ERROR. LEVEL UP INTERRUPTED. RETRY IN 10...

That message confused you for a moment between the pain fading and the nothingness of ****.

A few hours later, you emerged from a vortex of golden energy, your binary code stable and ready for another day.

Keenan was pacing near you, his face splitting in a wide smile as he embraced you. "Ika! I missed you. I was worried, I couldn't find you so you had to be dead and and and..."

You hugged him back. "Keenan! I did it! I killed a player!"

Your frend stepped back, dragging his dropped jaw. "You did it?!"

"Yes! I made him fall off a wall to the ground! I fell with him and died, but he died first so I won the battle!"

"Yay!" You both clumsily danced in celebration; Fire Newts killing players was rare. Neither you nore your friends had ever seen a Newt kill a player. Or a Newt beyond level one.

Oh! Level!

"And I gained a level!" You brought up your stats.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Strange list a level up has," Keenan said, the two of you trying to understand what you were seeing.

The symbol disappeared, replaced by a larger note.

Greetings, player. Your character died/was slayed just as you proceeded to level up. Unfortunately, an unexpected glitch in the system interrupted the process, and the EXP gain was lost. To compensate for this glitch, you will be granted a free level up.

We apologize for any problem and promise to tackle this issue immediately. Please enjoy your path to glory.

DING! Level Up.

HP +10

MP +2

ATK +1

END +1

AGI +2

INT +1

PWR +1

Energy surrounded you for a moment as you grew a little, mainly in length.

But Fire Newts were small, so it was easy to see the changes.

You both stared at your larger tail before exchanging a look and exploding in cheers.

The day was finally here. Level 2. And you were going for more.

But first...