A surprise, followed by the stars

You land behind the church on the edge of the river, quickly polymorphing into your futa form when you land. I really need to get some more clothes... You walk around, a handful of people remembering you used this form before and staring as you walk to the inn. The attention is a tad unnerving, and you quicken your pace to be rid of it sooner. You slam open the tavern door, and in your effort to be rid of all the stares, the entire room, which is quite crowded compared to your previous visit, stares at you as you anxiously walk to the main counter to speak to Garth.

"Yer lookin' uh...li'le differnt, aren' ya?"

"Camilla lent me some clothes. She said you had a room for me?" You tug at the hem of your blouse, painfully aware of the stares you're getting.

He points to a nearby door, sympathetically pursing his lips. "Enda th' hall." You walk to the side door and suddenly hear Garth speak up, seemingly making sure the whole building can hear him. "An' if any'un disturbs 'em, yer no' drinkin' 'ere again!"

You smile as you walk through the door, now enjoying a bit more privacy. You take a few more paces to the end of the hallway and pass through another door, encountering a cramped room that seems like it might give you claustrophobia. There's a bed, a window, and a small dresser, but that's it. Well, this is a small town, so I shouldn't be expecting anything fancy. What catches your eye though, is a pile of folded fabric on the bed, with some parchment on top.

Dusk,

I don't think these are in your usual size, and the dress might be a bit big for your friend, but I thought I'd extend this gift to you. There are many thoughts among the townsfolk about your presence, along with your goblin friend. We were surprised that the people let you stay, but thank you for this insight into our community. People and monsters may never truly get along, but people like you are bridging the gap between us. Please, continue to protect our village, and maybe we won't need to hide our nature from our neighbors.

Sincerely,

A 'monster' lover

You blink in shock, wondering who this person could be as you reread the note. You sort the clothing, finding a dress that, as the letter said, is a bit big for Eve, but you feel she'll enjoy anyway, and an outfit not too ill-fit for your usual humanoid form. How did they get something so close to my size? You take your time doffing your current attire (and forgetting to indulge in some exploration), shift your appearance to your male guise, and don the clothes provided. They're a bit tight, but you're able to shrink yourself to be more comfortable.

You slump onto the bed, rereading the letter again as you think. I guess they saw me in Camilla's clothes in the church, but still. You rack your brain wondering which of the strangers decided to extend an olive branch as you begin to get drowsy.

"You seem to be getting popular among your soon-to-be subjects, my chosen."

You open your eyes, recognizing Melanoche's voice. "You think so?"

"Indeed. However, I do find it odd that you saved every. single. one. of the people of Riverbend. There's no harm in letting the hornets have a few of them." As usual, the god attempts to hide any emotion in her voice, but you can tell she's either confused, angry, or some combination of the two.

"Well, how else am I supposed to gain their good graces?" You gulp. You had been thinking about how to handle the sisters for a while now, but you have no idea what sort of 'illusion' they're seeing for you, so you don't know what lie to play into.

"You're not supposed to gain their good graces. You're supposed to be **** and killing and subjugating them."

You sigh exaggeratingly. "And this is why I'm the man on the ground and you're up here in your ivory tower." Well, it's now or never...

She gawks. "You should be careful with your next few words. There's still time to replace you."

"You won't want to replace me when you hear this." You take a deep breath. "You see, you're being short-sighted when it comes to one of our targets."

The tension is palpable, even though the silence only lasts a few minutes. "I'm listening."

"The dragon. You want me to kill her, but don't you think **** is going easy on her for betraying you, a goddess? No, I'm not going to kill her. I'm going to turn public opinion against her. I barely managed to convince the people of Riverbend to accept me, so I imagine most people only trust her because they know the Saintesses can keep her in check. We're going to utterly destroy her reputation, and when she has nowhere else to turn, enslave her, and make a brand new generation of monsters to wipe out whatever remains." You gulp, not that it provides moisture for your dry throat.

The god hums. "Your plan is ambitious, but has flaws. You won't have time between capturing it and breeding it before the rest of the heroes act."

"That's why I said 'whatever remains'. Sakurai is the only threat that'll matter at that point, and we'll need as much firepower as we can get. Speaking of, another part of my plan involves someone your sister mentioned last night. She said something about a Hornet Empress, and implied that I could breed her, too."

"That is true. If you do so, your children will be weaker than if you had them with a human, but your descendants will be mass-produced in a way we wouldn't be able to reasonably replicate, otherwise. I was going to wait until you had evolved before informing you of her existence, not only so you'll survive the swarm, but so she'll accept you...somewhat."

You idly bring up your sheet, finally seeing how much experience you gained.

Enemies Defeated: 2910

Race: Devil +3929xp, total 5000xp Rank 1

Enemies: 28,973

Pure Land: 9

Evolution Requirements Not Met

Archdevil Path Requirement: Have 30 individuals view you as their ruler

Succubus Path Requirement: Seduce/**** 5 individuals who are in positions above you

Daemophim Path Requirement: Desecrate 2 areas of consecrated ground and kill 2 Priests

Race: Angel +3829xp, total 5000xp Rank 1

Enemies: 28,973

Pure Land: 9

Evolution Requirements Not Met

Archangel Path Requirement: Have 30 individuals view you as their leader

Guardian Path Requirement: Heal 100 innocent or Light-aligned creatures for at least half of their health

Seraphim Path Requirement: Kill 100 creatures with dark elemental power using light elemental spells

Class: Knight +17,566xp, total 20,000xp Level 99

Level up x88!

Enemies: 57,947

Pure Land: 9

Tier Up Requirements Met: Magic Swordsman

Magic Swordsman Requirement: Kill 250 enemies with spells (Completed)

Dark Knight Requirement: Kill 250 enemies without using any of your own buffing abilities

General Requirement: Buff allies to help them kill 250 enemies

Class: Sorcerer +17,626xp, total 20,000xp Level 99

Level up x89!

Enemies: 57,947

Pure Land: 9

Tier Up Requirements Met: Mystic

Wizard Requirement: Kill 250 enemies with basic elemental effects

Mystic Requirement: Kill 250 enemies with exotic elemental effects (Completed)

Alchemist Requirement: Brew 50 potions, with at least 10 different effects total

Maximum Experience Obtained, Redistributing Excess Experience

Unable to Redistribute Experience

Maximum Experience Obtained, Redistributing Excess Experience

Unable to Redistribute Experience

Maximum Experience Obtained, Redistributing Excess Experience

Unable to Redistribute Experience

Maximum Experience Obtained, Redistributing Excess Experience

Unable to Redistribute Experience

Redistribution Target Found

Redistributing Experience

"This is...odd." Melanoche pauses, thinking. "Excess experience that can't be assigned should be redistributed to other classes, but if not, it should dissolve into the air around where you earned it, turning into loose mana. However, it seems that there is an outlet somehow. I will have to look into this..."

You're curious as well. If it didn't get used, and didn't get dispersed, where could it have gone? "Anyway, I guess I should be asking more questions, but I can't think of anything specific right now."

The god seems to snap out of a stupor. "Yes, sorry. There is one more thing. As I'm sure you could infer, we're not supposed to be using the Hero system in this manner, so Carnachias and I are still getting used to it. As such, there may be new aspects to your sheet that you weren't able to find before, such as 'quests' we can give you or progress to unlocking a new class."

You nod. "Good to know. Any quests I'm starting off with?"

"Just the one you started this journey with. We may have more in the future if we're unable to to speak to you in this manner." She pauses for a moment. "I apologize again, but our time is cut short."

Silence surrounds you as you return to looking at your character sheet. Should I tier up immediately for Magic Swordsman and Mystic? It seems like I can hold back if I don't want to right now...