A Rival’s Presence & A Familiar’s Evolution

A Month Late Status Check

Arlan groaned as he collapsed onto the stiff mattress in his tiny rented room, staring at the wooden ceiling. His muscles ached, his boots were still damp from dungeon water, and he smelled like salt and dead crab.

It had been a long day.

But a productive one.

He waved his hand, summoning his status screen for the first time in… well, longer than he wanted to admit.

[ Status Screen ]

Name: ArlanClass: Gravebinder (Necromancer)Level: 16

Skills: [Shadow Bolt] – A projectile of condensed shadow. Deals moderate damage. Scales with intelligence.

[Deathbound Pact] – Strengthens permanent undead summons over time.

[Eclipsing Maw] – Temporarily merges with a bonded undead.

[Veil of the Grave] – Can partially phase into the spirit realm.

[Black Shroud] – Temporarily surrounds the caster in a cloud of necrotic mist, reducing visibility for enemies and absorbing minor attacks. Also enhances stealth in dark environments.

Bones, the tiny skeletal rat, perched on Arlan's shoulder, clicking his teeth smugly. "Me… stronger?"

Shade, flickering beside them, muttered, "Master… slow. Should read… sooner."

Arlan waved them off. "I've been a little busy, you know. Avoiding bounty hunters, hiding from the Holy Order, and trying not to starve."

Bones twitched his tail, eyes glowing. "Evolve soon."

Arlan sat up. "Wait. You're close to evolving?"

Bones nodded.

Arlan blinked. "Oh, hell yes! Finally!"

Shade muttered, "Rat… still weak."

Bones whipped his tiny tail at Shade. "Better. Stronger. Soon."

Arlan grinned, rubbing his hands together. "Alright, first thing tomorrow, we're hitting another dungeon. Time to push you over the edge."

Bones clicked his teeth excitedly. Shade hissed something vaguely insulting.

Arlan rolled onto his side.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

The Guild & A New Face

The next morning, Arlan walked into the Veyleigh Adventurer's Guild, stretching the soreness from his last dungeon run. He approached the job board, scanning the available quests when a voice scoffed beside him.

"That's an awful long time to pick a quest. Need help with the big words?"

Arlan turned his head.

A man with neatly tied auburn hair stood beside him, arms crossed. His leather armor was polished, his sword hanging lazily at his waist. He had the air of someone who thought he was better than everyone in the room.

Arlan blinked. "Do I know you?"

The man smirked. "No, but I know you." He nodded toward the board. "You're that rookie summoner. Rook, was it?"

Arlan frowned. "That's me. And you are?"

"Lucian Quill." The name came with an almost theatrical confidence. "I tend to keep an eye on the fresh faces, see who's worth remembering."

Arlan raised an eyebrow. "I am not worth remembering"

Lucian smiled, but it wasn't exactly friendly. "Not yet."

Arlan sighed. 

Lucian chuckled, shaking his head. "Relax, rookie. I'm not here to start anything. Just… curious. You've been taking jobs, but no one's really seen your summons. Spirits, was it?"

Arlan gritted his teeth. "Something like that."

Lucian shrugged. "I suppose we'll see soon enough if you keep proving your worth around here"

With that, he turned, grabbing a high-tier dungeon quest and leaving with his party.

Arlan watched them go, exhaling.

"What is it with these guys?"

Bones clicked his teeth. "Kill?"

Shade hissed. "Challenge."

Arlan sighed. "Guys. No."

Bones muttered. "Disappointment."

Arlan shook his head and turned back to the board. He had work to do.

The Dungeon – Venomous Maw Caverns

Arlan picked a mid-tier dungeon with a straightforward objective: eliminate the Vipers.

The journey to the Venomous Maw Caverns was peaceful—until he actually got inside.

The cavern was damp and stunk of decay. The deeper he went, the more he heard the hissing of unseen creatures.

Then, from the shadows—a snake lunged.

Arlan barely had time to dodge before a venomous viper the size of his leg shot past him, its fangs dripping.

"Alright, time to work."

"Shade—disorient them. Bones, flank!"

Shade flickered forward, his hollow eyes glowing, casting a dark veil over the chamber. The vipers shrieks echoed in the dark.

Bones leapt from Arlan's shoulder, darting into the shadows.

The first viper lunged at Arlan—he sidestepped, raising his wand and firing a [Shadow Bolt] straight into its skull.

The viper convulsed, shrieking as necrotic energy corroded its flesh.

Bones tore into another one's throat, his tiny skeletal body moving with unnatural speed.

Shade, a blur of darkness, coiled around the last viper—its body withered instantly, collapsing into a shriveled husk.

The air fell silent.

Then—

Bones' Evolution – The First True Step Forward

The cavern trembled with raw energy.

Arlan barely had time to process what was happening before a surge of pure necrotic force exploded from Bones' tiny body.

The force knocked Arlan back a step, sending a wave of cold wind through the cavern. The air itself seemed to shift—warping, thick with something ancient and powerful.

Arlan's pulse pounded. He had felt something similar before—during his own class change.

But this?

This was different.

This was Bones.

And for the first time in his unlife… he was evolving.

The Transformation

Bones' skeletal frame cracked and groaned, shifting unnaturally as dark mist wrapped around him like a cocoon. His tiny, rattling form twisted and pulsed, his bones creaking as if reshaping themselves.

His skull twitched violently—then snapped forward with a sickening crack.

Then—the bones vanished.

Arlan's breath caught in his throat.

The swirling mist around Bones condensed, no longer just a cloud of undeath, but something more—something corporeal.

For the first time since Arlan had reanimated him… Bones had flesh.

Or at least, something close to it.

The mist faded, revealing a large rat the size of a small child standing on his hind legs, its patchy, uneven fur a mix of dull grays and inky black. His body was lean but strong, his limbs no longer rattling with each movement. His back paws dug into the stone, claws gleaming like sharpened obsidian.

He looked alive.

Almost.

But then, Arlan saw the subtle wrongness.

Bones' fur was thin in places, almost threadbare, revealing hints of ashen gray skin beneath. His emerald-green eyes still glowed faintly, filled with an eerie, unnatural light. The tips of his ears looked tattered, like old parchment burned at the edges.

And then, he moved.

It wasn't stiff. It wasn't clunky like before.

It was fluid. Silent. Efficient.

Bones turned his head toward Arlan, eyes gleaming, and opened his mouth to speak.

His voice was no longer a raspy, skeletal rattle.

It was deeper. More present.

"Master."

Arlan swallowed hard.

He had seen monsters evolve before. He had even seen himself change.

But this?

This was something else entirely.

This was a step forward.

The First Words

Arlan exhaled shakily.

"…Bones?"

The rat's whiskers twitched. His green eyes flickered. He took a step forward, his newly-formed paws silent against the stone.

Then—he grinned.

A wicked, toothy grin, filled with sharp, gleaming fangs.

"Me… better."

Arlan barked out a laugh.

Of course.

Of course, his first words after evolving would be something smug.

Shade, who had been deathly silent until now, finally spoke. His hollow, wispy voice was barely above a whisper.

"Hmph. Still… rat."

Bones' eyes flashed, his long tail flicking with clear annoyance. He took a step toward Shade, muscles tensing. "You… jealous!"

Shade let out a low, ghostly hiss. "Never."

The two undead stared each other down, silent tension thick between them.

Arlan groaned, rubbing his face. "Oh, for the love of—can you two NOT do this right now?!"

Neither of them looked away.

Bones bared his razor-sharp teeth. "Stronger. Faster. Better."

Shade's shadowy form flickered, his voice cold. "Louder. Dumber."

Arlan smacked his forehead. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Bones finally turned away from Shade, tail flicking dismissively.

He turned back to Arlan, his eyes no longer those of a simple summon.

There was intelligence there now. Awareness. Confidence.

And something else.

Something dangerous.

"What's next?" Bones asked.

Arlan hesitated.

Then, slowly—he grinned.

The First Step Toward Strength

He had left everything behind.

His friends. His old life.

For what?

For this. For power. For survival.

For the first time since he arrived in Veyleigh, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Momentum.

"We find a new dungeon."

Bones nodded. Shade merely flickered silently.

And with that—the next hunt began.