounding him.

  Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long for answers.

  "Well, look at you. Coming so far, only to falter on the last wingbeat."

  "What?" Aytin asked the mysterious voice. Or tried to. He found that he couldn't move his mouth. Or anything, really.

  Somehow, the voice heard his silent question, because it answered, "No sense putting it off. You're dead."

  "Dead?! But I-"

  "Had so much to live for. Mother, sister, mate. Yes, yes, I know. And you've had quite the interesting last few months. That's the important part."

  Aytin was reeling as much as a spirit could reel. Which wasn't much. The whole thing is kind of difficult without a body.

  "Now that all of that is out of the way," the mysterious voice continued. "We can get on with why you're here. Now, a few gods have laid claim to your soul, so I suppose you could go to one of those. But the universe has gotten out of balance lately what with pulling people from other realms in. Even turning them into dragonettes doesn't help balance the ledgers."

  "I don't understand. Other kingdoms?"

  "More than that. Doesn't matter," the entity said, brushing off the question. "My point is, some souls have to go the other direction. So how would you like to be reincarnated in another world?"

  "Can't I just go back home?" There was a hint of pleading in Aytin's disembodied voice as he thought about all the people he might never see again. Lin. Faelon. Rina.

  "Can't do that, kid. Unless you find your own way back."

  He latched onto that last bit. "So there's a way home?"

  "Sure. We'll go with that. So are you in? Yes or no?"

  He didn't even have to think. "Yes."

  "Excellent. Now get ready. Oh, and I almost forgot," the voice added, almost as an afterthought. "There aren't any dragonettes in this realm, so you get to enjoy being a human."

  "What's a hu-"

  The question was cut off by a flash of lightning and the sensation of being stuffed into clothes far too small. An instant later, Aytin once again had eyes to open.

  It was... different. The stone walls around him seemed perpetually out of focus. But he could see more. He had never noticed before, but his muzzle had always been in the way. When he reached down, he felt clawless fingers stroke a hide far rougher than what he was used to. A flick of the tongue discovered rows of flat teeth, the sort in a deer's mouth.

  There was a pool of water nearby. He scrambled over to it, only to reveal a hideous monster staring back at him.

  A flat, hornless face with black hair on top and a single mound in the center. Skin closer to the color of sand than a proper white or blue. His legs were missing the lower joint and his feet were wrapped in a contrivance of leather and wood. The rest of his body was shrouded by a robe of crimson, but even without being able to see his back, his worst fears were confirmed.

  This form had no wings.

  'Not again! After everything, I'm crippled again!'

  Another terrible, horrible thought struck him. He reached down and pulled at the white belt around his robes before taking a hesitant glance, followed by a sigh of relief. He still had those bits, at least, even if they were flapping about without any protection.

  Maybe the fact that it looked a little bigger than before was compensation for that. Whatever, he still would rather be in his old body.

  That god - because it must have been a god - it had said there was a way home. But what was the point if he looked like this?!

  'Maybe if there's a way home, there's a way to fix myself, too. That voice said something about turning beings into dragonettes. So it can be done!'

  But where to start?

  Until then, he had been too preoccupied to notice, but the square was full of people. More ugly flightless flat-faced beings. Humans. Some even had skin as black as a darkling's, but no one seemed to care. He still avoided those as he made his way over to a rather large knot of them.

  One of them seemed to be in charge. Tall, with a white robe and snowy hair, this human certainly looked respectable.

  "Excuse me," Aytin said.

  "What's this?" the human demanded in a masculine voice, whirling to face him. He had a massive construction of that white hair around his lips, coming to points below and to either side of his mouth. One hand brushed along it as he took an aggressive step towards the reincarnated dragonette. "You dare interrupt Kung Pow?! Leader of the great Ding Dong Sect?!"

  Aytin's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No, why would-"

  "You think I am wrong to discipline this uncouth wench?" His hand shot out to point at another human, this one in a tan robe that held two massive protuberances over the chest.

  Strangely, while other humans had similar, smaller growths, this one also had a pair of ears poking through red hair and a bushy tail curling around one leg. They reminded Aytin of those of a fox more than anything, and even he could tell they seemed out of place on this creature.

  Still, it wasn't his business and Aytin tried to defuse the situation. "Look, I-"

  "You challenge me?" The man threw his head back and let out a braying laugh, followed by a number of similarly dressed men in the crowd. "Know that on any other day I would destroy you where you stand for such impertinence. But the tournament rules are in effect, so your just humiliation will have to wait until we meet in the ring."

  With that, the crazy man spun and strutted off, a dozen more humans lining up behind him. Slowly, the rest of the crowd dispersed, leaving a confused Aytin alone with the fox-like human.

  "Oh, thank you so much!" Her voice made it clear that this was a woman, and she threw arms around him and pulled him against the large, pillowy masses on her chest. They nearly smothered him, this body being just as short as his original compared to those around him. "Kung Pow has been harassing me for so long, but you stopped him! You're so brave! Oh, thank you!"

  "You're, uh, welcome?"

  "No one's ever stood up to Kung Pow before. He's so powerful, after all, and controls the Ding Dong sect, too. But whoever you are, I can just tell you're an even greater cultivator!" she gushed.

  "My name is Aytin. And I'm not a farmer."

  The fox-woman just laughed. "Oh, that's funny, Aytin. Of course you're not a farmer. Farmers can't use the energy of the world to refine their souls and gain powers!"

  'Energy of the world?'

  Tentatively, Aytin closed his eyes and tried to feel. At first, all he felt was like an idiot. But then there was... something.

  DING!

  A sudden chime caused him to jerk. As he opened his eyes, letters appeared:

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  THROUGH HARD WORK AND DEDICATION YOU HAVE BEGUN ON THE PATH OF THE CULTIVATOR

  YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 1 OF TIER F

  YOU HAVE 1 SKILL POINT(S) TO ASSIGN

  Below the words were cryptic columns of words and numbers with symbols hovering nearby.

  STRENGTH: 7

  DEXTERITY: 11

  ENDURANCE: 7

  INTELLIGENCE: 12

  KI: 10

  LUCK: 15

  Hesitantly, he poked at the button next to STRENGTH. It flashed for a moment before the number increased. Then the words faded from view. An instant later, he felt his muscles bulge slightly before relaxing.

  "Oh, I felt that! You just ascended, didn't you?" the fox-girl asked, peering at his arms. She even reached out a finger to brush across the exposed flesh. "Ooh, you must be so powerful to hide your power level like that. I can barely sense you, and I'm mid-B tier."

  Aytin tried not to flinch away from the contact. This skin felt strange compared to hide and scales. And everything was so strange and overwhelming. He took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it before asking, "Okay, but... well, who are you?"

  "Kit! Kit Sune!" She grinned broadly, exposing ivory teeth quite a bit sharper than the ones in his own new mouth. "I'm a fox-kin, if you hadn't noticed. Kung Pow hates all beast-folk, which is why he was harassing me. He's going to be so shocked when you beat him into the dirt at the tournament."

  "So, Kit. I'm not exactly from around here. Just passing through, trying to get home. What tournament is this?"

  Her eyes went wide. "You're not entered?! Oh, no! We have to get you signed up! Come on!"

  Before Aytin could protest, Kit grabbed his hand and literally dragged him out of the square. He tried briefly to escape the grip, but it was like being held by steel manacles.

  The fox-kin didn't seem to notice. She just kept up a running commentary. "The qualifiers are all over, so you won't be able to get in the normal way. But some of the contenders do exhibition matches. Beat one of them and you'll get their spot."

  There was a small doorway in the side of one building, and she arrowed towards it. Just inside, she consulted a clipboard and flashed one of her smiles. "You're in luck! There's an opening for a match coming up, and I know the other guy. He's just a B-tier, maybe Level 7."

  Aytin thought for a moment. "And what's Ding Dong?"

  "Oh, he's a Jade Falcon SS-tier Level 2. But I bet you're much higher than that. Probably Striking Dragon SS-tier, and at least Level 5, am I right?"

  "What if I told you I'm a Level 1 F?"

  Her laugh rang bright and clear. "Oh, that's funny! I've never heard of anyone older than ten still in the F-tier. Most teens are in the D or even C-tiers." She scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to an attendant as she spoke. "Good thing you're not, because I don't think an F-tier could survive even one punch from a B-tier. Now come on! If we hurry, we can see the match before yours!"

  Once again, Kit dragged him along, this time to an open air stadium sporting a few hundred seats. Maybe half of them were filled with people, mostly humans although a handful sported the animal traits of beast-kin. The crowd started cheering as two muscled men jumped over the low wall and onto a raised central platform.

  They both stood opposite of one another as the stadium quieted. A massive gong rang out.

  And then they just stood there.

  'What?'

  But something was happening. Golden light seemed to collect around the pair, intensifying by the second. Hair started to move like it was caught in a gale. Muscles bulged to impossible sizes and kept growing. Women in the crowd swooned as shirts ripped, revealing tanned and oiled pectorals and abs like a washboard road.

  Suddenly, there was a blur. The fighters had moved faster than the eye could see. And now one of them was laying on the floor, screaming in agony as he reached towards his missing arm. The victor laughed, and kicked the dismembered limb into a crowd that roared in approval.

  "Did you see that?!" Kit shouted over the cheers. "I thought it was going to be over in the first punch, but that dodge! And then he stopped the roundhouse kick with just one finger! Amazing!"

  Aytin hadn't seen any of that. Not even a blur. And Kit was still gushing as she described the supposed fight in unbelievable detail.

  "I'm supposed to be fighting... him?" He managed a spasmodic jerk towards the fighter who was flexing for the crowd.

  "Oh, no, don't be stupid!" Aytin breathed a sigh of relief before Kit continued. "Those are just a couple of C-tier yucks. I told you, you're facing a B-tier. Of course it should be a snap for someone as strong as you, so try and tone things down to keep it interesting."

  He could only nod, dumbly. 'I'm going to die. Again. I'm going to die again.'

  Desperately, he hunted for that feeling from before, when he had gotten that strange text. It was there, but he could only feel a trickle. A little more came from the energy of the screaming crowd. And even a bit from the wind on his face.

  A little sunlight spilled through the roof of the building. Out of desperation, Aytin stuck a hand into the beam and prayed.

  'Gods of light, please help me.'

  Nothing answered. Only, there might just be another way.

  He took a step over, so that he was standing in a ray of sunlight. The warm glow was far from its usual comfort given the situation, but maybe...

  DING!

  It worked!

  DING!

  DING!

  DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING!

  The sound of bells was deafening. Like he had stuck his head into a bag of nails and shook it. As suddenly as it started, it was over and more of that strange text was floating in front of him.

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  THROUGH HARD WORK AND DEDICATION YOU HAVE ASCENDED ON THE PATH OF THE CULTIVATOR

  YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 9 OF TIER B

  YOU HAVE 134 SKILL POINT(S) TO ASSIGN

  YOU HAVE 3 PERK(S) TO CHOOSE

  Next to that one, there was a long list of words and phrases that made no sense. What did "Power Fister of Heavenly Might" mean? Or "Purified Mouth of Infinite Pleasure"?

  There were more new notifications as well.

  AS THE FIRST CREATURE SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE SYSTEM 5569 YEARS AGO TO CULTIVATE THE POWER OF THE SUN, YOU HAVE GAINED THE LIGHT TOUCHED PERK

  Finally, beneath everything else was the cryptic statement of:

  LEVEL CAP REACHED. YOU MUST PURIFY YOUR SOUL TO ASCEND FURTHER

  Before he had a chance to try and understand what was happening, Kit was waving him forward. "Come on! You're up!"

  "Wait, I just-"

  But she cut him off. "You'll be fine! As long as you're not late!"

  There was no time. Aytin tapped three perks at random and then swiped a hand across the skills. Before he had a chance to see what had happened, the words disappeared and he nearly stumbled at the sudden rush. Suddenly drunk on every drop of alcohol he'd ever tasted but still more lucid than he'd ever been. It was an incredible feeling that made him want to fall to his knees and climb the tallest tower and find Rina to... Well, he felt really, really good.

  When he regained his senses, he realized that he was already in the ring. Across from him, a shirtless, tattooed monster of bulging muscles looked down on him with an evil grin.

  "I'm gonna enjoy making you scream, little meat," he growled, somehow audible over the crowd's renewed cheering. "Gonna pull your limbs off one by one, then use that purdy little mouth to-"

  The ring of a gong interrupted the monologue and the muscled hulk gave a completely unapologetic shrug before rushing towards Aytin, arms spread wide in a parody of a hug.

  Aytin could fight with a bow and a spear. He'd been in a few fights as a kid, and there had been a little training during his summer with Stonar. That wasn't enough to prepare for something like this.

  LEAF ON THE SUPREME DIVINE BREATH OF A STOOPING CRANE'S WING PERK ACTIVATED. DODGE CHANCE MAXED AT 99% THANKS TO DEXTERITY OF 99

  Somehow, Aytin slipped through the grasping fingers.

  "Oh no you don't!"

  The next swipe missed. Then the next. And the one after that. Not a single one of the flurry of blows so much as ruffled Aytin's hair.

  Now panting, the behemoth glared at his diminutive opponent. "Slippery little bastard, are ya? And what do you think that's gonna get you? Think you can hurt me?"

  Well, why not?

  Hoping that human anatomy was similar across the board, Aytin aimed a punch right at the man's crotch.

  DEXTERITY OF 99 MORE THAN 20 POINTS GREATER THAN OPPONENT'S 40. FURIOUS LIGHTNING BOLT FROM A WIND-STREAKED SKY PERK ACTIVATED

  His fist shot past the frantic block and landed with the sound of a dragon tearing off a deer haunch. Bones cracked and the goliath's eyes suddenly widened as his mouth puckered and the beginning of an unmanly shriek issued forth.

  Aytin's next punch slammed into his nose, shattered it, and sent what was left of the man tumbling out of the ring.

  "That was... easy."

  Incredibly easy. Frighteningly easy. Stupidly easy.

  The crowd loved it, though. They were cheering their heads off, pounding hands and feet as an announcer jumped up on the stage to raise a still somewhat confused Aytin's hand.

  More staff gathered around the twitching form of his opponent, who was somehow still alive. They rolled him onto a massive litter and unceremoniously dragged him out of the stadium.

  Distracted, he only caught the end of the lean, gaudily dressed man's speech. "-and with his victory, Aytin has secured his spot in the Grand Tournament as well as the prize of a Mercuric Ginger Pill of Body Purification!" At those words, he pressed a small container into Aytin's free hand.

  No sooner had he been released than Kit was there. She threw her arms around him and pulled him close to her well cushioned chest as she let out a keening cry of excitement.

  "AAAAAAA! Oh, Aytin, you were so amazing! He didn't even touch you! Oh, I knew I you could do it because you're so brave and strong and han-"

  "You will teach me, Senpai!"

  The harsh but still feminine voice cut through the moment. Suddenly, a new woman was in front of Aytin, this one actually shorter than he was. Her jet-black hair was cut short, and like Kit she had a pair of pointed ears sticking through the top. But unlike the other woman, this one's tail was long and sleek instead of thick and bushy. It thrashed back and forth as she stared him down.

  "My name is Ny-anne! You defeated my master! That makes you stronger! You'll teach me instead!"

  "I... wha?" It wasn't a request. It was an order, backed by utter conviction. An order that had come out of nowhere.

  "You will teach me, Senpai!" she repeated. "It's your duty!"

  "What duty? I didn't agree to this!"

  But Kit was shaking her head. "You crippled her master. That means it's your duty to complete her training."

  "I'm a Stalking Tiger B-tier cultivator and you will teach me your ways!"

  "And I'm not a teacher!" None of this made sense! He didn't regret dying - not quite, at least - but if everyone was like this, then he might need to find another cart to step in front of.

  Not that it would probably do anything at this point. Not after whatever had happened. This cultivation thing. It felt confusing and arbitrary and he had no clue how it worked. If anything, he needed a teacher.

  'What had those words called them? "Stats?" What did I even do with them?'

  As if summoned by the thought, the words reappeared in front of him.

  STRENGTH: 30 x 2.85 = 85

  DEXTERITY: 34 x 2.85 = 99

  ENDURANCE: 27

  INTELLIGENCE: 12

  KI: 17

  LUCK: 57

  Underneath, there was another cryptic line:

  STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY ARE HIGHEST SKILLS. BOTH ARE MULTIPLIED BY LUCK DIVIDED BY 20 THANKS TO THE INNER PEACE OF THE MOST PERFECT SAGE OF LIGHT PERK

  Well, that seemed... broken. At least combined with those other ones that had shown up during the battle. The ones with the other weird names that let him dodge everything and hit with his own attacks. His own frantic swipes had somehow given him the perfect abilities. Imagine that!

  He did frown at the entry for Intelligence. A 12 seemed low. He'd have to fix that if he could. Maybe then he could understand this insane world.

  "Have you finished examining me yet, Senpai?!" The demand broke Aytin's concentration and the words in front of him dissolved.

  "I wasn't-"

  "Oh, check my stats next!" Kit called, tail swishing behind her in joy. "I'm a Slinking Vixen B-Tier cultivator. And already level 8!"

  "Impossible!" Ny-anne declared. "I'm only a level 4! Unless... You must be a truly gifted teacher! I am honored to study under you Sensei!"

  He might have won his battle against the giant, but Aytin realized he was going to lose this one. The only question was how badly.

  "Fine. I'm just passing through this place, but you can tag along until I leave, I guess."

  Ny-anne gave a firm nod. "And I shall accompany you once you leave as well!"

  "Nothing in this city for me, either!" Kit said with a grin.

  "Okay. Sure. Whatever." Arguing was truly pointless. That much was clear. Better to go wherever the winds took him. "Is there someplace I can just get a map or something? I really want to get out of this city."

  The Fox-kin nodded. "You can get anything in the central bazaar." She pointed along the wide avenue. "Only, you can't leave the city."

  "And why's that?" Aytin asked, already taking long, purposeful strides in the indicated direction.

  "If you try and back out of Master Kung Pow's challenge, the entire Ding Dong sect will come after you and ritualistically murder you to death."

  She explained it so matter-of-factly that the ex-dragonette stopped and stared. "They'll what?"

  "They would deservedly kill you for being a cowardly oath breaker!" Ny-anne confirmed. "But you would never do any such thing!"

  Aytin tried to rub the base of his horns, only to grab a handful of that long fur that grew atop humans' heads. He clenched it and pulled. The pain helped keep him sane. "I never accepted any challenge!"

  "Your insult was challenge enough."

  "How? How did I insult him? I was perfectly polite and he acted like I slapped him!"

  The fox-girl nodded sagely. "Of course. Had you not been perfectly polite he would have been in his rights to try and kill you where you stood. When you interfered on my behalf, his only recourse was to treat it as a challenge. Most humans look down on us beastkin because they think we're wonton and uncivilized, but I admit the Ding Dong sect is worse than most."

  Aytin cocked his head at the woman and then took in the crowd. They all looked pretty much the same to him. Mostly the differences came down to the color and length of their head-fur and whether or not they had those chest-lumps. At least he was beginning to realize those were what distinguished men from women among this race.

  He really wished they had horns or snouts or scale patterns. The sort of thing someone could use to actually tell one person from another.

  "So, what is it about you, uh, beastkin that gives people that idea?"

  Both of the women's eyes widened in shock. Ny-anne was the first to recover. "You are from a far off land indeed, Sensei! There must be no cat-kin such as myself there!"

  "No. You're the first I've met."

  "And am I your first fox-kin?" At Aytin's nod, Kit let out a high pitched noise and jumped up and down, clapping her hands. "Wow, your land must be amazing!" Suddenly, she turned serious and put a finger to one lip in thought. "Well, our reputation is just how things are. Despite the beastkin outnumbering humans, having natural physical advantages, a cohesive identity, and access to our own powerful cultivation techniques, we're still an oppressed underclass."

  "Really?"

  "It's extremely logical!" Ny-anne agreed. "Cat-kin can see in the dark! We have claws!" She somehow extended razor sharp talons from her fingertips. "We smell and hear almost as well as the dog kin! Our families are large and we reach adulthood quickly! Of course we can't stand up against humans!"

  Aytin thought for a moment, then nodded. "That makes perfect sense." Really, it was the first thing in this new world that he wasn't going to question at all. "So what do we do now?"

  "Find somewhere to sleep?" Kit asked, glancing through the buildings at the dipping sun.

  "Yes! I know an excellent inn!" Ny-anne immediately strode forward, tail lashing as she led them along the street. Once more, Aytin found it easier just to follow than to try and stop it.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Soon the street widened into a proper square. Every single cobblestone was covered in stalls, with men and women shouting over each other to make their wares known. Half of the stuff was unrecognizable. Most of the rest represented a king's ransom in wealth. Piles of books, fine steel weapons and armor, exotic spices, flowing silk clothes, porcelain tableware as thin as a scale. All of it out for the world to see.

  Other stalls had no goods. Plenty were food vendors doing a brisk business with the dinner crowds. One they passed by was clearly some sort of game with a fat human in colorful red garments calling out to passers-by and spinning a cane, while a woman in a metal collar stood nearby, a smile fixed on her lips. That collar was just about all she was wearing, revealing strategic patches of fluffy wool to go with her tubular ears, flat nose, and curly snow white hair.

  As they passed by the game booth, the crowds parted. Standing in their path was yet another white robed human. His head and facial fur was jet black and he sneered down at Aytin from nearly the height of Master Kung Pow.

  "Ha! You're the one who insulted the great Ding Dong Sect? Pitiful. I would crush you under my heel except the stench of a beastkin lover would ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes."

  Aytin was going to ignore the insult, but Ny-anne stepped forward. "If he wasn't bound by the rules of the tournament, my Sensei would gag your dishonorable mouth with your own severed limbs!"

  "Ha! Hiding behind the tournament rules and a filthy beastkin. As if a coward like him-" The man looked at Aytin like week-old leavings at the bottom of a chamber pot. "Could hope to beat me at so much as a children's card game!"

  "Oh, really?" Kit stepped up, nearly blocking the man from view. "How about that one?" She pointed at the nearby game stall. "Anything you care to wager besides your pride?"

  The unnamed Ding Dong sect member paused for a moment, taken aback. Then he grinned. Striding over to the booth and reaching into his robes, he withdrew a bulging purse. It fell with a thump onto the wooden table, and a handful of glittering gold coins spilled out. "What a glorious day. Not only will I hand your master his first humiliation, but I will become rich as well!"

  The gold on the table was more than Aytin had ever seen. That one sack could have bought Faelon's entire cargo several times over. And now he realized that besides his crimson robes, he didn't have so much as a bent copper to his name.

  "Well, coward? I'm waiting. Of course, if you can't pay then I win by forfeit. I'll take one of your slaves as my prize." He leered at Kit, licking his lips.

  "I, uh, I don't have that much on me at the moment. If you give me some time-"

  If she was disturbed by the sect member's display, Kit didn't show it. She just grinned and shook her head. "Just use the Mercuric Ginger Pill of Body Purification!" she suggested. "It's not like you need it, being well past the B-tier after all. It's only good for breaking into the A-ranks."

  "Right. Of course." Aytin fished out the box and set it on the counter as his challenger frowned slightly.

  Ny-anne stared at the pile of gold, then the small white pill before pronouncing, "This bet is uneven! Fix it!"

  "Really? I'll only have to pick them up again." When the cat-kin's glare failed to dim, the annoyed sect member sighed and reached into his robes once again. He withdrew two more bulging sacks of gold, which he dropped next to the first. "Will that be sufficient?"

  After a critical look at the fortune on display, she replied, "Only barely!"

  "Then let the challenge commence!"

  The gamemaster's smile was nearly as wide as his belly, exposing lines of flat, white teeth. "Of course, of course! Step inside my tent and we will test your mettle! Skill! Poise! Determination! And more!"

  With a flourish, he pulled two embroidered sheets from the table. The revealed piles of oddly shaped stone blocks.

  "Stack as many of these as you can, as high as you can. Reach the mark and you'll win a prize to go with your wager!" He tapped a red hash on a tentpole just below the fabric ceiling.

  That shouldn't be any problem. With his newfound skills, Aytin's hands moved with the precision a master craftsman could only envy. He flexed his fingers and stepped up to the pile.

  "Of course, this is a test of your personal ability. Not your prowess at cultivation. So I'll just be turning this negation stone on." The rotund man tapped a green crystal that started to glow.

  Instantly, a tremor ran through Aytin's hands. He felt the power drain away. His opponent noticed the sudden expression of fear that crossed his face and grinned evilly, cracking knuckles and letting forearms honed by years of hard training bulge.

  "Aaaaaand... begin!"

  The sect member was already hard at work before the gamemaster finished flipping his hourglass.

  Aytin picked up his first block. It was smooth, white stone, cool to the touch and shaped like a flat-topped arch. As good a base as any. Better than one of the rounded shapes that seemed to make up a good half of the pile.

  'It's just stacking stones. Come on, you've done this before.'

  It had been a while, though. The last time had to have been back in the fall, when he had first been exploring his magic.

  'I wonder...'

  Experimentally, he reached into himself and tried to channel his personal magic, his innate sense of balance. For a moment there was nothing, and then he felt his posture shift ever so slightly.

  Aytin grinned.

  Half of the sand had already flowed through the hourglass when Aytin set down his first block. He did it with quick assurance, followed by another and another. His tower grew at an astounding rate. The shape or even orientation of the blocks didn't seem to matter. Whichever one ended up in the reborn dragonette's hand went onto the stack and stuck like it was glued.

  This was far beyond what he used to be able to do. Whether it was his new body or the cultivation thing, something had enhanced his personal magic to mythical levels.

  On the other side of the table, the Ding Dong Sect member turned away from a respectably sized tower only to see Aytin place the final block of his own masterpiece. It sat just a finger's breadth from the fabric above.

  "No! Impossible!" the young man screeched. In desperation, he slammed a fist onto the table hard enough to set it shaking. His own tower shuddered. A block fell with a loud clunk, and then like a dragon with a crippled wing, the rest came tumbling to the ground.

  Aytin's own tower still stood proudly above.

  His challenger fell to his knees in shock. "I am disgraced! My honor is no more for I have lost to this beastkin lover!"

  A crowd had gathered around to watch the spectacle. Every one of them pointed and laughed as the sect member pushed himself to his feet and tried to run. One shoe caught in a cobblestone, tearing it off and sending him stumbling. It had a sole taller than Aytin's hand. Soon, the fleeing man kicked off the other, revealing that he was not much taller than the man he had challenged. His cries of shame echoed through the market long after he disappeared from sight.

  "AAAAAA! That was amazing!" Kit squealed as she threw her arms around him. "I knew you could do it!"

  "You made him think he had a chance before grinding him into the dirt! A fine lesson! And fine rewards!" Ny-anne looked towards the bags of gold on the counter in appraisal.

  "Congratulations, sir!" The gamemaster had already pocketed his share of the wager, and the expression of pleasure was clear even on his flat, un-draconic face. "And I'm pleased to inform you that you've won the grand prize!" He handed over a fine metal chain, attached to the sheep-kin's collar.

  "She's been a fine piece of eye-candy, but I suppose this is as good a time as any to get a newer model. Not that there's much mileage on this one if you catch my drift." He gave Aytin a wink and a nudge with one elbow.

  "Uh... yeah." The slave was staring at Aytin's feet, head bowed and arms crossed over her chest. She didn't look like she'd be any trouble, but... "What was her crime?"

  "Crime?!" The gamemaster looked offended. "Oh, I would never buy a filthy criminal as a slave. She was born a slave, nice and submissive and well trained. Here's her command rod, not that you'll need it." He passed over a steel rod with a single button on the tip. "Have a nice day!"

  Of course this world would also have chattel slavery. His home sure didn't. Only criminals were forced to work against their will. And people who disagreed with the crown. Or the church. Or ran afoul of the inquisition. Yes, the people toiling away in his family's mines all deserved it, unlike that poor beastkin.

  "So what do I call you?" he asked his new slave.

  Her eyes didn't move from the ground. "This one's last master called her Venli, Sir. But Sir may call her whatever Sir wishes."

  "Ooo-kay. Let's just go with Venli."

  The sheep-kin gave only the barest nod, still staring at his feet. "How may this one be of service to Sir?"

  "I don't need a slave. And don't call me sir. Aytin is fine."

  "Whatever sir wishes."

  He rolled his eyes. "Let's just get that collar off of you. I can spare some of this gold for you to get set up somewhere on your own. Like I said, I don't have any use for a slave."

  But Venli only shook her head. "Please, Sir makes a cruel joke. Sir must know that all slave collars are permanent. But if Sir can't stand the sight of this ugly slave, Sir can always sell this one. This one will do her best to fetch a high price."

  "What? No! I'm not going to sell you!"

  "This one thanks Sir for his kindness." She bowed low. "This one will do her pitiful best to not be a burden."

  "Oh, don't worry," Kit piped in. "Master Aytin is great! He's kind and smart and super nice!"

  "And strong!" Ny-anne added. "You will be a great asset to the group!"

  Once more, Aytin pulled on his head-fur in frustration. " Let's just go get a room. Rooms, I mean. Definitely rooms."

  As it turned out, there was only one room available.

  "Sorry, sir," the innkeeper said. "You're actually lucky I have anything, but a young man just up and left not ten minutes ago. You'd be hard pressed to find anything else open in the city what with the tournament and everything."

  "If there's nothing else..."

  There wasn't. Aytin had to pass over enough gold that he nearly died on the spot, but the girls assured him it was a good deal. In return he got directions to a surprisingly spacious room. There was a small desk, stuffed chair, wash basin, chamber pot, dresser, and bed.

  A single bed.

  A single bed, just wide enough for two people, with a pillow between them.

  "Master Aytin gets the bed, obviously," Kit said. "He shouldn't have to sleep alone, though."

  Ny-anne nodded firmly. "The strongest of us should share his bed!"

  "Well, that would be me, of course." Kit gave the cat-kin a grin that showed fangs.

  "Numbers don't mean everything!"

  "Oh, really? Care to find out?"

  "This one has been trained in many subjects," Venli offered. "She is well suited to the role of ensuring that Sir has a most pleasant slumber."

  "Sure, but-"

  Aytin tuned the whole conversation out. He was exhausted. From the fight and getting dragged around and the insanity of it all. Also dying. He was pretty sure that was at least part of it.

  As he laid down, something poked at him. He reached into his robes and withdrew the wooden box with the strange pill in it. As the women debated, he pulled the small white object out, popped it into his mouth, and swallowed.

  Then he shut his eyes and fell quickly and deeply asleep.

  When Aytin awoke, there was a weight on his chest. He tried to reach up and rub the sleep from his eyes, only to realize his hand was pinned as well.

  The girls had apparently come to some sort of agreement regarding the bed, because all of them had crawled atop it at some point in the night. Ny-anne was laying across his feet, and she looked oddly peaceful in sleep. Kit had her head on his stomach, and was curled so the tip of her tail was barely brushing her nose. And Venli lay at his side, an arm across his chest almost possessively.

  He still felt exhausted, but the sun was starting to peek through the window. His own movement was also starting to wake the others. They were beginning to slowly stir and glance around the slowly brightening room.

  Kit yawned loudly, before she stiffened suddenly. "Oh, no, we're going to be late!"

  Suddenly everyone was leaping to their feet and scrambling around the room, leaving Aytin alone on the bed. He hadn't bothered undressing the night before, so he just needed to sit up and straighten his robes. But all the women were busy pulling on outfits. Even Venli had managed to find something that gave her a bit more modesty.

  But he had barely put one foot on the ground when he found himself dragged out the door, Kit grasping one hand and Ny-anne the other.

  As they emerged into the morning sunlight, Aytin closed his eyes and opened himself up once again to its power. Within moments, there was a familiar sound.

  DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING!

  He already knew what he would see when he opened his eyes once more.

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  THROUGH HARD WORK AND DEDICATION YOU HAVE ASCENDED ON THE PATH OF THE CULTIVATOR

  YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 9 OF TIER A

  YOU HAVE 54 SKILL POINT(S) TO ASSIGN

  YOU HAVE 1 PERK(S) TO CHOOSE

  LEVEL CAP REACHED. YOU MUST PURIFY YOUR SOUL TO ASCEND FURTHER

  They were moving too fast to focus on his options. He had to look past the screens to navigate through the crowds.

  'I'll have some time before the match. What are the chances mine will be the first?'

  They arrived at the stadium and a push from Kit sent him stumbling up to the registration table. "I'm Aytin," he told the bored looking woman manning the booth. "When am I fighting?"

  She consulted a massive leather-bound tome in front of her and then shot a disapproving look his way. "You're the first match. You should have been here an hour ago. As it is, you'll forfeit the match if you're not on the floor in..." She glanced at a clock. "Three minutes. You best hurry. That way."

  Her pointing finger directed them through some of the thickest crowds, and Aytin's heart fell. Suddenly, Ny-anne was in front of him, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Out of the way! Future tournament champion coming through! If you're still standing there he's going to walk right over you so move!"

  The crowd miraculously parted and Kit dragged him forward while Venli followed in their slipstream. Even with the opening, they still only made it just ahead of the deadline. Aytin had no sooner climbed onstage than a gong sounded the start of the tournament.

  His opponent was already waiting for him. Rather than a giant, the human woman of a size with him. Her hair was black as a darkling's scales, but that was offset by skin so porcelain white that it had to be some sort of makeup. A single crimson flower as red as her lips stuck out from behind one ear.

  She bowed to Aytin, who quickly followed. "I wish you luck," the pale-faced woman said in a quiet soprano that still managed to carry over the cheering crowd.

  "You as well," he said.

  Her lips twitched in the barest smile. "I am Woo Mun, A-Tier Striking Mantis cultivator, and I will not need your luck."

  Suddenly, she was gone. A moment later, she simply appeared in the far corner of the ring. Her hands moved in a blur, making a thousand strikes in a bare second.

  Aytin had been confident going in. The new magic he had been given made it nearly impossible for someone to land a hit on him. Nearly. But even if he could dodge ninety nine out of a hundred, she'd still beat him to a pulp moments after the fight began.

  Right then, he remembered that he had forgotten to assign his new levels. Even as the announcer was raising a mallet to strike the starting gong, he swiped a hand across the floating words, selecting stats and a perk at random.

  Suddenly he felt... weaker? But the world slowed down. His opponent's shadow boxing went from invisible to merely impossibly fast just as the bell rang.

  LEAF ON THE SUPREME DIVINE BREATH OF A STOOPING CRANE'S WING PERK ACTIVATED. DODGE CHANCE MAXED AT 99% THANKS TO DEXTERITY OF 161

  Aytin managed to dodge Woo Mun's first strike as she appeared in front of him. And the next. And the next. But she managed to avoid his much slower follow up with ease.

  Soon, a blow landed. As if guided by the gods themselves, a fist slipped past his forearm and landed squarely on Aytin's jaw.

  He barely felt it.

  Woo Mun, on the other hand, let out a piercing scream and clutched her wrist. Two fingers were pointed at odd angles, clearly broken. It was almost as if she had punched a brick wall.

  Without pausing to think, Aytin advanced and threw a flurry of blows of his own. Most connected, and the breath left her in an oof. Even still, it didn't seem to hurt as much as her own punch had.

  But he was relentless. Strike after strike. Woo Mun's defense had been shattered, and he didn't give her a chance to rebuild it. He forced her across the ring, to the far edge, and with one final punch he sent her flying to the ground below.

  "And the winner by ring out is Aytin! What a match! Simply amazing!"

  The words of the announcer filtered back into the ring as the crowd roared their approval. A pair of attendants in staff uniforms ran up to the fallen woman and put something into her mouth. Moments later her bruises were healed and fingers were back in position.

  Aytin turned his attention to the three women pushing their way through the crowds to get to him. Venli and Kit threw their arms around him in great big hugs while Ny-anne offered a much more reserved bow. "Spectacular match, Sensei!" she offered in congratulation.

  "AAAAA! She didn't so much as scratch you!" Kit let him go and jumped up and down, clapping.

  "Yeah, I was pretty great, wasn't I?" Aytin said, finally letting a smile out as he relaxed a fraction. Now that he had a moment, he called up that strange text once more.

  STRENGTH: 41

  DEXTERITY: 46 x 3.5 = 161

  ENDURANCE: 42 x 3.5 + 40 = 187

  INTELLIGENCE: 12

  KI: 20

  LUCK: 70

  'So that's why I feel weak. My endurance passed my strength and now the luck bonus goes to it. But there's something else there, too.'

  He focused on the extra number next to the stat, and new text popped up.

  UNWAVERING FAVOR OF THE BENEVOLENT CELESTIALS PERK CONFERS 2 POINTS OF ENDURANCE PER POINT OF LUCK ABOVE 50

  That meant he was nearly indestructible. And with his sky high dexterity, it would be impossible for most opponents save those like Woo Mun to even touch him, much less dodge his strikes.

  'But still a 12 for intelligence. Oh, come on! That's just not funny!'

  Someone suddenly stepped in front of him and knelt. "I was an arrogant fool," Woo Mun declared as she bowed her head. "I let my pride plot my course of action and paid for it. Please, I beg your forgiveness!"

  "Uh, apology accepted?" Aytin offered, dismissing his stats. "Really, it's fine. Compared to the last guy I fought, you were very polite. Er, and honorable, too."

  "You are very kind to say such things," she said, rising to her feet but keeping her head bowed. "However, I must ask a boon. I have been humbled, and it is only fitting that I should continue to learn from the one who humbled me. Would you consider taking me on as one of your apprentices?"

  Aytin's first thought was, 'What is with all these people demanding I teach them?! I'm just picking things at random and somehow making myself stupidly powerful! There's nothing more to it!'

  Out loud, he said, "Let's discuss that later."

  "Of course, master," Woo Mun said with a bow.

  "No!" Ny-anne practically screamed. "He is my master! He accepted me, first!"

  The human woman was unfazed. "A master as powerful as he has room for more than one apprentice. In fact, I would look forward to studying alongside you and the others. I am sure there is much we can learn from one another."

  That brought the cat-kin up short. "You don't care that I'm a beastkin?!"

  She shook her head, fractionally. "My adopted family was beastkin. I firmly support equality among the races."

  For the first time since he had met her, Ny-anne looked at a loss for words. "Huh," she finally said. "Okay, then."

  At that moment, an attendant came over and ushered them into the stands. She also handed Aytin a polished wooden box. "Your prize for the first round," she told him. "The Golden Dew Mystical Cherry Blossom. As you know, this allows the user to break the barriers into S-tier."

  She was gone before he could thank her.

  The next match was beginning. An unassuming human in a jet black robe climbed onto the platform. Aytin took an instant dislike to the man, until Master Kung Pow suddenly appeared in the other corner.

  This would be the first time he saw the man who had declared himself to be the reincarnated dragonette's mortal enemy. He leaned forward, curious.

  A gong rang. The match began.

  Instantly, both challengers' robes shredded as nimbuses of golden light surrounded them. Only convenient breechcloths survived to protect their modesty, one black and the other white. Their every muscle appeared to have been chiseled from oiled stone, and they glimmered in the brilliance. Neither man moved, but their mouths were both open in rising growls as the glow intensified.

  "Their Ki is so powerful," Kit muttered from nearby. Then she flashed a grin. "I'm sure yours is even stronger, though."

  Aytin could only watch as one side would brighten, then the other would increase in response. It must have gone on for over a minute before the energy coalesced all at once, a blazing second skin that surrounded the competitors.

  In a flash, it was all over. The glow faded from both men. But while Kung Pow stood unblemished, his opponent lay on the floor screaming through a mouth full of shattered teeth. Every joint was bent at an odd angle, with white bone and red human blood seeping out in some places.

  Kung Pow opened one hand, and a wad of something black and fuzzy fell out. With a start, Aytin realized it was the other man's facial fur, plucked right out.

  "That is how SS-Tier Cultivators fight!" Ny-anne nodded to herself. "One day I will be that strong!"

  Kit beamed. "And I'll be waiting there for you. With Master Aytin, of course!"

  Aytin had already eaten the cherry blossom that had been his prize, and was hunting around for a ray of sunlight. He found nothing. A bank of clouds had moved in, obscuring the skies.

  It only got worse as he watched the rest of the fights. One went like his, the competitors exchanging flurries of blows. The other followed Kung Pow's fight, with fighters glowing like demigods as they hammered at each other and even through balls of light that exploded with the force of a blue dragon's breath.

  All the while, the sun stayed stubbornly behind clouds. Not so much as an errant ray peaked through. 'If I still had my wings, I could just fly above the clouds. Stupid useless human body! Stupid damn magic god-voice!'

  The opening round finished at about noon. Then there was a short intermission as the watchers went off to find food. Aytin got a dozen honey cakes and stuffed them down, hoping they had the same effect on humans as they did dragonettes. No such luck. He merely felt a little fidgety going into his next fight.

  His hopes fell further as he recognized his opponent. The man was average size for a human, but covered in muscles that bulged to ridiculous degrees. In the last match, he had deliberately let the golden energy around him fade to take a punch from the other competitor. It hadn't left so much as a scratch.

  'Just a little sunlight. That's all I need!' he prayed as the announcer called for them to take their places.

  And something answered. Not a god or the divine voice. Instead, more words appeared in front of his eyes.

  LIGHT TOUCHED PERK ACTIVATED

  Instantly, the clouds parted and a single ray of light bathed him in brilliant sunshine. He didn't question it. He just closed his eyes and drank it in.

  DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING! GOOONG!

  The match began just as words flashed in front of him.

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  THROUGH HARD WORK AND DEDICATION YOU HAVE ASCENDED ON THE PATH OF THE CULTIVATOR

  YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 9 OF TIER S

  YOU HAVE 63 SKILL POINT(S) TO ASSIGN

  YOU HAVE 1 PERK(S) TO CHOOSE

  LEVEL CAP REACHED. YOU MUST PURIFY YOUR SOUL TO ASCEND FURTHER

  Once again, there was no time to check his options. Aytin swiped a hand across his options. He'd been lucky so far.

  The world exploded into light.

  More than that, he felt something welling up within him. Strength, speed, and raw might, to be sure. But behind all of that, he could sense a rising wellspring. One that felt... familiar.

  Across the ring, his opponent was glowing gold, with bulging muscles straining until his robes shredded in a puff of dust. He put one finger to his forehead and looked Aytin right in the eyes.

  The wellspring erupted. Aytin felt himself shift. And even as the other fighter leapt towards him, radiant fist cocked, he could see the man's eyes widen in shock.

  CELESTIAL DRAGON HERITAGE PERK ACTIVATED

  Aytin caught the fist.

  He caught it in hands that suddenly sported dark claws erupting from milk-white hide.

  CELESTIAL DRAGON HERITAGE CONFERS THE FORM OF A MESSENGER OF THE DRACONIC GODS. IN ADDITION, IT CONFERS A MULTIPLICATIVE BONUS TO STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY EQUAL TO KI SCORE DIVIDED BY 50 WHILE IN THIS FORM

  With a spin, Aytin slammed his blue-scaled tail into the man. It sent him skidding backwards in a cloud of dust.

  The crowd was utterly silent. No one so much as breathed as the newly shifted dragonette stretched his wings and examined his new form. Not quite the same one that he remembered. He was unscarred as a new hatchling, and his hide was so white that it would have glowed even without the nimbus of power surrounding him. Flexing one arm, the muscles that bulged felt powerful enough to wrestle a dragon. The stats he brought up confirmed it.

  STRENGTH: 49 (x 4.16 = 203)

  DEXTERITY: 50 (x 4.16 = 208)

  ENDURANCE: 51 x 4.0 + 20 = 264

  INTELLIGENCE: 12

  KI: 52 x 4.0 = 208

  LUCK: 80

  He raised one eyeridge at the bare 12 next to intelligence. All the way up to S-tier and he hadn't been able to add a single point to it. No matter, he had more than enough brawn to make up for lack of brains.

  A cry came from the crowds. "Come on, Aytin! Kick his butt!"

  Kit was on her feet, screaming encouragement. A moment later, the other three women joined it.

  "Grind him into the dirt!"

  "This one knows that Sir can win!"

  "With your new form you can triumph Master Aytin!"

  The crowd regained its voice, some voicing their support for the newly reborn dragonette and others raining down insults. None of it mattered, though, because his opponent had regained his composure as well.

  "You surprised me before," the man said, eyes knitting and stance shifting slightly. "It will not happen again.

  Aytin only grinned in response, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Then he blurred forward, leaving an afterimage behind him.

  His opponent raised a block, only to get tackled from above as Aytin dove. "Wings are pretty useful, huh?" he asked the man as he loomed above him. "Horns, too," he added, then slammed them down in a skull-cracking headbutt.

  "Gaaaaahhh!" The scream tore from between lips stained red with human blood, but Aytin wasn't done. Taloned feet cracked stone as he lifted the human above him with ease. Wings and tail extended for balance, he spun once, twice, three times before releasing the stunned man. He sailed out of the ring to slam into a column. The limp form stuck there for a moment, before slumping and leaving behind a human-shaped series of cracks in the stone.

  Sound erupted from the crowd, cheers and boos in equal measure.

  None of that mattered as Aytin accepted a bottle containing his prize. A heavenly orchid tea of divine light or something. He'd already slammed it down when a new figure practically appeared in front of him.

  "I knew it! You are one of them!" Master Kung Pow raged. "Oh, this will make my victory so much the sweeter when I destroy you!"

  Aytin ignored the shouting. He was already using his powers to call down a beam of sunlight to bathe him in its radiance.

  DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING!

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  THROUGH HARD WORK AND DEDICATION YOU HAVE ASCENDED ON THE PATH OF THE CULTIVATOR

  YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 9 OF TIER SS

  YOU HAVE 72 SKILL POINT(S) TO ASSIGN

  YOU HAVE 1 PERK(S) TO CHOOSE

  LEVEL CAP REACHED. YOU MUST PURIFY YOUR SOUL TO REACH DIVINITY

  The last bit was different than before. 'Divinity, huh? Imagine that. Maybe I'll be able to tell that voice what I think of this little trip when I'm done with all of this.'

  He was already thumbing his intelligence stat up when Kung Pow grabbed him roughly by the shoulder. "Are you listening to me?!"

  The sudden force surprised Aytin and as he spun around, his hand swiped through the words. He just glimpsed the numbers shifting before the text disappeared.

  Frantically calling it back up, he saw his new stats:

  STRENGTH: 56 (x 9.0 = 504)

  DEXTERITY: 57 (x 9.0 = 513)

  ENDURANCE: 59 x 5.3 + 112 = 424

  INTELLIGENCE: 13

  KI: 85 x 5.3 = 450

  LUCK: 106

  'A 13?! Really? Really?!'

  He jerked his head up to face the sect leader, who had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Not the outcome you desired? What a shame. But you should know that I am now a Level 9 SS-tier Gilded Eagle cultivator, with the most optimized perks and stats it is possible to have. And once I destroy you in the ring, I take the Platinum Lotus of Divine Understanding to ascend to SSS-Tier and godhood!"

  "You're not even in the finals yet, and I am. What if you lose your next match?"

  "Watch me."

  He was suddenly in the ring. Another man faced him, expression determined and golden light already shining from his skin.

  Before the gong even finished ringing, it was over. Kung Pow stood over the utterly broken remains of his opponent. A contemptuous sweep of one foot sent the faintly moaning body out of the ring.

  "Now, face me you animal!"

  There was nothing left but to do it. Aytin found it took barely a thought and he appeared in the ring facing the Ding Dong Sect leader. The crowds had split as well. Behind him, he could hear hundreds of voices chanting his name, led by his four friends. On the other side, identically dressed men cursed him and called him all manner of insults.

  "I see the terror in your eyes," Kung Pow sneered. "Those bestial slits can't hide anything from me. I wonder if I'll leave one working, so you can watch as I take my prize. Or maybe-"

  "Do you ever shut up?" Aytin stood relaxed, head cocked slightly, and wearing nothing but a conveniently intact breechcloth.

  The sect master's mouth was still gaping when the gong rang, signalling the start of the final match.

  Stunned he might have been, Kung Pow had trained for decades as a fighter. The sound of a gong had him moving in an instant. He was hurling towards the upstart lizard, arm extended in his signature Dark Raptor Mauls the Innocent Baby Bunny Strike.

  He missed.

  "Impossible!"

  "No, your dexterity is just kind of low," Aytin answered. Then he punched the man. It hit like a star falling from the heavens. "Your endurance, too, looks like. And I'm guessing your strength?" The dragonette reached down and picked him up. He tried to struggle, but it was like he was being held by adamantine chains.

  "You can't do this! You can't! You're an animal!"

  Aytin simply took a few short steps to the side of the ring, and dumped him unceremoniously to the floor.

  "I guess I can."

  His side of the ring exploded into cheers while the Ding Dong Sect side all tore at their head fur and cried lamentations for their fallen leader.

  "Nooooo! It's not over! Not yet!"

  Aytin gave the best approximation of a human sneer that his draconic face could manage. "Sure it is. You're out of the ring, I'm not. I win."

  "And you'll die!'

  Kung Pow's fingers started moving and his aura flared, then seemed to collapse in on itself.

  "No!" Kit cried from above. "He's using the Forbidden Technique of Unclean Meridian Fusion!"

  The golden energy darkened, then seemed to somehow glow with pure darkness, sucking in the light. A malevolent cocoon of swirling black formed around the human cultivator. Then it exploded, revealing a creature out of the depths of the watery hells.

  "I'll destroy you!" the creature that was once Kung Pow cried in a sibilant hiss. Onyx hide covered its body. Fingers were tipped in obsidian claws that match the razor teeth in its jaws. A pair of bat-like wings spread behind the demon, complemented by a thin, whip-like tail. "Destroy you!"

  Aytin only managed to dodge those reaching claws by a scale's breadth. The backhand that followed sent him spinning. And then the creature was on him.

  Kicking with both feet, the dragonette managed to dislodge his foe. Talons tore great rents in its hide, wounds that oozed a black ichor that smelled of raw sewage and sea demons. They closed an instant later, leaving the hide unblemished. Then it cocked its neck back at an impossible angle before whipping it forward and sending a glob of that black bile right for Aytin.

  He only just managed to dodge. The foul stuff spattered the stands where the Ding Dong Sect supporters still watched in shock. A dozen of them dissolved into steaming piles of sludge as the liquid touched them.

  The demon's follow up strikes sent Aytin on the defensive. He was faster, barely, but it wasn't enough. This monster was relentless, unstoppable.

  'Wait, what was my perk? Did I select a perk?' With a grunt of effort, Aytin launched himself into the air. It bought him a mere heartbeat of reprieve as the dark monster spread its own wings, but it was enough to summon the strange words once more and stab his finger into one at random.

  GRAND CELESTIAL DRAGON HERITAGE ACTIVATED. ALL STATS EXCEPT INTELLIGENCE RAISED TO 999.

  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN EVERYTHING EXCEPT INTELLIGENCE?!"

  Where there had been a dragonette a moment before, a great red dragon appeared. A perfect copy of Faelon in his prime. Aytin let out a great roar followed by a gout of flames that bathed the corrupted shell of Kung Pow in cleansing fire.

  Then Aytin tucked his enormous wings, angled his body, and descended like a crimson lightning bolt. He hit the ground hard enough to punch through the foundation. And the dark monster beneath his claws popped like a rotten piece of fruit.

  For a moment, he sat there, panting. Then the screams began.

  Screams of joy.

  "AYTIN! AYTIN! AYTIN!"

  Thousands of voices roared their approval. At the front of the crowds were the four women, Kit Sune, Ny-anne, Venli, and Woo Mun. They were all screaming and cheering and waving their arms at him.

  "Congratulations to our new champion, the Cultivator Aytin!"

  The announcer's voice rose over the excited shrieks, and a scantily clad human woman emerged from a side hall. She had a flower on a silver platter, and she offered it to the dragon.

  Audience members were beginning to throw oddly shaped pieces of cloth at him as Aytin snaked a tongue out to devour his prize. They seemed to be getting them from under their robes, and every single woman had one. They were like two padded cups tied together with rope.

  With little more than a thought, a ray of sun shot through the skies. And one final time, text appeared.

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  THROUGH HARD WORK AND DEDICATION YOU HAVE ASCENDED ON THE PATH OF THE CULTIVATOR

  YOU ARE NOW TIER SSS

  YOUR SOUL HAS REACHED DIVINITY

  He gave a massive, draconic grin at the words. Finally, after everything, he had won!

  Below the text, more words appeared.

  CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ASCENSION! WOULD YOU LIKE TO RETURN TO LEVEL 1 OF F-TIER BY REFINING YOUR SOUL?

  YOU WILL KEEP ALL PERKS, BUT LOSE ANY ASSIGNED SKILL POINTS PERMANENTLY

  Aytin looked down at the crowds of humans chanting his name. At his adoring fans. And at the four women who had helped him find a place in this new world.

  Fuck all of this shit. I just want to go home!'

  There was a flash of light, the embrace of darkness, and then Aytin opened his eyes and sat bolt upright.

  He was in bed. Sunlight was just peaking through the curtains and he could hear quiet voices from downstairs.

  Raising one hand revealed talon-tipped hands, roughened by months of work outdoors. Another quick check showed scared wings and a tail exactly where they should be.

  "What in the fuck was that?!"