《The Mimic in Monsterland》


 1. A Typical Morning

    ¡°Sleep, oh how I miss you.¡± I groaned, opening my eyes. Soft, early-morning light slipped between the curtains, resting on the bare white walls of my bedroom. Shuffling around in my sheets, I began reaching over towards the nightstand, attempting to grab a phone that wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°Where?¡± I thought, before realizing that I must have left it out on the dinner table. And as if on cue, the 6:30 alarm, the one that was always answered with a swift snooze, blasted on the other side of the door. With the temptation of the bed¡¯s warm embrace ever present, I got up and headed over to the door, definitely not stubbing my toe on one leg of the bed stand.


    With some light (heavy) cursing, I walked into the main living area of my apartment. The space was split between the living room, dining area, and kitchen. In the living room sat the big old tan leather couch I''ve had since my undergrad days, now covered in cracks from age and use. Ideal for an afternoon nap. Across from it was a slightly scuffed brown coffee table that was a bit too big for the room and a TV stand with a modest-sized TV. Multiple game consoles line the various shelves of the TV stand, all collecting dust.


    ¡°One day¡­¡±


    The alarm started playing its second verse, bringing me back to reality. An even more annoying tune. One I hardly recognized, not surprising seeing as it never played that long. I began my search for the blasted thing, a task made more difficult by the worryingly large amount of paper and books strewn across the table.


    ¡°There you are,¡± I said, while pulling it out from under a pile of ungraded worksheets, knocking over a half-empty glass of water in the process.


    Water splashed all over the stack of graded papers I spent most of the night working on.


    ¡°Great, as if my students don¡¯t think of me as a mess already,¡± I complained as I aggressively turned off the world¡¯s stupidest alarm.


    I looked at the screen, mostly covered in worthless notifications from unused apps I was too lazy to uninstall, and a few emails to breeze through later. As I scanned the screen, I noticed the blinking battery icon.


    ¡°Five percent,¡± I mumble, ¡±Sweet.¡± I walked back to the bedroom to put it on charge and make another realization. I left the charger in the library¡­. again.


    ¡°Sweeeeeet.¡± I sighed.


    After laying out moist sheets of paper all across the apartment in the futile hope they will dry by the time I leave, I made my way to the bathroom. Turning on the shower and adjusting the water to a mostly cool temperature. I''ve been a fan of cool showers lately, not cold but cool, saves a couple bucks on the electric bill and helps me wake up in the morning. I step into the shower, Whoosh.


    My foot slipped from under me. The only thought in my head was


    ¡°hmm not good.¡±


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    Flailing in the air, I stretched out my limbs, attempting to grab something¡ªanything¡ªto prevent my inevitable painful landing. When I figured all hope was lost, I prepared myself for what would most certainly be a gruesome reenactment of Humpty Dumpty. My skull being the star and center stage being the hard tile floor; I felt a soft fabric grace the palm of my hand and immediately clenched my fist.


    I managed to snag the ends of a towel on the rack next to the bathtub, stopping my fall inches away from the floor. I still banged my shin on the side of the tub, but I was mostly unharmed.


    ¡°Jesus.¡± I breathed out in relief while lying on the cold tile, naked as a jaybird.


    I closed my eyes, waiting out the adrenaline flowing through my veins. As I calmed down, I looked over to my left. The bar of soap that rocketed out of the tub and damn near spelled out my doom sitting next to me.


    ¡°Almost done in by soap, saved by a towel at the last second, a real epic tale.¡±


    I straightened myself out and stepped into the tub, successfully this time, and began the process of cleaning myself. This ¡°process¡± is more standing in the water while thinking than any actual cleaning. I stood there contemplating life and solving the mysteries of the universe as we all do while in the shower. My mind wandered to how my life ended up this way; staying up till three in the morning grading papers instead of hanging out with friends or playing games. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I can¡¯t say I hate my job. There are plenty of worse ways to make a living than teaching. It''s the other part of the gig I didn¡¯t much care for. When I¡¯m not grading papers or preparing lectures, I¡¯m working on my thesis, its deadline rapidly approaching. I shook my head, a desperate bid to physically remove the thoughts in my head. I then picked up the potential murder weapon and got to the cleaning portion of my shower.


    20 minutes later, I stepped out of the shower, stopping before putting my foot down to make sure there weren''t any more traps lying in wait. One brush with death was enough. I put some acceptably clean clothes on and went to the kitchen. After an unfruitful trip to the empty fridge, I grabbed a lone piece of bread, threw it in the toaster, packed up the still damp worksheets into my laptop bag, and walked out the front door. Leaving the toast.


    I had that little epiphany at the bottom of the stairs of the apartment complex. ¡°Should I go back?¡± I thought to myself,


    ¡°Nah too much hassle.¡±


    I walked to the university every morning; I had a car but it was only a 15-minute walk and I was technically still a student, a grad student. Even though I taught some classes, I still needed to pay for a parking pass. And they kept jacking up the price of the pass and I¡¯m cheap so walking it is. It only mildly sucked during the winter months. But with it being the beginning of March, the sucky morning walks were mostly over.


    During the chilly trek, I found myself pondering the incident that took place in the bathroom. It¡¯s weird how the towel rack even caught me; I¡¯m not the smallest guy coming in at 6¡¯ 1¡¯¡¯, 235 pounds. That thing was only being held up by like two screws in drywall. It should have come down with me, let alone hold my weight while I lowered myself down. Before I thought more about it, my phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. ¡°Allie¡±, an awesome girl I met earlier in the year, popped up on the screen. She worked at the school, in the admissions office. We have gone on one date after I finally mustered up the courage last week and asked her out. It was fun. A smile blossomed on my face and I answered, ¡°Hey Allie can¡¯t talk much, phone is on the verge of death.¡±


    ¡°Good morning to you too. Just wanted to see how you were, make sure you didn¡¯t oversleep, sounded like you were gonna have a late night.¡±


    My chest swelled hearing her words. Man, I forgot how nice it was to have someone who seemed to care about you. The last relationship was a while ago, back when I was still an undergrad.


    ¡°I¡¯m good thanks for asking, hey are we still on for,¡± Screech! The sounds of tires trying their hardest to stop rang in my ears, pulling my attention from the call. I looked up and then nothing.

 2. Dark Room

    My eyes open to a completely white surrounding. That''s it just white, well probably more off white, like eggshell. Eggshell as far as the eye could see. Turning left to right, backwards and forwards, looking for anything in the emptiness was a pointless endeavor. It was also silent. A silence I never really knew existed. No white noise whatsoever, no wind, no movement. Nothing.


    Finally glanced down at myself and noticed I was naked. I surveyed where my feet were and saw the same expanse of pale eggshell nothingness. It felt like I was standing on solid ground, but my eyes saw nothing that could confirm this. My brain couldn¡¯t handle what was going on and neither could my body, for that matter, marked by the pit that grew in my stomach. I closed my eyes, crouched down, told myself this must be a dream and that I will wake up to the dulcet tones of that stupid-dumb-crappy alarm. But they never came.


    I opened my eyes to the same scene except this time there was something different. In front of me, about 15 feet or so, sat a school desk, much like the ones in my classroom. The kind that were a desk and chair combo with a dark brown wooden surface and bright teal seat with some metal connecting the two. Some papers and a pencil were on top of the desk. Intrigued by this recent development and without anything else to do, I carefully walked up to it. The papers were blank except at the top of the page where it just said Character Sheet in some fancy lettering and below it Name: The freshly sharpened pencil had that classic yellow design with a pink eraser at the end.


    ¡°Character sheet,¡± I said in bewilderment.


    ¡°Like in DnD?¡±


    I always had an interest in tabletop games and tried them out once or twice but never stuck with them. But even with my meager knowledge, I knew they were supposed to have a lot more info than just Name: but you know it¡¯s not the strangest part of this.


    After a final review of my surroundings and finding no other changes to the barren landscape, I sat in the chair. Chills ran up my spine. If you have never sat in a cold plastic seat while wearing nothing but what you were born with, don¡¯t.


    After a small jump, I sat my bare ass back down and picked up the pencil. Figured with nothing else to do I might as well write my name on the character sheet. ¡°Liam Foster,¡± I said while writing. As soon as I finished with the ¡°r¡± the desk shot across the cream-colored nothingness. I have never moved that fast in my life; the wind pressure alone felt like it would rip my face off. I barely screamed.


    I can only describe the event as pod racing in a school desk. After what was surely a full hour (33 seconds), the desk came to an abrupt stop. Which didn¡¯t send me flying out of the desk as inertia would dictate.


    Following the scariest situation I have ever been in whilst naked, I opened my eyes to yet another anomaly in this empty space. A tall, slender man with olive skin in a jet black tuxedo with a brilliant red rose on the front of the jacket, a stark contrast to the blank pale world around us. His almost glowing green eyes looked just a bit too big for his face, and he had absolutely no hair anywhere. No hair on his head, face, not even eyebrows or eyelashes. An unnerving sight, especially when the man was staring at me from about five feet away. He held an office clipboard with only a few pages on it, taking momentary glances at it every so often. Finally breaking the eerie silence, he states.


    ¡°I never understood why they do not spawn you closer. It is such a pain to find your kind here in the Dark Room. Are you him?¡±


    His words made me flinch. His voice was deep but proper and just a little too loud for someone five feet away. My mind was reeling at this point. What did he mean by ¡°spawn here¡± or ¡°my kind?¡± What Dark Room? It¡¯s all white here. All I could manage as an answer was a flat


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Are you Liam Foster, or did you just write a random name?¡±


    ¡°Umm yes.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are Liam Foster or yes, you wrote a random name?¡±


    Completely confused now, I only stammered, ¡°I am him, or erm, I mean I am Liam Foster.¡±


    ¡°A bit lackluster.¡± He commented.


    ¡°Sorry?¡±


    ¡°Does not matter. Now on to ¡ª¡± was all he could get before I bursted out.


    ¡°Where am I? Who are you? What do you mean, Dark Room? It''s all white here.¡± He held his hand up before I could say any more and looked down at the clipboard.


    ¡°Forgive me, Dark Room might not be the correct translation. I have a tenuous grasp on,¡± he paused and looked at the clipboard again.


    ¡°English.¡± He finished.


    Ignoring the fact that he made such a claim while using a word like tenuous, I continued with my barrage of questions.


    ¡°What happened to me? Why am I naked? Why is the desk here? What language do you speak then?¡±


    He opened his mouth and what came out was the strangest collection of ethereal sounds. Akin to what I imagine whales in space with a severe lack of fiber in their diet would sound like. Once finished, he looked at me again and, in a somewhat annoyed tone, spoke in English.


    ¡°That was my language. This is the Dark Room. My name is Terrence, and I am the God of Rebirth in charge of your reincarnation. You died. Your soul does not wear clothes. The desk is something familiar to you to help you cope with everything around you. It also transported you to me as desks do in your world. I believe that answers all of your questions now we must move on to,¡± Wherein I interrupt him again.


    ¡°What do you mean I died? What reincarnation? Also desks don¡¯t move on their own, much less transport people. You know what, whatever. That¡¯s the least of my concerns at the moment.¡±


    "If you would let me finish," Terrence said dismissively, "I might answer some of these questions and help you understand the situation you are in."


    ¡°Doubtful.¡± I retorted but I decided to hear what the strange tux-clad, constipated-space-whale-speaking god had to say. Clearing his throat, Terrence continued.


    ¡°As I said before, you died and are now being given the opportunity to be reborn.¡± He said in the most matter-of-fact way imaginable.


    ¡°Oh, is that all Terrence?¡± I scoffed.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said in a surprised tone. ¡°It is rather refreshing to have someone understand it this quickly.¡± Clearly not getting the sarcasm.


    ¡°You are a bit of a special case, considering your heritage.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± I asked, genuinely curious what he meant by that. To my knowledge, I have a very normal heritage. I mean besides Gramps that is.


    "Earth has one of the lowest danger levels in the known planes of existence and, as such, we do not see Earthlings at large as deserving rebirth," Terrence continued.


    ¡°Terrence, there is a bunch to unpack in what you just said.¡± I said, completely stunned.


    ¡°I do not believe so. Do you have to fight off giant creatures to survive? Is gathering food on a daily basis a problem for you? Do you have to worry about ghosts stealing your children in the night? No, so I would say your plane is safe and easy to live in. Those who die in safe worlds tend to go on to the next part after death.¡±


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    ¡°Not really the part that needed explanation, more the whole planes of existence thing. Are you implying there is more than one? Also, what¡¯s the next part after death?¡±


    ¡°Not my department. Do not ask,¡± He said with a look of pure apathy. After pausing for a few moments of contemplation. ¡°Is Earth really that far behind?¡± Terrence questioned softly, mostly to himself, then continued his explanation.


    ¡°Yes, in your words, there are a bunch of them. Now, back to the matter at hand, your rebirth.¡±


    Realizing I probably wouldn¡¯t find out more on the subject, I simply asked,


    ¡°So where on Earth do I reincarnate? Will it be in the US or another country? Will it be the present, my present I guess, is there time travel involved? Am I going back as a baby? Will my memories be intact? Can babies hold that many memories?¡±


    As my rambling went on, Terrence only tilted his head, raised his hand, signaling me to stop and said,


    ¡°There seems to be a misunderstanding; you died. It may feel like you¡¯re alive in this place, but I can assure you. You are dead and are never going to see Earth again.¡±


    The pit in my stomach that never really left grew exponentially. What about my loved ones, my family, friends, career, Allie? All of that just gone. When I voiced these concerns to Terrence, he just said, ¡°You will never hear from or see these people again. It is probably for the best that you forget about that life and focus on the new and exciting life you will lead in a whole new world. There are others that I could be processing, and they are far more deserving of this chance. So please focus.¡±


    He kept talking, but upon hearing about my death, I shut him out. Everyone I know and love is gone. Tears began welling up in my eyes.


    Terrence paused his spiel after looking down at me. I must have been the textbook definition of pathetic, sitting in a school desk naked and sobbing, like some wild high school prank gone too far.


    ¡°Excuse me Mr. Foster, but¡ª¡± his clipboard began to ring, cutting him off. It sounded like the theme song of a 90s Saturday morning cartoon. This bizarre phenomenon brought me back to my senses. I glanced over, wiping the water from my eyes, while he put the clipboard up to his ear.


    ¡°Hello Mr. [*space whale moans*]. Yes, I know. Yes. Fine. Yes, I know what compassion is. Must I? Understood. Goodbye.¡±


    He took in a quick breath of air and sighed.


    ¡°It seems I may have been a bit,¡± he looked off searching for the word, ¡°careless in speaking about your death. Please allow me to apologize and explain the Rebirth Process from the start.¡±


    Between the office clipboard ringing and the tuxedo wearing god being reprimanded, the ridiculousness of the situation shocked me out of the sobbing. In this moment of clarity, I decided it would be for the best to push those feelings down and concentrate on what Terrence had to say.


    ¡°Sorry Terrence. Please continue.¡± I sniffed.


    ¡°Thank you. As I was saying, beings are never reborn into the world they originated in because they do, in fact, preserve their memories and that would give you too much of an advantage.¡±


    ¡°Too much of an advantage?¡± Terrence answered my question with a sharp glare and I shut up.


    ¡°Reincarnation is an opportunity, not a reward. You are on your way to a world with a much higher threat level. One where survival itself is a constant struggle. Now you are a curious case because of your heritage, as I said before. Most that are reborn come from worlds fraught with danger and are somewhat prepared for such a task as surviving a new environment. An environment trying its damnedest to kill you,¡± Terrence said. Raising my hand, he looked at me and asked,


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Why is my case curious? Why was I even chosen for that matter?¡±


    ¡°You see, Mr. Foster, your life is most interesting to the ones above.¡±


    Pointing up at the eggshell sky. Looking at the magic clipboard, he continued.


    ¡°You were apparently supposed to die 246 times over the last 10 years before that runaway mail truck did the job. Now it is not uncommon for some to skirt death once or twice. Fate can be quite the fickle mistress, but 246 is unheard of.¡±


    Staring blankly, I recalled the near death shower incident.


    ¡°Wait, then what happened in the shower this morning,¡±


    ¡°Yes, you should have embarrassingly died slipping in the shower this morning. But for some odd reason, you did not and you remained unhurt. My superiors noticed this trend in avoiding death and decided it was interesting enough to warrant a rebirth.¡±


    ¡°Why would they care? And did you really have to say embarrassingly?¡±


    ¡°I am not at liberty to answer such a question. My work is to do their will and their will is to see you reborn.¡± He said with the same seriousness as he started this conversation.


    ¡°Now, let us continue with your rebirth. First, you have some decisions to make.¡±


    ¡°What kind of decisions?¡±


    ¡°The kind that determine who and what you are in your new life.¡±


    Glad to have some choice of my own, I perked up a bit. ¡°Okay, lay¡¯em on me.¡±


    ¡°First, would you like to change your name?¡± Terrence said as he unbuttoned his jacket.


    I pondered on it for a second but decided my name was fine. ¡°No, I''m good.¡±


    ¡°Really, sticking with Liam Foster?¡±


    ¡°Dude, what is your problem with my name? I quite like my name. I was named after my grandfather and was a great guy. He did a ton of cool crap.¡±


    Terrence fiddled with the notes on the clipboard, then read something to himself.


    ¡°Yes, quite impressive. Liam Hubert Chambers. Fought in two wars, saving countless lives, innocents and comrades alike. Wrote three award-winning novels. Raised two families without either ever finding out. He even discovered two new species of fish out in the middle of the Pacific. Impressive indeed.¡±


    ¡°Exactly that''s why, wait Chambers? No, he was Liam H. Foster. Check your weird clipboard thing again. And what do you mean by two families?¡±


    ¡°It says here that you are the grandchild of him and one Betty Foster. But his real surname was Chambers. He had this other family in California.¡±


    The words hit me like a brick to the face. Surely they weren¡¯t true. My grandfather was a stand-up guy. I spent most summers with him at his small cabin by that beautiful lake. I guess he traveled a lot and he would be out of our lives for a good six months out of the year. Not much of a mystery where he was now.


    ¡°Gramps cheated on nana.¡± I said in a small, shocked voice. I lowered my head and started at the desk and paper, more confused than ever.


    Terrence put his hand in the breast pocket of the tux and pulled out a basic ballpoint pen. You would figure with his whole glamorous getup he would have some gold encrusted writing utensil, nope, just a dull office pen. While he wrote on the clipboard, some new text showed up on my paper on the desk. The paper now listed RACE: underneath where I wrote my name.


    ¡°Now, what race would you like?¡±


    Shaking my head and coming back to reality, if you can even call it that anymore. Putting the new info about Gramps in the back of my mind with everything else, I asked,


    ¡°What races? I assume you mean like elves and gnomes and stuff like that? Can you list some choices? Any good ideas for this supposedly dangerous world I¡¯m being shipped off to?.¡±


    Terrence simply sighed and said,


    ¡°I can list them, but that would take ages. Our time in the Dark Room is not infinite. If you would like some advice, I would not change your race. You will have a plethora of challenges and trials in the coming days and I believe learning how to walk with stubby little gnome feet should not number them.¡±


    ¡°Not a fan of gnomes?¡±


    ¡°Not particularly. Cheap little bastards.¡±


    ¡°Okaaay¡­ human sounds good to me.¡± I said, trying to pass over that overtly racist comment. I was never one to play as other races in games that gave you the choice. The idea of me being in the game worlds enticed me more, not trying to be someone else. At least not in the first playthrough. Pretty ironic, considering that¡¯s exactly what was happening.


    Terrence nodded while I wrote Human down on the character sheet.


    ¡°Next is stat distribu¡ªhmm, strange.¡± He stopped mid sentence and read his clipboard again. His already-big eyes widened. He hurried over to the desk, picked up the sheet, and put it on his clipboard.


    ¡°Ready for your new life?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Wait. All I chose was my name and race. What about my stats, or my class?¡±


    ¡°It looks like someone else made those decisions for you. As a penalty. If you had come from a more respectable world, you would have more choices. Now chop chop, times a wastin.¡± He put the clipboard under an arm and clapped his hands.


    ¡°Some things you need to know:


    One. To check your character sheet; just think about it and it will appear. Read everything on it and take time to understand your powers. Make sure you ask her questions.


    Two. The three bars in your field of vision are your health, stamina, and mana respectively. Don¡¯t let your health bar empty but you probably know this already. Earth had a strange grasp on the mechanics of other planes.¡±


    ¡°What three bars?¡± As soon as the words left my mouth, I focused on the top left of my vision and sure enough there were three bars, red for health, green for stamina, and blue for mana.


    ¡°Three. Take some risks, make some friends and try to make something of yourself this time around. You''ll do great. Enjoy the new life. Bye.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡ª¡±

 3. New World, New Rules

    My eyes opened in a flash, but closed just as quickly, sunlight burning my retinas only slightly. I rolled on to my side and opened them once more to see I was lying on the ground. Feeling the soft vibrant grass under my hands, I sat up. Looking around, I found I was in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees and other greenery. I Imagined it must have been quite the picturesque scene, one ripped straight out of a fairytale.


    While pinching myself a few times, a futile endeavor to make absolutely certain this wasn¡¯t a dream, I noticed I was quite fit. I was getting out of shape back on earth with the mounting stress in my life. But all of that flab I accumulated was nowhere to be found. The rebirth process must have shed 50 pounds of fat and replaced it with an extra five pounds of muscle. This is probably the best shape I have ever been in.


    I also found I was wearing new clothes. A plain white slightly baggy shirt and a notably comfy pair of black cotton pants under a suit of leather armor. I stood up and stretched. The armor was pretty easy to move which was a bit of a surprise. I always thought it looked stiff and hot in games but it wasn¡¯t too bad, breathed well to boot. Which was a blessing considering the heat. Must be the middle of summer here. A far cry from the chilly spring morning before I¡ª


    ¡°Died.¡±


    I said, with no emotion, staring off into the woods. Pushing away the dark thoughts that crept up, I closed my eyes again listening to the sounds of the surrounding forest. Bugs buzzing around, a squirrel moving through the undergrowth and the sound of rushing water in the distance. I was thankful for all the white noise. I preferred it much more than the roaring silence of the Dark Room, as Terrence had called it.


    ¡°Stupid name.¡±


    Just moments ago I was in that blank white world speaking with Terrence. Well, I guess moments ago, who knows how long I was really out.


    Why was Terrence so rushed there at the end? He even broke character, losing the proper gentleman act, using contractions and even slang. Then I thought about his last words of advice: Check your Character Sheet.


    ¡°Just think about it, huh.¡± I said, recalling his words.


    I gave it a try; I thought Character Sheet. And sure enough some parchment appeared, floating in front of me. I definitely didn¡¯t jump back. I read the floating paper.


    Name: Liam Foster


    Level: 1


    Race: Human


    Monster Gene: Mimic


    Stats:


    Health Points: 100


    Stamina: 250


    Mana: 100


    Strength: 15


    Dexterity: 15


    Agility: 15


    Constitution: 15


    Intelligence: 15


    Wisdom: 15


    Charisma: 16


    Abilities:


    Active:


    Mimicry (Object) (lvl 1): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time. [Recorded Entries]


    Mimicry (Creature) (lvl 1): Mimic one creature of your choice. This may include stats, abilities, spells and other aspects. May be canceled at any time. [Recorded Entries]


    Passive:


    Learned Behavior: You may gain a portion of the stats and/ or abilities from a mimicked monster. Benefits given depend on the creature mimed and only given if you become adequately proficient in that form. With higher proficiency, benefits may increase.


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    Spells:


    None


    Looking over the sheet, questions started bubbling out of my mouth.


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between abilities and skills? Are these good stats? What is a Monster Gene? Why is mine a mimic?¡±


    Images of creepy treasure chests that opened to reveal horrifying rows of teeth and a thin flicking tongue, covered in viscous saliva. The creatures that would grab your unsuspecting character and have a quick munch session. Or at least that''s how most fantasy games I¡¯ve played depicted the nasty little guys. An additional worry grew in my mind, which I voiced.


    ¡°God please tell me I don''t look like that. Or crave human flesh for that matter.¡±


    I felt my face, searching for any weird out-of-place features. I then opened my mouth and felt around. My tongue seemed normal enough but as I felt my teeth I noticed something weird. My teeth were rather sharp, especially my canines. I was pretty sure just poking them would lead to a bloody mess.


    Now worried what would happen if I bit my tongue, I ran it along them. Nothing, no pain at all, I even bit down on my tongue and cheeks a few times. After confirming that my new teeth didn¡¯t pose any immediate danger, I returned my attention to the sheet that still floated in front of me.


    Terrence told me to learn about my abilities in this world but that was a struggle itself. How do I learn? Or rather, who do I even ask, I''m in the middle of the woods. I mean look at these stats. They look like the common TTRPG stats but agility is new and there aren¡¯t any modifiers. They are also really even which isn¡¯t very tabletop-esque like. So does that mean they act differently? Is it like JRPG rules where the stats are little more than arbitrary? And with a sigh I voiced my thoughts.


    ¡°What do these stats even mean?¡± As the question was leaving my lips, a chime ringed in my head, followed by a voice.


    ¡°Which stat is giving you trouble?¡±


    Alarmed by the sudden speech, I wildly searched the vicinity looking for its source. While I searched, the robotic yet feminine voice gave me a rundown on the stat spread.


    ¡°It¡¯s your basic RPG rules. Strength makes you strong, Dexterity makes you good with your hands, Agility makes you fast, and Constitution makes you tough. Intelligence gives you the smarticle particles while Wisdom helps you make decisions with them. And finally Charisma makes people like you. And you¡¯re not gonna find me in the woods. Or anywhere for that matter.¡±


    Stunned by the lackadaisical explanation, I stopped my search and asked,


    ¡°Then how are you talking to me? Who are you?¡±


    ¡°You could say I¡¯m your tutor. I will try to aid you in figuring out the mess you landed yourself in.¡±


    Why should I even be surprised anymore? This must be the her that Terrence referred to when he gave me his final nuggets of wisdom. At least this game has a tutorial. Most web novels I¡¯ve read like this don¡¯t give the main protagonist anything.


    ¡°So can I ask you anything about this world? Like, could you point me to the closest town or something?¡± I asked in the hopes I wouldn¡¯t be stuck in the woods with zero direction.


    ¡°Nope, not at all.¡± She said flatly.


    ¡°Care to elaborate?¡±


    ¡°Not particularly.¡±


    Rubbing my temples with one hand, I asked,


    ¡°Then can you at least explain what a Monster Gene is or where I got it?¡±


    ¡°Your monster gene gives you power in this world, without it you¡¯d be shit out of luck. As a matter of fact, everyone in this world has one. Now enough with the 20 questions, how about you just use the damn powers already.¡± Tutor said in an increasingly frustrated tone.


    I wracked my brain for a decent comeback and after coming up with nothing; I decided I probably should just do what she says. I quickly read through the ability descriptions once more, trying to make sense of them. The first version of Mimicry was easy to grasp. Mimics in some games were not just confined to treasure chests but several objects they could use to trap players. It was the second part that seemed weird, to my knowledge mimics don¡¯t copy creatures.


    ¡°Well, no point in thinking too much about it.¡± I scanned the surroundings and found the first target of my new powers: a fallen tree. While walking up to the log I realized I was missing a crucial detail.


    ¡°Hey Tutor, how do I use my powers?¡±


    ¡°God, you ask so many questions. These powers are like a bodily function. Much like how you know how to urinate, you know how to mimic.¡±


    ¡°Kinda nasty but I think I get what you mean.¡± I lied, that advice wasn¡¯t at all helpful. I kneeled down and touched the log and then closed my eyes, trying to look profound or something.


    ¡°You do that when you''re peeing too?¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Something stirred in me when I touched the log. I unconsciously recorded every detail of the piece of wood, how it felt, how strong it was, its color. Every aspect of the log was lodged firmly in the forefront of my mind and once the feeling passed, I opened my eyes. I stood shocked as I examined myself. My skin had darkened to the exact shade of the log and it felt just as rough as its bark. Though the whole of my arm wasn¡¯t completely wooden. There were gaps in the bark where my joints were and my legs were much the same. I felt my face wondering if everything about me changed to be wood like. But the round face of a human wasn¡¯t there, it was larger and shaped like a tube, or I guess like a log.


    Panic rose in my chest and just as it was about to boil over another instinct kicked in. An instinct that told me to calm down and lie down. As I followed that inclination I noticed as my body moved, there was almost no sound. I expected to hear loud creaking and the sound of wood breaking but there was nothing. Once I was on the ground, the instinct took over again, telling me to move my limbs in ways I didn¡¯t think possible. One arm behind my back curled up, the other bent in front, my legs closed together completely.


    The placement of my limbs hid all the parts of my body that weren¡¯t covered in the bark. And then finally my head and neck twisted into my chest. With my transformation complete, I just sat there. Part of me wished someone could take a picture of what I looked like right now. But somehow I knew I matched the log perfectly. As I sat on the forest floor, my mind began to clear. All the thoughts, fears, regrets that were at the back of my mind slipped away. I was a fallen tree in the forest.


    [Mimic Entry ¡°LOG¡± Recorded]

 4. New World, New Problems

    The setting sun dappled the forest floor in orange spots as the light trickled through the branches and leaves. I was following the sounds of water I heard earlier. As I trekked on, I looked at the scenery again. It was truly beautiful, but not totally unfamiliar. Memories of the many camping trips in venues much like this one poured into my head.


    My apparently adulterous grandfather had taken me out camping quite a lot while I was growing up. And I mean real camping, like we didn¡¯t even bring tents. Just a few tools, blankets and some hammocks. He wouldn¡¯t even let me bring some damn trail mix. He said anything other than that was for ¡°sissies and Fosters weren¡¯t no damn sissies.¡± Funny considering he wasn¡¯t even a Foster to begin with.


    After the flash of annoyance that accompanied the thought died down, gratitude replaced it because without that knowledge he gave me, I¡¯d probably be screwed in my current position. I knew my priority was to make sure I had fresh water, hence my search for the river.


    While walking, my thoughts went back to my time as a log. I¡¯m not entirely sure how long I sat there, hell all I really remember was what broke me out of the trance.


    While lying in log form, I felt something jump up on me, a small something. It climbed on top of me and walked around. A rush of happiness overcame me as I now had evidence my mimicry was so spot on that animals couldn¡¯t tell the difference between me and a real log.


    But that elation didn¡¯t last long. Suddenly, another new instinct took hold in my mind, a violent one. A hunger rose from deep inside. My mouth started salivating. That instinct wanted, no, demanded that I feast on whatever fell for the trap. In a flash of movement, I unfurled my body from its peaceful position and grabbed the creature. Just as I moved it closer to my mouth, I got a good look at it.


    A squirrel. A cute fluffy little squirrel. Tiny black eyes shining with terror, squirming in my hands as I brought it ever closer to its demise. But seeing those eyes was enough for me to regain control. To break the sinister urge welling up inside. I dropped the little guy and it sped off into the trees. The instinct told me to give chase, but I stood there disgusted with myself. Disgusted by the copious amounts of saliva drooling out of my mouth.


    ¡°What¡¯s inside me?¡± I questioned no one in particular. But a familiar voice responded.


    ¡°That would be the monster gene.¡±


    ¡°Heh, thanks Tutor, for that oh-so-helpful answer.¡± I said, before chuckling.


    ¡°Anytime.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t much longer after that incident that I found what I was looking for. A river flowed through the forest, about 30 feet wide, with unbelievably clear water. Without a second thought, I ran up to the edge and cupped some water into my hands and drank in the refreshing liquid. Fresh water acquired.


    I threw off my clothes and flew into the water, desperate to clean off the sweat covering my body thanks to the humid heat of the forest. After my cleaning, I sat by the river for a while just taking in the scene, trying to ignore the earlier episode that almost ruined a poor squirrel¡¯s existence.


    But in a cruel twist of fate, my stomach growled, reminding me I hadn¡¯t actually eaten anything today. In this world or the last for that matter.


    ¡°Just when I had gotten the look of the poor terrified squirrel out of my head too. I wonder how time has affected me here. Am I the same age here as I was back home?¡± I asked. Tutor¡¯s voice rang in my head, taking me by surprise, again.


    ¡°Nope, you''re a spring chicken here, 18 years old.¡±


    ¡°Are you just gonna talk every time I ask a question?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it''s what I¡¯m directed to do. I don¡¯t have much say in the matter. If you could, oh I don¡¯t know, stop talking to yourself like you live in the finest white padded room in the loony bin. I wouldn¡¯t have to. Then both of us could get some peace and quiet.¡±


    ¡°Is there a mute button?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said in annoyance.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The sun had set and darkness fell on the forest. It is not wise to forage in the dark, so I settled on finding some sort of sleeping arrangement for tonight. It was too late to build a shelter of any kind and though I could probably just mimic another log and sleep; I didn¡¯t want to go through another event like earlier until I could take more time to analyze my new power.


    I ripped some tough vines off a few different trees and bushes with relative ease thanks to my newfound strength. Then I climbed up the largest tree near the water, another task made rudimentary with my enhanced body. I straddled a sturdy-looking branch about halfway up the tree, wrapped the vines around the trunk and my torso tight enough to make sure I wouldn¡¯t fall if I fidgeted while asleep and closed my eyes.


    The exhaustion of today¡¯s events washed over me as I attempted to rest, but thoughts about, well, everything assaulted my mind. The rude voice that lives in my head, the weird but peaceful log form, and even the extremely pedantic God of Rebirth that threw me into this world.


    But something in particular was bothering me. Terrence warned me that this was a dangerous world, rife with peril. Which is hard to believe considering I spent the whole day in an idyllic fantasy forest. And aside from the bugs, I only ran into one other creature, a now traumatized squirrel, which struck me as strange. After pondering on the thought for a minute or two, I concluded it was probably best to stop thinking about it or risk jinxing myself.


    Even with built up fatigue, the unfamiliar posture was down right awful and sleep eluded me for a while but I eventually fell into a light, uncomfortable sleep.


    Wind roared across the treetops, jolting me awake and disoriented. There wasn¡¯t a cloud in the sky yesterday and no other signs a storm was coming, yet here it was. It felt like I was sitting in the middle of a hurricane that pissed off a tornado while being cheered on by a tropical depression. Great time to be in a tree.


    I held on to the trunk with as much might as I could muster, the fierce tempest drowning out the curses flying out of my mouth. The booming of the ground crumbling and shifting as smaller trees ripped out of the ground echoed.


    CRACK! A sound came from higher up my tree. Even amid the wind buffeting my face, I braved opening my eyes to see what happened above. My heart sank. The top of the tree broke. It was leaning to the side, threatening to fall down directly above my branch-bed. I didn¡¯t know what to do. The vines I used as a security measure now felt like shackles. But untying myself seemed just as much a death wish with all the storming. Maybe my new body could handle it. I braced myself for impact.


    Just as the final pieces keeping the top half of the tree aloft were breaking, one huge wind blast smacked me in the face, slamming my head into the trunk. A hit like that should have knocked me unconscious, but I stayed awake. There was a flashing light in the top left part of my vision. The red bar, my health bar, was less than a quarter full and flashing rapidly. Fear and panic began to overtake me. That last blast of wind had nearly killed me. Before I fully broke down, there was an abrupt shift in the air pressure and the winds slowed.


    The treetops continued their rustling, but there was something off about it. The wind now had a rhythmic quality to how it moved and sounded. Almost like the flapping of wings; I turned my gaze skyward only to be met by the unbelievable. A hawk the size of a 747 beating its silver wings blocked the sky. The feathers on its body shared the silver color but were streaked in bright blue. Its truck-sized beak crackled with blue arcs of electricity. Every hair on my body stood as the static in the air intensified.


    Its massive head looked around, scanning the area, until our eyes met. I froze. Sure as the sky is blue, I knew that was where I was going to die, in the beak of a colossal lightning bird. As its midnight blue talons flexed, blue arcs filled the surrounding area, dancing across the sky and trees. I would have marveled at the sight, you know, if I wasn¡¯t about to be made a meager snack for the bird.


    Once its large body shifted in the air toward my direction, those instincts from yesterday surfaced again, telling me to mimic something, anything. Clinging on to the feeling, my body changed and transformed back into the only thing it knew how to: a log.


    The transformation was much quicker this time and in a matter of seconds, I was in log-mode. My limbs stiffened and contorted like they had previously. I urgently tried to play the part of a log tied to a tree.


    The bird continued to beat its wings; the wind coming from them pounding through the air. After what felt like an eternity, the static in the air dissipated. Even as a log, I still had all of my senses, but I dared not open an eyelid, in fear that the lightning hawk would notice the slightest change in movement. The hawk let out an ear-piercing screech that shook the entirety of the forest and the very core of my being. I was sure that was its call to attack, but as I sat there waiting for my demise, the sounds of beating wings softened. As if they were moving farther and farther away. After mustering up the courage to open my eyes again, only to be met with a scene of pure destruction.


    Upturned trees and other flora scattered and thrown around the forest floor. Holes dotted parts of the landscape where trees had once been. Some smaller trees had made their way to the side of the river and a few branches were in the water itself. Misplaced fish flopped on the bank of the river.


    All of this destruction at the hand, well more like wing, of one creature. One that I¡¯m pretty sure wasn¡¯t even trying to cause this. The very act of being for the beast meant catastrophe for every other living thing around it. The panic in my chest died down, replaced with a new emotion, Dread. Terrence lied. This world wasn¡¯t dangerous, it was impossible. If monsters like that bird were commonplace in this world; how could anyone survive?

 5. Bloody Lessons

    I¡¯m honestly not sure how long I stayed in the tree. It could have been hours or minutes for all I know. Hell, I¡¯m on the fence on whether it was a side effect of the mimicry or just plain fear that caused time to flee. Even with the bird gone, heaviness permeated the air as I sat stunned and hurting, the back of my head throbbing.


    Returning to my base form, I untied the vines keeping me attached to the tree. I sent a silent thanks to my grandfather for the arcane knowledge that is tying knots, probably wouldn¡¯t have had a chance just now without it. I climbed down the tree slowly and shakily. That new strength I was boasting seemed miles away now. My legs gave out just a few feet away from the ground and I fell. With reflexes and agility I didn¡¯t know I had, I twisted in the air and landed on the ground feet first. And then promptly tumbled to the ground as a wave of exhaustion overtook me.


    Lying on the ground, I looked at my stamina bar. It was empty, well close enough at least. I sighed. It''s strange being able to gauge your physical well-being by only looking at a few bars. Convenient, but strange all the same.


    As I laid on the ground too tired to move, all I did was watch the green bar rise at a snail''s pace. I wondered if there was anything I could do to increase the rate but decided to just chill and let it do its thing. I didn¡¯t want to risk doing anything with my health bar so low. One oddity about the situation was just how quiet it was. No pitter patter from small animals, no bugs chirping, no leaves rustling. Like the forest was still holding its breath, worried the beast would return.


    After a quick snooze, I looked and saw that my stamina rose to half. ¡°Sleep recovers stamina.¡± I said as if I just discovered fire. I shook my head while getting up. ¡°Of course it does, idiot.¡±


    Still woozy, I looked around and found the top of the tree I slept in last night, about 50 feet away. Must have been carried away by that last blast of wind. The top of the tree was a lot larger than I thought. It most certainly would have ended me. I shuddered at the thought and looked at my health bar.


    It had stopped flashing and rose back to about a quarter full. My head was still pounding though. I felt the back of my head and winced in pain, bringing my hand back around only to see it covered in blood. Nausea welled up in my stomach; I saw plenty of blood in my life from the different escapades and hunting trips Gramps took me on but it was never this much, never my blood.


    Dismay climbed into my head but I pushed it away knowing I needed to focus on treating the gash that was surely on my head. Gingerly this time, I searched for the wound. Nothing. My mind whirled, there was enough O+ blood for three transfusions. But when I actually explored the wound, there was nothing. Some pain sure, but no cuts or lacerations at all.


    ¡°How?¡± I stammered in disbelief.


    ¡°Yeah, I probably need to explain that one. It''s another power you get from the mimic gene, well kind of, more like a side effect.¡±


    I jumped at her voice in my head. Just as I was about to say something about Tutor¡¯s outburst, I stopped myself. This was the first time she was willingly divulging some useful information. And I¡¯d be damned before halting the momentous event.


    ¡°Whenever you use object mimicry, your body returns itself to the condition it was in while mimicking. This is to ensure the mimicry is as close to perfect as possible every time. So in this case you were totally fine when you mimicked the log, no cuts or bruises. Because of this, when you were up in the tree crapping your pants and went log mode after bashing your skull, the gene reverted your body to how it was before. It fixed the cut on your head.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Wow. That seems incredibly OP. So I can just take some hits, transform into a log and then boom no damage. Wait, if that''s true why didn¡¯t my health bar fill back up completely?¡± My vision blurred for a half as second as the words were leaving my mouth.


    ¡°And why do I still feel like passing out?¡±


    ¡°I know you hit your head but how about you listen to my whole spiel before the questions fly out your mouth, doofus. OUTER DAMAGE. Mimics care about outer appearances only, so it won¡¯t heal internal damage or blood loss. Or most status conditions for that matter. That blow to the noggin bled you out a good bit. Sad as it was to watch, your little panic attack most likely saved your life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still pretty useful all things considered. Thanks for letting me know Toots.¡±


    ¡°TOOTS? What the hell is that?¡± Tutor yelled, making my head pound even more.


    ¡°Well, you gave me such a lovely and creative nickname, I figured you deserved one too.¡±


    ¡°Fine, see if I give you any more free advice.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was your job.¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    While our spat continued, a small spark of blue light radiated behind a tree a few dozen feet away. Catching my attention, I stopped arguing with Tutor and walked over towards it, hopping over some holes and climbing over some fallen trees until I was close.


    I moved behind the tree and saw the source of the blue light, a huge silver feather with a streak of blue running along it in the shape of a lightning bolt. The feather must have been four feet long and a foot wide. It was slightly curved along it but no bends or breaks. The narrow edge and silver shading evoked the image of a blade. It was reminiscent of the large curved swords I saw in the many fantasy games I played.


    Electricity sparked erratically across the plumage. I stood there enchanted by its ethereal beauty. The arcs running across it slowed down until they ultimately faded leaving a blue hue over the feather.


    With curiosity and excitement taking over the reins, I walked over to examine it. As I touched it, my body shook internally and I released it immediately. The unpleasant sensation was sadly not unfamiliar. A run in with a live power cord and a puddle in my younger years made sure that I could never forget what electrocution felt like.


    ¡°Sunnava! Dang that stings.¡±


    ¡°Serves you right.¡± Tutor chimed in as usual.


    I rolled my eyes. I had half a mind to leave the blasted thing, but with my years of expertise in RPGs I knew the feather had to be a legendary drop, and a literal one in this case. Plus, it was dope. But damn it hurt.


    As my internal discourse continued, the blue shimmer on the feather did not. Seeing this, I cautiously poked the feather this time, but there wasn¡¯t a reaction so I grabbed it. The feather was deceptively light, weighing next to nothing in my hands. I wielded it in both hands like a greatsword and sliced through the air. ¡°Oh hell yeah.¡± I murmured to myself.


    Fantasy nerd larping then ensued. Swish, swish, stab and all that. In my childish merriment, I didn¡¯t notice how close to a tree I had gotten and sliced right into it, cutting it down. I was shocked at first but when I think about where it came from I should have expected it.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t a feather dropped by a magical storm bird cut through wood like a hot knife through butter?¡±


    While Tutor berated me for my nerdy antics, I chose to ignore the robotic taunting and giggling aimed at my expense. Instead, I focused on seeing what else the feather could do. Aside from its crazy sharpness, one other ability came to light. When I swung the blade (feather) on its flat side, a gust of wind would burst from the end. The gust wasn¡¯t that powerful, it only managed to move some dirt and leaves around. Nothing compared to the destruction its originator created. But, not gonna lie, it was fun as hell to play with. GROWL.


    Jumping at the sound of the growl, I scanned the area before one more resounding growl revealed its source, my belly. The growl was so fierce that even with the evidence I had a hard time believing it was me. It must be another consequence of my mimic gene. The mysterious source of my powers.


    With the excitement of the morning over, my body reminded me I hadn¡¯t eaten for a full day. One positive from almost being simultaneously electrocuted and torn apart by a giant lightning hawk was that the violent storm it kicked up blew a bunch of fish out of the river, saving me the trouble of having to catch any. Gramps taught me how to spear fish but it was always a pain; so I was thankful for the free meal.


    I fastened the loot to my back with some of the smaller vines lying around, trying my best to not damage it. Though I honestly doubt I could. I moved over to the riverbank to collect my bounty. As I grabbed the first fish, I wondered if it was safe to eat. It looked like a normal river trout but after the events of this morning I didn¡¯t want to trust anything in this screwed up world.


    ¡°Is this safe?¡± Asking the air expecting a response from Tutor and only receiving a ¡°Hmph,¡± in return. ¡°Great, I pissed off the tutorial.¡±


    As I lamented my position, the dark instinct from yesterday rose up, demanding me to consume morsel in my hands. I was too weak and hungry to control the violent urge and devoured the fish, finishing in only three bites. After gulping the last bite I stood in disbelief. I just ate a whole fish, not cleaning or cooking it. Bones and innards. And the worst part was, I wasn¡¯t even close to feeling full.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    It was the eighteenth fish that had finally subdued the ravenous hunger. Afterward, I crumbled to the ground. The combination of a full belly, exhaustion, and the stress of this morning all piled on thick. My body was demanding rest. I decided I may as well try sleeping in log mode. This choice was made mostly because the idea of climbing another tree so soon thoroughly terrified me and getting a shelter together seemed impossible with how heavy my body felt. Feeling my skin harden, my body changed into the familiar shape and my consciousness faded. I was out.


    Stiff limbs greeted me as I woke up. The sun was still in the sky, but well past its zenith, telling me it was sometime in the afternoon. I wasn¡¯t in log mode when I awoke. The dirt and rocks of the river shore made a terrible bed. But confirming that sleep stopped the mimicry was a step in the right direction on figuring out my new powers, even at the cost of a creaky back.


    Sitting up, I looked down at my stomach. Not a peep since this morning''s fish feast. Why eating that much raw untreated fish wasn¡¯t exploding my bowels confused me. That amount of offal and waste should have me screaming for a toilet. I pestered Tutor a few times for an answer, until she finally broke the silent treatment she was giving me.


    ¡°You are part mimic, and guess what they do. That¡¯s right, eat anything and everything that comes their way. Have you seen a mimic get a tummy ache?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never even seen a mimic.¡±


    ¡°Then why the hell did you pick it?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. Terrence didn¡¯t give me a choice, he didn¡¯t really give me any choices. Well, aside from my name and race.¡±


    ¡°Really, you chose Liam Foster.¡±


    Sensing that the conversation was going to lead nowhere I stopped talking and twisted my torso. Also, why is everyone picking on my name?


    There wasn¡¯t a single cloud in the bright beautiful sky. You would have never guessed a massive storm eagle had just plowed through, aside from the wanton natural destruction. I walked along the side of the riverbank basking in the warmth of the sun, the comfort almost convinced me to extend my nap. But a single gust of wind billowed across the river. I flinched as if my body had not forgotten this morning''s events, reminding me I was in a world of danger and casually sleeping on the side of the river might not be the smartest decision.


    I looked at my health bar. The rest and nourishment was apparently all I needed to recover because my health bar was up to about 60 percent. The power I gained astounded me.


    How could I recover from such a nasty blow to the head, one that would have certainly killed a normal person, with just some fish and a nap? Well, a lot of fish I guess. I thought about asking Tutor some more questions but I had a feeling I wouldn¡¯t get anything helpful. Standing up and wiping the dirt off my clothes, I knew it was time to make a plan. A plan to survive this world.


    Putting together a small camp was the first part of the plan, which was the simple part due to the knowledge my grandfather instilled in me. The blade feather was also quite the boon; its sharpness must have come from some strange magical property because in order to cut through small trees and plants I had to use some mp. I didn¡¯t find this out until I swung at a tree and the feather just bent along the trunk.


    This also led to the discovery that mp regened much faster than health or stamina. I didn¡¯t feel tired or drained from having no mp, another useful observation. The feather could even cut through rock at a much more substantial cost to my mp. I wish I had some inspection spell or ability because it probably had some other latent powers. Part of me wanted to experiment with the feather blade more, but shelter had to come first.


    The rest of the day was spent building a small hut, Eeyore style, with pieces of wood leaning against each other in an upside down V shape, tied together with vines. I built it in the woods near the river, in the middle of some fallen trees surrounding it. I laid branches around it and on top of it hoping that would conceal it among the wreckage. Darkness had just begun its stretch across the forest as I was finishing. I crawled into my tree hut, put my feather down to my side and I went to sleep.


    Dreams plagued with bittersweet memories from Earth were all that welcomed me that night. Parents I would never see again, younger siblings I couldn¡¯t tease, students I could no longer teach. An adulterous grandfather I wouldn¡¯t learn from anymore. All these things swirled in my head until finally my eyes shot open.


    Rustling sounds coming from outside. Judging from the sounds, whatever was moving had to be big. It was very early in the morning; the forest bathed in blue telling the world the sun was just about to rise. I slowly crawled out of my sleeping quarters hoping to see what was causing the ruckus. It sounded like it was moving toward the river, so I followed it.


    My mind filled with imagination and a healthy bit of fear as I wondered what my next encounter in this world would be. What terrifying magical beast would I encounter? A wolf with fire steaming off its claws, a lion with toxic spikes and venom dripping out of its jaw.


    Nope, none of these. It was a bear. A black bear much like the one I ran off with my grandfather¡¯s help while staying in the mountains a few years back. It was bigger than your usual black bear though. The mundane sight had disappointed me a little. In a world where lightning birds soared the skies, it was a bit surprising to see such a mundane animal. But as I was about to turn away and leave the bear to its business. Tutor¡¯s oh-so-wonderful voice popped up in my head.


    ¡°Ahem,¡± clearing her nonexistent throat, ¡°not telling you what to do but maybe, just maybe, now is a good time to test out some more of those powers of yours.¡±


    ¡°I was gonna. Just looking around first. You know, scout the area.¡± I lied. I forgot about my powers and just wanted to sleep more. But Tutor was right, it was a good time to use the other half of the mimic gene, Creature Mimicry. So I looked at the bear from a distance.


    This time I wanted to test the range of the ability. I tried using the power several times each time getting about five feet closer. Sweat was forming on my brow, as I clutched my feather blade in case I spooked the bear and it attacked. I was about 25 feet away when I finally got the confirmation from the ability.


    The sensation differed from when I mimicked the log. There was an exactness to the previous transformation. My body tried to remember every part of the log: color, shape, texture, size. This time however was not so formal. No, it was almost primal.


    An itching sensation crawled along my skin as dark fur sprouted along my limbs. Claws formed at the end of my hands, along with rough pads on my palms and fingers. Scents of the forest and the river flared in my nostrils more intensely than ever. After the transformation finished, I looked down at my body. Black fur escaped out of every opening in my now tight-fitting clothes. I must have grown half a foot and put on 15 pounds of muscle because the cloth around my arms and legs felt ready to burst at the slightest movement. And a familiar chime echoed in my head accompanied by a notification.


    [Mimic Entry ¡°URSA¡± Recorded]


    [Proficiency Level 1]


    ¡°Huh. That new. Pproff¡­ profaciny¡­ Pror. Why can¡¯t I pronunce it.¡±


    ¡°I knew you were dumb but come on. Sound it out Pro - fi - shen - cee.¡± Tutor mocked.


    ¡°SHUT UP! me not DUMB!¡± I roared at the disembodied voice while swiping the air around my head.


    My mind felt muddled, why am I so mad? Why is thinking making me mad? And hot for that matter. I want to go lay in the shade.


    And so I did. I walked back to my camp and attempted to crawl into my log tent, but failed. I hadn¡¯t built it with my new size in mind. This enraged me even more. I then promptly destroyed it in one quick violent swipe of my paw-hands (I guess?). I walked over to the bottom of a still standing tree and laid down and fell asleep.


    I woke up around noon. I wasn¡¯t as hairy anymore and my clothes seemed to fit again, well maybe a little stretched out. Which told me I couldn¡¯t sleep with creature mimicry either. I cursed myself about going to sleep so quickly instead of investigating my new form. I wasn¡¯t even sure what I looked like in that form. It definitely wasn¡¯t a perfect copy like with object mimicry. This I gathered from the fact that I still fit in my clothes while in the form, even if they were a bit tight. That bear would not have.


    Tutor was as unhelpful as always. After a few questions she responded in her ever so charming way, ¡°Figure it out on your own,¡± and ¡°Stop being an idiot.¡± So instead I went to look at my Character sheet. The scroll appeared in front of me and I looked down at the abilities tab.


    Abilities:


    Active:


    Mimicry (Object) (lvl1): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time. [Recorded Entries]


    Mimicry (Creature) (lvl1): Mimic one creature of your choice. This may include stats, abilities, spells and other aspects. May be canceled at any time. [Recorded Entries]


    I poked at the recorded entries button on the creature tab.


    Recorded Profiles:


    URSA - Proficiency Level: 1


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 1 Hour


    Stat Changes:


    STR + 3


    DEX - 2


    AGI + 0


    CON + 5


    INT - 3


    WIS + 2


    CHR + 0


    Abilities:


    Ursa-Rage:


    Put yourself into a fit of Rage. While raging, you gain a + 10 boost in STR and CON, at the cost of - 10 to the mental stats. You also gain a 10% unarmed damage increase and a 10% damage reduction. These bonuses increase with proficiency.


    Learned Behavior:


    Unlocked at higher proficiency.


    Well that explains the grammar problems. I must have unintentionally activated Ursa-Rage. Geeze. A ten point drop to mental fortitude seems steep, especially when I¡¯m already losing some just being in the form, even if the physical boosts seem good.


    I guess that''s part of the problem I¡¯m having though. Everything seems good or bad. I don¡¯t have any real information to help me understand what these stat changes even mean. I sighed.


    ¡°Hey Tutor.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I thought so.¡±

 6. Life in the Woods

    The sun was high in the sky, its rays beating down on my skin. Well, kind of. I wasn¡¯t quite in my own skin. The skin in question was hard as stone and twice as tough, mostly because it was in fact stone.


    It''s been about a week since my encounter with the storm bird and I had spent most of my time using and learning about my mimic gene. I made some interesting observations about my powers during this time. Mainly about object mimicry. For being a fantasy forest, there sure weren¡¯t that many critters running around. I mean sure, I¡¯ve run into the occasional squirrel and that bear, but that¡¯s it. Nothing else.


    First of the observations is a restriction about what objects I can and can¡¯t mimic. I can only mimic objects that are relatively close to my size. I tried to mimic a pine cone and got a message telling me SIZE INCOMPATIBLE. It was kind of nice to get such a direct message for once, unlike a certain tutorial. I chuckled when I thought about if it had let me mimic the pinecone. Just a person-sized pinecone chilling in the forest, totally normal.


    I tried a boulder about 3 times as big as myself and got the same message. So only stuff around my size. I don''t think weight is a factor, I''m pretty sure I''m heavier than a log. Not sure. Hard to test in my current circumstance.


    It would work also if I could contort my body to be roughly the same shape. I found out my new body was pretty flexible when I first mimicked a me-sized stone. I curled my legs and head way closer to my torso than I thought possible. My powers would fill out the rest of the stone surface.


    I also can¡¯t mimic something new unless I¡¯m in my base form. I tried to mimic a squirrel that climbed along me while in log form and got nothing, like I didn''t have access to the ability. It wasn¡¯t until I reverted back into base form that got the squirrel entry recorded before it dashed too far away.


    Not a spectacular form though. It seems creature forms are not created equally. It didn¡¯t have proficiency levels like Ursa nor did it give me any stat changes. Just gave me buck teeth and a bonus to climbing trees. Whoopee. I wonder what the difference between the two is. I tried to use the power on a fish I caught and managed not to scarf down to no avail. Didn¡¯t even get a message, just nothing.


    The next observation was that I can only record one object of a given type. For example, my log form. When I first mimicked the log it also logged(heh) that form in my mimic records, a subsection of my character sheet containing all the info on each form I''ve found. This means I can turn into that specific log whenever I want. But it will be the only log I will ever be able to keep a record of.


    I found other logs and could mimic them but I never got a message saying a new mimic entry was recorded. When I would use mimic without a new muse, I would revert to the initial log. This meant I needed to be picky when mimicking new objects.


    What I¡¯m not sure about is what my powers deem as new forms. Like could I record a wooden chest or would the system consider that a log since they are both you know, made of wood. I would love to test the theory but it''s hard to do when you¡¯re in the middle of the Bumfudge Egypt.


    Searching for signs of civilization was also a goal during my travels but I had yet to find any. I stayed near the river while looking because I figured if there were any settlements, they would be at least somewhat close to a freshwater source.


    Moving my little tree tent wasn¡¯t too bad using my Ursa form. I would just disassemble the logs and tie them together using vines. Then the boost in strength made sure I could carry all the logs on my back while walking along. The time limit for creature mimicry was still a mystery. I didn¡¯t have a great way to tell time out here. No clocks or clock-trees in these woods. So I would walk as long as the form stayed active, which I could guess to be just a couple of hours, then stop to find food or investigate the area.


    The creature mimicry also had a cooldown for each form unlike object mimicry. I got a little notification under my health bar with a timer counting down when I reverted to my base form. I wondered why it would tell me the cooldown but not a time for the form itself. And no, Tutor wouldn¡¯t tell me. The cooldown timer was one hour. Not so bad. Apparently I used it enough to get to the next proficiency level, but it didn¡¯t come with any new powers or stats.


    The timer at the top of my vision was telling me I still had 45 minutes before I could continue on, so I was in the middle of resource gathering, also known as fishing. The water in the river was cool and refreshing as ever. I was about halfway submerged in the river trying to catch something for lunch. How am I fishing you may wonder. No, I¡¯m not spear fishing though it wouldn''t be hard and sadly there weren''t any fishing rods in sight. My new enhanced reflexes and speed would probably make it a breeze to catch fish like that but I wanted to try out my new powers. So I did what mimics do best, ambush.


    My plan was to sit in the river in my newly gained rock form and wait for fish to swim close, then grab them. I was patiently waiting for my next prey to come along. It was weird how I could just sit and wait. Like I mean for hours at a time just waiting, barely a thought in my mind. I¡¯m pretty sure it''s another effect of the gene. Which makes sense when you consider that mimics in games make their homes in the bottom of dungeons. Popular places, plenty of foot traffic. I suppressed a chuckle at my own stupid joke. A chuckling rock would probably scare the fishes away.


    Target acquired. I felt the motion of a fish in the water. My body tensed as it primed itself to spring at the fish when it got close enough. The fish moved closer and closer until SPLASH. I threw my hands out, grabbing the unsuspecting fish and shoveling it down my gullet.


    It still disgusted me, eating the fish raw and unclean but I have to admit, it''s super convenient. I never had to make campfires at night because cooking was unnecessary and it didn¡¯t get cold at night as it was the height of summer here in, whatever this world is called. Still a bit miffed Tutor won¡¯t tell me. Truthfully, it felt like it was only getting hotter with each passing day. I hope it''s summer, and not like spring or fall.


    I rose out of the water and walked toward the shore where I laid my clothes and my fancy feather down. While I walked, I peered at the notification for my bear form.


    ¡°13 minutes. It was 45 minutes when I looked at it last.¡± I said in disbelief. "It¡¯s wild how much my sense of time gets scuffed when I use object mimicry.¡±


    ¡°Great power for trips to the DMV.¡± Said Tutor.


    ¡°Do you even know what that is?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. I was getting used to Tutor¡¯s unhelpful brief outbursts and didn¡¯t feel like dealing with her so instead I leaned over and grabbed my clothes. Just as I put on my pants and shirt, I heard some rustling behind the tree line. Immediately alert, I tried to see if I could catch a glimpse of whatever is out there. But the noises, something akin to grunting, were getting louder and louder. I looked around for a place to hide but there wasn¡¯t much on the shoreline. Then I remembered.


    ¡°Mimic duh.¡±


    Recorded transformations were becoming second nature now, I still noticed my skin hardening and creaking¡­ wait creaking. Damn it. I wanted stone form, not log. Stone would¡¯ve been less noticeable on the shore. Whatever a log by the shore¡¯s not too conspicuous. Right? Okay maybe not quite second nature yet.


    Then I thought about my feather. No way I¡¯m letting whatever is walking in those woods find it. It''s mine. So I did what any log with a mind of its own does. I rolled. Fantastic plan, I know. I rolled on top of my feather; There wasn¡¯t any reason to worry about damaging it anymore. I put plenty of hours into using it over the last week and it still has its beautiful luster.


    Laying on what would be my side untransformed, my bark covered face pointed toward the tree line with one eye open. I took a gamble on the fact that whatever was out there wouldn¡¯t be able to see my eye through the bark.


    The source of the boisterous sounds of stomping and grunting finally revealed itself, or I should say themselves. Three lanky, lithe bodies, all with varying shades of dark green and gray skin. Wearing basic scraps of cloth and dingy animal hides. No shoes. A good bit shorter than me, somewhere between four and five feet. Let''s call them goblins for now, god an identification ability would be the bee¡¯s knees. They didn¡¯t quite match what goblins in games and other various fantasy media. But in this world who knows. Not like I''ve seen one before.


    The one up front, I¡¯m going to presume the leader of their merry little band, was clearly scanning the area. A surprisingly shiny steel short sword hanging off his waist. No scabbard. Strange to see what looks like a brand new sword with the creature. Something about the sword appealed to me. I really like that sword. I want it.


    While my thoughts were on the sword, the other two goblins were bickering, smacking each other with their wooden spears until the leader groaned. I don¡¯t think they were speaking any language. It seemed to be more grunts and moans than words. Which probably meant getting any information out of them wouldn¡¯t be possible.


    The leader swung out his blade and pointed toward me, and I shut my eye. Man, I¡¯m praying he didn¡¯t notice my open eye. I don¡¯t know what my eyes even look like when I¡¯m transformed, let¡¯s hope not a bright shine or anything like that. From the sound of their footsteps, they were getting near and I started getting anxious. One of them, my guess was the leader, was standing right above me.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    4 minutes 24 seconds.


    The timer at the top of my screen was still ticking down. I didn¡¯t want to fight without Ursa mode. There¡¯s a chance I could handle them in base form with the feather blade, but the blade required mana to cut and I never got to test it on metal. I don¡¯t know if I have the resources to cut through the sword, or the goblins for that matter, never tried it on living flesh either. And if I ran out of mp, I would be stuck bare knuckle brawling three creatures. Of which I know none of their stats or abilities. Ursa mode at least gave me claws and a tougher body.


    I wished I could mimic them. That would at least tell me what they are and maybe a hint toward their capabilities. But breaking out of log form seems like an incredibly dumb idea. One Tutor would never stop giving me crap about. Wait and see is my best option right now, even with my rising anxiety threatening to burst out my chest. Just four more minutes.


    While all of this was running through my head, the leader let out an enormous yawn and grunted at his compatriots. The two started moving toward the river while the leader proceeded to sit down. On what you ask. You can probably guess. Why wouldn¡¯t he sit on the perfectly good log positioned squarely in front of the river. What I wouldn¡¯t give to lose my sense of smell right now. Hygiene was clearly not a virtue of the goblins. He plopped down right on top of me. Just a wonderful crusty goblin ass on my side. Kill me now.


    He squirmed around for a minute, getting comfortable I guess. It took every fiber of my being to not shudder. He probably would have loved it with how much it was scratching himself on my bark. His stomach burbled. Oh Sweet Joseph, Mary and Jesus don¡¯t do what I think you¡¯re about to do. After one more grumble, it settled down and just as relief washed over me¡ªPmmmfff.


    It farted. It was right then that my life truly changed forever. More than any god of rebirth could change. This change bore into my soul. My innocence forever shattered. The sky, darker. I can no longer get married. I am unclean.


    He stayed seated for the entire duration of the Ursa timer and then some. It was probably another ten minutes I wallowed in shame. And as soon as he got up to meet with his buddies, I was oddly torn. Part of me wanted to hide until they left, while another screamed to rise and burst into Ursa mode and rampage all over them. Sure I was pissed off about¡­ well you know¡­ the thing. Damn it.


    A fresh wave of shame and sorrow washed over me. But that only made the raging part of me grow and I decided I wouldn¡¯t hide. That I would fight. But was that right? They seemed to have some semblance of sentience so maybe they could communicate. I transformed from log mode directly into Ursa mode. Better safe than sorry.


    The goblins looked over at me, shock filling their faces. Could you blame them? A log just turned into a weird bear, human hybrid. But it faded just as fast as the goblins pulled their weapons out getting ready to strike.


    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m¡ª¡± was all I could get out before one of the lackeys came at me first, his spear aimed right at my head. Little guy was faster than I expected but I maneuvered out of the way and got a hold of the spear, or I tried to. Bear claws and the pads on my palms made grabbing small things more than a little difficult. The goblin easily pulled his spear from my hands and prepped another attack. Thrusting once more but this time aiming for my leg. I jumped back, trying to get a little distance, but he still managed to nick my thigh. The spear cut through my comfy pants, which annoyed the hell out of me. They were the only ones I had and I don¡¯t foresee getting anymore anytime soon.


    The gob didn¡¯t seem to care about my pants situation though as he rushed me again. But I could gauge his speed now so I prepped a counter, which is something I never in my life thought I would say or think. I raised my claws to the sky, feeling the muscles bulging in my arm and back as I prepared to swing. It was a strange sensation, feeling powerful. I knew without a doubt this would demolish the poor creature but it was kill or be killed time. So I swung, my massive arm aimed straight for the goblin¡¯s body. This is it; my first attack in a new world. It was going to be awesome.


    It wasn¡¯t. I missed, by a mile looks like. He just ducked, and the claws went over his head. But my arm kept going, smashing into the ground. Crap. The goblin didn¡¯t waste any time and stabbed at my torso while I was compromised. But before he could get it up (heh) I pumped some power into my legs and slammed him with my shoulder. He was really light. I knocked him a good five feet away in the same direction his pals were.


    He shoved his spear in the ground, plowing through the pebbles and landed square on his feet. I hate to say it but he looked cool, definitely cooler than me. I straightened out. He readied himself. His boss sneered at me and the other lackey¡­wasn¡¯t there?


    I realized after a spear was lodged in my shoulder that the other lackey must have circled around during my kerfuffle with his buddy. I roared. Louder than I ever thought I could. I spun around, claws at the ready, looking for the attacker but he had retreated already. I glanced at my health bar. Mostly full. Not bad considering the spear jutting out of my back. I wanted to take it out, but the two dashed towards me.


    I clawed, swung, punched, any attack I could think of but the two dodged everything I threw at them. All the while they landed stab after stab, cut after cut. They didn¡¯t hurt that bad, but it was frustrating me to no end. A real death by a thousand cuts deal. I think the one who lost his spear must have had a dagger on him. They stopped their onslaught for a second and I glanced at my health bar. A little more than half. Thank God for the Ursa buff to my constitution. It must have made my body tougher and more resistant to the attacks. It was my stamina bar that wasn¡¯t doing too hot. Only a quarter full.


    ¡°I¡¯m running out of juice.¡±


    The two lackeys just snickered. Pride swelling their chests. Twisted smiles on their faces. They were just playing with me.


    Making that realization broke something in me. The rage that had been gnawing at me, growing with every wound came to its boiling point. My vision pulsed. Another earth shattering roar left my body. But this time it felt like I lost agency over my body. Like I was watching a cutscene in a game.


    The spear goblin charged at me. But I didn''t move. It hit right at the center of my stomach. Everything slowed down. It looked up, triumph in its eyes. It didn¡¯t notice the giant hand coming straight at it from the side. The clawed hand caught the side of the goblin¡¯s head, sending it flying, until a sickening crunch resounded in the air. The goblin¡¯s body hit a boulder about 15 feet away, breaking every bone in its wretched little body and leaving a spiderweb crack along the boulder.


    Dagger boy stared in disbelief at the pile of flesh his friend had become but shook his head and turned in my direction. He came to his senses just a little too late. A paw came down on his head, shoving it into the rocky shore, leaving its skull a bloody disgusting mess. I looked toward the leader of the bunch but he was already sprinting for the trees. It screeched while running into the forest but I didn''t care that much. It just needed to die. Another roar left my body as I was about to give chase but my legs gave out. I fell onto the shore. My vision returned to normal. Ursa mode ended, and I reverted to my normal form. My stamina bar was completely empty now.


    ¡°Must be another rule with the forms. Got to remember that.¡± I mumbled while laying on my stomach. Pain wracked my body as I rose from the ground. I felt my shoulder, the one that had taken a spear, but there was nothing there. The spear wasn¡¯t in my shoulder anymore. Must have fallen out when I was raging.


    I checked the other wounds covering my body, then remembering Tutor¡¯s words from before went into rock mode and back out of it. Sure enough, my wounds had all closed up but the pain stuck around. I walked over to the spear in question and as I leaned over I glimpsed at my clothes, well I guess you could call them that. Scraps of leather and bloodied cloth would be a more apt description. I sighed as I picked up the spear. A thin piece of iron tied down to the end of a stick. Still wet with my blood. I trembled and looked over to the goblins I killed. I took their lives. Bile rushed up my throat but I swallowed it down.


    ¡°It was kill or be killed.¡± I repeated a few times in an attempt to ease the remorse I was feeling. And just as I was calming down a screech flew into the air. The goblin leader must have mustered up the courage to avenge his allies. I turned toward the tree line, spear in hand, just as he burst through the undergrowth.


    Worry rose in my body. The ursa cooldown timer just started and even with the wounds closed I was still beat up. He raised his shining sword and slashed at me. There was a difference in his movements though, he was much slower than his friends were. Like a fat kid playing with a broom in the gym closet slow.


    I was a bit too tired to move out of the way so I raised the spear to block. He cut right through the wooden spear like it was nothing. It just barely grazed my chest, and landed in the rocks at my feet. I recoiled. He may have been slow but that sword was no joke. Why did he have it and not the more capable ones? I pushed the thought out of my head. Not the time to be thinking about that. What should I do? I¡¯m too tired to fight and can¡¯t use Ursa mode, and I doubt turning into a log would be a great solution. I dodged a few more of its clumsy swipes until an idea popped in my mind. Oh yeah, mimicry. I mimicked the goblin as he was lifting the sword out of the ground.


    [Mimic Entry ¡°GREMLIN¡± Recorded]


    [Proficiency Level 1]


    ¡°Huh. Not a goblin.¡±


    My skin burned like it did when I mimicked the Ursa. But instead of growing in size, I shrunk. Not sure by what margin though, my only clue was that my clothes felt baggy and heavier. My skin turned a grayish green color matching that of the gremlin I was fighting. When the gremlin turned around he paused, confusion running across its face. Can¡¯t blame the guy. I¡¯d be confused if my enemy''s body kept changing in front of me. Especially when it was your own form he copied.


    I didn¡¯t let this chance pass me by. I lunged with my now shorter spear right at the fiend¡¯s chest. With alarming speed I plunged deep into its chest and then stabbed it three more times before his body even hit the ground. Its body rattled on the ground for a second until the light faded from its eyes.


    I was relieved, until I looked back over at the corpse and then my hands. Covered in dark red blood and eerily warm. I couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore and threw up. All over the place.


    At some point during all the vomiting I must have changed back into my base form. Another cooldown timer had appeared at the top of my vision but for only 45 minutes this time, along with a different icon. But when I went to investigate the new condition, my vision blurred. Shaking the feeling off, I went to look once more but a sudden rustling came from the forest again. Dread made my blood run cold as I saw what was coming out of the woods. Seven. Eight. No. Ten more gremlins creeped out into view. I went to stand but my legs couldn¡¯t support me. I finally viewed the condition, well debuff really. It was a cute little emoji with tired eyes.


    [Exhaustion: You do not recover Stamina. Sleep to cure.]


    Well this is it. This is how I go. I chuckled at myself for a second.


    ¡°I barely even made it a week.¡±


    And just as the first gremlin screeched out his war cry. Fire burst from out of the ground, charring the creature. Plumes of brilliant orange-red flames erupted from the earth below. Then more pillars rose underneath each gremlin, scorching every single one. I sat in utter disbelief at what was taking place before my eyes.


    The heat from the flames was hotter than any fire I ever felt. I was certain the trees and I would catch fire, but the flames never spread from where they spawned. They died down just as quickly as they came. Leaving nothing, not even bones, but the smell of burnt and boiled flesh in the air. A horrifying scent.


    ¡°Now what the hell are you?¡±


    A voice came out from behind me. But as I tried to turn, my whole body gave out this time. The world around me faded to black.

 7. Sensei What

    Dreams of home dominated my sleep once again. I was grading some papers in my living room. I thought about the students I was teaching. They were a pain most of the time and prone to cheating but there weren¡¯t a bad group of kids. I can¡¯t even blame them for cheating, it was just so easy these days with all the new AI tools popping up out of nowhere. Hell, I wished they would copy off each other. It¡¯d be better than having to grade the same AI written drivel everyda¡­...


    Cold water splashed on my face, shocking my body awake and back into reality. My eyes opened only to be met with more water. I thought water was being thrown in my face, but it looks like my face was the one being thrown. I brought my head above water. Taking in a big breath as I surveyed my surroundings. Something must have thrown me in but I didn¡¯t see anything or anyone around until a vaguely familiar voice spoke from behind me.


    ¡°Finally awake.¡± The low gravely voice said.


    I turned around to see a man sitting cross-legged on the shore, with what looked to be a piece of wheat sticking out of his mouth. A piece of wheat that smoldered at the end but somehow didn''t burn. He wore a simple white shirt much like my own, well aside from the blood stains. But there was a weird patch on his chest. It was crimson red but I was too far away to get any details other than the color. He wore brown pants that honestly looked like burlap sacks with holes cut at the bottoms and a pair of straw sandals bringing his hobo-chic look together.


    ¡°Being dumped in a river will do that to a man.¡± I retorted. I stood up only to be hit with the worst headache I have ever experienced in my life. Like my temples were inside a vice.


    ¡°Exhaustion migraine. Not fun. First time?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yep.¡± I groaned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll go away pretty quick.¡±


    Sure enough he was right, after I made my way back to shore the headache vanished. Now that I was closer, I got a better look at the man. He looked to be about mid forties, gray hairs peppering his short black hair and surprisingly well trimmed beard. He had a lazy expression as he looked out towards the river.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get to that. First, I have some questions for you.¡± He responded.


    ¡°Okay.¡± A gust of wind blew by, causing me to shiver in my wet clothes.


    ¡°Here let me get that.¡±


    The mystery man snapped his fingers and a blast of heat crawled across my skin, underneath my clothes. The heat flowed from the bottom of my feet to my head, drying my clothes and hair almost instantly. My mind went back to last night. He must be the source of the flame pillars that scorched the gremlins in 10 seconds flat. It sent a chill down my spine.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, trying not to reveal my nervousness.


    ¡°Sure thing.¡±


    I swallowed that anxiety and sat down next to him, following his gaze out to the river. We sat there staring at the river for a good couple of minutes, not saying a word. The gentle sounds of the river and pleasant weather helped calm me down.


    The scene reminded me of a lot of trips I took with gramps. Just the two of us out in the wilderness, eating off the land and rivers much like this one. I had a million questions for the mysterious fire man but truthfully I was just happy to have some company; and not the kind that only exists in my head and constantly berates me about every decision I make.


    ¡°So you gonna say anything to him, Fartface?¡± Tutor said in my head.


    I winced at the snide comment, that wound was still fresh apparently. I wanted to respond to her, but I didn¡¯t want to make the insanely powerful fire wizard think I was crazy in the event that talking to a voice in your head isn¡¯t a common occurrence in this world.


    Finally, our mystery wizard broke the silence.


    ¡°So what are you kid?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know how to answer that. What do you mean?¡±


    He turned to me and looked into my eyes, searching for something. When he didn¡¯t find it there he started looking at the rest of my body. I basically got a TSA pat down, he checked my arms, fingers, legs, back, then finally my mouth.


    ¡°Ahh there it is, your trope. That''s a hell of a set of chompers you got there. But not the bear trope, or the gremlin trope for that matter. Turning into trees and rocks isn¡¯t one of their powers either so I''ll ask again. What the hell are you?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean my monster gene?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that''s what I mean. How green are you?¡±


    ¡°Umm I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s info I should just be giving out.¡± I wasn¡¯t even lying, I really wasn¡¯t sure. Is sharing that detail a bad call in this world? Is it giving away the source of my power or something?


    He sighed and looked back out at the river and said.


    ¡°You kids these days are all too skeptical. This is why I hate talking with city people. No manners with you lot. Fine, I will go first.¡±


    He snapped his fingers again, this time summoning a ball of flame in the palm of his hand. He played with it, throwing it between his hands and in the air. Then he got fancy with it, juggling multiples flames through the air. It was an absolutely entrancing display. It reminded me of the flame juggling they do at tropical resorts but on steroids. They didn¡¯t literally have the fire in their hands; he kept the show on until in one last flourish, wherein the flames landed in my lap. I yelped and jumped, trying to pat the fire on my groin, expletives bounding out of my mouth.


    ¡°NOT THE FAMILY JEWELS!¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°You¡¯ve trained for this since childhood. STOP. DROP. AND ROLL!¡± Tutor added.


    It was after about 2 minutes of rolling on the ground that I realized the fire wasn¡¯t burning my clothes. It wasn¡¯t even that hot. The flames felt more like a warm blanket than an actual fire. The middle-aged man started busting out laughing and rolling around. The ignited wheat flew out of his mouth.


    ¡°That never gets old.¡± He spouted out between wheezes. My face reddened in embarrassment. Even Tutor was cackling in the back of my head.


    ¡°Oh man I needed that, thanks kid. You had one of the best reactions I¡¯ve ever had to that old prank. Most of the time they all attack me. Family jewels. That¡¯s a good one.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t even find the words to respond. After a minute I just started laughing with him.


    ¡°First laugh like that I¡¯ve had in a while. Glad you¡¯re a good sport about the whole thing. Let me start with the introductions then. Name¡¯s Leonard but most just call me Len. And I have the fire elemental splice. Here¡¯s my trope.¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    He rolled up his sleeve on his right arm revealing a wild flame shaped tattoo. The color constantly changed and pulsed like that of an actual fire, shifting between different shades of orange and red. A full sleeve of flames on his upper arm. It was fascinating. Way cooler than sharp teeth. He rolled his sleeve back down and turned back to me.


    ¡°So what about you kid?¡±


    ¡°Liam, and my gene is mimic. I don¡¯t know what a trope is though. I guess it''s my teeth.¡±


    Len tilted his head as soon as I answered.


    ¡°Hmmm. That¡¯s new.¡± Len just stared at me for a while, he brought his hand to his scruffy chin in the classic thinking man pose.


    ¡°So then my next question is: What¡¯s a mimic?¡± He asked.


    You know, the creature that hides itself as a chest or another object to prey on unsuspecting adventurers traversing through dungeons in most RPGs. Is what I wanted to say but I¡¯m still on the back foot here on what is and isn¡¯t in this world. I need to learn about this world and Leonard here is probably my best shot. So I chose to be mostly transparent.


    ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure myself. This whole place is new to me.¡±


    ¡°Not a local of the forest. I guess that explains why you were heading toward Vulug Town.¡± Len responded.


    Happiness and a little pride sparked in me upon hearing that I was in fact making my way toward civilization and not horribly lost.


    ¡°Though you are still about four weeks out at the rate you were going.¡±


    And that feeling of happy pride lessened.


    ¡°Actually, I was looking for any town. Is Voolug Town the closest?¡± I asked.


    He gave me a strange look again, eyebrow cocked now.


    ¡°Nope, Vulug Town is way out there in The Desert. Laurelhaven¡¯s closer. About a week''s walk from where you had the run in with the Tempest Roc. You¡¯d have been there by now if you went upstream instead of down.¡±


    That pride shattered. I almost went four weeks without finding even a hint of civilization and part of that journey being in a desert, for which I am woefully unequipped. But some he said did catch my attention.


    ¡°Wait, you know about that terrifying storm bird? And you¡¯ve been following me since?¡± I asked, a little creeped out.


    ¡°Yes.¡± He said in the most there¡¯s-nothing-weird-about-that tone of voice. ¡°That big bad bird is known as a Tempest Roc. Few survive a run in with a Tempest Roc, even less with no permanent injuries. Or any tier 8 monster for that matter. So that made you exceptionally interesting. Especially learning what a newbie you are.¡±


    ¡°How do you know I¡¯m new huh?¡± I said while puffing my chest out a little.


    ¡°Lad, three gremlins nearly took you down, you¡¯re greener than the midsummer leaves. You aren¡¯t lacking in power that''s for sure, you seem to have zero fighting experience though. What level are you?¡±


    My chest deflated; I felt a little embarrassed but ignored it because at the end of the day, he was right. I had no experience and it must have shown. I desperately need some help. And the first step is asking for it.


    ¡°Yeah you¡¯re right. I¡¯m level one.¡±


    His eyes shot open upon hearing that. He looked over at me in complete surprise.


    ¡°You¡¯re not level one, that¡¯s not possible. You''re what, 18 years old. Let me see your sheet.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to do that.¡±


    ¡°Just bring it up and give me access.¡± Len said.


    So I did, the sheet popped up in front of me.


    ¡°Now what?¡±


    He sighed. ¡°At the top you should see¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah yep I see the box.¡± The box at the top said,


    [Share Your Character Sheet with: ¡°Leonard Ainsworth¡±]


    [Yes]  [No]


    I clicked yes. A copy of my character sheet appeared in front of Len. He read through it with an intense gaze. I hope I didn¡¯t mess up showing him. Maybe I should run while he is distracted. That strange instinct crept into my mind again. Running seemed like a dumb idea. He¡¯s been following me for a week now so I doubt I would get far anyhow. Where were these thoughts coming from? Before I could delve further Len closed out the sheet, stood up and started pacing around, muttering to himself.


    ¡°You really are level one. How is that possible? All 18-year-olds are normally level five from the academy training alone. You aren¡¯t allowed outside a capital without being level five in the first place. Maybe a talented four squeaks through every once in a blue moon but never lower than that. Are you Feral? No, you¡¯re much too well mannered for that, you¡¯d also be a lot higher level like seven or eight. You also don¡¯t have a recorded splice which is not a completely unknown phenomenon, that you have a gene from a monster that¡¯s not recorded is. None of this makes sense.¡± Finally stopping he turned to me.


    ¡°I know I keep coming back to this question but what are you?¡±


    I was reeling from the sudden new information being thrown at me. All I could give him was a pathetic ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t know? You have to know. Where did you come from? Where are you going?¡±


    I got frustrated by him asking all these questions and finally snapped.


    ¡°Look man, you want the truth, fine.¡±


    I divulged everything that had happened to me so far. How one day I died in my world, how I met a god of rebirth and was reborn into this world with nothing but the clothes on my back, a new body that plays by a different set of rules, and an unhelpful voice in my head. How I narrowly survived the encounter with the Roc. How I have no idea where I am or where I¡¯m going; that I don¡¯t even know what this world is called.


    Len sat back down while I was telling him my story, never once interrupting. Nodding was the only confirmation I got from him once I finished. He went back to his thinking pose, tugging on his short beard from time to time. He probably thought I was some loon and figuring out what to do with me.


    We sat there for a while, again. After the first hour, my eyes grew heavy. Must have still had some fatigue built up. I lied down. Len didn¡¯t move from his thinking pose. After closing my eyes for what felt like five minutes, I opened them to see the sun had just set and twilight time was kicking in.


    I rose and looked around to see if Len was still there. Wouldn¡¯t have blamed him for leaving. I probably seemed more trouble than I was worth. Or just a nutcase. I viewed my status bars for the first time today, my health was around 80% full, stamina and mana were full. My stomach did its violent growling again reminding me I hadn¡¯t eaten since yesterday. I couldn¡¯t recover fully on an empty stomach.


    My nose picked up something and I turned around. About a dozen feet away, Len was sitting next to a campfire with some dead, skinned squirrels sitting on sticks roasting in the fire. Relief washed over me. I walked up to the fire and sat down. Len pulled out a bag from¡­ somewhere(?) and pinched inside. It looked like salt. He sprinkled it on the morsel and offered it to me. I grabbed it and thanked him. I had to wrangle the instinct to shove the whole thing into my mouth.


    Heaven¡¯s holiest angels landed in my mouth. It was the first warm, and more importantly, seasoned meal I had since I got to this world. I always thought it was funny how battles were fought over spices in Earth¡¯s history. Seemed like a mundane thing to fight over. But try eating unseasoned food for an extended period. You¡¯ll see why I almost cried after putting it in mouth.


    But I held strong and finished the food in just a few bites. Bones included. Couldn¡¯t suppress it all I guess. Len didn¡¯t seem bothered by it though. He just munched on his like a normal person. The fire cracked. I didn¡¯t feel like sitting in silence again.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re using a normal fire, figured your magic flames would be easier than gathering firewood.¡± I said, taking the initiative this time.


    ¡°Nah, I hate cooking with them. Feels weird. Those flames are part of me, a part of my body. It¡¯d be like boiling the food in your own spit.¡±


    ¡°Eww.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    He paused again but then turned to me.


    ¡°All of that is true eh?¡± He said.


    ¡°Every word.¡± I said, nodding my head.


    ¡°Well, you have found yourself in one hell of a predicament haven¡¯t you then.¡± He got up and brushed his clothes off.


    ¡°Alright, no more questions for today. We will deal with all that in the morning.¡±


    I was burning with questions but figured if he was willing to stick around then I wouldn¡¯t push my luck. Len got up and with a quick wave of his hand the fire died out. There wasn¡¯t even smoke, it just went out like a lightbulb. I controlled my impulse to nerd out and ask no less than 500 questions about his powers.


    He pulled out a bedroll and blanket from¡­ where was he keeping this stuff? He didn¡¯t have bags or pouches that I could see. I got up and started walking towards the river.


    ¡°Thanks again for the food but this gene of mine requires a bit more to fill the tank.¡± I explained, hoping it wouldn¡¯t bother him.


    ¡°Sure, see you in the morning.¡±


    I walked into the insanely cold river water, trying but failing to not curse under my breath. It was stupid cold. I turned into my rock form and prepared myself for the fish feast.

 8. Worlds Dont Build Themselves

    My dreams were pretty peaceful this time. A few memories of some family camping trips, not the kind Gramps took me on. The more normal family affair. I was sitting by a fire with my younger siblings, Gabby and Tim. They were twins. They were 3 years my younger and even if they were annoying most of the time; I loved them all the same. This trip happened when they were about seven I think. I was showing them how to make s¡¯mores, well roasting the marshmallows at least. Gabby picked it up pretty quick, as she did with most things, making the most perfect golden brown marshmallow. Tim did not. He was playing with his molten glob of sugar and threatened to fling it at me and Gabby. I told him to stop and Gabby ran behind me in faux fear. Tim lifted the stick in the air just a bit too quick and the flaming sugar landed right on my exposed foot. Damn it was hot. Like really hot. Like my foot actually felt like it was burning.


    My eyes shot open and I looked at my feet. Yep, burning. I jumped up and booked it for the river. Putting the flames out in the still stupid cold water, I sighed in relief. I looked behind me and saw Len curled over doing his best not to laugh. Tutor started chuckling in my head again.


    ¡°God, I love the old guy. Can we keep him?¡± She said through her laughs.


    ¡°That¡¯s the goal.¡± I whispered. Even if I already had told Len about Tutor, I was still self-conscious about him seeing me talk to myself.


    I pulled feet out of the river and saw there was no actual damage to them. Just another prank from Len. He got up from his poor attempt at concealed laughter and spoke.


    ¡°Okay. Let the questions commence. Fire away.¡±


    I found myself at a bit of a loss. There were a thousand questions I wanted to ask, but I wasn¡¯t sure where to even start. But I guess there was something that bothered me more than anything else since I got here.


    ¡°Where is all the wildlife?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°You know animals, birds, anything other than squirrels and that one bear. Or ursa I guess.¡±


    ¡°Oh right. The low tiers.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean low tiers?¡± I asked.


    ¡°One at a time. We¡¯ll get there. Your quiet trip through the forest is thanks to that, oh how did you put it? Big scary thunder bird. Very eloquent.¡±


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡±When a high tier monster the likes of that roc comes through, most of the weaker creatures hightail it out of there. Well, except for the squirrels. They¡¯re real territorial bastards. A battle between two neighboring squirrels always ends in death. Brutal creatures. But enough about them. The low tier monsters that don''t leave in time usually end up as food. It normally takes them about a week or two to get the courage to come back to the area.¡±


    ¡°Then why did the Roc leave if this is its hunting ground?.¡± I asked.


    Len shook his head at my question. ¡°Nah this isn¡¯t its home. Most Rocs live in the mountains surrounding Dendrun or Tiamantis. It probably came around here after a unsuccessful confrontation with another beast. Came here to recover.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me that was the bird at its weakest?¡±


    ¡°That''s the only reason I was tracking it by myself. I wouldn''t''ve had a chance if it was at full strength. It would take at least three of me.¡±


    ¡°You were hunting that thing?¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Not really hunting, more keeping tabs on it. Making sure it didn¡¯t get too close to Laurelhaven. Even weakened, that thing would tear up Laurel.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Laurelhaven. That''s the town that¡¯s close by right?¡±


    ¡°Yep and my current abode.¡±


    ¡°Then what about the woods, what are they called? Scratch that. What is this world, or country or whatever? Could you give me a rundown on how this world is set up?¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t know anything huh kid.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t lying.¡± I assured him.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see. Main reason for the questions.¡± Len said. Which puzzled me. I wasn''t the one getting grilled. He was. But he continued on.


    ¡°We are in The Forest. Capital F. I know, not the fanciest of names but we keep things simple here and it''s the only forest this size in Kniyas. That''s what this, as you say, world is called.¡±


    He bent down and pointed at the ground. A thin line of fire flowed from his fingertip and scorched the ground. He used the line of flame to draw a charcoal colored rectangle. He then scorched four more lines into the rectangle, dividing it into five sections. Keeping his finger lit he began speaking.


    ¡°This is how Kniyas is laid out. At the top you have the Spires. Snowy mountainous region home to Tiamantis, my hometown.¡± He burned a dot into the ground slightly left of center in the section.


    ¡°Tiamantis is known as a Splice Capital. Each of the regions have a capital where the majority of its people live.¡±


    ¡°Are there any other cities of note in the region?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, some the regions shy away from having extra villages. You might find a few of these settlements here and there, but that only when someone finds a truly valuable resource worth protecting. Even then they''re never permanent. Monsters get stronger and bolder the farther away from a capital you get."


    He pointed at the next section with his fire pen. "Next is The Hills, home to Dendrun, mostly dwarves there.¡±


    It shocked me to hear him mention other races. The idea of other races didn¡¯t feel real to me. Terrence told me I could change races when I was building my character. If you can even call it that, not like I got a lot of choices. Name and race. Worst character creation ever.


    ¡°Are there gnomes there?¡±


    He looked at me with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°So you do know something about this world.¡±


    ¡°It was a choice I could have made before I got here. Changing my race. Terrence told me it wouldn¡¯t be smart to change races considering how dangerous the world is. He said I would have plenty to learn and the specifics of a new body didn¡¯t need to be among them.¡±


    ¡°Good advice, that. And yes there are gnomes there. Stingy little bastards too. Can¡¯t count how much coin I¡¯ve lost to those guys.¡± He commented, having the same venom as Terrence when discussing gnomes. What''s everyone¡¯s problem with gnomes?


    ¡°Moving on.¡° He pointed at the middle section.


    ¡°This is where we are right now. The Forest which has Laurelhaven, but you already know that. Biggest population of elves here. Good amount of humans too. Which means you can probably guess the next race easily.¡±


    I thought for a second then felt dumb I didn¡¯t get it right away.


    ¡°Half-elves.¡±


    He put his still lit finger on his nose. He sneezed, I laughed. After snickering for a moment, he pointed to the penultimate section.


    ¡°Next we have The Desert; its capital is Vulug Town. Mostly orc territory out there. Mean bunch but a hardy breed to be certain. Desert living and all that. And lastly we have The Beach. Housing Kailis, biggest Splice capital on Kniyas. It¡¯s more of a hodgepodge of the races. Little bit of everything. It''s located on the coast. And that is a basic rundown of our little world here.¡±


    ¡°How many people live in these Splice Capitals? Also why are they called that and not just capitals?¡±


    ¡°Laurel has I¡¯d say around 150,000 give or take some. It''s the middle of the bunch. Tiamantis only ever has around 50,000. Real rough and tumble monsters up there. It gets hard to defend from the attacks if the place gets crowded. Vulug is much the same. First Ones know how many are in Dendrun or Kailis. But if I¡¯m just spitballing maybe 200,000 each. Probably more. The smaller races tend to make the counting hard on account of their size.¡±


    I mulled over what he was saying. Such a small population count here. Roughly half a million. Smaller than most countries back on Earth. Kniyas can¡¯t be very big if that¡¯s true. But just as I was going to ask him about the size of Kniyas, Len stood up and stretched.


    ¡°Alright enough of the questions.¡±


    ¡°But.¡± I stammered. I still had plenty of questions for him. He just shook his head and continued talking.


    ¡°There will be time for all of that later. I can¡¯t sit around all day. Need to move, get the blood flowing. Plus, we need to get a better grip on your gene. It seems interesting to say the least. Let¡¯s start with what you know.¡±


    I gave him a rundown about what I learned about my powers while we broke down our meager camp. How the powers were split between two types of mimicry, objects and creatures. How I could change into objects at will and stay as the object for as long as I wanted.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you sleep in a form from the start? Sleep as a log instead of sleeping in the tree. Which, by the way, was a terrible idea.¡±


    ¡°I tried a few times but I always woke up in my base form. Also, why was sleeping up there a bad plan? Just because of the roc in the area?¡±


    ¡°No, because of them.¡±


    Len pointed to the trees. I looked up but didn¡¯t see anything.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see¡­¡± But as I really focused my gaze into the branches, one branch shook. A strange monkey with small black eyes was hanging upside down from the tree by its tail. It had dark brown fur with a white face. Its tail seemed much too long for its body. The monkey its self was maybe two and a half feet, while its tail must have been 4 feet long. It didn¡¯t move while it stared at us. He didn¡¯t seem all that harmful, just a small monkey.


    ¡°Jackanapes.¡± Len said while pointing up at the tree. ¡°I know what you are probably thinking. He looks pretty weak. I can¡¯t imagine he would do anything to me. And sure if he is by himself then yeah, he is just a tier 2 monster. But.¡±


    Len started moving his hands around and flames formed around his wrists. He clapped his hands together. The evergreen tree the jackanape was sitting in lit up like a Christmas tree. Flames sitting at the edge of each branch. The light from the flames revealed small brown fur bodies clinging to the branches. The bodies moved almost in unison as dozens of jackanapes rose from their slumber.


    Once they saw the flames on their tree they began to make weird hooping and humming sounds. The noise almost had a rhythm to it and bore into my head, causing another unbelievable headache. The pain wasn¡¯t as great as the exhaustion one was but this one caused the world to spin around me. My knees hit the ground as I clung to my head. Len twisted his hands and the flames grew even larger. The jackanapes saw this and began fleeing the tree they were on. Hopping from branch to branch until finally they were far enough away that the sounds died out, along with my headache.


    ¡°In a group like that they turn into a tier 4. And they really don¡¯t like to share. They weren¡¯t around when the roc was here. You got lucky. They would have torn you to shreds for sleeping in their domain.¡±


    ¡°What did they do that messed with my head?¡± I said as I picked myself off the ground.


    ¡°That would be their Tortured Song ability. Confuses those around who don¡¯t have the proper resistances against it.¡±


    ¡°What are the proper resistances?¡±


    He pulled two cotton balls out of his ears and answered, ¡°These.¡±


    He chuckled as I swiped the makeshift earplugs from him.


    ¡°Couldn''t you have given me those before your little show? How long did you know they were up there?¡±


    ¡°I have found experience to be the best teacher. And they started watching us last night. They don¡¯t leave the comfort of their trees much so I knew they wouldn¡¯t bother us. Besides, we need one of them.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    As I asked, Len waved his hand and a ball of fire moved towards us. As it got closer, I saw that inside the fire was a lone jackanape freaking the hell out. What can''t this old guy do with his fire?


    ¡°So what''s the plan with this one?¡± I asked.


    ¡°His job is to help you explain the other half of your powers. Your creature mimicry. The object mimicry makes sense. It''s a basic enough concept; you turn into inanimate objects. It''s the creature side of things where it seems your powers become quite complex. And I think a live demonstration would be helpful. So that¡¯s where Reginald here comes into play. I want you to mimic him.¡±


    ¡°Sure that''s fine but..." I scratched my head, "Reginald, really?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    He put Reginald down and I mimicked the poor monkey.


    The familiar skin burning sensation was becoming more tolerable the more I used this power. Some patches of fur sprouted on my body much like when I use Ursa form. But this time the fur wasn¡¯t as thick and matched the deep brown color of the jackanape¡¯s body opposed to the black bear fur. There was a new sensation that came along with this that originated from my lower back. It wasn¡¯t painful or anything but just felt weird. Probably nothing. Not like I have used this power enough to tell the difference between forms.


    I just got Gremlin the other night and only used it one time. My face felt funny too. Upon inspection I found that I had grown hair around my face. But oddly enough, according to Len it didn¡¯t match the Jackanapes¡¯ white fur they had around their faces. My body didn¡¯t seem to change in size either. Once it was complete, I got the same notification as the others.


    [Mimic Entry ¡°APIS¡± Recorded]


    [Proficiency Level 1]


    APIS -  Proficiency Level: 1


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 1 hour


    Stat Changes:


    STR + 1


    DEX + 2


    AGI + 3


    CON - 2


    INT + 2


    WIS - 2


    CHR - 2


    Abilities:


    Ignorant Ears:


    Ignore the effects of sound-based abilities.


    Learned Behavior:


    Unlocked at higher proficiency.


    ¡°Hmmm strange.¡± I said.


    ¡°What is, aside from the whole transformation thing?¡± Len asked while walking around me.


    I pointed at the flame caged monkey.


    ¡°You said Reginald was called a Jackanape, right?¡±


    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s what they are called.¡±


    ¡°Well the entry is called Apis not Jackanape. Could you be wrong about Reginald?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I know my monsters. And Reggie here is most certainly a jackanape.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Then do you know what an Apis is?¡±


    Len pondered for a moment, hitting his classic thinking pose.


    ¡°Well that explains part of your splice.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°First, what is your bear form called according to the sheet?¡±


    ¡°Ursa, I¡¯m pretty sure I told you that. I got it when I ran into that Ursa down by the river. I assume you saw it yourself. You know the whole following-me bit.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but what you ran into was not an Ursa. It¡¯s known as a Beruang. A tier 5 monster that usually lives in a pack.¡±


    ¡°Where was its pack? Did they leave when the roc came through?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Dead. All of them. Eaten by our thunder bird. Found their remains the day before your run in with the roc. Nasty scene.¡±


    ¡°Damn how many were there?¡±


    ¡°Beruang packs typically range from 30 to 50. But this one was turning raid-sized from the looks of it, so about 80.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean raid-sized?¡±


    ¡°Ehh ignore that for now. All that matters is that the pack won¡¯t be a problem. So back to what I was saying about your gene. Seems to me you don¡¯t quite mimic the creature itself, but rather...¡±


    While he began giving his boring theory, my mind wandered. I crossed my arms and scratched my head with my tail. Wait. What?


    I turned and jumped when I saw the furry tail.


    ¡°Holy shit, I have a tail!¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Just noticed?¡± Tutor chimed in.


    Ignoring the rest of Len¡¯s sleep-inducing explanations I started examining my new appendage. It was about five feet long and shared the brown fur that had grown on my body.


    Len, seeing that he no longer had my attention, pulled out a fresh piece of wheat from that mysterious somewhere and put it in his mouth. The end ignited immediately.


    I spent the next 30 odd minutes experimenting and testing the capabilities of my tail. Ah who am I kidding. I was playing. My mind transported back in time, to my younger years. When your imagination was all you needed to have a good time. I recalled the time I made up a game with my siblings we called Monkey King. We were staying at my uncle¡¯s house for the weekend and we all watched some cheesy kung fu movies.


    One of them starred Son Goku, the monkey king from legend. I spent the afternoon ordering Tim and Gabby around as Son Goku. Okay so maybe we didn''t make the game up together and it was just me terrorizing them. Don¡¯t care. Suffice to say, I had some ideas of what to do with a tail.


    I was picking up sticks, rocks, whatever I could get my tail around. Even Reginald wasn¡¯t safe. Len must have set him free at some point. I picked him up and threw him into the tree branches. He hissed and ran away. I climbed up after him but then remembered the one monkey that swung from the branch by his tail. I wrapped my tail around the branch I was on and swung.


    As I swung there, I started laughing. It was awesome until the branch snapped and I fell a good 15 feet. But the tail seemed to add an improved sense of balance and I twisted in the air and landed perfectly fine on my feet. No tumbling this time.


    I looked over to where Len was sitting. He had this unreadable expression on his face. I started feeling guilty; he was giving some much needed insight on my powers and I went out and played with my tail. With my tail literally between my legs I walked back over to him, turning off the form in the process. The cooldown timer for it was an hour like Ursa form¡¯s.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I said sheepishly.


    He still had that weird expression while he puffed on his wheat. His eyes focused when I spoke. He looked over at me and shrugged.


    ¡°Not my first run in with Apis types.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Going back to what I was saying before your¡­ distraction. I want you to try to mimic me.¡± Len said, completely ignoring my question.


    ¡°Really?¡± I responded, deciding it was probably best to go along with it.


    ¡°Yep, let''s see what happens.¡±


    I turned my sights to him and turned the power on. A notification popped up.


    [NOT A MONSTER]


    Bummer. His powers were awesome.


    ¡°Nope. Says you''re not a monster.¡± I told him.


    ¡°My ex-wives would disagree.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°What? Do women not fall head over heels for the brooding-old-man-in-the-woods type?¡±


    He smiled. ¡°Can¡¯t say it helps, sadly. But I had a feeling that would be the case. Looks like your powers are meant for monsters and monsters only.¡±


    He rose from his seat under the previous home of the jackanapes. A few grunts here and there.


    ¡°Oh by the way what were you saying before I, you know¡­¡± I asked, ¡°trailed off?¡±


    ¡°Eh, I''ve decided it''s probably best to wait for that explanation when we get to the city. I¡¯m not a gene specialist so I wouldn¡¯t do it justice. I have someone in mind for that particular talk. Don¡¯t worry they will have plenty of answers as well as questions for you too.¡±


    I got excited at the prospect of going to the city. ¡°Are we going to head to the city now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°First Ones above, no not at all. You¡¯re still level one. I can only imagine the headaches that would come from bringing you to the guards. An inspection of your character sheet is mandatory for anyone entering the city for the first time. And a level one outside of the city raises more than a few red flags. Especially at your age. It would probably warrant a visit from her.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Someone I¡¯d rather avoid for the time being.¡±


    ¡°So then what''s the plan?¡±


    A wicked smile grew across Len¡¯s face.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to grind.¡±

 9. Grumpy Bedfellows

    I rose from my slumber, cracking my back and rubbing my fatigued muscles, while a few gremlins slept in crude bedding a few feet away from me. I yawned, a gremlin snarled, and I readied myself for a fight.


    Most mornings started this way. With a sore body and a tired mind. My training, as Len has cutely described it, started the day after our run in with the jackanapes.


    I woke up in the dark. Which was strange considering I went to sleep outside the night before.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I whispered, running my hand along the surface I was surprisingly next to. Rough and stony to the touch, must be a cave. I heard some familiar grumbles coming from close by. I strained my eyes looking for an exit, but it was nowhere in sight, not much of anything was in sight.


    It was pitch black in the cave, but as I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the sleep, the darkness lessened. I could see everything around me. And by everything I mean rocks, more rocks, three sleeping gremlins, and a smoldering campfire in between them. But it was all in grayscale, even the dull red embers of the fire looked like bright gray lights. Just how was I seeing all of this?.


    Once my eyes finished adjusting, I peered over the slumbering creeps and saw an exit about 15 feet away. I wanted to ask Tutor about my eyes and how I got here but stopped when one of the slumbering gremlins burped in his sleep. I stepped towards the entrance of the cave. Carefully, slowly to not wake¡­and I stubbed my toe on a small rock jutting up from the ground. I swear I only yelped for half a second. I turned towards the groggy gray dudes. They were all up and grabbing the weapons they slept next to.


    ¡°Shit.¡±


    After a scuffle that ended in a violent and bloody Ursa rage, I made my way out of the cave. My eyes itched for a moment as color returned to them.


    Len was sitting outside, wheat in mouth, writing something in a crude leather-bound book. Beaten, bruised, and covered in gremlin blood, I turned off Ursa mode and walked over to him.


    ¡°How the hell did I end up in there?¡± I asked.


    Without stopping his writing, he responded. ¡°I put you in there.¡±


    ¡°How and why?¡±


    ¡°How is not important, why is because you need to level up.¡±


    I stared at him in disbelief. I was about to say something else but before I could make my complaints known he pointed at the cave, never taking his eyes off the book.


    I followed his finger and saw more gremlins walking out. A chorus of grunts and growls began as the little green men streamed out of the cave. Five revealed themselves rubbing their eyes. Trying to adjust to the sunlight I guessed. I looked at my health bar. 90 percent full. The Ursa timer showed 58 minutes. I cursed myself for turning it off early but I didn¡¯t know how to stop the rage without turning the form off. Well I still had two battle worthy forms.


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot.¡± Len said, still not looking away from the book. Flames sprung up in front of me, surrounding a brilliant silver sword. It was the sword that the leader gremlin was carrying back at the river. The flames flew over to me and extinguished as I reached for the sword. The blade was surprisingly not hot, or even warm. I gripped the blade, it was light and still had that beautiful silver sheen. I was about to activate the gremlin form when Len spoke up again.


    ¡°Do not use any forms this time.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    The gremlins didn¡¯t care for my question. They got their bearings and looked over towards us. Their gaze focused on me, to be fair I was covered in their brethren¡¯s blood. They screamed and shouted as they rushed at me.


    My grip tightened on the sword as I prepped myself for the assault. The first gremlin had a wooden spear, as per usual with this lot. He aimed for my head, which seemed to be the initial strategy for these guys. But I remembered my first encounter with them. They liked to circle around their target.


    I dodged out of the way of the spear and swung the sword behind me. I caught the side of the gremlin creeping behind me. Blood sprayed into the air. The blade sliced about halfway through him. Its screams turned to a nasty gurgling sound as dark blood filled its mouth. I pulled the blade out of him and turned back to face the next onslaught.


    The spear gremlin was running towards me readying another attack while another swiped at me with a dagger. The dagger caught the side of my leg as I dodged another stab from the spear. While the spear was close I awkwardly slashed at its wielder. My attack landed on his shoulder cutting deep into his collarbone. It dropped the spear and its hands instinctively grabbed the wound.


    I was shocked how easily the blade cut through its body. I swung from a terrible angle and couldn¡¯t get much leverage. But now ain¡¯t the best time for analyzing. Another slash from a dagger was coming my way. The blades clashed, but the gremlin¡¯s dagger was crudely made. It shattered almost immediately upon the collision. The gremlin¡¯s face twisted in anger before my blade sliced through it. I hopped backwards to get away from the blood geyser and reorient myself. Idiot move.


    I jumped straight into the last two gremlins. Another stab incoming. I parried the blow but pain bursted at my foot. One of the little bastards bit me. I ran the blade through Chompy¡¯s back while it was still munching but it took a chunk out of my heel. Flesh tearing from your skin is a pain unlike any other and another new horrible experience.


    I left my sword impaled in the gremlin and dropped down, my hands instinctively holding the source of my pain. Blood gushing from the wound. But that last gremlin didn¡¯t care about my troubles, seemed to revel in it actually. He yelled out a triumphant cry and rushed towards me. My foot couldn¡¯t support my weight as I tried to rise back up. I needed to heal now, so I turned into a log.


    Just as the gremlin¡¯s spear was going to pierce my clothing, it splintered against my bark skin. As it recoiled from the blow, I reverted to my normal form, grabbed the sword from the toothy bastard¡¯s back, and sliced right through the confused gremlin¡¯s chest.


    I planted my sword back into the ground and rolled onto my back, panting. My health bar was sitting at three quarters full. Not so bad I thought. After catching my breath I got back up. I rubbed the chomped foot. It was smooth, strangely smooth. Like baby-skin smooth.


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


    It still hurt, now it was more of a sore feeling. It reminded me of that post workout soreness. There wasn¡¯t even a scar from where the chunk was taken. Seeing the new flesh made me wonder how it worked. But this might be one of those don''t look a gift horse in the mouth moments. Just be happy that I have a regeneration like ability.


    I thought about the fight for a minute. How did I manage to beat five gremlins? I had to use Ursa form to beat two of the green assholes when I first encountered them. But I didn''t have nearly as much of a problem this time around. Sure, one took a literal bite out of me, but I beat five this time. I didn¡¯t even use a form, well aside from the log but still that was to heal. I stood up and walked over to Len, who was still writing.


    ¡°You used a form.¡± Len said, completely flat.


    ¡°I know but it beats dying.¡± I said in defiance, half-expecting a lecture to start.


    ¡°Good. It was stupid advice. You shouldn¡¯t listen to stupid advice. It will get you killed.¡±


    ¡°Then why the hell did you give it to me?¡±


    He stopped writing for the first time this morning and looked over to me.


    ¡°I wanted to see how your base form would fare at level one. Never seen a level one in an actual fight before. I was curious.¡± He finished and went back to his book.


    Seeing the dead end in this conversation coming, I opted to move on to another topic. My eyes moved over to the sword sticking out of the ground.


    ¡°Thanks for the sword.¡±


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s yours anyway. I was just holding it.¡±


    ¡°How is it mine?¡±


    ¡°You killed the monster who dropped it, meaning it''s yours. The rule of thumb on Kniyas. Your kill, your loot. You killed the gremlin which carried that mithril sword, so it''s yours. Hell of a drop too.¡±


    When he said drop, an image of blue electricity arcing along silver flashed into my mind.


    ¡°Hey, what happened to my feather?¡± Panic rising in my voice.


    ¡°What feather?¡± Len asked.


    ¡°It dropped from the Roc the other day. I had it when those gremlins attacked me on the beach. Damn, tell me I didn¡¯t leave it on the beach.¡± I started scanning the immediate area. Running around wildly, anger flushed through me as I searched. Did someone steal it? Did Len steal it? My lips twisted in a snarl.


    Through gritted teeth I said, ¡°Did you take it Leonard?¡± I laced my word heavily with threat as I stared at the immensely powerful mage. This was enough for the man to look up from his book. His face carried an unreadable expression.


    He placed the pen on the page he was writing on and closed it. He walked over keeping eye contact with me the whole time. A spark flashed in his eyes for a fraction of a second as he descended upon me. A weight dug into my shoulders as he walked. He looked larger as he walked over. No, that''s not right. It was more like I was getting smaller or the world around me was growing. Fear welled at the edges of my psyche but anger at the loss of my feather was still at the forefront of my mind. So I stood my ground, however small compared to the giant that stood before me. I licked my teeth.


    Finally he paused. He was maybe a foot in front of me physically, but mentally it felt like his entire mass was bearing down on my soul. The force pushed upon my very being and the anger began to melt away. The benign fear, what was shoved down by that anger, rose. Just as the rest of my spirit felt the crushing weight, Len stopped and sat on the ground, crossing his legs and his arms. He sighed. A tired sigh.


    The world normalized as I fell to my knees and then face first into the grass. I pushed myself off the ground and sat up. My mouth opened but it couldn¡¯t form any words. Before trying once more, flames danced into existence in front of me, cutting the attempt off. Floating in the center of those flames sat my feather. They died out and the feather gently fell to the ground in front of me. It looked just as perfect as the day I found it, a beautiful shining silver plumage with sharp blue streaking through it.


    I found my voice once again. A bit creaky though.


    ¡°S-Sorry about that Len. I don¡¯t know why I got so¡­ upset.¡± I said while staring at the ground.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s ok. It was a poor joke. I don¡¯t make it a habit, stealing items from new splicers. No, I wanted to mess with you a bit before returning it. Sorry for that feeling. You will probably feel strange for the rest of the day.¡± He leaned back as he spoke and looked into the sky.


    ¡°You said your world had knowledge of mimics right.¡± Len said, not looking away from the sky.


    ¡°Yeah, we didn¡¯t have them running around or anything but they were in¡­.¡±


    I paused there. Something told me saying they were in video games wouldn¡¯t be helpful. So I elected to finish with ¡°records.¡±


    He nodded his head but continued gazing at the sky.


    ¡°Tell me about them. In as much detail as you can.¡± His head twitched slightly before I could go into more detail. ¡°Actually wait till later, you have some more guests to tend to.¡± He said as he moved to retrieve his journal.


    Four more gremlins emerged out of the bushes around the cave. I rose to my feet and grabbed my sword. This time I went into Gremlin form and walked over to them.


    That evening I asked Tutor about why the gremlins were so much easier to fight. And why I could see in the cave.


    An exasperated ¡°Dude.¡± was the response to my queries.


    ¡°What? These are valid questions.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just dumb ones.¡± She sighed. ¡°You have the power to mimic monsters. Maybe, just maybe, this means you have some understanding of how they fight. And that would give you an edge. And for your second question, refer to Mr. T¡¯s first rule.¡±


    ¡°Pity the fool who doesn¡¯t read his character sheet. SUCKA.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°God you¡¯re dumb.¡± And even though her words were pointed, I could hear a smile forming behind them. Taking the advice to heart, I pulled up my sheet and looked through it. I found the answer in the gremlin page.


    GREMLIN - Proficiency Level: 1


    Type: Creep


    Timer: 45 min


    Stat Changes:


    STR - 2


    DEX + 5


    AGI + 2


    CON - 2


    INT - 3


    WIS + 2


    CHR - 2


    Abilities:


    Fight and Flight:


    Gain a +10 boost to your DEX and AGI at a significant cost to stamina. If use of this ability will cause you to run out of stamina, you will receive EXHAUSTION(-15 to all stats until removed). Stat boost will increase with proficiency.


    Learned Behavior:


    Dark Sight - See in the dark. Up to 10m.


    My stupidity annoyed me to no end. This was the first time I even looked at the Gremlin page. Dark Sight, that would be the answer to why I could see in the cave. It¡¯s a Learned Behavior, the first I gained, which meant its use wasn¡¯t limited to one form. All of my other forms, including my base form, could benefit from it. It also explained the exhaustion debuff from that night when I originally fought the gremlins.


    Fight and Flight was kind of an insane ability. A direct 10 points to dexterity and agility could only be good, you just had to be careful to not overuse it or use it at the wrong time. Only annoying thing was I didn¡¯t know how much stamina it used. I had 250 stamina to play around with but none of the abilities came with a number attached. I sighed.


    Stamina was a mystery. It didn¡¯t change much throughout the day. It only seemed to drain while I was in a fight. It was almost completely empty when I was stuck in the tree with the Tempest Roc. I was holding on to that tree for dear life, but I wouldn¡¯t call it a fight. It also drained while I fought the first crew of gremlins. My Ursa form turned off after I ran out of stamina. I guess that¡¯s one way to gauge the time limit on the forms. A crappy way but a way nonetheless.


    My best reasoning was that stamina is only involved in combat, and that day to day living wasn¡¯t affected by it. I shook my head. I hate not understanding a system in a game. Especially when that system is directly tied to my life.

 10. One Level at a Time

    Every morning began the same way. I would go to sleep in the forest and wake up in a camp of gremlins. It wasn¡¯t always in a cave, however. The little guys set up shop all over the place. One morning would be in a camp in the forest, next by the river, next in the middle of a grass field. Then bloodshed ensued, mostly gremlin blood at least.


    It was pretty taxing the first few days; I would fall asleep almost as soon as we made camp. Len never once divulged how he moved me without me ever noticing. Or the gremlins for that matter.


    They became easier and easier to fight, especially when I was in a creature form.


    One night, when I wasn¡¯t completely exhausted, Len asked me to talk about mimics while he grabbed his leather journal and began preparing to write. I told him how they were mostly known for laying ambushes. How the most common type would hide as treasure chests. They didn¡¯t have those in this world, much to my disappointment. Always wanted to know what they felt like to open with my own bare hands. It also felt like a disservice, giving me a mimic form but having no chests to mimic.


    I continued with how they could mimic other objects as well but the common thread was they usually guarded treasure. He was shocked to hear mimicking creatures wasn¡¯t in any of the records, considering how integral it was to my powerset.


    But this was a different world, so the rules would be different too. After finishing my explanation, he closed his book and spoke.


    ¡°Okay, I believe I have a good enough grasp now. Let¡¯s talk about what happened with the feather.¡±


    A rush of embarrassment washed over me. I wanted to forget about that event.


    ¡°Sorry again for that.¡±


    ¡°No need. That outburst of yours is pretty common. You see, all of us, the spliced, go through something like that. And I¡¯d be lying if I told you this will be the last time it shows its ugly head. Part of the cost of having the power of a monster flowing through our blood¡­¡± He closed his fist and flared his powers, which caused the campfire to grow a few feet.


    ¡±Is that we also get some of their ¡­ mmm predilections. Or maybe behaviors might be the better word. It''s sort of like when you first used your Apis form. You got hyperactive and playful. Those are common personality traits of people with monkey genes. But what you felt when your feather was missing is the next step up. It¡¯s more like glimpsing at the true essence of that monster inside you.¡± He waved his hand over the fire and seemingly grabbed it. The flames now sat in his palm. ¡°When you look at these flames what do you see?¡±


    I went to answer but Len continued.


    ¡°Is it power? The power to destroy anything.¡± The flames grew violent in his hand, raging even. Their heat was so intense, I worried he was about to catch the surrounding trees on fire. ¡°Or do these flames bring light and warmth and ultimately life?¡± The flames grew calm in his hand. They didn¡¯t die out or shrink, just condensed into one brilliant plume gently swaying in the breeze. Much like the fire of a lit candle. ¡°If only monsters cared for that.¡± There was a listlessness to how he said those words. ¡°No, the instinct I fight is hunger. The want, no, the need to consume all around. To let my flames spread and spread until every living and nonliving thing is devoured by my all-consuming flames. Until I alone stand on the ashes of those I consumed.¡±


    He closed his fist killing the flame in his palm and reigniting the campfire. He took his seat and looked over to me. ¡°And it looks like your fight might not be so different. From what you have told me about mimics, you share an overwhelming desire to gather and hoard. Or something along those lines. Yours is probably closer to greed rather than my gluttony. But it is something you have to fight, otherwise you will become just another monster in this world already filled to the brim. But that¡¯s enough for tonight. We can discuss it more in the upcoming weeks. You have a lot of training ahead of you.¡±


    Once he finished, he stood up and walked over to his sleeping area and lied down. He started snoring almost immediately. It was comically loud, like the man slept with a chainsaw at the ready. Like a warrior lumberjack forced to sleep with his weapon at the ready lest he be caught unawares by a group of deadly trees. I chuckled at the amusing thought. I wondered if there are tree monsters in this world. With that thought, I shrugged and crawled into my tree tent.


    After eight days of the gremlin wake up routine, I leveled up.


    You Leveled Up! Nice Going! You are now Level 2!


    The notification appeared after a fight with a group of ten gremlins rudely awakened by my sudden appearance. It was a relatively quick battle; the gremlins never strayed from their usual tactics, which made manipulating the fight quite simple.


    I rushed over to Len as soon as the fight ended. He was, of course, occupied with writing in his journal. I asked a few times what exactly he was writing, but his only response was ¡°Notes.¡±


    He dropped his pen and tilted his head with his mouth opened slightly. He slowly turned his head towards me.


    ¡°What?¡± Len asked.


    ¡°I finally hit level two. I thought it was going to take forever. It sucks how I can¡¯t check how much experience I need to level up.¡± That last line was more directed to a certain sassy voice, but she didn¡¯t take the bait.


    ¡°Character sheet. Now.¡±


    Familiar text appeared in front of my vision.


    [Share Your Character Sheet with: ¡°Leonard Ainsworth¡±]


    [Yes] [No]


    I clicked yes and decided I would look at my sheet as well.


    Liam Foster


    Level: 2


    Race: Human


    Monster Gene: Mimic


    Stats:


    Health Points: 100 + 20 = 120


    Stamina: 250 + 20 = 270


    Mana: 100 + 20 = 120


    Strength: 15 + 3 = 18


    Dexterity: 15 + 3 = 18


    Agility: 15 + 3 = 18


    Constitution: 15 + 3 = 18


    Intelligence: 15 + 3 = 18


    Wisdom: 15 + 3 = 18


    Charisma: 16 + 3 = 19


    Abilities:


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Active:


    Mimicry (Object) (lvl 3): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time. [Recorded Entries]


    Mimicry (Creature) (lvl 2): Mimic one creature of your choice. This may include stats, abilities, spells and other aspects. May be canceled at any time. [Recorded Entries]


    Passive:


    Learned Behavior: You may gain a portion of the stats and/ or abilities from a mimicked monster. Benefits given depend on the creature mimed and only given if you become adequately proficient in that form. With higher proficiency, benefits may increase.


    Dark Sight - See in the dark. Up to 10m.


    Spells:


    None


    Hmm. Threes across the board. I wondered how this would affect me. Would I notice the boost in strength or speed? Or does it take a lot of levels to see the progress?


    Looks like my mimicry abilities leveled up too. Why didn¡¯t I get any notifications about those? Weird. I asked Tutor.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me stuff was leveling up?¡±


    ¡°Not my job dude.¡± Dismissing my question as per usual.


    ¡°I don''t know why I bother asking.¡± I took a deep breath. With little hope for a positive answer, I asked, ¡°Would you let me know if those changes occur? Please.¡±


    ¡°Like I said, not my¡­ what?¡± She paused in the middle of her response.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it''s that complicated.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not you. Ugh Fine. Looks like it is now my job to notify you when there are noteworthy changes in your abilities. All my years doing this and I¡¯m reduced to a ringtone.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean years doing this?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing, ignore that. Oh, by the way, your mimicry skills have leveled up.¡±


    I was about to respond with a snarky comment until Len spoke up.


    ¡°You actually did level up. But how? That''s way too fast.¡±


    Why was he so confused by the level up? I definitely killed over 50 gremlins in that past week. In video game logic, that would probably be more like two or three levels. I was worried it was taking too long to level up. I guess it might be a bit slower here on Kniyas.


    ¡°Is it that strange? I have been decimating those gremlins for a while now.¡± Len just shook his head.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. Most don¡¯t get to level 2 until they are ten years old. They don¡¯t start training until five, but even under the strictest training regiments you might see someone hit level 2 by nine, but that¡¯s a rarity. You leveled up in a couple of days. You were fighting real monsters and not practice dummies so I expected it to be quick, but like months. Not days.¡± He went back to reading my sheet.


    I flinched at that. Months is a long time to be scrapping with gremlins. But five years to get to a single level. What does the experience curve look like for this world? Do monsters give an insane amount of XP compared to regular training? But even then, it wouldn¡¯t make much sense.


    I hadn¡¯t put much thought into it at the time, but Len said that most 18 year-olds were level 5. I figured they didn¡¯t start training until they were in their teens. Not as early as five. Isn¡¯t that unhealthy for children? But this meant Len was prepared to stay out here a couple of years to train me. That¡¯s a daunting thought. Years in the woods with no one except a voice in my head and a middle-aged flame wizard.


    But Len hadn¡¯t finished remarking about my level up. ¡°Your stat gains are so evenly spread.¡±


    ¡°Is that weird?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes. Your first level is considered the most important. It normally guides you into what type of splicer you will be. Whether you are frontline fighting material or backline support. Your starting spread isn¡¯t uncommon. Having 15 in every stat at level 1 is on the higher end but for a level up to give you the same gains for each stat is¡­ different to say the least.¡±


    He paused his explanation while grabbing his journal. He went to a page labeled Liam Stat Spread.


    ¡°You normally get around five or six points in two stats. We call these your Primary stats and are mostly determined by your gene.¡± He pointed to a column on the page named Primary. He wrote N/A under it.


    ¡°My primaries are charisma and dex. Which is normal for us elementals. Our powers come from the strength of our inner being, otherwise known as charisma, and dexterity helps us mold that power. Splicers also have two stats that get no points on a level up. These are your detrimental stats.¡± Under Detrimental he wrote the same N/A.


    ¡°These are the stats that normally define your role. You can¡¯t have a tank whose constitution will never increase or a spell slinger with stagnant intelligence.¡± He stopped talking and wrote more in his journal.


    I wondered what this meant for me. Am I getting a 3+ increase each level? It seems pretty low. It also makes me wonder about the stat changes from the creature forms. They don¡¯t amount to much as they are. Take Ursa. The rage ability gives a huge boost to my fighting prowess, but the stat changes inherent to the form seem kinda negligible.


    ¡°Are the gains the same at every level?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, the actual numbers usually fluctuate, but the distribution is always the same. For you, this means your level ups will always look like that.¡± He picked up his notebook and began furiously writing in it. I asked him a few more questions, but he just told me to take the day off and go do something.


    That level up changed how Len handled my training. The next morning, I opened my eyes, ready for the gremlins. But there wasn¡¯t any. I woke up falling out of a tree. I caught myself on a branch below. My chest hurt from the impact. I ignored it and began pulling myself up.


    It felt awesome being able to pull up my full body weight; in my last life, pull-ups were a struggle even when I was in good shape. Now I could do it without breaking a sweat. As I finished and found my footing, I straightened out my back and came face to face with a pair of small black eyes I swear I had seen before.


    Oh a jackanape, those little monkey guys. My realization came too late though. The tree came alive with their terrible yowls and screeching. I clenched my ears. I could feel my brain melting like last time. But the past few weeks have sharpened my thinking in the heat of battle. I can beat this. So I turned on Apis form.


    As the fur grew on my body, Ignorant Ears activated and the sounds of the screeching stopped bothering me. It sounded like a lovely serenade now. A grin formed on my face. The jackanape in front of me attempted to screech louder. Its face met my fist with an awful crunch. Probably broke something. Its body fell to the forest floor below. A good fifty feet by the looks of it. Splat!


    ¡°Eww.¡±


    Normal people would probably be terrified by the height, but Apis form delighted in the thrill. I spun my tail around the branch I was on and leaned far over the side, looking for more of the loud monkeys. My next target was yowling in a branch a tree over. I squatted down and bounded across. I landed on its branch and delivered a swift kick to its noggin. Second verse, same as the first. Turned into monkey paste.


    I gazed over at the branch I jumped from and the grin grew into a full-blown smile. A thought blossomed in my mind. Oh, this is gonna be fun.


    Len met me at the bottom of the tree. I was covered head to toe in scratches and bite marks but happy as a lark. I relayed the battle to him.


    After taking out about four jackanapes, they wised up and stopped using their song ability. The rest came at me among the branches. But I knew how they fought, so dispatching the other six was no problem at all.


    I was about to do my whole log form healing, but Len stopped me. He crossed his arms and spoke. ¡°You know, that was supposed to be a challenge.¡± He said.


    ¡°Would this be a bad time to say it was a ton of fun?¡± I smirked while saying it.


    ¡°It''s because of Apis form. I just kind of know their attack patterns and abuse them. I did the same with the gremlins.¡±


    Len nodded at my statement. ¡°Then this training method won¡¯t work so well.¡±


    ¡°Why, I just need to level up right? I want to go to the city and I need to be level five for that. So beating the hell out of these guys is a good way to level.¡±


    He shook his head before he continued. ¡°That was the original plan, but it looks like you¡¯re gonna progress too quickly. Getting levels is important, but I thought we would be out here for a few years. I would have more time to teach you real battle strategy and techniques, not just the instincts you¡¯ve been relying on.¡±


    My tail flicked. Looks like my previous suspicions were correct, Len was ready for the long haul on this one. I questioned him about the timeline he had in mind. ¡°How long do you think it will take till I¡¯m level five?¡±


    ¡°At the current rate, maybe half a year. I¡¯ll have a better estimate when you level up again. Side note, is your health sufficient?¡±


    After seeing it was at about 80%, I responded with ¡°Yeah, it''s good.¡±


    ¡°And stamina?¡±


    The green bar was a little over half. ¡°Over half. Why?¡±


    ¡°Because today¡¯s training isn¡¯t done yet.¡±


    I heard more of the lovely screeching off in the distance. I hopped to the nearest branch and rushed up the tree. A wild grin blossomed on my face once again as I waited for the new group to come. Waiting for my fun to start again.

 11. Variety is the Spice of Training

    A month has gone by since my first level up. Len took to his note-taking with more fervor than ever before. Honestly, you would have thought he wrote four or five books in the past month. But it was always the same leather-bound journal. Just another mystery to add to the pile named Leonard. The only problem I had was that he was under the impression that I had the same fervor for training as the people in this world had.


    In most games I¡¯ve played and novels I¡¯ve read, the protagonists always talk about how much they train and workout. They give these arbitrary times like ¡°I trained on the mountain top every day for 10 hours, for 3 months straight.¡± And us, the enjoyers, are like ¡°that¡¯s pretty dope¡± or don¡¯t even really give much thought to it. It¡¯s just a vehicle to explain a character¡¯s growth. But living it is a completely different experience.


    It sucks. A lot.


    The constant day in and day out of fighting monsters and working out (Len added that in shortly after my level up.) wears on a guy¡¯s psyche. It loses its charm after about the second week. Fighting monsters was fun but Len made sure I only ever fought the same low tier monsters. Just a mixture of gremlins and jackanapes. That got old real quick. I asked why.


    ¡°The Forest would chew you up and spit you out.¡± He said with a blank expression on his face. So small monsters it is.


    It was the workout drills that really taxed me. In my old life, I was never much for hardcore workouts. When I was an undergrad, I made sure to work out a couple times a week. But that was just to stay attractive to the opposite sex. I didn¡¯t want huge bulging biceps or tree trunk thighs, so that level of training was just dumb to me. But now I was living it, on full blast. With the wonderful addition of a middle-aged writing addict cracking me with a stick anytime my form wavered.


    After the mornings of monster decimation, we moved on to the training portion of the day. Each day focused on a single creature form.


    Ursa was the most simple, pure brute strength training. He said that''s where the bear type splicers truly excelled. Sometimes all you need to take some monsters down is hitting them really, really hard. That and more nuanced fighting styles apparently never worked well for them. Suffice to say, I picked up heavy shit. Logs, boulders, and, well that was about it. Not much to choose from in a forest. Len would spice it up with some, what he called, reflex training here and there (He hit me with that stupid stick when I was in the middle of lifting). At first I thought he was just being an ass, yet for the most part, I could endure it. I only ursa-raged like three or four times (26 times). Which always ended with me getting a smack on the back of the head.


    After a week of the reflex training, something odd happened. While lifting a boulder for the ninth time, my hand slipped, causing me to drop the boulder. I knew a blow from the stick was coming but this time my body preemptively flexed precisely where it was going to land. Len noticed and commented, ¡°Hmm, not the technique I was going for but definitely useful.¡± I asked him what technique he was training me for.


    ¡°Eh it wasn¡¯t a technique per se, I wanted you to focus on controlling your rage. One of the biggest pitfalls to rage or emotion based fighters is the lack of control. You need to make rational decisions in the middle of a fight. Flying off the handle will only get you and those around you killed. But on that point you have been doing well enough. You''re getting better at keeping the rage in control. Check your Ursa page.¡±


    Following his advice I opened it up.


    URSA - Proficiency Level: 4


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 1 hour


    Stat Changes:


    STR + 10


    DEX - 6


    AGI + 2


    CON + 11


    INT - 8


    WIS + 5


    CHR + 0


    Abilities:


    Ursa-rage:


    Put yourself into a fit of Rage. While raging, you gain a +10 boost in STR and CON, at the cost of - 9 to the mental stats. You also gain a 14% unarmed damage increase and a 14% damage reduction. These bonuses increase with proficiency.


    Learned Behavior:


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Preflex:


    Predict the exact trajectory of an attack. Chances of activation increase with proficiency level and wisdom.


    Boosted when in Ursa form. Caps at 100%


    Activation % = Proficiency + (Wisdom / 10) + 5[if in form]


    Current Activation = 4%


    Ursa Form Activation = 11%


    ¡°Your proficiency level went up on Ursa form.¡± Tutor remarked. I rolled my eyes at her comment before mumbling a sarcastic ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Anytime.¡±


    It looked like Len was right. I had a new ability, Preflex. God, how am I gonna keep up with all these names? Nice ability but the activation chance is kinda low. The stat boosts changed too. Noticeable increases STR and CON, not bad. Always welcome. But the negative modifiers went down too. Maybe it''s to balance out with the level gains. I turned over to Len and told him about the Preflex and the stat changes.


    ¡°Sounds right, instinctual fighters usually have some form of a defensive ability. Preflex is strong but a little unreliable at lower levels. Most tend to unlock constitution boosting abilities. These help lessen damage, but not taking damage at all is the better move.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, 4 percent is pretty low.¡± I comment while shrugging.


    ¡°Enough talk, back to it.¡±


    Gremlin training was more involved. It focused on weapons. Gremlin was the only form I had that had any aptitude for weapons. Ursa¡¯s hands were too awkward with its pads to hold weapons and though Apis had the dexterity, unarmed combat felt the most natural.


    Len said those instincts were best listened to. This meant learning how to use the weapons effectively while in Gremlin form. Which meant sparring with Len. It was infuriating. I was using my awesome silver longsword but every attack was parried by that damn stick. The stick that my Ursa form craved to demolish.


    One night after a particularly nasty beating from said stick, Len left it near his bedroll while he went off the bathe. The temptation was too great. I was going to destroy the cursed thing. I went to pick it up. Just as I gripped it, a searing heat flooded my palm. Pulling my hand away, I looked down at the stick expecting it to be on fire. But nothing of the sort, not even a glow. Just a brown stick. It did have a small fire shaped mark on the side of it. Len booby trapped a freaking stick. Who does that?! He only laughed when he saw the stick had moved.


    The longsword wasn¡¯t the only weapon we trained with. I took some of the spears and daggers the wild gremlins wielded. Had quite the stockpile now. Their quality was terrible though. Normally two or three broke every time I sparred with Len. How a metal dagger broke against a stick was a mystery, but I avoided thinking about it. Truth be told, training with them was more fruitful than the longsword. The mithril blade was too bulky for the fighting style gremlins utilized. Len said it was the reason I stood a chance against the gremlin leader all those nights ago. Its hubris and stupidity was its downfall.


    I actually enjoyed Apis training. It was split between hand to hand sparring and running through the treetops. I tried to reenact what I could remember of that cheesy kung fu movie after finding a very bo-staff-shaped stick. But much to my disappointment, the staff felt awkward and unruly to use.


    The freedom I felt while I jumped through the branches was almost indescribable. It was by far my favorite form. Not only was it incredibly fun, it had the nostalgic factor. It reminded me of my siblings. Tim would have loved running around the forest like this. And Gabby would complain but end up joining us and having a blast. Man, I miss them.


    With the wind flowing through my furry head, I felt like nothing could ever stop me. That is until Len did. By throwing fireballs at me. Constantly. My beautiful midday run through the trees turned into a death defying climb through hellfire. Flames would burst among the branches while I was jumping through them. While mid-jump, Len would cause the branch I was aiming for to light up, forcing me to make clumsy midair evasions. These normally ended with me having a singed tail. Funnily enough, not a single tree burnt down the whole time. Leonard¡¯s control of fire was terrifying.


    The best part of my day was the evenings where I went hunting for food either in rock form by the river, ambushing poor little fish, or in log form waiting for unsuspecting squirrels to climb across. Squirrel hunting felt wrong at first but Len didn¡¯t like fish very much. He said it was something about them being creatures of water and that bothered his fire nature. I think he is just picky. He certainly was about my training. It didn''t bother me though, he saved my life and was giving me all this training. Least I could do was find some squirrels.


    And was a nice change from the fish. I couldn''t tell you how many pounds of fish I''ve had since ending up here. I miss tacos. And hamburgers. Fried chicken. Damn near any meat other than fish and squirrel. Even vegetables. I''d kill for some roasted Brussel sprouts.


    We kept up this routine for another two months passed by, when I finally got my next level. Fall had come to the forest. A truly enigmatic sight. Each leaf painted with a different shade of red, yellow or orange. Aside from the patches of evergreens growing about.


    But it also meant the nights were getting chilly. We moved our camp into one of the gremlin caves I cleared out earlier in the year. I quickly missed seeing the stars before falling asleep. They were different from the ones back on Earth. I spent many a summer under them so I knew the night sky pretty well. It was weird looking up and not seeing a single constellation. Gramps taught me nearly all of them. My favorite was Orion and his belt. Orion, the pinnacle of human hunters and slayer of beasts. Wonder if he trained by massacring groups of goblin like fiends.


    The level up was nearly identical; three¡¯s across the board, same as last time. And 20 to health, stamina, and mana. Pretty much the same level. Len wasn¡¯t stupefied this time around, but he said something that excited me.


    ¡°Looks like we might make it to the city by the start of next year.¡± Relief and a small bit of anxiety coursed through me. My goal was finally in sight, but I was worried.


    I hadn¡¯t spoken to anyone other than Tutor or Len for months now. Am I going to be weird? Will I remember how to talk to girls? Man, I hope so. I enjoyed talking with them and teasing them. Feeling how soft they were. How their hair smelled. Mmm. A dopey grin grew on my face.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that stupid look?¡± A harsh voice rang in my head. I jumped and shook my head. Yeah those thoughts are probably best left alone for now. I mumbled ¡°Nothing.¡± But I continued to think about it.


    Allie¡¯s face flashed into my mind. A sudden rush of melancholy accompanying the vision. Before those thoughts rooted themselves any deeper, I walked over to the river and dumped my face in. The much colder autumn water shocked my entire system, immediately purging all the distracting thoughts.


    Drenched, I returned to where Len was. He wore a confused look on his face but said nothing. He just pulled out his journal and wrote more notes with the same intensity as he had after the last level up. Probably a new training regiment to follow. I sighed.


    Yay me.

 12. Shaky Morning

    The smell of cheap greasy fries and burgers danced around my nostrils. I was sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair, nursing a beer and munching on some fries waiting for my turn. ¡°So did you hear about the new game From is making?¡± My friend Gary sat across from me. ¡°Yeah it looks pretty sick, it''s cool their branching into sci fi. They¡¯ve always done high fantasy so it will be sweet seeing what they do in space.¡± I answered him whilst pushing the beer away. Never been a huge fan of the drink, but Ryan bought it for me and I don¡¯t like denying generosity. Beer man himself wrapped his arm around Gary¡¯s shoulder. ¡°No Gare-bear. No we are not talking nerd shit right now. The girls are going to be here any minute. You are the ones who wanted to get a game in before they got here so you wouldn¡¯t look like losers.¡± CLASH!


    The nostalgic crashing of pins resounded in the lane next to our table. The guy bowling in the lane next to us just got his fourth strike in a row. Dude was on fire. He looked the part: sweatband around his head, jean shorts, Hawaiian shirt, and white crew socks sitting inside custom neon bowling shoes. That guy was here to rock.


    ¡°Dude, quit staring at the bowling god. You''re up.¡± Ryan said in a joking tone. ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± I walked over to my 14 pounder and readied up. Three careful steps and swing. Curve is looking good. Just right of the center pin. But at the last second, it breaks too hard and ends up only dropping the four of the pins on the left side.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you get for being a showoff with all the curve balls.¡± Gary called out. So what? I thought they looked cool and I wanted to hone them before she got here. I walked back to the ball return.


    As I went to pick up my ball, I looked up. The front doors opened and a couple of girls walked in. I recognized them and with a grin went to wave but something shone from behind them. The light grew so bright it started hurting my eyes.


    Light streaming through the cave entrance woke me up. I groggily rubbed my face before a moment of panic arose. I scanned the area looking for gremlins. Len had backed off on the morning wake up raids but threw them in to keep me on my toes. But there were no gremlins to be seen. It was just the camp cave where we always slept.


    I haven¡¯t had a dream of the past in a while. Gary was my roommate, in my junior year of college. Way better than the crackpot I had to live with the first two years. Gail smoked pot and read the crystals all day. Whatever the hell that meant. Gary and I had a lot of the same interests so it was cool living with him. Ryan was his previous roommate but he moved off campus. Wonder how they''re doing now. I stood up before I thought about it too long. That life is gone.


    It was the morning after my second level up. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked towards Len¡¯s sleeping spot. He wasn¡¯t there. Which was normal. What wasn¡¯t normal was waking up to the sun filtering into the cave. Len woke me up every morning at the crack of too damn early. Sunlight brightening up the cave was a whole new experience. Light from the campfire was the only one that I ever witnessed in the cave. Strange but all together pleasant. A chilling breeze blew into the cave. I shivered. Winter must come early in the world. Len said it got cold quick here, especially after the leaves all fell off the trees. A cold winter morning.


    Len left a note at the entrance of the cave. I didn¡¯t know what it said. It was mostly a bunch of scribbles and lines. With eyes widening, I made a sudden realization. I don¡¯t know how to read. I never even imagined it. Sure Len had been writing this whole time but he never let me look inside of it. Every time I got close he would somehow find a way to smack me with that blasted stick. Even when he left to go relieve himself or bathe. SMACK!


    So I quit trying and stopped thinking about it. I guess I assumed he was writing in English. I mean my character sheet was in English and he read that multiple times. Maybe it was translating it differently for each of us. But what was translating? Time to ask the one I know was still here, ¡°Hey Tutor, got a sec?¡±


    ¡°Yellooo!¡± A very enthusiastic greeting spoke in my head.


    ¡°Wow, someone¡¯s chipper today.¡±


    ¡°Yep, the first time I got some decent sleep since we¡¯ve been here. I got to catch up on a bunch of errands and such this morning.¡± I sat there, tilting my head at the ridiculousness of these statements. ¡°You¡¯re a voice in my head, what errands¡­you know what I don¡¯t want to know.¡± I lied. I desperately wanted to know but Tutor was tightlipped on questions like that. My current strategy was to act uninterested in hopes she would let something slip. I continued on.


    ¡°What language do they have in Kniyas? Is it not English or some variant?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s Kniyan. Creative name right?¡± She said, sarcasm laid on thick.


    ¡°Have I been speaking it this whole time?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Then why can¡¯t I read it?¡±


    She paused, as if she was at a loss for words. Which is a first. I picked up Len¡¯s note and¡­ I want to say show it to her but with her being a voice in my head, or something else entirely, meant that wasn¡¯t really an option.


    ¡°Oh oops hehe.¡± She giggled nervously. ¡°Yep, let me get right on that.¡±


    I could have sworn I heard a click go off but suddenly the symbols on the paper made sense. They didn¡¯t turn into English or anything like that; I just understood them like I had been reading the language my whole life. It was so natural. And odd. I looked down at the note.


    Hey, I have some stuff to take care of. You¡¯re on your own for a while. Just do the drills I have listed here. DO NOT SLACK OFF. If you want to see civilization any time soon, put some work in. PS. Don¡¯t die. I¡¯d rather the last few months not be a waste of time.


    After the note was a training menu. Filled with exercises and details on how to do them properly. I cringed in disgust at one of them.


    ¡°Really, ten sets of 20 burpees in Ursa form.¡± The paper didn¡¯t call them burpees, but I knew the dreadful exercise all too well. That overzealous personal trainer I had for exactly one week loved them. Devil¡¯s exercise, I tell ya. After folding the note and putting it by my bedroll, I stoked the fire a few times and laid back down. I was going to pretend I hadn¡¯t seen the note and slack off. I closed my eyes and dozed off.


    Well, I tried to. I rolled around a few times, attempting to find a comfortable position. Finally with big huff, I stood back up. truthfully, I wasn¡¯t tired in the slightest and got bored almost immediately. There was no stimulation whatsoever to help facilitate a lazy day. I groaned and huffed for a while but then got up and looked over the workout menu again.


    After activating Apis form, I started doing pull-ups on a lower hanging branch. Apis form was by far my favorite form. I just felt better in it, like someone was dumping serotonin directly into my brain. Its workouts never felt like a chore. But this inevitably devolved into me playing in the trees for like an hour. The air was chilly, but it didn¡¯t bother me too much while I was in a form. The extra fur and exercise helped me fight off the cooler weather.


    I walked back to the cave, tail drooping a little, after I began feeling guilty for slacking off again. But something felt wrong when I walked up to the cave. An abrupt feeling rushed over the top of my skin, causing all of my hair to stand on end. This sensation of dread filled my head, paralyzing me. Even my tail straightened out and wouldn¡¯t listen to my commands.


    Something was watching me. Where was it? I wanted to look around but I couldn¡¯t move. That¡¯s not quite right. It was more like the intense fear wouldn¡¯t allow me to move. The bushes rumbled for a second. My eyes shot towards them. The branches above me shook like something jumped from them. The feeling subsided for a moment, which was enough time for me to move my head. I scanned the bushes and the trees looking for my watcher but to no avail. I looked toward the cave when something finally caught my eye.


    A pair of green feline eyes glared down at me. They shined bright and eerie, even in the midmorning sun. They entranced me as I stared at them. A magnificent beast stood atop the entrance to the cave. A big cat with dark beautiful fur kept eye contact with me for what felt like minutes. Its eyes flashed for a split second and the fear from earlier crept along my skin once again. It snarled revealing its slightly yellowed fangs and raised its haunches.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The glint in its eyes lessened. At that moment, my left arm tensed and I recognized the feeling. I mustered all of my willpower and jumped to the left. A blur of black fur whizzed by me aiming to take out my left arm in one fell swoop.


    It landed on the ground and immediately swung around with a huge paw lashing towards my body. I pushed myself off the ground with my arms and tail. Getting away from the swipe and back up, I turned toward the beast again, ready to move if it attacked again. But it wasn¡¯t there. I heard a rustle in the trees and looked up. Black fur was descending on me. I moved to the side but its claws raked my shoulder. A shallow cut but still hurt. It jumped as soon as it hit the ground, back into the trees.


    Being on the ground was a death sentence. I rushed towards the closest tree and climbed up. Once I was about three quarters up the tree, I searched for signs of my foe throughout the trees. I figured it would be easy as most of the leaves had fallen leaving half the trees exposed. But no dice. I couldn¡¯t see the panther in any of the barren branches. But there were some trees that needed to be searched, the evergreens.


    The Forest contained mostly deciduous trees but there were patches of conifers throughout. Our cave happened to be nestled among a cluster of them. I¡¯m not sure if that helps or hurts right now. I decided it helped because it meant that the panther had to be hiding among conifers.


    It was clearly an ambush hunter that preferred to attack from above. But I¡¯ve been swinging and jumping through these trees for a few months now. This was my wheelhouse. I have a chance; I just need to draw it out somehow. Wonder if catnip is a thing here in Kniyas, or if it works on giant cat monsters?


    Should I wait it out? No, I would probably lose Apis form before it made any move and none of my other forms do much in trees. Aside from the squirrel form that is. But I don¡¯t think buck teeth are going to be the winning factor in this battle. If only I could mimic it. I have a feeling it would be an awesome form. It had nothing to do with me being a cat person.


    That strange feeling of fear crept up once more as I was getting ready to move closer to the evergreens. It wasn¡¯t as crippling as before but it had caused me to hesitate. I looked up at my HUD. My health had a sliver taken out of it, that shoulder wound wouldn¡¯t be a problem. But another notification was under it. I focused on it.


    [Shaken]


    The fear that''s taken root in me must be the result of an ability. But how does it work? I heard a rustle from a branch on the nearest evergreen. My eyes shot up towards the source. Most of the evergreens were taller than the tree I was currently on. It meant it probably still had its eyes on me from above. I looked up towards the tree the sound came from.


    I couldn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary until a flash of green poked through the branches. I focused my sight on the spot. There was a darkness there. It felt out of place. Like a darkness like that shouldn¡¯t exist in the sun, even if the branches were providing some shade. Two familiar green lights shone through the darkness. The fear tightened my chest, making it slightly difficult to breathe. But I could still move.


    Those eyes. They must have something to do with the ability. Before I could think more on it, the green lights went out. A gust of wind blew through the trees. It shifted every treetop. The unnatural fear subsided once more. I looked where the panther was but that unnatural darkness was replaced with normal shadows.


    It must have used the gust of wind to hide its movements. Gotta move now. I prepared myself to jump but just as I bent my legs; the sensation grabbed hold once more. I managed to wrap my tail around the branch before calling. It must have me in its sights again. But where?


    I desperately searched through the branches of the evergreens but ultimately not seeing a single thing out of place. A branch above me cracked slightly. A sound so small I would have ignored it in any other circumstance. Without another thought, I let my body fall backwards. Sure enough, a flash of dark fur had appeared where my body was seconds ago. The panther got above me.


    But this was a chance. My tail went taught, and I maneuvered myself onto the branch below. The cat looked over the side where I had fallen, searching for me. I climbed up the trunk until I was just above the furry fiend. I mustered every bit of strength in my legs and pushed off toward it. It turned and snarled as it saw me coming, but I was just fast enough. I crossed my forearms in front of me and hit the side of the panther. The monster¡¯s footing faltered for a moment and then the beast¡¯s paws lifted off the branch. The panther tumbled through the air as my blow launched it from the branch. Yes! I can do this.


    But as the thought crossed my mind, the panther twisted in the air and swiped at my back. Damn, I can¡¯t move out of the way. I was still airborne. Its paw smashed into my spine sending me straight down into the branches below. My body smacked and broke though a few smaller branches as I was hurtling down.


    After some of the most terrifying second of my life, I landed on my stomach right on top of a larger branch. I felt myself sliding but my tail wrapped around the branch, securing me. The impact left me nauseous. I attempted to rise but to no avail.


    I looked up at my health bar. It was sitting somewhere around 35%. My eyesight fluttered. Shit, I can¡¯t pass out right now. I pulled myself up and leaned on the trunk. My breath was uneven and rasping, but I didn¡¯t have time to assess the damage. I needed to get eyes on the cat. I lifted my head slowly but after a rather disheartening crack my head slumped back down.


    Look up dammit. You will die if you don¡¯t look up. But as I struggled with my body, I saw something at the bottom of the tree. A large black body laid on its side.


    It was the panther, it must not have been as lucky as me to fall on a branch. Is it dead? Why couldn¡¯t this world have a notification for when you killed something?


    My vision faded once more as I looked on at the unmoving body. Until finally my eyelids fell completely.


    ¡ª


    Len popped his neck as he walked towards the guards. They stared off in the distance, each with a bead of sweat on their foreheads, as he got closer. They made sure to not look him in the eyes. Len chuckled as he passed by them.


    He recognized this particular duo and understood why they didn¡¯t want to look him in the eyes. He may have gone a bit overboard intimidating them last time he went through the main gates. At least that''s what Herman, the guard captain, had told him. Len recalled his last conversation with the man.


    ¡°They¡¯re new Ainsworth, fresh out of the academy. It¡¯s hard enough finding some that don¡¯t piss themselves up there. They don¡¯t need your terrifying aura on top of the beasts¡¯ lurking out there.¡±


    ¡°Well I was in a hurry and they were in the way.¡± Len said while shrugging. ¡°It wasn¡¯t even a threatening aura.¡± Len added under his breath.


    As Len got through the gate and arrived at the main intersection, he saw the man in question talking with one of his Lieutenants. She was a taller elf woman and had to look down to her commanding officer. She had a greenish hue to her skin. It was a common trope, so he wasn¡¯t sure what her gene was. She saluted Herman and walked away. Herman saw Len and waved him over.


    Herman was a giant of a man, or well dwarf for that matter. About as tall as the shorter humans, roughly 5¡¯ 3¡± if Len had to guess, but almost twice as wide. The dwarf wore black leather armor with white leather bands running down both sides of his chest and back. He had identical handaxes on each side of his waist. His head was topped with short black slicked back hair with streaks of silver on both sides and a black mark under each of his eyes. Len was always shocked how remarkably symmetrical the dwarf was.


    Herman¡¯s gene trope was the black wolf ears protruding at the top of his head. A common trope among the canine splicers. Herman had the Wulfen gene.


    Once Len got close, Herman spoke. ¡°Here a bit late ain¡¯t cha? My men said you¡¯ve only been seen coming and going in the wee hours b¡¯fore sunrise. Where ya headin¡¯?¡± Len nodded his head.


    Len had arrived back in Laurel around noon. Most of Len¡¯s runs into town were like Herman, before dawn. He needed to get back to Liam before the boy asked any questions. Len chuckled to himself. Eh I¡¯d just send him to another gremlin camp before it happened.


    ¡°Heading to the lab. I will be in Laurel for a few weeks before I head out again. If you wouldn''t mind, wait a little while before you tell Lirae I¡¯m back.¡± Len said, hoping the dwarf would acquiesce.


    Herman shook his head. ¡°You know she doesn¡¯t need me to tell her you¡¯re here. You high-level freaks with your weird senses.¡± Len laughed at his comment. He was pretty sure Herman wasn¡¯t that far behind him in levels. Maybe a couple dozen. It was common knowledge that you had to be rather strong to be in leadership in Laurel.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t give her any details. I will see her soon enough.¡± Len said with a halfhearted smile. Herman shrugged, he looked apathetic about the whole situation.


    Herman¡¯s ears suddenly twitched. The sound of an alarm bell crashed through the air. Herman¡¯s previous air of indifference vanished and one of brutal seriousness replaced it. He started walking over to the gate. Len followed him. One of the men stationed by the entrance ran up to Herman and walked alongside the two.


    ¡°Sir, a large group is making its way here.¡±


    ¡°What types?¡±


    ¡°Mixed bag. Probably heavier on the beast side. The boss looks to be a Beruang. No flyers.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Herman contemplated for a moment. ¡°Len hate to bother ya but since yer here.¡± Len cut him off.


    ¡°Nah, it''s fine. I wouldn¡¯t mind letting off some steam.¡±

 13. Shaken, not Stirred

    My body jerked awake. ¡°Where am I?¡± I gripped the bark under my hands. My mind was hazy and began to fill with questions. How did I get here? Why is my back aching?


    Burnt orange sunlight danced through the branches as I tried to recall why I was 30 feet in the air on a tree branch. An icy breeze flowed, causing me to shiver. It was sunset already. But how?


    I worked back through what happened today in my head. I woke up and Len was gone. He left me some notes and workout instructions. I ignored them and started running through the trees in the morning. Trees. A flash of black fur raced into my mind¡¯s eye.


    ¡°The cat!¡± I blurted out. Panic rose in my chest and my breath quickened. Was it still out there? I tried moving around to find it, but my body was feeling sluggish and didn¡¯t want to move. Every inch felt sore. The battle, if you can call it that, slowly came back to me. I tried fighting the cat in the trees and when I thought I finally got a good hit in, it countered and launched me down. This branch caught me. I rubbed its bark. ¡°Good branch.¡± The words came out in more of a grunt.


    I don¡¯t think the feline was so lucky. I gazed down to where the panther¡¯s body was. Only to see empty space. The dark body was no longer laying at the base of the tree. Fear crawled up my back. It survived that fall. I need to get out of this tree.


    It was a challenge getting down. Apis form ran out long ago and my body hurt like hell. My back especially. That blow from the panther must have done some incredible damage. I shuddered when I thought about what it would have been like if it had proper leverage. It probably would have snapped my spine like a twig. My health was sitting at 30%.


    I got down the tree after a stumble or two and limped over to where the monster¡¯s body laid earlier. All that remained of the cat was a dark spot in the grass. I knelt down and touched it. It was mostly dried blood. I smelled my finger and was immediately accosted by that signature thick iron smell. ¡°Yep, that''s blood.¡± I searched around to see if I could find a trail.


    After a few minutes of combing through the grass, I couldn''t find any traces of it. What could that mean? ¡°Was it picked up by a bigger predator?¡± Voicing my thoughts.


    I shook my head at that idea. ¡°Nah it probably would have been eaten right here. And would have left more traces. Did it staunch the bleeding somehow? That seems more plausible. Probably an ability or just plain old high constitution. I wish I could have copied it.¡±


    I cursed myself for not at least trying to mimic it. ¡°Whatever. But that means it is still out there.¡± As the words left my mouth, a shiver took my whole body. I guess the fear hadn¡¯t quite left my body. To be fair, I almost died, again. One would think I would get over that by now. I took one step, but pain shot through my back. I stopped myself and went into log form.


    I didn¡¯t immediately leave the form as I usually do when I healed. I stayed in the form mostly to calm down. The peace that accompanied the form welled up. I didn¡¯t know where it came from but it was welcome right now. The shaken status was no longer in the HUD, yet I swore I could still feel its effects. Like at any moment, the blur of black death would swing by and finish the job. A shudder wracked my wooden body.


    Eventually an unwitting squirrel clambered on top of my bark. The poor thing was instantaneously shoved into my mouth. There wasn''t an ounce of willpower inside me. My instincts took over. And with a few small crunches, the critter was gone. I turned the form off and walked back to the cave in the dark. The sun went down at some point and the Kniyan moon was nowhere in sight. But I could see fine with the Gremlin¡¯s Darksight ability, getting back to camp wasn''t a problem. At least physically. I flinched at pretty much every noise in the area, shifting into log and stone form every time.


    My stomach grumbled when I got back to camp, but I had no wish to go back out and look for food. The tree form meditation helped lighten some of fear but today''s encounter laid heavily on my heart. I don¡¯t know if it''s an aftereffect of the shaken condition or just me. Either way, I wanted no more excitement. We kept a small stockpile of nuts and berries that grew in the Forest so I figured they would suffice for dinner tonight.


    I munched on the food for a while, but gave up after a handful or too. My new set of teeth made eating anything other than meat a hassle. The nuts and fruit get stuck in the crevices. Floss would be nice right now. Scratch that, these teeth would slice right through it. Toothpicks. That''s what I need.


    Following my pathetic dinner, I lied down on my bedroll and shut my eyes. But as soon as he darkness surrounded me, all I could see were those haunting green eyes. Thoughts of the cat monster rushed through my mind. The paralyzing fear it put me under, the slash on my shoulder, the slam on my back. Heat coursed through my skin as the details of today¡¯s feud assaulted my mind, causing me to sweat profusely. I opened my eyes and rolled away from my bedroll. My breath shallowed and quickened. Before the hyperventilation fully heightened, I got up and walked deeper into the cave, to its deepest part and turned back into a log.


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    ¡ª


    Unblinking eyes stared into the reddish orange sky. Len recognized them. They belonged to one of the soldiers that was too terrified to look at him this morning. Len sighed.


    The kid was a recent graduate, which meant he was barely 18. And the battlefield was filled with eyes like his. Eyes that would never perceive the beauty that was the evening sky they so blatantly starred at. Eyes of the fallen. He looked at the rest of the poor boy''s body; half of his torso was missing, ripped away by the claws of the boss Beruang. This Beruang was a head above the rest and twice as deadly.


    The raid was particularly bloody this time around. Even if they didn¡¯t have any flying monsters to worry about, the ground ones gave enough of a fight. The scouts'' reports had been accurate. The raid consisted of mostly of beast types, sprinkled with reptiles. A common mixing in The Forest.


    Len kicked face of fallen monster, if he had gotten to the boss a half step quicker he might have been able to save the kid and more. He sighed and looked over to the boss¡¯s corpse. Its fur was singed black from head to toe, but that¡¯s not what felled it. Its demise came from the massive tree root jutting out of its chest.


    Len took a deep breath. He wasn¡¯t injured or even tired, at least not physically. This was a lower tier raid, maybe a 5 or 6 and never posed a threat to him. No, he was tired of the raids themselves. The nearly senseless death of those around him. Hell, of the world itself and the crap it brought with it. Though he never showed it, he couldn''t and wouldn''t let anyone see the hate that boiled under the surface. He loathed the sight of the bodies, young and old, covering the ground.


    Len was among the eldest of the people on Kniyas. Due in part to the intrinsic strength of his gene and the effort he spent his whole life cultivating that power. That¡¯s what it took to live a long life on Kniyas. And he learned one thing in his 48 years on Kniyas: he loved life.


    The sensation of waking up and seeing the sun rise, watching it set across the horizon, sharing good food and thrilling tales with friends, feeling the tender touch of a loved one. Pulling dumb pranks on people, getting them riled up. Len loved it all. But they were luxuries few could afford to indulge.


    Life on Kniyas was filled with more days like today, than joy-filled ones. These raids happened at least once every moon or so. Laurelhaven was guaranteed a respite for the next seven days. But after that they needed to be on alert.


    He wasn¡¯t sure about the world Liam spoke about but he didn¡¯t think the boy was lying, this Hearth or whatever it was called. Len had been fighting for so long that hearing of a place so peaceful felt like pure fantasy. He wondered if that could be possible on Kniyas. Or at least what it would take to create such a place.


    He stared off in the direction of the fallen soldier¡¯s lifeless gaze. A grunt woke Len from his reverie. Herman reached down towards a separate Beruang¡¯s body and ripped up one of his handaxes that was lodged in the beast¡¯s side. The dwarf¡¯s head swiveled back and forth, looking for something. ¡°This is why I feckin¡¯ hate throwing the damned things. Always lose ¡®em.¡±


    Len already knew where the little wolf¡¯s ax had flown. It was stuck in the jaw of one of the Salamandras that were in the third wave. Herman had thrown it to stop the creature from spewing another ball of venomous goo at our left flank. He always complains about throwing them after battle but will never hesitate if it means saving lives. Herman was crass but a good man nonetheless. And extremely handy with those axes.


    Len walked over to the slimy lizard body that held the ax and with his flames, pulled it out of the monster¡¯s cheek. After burning away any and all contaminants from the weapon, Len grabbed the dimension pouch that hung from his belt.


    On the outside it looked about large enough to carry three or four days worth of food, but was much bigger on the inside. Made from the stomach of an abyss touch pig-like monster that Len ran into years ago. A Swinoct. The creature could easily eat its own weight 80 times over if left to its own devices. They weren¡¯t powerful monsters, barely a Tier 4, but what they lacked in strength they made up in scarcity. They hid and scavenged among the mountains to the North, around Tiamantis. Maybe two or three are seen in a year.


    Putting Herman¡¯s ax in his bag, Len snickered. He could use this to mess with the disgruntled dwarf later. He walked towards the grumbling. ¡°Herman, tell the burn squad they don¡¯t need to come out today.¡± Herman looked at him and nodded. ¡°Aye, them boys could use a breather. It''s been hairy these last few times, leaving them plenty overworked. They¡¯ll appreciate a break.¡± Under his breath he added. ¡°Now I¡¯m certainly not getting me ax back.¡±


    He understood the sentiment of the burners, being one himself in his younger years. It¡¯s not that torching the monsters is especially difficult; they''re already dead and can''t do much to stop you. It was burning the fallen comrades that drained one¡¯s psyche. Those you grew up with, trained with, fought with. Their very existence smoldering into nothingness. And the stench.


    Len nodded once and Herman shouted, gathering his remaining lieutenants and giving the orders to search for wounded and scrounge for any valuable monster parts, then return to the garrison in time for roll call. Len closed his eyes and meditated while waiting for the hundreds of troops to leave the vicinity.


    After an hour or two, all that was left on the battlefield were corpses and himself. Len stood up and brushed off his clothes. He inhaled a deep breath. Pillars of flames sprouted around Len, first dozens, then hundreds. He then forced the flames to converge on his body. Every flame packed together closer and closer, coiling around Len, ready to burst out at any moment. Once the last flame joined, Len released the energy all at once.


    The fire rushed forth throughout the battlefield as if hell itself opened up, scorching and incinerating each and every body that laid on that ground. No matter the corpse, as soon as the heatwave touched skin, fur or scale, nothing remained but ash and dust.


    After Len finished, crouched down attempting to catch his breath. ¡°First ones above, I¡¯m gonna sleep great tonight.¡± He lied. He never got decent sleep after performing these duties. But it was necessary. The corpses would only attract eager monsters to the city gates. He shut his eyes and bowed.


    ¡°Well if nothing else, I shouldn¡¯t have to deal with Lirae today.¡± He pulled Herman¡¯s ax out of his bag and with a wry grin said. ¡°Now how am I going to screw with him?¡±

 14. Wake Up Call

    Cold, rough stone rubbed on my face. I opened my eyes. I was on the cave floor, far away from where my bedroll was. ¡°Why¡­ oh right.¡± I mumbled groggily as I pulled myself off the ground. Log form doesn¡¯t last the night. It wasn¡¯t a new discovery; Len had me try sleeping in all of my forms but I never made it through an entire night. I could stay in an object form for nearly a whole day so long as I was awake, if I slept for any longer than an hour I would lose the form. I¡¯m only part mimic I guess.


    I looked at my health bar; it went up a little, maybe around 40% now. ¡°Looks like the nuts and berries dinner didn¡¯t do much.¡± Confirming my thoughts on mimics being on the carnivorous side of the food chain.


    Food and sleep were vitally important to me, in this life and the last. Probably more so this one. I did all of my real healing while asleep, but that recovery was fueled by food, well, meat that is. And I clearly didn¡¯t have enough. My stomach growled monstrously, seconding the thought. I stood up and stretched. I winced and groaned. My back was killing me. Its been months since a painful morning like this. And as if the pain stoked the flames of my hunger, my stomach roared once more. Finishing the excruciating stretch, I made for the entrance.


    But I stopped. My body shivered uncontrollably. I looked at my HUD again, the shaken status wasn¡¯t there anymore. Then why do I feel scared? ¡°God, am I that pathetic? One day alone and I fall apart.¡± I shuddered again. ¡°Oh.¡± I remembered the feeling, it was an instinct I hadn¡¯t felt in a while. The one that told me to run when I first met Len. The other bonus granted by monster genes. ¡°Man, mimics are cowards.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are.¡± Tutor chimed in. ¡°Jesus, you look like shit.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, needed that.¡± But before I could say more, my stomach groaned again. It''s like its angry. I looked over at the note Len left, my shoulders drooped. With a sigh, I exited the cave and made my way toward the river.


    The water in the river was only getting colder as the season changed. I wondered if my rock form could handle the extreme cold that was going to come soon. I hope the river doesn¡¯t freeze during the winter. It was my best food supply. I have a feeling squirrels will be hard to find in the winter months. I haven''t tried monster meat yet. I could try to hunt... but as the thought entered my mind, another shiver came upon me. "Crap." I whispered.


    Hours drifted by and at this point and had mostly eaten my fill. The sun was past the horizon but I was just lazing in the river in stone form. I hadn¡¯t done any training today. After yesterday¡¯s battle, I just kind of wanted to do nothing.


    Which wasn¡¯t anything new for me. I had this habit on Earth too. If stress got to be too much, I would just shut down. I¡¯d stay indoors and just zone out playing a game or watching something, letting the day and bad feelings rot away.


    A dumb thought crossed my mind. I will never get to finish any of those games now. Not that I was great at finishing them anyway. The amount of games I played and never beat far outnumbered those I did. There are a lot of things I won¡¯t get to finish anymore. People I wont see anymore. The feelings I¡¯d been shoving down this whole time through fighting and training, all bubbled up.


    But this is my life now. Sitting in a frigid river, waiting for fish to fall into my mouth. All of that training just for me to almost die again. Frustration grew inside of me, making me feel anxious and itchy. What the hell was the point? I lashed out, a stone covered arm parting the water for a split second. The river water took its chance and flooded the inside of my rock covering. A deep chill ran through me. My rock form was pretty much airtight when I was curled up, which retained most of my body heat. But I broke the seal.


    I turned off the form and walked over to the bank and then up to a tree. ¡°DAMN IT!¡± I shouted at the top of my lungs. I reared back and threw my fist into the bark. And again, and again. This went on for a few minutes. I looked down at my hands expecting a bloody mess but I must have unconsciously slipped into ursa mode because when I looked down at my fists they were hairy and larger. I looked at the padded hand and knelt down, finally saying the words I¡¯ve been holding back since the moment I got here.


    ¡°I want to go home.¡±


    After a moment Tutor spoke. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t. So toughen up buttercup because crap is going to hit the fan soon.¡±


    I stared blankly forward, responding after running my fingers through my long unkempt hair. ¡°I have been. It didn¡¯t seem to help much against the shadow panther thing. I¡¯m just weak. Worthless without a babysitter.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do about it? You¡¯ve found out that coasting by won¡¯t work here. It did on Earth, so you, like the majority of everyone on that deplorable planet, got complacent. Complacency only gets you killed here. Do you want to die? Because that''s exactly what''s going to happen, and I can assure you that you won¡¯t be getting another chance. So I will repeat myself, what are you going to do about it? Continue this pathetic pity party?¡±


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    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I stood up. ¡°But for now, I¡¯m going to sleep.¡± Tutor huffed in response. With my head held low, I marched over to the cave, lit the campfire, and rolled into bed.


    ¡ª


    I found myself at a fancy wine-and-dine restaurant. The kind that cost like 100 bucks a plate. I looked pretty dang dapper, if I do say so myself. I was wearing a three-piece suit I rented for the occasion. That occasion being a date with Allie. She talked about how she had always wanted to go to a restaurant like this one, to see if the food and atmosphere really lived up to the hype. She grew up a lot like me, not poor or anything, but lower middle class.


    So I saved up, skipped a meal or ten last month to bring her here. Sure, it hurt my wallet, but the way she smiled while eating that cooked leather boot (she ordered her steak well done) made the whole trip worth it.


    We both got steak and salad for dinner. It seemed kind of sad, it was like an 8 oz tenderloin and a salad half the size I made at home. Plus it had some weird vinaigrette dressing. I just wanted ranch. But the smooth piano music playing in the background, candle lit background, and beautiful girl chewing on that overcooked meat in front of me made it special.


    We chatted and joked, talked about life and what we wanted to do in the future. She loved kids and softball which meant she wanted to coach little league some day. I was silently listening to her. I wasn¡¯t really sure what I wanted, but I knew I was happy here and now.


    SLAP!


    ¡°What was that?¡± Allie spoke as she and I searched for the source of the slap. It came from a middle-aged man and woman two tables down. She was reaching at the man¡¯s neck while a waiter held her back. ¡°Let me go, this bastard just told me he just sold our company for pennies, just so he can go and live with some Hawaiian hussy and start a spear fishing business.¡±


    ¡°It''s my dream Helen, and I met Ailani on my last trip out to Honolulu. We are in love.¡±


    I looked over to Allie and saw the beginnings of a smirk bloom on her face. Yep, she was gonna crack. Can¡¯t lie. I was too. ¡±Check please.¡±


    Once we got out of the restaurant, we burst out laughing. After wheezing for a good minute, I said ¡°What the hell was that?¡± With tears streaming down her face, Allie responded. ¡°Ailani¡¯s spearfishing tours in the Aloha State. I can see the sign now. That¡¯s too good.¡±


    ¡°I somehow don¡¯t think that story is going to end well. I hope the old guy isn¡¯t getting scammed.¡±


    After our outburst, we started walking around in the nearby park. It was the middle of summer so even though it was past 7, the sun was still out. I took off my jacket and loosened my tie. Allie shot daggers at me.


    ¡°Must be nice, being able to dress down some, This damn dress doesn¡¯t really leave much room for that. Plus, these dreadful heels.¡± She huffed.


    ¡°You could just take the heels off.¡±


    ¡°And ruin my hosiery. Nope.¡± I chuckled at her comment. ¡°Just call them pantyhose.¡±


    ¡°No, that sounds dirty. Hosiery is much more elegant.¡± Adding a curtsy to her statement. I laughed again, Allie joining me this time.


    I looked out and noticed a taco truck at the other end of the park. My stomach wasn¡¯t full from that $250 meal. I nodded my head over in its direction. ¡°Hey are you still hungry?¡± She looked over to where I gestured. ¡°Oh my god yes. That steak was delicious but not nearly filling enough.¡±


    Probably needless to say, but those authentic tacos slapped. Harder than Helen at least. The sun started setting as we strolled over to a park bench, bellies sufficiently filled. Allie leaned against my shoulder. The tantalizing scent of her shampoo drifted into my nostrils.


    I was the first to break the lazy silence. ¡°This is probably one of the best evenings I¡¯ve ever had.¡±


    I paused and soaked in the atmosphere some more.


    ¡°I hope we have a lot more like it.¡± I added. But instead of replying, Allie got off of me. She stood up and looked me dead in the eyes. It was a look I had never seen before: One of pure austere. ¡°Then don¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°W-w¡­What?¡±


    ¡°If you want to have more nights like this one, don¡¯t die. That¡¯s the only way you¡¯ll have a chance.¡±


    I stared at her face for seconds, dumbfounded by what she just said. What was she even talking about? She must be joking, but this wasn¡¯t her type of joke. All the noise that bounced around the park died out. The wonderful smell from the taco truck disappeared.


    After a full minute passed, two green feline eyes flashed in the bush behind her. Soon the park melted away and Allie¡¯s face warped. Blood leaked out of her mouth, the once gorgeous dress covered in claw marks. And then suddenly, she was gone. All that remained were me and those staring green eyes. The eyes grew and grew until¡­


    ¡°SHIT!¡± I shouted, waking up and sitting up. Sweat drenched my entire body as I breathed in gasps. I brought my knees to my chest and held them. I closed my eyes and tried to take control of my breathing.


    When I opened my eyes, they were sideways and pointed at the wall of the cave to my right, which was strange because I don¡¯t think I moved. I moved my arm, but stopped when I heard creaking. I looked at my arm. Tree bark ran along it. I turned off log form and closed my eyes.


    I stood up and walked over to the note Len left me and picked it up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t die, huh.¡±


    Taking the note and shifting into Ursa form, I started doing the most grueling set of burpees in my life.


    ¡ª


    Tutor gazed at the screen she sat in front of. She shuddered. ¡°Worked better than I thought it would. Thought he¡¯d need a few more.¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Liam. That was cold, but I can¡¯t lose another one.¡±

 15. Sticks and Stones

    Why, just why, couldn''t I have brought my phone to this world? All this working out and no music. I never understood how people could workout with nothing but the crappy gym radio. Getting into the groove with the help of music was one of the few things that was fun about working out. That boost to motivation when you listen to that real good blood-pumping EDM. Chef¡¯s kiss.


    It''s been about a week since the panther attack. There hasn¡¯t been any signs of the beast returning, not that it would leave any. The damn thing was probably specced for stealth, on top of having those weird but cool shadow powers. Man, I wish I had mimicked it. A stealth form would be invaluable.


    Swish, Swish, Stab.


    I was doing some weapons practice while in Gremlin form. It was the form I was slacking on the most. Truth be told, it was just boring compared to the other forms. I always had a blast when I was in Apis form and there was a simplicity to Ursa form¡¯s lifting that made it enjoyable. Aside from the burpees. I¡¯m pretty sure it was on account of the drop in mental stats that came with the form. Ignorance is bliss and all that.


    Stabbing and slashing a wooden dummy was all I did in Gremlin form. Len had left extensive notes on numerous techniques for both daggers and spears. But the repetition was grating. It''s what sparked my desire for some musical stimulation. I stabbed the dummy a final time and wiped the sweat from my brow. Even an audio book would be nice. I didn¡¯t listen to them all that much, but it was nice from time to time.


    ¡°Heck, I would even take a podcast. Hey Tutor, could you start me up a podcast?¡±


    She coughed once. ¡°Welcome everybody, I hope you¡¯re all excited for another episode oooooofff. That¡¯s right, it''s two male comedians sharing bullshit stories about sexual escapades that most likely never happened. And our special guest, today we have a generic pretty e-girl half-celeb who is only on the show to boost her numbers with a demographic she doesn¡¯t target well.¡±


    I stood stunned for a moment after her words. ¡°Wow. That was incredibly specific.¡±


    ¡°What too much?¡±


    ¡°Kinda, more unexpected than anything. Just how much Earth knowledge do you have?¡± There was a solid minute long pause after I asked her.


    ¡°What, what was that?¡± Her voice sounded like she was trying to talk to somebody in another room. ¡°Sorry bud gotta go.¡± A clicking sound went off and she was gone.


    ¡°Go where? You''re in my head.¡± I said in frustration. ¡°Well, there goes my distraction.¡± I looked over to the training dummy currently impaled by my spear and shrugged, returning to my base form. ¡°Whatever.¡± I looked up at my health bar area, all three forms were on cooldown.


    Ursa form still had 8 minutes left. I had finished its morning routine early and turned into Apis form. But I felt guilty that I had been shirking on Gremlin, so I reverted and did its training. The Apis timer sat at 10 minutes, now followed by Gremlins at 44. I yawned, and decided to head back to the cave and take a breather before I started base form training.


    The cave was about a 10 minute walk away from the training area. Len and I had set it up months ago. I wondered if I should have moved after the panther attack. But I decided against it. Len knew where it was, so he wouldn¡¯t have trouble finding me when he got back. The other factor was laziness. I had no desire to move and rebuild the training area. I mean it was mostly training dummies of varying sizes, but meh. Too much work.


    It was a peaceful day today. Bit gloomy, but those days are nice too. Not much noise from critters and there wasn¡¯t any breeze to speak of. The leaves crunching under my boot was the only noise that accompanied me.


    It reminded me of the time when I ran into the Tempest Roc. The bird apparently had scared most of the weaker monsters away. I wonder how they know. Do monsters let off some presence or aura naturally? Does that mean splicers do too? Do I? Len did something similar that one night when I got stupidly pissed about my feather. I need to ask him about it.


    I let the thoughts and questions engulf me as I got to the halfway point of the trail, a patch of evergreen trees. Shadows grew darker as I continued through. It was only around noon but it looked like a storm was brewing, so the sky had gotten darker.


    It was right then, amid my deep thoughts, my body froze. Crap!


    My eyes darted around and landed on the new pop-up under my health bar.


    [Shaken]


    The cat was back. I attempted to move my head to see if I could find it, but there was no response. My body broke into a cold sweat and my breath grew shallow. Before the fear could root itself any deeper, I closed my eyes. I can¡¯t panic. You knew it was going to come back. You prepared for this. Don¡¯t fail now. It just sucked that all my combat forms were on cooldown. I still had 4 minutes left on Ursa. But something tells me I won¡¯t be able to stall that long.


    Prior to today, I made some observations after reviewing my first battle with the panther monster. First, its fear ability was probably tied to its gaze. Which meant I had to get out of its sight to avoid the ability.


    Next was that it didn''t seem like it could attack at the same time as the gaze ability was active. I could move right before it pounced on me the first time. Thankfully, Preflexes activated that time. But its activation chance was low, it was only at 6% in my base form. Which meant I couldn¡¯t rely on it in battle.


    All I could do now was wait. Wait for its initial strike. Which was agonizing. The silence roared in my ears as I waited. What was the plan again? Dammit come on. Sweat rolled down my face into my eyes, stinging and burning them. I flinched and squinted. Right then, the beast made its move. I heard a tree branch shake. I turned in its direction. The world slowed down. I saw a dark blur flying toward me in the air. My body tensed. Right.


    My body stiffened, brown bark covering my skin. I hit the ground with a thud. The panther¡¯s claws just grazed the top layer of bark. I opened my eyes and looked at the cat after it landed. It searched around, opening its mouth.


    Okay, maybe it lost track of me.


    Its gaze fell on my wooden body. And I couldn¡¯t move again. Nope, it knows. The cat raised its paw and slammed into my side. My log body flew through the undergrowth. I wanted to release the form but the cat''s eyes were on me and I couldn¡¯t move. I slammed into a tree. And landed behind a fallen oak tree.


    My stomach hurt, the cat had hit right under my chest. My wooden body absorbed some of the blow so no major damage had been done. I opened my eyes again to see the tree rubble laying around me. The cat was crouched down and slowly making its way to the fallen tree. But its eyes weren¡¯t glowing. I twitched my finger to make sure and I could move. Good.


    The cat couldn¡¯t seem to pick out my log form between the other remnants of the tree.  Okay, then I can hide until it gives up. It can¡¯t stay here forever. Yep, that sounds like a good plan. But as I was about to clear my mind and fully embrace the log form trance. A vision popped in my head. It was actually a scent. The scent of shampoo. I went back to that bench, the one I shared with her. Those words danced in my mind once more. ¡°Don¡¯t die.¡±


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    That¡¯s what I¡¯m doing. If I stay here I won¡¯t die today. Today.


    That word hung in my thoughts. If I keep this up I will probably survive today. But what of tomorrow, when the beast comes looking again? Or a different monster finds me and decides to stay for a snack. Will this be a good answer to every tough monster I run into? Len was training me because he knew what this world would throw at me. I hadn¡¯t really been taking it seriously. He must have been keeping the truly strong monsters away while I trained.


    The powers granted to me will keep me from dying. Help me survive. But that¡¯s not living. Waking up on a cold stone floor and eating cold raw fish from the river isn¡¯t living. I want to eat warm cooked food with friends around again. I want to sleep in a proper bed. I want to live. I want to thrive.


    I turned off the log form and stood up. I looked at the cat. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± It spun its head around but I hid behind the tree I hit earlier. It probably had its fear ability on but I knew to stay out of its gaze. I looked around. Only one good place to hide. Up.


    All my forms were on cooldown but one and it happened to be great at climbing. The adrenaline pumping through me let me ignore the disturbing sensation of my front teeth growing larger. My fingernails also sharpened and I shot up the tree, putting Apis form to shame. Just in time too, the cat rounded the side of the tree I was standing by. I looked down at it from a branch. And met its eye for a split second. Okay, time for the first plan.


    I heard the cat begin its ascent. I turned off squirrel form. And then jumped off my branch, heading straight for the panther. It hadn¡¯t gotten very far up the tree so it hopped back down onto the ground. It primed itself for my attack with hackles raised and claws out. Its eyes shone once more as I made my descent. I felt my muscles stiffen. No not this time, I only need a second.


    The fear, ever present, making itself known throughout my whole being. But I was fighting it this time. I wasn¡¯t going to let it stop me. I kept twitching my fingers, making sure I still had some control over my body. But I needed to wait until the last moment I could to make my attack.


    The cat launched itself, trying to meet me halfway. I saw the claws aimed for my head. It shocked me but it was a good thing. Now it can¡¯t dodge.


    Using every ounce of willpower I could muster I curled my body. And shifted into stone form. Cold, rough skin covered my body and a hard shell of stone manifested around my curled body. I heard the beast''s claws scrap across my stone body. Two even pierced the shell and my flesh but the weight took over and I crashed into it.


    And then I landed on the ground and rolled a second. I had full faculty of my limbs so I turned the form off and looked for the cat. I froze when I met its eyes. Dammit, it''s still up even after taking that hit.


    The green light returned to its eyes. But something was off with the cat, only one of its eyes shined. Blood flowed down its face. I moved my hand. ¡°Looks like you need both eyes for that trick.¡± Confidence bloomed in my chest.


    I got closer and closer to it slowly, all the while trying to stay on its blindside. It followed my movement, turning its body to keep me in its single eye. Then when I was just close enough, I mimicked it.


    But it was different this time around. I didn¡¯t feel any burning on my skin or body parts growing. I felt power flow through my hands. After a moment, I looked at the beast, and the scent of its blood filled my nostrils. I could almost taste it. Then finally one word popped into my mind. ¡°Prey.¡±


    I shot out. It met my pace and rushed at me. I swiped at its head, my hands had claws on them, but unlike Ursa''s clumsy blunt claws, these were smaller, sharper, almost surgical. I knew they could slice any and all flesh to shreds. It dodged my first attack and countered. But it was slow. I slashed down its flank. Blood squirting out of the fresh wound was a delight on my senses. It hopped back but I stayed on it. Swiping for its injured eye.


    This constant back and forth of claws went on for minutes, but I was winning. Both of us had blood running down our sides, but I knew winning wasn¡¯t even a question. It was the law of nature. Prey loses to predator. The weak lose to the strong. The cat was just confused with its place in this world. In my world. That¡¯s why it fought. And that¡¯s why it will lose.


    A calm moment passed after a flurry of attacks rang out and the beast stared into my eyes. But the animal¡¯s eye had changed, its threatening gaze gone. Fear and fear alone dominated. It finally figured out its destiny in my world.


    The creature¡¯s dark aura enveloped the area around its body. It was going to run. But as soon as it motioned to turn, I struck. My claws ripped into the soft meat of its neck. It stumbled to the ground rasping for air.


    I stood above the pathetic mass of dark fur. I licked the blood from my claws. ¡°Hmmpf. Serves you right. You tried to fight against the balance of this world.¡± I put my blood drenched hand on my face. ¡°But this is the only outcome when one faces the pinnacle of creation.¡± A villainous laugh left my throat as I turned to walk away from the beast.


    ¡ª


    Len sat patiently on his friend¡¯s porch. It was well past noon, the sun filtering through some trees. The chair was made by one of the best craftsmen in the Kailis. It wasn¡¯t very fancy looking or decorative. No bells or whistles, just simply comfortable, which naturally lead to Len dozing off.


    The evening air was chilly but Len¡¯s body temperature was abnormally high from his gene. Cold weather barely bothered him. The snow-capped mountains of Tiamantis were home to the only cold that ever disturbed him. He shivered at the memory of that First One¡¯s forsaken place. It was a huge reason he hated his hometown. Well among other things.


    He closed his eyes once more, preparing himself for another nap. He spent the last week or so jumping from here and the lab. So a little power nap felt deserved.


    Right as the sleep was taking him, he heard someone step on the porch. The footsteps were soft and quiet. Not loud and commanding like Jaren tended. He opened one eye halfway. A beautiful elf stood before him. She had flowing amber locks that framed a cute face just perfectly. She wore an extravagant white dress that accentuated her rather blessed bosom. Her skin shared the color of summer leaves, vibrant green with veins showing throughout. She wore a practiced smile but under the beauty, Len could sense an apprehensive edge in her stance.


    Len took a deep breath. ¡°Hello Lirae.¡±


    ¡°Welcome back Leonard.¡± Her voice, smooth as honey. ¡°Thank you for assisting in the raid last week. And for sending the dead. It was a break my people desperately needed.¡±


    Len nodded at her. ¡°No problem. Here, would you like to sit?¡± Len pulled one of the other chairs close with the aid of some fire. Lirae wiped down her dress and sat down.


    ¡°What a wonderful seat. Is this one of Gren¡¯s make?¡±


    ¡°Yep, that gnome knows what he is doing. Bet it cost an arm and leg too.¡±


    ¡°Jaren has always been fond of spending riches on the strangest things. But enough about him. Why don¡¯t we discuss you.¡± Len closed his eyes once more. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Leonard dear, I¡¯m talking about whatever it is you have found out there that has you so intrigued. Or whoever.¡± Len opened his eyes and turned over toward Lirae. She always was too shrewd. She continued. ¡°You made one too many trips to the tailors. People notice. Even that early in the morning.¡±


    Len shook his head. He cursed himself for not just buying in bulk. But he hadn¡¯t expected Liam to destroy that many outfits. Those form changes were hell on his apparel.


    ¡°I was searching for a new look, maybe try out something more stylish.¡±


    The green woman laughed. ¡°In all the years I have known you, Leonard, never once has fashion been a worry of yours. No, I think you found someone out there. A Feral perhaps. But you know the rules here.¡± Her gaze hardened. ¡°We do not allow those beasts in Laurelhaven. No matter how well trained they are.¡± Her words now brimmed with hostility.


    Len let out a big sigh. He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to hide Liam much longer. He just needed to get him to level 4.


    ¡°I can assure you he isn¡¯t feral. Quite well mannered if I¡¯m being honest. More than me at least.¡± The threatening aura she was projecting vanished instantly while she clapped her hands together.


    ¡°Wonderful, I hope you let me meet him at some point. He must be fascinating if he¡¯s held your attention for this long. Why don¡¯t you¡­¡± Her perfect face twisted before she could finish her thought. ¡°Nevermind, the lizard is close so I need to be on my way. Ta ta.¡±


    She stood up and walked off the porch. Once she was away from the house, roots shot out from under her and wrapped around her body. The roots sprouted a whole number of different large flowers in a multitude of colors. The flowers covered the entirety of the woman and her roots. After a moment, the flowers fell from the mass. The wind caught the petals. They flew into the face of a large man walking toward the house.


    ¡°Come on Len. Why would you let that damn weed come into my house?¡±


    ¡°It was only the porch.¡±


    The large man looked over to the chair that was pulled close to Len. ¡°Tell me she didn¡¯t sit in my favorite chair.¡± Len grunted in affirmation.


    The large man put his hand to his chin and stopped to think for a second. ¡°Nah shouldn¡¯t risk it. Len.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Burn it.¡±


    Len turned towards the chair. ¡°The chair?¡±


    ¡°No, the porch.¡±

 16. Embarrassment and Statistics

    I knelt down next to the river. Lapping water into my hands, I washed the blood from my face. Goosebumps grew on me as the cold water did its job. But I had quite the affinity for that river. This rushing water has single-handedly been the most important resource I had in this foreign place.


    First and foremost, I¡¯m rather fond of being clean. I was the type to shower every morning, no matter what. I was late to class plenty of times back on Earth because of this strict routine. My morning showers prepared me for the coming day. It was my cup of joe. Without it I felt awful, my body just felt wrong. So having access to running water, even if it was cold as all hell, was truly a blessing.


    It was also my number one food source. Schools of fish have spent their final moments in confusion as a rock opened its mouth. But I needed it. It''s the only way my mimic body heals itself.


    I had asked Len if that was normal, for food and sleep to be a cure-all in Kniyas. He told me that it was in fact pretty regular. Food and sleep were universal in the recovery of HP, but he did comment that my recovery was fast. Not entirely rare, but noteworthy.


    He said many genes came with this kind of fast recovery. I had asked which kinds and he gave me an exhaustingly detailed list. Hell if I could remember them all but there was a common factor. They all sounded either reptilian in nature or bovine. Two wildly different animal groups. But mimics didn¡¯t really fall into either of those categories. Well, maybe reptilian.


    I hope they¡¯re not bovine. A horrifying image of a treasure chest with udders forced its way into my mind. ¡°Ugh.¡± I splashed more water in my face.


    The red blood flowing down the river brought my mind back, and I thought back on the fight with the cat. I smiled. I had won. It was an unfamiliar feeling. One I hadn¡¯t truly felt in a long time. I killed scores of gremlins and monkeys while training with Len in the last few months but I knew he was watching out and making sure I never got too hurt.


    No, I won that fight, me and me alone. And that meant something. I outsmarted it and got a powerful new form. I thought about the new form and brought up its record.


    TIGRIS - Proficiency Level: 1


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 2 hours


    Stat Changes:


    STR + 5


    DEX + 7


    AGI + 11


    CON - 6


    INT - 2


    WIS - 5


    CHR + 10


    Abilities:


    Pinnacle of Nature:


    While at full health, gain a ([proficiency level] + 2)% boost to all physical stats.


    Learned Behavior:


    N/A


    ¡°Tigris. Like the river. Neat.¡± I guess I was wrong about it being a panther, from the name it was a tiger. It didn¡¯t look like one. I was no expert, but they were among my favorite animals at the zoo, so I had spent some time looking at tigers. That cat only had solid black fur. No stripes of any kind. Or at least that I could see, maybe it was black with black stripes.


    It also looked a little small to be a tiger. Tigers were massive creatures. Huge orange balls of fur and death. The actual kings of the jungle.


    But this is a different world from Earth. Maybe that''s just what tigers looked like here. A small part of me hoped I would get to see a normal tiger out here. I squashed those thoughts immediately. ¡°That¡¯s all I need. Some metal or fire tiger attacking me. Like a screwed up Chinese zodiac monster.¡±


    Pinnacle of Nature, I cringed at the name of the ability. But its benefits would probably be substantial down the line. Percentage boosts are king in number based systems. I wonder if the cat had a similar ability. The fight shifted real quick after I hurt its eye.


    I looked at the stat changes for this form. It was crazy how much they gave with it only being at level one proficiency. The form didn¡¯t even lower my mental stats that much. It gave a tremendous boost to charisma. It followed suit with the rest of my forms in that it lowered two mental stats and boosted the third. But they were almost negligible. This was a full 10 points, at level one.


    I was still hazy on what exactly each stat did. I had asked Len, but his answer was much the same as Tutor¡¯s when I first arrived. Strength was just that, physical power. Len explained you wouldn¡¯t see much change with each point. It wasn¡¯t until you got about an extra 10 that you noticed a difference.


    Dexterity was your overall ability to move your body, or how well your body listened to your mind. Which was a weird but wholly accurate way to describe it. Apis and Gremlin gave me the biggest boost in Dex. Without it, I doubt I could run through the treetops or wield weapons half as well.


    Agility was overall speed, I felt that speed in Tigris form. I would never have been able to keep up with the panther¡­ I mean tiger, without the boost.


    Constitution was a strange one, at least compared to how most games implement it. The biggest difference being that it in no way influenced your health. Health was a separate and everyone gained it every level. It could never be anyone''s detrimental stat. A good thing considering. If CON was your detrimental stat, than you''d be screwed never gaining anymore health. Constitution, instead, was about how durable your body is. It was pretty much a flat defense stat. That''s why Ursa could take a spear to the stomach and come out fine. If I tried that in Gremlin, oof.


    The mental stats are where things get tricky. Len said it was really hard to gauge these properly with just stats. He said broadly speaking that intelligence was for how much knowledge one could absorb and hold on to. Apparently, bird splicers are the ones who typically have high Int.


    I wondered what having a crow gene would be like. Those little guys were among the smartest animals on Earth. In my last apartment, I had managed to train one to come around every so often. By train, I just left food out on my back porch. It left me bottle caps. That bird was starting an economy if you ask me. Or maybe they had one all along.


    Wisdom was a kind of catch-all from how Len described it. It represented quick thinking and the ability to make good choices. It seemed to be the most useful from an all around perspective.


    Charisma was the hardest to explain. It was like one¡¯s will power, and their ability to share and spread their emotions to others. Especially positive ones. It is why those with high amounts of charisma made strong leaders and were popular. It''s not that they were better looking or more competent, I¡¯m sure that helps. But people are emotional creatures and we like being around those who make us happy. Or if nothing, validated.


    Which made Tigris form even more strange. I thought back on what I said and thought about while in that fight. My face started to flush.


    ¡°I sounded like such a jackass. What was with all the predator-prey talk?¡± Soon after the words left my mouth, Tutor chimed in.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with the pinnacle of all creation?¡± Her sarcasm stung. I went full on tomato faced and dunked my head in the water. I scrubbed and scrubbed, futilely hiding from the shame I felt. The worst part was I could still hear Tutor¡¯s full belly laughter.


    After bringing my head out of the water I sat down. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I said that. Who says shit like that?¡± Tutor, still chuckling, added in ¡°Yeah, and what was that pose you struck? It looked like it was straight out of Jo...¡± I yelled ¡°Shut up,¡± at the top of my lungs before she made me feel any worse.


    ¡°I know alright, it was stupid and cringy.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°How does that form have the best charisma?¡±


    ¡°IDK, it''s a weird stat. It might not seem the most amiable but you have to admit. You looked the most confident you¡¯ve ever been. At least on Kniyas.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    It was true. There was no denying the overwhelming confidence I felt in that form. I knew I would beat that monster as soon as I laid eyes on it. Which is funny because my eyes were the only thing that changed while I was in Tigris form. My eyes matched that of the panther. Bright, almost neon green with feline pupils. And the claws. Can¡¯t forget about those.


    I pulled up the other forms records to compare against the Tigris page.


    URSA - Proficiency Level: 4


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 1 hour


    Stat Changes:


    STR +12


    DEX - 9


    AGI + 5


    CON + 14


    INT - 10


    WIS + 5


    CHR - 5


    Abilities:


    Ursa-rage:


    Put yourself into a fit of Rage. While raging, you gain a + 10 boost in STR and CON, at the cost of - 9 to all mental stats. You also gain a 14% unarmed damage increase and a 14% damage reduction. These bonuses increase with proficiency.


    Learned Behavior:


    Preflex:


    May predict where an attack will land. Chances of activation increase with proficiency level and wisdom. Also boosted when in ursa form.


    Activation % = Proficiency + (Wisdom/ 10) rounded down + 5 (only if in form)


    Current = 6%, in form 11%


    SQUIRREL - Proficiency Level: N/A


    Type: Critter


    Timer: 15 minutes


    Stat Changes:


    N/A


    Abilities:


    Bark Skim:


    Gain 20% increase in DEX and AGI while in a tree.


    Learned Behavior:


    N/A


    GREMLIN - Proficiency Level: 3


    Type: Creep


    Timer: 45 minutes


    Stat Changes:


    STR - 7


    DEX + 10


    AGI + 7


    CON - 7


    INT - 6


    WIS + 3


    CHR - 7


    Abilities:


    Fight and Flight:


    Gain a +13 boost to your DEX and AGI at a significant cost to stamina. If use of this ability will cause you to run out of stamina, you will receive EXHAUSTION(-10 to all stats until removed). Stat boost will increase with proficiency.


    Learned Behavior:


    Dark Sight - See in the dark. Up to 10m.


    APIS - Proficiency Level: 5


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 1 hour


    Stat Changes:


    STR + 5


    DEX + 12


    AGI + 6


    CON - 8


    INT + 3


    WIS - 8


    CHR - 5


    Abilities:


    Ignorant Ears:


    Ignore the effects of sound based abilities.


    Learned Behavior:


    N/A


    It had one defining trait compared to the other forms, its cooldown timer. It was a solid two hours. Double that the next highest-timer creature forms. Maybe that was how this world¡¯s systems ranked the forms. The more powerful the form the longer the cooldown was. It made sense.


    Gremlin was by far my weakest form with the worst stat gains, not counting squirrel form which didn¡¯t have any. Gremlin¡¯s timer was 45 minutes and the other two were an hour. Squirrel¡¯s timer was 15 minutes which added more credibility to my hypothesis.


    I decided I may as well look at my Character sheet while I¡¯m at it.


    CHARACTER SHEET


    Liam Foster


    Level: 3


    Race: Human


    Monster Gene: Mimic


    Stats:


    Health Points: 140


    Stamina: 290


    Mana: 140


    Strength: 21


    Dexterity: 21


    Agility: 21


    Constitution: 21


    Intelligence: 21


    Wisdom: 21


    Charisma: 22


    Abilities:


    Active:


    Mimicry(Object) (lvl 5): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Mimicry(Creature) (lvl 3): Mimic one creature of your choice. This may include stats, abilities, spells and other aspects. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Passive:


    Learned Behavior: You may gain a portion of the stats and/ or abilities from a mimicked monster. Benefits given depend on the creature mimed and only given if you become adequately proficient in that form. With higher proficiency, benefits may increase.


    Dark Sight - See in the dark. Up to 10m.


    Preflex - Predict incoming attacks.


    Spells:


    None


    Everything looked to be in order. My eyes wandered down to the bottom of the page, to a particularly empty section. I said the section¡¯s name out loud. ¡°Spells.¡± This section had been bothering me for some time.


    Not a single one of my creature forms has a spell section. Not even an "N/A." There wasn¡¯t any indication that I would even learn spells from them at all. I wondered if spells aren¡¯t inherent to monster genes. Like they have to be learned from a book or something.


    Asking Len about it wasn¡¯t fruitful either. When he was still around, I had questioned him on the nature of spells but got one of his patented ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Go train.¡± I assumed his fire manipulation was a spell, but it might not be. He did a lot of different things with that fire. I wish I had pestered him more.


    Tutor''s answer was, well, you can probably guess by now.


    Maybe only certain rare monsters, and subsequently monster genes, give the ability to cast spells. But why wouldn¡¯t a freaking fire elemental use spells for chrissakes. Then I remembered how he explained his primary stats were Charisma and Dexterity. And how he said his power came from within and not the surroundings. Dex must contribute to how he controls the flames so well. Maybe magic is something that comes from outside oneself. I scratched my head.


    He really only ever spoke to me about stamina conservation when using abilities and such. Never about MP. He said MP was something else I didn¡¯t need to spend time on right now.


    I looked up at the ever full blue bar in my HUD. I know it had uses in this world. Whenever I cut anything with the Roc feather it used some mana.


    One morning after waking up in a gremlin camp, I tried it out. It sliced through three gremlins nigh perfectly but when I attempted a fourth, the feather just brushed off its body. I caught a stab in the shoulder for that blunder. I learned it required way too much mana to be useful in combat. At least with multiple combatants. It probably had uses when up against one very strong opponent.


    It needed more testing. Like maybe the stronger the monster¡¯s skin the more mana it consumed.


    Could this usage of mana mean a Roc form would grant me spells? How awesome would it be to shoot lightning out of my hands? I made the force lightning hands and imagined arcs of electricity skittering across the river. Yep, rad as hell.


    I wanted to use the feather to do all the cutting and such while building the camp, but Len said no. ¡°That it would be a waste of good training,¡± were his words if I remember right. It did see some use. I made a few amenities that he didn¡¯t fault me for.


    I made a stone table for us to eat on by cutting a large stone into discs. It took a couple of tries to get the thickness right. I even managed a makeshift stove top. I did it so we didn¡¯t have to keep just impaling animals on sticks and roast them over an open flame. That usually ended with the food getting overcooked on one side. I wanted to make a stone pot, but a four foot feather made for a terrible chisel.


    After laying on a patch of grass near the river, I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. ¡°I deserve a quick siesta after that craziness with the panther¡­ Dammit, I mean tiger.¡± I brought one hand to my chin. ¡°Maybe a piger, nah sounds weird.¡± Tutor threw her two cents in with, ¡°How about tanther?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s better.¡± I stifled a yawn. ¡°Stupid tanther.¡±

 17. Heated Introductions

    ¡°Are you sure about this Len? The risk alone is enough to give a sane man a heart attack.¡± The large half-elf man paused and took a deep breath. ¡°My position on the council is already shaky at best.¡± He held a cup in his hands and pointed it at Len. ¡°It¡¯d be better if someone bothered to show every once in a while.¡± Jaren took a drink.


    Both he and Len were standing next to a table in Jaren¡¯s home. The room itself was pretty plain. No plant life, art, or anything to spruce up the room. Just brown wooden walls, some bookshelves lined the walls. A very function-first, style-second kind of house. Piles of handwritten books were strewn across the table.


    ¡°You know they only gave me that seat as a formality. I don¡¯t actually have any sway here.¡± Jaren stopped looking at Len but drooped his head. ¡°Yeah I know, but you do have their respect. Your opinion wouldn¡¯t be ignored.¡±


    ¡°If only it were so simple. What I¡¯m trying to accomplish. What we¡¯re going to accomplish.¡± Len grabbed Jaren¡¯s shoulder and looked him in the eye, ¡°is no simple task, but it must be done. And besides, who ever claimed we were sane men?" Len let go of Jaren. "I¡¯m sorry you have to face them alone but if we are to succeed I have to be out there. Scouting more talent.¡±


    Moving back to the table, Len picked up one of the journals. ¡°And boy did I find some talent this time.¡± Jaren looked at the book in Len¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Yeah, your boy from another world. Liam Foster. What a strange name.¡± Jaren sat down on a chair placed near a window. ¡°You know if it was coming from anyone else I would probably just deck them and never give it another thought. I mean from a whole different reality. That¡¯s crazy, I can¡¯t even imagine that.¡± He said in disbelief.


    Len chuckled. ¡°Yep, because that¡¯s what you''re known for, your imagination.¡±


    ¡±Oi oi, that''s uncalled for. I happen to have a wonderful and active imagination.


    ¡°Mhmm filled with nothing but women and booze.¡±


    Jaren looked at his cup and then over to Len. He shrugged and downed the rest of its contents in one quick gulp. After a burp everyone in the neighborhood could hear, he went on.


    ¡°When will I meet this wunderkind then?¡±


    ¡°Sooner rather than later. By my guess, sometime in the spring. If he hasn''t been slacking.¡±


    ¡°And you''re sure about leaving this oh so fantastic asset out there by himself for the whole winter.¡±


    ¡°We both know this world is cruel to those coddled by their elders. He¡¯s got to learn to survive out there without help.¡±


    ¡°What level was he when you left again? Four or five?¡±


    ¡°Three.¡±


    ¡°Damn, I¡¯d be shocked he survives the end of this moon, let alone winter.¡± Len made a wry smile. ¡°Nah, I¡¯m pretty sure he will be fine.¡±


    Len walked over to the window Jaren sat next to and stared out. He saw a few children, maybe ten years old, running through some drills. Their instructor not far away. The youngest looking was trying his hardest to keep up, yet constantly stumbling. The kid had webbed feet, like those water bird monsters have, which made the marching especially difficult.


    ¡°Poor kid.¡± Jaren stood up next to him and looked just in time to see the duck footed kid fall on his face. But he got back on his feet, eyes brimming with determination.


    ¡°Yep, Brant¡¯s youngest. Probably getting shipped out to Kailis soon. Only Capital that could use his type.¡±


    ¡°Really, Brant? Thought they had hooves running in their blood.¡±


    ¡°Monster genes are fickle. Look at me, I came from a bunch of them nasty felines. Catty bitches, all of them.¡±


    ¡°True.¡±


    Jaren, like Len, wasn¡¯t from Laurelhaven. He was from the plains to the south. Born to a big family down there, the Savannahs. Most had feline genes in his family. The head of the house is always a Leone splicer. Family rule. They were an especially prideful group of splicers. Len couldn¡¯t stand them. So Jaren coming out with his Draco gene was a big scandal they swept under the rug. They disowned him. What else could they do? He was a lesser person and not fit for the Savannah name. Idiots, each and everyone of them.


    Not that it seems to bother Jaren much. They probably hate how successful he became without the use of their name. None but a few even know of his noble origins.


    A similar story might be playing in front of their eyes with this little awkward boy.


    A knock at the door pulled Len out of his thoughts. He turned to Jaren who was already on his way to the front of the house.


    Without looking back, Jaren spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This guest is expected, I told you about him. Unlike a certain, nosy and undesirable weed someone let grow on my porch.¡± Len responded with an indifferent shrug. ¡°Ehh.¡±


    Jaren made the right call burning the porch. Len noticed some buds had been planted on the porch while he torched it. But he wouldn¡¯t let Jaren know that. The big bastard didn¡¯t need anyone else to stroke his untamed ego.


    ¡°Bout time you got here.¡± Len returned to the table and retrieved a few of his books and loaded them into his pouch. He trusted Jaren, but some of these journals were for specific eyes only.


    While he stuffed them into the pouch, he snickered with a devilish grin.


    ¡ª


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    The young dwarf wasn¡¯t exactly sure about what he was looking at. He was sure it was Jaren Holdsburn¡¯s house, a simple wooden house built by the crafters union. One bedroom, one living room and an office. Toilet of course. Nothing fancy, except for his porch.


    Jaren really liked his porch. He bought all this expensive furniture from some gnome out of Dendrun. He had to admit it was comfortable, the most comfortable chairs he¡¯d ever sat on, not that he sat on all that many chairs in his brief life.


    But he couldn¡¯t lie, he was hoping he could lounge on them sometime today. But that wasn¡¯t going to happen. Because the very porch and furniture he was talking about was gone.


    All that stood in front of Jaren''s house was a pile of ashes. Which wouldn¡¯t be that strange, a fire probably burned it down. What was strange was that even though there was all this ash, the front of his house had no scorch marks on it whatsoever. This ash was the only evidence that a porch even existed.


    While contemplating the disappearance of Jaren¡¯s porch, he heard some voices coming from inside the house. His ears perked up. He recognized Jaren¡¯s voice immediately, a hard one to forget. Especially since it was the voice he heard nearly everyday for the past few months.


    But the other voice was new, one he had never heard. It was a male, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about walking in on Jaren mid¡­ yeah. Don¡¯t want to make that mistake again.


    The boy finally got his senses together and walked up to the door. The door being a good two feet or so off the ground. He knocked. He heard familiar footsteps coming to the door. It opened, it was Jaren, looking particularly intimidating. He was already a head and a half taller than the boy, the door being off the ground wasn¡¯t helping.


    ¡°Bout time you got here.¡± Jaren bellowed as per usual. ¡°Wait did you shrink kid?¡± The boy nervously responded. ¡°T-The porch.¡±


    ¡°Right. Ehh don¡¯t worry about it. Listen, I''ve got a friend in the back who I want you to meet. He¡¯s good and knows what¡¯s up. Now come on.¡± Jaren turned around and walked back into the house. As the boy was taking the step up into the door, he heard Jaren from the other room. ¡°Really?¡± The boy heard some more mumbles but once he was fully in the house Jaren returned.


    With a serious expression, one the boy didn¡¯t recognize, Jaren whispered. ¡°Be right back. Forgot to grab something.¡± And left the house. The boy heard Jaren stumble while walking out the door. He grumbled something about weeds but got up and strolled away.


    Even though it was the middle of the day, the house was dark, only a dim orange light came from the living room area. The boy gulped. Anxiety gripping his heart. He stammered. ¡°Hello.¡± With his voice, the orange light grew. A voice followed. ¡°Come.¡±


    Thoroughly spooked now, the young dwarf shifted in his spot. Going any farther into the house was the last thing he wanted. No, bursting back out the door was the only thought in his mind. He turned back toward the door.


    His eyes widened. A wall of flames was now covering the exit. That anxiety turned into fear as the voice said ¡°Come,¡± once more. His body moved toward the light almost on its own. He rounded the corner leading to the living room.


    Candles covered almost every inch of the room, all lit except for one. One in the center of the living room. That unlit candle was not alone though. A man sat behind it. He wore normal clothes, a white shirt and baggy brown pants, but his head was shrouded by a cloak. The man gestured to the ground in front of the candle. ¡°Sit, we have much to discuss.¡± The man spoke in a monotone voice. A chill ran up the boy¡¯s spine but he sat down. He was not entirely sure why.


    ¡°Now what is it you wish? What do you desire?¡± The emotionless man questioned. ¡°J-Jaren just told,¡± but the man interrupted him. ¡°Did I ASK what Jaren wanted?¡± He flinched at the outburst but stayed where he sat. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Answer the question. What do you want?¡± The question perplexed the boy though. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to answer with so he ended up just saying something vague. ¡°A good life, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Is that all? A guess?¡± The man snorted. ¡°Alright this good life will cost you. Are you willing to pay? You must do something for me. A task.¡± He raised his head to look at the boy. But there was no face, just flames, yellow and orange flames where a face should have been.


    Every instinct in the boy''s body was screaming at him to run but for some reason he could not move from that spot. His mouth dried out and sweat beads rolled off his head. He gulped.


    ¡°Bring me the head of Jaren Holdsburn. And your candle shall be lit.¡± Both paused after the cloaked man finished.


    ¡°No,¡± said the dwarf.


    The cloaked man looked into the young pup¡¯s eyes. But for the first time, they weren¡¯t filled with fear and timidity. Those feelings were still present but something new grew in them. The cloaked man knew what it was, he was well acquainted with it. Defiance.


    ¡°That is your answer.¡± He questioned in the same tone.


    ¡°Yes. I would never kill him or anyone just for a good life.¡± The boy¡¯s words were firmer. A flush of warmth engulfed his body. What the man asked was a cost too great. Jaren was his mentor, and more importantly a friend. Sacrificing a friend for nothing but self gain was the most despicable crime he could think of.


    ¡°That is acceptable.¡±


    The door to the house opened and the boy got up and went to look. There was no longer any fire blocking the door. Jaren stood alone in the doorway. The boy turned back to the living room and blinked. The house returned to normal. He rubbed his eyes because there had to be something wrong with them.


    The candles disappeared; it looked almost as if they were never there to begin with. Daylight returned to the room. He turned back to the cloaked man but he wasn¡¯t there. He stood up and wildly searched for the man. Until he saw someone sitting by the window. An older guy with some wheat burning in his mouth. He wore the same outfit as the cloaked man but without the cloak.


    ¡°What? Where did the candles go? Where did he go? Are you the cloaked man? What is happening?¡± The boy''s voice was growing panicked. The man sitting by the window turned to him and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met. I¡¯m¡­¡± A quick chuckle interrupted the man¡¯s introduction. The boy turned and looked at Jaren. The big half-elf had his hand over his mouth. Quite poorly trying to hide a smile.


    He couldn¡¯t hold it for long. The man roared. A full belly laugh. So much that Jaren could barely stand. The boy''s face filled with confusion as he repeated himself. ¡°What is happening?¡± He turned back to the man by the window. Who was also horse laughing.


    ¡°You used the damn candles again.¡± Jaren wheezed. ¡°First One¡¯s above. You haven¡¯t pulled that shit out in a hot minute.¡±


    ¡°It''s a tried and true classic.¡± The other man spoke out. Jaren continued. ¡°Damn I wish I could have seen his face when it was happening. Did you say the thing?¡± The man by the window spit the burning wheat out of his mouth. ¡°I was worried you were going to have to mop the floor.¡± That comment sent Jaren into another bout of laughter.


    The boy gave up on trying to understand these old buffoons and sat by the table. It was probably a full five minutes until they got ahold of themselves. Jaren was the first to speak. ¡°Hoh hoooh. I needed that. Been a while since I laughed like that. You never disappoint Len.¡± Jaren wiped some tears out of his eyes. The human man apparently named Len sat on the other side of the table. ¡°Sorry about that lad. Just a bit of fun.¡±


    Jaren sat next to the boy. He put his hand on the boy''s shoulder and introduced him. ¡°This here is Fennel Blines. He¡¯s kin to good old Herman. Ears are a bit floppier though.¡±


    Herman was the boy¡¯s uncle; they shared the Wulfen gene but Fennel¡¯s ears weren¡¯t pointed or black like his uncles. They flopped down and had a golden color to them, matching his blonde hair.


    Jaren turned back to Fennel. ¡°And you, my friend, have fallen prey to one of this man¡¯s legendary pranks. But enough about that, I should introduce you. This is Leonard Ainsworth.¡±


    At the mention of his name, the boy¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Wait, THE Leonard Ainsworth.¡± The older guy across the table just shrugged.


    ¡°You can call me Len.¡±

 18. Screw the Cold

    A month had passed since my scuffle with the tanther. Winter had come full swing to The Forest, evidenced by the white blanket that overtook the forest floor. I never thought that the snow was going to be this crazy. It was at least solid nine inches. According to Len, a desert bordered the southern section of the woods. But here I am, trudging through a foot and a half of snow.


    ¡°Achoo! God, it''s cold as balls out here.¡± I said, while catching the warm hair in my palms. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re supposed to be like that.¡± Tutor spoke up.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Your balls. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re meant to be cold. You should get that checked.¡±


    I paused my walk, stunned by the idiocy of her statement.


    ¡°Shut up. You know it''s just a dumb expression. I swear it''s like talking with an edgy middle schooler.¡± I rubbed my hands together and continued on my journey.


    ¡°Must be nice, you don''t have to go through any of this. Just sitting in my head. Or an office in another dimension watching my every move?¡±


    I continued my recent trend of hitting Tutor with these kinds of questions every couple days, trying to figure out where she is. Or what she is. She understood the majority of Earth references I made and I wanted to know why.


    ¡°He shoots. Oof. Air ball.¡±


    ¡°Come on. Give me something. Hidden Volcano Base? Underwater lair on the moon?¡±


    ¡°I''m not some Bond villain. And since when is there water on the moon?¡±


    ¡°A realm between realms? The fifth dimension?¡± I shrugged. ¡°An intergalactic Dennys maybe.¡± She chuckled at the last comment. ¡°Nope. Now quit trying. Even if you got it right, I¡¯d be shitcanned if I told you. And where would you be if I wasn¡¯t here guiding you.¡± Now was my turn to scoff. ¡°Probably in a warm bed. God I miss those.¡±


    A fresh gust of ice cold wind buffeted against my body causing me to shiver. ¡°How the hell is there a desert even remotely close to this frozen hellscape.¡± As you can tell, I¡¯ve never been a huge fan of the cold. Some might even say I have a slight distaste. Others have said a burning hatred.


    ¡°God I hate the cold.¡± I said.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t tell. Why? It''s better than the heat.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s objectively worse than the heat. More people die in the cold than in the heat.¡±


    ¡°Can you back that statement up with some facts?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you some facts in a few seconds after I keel over from this FUCKING cold.¡±


    ¡°Why did you even leave the cave this morning?¡±


    ¡°You know why!¡±


    The first snow fell about two weeks ago and has stayed ever since. And as a consequence of the constant cold weather, the edges of the river froze up. I could still get into the middle of the river and do my normal routine, but it was cold as hell. My rock form helped ease some of the chill the river had in the fall, but it did next to nothing in the freezing and rushing cold winter water. This meant I had to come up with another food gathering strategy.


    Hunting. The eldest of professions. I had little experience hunting. Gramps forced the boys in the family to go on a few trips with him. It never went so well. Gramps was my mom¡¯s dad. My father was a good man, made a decent living, but he wasn¡¯t what you would call outdoorsy. My mother practically begged him to go on the small family camping trip.


    He was a network security engineer or something working for a bank. He met my mom at one of the bank''s locations where she worked as a loan officer. He and Gramps got along well enough but were never really close. Too many differences.


    The hunting trips never lasted very long. Mom usually concocted some story to get us home sooner than planned. At the behest of my father, no doubt. Gramps usually made me stay. Never understood why.


    But Gramps would not budge on the hunting trips. He said, ¡°Every man worth his salt should be able to feed his family and himself no matter what.¡± He knew what he was talking about, he had two families to provide for after all. I chuckled. ¡°The bastard.¡± I was a little sad I would never get to give him hell about that


    The problem was, even with the experience, hunting on Kniyas was much different. I wouldn¡¯t say harder or easier. Just different. On Earth we had rifles and traps. On Kniyas I had claws and a razor sharp magical feather. While the boost to my physical capabilities certainly helped, a bow would make a world of difference in hunting. How I wished those gremlins had bows and arrows instead of the crappy scrap metal daggers and spears. I wasn¡¯t a crack shot with them, but if I¡¯ve learned anything out here is that practice works.


    Another thing my earthen education didn¡¯t prep me for was what to hunt on Kniyas. I could find droves of gremlins and jackanapes just about anywhere. But I couldn¡¯t bring myself to eat them. I understood that monsters didn¡¯t have any sentience. Len told me plenty of times that they were nothing but walking beasts. Even if they happened to walk on two legs. But they resembled humans too much for me to even entertain the idea of using them as food. So I had to branch out and look for more animal-like monsters.


    It was during this excursion that I got some news about my mimic gene. It was when I ran into a strange moose-like monster. What made it strange was that it was approximately the size of a donkey. Moose are huge animals, so seeing such a miniature one was pretty wild. And kind of cute. It also had motes of shifting blue light orbiting its antlers. Maybe that was the stranger part in hindsight. The blue lights turned into missiles when it got spooked. Source of this info: I spooked it. The missiles hurt.


    But before I took it out, I managed to get close to it and mimic it. Or at least I tried. A notification popped up as I attempted.


    [Mimic Entry Limit Reached]


    [Limit Increases with Level]


    [Next Increase: Level 5]


    While I took out the little magic moose with Ursa form, I pondered on the notification. The creature was nowhere near as strong as the tanther, light work for Ursa.


    I had a limit to how many forms I could have. I was a bit torn on how to feel about it. On one hand, having the versatility of multiple forms was beneficial. Each form had its uses in and outside of combat. And they had cooldowns. This means that having more forms meant I could stay in combat longer with a wider variety of skills.


    For instance, I not only killed the moose with Ursa, I also carried it back to the cave with ease thanks to its immense boost to strength. My base form probably could have handled it, but it would have taken much more effort and time. Having access to the moose¡¯s long-range missiles would have been a boon. I was severely lacking in long-range abilities. Plus, it might have answered some questions I have about spells. The motes of light looked like a spell. I wonder if I would have grown antlers. Huh.


    But on the other hand, having a lot of forms meant having to train in those forms. I received a basic understanding of the forms and their abilities naturally after acquiring them. But perfecting them meant practice, which meant training. Training the four forms was taxing enough. Having even more would be pushing it. I¡¯d probably have to drop some forms down the line too.


    I already dropped Gremlin¡¯s training time down to twice a week. Its stat bonuses and abilities were lackluster to put it lightly. I also had to rely on weapons while in the form. If I lost those, the form didn¡¯t do much but be fast, and that came at a detriment. [Exhaustion] is an awful condition. The headache that accompanied it was even more so. Tigris was faster and came with claws. Much more reliable in my opinion.


    Not that I loved the form either. I didn¡¯t care for how my thoughts changed while in Tigris form, but there was no denying how strong it was. Its bonuses also far outshined Gremlin¡¯s. It also didn¡¯t turn me green. Not that being green was a bad thing. Just not my thing.


    The moose carcass did not last long back at the cave. I therefore had to go back out. Which brings us here, my second frigid quest for food. I was traveling back to the spot where I had first encountered the magic moose in the hopes that more would be there. Or at least close by.


    The bit of experience Gramps thrust upon me that did actually help was tracking. When I got back to the spot, I combed around for some clues.


    ¡°Bingo.¡± I said under my breath. I found some fresh hoof tracks in the snow. The tracks went up and down the trail, which meant it was used quite a bit. I decided to follow them to see where they lead.


    I walked along the moose-made trail for a while, probably fifteen minutes. ¡°Maybe I should have picked the other direction.¡± I shrugged and continued on. Until I finally found something.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    It wasn¡¯t a nest of moose like I was hoping for. No, it was something a little more fantastical than that. At the end of the trail stood a small patch of brilliant blue and purple flowers. Flowers that gave off a faint indigo light.


    ¡°They look almost like roses, but more open, their petals, that is. Like that one plant. What was its name? Gramps grew some in his personal garden. He said there were gran¡¯s favorites.¡±


    Tutor ended up being the one with the answer, ¡±Gardenias.¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, but I don¡¯t remember them being this color. I think they were white.¡±


    ¡°It''s a different world, Liam. They didn¡¯t glow either.¡± There was something different about her words as she spoke. Or her tone at least. It wasn''t the typical mocking or jovial that I was used to. They were calm, peaceful. Almost solemn. Maybe she likes flowers. I wondered.


    I was taken aback once more as I thought about what she said. That might have been the first time Tutor addressed me by my name. I honestly didn¡¯t know what to do with that. I¡¯ll just focus on the magic flowers for now.


    It amazed me that they grew through the covering of snow. There was no evidence of withering or frost on them. It was almost as if they thrived in the cold.


    I felt a strange attraction to them, coming from deep in my body. I had a feeling these little guys were special. Deciding to take one back to camp, I bent down to pluck one. As I plucked one, its glow died out. I brought it up to my face, its smell wafted into my nostrils. It was heavenly. A gentle mixing of lavender and honey. Nothing like the ones back on Earth.


    Oh yeah, I¡¯m taking this. Gramps showed me some gardening techniques. I hope I can use them to grow a plot of these wonderful flowers back at the cave.


    My thoughts went back to the trail. Why did the moose come to this patch? Sure they looked beautiful and smelled magnificent, but I never pegged monsters as caring about that. Well that only leaves one other use.


    I plucked another flower. The first one was to dry out and collect some seeds, but this one was for experimenting. I plucked one of its petals and put it on my tongue. An amazingly sweet taste graced my tongue. But before I could enjoy the sensation, lightning coursed through my nervous system. Like a car battery was attached to my head and toes. The feeling ebbed quickly as I dropped the flower on the snow. ¡°Jesus!¡± I had to take a few deep breaths.


    The chill that had seeped into my limbs, streamed out of my body. My heartbeat quickened as blood rushed through every inch of my body. It felt like I just consumed no less than 10 pots of coffee, with a case of energy drinks as the chaser. I swear I could hear colors and taste sounds.


    But I wasn¡¯t jittery and my mind was clear. It just gave me mountains of energy. I looked up at my health bar and sure enough there was an icon.


    [Energized 00:24]


    It had a timer ticking down. Only another 20 seconds of this feeling I guess. I looked down at the flower in my hands. How long would it last if I downed the whole thing? I turned back to the patch. ¡°What about the whole lot of them?¡± Something dripped onto the snow. It was saliva. My saliva. I was drooling.


    There¡¯s more of these flowers around right. I could just eat this whole lot and find more. Yeah, that''s a good plan. My breath quickened as my tongue rolled out the side of my face. I was about the grab the whole lot.


    The timer ran out just as I was inches from seizing them. Fatigue crashed into my body. My knees wobbled. But the feeling went away as quickly as it came. I was cautious moving myself around, worried there would be an aftereffect from the condition. Or at least a hangover.


    A minute or two passed and I didn¡¯t feel any different. No wicked headaches or weakness. Even that weird desire to consume all of the flowers subsided. I felt pretty normal all things considered. A bit sticky though, hate that. I wiped the excess drool off my face.


    I knelt down next to the patch of flowers and looked around. There were three other trails that ended here. The footprints varied in size and shape. Two of the trails were made by monsters with canine paws and the last made by something I didn¡¯t recognize. The footprints were long and slender, almost like gecko feet, but way bigger. They were the largest out of all the prints, even beating the moose.


    These flowers are most likely sought after by all types of monsters. I wonder if it''s the same with gene wielders, or splicers as they are known colloquially. Maybe they¡¯re rare. Or better yet valuable.


    Money hasn¡¯t been even remotely close to my thoughts until recently; survival was my only priority. My current goal was leveling up enough that I could get into the city without raising too many alarms. But with civilization comes money. I realized I never asked Len about the monetary system on Kniyas. Was it gold like usual or was there another treasured material?


    I looked back at the flowers, the status they granted must be valuable. Maybe if I can cultivate them, I would have a revenue stream for when I entered into society.


    A horrific growl came from my stomach, reminding me why I followed this trail in the first place.


    I collected a few more of the flowers and stuffed them in the pouch Len left me, making sure to leave plenty of flowers in the patch; they were my bait. I stood up and brushed the snow off my pants. After looking at the other trails once more, I chose to stick with hunting the moose.


    Trying to hunt monsters I haven¡¯t scouted seemed like a bad play. I knew how strong the moose were and what they could do. Plus, it was kind of tasty. I definitely wanted to come back and check out what other monsters there were but securing food was more important.


    I walked back down the moose trail and formulated a plan.


    Snow piled up on my shoulders, but it didn¡¯t bother me. It must have been an hour since I climbed up this tree, but that wasn¡¯t really on my mind. I was completely calm, one with nature even. My bright green eyes focused solely on the trail that lay under me. Waiting, yearning for my next target to come along. Eager to teach another lesser being its sole reason for existence.


    I was in Tigris form. And even though I despised the thought processes the form brought, it was naturally stealthy. An integral part of hunting. It also wasn¡¯t bothered by the cold very much, which was a nice perk.


    Ursa was by far the best in the snow, I barely felt the chill. Only problem was I got sleepy easily in that form, especially in the cold. So staking out in that form would¡¯ve led to me falling out of the tree whilst slumbering.


    Apis form didn¡¯t help much against the cold; its fur was really light. Gremlin was damn near worthless, my base form was better at handling the cold.


    A crunching sound entered my ears. My body tensed in excitement, readying itself for the hunt. As predicted, a magical moose walked along the trail. I positioned myself on a branch not far from the ground. Moose weren¡¯t known for having the best eyesight so I wasn¡¯t worried about it seeing me. Not that inferior creatures could compare to my eyes in the first place. They were perfect.


    Tension grew in the air as the unsuspecting creature meandered forward. Closer, just a little closer. THERE!


    I pounced; landing on its back. The lights surrounding its antlers brightened as it readied to fight, but dulled just as soon. My magnificent claws had already opened its jugular. Blood painted the snow red before melting away. The pathetic thing mewled for a moment, trying to deny its death but failing. I licked my claws and smiled. ¡°Lesson¡¯s over vermin.¡±


    I reverted into my base form and wiped my hands clean. The sun was coming down along with the temperature. I hugged myself and rubbed, trying to warm up a little while turning on Ursa mode. The increase in body mass and black fur did wonders against the wind.


    The moose carcass probably weighed several hundred pounds, but felt like little more than a sack of potatoes to Ursa¡¯s strength. Which made the two-hour trek back to the cave pretty negligible. Until the form shut down three quarters of the way there.


    A small pack of gremlins ambushed me while I walked. A fight with them was a joke more than anything now, but one managed to score a hit; a decent sized gash along my leg. I probably could have made the trip back while in Ursa mode but I didn¡¯t want to chance an infection. After a quick log form change, I continued on.


    Now I felt every pound of the damn thing. This moose was a good bit larger than the first one I killed, probably a gender difference. The male counterpart most likely has more mass on it. A good change, all things considered. More food. It was also still warm and blocked some of the chill, so that was nice.


    The wind picked up and blew fresh snow in my face. ¡°Fuck the cold.¡±


    After thirty more minutes passed, the cave came into view. But the gentle orange lights that I left this morning had died out. I was hoping the fire would last long enough, but the hunting trip took more time than I¡¯d hoped. I sighed and continued towards it.


    But something caught my eye. Above the cave entrance, maybe twenty feet, was a circle barren of snow. Not a single flake in the circle. I watched as snowflakes fell on the circle, only to immediately melt once they landed.


    ¡°How have I not noticed that?¡± I said, bewildered. But the answer came to me pretty quick. I¡¯ve done most of my traveling through the snow in Ursa form. And I never turned it off until I was already in the cave.


    It¡¯s a great form, incredibly powerful in combat and useful outside of it. However, its brainpower is somewhat lacking, to say the least. Not in a bad way or anything, it just wasn¡¯t very conducive to multitasking. It tends to be more¡­ single-minded, like it has one track mind. Go out, hunt, bring back to the cave. In that order, with no disruptions.


    Exact opposite of Apis, which makes it nearly impossible to focus on only one task. But its skills were needed to investigate this new development.


    I dropped off the moose in the cave before checking out the new mystery. I patted the pelt of the nefarious Tanther I¡¯d slain. I kept it as a trophy, my first hard fought victory on Kniyas. And it made for a really warm blanket. Cleaning it without devouring the body took way more willpower than it should have.


    I shifted into Apis form and started climbing, shivering the entire time.


    The sun was barely in the sky at this point and the temperature must have dropped another ten degrees, leading me to debate if it was even worth looking into it today or leave it for the morning. But my better judgment says it''s probably best to check it now. If there is something nefarious behind the weird circle, then letting it fester would hurt in the long run.


    With a few more grumbles and complaints, I made it to the circle. It was about three feet in diameter and warm to the touch. Which felt sublime on my frozen digits. I closed my eyes and indulged, focusing on warming my hands and tail. Even with the fur, my tail was irked by the cold. Heck, I was almost tempted to rub my face in its warmth, but I didn¡¯t. That would be silly¡­ right?


    As I brought my face closer to the blessed heat, I noticed that the warmth felt familiar. Like I had felt this heat before. I looked at the circle once more and found something right in the center.


    A flame. One so small and so dim, you had to be right next to it to even see. It was a white flame, no bigger than a match, hovering above a patch of grass that hadn¡¯t died. And I immediately knew the origin of the fire. Len.


    ¡°Has he been here, or did he place the flame before he left?¡± I said. But what¡¯s its purpose? Why did he leave this tiny fire?


    Before putting much more thought into it, another gust of wind buffeted against my face, causing me to shiver and flick my tail. ¡°Well whatever it is, I probably don¡¯t need to worry about it if Len put it there.¡± I put my hands on the circle before heading back to the cave.


    But the warmth was gone. ¡°What?¡± I said.


    The fire was gone, along with its heat. The snow began to cover the circle, until it disappeared. Lost in the white blanket that covered the rest of the forest. ¡°But how?¡±


    Tutor answered the mostly rhetorical question. ¡°Your tail. It put the fire out during your last spasm.¡±


    I palmed my face. ¡°I hope it wasn¡¯t important.¡±


    ¡ª


    Len walked through a side street in Laurelhaven, along with his new prot¨¦g¨¦, Fennel. It was a chilly evening, but he and the boy had run around most of the day and he was going to treat him to some grub.


    As they sat down in front of a food cart, Len felt a slight prick on the back of his neck. His head popped up. He looked off in the distance. With a slight grin he said, ¡°Looks like the fun is about to begin.¡±


    Fennel turned towards him, cheeks filled with food. ¡°What was that?¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°Nothing, the food looks good.¡±

 19. Crappy Definition of Fun

    The sun finally came out and melted the snow that covered the forest. Which I thought would be nice. That it would be a pleasant change, not having to trudge through a foot of snow to go out and gather or train. No, it just brought a whole new slew of problems. Slushy nasty mud that was left behind. Gross cold dirt that is especially hard to walk through; and, might I mention, fight in.


    Groans left my throat as I rose from the ground, pushing the corpse of a monster off of me. I brushed some of the mud off my body, a fruitless endeavor seeing as all I did was move the dirt paste around. I sighed as I realized I was going to have to take a freezing cold bath in the mostly thawed river.


    I just finished a fight with a big boar-like monster, except it was about twice the size of a normal boar and had a single tusk jutting out of the roof of its mouth. A tusk that just so happened to be coated in poison. Found that out the hard way, after spending the last week in  agony. My mimic-adjacent body was apparently resistant to toxins, a useful and lifesaving property. One I was more than thankful for; it was how I expelled the toxins that caused the misery...Diarrhea on max difficulty. My soul weeps for those with IBS.


    This was the eighth one of these bastards I¡¯ve fought. They had rough and coarse gray fur with dark green splotches on its back and near the hooves. Ursa and Tigris could handle them well enough through overpowering or precise strikes, respectively.


    But I beat this one in base form. For as annoying as Len could be, his notes were a godsend. And he put plenty of emphasis on the fact that my base form needed the same, if not more, training than all the other forms. Plus, it was the only form that got to properly utilize my badass mithril sword. The one currently smeared with muddy slush and monster blood.


    I looked at my arms and saw some cuts along them. The boar had some ability which sharpened its fur on demand, neat power, but I didn¡¯t think it was that useful.


    After my healing ritual, which consisted of turning into a log for two seconds, I stood up. My body ached. My stomach rumbled violently as per usual.


    ¡°Dammit I know!¡± I yelled at no one in particular.


    ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    The morning after Len¡¯s mystery flame went out was my first run in with the spikey pigs. Loud rustling noises reverberated off the walls of the cave while I was prepping for the day. I walked outside and found the pissed off piggy destroying my stone table. It noticed my appearance near instantly and charged. I jumped to the side just before its tusk impaled me.


    Ursa form was my immediate reaction. It seemed like the wisest choice. I rose off the ground while the big pig ransacked my cave for a minute. It returned even more ticked off than before, charging once again. But I had recently gained another proficiency level in Ursa form and wanted to test out the new strength buff. In hindsight, terrible move.


    I grabbed it by the tusk. The force from the blow displaced me ten feet from where I was standing, my heels catching stones and dirt, but I stopped it. The beast¡¯s nostrils flared right in my mouth, and before I could gag at the awful smell and taste assaulting my senses, its tusk glowed green for a moment. Sharp pins pricked my pads and punctured them. The pain in my paws ignited Ursa-Rage. I used all the added strength I could muster and gripped the tusk, twisting and slamming the porker into the dirt.


    While it was stunned from the throw, I rained claws down on its exposed stomach until it quit breathing. Eh, longer than that actually. I¡¯d gotten better at controlling the rage ability outside of combat, but inside of combat was still a coin flip.


    The boar¡¯s insides, probably better classified as outsides now, littered my campsite. I turned off Ursa and inspected the damage. My table was ruined, split right down the middle, and covered in green saliva goop. That green goop caught my attention, but before examining it closer, I saw an icon under my health bar. A small green skull.


    [Poisoned]


    ¡°CRAP! Tutor! TUTOR!¡±


    ¡°What!? Shut up. You don¡¯t have to scream, asshole. I can hear you just fine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m poisoned!¡± I said, panicking a little.


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°What do I do? How do I get rid of it? I¡¯m going to die!¡± Maybe a more than a little panic.


    During my meltdown, I rushed to the river. I was going to clean off the blood in case that¡¯s what caused the poisoning. The cold water made me flinch as I submerged my hands. I still had the cuts from the hog¡¯s tusk.


    ¡°First off, get your knickers untwisted.¡± But I could barely comprehend her words, splashing and cleaning myself in what had to be water at absolute fucking zero.


    ¡°Dude. Dude! LIAM!¡± Tutor shouted.


    Her shout hurt the inside of my head but was effective in getting me out of my panicked state.


    ¡°You good now?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah, sorry. Little scared of poison.¡±


    ¡°I can see that. Now deep breaths. Do it with me.¡±


    Following her cue, I breathed in, then out.  In. Out. In, Grumble, Out. My stomach felt weird but I tried to ignore it. GRUMBLE. But it did not wish to be ignored. I moved my hand to my stomach. The rumbles turned into a dull ache, and then the rest is history. A very shitty history.


    Note to self: avoid poison. At any cost.


    Once the worst of it was over I went back and examined the mangled pig corpse. The tusk had very small orifices with the weird green goop oozing out of them. I took an educated guess that was the source of the poison. Kinda screamed POISON, you know. I cautiously grabbed its legs after more inspection and dragged the corpse out of camp, keeping away from the toxic tusk.


    ¡°You know what, that would be a good name for him. Toxic Tusk.¡± I said after depositing him a couple hundred feet away from the camp.


    ¡°Ehh. Sounds too video-gamey,¡± Tutor replied.


    ¡°Maybe. But knowing how this world names things, it won''t be something cool like Porkus Maximus, the Piggly Wiggly, Swenom. Nah it''d probably be just Pigis. Man, I hope it''s not Pigis. That sounds awful.¡±


    I made my way back to camp and started cleaning up the place. There wasn¡¯t much to my camp so it didn¡¯t take too long. I picked up the broken pieces of my table and then buried any monster residue leftover from the fight. It took about half the day after all was said and done. I returned to the cave, munched on a leg quarter of the moose, and pulled out my stock of magical gardenias.


    Their smell was intoxicating and the mere touch of them gave me goosebumps but these weren¡¯t meant for eating. It was time to try to cultivate them. I found a spot on the side of the camp the pig didn¡¯t ransack and dug out a square, making a plot for the seeds. I tilled it with my bare hands and dropped some seeds. Not all of them. Only four. It was going to take time to grow these properly. I didn¡¯t want to use all of them in case they wouldn¡¯t grow here for some reason. Gardening is a massive pain most of the time and I didn¡¯t have my grandparents¡¯ green thumbs. I was expecting failures on the first couple of tries.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    But I had seeds to spare so I wasn¡¯t too worried. I left them alone to do their germinating or whatever and trained for the rest of the day in relative peace.


    That peace didn¡¯t last long though. I woke up to more kerfuffling in my camp. One of the stupid poisonous piggies walked into my camp and wrecked the place. Which led to a repeat of yesterday¡¯s events. Even the poison.


    This proceeded to occur every morning like clockwork, even twice in the same day. I handled the first few with Ursa, repeating the same strategy of tossing and eviscerating. But the constant state of sickness grew tiresome quickly.


    After the fourth morning I decided I might as well make the most out of it. I fought one with a mixture of Apis and my base form. Apis form¡¯s mobility boost kept me away from the sinister tusk. I employed the simple strategy dodging its wild charges until it pooped itself out. And then slice through its hide with the help of my trusty sword while in base form.


    The strategy worked out splendidly, until I carelessly rubbed my arm against the tusk celebrating the victory. ¡°Yeah. Figures.¡± I said accepting my fate and walking over to the river.


    I basically just bullied the poor things to death in Tigris form. It would charge and receive a long gash down its side as I gracefully side stepped its attacks while constantly berating them with ostentatious banter. Almost felt bad for them. That was until I found the reason for their constant attacks.


    On the sixth morning, I woke at the crack of dawn, resolved to learn why these venomous swine kept attacking my camp. Were they purposefully attacking me or was it something else? I sat right where the flame Len left once was. It was actually a really nice spot to come and chill. I shifted into stone mode this time, for a change, and waited.


    And right on cue, a hog stomped into my camp and proceeded to trample everything. It flipped my newly crafted table. Yes, it was stupid building another one, but I liked having some semblance of decorum. The beast knocked it off its legs and sniffed around. It sniffed and snorted around my camp for a while.


    Its head shifted and it walked over to my little garden plot where it stopped. Ahh, that makes sense. They must be catching a whiff of the magical gardenias.


    As if to confirm my suspicions, the boar stuck its face into the snow and dirt, trying to dig out the seeds I planted.


    ¡°Well we can¡¯t have that now can we.¡± I shifted out of stone mode and made my way down in Apis form after jumping into a tree and climbing down. The pig was so enthralled in its search for my crops that it didn¡¯t notice my presence until my sword was halfway through its neck.


    The hog¡¯s body slumped to the ground in a pool of its own blood and green goop. ¡°God these things are revolting.¡± I looked down at the once tilled soil, now ruined and covered in weird saliva and snot. I had a sneaking suspicion this batch wouldn¡¯t grow. ¡°Stupid pig. How am I going to solve this?¡±


    I lifted the boar''s body in Ursa mode and tried to think of a new solution. Which wasn¡¯t very productive as you can probably guess. I plopped him down with the rest of his fallen brethren. The smell coming off the carcasses was rough. Half of the pigs were decomposing at a rate way faster than back on Earth. It only took four nights for the first corpse to mostly decompose. It would probably have gone faster if the nights weren¡¯t freezing.


    ¡°Burying them would probably be a better choice.¡± Tutor spoke up right as I turned to leave.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome to start digging anytime.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Seems cruel to just leave them to the elements.¡±


    I just shrugged it off. I wasn¡¯t going to worry about the bodies of dead monsters or their dignity. I needed to figure out a solution for my flowers. Should I make an enclosure? Nah the porkers would break down anything I could make. Different location then. But where?


    I mulled over it while walking back to camp. An idea came to me as I made it back to the clearing in front of the cave. Len¡¯s flame. That little patch of grass where I sat in stone form this morning would work. High off the ground and away from the boars. The quality of soil might not be great but these flowers grew in the middle of winter. I shrugged. ¡°Might as well try.¡± I said while looking up at the location.


    A sudden shuffling sound came from the direction of my cave, putting me on alert almost instantly. Another boar. I strained my ears, hoping to gather more information. Apis and Ursa are down but Tigris is up so it shouldn¡¯t be that bad. The shuffling intensified, breaking my train of thought. The noises weren¡¯t boisterous or accompanied by any snorting.


    I crept up to the entrance of the cave and placed a hand on the side wall. I retracted it almost immediately. There was a strange slime coating on the side and the ground. Why is everything sticky and slimy lately? But now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about that. Need to focus on whatever is invading my privacy.


    With my sword at the ready, I ventured farther into the cave. The sounds came from the direction of my storage area, where I left a few gremlin weapons, the roc feather, and my adventuring bag. The one filled with magic flowers. It clicked.


    Without thinking, I yelled in a low guttural voice, ¡°MINE,¡± completely throwing away any stealth advantage I might have had. The shuffling quit and was replaced by a hissing sound. Great. A snake. I twirled the blade in my hand once and prepared myself for a tussle.


    The hissing became louder and louder but I couldn''t find its source. I checked my storage corner but nothing was there, aside from some slime on my bag. I clutched my sword tighter as I searched. The hisses bounced around the cave wall making it hard to pinpoint. I held my breath and stood still, trying to mute myself and focus. The hissing paused.


    A drop of something fell on my shoulder. I inspected it. More slime. ¡°Great.¡± I said with a big sigh while I looked up at the ceiling. Two giant glassy purple eyes stared back into mine. The slime in question dripped from its head. A weird growl/grumble/humming noise came from its throat.


    I was staring at a giant gecko. Its skin matching the stone it clung to perfectly. Its tongue stuck out of its mouth and hissed. That¡¯s right, its tongue hissed at me. Its tongue was shaped like a snake but no eyes or nostrils, just a mouth with an even smaller tongue. ¡°What the fu¡­¡± was all I got about before its tail came down and found the right side of my torso.


    The blow knocked me off my feet for a second but didn¡¯t send me flying. I found my footing quickly and readied myself to strike back. It let go of the ceiling with its hind legs first. I swung for the fences on its exposed belly. The gecko¡¯s tail swiped in my direction and a ball of gloop collided with my sword, slowing the attack but not enough for the blow to miss its target. The sword collided with the overgrown lizard, except it didn¡¯t slice through. It slid right down the monster¡¯s side. I inspected the sword as it finished climbing to the ground. The slime the monster threw with its tail had hardened and dulled the blade. ¡°Sweeeeeeet.¡±


    As soon as the gecko had all of its feet on the floor it rushed at me mouth wide open revealing a row of no less than 500 tiny teeth. I threw the blade away while I jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the sea of teeth. I was about to shift into Tigris form but some more slime flung my way. I dodged the brunt of it but some landed on my shin and hardened immediately.


    If that gets in my claws I¡¯m screwed. Two more barrages came my way, forcing me to jump out of the way again. I landed near my stockpile of gremlin gear. ¡°That might work.¡±


    Grabbing two daggers, I shifted into gremlin form. I took a peek at my status bars; health was only down 20% and stamina maybe 10%. Not bad. I hope these crappy daggers will hack it.


    Another shot of goop was coming my way but I dodged it. Gremlin¡¯s increased agility made it much easier than before and allowed me to close the distance. I rushed past its mouth and aimed a slash at its hind leg. Its tail lashed out catching the dagger swipe. No slime this time, so the edge actually made contact and sliced right through the midsection of its tail. Good, low defense.


    The cut off tail wiggled on the ground before shriveling instantly. The gecko jumped up and flipped in the air before landing on the ceiling again. Its tongue shot out and hissed at me.


    Hopefully no more slime shots. But before I could celebrate my small victory its nubby tail twitched and shook violently. A new tail grew instantaneously out of the stub. And then shot another ball of slime at my dagger, knocking it out of my hand.


    I shook my head, I threw the remaining dagger at the lizard¡¯s head and ran to get more. The handle of the dagger smacked its forehead and fell to the ground. Magic moose missiles would be great right about now. I grabbed two more daggers and threw a spear while a few more slime shots came my way.


    The slime hit the spear out of the air and stuck the spear to a wall of the cave. An idea bloomed in my head after seeing it. I looked at my stamina again. 75% full. Time to test it out. The gecko got off the ceiling after I threw more daggers at it. One actually scored a hit on its back. I clutched two spears. I activated Fight and Flight and feigned throwing the spear. It predictably slimed the spear. But with FnF turned on I could react faster to the projectile. I spun the spear and blocked the slime with the base. Before it could harden I shoved the spear into the dirt below me, pointed toward the monster, and clutched the other spear in my hands. The gecko hissed once more and charged at me. I stood my ground waiting for its assault. Its mouth opened just before it got to me and with the added speed I shoved my spear in its agape mouth. Its mouth closed, crushing the wooden spear before any real damage could be done. The gecko¡¯s head slammed into me and threw me into a wall. But its momentum carried it directly into the spear that was stuck in the ground.


    The spear impaled the gecko¡¯s head, going straight through its brain. Its body flicked and shivered before finally calming down. I felt blood trickle down my back before going log mode to heal it.


    I walked over to the hopefully dead gecko with a dagger in hand and cut through its throat. ¡°Gotta double tap.¡± I said through labored breaths. My stamina was down to 25%. I sat down on the ground of the cave, right into a moist pile of slime. I heard Tutor chuckling in the back of my head. ¡±Shut up.¡±


    I went to get up but couldn¡¯t. The slime congealed, leaving me stuck there.


    ¡°Awesome.¡±

 20. Welcome to the Monster Mash

    I laid on the frozen forest floor, contemplating how I got myself in my current predicament. Honestly, I was really looking for someone to blame. Was it Terrence who sent me to this stupid world? Or maybe the driver of that mail truck that hit me, and in turn, started this whole mess. Hell, maybe it was me, for even deciding to wake up that morning.


    Nah, it wasn¡¯t any of these. It was that damn old man. He lulled me into a false sense of security these last couple of months. Len, the man who went from a kind, funny old mentor to an obstinate drill instructor. Not that he was even around to bitch at.


    Ever since that fight with the gecko snake-tongued monster, each day has been a constant fight with a different creature.


    The very next morning a blue-green furred goat with three horns of varying sizes rampaged around and climbed up to my attempted flower garden. It munched on all the seeds. I killed it quickly with Ursa mode. It wasn¡¯t much of a fight; it was barely larger than regular goats and while the horns sure added a layer of malice. They didn¡¯t have magic missiles or any other noticeable powers. My strength in Ursa mode was plenty to pick up and toss the goat around. Which, I did, numerous times. Once I saw it had eaten my seeds things got a smidge heated.


    I may have thrown it off the entrance of the cave a lot. It made an awful cry as it lay broken on the ground. Which, attracted three of its buddies. Who did not seem at all happy about their friend¡¯s gruesome end.


    I took a jab or five from the goats but I dispatched them easily enough. Nothing on the level of the gecko or the tanther. I mused what tier they would have been classified as during my now daily trip to the monster corpse pile. Len explained the different strength tiers they gave to monsters during my training. From my understanding, it was loosely based on what powers they can use and how destructive they are.


    For example, the lowest tiers, 1 and 2, are mostly normal animals. The ever delectable squirrel is a tier 1, it¡¯s not gonna do much damage. Same with fish. Next step up and we have a jackanape, the loud tree monkeys. Tier 2s by themselves. Without the song ability, they aren¡¯t much stronger than your average monkey back on earth. Who are deceptively strong might I add. Why do I know that? A certain elderly man with a penchant for making multiple families dropped me in the monkey enclosure at the local zoo as a kid. But that¡¯s a different story. None of the monkeys got shot.


    Gremlins were considered tier 3s because of their use of tactics and weapons. Generally, tier 3s are just beefed up animals, like the goat just now. Len said they are the lowest-tiered bipeds. Which made me wonder what other two-legged monsters were out there. And why they are so strong.


    Tier 4 is when the creatures begin to get a little fantastical. This is when monsters start getting supernatural powers or some elemental affinity. Take my magical meat supply, the moose. Normal animal + magical quality = tier 4.


    It was from here where the lines blur from tier to tier. Like tier 5 is my guess on the tanther and gecko. Both had strong and debilitating powers, but the tanther still felt stronger to me. So maybe the gecko is a high 4 and the tanther a low 5. Maybe they''re both 4s. I shook my head. "Nah the cat''s a tier 5." Made the accomplishment feel better.


    "Whatever makes you feel better bub." Tutor responded.


    Although it was kind of confusing, I appreciated Kniyas even having some sort of power grading system. What I didn¡¯t appreciate was having no way to identify what tier a monster was without a guide or prior knowledge. Still hoping an identification ability falls in my lap.


    I finished offloading three of the goat bodies on the monster pile. The last one was going to be lunch. After, I plant some more seeds. With an enclosure this time. ¡°Gonna need more vines.¡±


    No monster bothered me the next morning which meant I could get some training in. A nice change of pace. Only to come back to my camp being ransacked by a passing group of pale white gremlins. ¡°Does their skin change with the seasons?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Or is it a different batch?¡± One heard my musings and screeched alerting his squad. I wasn¡¯t worried, these creatures were beneath me. I sliced the whole group in a matter of minutes in Tigris form and added more bodies to the corpse pile.


    I woke up the next morning to the most peculiar cooing sound. It was soft and honestly pretty soothing. Made me want to extend my slumber. I was tired from making a fence for my flowers and wanted to laze more. Tutor called me dumb and said I should check it out.


    The coos reminded me of pigeons. I walked out of the cave and looked for some plumpy little birds. Bet they''ll taste great. Nothing was in the camp, but the cooing continued. Naturally, I checked my seeds first. I made the fencing out six-foot tall logs with the handy dandy roc feather and a veritable buttload of vines. Probably six-foot, no measuring tools out here aside from my wingspan. Pro-tip: the length of your arms stretched out is approximately the same as your height. I wonder if that''s true for other races. Crap.


    Pro-tip revised: the length of your arms stretched out is approximately the same as your height, if you are human.


    The fencing appeared untampered, but another coo sounded out. I searched around for its source but kept coming back to the same place. The seeds. Another coo went off, coming from directly underneath the buried seeds.


    After hopping into the barricade, I looked down at the pile of unevenly tilled soil, odd considering gramps beat proper tilling into me as a child. Before I could examine it further, the soil shifted. It writhed as if something was just below the surface.


    ¡°Great, looks like I have a mole problem.¡± Another coo came from the shifting dirt. ¡°A cooing mole problem?¡± I said with uncertainty.


    Tutor just had to give her sarcastic two cents. ¡±Cuz that¡¯s the weirdest thing we¡¯ve seen.¡±


    Once again ignoring the commentary, I decided I would try to catch the little bugger. I wonder what it will taste like.


    I shoved my hand down into the dirt and grabbed a hold of the mole¡¯s warm body. It''s hairless, fleshy, and moist(?) body. I yanked with as much might as I could muster before it could get away. My hand slipped halfway through and I fell on my ass. I got back up in a rush hoping I didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to catch it.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    But there was no rodent to be found, just a meaty pink tentacle wriggled and squirmed around. It was about a foot and a half long. Merely looking at the thing disturbed me in a way I can¡¯t quite describe. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a worm,¡± Tutor said. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. There aren¡¯t any ridges or bumps on it. It''s just a solid pink¡­ thing.¡± Its wiggling never once slowed down while we examined it.


    ¡°Ooo Ooo. I¡¯ve been on the internet long enough to know where¡­¡± but I cut her off before she could finish.


    ¡°Stop, you¡¯re disgusting,¡± I said.


    ¡°Quit being a pussy and yank on it. It ruined the flowers.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Did you have to say it like that?¡±


    ¡°Pull it out already, you baby.¡±


    Obeying the crude voice in my head, I pulled on the disgustingly warm flesh. The cooing sound intensified, turning into an alarmed shrill. My hand kept slipping on it and I couldn''t grip it well.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you to rub the knob,¡± Tutor said, barely hiding a giggle whilst speaking.


    ¡°Will you quit it!¡± I said, through gritted teeth. I huffed and puffed to no avail. That is until another one of the tentacles pierced through the ground. Then another, and another. About twelve pink wiggling tentacles were vibrating around and cooing. The once soothing sound now sent chills down to my very core.


    ¡°Nope, no, not doing this. I¡¯m getting the sword. Screw whatever the hell it is.¡± I jumped down and grabbed my sword and climbed back up. Without a second thought, I swung at the first tentacle with the best golf stroke I could manage.


    The sword cut right through without any issue. Blood geysered out of the stump while the rest of the tentacles wriggled with a whole new fervor. They shifted and moved in unison, swaying back and forth, making their way out of the ground.


    I prepared myself for another swing. Before I could, the tentacles moved enough dirt and revealed where they grew from. A disc sharing its color rose out of the dirt. A disc with two holes that reminded me of nostrils.


    Looks like I was right with my first assumption. A huge mole stuck its head out of the ground, mouth agape, coming straight for me. I hopped up and out of my fenced garden. The mole''s dark gray body crashed out of the earth, destroying my hard work.


    It was a gargantuan version of those moles that have the weird tentacle noses. A very mad one at that. It thrashed about, making broad sweeping attacks and nipping at the air. But none of the attacks came even remotely close to hitting me. I was a solid 10 feet away from it. Best guess, it¡¯s vision must be poor, if existent. I tried looking for the monster¡¯s eyes, but it''s panicked flailing made it difficult.


    I looked at the hole it popped out of. Something wasn¡¯t adding up. I planted the seeds directly above the ceiling of my cave, my hollow cave. This thing was a good 15 feet long and large. There was maybe 8 feet between the ceiling of the cave and the garden. How the hell did that work? How didn¡¯t it get there?


    Before I could put much more thought into the absurd conundrum, it must have caught my scent. Its wiggling nose tentacles pointed my way while its mass lumbered my way. It was pretty slow. I slashed at its bright pink nose. Bright colors mean weak point, right?


    I scored the hit, its nose recoiling and bleeding. It swiped at my location but I moved from there to its side where I was going from a stab. Its head shifted towards me.


    Right as my blade was about to pierce its hide, it disappeared. Or rather moved at an incredible speed it hadn¡¯t shown up to this point. I had managed to catch where it moved. I looked down and saw the mole, only it was the typical rodent size. It was actually kind of cute like this. No more horrifying tentacles wiggling menacingly. ¡°Huh. Neat.¡± Even Tutor had something to say, a rarity during battle. ¡°Say hello to my little friend.¡± She said in a terrible accent.


    ¡°What?¡± I said, utterly confused.


    ¡°He¡¯s Starface.¡± She giggled to herself. ¡°Get it?¡±


    I rubbed my face with both hands. ¡°That was the dumbest pun I have ever heard. That physically hurt.¡± I replied through my hands.


    During our poorly timed banter, little Starface ran between my legs. I was then promptly thrown into the air. It grew back to its regular(?) size just as quickly as it shrank, launching me.


    While flailing in the air for a good couple of seconds, I shifted into Apis and caught myself on some tree branches with my tail. I swung around the branch and stood up to look at my foe. It was sniffing around, blowing blood off its face through its nose. Yep, pretty sure it used sound and smell to locate things.


    I climbed over to some trees right above Starface and pounced, foot aimed right for its head. The kick connected; I felt something crunch under my boot. The mole shrilled again before falling to the ground. I found my sword laying a few feet away and cut the moles head off. Making sure it was dead.


    I walked back over to my garden to see if it could be saved. It could not. On the bright side, I now had a wonderful sunroof in my cave. Perfect for those freezing winter mornings. The mole must have crushed the roof of my cave when it transformed out of the ground. I hopped through the hole and looked to see if any of my stuff was damaged but the hole was above a corner of the cave I didn¡¯t use. That corner was mostly dirt anyway as opposed to the hard rock of the rest of the cave floor. The sun shined down through the hole and made a rough circle shape in the dirt. An idea bloomed in my mind, what a perfect place to plant the seeds.


    They would get plenty of light and would hopefully be hidden from the monsters. I gathered the logs and vines I used for the fencing and made a patch for my roof, covering it with a layer of mud, hoping it would keep the heat in. I¡¯d have to move the cover every morning and night, and if it rains, or snows. Okay, it''s not a perfect plan but it''s better than everything else so far. Hopefully, it will slow down on the monsters invading my camp too.


    As I finished with the patch, I looked over to the hulking mass I left.


    ¡°Dammit, why didn¡¯t I kill it when it was small? ¡±I shifted into Ursa mode and pushed the mole''s body off the cave and tried dragging it to the pile. But even Ursa had trouble dragging that much deadweight that far. I shoved it out of camp and fetched the roc feather and sliced the beast wide open, letting the blood drain out. I felt bad that the cool-ass roc feather had been reduced to nothing more than a tool. Stupid mana requirements.


    I thought about saving some of the mole for food but my reserves were well stocked right now, I didn''t want any of it rotting. Did I nibble on its thigh a little? Maybe? These hunger urges are a pain to fight off. It didn¡¯t taste great so I wasn¡¯t really missing out on anything.


    Now drained, I cut up its body further and moved the pieces to the pile, jokingly chanting ¡°More blood for the blood god.¡± I stopped myself after realizing that might be a thing in this world. Man, I hope not.


    I looked over the pile one more time and noticed something. It didn¡¯t seem like it was getting much bigger. It actually looked smaller. ¡°Monsters probably just decompose fast. Hey Tutor, do monsters decompose really fast?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    I shrugged not putting much more thought into the matter. I had more gardening to do.


    ¡ª


    The sky was calm that night. Not even a hint of wind. The pale moonlight shone down on the mountain of corpses. The bodies of the monsters slain by Liam throughout the week trembled.

 21. Death Garden

    A week passed by after my tumble with Starface however, no monsters had directly invaded my camp. I ran into more of the boars and goats while out training, but nothing in my actual camp. Even grew the courage to make another table. One that hopefully won¡¯t be destroyed. Now that the attacks calmed down, I could focus on figuring out why they were happening in the first place. ¡°Was it only because of the flowers?¡± I said, voicing the thoughts out loud.


    ¡°Wassup?¡±


    ¡°Hmmp, oh sorry just talking to myself. Contemplating on the cause of all the monster attacks lately.¡±


    ¡°IDK, I figured it was the flowers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not totally convinced of that. Sure, the timing matches, but once I planted the seeds inside the cave they stopped roaming into the camp. Also, who the hell says IDK? Just say I don¡¯t know like a normal person you degenerate.¡±


    ¡°First off, uncalled for. Second.¡± She blew a raspberry. Which made the inside of my head vibrate. ¡°Thirdly, what¡¯s your other reasoning?¡±


    I shook my head, trying to disperse the sensation. ¡°Real mature. I guess the other reason why I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the flowers is that I¡¯m getting attacked outside of camp way more now. Usually I was left alone when I¡¯m at the training area, now monsters are almost always there when I show up. There aren¡¯t any flowers at the training zone.¡±


    ¡°Then what else changed before the monsters showed up?¡± Her voice had a different quality to it. It didn¡¯t sound like she was genuinely asking but more like how I would ask questions to my students, attempting to guide them to an answer. It''s common practice among teachers. At least decent ones. I wonder if I will ever teach again, it might not have been my first career choice but I enjoyed it. But now''s not the time for that.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I thought for a moment and then it dawned on me. I¡¯m stupid.


    ¡°It was the fire. Len¡¯s little flame he left behind that I put out.¡±


    ¡°Bingo.¡± Tutor¡¯s words were followed by a screeching chime. Which rang in my head and made me flinch.


    ¡°Hehe sorry, volume was too high.¡±


    ¡°But how does it work?¡± I asked, rubbing my ears.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Cool, another mystery to add to the ever-growing pile.¡± I bet there is some kind of aura or field of some kind that monsters and splicers give off. Like when Len pretty much subjugated me over the feather. I sighed and rolled my head around, stopping when my gaze focused on the indoor flower patch.


    This group of seeds was the first monster-free trial. Only issue was that my seedlings weren¡¯t showing any signs of sprouting. I know some plant seeds take a while to sprout, but flowers grow pretty quick. They typically take less than a week for their seeds to sprout. But this is a fantasy world, and the flowers themselves give a completely literal buff. They simply might not play by the same rules as they did back on Earth.


    I don¡¯t think sunlight was the issue. The snowy weather seemed to be lessening, meaning I didn¡¯t have to use the roof covering throughout the day. Maybe it''s about the temperature.


    The campfire in the cave kept it bearable for me, however that might be too hot for the flowers. The days were also warming up. Not a substantial amount, but I wasn¡¯t shivering every moment I was outside of the cave. Yet they might need the cold. The flowers were originally growing directly out of the snow.


    It could also be the quality of the soil. Maybe this dirt patch doesn¡¯t have enough nutrients. I should go back to the original patch and investigate some more. I snacked on the breast portion of one of the magical moose and headed out.


    Finding the trail that led to the flower patch was trickier than I imagined. I returned to my moose hunting ground, but with the snow melted, the forest looked completely different without the blanket of white. More details pop out now. Different plants and trees growing around I didn¡¯t see before.


    The snow also made finding the trail to the flowers way easier. Just follow some footprints and boom. Magical flower patch. Now, I had to look for an animal trail. Broken sticks, tracks, markings on trees, stuff like that.


    After a brief disagreement with a magic moose(it disagreed with being my dinner), I found a promising trail. Leaving the carcass to be collected later, I walked along for a while and found what I was looking for, sort of. I found a patch of gardenias, but they no longer had the same luster. While the striking blue hue still painted the petals, the beautiful shimmering glow had disappeared. Maybe they just looked like they glowed when they had the white backdrop. I walked up and plucked one, putting a petal in my mouth. It still tasted delicious, but I didn¡¯t get the energized buff like last time.


    What¡¯s different this time? I searched around the patch, not finding anything of note. ¡°What about the soil?¡±


    I plucked a few flowers and stored them away, then dug underneath where they grew using a spare gremlin dagger I kept on me. The soil was rich and dark, much more than that of the cave dirt. But it reeked. The deeper I dug down, the worse the smell became. I had to take a few breaks just to catch my breath.


    Finally, my dagger hit something, something hard. I poked around the object, finding its shape, and then began my excavation. The object¡¯s surface was white but stained by the dark earth that encased it. I pulled the object out. It was a skull, a monster¡¯s skull. Worms and maggots squirmed throughout the dirt still held in it. I dropped it out of reflex. Dirt scattered and the skull cracked in half.


    ¡°Hmm, odd.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tutor asked.


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    ¡°Nothing, just realized this is the first skull I¡¯ve seen here. I killed dozens of monsters by now but I¡¯ve never really seen the bones. I either eat them or throw them in the corpse pile. Weird.¡±


    I¡¯m pretty sure I haven¡¯t run into the monster this skull came from. It looked canine-like in its shape and I haven''t encountered any dogs or wolves yet. I separated the broken skull further and moved the dirt around that was once inside.


    ¡°Ahh this must be it.¡± I found a small sprout in the dirt, presumably a flower seedling. The seeds must need fertilizer, and monster corpses most likely provide a bunch of nutrients. But then why is the magic gone? I picked up one of the skull fragments and examined it. It was lighter than I was expecting, especially since it looked twice the size of a large dog¡¯s head. I tapped it with the butt of my dagger and it crumbled immediately.


    ¡°It¡¯s fragile.¡± But why? Monsters are pretty durable, that mole¡¯s skull took incredible force to crack. I''ve also done more than my fair share of munching on bones, even the squirrel bones were hardier than this. I guess there¡¯s a chance these dogs have really thin bones, but that seemed unlikely. I dug around more and found the rest of the skeleton and sure enough, each of the bones were just as brittle.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    I collected a few more flowers, even if they didn¡¯t have the same kick, they still had the potential to make more that did. I returned to the moose carcass I left behind and found a small group of gremlins hacking away at it. They¡¯re not even worth the trouble anymore and didn¡¯t bother with them, instead choosing to walk back to camp. Besides, I¡¯d rather focus on the flowers. Dragging the body around in Ursa mode wouldn¡¯t help with that.


    ¡°Did you ever think the flowers absorbed the nutrients from the body and bones?¡± Tutor electing to ask me a question first.


    ¡°Well yeah, that¡¯s a no brainer. Of course they must have. But where I¡¯m stumped is what exactly fueled their effects. Like does the dog have some special type of property and that¡¯s why the flowers were so potent. Or can it be replicated with any monster? Also, what nutrients are there in bones. Sure the marrow, but not the bones themselves.¡±


    ¡°IDK, probably magical fantasy bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Again with the IDK. You really need to get away from your computer screen and touch grass.¡± I put a hand on my head.


    ¡°I go outside all the time.¡±


    A wild smile grew on my face. ¡°SO you are in front of a computer screen! Gotcha bitch!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot.¡± Click.


    I arrived back in camp soon after the exchange with Tutor, my head still churning about the flowers. I sat down at my new table and pulled out a few of the non-magical flowers to chew on. They may not have the buff but god are they delicious. Before I stuffed another one into my mouth, I heard a rustle come in from my cave. ¡°Dammit, I should really make a door.¡± I looked at the 10 foot tall cave entrance. ¡°A big one.¡±


    I shifted into Ursa form and walked on in. It was one of the blue-green goats, digging through my indoor flower patch. My vision flashed red for a moment, but I caught myself. I didn¡¯t need to rage over a single goat. I walked up next to it and, with one great swing, slammed its head into the cave wall, leaving a worrying crack. Funny how all skulls seem brittle to a good Ursa swipe. I shifted back and looked at the seeds.


    ¡°Yep, it ate all the seeds. Awesome.¡±


    I lifted the body and walked back to the corpse pile.


    You would think the smell would stop bothering me after the countless trips here. But no, I swear it''s a new type of awful every time. I plopped down the goat in the pile. It landed on top of the pile awkwardly, which led to another body shifting and sliding out of the pile. Which moved another. Shit.


    Next thing I knew, half the pile avalanched down, opening my nostrils to new and untold horrors. One body slid down in front of me. It was one of the boars, except half of its skin was falling off the bones, while the other half writhed with maggots.


    I only gagged a little.


    But a part of its skull was visible which made me wonder. Trying my best to not directly touch the rotting corpse, I used some vines I had lying around. Once the vines were hooked around the carcass, I pulled the body out more. Then I poked the exposed bone with the dagger. Tough, not brittle in the slightest.


    A morbid curiosity took over. I started examining more of the fallen bodies, checking for brittle bones. Finally, I came across the mostly decomposed body of a goat. It was from the first batch. I hit the skull with the dagger. The bone immediately crumbled. In the words of an annoying and loud tutorial, ¡°Bingo.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel was cleaning his blade and shield in the squad hall. Half of his squad mates were there, each maintaining their weapons, natural or manmade. One of the crew, a young elf with blue scaled arms, stood up and walked over to him.


    ¡°Hey Fen.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Rook, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Is it cool if I head out now? Don¡¯t seem like anything is gunna hap¡¯n today.¡±


    Fennel nodded his head slowly. ¡°Sure, only if you got Gloria covering for you? I¡¯d rather not be down a medic.¡± But before Rook could answer, a human girl with olive skin and a head covered in white feathers walked into the room. She walked over once she noticed Fennel and Rook.


    She stuck her hand out toward Rook, looking at Rook, then back to her hand. Rook nervously laughed. ¡°Owe you one? I¡¯m meeting up with an awesome chick later. So you know¡­¡±


    Her gaze never wavered, she just moved her hand closer to the scaled elf.


    ¡°Fine, here.¡± Rook dropped some coins in her hand. She looked down at the offering and coughed once.


    ¡°First ones almighty, you sure you weren¡¯t raised by gnomes?¡±


    Fennel answered this time. ¡°Hey. We don¡¯t do that racist crap here. Understood? If I hear another comment like that, you¡¯ll be on wall duty for the next month. Now get out of here.¡± One of his archers was a gnome and a damn good one at that.


    Rook shot out the door without another word. Fennel turned around and held his shaking hand. He hated commanding like that, but he had a duty to these people. So he shoved the nervousness down before turning towards Gloria.


    ¡°Thanks for stepping up. I¡¯ll cover him.¡± Fennel went to grab his money pouch, but Gloria stopped him, shaking her head before walking away.


    Fen caught a glimpse of the scar that started under her chin and ended at the center of her throat. A wound she received three raids ago. She could still speak, but elected not to. She held the Dovis gene, splicers that usually had beautiful and soothing voices. Ones they treasured dearly. Hers turned gravelly and rough ever since the injury.


    Fennel looked at everyone present. A tense air hung in the room. Fennel understood why. The last raid was three full weeks ago, and the longer the time between raids, the deadlier they typically were. He couldn¡¯t blame any of them for their mounting anxiety. He had his fair share as well, but it''s his duty as the leader of this squad to see them fit for it. And to keep them alive.


    ¡°Round up! I want to see everyone¡¯s sheets. Any changes could be a benefit or hindrance to our strategies.¡±


    Each soldier lined up in front of Fen. While going through the character sheets, Fennel felt an odd sensation pricking in the back of his head. He shook his head, his golden ears flopping the whole time. Once he stopped, he saw his squad snickering and holding back laughs.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±


    A resounding ¡°Nothing Sir!¡± belted out of the group of 10. ¡°Then get back to it.¡± Fennel shifted his body around, hiding the mounting blush on his face from his squad. He returned to his sword and shield and continued with their maintenance.


    But the feeling never quite went away. And in a hushed voice he said to himself, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about the upcoming raid.¡±

 22. Fruits of Labor

    Why, as humans, couldn''t we be blessed with the biological ability to shut off our noses? We can close our eyes at anything distasteful. And my ex-girlfriend was great at shutting her ears to any complaints I had, instead just shoving another stupid short clip in my face. But smells, nope, we get to experience all the horrifying musks and odors the world throws our way. Sure, we can close them with our hands, but we still have to breathe. And sadly, the sense of taste and smell are connected.


    On the Kniyan side of the argument, I feel like it would make tons of sense for mimics to have an ability that blocks out their sense of smell. I¡¯m positive the dungeons that most mimics live in can¡¯t smell great. They have to be filled to the brim with mold, mildew, and all sorts of other nasty things that traipse around. Not a lot of fresh air blowing through the many sealed rooms. But no. Even in the object forms, sense of smell works perfectly. I¡¯m pretty sure the healing thing that happens clears out my sinuses, so I smell crap even better when I¡¯m a damn rock.


    I was, of course, lamenting because of the bodies I¡¯d been working with lately. I found more gardenia sprouts inside the corpse pile. Exclusively inside the monsters¡¯ stomachs. My current theory was this is how the flowers spread themselves out. They let themselves be eaten, and if the monster died while the seeds were inside, they would consume the nutrients of its host. The flowers must lose the energizing effect once they have taken all the nutrients from the corpse.


    Only problem I saw with my theory: what if the monster didn¡¯t die? Can the seeds just live in monster stomach juices indefinitely? Are the seeds poisonous? Do they kill whoever eats them? I only ever ate the petals, never cared for seeds, so I just didn¡¯t try them. Glad my picky tastes came in handy for once.


    The brittle bones were my best clue at which bodies contained seeds. Issue was, digging through that many decaying corpses was no bueno. Like at all. I used spears and other tools to move the bodies off the pile and examine them, but the stench. I lost a few lunches.


    But I really wanted to see this magical flower thing through. I was serious about wanting a form of income when I got to the city. Len probably would have set me up with something, but I needed to be self-sufficient. It''s how I was raised. And I owed Len plenty already; the guy not only saved my life but also helped me survive out here. These little magical flowers seemed like a great solution.


    Every time I found a body potentially containing some seeds, I dug a new hole and planted the whole carcass in the ground. Funnily enough, it was working. I spent the last week on this and some buds were popping up out of the ground.


    The smell of the rotting corpses must not agree with monsters either, because they stayed far away from the new plants. I guess that''s a positive. One of the boar''s bodies slid off the pile and its stomach ruptured, releasing another fetid blast of death into the air. "You know, there are probably better ways of making a living." Tutor pointed out.


    "Yeah, but I can work on this now." I replied.


    I grabbed a nonmagical flower petal out of my pouch and chewed on it. As ironic as it may be, chewing on the flowers really helped mask the scent. Not completely. But it was better than stewing in it.


    After a prod at the boar''s head, the skull crumbled. ¡±Another one. Probably going to be the last for today.¡± There is no way to accurately describe how thoroughly done I was with digging around in monster guts.


    Last week wasn¡¯t completely devoid of monsters. They popped up a couple times while I was researching. A few moose and some boars that I demolished quickly in Tigris form. I wasn¡¯t focusing on training right now, so I just handled the monsters with my best form. It even gained a new ability after it hit proficiency level 3.


    TIGRIS - Proficiency Level: 3


    Abilities:


    Pinnacle of Nature:


    Blah Blah Blah strong when at full health.


    Eternal Shade:


    Create an aura of darkness surrounding your body. Size and intensity of aura increases with proficiency.


    Ooh, edgy preteen Liam would be freaking out right now. Now that I think about it, I guess I am edgy teenage Liam again. Not mundane over-thirty Liam. Eternal Shade, what a name. Must be the ability the tanther used all those weeks ago. The unnatural darkness that surrounded it amongst the trees. I had to try it out immediately. After I wash off the decaying monster bits, that is.


    After a rinse in the biting water, I shifted into Tigris form and started roaming the forest. I could use another fresh carcass for the food pile. Saving the meat was slowly becoming a pain. A thaw was coming to the forest and I couldn¡¯t just freeze the leftovers outside at night. I had to gorge myself on some not so fresh meat a couple nights in a row. I also didn¡¯t have any salt to cure the meat. Not that I had any idea how. A lesson gramps never got around to.


    I ventured to my hunting grounds, ready to teach any insignificant speck its place¡­ stop. I shook my head. Bad Liam. Quit with the hubris.


    What¡¯s the best way to test this ability? It''s the first ability that actually changes the world around me, not just a boost to my body. I could hardly contain my excitement. My hips swayed back and forth for a second before finally activating the ability.


    Darkness poured out of my body like a steady stream, but in every direction. It moved outwards about 3 feet away from my body before it stopped. It filled up around me until the darkness was all I could see. But my eyes pulsed green and I could see through the darkness almost perfectly. It felt like I was in a see-through egg that had a slight tint. I moved my hands around and found there to be a slight resistance. This darkness wasn¡¯t just the absence of light, but something tangible. Magical maybe?


    I looked at my status bars. MP was full, so not mana based. 10% of my stamina was gone and the rest was ticking down little by little. Using one point of stamina every thirty seconds. Meaning the ability couldn¡¯t be kept on for a long amount of time. Less than ten minutes currently. I wondered what it looked like from the outside. No great way to find out right now. I turned it off. But before continuing, I heard a twig snap off in the distance. Maybe I can test it.


    I stalked my way closer to where the sound came from and found my prey. Preys actually. It was a group of five spikey boars. Odd. I¡¯ve never found these paltry pigs in a group. No matter, they shall fall all the same.


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    The group was traveling slowly, stopping to sniff and snort different spots in the dirt. However, they kept moving in one direction. It was away from my camp and corpse garden, so I didn¡¯t really care. I gave them a wide berth and moved into a grove, the group¡­pack?... no, herd, that¡¯s it. The herd was heading in.


    Before they arrived, I walked into a mostly vacant spot and turned the ability on. The darkness engulfed me, just like earlier, and I waited. The snorts started getting closer, but I didn¡¯t move an inch. I don¡¯t know if sound travels through the darkness.


    Finally, a tusk broke through some shrubbery. My claws flexed instinctively while I maintained laser focus on the pig, ready to strike at a moment¡¯s notice if the beast were to strike. But it didn''t. One by one, the pigs came into the clearing and just sniffed around. Not a single one paid any notice of me. I smiled. The shade worked better than expected.


    Until one of them got a tad too close. A tusk poked into the darkness. I backed up, but the darkness didn¡¯t move with me. Must be stationary, probably should¡¯ve checked that beforehand. I extended my claws, the tusk closer, and the boar¡¯s head poked up. Probably on account of losing its sight.


    Before it could investigate its new reality any further, I ripped the creature¡¯s throat out with perfect precision. It fell to the ground with a quick squeal. ¡°Dang it, I was hoping that would be quieter.¡± I whispered, slowly raising my head to see what his brethren were doing.


    Each pokey pig head swiveled towards their recently deceased buddy. Mental note: doesn¡¯t block sound.


    The leader and largest member of the bacon squad squealed in anger and rushed forward, directly into the darkness. Considering its body took up most of the space, I had to jump out of the shell, but not before I gave him a good slash right down his belly. The ability broke as soon as I left the darkness. I stood among the three remaining piggies.


    Without a single moment of contemplation I said, ¡°Come at me, foul beasts, learn¡­¡± They attacked before I could say anymore. I dodged the first charge deftly, giving the boar a swipe above its eye. The last two charged at the same time, which I dodged less deftly. I only managed to slice one leg on each boar. I backed up to a tree. The two mostly uninjured pigs turned back towards me and charged again. But I had a plan this time. Their hooves tore through the dirt, accelerating, green ooze shedding off their tusks into their faces.


    ¡°Detestable cretins.¡± I said under my breath, not moving from my place under the sturdy tree. Just before the toxic tusks speared me was when I finally jumped and climbed up the tree. The two pigs were now on a collision course and couldn¡¯t stop. I squatted down on the edge of a branch, priming for my counter.


    The two slammed full force into the tree with a pained squeal. Cracking sounds resounded as the tree fell, breaking from the incredible might of the boars'' combined strength. Yet I was no longer in the tree. I had already pounced. While the two boars squealed, I landed on the back of one and tore its eyes out of its head. Its miserable wails, music to my ears. I hopped off it and landed right next to its dazed brother. It slumped to the ground after my claws tore out its esophagus. The blinded boar rampaged around, I watched with glee as it tried and tried to fight whatever stole its sight. It eventually ran straight into another tree, knocking it out. I stood before the bodies, basking in the glory of my victory, until a tusk pierced through the side of my stomach.


    I looked down and saw the red-stained ivory. How dare this wretch damage my perfect body. The pig with the bleeding forehead must have attacked while I was amusing myself watching the blind one muck about. I sent my claws behind my back, straight for its face. I felt its head and dug in. Ripping and tearing any flesh I could get ahold of. It squealed and attempted to remove me, but I wasn¡¯t going anywhere.


    It fell to the ground. With great and aching effort, I pulled myself away from the tusk.


    I laid on the ground, huffing uncontrollably. That worthless, despicable, vermin, scum hurt me. ME! The pinnacle of nature itself. I will not allow the likes of them to walk this planet. ¡°Each and every one of these despicable swines will FEEL MY WRa¡­¡±


    I turned the form off before the thoughts could get anymore obnoxious or self-righteous. The persona changes in each form is crazy. I shifted into log form before I lost any more blood. I got up and checked where the tusk speared me. The skin on my stomach felt baby fresh, but even the smallest amount of pressure almost had me screaming. A notification popped up in my face.


    You Leveled Up! Nice Going! You are now Level 4!


    A wide, goofy smile grew on my face. ¡°Hell Yes! Let¡¯s GO!¡± I jumped up for joy, immediately regretting the choice as landing nearly toppled me over from pain. I held my stomach and grimaced, but the smile didn¡¯t subside. Level 4 was the level Len told me where he could sneak me into Laurelhaven without too many questions.


    Which meant people. I could talk to real actual people again, not just a snarky voice in my head.


    I looked at the smallest of the boars. My stomach growled, agreeing with the plan forming in my head. ¡°I deserve a quick celebration snack after that.¡± My tongue, rolling out of my mouth. I walked up to the delicious pile of bacon in front of me until my stomach lurched. A wave of nausea slammed into me. I looked up and saw a green flashing skull under my status bars.


    ¡°Oh yeah, poison¡­.¡±


    The sun had set by the time I finished eating my meal. Stars started coming out. I was still about 30 minutes away from the camp but Darksight. So I wasn¡¯t worried about getting lost. It was just cold as hell.


    I began thinking about the small herd. Why had they grouped up? They never showed that type of behavior before. Boars on earth traveled in small groups, but they were usually family units, if I remember correctly. These guys were just that, guys, all male. No females that I could tell.


    Also, where were they going? I looked back in the direction they were moving in as I wondered. Was there something drawing them? Part of me wanted to follow the path they were on and find out, but after the level up, I just wanted to get back to the cave and see if there were any major changes. Doubtful, level 5 seems like it will be the next big change with the increase of mimic records.


    Thinking about the level up brought another grin to my face.


    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you peachy?¡± Tutor said.


    ¡°How could I not be? I finally get to return to civilization. Meet real genuine fantasy races and people. Eat real food. I¡¯m tired of all this isolation and day-in, day-out training and surviving.¡± I responded.


    ¡°What, already tired of me?¡±


    Yes, excruciatingly exhausted.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. I know you¡¯re here, but you''re not here. If that makes sense.¡± I responded, deciding not to voice my inner thoughts. For all the snark and sass, I probably would have gone crazy without Tutor. Having someone to talk to keeps the mental problems at bay. Even if she was just a voice in my head. Better than a blood painted volleyball, at least.


    ¡°Mhmm, sure. Oh by the by, seedlings.¡±


    Crap. I forgot to bury that last seed filled body.


    ¡°Ehh, that sounds like tomorrow¡¯s problem.¡± I said.


    I didn¡¯t love the idea of returning to my nasty corpse garden tonight, especially after the queasy afternoon. I wanted to cool it with the disgusting stuff for today and just sleep. Besides, no monster had messed with the bodies this far. And the bodies weren¡¯t gonna go anywhere.


    I returned to the cave and rolled onto my bedroll. Sleeping more soundly than I had in a while.


    I woke up and stretched; there was a little pain in my stomach from the recent impalement, but nothing debilitating. Having a quick bite, I left the camp and trekked towards my corpse garden. I shut my nose, prepping for the inevitable stank of the corpses. But as I got closer to the site, the normal visceral air didn¡¯t tingle on my taste buds. I titled my head and released my nose.


    The air smelled fresh and devoid of the death stench. I picked up the pace.


    I stood dumbfounded. The towering pile of corpses was gone, including the seed-filled boar from yesterday. Not a single corpse was in the clearing. I quickly checked the buried ones with seedlings. They were fine, not tampered with in the slightest, buds looked good too. One flower even started showing signs of blooming soon. Wild how fast they grew. But that wasn¡¯t particularly important.


    I walked on top of the empty ground, blood and viscera scattered around. I looked around and found what looked like a trail of blood and guts going into the forest. In the same direction as the boars from yesterday.


    ¡°Oh that can¡¯t be good.¡±

 23. Wild Death Chase

    Fennel strapped on his armor with the help of Gloria. She already geared up and was ready to go, wearing the traditional sky blue leather armor of medics. Fen tried to not focus on how soft her hands were. He needed to focus; the raid alarm bell rang out twenty minutes ago. His squad would be a part of the second wave of reinforcements. It was go time.


    He stood up once the last piece was tied snuggly on his person. Fen walked to the main area of the squad hall and stepped on his foot stool; all twenty members of the squad were present. A mixture of solemn and nervous faces greeted him. Even Rook stood at the ready, all the previous levity gone, replaced with a sober expression.


    Fen breathed in a deep breath, swallowing the butterflies at the top of his throat in his stomach. He grabbed his sword and shield from the rack and stopped in front of the group. He breathed in deep once more, this time to command his squad.


    ¡°We are to reinforce the western forces. Herman Kline¡¯s main fighting arm. Our sole focus is to defend the wounded and get any that can back up to fighting strength. We will not be there to play hero or to take on the boss. Our goal is to lessen the casualties, not to kill the boss.¡± Fen glared at some of his soldiers that had a tendency to focus on the glory of the battle rather than making sure allies got home.


    One soldier in particular glared back at him. Animosity in his eyes. The largest in the squad, Zaner, a Minotauran splicer. The 6 foot 8 human towered over the entire squadron, his black horns only adding to his imposing figure. But Fen never lowered his eyes and stared down the giant human. The 5 foot 3 dog-eared dwarf stood his ground.


    Zaner turned his head, clicking his tongue. He pulled his battle axe off his shoulder and inspected it. Fen nodded and continued his address.


    ¡°Our ride should be here to pick us up at any moment. Now is the time for any last prayers you might have for the First Ones.¡±


    Another of the soldiers, a smaller half-elf girl with a weasel like face, spoke.


    ¡°What tier is this raid?¡±


    Fennel shook his head slowly. He had hoped no one was going to ask. But they deserve to know. ¡°Tier 6 for now, but the speculations are that when the boss shows up, it will likely change to 7.¡±


    A silent gasp ran through the crew. Tier 7 is high by Laurel standards. The first to come up in years. The faces amongst his squad shifted, growing grim and desperate. He couldn¡¯t fault them. His squad fought in mostly tier 4 and 5 raids. A 7 was a whole new beast of its own that required a completely unified front from the Laurelhaven forces. All lower classed squads were put on support duty. Fennel clasped his fists and raised his voice once more.


    ¡°The monsters are charging the gates of the residential district. It''s our job to make sure we have as many fighting fit soldiers defending those gates. Are you going to let your sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, your family die because you hesitated? Are we cowards, shying away from a fight?¡± Every eye turned towards the dwarf.


    ¡°If not, then I suggest you focus up and FIGHT!¡± A clamoring of weapons and people alike resounded in the squad hall. Fennel lifted his sword before walking to the front door and stepping outside. Gloria followed after him.


    Fennel stood outside, hands trembling. He knew there was no way those twenty people would all survive this battle. It was the hard truth he learned doing this job. No matter how good of a leader he tried to be or how great his powers helped those around him, he always lost one or two. And it always hurt. But it was still his duty to get them as prepped for the raid as he could.


    Gloria laid her hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw her face. Pure and unwavering determination. Fennel nodded.


    Sounds of stomping came their way. Fennel and Gloria looked down the road. 10 large wagons pulled by horse-legged men and women stopped in front of the squad halls found on this street. The rest of Fennel¡¯s squadron was already coming out, spurred by the sounds of the wagons.


    Three of the wagons stopped in front of Fennel. Some of Fennel¡¯s nerves calmed down when a familiar black and white haired dwarf¡¯s head came into view, riding in the front out of one of the wagons.


    ¡°Git yer asses in these wagons now. Quit sittin¡¯ around jerking yourselves. We got shit to do.¡± Herman said in his usual coarse tone.


    Fennel¡¯s uncle was a crass guy, but probably the most dependable person he knew.


    He climbed up into the seat next to Herman. The wagons sped off toward the gates. Fennel spoke with his uncle in a hushed voice, making sure no one could hear them.


    ¡°How bad is it?¡±


    Herman turned to the people in the wagon, making sure none of the others could hear him and, with a blank expression, said, ¡°It¡¯s bad.¡±


    ¡ª


    I leapt from branch to branch in Apis form, following the trail of blood and flesh through the forest. No less than a hundred thoughts blowing through my mind. Where are they heading? Is something dragging the bodies? Did they get up on their own? Shit, I hope not.


    ¡°Tutor, is undeath a thing in Kniyas?¡± I said, voicing my thoughts.


    ¡°Undeath?¡±


    ¡°You know zombies? Ghouls? Ghosts? Those kinds of things.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say. But I did warn you?¡±


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    ¡°Warn me how? You, in no way ever told me that a massive pile of bodies would get up and run away.¡±


    ¡°I told you to bury them.¡±


    ¡°You said you felt bad for the monsters. Not that they would wake up and go pick up some milk a few weeks down the road.¡±


    ¡°Meh, close enough.¡±


    I stopped on a branch and just shook my head. I had been following the trail for a few hours now. And the one question puzzling me the most was, How the hell did this thing move so fast? Seriously, I must have been following the trail for miles now. Its path never deviating. Due east I believe. Or at least I think it''s east. That¡¯s the direction the sun was coming up in the mornings. But who knows with this backwards and, apparently, zombie filled fantasy world.


    The vines on my sword were getting a little loose from all the jumping, so I took the time to retie the knots. I looked back in the direction of my camp. I left without thinking much, leaving most of my belongings. All I currently had with me was the mithral sword, the pouch I carried the magical gardenia petals in, and a spare gremlin dagger. I heard something climbing up the side of the tree. Looks like lunch was coming to me. A squirrel found itself in my stomach not long after.


    During my break, I took some time to look at my character sheet. I viewed it the night before, but I was pretty tired and none of it really sank in.


    CHARACTER SHEET


    Name: Liam Foster


    Level: 4


    Race: Human


    Monster Gene: Mimic


    Stats:


    Health Points: 160


    Stamina: 310


    Mana: 160


    Strength: 24


    Dexterity: 24


    Agility: 24


    Constitution: 24


    Intelligence: 24


    Wisdom: 24


    Charisma: 25


    Abilities:


    Active:


    Mimicry (Object) (lvl 7): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Mimicry (Creature) (lvl 8): Mimic one creature of your choice. This may include stats, abilities, spells and other aspects. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Passive:


    Learned Behavior: You may gain a portion of the stats and/ or abilities from a mimicked monster. Benefits given depend on the creature mimed and only given if you become adequately proficient in that form. With higher proficiency, benefits may increase.


    Dark Sight - See in the dark. Up to 10m.


    Preflex - Predict incoming attacks.


    Spells:


    None


    Same stat increases as last time. Looks like the mimicry abilities leveled up again, and creature is higher level than object now. Tutor was doing a great job at keeping me updated on those. I rolled my eyes. I thought about saying something, but it would likely not bear any fruit. Plus, I stopped worrying about their levels. The levels didn¡¯t seem to do anything. My hypothesis is that they will do something at level 10. But that¡¯s for a different time.


    My eyes looked back down at the trail of assorted monster guts. Where is this corpse blob going? The boars from yesterday were heading in the exact same direction, but not nearly as fast. I rose from the branch and stretched. My tail flicked once. I bounded to the next branch following the trail once more.


    Another two hours had passed, it was past noon now. I was still following the blood trail. Which seemed odd. I feel like there shouldn¡¯t be this much blood. I get that it was a good 15 or more corpses, but a lot of them had already been bled dry. I wondered if more bodies were added to it or something. Or maybe it killed on its way to its unknown destination.


    I hopped down and touched some of the blood in the grass. It was slightly warm. It looked like it had been killing. Next question is then, how much did it kill? I shrugged and jumped back into the trees, continuing onward.


    After another hour, something changed in the air. I couldn¡¯t quite describe it, but it had my tail and face-fur tingling. Not long after the weird sensation, I heard some noises in the direction I was heading. Like screaming and roaring, but still far off. Was something fighting my corpse monstrosity? Or someone?


    I doubled timed it, heading straight for the sounds now. I hope it just ran into a monster. Yeah, maybe it ran into a bigger stronger monster. And that monster killed it, again. I lied to myself. The closer I got to the roaring, the more I realized what it was. It was fighting, people fighting. The loud shouts were from people. And unless there are some fucked up parrot monsters that copy people¡¯s voices, those people were fighting my creation.


    The sounds of battle grew in volume with every leap. The battle must be huge. I saw a clearing coming up ahead. I climbed up the tallest tree I could find at the edge of the clearing.


    My eyes shot open. I could barely believe what I was seeing. A large-scale war was playing out in front of me. Monsters on one side, humans, or at least human-like beings, on the other. The clearing was massive, at least a mile wide, filled with the roar of battle. Monster and man alike.


    Different legions of monsters marched onward. Each in groupings of its own kind. I saw hordes of poisonous boars, blue-green goats, even a full squad of the geckos. And a whole host of creatures I never ran into while living in the forest.


    Behind the human side was a giant tree, one that must rival the tallest skyscrapers back on earth. The scene felt so surreal that I was stunned and just watched on. Wave after wave of monsters moved forward toward the human army. Different parts of the battlefield glowed from what I guess were different abilities being shot off.


    A pit grew in my stomach as I looked over to the right side of the battlefield. There it was, a massive blob of flesh. You couldn¡¯t tell what creatures made up its body anymore. It was just a 30 foot pink mass of lovecraftian horror. Many other smaller blobs surrounded it, swallowing up people and monsters indeterminately. I stared in abject terror.


    A flash of orange flames struck the left side of the mountain of undead tissue, snapping me back to reality. I looked down at the flames once more. One man was in the center of them. Scorching the smaller blobs while occasionally taking bigger shots at the giant one.


    ¡°Len.¡±


    I dropped out of the tree and sped off. Toward the war.

 24. Shadow Legends

    At some point during my run, I realized something: I hadn''t put much thought into how I should enter this battle. I was still running towards that chaos, but it was still a ways off. But now that the initial emotion of seeing Len, or at least his flames, wore off, I had time to process what I was doing. I should probably have some semblance of a plan. The sounds of battle rang in my ears: shouts, explosions, and cries of agony. That mimic instinct in me was screaming at me to turn around. But I couldn¡¯t, at least one person I know and care about is in that battle, on top of others being slaughtered by the hordes of monsters.


    Not that I was entirely worried about Len. He could hold his own well enough I¡¯m sure. I wanted to assist him the best way I could right now. And that was probably dealing with the smaller mobs surrounding him. To at least give him some support. There¡¯s no way in hell I could do anything to the towering mass of limbs, but I have fought loads of the boars and goats and their kind. I know how they fight, and where to hurt them.


    That was the best move right now, to kill as many of the creatures I know how to kill as I can. I¡¯m entering from behind enemy lines too, giving me at least a good chance to cause some discord among the monsters. It would also relieve some of the other fighters at the front. Just as the thought about others popped into my mind, another blood curdling scream entered my ears.


    My breath began to shallow. My chest felt tight. The closer I got to the fight the more and more scared I became. War was something I was so far removed from back on Earth. Sure, I studied the big wars of history, watched different war movies, and played different games depicting war. But this was something so far beyond that. And I was running to it. Planning on joining in.


    I¡¯d been fighting nonstop lately, but those conflicts were all me by myself. I have no idea how to fight with others. I¡¯m not so naive as to think that teamwork comes naturally. It¡¯s the culmination of effort and training.  What if they hit me? Or I hit them? All of these thoughts were piling up in my head. I slowed down. Not stopping but not nearly the rate I was before. My head lowered while I walked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die.¡±


    I stopped and looked back at the forest, where I came from. No one has seen me yet. I can pretend like I never saw this battle. I could just hide away again. Maybe that¡¯s best. It''s not like I¡¯ll add much to this fight. Len will probably handle it just fine.


    ¡°GOD DAMN IT LIAM! GET A GRIP!¡± Tutor shouted along with some other obscenities. But I ignored her. That overwhelming feeling of despair clutched my heart. Telling me my end was certain if I took one more step forward.


    I turned back to the battle. It was still a mile away. Still raging. The little spots I knew were people started taking actual shape. Weapons, tusks, horns, claws clashing together. I could make out one person well, because he was huge. A mountain of a man with large black horns, swinging an axe around. That¡¯s the kind of person that belongs on this field. Not me.


    I saw the platoon of soldiers fighting a whole mass of the toxic pigs. And the pigs started winning. The human¡¯s line was being pushed back. They were going to lose.


    Another scream sent a chill down my spine. It was a woman¡¯s this time. Which kick started something in me. Those people were going to die. That whole group, dead in the next five minutes if something doesn¡¯t change. I can be that change.


    I stepped toward the battle, but that instinct from earlier gripped my heart harder. I almost felt a force pushing me away from the battle. Or more like holding me back from the battle. Like tendrils wrapped around my limbs.


    ¡°Mimics are cowards.¡± I said under my breath.


    ¡°Yep, but are you? Are you just another mimic? Doomed to a life of solitude and isolation. You can go back to that little cave, grow your flowers. Never taking part of this world. Being nothing but a passive observer once again.¡± Tutor said, no longer yelling. She paused for a moment before continuing.


    ¡°Grading papers at three in the morning. All on your lonesome. Is that the life you want?¡±


    Her words hurt. More than I thought they should. Why bring up the past? My life wasn¡¯t that bad. Was it? I wasn¡¯t doing what I wanted, I think. But I wasn¡¯t starving. I had some hope. Sure, I didn''t travel and see the big beautiful world like I always wanted to, or write and craft worlds for people to lose themselves in, or make games that fully enraptured the player like the ones I played as a kid.


    I felt a tear drop come out of my eye. I touched the warm water that crawled on my cheek. And looked back up at the battle.


    Before another thought entered my mind I shouted at the top of my lungs,


    ¡°AGGHHHHHHHHH!¡±


    I shoved my hand into the pouch at my side, grabbing a whole handful of the dark blue petals. I gobbled up the whole lot. The electricity ran through my veins. My entire being heated up. I shifted into Tigris form and looked up at the new buff at the top of the screen.


    [Energized: 7:35]


    I sprinted to the first boar I could see. I made it to the battle faster than I thought possible. The roaring blood in my ears blocking out all the sounds of monsters grunting and fighting. I shouted once more and hopped on the first boar I came into contact with, activating Eternal Shade. My mind had one thought in it. ¡°Kill.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel blocked the oncoming tusk with his shield. He raised his sword and scored a blow. His long sword stabbed right into the side of the Tusxic¡¯s head while his shield kept the poisonous tusk at bay. After pulling out the sword from the dead pig, he knelt down next to the body of its last victim.


    Rook¡¯s lifeless eyes stared back into Fen¡¯s. Fen closed them with a swipe of his hands and returned back to the battle.


    The battle had been raging for hours now. His team¡¯s previous orders had been promptly thrown out the window as soon as the boss showed up. Who the hell could have known a fucking Greater Graveball would be the boss of this raid. Undead, that shit doesn¡¯t spawn in the Forest. That¡¯s supposed to be Dendrun¡¯s problem, not ours.


    Fennel looked around, searching for the remnants of his team. Half had already been lost in the first wave of lesser Graveballs, but he would die first before he lost another. His team was sent to the eastern flank to handle the onslaught of more regular beasts. His team wasn¡¯t well equipped to handle undead. Not many in Laurel were. Elemental abilities, particularly fire and wind worked well. Neither of which Fennel¡¯s team were proficient in. If it wasn¡¯t for Len¡¯s timely save, he was sure the entire squad would be dead by now.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Fennel checked his health and stamina. His health bar was sitting at 60%, but ticking up slowly. Gloria¡¯s mass regen was a godsend. His stamina wasn¡¯t doing so good, sitting at 40%. He was blessed with a great stamina recovery passive but his primary fighting ability required massive amounts of it. The two balanced each other out. Then with the added help of Rook¡¯s stamina recovery abilities, Fennel could handle the strain and keep the ability up way longer. But that was no longer an option.


    Fennel saw Zaner battling with two of the boar monsters. His axe slammed into a tusk, shattering it. His axe then met its skull. The other charged his open side. But Fennel stepped in its way, blocking with his shield. Zaner¡¯s axe met the boar¡¯s neck, chopping halfway through.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t need the help,¡± Zaner said in a grunt.


    But Fennel didn¡¯t listen, he already saw another squadmate being shot at. The magical shots were coming from a group of Karibu. The archer had found some high ground and wanted to make use of it no doubt. Fennel stumbled on a corpse while rushing up the hill but rose quickly and continued his sprint to the human archer, Lukans, arriving just in time to block the majority of the shots. Some still got through, leaving a nasty burn on Lukan¡¯s¡¯ left arm and shoulder.


    ¡°Get back to Gloria!¡±


    Lukans unfocused eyes stared at Fen, he finally nodded and turned back in the direction of the makeshift medic station. Those moose are going to be a real problem soon. They were getting closer and once that barrage begins¡­ He closed his eyes. I¡¯m not sure we can handle that.


    Fennel checked his stamina again. 53%


    ¡°Shit.¡± He needed more. Lukans might not have gotten hit if I had more. But he didn¡¯t have time for that. He looked back on the battlefield. It was a stalemate. No, they were losing. Fennel could see the line being pushed back. Fuck! Any more and we will lose the medic station.


    That was their current orders, protect this medic station and push back the lower-tiered threats. The station was a checkpoint of sorts, healing splicers and returning them to the front or sending back those too far gone. Fennel¡¯s reinforcements would come through the station also. Not that Fennel got any news if his team were going to get any.


    It was one of the most important places in the battle, losing one could mean losing hundreds of troops. Fennel was not going to allow that to happen.


    Just as he was going to return to the fray, Fennel¡¯s dog ears pointed and perked up when he heard another loud shout come across the field. However, it wasn¡¯t a voice he recognized. Must be another squad. Did the reinforcements come?


    He heard the shout again, able to ascertain its location this time. But his head tilted in confusion. The scream came from the monster''s side of the battle. He looked out over the battle and saw something that nearly shattered him.


    He saw an orb of darkness surround a boar. It disappeared and popped up on another. Then another. Each time, the boar would slump to the ground. Shit, a shade panther.


    The beast teetered at the top of tier 5. If that thing gets closer, it will paralyze the whole squad. The damn thing might as well be its own miniboss. But Fennel didn¡¯t have time for cold feet. He would handle the beast by himself. He wasn¡¯t going to lose this squad. He looked up at his stamina, 57%. ¡°Good enough.¡±


    He activated his signature ability: Leader of the Pack.


    Eating up 45% percent of his stamina, he could provide up to twenty people he deemed allies a 20% increase to all damage done, and reduce damage received by the same amount for 5 minutes as long as he was a higher level than the allies. It was the main reason he was placed as the head of the squad, these types of mass buffs were rare and valued. It came with a massive 10 minute cooldown. In a fight that matters. He could fight somewhat proficiently as long as he stayed above 10% stamina. Any lower and his natural stamina recovery would weaken and he¡¯d pass out right there. A worse case scenario.


    He felt the aura leave his body, a glow appeared on his teammates, confirming that the ability was working. Fennel dropped down to one knee. The ability came with a huge fatigue backlash. With the correct stamina recovery setup, one Rook provided, it wouldn¡¯t bother Fennel all that much, but he felt it right now.


    Fennel shoved off the fatigue as best he could and made his way toward the cat monster. But pausing when he saw something wild. A line of dead tusxics and other monsters splitting right down the monsters¡¯ side of the battlefield. Fennel looked on and saw that same orb of darkness hopping around the field, it left a dead body in its wake whenever it moved.


    Is it killing the monsters? It looks like it''s moving toward the Karibu.


    Fennel shook his head. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I can¡¯t let it or the moose get close to the squad.¡±


    He tore off in the direction of the cat monster.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Len blasted some more of the annoying adds. Disgusting lesser graveballs kept getting closer, distracting him from the actual threat of this raid. The Greater Graveball. One Len was more than suited to handle. He just needed some time to prepare an attack that would cripple the writhing mass. But its little offspring were making that impossible.


    He shot into the sky after propelling himself up with flames from his feet. He made a quick scan of the battle. Jaren¡¯s main force was fighting on the western side, slowly making its way toward the boss. Jaren was a fierce fighter but his mobility wasn¡¯t even remotely close to Len¡¯s. Len sent a few flame blasts Jaren¡¯s way, in the hopes it would get the lug here faster. He¡¯d keep the lesser graveballs off Len¡¯s back. But that was minutes away from happening.


    He looked off to the east side of the battle. Herman was the main head there. Fennel was one of the squad leaders among them. He slightly envied the boy''s ridiculous mass buff. If only he were given one, his plans could have come to fruition years ago. But no sense in thinking about that. Another pillar of flame executed a group of gexen that moved just a little too close. Len despised the slime they threw. Hell to clean.


    Len was already aware that Liam had joined the battle. He put a tracking sigil on the lad¡¯s sword, under the pommel. He knew the boy wouldn¡¯t ever leave the sword behind, even if none of his forms suited it well. Including his base form. He wanted to put it on his clothes but figured it would be found too easily or damaged. Only problem with the tracking sigil is that it breaks when the caster gets within a certain range to the target. It was dumb, but Len was terrible at that sort of magic, not enough damage dealing for his tastes. It broke when Liam entered the battle.


    Len hoped the boy would turn and run from the fight. He wasn¡¯t properly trained in raid strategy and tactics. But surprisingly, he leapt right into the conflict.


    He sent three more graveballs to their doom before extending his search for his wayward pupil. The three were replaced almost instantly by the Greater one spitting them out. Yet Len burned those new ones away as well. It took some time before the boss could spawn them. Must build them up in its body.


    Len rocketed back up and sent a beam of heat into what he gathered was the raid boss¡¯s eye. If a ball of dead corpses had eyes. The flames seared through it, leaving a dark hole in the tissue. Until a few of its spawn clambered up and fused back with the creature.


    ¡°Shit. Jaren, get here already.¡±


    Len could only slow down the boss, but he needed more prep to actually kill it. At least without causing massive casualties.


    He looked once more and something caught his eye. It was a dark orb moving around the battlefield, killing monsters. Most would assume it was a shade panther. Nasty little buggers, at least for the common splicer. However, Len could see it was a human hopping around and turning the ability on and off.


    To Len¡¯s knowledge, there weren¡¯t any panther splicers in Laurelhaven, which left only one person.


    ¡°Liam, did you actually manage to kill a shade panther?¡± Len said with a grin while nodding in approval, blasting another group of gexen in the process. But there was no way that strategy would last long term. Another body was moving toward Liam¡¯s line of destruction. Len recognized the blonde hair and ears. But he was moving through the enemies at half the rate Liam was.


    He amusingly breathed out of his nostrils. ¡°Might as well have you two meet here. Actually, there¡¯s no better place.¡±


    With a snap of his fingers, he sent a fireball in their direction.

 25. Raid: Part 2

    I hopped from body to body, slicing as many throats as I could. The plan was working out masterfully, as I knew it would. I looked back to the humans'' main fighting line. The line looked like it was starting to favor the humans now or if nothing else they aren''t being pushed back. Good, it''s always a pleasure helping out the less fortunate.


    I stole a look at my status bars before carrying on with my assault. Health was full, yet stamina was at 55%, but rising. The Energized buff was keeping my tank filled. I was burning through my stamina with the rapid fire use of Eternal Shade. It cost 10% to activate and I was activating it constantly.


    Another wave of warm liquid bathed my hands accompanied by a quickly hushed squeal. Beautiful Symphony. My senses delighted in the carnage surrounding me. I didn¡¯t bother counting how many pigs I¡¯ve slaughtered thus far. I knew it was too few. These worthless abominations deserved recompense for their earlier transgression.


    I sighed while palming my face. I can¡¯t focus on that stupid pride shit right now.


    Before any more gloating ensued, a wave of magic missiles came flying toward me. The blue glow darkened immediately as the shell of darkness surrounded me. I crouched behind the body of my last kill. And waited for the barrage to fly over or land on the pig¡¯s body. I felt the corpse rumble, as the projectiles pierced its hide. I looked up and saw a group of moose start moving toward the frontline.


    I looked at my status once more.


    [Energized: 2:12]


    ¡°Crap, running low.¡± My hands went into the pouch, only two petals left. Enough for a minute maybe. I put them away, surveying the field in the process. The human side seemed to be pushing back now. Thankfully my efforts aren¡¯t in vain. I hopped on the body, searching for the next prey. Those moose would make for a good one.


    The magical missile throwing moose were behind a line of boars and goats. Almost as if they were being protected. These creatures never showed such tactics out in the wild. I shook my head, Focus! And pounced on the next boar. Leaving a gash on its back, but not going for the throat this time. Killing that platoon of mage moose comes first (probably the wildest sentence I¡¯ve ever thought).


    Bounding from boar to boar was easy, their massive bodies made great landing pads. Problem was now there were these stupid trihorn goats. Imagine a grown man trying to jump on a normal sized goat. Now one with three very sharp pointy horns. Doesn¡¯t work. Like at all.


    So my body hopping, throat slitting technique was no longer viable. But I still had Eternal Shade.


    I ran forward toward the first line of goats, who let out a melody of awful bleats. Darkness consumed the first goat as I sliced its front leg asunder. Dashing and trying to do the same to as many as I could before the timer ran out. No time to kill. Just wound and move along. God, I hope there aren''t healing monsters.


    While fighting another three goats, a blue shine popped into my peripheral. More missiles incoming. No big bodies to get behind either. Slashing at the closest goat, I grabbed its scruffy beard and threw its body in front of the oncoming spells.


    A pain seared in my leg. The now limp goat blocked the majority of the missiles, but one landed on my shin. Shit that stings. It wasn¡¯t a crippling wound, I could walk and run on it just fine, it was a different problem that worried me.


    Pinnacle of Nature was no longer in effect. It gave me a 5% boost in stats if my health was full. It might not seem like that big of a boost, but this battle wasn¡¯t going to end any time soon and each little bit of help mattered.


    Throwing the goat''s body into its brethren, I sped off in the direction of the moose, slashing and maiming as many monsters in the process as I could. But that slowed down also. The goats and boars were mingling now, making the fights slow down.


    [Energized 1:31]


    ¡°Not fast enough,¡± I said, through a grunt while dodging a tusk coming my way. I swerved as a trihorn goat sliced at one of my arms. It lost its eye for that. But another tusk came my way. It was starting to get difficult to keep up with the onslaught. 5% shouldn''t matter this much.


    I jumped on top of a boar and shoved my claws as deep into its skull as I could. Darkness surrounded me again, I was hoping it would relieve some of the pressure. But more magic came my way, forcing me to hide behind the boar¡¯s body.


    [Energized 0:55]


    The moose were so close. I have to handle them. I will kill them.


    But before I could plan a strategy any further. A massive explosion went off behind me. Blistering air pushed me off the boar and out of my shade ball. I landed on my feet after some maneuvering but stumbled down to one knee. A painful ring dug into my ears, I looked up, trying to figure out what that explosion was.


    A crater, glowing red and filled with smoke and charcoal, replaced the monsters that once grouped up.


    ¡°Where?¡± I looked around. Even the monsters around were dazed and confused about the sudden blast. Finally, my eyes ventured upward. Len was soaring through the sky, sending fire and flames around the battlefield. Most attacks were aimed at the massive corpse ball that towered off in the distance.


    Did he send that? I¡¯ll have to thank him. After I bitch at him for almost hitting me.


    I stood up and tried to reorient myself, encasing myself in a shade ball next to a charred boar. Where were the moose, they probably didn¡¯t get caught in the blast.


    Before finding them, I saw a very curious sight. A short guy ran along the side of the crater. In my direction. He was wearing a suit of metal armor, wielding a sword and shield. As he got closer, I could tell that while he was short, his body was stocky yet proportional. He had blond short hair. And dog ears?


    He didn¡¯t slow his pace for a second. And when he got close to me, he raised his sword. He was getting ready to attack me. Why?


    His sword cut through the darkness before I could put any more thought into it. I hopped backward out of the darkness and on top of the boar¡¯s corpse. And immediately pounced on my armored foe, knocking the bloke to the ground. I landed on his chest and put my claws on his throat.


    ¡°WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING ME?¡±


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    The small man¡¯s eyes were wide with shock, but they adjusted quickly. He was young, probably late teens, clean shaven, and panting uncontrollably. He responded.


    ¡°I thought you were a monster. All our troops are fighting at the frontline back there. Why are you here and not there? What squad are you with?¡±


    I lessened the grip on his throat. A wave of fatigue rushed through my body as I fell off the guy, almost passing out. But the feeling went away quickly after. I stood up and looked at my status bars. Energized was gone and the Tigris timer was ticking down.


    ¡°Shit. Must have reverted on accident when the buff ran out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget your company?¡± Tutor said, with entirely too much whimsy for the current situation. The small blonde teen got up. And stared at me in shock for a moment but I ignored it. I was contemplating how to handle the moose now. Probably Ursa. Raging seemed to be the best course of action. I looked back at the kid. He was opening his mouth to say something but I interrupted him.


    ¡°I¡¯m going for those moose. You¡¯re welcome to join but stay back when I start raging.¡± Before the little guy could answer, I shifted into Ursa. I charged straight in the moose¡¯s direction knocking any monsters out of the way. Once the moose were in my sight, my vision flashed red and the raging began.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel struck out at a tusk with his sword, diverting the attack to the ground. With a twist, he raised the blade back up and into the side of the boar. He moved forward, in the direction of the moose and his target, the shade panther. He wasn¡¯t going to let that thing get close to the front line. Another boar ran for him but he blocked its charge with his shield, sending it behind him.


    He was still puzzled about why it was killing other monsters. He hadn¡¯t heard of any fighters with shade element powers in the ranks. But he was still pretty new to the Raid army. He gutted a Trihorn Cabran. He could handle these weak creatures well. His fighting style was mostly designed for this. But he was getting tired. His stamina wasn¡¯t rising much, somewhere in the teens by now.


    After downing another blue goat he looked and saw the dark orb, but it was gaining distance away from him. Should I just turn back? Fennel wasn¡¯t sure what was going on. He turned back. The line was pushing back the monster¡¯s, his last buff he gave must have helped. Along with the death brought on by that panther.


    He shook his head. They should be okay. But they won¡¯t be if that cat¡¯s taste switches from monster to people.


    With some new resolve, Fennel marched forward. Until an explosion stopped him in his tracks. He had his shield up already, so he managed to endure the blow without much knockback. He lowered his shield but had to raise it as soon as the heat washed over his face. One of Leonard¡¯s fire attacks no doubt. But it wasn¡¯t like Len to miss with an attack. At least not by this much. He wondered if the old man did it on purpose.


    Once the heat settled he looked across the field. He saw the orb of shadow sitting still. Must be recovering from that explosion. He broke out into a sprint, readying himself to strike the beast in its domain. He knew it wasn''t a good plan, but he didn¡¯t have any time to think of a new one.


    Fennel swung out, his blade entering the darkness, slowing slightly. The orb dissipated; he looked up but the beast slammed into his chest. He fell on his back and felt warm wet claws putting pressure on his throat. The creature''s bright green feline eyes stared into his. Fennel knew he screwed up, but before giving up totally, he heard a voice. His eyes adjusted and he saw what was on his chest. It wasn¡¯t a cat but a human. A young teenager like himself.


    ¡°WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING ME?¡±


    Fennel spoke without thinking much. ¡°I thought you were a monster. All our troops are fighting at the frontline back there. Why are you here and not there? What squad are you with?¡±


    He felt the claws let go of his throat, but before he could ask more, the human¡¯s eyes closed and his body fell off of him. Fennel got up and looked at the boy.


    The human stood back up and looked at away. He mumbled something that Fennel didn¡¯t understand, something about a buff and reverting. He looked at the human¡¯s hands, but the claws were gone. The ones that were just at his throat, gone. The human turned to Fennel, making eye contact.


    ¡°I¡¯m going for those moose. You¡¯re welcome to join but stay back when I start raging.¡±


    He heard the human¡¯s words but they hadn¡¯t registered. Fennel saw that the human¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t bright green or feline anymore. They were still green, but much more dull. How had this human¡¯s trope changed? But before even being able to comprehend that change, the human¡¯s form changed again; he grew bigger and brawnier. Hair grew on his arms along with some claws that looked way larger than the ones that were on his neck just moments before.


    Fennel couldn¡¯t even utter another word, the human rushed off, heading in the direction of the Karibu missile squad. The human charged through each cabran and tusxic that came that came his way. He noticed a blade strapped to the human¡¯s back.


    There was one thing that really bothered Fennel about the human though. Why the hell does he have such a wonderfully crafted mithral sword tied to his back?


    A tusxic grunt brought him back to his senses. He redirected its charge and sliced through the leg of the beast. He gripped his blade tighter and followed after the now raging human.


    As confused as Fennel was, he had to admit, the human¡¯s strength was outstanding, most definitely on the level of a squadron captain, like himself. Way stronger in terms of pure power. But the human was taking blast after blast from the karibu, ones that should have been easy enough for him to dodge. The human would make some incredible evasive maneuvers every once in a while, maybe 15% of the time.


    He decided to take the man¡¯s advice and keep his distance, he could see the familiar red glow around the man¡¯s head, signifying a rage ability was in use. He chose to fight more of the surrounding monsters, trying to alleviate the stress on the front line while also securing himself and the human an escape route.


    A few minutes passed while Fennel and the human fought. Fennel had taken some blows but nothing substantial. His shield arm hurt but he could ignore it. But returning to the medical tent for a moment sounded like heaven. A tuft of white feather blinked in his mind for a moment. He shook the unnecessary thought away.


    Fennel turned back to see how the human was fairing. He had eliminated most of the Karibu. But it looked like he was slowing down. How has he been going this long? His stamina must be through the roof. The human descended upon the final Karibu, throwing the creature into the air with a bestial roar. The Karibu flew in the air and landed with a splat next to Fennel.


    The human¡¯s head swiveled from left to right, presumably looking for more enemies. However, instead of attacking the next creature, he saw the human shrink back down to his original size and slump over, falling to the ground. Fennel rocketed over to the man, shield bashing a goat that got too close. The man wasn¡¯t dead but had passed out. Most likely stamina burnout. Rookie mistake.


    Not that Fennel could fault him too much, he had run real close multiple times in the battle. He only stayed up thanks to Boundless. The ability that gave him his great stamina recovery. And Rook. Poor Rook.


    Fennel grabbed the man¡¯s legs and started dragging him towards the medic¡¯s station. But the monster''s waylaid him immediately. First ones give me strength. He put the man down and fought back. Gonna have to wait for the line to come to me. He looked out and saw that it was still a ways off.


    Hopelessness entered his mind. There is no way he could last long enough to handle this many beasts. Not after hours of fighting. And protecting a body.


    His sword almost dropped out of his hand. Three more tusxic¡¯s appeared before him snorting along with something that made Fennel''s last vestige of resolve shatter.


    A lesser graveball writhed up to the tusxics and enveloped them. Their bones crunching as they squealed. Its stench filled the air. That¡¯s when his sword finally dropped to the ground. He looked down at the human. ¡°Thank you for your help, my squad might have a chance thanks to you. Sorry I won¡¯t get to repay you.¡±


    The graveball inched closer. Its limbs wiggled and contorted. Fennel grabbed his shield with both hands, shielding him and the human.


    KABOOOOOOM!


    A blast of heat and air flooded the battlefield.

 26. Fiery Conclusion

    Len smirked when he saw his student absolutely ragdolling the Karibu while in his first monster form. ¡°Looks like he didn¡¯t slack off too much. Guess I can¡¯t slack off either.¡± He looked down on where Jaren¡¯s forces were. They were held back by the last line of monsters before the graveballs. Mostly weaker monsters but their numbers were staggering.


    Len sent another strike at two more graveballs that got too close. He had to admit it, even he was running out of juice. If he could get just three minutes of uninterrupted focus, then this boss would be done for. If he had five, no allies would get burned in the process.


    He threw a fireball at another graveball, but before the fire landed, a giant thorn pierced through its body, scattering its limbs. Len torched each one before they could reform. He saw Lirae, who winked at him when they made eye contact. He sighed. Beggars can¡¯t be choosers.


    He flew up to her. ¡°I need five minutes.¡±


    ¡°We both know it''s three.¡±


    ¡°A lot of soldiers¡­¡± but she interrupted him.


    ¡°Three.¡±


    He nodded at her.


    Len launched himself back into the area in front of the greater graveball. And knelt down and started gathering flames.


    Lirae and her personal retinue followed after him and started holding back the waves of monsters. A cage of vines and flowers surrounded Len. The scent of the flowers blocked out the smell of the battlefield, helping him focus on the task at hand.


    Each second crawled by. The cage hadn¡¯t blocked the sounds of people dying around him but he kept his mind in check. Focusing solely on gathering power.


    The ball of vines picked up the ground he sat on and moved him. He heard Jaren shout something. Must have made it. Late as usual.


    Len pushed more and more heat into his hands, fire spreading across his whole body but condensing in his fingertips. He didn¡¯t have the luxury of creating pillars and absorbing their flames like when he performed the burning. That¡¯s why it took extra time to build up the flame. But he loved every second of it. He hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to sit in his true heat in a while. And have a target for his power. A wicked grin showed up on his face.


    ¡°Time to consume.¡±


    As soon as three minutes went by, the vines surrounding him opened up. He was positioned slightly off centered from the giant graveball. Closer to the side where Fennel and Liam were fighting. Did she do that on purpose?


    He ignored the thought, now wasn¡¯t the time. Focusing every bit of energy he gathered into his fingertip, he pointed at the graveball and fired.


    A small beam shot out of his finger and entered the graveball. It punched through the gruesome beast''s flesh. Nothing happened for a moment. Until one side of its body expanded, then another. Then finally, the flames erupted, tearing and scorching the beast apart. The flames flowed out of the beast¡¯s carcass and flooded the battlefield.


    Many raised their shields and wards, attempting to block the heat. And many failed. Len made sure the flames wouldn¡¯t reach the medic stations, but those close to the boss would feel the brunt of it.


    Len dropped to a knee when it finished, huffing and puffing.


    ¡°Need some help old man?¡± It was Jaren, who looked unaffected by what just happened.


    ¡°A quick pick-me-up would be nice.¡± One of Jaren¡¯s head lieutenants, a blue scaled elf, rushed behind Len, putting a hand on his shoulder. Len felt the stamina recovery wash over him. He stopped him when his stamina recovered to 50%.


    Len looked around, noticing the disappearance of a beautiful green elf. One who typically liked to gloat after helping with something like that.


    ¡°Where¡¯d Lirae go?¡±


    ¡°The weed rushed off that way after your blast connected,¡± Jaren answered while pointing. Len¡¯s eyes widened when he realized where he was pointing.


    It was where Liam and Fennel were fighting.


    Len sighed. ¡° Ah crap.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Are¡­wake?¡± ¡°Get¡­p!¡± My mind whirled as I heard a voice yell at me. Wha? Stop shouting. My head was pounding for some reason. I couldn¡¯t think straight whatsoever.


    ¡°Get¡­elp!¡±


    Who shout? I opened my mouth and mumbled something I¡¯m positive wasn¡¯t coherent. Words just weren¡¯t forming properly in my head.


    My eyes fluttered open, but my vision was completely blurry. I saw motion. I¡¯m pretty sure they were people and not monsters so that¡¯s good. Maybe I managed to survive somehow.


    Neat.


    The last thing I remembered before passing out was the moose brigade standing in front of me. And a few flashes of me tearing apart a moose also entered my mind. Along with a really big bright light at some point. And Len¡¯s warm flames too. Did Len save me again?


    Someone laid their hand on my back while I tried to get up. I rubbed my eyes a few times, trying to get my vision to clear. After a moment, I started feeling better. I saw my companion. It was the blonde short teenager who attacked me while I was in Tigris form.


    ¡°Wh..o¡± I paused my question due to the apparent desert that now resided in my throat. Seriously, it felt like I just downed an entire box of saltines.


    I coughed. Pretty sure dust came out.


    ¡°Here.¡± The guy handed me a bag filled with liquid. I chugged it down without thinking. Probably should¡¯ve asked what it was first. Need to stop blindly trusting people. Luckily, it was water.


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    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said.


    After the thirst was sated, I viewed the surroundings. The monsters had turned tail and were running back into the forest. It looked like a few other people were chasing after them and getting a few kills but nothing substantial. I looked back where the giant ball of limbs and flesh was. Nothing but scorched earth now. And a whole bunch of burnt flesh. Eww.


    ¡°Did Len do that?¡± I asked while pointing.


    I looked back at the guy and he gave me a strange look. Like I said something really weird and out of pocket.


    ¡°You know Leonard Ainsworth?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why?¡±


    He opened his mouth like he was going to continue but something must have caught his gaze. He stood up and made an odd gesture. His left hand grabbed his right shoulder and he nodded toward someone I suppose. I turned to see who he was saluting(?).


    My jaw dropped. A woman walked towards the teen and me, followed by three very tough and brutish soldiers. But it took me a moment to even register their existence.


    The woman was clad in skin-tight green and white leather armor that showed off every curve of her body. And there were plenty. Her long bright amber hair was tied up in a Dutch braid. But I guess it''s not called that on Kniyas. A Kniyan braid maybe. She wore a winning smile on her beautiful face as she sauntered up to the two of us.


    She had to be one of the most gorgeous women I¡¯d ever met. Even if her skin was slightly green. Maybe green is my color. Once she was close, I saw she had pointed ears, like the elves of fiction. Oh my god. An elf. An honest to goodness elf. And she is ridiculously hot. Are all elves here like this?


    The blonde boy coughed while relaying a message to me. ¡°Stand up already.¡± I was still a little too enraptured to fully comprehend his words but I stood up. Bit wobbly though. I winced as I felt every wound from the fight. Burns from the magic of the moose as well as a multitude of others. I almost shifted into log form right there, but a flash of better judgment told me it''s probably not the best time to do that.


    She walked right up to us and stopped. The elf lady examined the teen, giving him a once over and nodding. ¡°Glad to see the Blines are raising their young ones well. I¡¯m excited to hear what the Watchers say about your achievements in this raid.¡± Her smile beamed upon the boy. But his reaction wasn¡¯t that of elation like mine probably would after a dime like her praised me. No, the teen looked to be hiding a fierce anxiety, his twitching hand he held behind his back betraying the facade.


    After finishing her address to the shorty, her gaze landed on me. However, her face no longer wearing that radiant smile. Her glacier blue eyes bore into me while she frowned for a split second. The smile returned to her lips but it did not quite reach her eyes.


    ¡°What family bore such a strong fighter?¡± She asked, her eyes not leaving me for even a moment.


    Shit, what do I say? Who even is she? What is happening? I covered my face and coughed, using my dry throat as a cover to give me a few precious seconds to come up with some bullshit.


    ¡°I have no family ma''am. They succumbed to a pack of jackanapes while I was young...¡± My voice cracked slightly at the end of my answer.  One of her guards snorted in jest for a half second before shutting up. Her smile faltered again. Yeah, it sounded like garbage as it came out of my mouth.


    ¡°Well, that is a tragedy, isn¡¯t it. No matter, are you a part of...,¡± the elf lady turned to the blonde, motioning with her hand.


    ¡°Fennel, Governor Lirae, ma¡¯am.¡± His voice cracked harder than mine just had. She gave the teen a soft smile before continuing.


    ¡°Are you a part of Fennel¡¯s squad?¡±


    I felt a bead of sweat roll down my forehead. ¡°No, miss umm governor, no I¡¯m not. This is my first interaction with him.¡±


    ¡°Then, whose squad are you with?¡±


    I swallowed. What should I say? Len told me we needed to stay away from the brass in Laurelhaven. Seems like I just ran into the freaking head honcho.


    Before I could spin any more caca, the beautiful yet somewhat terrifying green elf lady began to chuckle. Everyone standing around didn¡¯t know what exactly to make of this. Even her guards looked surprised by the elf¡¯s sudden outburst. This must be out of line with her normal behavior.


    She spoke up once she had finished laughing. Her icy gaze turned fierce as she looked back at me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother answering, I have no want for more of your pathetic tales, feral whelp.¡± The atmosphere changed as soon as she said the word feral. Each of her guards raised their weapons. Well most of them, the one that snorted earlier raised his claws. Which honestly, looked a little silly.


    ¡°Hold.¡± She commanded. The elf moved closer to me, then circled around me. Her hand lightly touched my shoulder. I got goosebumps at her touch and even felt somewhat giddy at the touch. Strange considering how anxious I was right now. Man I hope this doesn¡¯t awaken anything in me.


    ¡°I know who you are, or I have an idea. I believe you are Leonard¡¯s little pet. The one he thought to hide from me. But there is an issue; you might also be just another feral beast attracted to the bloodshed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about pet¡­¡± her hands wrapped around my face. I felt her nails dig into my cheeks. ¡°SILENCE! I don¡¯t recall giving even a modicum of permission for you to speak.¡± Her nails dug further into my skin, puncturing slightly. I tried to move my hands to get her off me, but her guards were on me in an instant, weapons aimed at my throat.


    ¡°Governor Lirae, please stop!¡± The blonde teen, who was a head below everyone here, spoke up.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t know of this one¡¯s origins. I can¡¯t attest to his allegiances.¡± He closed his eyes, and nodded lightly. Likely building up some confidence to continue. ¡°But I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, the actions of this one man saved hundreds of lives today. My squad included. Hell, myself included. That¡¯s not the actions of any feral I¡¯ve ever heard of.¡±


    The elf¡¯s glare stayed on me even during the teen''s speech. They closed slowly. Her grip loosened and I felt the stinging wounds on my face. She motioned with her head and the guards lowered their weapons. I looked over to my small savior, poor guy was trembling.


    She heaved a hefty sigh. She walked over to the short teen, placing a hand on his head. ¡°Return to your squad. Now.¡± Her voice was softer but still held a stern edge to them. The teen glanced over at me and then back to her. He did the weird salute once more and ran off.


    She turned her head up and looked off in the direction of the giant crater. ¡°Not yet Ainsworth.¡± I followed her eyes and saw a group of people making their way here.


    With a snap of her fingers, an odd sensation of movement slithered around my shoulder. Moving from my shoulder, down my back and eventually across my whole body. I looked down and saw a mass of green vines wrapping around me. I tried to move but it was futile. Before I even had a chance to react, the vines covered my whole being and tightened. I couldn¡¯t budge an inch. Only my head was left out of the mass.


    The elf lady walked back over to me and knelt down. ¡°Um, is this necessary?¡± I asked.


    She smiled at me with that fake grin, then moved her hand over my face. A vine grew around my head and stuffed itself in my mouth. My teeth chewed on the earthy plant. Yeah that tracks.


    ¡°Now hush, the grown ups have some talking to do.¡±


    She stood up and snapped her fingers again. A root shot out of the ground underneath her and formed itself into a seat and a small table shape. She sat down and one of her guards came with a cup and a bag filled with some sort of drink. He poured her a drink. She sipped from the cup before the group arrived.


    A wave of relief washed over me when I saw Len at the front of the group, along with a massive bald man in armor covered in blood. Len made eye contact with me for a moment and gave me a slight nod before focusing on the woman.


    However, she must have noticed the interaction as she smiled and turned to the guard closest to me. ¡°Take him away.¡±


    Giving the same salute the young man had earlier, the clawed guard hoisted me on his shoulder and walked off. I wiggled a little in protest. Poor decision. The vines tightened and squeezed more air out of my lungs. I stared at Len with eyes wide open. The large man next to Len spoke with the elf and Len took the opportunity to casually look over at me. He moved his mouth. What?


    He moved his mouth more deliberately, seemingly trying to mouth something at me.


    Break out. I think that''s what he was trying to convey. How?


    Len turned back to the conversation in front of him. The vines gave me one last good squeeze before I passed out.

 27. Aftermath

    Fennel walked back slowly to the medic station. His mind was whirling along with his stomach. It¡¯s ok, you only raised your voice to one of the council members. The most powerful people in the capital. Who have every bit of authority to ship me to Tiamantis. Lirae Laurellen, the Governor of Laurelhaven. The head of the capital. Yep. Totally fine. He palmed his face and let out a large breath. And she knows my face and name now.


    He slapped his face lightly. Jaren has a seat on the council too, he could bail me out. Probably. Fennel lowered his head and let out another sigh.


    His mind wandered to the other phenomena that happened. He thought about the strange guy he defended. Who was he? And how did he change like that? I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. ¡°Was he actually a Feral?¡±


    A pained shout rang out on the field. It was a soldier covered in blood. The yell cleared Fennel¡¯s mind and reminded him of what mattered right now. He picked up his pace and ran back to his squad¡¯s station. He needed to focus on his people¡¯s wellbeing.


    The station was buzzing with movement. Choruses of groans filling the air. Fennel looked around, trying to find his squad. He saw a tall black horn jutting out of the crowd. ¡°Zaner.¡± Fennel made his way over to the Minotauran. Zaner was getting some bandages wrapped around his arm. Some potions were being poured on it as well.


    ¡°Tusxic got your arm?¡± The bull horned man looked over at Fennel and frowned. ¡°Yep, some of us stuck around to make sure they didn¡¯t get to the station.¡± Fennel could hear the venom in the man¡¯s voice. Fennel closed his fist. He was so tired of the man''s constant jabs. He was about to respond, until Lukans stumbled in between the two, covered in bandages.


    ¡°Shut it Zaner. Cap dealt with the Karibus that threatened to end all of our existences. And you know that. He even gave us one more boost from his ability. You wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill half as many monsters without it.¡± Zaner snorted loudly before closing his eyes in protest.


    Lukans turned toward Fennel, his large brown glassy eyes, ones that were a bit too big for his face, filled with wonder.


    ¡°How did you manage that anyway? There was a whole herd of them.¡±


    ¡°Eh, I had some help.¡± Fennel responded while scratching behind his ear.


    ¡°Who? You were the only one in the squad to venture that far forward. Did someone from another squad join you?¡± Fennel thought about how to answer. He wasn¡¯t sure how to say a splicer with two genes wiped out the moose all on his own. He wasn¡¯t sure what the guy even was. The human seemed to know something about Leonard, so he planed to bring it up to the when next they meet.


    White feathers entered his line of sight. Gloria was working on the wounds of another one of Fennel''s squad.


    ¡°Tell you about it later, need to get a head count.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing boss.¡± Lukans sat back down, wincing.


    He wanted to go over to the feathered healer, his shield arm took a beating and he was pretty sure there was some fracturing. But he needed to get headcount on his squad. And to see whose families he¡¯d be delivering bad news to throughout the upcoming week. The part of the job he dreaded the most. He closed his eyes and the memory of Rook¡¯s body entered his mind.


    Fennel breathed in deep. He was about to start his search when a hand pulled on his arm. He winced in pain, gritting his teeth. Yep, definitely a fracture. He turned and saw that Gloria was already casting a healing spell on his arm. He tried to stop her but her tired eyes were filled with determination. ¡°Gloria, I have to check on everyone else. I will come back and get some aid soon.¡± She stared back at him and shook her head while poking one particular spot on his arm. Right under his elbow.


    Fennel let out a yelp. He hadn¡¯t realized how bad the arm was. Gloria pretty much shoved him into a chair and his face burned red for a minute while her healing worked on the bones and muscles in his arm.


    She started to hum ever so softly. Barely more than a whisper¡¯s volume. But Fennel had sharp hearing. All of the hustle and bustle of the camp drowned away. Her gentle humming danced in his ears. It sounded lovely and soothed him. The weight from his earlier encounter lifted off his shoulders while listening to her simple tune. His eyelids grew heavy. But just before sleep overtook him, an all too familiar shout echoed in the camp.


    ¡°Captain Blines, front and center.¡±


    Fennel jumped up from his seat and mouthed thanks to Gloria. His boisterous uncle stood on top of a chair. Fennel rushed to him and saluted. ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    ¡°Walk with me.¡± Herman jumped off the chair and walked off. Fennel noticed one of his uncle''s axes was missing. Oh, that¡¯s probably bugging the hell out of him. He followed after the dwarf. He opened his mouth to speak, but his uncle shushed him. ¡°Not here, don¡¯t need prying ears on us.¡±


    They walked to the edge of the medic station and onto the battlefield. Once they were far enough away from everyone, his uncle opened his mouth.


    ¡°Are ye good boy?¡± His uncle''s usual rough demeanor was replaced with a more tender tone.


    ¡°Yes uncle, only a couple of bumps and bruises. Arm¡¯s a bit banged up but it¡¯ll heal. But my squad.¡±


    His uncle patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Aye, I know. But that was a raid for the bloody record books. And yer mother¡¯d have my head if something happened to ye. First ones rest her soul.¡±


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    A tinge of sadness fell on Fennel when his mother at the mention of his mother. ¡°But uncle, I lost over half of them. They died under my watch. I don¡¯t know if I can keep doing this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re strong, lad. And one of the best squad captains I have. It''s not because you¡¯re me kin. Anyone who says otherwise be damned to shit shoveling for the rest of their days.¡± Herman¡¯s eyes looked over the battlefield.


    ¡°Your squad was one of the lucky ones today. Three squads were lost in your zone alone, a dozen on the eastern flank. Those are my losses. Your squad had the least amount of casualties. Not only that, ye managed to keep the medic station afloat.¡±


    Herman patted Fennel on the shoulder again. ¡°I know that pack leader ability or whatever is good, but you commanded them well.¡±


    ¡°We had some help.¡±


    His uncle¡¯s head tilted in confusion when he said that.


    Fennel told his uncle what took place during the last minutes of the battle. About the strange splicer he ran into who decimated the monster''s forces and everything that happened with Lirae after.


    Herman looked serious for a moment before bursting with laughter. Fennel stood awkwardly, waiting for his uncle to stop. After a minute, Herman spoke again.


    ¡°Oh boyo. Looks like you got the queen¡¯s attention now. Feel sorry for you. It''s what you get for hanging around with the likes of Len and Jaren. I¡¯m certain those two just shit trouble every morning. An I''m sure they''re about to hand you some on a plate.¡± He laughed for a moment more.


    ¡°Now get out of here. Go get that arm checked. The burn squad is coming through in an hour. Get that station ready to march.¡± His uncle was already turning away and walking back toward the wall.


    ¡°An hour? Isn¡¯t that too soon?¡±


    ¡°Undead, son, need to be handled sooner rather than later. Scavs got fortunate with this one.¡± He yelled over his shoulder.


    Fennel turned back to the station. He gave the order to pack up and return to the city.


    ¡ª¡ª


    The acrid smell of burnt flesh wafted over the battlefield. The moon was at its fullest tonight. The day¡¯s battle ended hours ago. Only charred remains were all lingered. And a small number of guard camps scattered about. That and weapons and trinkets left behind. Anything that¡¯s worth a coin she''d take.


    She gagged, covering her mouth immediately. She surveyed around, making sure nobody heard her. Stupid mistake. She was annoyed with herself but her gene came with an enhanced sense of smell, so the air around burned her nostrils. Powering through it, she continued her search.


    The girl hadn¡¯t found anything great so far. A few scorched blades and a bracer in passable condition. It wasn¡¯t enough though. She¡¯d only been out for a couple of hours. She had plenty of time to keep looking. She just hoped to not run into him or his lackeys while out here.


    From what the girl had heard, this raid was crazy. Undead boss and legions of forest monsters. Weird pairing. But she couldn¡¯t complain. This was a scavenger¡¯s paradise. They had to torch the bodies quickly and that meant a lot of stuff was left behind. Stuff that she¡¯d find and fence.


    She turned her head back toward the guard camp closest to her. She could see the other four camps, each had fires going but they were pretty far off.


    Lazy bums. They were the ones who didn¡¯t see much action in the raid. They were meant to stop people like her, but most of them didn¡¯t care. They were only instituted because of the fair green lady. She didn¡¯t want any undesirables stealing from her dead soldiers.


    Only problem was the soldiers didn¡¯t seem to care too much. You¡¯d find the occasional try-hard who ate up every nice platitude the green bitch threw at them with that fake-ass smile. Simpletons. Most of them were asleep by now. So she was in the clear.


    The girl rummaged around more, this time near a blast crater. The smell here was more tolerable, telling her that whatever burned to death here wasn¡¯t at the hands of the burners.


    A couple of minutes went by. It¡¯s a bust. This area hadn¡¯t looked picked though yet; she had hoped nobody got here first. She was aware she wasn¡¯t the only scav out tonight. There were plenty from the gloom who came out after a raid. She normally didn¡¯t like to scavenge, but today¡¯s raid was too juicy to pass up. And she never turned down easy coin. Just finding a single snobby noble kid¡¯s piece of gear would have her set for a while.


    A frigid breeze blew across the field. Her hood got caught and flew off her head. She grabbed it instantly and drew it over her head in a panic. She held the sides of the hood for a moment, calming herself down. It''s fine. Everything is fine. No one is here. No one saw.


    She turned her head back to the guard camp. No change. Good. However, as she was about to return to her search, the fire in the guard camp went out. The girl tilted her head. Odd. Probably nothing. Some idiot forgot to replace the wood.


    She looked at the next closest camp. Its orange glow faded. The hair on the back of her neck raised. She secured the items she had nabbed thus far, preparing herself to run back to the city. These instincts kept her alive this long, she wasn¡¯t about to ignore them. Each of the faint orange lights in the field darkened one after the other.


    The girl¡¯s feet glowed slightly blue. Can¡¯t worry about that. She shook her head and bounded off. She raced, heading back to her self-made entrance. When she neared the camp, she heard a pained yelp. One that was silenced. Oh shit!


    Her pace doubled. A grunt came from behind her. Her legs tore into the ground, dirt and ash kicking up with each step. She hadn¡¯t dared see what was chasing her. She knew her focus needed to be on getting back into the city. ASAP. The grunting lessened. She was losing it. Whatever it was. Not that it bothered her very much. She knew full well what curiosity did to cats. But she could tell one thing, it didn¡¯t sound like a monster. They even sounded familiar.


    The sounds of marching reverberated as she arrived at the bottom of the wall. Finally noticed the fires going out. Took you boys long enough. She leaned against the wall and rubbed one of her ankles. Fuck my feet hurt. The ability she used saved her tail more than once, but it came with heavy backlash. Her feet would be sore for the next few days. The marching got closer.


    Where the hell? Her hands rubbed against the rough bark surface of the city wall. ¡°There you are.¡± She felt the little latch she installed moons ago. Part of the wall came off revealing a hole. Double checking her haul and throwing it in the hole, she pushed herself through. ¡°I don¡¯t remember this thing being so tight.¡± She huffed. Finally, getting through.


    She coughed after she breathed in some of the dust, then stood up and brushed the dirt off her cloak. The girl¡¯s ears perked up under her hood.


    ¡°Hey there, Grid. What¡¯d you bring me?¡±

 28. Big Trout

    The gentle afternoon sun blanketed me with warmth and comfort. Birds sang their songs high in the oak tree I laid under. A pleasant gust rustled the branches. What a beautiful day. I yawned, pulling my hands behind my head. Perfect for a quick snooze. Even the grass I sat upon was akin to the comfiest bed. I shut my eyes and let the peace overcome me.


    That is, until a stream of water landed right in my face. I shot up and coughed. Some of the water got in my mouth. That wonderful peace shattered instantly.


    ¡°I found our loaf.¡± An elderly masculine voice yelled. I rubbed my eyes and shook the water out of my hair while Gramps yelled for Gran.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± I groaned.


    ¡°What, did I interrupt your beauty sleep? I understand, not enough hours in the night, so you have to steal some in the day. Problem is, it still ain''t working.¡±


    ¡°Shut up gramps. You¡¯re no gem either.¡±


    ¡°Kid, you got a face for radio.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and I heard about your last trip to the proctologist, old man. He stuck his finger in your mouth by accident.¡±


    ¡°Why you little.¡± Gramps spoke through gritted teeth. Gran walked up behind gramps and gave him a light smack on the arm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you go bad-mouthing my handsome young man.¡± Gran knelt down next to me and hugged my head. She recoiled.


    ¡°Why is he wet?¡± Gran asked.


    ¡°What? I had to water the trees. He best be glad it wasn¡¯t the other kind of watering.¡± Gran got up and gave him another playful smack for that comment. ¡°You¡¯re awful, you know that.¡±


    ¡°Just the worst.¡± He acknowledged with a wide grin on his face.


    Gran went inside and grabbed a towel. She brought it out and handed it to me.


    ¡°Now that you''re refreshed, we can get started on the gardenias today. She has been looking forward to planting them all winter.¡± Gran nodded along with his words.


    He walked over to the shed and grabbed his hunting rifle. ¡°But first we need to find some fertilizer.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I was bewildered.


    We shifted over to the raised beds suddenly. Gramps buried a few small squirrels in the dirt.


    ¡°And now for the seeds, go grab the packets from the shed.¡± I found the packets; they were covered in pictures of blue gardenias. Hmm. Neat.


    I walked back over to gran and handed her the seeds. She went to plant them and I turned around, looking for the watering hose. A darkness spread over the lawn while I searched. More than just a cloud passing over the sun. It was more like something large was blocking the light. I turned to find what was casting the shadow. Behind my sweet grandmother was a giant ball of writhing flesh. It inched closer and closer to her. She never moved, completely oblivious to the horrifying danger she found herself in. I screamed and shouted, but she could not hear me.


    The hose I sought just before found me. It wrapped up around my body, slithering around my limbs. I tried to struggle, but it was futile. Eventually, the hose completely bounded me. I fell to the ground with muffled shouts.


    I woke up heaving. My eyes shot open. My limbs were tied down completely and something was in my mouth. I couldn¡¯t move at all. Sweat was pouring out of me. I struggled and squirmed.


    ¡°Liam chill! Chill out!¡± Tutor¡¯s voice spoke in my head.


    ¡°MMPFHF!¡± I couldn¡¯t speak.


    ¡°It''s okay. You¡¯re okay. Calm down.¡±


    I closed my eyes and tried to control my breathing. Which wasn¡¯t working very well. It''s hard to breathe right when you have something stuffed in your mouth. I wanted to shift into log form. It always calmed me down. Yeah, let''s try that.


    I felt my skin harden as the tree bark grew on my body. But that was it. The vines wrapped around my body wouldn¡¯t let me contort fully. But I figured I might as well stay in the form.


    But instead of the peaceful thoughts and emotions, a discomfort grew inside me; a frustration that went down to my very core. I can¡¯t quite describe the feeling. Like I was currently.... wrong. Every part of my being was just incorrect. I squirmed and wiggled, but nothing made the feeling go away. Only when I turned off the form did the irritation fade.


    Oddly enough, that irritation had managed to distract me a little. My breathing slowed down some.


    I sighed through whatever was in my mouth. My sense of taste activated now that I was calming down. Earthy and planty? How did I end up like this? Right. Really pretty but really scary lady with plant powers.


    I shifted in the vines again but stopped when I remembered they tightened when I did it last time. But there was no change. The vines keeping me tied were snug, but they no longer hurt or blocked my airway. Getting out of them wasn¡¯t going to be easy. But before that.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Where am I?


    My eyes wandered around the room. I didn¡¯t seem to be in a dungeon or anything. The room was pretty bland. Wooden walls that switched between man made cuts interlaced with tree trunks. No windows. At least not in front of me. Some natural light was coming into the room from behind me. They situated me in the middle of the room, tied to a small tree and facing the door. The door looked like the entrance to Winnie the Pooh¡¯s house. Just planks of wood nailed together and some basic metal hinges.


    Honestly, the whole room felt reminiscent of ole Winnie¡¯s place. Missing the Mr. Sanderz plaque at the top of the door but pretty close. Is the room built inside a tree? That would be dope. I shook my head. Better things to worry about. I thought about the green lady and what happened.


    What did I do to piss her off so much? And Len. Why did he let me get carried off?


    The last interaction with him played back in my mind.


    ¡°Breakout.¡±


    I¡¯m at least 82% sure that¡¯s what he was saying. But ¡°big trout¡± was a contender. I always sucked at reading lips. But Len¡¯s distaste for fish made me think otherwise.


    I felt a bug crawl on the side of my mouth. I squirmed even more trying to get it off. No success. It meandered around on my face for a solid minute. Every bone in my body screamed.


    ¡°Hey, have you thought about using them pearly whites on the vines?¡± Tutor asked.


    I shrugged and bit down on the vine. It squished in my jaws. I clamped down harder, but it stayed strong.


    Can I cut it? My teeth were somewhat akin to mini-saw blades. I shifted my head back and forth. The vibration and movement tickled my skull, but I could handle it. Man this is weird. I stopped for a second and bit down on them again. No change. This was going to be a minute. Eventually, I found a groove, and a song popped into my head; I bobbed with the rhythm of a song.


    What is love? Baby don¡¯t hurt me. Don¡¯t hurt me, no more.


    After a couple of verses, I¡¯d succeeded in cutting through about halfway. I took one massive chomp, and the vine broke free from my mouth. I took a deep breath of non-botanic fresh air.


    ¡°Awesome.¡± I motioned my jaw around, attempting to alleviate some of the soreness. "I hope I never have anything shoved in my mouth like that again."


    I heard Tutor start giggling in the back of my head.


    ¡°You''re awful, you know that."


    "Just the worst." Tutor said. The words hung in my head for a moment, and I''m not entirely sure why. Like I heard those words recently. Ehh, probably nothing.


    "Welp, step one is complete.¡±


    A breeze lulled into the room. I shivered a little. The vines wrapped around me did little in the way of keeping me warm.


    ¡°Looks like the window is open. Solves the getting-out-of-the-room problem.¡±


    ¡°Yep. But you should focus on the getting-out-of-the-vines problem first.¡± Tutor said.


    ¡°Yeah, I know. Hey, did you see where we are by chance?¡± I asked her. I knew she was watching me from somewhere. I think. I know it''s been over half a year since I¡¯ve been on Kniyas, yet I was still only 99% sure she wasn''t some schizo delusion.


    ¡°Nope. Even if I could, I¡¯m not at liberty to say.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re certainly not at liberty to be helpful, are you?¡±


    She made that melem noise you make when you stick your tongue out at someone.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± Before I said anything else, I heard some movement on the other side of the door. Somebody walked up, and I heard something smack metal and some muted voices.


    ¡°Get up. Sarge¡¯d have yer hide if she caught you napping.¡± A male voice said in a strange accent.


    The other person snorted loudly and replied with a quick, ¡°Sorry.¡± I think it was a woman¡¯s voice.


    The first person sighed, ¡°It''s ok. I know you were tasked with station guarding in the last raid. Can¡¯t blame you too much for catching some extra rest. How¡¯s yer brother? Burns healing?¡±


    ¡°Kind of. He was fighting in the Holdsburn squad and was right next to the boss when the explosion went off. The ward he used wasn¡¯t aligned properly for that level of heat. He¡¯ll live, but he¡¯s got some nasty scars on his arms now.¡± The woman replied.


    ¡°Aye, doubt many could handle that heat. Ainsworth. Scary fuckin man. But it''s only been two days since the raid. I¡¯m sure he will make a recovery. You don¡¯t get a spot in Holdsburn¡¯s squad without being made of thicker stuff. Make sure you don¡¯t sleep again. Not sure who is making the rounds next.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m shocked I even managed to sleep. That feral¡¯s stomach makes some unholy sounds. I ran in the first time it roared. I thought a monster got loose in there. Nope, just that kid¡¯s gut. They are as disgusting as Lirae says.¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°Aye.¡± I heard footsteps move away.


    Shit. I got lucky right then. That door blocks hardly any sound, and I was speaking with Tutor at our normal level. Loud. Thank God I didn¡¯t wake her. And did he say it¡¯s been two days? Was I out that long? Damn, maybe an aftereffect of the gardenias. Some thing else she said bothered me. There¡¯s that feral word again.


    I shifted a little in my spot.


    I need to focus on getting out of here. Silently. And finding Len. Quickly. Whatever, baby steps. First the vines. Maybe I can break out of them.


    Ursa form¡¯s added girth and strength might do the trick. Lord only knows how many vines I¡¯ve snapped with its strength by now. I activated the form. I could feel my body getting larger and hairier. My mass pushed on the vines in all directions. I flexed my muscles as hard as I could. But the vines held. Truthfully, I don¡¯t think they seemed even slightly strained by my attempt.


    After a couple of minutes of trying, I reverted back to base form. My skin and muscles were hurting.


    Okay, different form then. Tigris. No, I doubt a ball of darkness would help here and it''s weaker than Ursa. Apis. The tail might be able to grab something like my dagger, but I¡¯m sure the room is empty. Including my sword.


    The mimic¡¯s anger flared up when I realized they had stolen something from me. My face started to snarl, but I forced the feeling down after shaking my head for a moment. Focus! Next form. Gremlin. A smile grew on my face. Yeah, that might work.


    I shifted into my little green form. My limbs shortened along with the rest of my body. The vines still felt cramped, but not nearly as much. I fidgeted around until I finally got an arm out.


    I pushed up a little on the vines and freed the other arm. These vines didn¡¯t tighten as I feared they would. Must have been little Miss Poison Ivy who made that happen. It wasn¡¯t long before I got my whole body out of the stupid things.


    No less than 47 cracks went off as I stretched. ¡°Ooh.¡± The relief was so great that I couldn¡¯t help but moan for a second. I covered my mouth and stopped dead in my tracks. Slowly, very slowly, I turned to the door. After a minute of holding my breath, I concluded she must not have heard me. I tiptoed to the door, pressing my ear to it. I heard the soft, gentle breathing of someone asleep. I sighed in relief before moving back to the vines.


    There was a slight bounce in the floor as I moved about. Must not be on the ground floor. The wind blew into the room again. There was one surefire way to find out.


    I walked up to the window. There wasn¡¯t any glass. Maybe they don¡¯t have any on Kniyas.


    My eyes widened, while my jaw dropped to the ground.

 29. Windfall

    ¡°Agh. I can¡¯t believe that little twerp is getting so much.¡± Jaren complained. ¡°Seriously, what did his squad do to entail this amount?¡± The giant bald man rubbed the back of his head while staring down at the paper in front of him. Len chuckled at seeing the distress in Jaren¡¯s voice.


    ¡°What? Worried the kid will outshine you soon?¡± Len asked.


    The two men were accompanied by one of Jaren¡¯s top lieutenants, an human woman by the name of Daila Underbrush. A Micen gene wielder. She had a small rodent-like nose on her face and white furred arms. She tied her white hair back in the most clean and perfect bun Len had ever seen. He wondered how long it was when let down. But he had a feeling that he wouldn¡¯t see that any time soon. She was also carrying a few other papers.


    The three were making their way back to Jaren¡¯s home after a trip to the Capitol Building. The one where Liam was currently being held. They stopped in front of the tavern built in front of the capitol building. It was a popular venue in the evenings, but empty right around this time of day. Len and the others were going to grab something to eat and discuss some things.


    ¡°They were the only group to adequately defend their station on the east flank. His kill count is impressive as well.¡± Daila explained to Jaren.


    ¡°That¡¯s just because he got credited for the kills others made while his ability was up. Lucky pup.¡± Jaren sighed. ¡°Oh, Herman is going to be insufferable the next time I see him.¡±


    ¡°I think we should be glad we have such a useful and talented young man among our ranks. And he is present and attentive during meetings and training sessions. Something that took you ages to get down, Sir. I¡¯m sure the boy will make a fine replacement for you. Probably rather soon too.¡± Daila said.


    Len snickered. He knew those words would get under Jaren¡¯s skin. Daila was the one person who could cut into Jaren better than anyone.


    ¡°Oi, don¡¯t go writing me off yet. Len. Buddy. Back me up here.¡± Jaren said, trying to rope Len into the confrontation. But Len knew better than to get in between one of their little spats.


    ¡°What a gorgeous day, isn''t it?¡± Len said, while staring off into the sky.


    ¡°Bah, you¡¯re useless.¡± Jaren waved his papers toward Len. ¡°What about yours? We getting close?¡± Jaren¡¯s voice was now serious and hushed.


    Len lifted his paper and showed the big half-elf. Jaren¡¯s eyebrow raised before he slowly shook his head.


    ¡°Absolutely unreal. But taking down a tier eight boss like that probably warrants that kind of payout.¡±


    ¡°Helps to not have a legion to pay. But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure your people get a cut. I have no real use for this money anyway. Aside from the obvious, of course.¡±


    ¡°Looks like the hall is about finished.¡±


    Len nodded his head. He was hoping to finish it before bringing Liam to Laurelhaven, but the idiot just had to get himself captured.


    ¡°This will go to the last installment. Only a few weeks away now. As long as the crafter quits complaining about the designs.¡± Len answered.


    ¡°And what of your talent? Looks like Lirae took a particularly dark shine to the kid. From what Fenny boy said, she seemed¡­ less than happy.¡±


    ¡°Captain Blines did give a worrying report about the situation,¡± Daila added.


    Len shrugged. ¡°I think he will be fine. I told him to break out. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult with his abilities.¡±


    ¡°Yes, these crazy abilities of the boy from another¡­¡± Len shot a serious look at Jaren, one laced with threat. ¡°Right, my bad,¡± Jaren said.


    It¡¯s not that Len was distrustful of the present company, but he was fully aware of how many ears were in Laurelhaven. He didn¡¯t need any more suspicion surrounding Liam. He was fine with Lirae assuming he was a Feral. It made how she treated him predictable.


    ¡°So, when are you going to tell us about the mystery boy¡¯s powers? Hell, even his gene would be nice to know. He didn¡¯t look that impressive wrapped up in the weed¡¯s vines.¡± Jaren said while handing his papers over to Daila.


    ¡°They¡¯re something you¡¯re going to want to see for yourself. I don¡¯t know if I can do them justice. Did your connect get his room location yet?¡±


    ¡°Not quite. The guard posted on his room is kin to one of mine, Terl¡¯s sister I think. But Lirae scared the wits out of the poor girl. And Terl¡¯s not quite in the best of health to be pushing either.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Len shook his head but didn¡¯t say any more. He knew of the man¡¯s injuries. Some of the money he made in the battle was going to his treatment expenses. A portion was allocated for all of those burned by his flames.


    Daila spoke up this time. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you put another tracking sigil on the boy?¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°Nah, Lirae would have sniffed that out in a heartbeat. Besides¡­¡±


    Len was about to carry on and change the subject, but an alarm bell rang from the capitol. A wild grin appeared on his face and he turned toward Jaren.


    ¡°Looks like you might get to see those crazy powers pretty soon.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    You know, never in my life have I found a more suited time for one of those 90s freeze frame moments. The ones where the main character is in some ridiculous situation, one that is meant to boggle the minds of those watching. Then the character in question addresses the audience, saying something along the lines of ¡°Yep, that¡¯s me. You¡¯re probably wondering how I got here.¡±


    But that is how I felt about my current situation. I was hanging from the bottom of a tree branch approximately, oh I don¡¯t know, too-damn-many feet off the ground. With comically large buck teeth jutting out of my mouth and a really loud bell ringing out. Maybe not a perfect example, like a llama sitting in the rain complaining about his life, but it felt fitting all the same.


    Just moments ago, when I freed myself from the stupid vines, I looked through the paneless window and found a breathtaking sight. I was much higher up than the second floor of the building. I was more like on the 38th floor¡­ of a tree. I¡¯m pretty sure I was in the humongous tree I noticed before the battle. And I must have been near the top of it. I could see miles of the forest. All the treetops blending into one another. And it wasn¡¯t even spring yet. I would love to catch this view again in the height of summer.


    I looked down, and after the initial feeling of motion sickness that comes with looking that far down, saw what I had been working toward the whole time I was in the woods. It was the city.


    People, little dots right now, moved all around the city. It looked like the city was divided by the roots of the giant tree. One area, to my right, looked like it was mostly houses, a residential quarter if I had to bet. They looked like the most authentic and legit fantasy world homes, mostly made out of wood and stone, even a few made from large trees. Of which there was an abundance. Trees dotted the entire landscape of the Laurelhaven. The section itself looked split between really big nice houses, then small smaller ones. No matter where you go or what world you find yourself in, there will always be the haves and have-nots. The left side of the root had much larger buildings. An assortment of open fields interwoven between the structures. I wondered what they were for. Farming maybe.


    I was only really seeing half the city from up here. My gaze moved on, to the outer edge of the city. The city was surrounded by a tall wooden wall. One that looked naturally formed rather than man-made. Like hundreds of trees grew together, right next to each other. I couldn¡¯t gauge exactly how tall the walls were, but they were taller than every building around them.


    A rush of emotion swelled in my chest. This was what I was working so hard for. The constant training, the life-threatening fights. All for a chance to see something this mythical. This otherworldly city. Sure, how I got here sucked. But just seeing this view made all of the pain and effort worth it. My imagination ran wild until I heard some commotion from the other side of the door. There was a shout and some voices as well.


    I looked out the window, trying to think of a decent escape plan. There were a couple of large branches growing out of the trees. One grew right under the window about 10 feet down. It looked wide enough to cover my whole body. I heard somebody rap on the door.


    With a shrug, I shifted into the one form I had that specialized in this type of maneuver. I had gotten used to the different sensations that happened in each form. My skin didn¡¯t crawl or itch when fur grew on my body. Even growing the tail in Apis form felt normal. But teeth. I really and truly hoped not a single other form I find screws with my teeth. It felt so unnatural, especially in my skull. Like someone was pulling the teeth out of their sockets and stopping just before they popped out.


    Not that I had the time to worry about that. I heard the door slam open just as I got out the window. I hope they didn''t see me. I scrambled down to the target branch and got on the underside. Squirrel form did come with some tiny claws, which helped stabilize me. Especially with the wind that blew this high up. I felt the strain on my hands as each gust buffeted the side of my body.


    A few voices came from the room I was in, angry voices. Along with some yelling. I hope that guard doesn¡¯t get in too much trouble. She sounded like she was going through something. All the wind stopped me from being able to comprehend any of the words they were saying.


    The yelling had stopped at some point. Replaced by an alarm going off. A loud clanging of a bell. I¡¯m guessing they aren¡¯t there anymore, maybe they thought I snuck by the guard.


    I looked down, devising the next stage of my escape. The branches didn¡¯t continue all the way to the bottom of the tree. They stopped around halfway. I had faith in this form¡¯s speed to climb up a tree, but not its stamina. Getting down a tree of this size would take an incredible amount. The wind felt like it was picking up too. I¡¯d prefer to be intact for my first trip to the city, as opposed to a splat on the ground. Which meant I was going to have to flee from inside the tree.


    I climbed down further, arriving at the branches near the midway point. I looked around for another open window. I found one not too far from the branch I was on. I made my way over to it. Another big gust blew by, forcing me to hunker down on the side of the tree. My hands were getting tired. I started feeling the empty stomach. My strength was waning. Another gust blew and a piece of bark I was clinging to cracked. ¡°SHIT!¡± I screamed. But before the piece fell off, the wind died down, and I scrambled to the window, practically flying through it.


    I rolled on to the floor of the room, heaving huge breaths. I stood up and looked around, preparing myself for the worst. With my luck, I expected it to be a garrison bunkhouse or something. However, I wasn¡¯t surrounded by people or weapons, almost the opposite. It was a room filled with clothes¡­and lab coats?

 30. Out The Front Door

    I looked over the suit of white cloth a dozen times, removing one from the hanger and holding it. I was transported back to the days when I wore this same type of clothing to class. Back when I was an undergrad. Chemistry was and still is by far my favorite of the hard sciences, so every science elective I took was one based on Chemistry. I liked most of the sciences, except Biology. I¡¯d slept through more Bio lectures than I could count.


    There was something about discovering the smallest secrets of our universe, the atoms and molecules that made up reality and how they interacted just so perfectly. Sure, Physics and Astronomy were interesting in their own way. But at the highest level, those turned to the sky and stars and space. I liked how grounded Chem was; you got to actually see the results in front of your eyes. There was no experience like watching a normal sweet little gummy bear light up like fireworks and frying to death in a test tube filled with potassium chlorate.


    And the cloth in my hands reminded me of those days. Upon closer inspection however, these were not quite the same; these coats felt pretty rough and worn and were clearly not made from the same polyester blends we had back on Earth; I¡¯m not certain what they are made of. I even found a hole in the shoulder of the one I was fondling. They seemed really old, and yet too modern for the setting at the same time.


    I studied the room, taking in the other clothes hanging about. An assortment of leather and cloth armors. One wall had two suits of metal armor on a stand. All pretty standard for a fantasy world like Kniyas. But the lab coats. It just looked off.


    ¡°Do they have science here? Like real science.¡±


    ¡°IDK, but I feel like there are bigger concerns at the moment.¡± Tutor said, responding to my mostly rhetorical musing.


    ¡°Maybe alchemy. That¡¯d be fun.¡± I said while imagining what the taste of a health potion would be. I hope those exist, that would be awesome. For some reason, I always thought they would taste like fizzy cough syrup.


    Before I could think about it more, I heard some stomping on the other side of the door. The alarm hadn¡¯t ceased and was still clanging on, reminding me that I was, in fact, on the run. The very reason for the alarm.


    I looked at the different clothes in the room again. All varying sizes. What¡¯s this room for? There weren¡¯t any sinks or wash basins, not that it would make sense for those to be 10 stories up a tree. Maybe just a storage room. I found some clothes that looked like they might be my size, some basic leather armor. No dyes on it or anything like the armor the scary plant lady wore. Just brown, inconspicuous armor that had a slight smell to it.


    My eyes wandered down to my own clothes. They were pretty tattered and filled with a plethora of claw marks, tusk marks, bite marks¡­ pretty much any kind of mark a monster could leave on me. Thinking on it, I definitely had a very barbaric and overall dingy look to me. Feral wouldn¡¯t be the worst descriptor for my current disheveled style. I shrugged and took the leather armor off the wall. I had formed a plan, a dumb one, but a plan nonetheless.


    Upon walking out the door, the pants of the armor chaffed the inside of my thighs. The outfit was a size too small. I could move well enough, but the leather pants felt wrong. I shifted awkwardly in them. Wasn¡¯t a fan of tight pants in the last life, not a fan in this one. It didn¡¯t help that I had a tail poking out of the top of them.


    Disguising myself in Apis form seemed like the smart move. One thing people don¡¯t realize is that most aren¡¯t that observant. A good disguise can come in just the form of a different hairstyle or new facial hair. Especially in a world with no cameras. Wow, these powers would probably make crime easy as hell. But before that thought could take root, I imagined what would happen if a Len level threat caught me. I shivered and vowed right then to stay on the straight and narrow.


    Besides, three of my other forms were still on cooldown. Tigris might have been the more powerful form, but it didn¡¯t change my look enough. Apis put hair on my face and gave me a freaking tail, and no one aside from Len has seen me in this form. If things did get dicey, it was really good at running through trees. I was banking on that talent working for the inside of one too.


    My tail rubbed the base of my back, irritating it. I desperately wanted to make a hole in the pants for my tail, but I didn¡¯t have anything sharp to do it with. And I wasn¡¯t about to waste a Tigris form cooldown just to poke a hole in some pants.


    The room was connected to a big nondescript hallway. Some candles lined the wooden walls and a rough carpet strewn across the floor. The hall was in the middle of the tree where no natural light could get it. The guards had just come by before I exited the room, so I thought it was safe. Problem was, I had no clue where to go.


    ¡°Ugh, this sucks. Where are the stairs?¡±


    Tutor''s reply came in the form of a bunch of giggling.


    ¡°What?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Nothing, nothing, you definitely don¡¯t look like an 80s hair metal singer right now.¡±


    A new fresh feeling of embarrassment and self consciousness flared up. ¡°Shut up.¡± Before I could craft a better comeback, I heard some heavy footsteps come from the far end of the corridor. Nervousness grew in my stomach. Time to see how convincing this is.


    A large human man walked through the hall; once he noticed my presence, he headed straight for me. The man was big, not much taller than me, but definitely had a dozen extra pounds of muscle on his body. He had short brown combed hair, along with some rather hairy arms, and blunt looking claws at the end of his hands.


    Is he¡­an ursa? Some of the anxiety softened. I knew the thought patterns of the Ursa. Maybe I could get through this without trouble. The large man stopped in front of me; his eyes scanned my body for a moment before speaking.


    ¡°Any sign of the feral prisoner?¡± He said, in a surprisingly lax tone.


    ¡°N-nope! Just checked the room over there.¡± I pointed, a little shakily, at the door I just came out of. ¡°Nothing but clothes.¡±


    Bear man snorted in response. ¡°Let''s keep checking. Please join me. I was tasked with searching the upper floors.¡±


    No no no. I have to go down, not up.


    ¡°Sorry, no can do. I was told to check each floor, working my way to the bottom.¡±


    The man¡¯s large black eyes glanced over me once again. He grabbed his chin and thought for a moment. My fingers twitched. I hope he doesn¡¯t get suspicious.


    He nodded and spoke. ¡°If those are your orders, sir. Let me join you. Two heads are better than one.¡± He did the little shoulder grab salute and smiled.


    ¡°Yes, let''s do just that.¡± I said, doing my best to hide my growing panic. Of course, OF COURSE I had to pick the officer¡¯s armor. It looked inconspicuous enough when I grabbed it. Whatever. Might as well make the most of it.


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    ¡°Alright, lead the way to the stairs¡­what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Ballo Stikes, Beruang Gene. Just joined the ranks last week, Sir.¡± He turned around and moved back down the hall where he came from.


    I followed him. We made a left at the end of the hallway and then another right. We arrived in front of a door at the end of the hall. A woman with scales on her face and short shaved hair carrying a spear stood in front of it. Yeah, that makes sense. They would put a guard on the stairs.  She looked at my companion and tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Nothing on this floor.¡± She nodded at his words. She glanced over at me, her eyes dropped and she saluted me. Without saying a word, she opened the door. Okay, maybe the officer¡¯s uniform isn¡¯t so bad. Until I run into another officer at least.


    It led to a giant room filled with an unbelievably large spiral staircase. It was wooden and looked like it had been carved out of the insides of the tree. And not only the stairs, but the hand railing itself had ornate designs whittled into it. More windows were cut into the side of the tree, letting the sun¡¯s rays pour into the room. I walked up to the hand rail, and stared up and then down. I couldn¡¯t perceive the top or bottom of the stairs. Just a dizzying spiral of wooden steps. It had to be one of the most amazing sights I¡¯d ever seen. And apparently, my face showed it.


    ¡°It is an impressive marvel. But sir, at your rank, you must have seen this hundreds of times.¡± The man said with an inquisitive look on his face.


    I brought my hand to my face and coughed for a second. ¡°Yes, of course I have. I was¡­just looking for signs of that escapee. He may have gotten by one of the guards.¡± God, I suck at lying. I tried to be an honest person but I swear I wasn¡¯t ever this bad at lying.


    ¡°Understood.¡± My pathetic attempt at deceit paid off somehow. I walked down the stairs. I couldn¡¯t help but look over the side of the railing. Some Apis fun-time instincts popped up in my head, telling me how fun and faster it would be to jump from railing to railing. Maybe even try to grind down the railing. I shook my head. Not the time. But I looked once more, longingly this time. Maybe one day. If I can clear my name.


    We walked down the stairs in silence. We came upon the next door on the stairs. I walked past it.


    ¡°Um, sir?¡±


    ¡°Yes Baloo, what is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Ballo sir, and weren¡¯t you supposed to check each floor?¡±


    Crap, I did say that.


    ¡°You are correct, I was lost in thought. Damn feral bastard and his ilk.¡± I said.


    He nodded and went to open the door to the next floor. I looked down the staircase once more.  I really need to find a way to lose this guy before we end up checking every floor of this tree.


    ¡°Another clear floor, boss.¡± Ballo said as we entered the staircase for the umpteenth time today. ¡°That¡¯s fine, on to the next one.¡± I replied in an obviously bored fashion. I did not find a way to lose the giant bear man. We had been searching for about an hour or two by now. ¡°What¡¯s on the next floor, Ballo?¡±


    ¡°Should be more storage.¡±


    At some point during the search, I started asking Ballo what was on each floor of the tree. In the guise of testing his knowledge. He was new after all. He didn¡¯t seem to put much thought into what I said anyhow. Much like how I get in Ursa form.


    Ballo was a pretty cool guy, all things considered. I started asking him different questions about his life. Half getting to know the guy and half attempting to learn about the city. He was pretty laid back; he answered all the questions without complaint.


    Family lived in the Residential District for as long back as their records went. The family records sounded like it was a fancy family tree that kept track of the genes in the family. I had to stop myself from prying too much. But I was extremely interested in how the genes worked. Are they passed down from the parents, are they random? I asked about other genes in his family, he told me he had an uncle in the Crafter¡¯s Guild who came out with a Serpantis gene.


    Hearing about a Guild excited me also. I wanted to know more, but that line of questioning would probably cause even the carefree Ballo to raise an eyebrow. We walked by another guard on the staircase. He saluted me, and I nodded at him with the best authoritative look I could muster.


    There were guards posted all throughout the staircase and at every door leading to it. And they each seemed to be grunts. Which meant they didn¡¯t ask what an officer was doing here. They just saluted as I passed by. The armor change ended up being a boon thus far, but I was sure my luck would run out eventually.


    I still wasn¡¯t sure why they mistook me for an officer. My stolen armor didn¡¯t look like it had any markings on it. I looked for the markings while Ballo was searching through different rooms. Maybe some weird hoodoo was cast on the armor itself. I shrugged and meandered in another storage room. Not like I actually needed to search. This room had jars laid about. Each one sealed with wax.


    Something was nagging me about the tree, and walking through this room helped me finally put my finger on it. It felt incredibly empty. A skyscraper back on earth this size probably had hundreds of people moving in and around it. But this tree looked like it was running on barely a skeleton crew. Most of the hallways and rooms we searched were devoid of people. I assumed it had something to do with the recent raid. I asked Ballo about the raid and he said it was one of the roughest Laurel had seen in many moons. He defended a second tier medic station during the raid, whatever the hell that meant, and that they weren¡¯t hit too hard. It was why he was put on guard duty in the Capitol Building, what the giant tree was called. Funny name for a tree.


    We ran into a mess hall along the way and I took the opportunity to scarf down a huge plate of food. No clue what it was or what it tasted like. It was meat. That¡¯s all I needed to know. Ballo just laughed as he watched me eat. Saying things like ¡°You sure you didn¡¯t grow up in a Beruang household?¡± He wolfed down food much like I did. My stomach had growled once while we were investigating, but Ballo just laughed it off.


    After the quick meal, we made our way through the floor and then back to the stairs once again. I looked down and realized I could actually make out the bottom. We had maybe six floors left. My nervousness resurfaced. I noticed the security was getting tighter as we descended the final floors. More guards were posted on the doors and staircase.


    I was going to have to come up with something soon. But my brain kept coming up blank. It is not too far to the ground now. Maybe I could climb down from here. Squirrel form is off cooldown now. I looked out a window. More people were gathered around the base of the tree. A lot of people actually, like a hundred. There was no way I was going to be able to stay out of sight.


    Maybe hiding and waiting till night time? I could stay in log form or stone form and escape in the dark. I didn¡¯t love that plan. A random rock or log sitting in the wrong room might raise suspicion. Maybe I could find a table or chair to mimic. That¡¯d be less conspicuous.


    ¡°Have you tried walking out the front door?¡± Tutor¡¯s voice scared me for a moment.


    ¡°There is no way that will work.¡± I whispered, my head swiveling around, making sure no one heard me.


    ¡°IDK, why not just tell bare necessities over there to do some solo searching and you head out? I¡¯m sure if you keep your head down and mouth shut, no one will ask questions. They seem to think you¡¯re a big shot.¡±


    ¡°And how the hell are you sure about that?¡±


    ¡°What was that, sir?¡± Ballo walked over to the window.


    ¡°Just try it.¡± Tutor said.


    ¡°Nothing, I just¡­saw some movement that looked strange outside of the tree. Ballo search the remaining floors on your own. I¡¯m going to search outside the tree.¡±


    Ballo saluted and made his way out of the room.


    ¡°Huh.¡±


    I made my way down the rest of the stairs. And entered what I assumed was the main entrance to the tree building. It was a massive room filled to the brim with people. Sounds of hustle and bustle filled the room. Roots hung down from the ceiling and grew through the giant space. Benches, tables, chairs, desks were placed around the area. A large rotunda was situated right in the middle of the room. There were people inside the rotunda and lines of others formed to talk with them.


    It looked like a giant bank. Like, the people behind the rotunda were tellers and clerks. I couldn¡¯t help but think how awfully mundane it seemed.


    There was a lot of chaos caused by the gaggle of different races all complaining about the lines and such. Why are they all here?


    Thanks to the queues, finding the entrance was simple. The lines went out the door. I walked toward the entrance, keeping my head down, trying my best to not attract any attention. My palms sweat as I hurried through the masses.


    I bumped into someone in line by accident. He was short, and I hadn¡¯t noticed him. ¡°Sorry.¡± I muttered. I looked at who it was and saw a pair of familiar golden dog ears. Of all the people here, he¡¯s who I bump into.


    ¡°It''s alright.¡± He looked up at me, but I turned before he could get a good look and continued on. ¡°Wait a second.¡± He said, moving after me. I picked up my pace and headed to the doors. If he was going to confront me, I¡¯d rather it be outside. Hopefully, I¡¯ll lose him in the crowd.


    After weaving through even more people, I got to the entrance and felt the sun hit my face. Freedom at last.


    As I took the first step, I heard a loud shout from behind.


    ¡°HALT!¡±

 31. Bureaucratic Bullcrap

    Out of all the responsibilities that came along with his job as a squad captain, this had to be the most painstaking. Fennel walked up to the steps of the Capitol building, carrying the Watchers¡¯ notes for his squad¡¯s participation in the raid. The documents that allow for his people to get paid for their valiant effort in the raid. He just had to take them to the first floor and get them approved by a clerk. He would then take the invoices to the rest of his team; and to the family of the fallen members of his squad.


    Fennel closed his eyes. He lost 11 members of his team that day. Six frontliners, three rangers, and two supports. They were mostly new additions, recent graduates from the academy, except for Rook. He had been a part of Fennel¡¯s squad upon its creation. He closed his fists. He was frustrated with himself for not knowing them better. He opened his eyes and looked down at the now slightly crumpled paper in his hand. The only proof of their contribution.


    Fennel shook his head. He needed to stop thinking about it. They died doing their duty, protecting the innocent. They deserved to be honored and celebrated.


    He looked up and saw that the line had moved.


    An hour passed by.


    Fennel stretched his back and arms. This is brutal. The process wasn¡¯t complicated. You go up to the clerk, get your papers stamped and get out. It was rather simple, really. He wondered why then, the lines took so long to move.


    Standing in line for hours killed Fennel on the inside. He was never one to be idle. There was so much more he could be doing. He even got here right at the crack of dawn just to hopefully not be too far back in the line. He knew the lines would be bad this time around. After a raid like that one, people really want their compensation.


    Yet he was not the only one who had the idea. Seeing as at least a hundred got there at roughly the same time. And others camped out in front of the Capitol overnight. That¡¯s some dedication.


    An elf bumped into him, grunting and mumbling about how the line moved. It barely moved. Maybe one step. Fennel took the extra step to appease the rude elf.


    Some raucous laughter caught his ear. It sounded very familiar. He swiveled around and twisted his ears trying to find the source. Fennel had to rely on his hearing for this more often than not.


    Dwarves weren¡¯t very common in Laurel. His family being one of the few that were permanent residents in this city. Other dwarves roaming the streets were usually merchants from Dendrun or Kailis.


    He had gotten used to being the shortest in the room. Or the line in this case. Once he centered in on the person in question, he recognized the voice. It was Jaren. He could see the bald top of the half elf moving towards the entrance. The man waved some papers around in the air. He couldn¡¯t see who he was with but he could tell the man was walking with others.


    Probably Daila.


    Fennel envied Jaren. He didn¡¯t have to deal with this bureaucratic hellscape. Council members and Legion Colonels got to skip the lines. Of which Jaren was both. Fennel knew there were a lot more headaches and stresses that came with Jaren¡¯s position. But those didn¡¯t matter right now. Fennel had to wait in this line and he didn¡¯t. Lucky bastard.


    Thirty more minutes passed.


    Fennel almost fell asleep three times. But the terribly rude elf behind him made sure it never happened. Giving him a shove every time. His eyelids started drooping again. Until the alarm bell started ringing. One ring¡­


    Tension flooded the room as each person waited in bated breath. The number of rings per five seconds signified different situations. One ring meant a local problem in the Capitol Building. Two rings was for a problem in the city itself. Normally crime related.


    But the reason everyone in the room went stiff was if three rings went off. That meant a raid. The five seconds felt like minutes, but only the single ring went off. A collective sigh left the mouths of all who were in the building.


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    Fennel and everyone there knew another raid wouldn¡¯t happen this soon, but the alarm didn¡¯t go off very often. Almost never really, aside for raids. Fennel wasn¡¯t sure he could recall a time the single ring alarm went off.


    He shrugged and felt another shove from the elf behind him.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Mumbling was the answer Fennel received.


    Another hour went by.


    Fennel was ready to rip his hair out. There was no reason it should be taking this long. It¡¯s a stamp, how freaking hard is it to stamp some papers? Fennel¡¯s nerves were being strained. It didn¡¯t help that the alarm bell was still going off. The constant ring grating his more sensitive ears.


    Whatever problem is going on, it certainly has them running around in circles. In the last hour, Fennel saw a number of guards running in and out of the door leading to the stairs.


    He turned back to the line and saw that he wasn¡¯t too far away from the end now. Just five more people in front of him. But before he could relish in that fact. Somebody barreled into him, knocking him over. I swear if it¡¯s that stupid elf, I¡¯m going to roundhouse kick him in the shins.


    He looked up and didn¡¯t see the elf. No, it was a monkey gene wielder. The man muttered ¡°Sorry.¡± He had brown hair along the sides of his face. A face which looked vaguely familiar.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± Fennel said, trying to get a better look at the guy. But the man turned and started rushing away. Who is he? Fennel sniffed the air. The man reeked of dried monster blood. Feline eyes flashed in his mind¡¯s eye and he could almost feel claws at his neck. It was the man from the raid, the one whom Lirae tied up.


    Why does he have a tail now? And how? Is he the reason for the alarm?


    Fennel saw the line move again. He was torn. Should he stay in line? He was almost there. Or should he chase after the strange gene-shifting, possibly feral, man that may be a fugitive who also has ties to the Leonard Ainsworth?


    Fennel looked back at the front desk. And then back at the tail rushing through the crowd. ¡°Ugh fine. Wait a second!¡± Fennel pushed his way through the crowd, following after the mystery man. They got closer and closer to the entrance. Fennel heard a loud shout. ¡°HALT!¡± And as he made it outside of the entrance, he found the man. Being stopped by a rather large bearded guard with a spear.


    ¡°Who are you and why do you have that armor?¡±


    Fennel looked at the monkey-tailed teen. He was wearing different armor than he wore yesterday. Some that clearly didn¡¯t fit him. How do you walk in pants that tight? Fennel instinctively shifted his legs, pulling his pants a little.


    ¡°I said tell me why you have that armor. That¡¯s guard captain Jessou¡¯s armor. I just cleaned it yesterday. I recognize the sigil.¡±


    The tailed man tilted his head in confusion and looked down at the outfit. Searching for something. Does he not know about the rank sigil etched into the fabric of the armor?


    ¡°Umm, I was borrowing it¡­¡± said the tailed man with a weak smile.


    The spear inched closer to the young guy.


    ¡°Woah woah, I think this is just a misunderstanding.¡±


    ¡°No, I think you¡¯re the feral everyone has been searching for for the last two hours.¡±


    Some other guards started to surround the guy. Fennel wasn¡¯t sure what he should do. The guy saved his team from a worst case scenario in the raid, but there were rules about ferals. But why did this one know who Leonard was?


    After a moment, Fennel took a step forward. But someone laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw a head of white hair tied in an incredibly tight bun making her way to the guards.


    She walked right up to the man in the center and smacked the back of his head. It was so loud that Fennel flinched.


    ¡°Did you think you would get away with taking the wrong armor? Again? This is the third time this week, you dolt.¡±


    Fennel didn¡¯t know what to think of the current situation. He¡¯d never seen Daila act like this to anyone except for Jaren.


    After another hearty smack, she brought her mouth right to his ear and whispered something. But then continued giving the monkey man a tongue lashing for a solid three minutes or so.


    The man just dropped his head in shame. Maybe I was wrong?


    After Daila finished berating him, she turned to the guard who started the interrogation.


    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry for my subordinate¡¯s stupidity. We will be leaving now.¡± She gave him another smack on the back of his head.


    ¡°Not yet. Let me check with¡­¡± The guard¡¯s face contorted in pain. Fennel felt the pressure in the air. Daila¡¯s aura leaked out, filled with threat and malice. Fennel saw the serious look on her face. The guard shut up and put his spear down. Daila released the aura.


    ¡°I will have the armor returned to you this afternoon.¡± She turned toward Fennel.


    ¡°Fennel come. Jaren has scheduled a last minute meeting of the squad captains.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Fennel pointed back at the tree. ¡°The line.¡±


    ¡°Now Fennel.¡±


    ¡°Yes ma''am.¡±

 32. Distractions

    I legitimately have absolutely no idea what is going on. Who is this lady? Why did she hit me? The back of my head was still slightly throbbing. I rubbed it and looked at my heath bar. Damn, those smacks brought my health down like 3%! I turned over to the strange mouse-nosed woman who was leading me through the town. Are all the women in this city so scary?


    Now that the excitement was over, I finally took some time to examine the woman. She wasn¡¯t very tall, taller than what''s-his-head that she brought along, but not by much. She had her shock white hair so tightly bound in a bun that I wondered if it hurt. She had a mouse-like nose, which should look odd on a human¡¯s face yet it didn¡¯t look out of place. Heck, she was honestly kinda pretty, in that librarian way. She was missing the glasses and pencil skirt, but doubt they have those on Kniyas. Her clothes were the basic medieval style clothing, a red cloth long sleeve shirt, a belt hung over her shirt with a small knives tucked in it, and some black pants. She had her sleeves rolled up tightly and neatly, revealing her forearms. They were covered in fur the same shade as her hair.


    She must have noticed my staring as she looked back at me. That fierce and fiery rage she showed earlier all gone, now replaced with an indifferent look. I awkwardly opened my mouth and started speaking. ¡°So¡­ where are we going?¡±


    ¡°Not now. We will speak when there aren¡¯t as many eyes on us.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t even know your name. Or his.¡± I pointed to our short blonde companion who looked just as confused as I was. And mumbling something about how something took all morning. He was no longer in his armor, wearing clothing much like the mouse woman''s.


    ¡°Hey, ask her how she knows Len.¡± Tutor spoke up.


    I slowed my pace down, letting the other two take the lead. I whispered to Tutor.


    ¡°What do you mean? She hasn¡¯t said anything about him.¡±


    ¡°Were you not paying attention? After she smacked you she whispered in your ear.¡±


    I tilted my head, trying to remember. I was so flooded with nervous tension by the whole, being surrounded by spears and very angry looking guards, thing to notice the quiet words of a pissed off lady who, at the time, just smacked the shit out of me. A little trying on my already bad listening skills in Apis form.


    ¡°Could I get a summary?¡± But my question must have came out at a louder volume than I meant for it to. The woman¡¯s gaze fell on me after the words left my mouth. I turned my head and whistled. She shook her head and started speaking to the teen.


    ¡°Real smooth, you dork.¡± Tutor said with a giggle. ¡°She said to play along and that she would take you to see Len.¡± I nodded.


    And how does she know who I am? Apart from Len, no one has seen me in this form. I scratched the back of my head with my tail.


    My eyes wandered along the streets. The buildings looked like they came right out of a fantasy game. Each one, made out of wood and stone. I was even walking on a cobblestone road. A grin grew on my face. I really wanted to break off from this lame group and go explore. Climb some walls. Run along the rooftops. Play in some of the trees littered about. The grin turned into a full toothed smile as I started to venture toward a building that had some vines hanging off it. Perfect.


    But before I could indulge, a hand with great velocity found itself on the back of my skull. ¡°Owwww.¡± I made the most incredulous look I could. ¡±What was that for?¡±


    ¡°You seemed to be getting distracted. And in all of my time leading and training young ones like yourself, I haven found light physical punishment most efficient when handling your type.¡±


    ¡°And what type is that, huh?¡±


    Her visage grew dark for a split second, then resumed its indifferent state. Well that is terrifying.


    She raised her hand once more. I threw my arms and tail behind my head.


    ¡°Okay, Okay, I get it. No distractions.¡±


    She lowered the furred appendage and sighed. ¡°Look, once we get out of this district we can talk more candidly. For now be patient.¡±


    I nodded in response and we all continued on. I would have to settle for staring at the awe inspiring cityscape for now. Poor me.


    Not long after, We found ourselves in front of a huge metal gate. It was a portcullis gate like those in medieval castles and currently open. The walls surrounding the gate were made from one of the giant roots coming out of the Capitol Building tree. Still can¡¯t believe that¡¯s its name. So mundane. I was expecting something like Yggdrasil, you know, really dig into that high fantasy trope.


    The roots climbed about 30 feet in the air. Bet I could climb that. Little miss mousey must have noticed my thoughts. She cleared her throat pointedly. I lowered my head, but kept my eyes on the roots. I''ll be back. Those roots will be conquered.


    She rubbed the bridge of her nose. ¡°Really, must you be so similar to him?¡±


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    ¡°Who?¡± She ignored my question and walked up to the guards. Each carried a spear, but one of them held it kind of clumsily. The guard in question had big padded hands like I did in Ursa form. Why carry the spear then? The other guard looked at the woman. She gave him a curt nod. He responded in kind and we walked through.


    The root was much wider than I first thought. It was hard to grasp the actual size of the roots from the top of the tree. But these roots were massive, it was a good 20 feet to the other side of it. But that does make sense. That tree is incredible. The roots would have to be that size. How much water does it need?


    We arrived on the other side while my mind ran through other questions about the scientific nature of the tree. I barely noticed that my guide had stopped.


    There was a lot more hustle and bustle on this side of the gate. People of all shapes and sizes were running around. People sat in front of pop up tents, shouting about the different wares they had for sale. It must be a mercantile district of the city. I didn¡¯t get a view of it from my window in the tree.


    Some vendors were selling food, others weapons and armor. I was about to walk up to someone selling some odd colored fruits. They looked like blue and purple apples. Another clearing of the throat came from the scary mouse lady. ¡°This way.¡±


    She led me and blondie down an alleyway. The sounds of the street died down and she stopped us in front of what I think was a storefront. The sign on the door said Gran¡¯s Good Garbs in Kniyan. I felt a small pang of sadness while reading the name.


    The lady opened the door and a chime rang. ¡°Welcome, Welcome. Give me a moment.¡± Someone said from behind the counter. The store was filled with different kinds of clothes. From soft, cloth basic clothes to intricate designed leather armors. I walked up to an outfit that I recognized. It looked just like the armor and clothes I had on when I first arrived on Kniyas. Same white shirt, black pants, and leather jacket.


    ¡°Alright what can I do for¡­ Oh Daila. Hello dear, what brings you around.¡± I turned to look at who was speaking. It was an elderly woman with dark brown skin and long straight black hair, with some grays poking out here and there. She wore an immaculately colorful sleeveless shirt. Admittedly, I don¡¯t know much about making clothes or dying them. But I can¡¯t imagine it was easy, especially using medieval age technology. She must be a master.


    My eyes caught her gene trope. She had feathers running down her arms. A mixture of brown and white feathers ran from the back of her hands up to her shoulders.


    ¡°Greeting Mrs. Warbler. Sorry to intrude, but may we see the selection in the back.¡± The elderly woman¡¯s smile never faded, but her eyes changed slightly. A code?


    ¡°Sure thing, let me get the door.¡± Mrs. Warbler came around the counter and walked up to the door, locking it and returning to the counter. She kept the counter latch open and the mouse lady gestured toward it.


    I walked through it and into a door. The door led to some poorly lit stairs. A chill went down my spine. Yep, this is fine. Totally fine. Definitely not a murder basement. One of the stairs creaked as I put my weight on it. I¡¯m going to die. Resigning to my fate, I carried on.


    Gratefully, the actual basement wasn¡¯t as poorly lit as the stairs. And instead of torture implements, there was a variety of cloth rolls and tanned hides hanging on racks. There were a few tables with what looked like sewing supplies on them. Different sized hooks and needles and spools of thread.


    A let out a big sigh. The elderly woman walked up to me and looked me up and down for a moment. I¡¯m not sure what she was looking for or at. She shook her head after she slapped the side of my leg.


    ¡°These are much too small. Who made these for you?¡±


    ¡°Umm, I kinda just grabbed them.¡±


    The woman made a ghastly expression. ¡°Tell me you don¡¯t like this¡­this¡­ oh I don''t even have words for this abomination of an outfit. These ridiculous pants and that tasteless sigil.¡±


    Where is this sigil people keep going on about? I can¡¯t see anything like that on the top.


    I looked down at the armor for what felt like the hundredth time today before the mouse lady, whose name I still don¡¯t have, spoke up.


    ¡°Mrs. Warbler, thank you again. But we have some pressing business to attend to. Actually if you wouldn¡¯t mind, we do need to get him some different clothes.¡±


    The elderly woman, whose disgusted gaze never once left my clothing for a second, nodded her head. ¡°Is he the one Len spoke of?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Oh then I know just what to bring you. Give me a moment.¡± She scurried up the stairs.


    The blonde just shrugged his shoulders and moved over to a large table with nothing on it. It was placed on the far side of the basement, away from all the tailoring stuff. Six wooden chairs were placed around it. The woman sat down at the head. The teen sat next to her on one of the sides. She beckoned me over, pointing at the chair across from the teen.


    ¡°Please sit Mr. Foster. We have much to discuss.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    The girl made her way through the busy merchant district, trying to get to one of the alleys. She made a decent haul today and wanted to count. Once she was sufficiently hidden by Gran¡¯s shop, she sat on the fenced off patio on the side of the store and pulled out the bags of coin she lifted.


    She whistled. ¡°Good Payday today.¡± She counted the coins. ¡°212 silver.¡± She crossed her arms, her finger thumping. She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s still not enough.¡± An exhausted breath left her nostrils.


    This wouldn¡¯t barely put a dent in what she owed that bastard. ¡°Asshole.¡± She collected the coins and shoved them in the hidey hole she had made under one of the bricks on the patio. She had little caches like this throughout the city.


    She pulled out her notebook and calculated the new total. She closed it and looked at the cover. It was at one point blue, but the amount of wear, tear and dirt that covered it made it look almost black now. A gift from¡­she shook her head. Now is not the time for that.


    The sun was starting to set, and she had one more place she wanted to hit before calling it quits for the day. It was one of the new builds in the Academy District. In the next hour or so, the crafters would call it quits. She would see if they left anything valuable in the building. The bluebloods who contracted the crafters for this normally left some treasures behind.


    It was a risky play. There were typically a few brutes patrolling, but she was good. And she needed money now. Morn¡¯s deadline was approaching fast. She didn¡¯t have time to do things the safe way.


    She left when the sun fell under the horizon.

 33. Couple Questions

    Len walked into the soon to be completed guild hall. ¡°What a hassle.¡± He said through a sigh, pulling out a chair from his pouch and sitting down. He just got finished arguing with the gnome crafter in charge over some more of what they liked to call design flaws. Len didn¡¯t think it was that complicated. ¡°Add some hidden storage areas in the main office, the kitchen, and the gathering room. Not hard.¡± After arguing for a good 20 minutes with the head crafter, the gnome relented and said they would work on them in the upcoming week, when they can get more materials. He explained there was a bit of a slow down after the raid.


    Len was annoyed because he had drafted the hidden rooms in the original plans of the guild hall. But for some reason the copy given to the crafter didn¡¯t have them. He claimed Len hadn¡¯t given them to him. Len was pretty sure they were stolen. Such things happened quite frequently with projects this large. Only thing Len didn¡¯t know was whether it was scavs who stole them or one of the council¡¯s pawns. Not that Len was truly worried about it.


    Of course those weren¡¯t the actual secret compartments Len was going to have in the guild. It would be absurd to keep records like that, and give them to untrusted parties like the crafter. No, they were made as decoys for spies and thieves alike. Give them a bone to chew on and all that. If they were significant, he would have had one of Jaren¡¯s people put a tracking sigil on the plans.


    Silence filled the guild hall. Darkness had just fallen upon the city. Len closed his eyes and relaxed in the chair. He heard the occasional footsteps of one of the crafter¡¯s guards patrolling around but they stayed away. Their footsteps told Len this batch was both clumsy and poorly trained, but that was usually enough to keep the scavs away.


    Len leaned back into the chair, and catching the slight mumbling of a passersby. Someone walking by on the road outside of the guild hall. Len chose to put the guild hall in the Academy District because it got the least amount of foot traffic during the day. And he could poach recruits from the Academies. Which probably pissed off most of the council members.


    He sighed when he thought about them. It was never his intention to make enemies out of the council members. None of them were terrible people, they loved all Laurel and only wanted what was best for it. Even Lirae. They were just so stuck in their traditions. And Len¡¯s goals were in stark opposition to them.


    Another uncontrolled sigh left his mouth. He couldn¡¯t stop the memories of his last months in Tiamantis from flooding in. The butchering he and his team was subjected to. The one he lost her in. It made the last raid in Laurel look like a joke. He raised his head and looked through the unfinished section of the ceiling. He looked at the night sky, the stars glittering. But before those thoughts took any more ground in his head, he stood up and looked at the stairs leading to the second floor.


    There was some work he wanted to do in the guild house. Liam escaped this morning with the aid of Daila. He knew he made the right choice, having her handle that situation. Len had plans to see Liam tomorrow. He had time today, but truthfully he didn¡¯t want to have to answer all the boy¡¯s questions. Len remembered the boy¡¯s tendency to ramble and figured Daila was a good choice. She was one of the best professors in Laurel.


    How the woman managed being a fulltime instructor and Jaren¡¯s right hand was a mystery to Len.


    Len stretched his body for a moment. His mind raced as he formulated a new prank for Liam. Just as he made his first steps towards the stairs, he felt a prickle on the back of his head. Then a slight creak came from the second floor.


    Ooh. What do we have here? Spy or Thief? Len walked away from the stairs and to the front door. He looked out and saw the two guards posted. One looked like he had been dozing, but the other was attentive.


    ¡°Any signs of intruders?¡± Len asked the guard.


    ¡°Nothing Sir.¡± The guard saluted Len.


    ¡°Carry on.¡±


    Len asked the guards in the back as well, but their response was much the same. These crafters really need to spend more on protection. Not a single one of them is aware of the interloper that broke in. Idiots. And not a single scout in the detail. Cheapskates.


    The intruder was meddling around the rooms on the second floor. Len placed aura flames all throughout the guild hall. While he could not see who was rummaging, he knew where they were the whole time. He was impressed though. Whoever they were, they had great training in suppressing their presence. He wasn¡¯t sure he would have noticed if he hadn¡¯t been in the building.


    Probably a spy then. Well in that case, let¡¯s have some fun first. Flames danced around his wrists.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Please sit Mr. Foster. We have much to discuss.¡± Following the woman¡¯s instructions, I sat down in the chair placed in front of the table, slipping my tail through the open space in the back. I looked between her and the dog-eared teen. I took a deep breath, then emptied my lungs on them.


    ¡°Who are you? How do you know Len? Where is he? Why did that crazy plant lady lock me up? Why didn¡¯t Len stop her? What¡¯s up with that huge tree? Why did they keep calling me feral? Where is this freaking sigil everyone keeps going on about? What was that terrifying feeling you shot out at the guard? Why are we in the basement of that nice old lady¡¯s shop? Who are we hiding from? Are you a dwarf? Why won¡¯t you let me play in the trees and rooftops?¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    I ran out of breath and swallowed another gulp, readying for another barrage. But the woman raised her hand. I paused my onslaught, letting her speak.


    ¡°My name is Daila, Daila Underbrush. My companion here is Fennel Blines. I believe you two met in the raid.¡±


    I nodded my head and turned to the guy. ¡°Yep, shorty here attacked me when all I was trying to do was help.¡± My tail swiped at the ground. The boy flinched at my words.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± The boy said sheepishly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame Fennel too harshly. He had no knowledge of who or what you were during the battle.¡±


    The boy nodded furiously in agreement, "Yeah that''s," but before he could say any more, Daila shot him a glare that shut him right up. ¡°Captain Blines here was also in the wrong. He broke protocol when he chased after you, leaving his squad behind. He knows the rules of engagement in a raid. The captain of a squad, a squad tasked with defending a medic station at that, must never leave his post.¡±


    Fennel¡¯s ears drooped down.


    Daila continued, turning back to me. ¡°Leonard Ainsworth is who I assume you are referring to, correct?¡± I nodded. ¡°We work under a man named Jaren Holdsburn, a close friend and comrade of Mr. Ainsworth.¡±


    I bet he hates being called that.


    ¡°He is currently taking care of some business. I will bring him to you tomorrow morning. But for tonight you must remain here.¡±


    ¡°Why? And what proof do you have that you are working with Len?¡± I asked, suspicion rising up inside me.


    ¡°Because by now Lirae Laurellen will have determined that you are no longer in the Capitol Building, that huge tree as you say. The streets are probably now filled with her personal legion, combing through it, looking for you. Leonard doesn¡¯t want you locked up again. That is why we are hiding.¡±


    ¡°Okay but¡­¡± I tried to get out but she interrupted me.


    ¡°You will have the proof of our connection with Mr. Ainsworth tomorrow, when we meet with him. But know that you aren¡¯t being held here against your will. You may leave whenever you want. Just realize that as soon as you walk out of Mrs. Warbler¡¯s shop, you will be imprisoned once more. With thorny vines this time no doubt.¡±


    I closed my eyes and folded my arms. I can¡¯t really argue with that. Even if she is lying about Len, I¡¯d prefer not to be constricted like that again.


    My tail snapped the ground. It had been flicking back and forth while she was speaking, and I was trying to get it to calm down. Apis form abhorred long winded conversations, and it looked like this one wasn¡¯t going to stop any time soon.


    ¡°Okay, I understand. I will stay here for now.¡± Daila nodded and she opened her mouth. But I stopped her before she spoke.


    ¡°Just give me one second before we continue.¡± I stood up from the table and shifted out of Apis form, returning to base form. Once completed, I rubbed my lower back, where my tail had been scrunched up by the tight pants. ¡°Much better.¡±


    I turned back to the pair. They both wore a look of pure astonishment. ¡°What?¡±


    Fennel got up from his seat and rushed behind me. He spoke up. ¡°How are you doing that? Where did the tail go?¡± I slapped his hand away when he tried to lift up the armor. ¡°HEY!¡±


    Daila coughed, regaining her composure. Fennel rushed back to his chair.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to answering your questions. I believe why you were locked up was next. It¡¯s answer is also the same as why everyone  refers to you as feral. Simply put, it is because you are, in fact, a Feral.¡±


    ¡°And what does that mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It means that you were not born in one of the Splice Capitals.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t believe it. The venom and spite this Lirae threw at me was just because I wasn¡¯t born here. How the hell does that make sense?


    ¡°Why does being born outside of a city warrant locking someone up?¡±


    ¡°In the past, most Feral¡¯s have been hostile to city splicers. They attack our caravans to the other Capitals, climb the walls and steal from us, things of that nature. We can¡¯t afford that. The raids come every month, making each shipment and resource vital to our very survival.¡±


    ¡°But I wasn¡¯t even given a chance to prove I¡¯m not one of them though. I was out in the forest living by myself for the past eight months. I never even ran into another person aside from Len that whole time. This Lirae saw me and then boom. Immediate hate.¡± I closed my fists. She must have seen my frustration. The next words she said came out softer.


    ¡°Look, I understand. You are very well mannered and from what Fennel has told me, your actions in the raid saved many lives. That is commendable. But I must ask. Why did you join the battle? You had no reason to assist.¡±


    I thought back to when I stood in the tall tree and saw the battle for the first time. How I saw Len fighting, along with scores of others. And how those scores were dying. The pit I felt in my stomach when I tried to turn and run from it all. The screams of those dying. Tutors words about my past.


    ¡°I can¡¯t completely articulate why. I saw Len fighting and wanted to help. But I almost turned back once I saw the monsters. I¡¯d fought plenty in my time out there, but never on the scale.¡± I stopped myself before I talked about my thoughts on the past. About Earth.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t stand the screams, the people dying, and I wanted to do something about it.¡± I finished with a nod. Daila and Fennel just stared at me for a minute.


    I started getting a little embarrassed. It might have sounded a bit cheesy.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you join the front?¡± Daila asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to fight in a group like that. I''d probably just have gotten in the way. I''m sure your tactics and strategies don''t include shadow spheres and raging bears.¡± I said while shaking my head. She nodded. Fennel piped up this time, asking some questions. ¡°How did you fight like that? What is your level? How much stamina do you have? Why does your trope change?¡±


    The blonde¡¯s ears perked up while he asked. It was a lot to take in. Is this what it feels like when I ask so many questions? Before I had a chance to answer, the elderly woman from before walked into the room. She was carrying some folded clothes in her arms.


    ¡°Now calm down, both of you. Our guest has been through a lot from the sound of it. Let him change out of that dreadful outfit and you can ask more questions during dinner.¡± She walked over to me and handed me the clothes.


    ¡°Here you go dear. You can change in that room over there.¡± She pointed to a door in the basement.


    ¡°It''s also where you will be sleeping tonight. Go ahead and get changed. I will bring dinner in a few hours.¡±


    After thanking Mrs. Warbler, I grabbed the clothes and walked over to the door. But something was nagging me. Maybe it was because the older woman reminded me of my own gran that I was feeling guilty about something. I turned back to the two at the table.


    ¡°Oh, I should have said it earlier. Thank you for helping me get out of there. I appreciate it.¡±

 34. Dinner Time

    I walked into the room before the two said anything else. It was a small room, kept lit by a number of candles hanging along the wooden walls, instead of the braziers like the main room of the basement. It had a small desk on one side and a single sleeper bed on the other side. I walked over to the bed and felt the covers. They were amazingly soft. I wondered if Mrs Warbler made them herself. I put the folded clothes on the corner of the bed.


    I sat down and started shedding layers of armor and clothes. Everything was fine until it was time for the pants. Those took a minute. It was heavenly after I peeled them off. I reveled in the freedom from tight leather for a moment. I held the stupid things in my hands.


    Never again.


    I threw them on the ground and went to put on the clothes Mrs. Warbler gave. After laying them out on the bed, I noticed they looked just like the outfit I was eyeing in the store earlier. Did she notice me looking at them?


    The pants slid right on, no fighting or pulling this time. They were much comfier than those hot pants were. I looked over my body before putting on the shirt. Bruises littered different parts of my chiseled torso. I realized I haven''t changed into log form in a while, that would remove all of them. As I went to stand, my hands rubbed against the bedding.


    The softness ingrained itself in my hands. Before another thought played in my mind, I found myself laying on the bed. The temptation proved to be too great. I knew now wasn¡¯t a great time for a nap. Those two were still out there, and I still had questions. And I still wasn¡¯t sure if I should trust them. But the blankets somehow wrapped up around me. My eyes grew heavy.


    I woke after what felt like moments, but evidence said otherwise. I rose rather groggily. Dried drool stuck to my face. I rubbed it away. I looked around the small room again, nothing changed, the clothes I threw on the ground hadn¡¯t moved. ¡°Hmm.¡± I wiggled under the blessed sheets.


    The allure of the bed¡¯s warmth drove my desire to continue the nap. It almost won out too, that is until a beautiful fragrance danced under my nostrils. The smell of cooked meat wafted around the room. Guided by my nose, I rose from the bed making my way for the door, slipping the white shirt on before opening it.


    A fresh wave of the delightful smell hit me in the face. The table had been set, with plates and cutlery. But shockingly, there was no food. Fennel, I think was his name, placed the last pieces before he noticed my entrance.


    ¡°Hello. Nice¡­ uh nap?¡± He said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I replied scratching the back of my head. I didn¡¯t really know what to say. What do you say? It''s only been like eight months of isolation. We both just sat in the silence.


    ¡°Awkward.¡± Tutor said, chiming in. ¡°Say something already.¡±


    ¡°Umm, oh yeah. So are you a dwarf?¡±


    ¡°Smooth.¡± Tutor said before Fennel answered.


    He straightened his back out and nodded. ¡°Yes, like Ms. Underbrush said earlier. My name is Fennel Blines. I¡¯m a squad captain in Jaren¡¯s legion.¡± He scratched his forearm. ¡°And yes, I am a dwarf.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, was that a weird thing to ask?¡±


    ¡°Nah it''s alright. I¡¯m guessing you never ran into one out there in The Forest. That¡¯s where you''re from, right?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Yeah I guess you could say that. How much did Len tell you all about me?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t speak for Daila or Mrs. Warbler, but I wasn¡¯t told anything. But I¡¯m pretty new to this whole thing. Whatever it is. I have been training under Jaren since I graduated from the Academy #3 last summer. I met Len some moons back.¡± His face contorted in pain for a moment. Like the memory that just popped up caused some pain or embarrassment. He shook his head and kept speaking.


    ¡°Len trained me also. But he never mentioned anything about a Feral he¡­¡± He paused for a minute, a look of guilt on his face. ¡°Sorry, you probably don¡¯t like being called that.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, it doesn¡¯t really offend me. I was only really bothered because I didn¡¯t understand what it meant.¡±


    I wanted to say more but I stopped myself. I doubt these Feral¡¯s are all bad, this might just be good ole fashioned medieval-era racism. But with how the world is outside of the city, they might be people driven mad by their genes. Or something else entirely. It¡¯s too early to make a judgment.


    Fennel¡¯s guilty face switched to relief. He¡¯s an expressive one.


    ¡°Len trained me out in the Forest.¡± I said, moving the conversation along.


    ¡°He taught me a lot about this wor¡­ about Laurelhaven. And a lot about fighting. That is when he wasn¡¯t trying to light me on fire.¡±


    A smile grew on Fennel¡¯s face. ¡°You too huh? He loves pulling that stuff on everybody.¡±


    I told him about how Len threw a fireball right in my lap when we first met.


    ¡°That¡¯s nothing. I was on my way to Jaren¡¯s when I met him.¡± Fennel regaled me with the tale of how Len somehow set up hundreds of candles in a matter of seconds and did some weird occult-like crap to him. I had to laugh at how absurd it sounded. He laughed with me. The atmosphere in the room warmed as the two of us shared different stories of how Len bullied us.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    But the smell of the coming food overwhelmed my stomach, proven by the insane growl it made. We both shut up and he looked at me with such shock.


    ¡°Was that you?¡±


    ¡°Yep. My gene comes with a vocal belly.¡± I said with a grin. Fennel looked pensive now. Almost as if he was struggling with whether or not to ask about the giant elephant that had been chilling in the corner of the room this whole time. My powers.


    ¡°What gene do you have?¡± He asked.


    I didn¡¯t answer right away. Should I tell him? I mean he seems nice enough. Truthfully, he seems great. Little awkward but there''s nothing wrong with that. And he does seem to know Len. I nodded to myself.


    ¡°I have the mimic gene.¡± I said flatly. His head tilted to the side and his ears perked up. ¡°You probably haven¡¯t heard of it. Len hadn¡¯t either.¡± He looked over for a second, then sat back down in a chair and grabbed his chin. Thinking of what to ask next probably.


    ¡°But what about your trope, and those powers, why do they change?¡± He asked.


    I breathed in, getting ready to give an explanation but he looked up, stopping me. ¡°Wait, it''s rude of me to ask for your gene without giving mine first. I have the Wulfen gene. My trope is the ears as you probably guessed already. I¡¯m mostly a frontline fighter and my powers center around enhancing my teammates.¡±


    He stopped talking and looked over to me expectantly.


    ¡°Thanks? Well, explaining mine is kind of tough.¡± But before I could go any further, the basement door swung open. We both turned to and saw Daila and Mrs. Warbler holding some big platters of food. My mouth started salivating as soon as I saw it. It looked like slices of steak and some other strange colored vegetables. I didn¡¯t care about those, they weren¡¯t important. Those cuts of steak on the other hand.


    They brought the food to the table and set it down. It looked like a feast fit for 10 people. ¡°I hope everyone¡¯s hungry, because I better not see a single plate with food left on it by the end of the night.¡±


    Saliva pooled inside my mouth, the food looked amazing. But I hesitated. Is there a ritual or a prayer they do at meals here? Len never did anything like that but something tells me he isn¡¯t the best example for Kniyan culture.


    I waited around watching everybody. Fennel looked just as stoked as I was for the steak. Daila sat down in her seat, followed by Mrs. Warbler, who spoke first.


    ¡°Well dig in already.¡±


    Fennel grabbed two of the steaks. Mrs. Warbler coughed and he unwillingly put some of the vegetables on the plate as well. Daila portioned her food out quite evenly, equal parts meat and vegetables.


    I followed Fennel¡¯s lead and grabbed two steaks as well, not forgetting to get some veggies.


    The food was even more delicious than it smelled, the steak was seasoned just perfectly and not cooked a second too long. The meat actually tasted pretty familiar, like I¡¯d eaten it before. I was leaning toward the magical moose, but it could have been the toxic boar¡¯s as well. The veggies were good, but at the end of the day, they were still just vegetables and my new mimic stomach just wasn¡¯t a fan. It¡¯s as picky as a kid.


    I was trying my hardest to fight against the urge to throw the food down my gullet like the mimic inside wanted me too. But I kept thinking about how my gran would have given me hell. Doing something so outrageous when someone served me food like this. I looked up from the now empty plate of food. Mrs. Warbler noticed it too and pushed the platter of steaks my way.


    ¡°Go on. Lenny told me about your eating habits, have at it, no one will judge.¡±


    At her words, the dam broke, and I shoveled three more steaks down. Manners be damned.


    I looked at the platter. There, a lone slab of meat stood. My fork moved to impale it, but I found resistance this time. Another fork had been lodged in the succulent morsel. I glared across the table and saw that Fennel was also reaching for the food.


    A mischievous grin grew on his face, he pulled the meat his way. Normally I never fought over the last piece of food. Many times have I given the last slice of pizza to those who already had their fair share. But this was different. With that devilish grin I knew the gauntlet had been thrown down. This is now a duel. One I shan''t be losing. Both of our forks dug deeper into the prize. The contest had begun.


    We each pulled on our respective side of the meat. For a while it hadn¡¯t budged. Staying directly between the two of us. But the proverbial wind shifted. The meat inched ever closer to my plate.


    Yes. YES! But the doggy dwarf only snickered. ¡°Not this time.¡± He doubled his effort. The scrumptious morsel began leaving me. I fought on, every ounce of muscle in my arm screamed at me to let go. But my will was stronger than that. I pulled even more. The meat returned to its starting place. Neither of us gave any ground. I¡¯m pretty sure I heard something pop in my shoulder but I wasn¡¯t going to let that slow me down. We both breathed in deep, readying ourselves for the final showdown.


    Until a knife came down. I rocketed backwards, flying out of the chair and hitting the ground pretty hard. I heard a groan coming from the other side of the table. Fennel must be hurting too. But what happened?


    I slowly pulled myself from the ground. Daila sat with a portion of the steak on a knife. She ate it posthaste, not even bothering to look at me or Fennel. I looked at the fork in my hand, it had barely a bite of the steak on it. Fennel was in the same shape as me. A meager sliver on his utensil.


    Before anyone said anything else. Mrs. Warbler started trembling in her seat. Oh god, that was so childish. She''s probably pissed. But before I could apologize, she burst out in laughter. ¡°The look¡­ on y¡¯alls¡­. faces.¡± Her words came out between breaths. I looked at the meat again, and couldn¡¯t help but laugh as well. Fennel joined in with us. Daila didn¡¯t laugh but I was sure I saw a smile crack on her face for a moment.


    Dinner ended soon after the scuffle. I tried to help clean up and bring the dishes up to the store, but was shut down quickly. Daila said it was best If I stay down here for now.


    Daila and Fennel left, leaving me and Mrs. Warbler alone in the basement.


    ¡°Thank you for the meal. It was wonderful. And sorry about getting so rowdy there at the end.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It was wonderful to share a meal with others like that. I haven¡¯t since¡­¡± Her smile grew dark for a moment before she turned to me.


    ¡°Never mind, it''s already dark out, time for bed. Oh and the basement door will be locked. Knock if you need anything. I will come and wake you in the morning.¡±


    We separated and I went into my little room. I laid down on the bed.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel real.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Said my mental companion.


    ¡°That meal, I haven¡¯t eaten with others like that in a long time. I feel like I¡¯m gonna wake up back in that cave.¡±


    ¡°Enjoy it for now. I doubt it''s gonna stay like this for long.¡± She said.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s not ominous.¡±

 35. Sneaky Sneaky

    The girl hid behind a building near the construction site. The head gnome crafter on the project just left a little while ago. Only the muscle remained. She spent the last hour taking notes on the guard placements, patrol schedules, and their behaviors. The notes barely filled a page. ¡°These guys are amateurs, I¡¯m pretty sure they don¡¯t even have one good scout among the lot of them.¡± She whispered to herself. ¡°I just hope there aren¡¯t any surprises inside the building.¡±


    She hated that she was forced to case the joint and break in on the same night. These kinds of jobs normally require, at the bare minimum, a week of prep. But that wasn¡¯t an option. She put her notebook away and climbed onto the rooftop of the building she was hiding behind. It was across the street from the construction site. She flattened herself on the roof, taking care to stay out of the moonlight.


    A half-finished sign hung above the front entrance. The words on the sign were covered behind some cloth but she could make out an ¡°E¡± at the front of it and ¡°uild¡± at the end. She shrugged. Must be some new guild hall or an expansion. She didn¡¯t really care to try to learn anymore. What the bluebloods got on with was of no consequence to her. At least not directly. Her head turned down toward what she did mind: The guards by front of the door. One looked half asleep while the other was more observant.


    She shook her head. ¡°These idiots are going to make it too easy.¡± She pulled herself to the other side of the roof, out of sight of the guards and any passerby, back into the light. She grabbed the building plans she nabbed from the crafter¡¯s office this morning. Another poorly defended place. Her eyes strained in the dull moonlight as she looked over the plans one last time. They showed where hidden caches were planned to be built. ¡°Main office, kitchen, and a gathering room. Main office is probably what I should focus on. Doubt the kitchen or gathering room will have much. Second floor, east wing. Got it.¡± She said with a nod, making a final adjustment to her hood.


    After climbing off the roof, she made her way to the back side of the site, her best point of entry. She climbed up a tree nearby and looked for the guards placed back here. Two more posted here. But the guild hall had an expansive backyard to it, filled with covered objects of varying shapes and sizes. She didn¡¯t know what they were, but they made for great hiding places.


    According to her hastily written notes, one of the guards patrols the back area every so often. Leaving one at the back entrance. Only thing she wasn¡¯t sure of was the patrolling guard''s path. She only watched him patrol twice but both times felt random. Like he was going for a leisurely stroll. The haphazardness annoyed her. This is an easy job, how do you losers screw it up so much? But with how novice they were, she shouldn¡¯t have any issue getting by them.


    While she waited, she looked up at her status bars. Her health bar wasn¡¯t full, but that¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary. At this point, she wasn¡¯t sure when the last time her health was full. Stamina was at 85%. Good. She tried to take it easy today in preparation for the heist. Picking a couple of pockets didn¡¯t take much out of her. She didn¡¯t bother looking at the mana bar. It¡¯s not like she¡¯d ever have the money to learn a spell.


    After a couple of minutes, one of the guards said something and started walking into the field. The girl hopped out of the tree and landed silently behind one of the larger objects in the field. She weaved between the objects scattered around the ground, staying far away from the patrolling guard. The girl stopped for a moment when she heard the guard pause and giggle at something. She continued on when he walked away.


    She finally arrived next to one of the covered objects close to the door. The guard yawned, leaning on the wall by the door. He wore a blank, tired expression. Time for the distraction. The girl pulled a small rock out of her pouch and threw it at one of the covered objects nearest to him. She waited for him to react.


    The guard yawned again, louder this time. Did he¡­ did he really not notice that? Wow. She grabbed another stone and threw it at the ground near the guard. The guard scratched his ass. Still nothing. Where the hell do you find idiots like these? In her frustration she almost forgot about the other guard who was roaming around. She heard his footsteps getting closer to her spot. Shit. Her head turned back and forth, preparing to make a break for it. Time to bail. She crouched down, getting ready to activate her ability and bolt out of there. Until the patrolling guard stopped his advance. And instead, rushed back to the door. The girl¡¯s heart was pounding but she peered around the corner to see what was going on.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Dude, check out this thing,¡± said the formerly patrolling guard.


    ¡°What?¡± The yawning guard responded in an annoyed tone.


    ¡°Just come on. It''s right over here.¡± The guard pointed out toward the back field he just came from.


    ¡°Umm, the door.¡± The guard¡¯s thumb pointed at the entrance.


    ¡°It''s fine, it will just be a second. You gotta check the training doll back here. It''s got boobs. It''s awesome.¡±


    The guard sighed. ¡°Okay, you horny bastard. Only because I know you will bother me about it the whole night if I don¡¯t.¡±


    The two walked away from the door. The girl just shook her head in astonishment. How absolutely stupid. Men I swear.


    She left her hiding place after the two walked far enough away. She slipped through the doorway and lunged at the first piece of furniture she could find. She slowed her breathing, and focused her aura back into herself.


    This was now uncharted territory. She had no idea if there were guards placed inside the building. She was naturally good at controlling her aura and it helped keep her presence to a minimum, but it didn''t make her invisible. And even if the guards were buffoons, they had eyes. She removed her hood for a moment and closed her eyes, straining her ears. Only one other heartbeat in the building from what she could tell. Someone in the main entrance hall.


    After pulling her hood back up, she took the time to look around the room she was in. She was hiding behind a large counter placed near the wall. It had a few wooden weapons lying on top of it. The windows placed around the room let some light in. Some mannequins and other training gear were placed around. A large empty area was placed right in the center. Must be some sort or training room. She walked up to one of the mannequins, placing her hand on it. Maybe in a different life. She eyed the rest of the room and found a staircase on the far side, regaining focus on the task at hand.


    The stairs were well made, they didn¡¯t make any sounds as she put her weight on them. The whole building was surprisingly well constructed. The floors were level, no signs of leaking from the ceiling. Whatever they lack in security, they make up for in craftsmanship at least. The stairs led to a hallway on the second floor. She removed her hood again, listening for the man on the second floor. No change.


    She entered the hallway, heading east. She was going to have to check each room. The girl had swiped only the plans for the rooms, not the entire floor plan to the building. Stealing those would have alerted the crafter beforehand. Which meant increased muscle on the site.


    She walked up to the first door she came across.


    And pushed the door open. It made a creak. A pit grew in her stomach. She removed her hood again and listened. The man was moving as she feared, but not up the stairs, he walked to the front door. Good. Probably didn¡¯t hear. She darted through the door. The room was completely barren aside from a small candle lit in the corner and a window on the far side. The flame on the candle was quite dim, it didn¡¯t really do a very good job lighting up the room at all. She checked the windows earlier but didn¡¯t see any light from outside. Weird. What are they for?


    The next couple doors were much the same. Each room was empty aside from the candles. She came upon a door that had a plaque to the side of it. It was too dark in the hallway to read what it said but she figured it was probably the office. She removed her hood again, trying to ascertain the location of the indoor guard. But she couldn¡¯t hear anything now. Did he leave?


    She listened for another few seconds, but got nothing. ¡°Lazy jackass, leaving your post like that.¡± She opened the door, it was the first room to actually be furnished. The office was a much larger than the other rooms. Bigger than her own abode, that''s for sure. There were a number of chairs lining each wall of the room and a desk as big as a bed at the far end. Three more chairs, placed in front of it, one massive chair was placed behind the desk. A large window overlooked the room from behind the desk. Another one of the dim candles sat on top of the desk.


    Cautiously, she approached the desk and opened her bag, pulling out the plans for the office. She didn¡¯t have the moon¡¯s light to help her read them now. So she was stuck finagling the candle to give her more light. ¡°Damn thing. Freaking bluebloods. Why waste money on worthless candles.¡±


    She shook the blasted thing in frustration. And the candle¡¯s light brightened. She stared at it in confusion. ¡°Wha¡­¡±


    ¡°There, that better?¡±

 36. Talented People

    Len glided up the stairs of the guild house, completely noiseless. He hoped to get the drop on whoever was rummaging around the place. They had already made their way through most of the rooms in the east wing. And they were now checking out his office.


    It¡¯s most likely whoever took the plans from the crafter.


    He was tempted to go straight to them, but he knew he needed to check the rooms. To make sure they didn¡¯t leave anything unwanted behind in them. The first room was clear, no signs of chicanery. His aura flame still burned in the corner.


    He checked every room in quick succession but didn¡¯t find a single piece of vandalism or espionage among them. He was beginning to doubt his first assumption that this person was a spy. A spy would probably not have wasted time in extra rooms. Especially if they weren¡¯t going to plant anything.


    That left thief as the only option, and if that was true. Len grinned, it piqued his curiosity. He opened the door and slipped through. He looked at the far end of the room and saw his uninvited guest. His Sparkborne Sight activated. It let him see in the dark so long as a single flame was lit in it. Which, with his powers, meant all the time.


    The thief hadn¡¯t noticed his presence yet, so he took the opportunity to examine them a bit more. They wore a raggedy, torn, and baggy outfit, making it difficult to determine their gender. But the thief¡¯s body was small, not small enough to be a dwarf or gnome, but definitely small.


    They clearly didn¡¯t have an ability that allowed them to see in the dark, a must for any good thief or spy. So not trained, which meant their great aura control was probably talent alone. And Len liked talent.


    Talent, that ability baked into the very core of a person, was valuable, no matter its source. Whether it came from the offspring of a well-respected family or gutter trash. It was those talented people who made waves in the world. Who had the potential to change the very fabric of society. And that¡¯s just what Len needed to achieve his goals.


    He respected hard work. Many people who weren¡¯t blessed with inherent skill did great things in the world. He had many friends who were that exact type of person. But the sad fact of reality was most of them had already passed on. Kniyas did not treat those who tried to change its ways kindly. Brutal, cruel, inhumane. Those were better descriptors.


    Hard work beats talent when talent doesn¡¯t work hard enough. Or however the phrase went, was boasted by many. But there was an implication in those words that teachers and mentors liked to ignore, as it would depress the majority of their flock. Hard work will get stomped into dust if talent works just as hard. He, himself, was a product of that very thought. He was on his way to create even more like himself.


    So Len couldn¡¯t help being a little giddy that such a talent fell in his lap this time around. He gestured his hand, making the aura flame brighten.


    He heard the thief speak out in confusion. ¡°Wha...¡± The thief had a young and feminine voice.


    ¡°There, that better?¡± He said while smirking. But before he gave her the chance to answer, he snapped his fingers. Every brazier and lantern in the room alighted in that same instant. The sudden brightness flooded the girl''s eyes, forcing her to flinch and shut them. He shot over to his chair behind the desk while she was still recovering. He sat down and plopped his feet on top of the desk, resting his hands behind his head.


    The girl rubbed her eyes for a moment. She squinted at the door, where Len had just been. Her eyes widened in panic as she pivoted around. Her eyes landed on Len. He smiled at her. Her eyes then looked beyond him, at the window just above him.


    ¡°Ooh, honey don¡¯t do it. It won¡¯t work out like you think it will.¡± He warned the little thief.


    But alas, the girl made her move. Her legs started giving off a faint blue hue. Hmm. She has an enhancement ability. Len noted in his head. The girl bunched her legs up and hopped straight for the window.


    And here we go. Len didn¡¯t move from his spot the whole time the girl readied her escape. She flew over his head and balled up her body.


    THUNK!


    Her body hit the glass window but it didn¡¯t so much as budge, just as Len expected. The girl fell to the ground with another thud and a slight groan.


    ¡°Tch. Tried to warn you.¡± He said, now in a mischievous tone. ¡°That¡¯s called glass, it''s really popular in Vulug Town and Kailis. Made from superheating sand and cooling it in a special fashion. You won¡¯t find it here in Laurel often though. It¡¯s normally quite fragile and that makes it nearly impossible to transport by caravan.¡±


    The girl groaned a little more but didn¡¯t stay on the ground for very long. She got up immediately and shot for the office doors, most likely ignoring his words.


    He removed one of his hands from his head and waved at the door. Flames engulfed them. Heat blast off the doors in waves, honestly hotter than he had intended. Who could blame him though; he was excited.


    The girl recoiled from the flames, landing on her backside. He stayed in his chair and continued with his pointless explanation on glass.


    ¡°But I had them import the finest quality sand they could, along with a crafter specialized in its make. Choosing to make the material for myself and some friends. Because if there''s one thing I¡¯m good at,¡± He flared his powers once more, further increasing the temperature of the room. ¡°It¡¯s superheating stuff. And things I forge tend not to break.¡±


    He rose from his chair and walked over to the girl who was still sitting on the floor. Oh, I might have overdone it this time. She¡¯s probably scared half to death. He made his way in front of her, preparing an apology in his mind. Just as he got there, they made eye contact for a moment. There wasn¡¯t even the faintest hint of fear in her eyes. Just fierce determination. Her eyes darted from side to side, her mind must have been working overtime on how to get out of this situation.


    Len smirked and offered his hand to her. She, of course, smacked it away. She jumped off the floor and ran to a wall. One leading to the outside. Her feet glowed red this time. Hmm, interesting. Different boosts then. Her foot raised up behind her head, and in a blur, slammed into the wall. It shook the room, but the wall stayed strong. Good power, wind up is too long, but that can be trained around.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    She raised her foot once more, but Len¡¯s flames wrapped around her leg this time. He lifted her off the ground. She flung her body from side to side, trying to get away from his fiery grasp. Len walked back to his chair and sat down. He floated her over to one of the chairs in front of the desk, gently placing her in it.


    His fingers entwined as he brought his hands together.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Leonard Ainsworth. So, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    A knock on my door caused my eyes to open. The unfamiliar dark room confused me for a moment. Where am I? Oh right, basement. The candles were out, but Dark Sight kicked in. I stretched my arms and sat up on the bed.


    Last night''s dreams filled my head with memories of my grandmother. She was the epitome of kindness. She had a good sense of humor and the wit to match Gramps. Something few had. But it was her kindness that my memories held on to. She was the only grandmother I had.


    I never knew my father¡¯s mother. She died when he was a child and Dad never really wanted to talk about her. Only every so often did he let certain things about her slip.


    But Gran was a big part of my childhood. She practically lived with us when Gramps went out on one of his escapades. I could go on and on about the things I did with my Gran.


    I rubbed my eyes and face. They were nice memories but I needed to focus on the present. I¡¯d already come to terms with the fact that going back isn¡¯t an option. But I¡¯ll never forsake those memories and thoughts.


    My back didn¡¯t crack a single time as I got out of the wonderous bed. That had to be the single best night of sleep I''ve had my whole time on Kniyas. I wasn¡¯t perturbed by thoughts of monsters sneaking up on me in the middle of the night. Or waking up to a toxic tusk in my face. Or freezing my ass off on some of those intensely cold winter nights.


    I threw the comfortable clothes on and opened the door. To my surprise no one was around. I figured it was Mrs. Warbler who woke me up but she was nowhere to be seen. Some of the tools and implements had been scattered across the tables. A few half finished shirts too.


    ¡°She must have been working down here early this morning.¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Is it morning?¡± No natural light came into the basement, so I was clueless as to what time of the day it was. Not like the cave.


    Odd as it was, some part of me missed the cave. I learned and grew a lot in and around that camp. I don¡¯t want to ever live there again, but I do need to go back. I left a lot of stuff. Now that everything was calm, it dawned on me that I didn¡¯t have any of my things. Like my feather, or the gardenias, or¡­ no that was about it. Didn¡¯t really have a lot now that I think about it. Those trashy gremlin weapons don¡¯t count.


    An irritating itch surfaced in the back of my head when I thought about my mithril sword being taken from me. Need to consult with Len on that one. I want it back ASAP.


    After the annoyance passed, I turned toward the stairs leading out of the basement. I walked up them and knocked on the door. I knew they told me to stay down here, but I just didn¡¯t care right now. Curiosity was burning inside me. I wanted to explore this city, but that wasn¡¯t really an option at the moment. However looking out the shop window, that would be enough for now.


    ¡°In a moment.¡° Mrs. Warbler¡¯s voice came through the door a bit muffled.


    I heard a latch move and the door opened, natural light filled my eyes, making me blink a few times as Dark Sight turned off.


    ¡°Is it okay if I come up?¡±


    ¡°Sure, no one is here right now, aside from my assistant. She¡¯s preparing the new stock in the backroom.¡± She answered with a smile.


    I walked through the door. Sunlight flowed through the windows of the store. It wasn¡¯t too bright, telling me it was probably early to mid morning. Mrs. Warbler sauntered by me and back to the show floor. Dusting different tables and making sure her wares were sorted properly. I saw an empty rack by the front door and window. I hadn¡¯t noticed last night but the window actually had glass in it, unlike the windows that covered the big tree.


    The other door behind the counter opened and a voice yelled out.


    ¡°Here Gran. Everything looks chipper.¡± Said a pretty woman who walked through the door. She had a smaller face and freckles dotting it, framed by a short brown haircut that had short pointed ears sticking out. Her ears were a lot shorter than that green devil woman¡¯s, making me think this girl was a half-elf. She held an assortment of clothing items in her hands, hiding the rest of her body.


    ¡°Thanks, hun. Bring them to the rack I cleared by the door, Liam will help you. Oh, this is Liam by the way.¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± I said, while definitely not giving a very awkward wave. It was a manly wave.


    She responded with a cheerful hello and joined me by the empty rack. She put her hands out, gesturing to me to take the clothes from her. I extended my hands and she placed them on me. In the process revealing the fact that she was extremely pregnant. Curiously, I still hadn¡¯t found a trope on her either. Is pregnant-looking a trope?


    I shook my head and went on to diligently perform my task as a living coat rack.


    ¡°The name¡¯s Loreli, Gran¡¯s assistant. Yer the freeloader we got in the basement, right?¡±


    I blushed at the accusation. I was having a hard time finding a good answer to the question, seeing as it was mostly true.


    ¡°Oh, hush child. You¡¯re in much the same situation as the boy.¡±


    The two just grinned at each other. And it gave me some time to think of a comeback.


    ¡°First of all. I¡¯m not a freeloader, I¡¯m doing a wonderful job right now as your personal and mobile coat rack.¡± I moved around dramatically to really sell it. ¡°Secondly, she''s the one who locked me down there. Told me I wasn''t allowed to leave.¡± I said while pointing my clothed covered arms in Mrs. Warbler¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Gran! How scandalous.¡± Loreli said in mock surprise.


    We all chuckled together.


    After Loreli finished hanging the clothes by the window, I looked out. I didn¡¯t notice anything strange. ¡°Hey Mrs. Warbler, is it alright if I¡¯m right out in the open like this? Daila made it seem like it would be bad for me to be seen here.¡±


    The elderly woman answered while looking through the clothes we just hung.


    ¡°Honey, that plant isn''t going to do a single thing to me, my store, or my guests.¡± Her words were firm and filled with conviction. ¡°Daila was being cautious. Oh speak of the woman.¡±


    I turned toward the window and saw Daila walking to the shop¡¯s entrance, hair tighter than ever. Her expression looked tense.


    Before she entered, Mrs. Warbler said one last thing. ¡°Oh I know those eyes. Hope you''re ready for a busy day.¡± She giggled as she walked back to the counter.


    Daila entered the door and immediately her eyes centered on me.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said and turned around walking right back out the door.


    ¡°Umm.¡±


    ¡°Go on, you¡¯d better not keep her waiting.¡± Loreli said.


    Daila¡¯s head popped back into the store. ¡°Now.¡±


    I rushed out the door, following after the scary little mouse woman.

 37. Walking Distance

    Fennel looked down at the stamped documents in his hands. And then back to the entrance of the Capitol Building. He knew he must have had a stupid look on his face. He wasted hours the previous morning just waiting in line to get these papers sorted. Yet today he was in and out in roughly 20 minutes. The lines moved steadily and the clerks were efficient. He couldn''t help but feel a little bitter.


    He scratched behind his ear, while shuffling through the documents until he found his own invoice. ¡°First One¡¯s above. I don¡¯t even begin to know what to do with all this.¡± The number on the page astounded him. He¡¯d never gotten a paycheck like this before. The invoice listed his kill count as 549. Which was way, way higher than what he actually killed. His Leader of The Pack ability gave him partial credit for his allies'' kills, but even then that number seemed off. His crew fought like champions in that raid but they couldn¡¯t have killed that many.


    There was also an achievements list on the invoice that listed notable events that raid fighters, well, achieved. Fennels eyes were drawn to one in particular:


    Karibu Slaughter (SOLO):


    Took out a legion of backline magic missile slinging moose, with no help either.


    Way To Go Tiger!


    Why did the Watchers give me credit for that? Liam¡¯s the one who took out that whole lot. My blade didn¡¯t even touch a single Karibu hide. And Liam wasn''t under the effects of Leader of the Pack.


    His mind played back the brute strength beatdown Liam gave the Karibu. He seemed like a completely different person out on the battlefield.


    He pondered on it for a while longer, But in the end, decided to worry about it later. He had a long day ahead of him. He made his way to the gate leading to the Barracks. He needed to give the invoices to his squad, and then on to the family of the deceased in the Residential District. And then head over to Len¡¯s construction site in the Academy District.


    His feet hurt just thinking about all the walking thrust upon him today.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Daila walked through the market street like a woman on a mission. Purely focused on heading to her destination. Completely ignoring every vendor who shouted at us as we passed by. She had a tense look about her, but I guess she always kind of had that look. I tried to ask her where we were going and what we were doing today. But I only received death glares for answers.


    It probably didn¡¯t help that I stopped and looked at a few shops while we were walking. I couldn¡¯t help it. I had no clue that my mimic gene would add such a fascination with shiny trinkets and baubles. To be fair, this was my first time being around such shiny, beautiful knick knacks and it made sense, but I¡¯m not sure if my heart can take any more of those scowls.


    After about a two hour long walk (probably an hour if I wasn¡¯t stopping at every jewelry and weapon stand) we made it to another one of the massive root gates that split up the city. I wondered if this one would lead to one of the sections I saw from the tree. Maybe the housing one. The gate was already open when we arrived so we didn¡¯t have to wait this time. Bummer, I wanted to look at it more. Man, I hope I get to explore on my own one of these days.


    This side of the gate wasn¡¯t as full with people. The street was just as large but not nearly as congested. There weren¡¯t any merchant tents set up on the side of the street. The occasional food cart was there. Most in the prep phase. My mouth watered at the scent of food cooking.


    The buildings in this section were more spread out and a lot bigger, with large fields in between them. I think this is the district that I thought was for farming. There was a field directly next to the gate. It wasn¡¯t filled with crops though. No, it was filled with small children. Running drills?


    A whole group of about 30 kids, who couldn¡¯t be older than 12, were doing exercises. A few of the movements looked really familiar. Each child had a different trope, some had animal ears, a trope that I have a feeling is very common, some furred limbs, others had scales on their bodies. One or two had tails, a couple with claws. One adult yelled out some commands and the whole group switched to another exercise. I watched as a little girl, with red hair and cat ears that matched, started doing some burpees. It was immensely adorable.


    Then it clicked in my head. These are the same drills Len had me doing. What the hell?


    Daila must have moved along while I was busy watching the kids because I turned back to ask her something and she was gone. I was thankful the street wasn¡¯t full because I found her white bun a few hundred feet away easily. I chased after her. That tense look she was wearing seemed to calm down a bit.


    ¡°Hey Daila, quick question?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She responded, without the death glare now.


    ¡°The exercises the kids are doing over there. Do all the ages do them?¡±


    She looked back at the field with the kids. ¡°No, those exercises are for the 8-12 range. Why?¡±


    A burning annoyance flared up in me. ¡°Nothing, just curious.¡±  Damn it. Len had me doing kiddie drills. Come on. That bitterness stuck around for a while.


    We walked by a few more fields filled with older kids running more complicated drills. Some sparred, others practiced with various weapons, and some ran through weird obstacle courses. The courses were made from trees and ropes tied around bark-covered structures. It looked like a JROTC but bushranger edition.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    What was odd was that the trees didn¡¯t look like they were manipulated into the shapes. There weren¡¯t any cuts or bends in the bark. More like they grew that way naturally. I looked back at the road.


    Daila left me again.


    I sighed and caught up.


    ¡°What section of the city is this?¡± I asked.


    Her nose twitched for a second before she answered. ¡°This is the Academic District. Where we train new soldiers, or teach trades to the children with poor stat distributions.¡± Her nose twitched again. ¡°It is also where I reside.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t live in the residential area?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m an instructor for Academy number three. Instructors live in the school buildings.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. Wait. I thought you said you and Fennel work for this Jaren guy. Is he the head of one of these schools?¡±


    She scoffed upon hearing the question.


    ¡°Holdsburn, a teacher. What a sight that would be.¡± She scoffed once more. ¡°No, Mr. Holdsburn sits on the council and runs his own legion, the largest in Laurelhaven. I¡¯m one of his lieutenants.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re a teacher and a lieutenant. That seems like a lot.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Funny coincidence, I used to be a tea¡­¡± I stopped myself before finishing the statement.


    It didn¡¯t look like Len shared my backstory with these guys. I should probably keep the whole I¡¯m from a different planet thing on the downlow. I¡¯m already a pariah, don¡¯t need to pile on more crazy.


    Daila¡¯s head turned slightly in my direction, one of her eyebrows raised. ¡°Ah nothing. Oh shouldn¡¯t you be teaching right now?¡± I said, hopefully deflecting her suspicion.


    A vein popped up on her forehead. ¡°Yes, I should be.¡± She answered through gritted teeth. ¡°But that lout ordered me to do this instead.¡± She started grumbling about something but caught herself and re-equiped her normal sober expression.


    ¡°It matters not, we have almost arrived.¡±


    In the distance, I saw a large two story building that was, from the rhythmic sound of hammers thumping and saws cutting, under construction. But the workers weren¡¯t the typical citizens of Laurel. Very short little dudes, with hook shaped ears and pointed noses, each working with a different tool, some sawed some lumber, others hammered nails. But oddly enough, none of them had any visible monster body parts. Weird.


    ¡°Gnomes?¡± I said out loud.


    ¡°Yes, the best builders in the Craft Guild.¡± She replied.


    ¡°Guild huh.¡±


    Wonder if there are more guilds. Are they local or do they branch out amongst Kniyas?


    I was about to ask Daila, but her expression darkened the closer we got to the construction site. Best to leave her alone.


    We got up to the front doors. The main entrance had a sign put up but it was covered so I could read what it said. Some very tired looking guards were posted out front of the large double doors. Daila nodded at one and we walked on in.


    The foyer was a huge empty room only furnished with a single table and two chairs. A gnome was standing on one of the chairs arguing with a scruffy faced man wearing even scruffier clothes. It was Len.


    His face looked tired, but not from lack of sleep. Closer to when you¡¯ve spoken with someone unpleasant for far too long. He looked up and saw me and Daila enter. He said something to the crafter gnome. The gnome hopped off the chair and walked outside. I couldn¡¯t help but keep my gaze on the interesting little guy while he left. He snarled at me.


    Once he was out the door, the gnome yelled something to the crew outside and all the construction noise halted.


    Len walked up to me with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Hey kid, long time no see. And thank you Daila.¡± She nodded at him.


    I smiled back. And then threw a jab at him after he got close. He took the blow and faked a groaning sound.


    ¡°That¡¯s for throwing a fireball at me you crotchety old bastard.¡±


    We both started laughing. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder.


    ¡°Welcome to my new abode and workplace. Let me show you around.¡±


    I opened my mouth. ¡°Eh Eh. Please leave all questions until the end of the tour.¡±


    But right before we walked further into the building. The front doors slammed open. We turned to see who it was.


    A rather large bald man stood in the doorway. I couldn¡¯t see his face well because of the sunlight behind him. But I could make out his eyes. They were a bright teal color that shifted as if they were made of flame.


    ¡°LEONARD!!!! GET OVER HERE!¡±


    The large man roared out, singling out Len. But before anyone could react to his words, he shot out. Within a fraction of a second, his body slammed into Len, who was sent flying into the room adjacent to the foyer.


    ¡°No! Len!¡±


    My body reacted instinctively, I shifted directly into Tigris form, aiming a slash for the man¡¯s face. The bald man smirked and caught the clawed hand, lifting me off the ground. He pulled my face up to his. His face changed from anger to disgust for a second.


    He then threw me into the same room Len was sent just before. The force of his throw barred me from maneuvering my body. My back slammed into the ground and I rolled for a second. My vision swirled while I got back up. The man slowly walked into the room, a devilish grin on his face. The teal light from his eyes trailed behind him with every step.


    The cur. Who is he? Where did Len go?


    My vision cleared just in time. The man was readying another charge. Darkness engulfed me right as he took off. I jumped to the side, just barely getting out of the way. The man¡¯s body stopped in the darkness before it dissipated. He turned to look for where I went.


    I launched myself at his ankles, claws primed. However, in a feat of unreal speed. He grabbed me by the shirt and flung me to the other side of the room. My back hit the wooden wall, knocking the air out of my lungs. I slid down the wall.


    Okay speed isn¡¯t cutting it. Maybe strength then.


    I shifted out of Tigris and then immediately into Ursa. I rose up with a roar. I felt the pain surge in my body, egging on the rage building up. But I forced it down. Rage is a last ditch thing. I can¡¯t rely on it.


    I took the initiative this time and readied a blow aimed for his side. He caught it, but wasn¡¯t prepared for the force behind it. It moved the man a half a foot across the floor.


    He looked up and grinned. Before I knew it we were in a pushing match. Our hands clasped together in a test of pure muscle. He was bigger than me even in Ursa form. But I wasn¡¯t going to let up. The man laughed.


    ¡°Got to hand it to you kid, you¡¯re alright. But nowhere close enough to tussle with the like of me.¡± His eyes shone even brighter. He clamped down on my padded hands. Pain bursting into them. No choice.


    I activated Ursa-Rage. But before I could start pushing back. I felt a snap on the back of my head. The overbearing power that pushed against me let go, causing me to fall to my knees. I got back up in a rush and twisted my torso around, searching for the threat.


    Another snap from something hit the back of my head. I turned around and saw three people. Len, Daila, and the large man. The two men wore identical dumb smiles on their faces. Daila looked completely unenthused.


    And then I noticed something I wished to never see again: That accursed stick.

 38. Discussion

    ¡°You¡¯re still relying on that rage too much.¡± Len chastised. ¡°But I will admit, it looks like you have a much better handle on it now. And your strength has grown. Glad to see you didn¡¯t slack off too terribly.¡±


    I shifted out of Ursa''s form whilst rubbing the back of my head. ¡°Stupid stick,¡± I mumbled to myself. ¡°What was that?¡± Len asked mockingly, then proceeded to whip the stick in his hands. ¡°Nothing!¡±


    ¡°Ah give the lad a break, you old stickler. It''s not like I gave the boy many other options.¡± The large attacker said in my defense.


    Not particularly ready for Len¡¯s lesson, I sat on the floor of the huge but not-so-empty room. Training weapons sat on top of counters that lined the walls. Wooden blunted blades and shields mostly. Some racks held polearm-type weapons. I guessed this room to be some sort of training facility.


    I stretched my back, preparing myself for some pain after being thrown into the wall like that. But shockingly, my back didn¡¯t even crack. Weird.


    The fight wasn¡¯t very long, but it took more out of me than I would like to admit. My stamina and health are probably screwed. I looked up at my status bars. Every one of them was full.


    Len and Jaren snickered at my obvious lack of understanding. Oh, those two are going to be insufferable together, aren¡¯t they? My thoughts were further confirmed when I looked over and saw Daila slowly shaking her head in defeat. She walked in not long after the commotion ended. With a very annoyed look on her face. She must not have been clued in on the charade. Which also told me these kinds of antics were probably the norm. Yay.


    The large man was the first one to answer the question I hadn¡¯t asked yet. ¡°It¡¯s the floor.¡± I tilted my head at his words. I looked down at the floor. It was indeed a floor, I give you that. A wooden one, like everything else in the building. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    The big half-elf turned to Daila. ¡°Mind explainin¡¯?¡± She nodded at her superior.


    ¡°This is the training room. Under the floor panel are some enhancement sigils that prevent damage and exhaustion. That is why your status has not dwindled after that raucous exchange with Mr. Holdsburn.¡± Jaren nodded with a wide grin on his face. His expression reminded me of an overly proud child.


    My eyes opened up, I examined the floor with even more vigor this time. ¡°That sounds amazing and impossible. How does it work? Why not put those sigils on armor? What are sigils?¡±


    Len answered simply by raising his hand. I remembered the sign and shut my mouth on reflex. ¡°We will get to that down the road. For now, we have other important matters to discuss.¡± Len said. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the office.¡±


    The three turned and walked to some stairs at the far end of the room. I rose and caught up to them. Feels like that''s all I¡¯ve been doing today, catching up to someone.


    They started walking up the stairs once I met up. I looked at the hallway that connected back to the foyer. There were some more doors connected to it. Wonder what other rooms are in this building.


    ¡°I will give you a better tour later. Jaren and Daila have limited time today and we have much to discuss.¡± Len said, reading my mind.


    ¡°Gotcha.¡± I replied.


    The four of us were in what was apparently Len¡¯s office. He sat in a ridiculously large and somewhat ostentatious chair behind a far too big desk, his legs kicked up on top of said desk. His attire and attitude made for the worst match possible. Like a hobo who had just broken into an office building and was messing around.


    Jaren sat to my left, drinking some liquid that I assumed was tea. Smelled like it at least. Never cared for tea, it''s just dirty leaf water. Never understood the hype. Daila brought the drinks in a few minutes ago, after the excitement was over. I sipped some. It was bitter, dirty leaf water, as I had assumed.


    Daila didn¡¯t sit down and elected to stand next to the desk.


    Len drank some of his tea and then sat back up. He placed the cup down and looked at me. His face lost the levity from before.


    ¡°How did you come across the raid? I made sure your camp was set up miles away from the battleground.¡± Len asked. His tone was serious, telling me that playtime was over and a grownup conversation was starting. The back of my head got hot.


    ¡°It just kind of happened.¡± I unintentionally looked over at Jaren for a second.


    Len shook his head at the pitiful answer. He looked at Jaren and Daila, then back to me. He sighed. ¡°I trust these two with my life. They have proven time and again that they would never betray me. That is extended to you as well. Maybe Jaren¡¯s introduction was a tad¡­ violent. But I assure you it was my idea.¡± His expression softened before he continued. ¡°So trust them. Besides, you are going to be spending a whole lot more time with them then me in the coming months.¡±


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    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. I was shocked; I didn¡¯t think Len would just drop me on someone else.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry kid. I¡¯m not going anywhere. But I wasn¡¯t ready for your early arrival. I still have some things to set up. Namely getting you formally added to the Laurel citizenry and this.¡± He waved his hands around.


    I nodded. Jaren¡¯s large hand slapped my shoulder. ¡°Aye kid. Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t bite.¡±


    Len continued on. ¡°Here. Before we get to the raid, Jaren, tell the boy who you are.¡± The bald half-elf nodded, stood up, and began speaking with a big smile.


    ¡°Name¡¯s Jaren Holdsburn. I am the Commander of the fourth Legion of Laurehaven. I hold the Draco Gene, type: Zephyr. Frontline Fighter. Level 35. Been pals with Len since I was a wee lad still wet behind the ears.¡± He laughed at the end of his introduction. ¡°Feels weird talking like this.¡± He held his hand out as he finished.


    I breathed in deep. He was being forthcoming, no reason I shouldn¡¯t be as well. I stood up and tried to match his energy.


    ¡°Liam Foster. I don¡¯t really have a title or anything. I hold the Mimic Gene. No clue what kind of fighter, a dumb one that¡¯s for sure. And I¡¯m level four.¡± I grasped his hand and shook. He belted out a laugh. ¡°Love the confidence. I¡¯m sure we will get on just fine. Also, what the hell is a mimic?¡±


    We both sat back down. Len looked satisfied. ¡°Jaren, he¡¯ll explain it later.¡± Len turned back to me. ¡°Glad to hear you hit level four Liam. That will make my job easier. Now would you mind giving the rundown on how you found yourself in that battle?¡±


    I spent the next hour detailing the last couple of months. About how I fought and beat the tanther. I found out it was, in fact, a panther; its official name was Shade Panther. I have no clue why the mimic record is called Tigris, but it made me feel better.


    Then I talked about my hunting trip in the winter, and how I came across the magical gardenias. Which raised some eyebrows but they didn¡¯t say anything. Daila¡¯s nose twitched at my mention of them. I described the Energized buff I received from them. There was glint in her eyes as I spoke.


    I told them about how I tried to harvest the flowers. How much of a bust it was for the first couple of months, especially with all of the monsters that ransacked the camp those days. I gave a quick summary of the other monsters that I fought.


    Jaren laughed when I talked about the size-shifting mole. ¡°Aye, those bastards are a right pain in the ass. Tasty though.¡± I agreed with him. It was yummy.


    Len explained that the hidden fire I accidentally put out was his creation. Something called an aura flame, whose purpose was to keep most monsters away from camp. He said the shade panther was one of the few monsters in the area that would have ignored it.


    ¡°I was going to snuff it out myself, but I¡¯m glad you did. You were going to plateau with the solo training. But I am intrigued by the flowers. Did you manage to harvest them?¡± Len said. Daila seemed fascinated with the subject of the flowers. She had a glint in her eyes.


    I went on to talk about all my experiments in growing the flowers. How all of them were mostly useless. That I didn¡¯t figure them out until I went back and found the non-magical version growing out of the skull of the monster. Daila nodded, her face was thoughtful. ¡°Do you feel an urge to eat more of those flowers?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Not really,¡± I replied. She nodded but didn''t say any more. Instead she pulled a Len and sat down with a notebook and a writing utensil.


    I moved along, telling them I found the first bud in the body of the boar monster who ate the seeds, and how, from that discovery, I began to bury the other bodies in my corpse pile that contained the buds. I left out the part about trying to sell them in the city.


    ¡°And that brings us to the day before the raid. I woke up the next morning and the entire pile of monster corpses was gone, leaving only a trail of blood and flesh. Nasty right?¡± I said in a joking tone. But there wasn¡¯t any humor on the faces in the room.


    Jaren spoke up next. ¡°How many were in that pile?¡±


    I shifted in my seat. Everyone¡¯s expression in the room grew grim and I wasn¡¯t sure why. A fresh injection of nervousness flowed in me.


    ¡°Um¡­ a couple dozen I think. I wasn¡¯t really keeping track. Why?¡±


    My answer seemed to calm them. Their tense faces loosened.


    ¡°As long as it wasn¡¯t a hundred or more,¡± Len said. ¡°You followed after the corpse pile and it led you to the raid I assume.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but why would a hundred bodies matter? I asked back.


    ¡°It has to do with the nature of the raid boss. We can circle back to that in a minute.¡±


    The room was silent for a minute, everyone must have been digesting my story. But I had my own burning questions to ask.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop that green witch from capturing me?¡±


    Len scratched the back of his head. ¡°Yeah, sorry about that. Would have made things complicated if I did. Politics you know. Besides I told you to break out and you did. All¡¯s well that ends well.¡±


    I sighed. This lackadaisical old fart. Politics. What does that even mean on Kniyas? ¡°Then my next question is, am I just going to be a fugitive the rest of my time in Laurelhaven?¡±


    ¡°Nope, not at all. You should be good in about two days. Then you can go out and about on your own. But until then, Wynne¡¯s basement will be your home.¡±


    ¡°Wynne?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Mrs. Warbler,¡± Daila answered.


    ¡°Ahh.¡± I couldn¡¯t find anything to complain about. Her food was delicious and she was an absolute treat to be around. ¡°Sure, that¡¯s fine with me.¡±


    ¡°Good, now that that¡¯s all settled we can move on. Time to talk about this building here. Or rather Jaren¡¯s guild.¡± He winked at the large guy.


    My ears perked up when he said guild. What kind of guild? They have a training room, so it''s probably combat-oriented. I wasn¡¯t sure why, but I felt excited.


    ¡°Oi oi oi. That¡¯s only on paper.¡± Jaren said, pointing at Len. ¡°It¡¯s yer baby, not mine.¡±


    Len waved off the comment. ¡°Semantics.¡±


    He turned back to me. ¡°I would have liked to do this when the building was actually complete, but now works too. Welcome to the Explorer¡¯s Guild.¡±

 39. Affirmations

    ¡°Awesome¡­ What does it do?¡± I asked.


    Len smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t go into the details quite yet. I will save those for when some of your fellow members join us in the upcoming days. But for now¡­¡± Jaren coughed, interrupting Len before he could continue.


    ¡°Little ahead of yourself there, Len. The boy hasn¡¯t agreed to being a member, and he couldn¡¯t even if he wanted to. Remember no family record.¡± Jaren tapped his head with an index finger.


    ¡°Right, of course. First of all, Liam Foster.¡± The timbre in his voice sharpened as he said my name. He turned to me and gave me direct eye contact. ¡°I would like you to join my Guild. To be one of the first of the explorers. To go and discover the deepest secrets of¡­¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡±


    We both turned to the source of the chortle. It was Jaren. ¡°Sorry. Sorry. Continue with the rousing speech.¡±


    Len cleared his throat. ¡°Where was I?¡± Daila sidled over to Len¡¯s side and mumbled something in his ear. ¡°Right deepest secrets. To uncover the deepest secrets of Kniyas. To travel every road, to leave no stone unturned, no mountain unclimbed, no¡­¡± But he was cut off once more by the giggling of the half-elf companion.


    Jaren couldn¡¯t keep himself quiet. He broke out laughing this time, full belly laugh too. Almost falling out of his chair. ¡°I can¡¯t. Hoo. I can¡¯t do it Len. It''s not you ole buddy. It¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°What is it, you idiot?¡± Len said, a bit flustered now.


    Jaren got a hold of himself. ¡°Sorry my friend. You, giving this stirring address to us, was too much. Here. Let me handle it.¡±


    Jaren shifted in his chair over to me. ¡°Hey Liam. You¡¯re new to this land. Correct? I don¡¯t know all your circumstances, whether you''re feral or something else entirely. Len didn''t clue me in much about you. From how he described it, it sounds like you are exactly what this guild needs. Even before taking the powerset you¡¯ve been gifted in. You have something we need for this venture to work.¡±


    He got up before continuing, gesturing to me to stand up with him. We walked out of the office and into one hallway. He brought me to a ladder I didn¡¯t notice before placed at the end of the hall. He climbed up the ladder and opened a hatch at the top. Then climbed onto the roof. I followed him up. It led to a small patio, big enough for only five people maybe.


    My eyes flowed across the landscape. I could see so much more of the different school buildings, the fields that lie between them. The trees dotting more of the cityscape. It was amazing. It reminded me of the view I got from the top of the Capitol Tree. Sure, this building¡¯s roof wasn¡¯t even remotely as tall, but it still stirred that feeling of wonder and amazement at a world so ethereal, so different from what Earth was like. Jaren spoke up while I was stunned by the sight.


    ¡°It¡¯s that, right there.¡± The tall half-elf pointed at me, or maybe my eyes. ¡°That look in yer eyes, that look you give this city. Nay this world. A look that drives you, begs you to learn everything there is to learn about this land.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t disagree with him. I never had this level of desire to explore a world. A twinge of guilt burrowed out of my mind. Like something locked away just rattled its cage. No. No that¡¯s not true. I thought back on the days long past. Of all the time I spent with Gramps. How he told me about the world he discovered. The trips he took, the wars he fought in. A world that inspired him to go out and squeeze every drop of joy, pleasure, and happiness out of it. He was so good at making the world sound so large and beautiful. Compelling those around him to believe in that auspicious view of the world. He told me time and time again to not march to the beat of others. But that didn¡¯t mean to shun others. No, he said to clutch on to those who share your dreams. That was the simplest way to live a life you will be proud of.


    I couldn¡¯t help but think about what happened to me back on Earth. When did I let myself get so bogged down by the world? When did I let that sense of adventure, cultivated in me by my grandfather, die out? When did I let the world start dictating me so much?


    A wave of pure emotion swept over me. I had to catch myself before a tear slipped out. Jaren laid a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°And not only that Liam. You have something Laurel desperately needs: Fresh perspective. You aren¡¯t tainted by the traditions and beliefs that are so ingrained in us. These shackles that hold us back from taking this world from the beasts that rule it. You can go out there unimpeded. That¡¯s why we need you.¡± Jaren finished and took his hand off of me.


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    I stared out for a little while longer before speaking.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. Even before we came up here I was ready to join. Len saved my life and taught me how to keep myself alive as well. But you¡¯re right. I do want to go out there and grab Kniyas by the horns. Force it to show me all of its secrets and mysteries. To make friends and probably enemies. To live a full life knowing that I did my all.¡±


    ¡°Aye, and that is exactly what we are all about.¡± He nudged me. I turned and saw that Len and Daila had joined us at some point. Len had a contented smile on his face and even the stone-faced Daila smirked.


    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s get back to business.¡±


    We returned to Len¡¯s office and sat down. Daila whispered something to Len. He nodded and said, ¡±Sure thing, let''s go over the raid business first.¡± She nodded and sat down, returning to her notebook.


    ¡°Okay Liam. Now that¡¯s been settled, let us return to what we were talking about prior. As I said, I have a few more members in mind and will discuss the nitty gritty of this guild¡¯s purpose when we have all gathered. But I can tell you why I have Jaren here.¡± Len cleared his throat before continuing.


    ¡°So first of all, you are going to be recruited into one of his raid squads in the coming week. There is no getting around this.¡±


    I raised my hand. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What does that entail?¡± I asked.


    Jaren answered this one. ¡°Means you better get used to fighting in battles like the one from a few days ago. I don¡¯t know what your stat spread looks like; we will go over that soon, but from the report Fenny gave me, you are a fighter no doubt. Not many could achieve what you did in that raid. It¡¯s a shame the Watchers didn¡¯t bother recording you.¡±


    I mulled over his reply. I hadn¡¯t spent much time even thinking about that battle. It felt like a blur at the moment. Probably from how hopped up on flowers I was. I decided to share a few worries of my own to them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know how to fight in a group. I¡¯ve spent so much time fighting by myself. And the majority of my abilities are self-centered. Like the rage you saw earlier. And that performance was severely enhanced by those magical flowers. I could only keep that up while Energized.¡±


    Jaren nodded at me. ¡°That''s all fine. Group fighting can be taught, even if you are starting a bit later in life then everyone else. But that fighting prowess, despite being under the influence, just shows that you have the potential to do it, without the aid. Can¡¯t say I know much about the magical veggies. Daila here is the one in the know about that kind of stuff. And I can tell she is itching to ask you some questions about it.¡±


    The woman in question just rolled her eyes while going over her notes again.


    Before anyone else spoke again, I asked a question that bothered me from earlier.


    ¡°Why did the body count matter so much, in regards to my corpse pile? I can gather that it was attracted somehow to that giant mass of flesh you said was the raid boss.¡± That last sentence was wild. I''m using this gamer lingo for something that actually killed people..


    Len took the lead on this one.


    ¡°We wanted to make sure you weren''t the cause of that monstrosity. It''s about how raids are formed out in the wild. We know they form up in the middle of the night¡± Len pulled out a journal from his desk. And opened it to a blank page.


    ¡°Raids have a simple structure to them. They are layered in waves. First the Vanguard waves. Typically weaker monsters that are mostly fodder. Normally, there are two or three waves of these monsters.¡± He wrote vanguard on the paper then a line above it.


    ¡°Then come the Soldiers, the largest fighting force in the raid. A mixed bag of monsters but they follow a trend usually.¡± He wrote the Soldiers down and another line.


    ¡°Then finally come the Boss and his Guards. The boss is a much stronger version of the guards usually. Like in the last raid, The Greater Graveball was the boss and the Lesser Graveballs were the Guards.¡±


    Jaren spoke up. ¡°The toughest sons of bitches in the raid. But there is a blessing. Scouts can normally find the boss early and we can make some adjustments in formation before the raid begins.¡±


    Len nodded in agreement. ¡°He¡¯s right. But what we don¡¯t really know is how or when a boss is made. It¡¯s actually one of the goals of our little guild here. And part of why I was in the Forest when we first met. Aside from the Tempest Roc. We theorize that some monsters are just born stronger than others and they eventually grow into them. But that doesn¡¯t explain the undead. We don¡¯t really understand them at all. They aren¡¯t common in the Forest. And we are very good about burning bodies.¡±


    I thought about what they were telling me. I didn¡¯t burn a single one of the corpses I made out in the woods.


    ¡°You guys don¡¯t think my pile turned into that?¡± I thought about all of the death it caused. Is that blood on my hands? Did it have something to do with the flowers?


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t because of flowers was it?¡± I looked down at the floor.


    ¡°No, those flowers don¡¯t do anything of the sort. And no, that Graveball was made from the bodies of hundreds of corpses. Something that would take you half a year of collecting.¡±


    It was Daila who spoke up and alleviated my fears.


    ¡°I actually have some questions about those flowers. Mr. Ainsworth, Mr. Holdsburn.¡± The two looked at her and nodded. ¡°Go ahead Daila. I could grab a bite, how bout you my dear chap?¡± Jaren asked Len who responded with ¡°Yes, I do believe I could. Only fair to Daila after making her lose a day of lecturing.¡± Jaren and Len got up and walked to the door. ¡°Have fun.¡±

 40. Drugs Are Bad

    The two loud personalities left the room, leaving only me and Daila now. She got up and sat in Len¡¯s chair, pulling her notebook out. ¡°So Liam. What can you tell me of these flowers you found?¡± Her nose twitched after asking the question. Need to figure out what the twitching means. Probably helps me gauge her mood. I think it''s happiness or maybe excitement but I¡¯m not sure.


    ¡°The flowers. Right.¡± I recollected myself, shooing away the pointless thoughts. ¡°Like I said earlier, they came in an assortment of dark blues and violet shades. They gave off this light blue glow while still growing from the corpse. And that monsters or all kinds seemed to be attracted to them.¡± She flipped through her notebook while I described them. Eventually stopping on one page and sliding the book to me. ¡°Are these them?¡±


    The page contained a surprisingly in-depth and detailed drawing of the very same gardenias. The top of the page called them Inspiratus Gadenas, which sounded a lot like Latin. Not that I knew anything about Latin. But it was eerily familiar to the scientific names we give to plant life back on earth. How strange.


    There were notes littered across the page about different parts of the flowers. But oddly, some of the notes were titles to blank sections. Such as one section titled Growth Rate or another titled Seed Shape.


    ¡°Did you make these notes and that drawing?¡± I asked Daila. She nodded. ¡°Yes, but that is not important right now. Are these the same?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m positive they are. Are they common? Well, I guess not if you don¡¯t have the growth rate recorded.¡± I said. She looked at the page again and then back to me.


    ¡°And you consumed how many of these?¡± She asked with that patented serious look on her face.


    ¡°Probably about five or so in the raid. It was the only reason I could activate my powers that much and keep fighting.¡±


    ¡°And you feel no need to ingest more?¡± She asked, her face unwavering.


    ¡°I do when I¡¯m Energized, but right now, no, can¡¯t say that I am. Why?¡±


    She closed the notebook and closed her eyes. When they opened there was a new glint of seriousness in them.


    ¡°Liam, these are wildly addictive. So much so that if one consumes even a single petal, they are bound in the Capitol Building for the next month. Until their urges subside. The flowers are banned completely from every Spice Capital in Kniyas. Except for the most trusted of alchemists. Even having a single bloom will get you locked up and sent off to Tiamantis immediately.¡±


    My face twisted in confusion. ¡°Why? That buff is incredibly useful. And like I said, only when I¡¯m under the influence do I have weird urges.¡± Plus, I was planning on striking it rich with them.


    She shook her head. ¡°You don¡¯t understand what that buff even means. Or what actually fuels that state is probably the better way to describe it. It¡¯s your aura. Your very life force, your very consciousness.¡±


    I responded defensively. ¡°What does that even mean? What is aura? I''ve heard it a lot recently and have no idea what it is.¡±


    She clamped down on the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. ¡°Len told me you were behind. I didn¡¯t realize by how much.¡± She said, speaking to herself, I¡¯m sure. She looked at me again. ¡°Len didn¡¯t tell you anything about aura?¡±


    I shook my head. She sighed. ¡°Looks like my day will not be devoid of lecturing then.¡± She stood up and gestured to me with her hand to stand with her. Once I stood, she walked around the desk and away from the chairs, about ten feet away, and then she wordlessly beckoned me for again.


    I took one step. A wave of pure energy crashed into me, sending my heart into my stomach. I tried as hard as I could, but no amount of effort moved me an inch. I could make small twitches of movement, but that was all. It felt like I was drowning not in water but in liquid and dense metal. My mind returned to yesterday, the fierce sensation that scared off the guard who tried to bar my escape. But now it was solely concentrated on me.


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    The feeling stopped after what felt like an eternity. I heaved in gulps of fresh air. ¡°What. The. Hell. Daila.¡± I spoke in between the labored breaths. She returned to Len¡¯s chair, sitting back down with a huff. She looked winded by the ordeal as well.


    ¡°That was unexpected.¡± She said, while I seated myself back down. ¡°Wha¡­What was?¡±


    ¡°You have an incredible amount of aura. Never in all my years have I come across such a vast amount. Why?¡± She turned to me, her face filled with bewilderment.


    My current state only allowed me to shrug at her. ¡°No clue. Is it a good thing?¡±


    She inhaled and exhaled once, regaining her composure. ¡°It¡¯s certainly something. But for now, let me explain Aura. At least at a basic level. We could be here all night if I went into the deeper aspects.¡± She shifted her position in the chair.


    ¡°Aura, as we understand it, is the basic life force in every living being in Kniyas. And not only is it one¡¯s life force. It also represents one¡¯s own consciousness.¡±


    My forehead wrinkled in thought. ¡°Is it like willpower, or in this case tied to the Charisma stat.¡±


    ¡°Not quite. Consciousness is not quite as succinct as that. There does seem to be a trend in those with primary Charisma and their talent in controlling Aura. But Aura is not so easily quantified as Charisma is.¡± Daila paused for a moment.


    ¡°Tell me, Liam. How would you describe consciousness?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. I was never very good at answering such abstract questions. I hadn¡¯t thought of anything like this in months anyhow. Too busy working on the not-dying thing. Shouldn¡¯t have skipped all those Philosophy Classes.


    ¡°I guess just general awareness. Like awareness of self and others. That I am aware of my feelings, my thoughts, and even my life itself. And that others have them too. Maybe?¡± I finally answered, scratching my head.


    She nodded. ¡°That is a decent description but only half of it. It is awareness of the world around you as well. And how you can change it. You could say Aura is the physical representation of that awareness. We take hold and then use it to manipulate the world around you. Next question: what are you without consciousness?¡±


    ¡°An animal¡­or in this case a monster. But you said all living things have Aura. Monsters would have consciousness at that point.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Yes, that would be true, if Aura did not come in two forms. The Physical and The Mental.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°What''s the difference, and how do they pertain to consciousness?¡°


    ¡°Physical is simpler. You know the three status bars. Health, Stamina, and Mana. Those are the three aspects of Physical Aura. That is the Aura even monsters have because even they are conscious of their own tangible existence. Of when to eat, and when to sleep. Things of that nature. The abilities you use, the rage and the shadow sphere, are manifestations of Physical Aura.¡± She explained.


    I rubbed my chin. ¡°Then does that mean monsters don¡¯t have Mental Aura?¡±


    Her nose twitched. ¡°Precisely. The very fact that we have Mental Aura is what makes us different.¡±


    ¡°Then, that power you used on me just a minute ago. Was that an ability made from Mental Aura?¡±


    ¡°Not quite. The lines begin to blur when explaining Mental. It can be controlled much like Physical Aura, but it is much harder and dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Why dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Because, if poorly controlled, it will leak out of you. And I believe you can make an assumption as to what will happen should you lose too much.¡±


    I contemplated on it. My thoughts drifted to those weird feelings and instincts that attempt to sway my actions. Then it hit me. ¡°You lose control of your gene.¡±


    ¡°And become just as base as the monsters we fight.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°Len explained some of that to me last year. About the predilections we each get from our monster genes.¡±


    ¡°Yes, those instincts only become stronger as Mental Aura dwindles. That¡¯s why, starting from a young age, we teach how to control Aura in both its forms.¡± She pointed at the flower in her notebook.


    ¡°And that is why it''s so dangerous for people to consume those plants. Those powers come from burning through Mental Aura in exchange for Physical Aura. And that exchange, that boost in strength, is sensational, to say the least. Hence why the plants are so regulated.


    ¡°Why regulate them at all at that point?¡±


    ¡°Because the effects can be mitigated to where they aren¡¯t as addictive by an alchemist. And because this world is cruel beyond the walls of each city. Many have sacrificed their sanity for that enhancement to ensure a crucial victory. And we must always be prepared for those scenarios.¡± She said solemnly. Her face betrayed some painful memory for a moment before she regained control.


    I sat for a moment. Why did the flowers not affect me like that then? Maybe Tutor can give me something later about it. Doubtful but maybe.


    I went to say something to her but¡­ Knock! Knock! Both of us flinched at the sudden banging on the door. Daila got up and went to the door.

 41. Taskmasters

    ¡°And this is why I told you to let me handle recruiting. Save your speeches for crowds and such.¡± Jaren patted Len¡¯s shoulder as they sat in front of the food cart. Len rolled his eyes and took another bite of the Tusxic meat sandwich. ¡°It was fine, he was going to join either way.¡±


    Jaren took a bite out of his third sandwich. He looked at the sandwich in his hands with a tired expression. ¡°You know, I was a fan of the boar meat at first, but it''s starting to wear on me.¡± His gaze landed on the cook working in the cart who grunted upon hearing the words ¡°Oh come off it. You know I don¡¯t mean anything about your cooking. Bah ya grump.¡± Jaren¡¯s sentiment didn¡¯t stop him from finishing his meal of course. The two were eating at a food cart that parked itself a couple of minutes away from the guildhall, near the entrance to Academy Three. There was one parked outside the guildhall, but they both agreed this cook was much better. And discreet.


    Most businesses around would practically beg for both his and Jaren¡¯s endorsements. Boost their numbers using the duo¡¯s fame. Len hated that kind of attention and, while Jaren liked the adoration, he wasn¡¯t interested in his name being plastered against every food cart or tavern they happened to be in.


    The older gentleman who ran this cart, a human with a fox tail, wasn¡¯t interested in all the grandeur that might come from getting the endorsement of two council members. He just served good cheap food to customers. He gave the school kids that came by some free servings pretty often as well. He had Len¡¯s respect.


    ¡°It¡¯s this or the moose. That raid didn¡¯t have any other decent meat, on account of the undead contaminated almost half of it.¡± Len said, responding to Jaren¡¯s comment and tucking into the food once more.


    ¡°Blasted undead bastards. First One¡¯s above, I will give you anything if the next raid boss is a large juicy bird.¡± Jaren clapped his hands together in faux prayer.


    ¡°Really now, when did you become so devout?¡±


    ¡°When it''s been over four raids since I¡¯ve had any decent poultry, that''s when.¡± Jaren answered. Len scoffed at his friend. ¡°Sure.¡±


    Len finished his food and took a drink from his glass of water. Jaren finished around the same time turning back to the old cook and ordering another two sandwiches to-go. The cook wrapped up the order in cloth. They paid the cook and walked away from the cart.


    Len spoke with Jaren in a hushed tone as they made their way back to the guildhall. ¡°So, what''s your thoughts on his abilities?¡±


    Jaren didn¡¯t make any gestures, matching Len¡¯s low energy. ¡°I was worried for a moment. When I saw the feline eyes and claws, I figured the reason you didn¡¯t say anything was because of my past. Damned cats. But aye, you were right. That¡¯s not something I¡¯ve ever even dreamed of bein¡¯ possible. Even when I read Fennel¡¯s report, I thought the boy just wasn¡¯t seeing properly. Didn¡¯t blame him, it was a gnarly battle by Laurel standards.¡± Jaren shook his head.


    ¡°That cat form is new to me. He didn¡¯t have that before I left.¡± Len replied.


    ¡°But his form really did change.¡± Jaren said in disbelief. ¡°His fighting style and power flipped instantly. Unbelievable. What¡¯s his stat spread look like?¡±


    It was Len¡¯s turn to shake his head before responding. ¡°I¡¯ll leave that as another surprise for you. You¡¯re alright with training him?¡±


    Jaren turned to his walking companion. ¡°You¡¯d have to throw me from the top of the Capitol Building to stop me. Those powers are far too titillating to ignore.¡± A devilish grin grew on the man¡¯s face.


    Len knew that look. Jaren enjoyed training fighters even more than Len. Especially ones with interesting and unique powers. It''s why he picked up Fennel so quickly. But the man was much more¡­assertive in his methods.


    Many students looking to share in the glory of Jaren¡¯s fourth legion as squad captains couldn¡¯t make it a week under his guidance. However Len wasn¡¯t worried about Liam. The boy would manage well enough. Jaren¡¯s evil smile hadn¡¯t faded, a warped giggle spawned from his throat. I hope Liam can handle it.


    Jaren returned to his earlier demeanor before speaking. ¡°Quick question. Len, why did you not teach him an ounce of Aura control? He was leaking like a wine barrel with seven holes at the bottom during that scrap. Especially when his form changed.¡±


    Len nodded. ¡°Trust me, I noticed it too. But he has a remarkable amount as is. And there is something strange about it. Whenever you train with him next, focus on examining his Mental Aura when he changes form and tell me your thoughts.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I can. But that definitely sounds more like a job for birdbrain. Has she settled in yet?¡±


    Len sighed and rubbed his forehead. ¡°She¡¯s been setting all of her things up since before the raid. But now she keeps arguing and pestering the crafters whenever they get too close to the lab. I told her to wait at least until they finished the ground floor. But no. She gets in a fight nearly everyday with them. And besides, that sort of thing doesn¡¯t interest her.¡±


    Jaren laughed at his friend¡¯s wearied expression. ¡°Hey that¡¯s what you get. You signed her on when she agreed to pony up half the cost of the guildhall.¡±


    ¡°I know. I know. We wouldn¡¯t have even got the location without her assistance. She¡¯s just so.¡±


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    ¡°Whee whoo.¡± Jaren whistled the tune while spinning a finger in circles next to his head.


    ¡°But enough about her. How bout you give me a rundown on his other forms.¡± Jaren said.


    Len did just that as the two walked on the road. He told him about the other forms that were at Liam¡¯s disposal. And about their separate styles of fighting that Len had taught him Liam. Len could see the half-elf¡¯s brain cooking up some training menus while he listened; his dastardly grin reappearing.


    Not long after Len finished his description of Liam¡¯s forms, did the two make it to the street in front of the guild. It was sometime past noon by now.


    Daila was standing by the door. The two exchanged a confused look and then walked up to the woman. ¡°What happened? Is our guest still inside?¡± Jaren said while handing one of the wrapped sandwiches to her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Daila said, accepting the food. ¡°And Liam was captured.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel rubbed his ankles. ¡°None of them could have been close huh.¡± He just finished his last round of deliveries in the Residential District and was making his way to the Barracks Gate.


    He didn¡¯t share many words with the families. He just gave them the invoices. Each family responded differently. Some tried to offer him refreshments, others didn¡¯t say a word and just accepted the paper before shutting the door in his face. However, that didn¡¯t bother him much. Grieving is different between families. And he¡¯d gotten somewhat used to the less amiable practices. It was his fifth time making these deliveries. Only one of the deliveries today truly got under his skin.


    His mind kept coming back to the final invoice he gave out.


    One of the fallen was from the upper section, where the wealthier citizens lived. Fennel knew this part of the city well. The Blines household worked tooth-and-nail to get there, between their talented smiths and hardworking soldiers. The Blines were still new to this world though. Fennel was maybe six when his family moved to the upper city estate.


    One of the fallen was from the Ciervol household. Longtime members of the Laurel elite. Fennel had to sit in an ostentatious meeting room for an hour, waiting for an immediate family member.


    Fennel was peeking through a window when a Ciervol man sauntered into the room. A servant on either side. Fennel wasn¡¯t sure who the man was. Aside from Grenna, his fallen teammate, he only knew of the Ciervol Patriarch, Crenis Ciervol. Crenis was head lieutenant of the Second Legion, a proud elf, absolutely fierce with a bow. Fennel had been tasked with assisting them a few raids back and saw the man on the battlefield. He even commended Fennel¡¯s squad. It was probably due to Grenna being his relative. But this man didn¡¯t even remotely have the scent of strength about him that Grenna and Crenis held.


    The man greeted Fennel and offered him some refreshments. Fennel tried to be cordial in his negative response, but the man wouldn¡¯t have it, insisting Fennel try some.


    They sat at the table in the meeting room. The man then focused primarily on trying to poach Fennel from the Fourth Legion. The garish deer-eyed elf attempted to persuade him to join Rickard¡¯s Second Legion, all the while complaining about how his daughter would probably be alive if she had. How can you speak so heartlessly about your kin? A daughter no less. And the Second Legion took the worst of the raid, losing over a thousand troops.


    Fennel had to swallow the words and bile came out that almost came out. Fennel of course wouldn¡¯t leave Jaren¡¯s Legion. He enjoyed being a part of the Fourth. He couldn¡¯t imagine abandoning those he trained and fought with.


    Fennel recalled all of his high class manner etiquette, forced upon him by his mother when they moved up to the upper section. Giving the Ciervol man some excuse he couldn¡¯t care less to remember, he declined the man¡¯s pleas.


    He shook his head, trying to purge the uncomfortable feeling. A guard by the gate snickered for a second. These blasted floppy ears. He nodded at the guard, trying to play off the interaction. The guard nodded back, poorly hiding the grin on his face.


    His walk through the Barracks was a silent one. A normal occurrence the first few days after a raid. Training was postponed for three days.


    After thirty minutes of walking, he made it to the Fourth¡¯s Squad Camp. There was some life here. The Fourth pride themselves on their work ethic and training regiment, some squads ignored the postponement period. Jaren actually didn¡¯t like it. Jaren understood the value of rest after battle, for both the body and the soul. But he said if they wanted to train, it was their prerogative.


    Fennel made his way to his squad hall. He heard the sounds of people murmuring. A complaint or two being thrown around. He couldn¡¯t blame them. He was late. That pompous jackass held me longer than I thought.


    Butterflies entered his stomach as he put his hand on the door. Here we go.


    Every eye in the room centered on him as walked in. He suppressed a shudder, making his way to the center of the squadhall. He stood in front of them and saluted. They returned the greeting. Fennel blanked for a second under their combined gaze. Umm. What was here for again? His eyes scanned the room, his squad wore a spectrum of different expressions. Some were expectant, others annoyed. Fennel¡¯s vision eventually fell upon some white feathers. Gloria gave him a reassuring smile. Invoices!


    He cleared his throat and spoke.


    ¡°Thank you everyone for coming in today. I have everybody''s invoice here.¡± He waved the papers in his hand. ¡°Come and get yours when I call your name. You may leave right after. Go get some more rest. We will get back to training tomorrow. We will be getting new members sometime next week as well. First, Zaner Heaver.¡±


    Fennel went through eight names. A few mumbled something about it not being enough, but the majority were happy with their numbers. The last among the pile was Gloria¡¯s invoice, which Fennel might have put there purposefully.


    She had the highest amount out of everyone present aside from Fennel. But she deserved each coin. Her support was vital to the team. He handed the invoice to her. She smiled at him again, receiving it. It made his heart skip.


    He coughed, trying to hide the blood heading for his cheeks. ¡°Thanks again Gloria. Your help was tremendous out there.¡± She gave him a wry smile and cocked her eyebrow. She placed her hand on his shoulder. Her warmth shooing the nervousness away.


    ¡°Hey boss! Can I ask you something?!¡± Lukans voice shattered the peaceful moment. The two separated before the boy with the archer with oversized brown eyes walked back in the room.


    ¡°Yes Lukans, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Nothing terribly important, just wondering why you decided to give us these a day late.¡±


    ¡°Bureaucratic Bullcrap.¡± Fennel responded before sighing. Gloria chortled at his side. ¡°If you ever make it to squad captain, you¡¯ll understand the pain.¡±


    Lukans nodded at the answer. ¡°Any idea who the new recruits will be?¡±


    Fennel shook his head. ¡°Nope. Going to meet up with Jaren and Daila in the Academy Section now. Might learn something about it.¡±

 42. Slumming It

    Chink¡­Chink¡­Chink. The sounds of coins rattling together in a leather pouch filled the air. A small bead of sweat inched its way down the back of her neck. She sat in a chair 10 feet away from Mort. A rough uncomfortable stool, but she wouldn¡¯t show anyone that it bothered her. The afternoon light slipped through the cracks of the rough wooden structure they were in. Shadows striped across Mort¡¯s face.


    Mort sat upon his makeshift throne, crafted from scrap wood and metal. The top was decorated with the head of a serpent-like monster that she didn¡¯t recognize. He repeatedly threw the bag coins in the air with one hand while leaning into the chair. He stared down at her. His beady eyes drilling into the top of her head.


    Suddenly, he threw the coins much higher into the air. He readjusted in the chair, sitting up. He plopped his hand down on the armrest. The bag fell right into his palm. He jiggled it one last time, his eyes narrowing. He then stood up and handed the bag to his Minotauran bodyguard standing next to the chair.


    ¡°Ingrid. My dear. That bag feels light. I thought we had an agreement. 700 coins two days after every raid. That last bag felt twenty shy. I even gave you a discount this time because of the spoils you scavenged from the raid field.¡± Mort¡¯s condescending words lashed against her ears.


    He was right. It was actually 23 coins shy. But she needed those extras. Prices were on the rise in the city. These last few raids were wearing on the people and more importantly, the merchants and tradesmen. They couldn¡¯t hire as many squads to defend their caravans and resource collectors. Ingrid was barely scraping by as is.


    Mort breathed in, his index finger pointed up and then back at her. ¡°But. I like you Grid. You are one of the few debtors who actually tries to pay me back. Poor Roofen over there. His club-swinging arm has been awful sore lately. Right, Roofie my man?¡±


    The Minotauran snorted while nodding and rotating his shoulder.


    ¡°So because I like you, I will let this¡­clerical error slide.¡±


    Ingrid turned her face to Mort. His mouth formed a sardonic smile. Two yellowed thin fangs rubbed his bottom lip. She turned back down to the floor. ¡°Thank you Mort. It won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry, I thought that was already implied.¡± His voice turned into a hiss.


    ¡°You¡¯d better not be short next time. Or else.¡± His hands wrapped up in her hood. He pulled it down revealing her long dark blue ears. ¡°Your kind are quite adept at making money in other fields.¡± His tongue whipped right next to her ear.


    He released the hood. Ingrid immediately hoisted it back over her head. Her eyes undoubtedly filled with hate as she glared back at him. She stood up.


    ¡°Ooo, feisty today are we?¡± He quipped.


    ¡°Then we¡¯re done?¡± She said, some venom tinged her question.


    He scoffed at her. ¡°Yes, my Grid. We are.¡±


    She stood up and turned on the spot, heading straight for the door, head hanging low.


    She left the claustrophobic den, taking a deep breath of fresh air once she was a couple hundred steps away. Securing her hood, she hurriedly walked away. Her temper still hot. Her thoughts steeped in the discomfort and unpleasant nature of her talk with Mort.


    Scum son of a bastard and beast. That raid wasn¡¯t even a full moon since the last. And I would have made more off the battlefield spoils than his ridiculous discount. Asshole.


    These thoughts pervaded her entire walk back home through the Gloom. She passed by the beggars and broken without ever once looking at them. Just as she was treated in the past. A drunken fool, tripped by a pothole, fell in her path. She hopped over him. Another day in the life.


    Not long after, she walked in front of the abandoned building she called home. It was a large three story building that had been forsaken by the Green Lady years ago. Back when she closed off the Gloom. Other families and individuals nested here as well, making for a tightknit community. She lived on the top floor. Not many dared that floor, worrying that the floors would cave. But she was light. Damn near the only perk of her gene in her mind.


    She pushed the half broken door, into the main entrance floor. The smell of malaise entered her nostrils, causing her to pause for a moment. Her head swiveled to its source. It was Mrs. Guntha. A middle-aged human; her arms and legs looking even more covered with scales then last time Ingrid came by. Her Morphosis is speeding up. If it gets much worse, I¡¯ll have to¡­ She sighed. She didn¡¯t want to think about that right now.


    The woman coughed up a storm. That medicine I gave her looks like it''s done next to nothing. Ingrid shook her head and clamped her fist. She nodded at the woman who gave a weak smile in return, one of her eyes glazed in an orange hue. Ingrid made her way to the rickety stairs of the building. She passed by some other families and people on her way. Some gave her a greeting.


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    She climbed by the second floor, and then entered the first door on the third. She lowered her hood, freeing her ears. The room hadn¡¯t changed. Some bed sheets that looked like they were recently beaten and dusted laid on the floor. Afternoon sunlight poured through the hole in the wall she created. Home sweet home.


    She heard two squeaks come from another room. She forced the doldrums from her mind, placing a practiced smile on her face.


    Two little children poked their heads around a corner. The little girl¡¯s whiskers twitched in happiness upon seeing who it was, the little boy¡¯s face was blank, but his short wagging tail gave away his feelings.


    ¡°Sis!¡± Exclaimed the girl. She ran up to Ingrid and jumped on her. Ingrid caught her and held her.


    ¡°Hey now I told you: no jumping. You can¡¯t trust these floors.¡± Ingrid said.


    The boy walked up to her, choosing to just hug her leg, not saying anything. She patted the boy''s head.


    After the hellos, she put the girl down next to her brother and knelt on the floor. Eye level with the two now, she spoke.


    ¡°Were you guys good while I was gone? You didn¡¯t give the people here too much trouble?¡±


    The twins responded with a head nod in unison. "We even patted down the beds because we knew you were coming home soon."


    ¡°Good. So what happened while I was gone? Tell me while I get some food ready.¡± She said while pulling out her pack.


    She listened to the ramblings of Macie, who regaled her with stories of what happened throughout the last week. Kende gave some input here and there whenever Macie left something he deemed crucial out.


    Ingrid half listened to their tales, keeping an ear out for anything strange or concerning, while she pulled out some cloth wrapped food from her bag. She had managed to get some moderately fresh Karibu meat from a foot cart, along with some bread and sandwich fixings.


    Macie was in the middle of talking about how they were playing with some of the other kids in the building when Ingrid finished making the meal. Kende¡¯s mouth was drooling at the sight of the food. Ingrid cuffed his head. ¡°What did I tell you about the drooling?¡±


    ¡°It''s poor manners.¡± He said sullenly. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Macie had given up her story and was sitting next to Kende.


    Ingrid gave them a slightly oversized sandwich each and watched as they devoured the food. She pulled out a piece of dried boar and snacked on it. The sandwiches were gone in an instant, the two kids looked content. They turned and faced each other. Smiling and nodding.


    Before Ingrid knew it, both kids had snuggled on to her lap. Ingrid looked out the makeshift window. The sun was far from setting. I¡¯ve got time before I meet with¡­whoever it is. She had already scoped out a place to wait before she met with Mort this morning. It was close to her home. About a ten minute walk.


    She was a bit skeptical of the whole ordeal, but she felt like she owed the strange old dude a chance.


    She continued to pet the heads of the sleepy children who invaded her lap. Her eyelids grew heavy as her hands rhythmically caressed their hair.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°The Gloom?¡± Fennel asked in a weary tone. ¡°Sundown is almost here. That¡¯s not the best time to be stomping around there.¡±


    Jaren shook his head. ¡°Yep I¡¯m aware, but Len apparently told the contact the meeting was going down at sunset. In front of Laurel¡¯s Fountain.¡± Fennel deflated upon hearing the answer.


    Fennel had just gotten to the construction site of Len and Jaren¡¯s guildhall. The entrance was empty but he did hear some rustling coming from somewhere. He was going to investigate but Jaren found him first. He told Fennel to come into the office on the second floor.


    Fennel didn¡¯t know anything about the guild¡¯s purpose but he¡¯d come here plenty of times. He and Jaren did the majority of their training here as opposed to the Legion Barracks. The training room in the back was one of the best Fennel ever used so he was fine with it. He could only imagine how much those sigils under the floor cost.


    Fennel sat down in the chair in the office. Jaren was sitting on the other side, uncharacteristically working through some documents.


    ¡°Could I at least ask Len who I¡¯m meeting? What''s their name? What they look like? Their age? Anything?¡± Jaren put the document in his hand down and looked up at Fennel.


    ¡°He is¡­indisposed at the moment.¡± Jaren said. ¡°Something guild related came up.¡± He snorted. ¡°Glad it''s him and not me.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Nothing bad, just inconvenient. Oh and to answer your question about the contact¡¯s info. It''s a half-elf girl who wears an oversized cloak.¡±


    Fennel stared at him, waiting for the rest of the description. Jaren looked back down at the documents spread out and sighed. He picked up another one and started reading. Fennel¡¯s mouth opened slightly.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    Jaren looked over the paper. ¡°Yep.¡±


    Fennel laughed at the absurdity. A cloaked half-elf girl. How many match that description? These old men, I swear. Maybe the Second isn''t looking so bad.


    ¡°And what am I supposed to say to this well-detailed girl?¡±


    ¡°Oh right.¡± Jaren opened one of the drawers in the desk and threw him a rolled up paper and a pouch filled with some coins.


    ¡°There, that¡¯s got everything in it. And don¡¯t read it. Len¡¯s orders. Now go on.¡± He waved his free hand. ¡°I¡¯d go with you but Daila dumped all this shitty paperwork on me. Punishment for making her miss a scheduled lecture. That and Len said only one person would be there. Now shoo, daylight''s burning.¡±


    Fennel stood up. He saluted Jaren out of habit and walked towards the door.

 43. Worrisome Position

    ¡°You know, I understood the first time this happened. I didn¡¯t judge. Nope. None¡­Okay maybe a little bit. There was an explanation at least. You were exhausted from a big fight. That green elf lady, who isn¡¯t nearly as pretty as she acts like she is, had cool plant controlling powers. You were never going to be able to do anything about that. However, this time. This time it''s on you. Fully and completely. No excuses.¡± Tutor said in my head.


    ¡°Mppfmmfpff.¡± Was the scholarly answer she received.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to think you''re a fan of the women and ropes combo.¡± She scoffed.


    ¡°MPPMMPPFFFPF.¡± I responded with more vigor this time. Not that it helped at all.


    I removed the mouthpiece as I scanned around the room before replying to the little annoyance that lives rent free in my head.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± I whispered. ¡°You know that¡¯s not what''s going on. I¡¯m here of my own freewill.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s what scares me the most. You chose to be strapped to that chair in Frankenstein''s basement.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t wrong. Even though I had total control of my arms, my torso and legs were tied down by leather straps. I was still in the guild. Just underneath it now. And sadly, Tutor¡¯s description of the place wasn¡¯t far from wrong. I was brought down here soon after meeting with the guest who knocked on the guild office door.


    Daila opened the door after the guest knocked on it no less than thirty times in under five seconds. Honestly, it was kind of impressive. I bet they¡¯d be great at button mashing.


    I turned in my chair and watched Daila open the door. Her normally steel expression changed to a tired one upon seeing who it was. ¡°Hello Ms. Timely. Now is not a great time¡­to¡±


    But the guest ignored Daila¡¯s rejection completely, shoving the door open and strolling right past her. It was a girl. Maybe around Daila¡¯s age, could be younger. It was hard to tell due to her obvious trope. She had large black disc-like eyes that sat in a wide and pale, circular face. She had short black hair, accentuated by light brown and white feathers. If that¡¯s not an owl gene, I quit.


    But that wasn¡¯t the most interesting part of her appearance; that would be reserved for the lab coat she wore. It''s just like the ones I found in the big tree. Bit more raggedy. The once white lab coat was covered in a multitude of stains that varied from brown to dark red. Even a little dark green and blue in some places.


    The woman¡¯s squinted gaze swept across the room. ¡°Please Ms. Timely, we were in the middle of discussing something.¡± Daila said to the woman in protest. But just as before, the woman disregarded her words. Her eyes locked on me. I waved, with a slight totally-not-awkward grin.


    She invaded my personal space in an instant, her black eyes looked massive this close up. I tried to move away from her, but she placed both her hands on the armrests of the chair. Essentially locking me in place. I could have moved her, but that would be rude. Not that she wasn¡¯t being rude first.


    Her eyes traversed my entire body, while I sat there, looking to Daila for help. She just shook her head and sighed. That¡¯s a great sign. After one of the most disconcerting minutes of my life, the owl lady released her grip from the chair and took a step back.


    ¡°You are the one Leonard spoke of, yes? The boy with the new gene.¡±


    ¡°Umm.¡± I looked at Daila with a questioning expression. ¡°Go ahead Liam.¡± Daila said.


    I turned back. ¡°Yes.¡±


    She cooed as a response. ¡°Come. Come. We must get started then. Ooh, this is so exciting.¡± She grabbed my hand and made for the office door, pulling me along. ¡°Wait, where are we going? Who even are you? Daila, who is she?¡±


    The woman¡¯s head turned completely around and looked at me. ¡°To my lab, silly.¡±


    ¡°JESUS!¡± I ripped my hand out of hers and jumped back from the horror movie monster that was undoubtedly leading me to her murder cave. The woman¡¯s body turned to match her head. She looked down at my arm and tried to grab it again. I recoiled. But that didn¡¯t stop little miss freakshow.


    I spent the next five minutes running around the office trying to get away from her. Only knocking over a couple of things on the desk. Including Daila¡¯s notebook. Once the notebook hit the floor, I felt a hand drop on my shoulder. An air of malice filled the room, stopping me in my tracks and making my blood run cold.


    I turned to see Daila¡¯s face, which held thinly veiled anger now. Through gritted teeth, she spoke. ¡°Enough of this nonsense. Both of you.¡± Daila looked at the two of us. ¡°Stop it this instant.¡±


    I chilled out, but the owl lady seized the opportunity and grabbed my arm while I was stopped. Daila¡¯s head slowly swiveled to her. ¡°Rita. Stop. Now.¡± Daila¡¯s voice gave me goosebumps. I¡¯d hate to be a kid in her class.


    She still clung to my arm, the owl woman no longer tried to pull me to the door. Daila sighed once again. ¡°Liam, this is Ms. Rita Timely. She has a laboratory in the guild. That is most likely where she was going to take you.¡±


    The owl girl nodded enthusiastically.


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    ¡°Right, sure. Why?¡±


    The owl girl responded. ¡°Because I am the number one expert on anything monster gene and monster gene adjacent.¡± She cooed in pride as she said the words. ¡°And if what Leonard said is true, you have a gene that is not in a single one of the family records. Which means you could be the discovery of a lifetime. And because Leonard said I could.¡±


    Her face feathers ruffled a bit. ¡°Ooh this is sooo exciting.¡± She repeated the sentiment from earlier with even more vim, pulling me to the office entrance once again. Daila followed along this time.


    ¡°Go with her Liam. She¡¯s harmless. Annoying and stubborn, but harmless all the same. Besides, you might just learn more about your¡­ I¡¯m sorry, what was your gene called again?¡±


    ¡°ZPIPZIZIP! Don¡¯t say it, I don''t want to know anything until I get you to the lab and run some tests. I would like to do this without a shred of bias.¡± Rita exclaimed, hushing up Daila.


    ¡°Tests? What kind of tests?¡± I asked as we entered the hallway. Rita just shushed at me. ¡°Nothing bad. Just need some bodily fluids and such.¡±


    ¡°Oh is that all?¡± I responded in sarcasm.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She responded, my sarcasm flying over her head.


    ¡°Awesome.¡±


    Daila stayed behind in the office, while Rita and I walked down the staircase that led to the front entrance of the guild. The sounds of construction stirred in the building once again. The gnomes must have finished their lunch break. Two of them were carrying a freshly cut board through the front doors. Their faces twisted in what I believed was rancor and bitterness when they looked at Rita. And subsequently me when they noticed she was holding my arm. ¡°Ugh, looks like the damn bird found someone else to harass.¡± Said one of the gnomes in a harsh gravelly voice. ¡°Poor sucker.¡± Replied the other.


    Rita, of course, was completely oblivious to the jabs from the gnomes. We walked past the door that led to the training room I had my tussle with Jaren in. Oh what I wouldn¡¯t give to be doing that instead of this. The thought bewildered me for a second. Since when did I care about training like that?


    I peered into different rooms as we walked down the hallway. A lot of the doors weren¡¯t installed yet so I could see inside of them. One door led to a kitchen that housed some medieval looking stoves and an oven along with some tables. The next room was huge but empty. Mess hall probably. Just no tables and chairs yet. We passed by three other empty rooms before stopping in front of the last room in the hallway and the only one with a door on it. Rita let my arm go, but didn¡¯t reach for the door knob.


    She walked about four feet to the left of the door and stood in front of the wall. She coughed and placed her hand on it, closing her eyes. She stood like that for a solid minute.


    ¡°Umm. You good?¡± I asked.


    She sighed and then shifted her hand up the wall a couple of inches. Green light shot forth from the wall. It made a rectangular outline, the same size as the door next to us, before more patterns appeared all over it. The symbols were not the same as the Kniyan language, they were more spiraled and wavy. The wall thrummed for a moment before the entire section of the wall vibrated and then moved backwards. It slid into the ground after it stopped moving backwards, revealing a staircase.


    Different symbols and patterns lit up the stairs, but they weren¡¯t very bright. Barely enough light to even see each step. ¡°What''s with all these creepy ass staircases?¡± I whispered. The wall closed behind us as we stepped in.


    Rita descended down the stairs, voicing complaints the whole way down. ¡°I asked those buffoons to put the hand receiver needed to be four feet and four inches up from the ground. And what do they do, they place it four feet and nine inches. Inconceivable. I gave them simple instructions. The design document was only twenty-seven pages.¡± I stopped listening to her when we entered the room at the bottom of the magical stairs.


    More of the magical light patterns activated upon all of the walls and the ceiling in the room. It reminded me of the glow-in-the-dark stars and planets we put all over the twins¡¯ room back when I was a kid. They loved those stars, Especially Gabby who absolutely adored the night sky. Tim seemed more interested in the putty used to keep them stuck to the walls. He kept ripping them down, stealing the putty, and hiding it in Gabby¡¯s hair. He got a solid whack from her for that one. I was impressed, I didn¡¯t think a girl her size could hit that hard. But by god did she ever.


    I bumped into a table during my trip down memory lane. I felt the familiar eye strain from Darksight turning on. I looked down at was on the table. It was covered in handwritten notes and illustrations. I couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of any of it. Most of them were scratched through or half erased. The whole room was cluttered, different tables each covered in papers like this one. Some strange and somewhat concerning looking metal implements hung on different racks on the walls along with some glass vials and bottles filled with concerning liquids. And a terrifying looking chair with leather straps sat in the corner.


    Before I could decipher any of it, I felt a pin prick on the underside of my arm.


    ¡°Ow. Hey, what was that?¡± I checked my status bars to make sure I wasn¡¯t inflicted with something.


    Rita moved throughout the torture dungeon with ease, sliding between each table and desk, until she stood in front of a pedestal. She placed her hand on it. More magical lights turned on, but they floated in the air above the pedestal, instead of the surface. They lined up before her and she started to¡­type?


    It looks like a magical keyboard. But there¡¯s no monitor or anything.


    I cautiously spelunked through the lab and walked up next to her. I looked at her face and saw green lights racing across the black discs in her face. Wild.


    She stopped her typing and placed a sharp looking piece of metal into a socket on the pedestal. Probably the thing that she just stabbed me with. Hmm. Its shape reminded me of a usb stick. ¡°If it¡¯s checking my blood type, then it¡¯s usb type AB positive.¡±


    But Rita made no notice of my terrible pun. For the best probably.


    ¡°Dude.¡± Tutor said in a massively disappointed tone. ¡°That was actually terrible. Irredeemable even.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I kinda stretched for that one.¡±


    The symbols vanished from above the pedestal, and the light left Rita¡¯s eyes. She turned to me with a huge smile on her face. ¡°It¡¯s not there.¡± She said, before giggling uncontrollably.


    She jumped up and down for a moment. ¡°We need to run more tests!¡± She jumped on top of a table and grabbed some of the metal implements that hung on the walls, shoving some into my hands before going to grab some vials filled with mysterious liquid.


    I put the stuff down and walked over to her. I grabbed her from the table. She was surprisingly light. She squawked in objection. I placed her down in front of me, keeping my hands on her shoulder and stared into her big face.


    ¡°What are you on about?¡±


    ¡°Your mysterious gene isn¡¯t in a single one of the family records.¡±


    ¡°And what does that even mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

 44. Genealogy of the Holy Ones

    ¡°But I intend on finding out.¡± She slithered out of my grasp and went back to grabbing different tools.


    ¡°Wait wait wait. Wait just a second. What do you mean, you don¡¯t know? And why do you need all of those tools?¡±


    Her head spun at me while she grabbed something else. Which gave me a mini panic attack. ¡°It means just that. I do not know. There has never been a case like yours. Ever. Not a single family record contains any information about your gene.¡±


    She stopped talking and squirmed out of elation, pumping her fist.


    ¡°And I get to be the one to study it. Hurray! Those bastards will feel pretty stupid when I show them my findings. Heh.¡± She said with a wry smile.


    ¡°Okay, sure. That¡¯s fine. But it still doesn¡¯t answer my question about the gadgets.¡±


    Rita lowered the, well I didn¡¯t know what was in her hands. Like a mix between a knife and a syringe. She put the knifinge down and turned back to me. Her head tilted to the side. ¡°These are for testing different aspects of your gene. This is to take some more precise readings about your blood, its heat retention and viscosity.¡± She held the knifinge up again, before switching to a new tool. Which looked like a small spring loaded bear trap that was almost closed. ¡°And this one will measure your bite force. Your teeth seem to be the trope, but we need much more data about them. Actually, now that I think about it. Is that your only trope?¡± She paused and turned back to me. Her gaze ran over my whole body, creeping me the hell out. ¡°Strip. Right now.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No. I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, that the teeth are the only trope.¡±


    ¡°But are you positive? Sometimes they end up in hard to reach places.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m positive. I have bathed myself plenty of times. No tropes in weird places.¡± Well sort of. I could tell her about the forms, but that might cause her head to explode. She shrugged her shoulders and shuffled a few more papers around a table, clearing space for more tools.


    My eyes wandered back over the gadgets and gizmos. ¡°Heat retention? Bite force?¡± I half-spoke in disbelief. Yeah, I can¡¯t do this.


    ¡°Stop. No. I¡¯m not taking part in any kooky bullshit like this. I¡¯m leaving. You got your readings. I¡¯m done.¡± I turned around and made a beeline straight for the stairs.


    She dropped the current torture implement in her hands and ran over to me, grabbing the hem of my shirt.


    ¡°No. No you can¡¯t go. There is so much to record, to analyze, to discover. I don¡¯t even have a measurement of your hair growth yet.¡± She pulled a pair of scissors out of her lab coat¡¯s pocket with her free hand. Scissors that had saw teeth along the blades.


    ¡°Get off of me.¡± I tried to shake her off, but her grip held strong. I could have used more force, but I really didn¡¯t want to the ruin comfy clothes Mrs. Warbler gave me. Owe that lady a lot already.


    In the middle of prying the mad scientist off my clothes, the door to the lab opened. I heard some footsteps coming down the stairs. I wanted to turn and see who was coming, but the girl apparently remembered her earlier request about stripping. She was dead set on removing my clothes.


    ¡°Liam, I see you¡¯ve met our resident gene expert and¡­¡± I recognized the voice. It was Len; he entered the room with a small flame floating by his head. He paused in the middle of his sentence. I turned to see his face, while pushing the woman away from my own. He gave me a goofy smile. ¡°Feels a little sweaty in here.¡± He puffed his shirt. ¡°Should I give you two some space?¡± He said in jest.


    ¡°No! Get this crazy chick off me!¡±


    Len helped me wrestle the owl woman away. He told me to round up a few of the chairs that were scattered in the room while he cleared a table. Rita was still buzzing around the room writing new things down on various scraps of paper and gathering other tools. Len¡¯s flames followed behind her, putting the various doodads back on the walls. I don¡¯t think she even noticed.


    Once I brought them over and placed them around the cleared table, Len called Rita and told her to sit down.


    ¡°Sit, no I can''t sit now, way too much to do. Too much to learn.¡± Rita responded.


    ¡°Rita. We talked about this.¡± Len said to the woman in a slow, methodical tone. And not only that, I felt the air shift around Len and Rita. It reminded me of what Daila did to the guard, just less menacing and more peaceful. Another application of Aura? I guess it doesn¡¯t have to be threatening all the time.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting lost in the weeds. Let''s focus on the big discoveries first. Hair growth can come later. Now get me up to speed. Is his gene in any of the records?¡±


    The bird girl seemed to calm down significantly. She sat down. ¡°You¡¯re right Len, thank you. The excitement of a brand new never before seen gene got to me.¡± She composed herself. ¡°No, his gene did not possess a single marker in common in any of the family records.¡±


    Len nodded his head. ¡°I figured that would be the case. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, we pretty much just started when you arrived.¡± Yeah, while I was being sexually harassed.


    I cleared my throat, I wanted to ask questions before these two moved forward.


    ¡°I really feel like I¡¯m missing some context here. I¡¯ve heard the term family record. But I thought it had to do with being Feral. Like it''s some kind of proof of citizenship or ancestry. What does it have to do with monster genes?¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Rita looked over at me and then back to Len. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell him anything?¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°Nope, it wasn¡¯t important at the time. He needed to learn how to not die. And I wanted him to learn from the best.¡± He winked at her. ¡°Assume he knows nothing at all. Because he doesn¡¯t.¡±


    She turned back to me, her black discs blinked once. ¡°Family records show more than just a list of the forebears of one¡¯s family. It is a full archive of every gene that has been passed down. Tracing all the way from the First Ones. Also known as The First Generation. But not many use that term any more.¡±


    Len¡¯s used that phrase before and I think I¡¯ve heard others in the city say it too. First Ones.


    ¡°And who are these first ones?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They are what their name implies. They were the first of the sentient races to have monster genes. Here.¡± She got up from her chair and shuffled through some papers that sat on a different table. She grabbed a bigger piece and laid it down in front of me.


    It was a map. A map of Kniyas. I recalled the time when Len drew one in the ground for me, but this was much more detailed. Instead of it just being a rectangle split evenly, it showed the true boundaries of each area and illustrations of the landscape. Each area had a black small black square with a name next to it. The names of each Splice Capital.


    The two bottom sections, The Beach and The Desert, took up a little less than half of the total landmass of Kniyas. They were covered in sand with some patches of green interspersed between. A lake was drawn near the Desert capital. The Beach had some depictions of palm trees near its capital.


    The Forest was the next largest grabbing up maybe thirty percent of the space. The illustrations for it were mostly trees, not surprising. But there was a green flat land that lied between it and the Desert.


    The final quarter was shared by The Hills and The Spires. The Spires was by far the smallest region, getting only a sliver of the map at the northern edge of the map.


    But something was odd about it. The Spires¡¯ northern boundaries showed more land above them. Drawings of snow capped mountains. When Len first drew the map, I assumed Kniyas was an island. But this shows that there are lands even further north.


    I pointed to the unmarked mountain range ¡°What''s to the north of the Spires?¡±


    Len answered. ¡°Short answer. No clue, past that boundary you will only find death. Monsters that make the Greater Graveball look like a squirrel reside among those peaks. No one has ever returned from a trip up there.¡± His timbre became somber for a moment.


    My interest piqued upon learning about them though. A part of this world that no one knows. Something worth exploring. ¡°It sounds like a perfect job for an Explorer¡¯s Guild.¡± I said with a grin.


    Len¡¯s face brightened. ¡°Yeah, not quite kid. Maybe one day, but the cold alone would cripple you before the monsters did.¡±


    Rita coughed. Len mouthed sorry to her. She pointed at each of the Capitals on the map one by one.


    ¡°Do you know of the Capitals?¡± I nodded. ¡°Len told me some about them but nothing in depth.¡±


    ¡°Each Capital gets its name from one of the First One¡¯s. Tiamantis was named after Tiamat, a human man who had the Dragon gene.¡±


    ¡°Then we have Dendrun, named after Denn, a male dwarf and wielder of the Beast gene.¡±


    ¡°Next is here, Laurelhaven, named after Laurell, a female elf and holder the Dryad gene.¡±


    ¡°Then we have Vulug Town, named after Vulug, a male orc with the Roc Gene.¡± My ears perked up at the mention of Roc. Hundred mile an hour winds and blue lightning arcs danced in my memories. I rubbed the back of my head, recalling the intense pain of it being thrown into that tree from the wind pressure alone.


    ¡°And finally, Kailis, whose patron is Kaila, a female half-elf with the Leviathan Gene.¡±


    I stared at the map in awe. Learning about the history of Kniyas fascinated me. I was itching to learn more.


    ¡°Every monster gene in Kniyas is derived from these five people. And not only that, each one had unbelievable and divine power. Take the Capitol Building here in Laurelhaven. That tree wasn¡¯t naturally grown. That was the result of Laurell¡¯s powers. The Dryad gene held unparalleled command over all flora. And that''s just the start.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but think about the bitchy green elf. Did she also have the Dryad gene?


    ¡°Kaila was said to rise and lower the sea level at will. Denn could make and break earth with ease. Tiamat had complete control over the elements. And my ancestor, Vulug, could change the entire shape of the dunes in The Desert with one blast of wind.¡±


    Rita¡¯s dark eyes shone. She was absolutely ecstatic. This was her passion. Each word and description, filled with more energy than the last.


    ¡°And how long ago has it been since they were around?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It has been roughly 40 generations since they walked Kniyas. Some families and races are longer lived so their records are smaller than others. But the longest records go back 40 generations.¡±


    ¡°And each of these records trace back to the First One¡¯s? Like can Len look up his record and see which of the First One¡¯s is his ancestor?¡±


    She nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Yes of course. It''s a point of pride for most. Len?¡±


    ¡°Tiamat.¡± he answered simply.


    ¡°See.¡± She said with a smile.


    ¡°So where did they get the genes?¡± I asked. I expected more ardor to follow that question from Rita, but her posture shifted. And some of her energy died down.


    ¡°That¡¯s the big question. No one really knows.¡± She picked the map back up and returned it to the table it was once on. Her mood, still sullen.


    I turned to Len. ¡°What¡¯d I say?¡± I whispered.


    He answered in a hushed voice. ¡°That type of question is frowned upon in Kniyas. Some decree from generations ago forbade the questioning of the First One¡¯s powers. You haven¡¯t run into any yet, but the more devout followers take great offense to questions about their Holy First Generation.¡±


    So there is a religion here. Makes sense. But from the sounds of it their deities are long gone. ¡°What''s so wrong with asking about them?¡±


    He pointed to Rita, who was organizing. ¡°That¡¯s the exact question she was kicked out of the Laurel Laboratory for asking.¡±


    He sat up and looked back at her. ¡°See, I know she can be a lot to handle. Especially when she has one of those obsessive episodes. But at the end of the day, she shares that same thirst for knowledge and understanding that is central to what we are building. So don¡¯t judge her too harshly. And besides we got more to learn about your gene.¡±


    He stood up and yelled to Rita on the other side of the room.


    ¡°Wanna see his other tropes?¡±


    ¡°I knew he had more!¡±

 45. Lab Rat

    Rita dropped the papers she was holding, all the previous organizing a waste now as they fell to the ground. She rushed back over to me, reaching for my clothes again. ¡°NO. Stop.¡± I planted my hand in her face. Her face smushed into my hand. ¡°I will show them to you. On the condition that you stop trying to rip my clothes off.¡± I explained.


    I kept my hand out for a moment longer, testing to see whether or not she would listen this time.


    Len snickered in his chair. ¡°You should have bought him dinner first, Rita. He¡¯s a classy one.¡±


    ¡°Len shut up,¡± I responded with a slight chuckle. He just shrugged.


    Rita stepped away from my hand. She tilted her head at Len. ¡°Would giving you food have allowed me to¡­¡±


    ¡°No, he is just making a dumb joke. Don¡¯t pay any mind to that.¡± She seemed to be on the more gullible side, so I wanted to nip that in the bud as soon as possible.


    She pulled out a small pouch. She walked over to my still outstretched hand and turned it palm side up, dropping the pouch in it.


    It clinked when it landed. Coins? Wait, did she just give me money? Did she just pay me to strip?


    ¡°I don¡¯t have food in the lab, but I do have this. Will that suffice?¡± She asked, completely


    ¡°Umm.¡± I knew returning the money would be the right thing to do, however I was intrigued. I hadn¡¯t yet seen the currency of Kniyas. So curiosity got the better of me.


    I opened the small bag and looked into it, before pouring some of its contents into my hand. A multitude of small metal coins flowed out of the bag. Each coin was the same size and shape, probably about the size of a nickel, but not every coin was the same. Each coin had one of three different symbols on it. They were letters from the Kniyan alphabet, which doesn¡¯t really translate to English well, but they were the letters for B, S, and G.


    I had a feeling they were different denominations of currency. Bronze, silver, and gold maybe. That¡¯d make things easy. But what are the rates like? How many bronze pieces to a silver or a gold piece? Or could silver be worth more than gold? This is a different world, silver could be more scarce than gold.


    The coins also shined differently in the dim light from the wall lights, but I couldn¡¯t recognize the colors. Darksight, while giving me the always-helpful ability to see in the dark, made everything grayscale.


    ¡°Hey Len, could you give me a light?¡± He snapped his fingers and a small ball of fire appeared next to my head.


    My eyes readjusted to the orange hue, letting me get a better look at the coins. ¡°Well, that''s simple huh,¡± I muttered to myself while fingering through the pile in my hand. The B coins were reddish brown, the S silver, and the G, pink?


    ¡°Rose gold, what? But that doesn¡¯t occur naturally. It¡¯s an alloy if I remember right.¡±


    Before I could ask Len some questions about the money, I felt a tug at my shirt. And then it started lifting.


    I flicked the nosy little owl girl¡¯s forehead. She recoiled from the devastating blow with a cute ¡°ehh¡± noise. She rubbed the wound while pouting at me.


    ¡°The only way to stop her is by showing the goods. The poor girl paid for a show. You''re obligated to give her one now, my boy.¡± Len pulled out his own notebook and began writing things down. Some things never change huh?


    I sighed in defeat. ¡°Fine. But no tools. Just writing. That is it. And no more blood.¡± I refilled the bag with coins and dropped it on the nearby table.


    Her pout ended abruptly, she grabbed some papers and readied herself.


    I looked up at my status bar. Ursa and Tigris were still on cooldown. Ursa only had three minutes left, Tigris was over an hour. I guess Monkey Man will have to do.


    I shifted into Apis form. Everything was fine, except for my tail getting stuck down a pant leg. I need to get Mrs. Warbler to add a tail hole to my clothes. I twisted my face in disgust. Oh, I don¡¯t like that word. Tailhole just sounds wrong. I pulled the tail out of my pants and waved at Rita with it.


    Rita hopped away from her notes, taking a closer look at the newly formed appendage. Miss Grabby-Hands did what she does best and started groping my tail. Which I can¡¯t say felt terrible, but definitely a bit vulnerable if I had to put it into words. I flicked it at her, seeing if I could get a reaction.


    I found it odd that she hadn¡¯t asked any questions yet. Hell, she still hasn¡¯t asked for my gene¡¯s name. I scratched my head with my tail.


    She stopped playing with my tail and wrote something down, then moved on to the new fur my face donned. She touched it rather gently, pausing to write a few notes. ¡°Open your mouth.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I obeyed. She looked inside for a sec and nodded. She voiced her thoughts as she wrote them down. ¡°Typical Primate gene tropes.¡± She turned her head up to me. ¡°Why can you change your trope?¡±


    ¡°One of my gene¡¯s abilities allows me to copy and imitate a monster. In this case, it was a jackanape, those little monkeys that sleep in trees and make awful songs. These copies are recorded in my character sheet. I may turn into the form at any time, but once I leave the form, I must wait out a cooldown timer before coming back into the form.¡±


    She smiled the whole time as she furiously scribbled on the papers. ¡°What is the form recorded as? It¡¯s name I mean. Is it Jackanape?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s recorded as Apis.¡±


    She dropped her writing utensil upon hearing the name and slowly turned her head up at me. ¡°Please repeat that.¡±


    ¡°Um, Apis.¡±


    She shot up from her chair and sprinted back to the weird magical keyboard pedestal. Her fingers flew around as she typed. I was going to walk over to her, but she stopped and cooed. ¡°As I thought.¡± She said, returning to her notes.


    Len walked up this time. ¡°What is it?¡±


    Without stopping her notetaking she answered Len. ¡°That name, Apis, is an extremely old name. It was one of the earliest genes in the records. Maybe three generations from Denn himself.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean old gene? Did it disappear from the record or did the holders of it die without reproducing first?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°No. No. That is far from how it works.¡± She stopped writing and tapped her pen on her chin.


    ¡°Genes have changed throughout the generations. They are wildly more varied and specific than they once were. They are influenced by the pairings of parents, mutations, and even the environment in some cases. Every gene is a mutation or evolution from the original First Generation. Apis is one of the earliest splits from Denn¡¯s Beast Gene. The Warm-Blooded Father is another name he goes by. His gene split into many others, which in turn splintered into even more.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s look at your Apis form and compare it to the jackanape you received it from. There is a gene that corresponds to those little primates called the Jackas gene.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at that name. Hey, I¡¯m Bob and I¡¯m a Jackass. Len bumped me with his elbow. ¡°Oh sorry. Here, before we go any further.¡±


    I reverted back to base form. Rita watched. ¡°Is there a timer on the form?¡±


    ¡°Nope, well if I run out of Stamina then I revert. And I can¡¯t sleep in the forms either. But right now I changed back because Apis form does not like long complicated talks.¡±


    ¡°Interesting.¡±¡¯I saw the gears in her head begin to spin as she pondered what I just told her. After a few seconds of silence, she made one big nod. ¡°Need to test that later.¡±


    ¡±But back to my explanation. The Jackas gene is relatively new at least compared to the Apis gene. It started showing up about six or seven generations ago. By following the family record of one of these Jackas splicers, we can see that it is a split of the Apis gene. Tell me, what are your other forms called?¡±


    She returned to the pedestal and wired for me to list them out.


    ¡°Ursa, Gremlin, Tigris.¡±


    ¡°Ursa¡­Gremlin¡­Tigris¡± She repeated after me, typing each name.


    ¡°Yep, as I thought, each one is an early recorded gene, especially Gremlin. It¡¯s a second gen, from Tiamat no less. Fascinating. Is that a powerful form?¡±


    ¡°Not particularly, it''s weak compared to the others.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating. So even a second generation gene doesn¡¯t have the same capability of the First.¡± She spoke mostly to herself before addressing me again.


    ¡°Is that all of them?¡±


    ¡°Nope, Squirrel is that last one.¡±


    She started typing but stopped abruptly. Her head spun around 180 again. I managed to not flinch this time, though it still made my skin crawl.


    ¡°Like the little tree rats?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm.¡± I nodded.


    ¡°That. That¡¯s gonna need some more research.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because that¡¯s another gene that doesn¡¯t exist, or at least isn¡¯t recorded.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s nothing to write home about, it doesn¡¯t have any combat ability and its trope just gives me buck teeth.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter, not really. It''s not in the records.¡± She walked away from the pedestal and started pacing around the room, talking to herself.


    ¡°Two. Two genes that aren¡¯t recorded. One from a tier-one monster as well. Riveting! What does it mean?¡± She thumbed the side of her head. ¡°Oh, how I wish I had access to the lab again. I could do better experiments there.¡±


    Len put his hand on my shoulder. ¡°She¡¯s gonna be like that for a minute, best to let her get that out of her system.¡±


    ¡°Probably a bad time to tell her about the object mimicry then.¡±


    Len laughed at the comment. ¡°Yep, that might push her over the edge.¡±


    ¡°So the shade panther is your only new form. You didn¡¯t pick up anymore?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I have a limit. Got the notification a while back. It will increase though. At level five, I get more. Not sure how many more. The notification didn¡¯t say.¡±


    ¡°Any monster you¡¯d prefer?¡±


    ¡°Not really, I haven''t spent much time thinking about it. It''s been months since I got that notification and I¡¯ve only just hit level four. Right before that raid.¡±


    ¡°Best start now. You¡¯ll get there quickly. Raids do wonders for leveling. At least in the early levels, it slows down around ten. Here, think about what you''re missing. What would help the most right now?¡±


    I pondered his question. What am I missing? I thought back on the previous battles, trying to analyze what would have made them easier. And one thing popped into my head.


    ¡°Range. I need something with range. Some of my fights would have gone much smoother if I didn¡¯t always have to be in close quarters.¡±


    ¡°Good answer. Karibu might be a good choice.¡± Len remarked with a smile.


    ¡°Karibu?¡±


    ¡°The things that singled your bear fur in the raid.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the magical moose. Karibu. Oh, by the way, what are the boars with the single venomous tusk called?¡±


    ¡°Tusxic.¡±


    I snapped my finger. ¡°So close.¡±


    Rita ran up to me, halting my quick talk with Len. She grabbed my arm and started leading me over to a different part of the lab.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I need to analyze your gene more. And to do that we need you in that chair.¡± She pointed to the chair in the corner. The one with leather straps. I gulped.


    ¡°What''s that chair gonna do to me? Len, help.¡± But he was already back to walking up the stairs, completely disregarding anything I said. ¡°Need to get more notebooks, I¡¯ll check on you in a while.¡±


    ¡°It will help us see which of the First Generation you''re descended from. Or at least tell us which genetic markers you share. It will most likely even help us learn more about how your powers work. Don¡¯t worry, it''s nothing invasive.¡± She pushed me into a chair. ¡°See, the straps don¡¯t even go on the arms. And this needs to go in your mouth.¡± She shoved a small strap in my mouth.


    She walked back to the pedestal, she typed into it. The chair and its straps began to light up. I felt a vibration and heard a humming noise. But it wasn¡¯t unpleasant. It kind of reminded me of being in a massage chair. She stepped away from the pedestal and ran to the stairs before going any further, without saying a word.


    Which left me all by myself, until Tutor started talking. ¡°You know, I understood the first time this happened.¡±

 46. Sleazy Sector

    Orange rays of the afternoon sky blanketed the roots that made up the gate in front of Fennel. He would normally think about how peaceful a sight it was. It signaled that his day was about to end. That is if it was the gate that led to his home. But it wasn¡¯t. The gate leading to the residential district didn¡¯t have this many guards posted outside of it.


    Fennel counted four separate guards. Each gave him a discerning look. Fennel sighed.


    One walked up to him, holding a small notebook. A medium-sized human with antlers on his head. ¡°Name, job, and reason for being here?¡±


    ¡°Fennel Blines, Squad Captain of the Fourth Legion. And my reasons are mine and mine alone.¡± He cringed internally at his last statement. It was such a pompous thing to say. But that was apparently the code Len left.


    The guard¡¯s eyes opened up more and he gave Fennel a once over. Fennel worried he¡¯d messed up the phrase. The guard eventually shrugged, putting the notebook away without writing anything on it. He nodded to the female guard next to the lever to open the gate. She pulled it, opening the gate.


    Fennel tried to walk past him, but the guard held out an arm. ¡°Still got to check your Aura.¡± Fennel nodded and stopped. The guard placed a palm on Fennel''s head.


    Fennel felt the guard''s mental presence connect with his own. Fennel almost blocked him out of habit. Daila¡¯s training was extensive in the art of controlling one¡¯s Aura. But these checks are needed to go in and out of the Gloom, on account of the particular businesses located here.


    The guard removed his hand. ¡°Looks good. Your balance is fine. Immaculate really. You¡¯ve had a good teacher. Don¡¯t know why you are bothering coming to this shithole.¡±


    ¡°Chief¡¯s orders, you know how it is,¡± Fennel replied.


    The guard nodded his head in agreement. ¡°You¡¯ve got until sundown. My shift ends at night and the next guy won''t let you out. You¡¯ll be stuck in there until next afternoon. When my shift starts again.¡± He said in a stern voice.


    Fennel¡¯s anxiety kicked up but his eyes were focused. He nodded to the guard. Fennel walked over to the gate entrance and looked through. The other side of the gate was dark, but he could make out lights and movement. He perked his ears and could make out the sounds of people on the streets.


    Fennel¡¯s mind raced with what he knew of the Gloom. Shadows covered the streets and buildings of this district. The Gloom was named so because it sat at the back side of the Capitol Building. The giant tree blocked the sun¡¯s light for the majority of the day in this district. It got sunlight for a few hours in the morning, but by noon, shade enveloped the district. And it looks like it''s all true.


    He gulped before taking his first step. It was his first time coming to The Gloom. He had heard plenty of stories of the place from his uncle Herman. Who spent more time down here than anyone in the family cared for. But they never said anything, his position as Captain of the Guard was a major reason the Blines are so well regarded now.


    He made his way through the tunnel, stopping once he was on the other side. Lamp posts lined the middle of the cobblestone street, with buildings constructed on both sides. The buildings each had a flaming brazier by their door, ranging in a multitude of colors. People walked on both sides of the lit path. Some laughed as they went on their way, others kept to themselves. One such person walked by him and the alcohol stench alone almost knocked Fennel down.


    A woman with slender black rabbit ears poking out of her head stood outside of a building adorned with red lanterns and a large red brazier. She waved at Fennel, beckoning him to come over. She wore clothing that didn¡¯t leave much to the imagination. A low-cut dress that seemed to just barely stay on her shoulders, as if a single wrong movement or breeze would cause the whole ensemble to fall off her.


    ¡°Hello there cutie. What brings such a fine upstanding man as yourself around here? Looking for a little,¡± she swayed her hips slowly before finishing with ¡°companionship?¡± Her words danced around Fennel¡¯s ears, enticing him to come along. But he knew this feeling. It was Aura manipulation. She was sending waves of allure.


    He focused his mind, dispelling the emotions. ¡°N-no, but thank you.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°But um, actually could you direct me towards Laurel¡¯s Fountain.¡±


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    The woman¡¯s demeanor changed as Fennel rejected her offer. Her ears drooped to the sides of her head and she held out her hand. He looked at her hand and then back at her. It took a moment before Fennel understood what was happening.


    He grabbed his coin pouch and gave the woman a silver. She grabbed it and stowed it away in her garb. Her voice changed just like her attitude, sounding weary and deeper than just a moment ago. ¡°Just follow the road, turn at the first club with yellow lights. Then follow that till you get there. Can¡¯t miss the crusty thing.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Now, get out of here. Got to bring in more customers.¡± She turned away from Fennel and locked onto a new target. Her voice regained its sultry tone as she beckoned a tipsy woman walking by.


    Fennel walked along the path, a little overwhelmed by everything going on around him. Laughter boomed right as he passed by a building with green lanterns, making him jump a little. A large elf man wearing a stained apron was holding a dwarf man in his arms. He threw the dwarf into the street. ¡°And don¡¯t you even think to come back here before you pay the tab!¡± The elf turned and looked at Fennel. ¡°You with him?¡± Fennel quickly shook his head and continued on before any blame could be shifted on him.


    His uncle told him the significance of each lantern color in the past, but Fennel never really committed them to memory. He was hoping he wouldn¡¯t need to take trips to the Gloom, at least not for a while. He remembered green being his uncle¡¯s main choice. Their establishment was geared towards splicers with abnormal appetites.


    Fennel would never tell anyone as his uncle swore him to secrecy, but Herman Blines was especially partial to the tongues of beast-type monsters. Fennel didn¡¯t share in his uncle¡¯s tastes, not many did.


    Herman explained to Fennel why the Gloom was a necessary evil when he was younger, and just started his legion training. ¡°Part of having monster blood flowing through our bodies meant sharing in some odd¡­tendencies. These tendencies rise up when yer Mental runs low or gets out of whack. It¡¯s normally because of the stresses of life on Kniyas. Be it trauma from recent or past battles, problems in the home, or just a simple lack of sleep. Each will make your Aura unstable. And that¡¯s where the Gloom comes in.¡±


    ¡°But doesn¡¯t each Legion have training for dealing with such problems?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Aye, Daila Underbrush is in charge of the training for the Fourth, where you''re joining. Hard one she is, but very, very good with Aura. You know as well as I not everybody in Laurelhaven is a soldier with access to these professionals. Raid Legions need to be the very best of the best. So they make sure to pound Mental training down our throats. Even if everybody does combat training as children, in case a group of monsters from a raid break into the city, not everyone is blessed with useful primary and detrimental stats like us.¡± He pounded his chest in pride before continuing his explanation.


    ¡°These people needed some way to effectively purge the behaviors and rebalance their Aura. And that is where that district comes in. The Gloom helps people relieve stress in the way best suited for them and their genes. Safely and within reason of course. The Gloom gives folks the chance to burn through those tendencies without hurting themselves or others. And it creates more jobs for those unfortunates as well. It ain¡¯t a perfect system, but it''s sure as shit better than letting everyone run wild.¡±


    He stopped thinking about his uncle¡¯s words, trying to direct his attention back to the task at hand. And failing as he thought about the few of his own squadmates who took trips into the Gloom. Fennel prayed no one would find him here. He didn¡¯t want to be associated with the district. Especially to Gloria. He shook his head.


    But for as nasty and degenerate as it seemed to him, Fennel knew firsthand what would happen to those who don¡¯t do anything to try to control the gene urges.


    Josu, his older cousin on Fennel¡¯s father¡¯s side, was one such case. A Minotauran with no STR or CON growths, but all the DEX and WIS in the world. Putting him on the frontlines of a raid would be tantamount to murder. So he was excused from raid fighting. He took up leather crafting and was even pretty good at it. Fennel had a lot of memories of spending time in Josu¡¯s shop. He could even still smell the awful tanning agents Josu used.


    But Josu¡¯s wife died in a raid, throwing him into a downward spiral he never got out of. Fennel was still young when it happened but with his current Aura training, he now understood how twisted Josu became. That was when Josu¡­turned.


    Water splashed into Fennel¡¯s boot, throwing him out of the sad memories. He looked up and saw a man stumble into a puddle next to where Fennel was walking, mumbling to himself. This day can¡¯t end soon enough.


    After shaking his boots off, he looked up and saw the building with yellow lights outside it, and where the road forked off next to it.


    He heard the sounds of fighting and weapons clashing as he got closer to the yellow-light building. A fight club, well that¡¯s at least the least weird store I¡¯ve walked by. He debated on peering into the store. It intrigued him for some reason, but he was on a timer right now.


    He trekked into the side street, looking for the landmark where he was to meet the ¡°half-elf girl with an oversized cloak.¡±


    ¡°Amazing description. Really helpful.¡±

 47. A Simple Gig

    Ingrid climbed up the tree growing a few dozen feet away from Laurel¡¯s Fountain. In no way shape or form was she going to meet up with a stranger without doing some surveillance. She breathed in deep, concealing her presence. She would have liked to track the contact¡¯s movement throughout the whole Gloom, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen now. The meet-up was happening any minute now.


    She was slightly annoyed with herself. She didn¡¯t mean to fall asleep with the runts. But something about them soothed her and calmed her down, gave her a little peace. Reminded her why she did what she did. And why she couldn¡¯t stop.


    On the bright side, she felt more rested than she had in a week. I wish I could prioritize sleep more. Maybe soon. She shook her head. Don¡¯t hope. Never hope. It does nothing but hurt when it goes to pot.


    So she sat in her tree, waiting. The Tree¡¯s shadow blocked a lot of the sun but she could tell the sun was still in the sky but going to drop under the horizon in a few minutes. This meeting shouldn¡¯t take too long. More of a drop-off and an escort than anything if that geezer is to be believed. Babysitting from the sounds of it. She rubbed her neck. Leonard Ainsworth eh? He is not the stoic, badass splicer they paint him as.


    Her thoughts returned to the night she met that old man, rubbing her rump. Her backside still hurt from trying to break through that window.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Leonard Ainsworth. So, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    Every nerve in her body was on edge. She barely comprehended the introduction she had just been given. Ingrid¡¯s eyes continued to scan the room for another exit.


    The man in front of her cleared his throat. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you are smart enough to understand that you¡¯ve been caught with no hope of escape. And that you know exactly who I am.¡± Each flame in the room flared as he finished his statement. Ingrid closed her eyes. Shit.


    ¡°If not then I¡¯m losing my touch.¡± He said.


    The overwhelmingly smug man sighed. ¡°Look, just hear what I have to say. You are free to leave once I¡¯m done. That¡¯s a promise.¡± She looked up and into his eyes. They were intense. But not filled with any sort of malice. For now. These upper city folk¡¯s attitudes will flip at a moment''s notice. I doubt there¡¯s a chance I¡¯m walking out of here unscathed.


    ¡°Do I have your attention now?¡±


    Ingrid gave him a curt nod.


    ¡°Good.¡± He picked up the papers she brought, the plans for the hidden caches in the building. He smirked while he looked at them.


    ¡°You are interesting, to say the least. You did well to get this far without any formal training. Though I¡¯m sure we both know the guards patrolling if you can even call it that, aren¡¯t the cream of the crop. Rejects mostly. Men who either can¡¯t defend in raids or barely fight. But that¡¯s how it goes right after a raid. The good men and women that normally work for these crafters are resting up or were injured in the most recent raid.¡±


    Ingrid shifted in her seat. Ugh, got a long-winded bastard this time around.


    ¡°Sneaking into this place could probably be done by a child in the scout''s course. But that¡¯s not what is compelling about you my friend. That¡¯s not where your talent shines. No, it¡¯s how well you control your Aura. And that is not something many have. Not without extensive teaching at least. I¡¯m positive that if I wasn¡¯t on the premises, you probably would have gotten away with it. Not that there wasn¡¯t anything to get away with.¡±


    He got up from his chair. ¡°Where was it?¡± He looked over the papers again.


    ¡°Ah right.¡± He stood up and walked around the desks and into a corner of the room. Ingrid was about to get up and bolt for the door, but she turned and saw the fire was still raging. Yeah, it wouldn¡¯t be that simple. Even the wall she was kicking down had a small line of fire in front of it. Primed to flame up in a second. She knew the stories of Leonard Ainsworth.


    He moved a cupboard over to reveal¡­nothing. There wasn¡¯t a hatch or a secret compartment at all. Nothing like what was shown in the plans. ¡°See, they hadn¡¯t even gotten around to making it. They forgot the papers or something. I don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t worry, they didn¡¯t make any in the kitchen or the conference room either.¡±


    Ingrid¡¯s heart sank into her stomach. So, not only did I get caught, but I also was never going to get anything out of it. Truly brilliant job you dolt. She admonished herself for not doing more investigation of the site.


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    The man scoffed. ¡°I know. Ridiculous. It¡¯s been a constant struggle with these contractors. I almost could swear they just want to argue. Always on about something they don¡¯t want to build. I pay them too much for all that.¡± He returned to his seat behind the desk.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too disheartened though. I¡¯m going to offer you something far more valuable than whatever I¡¯d have put in that compartment.¡± And sat up and looked right at her, his vision burning a hole through her head.


    ¡°An opportunity.¡± Fire flared once again, emphasizing his statement.


    This one loves his theatrics.


    ¡°An opportunity to do more, see more than you ever have being stuck in this city. Stuck in the Gloom. To go and discover¡­¡± A smile bloomed across his face while he spoke. And the man began to monologue about exploring or something.


    But Ingrid couldn¡¯t give a single care about any of that nonsense. She couldn¡¯t afford to. She didn¡¯t have time for any of it. Her priorities were here and now. Not that she could do anything about it. Even if this guy lets me go, how will I get the rest of the cash for Mort? It¡¯s too risky to do any more pickpocketing. Breaking into homes at night was a recipe for disaster.


    She mulled over her options until she noticed the man had stopped talking and was giving her a miffed glare. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing that speech for a while, you know.¡±


    Ingrid just shrugged. The man let out a big breath. ¡°Maybe Jaren¡¯s right, this recruitment stuff might not be my strength.¡± He rubbed his forehead.


    ¡°Look. I will get to the point. I want you to join my guild. That¡¯s what this building is. A new Guild Hall. And I can tell you don¡¯t care about any of the tusxic crap I spew out about it. But I can promise one thing. Money.¡±


    The man pulled out a pouch of money from one of the desk drawers and dropped it. ¡°Life¡¯s most dull but effective motivator. I can pay you well over what you scrounge together. With the added benefit of it being legitimate. So you don¡¯t have to worry about running into someone like me who isn¡¯t quite as¡­hospitable.¡±


    He picked the bag back up, tossing it in his hands. Her eyes tracked the movement of the bag. ¡°I see that I have your attention now then. Good. I have a job for you. And this here is the payment. Or at least half. You will get the other half when the job is done.¡±


    She nodded to him. ¡°What¡¯s the gig?¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you can talk. I was beginning to wonder. It''s a simple job really. You will meet up with someone tomorrow evening at Laurel¡¯s fountain. He will be carrying a scroll. Take the scroll. Lead him out of the Gloom and back to the Residential District in one piece. That¡¯s it. Easy right?¡±


    Escort through the Gloom. Weird.


    ¡°What do I do with the scroll?¡±


    ¡°The boy, your contact, will tell you when he drops it off.¡± The man said while giving the bag of coins one more toss.


    Ingrid nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    He threw the bag into her hands immediately after her answer. She tucked it away without hesitation. She knew there could be a tracking sigil on them but that didn¡¯t really matter. She¡¯d be rid of them by tomorrow anyway.


    ¡°Now remember, that¡¯s only half the payment. And I expect you to complete the job. You don¡¯t want to renege on me. I will know.¡± His voice quality changed. It held a lethal edge to it. It was more serious now than it''s been this entire conversation. She gulped, completely out of reflex.


    ¡°Great! Your contact is a dwarf named Fennel. He¡¯ll be easy to spot. Look for the young dwarf with a laughably confused look on his face.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Oh, I can imagine it now. That poor pup.¡±


    ¡°Dwarf with a laughably confused look, huh.¡± She muttered to herself while she sat in the tree. She eyed around the small courtyard that held the fountain. Nothing but the usual crowd so far. Drunks and bums kicked out of Main Street. No dwarves.


    Her eyes fell on the fountain itself. A once great monument. Back before the incident twenty years ago. She had no real memories of it during its heyday. She was only a toddler back then. The only memory she had was her mother stuffing her into a barrel before everything went down.


    Some of the older folk in the building told her stories of what it looked like. A beautiful pale brown tree devoid of bark. However, it was full of life, lush with radiant green leaves and bright blue flowers. Water flowed from every branch of the tree, gathering into the pool below. Water that healed and brought energy to those who drank of it. The gem of the Gloom.


    Ingrid had a hard time believing the stories. This gem was split right in half and is currently covered in filth. Bone dry too. She couldn¡¯t really imagine there ever being water around it.


    But none of that mattered right now. She had a job. A legitimate one at that. Sanctioned by the Leonard Ainsworth. She rolled her eyes before focusing them on the street that led back to the Gloom¡¯s main street and entrance.


    He should be coming from there, especially if he doesn¡¯t know much about this part of town. She shifted in the tree, trying to get comfortable. She had a feeling she was going to be here for a while if the contact was new to the area. Then one of Juli¡¯s barkers probably already got their sensuous claws dug in. And if not her, then one of the other tempting establishments would get him.


    It was right when she found her comfortable spot that she heard a commotion starting near the fountain, opposite of where she was watching. One of Mort¡¯s men collecting from a bum. I never understood why Mort ever lent money to these guys. He wasn¡¯t going to come back. I guess it gives his crew something to do. Still feels like bad business sense.


    She heard the first smack and turned her head back to the street her contact was coming from. And there came a young dwarf male walking along. One that most certainly had a hilariously confused look on his face. A dwarf with blonde hair and dog ears strolled into the plaza.


    Looks like it¡¯s him. I¡¯ll watch him for a minute. Make sure he is the one.


    The dwarf continued and walked up to the fountain, giving it a once-over. Yep, not very impressive, is it?


    The dwarf¡¯s ears twitched in the direction of the bum¡¯s shakedown.


    Oh please no.


    The dwarf rushed over to the bum¡¯s side.


    Damn it. We¡¯ve got a hero.

 48. Hard Talk

    The bed in my guest room at Mrs. Warbler¡¯s felt heavenly tonight. Even more so than last night. Probably because I could actually enjoy it to the fullest extent. I was so exhausted yesterday that I just passed out once my head hit the pillow.


    Rita rushed me out of the lab once her machine was done collecting data or whatever. I asked what the results were, but she told me it would take a while for it to analyze everything. I then asked about an ETA, but she had no idea. ¡°The machine has never been used on a completely unknown gene. It will probably take a few days,¡± was her explanation.


    The sun was setting by the time I left the dingy lab. Daila was waiting for me at the entrance of the guild hall. She was sent to escort me home.


    The city was mostly silent as we walked through it.


    I tried to strike up a conversation with Daila while we strolled along. Even apologizing for having to babysit me like this, hoping to cheer her up with my patented self-deprecation. But her mind seemed elsewhere while we walked through the quiet town. She answered me in one or two-word sentences. I took the hint and shut up, turning my attention to the surroundings.


    The sun had officially set by the time we crossed into the mercantile district. The town looked much different at night. The carts and tents that once lined the street were in the middle of being carted off or torn down for the day. Some houses and storefronts were lit by candles or torchlight. But the majority were completely dark.


    Looks like they follow the sun¡¯s time. Rise at light, sleep at dark. There were lamps that followed the roads, which led me to wonder how they stayed lit. Magic was my best guess; I doubt they have propane here. But who knows? I didn¡¯t expect laboratories either. All in all, it was nice. It was peaceful. Maybe just a tad creepy, but that''s because I lived in a college town and was used to there being hustle and bustle every night.


    We passed by a tavern on our way. I heard the sounds of conversation coming from it, which piqued my interest. I was tempted to ask Daila if we could pop in. I didn¡¯t really care for alcohol, but how could I say no to a pub in a medieval fantasy world? And I was hungry. Yet one quick glance at Daila¡¯s expression was enough to tell me what her answer was going to be.


    We arrived at Mrs. Warbler¡¯s shop not long after the sun fell. It was a lot easier to get through the town when the streets weren''t packed with people. Mrs. Warbler welcomed the two of us in. But Daila excused herself after making a quick apology to the elderly woman. She turned to me before leaving. ¡°I will pick you up at sunup tomorrow morning. You are going to start your training with Mr. Holdsburn.¡± She turned and left as soon as she finished, not giving me a chance to confirm.


    Loreli was with Mrs. Warbler in the shop as well, wearing a large coat that hid her swollen belly.


    ¡°Liam, I left some food downstairs. Have at it. I need to make sure this one gets home safe.¡± She rubbed Loreli''s arm before grabbing for a coat that looked almost identical to the one Loreli was wearing, except much more form-fitting.


    Loreli spoke up in protest. ¡°I told you I¡¯m fine. You don¡¯t need to come.¡±


    ¡°Honey, you are eight months along. I¡¯m not leaving the mother of my grandchild alone for a minute. Especially when they are going to take you soon.¡±


    ¡°I could take her,¡± I said, trying to be polite.


    ¡°Nope, it''s still a bad time for you to be out there on your own. And I know you¡¯d get lost in a heartbeat. Besides, she lives close. It''s not like I¡¯m going for a stroll through the Gloom.¡± Mrs. Warbler answered with a smile.


    I opened my mouth, only to be shushed once more. ¡°Go downstairs and eat. Now young man.¡± I relented, letting the two women leave.


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    My stomach made the typical inhuman growl when the fragrant scent of food hit my nostrils. I hurriedly ran down the stairs. The food didn¡¯t last long. Mere seconds actually. No one was here to judge me for monstrously devouring the wonderful and large meal. It consisted of moose meat this time, seasoned with just salt.


    I walked into my room and placed the bag of coins on the desk. I meant to give it back to Rita, but when I tried, I felt this odd resistance. It was probably a mimic gene instinct. The whole hoarding of shiny and valuable things. And what''s more shiny and valuable than money?


    I shuffled into the sheets after taking my shirt off and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep¡¯s beautiful embrace to take me. Beds are awesome.


    However, even as drained as I was, sleep evaded me. My mind was racing about all the things I learned today. The drug flowers, Aura, First Ones, my gene, magical computers with holographic keyboards.


    ¡°I wonder if the screen connects to the HUD.¡± I shook my head. ¡°That¡¯s probably the least important out of all of those.¡±


    I was grateful for the answers and for some background on this world, but it felt almost overwhelming. And what¡¯s sad is that I still had so many questions. There was so much about this world that I didn''t know. It made me feel itchy for some reason. Some part of me yearned to go outside and just start running through the rooftops. To purge these thoughts with good old-fashioned exercise.


    Then I remembered. ¡°I have a great tool to help with that.¡± I got out of bed and moved away from it. Once I had sufficient room, I turned on log form. My mind slowed down, letting the tranquility that came from the form take over. Each mind-boggling discovery and answer floated away, leaving a quiet nothingness.


    ¡°Hey Liam, can I ask you something?¡± Tutor asked in a very uncharacteristically somber tone.


    My peacefulness was shattered by my head companion as per usual, however, this time felt different.


    ¡°Sure,¡± I answered, reverting back into base form. She¡¯d probably ask anyway. It¡¯s not like she listens to me.


    ¡°Are you... Are you sure about this guild stuff?¡± She asked, stammering a bit.


    Her question shocked me. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean, are you completely sure this Explorers Guild is something you want to do?¡± She said, her voice no longer wavering.


    ¡°Yes, I feel like I established that fact earlier today. Why? Do you think something¡¯s wrong with it?¡± I answered. Most of the people I met in Len¡¯s guild were strange in their own unique ways, but none of them gave me any bad vibes. I couldn¡¯t figure out Tutor¡¯s angle.


    ¡°Is there something you don¡¯t trust about them? Did you hear something I didn¡¯t?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No. That¡¯s not it. They seem like an alright group of people. It¡¯s about you. This is your new life, your second chance, your opportunity. It doesn¡¯t take a brain surgeon to realize that your gene is something special, something powerful. But you are diving deep into the first cause you¡¯ve found. You know that I like Len, but everything you¡¯ve learned so far is warped by his bias. You have the freedom to go and look for yourself. Freedom to be whatever you want to be and to stomp anyone or anything that tries to stop you.¡± Her words grated me for some reason.


    ¡°So what would you have me do? Go run back to the big tree, get myself captured again. Because it looks to me like that¡¯s the only other bias there is.¡± I responded, getting a bit upset.


    ¡°Or what, go back into the woods, live like a hermit again? I thought it was you who convinced me to keep fighting to get out of there in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Liam, it¡¯s not about what I would have you do or what Len would have you do. It¡¯s about what you want to do. It''s about making sure it''s your decision and yours alone. That¡¯s all I¡¯m worried about. I don¡¯t want to see you get trapped and used in someone else¡¯s game. I only want you to understand that you have the freedom to choose and not be strung along by anyone.¡±


    I felt my face flush. I took a deep breath, expelling the urge to yell at her. ¡°I see your point. But like you said, it''s my choice. And right now, I choose the guild. Let¡¯s be real for a minute.¡± I stretched out my arms and twisted around the room.


    ¡°Look where I am. This room I''ve been given and that food I just ate. These people are helping me out so much. I owe them all. And Foster¡¯s repay their debts.¡±


    I closed my eyes. ¡°And I¡¯m not one of those guys who care about being all powerful and free. To completely crush those who oppose me. That kind of freedom just leaves you lonely. Do you know how happy I was to share a meal with others? Even if it was a little awkward. I¡¯m not gonna give that up in the name of some freedom I don''t understand.¡±


    I opened my eyes back up and smiled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m still going to train just as hard and get stronger. But I¡¯m not the type of person who can do that all for my own sake. I need a goal and prefer to have people help me get there. Len and his guild are offering just that. So yes. I am sure.¡±


    She was silent for a while after I finished talking. Why does she care that much to begin with?


    ¡°Okay Liam. I¡¯ll let it rest for now.¡±


    ¡°Great. Now if you don¡¯t mind, I would like to enjoy this spectacular bed and peaceful night.¡±

 49. Peaceful(?) Night

    ¡°What the hell do you think you''re doing?!¡± Fennel yelled out at the brigand, stretching his arm out. Fennel caught the Minotauran man¡¯s next strike with his hand, throwing it to the side. He stopped the fist just inches before it collided with the whimpering elderly man.


    The Minotauran snorted as he regained his composure. ¡°Get lost pup. You¡¯re out of your depth here. That street scum owes my boss money. And you really don¡¯t want to get in the way of my boss and his money. So run along now. Find yourself a playmate back on main street.¡± He cracked his knuckles as he spoke and wore a nasty smile.


    Fennel looked down at the cowering man on the ground. He had gray matted fur around his face. Drunk and dumb. But that didn¡¯t mean he deserved a throttling. Fennel addressed the large man. ¡°You can¡¯t honestly expect him to have that money, do you? What? You just gonna beat him and hope coins start falling out?¡±


    The man laughed. ¡°Boyo, you¡¯d be surprised how often that happens.¡± The brute cracked his neck. ¡°So what are you gunna do? Pay it for him or is this turning ugly?¡± His smile became increasingly sinister.


    Fennel widened his stance. The Minotauran was a good foot and a half taller than him, but he sparred with Zaner plenty. And Zaner was bigger than this guy.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± The man said just before charging forward, fist raised. Fennel dropped his hips, reading himself for the blow. The man¡¯s fist came hurtling down, Fennel raised his guard to block. Pain flared in his stomach. He coughed out some spit.


    His horned opponent¡¯s unraised fist landed in Fennel¡¯s gut. The windup was a feint. The Mino''s smile grew larger when he noticed Fennel¡¯s guard drop. He unleashed a blow on the side of Fennel¡¯s face with the fist used in the feint.


    But Fennel stood strong.


    Fennel¡¯s eyes stared into his foe¡¯s. The man¡¯s smile wavered for a moment. He wasn¡¯t sure why. He threw a few more punches at Fennel¡¯s face. None of them made Fennel so much as flinch. He was pretty sure he saw a grin on the dwarf¡¯s face.


    Fennel grabbed the large man¡¯s leg and, with a grunt, squeezed with all his might. The man¡¯s leg popped. Fennel squatted down. ¡°AGH!¡±


    And with a shout the entire Gloom could hear, he threw the man over his head. The Minotauran¡¯s body hit the stone path with a concerning thud. The man recovered quickly and stood back up. Red light glinted in the Minotauran¡¯s eyes.


    He rushed Fennel again, no feints or tricks this time. Just pure brute strength haymakers. Which Fennel returned in kind. The two entered into a slugfest.


    But whereas each of the Minotauran¡¯s blows aimed for Fennel¡¯s head, Fennel couldn¡¯t quite reach that high, so he swung at every other body part he could. Fennel evaded a fist coming for his eye, landing a punch in the man¡¯s side. Then another dead center of the man¡¯s stomach. His foe struck out landing a glancing blow on Fennel¡¯s chin. Fennel dropped an elbow on the top of the man¡¯s bent knee in return. The same leg that he was certain popped out of place a moment ago.


    Fennel landed blow after blow on the man¡¯s torso, back, legs, knees, all the while dodging most of the Mino¡¯s hits. Fennel¡¯s goal was to paint the scum¡¯s body black and blue. That was all he needed to do. All he had to do was outlast the thug. Something Boundless would ensure.


    After a few minutes of the high intensity brawl, His opponent hopped back. He screamed in rage, completely unintelligible now. He lowered his head, dropping his horns down to Fennel¡¯s height. Red Aura surrounded the MInotauran.


    Full Body Charge if I had to guess. Fennel knew the technique, common among the bulls. It was a last ditch effort he saw Zaner use only once. The ability speared right through two Tusxics and a Lenid a couple raids back.


    Fennel slowed his breathing, planting his feet into the ground. His eyes focused on the pissed off bull in front of him with unparalleled concentration. He spread his arms wide open.


    The man took that as a sign. He blasted off from his spot, kicking up the stones on the path. Before the stones even fell back to the ground, he was less than a yard away from Fennel. However, Fennel never lost sight of his opponent. He raised one of his fists.


    With horns now inches away from Fennel¡¯s face, he dropped the fist into the back of the man¡¯s skull while twisting out of the way of his charge.


    The Minotauran¡¯s face slammed into the stone street, sliding along it a few feet before stopping when he collided with the side of a building. One of the man¡¯s horns flew right after the impact. Fennel winced.


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    ¡°Maybe a little too much.¡± He didn¡¯t see the man¡¯s body move for a solid thirty seconds. ¡°Yep, too much.¡±


    Fennel walked up to the limp body he created, noticing a slight heave in the man¡¯s back. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s breathing. Tough guy. Why are you wasting your time out here, beating old folks? You¡¯d make a great raid soldier. Probably get paid better too.¡±


    ¡°Phffuq you.¡± A rasp came from the one horned man.


    Fennel sighed. He bent over and sat the now passed-out man back up. He leaned him up against the cracked wall. The man¡¯s face was gnarled from the skid. Fennel ripped the shirt sleeves of his defeated foe and wrapped it around the wounds. He got up and walked away, heading back for the fountain.


    Fennel spit out the blood that pooled in his mouth. The big bastard was down. He walked over to the edge of the dried-up fountain pool and sat down. The old man he was protecting must have run away during the fight. He was nowhere to be found. Fennel chuckled. ¡°Not even a thank you. Man, this place kind of sucks.¡±


    His health bar was down only about 15%. Stamina was down maybe 10. He turned off Boundless. It wasn¡¯t needed to recover that small amount of missing energy.


    He looked down at his arms and hands. They were still trembling. His knuckles were swollen and cut up, but they didn¡¯t hurt. His heart was pounding. As he looked at his hands, a weird smile grew on his face. Why was that so much fun? I¡¯ve sparred with others hundreds of times by now. What made that different?


    He shook his head. He was here for a reason. The meeting with the half elf. Fennel wiped the blood from his hands on the sides of his pants before retrieving the message from his pocket. It was a little crumpled from the fight but nothing was damaged.


    He looked into the sky and saw the stars twinkling in the sky. ¡°Ah, crap.¡± I¡¯m stuck in this place til morning now. He sighed.


    He stood up and walked around the fountain, hoping to see someone who matched the terrible description he was given. A few of the lamp posts in the area worked but it was still incredibly dark out. Other inebriated individuals were scattered among the fountain plaza, but they were all men from what he could tell. He took the time to walk around to each one just in case. One of them was a woman, but a gnome. She threw up just as he walked up to her, getting it on his shoes.


    ¡°Yep, this place sucks.¡±


    Upon returning from his pointless endeavor, his eyes fell on the split tree in the center of the plaza. ¡°Laurel¡¯s Fountain.¡± He heard stories about this fountain, about how wonderful it once was. A beautiful marvel. A miracle from the First One Laurel, Nature¡¯s Grandmother. A never ending spring of blessed water flowing from a dazzling tree.


    But this was his first time seeing it in person. He couldn¡¯t imagine any of those descriptors being true while staring at the dead, dusty thing. He also expected it to be bigger.


    He hadn¡¯t been born when the incident happened. The incident that cleaved the tree down right down the middle. He didn¡¯t know much about the event. It was a topic that no one spoke much about. For good reason, talking about it came with a one way ticket on a penal caravan heading for Tiamantis.


    He shook his head. Nothing good will come from thinking about that.


    He sat on the edge of the barren pool. He stared up at the night sky, trying to ignore the myriad sounds of debauchery that rang out from the Gloom. He rubbed the tops of his hands. Now that the adrenaline died down he felt the pain in his fists and face. He couldn''t help but think about Gloria while he checked for any deeper injuries. She was the best healer his squad could have asked for. These little cuts and bruises would be nothing for her to patch up with her wonderful, soft hands. She¡¯d hum that soothing tune like she always does. Fennel¡¯s face blushed as he sat in his fantasy for a moment. Until a group of lethargic women burst into the plaza, singing and wheezing out a flat melody. Fennel just shook his head. Something that was occurring far too much since he got here.


    ¡°I want to go to bed.¡± He realized where he was again. ¡°Where am I going to sleep tonight?¡±


    The sounds of the Gloom died down as night went on, never fully silencing. All the while, his impatience grew every minute, his foot tapping wildly on the ground. Where is this freaking contact I¡¯m supposed to meet? I swear if this is another stupid prank from those two. This boiling emotion was now the only thing keeping him awake and alert right now.


    But before he could come up with a just punishment to exact on his tormentors, he heard some rustling from a tree nearby. His senses went on high alert. His ears perked up and he strained to pick up on any movement coming his way.


    I hope it''s not some of that scum¡¯s friends, come to get a little payback. Do thugs have friends? Coworkers?


    He stood back up, he turned over to the man in question. He was still asleep, maybe a bit slumped over now, but still there. So he clearly didn¡¯t go and get back up. Maybe one of his friends checked on him from the shadows.


    He heard the rustle once more. Fennel inched his way over to one of the brighter lamps in the plaza. If he was to be ambushed, he needed to give himself the best opportunity to fight back. Which meant he needed light. He didn¡¯t have a night vision ability.


    Some footsteps tapped out in the darkness beyond the lamp¡¯s light. It sounded like only one person but he didn¡¯t let his guard down.


    After a moment, they stopped just outside of the light. He squinted and tried to see who it was. They took one more step forward, revealing a small framed person in an oversized cloak. The cloak covered most of the person¡¯s face so Fennel could only see their mouth and chin.


    ¡°Are you the one Ainsworth sent?¡±

 50. Thats Just How It Is Sometimes

    ¡°And we are sure sending one of my most promising if too naive, squad captains into the Gloom was the best course of action?¡± Jaren said to Leonard while jumping out of the way of an approaching fireball. Len prepped another one before Jaren could advance too much.


    The two were in the training room of the guild hall. Having a light spar while the kids were away.


    Jaren swung his double blade, aiming for Len¡¯s carotid artery. Len deftly dodged under the swing, sending a heatwave back at Jaren.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s not in any danger,¡± Len answered.


    Jaren shouldered the heat blast. It blasted him a few feet across the floor. He swung out once more, a green blade of energy flying from the strike.


    ¡°You know I¡¯m not worried about his safety. I didn¡¯t make the kid a squad captain just because I like him. He is one of the best natural-born fighters I¡¯ve had the pleasure of training. No one in the squad around his level has bested him in a sparring match yet. First Ones know I wouldn¡¯t want to fight him.¡±


    Len sprouted a wall of fire from the ground, canceling the energy blade coming his way. Then sent the wall of flames hurtling toward Jaren with a snap.


    ¡°Scared of our little protege?¡± Len asked mockingly.


    Jaren hopped above the oncoming flame wall and sliced down at Len as he fell. Len caught the double blade with a small ball of fire he held in his palm, holding back the larger man¡¯s advance.


    ¡°Not at all, not at his current level, he¡¯s only level eight. I wouldn¡¯t be able to hold back if we did fight for real. His stamina regen would probably let him fight for hours on end. Even I would get tuckered out before that long. Top that with his primary stats of strength and constitution, you have what I believe is referred to as an immovable object.¡±


    Len ignited the flame between the two blasting both him and Jaren to other sides of the training room.


    ¡°The kid¡¯s an endless ball of energy, I give you that.¡±


    Jaren stuck the blade into the ground, signifying he was done. The two had been sparring for the past two hours. He spun around and grabbed one of the water cups that were waiting for them on the counter.


    He chugged some down. ¡°There ain¡¯t many thugs there that he couldn''t handle. No, I mean the entire atmosphere there might be a bit much for his gentle personality.¡±


    Len walked to the counter and picked up a cup as well. ¡°I disagree. There¡¯s something buried deep in him. I¡¯m not sure what it is; he hides it well, but the Gloom is great for making you face your demons. And he needs to get used to it. He and the others have work to do there.¡±


    Len drank from his cup. ¡°Besides he will do fine with the Aura control drilled into him by Daila. Better than you, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    Jaren scratched the back of his head. ¡°Yeah. No denying that one. I¡¯m still not sure how long I stayed at Juli¡¯s. Might be time for another visit.¡± A rakish grin formed on his face.


    ¡°What would Daila think of that, my friend?¡± Len teased before taking another sip.


    Jaren¡¯s response was only an eye roll. ¡°Oh by the way, what was in that note you''re having him deliver?¡±


    ¡°Some instructions.¡±


    Jaren finished his second glass of water. He wiped his mouth. ¡°Another test of some sort no doubt.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Ingrid slinked out of the shadows into the light of the lamp post, slowly and cautiously approaching the dwarf she¡¯d been watching for the last hour. When she could afford to, she liked making her contacts wait. She could tell a lot about a person when they sat around doing nothing.


    Plus this young dwarf intrigued her. From her perspective in the tree, this little guy was taking a beating. Until out of nowhere he just hauls off and destroys one of Mort¡¯s minions. And then patches him up.


    Mort won¡¯t take kindly to one of his top collectors getting beat that badly. His power in the Gloom comes from his perceived untouchable nature. If news gets out that a young kid did this, Mort will have to retaliate.


    Not that she cared all that much. It wasn¡¯t her problem.


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    ¡°Are you the one Ainsworth sent?¡± She asked, making sure her hood didn¡¯t reveal her face.


    The dwarf looked anxiously at her before answering. ¡°Y-yes.¡± He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled roll of paper. ¡°Here, I was told to give this to you.¡± The blonde dwarf held the scroll out to her.


    She grabbed it quickly and unfurled it.


    Hello, mysterious girl of the Gloom. The wonderful young man in front of you is named Fennel. Great kid. Now as per our oral contract, You need to make sure he gets out of the Gloom. By the end of the night. If you want the rest of the payment that is. Do try to keep him out of trouble. He is quite good at finding it.


    Toodles


    Her mouth opened just a hair. Every preconceived idea and image of the great Leonard Ainsworth was getting systematically demolished with each interaction with him. I mean toodles. Really? What grown man, a man said to have bested thousands of monsters and countless bosses, ends a correspondence with toodles?


    She shook her head in disappointment. The dwarf¡¯s head tilted to the side, his eyes locked on the paper. He looked like he was burning on the inside to ask what was in the note.


    Definitely right about his nose for trouble. The idiot went and made an enemy of Mort in under ten minutes. All over some beggar with a gambling problem.


    She looked over the dwarf. He didn¡¯t seem tired whatsoever from his previous tussle. And no major wounds anywhere. Well if you¡¯re gonna be dumb, you better be tough I guess.


    She tucked the note away in her cloak before speaking to him again. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She turned and started walking back to Main Street.


    ¡°Wait. Wait a second.¡± The young dwarf called after her. He ran in front of where she was heading and put out his hand. ¡°I said wait. Where are we going and what did that note say?¡±


    She heaved a hefty sigh. ¡°You are getting out of the Gloom and back to your cozy home. The note¡¯s not important in the slightest.¡± She hated how true that statement was. But that wasn¡¯t any of his business.


    The dwarf rubbed his forehead. ¡°Fine. But we can¡¯t head back to the entrance. I wasn¡¯t checked in.¡±


    ¡°And why the hell not?¡±


    His answer came in the form of a shrug, because why wouldn¡¯t it? She was of half a mind to leave the sod right then and there. But she would never leave money lying on the table. He is small, a little wide but he might fit. No reason not to try.


    The dwarf spoke up while she was formulating the escape plan. ¡°So¡­my name is Fennel. What''s yours?¡± He extended his hand.


    She just looked at it and scoffed. ¡°Reading the room isn¡¯t in the training book for you raid boys eh? The whole clandestine meeting and mystery scroll didn¡¯t spell it out for you? This is a one-time thing. I didn¡¯t want to know your name, I sure as shit don''t want you to know mine.¡± She scoffed again.


    ¡°Well still, no reason to be rude about it.¡± He said pouting.


    She was about to tell him to follow her, but her ears twitched. Footsteps, a lot of them, coming from each exit of the plaza.


    Shit. She turned to look at her charge. His ears were perked as well, seeming to have picked up on the situation. She grabbed his shirt and dragged him to the tree she sat in earlier. She unconsciously hid her presence but noticed that her companion didn¡¯t. His breathing was fast and loud.


    ¡°Quiet now.¡±


    She led him to a makeshift hatch she used to get into the plaza. The wooden fence led to an alley. Some doofus knocked a hole in the bottom of it. It was very poorly patched back together with some loose boards. The only issue was it made some noise opening it. Something loud enough for one of these people to notice. And she was sure Mort brought his scout with him.


    A loud raspy voice came from the street closest to them, the one leading to Mort¡¯s hideout.


    ¡°He¡¯s right over here. He talked of destroying your whole crew. Something along the lines of taking over your territory. Claiming the Gloom is his now. Here, here, this is where he left your bodyguard.¡±


    The dog-eared dwarf¡¯s mouth hung open when he saw who was speaking. It was the old man he protected earlier. Ingrid watched the old bastard run away right when Fennel slammed his opponent''s face into the street. She thought it was because the old man had it in his head that Fennel would ask for some compensation. What she hadn¡¯t expected was for him to flee straight to Mort. Probably trying to get Mort to forgive some of the debt. Or lend him more money. Slimy jackass.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say a single thing like that. I was trying to help.¡± The dwarf whispered in disbelief.


    Ingrid shushed him. She saw Mort slither into the light, wearing his usual creepy thin smile. He inspected his fallen crony. He picked up the man¡¯s broken horn. He threw right at the Minotauran¡¯s chest. The man coughed and slumped down again.


    Anger seethed in Mort¡¯s eyes. He spoke up. ¡°Scout! Search the area. Find this challenger.¡±


    She saw the tall lanky elf with antennae walk into the center of the plaza. The antennae began to glow and shift around. She was safe, her presence concealment always trumped whatever ability he was using. But the elf¡¯s head swiveled right in her direction.


    ¡°But how?¡± She looked over. Damn it. The dwarf.


    He coughed once. The elf pointed right in their direction now. ¡°Over there boss, someone¡¯s hiding in the bushes by that tree.¡±


    Mort smirked and turned his head to the growing group of henchmen. ¡°Go.¡±


    Ingrid grabbed the dwarf¡¯s shirt. ¡°Move.¡±


    She hurried to the wooden fence and kicked the broken boards she used as the hatch.


    ¡°Run!¡±

 51. Strangers Runnin, Up and Down the Boulevard

    Fennel rushed through the broken fence the girl pointed to. He wasn¡¯t sure what was going on or who those people were. Or why that old drunk ratted him out. He did however understand he needed to get the hell out of there. Some Gloom gang or something. He climbed out of the fence; his shirt ripping down the sleeve after getting caught on a loose nail. He turned back to check on the girl. She passed through it much quicker than he had, and with no damage to her clothes. She flew past him, grabbing on the freshly ripped shirt.


    ¡°This way.¡± She told him while running.


    He ran and she released his shirt once he matched her pace. They ran down the long dark alleyway. There weren''t any lamps back here, of course. The occasional window had a candle on but nothing near enough to light the way. Fennel strained his eyes while he ran, making sure not to trip on any trash lying about and keep track of the cloaked girl.


    A huge crash resounded behind them. They must have broken through the wooden fence. The girl in the cloak cursed but didn¡¯t slow down. They were coming up on a fork, right or left were the only choices. She turned left and he followed. It led to an alley much the same as the previous one.


    ¡°Oi! There¡¯s two of em. They''re going left!¡± The shouting voice sounded much like the thin elf from before. A scout no doubt. But why is he working here? Scouts are worth their weight in coin in the raid legions. It''s not even that dangerous of a job. Why is he out here?


    The girl made a sharp right turn, almost instantaneously at that. He skidded on the rough broken road of the alley to make the turn. He looked up and saw that the girl was already twenty paces ahead of him. Her legs gave off a light green aura.


    Fennel sprinted harder to catch up, which was quite difficult for a dwarf. He damned his short, stubby limbs. But even though she was much faster, Fennel no longer worried about losing her in the dark corners. The green aura around her legs made it easy to track her movements.


    The girl continued making incredibly tight turns as they ran. Zigging and zagging through the backstreets. The shouting coming from behind lessened only a little. Fennel could not help but be impressed at the scout¡¯s abilities. He must have honed in on Fennel¡¯s Aura. He was sure it wasn¡¯t the girl¡¯s. She shut her Aura off completely when they were hiding. An equally remarkable feat.


    Fennel had absolutely no training in stealth. He didn¡¯t need it nor did he want it. His job was to fight on the front lines, pulling as much attention to himself as possible. He was failing if enemies turned away from him. And failure meant death for those around him.


    After one more sharp left turn, the path led to a dead end. There was nothing but walls around them. A few windows but no doors. Crap. Did she get lost? Are we going to climb into a window? Before he could ask the cloaked girl anything, the glow around her legs changed from green to blue and she squatted down. She leaped high into the air, her direction heading for the wall on the left. She landed on the wall and kicked off of it, landing on the right wall before doing it again. After two more wall kicks she landed on the rooftop of one of the buildings.


    The girl¡¯s cloak disappeared over the roof. Fennel¡¯s heart dropped upon seeing her leave. Did she just leave me here? Why even have me follow in the first place? Just to trap me with them in an alley. He felt anger burn in his chest but shoved it back down. His body turned back to the entrance of the dead end. He looked around for something he could use as a weapon. But there wasn¡¯t a single thing around apart from trash and broken pieces of wood.


    One piece was about half as long as his personal training sword back at the squad hall. He picked it up and swung it a few times. It was terrible, but better than his fists. He was confident in his bare knuckles when faced with a single foe. But multiple opponents were a challenge. He needed some type of reach to keep them back. So a small half-sword made of gutter trash will have to do.


    Footsteps pounded, their sounds getting ever closer. The shouting was almost intelligible again. His heart pumped, and blood roared in his ears. He clamped down on the wood, even harder than before and harder than he meant to. The wood crumbled under the pressure of his fist. ¡°Shit.¡± He growled to himself, throwing away the shattered pieces in his hands. He brought his fists up.


    ¡°Hey! Climb!¡±


    He twisted back around, searching for the voice. He finally looked up and saw the familiar cloak on the roof. The girl threw something down off the roof. It was a rope. Without another thought, he jumped up and grabbed it.


    He pulled his body up the rope one hand at a time, ascending the rope as fast as he could. Looking up, he could see the girl had wrapped the rope around her waist, her legs glowing red now.


    Something whistled by his ear, before clunking into the wall in front of him. It was an arrow. It splinted upon hitting the wall. But he didn¡¯t quit climbing. Two more whizzed by his body by the time he got two thirds of the way there. He was going to make it.


    Until one more arrow landed on his right shoulder, pain coursed through his arm and down into his hand. He felt his grip slipping with that hand. He clamped down with his other hand to keep from falling.


    ¡°Hah nailed him.¡± A voice from below proclaiming his triumph.


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    ¡°Don''t quit shooting numbnuts! He¡¯s still up there.¡± Another voice said, reprimanding the previous one.


    ¡°Come on!¡± The girl strained to speak through gritted teeth.


    Fennel fought through the pain and grabbed up higher on the rope, pulling his body up, but no longer with the earlier speed. Another arrow flew by.


    He looked up and saw he was only a foot or so away from the top. But his shoulder continued to scream at him, the pain only worsening. He looked down at the group. There were only two people down there. That¡¯s all he could tell in the darkness at least.


    Fennel felt the rope shift and his body rose up. He turned back to the cloaked girl and saw the red shine on her legs brighten, shifting into an even more brilliant shade of crimson. She began backing up the roof, pulling him up.


    He heard her grunts and from where he was. Once he was within arm''s reach of the roof, he grabbed the edge with his good hand and arm, scrambling up. He rolled onto his back, only making it halfway. The arrow lodged in his shoulder hit the roof which forced a yelp out of his mouth. ¡°Aghh, damn that stings.¡± He said.


    The girl sat on the roof, her whole body and chest heaving. I hope her stamina is good, that was a lot of ability activations from the looks of it. As he was about to ask, she rose from her spot. ¡°We n..eed¡± She gulped in some air. ¡°We need to move.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°First, rip this thing out.¡±Fennel sat up and showed her the injured shoulder. She walked behind him. ¡°You sure, that''s keeping the blood from flowing too much.¡±


    ¡°Yep, I¡¯ve got high Con, it¡¯ll close up and heal once it''s owwww!¡± She grabbed the arrow and pulled it out before he could finish talking. He grabbed the injured shoulder and rose from his spot. Another arrow flew up from the alley below, missing them completely. Fennel heard a voice. ¡°Up on the roof boss, two of em, like I said.¡±


    ¡°Move.¡± The girl said, rushing away from the edge of the roof.


    The two ran along the rooftops for a while. Fennel was thankful these rooftops were so close together unlike the residential district ones. Especially the upper section. Each household was a hundred or so feet away from the next. And dwarfs don¡¯t do jumping. Not well at least.


    The buildings in this section of the Gloom were all about the same, two-story apartments and the like.


    The voices and people chasing after them died down after a few minutes of running on the rooftops. The scout¡¯s tracking must have turned off by now. The girl stopped sprinting and slowed down, delighting Fennel¡¯s poor aching feet. Dwarfs really aren¡¯t built for such long distance sprints.


    She stopped them on a rooftop overlooking a bigger street. This street had a few lamp posts illuminating it. She stared off at a building taller than the rest, panting the whole time. This building happened to be three stories high. It probably had better days too. Parts of the wall on the second and third floors were missing.


    Behind the building were some of the roots that divided the city into its sections. Fennel wasn¡¯t certain which section of the city lay beyond it after all the running through the maze-like alleyways. He could see the moon though and where it was sitting told him the other side of it was most likely the western block of the Residential District. Which is still a ways from his home but anything is better than here.


    Fennel walked up to the girl leaning up against a structure on the rooftop. He was going to say something. He looked at her face. Her mostly hidden expression seemed to soften when she looked at it, yet twisting sometimes as if she remembered something painful. Fennel took the silence as a chance to speak. ¡°Thanks for not leaving me in that alley. I was a bit scared when you jumped up there. And wildly impressed as well.¡±


    The girl breathed in sharply. It was almost as if she was surprised by his voice. She shook her head. ¡°Didn¡¯t do it for you. You''re a meal ticket, simple as that. Your boss is paying me to get you out of here. So that¡¯s what I will do. Now come on, no time for chit chat.¡±


    ¡°Wait, we can let your stamina recharge...¡± She had already jumped down onto a balcony while he spoke. He sighed and followed after her. They got back down to street level. The girl walked down the street, wary of the light from the lamps.


    Fennel¡¯s shoulder still hurt, but had closed up and stopped bleeding. He was thankful there was no ability or spell cast on the arrow. He would have had a lot more problems if they had. That archer wasn¡¯t trained either. Any archer in the Fourth would have turned me into a pincushion easily. He just got a lucky shot. He rubbed his shoulder and twisted it around, making sure nothing else was damaged.


    ¡°Still bleeding?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Nope, like I said, I¡¯m pretty tough.¡± He nervously chuckled.


    She said nothing else and led him across the street and between some more buildings. Great. More alleys.


    However, he was glad to not have to sprint down these ones. Fennel gazed at the great dividing roots of the Capitol Building. They were getting closer and closer as they moved. She must have some secret exit out of the Gloom around here.


    The girl stopped in front of a building. The front door of the building was boarded up along with all of the windows surrounding it. A chill ran down his spine, this place creeped him out for some inexplicable reason. Like all he wanted to do was run away from the building as fast as he could.


    But the girl trudged onward, knocking on the door. She turned back to the scared-stiff Fennel. ¡°Come on.¡± She beckoned him. ¡°Get over here.¡±


    Fennel gulped. The uneasy feeling grew exponentially as he inched his way up to the small porch and the door. What is happening, why am I terrified? It¡¯s just a broken down house. But no matter how much rationale he put into his head, he couldn¡¯t shake the sensation. It just crawled along his body and mind. He shuddered.


    He looked over at the girl, barely catching the smirk on her face before she banged on the door again.


    ¡°Hey! Flenn. Open the damned door already. It¡¯s¡­¡± She paused and looked back at Fennel, then sighed.


    ¡°It¡¯s Ingrid. Open up." She banged on the door once more. For good measure. "You owe me, Flenn.¡±


    Fennel heard a creaking sound come from behind the door, his anxiety growing as the sound got closer. It didn¡¯t sound like footsteps, there was no rhythmic thumping but rather something was slithering across the wooden floor.


    Fennel was sure his heart stopped when the creature on the other side of the door did as well. And only started back up when the first knock from the inside shocked it back awake. The boards fell to the ground and the door swung open.

 52. Adaptation, An Important Part of Life

    My dreamless sleep was interrupted by a banging at my door. I sat up. ¡°I¡¯m up,¡± I said on the lower side of the decibel scale. The banging did not cease. "Liam."


    ¡°I¡¯m up!¡± I yelled this time, making sure my words got across.


    ¡°Okay. You didn¡¯t have to shout.¡± A feminine voice came from the other side of the door.


    I palmed my face. I mumbled "Sorry" through my hand.


    Breakfast was a quick affair this morning. Mrs. Warbler and Loreli joined me this time at one of the tables downstairs. Loreli was working down here when I got up, working on repair jobs. Some more monster meat and odd colored eggs. The yolks were a much darker shade of orange than what I was used to. But they tasted delicious all the same.


    ¡°Ready to go, Liam?¡± Mrs. Warbler was almost out the door by the time I caught up with her. We left the shop. She was to be my escort today. Which I kind of felt bad about. I didn¡¯t love that I had to have an escort in the first place, let alone it being the kind old lady who is feeding, clothing, and sheltering me. Made me feel like a child.


    ¡°I can make it there on my own. You don¡¯t have to leave the shop. It¡¯s starting to feel like I¡¯m taking advantage of you.¡±


    She waved her hand while we were walking. ¡°Oh hush child.¡± She looked into my eyes for a second. ¡°Oh you actually feel that way don¡¯t you?¡± I nodded.


    She laughed. Full belly kind.


    ¡°Honey, I should be the one worried about that.¡± A smile grew on her wrinkled face. ¡°Oh, that man didn¡¯t tell you, did he sweetie?¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Len.¡±


    Why do I ask?


    She tugged on my shirt. ¡°Where do you think I got the design for these clothes?¡±


    I shrugged and looked them over again. They were reminiscent of the ones I was wearing when I first woke up on Kniyas. But they weren¡¯t the exact same: different fabric and colors.


    Then my mind went back to training with Len, when I put on a fresh outfit for the first time. One he said he cleaned and repaired. Did he have Mrs. Warbler make me a new outfit?


    I tilted my head at her. ¡°Did Len give you these?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Yep, the ones he gave me were all ragged and torn to shreds. But it wasn¡¯t hard to perceive and recreate the original design. With my own twist as well. It took some repetition, but that wasn¡¯t the problem. The problem was you were destroying the clothes faster than I could make them.¡± She pinched my arm, getting her faux-anger across physically.


    ¡°After I made the eighth outfit. I had it down.¡±


    She beamed, then pointed at people wearing clothes similar to them.


    ¡°It''s just the right amount of practical and comfortable. The style swept through Laurel overnight feels like. Now everyone is wearing Gran¡¯s Everyday Collection. I made an absolute killing those first couple of months I put them on the racks. And many come in to get repairs done or new outfits still. My grandbaby is going to want for nothing.¡±


    I looked back at the clothes and around at the others with blatant confusion. But this is such basic clothing. It¡¯s pretty much what you see lazy people wear to renaissance fairs. There¡¯s nothing fancy about this at all. It''s just comfortable breathable pants and a light long sleeve shirt. And what about the leather armor that came with it? Was everybody just walking around in tunics and togas or something? I mean Len had normal enough clothes on. I mean he wears potato sacks for pants but the shirt looked normal enough.


    ¡°¡ªcome up with it?¡±


    Mrs. Warbler was looking up at me while we walked.


    ¡°Sorry, what was that?¡± I asked, feeling a little embarrassed about ignoring the sweet woman.


    ¡°How did you come up with the design? What inspired you?¡± Her eyes filled with passionate expectancy. Which made the fact that I had no idea what to tell her so much worse. I wasn¡¯t going to say something about waking up in the middle of the woods just wearing them.  Some God of Rebirth named Terrence came up with them when he plopped me here. Or that where I come from this is actually quite lazy fashion. I quickly thought up something.


    ¡°Oh you know how inspiration is.¡± I waved my hand. ¡°It''s a fickle and flighty thing. I¡¯m not even sure where or when I came up with it. It just hit me one day.¡± I finished my statement with my head turned skyward. One eye peeking at her to see her reaction.


    Will the ass-pull work?


    She nodded. ¡°Oh don¡¯t I know it honey.¡± She said, letting the matter rest.


    Ass-pull successful. I feel like I deserve some EXP. That one extra point in CHR doing work.


    She walked with me all the way to the guild hall. After a quick goodbye, I entered. The gnomes were busy running around with tools and supplies like yesterday. One walked down the hall leading to Rita¡¯s lab. I shivered. I had no desire to enter her lair today. I was still curious about the test results, but not in a hurry.


    I heard some grunting coming from the direction of the training room. With curiosity thoroughly piqued, I ventured into the room. But low and behold, no one was around. I heard another grunt, its source coming from an open door in the back.


    I walked through and found out it led to a huge backyard area. Three or four times as spacious as the guildhall itself, completely fenced in. There were a number of objects littered among the yard. All covered by cloth, except for one.


    Jaren swung a massive double sided sword that was probably taller than he was. He was landing hits on what looked to like a wooden statue of a large monster. It was a reptilian type from the shape language, but stood on two feet. It also appeared to have joints. It was almost more of a construct than statute. Can it move on its own?


    My attention then landed on Jaren¡¯s fighting. His movement was so graceful and clear. It shocked me. I expected the large half-elf dragon gene man to wield some greataxe or warhammer with vicious savagery. Completely decimating anything that came in his path. That¡¯s what it felt like when we had our scuffle yesterday. But watching him now, I can tell he was just playing with me. That I wouldn¡¯t have a snowball¡¯s chance in hell at fighting him when he truly fought.


    His swings with the double sword exuded precision. Like every strike was completely planned in advance and then executed without flaw. It was oddly mesmerizing to watch.


    He dropped down and prepared one final blow, green energy surrounded with blade, and with a snappy swipe, the energy flew forward in an arc heading straight for the construct¡¯s neck. It cleaved the head from its shoulders. The wooden head rolled on the ground.


    Jaren took a breath and then shoved the sword into the ground. He turned around and saw me, giving a wave. ¡°Mornin¡¯.¡±


    I nodded and returned the greeting before asking about his fighting.


    ¡°Is that your real fighting style? And what was that awesome energy slash attack. That was awesome!¡±


    ¡°Yep. Though I was a bit off today. Should have cut the shoulder first before going after the forearm. Would have made a cleaner strike. And you''re right, Hurricane Slash is awesome. But that''s not important.¡± He walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.


    "Today is not about me. We are going to start your official raid training.¡±


    Training. The word hung in my head for a second. It came with some mixed feelings. On one hand, I was excited. I hadn¡¯t really got to move and exercise much in the past few days and I was honestly itching for some action. A little shocking I know, but after eight months of constant training, fighting, and foraging my body yearned for the blood pumping effort.


    All the talking and learning was wildly fascinating and necessary. This is my new reality so I need to understand it. But I haven¡¯t felt quite right without the training.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    On hand number two though, I was worried about the raids themselves. Apprehension still surrounded my thoughts about fighting huge hordes of monsters. Would I do well with a team? These are people who have practiced and fought since they were children.


    Jaren must have seen the trepidation on my face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much boyo. I¡¯m not throwing you to the Wolvens yet. That¡¯s next Tuesday.¡± He winked and bumped my shoulder.


    ¡°No, first I need to come up with a proper regimen for you. So sheet please.¡± He held his hand out. ¡°Oh and do me a favor, just ignore the name for now.¡±


    I pulled my Character Sheet up and found the notification.


    [Share Your Character Sheet With: ¡°Jarenth Savannah¡±]


    [Yes] [No]


    I clicked on the yes. Savannah huh. Everybody calls him Holdsburn. Wonder why he changed it. I thought about it for a moment longer, but decided to go with what Jaren asked and ignored it. It wasn¡¯t any of my business anyway.


    Jaren was busy reading the sheet. His eyes flickered across the sheet. I decided to give it a look over as well. I reviewed it just before the raid, but that felt like a month ago after everything that¡¯s happened.


    CHARACTER SHEET


    Name: Liam Foster


    Level: 4


    Race: Human


    Monster Gene: Mimic


    Stats:


    Health Points:           160


    Stamina:                   310


    Mana:                       160


    Strength:                   24


    Dexterity:                  24


    Agility:                       24


    Constitution:             24


    Intelligence:              24


    Wisdom:                   24


    Charisma:                 25


    Abilities:


    Active:


    Mimicry (Object) (lvl 7): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Mimicry (Creature) (lvl 9): Mimic one creature of your choice. This may include stats, abilities, spells and other aspects. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Passive:


    Learned Behavior: You may gain a portion of the stats and/ or abilities from a mimicked monster. Benefits given depend on the creature mimed and only given if you become adequately proficient in that form. With higher proficiency, benefits may increase.


    Dark Sight - See in the dark. Up to 10m.


    Preflex - Predict incoming attacks.


    Spells:


    None


    And as I thought, nothing changed. I wondered if something would have happened after the raid. It was that kind of monumental event in my book. But that is a normal occurrence of this world I suppose.


    ¡°Oh and you can hit on the recorded entries to see the list of my forms.¡± I informed Jaren.


    He nodded slightly but didn¡¯t respond. He only grinned. A sly and somewhat creepy one at that. He also talked to himself about the apparent oddities of my gene, only enhancing the ominous vibes.


    ¡°He really doesn''t have Primaries or Detriments. Incredible.¡± His smile disappeared and he looked at me.


    ¡°Having a hard time making those decisions?¡± He asked, his question completely stumping me.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°On your Ursa and Tigris forms. You have adaptation choices to make. I understand it''s a bit intimidating but you should get it figured out. I¡¯d like to add them to the regimen.¡± His eyes glazed back over the sheet.


    ¡°Adaptations?¡±


    Before asking any more questions I opened up the forms in question.


    URSA -


    Proficiency Level: 5


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 1 hour


    Stat Changes:


    STR  +17


    DEX   - 11


    AGI   + 6


    CON + 16


    INT    - 13


    WIS  + 7


    CHR  - 6


    Abilities:


    Ursa-rage:


    Put yourself into a fit of Rage. While raging, you gain a  + 10  boost in STR and CON, at the cost of - 9 to all mental stats. You also gain a 10% unarmed damage increase and a 10% damage reduction. These bonuses increase with proficiency.


    Learned Behavior:


    Preflex:


    May predict where an attack will land. Chances of activation increase with proficiency level and wisdom. Also boosted when in Ursa form.


    Activation % = Proficiency + (Wisdom/ 10) rounded down +  10 (only if in form)


    Current = 8%, in form 18%


    Adaptation: Choose one from the following abilities.


    Berserker Pride: Focus your rage. Your rage abilities increase in potency. All positive stat increases go up as well as negatives. Rage will become harder to control. Also comes with Wild Swipes. A barrage of claw attacks only available while raging.


    Stalwart Bear: Forgo the attack buffs while you are raging. Instead trade for boosts in CON, Health, and Stamina. Comes with new Learned Behavior Healthy Bones. A flat 10% increase to health in all forms. 10 + current proficiency while in Ursa form.


    Elemental Claws: Pick among the elements below. Your claw attacks will gain affinity for that element. Comes with Elemental Discharge. After gathering elemental power in your claws, make a powerful attack. The type of attack and stamina costs change with element


    Fire - ED: A large swipe that releases a cone of fire.


    Ice: - ED: A swipe that launches forth a barrage of ice spikes


    Lightning - ED: A swipe that calls down lightning on the target after a delay.


    Earth - ED: A swipe that kicks up a dust storm.


    I just blinked at the sheet for a solid minute. ¡°What?¡± I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°What the hell, Tutor? This feels like something that could have been brought to my attention a while ago.¡± I whispered, hoping Jaren would be too distracted by the sheet and his own machinations to hear me.


    ¡°Oh yeah, my bad. A lot happened lately, this didn¡¯t seem like a priority until now. Oh, Tigris got one too.¡±


    ¡°I know, Jaren already said that.¡± I said a little louder than intended.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Jaren spoke up, not looking away from the sheet though.


    ¡°Nothing just uh, this is my first time even seeing these kinds of choices. What are they?¡± I asked, my interest quelling my annoyance with Tutor.


    He looked at me funny but then snapped his fingers. ¡°Right, no school. Keep forgetting that. I won¡¯t bore you with all the details behind adaptation. Just think of it as a way to choose which direction your gene evolves. Do you pick abilities that focus on making you withstand more hits like that stalwart one you got, or go for the elemental damage route. That discharge ability is actually the same one that eventually became Hurricane Slash.¡±


    ¡°So wait, do the genes evolve or is it the abilities?¡± I asked, even more confused but intrigued.


    ¡°Both, but a gene evolution is called a mutation. And they are rare, extremely so. Not many genes even have the capability.¡± He straightened out his back and pointed at himself with his thumb. ¡°You happen to be looking at one too. My Draco gene didn¡¯t come with the Zephyr typing until later in life, after multiple adaptations in my abilities.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating.¡± I wondered if the Mimic gene could evolve, and if it could what would it turn into exactly. Nah I doubt it. With all the forms and such, it probably doesn¡¯t need a mutation. But what about the forms? Will they mutate? What about¡­


    ¡°Liam.¡± Jaren nudged my shoulder again. ¡°Looked like I was losing you. Len told me to be careful of that.¡±


    ¡°Right, sorry about that. Where is Len by the way?¡±


    ¡°He''s trying to get you your citizenship. Give you some freedom back and make you eligible for the guild. But mostly so we don¡¯t have to keep worrying about finding somebody to lug you around town any more.¡± He said with a laugh.


    ¡°Oh and the adaptations are permanent, so no pressure.¡±

 53. The Burden of Choice

    I looked back at the choices and could immediately cross one out. I had no interest in Berserker Pride. My rage was hard enough to control and I doubt it would be helpful if I¡¯m fighting in a group. If I was still out in the wilderness then I could possibly see a world where I choose it. But I¡¯m back in civilization, and I would prefer to stay here. Don¡¯t want to be thrown out or imprisoned for hurting a friendly.


    That left the elemental power and the tanky one. From how Jaren just explained it, this choice might lead the form down a different path. I looked down at my hands and imagined fire spewing from them, then electricity crackling around my finger tips. My inner nerd screamed out in delight. I almost clicked it right there without a second thought. But that¡¯s when the more mature boring side came in to ruin all the fun.


    I looked down at the other choice and sighed. Stalwart Bear wasn¡¯t really my cup of tea. Being a tank was never my preferred style in any game I played. I get the merit, that badass feeling of walking into a room and knowing it would take every person there to even scratch you.  And Ursa already gave a pretty sizable increase to my toughness and that boost has been a massive help the whole time I¡¯ve been on Kniyas. Who knows how many fights could have been much worse without its help. Ursa has absolutely been the MVP form. And it was my first.


    The passive Learned Behavior was crazy. And it would stack with all of my other forms and in effect, making them each stronger. That by itself is pretty remarkable. And this isn¡¯t a game. These numbers actually reflect my wellbeing. That shouldn''t be thrown to the wayside. It¡¯s probably the safe choice.


    But my mind kept coming back to the idea of team fighting. I wondered how healing is in a raid squad. Would the health boost be necessary if healing is easy.


    ¡°Hey Jaren.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± He responded, still clearly mulling over my character sheet.


    ¡°What does healing look like on Kniyas?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Are there people with healing abilities? What do those abilities do if so? Is it more of an out of combat type of healing? And also are there any monsters that can heal others?¡±


    Without turning toward me, Jaren answered. ¡°Healing in general is valuable, as you could probably guess. But it is not as rare as your question implies. Every Raid Squad has, at minimum, two supports. One to focus on health and one to focus on stamina. In my personal squad we have a support named Terl. He is one of the few who does both.¡±


    He turned to me before continuing. ¡°Healing doesn¡¯t come in many varieties. You have the most plentiful with the single target Basic Healing, with patches up surface wounds. It won¡¯t reattach a limb but it will help you get back in the fight. Advanced Healing is a much slower process but can pop your arm back on. The time frame varies on the degree of the injury. A limb normally takes weeks. Anyone with it is placed on the back lines in raids.¡±


    I spoke up with my next thought. ¡°Is there some kind of AOE healing then?¡±


    ¡°AOE?¡± He questioned with a confused look.


    Damn gamer talk. I chastised myself. ¡°Area of effect. It means affecting a whole area. Which is a completely recursive definition. Lemme try again.¡±


    Jaren raised his hand. ¡°No I got you and yes it exists. Group Healing is the skill. It works like Basic Healing but on the surrounding allies. It''s very rare and only people in high levels ever get it. There are some more unique healing abilities but that is a gene by gene basis.¡±


    He rubbed his chin. ¡°AOE, I like that.¡± He made a decisive nod. ¡°I¡¯m stealing it.¡±


    ¡°All yours.¡±


    He grinned and clicked his tongue.


    ¡°I¡¯m betting you¡¯re asking about this to help choose whether you should pick that health boost aren¡¯t yah?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t give you many recommendations about your gene yet. I¡¯ve barely seen it in action. Now this might be bad advice, but from what I can tell, you should go with your gut. I couldn¡¯t tell you how many splicers I¡¯ve met that get hung up on adaptations. They brainstorm on which is the best for days at a time. That amount of overthinking ain¡¯t great in my opinion. Don¡¯t get me wrong, you should put some thought into it, but it¡¯s the kind of thought that matters."


    ¡°They make the mistake of thinking what¡¯s the absolute best choice, not what''s the best choice for them. Ponder on why you use that ability, or I guess in this case, that form. Yes, passive increases are great, but what do you give up for that single benefit?¡±


    Why do I use this form? For some reason, my thoughts drifted back to my first fight on Kniyas. The gremlins by the river. Little shits. Even though I slaughtered probably a dozen colonies worth, they still pissed me off. Probably because they got so close to killing me.


    But then other instances came to the forefront. All the fights won through nothing but pure unadulterated might. Yes it could take a hit but that wasn¡¯t why I used it. That strength was why. So I wanted to focus on that aspect and how to harness it without too big of a tradeoff. And besides, I can find a different monster later that will probably be better at tanking anyways. Maybe a turtle. I could work with a turtle form.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I hovered over that last ability, Elemental Claws. Yep, feels right. I clicked it. I hope it doesn¡¯t hurt.


    I closed my eyes. I raised my head skyward, waiting for some feeling or energy to suffuse my body.


    ¡­


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jaren asked.


    I opened one eye and looked at Jaren. ¡°Umm, waiting for something to happen?¡±


    ¡°You picked one?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯re good. Check your sheet.¡±


    How anticlimactic. I couldn¡¯t help but be a little disappointed. This felt like a big deal.


    Shrugging it off, I looked at the updated Ursa page.


    Abilities:


    Ursa-rage:


    Put yourself into a fit of Rage. While raging, you gain a  + 15  boost in STR and CON, at the cost of - 14 to all mental stats. You also gain a 12% unarmed damage increase and a 12% damage reduction. These bonuses increase with proficiency.


    Elemental Claws: Pick among the elements below. Your claw attacks will gain affinity for that element. Comes with Elemental Discharge. After gathering elemental power in your claws, make a powerful attack. The type of attack and stamina costs change with element. First element chosen upon entering the form will be the only element available until the next use of form. (List of Elements)


    That caveat about the first element chosen wasn¡¯t there before. It dashed my hopes of  switching between shooting icicles then fire balls. But I was still happy with some versatility. Maybe it will change down the road.


    I smiled and was about to shift into Ursa before I felt Jaren¡¯s big hand smack the middle of my back.


    ¡°Not yet. I know you¡¯re excited but you have another choice to make.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. Fine.¡±


    I looked farther down the records and found the Tigris page.


    TIGRIS -


    Proficiency Level: 5


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 2 hours


    Stat Changes:


    STR + 15


    DEX + 18


    AGI + 22


    CON - 16


    INT - 10


    WIS - 17


    CHR + 20


    Abilities:


    Eternal Shade:


    Create an aura of darkness surrounding your body. Size and intensity of aura increases with proficiency.


    Learned Behavior:


    N/A


    Adaptation: Choose one from the following abilities.


    Shadow Blades: Whilst Eternal Shade is active, you create two blades from the darkness. You have complete control of them while in the darkness. They may leave the field but will disappear after five seconds.


    Predator¡¯s Bloodlust: Gain a stack of Bloodlust when you make an enemy bleed with your claws. Each stack of Bloodlust increases your STR, DEX, and AGI by 1.5%. Max stacks = proficiency level


    Proficiency 5, already? It was 3 the last time I looked at it. Then I remembered the raid. I slaughtered who knows how many boars whilst hopped up on magical poppy flowers. Still annoyed my initial plan for income was taken away from me like that. Well not completely, it was probably a viable way to make money. People always have vices. But breaking bad isn¡¯t in my nature.


    I shook my head; there were more important things to focus on.


    There were only two choices for Tigris. Two different combat abilities this time. Both of which don¡¯t seem bad. Bloodlust was another stat booster, and a damn good one at that. Bonuses to the offensive stats without a drawback.


    But Shadow Blades sounded awesome. Swords made from pure shadow, floating around my enemy who is already blinded by the shade. Each strike coming at them from every direction, shredding them. Yep, easy choice. I hovered it, but felt a weird pit in my stomach.


    I looked over at Jaren, he was leaning against the monster replica he trained with earlier, writing in a notebook. Apparently everyone in this freaking guild had one.


    His words echoed in my head. You should put some thought into it.


    Shadow Blades seemed really cool. But there are some issues with it. For one, they really only work while in the shade. Which will get larger down the line, but I have no way of keeping a monster in it. They can move out of it. I¡¯ve only really used it as an ambush tactic, or on slow monsters like the boars. A fast monster or at least monsters with better reflexes would hop out before the blades could do anything. I guess the blades could be used as a way to force things to stay inside the bubble. But doesn¡¯t that kind of ruin the fun.


    Predator¡¯s Bloodlust was a guaranteed increase in my fighting capabilities because if that form is good at anything, it''s making things bleed. And if I¡¯m going up against something that¡¯s hard to make bleed, I shouldn¡¯t be in Tigris form in the first place. I thought about turtles again. They¡¯d be hard to bleed. Man what''s with all the turtle stuff right now.


    I hovered over Predator¡¯s Bloodlust. The pit in my stomach receded. And I clicked it.


    ¡°Good choice.¡± Jaren said, coming over to me.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s test these powers of yours.¡± He finished. His face wore the creepy smile again.

 54. What It Takes

    ¡°Lirae, please don¡¯t make this difficult. And please don¡¯t make me do something annoying and stupid. I would rather leave the whole council out of this.¡± Len sat up in one of the couches in Lirae¡¯s office at the top of the Capitol Building. ¡°He has already agreed to join the Fourth Legion. He will be a valuable asset on the field.¡±


    Lirae sat on the opposite couch with her legs crossed. Her nose twitched just a bit before she addressed him.


    ¡°And a valuable asset for your little club no doubt.¡±


    Len scoffed. ¡°Yeah, no denying that one.¡±


    ¡°Rickard has been quite miffed about that building of yours.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I may have outbid him on the location.¡± Len smiled. ¡°By a lot.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Yes. He doesn¡¯t shut up about it some nights. He wanted to put up some recruiting station there for the Second. Trying to bolster his legions numbers and pad his records.¡± She waved her hand in the air.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t be bothered about that at all. If a graduate is legion-worthy, they''re going to be drafted no matter what. Into which Legion is of no consequence to me.¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°As thrilling as it is to hear about your scandalous late night conversations with your husband, I¡¯m here to get Liam¡¯s citizenship official.¡±


    It was Lirae¡¯s turn to scoff.


    ¡°He¡¯s already free and running around the city. And he is more than welcome to join the raids. First Ones know he¡¯d fit in great with Jaren¡¯s ragtag band of misfits that make up the Fourth.¡±


    ¡°A ragtag band of misfits that have topped the Watcher¡¯s Leaderboards for the past¡­¡± Len touched his chin with his index finger. ¡°Ten raids.¡±


    Lirae¡¯s nostrils flared. She sat up and stared into Len¡¯s eyes before continuing. ¡°But he won¡¯t be getting citizenship. Not a single one of his kind will ever be getting citizenship.¡±


    Len exhaled. He got up and walked over to the window behind her desk. He looked out into the city. Her window overlooked the Academy District and the Merchant District. But there was a small sliver of the Gloom in the view as well. It was still early morning, so the Gloom was illuminated by the sun. His eyes drifted over the plaza. Laurel¡¯s Fountain. Len exhaled once more. ¡°I miss him too, Lirae.¡± Len felt his heart twinge for a second at the memory.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say another word.¡± She stood up and flared her Aura. Thorny vines climbed up her sides. He walked away from the window and over to her. Right through the lethal presence she was exuding. ¡°I still haven¡¯t been able to bring myself back to return there.¡± Len admitted, hoping to calm her nerves. ¡°He was one of the brightest I¡¯ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and teaching. Not to mention powerful. He would have run circles around me by now.¡±


    Lirae let the Aura subside, sitting back down. The vines remained and wrapped around her body. She rubbed her forehead. ¡°Then why are you trying to help one of them? After what they took from us that horrid day.¡±


    He sat down on the opposite couch. ¡°Because he wasn¡¯t even born when it happened. He¡¯s not even from their tribe. Because I¡¯ve watched over him for months now. I¡¯ve seen his character. You have as well. He jumped into the raid in the worst way possible because he couldn¡¯t bear to see people die. And look at how he escaped this tree. He didn¡¯t harm a single person. Hell, he was making friend¡¯s with some.¡±


    Len closed his eyes. ¡°Lirae, I¡¯m not asking you to accept him. I¡¯m not asking for you to give him a home, to give him any assistance at all. Just citizenship, he doesn¡¯t even need to be grafted into the Family Records. Just citizenship, so that the Watchers will compensate him.¡±


    Lirae looked back up at Len. Her eyes were serious and cold. She closed them.


    ¡°I will stake my seat on the council. If Liam¡¯s squad is not number one on the sub-ten leaderboard, then I will relinquish my position and give it to whomever you choose.¡±


    The vines uncoiled from her body. She breathed in deep, before opening her eyes.


    ¡°Fine Leonard. But this will be the last thing you will ever ask of me. I don¡¯t care if you obliterate ten bosses in a row. This will be the last.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine Lirae.¡±


    She nodded and turned her head away. ¡°And just citizenship, no records.¡± Len stood up and made for the door. She cleared her throat. Len turned back to her.


    Her eyes darkened as she rose from the couch. The vine at her feet rattled. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t make it. He is on the first trip to Tiamantis.¡±


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    Len nodded once more and walked out of the room.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Huff, Huff, Huff.¡± I heaved in as much air as possible. The sun just passed its zenith while I laid on the grass out in the Guild Hall backyard.


    ¡°Terl!¡± Jaren called out.


    A smaller half elf man walked up to Jaren. He did the weird shoulder salute. His arms were covered in bandages and he seemed to wince in pain when moving them. He had antlers sticking out of his head. Now a large rack, but enough to give those fairytale vibes.


    Jaren nodded towards me. ¡°Shoot him up.¡±


    I sat up. ¡°No, No, that''s enough, just give me a minute.¡± Jaren looked up at the sky. ¡°Alright. Terl. Dismissed for lunch. Come back in an hour.¡±


    The man nodded and turned away without saying anything. He did give me a side eye before leaving for some reason. Not sure what I did to piss him off. I stretched out my back, groaning as my tired muscles yelled at me.


    ¡°Oh quit yer whining. It¡¯s not bad.¡± Jaren grabbed something from his pack. ¡°Here, have a little snack.¡±


    Without thinking, I grabbed whatever he handed me. It didn¡¯t matter, it smelled like meat and that was enough. Breakfast felt so long ago. I tore into the ambiguous dark brown rectangle. However, even with my insanely sharp teeth, I could barely chew it. It actually hurt my teeth chomping on it. I spit it out of my mouth and into my hands. I wanted to make sure I wasn¡¯t just given a fricking piece of leather.


    Jaren laughed as I examined the food. I threw the inedible garbage back at him. ¡°What even is this?¡± I rubbed my teeth, making sure they were damaged. Jaren, of course, swiftly dodged the spit covered square and laughed even more.


    ¡°Hoo, that never gets old I tell yah. Watching newbies trying out jerky for the first time. Fennel¡¯s reaction was a tad funnier though. He didn¡¯t quit after three bites in like you. He just miserably gnawed on it until it finally broke down ten minutes later. I could hardly breathe when he walked into the squad hall the next morning, complaining about how sore his jaw was. Right in front of that dove he¡¯s got a thing for too. Great times.¡± He smiled. He grabbed another piece from his pack and shoved it in his mouth.


    He didn¡¯t chew on it though, instead resting it in his cheek. ¡°Jerky is dried up monster meat, it requires a few minutes of moisture before you can chew it. And as with all things monster related. It fights back. So the more you chew on it before it''s moist, the more it fights back.¡±


    I huffed again before responding with a simple and tired ¡°Neat.¡±


    Jaren has had me going through some drills this morning in each of the forms. Which would normally not bother me that much. That was my training regiment for most of the last few months.


    But Jaren had me emptying my stamina bar in each form. Which comes with a huge fatigue penalty. But to combat that problem, he brought in his support from his personal squad to keep my stamina reserves topped off. The first fill up was almost indescribable. Going from pass-out-at-any-moment tired to chugging-eight-energy-drinks awake was exhilarating. Until it happened four more times.


    I warned him about Gremlin¡¯s Fight and Flight¡¯s Exhaustion debuff, but he said he already knew. He did just read the character sheet I guess. It was the only form he let me revert out of my own free will.


    He at least let me start off with Ursa form. I burned through my stamina quickly using the new ability Elemental Claws. I wasn¡¯t sure how I went about choosing the element. I entered the form and nothing really happened. My claws were normal and I didn¡¯t feel any different.


    Jaren fixed up the training doll he was working with and told me to take a few swings at it. Apparently, he struck the statue in just the right places so that it didn¡¯t actually damage the construct. So the head just clicked right back in place.


    I swung at it a few times with no powers. My strike didn¡¯t budge the thing at all. Jaren said they were made to withstand any attack from a sub-ten splicer. That probably referred to level, but I didn¡¯t care to clarify, not in Ursa form at least.


    I wanted to try lightning powers first. There is just something really cool about a lightning bear. My claws turned bright blue as I activated Elemental Claws. Small lightning arcs fire off when I brought them together. I swung at the air and blue electricity followed along.


    A few minutes of clawing at the construct with lightning based attacks ensued. I ran out of stamina on my own actually. Jaren said he expected me to. ¡°Everyone does when they get a shiny new ability,¡± he explained.


    I had expended my final bit of stamina on Elemental Discharge. My eyes focused on the reptilian construct and unleashed the power. A single bolt of blue electricity appeared right above it, the bolt striking the wood and traveling down it into the earth. I grinned while I fell down.


    Jaren handed me another piece of the jerky, I put it in my mouth and rolled it around. It filled my mouth with a vague meat flavor. My mimic mouth instincts took over and I started to salivate. A lot. So much that I started drooling. Jaren laughed at me again while I hurriedly wiped up the drool.


    ¡°Eh no shame. You¡¯re far from alone in terms of nasty eaters. One of my old flames was from a Hippoton family. Those dinners haunt me to this day. I wonder how Lia is doing, her and her sisters.¡° Jaren¡¯s face was now occupied by a dopey grin. One that needed no explanation.


    ¡°Jaren!¡± Both me and Jaren looked around for the source of the shout. ¡°Jaren!¡±


    We both looked at the door that led to the guild training room. Terl walked through with a panicked look on his face.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°You need to get down to the Legion Barracks. Fennel''s out of control.¡±

 55. Life Sized Dummies

    ¡°What do you mean Fennel¡¯s out of control? He¡¯s the most level-headed out of all my squad captains.¡±


    I recognized the name. He was the cool dogeared young dwarf. Which was honestly strange to see. A teenage dwarf. I feel like most fantasy stuff back on Earth always portrayed dwarves as perpetual forty-year-olds who are actually two hundred years old. What do baby dwarves look like? Are they smaller than human babies? Hmm. Further investigation is required.


    Jaren began stomping over to the antlered man, breaking me out of my dwarven curiosity streak, but paused just before and shook his head. I followed behind him and caught the words he mumbled under his breath.


    ¡°I knew sending him there was a stupid.¡±


    Where did he send Fennel? Out into the Forest, maybe?


    He stopped in front of his squadmate. ¡°What happened?¡± Jaren asked.


    Terl straightened up. He was only slightly under average height, but he looked small standing next to Jaren. He grabbed one of his antlers and rolled his fingers around it.


    ¡°I was going to head to Burnhold after grabbing a bite to eat. I stopped by that cart you were talking about. Great food. That tusxic meat sandwich is to die for and not to mention easy on the wallet. It''s hard to find such a place these¡­¡±


    Jaren coughed, cutting off the man¡¯s tangent.


    Terl laughed nervously. ¡°And not important right now. Right umm. Yes. I was heading over to the barracks. Tomorrow is the post raid performance review for supports. I wanted to stop by lower leveled squads and make sure they knew the time and place. That little rat tailed one from C2 is always late and blames it on not knowing where to go; which doesn¡¯t make sense considering we hold it in the main building every time. Along with every other¡­¡±


    Jaren coughed again, with a bit more feeling. ¡°Focus Terl. Fennel. Out of control.¡±


    ¡°Right. Fennel. Yes. I was on my way over to his squad hall. Have a quick chat with Gloria about tomorrow. Nothing was out of the ordinary when I arrived. It looked like the frontliners were having a small sparring tourney in the field before tactics training. Nothing new. As I was chatting with Gloria, who is an absolute gem. I¡¯m so glad we got her to join us. Unfortunate thing. That scarring.¡±


    Jaren cocked his eyebrow.


    ¡°Sorry. We heard a squeal of pain come from the field. Gloria and I rushed outside to see Fennel pinned on the ground by two other people. His last opponent was lying on the ground, his nose thoroughly broken. I ran up to him, staunched the bleeding and gave him over to Gloria, instructing her to take him to the infirmary for some Advanced Healing. He should be fine in a day so don¡¯t worry about that. I asked one of the guys keeping him pinned. He just said Fennel was going crazy. I told them I would run and grab you. I left right then and that just about brings us to now.¡±


    Jaren exhaled some air. ¡°So, he¡¯s not morphing or anything?¡±


    ¡°Oh not at all. He seemed perfectly fine from what I could see. His status levels were great. That Boundless ability is incredible. Before I spoke with Gloria, one of his squad members told me he¡¯d fought through four Tier 5 mannequins, solo might I add, before their little contest. Much different than that stamina drain you have over there.¡±


    Terl¡¯s eyes slid over me before he rolled them.


    Was. Was that an insult? What did I do?


    Jaren rubbed his forehead. ¡°And where was Barnel or Styli? Or whichever lieutenant is in charge today.¡±


    Terl just shrugged. A vein popped out on Jaren¡¯s head.


    ¡°Honestly, why do I pay you people? I don¡¯t need to be bothered over some damn roughhousing.¡±


    Jaren heaved another sigh before turning back to me.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit early for this part of your training, but from what I¡¯ve seen today, you should be alright.¡± Jaren walked up to one of the covered objects in the field. In one quick motion, he pulled the end of the cloth and revealed what was underneath.


    It was another wooden replica construct of a monster, one that resembled the bear monster I grabbed Ursa from. Maybe a little smaller actually. However, it was a much more simplified version of it. Kinda reminded me of old school video game graphics to a degree. A bunch of polygons and simple joints. Late PS1 era stuff.


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    Jaren threw the cover at me while I was observing the construct, definitely not knocking me over. Nope. Nu uh. Not a chance.


    I rose from the ground, coughing out the dust that entered my esophagus from the sheet. ¡°Fold that up.¡± He walked behind the construct and put his hand on the back of the replica¡¯s head.


    Symbols began to light up around the construct. They were a dull blue color. The replica vibrated and shook for a moment. They do move. That¡¯s awesome!


    ¡°Which form of yours is ready?¡±


    I checked my status bars. All but Ursa were on cooldown. ¡°Ursa is up.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, it''s time for some bear on bear action. Get ready.¡±


    I shifted into Ursa form, my clothes filling out but not stretching too much, and stared down at the construct. The symbols covering its body changed from their blue color into a brilliant red. It shot out at me.


    It raised its right arm. I felt the familiar twinge from Preflex on my right shoulder. I raised my arms up to block. Its arm came down, colliding with my guard. The blow was heavy, but not enough to break me. I stood my ground and lowered my right hand. Flames circled around my claws this time. I pivoted away from the construct''s arm and directed my own blow for this thing¡¯s shoulder.


    My fiery claw landed true, right on the construct¡¯s left shoulder. I managed to push it back away from me with the attack. I turned and saw some scorch marks where my claws hit. The symbols on its shoulder turned a different color from the rest. It was orange now.


    But I didn¡¯t focus on that. I went on the offensive this time. With my claws aflame, I dropped another swipe down on it. Hitting the wooden body of the doll this time, and pushing it a few feet away.


    It jerked mechanically, then turned back to me. It rushed again with its arm raised, in pretty much the same way as earlier. I raised my arms to block. But before its arm never came down and its whole body collided with my torso. The blow hurt, but it didn¡¯t move me. I felt the temptation to rage but held it down.


    I dropped my arms under it and strained my arms, telling them to hurl this stupid toy. After some effort, I lifted it from the ground and threw it back down on its back. The colors changed on a few different body parts, but I didn¡¯t care. I clawed at its underbelly with more flame empowered attacks, before finishing the assault with an Elemental Discharge. My claws turned a crimson red and I pointed them at the construct.


    Just as the description said, a steady stream of fire flowed from my hands, covering the replica in flames. It wasn¡¯t a single burst of fire though. I could keep the flames coming. Which I did. The stream only stopped when I felt faint. I reverted and fell over.


    But right before passing out,I felt the surge of energy again. Terl used his stamina recovery skill on me again.


    I stood up and looked over the damage I did. I hope I beat it. I didn¡¯t want to fight that thing in base form. Not without my sword. The thought of my missing sword flared some discontent in the back of my head.


    The replica was a scorched mess. The symbols were gone and it no longer moved.


    Oh god. Did I break it? Crap, that has to cost a ton. And I just got some money too. Not that I even know how much I have. I was still waiting on the economics lesson from somebody. Man, there is still so much to learn.


    Jaren walked up to the charred construct. He patted me on the shoulder. ¡°Good stuff. Now you¡¯re going to be doin that for the rest of the day. How long until your next form is up.¡±


    ¡°Gremlin will be up in a few minutes.¡± I lied. It came up during the fight, but I was hungry and wanted to leverage this to get some food. That sandwich Terl mentioned was sounding pretty good right now.


    ¡°And how? I¡¯m pretty sure I broke the thing. I hope it''s not too expensive.¡± I pointed back at the smoking pile of lumber.


    Jaren chuckled at my reply. ¡°Nah, it''s fine. A fresh batch of mana will have it back to normal. Terl you mind?¡±


    Terl nodded and walked over to it. His face scrunched up when he got close. His bandaged arm shook while he moved it closer. His hand rested on what I believe was the head. The symbols lit back up after a second. This time green. The charring evaporated of the construct, returning it to its light brown wooden color. It got off the ground and walked back to the pedestal it was on before I fought it, looking good as new.


    ¡°Okay those things are awesome. Are each of the sheets covering one of those?¡±


    ¡°Yep, and as much as I would like to explain more about them, I should go and see what¡¯s happening with Fennel and his squad. And see which of my lieutenants needs a feckin¡¯ smack in the head.¡±


    He looked back over at Terl. ¡°Kid¡¯s with you until I get back. Keep him fighting fit.¡±


    Terl walked back over, his face looked much more tired than earlier. ¡°Boss, I don¡¯t have much left in me. I can maybe top him off three more times. Actually less if I have to use more MP on the mannequins.¡±


    Jaren grunted. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I shouldn¡¯t be long.¡±


    Jaren turned and walked away. I yelled after him. ¡°Oh, could I grab some weapons from the training room? Gremlin can¡¯t do much without ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°Knock yerself out.¡±


    ¡°Sweet.¡± I said to myself, before returning to the practice field. I made eye contact with Terl, who wore an expression of abject boredom now that Jaren was gone. ¡°So, Mr. Terl. Tell me more about that sandwich.¡±


    Terl gave me a look of complete and utter distaste. What is this guy''s problem? I, for the life of me, could not understand where the hate was coming from.


    But before I could ask, a huge crashing sound went off in the distance. Terl''s demeanor changed on the spot as his head swiveled right in the direction of the crash. He was completely serious now. He grabbed my arm pulling me to the guild hall.


    "Move. Now."

 56. Attack On Monster

    Another booming crash came from down the street of the unfinished guildhall. Terl¡¯s whole being focused on the source of the sounds. We got to the front of the construction site. The street was abuzz with movement. Hundreds of children, younger teens, and other adults were being rushed down the road by guards, heading toward the gate leading to the merchant district.


    Everyone else on the road hustled in the opposite direction, where the booming sounds were coming from, each carrying a weapon and hastily putting on armor. Terl tugged on me.


    ¡°Move.¡± He shoved me into the street.


    ¡°Wait a second. What''s happening?¡±


    Terl¡¯s nose twitched and his face filled with annoyance. ¡°I can explain while we move, so move.¡± He shoved me again, in the direction of the booming.


    We fell into rhythm with the rest of the soldiers. Terl spoke up now. ¡°It''s an attack.¡±


    ¡°A raid? I thought those only happened once a month or something.¡±


    Terl shook his head. ¡°This is different. You will see when we get there.¡± His focus returned to the road. He spoke in a lower voice, to himself. ¡°It had to be the Academy District. Shit.¡±


    We continued forward. The streets were more packed than I¡¯d ever seen, not that I¡¯d been here that long. I was getting slightly claustrophobic from all of the bumping and shoving committed by others rushing to get to whatever awaited us. I was guessing it was more monsters. What else could it be?


    Ferals? Do they attack the city directly like this?


    I remembered some of what Daila told me about them. How they attack caravans and will steal from the city. But this doesn¡¯t feel like that. Why would they attack in broad daylight? It doesn¡¯t add up. And what exactly was that boom?


    Weird thing to wish for, but I hope it''s monsters. Everyone heading this way is geared up for a battle. I just don¡¯t want that battle to be with other humans. Or I suppose humanoids.


    ¡°What weapons do you need?¡± Terl¡¯s voice broke me out of that train of thought.


    ¡°Daggers, or a spear. Either will suffice.¡± I answered.


    He nodded once, not saying anything further. I could tell his mind was racing.


    We continued our march for the next ten minutes. I could keep track of the time by watching my cooldown timers. Gremlin was still the only form I had available, Tigris was thirty minutes away. Apis was closer at ten minutes. But it certainly looked like Gremlin was going to be the only choice. My weakest form. Damnit.


    Anxiety reared its ugly head once again. A cold chill went down my spine. I was heading toward another battlefield. With others this time, which I thought would lessen the worry. It didn¡¯t. I can¡¯t quite say it''s worse, it''s just different. These people I¡¯m jogging with might die. My mind replayed the horrible sounds from the first raid. The screams.


    Another bump pulled me from my thoughts. But it wasn¡¯t an accident this time. It was Terl. I looked down at the shorter man. ¡°Get out of your head. Concentrate on the here and now. And that.¡±


    The sounds of crashing and fighting became clear as we got closer. It was definitely a battle, no doubts there. But there was still no indication of what and who was fighting.


    Until we got close to the outer walls. My eyes locked onto one of the fields next to the wall. People were fighting a whole host of monsters. Nothing like the scale of the raid, but they numbered in the lower hundreds if I had to estimate. Splicers fought back in heated combat with them, yet they were horribly outnumbered. They need help.


    The section of the great tree wall that surrounded Laurelhaven had a huge hole blown out of it. Monsters poured out of it.


    Everyone in the street hopped over the fence leading to the field and rushed into the battle. I was about to join them before I felt Terl tug my arm again. He shook his head at me and pointed over in the direction away from the battle.


    My eyes followed his gesture over to a roughly made tent, positioned near the building closest to the battle. Others that hadn''t jumped straight into the fray were heading for it as well.


    ¡°We are heading for that medic station first. We need to get information on what happened and what monsters are fighting, as well as making sure it is protected at all costs.¡±


    I nodded. It made sense, a basic strategy. Defend the healers. Simple. A pit grew in my stomach. I looked back at the battle as we moved. People struggling to fight off the horde. My skin felt prickly and itchy.


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    We followed the street all the way down; once we were in front of the two story building, we ran up to the medic station. The sounds of the battle roared in my ears.


    People were laid out among cloth stretchers on the ground. The smell of blood and iron filled the air, making me almost gag. Terl just walked forward, heading for the back of the tent, unperturbed by the gruesomeness surrounding us. I followed after him, albeit slowly.


    But I was forced to stop. A hand grabbed my foot. I looked down and saw a girl. She had silver gray hair, matted in sweat, dirt, and blood. She had cat ears that matched her hair. But one of the ears had been violently ripped down the middle and the other was torn in half. My eyes scanned the rest of her body. She was missing an arm.


    My stomach rolled over on itself. The arm was bandaged but blood seeped from it. She stared into my eyes. ¡°Help me.¡± My vision blurred, and my stomach turned even more. My mouth dried up. A dry cough left my mouth.


    But before she could say more, her eyes wavered, and her head fell down. Her grasp on my foot softened. I gulped. Did¡­Did she just¡­


    I couldn¡¯t finish the thought, Terl pulled my arm again. He gave me a hearty slap across my right cheek. He then grabbed my face with both of his hands.


    ¡°Focus. We have work to do. Work that will make sure that,¡± he nodded toward the cat eared girl, ¡°doesn¡¯t happen to others. Now come on.¡± He let me go and gestured for me to go in front of him. My mind was blank while I walked.


    We arrived in front of a big table that had a few people around it arguing. A woman with dark green fur running down her arms, a man with large canine teeth protruding from his mouth, and another woman with feathers for hair. Each with panicked looks on their faces.


    Terl walked up and slammed his hand on the table. ¡°I am Terl Blocke. Head Support and Medical Officer of the Fourth Legion Of Laurelhaven. Give me a rundown on what happened.¡± Everyone shut up immediately, each turning to the newcomer at the table. They looked around at each other, trying to figure out who should speak first.


    Finally the green furred woman spoke. ¡°I am Bev, the dean of that school and a professor of,¡± Terl raised his hand, shutting her up. ¡°Don¡¯t care. What happened? Do we have a rough estimate of the monsters? And where are the wall guards for this section?¡±


    Bev swallowed. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure, we were all in the middle of teaching classes when the first explosion went off. Gus¡¯ class was running drills outside.¡± Her eyes darkened and her gaze fell to the table.


    Explosion? What monster did that? And where is Jaren? Shouldn¡¯t he be here already? He was only a few minutes ahead of us.


    She recomposed herself. ¡°Umm, some guards showed up after the monsters started flowing in from the hole they made. We don¡¯t know how many exactly. We haven¡¯t heard anything from the wall yet. When can soldiers from the barracks come?¡± She asked, slightly panicking.


    Terl just shook his head. He spoke up again. ¡°Why isn¡¯t there a guard officer here now?¡±


    The toothy man answered this time. ¡°He had to go help bolster the line.¡±


    ¡°What''s his splice and trope?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Salamandran, he¡¯s bald, dark skinned, with a long tongue. Wielding a glaive if I remember properly.¡±


    Terl turned back to me. ¡°Did you get all of that?¡±


    I nodded.


    Terl took a deep breath, then shouted out. ¡°I am taking over as head of this defense until someone more suitable comes. First order, Liam.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± I yelled out of complete instinct.


    ¡°Go retrieve the guard he just described. I need him back here to be able to give proper orders to the troops.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Which direction did he head in?¡± Terl asked the man. He pointed out towards the right side of the battle.


    ¡°Anybody here have a dagger or a spear?! Bring it here!¡± Terl announced, this time turning and yelling at the whole tent. Someone raised a spear above their head and limped over to the table. Terl grabbed it and put it in my hands.


    ¡°You have your orders.¡±


    I looked at him and the others, then turned and left in the direction the man pointed out.


    ¡°Alright next, how many healers and supports do we have? We will probably have to set up another¡­¡± was the last thing I heard before Terl was out of earshot.


    I gripped down on the spear, it was much higher quality than the sticks the gremlins used. I looked back into the battle. Then shifted into Gremlin form.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel¡¯s eyes drifted open. He was on one of the stretchers in the guild hall infirmary. His head hurt and his body was sore. He wasn¡¯t sure what happened or why he was there. He heard some familiar humming beside his bed.


    It was Gloria, she had her eyes closed and she just hummed that soothing tune. He was tempted to close his eyes, to let the melody engulf him. But he caught a glimpse of sunlight through the window. He had to get up.


    He sat up and pain shot through the back of his head. Gloria turned to him. ¡°Slowly.¡± She rasped. ¡°They did a number on you.¡± She whispered.


    Fennel swung his feet off the side of the bed. They didn¡¯t quite reach the ground. He turned to Gloria. ¡°What happened?¡±


    She giggled for a second. ¡°You happened. They were saying,¡± she stopped and took a quick drink of water. ¡°They said some stupid stuff to you and you were not in the mood for it.¡±


    She touched the back of his head, causing him to wince. ¡°Zaner gave you that to stop you.¡± She took another sip of water and coughed.


    ¡°Sorry Gloria, you don¡¯t have to speak. I know it hurts.¡±


    She waved him off. ¡°Quit treating me like that. It¡¯s getting better, you doofus.¡± Fennel couldn¡¯t help but smile at her, one she returned in kind.


    ¡°WHERE¡¯S FENNEL?!?¡± An outcry resounded into the infirmary.


    The two separated and Fennel jumped off the stretcher to go see who¡¯s shouting.


    But before he could get to the door, Jaren swung it open.


    ¡°Fennel get your ass in gear, we¡¯ve got a break in!¡±

 57. Baby Raid

    Tutor watched as Liam stepped onto the field of battle. She could see that his head was flooding with apprehension and doubt. It was a problem he¡¯d struggled with even before his time on Kniyas. She wanted nothing more than to speak to him. To give him her special brand of encouragement.


    She was sure it would boot him into the right mindset like it did last time. ¡°A swift kick in the pants is all he needs. That deer dude almost had him with that slap. But he needs just an inch more. He¡¯s a stubborn one.¡±


    Her hand reached for the display. But she stopped and sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t keep babying him forever.¡± She retracted her hand, closing her eyes in the process. ¡°He won¡¯t grow. Not truly. Not like he has to if he is going to have a chance to do what this world will ask of him. What they will ask of him.¡±


    Tutor brought her hands to her chest.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got this Liam. Just fight like you have been. I¡¯m sure you will be alright.¡± She said with a gentle smile.


    ¡ª¡ª


    My mind reeled as I held my spear. Each step felt like I was trudging through swamp waters. Heavy and slow. I looked up at the battle; it was several hundred feet away now. Then back down at my hands. My knuckles were white¡ªan odd look especially when my skin was tinted green.


    My grip loosened. What the hell is wrong with me? I¡¯ve fought so much in this world. Why can¡¯t I do it now? What is blocking me?


    With each leaden step, my mind stayed silent, giving me no answer. I looked up again, and the battle was less than one hundred yards. A football field¡¯s length away. The snarling of beasts and screams of soldiers deafened in my ears. I closed my eyes.


    Why did I think I could do this? I should have just stayed in the Forest. Fight a few monsters each week, and get stronger. That kind of stuff. It would have been easier than this.


    ¡°AGHHH!¡± A cry roared in the air, waking me from my panicked trance. The battle was even closer now. Either I must have kept moving or it got closer. Both options didn¡¯t matter now. My eyes searched around looking for its source.


    And they found it. It was a person. A human man. One with longer hair tied in a bun. He had olive skin and legs covered in bushy fur and cloven feet. He looked like a faun from old Earth mythology.


    He screamed out once more. A wolf-like monster was biting on the man¡¯s torso. Its fur was mostly red, but had a few black streaks running through it. It was massive. The man¡¯s body was almost engulfed by its maw.


    I rushed forth, Fight and Flight activated. I was at the monster¡¯s side in seconds. I shoved my spear into the distracted beast''s side, somewhere in its ribcage. It released the man from its clutches with a great yelp. The man fell to the ground holding his profusely bleeding side. I held on to my spear as the wolf snapped at me, its hot, gnarly breath blowing on my ear and cheek. Warm, dark blood ran down the spear shaft, ultimately flowing onto my fists.


    I gripped down even harder. I attempted to yank the spear from its body, but I didn¡¯t have the strength in this form. And the wolf''s muscles were most likely flexed, keeping the spear firmly lodged. Seeing how that wouldn¡¯t work any longer, I pulled and twisted the spear around the wound. I was hoping I¡¯d hit an internal organ and that this would shred it to pieces. The red wolf threw itself on the ground and writhed. Trying with all its might to throw the interloper off. However, the wolf¡¯s panicked motion only aided me in my endeavor.


    And my plan seemed to have worked. The wolf¡¯s movements slowed down until it finally came to a stop. It fell to the ground, and with a final exhale, went limp. I stayed still for a moment, regaining my balance before pulling the spear from its side after some effort.


    I heaved some air. My stamina gauge was down to 70%. ¡°Shit. That ability uses so much.¡± I mumbled to myself. I heard a cough. It was the faun. He was still on the ground but no longer holding himself. His arms were at his sides and his torso moved slowly. Seconds went by before each breath.


    I rushed to his side and knelt down, planting the bloodied spear into the ground. His chest was covered in teeth marks and blood. So much blood. I put pressure on the largest wound I could see. ¡°I¡¯ve got you. Don¡¯t worry. HELP! MEDIC!¡±


    I looked into the man¡¯s eyes, he looked back. His mouth moved but no words came forth. His eyes faltered. ¡°NOOOO!!!¡± I tried to lift his body, but my diminutive stature made it difficult, along with the blood making my hands slip.


    Before I knew it the man wasn¡¯t breathing anymore. I put him down. Tears streamed down my face as my right hand clawed into the dirt.


    I raised my head and stared into the lifeless man¡¯s eyes. I closed them with a quick motion of my hand. I stood up. I grabbed the now blood and dirt covered spear from the ground, twirling it around for a moment, stopping it abruptly, just above the ground. The dirt and blood splayed on the grassy field.


    Salamandran, bald, dark skinned, wielding a glaive. Find him and bring him back to Terl. I nodded at the orders, confirming them in my head. I ran heading straight for the thick of it.


    I looked out and saw two other fighters going against a toxic boar. One of them looked hurt while the other swung a dagger around wildly, clearly panicked.


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    I¡¯m not going to let that happen again though. I ran over to the side of the boar and shoved my spear in its throat. I had plenty of experience dealing with these beasts, so I knew right where to aim for a quick kill. The boar fell and I walked over to the shaken people.


    The hurt one was a half elf boy. He was small and had what looked like turtle shells growing on his shoulders. His leg was bleeding and smelled awful. Poisoned no doubt. And probably doesn¡¯t have an immunity to it like me. I looked over to the half elf girl with the dagger.


    ¡°Take him to the medics!¡± I shouted over the roar of battle, pointing back to the tent.


    She nodded. Her eyes were wide open. I¡¯m not sure she is comprehending anything. I looked back over the two. They looked young, middle teens was my estimate, but I don¡¯t know other races'' physiology well enough to confidently guess ages. What I did know is that they seemed too young to be fighting. I grabbed her face and forced her to look into my eyes. ¡°Get under his shoulder and start walking that way. Or he won¡¯t make it.¡± I said in the best calm voice I could which was way harder with all the adrenaline.


    The girl nodded. She got under the boy''s arms and lifted him up. Before they started limping away, I asked them about the man I was looking for: the guard.


    The boy was the one to answer, coughing throughout. ¡°I know who you''re talking about. He was fighting not too far from us, trying to protect the class that was outside.¡± He raised his head and looked around, then pointed to the side of the building closest to us. ¡°That¡¯s where he was last. He was getting people inside.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Thanks. Now go.¡± They limped away. I watched them go. I was still at the edge of the battle so they should run into any monsters.


    Pain flared in my back. Something barreled into me while I watched them, launching me forward. I rolled on the ground, attempting to move with the momentum and lessen the blow. I jumped back up and looked at my attacker.


    It was a giant cyan goat but with large ram horns on its head. Not the tri-horned ones I was used to and twice the size. It kicked up dirt, preparing another charge.


    I took the initiative, running at it first. You can¡¯t let those things get up to speed, so cutting it off felt like the right choice. I charged forth, my spear aiming for its head, choosing not to use FnF this time. It needed to be used for emergencies only. Its stamina drain would be too great and I couldn¡¯t afford it this time.


    Its horns shone in the sunlight with a bright red glow. Shit ability! The beast¡¯s head slammed into the ground, making the ground crack in front of it. Not large cracks, but just big enough to get my right foot caught while I ran at it.


    I pulled on my foot, releasing it quickly. I looked back at the huge goat, only to catch a glimpse of its horns coming straight for my face. Fuck.


    I brought the spear up to guard the blow. It took a large majority of the blow, but it still sent me flying back through the air. I landed hard on my already sore back. The wind now completely knocked out of me. I gasped for air. Need to get up. I heard its charge come again. NOW!


    I struggled to my knees and then on all fours. I grasped at the spear and held it up to block another blow, not that I could get into a good stance from a kneeling position. Feels like an emergency to me. I activated FnF, rolling out of the goat¡¯s advance just before it got to me. I swiped at its side while it moved but I could only shave its leg leaving a shallow cut. 63% stamina. For half a second too. I got up from the ground and ran at it before it turned around.


    I shoved the spear in its hind leg, which promptly kicked out, just grazing my stomach. I tried to pull the spear out, but it was stuck again. Well, I knew what to do about that. I twisted and yanked the spear like I had with the wolf.


    Crack!


    I fell on my ass. I brought the spear to my face. Half of the spear that is. I looked at the goat who turned and got right in front of me, the other half of my spear sticking out of its ass. Awesome¡­


    Its horns glowed red again while it roared out. I activated FnF again, but instead of dodging, I crammed the broken spear into the monster¡¯s mouth. I jumped back while the goat gagged and sputtered, trying to remove the broken shaft wedged next to its larynx. I took the chance to retrieve the actual deadly side of my spear.


    That proved to be another challenge though, seeing as the goat was now bucking around the area like a pissed off bull at the rodeo which would have been quite the scene, if it wasn¡¯t heading straight for another soldier caught in the middle of a fight with a toxic boar.


    ¡°Shit.¡± I thought it was going to crush the fox eared fighter, but it changed direction and slammed right into the side of the boar. The man was surprised of course but took the chance to slice into the ram¡¯s neck with his great sword. I hopped on the back of it and pulled my broken spear free. Then launched at the boar and stabbed through its throat.


    I got my bearings back and checked on the fox man. He stabbed into the goat''s chest, making sure it was dead.


    ¡°Strange way to assist but I will take it, thanks.¡± He grinned at me, his face covered in blood and sweat. He must have been fighting since the start. ¡°Anytime,¡± I answered.


    I looked back around, trying to regain my bearings.


    ¡°What are you looking for?¡± The man¡¯s orange ears twitched as he asked.


    ¡°Need to find the guard officer who was around the building over there. Salamandran splicer, bald, wields a glaive. I¡¯ve orders to bring him back to the tent. We need him so we can get some semblance of order to this fight.¡± I spoke out, my eyes glued to the battlefield. I was looking around, making sure we didn¡¯t get blindsided.


    The man nodded. ¡°Sergeant Ghrond. That¡¯s who you''re looking for. He¡®s my commanding officer. There were kids out training when this went down, he ordered us to protect them. I went after a pair of half elves who ran the wrong way. Reckon they didn''t make it. I was too busy with these rascals.¡± He pointed at three other boar carcasses lying around.


    ¡°Boy had shells on his shoulder?¡±


    He nodded, surprise all over his face.


    ¡°I think he will make it, I sent him and the girl over to the medic tent.¡±


    ¡°Good, then I¡¯m free. Let¡¯s find Sarge.¡±

 58. Turbulent Battle

    ¡°Name¡¯s Liam.¡± I nodded at my new companion.


    He nodded back. ¡°Chu. Let''s go. Sarge was ushering people in to the academy by the western side. No doubt he is still there defending.¡±


    He placed the greatsword on his shoulder and jogged forward. I called after him. ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    I held up my broken spear. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have another, or a dagger for that matter.¡±


    He put his hand behind his back, I heard the shwing sound of a blade unsheathing. He handed me an average length dagger. I received it and gave it a few test swings, it was well balanced, way better than the crap iron daggers of the gremlins. I chose to keep the broken spear in my right hand and use the dagger in my left. Dual-wielding felt better than just using one dagger. And the spear was still very much usable. I thanked Chu.


    ¡°Just make sure I get that back. Sentimental value.¡± He went back to jogging.


    I followed after him, keeping my eyes peeled on the battle around. Most of the monsters were the same kind that were in the raid. Boars, goats, moose. No massive balls of putrid flesh thank god. Don¡¯t think the spear and dagger combo would do against them. Now fire claws on the other hand. That would probably get me somewhere.


    After a few moments, I saw another group fighting off a herd of goats, no ram horns this time, just the tri horns. But the group of splicers were still outnumbered three to one. I began to veer towards them. But Chu grabbed my shoulder. ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    I pointed at the group of three splicers. ¡°They need assistance.¡± He peered over at them, then shook his head. ¡°And we have a mission, that comes first. They will be fine, those tricorns are easy enough. Now let''s move.¡±


    I looked back, something in me irked at not helping them. Yet I trailed after Chu. He was right, those goats aren¡¯t very difficult, tier 3¡¯s at best. And the mission was important. If we can get this sergeant back to Terl, we may be able to shift this battle around, before reinforcements get here. I hope they get here soon though.


    We ended up assisting some other groups on our way to the side of the academy. A few geckos were attacking a pair of splicers. Their fight was directly in front of us so even Chu couldn¡¯t ignore it. We made quick work of the geckos. Which did not annoy me in the slightest. Nope, a monster that gave me so much trouble, cleaved in half by Chu¡¯s greatsword without much effort. Not frustrating at all.


    I told myself it was easier only because it fought in a bad location, if it was a cave that fight would have gone much differently. Why am I complaining at a time like this? Just move dumbass.


    One of the splicers happened to be a support. The partially scaled elf gave the both of us a quick Basic Healing boost and we continued. My back loosened up and stopped aching. A huge relief. My health was now sitting at 80%. I hadn¡¯t checked it after the goat/ram fight, but it couldn¡¯t have been great. It¡¯s probably for the best. I didn¡¯t need any extra stress.


    Stamina was going up a little bit as well, sitting at 70% now. I wondered if Basic Healing helped it some. I forgot to ask when Jaren was explaining it.


    We approached the building from the side. The fighting was more concentrated the closer we got to it. Monsters surrounded the building. Little pockets of splicers fought them off all around the building. I couldn¡¯t help but contemplate why the monsters were fixated on the building. Did monsters have an innate drive to kill the sentient races? From how Chu was explaining it, they hid some kids in the building. There were kids inside already, presumably.


    My face twitched at the thought. Anger rose up in my chest once I realized that children were in danger. Anger at the monsters mostly, but some saved for myself. I¡¯d never forgive myself if my pathetic lollygagging got any of those kids hurt.


    ¡°He¡¯s on the backside! There¡¯s a big gate back there. He¡¯d post up there.¡± Chu yelled out. I acknowledged and we charged around the side. Chu swung his blade around at some of the monsters in front. I followed up his attacks with some finishing blows. Chu¡¯s fighting style was simple: Big sword go vroom. It was easy to fight around him. I either distracted an enemy for him or killed the ones he¡¯d nailed already. Not a whole lot of practice is necessary for such a forward fighting style.


    I sliced through the undercarriage of a moose that was sending missiles off at the flank of a small group of splicers fighting near the building. It whined out, until Chu¡¯s blade came down on its neck, severing it.


    ¡°Nice one!¡± I yelled out.


    He nodded, but then suddenly brought his blade up and sliced down at me. I didn¡¯t move; Preflex went off, but it wasn¡¯t coming for my torso like his blade seemed to be. It was aimed at my back. I heard a squishing sound and turned to see Chu¡¯s blade stuck in another moose¡¯s head. One who was going for a point-blank shot at my rear.


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    ¡°Thanks, heh.¡±


    He just shook his head, bringing his sword back up to his shoulder. We looked out at the fighting. But even with all of our teamwork, we weren¡¯t getting much closer to the sergeant¡¯s location. Another group of boars was drawn away from the building and heading our way. I readied myself but Chu just held out his hand.


    ¡°We need a different plan. We won¡¯t get to him blindly hacking away at the beasts.¡± He looked around, taking in the area. His gaze ultimately rested on the building, specifically the roof.


    It''s not a throw me over there kind of answer, is it? Sure, I¡¯m smaller in this form, but I don¡¯t think he has that kind of power. We were still a few hundred feet from the building. No way he could make that toss.


    ¡°Okay, instead of fighting up to the Sarge, let''s get to one of the squads near the building. From there I should be able to toss you up to the roof. We were blessed with no flying monsters so it will be one of the safer areas. Then you run to the back side, where Sarge is.¡± Chu said.


    I nodded. I was right about the throwing part. The plan was sensible though.


    ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s do it.¡± I answered.


    We backed away from the pseudo-circle of monsters attacking the building, looking for a smaller line where we could break through the easiest. The boars backed away from us and returned to their assault.


    It only took us a minute to find an adequate route. There was a larger group of splicers, six from what I could see, fighting off a mixed group of red wolves and boars. The wolves were almost the same size as the toxic boars. But that meant there weren¡¯t many of them. And we could get the drop on them.


    I went out first, aiming a blow at the hindlegs of a wolf. I sliced through its back leg, it roared out and snapped at my face in a feat of agility I didn¡¯t know it had. Its teeth were inches from my face until Chu¡¯s blade caught the teeth. I shoved my half-spear, along with a slice from the dagger, into its throat while it chewed on the sword. Blood fell to the ground, and a moment later, so did its owner.


    The other two wolves around noticed their brethren fall, however, and circled around us. The line of boars focused on the splicers we were trying to get to.


    The last trick won¡¯t work on two of them. Distraction is only good when dealing with one of them.


    Chu and I naturally stood back to back, keeping each wolf in our sights. Running at them would be stupid, so we were stuck being the reactive side of the fight.


    Drool spilled out of the mouth of the wolf in front of me. Its eyes never left mine as it prowled forward. I swallowed. My breath quickened. I checked my health bar for a split second. But it was a second too long. The beast shot out when my eyes left it for that single moment. With no other option, I returned its assault, with Fight and Flight turned on. Its jaws crunched at me, and I barely got out of the way of its teeth. But I felt a slash on my chest. Its bulky claws found purchase while I moved.


    I jumped back, but it didn¡¯t let up. I had to keep FnF up to keep dodging its flurry. I swiped at its maw once or twice, but only glancing blows. Stamina at 39% Damn it. I can¡¯t keep this up. [Exhaustion] means death here. But those teeth also mean death.


    A loud clang rang out nearby. Yet I kept my attention on the wolf. I¡¯d learned what it does if I don¡¯t. The wolf on the other hand had not. It seemed to be compelled to search for the source of the sound. I took the opportunity to jab the spear in its chest and slice its leg.


    It yowled out in pain, but with a few more FnF-empowered attacks, I shredded through its flesh. It whimpered, then hit the ground. I huffed, then felt the searing pain on my chest. I checked the wound. The wolf¡¯s claws raked down my right pec and stopped above my stomach. It wasn¡¯t too deep, but there was a good amount of blood. I could keep fighting. I checked my health, 56%. Not great. Another heal would be nice.


    Chu finished his fight around the same time but without all the wounds and blood. Must be nice. He walked up to me and handed me a bottle. Health potion?


    ¡°Water. Wash the blood off your hands and chest. Take a swig too.¡±


    The disappointment of the mystery bottle being just water vanished pretty quickly once I cleaned myself and drank some of the water. It was shockingly cold, a pleasant surprise for sure. What shocked me even more though was the fact that the wound closed up as I washed it in the water. Magic water! Sick!


    ¡°What was that clang? It was a godsend.¡± I asked Chu, who also cleaned a wound with the water after I handed the bottle back.


    Chu gestured his head over to the group we were heading for. ¡°Him.¡± I turned and saw that most of the boars and two more wolves were snorting and snarling at a person in full plate armor, holding a massive shield in one hand and a hammer in the other. The air around the armored man was tinted yellow and red as he banged on his shield.


    This threw the monsters into a frenzy. They lunged at him, but the other sighters in the group attacked the flanks. ¡°Gotta love a good tank.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Chu asked in bewilderment.


    ¡°Nothing, let''s go.¡±


    We helped the fighters finish off that particular pack of beasts. We asked if any of them had any healing or stamina recovery, and Chu was running low as well. They thankfully had one but she could only give stamina at the moment, her healing ability had a cooldown. My stamina got back up to 65%. Serviceable.


    Chu found another strength based fighter like himself. They had one thankfully; she was short and stocky with a wide face and short black hair, leading me to believe that she was a dwarf. But aside from having dog ears like the only dwarf I¡¯ve seen, she had fur running along her arms, and claws to boot.


    Chu gave her the rundown on the throwing-me plan. At which I couldn¡¯t lie, I was a little excited for. Always liked trampolines as a kid. Couldn¡¯t be much different. Right?


    After stuffing the knife and spear under my belt, I climbed up on their hands, awkwardly trying to find balance. Got to give it to cheerleaders, this is a lot harder than it looks.


    Once we all settled and found balance, Chu counted down. ¡°3¡­2¡­1¡­ GO!¡±


    Flying through the air like that was not at all like a trampoline. It was much scarier. I floundered in the air at a way faster velocity than I expected. And they threw me a little too high. I passed by the roof of the academy by a good twenty feet before the gravity kicked back in and sent me into the roof with a crash.


    I face-planted the wooden roof. I turned over with a grunt and a groan. My chest was killing me, the wound that had just stopped bleeding opened again. ¡°Yep. Not doing that again.¡±


    I got to my feet slowly and brushed myself off. I looked over the edge of the battle. Chu and the gang were already beset by another group of monsters. Geckos, goats, and another ram horned one. So they had their hands full.


    I trekked across the roof, making for my destination. Chu was right, there weren¡¯t any monsters up here to bother me so I started running to the end where the sergeant was.


    Splat!


    Something hit the front of my shoulder, making me stop. I felt my shoulder. It was a familiar substance. I scanned the roof. And there it was. Another damned gecko.

 59. Mission Complete...

    Fennel ran in front of his squad, making for the Academy District gate as fast as he could. Jaren stayed back, focusing on getting more squads together. Fennel¡¯s squad was already united so they rushed out immediately.


    Fennel kept his concentration on the battle ahead. His mind tried to wander back to what happened this morning and why he went on a rampage. He knew the frontliners from his squad and another had a sparring match which turned into a contest of sorts. Fennel didn¡¯t have any problems with that. Competition was a great motivator for training, so he facilitated it.


    The impromptu tourney proceeded well, each squad had some wins and losses. It was all good fun until someone said something that made Fennel¡¯s blood boil. It was just as Fennel hopped in the ring for a quick match against a frontliner from B4. He just couldn¡¯t remember what exactly, but it pissed him off to no end. It sparked the same feeling he had the previous night when he fought the thug. That tingling sensation of bare knuckle brawling. He shook his head. None of that mattered right now. People were fighting and dying, he needed his mind sharp and focused on the fight ahead.


    ¡°Hey, boss?¡± Lukans said. The big eyed ranger caught up, running at Fennel¡¯s side.


    ¡°Yeah, Lukans.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s strange innit? A break in. We haven''t had one in months. And in the Academy District at that.¡±


    Lukans was right. It was strange. It was even longer than a few months if Fennel remembered right. Fennel was still enrolled at Academy #3 when it happened. They broke in around the merchant district. It was handled quickly by the wall guard. Only three shops took any damage.


    Uncle Herman¡¯s probably pissed right now. Prevention of this very event was his direct responsibility, and somebody screwed up. Big time.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. But that last raid was a crazy one. A group of the monsters might have still been roaming around and found a weak point in the wall.¡± Fennel said, doubting his own words.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Cap, I¡¯ve a brother that works for the crafters'' guild in charge of wall maintenance. Apart from the Upper City, they keep the Academy District walls in tip-top shape. By order of the council. The upcoming generations are our most vital asset is what they say. Something like that at least.¡± Lukans replied.


    Fennel had to agree. Laurelhaven went to great lengths to make sure the Academy District was protected. There should have been plenty of guards on watch there. Enough to at least sound an alarm before the monsters broke through. Fennel¡¯s nose twitched. Something about the whole thing stunk.


    The only silver lining Fennel could see was that the Academy District had plenty of wide open spaces which is what the majority of the raid training centered around. Fighting in between buildings and city blocks was far from that.


    They arrived before the gate. It was left wide open now as other squads from some of the other barracks rushed on. Fennel was ordered to stop by one of the gate attendants. They made sure the passageway didn¡¯t get clogged with soldiers.


    Fennel took a moment to rub his calf. It was sore from sparring and other training. That fifth mannequin might have been a touch too many. And all the running from last night. Fennel shook his head. He really didn¡¯t want to think about last night.


    He turned back at his squad. There were only nine of them now. They were to receive the new additions tomorrow. His squad seemed to be in decent shape though, aside from the other frontliners, Zaner, Roscoe, and Tedi. They were looking a tad haggard from the sparring as well. And they didn¡¯t have Rook¡¯s stamina regen capabilities anymore.


    Fennel decided to address his squad.


    ¡°Everyone! Remember this isn¡¯t a raid, but many of the same rules still apply. I will get our orders when we arrive at the command center. Most of the civilians should have been evacuated from the district, but keep your eyes out for stragglers. They are the number one priority.¡±


    He looked at each of his team members'' eyes. He could see determination and even some righteous fury harboring there. Good.


    ¡°Also remember this is our home. Avoid destroying any buildings or property. The monsters will do plenty, don¡¯t add to it. The Academy is where we grew up. Where we grew strong. Are we going to let these FUCKING monsters have their way in our home?!¡±


    A resounding ¡°NO¡± filled the air from his squad. He even saw that Gloria raised her head and voice.


    ¡°Squad A5! You''re up!¡± One of the gate guards yelled for Fennel¡¯s squad.


    Fennel nodded and yelled out to his squad. ¡°MOVE OUT!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Another disgusting glob of gecko goop shot out, heading straight for my forehead. I dodged out of the way, slipping on the angled roof. But I found my balance quickly. It was one thing Gremlin form was good at. The lower center of gravity and Dex bonuses helped a ton fighting in awkward places. Tigris probably would have been better, but it still had a good thirty odd minutes left on cooldown. Not that its claws did much against this filthy gecko the last time I fought one.


    I pulled the weapons from my belt, keeping my eyes on it, hoping to find an opening to strike. I wouldn¡¯t be able to make them myself like last time. I don¡¯t have an abundance of knives to throw at it.


    But the gecko was at a disadvantage as well. It wasn¡¯t in a cramped cave where it could crawl around the walls and ceilings. That¡¯s what made the monster such a pain the first time around. I¡¯m sure it can¡¯t be at its best in this open air, two dimensional battlefield.


    Not that I was in perfect shape either. That initial shot that landed on my shoulder hardened already, making my left side movements stiff. I switched the dagger over to my right hand. Wielding it took more finesse than a spear and that was lacking in my left side right now.


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    It hissed and flicked its tail, launching another blast at me. I jumped out of the way of the goop, then ran straight for the monster, aiming my spear for its head. Something told me that a full on assault would be best. I mean that¡¯s what Chu did and it worked. Why wouldn¡¯t it work for me?


    The gecko tried to get out of the way, but it wasn¡¯t fast enough. Even if it had managed to dodge, I was ready to pop FnF for a second to finish it. My spear head was inches away from it now. Until I felt a Preflex tingle on my face. I withdrew my attack and turned FnF on, moving away from my current spot in a rush.


    Which was correct. Another shot of gecko gloop was heading right at my face. But it wasn¡¯t from my current target. I looked further down the roof and saw something shimmer. My heart sank. It was another gecko. One that had been cloaked. Two! Just my damn luck.


    Maybe it''s not worth my time. I could get past them easily with a FnF empowered sprint. Yeah, that would work.


    But then my mind thought of a different scenario. One where the geckos start firing off at the groups below. I hadn¡¯t managed to make much headway, so Chu¡¯s group was still directly beneath me and the geckos. I wasn¡¯t sure the geckos would stay focused on me running or switch to new targets. Crap. I¡¯m not sure I can take both out without expending too much stamina. Guess I have to try. I readied my weapons again.


    Chu¡¯s harsh words rang in my ears. ¡°The mission comes first.¡± It chafed me something fierce, but he was right, the longer I mull over something like this, the worse the fight will get. I dodged another slime blast heading my way.


    ¡°Damn it!¡±


    What¡¯s the best choice here? What happened to no more lollygagging you dullard?


    ¡°Ah Screw it!¡± I swallowed a big gulp of air.


    ¡°THERE ARE GECKOS ON THE ROOF! WATCH OUT FOR THEM!¡±


    After my outburst, I turned FnF back on and bolted between the two monsters, heading for the opposite end of the building. I still swiped at one of the geckos with the dagger. It landed right on its back, but I knew it wasn¡¯t a killing blow. But anything to slow them down a bit.


    And as I thought, the geckos couldn¡¯t react fast enough to stop my advance. I blew right past them. I turned off my ability after I got a few dozen feet away. My stamina was sitting at 51% now. I was getting tired of having to watch it constantly. A major disadvantage of this form.


    I looked over my shoulder, seeing if the geckos followed me, but they hadn¡¯t. Or at the very least I couldn¡¯t see them. They could have camouflaged themselves against the roof. I turned forward again. Focus on the objective.


    No other flying balls of monster grease beset me on my mad dash to the edge of the building. For which I was wholly grateful. I felt my shoulder again. The slime was still hard and most certainly ruined Mrs. Warbler''s clothes. It is water soluble, but you can never quite get the smell out.


    I stopped thinking about it when I saw my goal in sight. The edge of the building. I skidded to a stop and peered over. My stomach quivered; I was higher up than I thought. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could make the jump down unscathed. I swallowed. Not the time. Find your mark.


    After sheathing my weapons, I scanned this side of the building. My target was a Salamandran gene wielder, not that I knew what that looked like. The actual helpful clues were that he was bald, had dark skin, and wielded a glaive. Which I was pretty sure was a type of polearm.


    Although, what caught my eye first was the density of the fight on this side. There were a lot more monsters than where Chu and I broke through, as well as splicers. There was somewhere between 15-20. Fighting like lions. Very coordinated and powerful lions. Like really deadly circus lions. I shook my head. Now wasn¡¯t the time for stupid thoughts like that.


    I watched a duo eviscerate through a boar, each wielding longswords. Then another pair, getting awfully stabby with some longspears, protected by another two holding shields. And behind them was a small group of archers, sending innumerable arrows into the horde. There was even a mage. She sent waves of cold out into one of the flanks of monsters, encasing three goats and a wolf in ice. I was entranced, but I forced myself out of that awe. None of them were my target.


    Resuming my search, I focused my sights on the polearm fighters. It took only a moment to find that particular crew. There were three of them, each wielding a different type. A halberd, one that resembled a pick, and then finally a glaive. A short blade at the end of a long shaft. And its wielder was bald with dark skin. ¡°Found yah.¡± I said to myself.


    I looked around to see if there were any other ways down. There was a short shed off to the side of the building. It was still a good drop, but I doubt I¡¯d break anything hopping down it. I made my descent after swallowing the queasy feeling of looking down the dozen foot drop.


    After a, only slightly, clumsy plunge, I landed on solid ground again. I relaxed until a blade found its way under my chin. I raised my hands slowly. It was a dagger at my throat, held by a pissed off ranger from the looks of it. A pair of amber cat eyes stared into mine. Their owner hissed and let me go.


    ¡°Who the hell are you? What squad are you with?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± I realized right then I didn''t really have a good answer for that question. I tried to


    ¡°I¡¯m under orders from Terl, head medic for Jaren Holdsburn¡¯s¡­uh¡­squad. He took over command of this defense. He gave me a mission to find the sergeant over there. Ghrond I believe.¡± I pointed in the direction of the polearm people. ¡°The bald one with a glaive. He needs to return to the tent as soon as possible.¡±


    The cat eyed ranger gave me a condescending once over. ¡°I guess that makes sense. But why did they send a runt like you to replace him?¡±


    ¡°Replace him?¡± But my question fell on deaf ears, the ranger ran up behind the group of polearm wielders before I could get more info on that last statement. In the blink of an eye, the ranger was at the sergeant''s side, whispering something into the ear of the sergeant. He made one last titanic slash on the head of a red wolf, slicing it down the middle, then retreated from the front. The pick and halberd wielders fell back as well, until another shield user hopped in front of them.


    I picked at the crust on my shoulder while I waited and looked back at the building. This side of the building was dominated by a massive door, which presumably was filled with children and other noncombatants. I looked back at the sergeant who was coming my way.


    The sergeant was about as tall as I was when in my base form. He wore a suit of ringmail that was covered in blood and missing quite a bit of rings. On top of being bald, he didn¡¯t have any hair on his face whatsoever. His dark skin had this sort of glassy and rubbery finish to it as well, kind of like a salamander, which makes sense considering his gene was called Salamandran.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± I nodded and gave him the same rundown I gave the archer who was already back top firing off arrows into the horde. My explanation was more polished this time.


    He only nodded once I finished. He turned back and looked back over the battle.


    ¡°That¡¯s gonna be a tad trickier isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I hadn''t thought that far ahead. Getting here was hard enough.¡±


    He turned back to his squad. ¡°Fresh orders! Cut me a path out of this shit!¡±

 60. It Looked Easier on TV

    But there wasn¡¯t any resounding approval or anything. Just some grunts resembling affirmations. And a sigh if I¡¯m not wrong. Who could blame them, their hands were full enough as it is. New orders that sounded like an absolute pain were probably not on their wish lists.


    Ghrond spoke up again. ¡°Sete can you find me an exit plan.¡± He yelled at one of the other archers in the area. An elf man with small goat horns poking out of his hood turned to the sergeant. ¡°Aye! Could use a boost though.¡±


    Upon hearing the request, Ghrond moved to the archer¡¯s position and hoisted him on his shoulders. I couldn¡¯t help but giggle. It was just ridiculous seeing a grown man climb on another¡¯s shoulders to get a better view. Yet even with the silly nature of the act, both wore serious expressions. Sete¡¯s eyes glowed green, and then began moving around the discord of battle. A mooseborn missile was sent his way but they dodged it with unexpected ease. Not their first rodeo it seems.


    ¡°Left flank. Right between Dorris and Dorka. Their side has the fewest number of foes and your best chance of getting back out of the fray.¡±


    He jumped off Ghrond¡¯s back, sending out a few arrows midair in the direction he just described. Ghrond roared out some more orders to the soldiers. ¡°Griph is in charge until I get back. Those lazy bastards from the Legions won¡¯t be much longer so hold on. Keep those kids safe!¡±


    Ghrond was on the move toward the two longsword wielders. I followed after him but Ghrond stopped me when he noticed.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°Umm, my mission is to get you back to the tent.¡±


    ¡°And I can handle that business on my own. You need to fight here. Protecting civies is the priority. Didn¡¯t you learn that in class?¡±


    Nope, didn¡¯t learn a damn thing. Just a Feral born by reincarnation into this world. Don¡¯t know a damn thing about protocols here. Did not sound like an appropriate answer to his query. I gave a simple nod instead.


    I turned back and looked at the giant doors. There are children on the other side of this door. Children that don¡¯t stand a chance against this horde. A new kind of pressure rested on my shoulders. One I¡¯d never felt before. A weight that was heavier than any other. The burden of protecting innocent lives.


    But along with that pressure came a fresh wave of determination. I locked eyes with the sergeant. ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°What''s your fighting style?¡±


    I unsheathed the broken spear and dagger and held them up.


    He turned his head back to the fray and then pointed at a group of fighters. He raised his voice once more ¡°Jomi! The kid¡¯s with you.¡± He turned back to me. ¡°Give ¡®em hell.¡±


    Ghrond ran to the twin longsword splicers. Once he arrived, they got to work, cutting through the monsters and advancing. The three disappeared quickly in the warfare.


    ¡°Oi rookie, get over here!¡± A booming feminine voice rumbled in my direction. I turned on a dime and followed it. The voice belonged to a woman with green skin, much darker than my own in my current form. She had a half shaved head of dark black hair and black eyes. She wore a very revealing monster hide outfit. I almost blushed looking at her. She held no weapons but had gnarly looking arms covered in thin spikes that jutted out toward her hands. She shouted out again.


    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re mine now, runt.¡± She turned back to the fight. Her small group consisted of a single shield user, a small shield at that, almost a buckler but a step up, and a short sword. A heavily furred man fought beside him, raking out at a goat with blunt claws.


    The ice mage I saw earlier was a part of this crew also, but she was sitting on the ground. A half elf was kneeling next to her, his hands glowing blue.


    ¡°Oi, do you need your mana for anything?¡± Jomi barked out.


    I shook my head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Good, walk over to those two. Then get your ass back over here and fight.¡±


    I found myself immediately obeying her orders. It was almost like they held a certain sway to them. I wondered if it was some weird Aura thing. Still didn¡¯t have a good grasp on that particular concept. I got to the two quickly.


    ¡°Heard you could use some mana.¡± But instead of answering me, the half elf grabbed my arm. A strange draining sensation fell upon my arm, causing me to tense up. He looked up and I locked eyes with his eyes, his pupils were rectangular like that of a deer or goat.


    ¡°It''s alright.¡± He said in a calm voice. ¡°Just relax.¡±


    His arm glowed blue now as he laid his other hand on the ice mage. After a mildly uncomfortable thirty seconds, the half elf let my arm go. I looked up at my status bar and saw that my MP was down to 5%. Geez that was quick. Could¡¯ve bought me dinner first.


    The woman rose to her feet. She nodded to the both of us without saying a word. She immediately rejoined the battle, launching an icicle spear right into the forehead of a charging boar. I noticed she was wearing bracelets that gleamed whenever she used an ability. Maybe that¡®s what she needed MP for. Cool.


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    Right as I was going to make my way back to the large green woman, the half elf rested his hand on the back of my head.


    ¡°Health is good, could use a stamina boost though.¡± I felt another shot of stamina course through my body. I was up to 87% now. All this artificial healing and stamina regen can¡¯t be good for you. It¡¯s just too convenient.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± The half elf smiled, then left. It looks like he was heading to another group of soldiers.


    I hurried back over to the scantily clad muscle woman. She had just shoved one of her spiked arms into the side of a wolf that was busy fighting buckler boy. But another red wolf was on her six, mouth agape and covered in drool. ¡°Watch out!¡± But before my words reached her, dozens of quill-like spikes grew out of her back. The wolf ran right into them, covering the woman¡¯s back in blood.


    I now see why she doesn¡¯t wear much clothing. It would get in the way of those.


    The wolf twitched and released itself from the spines. I took the chance to run up and slice the wolf''s throat while it was still off balance. Jomi turned and then gave me a nod. I turned and looked out into the fight. We can do this.


    A few minutes passed by in the heat of battle. And my inexperience of team based battling showed. I constantly ran out ahead of our front liners, the buckler boy yelled out at me at least a hundred times to get back. The clawed man just grunted for his communication. But what killed me was that the other three understood what the grunts meant. This team must have been fighting together for a while.


    I tried to fight with the ice mage woman, but after a quick frostbite scare, I stopped. Jomi yelled out commands mid fight, but there was so much blood and battle in my ears I heard maybe half of them and followed even less.


    Frustration filled my head. I had a decent grasp on the basic technique of the battle strategy. It was what you expected. Frontline tanks soak up aggro(buckler boy and grunty), then melee damage dealers(in this case me and Jomi), then Elsa over there sweeps up with her ice powers. But I just couldn¡¯t follow their rhythm. My fighting instincts I forged out in the woods got the better of me. I kept going out and killing what I could on my own like I had during the raid. I used Fight and Flight whenever I got in a sticky situation. Which also landed me quite a few gashes and cuts from some monsters that I hadn¡¯t seen.


    I know they are basically heroin here, but damn I could use some gardenias right about now. I fought so much better with them. I rubbed my shoulder, I took a blow from a boar just a minute ago. Didn¡¯t get hit as much either.


    A barrage of magic missiles launched into the air above us. Jomi grabbed my shirt and tossed me back. Spikes spawned along her shoulder and braced for the assault. I rolled on the ground but shot back up. And saw her standing, blood trickling down the side of her face.


    Even more frustration and guilt engulfed me. She¡¯s hurt because of me. She never berated me once though, which felt even worse. The deer-eyed medic came around and patched her up, he gave me a health boost as well.


    His weird eyes looked worn out, his whole countenance, haggard. He was having a rough time of it no doubt. Healers never get rest in these fights. He got up and rushed over to a different squad once he was done with us.


    Jomi rose up and rejoined the fight. I tried to get up, but I was exhausted. My body wasn¡¯t too tired on account of all the boosts. It was my mind that grew weary. All the fighting was making my hands shake. I stumbled getting back on my feet. I looked out onto the battle; alarm mounting in my chest. It didn¡¯t seem like the monsters¡¯ forces were shrinking at all. Fear started creeping in.


    Where the hell are these reinforcements? This city has thousands of people. The raid forces consisted of a couple thousand too. It shouldn''t take this long.


    I gripped down on the broken spear and dagger. I heard a scream come from the other flank. I turned and saw a group of five boars charging straight for the door. They broke through the other squad.


    FnF turned on as I bolted to the boar up front. I slammed into the side of the boar with both weapons drawn. One of them pierced the beast¡¯s heart because it went down fast, its body fell to the ground with a thud. The boar behind it didn¡¯t slow down and rammed its fallen kin, tripping on it. My spear punched through its temple before it got up.


    But there were still more making a break for the door. I hadn¡¯t turned FnF off yet so I ran up to another, slashing at his legs, just trying to stop it. It stumbled and I moved on. I threw the broken spear at the next, getting it lodged in its hind quarters. I ran up and took a chunk out of its other legs with the dagger.


    But there was still one more and it was right before the doors. ¡°NO!¡± I yelled out, dashing as fast as FnF would allow. There was no way I would get there in time, and something told me that the wooden doors wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against the boar at full speed.


    A wall of ice shot up just before the door. The monster rammed right into it, cracking the newly formed wall right down the middle. I shredded the beast¡¯s throat before it had the chance to recover. I turned and saw the ice mage huffing with one hand raised. She smiled seeing that we protected the doors, before blood spewed from her mouth.


    She dropped to the ground. I yelled for the medic as I ran up to her side. She was shivering like she had a deadly fever. She wasn¡¯t very big, so I could manage to lift her in this form. I brought her behind the wall of ice. The medic found his way over to the new battlefield landmark soon after. I checked my stats, mana only rose up to 20% but I told him he could give it to her.


    He did. The draining feeling only lasted a moment this time. She stopped shivering as the bracelet gleamed again. Her eyes stayed closed as her breathing slowed down.


    She must have a power like Len¡¯s but without nearly as much control over it. I¡¯m betting those bracelets help her with that. And mana is the power source.


    ¡°She gonna be alright?¡± I asked the support. He nodded. ¡°But she¡¯s out of this fight now. She¡¯s overtaxed; she burned health to power the bracelets. Probably to make this wall.¡±


    Shit! That''s bad. Our whole battle strategy revolved around her.


    KABOOM!


    A huge sound boomed in the air. Like an explosion. I ran to the other side of the ice wall. Smoke and flames billowed in the air. Len? But these flames weren¡¯t his typical deep shades of red and orange. These flames shifted between blue and green. And didn¡¯t feel like they held the same heat. Or much heat at all, they felt odd. And they didn¡¯t flicker nearly as much as flames normally do. They looked more magical in nature, like what a witch¡¯s cauldron would be filled with mid-spell.


    Another explosion went off, this time, a giant thunder clap accompanied the explosion followed by bright blue arcs of electricity, frying another group of monsters.


    Eventually, the source of the explosions walked toward the building, through the craters they just made. It was a smaller woman, with white furred arms and a mouse nose, whose white hair was no longer held in a tight bun, but quite the messy one.


    ¡°Daila?!¡±

 61. Bringing Chaos to Heel

    Daila walked out on the battlefield, vials of various viscous and vibrant liquids interlocked between her fingers. A red wolf who apparently didn¡¯t make the connection between her and the mass destruction she just caused lunged at her. Without missing a beat, she flung a light green vial into the wolf¡¯s gaping maw. It crunched down on the vial instinctively, green goo burst out of its mouth. It stopped in its tracks and whimpered, all of its previous aggression vanished as its ears drooped. Then its jaw began to melt. The acid coursed through the rest of its body; its stomach collapsed to the ground. Until finally the once frightening beast was reduced to a nasty pile of red fur and molten flesh.


    Fury and hate blazed in Daila¡¯s eyes, accompanied by a wicked smile as she tossed out more vials amongst the monsters. Explosions of wild colors painted the field in abject violence. Like a no holds bar paintball fight to the death.


    ¡°Wha?¡± My mouth opened slightly as my now thoroughly exhausted mental state tried its damnedest to piece together what was happening before me. Daila, the most professional woman I¡¯ve ever met, a woman whose very existence begged for the invention of the pantsuit, wore the same expression as a comic book villain. Those eyes brought fear into my heart and I wasn¡¯t even the target of their ire.


    Behind her stormed a mass of other soldiers that streamed into the field. The monsters that fought to get to the building were forced to turn around and deal with the new threat at their rear. The immense pressure from the horde of beasts that nearly overwhelmed our small defense force evaporated as they had an entirely new problem to deal with.


    I had to stop myself from slumping over completely as relief washed over me like a flood. Daila tossed out a few more concoctions, smaller more targeted blasts now. She slowed down on the wanton destruction once more of the reinforcements entered the field. Avoiding friendly fire and all that.


    Her gaze shifted over to the building and then rested on me. The wild smile waned and her neutral expression returned, though her eyes still held that fury, but a chilly one now.


    I straightened out of pure respect and instinct (fear, it was 100% fear). As she walked over I examined her outfit. It wasn¡¯t the tucked in shirt and pants she normally wore. White leather armor that matched her hair and fur perfectly along with two bandoliers slung across her shoulders, filled with those dangerous vials. A single black belt held some small knives on her waist.


    What shocked me the most about her entire get up was even with all of the colors colliding on the battlefield as her alchemical bombs went off, her white hair, fur, and armor remained unblemished, pure shock white. Not a single drop of color aside from the vials themselves. She spoke up once she was close enough.


    ¡°Liam, is that you?¡± She asked cooly. Right, she hasn¡¯t seen this form.


    ¡°Yes ma''am,¡± I said, scratching my cheek.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± She frowned. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    I leaned to the right and looked at the battle ensuing. ¡°Are you sure this is the best time to talk? Should we not help with that?¡± I pointed at the battle.


    Without turning to see, she spoke. ¡°No, it will be fine. We brought an ample amount of troops from the Barracks to handle this minute mishap. And that oaf¡­¡± She paused and closed her eyes for a moment. ¡°Excuse me. Jaren will have this mess cleaned up shortly. I¡¯m more concerned as to your being here. Especially unaccompanied.¡±


    Her words hit like a truck. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fight today being classified as a small mishap. Sure, it wasn¡¯t the same level of warfare as that raid was but it was still brutal. A bloodied torso flashed into my head. I shuddered for a split second then stopped, then swallowed the discomfort that came from the vision. Now wasn¡¯t the time to process that.


    I leaned over to view the battlefield again. She was right. The soldiers were stomping the monsters now, pushing them back to the hole they climbed through. But I didn¡¯t see any signs of Jaren. I only caught a glimpse of his fighting style this morning, but it definitely seemed like one that would be hard to miss.


    I gave her the rundown of what happened this morning, and how I was training with Jaren and Terl. How the first explosion went off and Terl brought me to the battle. How he took over for the crew there and gave me the mission to find the guard sergeant. And how the sergeant told me to protect this door.


    She let her hair down while I answered, which was much longer than I first thought. It fell past her shoulders, stopping somewhere along her back. She tied it back into the bun she usually kept it in.


    ¡°Are there people in the building? Civilians? Children?¡±


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    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what Ghrond, the sergeant, said.¡±


    The muted fury in her eyes ignited once more. ¡°Those damnable beasts attacking the children. Should have boiled more of them alive.¡± She rubbed one of the vials hanging on her chest, a brilliant sky blue elixir. She shook her head. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be enough.¡±


    Her grin began to reshape until she remembered I was here. She coughed and then cleared her through.


    ¡°Whose in charge here now?¡± She asked her previous anger subsiding.


    ¡°Umm, Ghrond said a name but I can¡¯t remember it started with a G. Here let me get who I fought with.¡±


    I ran back to where Jomi¡¯s crew were defending. They were in the middle of licking their wounds as it were. Some of the other wall guards joined them. The strange pupil medic was making some rounds to everyone. It also looked like someone brought the ice mage over. She slept off to the side.


    ¡°Jomi, this is¡­¡± Jomi cut me off.


    ¡°Lt. Underbrush!¡± Jomi¡¯s right hand landed on her shoulder, the Laurelhaven salute. ¡°Thank you for the assistance.¡±


    ¡°You are with the guards, soldier?¡± Daila asked.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡±


    ¡°Give me a full rundown. Do not leave out a single detail.¡±


    I sat down on the ground while Daila spoke with Jomi. I closed my eyes and relished the opportunity to rest. Until an aroma tickled my nose.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel¡¯s blade ran through another monster''s side, while two arrows pierced its skull. It dropped to the ground. Fennel breathed in. The battle was going well which only made sense. The amount of monsters was nothing to be concerned about. It was maybe five hundred, nothing for this many squads from the Fourth. The Second Legion fought as well. They had similar training schedules to the Fourth and hit the field with us.


    These monsters didn¡¯t stand a chance.


    Fennel caught sight of another boar making a charge for the broken wall and readied to chase after it. But an axe blade collided with its side. Zaner grunted, then looked over at me and snorted derisively. Nothing new there huh?


    Fennel looked out over the field. Other squads battled amongst the shrinking groups of monsters. But he didn¡¯t move. He followed the orders given to him by Terl. Protect the Groundsmen, the crafters guild that specialized in battlefield constructions and repairs. They were the ones who created every medic station and command station in raids, as well as repairing any constructions or equipment damaged in a raid. In this case, they were patching the hole created by the monsters.


    Fennel turned and looked at the hole. It was the size of a small home, big enough to let in ten monsters at a time. The Groundsmen had already patched half of it up now and it wouldn¡¯t be much longer until they finished.


    Fennel and examined the destroyed half. Scorchmarks covered it, confirming what the initial reports said. An explosion broke through the massive roots and trees that made up the wall. His face scrunched up in confusion. He looked at the monsters in the Academy Field.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t add up,¡± Fennel said to himself.


    ¡°What doesn¡¯t boss?¡± Lukans walked up to Fennel, his bow unsheathed and an arrow ready to be knocked.


    ¡°The explosion that broke through the wall. What caused it?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­the monsters, like they always do,¡± Lukans replied.


    Fennel looked at Lukans and then back at the monsters in battle. ¡°But none of the monsters here are capable of that. The invading monsters are the same from the raid, barring the Crimson Vulfs. And none of them are capable of this kind of destruction. Not a single monster here is fire attuned. It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it''s one of the monsters on the other side of the wall. One of the ones General Holdsburn¡¯s dealing with right now. Maybe it couldn¡¯t fit through the hole it made. Or it was following raid rules and waited for the weaker ones to pile through first.¡±


    Fennel sighed. ¡°Maybe,¡± Fennel said, unconvinced by his squadmate¡¯s reasoning. He stared up at the hole. The Groundsmen were already patching the last quarter of the hole. It was mostly the work of a few earth elemental splicers and a Dryas gene elf making the repairs. Rocks jutted out of the ground and then were intertwined together by large roots, closing up the hole. It wasn¡¯t a permanent fix, the actual guild in charge of the repairs would come in the week and make those repairs. This was just to make sure no monsters could get through now. A posting of Legionnaires and wall guards would stand watch until it was complete. And knowing Uncle Herman, he will stand guard the whole time.


    Green arcs of light flew through the air on the other side of the hole. Jaren and a small squad of elites from the Fourth and Second were cleaning up the other side.


    His eyes drifted up to the rest of the wall. He looked at the top, where the walkways for the guards were. His eyes moved down the path and then stopped at the guardhouse sitting less than a mile down.


    The guards posted there should have seen this many monsters coming from the Forest minutes before they arrived, let alone blow up the wall.


    His mind whirled as Fennel¡¯s mind tried to come up with a conclusion. But he really didn¡¯t like the answers it was proposing.

 62. A Dressing Down of Sorts

    My nose twitched again while I sat waiting for Daila to finish hearing the guards¡¯ side of the story. It¡¯d probably be a good idea to listen as well, but my tired ass didn¡¯t particularly care. I would probably get a cliff notes version later. Truthfully I was now focusing on the smell in the air. My stomach growled monstrously, nothing new really. This was a normal occurrence especially after a fight, and breakfast felt like days ago.


    But the soldiers weren¡¯t ready for it. Every weapon in the vicinity pointed in my direction upon the roar¡¯s end. Daila only shook her head in disappointment before telling everyone to stand down.


    ¡°My bad.¡± I said sheepishly, a blush forming on my face. I stood up and walked away from the scene. I stopped a few paces away.


    The majority of the monsters had been killed off now. The battlefield had a layer of dead monster carcasses covering it. And probably splicers too. Blood pooled and seeped into the ground. A sight that would turn the stomach of a normal person. But I was no longer that.


    No such feelings of disgust filled me. The gruesome field covered in flesh looked like a five star buffet in my head. And that buffet was exactly where the scent was coming from. My stomach growled out as I shifted back into my base form. Saliva pooled in my mouth as I looked out into the field. I don¡¯t know if it''s the added stress and fatigue from the battle or what not, but my Mimic instincts were running wild. And they reminded me incessantly just how famished I was.


    Nobody would say anything if I had a quick bite to eat right? We¡¯re all part monster. I can¡¯t be the only one having a snack. Besides, we eat their flesh anyway. So what if I have some a little early.


    Daila was still speaking with the guards and soldiers from the building defense. I walked up to a few of the monster bodies that had been slain by the defenders. A boar laid on the ground next to a red wolf. Both of their stomachs had been sliced open. The flesh of the boar wafted into my nostrils. It was familiar, I¡¯d eaten quite a few of these bad boys by now. And I could say they were probably my favorite so far. Bacon in any world is just as delicious.


    But then a fresh new smell broke in. It was the wolf. A monster I had yet to indulge in. I could barely contain myself. My monstrous tongue rolled out of the side of my mouth.


    ¡°Move you stupid! UH! Come on!¡±


    I looked up searching for the voice. It was a soldier I didn¡¯t recognize. A human woman with large fangs protruding from her mouth in basic cloth padded armor tried to move the body of a boar. I watched as she struggled, and then another splicer joined her. Together, the two were able to move the beast corpse, revealing another person. The monster must have collapsed on the soldier in the thick of battle.


    I looked away, I wasn¡¯t prepared to see another dead body today. But a rough cough was thrown in the air. I turned back and saw that the person once trapped by the body was alive. A medic rushed over and with a green glow, began to work on the victim.


    My eyes scanned over the entire field again. But I focused on other splicers this time. People ran around performing different tasks. Some moved the monster corpses into piles, some searched for other survivors, and then others walked around with weapons, stabbing the corpses of monsters. No one.


    Absolutely no one was eating. I looked back down at the carcasses at my feet. And then the nausea hit. What the shit is wrong with me? I rubbed my face with both my hands.


    ¡°Liam!¡± Daila yelled out, breaking me out of that thought process.


    I ran back to her and Jomi, thankful for the excuse to get out of my own head.


    ¡°Yeah Daila, what¡¯s up?¡±


    Jomi looked me up and down, her head tilting to the side. ¡°Where the feck did you come from?¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Umm. I just fought with you.¡± I grabbed the spear and dagger, showing them to her. ¡°Look I know I wasn¡¯t the best out there but¡­¡±


    ¡°What? No no no. You were a solid foot shorter, you had to look up to me and now we¡¯re almost eye level. Oh and did I forget to mention green.¡±


    ¡°Right. Damn. Uhh.¡± I was coming up short for a decent answer. I forgot that the whole form changing thing wasn¡¯t normal. I scrambled to find a suitable answer, until Daila spoke up.


    ¡°Shifting Trope. Now if you will excuse us, we must be off to the command center. Dismissed soldier.¡±


    Jomi gave a salute, but the suspicious look didn¡¯t leave her face. She walked away and went to check the rest of her team.


    ¡°Did you have to change back right then?¡± Daila whispered aggressively.


    ¡°Sorry, force of habit.¡± I whispered back.


    ¡°Which form did the people in the command tent see you in?¡±


    ¡°Base form. This one.¡± I said, gesturing to my body.


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    ¡°Good. That¡¯s one less headache.¡±


    The creaking of wood resounded next to us. We both turned and saw that the door I¡¯d been protecting was being opened. I figured they would wait a while, deal with the bodies first. Or at the very least make sure each monster was well and truly dead.


    Can¡¯t imagine all this death being good for the psyche of young minds. But then again, this world is brutal, maybe they try to acclimate them to it early. A sense of melancholy grew in me with that realization. This world wasn¡¯t kind, even to kids.


    People started to stream out of the door, kids mostly around the same age as the half elves from earlier. Early teens was my guess.


    Daila didn¡¯t slow down, so I had to catch up to her. I stopped at her side and matched her pace. I had some burning questions to ask her now that we were alone.


    ¡°What were all those potions and grenades you were chucking out there? They were awesome!¡±


    Daila¡¯s nose twitched. I saw a smile start forming on the side of her face before she cleared her throat. ¡°Just alchemical mixtures I¡¯ve mixed up throughout the years. I shouldn¡¯t have used some of those at the start. That Azure Dragonflame grenade took weeks to brew properly.¡± Her nose twitched again. ¡°But I¡¯m glad to see the results were satisfactory.¡±


    ¡°Hell of a lot more than satisfactory in my book. Down right overwhelmingly exceptional. And that acid you threw in the wolf¡¯s mouth. Vicious.¡± I replied back to her.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a simple concoction. It would have no effect on a higher tiered monster.¡±


    ¡°What tiers were in that battle? I¡¯m still wrapping my head around that stuff.¡±


    ¡°That was mostly Tier 3s and 4s. No real threats, that''s why we could put them down so rapidly.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Neat. Oh by the way, what¡¯s a shifting trope? It¡¯s what you said to Jomi back there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what it sounds like. A trope that shifts. They are incredibly rare. You¡¯ve seen Len¡¯s, correct?. The flame mark on his shoulder.¡±


    I nodded. It was a while ago, but I remember him showing it to me back on the river shore when we first met. It blazed like that of a real fire.


    ¡°Yeah, been a minute but I have.¡±


    ¡°He is an example of a shifting trope. They can come in a few different forms, but nothing nearly as drastic as your mimicry abilities. I have no clue what to classify them as, but for now shifting trope will have to do.¡±


    She finished speaking just as we arrived back at the tent. There were a lot less wounded now. I looked around and caught a glimpse of another tent a couple hundred feet away. They must have moved a lot of the wounded over there.


    We entered by the back half of the tent, where the war table was.


    ¡°Ghrond let me repeat myself in case there is a hint of misunderstanding and I swear on Denn¡¯s holy taint I will break every bone in your left foot and left hand if I don¡¯t get a coherent answer from you right this instant! WHY THE HELL WAS NO ONE MANNING THAT STATION? WHERE WAS THE ALARM?¡±


    A man¡¯s voice reverberated into the  whole tent, every person working, injured or otherwise turned to the man. A short man with black hair and white streaks, two axes at his sides in black and white leather armor. With pointed wolf ears adorning his head. From his stocky build and stature I surmised he was dwarf. He kind of reminded me of Fennel too. But that¡¯s probably due to the dog ears. Oh God was that racist?


    The dwarf went on to give the poor sergeant the complete riot act. He threw out combinations of curse words and threats that made me flinch. They were just so¡­graphic and visual. The man was like Shakespeare if Shakespear exclusively wrote for adult animation.


    I have no idea who this guy is but even Daila stopped and didn¡¯t move an inch while he ranted.


    And I had to give it to Ghrond, he didn¡¯t so much as wince a single time. The man stood in the salute pose the whole time, eyes forward. He spoke up once the dwarf relented.


    ¡°Captain Blines Sir, Sergeant Tolks was on duty for that station today. My team was in station 43 when we heard the explosion. We moved down here as quickly as possible. We haven¡¯t seen a single guard from 43 either sir.¡±


    The wolf ears on the dwarf twitched as he snarled at Ghrond.


    ¡°Then I suggest you find them.¡± He said in a low voice. A sensation grew in the air. One just like when Daila rescued me from the entrance of the big tree. It was Aura. Goosebumps popped up all over my body.


    ¡°DISMISSED!¡± The dwarf finished. Ghrond bowed and rocketed out of the tent.


    ¡°Give me a sec, Daila.¡±


    I followed after Ghrond before he got too far away.


    ¡°Sergeant, hold up.¡± Ghrond stopped and looked at me.


    ¡°What is it? And who are you? I don¡¯t have time for anything right now.¡±


    Damn Gremlin form.


    ¡°Here, give this to Chu, he let me¡­my friend borrow it in the battle. He¡¯s getting checked up on by the medics right now and wanted to make sure it got back to Chu.¡± I didn¡¯t feel like dealing with questions about the form change.


    ¡°Ahh right the little guy. Glad to hear he made it. Good Day.¡± He nodded and sped off once more.


    I ran back into the tent and to the war room. Terl was still there but no longer at the center of the table like he had when he took command. Daila filled that spot now. She was Jaren¡¯s right hand so it made sense Terl would step down for her.


    The people from the beginning were there.Teachers from the academy or something like that. The pissed off dwarf stood next to the table as well, still fuming from the looks of it. A few others surrounded the table that I didn¡¯t recognize. I wasn¡¯t sure if they were all a part of Jaren¡¯s crew or not, but Daila doled out orders to each of them anyway.


    ¡°Whose with the burn squad?¡± An elf eared woman with red hair raised her hand. ¡°Get ready to start in the next two hours.¡± She turned to the pissed off dwarf. ¡°Guard Captain Blines, go check on the status of the wall. You know that wall better than anyone here, make sure it''s safe.¡± He grunted and walked away. ¡°Terl, get me an estimate on casualties.¡± Terl saluted and walked away, stopping once he saw me. He approached.


    ¡°You completed your mission. Good job.¡±


    I scratched the back of my head. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Any injuries?¡±


    ¡°Nothing worrying. Few bumps and bruises but I will be fine after some food and sleep.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± He looked around after he addressed me in a hushed voice. ¡°Normally I¡¯d say you¡¯re dismissed, but seeing as you''re not quite allowed to roam on your own you¡¯re gonna have to sit tight.¡±


    ¡°Nothing new for me.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°If that were true my sister would still be working in the Capitol Building. Not stuck on the walls every night.¡±


    What does that mean? I was about to ask him until I felt someone¡¯s hand fall on my shoulder.


    ¡°Did somebody order a babysitter?¡±

 63. Experience in Life

    I recognized the joking voice immediately. It belonged to the only person who could possibly joke at a time like this. Truthfully, I was more shocked he didn¡¯t try to light some part of my body on fire. I turned around and saw the middle-aged prankster wearing his trademark smirk. But I wasn¡¯t relieved to see him like I thought I would. There was a strange feeling, but I couldn¡¯t identify it.


    I ignored it for now and went to greet him. Terl spoke up before me. ¡°Mr. Ainsworth, glad to see you.¡± Terl said, but unease tinged his acknowledgment of Len. Terl rubbed his bandaged arms. He continued speaking without looking directly at either of us. ¡°If you have this handled then I must be off.¡± He nodded at the two of us and walked out of the tent, heading in the direction of the other tent.


    Looks like I¡¯m not the only one Terl¡¯s not a fan of. I wonder if it''s just nervousness around Len or if something happened between the two. Hell before that, I¡¯d like to know his beef with me. But I guess it''s not really important right now.


    Len shook his head as the antlered half elf walked to the second medic tent. He turned back to me and spoke.


    ¡°So how was your first taste of battle? Or at least battle with other splicers.¡± He tilted his head. ¡°Or better yet, a battle with other splicers where you weren¡¯t hopped up on inspiritus and fighting like an idiot.¡±


    ¡°Ouch. Uncalled for.¡±


    Len shrugged. ¡°Call ¡®em as I see ¡®em.¡±


    I pondered for a moment, however only one word popped into my mind as an adequate answer.


    ¡°Chaotic. Everything was moving so fast and never stopped. I didn¡¯t know what I was doing at all and I¡¯m pretty sure everyone I fought with could tell. And my head is killing me on top of it all. And¡­¡± I lowered my head as some of the memories came back. Including the man I couldn¡¯t save. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to say more. Len must have picked up on that and decided to further the conversation on his own.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. I doubt there¡¯s a single person worth a damn out on this field that didn¡¯t feel that exact burden in their first true battle. So you aren¡¯t alone. This was probably the virgin battle for a few limping around.¡± Len lifted his head to the outside of the tent. ¡°Let¡¯s walk and talk. I¡¯ve got some news for you.¡±


    We made our way out of the tent, heading back for the main street that led back to the guildhall. People were rushing to and fro around the field now. Not all soldiers either. It looked like some construction workers, crafters in this world, marched to the school; their hands filled with tools and lumber. Yet they held way too many supplies for just the school building. It had to be enough to construct a whole new building. I looked at the school. It didn''t take that much damage from the assault. Thankfully.


    A minute later, I watched on as the crew walked right by the building and headed for the wall. Ah, wall repair. I hadn¡¯t even looked at the hole in the wall yet but it looked like it had been patched. They were probably the group to actually repair and reinforce it.


    We made it to the street, but the strange feeling in my stomach that grew when I first saw Len didn¡¯t lessen. It grew worse, turning into a full blown pit as we walked. Until a question formed in my mind. The source of my discomfort.


    ¡°Where were you? Why didn¡¯t you fight?¡± I asked Len.


    I couldn¡¯t help but think that battle wouldn¡¯t have lasted nearly as long if he was on the field. And I know he could have gotten there fast. The man can freaking fly with his powers for chrissakes. So maybe he was taking care of something really important.


    He didn¡¯t move his head as we continued walking. It stayed focused on the road in front of us. ¡°I had business on the other side of town.¡± He answered.


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    My mouth opened. I was completely stunned by the weak answer. I stopped in my tracks. ¡°That¡¯s it? What do you mean other business? People were dying, Len. Deaths you could have prevented by simply being there and tossing out a few fire balls. Those monsters were so weak compared to you. It would have been nothing.¡±


    He stopped a few steps away, then turned to me, his expression was blank. Not serious or jovial. He locked eyes with me for a moment, then he sighed.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be the solution to every problem this city faces, nor do I want to be. And it''s like you said it would have been nothing to me. But that¡¯s not all. It would have meant nothing to everyone involved as well.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean? It would mean a hell of a lot to those who died. Might say it¡¯d mean the whole world to them.¡± I answered; my voice cracked slightly as I got emotional.


    ¡°Experience my boy. Like you said, the monsters would have been nothing for me. A simple flick of the wrist would have been all I needed. But I would have gotten nothing from that encounter. Nothing to learn and nothing to gain, including experience. I¡¯d have to battle hundreds of hordes like that to even come close to another level.¡±


    ¡°Is that the only reason you fight? For your own gain? What if it¡¯s not some forty foot ball of bodies then it''s not worth your time? I thought you guys wanted to make a difference in this world. That¡¯s what you¡¯ve been blowing up my ass this whole time. Kinda feels like saving lives should be priority number one. Not that I even know what your plans are, everybody has to be so damn secretive about everything. Shit. Worrying about some fucking Exp. You sound like a basement-dwelling, cheeto-dusted MMO addict.¡± I finished with a huff.


    Len¡¯s face twitched for a second, but his expression didn¡¯t change until he sighed again. His face softened and he chuckled.


    ¡°I have no idea what any of that last statement means. But what I can tell is that you are misunderstanding something very crucial about our world. You are severely undervaluing experience. My reason for not fighting is the exact opposite of that.¡± He turned back to the bloodied field. ¡°What do you think the odds are that someone out there leveled up after that conflict? I¡¯d be willing to bet at least a few. They got stronger. What would happen to them if I was out there? Take a guess?¡±


    My anger still steamed but I answered. ¡°Probably wouldn¡¯t have leveled up.¡±


    ¡°Correct. And now let me ask you another question. What happens if that soldier is put on the frontline of the next raid? What if that ten extra points of health is the difference between them being a corpse or alive? What if that extra couple of points in strength is what lets them finish off the beast threatening to destroy their squad? So then what is the right answer? Deprive them of that opportunity to level up and grow stronger. Save a few lives now but risk the lives of many more when shit really starts piling. That experience would do nothing for me is vital for every soldier that entered that battlefield.¡±


    I listened to him but still didn¡¯t feel right. His reasoning made sense, but the images of that satyr¡¯s bloody body kept flashing in my head. He might have lived if Len was there. Or if you did something. I gripped my knuckles so tight they started to crack.


    I finally understood what that feeling was. The guilt I¡¯d been pushing down started to surface. I wanted a scapegoat, someone I could shift the blame on. Len was just an easy choice.


    But I was the only one to blame. No one else. If I wasn¡¯t being such a child, then I could have saved him. Maybe others too. ¡°Damn it.¡±


    Len stood next to me as we looked back at the battlefield. ¡°That frustration boiling inside you. I know it feels like shit, but it''s not a bad thing. It means you care and there are plenty of splicers that don¡¯t. Look, I don¡¯t know what happened to you in that fight and I don¡¯t need to know. But now you have to decide what to do with it. Frustration and failure make for the deadliest poisons and strongest motivators.¡±


    I looked back over the battlefield. At the spot where the goat legged man died. I knew one thing. I didn¡¯t want that to happen in front of me ever again. I peered at my status bar and saw the other forms were about to come off cooldown. I have the power to stop it. I just need to be stronger.


    I took a couple of deep breaths. Then once I felt more in control and not about to cry, I turned to Len. ¡°I need to train. I need to get stronger. Now.¡±


    Len grinned. ¡°Good. But not today. That was plenty.¡± He gestured back at the field.


    ¡°No and like I said earlier, I have some news for you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I was going to wait until we got back to the office.¡± He straightened up.


    ¡°Liam Foster. You are officially a citizen of Laurelhaven.¡±

 64. Good News and Bad News

    ¡°And all that perks that come with it.¡± Len waved his hand in celebration. He even made miniature fireworks explode in his hands. The heaviness that permeated his words just moments ago vanished.


    ¡°Yay?¡± I said back. It was actually good news, news that would have had fist pump in glee, but I did not have the same bipolar ability Len had to shut off the gloomy thoughts that still swirled around my mind. But I could try to repress them again. That never backfires.


    ¡°So then what does that actually entail?¡± I asked, walking back down the street.


    Len stood back for a second before exhaling and catching up to me. ¡°The biggest and most useful for all of us is that you no longer require an escort to travel around the city. You are free and clear to explore to your heart¡¯s content. Though I will say there are some places that probably won¡¯t welcome you, and some places that are better left to see later.¡±


    Now that news did lighten my spirits. The one thing I¡¯ve wanted to do since I got here was just explore. Take in the sights of a fantasy city. Drink ale from a wooden mug in a tavern. Just really soak up the entire atmosphere. But I should ask about no-no zones he¡¯s describing.


    ¡°What are these restrictions?¡±


    He rubbed his scruffy chin. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call them restrictions, well, except for the Gloom. You probably won''t be granted access there for a while, but that''s for the best. You¡¯re a bit young to be going there. And not quite enough trauma or Aura control.¡±


    ¡°What kind of place is it? And what does Aura control have to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Mmm. That¡¯s a talk for another time. Besides, why focus on where you shouldn¡¯t go and when there are so many places you can go.¡±


    Because human nature is a bitch. So rebellious. But Len was right, no sense in harping on the places like that. Especially ones that require Aura control. I hardly have an understanding of Aura in the first place, let alone controlling it. I spun a few thoughts on what a place would be like. Is it a scare house type deal? Daila and that dwarf both used it to be intimidating. Maybe the opposite, an amusement park. BUt what would trauma have to do with it? Ah whatever.


    ¡°Okay, there is something I¡¯d like to ask?¡±


    ¡°Fire away.¡±


    ¡°Is there a map?¡± Laurel is not a small village and I¡¯d rather not get lost. ¡°I can get from the Guildhall back to Mrs. Warbler¡¯s no problem, but the rest of the city I have no clue about. I mean how many districts are there?¡±


    Len chuckled at my question. ¡°Like seven, not entirely sure, never counted.¡± His head tilted to the left and up. ¡°A map huh, not many of those lying around sadly. Most people are born, raised, and die here. Not many are like me, coming from a different Splice Capital. Aside from caravaneers. The citizens normally learn the layout in their first years at school.¡± He scratched his chin. ¡°But I reckon I might have one somewhere among my things.¡±


    My things¡­ Oh Yeah!


    ¡°I do have one more big question.¡±


    ¡°Figured you have way more than one.¡±


    ¡°I do, but this one is a priority. Can I get my sword back?¡±


    Len stopped walking and just stared at me. Then suddenly burst into laughter. A couple of people rushing around on both sides of the street gave us a multitude of crazy glances when they saw Len¡¯s guffaw. He calmed down after a minute, wiping the tears from his eyes.


    I didn¡¯t understand what was so funny about it. It was my property and it had been bothering the crap out of me not having it. More so than the feather. I knew where it was. Back in the cave and from the looks of it, groups of splicers going out into the forest doesn¡¯t seem very common. So it was more than likely safe.


    But my sword was taken by that green lady or one of her lackeys. Wait, that means it''s got to be in the big capitol tree. If I¡¯m a citizen does that mean I can go and get it? Or maybe I could break back in. Go with another form and sneak around and find it. Hide as a log. Or maybe a piece of furniture. You know what I need to mimic some objects, it''s been a while. Yeah and a little hijinks might be just the thing.


    Len recovered from his fit. ¡°Oi, ooh I needed that. It''s so funny. Watching somebody embrace their vice without a shred of malice. Maybe the Gloom wouldn¡¯t be that bad on you. Oh I wish I could do that.¡± He looked at me. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°What? I didn¡¯t even say anything.¡±


    ¡°Yet somehow that look tells me everything I need to know.¡±


    ¡°What look?¡±


    ¡°That scheming and snickering look you have on your face. You want to do something stupid. Something like break into the Capitol Building and steal back your sword stupid.¡±


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    Was I that easy to read? ¡°Maybe. And it wouldn¡¯t be stealing, just reclaiming something wrongfully taken from me.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm sure. But actually that tree is going on the list of places best left alone for now.¡±


    ¡°Why? I¡¯m a citizen right? Shouldn¡¯t be a problem. It looked like plenty of citizens were there last time I went.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is true. But. Lirae does not like you. At all. And stomping into her home would end very, very poorly for you.¡±


    I scoffed. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be stomping. More of a slinking, maybe even creeping.¡±


    ¡°No matter how creepy you are, it will be like stomping to her, trust me. You got lucky last time, Lirae wasn¡¯t there. She doesn¡¯t miss anything going on in that tree when she is. It might be best if you forgot about it.¡±


    My nose twitched. ¡°No way. It''s mine and I want it back.¡±


    ¡°You hardly even use it.¡±


    ¡°It''s the principle dammit.¡±


    Len sighed. ¡°Fine, I will look into it. No promises. Now let¡¯s move along. People are staring at us.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why?!¡± I said sarcastically. My stomach growled loudly as if trying to get even more stares and suspicious looks.


    We hurried away.


    We continued our trek to the guildhall, but Len stopped us at a small cart. It turned out to be a food cart. An elderly man with a fox tail. It was the classic orange color, but its color seemed to fade and had gray hair running through it.


    ¡°Two of today¡¯s specials.¡±


    The elderly cook just grumbled in response. We sat down on the stools in front of the cart waiting for our food. The smell of flame roasted meat made my mouth salivate three times as much as it did earlier. When I was about to munch on those monster corpses. Which led me to ask Len something about it. I wiped my mouth and spoke.


    ¡°Is it wrong to eat¡­¡± I looked at the cook who was working. Maybe it wasn¡¯t best to ask questions about Kniyan societal norms around a stranger. Len followed my gaze.


    ¡°Ah don¡¯t worry about him, I¡¯m pretty sure he doesn¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass about anything we say. Makes him one of the best cooks around. Plus the food¡¯s not half bad either.¡±


    The cook grunted out. ¡°Yeah Yeah old man. The food is to die for. Happy?¡± The old man grinned again.


    I still lowered my voice but asked Len, ¡°Is it wrong to eat the monsters after a battle like that?¡±


    He nodded his head. ¡°It is frowned upon. But probably not for the reasons you think it is. It doesn¡¯t have as much to do with morality as it does with law. You see in the event of a raid or break in like today, those corpses become property of the government. Before burning each corpse, a team of harvesters come out and collect as many beneficial and valuable materials as they can from the monsters. This includes meat, bones, claws, hides, and the like. It then gets taken to government storage to be cataloged.¡±


    ¡°So, it would have been commensurate with stealing from the government.¡±


    ¡°In short, yes. Now there is some flexibility, if your abilities benefit from a quick snack, no one will bat an eye. You''re fighting, take any advantage so long as it doesn¡¯t hurt other splicers.¡±


    ¡°What do they do with everything once it''s been cataloged?¡±


    ¡°Some are kept in reserves in case of a true city shattering emergency, some are consumed by the government itself. The rest is sold back to shop owners and the masses.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that doesn¡¯t seem very fair. Like if I kill five monsters and the next guy only kills one, seems a little wrong I¡¯d have to pay the same for materials from those five monsters as his one.¡±


    Len shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Might be different back on Ea¡­¡± Len paused and looked around. ¡°Back where you came from.¡± He finished in a hushed voice.


    ¡°It balances out when the Watchers'' invoices come through.¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± But before I could get an answer, the elderly cook plopped two sandwiches in front of us.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get to that. Eat.¡±


    I was already three voracious bites in when he said that though. It was amazing. I don¡¯t really know what spices they have on Kniyas, but they are insane. The food here has been the absolute best part of coming to Laurel. The meat was from a moose, but it was the most tender and juicy I¡¯d ever had. Even better than Mrs. Warbler¡¯s. The bread was so fluffy yet crisp on the outside. I finished before Len even completed his first bite.


    ¡°Garcon, another three please!¡± The old fox mumbled but went back to cooking.


    Len snickered and tucked back into his meal without saying anything.


    I quit eating after a total of six sandwiches. Those other three I ordered weren¡¯t enough so I got one more, then another. I could have gone for another one but decided to try to restrain myself some.


    Len sat patiently and spoke with the elder while I ate. A weird conversation filled with grunting that I did not care about in the slightest, the food was all I gave a damn about.


    I stretched out on the seat and moaned in contented delight. Good food did wonders on my psyche.


    Len joined me in the stretch before speaking. But sounded a lot more serious now.


    ¡°So Liam, there are some other caveats about your citizenship we need to go over.¡±


    ¡°Is it bad?¡± I asked worriedly.


    ¡°Well that depends on you. And it might be subject to change, so who knows about the future.¡±


    I nodded at him.


    ¡°While you are a citizen and don¡¯t have to worry about hiding anymore, you aren¡¯t being allowed to join the Family Record.¡±


    I titled my head. The family Record was that archive about all the genes in Kniyas. Rita, the crazy owl scientist lady explained it before. But is the mimic gene not being added a bad thing? From what Rita made it sound like, my gene was incredibly unique.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°It means there are certain things you will never be allowed to do or else be severely punished. It¡¯s only a few things but they might be valuable to you nonetheless.¡±


    Now I was really confused, were they going to take my birthday away? ¡°Like what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You are prohibited from owning a home or property, barring weaponry and armor that is.¡±


    Weird but I¡¯ve never owned a house anyway, not back in Earth¡¯s economy. Most certainly not on a grad student¡¯s salary.


    ¡°You are not allowed to open a business of any kind.¡±


    Was never much of an entrepreneur.


    ¡°You are forbidden from marrying and starting a family. And absolutely no children.¡±


    ¡°...What?¡±

 65. Limited Job Market

    ¡°And that¡¯s the main three. But on the bright side¡­¡±


    He kept blathering on about something but that last little bullet point held me up. Which I¡¯m not really sure why. Romance was pretty far from a priority right now. The whole not dying to a horde of monsters kind of took that spot.


    Owning a house would be nice but I¡¯m sure renting is fine so I don¡¯t think I need to worry about shelter. I think Mrs. Warbler will let me stay with her for a while, though I would like to get my own place sometime. I miss windows. Natural light. All that jazz. There was something so serene and peaceful about waking up to the sunlight entering the mouth of the cave. If only monster mouths didn¡¯t come with it.


    My dreams of being a business owner were squashed when I learned that I was basically growing opium in the backyard of my cave. That and I¡¯ve got next to no experience in running a business, so a shop was never in the purview of my life. I wonder how I can make money here. Or at least how it works. Guild jobs or the legion like Len and Jaren were saying I guess, but they said it would be sometime before the guild is open for business.


    But no family. That one. That one stings a bit. But sitting in front of a food stall might not be the best time for all that.


    I noticed a lack of yapping and realized that Len stopped speaking at some point. He was just staring into a notebook.


    ¡°Sorry. What were you saying? Got a little lost there.¡± I asked.


    He closed the notebook. ¡°All good. I know it was some heavy news.¡±


    ¡°Little bit,¡± I said, my head drooping.


    He dropped some coins on the counter of the food court. I grabbed my coin purse¡­the one I left in the training hall of the guild. I took it off when I started training with Jaren this morning. I¡¯m really about to be that guy. Damn it. Gramps would be laughing his ass off right now. Why did he even pop up in my head? Whatever.


    ¡°Len, I seem to have misplaced my wallet, or coin purse.¡±


    Len rubbed his forehead with one hand, then dropped one rose gold coin on the counter. The old man swiped it up with a grunt. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Jaren¡¯s pulled this maneuver plenty of times.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s not a maneuver! I can pay you back when we get to the guildhall.¡±


    ¡°And funnily enough, Jaren said the same thing as well.¡± He said with an overdramatized shrug and sigh. ¡°Yet my bag is always light.¡±


    ¡°Oh shove it.¡± I got off my stool and started walking back to the guildhall.


    After a good twenty paces, Len yelled out. ¡°Other way.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need a map,¡± I called back out after turning around.


    Once I caught up, I asked Len about money. ¡°How do I make money if owning a business is off the table? I assume the guild will make some money down the line. But I¡¯m not sure how long that little coin purse from Rita will last me. I¡¯d like some stable income.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll do what every combat capable splicer does in Kniyas. Fight. That was actually my next talking point before you spaced out.¡±


    ¡°How so? I just did a bunch of fighting, and didn¡¯t get anything for it.¡±


    ¡°You''re not a part of the guard or a legion and henceforth not recorded by the Watchers.¡±


    ¡°Watchers?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the Watchers. They watch every battle that takes place in and around the city. Raids, invasions like today, even caravaneers. They tally up your achievements in battle and then give out an invoice. You take that invoice to the Bank and boom cash in your pocket. Or you can open an account and leave the money with them. Your choice. I prefer to keep my money.¡±


    ¡°Where are the watchers then? Do they watch from a distance? And what kind of achievements are we talking about?¡±


    Len chortled. ¡°No clue. Nobody knows where the watchers are. Or even what they are. All we know is they give us the invoices.¡± He said whimsically.


    ¡°Wait, so you¡¯re telling me some ethereal beings watch your lives and rate your fighting and you just don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°That''s just how it is. I would like to know someday, but if the armor isn¡¯t chipped, why reforge it.¡±


    I covered my upper body with my arms. ¡°Are they watching right now?¡±


    Len laughed. ¡°Who knows?¡± Len raised one finger. ¡°But I can answer one question. What the achievements are. First, you have the number of kills, self explanatory. Then you have assists, if you helped in the killing of a monster in any way. Things like support buffs, healing, or dealing damage but not the killing blow.¡±


    That all makes sense. You probably get more money for the killing blow though. But it''s nice to see that supports get something even if they can¡¯t battle directly.


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    Len continued. ¡°Then you have the more¡­ambiguous feats. These are harder to explain. They are usually because you did something of great value or true esteem. For example, for obvious reasons, I got the boss killer achievement in the last raid.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Hmm. What about tasks given to you by other splicers.¡± I gave Len a run down on my mission. ¡°Chu, the guy who helped me, was pretty adamant about seeing the mission through. Unyielding really.¡±


    ¡°Those kinds of tasks can be recognized by the Watchers, but they are rare. And need to be quite specific and usually difficult, relative to your level. Like the watchers won¡¯t record anything if you just follow your captain¡¯s order to hold the line. But in your case, that sounds like it would have been recorded. I¡¯d even bet that successful defense of the door would count as well.¡±


    We arrived in front of the guild hall as Len finished talking. I smiled. ¡°Then that means I¡¯m due some money for that last fight then. Awesome.¡± Yes! Currency acquired.


    Len breathed in sharply through his teeth. Oh no. I know that sound. I¡¯m not getting any money, am I?


    ¡°Yeah, about that. Not this time. You¡¯re not actually in the system yet. We are going to do that now.¡±


    That last exchange drained what little remained of my tolerance for this bullshit day. I was done. I wanted nothing more than to head back to Mrs. Warbler¡¯s basement, climb into those amazing sheets, and sleep until dusk tomorrow.


    I turned to Len. ¡°So I got nothing out of the successful defense, the completed mission, or any of the monsters I fought and killed.¡±


    ¡°Not true.¡± Len paused, but wouldn¡¯t look in my direction. He turned his head away and ended with, ¡°You got experience.¡°


    ¡°Shove your experience up your ass!¡±


    ¡°Hey, we are going to get you added in right now so calm down. Lucky for you we can get it down at the guild. We just have to pop on down to Rita¡¯s lab and¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Really, why? I¡¯m already exhausted from everything today. I don¡¯t think I will be able to keep my cool if she starts jabbing me with crap or stripping me again.¡±


    ¡°It will just be for a moment. Her terminal has access to Watchers Archive, so she can add you in.¡± He paused suspiciously again. ¡°But she will have to jab you.¡±


    ¡°Come on!¡±


    I rubbed my upper arm. It stung a little. I stood outside of the guild hall and looked back at it. My rubbing then moved to my face; my eyes needed to adjust to the afternoon light.


    The trip to Rita¡¯s lab was actually quick this time. It was as dark and dank as last time. Once Len told her what was going on, Rita just stabbed my arm with a small syringe and threw it into the weird magic glowy computer thing. While her eyes glossed over with the strange light, I took the time to ask her about my gene. If there were any updates but she said the machine was still working on it.


    After her answer, I hightailed it out of there while she was busy. If I had more to do I''m sure Len would have stopped me. He just yelled up the stairs as I ran to take tomorrow off.


    As I stood there, I looked around. People were walking up and down the street, mostly younger kids right now. School must be out. Other adults wandered the streets as well. Some lined up in front of a food cart nearby. The young woman inside ran around it, trying to keep up with the orders. A few kids laughed and played around as they walked.


    ¡°Wild,¡± I said without thinking. There was a massive battle that took place like two hours ago. And yet everyone around here just went on with their lives. Testament to the fact that those kinds of battles are the norm here.


    ¡°I wish Teach would have let me fight. I¡¯d of beat the snot out of all them stupid monsters.¡± I overheard a group of kids, preteens I think, talking amongst themselves. The one up front, a skinny kid with elf ears and long canine claws was the one who talked first.


    ¡°Yeah right. You¡¯d be eaten in a heartbeat. But you might be lucky. I heard monsters don¡¯t eat bedwetters.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Skinny hopped on his companion and a bout began. It ended pretty quickly when a teacher or somebody like that grabbed them by their scruffs and gave them a lecture.


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Glad to see kids are as brutal in this world as they were back on Earth. I stretched my arms out. Clouds filled the sky today. No dark ones or anything, just big fluffy ones.


    Another headache sprouted up. I looked around the district. As much as I wanted to explore now that I had the freedom. I really just wanted to sleep. Len said I had the day off tomorrow. I can explore more then.


    I made my way back to the merchant district with ease. I¡¯d walked this trail a few times so I wasn¡¯t worried about getting lost. The streets were still busy I got bumped around a few times but I eventually made it back to Mrs. Warbler¡¯s shop.


    I greeted her and Loreli when I entered but they were both busy running around. Mrs. Warbler spoke up. ¡°All by yourself this time?¡±


    ¡°Yep, you''re looking at a citizen of Laurel now.¡±


    The customer who stood by gave me a strange look, her horse(?) ears tilted at me. Ooh probably shouldn¡¯t say stuff like that huh?


    But Mrs. Warbler didn¡¯t seem to care much. ¡°Wonderful dear. Just wonderful. We will have to celebrate. But first please get changed. You look terrible.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me, do you have this in a different color?¡± A customer walked up to the counter carrying a shirt. I looked at my own clothes and saw what Mrs. Warbler was saying, my clothes had rips and tears all throughout them, on top of dirt and blood stains.


    The shop was bustling right now. There were like ten customers walking around the already cramped shop, browsing and picking outfits. I snuck by them as best I could to get into the back room.


    None of the lamps and candles were on right now, but I could get around fine with Darksight. I opened the door to my room and saw that a few different outfits were folded and placed on the desk. And a large bucket of water was placed on the ground. Alright, I get the hint. I smelled my body after stripping my clothes. ¡°Phew. That¡®s ripe ain¡¯t it.¡± Sadly, there was no soap accompanying the bucket of water.


    I washed myself as best as I could under the circumstances. ¡°Gotta say. I miss my river.¡± After giving myself a quick whore¡¯s bath, I put some pants back on and climbed into bed, passing out immediately.

 66. Falling in Style

    Liam hurried out of Rita''s lab. ¡°Take tomorrow off!¡± Len yelled after him. He shook his head. Because the next few weeks are going to suck for you. Len finished the call in his thoughts. He turned towards his eccentric partner, Rita who stood in front of her terminal, runes flittering around her eyes.


    ¡°Is it really not finished yet?¡± He asked. It seemed strange how long the gene process was taking in Liam¡¯s case. He needed more information before he could form adequate plans.


    She nodded without taking her hands away from her work. ¡°It¡¯s trying to cross reference every known gene with his, marking down every similarity. If my hypothesis is correct, it will be marking down a lot.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Let me know as soon as it''s done. Is his Watcher Archive entry done?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that took all of six seconds. Watchers will record his every move from now on.¡±


    ¡°Good, that will help. It¡¯s best to give him a bit more freedom. Let him stretch his legs.¡± And start seeing what this city is really like for himself. ¡°And it also keeps Lirae at bay for some time.¡±


    Rita didn¡¯t say anything else; she was far too absorbed with her own work. But Len liked that about her. The world needed more people like her. Her work ethic and talent will help us understand the secrets baked into our blood. He still couldn¡¯t believe they kicked her out of the main lab. She picked up on using that terminal faster than anyone in history according to her mentor. Len thought about the man. Miss you, buddy. And don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m keeping our dream alive. I will uncover every secret in this shitastic world. I will change it all. No matter the cost.


    Len nodded his head, reaffirming his motivations. He stood up and made his way to the lab exit. ¡°See yah later Rita. Don¡¯t burn yourself out playing with your toys.¡± She responded with a miffed coo. Len walked up the stairs and back into the main entrance hall of his guild.


    It was coming along nicely. He didn''t love that the gnomes took the day off, but what can you do? He pulled out his Immediate Plans notebook from his dimensional bag, seeing what affairs he had coming up soon. ¡°Hmm. Right, the meeting with my new little rabbit pal is coming up tomorrow night. Might need to pick up some coins for that one. Very interesting, that one. Motivations are boring but her distaste for the current regime and skill set could be quite useful. And she seems to have some interesting connections in the Gloom.¡±


    He bumped his head with his hand. ¡°I¡¯m doing it again. Talking to myself.¡± He sighed, then pulled out a string of beads from his dimensional bag. "Sorry." He gripped them tight and closed his eyes. After the moment passed, he walked out of the guild through the back door of the training room.


    He saw some of the training mannequins were left out. It didn¡¯t surprise him, what with all the commotion today. He grabbed the covering that lay on the ground near them and threw it over.


    He walked over to a clear spot in the backyard, gathered flames at his feet, and launched himself in the direction of the recent battlefield. He flew through the air at a leisurely pace this time. Looking over the decimated academy field, Len couldn¡¯t help but think that for an impromptu and slightly poor response time, they managed to keep the destruction at a healthy minimum. No other academies sustained any damage.


    He saw a few smoldering craters that contained some strange colored flames and liquids pooling. Ooooh, Daila was pissed. Man, I wish I could have seen it. I¡¯ve only seen her fight once. Manipulating her odd alchemic flames was a fun challenge. He could never get his flames to change colors that drastically.


    He continued his scan of the field until he found what he was searching for. The big bald man, Jaren. Hard to miss that shine. Len giggled to himself. Yep, I¡¯m using that at some point. It looked like a few others were standing around him, he could make out two familiar dwarves along with a few other people.


    He quenched the flames around his feet as gravity accelerated him down to the ground. He sped up quicker and quicker, the wind blowing on his face. Right before he hit the ground, he ignited the flames once more, stopping him right above the ground. The heat and sudden air pressure caused a small blast of hot air to rush through the area, ruffling everyone''s clothes who stood in the vicinity of Len¡¯s landing zone. The people surrounding Jaren all jumped and readied their weapons, undoubtedly thinking another attack was on its way. Fennel raised his shield and pulled his blade out of its sheath with the rest of them. His reaction time is getting better.


    Jaren and Herman didn''t so much as twitch from Len¡¯s grand entrance. ¡°Stand down!¡± Jaren and Herman yelled out at the same time. They looked at each other in annoyance. Len smirked. Jaren raised his voice again. ¡°You all have your orders! Burn squads will be out here in an hour so move out! Fennel, you¡¯re with us.¡±


    The young dwarf¡¯s eyes were staring out into the field. After a moment, he perceived the orders and walked up to our group. Hmm. He¡¯s a bit out of sorts.


    Jaren finished his barking and gestured towards the wall with his head and walked towards it. Herman and Fennel joined him. Len followed after the three. The Groundsmen worked alongside the wall crafters while they removed the quick patch job and started on the actual repairs.


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    Herman was the first to speak when they got close to the wall. ¡°Any nasty bastards on the other side?¡± He asked Jaren, who just shook his head and crossed his arms.


    ¡°Nothing out of the ordinary. And that¡¯s what worries me.¡± He paused and looked up the wall, then back at Herman. ¡°Mind if we go on the other side? It''s better to show than tell in this situation.¡±


    Herman nodded. ¡°Sure, the closest guard post is over there. Need to check it out for myself anyhow. And throttle anyone up there.¡± He snarled as he pointed towards the set of stairs that would take them up the wall. One that Len couldn¡¯t help but think was suspiciously close to where the monsters broke in from. They walked up to the huge staircase.


    Herman and Fennel went up first. Herman started speaking with the boy, asking about the battle no doubt. Len walked with Jaren, a few steps behind.


    ¡°So, how¡¯d it go with our thorny mistress? Did she relent or are we going to have to do something stupid?¡± Jaren asked.


    ¡°Nah don¡¯t worry. No stupidness is required. She was much easier to convince than I thought.¡±


    ¡°So our new talent is a citizen then?¡± Jaren asked.


    Len nodded. ¡°Yep, no records though, but that was to be expected.¡±


    ¡°Tough. Yet it will be nice not to have to arrange an escort for him. That was a pain.¡±


    ¡°However I do feel bad for Fennel,¡± Len said.


    Jaren raised an eyebrow and looked at the young dwarf currently being given combat advice by his uncle. ¡°Why¡¯s that? What¡¯s he got to do with this?¡±


    Len grinned. ¡°Because of the grueling and hellacious training, you''re going to have to put his squad through this month. His squad needs to top the charts in the next raid. Or else our plans will get pushed back again.¡±


    Jaren scoffed. ¡°Our plans, right? Cuz I¡¯m the one with enough notebooks written to fill the bottom floor of the Capitol Building. Well, whatever.¡± He huffed climbing up the stairs. ¡°And it has to be this month¡¯s raid?¡±


    Len nodded.


    Jaren exhaled, and then a small smile grew on his face. ¡°Damn. Those poor souls. And I don¡¯t mean Fennel or Liam. They will probably be fine, it''s the rest of the squad I¡¯m not sure about. I will have to get back with Daila and go over everything tomorrow. Probably keep the squad small, easier to train.¡± Jaren continued grumbling some plans to himself, the man¡¯s grin turning more sinister as he cooked up a training menu.


    They arrived at the top of the wall. Len looked down. The elders in the group looked at the landscape for a moment but moved away. Fennel was the only one whose face was filled with wonder. It was quite the experience, seeing the city from this high up, but Len was used to it. The whole being able to fly business numbed him to the sight.


    Herman asked for the group to hold off on going down to the other side of the wall for a minute. He wanted to search the post. Apparently, there should have been a full crew in this post. But from what Len could tell, there hadn¡¯t been anyone here since last night.


    Len had spent plenty of time in guard posts throughout the years. And this one was no different from the rest of them. A small room, barely enough space to fit four people. It had windows to see out into the Forest and the city. A large brazier hung outside the window to the city. Lighting it was the sign to sound the invasion alarm.


    Herman cursed a couple of times under his breath. ¡°Should have brought a scout.¡±


    Len and crew left the dwarf to search the small room. He stayed in there a couple of minutes before returning. ¡°Not a fecking thing. Blast it all to shit. I¡¯m gonna have to run through every damn post on this wall myself this week. And when I find the crew too lazy to work their shift today, I¡¯m going to hang them by their entrails from that window.¡± The dwarf was fuming.


    Len cleared his throat. Herman closed his eyes and took a breath. ¡°Right, let''s head down.¡± He hopped off the wall.


    Fennel, who was not at all prepared to see his uncle leap to his death, ran to the edge of the wall and looked down, fear and shock covering his face. He shouted out ¡°Uncle Herman!¡± in distress. But Jaren and Len knew exactly what was going on.


    Len walked over and looked down. Herman was about halfway down now, still descending. But before he got any further. He pulled out his axes and slammed them into the wall. The axe blades slid down the side of the wall, slowing down the dwarf¡¯s descent until he fully stopped just a dozen feet from the ground. He pulled the axes out of the wall and dropped the rest of the way down, landing perfectly fine.


    ¡°What the heck uncle?¡± Fennel said, slumping to the ground.


    Jaren jumped down next. He pulled out his double-blade when he got near the bottom. He swung the blade towards the ground. An arc of green energy shot out from the attack and collided with the ground. A giant gust of air flew up the side of the wall, rustling the young dwarf¡¯s hair and almost knocking him down. Len already moved from the side, he knew this move all too well. The blowback from the blast stopped Jaren right above the ground.


    Len looked back down and saw Jaren and Herman walking over to the site of the explosion. ¡°Alright Fennel, your turn.¡± Len grinned sinisterly. Fennel looked down the wall and back up at Len in disbelief. ¡°I can¡¯t do any of that! Where are the stairs?¡±


    ¡°Sure you can, you just got to try.¡± Len lit a fire right under the dwarf''s rear, which sent the boy right over the wall. Fennel cried out the whole way down. Jaren heard it and walked over to the boy¡¯s expected landing zone. He slammed the ground with his fist and a small but powerful whirlwind kicked up in the spot. Leaves and dirt flew around the miniature tornado until a young dwarf¡¯s body was caught in it. It died out soon after and the dwarf hit the ground with a small thud.


    Len hopped down and descended slowly with his flames. Mangled monster corpses surrounded the area, proof of Jaren¡¯s squad''s work during the break in. He floated over to the others who were looking at the edge of the hole created by the monsters. ¡°See this is what I mean. Len come here, you¡¯re our fire expert let me get your thoughts on this.¡±


    Len kneeled down next to the hole and examined it. Scorch marks covered part of the wall and wrapped around the hole. He touched them and rubbed the soot in his fingers. He sniffed it, it smelled strange.


    ¡°Jaren, there weren¡¯t any Red Skinned Salamandras out here, were there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing, I didn¡¯t see any fire attuned monsters at all.¡±


    Len closed his eyes, pondering what this could mean. He could only come to one conclusion. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad I finished his citizenship. Because Lirae is about to be even more pissed at Ferals.¡±

 67. Family Lives

    ¡°And that¡¯s why kiddo, you had to change your socks after every hike. Poor bastard walked on three toes the rest of his life.¡° The old man barked out a laugh. ¡±Johnson took it a step further, leaving a peg leg and eyepatch in the poor bastard¡¯s foot locker. What a riot!¡± The old man continued his fit of laughter.


    I just scratched the back of my head. ¡°Geeze Gramps. That¡¯s dark.¡± I said, awkwardly waving some smoke away from my face. We sat on the steps on the front porch of Gramp¡¯s house. We just got back from one of our adventures, as he liked to call them, the day before. It was in the mountains this time around. Gramps regaled me with some of his war stories, puffing on his favorite pipe while we waited for my father to come and pick me up. I had school the next day. Yay me.


    We barely made it back in time. The old fart yammered on about some special cave he knew about and had us take a detour to visit it. The cave was pretty impressive; it dug into the mountain a good couple hundred of feet. I¡¯d never experienced that level of darkness. Just a complete void, not even a trace of light. That is until Gramps shined the flashlight in my eyes right when I least expected it. My retinas still hurt even now.


    Gramps sipped up another mouthful of smoke from his pipe. ¡°That¡¯s soldiers'' humor. Trust me when I say jokes like that help keep the real darkness at bay. Those little pranks and jokes were some of the only ways to help keep our sanity. We all saw some horrific things out there. Things I hope you never have to witness. Stuff that scars the soul.¡± He took another pull from the pipe, blowing the nasty acidic smoke into the air. ¡°But who knows, the universe has a funny way of doing things.¡± He blew a smoke ring out this time. ¡°Things you¡¯re never ready for, no matter how much prep you give someone.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Never mind.¡± His face grew somber as he took another pull.


    I waved the smoke out of my face with both hands this time. ¡°Sure old man, whatever you say. But you might want to put that crap out. Gran is coming back soon.¡±


    A huge and dopey grin replaced the somber look. ¡°Ah yes, my love. I will feel your touch soon.¡± My face twisted in disgust. ¡°Ugh.¡±


    Gran usually stayed with my parents when Gramps took me out. She¡¯d have beaten him bloody if she found him with the pipe again. She detested the stuff, said it would be the death of him. Gramps didn¡¯t really smoke that much, just when we got back from one of our trips. But even through all the vitriol, she never dared throw out that pipe. It was a gift from a war buddy who didn¡¯t make it. Someone who Gramps never talked about. All my information about the man was from Gran who only said the man saved Gramp''s life. I never got any details on how. Heck, I didn¡¯t know the man¡¯s name.


    Gramps turned his head down the driveway. My gaze followed his. Just a barren driveway. Gramps coughed and then emptied the pipe into the bowl lying next to him. ¡°Looks like they¡¯re gonna be here soon. Here, throw this in the woods.¡± He handed me the bowl of charred tobacco. ¡°Now where did I put the air freshener?¡±


    I got up and started walking to the backside of the house. ¡°Why bother, Gran always knows.¡± He grumbled something but me being a smart ass. Nothing new. I walked through the immaculate garden and up to the treeline that edged the backyard of my grandparent¡¯s house. I walked a few steps in and found a clear dirt patch to drop the smoldering remains into. After emptying the bowl, I kicked more dirt on top of the pile to make sure it was sufficiently snuffed out. A rustle in a bush nearby caught my attention. I looked over and at it. It rustled again. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Whatever was making the rustling sounded large. At least larger than anything me or my siblings ever encountered playing in these woods.


    It rustled again. I spun around, yet just as I was about to bolt out of there. ¡°Baaa.¡± I paused my escape. ¡°Baa¡­¡± Is that¡­Is that a sheep? I turned to the bush and walked around it. However instead of a white ball of fluff, a goat stood there trapped in the thornbush. ¡°Are you stuck, little guy? Need some help?¡± I said in my best soothing voice. That however seemed to have the opposite effect. ¡°BAAA!¡± It bleated out louder than ever. It pulled itself from the bush, tearing fur and flesh from its side before it was free. It ran behind a big oak tree. I chased after it.


    I rounded the tree and froze. My eyes hovered at the base of the tree. There was no goat there. It was a man, a man whose torso was ripped to shreds. The man needed help but I couldn¡¯t move. It felt like vines wrapped themselves around my feet. He turned to me, the light in his eyes dying out. ¡°H-help me.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± I shot up, arms stretched out. My eyes scanned my surroundings, actively trying to figure out where I was. Wooden walls, desk. Right, basement bedroom. I laid back down but got up upon feeling the strangely moist sheets.  Must have sweat a bucket load. The bed was thoroughly drenched in sweat.


    I threw my blanket off me and sat on the side of the bed. I rubbed my face with both hands, trying to recover from whatever the hell that dream was. Darksight was active and I looked down at the grayscale floor, and then down at the bucket of water. I splashed some of it on my face, trying to wake myself up some more, the lukewarm water didn¡¯t really get the job done though. Now I was just even more wet and even more uncomfortable. And a bit disoriented from the fact that I had no clue what time it was. No windows. I had a feeling it was early, earlier than morning though. At least that''s what my internal clock was telling me.


    I closed my eyes And another vision of the bloodied battlefield entered my head. The chaos and confusion of it all. And the bloody teeth of a red wolf snarling at me. Before I knew it, I was sitting lying on the floor in log form. The thoughts and memories flew away as the form¡¯s blank peace took over my psyche. I really need to use this form more often. Was the last thought I had before the nothingness crept in.


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    A knock on my door brought my mind back to the present. ¡°Liam, breakfast is ready.¡± I didn¡¯t answer right away, my mind still struggled against the grogginess from my rough wake up. I shifted out of the form and opened the door. The light from the candles and lamps hurt my eyes for a second. Once they adjusted I addressed who knocked.


    Loreli stood in front of the door. ¡°Sorry, Loreli, give me a second and I will be right out.¡± She didn¡¯t say anything back, she just stared at my chest for a second. A blush formed on her cheeks. I looked down and realized I was still shirtless. I closed the door slightly. ¡°Sorry, let me get changed.¡±


    ¡°I-it''s okay. Take your time.¡±


    I threw on one of the new outfits on the desk and walked out my bedroom door and into the basement. But to my surprise, there wasn¡¯t any food on any of the tables. The ladies weren¡¯t around either. ¡°Hmm. She said breakfast was ready.¡± I climbed up the stairs and into the shop area. I looked around and then at the window.


    It was raining outside, pretty hard too. I meandered up to and then peered through the shop¡¯s front window, watching the deluge taking place. Water drops pattered along the stone road. A few people walked hurriedly along the path wearing heavy coats, trying to get to their destinations as quickly as possible. I wondered if the merchants set up shop on these kinds of days. I couldn¡¯t see the main road from the Warbler shop window since it was located in an alley.


    I sighed as I watched the rain. ¡°Well, there goes my exploration plans.¡± I really wanted to explore the city today, especially since Len gave me the day off. But walking around a big medievalesque fantasy city that I knew little about in the pouring rain did not sound particularly fun or fruitful.


    A scent wafted around me. I sniffed and could make out meat. The glorious scent of cooked flesh. My stomach growled out, reminding me that I skipped dinner last night. I heard some giggling come from the direction of the other door behind the counter. The one I hadn¡¯t been through yet that I assumed led to Mrs. Warbler¡¯s room. I went behind the counter and just about knocked on the door. It swung open before I could. Mrs. Warbler grabbed my raised arm and led me in.


    ¡°Good morning dear. I see we couldn¡¯t hide the food from you.¡± She laughed as she spoke. It wasn¡¯t a bedroom like I thought it was. A small wooden table that could fit maybe six people around it was situated on the right side. The left side was the simple kitchen. A giant brick and stone stove sat next to one wall and on the other was a wooden counter and a couple of kitchen knives hung above it. Dull light poured through the window on the far left wall, but it didn¡¯t have glass like the store¡¯s did. Just some wooden doors and an awning to keep the rain out. Another door was across the room, which was either the actual bedroom or a living space.


    After another whiff of food assaulted my nose, I found myself standing at the head of the table. Slabs of perfectly charred meat sat on a big plate in the middle. It took every ounce of willpower to force myself to not salivate, or launch myself at them and begin feasting. Loreli walked in from the other door, carrying some other food on a tray. More weird and odd colored vegetables I had no interest in.


    She had a contented grin on her face, but it twisted into pain causing her to drop the food. I rushed over to her and caught the plate in one hand and allowed her to grab my other. She steadied herself. After a few sharp breaths, she gave me a pained smile.


    ¡°Sorry about that, he¡¯s been playing quite the game of footsie with my bladder lately.¡± She rubbed her swollen belly. Mrs. Warbler rushed over to her and took over my position. I carried the plate over to the table as she helped Loreli sit down.


    She looked at me and then the food. ¡°Go on, you must be hungry after all that sleep and fighting. Don¡¯t hold yourself back on our account.¡± And that single statement broke the damn. I wolfed down a few cuts of the meat. And after a quick ¡°Ahem¡± from Mrs. Warbler, a side of vegetables as well. Still didn¡¯t like them. They got stuck in my teeth constantly. They¡¯re carnivore teeth dang it. I thought to myself. Not that I¡¯d actually voice my opinion on the matter. You don¡¯t complain to the hand that feeds you. That¡¯s what my Gran always taught us.


    Once my feeding frenzy ended I looked up. The two were eating like normal people, with silverware. They were halfway through their plates. I decided to make conversation instead of sitting there awkwardly.


    ¡°How far are you along?¡± I asked Loreli.


    ¡°It¡¯s about eight months now I believe.¡± She answered. ¡°Just about time for the Caretakers to come around.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°The what?¡± She returned my look of confusion with one of her own.


    ¡°Remember dear, he¡¯s a F¡­ he isn¡¯t from around here. He wouldn¡¯t know.¡± Mrs. Warbler spoke up, catching herself from saying Feral. It wouldn¡¯t offend me in the slightest if she did, but it was a strange hang up nonetheless.


    She turned towards me. ¡°The Caretakers help with the process of birth. After eight months they come for the soon-to-be mothers.¡±


    ¡°What do they do? Do they stay here in the house? Am I getting kicked out soon?¡± I said playfully to the elderly woman, raising my hand to cover my mouth.


    ¡°No no, nothing like that. They come and take the expecting to the Capitol Building, where they will be taken care of and birth the child. Or perhaps children in this case. Twins are in our blood you know.¡± She said the last statement with her head pointed to Loreli.


    ¡°Oh come off it you daft woman,¡± Loreli said before munching on another spoonful of those nasty vegetables. ¡°I would want to raise two without¡­¡± Her face turned melancholy. She took another bite of food, attempting to avoid ending that sentence.


    ¡°What do they do for that last month then?¡± I said, trying to change the obviously sore subject.


    ¡°They just take care of them, give them simple jobs and medicine that helps with the nutrition of the children. Other than that I can¡¯t quite remember. It¡¯s been so long since I had my Reggie.¡± Now this time her face grew gloomy. Way to go doofus. You made both of them sad. I scrambled in my head to look for another subject change. But before one could form, a knocking came from the shop¡¯s front door. It didn¡¯t sound aggressive.


    Mrs. Warbler got up. ¡°Lori, did you remember to flip the sign last night?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Rude bunch then. We open when we open.¡± But she still left to see. She opened the door leading to the store. She paused. I couldn''t see her face, so I wasn¡¯t sure why she did. I got up from the table myself. I had a bad feeling.


    Mrs. Warbler walked out into the store. Loreli got up from her spot as well and joined me as we walked into the store.


    ¡°Hello Gran. So good to see you.¡± A feminine voice came from the front of the shop. I turned to see the visitor. Panic flushed into my chest.


    It was that green elf lady.

 68. Watering the Plants

    She stood atop one of the buildings near her home, contemplating what she was going to do for the day. It was early in the morning, people wouldn¡¯t start rousing for another hour or so. Ingrid sat under a makeshift porch she crafted a while back for days like today. The rain poured down around her, but she didn¡¯t mind it. She never minded it. The townspeople always ran from it, too worried about getting themselves or their valuables wet. She didn¡¯t have any valuables and she liked how the rain felt on her skin and face. Even her furry ears felt refreshed in the constant flow of pure sky water. She lowered her hood and basked in the downpour.


    Truthfully it was the typical thief¡¯s most hated climate. There wasn¡¯t much a thief could steal on these days, on account of all those people sitting in their homes. Shopkeepers kept their wares sheltered as well, and most of them lived with or near their warehouses in Laurel. Or at least paid for it to be guarded. Some foolhardy and desperate ones still tried and normally failed; she counted herself among their number from time to time. But today she didn¡¯t.


    It was the first time she had some breathing room in terms of finances. Her debt payment was already taken care of for the month thanks to the advance she received from the strange old man Leonard Ainsworth. Who would''ve thought the scorch of monster kind, the fiery slayer of Tiamantis, the undying flame, would be such an eccentric goof? All of those monikers seemed so moronic to her now.


    Ingrid was still waiting on the next payment from him as well. They were going to meet up tonight which meant for the first time in a long while, perhaps years, that she would be this far ahead in her finances. She could hardly believe it. She shook her head. I shouldn¡¯t believe it. Always prepare for the worst. She raised her hood and walked back under the cover.


    The alchemist should have the next batch down soon. That¡¯s my first stop. I think I¡¯m going to get some decent food for those two and myself. Maybe even some for the rest of the home. She shook her head. Not yet, I¡¯m not that far ahead. And it''s probably best to stay out of the Gloom for a while. Maybe Gran will let me crash in her basement for a couple of days.


    She walked out from under the covering and looked over the edge of the building. She had to be cautious, Mort¡¯s goons were still running around the place looking for her and the dwarf boy. She wasn¡¯t sure if they knew she was the one helping him escape, but she didn¡¯t want to chance it. Mort wasn¡¯t an idiot, she just hoped the men who followed her were and that their descriptions wouldn¡¯t be enough to oust her.


    She hopped from building to building. It was the fastest route to the alchemist, faster than the winding alleyways. She could keep her eyes and ears peeled easily as well. After a couple of minutes, she arrived at the backyard alchemist shop. It was a rickety looking shack behind one of the main shops on Main Street. He apparently used to be quite the revered chemist, and even worked at the Capitol Building lab back in the day. She didn''t know why he got kicked out, and it didn¡¯t matter to her. He sold potions and tonics cheaper than any of the other shops out in the Merchant District. They might not have been the best, but she followed the law of beggars and choosers.


    Ingrid raised her ear to the door, seeing if anyone else was in. It sounded clear, only the signature odd high-pitched cough of the alchemist and the occasional bubbling of a kettle. She knocked once and then entered. The room was like usual, wall to wall covered in different glass vessels of various shapes and sizes, each filled with tonics. The alchemist himself was sitting with his back turned to the door. He coughed and threw another dried herb into the boiling yellow mixture in front of him, completely oblivious to her presence. She took a breath, but the vapors made her eyes water.


    ¡°Tin. It''s Ingrid, I¡¯m here for the stuff. Two doses this time.¡±


    He coughed loudly as his back straightened out in shock that he had a visitor, and that they had already let themselves in. The small man turned around. He was a gnome, one with a ridiculous beard that looked to be freshly singed from another one of his experiments. His eyes were large and dark, only a couple of specks of white brightened them.


    ¡°Ahh, why hello Ingrid. You sound well.¡± His ears twitched. ¡°And wet. Stay near the door, I can¡¯t have even a hint of water get inside this concoction. It would be utterly ruined.¡± He said, coughing again. ¡°The morphosis dampening potion, correct? And two doses this time, my, someone has been working hard.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and you made a better batch this time, right? That last batch didn¡¯t look like it helped nearly at all.¡±


    He got up and walked over to one of his walls. He snatched two vials from the bottom shelf of the wall. ¡°Has she turned?¡±


    ¡°Well no but,¡± The gnome cut her off.


    ¡°Then it is working. Here, this batch came out wonderfully, I tried a new brewing style. Now leave, I¡¯m in the middle of something wonderful. Oh, I can feel it, I¡¯m on the right track this time. Leave the payment on the ground.¡±


    Ingrid dropped the small pouch filled with his payment next to him. He swiped it without even looking. He jingled it. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    She turned and walked out of the shop after a quick inspection of the two potions. She tucked them into her side pouch and hopped back up to a rooftop. She looked over at the wall separating the Gloom from the Merchant District. She could scale it with some well placed jumps, and the guards didn¡¯t have their eyes on the skies today with all the rain.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Yeah, I think a trip to Gran¡¯s would be nice.


    She hopped into the District.


    ¡ª¡ª


    My palms began to sweat. I cursed my curiosity. What is she doing here? Is it for me? But Len said I was good now. I closed my eyes and swallowed. Calm down, you¡¯re supposed to stop doing this, right?


    I felt a nudge on my back. Loreli couldn¡¯t see out the door and was understandably interested in seeing who just come into the store. I summoned some bravery and walked out of the doorway, letting Loreli through. Her eyes turned from inquisitive to hard in an instant when she saw the gorgeous elf who was currently taking off her very expensive looking coat.


    She wasn¡¯t wearing the form fitting leather armor she had the last time I saw her. No, she now wore quite the auspicious white dress. One that¡¯s simple elegance allowed her natural beauty to take center stage. And also really emphasized her extremely well endowed chest. Her auburn hair was put up in a bun right now. Mrs. Warbler greeted the woman.


    ¡°Fine Mrs. Laurellen, or did you take that brute Rickard¡¯s name?¡± Mrs. Warbler¡¯s face wore the same smile that normally rested on it, but I could feel this prickly feeling coming from her.


    ¡°First Ones above, no. I would never give up the Laurellen name. And Gran you know me better than that. It¡¯s Lirae to you and your wonderful daughter-in-law.¡± Her eyes scanned over the rest of the room. They passed right over me without so much as a hint of recognition and landed on the very pregnant lady next to me.


    ¡°Hello dear, Loreli was it? What a gorgeous name, for such a beautiful woman deserves such a name.¡±


    Loreli didn¡¯t say anything and her eyes didn''t soften; she gave the woman a slight curtsy.


    ¡°Thank you Madam Councilor.¡±


    Lirae smiled. ¡°Please dear, come here, let me get a better look at you.¡± She held her hand toward Loreli.


    I felt Loreli stiffen next to me, but she brushed it off quickly and walked around the counter; I almost grabbed her arm to stop her. She stopped in front of the much taller elf, keeping her head lowered. Her posture exuded discomfort as the elf walked around her, almost as if she was evaluating the girl.


    The green elf stopped after a minute. She turned to Mrs. Warbler. ¡°Just delightful, your son really picked a special girl, Gran. Her offspring will no doubt be as strong and loyal as he was.¡±


    And as those words left the woman¡¯s mouth, I saw something new. A flash of anger crossed Mrs. Warbler¡¯s face at the mention of her son. It was for but a fraction of a second but I caught it. Her pleasant smile returned and she responded to the woman.


    ¡°Thank you Mrs. Laurellen. Loreli is spectacular. I am proud to call her family. And the Caretakers should be here any day now.¡±


    The green lady laughed. ¡°Of course, why do you think I am here? We are taking her to the Capitol Building, aren¡¯t we girls?¡±


    My eyes turned to the other two people who entered with Lirae. They removed their coats, revealing the clothes they wore underneath. They wore the same outfit, a long black dress and a slightly white apron. Almost like a French maid¡¯s uniform, but much less fancy. These actually looked comfortable and functional. Not the weird fetishized one from so many animes.


    One had short black hair with perky cat ears and was thin. The other was on the heavier side and had the slightly sharp pointed ears of half elves and her hair was put up. No discernible gene trope. They both wore smiles on their faces and walked over to the expecting mother.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± The thin one responded. The heavier one walked over to Loreli and grabbed her hand. ¡°You are right Madam Councilor, she does look healthy. Your baby will be great, I can always tell.¡±


    Loreli¡¯s expression softened with the woman¡¯s words. They weren¡¯t any different from what the green woman was saying, but they felt much more sincere. The plump woman gave out those maternal vibes big time. She¡¯s probably done this hundreds of times.


    Mrs. Warbler cleared her throat. ¡°Great. Then allow me to go and grab some of her things. Liam, would you be a dear and help me in the back?¡±


    But as I opened the door for Mrs. Warbler, Lirae spoke up.


    ¡°Oh that won¡¯t be necessary, we have everything she needs at the Capitol.¡±


    Mrs. Warbler stared at her, clearly not backing down. ¡°Let me at least grab her coat. It¡¯s pouring outside.¡±


    ¡°Of course. But you don¡¯t need the boy¡¯s help for that.¡± I felt a chill run down my spine as she spoke about me.


    ¡°No, I suppose not.¡± Mrs. Warbler walked through the door as I held it open for her. She grabbed the coat from a corner of the room that had a coat rack and walked back out and up to Loreli who was being doted on by the two maids. Or Caretakers I guess.


    It looked like she whispered something into Loreli¡¯s ear and then gave her a warm hug, one that lasted a good thirty seconds. I looked at Lirae, her eyes filled with something akin to affection. I couldn¡¯t quite describe it. It wasn¡¯t evil, but it wasn¡¯t completely tender either. Almost like she was half forcing and half truly feeling whatever the look was.


    Mrs. Warbler broke away from Loreli, holding the girl¡¯s face. Both had emotional tears in their eyes. ¡°It will go splendidly, I just know it, honey. Come back with my grandson.¡±


    ¡°Oh Gran, you are going to spoil the hell out of him. I just know it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re damn right I am.¡± The two laughed and hugged once more. Mrs. Warbler helped her into the heavy jacket.


    The large maid walked over and took Loreli¡¯s hand and walked her out of the store. The thin maid walked on the other side of her once they got outside.


    Lirae put her jacket on and made for the door as well. A sense of alleviation came over me as I realized that she wasn¡¯t going to do anything to me.


    But right as she stepped up to the door, she turned back to Mrs. Warbler.


    ¡°Oh and one more thing Gran.¡± Her eyes focused on me and a malicious force entered my brain. ¡°Savages make for terrible house guests.¡±

 69. Not So Nice Memories

    The shop door closed with a gentle clunk. I watched the woman walk by the front of the store and wave at Mrs. Warbler with another sickeningly sweet smile. Mrs. Warbler waved. Her back was turned to me so I could see her face.


    The strange chill from Lirae¡¯s final gaze turned into irritation. Its uncomfortable heat pricked my whole body. Sure, it was probably some Aura bullshit but it frustrated me to no end that she could affect me so. I snorted slowly as my face twitched. Why am I bothered by her? It feels a bit more than just Aura shenanigans. And I¡¯ve been called much worse by disgruntled students before. I shook my head. Maybe it''s just because she is a¡­


    ¡°Vicious Bitch.¡±


    But it wasn¡¯t I that manifested those thoughts into reality. I turned to the speaker from which the unexpected insult came. The elderly shopkeeper turned around with her feathered arms crossed and huffed. I couldn¡¯t help but giggle. She turned to me and gave me an obviously fake snarl. ¡°And what are you so giddy about?¡± The giggle evolved into a laugh not soon after.


    ¡°Mrs. Warbler, how could you say something so distasteful about a highborn lady like her?¡± I said in between laughs.


    Her face held its faux frown while she replied. ¡°Highborn harlot more like.¡± Then her face betrayed her attempt at being upset and she began to laugh with me.


    After a few minutes of elation, the heavy feeling was nearly gone. But for a moment I looked at the older woman¡¯s face when she looked out the window. The smile from just a moment ago disappeared and an expression just as dreary as the weather filled her face. It passed as she walked over to the back room. ¡°Need to clean up back here. Come on child.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing Mrs. Warbler.¡±


    I collected the dishes from the table as Mrs. Warbler walked over to a spigot hidden next to the giant stone stove. So they do have some form of indoor plumbing. It was a surprising yet overall welcome discovery. I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d have that kind of technology but they do have labs and weird magic computers. Wacky world this one.


    She filled a small bucket and put it on the counter. I placed the dishes next to it. She started to wash them with cloth but I took it from her and told her to go sit. It was a busy enough morning for the poor woman. I cleaned the plates in relative silence as she sat back down at the table.


    While I worked on the last plate, I heard a sniffle. I put the plate back in the bucket and turned to see Mrs. Warbler wiping her face. ¡°Sorry hun, it''s nothing.¡± I sat down at the table with her. She took a deep breath and composed herself.


    ¡°Seeing you help like that reminded me of my boy. He would help me clean up ever since he was small. Even after he grew up and became a soldier.¡± She smiled. ¡°I would get on to him about it all the time. Telling him he would be late for duty or training. But he would always help. At least until he started working for her.¡±


    ¡°Is he¡­¡± I stopped myself, it was probably a bit personal to ask. I¡¯d only been staying here a few nights.


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s gone. He died a few months back. He was a part of Lirae¡¯s personal guard. He died¡­¡± She paused and took a breath, stopping herself from tearing up. ¡°He died saving her life from a raid boss. He¡¯d just gotten married to Loreli.¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°He didn¡¯t even know she was expecting.¡±


    A sweeping wave of emotion overtook me. That anger from earlier made sense now. How could the woman not be upset? That green asshole was the reason why her son died and on top of that, she just took away her daughter-in-law as well. I grabbed her hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Thank you dear.¡± She wiped her face again. After a few more minutes of silence, she stood up. She fixed her clothing and walked back over to the kitchen. I followed after her but she stopped me. ¡°You¡¯ve done plenty, I¡¯ll be alright. I¡¯d like to be alone for a while.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°No problem.¡± I walked out and back into the store front, but before going any further, Mrs. Warbler returned with a coat in her hands.


    ¡°Here, take this. I don¡¯t know what your plans are for today but if you go out you¡¯ll need a good coat.¡± I accepted it from her and thanked her. She walked back into her living area.


    I looked at the door leading to the basement, and then back at the store¡¯s entrance. I felt that similar frustration from before. I gripped the jacket in my hands. I threw on the coat, a heavy leather jacket that I could tell would keep me plenty dry, and walked out the front door.


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    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel sat on the floor of his room, arms in his lap and legs crossed. He breathed in deeply through his nose and then out of his mouth. He felt his Aura flowing around his mind. He was using one of the techniques Daila taught him to help quell Aura imbalance. It was one of the few that worked well for him. His Aura had been out of whack since the night before last. As soon as he walked into that house, the one that led him out of the Gloom.


    He opened his eyes. ¡°How many were in there?¡± He recalled the event.


    He stood before the door, the half elf girl knocked and yelled for whoever was inside. The mysterious fear that dominated his senses teased his brain even more. The door opened. Fennel could hardly believe his eyes. The man, or at least that¡¯s what he thought it was, hid behind the door. Fennel¡¯s eyes were drawn to the part of the man¡¯s body that he couldn¡¯t hide. There were no legs below the man¡¯s waist. Only a stubby short tail. The tail was mostly covered by some rags roughly sewn together. The end of the tail was pink and fleshy, like that of the Wormus monsters that he read about. There weren¡¯t many around The Forest. They were more common in The Desert.


    His arm naturally moved for the sword that wasn¡¯t on his hip. He shuddered. The Gloom girl, his contact that Len and Jaren had him deliver a scroll to, tapped Fennel¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She took a step and then stopped. ¡°And no questions.¡±


    Fennel gulped. He walked into the house, grimacing, expecting the fear in his head to increase tenfold. However, it dissipated as soon as he crossed the threshold. ¡°What?¡± He said under his breath. The worm man slammed the door shut behind Fennel, making Fennel jump. The man slithered by Fennel and into one of the rooms in the hallway of the house, shutting the door behind him.


    Candles were the only ornaments that hung on the walls of the hallway. And only a few were even lit, which made for a fairly spooky atmosphere. But the unnatural fear he felt was still gone. This made him question where it came from, was it an ability, like the shade panthers are known for? No, I never got a shaken debuff, or a fear one either. A cough broke him from his thoughts.


    His guide coughed at the end of the hallway. Even with the light from the candles, he still couldn''t see the girl¡¯s face well, only that she wore a frown. ¡°Where are we?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No questions. Now follow me.¡± She turned right at the end of the hallway.


    Fennel hurried after her, but one of the doors near the end was slightly ajar. He couldn¡¯t help his curiosity and peered through it. Inside was a body lying in a bed, covered mostly. He was about to look away, but he caught a pair of ears staring up at him. A small child walked out of the door. Fennel bent down to get a look at them but recoiled when he saw their face.


    It was a little elf girl, but half her face was covered in fur and held a single bright yellow feline eye. The other side of her face was normal and held a blue eye. Waves of strange Aura flowed from the girl and onto him.


    ¡°Are you a friend of Griddy?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Wha¡­ you''re a mor¡­¡± Yet before he could finish his statement, the Gloom girl grabbed his arms and yanked him up. She knelt before the little morph girl.


    ¡°He is a client sweetie. Now go back to bed. You don¡¯t want to wake up your daddy, do you?¡± The girl shook her head and whispered in response.


    ¡°No, Daddy worked hard today.¡±


    The half elf ruffled the girl¡¯s hair before she crept back inside and closed the door.


    Fennel¡¯s guide turned back to him. ¡°Follow me this time.¡±


    ¡°But she is a morph, and so was the man at the door. What is this place?¡±


    ¡°None of your damn business, now move.¡± She stood behind Fennel and pushed him forward. Once he started moving on his own, the girl ran up in front of him. They walked through the rest of the poorly lit house. Fennel didn¡¯t know what was going on but he knew for certain he was too tired to process it properly.


    They stopped before a staircase. The girl knelt down at the side of the staircase and began to pull wooden boards from it. Fennel looked up the stairs and walked close to them while she worked. He touched the railing. The unnatural fear he felt before the house crashed down on him, almost making him fall down. He let go of the stairs and jumped back. The feeling receded again. He felt it better this time so he could tell that it was definitely Aura manipulation that caused it. The terror-filled Aura had pierced his mind much better that time. He was sure he¡¯d be a weeping mess on the ground if he didn¡¯t have Daila¡¯s training.


    ¡°What the hell is this place?¡±


    ¡°Shut up. Let¡¯s go.¡± The girl spoke from underneath the stairs. He walked over and saw that she was sitting in front of a small dark hole. One that Fennel very much did not want to crawl through. But he had a feeling that was the plan.


    ¡°Through here¡± She gestured at the hole. ¡± It leads to the Western Residential District.¡±


    ¡°Damn it.¡± He said under his breath. But truthfully, he was more than happy to get out of there.


    Fennel stretched his arms, once he was done with the exercise. He shook his head. ¡°That Aura was incredible.¡± He had to admit, whoever was up those stairs was a master of Aura manipulation, even if it rocked his balance. That and the wild aura spiking from the other morphs in that house.


    As he stretched and thought, his left arm, the shield bearing one, locked up a bit. He got up and twisted it, trying to relieve some of the tightness in it. It was still a bit sore from the raid and the added stress from the invasion yesterday didn¡¯t help. He didn¡¯t take any damage from the monsters yesterday. He was getting tired of blocking the tusxic charges though. His back was slightly sore as well, but that wasn¡¯t from the battle.


    ¡°Blasted old men. Throwing me from the wall like that.¡± Fennel lay down on the floor. He sighed and then got up.


    He looked out this window and saw the downpour. He grabbed his raincoat and made his way to the door. He wanted to do some more training. Gloria ordered him not to. Especially after a battle, but he felt anxious today. He knew it would earn him her wrath if she found out, not that he ever minded her ire. He actually looked forward to it in a weird way.


    He sighed again. ¡°But there is one place I can train without her knowing.¡± He nodded and walked out the door.

 70. Train the Pain Away

    Rain battered against the hold of my coat. The rain showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. I looked up at the sky for a second, then readjusted the hood and continued walking. The streets weren¡¯t as empty as I thought they would be. People scrambled around, trying to get to their respective destinations as fast as they could. I was among that crowd.


    I never cared for the rain much. I loved swimming and water in general, but the rain was a different beast. It was nearly a guarantee while hiking and trailblazing with the energetic geriatric man I grew up with. Still miss you, Gramps, you cheating bastard. I smirked. But all in all, trudging through the rain was nothing new to me. And I even had a stone path to walk along so that was nice. No slipping and sliding halfway down a mountain while that old man cackled into the sky.


    I stopped at the gate leading to the Academy District. I knew the route here well enough by now (I definitely did not make three wrong turns). I grew a little nervous when I watched one of the guards on duty. Len said I was a citizen but he didn¡¯t give me a card or any form of ID. Will they ask to see my Character Sheet? Can they look at it on their own? I shook my head. Whatever.


    I straightened out my back, correcting my posture, and walked up to the open gate. Then walked on through. The guards didn¡¯t so much as even look at me. They appeared to be huddled next to a covered and lit brazier. Don¡¯t blame them, this post has to suck on days like this. But a paycheck¡¯s a paycheck. They probably have families to take care of. ¡°Family.¡± the word came out of my mouth on its own. I sighed and then trekked into the district.


    These streets were much emptier than the other but that was to be expected. Schools didn¡¯t shut down back home on Earth for rain, so why would they on Kniyas. Knowing how gung ho everybody here is for training, I¡¯m betting some classes are probably training in this crap. The rain picked up.


    My speculation ended up being spot on. A whole class of teenagers were running laps in the mud. And another group took turns fighting a training doll. I watched a poor scaled boy fall on his tail a few times. I¡¯m so glad I got reincarnated here as an adult, cuz that looks like it sucks.


    It wasn¡¯t long before I arrived at the guild hall. A single guard was posted by the door this time, looking bored out of his mind as well while he leaned up against his spear. And it didn¡¯t appear the gnomes were working. Only the best for us. I stepped under the roof of the stairs leading to the guild and lowered my hood. The human guard in basic leather armor straightened up and gave me a once over. I couldn¡¯t see any trope on his person, most likely hidden by the armor.


    ¡°Good morning. Been here long?¡± I greeted him. He gave me a tired look. ¡°Yep.¡± He yawned out. ¡°You¡¯re good. Head inside.¡± He finished and resumed his original position. Chatty one eh? ¡°Have a good one,¡± I said while walking into the door.


    Found the gnomes. The gnomes were up and about today, running around the entrance hall, each carrying something and running around the place. Some tools, some materials. It looked like pure chaos to me but they probably had a method to the madness. The head gnome yelled some unintelligible thing to the others, which made one gnome drop his hammer on another¡¯s foot. This led to a small scuffle between them, which the chief came over and put a quick stop to with a swift chop to the head to the both of them. I hurried over to the training room, trying to get out of there before I started laughing at the nonsensical little guys. I swear it was like watching the Three Stooges live except there were like fifteen of them.


    I lucked out, none of the gnomes were doing any work in the room. I took my jacket off and laid it on the counter closest to me. It did its job well and kept me dry enough for the most part. I spread it out so it could dry out. I turned around. I walked into the middle of the room and closed my eyes.


    Without the rain and other distractions, my mind wandered onto what happened this morning. That frustration pricked at me again. How that elf treated me and Mrs. Warbler. ¡°I felt so¡­¡±


    ¡°Powerless? Weak? A cocktail of the two perhaps?¡± Tutor spoke up, for the first time in a while.


    That thorny feeling only worsened. Her words cut deep, but they were true. That was exactly how I felt. Like I couldn''t do anything to stop. Probably because it''s the truth. I knew she could kill me without breaking a sweat. Or if nothing else, make my life a living hell.


    I didn¡¯t feel like conversing with Tutor; I was not in the mood for snarky banter in the slightest. I came here for a reason, to do something to distract me from all that and alleviate all this tension. I looked around the empty room, looking for something to hit, repeatedly.


    My gaze fixed on a large training dummy in the corner. It was pretty big, probably seven feet tall. It had a monster-like face, not any particular animal came to mind when examining it. It wasn¡¯t nearly as sophisticated as the mannequins sitting outside. Truthfully, I wanted to bring one of those inside, training with them felt better, but I had no idea how to turn them on. Plus, grabbing one from outside and dragging it in here in the rain sounded awful.


    I picked up a practice sword that was leaning up next to the counter and made my way over to the dummy. I swung the sword around a few times, it felt heavier and less balanced than my mithril sword. Man, I want it back. I lifted it and with as much might as I could muster, slammed it into the side of the dummy. It didn¡¯t budge an inch. The vibrations shot up my arm and made me drop the wooden blade. ¡°Damn it. I really do suck with weapons.¡°


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    I picked it up off the ground and gave it a few more thwacks. But it felt pointless eventually and did nothing to make me feel better. Maybe even made it worse. I ran through some of the exercises from Len¡¯s training notes I used out in the woods. However, this ended up being as fruitless as the last attempt. After battling in the raid and the break in yesterday, those exercises just seemed pointless. When the hell were burpees going to be necessary to fight off 6 foot wolves and geckos?


    ¡°UGH!¡± I yelled out while throwing a punch into the training dummy. I was about to scream again, but a dragging sound rang out in the room coming from the back entrance. I looked over and saw one of the mannequins from outside making its way into the building. Or at least trying. It was a smaller one shaped like a lizard or a salamander. Still over 5 feet wide, but it was smaller than the bear one from yesterday and definitely too big to fit through the door. At least without some tricky maneuvering. Did someone turn it on?


    I watched it more closely and noticed it wasn¡¯t moving from any of the joints and no magical lights illuminated it. It was moving more like someone was trying to shove it inside. But I could not see anyone from where I was standing.


    I walked over to the door and looked around, finding a familiar dogeared dwarf huffing and puffing as he struggled to bring the mannequin into the training room.


    He gave up after another big push and threw his arms up. ¡°Blasted thing! I told them it would be a good idea to make the door bigger. But nooo why would anybody listen to Fennel? A dwarf from a family known and respected for its veteran craftsmen.¡±


    I decided to speak up before the poor guy ranted any further. ¡°Need some help?¡±


    He turned to me in a flash. Recognition flashed in his eyes. ¡°Yes. Yes, I could.¡± I grabbed the front of the mannequin. ¡°Okay, it''s getting hung up on its front left foot. You twist here and I will lift.¡±


    It was the first time I was glad that there were no clocks in this world because getting that stupid thing into the training room probably took an embarrassingly long amount of time. But we did manage. It was sitting upright in the middle of the open training mat in the center of the room. We both panted while sitting on the floor.


    Fennel spoke up first. ¡°So what brings you to the guild hall on this oh so beautiful day, Liam?¡±


    ¡°Rough morning, felt off and really wanted to burn off some energy.¡± I gave him a vague answer. I still didn¡¯t know the guy that well.


    He nodded. ¡°Same here.¡±


    ¡°I thought some training might help, but after yesterday. It felt kind of useless for some reason though.¡± I explained.


    Fennel looked over at me. ¡°You were in the battle yesterday right?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s normal. You¡¯re far from alone in that regard. I remember the day after my first raid. I went back to the barracks and started doing my basic warmup routine and some practice swings with my sword. I got so irritated I ended up throwing the darn thing right into the wall of the squad hall. Freaked the crap out Lukans. He was sitting on the other side. Blade poked him right in the shoulder.¡±


    He laughed as he finished and I scoffed as well.


    ¡°Jaren explained it to me like this. After your first big battle with monsters, all the basic exercises feel unnecessary. Pointless like you said. What good are some push ups in the face of a tusxic charging at you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I thought the same except with burpees.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡± His ears twitched as his head tilted.


    ¡°Oh yeah, it''s named something different here. The exercise where you do a push up, stand up, and then jump up.¡±


    Fennel nodded. ¡°Ah, Ups-and-Downs. Evil exercise.¡±


    ¡°Right! Len made me do them in my Ursa form. The absolute worst.¡± I exclaimed, thrilled to be able to share my hatred of that damned exercise with another.


    ¡°Yep.¡± he nodded. ¡°But the thing about those basic exercises is that they are in fact crucial fundamentals. Those exercises keep you in shape and strong. So you should avoid skipping them.¡±


    ¡°So just fight through the pain then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what most of the instructors say. But Jaren isn''t like most instructors. He advises the exact opposite actually. He says the best thing to do is to listen to your instincts and work on whatever you have fun with. Like practicing your favorite ability or a brand new one.¡±


    He got to his feet. ¡°Since you helped me get it in here, have the first crack at it.¡± I rose to my feet and replied. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to turn the thing on.¡±


    ¡°Right, you didn¡¯t go to an academy. It''s pretty easy here, let me show you.¡± He walked over to the side of the lizard construct. He pointed to the back of the thing''s head. There was a strange symbol in the center. ¡°Place your hand on it and a prompt will appear.¡± He walked away from the mannequin to give me some space.


    I put my palm on the symbol. A notification flashed in front of my vision.


    Activate the [Reptan] Mannequin?


    [Yes] [No]


    That is, in fact, basic. I clicked the yes option.


    At What Tier?


    [4  (70)]   [5  (150)]    [6  (400)]


    ¡°Okay, it''s asking about the tier and has a bunch of numbers,¡± I say to Fennel.


    ¡°That¡¯s what approximate tier the mannequin will fight at and how much Mana you have to give it to activate at those levels. Do you have enough MP?¡± Fennel asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I can easily pay for tier four, barely for five. Six needs a crap load though.¡±


    ¡°That''s how the designers made it, to make sure weaker splicers don¡¯t fight too far above their means. Choose whichever you feel comfortable with. The mannequins only fight at the baseline of the tier. So the five is more like an upper four. If that makes sense. And they won¡¯t have any elemental powers. Not this one at least.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha.¡± I clicked the 5 option. I felt the odd sensation from using mana flow through my hand. It was like when I used my feather to cut stuff, but more intense since I used nearly all of it at once.


    ¡°Okay now back away from it and ready yourself before you make the selection.¡±


    ¡°I already clicked it.¡± The magical lights flickered on. ¡°Ooo, you should¡¯ve waited.¡±


    The mannequin¡¯s tail sprung to life while Fennel spoke. It collided with my side before I could prepare myself, knocking me a few feet away.


    ¡°Ow.¡±

 71. Sparring Partner

    My claws tore through the tough wooden surface of the mannequin''s vaguely reptilian face, leaving quite the nasty mark. Its body hit the floor with a thud. The symbols alight its body flickered and then died out. I snorted in triumph. I looked down on the now sandy brown claws. Mmm. Earth Claws good. A notification popped up before any more intellectually stimulating Ursa influenced thoughts took root.


    [Tier 5 Mannequin Defeated]


    [Good Job! You¡¯re the Best! Keep it Up!]


    I shook my head at the annoyingly positive notification, then walked over to the counter where a pitcher of water sat next to some glasses. Fennel brought it over while I was fighting before leaving again to go to the bathroom. I walked over to it to pour myself another drink. But I ended up knocking the stupid thing over with my clumsy bear paws. A flash of anger rose up that I had to stamp back down before shifting out of Ursa form. Love the form¡¯s power, hate the anger issues.


    I went ahead and took Fennel¡¯s advice and decided to just go wild with Ursa¡¯s new elemental powers. I haven¡¯t gotten a good chance to try out Tigris form¡¯s new Predator¡¯s Bloodlust ability but seeing as you can¡¯t quite make a magical wooden golem bleed, I didn¡¯t think it was a great idea. I tried out the earth variant of the claws this time. They gave a boost to the sharpness of the claws and I¡¯m pretty sure they were even tougher than normal ones, but nowhere near as flashy or fantastical as the fire and electric ones.


    Its Elemental Discharge was a bit underwhelming though. The dust storm it kicked up was the equivalent of throwing a bucket of sand into the air and whipping it around a little. It didn¡¯t help me fight the mannequin at all and ended up making a huge mess. Maybe if you get it in a monster''s eyes. I picked up the unbroken jug and placed it back on the counter top as I pondered the usefulness of the new power.


    Fennel and I have been beating up this poor mannequin for the better part of the morning now. We have been taking turns walloping the thing. Its tier four difficulty proved to be way too easy for me. I beat it in base form with some admittedly poor swordsmanship. I basically wailed on it with a practice blade and my brute strength did all the work. Might as well have been using a club.


    Fennel¡¯s technique with a blade was much more refined, even to my inexperienced ass. He didn¡¯t just clobber the thing with his wooden practice blade. Each of his strikes was aimed and purposeful; he targeted the vital areas of the mannequin. It reminded me of how Jaren fought the larger mannequin yesterday. It wasn¡¯t as devastating as the large man¡¯s was, but still impressive.


    My terrible sword technique was worthless when I upped the tier to five. The training room¡¯s special floor regened our MP pretty quickly so as long as one of us rested while the other fought, the MP cost was never a problem. The training mannequin¡¯s speed and strength increased dramatically with the higher tier. Nothing Ursa couldn¡¯t handle though.


    The young dwarf walked back into the room and chuckled when he saw the water on the ground.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, scratching the back of my head.


    ¡°If you wanted something different, you only had to ask.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, an ice cold cherry limeade would be delightful.¡±


    ¡°Sure, just got to figure out what a cherry limeade is first.¡±


    ¡°Heaven in a cup. That¡¯s what it is. Sugary, sweet heaven.¡±


    He chuckled again. ¡°Whatever you say.¡±


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    Walked over to the defeated mannequin and shoved it back into its neutral standing position. ¡°Good strike on its head. Might be enough for today though. Don''t want to break it.¡± He squatted down and proceeded to lift the mannequin over his head. And if that wasn¡¯t dramatic enough, he then walked it over to one of the side walls of the dojo before dropping it back down like it weighed nothing. Damn, little man is strong.


    He placed his hand on the back of the mannequin¡¯s head just like when activating it. Its symbols lit up once more, but with a reddish orange almost rust-like color, as opposed to the normal blue.


    ¡°This is the self repairing function, It will regrow any wood that was damaged in the training. Takes a few days though.¡±


    Bummer, I¡¯m still feeling a bit antsy. I wanted to run through all of the forms today. Try to get back on my training schedule. Kind of miss it. I scrunched up my face. What have I become?


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Fennel said, noticing my strange expression.


    ¡°Yeah, just bummed out about the training dummy. I wanted to run through all my forms.¡± I shrugged. ¡°But that¡¯s alright.¡±


    Fennel just tilted his head. ¡°What? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re already done.¡± He grinned. ¡°I¡¯m up for some sparring. I know it''s not as effective for monster combat practice, but it''s still decent training in my book.¡± He walked over to the end of the large mat in the middle of the training room, putting the wooden shield back on his arm. He pointed his sword at me, then waved it towards himself. ¡°And I need to pay you back for what happened during the raid.¡±


    I thought back to when I met the dwarf on the battlefield. I had my claws at his throat while yelling in his face. Hey, he attacked first damn it. Whatever. I looked at Fennel and grinned. Challenge accepted. But what should I go with first? I pondered for a moment, but the decision was easy. I worked well on him the first time. Sharp claws grew out of my hands as I stepped into the ring.


    Fennel¡¯s face twisted for a moment. But regained its composure soon after. Not that it mattered. This¡­barbarian put forth a challenge to me. I shan''t leave him waiting. He is begging for a lesson after all.


    I shot out, not waiting for a countdown. Before he moved an inch, my claws aimed for his exposed head. Surprisingly though, his shield moved just in time to block my strike. My claws scraped the wooden shield. I sent the other claw at his exposed leg. He wasn¡¯t wearing any armor, leaving me an overwhelming amount of options to aim at. Yet just before my claws made contact, they collided with the wooden sword.


    He reared back and threw me with his shield, launching me into the air. He spoke while I flew back. ¡°Just straight to it then. Fine by me.¡± I flipped in the air and gracefully landed on my feet, then looked back at my petite opponent. He was already right in front of me, shield front and center. I hopped to the side, getting away from the shield¡¯s strike only to find his sword aimed at my leg.


    I tried to lift it in time, but the blunt blade slammed into my shin. I hit the floor and rolled behind him. I jumped back up and tried to land a strike on his unarmored back. Yet he twisted around in time, presumably predicting the attack, blocking the blow with his shield once again.


    This led to the both of us unleashing a flurry of blows. Each swipe of my claws was met by both sword and shield, neither of us making any ground. Until my leg faltered for a second, and he took the opportunity to bash me with his shield. The shield landed squarely in my chest. I coughed out.


    The savage is fast, I give him that. But let¡¯s see how he handles this.


    He tried to bring the shield back, but I gripped onto the edges of it and then activated Eternal Shade. I watched the dwarf¡¯s eyes glaze over as the darkness enveloped him. A bead of sweat dripped down his cheek. Got him. I released the shield and backed away from the dwarf, being careful not to walk out of the bounds of my shadow bubble. I noticed that it was a little larger this time around. Maybe four feet in diameter instead of the three feet it used to be.


    The dwarf shook his head, then squatted down, preparing to jump out of the darkness. But he couldn¡¯t. I had already struck at his side. My claws raked through his clothes and landed on his flesh. The dwarf grunted in pain, yet the blow was shallow.


    He twisted and looked at me right in the eyes. Then swung out with his sword. It was aimed right at my head. I paused in shock. He shouldn¡¯t be able to see me. I sidestepped the swing. The dwarf took his chance and leaped from the bubble. He reoriented himself once he was out, raising his shield back up.


    I growled in frustration. Though another feeling swelled inside me. I looked down at my claws. In my right hand, a small amount of blood pooled. The dwarf¡¯s blood. The feeling grew bigger and then I finally understood what it was. Desire.


    I wanted more of his blood on my hands. I looked at him again.


    Prey¡­

 72. Bloodlust, Worries, and Pocket Jerky

    ¡°Hhaah¡­Haaah¡­ha.¡± Slow panting dripped off my tongue. An overpowering amount of desire coursed through my veins. I slowly backed out of Eternal Shade, the side opposite to my target. Just before the shadows evaporated, I leapt away. The dwarf¡¯s eyes stayed steadfast on the shadow, yet they turned surprised when he saw I was no longer there. He scanned around the area, but I was already attacking his right flank.


    He raised his shield and twisted his body to block. I activated ES again, then immediately jumped out of it. The dwarf swung out into the empty darkness, but I was already gone, aiming another strike at his heel. The dwarf hopped back, but my middle finger claw caught the edge of his calf, creating another wound.


    That sensation of craving doubled as the fresh blood seeping into my claws. Even more strength and energy flooded my muscles. ES swirled around me once more. The pathetic whelp was stuck guessing where I would emerge from. How about from above this time. I hopped straight up and out of the darkness. The dwarf looked from side to side. Too easy. My claws descended upon the dwarf.


    But my claws met with wood again. ¡°How?¡± I snarled out while trying to hop back from the blow, but two of my claws were firmly lodged in the shield. I put both my feet onto his shield and began pulling myself free. I noticed his sword moving a second too late. He stabbed my side.


    Pain flourished in my side. My only counter to the blow was a quick scratch on the dwarf¡¯s sword hand with my unstuck hand. But that was enough. Even more power surged in my body. I raised my legs up and stomped on the shield with as much might as I could muster.


    It sent the dwarf skidding across the training mat floor. I took the chance to rush him again. I couldn¡¯t let up. Furthermore, I created more shadows with ES right in front of the dwarf''s face. He brought his shield up, yet the darkness faded almost as instantly as it arose. I spent less than a second in the bubble this time and had immediately slashed out at his sword arm.


    Claws connected with flesh once again, and my face gnarled in delight. Yes! Bleed more. I awaited another flood of power, yet that addicting bliss didn¡¯t come. ¡°What?¡± My eyes fell where they connected with the dwarf¡¯s body. The dwarf¡¯s normally tanned skin now shined like that of silver.


    It doesn¡¯t matter, there is still flesh underneath this. I sent out a flurry of swipes and scratches upon the dwarfs'' hardened skin. Open damn you. My body began slowing down after a minute of my onslaught. Fatigue peaked its nasty head into my head. But before I could brush it off, something collided with the side of my torso. The dwarf¡¯s shield jammed into my side, knocking me to the ground.


    I rolled on the ground for a second. Then rose to my knees, unbridled rage roaring in my head. How dare.


    ¡°Sorry about this.¡± Before I could comprehend the words, I felt a thump on the back of my head. And then nothing.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel rubbed his knuckles. ¡°Dang it, man, you¡¯ve got a hard head.¡± Liam slumped onto the floor, passed out from the heavy blow Fennel just gave him. Fennel flipped Liam onto his back. He walked over to the counter, where he and Liam left their wet raincoats. He grabbed the large one that belonged to Liam. It was still a bit damp, but nothing too serious.


    He returned to his sleeping acquaintance. Fennel rolled up Liam¡¯s coat and put it underneath Liam¡¯s head before sitting down next to the strange boy. He sighed and closed his eyes. ¡°Sorry again, my new friend. That fight would have turned out worse if I didn¡¯t stop you there.¡± Fennel just shook his head and then looked down at the cuts given to him by Liam. They were already closing up thanks to the training room and his own high CON. ¡°What a terrifying ability. He kept getting stronger each time I bled.¡± The young dwarf sighed again.


    Jaren told Fennel that Liam was to be joining his squad. They were going to have their first training squad training session next week. But Fennel was thankful he ran into the guy today. He liked having a firsthand experience of all his squad¡¯s fighters. Many squad captains were perfectly fine only knowing about their people¡¯s powers. But Fennel felt that actually experiencing the powers would help him form plans more effectively.


    Fennel turned toward the sleeping Liam. His claws had disappeared. ¡°Back to your base form, I guess.¡± He closed his eyes and concentrated on the Aura around him. He was taken aback for a second. He felt a huge amount of Len¡¯s Aura. He opened his eyes and turned to the corner of the dojo, where he saw one of Len¡¯s Aura flames burning. Fair enough, it is his guild.


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    He returned his concentration to Liam, blocking out Len¡¯s Aura as best as he could. Liam¡¯s Aura was peaceful, there wasn¡¯t even a hint of imbalance or chaos to be found. He shocked Fennel. But in that fight, his Aura was positively monstrous. I thought I was about to watch him morph in front of my eyes. Yet here he is, sleeping like a babe. With Aura balance on par with Daila or Len. His Aura control is practically nonexistent, though. Daila will have a field day with him sometime soon. Even without sight, I could tell where he was the whole fight.


    Fennel got up and walked over to the counter and picked up the now empty water jug. He walked to the mess hall and into the kitchen. He filled the jug up and returned to the training hall. He placed it near Liam.


    He thought about the strange house filled with morphs again. He really wanted to talk to Len or Jaren about it. Morphs were supposed to be reported if found, but Fennel hesitated. He kept remembering the little girl¡¯s face. She was turning at such an early age. And that girl from the Gloom ended up helping him. He was torn and wanted advice from his mentors on what to do.


    But those infernal old men shooed me away almost as soon we were at the bottom of the wall. I only barely caught Len saying something about Councilor Lirae being pissed off. Which seemed to be her default response to anything Len said. I¡¯m just glad she¡¯s never gotten mad at me. I¡¯m fairly certain I¡¯d soil my britches.


    Fennel shook his head and then laid down on the mat a few feet away from Liam. He closed his eyes and let the healing waves of the training room overtake him. He used a bit more stamina than he thought. He fell asleep shortly after.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Leave me out of your harebrained schemes, ye bastards!¡± Herman slammed his hand on Len¡¯s desk. ¡°It''s bad enough you¡¯ve got Fen wrapped up in it. But my job is to report directly to the Council on all matters about the wall. Rickard has already tried climbing down my throat about it this morn. I can¡¯t blow him off anymore without hurting me and mine.¡±


    Len shifted in his chair. They were sitting in his office in the guildhall along with Jaren who sat next to the distressed dwarf. They gathered to talk about the origin of the hole blasted into the side of the wall yesterday. He sat up.


    ¡°I understand Herman. I¡¯m not asking you to lie to Rickard or anyone else. Just to¡­hold back for a time. All I need is two days. Maybe less.¡±


    Herman shook his head in defiance. ¡°And I¡¯m tellin yah I can¡¯t. They have a right to know that the wall was blasted open by them Ferals.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that for certain.¡± Jaren spoke up. ¡°It just kind of sorta almost certainly looks that way.¡±


    Herman turned to the half elf. ¡°Not a single one of the monsters in that break in were fire attuned. I read the report last night. None of the monsters were even tiered high enough to have elemental powers at all. Just a bunch of fours and fives running around. That wall would never, and I mean never, come break against anything less than a tier eight.¡± Herman closed his eyes and cracked his knuckles. ¡°There¡¯s too much mystery surrounding this break in. I have to go to the council about it. They need to start formulatin¡¯ something now.¡±


    He rose from his chair and walked over to the door. He exhaled right as he opened it. ¡°I can give you until the afternoon. That¡¯s the latest I can go.¡±


    Len stood up. ¡°Thank you, Herman. I understand. Give my best to Rickard, no doubt he already knows you¡¯re here.¡±


    Herman scoffed. ¡°Bloody high levels and your duplicity. Wish you¡¯d leave us common folk out of it.¡± He walked out the door of the office with a wave. Len slumped back down into his chair. Jaren chuckled. ¡°Talking like his family doesn''t sleep in the Upper City.¡± He turned to Len, ¡°Do you really need two days?¡±


    ¡°No, I already have somebody checking around the Gloom. I¡¯ll probably get some info this evening or tomorrow when she reports back.¡±


    ¡°Is it your new recruit?¡± He leaned over the desk and covered his mouth. ¡°Or your best kept secret?¡±


    Len rolled his eyes. ¡°You know, the thing about best kept secrets is they are really best kept secret. Not talked about.¡± Len rubbed his forehead. ¡°But you¡¯re right, it is the latter. I¡¯m meeting the new recruit tonight. She¡¯s far too wet behind the ears for that level of chicanery. And too entangled with that snake, Mort for that matter. Will have to do something about it down the line.¡±


    Jaren shrugged and bit into a piece of his patented pocket jerky. The man always had some on his person. He pulled another piece out and offered it to Len. But before he refused, he head jerked to the door of the office. He smiled. ¡°Good for you, kid.¡±


    ¡°Mph wut?¡± Jaren said in the middle of chewing.


    ¡°Looks like our proteges are about to get some practice in.¡±


    Jaren swallowed the morsel he was working on. ¡°When did they get here?¡±


    ¡°Sometime while we talked with Herman. But they were just beating up a training dummy. One of the Reptans I think. Nothing terribly interesting. But now it looks like they¡¯ve decided to spar.¡±


    Without missing a beat, Jaren made a wager. ¡°10 gold on Fennel, winning in under a minute.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take that bet. I say it takes about three for him to beat Liam.¡±


    Jaren laughed at the answer. ¡°Not going to bet on your star apprentice.¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°Nope, no way Fennel loses. Liam is prone to over exert his stamina. And even with his forms, Fennel''s got four levels up on him.¡± Len grinned. ¡°But things will change when he catches up to Fennel, and trust me he will catch up quick.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t see me arguing. Liam¡¯s powers have more potential than I¡¯ve ever even thought possible.¡± Jaren got up from his chair and made for the door. ¡°Well come on. I¡¯d like front row tickets to this brawl.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah. And let me guess, I have to do the concealment this time.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s your guild, bud.¡±


    ¡°That it is.¡±

 73. A Chat Between New Friends and Old

    My eyes fluttered open, but shut quickly after the harsh light of the room collided with my retinas. ¡°Ow.¡± I squeezed them shut, trying my hardest not to let any of the painful light in, but that led to a whole other fresh pain. My head was pounding, especially the back side. I rolled on to my side, but felt something shift under my head.


    I braved opening my eyes again to see my raincoat had been folded up and put under my head as a pillow. Well that¡¯s nice at least. I rubbed my face. How did I end up like this? Fighting someone. No, it was sparring. Right, Me and Fennel. I tried to remember more, but kept coming up empty. My attention was stolen by the sound of rustling behind my back. I sat up and investigated, at least after the throbbing died down from moving that quickly.


    Once the pain calmed down, I turned and saw Fennel sitting, stumpy legs crossed, a couple feet away from me.


    ¡°You up?¡± Fennel asked.


    ¡°Yeah, what happened? How long have I been out? I peered out one of the windows in the training room. Rain still poured outside, but it didn¡¯t look like it had gotten much darker.


    ¡°Not long, maybe thirty minutes.¡± Fennel responded before he scratched his arm. ¡°Truth be told, I¡¯m not certain either. I kind of passed out too. The past couple of days have caught up with me. But as to what happened, we sparred.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, which hurt a little. ¡°I remember that, you dork. I¡¯m more interested in how I ended up on the ground, passed out. I keep trying to remember what happened, but it¡¯s all hazy for some... Ow!¡± I touched the back of my head while I spoke and winced in pain. A good sized lump formed on the back of my skull. Not nearly as big or bloody as the lump given to me by that giant storm bird. I suppressed a shiver at the memory of my first near death experience. At least on Kniyas. I do worry if I ever have to fight a giant soap bar monster. I¡¯d have no chance.


    Fennel turned his head away from me and rubbed his neck. ¡°Sorry about that. Our sparring match got a bit¡­heated, to say the least.¡±


    I tried to recall what happened in the fight from start to finish. My head had cleared up after talking. I used Tigris form. Neither of us made much ground after a flurry of attacks, then I used Eternal Shade a couple of times. Oh god, tell me I didn¡¯t say something stupid or embarrassing.


    ¡°Did I say anything weird?¡± I asked in the hopes my hubris filled form didn¡¯t piss off my training partner.


    He shook his head. ¡°No, not that I can think of. You didn¡¯t say much of anything during the match. You mumbled something about teaching a lesson in your sleep a few minutes ago. Why?¡±


    That damn cat form. For the life of me, I can¡¯t figure out why I always think about teaching lessons. It¡¯s so dumb. Fennel¡¯s head tilted; he was waiting for an answer. Ah! Screw it.


    ¡°It has to do with my forms. Along with my tropes, my¡­thought processes, I guess, alter as well.¡±


    His ears perked up as his eyes darted back and forth in thought. ¡°How so?¡± Why did that get him to start cooking?


    ¡°Hmm. It''s easier to explain if I use Ursa form as the example.¡± I told him about the first time I used the form. How I couldn¡¯t quite speak well or think straight. And how easily angered I used to get (still do) in the form. Then a little about how I don¡¯t have many thoughts in general in the form. Complex ones that is.


    ¡°What about your other forms?¡± He asked.


    ¡°They all do, some not quite as drastically as others. Like Apis form, the form you saw me in when Daila and you helped me out at the big tree building. I get really easily distracted and bored in that form.¡±


    Fennel smirked. ¡°Yeah, I remember that day. I swear you were drooling at the prospect of running around the rooftops.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Guilty as charged. Still want too, honestly. I can¡¯t tell you how often I¡¯ve just walked away from Len when he started explaining something Apis didn''t find entertaining. But out of the three, it''s the easiest for me to get back on track.¡±


    Fennel nodded his head and mumbled under his breath. ¡°Results from the Aura shifts maybe?¡±


    ¡°Aura shifts?¡± I asked.


    He panically shook his head. ¡°Nothing! What else about this Apis form?¡±


    Weird but whatever.


    ¡°Apis form is actually my personal favorite. I have a lot of fun in the form. Though, it''s not very good in a fight. At least not compared to Ursa and Tigris. It doesn¡¯t come with claws or other natural weapons. And so far bare handed fighting hasn¡¯t really been an option. But things might change down the road. It just needs some more time in the oven in my opinion.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Heck, I¡¯ve gotten more battle experience with Gremlin form, and it''s not as strong.¡±


    ¡°Are there rankings among the forms?¡± Fennel asked.


    I nodded. ¡°From what I can tell. They each have a cooldown, and the stronger forms have a longer one. Tigris takes two hours.¡±


    ¡°Is that the only difference?¡± Fennel asked.


    ¡°No, each of the forms change my stats.¡±


    ¡°Change your stats? What do you mean? Like a buff?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Nah, take my Tigris form. I get a hefty increase to all of the physical stats aside from Constitution. It, along with the mental stats, go down. Except for Charisma, it gets buffed as well.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Fennel¡¯s mouth opened slightly. ¡°How does that work? What do the percentages look like on the changes?¡±


    ¡°No percentages, just flat addition and subtraction.¡±


    ¡°But what of your detrimental stats, do they go below zero. Surely not.¡±


    Detrimental. Right. Don¡¯t have those.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have detrimental stats, or¡­what was the word for the other one? P something.¡±


    Fennel looked at me in disbelief. ¡°Primary.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. I don¡¯t have those. I get an even increase on all of my stats each level up. Or I have so far.¡±


    As Fennel¡¯s bewilderment continued, I took the liberty to view my HUD. Health and all were filled up. I¡¯m not sure if it was the sleep or the floor. Probably floor. I doubt a power nap would heal me up like that. I looked at the Tigris timer. It showed 1:34. He was right about the thirty minutes. My eyes widened. Then I palmed my face and then slowly wiped my hand down my face. I can use the cooldown timers to tell the time. God, why didn¡¯t I think of that until now.


    Fennel¡¯s confused look disappeared when he noticed me smack myself in the face. ¡°You alright, am I asking too many questions?¡±


    ¡°No, I just realized how stupid I am. Keeping track of time has been an issue with me since I got to Kniyas. I just now thought about using those timers to help me.¡±


    Fennel chuckled. ¡°Yeah, that''s the common practice. Doesn¡¯t work for everyone, however. I¡¯m one of those such people. Only one of my abilities even has a cooldown, ten minutes. Hardly worth keeping track of. The others just have stamina requirements and are turned on and off at will.¡± He stopped talking abruptly, his face filling with confusion. ¡°Wait, what do you mean got to Kniyas?¡±


    Craaaaaap. Me and my damn mouth. ¡°Umm. Uh.¡± Way to go, you dumbass. ¡°Nothing, I meant to say Laurel, head¡¯s still kind of jumbled. I wonder whose fault that is?¡± I said, crossing my arms and turning my head.


    He nodded hesitantly. ¡°Sure.¡±


    Don¡¯t worry, it sounds like bullshit to me as well, but it''s the best I got.


    ¡°My last two forms are Gremlin and Squirrel.¡± I said hurriedly, trying to drive the conversation away from my mishap. ¡°But now that I think about it, they don¡¯t really affect my thoughts at all. And their cooldowns are the shortest. Wonder why?¡±


    ¡°Are they weak?¡± Fennel asked.


    ¡°Well Squirrel is for certain, has no combat abilities whatsoever, just really good at climbing trees. But Gremlin can fight, I need weapons in that form and it actually has a really strong ability. Takes a boatload of stamina to use that¡¯s only worthwhile if someone keeps me topped off. I actually used Gremlin form in the battle yesterday. All the others were down after training with Jaren in the morning.¡±


    Fennel wrinkled his forehead. ¡°Do you remember everything that happens when in a form?¡±


    ¡°Yep. I¡¯m still very much me when I¡¯m in a form. I just think differently. And that sometimes manifests if I don¡¯t consciously think about controlling them.¡±


    A serious look grew on Fennel¡¯s face. ¡°Do you ever lose con¡­¡±


    ¡°Hello Boys! Slumber party over? Hahaha! Looks like you¡¯ve made yourselves at home in the training room.¡± The booming voice made me jump.


    Fennel and I turned to see the loud man who stomped inside the room. Jaren wore a big smile and munched on some of that tough jerky he gave me yesterday.


    Fennel rose to his feet quickly and did the strange shoulder salute. Jaren waved him off. ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to quit that when we¡¯re in private?¡±


    The dwarf¡¯s eyes moved to me for a second. Jaren understood the look and sighed. ¡°No matter.¡± He walked up to us and patted us both on the back. ¡°Hell of a tiff you both had there. Looks like that bloodlust ability you gained was a smart choice. Poor Fennel had no choice but to knock you right the hell out or keep bleeding.¡±


    ¡°Thanks?¡± I wasn¡¯t positive about what he was talking about. When did I use Predator¡¯s Bloodlust in that match? I looked at Fennel¡¯s clothes now that we were standing and saw some blood stains. Then I peered down at my hands. For a brief moment, I imagined blood pooling in my palm. And then a flash of recollection about the match entered my mind.


    After replaying the fight in my mind, I turned to Fennel. ¡°Wow, sorry about that. Are those cuts alright?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s fine, ain''t ya Fen?¡± He gave Fennel another hearty smack. ¡°My boy Fen here is tough as they come. But you will be seeing that for yourself in the coming weeks.¡±


    It was my turn to tilt my head. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna be your commanding officer, that''s why.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Ingrid shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She looked around the backroom of Gran¡¯s shop. It hadn''t changed at all since she was last back here. Gran was in the kitchen pouring two cups of tea.


    Gran sat down in the chair next to Ingrid. ¡°How are you, dear? It''s been months since you last visited. And don¡¯t say you haven''t been around. I know you¡¯ve been visiting my back porch. You¡¯re sneaky, but not nearly sneaky enough to get by this old bird.¡± She chortled.


    Ingrid grinned awkwardly and took a sip from the cup Gran passed to her. ¡°Been busy.¡±


    Gran slowly shook her head. ¡°Been busy. I¡¯d say you have to be living in that filthy place. I don¡¯t understand why you don¡¯t move out into the Residential District, you¡¯ve talent and strength oozing out of your ear, girl. Sure, you might not be legion material but there are plenty who see the value in your skill set. And it would be much less dangerous than pilfering from thugs and brigands.¡±


    She smiled at Ingrid. ¡°And you¡¯re a beauty to boot. Though not quite as ravishing as I was back in the day.¡± Gran cooed and laughed. Ingrid just smiled back, instinctively fiddling with her lowered hood. She knew the elderly woman meant well, but she had too many people relying on her back in the Gloom.


    ¡°If it were only that simple, Gran. Where¡¯s Loreli? Did you close up shop for the day?¡± Ingrid knew the answer already. She watched as the green bitch left the shop earlier with Loreli in tow. She just didn¡¯t want to talk about herself anymore.


    Ingrid only came into the house when the other person, a younger guy, left as well. She wasn¡¯t in the mood for any more introductions. This week had plenty for her alone. And she was going to have to meet with one of those new people tonight.


    ¡°She¡¯s been kidnapped! Oh my poor, sweet Loreli.¡± She placed the backside of her hand on forehead to keep up with pantomime. ¡°By dirty brigands no doubt. You must help me find her?¡± She said in an obviously sarcastic tone.


    ¡°Whatever you say, Gran.¡± Ingrid sipped more tea.


    Gran giggled to herself, before she exhaled a big breath. A somber expression filled her face. ¡°She got taken to the Capitol Building this morning. It might be tough for the next month without her. But I at least won¡¯t be lonely.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Does she know what I¡¯m going to ask about? The woman was good, but not a mind reader.


    ¡°I have a guest in the basement. Wonderful lad. Very sweet. Penchant for trouble. But it¡¯s not his fault. He just came to this town at the worst time for his kind.¡±


    ¡°His kind?¡± Ingrid asked.


    ¡°Oh maybe I shouldn¡¯t have said it like that. But it should be fine to talk about. Liam, the young man staying here is a Feral.¡±


    Ingrid dropped her cup.

 74. Best Kept Secret

    Len stood outside the guildhall doors, underneath the small roof, where the guild sign was going to be hung. He looked into the sky. The rain finally let up. Len turned to the sleepy guard on duty and gave him a nod. The guard straightened up once he recognized who walked out and nodded rapidly in return.


    Len sighed internally. ¡°Go check the back door.¡± Len commanded the useless guard.


    ¡°Sure thing, Mr. Ainsworth. No problem at all. I¡¯ll go right away¡± The guard tried his hand at a salute, sloppy and unrefined, then trekked a few paces. He turned back, ¡°should I come back right away?¡±


    Len felt his forehead throb for a second. ¡°No, once you get there, you and the other guard are to do 38 push ups. Only after both of you have completed the exercise may you return.¡±


    ¡°Umm. Aye sir?¡± He walked around the building, leaving Len alone.


    Talentless fool. Len scoffed, then shook his head and returned his gaze onto the street.


    The sun had fallen below the horizon now, leaving a striking red crimson sky filled with a few pink clouds.


    Fennel and Liam had left the guildhall not long before. However, Len didn¡¯t talk with them today. He let Jaren train them for a while longer while he worked on some more plans and had another frustrating argument with the gnomes about the construction. ¡°Why is getting a building built such a pain? I thought getting the adequate permissions and permits was supposed to be the hard part.¡±


    He grabbed the small pouch of coins from his belt and fiddled with it. He tossed it in the air. It landed back in his palm. He tossed it again. Chink. Chink. Chink¡­


    He looked at his now empty hand and snorted. ¡°Now, Mel, you know better. That¡¯s not for you.¡±


    The newcomer¡¯s Aura washed over Len, filled with fear and malice. Thoughts and images of his own demise filled his head. He watched as monsters tore his body limb from limb. Each of those body parts, swallowed by the next monstrous beast. Bit by bit, his entire being consumed. Len scratched his nose and sniffed.


    Those visions fell, only to be replaced by new ones. This time he was up to his neck in a pool of blood as creatures flew around his head whispering prophecies of his despair and anguish. Len blinked and then yawned. ¡°Enough with the tomfoolery. It didn¡¯t work last time and it won¡¯t work this time. Now give it back.¡±


    Another wave of Aura crashed into him. Len found himself on the peak of a mountain in the lands surrounding Tiamantis. His old homeland. Snow whipped and whirled into his face, melting on contact. He looked off into the distance, into the nearly forgotten horizon. It was eerily similar to that day. She wouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Daddy?¡±


    Flame erupted from his feet as he launched himself onto the roof of the guild¡¯s entrance. His hand lashed out and latched down on the throat of the visitor. He slowly brought his mouth up to the bat ear as a ball of fire floated on the other side of her head. ¡°Mel, while I¡¯m glad to see that your skills have improved, if you don¡¯t wish for those visions to come true with you as the focal point, then I¡¯d suggest you knock that shit off.¡±


    In a pained and breathless voice, Mel answered. ¡°Sorry. My bad.¡±


    Len released his grasp and fixed his shirt. The woman coughed a couple of times before she answered. ¡°First Ones above, forgive a girl for having a bit of fun with her old friend.¡± Once she caught her breath, she looked down at her feet. ¡°I am sorry, Len. I was a bit too excited about the new technique. It uses memories and well¡­yeah.¡±


    Len grabbed the ball of fire from the air and snuffed it. He shrugged at Mel and returned to his cheery disposition. ¡°No problem, and I apologize as well. That one hit a little too close.¡± Len looked back into the horizon with a blank stare. ¡°So, how¡¯s life, Mel?¡±


    ¡°The usual as you can imagine. Been trying to spice it up. Giving cooking a go. Saving a ton on not having to go to taverns and pubs all the time. And I avoid having to wear all that dreadful junk to disguise myself every time.¡± She squirmed for a second. ¡°What about you? Still scheming away?¡±


    Len smiled. ¡°Oh, life¡¯s too boring without a bit of scheming here and there.¡±


    She rubbed her throat. ¡°And I¡¯m betting I¡¯m involved with these schemes this time around.¡±


    ¡°We have a winner.¡± Len said smiling.


    ¡°Yay, my prize: More work.¡± She waved her hands in the air. ¡°It wasn''t hard to figure out after you gave me a job like that one.¡± Mel walked over to the edge of the roof and moved to sit down. Len stopped her before flicking his wrist and drying the roof, evaporating the water instantly. Mel and Len sat down, feet dangling. ¡°Warm and cozy.¡± Mel said, wiggling her butt a little.


    ¡°Did you find anything out?¡± Len asked.


    Mel nodded as her tone turned serious. ¡°Affirmative, Mort¡¯s crew have been real active of late. His boys have been putting in overtime, hitting up all his debtors to pay early. He¡¯s hoarding wealth like a dragon. I¡¯m not sure exactly why, but he is clearly preparing for something.¡±


    Len nodded slowly.


    ¡°And there are too many bodies walking around the Gloom. Population¡¯s been increasing ever so slightly after each raid. This month saw the biggest increase. Probably a whole fifty of them. They¡¯re paying Mort in the supplies they scav from the battlefields and their own collections to get passage into the city. Not sure where the entrance is.¡±


    Len leaned back. ¡°So they¡¯re going to make a play soon.¡±


    Mel leaned back with him. ¡°All signs point to that.¡±


    Len exhaled. ¡°We¡¯re going to have another Fountain Incident on our hands.¡±


    Mel shook her head this time. ¡°Worse I think.¡±


    ¡°Have you tracked any movement from outside the city?¡±


    ¡°Come on Len. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve been tailing them for months. We just got started. I¡¯m only one bat, for First One¡¯s sake. I may be good, but not that good. Give me a week.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Len closed his eyes. ¡°I just don¡¯t get it. Why did they blow up the wall? What was the goal? And the Academy District, no less. All that¡¯s going to accomplish is getting the full weight of the council bearing down. And where are they going to check first? The Gloom.¡± Len rubbed his eyes. ¡°I just don¡¯t see the advantage.¡±


    Mel sat back up. ¡°Who knows, it''s hard to tell with Ferals. They don¡¯t play by our rules.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no one in The Forest plays by our rules, do they, Mel?¡±


    She chuckled. ¡°What, missing The Peaks?¡±


    Len scoffed. ¡°Never. All that damn cold. But you have to admit, the politics were simpler.¡±


    ¡°That they were.¡±


    Len and Mel sat in silence for a while. They watched as the stars began to twinkle and dance in the sky. Mel was the only person that came to the Forest with Len when he left Tiamantis. Aside from Jaren, no one here knew of her existence. She liked it that way. Even back north, only a few knew about her. The rank and file back then made numerous myths and legends about the Black Wings of the Ainsworth Legion. Stories filled with terror flew among the fresh recruits about her. It didn¡¯t help that she kept giving them nightmares and other terrible visions. The woman was around the same age as Jaren and a fellow connoisseur of pranks that Len trusted with his life, even if her pranks pissed him off sometimes.


    Mel despised direct attention. But that made her the most useful scout he¡¯d ever had the business of working with and calling a friend. She was a strong fighter, but not suited for raids. Her talents lay on the far tricky battlefield of espionage. And it was high time she started teaching those skills to another.


    ¡°I do have another reason I called you here tonight.¡±


    ¡°I told you, Len, I don¡¯t think of you that way. It would never work.¡± She grinned playfully.


    Len shoved her shoulder. ¡°Oh shut it. It does involve meeting someone new, however.¡±


    She frowned immediately. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even said who. Come on, Mel, I promise you¡¯ll like her. She is a rather talented girl who¡¯s a lot like you were back in the day.¡±


    ¡°And I hated myself back then. What makes you think that¡¯s a positive selling point?¡± Mel asked, sitting up.


    Len sat back up and grinned at her. ¡°Because the girl in question has been sitting in my office for the last five minutes.¡± Len¡¯s grin grew into a full, mischievous smile. ¡°And you had no clue this whole time.¡±


    The bat woman jumped off her seat. ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡± She climbed up the roof, stopping at the big window that led into Len¡¯s office on the second floor. Len floated up to her and looked through the window.


    There, a smaller hooded figure sat in Len¡¯s chair. She wore much cleaner clothes this time, not the near rags she had previously. Her legs leaned up against his desk, smearing dirt and water on it. Len rolled his eyes. These young ones and their power poses. I swear.


    He looked at Mel, who¡¯s eyes darted around the scene, searching for something. They stopped on one of his aura candles in the corner of the room. ¡°Ah hah. That¡¯s it.¡± She scrambled up the rest of the way and got on top of the roof. Len landed next to her.


    ¡°You can¡¯t fool me, buddy. She¡¯s been in the room the whole time, you just masked her with that Aura flame.¡±


    Len squinted his eyes at her. ¡°Mel, you know me better than that. I¡¯m not that skilled with Aura totems. And you know, I don¡¯t play around when it comes to new talent. But I won¡¯t lie to you, I gave her a little help getting in through the back door. You would have nailed her if she walked by us up front.¡±


    Mel¡¯s face twisted in annoyance and frustration. ¡°Even so. I don¡¯t like surprise apprentices. Or apprentices in general. That¡¯s you and the handsome jug head''s territory. Not mine.¡±


    Don¡¯t let Jaren hear you talk about him like that. Len sighed. ¡°Well, either way, she is a part of your assignment now.¡±


    Mel opened her mouth to object. Len raised his hand to stop her. ¡°Not as an apprentice.¡± For now. ¡°You¡¯re going to trail her. She¡¯s going to be getting assignments from me. You are going to evaluate her performance on them.¡± She tried to object again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they will coincide with your other duties. She is a Gloom native and a debtor of one Mortem Snels. So very much in the bounds of your other missions.¡±


    Mel opened her mouth to speak, then stopped herself. She raised a finger, then put it down. She exhaled. ¡°Fine, alright. But this doesn¡¯t mean anything. She will never know I¡¯m there.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Len put his hands behind his back. ¡°Dismissed.¡±


    Mel saluted her leader and turned around, about to hop out into the night.


    Len cleared his throat, holding his hand out. ¡°And the coin purse, if you wouldn¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Ingrid sat back in the chair of her potential employer¡¯s office. She wanted to get the drop on him this time. She despised not having at least some advantage in these circumstances. Her break in was a breeze this time around. The two guards at the back side of the building were too busy exercising to notice her. I can¡¯t get over how terrible this group is. Or how a different thief hasn¡¯t already come and claimed the tools the crafters left around the place.


    She was tempted to snag a few, they sold well enough to the right fence, but that was no way of treating a promising, and more importantly, wealthy employer. There was no telling how much gold the man sat on. She didn¡¯t know much about raid wages, but she knew for a fact that it had the potential to be the best paying job in the city. All that mattered was one¡¯s contribution. And soloing bosses must be considered as a hell of a contribution.


    This was her ticket to getting out from underneath the grasp of that snake, Mort. If she saved her money right, she¡¯d be debt free in a matter of months. Ingrid was overjoyed about the fact she was going to get to stay away from him this month on account of having the payment early for once.


    She smiled. Recollections of her childhood surfaced. She ran barefoot through the grass, hopping over shrubbery and other flora. She almost heard her mother¡¯s voice.


    She shook her head. No. it''s way too early for any of that. You are far from that freedom. And you have people relying on you here. She felt her face get hot in embarrassment. And then her back. Then her rear. Soon her whole body started to burn. Like really burn.


    She hopped off the chair in panic and twisted around, checking herself, looking for the source of her sudden temperature increase. Once she confirmed that she was not in fact on fire, she turned back to the chair only to find a man wearing a smug grin.


    ¡°That¡¯s for tracking mud into my office. And on my desk for that matter.¡± The scruffy middle aged man wiped down his desk with a cloth while he spoke.


    ¡°Good job with Fennel. Here¡¯s the rest of your payment, as promised.¡±


    A small coin bag wrapped in flames floated over to Ingrid. The flames extinguished, and the bag fell in her hands.


    ¡°That¡¯s got a bit extra in it as well. An advance for your next assignment.¡± She opened the bag and suppressed a smile. The man put the cloth away and sat back in the chair.


    ¡°I will keep this brief, as I¡¯m sure you''re like me. Busy. I need you to keep tabs on Mort and his men. I assume you know of whom I speak. Not only that, but I need details on their comings and goings. Give me verifiable info and you¡¯ll get higher pay. Sound good?¡± He plopped a journal on the table and a pen.


    She nodded. She turned to leave, but then stopped herself. She had one last order of business with the man.


    ¡°I need to ask something else before I go.¡± The man looked up from his book. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Tell me about the boy staying in Gran¡¯s Clothes shop.¡±

 75. A Week Later

    I crashed face first and fully clothed into my bed. My body ached, my head pounded, Hell my teeth hurt. I rolled on to my back with a groan and stared into the ceiling, not a single thought entering my mind. Well aside from the obvious Ow, this body part hurts or the occasional Why did I come to this stupid city flies by. At least until fatigue won out, and I went out like a light that was ceremoniously thrown at a brick wall.


    I¡¯ve spent the majority of my time last week training with Jaren. Morning, noon, and night. His boisterous charm has long since faded. Now I can only see the man as a brutal exercise tyrant, bent on the complete annihilation of both my mind and body.


    Len was right about one thing. I didn¡¯t have to do burpees solely in Ursa form. Nope, Jarened switched it up. They were now the warm up for every single damn form. Truth be told, it was much easier in all the other forms, especially Gremlin, less weight I guess. But it''s the principle, damn it. I would never voice the fact that it did a great job in loosening me up. Never.


    The worst part of it all was that no matter how broken and beaten I felt after a day with him, I woke up feeling great. Mrs. Warbler would always have a spectacular meal prepared for me when I got back. Which made me feel all the worse when I just shoved it down my gullet without so much as three bites and a mumbled thanks. She said she didn¡¯t mind. ¡°Growing boys need nourishment.¡± With that and a full night¡¯s rest, the mimic gene¡¯s natural healing removed all the soreness and aches by the next morning.


    I tried to make a break for it two days ago. Actually go out and explore the city like I had planned to before the rain. I hopped on to the roof of the clothes shop. A chilly morning wind blew through my Apis grown mutton chops. The feeling of freedom and sense of adventure burned in my chest. And right as I managed to get about two buildings away, Jaren¡¯s giant hand grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt. ¡°Nice try, kid.¡± I could only hang my head in defeat.


    He claimed that he had predicted my escape attempt the night before and waited for me in the morning. Something about how he could see it in my eyes. It sounded like nothing but horse crap, yet results prove otherwise. He said if I was so eager to run around and climb, that would be the day''s training. He made me run on every single freaking building in the Merchant District five times. No breaks. I threw up. Twice. And learned a valuable lesson that most of the citizenry really don¡¯t appreciate it when someone stomps along their roof. Makes a terrible racket, apparently.


    But in a screwed up way, I did get my wish. The District was about the size of a dozen city blocks back on earth. Not nearly as well organized, though. It wasn¡¯t an orderly grid based design, but rather a more organic layout that weaved itself around the natural landmarks of trees and large boulders. There were even a couple of quaint rivers and creeks that flowed through the district. A very welcome find after I puked the first time.


    One district, officially (and devastatingly) explored.


    Jaren¡¯s guidance wasn¡¯t all pain and agony, though. He gave me some great insights on how I could and probably should fight when a part of the legion. How Ursa should be my go to form for the bulk of a raid. At least at the start.


    And in a surprising turn of events, he advised Gremlin to be the secondary. The form¡¯s innate skill with weapons was the driving factor. ¡°For early level guys like you, it''s easy to get overwhelmed when fighting claw to claw with the monsters. You¡¯ll get swept up in the battle and start to fight at their pace, not your own. Weapons help in disengaging with them, letting someone else step in if you need it. Plus, it turns you into a right bloody mess.¡± He even gave me a spear. Nothing fancy from what I could tell, which admittedly isn¡¯t a lot in the first place. He said it was a standard issue for his Legion. He told me to practice with it a lot, and to not worry about damaging it or anything. ¡°Plenty more at the Barracks. And if I¡¯m not mistaken, there are a couple of Spearman in your squad. So if nothing, you can ask for tips.¡±


    Len bothered us during that training session. I took the chance to ask him about my sword, to which he spouted off some dumb clich¨¦ about patience being a virtue and dipped out. So no news on that front.


    I kicked off my boots, then turned back over on my stomach, snuggling deeper into the sheets. I closed my heavy eyelids, waiting for sleep to take me as quickly as it had the whole of last week. However, Jaren¡¯s words hung in my head. ¡°My squad.¡± I said, into the basement bedroom. My body begged me for slumber, but my mind had other thoughts it wanted to focus on.


    Tomorrow was the day I was going to be introduced to my raid squad. Well, Fennel¡¯s squad, that is. Jaren and Daila both sat me down a few times last week and gave me a few lessons in the art of squad fighting. For which I was immensely thankful for, but nervousness still danced in my gut. Theory was great and all, but putting it into action is a different beast entirely.


    Furthermore, this wasn¡¯t studying for some simple test that boiled down to passing or failing and then moving on to the next one. No, failure came with overwhelming cost. The lives and wellbeing of those around me. One misstep, one failed attack, one weak block, one moment of hesitation¡­each of these could and, more than likely, would have dire consequences for those in and around my squad. I already saw it once.


    Pressure bore down on my chest.


    ¡°Stop worrying about it already!¡± Tutor chimed in, giving me a start. She hadn¡¯t spoken to me at all in the last week, but it felt even longer.


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    I flipped on my side and covered my head with the blanket. ¡°Shut up. Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m trying to sleep?¡±


    ¡°All I see is a quivering mess of a man. Someone who is so wracked with worry and doubt that piss is going to fill his trousers the second he steps foot on the battleground.¡±


    Fury bloomed in my chest as I ripped the blanket off my body. I forced the desire to shout back at her down. I didn¡¯t want to disturb Mrs. Warbler. ¡°Go to hell.¡± I said through gritted teeth.


    She didn¡¯t answer immediately, I only heard her sigh. ¡°Damn it.¡± She mumbled. ¡°That¡­ That¡¯s not what I meant to say. Ugh, why is this so difficult?¡±


    Cuz you''re a massive bitch. And a shitty tutorial. And an asshole.


    She took a deep breath. ¡°Liam. What I¡¯m trying to say is, you need to stop doubting yourself. This world is unkind to the indecisive. Especially on the battlefield. When you falter, when you hesitate, people die. You¡¯ll die. But¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I figured that out already.¡± I spat back, interrupting her hackneyed speech.


    ¡°But! You aren¡¯t powerless. You are so much more than that, and you don¡¯t seem to see it or understand it. And I can¡¯t for the life of me comprehend why. It¡¯s maddening to watch you crumble the second real crap goes down.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry for boring you.¡± I said with venom.


    She didn''t respond. An oppressive silence hung in the air for a couple of minutes.


    ¡°It¡¯s so heavy.¡± The words just came out of my mouth without thought. ¡°I¡¯m about to join something. A group of people fighting just like me. People who have been training and fighting for the majority of their lives. People I will sweat with, fight with, bleed with. And my actions, or the inaction I¡¯m prone to, might get them killed. And that¡¯s just heavy, and I don¡¯t know how to lighten it.¡±


    ¡°Then get stronger. That¡¯s the only solution. Strong enough to carry it. Because it''s not going to get lighter. Remember, this is the path you chose. So do it right.¡±


    I tried to respond, but my vision drifted. She said something else, but my fading consciousness prevented me from hearing it. I fell asleep.


    Sunlight warmed my face as I walked along the stone road of the Academy District, arms crossed. My face twitched in frustration. ¡°Get stronger. Wonderful advice. Just spectacular. Asshole.¡± I spit on the ground. Last night¡¯s fruitless conversation swirled around my head.


    ¡°Ahem.¡° My guide cleared her throat.


    ¡°Sorry Daila. Rough night.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm. I believe it. Your eyes looked baggy and slightly red, indicating a lack of or restless sleep.¡± She kept her eyes focused on the road while she spoke.


    ¡°Umm. Yeah.¡±


    ¡°But that is normal for new recruits. Especially with the task your squad has. I would hate to be in your position, considering it''s your first raid.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°What do you mean? What task?¡±


    Daila looked at me for a moment. ¡°Jaren and Len didn¡¯t tell you?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Then it is not my place to say.¡± She turned her head back to the road. ¡°They will tell you when the time is right. But for now, make training your sole focus. I need not remind you that you are far behind the others in terms of teamwork and group strategy.¡°


    ¡°I know, Daila.¡±


    She stiffened. ¡°Please refer to me as Lt. Underbrush whilst on duty, private Foster. Only at the guild may you refer to my given name. I am your superior in the Legion.¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am.¡± I grabbed my shoulder, mimicking the Laurelhaven salute perfectly.


    ¡°Good. Fennel will give your squad assignment upon arrival.¡±


    I scratched my head. ¡°Assignment. That means my role in the squad, right? Like frontline tank or support.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Glad to see you were paying attention.¡± Daila¡¯s nose twitched. ¡°There may be hope yet.¡±


    I decided now was a good time to get some specifics on the squad I¡¯m joining. I tried asking Jaren, but he wouldn¡¯t tell me anything. Said nothing was final yet.


    ¡°So, how many people are in the squad?¡±


    ¡°Including you, thirteen. It''s on the smaller side, but that is for the best. At least in your case.¡±


    Thirteen people. That was a bit bigger and somehow simultaneously smaller than I  imagined. When I hear the word squad, I tend to think like six or seven people, yet when I think about the large scale conflict of the raids, I can¡¯t help but think thirteen is too few.


    ¡°What¡¯s the average?¡±


    ¡°Twenty for our legion. But we are outliers compared to the other legions. They are typically larger. The Second uses a platoon of fifty soldiers. The Third and First each deploy thirty.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. Something tells me we happen to be the smallest Legion as well.¡±


    ¡°Yes. We have 4412 soldiers.¡±


    Of course, she knows the exact number. ¡°And the other legions.¡±


    ¡°Probably five thousand or more. It¡¯s not my business to know. The Second probably has seven thousand or more. But that¡¯s not pertinent to you. You need to concentrate on your squad and it alone.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡± I replied.


    ¡°What?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Nothing.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t much longer until we arrived in front of the Barracks Gate. The large roots that made up this gate only had one guard on this side. He made eye contact with Daila and nodded, walking through the gate.


    This district was much different from the others. Huge massive buildings lined the rough cobblestone street which was twice the width of the streets in the other districts. The buildings reminded me of hangars on military bases back on earth. Except they were made with stone bricks as opposed to metal siding. Doubt there are any planes in those. Soldiers lined up outside the buildings, most in the midst of grueling training sessions from the look of it.


    Daila and I walked for a good twenty minutes until we stopped in front of one of the large buildings. She walked up to the side of the building where a door was and stood next to it.


    She pointed at the door with her head. ¡°Go on.¡±


    I swallowed once and pushed the door open.

 76. Meeting New Work Colleagues

    ¡°I will come inside in a moment.¡± Daila said as I walked through the door.


    Strange feelings of d¨¦j¨¤ vu fell upon me as I entered the smaller than expected room. It feels like my first day at a new school. I wonder if I¡¯m going to get the seat in the back classroom next to the window. All dumb jokes aside, I was kind of nervous. Conversation filled the populated room. Everybody in the room was already gathered in groups of two or three,  talking amongst themselves. A few curious faces turned to me and whispered.


    Well, don¡¯t everybody come at once to welcome the new guy.


    One guy with a bow wrapped around his back saw me as he was talking to two other people, a woman with fox ears and a man with feathered arms. He waved at me and said something to them before walking over to me.


    He was a little bit shorter than me, maybe 5¡¯ 9¡±, with normal human ears. But his gene trope was very much obvious. His eyes were huge, probably twice the normal size. They were dark brown in the middle then lightened as it got to the edge, almost gaining a green hue. They looked familiar, like I could almost remember the animal they came from. He smiled and stuck his hand out in front of me. ¡°Hello, the names Lukans, Lukans Britons. One of the Marksmen here in A5.¡±


    ¡°A5?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Our squad¡¯s name. Gotta say rookie, not committing your squad¡¯s name to memory is not a great look. Gonna have to deduct some points for that one.¡± He paused and looked me over. ¡°Ahh, I¡¯m just messing with you¡­¡± He left the sentence hanging, fishing for my name.


    ¡°Liam, Liam Foster. New uh recruit for the squad. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Liam Foster eh. Strange name, but that¡¯s not important. Glad to meet you and happy to have you join the A5. The best Tier 5 squad in all of Laurel.¡±


    Haven¡¯t heard the name thing in a while. I shook my head and sighed. Like he said though, it''s not important.


    ¡°So Liam, what role are you? Best to go introduce yourself to whoever you''re going to be fighting side by side with first, you know. I can tell you¡¯re not an archer like me. A real archer would never be caught dead without their bow. Especially a training day. So what are yah? Frontline Tank, Frontline Damage, Support, Backliner?¡± He brought a finger to his lips. ¡°Or are you one of the elusive Allrounders?¡± He whispered. He laughed to himself. ¡°Nah, we aren''t ranked high enough to get one of them. And you¡¯re a bit young for that.¡±


    I scratched the back of my head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. Daila, Ahem, I mean Lt. Underbrush said Fennel was going to tell me when I got here.¡± I scanned the room as I finished speaking, looking for my new dwarf buddy, but it didn''t look like he was here yet.


    I turned back to Lukans. ¡°Ooh, rubbing elbows with the top brass, I see.¡± He raised his eyebrows a few times. Then his head tilted and eyes squinted. ¡°But surely you know your own role. What did they train you for back at the Academy? And what Academy did you graduate from? A good majority of us are from Academy Number Three. But I don¡¯t recognize you from their recent graduation. I went because my cousin, Lare, great girl, strong and ferocious just like her brother Yare. Real imaginative naming scheme right. My Uncle, Nare, likes to keep stuff simple. But Yare, oops I mean Lare just graduated, top of her class might I add, and¡­¡°


    Is he even taking breaths in between sentences? The dude continued asking questions and making comments, but I¡¯d already stopped listening, focusing on whether or not he was actually breathing.


    He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, then continued. Jesus, Chatty Cathy here. I found myself really wishing Daila came in with me. Motor mouth was going to eventually stop talking and would want a few answers, answers I did not actually have.


    Now that I¡¯d given up on following his speech, I examined his eyes again. I swear it''s on the tip of my tongue. Those eyes. I scratched my chin. Then a word popped into my head: Monkey. Yeah, that¡¯s it. Those really small monkeys with eyes bigger than their brains. Thank you, Discovery Channel. What were they called? T something. Ta. Dang it. What was it?


    ¡°And that¡¯s why Auntie¡¯s three youngest have ears like that¡­ hey, are you still with me?¡±


    ¡°Hmm what? Oh yeah, Academy or something.¡±


    ¡°No, no. I was done with that already. I was talking about genes now. I have the Tarsiryian Gene.¡±


    It finally clicked. ¡°Tarsier, that¡¯s it. That¡¯s what they are called.¡± I accidentally said out loud.


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    ¡°No, it''s pronounced tar¡­seer¡­ian. I know it''s not common around here. But my dad¡¯s family is originally from the Kailis area. North of the actual city, a small mining village near the border of The Desert. Mom met him when she worked for the Caravans. The story is beautiful and¡­¡±


    But just before the monkey eyed man started another loquacious dialogue, Daila entered the room with a very serious looking Fennel at her rear. The various voices died down the instant everyone saw her. Each gave her the shoulder salute, and began walking over to the center of the room, lining up side by side. Lukans nudged me with his arm. ¡°Come on, over here.¡±


    I followed after him. We joined the line down on one end. One other person walked up from behind me, a pretty girl with lovely white feathers flowing down her head joined the line next to me. She smiled at me and nodded, then gestured toward the front.


    Fennel stood front and center, with Daila standing behind and to the side. Fennel¡¯s face was stiff. His hands balled into fists and his dog ears pointed up. He coughed and then spoke.


    ¡°Greetings A5. As you can tell, we are receiving our new additions today.¡± Fennel¡¯s eyes scanned along the line. I nodded as his gaze passed over me, but I¡¯m not sure if he registered it. However, his gaze lingered on the girl next to me for a moment longer than it probably should. Fennel. You dawg. I forcibly suppressed a chuckle at my overtly stupid pun.


    He cleared his throat. ¡°It looks like everyone is here. We can proceed to introductions. All new recruits line up behind me now.¡±


    I looked over and saw three others trek behind Fennel, two smaller people, each with pointed ears marking them as half elves and the last was a tall human girl. I couldn¡¯t see their faces. Lukans prodded my side again, this time whispering, ¡°Go on, then.¡±


    Fresh nervousness filled my stomach as I walked up. I looked at Fennel, but his eyes were locked forward, then over to Daila. She beckoned for me to join her. I walked behind the other three new recruits. I noticed one of the half elves had strange protrusions bulging under his clothes.


    I walked up next to Daila. She gave me a barely noticeable nod and then returned her attention to the line up.


    ¡°As I call your name, please walk forward and give us your raid experience and role. First, Rumi Nati.¡±


    The tall human girl walked forward. From behind, I caught a glimpse of some scales on the backs of her arms and neck. ¡°Rumi Nati, I have fought in six raids. I am a support specialized in mostly stamina recovery, along with Basic Healing.¡± She wore a simple white robe with a brown belt holding some bottles in it. After a bow, she returned to her spot behind Fennel.


    ¡°Next, Tawny Granth.¡± Fennel said.


    The girl half elf walked forward. ¡°Tawny Granth. Recent graduate of Academy Thirteen, no raid experience. But fought a little in the recent invasion.¡± The girl¡¯s voice sounded familiar. ¡°I¡¯m a backline mage attuned to electricity.¡± She brought her palm up and a small yellow arc of electricity jumped from it. She wore a yellow robe much like the other girl, Rumi, but her belt was black and held a sheathed dagger on it. Wait a second, no way.


    ¡°Next, Hait Granth.¡±


    The girl pushed the other half elf forward. The boy stumbled but caught himself and walked to the front.


    ¡°Umm. Hait G-Granth.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°Also a recent graduate. No experience. I was also in the invasion. I¡¯m a backline mage, attuned to.¡± He gulped. ¡°Water.¡±


    He rushed back to the line. He shifted and rubbed his shoulder. Once he put some pressure on his blue robes, I could see the outline of the bulge. Turtle shells. Yeah, it''s got to be them. But they are so young.


    ¡°Alright and lastly,¡± Before Fennel could say my name, Daila stepped forward. ¡°I will handle this one, Captain Blines.¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am.¡± Fennel stepped back and let Daila take center stage. She put her hands behind her back. ¡°The final recruit is a bit of a special case.¡± I rubbed my hands as she spoke. A chorus of mumbles and whispers pierced the silence. Daila flared her Aura, at least that was my guess, shutting them all up.


    ¡°Liam Foster. Come here.¡± I took a deep breath and squeezed down on my hand, then walked next to her slowly, keeping my head held high, trying not to show any of my anxiety.


    ¡°Liam, go ahead and tell them your experience. Including unofficial.¡± All of my experience is unofficial.


    ¡°Right, I fought in one raid and the invasion last week. Um. My role is, uh.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough Private Foster.¡± She turned back to the crew. ¡°He is an Allrounder, but for now will act as a Frontline Switch. He will be either Tank or Damage; whatever Fennel or the battle conditions dictate. There is one last detail that we must be up front about. I predicate with this. Private Foster has the full support of myself, Chief Medical Officer Terl Blocke, and Legion Commander Jaren Holdsburn. Captain Blines as well.¡± Fennel nodded, confirming her words.


    I felt the hot gaze of everyone lined up before me. Each one bore into me. Their faces were filled with intrigue.


    ¡°Liam Foster is an exFeral, now official citizen of Laurelhaven.¡±


    A collective gasp filled the room, followed by complete speechlessness. Until a loud and anger-riddled snort filled the void. The biggest person in the room advanced forward. A giant of a man stomped forward, large black bullhorns adorned his head.


    ¡°Savage bastard.¡±

 77. Bull by the Horns

    Damn it. We really couldn¡¯t have left that minor detail out of it until later? And as much as I wanted to voice that question to Daila, I currently had to deal with the rather large and pissed off bull man who apparently had beef (ha) with Ferals. Of which I still didn¡¯t particularly identify with. But seeing as there wasn¡¯t a good title for people reincarnated into another world, I was stuck with soaking up all the prejudice of a people group I know nothing about because nobody in this freaking town will tell me.


    One of the other men standing by the horned guy, an elf that is about the same height as me with large dark claws, grabbed his shoulder and told him to calm down. It was as effective as trying that with a real bull. Jerkwad just shoved him off and continued his heated hike up to me. A large battleaxe stuck to the back of his breastplate armor swung back and forth as he stomped. But I didn¡¯t shy away.


    The large man paused when he got in front of me. He lowered his face, leaving mere inches from mine. The smell of his breath assaulted my senses, making me want nothing more than to turn away from him, but something inside kept telling me to stand my ground. Don¡¯t break. Hold strong. Not even an inch. This coupled with the fact that neither Daila nor Fennel have done anything to stop grumpy-pant¡¯s behavior led me to believe that I have to be the one to shut him down.


    The man¡¯s nostrils flared as he snorted once more. His fists balled up; his knuckles cracked. I physically felt the waves of anger and rage seething from the guy.


    ¡°What''s your problem?¡± Deciding to take the initiative to start a dialogue, I asked him the most obvious question.


    He snorted once more, the hot nasty air smacking me in the face. ¡°My problem? No, no, no. It¡¯s not just my problem. It''s a problem every person in Laurel has. See, your kind does nothing but hurt us. You steal from us, lie to us, kill us. I just happen to be somebody who wants to do something about it. Something permanent.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done any of that, ass wipe!¡± I replied, annoyed with how pathetic it must have sounded.


    ¡°And I should just take you at your word, shit stain. Why? This is just a new attempt from your kind to sabotage us from within. It''s the only way you filthy animals know you can hurt us. I remember that day twenty years ago, what you scum did at that fountain.¡± He pulled back from my face and scoffed. ¡°Yeah, I bet you did fight in that last invasion. Probably blew the damn wall.¡±


    The others lined up behind us shifted around. A few nodded along with the horned brute, clearly agreeing with his sentiments, while others turned away from the conflict.


    ¡°What the hell are you even talking about? What fountain? And blew up the wall? That was obviously the monsters, dumbass!¡±


    His eyes refocused on me, a fresh surge of indignation sparking in his eyes. ¡°You know exactly what I¡¯m talking about! We¡¯ve all heard the rumors. It doesn¡¯t take much INT to put two and two together. There wasn¡¯t a single monster in that battle with any flame powers whatsoever. No, it must have been something else. Someone else. And seeing how no real citizen of Laurel would cause such an atrocity, that just leaves the new barbaric addition that some of the higher ups have taken a shine to. Shit, I mean, how brain dead do you have to be to cozy up to some of our most powerful people, and then just blow all that work to hell along with the wall? You absolute bloody idiot.¡±


    My nose twitched, and fists clamped down. There was nothing I desired right now but to introduce his head to the floor with a well placed bear paw on the side of his face. The temptation to get swept along with this asshole¡¯s energy grew inside me. The bull man sneered when he noticed my mood darkened.


    I was just about to shift into Ursa form and make my wishes come true, until a soft sensation tugged at the back of my mind. Or more of a nudge, really, yet still something urging me to calm down.


    It¡¯s just words, not sticks and stones. He¡¯s just spouting off nonsense.


    I took a deep breath. Don¡¯t get dragged down to his level. I released my firm grip. He is trying to sow doubt and discord about me among the others here. I examined him again. Got to give him credit, that¡¯s way more cunning than his whole vibe gives off. But I can handle it. So long as he doesn¡¯t drag others into it. Though, it doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to just take the abuse. And I should try to score some points with the other guys if I can.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to defend myself to some overly pissed off, pitiful rutting bull who seems to think he has my entire existence figured the fuck out. Buddy, I have news for you. You probably wouldn¡¯t even be standing here if it wasn¡¯t for me during that last raid. Ask Fennel how I kept your ass alive. How the only reason your entire line didn¡¯t break in that last raid. Think back, didn''t it get easier near the end? Right, you¡¯re welcome.¡±


    I noticed a few of the people behind him start mumbling to each other. Good, that will hopefully help my rep.


    ¡°Yeah, let me ask Jaren¡¯s little boy toy about his new primitive pet. I¡¯m sure that will lead to the truth. And besides, that doesn¡¯t prove anything about the wall invasion.¡± The bull retorted.


    Fennel didn''t so much as flinch at the nasty comment. Probably used to this asshat¡¯s verbal feces.


    ¡°I fought tooth and nail, protecting that academy. Ask Terl, he was with me the whole morning, I joined the battle with him. Hell, ask Daila.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I should ask Jaren¡¯s other¡­¡± Daila¡¯s Aura flared up, cutting off the bull¡¯s next, and more than likely, offensive remark. The sensation brought me back to the day outside of the big tree, when she shut down that guard who was trying to bring me in. Yet this was no less than eight times as terrifying. And it wasn¡¯t even directed at me.


    The horned jackass flinched from the endeavor. He snorted and gave the mouse woman a glare. Through gritted teeth, he said, ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am. This uncultured filth had me forgetting myself. Uppity Bitch.¡± His insult was said under his breath so that Daila couldn¡¯t hear it. But I did. And that rage from earlier did as well, resurfacing with a vengeance. No gentle nudging was going to stop me this time.


    ¡°If you keep yapping, I may just have to shut you the fuck up?


    ¡°Uh, huh? And how do you reckon you¡¯ll do that, shit-for-brains?¡±


    ¡°The only way I think will work.¡±


    I turned to Fennel and Daila before making good on my promise. ¡°Sorry, I tried.¡± I shifted into Ursa form, growing half a foot and standing eye to eye with the ignoramus.


    While he bobbed back from the surprise of my sudden transformation. My clawed hand collided with the side of the bastard¡¯s face. He took the hit and stumbled backwards, staying on his feet. And even though the hit didn¡¯t end with him eating dirt, the satisfying rush of clobbering him helped stave off the disappointment.


    The bull¡¯s eyes ran red as he grabbed for the axe on his back. I lowered my hips, preparing myself for the inevitable fight. Before he could fully pull it out, however, The clawed elf from earlier hand grabbed its handle, stopping the axe from leaving its sheath. Daila stood in front of me with her hand up as a nasty Aura leaked out from her.


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    Daila spoke up. ¡°This is getting a bit out of hand, don¡¯t you say?¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯d hoped it wouldn''t come to this, but it seems to be the only way. Zaner.¡±


    Douchey name for a douchey dude, it seems.


    The bull shook off the elf and straightened out, a sinister grin grew on his face as he nodded at Daila. ¡°Does that mean?¡±


    Daila nodded. ¡°Take it outside.¡±


    ¡°With pleasure.¡± He said.


    Zaner made his way to the door, bumping into my shoulder like the big man he is. Freaking tool. Daila walked behind him and they both exited the building. The others began to funnel outside as well.


    I looked over to Fennel. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°You and him are going to have a duel. It''s the best way to handle disputes like this one. Daila had the square prepared this morning.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Scary woman.¡±


    ¡°Too true.¡± I replied.


    Fennel and I chuckled. ¡°But this is probably for the best. He needs to be knocked down a peg. I¡¯d love to be the one to do it, but as the Captain of this squad, beating on your subordinates just because they annoy the living hell out of you is frowned upon.¡±


    ¡°Rules?¡± I asked simply.


    Fennel nodded. ¡°Yep, you¡¯ll find a square out back. Fight inside of the square and nowhere else. First to yield, fall unconscious, or be pushed out, loses. And no death or major injuries. We can¡¯t afford to lose people.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± I grunted in acknowledgement.


    ¡°Man of many words in this form, huh?¡± He asked.


    I gave him a short nod. ¡°Weapons?¡±


    ¡°Only training ones. Any requests?¡±


    ¡°Spear and dagger.¡±


    ¡°There should be some out by the ring.¡± He walked to the door and I followed.


    We walked along the side of the building. ¡°Oh, and the most important rule about these duels. No matter who wins, the issue that caused the duel is considered settled. Any further actions or grudges held will result in immediate expulsion from the Legion. The winner is seen as the right party, and the loser must submit to the wishes of the winner for the next two raids. Within reason, of course. And you look like a badass. So give him hell.¡±


    I nodded again, smiling this time. I had no problems with a trial by combat.


    We rounded the building. Everyone from the squad gathered around a bare dirt square that measured 25¡¯x25¡¯. Plenty of room to fight in.


    The d-bag stood at one end of the ring, a wooden great axe laying on his shoulders, wearing a dumb grin on his face. ¡°Done chatting with your boyfriend or can we get started?¡±


    Oh! it¡¯s going to take a lot of willpower not to slip into Ursa-Rage with this one.


    Daila stood off to the side of the arena; Fennel walked up to the side opposite of her. They gave each other a look, then nodded. I found the weapon rack Fennel spoke of and grabbed a spear and dagger. I walked into the square and put them down. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was going to need them, Ursa could probably handle it, if not Tigris, but you never know.


    Daila raised her voice. ¡°I, Daila Underbrush, First Lieutenant of the Fourth Legion, will be proctoring this duel between Liam Foster and Zaner Heaver. Are both of you prepared?¡±


    Zaner snorted. ¡°Born ready.¡±


    I grunted.


    ¡°Then Begin!¡±


    Zaner rocketed at me as soon as the words left Daila¡¯s mouth. I moved forward to match his advance. He raised his axe, going for a big swing from the looks of it. I braced for the blow by raising my arms up.


    But the swing never came. The butt of his axe jabbed into my chest. Pain flared as the pointed end dug into my torso. I swung out, hoping to knock the axe out of his hands. He pulled back in time, then immediately swung at me again. The blunt axe blade landed on my side. He smirked as he watched my face contort in pain.


    I clamped down on the blade with both of my hands while it lingered at my side. I couldn¡¯t really grip well in this form, but I could clap. I just squeezed down on the sides of the axe. Zaner tried to pull it from my grasp, to no avail. Feeling the wood surface on my pads gave me an idea.


    My claws pulsed red as heat radiated off them. Flames shot out. My goal was to incinerate his weapon. I clearly had the advantage in terms of bear-knuckle fighting. More flames spewed out, turning half of the blade charcoal black. But as I focused on burning it, the strain from his pulling vanished, sending me backwards.


    When I found my footing, I looked up and saw him coming straight for me, horns down. The horns glowed bright red. I dropped the half-baked axe from my hands and just barely grabbed the oncoming horns in time. My feet slid along the dirt after colliding with me. I turned my head and saw the edge of the ring coming up fast. I squatted down, lowering my center of gravity and stopping the two of us from getting any closer to the edge of the square.


    I remembered how I dealt with the charges from the boars. I flexed my back and arms, trying to throw the bastard to the side like I did back then. But he wasn¡¯t an untrained monster out in the woods; he had strategy. He threw his head up, knocking my hands into the air. He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me to him, then hugged my waist. I sent claw after claw to his back and head, but none could find purchase at that angle. He ignored all the attacks and threw me over his shoulder with a great ¡°Harrumph.¡±


    My back hit the ground hard, launching the air out of my lungs. He laughed out and said something to the crowd, but I couldn¡¯t hear it. He walked over and tried to get on top of me. But my vision ran red; Ursa-Rage popped. I jumped off the ground, kicking him in the chest before he mounted me. I got up and swung my claws out. He raised his arms to block, but I didn¡¯t let my assault up.


    I felt a few blows get through, but he kept his guard up well. The bull¡¯s shoulders and arms started to glow red, but I didn¡¯t give two shits about that. My flaming claws were burning and slashing him, that¡¯s all that mattered.


    Until he threw his arms out with a huge shout. A shockwave of red blasted out from the horned man, knocking me off my feet and back a couple of meters. Thankfully, toward the center of the arena.


    I got back up quickly and looked at Zaner. His face was bloody and burned in a few spots, but the fire in his eyes hadn¡¯t subsided whatsoever. Seeing the blood dripping down from his face made me feel strange inside. A yearning. It rang out in my head, giving me a massive headache.


    While I was distracted, Zaner collected his axe and rushed at me. I looked up and saw the blade coming for my head; there was no way I could block a blow like that in time. Not in this form at least. That was what my instincts were telling me.


    Following their guide, I shifted into Tigris form. The wooden blade whizzed right above my head as my body shrunk down, back to its normal height. The hair on my arms disappeared, and my sharp claws replaced the large, blunt ones.


    Shock filled Zaner¡¯s stupid face as his axe missed its mark. He couldn¡¯t stop his swing, leaving him wide open. I slashed out at his thighs. Blood poured out from the wound. He hopped back, trying to recompose himself, but I wasn¡¯t about to let him off with just a single scratch. I chased after him.


    He lashed out with an arm this time, but the swing missed its mark. He was already engulfed in darkness. Eternal Shade wrapped around the two of us. His head twisted left to right as he frantically looked around the void. I patiently stalked behind him, avoiding the flurry of blows he made with his axe. I slashed his arm, he whipped his weapon around, yet I had moved already, now slashing his other leg. Another axe chop came at me. But poor Zaner was always just a step behind.


    I landed a few more blows on the sod, until I felt fatigue build up. I checked my stamina. It was sitting at 30% and dropping. Crap, I left ES on too long. The bull was heaving now and bleeding out, so I doubted he had much fight left in him. I turned the darkness off, deciding to save the stamina. I can finish this without it.


    The bubble of shadow dispersed. I looked out at the crowd and smiled, closing my eyes and basking in my all-too-certain victory. Until a hand grabbed the back of my neck.


    Before I could react, my limbs were pinned down and being crushed.


    ¡°Not yet, princess.¡±

 78. Bit of a Tight Squeeze

    Rage flourished in my chest as it was being forcibly compressed by the bull-horned jackass. The brute wrapped his arms around mine, right at the forearms. His legs coiled around my waist. He squeezed down, making sure I couldn¡¯t move. I sliced him to pieces, how dare he not fall. Incredulous.


    My hands and claws wiggled around, searching for something to dig into. But he held them at the perfect spot to ensure that wouldn¡¯t happen. The force kept growing, the breastplate he wore dug into my back further and further.


    ¡°Agh! Get off, scum.¡± I strained out.


    Another quick squeeze sent more pain shooting down my back. The bull snorted and scoffed in my ear. ¡°You should have finished me while you had the chance, idiot. Now I¡¯m going to show you why. Maybe a broken rib or five will teach you something.¡±


    Teach me! This utter lower baseless cretin; teach me a lesson? Ridiculous and impossible. I flexed every muscle in my body, striving to break his hold for even a second. I knew if he gave me an inch, I could work with it. Or tear some chunks of flesh from his body at the very least.


    He returned my struggle with some of his own. The pressure he bore down on my body doubled. I heard a worrying pop sound coming from several of my vertebrae, but I didn¡¯t have time to fret over that. I needed to find a way out of his grip. Now. My lungs were beginning to empty, and it was only getting more and more difficult to breathe. And I absolutely, undeniably, unequivocally refuse to lose to this jackass. I am that which leads to the apex of all creation. I simply cannot lose to such a lowborn thug.


    Yet the longer I flexed, the more it felt like his grasp tightened. It was turning into a battle of endurance and attrition, one where I was at the disadvantage. I was sure if I loosened my muscles, I would pass out immediately. But how then? My eyes searched around the scene wildly, searching for an answer.


    The spectators¡¯ gaze burned on my skin. I had ignored them up to this point, but one of them caught my attention. I looked over at the woman support that just joined the squad. She watched my struggle, almost expressionless. Then she did the unthinkable, she turned her head and started chatting with the person next to her. She had already decided this match was over, that it wasn¡¯t worth her concentration any longer. That I lost.


    The realization ignited something deep down inside. A sensation that I couldn¡¯t describe properly. Whatever it was, the feeling made all of the stupid pride-induced anger quell for a moment. I looked back over to the side of the arena, and saw the spear and dagger I laid down at the beginning of the match. Then a plan bloomed in my head. A plan that I despised, but I think it was just Tigris form that didn¡¯t approve. It relied on the other forms I had, and that hurts its hubris. But this is my body, and it still has a few tricks left.


    I looked at my stamina, 27%. Surprisingly higher than I thought it would be, but hopefully good enough for this maneuver.


    After sucking in as much air as my compacted lungs could take in, I flexed as hard as possible. The goal wasn¡¯t to break his cling, that wasn¡¯t possible; it was to give myself as much room as possible. Zaner tried to counteract with more squeezing, but I could see that his fingers stretched out an inch or two. He was getting tired as well. Those few inches were all I was going to get out of it.


    Then, at the height of my flex, my skin turned green, and my body shrunk down. The bull¡¯s grip loosened for half a second. Which was plenty. I activated Fight and Flight and slipped out of his arms and legs with my more nimble form. Without deactivating it, I rushed over to the spear and dagger, grabbing them and turning back to my opponent.


    Zaner was already getting back up. I ran back to him, spear raised. I aimed for the largest wound I gave him, the gash on his inner thigh. I rammed the spear into it. Zaner roared in pain, dropping to his knee. I tried to lodge the spear in a different wound, but the blunt wooden dagger was worthless for that plan.


    Zaner grabbed the spear and tried to yank it out of his leg. I shifted out of Gremlin form and then into Apis. I climbed up the man¡¯s back and to his shoulders. He tried to throw me off, but this form was great at climbing. Once I was at his shoulders, I jumped with all of my might. Straight up into the air, getting as much altitude as I could for my finishing blow.


    I looked down at the onlookers with a wild smile, then back down at the bull below me. His face wore a look of confusion while he tried to dig the spear out of his leg, but he didn¡¯t move. That was the important part. At the zenith of the jump, at that point when you feel your body float in the air for a millisecond, I curled myself into a ball. Stone covered my skin and then crusted over my clothes. My entire body encased itself in hard, tough rock.


    My stone body fell through the sky, then stopped abruptly. I heard a loud crack, then my stone form hit the ground and rolled for a moment. I unfurled myself, turning back to my opponent with my arms up, in case my reckless attack didn¡¯t pan out.


    Fortunately, there was no charging bull coming for me this time. Zaner¡¯s unconscious form laid prone on the ground. One of his horns chipped at the top, the small piece sat next to his head.


    ¡°The winner of this match is Liam Foster. Congratulations to the winner. Supports come down and administer aid to the loser immediately.¡± Daila made the declaration to the silent crowd. The pretty feathered girl, the scaled support woman, and another man with large fangs protruding from his mouth ran up to the unconscious bull. Green glowed from their hands as they flipped him over.


    Being overjoyed at my hard fought triumph, I couldn¡¯t help but pump my fist and throw it in the sky in celebration, along with a shout of victory. Which was a terrible idea. My chest and back screamed at me. But I noticed something once I began to calm down. I heard no cheers.


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    Once I finished my own self jamboree, I scanned the crowd that surrounded me. There were a lot more people around now. Some more squads must have gathered around while I was fighting. Just checking what the hullabaloo was about, most likely. I looked into the eyes of those around. Each one held different emotions. Some looked terrified, others indignant. The majority held the same expression, though: just plain old confusion.


    I caught Fennel¡¯s gaze. He gave me a clumsy smile and a hearty two thumbs up. At least someone is happy about my win. My legs wobbled underneath me. Woah.


    They failed me, and I slumped to the ground, landing on my knees. I checked my status bars, health sat at 40% and stamina at a whopping 3%. The pain receptors in my body turned back on as the adrenaline dispersed from my veins. My whole chest wracked with pain from the inside and out, until I ultimately collapsed.


    I heard some more shouting right as my own vision began to fade.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Fennel rushed over to Liam, catching his new subordinate¡¯s body before it hit the ground. He looked up and over to Gloria. She met his eyes and nodded. He lifted up the strange guy¡¯s body and began walking with it slumped over his shoulders back to his squad hall¡¯s door.


    The other onlookers watched, but were reprimanded by Daila. She told them to return to their respective training halls. Then gathered the rest of A5 and spoke with them. She ordered them to do self training for the time being. Until Zaner and Liam could join in.


    At some point on his trek, Lukkans slid under the other shoulder of the fainted Liam¡¯s. Easing some of the burden. Fennel wasn¡¯t having any problems carrying Liam, but Fennel still appreciated the help.


    ¡°Just what is he, Cap?¡± Lukkans asked while they walked.


    ¡°I have no clue. And honestly, I don¡¯t think anyone does. He got picked up by Le¡­ ahem Councilor Ainsworth over half a year ago. I''ve trained with him a few times last week, so the constant change in tropes and abilities isn¡¯t new to me. But what he did in the air. That weird rock thing. That is new to me.¡±


    Lukkans'' eyes went wide, wider than they were always in any case. ¡°Wow. That¡¯s crazy. Are all Ferals like him?¡±


    Fennel shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, not that I would know. But from how Commander Holdsburn and Ainsworth speak, I think he¡¯s a special case.¡±


    ¡°Incredible. And a tad scary.¡±


    Before he spoke with Lukkans more, Liam¡¯s deadweight on his shoulders lessened even more. ¡°What?¡± Fennel turned his head back and found the two half-elf siblings that just joined the squad today lifting up Liam¡¯s legs.


    ¡°Tawny, Hait. What are you doing? You should be training right now.¡±


    The sister sibling spoke up. ¡°We''re¡­we''re pretty sure this guy saved our lives. We didn''t recognize him until he was green but we''re almost positive it him.¡±


    The brother spoke next. ¡°Yeah, so we figured we need to help him as well. We owe him a debt.¡±


    Fennel stopped walking. While they did help reduce the load, their efforts made Liam¡¯s body twist in a strange way. One that couldn¡¯t possibly feel good or natural, especially with cracked ribs and a bruised spine.


    ¡°Thank you, privates. But me and Lukkans have this covered. Go and train, Daila has your regimen ready. She will be training you two for now. Our squad hasn¡¯t had long range mages like you two for some time, before I was captain of this squad. So, Daila will be heading up your training for the next few weeks. You can speak with Liam later. For now, go and find Daila.¡±


    The two siblings looked at each other and then back at Fennel.


    ¡°That¡¯s an order privates.¡± The boy nodded and punched his sister in the arm. The two dropped Liam¡¯s legs and saluted, twisting around and running back to where Daila was. Fennel and Lukkans readjusted their grips and continued on.


    Lukkans sighed. ¡°They are a bit young, don¡¯t you think? To be thrown into the Legion.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but what can you do? They¡¯re of age to join the ranks. Half-elves just mature slowly. And those they¡¯re long range casters, that¡¯s rare on its own. So they won¡¯t be right up front on the battlefield. It¡¯s up to us to keep them safe. ¡±


    ¡°You got it, boss.¡±


    They got up to the door leading to their squad hall. Lukkans gave Liam over to Fennel and opened it. They walked in, Lukkans jogged over to the door leading to the medical office, holding it open for Fennel.


    Fennel dropped Liam onto one of the open beds in the room with a huff.


    Lukkans looked down at the slumbering man. ¡°He was the one in that last raid, wasn¡¯t he? That black dot that ran through the monsters¡¯ backline. Before you pulled my ass out from those missiles, I saw that same shadow bubble he used on Zaner.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I ran into him that day. In the raid. I thought he was an actual shade panther, so before it could get to our line, I was going to handle it.¡±


    ¡°Dumb move, Cap.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jaren and Daila threw the book at me over that already. But then I watched him plow through a whole group of Karibu on his own.¡±


    ¡°Glad he¡¯s on our side.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    The door to the medical room opened. Fennel smiled when he saw Gloria walk in. She, however, walked directly to her new patient. ¡°Anything I need to know?¡± She croaked out softly as she sat down on a stool next to the bed. Lukkans took the opportunity to slip out of the room. He had his own training to do.


    ¡°He has a naturally high regeneration on his own. A full stomach and sleep will see him recovered fully. But I need to run drills with him and the other frontliners today. So give him a boost. I¡¯d rather not wait longer than two hours.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°N-no problem Fennel.¡± Her voice cracked a little as she answered. Fennel reached his hand out, going for her shoulder but stopped himself. He coughed. ¡°And Zaner?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s down for the day.¡±


    ¡°Drat.¡± That threw his schedule for the day out of whack, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. ¡°Thanks Gloria. I need to get back out there. You¡¯re the best.¡±


    She turned back to Fennel and gave him a radiant smile. His heart melted for a moment. He turned and rushed out of the room, hiding his blushing face. Fennel left the squad hall, passing by the other two supports, Rumi the new girl and Toman the squad¡¯s veteran support, dragging Zaner to the medical office. He tried to help, but they told him to focus on the rest of the squad.


    He stood next to Daila, who had already gotten the members of his squad running warm-up exercises. ¡°Sorry about that, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°No issue, Captain. Any problems?¡±


    ¡°Private Heaver is out, Liam, I mean, Private Foster should be up in a few hours. In time for group training. But ma¡¯am. Did you feel his Aura in that fight?¡±


    She gave a curt nod. ¡°But not now, Captain.¡± She straightened her back. ¡°You may take over here. I will focus on your two young recruits.¡±


    ¡°Aye ma¡¯am.¡± He saluted as she walked over to the young mages, currently holding a small ball of their respective elemental powers in their palms and sweating profusely.


    He looked over to the frontliners who were currently running. ¡°Sem! We¡¯ve been over this. Arms up. Shoulders back.¡±

 79. Getting Straightened Out

    ¡°MOM!¡±


    I jolted out of bed at the sound of screaming. Sunlight flowed through the second story window. Where? I gazed around the room. A few anime and JRPG posters adorned the walls of the room. Various gaming knick-knacks and trinkets sat on the desk and TV in the small bedroom.


    ¡°Tim stole my comb! Again!¡±


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t. And besides, it''s not going to help the rat nest you¡¯ve got up there anyway.¡±


    ¡°MOM!¡±


    My head hit the pillow. Right, back home for spring break. Yahoo¡­


    The shouting died down not long after mom hit the scene, giving the twins some much needed physical discipline. The thwack from mom¡¯s trusty wooden spoon companion reverberated all throughout the house. Some things never change.


    I stared up at the ceiling of my old bedroom, lamenting my poor luck. My original plan for the week was to chill at the beach with some friends. One of my buddies'' grandparents owned a sweet beach house a couple of hours away. We were all geared up and ready to go, then his grandparents reneged on the whole thing. Something about renewing their vows and needing the getaway urgently. We were disappointed, but what could we say? And there was something sweet and beautiful about two elderly people still seeking that passion for each other. And it was fresh ammunition to sling at Andy. Poor guy shivered when he got off the phone with his oversharing grandfather.


    Not that I didn¡¯t empathize with him. Gramps almost never spared any details when speaking of love. Nasty old fart.


    I shuffled out of bed, then down the stairs. I stopped once I got to the bottom. My eyes widened and then blinked slowly as I tried to process what I was looking at. This wasn¡¯t the kitchen of my childhood home. This was a kitchen ripped straight out of a fantasy novel. No electric stove top, no faucet and sink, no fridge. Just wooden walls and primitive windows, with some vines growing in and out of them. It held the same shape as my childhood kitchen, yet every appliance and piece of furniture was turned into its medieval counterpart.


    Gabby and Tim sat on rough wood stools, pouting and rubbing their heads. They wore strange garbs, Gabby wore dull red robes and a brown belt, Tim wore brown leather armor and a large sword sat on his back.


    They both looked up at me entering the room and smiled. ¡°Morning sleeping beauty.¡± The two said in tandem. They shoved each other after sharing an annoyed expression.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± Mom cleared her throat and the two flinched. Gabby crossed her arms. Tim just got up and walked over to me. ¡°Ready to go, Liam?¡±


    I stood stock still, completely perplexed by what was going on around me. ¡°Where, what¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°Breakfast is happening, dear.¡± Mom spoke up, turning to me. Concern filled her face once she looked over at my baffled countenance. She wore a basic housedress and a white apron. She walked over to me and placed her hand on my face. ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯re not sick, are you?¡±


    Tim smacked my back. ¡°Nah, he can¡¯t be, He promised to show me some awesome new sword techniques.¡±


    Gabby got up and walked to my side. ¡°No, Liam said he¡¯d show me that new spell he was working on in the Legion.¡±


    The two¡¯s pout-off started once again, but none of it made any sense. Why? What?


    I closed my eyes and swallowed. I reopened them to see that my family had changed even further. Gabby now had long furred ears poking out the sides of her head, Tim had some  antlers growing out of his, and mom had dark black feathers where her hair once was.


    I jumped back, shutting my eyes. But when they opened, I wasn¡¯t in the surreal fantasy version of my childhood home anymore. Vicious fighting and bloodshed surrounded me. A cat like monster lunged at my face, only to be cut down by Tim¡¯s sword just before its large teeth sunk into my throat.


    ¡°Get it together, Liam! We have to save her!¡± Tim¡¯s slightly bloodied face looked calm on the outside, but panic set in his eyes. A panic I recognized. I¡¯d seen it only once before, when Gabby almost took a bad spill off the neighbor¡¯s trampoline when we were kids.


    ¡°Help!¡± A pained yell echoed across the battlefield. We both turned and saw our sister¡­laying underneath a giant bear-like creature. Its giant paw rose from the ground.


    ¡°Gabby! NOOOO!¡±


    I sat up, clutching the air above my face. ¡°Gabby!¡± My eyes whirled around the unfamiliar space. Empty beds lined up throughout the room. A desk with old medical tools strewn about and vials filled with odd colored potions sat above them on a shelf. Where am I? Where¡¯s Gabby and Tim?


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    I looked down and saw that I was in a bed, shirtless and sweating. Bandages wrapped around my torso. Before I could investigate further. A woman burst into the room, she had white feathers draped down the side and back of her head. She rushed over to me. In a breathy and strained voice, she spoke. ¡°Are you well?¡±


    ¡°Umm.¡± I nodded. Then reality crashed back down. Right, Kniyas. Monster Genes, Tropes, all that.


    ¡°Yeah, sorry bad dream. Where am I? How long was I out?¡±


    ¡°Medical room. Two hours.¡± She answered in the labored, rough voice again. She knelt down and began checking the badges. My cheeks flushed red at her sudden closeness. I turned my head away from the gorgeous bird girl, but then back down after temptation grew in my chest. As she tended to the bandages, my eyes fell on her pretty face. The look of complete concentration she wore made me feel guilty. This sweet girl was focused on nothing but my wellbeing at the moment, and I was shamelessly trying to check her out.


    Yet the guilt wasn¡¯t enough, my gaze went lower, stopping at her chin where I saw something. I squinted down and noticed a strange mark on it. It was a scar, one that started at her chin and ended in the middle of her throat.


    Poor girl, that explains the voice. That¡¯s awful. Noticing that scar sobered me up. I stared at the wall until she finished. Recollections of the day''s recent events came to me. The introductions with the squad, the Feral revelation, and the duel with ass-face. I must have passed out after the fight. How lame.


    The bird girl poked and prodded at my side, which surprisingly didn¡¯t hurt, only tickled. I squirmed in my seat. My caretaker giggled at my expense. ¡°Fennel was right, your regeneration is top notch.¡± She whispered, must be easier on her voice.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said while rubbing my neck and smiling stupidly.


    She giggled again and walked over to the desk nearby. She jotted something down in a journal. ¡°Up and attem. You¡¯ve got training to get to.¡± She said, without looking away from her notes.


    I swung my feet out over the edge of the bed and stood up. I stretched my back and did some trunk twists, loosening my body up. I wasn¡¯t sore in the slightest. Which I could hardly believe after the terrible symphony of cracking and popping my spine and ribs made during that intense brawl. I looked back at the girl. Must have had some help from a healer. My regen is good, but not two-hour-nap good.


    She handed me my shirt and went back to her writing. Everybody writes so much here. Part of me wanted to make some small talk with her, but the words weren¡¯t coming to me. I was severely out of practice speaking with wildly attractive women, and it was showing right now. I coughed and went to give her another quick thank you. ¡°Thank you Ms¡­¡± Then my neurons decided to actually fire, informing me that I had no idea who this wonderful creature was. ¡°Umm. Sorry, never caught your name.¡±


    ¡°Gloria.¡± She said, now messing with some of the vials on the shelf.


    ¡°Thank You, Gloria.¡±


    The door to the room opened up before I could say more. A familiar young dwarf walked in. ¡°Good, you¡¯re up. Perfect timing, I was about to throw a bucket of water in your face if you weren¡¯t. We have group training to get to.¡°


    I nodded at the dog-eared dwarf. ¡°Sure thing, Fennel.¡±


    He shook his head and straightened his back. ¡°It''s Captain when we¡¯re in the Legion.¡± He tried his best to be serious, but the small facial twitches betrayed him. Anyone could tell it was a facade he was putting on. But there was a decorum to follow, and it didn¡¯t bother me.


    ¡°You got it, Cap.¡±


    Fennel sighed. Gloria giggled behind us. Fennel¡¯s face relaxed as he looked at her. I turned to see her reaction. She directed a brilliant and warm smile at the dwarf. I scoffed. Never had a chance. I nudged the bewitched dwarf. ¡°Let¡¯s get out there, Cap.¡±


    Fennel jolted out of his reverie. ¡°Yes.¡± I walked out of the room with Fennel in tow. I chuckled to myself. The door led to the main squad room where the introductions took place. Fennel took the lead once he was away from his lady friend and could presumably think straight. We walked out of the hall and back to the outdoors. The sun sat right at the top of the sky. Plenty of day left.


    Other squads were around the field, some exercising, some fighting training mannequins. Much larger ones than the reptile Fennel and I pummeled the other day. I did notice a lack of sparring. I asked Fennel why.


    ¡°Sparring isn¡¯t very common in our training regiments. We are raid fighters first and foremost. Training focuses on fighting monsters and teamwork dynamics. The latter is what I wanted to focus on today, but Zaner and you mucked that up. Now that gets pushed back another day.¡±


    ¡°Hey, he started it.¡±


    ¡°I know, but did you have to go that far? I know he''s a pain and deserved it, but now he¡¯s out for today. We can¡¯t afford it. It''s already been two weeks since the last raid.¡± Fennel''s words hardened as he spoke with a sense of apprehension.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t give me much of a choice. Bastard should¡¯ve gone down quicker.¡± I said with a snicker, allowing some of the pride from my win to leak out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make light of this, Liam!¡± Fennel¡¯s voice hardened. ¡°That¡¯s what makes him such an important part of the squad. That stubborn refusal to fall, to lose, has saved our squad more than a few times over. That¡¯s why I need him on the same page with everybody else. The next raid could come any day. I won¡¯t lose any more of my people. Especially not because of some stupid pissing contest.¡± Frustration poured from Fennel¡¯s voice.


    Ice ran down my spine with his last statement. Fennel¡¯s harsh and solemn tone shocked me. But he was right. I thought about why I was in the Legion Barracks in the first place. The new recruits were there to bolster this squad¡¯s forces. Forces they lost in the last raid. People who died.


    ¡°Sorry, Captain, you¡¯re right.¡±


    Fennel nodded once. ¡°It''s not a game, we fight for our very livelihood, Liam.¡± He sighed and continued speaking. ¡°Enough about all that. What¡¯s done is done. Now it¡¯s time you actually met those you will be fighting with.¡±

 80. Council Meeting

    Len closed his eyes and put his arms behind his head. He leaned back into the expensive padded chair. Another of Gren¡¯s make. They must have gotten these recently, they weren''t here the last time I joined one of these. Identical chairs lined around the council meeting round table. He was the first to come in and so sat in the empty, garish room by himself.


    Fancy red oak walls with detailed ornamentation surrounded him. The evening sunlight snuck into the room from the windows. Beautiful. Useless, but still beautiful all the same.


    He abhorred coming to council meetings. All the mind numbing bickering and brown nosing between the elite of the Capital Society got real tiresome real quick. They gave him a seat on the council after his first raid on Laurel soil some years ago, when he blasted through the boss¡¯ on his own (there was some assistance from Mel, but nobody needed to know that part) right at the start of the raid. It ended up being an extremely risky maneuver, one that nearly got him crippled. He came to hate tentacled monsters after that day. It was a pain to keep up with all the moving parts. But the ploy succeeded, and they offered him a Legion of his own, which he took, but he just never recruited anybody to it. He was a one-man Legion already. And as head of the barren Fifth Legion, he was given a spot on this council.


    The meetings took place the night after a raid, and then once more two weeks after that raid. They weren¡¯t mandatory, so long as you gave your seal of voting to someone beforehand. That of itself was an act that showed the two of you voted in unison. Len always gave his to Jaren. Jaren, being a part of an actual Legion, never missed a single meeting. The topics up for voting may directly affect his duties and his people, so he couldn¡¯t afford to miss them. Many grumbled about him basically having two votes, but they never outwardly said anything about it.


    However, today¡¯s gathering was surely to be the exact opposite of all the formal blathering. After that break in and invasion, not a single one of the other Councillors would skip tonight. Each and every one had interests that were or would be affected by any decisions made tonight. Not that Len had much hope anything would be finalized or ratified in just one meager meeting. But he promised Jaren he would attend.


    He leaned back just a bit further into the chair, claiming his mind and Aura further. He was tempted to throw a few small Aura flames around, give him a little espionage to have some fun with. He sighed. He knew it would be a bad idea. Lirae would clock him on it in a heartbeat, his Aura totems weren¡¯t nearly as hidden as her own Aura seeds.


    A single eye opened when the door latch clicked. The door swung open, two shorter people walked through, a gnome man with spiked purple hair and a middle-aged half elf woman with furred forearms chatted together as they walked forward.


    ¡°Evening.¡± Len said as he sat upright in the chair.


    The two shared an identical look of surprise at Len''s unexpected appearance in the meeting. The gnome hid his surprise quicker than the half elf. ¡°Hello Commander Ainsworth. What a treat it is to have us.¡±


    Thabble Riverstroke, Head of Commerce. Not important. ¡°Please, Councilor Thabble, Leonard is fine. And can you blame me? Last week¡¯s tragic invasion is something none of us can ignore.¡± The gnome nodded in agreement. The half elf found her game face and greeted Len as well. ¡°Commander Ainsworth, so good to see you.¡±


    Ugh, I hate being called that. I haven¡¯t been a real commander in a decade. Len gave her a quick once over. Councilor Mena Mright, Head of Academia, more important but not tonight. ¡°And you as well, Mena. I hope Academy 13 is doing well after that invasion.¡± She smiled. ¡°Only a few injuries amongst the students. Though we lost a few staff in the defense. But the help from the Fourth kept those losses to a minimum.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad, and I must say you look wonderful tonight.¡± Len flashed a flirty wink to the woman. She blushed while the Thabble cleared his throat. The two walked over to their seats on the other side of the table. Now only seven other chairs were empty.


    These two were some of the domestic seat holders, of which there were five. Academia, Commerce, Guilds, Guards and the Mayor. The other seats were held by the five Legion Commanders.


    The two chatted to themselves about some plan they were coming up with to help better facilitate the tradesmen school¡¯s graduates into apprenticeships. Oh boy, what a thrilling conversation. The door swung open again, this time a tall elf man with long fangs jutting from his mouth and ghostly pale skin walked into the room. His eyes were sharp and dark. He scanned the room immediately upon entry, stopping once they recognized Len. ¡°Ainsworth.¡± He said flatly with a curt nod. Len returned the nod. ¡°Nightings.¡±


    Never fails to give me the creeps. Councilor Dran Nightings, Head of Guilds. A priority, sadly, but I need him to give me the okay to start guild operations early. Ugh, can¡¯t wait to hear the demands on that one.


    The elf walked over to his chair next to the gnome, giving the two a similarly chilly greeting.


    ¡°I told you already, Rache, any time, any place.¡±


    ¡°Not even in your wildest dreams, lizard boy.¡±


    ¡°Your words wound me, my scaly queen.¡±


    Len turned his attention to the next and rather raucous arrivals. Jaren opened the door and held it for the slender and beautiful commander of the Third Legion, Rache Gatrel. A large green leathery scaled tail followed behind her. Her green, slitted eyes fell on Len. He waved.


    ¡°Somehow I knew you would be here, Leonard. Holdscock over there is in rare form tonight. He has only asked me out seven times.¡±


    ¡°And there is still more to come. I¡¯ll whittle that wall down soon.¡± Jaren said with a toothy smile.


    A cacophony of laughs roared from the other side of the door. Herman stumbled in the room, holding his gut. ¡°Holdscock! That¡¯s brilliant. Lass, I¡¯m nabbing that one. Holdscock, why dinnae think of that one?¡± Rache¡¯s tail rubbed across the floor as she squinted at Herman. ¡°Lass?¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Oh, come off it, Commander Gatrel.¡± He said sarcastically as he sat down in his chair next to Nightings, whose expression filled with disgust as the crass dwarf sat down.


    Len grinned at the witty banter between the group. If the meetings were more like this, he would be tempted to join more often. Yet he was fully aware of the brevity of it.


    And as if on cue, the downers sauntered into the room. Lirae headed the final group, wearing her stunning white dress. Rickard Lumensworn, Lirae¡¯s husband and Commander of the Second Legion, walked at her side, arm in arm. The square-jawed, handsome blonde man¡¯s scrutinizing gaze washed over the room. His yellow eyes stopped on Len. Len waved at him and Lirae. Rickard¡¯s face scrunched up and he turned away. Never change, cousin. Never change. Lirae made her rounds, exchanging greetings with the other councilors.


    The last of their merry band walked in after the others, Collen, the head of the First Legion and Lirae¡¯s oldest friend. She followed after Lirae, not saying much, and only nodded her head at the others. From the sounds of it, she didn¡¯t attend these meetings either, giving her seal to Lirae. The whiskered woman¡¯s body language told all it needed to. Her eyes constantly switched targets, she rubbed her hands together, and stumbled over her own feet. Twice.


    Len sighed inwardly. Jaren, after being shot down once more, sat down next to Len.


    ¡°How was Liam¡¯s first day? Anything interesting?¡± Len whispered to the big guy.


    ¡°About as well as expected, light scuffle with another frontliner. Made a hell of an impression on the onlookers, though. He had quite the fancy finisher. Still passed out by the end of it.¡±


    ¡°Poor Stamina management?¡±


    ¡°Poor Stamina management.¡±


    ¡°He desperately needs to level. Gets some more gains in that.¡±


    ¡°Aye. I can only beat it into him so much.¡± Jaren said with a grin.


    The rest of the councilors took their seats and the chatting stopped. Lirae cleared her throat. As mayor, it was her job to keep the meeting on schedule. She looked at each of the councilors one at a time. Len met her gaze, giving her a slight nod. Then she spoke with some cheer in her voice.


    ¡°Thank you all for coming tonight. It is wonderful to see the entire room filled. I wish this could happen more often, but I understand how busy we all can get. I am no stranger to the woes of effort that you all face. Now, let us get down to business. The Feral problem.¡± Her cheery tone died with her last words.


    Thabble, the gnome, raised his hand. ¡°The alleged Feral problem. We don¡¯t have quite enough facts to make such a declaration.¡±


    Lirae¡¯s face hardened at him. Len grinned. Of course, you¡¯d be the first to defend them. The Gloom is your territory, after all. Len received some new intel from Mel before the meeting, the Feral presence in the Gloom was hidden, but not well enough for the Thabble to be unaware of them.


    ¡°We know it''s Feral¡¯s, coin bag!¡± Rickard slammed the table with his hand. ¡°Not a single fire monster was there, it had to be those rapscallions.¡± Lirae rested her hand on Rickard¡¯s. She turned to Thabble.


    ¡°You are correct, we don¡¯t know for sure. But we can look at some of the evidence.¡± She turned to Herman. He nodded.


    ¡°Aside from the lack of fire monsters in the invasion force, my scouts found some alchemical residue near the explosion site.¡±


    ¡°See you greedy¡­¡± Lirae hushed her husband. Rickard shut his mouth. Len snickered silently. What she wanted in her man that I wouldn¡¯t give her: obedience.


    Herman coughed. ¡°There are some other¡­discrepancies. The team that was to be on duty at that section of the wall is still missing. Haven¡¯t seen hide nor hair of them. Even their families have no clue where they¡¯ve gone.¡±


    Nightings spoke up this time. ¡°Accomplices perhaps?¡±


    Herman glared at him. ¡°I¡¯ve personally picked each person on those patrols. I know my men and women. Not a single one of them is capable of such treason.¡±


    Nightings met his stare. ¡°And yet the wall was breached and those tasked with defending it are missing. It¡¯d be different if their bodies were found.¡±


    The dwarf''s wolf ears twitched, and his hands balled up as frustration showed on his face. But he could say nothing else. It was the truth. The dwarf looked like he was about to say more until Lirae spoke back up. ¡°Thank you, Captain Blines, is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°No ma¡¯am.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Still smells Feral to me.¡± Rache commented. ¡°That crew could¡¯ve been kidnapped.¡±


    ¡°Have you grilled the families and other crews?¡±


    Herman¡¯s face twitched. ¡°Rest assured, I¡¯ve my best scouts trying to learn more. They¡¯ve tracked some movement throughout the Gloom. But nothing substantial. Rumors, but nothing else.¡±


    Lirae smiled at the comment. ¡°Then the next order of business is quite simple. A full raid of the Gloom in its entirety. Each house and shop investigated. I put it up for vote.¡±


    Rickard and Collen brought their seals forward, preparing to dip them in ink pots. Each member had one placed in front of them. Len was about to say something, but Thabble beat him to it.


    ¡°Absolutely not. I will not stand here and allow you to ransack the homes and workplaces of our citizens on rumor alone. Do you know how long it would take to search it and how many businesses would shut down? We don¡¯t even know if they are in the Gloom, they could be hiding out in the Academies. That was where the attack took place. It would follow that whoever caused the break in is based there.¡± Thabble said, pointing at Mena.


    Len palmed his face. And here we go.


    ¡°How dare you insinuate something like that. We at the academy strive to only nurture and cultivate the seeds of youth. None of our staff would ever, ever endanger them in such a fashion. Though I do wonder about the Guilds. The Groundsmen fixed that Wall rather rapidly. Maybe they knew of it beforehand.¡±


    This devolved into each member throwing accusations at the next. Len checked out while it went on, waiting for Lirae to take command of the meeting once again. She normally let the squabbling happen. She said something to him once about the discourse keeping things lively. Len couldn¡¯t stand this version of lively.


    He looked over to Lirae, who was currently trying to simmer her husband down from a fight with Jaren, who currently held on to the man¡¯s shirt. Rickard made a comment about Jaren¡¯s second in command who had a penchant for the alchemical arts and how interesting it was that the wall had alchemical residue on it. Len tapped Jaren¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Not now, my friend.¡±


    Jaren huffed and sat back down, releasing his grasp on the other commander. Len stood up for the first time in the meeting. He brought his hand to his mouth and coughed. He then snapped his fingers. Heat blistered in the room for a moment, stopping the bickering.


    ¡°Thank you. With all that out of everyone¡¯s systems, let¡¯s talk actual problem solving then. Unless anyone else would like to throw out more baseless accusations.¡±


    Silence permeated the room. Len received a nasty look from Rickard and Collen; those two weren¡¯t keen on anyone other than Lirae taking charge in the meeting. Everyone else nodded at the man who never spoke at meetings.


    ¡°Good, then allow me to share what I¡¯ve learned. And maybe even a plan.¡±

 81. New Kid Troubles

    I sat down on the chair behind Len¡¯s desk in the guild office, exhausted and kind of sore. In no way, shape or form did I want to be here. Not when Mrs. Warbler¡¯s delectable evening meal waited for me back at the shop. My head rolled back and leaned on the top edge of the chair as my imagination ran wild with the possible food combinations that awaited me, yearning for their home in my stomach. A yawn escaped from my lungs. My eyelids grew heavy for a moment, my head fell to the side chair. A jolt of pain shot through my shoulder, waking me back up.


    While stretching my shoulder around trying to work the tightness out, my mind thought back on the training day.


    ¡°Welp. That was less than ideal.¡± I voiced into the empty room.


    ¡°Some might even say a wild waste of time.¡± Tutor chimed in, humor in her tone.


    ¡°Yep. Hell, I heard some say that it was overwhelmingly worthless.¡± I responded, deciding to play along.


    ¡°A squandering of resources.¡±


    ¡°A blatant lack of mirthful effort.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, how about an imprudent, uh, umm¡­ nah, I lost it.¡± She said disappointed in herself.


    ¡°Imprudent¡­no not the right adjective. How about an excessive amount of pointless drudgery.¡±


    Tutor paused. ¡°That¡¯s not a word.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡±


    ¡°Drudgery. Really. Nah, It can¡¯t be. It sounds too dumb.¡±


    ¡°Look it up on whatever computer screen you''re watching my life on. You¡­creepy stalker.¡±


    ¡°Sick burn, dork.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut it.¡±


    She giggled to herself for a moment, before speaking up again. ¡°Little crabby about today, huh?¡±


    I sat up in the chair, then fidgeted with some of the weird pens that sat on the desk in front of me. ¡°Can you blame me? First day of squad training and what do I do? Pick a fight with some racist dipshit, barely win it.¡±


    ¡°Sounds pretty badass to me.¡± Tutor cuts in.


    ¡°Okay, yeah. That part kind of ruled. But then when I go on to meet the other frontliners, they hardly even look my way the whole time.¡± I recalled what happened after I woke up from my fight-induced slumber.


    When Fennel brought me back to our squad''s training yard, everyone was already in full swing. Each of my new squad mates were grouped up in their respective roles. The three archers were knocking back arrows, the young sibling mages fired off a variety of lightning and water based powers as Daila watched them, and the two other frontliners swung at an assortment of mannequins. A mixture of boar, bear, and wolf shaped ones.


    I had been pretty pumped from the victory, and was eager to join them. But Fennel told me I needed to give them a run-down on my abilities first. He called the two over and introduced them. Sadly, he went so fast that I hadn¡¯t caught their names. Which is going to make tomorrow just that much more fun.


    He turned it over to me and I told them my gene, which of course made both of their heads tilt in confusion. Their bewilderment only grew when I explained my abilities. After I finished my explanation, Fennel looked up at the sky and said it was best to get back to training. That the other team members could talk with me after we trained or in the morning.


    Fennel wanted to run partner drills. Having me get a feel for all the others¡¯ powers no doubt. A good plan, if they had only followed along. Fennel was the only one who took the drills seriously. We demolished the boar mannequin in a matter of seconds. I used Ursa form; didn¡¯t want any issues from Tigris. Fennel blocked the charge from the mannequin, leaving its flank wide open for my claws.


    The other two just pretty much fought the mannequins on their own, giving me no ground or opening to get in on the action with them. One of them, a human guy with strange rough looking gray skin, whose name I think started with an R, actually shoved me to the ground, wherein I received the shoulder injury. I tried to not let it bother me, but after being knocked away, cut off, and pushed around for a few hours, I started getting heated. Being in Ursa form probably didn¡¯t help.


    Daila walked over during one of our rests. She must have been watching while she trained the half elves, and probably noticed me getting close to my boiling point. She whispered something into Fennel¡¯s ear. Fennel¡¯s face twisted, clearly not loving whatever command she had given. He then announced that training was to end early today, with a poor excuse about stamina problems or something.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    While everyone packed up their weapons and such, Daila strode over to me and told me to head to the guild hall. I asked and she responded with, "Len," and continued on her way back to the sibling mages; who were giving me the strangest look. Not an aggressive one or anything, but odd all the same. I was too annoyed and tired to figure it out so I just waved at them and left.


    I resumed my talk with Tutor. ¡°And the dumbest part is I don¡¯t even know if they avoided me because of my weird gene, or because I beat up their buddy, or if it was some more stupid prejudice about Ferals. It all just chaps my hide.¡±


    ¡°Who the heck says chaps my hide aside from geriatric men?¡± Tutor replied, ignoring the entirety of my complaint.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± I said, dropping my cheek into my hand, staring out of the window in the office. The setting sun sat on top of the city walls.


    Doubts crept into my mind. Why am I joining this squad? Or the Legion for that matter. I mean, why am I even trying to make a life here in the first place? From the looks of it, the majority of Laurelhaven doesn¡¯t want me around. I mean, I¡¯m going to battle with that lot, and they won¡¯t even try to work with me. People will die if we don¡¯t shape up. I may die. I made a hefty sigh.


    ¡°Small bronze coin for your thoughts?¡± Tutor asked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they call them pennies here.¡±


    I snorted softly. ¡°It''s just some concerns I¡¯m having about this whole Legion thing. The Explorers Guild sounded awesome, still does. But Len said joining the Legion was a must for that to happen. And now that I¡¯m doing it. I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t get why I¡¯m bothering. Nobody except for Len¡¯s crew accept me. Everyone else has avoided me or shunned me. And yet I¡¯m expected to fight and risk my life for people that are just going to ostracize me when I get back.¡° I sighed. ¡°It''s starting to wear on me, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I told you to put more thought in¡­¡±


    I cut her off. ¡°Yeah, Yeah. Can we skip I-told-you-so''s? They don¡¯t help you or me.¡±


    ¡°They make me feel better.¡±


    I shook my head. My stomach growled monstrously, making me jump. Damn, haven¡¯t had one of those in a while. My mimic belly got used to the routine and knew it was past dinner time. I¡¯d been sitting in the office for the past thirty minutes according to my Ursa timer. ¡°Screw it, they can find me tomorrow if it''s that important.¡± I made my way to the door, the thoughts about Mrs. Warbler¡¯s dinner returning to my head.


    My stomach roared again. A thump came from the other side of the door, like something fell on the floor in the hallway. ¡°Hmm.¡±


    I opened it and looked down the hall, just barely catching the end of someone¡¯s cloak or cape slip into one of the doors further down. Was someone spying on me? Curiosity lodged itself firmly in my head. I walked over to the door as quietly as I could. I slowly pushed it open, peering inside.


    It was empty. A square room with nothing but wooden walls, an open window at the back, and one of Len¡¯s little flames in the corner of the room. Multiple of these flames were placed all around the guild; they were similar to the one he had above my cave in the Forest. A magical security system or something along those lines. I walked in and looked through the window. Whoever it was probably hopped out. I didn¡¯t see anything, just the guild  backyard covered in mannequins. I shrugged. Len¡¯s more than likely aware of it but I¡¯ll let him or somebody else know. It''s not like it''s a big deal anyhow. It just looked like I was talking to myself. Which is strange, especially a full blown conversation like that one. But everybody already thinks I¡¯m weird so who cares.


    I turned around and froze. A person wearing a dark cloak stood menacingly in front of me. When did they get there? I didn¡¯t hear anything. The cloak shrouded the person¡¯s face. Hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The stranger was a good bit smaller than I, only a few inches above five feet and from the slender shoulders, I was pretty sure it was a woman. But I could have been wrong. They didn¡¯t move, not even an inch, while I examined them. I couldn¡¯t even tell if they were breathing.


    After a minute of the staredown, nervousness got the better of me and I finally spoke up. ¡°Umm. Hello? Mind, uh, saying or doing something?¡± Yet even with my words, the person didn¡¯t move. After another minute, I had an epiphany, and calmed down immediately. I sighed. It''s another stupid prank from Len.


    ¡°Okay, you guys got me. Ha Ha. I freaked out, you can come out now.¡± I didn¡¯t get any response. I looked around the hooded figure and around the rest of the room. No one responded. I turned back to the window. Did they expect me to jump out the window from the shock? Come on, I''m not that excitable.


    ¡°Guys?¡± I called out. Yet I received nothing but silence again.


    I turned back around. And then jumped. The cloaked figure now stood directly in front of me, half a foot away. I almost shifted into a form out of pure instinct. They grabbed my arm. Their fingers were small but rough. She spoke in a low feminine voice.


    ¡°You¡¯re the Feral boy. Yes?¡±


    Freaking great, just what I needed in my life today, more bullcrap racist remarks. I pulled my arm away from her and backed up, my guard raised. ¡°Yeah, what of it?¡± I snarled, preparing myself for the incoming insults.


    The stranger pulled her hood back, not all the way, but enough to see her shockingly pretty face. Her gaze wasn¡¯t filled with malice or anger, but concern? He spoke once more


    ¡°Is everyone in the village safe?¡±

 82. Getting Off On the Wrong Foot

    Len leaned back against the wooden wall next to the council chambers, twiddling a small flame between his fingers while he waited for Jaren to fail at picking up the 3rd Legion¡¯s commander for the 70th time. He focused on the flame, thinking about how he could change its color. He understood the underlying reasons as to why Daila¡¯s alchemical flames produced such a variety of hues; it was based on whatever substance the flames were using as fuel. But that seemed to be only true in the case of natural flames. He tried to burn the same substances with his flames and received minimal differences.


    He snuffed the flame and stared up at the ceiling. He had a hundred other things he should be worrying about aside from changing the color of his flames. He shook his head. The meeting ended an hour or so ago, no voting actually happened as per usual. He hated having to play their stupid games, but he didn¡¯t want to upset the delicate balance of power in the Capital. Too many rumblings in the system and it puts the whole city in jeopardy. Raids couldn¡¯t give a ratkin¡¯s ass about our politics. But that was the thin line he had to walk. Peacefully other throwing governments was tough business, he found out. And going to require all the help he could get.


    ¡°Give it a rest, Holdsburn. You¡¯re starting to get on my nerves. It screams pathetic.¡± Rache said, walking out the door with Jaren at her heels and jarring Len out of his thoughts.


    ¡°And yet that beautiful smile says otherwise.¡± Jaren replied. Len looked over briefly and saw that his friend was right, the woman¡¯s face held the smallest of grins. But a grin is still a smile.


    She turned back to say something to the shameless flirt, stopping herself when she noticed Len. Her face grew serious. She nodded at Len and he nodded back. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I agree with everything you said, Ainsworth, but you have my support. For now. If for no other reason than to piss off Lirae¡¯s pets.¡±


    ¡°Thank You, Commander Gatrel. It¡¯s appreciated.¡± Len responded.


    ¡°Though it doesn¡¯t look like the others will be so easy. You¡¯ve got a lot of favors to do and debts to pay.¡°


    Len sighed. ¡°It''s why I detest these meetings so much. Everytime I join, my workload doubles and my coin purse lightens tenfold.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t envy you in the slightest, just don¡¯t get me too involved in your schemes. You¡¯ve my vote on the matter, but that¡¯s it. I¡¯ve got enough shit on my back as it is with all these nasty raids of late. And a feeling in my tail¡¯s telling me the worst is yet to come.¡± She crossed her arms. ¡°I need a drink.¡±


    Jaren opened his mouth, but Rache cut him off before he could speak. ¡°By myself.¡±


    She looked over at Len, giving him another nod, then over to his goofball companion. She shook her head and exhaled before turning around.


    ¡°Goodbye, my sweet.¡± Jaren said, waving as she walked away. She raised her hand and flipped him off.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m in there, buddy.¡±


    Len chuckled. ¡°Whatever you say, my friend.¡±


    The two made their way to the lower levels of the Capitol Building, stopping to grab a quick bite in one of the many cafeterias throughout the tree. Neither said anything. Anything of import at least. They spoke about Legion matters and some about the guild hall progress. Len told him how he managed to convince the crafters to pick up the pace. How the hall was to be finished by the end of next moon.


    Of course they had some very important discussions coming up, but they wouldn¡¯t dare speak about that here; far too many ears in this tree.


    They made it out of the building after finishing their meal. Len¡¯s senses returned to normal once they got out. Lirae¡¯s stupid seeds. She always plants extras on meeting days. He checked the Aura flames in the guild. He chuckled when he recognized the two sitting in his office. He tilted his head. Sitting might not be the right word for what¡¯s going on in there. ¡°Liam, you beast.¡± Len said to himself.


    ¡°What?¡± Jaren asked.


    ¡°Nothing, only that you might not be the only hunter out tonight.¡± Len snorted then spoke again. ¡±It looks as if my office is occupied at the moment. How about we call it early tonight?¡±


    ¡°Fine by me. Today was plenty productive. And it gives me some time to plan on what to do about those two idiots mucking up one of my squad¡¯s training days.¡± He rubbed his palms together with a sinister smile on his face. ¡°I think I¡¯ll handle it personally this time.¡±


    Jaren looked up at the darkening sky, his devious smile replaced by a solemn expression. ¡°It¡¯s almost time then, eh?¡±


    ¡°Real soon. I¡¯d say after the next raid probably.¡±


    Jaren breathed in slowly. ¡°Alright then.¡± He patted Len¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Take it easy tonight. Peaceful nights like tonight will be rare in the coming weeks.¡± He walked away leaving Len by himself on the road. Len grinned. Almost by himself. He looked up at a rooftop nearby, where his accomplice hid. He flexed his Aura for a split second, pointing it in the direction of the Guild. Mel got the message and vanished.


    Len walked to the gate leading to the merchant district. He wanted to stop by the guild and see Rita¡¯s progress on Liam¡¯s gene. The little birdbrained scientist should have some answers soon. But I might as well let the kids get introduced properly.


    ¡ª¡ª


    She repeated the question. ¡°Is the village safe?¡± The girl''s light red eyes bore into my own, pleading for an answer to her question, but I had nothing to give her. I had no idea what village she was talking about. Len told me there weren¡¯t many villages or settlements on Kniyas aside from the Splice Capitals. And I never ran into one out in the woods. Not that I did that much exploring. I never went more than a day''s hike away from the cave. ¡°What village are you talking about? Who''s in danger? Who are you?¡± I asked.


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    The girl backed away from me. Her eyes scanned my body, from top to bottom. I felt oddly self conscious about it. Once she got her fill, she responded. ¡°You have to be from Lostock. There aren¡¯t any other villages in the Forest.¡±


    ¡°Lostock? I don¡¯t know what that is.¡± I replied, taking a step toward her. My mind flooded with thoughts, finally connecting the dots. ¡°Wait, is that a Feral village? Are you a Feral too?¡±


    She backed up again, her eyes shifting to the door. ¡°This was a mistake.¡± As she went to turn, I grabbed her slender arm. ¡°Wait a damn...¡± Before I could finish my sentence. I felt Preflex activate with a twitch on my left cheek. I didn¡¯t have time to bring both hands up, so I just lifted my left arm, readying myself for the blow. I barely caught the sight of a red blur racing for the left side of my face.


    Pain surged through the palm of my left hand, but I gripped down. It was the girl''s leg, her shin, that was heading for my face. My hands went numb and for a moment, I thought the attack broke it. Feeling and control came back into my fingers. Without delay, I clamped down on her arm and leg, then lifted up her incredibly light body. She must have only weighed all of ninety pounds, soaking wet. I threw her over my shoulder and squeezed her legs together. Intuition told me that was her bread and butter. And it proved true. She smacked my back and head with her hands, but none of the strikes remotely came close to the force from her kick.


    She squirmed in my grasp. ¡°Sorry. But I still have more questions. And I think you¡¯re the only one that will actually answer them.¡± I walked through the hall of the guild and kicked the door leading to the office. Her assault on my skull didn¡¯t stop for a moment.


    ¡°Let me go! Stop it! LET GO!¡± She shouted in my ear, which probably did more damage than her fists did. The shouts did however, make me feel like a creep. Like scum really. Thank God, no one is here to see this. I paused, fully taking in how awful that thought was. ¡°Man, this feels so wrong.¡±


    Now inside the office, I threw the girl away and planted myself in front of the door. Len told me about how secure the room was and even gave me a demonstration on its sturdy walls and windows. This door was the only way in and out of the room. ¡°Okay. Can I ask you some questions?¡±


    She twisted in the air and landed on her feet. Her feet glowed blue this time and in the blink of an eye, she was right in front of me. The glow turned red. Another attack! I shifted into Apis form, Ursa was still down and Tigris might be a bit aggressive. I wanted to talk with her, not bleed her out. Apis had the added benefit of excelling at hand to hand combat.


    The leg blasted out at its target, the lower section of my body. Straight for the weak spot. My hands fell between my legs and I halted the deathly blow. She recoiled quickly and sent another at my head. I blocked the attack with both my arms raised, but still felt the force rattle my head. Apis lowered my CON so I wasn¡¯t built as tough. While she was off balance with her foot in the air. I snuck my tail behind my leg and wrapped it around her grounded foot. I yanked with as much force as I could.


    Shock filled her face as she fell backwards. She landed on her back. I hopped on her and pinned her legs and hands to the ground. I stared into her eyes. Even now they jolted around the room, looking for a way out as her limbs wiggled underneath mine. The crappy feeling in my gut worsened. ¡°Hey!¡± I shouted at her, aiming to get her attention. She looked into my eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I apologized as sincerely as I could. ¡°I really am. I didn¡¯t want it to come to this. But like I said a minute ago. I have some questions. Mostly about Ferals. If you promise to stop, I will let you go. Then we can¡­¡± Ptooey!.


    Her response came in the form of a wad of spit landing on my face. I breathed in through my nose. ¡°Yep. No, I deserve that.¡± I wiped the spit off my face with my tail. ¡°Now, with that out of your system. Can we please just talk like adults?¡± Her mouth pursed back up. Before she reloaded her next spit missile, I covered her mouth with my tail. ¡°Stop it already.¡± Her eyes burned with fury as her mouth opened up wide. I pulled my tail away before she chomped down on it. I¡¯ll give her one thing. She doesn¡¯t quit.


    I closed my eyes. This isn¡¯t going to work. I opened them back up. She was still squirming and trying to get away. What am I doing? This is really messed up.


    ¡°Fine. You win.¡± I released the pin and her knee found its way right into my gut not a second after. I rolled over on my side with a grunt. The girl raced to the office door and barreled through it. I got back to my feet, carrying my stomach and trudging over to a chair by the desk. I slinked into it with a hefty exhale.


    ¡°Killing it with the ladies, today aren¡¯t we?¡± Tutor said mockingly.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± I wheezed.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Ingrid ran with all of her might out of the blasted building. She cleared the stairs in a single bound and ran out the back door. She wasn¡¯t sure if the Feral guy was following her. So once she raced out the back door, she ran to the side of the building, where the crafters left a large pile of lumber. She used it and hopped up to the roof. She concealed her presence like she always had before inching her way to the edge of the building, waiting to see if she was followed.


    Once five minutes had passed, her body relaxed. The boy wasn¡¯t giving chase. She didn¡¯t stop concealing herself, she only let her nerves settle. She was safe.


    After another minute or so, she crawled across the roof, to the point where she was just above the office. She peered around her surroundings. The sun fell below the city walls. Only two people walked along the street, a young couple chatting away. They were paying attention so she peeked her head over the side of the roof. She looked through the large window leading into the office. The boy was sitting in a chair, his hands holding his stomach and his eyes stared at the floor.


    He deserved it, pinning me to the ground like that. Asshole. She looked again and saw his mouth moving. Guy sure likes the sound of his own voice. He was talking to himself for a solid five minutes before he found me.


    Embarrassment showered over her. How could I let him find me like that? And what was the growl anyway? She scorned herself, then returned to watching the teen in the window.


    Her mind recalled her conversation with Gran earlier in the week. Gran let her stay in the living room of the shop this past week. Ingrid left early in the morning and came in late at night, trying her best to not disturb Gran or let anyone see her coming and going. But Gran caught her one morning, just as Ingrid was about to hop out of the window.


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t want anyone to know you''re here, but I think you should give Liam a chance. He¡¯s a sweet kid. Too good-natured for his own good. Like my boy was. Just give him a chance. You¡¯ve got a lot in common with him after all.¡±


    Yeah Gran, he¡¯s so sweet and good-natured. Good-natured enough to pin me to the ground and shove a tail in my mouth. Where did that tail even come from?


    She stared down at the boy for a moment longer. She stood up and walked away from the edge, readying herself to hop down and head back to the Gloom.


    ¡°Give him a chance. You¡¯ve got a lot in common with him after all.¡± Gran¡¯s words echoed in Ingrid¡¯s head. Ingrid¡¯s face scrunched up. She sighed and looked in the direction of Gran¡¯s shop. ¡°Ugh. Fine, you old crone.¡±

 83. This Foot Isnt Much Better

    Groar!


    ¡°Ow, don¡¯t do that right now!¡± I told my stomach after it roared at me, this time vibrating my sore ribs and gut.


    Growl!


    ¡°Damn it, you did that on purpose, didn¡¯t you?¡± I said, slapping my stomach, then barreling over in my chair from the pain. My gut was still extremely tender after the blow from the latest member of today¡¯s introductions. Not that we actually exchanged names. Or did anything that even resembled introductions. Not even by Kniyan standards. I thought back on the interaction again.


    ¡°Lostock. I think that¡¯s what she said. Any ideas, my tutorial friend?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Nada. But from the context clues, it''s easy to ascertain that it''s more than likely a Feral settlement or something along that line.¡± Tutor replied.


    ¡°Ascertain huh, don¡¯t hurt yourself using fancy words. Don¡¯t need you blowing a fuse in there.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shove it.¡±


    Gurgle!


    I winced as another stomach quake ran through my body. I slapped my hand on the chair¡¯s arm and yelled out in pain. ¡°Wrong hand.¡± I whispered. It was the hand I used to block the kick from earlier, and it clearly hadn¡¯t healed up at all.


    ¡°Hah, serves you right.¡± Tutor giggled as she spoke.


    I got up from my seat. ¡°ARGH. There has to be some food around here. If I had an office, I would definitely hide snacks in it.¡± I walked over to the side of the desk and rummaged around the drawers. I doubt Len would mind. No way he¡¯d leave anything important unattended. There were two drawers on either side of the desk. I checked the two on the right first, the top one had some spare ink vials and loose blank paper. The next was completely empty.


    I hurried over to the next side. ¡°Ah, Bingo!¡± There laid a folded cloth similar to the ones that the food carts in town used when they gave out to-go orders. I grabbed it and joyfully opened it up, then palmed my face once I recognized what was inside. ¡°It ain¡¯t hard to figure out whose drawer this is.¡± The cloth held a plethora of that strange jerky Jaren gave me a while ago. The stupidly hard stuff that wore down even my mimic enhanced jaw muscles.


    Drool dripped down onto the top of the desk. ¡°Ah screw it.¡± I picked up a handful of jerky and shoveled it in. The mimic instinct to just tear through the meat took over for a moment. Yet the freaking shoe leather this shit had to be made from slowed me back down. ¡°Mphm.¡± After the instincts chilled out, I began to slowly masticate the jerky like Jaren showed me last week.


    I chewed on the meat flavored bubble gum for a while. It wasn¡¯t anywhere as satisfying as the meal I knew waited for me back home, but was successful in silencing the monster in my stomach. And even alleviated some of the pain as well. I looked back at the drawer I pulled the jerky out of. There wasn¡¯t anything else in the drawer, so I shut it and looked down at the last drawer. Came this far, no sense in leaving a job half down.


    My hand reached for the final drawer. I grabbed it and pulled. It didn¡¯t open, didn¡¯t move an inch. I leaned down and examined it. There was a small hole next to the handle. ¡°Locked.¡± I looked back at the others I¡¯d opened. None of them had a keyhole like this one.


    ¡°Weird, but whatever. Not my business.¡± I shrugged; I was never the type to poke around in others'' private affairs. Not that it stopped intrigue from peaking its nasty head up in the back of my mind, gently urging me to investigate further. I swallowed the last bite of my jerky and stared at the drawer. The lock can¡¯t be that strong. My stomach grumbled at me, softer this time, but enough to bring me back to reality. After a quick shake of my head, I returned my attention to the pile of jerky sitting in front of me. Another handful went into my cheek. ¡°Mmm. Meat.¡± I moaned to myself, closing my eyes and falling back into the chair.


    I opened them. A cloaked person sat in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. I chewed slowly, blinking a few times, Then I jumped back. ¡°Shit! When did you get¡­agh.¡± A portion of ungnawed jerky went down my windpipe. ¡°Ack! Ugh!¡± I pounded on my chest, trying to cough the food back up.


    After an embarrassing minute, the food settled down, and I managed to swallow the rest of the jerky. I breathed heavily, catching my breath. Once I calmed down, I spoke.


    ¡°How. How long have you been there?¡±


    ¡°During your short investigation of the locked drawer there. Don¡¯t get too excited about it. Nothing impressive in there. Just some old blueprints for the building and a small bag of coins. No way he¡¯d leave anything of real value here. Not with idiots guarding the place.¡± She answered, strangely placid compared to just a few minutes ago when she was trying to knock my block off.


    ¡°Cool¡­Um¡­So¡­¡± I shut my mouth before any more filler words could spew out of my mouth. An uncomfortable air hung in the room. The girl stayed silent. She adjusted her hood and I could see her expressionless face. She had bright green eyes that I swear almost glittered under the light of the lamps.


    ¡°Stop being stupid and say something, doofus!¡± Tutor¡¯s reprimand broke me out of my dumb trance. I scratched the back of my head.


    ¡°Kind of a rough first meeting there, huh? So mind if I try again?¡± The girl¡¯s face didn¡¯t change. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll start then. I¡¯m Liam. Liam Foster. What about you?¡±


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    She didn¡¯t respond, instead she got up from her chair and stood in front of the desk. She leaned over and looked deeper into my eyes. My face heated up, but I held her gaze. The mystery girl stayed like that for a moment, until a small strand of pink hair fell out from her hood. She shoved it back in and sat back down with a huff.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I repeated myself, hoping to get an answer this time.


    ¡°Are you actually a Feral?¡± She asked, completely ignoring my question. I sighed before I responded.


    ¡°I¡¯d better be after all the crap I¡¯ve been through since I got here.¡± She squinted, not impressed with my whimsical answer. Not a fan of jokes, then. ¡°Yes. I am a Feral. I wasn¡¯t born in Laurelhaven or any of the Splice Capitals for that matter. There, happy?¡±


    Her eyes scanned me again. ¡°Why did you come here?¡±


    ¡°Len, the owner of this building, saved my life out in the Forest. I was attacked by a group of Gre¡­cough¡­ monsters. A group of monsters and Len killed them all. He then trained me and helped me survive out in the Forest. He was going to get me into the city but, well, plans changed.¡±


    Her forehead furled. ¡°Why did you need assistance surviving in the Forest? You were born out there and lived with other Ferals. I can understand the life-saving bit, but you shouldn¡¯t have needed help living out there.¡±


    How do I answer this one? Len said to keep the whole isekai stuff to myself. I can¡¯t help but agree.


    ¡°I¡¯m not from the Forest. I¡¯m from¡­far away. I didn¡¯t know much about the monsters out here.¡±


    She squinted at me again. Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t buy that crock of crap, either. New strategy time. As she went to open her mouth again, I stopped her.


    ¡°Look. I¡¯ve answered your questions, so it''s only fair you answer some of mine. Capiche?¡±


    ¡°Ca what?¡±


    ¡°Right, you wouldn''t know Italian. It¡¯s nothing. It''s my turn.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Nope, I¡¯m not sure that you''re even a Feral yet. And I don¡¯t owe you jackshit.¡±


    My face twitched. Anger boiled up inside my chest. ¡°Why the hell would I lie about it? What single benefit is there for me? I was locked up the second I got here, then forced to hide for the better part of a week from that crazy green elf chick who treats me like I¡¯m some sub-human freak. Nobody, except for like two people, in my Legion squad will even talk to me. Shit, I had to fight some ass-hat today over it. You think I would choose this. Get your head out of your ass.¡± I gripped the armrest of the chair after I stopped talking.


    Her finger thumped on the side of her crossed arms. Her silence continued for a minute. A minute too long for me.


    I exhaled and rubbed my forehead. ¡°You know what, fuck it. I really don¡¯t care anymore. Why should I bother with you? I was hoping to learn something about Ferals. Something about why we are hated so much. But if you¡¯re the example I have to go by, then maybe I can see where everyone is coming from. I¡¯d hate us too if the customary introduction is a swift kick in the face.¡± I got up and made my way to the office entrance. I grabbed the door handle, but didn¡¯t open the door. I sighed. ¡°And I am sorry about grabbing you like that. It wasn¡¯t cool. Feel free to never speak to me again.¡± I pulled down on the handle and took a step.


    ¡°Wait.¡± She said, getting out of her chair.


    ¡°Nope, I have a delicious meal waiting for me. And your bullshit has kept me away from it long enough.¡± I walked out of the room and towards the stairs leading to the guild hall entrance.


    ¡°Just wait a second!¡± I heard her yell from the office. ¡°Not happening!¡± I yelled back. Halfway through the hall, I heard footsteps pound on the wooden floor. She raced in front of me and held her hand out. I crossed my arms while I looked down at her. ¡°Well?¡±


    She scoffed, lowering her hand and then looking up at me. ¡°Do you really know nothing about Ferals? About your own kind.¡±


    ¡°I¡­I wouldn¡¯t call them my own kind. But seeing as I am going to be thrown in the category. I¡¯d like to learn.¡±


    She lowered her head and paced around the hallway, clearly pondering something. She stopped and looked back over to me. ¡°Fine, how about instead of telling you, I¡¯ll show you. Show you how and why we are treated so poorly here.¡± She walked down the stairs before I could answer. Once she was about halfway, she turned back up to me. ¡°Coming or not?¡±


    I scrunched up my face.¡±Nope, I don¡¯t know if you were paying attention back there, but I don¡¯t know you. Why should I trust you?¡±


    The girl looked up at me. ¡°Because I''m the only one who¡¯s willing to give you the truth about Ferals. That¡¯s what you said. This is your chance. And your only one. I¡¯m walking out that door right now. Either join me and find the truth, or don¡¯t and stay in the dark.¡±


    She made her way toward the training room, heading for the back door. I bobbed my head around, struggling with the decision.


    ¡°Oh, just go already. Quit being a baby.¡± Tutor said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I caught up with the girl just as she walked out the back door.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± She said without turning to me.


    ¡°Nope, details first. Oh, and dinner. That¡¯s a must. Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll love Mrs. Warbler¡¯s food. It''s awesome.¡±


    The girl nodded at the idea and gestured for me to take the lead. I walked out the door and around the side of the building. ¡°Oh I hope she made more Moose steaks. That¡¯s exactly what I could use right about now. She has this spice that, hey where did you go?¡± I turned back to talk to the girl but she had disappeared.


    ¡°Well never mind then.¡± I debated on whether or not to look for her, before confirming that I, in fact, did not give a damn. I wanted nothing more with this girl¡¯s antics. I whistled to myself and headed back to the shop.


    I arrived right when the sun finally fell and the foreign stars lit up the sky. I walked through the door. ¡°Hello?¡±


    No response came, but it wasn¡¯t quiet in the shop. I heard some voices coming from Mrs. Warbler¡¯s door. I guess she¡¯s got company, maybe I should wait until they¡¯re gone. My stomach grumbled as a whiff of that heavenly scent filled my nostrils. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine. I hopped over the shop counter and knocked on the door.


    Mrs. Warbler opened the door. ¡°There you are, hun. Took you long enough.¡±


    ¡°Sorry the day ran long. I hope I¡¯m not disturbing you and your guest.¡±


    She backed up and turned around. ¡°Not at all. Come on in.¡± I followed her and then peered over to the table; to see who the guest was. A cloaked figure looked back at me.


    ¡°Wha?¡±


    The girl looked up at me, shrugged, and then shoved a spoonful of radiantly colored, steamed vegetables in her mouth.

 84. Starlit Rooftop Run

    Mrs. Warbler pulled out her chair. She looked over at my stunned face and giggled. She patted the table. ¡°Come, dear, the food will get cold. I made those, what did you call them? Moose steaks, was it?¡±


    The plate that sat across from her held three slabs of meat, still steaming, along with a small plate filled with similar bright veggies to the one her guest was currently snarffing on.


    I stood there, stammering, wanting to complain about the guest and ask a hundred questions. Then something inside me snapped, though it didn¡¯t take long to suss out the damage. My internal give-a-dammer broke and as such, I sat down and proceeded to shove food in my mouth. I did not care about how she got here before me, how she knew this was my destination, or even why Mrs. Warbler gave her food. The slices of meat in front of me were all that truly mattered in life. Nothing else. What Legion? Ferals? Nope. Who¡¯s Len? This meat and this meat alone was it. I finished the first three slabs without so much as saying a word or acknowledging the presence of our dinner guest.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done it again, Mrs. Warbler. I don¡¯t know how, but this meal is better than the last.¡± I said with a smile, and a grand gesture, at the same time trying to push the plate of veggies further down the table without her noticing.


    ¡°Suck up.¡± The girl said in a low voice, her mouth filled with food. I squinted at her as a response. Nope, not worth it.


    Mrs. Warbler¡¯s face beamed the whole time. ¡°Thank you dear. At least someone¡¯s grateful. Now eat your veggies, suck up.¡± She snickered.


    The cloaked girl nearly spat out her food at Mrs. Warbler¡¯s last comment. I grumbled and slid the plate back in front of me. I picked it up and dropped its contents in my mouth in one fell swoop. The coarse vegetables were cooked to perfection, not too soggy and still had some crunch. They honestly tasted fantastic. I¡¯d have loved them back on Earth. But the mimic gene taste buds detested them, that, and picking the leaves out of my sharp teeth sucked.


    I leaned back once I finished and patted my belly, now thoroughly satisfied. But with my stomach sated, my ability to give a damn turned back on. I looked at the girl and then back at Mrs. Warbler. ¡°Would you mind introducing me to our guest?¡±


    She turned to the girl and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really now? You told me you talked with him already.¡± The girl shrugged. ¡°I did.¡± The elderly woman rolled her eyes and exhaled.


    ¡°I¡¯ll never understand you, Hun. Her name is Ingrid. I¡¯ve known the brat for some time now. Her mooching off my kindness is old hat now. She¡¯s a good kid with a terrible knack for mixing with the wrong crowd.¡± The girl cut her off by clearing her throat.


    ¡°You know that¡¯s not my fault. And that¡¯s not important.¡± The girl responded, sliding her empty plate away.


    ¡°It¡¯s the truth. You don¡¯t need to work for those dirtbags.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been over this, Gran. I¡¯m not working for them. I never really did. It¡¯s just a debt. And besides, new gig, remember. With his boss.¡± Ingrid said while pointing her thumb at me.


    ¡°Whose boss? My boss?¡± I ran through the multitude of people that could be. Fennel, Len, Daila, Jaren. Damn, when did I get so many bosses?


    ¡°Which boss?¡± I asked her. She gave me a side eye, then stood up.


    ¡°Thanks again, Gran. But we have places to be tonight. I promise I won¡¯t keep him out too late.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Len, isn¡¯t it? Yeah, got to be Len.¡± I said, still hung up on the whole boss thing.


    Mrs. Warbler stood up and collected the empty plates. Concern filled her face. ¡°Are you taking him to the Gloom?¡±


    Ingrid nodded.


    The older woman walked the plates over to the sink. She sighed. ¡°Must you?¡± I decided I should be the one to answer this question.


    ¡°Yes. We, no I have to. You and everyone from the Explorers guild are great. But every other person in this city has treated me like dirt. You know, I officially joined the Legion today. Which means I''m locked in and going to risk my life for this city.¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°But that¡¯s not all. This is my world now, and I want to learn as much about it as possible. And if I¡¯m going to keep being labeled a Feral, I¡¯d at least like to know what that means. Is it something to be proud of or to despise?¡±


    Mrs. Warbler must have understood my reasoning, she nodded once. She turned to the cloaked girl. ¡°Just don¡¯t stay out too late, you hear. He has training in the morning. And you could probably use the extra sleep as well young lady. Your skin¡¯s been looking a bit rough these days.¡± The feathered woman raised her palm to the girl¡¯s face, she backed away from it and then moved to the door.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said to me and walked into the storefront.


    ¡°Thanks again for the meal. I appreciate it so much.¡± I told Mrs. Warbler before chasing after the girl.


    Ingrid was already outside. I joined her. ¡°Try to keep up.¡±


    ¡°Wait, where are we go¡­ing?¡± My speech slowed down as she walked away.


    She jumped on top of the fence next to the clothing store with immaculate grace, then up to the rooftops without making any noise. Apis form was already back up, so I shifted and attempted to mimic the movements. It was¡­less graceful, and much louder. But I made it to the roof. I looked for my guide. She was already one rooftop over and almost at the next. I rubbed the bridge of my nose. This is going to be a long night.


    We bounded along the roofs of the city. Ingrid stayed one rooftop ahead of me at all times, but I kept up just fine in Apis form. Starlight blanketed our nighttime run. That was one thing I loved about this world. Just how wildly beautiful the night sky was. The night sky seemed so empty back on Earth due to all the light pollution. But the Kniyan sky positively glowed.


    At some point during the run, I realized we were heading for the district due west of the Merchant District. The Academy and Barracks districts lied to the east. Excitement grew in my chest as we neared the foreign district, not that Apis form wasn¡¯t already getting me excited. A tromp through the city at night already had my heart aflutter. This was just icing.


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    Ingrid slowed down once we neared the western edge of the Merchant District. I looked upon the huge roots that sectioned off the city. Sure, we were on the rooftops, but not a single building in this district came even close to the top of the roots. Why aren¡¯t we going through the gates? Then an image of climbing up the giant roots played in my head. Ooo Yes, please tell me we¡¯re climbing these. I¡¯ve wanted to ever since I saw them. Where do we start?  I rubbed my palms together. Just as I was going to voice my eagerness, Ingrid ran her hand along the root wall.


    ¡°Are.¡± She shushed me immediately. ¡°No talking. Not until we¡¯re inside.¡± She whispered, her hand still searching. After a few moments, she found what she was looking for. Her fingers found some small divots in the root. She twisted her hand, and with a click, part of the root creaked ajar. A small, and I mean small, door opened a foot away from where we stood.


    She walked over to it and pulled it, then waved me over. ¡°You first.¡± I looked at the hole. It was a circular opening with a diameter of maybe three feet. She would fit just fine in it, but me. Not so much. ¡°Does it get any bigger?¡± I asked in a hushed voice, trying my best to ignore the blatant innuendo that just came out of my mouth.


    ¡°My answer is probably the same you give to all your partners. No.¡± My companion answered with a completely straight face. Which made the hurt so much worse.


    Yep, walked into that one. ¡°Is there another way?¡±


    ¡°Three districts away. It would take all night to get to it. You¡¯ll be fine, just squeeze through, it gets roomier further in.¡± She whispered as she gave me a shove.


    It did not get roomier. If anything, I got slightly tighter the further we went. I found out right then I wasn¡¯t claustrophobic. Thank heavens, or that would have been the most traumatizing experience of my life. Dark Sight made it bearable, the thought of crawling through this in pitch black darkness sent a chill down my spine.


    It actually reminded me a lot of being in Log form, and it helped quite a bit when I thought about it like that, oddly enough. That and Gremlin form was at the ready the whole time, so I was never in any real danger. I just had a feeling more rooftop obstacle courses were waiting for us on the other side, and Gremlin was not suited for that at all.


    I saw the end of the tunnel coming up. I noticed a surprising lack of an entrance, the tunnel just stopped. ¡°We¡¯re at the end. Is there some button I need to push to open it or a lever to pull?¡±


    ¡°Nope, just knock.¡± She answered.


    ¡°Any special rhythm I need to know? Or just go for it?¡±


    ¡°Just knock already, and stop flicking your tail in my face.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. It has a mind of its own most of the time.¡±


    ¡°Just knock.¡± She yanked my tail.


    ¡°Ow! Fine, I¡¯m knocking, stop letting the intrusive thoughts win. I know it''s temptingly fuzzy, but it feels weird being touched like that.¡±


    She yanked it again as her response.


    Once we arrived at the end, I did as I was told and wrapped the root wall. Nothing happened for a solid minute. My tail flicked out, a nervous tick in this form.


    ¡°Pthp. Seriously, stop with the tail man. Where do you even hide the thing? I didn¡¯t see it at dinner.¡±


    ¡°Trade secret.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Another silent minute went by with only the sounds of our breathing. ¡°Are you sure there wasn¡¯t a special beat or something?¡±


    ¡°Give it a second.¡±


    ¡°Should I knock again?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to. Once was enough.¡±


    ¡°Doing it again.¡± I beat on the wall this time. I didn¡¯t know if this door lock was sound based or something. The thought of yelling out crossed my mind. Maybe we¡¯re waiting for somebody to open it. Dang it. Did I just walk into a trap? Mrs. Warbler vouched for her, so I assume it''s alright. She¡¯ll let Len or somebody know if I go missing, so I should be fine.


    I turned my head as best I could to get another look at the girl. I could just barely move, twist enough for one eye to look behind me. Her eyes stared blankly straight ahead. I made a little wave to get her attention, to alleviate some of the tension. But her eyes didn¡¯t track the movement whatsoever. She must not have a dark vision ability. Oof that blows, this must be terrible for her. Or not, she seems used to it.


    I kicked my foot on the tunnel wall and moved it back quietly. Her head darted in the direction of the sound, not my foot that clearly did the deed. That confirms it.


    ¡°Sorry, foot was falling asleep.¡±


    The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head. She pulled her hood down, revealing what looked like bunny ears. Her hair was also on the shorter side. Not short short but kinda short. Dark Sight made everything grayscale, so not sure about the color. I saw a tuft of pink back at the office. But that couldn¡¯t be the whole head right. That¡¯d be too anime. Pink haired bunny girl. No way. One thing was for certain: She was very, very cute, that cloak was not doing her any favors. But she probably liked it that way. If she wants to hide that, it''s her business not mine. But I wasn¡¯t so chivalrous that I was going to stop myself from enjoying it right now.


    A knock came from the other side of the root while I was stealthily (definitely not creepily) examining my companion. After a couple creaking sounds, the tunnel opened up. Torchlight flooded into my retinas, forcing me to shut them and readjust. I reopened them and made my way to the entrance.


    Squeezing my shoulders through this entrance proved to be a much more trying endeavor, but I had some help. Handsy and hurtful help, but help all the same. Two men stood outside of the tunnel, who I presumed opened it up, pulled on my arms. I swear I heard a pop sound when I finally got out. Definitely gremlin next time.


    The two stood me up but didn¡¯t let my arms go, they linked in harder actually, forcing my arms behind my back.


    ¡°Come on, guys, is this necessary?¡± I wrestled around for a minute. I wanted to gauge their strength. Which came up lacking. They had my arms pinned, and Apis form couldn¡¯t quite get free, but Ursa would throw them off like nothing.


    I looked over at my wannabe captors, both were younger boys. Couldn¡¯t be much older than fourteen. It would be simple to tear them off, but it¡¯d leave a bad taste in my mouth, just ragdolling a couple of kids. Besides, Ingrid will probably say something to them. Whenever she finally crawls out of the tunnel.


    ¡°Who aRe you?!¡± The boy on my left, the shorter of the two, yelled in my ear, his voice cracking, completely killing any and all intimidation.


    ¡°Here to see your mother. Now let go. While I¡¯m still playing nice.¡± I replied.


    ¡°He¡¯s full of it, Tinn, we¡¯ve got him pinned, he can''t do anything.¡±


    I sighed.


    ¡°Will you two chill out, he¡¯s with me.¡± My mysterious bunny girl associate spoke as she effortlessly climbed out of the hole. Her hood, now fixed. ¡°Neither of you are fighters.¡±


    ¡°Shush! Griddy! He doesn¡¯t know that.¡± The taller boy protested.


    ¡°He was about to find out. Tinn¡¯s breathing was about to get real rough soon.¡± She said as she walked over to the boy. She was not telling any lies, I had my tail ready to wrap around the shorter boy¡¯s neck in case things got hairy. I wasn¡¯t actually going to choke a child; it was more of a precaution, in the event they pulled out a weapon.


    ¡°What do you mean? Tinn behind you!¡± The taller boy yelled out.


    The shorter boy turned his head. I waved my tail in his face and then booped his nose. He promptly let go of my arm and ran behind Ingrid. She sighed. The other boy let go of my arm and followed after him, but at least didn¡¯t hide behind the small girl.


    She shook her head. ¡°Welcome to the Gloom.¡±

 85. Sleazy Sector Part 2

    The young boy cowering behind Ingrid regained his courage once she welcomed me. He cautiously walked back around, one hand holding the side of Ingrid¡¯s cloak. Where¡¯d all the bravado run off to? He wasn¡¯t this tame when the two of them restrained me. I took a second to inspect the two boys. Both were human and had the same short, simple haircut. Same dark brown color as well. One thing was for certain, however, they were very young. Younger than I thought at first. I was most likely right about the elder being fourteen, but the younger one couldn''t have been more than twelve. Which did not make me feel great about the fact that I almost choked him. Or that they pinned me so easily. Training starts early here, that''s why they pinned me. I told myself, defending my honor.


    It took a moment to see their tropes. The small boy¡¯s face was scrunched up and mouse-like, very reminiscent of Daila¡¯s features. The taller boy¡¯s took a moment to find, but he spoke to the younger boy for a second and I caught a glimpse of his large front rat-like teeth. Probably brothers, too many similarities.


    I knelt down to the smaller boy. Ingrid reflexively retook her place in front of the boy, getting in between me and him. I held my hands up. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Her eyes held mine, until she nodded. I returned my gaze to the small, mouse-faced boy. ¡°Sorry for scaring you. My tail¡¯s not great at fighting. See, look how furry it is.¡± Bringing my tail back in front of him, I wiggled it pathetically in an attempt to make it look less scary.


    A small smile grew on his face as his eyes tracked my tail. ¡°Go ahead, catch it. If you can.¡± I wiggled my eyebrows. The smile grew even bigger as he reached out for the furry tail.


    ¡°Tinn stop it!¡± The taller boy yelled out. ¡°We have an important job, you can¡¯t play around. Come here.¡± Tinn dropped his head and slowly waddled over to his brother.


    I stood back and Ingrid looked over to the two brothers, her face filled with contemplation. ¡°Finn, how long have you two been on watch?¡± She asked the taller brother.


    ¡°Not long ma¡¯am. An hour, maybe. Right Tinn?¡± The young boy nodded rapidly. ¡°Yep.¡±


    Ingrid rolled her eyes. ¡°What did I say about the ma¡¯am thing?¡±


    The boys scratched their respective heads. ¡°To¡­not do that?¡± Finn responded, completely guessing.


    ¡°Yes. But that¡¯s not important. Is anyone else out there tonight?¡±


    ¡°Nope, you were the only one. But I¡¯m not sure about the other exits.¡± Finn answered back.


    ¡°Okay, then you two are dismissed for the night. Go home.¡± She waved her hand in the classic go away fashion.


    The elder brother opened his mouth to object, but Ingrid wasn¡¯t having any of it. She raised her hand and barked back at the two. ¡°Go. You¡¯re both useless as is right now. Don¡¯t think for a second you got away with sleeping on the job. We were in that tunnel for an hour, waiting in the dark. But don¡¯t worry, we could hear you snoring out here.¡±


    Completely untrue. Maybe ten minutes. Max. and I didn¡¯t hear a thing, but I don¡¯t have big bunny ears either. And definitely I¡¯m not going to correct her and risk a tongue lashing.


    Both of the boys winced as she spoke, proving her words to be true. I looked at their faces and understood where she was coming from. Both boys were sporting bags under their eyes.


    The taller rat-toothed brother¡¯s face filled with defiance. ¡°You just want to hang out with your cityfolk boyfriend. That¡¯s all this is! Traitor.¡± He mouthed off. Ingrid didn¡¯t react. She stared at the boy with a stern face. Then after a tense couple of seconds, her face softened. ¡°Just go home. Look at Tinn, he¡¯s barely staying awake as is.¡± She was right. The younger brother¡¯s eyelids drooped, and his head bobbed as he leaned against his brother.


    ¡°Pick him up and go home. Don¡¯t worry about anything. I¡¯ll tell Ranj, just get back home.¡± Finn looked down at his sleepy brother and sighed. Accepting defeat, he picked up the younger boy and nodded at Ingrid. He was about to turn around until Ingrid stopped him. She dropped a small bag in the now passed out younger boy''s lap.


    ¡°Are you sure? Don¡¯t you need it for¡ª¡± She stopped him.


    ¡°They''re good, now get him and yourself to bed.¡±


    Finn turned away and walked across the rooftop, heading for some makeshift stairs on the side of the building. Ingrid called out after the boy once he made it to them. ¡°Oh, and he¡¯s not cityfolk.¡± She said, pointing at me.


    ¡°What, but I¡¯ve never seen him before.¡± He looked at me, then his eyes grew huge. ¡°Wait, then is he?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but you have to go home. Now. I might have let you ask him some questions, but you had to be a little jackass tonight.¡±


    ¡°But, but.¡± He looked as if he was about to turn around.


    ¡°Nope, go home now. You can ask him next time.¡± I looked over at her. Bold assumption, I¡¯m going to be coming back. Why are they interested in me in the first place? Finn hung his head low and trudged down the stairs, keeping a firm grasp on his brother¡¯s sleeping body.


    Ingrid waited for the boys to be completely gone before she turned back to me. ¡°Let¡¯s move. We have more ground to cover.¡± She walked over to the edge of the building.


    ¡°Wait a dang minute. Where are we even¡­¡± I stopped talking once I joined her at the edge of the building, the crazy view halting my speech.


    The bustling city below looked nothing like the quiet, sleepy one just on the other side of the roots behind us. A multitude of colors bathed the city street, all from different colored lamps and braziers. I looked straight down and saw that we stood above a building with a bright blue flame outside its doors. The overwhelming scent of alcohol punched me in the face as a dwarf stumbled out of the building. I covered my nose.


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    Ingrid seemed to be wholly unaffected by it, as her eyes scanned the area. I don¡¯t know how she could handle it, my eyes were currently flooding, trying to placate the chemical burns from alcohol vapors.


    ¡°Is that a brewery?¡±


    ¡°What? No, it''s just a bar. Now let¡¯s move.¡± She ran along the edge, in the opposite direction of the stairs the brothers took. She hopped off of it and over to the next roof. But instead of continuing without me, she stopped and waved me over.


    I leaped over between the buildings; Ingrid started running when I caught up with her. She never got too far ahead this time as we ran along the buildings. Which was nice, I didn¡¯t have to watch her so diligently this time and could get an eyeful of the surroundings. Splicers of all shapes and sizes roamed the vibrant main street. A good portion seemed inebriated in some form or fashion, many laughed and chatted in groups as they wandered.


    Don¡¯t know why it''s called the Gloom. Seems pretty upbeat to me. Not really my scene, though.


    The whole place reminded me of my trip to New Orleans back in Sophomore year of university. A group of us went for Mardi Gras. It was an overall great time. Until a pretty girl with eighty sets of plastic bead necklaces around her neck gave my less mentally adept friend, Kyle, some sketchy looking booze. We all had a sip. It ended up being spiked with who knows what. We woke up the next morning, four towns over, in half ripped tuxedos and tap shoes. Never learned why. Swore off partying that day. I¡¯d never felt sicker than that trip back home.


    From what I could gather, this district was the nearly literal red light district of Laurelhaven. We even passed by some stores with red lights and sultry men and women out front. Funny how some things just don¡¯t change no matter what world you find yourself reincarnated in. One woman in particular caught my attention. A dark haired, rabbit eared woman with entirely too little clothing. Seriously, one slight breeze and it was gone. But enchanting all the same. Ingrid shouted at me when I stopped to get a better look.


    Eventually, my remote tour ended. We got close to the end of the street and hopped into the rest of the town that wasn¡¯t nearly as colorful. This section had the buildings all crammed together, the distance between rooftops shortened dramatically. I looked down and saw the maze-like alleyways below. Man, it¡¯d suck getting lost in those.


    The cramped buildings gave way to a wide open courtyard like space. A dried up fountain laid in the center along with a withering tree. I could help but feel like it was a shame for some reason. A few vagabonds and drunkards littered around the fountain square. Ingrid pulled on my shirt. Her index finger pushed up to her lips. I nodded. She walked over the edge of the rooftop we stood on and hopped down, landing on a small shed without a single sound. I followed after her. Not quite as stealthily. A few of the drunkards murmured, but none went over to check out the noise.


    I got off the shed. As soon as my feet hit the ground, Ingrid shoved me into the musty shed. She closed the door and fastened it shut, then walked over to one of the corners. Ingrid pulled out two rocks and banged them together. Sparks flew out from them, igniting a large round candle. It burned with a dark green hue.


    ¡°Okay, we should be good.¡± She said, walking back to the shed door and kneeling down. She peered through the cracks of the door.


    ¡°What now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We wait.¡± Ingrid replied, eyes still on the door.


    ¡°How long?¡± Her response came in the form of rolled eyes. ¡°Then I guess we wait.¡±


    And so began our silent vigil in a dingy shed that may or may not have smelled like garbage. After a few minutes, my Apis form body got antsy. It didn¡¯t care much for sitting around doing nothing. My tail flicked left and right vigorously. I reverted after Ingrid gave me those I¡¯m extremely annoyed with your very being eyes.


    I checked the newly minted Apis timer under my status bar and saw another five minutes had passed. Which was enough silence for me. I thought back to the two boys from earlier, then decided they¡¯d be a decent enough icebreaker.


    ¡°They¡¯re good kids. Finn and Tinn.¡± Ingrid nodded her head, turning towards me for a moment. ¡°Finn¡¯s a good older brother. But I can''t say their parents are the most inventive when it comes to names.¡±


    She scoffed. ¡°No they weren¡¯t.¡±


    That was past tense. Time to avoid that subject, then. Then I asked the burning question. ¡°Are they Ferals?¡±


    Ingrid¡¯s head swiveled over to me. She shook it. ¡°No, those two aren¡¯t. Born and raised in Laurel.¡±


    ¡°Then why did Finn call me city folk like that?¡±


    ¡°Just because they¡¯re city borne doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re proud of it. Most of us aren¡¯t.¡± She said dismissively, her attention returning to the cracks.


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± I lied. Still had no clue about it. As I was about to ask some more, Ingrid stood up. I went to join her, but she pushed me back down.


    Three guys walked into the already cramped shed. Each wearing hoods. One wielded a club and patted it in his hands. A sinking feeling dug into my stomach. ¡°Dammit. I should have known better.¡± I got up, about to shift into Ursa form. When Ingrid stopped me, laying her hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°Stop, we are not going to hurt you. Garl, put that damned club away and wait outside, didn''t you see the green flame?¡±


    The man with the club grunted and stepped outside.


    One of the other hooded men walked up to me and tried to put something on my face. I swatted it out of his hands and stood up. ¡°Don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, but I¡¯ve seen plenty of horror films. Letting the cultists take you away is never a good play. Adios.¡±


    Ingrid stepped in front of me. Her hands planted on my chest. ¡°Just wait. Look I know it looks odd, but we can¡¯t trust you. We can¡¯t take you any further without relieving you of your senses. I¡¯m already breaking more than a few rules taking you this far. We need to blindfold you for the rest of the trip. And Brutis here will carry you.¡± She patted on the largest man''s arm.


    I closed my eyes and thought about it. This Is stupid. I should not do this. I should not do this at all. But an incredible curiosity filled my entire being. I really wanted to see the whole picture of Kniyas. Not just the section that¡¯s been far too conveniently cut out for me by Len and the others. And Mrs. Warbler still vouched for her, but she did also say she got mixed up with the wrong crowd. And these guys scream wrong crowd. Yet I¡¯m not so defenseless either.


    I opened my eyes again. ¡°I¡¯ll allow the blindfold. But no carrying and absolutely no ropes. I will walk on my own two feet. I¡¯m out of here if not. And trust me, you won¡¯t be able to stop me.¡± I bluffed.


    Ingrid¡¯s face twitched for a minute. She looked at the other two men. They shrugged.


    ¡°We¡­we can do that.¡±


    I picked up the black cloth I swatted and handed it back to the man. He walked behind me and tied it.


    The world went black, but I wasn¡¯t afraid. Because if they so much as shoved me the wrong way, they would join me in the darkness and every single one of them will be given a very personal and, more importantly, bloody lesson.

 86. Feral Business

    I held my hands at my sides, tugging on the hem of my shirt, hiding the Tigris form¡¯s claws. I shifted into the form while the blindfold was being put on my face. The only trope changes this form came with were the green feline eyes and the claws. They hid the eyes for me already, so I just had to hide my wonderfully sharp claws. They probably won¡¯t investigate them. I¡¯m just a nervous, blinded dude holding on to my shirt in their eyes. I hoped.


    I felt a small hand push on my lower back. Doubt any of these three guys have small lady hands like this, so Ingrid was to be my guide from the feels of it. She nudged me in the direction of the entrance of the shed. Once outside, I felt the presence of the other two men on each side of me. The third, officially recognized as Clubby for this point on, presumably was up front.


    We took a sharp left turn. One. Then forward for a couple of paces, then left again. Two. We continued down what I imagined were the alleyways I ran past on the rooftops. The footsteps echoed off the cramped walls. I counted every left and right turn, in case things went south, and I needed to hightail it out of there. Getting back up to the rooftops was plan A, but on the off chance I can¡¯t, then remembering which turns would be crucial. I wish I was smart enough to remember the number of steps as well, but the turns were about all I could handle.


    Sometime during the silent journey, I felt the small hand shift a little lower down my back than it should have for a second. ¡°Where?¡± She whispered to herself. She must have been looking for my magically disappearing tail. Let¡¯s avoid that, shall we.


    ¡°Oi, dinner first lady.¡± I said aloud. ¡°I¡¯m not like the others. It takes work to get that.¡±


    I heard a poorly concealed snicker from the man on my left. Then a thump and an apology. ¡°Sorry Griddy.¡±


    ¡°Just move, Luu.¡±


    Tutor decided to get in on the fun as well. Just at my expense. ¡°You just can¡¯t get away from the freaky girls, can you?¡± I sighed, knowing exactly where this was heading, and lamenting the fact that I could do nothing to stop her without looking suspicious. ¡°First it''s being tied up and now it blindfolds. When do the candles come out?¡± Tutor teased.


    We continued on for another ten silent minutes. Silent for everybody else, at least. I got a few more dumb S and M jokes from my internal monologue. I could open my eyes and check the Apis timer, just nothing around me except through a small opening at the bottom. There was a Cobblestone path and my feet were all that was in view. Not very helpful. Yet in combination with Tutor¡¯s barbs, my nerves had calmed down significantly. Though, I had Eternal Shade prepped the whole walk as well.


    After a total of five lefts and four rights and about fifteen minutes of walking, we arrived. ¡°Garl, give the signal.¡± With a grunt of affirmation, Clubby knocked on something wooden. I heard wood sliding together. An eye slit, presumably. ¡°Garl. Who have you brought?¡±


    Clubby answered with a simple, ¡°Ingrid. Not me,¡± in a low, gruff voice.


    The new voice responded in shock. ¡°Ingrid. Ingrid brought somebody?¡±


    Ingrid¡¯s voice came from behind me. ¡°Yes. He has my blessing.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Hmm. Guess there¡¯s a first time for everything. Let me get the door. Garl push the handle down. You know the one, right¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shooshh. Outsider, remember?¡± Another voice from the eye slit blurted out.


    ¡°Right, sorry.¡±


    With a click, the sound of a door brushing against the ground went off in front of me. The delicate hand pushed me forward. Apprehension sat at the forefront of my brain. I tugged on my shirt some more, accidentally poking a hole with my claws this time. The door closed once we all got inside.


    ¡°Watch your step.¡± A voice coming in front of me said.


    ¡°Very funny.¡± I responded sarcastically, then followed the advice immediately by looking down the small opening in the blindfold. I stood in front of a flight of stairs.


    ¡°What do, oh right? Blindfold. Yep my bad. We could, probably.¡± Another voice cut him off. ¡°Not yet Luu. Wait until we¡¯re inside.¡±


    ¡°But we are inside. And I¡¯m sure he¡¯d appreciate it. Ingrid¡¯s been groping him the whole way here. I don¡¯t know about everybody else, but I was blushing like a schoolgirl that whole trip.¡± The man said with a laugh.


    ¡°Up yours, Luu.¡± Ingrid shouted behind me.


    Tutor snickered in my head. ¡°Like him already.¡±


    There weren¡¯t many stairs, just a dozen maybe, before another door opened up, and I was guided inside, this time with a shove rather than the gentle pushes from earlier. Looked like Ingrid wasn¡¯t a fan of being the butt of the joke. Once the door shut behind us, the wool was pulled from my eyes.


    After a quick vision adjustment, I scanned my new location. It was a large basement/cellar type of room. A huge open area, with the only walls dividing it up being large cloth dangled from the ceiling. Different groups of people huddled around small fires, which seemed like a terrible idea indoors. I checked the room for smoke, but there was none, shockingly.


    I investigated the closest group. An older man with gray hair and furred arms sat with a young elementary-aged boy who also had the same trope. He roasted two cuts of meat over the flame. The boy cheerfully poked at the fire with a stick. The flame itself moved unnaturally, evoking memories of Len¡¯s flames. At the base of the flame, I noticed a symbol much like the ones on the training mannequins and the floor in the guild training room. Magic fire. Explains the lack of smoke.


    I looked over at the rest of the groups, each one comprised of the same demographic as the first. Elders and youngsters crowded around magical campfires. This scene shattered the idea I¡¯d formulated. I was expecting some secret Feral lair, filled with fighters or rebels. From the secrecy, I had assumed that¡¯s what would be hidden down here. Not families. Not children. Why? Why are they locked down here? I felt a strange fury build up inside me. My fists clenched.


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    ¡°That¡¯s not the reaction I was expecting.¡± A calm feminine voice spoke from behind me. I turned around. A few wooden tables and chairs were scattered around, each held different sets of tools and other implements. In the back sat a long cleared off table, where a woman with light bluish skin and a simple dress sat. The hooded men who walked me in joined her at the backside of it. Except for Clubby, he never left my side. But I couldn¡¯t blame him, not with what¡¯s down here.


    ¡°Please sit.¡± She gestured to the chair set in front of her. I walked up and sat down. The woman was middle-aged. Somewhere in her forties if I had to guess. She had the long pointed ears of an elf. Her hair was black with a few streaks of white throughout. But it was her eyes that caused me pause. They were sky blue and nearly glowing.


    The hooded men removed their cloaks. One was an elf with a whole ring of fur lining his neck like a lion''s mane, the other was a human with large tusks protruding from his mouth. They shared one thing in common: both were skinny, gaunt almost. Those cloaks were doing them a whole lot of favors in the intimidation department. They looked frail without them. The elf walked over to the woman and placed his hand on her shoulder. She held it for a moment, her eyes never leaving me.


    Ingrid walked up and nodded to the woman, then walked away. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡± She said, as she left. She turned, and she looked into my eyes as she walked away. Shock appeared on her face for a moment. Right, eyes changed.


    ¡°What is all this?¡± I asked, turning back to the giant room and away from Ingrid¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°This is our home, or one of them I should say. We have a couple of shelters like this scattered around the Gloom. But before we get to that. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ranj Blethering. Would you please give me your name?¡±


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m sorry. Liam. Liam Foster.¡± I answer. Her eyes traveled upwards for a second, as if she was trying to recall something.


    ¡°Foster. Hmm. I¡¯ve not heard that name before. I take it you are not from Lostock then.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t even know what that is. Are all of you Feral?¡± As I asked the question, I felt a strange sensation cover my body. Nothing invasive or manipulative, more inquisitive if I had to put a word on it. Aura, probably. I shifted in my seat and looked around.


    ¡°You''ll have to forgive us. That Aura you feel is just a precaution. It won¡¯t harm or coerce you. It''s for our own protection, in the event you become violent. You understand?¡±


    I nodded. I didn¡¯t have a full grasp on what exactly Aura could do but I guess this might sense violent intent. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I get it. And don¡¯t worry, I would never do anything that might endanger children.¡±


    She smiled softly. ¡°Thank you. And as for your question. Yes and no. All of the children were born in Laurel. The elders however are not. They are some of the remnants of a time long past now.¡±


    ¡°And what of the children¡¯s parents? They¡¯re not all orphans, are they?¡± The fury bubbled inside me. Why am I so mad? Ranj¡¯s striking eyes bore into me as the rage swelled, but her soft smile never faded. ¡°Not all of them, many are out working. Others¡­are being foolish.¡± She answered with a solemn look.


    ¡°Working? This late? And how? I thought you needed citizenship to do anything like that.¡± I questioned.


    The male elf answered. ¡°Not for the jobs in the Gloom. Pfft. They are more than welcome to let us savages handle it.¡± I tilted my head at the answer.


    ¡°Not now.¡± She told the man while patting him. ¡°That¡¯s a discussion for another time. First, let me ask you something, Liam.¡± I nodded. ¡°Why have you come? From what Ingrid has described, you are already set with a position. In the Legion, no less, the best any child of Kniyas could hope for.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that? I met Ingrid this afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Child, do you not know what happens under your own roof? She¡¯s been staying with Wynn for the entire week. She has been aware of you for quite some time. She is just shy, that¡¯s why it took so long before she made contact. She already gave me some basic information about you. Nothing in depth, just what Wynn has told her about you.¡±


    I mulled the name Wynn in my mind for a moment before realizing she referred to Mrs. Warbler. I¡¯ve never actually used her first name before, or heard others for that matter. It¡¯s just Gran or Mrs. Warbler. And I had no idea Ingrid was staying at the shop. But it''s not like I spend that much time there. Mostly for sleep and meals. I shook my head, that wasn¡¯t important. Annoying, but not important. I looked into the woman¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m here because I want to learn about Ferals.¡±


    The elf to her right scoffed. ¡°You wish to learn of your own kind. If that doesn¡¯t sound like a pile of Tusxic dung, I don¡¯t know what does. It was a terrible idea bringing him here. He¡¯ll just run to his masters¡­¡±


    She spun her head at the elf. ¡°Dear, if you don¡¯t quit with the outbursts, I will have Garl escort you home and put you to bed. Do I make myself clear, my baby boy?¡± She pinched his cheek. The human on her other side, who was currently sipping from a cup, nearly choked. He put the cup down and laughed. Think that narrows down which one was the jokester.


    She turned back to me and released the elf¡¯s now red cheek. ¡°Sorry, please continue.¡±


    I inhaled. ¡°I want to learn about the Forest Ferals. I am Feral, but I¡¯m not from this part of the world. And no, I won¡¯t say where I¡¯m from. All that matters is that it¡¯s not here. I¡¯ve been treated like subhuman scum by everyone here that Leonard Ainsworth did not introduce me to. They say Ferals are violent, that they pillage, steal, and attack the citizenry. And now there are rumors that the recent attack on the wall was caused by them? And I¡¯m getting flak for that. And the truly frustrating thing is that no one actually explains why. It¡¯s like some strange taboo. So I wanted to see it for myself. And get some answers for myself.¡±


    The woman closed her eyes, contemplating my spiel. I looked over at the guys beside her. Rage burned in the elf¡¯s eyes, not surprising. The human just stared at me, his eyes running up and down me. The woman opened her eyes and she exhaled.


    ¡°Those¡­accusations aren¡¯t false.¡± Her brow furled as she spoke. ¡°Many of us have been doing some very untoward actions of late. Nothing violent from my group, I assure you. But the robbery, that¡¯s all true. Ingrid who brought you here happen to be one of our best thieves.¡± No pride rang out from Ranj¡¯s words. ¡°As you can well see, we have mouths to feed, and the majority of them can¡¯t work for themselves.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m guessing the lack of citizenship means the pay isn¡¯t great for those that do.¡± I interjected.


    ¡°Yes. So we must do some¡­extra labor to ensure that we have ample medicine, food, and other necessities. But as I said before, we don¡¯t use force. I strictly prohibit it.¡± She finished.


    But I caught on to what she was implying. ¡°But there are Ferals that do commit violence on Laurelhaven.¡±


    She turned her head away. ¡°Sadly, yes. There are many of our brethren who have taken a more forceful approach to gathering means. I don¡¯t approve of it at all. Our position is barely tolerated as is by the Laurel government. They are aware of the need for the Gloom, and we are the perfect workforce to maintain it.¡±


    ¡°And why is the Gloom so vital? It just seems like a pleasure district from the looks of it.¡±


    ¡°To prevent morphosis, surely you understand that.¡± She answered, confusion filling her face. Morphowhat. I have no clue what that is, but from the look she is giving me, it''s something I should know. I contemplated on whether I will ask about it, but seeing as it''s not really Feral focused, I can just ask Len later.


    ¡°Yes of course. So these other Ferals aren¡¯t with you?¡± I asked, trying to steer the conversation back.


    ¡°Yes, and their ideology is what led to our precarious state in the first place. If they hadn¡¯t struck those twenty years ago.¡± Her soft smile disappeared as she spoke, turning to a sullen frown.


    ¡°What happened twenty years ago?¡± I asked.


    Tears welled up in her eyes as painful memories seemed to rain down on her. She wiped them away. ¡°The Fountain Massacre, the day Ferals lost everything.¡±


    ¡°Massacre?¡± I repeated after her. But just as I was going to ask more. A woman burst through the door leading to the stairs. ¡°Ma¡¯am. A large group of soldiers are heading this way. And they don¡¯t look pleased.¡±

 87. Been Awhile

    ¡°How do they know about this shelter?! Is it him?¡± The lanky lion-maned elf practically jumped from his seat and pulled a dagger from his cloak. With the blade pointed in my direction, he continued his rant. ¡°They were followed, I¡¯m sure of it. Talk you traitorous filth. Betraying your own kind. I should¡ª¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Ranj slammed her hand on the table. She stole the knife from his hands and passed it off to the human beside her. He took it and walked away, heading deeper into the underground encampment. ¡°Are you saying Ingrid, our best rogue, wasn¡¯t aware of a tail?¡±


    ¡°But maybe he has a tracking sigil.¡±


    ¡°And Luu would have caught that. So if you are done, please go help Luu calm everyone down and await further instructions.¡± The elf¡¯s face filled with indignation. After a quick and frankly pitiful attempt at an intimidating glare directed at me, he walked away.


    Ranj then turned her attention to the guard who made the announcement. ¡°Who leads this group and how far away are they?¡±


    ¡°I, um ma¡¯am, I just started last week. I haven¡¯t been clued in on those specifics, but I can say they are less than five minutes away. They were walking by the Tun¡¯s fight club near the fountain when I spotted them. Four of them total.¡± The woman huffed out in between labored breaths, a small amount of panic in her eyes.


    Five minutes? That doesn¡¯t sound right, that shed stood in the same courtyard as that fountain. We walked for over fifteen minutes to get here. Through a labyrinth of alleyways I guess if they book it and know the exact route. But the guard said they were walking. I shook my head, looking back over at the two women.


    Ranj walked over to her and placed a gentle hand on the woman¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It''s alright Talia. Good work getting here so fast. I knew you were the right choice for the job. Can you describe who was at the front of the group?¡± There was a strange feeling in the air around the two women. An almost unnatural peace.


    The girl¡¯s expression softened, she took a deep breath and nodded. ¡°It was a dwarf. Wolf ears, black and white hair. Two axes on his hips. And a right pissed off face.¡± The description sounded familiar to me. After a moment of thought, I remembered the dwarf from the wall invasion. He was shouting up a storm that day in the base camp tent Terl set up at the time. Don¡¯t remember exactly who he was. But I did remember his outrage with everyone present and the ample colorful language. I shifted in my spot, not sure if I was going to have to prepare myself for a quick getaway. Or a fight.


    Yet the blue elf woman¡¯s reaction was the polar opposite of mine. Ranj closed her eyes and slowly let air flow out of her nostrils, her shoulders dropping a tad, almost as if the news relieved her. She opened them back up and spoke to the woman. ¡°Go gather your little ones, dinner just ended so they are probably sleepy. They¡¯ll be thrilled upon learning their mother will spend the evening with them.¡±


    The girl looked at her. ¡°Do we need to?¡± Ranj raised her hand. ¡°No child. Not tonight. Just go and sit, be with them. They aren¡¯t going to stay at this wonderful age forever. Cute, sweet, and loving. Sometime down the road, out of nowhere, you have rebellious rascals running around, causing untold chaos, never deigning themselves to give their tired mother a rest. So please, enjoy it while you still can.¡± Ranj nudged the woman¡¯s shoulder with a playful smile.


    The young mother smiled at the middle-aged woman¡¯s comforting words, until worry came back. ¡°But his face. He looked so angry.¡±


    Ranj tenderly pushed the girl toward the campfires. ¡°Oh he always looks like that. Just be glad you didn¡¯t catch him smiling, it¡¯s enough to rip the hide off a Karibu. I¡¯ll handle him. He won¡¯t bother us tonight.¡± The girl nodded and went on her way. She stopped a couple of campfires down. Two young boys who sat with an elderly woman yelped in surprise and jumped to their mother¡¯s side. The fury from earlier rose anew as I watched the boys wrestle each other for a spot on their mother¡¯s lap.


    Why? Why the fuck are they forced to live like this? Families sleeping in squalor. My knuckles cracked as my fists tightened and I looked to the floor. I felt a tug on my shirt sleeve. I looked over. Ranj¡¯s bright eyes stared into mine, moving ever so slightly, as if in search of something on my face. She stopped after mere seconds, with a slight grin on her face. She twisted around and found the fanged human, Luu if I wasn¡¯t mistaken.


    She gave him a slow and meaningful nod, he responded in kind then walked over to the door leading up the stairs. The male elf¡¯s head popped up and he looked at Ranj, who shook her head at him. ¡°You need to hide.¡± She said before turning back to me. ¡°Something tells me our Mayor won¡¯t be pleased to find out you were hanging around here.¡±


    I nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah it wouldn¡¯t look great if the Feral, who said he knew nothing of the Ferals here, was sitting around in one of their not-so-secret hideouts. Is there another exit?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°There is but it''s too late now. Herman is shrewd. If he already knew about this shelter then he¡¯ll have a Scout on each entrance already. No, our only hope is hiding you in the store room. It''s right over there.¡± She pointed at the door on the other side of the table we sat at previously. ¡°How proficient are you in masking your Aura, your presence.¡±


    ¡°Next to none. No clue where to even begin with that.¡±


    ¡°What? Leonard hasn¡¯t taught you anything about Aura Control?¡±


    ¡°Not a thing.¡±


    Ranj, shook her head, genuinely confused by the fact. I was long used to not being taught anything actually useful aside from fighting monsters. And freaking burpees.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°But I can hide pretty well, what¡¯s in the room?¡±


    ¡°Shelves filled with extra supplies. Crates of foodstuffs and some barrels of water. Why?¡±


    ¡°I might have a plan, do you have anybody here that¡¯s good at whatever you called it. Masking Aura?¡± I asked, a dumb but quite possibly ingenious plan forming in my brain.


    Ranj looked around the room, then her gaze landed on a familiar hooded girl. ¡°Ingrid!¡±


    Ingrid turned to us and rushed over. ¡°Quick, what is it? I need to get out of here before they show up.¡±


    ¡°Change of plans, take him into the storeroom and hide him.¡± Ranj said while she pointed back at the door.


    ¡°What? No, no way. I did my job with him for the night.¡± Ingrid said while crossing her arms.


    ¡°Not the time, just go and¡ª¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, they¡¯re outside, we need you up there now.¡± Luu ran up to Ranj and interrupted her. She inhaled. ¡°Ingrid just take him. Trust me on this.¡± Ranj pulled the girl over to her and stared at Ingrid¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ranj, not a whole lot of time.¡± Luu said, holding the door to the stairs open for her.


    Ranj pulled Ingrid closer, whispering something into the girl¡¯s ear. Ingrid nodded slowly. She turned and grabbed onto my shirt pulling me over to the store room door. ¡°Move.¡±


    ¡°Uh okay.¡±


    She threw the door open and pulled me inside. The room was filled with shelves of linens and simple clothes, along with the aforementioned crates and barrels. Well, time to test that theory from long ago. Better late than never. I would have hoped to not have time constraints but what can you do?


    ¡°I know you probably have questions to ask me about my powers, and after what''s about to happen, you¡¯ll have a hundred more. I¡¯ll answer them later, so for now just mask your presence or whatever. Make it so it looks like only one person is in the room.¡±


    Ingrid squinted her eyes at me. Ignoring it, I walked up one of the barrels and touched its wooden surface. It was right about my size crouching down. Perfect. I activated object mimicry, scanning the barrel. No negative notifications appeared, so I was good. Wood grew out from my body, growing out from underneath my clothes and ultimately covering them. My body crouched down and contorted slightly, forming the body of the barrel. My forearms widened and sat above my head, creating the lid. After a minute of creaking sounds, I finished my transformation. Then a longer than usual notification blipped.


    [Mimic Entry ¡°Wooden Barrel¡± Recorded]


    [Level 10 Mimicry (Object) achieved]


    [Good Job!]


    [PS. THERE. YOU HAPPY NOW LIAM. I GOT NOTIFICATIONS WORKING FOR ABILITY LEVEL UPS. YOUR WELCOME. -Tutor]


    If I was in the position to face palm, I would have probably smacked myself in the face. But nevertheless, thank God that worked. Everything in here was made from wood. I was worried about the whole wood versus log thing for a while. Wait a second. This can only mean one thing. I can be a treasure chest. SCORE. LET¡¯S GO!


    I opened my eyes, they were situated on the side of the barrel facing the door. I looked over at Ingrid. Her eyes wide open, still in shock of what just occurred in front of her very eyes. Ooh Another thing I never actually tested. Talking in object form.


    I stretched my mouth, a slight cracking sound followed. ¡°Hey. Hello?¡± It was a little uncomfortable moving my mouth and speaking but I could manage it. Ingrid¡¯s mouth went slack jawed this time, her brain clearly not processing what just happened.


    ¡°Ingrid, questions later, please I promise, ack, to answer them, but for now stealth, cough, time. And sit next on top of me.¡± I kept coughing in between my sentences for some reason. My throat felt dry.


    She slowly shook her head, peering over to the door. Probably weighing her options on whether she wanted to stay in the room with the freak who just turned into an inanimate object, or risking it outside. She walked over to me slowly upon completion of her risk assessment. Ingrid sat on the floor behind me. Her back to mine. ¡°No way in hell am I sitting on you, jackass.¡±


    Embarrassment filled my wooden chest once I realized what I just asked her to do. ¡°Yeah, cough. That. That was creepy. Ack. My bad.¡±


    Sounds of people shuffling around the door was the only sound in the room. Neither of us spoke. I knew she wasn¡¯t in the mood for speaking, not that she seemed the type to ever be. But I wasn¡¯t going to push my luck. I was just glad she didn¡¯t leave.


    Then after a few moments she whispered. ¡°Just what the hell are you?¡± Can¡¯t blame the girl for having questions, but now really isn¡¯t the time.


    ¡°You can grill, cough, me later. Let¡¯s, ack, get through this first.¡± I rasped out.


    A loud slam boomed on the other side of the door. The stairway door if I had to bet. Ingrid stood up. Resting her hand on my back to ease her ascent made me shudder and vibrate on the floor for a second.


    ¡°Denn¡¯s taint! Don¡¯t shake like that out of nowhere. Give a girl a heart attack.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    She snuck over to the door and pressed the side of her head up to it. I saw the top of her hood bob for a moment. Her hidden bunny ears shifted, trying to hear what was going on outside. After a minute, she stopped and looked over at me. ¡°Close your eyes.¡±


    ¡°No. Why would I do that?¡±


    ¡°Just, nevermind. It''s fine.¡± She tilted her head down just a smidge. Then pressed up against the door again. Why so secretive about the ears? Whatever.


    I heard the rumblings of voices coming from the door, but nothing comprehensible. Barrels didn¡¯t come with super hearing powers apparently. Which was bullcrap in my opinion. ¡°What, cough, are they saying?¡±


    ¡°Shush.¡± The voices continued for a while, until a loud shout resounded outside. Ingrid jumped away from the door and rushed back over to me, hiding behind me again. I felt her small hands touch my back, making me suppress a shiver.


    BAM!


    The door to the storeroom blasted open.

 88. Storeroom Shuffle

    ¡°Close your eyes.¡± Ingrid told the barrel. The barrel with creepy yellow eyes peeking through the cracks in the planks. The barrel that was, just minutes prior, a person. An annoying and talkative person at that. And that person was now a talkative barrel. She could hardly keep up with what was going on. But she knew for certain she wasn¡¯t going to reveal her ears to this dude.


    ¡°No, why would I do that?¡± The barrel answered. Ingrid¡¯s ears perked back up. Four people just got to the bottom of the stairs. She didn¡¯t have time to argue.


    ¡°Just, never mind. It''s fine.¡±


    She shifted one of her ears slightly and tilted her head so that it rested on the door. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but she could make out what the people were saying.


    ¡°Thank you for visiting, my dear old friend. I wished you could have given me a warning. I¡¯d have prepared some tea, and other delicacies had I known you were on your way, Herman.¡± Ingrid easily recognized Ranj¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Quit the tusk shit, savage. Simin, Glon. Start searching through¡ª¡± The voice was cut off by an incredibly loud cough, and then a clearing of the throat.


    ¡°Lad, I know yer excited. You just got that fancy promotion. You did well in that invasion. Shit, even Tiff raved about you, so I decided, what the hell, give the kid a shot.¡± Ingrid flinched. Even she felt the threatening Aura build through the door. ¡°But don¡¯t let that excitement go to yer head. I¡¯m in charge here. None of you will do a Denn-damned thing until you get my express say-so.¡± There was a moment of silence. Ingrid imagined whoever was out there was quickly nodding their heads, hoping to placate the man.


    ¡°Try orderin¡¯ my squad around like that again, and not even the First Ones above will be able to pull the broom handle from out of yer ass. Are we crystal?¡±


    ¡°Umm, gulp, yes Sir, um Captain, um uh Sir.¡±


    Ingrid heard a loud clap, then the leader continued speaking. ¡°Great, with that settled, it''s a pleasure to see you too Ranj. As ravishing as ever. So sorry about that nastiness you had to see. Kids these days, far too eager. No doubt yah understand¡±


    Ingrid heard Ranj chuckle through the door. ¡°All too well. Would you like to sit?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Don¡¯t plan on being here for more than a minute. Just have some questions that need answering.¡±


    ¡°Of course, ask away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll not beat any bushes, did you blow the wall?¡± Ingrid squinted, surprised by the directness of the question.


    ¡°No.¡± Ranj answered. It was the truth, Ranj would never pull something so heinous, and especially not in a district filled with children.


    ¡°Figured. Had to ask. Next, any clue who did?¡±


    Ranj was silent with her answer, Ingrid guess Ranj only shook her head at the question. All the ferals under Ranj had guesses as to what happened, but none of them would speak about it. Not all ferals agree on what to do about the situation in the Gloom, but they never, ever rat each other out.


    ¡°Anything, Ranj, we need something. It practically had to suck Lirae¡¯s toes to stop her from marching down here with a Legion.¡±


    ¡°Why are you even bothering with me, Herman? You know this district well enough to have an idea. And we both know you didn''t hold her back due to the grace in your heart. Or by yourself, that greedy Gnome slowed her. So what is it you want from me?¡± Ranj spoke up.


    Before this, Herman gave Ranj an answer, the barrel behind Ingrid spoke up. ¡°What, cough, are they saying?¡±


    ¡°Shush.¡± She listened in closer again, catching only the later half of the conversation thanks to the nosy barrel''s interruption.


    ¡°¡ªsquad is missing from that night. Whole lot of them. I have a duty to their families to find out their whereabouts, or if they are dead.¡±


    ¡°Then why come bashing in our door, as you can see, there¡¯s nothing but children and elderly here. Go invade Mort¡¯s if you want something.¡±


    ¡°And start a fire that ends with the whole Gloom burning down, nobody wants that. As much as our dear sweet mayor shits on this district, I understand what happens without it. Fighting off the raids with morphed out soldiers is the quickest way to all of our asses getting ruined by a pack of monsters. No forgive me for this Ranj, but as my upstart colleague here said earlier, we will have to search this whole building. I can¡¯t take any risks. Boy, now you can give the order.¡±


    ¡°Aye Sir!¡± The man from the beginning shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°Simin check the tents. Glon, go with him. I¡¯ll check the door over here. Move out.¡±


    Ingrid jumped back from the door. Shit, coming this way. She rushed back to the talking barrel man. Ugh, I know what comes next. She rested her hand on the barrel while planning her next move. Then pinched her thigh as hard as possible. A tear welled up. Good enough.


    ¡ª¡ª


    The storeroom door burst open. I peeked open one eye, to see who came in. A slender human guy stood in the doorway, his head adorned with what looked like insect antennae. Weird, first time I¡¯ve seen a bug trope. I closed my eyes, once he fully entered the room, on the off chance my eye was visible. Really need to ask someone about that.


    ¡°I know someone¡¯s hiding in here. You savage trash, can¡¯t even do this much. Pfft. Not like your ilk would learn to control your Aura anyhow. I¡¯m half expecting to find a morphed up little freak. So get out here already!¡± The man slammed on one of the shelves, knocking everything placed on it to the ground. Glass shattered along with the wooden plank crashing to the floor.


    I didn¡¯t fully understand what was going on or what he was talking about, but his words reignited that fury inside. I wanted nothing more than to break out of the barrel form and demolish this piece of shit.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Ingrid¡¯s hand shifted to my lid. She pressed down, getting up slowly from her cover. ¡°Sor, sniff, sorry sir. Puh, please don¡¯t hurt me.¡± Ingrid¡¯s voice shook, and literal fear seeped from her words. She must be terrified.


    ¡°Filthy rags. Why are you hiding? I bet you heard that whole conversation didn¡¯t you. You didn¡¯t come out because you know something, don¡¯t you?¡± The man rushed over to Ingrid and gripped her cloak. ¡°Who blew the wall? Where is our squad?¡±


    Blubbering and snot flowed from her face from the sounds of it. ¡°I don¡¯t, sniff, know anything. Please. Let me go.¡± Ingrid mumbled through the cloak.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hear you through these rags.¡± The sounds of clothes ripping filled the air. That¡¯s it. My fury found its boiling point. A crying girl plus a manhandling scumbag equaled a pissed off Liam. Just as I was about to explode out of the barrel and break this bastard¡¯s fingers, A small hand patted my lid. It was a calm, purposeful gesture. Not panicked or rushed, something to let me know she had it handled.


    It did nothing to quell my anger, but I got control back. But the next even mildly rapey thing this fucker did mean game time, patting be damned.


    The cloak fell on top of my lid. The creep let out a whistle. ¡°What do we have here?¡± Ingrid fell to the ground with a thud. ¡°Looks like I was wrong, there¡¯s no way in hell you had anything to do with the invasion. Little bunnies like yourself aren¡¯t made for that rough work. No, you¡¯re just another plaything that works the brothels here. Pathetic.¡± He spat on the ground.


    ¡°Sorry s-ss-sir.¡± Ingrid responded.


    ¡°Shut up filth.¡±


    Nope, I¡¯m done. Ursa smashing time. This dude¡¯s face could use some extra bruising and bleeding. He¡¯s got too many teeth in his mouth also, I can help him lose a few.


    ¡°Chaz, get back out here! We¡¯re done.¡± A gruff voice shouted from the main room.


    The degenerate bastard breathed in through his teeth. ¡°Too bad, I would have loved to spend more time with you. Bye bye.¡± He walked through the door, leaving it open. Ingrid rushed over to the door and closed it. I opened my eyes once it shut. Ingrid wore a basic set of clothing, loose pants and a tank top undershirt. I looked up and saw her bright pink rabbit ears turn towards the door.


    I couldn¡¯t handle it anymore and reverted back to my base form. I walked up to her, stopping a few feet away, deciding to give the girl some space after that shitshow. ¡°Are you good?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Yes, now shut the fuck up. They haven¡¯t left yet.¡± Ingrid answered, all signs of her previous crying completely gone. Jesus, give this chick an Oscar. That was some of the best acting I¡¯d even heard.


    I huddled up to the door but away from Ingrid, choosing to listen in on the end of the conversation.


    ¡°See, like I said, Herman. Nothing.¡± Ranj spoke with the leader. Her voice turned sympathetic. ¡°But, I promise, if I hear anything about your missing people, you¡¯ll be the first to know.¡±


    ¡°Aye, Ranj. Have a good evening. MOVE OUT.¡± Footsteps stomped up the stairs. Both Ingrid and I stepped back from the door. An awful feeling turned in my stomach. ¡°Ingrid, I¡¯m sorry that happened.¡±


    She was busy picking up her cloak from the ground and wrapping herself back up. ¡°Did you do it?¡±


    ¡°No, but.¡±


    ¡°Then let that be the last we speak about it. Unless you agree with his sentiments.¡± Her face twitched for a split second.


    ¡°Not at all.¡±


    ¡°Then let''s go. Besides, what happened with the dirtbag wasn¡¯t even the strangest event in this room, barrel boy. Wouldn¡¯t mind an explanation on that.¡±


    Ingrid peeked through the door as she spoke. Once she confirmed it was safe, we walked back into the main hall.


    I looked out over the indoor campsites. Bedding was thrown around, a couple fires doused, and children holding on to the elders. More anger piled on top of me. Part of me wished to chase after the jackasses that did this to these innocent people, but that wouldn¡¯t actually help.


    Ranj was speaking with the Clubby and the joking fanged human, Luu from before. She turned over and saw us. Her eyes landed on Ingrid, then down to her ripped up cloak. Concern filled the woman¡¯s eyes, she walked over to us.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my dear, did he do anything? If so, I will send some people. We¡¯ll find the man¡¯s home¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough Ranj, the cloak got caught on something and ripped when I moved. It''s nothing, don''t worry about it.¡± Ingrid said, turning her head away from the woman.


    Ranj turned over to me, expecting me to give her the truth. I thought about it, but who am I to go against Ingrid¡¯s wishes, if she didn¡¯t want to hash it out anymore, I wouldn¡¯t make her. I nodded my head, solidifying Ingrid¡¯s lie.


    ¡°Okay, then we need to get you both out of here. Ingrid, I can have someone else take him home if you wish to rest.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s fine. I need to check on some things tonight. Those two are probably getting restless without me. And the exit is on the way.¡±


    Ranj nodded. I took the chance to speak up. ¡°Um. Ranj.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I can stay and help clean up around here before I leave.¡±


    Ranj smiled at me. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t the first time we¡¯ve been intruded upon, and surely won¡¯t be the last. We know the drill. You need to leave, though, that was far too close. I¡¯m shocked you even managed to hide successfully from that Scout. I was sure things were going to get dicey.¡±


    I scratched the back of my head. ¡°Yeah. Me too honestly. Oh, one thing before I leave. Is it¡­ Is it okay if I come again?¡± I asked, looking back over the room.


    The blue elf''s bright eyes scanned over me again. ¡°Maybe young one, but for now go. Luu, take him back. Ingrid, go home.¡± The girl looked like she was going to protest, but Ranj stopped her. ¡°Go home. Luu can handle getting him back to Wynn¡¯s. Say hello to Macie and Kende for me. Tell them Auntie Ranj can¡¯t wait to see them again. She¡¯s got some of their favorite candies set aside for them.¡±


    Ingrid looked over at me, then back to Ranj. She walked toward the entrance and with a curt nod left.


    Luu walked up to me, blindfold in hand. I shrugged and closed my eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. He won¡¯t need that.¡± Ranj said, taking the cloth from the man¡¯s hand.


    ¡°You sure?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s head out then, bud.¡± he pushed me toward the door and up the stairs in a hurry. I didn¡¯t even get a chance to say goodbye or thanks to Ranj before we were up the stairs. The guard in the room sat with a book in hand and a candle next to him. He looked up and saw us.


    ¡°No blindfold, good for you kid. Take it easy.¡±


    The guard opened the door for us. We walked through. I stopped and looked around. The scene looked oddly familiar. Wait a second. No. Don¡¯t tell me.


    It was the shed. The same shed me and Ingrid sat in before getting picked up. I exhaled and rolled my eyes. My clever turn counting was for absolutely nothing. Damn it. My shoulders slumped, feeling like an idiot.


    The trek back to the merchant district was quiet. The day¡¯s events and the nights both weighed heavily on both my mind and body. The trip back home was a bit of a blur. I don¡¯t think I said a single thing to Luu.


    I entered the store and walked down to my basement room. I kicked off my boots and laid down, passing out almost immediately.


    A bang on my door woke me up far too soon. ¡°Time to wake up. You¡¯ll be late for Legion training if you don¡¯t get up now.¡±


    I sat up and looked at the door. ¡°Thanks, Mrs. Warbler!¡± I yelled through the door, having absolutely no intention of going to training today. Len needed to answer some questions first.

 89. Unease

    The gnomes in charge of the guild hall construction ran around the building. Some running in and out, some on the rooftop. It was quite the sight when you actually stopped and watched what each gnome did. Some were just gophers, carrying tools and materials in and out of the nearly completed building. Others, the more experienced, obviously, snatched the tools away and banged or sawed away.


    Apprentices and masters. Employees and bosses. I stepped into the building proper, dodging out of the way of an oncoming novice gnome crafter hauling a large¡ªlarge for him anyway, normal if not slightly small for me¡ªplank of wood down the hallway leading to the cafeteria and Rita¡¯s lab. I looked over to the staircase, sitting down on the guild¡¯s front desk. Up those stairs was my destination, Len¡¯s office. My boss¡¯s office.


    I wasn''t sure why I even began focusing on that particular relationship structure. Maybe Ingrid¡¯s words from the previous night hung in my head. How she worked for my boss. In what capacity didn¡¯t matter much. Just that it was true. It may have been a passing thought last night, but after my subconscious tossed it around in my brief slumber I came to the realization that in fact, just about every relationship I made in Kniyas thus far have pretty much taken on that dynamic. I was told to do something, and I did.


    Len told me to join the Legion. I did. Jaren told me to train harder. I did. Daila told me to study more. I did.


    It''s not as if I hated it, either. I¡¯m not some rebel, some dude who wants to fight the system. Those guys usually just ended up smoking pot in their mothers¡¯ basement, unemployed and alone. It didn¡¯t always end that way, of course, some did pull themselves up by the bootstraps and build something with their own hands. Become the boss, as it were. But not many.


    I always thought of myself as one of those people who went with the flow more often than not, finding happiness in the smaller things in life. A really good book, game or movie enjoyed with a friend or even a paramour. That¡¯s it. And I think that¡¯s true for the majority. They were either content or complacent with where their lives were. And I considered myself among their number.


    I was never like my grandfather. The man never once had a boss, and authority figure. He was his own authority. ¡°March to the beat of your own drum, Liam. Not others¡¯. Never others¡¯.¡± He would say, attempting to instill his core values into me. They never quite stuck, though. I wasn¡¯t born with whatever drove him to strive forward for no one but himself. To throw his weight around, to blaze his trail, consequences be damned. An obsession so burdensome in my eyes. And thank God Almighty, he wasn¡¯t evil. I could only imagine the trouble he¡¯d have wrought upon the Earth if he had been, at least when compared to the good he brought. And acts of evil tended to be infinitesimally easier to pull off.


    But even living through some of the worst times in Earth¡¯s history, fighting through both world wars, he chose to fight so that he would leave behind something better, on his terms and no one else¡¯s. It was a passion that blinded me and evaded me.


    Yet, after last night, I found myself thinking along those very lines. Seeing how the Feral¡¯s lived, how detested they were. How detested I was. I was locked up right after I saved lives, for crying out loud. And I was expected to fight and possibly die for these people. People who couldn¡¯t care less whether I did or not. Who deemed me unworthy of a home or family, purely based on the fact I wasn¡¯t born in the confines of this city. How can I fight and defend such a heinous society? Why should I?


    I understood Kniyas was different. This ever looming threat of a horde of monsters coming down and literally destroying everything forced people into making harsh choices. But such inhumane ones and forcing families to live in cramped basements, scrounging for and eating scraps.


    It also made no sense whatsoever. They were people that could fight and create. Why would you exile and treat them so? Wouldn¡¯t you want to bolster your forces as much as possible with such a persistent threat on your hands?


    So I chose to skip another more than likely fruitless training session with people who wouldn¡¯t take me seriously. To get these questions answered by the only one who could. I closed my eyes and slowly inhaled. Then hopped off the desk and walked up the stairs and through the hallway. I stood before the door, and held its handle. A single bead of sweat dripped down the side of my face.


    Click.


    I swung the door open. Len sat at his desk, pen in hand, scratching away at a journal. His eyes tilted up; he cracked a grin. ¡°Liam, when did you get here? Don¡¯t you have squad training today? Jaren will have a fit when he finds out a new trainee is slacking off.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I slowly walked over to the desk, his smugness irritating me. He was fully aware of my presence the second I walked into the building. I sat down and looked right into the flame mage¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I went to the Gloom last night.¡± I said, ignoring the usual banter and small talk to get right to the point. Len picked up on my tone quickly, placing his pen down and closing the notebook.


    ¡°I know. Wynn told me you went off with Ingrid.¡± He said in a cheerful tone, that pissed me off for some reason. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect our little city to have a place like that, did you? I¡¯d avoid it, though, your Aura is fine how it is. Plus, we don¡¯t need you racking up debt, either. But on the topic of your Aura, Rita found some interesting¡ª¡± I slammed my fist on the armrest, cracking it slightly.


    ¡°Stop Len. It¡¯s my turn to talk.¡± He stared back into my eyes, completely expressionless. The chill ran down my spine. After a tense few seconds, Len leaned back in his chair, waving his hand.


    ¡±I met with some Ferals last night. I saw how they lived. Forced to hide and huddle around small fires. Then I heard and witnessed first hand how they are seen by the people of this city. Your people came in and ransacked the place, interrogating elders and children for chrissakes. And even¡­¡± My mind replayed the terrible event with that antennaed splicer. How he treated and spoke to Ingrid. Heat rose up inside my chest and face.


    Len closed his eyes, then exhaled through his nose. ¡°I know. It''s awful.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t really think you do, Len. You¡¯re loved and recognized by this town. Even when the whole of my squad ignored me during training, people still spoke about you. How great you are. Hell, it''s probably the only reason why they didn¡¯t outright attack me. Oh wait, one of them did.¡±


    ¡°And you put him in his place.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. And how many more times will I have to? How many other uppity fucks am I going to have to shut up before they see me as an equal? I¡¯ve got the answer. Too goddamned many.¡±


    ¡°Then do so. Do it. Put them in their place.¡± Len said.


    ¡°And for what exactly, to keep up the status quo. So the Ferals can keep being stomped on for no reason.¡±


    Len¡¯s left eye twitched. ¡°Yes, or at least until we can change it for the better.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Oh and that¡¯s that is it? I bring it up, and now we¡¯re going to fix it for the better. Screw off. I¡¯m not so naive as to not have seen the manipulation tactics your crew, and you especially, have used on me. Pure 48 laws of power type shit. But I didn¡¯t honestly care. I was having fun and finding some purpose. This guild¡¯s mission. Exploring the untamed Kniyan wilderness sounds awesome and exciting and life changing. And I understood that fighting in the raids was a part of the price for that freedom. But if all that comes at the cost of children starving, then I couldn¡¯t give the smallest flying fuck about any of it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand everything about the Ferals. What they did to deserve¡ª¡±


    ¡°TO DESERVE! What the fuck have those children done to deserve this treatment?!¡± My fist flew through the armrest this time.


    Flames circled around Len for a moment, but it didn¡¯t stop me. I held his angered gaze, readying myself to go into Tigris form.


    I¡¯ve no clue how long we stared at each other like that. Time either raced by or stayed still for the duration of that staredown, until the flames died down. Len closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead with one hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying about wanting to change Laurel. I¡¯ve known about the Ferals'' terrible living conditions for far longer than you.¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you changed anything?!¡± I shouted back, emotion still coursing through me.


    But Len didn¡¯t get swept up in my whirlwind. ¡°Who do you think keeps those flames going in Ranj¡¯s shelters? I¡¯m sure my number one apprentice noticed something similar about those flames.¡±


    A quick vision of the small smokeless fires, powered by small sigils ran through my mind.


    ¡°And over seventy percent of my income goes back into them.¡± Len said. ¡°And you¡¯re right. Deserve was the wrong word. Maybe warrant. I don¡¯t know, it doesn¡¯t matter much. What does matter is that I do in fact understand their pain. Far, far more than you.¡±


    ¡°What is this where you reveal you¡¯re a Feral? That you rose up from the bottom and got to the top.¡± I sneered.


    He shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯d be a bit too poetic. I am city born through and through. Not Laurelhaven as you know. Tiamantis doesn¡¯t even have a Feral population. Much too dangerous up there. The climate alone is enough to kill the unprepared, not counting the multitude of beasts.¡±


    He leaned forward. ¡°No, the whole Feral business was completely new to me upon my arrival to this city, some twenty five years ago. So please trust me on this.¡±


    I shook my head again. ¡°I need more than that, Len.¡±


    He sighed, then stood up and walked over to one of the windows in the office. ¡°It''s a long story.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t bother me one bit, I¡¯ve got nothing else to do today.¡±


    Len chuckled softly. ¡°But you do, you just don¡¯t see it yet.¡± He returned to the desk, sitting in one of the chairs next to mine.


    ¡°Then let me tell you the tale of the Great Fountain Massacre.¡±

 90. Flowers Among Flames

    ¡°It''s probably best to start this when I first arrived in Laurel." Len said, scratching his beard. "It''s been almost twenty-six years now.¡±


    ¡°Why? Did you have something to do with it?¡± I asked.


    He gave me an unamused stare. Shutting up time.


    ¡°I¡¯d left Tiamantis months prior due to some¡­unfortunate events. I¡¯d planned to see all of Kniyas with my own two eyes. To see what else the world held aside from blustering blizzards and craggy peaks. Denndrun was the first stop, but I found out quickly that I disliked the innards of mountains nearly as much as the outside. But fighting monsters in those giant caves was so incredibly suffocating. I left after helping out with about three raids.¡°


    I leaned back into my seat, Len stood up from his.


    ¡°I was stunned by The Forest. So much color. All the plant life was so vibrant and beautiful, especially when you grew up in the monochrome world of The Peaks. Seeing such¡­life reignited something inside me. And right then I knew I wanted this place to be my new home.¡± He cracked a smile.


    ¡°At least until I got horribly lost in those trees. Me and, umm, ahem.¡± He cleared his throat, as if he was just about to say something he hadn¡¯t meant to.


    ¡°I had bought a map from a passing caravan, which ended up being a huge waste of money. Damn swindler sold me a map that his little ones probably drew because Laurelhaven was nowhere even remotely close to where it pointed. So I wandered that forest for a spell, until, much like yourself, I stumbled onto a raid.¡± Len looked out the window again, this time placing his hands on the sill.


    ¡°It was a chaotic raid, apparently much stronger than what they had ever seen in the previous few months. Packed with flying monsters.¡± Len lowered his head.


    I tilted my head. ¡°What¡¯s important about flying monsters?¡±


    ¡°Special preparations were necessary to handle flying monsters, special ballista and ammunition. Archers and spell slingers aren¡¯t quite enough. The boss was a massive Black Hawken. Imagine the Tempest Roc you first encountered, now with black and brown, sleek feathers and blood red talons and beak. Horrifying creature truly. But that was the first time I saw her.¡± Len¡¯s eyes lit up as he remembered. A soft smile formed on his face.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t the master flame caster you see before you today. I was still adept, worry not, but that battle was brutal. My focus was on a small group of bird monsters, they were heading straight for one of the ballista squadrons still setting up. I torched them out of the sky, but failed to notice one of the boss''s guards break away from its master and dive, aiming straight for my back. A lethal blow that would have ended me, if not for the thorny vines that burst from the ground, wrapping around the bird¡¯s entire body. The vines crushed the monster¡¯s body, leaving it a bloody paste on the ground. I turned and saw the second most enchanting sight in my life. Striking auburn hair blazing in the sunset light, and a face even more gorgeous. Lirae had saved my life and stolen my heart in the same breath.¡±


    Len¡¯s smile grew exponentially as he recalled the event. Man, I did not take Len for such a romantic. I thought about Lirae, the green elf lady and the primary reason for spending the first week here hidden. I couldn''t blame him for falling for her, she was probably the most stunning woman I¡¯d ever seen. But in my eyes, she was nothing but a pretty vessel filled with hate. I felt that contempt every time she interacted with me. Even if it was only twice, her raging eyes told me everything. Yet if that vessel were filled with love and joy, I doubt any male alive would be able to resist. Len was clearly no exception in that regard.


    Len¡¯s smile lessened and he continued his story.


    ¡°We hadn¡¯t spoken a single word, but our teamwork was undeniable; we followed each other''s movements to near perfection. Each monster that dared soar near was met with flames or vines. No exceptions. But even for all of our exceptional prowess, the legions themselves weren¡¯t doing so well. Only half of the ballistae had been set up, and they would have no chance of defeating the boss without all of them. So I did something stupid. Incredibly stupid.¡±


    He turned back to me and leaned against the window sill. ¡°I¡¯d just gotten the ability Flame¡¯s Fiery Waltz, my flying ability, a month before and barely had much control over it. But somebody needed to slow the attack, give the ballista squads more time. I ignited my feet and flew up to the boss.¡± Len closed his eyes and shivered. ¡°I can still hear the wings beating. Slow yet powerful. Their wind pressure threw me off course more than a few times. I stared into the beast¡¯s black eyes, challenging it. And it responded with a shriek that blew out both my eardrums. I nearly fell from the sky right there. But I stayed strong thanks to M¡­my hours of practice.¡±


    Len coughed and cleared his throat again. That¡¯s twice now. What is he hiding? Or, from the sounds of it, who?


    ¡°With my challenge accepted, I flew off in the opposite direction of the ballistae, and thank the First Ones above, it chased after me. Fire and talons clashed in the sky. We traded blows, its slicing wind tore through my armor and my flames singed its feathers. Our battle went on for minutes. Many archers and a few ballistae attempted to assist me, but the bolts and arrows were deflected immediately. Such a creature needed to be overwhelmed by a constant onslaught of attacks, not just a few potshots. Or, even simpler, to be grounded. That was my goal, if I could just take out a single wing, the battle would turn in our favor immediately.¡±


    Len raised his hand and flames swirled around it. His eyes raged.


    ¡°Eventually, I had worn down the beast, but it had done the same to me. One of its wings burned with my flames, and I put everything I had into fanning that fire. Such focus required me to turn off my flight. Wind whistled by my ears as I fell, eyes closed, mind completely concentrating on incinerating that beast¡¯s wing. And it worked, even better than I¡¯d hoped. I reopened my eyes to see that every feather was aflame. Seeing its body burning, I let my mind rest for a single moment, which was a moment too soon. One of its talons shot out, slicing right into my side and then down towards my leg. It nearly took the damn thing off.¡±


    The flames circling his hand exploded in his palms.


    ¡°But I had won. Its body crashed into the earth and every able bodied fighter swarmed the Hawken¡¯s body, stabbing, slicing, cutting, pounding whatever body part they could get to. I extinguished the flames so that they wouldn¡¯t be burned, but my strength failed. I could no longer activate my flying ability. So I closed my eyes, accepting my fate. But as you can clearly see, that wasn¡¯t the end for me. I landed not on hard earth, but in the soft petals of a giant red flower. The last thing I saw before I passed out was that wondrous red hair.¡±


    He stopped talking and basked in the memory for a time. I shifted in my seat. It was a cool story, but I didn''t see how it answered any of my questions. ¡°That¡¯s great, Len, but what does it have to do with Fountain Massacre or even Ferals for that matter?¡±


    He blinked away the memories, then rested his gaze on me. ¡°We are getting there, let an old man reminisce in the fond parts of a dark tale, will you.¡± He said as he walked back to his desk, sitting in his chair.


    ¡°I woke up a week later in the Capitol Building infirmary, to the same sight that I had fallen asleep to. Still dazed, I reached out and caressed that beautiful hair. And received a smack across the face. Lirae is very fond of her hair, you see, and none were permitted to stroke it without her express consent.¡±


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    I squinted my eyes at him. ¡°I kind of think that¡¯s true for everybody.¡±


    ¡°Shut it.¡± He said, rolling his eyes before continuing his tale.


    ¡°After the slap heard by the entire floor, we both gave apologies and introduced ourselves. Then we kept talking. And talking. We chatted about anything and everything until the wee hours of the morning. She was the daughter of the head of the Laurellen household, the most direct descendants of the First One, Laurel herself. She was being groomed to be the next Mayor of Laurelhaven at the time.¡± His soft grin returned.


    ¡°Our chats continued throughout my entire recovery. I regaled her with tales of Tiamantis, of my past, and why I was there. Anything and everything. She told me of Laurel Haven, its people, its culture, and food. Then onto her family. She, too, knew hardship and loss. She lost her husband two years earlier to a raid not unlike the one we¡¯d both survived. The hurt on her heart wasn¡¯t completely healed. But the pain dissipated from her eyes as soon as she spoke about her son. The very light of her life, Laurence. The pride and joy in her face was positively mesmerizing when she spoke of him.¡±


    Len¡¯s eyebrows wiggled. ¡°And as you can probably tell, those talks blossomed into passion between the two of us.¡± An incredibly pervy smile grew on his face. ¡°So much passion. Mmm.¡± He moaned slightly.


    ¡°AHEM.¡± I cleared my throat, trying to refocus the man before it got any weirder.


    Len shook his head in a single rapid motion. ¡°Yes, right, sorry about that.¡± He smiled awkwardly. ¡°After a few more nights in the infirmary, I was released. Lirae took me everywhere around the city. Her favorite restaurants, her favorite stores, her favorite park in the Upper City. I met Mr. Warbler on that first trip around the city. She then invited me into her home, where the Laurellens welcomed me with open arms. Defeating a boss single handed landed me immediate favor among the elites in the city. I was offered a Legion right then by her father. I accepted, though admittedly I didn¡¯t care all that much at the time. I was too busy trying not to make a fool of myself. It was my first interaction with highborne like them. I met Laurence soon after, when he returned from Legion training. That bright boy was a monster killing machine, even at the age of sixteen they gave him his own squad.¡±


    I furled my brow. ¡°Wait sixteen, how old was Lirae? How old is he now?¡± I blurted out.


    ¡°Oh, fifty something at the time, maybe. She is well into her seventies now. And before you say it. Elves stop aging around thirty, then rapidly age once they hit a hundred.¡±


    ¡°Still, she must have been robbing the cradle with you. You¡¯re what, fifty?¡±


    ¡°Eh, age is but a number after twenty years.¡± He said with a shrug.


    Definitely not a creepy thing to say. But I guess he was the babe in this scenario. I pondered it for a moment. Nah, still a bit odd.


    ¡°Stop that.¡± Len said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Whatever thought that¡¯s ruminating in your mind, ruining my beautiful love story.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come off it. What happened next?¡± I found myself still annoyed he hadn¡¯t even mentioned Ferals yet, but also totally drawn into the story.


    ¡°I began to train Laurence. He had an elemental gene, like myself. Ice. Our elements may have been polar opposites, but many of the tips and tricks I learned applied universally to us elementals. And seeing as elemental genes were rare in Laurelhaven, it was the perfect fit. So I shirked my duties as a Legion Commander and member of the council, choosing instead to focus on my budding relationship with Lirae and Laurence. I practically lived in the Laurellen family home, passing the days teaching Laurence, the nights warmed by Lirae. Eventually, Lirae and I married, and I adopted Laurence as my son. It was a rocky road for a minute. Laurence could be as stubborn as his mother and would only accept the best man for her. But as he fought in raids more and more, he came to accept me and I came to love him like a trueborn son. Each day filled with more happiness than the last.¡±


    Len¡¯s warm smile melted into a frown, his eyes grew misty. ¡°But it didn¡¯t last. One raid, where a number of fire attuned monsters packed the field, spawned during the middle of my third year of my marriage. Mine and Lirae¡¯s abilities were both inadequate for such a battle, which led Laurence to feel as if he needed to triple his own efforts. As to make sure the Laurellen name stayed strong in the eyes of the legionnaires. He was severely injured by the boss. His recovery was long, but successful in the end. Except for the havoc it wreaked on his Aura. Us elementals already have volatile Auras, so his became a mess that simple mediation could not fix.¡± He wiped his eyes, then looked up at me.


    ¡°Tell me, Liam, do you know anything about the Gloom? Why it exists?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Remember our talk out in the Forest, when you thought I stole from you and your Aura spiked as you threatened me. And I stamped it back down with my own.¡±


    How could I forget such a terrifying experience? That sensation shook me to my core. ¡°Yes, hard to forget when you think your soul is about to be squeezed out of your body.¡± I answered.


    Len nodded. ¡°Apt description. But that anger, that violence you desired, is an example of Aura imbalance. I forcibly fixed it, but it''s a dangerous method. You could have gone completely out of control had I failed. No, there are far safer ways to rebalance. Meditation is the simplest and longest lasting salve, but not many have the patience for it. And the Gloom¡¯s solutions are much more pleasurable, though short lived. See after fighting and wielding a monster gene for a certain amount of time, those impulses we have as a result of the gene, the hoarding desire for you, the hunger for me, threaten to throw your Aura out of whack. But according to the First One¡¯s teachings, indulging in those desires in a controlled environment will alleviate the tension and rebalance the monster inside.¡±


    ¡°So those shops along the main street in the Gloom, the brothels and bars, aren¡¯t just there for a good time.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yep, each light on a shop corresponds to an impulse. Red for sensual activities, Blue for bars, yellow for fight clubs. The list goes on.¡±


    ¡°So it''s like drinking a small poison to counteract a larger disease.¡±


    Len bobbed his head side to side. ¡°Not a terrible analogy. But back to why I bring this up. Lirae brought in the best of the best in Aura manipulators and meditation specialists to right Laurence¡¯s Aura. They made little progress. I knew the solution.¡±


    ¡°The Gloom Stores.¡± I said, the words drifting from my mouth.


    ¡±Yes, I wasn¡¯t about to let my son turn without trying everything. And like me, he had the desire to consume. So I took him to one of the green flame stores, in disguise and without Lirae¡¯s consent while she was busy with council responsibilities. Such establishments were beneath the noble families. She would never have agreed to taking him to such a place, instead bringing in more futile manipulators. He ate and ate for hours, until he finally regained his composure. We were both ecstatic about his recovery. I asked for the barkeep and whoever the cook was so that I could thank them properly. The store was run by a father daughter duo. I shook the Reptan half elf father¡¯s scaled hand and dropped a whole three raids worth of earnings in his palm. The man was positively ecstatic about the pay. I turned to Laurence, to tell him to thank the man. However, not a single word I said got through to him. His eyes only focused on one thing in the room.¡±


    The gears in my brain began to turn, piecing together the rest of the story. ¡°He was staring at the girl.¡± I said.


    Len nodded. ¡°Aye, the girl. I looked into his eyes and saw the same fire mine had when I was with his mother. He¡¯d fallen hard for the girl. She was a Foxen gene girl. Pretty face framed by long sandy blonde hair and a bushy tail that matched. Laurence was enamored right then and there. I rushed us out of the store once some soldiers I recognized walked in. Upon reaching home, we decided to keep our trek a secret. I advised him to not go back, else we¡¯d both feel his mother¡¯s wrath. But you probably understand the fickle nature of a young man in love.¡±


    He leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°Every moment he wasn¡¯t training, he spent in the Gloom chasing after Lisse, that was her name. I will give the girl credit, she was sweet, but a spitfire as well, and from the stories he told me, too much for a young man like Laurence to handle. But that didn¡¯t stop him, it made him push even harder.¡±


    Len rubbed his face. ¡°Then I did the one right thing I never should have. I told his mother the truth. Guilt ate me up inside. Lirae loved and trusted me, so she never once asked how exactly her son got better. She deserved to know the truth. So one night, months into her son¡¯s dalliance, I bared it all. She was hurt, forced me out of the bedroom for a week even. Yet she was still grateful her son was healed, no matter the dubious methods to get him there. She of course had people spy and learn everything there was to learn about her son¡¯s first love. And that led to her discovering the one fact about Lisse that made her an impossible match for Laurence.¡±


    I sighed, already knowing what that fact was.


    ¡°She was a Feral.¡± I said plainly.


    ¡°Yes, yes she is.¡±

 91. A Crimson Fountain

    Len¡¯s words hung in the air for a moment. Len turned his head down, attempting to hide a pained look that stole across it. He sighed while he rummaged around in one of the drawers of the desk. My guess was that he wanted to take a moment before he continued his story, preparing himself for its final and most likely somber end. Len pulled out a piece of the tough jerky tucked away in what I assumed was Jaren¡¯s snack drawer. He held one up to me. I shook my head. ¡°No thanks.¡±


    Len shrugged and munched on a piece of the way too leathery food. Len chewed on the meat with a blank stare. I wasn¡¯t sure exactly what was going through his head.


    I of course couldn¡¯t stop my mind from cooking up its own version of the tale¡¯s end. Vines ripping and tearing through the Gloom, slithering around until they found their master¡¯s prey. The Feral who dared to steal her son¡¯s noble heart. Ending with the girl locked up in the gargantuan tree in Laurelhaven¡¯s center, if not worse.


    Then, with a large gulping sound bringing me back to my senses, Len turned back to me. ¡°Sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°All good.¡± I said.


    ¡°Right, where was I?¡± Len asked.


    ¡°Lirae found out about Lisse¡¯s Feral origins.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it''s funny.¡± Len said with a small, tired grin. ¡°I bet you already concocted a version of what happened next. And with all of your experiences with Lirae, a violent one too I bet.¡±


    I scratched the back of my head and gave an awkward smile. He nailed it. Len laughed it off.


    ¡°Can¡¯t blame you, kid. That sweet woman I once loved is long gone now. But no, it didn¡¯t get violent then. You see back then, the Feral population in the Gloom had more liberties than they do now. Some even worked their way out of that place and into more respectable positions. Some found jobs in the Merchant district and others joined the Fourth Legion, the only legion that allowed them. Jaren was but a pup at this point, but his predecessor focused more on merit than all else. So his soldiers'' origins didn¡¯t bother him. Cranky old bastard though.¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°But that¡¯s not pertinent. What I¡¯m getting at is that they had it much better than they do now, they could get citizenship the same as yours. I¡¯ll admit it wasn¡¯t perfect or even good, but an improvement. And Lirae was actually in charge of the Feral relations. She spent many days in the Gloom, working with them, even advocating for them on the council.¡±


    That tidbit of knowledge had my eyes open wide. ¡°Really?¡± I asked in shock.


    Len nodded his head knowingly. ¡°Yep. Tough to believe, I know. But that¡¯s the First One¡¯s honest truth. She didn''t immediately confront Laurence about the girl. She thought it was just a simple fling. Nothing new to a family as old and esteemed as theirs. And that Feral girl''s actions had saved her son. So in her eyes, she could let her son¡¯s¡­recreation slide. However, I saw the truth in my son¡¯s eyes. Laurence was hopelessly in love with Lisse. I should know, my eyes looked the exact same when it came to his mother.¡±


    Len scoffed with an expression of pride.


    ¡°Not only that, Laurence was fighting and training harder than ever before. Such things happen to men who have found something to fight for, to protect. And fight he did. He flew through the ranks of the Second Legion. Making it up to a Squad Sergeant, a step beneath Daila, at the young age of twenty-one. I kid you not when I say this, he¡¯d be much stronger than me by now if he hadn¡¯t¡­¡± Len¡¯s eyes closed. He inhaled through his nose, forcing his way through the memories, and moved along.


    ¡°It was the eve of his promotion. Most of the council was there, currying favor with the family of the soon to be Mayor and her son who was rapidly climbing up the Legion ladder. That¡¯s when Laurence made the announcement that shook the entire city.¡±


    ¡°Marriage with Lisse?¡± I asked, knowing it was the only answer that made sense.


    Len nodded. ¡°Yes. He brought Lisse out in an absolutely stunning dress and had her eat among the city elites. An unfathomable thing to do. You could hear a pin drop in that room. Everyone knew of Laurence¡¯s many trips to the Gloom. You can¡¯t stop gossip among those types. But to marry a Feral. Unthinkable. Yet it was Lirae, the soon head of the Laurellen household, who did an even more ghastly act. One that will land you bloody in a bed of thorns if you ever spoke about it in front of her.¡±


    I held my mouth with my hand, engrossed. ¡±What did she do to the poor fox-girl?¡±


    ¡°She walked over to the terrified Lisse,¡± Len paused, letting the suspense build.  ¡°Raised her arms¡­¡± I held my breath. ¡±and wrapped the girl in a hug.¡±


    My lungs released all the air built up in them.


    ¡°Lirae accepted a Feral to be her daughter-in-law. There was certainly a large amount of push back from the city elites. Such an act would lead to untold events, but one thing was for certain. It would be nothing but a boon for Feral¡¯s. Such a marriage would allow Lisse the rights of a full citizen of Laurel. And that meant others would follow. Which some rejoiced about, but the majority despised. You know firsthand how the citizens feel. It wasn¡¯t as vehement as it is now, but there wasn¡¯t much love for Ferals. More tolerance, if anything.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I had to teach that Zaner ass-hat some freaking tolerance.¡± I said under my breath, a chip firmly placed on my shoulder.


    ¡°Yep, good job by the way. But back to my story. The months following the announcements flew by. Lirae did her best to get to know Lisse, and though it was a struggle at first, she came to accept the girl. But even with everything looking up, something bothered me. We knew nothing about her family. Even when I asked Laurence about it, he gave me nothing but that they came from a village far out in the Forest, and they were very close.¡±


    ¡°Lostock?¡± I mused.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one. My family was happy, healthy and growing. I should have felt content. I tried to ignore the feeling, but my intuition never failed me, so I dove a bit deeper into Lisse and her family.¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°What did you find?¡±


    Len sighed. ¡°Nothing good, I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯ve left it out thus far, but not all of the distaste for Ferals is completely unfounded. Even back then, they attacked caravans and stole gear from our dead after raids.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Life out in the wild is tough, you know that. Think back on how you lived out there. Now imagine you had children to look after. Men and women with no fighting abilities, with terrible primary and detrimental stats who can¡¯t defend themselves.¡±


    I pondered his words for a moment. ¡°That would suck.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it does. They''re strong people, but they lose many to the monsters out there. And when they look at a city thriving close by, the temptation is far too great. And that leads to jealousy. Which breeds hate.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t they just join the city? It''s been bothering me for some time now. Laurel gets slammed by these raids every month, why would you turn away more fighters? Sure, you get some more mouths to feed as well, but it doesn¡¯t look like Laurel¡¯s hurting.¡± I said.


    Len rubbed his forehead. ¡°It¡¯s how it is. I can¡¯t give you a satisfying answer. It''s been this way for hundreds of years. All the way back to when the First Ones walked Kniyas.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty damn stupid.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t disagree.¡±


    I cracked my knuckles, annoyed at the way of this world. I shook my head. ¡°What else did you find?¡± I asked after I calmed down.


    ¡°More than I wanted. And worse, I learned it all too late.¡± Len said with a sullen expression. ¡°My investigation led to a group of Ferals who were all together very unhappy with their lot in life. A small group that was responsible for almost all of the crimes against Laurelhaven. They worked out of this village, but also had some people inside the city. They called themselves the Naturals. A group who believed they should rule Kniyas, for they actually lived amongst its wilderness. That we citizens, pampered babes in their eyes, hid behind our walls, never actually becoming a part of Kniyas.¡±


    Wow, was not expecting a cult. I wondered if this group had anything to do with the Ferals Ranj spoke of briefly.


    ¡°I spent my time not training or raid fighting, digging deeper into this group. They hid themselves well, extremely well, I never even learned of their leader. I had to pause the week of Laurence¡¯s wedding. Many trips to various shops with Lirae, she wanted to make sure everything was perfect for her son. She wanted to use the top of the Capitol Building as the venue, but Lisse was adamantly opposed. Laurel¡¯s Fountain was the only place for her. Lirae didn¡¯t have a problem with it.¡±


    ¡°What is Laurel¡¯s Fountain?¡± I asked.


    Len chuckled unexpectedly at my question. ¡°You saw it last night, my boy.¡±


    My brow furled, and I thought about last night¡¯s trip. Then the image of a broken and dried up fountain with the decrepit tree at its center popped into my head. ¡°That dried up and nasty fountain square?¡± I asked, shocked.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one. But it was once possibly the most beautiful sight in the city. The tree shone brighter than any star in the morning light as crystal clear water poured from its branches. The cleanest and most delicious water as well. It was said to be made by Laurel herself, by a magic long lost to her children. We¡¯ve no idea the tree¡¯s true name, but it was a sacred monument to Feral and Kniyan alike. A perfect place for such a momentous union between the two.¡±


    I had a hard time believing it, but with no real reason to doubt him, I tried to picture the divine fountain.


    ¡°Then the day of the wedding came. Most of the guests were the upper crust in Laurelhaven society, as well as a number of Ferals. No legionnaires however, only immediate family was relieved of such duties for events like this.¡±


    Len took a slow and stuttering breath. ¡°The two looked so wonderful together, standing in front of the fountain, each in their pure snow white outfits. Like Laurel herself came down from on high and blessed the two. Lirae and I watched from the furthest seats, as customary in weddings of Kniyan elites, an act of letting the children go. But Ferals parents sit up close. So Lisse¡¯s father sat in the front row. And that was the lethal mistake.¡±


    Len¡¯s fists balled up so tightly, flames danced around his head. Heat filled the office. I worried he was about to burn the building down.


    ¡°That snake stood up right in the middle of the wedding and yelled out words I will never forget: It is time for this farce to end, and the true rulers reclaim their rightful place. Lirae and I rose from our seats in confusion, and tried to make our way to the front. But we were stopped. A group of Feral splicers burst from the surrounding buildings. Dark black mist covered the immediate area, blocking mine and Lirae¡¯s vision. Then screaming. So much screaming. Not like the screams from a battlefield. Those would never have given me and Lirae, battle hardened veterans, such pause. No, it was the screams of innocent lives. People would not fight for themselves.¡±


    Len¡¯s flames roared even more as he recounted the day.


    ¡°Lirae, myself, and the handful of guards that attended focused our attention on the attack. Once we slayed a few attackers, I shot into the sky, to check on the bride and groom. That''s when I saw Lisse¡¯s father and Laurence battling in the air. Large blood stains painted Laurence¡¯s clothes. Laurence only recently learned his flight powers, it''s something universal with elemental splicers. But his opponent was an old hand, apparently. Lisse¡¯s father faked his gene trope. We¡¯d all assumed he was just some reptile, but he was in fact a storm elemental. I could tell by the lighting arcing across his face and eyes. And an incredibly strong one at that. I cursed myself. How could I have not known a man nearly as strong as myself walked the Gloom.¡±


    Len paused for a moment.


    ¡°Without hesitation, I flew as fast as I could to help my child against his foe. Ice encrusted Laurence¡¯s wounds, and he shot out spears of ice at the man, none landing. Yet that was his plan, Lisse¡¯s father never turned around to see the giant ball of ice hurtling toward him. My son had a chance to win. Until a scream roared out. STOP! A simple request from his bride stayed Laurence¡¯s hand. Laurence turned to look at Lisse. Then, right before my eyes, I watched as my lightning burst through my son¡¯s chest. His body seized in the sky, then he fell.¡±


    Len released his grip. The flames died down.


    ¡°A shriek pierced through the sky. Lirae, standing on a large flower, watched as her son fell to the ground. Rage and hatred flowed through my veins. The electricity covered man yelled out in victory. He turned to me, no doubt about to give some useless speech. He couldn¡¯t speak, however. For his head was already ash. The body fell into the fountain, blood polluting its sacred water. Lirae held Laurence¡¯s body, tears streaming down her face. He was gone.¡±


    Len¡¯s eyes watered.


    I wanted to say something, but no words came to me.


    ¡°I tried to embrace Lirae, but her thorns pushed me back. You did this. She said those words to me, and they tore me apart inside. I turned back to the mist covered fountain square just as it began to clear. A saw that every guest, Feral of citizen, was dead. Even the guards. The whole square held nothing but bloody remains. Lirae turned and saw it as well. Her people, the ones she was meant to lead and protect, lied dead before her. And that¡¯s when she snapped. She wailed. The roots of the fountain¡¯s holy tree shot out from the ground, surrounding her and her baby boy. My own rage burst out of me, and I directed it at that fountain. My flames split the tree right down the middle. And the water stopped flowing.¡±


    Len said, as a single tear fell from his face.

 92. Half Truths

    Len wiped his face, all traces of water evaporated by the time his hand moved to his chin. ¡°And that¡¯s the story. A lot to take in.¡± He said.


    I relaxed into the chair, just now realizing how close to the edge of the seat I was. A lot isn¡¯t even half of it. More contemplation was needed to sort through my thoughts on the matter. It shed some light on the Feral position, sure. How some of the hate was earned, but that was clearly just a symptom of a larger issue. But the entire Feral population didn¡¯t deserve it. From the sounds of it, only a small minority actually planned the terrorist act.


    I couldn¡¯t help but think about how similar it was to back on Earth. But people will be people no matter what. One charismatic and, in this world¡¯s case, literally powerful leader will win over a group and that group will follow with blind devotion. Being so oppressed by the ruling entity made recruiting for those Naturals that much easier.


    But I wasn¡¯t ready to make any sweeping claims about it. Ferals were definitely the group being hurt the most here, that¡¯s for certain. One thing about the story nagged at me though.


    ¡°What happened to Lisse? The bride.¡±


    Len shrugged. ¡°No idea, she was gone by the time Lirae and I calmed down. And with us being the last living guests of that wedding, we had no one to ask. I know she left the city, probably went back to the Feral village. And it¡¯s well hidden, nobody knows where it is except for them. And the Ferals will die before revealing anything. Lirae can tell you all about that.¡± Len¡¯s eyes hardened before he finished speaking. ¡°But I will find it.¡±


    ¡°That why you made the Explorer¡¯s Guild?¡± I asked.


    Len chuckled at my question, his face returning to the baseline grin he normally wore. ¡°Nope, it was made because of something else. But no gonna lie, it¡¯s on the docket.¡±


    ¡°Alright, oh one other thing¡ª¡±


    CRASH!


    We both turned our attention to the loud crashing sound that went off on the floor beneath us. Len rolled his eyes. ¡°Ah, took him longer than I expected.¡± Len looked at me. ¡°Hate to be you right now.¡± He reopened up his notebook.


    Loud stomping boomed up the stairs and through the hallway, stopping right at the office doors.


    ¡°JAREN! I swear to Tiamat, if your boots so much as touch my doors I will melt them to your ass!¡± Len yelled through the office.


    After a brief moment of silence, the door opened slowly, peacefully even. Which was in complete contrast to the bald half elf¡¯s face. Jaren, pissed off, stomped right up to me. ¡°Why the shit are you not at the Barracks right now?¡±


    I sunk into my chair for a second. Then memories of last night floated across my brain. I recalled why I came to the guild in the first place. I swallowed down. ¡°Because I¡¯m still figuring out if I even care to fight in your bloody legion.¡±


    ¡°What the hell does that mean? You¡¯re signed up, ain¡¯t no turning back now. What one little scuffle with Zaner got you running scared? Thought there was more to you than that. Guess fucking not.¡±


    His words burned in my ears. They reminded me of how drill sergeants from old war movies were portrayed. And yet they still did their job. Self-righteous anger flared up in my chest. ¡°No, Sir.¡± I replied with venom. ¡°I¡¯m figuring out if this piece of shit city is worth my time. And if you heard right, I demolished that horned dipshit. He had to nap the whole day away. And besides, it''s not like any real training¡¯s going to get done. Your legion seems to have some problems with me and where I came from. Why should I bother wasting my time?¡±


    Jaren¡¯s face twitched at my response, a snarl forming on his lips. His bright green serpent-like eyes almost glowing. ¡°Who do you think you are, you upstart little brat? Everything we¡¯ve given you not enough, that it?¡± His knuckles popped. I stood up to match this man¡¯s energy. I knew I couldn¡¯t take him, but damn if I wasn¡¯t gonna try. A nice Ursa Rage would probably do me some good, clear out my brain a little.


    Len rose from his chair before either of us could say another word. He slammed his hand on the desk. ¡°Cut it out now! Or you will both be leaving with fresh burn scars.¡±


    Len turned to Jaren. Jaren met his eyes. Len shook his head firmly.


    ¡°Fine. But if he skips two days, he''s done. Plans be damned. You might not take your duties as a Legion Commander seriously, but I do. Slackers and deserters get no quarter from me.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Jaren turned and left the room in a huff, almost slamming the door behind him. Len sparked a fire right next to the large half elf as he held the door.


    Len sat down, rubbing his forehead. ¡°It''s probably best if you stick around here today. I¡¯ll explain stuff to him later. I¡¯d suggest training out back. No matter what you decide, training will always help.¡±


    ¡°Not sure if that is a great idea. I really, really feel like smashing something to pieces. And from what Fennel told me, those are pretty expensive.¡± I said back.


    Len chuckled. ¡°Take on a Tier six, you won¡¯t think that for long. Here I get one started for you.¡± Len waved his hand. A small sigil sparked into the air. ¡°Have at it.¡±


    I walked out the door, stopping before I went through. There was something else I needed to say. ¡°Thanks for the story. I¡¯m sorry for making you relive it.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    I turned back but stopped once more. ¡°Oh yeah, I had one other question, before stompy came in.¡±


    Len looked up from his notebook. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the most enchanting thing? You said Lirae was the second, what''s the first?¡±


    Len stiffened at the question, his pen dropping on to the book. He picked it back up and looked down at his journal. ¡°It was the day I first laid eyes on my daughter. But that story is much longer and you have a mannequin to demolish.¡±


    I nodded once and left the room. ¡°Yep, you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    Liam closed the door. Len continued writing in his notes, messing up several times as memories reformed in his mind. He picked up the notebook once Liam was outside of the building. He knew deep down he couldn¡¯t be mad at the boy for asking that question. Liam didn¡¯t know that tale was liable to have Len accidently incinerate the whole guild, if not a portion of the Academy District.


    He held the notebook in one hand, looking over the minor mistakes, then torching it completely. Better it than the building. He wouldn¡¯t miss that journal, it was a contingency anyhow.


    He heard a snicker come from the corner of the room, near the ceiling. Unnatural shadows filled the corner. A pair of gray bat ears poked out from blackness as it melted away, revealing his old friend and confidant.


    ¡°Really sugar coated that story. Left out some of the truly juicy bits.¡± Mel spoke as she floated down from her perch. ¡°Like how I saved your ass from that raid boss. My back still hurts from shoving you out of its grasp you know.¡± Mel tweaked her back in mock pain. She smiled. ¡°Or the truth behind the battle with Grisse. How you burned down an entire city block along with that bastard. A week after the wedding.¡±


    ¡°Enough Mel. He doesn¡¯t need the specifics. And I¡¯m not proud of that fact. I try not to make light of those casualties.¡±


    ¡°And yet your words ring hollow for some reason. It was their base of operations. I don¡¯t think he¡¯d blame you. They killed your son after all. And destroyed your marriage too. Why hide such a beautiful act of destruction?¡±


    ¡°I think the brutality inflicted on the innocent families who lived above the base would raise his eyebrows however.¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°Gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet.¡±


    Len pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Why must everyone try their damnedest to give me a headache today?¡±


    ¡°No fun otherwise.¡± Mel said, grabbing some jerky from the desk drawer.


    ¡°Any news from the Gloom?¡± Len asked.


    ¡°Not last night. I had to watch your proteges¡¯ little rooftop date, remember? They got lucky that it was the guard captain that raided the den. But about the other stuff.¡± Mel¡¯s voice lost its jesting tone. ¡°No doubts about Feral involvement with the break in. Found the alchemist who made the bomb. Some loon who once worked for the Capitol Labs. All materials sourced from the slum lord Mort himself. He¡¯s talking more and more with the unhappiest of the Ferals. The new girl¡¯s actually been some help on that front. She¡¯s got a knack for being in the right place at the right time.¡±


    Len laughed. ¡°Doubt she¡¯d agree. I knew you¡¯d take a shine to her.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go planning the training schedules yet. She¡¯s still greener than a Reptan¡¯s hindquarters. But she¡¯s got chops. She¡¯s got another meet up with Mort himself this evening I plan to listen in on.¡± Mel said.


    ¡°That all?¡± Len asked.


    ¡°Nah, found the bodies of that wall squad. Want me to leave a tip with your man Herman?¡±


    Len pondered her words. ¡°No, let me sit on that one for a day. Will he find it?¡±


    ¡°Not a chance.¡± Mel replied. ¡°Those Ferals are damn good at hiding their tracks. I only found the spot because one of their new members slipped up. Which is the other thing. Their numbers are growing. Faster than last time. It looks like the story you told earlier may be repeating itself.¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I¡¯d have more for you if I didn¡¯t have to worry about babysitting.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye Mel, get some sleep.¡± Len said, shooing the bat woman away.


    She disappeared back into her shadows.


    Like last time. He thought about that terrible day again. ¡°Letting Lisse go might have been a mistake.¡±

 93. Forms of Distraction

    An insane pressure bore down on my ribs. My foe managed to trip me and then climbed on me. Its two large, blocky teeth snapped at my face. I raised my leg, placing it under the center of its stomach. I kicked up, tossing it over my body, then rolling up and slammed down on its upturned belly. With as much force as I could muster, I tore through the flesh of my attacker.


    Or at least that¡¯s what went through my head as I tore off the wooden chest plate of the mannequin I was battling. With the construct¡¯s protection ripped off, my large black claws aimed for the bright blue core in the center of the faux-beast¡¯s torso. The mannequin shuddered, then fell to the ground, defeated.


    Heaving, I scrambled off the mannequin¡¯s body and looked over it again.  Who would have thought it? A hippo monster. Wasn¡¯t expecting that. I walked around it, imagining what the actual monster this thing is based off of looks like. I don¡¯t know why, but I kept coming back to a large hippo swimming through sand. ¡°Hmm.¡± After pondering for a minute longer, I let the issue drop.


    I reverted out of Ursa form, hopping up and sitting down on the hippo¡¯s back. My eyes scanned the guild¡¯s backyard, and at my handiwork. Six other mannequins laid around the place, two in a worrying number of pieces that I desperately hoped were easily reassembled. ¡°Maybe a bit too far.¡± I breathed to myself, laying down on the incredibly uncomfortable wooden creature, but it was good enough for now.


    Just as I went to close my eyes, a ding went off in my head. A notification popped up.


    [URSA PROFICIENY LEVEL UP. NOW LEVEL ¡®6¡¯]


    [GOOD JOB!]


    [Still waiting for a ¡°Thank You¡±¡­ -Tutor]


    I rolled my eyes at the snarky comment. Why should I thank her for doing her job? And there¡¯s a typo even. Part of me wanted to tell her, but in my current mood, I was liable to rant and rave at her. She didn¡¯t deserve that. I was going to give her shit about it, but when I was in a better mood and could truly enjoy calling her an idiot.


    I pulled the Ursa section of the mimic records to see the changes.


    URSA -


    Proficiency Level: 6


    Type: Beast


    Timer: 1 hour


    Stat Changes:


    STR  +21


    DEX   - 15


    AGI   + 9


    CON + 22


    INT    - 17


    WIS  + 10


    CHR  - 10


    Abilities:


    Ursa-rage:


    Put yourself into a fit of Rage. While raging, you gain a  + 10  boost in STR and CON, at the cost of - 9 to all mental stats. You also gain a 10% unarmed damage increase and a 10% damage reduction. These bonuses increase with proficiency.


    Elemental Claws:


    Pick among the elements below. Your claw attacks will gain affinity for that element. Comes with Elemental Discharge. After gathering elemental power in your claws, make a powerful attack. The type of attack and stamina costs change with element.


    Learned Behavior:


    Preflex:


    May predict where an attack will land. Chances of activation


    increase with proficiency level and wisdom. Also boosted


    when in Ursa form.


    Activation % = Proficiency + (Wisdom/ 10) rounded down +  10 (only if in form)


    Current = 8%, in form 19%


    ¡°Pretty standard. No cool adaptation this time.¡± I was happy that this practice leveled it up. After all the training I¡¯ve been doing recently, I was worried I wouldn¡¯t see any growth unless I was fighting actual monsters. I closed the Ursa tab. But before completely closing out of the character sheet, my eyes hovered on the Objects Tab of the Mimic Records, making me recall that I leveled up object mimicry to ten. Maybe it does something different now?


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Mimicry (Object) (lvl 10): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time.


    Level 10 Bonus: Expands what may or may not be mimicked. i.e. Size and Shape restrictions are lessened.


    (Recorded Entries)


    I blinked at the bonus message. ¡°Hmm.¡± I looked down at my seat, the hippo mannequin. It was approximately twice my size. I shrugged, shuffled off the thing and activated the ability.


    [SIZE INCOMPATIBLE]


    Okay, twice my size is too much. I looked around for another mannequin to copy until I caught the reptile one Fennel and I practiced with the other day. It was larger than me, but the smallest mannequin out here. Worth a shot. I activated the ability. Then my skin crawled and itched in the same manner when I shifted into a log for the first time. My hands fell to the ground as more wood protruded out of my body, ripping through a portion of my clothes and then covering me completely.


    I felt separate wooden planks and joints click together around my body. It stopped soon after and I was in my new form.


    [Mimic Entry ¡°Reptan Mannequin¡± Recorded]


    ¡°Yes! Ack.¡± I coughed along with my joyful outburst. Talking with a wooden mouth sucks, but this form made up for that ten times over. Something I wasn¡¯t able to do in any of the other object forms. I could move. I turned my wooden reptilian head to the side, inspecting my body. Sure enough, I looked just like my muse. Wooden planks creaked as I tried to twist even more. CRACK.


    Some of the slide planks jammed together when I moved too much. Made sense. It was still a wooden construct with artificial joints. Full range of motion wasn¡¯t in the cards. I took a step forward. Awesome. I walked around the field for a few minutes, getting used to the new walking style. It felt wildly unnatural to walk with four feet. Running was a disaster filled with tripping and my wooden mouth coughing up dirt.


    I wonder if I light up too. I looked up into the sky, it was late afternoon now. That test will have to wait for nighttime. After playing around in the form for a few more minutes and getting used to the abnormal form of movement, my stomach roared out. I shifted out of the awesome new form. It needed further testing to see if it could fight or if it was purely cosmetic. Pretty neat either way.


    I walked by the side of the guild and into the street, making my way towards that sandwich shop Len brought me to after the break in fight. The old, gruff fox man nodded once after I ordered three of today¡¯s specials. Karibu Beef Sliders. Sounded right up my alley.


    He was quick and quiet like last time, I pulled out the coin purse Rita gave me. It was a few bronze chips worth. I gave him a silver. ¡°Keep the change.¡± He snatched up the small coin and grunted, handing me a cloth containing my spoils.


    I swallowed one on my way back to the guild, quelling the beast inside. I wanted to make sure my stomach didn¡¯t growl while I walked through the district. Didn¡¯t need more people thinking a monster broke into the city. I had enough crap going on.


    Upon returning to the guild¡¯s front entrance, I noticed the gnomes were winding down for the day. The whole group was outside putting their tools away into bags and such. I sat down on the steps leading up to the front doors, figuring it was as good a place as any.


    I tore through the second sandwich just as quickly as the first and barely tasted it. Now determined to actually attempt to enjoy my meal, I ate the last one slowly. It was good. The meat was fresh and cooked well. Surprising considering it''s been weeks since the last raid. Are there hunting parties that go out? They don¡®t have fridges or anything like that. I shook my head. I can¡¯t believe how much I still don¡¯t know about this damn city.


    I nibbled on the side of the sandwich peacefully, or that was the goal. Yet my mind decided otherwise, it seemed. Irritation bubbled up in my head. ¡°Damn it.¡± Recollections of Len¡¯s story and my heated argument with Jaren prodded at my psyche. It was bound to happen without the distraction of tearing up mannequins and cool new powers.


    I was glad to have some illumination on the situation of Ferals and city folk, but I was still pretty torn. I didn¡¯t really identify with either side. I leaned toward the Ferals, but that was mostly out of shared mistreatment, which isn¡¯t really the bedrock to a healthy relationship with others. Not that verbal and physical abuse from the city folk was any better. Nope, quite worse in fact.


    The urge to go into log form and let its blank thoughts steal me away rose up. But a random ass log sitting on the guild steps might raise some questions. And at worst, the gnomes might think they just got some free supplies. I like to avoid saw blades wherever possible.


    I closed my eyes and ran my hands through my hair. ¡°What am I doing?¡± I said out loud.


    ¡°Skipping training, from the looks of it.¡± A young feminine voice came from the doorway behind me. I leaned further back to get a glimpse of the new arrival, albeit upside down.


    Two young people stood under the open door. I fixed myself and twisted my torso to get a better look. My eyes opened wider once I recognized them. It was the twins, the other new recruits from Fennel¡¯s squad. Though their names escaped me. ¡°Umm. Hi?¡±


    They wore the same outfits as they had yesterday, robes that denoted them as mages. The girl grinned while she stared at me, her brother looked back into the guild hall. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was avoiding me or if he was just thoroughly interested in the guild. It was a pretty cool building.


    ¡°So why¡¯d you skip? Still sore from laying a smackdown on that jerkwad?¡± The girl asked, punching her palm.


    I stood up. With my feet on the ground, the two were a bit taller than me now. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. But why are you here?¡±


    The boy turned his attention to me, bumping one of his shoulder shells on the door post.


    ¡°Dork.¡± His sister jeered.


    ¡°Shut up. We were looking for you. We asked Fennel where you were. Told us about this place.¡± The boy''s eyes darted back and forth from me to whatever was behind me.


    ¡°Yep. So we left after practice. By the way, he is pissed. Skipping training is a big no-no.¡±


    I scoffed and rubbed my forehead. ¡°Yeah, I got an earful from Jaren about it this morning already. Glad to know another is coming my way.¡±


    I looked back at the two. Both stood wide eyed.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Do you mean Jaren Holdsburn?¡± The girl started.


    ¡°Our Legion Commander?¡± The boy finished.


    ¡°Um. Yes. Why is that weird?¡± I asked.


    The two turned to each other, their faces unchanging. Both turned back to me at the same time.


    ¡°Who are you and how are you alive?¡± They asked in perfect unison.


    A small chuckle left my lips. The two squinted at the same time, then crossed their arms, giving me the same skeptical look. Which made my chuckling turn into full on laughter.


    ¡°What? Stop it.¡± The two spoke at the same time again, poking at my sides. Their pleading did nothing but make me roar even more. Gabby and Tim did the same thing when they were younger, speaking and acting in sync like that. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever experience it again.


    I calmed down after a minute¡­and a punch from the sister.


    ¡°Tawny, you didn¡¯t need to hit him.¡± The boy said.


    ¡°He stopped laughing. So clearly I did, Hait.¡± Tawny replied.


    Sweet, don¡¯t have to ask for names now. I collected myself and apologized. ¡°Sorry. You just reminded me¡­of something. But with that out of the way, can you tell me why you were looking for me?¡± I asked.


    They nodded at each other, then bowed to me.


    ¡°Thank you for saving our lives!¡± Hait, the shell covered boy, shouted out.


    ¡°We are forever in your debt!¡± Tawny, the sister, yelled after him.


    ¡°We are at your command!¡± They shouted together.

 94. Teenage Mood Swings

    Hushed whispers from a number of passersby on the street burned in my ears as they looked on at the strange spectacle. The gnomes off to the side off to the building chattered amongst themselves while peering over at me and the twins. My cheeks reddened. ¡°Quit that already.¡± I said while pushing them into the guild in a panic.


    I slammed the door shut and turned back to the twins. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Us thanking you for saving our lives and saying we are in your debt.¡± Tawny answered, pushing a lock of her long brown hair behind her slightly sharp pointed ear.


    ¡°Yeah, but did you need to shout it for the whole district to hear?¡±


    ¡°I told you it was dumb.¡± Hait said to his sister.


    ¡°Shut up. How else were we going to adequately get our feelings across?¡± Tawny said to Hait before turning to me.


    ¡°A Thank You at a normal volume and some dinner maybe. I don¡¯t know, anything other than yelling at the top of your lungs.¡± I said.


    ¡°Told you dinner wasn¡¯t a bad plan.¡± Hait mumbled to his sister.


    Tawny shook her head in defeat and shrugged. ¡°Whatever. Shouting aside, we do mean it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Both of the twins faced me, determination glinting in their eyes. ¡°We want to follow you. You saved our lives and this is the only way we feel like we can truly give back.¡±  Tawny said.


    I opened my mouth to protest. I was flattered by the idea, but with how complicated my life was at the moment I didn¡¯t want to drag others down with me, especially not some teenagers. And I was teetering on even staying in Laurelhaven right now. And what about their parents, surely they would find it strange.


    ¡°Guys, thank you. I appreciate the gesture, I really do. But I did what any splicer would that day.¡± The darker memory of that day spawned in my mind. The goat legged man I failed to save. His blood on my hands. ¡°I¡¯m nothing special.¡± I said holding back the emotion welling up inside.


    I turned back to them, expecting to see saddened eyes and slumped shoulders. Nope.


    ¡°Um. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re being humble or stupid right now. You are pretty special. Like I¡¯m not trying to blow smoke up your ass. But dude, you were green and a full foot shorter when you first saved us.¡± Tawny said, her grin resurfacing.


    ¡°And how you fought Zaner, different sets of claws growing out of your hands, a cloak of pure void, and then to finish him off with whatever that rock move was. You even had a tail at one point. It was awesome!¡± Hait said, his eyes sparkling while he recounted the battle. I scratched my cheek, not sure what to do in the face of such blatant admiration.


    ¡°How do you do it? What¡¯s your gene?¡± They asked together.


    Being fully swept up by their excitement, I gave them the rundown on my gene and powers, even hopping into Gremlin form for a spell.


    ¡°Woah¡­That¡¯s so freaking cool.¡± Tawny said, inspecting my now smaller and green body. ¡°And it doesn¡¯t hurt or anything?¡±


    ¡°Nope, nothing like that. Does it hurt when you use your powers?¡± She jumped back a few feet, a wide smile bloomed on her face. She brought her palms together, rubbing them for a second before opening them back up. A continuous stream of yellow jagged arcs streamed between her hands. She closed one hand and the electricity crackled in the other. Then she gave her brother a gnarly smile.


    ¡°No, Tawny stop¡ª¡± Hait¡¯s protest went utterly ignored as Tawny pointed the electricity filled hand at her brother. A bolt of yellow shot across the guild foyer before I could stop her. Just as I was about to activate Fight and Flight to push Hait out of the way, water poured out of the shells on his shoulders. The water flew in front of him, then stopped. It formed itself into a giant hexagon that covered the whole length of his body.


    The bolt slammed into the water the moment it fully formed the shield. The bolt shattered once it hit the water wall. A single arc passed by my head, making each strand of hair stand up on that side of my head.


    Tawny walked back over to us, hands behind her head. ¡°Nope, I feel great whenever I¡¯m shooting off blasts of electri¡ª¡± A small veil of water lifted above her mouth and then in it, completely shutting her up. I turned to Hait, he had a palm turned up and pointed at his sister.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I told you if you pulled that again I was going to drown you.¡± Hait said in an exhausted tone.


    Panic filled my chest as I watched the young girl writhe and drown on dry land, her hands frantically grasping at her mouth. ¡°Stop, you''re killing her!¡± I yelled, grabbing onto the boy¡¯s shell shoulders and shaking him.


    ¡°She''s fine.¡± He said, trying desperately to hide his amusement.


    ¡°No she¡¯s not, look.¡± I turned back and found Tawny right in my face, the water veil still covering her mouth. The water¡¯s slight movement distorted the smug grin on her face. Freaking teenagers.


    ¡°Her nose isn¡¯t blocked so she can breathe just fine. She really likes to pull that dumb prank.¡± Hait said, bringing hands back down to his side. The water from earlier rushed back into his shoulders. My head dropped down and shook. What else could I do after such a terrifying display from the two of them. Sure, Hait could waterboard a living creature with a literal flick of the wrist, but Tawny¡¯s electricity was no joke either. Why would these two want to follow me?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you guys are so interested in me. Your powers are way, way more impressive than me changing colors and growing claws. Oh and turning into barrels. Almost forgot that gem.¡± I said, unenthusiastically waving my hands in the air.


    The twins pondered on my words for a moment before answering. Hait spoke first.


    ¡°If we had to put it into words. It''s probably a combination of it all: saving our lives, your mysterious powerful gene, how cool you are with everything stacked against you.¡±


    That last one made my head tilt to the side. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Tawny chimed in for this one. ¡°A Feral who jumps blindly into one of the bloodiest raids in recent years. You could have left it alone but no. Not only do you enter the fray, you manage to push the monsters back, saving dozens if not hundreds of lives. Then you enter the city and get citizenship. It¡¯s a shake up, an upheaval even. There¡¯s a lot special about you, Liam, and we want to be a part of it. We¡¯re betting that the story doesn¡¯t end there either. We both have a hard time seeing you as just another Legionnaire. And we want in on that.¡± The two nodded at the same time, confirming each other¡¯s thoughts.


    I felt blood rush to my face, more than it had at the start of this conversation when I dragged them in here. I couldn''t find the words to reply to them. I didn¡¯t deserve the praise, half of what they said was given to me by Len or others. But how do you say that to such beaming faces? A part of me wanted to believe their words, or at least become someone deserving of their words.


    ¡°Sounds like you came to the right place then.¡± Len¡¯s voice called down from the top of the stairs.


    We all turned in time to see the man float down from the second floor. ¡°You two are most certainly correct. Liam is special, and not just your ordinary Legion soldier. He¡¯s a founding member of this Guild. Welcome to the Explorers Guild young ones.¡± Len shot off a few small explosions in his hands. Ever the one for theatrics.


    Even though I rolled my eyes at his grand entrance, the twin¡¯s faces were absolutely dazzling.


    ¡°L-Leonard Ainsworth?¡± Hait said in awe. Tawny stood stock still.


    ¡°That¡¯s me. Head of the guild and Liam¡¯s mentor, among other things.¡± He said with a wink. Tawny made the girliest squeak imaginable.


    Len walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulder, something he¡¯s never once done. I¡¯m not sure he¡¯s ever touched me for that matter. Hit me plenty of times with that damned stick, but never direct contact. I rolled my eyes as I was certain I was currently being used as a recruitment tool for a guild that isn¡¯t even ready.


    ¡°Liam, is that true? Are you the Leonard Ainsworth¡¯s apprentice?¡± Hait asked, trembling. Tawny, still starstruck, slowly turned to me as well.


    I shoved Len off my shoulder and nodded. ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°AHHH!¡± Tawny burst out. She ran up to Len and grabbed his hand. ¡°I¡¯m a huge fan Mr. Ainsworth sir. I¡¯m an elemental just like you.¡± She rolled up her robe sleeve and showed off a yellow lightning bolt that shimmered on her skin. It looked very similar to the flame one Len had. Elemental gene trope was my assumption, but what about her brother? Why the shells?


    She grabbed Hait and thrust him forward. ¡°And he has the Turtellan gene with a water manipulation focus. Not quite an elemental but still fights just like one. Could you take us under your wing?¡±


    Guess that makes me chopped liver then. It took all of one second to get over me and follow the all powerful flame mage who one-shots bosses by himself. I realized what I just thought. Never mind that tracks, I¡¯d do the same in their shoes.


    The two gushed over Len for a couple of minutes longer. I went to the guild kitchen and grabbed some water in the meantime to get away from the fangirling. I paused briefly at the wall hiding the entrance to Rita¡¯s lab. I wonder if she¡¯s made any progress on my gene? I shook my head, I had too much going on to worry about that one. And I really wasn¡¯t up for any poking or prodding today.


    I returned to the guild entrance. Len was laughing and patted the twins¡¯ backs. All signs of his earlier sour mood were gone. There was something so wholesome about the scene. Like a grandfather teasing his grandkids. It was a nice change of pace from the somberness that bothered me for the last couple of days.


    CLANG!...CLANG!...CLANG!...


    A resounding bell ring filled the air. All the brevity, the cheerfulness that once permeated the room, vanished as the third knell ended. Each face in the room turned serious. The twins walked away from Leonard who turned over to me and said one word.


    ¡°Raid.¡±

 95. Some Plans Change, Others Stay the Same

    ¡°Everyone! We move the second our full squad gets here! Make sure your gear is up to snuff and take a final trip to the Infirmary. Get topped up on health and stamina.¡± Fennel barked out from the middle of his squad hall, making sure that his squad heard him over the sounds of the alarm bells.


    Official training times ended two hours ago but most of his squad stuck around for an extended period, working on some group attack plans and such since they missed out yesterday. The squad rushed around, each member throwing away training weapons, replacing them with their true equipment.


    Fennel¡¯s head itched uncomfortably as he slid the whetstone down his sword blade. He hadn¡¯t had time to properly maintain it with all of the recent chaos in his life as of late. Yet that wasn¡¯t what truly bothered him, it was the fact that his squad had all of two days of official training. Along with the fact that it had barely been two weeks since the last raid. And a break-in in between. And of his whopping four new additions only one was a veteran legionnaire, two were total rookies that ran off as soon as training ended, and the last was a complete wildcard that nearly none of his squad trusted.


    He looked up at the weapon rack, a brand new spear sat with daggers hanging on each side. Weapons that had been delivered today expressly for that wild card. To the average soldier, the spear looked nothing of note, a bland full metal shortspear, but Fennel grew up running in and out of the family forge. He could always tell quality, and that spear definitely fit the bill. A true master smith made that black iron spear. The daggers were the opposite, shimmering faintly in the dim light of the squad hall braziers. Faint ornate designs ran along the sides of the daggers, excessive for raid weaponry. Fennel recognized the luster. ¡°Mithral.¡± He said to himself. He¡¯d only held the foreign material once in his life, after his father returned from Denndrun with a caravan filled with ore.


    Fennel shook his head, suppressing the mounting curiosity to inspect them further, and then held out his blade, checking the edge. While his blade wasn¡¯t nearly as extravagant as Liam¡¯s weapons, this basic longsword had actual battlefield experience. And Fennel knew it wouldn¡¯t fail him. As he scrutinized his work on the blade, Lukans walked up to him, a worried expression on his face.


    ¡°Cap, do we have an ETA on those last three. You know where they went, right?¡± He asked, fiddling with some arrows in the quiver at his side.


    Fennel sheathed his blade and placed his shield on his back. It clanged against his plate mail armor. ¡°Yes, shouldn¡¯t be more than thirty minutes. Are you set?¡± Fennel asked, picking up his helmet and hoping he wasn¡¯t lying. Lukans followed after him.


    ¡°Yes, the whole backline is good to go sir!¡± Lukans said with a salute, attempting to stifle his obvious worry about the impending battle. A feeling Fennel shared, but wouldn¡¯t dare speak of in the midst of his team. He needed them to be sharp and that started with him. His uncle''s words echoed in his head. Yer the head. If the head starts shaking, odds are the whole damned body will too.


    ¡°And shaking gets you and them killed.¡± He finished the teaching underneath his breath. He grabbed the handles to the large double doors leading outside. Fennel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then undid the clasp and pushed the open.


    Afternoon light poured into the squad hall. Fennel rubbed his eyes to readjust to the light. He watched as dozens of soldiers dressed in casual clothes flooded into the different buildings that made up the Fourth Legion¡¯s Barracks.


    The sound of hooves and wooden wheels filled the air at the far end of the cobblestone road. Fennel turned and saw a number of transports making their way to the camp. The wagons are here? Already? He looked back up at the other squad halls. None of the other squads were even close to ready. Not a single ready sign hung from the squads. The alarm bell only rang out five minutes ago. And it was only struck when the raid was approximately two hours away.


    ¡°Why?¡± He asked aloud.


    ¡°Maybe the scouts messed, cough, up. Raid¡¯s closer than we think.¡± A raspy feminine voice said to his left.


    Fennel shook his head. ¡°No, they don¡¯t mess up.¡± He said to the wonderful feathered woman at his side.


    ¡°They did last week.¡± She said, a strange severity in her words. Fennel wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to them, so he defaulted to the old faithful changing of subject.


    ¡°Does the squad look alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Though I can¡¯t account for all of them.¡± Gloria whispered as she avoided straining her throat, her words almost disappearing amongst the raucous sounds of preparation.


    ¡°Right, those three shouldn¡¯t be too long. And I¡¯m betting they¡¯re fine.¡±


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°But is the squad fine?¡± She asked, turning around.


    Fennel followed her gaze; the squad seemed so small. He joined A5 back when there were a full twenty soldiers. It had halved and he knew he was responsible for it. His knuckles popped as he closed his fists, the sounds hidden by the wagons that sped on by.


    Each member now sat by the door, fully geared up and readily waiting for their final members to show up so they could head out. Fennel¡¯s focus shifted to the large Minotauran who leaned up against the door, back turned away from the outside. Fennel¡¯s eyes moved to the top of the man¡¯s head. Only one of his black horns remained, the other grinded down, stopping just above the skin. Zaner surprisingly hadn¡¯t said much today. No outbursts during the training as he usually had. Maybe he finally got some sense knocked into him. Might have to thank Liam for that. If he¡¯d show up to training that is.


    One of the wagons slid to a halt behind Fennel and Gloria, drawing Fennel¡¯s attention away from his problematic frontliners. They turned and saw a man with short black hair and two tusks jutting out of his mouth hop off the stopped wagon, his chainmail armor rattling as he landed. Fennel and Gloria saluted the man. Cade Barnz, a lieutenant of the Fourth. A real hard ass but an effective and strong leader. But Fennel didn¡¯t know why he stopped at his squad hall. Daila was his direct superior, not Barnz.


    ¡°Lieutenant Barnz.¡± Fennel said, straightening out his back. ¡°Is something amiss, sir?¡± Fennel glanced behind the man. The wagon he came in on was turning around.


    Barnz stopped in front of them, hands behind his back. His dark eyes scanned Fennel and Gloria, then on to the rest of their squad hall. They fell back on Fennel. The large tusked man scoffed. ¡°Why is your sign not up Blines.¡± His eyes hard and voice firm. ¡°Your squad seems ready to go.¡±


    ¡°We are still waiting for three members, sir. Guild business.¡± Fennel answered.


    ¡°Hmm. Too bad. Gather your men. You are to move out on the double.¡±


    Fennel reached out. ¡°Sir they will only be a few minutes. I won¡¯t leave any of my team.¡± He told the lieutenant.


    Barnz head tilted and popped, his eyes squinted at Fennel. ¡°Are you disobeying a direct order? Get your team on this wagon right now. Or will I have to reprimand your entire squad?¡± The man rubbed one of his tusks while staring at Gloria. ¡°I heard Tiamantis is terrible this time of year.¡±


    Fennel bit back a retort. Barnz might not be who he answers to, but he still had to respect the officer. And his orders. He wouldn¡¯t get his whole squad punished over something like this. He¡¯d have a chance to speak with Daila before they hit the field anyway.


    Turning around, Fennel yelled out the order. ¡°A5, load up. We¡¯re moving out!¡±


    The members of the squad looked around at each other, surprise painting their faces. It didn¡¯t last long as they each lined up outside the hall, heading for the wagon that just lowered its back.


    ¡°Quickly!¡± Barnz shouted to Fennel¡¯s squad. ¡°Is your squad always so slow, Blines? Dreadful.¡± He said before returning to the front seat of the wagon. Fennel followed him, but was stopped by the lieutenant. ¡°Ah ah ah. In the back. With the rest of this squad, if you can even call it that.¡±


    Fennel shoved the rising anger down. ¡°Yes sir.¡± He said through gritted teeth as Barnz climbed up.


    He walked around the wagon, making sure everyone got in before he himself jumped in. Once he confirmed it, he got inside and pulled the wagon¡¯s back door up with the help of Lukans.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on Cap?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Not sure. But I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Okay you two, be good for Mrs. Guntha. You know the drill, you do what she says no matter what.¡± Ingrid said, patting the two kids'' heads.


    ¡°But Griddy, where are you going? You always stay with us on raid days.¡± Macie, Ingrid¡¯s young sibling, said to her.


    ¡°I know, but I have some important business that can¡¯t wait. It''s for that new job I told you about. The one letting me buy you those tasty cakes from the baker.¡± Ingrid said as she laced up her boots and tied her new cloak.


    ¡°Ooo, I love those. Can you bring us some more tonight?¡± Her little brother, Kende asked, eyes filled with the hope of future sugary bliss.


    Ingrid chuckled. ¡°Only if I hear praise from Mrs. Guntha. Now off with you.¡±


    Both of the kids beamed at the news and practically ran down the stairs leading to the decrepit building¡¯s first floor. Ingrid looked out the window. The raid alarm bell rang continuously. She pulled out the orders she was given. A note given to her by her employer a week ago.


    On the day of the raid, head straight for Mort¡¯s den. Gather recon on his movements and the movements of those he is working with. Place more attention on his guests than him. Give me descriptions of the leaders of this new group. As much detail as possible. Names, tropes, and numbers. Good Luck.


    -Toodles, Len


    Ingrid rubbed her forehead. Again with the toodles. And she was already aware of who these guests of Mort¡¯s were. She ran into them when she dropped off her final payment to the man. Ferals from around the Gloom. Not a part of Ranj¡¯s group. The misguided Ferals, or that¡¯s how Ranj put it. Ranj didn¡¯t want to use the name they¡¯d given themselves all those years ago.


    Ingrid couldn¡¯t blame her, but she wasn¡¯t nearly as optimistic as her older friend. She could see the signs. And only one group worked like they did.


    Ingrid climbed out of the window, then fell to the roof below, landing softly. She turned in the direction of Mort¡¯s hideout, a sinking feeling in her stomach.


    I hope I don¡¯t see you there, Sister.

 96. Wagon Wheels

    Symphonies of stampeding splicers roared from outside the guild hall as the alarm bell rang. I opened the front doors and was immediately greeted by the mass migration of citizens running up and down the Academy District, most heading toward the Barracks. The twins¡¯ heads popped out from behind my back, investigating the street for themselves.


    ¡°Hurry now. Out you go.¡±


    Soothing, warm flames enveloped my body along with the twins, lifting the three of us slightly and then pushing us out of the guild and onto the street. Their heat was like that of a comfortable bath as we floated onto the cobblestones. Hait and Tawny were completely awestruck by the event. Tawny¡¯s breath shallowed and sped up, poor thing nearly hyperventilating at this point. Hait was seemingly more calm, until I caught a glimpse of his wide eyed expression. The twins stayed like that for the entirety of the brief flight.


    ¡°That was¡­¡± Tawny started.


    ¡°Amazing.¡± Hait finished. Both twins checked the other¡¯s body, probably looking for any burns or singing. I did the same the first time Len used that little trick on me.


    I turned back to find Len locking the guild doors. Or that was my assumption at least. I had no clue what the bright red sigil that appeared on the doors were. It very well could have been a fire bomb trap or something like that. Which, not gonna lie, would be pretty damn cool. I kind of wanted to throw a rock at the door and see if it would go off.


    Len nodded at the crimson sigil, which then faded away as soon as he turned away. ¡°Alright, Barracks then.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡± I said, while searching for an opening in the stream of people heading in that direction. My search bore fruit as I spotted a good target a few yards away. Three very large and in charge looking men with horns strode along. Everybody gave them some space, so a small pocket opened up behind them. I pulled on the twins¡¯ arms to get their attention. ¡°Let¡¯s jump in¡­three¡­two¡­.¡±


    Len cleared his throat before I finished my countdown. ¡°Hold on.¡±


    ¡°What? You were the one who shoved us out the door in a hurry.¡± The three brutes passed right on by as I turned to the old man.


    ¡°Have you forgotten who you¡¯re with? I¡¯m a Legion Commander.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Just give it a moment. He should be here any minute.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Just hush already. I swear, the impatience of youth.¡±


    ¡°Yes and the hesitance of the old.¡±


    ¡°Churlish brat.¡±


    ¡°Ancient bum.¡±


    The twins watched as Len and I traded a few more worthless platitudes and insults about our ages with curious expressions. Their heads swiveled back and forth between the two of us, to whoever spoke last.


    ¡°Sorry, do I need to go back and get your cane? Walking gonna to be a bit too much for you?¡±


    Len¡¯s face twisted into a sinister grin. ¡°Don¡¯t need one. I already have this.¡± Flames swirled for a second next to his hand, then it appeared. The most cursed item in this twisted bastard¡¯s arsenal. The damned training stick.


    I shut up immediately upon seeing the flame mage wielding it, poised to strike my head¡­or my torso or my back or my legs. Any body part really, he didn¡¯t pick favorites when it came down to physical punishment.


    The twins snickered to each other at the obvious fear that washed over my face as Len swung the stick around, as if he was testing it.


    After a couple of minutes waiting(cowering) on the street, the sounds of what I believed were wooden wagon wheels echoed off the stone path. I turned and saw a wagon about the size of a mid size SUV being pulled by a large tanned man with horse shaped legs. It was your basic medieval wagon, wooden base with a white cloth top. It was odd that a person was pulling the cart, but it made sense. I never found a single sign of the Kinyans domesticating any monsters. Cattle didn¡¯t exist here. But I couldn¡¯t help but think it was a far too humble job. Almost slavish.


    The crowd running down the street parted ways to allow the wagon to travel uninhibited. The horse hooved man slowed down and finally stopped at the guild entrance.


    ¡°Commander Ainsworth.¡± Said the horse in a deep voice accompanied by a genteel nod.


    ¡°Gerre, how have you been? Kids doing alright?¡± Len walked over to the wagon and hopped up to the vacant driver¡¯s seat. Why does it even have a driver¡¯s seat? It''s pulled by a person.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Aye sir. The eldest just started at Academy Seven last week. Tough boy. Strong like his father.¡± Gerre answered with pride filled words. He turned over and looked at the twins and then me. ¡°Guests Sir?¡±


    ¡°Yep, come on kids. In you go.¡± Len said, waving us on.


    The wagon¡¯s back wall fell backwards, making a ramp for easy access. Passersby clicked their tongues as we climbed in. Two benches ran along the full length of the wagon. Maybe room to sit ten people if packed tight, yet more than enough for me and two teenagers. Tawny and Hait sat down on opposite benches near the front. I turned back, looking for a way to close the back ramp, but Len¡¯s flames were already lifting it.


    ¡°Lock it.¡± Len yelled from the front.


    Once his flames held the door in place, I found two large deadbolts on each side of the door and pulled them, locking the wall in place.


    ¡°Head for the Fourth my good man.¡± Len told Gerre, while I found a spot on the hard wooden bench.


    ¡°Right away Sir!¡± Gerre said, finishing with a literal neigh. My body jerked as the wagon accelerated far quicker than I thought possible from a single man¡¯s pull. But monster gene¡¯s were powerful.


    ¡°We should arrive in fifteen minutes.¡± Len said from his seat.


    I sat away from the twins, who had already made themselves busy, staring out of the wagon through small rips in the cloth top. Hait reprimanded his sister with a smack when she tore into one of those openings to make it larger. Then shamelessly joined her and looked out of the newly made window.


    I watched the two siblings bicker and prod at each other as they commented on people we passed by. Both excited beyond measure. Yet I felt nothing but anxiety as each bump shook the wagon. The realization of where we were heading finally set in. This wasn¡¯t a trip to the park. We were about to head to war. These kids were about to head to war. These two who looked like they would barely be allowed to drive back on earth are expected to fight and possibly give their lives.


    I closed my eyes, tuning them out. My thoughts turned inward as my heart began to race. Why did I just hop on in? Wasn¡¯t I on the fence about this whole raid business? What am I doing? Shit, I trained with our squad for all of one day.


    ¡°Liam, join me up front.¡± Len¡¯s voice carried through the wagon, bringing me back to reality.


    ¡°Can we?¡± Hait asked, his sister nodding quickly next to him.


    ¡°In a moment. I need to discuss something with Liam first.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said, standing up and balancing myself. I walked to the front of the wagon, ignoring the pleading eyes of the twins, then climbing up to the passenger seat. I looked down from the perch and saw the musclebound Gerre pulling the wagon forward, not even breaking the slightest of sweats as he ran forward. And we were moving pretty quick, probably like fifteen or twenty miles per hour.


    Len didn¡¯t say anything for a moment, his eyes squinted against the wind. He spoke when he turned his head up, looking at the nearly twilight sky. ¡°Here¡¯s hoping the sun stays out long. Night raids are rough.¡±


    ¡°I kinda figured all raids were rough.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but look back at the twins as the words came out. Len¡¯s eyes followed mine.


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t sunk in with them yet. What¡¯s actually going on. How equally chaotic and tragic the next few hours will become.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just kids, Len. I understand me being forced into this. But they can¡¯t be older than like fifteen. Are they even level five?¡±


    Len turned back, facing the road. ¡°They are actually seventeen. And yes, they are both a full level ahead of you.¡± He said with a grin.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°No way. Is it a,¡± My head spun around. Then I whispered the rest of my question. ¡°A half elf thing?¡±


    Len chuckled and then touched the tip of his nose.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about that academy you defended do you?¡± He asked.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°That was Academy Thirteen. Also known as Prodigy¡¯s Launch. Where Laurelhaven sends its best youths. Those with limitless potential. Something these two are positively brimming with.¡± He pointed behind his shoulder with his thumb.


    ¡°Laurel doesn¡¯t see many elemental mages like them often. Not very populous in the gene pool. Most like them are found in Tiamantis. And the government there is not keen on letting them go.¡±


    ¡°The government gets a say in that kind of stuff?¡± Then I realized how stupid that question was. I wasn¡¯t allowed to get married here or own property. Yes, this world¡¯s government would do something like that. ¡±Nevermind.¡±


    ¡°But I do agree with you.¡± Len said.


    ¡°They probably aren¡¯t ready for this. In fact, no one ever is. They¡¯re lying to themselves if they say they are. But that¡¯s where we, the older generation, come in. It''s part of our job, of a squad¡¯s job, to make sure we protect them while they learn what it means to fight. So put some trust in your fellow squadmates. And Fennel as well. I know he can be a bit goofy but he¡¯s a good¡­¡± Len trailed off.


    ¡°Good what?¡± I looked over to what Len fixated on. Another wagon rushed in our direction. A man with large tusks sat at the front. He gave Len a disgusted look as his wagon passed by.


    ¡°Lovely fellow. Friend of yours, Len?¡±


    Len didn¡¯t answer. All of the previous cheer left the scruffy man¡¯s face. ¡°No, no he is not.¡± Len¡¯s face twitched. ¡°Oh I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this.¡±


    We arrived in the Barracks after a silent five minutes. Len was still brooding over the brief encounter with the other wagon. Other squads ran around the camp, getting themselves ready and hopping into wagons of their own. Gerre had to slow down as other wagons filled with squads crowded the road.


    After another couple of minutes, Gerre halted in front of our squad hall. The large front doors were wide open. But something was missing.


    Tawny and Hait stuck their heads through the front and asked the obvious question.


    ¡°Where is our squad?¡±


    Sparks flew out of Len¡¯s mouth as he grinded his teeth.


    ¡°Blasted woman. Why didn¡¯t I see this coming?¡± Len rapidly tapped his foot on the floorboards. He smacked the side of the wagon. ¡°Gerre! Full speed to the launch zone. Bonus pay if you can catch up to that wagon Barnz drove on our way here.¡±


    ¡°Aye!¡± Gerre answered, skidding to a halt, then turning the wagon around. ¡°Though sadly I doubt I will be able to catch up to him. Not with all these others heading out.¡±


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Drat!¡± Len said as he rubbed his forehead. ¡°A really shitty game.¡± Literal fire flared in his eyes. ¡°One I don¡¯t intend to lose.¡±

 97. Group Planning Session

    ¡°She thinks she can outmaneuver me. The nerve of that woman.¡± Len snarled. ¡°I thought she knew me better. Assuming I¡¯ve not prepared for such a scenario. Pah.¡±


    Literal smoke poured out of Len¡¯s ears as he rummaged around the small pouch on his side. I¡¯d have loved to make some joke about Saturday morning cartoons, but, as I saw it, there were two good reasons not to make light of the current situation. One, he would not appreciate nor understand the joke, and two, I like my skin unburnt. Len was pissed and clearly in no mood for any type of humor. And I¡¯d never seen him talk to himself like this which I took to mean it was serious time.


    Len pulled out three normal sized books from the impossibly small pouch. A pouch that in no way shape or form could ever hold even one of these notebooks.


    ¡°Wha, but how?¡± I stammered, fully taken aback by the mind melting display that just happened in front of me.


    ¡°Abyss-touched pigskin. Now Hush!¡± Len said, preemptively dismissing my astonishment.


    But¡­Tardis bag¡­Bag of holding. I have so many questions, comments, and concerns. And what was that about abyss pigs? My mind whirled as Len flipped through the first journal. I¡¯ve played so many games and watched so many shows and movies that had the whole it''s bigger on the inside trope, but actually seeing it before my own eyes utterly blew me away. But I guess it did fill in some gaps about how he kept pulling crap out from nowhere.


    I turned back to look at the twin¡¯s reaction, surely I wasn¡¯t the only one surprised by this. Both of the twin¡¯s eyes sparkled as they looked at the books and Len''s fancy dimensional pig pouch. Unbridled adoration as per usual with this lot. Suppressing the rising urge to roll my eyes and sigh as loudly as possible at Len¡¯s fangirls, I shook my head and turned back, only for Len to shove one of the journals at me.


    ¡°Search for plan BG17.¡± He said without taking his eyes off his own journal for even a moment. He threw another two books at his newfound devotees. ¡°You two, find plans HE15 and JT07.¡±


    ¡°Yes Sir!¡± They replied in unison, dropping back into the wagon.


    ¡°Umm. Could you repeat that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°BG17.¡±


    ¡°Right. Uh, okay then.¡± I said whilst opening the leather bound journal. Wow, the first book I¡¯ve opened in this world. How exciting! Then a twinge of guilt and embarrassment passed by. Man that¡¯s kind of sad isn¡¯t it. I could have probably answered a lot of my own questions about Kniyas if I bothered to find books. Whatever.


    I shook the silly feeling away; I¡¯d always wanted to know what Len had been writing all this time and this was my chance. I examined the text, then rubbed my eyes for a moment. The Kniyan alphabet was a strange set of squiggly lines and circles. Lots of circles, circles inside of circles, circles overlapping, circles with lines above, underneath and struck through. Hell, English¡¯s letter ¡°E¡± was just straight up a small Venn diagram in the Kniyan alphabet. And it was just as common in Kniyan as the vowel was in English, so there were more than a few tiny Venn diagrams covering this notebook. Which didn''t help its readability.


    However, thanks to Tutor¡¯s help all those months ago, it made perfect sense. But it still tickled my brain. Add in the fact that I hadn¡¯t read damn near anything but a training note and food cart menus in the last month and you get a very out of practice reader. And Len wasn¡¯t the best penmen either. Not that I actually know what good penmanship looks like here.


    ¡°Plan BG13. Raid Tactics: In case of catastrophic¡ª Bah.¡± A strong gust of wind blew by and ruffled the pages of my book. ¡°Dang it.¡± I turned to Len to see if he was having the same issue, only to find the man in full concentration mode. His gaze fully locked in on the notebook in front of him. His eyes darted across each page for all thirty seconds then he flipped to the next and repeated the process. A small bug flew next to his face and was immediately incinerated when it touched his skin, leaving behind nothing but a small puff of smoke. Len''s fun automatic defense mechanism. Scary.


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    Now slightly annoyed with myself and jealous of that level of concentration, I crawled back into the wagon to escape the wind''s chaos. The twins sat diligently and scanned through their respective texts.


    Len¡¯s notebooks were filled from margin to margin with nothing but plans. In depth and elaborate plans on a number of scenarios, some more rational than others. Each plan got its own ten or so pages.


    BG14 - RAID TACTICS: In the Event of Jaren¡¯s Death. Okay that¡¯s dark. Next.


    BG15 - RAID TACTICS: In the Event Daila is sick. Hmm, no death for Daila, only Jaren huh. Seems kind of mean.


    BG16- RAID TACTICS: In the Event Liam grows wings. Hey, that''s one I can get behind. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from peeking through the exciting plan. ¡°Step one, have Liam become more accustomed to the disconcerting nature of omnidirectional movement with a steady course of¡­¡± I read to myself, stopping just before I threw the book across the wagon after reading the exercise routine.


    ¡°Flying Burpees. Are you shitting me?! How does that even work?¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Seventeen! Not sixteen!¡± Len yelled from his seat.


    The twins snickered at me. I stuck my tongue out at them. An apt retort if I do say so myself.


    BG17 - RAID TACTICS: In the Event Lirae steals Liam¡¯s raid squad. ¡°Wait, what? She can do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, now hand me the book. Tawny, have you found HE15?¡± Len asked, sticking his hand into the wagon.


    ¡°Yep. Surrogate Squad Members for Liam Part 8: Elemental Mages.¡±


    Okay wow, that''s specific. I looked up at the flame mage. Just how much planning has he done. And how much am I involved in it?


    ¡°And Hait, how about you?¡±


    ¡°Got it. JT07, Fifth Legion Squad Creation Protocols: Sub-Five Recruits.¡± The boy¡¯s eyes went wide as he comprehended the words that just came out of his mouth. ¡°Oh...my...Laurel. Does that mean?¡±


    Len hopped into the wagon, joining us. ¡°Yes. Welcome to the first Fifth Legion Squad ever created. Code named: L7.¡±


    Quiet squealing was the only sound that escaped from the twins¡¯ lips. Hait had to prop his sister up from falling over from the sheer shock. I wasn¡¯t all that surprised by the news. I always wondered why I wasn¡¯t joining Len¡¯s squad in the first place.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be another twenty minutes.¡± Gerre announced from the front.


    ¡°Good. we¡¯ll need it. First off, I need a comprehensive list of every ability you each have. Quickly, those twenty minutes are going to fly by.¡± Len said, turning toward the young mages.


    "Umm, uh...Water. I, um use, water." Hait barely whispered the final word, far too nervous. Tawny, still completely starstruck, didn''t seem to even hear the new directive.


    Len rubbed his forehead. "Oh boy."


    The next five minutes were used to bring Tawny back from the land of the crazy. Though neither were quite in any shape to actually talk about their abilities. Len just asked for their Character Sheets. He gave me access as well.


    Neither twin had many abilities. Hait had a basic Water manipulation power appropriately named Aqua Manipulation which let him move a certain amount of water however he pleased. The amount depended on his level. Right now he could move about twenty pounds, a not insignificant amount. Len said it was nearly the same as his flame manipulation ability Which just made me wonder how his limit was measured. Pounds of flames? Surface area? Didn''t matter right now. His other ability was Shell Shield, the shield he used to block Tawny''s Electric Arc, the blast she sent at me earlier today when she wanted to show off.


    Tawny didn''t have a manipulation power like her brother. Just harnessing electricity was spectacular enough in my book. Len told her that a manipulation ability might come later. Electricity''s erratic nature made it difficult to do so without a physical conduit according to Len. The twins lamented that they knew about it already and just couldn''t afford one. Elemental monsters were rare enough in the Forest, let alone lightning attuned ones.


    Conduit. Conduit. That word hung in my head for a moment while Tawny described her other ability. Then an image of a blue arcing feather popped into my head. The feather! That would probably be exactly what they are looking for. I almost said something, until I remembered where it was. Back in my lovely cave. If it hadn''t been stolen or destroyed. Miss that feather.


    "Arriving outside the gate now Sir." Gerre spoke up from his seat.


    Len was right: those twenty minutes did fly by.

 98. Clandestine Midday Meeting

    Ingrid crouched behind a couple of trash filled crates in the alleyway across from Mort¡¯s hideout. The stench nearly overwhelmed her delicate nose, but she stayed focused on the task at hand by only moderately cursing whoever filled the crates. She wished she could watch from the rooftops, but they were crawling with Mort¡¯s scouts. He was a snake and a criminal, but he was far from stupid. And he had clearly spent the last few weeks beefing up his security. But it wasn¡¯t remotely enough to stop her. She had a job: gather intel on Mort¡¯s incoming guests. The group of Ferals Mort dealt with for the past couple of weeks would be arriving soon.


    Mort¡¯s front guards leaned up against the walls by the doors, eyelids half closed. Is every guard in this city this lazy or do I just find the gems? One of the layabouts yawned, then his eyes darted around, most likely reading something off of his character sheet or an ability timer he made.


    He tapped on his partner¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Another ten, then we¡¯re off to Juli¡¯s. Oh I can¡¯t wait. I¡¯m backed up as all get out over here.¡± He said with a raspy laugh.


    The other guard nodded his head excitedly at the news.


    A whole army of monsters are marching their way to our doorstep, and these two are only thinking of getting their¡­ugh I¡¯m not going to think about it. Such behavior wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary though. Aside from the initial mass exodus of raid soldiers, everything in the Gloom was business as usual during raids, just a little more silent. It never lasted long, however. Come morning, the shops on main street will be packed, filled to the brim with soldiers needing to let out some trauma in whichever way their genes desired. Though all in all, it tended to be a much needed break for the Gloom.


    ¡°Hehe.¡± The guards giggled to themselves again. ¡°I hope Sweetie is free. She usually only works nights, but I can¡¯t get enough of that luscious¡ª¡± The guard made some unseemly gestures to really get his point across.


    ¡°Oh shut it you horny bastard.¡± His companion in debauchery said, punching the nasty guard¡¯s shoulder.


    Ingrid, now thoroughly repulsed by the male species, turned her attention away from the disgusting duo and looked around, making sure no one was near. She lowered her hood and stuck her ears out. As long as the guests weren¡¯t completely silent, she should be able to pick up on their footsteps.


    Her ears twitched and pointed in different directions searching for any out of place footsteps coming in this direction. The blaring alarm in the background made it more difficult. Seriously, why does it need to ring for an entire hour? I¡¯m sure all the little soldiers start marching to their deaths within the first ten minutes. I wonder if Liam is heading that way. She shook her head, getting rid of that worthless thought.


    After a few minutes, she found something. Three people made their way to the hideout. She covered her head back up and looked around the area. Ingrid, still crouching and sticking to the shadows, made her way across the street and next to the Mort¡¯s compound while the guards continued with their pathetic whimsy.


    She needed to get a better look at her targets. Gather the best intel and all that. Yeah, that was all. Ingrid shifted uncomfortably.


    Confirming Ingrid¡¯s observations, three people walked up to the hideout¡¯s front door. The first was a large woman, clad in rough, worn leather armor. Though calling it that might have been a stretch. More just tanned hides sewn together. Her brown hair braided and tied in a bun. A large axe sat on her back. Ingrid couldn¡¯t see any sign of a trope. Must have been hidden.


    The next person¡¯s trope wasn¡¯t. No his trope was front and center. Dark black plumage grew along the man¡¯s arms and torso, only his chest and stomach were bare. He wore no shirt, understandably, just dirty black slacks. He was a small man, small compared to the first woman at least. His hair was dark, long and shaggy. His eyes flicked around the area, most likely searching for uninvited parties such as Ingrid, herself. Ingrid slinked further back, instinctively.


    The final guest wore a dusty cloak, completely covering their body. Well, almost. There was no hiding that giant bushy orange tail. Ingrid¡¯s nose twitched.


    The guards let out a sigh, annoyed they would actually have to do their jobs before their romp on the town.


    ¡°Oi, slower down there, precious.¡± The guard said to the woman up front while raising up his hand. She stared down at the man with the same annoyance as if an insect bit her. She then grabbed the guard¡¯s outstretched arm and flung him aside. He collided with the street with a meaty thunk.


    His pal jumped up, spear at the ready. The woman reached for her axe.


    ¡°Woah, Woah. Everybody, let''s breathe for a moment.¡± The feathered man stepped in front of the woman.


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    ¡°Glenna, we¡¯re guests here, darling. And good, honorable guests don¡¯t go slinging their hosts around like that.¡± He said with a sweet, almost harmonic quality.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s right you¡ª¡± The guard retaliated, until he was cut off by a piercing gaze from the crow feathered man. Dangerous, ominous Aura flooded out of the man.


    ¡°And gracious hosts wouldn¡¯t dare threaten or offend those who have given them so much. Would they?¡±


    The guard winced at the overflowing weight cast from the shaggy man, whose Aura only intensified, crushing the guard¡¯s spirit even further.


    ¡°Now be a good boy. Let. Us. In.¡±


    Panic blossomed over the guard as he rushed inside the doors, slamming them shut.


    The large woman scoffed. ¡°And you say I was going too far. Pfft.¡± Her voice far more feminine than her stature would suggest. The feathered man only shrugged and placed his hands behind his head. Though his eyes immediately went back to scanning the area.


    The final cloaked member coughed. ¡°Enough with the antics. I don¡¯t want to be here any more than you do, but it''s a necessity, for now.¡± The stranger¡¯s voice was firm. Ingrid swallowed upon hearing it.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± The two said in unison.


    Another round of the knells filled the air. The cloaked woman turned her head toward their source. ¡°We need to make this quick, we¡¯re on a timer.¡± Her tail swished impatiently.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± The two repeated, hurrying over to the door to hold it open for her. They entered the hideout together.


    Ingrid slipped out of her hiding place. She walked up to the door, holding her ears up to it. The replacement guards were going to be here soon, this was her best and most likely only chance she¡¯d have to get in. She recalled the layout of the hideout in her head, she¡¯d been inside the foyer and Mort¡¯s throne more times than she¡¯d like to admit. A small rush of happiness filled her. That life was over.


    The rafters, that¡¯s where I need to get to. West side wall had a shelf. Two hops and that should be all I need. If he doesn¡¯t have a scout up there. It wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibility. Mort was a cautious guy. And that little confrontation out front didn¡¯t spell out trusted partnership to her. Maybe turning back would be the better move with so many unknowns. Ingrid¡¯s chest tightened. Yeah that might be best.


    ¡°Ugh, the actual fuck?¡± The flung guard from earlier roused from his forced slumber, curses floundering about from his mouth. But Ingrid didn¡¯t hear many of them. She already ducked inside the building before he saw her.


    Her feet glowed blue for a second as she darted over to the shelf she envisioned. She leapt to it, praying it wouldn¡¯t make a sound. Or worse, break. Her prayers went answered this time, it supported her weight with only a light creaking. Then made her way up to the rafters with the next hop, clinging to them once she landed. Thankfully Mort kept up with the maintenance on the inside of the building. She wouldn¡¯t have tried this maneuver with many of the Gloom¡¯s structures.


    Thump¡­Thump¡­Thump¡­ Her heart raced, unsure whether or not she¡¯d been made. The following moments ticked on endlessly. Any second she¡¯d hear someone shout out at her and alert the entire hideout. But it never came.


    Calm down. You''re in here now, focus on the job. Where did they go?


    Ingrid leaned over the rafter she clung, seeing her targets were still there. The feathered man sat down in one of the chairs scattered about, the woman pulled one over to the cloaked woman, but she refused.


    Good, the meet hasn¡¯t happened yet.


    They all sat there, waiting. Mort always loved his power plays, making others wait on him. It pissed ingrid off to no end, and it looked like her marks shared the sentiment. The feathered man¡¯s toes went to tapping, his knees bouncing. The large woman made no movements but her face betrayed the annoyance, an aggravated vein popping out of her forehead.


    The cloaked woman coughed, making her presence, and irritation, known to any that could hear. Then a moment later, one of Mort¡¯s lackeys, a small man with a rodent-like nose, walked out with a wide smug grin. Ingrid recognized him but couldn¡¯t recall his name. She never could be bothered to remember their names. Something that she should probably change on account of the nature of her new gig.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be out in a few minutes.¡± The lackey¡¯s smile turned naughty. ¡°He¡¯s busy with a¡­friend right now.¡±


    ¡°Hey, expedience was a part of the deal, rat face.¡± Said the feathered man as he rose from his seat.


    ¡°Ooo, that¡¯s a big word coming from you savage bastards.¡± The lackey jeered.


    The large woman¡¯s head twitched at the insult, her hand slowly making its way toward the axe.


    She was stopped by the cloaked woman. ¡°Tell Mort he either comes out now, or the whole deal is off. And more importantly his shipments end. Tonight. I¡¯ve no time for his playacting. If he wants to prove himself a businessman, then he best start acting like it.¡±


    The rat faced lackey squinted at her. Not moving from his spot.


    ¡°Okay. We are out of here.¡± The large woman and the feathered man headed for the door.


    ¡°Hold up.¡± A voice spoke, coming from the room the lackey just left. Mort walked on to the scene, wiping his knuckles with a bloodstained cloth. ¡°So sorry to make you wait, my friend. Please, this idiot does not speak for me.¡± He smacked the side of the lackey''s head. ¡°Clean up back there.¡± The lackey looked at Mort, then back to Mort, repeating the action a few more times.


    ¡°Now.¡± Mort said with a crack of his knuckles.


    The lackey ran off without another protest. He sneered pathetically at the visitors as he left. The feathered man gave him a little wave with his fingers.


    Mort turned back to his guests, a wide smile growing on his face. ¡°Your request¡­¡± Mort licked his lips, ¡°has been fulfilled.¡±

 99. Espionage of the Highest Caliber

    Ingrid lowered her hood as slowly as she could, ensuring no sound came from the movement. She felt her chest; her heart had slowed but still pounded. This was the monster¡¯s den. Even if Mort didn¡¯t have any scouts up in the rafters, she knew they weren¡¯t far off. Her concealed presence was top notch, but it didn¡¯t hide sound.


    But the true espionage was about to begin, and she needed to be exact in what was being said. She couldn¡¯t afford mishearing a single word. These three were the spokesmen for the Feral group making waves in the Gloom. Heck, in the whole city if the rumors were true. Now that she was here, she would make the most of it.


    Mort cleared his throat. ¡°You know, it wasn¡¯t easy. My men and I don¡¯t like picking fights with the guards. Makes my other business ventures, mmm, messssy, so to say.¡± Mort¡¯s snake-like tongue caused him to hiss. Ingrid recognized the tick. He was excited.


    ¡°And disposing of multiple guards might just be the fastest way to do that.¡± Mort then sighed, ¡°some would say it deserves a bonus.¡±


    The larger feral woman grunted. But the fox-tailed one answered him. ¡°That part was always your jurisdiction. We could have easily handled that ourselves. Besides, we have given you plenty. If you think renegotiation is on the table, we¡¯ll walk right here.¡±


    Mort smirked. ¡°It was only a suggestion. My men expect me to try. I¡¯m sure you understand. Chief.¡± He lingered on that final word for a moment. ¡°Though your sentiment may change soon.¡±


    The cloaked woman¡¯s tail twitched. ¡°That wasn¡¯t the request. Is it done?¡±


    Mort recoiled, as if he was attacked. ¡°Ma¡¯am I¡¯m offended. I am nothing if not honest.¡± He pulled something out of his coat pocket, presenting it to his guests. A scroll from what Ingrid could see, about the length of Mort¡¯s forearm. At times like these she longed for enhanced eyes, but ears would have to be enough. Her only hope of what was in that scroll would be if it was read aloud.


    The large woman walked over to Mort. She reached out to grab the scroll from him, but he pulled back right after.


    ¡°Hold your Horsen there Tiny. You have any idea how difficult this was to obtain. Me and my men are looking at a long and bumpy ride to Tiamantis if this gets out.¡± He turned to the cloaked woman. ¡°I need assurances. Assurances that this never, and I mean ever, gets traced back to me.¡±


    The feathered man shook his head. ¡°The massive amount of resources and money we give not enough? And hate to break it to you, we need that now. Far too much is in motion right now, we don¡¯t have time for your¡ª¡± The fox tailed woman raised her hand, cutting off her feathered companion.


    ¡°My subordinate is not wrong, Mort. We do not have the luxury of time at the moment. But you know that already. So how do you suppose we give you these assurances?¡±


    Mort flashed a grin at the woman. ¡°So glad you asked. I need something from you. Something only your group can get to.¡±


    ¡°The ever so competent and capable Lord of the Gloom can¡¯t do something. Shocking.¡± said the feathered man.


    ¡°Not when it¡¯s knee deep in that horrific hellscape of a Forest you Ferals call home.¡± Mort walked closer to the fox tail. Ingrid strained her ears.


    ¡°One of my guys, the ones I pay far too much to snoop around outside of the city, found something. A big something. A game changing something that could potentially flip this entire city on its head. And it can benefit the both of us.¡±


    ¡°And you''re willing to share this miraculous discovery with us. I don¡¯t buy it.¡± The cloaked woman said.


    Mort held the back of his hand to his forehead ¡°Alas, as much as I loathe giving it away, I have no way of accessing it. My guy came back in literal pieces after he found it. The monsters surrounding these spoils are¡­¡± Mort trailed off.


    ¡°Are what?¡±


    ¡°Oh just having trouble coming up with a word to adequately describe them. I¡¯d rather not use poor Rogere¡¯s words. Far too many curses to say in front of a lady.¡± He tilted his head. ¡°Maybe hellish.¡± He shook his head. ¡°No, not nearly severe enough. No matter, the point is I can¡¯t send anyone out there. The only ones capable of such a venture are much too expensive and make the whole trip pointless seeing as they wouldn¡¯t be loyal to me but to our Green Lady.¡±


    The cloaked woman¡¯s tail bristled. ¡°She is not my lady.¡±


    Mort shrugged. ¡°Of course.¡± He jostled the tightly wound scroll in his hand. ¡°So do we have a deal?¡±


    The large battle axe wielding woman stepped up next to her mistress, whispering in her ear. ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m not sure we should have many more dealings with,¡± she turned over to Mort and squinted her eyes, ¡°his kind. Surely, we can handle the rest on our own.¡±


    ¡°No we will listen, today will be hard enough. That info is crucial.¡± The cloaked woman whispered back, then turned back to Mort. ¡°Yes, but I need to know what it is we¡¯re going to be looking for out there.¡±


    A wide grin blossomed on Mort¡¯s face. ¡°Ever heard of Inspiritus Gadenas?¡±


    The three Ferals looked amongst themselves, questioning looks on their faces. Ingrid also wasn¡¯t sure what he meant. She¡¯d never heard the name. They turned back to Mort.


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    ¡°Shining blue flowers that, when ingested, give an unimaginable boost in strength. That coveted Energized buff. Surely you know of it.¡±


    The feathered man clicked his tongue. ¡°Ah shit. He means Energy Petals.¡±


    The large woman scoffed. ¡°The garbage that eats through your Aura for a brief, albeit huge boost. Why would you want that? Want an army of morphs?¡±


    Mort chuckled. ¡°No, but I want the flowers all the same.¡±


    ¡°But they only grow in small patches. What did your guy find some? Hate to break the news to you, and monsters eat up a whole patch within a week. The patch he found is probably gone by now,¡± said the feathered man as he waved his hand in the air.


    Mort¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°See that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong my fine feathered associate. That was the presumed assumption. But he told me a different story. He said he stumbled upon an entire field of them out there. Even brought me a whole bouquet back, far more than a patch usually has. I can show¡ª¡±


    ¡°Impossible, we¡¯d know about such a place before your man ever got close. He¡¯s spinning you tales.¡± He said cutting off the crime boss.


    The cloaked woman raised her hand. ¡°Let Mort speak.¡±


    ¡°But Ma¡¯am, even if this mystical field of flowers exists it doesn¡¯t change how dangerous they are, or addictive. Even one petal is enough to get you hooked. Think of the damage this bastard would cause to our people in the Gloom if he started peddling the stuff.¡±


    Mort exhaled.


    ¡°You wound me. I¡¯m not so stupid as to let that stuff run rampant through the city unregulated, not as is. But like you said before, it''s rare. The only samples in the city are heavily guarded in the Labs under the Capitol Building. They normally destroy the stuff once they find it.¡±


    ¡°For good reason. We do the same back in the village. It''s far too tempting to keep around.¡± The cloaked woman said.


    ¡°Yes, but that''s because we don¡¯t know enough about it. Its rarity makes it difficult to test adequately, not to mention the ethics behind such testing. But that flimsy reason never stops people like us, does it?¡± Mort leaned in. ¡°Ms. Natural,¡± he whispered.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already got an entire group of alchemists ready, though calling these Lab rejects that might be a bit generous. I just need the supplies. Hence where you come in.¡±


    The cloaked woman raised her hand to her chin, then began pacing. The feathered man walked up to her, a panicked look on his face.


    ¡°You can¡¯t honestly be considering this ma¡¯am. Who do you think his test subjects would be? Ferals, the group nobody cares for. He¡¯s still cityborn, no way he uses his own kind.¡±


    ¡°Please. I own half the shops on Main Street, I won¡¯t lack willing test subjects. One whiff and I will have dozens if not hundreds of citizens begging for it. It will never come near your precious Ferals.¡±


    The fox tailed woman kept silent for a minute, eventually turning back to Mort.


    ¡°No. Even if the field does exist, which is doubtful, what you¡¯re offering isn¡¯t nearly enough. I¡¯d lose who knows how many men and women securing such a place. The monsters defending it would make the coming raid look like a child¡¯s party. I¡¯d lose too much and you¡¯d only gain. That scroll in your hands would be helpful, but what you''re asking for far exceeds its value.¡±


    Mort clicked his tongue. ¡°Yeah, figured you would see that. Fine, allow me to sweeten the pot. I¡¯ve come into¡­an opportunity, one that will see my men entering and exiting the city far more often. A caravan of sorts, just less government eyes on its comings and goings. And that means.¡±


    ¡°You could get even more of my people into the city.¡±


    ¡°And help with your greater ideals for the future of Laurelhaven.¡±


    The cloaked woman went back to her pacing.


    Ingrid¡¯s eyes widened. She never imagined how much she was going to catch today. She went into this thinking it was just a business deal, not whatever the hell this was. She could hardly believe what anyone beneath her was saying. Illegal alchemy testing, Feral smuggling, the seeds of a revolution even front he sounds of it. If anyone deserved a bonus in pay, it was her.


    ¡°Where is it?¡± The head of the feral group asked.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am!¡± Both of the cloaked woman¡¯s aides protested in unison.


    Mort¡¯s answer came in the form of him throwing the scroll at her. ¡°That¡¯s a discussion for another time, my dear. First take a look over those battle plans. My men went to great lengths for those.¡±


    The woman unfurled the scroll, which happened to be a whole couple of sheets rolled together. Battle plans? What? Ingrid tried her damnedest to see what was in those plans, though she could only make out a few unintelligible shapes and lines. She flipped to the next, this page filled with text.


    ¡°Information on every squad in every Legion.¡± Mort said.


    ¡°Good, Let¡¯s move.¡± She handed the papers over to the large woman. ¡°We can discuss the other plans at the next meeting. We need to move. Now.¡±


    Ingrid leaned further over the support.


    Creak!


    Ingrid shrunk against the rafter, then froze, shutting her eyes. Maybe they didn¡¯t notice? She opened them back up, flinching when yellow ones stared back at her. The feathered man crouched down, his face in hers.


    ¡°Well, hello there.¡±


    Ingrid jumped back in a panic, almost falling off her spot. Her legs glowed red as she prepared an attack. She reared back. The man braced himself. Then she let the blow loose, wood splintering everywhere. She kicked the roof just above her, creating a hole. Once she landed back on the rafter, her feet glowed blue as she readied her escape.


    Yet before she could jump, something tugged on her clothes, pinning her cloak to the rafter. She looked back. Black feathers stuck her cloak to the wooden rafter like construction nails. She tore the cloak off in hopes to get free, but a swift blow to her side threw her from the ceiling, down into the main room.


    Ingrid twisted midair, hoping to devise a plan before she hit the ground, but it was too quick. Before she knew it, she was caught and held down by the large Feral woman. She struggled for a moment, then gave up. There was no way she could do anything here.


    Mort knelt before her, his eyes wide with surprise. ¡°Ingrid. Couldn¡¯t get enough of me?¡± He licked his lips slowly, his eyes darting across her body.


    Ingrid just held her head down. Shame and frustration building up inside her, then finally fear, for she knew how Mort handled spies. Violently.


    ¡°Glenna. Let her up.¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°Now Glenna. And Mort, back off.¡± The cloaked woman said, threatening Aura leaking from her the whole time.


    Mort and the woman complied, allowing Ingrid to stand back up. Before Ingrid had a chance to understand what was happening, the feral woman lowered her hood and stared at Ingrid¡¯s face. Then the woman¡¯s arms wrapped around Ingrid, in a gentle, loving embrace.

 100. One Last Push

    The twins poked their heads out of the wagon with huge, excited smiles which made my heart tweak. After that invasion, after they almost lost their lives, you¡¯d think they would be taking this just a smidge more seriously. A two person chorus of ¡°Woah,¡± sang out from the two. I joined them, leaving Len who sat with the open journals.


    ¡°Still missing¡­Hmm, maybe I can. No. Drat.¡± Len mumbled out as I left. Part of me thought of helping him, but they were his plans, not mine. And how focused some of them were on me, in particular, most definitely creeped me the eff out. The question of how many plans centered around me kept digging at me until my eyes joined the twins¡¯.


    My own ¡°Woah,¡± escaped my lips as I looked out. It was the wall. The wall surrounding the entire Capital, giant trees and vines intermingled together and sealed up together perfectly as if nature itself completely intended its existence. I¡¯d only seen the wall from a distance, but now that I saw them from so close, the sheer height and the size was completely staggering. It must have been a couple hundred feet high.


    Each tree trunk was massive, like the California Redwoods. Gramps and I spent a summer in Northern California. I shivered at the memory of being halfway up one of them, disobeying the simple instruction of don¡¯t look down. Pretty sure our climb was just south of legal, but that never really stopped Gramps. And what was I going to say? I was thirteen at the time. I thought it was awesome. It''s funny how I made that climb dang near every day while I was out in the woods here on Kniyas. Gramps would have loved it here.


    I shook my head slowly, that felt like a lifetime ago, though I guess it was in fact a literal lifetime ago. Once I was back in reality I looked at what the twins were gawking at. They grew up in the city, so I¡¯m sure the wall was nothing new for them. No, their attention was firmly placed on the small line of wagons queued before us. Three of them, each bigger than the one we rode in on. They probably held more troops. Gerre slowed down and then stopped once we caught up to the line.


    Dead ahead stood a portcullis gate made of thick metal that went up maybe a quarter of the wall. I looked around and behind. We were in a portion of the city I hadn¡¯t ever been to. Many closely packed together buildings lined the streets behind us. Single homes and apartment-like buildings from the looks of it. Must be one of the Residential Districts Mrs. Warbler told me about. There is still so much of this city I haven¡¯t seen. The thought bugged me for some reason.


    But I wouldn¡¯t be given a chance to explore why. Tawny grabbed my arm, pointing at the carriage two spaces ahead of us. From what I could tell, a woman sat in the driver¡¯s seat but that was about it. She spoke with a guard. The guard stood on some wooden scaffolding built just high enough up to let the guard speak with the wagon drivers.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°That¡¯s Commander Rache Gatrel. She is the head of the Third Legion.¡± She said, voice brimming with glee.


    These commanders must be like heroes to the children of Laurel considering the reactions I''ve seen from these two.


    Before I got a chance to ask any more questions about it, Len¡¯s voice came from the wagon.


    ¡°Are you certain it''s Rache?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Hait answered for his awestruck sister, excited but not nearly as much as his sister was.


    ¡±You two twins, back in the wagon. Liam you stay.¡± Sobriety returned to their faces as the order was given. The twins immediately nodded and rushed back into the wagon without a word. Good to see that they take this somewhat seriously. Hopefully, I can too.


    Len climbed up to the driver¡¯s seat but didn¡¯t sit down. He looked out at the wagon where the supposed Legion Commander sat, his eyes squinting.


    ¡°Liam, I need to have a chat with her. You are hereby granted the title of Captain of the Fifth Legion¡¯s Squad L7. Do you accept?¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    [WATCHERS SYSTEM PROTOCOL 04: AUTHORITY PERMISSION]


    [Position: Squad Captain]


    [Outfit: Fifth Legion Squad L7]


    [Do you accept?]


    [YES]            [NO]


    The words popped up before my eyes, confirming the very same question Len just asked me.


    ¡°What is this Len? Aren¡¯t you the one leading our squad? What is all this?¡±


    Len stared ahead. ¡°No, all three of you would die within minutes if I led the squad, it has to be you.¡± He leaned down and lowered his voice. ¡°Sure they have more world knowledge and were actually born here, but I don¡¯t know them. They seem like good kids, but I don¡¯t trust them yet. And they are missing one crucial part, they lack experience. You have actually fought monsters, not just facsimiles.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    I opened my mouth to protest.


    ¡°It matters, far more than you realize. I¡¯d venture you probably have more experience fighting monsters than any your age or level, you lived out there for months. Survived. Add in the fact that you have experienced a raid for yourself. That experience is baked into your very bones. It''s something that can¡¯t be taught. You are by far the correct choice for this.¡±


    I shook my head in disbelief, dread gnawing at my brain. ¡°No, no I can¡¯t. I was hopped up on Flower Power for almost the entirety of that last raid. I didn¡¯t fight with any others. There is no way I¡¯d be able to lead them. I will just end up getting us all killed. Surely we have time to find Fennel, our squad is probably on the other side of the gate somewhere.¡±


    Len finally turned and looked at me. I turned away, not able to meet his gaze. He grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him.


    ¡°Trust me when I say this. They will get killed without you. Lirae has made sure of that.¡± Len¡¯s voice was hard as steel, not a hint of cheer or whimsy that he typically had.


    ¡°How? Why? These are her citizens, I can see getting me,¡± I unconsciously swallowed, ¡°killed. But these are city born kids. She wouldn¡¯t do anything to willfully harm them.¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°No, she wouldn¡¯t, but they were at the worst place at the worst time. They¡¯d have been fine if they stayed with Fennel, but they were with us. Now they are stuck with us.¡±


    ¡°Why does that matter? Can¡¯t we just join another squad, that has to be alright.¡± I said as Len let my face go.


    ¡°No, all three of you were labeled deserters the second Fennel¡¯s wagon passed by through that gate. And that comes with a very, I can¡¯t stress this enough, very heavy penalty.¡±


    That factoid stunned me. How ridiculous. We were on our way. Daila said that squads had about two to three hours to form up from the first ring of the alarm bell. Thirty minutes hadn¡¯t even passed by the time we got to the Squad Hall.


    ¡°That¡¯s wrong.¡± I barely got out.


    ¡°Yep, she saw the opportunity and jumped. But that¡¯s alright. Say yes to that prompt and that outcome doesn¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the outcome?¡±


    ¡°A trip back to my hometown, Tiamantis. Where you will be conscripted into the Penal Legion, and used as fodder in the Raids up there. Or worse. Bait for the scouts.¡± Len¡¯s left eye twitched after speaking the word. A spark of anger crossed his face for a split second before he continued speaking. ¡°And trust me when I say none of you would make it a week up there.¡± Len tilted his head toward the twins for a second. ¡°They¡¯d be lucky to make it a day.¡±


    A cynical scoff broke out of my mouth. ¡°They¡¯ll be lucky to survive today.¡±


    SMACK!


    Pain flooded the side of my face. A sting on my left cheek.


    ¡°Get your head out of your ass this second. If you don¡¯t, then their lives really will be forfeit. And not only that, the blood will be on your hands. Do you want that? Even more blood?¡±


    The slap forced my head towards the wagon interior, where I saw the twins. Looks of pure seriousness sat on their faces, the gravity of the situation finally settling in. They looked so much smaller at that moment. Less like the teenagers they actually were, and more like kids who shouldn¡¯t be thrown to the wolves like this.


    Then a small vision of their bloodied bodies flew through my mind. ¡°Len, I¡­I.¡±


    ¡°You saved them before. You can do it again. And don¡¯t worry too much. I will be around. But I will only be able to do so much. You have to be strong. Stronger than you have ever been.¡± Len said.


    I closed my eyes. A flurry of emotions swept through my system. Anger, rage, confusion, sorrow. But each of them was nowhere near as large as the feeling that swirled around my very soul, dragging me deeper and deeper into despair.


    Doubt.


    Doubt that I could do this. Doubt that I could keep them alive. Doubt about whether I should even fight. Maybe desertion was the answer. Going back into the woods. I was already labeled that, who¡¯d care if I made it true?


    Their bloodied bodies ran across my mind again. No.


    I opened my eyes back up and selected [YES].


    [Congratulations and Thank You! Welcome to the WATCHERS SYSTEM!]


    [You shall receive messages from your supervisor for further instructions. Check your Character Sheet for more information.]


    Len¡¯s eyes stared out into space, moving slightly. Most likely getting a notification for himself. He chuckled.


    ¡°Been twenty years since I¡¯ve read that message.¡± He said in a low voice, a heavy look in his eyes like a bygone memory just passed by. He raised his head. ¡°With that taken care of, it''s time for me to go.¡± Some of his trademark cheer returned to his voice.


    ¡°Go, what do you mean go?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be gone for long. Just need to have a chat with Rache for a minute. Show the guard your sheet when he asks. Gerre will handle everything else. Right, my old friend.¡±


    ¡°What would you do without me? Though you might want to make it quick, her wagon¡¯s moving.¡± Gerre interjected from his spot.


    I looked up and sure enough, Gerre was right, the frontmost wagon started moving through the gate.


    ¡°Not a whole hell of a lot. See you soon.¡± Fire bundled around Len¡¯s feet, then he boosted into the air.


    I watched as he rocketed across the two wagons in front of us, the drivers nearly falling out of their seats as Len¡¯s flames soared above them. He landed right next to the woman who didn¡¯t even budge an inch, except for what I believed to be a large tail that cuffed the back of Len¡¯s head, almost launching him from her wagon.


    I laughed. Thanks, mystery lady. I kind of needed that.

 101. Master Manipulator

    Len landed in the open seat next to Rache. She snorted as soon as he landed. Her large, scaled tail twitched. Oh, that¡¯s going for my head. It launched upwards, moving at him in the blink of an eye. Yep.


    Len could have dodged it but he figured this conversation may go better if she thought she got the better of him at the start. He braced himself for the blow. Then it hit him, harder than he guessed, but nothing damaging. Len hammed the blow up a bit, letting the momentum carry him out of the seat for a second. Hoping to seal that feeling of satisfaction in Rache¡¯s mind. He was going to need every advantage.


    Len rubbed the back of his head as he sat back down. Rache turned her head, attempting to veil a smile. Good.


    ¡°That¡¯s for scaring my guys. You know, the ones you probably singed on your little flight over.¡± She relaxed into her seat throwing an arm over the back of the seat. ¡°What do you want? Not like we have much time.¡± Rache asked through the side of her mouth, another set of alarm bells rang out as if to make her point. She twirled a finger in the air.


    ¡°What? Can''t I just have a friendly little chat with a beautiful,¡± Len rubbed the faux head wound, wincing slightly as he did, ¡° and powerful coworker?¡± Len asked, trying to sound as innocent as a schoolgirl.


    Rache let out a single hearty HA. ¡°What a day that would be. Two council members chatting without any agendas, just catching up and shooting the shit while we march to our inevitable deaths on the field of battle.¡± She closed her eyes and took a breath, continuing to exhale. ¡°But alas, that day isn¡¯t upon us yet.¡± She reopened her eyes and looked straight at Len. ¡°What do you want?¡± She repeated slowly, each word of the question getting extra emphasis.


    Len held back the big knowing smile he so desperately wanted to show. She and Jaren truly are a perfect match. He coughed, then answered her question.


    ¡±Something small. Terribly simple. Shouldn¡¯t burden much at all. Just need to borrow one sub-level ten Support with stamina rechargeability. Especially one who doesn¡¯t ask a whole lot of questions.¡±


    Rache blinked. A few times actually. Her disbelief of such a blatant and frankly outlandish request was not as well hidden as her cheer was earlier. She rubbed the bridge of her nose.


    ¡°Is this one of your signature pranks? If so, it''s in incredibly bad taste. You can¡¯t just ask for something like that of a Commander. Not on the day of a Raid. Especially not on the drive over to the staging grounds. I don¡¯t know how you idiots run the Fourth, but crap like this doesn¡¯t fly in the Third. And it''s my Legion''s turn to handle the initial wave this time around.¡±


    Rache moved from rubbing her nose to her temples, even more furiously. ¡°I swear what is with you two today making ridiculous requests.¡±


    Len¡¯s head tilted. ¡°You two? Who else asked you for something?¡±


    ¡°Your ex-wife.¡±


    And that explains where Fennel¡¯s squad went.


    ¡°She asked you to add a squad to your lineup,¡± Len said with a sigh.


    She nodded. ¡°Yep, the one Herman¡¯s boy leads. I thought he was with you and Jaren.¡±


    Well, at least she didn¡¯t put him in too much danger. It''s probably for the best, all things considered. His squad was gutted even before losing the twins and Liam. They¡¯ll all probably make it through this. But how should I approach this now?


    Len turned back to Rache once he finished thinking. ¡°Yes, he is.¡±


    ¡°And that wasn¡¯t a part of y¡¯all¡¯s plans, huh? First Ones above, I am so tired of all the damn politics. I didn¡¯t become a Legion Commander to get involved in all this¡­whatever the hell it is.¡±


    ¡°Intrigue,¡± Len said.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, intrigue. I rose up to make sure I could save as many lives as I could. Both in the City and on the battlefield.¡±


    Len¡¯s ears perked up at that comment. There¡¯s the way in. Need to play this right. Truth peppered with a well seasoned guilt trip. He cleared his throat after finding the right words. ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why I need the Support. To save some lives.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s generally what they do. But why do you need one? Jaren¡¯s got plenty. Tiamat knows he¡¯s got more than me at this point.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for my own squad,¡± Len said flatly.


    Rache¡¯s head swiveled as if she had just been punched in the face. ¡°Just not going to quit with the haymakers today. Since when do you have a squad? And why did you form it without a Support? That¡¯s like rule number one.¡±


    Len stared hard at her. ¡°Because you let Lirae stage a squad that wasn¡¯t fully prepared. They were missing three soldiers. And those three were on their way to Tiamantis until I stepped in. Three soldiers under level ten. Two of which just graduated. They would be eaten alive out there and you know it. But Lirae wanted to play her games and you didn¡¯t stop to ask why. Now she¡¯s endangering our people to get her way.¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Rache¡¯s face darkened. ¡°That¡¯s, no, she wouldn¡¯t. Why?¡± Her knuckles popped as she balled her fists. She turned away.


    One last nudge.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Yet there is something I¡¯m certain about.¡± Len pulled her back, his face solemn.


    ¡°You can save them, Rache. I¡¯m going to have them join in the second wave. Should be safe, no. They will be safe with your squads on the field with them. They just need one Support. Trust me, this team is wild, they only need a little help.¡±


    Rache stayed still for a moment. An eternal one by Len¡¯s standards. He really needed this to work. Finally, she nodded, then held her hand up to her chin, her eyes moving side to side as she thought.


    ¡°Orso!¡± She shouted into the wagon.


    A wulfen gene splicer popped his head out. ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°Find him a Support.¡±


    Len cheered internally, making sure not to let it slip.


    I won¡¯t be outplayed, Lirae.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Get your sheet ready kid!¡± Gerre yelled from the front of the wagon. The twins and I were strategizing while we waited. Not that there was much to do on that front. It seemed to boil down to me being at the front, pulling as much aggro from them with Hait assisting me and Tawny being our main source of damage. Brilliant, I know. Oh my dear sweet Ursa, I must rely upon you again. Help me keep these kids alive. I thought as I jumped into the driver¡¯s seat.


    Once out of the wagon, I saw what lay on the other side of the gate. Hundreds of splicers, fully geared, marched across the wide open space. A field completely devoid of any vegetation aside from sparse patches of grass. The troops gathered in large blocks, each maybe a hundred or so. It reminded me of how soldiers were depicted in Earth¡¯s history, well how TV shows did at least. (Okay, it was mostly historical animes)


    Empty wagons passed on by, off to gather more troops.


    A wet cough reminded me that we stopped for a reason: the guard posted under the gate. A gnarly and scarred up dwarf with furred limbs stood. A pit grew in my stomach. Would it be weird if he looked over and just saw a barrel? Or a log. Cuz that sounds kind of nice right now.


    He spoke without looking up at me. ¡°Squad name and Legion.¡±


    I swallowed. ¡°Um, L7. Fifth Legion.¡±


    He froze, then slowly raised his head to look up at me, brows furled. ¡°Do you really think this is the time for jokes, boyo? Now what is your squad and Legion?¡±


    ¡°Kid¡¯s not lying, Brost,¡± Gerre said.


    The guard named Brost looked down at Gerre.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I would¡¯ve heard something about the Fifth getting a squad. Some might even say its me damned job.¡±


    ¡°Check his sheet,¡± Gerre said, stretching his arms.


    The dwarf squinted at Gerre, then moved back to me.


    After an awkward moment, a notification popped up.


    [Share Your Character Sheet with: ¡°Brost Blines¡±]


    [Yes]  [No]


    Blines huh? Wonder if he¡¯s Fennel¡¯s family. I confirmed it. The guard''s eyes glazed over. I decided it¡¯d be best to give it a quick glance for myself. I was curious about what changed.


    CHARACTER SHEET


    Name: Liam Foster


    Level: 4


    Race: Human


    Monster Gene: Mimic


    Titles: Squad Captain of L7, Fifth Legion of Laurelhaven. Appointed by ¡°Leonard Ainsworth¡±


    I didn¡¯t bother reading any further after seeing the new addition. Nothing else had changed. Titles eh? I wondered why I didn¡¯t get any notification about that, but the answer was pretty clear. Tutor didn¡¯t add it in.


    The guard¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be Denn¡¯s furry sack. The bastard actually made a squad. And it''s headed up by a Level Four at that.¡± Brost shook his head. ¡°Ainsworth seems as crazy as the rumors suggest. Sucks for you kid.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but agree with the sentiment. He looked down at the papers, ruffling through them.


    ¡°When did he set up this squad of yours? I don¡¯t have an assignment for you.¡±


    ¡°Ten minutes ago, by my guess at least,¡± I answered.


    ¡°Of fecking course,¡± he mumbled to himself. ¡°Never make a man¡¯s life easy. Blasted Council. Selfish prods, the lot of them.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t agree more.¡± A voice came from the bottom of the scaffolding. I looked down and saw the cause of the confusion. Len looked up at me and winked, before addressing the guard directly.


    ¡°Start of the Second Wave.¡±


    The guard nodded, seeming to not care that he just insulted a member of this City Council everybody made a big deal about.


    ¡°Aye, Field Seven then.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. We¡¯re meeting someone at Field Six.¡± Len clapped his hands together.


    Then the blare of a war horn filled the air, making me and everyone around, flinch. Brost¡¯s eyes shot open. Before I could ask Len what the horn was, he¡¯d blasted off, heading for the top of the Wall from the looks of it.


    The haggard dwarf turned back to me. ¡°Move out NOW!¡±


    Gerre pulled the wagon out of nowhere, making me almost lose my balance.


    I looked up at the soldiers marching, but they weren¡¯t marching anymore. They were jogging now. Their footsteps thundered out across the field, louder as the vibrations bounced off the outer wall.


    Len landed next to me. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked him.


    He just shook his head and pointed out at the field. I followed his finger, then in the distance, maybe a mile ahead of the Legion, the field had darkened.


    ¡°They¡¯re already here.¡±

 102. Awkward Emotions

    Thunderous booms pounded Fennel¡¯s ears as the Third Legion¡¯s march was hastened into a sprint. His legs ached, dwarves were built for this. The warhorns had blared not five minutes ago, a startling sign. Why hadn¡¯t the scouts seen them coming? It should have been at least another hour before they arrived. And now they are on our doorstep. He had no clue how far off the monsters were, his short stature didn¡¯t really allow for it. He had to rely on asking Lukkans. The huge eyed archer marched next to him before the war horns were blown and now gave him updates on what was happening.


    After Lieutenant Barnes dropped Fennel¡¯s squad off at the staging ground, Fennel¡¯s squad was absorbed into Commander Gatrel¡¯s Legion, which held the duty of engaging in the initial wave. They ran nearly dead center of the whole Legion.


    Fennel could not help but feel relieved about it. Jaren and the Fourth were assigned the Boss Wave, the most brutal of the three Raid Waves, same as the last defense. A fact that had bothered him for the entirety of last week when Daila dropped the news on him. It was the main reason he was so adamant about training and why he held the squad back today.


    But now his squad was given a respite. The initial wave was the quickest and by far the least dangerous part of the raid. Still dangerous, fighting a horde of monsters always was, but you didn¡¯t have the burden of protecting the wounded lying in medical tents not but a couple of hundred feet behind you weighing on your psyche. Or the giant hulking boss breathing down your neck. That helped.


    Not that that stopped him from worrying. It¡¯d been months since the last time the Fourth was assigned this role, and he would have liked to go over the basics with his squad beforehand. It was a simple detail, go out and fight, give the other Legions time to set up the Command and Medical Tents as the frontline was being defined.


    The monsters that populate the first wave tend to be on the weaker side as well, not that anyone was sure why. Monsters didn¡¯t have a sense of hierarchy or anything of the sort aside from the boss who showed up later. There were no tactics or strategy in the monsters¡¯ attack, just pure, unadulterated aggression.


    He suppressed a shudder. Now was not the time to be thinking about it. Fennel needed to focus solely on the fight ahead, on killing as many monsters as he could, and on keeping his squad alive. A portion of the squad at least.


    Fennel turned his head, and only ten bodies followed after him, his mind shifting to a new concern. Three people were left behind. He¡¯d figured out this was some strange ploy by Lirae and her husband when the squad made it to the gate leading out of the city, where Barnes shook hands with Commander Rickard after he dumped us on the Third.


    A spark of anger flickered in his chest. Jaren and Len told him time and time again how many games were played by the Council members. And his squad was caught up in the middle of it this time around. It didn¡¯t directly hurt his squad, no, if anything the decision more than likely saved some lives in his squad. Probably all of them. But it was the principle that made him burn. They fought to defend the city, to protect innocents who couldn¡¯t. Leave the stupid and petty power struggles out of Raids at least.


    Fennel shook his head just a single time, so as to not give a false signal to his team. How could she just play with lives like this? And why involve the twins? I can understand her trying to brand Liam a deserter given her distaste for Ferals, but the twins were something else entirely. They brimmed with talent and potential, why would she try to get them carted off to Tiamantis? The whole situation stunk.


    Before his mind crafted any further conspiracies, Lukkans tapped on his shoulder, his large eyes filled with determination. ¡°Less than five minutes.¡± He gave Fennel the signal that he was going to move back to the rest of the archers in A5. Fennel nodded and his friend fell back. The space Lukkans occupied filled immediately. A large one horned Minotauren barged his way in. Fennel stared up at him, the usual bloodthirsty grin the large human normally wore on raid days gone. Fennel wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good thing or not.


    The other two frontliners followed suit and soon Fennel¡¯s entire squad fell into place. It was time. Fennel checked his status bars and his abilities one last time, giving him something to do while they ran. For this was the worst part of the initial wave: waiting.


    Then nearly five minutes after Lukkans pulled back, the first roars of battle filled the air.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Ingrid stood fixed. She was still being embraced by the fox tailed feral woman. The leader of the group meeting with Mort. Ingrid shifted uncomfortably, trying to release herself from the unwanted hug. She was never much for physical affection, especially from¡­well she didn¡¯t enjoy it. However, the woman only squeezed tighter with each attempt.


    Eventually, Ingrid just let it happen. She wasn¡¯t about to resort to violence to free herself, that would just get her killed by the woman¡¯s subordinates who watched from around the room. She could only see the large human feral, who surprisingly wore a soft smile. Which made Ingrid feel even stranger.


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    Until Ingrid took in a deep breath through her nose. The smell was familiar, a scent that she hadn¡¯t experienced in over twenty years. An ever so slightly smokey scent with just a hint of jasmine. An odd pairing, but one favored by¡ª Ingrid shook her head, forcing herself not to dive head first into whirling emotions dredging up.


    She sighed. The fragrance, the final piece of the puzzle Ingrid had long since solved without it. She just didn¡¯t want to admit it yet. The mystery feral, somebody she once longed to see for so many years. Somebody who abandoned her, leaving her to fend for herself in this dark district.


    ¡°Lisse. Could you let me go now?¡± She said into the woman¡¯s ear. The cloaked woman squeezed one last time, then drew back. ¡°Griddy.¡± Said the woman. Ingrid looked up into her overly emotional elder sister¡¯s misty eyes, bright orange matching her tail and hair almost exactly. Some things never change. Ingrid thought to herself. She remembered how her sister would cry at the most mundane things, not that this was mundane in the slightest.


    Before either could say anything else, the feathered man spoke up. ¡°Griddy, as in Ingrid? As in The Founder¡¯s second child? Your sis¡ª¡± He shut up as the large Feral woman elbowed him in the gut. ¡°Ma¡¯am, we have to get going now.¡± She said.


    Lisse nodded. ¡°I know. Ingrid. Follow me.¡±


    She grabbed Ingrid¡¯s hand, making for the door. Mort coughed.


    ¡°Not entirely sure what¡¯s going on here, but I¡¯m going to have to cut this tearful reunion off. And Ingrid here isn¡¯t going anywhere. Not after that little act of espionage.¡±


    Mort¡¯s dark black eyes trained on Ingrid.


    ¡°I know you¡¯ve got a new employer.¡± He said in a low voice. Ingrid stiffened. ¡°Our girl Ingrid moved up in the world. A truly meteoric rise at that. From my personal wage slave to councilor pet.¡± His voice lowered even further, now dripping with threat. ¡°One of my guys figured we had a spy lurking around. Said they must have been an expert in all things clandestine to never get caught. Hell to barely even leave a trace.¡± He smirked. ¡°I can only imagine the look on his face when he finds out he¡¯s been duped by a common little Gloom rat the whole time.¡±


    Mort turned to Lisse, who had stepped in front of Ingrid at some point.


    ¡°Maybe not so common it seems.¡± His attention turned to Lisse, licking his lips. ¡°I can¡¯t let her go. She knows too much. You can¡¯t afford it either. Your plot hinges on our shared secrets. Something she''s paid to divulge.¡±


    Ingrid¡¯s palms began to sweat as she remembered the rumors of Mort¡¯s punishments. Lisse turned back to Ingrid, giving her a soft reassuring smile before replying to the man.


    ¡°No worries, me and my people will handle her. Let¡¯s move.¡°


    Lisse pushed Ingrid towards the door as the other Ferals moved with her.


    Mort whistled. The sound of movement filled the room as Mort¡¯s subordinates flooded the room from the back room he initially emerged from. At least fifteen splicers ran up to them.


    Lisse and the other two ferals surrounded Ingrid. The woman unsheathed her axe, the man¡¯s feathers ruffled as they readied for a fight. Ingrid searched around, looking for an escape.


    ¡°Eh, that would have been fine. If you hadn''t just hugged on her. Now I can¡¯t trust you to get the job done.¡± Mort said as he rubbed the back of his neck.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want those flowers, Mort? Let us go or you won¡¯t get them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s only one business venture. Word gets out I¡¯m working with Ferals, that¡¯s every single one of my business ventures seized by the glorious mayor. And me, shipped right out of my home. Off to the cold reaches to the north.¡±


    Mort grinned. ¡°And I¡¯m willing to bet that whoever inherits your place in the village will work with me.¡±


    ¡°Dirty bastard.¡± Said the feathered Feral.


    ¡°Pot calling the kettle black, who¡¯d have guessed. Filthy Feral scum.¡± Mort hissed.


    Lisse shook her head. ¡°Alright then. Glenna, if you would.¡±


    ¡°Aye Ma¡¯am.¡±


    The large woman raised her axe directly above her head, then turned toward one of the walls. Her move acted as a signal to Mort¡¯s men who rushed the Ferals. The two up front immediately met with black feathers thrown right between their eyes, boring straight through. The crow man threw out even more, seemingly trying to pull in as much aggro as he could from the large woman.


    Ingrid looked around the chaos, unsure of what she should do. She couldn¡¯t run away. She could try but she doubted she¡¯d get very far. Her abilities weren¡¯t very useful in a fight. Against a single opponent maybe, but a whole mass no way. And there weren''t any escape routes Ingrid could utilize either. The front door was the only way in or out.


    A flash of light distracted her. Ingrid looked up at the axe, yellow light gathered around it. Lisse¡¯s tail glowed a bright pink, then a strange pink mist that almost sparkled in the poorly lit hideout poured out from it. Lisse waved her tail toward the attackers, they charged right through, not thinking anything of the mist. Then right as a large minotauren bore down on Lisse, his eyes blanked. Then he fell to the ground, shivering uncontrollably. Each man who walked through the girlish gas succumbed in the same fashion.


    Ingrid covered her mouth reflexively, to which Lisse just giggled.


    ¡°Five seconds.¡± The axe wielding woman said. Ingrid turned to her just as a wulfen gene elf slashed at her with bright red claws. Until a large black feather pierced his throat.


    ¡°Now!¡± The woman shouted.


    Lisse pulled Ingrid back.


    The woman swung the axe down, into the ground below her, where a rather unfortunate lackey thought he was being smart and sat with a blade aimed at the woman¡¯s legs. A blast of yellow energy shot forth from the swing, blowing right through the wall of the hideout and throwing Mort¡¯s men away from it. That unlucky lackey completely evaporated.


    Ingrid saw her chance, her legs glowed blue as she prepped her escape. Yet right before she could make her first leap, a disgustingly sweet smell entered her nostrils. Her vision blurred, then her body lurched. Before she fell, a soft orange tail wrapped around her body, carrying her. She heard her sister''s voice just before she passed out.


    ¡°Sorry, Ingrid. I need to ask you some questions. Especially about your new friend.¡±

 103. Difficulty Drop

    Vile green liquid splashed across Fennel¡¯s shield, only a small drip falling to his barely bloodied armor. The acid burned the nearly dried blood on his foot away, leaving a bright shine on the top of his left sabaton. Well, that¡¯s neat. New armor polish.


    A useless thought. Something that Fennel would never usually take note of in the heat of battle, but it didn¡¯t feel like he had any reason not to. He raised his head over his shield just in time to see his archers pepper the Gextoran with a host of arrows. Toxic green sludge poured through the sides of the four legged reptilian monster¡¯s mouth. The large and imposing frills that sprung up around its neck were anything but when eight arrows bored through them. Fennel looked at the beast''s maw. An arrow had pierced right through the top of the creature¡¯s mouth, forcing it shut and pinning the whole thing to the ground.


    Seeing the liquid burn eating away at the grass led Fennel to another untimely thought. He looked back down at his foot, then rubbed it slightly. It would take hours of greasing and scrubbing to come even close to this luster. Maybe I should let Aunt Donnella know about it. She and Uncle could probably make a killing off a new armor polish.


    Fennel tapped his helmet. Not the time idiot, you''re in a raid. Though ¡°raid¡± felt too strong a word for what was going on here. The battle felt almost as easy as the break-in earlier in the month. Maybe even easier. Which left a bad taste in Fennel¡¯s mouth.


    He looked around the battlefield. Zaner and Tedi were walking over to him, leaving a small group of broken and battered Karibu in their wake. Neither splicer with so much as a small scratch or burn on them. Tedi had some blood and viscera hanging from his claws and Zaner¡¯s axe was freshly bathed in monster guts, but now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about cleaning. Though you could  throw some of that Gextoran spit on them and they¡¯d be good as new.


    The rest of A5 piled together soon after the last monster in their pocket of the field was killed, slain by Roscoe, the last of the Frontliners, and Rumi, the new Support. Fennel looked around once more, making doubly sure their sector was clear, even if they were pretty far from the frontlines.


    The battlefield was separated into a grid, each squad was given a grouping on the grid to defend. They were positioned near the back, close to where the medical tents were being constructed. A few of the Third Legion¡¯s squads fought in pockets near Fennel¡¯s squad. He thought to aid them, but none of the squads around seemed to have much difficulty in their battles either. That and unwarranted aid was frowned upon. Most squads only asked for assistance if they lost members.


    Experience was difficult to obtain. Nobody knew the exact rate. You got some from training but exponentially more from actually killing monsters. It took eighteen years of training to hit level five, but maybe a year of battling in raids to get up to ten. So the act of helping was actually seen as stealing if it wasn¡¯t expressly asked for.


    A stupid thought process in Fennel¡¯s opinion. He felt saving those lives before they perished was a better boon for the people, not a small experience bump. But that''s the way of the Kniyans. Who was he to argue?


    ¡°What are you looking around so hard for, Cap? We got¡¯em already. In record time I bet. Ooo, I hope our invoices show that as well.¡± Lukkans said, a small bead of sweat on his brow.


    Other members of the squad agreed with the Tarsiryian archer. Roscoe rubbed his hands together.


    Fennel¡¯s ears twitched under his helmet. He knew he should agree with his team, but he couldn''t help but feel as if something was off. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Doesn¡¯t it seem¡­¡±


    ¡°Too easy.¡± Zaner finished his sentence, looking off in the distance.


    ¡°Yeah. It''s been a few moons since the last time we fought in the First Wave. But has it ever been this quiet.¡± Fennel said as he turned back and looked at the Medical tents being put up behind them. They were nearly finished from the looks of it. Then he swung back over to the frontline.


    A notification popped up before he could say anything else. The Watcher¡¯s system could relay simple messages from the Command Tents to Squad Captains. Fennel always thought it was strange that the system was only active during a raid. It¡¯d be such an advantage if everyone could communicate this easily all the time. And Jaren could stop using him as a messenger all the time. And Daila. And Len. And Uncle Herman.


    When did I become everyone¡¯s servant? The notification blinked again.


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    FOURTH LEGION SQUAD A5 NEW DIRECTIVE:


    Assist Squad D19 on securing Frontline


    A small map showing the Raid grid pulled up. It looks like the Third managed to push the monsters back to the initial area designated for the frontline, even after the early start. A dot hovered just above the sector they were to assist. Fennel blinked the screen away, turning towards their next battleground.


    ¡°New orders. We are helping a squad on the frontline. D19.¡±


    ¡°Finally. Maybe we can actually see some real action, Tedi needs a new pair of boots.¡± Tedi said, rotating his shoulder.


    Fennel didn¡¯t share the sentiment, but he understood it. After the last brutal raid, he¡¯d be more than happy to get out with his whole squad intact. He could live with a light wallet.


    ¡°A5 Move Out!¡±


    The fighting was more fierce near the frontlines, but only marginally. D19 battled against a mixed group of Tusxics, Red Wulfen, and some Salamandras. A squad seventeen strong.  They actually seemed like they had everything under control from what Fennel could tell. Only an archer was injured from the squad. A broken finger. Nothing that would have warranted a distress call.


    Fennel caught up with D19¡¯s captain, a Tusxic gened elf named Tonel that stood at the top of a small hill with a large bow in hand. The man stomped down a cloven hoof as Fennel¡¯s squad arrived.


    ¡°Blast it all. I told¡¯em we was fine. Don¡¯t need nothin¡¯ from you Fourthies.¡±


    Fennel wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that nickname, Fourthies was new to him. Letting it slide, he focussed on surveying the field. He first noted how few monsters were actually on the frontline, maybe a hundred left. It was empty behind the line of monsters, marking the end of the first wave of the raid. Fennel¡¯s stomach twisted. It''s too easy.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯re here now. We¡¯ll take the eastern side, it seems like your squad is light over there.¡± He said as he pointed to a region where a group of about seven Wulfen a few hundred feet away raced toward the line.


    ¡°Aye, just get out of me and mine¡¯s hair.¡±


    Fennel directed his squad over.


    The skirmish lasted maybe five minutes. It was a textbook encounter. Fennel and his frontliners distracted the oncoming Wulfen, Fennel and Roscoe banged on their shields, Tedi and Zaner shouted at them. Lukkans and the archers fired when they saw the opportunity. The Gloria and the supports healed the surface cuts and bruises anyone received. Nobody even used any abilities, aside from his own Leader of the Pack, the massive team buff he gave to his team.


    Another easy battle. The pit grew in Fennel¡¯s stomach. Raids aren¡¯t supposed to be easy. Everything about this raid wasn¡¯t adding up: the early start, the low monster count, how easy the battles were. His ears twitched again.


    Fennel pulled his helmet off and watched as D19 killed off what looked like the last monster in the wave. An acid Salamandra that spat out one last glob of the putrid stuff as it fell to the ground, two axes cleaving its head from the rest of the body.


    The Watcher system sent another notification.


    FRONTLINE SECURED:


    ALL PERSONNEL RETURN TO DESIGNATED AREAS


    NEXT WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 10 MINUTES


    I guess that¡¯s it. A round of hurrays and other celebrations resounded around him. He raised his fist with them, albeit halfheartedly, his eyes blankly staring at the notification most other squad Captains turned off by now. The teams turned their backs and started to walk toward the The notification blinked.


    NEXT WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 7 MINUTES


    What? Fennel¡¯s head tilted. The number on the timer glitched dropping down to seven minutes. Just as he was about to tell his squad to doubletime it. It blinked again.


    NEXT WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 4 MINUTES


    ¡­


    NEXT WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 2 MINUTES


    ¡­


    ¡°TURN BACK!¡± Fennel yelled out.


    NEXT WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 30 SECONDS


    ¡­


    The ground rumbled underneath them. It shifted and cracked, breaking underneath their feet, causing Fennel, his team, and most of D19, to stumble. Once he found his balance he looked up. The ground seemed to fall a few feet, leaving him and the squads in a giant but shallow hole filled with upturned dirt and rocks, maybe four feet deep.


    THUNK!


    Fennel looked to his side. An arrow landed right next to his shiny foot. He looked back to the rim of the newly made canyon, where the arrow flew from. On the side closest to the frontline, at the rim, stood a lone man, aiming a pulled back bow at him. Then another, and another, and another. After just a few moments, thirty men lined up above them.


    ¡°SHIELDS UP!¡±

 104. Tent Poles

    A wooden pole sat awkwardly in my arms as I held it up. I had to make sure it sat at a 75-degree angle while the others tied the tent roof to the top of it. Which wouldn¡¯t be so bad if it didn¡¯t weigh like two hundred pounds. Seriously you¡¯d think with the supernatural strength that manual labor would be a cinch. But when you¡¯ve held it for the past ten minutes straight, it wears on you.


    Power beyond earthly understanding and this is what I¡¯m reduced to holding a damn pole while two short teenagers try their hardest at tying a knot they¡¯ve no knowledge of whatsoever. It bothered the outdoorsman inside of me to no end watching the two fumble such a basic knot. It¡¯s just a simple Taut Line Hitch, it takes all of three seconds. Though personally I would have chosen a Midshipman''s Hitch, much simpler design and far easier to adjust without sacrificing any strength. Gramps would have smacked me with a switch eight times over by now if he watched such sloppy knotsmanship.


    ¡°No idiot, the second loop goes through the third,¡± Tawny told her brother.


    ¡°No it doesn¡¯t, I think the third goes into the first,¡± Hait responded.


    I felt a blood vessel nearly pop in my skull; there weren''t even three loops in a hitch, to begin with. That internal woodsman begged me to fix the butchered knot, but seeing as STR just so happened to be both Tawny and Hait¡¯s detrimental stat, they had no hope of lifting the pole.


    ¡°Can you hurry it up? The other squads have already finished. Any squad I¡¯m a part of must be competent and rapid in its endeavors.¡± Said the newcomer, who also just so happened to be strengthless.


    I breathed in slowly, determined not to let the birdbrain who sat under the tent preening his dark brown hair feathers with a weird wooden hair pick(feather pick?) and a small pocket mirror, whilst somehow also critiquing our work without so much a looking in our general direction.


    ¡°You could go and help them.¡± I said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m helping you plenty as it is. Besides, one of my feathers is being quite defiant. And Hait, three tucks, then the hoop. Also Liam, put your elbow a little lower. It should provide a little more leverage. You know what leverage means, yes darling? It¡¯s the scientific concept of¡­¡± He said, picking through the feathers near his forehead.


    ¡°Yes, I know what leverage is, damn it.¡± I grumbled to myself as I couldn¡¯t really argue with him. Especially not while Atlas¡¯s fucking tent pole bore down on my arms. That and his advice was accurate, moving my elbow did in fact make the pole feel lighter. And the fact that he was doing us a big favor in joining our squad. Though I was beginning to think we were the ones helping out the Third.


    Rashith Wrenne Timely IV, our newest and, from what I could gather, final addition to squad L7. We picked him up on our way out to the staging ground. A Support on loan from the Third Legion. He was a relatively new addition to one of their squads, only taking place in two raids thus far. The squad already had an ample number of Supports according to Len.


    It seemed odd at the time that a squad was simply fine with giving up one of their members, a Support at that, arguably the most valuable role on the battlefield. But the Squad Captain that met us at Field Seven, a tall, slender elf woman named Clarice with yellow deer eyes, handed him over immediately. She mouthed something at me that I didn¡¯t quite get as she walked away.


    ¡°Dear First Ones above, my butlers would have finished this and brought me tea and run a bath by now.¡± Rashith said, practically groaning.


    Now I was positive his previous captain mouthed ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± No doubt in my mind. He was apparently from the same wealthy family as Rita, the owl girl that lived in the Guild Hall lab. Major difference between the two being, his wealth and status was his personality.


    Tawny and Hait finished up in a couple of minutes. I inspected the knot, planning on fixing it if need be, but the twins lucked into what had to be the ugliest trucker¡¯s hitch I¡¯d ever seen. But it would support the weight so it should be fine.


    Squads fighting in the second wave were tasked with helping build the various support structures while the First wave squads fought to keep the monsters at bay.


    Len headed over to the main command tent situated in the middle of the field before we set up this medical tent. He said I would get a notification when our time was up, something about a system that only starts up during a raid.


    I walked over to a hill nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of the battle. Off in the distance, maybe half a mile away, I saw the same blocks of soldiers fighting off a horde of monsters. And doing it spectacularly at that. In the time we were setting up the tent, only one person was brought to the medical tent in search of aid. An archer with a broken finger, kind of lame.


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    I watched on as the monsters¡¯ numbers dwindled. A5, our original squad was out there, Len had us assigned close to them. It was strange, I must have been just about the same distance away from the raid last time I took part. But this raid looked so¡­tame compared to the last. The roar of battle didn¡¯t fill the air, screams weren¡¯t belting out. A good thing, but still.


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s just how the first wave is.¡± I said to myself. I was told later that I had joined the last raid during the third and final wave. The bloodiest.


    The monsters¡¯ died out by the time I finished my thoughts on the matter.


    FRONTLINE SECURED:


    PREPARE FOR ASSAULT >> SQUAD L7 DESIGNATION: EASTERN VANGUARD


    NEXT WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 10 MINUTES


    A small holographic map appeared in my vision, a blinking red dot hung just above showing where our squad was assigned. It was pretty awesome, far more technical than what should be in a world whose technology was just barely above medieval, but I didn¡¯t have time to question it. Our spot wasn¡¯t far away; we were placed on the outer edge of the battlefield, on a hill. High ground, a decent arena for our squad. The fighting should be less there as well, being at the edge.


    Just as I went to blink the notification away, another popped up.


    Tell the squad to form up. You are the front line but avoid raging. You¡¯ll need your senses. Hait will back you up while Tawny hits them hard. Birdy will keep you all topped up. Focus your attention on small groupings.


    Liam, You¡¯ve got this, Toodles.


    -Len


    I closed my eyes, but opened them before any doubts could surface in my head. It was go time. No more thinking, just action.


    ¡°L7! FORM UP!¡± I shouted.


    I turned back and saw that my squad was already behind me. Tawny and Hait looked up at me, eyes burning with determination. Even the haughty Rashith had his game face on. I watched as the Third Legion made its march to the backline.


    ¡°We are on the Eastern front. Over there.¡± I commanded, pointing at the hill to the east


    I took a step, then the earth beneath my feet rumbled, throwing me off balance.


    ¡°What''s going on? Is this normal?¡± I said, kneeling down to help keep my balance.


    ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± Rashith answered.


    Another notification popped up as the ground shook under us.


    SECOND WAVE COMMENCING


    POINTS DEDUCTED FOR:


    OUTSIDE OF DESIGNATED FIGHTING ZONE


    I shook my head. Who gives a damn about points at a time like this. What points for that matter?


    The rumbling stopped and I looked forward. Large holes dotted the landscape in front of us. They spanned the entire frontline, exactly where the squads of the Third Legion were just seconds ago. I scanned the area, seeing a few stragglers at the edges of the circles. Shit they must have fallen in. Did the boss come early? Some type of earth based power? My mind went to giant worm but that might be a bit cliche.


    ¡°Look at the monster side!¡± Hait yelled while pointing across the field.


    I followed his finger, just on the other side of the holes, I saw people standing around the ring of the hole. A lot of people. Groups stood above the artificial canyons.


    My mind could wrap around what I was seeing in front of me. Who stood above the holes? If they were soldiers, why weren¡¯t they helping the others get out? And what was worse, behind them, a mile out, a fresh wave of monsters were heading to the battlefield. Probably three times as many as the previous wave.


    ¡°L7, Head for the hole straight in front of us.¡± I said as I burst out into a sprint. Fennel and our home squad were most likely there.


    ¡°But our orders.¡± Rashith said as he ran behind.


    ¡°No time, our guys are pinned down out there. They need our help before the monsters arrive.¡±


    We weren¡¯t the only squad to think like this either. Seconds after our advance, the ground rumbled again. No mystery to this shaking, its source was the hundreds of footsteps pounding away as the more squads charged forward.


    More disbelief took root as we neared our target. Arrows flew into the holes from the men that stood above them. I tried to rationalize what was happening. Maybe they were shooting at monsters in the holes. That they were assisting those who fell in. Yeah that makes sense.


    Until I heard the screaming. Orders flung out from the hole along with wails of pain. One thing was missing: the snarls of monsters.


    A hand popped out on our side of the hole, then another. A man with a large sword on his back pulled himself out of the hole, or tried to. He slumped over as he raised a leg over the edge, an arrow sticking out of his back. All but confirming the worst case scenario.

 105. Water Block

    My legs kept moving, but my brain blanked. Or maybe the whole world blanked. The deafening stampede behind and in front of me cut out. My eyes were glued to the dark liquid running out of the man¡¯s body. Yet I was running, still moving toward the attackers. The attackers that killed that man.


    A tickle teased my ear, with it the rest of the world returned. The sensation grew stronger. A Preflex!


    I prepared to dodge, turning my head to the side. In my peripheral, brown feathers streamed in the wind. Rashith¡¯s right behind me. I shifted into Ursa, dark fur grew along with the rest of my body. I raised my arm up to my ear, just in time to block the incoming arrow with my forearm.


    Pain burst in my arm, though a tolerable amount. Thanks to Ursa''s tough muscles, the arrow didn¡¯t burrow deep into my flesh. I yanked it out as I ran, throwing it to the ground. That was only the first of many though.


    Need a shield.


    That single thought ran through my mind several times, nothing else. I was really feeling that INT decrease at the moment. That along with the temptation to let the rage building inside take over muddling my mind further. But I couldn¡¯t afford that right now. More! I need MORE! To be more! I pleaded with myself. Keep them alive. That was my goal. Then a small memory of water blocking a lightning bolt surfaced. Hait¡¯s water. If it could stop lightning surely it could stop a few arrows. Ursa¡¯s lack of articulation might make that plan hard to explain to the others. I yelled out ¡°Hait, Shield!¡± in the hopes that Hait would understand my meaning.


    Just as the words left my mouth, a hexagon of water formed from the ground. It hovered in the air, completely still a few feet in front of us. Our small squad skidded to a halt just before it. Hait made the shield just wide enough to fit both my enlarged state and room for the twins on the side. I huddled up next to it, leaning against the firm yet wet wall. I checked Hait. This shield wall was twice, if not three times, the size as the one he raised in the guild.


    A bead of sweat fell from the young man¡¯s forehead as he held his arms up next to the water wall.


    I took a second to look back at the army that ran behind us. They all slowed down, shields and other means of protection raised up to bolster against the incoming volley. No trampling. Good.


    Rashith stood in front of me, grabbing my arm to check for damage. Blood soaked the fur, but it seemed to have stopped bleeding. He sniffed. ¡°Much hairier than a moment ago. Health?¡±


    I checked my HUD, then shook my head. ¡°It''s fine, 95%.¡± Rashith nodded, then looked through the water. He winced when water splashed on his face.


    Arrows struck the wall, their vibrations sending water droplets at us. The arrows fell to the ground once their momentum was halted. But this wasn¡¯t a great position. Sitting behind this wall made us easy targets for a flank.


    ¡°Tawny, Lightning?¡± I asked, somewhat slowly. She shook her head.


    ¡°Nah too far. It¡¯d fizzle before getting to them.¡±


    I turned to Hait. ¡°Can move wall?¡± I shook my head. More.


    ¡°Can you move the wall, Hait?¡± I struggled to say.


    He shook his head. ¡°I need to be still to hold it up.¡±


    ¡°I can carry.¡±


    ¡°Even then I can¡¯t keep up this size and make it move. I¡¯d have to shrink it down.¡±


    I opened my mouth to ask the next question but Hait cut me off, anticipating the question. ¡°Maybe just as big as your upper body.¡±


    Another barrage of arrows splashed at us. I looked and saw that only about half of the archers at the hole were aiming at us. The rest shot more arrows at the squads trapped in the hole. We need to move. They''re getting pelted down there.


    Without saying anything, I grabbed the two at my sides. They yelped but quickly understood what I was doing. They climbed on my back, each grabbing onto the sides of my leather armor, armor I picked up before we put up the tent pole. I purposefully asked for slightly larger armor as I planned on using Ursa for the majority of the battle. It was still a mite snug and now that I had riders, their added weight pulled on the chest area awkwardly. But I could handle it, at least for a mad dash.


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    I felt another set of hands start gripping my shoulders. Rashith must have thought he¡¯d get a ride as well. I shrugged him off. ¡°No, you follow. Give stamina to Hait.¡±


    I ignored the harumph from the dandy and gave Hait the order. Liquid splashed around my feet as most of the wall dropped, leaving a small hexagon floating in the air.


    ¡°Tawny, attack when close enough.¡± I ordered as I started to run. I quickly found out I couldn¡¯t run at the same speed as earlier. Not because of the added weight of the twins, but because Hait couldn¡¯t move the water that fast. The pace was now more of a brisk jog. Part of me wondered if I should push the wall forward. I put my hands on it until Hait grunted a ¡°No.¡± It must have messed with his control.


    Water continued to splash in my face as arrow after arrow struck the barrier, a few getting by, slicing my arms. Superficial damage. Nothing to worry about.


    We were a few dozen feet away from the hole now. I looked behind our attackers, the horde of monsters charging hadn¡¯t lessened in the slightest. They were over half way to the frontline. We¡¯re running low on time. The battle was only going to get worse.


    Upon getting closer, the hole was much larger than it looked from the backline. It was a couple dozen feet in diameter at least. Though not too deep. I could see a couple of soldiers inside, raising their shields up. A few arrows and even a bolt of magical blue energy shooting up from the inside.


    The squads inside must have finally gotten their bearings back. I didn¡¯t recognize any of the legionnaires from here though. An arrow sliced at my calf, only tearing through the armor. Not the time to focus on them. Get these bastards off them first.


    ¡°Tawny!¡±


    ¡°A little more. Get to the edge.¡±


    Only a few more feet. The barrier wavered. ¡°Hait?!¡±


    He didn¡¯t answer with words, only a grunt. The thinning barrier faltered again but then solidified in time for another barrage.


    A bright shine came from the line of enemy archers. I couldn¡¯t make out exactly what it was through the rippling water. It flew straight for the water wall. The bright light stuck into the water. It was the tip of an arrow that glowed so bright, but unlike the others, this one didn¡¯t fall down to the ground once it stopped. Its light grew brighter, forcing me to close my eyes.


    I stopped in my tracks, bringing an arm up to my face. The light died out. Tawny tapped on my shoulder, letting me know it was safe. Or that was what I thought. Once I opened my eyes I saw what she was really on about. The once liquid wall floating above me had frozen completely over. It wobbled in the air as Hait tried to keep it aloft. But control of ice wasn¡¯t the shell-shouldered boy¡¯s power.


    It fell from the air. Out of pure reflex, I extended my arms, catching it. Sort of. The ice landed in my palms and I clamped down on it with my claws as best as I could, thanking the heavens that even with the clumsy Ursa hands I had opposable thumbs. The chill ran through the pads on my hands. It felt unbelievably cold, colder than any snow or ice I¡¯ve ever touched. But I wouldn¡¯t drop it. It could still act as a shield, but for how long I wasn¡¯t sure. I charged forward, blindly this time. The sheet wobbled with every step.


    ¡°Guide me!¡± I said.


    I felt Tawny shift and climb up my shoulder. Enough to let her peak around the sheet of ice. ¡°We¡¯re still twen¡ª¡±


    ¡°NO GET DOWN!¡± I shouted, angry at myself for giving the stupid order. I lifted the ice to block her face. I felt the ice vibrate as an arrow hit it, another hit the opposite shoulder. I groaned but brought the shield back down. More thuds hit the ice, causing me to worry about just how many of these it could take before shattering.


    The ice slipped in my claws. I clamped down harder. Ice, claws¡­I¡¯m so stupid!


    I activated Elemental Claws. Small tufts of white wind swirled among my claws as their hue shifted from their normal dark black to a bright white, tinted with blue. The ice sheet in my hands fused into my claws as the two arctic forces merged. The frigid torment my hands suffered just seconds past, disappeared in an instant. Now the cold felt grew. I picked up the pace now that the shield sat firmly in my hands.


    ¡°You¡¯re just full of surprises, though I question why you didn¡¯t do that before.¡± said the feathered Support behind me, ever the critic. I turned to him and saw that he matched my pace perfectly, his hands glowed green as he touched Hait.


    ¡°Hait. Need a platform. Got enough stam back yet?¡± Tawny asked her brother.


    ¡°Yep. Tell me when.¡±


    ¡°Not sure, can¡¯t see.¡±


    ¡°Make small window.¡± I grunted. ¡°For her.¡±


    A small square water wall formed just above the top left side of the icy hexagon. Tawny peered through it. ¡°Okay, soon. Soon. Probably about thirty feet out. Liam, full stop when I yell out.¡±


    I grunted in affirmation. I wasn¡¯t sure what the two were about to pull, but I had to trust them.


    ¡°Steady¡­steady¡­NOW!¡±


    I slammed on the metaphorical brakes, skidding along the dirt. Tawny¡¯s weight on my shoulder lifted. Hait clambered up onto my shoulder standing just above it, arms pointed at his sister. I looked up. Tawny flew high into the air, propelled by my halt and her own jump.


    Yellow electricity cracked around her hands as she somersaulted in the air. A flat platform of water floated underneath her. Tawny landed perfectly on the platform, the lightning growing larger.


    ¡°VOLT CHAIN!¡± Tawny yelled out.


    Arcs of golden electricity burst forth from her hands, heading straight for the archers. I lowered my shield just enough to let me catch an eyeful of lightning flying above the hole and striking one of the archers. The lightning branched out from the first, jumping into the other enemies that surrounded. For just a moment, I swear I saw some skeletons.


    ¡°Hell Yeah!¡± I shouted out.


    I looked back at the archers. That had to be plenty enough to stop them. But as I lowered my shield, I saw another flurry launch from their bows heading straight for Tawny.

 106. Cracked Earth

    Fennel held his shield up, another barrage was incoming and he had to hold no matter how many arrows flew his way. Another three arrows plinked against his shield, their collisions vibrating through his whole arm. One managed to stick, cracking the metal cover and boring into the wood underneath. Blast it! The enemies wouldn¡¯t let up as the ground continued to shift under their feet, the hole growing deeper as the assault went on. They were now a good ten feet, maybe more, in the ground.


    A single misstep, a single error, was all it could take to lose those behind him. Bonner, an archer from Fennel¡¯s squad A5, disobeyed Fennel¡¯s initial order to not return fire and caught an arrow in his shoulder for it. Fennel knew the other Legions weren¡¯t far off. They would come and stop this madness, his squad just needed to survive that long. A Support from D19 huddled next to the injured archer as well.


    Fennel took a moment to see how they were. Blood poured out of the wound in Bonner¡¯s shoulder, an arrow pierced through it just moments ago. The Support tried to use Basic Healing while they moved but the arrows raining down kept making him flinch. That and the fact that both needed to practically kneel to ensure safety behind Fennel. He cursed at himself for not being born to a larger race.


    Most of the arrows would bounce off his armor. Very few of the arrows seemed to be empowered by abilities. A fact that somewhat bothered Fennel but he wasn¡¯t sure why. But they could still pierce through leather and cloth armor.


    Fennel wanted to move faster, but the constant deluge and unstable earth and rock made that nearly impossible. Not when he had to protect others. They¡¯d be safer if they could make it to the rest of the squad. He stole a glance at his destination.


    The earthquake that trapped his people in the First One¡¯s forsaken hole came with a single blessing: some large chunks of earth and rocks tore free from the ground, creating what they could use as barricades. There was a grouping of them that he ordered his team to take shelter under. Those shelters must have been an oversight by whoever planned this attack. They must not have tested the plan. More arrows clashed against his shield, forcing him out of the thought. For the best.


    ¡°AGH!¡± A pained wail cried out. Fennel¡¯s heart jumped. The cry came from his right. It wailed out again, losing its strength as each heartbeat pounded in Fennel¡¯s chest. Its owner slowly silenced. Then stopped. But Fennel couldn¡¯t look. As much as he wanted to stop and see who it was, see if they could be saved, he had to focus on the current task. He took another step. Faster damn it.


    Fennel and his wards made it to the largest of the covers. Miraculously, one of the D19 guys was an earth mage. He couldn¡¯t do anything to counteract the entire predicament, but he could make sure the giant slab of rock stayed in place. Fennel deposited Bonner and the Support with Rumi. She knelt down next to the stone mage, presumably giving him some stamina.


    They used the largest outcropping, a makeshift medical space. It was a quarter of the size of an actual medical tent, room enough to protect maybe twelve people. The healthy would have to find their own cover. Thankfully there was plenty scattered around the field.


    Dried blood ran down Rumi¡¯s face and splotched her scaly hands and arms. She had worked on a number of injured already. She raced over to Bonner as the D19 Support helped him over, relief washing over her haggard face as she realized another Support was found. Fennel wished he could help her further. She must have been running low on stamina by now. It was the one thing he never lacked for thanks to Boundless, his passive ability that gave him an accelerated boost to stamina recovery during battle. But he had no way of sharing it. And Leader of the Pack was already on cooldown, not that it had much to give. Only its damage reduction would help at all in the current situation.


    Fennel looked over at Roscoe. The large frontliner stood at the perimeter of the cover, two shields sat on his arms instead of his spear that leaned up against the slab of rock. Fennel wasn¡¯t sure where he got them but that didn¡¯t matter in the slightest. Roscoe noticed him for a second. ¡°Need help out there?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No, you need to stay here. I¡¯ll go back out. Keep your eyes peeled.¡±


    Roscoe nodded, his rectangular pupils refocusing on the edge of the rim. Their cover could only protect them from the front. They could still be flanked if their enemies moved to the sides. Lukkans covered the opposite side of the perimeter, his bow at the ready. His eyes glued to the rim.


    But Fennel couldn¡¯t worry about possible attacks like that at the moment, not when he was still missing squadmates. Only half of his squad was accounted for. One feathered female Support in particular was among the lost. Fennel balled his fist around the arrow jutting out of his shield, ripping out and breaking it in one quick motion. He took a step, planning on heading back out. Rumi grabbed his arm before he could go back out and find others.


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    ¡°Injuries?¡± She asked.


    Pain wracked his arms. The constant barrage was taking its toll on him. He wondered how many nasty purple and black bruises hid under his gauntlets. But he could handle it. He¡¯d have to handle it. Rumi needed to focus on the others more injured than him.


    ¡°No, see to the others,¡± Fennel responded without looking at her.


    He removed his helmet, freeing his ears from it. They perked up and twisted left and right. Something, anything. They jerked toward the backside of the hole, where the other Legions were. He could hear the footsteps rumbling, heading for the hole. Soon. Good.


    He turned his ears back to the rest of the hole. After a minute, he heard a roar coming from the center of the hole. It wasn¡¯t one of pain but of rage. A warcry Fennel recognized immediately; he had heard it all too much in the last couple of months.


    ¡°Zaner.¡± Fennel ran out from his cover, heading for the next bit of rock he could hide behind. He could move much faster now that he didn¡¯t have others to protect, allowing him to run from one rocky shelter to the next. This is where his small stature came in handy. Fennel had more choices than other frontliners when it came to finding cover. The shouts guided Fennel across the rocky field.


    As he ran, questions arose in his mind. Who was attacking? Why only attack with arrows? Why isn¡¯t a ground force coming down to wipe us out? What even caused the sinkhole? None of this attack made any sense.


    Soon Zaner¡¯s shouts grew louder. He was close. But as Fennel searched for his comrade, a bright light at the top of the hole caught Fennel¡¯s attention. An ability. Damn! Deciding it best to not take his chances, Fennel raised his shield, bracing for impact. A few arrows bounced off his armor and shield, but nothing special. No bright light. No explosion. No added force or element. He looked up and saw a host of arrows flying over him, towards the other side of the hole.


    The other Legions must be closer. He sent a small prayer of thanks to the First Ones as he picked up his pace.


    As Fennel rounded one last stone, he saw his target. Zaner stood with his axe¡¯s flat side pointed toward the enemy archers. Three arrows poked out from the man¡¯s shoulders. Zaner wasn¡¯t a Tank like Fennel, but a Bruiser. He opted for armor that supported greater maneuverability, a basic plate covering his vitals, and a single shoulder pauldron to protect his off-hand side. Terrible armor to go against archers with. But it''s not like anyone could have predicted this.


    Zaner¡¯s shoulders glowed green where the arrows were lodged in; someone was giving the horned warrior aid. Fennel looked down and saw that Zaner stood before a few others, blocking the oncoming attacks as best he could. None of the upturned stones in the center were large enough to defend behind. Which left their only defense to be the Minotauren.


    Fennel caught a small glimpse of white near Zaner''s legs. Fennel shot out without looking at the ground. His foot slipped on a soft spot of ground. He stumbled, catching himself before falling. But the earth shifted again, throwing him off balance. He hit the ground with a thud.


    NO! GET UP!


    He screamed internally, commanding his body to listen. More rocks jutted out as the ground displaced further, two stones piled on top of his foot before he could stand back up, trapping him. He pulled his leg, trying harder and harder to free himself. He started slamming his shield into the stones. He looked up and saw that Zaner dropped to one knee, an arrow embedded in his thigh, but the Minotauren kept his axe held up. But he didn¡¯t have much more in him. The axe wavered.


    Fennel dropped the shield, now pulling on the immovable stones themselves. Sweat poured out of his armor as his muscles strained and tore. Fennel looked up as he pried and watched on as the archers at the top readied another volley at his team. Just as he opened his mouth to yell out, scattered yellow light shot across the sky.


    Bolts of yellow electricity shot across the sky, heading straight for the enemies. At that moment, Fennel was sure he¡¯d never seen anything more beautiful. He felt he recognized them but couldn¡¯t afford to waste brainpower on figuring it out. All that mattered was that help arrived and simultaneously fried the archers.


    Pain shot through his foot, bringing his attention back to the ground. It began to shift again, Fennel pulled once more, finally freeing his foot before it was crushed. He looked back up, only for water to splash all over his face. He was soaked from helmet to boot in what must have been three bucketloads of water. He wiped the water off his face just in time to see a body falling from the sky.


    He threw his arms out just in time to catch the person falling. He dropped back behind some cover. Water dripped into his eyes, leaving whoever it was still a mystery. But he could tell one thing, they weren¡¯t very big.


    ¡°Thanks, Cap!¡± A familiar feminine and young sounding voice said.


    He put the girl down, then wiped the remaining water away from his face, only to find one of his wayward squad members.


    ¡°Tawny!?¡±


    ¡°Yep! But no time to talk. I need to find a way back up there.¡± The young half elf pointed up to the top of the hole.


    ¡°Why? And how did you even get here?¡± Fennel asked, then stopped himself. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. You need to stay here until more help arrives. I need to get down there and help out the rest of our squad.¡± Fennel finished.


    ¡°Your squad.¡± The girl piped up just before Fennel returned to his attention to the field. He paused.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Your squad. My new squad is up there. Had to make a new squad since you guys left us. Almost turned us into deserters. Thanks for that by the way.¡± She said with a pout. ¡±But all is forgiven. I need to get back up before the next wave gets here.¡±


    ¡°Wave¡­¡± It was the only word that stuck out, and the only one of any actual significance, ¡°How close?¡±


    ¡°Probably a quarter of a mile.¡±


    Fennel sighed. ¡°Right, of course.¡±

 107. Indomitable Rage

    My world slowed down as I watched the arrows fly through the air. My mind ran a mile a minute as it sped through some solutions. Or at least what I could come up with in Ursa form. What could I do to help her? What were my options? Throw the ice shield? No, I''d be leaving the rest of us defenseless. Jump up there? No, there¡¯s a snowball''s chance in hell I make that jump. Damn it. What do I do? Why did I let them pull off something so risky in the first place? I¡¯m the Captain. Think dammit! THINK!


    Then the water holding up Tawny just fell. It dropped right out of the sky like water was supposed to. My heart rollercoastered around my chest. The arrows flew just above her head. Yet this only brought up a new problem. Now Tawny was falling a good ten feet in the air, into a hole that I wasn¡¯t sure how deep.


    ¡°Catch her Hait!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying.¡± Hait said, his breath wild and ragged.


    The water vibrated in the air, then gathered back together under the falling mage, trying to reform itself into the solid sheet it was a moment ago. But it didn''t reform correctly. The platform was filled with holes and water dripped out of the sides. The second Tawny landed on the aqua floor, it shattered, the liquid falling to the ground again and her along with it.


    ¡°Tawny!¡± I shouted.


    She fell out of vision and into the hole. I wanted to move the shield and find her, but the oncoming arrows stopped that. My shoulder tensed up as more plummeted. Another round of arrows pelted the ice. One came with way greater force, catching me off guard and sending me to my knees.


    Hait hopped off my shoulder, pounding the dirt. His voice not reaching above the battle.


    That anger I drove down resurfaced, now swirling, threatening to take over. Blood was its demand. And I agreed. The blood of the bastards who killed my subordinate. No, my new friend. I looked at the sheet of ice in my claws. Crush them with the ice. DO IT! Images flashed in my mind. Smashing skulls with my new frozen weapon, piercing their bodies with the shattered remains. Yes. The corners of my vision slowly filled with red. YES.


    I shook my head. Not yet.


    ¡°Quell yourselves. We must remain calm.¡± Rashith said. His words fell upon deaf ears. Calming down was no longer an option. I was going to burst any minute now, but I knew I could hold out for a minute. I wasn¡¯t going to lose anyone else.


    I peered around the shield. Tawny¡¯s amazing blast wasn¡¯t for naught. It had worked wonders, taking out a large majority of the attackers. Only three archers still fired at us. The others scrambled around, grabbing their wounded and dragging them toward the monsters¡¯ side of the battlefield. A growl grew in my throat. I can handle three. Just before I let the rage fully take over, I gave Hait one last order.


    ¡°Put a shield up. Defend you and...yourself and Birdy."


    ¡°BIRDY?!¡± Rashith asked incredulously, but Hait and I ignored the outburst.


    Hait slowly looked up, eyes vacant, but he still nodded, raising his hand. A wall of water formed behind me but in front of them. My shoulders relaxed as the growl evolved to a full on roar. Ursa-Rage activated.


    I shot out. My feet pounded across the edge of the hole, inches away from the chasm. I couldn¡¯t see through the shield and needed to keep it raised up, so the edge acted as a guide.


    It had been some time since I last let Ursa-Rage completely take over like this. I¡¯d gotten better at controlling the urge to submit to it thanks to all the training. But once I dived this deep, the only way to pull out was to lose the form, which meant running out of stamina.


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    I forgot how much it felt like a movie. A movie that enveloped all of the senses. I felt the passion, the heat of rage, burning in my chest. The smell of upturned earth filled my nostrils. The stomps and rumbling of the charging masses behind me rang in my ears. Yet something was different this time. And I could still think.


    It was difficult, each thought came at the price. A pain that pierced my brain with each impression or observation. Letting loose like this wasn¡¯t a good idea, but the anger felt so good. Righteous even. And succumbing to it felt natural. Like it deserved the agency over my body. Like it had a will of its own. The rage thirsted for nothing else to rip and tear my enemies to shreds and I could do nothing to stop it. Nor did I want to. These bastards earned it.


    The pain subsided; I didn''t need to think right now anyway.


    Arrows flew into the shield and by my sides, not a single one was able to slow me down. Soon they stopped coming at all. I lowered the shield from my face and saw that the three archers from before had dropped their bows. They joined their brethren in retreat, assisting those carrying the freshly electrocuted.


    Now that I was closer to the enemy, I could make out what they looked like. They wore roughly tanned hides and furs, and hoods that covered their faces. They shared a deep red skin tone. I was still too far from them to gain any other insights. And I didn¡¯t care that much. They were going to be dead soon.


    I released the claws on my left hand from the icy shield, keeping it attached to my right. My rage wrought Ursa form really wanted to make that earlier vision of violence a reality.


    But something was wrong. I ran on and on with every fiber of my being but for some reason the distance between me and my prey only widened. Though that reason wasn¡¯t so ambiguous. AGI took a hit in this form along with some added weight. Meaning speed was not really a strong suit. That realization only fanned the flames in me. Frustration. That scum deserves our, my, wrath. The pain in my mind spiked again as I corrected the thought. It was my wrath, right?


    Before I could explore that oddity any further, I roared once again.


    I reared back as I ran, loosening my grip on the ice. I threw the icy shield with all of my might, tumbling to the ground as I lost my balance from the maneuver. It launched forward, flying through the air like a disc, straight for one of the enemies. I looked up from the ground.


    The frozen disc soared in a perfect arc, cutting through the air, heading right for the cowardly foes. Then it landed, right into one of the bastard¡¯s backs. The glacial projectile sliced through his shoulder, cleaving his arm right off and causing him to drop the body he was dragging. I climbed back up to my feet and bellowed out a victorious war cry before resuming my chase.


    A notification jumped in my vision but it was quickly swept away before. It wasn¡¯t important, killing these assholes was.


    While I ran, my vision stayed focused on the retreating foes. But that wasn¡¯t good. Not at all. Why wasn¡¯t that good? Ending their paltry existence was my only goal. Another pang coursed through my mind. More thoughts. Monsters. Raid. Look ahead.


    NO! FIGHT! KILL!


    Look ahead!


    Each thought that clashed with the bloodthirsty commands sent wave after wave of ache and torment. Where was this coming from?


    Something caught my foot as I ran, not enough to make me fall but enough to jolt me and make my head move. In that instance I saw it. The mass horde of monsters coming straight at me. Horns, tusks, fur, claws, slime. All of it less than a thousand feet away. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Excitement. More fuel to sustain this rage.


    MORE BLOOD! RIP! TEAR! SHRED!


    Get back to them!


    One last thought broke through. A pain surpassing everything that came before coiled around my head, squeezing down. An ache so great I felt my consciousness fading, yet my running didn¡¯t slow down. As it intensified, I felt the red blur around my vision darken.


    Protect them. That was the goal.


    The world stopped. Then I heard a snap. The pain vanished in an instant. Clarity returned. My vision cleared. No more redness.


    I lifted my arm. I had control back. I leaned to the left and grabbed the ground with my left hand. My claws dug into the earth, freezing the short grass. My whole body whipped around as the momentum shifted, pulling off a complete 180.


    I wasn¡¯t too far from the hole. Other Legion squads charged in between the areas of the holes, heading straight for the oncoming horde. Our squad needed to join them. But I probably needed to get my squad back first.


    I ran back for the hole, thankfully I wasn¡¯t too far from it so I wouldn¡¯t get swept up into the stampeding forces. I looked down at my arms. They were still furry, my claws still white and covered in ice. For the first time ever, I got out of Ursa-Rage on my own. If only I could celebrate right now.


    The notification blinked again. Later, let''s get everyone back first.

 108. Messy Command Center

    ¡°What¡¯s going on out there?!¡±  A sergeant from the Second Legion yelled.


    ¡°Get me a runner! Ow!¡± Said another while being shoved out of the way by a medic rushing to the front of the tent.


    ¡°Tell Squad F10 to move to the west.¡± Said a huge-eyed scout from his perch, built above the command tent. He closed his bright, nearly solid black eyes and groaned in frustration. ¡°NO. WEST!¡± He shouted.


    ¡°Squad Y72 is getting pounded out there. Send T31, they¡¯re nearby.¡± A captain ordered.


    ¡°No, T31 made contact with the monster force in that sector.¡± The scout replied.


    ¡°Then find me another!¡± The captain barked.


    ¡°Has anyone seen or heard from H57?! My sister¡¯s in that squad! She¡¯s a part of the Third.¡± The distraught reptilian medic called out to the scout in the perch.


    ¡°Then she¡¯s in a hole.¡± He said dismissively before looking at the woman, his huge flat eyes focusing on her and then the armband around her bicep. His chest tightened. He turned back to the battlefield, pausing on one spot. ¡°Try Medical Tent 9. Looks like they managed to get some squads out of the hole in that sector.¡±


    A slight smile grew on her scaled face before determination reignited. ¡°No, just knowing is enough. Thank you!¡± She said racing back to her post. She sat with another squad, mostly made up of medics. A squad that would be sent out near the end of this wave.


    ¡°Oi! I need eyes on the eastern front! It''s quiet out there.¡± Said the first Sergeant, until another shouted above him. ¡°Get me a sitrep on F10. Did they move?¡±


    ¡°Aye, nothing quiet about the eastern front! The Eastern Front has met with the monster horde. All squads engaged.¡± Well almost. He focused on a small squad for a moment, they focused on getting people out of a hole. No need to change that. He then swung his head back around. ¡°F10 now engaged in the center field along with Squads G11 and F12.¡±


    ¡°What of the Y72!?¡± A shout came from a different sergeant.


    The scout¡¯s hands gripped the railing. ¡°Nothing quiet about this Raid at all.¡± The scout said to himself. ¡°Give me a moment.¡±


    Len walked away from the pandemonium, which¡ªpoor is the command tent, though he guessed most of the tents were in similar states. Sergeants and Scouts ran around yelling orders or other changes that must be made. Scouts that specialized on long range intel gathering reported on what was happening. Somewhat poorly from what he could gather. Then again he was spoiled by Mel¡¯s near miraculous talents. He never lacked for any battlefield information back when he ran tents just like this one.


    Len watched the nearly overwhelmed scout from his perch yell out findings to three separate officers, each shouting louder than the last. Poor guy.


    Len turned back to the tent itself and watched the chaos ensue, thanking the First Ones that he wasn¡¯t part of that anymore. He didn¡¯t miss that stress. Not that his new work wasn¡¯t stressful, but it was at least meaningful.


    A notification popped up.


    ¡ªSQUAD L7 NOT IN DESIGNATED SECTOR¡ª


    Repeat or Change Directive?


    Nevermind. I am a part of this again. Drat. Len thought to himself with a sigh. Of course he¡¯s not there, not when a giant hole opens up and swallows his friend. I doubt any squads are where they are supposed to be. He checked the separate tab in his character sheet. It gave live updates on the welfare of his squads, or squad in this case. Nothing detailed, just the current health and stamina of the members. He wouldn¡¯t get a kill count or an achievement run down until after the raid.


    All seemed fine on that front, no deaths. Tawny ran a little low on stamina but Len was sure that bird they picked up from Rache would handle it.


    But he needed more information, so Len turned his attention elsewhere. He looked up at the overtaxed scout again. Len couldn¡¯t quite get a read on the man¡¯s gene, he could think of a few that came with large eyes like that. Len shook his head and searched for another command tent. One that hopefully did share the confusion, not that he was going to get his hopes up.


    After a minute of searching, he found one where only two sergeants yelled at the scout. It would have to work. Not like they could say anything to Len anyway.


    Len hopped into the air, flames igniting under his soles. He pondered on the Raid as he flew. In all his years as a fighter and eventual leader in Raids, Len was used to the unpredictability that came with them. Early starts were nothing new, uncommon, and a pain but not unheard of. He¡¯d seen second waves arrive quickly as well. No, what bothered Len was the ambush. Monsters don¡¯t fight with tactics, they don¡¯t strategize. Not ones in the Forest.


    There were hardly any bipeds here. Gremlins and the occasional Hemgremlin, but no truly intelligent monsters. Werebreeds never made their homes in the trees. They stayed in the Hills or the Desert.


    But then what ambushed our Legion? From what some reports are saying, these monsters used primitive bows and some had archery skills and abilities, which is in line with Hemgremlins. But so many. And there was the matter of the holes themselves. Weyrms was Len¡¯s guess. They were another Desertborne monster but being the only creatures capable of such a feat meant they had to be the answer. But that only drove the mystery further. To have so many and not a single one emerge. The death count should have soared by now. And to be so coordinated. It was maddening. But before he could spend more time elaborating, he made it to his destination.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Len quelled his flames before he landed on the command tent perch. His sudden arrival on the rickety platform made it wobble and caused the scout to jump and nearly fall right off the platform. Len caught her arm and balanced the scout. Her gene was immediately recognizable, a Jiraff splicer. No other gene elongated a person¡¯s neck quite like it. Her shoulders stopped at Len¡¯s chest but her head stood just a tad higher than his own. They made terrible fighters but some of the best battlefield observers. But off putting as well.


    She twisted over to Len, eyes filled with shock. Len winced for a split second. ¡°Sorry about that, love. Just need you to get me info on a squad right over there.¡± Len nudged her head around over to the eastern edge of the battlefield, where he assigned Liam¡¯s squad.


    ¡°Umm, Sir, I-I¡¯m supposed to¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shhh, Legion Squad L7 dear.¡±


    She tilted her head above Len¡¯s. Len suppressed a shudder. ¡°L7? There is no L7, that designation would go to the Fifth Legion and they don¡¯t¡­¡± Len just nodded and raised his sleeve just a bit to show off his moving flame mark trope.


    He couldn¡¯t help but grin as he watched the switch flip in her brain. The spark of recognition flared up in the woman¡¯s eyes. Her neck lumbered around him. Its strange movement made Len somewhat queasy and killed that grin.


    ¡°Commander Ainsworth?!¡±


    ¡°The one and only, now about my squad,¡± Len said, pointing her head again.


    ¡°Jiraff, sitrep on T30! Now!¡±


    Len leaned over the side of the platform. ¡°We¡¯ll be just a minute sergeant,¡± Len called and waved down at the man whose narrow eyes squinted. ¡°Who the hell are you? I swear I will have your head on a spike for disrupting one of my¡­¡±


    Oh, I don¡¯t have time for this. Len snapped his fingers and flames erupted right next to the man¡¯s leg. The sergeant jumped nearly ten feet in the air, which impressed Len, those flames weren¡¯t even heated much. Len didn¡¯t want to burn the tent down.


    Upon landing, it looked as if the sergeant had seen the error of his ways. ¡°Commander Ainsworth!¡± He saluted Len before scurrying back into the tent.


    Len let out a sigh. ¡°Okay, so L7.¡± He readied himself to explain it all over to the scout, but to his surprise, she was already staring off in the right direction. Her eyes switched between scanning the battlefield and the far off look signaling someone was looking through their char sheet, or the battlefield map in this case.


    ¡°L7, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    The woman gulped. Len watched as her entire neck and throat pushed the spit through. He silently wretched. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t know how to tell you this. I only see three members, Sir. Are others in the hole?¡±


    Three, they¡¯re all alive so I''m sure it''s fine.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It''s a small squad, only four of them. Tell me what they are currently doing.¡±


    She didn¡¯t question him, instead turning her attention back to the field. He wouldn¡¯t have blamed her if she did but Len was glad she didn¡¯t.


    ¡°They seem to be assisting people out of the hole. Two squads from the looks of it. Hmm, that is an interesting use of powers.¡±


    Len frowned. ¡°Which squads?¡±


    ¡°Not sure, I need to see their respective captains for that. Oh, wait, one just hopped out. Along with the fourth member of L7. Squad A5¡¯s Fennel Blines. The other squad leader is climbing up now.¡±


    Len shook his head and ignored the scout¡¯s words. He heard what he needed. Oh, they aren¡¯t going to like this command. Len pulled up the earlier notification about changing the directive.


    He thought up the command and sent it off. Sorry you two, but I need Liam to score high.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°HEY! DOWN HERE!¡± Tawny¡¯s shrill voice came from the hole.


    I ran up next to Rashith and Hait. Hait looked overjoyed, white Rashith held onto his normal air of indifference when it came down to anybody who wasn¡¯t him. I looked into the hole.  It was much deeper than I thought at first. At least fifteen feet, way deeper than what it started out as. Rock formations stuck out of the ground all over. Soldiers were scattered among them, using the rocks as cover, not sure whether it was safe to come out or not. The rock formations near the edge of the circle were much larger and densely packed together, making for ideal cover from the archers from earlier. The rock formations shrunk in size and number closer to the center you got. The direct center held nothing but dirt. That and a few people. A large Minotauren and some others.


    Then I found our lightning mage. Behind a small rock stood Tawny, waving her hand around trying to get our attention. Someone stood next to her, fully armored, pulling the excited girl¡¯s arm back into cover.


    ¡°DID I GET THEM?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Thank God,¡± I said under my breath.


    ¡°NOPE, LIAM HAD TO FINISH THE JOB!¡± Hait answered, matching her volume. It was a must. Just a couple hundred feet away, monsters and splicers were pitched in heated combat. Combat they would have to join, sooner rather than later. I turned away from it. Focus on this first. I¡¯m sure no one will be mad at helping other squads.


    Tawny pouted at the news, crossing her arms. Then her companion lifted his helmet. It was Fennel. That¡¯s good, maybe we can join up with him.


    ¡°IS IT CLEAR?¡± Fennel yelled.


    ¡°YES CAP!¡± Hait responded.


    I turned my attention to the surrounding area, looking for something to get them out of the hole. The sides of the hole were mostly dirt with no footholds or anything. I watched a few other soldiers try to climb out but slide back down as the dirt gave way. Wait then how did that one soldier climb out at the start? I looked over to the arrow filled body at the far edge of the, a shiver ran down my spine.


    Then the ground rumbled underneath us. Grabbing the scruff of his outfit, I pulled Hait back from the edge just as his spot fell into the chasm. The rocks and stones in the pit shifted not too quickly, but enough to mess with those inside who tried to walk around. After watching for a minute, I noticed that the ground in the pit was swirling around like a whirlpool. A really slow one, but it explained, at least partially, why the hole was deeper. The fine dirt in the center seemingly seeped into the ground below, thankfully those in the center already made their way to the edges.


    Watching the dirt just disappear from the pit brought on a bad feeling in my stomach. We needed to get them out of there now. I looked over to where the archers fired from, all missing now, hidden in the wave of monsters and soldiers fighting.


    They must not have been the direct cause. Then what is? That didn¡¯t matter, we needed to get them out before the hole grew any deeper. But how?


    I placed Hait down, who held his arms together and shivered. I looked at my claws. Still icy. ¡°Sorry.¡± Then the metaphorical lightbulb switched in my brain.


    ¡°Hait, how well can you shape your water?¡±


    He shrugged, ¡°Not s-sure what y-y-you m-mean?¡±


    They can¡¯t be that cold.


    ¡°Can you make a ladder? Or stairs maybe?¡±

 109. Slippery Business

    Hait shook his head, shivers subsiding. ¡°No way I can do something as complicated as a ladder. Besides, I can¡¯t hold up anything bigger than Tawny. Heck, I can¡¯t even do that.¡± A dark emotion crossed his gaze for a moment as he remembered what happened with his sister. Even after seeing his sister safe, he must still be torn up about it.


    ¡°Yeah, but your powers don¡¯t need to.¡± I clacked my claws together, and little flakes of snow fell from them. ¡°If you can make stairs, maybe I can freeze them in place.¡± It wasn¡¯t a great plan, but it was something.


    Hait brought his fingers to his chin, looking down the hole, now a solid foot from the edge, wary of another tremor.


    ¡°That¡¯s a long way down. I can maybe¡ªmaybe¡ª make something going halfway down. And even then I don¡¯t know, won¡¯t the ice break under people¡¯s weight?¡±


    ¡°Only one way to find out.¡± I turned to Fennel, who was currently rounding up members of his squad to the edges, getting them away from the center. Lukkans, the tarsier eyed archer waved up at us.


    But it was more than just Fennel¡¯s squad. Like another 15+ people rounded the edge of the hole. Another squad. Crap. My ice stairs plan is thin already. But maybe they have somebody that can help.


    ¡°Fennel, can anyone down there use water or ice powers?!¡± I yelled down to him.


    He shrugged ¡°Not in our squad. Give me a sec.¡± He walked over to someone with cloven feet currently being bandaged up. The other squad¡¯s leader I presumed.


    While Fennel worked on that, Hait and I started our frozen stairs plan. I had him make solid blocks of water, as big as he could make them. He made a cube of water about two feet in each size.


    I stuck my claws into it, then tried to focus my ice powers, which I¡¯m not sure had any real effect. But finally, the water began to chill and thin layers of ice formed along each face of the cube. I willed my claws to get colder, trying to remember how it felt when I fused them to the ice sheet. But it wasn''t working. The outer sides of the block froze, but the water inside only chilled. It may have eventually frozen completely, the only issue was Hait couldn¡¯t hold the water in that shape for very long.


    A roar filled the air, coming from the battle raging several hundred feet away. A monster, a large black salamander looking thing with bright orange splotches, nearly broke through the line. Orange globs fell from its jaw, sizzling on the grass and an unlucky soldier¡¯s armor. But the brave men and women fighting pushed it back. Several bladed weapons worked in unison to sunder its head from its body.


    Damn, that was cool. I looked over at the fighter whose armor was covered. The acidic saliva ate through a portion of his pauldron and down the side of his armor. He was being dragged away from the battle, unmoving. The sight lit a fire inside me; we needed to get these guys out of there now.


    But a fire was the exact opposite thing I should be imagining. Glaciers, North Pole, Snow Cones, Ice cream. Then my thoughts just degenerated back a couple of decades. Blizzard, Icy Wind, Aurora Beam, Sheer Cold!


    Yet before I could grasp the right chilling thought, Hait¡¯s powers waned and he released his hold. The weight and pressure of the water inside shattered the thin ice layer.


    ¡°Crap, sorry Liam, let me try again,¡± Hait said through labored breath.


    Rashith stood behind the panting water mage, casting the stamina regen ability, and decided to give his two cents on the matter. ¡°This plan will never work. We¡¯d be better off helping in the raid. You know, our designation. Not to mention there¡¯s more glory in battle than saving the unfortunate.¡±


    ¡°Nope. Just gonna slide over that egregious comment. Thanks for the vote of confidence by the way.¡± I shook my head, then turned to Hait.


    ¡°It¡¯s not on you. I can¡¯t freeze it quickly enough. That shield from earlier was already frozen, so my powers didn¡¯t need to do much heavy lifting. Give me a second, there¡¯s got to be a better way.¡±


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    I got up and paced around, but the sounds and roars of the battle nearby kept interrupting my thoughts. I watched. The line didn¡¯t seem to move, thankfully. This wave of monsters almost seemed as tame as the last was. Small blessings.


    ¡°Liam!¡± Fennel shouted.


    I walked to the edge.


    ¡°All we¡¯ve got is a very tired Stone Mage. Says he can make something going up about 10 feet!¡±


    ¡°Do it!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already on it!¡±


    I turned back to Hait. ¡°Okay, back to it! You heard him. We don¡¯t need to make as many blocks so let''s make them smaller.  We only need to give them a few extra feet.¡±


    Rashith pompously scoffed at the notion. I¡¯m gonna slap him.


    Burying that thought down, I answered him. ¡°Better plan, Rashith?¡±


    We all looked down the hole and saw that the stone mage made a simple block staircase. Each step was like three feet high, but any soldier could make that jump. Rashith then looked back at us. ¡°Have you tried a ladder?¡± He said with a noncommittal shrug.


    Ignoring the ever growing urge to hurt our only Support, I went to answer him as diplomatically as I could. But Hait beat me to it, his eyes lighting up with inspiration.


    ¡°Actually, maybe he has a point. If we only have to make a few feet then a ladder might just work.¡±


    ¡°But you said you couldn¡¯t make one.¡±


    ¡°What if our master mage here made just one rung at a time? You use those barbaric claws to freeze it, then he makes another connection to it, and so on.¡± Rashith answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a decent plan actually.¡±


    After some quick testing, Hait was able to keep together a small hollow square of water. It looked like a square made out of pipes. I froze it over relatively quickly. We then made a few more rungs of the ladder, freezing each to the last until we completed it.


    The ladder started melting as soon as my claws left it, meaning I was going to have to hold on to them the entire time. With my claws fused to the four foot ladder, I laid down on my stomach and brought the ladder over the edge. Looks like the earth mage overestimated his skills, there was still about a three foot gap between the ladder and his stone blocks. Either that or the hole grew deeper again.


    One by one, the trapped soldiers hopped up the stone blocks and climbed up the frozen ladder. There were a few slips here and there, and ice made for a terrible climbing surface(who knew), but nothing injury worthy. My arms, on the other hand, were burning like crazy. Holding the ladder up was quite possibly the hardest task I¡¯ve asked of Ursa form, even contending with the damned burpees. Especially when the larger specimens made their way up. Most had to jump to get up to the ladder, each new weight tearing a different ligament in my arms. Plenty ended up falling back to the stone blocks. Lukkans was the latest one.


    He rubbed his back as he got up, then Zaner shoved him aside. I got super nervous when Zaner walked up to the ladder. Part of me felt that his weight would actually rip the muscles clean off my bones. I braced myself for the immense weight, but instead, the ladder got lighter.


    Zaner held the bottom of the ladder while he knelt down, instructing the remaining people to use his knee as a step stool. The ladder was not only far lighter but there were no other falls or slips. Me and the recently single horned fighter shared a single look, then a nod.


    Fennel and Zaner were the last ones out. Fennel helped me lift the ladder up while Zaner held on.


    Fennel lifted his helmet, taking a look around at the squad, shaking his head.


    ¡°Thanks for getting us out of there. And for taking out the archers. We¡­I owe you one.¡± Then his gaze rested on the raid. ¡°I know we already fought in one wave, but I¡¯m pretty sure the squad has some fight left. WE CAN HELP OUT, RIGHT A5!¡± Fennel shouted out to his squad.


    An affirmative call from the squad answered him.


    ¡°Aye! You¡¯ll have D19 as well, we have to send back some of our wounded but the bulk can stay and fight.¡± The cloven footed captain walked up to the two of us.


    Fennel nodded . ¡°I¡¯m sure Command won¡¯t have any problems with it.¡±


    DING!


    A notification popped up again. Both Fennel and the D19 Captain¡¯s eyes glazed over, a sign I wasn¡¯t the only one who got a message.


    I opened it up.


    New Directive:


    Separate from Squad A5 and D19 immediately. Return to your post. GET MORE KILLS!


    -Len


    Fennel and the other Captain shared a strange look.


    ¡°D19 return to base! Sorry, orders are orders.¡± He said with a shrug.


    Fennel stared back at what I believed were his retreat orders. He balled his fist and grimaced. ¡°A5 return to base! Double Time!¡±


    Fennel mouthed sorry to me and left. Each member of the squad looked around at each other but made their way away from the frontline. Eventually leaving my small four-man squad alone at the hole.

 110. Icy Grip

    Orange goop seeped from the giant amphibian¡¯s mouth. A small dollop dripped onto the small barrier of water in front of my face. The droplet rolled off the solid watery surface and onto my forearm, stinging like a bitch.


    I grunted in pain. ¡°Anytime now Tawny, ugh, would be much, ow, appreciated!¡± I yelled out through the side of my mouth, unable to turn away from the big bastard. I was holding the giant acidic amphibian up, my frozen claws firmly lodged in its chest. An Orange Salamandra, that¡¯s what Hait and Tawny called it. I called it an asshole.


    ¡°Give me a second!¡±


    ¡°My bad, oof. Sorry, ow, for rushing you.¡± Another droplet of monster mucus burnt through the last of Ursa¡¯s arm hair. ¡°Damn it.¡± I wrenched my claws, trying to rip through this thing''s chest. Yet my claws couldn¡¯t move. They were completely stuck, frozen solid on its torso. The salamander¡¯s disturbingly moist skin was tougher than it looked and very susceptible to cold. Extremely effective. Too effective even.


    All of my nerd knowledge told me that my current elemental affinity should be the perfect counter. That each slash from my claws would tear right through the overgrown lizard, leaving nothing but the shattered remains of an amphibian popsicle in my wake. Yet reality insisted on a different and quite pathetic story.


    Nope. The very second I found an opening in the salamander''s guard and shoved my chilly claws into the beast¡¯s chest, its secretions splashed all over the place before freezing over, covering my claws, hands, and even wrists. Which I also found out are not even remotely as resistant to the cold as my hands were. Which made me really wish the ability was called Elemental Arms. But no, apparently the affinity applied to my hands and claws alone. A useful bit of knowledge to be sure, just a really shitty time to learn it.


    I was completely and thoroughly stuck, unable to break free from my own icy grasp. It was wildly embarrassing, and that wasn¡¯t even the best part. The best news came next. The salamanders were very resistant to (insert sarcastic drum roll) lightning.


    Tawny had already shocked it a few times now, barely slowing it down. And Hait''s water powers sat right next to his twin sister''s powers in the metaphorical useless corner. He was relegated to umbrella duty, keeping the monster goo off of me.


    The salamander reared up on its hind legs, trying to free itself as much as I was. But I knew that we needed to get free on my terms. So I held it down, pulling down with as much might as I could muster. That was the most I could do at the moment. The beast ended up being a lot bigger than I first realized. It seemed so much smaller far away. Especially as I watched Sloppy¡¯s brother get cut down by eight or so legionnaires just a little while ago. The thing must have been at least eight feet long and five feet high.


    I tried to slam the monster on its side, but I just didn¡¯t have good leverage where my arms were, its center of gravity was further down, near its tummy.


    A few more once-impressive bolts of yellow showered the lizard¡¯s back, making my neck hair stand on end. The monster roared out of what I imagined wasn¡¯t pain but sheer annoyance, like a bee buzzing around your face. Its cheeks bulged, filling with more of its disgusting spit. It aimed toward the source of its minor annoyance.


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t!¡± I pulled to the left, throwing its aim off.


    ¡°Other way, you dolt!¡± A protest came from Rashith who was apparently to the left.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± I swung my hips in the other direction, ignoring the worrying pop, just enough so the monster didn¡¯t melt my comrades in its bodily fluids. The hasty and panicked maneuver did however result in some more goop landing on my arms. More than a few drops this time. Hait couldn¡¯t move the water fast enough to stop it.


    Neon orange saliva poured all over my hands and forearms, sizzling against the ice. Then a single crack appeared on the patch covering my right hand. Taking the initiative, I yanked and flexed my right arm as hard as I could. The crack grew and grew, then finally broke, freeing my hand.


    I slammed my newly liberated claws down on the frozen block covering my left arm. It shattered. It was my turn to rear back. I slammed my shoulder and back into the monster, to open up some space between the two of us. Then, out of pure instinct, I slashed out toward the monster, activating Elemental Discharge.


    Sharp, pointed icicles flung out of my claws with each swipe, flying into the side of the monster, each one freezing a separate part of the salamander''s body. My vision started going red again, until a voice called out.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Liam, chill out!¡±


    It brought me back. I looked at the salamander. It was probably better described as a slushy and spiky pile of blood and orange mucus. I took a step toward it, and then exhaustion hit the side of my head like a ton of bricks, forcing me to my knees.


    I looked at my stamina. It sat at concerning twelve percent. Shit. I almost did it again.


    Soothing energy suffused my body before I got up. I turned to see Rashith standing over me, his hands glowing green. Basic Healing¡¯s gentle light healed the frostbite that I hadn¡¯t noticed crawling up my arms, mingling with the acid burns from the Salamandra¡¯s spit.


    ¡°Pray tell why, oh why, did you not attack with the icicles in the first place?¡± Rashith asked. ¡°We could have killed that thing in mere moments had you opened up with that.¡±


    I forgot. That was the truth. All of today¡¯s action and excitement had gotten to me so much that I totally forgot about my secondary ability. That it was a purely primitive impulse that had me use it at all. But he didn¡¯t need to know that. So I came up with an excuse.


    ¡°It uses a lot of stamina, as you can see,¡± I said, gesturing to myself. ¡°I didn¡¯t think my claws would have such a volatile reaction to its skin.¡±


    ¡°And yet that debacle more than likely wasted far more stamina than if you had just used the icicles. Amateurs.¡± He said under his breath, thinking I wouldn¡¯t catch it. Part of me really wanted to argue with him, but he wasn¡¯t wrong. We were in fact amateurs and it showed.


    Since we joined the second wave proper, we have only managed to take down a few monsters. Stragglers from the main horde that broke off to flank the other squads. Those orders came as soon as I stepped into our designated area.


    Sadly, our squad let a few through. Nobody died from what little I could tell, but the curses streaming from the squad closest to us let me know all I needed. We were failing.


    Only thanks to Tawny and Hait¡¯s powers have we managed to hold any monsters back. We managed our attack strategy well enough, I roared and blocked each monster''s advance, with some assistance from Hait¡¯s water barriers, and Tawny bolted the bunch. But it only worked on small fry. Karibuu, Tusxics, and even a few groups of Gremlins all fell to our squad. A dark part of me relished wetting my claws with their dark blood once again.


    It was the larger and faster threats that ground our squad to a halt. Wolf types would run right past us, not perceiving us as a target for some unspoken reason. Not enough meat on our bones maybe.


    I tried to rise to my feet, but Rashith stopped me, firmly placing his hand on my shoulder. ¡°Sit. We have a brief respite. Do not waste it. We are extremely fortunate to have taken part in such a tame Raid. At least on our front.¡±


    I looked up and saw Tawny and Hait standing in front of me. Yellow arcs of electricity periodically ran along her arms. Hait kept a ball of water at his side. They watched the battlefield, eyes unwavering, searching for the next threat. I envied them. Neither seemed to have the same hesitancy I struggled with. The results of growing up in the might-makes-right death world that is Kniyas. Crazy how these kids were so much younger than me and handled themselves so much better. Maybe not younger than my Kniyan body, but definitely younger than my Earth one was. I shook my head. I didn¡¯t need to think about that crap.


    We sat on a hill, giving us a decent look at the battlefield. The Eastern section held the monsters back well, not moving an inch back from where they initially collided. A good thing considering behind them sat the holes created at the start of the wave.


    But the same couldn¡¯t be said for the other fronts. I couldn¡¯t gather much on the far eastern side, but the troops in the middle had fallen back to behind the holes, using them as a sort of blockade against the horde. A good idea from a tactical standpoint. But I didn¡¯t trust the holes. They gave me a really bad feeling. I wanted to be as far away from them as possible.


    ¡°Check your notifications!¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I did not say anything,¡± Rashith responded.


    Tutor? Haven¡¯t heard from her in a while. Now isn¡¯t a good time to talk with Rashith literally standing above me.


    I heeded the advice and focused on the small notification resting just outside of my peripheral.


    You Leveled Up! Nice Going! You are now Level 5!


    Mimicry (Creature) Capacity Raised to 10.


    Go Get¡¯em, Tiger! -Tutor


    Are you kidding me? ONE! I was only one monster kill away! Seriously?!


    ¡°What?¡± Rashith asked, moving from my healed left arm to my right.


    ¡°Nothing just leveled up,¡± I told him.


    ¡°Good for you. Unfortunately, I do not currently possess a cookie, else I¡¯d give you a treat.¡±


    ¡°Dick,¡± I said with a scoff.


    But before I could relish in the amazing news, Tawny and Hait stiffened at the same time. ¡°A group of three Reptans are making their way here,¡± Hait announced.


    I rose to my feet, feeling much better. Didn¡¯t love his attitude, but I had to admit, Rashith¡¯s skills were top notch.


    ¡°Alright, form up!¡±

 111. And Other Assorted Shrubbery

    ¡°Why did you bring her?! Do we not have enough on our shoulders?¡±


    ¡°No other choice. She¡¯s got information we need.¡±


    ¡°Tuskshit, no other choice! You had at least twenty other choices. Like my personal favorite, leave the slum rat where it belongs, in the gutter she was born in.¡±


    Ingrid¡¯s eyelids fluttered, the heated words rousing her. What¡¯s¡­oh my head. What¡¯s happening? Whose shouting? She tried to open her eyes but the massive ache in her head doubled as she did. Ingrid kept her eyes closed. Then the shouting match continued.


    ¡°You WILL not speak to the chief like that else your inwards will paint the outsides of this wagon!¡±


    ¡°Try it, tiny! I¡¯m begging yah. Give me a reason to pack my shit and get out of this First Ones forsaken plan. You too Feathers! Don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t noticed you slinking over here.¡±


    Ingrid tried to focus her thoughts, a task made increasingly difficult as the group of people got louder. What happened before she fell asleep? But her brain didn¡¯t give her an answer. Only a scent. A cloying flavor danced on her tongue and nose, the only clue she could remember, that and warmth. A soft warmth that surrounded her whole body. One that she could swear she still felt. Then the warmth bristled in anger.


    ¡°Enough! Bradeth, you were paid handsomely. For both your contributions and your flexibility. Something you prided yourself on when you begged us to use you. This plan took too long to set in motion and can¡¯t, no, won¡¯t be stopped. Especially not by you.¡±


    ¡°The plan didn¡¯t include slum rats like her. You may be safe from her kind, but my livelihood ain¡¯t. I have a reputation to uphold in the city. And if she goes and blabs to the wrong people, not only is that rep thrown out the window, so am I. A window leading to the frigid ass end of the world.¡±


    ¡°And she won¡¯t! So shut up and drive!¡±


    During the argument, Ingrid¡¯s memories of recent events began to resurface. The scene at Mort¡¯s hideout, where her last job took place. She spied on a meeting between him and some Ferals. Shit went sideways and Lisse did something to her. Made her pass out. Lisse!


    Ingrid shot up, her vision going white from the sudden movement, she grabbed her head.


    Arms wrapped around Ingrid, holding her in a gentle embrace. ¡°Shush. Griddy, calm down. Give it a second and breathe. You¡¯ll be right in a moment.¡± Ingrid felt a hand rub her back, easing her heart. Once the lightheadedness began to subside, Ingrid opened her eyes again.


    She was in a wagon, a midsized one used by the caravans. She was all too familiar with the design, they were a prime target back in her younger years. She nicked quite a lot of gold off them while they sat poorly defended in merchant yards or warehouses. Though this was the first time she¡¯d ever ridden in one.


    Ingrid looked out through the back of the wagon where there wasn¡¯t any covering, trying to see what part of the city they were in. But instead of cobblestone streets and buildings, all she saw were trees, bushes, and other assorted shrubbery. No. No. No.


    Ingrid pulled away from Lisse¡¯s embrace, standing up in the wagon, barely finding her balance as the wagon shifted under her. ¡°Ingrid stop, sit back down.¡± But she didn¡¯t listen to her sister.


    Ingrid stumbled, both from her own dizziness and the wagon¡¯s bumpy ride, as she walked over to the open back of the wagon. She looked out and saw that her fears had come true, Ingrid was taken out of the city.


    Another big bump threw her to the wagon¡¯s floor. Her eyes stayed focused on the trees passing by.


    ¡°Why?¡± It was the only word her scratchy throat would let out.


    Lisse walked over to the seat closest to where Ingrid sat on the floor. Ingrid looked up at her long lost sister¡¯s face. She looked older. Still very pretty, but time, and from the look of the worried wrinkles on her face, stress had worn on her. They only shared a human father, Ingrid¡¯s mother was an elf who worked at one of the pleasure houses in the Gloom and never bothered to claim Ingrid as her own. She still worked in the Gloom. Lisse, on the other hand, was the legitimate elder daughter to their father and his wife, a full human. So Lisse was always going to age quicker.


    ¡°Because I need to ask you some questions.¡± She went to touch Ingrid¡¯s shoulder. ¡°And it''s time you came home.¡±


    Even though the rest of her had aged, Lisse¡¯s purple eyes still showed strength, the same strength they always held. As if those twenty long years could have done nothing to take it from her. Ingrid was transported back to her childhood while she looked into those purple pools when she would cry to her sister after a hard day of teasing from the other kids.


    Ingrid ripped her gaze away before she fell into those memories any further. Those days were gone. That Ingrid was gone.


    Ingrid almost protested, several of her own questions and arguments flew through her mind. About how she already had a home. How she had a new family. A new purpose. Hell, a new job that paid well. She was helping the people in the Gloom in her own way. Not the way her father tried to. His way ultimately ended in needless bloodshed that put the Gloom in a worse position than ever before.


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    Ingrid got off the floor of the wagon and sat down on the seat next to the exit. She pulled her hood back up as she thought of hopping out and running back to the city. She could get back in easily enough, might have to wait until the raid was over, but it wasn¡¯t her first time on the outside of the city walls. Though she had never been this far. She couldn¡¯t even see the giant tree-formed walls that protected the city. Only forest. That plan was quickly dashed, however, when her sister¡¯s lackey, the large axe wielding woman, plopped down next to her. The woman whose name Ingrid couldn¡¯t remember placed a hand on Ingrid¡¯s shoulder. The gesture wasn¡¯t threatening, just a simple message of ¡°don¡¯t try it.¡±


    Lisse coughed and nodded at the woman. ¡°Glenna, give her some water.¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am,¡± the large woman responded, producing a waterskin from a pouch on her side. She handed it to Ingrid. Ingrid held it, suspiciously scrutinizing it, but ultimately drinking from it. They already had her captured, no point in being thirsty too.


    The water was surprisingly cool as it went down, soothing her dry throat. She took the opportunity to think about how she would respond. Should she ask her own questions? What happened to her after dad¡¯s massive blunder at the wedding? Why had she come back now? No. She didn¡¯t need to know, it¡¯s been twenty years. All that mattered was getting back to the twins as quickly as possible. That and the fat paycheck waiting for her when she gave the information to Len.


    Once finished, Ingrid handed it back and looked over to Lisse. ¡°What questions do you have for me?¡± Ingrid asked flatly.


    Lisse gently smiled at her, a slightly sad smile. ¡°Straight to business.¡± She said on the inhale, possibly disappointed. Her purple eyes grew serious, that overly emotional woman vanishing. ¡°I need you to tell me everything about your newest acquaintance.¡±


    ¡°Which one? There¡¯s been a few lately. I hope you don¡¯t mean them. Bet you¡¯d know more than me.¡± Ingrid said while pointing at her sister¡¯s subordinates.


    Glenna, the large woman, grunted, clearly irritated by the sarcastic answer. Lisse¡¯s other henchmen, the crow feathered man, chuckled through his nose.


    ¡°No, Ingrid.¡± Lisse¡¯s face didn¡¯t change. ¡°I¡¯m talking about the one you brought Ranj the other night. Liam Foster.¡±


    Ingrid¡¯s nose twitched. ¡°And how do you know about that?¡±


    ¡°I have more eyes and ears in that city than you think. Ingrid, I respect Ranj, she was a mentor and mother figure, you know that. And she is trying to help as many of our people and other disenfranchised people by the city and that witch.¡± Her final word was spat out as if it were poison. ¡°But it will never work. Father made sure of that.¡±


    Ingrid took note as something twinkled in her sister¡¯s hard eyes for a split second. Regret. Anger maybe. Ingrid couldn¡¯t be sure. She leaned back. Why does she care about him?


    ¡°Don''t know much about the guy to be honest. Too nice and gullible for a guy who lived outside of the city. Would have made for a really easy mark. I felt like he was begging me to take that coin purse off his hands with how carefree he was with it. But Mrs. Warbler likes him so that means something.¡± Ingrid shook her head. ¡°Other than that I can¡¯t tell you much. I was just the guide. Ranj did all the talking. Your sources can back me up on that one.¡±


    Ingrid tried to keep her knowledge close to her chest. She didn¡¯t say anything about his strange powers. She wanted to keep as many cards to herself as she could, a vital strategy in these kinds of interrogations.


    Lisse nodded. ¡°Is he actually a Feral?¡±


    ¡°From what I can gather, yes. Either that or he is the best liar on the face of Kniyas.¡±


    ¡°What do you say?¡±


    ¡°Because you can¡¯t fake those kinds of reactions. I watched him for days before taking him to Ranj. But you knew that already I¡¯m guessing.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Everything looked so new to him, especially in the Gloom. He was fascinated by every little thing. I¡¯ve only ever seen those faces from newcomers to the city. That and the uproar he caused in the Capitol Building couldn¡¯t have been staged. So yes he¡¯s Feral.¡±


    Lisse¡¯s face twisted, her serious veneer cracking for just a second as Ingrid spoke about the city¡¯s giant central tree. Ingrid swore she heard her sister say something like ¡°Disgusting name.¡± under her breath.


    ¡°Next. Why is Leonard Ainsworth so interested in him?¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t tell you. I¡¯ve never once had a discussion about Liam, or caught him talking to anyone about him either.¡±


    Lisse nodded. ¡°What about his gene?¡±


    Ingrid tensed for a moment. Should I say anything? The woman to her side nudged Ingrid. Lisse scolded the woman, but Ingrid ignored it for the most part. I don¡¯t really see why not. Besides, not like I owe the guy.


    ¡°Why does that matter?¡± Ingrid asked, hoping Lisse would let something slip. Ingrid was curious about the guy. So many different figures were interested in him.


    ¡°It matters so much more than you know. Please, answer the question. What is his gene? And if you don¡¯t know that, can you give me a description of his powers?¡±


    Ingrid pondered for a minute more, was the information she had of value? Could she use it to get something? In this case, a trip home. She really wanted to get back to Macie and Kende. They got really nervous on Raid days. Most people in the Gloom did with it being the district closest to the Raid field.


    ¡°Before I say anything, I need to know you''re not just going to leave me out here once you have what you''re looking for.¡±


    Lisse¡¯s seriousness melted, horrified at the accusation. ¡°Ingrid, you know me. I would never¡ª¡±


    ¡°Leave me to fend for myself when I needed you the most. No, you only did that when I was seven years old!¡±


    Lisse turned her head away in shame. Ingrid felt more anger bubbling up in her chest. More words and accusations she never realized she had but now desperately wished to be flung at her sister. But before she could Lisse squatted down in front of her.


    ¡°I know¡­I know you have a lot to say, shout even, but please save it for later. Right now, I just need you to tell me his gene. His powers?¡±


    Ingrid sniffed away the tears that began to well up. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Later, please trust¡­no, I don¡¯t deserve your trust. But please, this matters so much.¡±


    Ingrid not caring anymore, just burst out a quick answer. ¡°I don¡¯t know, he can change his trope and turn into fucking barrels. There, happy now.¡±


    Lisse stood up and looked at her comrades. They shared a simple nod. Both got up and rushed to the front of the wagon, the woman pulled out her axe and sharpened its edge while the feathered man shouted to the front. ¡°Give me an estimate!¡±


    ¡°Ten minutes. Ludicrous bastards.¡± The wagon puller announced.


    ¡°Thank you, Ingrid,¡± Lisse said, looking at the front.


    ¡°What? That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Lisse answered as she joined the group, finding and putting some leather armor on over her clothes.


    ¡°Where are we even going?¡± Ingrid asked, realizing that probably should have been her first question.


    Lisse turned around and put on some gloves. ¡°To the Raid.¡±

 112. No Rest For The Tired

    ¡°Liam! Not a good time to nap.¡±


    My tired ass says differently. My heavy eyelids agreed, both of us not giving a care what the voice said. My oddly numb body was fine with it as well.


    ¡°WAKE UP!¡± The voice rang out in my skull, forcing me to open my eyes. I was laying on the battlefield, back to the ground, with an enormous weight bearing down on my chest. "Ow, the hell?¡± I groaned, barely getting the words out. I was having a hard time breathing. My lungs burned with each attempt.


    I looked around, trying to see what happened to me. I could move one arm, my right, freely but the other was trapped under whatever sat on my body. I rubbed my eyes with the free arm.


    It was brown and furry. Not nice soft fur though, no that''d be asking for too much, No it was coarse, scratchy fur. I looked over, just making out two figures pushing up against my uncomfortable prison.


    ¡°Come on Hait, push harder!¡±


    ¡°I am!¡±


    Tawny. Hait. Right, Raid¡­We still doing that? My vision cleared up more, now I could make out the twins clearly. They were trying to push something off my body, and failing miserably. Painfully so. Each time they started to lift it, they ended up dropping it, crushing me even more. ¡°Stop.¡± I said breathlessly, but neither of them heard me.


    How did this happen?


    Then a hazy memory popped into my head. I was fighting a couple of the boars. Tawny and Hait hit them from the side. Their brains learned a new definition of chilling thoughts thanks to my icy claws right after. Then a roar came from behind us. Unlike anything else I''d heard in the battle.


    A big Ursa type monster had broken through the line held by the squad to our left. It bum rushed Rashith on sight. I body blocked its assault just before its massive paws battered our healer, earning a few gashes along my back for it. The bastard had to be three times as heavy as the salamander, and way more limber. I strained all of my muscles and it still pushed me through the dirt. A pop came from my left shoulder.


    There was a saving grace however. As I held it back, archers from the squad that let it through pelted its back with arrows. Dang thing probably looks like a weird porcupine/bear hybrid now. Something I really, really hope isn¡¯t real in this world. But the arrows worked well, killing it quickly.


    But my foot slipped on something, upturned earth most likely, while I wrestled with it. I stumbled before I could get out of the way from the lumbering corpse. It fell on me, bringing the story back to the current shitty predicament: A thousand pound bear carcass crushing my body.


    I tried to push the beast off, surely my Ursa enhanced strength could get me free. But no matter how much I strained, it wasn¡¯t moving. I looked at my free arm again, finally noticing that my hairy arms and bear claws were gone. Awesome. I looked at the timer. 58 minutes and counting. Well at least I wasn¡¯t out for very long. Okay, how do I get out?


    After a quick run through of my other abilities and forms, I determined something. Not a single one of them would help. Gremlin would just get me crushed faster. Apis¡¯s tail was useful but not particularly strong. Tigris would just get pissy. And Squirrel, yeah Squirrel. Maybe I could bite my way through the thing with the buck teeth. I chuckled at the dumb notion. ¡°Ow.¡± Bad idea, hurts to laugh.


    No object form would help either, I needed to contort my body to use them properly. So I was completely and thoroughly stuck. I peered around the battlefield, searching for a different solution.


    ¡°Cough. Cough. New Forms. Cough, cough.¡± Tutor said in my head.


    What? Oh level up, right! Yes! Maybe I can find a new form to help me out. And why did she hide it in a cough? I¡¯m the only one who can hear her.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I replied, softly.


    ¡°Why are you thanking us, we, argh, haven¡¯t freed you yet.¡± Tawny said, her back to the furry beast trying to lift it with her scrawny legs.


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    How the hell do you hear that and not my protest to stop crushing me!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Rashith went out to get help. He shouldn¡¯t be too long. Huff. We¡¯re just trying to relieve some of, argh, the pressure.¡± Hait said, joining his sister in her well-meaning yet futile efforts, his oddly bulky shelled shoulders digging into the bear¡¯s fur. Though the pressure did actually subside some as they changed their grip. Marginally at best, but it was something.


    ¡°Cool.¡± Was all I got out. One word answers were all that my lungs alloted to me.


    After the twins¡¯ legs inevitably gave out, a small crew of splicers hurried over to the body, each wearing the same sash around their arms. Medics. A retrieval squad probably.


    I guess that¡¯s one major bonus to fighting in an army like this. Support from the backline. That¡¯s nice.


    The crew all worked together and rolled the bear¡¯s body off of my own. My lungs filled with air as I took in huge gulps once they were freed. A large portion of my body felt numb, then prickly as the blood rushed back through.


    I tried to get up, but my body felt so tired. And I couldn¡¯t actually feel my left arm yet. My eyes faltered as the pick up crew spoke to each other. I couldn¡¯t really make out their words, something about my left arm maybe. It sounded like gibberish. Loud annoying gibberish. Even Tawny and Hait joined in on the whack talk, they had rushed over to my side at some point. Rashith stood a few feet away, a disgusted look on his face. Better than his usual condescending one.


    Whatever. Stupid bird.


    The medical squad ended up throwing me on a cloth stretcher. My vision blurred again now that the adrenaline had worn off. I looked over at one of the medics, a cat man, and saw his hand hover over my arm as they carried me song. A neat green hue covered my numb left arm. Pretty. I thought to myself, as the warm sensation brought that beautiful temptress named slumber back around. Just got rid of her too.


    But I fought pretty hard, right? Saved those guys down in the hole. Killed some monsters. That has to be enough, surely. I think I deserve some sleep.


    ¡°Don¡¯t Liam, stay awake.¡± Tutor spoke again, impeding my desperately needed slumber again.


    ¡°Why?¡± I mumbled, no longer caring if people thought me strange for talking to myself.


    ¡°Nope, Raid¡¯s not over yet. The second you fall asleep, you¡¯ll be out for hours. I can tell.¡±


    ¡°I did plenty. Lemme sleep.¡± I insisted.


    ¡°Sorry, bub. No can do. Finale¡¯s coming up, and you have a part to play. Now stay awake, or I swear I will blast Trap remixes of classic Polka songs in your head.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I said, wondering if it was just Tutor¡¯s turn to spout random nonsense like everyone else was. Or maybe I was losing it.


    Yet her threat proved true, the wildest mixture of accordion and bass drops blared in my head, creating a level of migraine I never thought possible. It stopped after a few agonizing seconds. It had successfully sobered me up, to a degree.


    ¡°Fine you win. Keep me awake. Gimme something to talk about then.¡± I said while checking my ears for blood.


    ¡°Hmm, any ideas for new monsters you want to mimic? Ooo, better yet, riddle me this. Of all the monsters you encountered so far, which ones would have given you a form that would have freed you from that bear¡¯s clutches? Hint, there is a right answer.¡± She said, I swear I could hear the pride swell in her chest as if she just dropped a question worthy of Solomon on my head.


    However¡­ It wasn''t a bad question. Lord knows, I won¡¯t tell her that. What would have helped? The boar? Nah, probably just grow a damn tusk out of my mouth and get some charge related ability. Magic Moose? Shoot the corpse off me with magic. Sounds nasty, and wouldn¡¯t work.


    A few more monsters ran through my head, but nothing quite stuck out. Don¡¯t think wolves or geckos were going to do much in that spot. Maybe one of them came with a huge strength buff. But I doubted it would give me more than a leveled up Ursa.


    I bumped along as they carried me, throwing my head over to the right. Close by, I saw one of the salamanders writhe around on its side. It wasn¡¯t quite dead, but it wasn¡¯t going anywhere either. Then it hit me.


    ¡°The salamander.¡± I answered Tutor.


    ¡°Bingo, partner. We could have gotten you all nice and slimy and then yanked you out from under.¡± Tutor replied, that baseless pride still going strong in her voice.


    ¡°First, yawn, I¡¯d still need outside help. And second, yaaawwnn, what do you mean, we? You just sit around in my head all the time, you wouldn¡¯t have done anything.¡±


    ¡°Hphm. It would have worked.¡±


    ¡°Sure, we¡­we¡¯ll, go¡­with¡­that.¡± I felt my consciousness slipping again. I looked at the large dark salamander shift again, he wasn¡¯t too far away. Then my eyelids drooped. But I heard a little jingle in my head just before I fell unconscious. That and some terrible music.


    [Mimic Entry ¡°SALAMADRA¡± Recorded]


    [Proficiency Level 1]

 113. Sticky Situation

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with his skin? Why is it so wet?¡±


    ¡°I told you to get back. Somebody get her out of here. We need concentration or he may lose that arm.¡±


    ¡°NO, he¡¯s my captain, I¡¯m not leaving him!¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Fine, just stay back, behind that table. Laurel¡¯s backside, when did we start letting kids on the battlefield? Are we that desperate?¡±


    ¡°Hey buddy I¡¯m not a kid! I graduated two weeks ago!¡±


    Who''s yelling so much? Ugh, just let me sleep already. My eyes were closed, trying to let the gentle embrace of slumber envelop me. It evaded me on the whole trip on the stretcher thanks to that awful music Tutor kept playing. I spent who knows how long dancing between the line of consciousness and void. Why wouldn¡¯t she let me sleep?


    All the pain would be gone after a good sleep. That and a good meal. God, what I wouldn¡¯t give for some of Mrs. Warbler¡¯s food right now. Hell, I¡¯d take some of the vegetables. I wonder if that bear that fell on me would have tasted good. Maybe that was the answer to getting free all along. Just eat my way out in base form, no need for fancy bologna with other forms. Just good old fashioned mimic snacking. I wouldn¡¯t have needed to eat the whole thing, just the bits that held me down. Though with my current hunger level, I probably could have finished the whole carcass. Sound plan all things considered. Hehe yep. I¡¯m a genius.


    As I congratulated myself for finding a stupid solution to an already solved problem, something sharp pricked at my arm, making me flinch.


    Quit jabbing me. It hurts like a sonuvabitch. God, I¡¯m hungry. Where did Tutor go? Does her office in my head get cable? Would she let me watch? Ehh, IDK, she prolly likes soaps. Lame.


    Thoughts flew through my head like a whirlwind, one after another, each one becoming less and less coherent. And I was hot. Really hot. Sweating like a pig in a slaughterhouse hot. I tried to talk, to protest this undue treatment, but my tongue wasn¡¯t listening to my brain. The haze in my head blocked most of my basic functions. Then the prodding started again.


    ¡°And you''re sure it was a Beruang that fell on him? Not a Salamandra. We¡¯ve had plenty injured by them come through here already.¡±


    ¡°Yes I¡¯m sure, I was one of the ones who carried him here. It was definitely a Beruang. Big bastard at that, shocked he wasn¡¯t hurt worse. High CON I bet.¡±


    ¡°Then why is he absolutely covered in their mucus? It''s ruining all of my tools. Look, these shears are worthless now.¡± I heard metal clang across the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, Sir.¡±


    ¡°Huff, I swear it''s multiplying too. See, the second I remove it from his injured arm it covers it back up. I can¡¯t get an accurate assessment of the damage. From what you said it was bad.¡±


    ¡°Yes Sir, broken in no less than three places.¡±


    ¡°Does he have a Salamandran gene or something along those lines? The mucus is acting as some sort of auto-defense ability.¡±


    Mucus? Auto-defense? What is he talking about? I didn¡¯t get any mucus on me after I fought that stupid overgrown lizard. It froze before touching me. Mmm. Cold would be nice right now. UGH! FINE. I will get up.


    My eyes fluttered open as I willed my body to move. I told my arms and legs to swing off whatever I was lying on, but the neurons just weren¡¯t firing off. Only my head was capable of any sort of movement.


    ¡°LOOK, look! He¡¯s awake!¡± It sounded like Tawny.


    ¡°Yes, girl. My eyes work perfectly fine. It¡¯s not a good thing. He doesn''t want to be awake for this. Advanced Healing can be¡­messy. Jenns, bring me another bottle of Laurel¡¯s Rest. I don¡¯t know why the first two bottles didn¡¯t work.¡±


    I looked around, my head sluggishly rolling around. Everything was just a blur of movement. People ran around in the background, hustling around to and fro. The only unmoving thing was the person who stood above me. I think it was a man, that¡¯s what I gathered from his voice. Another walked up to him, handing over a small clay vessel. A strange yellow liquid bubbled out of the top. Pretty. I bet it tastes like Sunny D. Yummy.


    ¡°Liam! Don¡¯t drink that! Your body is already healing.¡± Tutor yelled out in my brain.


    ¡°But, muh Sunny D,¡± I mumbled, my lips fully numb.


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    ¡°Idiot, just check your health. And no, it''s not that overly sugary synthetic orange juice.¡±


    Following the meanie¡¯s words, I looked up at my status bars. They were all kind of blurry, but my health was nearly full. Stamina was a little low, around 40%, but that was nothing new. It was never full during a fight.


    But then, even in my scuffed state, I noticed something. The green bar was draining. Why? I wasn¡¯t using any abilities. I was in base form. I never used stamina in base form.


    ¡°Stam¡­ugh¡­stamina. Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You are using an ability. You need to let it finish. You¡¯ll be as good as new. Moist, but good as new.¡±


    The man brought the clay cup to my mouth. I turned my head at the last second, trusting in my tutorial¡¯s decision. Warm liquid flowed down my face, a little getting into my ear. I heard a weird sizzling sound. It kind of tickled.


    ¡°No, no sleepy juice.¡± The statement sounded far better in my head. It was supposed to be an intense command, not a child¡¯s plea.


    ¡°Damnit! We can¡¯t afford to be wasting supplies like this, the third wave hasn¡¯t even started yet. Jenns, hold his head steady.¡±


    Fingers wrapped around my cheeks, recoiling before they got a good grip.


    ¡°Eww, why is he so sticky?¡±


    ¡°You were just elbow deep in that other patient¡¯s back as we pulled the rot covered tusk out of him. But the sticky face, that¡¯s what gets you.¡±


    ¡°Blood and poison I can handle, not whatever that is.¡±


    ¡°Hold him!¡±


    The fingers were much more reluctant this time around, their owner applying much less force as they hesitated in grabbing my cheeks. ¡°Oh, it''s awful.¡±


    ¡°Shtap.¡± I protested.


    ¡°Now massage the cheeks while you bring his chin down.¡±


    They obeyed, rubbing my cheeks and pulling them open. It was actually quite pleasant all things considered. Then a drop of bitter yellow liquid fell on my tongue. I spewed it out as best as I could, sputtering spit at my caretakers. The fingers released me again.


    ¡°Ow, it¡¯s in my eyes. Oh, that burns. Water! WATER!¡±


    ¡°Bloody biscuits! Why am I cursed to deal with morons every single day!¡± The man holding the liquid backed away, rubbing his face while his assistant ran off. I heard the cup shatter on the ground. My head rolled around once more as I tried to get a better look at my surroundings.


    I stopped once I recognized someone who stood a few feet away. Tawny stood behind a table. I opened my mouth. ¡°Stop them.¡± The first words to come out of my mouth with any sense of comprehension. She nodded and ran to my side. Just in time, because the man returned with an assortment of leather straps. ¡°Spit on me. How dare you.¡± He spat. ¡°Fine, if the nice way won¡¯t work, the hard way will.¡±


    ¡°Girl, out of the way. Now.¡±


    ¡°No, Cap said to stop you. I¡¯m only following orders.¡± Tawny said arms spread out wide. She looked so small compared to the medic who practically towered over her. My vision cleared up more, allowing me to take note of the rather cute fox ears that sat atop the pissed off man¡¯s head.


    He snapped the leather across his hands, right next to Tawny¡¯s face. Yet she didn¡¯t flinch. The young lightning mage stood her ground, making me wonder what I did to deserve such a loyal friend.


    ¡°Move. I don¡¯t know who this jackass is, but he¡¯s been labeled a priority case. Orders came straight from a Commander too. That means if you don¡¯t move and let me do my job, I lose my job.¡± He snapped the leathers again, this time hitting Tawny¡¯s arm. But she stood tall.


    Fury abounded in my chest. I wanted to get up, to show this asshole who the hell he was messing with, but my limbs still wouldn¡¯t listen. All I could do was move my head. As he berated Tawny with more harsh words, an urge grew from that anger. I desired nothing more than to spit on the man. Heavy goop-like saliva formed in my mouth, nearly filling up my cheek.


    The man raised the leather straps again. ¡°I promise you, girl, I won¡¯t be the one sent North for this.¡± Tawny stared at the man dead in his eyes. ¡°Do it, wuss.¡±


    The man¡¯s eye twitched. The straps flew through the air, heading for Tawny¡¯s face. But before they landed, all the spit accumulated in my mouth shot out. I aimed for the man¡¯s arm, I wasn¡¯t sure why, it just felt right. I missed. The goop I spit out landed on the straps instead, veering them off course and away from my subordinate.


    The medic dropped the straps on the ground, holding the hand that held them close to his chest. He cried out in pain, grasping his hand as he knelt on the ground.


    Tawny and I looked down at the leather straps that hit the ground. A gentle hiss came from them. The once brown leather was covered in thick viscous orange goop, then melted. After a couple of seconds, only scraps were left in the puddle of darkening saliva.


    Tawny turned over to me, her eyes wide.


    ¡°Since when could you do that?¡±


    A small dollop of spit ran down my still open mouth. I shook my head. ¡°No clue.¡±


    ¡°GUARDS!¡± The man yelled out from his spot on the ground.


    A soldier geared up in metal armor ran over to us. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Arrest this maggot. She¡¯s stopping me from treating a priority patient. After that, hold this patient¡¯s mouth shut.¡±


    Tawny readjusted her spot, defending me again, this time, arcs of electricity circled her wrists. ¡°Tawny¡­don¡¯t fight.¡±


    ¡°I got you Liam, don¡¯t worry.¡± She said with a wink.


    But the guard didn¡¯t seem to care what she thought, nor did his buddy who snuck up behind her and pulled her away, wrapping her up in his arms.


    ¡°GET OFF ME!¡± Tawny squirmed and bit at the man.


    I saw more yellow electricity spawn from her hands. She was really about to hurt this guy. I had to stop her. I felt my body react to my commands again, far too slowly. There was no way I was going to be able to stop her in time. I opened my mouth to tell her to stand down.


    But before the words got out, a wall of fire burst from the ground between Tawny and the guard. Then another stood between me, the first guard, and the medic who caused all these problems to begin with.


    Len¡¯s voice boomed. ¡°Liam, what did you do?¡±

 114. Slippery Skin

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± I answered back, barely able to tilt my head over to the visibly upset middle-aged man. Gaining better control over my body, I was able to sit up on the cot, though still a fair bit woozy. I didn¡¯t trust my legs to hold me up.


    Len¡¯s flames died down, the guards immediately backing down and saluting him; abject terror on their faces. They must have recognized him. I always forget how famous he is.


    ¡°Sir! We were only trying to keep the peace.¡± The marginally less terrified one answered, his legs wobbling so much I thought they might just fail him. His silent coworker couldn¡¯t even work up the courage to face Len. His head hung low while his hand stayed attached to his shoulder in the Kniyan salute.


    But I couldn¡¯t blame them, I was used to Len¡¯s flames. Been around them long enough to grow numb to the threat. To a newcomer, it looked as if you were about to be swallowed by an inferno.


    Yet it didn¡¯t seem to bother Tawny. Golden arcs of electricity still danced around her arms. A fierce snarl grew on her face as she glared at the guard that picked her up. I held her back with my good arm, whispering into her ear.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Len can handle it.¡±


    She turned and looked at me, the snarl still very much alive. I gave her a grin. ¡°Thanks for protecting me. I knew I could count on you.¡± I nodded up at Len without looking away from her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take the heat.¡±


    Her face softened into a smirk. ¡°That was a stupid pun.¡± She released the energy from her arms, her face devolving back into the scowl. It was aimed at the guard once again. Ehh, at least she isn¡¯t gonna fry the dude now. I¡¯ll take the win.


    ¡°Waiting for an answer, Liam,¡± said the heat I so valiantly declared to take.


    I turned back to Len, his arms were crossed, a finger thumping audibly on his bicep. He looked pissed.  Regretting the false bravado, I sighed and answered him.


    ¡°All I¡¯m guilty of is getting crushed by a giant bear and being harassed by doctors.¡±


    The doctor in question did not like that answer. He rose from the ground, his fox ears bristling while he held the arm I spit on. Why did I spit on it? Better yet, why did it melt?


    ¡°Lies! This, this¡­cretin nearly dissolved my arm! I¡¯m the chief officer of this Medical Tent. He deserves lashings and an immediate expulsion from this Raid and Laurelhaven. Let the cold judge this beast!¡±


    Len¡¯s cold gaze traveled across the man, then to me. His eyes scanned my body, landing on my injured arm. He squinted at it, and then an eyebrow went up.


    I reflexively scratched it, but I didn¡¯t feel any skin. It was crusty but also moist? Like if fresh crafts glue was poured over rough tree bark. It felt disgusting but in that irresistible kind of way. I finally gained the courage to observe this new phenomenon.


    My arm was completely covered in a strange grayish cast that looked similar to dried epoxy. All over the surface was a strange grayish orange goop. I moved the strange liquid between my fingers. What is it? Some sort of healing poultice. Is that the right word?


    I tried to move my arm that sat underneath it, but it couldn¡¯t move. It was completely immobile under the layers of what I assumed was dried goop. On the Brightside, it didn¡¯t hurt at all.


    I turned over to the irate medic. ¡°What is this stuff? What did you put on me?¡±


    His face went agape. ¡°What did I?! I did nothing but attempt to administer aid, your body generated that cast sometime before you spit ACID on my assistant¡¯s face! Truly despicable. Commander Ainsworth, I demand you reprimand your subordinate this very instant!¡±


    The two nearly self-pissed guards jumped in unison at the mention of Len¡¯s official title as if the fact that they were, in fact, not in a nightmare and that this was all really happening.


    Len took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Before opening them back up, he addressed the guards and the medic. ¡°Everyone that is not a part of Squad L7. Leave now and return to your duties.¡± The guards shot out of the tent without a single word. The medic¡¯s face twitched in disbelief.


    ¡°Commander! You must punish this¡ª¡±


    Len¡¯s eyes shot open, filling with literal fire as he looked down at the fox-eared medic. ¡°Please think about the first word of your last sentence. Carefully.¡± The man froze up. Len continued. ¡°Let me help. It was Commander. Correct?¡±


    The medic gulped and nodded once.


    ¡°Then the only thing anyone here must do is listen to my orders. Understand?¡±


    The man¡¯s ears drooped low. ¡°Yes Sir¡­¡±


    ¡°Then why are you still in my sight?¡±


    He looked over at me, then back to Len. Then once more to me, with a scowl this time before turning away and tromping off, mumbling something about how he couldn¡¯t be treated this way. Tawny stuck her tongue out at the man as he walked past. I nudged her. He may have been an ass, but he was trying to heal me. I just stopped him from doing his job. And nearly melted his arm off.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    I looked down at the pile of melted leather and metal that once was the straps he hit Tawny with. Nah never mind he deserved it. And since when did base form have acid spitting powers? That¡¯s not a really mimic thing to do.


    Len kept up his fiery gaze until the medic was finally out of sight. Len¡¯s hard expression relaxed as the flames died out from his eyes. He returned his attention to me, giving me another once over, even touching my face at one point. I shoved him off.


    His fingers were coated in the same goop that my arm cast had on it. I felt my face only to find that it was just as wet and slimy.


    Len sighed. ¡°Liam, if you are going to test a new form out, please for the love of the First Ones, don¡¯t experiment on the medics. We need them. No matter how distasteful they can be.¡±


    ¡°New form? What are you talking about?¡±


    Instead of answering, Len grabbed my jaw and forced my mouth open. ¡°If you even think of spitting on me, I will torch your innards.¡±


    ¡°Hgot hit,¡± I replied the best as I could, trying my damnedest to ignore how awkward this was.


    Len tilted his head around a few times, looking into my mouth from a few different angles.


    Hait must have joined us at some point because I heard him talk with Tawny.


    ¡°What did I miss?¡±


    ¡°Not much, Liam and his powers being weird. Almost melted a guy''s face off with his spit.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He the male twin asked incredulously.


    ¡°I know. It was awesome.¡±


    ¡°You two hush,¡± Len ordered.


    As he continued to poke around my mouth, I felt more and more saliva pool up, gathering in my cheeks, along with the instinct from earlier. The one telling me to launch the loogie right at the source of my discomfort. Even though I knew Len¡¯s earlier threat was more of a joke, I really didn¡¯t want to test the theory.


    As if he sensed my urge, he let my face go and I slammed my mouth shut. I swallowed the spit down, twinging in pain. It burned as it went down my throat, the same kind of burn as when you throw up. Maybe a tad worse actually.


    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s a new one. Salamandra I bet.¡± Len said as he examined the spit and goop that sat on his fingers. Flames flared over his hand, scorching any remnants of the bile from his skin.


    I grabbed my throat. ¡°Water,¡± I said horsley. I needed something to fight off the burning sensation. Hait conjured a small ball of water in mid air, placing it in my hands. I slurped it up, ignoring how weird it may be to drink water made from a monster gene. Or is it pulled from the air? I never actually asked him. I really hoped it was the latter.


    But the questionably-sourced water did the trick, either way, fully relieving the burn from my throat. I gasped, then turned to Hait. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t do that,¡± Len said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Drink the spit. Just let it out on the ground next time. Most splicers with acidic spit can¡¯t handle actually swallowing it. Your stomach will probably be quite upset with you later.¡±


    It grumbled, verifying his words.


    ¡°But, belch, oh sorry about that. I don¡¯t remember mimicking anything.¡±


    Tutor chimed in. ¡°You did. While they were dragging away your broken and useless body.¡±


    Hurtful.


    I held my head with the free arm, making an act of remembering something. ¡°Wait, no maybe I did? When they carried me here, I think.¡± I lied, trusting in Tutor¡¯s words. Then a small memory of a barely alive salamander crossed my mind, no longer making me a liar.


    Len nodded, sitting down on a stool I didn¡¯t realize was there. The twins just looked on, their faces sharing the same inquisitiveness, but neither asked any questions.


    ¡°What¡¯s my trope then?¡± I asked.


    Len pointed at my face. ¡°The slime.¡±


    ¡°What? Really? That¡¯s the trope. Perpetually moist skin?¡± I asked while I felt my face and the rest of my body. He seemed to be right, my size didn¡¯t change and no new appendages, scales, or fur to speak of. The only difference between this form and base was the fact that slightly orange slime constantly oozed out of my skin. But only the skin that was uncovered. Thankfully, it wasn''t slimy under my clothing. Something to test later.


    I didn¡¯t even really feel the goop on my skin like you would with sweat. Like it was just supposed to be there. Still gross but not physically uncomfortable. Len¡¯s voice pulled me away from my self-examination.


    ¡°I stand by what I said. You really need to pick better times to try the new powers out. You could have really injured the medics. If not some of the other patients here.¡±


    When he mentioned the other patients, I took the time to actually look around my surroundings. It was one of the medical tents, not the one we helped put up but just like it. People wearing armbands scurried around, bringing in others on stretchers and taking others away. Moans and groans¡ªof both pain and relief¡ªfilled the air. There were at least ten medics running to and fro, with double that many soldiers lying in beds, each in varying states of injury. Next to our cot sat an elven woman with a scaled face clinging to her arm. It was completely covered in bandages.


    To our other side sat a dwarven man, most of his face covered in bloody bandages, his right foot missing.


    I cringed at the gruesomeness surrounding me. My stomach dropped as I looked around, only to find others in much the same state. So many injured. Was the Raid that bad? It didn¡¯t feel that bad. Well, I guess I can¡¯t say that being as I was one of the ones brought in.


    ¡°Tough raid?¡± I asked Len.


    He surprisingly shook his head. ¡°No, pretty tame from the looks of it. We should have a large force for the Boss. But before we talk about that you need to focus on healing.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked, scratching the cast on my arm.


    ¡°Because I need you back in fighting form. You¡¯re gonna help me with the Boss.¡±

 115. Goofing Around

    ¡°All three of you actually.¡± Len continued.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    The twins asked in unison, as they did. But the tone from each was the complete opposite. Tawny practically had stars shining in her eyes as she vibrated in place, her excitement bubbling over. Hait shrunk his head back at the news, almost hiding it behind his shell covered shoulders.


    My reaction was more mixed. I was tired, I felt it in my limbs. I looked down at my free hand, slowly balling it up in a fist, each knuckle popping. I fought a lot today. More than I have in a long while, if ever, but for some reason I knew I could do more. And there was no ignoring that instinct deep in my stomach. I enjoyed it, the thrill of battle. There was something about the intense fighting that drew me in. Feeling the monsters¡¯ flesh tear and break from my own power and succumb to my strength. The satisfaction of seeing my training bear fruit. Especially with others.


    I looked over at the twins. A small smile grew on my face. Sure, our teamwork was shoddy, my arms tingled remembering some of the shocks I got from Tawny and the slips from Hait, but we still overcame it. Even working with the damn bird wasn¡¯t so bad. Infuriating, but I couldn''t deny his usefulness. We took down every beast that came our way. And I had this urge to see just how far we could take it. To see how strong we could all become. To discover what obstacles we could climb, what beasts we could fell. I shook my head. I sound like an epic fantasy character. I chuckled. Maybe that¡¯s not so bad. It would have been dumb back on Earth, but here, on Kniyas, these thoughts might just be a positive.


    I knew I should be more worried. All rationale says we are putting our lives in danger, that we¡¯ve done enough. But my body said otherwise. Maybe our vibrating little lightning mage¡¯s excitement was just infectious, but energy rose up in my chest. It was stupid, but damn I wanted to try. I looked back up at Len. He was already looking at me, a faint grin on his face that disappeared almost as soon as I recognized it. Weird.


    But then I actually digested the words he said.


    ¡°Three of us? What about Rashith?¡± I asked.


    Len shrugged. ¡°Nope. He was only on loan for a single wave. The Third took a pretty big hit from the pit fiasco. She especially needs her Supports back, even the less desirable ones.¡±


    I was a little sad to see I wouldn¡¯t be able to thank him. He was incredibly helpful, for a pompous stamina battery that is. But Len¡¯s other comment honestly interested me more.


    ¡°The pit fiasco. That¡¯s what we¡¯re calling it? Real official.¡± I scoffed.


    ¡°A spade¡¯s a spade. It was a fiasco caused by pits in the ground. I guess we could call it the Ground Pit Fiasco. Bit of a mouthful.¡±


    I thought back on the pit, how they all just opened up at the same time as if it were planned. Maybe Len had some answers about them.


    ¡°So, from how everyone reacted to them, I take it they aren¡¯t your everyday occurrence in Raids.¡±


    Len rubbed his stubble. ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say it''s totally out of the realm of possibility. But the only monsters I know of that do anything close to that aren¡¯t found in the Forest. More in the Desert and the Hills.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Those are the regions to the south and north of us right?¡±


    ¡°Yep. But aside from the pits, I haven¡¯t seen any signs of those monsters here. Troubling to be sure. But we should leave that discussion for another time. We should get out of here and let the medics have the space back.¡±


    I stood up, perhaps too quickly. My whole body lurched to the left. The twins caught me before I fell to the ground. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said as I wagged my still covered injured arm. It was heavier than I anticipated and messed with my sense of balance. Once the twins felt I was steady enough to walk on my own they let me go. As I took the first step, my stomach growled. Loud as usual. I didn¡¯t think anything of it. Kind of numb to it now. But that was not true for everybody else around me.


    All the chaotic movement in the tent stopped instantly as terrified faces all turned paused on me. Even the twins gave me a confused gaze. In a second, the guards from earlier made another appearance, spears at the ready. Len chuckled, which the twins must have taken to mean this was normal as they joined him and walked away, leaving me with the fun task of explaining that the monstrous war cry that terrified the whole tent was just my stomach. It took a few minutes.


    I caught up with my squad after. They stood around a giant bonfire blazing near the tent. The scent of charred meat wafted into my nostrils. A couple of soldiers stood at a large table,  fileting monsters and handing the meat over to the next group who skewered the meat on sticks and placed them next to the fire. Battlefield cooking at its finest.


    My mouth flooded with saliva, it smelled so good. But just before my cheeks overflowed, I slammed my mouth shut. Shit, this stuff is dangerous. I remembered Len¡¯s advice. God, do I really just spit on the ground? Eww. I almost swallowed it, but my burning esophagus was still fresh in my mind. I really didn¡¯t want to go through that again.


    So I looked around, making sure nobody was watching. Once it was clear, I slowly opened my mouth, releasing the viscous drool onto the ground. It sizzled once it landed, burning away some of the dirt and making a little hole in the ground.


    I kicked some dirt around to flatten out the ground so nobody tripped. Then a thought pierced my mind. A major problem with this form that is quite possibly the greatest predicament I have ever faced. How do I eat?


    Nearly panicking, I ran over to Len, grabbing on to his shirt as tears rolled down my cheeks. ¡°Leeeeeen! How do I eat?¡± I asked, voicing the only thought on my mind.


    Len barked out a laugh, as lukewarm flames pulled me away from my mentor. ¡°With your mouth. What are you on about?¡±


    ¡°I know that, jackass. I''m talking about the acidic saliva I can¡¯t swallow. How the heck do Salamandrans eat?¡± I said, my gaze drifting away from him over to the skewers of meat leaning next to the fire. The twins stared while nibbling on their own meals. I ignored their snickers, food was far more important than shame.


    ¡°Oh, that. Just don¡¯t add the acid.¡± Len said.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The acid ability. Tell me you looked at your character sheet.¡±


    I coughed. ¡°Umm. No. I didn¡¯t even realize I had a new form ten minutes ago.¡±


    Len sighed and palmed his face. ¡°You really should. But for now, I can explain a little. That acidic spit is an ability, it goes by a couple of names so I¡¯m not sure what yours is labeled. Here, feel the inside of your cheeks.¡± He said while pointing at his own.


    I followed his instructions. Everything seemed normal, the same soft warm flesh that lined everybody¡¯s mouth, until I got to the back. There were two small protrusions, one on each cheek, just above my wisdom teeth. They had a little hole in them.


    ¡°Is that where the venom is?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yep, and when you activate the ability, the liquid secreted from them mixes with your own saliva creating the acid. So just don¡¯t use the ability.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Got it. How do I do that?¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to know? I don¡¯t have the ability.¡± Len said as he walked away. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a minute. Stay here and focus on healing up.¡±


    He walked away from the fire and then rocketed into the sky, his feet covered in flames. Yep, I really need to find a fire elemental soon. That crap¡¯s way too cool.


    I returned to the twins with just a few skewers in tow. Eight is a few, right?


    ¡°Oh, did you bring us some more? Thanks.¡± Hait said, reaching out for one of my skewers. I pulled back and snarled. ¡°No!¡± He recoiled behind his sister who laughed it off.


    ¡°Do not mess with Liam¡¯s food. Noted.¡± Tawny said with a giggle.


    After a quick apology, I brought the food to my mouth, drool dripping down my chin. Okay, just don¡¯t use the ability, easy. I don¡¯t use abilities all the time. I took a bite. The very second the meat hit the saliva, it disintegrated, losing all of its shape and flavor. I spit out the toxic looking mixture. ¡°Dang it.¡± Okay, maybe go faster this time. Just don¡¯t use the acid.


    It was a bust. The entire first kebab melted prematurely in my mouth. I managed to swallow it, but then spent the next minute guzzling water, provided by Hait of course.


    ¡°Crap, dang it, I can do this.¡± I dreamed.


    Which is what it stayed, a dream. I was down to my last skewer, each one before it ending as goopy piles of acidic flesh in my stomach or on the ground.


    ¡°Come on! You can do this.¡± I hyped myself up while the twins joined in.


    ¡°Liam! You¡¯ve got this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Cap! Show that meat whose boss.¡±


    Don¡¯t let them down, dang it. All of my willpower went into the next thought, no command. NO ACID!


    My teeth met flesh, heavily charred, overcooked flesh, but this was a good sign. It wasn¡¯t charred overcooked goop. No, don''t get cocky. I gingerly continued to munch. It was unsalted and nowhere near as tasty as Mrs. Warbler¡¯s but it was still meat. I swallowed it down before taking another bite. YES! I¡¯m doing it. I tore through the rest of the meat, unable to hold back my desire, which ended in me melting the rest of the skewer. Sad and defeated, I turned my head away from my comrades. They believed in me and¡­I failed them. Which just made them snicker. Tiny jerks.


    After Tawny and Hait finished laughing at my pain, I decided to follow Len¡¯s advice and look at my Character Sheet. It seemed a good choice since we had some downtime.


    CHARACTER SHEET


    Name: Liam Foster


    Level: 5


    Race: Human


    Monster Gene: Mimic


    Stats:


    Health Points:           180


    Stamina:                   330


    Mana:                       180


    Strength:                   27


    Dexterity:                  27


    Agility:                       27


    Constitution:             27


    Intelligence:              27


    Wisdom:                   27


    Charisma:                 28


    Abilities:


    Active:


    Mimicry (Object) (lvl 10): Copy the likeness of one object. You gain the stats of the object while active. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Mimicry (Creature) (lvl 9): Mimic one creature of your choice. This may include stats, abilities, spells, and other aspects. May be canceled at any time. (Recorded Entries)


    Passive:


    Learned Behavior: You may gain a portion of the stats and/ or abilities from a mimicked monster. Benefits given depend on the creature mimed and only given if you become adequately proficient in that form. With higher proficiency, benefits may increase.


    Dark Sight - See in the dark. Up to 10m.


    Preflex - Predict incoming attacks.


    Spells:


    None


    Same increases as last time, nothing new there and too small of increases to notice this early. I pulled up the far more interesting and fresh piece of information, the Salamander record.


    SALAMANDRAS -


    Proficiency Level: 1


    Type: Amphibian


    Timer: 1.5 hours


    Stat Changes:


    STR  + 2


    DEX   + 5


    AGI   - 6


    CON + 4


    INT    + 3


    WIS  + 2


    CHR  - 7


    Abilities:


    Acidic Salvo:


    Turn saliva into a deadly and toxic acid. Able to spit acidic missiles up to [5 + (3 x Proficiency)] meters. Accuracy and speed dependent on DEX.


    Protective Mucus:


    Produce a protective mucus over a limb. Multiple limbs can be covered as well at lessened amounts. Amount produced increases with Proficiency. Natural healing is boosted while the mucus is unbroken.


    Learned Behavior:


    N/A


    I sighed. I wasn¡¯t disappointed with the form itself, for as nasty as it was, it seemed incredibly powerful, especially the mucus. Natural armor is always a plus as well as the recovery. Shifting into an object fixed up my external wounds like cuts and gashes, so the mucus looks like it might be able to handle internal injuries. A great combo.


    I was just a bit bummed my first long range ability was acid spit. Its range going up is neat. I wonder what proficiency it needs to be before I can just start sniping people with my spit. I snorted to myself.


    I felt a nudge on my shoulder. It was Hait. ¡°Len¡¯s coming back. And it looks like he brought company.¡±

 116. Worried Reunion

    Hait stood up and pointed off in the distance, away from the medical tent. I followed his finger. Len walked along, still a few dozen feet away, with three other people in tow. Three people I recognized right away.


    Daila walked at Len¡¯s side, her shock-white hair tied in its trademark bun. She wore the white leather armor I saw her in at the back of the monster invasion. But her accessories were different this time around. Not only was she wearing the two bandoliers filled with multicolored potions and the belt with knives, but she also had a few pouches hanging off her hips. Probably filled with bombs or other alchemical goodies that could and would devastate hordes of monsters. She spoke with Len as they walked.


    Behind Len and Daila stood Jaren and Terl, Jaren¡¯s number one Support. Terl wore a leather outfit that seemed to be the standard for Legion Supports and didn¡¯t really have much in the way of accessorizing like Daila. Not even a weapon, but from what I gathered most Supports didn¡¯t carry one. Strange but I guess they needed to focus solely on the healing. He also no longer had the bandages on his arms. I was glad to see his wounds healed well. As he spoke with Jaren, he closed his eyes and shrugged. Then his head rolled around as Jaren smacked his back, his antlers shaking for a second as he tried to find his balance from the big guy''s sudden blow.


    My stomach tightened as I looked at Jaren. He was quite the intimidating sight. He wore his battle attire just as the rest, but it was far more threatening. Black plate armor completely covered the giant half elf. There was next to no decoration on the whole suit. It was clearly made for function above all else. And it looked heavy at least a hundred pounds, but there was no discernable difference in Jaren¡¯s gait. So either it was actually light, or Jaren was just that much of a monster himself. Oddly enough he too wasn¡¯t carrying a weapon. I figured he was one of the types that never walked around a raid without it.


    There was one detail about this get up that floored me about Jaren¡¯s gear. On his left shoulder pauldron sat the only ornamentation in the entire ensemble, a red number four. I smirked as I looked at it. I knew what it meant, he was just signifying that he was the head of the Fourth Legion. But damn did it make the whole set of armor look like medieval American football pads.


    The giant fantasy linebacker laughed as Terl stepped up to him, finger wagging at the big guy. Jaren laughed, ignoring the protests. I stopped the smirk before they got any closer. Well, he¡¯s in a good mood at least.


    I thought back on our last encounter. He was supremely pissed that I had skipped a training session. Training in Laurelhaven was treated almost like a religious sacrament to the Legion. And skipping it was tantamount to heresy. Not that I felt bad about it. The exact opposite really. I was completely justified in my behavior. I needed answers from Len. I needed to know more about the Ferals and why I should even bother with this business in the first place. Yet as my thoughts edged negative, I looked at the twins. With a nod, I closed my eyes. Right now they were my reason to fight. To make sure they got through today.


    I can figure out everything else after the Raid. And I would.


    Before I could think on it any further, Hait and Tawny stood up and turned in the direction of Len¡¯s group, backs straight, giving the Laurel salute. The left arm is on the right shoulder like I¡¯d seen so many times before. I stood up with them but avoided all the other pomp and circumstance. Wasn¡¯t in the mood. Hait clearly disagreed with this decision. ¡°You should really salute. It makes our squad look bad if you don¡¯t.¡± He whispered.


    Why should I care about all that? I looked around, all eyes were on the four Legion headliners making their way over to us. That¡¯s when I caught a glimpse of what Hait meant. Other soldiers and medics running around the place stopped and watched on. Their eyes switched between Len¡¯s group and us. Hushed voices and strange glares were shared as a number of them pointed at our trio. Are you serious? Is this high school?


    I shook my head, utterly annoyed. However, seeing that even the rambunctious Tawny was  That and it''s not as if I¡¯m all that attached to my shame in the first place, it was just a salute. I had enough crappy rumors going around about me; I didn¡¯t need to encourage any new ones.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    So, I straightened my back out and moved my left arm up. It only went about halfway, the hardened mucus stopped me from bending it at the elbow. I looked down at it. Ugh, I¡¯m starting to get tired of being dumb. It''s still in the Protective Mucus. It felt so natural that I had forgotten about it, much like how my other forms¡¯ oddities didn¡¯t bother me.


    While I was examining it and seeing if there was a way to make it bend, I heard snorting come from the twins. It escalated into pure giggling on Tawny¡¯s part. ¡°Told yah it would work,¡± whispered the sister. ¡°You owe me a silver when we get home.¡± She nudged her brother. Hait didn¡¯t answer, instead focusing all his attention on not breaking.


    I sighed. Bamboozled once again. Maybe one day I¡¯d be free of all the childish pranks.


    Then the chief prankster finally rolled up just as the twins got their act together.


    ¡°Were you¡­were you trying to salute just then?¡± Len asked.


    I coughed. ¡°Um, no. Uh, just er, stretching my arm? Yeah, that¡¯s it. Felt a bit stiff. Been in this cast for a while,¡± which wasn¡¯t completely a lie. I rolled my shoulder around and waved the once injured arm.


    ¡°Nope, he was giving us a salute. I¡¯m sure,¡± Jaren said as he walked in front. He leaned down and then gave my entire body a once over; his previous cheer was gone, replaced by a neutral expression that I hoped was a good sign. Daila and Terl walked over to the twins, leaving just me, Len, and over-observant Jaren.


    I felt a bead of sweat roll down my forehead, mixing with the loose mucus that covered my skin. The two liquids flowed together and dripped to the ground.


    After an uncomfortable minute, Jaren finally pulled back, squinting.


    ¡°How the hell did you get so wet?¡± He asked while poking my forehead.


    I let out the breath I hadn¡¯t realized I was even holding in. Then I received a smack from the smack happy man himself.


    ¡°Oi, why so tense?¡±


    ¡°You want the honest answer?¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer it.¡±


    ¡°I was a bit worried you were still upset about our last meeting. It didn¡¯t really end well.¡±


    Jaren smiled. ¡°Oh, that, pshh ain''t nothing to worry about. Water under the bridge lad. Especially since it ain''t my bridge to deal with anymore.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean you are no longer my problem, but his.¡± Jaren nodded his head back toward Len who stood behind him.


    ¡°Yep been trying to get him to form up a squad for ages now. No way in hell I¡¯m taking you back now. Though it''s a shame to lose out on such talent.¡±


    I was touched. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said with a smile. I kind of needed to hear that.


    He raised his eyebrow. ¡°What, do you think I¡¯m talking about you? Haha! First Ones above, no. You''re far too much of a pain in the ass. Len can have you. I¡¯m talking about those two mini-mages. You don¡¯t know this but every Legion was fighting over recruiting the two of ¡®em. Should have seen the bribes Rickard sent them. Downright criminal, you ask me.¡± He said, looking over to the twins with a playful longing deep in his fiery green eyes.


    I looked at the twins. Tawny wore a huge smile while she talked with Daila, probably regaling her with her triumphs. The two must have been closer than I thought. Then again Daila was personally tutoring them. Stood back and watched.


    ¡°And yet they just fall into Len¡¯s lap. What else is new?¡± He finished, rubbing the back of his bald head and looking at the ground.


    Len stepped in. ¡°Alright, enough of that. We have more pressing matters to attend to. Like preparing ourselves for the boss. The second wave is coming to an end soon.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know. Can¡¯t let a man have some fun, for Tiamat¡¯s sake. Come on, moist man.¡± Jaren said with a wave.


    Both of the Commanders walked away. I caught up quickly. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°To the command tent. The boss should be heading out onto the field any minute now. Wanna see?"

 117. Seventh Grade Dance

    ¡°Wait, is it here already?¡± I hadn¡¯t seen the battlefield since I was dragged away so I I had no idea what the state of the battle was. My Ursa timer said it''s been about thirty minutes since I was dragged away. A lot can happen in thirty minutes. The Ursa timer was the sole popup in my HUD as well, so there were no other notifications; the WATCHER System hadn¡¯t sent me anything else.


    I lifted my head and looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of the battle as we walked. I should be close enough to see it. These tents were set up close to the frontline, so it shouldn''t be hard to find.


    But a hearty slap collided with my back while I searched, sending my still somewhat unstable body to the ground, falling on the left side of my body, the injured side. I caught myself with the cast and hopped back up before I hit the ground. I stood back up. Jaren and Len hadn¡¯t even stopped walking. Jackass.


    ¡°Nah, not as of yet, but just about. Not much of a Second Wave. Only lasted about an hour and a half,¡± Jaren answered. ¡°And a third of that time was spent getting troops out of them freakish holes.¡±


    ¡°How long do the waves usually last?¡±


    Jaren brought his hand to his chin, pondering on the answer, but beat him to it.


    ¡°Changes sporadically, no two raids are ever the same. This time, in the last raid, the First wave had just started winding down. But that raid started earlier in the morning.¡° Len looked up into the sky. The sun hung just above the treeline surrounding the raid field, bathing the world in light orange rays. Dusk was nearly upon us.


    ¡°This raid might be shorter and seem easier than the last, but it will have its fair share of difficulties. In this case, I pray the sunlight holds out just a while longer.¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± Jaren agreed. ¡°I rather shovel shit out of the Legion Barracks¡¯ latrine than face another night raid.¡± Jaren shivered.


    That thought had occurred to me earlier, maybe not the shoveling shit part but what happened in the raid when night fell. The heat of battle forced it out of my mind. The raid started around mid afternoon, and Spring had just sprung in Kniyas. So while the days were growing longer, they were still on the short side. According to Jaren, the total raid time has been a little over two and a half hours. Which meant the sun really only had maybe an hour''s worth of light left. Probably less.


    A slight feeling of dread crept up my back. As crude as Jaren was about it, I shared the sentiment, having fought in two raids I was certain: Fighting without daylight would be an absolute nightmare.


    For as orderly as the Legions tried to be in both conduct and warfare, chaos still took center stage when it came down to actual battle. Plans and tactics could go awry at the drop of a hat, my injured arm being a prime example. Monsters had certain habits you could plan around, but at the end of the day, they were animals. And animals make irrational decisions you can¡¯t account for.


    And darkness would only triple the havoc, leading to more mistakes and possibly friendly fire.


    Jaren and Len began to speak with each other, planning from the sounds of it; troop placements, a couple of guesses at what the boss would be, etcetera. I probably should have listened in and learned something useful about raid strategy and all that, but my mind wandered back to my arm.  The pain had subsided almost completely now, even after that little stumble. The only pressure was that of the mucus cocoon itself.


    How do I take it off? I wondered. I fumbled with it, scratching at the edges where my flesh met mucus. I stopped. I wasn¡¯t even sure I should remove it. The pain might come back as soon as my arm was liberated. Or maybe the mucus had some sort of painkiller effect and that¡¯s why it didn¡¯t hurt. The description was sort of shoddy on how much it boosted my natural recovery.


    I checked my status bars again. Health and MP full. Stamina, on the other hand, was acting funny. It stopped draining like it had at the tent, yet it wasn¡¯t recovering either. It hung at 70%. Odd.  I stared at it, waiting to see some change. When I wasn¡¯t in a fight it always recovered. Now it just sat at seventy. I looked around at Len and Jaren¡¯s bodies. The tent we headed for was still a few minutes away. Plenty of time to throw on the old thinking cap.


    Okay, my stamina is no longer draining like it was when Doctor Dickbag was examining me. Which probably means the healing is finished. But then why is the mucus cast still here? And why has my stamina stopped recovering?


    I pondered for a moment, moving the cast around and touching it. The ability was called Protective Mucus, not Recovering Mucus or something like that. Which meant it¡¯s probably more along the lines of a natural shield or armor. The healing is just a by-product. A damn good one too. That guy said my arm was broken in like three different places but I don¡¯t feel anything of the sort. According to the Ursa timer, it took thirty minutes. Beats the hell out of three months.


    But that still left the issue of why it was still here. Maybe it''s a different kind of cost, like an upkeep cost to keep active. Kind of nice actually, wish more of my abilities were like that. It¡¯d be a huge help with stamina management. Like I could rely on Eternal Shade more if it only had the initial cost and not the draining effect as well. Man, Fight, and Flight would be so broken if it only had the upkeep cost.


    I shook my head. I was getting off course. What ifs don¡¯t matter. Now. Now matters. I found myself smiling. Thinking about the forms and their potential uses was a lot of fun. It¡¯d been a while since I got to, especially with a brand new form. A visibly nasty and moist form, but hey, being able to heal internal injuries alone sent this form to the top of the charts in my opinion.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The only problem I¡¯m really having is that I can¡¯t control it well. Neither the acid spit nor the mucus. Not exactly the first time, I couldn¡¯t control Ursa-Rage at all for some time, and kept slipping into it on accident.


    But this felt different. Ursa-Rage always felt close, like it was always ready to activate. This mucus ability was the exact opposite. It felt far away somehow. Maybe because it activated purely on its own, The medic said something about an automatic defense.


    Or maybe it was from the fact that I mimicked the Salamander while I was teetering on the edge of consciousness. I can¡¯t keep forms active while asleep, so that might explain the issues I¡¯m having with this form. The mucus could also be some type of semipermanent shielding that has a damage threshold. It doesn¡¯t go away until it takes enough damage. God, I wish I had time to do some testing. Maybe I could get Hait to hit it really hard, or maybe Tawny can shock it. That Salamander was pretty resistant to her attacks though. But before any more ideas could flow, I bumped into something. My face ran smack right into Jaren¡¯s black metal armor. He didn¡¯t budge an inch. He was speaking with somebody.


    ¡°...explain more when you get there.¡± I only managed to hear the last bits of the dialogue.


    I was shocked once I took stock of my surroundings. We had made it to the Command tent already.


    ¡°Get me numbers on Squad E12!¡±


    ¡°Two down on A43. Sending a medical pickup team from Tent Bravo.¡±


    ¡°Send new orders to all the squads found in Sectors West Four and West Five. Shift focus to recovery.¡±


    ¡°Aye, sent out Ma¡¯am!¡±


    Orders flew through the air, each person yelling louder than the last, relaying as much crucial information to the officers as they could. The officers yelled out orders even louder than the scouts. The cacophony of the Command Tent astonished me. As an outsider, this layout looked to be nothing more than pure insanity. How could anybody actually get any work done in such an environment? I watched for only a few moments and felt the seeds of a migraine take root behind my eyes.


    Soldiers ran to and fro throughout the tent, weaving between the maze of desks and tables that filled the command center. An officer   sat at the desks awaiting information from the scouts. A line had formed near the front of the tent closest to the battle. Those at the front yelled up to someone. I walked around a bit and found that they were yelling up to a man who stood on a small wooden perch.


    ¡°E12 has lost three members, two Frontliners and a Support.¡± He said without taking his eyes off the battle.


    ¡°Aye!¡± The woman with white cat ears below nodded and ran back into the tent.


    I watched her move, dodging others that got in her way, as she made her way to a desk in the back. Everyone in the tent moved in the same fashion. I took a step back and just watched, letting the sounds meld together. It was incredible. Not a single person bumped into each other, nobody fell to the ground. It was almost as if I was watching the most chaotic yet simultaneously harmonious ballroom. Each person moved with the grace of a professional dancer.


    They may not have been clashing swords with claws, but there was no mistaking it. This was a battle in its own right. A battleground of logistics and information. One I could tell right away was not meant for me. And one I wouldn¡¯t step foot in. I walked back around to where Len and Jaren were.


    ¡°Go meet with the rest of the squad, Jaren. Make sure they¡¯re prepped, we are heading out the second the Third Wave starts.¡±


    Jaren nodded at Len. He grinned. ¡°Aye, they¡¯ll be ready, though they won¡¯t be thrilled about the babysitting gig,¡± he said with a shrug.


    ¡°Tell them to thank Lirae. She caused this mess.¡±


    Jaren waved as he walked away. ¡°You sure know how to pick¡¯em.¡±


    ¡°That I do.¡±


    Len turned his attention to me, gesturing me to follow him.


    ¡°Come, we are going to meet up with the twins, The Second Wave will finish any¡ª¡±


    Just as the words left his mouth, a notification appeared in my vision.


    SECOND WAVE COMPLETE.


    STANDBY FOR FURTHER ORDERS


    FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 10 MINUTES


    ¡°Does it actually mean it this time or is it just going to start dropping like last time?¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡±I surely hope not.¡±


    We found Tawny and Hait sitting before a bonfire much like the one by the medical tent, though half the size probably. Not as much food around it either. Daila stood next to them, tinkering with some of the vials that lined her body.


    As we got nearer, my stomach tightened, especially when I looked at Daila. I grabbed my belly. Why? I wondered. It wasn¡¯t the pre-battle jitters, no it was more innocent. The feeling brought a wave of nostalgia along with it. A memory of my seventh grade dance flickered in my head. What was that? I shook my head, attempting to squash the untimely feeling. I was about to head into another battle.


    Yet as we walked up to them and Daila looked at me, the butterflies in my gut found some cocaine and fluttered around even harder.


    What the hell is happening?


    ¡°Hello, Squad Captain Foster. I am glad to see that you are unharmed from the battle.¡± Daila said with her usual polite but detached manner.


    Sweat greased my palms as my mouth became drier than the Sahara. I opened my mouth. I huffed and puffed until I could finally speak.


    ¡°hey¡­¡±


    A small, barely audible hey. That was all I could manage. Like a nerve wracked child. Wait. Oh god don¡¯t tell me.


    She nodded, her face unchanging,  and turned to Len. They shared some words I couldn¡¯t hear on account of the blood roaring in my ears.


    I hadn¡¯t thought about it until now, but please don¡¯t tell me. That can¡¯t be the personality trait.


    Daila saluted and walked away; Tawny and Hait waved after her.


    The nervousness dissipated as she walked away, all but confirming my thoughts. Most of my forms came with a personality tweak, one that was more noticeable depending on the form¡¯s strength. From the ADHD of Apis to the unchecked hubris of Tigris. And I think I just found out Salamandras¡¯.


    Damnit. He¡¯s scared of women. Salamandras¡­is a Soy Boy.

 118. Spitting Image

    There were a couple of seats around the staging area, so I took one. Tawny and Hait were already sitting, and both of their eyes were glazed over. I placed my head in my hands, well one hand and a cast. The shouts blaring through the command tent melted away as I contemplated the situation.


    How utterly ridiculous. Being scared of women isn¡¯t a personality trait, it''s just some dumb 2000s sitcom bit and not even a good one. Like low tier garbage characters dealt with such a stupid holdup. Maybe it is just a result of the swallowed acid. Len said it would mess my stomach up. Yet when I looked up and saw Daila¡¯s fleeting form walk away, another twinge of anxiety tap danced in my gut. Ugh, that¡¯s so lame.


    I tilted my head over to the twins. Both wore smiles as their unfocused eyes looked over their character sheets. I wondered if they too leveled up. That¡¯d be great. Then my gaze focused on Tawny. I¡¯d been talking with her since the medic tent incident with no issue. And last I checked she happened to be a girl.


    But I felt nothing. No difference whatsoever. My stomach grumbled a little bit, but that wasn¡¯t new. That was from the slight char smoke wafting from the bonfire and tickling my nostrils. I could eat more but I didn¡¯t have the willpower to fight the acid ability right now.


    It¡¯d most likely be for the best to just shut the form off. We were going to fight with Jaren¡¯s squad, of which Daila and other women presumably, were a part of. Dying because of middle school angst sounded like the positively worst way to go.


    ¡°Yep,¡± I said to myself. Then I went to turn off the form.


    ¡­


    I looked down. The cast was still there; moisture still covered my face and arm. What?


    I struggled for a few more seconds, but nothing was happening. Every form shut off with just a thought. I just willed myself to change and I did. But it wasn¡¯t happening in this form.


    I tried to shift into another form, but that failed as well. Both creature and object mimicry wouldn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Liam, Tawny, Hait.¡± Len¡¯s voice brought me back to reality before panic fully rested on my shoulders.


    ¡°Wha?¡± I said, standing up in a rush. The twins had pretty much the same reaction, jumping to their feet.


    ¡°We need to move out to our position, Jaren¡¯s squad is waiting for us at the Fourth¡¯s staging area. It''s right over there, on the other side of the tent.¡± He pointed in its direction.


    I looked at Len. He seemed off for some reason. He was usually so playful, obnoxiously so sometimes. But since the raid began, all of that had flown out the window, especially right this instant.


    He had this presence about him. His back was straighter than I¡¯d even seen it, his face hard and unwavering, his words curt and concise. Not in an anger filled way, it was more of a reserved severity, like that of a high ranking military official. But then again, that is exactly what he is. He hasn¡¯t spoken much to me about this distant past, really only about his time in Laurelhaven. Seeing him now, and how he¡¯s talked during this whole raid, I realized I was looking at a Len of the past. Somebody with years of experience commanding troops. Len lowered his hand, then looked at us once more. His face strained for a moment, like he was fighting with some thought in his head. Then his expression softened, coming to a decision.


    ¡°Before we head out I need to make something abundantly clear. This is not going to be like the fight you were just in. No matter how easy the first two waves are, the boss wave is always bloody. You will see others fall. And you won¡¯t be able to save them. All of your attention must be on keeping yourself and your squad alive. Every decision and every action must be dialed in on that singular goal. You concentrate on the monsters in front of your squad. That¡¯s it. The second you start worrying about anything else, death will come to you and yours.¡± He turned back, gesturing to the city walls¡ªthe Capitol Building, the hulking tree that sat in the center of the city bathed in twilight.


    ¡°You three have already fought and completed one wave. That is all that is asked of any squad. You can go back. You have fulfilled your duty. But I am asking you to stay. To fight once more. To protect the innocents back in the city.¡± Len looked right into my eyes. ¡°All of them, even the shunned.¡±


    He turned to the twins. ¡°To prove you¡¯re worthy of the lofty expectations. To show them that your strength, your power, your honor is not painted green with inexperience, but red. Red from the blood of those creatures that threaten your home.¡± Yellow light glinted in Tawny¡¯s eyes, Hait balled his fists, nodding.


    Even I felt myself getting swept along. Pride burst in my chest. The fatigue built up in my limbs and the worry about the form melted away. I wanted to fight, to establish my place in this screwed up city. A city where only power is respected. I had that power. Or that potential at least.


    Len smiled. ¡°Even though this squad was thrown together at the last minute. You all have already surpassed my expectations. That is why I know you can do even more. Capable of surpassing every Sub-10 Squad on this battlefield. So show them all. Are you with me?¡±


    ¡°Yes Sir!¡± The three of us shouted out.


    ¡°Squad L7, Move out!¡±


    Len led us over to the front of the tent. I got a good look at the battlefield for the first time since the medical tent. It was absolutely covered in monster carcasses. Blood and iron drifted into my nose as a gentle wind brushed across the field.


    The Second Legion¡ªwho our squad fought within the Second Wave¡ªmarched away from the frontline, replaced by pockets of Fourth Legion troops. They set up behind the holes this time, probably to give the monsters one more obstacle to fight through. It was a good idea to me. Free blockades. Or whatever you would call them. Not really sure.


    Len slowed down and stepped beside me.


    ¡°Is that arm healed? I see it''s still in the cast,¡± he asked, in a hushed tone, though I¡¯m not sure why.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Yeah, I think it is.¡° I whispered. ¡°It¡¯s not actually a healing ability. It''s an armored one with an added healing element. I¡¯m just having trouble turning it off. The whole form for that matter.¡±


    Len grabbed his chin pensively. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good. But we really don¡¯t have time to analyze it. Can you fight?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I¡¯m not sure how much damage this can take, but my right hand is free. Find me a sword.¡±


    Len shook his head. ¡°No, that won¡¯t do. What¡¯s the name of the acid ability?¡±


    ¡°Acidic Salvo.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Right, ranged spit attack. Good, focus solely on that ability in this fight. All three of you are suited for midrange fighting then. It looks like our whole Legion is based on that right now. We¡¯ll have Jaren and his front liners keep the monsters at bay and fight from behind.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t even tried it out yet. I should focus on getting back into a different form, right?¡±


    ¡°No. I didn¡¯t want you fighting upfront in this wave, to begin with. I meant it when I said this wave would be harder. The monsters will be stronger than the last.¡±


    I reflexively gulped at his words.


    He grabbed my shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much, Me and Jaren will be there the whole time. At least until boss time. That is when your squad will need to pull back. Do not, under any circumstances, get even remotely close to the Boss or his Bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±


    We walked for a couple more minutes before we got to our station, if you could call a blood soaked patch of grass that. Three minutes according to the Ursa timer. Which meant the Wave countdown was almost halfway there. I took a deep breath, attempting to ward off the pre battle nerves that normally wracked me.


    ¡°How much time do we have left?¡± I asked Len, returning to a normal speaking level.


    ¡°The notification should still be in your view,¡± Len answered.


    I looked at my status bars, a little exclamation mark sat next to the Ursa Timers. I mentally clicked it.


    FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 10 MINUTES


    Wait, it hasn¡¯t changed? I voiced the question to Len.


    He scoffed. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the answer I received way back when. See that word before the time?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°There you go.¡± He said with a shit-eating grin.


    ¡°Really?¡± I said while rolling my eyes.


    ¡°I know. Guess work seems strange but it''s what we have. It''s when it starts counting down that we need to be ready. And I hate to say it but I really hope it does soon. The sun is barely holding out. But for now, take this time to get yourself ready. Practice that acid ability.¡±


    ¡°Is this really a good time to practice? I mean should I be saving my stamina?¡± Especially when I lose thirty percent of it to this freaking cast.


    Len waved his hand around. ¡°Look around, plenty of others are running some last minute drills. You didn¡¯t really have time in the Second Wave to see it but it''s a normal routine. Helps get the blood rushing. Even Jaren is shaking the rust off.¡±


    I looked around. Len was right. To the left of our squad stood some soldiers sparring with each other. Swords clashed together, shields met axes and hammers. Never enough force to break or hurt themselves or the equipment, more like they were just making sure they had the technique down.


    Jaren¡¯s squad was directly in front of us. He stood in the center of them, fully armored now, helmet in place. His giant double-sabered blade waved through the air as he flung it around. Each swing flows into another with no added movements, no mishaps or mistakes. It was quite mesmerizing.


    ¡°Okay, um but I probably shouldn¡¯t just start spitting, might melt something or someone you know.¡±


    Len pondered on my words for a second. Then looked over at the twins. Tawny played with arcs of electricity, sending some from one hand to the other. Hait made some water walls of different shapes and sizes.


    ¡°Hait, come here.¡±


    The water immediately fell to the ground as Hait rushed over to us.


    ¡°Yes, Cap, eh, sorry. Commander sir.¡±


    ¡°How many walls can you keep up at one time?¡±


    ¡°Two, but they have to be pretty small. No more than two feet or so.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Okay. Won¡¯t quite work. Okay for now just make a single large wall, place it five meters away, back toward the command tent, away from Jaren¡¯s squad.¡± Len said before turning back to me. ¡°Aim for the wall.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yep, I have Terl come over and replenish your stamina when the timer begins to countdown.¡±


    ¡°Uhh, sure.¡±


    ¡°Good, then get to it.¡± He said with a clap.


    Hait and I looked at each other, and then with a shrug, we walked away. After he traveled the requested five meters, he put up his hands. The barrier of water formed in front of him. It looked to be about the same size as when he blocked the arrows for us. So a little larger than my Ursa form frame.


    Alright, here goes nothing. I thought, praying this ability would listen to me, unlike Protective Mucus.


    I gathered spit in my mouth, then thought about the ability. My cheeks heated up just a tad, and then I felt it. The strange liquid flowed out of the small holes that sat at the back of my cheeks. They mixed together, creating a goopy strange texture. An almost gelatinous one that was weirdly tasteless, almost like unflavored jello. It didn¡¯t burn the inside of my mouth either like I thought it would.


    Once I had an ample amount in my mouth¡ªenough to fully fill a single cheek¡ª I paused. I wasn¡¯t sure how I could manage to spit this much junk that far, or at least with any real velocity. But the character sheet never lied, so I went to spit. As I pursed my lips, there was this bulging sensation at the back of my throat. Then a surge of power flowed from it.


    Keeping my eyes on the wall of pure H20, I spat. The small orangish glob shot through the air, way faster than I thought it would. It landed right at the upper left corner of the water wall in less than a second.


    That was¡­ ¡°awesome!¡± Tawny was the one to finish my sentence. ¡°Do it again.¡±


    I smiled at her, then turned to Len. He gave me an approving nod. ¡°Good job, keep it up. I¡¯m going to speak with Jaren.¡±


    He walked past me, grabbing my shoulder before continuing on. I caught a glimpse of his face as he passed by. His smile was gone, totally replaced by that severity from earlier, and maybe, if I read it right, just the smallest glimmer of worry.

 119. Waiting/Worrying

    Len watched on as his strange and naive student sent glob after glob of the acidic spit at the wall of water, his squad mates cheering him on. He didn¡¯t need to speak with Jaren, the plans for the wave were already set in stone. The monsters of the final wave were always stronger, especially the ones closest to the boss. None of Liam¡¯s forms could handle the monsters of that level. Liam was always going to fight from the midrange, the new ability just made for a good excuse. So he sat near the edge of Jaren¡¯s squad, watching.


    Adding range to Liam¡¯s already versatile set of skills would be nothing but a boon. Might actually get him to the top of the leaderboard naturally had he the time to properly train with it. But Len didn¡¯t have time for that, he was going to force Liam¡¯s squad to the top no matter what.


    And it was something Len should be excited about, Liam¡¯s growth was to be one of the largest aids to Len¡¯s efforts, but he couldn¡¯t get rid of this feeling. A glowing spark flew from his face as his eye twitched, sending a fright through the soldiers nearby. Yet Len ignored them, focusing on the feeling. Doubt gnawed at the back of his mind, concern about his newly minted Squad Captain.


    It first took root when Liam skipped training and asked about the Ferals, bothering Len ever since. He felt his grip on the boy loosening; something he was prepared for but still vexed him. He knew the boy was easily swayed, he just hadn¡¯t realized how compassionate he¡¯d be for the destitute Ferals. He wished he had known earlier. Life in that world he came from must be far easier than he first told me. To be able to care so much for those who hold no value to you. Strange. Len would have added Ferals to his plan had he known Liam would be so affected by them.


    Liam hadn¡¯t shown any outward distrust, yet Len could see the signs. That Aura-enabled pep talk put some fire back in the boy. However, those twins held the sole motivation for Liam¡¯s continued efforts in this battle. That and Liam clearly found a taste for battle or at the very least battle with close comrades¡ªsomething Len knew all too well, along with the cost of the inverse: the pain of losing them.


    A salvo of spit missed the wall for the first time, burning through the grass next to the water mage¡¯s feet. The sister mage barked out a laugh as the boy jumped away from the sizzling hole and shot a blast of water into it.


    What a pickup. Len thought to himself as his attention turned to the mage twins. Len had his eyes on them even prior to Liam¡¯s appearance. Daila always kept him in the loop on students with great potential. She highly recommended them for recruitment into the guild, but Len wasn¡¯t keen on entering a bidding war with the other Legions. Sure they were talented, but nothing quite extraordinary like he was looking for. Though it would have been fun to see just how much he could make Rickard lose before pulling out from the race.


    However, there was something else that had stopped him from pursuing them.


    Pride. The two twins were filled with it, the brother hid it more than the sister, but it was there. Pride was a dangerous emotion. One that Len had watched tear down so many throughout the years. It''s part of what made Liam so refreshing to teach, he was so humble for somebody with near unlimited potential.


    But even for how lucky he was to have them join Liam, they also added to Len¡¯s worry. Their reaction to the pep talk confirmed everything Mel told him about the two. They¡¯ve been puffed up so much in their lives because of the constant praise. A pride that was shattered in that break in. They were faced with their own mortality that day, and how it was protected by one little mimic.


    They have completely latched on to Liam, and won¡¯t be letting go anytime soon. A great thing for Liam, but as for Len. He was unsure. They were an unknown variable in his already uncertain game. And he hated not knowing.


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    But they did react just as he wanted to the pep talk, and they made the task of getting Liam to the top of the Under 10 board far more manageable. Maybe they didn¡¯t deserve such scrutiny.


    Another nasty orange blob of acid splashed against the water, some even seeping through it this time, telling Len that the velocity was rising with each shot. Liam was getting the hang of it. A good sign, hell, a great sign. The three members of L7 smiled as the twins congratulated Liam on his quick learning. Their smiles however, were among the minority.


    Len looked back out over the battlefield, at the soldiers that dotted the Laurel side of the field. Worried frowns and nervous ticks ruled the expressions of this field, from the greenest recruits to the hardened veterans, all of them sharing in the tense atmosphere. Each stealing glances at the object of their fear. The sun. The celestial source of light now sat at just the tip of the treetops; it almost looked as if the trees themselves held it in place. But their effort would be for nothing. Time marches on.


    Too much of this raid sat in the realm of the weird and wrong. The holes without a confirmed source, the sudden start to the second wave, the Hem Gremlins¡¯ arrow assault, and now this delay for the final wave. Len balled his fists, quelling the fire in his chest. This raid felt, no, was atypical. Worse in fact. It was unnatural.


    A single one of these anomalies would be cause for concern, but all of them at once. Never. And no matter how much Len tried to analyze each detail or excuse he came up with, only one solution came to mind.


    It was planned.


    But by who or what? That¡¯s what stumped Len.


    Len sat and watched the trio for another ten minutes as he contemplated over the issue, the sun now dipping below the tree line. The countdown in his vision hadn¡¯t changed. This final wave was still somehow Approximately 10 Minutes.  He sighed. But that wasn¡¯t the time limit anymore. It was inevitable. The countdown would begin as soon as the sun dropped below the horizon. Drat.


    Jaren walked over to him, a sullen expression thinly veiled by his black helmet.


    ¡°Plan B then?¡± Jaren asked.


    Len stood up, brushing his pants. ¡°You guessed it.¡± Len cracked his back, then his shoulders, pausing and then looking over to Jaren. ¡°Well, maybe Plan D.¡±


    Jaren shook his head. ¡°Not D. That means the boss is going to be a right pain in the ass. My ass.¡±


    Len smirked. ¡°Rickard and Lirae will share in the ass pain as well.¡±


    Jaren chuckled. ¡°Always know how to brighten my day, don¡¯t yah.¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡±


    Len pointed his an open palm into the air, angled toward Laurelhaven. Flames swirled around his shoulder, then down his forearm, and finally in his palm. The flames tightened in his palm, forming a small ball of solid red flame. Len shot it out, uncaring at those who watched the spectacle.


    The ball flew through the air, exploding once it reached its maximum height.


    Len nodded. She should get the message. He thought, before turning his attention to his next task.


    ¡°Jaren, explain it to those three. I need to prepare.¡±


    Jaren exhaled with a shrug. ¡°The things I do for you.¡±


    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯d rather not do this bit. It''s incredibly boring.¡± Len looked into the dimming sky one more time before finishing. ¡°But there¡¯s no other way.¡±


    Len squatted down, readying himself for flight, then pausing to tell Jaren one more thing. ¡°Oh, I hope that armor is acid proof.¡± He nodded toward Liam, who had just missed another shot at the water wall target.


    ¡°Just get out of here, you old coot.¡± Jaren said with a wave.


    Len shot off into the sky. At least it gives me time to mull over what is happening in this raid.


    After a quick flight, Len stopped and floated a couple hundred feet above the frontline, slightly on the monsters¡¯ side. Still no sign of the final wave.


    He crossed his legs and put his arms in his lap as he floated in midair. Flames danced in and around his whole body. He breathed in deep, the title of his least favorite ability escaping his lips.


    ¡°Sun Flare.¡±

 120. TMNT

    ¡°Damn, Liam. Give it another three hours and you might start hitting the broadside of a barn.¡± Tutor said it in my mind.


    ¡°Shut up, I¡¯ve hit it like thirty times, huff, by now.¡±


    ¡°Yet somehow those last couple have more than likely singed the hair off poor Donatello¡¯s toes.¡±


    ¡°Donatello?¡±


    ¡°You know, shell-shoulders over there. You can¡¯t tell me you haven''t imagined Water Boy slurping on a slice of New York style pizza? Uhh Hait, you numbskull.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be so numb if you didn¡¯t shout in it all the time,¡± I whispered to myself, knowing full well she would hear it. ¡°A TMNT reference? Really? And why Donatello?¡±


    There was a pause. My guess was that she was coming up with a way to answer the question along with insulting me in the process. I leaned back on the ground, not fully laying down but propping myself up with my hands. The coarse blades of grass felt cool under my palm. The uncovered one at least. The mucus cast still covered my left arm.


    The twins and I decided to take a break after I missed three shots in a row; that and both Hait and I were running low on stamina. I was more than happy to, my mouth felt like I had just tried to down a whole box of saltines.


    Terl gave us a quick fill up just a few minutes ago, complaining about how much of a waste it was to use his talents on low levels like us. I¡¯d say it irked me, but he was done in a matter of seconds. We probably were a slight waste.


    He advised us to also chill out with the practice, especially now that Len left. I¡¯d asked Jaren about it after watching him blast off into the sky above the monster side of the field.


    ¡°Just wait and see. Don¡¯t want to ruin the surprise,¡± that and a wink was the answer I got. Par for the course at this point. However, I couldn¡¯t help but feel like it was a bit forced.


    I looked up at the countdown notification. It still hadn¡¯t changed. Approximately Ten Minutes apparently meant nearly an hour on Kniyas. The sun had just about set, and an awe-inspiring mixture of blue and pink hues filled the sky. The Raid field¡¯s tree-barren landscape let me take in so much more of the gorgeous horizon. It would have been a truly dazzling view if only the smells of rotting monster carcasses didn¡¯t ride the gentle breeze right into my nostrils.


    Nights were still somewhat cold and I felt every extra drop in temperature thanks to the moist skin granted to me by Salamandras Form. I shivered as another gust fell on my exposed arms. I pulled the sleeves down on my leather armor, Ursa''s form had stretched them out and now the wind kept getting in. Really need to ask Mrs. Warbler about elastic. I honestly doubted they had that wonder of clothing science here but you never know.


    I looked over at the twins, they were busy speaking with Daila. Seeing the mouse woman still had my stomach twisting in knots, so I told them I was going to focus on psyching myself up for the upcoming battle. Not a complete lie, but Lord knows I wasn¡¯t about to tell them about Salamandras¡¯ quirky little fear.


    But I wasn¡¯t alone in needing a psyche up from what I could tell. The atmosphere was palpable. Every soldier I could see wore tense expressions. The night was just upon us and nothing had changed. No reports about even seeing the boss had come in. Jaren was amongst the few who still exercised. He never seemed the type who¡¯d be able to just sit in these kinds of situations. He swung his double-bladed sword around, landing hits on an imaginary foe. Each slash was more precise than the last, as his armor clinked with each movement. It was almost hypnotizing to watch the hulking armored man work through such delicate forms.


    ¡°He has to be Donny. None of the others fit.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked as I jerked my head.


    ¡°Hait, that¡¯s the only turtle that makes sense. No way is he Leo or Raph. His sister is probably closer to Mikey. Definitely has the party animal genes, no pun intended¡­I think. That only leaves Donatello.¡±


    I was honestly stunned silent, Tutor put way more thought into this than I had expected. It was taking a minute to come up with something.


    ¡°What?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Nothing, just trying to figure out if what you¡¯re on about could be construed as racist or not.¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ¡°What? You have to admit it''s toeing the line. Also, I disagree, Hait has shown next to no interest in technology. And he does not use a bo staff.¡±


    Tutor scoffed, almost as if she had taken offense to my argument. ¡°The turtles are so much more than just their interests and weapons, you heathen. I¡¯m talking about their personalities, their talents. Donatello was so much more than just a tinkering gearhead. He was the brains of the operation, the strategist, the master tactician. I might be so bold to say they couldn¡¯t have pulled off half the hijinks they did without him.¡±


    My stunned silence continued as I tried my damnedest to figure out how the conversation even got to this point. Of all the things today, I was not prepared for a near lore video level of commentary on teenage mutant ninja turtles.


    ¡°And why do you think Hait is a master tactician?¡±


    ¡°Do you really think that floating water platform and lightning bolt combo attack was Tawny¡¯s plan? Nah had to be Donny, dang it, I mean Hait¡­Do you think he¡¯d try out a staff?¡±


    ¡°I am not about to make some dumb fantasy of yours come true at the expense of my friend and teammate.¡±


    ¡°But maybe he could control his water powers better with one. You never know.¡±


    ¡°Shove it. Why are we even talking about this? I have a fight to get ready for.¡±


    ¡°No no no, bucko. You started this. I will not rest until you stick a purple mask across his face. Mrs. Warbler could make it with no problem. She could make a lot of outfits actually. Oooh, do you think¡ª¡±


    ¡°No. Whatever you''re about to say, just no.¡±


    At some point in our mini turtle debate, the sun had finally set, and the sky darkened as the moon peeked over the horizon. Then a click sound went off in my head.


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    ¡°Was that you?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Nope, check your notification.¡±


    FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 9:53 MINUTES


    A pit grew in my stomach. I swallowed. ¡°Yeah, that figures,¡± I said as I looked at the stars beginning to come out.


    I went to rise and meet up with Jaren¡¯s squad, but Tutor stopped me.


    ¡°Hold up a sec.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± I said with far more ferocity than I meant to. Still really nervous it seems.


    ¡°Chill, just trying to give a piece of advice. Make sure to mimic the boss.¡±


    I tilted my head. That was something I hadn¡¯t thought of. Was there some bonus to mimicking a boss? Maybe it comes pre-leveled or something. But mimicry¡¯s range.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I have to get pretty close to mimic, and if it''s anything like the last one¡±


    I recalled the boss of the last raid, the giant ball of writhing flesh. Graveball, if I remember correctly. I¡¯m not sure if I could really see myself getting close to something like that without spelling certain doom for myself. It also had a whole host of mini versions surrounding it, including the one I inadvertently created in my flower garden back at the camp. Wonder how those are doing by the way?


    ¡°Just figure it out. Trust me, bro, it''s worth it.¡± Tutor said, practically salivating as the words came out.


    Sure, because nothing bad has ever happened to me after hearing those exact words come from a friend¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Why? Do you know what it is? Tell me. We could use the info for the fight.¡±


    ¡°Nope, said too much as is. But here¡¯s a little reminder. It¡¯s a little trick I picked up thanks to your incessant nagging.¡±


    Before I could rebuttal, my vision flashed white. I closed my eyes at the sudden light. I opened them back up. ¡°Shit, warn a guy first before¡­¡± I said, before pausing and looking up at the new information in my vision.


    Quest 0: Mimic the Boss (Whatever it may be¡­)


    Reward:  Profit :)


    The text sat right under my status bars, a bit intrusively. It didn¡¯t take up too much of my vision, but enough that it will take some time to get used to it. Not ideal for a big fight.


    ¡°A quest log, really, this late into it.¡±


    ¡°Heeeey, I worked really hard on it.¡± I could hear the pout in her words.


    I sighed.  How hard could two lines of text be.


    ¡°Okay, thank you. I¡¯m sure it will be helpful. Is there a way to minimize it? Maybe put it in the char sheet? It¡¯s dark out now, I¡¯m going to need as much of my vision as possible.¡±


    ¡°Oh well, umm suuure, let me just.¡± The audible clicking sounds of a mechanical keyboard resounded in my head. I rubbed my forehead, ultimately deciding it best to ignore it. I¡¯d given up on trying to figure out what was going on with her. Not worth the aneurysm.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to get back to you on that. Bye. Take care. Don¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°Hey, no. UGH.¡± I leaned my head back, staring off into the night sky. ¡°Great.¡±


    I walked over to where Jaren and the rest of his squad were. The whole battlefield came back to life as legionaries ran around to their stations for the final preparations. Torches and lamps were being lit all around the area, bringing some light to the darkness. But not enough for a battle. Not really.


    Most of Len¡¯s squad surrounded him at the moment, as well as a light from what I could tell. But not the orange light of a fire, it was bright white, much like that of LEDs. There were about ten or so that I didn¡¯t recognize or know what they did, and they didn¡¯t seem that interested in me. I found Tawny and Hait sitting in the outer ring, trying to peek at whatever was happening.


    I walked over to them, but before I could ask what they were doing, I heard Jaren speaking to someone. A woman''s voice I recognized immediately.


    ¡°The clock is ticking now, Jarenth. Has Leonard¡­¡±


    ¡°Just Jaren. And yes, Lirae. He hopped up there half an hour ago. You know he¡¯s done this a while. Pretty much longer than all of us. Even you.¡±


    ¡°You will not speak to my wife and your Mayor like this!¡±


    I looked around one of the soldiers watching. Lirae stood next to a blonde man I didn¡¯t know. A bright orb of light sat above the man. He wasn¡¯t wearing any sort of armor, just a basic tan tunic and cloth pants. A bright white circle adorned the center of the tunic. He edged closer to Jaren, a snarl on his lips.


    Lirae put her hand out, stopping the man. She wore a flattering and form-fitting set of leather armor. Her auburn hair tied into a braid that fell all the way down her back. Even in her battle gear, she looked gorgeous. I felt Salmandras¡¯ nervous energy start to burn my sides.


    ¡°Thank you, dear. But we can¡¯t very well fight amongst ourselves right now can we, Rickard.¡±


    The man coughed and collected himself, the orb of light floating above his head flittered as he did so.


    Lirae turned back to Jaren.¡° Then am I to assume we will be handling the boss?¡±


    Jaren, without taking his eyes off the blonde man, nodded. ¡°Looks to be that way. Any news on what it may be.¡±


    ¡°Scouts have been sent out, but nothing as of yet.¡±


    ¡°Aye. Thank you, Mrs. Mayor.¡± Jaren smirked as he mockingly bowed to the beautiful green elf.


    The blonde man¡¯s eye twitched.


    ¡°We shall keep you posted as soon as the initial reports come in.¡± She turned away and walked, heading straight in my direction. The soldiers that stood in front of me (hid me) saluted and dispersed so fast that I couldn¡¯t follow, leaving me right in front of her. Maybe she won¡¯t notice me?


    Lirae stopped as her eyes fell on me, my stomach hopped into my chest. I felt sweat pour down my back. I stood completely frozen in her gaze. Flames of distaste burned in her eyes. She noticed me. But before she said anything, the man got right in my face.


    ¡°Is the Fourth so undisciplined that they don¡¯t salute their leader?¡±


    White light seeped from his eyes. ¡°Salute your Mayor, right, this, instant, soldier.¡±


    My mouth and throat turned back into a desert. I couldn¡¯t turn my eyes from him, fully on account of how close Lirae, a stunning woman, was. Panic flourished in my head and chest. I would salute if I could. I wasn¡¯t in the business of being this insubordinate, but I literally couldn¡¯t move.


    The light burned even hotter in his eyes. I could just about feel the waves of anger flow from him. It reminded me of Len for some reason.


    Then, just before his fury hit its boiling point, something, a force of some kind, pushed my cast up as high as it could. Then Tawny and Hait stepped in front of me.


    ¡°Sorry Commander Lumensworn, Mayor Laurellen. His arm was injured in the last wave.¡± Hait said, saluting to the man. Tawny saluted as well.


    The man looked down at my covered arm, he leaned back, snuffing the light in his eyes.


    ¡°Hmph. Fine then. I guess the Fourth needs all the help it can get. Even the broken. Let us go, Lirae.¡±


    He turned to look back at his wife, but she was currently bending over, looking over the two half elf twins. I expected to find a look of pure anger. How dare these younglings dare interrupt her and her husband. Something along those lines. But I couldn¡¯t have been more wrong.


    For her face wore an absolutely brilliant smile. Like that of a proud mother.

 121. Z Pattern

    ¡°Tawny and Hait Granth. How wonderful! First Raid and barely a scratch. Your parents would be so proud, First Ones rest their souls. They were two of the fiercest and most loyal squad mates I had the honor of fighting with.¡± Lirae said, ruffling the twins¡¯ hair.


    Lirae stood nearly a foot taller than the short half elves, painting the perfect picture of a mother praising her children, a hard contrast to what I¡¯d seen.


    Tawny and Hait shifted in their spots, both trying to hide a smile, especially Hait whose face turned a bright red. Couldn¡¯t blame him. Teenage me would have reacted in the same way if a supermodel gave me that sort of attention.


    Rest their souls. The phrase sat in my head. I never got around to asking the twins about their parents. To be fair, I¡¯ve known them for all of like one day, yet it felt way longer for some reason. A small feeling of shame joined the vast sea of anxiety already present in my core because of Lirae¡¯s presence. I asked them about their parents earlier, something anyone would do. But I still felt bad.


    ¡°And I see their progeny are keeping up the tradition and fighting in two waves. Most exciting. Right Rickard, dear?¡±


    Rickard¡¯s eyes never left me. The light died down, but a threat still swam around in his blue eyes. ¡°Yes, my sweet.¡±


    Once freed from the green elf¡¯s affectionate doting, the twins straightened out and saluted, hands clasping shoulders. ¡°And we hope to continue. Along with Liam, our Captain.¡±


    Damnit Tanwy, she just stopped paying attention to me. I thought to myself as my stomach lurched.


    The elf¡¯s eyes swung over to me, her smile evaporating in an instant. Yet there was no anger, no hate in her gaze. Simple apathy now, as if she looked upon a dead bug.


    ¡°Oh yes. Of course.¡± She turned back to them, smile reappearing, just as vibrant as before. ¡°Just remember, when this one fails you, you will always have a place in the Second Legion. Correct, dear?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Rickard answered. I could have sworn I heard the sound of a whip cracking,  in the back of my head.


    After another indifferent glare shot my way, Lirae walked off, her husband a step behind. Just as the two walked a few feet away, Hait spoke up, balling his fists. ¡°I¡¯m sorry ma¡¯am, don¡¯t take this as insubordination, but he won¡¯t fail us. I know it.¡±


    They stopped and looked at the boy, the shells on his shoulders shivering.


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a bit goofy, but he has a good heart. And a heck of a fighter.¡± Tawny said, supporting her brother in, well, supporting me. Normally I¡¯d be a mess of tears after hearing such genuine praise but that damn fear in my gut prevented it. Probably for the best in this instance.


    Lirae squinted her eyes at me, they relaxed as they looked back at the twins. ¡°The naivete of youth,¡± were her final words as she walked off.


    Once the two were out of earshot, I exhaled, releasing the long held breath that sat trapped in my lungs. And not a second after, somebody clapped my back. I was kind of getting tired of that. My back was going to be black and blue by the end of the night if it kept up.


    ¡°Haha, quite the pair on you, starring both Rickard and Lirae down like that. I need to buy you a drink. The tykes too.¡± Jaren said, looking down at the three of us through his helmet''s visor.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Tawny growled, lightning coursing around her wrists.


    Jaren barked another laugh, then turned to me. ¡°Seriously though lad, I wouldn¡¯t be trying another stunt like that again, especially with Rickard.¡±


    ¡°Why? From what I can tell standing up for yourself is a necessity in Laurelhaven.¡±


    ¡°Aye, it is. But Rickard, well he¡¯s a different beast. He wouldn¡¯t lose a single wink of sleep over snuffing somebody like you out. Be glad we''re in a raid, us Commanders got to look civil among the troops. Bad for morale if we start whooping our soldiers before a fight. Else that interaction would have turned south real damn quick.¡±


    I rubbed my forehead. Why wouldn¡¯t it? God, I¡¯m so tired of this shit. And what part of his behavior was civil exactly? It was those exact interactions that really caused me to question my participation in the raids at all.


    ¡°He¡¯d never done something in public. Probably during the night, or on your walk back to Gran¡¯s.¡± Jaren clapped, ¡°Just like that.¡±


    ¡°And you all let murderers like that run Legions."


    ¡°Ehh, murderer seems a strong word. He probably wouldn¡¯t kill you, just ship you up North or throw you in the Forest. And while yes, he¡¯s a hot-headed jackass, he¡¯s a hot-headed jackass that is really good at killing monsters. And he¡¯s adequately shackled by his missus. So it helps.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean that makes for a good leader.¡±


    ¡°Ehh, we¡¯re all sure Lirae does the actual leading of the Second.¡±


    Daila walked up and cleared her throat, breaking up our little chat. My stomach churned once I saw her. It looked like I was not going to be free from nervousness anytime soon.


    ¡°Sir, I believe there are more pressing matters on hand. The final wave perhaps. One that starts in¡­six minutes and thirty-two seconds.¡±


    ¡°Aye, aye, keep yer shirt on. I didn¡¯t forget. Not like I can do a lot of preparing without information on the boss or his bodyguards anyway.¡±


    ¡°And you would if you weren¡¯t so busy dilly-dallying, Sir. I have the scouts¡¯ initial reports.¡±


    ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t you lead with that? What are we looking at? My money¡¯s on something bovine. Don¡¯t know why? Just feel it. Haven¡¯t had one in a while. Or maybe a cat of some type. I could kill a cat right about now.¡±


    Daila¡¯s face showed nothing but contempt at her boss¡¯ rambling. Which, in a surprise twist, Jaren actually picked up on. He stopped talking and gestured to her.


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    ¡°Thank you. And Sir, as always, your intuition couldn¡¯t be more incorrect. It looks to be reptilian or amphibian in nature. Which matches the rapid increase in Salamandras and Gexen of the last month. Notably, the Gexen during the Academic District break-in last month, had a large uptick. They believe it to be a boss class Gexen. Not sure of what variety, or lack of light is making it hard to identify properly. Dark sight skills have not turned on quite yet. Let us pray it is not a Red Striped Gexen.¡±


    I blinked when she brought up dark seeing, realizing she was right. I could see find in the dark thanks to Gremlin¡¯s Learned Behavior, but it hadn¡¯t activated yet. Either because there was still color in the sky or the torches around. But I¡¯m one of the lucky ones. Neither of the twins has a dark sight ability. Tawny can kind of make light with her powers, but it wasn¡¯t very consistent. Need to make her some light bulbs.


    Hait had nothing, water didn¡¯t particularly shine by itself.


    I looked up and saw that Jaren''s crew had circled around us. My stomach jumped, though I wasn¡¯t sure why. I managed to twist my head over to see who just walked up behind me. A dog-eared woman, a bow twice her size strung across her back. I don¡¯t even have to see them to get scared. Really starting to hate this form.


    Jaren nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll take it over last month¡¯s. Took a week to get the smell out of my armor. That and a lot of¡ª¡±


    Daila sent him another glare before he finished his sentence, shutting him up on the spot.


    ¡°From our records, their Bodyguards are usually Greater Reptans and a host of Gexen, of all types.¡±


    I started getting lost in Daila¡¯s explanation. What are Greater Reptans? What types of Gexen are there? My only run in with them was back in the cave and the ones on the Academy roof. I didn¡¯t know they were variations. Maybe the twins know, not like I could ask her in my current state. That and I need to know if acid works on them.


    Before she spoke further, a small person in a hooded cloak passed through the circle and whispered something into Daila¡¯s ear. Daila nodded.


    ¡°The initial reports were correct. It is a Gexen. Still unsure of the type. We should start hearing them in the next three minutes. Based on this I recommend the Shifting Z Pattern. We have the low levels to think about.¡±


    All eyes darted to us for a moment, then back to Jaren.


    ¡°Aye, I agree. I¡¯d rather H or T. But our hands are tied.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have to be, just send them back Sir.¡± A voice I didn¡¯t recognize came from the opposite side of the circle.


    ¡°Nope, out of the question. I hate to admit it, but we may need the mid range support. Axlen and Tarn aren¡¯t fit for duty. And Hait can put up barriers. You all know we¡¯ll need¡¯em. ¡±


    Hait shuddered at his name being brought up.


    ¡°Only time will tell if we¡¯ll be on Boss killing duty or not. Rickard, Lirae, and Collen should be handling it tonight.¡±


    What about Len? I thought to myself. I would have asked but, yeah¡­


    ¡°Till we have to bail them out. Am I right?¡± The woman next to me shouted. I almost jumped at the abrupt shout in my ears. Everyone in the circle raised a hurrah in agreement.


    ¡°Aye, anything else?¡± Jaren said, looking at Daila.


    ¡°No Sir.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it. Squad J1, Round UP! Shifting Z!¡±


    The whole circle broke apart in an instant, each member of Jaren¡¯s personal squad moving into a spot by the frontline, a hundred feet or so from the holes.


    Jaren and his half a dozen frontliners walked up front, forming a line. His archers and soldiers I assumed were mages¡ªthey didn¡¯t have weapons and wore mostly clothes¡ªformed a line behind me and the twins. Another six or so.


    I shuffled around, unsure of what I was supposed to do in this scenario, no one actually explained anything to us.


    ¡°Squad L7!¡± Daila¡¯s raised voice resounded over the thunderous footsteps of other squads getting into position.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I yelped.


    ¡°You stay here. In this formation, your squad can¡¯t leave this spot unless told otherwise. You are the fulcrum. Our movements revolve around you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tawny asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to go into specifics, I wish that I did. But know this, monsters will get through the line. Those of us in the center, the mid-range fighters, will have a lot of slack to pick up. Focus your attacks solely on the ones they let through. Hait, you concentrate on barriers.¡±


    The few remaining soldiers in Jaren¡¯s squad lined up, but not horizontally like the others. This line started from the right end of the frontline and ended at the left end of the back line, forming a Z. Just like the pattern¡¯s name.


    ¡°But what about light? I don''t want to hit anybody.¡± Tawny said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that will be handled as soon as that timer reaches zero.¡±


    ¡°WEAPONS READY!¡± Jaren shouted from the front. A chorus of metal clangs boomed into the air as armor and weapons smacked together.


    ¡°No more talking,¡± Daila whispered. ¡°Focus on the fight.¡±


    Then it was silent. Aside from the flickering of the torches in the wind, there wasn''t a sound. I licked my lips. The saliva stung them. I must have generated some acid without meaning to. Oh, this was going to be bad.


    I looked up at the timer.


    FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 3:12 MINUTES


    The timer was nearly over, three minutes remained, and we still couldn¡¯t even see our opponents.


    After another thirty seconds, a low rumble came from the field ahead. It kept getting louder, and louder with each passing second. I was scared. We ran straight into the other wave and met the monsters head on. There was no room for thinking, only action. But this one, this waiting, felt awful.


    A spark of yellow electricity arced in my peripheral. It danced around Tawny¡¯s arms, lighting her and Hait¡¯s tense faces. I swallowed. No, I need to be strong. I will see them through this. I have to.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Flames swirled inside Len¡¯s chest, like an inferno. Each plume begging to be released, to wreak havoc, to consume. But he shut them down, one by one, controlling each and every urge. These flames had a purpose to fulfill.


    He hadn¡¯t felt this much fight from his powers in a long time. This ability imposed a heavy burden on his Aura. But he had no other choice. He¡¯d need a good rest that¡¯s for certain.


    Len opened one eye, peeking at the monsters stampeding across the field. Mostly reptiles from the looks of it. Good. He thought. Lirae and her lackeys could deal with that easily enough. They¡¯d have to. He wouldn¡¯t be of any use soon.


    He checked the timer.


    FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 22 SECONDS


    A spark shot out of his eye. He shut it, regaining control and forcing the heat back in. Hold it. Just twenty more seconds and you¡¯ll be free.


    But Len every single one of those seconds felt like an eternity to Len. The heat flowing through every single vein in his body threatened to tear him apart. But he would hold. He always held.


    Then the timer hit zero. And Len opened his eyes. A shout burst from his lips.


    ¡°IGNITE!¡±


    And all the flames he so meticulously restrained erupted at once, scorching the sky itself.

 122. Well Oiled Machine

    FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 1 MINUTE


    Even with the timer just about up we still didn¡¯t have eyes on the monsters. But they were close. The chaotic rumbling of the coming  stampede was our only tell of just how close the monsters were. Archers along the whole line sent out flame-tipped arrows hoping to illuminate something, but they didn¡¯t accomplish much. Just littered the ground ahead with small embers before the monsters stomped them out. Not that I could really tell, Jaren¡¯s front liners all stood nearly a foot taller than me and blocked a solid portion of the battlefield from my sight.


    The clouds covered the rising moon, trapping most of the light it hoped to provide. They rolled in just after the timer hit two minutes. Though they didn¡¯t look like rain clouds; weren¡¯t heavy enough for that. Some pale moonlight leaked through, just not enough to help us on the ground.


    My Dark Vision activated not long ago so I could see everyone in Jaren¡¯s squad with no problem, though part of me wished it hadn¡¯t.


    Daila stood near me and the twins, as part of the diagonal in the Z formation. She chose to post herself closest to us, probably for the twins'' sake. And I was more than aware of her presence. I rubbed my wet forehead with the free hand.


    This crap better calm down once the battle starts and my blood starts pumping. Dying because ¡°pretty girl¡± is a really stupid way to go. Gramps would give me so much shit.


    I looked into the sky again. Wondering what you''re doing now, you crazy old loon. I thought about him for a brief moment. I knew my thoughts should''ve been focused on the oncoming battle, but honestly, I was tired of the stress of waiting.


    The stars hid among clouds, some managed to peek around the cloud cover. One stayed completely free, shimmering in the sky. But just as I caught sight of this bright one, a new star flickered to life, right next to it. No that wasn¡¯t right, this light was much closer to the ground and had a reddish hue. Dark Vision normally made the world monochrome, but I could see color if the object itself was a light source. So I saw flames in their natural red color and the plethora of colors of the glowing potions that lined Daila¡¯s outfit.


    Before I could investigate the odd light further, a bell tolled in my head. Then the notification popped up.


    FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 0 SECONDS


    FINAL WAVE BEGINS


    Snarls coursed through the air, mixing with the war cry of the front line soldiers, completely deafening the thoughts swirling around my mind. I built up saliva in my mouth, activating the Acidic Salvo. My eyes strained as I looked for a target. But I still couldn¡¯t see where they were, just the shifting of soldiers in front of us. I heard the monsters running, climbing out of the holes, yet Jaren¡¯s frontline hadn¡¯t moved.


    ¡°EYES SHUT!¡± Jaren roared out a command.


    Daila whipped around to us. ¡°Cover your eyes and count to five. No questions.¡± She turned back around and hid her eyes in the bend of her elbow. The twins followed suit. Everyone in the squad did.


    But the monsters are here! I screamed internally. Their assault was right about to begin. But I couldn¡¯t voice any of these concerns, so I shut my eyes, following her command. But only just. I squinted down my left eye, keeping it open just barely. Fresh anxiety gripped at my chest. How could this be a good idea?


    Then, as if to answer my question, light, unimaginably brilliant, burned my retina and forced my half-shut eye closed. The light pierced through my eyelids, forcing me to bring a hand up to fully block it.


    Following not a half a second after the sudden brilliance, a wave of intense heat flooded the entire area. All of the previous chill of the night vanished in an instant. Now it felt like I stood in a dry sauna. Yet all the heat came from one source, directly above.


    ¡°Holy Crap!¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    The twins marveled at something, telling me the five seconds had ended. I opened my eyes slowly, before immediately shooting open joining the twins in their wonder.


    Fire.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    That''s it. The entire sky filled with flames. No clouds, no stars, no moon. Just fire.


    Apocalypse. It was the only word that hung in my head. The only description it could come up with. These flames were going to burn it all away. The monsters, the soldiers, the city, the woods, me. None of us were safe from the inferno roaring just above our heads.


    ¡°BRACE!¡±


    The command brought, almost forcibly, me back to the present. I looked forward. A giant white tusk jutted between two of the soldiers in front of me. Then in another instant, the tusk went flying, along with the head of the boar it was attached to. Several more heads flew through the flame lit sky, soaring past my head. Before even ten seconds had passed, a whole dozen beheaded Tusix lay slain before Jaren¡¯s group.


    Jaren hopped forward and started swinging his double blade around. Green energy warped around his blade, growing in intensity with each twirl. Then he swung out. A blast of wind smacked me in the face, as the green energy waves pushed the slain bodies away from the squad, falling into one of the holes from earlier.


    Then the realization hit me. I could see, we all could see. I looked around. The whole battlefield was covered in combat. Soldiers and monsters pitched in heated combat all around us. The flames filling the sky lit up the whole raid field.


    I looked up, and the flames raged. They danced and spun as if they were going to swallow the world whole, yet it wasn¡¯t hot. It was warmer, but like that of a sunny day. How? I asked myself, but I knew the answer. It didn¡¯t make it any harder to understand. Len¡­what the hell are you?


    ¡°Group of Red Wulfen,¡± Terl yelled out.


    ¡°Archers! Send¡¯em to Hell!¡± Jaren barked


    The trademark thunk of bows rang out behind me, followed by the din of canine cries and whines. But their barrage wasn''t enough apparently. Huge red furred wolves lunged at Jaren¡¯s frontline. His soldiers held them back until one of the wolves jumped right over the preoccupied frontline and landed just behind them.


    I readied some spit, raising my mucus covered cast as a shield, and aimed at it. Then a giant wooden spike split its head open. The wolf fell to the ground. One of the soldiers posted in the diagonal, an elven woman, cracked her neck and gave me a wink before turning back to the chaos in front.


    I looked down at the wolf monster¡¯s corpse. It was huge. Bigger than the wolves I fought in the break in. Like 1.5 times as large if I had to guess. Maybe they got a boost being a part of the final wave.


    I looked back up and saw that the tight frontline for Jaren¡¯s squad had loosened. His soldiers now had room to fight each wolf individually, as well as receive some backline support from the archers and mages.


    Jaren stood farther forward than the rest of his squad. Greenlight glowed at the tip of his blades. He swung out in large sweeping motions, catching multiple Wulfen with each swipe, followed directly by green gusts of wind throwing their sliced bodies away from him.


    Even with the line loosened, no other wolves made it through Jaren''s frontline. Each of his squad now given adequate room to fight as they wished. The other squads to our sides ensured no other monsters could flank us and any other wolves that got a little too close were quickly dispatched by no less than five arrows to the face along with a number of wooden spikes and blasts of blue energy reminiscent of the magic moose missiles¡ªno clue who was sending those out.


    I spit the acid on the ground after it burnt the back of my throat, after almost swallowing it again.


    I found myself admiring Jaren¡¯s squad. Neither me nor the twins had to lift a finger so far in this battle. Tawny kept her electricity flowing on her arms and Hait kept some amorphous balls of water floating next to his head, but the three of us didn''t actually do anything. We didn¡¯t need to. I¡¯m pretty sure our aid would only be a burden to the well-oiled machine that was Jaren¡¯s personal squad. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if I could make something like it. If a squad led by the twins and myself could become so powerful and reliable, or we¡¯d have cool tactics and formations.


    The Supports, led by Terl, ran up and down the front line as well as the backline, giving both health and stamina to any that needed it. They never stayed on one soldier for long, somehow knowing exactly how much stamina or health each one needed. We had to let Rashith know when we were topped off. The soldiers of the diagonal moved together, rotating around us in the center. That along with the frontline expanding made me understand why they called the formation the Shifting Z. It moved as the battle dictated.


    The wolven onslaught ended nearly as fast as it had started. Not a single one of Jaren''s soldiers seemed to have broken a sweat. After having scattered, they came back together reforming the close knit line from before. Other squads around us still fought on, but we were given a small chance to rest.


    Jaren hadn¡¯t joined them though, instead walking up to us at the center. His black armor contrasted against the red sky perfectly, giving off this intense ¡°warrior straight from the bloodiest circle of hell¡± vibe. Pure, unadulterated, badass. I wasn¡¯t jealous. Nope, not at all. I definitely wasn¡¯t cursing at the fact that I had to wear simple leather armor because all my forms changed my anatomy too much for anything else.


    Jaren spoke up once he got to us. ¡°That will probably be the last light group we get. Can¡¯t guarantee we¡¯ll keep them next ones held back, so be ready.¡±


    He walked off before we could answer, talking amongst his backliners now.


    ¡°If thirty Red Wulfen constitutes light work, what the hell does heavy work look like?¡± Tawny asked.


    ¡°Thirty Blue Wulfen?¡± Hait answered with a shrug.


    ¡°Shove off.¡±


    The respite didn¡¯t last long, as Terl shouted out the next batch of monsters. A group of Reptans from the sounds of it. I was a little excited to see them. I¡¯d fought the Reptan mannequin a lot back in the guild hall, so I felt like I was ready to take on the real thing.


    Then the ground quaked, rhythmically almost. I looked up and saw them; two four-legged lizards. They were a lot different than the wooden constructs I trained against. These were covered in dark green and brown scales, small spots of white throughout. And had several plate-like growths running down their spines. And like twenty feet tall.


    I had to crane my neck up to see them completely. I mumbled the first thing that came to my head.


    ¡°Gojirah?¡±

 123. Big Ass Lizards

    ¡°What in the flaming hot hells is that?! How did we not see that until it was this close? Like zero intel? I feel like it''s hard to miss the silhouette of a damn Kaiju!¡± I screamed out a few more expletives while acid rolled down my cheek, cursing the so-called scouts. I heard similar protests come out from other squads, but like my own, they went ignored.


    Each step of the gargantuan reptiles made the earth rumble. Yet not a single soldier from Jaren¡¯s squad even flinched.


    ¡°Boss, which one are we taking?¡± Came from one of the front liners. A ridiculous question, surely we¡¯d need several squads to take on these monsters.


    Jaren turned his back, then swept his helmeted head around the entirety of his squad, eventually stopping on our squad. He raised his helmet, showing his eyes for the first time since the battle started, if you could even call them that anymore. No, his eyes were replaced with bright green pools of roiling energy, a single black vertical black slit running down the middle. Light streamed out of them, flickering much like the flames above our heads. A dastardly smile grew on his face. Then he winked.


    ¡°Oh, First Ones Above. We have Sub Tens with us.¡± Daila said while undoing some of the metal buttons and straps of her bandolier. She filled each of her hands with vials, bending her knees slightly like she was about to run.


    ¡°We¡¯re advancing,¡± she said to me without turning her head.


    I opened my mouth to protest further, but my words were drowned out by Jaren¡¯s even  more ridiculous answer.


    ¡°Both!¡±


    ¡°BOTH?¡±


    ¡°You all know the drill!¡± Jaren twirled his blade around, stopping it behind his back.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t know the drill!¡± I yelled, though instinctively copying Daila¡¯s movements. My body was probably just aware of the fact that there was no point in arguing.


    ¡°CHARGE!¡±


    Then, all at once, the frontline ran forward, no more sprinted forward. Which meant we in the diagonal had to follow. I stumbled a few after a few paces into the sprint. My cast covered arm had me off balance. Without missing a beat, one of the supports in the backline portion of the diagonal caught me. She gave me a nod and pushed me forward.


    Keeping up was a challenge. Not only for myself either, I checked on the twins and saw they were huffing and puffing just the same as myself. But kept up, we did. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t so bad after we got into the cadence. Odd considering I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever run this fast before. I looked up at my status bars, under them sat a little buff icon. A stick figure running his heart out, a billow of wind under its feet.


    Ah. Cool. Surprisingly cute. Need to check that out later.


    We ran by one of the holes during the sprint, I peeked down it. It wasn¡¯t the same as the one we pulled Fennel and company out of. Monsters, live and dead, filled the base. The live ones were mostly monsters that had no way of climbing, so a bunch of moose and boars was about it.


    The other glaring detail of note was that this one was deeper. Heck, it must be at least a full twenty feet. Maybe we could drop the Reptans inside, and fight on an even playing field. Yeah, that has to be why we''re moving up. Has to be. A good theory I thought, at least until we blasted right on by, heading deeper into the monsters¡¯ domain.


    Maybe the plan was to meet the kaiju lizards before they got to the holes, we¡¯d need all the room we could to fight them properly was my best assumption. Maybe I need to stop trying to logic this crap out. Jaren¡¯s a maniac. Leave it at that.


    The Reptans were still a couple of hundred feet out. The Reptan on the left was closer to us, a full body length more than his companion.


    Now that I was closer to them, I realized my first estimate was wrong. These guys must have been closer to thirty feet tall, quite possibly knocking on forty¡¯s door. Even if dropped into one of the holes these things would still dwarf us.


    But that didn¡¯t stop our little glutton for bloodshed that was the Squad Commander.


    Jaren belted out another warcry, this time accompanied by a slight laugh at the end of it. Yep, total maniac.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep Lefty occupied with Terl and Tonsi. Finish off Righty and relieve us.¡± His final command roared out above the din of battle.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Just as he finished speaking, he, along with Terl and somebody from the opposite end of the frontline; a large man wearing armor much like Jaren¡¯s, wielding a tower shield and longsword, broke out of the formation and headed over to the Reptan on the left.


    Jaren fell back as the shield knight ran in front; Terl stuck close to Jaren. In a matter of moments, they stood before the thirty-foot monstrosity. But the beast didn¡¯t even recognize them, its movements unchanging as it walked forward.


    Tonsi, the shield bearer, lifted up his shield horizontally. Jaren jumped onto it and then rocketed into the air, light green energy gathering along the full length of his double-blade. At the peak of the toss¡ªalmost level with its head¡ªJaren slashed out, sending a long arc of energy right at the beast¡¯s head, blowing himself back. After a quick flight, the attack slammed into the reptile''s face, exploding into a cloud of green glowing dust.


    Its uninjured head pushed through the dust cloud, then lumbered over, searching for whatever dared challenge it. The massive creature peered down at the three men, then opened its mouth, showing off the sea of small, spiny teeth that lined the whole inside.


    ¡°EARS!¡± Daila shouted.


    Everyone slowed the running pace down and covered their ears at the command. I lifted my hands to follow suit, making sure to not stupidly disobey an order like that again. My eye still burned a bit. My right hand covered one ear just fine, but the mucus in the other side made it a challenge, an impossible one.


    I panicked for a moment before feeling a wetness completely engulf the left side of my head. I looked over and saw Hait holding a hand up to both Tawny and I. Globes of water soon completely surrounded all of our heads.


    Man, I really need to start picking up some of the slack. These two are carrying me right now. Not sure who¡¯s the Captain at this point.


    I lowered my other hand just as the beast let out its roar. The water sphere vibrated as the cry pealed out, only a small portion of its high pitched sound getting through. I couldn''t imagine how loud it would have been without the protection.


    It shut its mouth after it finished, raising a huge four-toed foot into the air, aiming a blow at the nuisances that attacked it. Black claws the size of motorcycles flew through the air, heading for the three man team.


    Tonsi stabbed his sword into the ground, grabbing onto his shield with both hands, raising it up. Red wind kicked up around him, then focused on his shield. The lone man held up his shield. I nearly turned away, I didn¡¯t care how much energy warped around you, something that large would crush a man with no problem. But some it felt like I needed to watch.


    And the unthinkable happened. The foremost claws collided with the shield¡­and stopped. Tonsi, ahem excuse me, the legend, didn¡¯t even budge an inch from the heavy blow. The red energy rippled around the lizard¡¯s claws, then exploded, pushing it back.


    Jaren didn¡¯t miss the chance and aimed a slash at the exposed foot.


    ¡°EARS!¡±


    The repeat command rang out again, telling me that it was now our turn to take on the same foe. Righty belted out a roar seemingly twice as loud as its compatriot, rattling the water globe, nearly destroying it. Once it stopped, Hait lowered the watery protection.


    The Reptan''s mouth hung agape, as a massive amount of drool flooded the ground near the feet of the front liners. Its mouth was daunting. Rows upon rows of small sharp teeth sat in the reptile¡¯s mouth, its tongue lashing from side to side. The stench of its breath nearly knocked me over. Made me wish Hait could make those water helmets more permanent in the future.


    I took a second to look around, getting flanked by a different group of monsters would be a death knell. But there wasn¡¯t a single one around, every pack and group raced on by, giving the Reptan, and consequently, us a wide berth. They must have understood on a primal level that getting in this beast¡¯s way was the fastest ticket to the afterlife.


    I gulped. It won¡¯t be bad. We have more guys like Tonsi, surely. I gulped again, flinching; little acid went down that time.


    The frontliners each readied a shield, huddling together, digging into the dirt as best they could, except for one. A large woman with short black hair and a black cat tail who never had a shield to begin with, only a greatsword, stood behind them. She pulled the hulking blade over her head, orange energy warped around the blade.


    The reptile raised its arm, preparing a swipe much like the other had.


    Daila grabbed my arm, making me go stiff in an instant.


    ¡°On my signal, aim all of your attacks at the opening. Tawny, your order is the same. Hait, block any debris that comes this way.¡±


    She let me go and I regained the ability to move once again. Just in time to catch the Reptan make its move. I raised my mucus covered arm in front of my face.


    The vehicular sized foot collided with the front liners, who didn¡¯t take the blow as well as Tonsi did. They were pushed back a few feet. The soldier on the far left edge was thrown away from the collision.


    I looked for the cat-tailed woman, but she was nowhere to be found. Another blown away from the attack most likely.


    Until a shrill meow resounded from above. The woman was spinning like a top through the air, sword drawn, heading straight for the top of the lizard¡¯s foot. Her blade collided with the clawed foot, and all of the energy was released at the moment of impact. Scales flew through the air, peeling off the lizard¡¯s body along with a huge wave of blood.


    Holy shit, if she keeps that up we might have a chance.


    ¡°FIRE!¡±


    A whole volley of multicolored arrows flew over our heads, heading straight for the newly created opening. Opening, right!


    I saliva and acid pooled in my mouth as I prepared to shoot. But before I could let it out, its foot slammed into the ground, causing a massive quake, throwing me, and a lot of the others in the squad off balance.


    Then its other foot came down, blowing more front liners away, including Beyblade Cat Lady.


    Holy shit, maybe we don¡¯t.

 124. Acidic Solutions

    Acid launched out of my mouth. I aimed another blast at the Reptan¡¯s injured leg, joining in with another barrage of arrows. Its trajectory looked good this time. Or not. I winced as I watched my shot catch one of the arrows, causing both to peter out before reaching the target. Another miss, damn it not a single salvo has landed. I cursed myself. I looked back and soon realized that neither shot would have landed anyway. The beast pulled its foot back just before any of the shots from the current attack landed.


    ¡°For a big bastard, it''s pretty quick,¡± I said under my breath.


    I looked at the reptan¡¯s injured foot again; no blood seeped from it anymore. Its natural healing clotted the wound. The scales were still missing, but the dark purple flesh had grown back.


    I panted. I¡¯d been shooting out acid for what felt like forever now. Not a single one landed. We¡¯d been fighting this giant reptile for a while now, though I wasn¡¯t sure exactly how long. I had no timers up or anything so that meant no way of keeping track. All I could tell you was we weren¡¯t winning.


    But we weren¡¯t losing either.


    I watched on as its head twisted to the side and jaws opened wide, aiming a chomp at two of the shield bearers. They braced, back to back and shields up, before its mouth clamped shut on them. Teeth gnawed and scraped against the shields, a nasty grinding sound came from where their suits of armor scratched against each other. The two were completely pinned down. But that just left the lizard open.


    Before the two were completely overwhelmed by the gnashing, Greatsword Cat Lady swung another blow at the injured foot while the beast was distracted. A fresh wave of blood splashed out. The monster¡¯s jaw opened back up with a roar, letting the two scramble away from its clutches, ear drums bursting probably but alive nonetheless.


    But how long would this gash stay open for? It was the fourth time she managed to open a wound on the beast but it kept closing them back up before we could get any real damage done.


    Daila belted out another command to fire.


    Acid pooled in my mouth as I inhaled through my nose. I fired off another shot, this time trying to aim low, to avoid messing up the guys in the backline who knew what they were doing. But the glob only managed to make it three quarters of the way there before it lost its velocity and fell to the ground.


    I balled my fist, cursing myself some more while readying another salvo.


    Tawny had better luck than I, she actually landed her electric blasts, but we didn¡¯t have a way to tell if they were affecting it. The yellow arcs just ran up its heavily scaled legs without the monster so much as snorting if lizards can snort.


    Hait was tasked with catching anybody that might get flown by us. A hilarious concept from the outside, but one that was truly necessary. Our frontliners were being thrown like sacks of potatoes by this thing. But I had to give it to them, they kept getting back up with some aid from the healers.


    Arrows infused with different energies and abilities flew through the air once more, only a few meeting their marks. Many bounced off its hard scales while others just missed as the Reptan moved around. A whole host of colors exploded along the reptile''s foot, the rainbow of explosions then running up its leg. Daila landed on the ground next to me, she had to jump to get a better throw. Daila¡¯s nose twitched as she grabbed a few more vials.


    The beast retaliated once again, its uninjured foot swiping through the frontliners, knocking half of them back. It knocked some dirt and debris into the air and a small rock hit my unprotected arm, cutting it open. Nothing bad, it¡¯ll heal quickly.


    Hait caught the Cat Lady with a water wall as she flew overhead. Some blood ran down her forehead, but fury and thrill filled her eyes, she was far from out of the fight.


    This was the cycle. The battle had turned into the same back and forth between us and the gargantuan reptile. I shook my head. It''s turning into a battle of attrition. One we¡¯re gonna lose if nothing changes. That¡¯s a certainty.


    Something needed to change to catalyze this battle. But whatever that was, I was trying to figure it out.


    I looked at the monster¡¯s bleeding appendage again, the blood flow slowing yet again as its crazy healing factor worked to close the wound. I remembered Len telling me the reptile monsters had better regeneration abilities. That was a key attribute for them. For reptile gene wielders as well. The big boost in CON and Protective Mucus showed that it was true for Salamandras form.


    That was probably the ticket to the fight. If we could impede that regen then we could truly focus on the wounded leg and make the beast topple, or at the very least slow it down.


    Before I could ponder on it some more, another blast of wind blew through the air, pressure coming from the reptan¡¯s latest swing. My mouth opened a little as I raised my guard, some of the acid I was preparing dripped out, landing on my exposed arm. Right on the freshly opened cut too. I winced at the pain, swearing at this form. How are you going to be an acid focused form and be hurt by your own acid? How stupid.


    It stung something fierce as the burning sensation pricked and grew. I looked down at it, watching the small droplet burn through the skin and widen the gash. The small drop of acid ate through my flesh. I went to wipe it immediately, but before I could, some of my overactive salamander sweat mixed with it. The light orange sweat sizzled and foamed as the two collided. It was some sort of chemical reaction. Less than a second later, the burning stopped, along with any pain coming from it at all.


    It looked like the thick sweat acted as some sort of base, neutralizing the acid before it did any damage to me. I checked my health bar and saw that it was only down two percent. Good. I wished to experiment more, it was the first time I saw the interaction but now was maybe not the best time.


    ¡°FIRE!¡± Daila commanded again. But instead of joining them, I just stared at the chemical burn on my arm. It would have kept burning had the sweat not stopped it. Eating the flesh.


    That¡¯s it: The acid. It''s got to be the best chance at stopping the healing. If I could get enough on the wound then maybe it¡¯d burn the flesh badly enough to actually slow or stop the regeneration. If I could jump on its foot and just let loose. I looked up.Stolen story; please report.


    Daila was staring at me, but I ignored it. She must have noticed I hadn¡¯t fired last round. I kept my attention on the fight. I did not need the added distraction.


    The beast roared out again, now trying to stomp those at the front. Our melee fighters were forced to dive out of the way or else be crushed. They stumbled back to their feet with just barely enough time to block the next swipe of its claws. I was shocked at how quickly they brought their guard up. I wouldn¡¯t be able to do that. Not with an arm down.


    Nope, no way I get close, not with it thrashing about like that. I¡¯m nowhere fast enough in this form. Maybe Gremlin would have a chance. Or a gardenia boosted Tigris maybe, damn I¡¯d kill for some right about now. But one-armed Salamandras, no way. I wouldn''t have the acid anymore either. I looked around searching for an answer to get me closer.


    I turned back to the cat woman fighter; she sat on the ground as one of the supports near Hait gave her a pick-me-up. Her sword lay on the ground next to her.


    Then the lightbulb went off. Maybe I can coat her blade in the acid. Then she can deliver it. That might be enough to at least slow the healing down enough for us to get more damage off.


    With my new plan unfolding in my head, I hurried over to the cat woman. The very attractive cat woman, the one wearing incredibly tight fitting armor. The one that was in fact a woman.


    My movement slowed with each step I took toward her, before halting just next to Hait. He looked up at me as I stood frozen.


    Trash. This form is trash. This garbage form with its garbage hold-ups and its garbage bullshit personality issues.


    The cat woman started getting up, nodding thanks at the support while I grew ever more angry at my new form, along with the female-born anxiety, I can''t forget about that.


    ¡°Liam, what¡¯s up?¡± Hait asked.


    I turned to my shell shouldered teammate. ¡°I, cough, I need you to¡­.tell her to stop.¡±


    I shakily pointed at the cat woman, who was grabbing her sword from the ground.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Not now, just, uh, do it.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t know her name and you know¡ª¡± Hait waved his hand around, gesturing to the chaotic battle we were in the middle of. ¡°She¡¯s kind of needed out there.¡±


    ¡°I know but, um, she needs my, um, uh, fluids.¡±


    ¡°What? Time and place Liam.¡± Hait looked at me with a disgusted look.


    ¡°No! Just, damn it, I have a, ah, plan.¡±


    The whirlwind whipping around in my stomach was making conversing quite difficult, even with Hait. But if he could just tell her my plan, then we might have a chance. However, before I could get another word out, someone¡¯s hand touched my lower back, a woman¡¯s hand¡ªI could tell because of how quickly my body locked up from the simple touch.


    ¡°Sergeant Glasgown!¡± Daila¡¯s voice came from behind me as she walked in front.


    The woman turned to Daila and saluted. ¡°Ma¡¯am!¡±


    ¡°Hold one moment. Captain Foster needs to speak with you. I believe he has a plan.¡±


    The woman¡¯s tail flicked as she glared at me, clearly upset that someone, especially a lower level, was keeping her from the bloodshed. Yet she didn¡¯t break the salute.


    Three sets of eyes locked on to me, waiting for whatever I had to tell them. Each gaze felt like it was burning my entire body, worse than the acid ever could. My mind was going blank. I had the words, they were just simply stuck in my throat. This nervousness blocked them from coming out.


    ¡°Well kid, say something!¡± The woman said, thrashing her tail about, her face twitching as her eyes darted from the battle and then back to me.


    ¡°Screw it, I ain¡¯t got time for this.¡±


    ¡°Captain Foster, speak,¡± Daila said, her words oddly calm for this situation.


    The pure waves of anxiety and anger mixed around in my whole torso, this wasn¡¯t the time to fuck around. We needed to fight, and I held the key to winning. That¡¯s what my gut was telling me.


    Glasgown, the cat woman turned away, about to bound back into the fray. Tears swelled in my eyes. I looked around wildly, searching for an answer to this stupid problem. The woman¡¯s leg muscles bunched up, she was about to jump. I need to do something. Anything.


    I tilted my head up to the flaming sky. I closed my eyes and screamed.


    ¡°ACID! I NEED TO COAT YOUR SWORD IN ACID!¡±


    I didn¡¯t turn my head or open my eyes. My breathing was all over the place and my stomach was doing flips like I had just run a marathon while drinking nothing but warm milk, but I needed to get this all out.


    ¡°IT SHOULD STOP ITS HEALING. OR SLOW IT DOWN AT LEAST.¡±


    Once I stopped, I lowered my head, but kept my eyes shut, half expecting the woman to clock me for shouting at her.


    ¡°Bring your sword over,¡± Daila said in a hurry.


    I braved to open a single eye, only to see a large blade in front of it.


    ¡°Well, get on with it.¡±


    ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡± My stomach roiled, bubbling as others turned to see what my outburst was about.


    After a few seconds, it had its way. I threw up all over the woman¡¯s sword, turning on the acid mix just before miraculously. The acidic vomit covered the entire blade, some splashing to the ground. Though this acid acted differently than my normal stuff. It actually globbed up well and stuck to her blade. It almost looked like a really gnarly paste or glue. Way different consistency than the normal stuff. Must be the vomit mixture. Man, I really need to run some tests with this form.


    She swung it around for a moment. Some acid splashing off of it, but the majority held on.


    ¡°Eugh, this better work. And it better not have done permanent damage to Betsy,¡± the cat-tailed lady said with a glower.


    She ran off before I could even process any of her words, rejoining the battle.


    My eyes wandered after her as I prayed it would work.


    We in the center watched on as the east twisted its head at the frontliners again, its wounded leg no longer dripping blood.


    ¡°GIVE ME AN OPENING BOYS!¡± It was the cat woman, with the now nasty greenish blade pointed at the beast, who yelled out the command. The other frontliners that were scattered looked over to her. In a collective shout, they answered with an ¡°AYE¡± and re-grouped, shields raised. They started banging on them, egging on the lizard to strike once more.


    The jet black eyes of the Reptan shot over to them. It accepted the challenge, swinging its claws at them again.


    With a crash, the beast¡¯s claws collided with the shield line. Only two were blown away this time. The rest held their ground, some of the fighters jamming weapons into its feet this time.


    Cat lady flew through the air again, twirling just as before, landing a fresh new gash across the lizard''s foot. It hadn¡¯t even attempted to dodge it. It focused solely on the line of soldiers in front. But that was a mistake on its part.


    As the blade sunk into its raw flesh, blood shot out again, yet this time it was dark and viscous.


    The beast pulled its foot back and roared into the air. It was a different roar than anything else so far.


    That one sounded painful.

 125. Now For The Other Problem

    Relief washed over me as I watched the giant beast roar out in pain. I was so thankful that it worked, or at least looks like it''s working. Now we had a good chance at beating this thing. Though a part of me (it was the majority, like eighty percent) was just happy I didn¡¯t look like an absolute moron, shouting at the top of my lungs and throwing up on that woman¡¯s sword for no good reason.


    ¡­Yeah, no way to get around. I looked like an idiot, but an idiot with purpose at least.


    The Reptan twisted around, pulling it''s now seriously injured arm away. It batted at the frontliners advancing on it with its train-car-sized tail.


    But the relief only lasted so long. The shiver that went down my spine told me of Daila¡¯s approach before my eyes did. Yet I found that I could slowly turn over to her. An improvement at least. Maybe it was the outburst. Just need to shout the personality problems away.


    After she came up to me, Daila ruffled around in a pouch that sat on her hip. She pulled out an unbelievable number of empty glass vials of a variety of shapes and sizes apparently, Len¡¯s magic bag wasn¡¯t unique. Some vials, matching the ones on her bandolier, others much larger. They looked like beakers that had been ripped right out of a highschool chemistry classroom.


    She lined the ground in front of me with them, gesturing to Tawny and Hait to come over. She shoved one of the small test tube sized ones into my hands.


    ¡°Fill these, please. All of them.¡±


    I just blankly nodded my head. My hands trembled as I grabbed the vial, almost dropping it. I brought it to my lips, then looked up at her and the twins. All three of them wore the same expression of expectation. It felt weird, being watched so closely, waiting for me to spit into a bottle.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± A cry of pain rang out, coming from one of the melee fighters flying through the air. He¡¯d been launched by the lizard¡¯s tail. He landed, hard, behind the backline. Even though it was hurting, the beast was far from falling. Its attack pattern changed, focusing mostly on its tail. The fighters were having a tough time getting to the injured foot.


    I shook my head. GET IT TOGETHER. People might start dying soon.


    I built up some of the acidic spit and filled up the vial. The light orange acid bubbled and sizzled in the glass vessel. I handed it back to Daila. She popped a cork on top and slid it into one of the empty slots on her bandolier. She had me fill another ten or so until every empty slot was filled with vials of my acid.


    ¡°Floras!¡± Daila yelled out, just as I was about to finish.


    The elf woman from earlier, the wood mage who shot out wooden stakes, turned from the battle and nodded.


    ¡°Keep fighting, but keep an eye out for these ones. I need to get out there.¡±


    ¡°You got it. I was already watching the handsome newbie. Closely.¡± She said with a wink directed at me. It made me cough and drip some acid on the ground.


    Then Daila turned to twins, who diligently waited for more orders, each holding one of the larger beakers, the ones with a large base and narrow necks. Erlenmeyer flasks if I remember right. Daila waved the twins over.


    ¡°Once he fills these up, take them to the archers. They will know what to do. Do it with the whole lot,¡± she said while pointing at the beakers on the ground.


    ¡°Got it!¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am!¡±


    Daila turned back to me. ¡°Captain Foster, as soon as you are finished filling all of these, drop that form.¡±


    I tilted my head. I went to ask why, but of course nothing came out aside from some acid I was building up. Hait ran up and caught the drippings before they fell to the ground.


    ¡°Do you think I can¡¯t tell what¡¯s going on? That form is making you unable to interact with women, or at least ones older than yourself. I noticed it during your encounter with Lirae. All your forms come with such traits, it only made sense that gynophobia was Salamandras.¡±


    Ah, thought I got away with that one.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t so much of a problem then, but it is now a severe liability.¡± Daila continued, filling her fingers with more vials. Oddly she was only carrying one of my acid vials.


    With his beaker about half full Hait piped up. ¡°But what if we need more of his acid? This wave could have more monsters with regenerative abilities.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°After we finish with this monster, I will send a messenger for some supplies. As is, Liam will die if he can¡¯t fight properly around me or a large majority of the squad.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Daila crouched down, getting into a runners starting position. Then with the briefest little smirk and nose twitch, she added, ¡°And it''s terribly sad.¡± She bolted, going up front to join with the frontline that was getting battered.


    Almost as if it sensed her presence, the Reptan¡¯s tails seemingly aimed for the newcomer. Even with the wide arc heading straight for her, Daila didn''t relent. She shouted something to two of the frontliners, both shield bearers. One turned his shield up horizontally while the other braced himself next first. Daila hopped on the shield. Then a split second before the tail swipe connected with the three of them, Daila jumped, her feet just barely clearing the monster''s attack. The two fighters she used as a springboard were knocked away.


    Daila hit the ground without losing even a modicum of speed, as she ran under its belly. Soon the monster¡¯s belly was covered in a plethora of vibrant multi-colored explosions. Its legs whipped and scratched wildly as it tried to attack the small mouse-woman that assaulted it, not a single one coming even close to her. She practically danced around the beast''s underbelly, throwing up bombs left and right. Yet there were no noticeable wounds or blood.


    Is she not using my acid? I thought. Was that not the whole point of harvesting it from me?


    Then I saw what she was up to. The frontliners took the chance she gave them to regroup, and ran to the side with the wounded leg. It was a marvel to see.


    Yet before I watched anymore, a wave of fatigue slammed into my body along with a wicked sore throat. I coughed and held my throat. It felt like I just slept a whole night in the Sahara with my mouth wide open as someone fed me saltine crackers and cinnamon. I checked my stamina bar and saw that it was nearly empty, only ten percent remained.


    ¡°What the hell?¡±


    I looked down, and found every single beaker Daila had brought out was full. ¡°Wait how, cough cough. Ow,¡± I said, rubbing my throat.


    Tawny ran up and grabbed another two filled containers. ¡°You back?¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°You kept leaking out the acid while you fawned over Ms. Underbrush. We decided not to disturb your leering and just filled them up.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t leering.¡± I said, folding my arms, ¡°I was admiring.¡±


    Tawny shrugged. ¡°Whatever helps you sleep at night Cap. Oh, you can drop the form now, lover boy. We¡¯re good here. Me and Hait can handle it from here, rest up, using an ability like that must have done a number on your stamina. This fight will probably be over soon, but the raid isn¡¯t. I¡¯ll tell Marns to give you a boost.¡± She said with a wink before running off, arms filled to the brim with acid flasks.


    I sighed. Then whispered to myself. ¡°But I can¡¯t.¡±


    I tried to shift out of the form again, focusing on shifting into each form. No dice. Still the same weird no response. I thought about asking Tutor, but I really don¡¯t have the time for her. And something tells me I¡¯d get a less than useful response. My gut was saying it had something to do with mimicking it while bouncing in and out of consciousness was the cause. Maybe I didn¡¯t feel the change properly or something.


    What I did know was that it left only one option, the surefire way to drop the form. Stamina drain. I looked at the near drained stamina bar again. Just a few shots and I can empty it and lose the form. Also, pass out for an inordinate amount of time. Crap.


    I crossed my arms and thought harder, there had to be a better solution. Something that didn¡¯t force me out of the fight. Wait. Why does that matter? Maybe that is the better choice. Then I looked up. I read the new quest log that sat in the upper left of my vision. ¡°Mimic the boss huh.¡±


    Tutor went to great lengths for that line, so it''s probably worth it. That and I don¡¯t want to leave the twins behind. That and it was fun. This fighting was turning out to be a blast. The fact that even in this stupid form it had a tangible impact on the fight brought me immense joy. Especially now that there weren¡¯t any women around, meaning I could enjoy my small victory in peace.


    Then I need to find a way. A better way. But how? I need to pass out. Pass out. The phrase hung in my head. Pass Out, pass out¡­sleep.


    ¡°SLEEP!¡± I shout, slamming my mucus covered fist into my palm.


    ¡°Shit!¡± A startled voice came from behind me. I turned and saw a tall lanky human standing behind me, his arms held out to me. Dark circles surrounded his jet black beady eyes. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was his gene trope or if he was just plain exhausted. His whole countenance gave off the vibe of an Amazon warehouse worker on their third double shift. He was one of the supports in Jaren¡¯s squad, near the backline I think. This was my first time seeing him up close. Must be the ¡°Marns¡± Tawny mentioned.


    ¡°Look man, no one here wants to sleep more than me, but it ain''t gonna happen. Now let me get you fixed up. Oh, good job with the acid by¡ª¡± He cut himself off with a huge yawn.


    I stopped him before he healed me. ¡°Wait, um quick question. If I were to say pass out from stamina drain, could you wake me up quickly?¡±


    He tilted his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m a half decent Support, but stamina fatigue only recovers with sleep. Now let me heal you, we really don¡¯t have time for this.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Sorry one more. Can anyone in the squad force me to fall asleep for like thirty seconds? Even less like, ten seconds.¡±


    He squinted his blood shot eyes. ¡±I mean, yeah, but why?¡±


    ¡°It has to do with one of my abilities. It kind of resets them, if that makes sense?¡± I said while gesturing with my hands. The blank look on his face told me that it did not.


    Marns rubbed his face. ¡°Do you need it to fight better?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said with a quick nod.


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Marns shrugged.


    ¡°Really, great! Does somebody have like a sleep inducing power or maybe¡ª¡±


    Before I knew it, the world went dark around me.

 126. Thirty Seconds

    A warm feeling suffused through my chest. That same kind of warmth that made it virtually impossible to get out of bed in the morning. That toasty feeling that tempts you to hit the snooze button just one more time. And it was working, I had no desire to get up. The only thing keeping me from falling back asleep was the light attacking my eyelids.


    ¡°Mom, turn off the lights,¡± I mumbled.


    I heard a slight chuckle, and not my mother¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t the only sounds I heard either. As my consciousness returned, I heard a multitude of grunts and roars along with the clashing of metal.


    ¡°Raid!¡± The word flew from my lips as I shot up. I looked around, a little too fast apparently. Pain pierced the back of my head, like someone just jabbed a spear through it. For a moment, I thought I needed to check that I wasn¡¯t strapped down to a tree branch thirty feet off the ground and bleeding. Thankfully there wasn¡¯t a lightning bird throwing gusts of hurricane force winds. Just a fire-filled sky. A crap load of fighting. The raid still raged.


    I gingerly touched the back of my head and winced. There was a good sized bump but that was it, no blood.


    ¡°Chill brother. You''re almost done.¡±


    I turned back and saw the jet-black eyes of Marns the medic. I felt his hand press down right on the sore spot, and then that heat from earlier flowed into my skull. After a second, the pain was completely gone.


    For all of my complaints with this world, healing was not among them.


    I rubbed my face with both hands, trying to remove the grogginess from my enforced slumber. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how he made me fall asleep but I was ninety-eight percent positive he just knocked me the hell out. But who cares¡ªcertainly not Heavy-hands back there¡ªit did the trick. That¡¯s for damn sure.


    After another face rub, I paused; something was different. I pulled my hands away from my face and looked at them. Then it clicked, my left arm was mucus free. And honestly, feeling great. I rotated the shoulder around and with a satisfying pop, rose from the ground. I hopped around, shaking off the last of the slumber. I felt like a new man.


    ¡°Thanks, Marns,¡± I said turning back to him. ¡°How long was I out?¡±


    ¡°Thirty seconds, give or take,¡± he said while standing up.


    I turned back around, towards the battle. ¡°Gotcha, guess that means we are still fighting the¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t finish my sentence. My mouth hung open as I stared at what I saw in front of me. I was looking for the giant lizard, and we were literally just fighting. And I found it. Just uh, dead now.


    It was lying on its side, blood pooling around its head and body. Parts of its flesh melting into the ground around it. The whole body was covered in wounds from an untold number of sources. Dozens of arrows stuck out its whole body, colorful burn marks ran down its stomach and arms, and a few wooden stakes for good measure as well, not to mention the gashes and slashes galore. Yet they all shared something in common, acid burns. Every wound slowly widened as the acid, my acid, melted the monster¡¯s flesh.


    I blinked. The monster, from the looks of it, came down with a serious case of death while I took my power nap.


    I twisted my head, searching for Jaren¡¯s squad. ¡°Um, you said thirty seconds, right?¡±


    ¡°Give or take.¡±


    ¡°So they did that,¡± I pointed at the massive carcass, ¡°in thirty seconds.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    He nodded. ¡°Give or take,¡± Marns repeated.


    I scoffed in utter disbelief. ¡°Must¡¯ve been a crap load of giving and taking.¡±


    He just shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I wasn''t keeping track. Busy making sure you didn¡¯t go full coma.¡±


    I thought to say more, but this was one of those moments where it''s best to just be thankful and move on. It really wasn¡¯t important.  The lizard¡¯s death was great news to be sure, though a part of me was sad. I wanted to mimic it. I had a few empty slots to play with and something like that was certainly worthy of a spot. But all hope was not lost, there were two of the giant lizards. I would probably be the owner of a shiny new reptile form soon enough.


    ¡°Where¡¯d they go?¡± I asked my laidback medic companion.


    ¡°Helping Commander J with his lizard. Over there.¡± He pointed behind me, off towards where Jaren and his small crew broke off from the rest of us, to keep the first Reptan occupied while we handled the other.


    I followed his finger. Just as I stopped, a bright flash of green energy exploded in the air at the tip. Jaren¡¯s squad fought with the monster only a few hundred feet away.


    Jaren whipped his sword around and flew through the air, landing another massive blow against the reptile¡¯s jaw. The Reptan¡¯s face was forced to the side, now pointed right at Marns and myself. Half of it at least.


    A portion of the Reptan¡¯s jaw hung on to its face by nothing but a few tendons, and those looked to be fraying. While the attack threw the beast back, the rest of his melee fighters rushed its feet, scoring and slashing as much as they could while it was off balance.


    Arrows flew aplenty, piercing parts all over the reptile¡¯s body, along with some wooden stakes and even a lightning bolt. No colorful explosions though. I hope nothing happened to Daila.


    I turned to Marns, eyes squinted. ¡°Thirty seconds. Really?¡±


    ¡°Will you get over it already,¡± he said, walking off towards the squad. ¡°We need to join back with them. ASAP.¡±


    He was right, we needed to move. I was about to jog over to the others until I saw Marns. His words may have sounded rushed, but his pace wasn¡¯t, it was more of a leisurely stroll. A brisk walk maybe. You¡¯d think this situation would warrant at a minimum, power-walking.


    I caught up to him. ¡°Um, shouldn¡¯t we pick up the pace? They need us, well you for sure.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I give it another, hmm, thirty seconds before it''s dead.¡±


    Another thirty seconds. I thought to myself, shaking my head.


    But he was right, during our stroll, Jaren and the other melee fighters managed to topple the monster. Once it was down, the hail of attacks finished it off in a jiffy. I could barely believe it.


    ¡°See, yawn, thirty seconds.¡±


    ¡°Yep, thirty seconds.¡±


    Jaren roared out a victory cry, along with the rest of his squad. Even I found myself throwing a fist in the air. We¡¯d done it. Those colossal reptiles had been felled by us and us alone. And I helped. Pride swelled in my torso.


    Yet I could only revel in it for a heartbeat.


    A horn blasted throughout the battlefield. Must be an ability or something. I thought. But then it blasted again, and this time I caught which direction it came from. It came from the other side of the first Reptan¡¯s body. The monster¡¯s side.


    ¡°Uh, is that normal?¡± I asked Marns.


    He shook his head. ¡°Not even a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡±


    ¡°We need to move. Now.¡± The tired man looked wide awake now.


    Yet before we could act on his words, a rumble grew from behind the corpse. At first, I wondered if the ground was about to open up under our feet, like the holes from earlier. But no, it was footsteps. A stampede''s worth.


    And before we knew it, the Reptan corpse was covered in a whole platoon¡¯s worth of monsters, maybe twenty. Some scrambled over its corpse, others ran around it. They ran together heading straight for Jaren and the rest of the squad.


    I didn¡¯t recognize these ones. They weren¡¯t the usual forest creatures I¡¯d been fighting for months now. These mostly ran on two feet, some used their hands to pick up the pace, but I was certain these were all bipeds. Something Len said was extremely rare in the Forest.


    But it didn¡¯t look rare from where I was standing.


    I turned over to Marns, all traces of his previous indifference gone, replaced with stark seriousness.


    Taking his previous advice, I took a hurried step forward. But he held me back.


    ¡°Too late, bud.¡± He said while shifting his posture, getting ready for combat.


    I followed his gaze. Two of the new monsters broke off from the rest, heading straight for us.

 127. Mysterious Opponent

    The two monsters ran sporadically as they charged at us, their limbs flying wildly as their eyes locked in on us. Now that they were coming closer I got a closer look at their features.


    Both were heavily furred, one with dark gray fur and the other with light tan. They had long snouts and muzzles, giving off some very werewolf vibes. Their snarling grew louder as they raced towards us, both of their mouths foamed. Great. Not only are they werewolves, but rabid werewolves. What next? Anemic vampires.


    I shook my head, now wasn¡¯t the time for bad jokes. They were still a couple dozen yards away, so I had a brief moment to think about which form would be best to fight in.


    Ursa, as always was my initial instinct, but watching how they moved, the speed at which they ran, and the feral movements, I knew Ursa would be on the slow side. Meaning Gremlin would be the natural choice. But alas no weapons.


    My face twitched when I came to the conclusion. I sighed. It served me well in the last raid. And it''s much better at fighting than Apis.


    I sighed, a little longer that time, as I felt my hands grow claws and my eyesight sharpened.


    ¡°Marns,¡± I said before the transformation finished, ¡°forgive me.¡±


    He looked at me from the side, keeping one eye on the incoming threat. His eyebrow went up.


    ¡°I¡¯m probably going to say some stupid crap.¡± I finished the sentence just as the two monsters closed in on us. Then the trademark single-word phrase ran through my head as my now glowing green feline eyes glared at the challengers. I grinned.


    Prey.


    I charged forth, forgetting everything that wasn¡¯t the target in front of me. I chose the dark grey two-legged wolf. He looked stronger, and practically begging for a quick lesson about who sat at the top of the food chain on this battlefield.


    My claws skimmed across the ground as I ran forward, but I had no intention of being the assaulter, no I just wanted it to think that if this creature¡¯s feeble mind was even capable of such an act.


    I looked into its ravenous eyes. They were empty, devoid of anything that resembled conscious thought. Hunger, that was it. Poor thing, that hunger will be its final feeling. That and my perfect claws slicing right through its throat. I wonder what werewolf heart tastes like.


    Now the beast was within a matter of feet from me. I looked at its hips and legs. Its hips lowered and legs bunched just slightly, something most would miss, but I didn¡¯t. It was about to pounce, that was its plan. An objectively stupid one at that. But I couldn¡¯t expect any more from such a base creature.


    Once it was about five feet away, it jumped just as I predicted. In turn, I lowered my body closer to the ground, and then right before its bulky claws collided with my body, I slid underneath it, raising my own hand, trying to slice through its gut as it flew by.


    Yet I didn¡¯t feel its flesh rip under my claws. I watched as it twisted its body, midair, out of the way, just barely dodging my counter.


    It skidded to a stop, catching itself with all four limbs as they dug through the dirt. I stood back up and turned to meet my agile foe.


    I snorted. Lucky thing. After the thought, I lept at it this time, trying to attack while its balance was still off. My claws tore through the air, heading for its undefended face. But it recentered quickly, raising its furred arms in time to block the blow. My claws entangled with its shaggy hair, yet I tore through it all the same. Some mangy mutt¡¯s coat could never hope to hold me back.


    From here I went on the offensive, sending a flurry of slashes at the beast; each strike more graceful than the last. Dark gray fur flew into the flame-lit sky with each of my strikes. But even with each elegant move, irritation began to bubble in my chest. There was no blood. Each of my wonderful blows connected, but they were blocked by this bastard¡¯s fur. I yearned to watch that beautiful red liquid flow from my opponent. For the terrific rush Predator¡¯s Bloodlust provided in the fight.


    But with each tuft of fur, my frustration only burned hotter. And the beast noticed. My last slash missed its arm and whiffed, leaving my side open. It wasted no time upon seeing my lowered guard. The werewolf shoved its shoulder into my torso, pushing me back. Then its arms whipped out, smacking into my own and throwing them up. One of its claws nicked my hand.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Its mouth opened wide filling the air with a foul stench, then it took its chance and struck. Its gaping maw rushed for my unprotected throat. It planned to end this fight as quickly as possible. I couldn¡¯t bring my arms down in time to block the blow.


    Yet I was calm. All of this was¡­ a simple misstep. A fluke. And a fluke would never take down true perfection. And it was up to me to show this creature that undeniable fact.


    Darkness surrounded the beast, robbing the light from its frantic eyes. Its jaws snapped shut, teeth clenching on nothing but themselves. It attempted to chomp down again, and then again. But its target was gone, along with all of its surroundings. Covered up completely by my Eternal Shade.


    I watched as the beast pathetically bit and swiped at the air in my bubble of shadow. It swung out where I was just standing. I¡¯d simply ducked out of the way of its teeth. The shade¡¯s diameter had grown since the last time I¡¯d used it, now spanning almost seven feet. Plenty of room to get away from the beast and wrap around to its back.


    I was tempted to let it keep attacking the air, its pitiful display brought me joy, but my stamina was finite. So I crouched down and launched myself at the creature''s legs. Pleasure washed over me as I opened wounds right along the back of its quads. The blood from the beast wet my claws; I brought my nose to it and sniffed. The hard iron scent filled me with glee, however I did notice something off about it. The scent was more sweet than that of normal blood. I couldn¡¯t quite place it. And before I could try further, my claws absorbed the red liquid. Then I smiled, no longer caring about the oddity, for this monster no longer had a chance against me. I swiped again.


    But the beast¡¯s reaction time was almost supernatural, just as my claws passed through, the werewolf slashed its own claws at me, managing another nick, this time on my shoulder. Rage flushed through my system. How dare it even try to stand against me.


    I hopped back just as another slash came my way, one I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d have been able to dodge without the stack of Predator¡¯s Bloodlust boosting my AGI. Its head jerked around for a minute before it threw its head up and took a big sniff in the air. Then as it finished, it twisted its head, pointing straight at me.


    It can¡¯t¡ª but before I could finish the thought, it bore its teeth and lunged at me again, going for my arm this time. I brought my arm out of the way and slashed at its face, scoring just a small scratch, but it was enough to proc another stack of Bloodlust.


    It was the beast¡¯s turn to send a barrage of attacks my way, barbaric strikes for sure but ones that were aimed properly at me. The monster must have some type of super scent ability, and that was how it was tracking me. It was of no consequence, however. I still landed counterattacks on it, though many were hampered by its thick coat, others struck true, boosting my abilities further and further.


    Soon I began dodging each attack easily as the number of stacks kept growing and growing until I hit the cap of five. It gave me a full 7.5% boost to my physical stats, barring Constitution. Yet despite the boost, I couldn¡¯t make a finishing blow. It was almost as if the creature was matching my boosts. Maybe it had some sort of berserker ability, where the less health it had, the better it got at fighting. Who knows? But I was certain of one thing, the blood pouring out of it.


    My initial blow to its legs wasn¡¯t healing, and bled at the same rate as when I first opened it. It had lost a lot of blood by now. All this effort it exuded was nothing but the final bright flame of a nearly spent candle. All I needed to do was exacerbate it.


    I ran to the edge of my shade and walked out, letting the ability go. I could handle its speed now and my stamina sat at fifty percent. I didn¡¯t need to push it. The beast, however¡­he pushed it even more than before.


    Once it could see again it headed straight for me, roaring. Its arms whipped around wildly, without purpose, much different than it had at the start. These attacks felt desperate. But that can be expected from a creature pushed into a corner. I hopped right over the werewolf after a great lunge. Then sliced at its legs again.


    It fell to one knee, yipping at me again. I slashed its face in retaliation, leaving five deep gashes across its face. It whimpered, falling to the ground.


    I brought my blood-covered claw to my face again, getting in one more whiff of the languid scent. Yet it had that same smell, that sweet scent that blood wasn¡¯t supposed to have. It was almost floral. And not only that, it smelled familiar, incredibly so.


    I looked down at my prey once again, its eyes, filled with hate and anger, stared back at me.


    ¡°What are you?¡± I asked.


    Its eyes softened, all that aggression it once had vanished in the blink of an eye. A soft pink aura surrounded its head. An overwhelming feeling of pity tore at my chest. It disgusted me but I felt like I needed to heal it. I turned away from it, looking to see if I could find something to help it. But just as I did, its anger flared again and I heard it snarl. It lunged at my back.


    Pathetic creature.


    With my still Predator¡¯s Bloodlust boosted speed, I whipped around, claws at the ready. But I stopped. Marns held the creature''s head in his hands.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He whispered into its ear.


    SNAP!


    He broke its neck. It fell to the ground, dead.


    ¡°MY PREY!¡± I roared out at the medic. This imbecile had the gall to steal my kill. Rage filled my heart as I looked at the man.


    Yet the man gently turned to me and looked into my eyes.


    ¡°Trust me. You don¡¯t want this kill,¡± he said, turning back to the creature laid before him.


    I looked down. The werewolf was gone, replaced by a man. A human man.

 128. Camp Feral

    Ingrid pouted as she stared at the canvass roof of a tent. She¡¯d never been in one before. Tents like these were only ever used during raids, something she never wanted to be associated with. Life in the Gloom was a battlefield in its own right. The sun was close to setting, some dark orange rays filtered through the tent flaps.


    Ingrid, Lisse, and Lisse¡¯s posse had rolled up to a tent in the Forest an hour or two ago. Most of them left as soon as they rushed Ingrid into the tent. They didn¡¯t let Ingrid get a good look around either. The inside of the tent was pretty nondescript, the only notable attribute was the large table sitting in the center. It was bare at the moment.


    Ingrid could hear the sounds of hurried footsteps outside of the tent, telling her they were in some kind of encampment. She wanted to peek outside, to see what was going on. If nothing else but to have more to report back to Len when she got back to the City. If she got back to the city.


    Ingrid readjusted in the uncomfortable chair her hosts so graciously gave her. She looked over to her sister, Lisse, the fox-tailed leader of the forest Ferals, who stood near the entrance on the far side of the tent, maybe twenty feet away, talking with people coming in and out of the tent.


    Ingrid tried to lean closer, to get a better listen to what they were saying, but Glenna, Lisse¡¯s right-hand woman, grunted. Ingrid looked at her and rolled her eyes, leaning back.


    Yet it was all for show, her ears could perceive her sister¡¯s conversations just fine. But putting on a little show like that made it look like she couldn¡¯t. And that meant they couldn¡¯t stop her. Not that anything of worth was being said. Just updates on how the raid was going. Apparently, the second wave had just ended. That and something about how the pits worked well, but not for as long as they had hoped.


    Ingrid could just barely make out the sounds of battle with her enhanced hearing, but nothing of real value. She just knew they were closer to the raid than she wanted to be.


    It boggled Ingrid¡¯s mind. Why were they helping in the raid? Ferals never had before; from how the elders speak about the Wilds, Lostock takes enough of a beating from monster attacks on nearly a weekly basis. Nothing as grandiose as the raids for sure, but enough to keep them occupied.


    That and the city doesn¡¯t need any help either. For as much as Ingrid hated the leadership in the city, she had to admit, during her lifetime, the monsters never came close to the city.


    She tried asking her brooding babysitter about it, but she responded with more grunts, her primary form of communication with those that aren¡¯t Lisse. Real gem, this Glenna.


    But loyalty like that can be hard to find. Ingrid turned her head. Well maybe not for Lisse. She always had people following her everywhere, they practically threw themselves at her.


    Ingrid snorted, those feelings had no business resurfacing.


    Lisse turned and looked over at her, the snort must have been louder than she thought. Lisse gave her a soft smile and a nod. Ingrid ignored it, but that seemed to only fan the flames of her sister¡¯s curiosity. Lisse said something else to the man at the entrance, dismissing him with the soft-spoken words of ¡°Tell me when the light shines,¡± a code phrase most likely, but Ingrid had no idea what it meant.


    Lisse walked up, giving a nod to Glenna. The large red-haired woman stood at attention.


    ¡°I kept my eye on her, Ma¡¯am. She tried to listen in on your orders a few times, but I kept her in line.¡± Glenna said with fierce pride.


    Lisse smiled at her. ¡°Great work. Now you may leave. With the final wave on the horizon, I need you to keep M Squad in order. Help Marq, he¡¯d appreciate you being there. Especially when the time comes.¡± Lisse¡¯s words held a delicate tone.


    Glenna¡¯s face hardened for a split second before reverting back to its previous earnestness. ¡°But Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m not sure I should leave you alone with¡­¡± She gestured to Ingrid.


    ¡°It will be fine. I trust Ingrid, she¡¯s my baby bunny sister after all.¡±


    Ingrid flinched at the phrase. She hated that pet name back when they word kids; she hated it even more now. Ingrid balled her fist, trying her best to avoid showing just how much it bothered her.


    Glenna audibly gulped, an action that surprised Ingrid. ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±


    Glenna walked over to the entrance of the tent, but when she opened the flap, Lisse called out to her.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my friend,¡± she said with the utmost sincerity.


    Glenna responded without turning, her words filled with more emotion than Ingrid thought possible from the hulking woman, ¡°Aye ma¡¯am.¡± She breathed in deep, her entire head rising to its max height. ¡°But he chose this. We all chose this.¡±


    She passed through the entrance, leaving Ingrid alone with her older sister. For the first time in decades.


    Lisse scoffed, ¡°I love that surly woman as if she were my child, but she can be dense. She had no clue you were listening in on me that whole time. It was some good deception. I¡¯ll give you that, little sister. That pout when she had you lean back. Priceless. Almost exactly like I showed you when we were younger.¡±


    Ingrid squinted at the fox-tailed woman.


    ¡°What? Did you think I forgot about how powerful those gorgeous ears of yours are? I don¡¯t know why you hide them away.¡±


    She went to pull the hood on Ingrid¡¯s head back. Ingrid whipped her head away, out of reflex more than anything.


    Lisse sighed, but let the matter rest. She sat down in the chair warmed by Glenna. Then she inhaled deeply.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a hundred questions for me. And I¡¯d love nothing more than to spend the next week answering all of them, no matter how rough or gritty or shouty they may be. But I can¡¯t right now. Just know that I hated leaving you there. But¡ª¡±


    ¡°Just drop it. I don¡¯t want to hear any of the excuses. I stopped caring about those a long time ago. All I need to know is when I can head home. Some of us have people to take care of. I will not have them think I abandoned them.¡±


    Lisse nodded. ¡°You mean little Macie and Kende, those twins you take care of. Don¡¯t worry, I have someone watching over them.¡±


    Ingrid flashed a panicked look at Lisse. ¡°If you so much as hurt them.¡± Ingrid¡¯s nostrils flared.


    ¡°Ingrid, I would never hurt children. Why would you think that? You know me better than that.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t!¡± Ingrid shouted. ¡°I don¡¯t know who the hell you are! I was seven when you left! Twenty years. Twenty long years.¡±


    Lisse just looked at Ingrid, tears building at the edges of her eyes.


    Ingrid just turned away, staring at the ground and trying to recompose herself. She wouldn¡¯t show weakness. She¡¯d bury it down like she always did.


    The inside of the tent was silent for a moment after the outburst. Plenty of hustle and bustle outside though. But inside, nothing.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª¡± Lisse started.


    ¡°No, just no,¡± Ingrid said with a sniffle.


    ¡°HEY! Watch where you¡¯re walking! These cursed ferals, I swear. Don¡¯t drop those!¡± A voice shouted from the other side of the tent. Ingrid recognized it as the wagon driver from the earlier. City-born guy. It reminded Ingrid of what she wanted to ask earlier. A great segue out of the current topic as well.


    ¡°Why are you working with city folk?¡± Ingrid asked. ¡°Why are you fighting with them at all? Since when does Lostock get involved with raids in the first place?¡±


    Lisse wiped her eyes and then looked off toward the tent entrance. Her face, now somber, nodded. She stood up, then lowered a hand down to Ingrid.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost time. Come, let me show you.¡±


    Ingrid got off her feet, completely ignoring the outstretched arm. She was tired of looking at the inside of this stuffy tent. And gathering intel would do her some good. Get her head out of this funk.


    The source of her funk brought her arm back, and the two walked to the entrance. Lisse pulled the flap open, a forced smile on her face.


    ¡°Welcome to Camp Feral.¡±


    Ingrid couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. People ran around the place to and fro, in and out of other tents and makeshift wooden buildings, arms filled to the brim with weapons, armor, and other supplies. But not the kind she saw in Laurelhaven. These pieces of equipment were far more primitive looking, the swords weren¡¯t as straight and narrow, more curved. And twice as deadly. No plate mail or similar armor was in sight. Most of the feral armor was leather or light chain that only protected the soft bits of the body.


    She could barely believe it. This was the first time she had ever seen so many Ferals in one place. Real Ferals. Not the beaten down and nearly broken ones of the Gloom. They all looked properly fed. They exuded strength, and probably more importantly, pride.


    ¡°Or at least that¡¯s what I call it. I think it¡¯s funny. A dumb name those Laurelites would call us. So why not lean into it a bit.¡± She said, bumping her shoulder into Ingrid¡¯s.


    Ingrid followed after Lisse, who stopped and commented on different tents and such. Ingrid made as many mental notes as she could, but she was worried she wouldn¡¯t remember it all. This information was worth a fortune in the right hands.


    Different soldiers, if that¡¯s the right word for them, ran up to Lisse every few minutes, giving some report.


    She really is in charge here. That fact hadn¡¯t really sunk in until she saw this. Her elder sister, the crybaby, was actually the leader of the Ferals. Or this warband, at least.


    But something was bothering Ingrid. As they walked through the camp, she heard more and more of the fighting from the raid. But they were surrounded by trees. Why weren¡¯t they on the raid field? How far away from the battle were they? It sounded close.


    The crow-feathered man, the one that was a part of Lisse¡¯s group when they met with Mort, stopped Lisse. ¡°Ma¡¯am, all preparations are ready. We have reports that Ainsworth has moved. Everyone in the M Squad is ready.¡±


    Ingrid saw Lisse¡¯s face grow dire, but then returned to normal not long after.


    ¡°Ingrid. This way.¡±


    They made it to the end of the camp just before the night fell. The sun sat just below the trees. Lisse guided Ingrid to a cliff, but stopped her just before she could see what was at the bottom.


    ¡°Before we go any further, I should say this. We are helping in the raid. Just not in the way you think. Please don¡¯t freak out when you see what I¡¯m about to show you. Just know that we¡­we are doing this for a reason. A good reason. We have to do this. For the good of all Ferals. And even the city folk as well.¡±


    She then let Ingrid walk up to the top. Ingrid looked down. And found a vast group of warriors. Hundreds. Yet none of them wore armor or held any weapons in hand. Only a single bright blue flower.

 129. The Cerulean Rage

    Ingrid squinted harder. She¡¯d seen those flowers before, but she couldn¡¯t quite place where. One thing was for certain; she¡¯d never seen this many in one place. But by the First One¡¯s last breath, they were gorgeous. The cascading blue hues positively shimmered, blending together perfectly with the twilight. She was never the type to put much stock in pretty views, but this. This might have been the single most beautiful sight she¡¯d ever seen, unlike anything she¡¯d ever experienced.


    Yet, there was something about it that tugged at her, something utterly haunting.


    The Ferals lined up in much the same way Laurel¡¯s Legions did. It''s funny how similar they were in times like this. If only.


    Once the initial awe wore off Ingrid¡¯s gaze finally fell on the soldiers that held the flowers. She looked at the boy closest to the bottom of the cliff. And boy was the right word; he couldn¡¯t have been any older than eighteen. His slightly pointed ears told her he was a half-elf like herself but with scaled arms. Some reptilian gene.


    Then she looked harder; and saw that the scales not only sat on his arms, but his legs, his face. Too many. He¡¯s morphing. And quite far along.


    Ingrid thought about Mrs. Guntha, the woman who cared for the twins back home. How she too struggled with the disease. And Aura was too disturbed to hold the monstrosity that came with the genes.


    She looked on, to the rest of the men and women lining the field. Faces completely covered in fur, limbs shifted into paws. Every person holding one of those flowers was morphing.


    Then it clicked.


    She remembered where she had seen the flower before, back in the Gloom. In Tin, the backstreet alchemist she bought medicine from, had one. It sat in a glass jar at the top of one of his shelves. Ingrid had gone to pick up simple herbs for an infection Kende got while playing in one of the alleyways. It was one of the few times they ever had a real conversation.


    Ingrid stepped through the door, holding her breath and holding her nostrils shut. Tin¡¯s Shack always reeked. But she dropped her hand once she saw the bottled blossom. Its beautiful gentle light had caught her attention. It was dull, but striking all the same. Eventually Tin noticed her presence.


    ¡°Yes, it''s stunning, is it not?¡± He said, putting his current mixture down.


    She raised an eyebrow, not knowing how the blind alchemist knew what she was looking at.


    The old gnome laughed. A laugh that slowly turned into a painful sounding cough. He spoke once he recomposed himself. ¡°I wasn¡¯t always blind, you know. I could tell by your steps.¡±


    Ingrid nodded, then realized he wouldn¡¯t see that. ¡°What is it?¡±


    He grinned. ¡°That, my young thief, is known as Inspiritus Gadenas. One of the most powerful herbs found in the Forest. They are rare, few have found patches.¡± A wicked grin grew on his face. ¡°And even fewer survive to tell the tale.¡±


    Ingrid screwed up her face, that didn¡¯t really make any sense. It¡¯s just a flower.


    ¡°It''s more than just a flower. That right there gives the boost of a lifetime. The fabled Energized buff. Near unlimited stamina for a set time limit. That comes at a hefty price.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the price?¡±


    The gnome hobbled over to one of his shelves, grabbing a vial of the morph-dampening potion. He jingled it in the air.


    ¡°The polar opposite of this. Even a single petal of Inspiritus can start the morphing process, even in the most Aura stable. Back when I worked in the lab, I was tasked with refining it down into something usable. But never could get it right. Hells, nobody could ever figure out how to even grow the damned plant. Made any meaningful experimenting nigh impossible.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°And you just have it out in the open?¡± Ingrid knew he was kooky, but something that valuable should be locked away in a safe buried under the shack.


    ¡°Put your sticky fingers away. That one isn¡¯t worth a damn. It''s lost its spark, whatever element gives the plant its powers is gone. You can tell by the light. The shine that one gives off is a husk of what a trueblue Inspiritus.¡± Tin grew a small smile. ¡°They are breathtaking. Oh, how we all in the labs pined to see a field of them. Would be like the sky itself came down to the ground.¡±


    He sighed, then scoffed. ¡°At least until we all turned into animals.¡±


    Tin coughed. ¡°They''re called Energy Petals by the Ferals. But they have another name. One said to be given to them by Laurel herself. But it just didn¡¯t sound scientific enough for those in the labs and we can¡¯t have that,¡± he said with a grin.


    Ingrid remembered the phrase as she looked on at the very sight Tin yearned for.


    ¡°The Cerulean Rage.¡±


    Lisse had joined Ingrid''s side as the words left her lips.


    ¡°That¡¯s an old term for them. I¡¯m shocked you know it. We just call them Energy Petals. We, I¡¯d rather avoid calling them by such a poetic name. Keeps the young ones from looking for them if they sound boring and uninspired.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ isn''t this what Mort was talking about? The venture he wanted you to join in. He said that his man had found¡ª¡±


    Ingrid stopped. She realized something. She turned to her sister.


    Lisse nodded. ¡°Yes, we already knew about them.¡± She raised her arms to the trees surrounding them. ¡°This is our home. Something as grand as a whole garden of bright blue flowers is hard to miss. Part of the reason we had that meeting was to confirm our suspicions that he knew about it as well. But that is a discussion for another time. Now I must speak. To them.¡±


    As Lisse was about to turn to the blue mass of soldiers, Ingrid held her sister¡¯s arm.


    ¡°But why? They¡¯re morphing from just holding the cursed things.¡±


    Lisse looked down at her sister, a sad smile on her face.


    ¡°They were already turning. Each and every one of the people you see down there chose this. They knew their time was short and understood how important the task they had been given was. As much as it pains me to ask this of them, I must.¡±


    Ingrid looked down at the poor soldiers once again, this time seeing Glenna, the large red haired woman who stood next to a man. They embraced. Then she walked away, looking to the ground as she made for the other side of the cliff. Probably going to join Lisse soon.


    ¡°But why are you letting them morph, just to fight for the city? For people that despise you and treat us, ahem, them so terribly.¡±


    Lisse slowly shook her head. ¡°You misunderstand one thing. We aren¡¯t fighting for them. Look over the cliff, to the right. It will be hard to see but you should be able to make out something. If nothing else, use your ears.¡±


    Ingrid followed her sister''s directions. It was hard to see anything above the bright blue, but then, through the trees, she saw movement. Not the movement of warriors, but of beasts. Monsters. But so close to them. How?


    Ingrid focused her ears, trying to gather as much information on the monsters as she could. They ran forward, away from the Feral encampment. Then she heard a hiss. A slow but terrifying sound. One that had her jump on the spot.


    Lisse placed a hand on Ingrid¡¯s shivering shoulder. ¡°You probably heard the Boss. It¡¯s okay, we have it restrained. They won¡¯t attack us.¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡± Ingrid asked.


    But Lisse only answered with a shake of her head. Then she finally turned to the soldiers at the bottom of the cliff, her face fierce and determined. She took a deep breath.


    ¡°My Family! Thank You!¡± She bowed. ¡°What I have asked you, what we need from you, I wish it didn¡¯t have to be so. But alas, you all see it. Something has changed in our home this last year. The Forest is not what it once was. The rampant growth of both the flora and the fauna. The monsters grow stronger with every passing moon. Stronger than they ever have. And we must defend ourselves.¡± A cheer ran through the group.


    Once it died down, Lisse continued. ¡° And not only that, you have heard what the woodsmen found out there. We must find it, what was written on the walls of that strange cave. The change. The Catalyst. It sits in that vile city. And we must retrieve him at all costs.¡±


    Lisse held her arm up high, her fist raised to the now dark sky.


    ¡°SO FIGHT! Family of the Forest, Children of Lostock! Fight until your last breath! Fight with everything you have until you turn into beasts that sleep within us all. FIGHT!¡±


    Just as the command shot forth, the sky ignited above the raid field.


    The company of morphed soldiers roared at her words. The orange light of the sky and the blue light of the flowers clashed with each other.


    Ingrid¡¯s mind whirled, she didn¡¯t understand any of what was happening. She could only watch on as every single one of the soldiers swallowed down the flowers whole.


    Now only the flames lit the night.


    Ingrid turned to her sister. ¡°What Catalyst? What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°You already know him, Ingrid. Your friend Liam. He¡¯s changed everything.¡±

 130. Evolution in Pride

    The world slowed down around me. I couldn¡¯t feel the heat from the flame-filled sky or hear the din of battle. I could only see ice. Lifeless ice blue eyes stared up at me. The rage, the primal ferocity that filled those eyes just moments ago, was now snuffed out completely. Just blank discs of ice.


    All the ragged fur covering the beast, gone. The snarling muzzle, gone.  The blood covered claws, gone. He was just a man.


    Just seconds ago this man was a bipedal wolf trying to kill me¡ªthe prey I bested¡ªbut now¡­


    Marns laid the man down on his back. He closed the dead man¡¯s eyelids with his hands. Then Marns closed his own, placing a hand on the wolf man¡¯s chest, and spoke some inaudible words. A prayer of some sort maybe. My eyes sat on the man. He must¡¯ve had some type of canine gene. Fangs jutted out of his mouth. His trope probably.  But just as the thought entered, I looked down at his left foot. Or It¡¯d be best to say his paw.  His right foot was normal, covered in a worn leather boot. But his left was a canine paw. An oddity that really wasn¡¯t important right now.


    Celebrate. You won. You taught the beast a lesson. We stand above him. Even if our kill was stolen. We won.


    Tigris¡¯ hubris riddled thoughts flooded my mind, begging me to relish in this victory. And I won¡¯t lie, a part of me deeply wanted to. It was a hard fought victory. But I just couldn¡¯t.


    This was the second time I watched a man die on the battlefield. A different circumstance to be sure, but one that brought about the same feeling of disgust. One that even managed to overpower Tigris form¡¯s pride. Or tried to. My mind whirled as the thoughts collided with each other, so many emotions welled up inside from each side of the spectrum. Anger, pride, joy, sorrow.


    Until a single thought prevailed.


    I just about killed this man. I wanted to kill that man. I¡¯m a murd¡ª


    Before the thought had finished, someone pulled my arm. I jerked my head up. It was Marns. He grabbed onto my shoulders and stared into my eyes, his eyes moving rapidly, searching for something. I wanted to look away, to hide, but for some reason I held his gaze. I think it was because it felt like a challenge. And I wouldn¡¯t back down, not in this form.


    Marns sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Good, you¡¯re not too far gone.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    Marns patted my shoulders. ¡°Many freeze up after seeing a person¡¯s death this close. Especially in circumstances like these. But from what I can tell, this isn¡¯t your first run in with it. It''s troubling you but you are still cognizant. And that means you can still fight.¡±


    Then his hands glowed that green color, healing the wounds I received in the fight as well as refilling my stamina.


    ¡°Fight? But they¡¯re people.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The medic¡¯s words were sharp. ¡°But this is still a raid. Meaning, if we don''t fight, people die. Our people. Now stay still for the next thirty seconds.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡±


    ¡°No!¡± He shouted.


    I shut my mouth and looked at the man healing me. Marns was a few inches shorter than me so I was looking at the top of his head. My left eye twitched. Anger flared up in my chest. How dare he speak to me, his better, like that. I shook my head. Looks like Tigris hasn¡¯t quite shut up yet. And it wasn¡¯t what really bothered me.


    He puzzled me. How could he be okay? He just killed a man, not a wild animal. But a person with thoughts and feelings, maybe even a family. And not only that, Marns killed two men. At least that¡¯s what I assume. I hadn¡¯t seen the remains of the beast that went after him. I brought my head up. It didn¡¯t take long, Tigris¡¯s eyesight was exceptionally sharp. A trait it shared with the Shade Panther I mimicked from all those months ago.


    About a dozen feet away, another body sat on the ground. My blood ran cold, colder even this time. It was a woman. Her clothes tattered and disheveled and a twisted neck, just like the man¡¯s.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I suppressed a shiver, but it did nothing to staunch the flow of darkening thoughts in my head. Is that my future here? Cold callous killing. Of people and monsters alike. Just a mindless killing machine. Is that all these Kniyans are? No, I¡¯m not them, I¡¯m better. I didn¡¯t kill that man. He did. And not only that, but a woman as well. How vile.


    I looked back down at Marns, a feeling of repulsion growing in my stomach. Every fiber of my people screamed to be rid of this man. An actual murderer. Degenerate filth that wasn¡¯t even fit to heal me. I needed to be free from him. I went to pull away from the bastard. But as I moved, I caught sight of his hands.


    They trembled. As the light restored my body, his hands, broken and cut up from his own battle, shook as he healed me. I looked at the side of his face, a single tear ran down the medic¡¯s cheek. It was wiped away in an instant.


    While I observed him, something tugged at my mind. Emotions. Emotions that weren¡¯t my own. I blinked. There was a faint blue field hovering above the medic. Turmoil. The word popped into my head as I observed the aura. Not mine but his. A turmoil that destroyed him. A healer, that¡¯s what he was supposed to be. A man whose sole purpose was to give life, not take it. That¡¯s what Jaren promised. Then the blue light flickered, along with the negative feelings. I blinked again and it was gone.


    I rubbed my eyes, but it didn¡¯t come back. Before I could investigate further, Marns backed away from me. Not even a hint of that sadness on his face. He nodded at me.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, my eyes still straining at the top of his head as I searched for that blue light again.


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± he responded with a grin. Then his eyes squinted, he saw something.


    A hiss came from behind me. I twisted around and found a pair of the mucus launching geckos. Like the ones I ran past while on the roof of the academy during the break in or back in the cave. Without so much as a warning, they rushed forward.


    Fresh prey. I licked my lips. The bloodthirsty thought managed to shove all the uncertainty from my mind, replaced with gratefulness. These were monsters, through and through. I could hunt them to my heart¡¯s content. And Lord knows I could really use that. Some blood on my claws would do me a world of good.


    I charged at them. They both whipped their tails at me, launching wads of glue like mucus. However, it was barely a threat. The new level up alongside Tigris form¡¯s increased proficiency meant the shots couldn¡¯t even come close. I dodged them all with ease. Adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream.


    Once the two stopped their barrage, I rushed up to the closest, then blinded him with Eternal Shade the second I was close enough. The gecko¡¯s eyes shot around, searching for me.


    It was sad, really. These things gave me such trouble in my other forms. But not only were they out of their element on the flat, open field, but they were up against me in Tigris form: the absolute peak of my repertoire. The one who stood above them all.


    I pounced onto the lizard¡¯s back, sinking my claws into its neck flesh. Then just as I was about to tear its throat out, a single thought entered my mind.


    What if this one¡¯s a person too?


    My claws retracted.


    And the beast took the chance. It spun around, throwing me off. I hit the ground hard, hard enough to shut Eternal Shade off. Then its tail swung out, sending another goo ball at me. I raised my arm in time to stop it from hitting my face. The wad solidified on my forearm, just above my elbow.


    I snorted, anger building at the fact I let this stupid beast land a blow. Then I felt the rush of Predator¡¯s Bloodlust as I gained my first stack.


    I jumped up, just before another wad landed on my foot and pinned me to the ground. I turned on Eternal Shade again. The gecko was too far to be encapsulated by it, so I ran to the edge of the shadow bubble and jumped straight up, ensuring that the lizard would lose sight of me.


    It shot out a few more wads of slime into the shadow sphere, but I was at its side already. My claws slashed out at the limbs on the left side of its body. Blood gushed from the creature¡¯s legs as it fell. I ran up to its face. I drove my claws into the top of its muzzle, forcing it shut. I brought my free hand up to its throat. I could finish it with a simple swipe.


    I stared at its defenseless throat. One quick slash. Come on, do it! Quit being a pussy and kill it! Show this creature what it means to stand before you.


    My hands quivered under the gecko¡¯s head. My mind floundered about. It tried to move from my grasp but I held it down.


    Then I felt another tug on my mind. Just like it was with Marns. But the emotions were different. Far different. I blinked again, and this time the gecko was covered in a malevolent maroon aura that flared around its whole body.


    I connected with the beast only to experience the rabid murderous intent that stirred just under the surface. One that wished for nothing but my death. And one that made my next action quite simple.


    I opened its throat, painting the ground with its blood.


    I stood up, taking a deep breath. A notification popped up.


    [TIGRIS PROFICIENCY LEVEL UP. NOW LEVEL ¡®6¡¯]


    [GOOD JOB!]


    [NEW ABILITY: ¡®Aura Sight¡¯ ACQUIRED]

 131. Cocky Empath

    Right after I read the notification, I felt my eyes itch like crazy. I rubbed them with edge of my hands, making ure not to cut myself with my claws. After a moment, I opened them back up. I looked back down at the gecko monster.


    ¡°Thank God.¡± I whispered under my breath. The monster was still in fact a monster and not a person. But there was another problem.


    I shot up, twirling around, prepping another use of Eternal Shade. I''d only taken one of the geckos down. There was still another. I heard a squelching sound come from behind me. Another slime blast is incoming. I whipped around with my claws at the ready.


    Jaren stood above the gecko, his double-bladed sword sticking out of the ground, straight through the gecko¡¯s head. I exhaled through my nostrils. Another kill stolen. I shook my head, then looked at Jaren.


    ¡°There ya are, kiddo. Had me worried for a second,¡± he said while pulling off his black helmet and tucking it under his arms. ¡°Phew, getting stuffy in there.¡±


    His black armor was covered from shoulder to toe in splotches of blood and other viscera, both dried and fresh, some slightly obscuring the red four on his pauldron. And a huge slash mark ran down the side of the plate armor. But that wasn''t the most distracting thing about the big bald half-elf.


    A raging green energy engulfed Jaren entirely. Not like the energy that surrounded his weapon when he attacked or used an ability. This was more ethereal, less tangible, and quite possibly twice as intense. Then I felt it. The same tug as earlier. Something pulled me into his emotions.


    Joy. Unabashed happiness. That was what Jaren was feeling right now. He was doing the one thing he was meant to do, fight. Not only fight but to challenge beasts so far above his own stature. And the triumph of overcoming them. Those emotions swirled around Jaren like a tempest right now. I could empathize with these feelings; they were nearly the same ones I felt whenever Predator¡¯s Bloodlust activated. And whenever I killed in Tigris form. I grinned as I let myself partake in the energy, reveling in the thrilling positivity. All the grisly feelings from a minute ago washed away.


    Aura Sight must have more effects than just seeing people¡¯s Aura.


    ¡°Liam!¡±


    Jaren shook my shoulder, bringing me back to reality. ¡°Huh, what?¡±


    ¡°You looked like you were off in Lala land there. Is the raid getting to you?¡±


    I shook my head and pulled my shoulder away from his grasp. Tigris wasn¡¯t a fan of touching, especially from those unworthy. ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you. Just got distracted by something. And to answer your inquiry, no, not in the slightest. This battlefield is right where I belong. A place rife with poor sodden souls in need of a reminder of who sits above them. Of who sits at the peak of creation itself.¡±


    Jaren sighed. ¡°Ah, this one. Great. Love this one. Not annoying at all. And here I thought I might get a thank you for saving your scrawny hide. But noooo, just a harumph, wiseass comment,¡± he said as he pulled his giant weapon from the ground, then kicked the gecko skull off of it. He looked up into the raging inferno above. ¡°Len, old buddy, I¡¯m trying here. I know I promised to keep him safe for you. But damn, he¡¯s going to make it hard.¡±


    I scoffed. ¡°As if. I haven¡¯t any need of you or your protection.¡± I said, crossing my arms and turning my head. ¡°Your brutish nature will only slow me down.¡± What the hell am I saying? OF COURSE, I need help.


    I wasn¡¯t sure why, but Tigris form¡¯s hubris had been turned up to the max.


    Jaren turned to me with a blank stare, then back to the sky. ¡°One more cocky thing out of his mouth and I¡¯mma hit him. That¡¯s a promise I can keep.¡±


    ¡°Try it, baldy!¡±


    He whipped around, a single vein on his forehead throbbed as he leaned down to me. His face inches from my own. I flexed my claws, not backing down from the challenge. WTF AM I DOING? Stop it already! I debated on turning the form off, but turning off my most powerful form seemed like a bad move. That is if Jaren doesn¡¯t kill me first.


    ¡°Sir!¡±


    We both slowly turned our heads to the voice. It was Daila. She stood at attention just a few feet away. Marns stood next to her, a lazy look on his face.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Jaren and I answered her in perfect unison, earning me another lethal glare from Jaren.


    Daila wasn¡¯t as disheveled as her commanding officer was. Not a single speck of blood or brightly colored chemical stained her white leather armor. The only thing that hinted at the fact that she was in fact fighting in a large-scale battle was her hair. The normally tight woven bun was a hilariously messy bun now, as if she had just thrown it together before speaking with us. It was barely being contained by a few small pins from the looks of it. She held her hands behind her back, keeping her usual composure as well. Yet something was off. Probably the giant lime green aura that whirled around her head like a tempest. It was easily twice the size of Jaren¡¯s, and violent. Though its color was similar, the emotions streaming off of her were vastly different.


    They weren¡¯t waves of thrill or joy, but curiosity. Like with each surge came a question. A morbid one. I couldn¡¯t read her thoughts or anything, but if I had to guess they were filled with grim what-ifs like a mad scientist yearning to run as many unsolicited and wildly unethical experiments as she could. Consequences be damned.


    Though these feelings came off far stronger than Jaren¡¯s, I didn¡¯t find myself diving into them.


    Maybe the color doesn¡¯t matter? Or it¡¯s different for everybody. Before I could think further Daila spoke up again.


    She directed her words to Jaren. ¡°Ahem. Commander, we have a break in the battle. All of the Feral that attacked our squad have been dealt with accordingly. But reports show that more are on the way. The weaker squads are having trouble with them.¡± A lock of her hair flung from its confines as she spoke, launching one of the small metal pins off to god-know-where. But she continued to report without stopping for a second.¡°We have only a small window of respite here. I suggest we use it to rest. I can have B3 sub in for us in the meantime. They are well suited to handling bipeds. The boss should be here within the next couple of minutes. As I understand it, we are the vanguard for that.¡±


    I nodded my head, then responded to her before Jaren could. ¡°Thank you for the status update, Daila. I agree. Our troops could use a break. Have them rest for the time being. Are there any injuries I should be aware of? Also, could you elaborate on what you mean by ¡®dealt with accordingly?¡¯ From how Marns reacted to them, this seemed to be a, mmm, unique situation. Oh, one more thing, where are my underlings?¡±


    Three other veins popped out of the giant half elf¡¯s bare head as the green aura surrounding him began to tinge red at the edges. He opened his mouth to complain or yell. Probably yell. But surprisingly Daila answered before Jaren¡¯s rampage.


    ¡°Only Tonsi. He took quite the beating during the Titan Reptan clash. A broken forearm. Shaws is taking him to Medical Tent Alpha.¡± Daila replied candidly, as she usually did, but for a moment her aura changed. Bright pink mixed in with the green. I wondered what that meant. It flashed by so quickly that I couldn¡¯t get a good grip on the emotion.


    ¡°Your, ahem, underlings are just over there.¡± She pointed off in the distance. Sure enough, Tawny and Hait sat a few feet away, surrounded by some of Jaren¡¯s squad.


    ¡°For your last question.¡± She took a deep breath, and all of the aura swirling around her halted. The lime green aura died down, returning to her body. Then a solid unmoving blue, one similar to Marns¡¯, replaced it. ¡°You are right, we¡¯ve never seen this before. We did what we had to. They were eliminated.¡±


    Jaren shut his eyes, then shook his head slowly. His aura calmed down as well, matching Daila¡¯s.


    ¡°Was¡­is there no other way?¡±


    ¡°Not this time, lad. Once you¡¯ve fully morphed there ain''t no way back. The gene takes over completely. Killing them is a mercy at that point.¡±


    ¡°But why? Why are they here in the first place?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know. Maybe this whole group morphed at once and just joined in with the monsters?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be a hell of a coincidence. One for the bloody archives.¡±


    ¡°I know Sir, but it''s leagues better than the alternative answer.¡±


    ¡°What''s the alternative?¡±


    Daila and Jaren looked over at me. Jaren answered. ¡°That this was all planned from the start.¡±


    ¡°Planned, but how? I thought these raids were just a natural occurrence. Like a storm or an earthquake.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. None of this raid makes a lick of sense.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir, but you may be right.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°That the Ferals planned all of this?¡±


    ¡°Yes. From the holes, the subsequent archers above them, and finally to the delayed Final Wave. All of it feels quite, well for lack of a better word, planned.¡±


    She had a point, even if this was my first raid proper too much felt odd. I thought back on the archers above the holes. How they moved together as a unit, helping each other off the ground. How they retreated. None of it was very monster-like.


    Jaren opened his eyes wide as if a lightbulb went off in his head. He turned back up to the flame-filled sky. ¡°You don¡¯t think? Ah, shitbirds.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been playing into their hands this whole time. They knew Len was the only one capable of lighting the night up like this. And that it would take all of his concentration.¡±


    ¡°Which means what exactly?¡±


    ¡°It means the worst is yet to come. If I¡¯m right, and First Ones above I hope I¡¯m not, that this raid is about to turn into a war.¡±


    ¡°A war?¡±


    But before he spoke, a short man, possibly a gnome, in a hooded cloak ran up to Daila. He whispered something into her ear before running off, toward the next squad over.


    Daila¡¯s aura spiked orange while the gnome spoke. She turned to us.


    ¡°The boss is here.¡±

 132. When The Boss Comes Marching in

    ¡°Boss.¡± The word stuck in my head. I remembered the first one I encountered. The giant balls of limbs and flesh. Something that was so overwhelming and powerful. A monster that Len forced himself to go all out and destroy in one insane blast.


    What would this boss be like? Jaren¡¯s squad spoke about it before the wave began, about it being reptilian in nature. It made sense considering this final wave was filled with lizards and the like. And people turned monsters. But I was putting that one on the back burner for now, all my focus needed to be on the boss. Thankfully Tigris form helped keep those pesky thoughts away. Especially when such a delicious challenge sat before me. My vision turned to the little quest list sitting in the corner of my vision.


    Quest 0: Mimic the Boss (Whatever it may be¡­)


    Reward:  Profit :)


    I trembled as I read the quest log. Not from fear, but anticipation. These little lines gave me a reason to get close to the boss, to fight it, to kill it. I licked my lips. To prove who truly sits at the top.


    They said the boss would be a Gexen if I remember correctly. I looked back over to the dead geckos on the ground. Is that it? A giant version of those sticky lizards. I doubt it will be a problem. It has to be easier than a floating mass of flesh. Hmm. I wonder what boss flesh tastes like?


    I looked off into the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the gargantuan gecko boss. Yet my attention was pulled to some of the battles happening around me.


    Jaren¡¯s backup squad, B3, was busy fighting off a host of reptilian monsters. A bunch of the normal geckos, some cool komodo dragon looking ones, and a few of what I think were chameleons. Just pony sized ones.


    One chameleon shot its tongue out at crazy speeds, slamming it into the side of one of the archers who¡¯d just moved out of position thanks to a gecko slime shot. The blow knocked the man to the ground and sent his bow flying. With a speed no chameleon should ever have, it bolted over to the toppled archer, raising one of its two pronged feet in the air. Its claws fell upon the archer, only to be blocked by a shield. A frontliner caught the attack and held the creature back, allowing for the rest of the archers to turn the chameleon into a pin cushion.


    I nodded my head. Sloppy work from the archer, but an adequate performance from the rest. 3.5 out of 5. I shook my head. Why was I rating them? Freaking Tigris form.


    I looked off into the field again. The orange light of the flames bathed it completely. Off in the distance, I saw a few more of the huge reptans fighting with another squad. Doubtless, they wished they had some of my acid. It''s not that I needed it on this form. Tigris¡¯ claws would have shredded it to pieces before its enhanced healing factored in.


    But as the thought left my mind, light burst forth from the reptan¡¯s mouth. Bright white light seared through its eyes, and eventually, the beast fell to the ground, then a giant pillar shot out of its back. It grew up into the sky, cutting through the fire in the sky for a moment. What was that? It died down moments later.


    The whole field was filled with battles just like these, yet as I watched on, a pit in my stomach grew. A lot of the squads looked small, smaller than what hit the field. I started looking at the ground around them. Bodies littered the field, and upon looking closer¡ªmade easy with Tigris enhanced eyes¡ªI saw that many of them were soldiers. Some had the auras surrounding them. Small grey ones. Others were completely bare. No emotion, for death, has no emotion.


    Not all of them were armored. A good majority looked just the same as the Ferals that attacked me and Marns. So much death.


    Blood pooled around them, mixing in with the dirt. Then it hit me. Those were people, who had families, lives, thoughts, stories. Both citizens of Laurel Haven born and Ferals alike were dying because of this god-awful Raid.


    We need to end this. Now. Before even more die.


    My face twitched as I scanned the field, my sole objective was to find the boss. Killing it would be the end of this bloodshed. Where was this beast, this boss that had everyone quaking in their boots? My neck flexed as I strained my eyes. Where is it?This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I turned my attention back to Daila and Jaren after a minute of fruitless searching.


    ¡°Where is the boss? Why can¡¯t I see it?¡± I asked.


    Jaren rolled his eyes as Daila just shook her head.


    ¡°Tell me! People, our people are dying, we need to finish this battle now.¡±


    Jaren and Daila looked at each other with the same look of shock.


    ¡°Lad, glad to see you taking this seriously, but did you not listen to a single thing she said?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I answered flatly.


    ¡°Tiamat on a cracker. I don¡¯t have time for this, she¡¯ll be here any second.¡± Jaren rubbed his forehead, turning his back to me. Daila coughed, then began to speak.


    ¡°As I was saying, the earlier reports were correct, the boss is a Gexen and close, but¡ª¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t I see a huge lizard shooting off truckloads of mucus at our forces?¡± I said, cutting her off. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯d notice something like that with these perfect eyes.¡± I pointed to Tigris form¡¯s feline green eyes. ¡°But either it''s invisible or your scouts are full of it. Really hoping it''s not the former. That sounds horrible, but now that I think of it, that is one hundred percent on theme for a bunch of lizard monsters. Oh dammit. It''s cloaked, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    I turned away from Daila, and back to the field. Maybe Aura Sight could help me find it. I just need to focus on it somehow.


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t, you imbecile.¡±


    I recoiled from the insult. ¡°Imbecile. Imbecile! Who are you calling an imbecile? Daila, where do you get off calling me that? Had I not helped all of you would still be fighting that¡ª¡± I turned around as I ranted, looking down toward where the shorter mouse woman¡¯s face would be.


    But it wasn¡¯t a small mousey face I looked at, but a very ample bosom. One covered by tight leather and most certainly did not belong to slender Daila. I looked up only to catch the most condescending glare from the last person in this godforsaken world I wanted to see.


    ¡°Every child in the academy knows there isn¡¯t a single Gexen with such an ability. Oh wait, you never went to an academy. No, you played in dirt and grime outside our walls. Why should I imagine you have any knowledge whatsoever? I doubt you can even read.¡±


    I stood face to face with Lirae¡ªthe beautiful green elf woman with a chip the size of a mountain on her shoulder. Righteous anger filled my chest until I saw the aura steaming off her head. Dark nasty browns swirled around her head. They tugged at my mind, filling me in nothing but pure disgust. A whirlpool of distaste and utter contempt. But at the center of it, deep down, there was something else. Sadness.


    ¡°Jaren, get your pet away from me. If it stares at me any longer I may do something bothersome.¡± She said, taking a step back and waving her hand dismissively.


    The audacity. To speak down to me. ME. My claws slowly moved as I curled my lips. But before I could do anything else, Daila shot next to me, grabbing onto my forearm. Her aura flared with yellow light. One that sent a single word into my head.


    Don¡¯t.


    I retracted my claws. Daila was right.


    Jaren finally came over and pulled the green woman away. ¡°We just received the news. Is your husband on his way? We don¡¯t have much time, especially with a red stripe coming.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my dear was just cleaning up a Reptan bothering one of his squads. He¡¯ll be here momentarily.¡±


    The two walked away, leaving just me and Daila.


    ¡°Don¡¯t provoke her like that. She¡¯d spear you with one of her thorns in seconds if you so much as thought to attack her.¡±


    ¡°I know,.¡± I growled. Being in Tigris form made the embarrassment almost unbearable. But even this form understood the difference between me and her. I spit on the ground, then turned to Daila. ¡°Look, just tell me about the boss already.¡±


    Daila sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a Red Striped Gexen, the deadliest of its kind. And opposite to what you may think, it''s not that large. Nothing even on the scale of the Reptans from earlier. Larger than the normal Gexen for sure, but not as large as the Graveball from last month.¡±


    I nodded along as Daila continued to give me the rundown. Until I caught a flash of movement in my peripheral. A flash of red. I looked over as Daila said something about a copy machine or something. It didn¡¯t matter.


    The monsters standing near began to part the way from something. A gecko the size of a box truck slowly walked past them. Its tail slowly whipped back and forth, a strange silver liquid flung off with each swing. Its scales were a sickly pale, almost translucent color.


    Then I saw it, along its back, running down its spine, where its name came from. A blood red stripe that started from its head and traveled all the way down its body ending at the tip of its tail.


    It didn¡¯t look all that tough. Honestly, the boss looked weak. It looked like prey. If I killed the sickly monsters, then this battle would be over. I would be a hero. No one could speak down to me again.


    Then Tigris took over and I charged.

 133. True Prey

    I will show them¡ªall who woefully looked down on me. Fennel¡¯s squad, the green witch, the citizens of this screwed up city. They will know just how strong this foreign Feral really is.


    I¡¯m not sure when, but at some point I started running on all fours. It felt natural so who was I to change it. Not that I really thought about it when my prey stood before me, looking so squishy.


    I think I heard some protests as my limbs pounded the ground, but they were washed out from the blood rushing through my ears as well as the chorus of warfare that stood between me and that so-called boss.


    Jaren¡¯s back up squad was currently locked in battle with a few monsters, mostly differing sizes of reptiles, only small pockets of the other forest creatures. No other signs of the morphed Ferals however. I weaved through the chaos with grace befitting one such as myself. None of the monsters had a chance at stopping me.


    I could have helped some of Laurel¡¯s warriors caught up in their own small battles, but I knew the best way to help them was sitting past this small portion of the battlefield. So I kept my eyes set on taking down that pale, oversized gecko.


    It hadn¡¯t moved from its spot at the front. Only its slowly swaying tail showed any movement. Silvery liquid pooled around its feet and dripped from its tail, but it never seeped into the ground as most liquids would. It was reminiscent of room temperature mercury, the liquid metal.


    Its beady red eyes scanned around the battlefield, each fidgeting in opposite directions. I¡¯ve no clue what the beast searched for, that is until a single one of its eyes met with my own.


    The whole world stopped. The din of battle fell still, the dance of flames above halted. The soldiers and monsters both halted their war. Time had seemingly paused. I tried to look around, to see what had happened, but my vision was glued forward. All I could see was that red dot. A red dot that started to grow.


    In an instant, an unbelievable pressure bore down on my whole being. A soul crushing despair took root, I could no longer even feel my own heart beat. Ice chilled my veins. Dread. Malice. Hate. Those simple words were all I could muster to describe what I saw in that growing red eye.


    Then the rest of the monster moved, its whole body shifted, turning towards me. Its tongue rolled out of its mouth, deliberately passing over each of its spiny jagged teeth. With its full attention now, I heard one more word enter my mind, yet it was foreign, coming straight from the gecko¡¯s mind.


    Prey.


    I felt a tingle on my shoulder. A Preflex, a sensation I¡¯d come to love. The small prick was just enough to snap me out of that trance. All at once I returned to the battle. I was still sprinting toward the boss, though much closer to the monsters¡¯ side than I was just a second ago.


    I stopped in my tracks and leapt to the side, rolling on to the ground. I sprung up and turned toward the sensation. I saw a ball of goop land right where I had just been. I activated Eternal Shade right then and searched for what attacked me. It didn¡¯t take long to find the single normal gecko monster. It stood above the body of a soldier. Its most recent prey.


    Righteous anger flooded my chest as my hands tightened. I could kill it. It wouldn¡¯t be a challenge. But I didn¡¯t have time for small fry like this. I had a bigger task. I turned back towards the boss. But before I could, fear gripped at my heart. An echo of that dread from a moment ago stopped me from looking at the Red Striped Gexen.  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I whipped back around to the single normal gexen and pounced out of the shadow. I grabbed its side and latched down on it with my claws. It swung its tail at me but I hopped over the swing and dug my other hand into its side. Then let loose on its back, slashing out in frustration. The rush from Predator¡¯s Bloodlust dulled some of the anger, but not for long.


    I looked down at it after a minute. It was shredded. But I felt no satisfaction like I usually did from a kill. And I knew why. I still felt it, the boss¡¯s beady glare still sat on my shoulders. But I couldn¡¯t match its gaze.


    I ripped into the gecko again, hoping for another hit of bloodlust, but it never came. Only a growing exasperation. I cursed myself. Was I not the peak of creation? Did I not have something to prove to haters that surrounded me in the city? Then why was I letting this single sickly looking gecko get to me so much?


    Yet the fear held me back.


    For all the berating I gave myself, I still could bear to face the monster again.


    In another burst of frustration, I knelt on the ground and yelled into the air. I stabbed my arm with one of my claws, the pain releasing me from my paralysis. In the brief moment of clarity, I looked toward the boss. I planned on killing the monstrosity, that meant I needed to be able to even look at it. Hell it was still a hundred feet away¡­


    However, when I finally looked over to where the boss sat and watched the battle, I found nothing. It was gone. Not a single trace of it actually. Even the silvery pools were gone.


    ¡°What?¡± I stammered out.


    Then I felt a wetness crawl up my knee. I looked down. Pure silver covered my knee, and began to climb up the rest of my leg. I tried to jump away, but to no avail. The metallic liquid glued me to the ground.


    My eyes followed its trail on the ground, they stopped at a foot. A pale, nearly see through foot. I could almost make out the veins pulsing throughout its leg. Finally I looked up, only to find a gaping maw coming straight for me. Its diamond shaped mouth doubled in size as it widened further, enough to swallow two of me whole with relative ease.


    Shit.


    It was all I could think of. I messed up. Why did I think I could take on a boss by myself? These were things Len had to go all out on. Len, the guy that bent fire itself to his will.


    Well maybe I will get to see Terrence again. Wonder how he¡¯s doing?


    I closed my eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go quitting on me like that, kiddo!¡±


    The words made me jump. My eyes shot open. A strange warmth came over me, effectively driving the fear from my body. Then in a split second, a plan came to my head.


    I slashed out at the leather pant leg just above where the silver liquid covered it, just above the knee. It tore slightly, leaving a hole. I knew it would take a few swipes to cut through the leather proper, but this was enough. I reverted out of Tigris form, my body shrinking as my skin turned green. Once I fully shifted into Gremlin form, I turned on Fight and Flight. Hot musky breath smacked the side of my face. The world slowed down as I sped up, but even then the lizard''s teeth headed straight for me with incredible speed.


    I stuck my shrunken leg out of the hole in the pant leg. Once it was free, I dug both my feet into the ground and pulled myself as hard as I could away from the incoming jaws. The liquid kept me trapped, but I knew that was going to happen. The small tear allowed the pants to stretch. I just hoped it was enough.


    Its jaws clamped down with a loud chomp, tearing through the rest of the pant leg. I went tumbling backwards, as the leather armor tore due to the boss¡¯s bite.


    I kept FnF active as I rose to my feet. The beast¡¯s silver liquid was already coming for me, but I should be alright. I can move faster than it as long as my stamina held out.


    I squatted down, getting ready to sprint away.


    Yet just as I lifted my naked foot, something wrapped around it. I looked down and found the culprit: green vines.

 134. Falling

    A fresh form of panic struck my heart as I stared down at the vines. They sprouted from the ground just beneath my feet. I squatted down and wrestled with them, trying to break free before I had to shut off Fight and Flight. Yet even with my heightened speed, I couldn¡¯t get a good grip on the vines, they tightened even more. All the while, the boss¡¯s silvery liquid slithered across the ground unopposed.


    Since when could it use vines? I thought to myself. Usually, the monster¡¯s abilities made sense and were in line with what you could see. Boars charged, wolves bit, moose¡­magic missiled. Okay maybe it didn¡¯t always make perfect sense but still this felt wildly unfair.


    Did the boss really need two forms of crowd control, the metallic liquid and plant manipulation? Like seriously. It¡¯s not even my first time being bound by them in this godforsaken world. The only time I¡¯ve ever seen that power was from that¡­ I paused for a moment, staring blankly at the plant growth currently choking the life from my ankle.


    It clicked. Oh, that bitch!


    These vines were nearly the exact same as the ones Lirae used to keep me chained up back when I was first brought into the city. But it doesn¡¯t look like I can use the same trick as last time to get out. I¡¯m already in my shrunken form.


    I turned off FnF, it was just a waste of stamina at this point. Why prolong the inevitable? She won. She¡¯d been trying to get rid of me for a while and she just found the perfect way. Let the idiot new recruit who bum rushed the boss face the consequences of such a stupid action. She could always get rid of the vines and none would be the wiser.


    ¡°And just after I got away from its grasp too. Eh, can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t try.¡± I sat down, all of my motivation to fight drained away in a heartbeat. I¡¯d lost and had no way of fighting back. I didn¡¯t have another daring escape in me.


    The liquid, only a couple of feet away from me, didn¡¯t stop its assault. Why would it? I looked up and saw that the boss was a good thirty feet away from me, and wasn¡¯t closing in either. Which meant I couldn¡¯t even complete the one quest Tutor gave me in this screwed up world. The boss was simply too far away.


    Its head lumbered around as one of its eyes skirted around the battle, the other stayed focused on me, never once turning away.


    ¡°Well, maybe when it comes closer to finish me off.¡± I chuckled morbidly. ¡°Why not? Maybe the reward for mimicking him is a get out of jail free card. Or a free reincarnation card. That¡¯d be more helpful. Just slap that down on Terrence¡¯s desk when I see him. If I see him.¡±


    I laid down on my back. The flames that lit up the night raged on, swirling and exploding. A beautiful, awe-inspiring sight that I hadn¡¯t had a chance to fully enjoy until now. I shook my head in disbelief, Len really was a legend. If only I¡¯d listened to his advice and avoided the boss.


    As I closed my eyes, waiting for the metallic liquid to overtake me, thoughts of my family ran through my head. My siblings annoying me, my mother making breakfast, my father showing me something on his computer, some garden work with Gran, a wilderness trip with Gramps. All of it came crashing down on me at once. I was done. I lost.


    And if that wasn¡¯t enough, I felt the vines move further up my leg. It felt like Lirae was just adding insult to injury at this point. She already won. What need was there to humiliate me further?


    But the vines didn¡¯t stop writhing. They climbed up my leg, then my other leg, then my whole bottom half. Before I knew it, the vines covered my entire body, leaving just my head free. I reflexively jerked my body, straining against the vines.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Imbecile,¡± was the answer I received. It was Lirae¡¯s voice, coming from one of the vines nearest my head. I looked down and saw a small pink flower on my chest. But before I could question it, the vines constraining me stopped slithering. They locked into place and I couldn¡¯t move an inch.


    ¡°Hold still.¡±


    My body lifted off the ground as the vines beneath the dirt pushed me skyward, a good twenty feet into the air if I had to guess. I sat in the air, completely immobile, for a second before the vines released their hold on me. They unwrapped themselves quickly and swirled underneath me, flattening out and creating a platform. I got to my knees, I was suspended above the battle, looking down on it from above. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    It was a wild sight. I could see different pockets of the battle. Different squads fought with reptiles of all shapes and sizes. Even a couple of the overgrown Reptans as well. Except now, I could see the tops of their heads.


    I eventually made my way to the edge. I was wrong about my initial guess. I was closer to forty feet off the ground. Heat from Len¡¯s flames hit me in waves now, as sweat collected on my forehead. I was way closer to the flames up here.


    A roar bellowed from underneath, one powerful enough to cause me ears to ring even this high off the ground. I looked down and saw the boss rushing for the giant stalk I was on, its red beady eye still looking up at me.


    ¡°Ahem, I believe I said to hold on. That is an order, soldier, not a suggestion.¡± The pink flower, no longer on my chest but at the edge of the platform, spoke again.


    Deciding not to question it at the moment, I replied. ¡°Lirae, um thanks?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Mayor Laurellen, to you.¡±


    ¡°Right, of course, uh, your Mayorship.¡± I swear I could hear her facepalm at my stupidity. But after all of this craziness, I felt I deserved some slack. Two stare downs with the Grim Reaper should earn a man that at least.


    Following her orders, some vines grew up near my hands, giving me something to grab on too. Without hesitation, I grabbed down on the vines. Not even a second after, the whole platform shifted. It leaned to the side, bending towards the monsters¡¯ side.


    It took all of my being to stifle the scream growing in my chest as the stalk moved, but my grip held. The stalk stopped bending. I sat upside down, holding on to the platform with all of my might, unsure of what was about to happen. Yet, for some odd reason, the image of a catapult flashed in my head.


    ¡°...Oh, dammit.¡±


    And I was correct. The entire stalk whipped the opposite direction. At the height of the arc, the vines I used as handholds slipped back into the giant plant. Which, in turn, sent me flying off into the stratosphere. Well, worse actually, I was heading straight for the flames I was just admiring a minute ago.


    My limbs flailed as I rocketed across the sky. ¡°SHIIIII!¡± But before I could finish the curse, my body stopped, landing into something hard and metal. ¡°Ow.¡±


    An armored arm reached around me and held me up. I looked at it and saw some familiar black metal.


    ¡°Denn¡¯s furry bollocks, you have to be the single largest moron I¡¯ve had the displeasure of saving. Charging straight at the boss. Idiot.¡± Jaren said.


    I never knew insults could be so calming, but Jaren¡¯s jeers meant one thing, I was safe. Well sort of. I looked down and saw that we were still way too far away from the ground, even higher up than the Lirae¡¯s giant beanstalk stood.


    ¡°Thanks, huff, Jaren,¡± I said, trying to catch my breath.


    ¡°Eh, wouldn¡¯t go thanking me yet. You need to get back down there, while I need to stay up here. And there¡¯s only one way for that to happen.¡±


    I looked at the ground, then back to the half elf carrying me.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Yep, don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be fine. Definitely.¡± He tilted his head to the side. ¡°Ehh. Probably.¡±


    ¡°Wait, why do you need to stay up here anyway? Can¡¯t we both drop down? Actually, how are we even floating here?¡±


    ¡°Trick Len taught me.¡± He clicked his metal boots together. I looked at his feet and saw a green energy swirling around them, causing him to float. It looked just like when Len used his flames to fly.  ¡°But it''s hell on my stamina, don¡¯t know how he does it. Enough chit chat. Down you go.¡± He opened his arm, his hand holding onto the back of my armor.


    ¡°One more thing, if you want to distract yourself from all that falling nonsense. Just keep your eyes on me. I¡¯m about to do something really damn awesome.¡± Yet before I could say otherwise, I was falling again.


    ¡°NOOOO!¡±


    I fell with my back pointed to the ground. Jaren gave me a little wave before grabbing on to his double bladed sword with both hands. He snapped it in half somehow, now carrying two swords, one in each hand. He shifted in the air, flipping upside down, blades pointing to the ground. Pointing straight at me actually. His eyes gleamed bright green through the slits in his helmet.


    Green energy exploded at the base of his feet, propelling him down. He flew right past, just barely missing me with the blades. The wind pressure from his passing flipped me around a few times until I stopped, the front of my body now pointed at the ground. Once I got my orientation back and stretched all of my limbs out, I saw what Jaren had launched himself at, the boss. The giant pale Gexen sat directly underneath us, standing on two legs.


    Jaren suddenly tucked his legs in and started somersaulting in the air, making sure to keep his blades out. Soon green energy covered his blades. He flipped a few times before he was just above the boss. It roared up at him in response, but it was too slow.


    A massive explosion of green and silver energy detonated as soon as the two met, cutting off the lizard''s roar. The shockwave from the blast threw everyone in a hundred foot radius around the two off their feet. Monster and soldier alike.


    Then I felt it smack into me, making me shut my eyes. The force from the blast was enough to stop my rapid descent for a split second. I opened my eyes again, to see the aftermath. Surely that insane attack had to injure if not kill the beast.


    Jaren hung in the air just above the boss, his blades stuck in a wall of the boss¡¯s silvery liquid.


    That was a problem. Jaren¡¯s problem at least. Not mine. For I had my own pressing matter. I was still falling.

 135. Wild Ride

    I figured out something while I was hurtling through the air. Nothing grandiose or deeply philosophical, a simple understanding of one of the experiences in life that had never really bothered me until now.


    Acrophobia, the fear of heights. I get it now. Used to never bother me, I¡¯ve kicked my feet over the edge of over a dozen cliffs throughout the years. It was scary the first time, but Gramps was always there, so I never got scared.


    But now that I was actively falling several dozen feet, it made total sense. And yet, it''s not the height that¡¯s terrifying me, it''s the ground that has me worried. I mean, I know I shouldn¡¯t be worried. Logically, Jaren wouldn¡¯t have dropped me from that high up if he didn¡¯t have a plan to get me down safely. I just hope the plan didn¡¯t involve his direct intervention because he looked a bit preoccupied at the moment.


    Maybe Lirae was going to come in with another unexpected save. I looked at the boss battle for a second, just in time too, a giant root shot out of the ground under the pale lizard¡¯s back legs, a ploy to entangle it. Not a good enough one, however; the lizard¡¯s metallic liquid peeled off its legs and flew through the air around them, slicing through the vines as quickly as they grew.


    So never mind that option. Crap¡­


    I held back the dire wish to scream my lungs out, but the ground was getting really, really close now. I instinctively raised my arms up to guard my face. But just as my final moments came near, my ears picked up something odd. It sounded like flowing water. Actually closer to water being poured into a bucket. Just as I was going to open my eyes to see what it was, I crashed into said, more like heard, water.


    My body swirled around like I had just fallen into the sea with a lead weight tied to my body. But the sensation only lasted a moment. Soon I was out of the water and falling back through the air. I finally opened my eyes and saw that I was heading for some more water. I crashed through that one, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as disorienting this time. The first dip had slowed my fall.


    Truth be told, the whole thing was sort of refreshing.


    I fell through it the same as the last one after a moment, still unaware of how high in the air I was. After breaking through the bottom, my feet hit the ground. I tumbled, falling to my knees, before inertia threw my whole body into the dirt. I turned over, onto my back, closing my eyes and heaving huge breaths of air.


    I made it. I clenched to the earth, the soft grass and dirt running through my fingers letting me know that I was safe. It¡¯s hard to describe the joy I felt being back on solid ground. With a pledge to never leave the beautiful ground again, I sat up¡­only for a hundred gallons of water to crash down on me, throwing me back into the dirt. Well, mud now.


    ¡°Awesome,¡± I said as I rose again, wiping mud off my arms and face. Then I remembered there were two water balls up there.


    The second crashed down right after the thought before I even had a chance to move. But I at least braced myself for that one and managed to stay upright as the water washed over me. But hey, it cleaned the rest of the mud off. I cupped a small bit of the water in my palm.


    Is this thanks to Hait? If so, damn, he needs a raise. I can do that, right? I¡¯m his boss, kind of?


    Now sure no other water blasts were coming my way, I got back on my feet. My knees were a little shaky, but I¡¯d live. Probably an aftereffect of all the falling.


    I scanned the area. The boss fight had moved a ways off, away from the frontline and more into the monsters¡¯ side. Actually it looked like the whole frontline had moved up, there weren¡¯t any monsters around me, thankfully.


    Jaren slashed out at the boss, green explosions going off with each time his blades clashed with the boss¡¯s protective silver liquid. Roots and vines shot out of the ground under the beast¡¯s belly as Lirae continued her assault.


    Arrows and an assortment of other projectiles launched out our side as more squads attempted to assist in the fight. But not so much as a single arrow pierced through the boss¡¯s silver defenses.


    Melee troops marched on its legs, fighting against a wave of the boss¡¯s silver goop as well.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    My focus centered on the metallic substance. It shot around and protected the overgrown reptile from every angle without seemingly any input from the boss. Some sort of automatic defense maybe. The words sitting at the top of my vision came into focus.


    ¡°Mimic the boss.¡±


    If mimicking it gave me access to such an insane ability. I salivated at the thought. I wanted it. Fear pricked at the back of my neck. The thing had just nearly killed me, and now I was debating on diving right back in to take it on. What was I thinking? I barely survived one encounter, I doubt a second would go any better.


    A green explosion went off in my peripheral vision. I watched as Jaren struck out again, but this time, the silver liquid wavered as a ripple went through it. The boss roared at him and sent him and a small ground squad flying with a swipe of its tail. But that distraction was enough for Lirae to get a vine firmly wrapped around one of its legs. The vines tightened and pulled the leg down to the ground. The boss stumbled. Melee troops surrounded it in seconds, hacking at the fallen leg.


    Did they just win? I thought. Was I about to watch my chance slip away?


    Then the beast roared again, higher pitched this time, as more silver shed from its pale skin. The silver shot out in spikes, spearing all that surrounded its fallen leg and utterly destroying the vines. It got back to its feet just in time to intercept another of Jaren¡¯s whirling blows.


    A strange emotion grew in my chest as I watched the battle unfold. Confidence I think. Now might be my best shot, it''s distracted by its battle with Jaren and Lirae. And I didn¡¯t need to beat it, just get close enough to mimic it. I looked down at my green skinned hand.


    In this form, I can get close with a burst of speed and mimic it. Getting out might be tricky, but the new form might be able to answer that. Yeah. As the plan finished forming in my head, I felt a grin grow on my face. This was good, very good. I couldn¡¯t exactly pin down why, but getting the boss¡¯s form was important. Almost direly so.


    ¡°Liam!¡±


    ¡°Captain!¡±


    Two voices went off from behind me. I turned and found the twins, they stood a ways away, surrounded by some of Jaren''s squad. Tawny and Hait yelled and waved at me, all while Daila stood behind them.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Hait asked.


    I tilted my head at the question. Sure I was, he saved me, didn¡¯t he? Haven¡¯t seen anyone else with water powers. Maybe he just wanted to double check. Need to thank him anyway. However, Tawny yelled out before I could thank him.


    ¡°Come back! We¡¯ve done our part!¡±


    ¡°New orders! Our squad¡¯s been assigned to help with the Bodyguards!¡±


    Orders. Huh.


    I turned back and looked at the boss, then back to the twins. My gut wrenched at the thought. Did I really give a damn about orders? I took a deep breath, already knowing the answer.


    ¡°Sorry! Gonna need a minute!¡± I yelled back, turning to the boss.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± They yelled in unison.


    ¡°Captain Foster, return this once!¡± Daila joined them this time.


    I shook my head. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± That was the truth. Call it a gut instinct, or even providence, for all I know, but I needed to mimic that pale lizard. It was huge for some reason. It was a quest, after all. And I was only going to be gone for a minute or two. I¡¯d help fight whatever the hell Daila wanted me to once I got back. But I had to do this.


    I turned my head to the side, to say my final piece. ¡°But, thanks for the save, Hait!¡± I yelled out, lowering my legs as I readied myself for the sprint.


    My knees shook again. I waved it off, just more aftereffects. But my legs didn¡¯t stop shaking. In fact, my whole body was shaking. I stumbled a bit, trying to regain my balance. ¡°What?¡±


    The ground rumbled all around me


    I grabbed the muddy ground, trying to stay balanced as the earth shook under my feet. Cracks grew all around my feet as the dirt and grass beneath me began to crumble. I desperately tried to figure out what was going on.


    Was it something else from the boss? An earthquake ability of some sort? Why the hell not? What couldn¡¯t the damn thing do? But it couldn¡¯t be, it was so far away, there¡¯s no way it could be the one doing that. Besides, it would use the ability on the squads attacking it first, surely. Its red, sharp gaze entered my mind¡¯s eye. Was I still a target? Dammit, I wanted to look up at it, to see, but it took all of my concentration to stay on my feet as the ground underneath me shook even harder.


    Then the cracks stopped all at once, along with the quakes. I gulped. Maybe it was nothing, just a normal, natural earthquake. I hoped.


    I took a step, and the earth crumbled underneath my feet. In seconds, I was surrounded by darkness. Hands, not sure how many, grabbed me, pinning me down. I couldn¡¯t move. Then I heard a voice.


    ¡°We got¡¯em. Returning to camp with the target.¡±


    Damn, I really can¡¯t catch a break here, can I?

 136. A Break

    I struggled against whoever was grabbing me. My shorter stature let me slip an arm or leg free, but there was always someone there to restrain it a second later. They had carried me horizontally.


    ¡°Stay still.¡± A muffled voice said, huffing, as another hand gripped my just freed limb.


    My eyes itched as Dark Sight activated. I looked around wildly as I fought against my captors.


    We were in a tunnel, not a very large one. It was maybe four feet in diameter total. No clue how far down it was, though. I tried to find the entrance hole, the one they dragged me down from, but the entire tunnel was dark. There wasn¡¯t so much as a hint of the fire filled sky. They must have closed it back up as soon as they could. I¡¯m not even sure where they came from; tunnel was probably the wrong word to use. It looked like we were just in a small pocket underground.


    I turned my head as I fought, trying to see who the perpetrators were. I caught a glimpse of some dark furred arms and torso before one of them forced my head to the side of the tunnel.


    ¡°Let me go! What the hell are you doing?¡± I yelled at them, flailing my legs. A question swiftly answered by a hand slapping into my face and covering my mouth, silencing any further questions. This situation left me with only one solution, I nipped at their palm, digging my teeth into the meat of asshole¡¯s hand.


    A poor choice, I soon figured out. My teeth slowly scraped against what felt like straight rock, like I just tried to bite the side of a boulder. My whole jaw vibrated as it shut against the stony hand. Shit. Yep, that''s climbing the ranks in my Worst Experiences on Kniyas list.


    I licked my teeth, checking for blood, I thought my gums might be hurt from the scraping. But to my surprise, nothing. They were totally fine.  Whole mouth was actually. Though maybe it wasn¡¯t that surprising, Mimic Teeth and all that. That for certain would have done some damage if for my main trope.


    ¡°Tss. Bastard actually bit me.¡± A gruff, almost gravelly voice, the kind you¡¯d expect from a fifty year-old man who¡¯d been smoking since he got out of his mother¡¯s womb, spoke up. And was apparently the one who was currently clamping my mouth shut.


    ¡°Sheesh, dumb move on his part. Did yah harden up?¡± A feminine voice with a thick draw. Though she didn¡¯t sound as close as the others, at least not close enough to be one of the ones holding me down.


    ¡°Dammit, Shirles, did you have to put it like that?¡± Gravel mouth answered with a sigh. ¡°Yes, I used Rock Skin.¡±


    ¡°Good. Glad it''s you and not me. Bet that woulda hurt like a bitch without it. Heard about them chompers from the chief, yah know. It''s his trope.¡± The woman said as she clacked her teeth together.


    ¡°Yep, surely true, Shirles, surely true.¡±


    I struggled once more as the strange exchange ended, managing to free an arm. I scratched at someone¡¯s arm this time, but I don''t think it was enough to actually hurt them.


    ¡±Daaamn, he¡¯s a lively one, Roan. And green.¡± It was the woman again, much closer now, she spoke from just above my head, giving me an inspection most likely. ¡°And a bit on the small side. Are you sure this is the guy Roan?¡±


    ¡°Positive. And don¡¯t complain, it¡¯ll make moving him that much easier. It¡¯s one of his, oh what did the chief call it? Phases? Modes?¡± This voice came from about my midsection, he must be the one holding my arms down. No discerning features like the others, maybe a slight draw like the woman, but it was hard to tell. Not that I was particularly concerned in figuring it out at the moment. I could see his body a little. This guy wore simple cloth pants with straps just like overalls. No shirt, just an incredibly hairy chest. No shoes either.


    ¡°Fermphms.¡± I mumbled through the rock hand. If they were going to have the nerve to kidnap me, they might as well have my information correct.


    ¡°Wassat? Ferns. Nah, it''s something else. You¡¯re right about the f though.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Of course, I''m right about the f, they''re my damn powers. I wiggled in defiance.


    ¡°Forms, Sir.¡± Another new voice corrected the man. It was quiet, but firm. He must have been holding my feet. How many people were down here, it¡¯s not that big of a tunnel.


    ¡°That¡¯s it. Thanks, Lock. Now let¡¯s get going. Liam here has a date with the chief. Best to get him there on time. Shirles, get to digging.¡±


    Well, they knew my name. Which confirmed that I was, without a doubt, their target. But why? What date? Who¡¯s this chief?


    Aye, Aye, but I¡¯m gonna need Rocky¡¯s help getting rid of the dirt, unless you¡¯d like to chew on it to make it disappear.¡±


    ¡°I told you my name¡¯s not Rocky girl, it''s Rodis.¡±


    ¡°Same difference.¡±


    ¡°Rodis, can you do it one-handed? I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have this much spunk after fighting for so long, but you''re the only one who can safely hold his mouth.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯ll be slower. And it¡¯ll drain my stamina quicker.¡±


    ¡°Alright, just let Lock know when you get low. Shirles.¡±


    ¡°Digging time, gents.¡±


    Sounds of earth shifting and breaking filled the tunnel when they finished talking. Their merry little band moved forward.


    I couldn¡¯t lie, curiosity was killing me. Part of me wanted to chill out and see where this went. Hell, a break from the raid sounded pretty good. But that wasn¡¯t really an option. Too many friends up there fighting without me. Plus I need to mimic the boss. Can¡¯t really do that from down here. Though I never tried underground mimicking.


    I shook my head, well twitched my head, Gravels here made a full head shake impossible. It also earned me another face squeeze.


    ¡°Dang it Roan, why didn¡¯t we bring rope?¡± Gravels asked.


    ¡°Because according to our intel, he¡¯d probably break through them with his real tough bear form, and we¡¯d have to do this anyway. And carrying metal shackles would have slowed us down too much.¡± The leader, this Roan, answered.


    Bear form. Great idea! But as I was about to shift out of Gremlin, I looked around again. The tunnel was pretty small, even if I shifted into Ursa form, I think I¡¯d probably get free, but then just get stuck. Then, when I revert, I¡¯d just get captured again. Or worse case scenario, I might collapse the whole tunnel fighting these goons off. No good. Buried alive is a terrible way to go. But how will I get out anyway? I¡¯m not sure any forms would be good for digging. Man if only I¡¯d have mimicked that Mole from a few months back. That¡¯s it, mole form is going up on the list of new forms to acquire. If I get out of this at least.


    But I need to get free. I¡¯ll worry about an escape once I get away from them. If only I could get just one limb free. God, I wish I had just one more appendage to help me here.


    Wait a second.


    A plan blossomed in my head as I evaluated the situation again. It wasn¡¯t a great one, but it didn¡¯t seem like I was going to have great plans today, just ones that would barely work. But it is better than nothing.


    I reverted to base form. My body grew back to its normal proportions as I left Gremlin form.


    ¡°Roan, he¡¯s shifting, we need to do something quick,¡± said the man holding my feet, voice completely devoid of any emotion or urgency his words would suggest.


    ¡°I know, form change, I bet. Be ready, he¡¯s probably going into the bear one. He¡¯ll grow a bit.¡±


    Nope suckers.


    Fur grew on my face along with a mischievous smile as I shifted into Apis form.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± The gravelly voiced man asked.


    My tail wiggled around for a second as I got used to the sensation of having the new appendage again.


    ¡°Grab it!¡±


    ¡°With what?¡±


    Before they could figure out what to do, I sent my tail down to my feet, feeling around until I found the quiet man holding my feet. My tail ran up his arms finding his neck, wherein I wrapped around it, just barely, however. I only had enough length to wrap around the man¡¯s throat once, but I was banking on that being enough, because I don''t think he¡¯s a fighter.


    Sure enough, my plan was right, he let me go and grabbed at my tail with his hands. But I let him go just as quickly. With my feet free, I reared back and kicked him squarely in the chest with both feet. I heard his body tumble and hit the ground.


    ¡°Lock!¡±


    My feet hit the ground. I kicked off of the ground while the leader was still off balance from the sudden shift in my weight. The blow was enough to send him into the tunnel wall. As well as release me from the stone man¡¯s grasp on my face.


    I got one hand free and punched the leader¡¯s stomach as hard as I could. Then kicked the other man in the shin before backing away from them.


    I rushed to the back of the cave, where the quiet man I first kicked had landed. He had already gotten to his feet, but wasn¡¯t ready for the gut punch I delivered to him. He barreled over, but I stopped him. I got behind him and threw my arms around his neck, putting him in a chokehold. I wrapped my tail round his arms, fastening them down to his torso as I backed as far back as I could.


    The other two men got up and took a step towards me. The woman didn¡¯t move from her spot at the front.


    ¡°No! One more step and I swear I will break this dude¡¯s neck!¡±

 137. Kniyan Standoff

    ¡°Hands up!¡± I commanded.


    The three squinted at me.


    ¡°Now, or I promise you¡¯ll never speak with him again.¡± I rocked the man¡¯s body a little and squeezed down for effect, looking as threatening as I possibly could.


    But on the inside, my stomach was churning.


    Blood roared in my ears as I held the man¡¯s neck. It felt so odd, choke holding someone like this. Sure, I¡¯d head locked both of my younger siblings throughout our childhood and messed with that kid back in the Gloom, but I¡¯ve never actually held someone down like this, especially not with the intent to harm. But even so, I felt the strength in my arms, one little tweak, one flex and I could halt all oxygen from getting to his brain. Yet that was something we all had to worry about being underground like this.


    I hated it. Not even the sunny disposition that Apis form usually gave me could counteract the nasty feeling welling up inside. Heck, maybe it was its source.


    However, in the current circumstances I had little in the way of choice. I wasn¡¯t about to let some random jackasses kidnap me, no matter how curious I was. And I had too much left to do topside.


    The other three fidgeted around, trading worried glances at each other, before they finally complied and raised their hands. Kind of. They couldn¡¯t raise them any higher than the tunnel.


    Now that I was standing up, I got a better look at them. The leader, Roan, had the pointed ears of an elf, but he could have been a half elf too¡ªI still wasn¡¯t the best at discerning the difference, especially underground and in grayscale. He looked to be too tall for this cave, like myself; we both had to bend over slightly. His uncovered arms and chest were covered in fur, way more than I¡¯d seen anyone have on Kniyas. The man was barefoot as well, with some gnarly looking claws growing from the left foot.


    He reminded me of the werewolf from earlier. The one who attacked me. The one I almost killed. But this guy still had his wits about him.


    The other, Gravels as I¡¯ve been calling him, was a dwarf, sharing the same short and stocky build as Fennel, minus the dog ears. Long scruffy hair and a bushy beard covered the majority of his face. One of his hands, the one I presumed had been used to cover my mouth, had a darker shade to it and looked earthen almost. His other hand looked completely normal. He wore overalls much like the leaders, but he had a shirt on as well as some basic boots.


    The girl¡­she was a bit harder to look at. She was absolutely covered in dirt from head to toe. It was hard to tell what she was wearing under all the caked on dirt. Our excavator, it would seem. She sat on her knees, but her head was just about level with the dwarf. But none of that was why it took literal effort to look at her. On her particularly normal face, under her particularly normal eyes, sat a very peculiar difference.


    Her nose. A pink, fleshy star shaped schnoz with little tendrils growing from the edges that wiggled. They didn¡¯t even move that much, but that only made it worse. The small, slow movements of the little feelers made my skin crawl. She must have the gene that comes straight from the mole monster I fought all those months ago.


    I almost loosened my grip for a second, just trying to suppress a retch. She didn¡¯t deserve that. Or maybe she did. Dammit, I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know anything about these people.


    But I was going to get some answers, then hopefully get a way out of here.


    ¡°Who are you people? Why did you grab me?¡± I asked, keeping a close eye on all of them.


    They shared another glance, even including my hostage. I shifted back a little. The leader finally nodded his head after an awkward moment of silence.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of time down here. Our air will run out unless you come with us.¡±


    ¡°I agree, so just answer my questions. Or even better, just dig us out of here and let me get back to the people.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°We can¡¯t do that.¡±


    I lifted the hostage up a little. I think he was a gnome, considering how easily I could hold him down here. Or a child. God, I hope not. Don¡¯t need to build that kind of reputation among the Ferals.


    ¡°And why in the hell can¡¯t we?¡± I retorted.


    ¡°We have our orders.¡±


    ¡°Orders? Whose orders?


    ¡°Our chief¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°What the hell does your chief want with me? Who even are you people? I¡¯m guessing Ferals but besides that?¡±


    Gravels growled as I finished, apparently he wasn¡¯t keen on something I said. Or, you know, the fact that I was choking his buddy. His hand unchanged hand moved ever so slightly.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I twisted towards him, flexing the bicep I had on my hostage¡¯s throat, making him let out a tiny squeal.


    ¡°Chill there Gravels, we don¡¯t want this going south, do we?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes we do. The village is sou¡ª¡±


    ¡°Rodis, shut your mouth! I¡¯m handling this,¡± the leader yelled.


    The girl in the back scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t look that way,¡± she said, not so under her breath.


    ¡°Shirles, shut it.¡±


    I held back a chuckle, hiding my face behind my hostage. Not even at the comment. I was having a hell of a time figuring out how these dysfunctional goofballs got anything done. I threw my serious face back on.


    ¡°Time¡¯s a ticking here, man. What does your leader want from me?¡±


    ¡°We, uh, she needs, um. Dang it, look, Liam. The reasons are a bit above our purview. We are just one of the extraction crews. I can assure you won¡¯t be harmed. By us,¡± he waved one of his hands around to the others in the room, ¡°or our people.¡±


    Now Gravels took a turn scoffing. ¡°Speak for yourself, fucker calls me Feral again and¡ª¡±


    ¡°Rodis! Not. Now.¡± The leader said through gritted teeth.


    Something caught my attention in the leader''s words. ¡°Wait extraction teams? How many teams are after me?¡±


    ¡°Not sure. A lot. Several dozen. We just happened to be the lucky ones.¡±


    ¡°Stupidly risky ones, more like it. Getting us so blazing close to the Boss like that.¡± The girl commented, her nose uncomfortably twitching.


    ¡°I told you I had a hunch. And look, it paid off, didn¡¯t it?¡± The leader said, lowering his hands.


    I lightened my grip again. ¡°Ah ah ah, nothing paid off, alright. In case you forgot, your partner here is still having a slight breathing problem. Did we forget about that?¡±


    The leader''s hands went back up. ¡°I know how it looks. I can¡¯t explain it well, but it is paramount that you come with us. Lisse, our chieftain, can explain why far better than any of us here can. We won¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    The budding curiosity in my head only grew ever since I shifted into Apis. And this guy¡¯s words were only feeding it. Why was I so important? It¡¯s probably something to do with my mimic gene, it''s the only thing truly unique about me in this world, aside from my origins. But I doubt they knew about that.


    And I had to admit, the urge to learn more about the Ferals had only grown ever since I went into the Gloom.


    But it couldn¡¯t be like this. It had to be on my terms, not captured like some prisoner. There was no way of knowing if there was any truth to his words. And I wouldn¡¯t abandon my squad in the middle of a battle like this.


    ¡°No. I can¡¯t come with you. Not yet. Just dig us out of here. Now!¡± I glared at the mole girl and pointed to the ceiling. ¡°Dig.¡± I commanded her.


    The girl shifted, fear in her eyes. She moved to the center of the tunnel, until the leader held his hand out, stopping her.


    The hairy man took a deep breath, closing his eyes as if he was getting ready to say something big. He released it after a second and looked at the ground, speaking softly to himself.


    ¡°Hilda, your sacrifice won¡¯t be in vain.¡± His voice raised. ¡°None of their sacrifices will be.¡±


    He looked up at me, his eyes hard, full of determination, before shifting down to his companion, the one I held. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Lock. You understand,¡± the leader said before dropping his hands to his sides.


    My hostage¡¯s head bobbed as he tried to nod to his companion. ¡°I know, my friend. Tell Alman, I love her.¡± His words strained and coarse, yet still calm and collected.


    The other two, Gravel and the girl, looked at each other. Some unspoken words were shared, and they followed suit, dropping their hands down. The three of them moved towards me, each sharing the same look of resolve on their faces.


    Why? Their friend is about to die. Why are they giving up on him? Just for me? But¡­but.


    I squeezed down harder, more out of fear than anything. My brain swirled in confusion and doubt. I looked down at the back of my hostage''s head. He¡¯d completely stopped fighting, and just went limp in my arms. He¡¯d given up as well.


    I let him go.


    The small man fell to the ground, gasping and grabbing his throat. The others rushed to his side to check on him.


    For whatever reason they needed me, they believed in it with their whole hearts. And I never could have killed him, or anyone for that matter, in cold blood like that, even if this lands me in a worse situation, it''s not worth a person¡¯s blood on my hands. I¡¯m a bit too cowardly for that.


    The leader rose up and looked at me. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I opened my mouth but nothing came out, but an intense wave of guilt washed over me when I looked down at the man I was just choking. Tears welled in my eyes as the torrent in my gut was getting close to a breaking point. The man¡¯s mouth kept moving, but I didn¡¯t hear a single word.


    Instead, a different voice spoke.


    ¡°Go with them.¡± Tutor whispered into my head.


    What?


    ¡°But the quest.¡± I barely got out.


    ¡°This is bigger. Much bigger. It might be too soon, and I¡¯m gonna get a shitstorm thrown at me for this, but trust me. Go with the¡ª¡± her voice cut out, just like when a phone gets disconnected.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I was thanking you for not killing my friend.¡± The feral leader said.


    I looked into his eyes and nodded blankly. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s just go.¡±


    ¡°Shirles, get us to one of the air tunnels now, we¡¯re all running a little low.¡±


    ¡°Aye aye.¡±


    The girl raised her hands. She flung them toward the dirt. But before they collided with the wall, a deep rumbling filled the tunnel. Then the roof opened up, dropping pounds of dirt and rock on all our heads. But before the cave buried us completely, a flirty laugh filled the air as large brown roots dug wrapped around the tunnel. They looked familiar.


    ¡°Shame on you all, taking away my new, cute little prot¨¦g¨¦ like that.¡±


    I wiped the dirt from my eyes and looked up. It was the wood mage from Jaren¡¯s crew. She wore the same flirty smile from earlier. And just beside her, kneeling on a root of her own, sat Daila. She reached down.


    ¡°Come on Liam. Grab on!¡±

 138. Underground Pandemonium

    On pure reflex, I raised my hand to meet Daila¡¯s, but she was still a good ten feet above, but that didn¡¯t stop me. My Apis addled brain was simply overjoyed at seeing a friend, along with seeing the flames of the sky above. It was wild how normal it looked now. Just how long had Len kept those flames burning?


    I also realized just how far into the ground we were, probably twenty or so feet.


    Dark brown roots swirled around the walls of the hole, twisting and twirling together holding back the dirt, making sure no more fell and buried me. But as the roots grew more and more, the small platform that Daila stood on stopped halfway.


    ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am. Can¡¯t get any lower¡ª¡± She grunted, ¡°without, ugh, the whole thing coming down.¡±


    ¡°Elea, can you make one long root? Something he can climb up.¡±


    ¡°As delightful as having that handsome young man, huff, climbing up my body sounds, not at the moment. Need, hah, all the roots I can muster,¡± the elven wood mage replied through labored breaths.


    ¡°Damn. Liam, can you get up here?¡± Daila called back to me.


    I nodded and looked around, searching for something to hop up to her, or at least get to the roots on the side walls. But an underground tunnel in the middle of caving in didn''t have much in the way of footholds. The roar of the battle going on topside echoed throughout the tunnel as I searched.


    The ferals rushed around in a panic, or at least one of them did. The mole girl was gone, probably dug her way out of the collapsing tunnel already. She was probably the only one perfectly fine with the situation. The leader was scraping through some of the rubble with his bare hands. An uphill battle with all the dirt churning from the sudden opening. Looking a little closer, I saw a small arm wiggling right around where he dug.


    Damn, and I thought I had it rough. Little guy got choked by me and then got buried. A part of me wanted to help the poor guy. But he was probably gonna be fine, at least two of the ferals seemed to have earth related powers. Heck, the mole girl might already be working on it.


    Gravels was missing, but something told me the dwarf would be fine. Not sure why I cared. I shouldn¡¯t worry about the wellbeing of my kidnappers, right?


    Before I traveled down that rabbit hole any further, my eyes caught sight of a rock protruding from the side of the wall. It looked like it might be the tip of a larger rock formation. Or it very well could just be a small rock that will drop as soon as my weight hits it. Only thing I did know was that Apis form could easily make that jump. And I didn''t have a ton of options.


    I squatted down and hopped. I stretched my foot, getting ready to hop off the rock once I landed, but halfway through the hop my body stopped suddenly, and I was falling back into the tunnel. Something latched onto my tail and pulled me back down.


    I twisted in the air, trying to get a look before I landed. Some of the dirt and rocks piled up on my tail. I landed next to it, pulling on it. It wouldn¡¯t budge even an inch, trapped in some rocks underneath a dirt pile. I couldn¡¯t afford to get out of the form¡ªno way base form was making that jump.


    After the failed attempts at pulling, I switched to digging, trying to find what was snaring it. (The yanking hurt like a sonuvabitch too.) It shouldn¡¯t be too far down, only a small portion of my tail was stuck. It didn¡¯t take long to find the snag, yet it came with a different problem. My tail wasn¡¯t quite stuck in between two rocks, but rather stuck in a rock. Like straight up King Arthur sword-in-the-stone stuck. I could only blink at the absurdity of the conundrum. How the hell does that even happen?


    I looked around for a moment before finding the answer staring me in the face. Quite literally. A pair of eyes peeked through the massive dirt pile (totally not giving me a mild to severe heart attack).


    After a small yelp, a whole-ass face pulled through the dirt, revealing the Gravels the dwarf, yet he looked odd. While the shape of his face and beard were correct, its composition wasn¡¯t; his skin had completely turned to stone. He pulled the rest of his body out from the rubble, showing that he¡¯d grabbed on to my tail with one of his hands. The hand had fused together, creating a perfectly smooth ball around my tail.


    ¡°No, lad, you¡¯re not getting away that easily. Not after all, we gave up.¡± He growled, his voice somehow even more coarse than before as he brought his face close to mine. His breath stunk of dirt and peat.


    Without thinking, I punched his face, a terrible mistake. I held my throbbing hand and tried to back away from him, but every attempt was thwarted with another yank on my tail.


    Damn, don¡¯t have a choice here. I¡¯ll have to shift into Ursa. Escape plan will have to come later. But right before I did, a vial of glass shattered right on top of the dwarf¡¯s shoulder.


    Shining green liquid splashed all over the dwarf¡¯s shoulder and arm, only a small portion got on my tail. Yet after a second or two, the liquid burned like crazy. Like someone was putting a cigarette and my tail was the ashtray.


    I wasn¡¯t alone in my pain; the dwarf¡¯s face twisted in pain as he used his free hand to try and wipe the liquid off. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Liam, Catch!¡±


    I twisted toward Daila just in time to find another vial hurtling at me. I caught the small glass vial and looked at it. The liquid inside was clear, no color whatsoever.


    ¡°Antacid. Apply it wherever acid gets on you. But you''re better off dodging.¡±


    ¡°Dodging wha¡ªoh shit!¡± I¡¯d stopped examining the small bottle only to find three other green vials heading right for me and the dwarf.


    Each vial exploded as they landed on the dwarf. Daila¡¯s aim was impeccable, not a single vial had missed the dwarf¡¯s shoulder and arm. More of the liquid splashed and landed on my chest, but I poured the clear liquid on my hand and rubbed it on the luminescent acid. The green liquid lost all color as the antacid neutralized it. It still burned a bit, but nowhere near as bad.


    Large cracks grew and spider webbed all down the dwarf¡¯s acid covered arm and, most notably, the hand trapping my tail. I chopped down on the rocky dwarf¡¯s wrist, hoping that it would be enough to release his hold.


    It was enough. Too much, actually.


    His stone hand crumbled under the blow, releasing my tail and powdering the ground in the remnants of the man¡¯s hand. I jumped back as soon as I was free, twisting my face a bit as I looked at the damage I¡¯d done. Never thought Apis form would be the limb cutting form type but anything¡¯s possible.


    ¡°NO!¡± The yelled out as his entire arm crumbled away from the acid chewing through it. I made a mental note to ask what in god¡¯s name kind of acid could chew through straight stone like that. And to never, ever get in a fight with her. Ever. Like, avoid any and all altercations whatsoever. I quite enjoyed my limbs right where they were.


    But it looked like the dwarf still had some tricks left up his missing sleeve. He groaned and knelt down, holding the barren shoulder with his other hand. ¡°If I must. One shouldn¡¯t kill me.¡±


    He muttered something to himself that I didn¡¯t quite catch as he grabbed something out of a pocket in his shirt. Something glowing blue. A glow I instantly recognized. It was the only thing I¡¯d seen on Kniyas glow so beautifully. A blue gardenia.


    Gravels shoved the flower into his mouth, then slumped over into the pile of dirt and stone. After some trembling and shaking, he pulled his body back out. He grunted and grumbled as he pulled a fresh new stony arm from the pile. It wasn¡¯t smooth like the last one, but made up of hundreds of small stones and rocks tightly packed together. I don¡¯t remember those flowers being able to do something like that.


    The dwarf clapped his newly minted hands together before shoving them into the ground at his feet. I however, had gained some distance now, I wrapped my tail around my torso, making sure to not avoid another mishap with it and jumped toward the protruding rock. Whatever power up he got didn¡¯t matter, I only needed to escape.


    The ground rumbled again and right in the middle of my flight, a massive spike of earth shot up from beneath me. I twisted in the air just enough to dodge an impalement, but the spike had effectively blocked my jump. The earth rumbled again, the dwarf was about to send another one. I landed on the ground, then felt the earth shift and grow under foot. I tried to kick away, but it was too fast, another spike launched at me.


    But just before it pierced my body, something wrapped around my torso, yanking me away from the attack. I looked down and saw dark furry arms wrapped around me. The two of us tumbled back for a bit.


    ¡°Rodis! Watch your attack! Just stop him, don¡¯t kill him!¡± The leader kept his arms clasped around me as he yelled to his companion. I struggled as I tried to pry his arms off. But damn he was strong. The ground shook again under us.


    ¡°Blast it all, Rodis!¡± The leader released his grip and kicked me away. We went flying in opposite directions just as another spike shot out of the ground. Other spikes grew from the ground, filling up the center of the cavern.


    I caught myself before hitting the ground thanks to Apis form¡¯s enhanced sense of aerial motion. I landed light, ready to jump at a moment¡¯s notice if the earth shook under my feet. I looked around for my protruding rock again, but I smirked when I realized something. These spikes looked pretty easy to climb, especially in this form.


    The earth trembled under me again, but I was ready this time. I shot out for the tallest spike, the very first one, rushing to it as fast as I could, weaving between the spikes. My hope was that the Gravels would lose track of me, then I¡¯d climb up.


    I bobbed between the spikes as randomly as I could, never taking the same turn as the last. It was seemingly working too. More spikes grew around our little arena, but not close to where I was. The dwarf was just guessing. I can make it, no, I will make it.


    The tall center spike entered my vision. It was so close. But as I made the final turn, a furry arm shot out, clothes lining me right in the chest. I flipped backwards and hit the ground. My lungs coughed up any wind left in them. I retched as I tried to refill them.


    The feral leader stood above me. ¡°Nice hustle,¡± he remarked with a tired grin. He knelt down and grabbed me. ¡°Shirles now!¡±


    The small hole opened up to our side. The mole girl poked her up. ¡°O¡¯er here boss. But what about Rodis?¡±


    ¡°Leave him. He¡¯ll be alright. He shouldn¡¯t morph off just one. Go a little crazy sure, but full on morph. Nah. He¡¯ll get back alright, if not a little slow. Lock, grab his legs.¡± The gnome shot up beside her, ready to help with my capture, though not looking all too thrilled to get leg duty again.


    I tried to get up, and fight, but my chest was on fire. I punched and kicked, but it didn¡¯t amount to much. The girl even grabbed onto my tail, stopping it from being able to make a move.


    But before they had fully stopped me, thunder cracked in the air. Yellow bolts of lightning wracked the leader¡¯s body. He shot up as his body quivered under the force of the electricity coursing through.


    Without the leader¡¯s added muscle, I shoved the other two off with relative ease. I got up and jumped to the center spike. I climbed as fat as I could. Then I reached the top, squatted down and launched myself at the root wall. I flew towards it.


    But it wasn¡¯t enough.


    I hadn¡¯t jumped high enough, probably on account of the missing oxygen in my lungs. I fell just short of the target. But it was ok, I just had to do it again. I scoffed to myself. Because it was so easy last time.


    But just as I was getting ready to land, water rocketed past my head and under my feet. It stopped just below me, making a small cube. Realizing what it was, I landed on the water cube and jumped again.


    My hands gripped down on the wall of roots once they met. I scurried up the side of the hole without looking back even once. I passed right by the platform Daila and the wood mage sat on. I was only concerned with getting out of that stupid tunnel.


    Once I was at the top, I scrambled over the edge. I rolled onto my back. I was safe.


    A monster growled above my head, reminding me that I was not.


    ¡°Come on!¡±

 139. Awe

    I shot off the ground, swiveling around in search of the growl¡¯s source, only to come face to face with one of the pony-sized chameleon monsters I saw Jaren¡¯s B squad take on. Without a single thought, I slammed my fist into the side of the chameleon¡¯s face. With the momentum from the blow, I followed with a roundhouse kick with the back of my foot. After the blow, I forced my foot to stop midair, using my tail to keep my balance. I raised it high above the reptile¡¯s head and dropped my heel right on the top of its skull. Its cranium cracked under the sheer weight of the blow.


    A new type of pleasure bloomed in my heart. I¡¯d never given Apis a good chance to fight, thinking it wouldn¡¯t hold a candle to the others. But the feeling of physically striking a monster and seeing the damage done was wondrous. And more importantly¡­fun. And Apis loved fun.


    Once its head hit the dirt, I hopped backwards (with a flip of course) to gain some distance, in case that battering I just gave it wasn¡¯t enough. I¡¯d made the mistake to underestimate these creatures before and wasn¡¯t going to make it again.


    My whole chest heaved in and out as I watched for even the slightest bit of movement, especially around its mouth as I recalled its bullet-like tongue; a big smile plastered on my face the whole time.


    I waited and waited, but my escapade underground wore heavy, until finally my exhausted body and brain got the better of me and my gaze wandered from my opponent. I looked across its whole body, noticing some hefty and fresh scarring along its body. Blood trickled down its sides.


    Then I noticed its back, or rather I noticed the blood-soaked spear, both its point and shaft, jutting out of its back.


    ¡°Schshch.¡± Snickering. Not from one, but two different people snickered behind me. I turned and saw the twins, Tawny and Hait standing by the edge of the hole that I¡¯d just climbed out of. It was definitely more Tawny giggling that Hait, but I didn¡¯t miss the grin on his face.


    Mortified, I turned back and looked at the freshly beaten chameleon corpse. That badass combo of blows, wasted on a dead monster. God, I¡¯m stupid. I thought to myself, rubbing my forehead, thankful only the twins caught sight of that. At least until a lightly armored man with a dog snout poked out from the other side of the monster corpse. He poked the bloodied spear, and sighed before speaking. ¡°I mean, I thought I killed it. But thanks for checking, I guess. And you know, for the extra hour of cleaning this thing needs now. Looking forward to that.¡±


    His words sent the twins into a full on burst of laughter. Embarrassment sent waves of blood to my hairy face, now praying that these three were the only ones to see my fierce battle with the already dead monster, buried my face in my palms.


    I slowly uncovered my eyes, only to find a whole squad of legionnaires standing around, gawping and giggling at the mangled monster carcass.


    My face felt as hot as the sky above as I tried to hide it again. What the hell are they doing? Isn¡¯t there a damn raid going on? Or, you know, a boss!


    But as I tried to recompose myself, another growl entered my ear; from behind, just like a moment ago. I released my face and, calmly this time, searched for its source. But all around me were soldiers, and dead monster bodies. Bunch of those.


    There wasn¡¯t a single live monster in the vicinity, just corpses.


    I closed my eyes, straining my eyes to see if I could hear it again. I jolted when somebody patted me on the back.


    ¡°Dang Cap, didn¡¯t know your monkey form had it in you. Now if you could only use those moves on an actual monster we¡¯d be getting somewhere. Or maybe even use them on kidnappers. Seriously, what grown Kniyan man gets kidnapped?¡± Tawny said, voice filled with teasing.


    But when she mentioned kidnapped, I reflexively looked over to the giant hole I climbed out of. Were the ferals about to jump out and bring the fight topside?


    But only Daila and the elven wood mage stood, both brushing dirt off their clothes. I ran up to the hole and looked down to find nothing but a mess of loose dirt, stones and enough roots to grow a forest. The hole had collapsed on itself, no longer held back by the wood mage¡¯s powers. There wasn¡¯t any movement either.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Liam, ahem, Captain Foster. There is no chance they are chasing us up here. They are far outnumbered, and from what I gathered, they were elite fighters. Just a squad with a single objective.¡± Daila said.


    ¡°Yes, sweetie. The big, bad ferals are gone, tails tucked beneath their legs.¡± The elven woman said, whilst rubbing my shoulders. Which felt heavenly on my tired muscles, yet also kind of disturbing for some reason. Like the feeling you get when you''re in danger, yet also okay with it.


    ¡°Ahem!¡± Daila cleared her throat, causing the woman to back off, a smirk on her face while she winked at Daila. ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am.¡±


    I turned and looked at Daila. ¡°Why are they after me?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But your capture did answer one question.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    She pointed towards the city, at the Command and Medic tents. Plumes of smoke billowed from them. Some of the tents had fallen over, others covered in rips and tears.


    ¡°Did monsters break through?! Do we need to head over there?¡± I readied myself to sprint, but Daila held a hand out in front of me.


    ¡°No, it has been handled already. Also, it wasn¡¯t monsters.¡±


    ¡°Then who¡­oh.¡± I¡¯d answered the question in my head. Only one other faction here besides us and the monsters.


    ¡°I received a report from Fennel shortly before you were captured, during your repugnantly foolish solo assault on the boss.¡± She gave me a ruthless glare that screamed we will be discussing that choice later. ¡°Ferals began pouring out of the ground soon after the boss arrived. Many from the holes that lined the battlefield during the start of the Second Wave.¡±


    I recalled the giant holes, the trouble of getting to them and getting Fennel¡¯s squad out. And the mystery archers lined the rims. Then it clicked.


    ¡°Wait, were the archers not monsters but ferals?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the prevailing theory. But that¡¯s not as important. We don¡¯t know why they attacked. A small force of morphed soldiers lead the charge on the tents, but behind them were small groups of unturned Ferals. These unmorphed teams scoured through the tents.¡±


    ¡°Is everyone out there okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes, only a small amount of casualties. They never stood a chance. But we didn¡¯t know why they attacked in the first place. They weren¡¯t heading for the city, not a single medical stash was hit, nor other supplies or weapons. So their motivations were a complete mystery to us. Until now.¡±


    She stared into my eyes. ¡°They were searching for you.¡±


    Daila was right, the ferals underground confirmed it. I mean, they literally told me I was the target.


    ¡°Yep.¡± I nodded. ¡°They said as much when they had me down there. Had my name and everything, even an understanding of my forms and abilities.¡±


    Her mouse-like nose twisted as her lips pursed in confusion. ¡°But why you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They didn¡¯t really explain anything to me down there. They just kept saying their leader, their chief I think it was, could explain everything.¡±


    She tilted her head. ¡°You spoke with them?¡±


    ¡°A little bit.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you fight them off? Did they have you bound somehow? Or maybe a paralysis ability of some sort?¡±


    I was about to go with them willingly. It was that or kill a man. And I don¡¯t think I could live with that. Can¡¯t tell her that, though. ¡°Yeah, it was something like that. The stone guy and the furried leader kept me bound with their powers. I could only speak.¡± I lied.


    She nodded, accepting the answer, which kind of made me feel bad. Lying was a big no-no with Gramps. Said only the weak relied on deceit. A real man, a truly strong man, faces the world with the truth and nothing else. Problem was, I didn¡¯t feel particularly strong at the moment. Also; a hell of a thing for a man with two families to claim now that I think about it.


    ¡°What a bastard.¡± I said under my breath.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± I said, clearing the thought from my head. I looked back to the fighting going on in the distance. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan? Do we need to help Jaren with the Bodyguards? How is the boss fight going¡­¡± My jaw dropped the second I found the boss fight.


    A tower sat off in the distance. A hollow spire made from silver spikes twisting and twirling amongst themselves. I had no clue how high up it went. We were hundreds of feet away from it, but even from here, the sight alone was daunting.


    The tower shifted as I watched, some of the silver chords spun around near the top. They whipped around, only to be halted by an explosion of green energy. Green vines crawled up the side of the tower, entangling themselves with the silver spire.


    My eyes moved over to the side of the tower, where a bright white glowing ball hung in the air, growing brighter and brighter. Green explosions dotted the top of the tower, the side opposite to the growing light.  After it grew to half the size of the tower itself, it rammed into the side.


    I closed my eyes at the shine. A few seconds later, air pressure smacked my face,  pushing my whole body a little. I looked back up and saw that half of the tower had been blown off. Yet it hadn¡¯t fallen.


    A cry pealed throughout the entire battlefield, causing a few of the soldiers to hold their ears shut. Apis didn¡¯t have trouble, Ignorant Ears, my ability to ignore sound based attacks stopped it from affecting me. Then, like a reverse waterfall of mercury, silver liquid traveled upwards, repairing the damage and creating almost a web in the air.


    I sat in awe, or maybe dread. I tried to fight that. A creature that could make something so insanely awesome. I tried to fight it with nothing but some sharp claws and a shadow aura. What the hell?


    Yet even in my awestruck trance, something inside me still drew me to it. I wanted to mimic it. I desirely, craved that power. I wished to be like Jaren, Lirae, and that Light guy. Fighting on such a ridiculous scale. Toe to toe with a beast ripped straight from mythology.


    But that would be impossible. Right?


    I took a step towards it. Daila put a hand on my chest. ¡°You aren¡¯t going even remotely near that.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡±


    ¡°No,¡± her words firm, ¡°especially now that we know you are a target. We need to get you off this battlefield a soon as possible. Before that squad reports your location back to their superiors.¡±


    I opened my mouth to protest, but said nothing. She was right. I turned from the epic battle, but as I did, every hair on my body stood straight up. I twisted back, staring at the top of the tower, I could just make out the vague shape of the boss. And for a second, I could have sworn I felt the gaze from its beady red eye.


    Then the growl returned, tickling my ear again. But I wasn¡¯t scared of it now. No, for some reason, it rang in my ear not as a threat, but a challenge.


    Daila pulled my arm. ¡°This is a direct order from your Lieutenant, Captain Foster. Retreat.¡±


    Before I turned away from the tower, gritting my teeth I muttered, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±


    We walked away from the fight, every inch of my body yelling at me. But while my body urged me, my brain knew the only outcome if I were to join in that fight: Death.


    Daila called for a squad of soldiers to surround us, for extra protection if more ferals tried to attack. She ordered Elea, the elven wood mage, to fill the ground under us with her roots, to give us a heads-up if they tried to pull me under again.


    I moved forward, head pointed to the ground. Each step felt like a betrayal. A betrayal to myself.


    We didn¡¯t get too far before someone at the front called for a halt.


    I looked up. A giant purple haze filled the air in front of us. Then a voice spoke.


    ¡°Stop. Give us the mimic.¡±

 140. Purple Haze

    ¡°Pull back!¡± Daila yelled to the company of soldiers. She must not have wanted to even entertain the idea of dealing with more enemies. I turned around, following her orders, only to find that the odd purple mist had completely surrounded us.


    The mist somehow just hung in the air, ignoring the chilly breeze that rolled along the field. I couldn¡¯t see through the shifting purple cloud, like a gender reveal gone terribly wrong. Except the stakes were a bit higher than miss colored cake and balloons.


    I clenched my fists. How did it surround us so quickly? Daila had soldiers posted all around us. I wasn¡¯t sure how many, too busy wallowing in my own inadequacy to take note of that. I looked at one such guard, an antlered woman wearing leather armor, sporting a long spear. She stood inches away from the smoke screen, unmoving. Wait, that wasn¡¯t right, she swayed. Just barely but a little. Then she fell over, her spear rolling away as she dropped it.


    The other three soldiers on the perimeter followed suit, each falling to the ground simultaneously. Once they fell, the mist closed in, swallowing the bodies.


    ¡°You are sorely outnumbered and outmatched. Give Liam over before this gets ugly.¡± The voice spoke again, it was a woman¡¯s. Yet I couldn¡¯t pinpoint where from the mist it was coming from, it sounded almost as if it came from every direction.


    The archers in our group held up their bows, aiming out into the mist, but they had no clue where to point either.


    ¡°Everyone! Do not breathe in that mist. Get as close to me as you can.¡± Daila ignored the commands from the woman in the mist, instead rummaging around in one of the packs on her hip. Glass vials clinked together as she searched for something. Her eyes focused and determined.


    The squad followed her orders immediately, backing away from the encroaching purple wall of mist. They stopped once we were all effectively packed together like sardines, a closeness that would have been truly awkward in any other situation. Tawny and Hait stuck to my sides as Daila slid up to my chest, her roughly tied hair bun tickling my nostrils as she searched through her unimaginably deep fanny pack. She smelled nice.


    ¡°Fine. Hard way it is then.¡± The woman¡¯s voice spoke again, sounding thoroughly annoyed at being ignored.


    The cloud wall shifted, a portion melting to the ground before swelling to twice its original height. The mist flowed from every direction, just like when you submerge an empty bowl in a body of water. And we sat at the center.


    But just before it crashed into us, Daila nodded. She pulled a beaker filled with a dull blue liquid from her pouch, one much larger than any of her normal vials. She slammed it on the ground just as the purple mist reached the outer rim of our group. Light blue smoke exploded out, covering us before the purple mist had a chance.


    Everyone in the squad hacked and coughed as the blue smoke filled our lungs. The smoke felt heavy, heavy for smoke at least, as it traveled down my throat, finally stopping once it hit my chest. It swirled around, forcing me to cough even harder as my body tried to expel the foreign gas.


    However, after the bout of coughing, my lungs chilled, my whole chest really. Not a bad chill, more like the chill from chewing on mint gum, maybe thirty times as stimulating.


    The entire squad stopped coughing at roughly the same time. I opened my eyes and saw that we were surrounded by the purple haze. Not a single trace of Daila¡¯s light blue smoke could be found. I held my breath instinctively, but released once I realized there was no way in hell I didn¡¯t already inhale a crap ton during that coughing fit.


    But as the mist swirled around us, nothing changed. No one fell over or dropped their weapons. I still breathed in shallow breaths, but it looked like whatever potion Daila used protected us from the effects of the mist.


    But that was only half of the problem. The other being the fact that I couldn¡¯t see three feet in front of my face in this mist. I could just make out Daila and the twins. I tried to think of a way to handle the situation, but I came up empty. I closed my eyes and ran through everything I could do, all my forms, both creature and object. My arsenal wasn¡¯t quite equipped to handle a smokescreen. If only I had mimicked a fan, not that they exist here. Actually, I wonder what happens if I mimic a machine. Hmm. I shook my head, better things to be using brain power on. Damn it. For having such a versatile power, it sure feels like I¡¯m under equipped all the freaking time. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Daila must have noticed my movements, or my frustration. She placed a hand on my chest. ¡°It''s okay. We just have to wait this out. They can¡¯t see us in the same way we can¡¯t see them. And her followers can¡¯t enter it.¡± Daila¡¯s voice was calm, soothing even.


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°Because we¡¯d probably be dead by now if they could. Well, everyone but you.¡±


    Her statement irked me. A lot. I realized right then how tightly the twins held on to my side. Neither making a sound. They¡¯d been fighting nonstop, just like me. That is enough to wear on anybody, let alone two teenagers in their first real battle.


    The very idea of the twins and Daila lying on the ground dead because of me blossomed a fresh urgency in my heart. And that gave me a little clarity. My mind steeled against the disorienting fog, my eyes solely focusing on finding a break in the fog.


    ¡°Got it,¡± I looked down at Daila for a moment, ¡°Ma¡¯am.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Once the fog clears, we make a stand. Be ready. I might suggest a new form, however. Preferably your Ursa. We are down quite a few frontliners.¡±


    I agreed with her logic, but I didn¡¯t want to put another form on cooldown so quickly. I was already down most of my forms. Ursa, Squirrel were all that were left, which basically meant Ursa was all that was left. No trees in this field. Unless Elea, the wood mage, could make some. Hmm. Testing may be required.


    Salamandras was coming up soon, only eleven minutes left on the timer, but well. Nah. Not against a female adversary, even if the range would be helpful.


    After a tense minute in the fog, the raging, chaotic movement of the haze died down. Laughter rang out from the haze.


    ¡°Should expect nothing less from one of Laurel¡¯s finest Lieutenants. Our intel needs some updating, I see.¡± The woman spoke, her voice still impossible to pinpoint properly. ¡°I¡¯d truly hoped to avoid shedding the blood of a friend of my former father-in-law,¡± as she paused, the mist died down further, becoming translucent. Dark silhouettes dotted the mist now. At least twenty, yet it was impossible to gauge their distance.


    ¡°This ability would have only put you to sleep. And seeing as how far we are from the fighting, you and your squad would have been safe. But now,¡± she sniffed, ¡°have forced my hand.¡±


    One of the silhouettes raised a weapon into the air, holding it there.


    ¡°Glenna. Avoid the center.¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡± The silhouette¡¯s arm shot down.


    ¡°Scatter!¡± Daila yelled out just before the attack went off. All of our soldiers ran off at once. I went to join them, but was stopped. Daila held on to the front of my armor. The twins clung to me as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move, that attack isn¡¯t meant for you.¡±


    In the next instant, a shockwave blew straight through the haze, barely missing me by a few feet to my right. Though one of our archers wasn''t so lucky. He took the full brunt of it, blowing him dozens of feet away, leaving only a trail of blood.


    The blow dispelled a majority of the haze, revealing the group that surrounded us. Soldiers wasn¡¯t the right word to describe them. Warriors were more apt. Each one covered in animal hide or very basic cloth outfits, much like the ferals that kidnapped me.


    At the head of the group stood a tall woman in much finer armor than her counterparts, armor that looked much more similar to that of the Legions. She wore a hood that obscured her face, but it didn¡¯t hide her number one defining feature: a massive orange foxtail that flicked behind her. Purple mist oozed from it, telling me she was the source of the haze.


    To her side sat a burly woman with brown braided hair. She pulled a massive double-bladed axe from the ground. She must have been the one who sent that shockwave. She plopped the axe on her shoulders.


    A man crouched down on her other side. A mess of dark black feathers covered his body. He stood up and grinned at our group.


    The rest of the fox woman¡¯s group surrounded us, none quite as striking as those three at the front. Though the woman wasn¡¯t lying earlier, we were outnumbered two to one.


    The fox woman raised a hand, then pointed at Daila. ¡°Last chance to surrender.¡±


    ¡°The Legions of Laurelhaven do not know the meaning of the word.¡± Daila replied, grabbing a few vials from her bandolier.


    ¡°No. No they don¡¯t.¡± The fox woman said, though my Apis enhanced ears picked something up in her voice. A longing, or sadness maybe, as she answered Daila. The woman raised a hand out in front of her.


    Daila spoke in a hushed whisper before the woman did anything else. ¡°I¡¯ll handle the leader. Elea, get the crow.¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. ¡± Elea, the elven wood mage who had apparently been standing behind me the whole time, responded.


    ¡°Liam, now would be a good time for Ursa. I doubt anyone else can handle her.¡± Daila gestured to the burly woman with her head.


    She was right. But before I replied, the fox tailed woman snapped her fingers. ¡°Attack.¡±

 141. Powerful Woman

    Battle cries filled the area the very second after the fox woman gave the order. Her crew of disheveled warriors ran toward us. The legionnaires, without missing a beat, ran at them. The archers flung arrows at the raging onslaught, though only a few managed to hit their mark.


    This group of ferals were sharp, agile; clearly trained fighters unlike the group that kidnapped me previously. If this group had been the ones to nab me there would have been no way I could have escaped. But after spending what felt like days in this raid, I learned a single, simple fact about Laurelhaven¡¯s soldiers: They were some tough sons of bitches.


    The few remaining melee fighters were already engaging with the ferals. Even against the overwhelming numbers advantage, they kept their weapons, natural and forged, held high. The archers joined in the fray once the fighting exploded. It¡¯d be nearly impossible to fire into that chaos without heavy friendly fire. They drew small finesse styled weaponry, daggers, short spears, and light hammers. The sharp ring of steel matching steel echoed into my ears.


    But that was all the time I could spend watching the others battle. The giant axe wielding woman cracked her neck. The feathered man stood up straight, a nasty grin on his face. The fox woman hadn¡¯t moved, her shroud keeping her face covered. The three stood twenty feet away. But I could tell, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. They were poised to attack.


    Daila sniffed. ¡°Elea.¡±


    ¡°On it.¡± The elf stepped forward, turning to me and winking before a mass of brown roots grew from the ground, crawling up her body. In a second she was swallowed by them, dragged underground.


    The crow man¡¯s face twisted into a slimy smile. ¡°Ooo, goodie. I get to fight the babe. Lucky day. Maybe I¡¯ll get to have some fun after¡ª¡± Roots shot out of the ground under him, cutting off his words. The roots zipped straight to his feet, tangling around the man. But just as they were about to tighten, the man burst into the air, leaving behind a mass of dark feathers. Elea arose from the ground just a few feet away from where the man was.


    ¡°I assure your dear, the fun has only begun. Just wait until I get a good grip on you. You¡¯ll never want to leave.¡± She said with her usual flirtatious smirk.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make it sound so tempting.¡± The man spun in the air, black feathers shedding from his arms. Dozens flew, heading straight for Elea. But before they landed, the wood mage dropped her hands to the ground. A wall of tree bark grew out of the ground, catching all the feathery missiles.


    The man dropped back on the ground, his smile now barring all his teeth. ¡°Oh this will be fun.¡±


    Elea dropped her bark shield down a bit, just enough to show off her torso. She ran a finger down the front of her chest. ¡°I¡¯ve never had any complaints.¡±


    I gulped. Daila coughed, nudging my side. ¡°Sorry.¡± I said, bringing my attention back to the other two leaders.


    ¡°Tawny, Hait.¡± Daila addressed the twins who no longer clung to me.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± They answered.


    ¡°Support the troops. Leave these two to Liam and myself.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Hait asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I know you¡¯ll be fine, but he will need our help against that mountain of a lady.¡± Tawny said. At another time I¡¯d have been annoyed with her lack of faith in my abilities, but thinking back on that devastating blow the burly woman just used, I had to agree.


    ¡°No, our troops are terribly outnumbered, they will need you more. If, ahem, when we win, we¡¯ll need an escape route. I¡¯m leaving that up to the two of you. Understood?¡±


    The two fidgeted but nodded.


    ¡°Good. Now go. It appears we are out of time for any further discussion.¡±


    Tawny alighted her arms in yellow electricity, while Hait formed a ball of water next to his head. They walked off, turning back for a second. ¡°You¡¯d better not   Liam. It¡¯d make our squad look bad.¡± Tawny said.


    ¡°We''re not done paying our debt yet, either.¡± Hait called out.


    Dumb kids, you¡¯ve done plenty. I clenched my fists. I¡¯m sorry for wrapping you into my mess. Not that I have any clue how I got into it in the first place. Seriously, what do they even want from me?A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    The fox woman had her hand raised to her arm, this time wielding a strange sword. It curved heavily, almost like that of a gardening scythe. She pointed it at me.


    ¡°Glenna, remember, no permanent damage.¡±


    The giant woman nodded. She stepped in front of the fox¡¯s outstretched weapon. ¡°Yes Chief. But don¡¯t trouble yourself. I can handle the two of them myself.¡± The woman leaned her whole body back, raising up a single foot. She bellowed out, so loudly I felt it in my chest. I swear, everyone in the immediate area paused as her voice roared to the heavens.


    The fox lady lowered her blade. ¡°Very well. Show me, my friend.¡±


    She slammed her foot into the ground once she was given the okay, making a small crater under her heel.


    She launched off that foot, axe held high, heading straight for Daila and me.


    Daila pushed me out of the way, just in time. The world slowed for a moment as I looked at the side of the axe blade, watching my reflection fly to the ground.


    I rebalanced myself with my tail and hopped back a few feet. The woman¡¯s axe shattered the ground, blowing dust and debris into the air where I was just standing. My left eye twitched as I looked at the sheer destruction. Forget permanent damage, that blow would have killed me.


    The dust settled, the hulking woman¡¯s blade still stuck in the ground. And something else.


    Red goop covered the ground where her attack landed. The crimson goop also coated the axe head stuck in the ground. The woman¡¯s face twisted as she tried to retrieve it. But she couldn¡¯t pull the blade out of the earth. Soon the substance¡¯s red hue faded. It seemed to have lost all its, well for lack of a better word, goopiness, now calcifying, ensuring that the blade couldn¡¯t move from its spot.


    I looked over to my mousey companion. Daila must have dropped a vial on the ground right before the attack landed. What a great move. But Daila¡¯s face said otherwise. It was tense.


    Daila ran around the woman, drawing some of the knives from her belt. She threw them at our enemy, aiming right for her forehead. The woman let the blade go with one of her hands, raising it to block the coming knives. The blades struck, but landed shallow. The woman¡¯s muscled arms practically bounced the knives away.


    But Daila had far too many tricks up her sleeves, her whole body was covered in those tricks, actually.


    She pulled a few vials, light green ones that I recognized immediately. The acid she used against the rock dwarf. Damn, Daila wasn¡¯t pulling any punches here. She threw them at the woman. They exploded against her blocking arm, light green liquid trailing down her veiny forearm.


    This fight¡¯s over. I thought. I remembered how badly that crap burned, and I only had a few splashes. She hulk over there just got a full dose. That arm was toast.


    I turned to the fox woman, surely she¡¯d intervene with her subordinate on the ropes like this. But she hadn¡¯t moved an inch, except for her head. It was directed right at me. Shining purple eyes hidden under the cloak met my own. Why wasn¡¯t she watching the fight, or helping her lackey? From how the other underground ferals acted, I figured loyalty was a big deal to them. But with the intensity of her stare told me she hadn¡¯t taken her eyes off of me for a second.


    Another bellow filled the air. I turned back to the axe woman. Her arm sizzled as the acid worked its magic.  But her arm didn¡¯t melt away like the dwarf¡¯s had. Daila¡¯s face twisted as she readied a few more vials. A few white strands of her hair escaped the tight bun.


    The woman grabbed the axe with both hands. Veins popped out of her forehead as her massive arms bulged, gripping the axe handle. The acid burned away as her arms began to glow. The ground cracked around the hardened goop on her axe.


    Before it got any further, Daila tossed an assortment of vials. But with another ear-piercing roar, the woman tore the axe from its confines. With a speed one such as her shouldn¡¯t be allowed to have, she swung the axe out, catching all the vials with a single swing. A host of colors exploded on contact with the earth-covered blade. She swung again, the wind pressure blowing the colorful smoke away. The woman¡¯s face was stone-cold, but the pressure surrounding her said otherwise. If I was in Tigris form, I bet I¡¯d feel nothing but waves of anger coming off her.


    She charged Daila, swinging wildly. Daila ducked and dodged each of the blows, dropping vials with each movement. Acid and the red goop covered the ground, but none of it slowed the woman¡¯s assault. Soon, other colored mixtures joined the mixture. Soon a rainbow surrounded the two women as Daila danced around the woman¡¯s assault. None of the colors lasted long, each evaporating into the sky.


    It was almost mesmerizing. It looked choreographed, planned even, like a show you¡¯d see at an amusement park.


    I shook my head. I needed to help Daila, she shouldn¡¯t be fighting alone, even if I wasn¡¯t sure how I could even help against the woman. I started for the woman while she was turned away from me. But just before I took a step, Daila yelled. ¡°Wait!¡±


    Daila¡¯s eyes shifted upward for a split second after she called out. I followed them. A cloud of rainbow colored gas sat above the woman. All the smoke from her dropped potions whirled above their bodies. She must have had a plan, and I was about to get in the way.


    Daila jumped back from the assault after she managed to drop some of the red glue on the woman¡¯s foot. While the woman fought with the sticky substance, Daila tossed another couple of vials at the woman. A one-handed axe swing swatted the vials away with ease. But they were decoys. In the flurry of vials, one was thrown up into the cloud. The vial shattered inside the cloud, and in the next second, the whole cloud fell on top of the burly lady, swallowing her. She flung out with her arm and axe, coughing and sputtering as she inhaled. Not gonna lie, it was satisfying to see them getting a taste of their own medicine.


    Daila switched back to the knives on her belt while her opponent was distracted, throwing out six in rapid succession. Daila was going to win. I about cheered for her right there on the spot.


    But before the knives connected, the blades clanked against metal and fell from the air. Even in that fit, the massive woman could block, But it wasn¡¯t the woman¡¯s axe that stopped them.


    The fox woman¡¯s curved blade cut through the air. She stood within the smoke. And then, with a single swipe of her tail, pushed Daila¡¯s cloud away.


    Her tail glowed green for a moment, as her tail fluffed up and shook. A green mist poured from it, surrounding her still coughing comrade.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Glenna, I think I should handle that one. You focus on the boy.¡±

 142. Flying Sparks

    The green mist swirled around the warrior woman¡¯s chest, half flowing into her mouth and the rest suffusing into her dark tan skin, especially around her acid burned arm. The burly woman rose to her feet once it finished, flexing her mildly healed arm. Her eyes flamed with both rage and embarrassment at having to be saved by her leader. She must be the bodyguard in their relationship and was deeply upset that she¡¯d failed. Her pride took a hit. Those raging eyes flung up and glared at the new target of her ire, me. The ever so lucky me.


    The fox woman leaned over and whispered something into the woman¡¯s ear. The woman gave the briefest of nods, her eyes trained on me the whole time. The warrior lifted a foot.


    The moment it hit the ground , I shifted into Ursa. There was no time for monkeying around anymore. Apis didn¡¯t stand a chance against her; the only problem was, I wasn¡¯t positive Ursa did either. Any of my forms for that matter. My disheveled armor tightened around my shoulders as I grew. Dark claws sprouted from my hands as black fur puffed out of my arm guards and around my legs. The fur grew unimpeded on my bare leg where the boss had eaten my armor.


    Dirt and grass piled behind my oncoming foe as she dragged her axe along the ground, tilling the earth in a slight zigzag pattern, her steps uneven. Glass shattered in the distance, telling me that Daila¡¯s battle with the leader had begun. But I couldn¡¯t dare to look away from the warrior before me. That¡¯d be a death sentence for sure. Or a capture sentence? I shook my head. Focus. Which element will work best on her? She¡¯s strong. She wields an axe. Good. And she''s tough? Damn it, give me more than that.


    The woman¡¯s slow gait gave me a chance to plan so I wasn''t going to waste it. Yet that proved to be a challenge on its own. I tried to recall what I¡¯d seen her do, but my thoughts were garbled. Ursa dampened my mind¡¯s sharpness, its battlestyle relied on instinct rather than planning.


    My foe apparently didn¡¯t care about that though. She stopped a few feet away from me. I raised my arms up in a guarding stance, making sure to keep my footing light as Jaren taught me when fighting against an opponent much stronger than myself. And by god was she strong, throwing that huge axe around like it was a child¡¯s toy. If only his advice was for fighting people and not monsters. A glaring hole in my training as it were.


    She lifted the giant axe straight into the air. I watched it, getting ready to dodge when it came down. When it lands might be the best chance to go for an attack as well. Soulslike logic I know, but that was the level of planning Ursa could handle.


    As I got ready to counter, the burly woman slammed the weapon into the ground in the blink of an eye. The earth shattered around us before I could even think about moving an inch towards her. Oh. I¡¯m dead aren¡¯t I? I stumbled backwards, patting my body down making sure all my bits were still connected. And to my surprise, they were.


    I looked back at the woman. She released her grip on the axe, leaving it standing tall in the ground. She twisted her neck and rolled her shoulders, pops and cracks coming from her movements like a rice krispies commercial. Snap, Crackle and Pop.


    She ended her stretches with a deep trunk twist, which I realized was my chance. If she was going to be this arrogant, dropping her weapon and underestimating me like this, I needed to punish it. Once she finished twisting from the left and shifted to her right, I pounced. I launched at her, small blue arcs flickered around my claws as they ripped through the air, aimed right at her twisted torso. I was unsure when I made the decision to use the lightning charged Elemental Claws but it was made either way; if only this wasn¡¯t the first real battle I¡¯d used them in.


    But as my claws were about to rip into her unprotected stomach, they stopped. The woman whipped around on her legs and grabbed one of my wrists. In the next second I was flying through the air. My back crashed into the ground, making me gasp.


    But it didn¡¯t hurt that much. Odd considering how much power I¡¯ve seen her sue up until now. Maybe I was just tough, but something felt off about that attack. It was weak, weaker than anything she threw at Daila.


    I got up in a rush and flung another swipe at her. She blocked with her forearm, throwing my blow off course and then slammed her side into me. I stumbled backwards for a moment. I looked at her, the fury in her eyes had died down, now replaced with annoyance. But it didn¡¯t seem directed at me, but at herself.


    I took the chance to attack with a flurry of strikes, blue sparks bleeding off my hands. But she shrugged off the static discharge, blocking or dodging each blow with relative ease. I never gave her another chance to throw me at least, making sure to bring my arms back after each strike. I stayed on my feet and on the attack. Ursa fought best when it dictated the flow of battle. So I sent attack after attack, hoping to break her guard even once. But it never did. She even managed a few counters on me.


    After a punch to my gut, I backed away from her. Looking no worse for wear, she took a deep breath. She wheezed near the end of it, coughing something up and spitting it out. It was an odd colored ball of phlegm, a mixture of colors that looked slightly like the cloud Daila made a moment ago. That¡¯s it, she¡¯s not at her full strength. Whatever Daila did to her weakened the tough broad, and that might just be enough. A quick plan formed in my head. One I think would work well on someone like her. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I attacked with both hands, similar to my initial assault. She made the distinction immediately and grabbed both of them. With a pull, she tried to shift my weight again and knock me to the ground. But I planted my feet this time. I was not going to be her ragdoll to toss around. I threw her hands off and then pushed forward. She met my hands. I interlocked my fingers with hers, pushing into her as she pushed back. We stood at the same height when I was in this form, so the force behind our respective pushes was even in that sense, neither of us getting gravity to assist. But damn was she strong.


    It took every ounce of muscle power to match her own. And she was weakened. I looked into her eyes. They were dark brown, almost black. But they lacked the anger from earlier. I think she was even grinning a bit. She gritted her teeth and pushed even harder. ¡°Bout time you showed some backbone. I¡¯d figured you a pansy ass this whole time. But you¡¯re about ten years too green to go toe-to-toe with me. Here, try twisting your shoulder a bit.¡± She flexed her hand in such a way that it forced my shoulder down, allowing me to push harder.


    Her words enraged me, and not because of their content. I couldn¡¯t give a damn about all that. No, it was the fact she was talking at all. This hulking woman didn¡¯t utter a single phrase while fighting Daila, but I got a freaking lecture. And worse yet, her little shoulder trick helped. It infuriated me. I felt the temptation to Ursa-Rage. And while I knew I would probably need it in this fight, I needed to see this plan through first. I doubt I¡¯d have the patience if I raged right now.


    ¡°Hehe, did I hurt your little feelings?¡± She giggled as she mocked. My indignation must have been plain as day on my face. Red aura flowed off her shoulders. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll end this quicker, save you some shame.¡± I felt my strength waning, where she found the strength to talk shit and do this was beyond me, but a simple test of brute force wasn¡¯t my goal. I pushed harder. Now that she was locked in on the challenge presented to her, I activated Elemental Discharge.


    Lightning was the oddest of Ursa¡¯s elemental powers. Whereas ice, fire, and earth shot out projectiles immediately, lightning needed to not only charge up the bolt of lightning, but also had to be aimed well in advance. Made it my least favorite. But this came with a caveat: it was way more powerful than the others.


    So I charged it up during our clinch. The arcs on my hands grew more sporadic as they eventually climbed up my arm. The arcs of energy sat on my shoulder before launching into the sky.


    ¡°That tickles.¡± She said as she watched the arcs launch up above her. But instead of loosening her grip to escape the clearly telegraphed attack, she clamped down harder. I met her strength. My heavy claws dug into her hands, but even the skin on the muscle bound woman¡¯s hands pushed back before they could draw blood. Just what did her Constitution score look like? 100+?


    ¡°Boy, a little shock won¡¯t scare me.¡±


    I strained, fighting with everything I had. ¡°Good thing, Egh, heh, it isn¡¯t, ack, little.¡±


    The blue bolt shot out of the sky, landing right on the woman¡¯s head. Her body jerked left and right. Her fingers tightened even more as the electricity ran through her nervous system. The arcs ran up my arms, hurting me. Only my claws got resistance from the element, the rest of my body was still susceptible. My brain and body wracked with the electricity, but thankfully she took the brunt of the blow.


    After the bolt ran its course, she let me go. I released my grip as well, backing away on unsteady feet, eventually dropping to one knee.


    Yet she stayed still, so still that I wondered if I killed her. However, after an uneasy second, she opened her mouth and a small plume of smoke leaked out. She straightened her back, then looked down at me, her eyes raging once again.


    ¡°Okay you little shit. That kind of hurt.¡± The red aura on her shoulders intensified. I recognized it. It looked just like when Ursa-Rage activated, meaning she was about to power up. She meandered back to her axe, gripping its handle with one hand. ¡°I was told to go easy on you. To make sure you lived.¡± Her grip tightened. ¡°And I will see that order through. But it just occurred to me that we don¡¯t need you in one piece. And those hands are pissing me off.¡±


    She pulled the axe from the ground. I felt a tingle on my wrists. I pulled them back and rolled away. Dust and dirt exploded from where I was just kneeling. Once it settled, I saw the axe jutting out of the ground by itself. She must have thrown it.


    Then a hand rested on my shoulder. I went to move, but the hand both squeezed and pushed down, stopping me in my tracks.


    ¡°Good Preflexes. Just not good enough.¡± Her hot breath tickled my ear. ¡°Good night.¡±


    ¡°Glenna! Enough!¡±


    I flinched at the voice. It came from behind. I wanted to turn and look, but a fist sat barely an inch from my face. It unfurled and moved from my face.


    A small hope blossomed in my chest. Did Daila win? Was she holding the fox lady hostage? Is that why she stopped so fast? The questions ran through my head, begging for an answer.


    Finally the massive woman let my shoulder go. I twisted around to see what was happening. My heart sank.


    The fox tailed woman stood above a bloodied and beaten Daila. Splotches of red blood dotted her normally pure white hair. The strange curved blade sat at her throat.


    The fox woman addressed me. ¡°Now, Liam, will you please come with us?¡±

 143. A Feral Choice

    Daila laid on the ground, unmoving. The fox woman sat above her, holding the blade at her throat, its edge pushing into skin but not drawing blood. Towering behind her was the giant silver pillar the boss made, explosions of both green and white flickering all around it.


    I knew in my brain that Daila wasn¡¯t dead, but that¡¯s not what Ursa form saw. He saw a friend lying on the ground, in a pool of her own blood. And the enemy that did this to her.


    Sanguine waves grew around the edge of my vision. The rage I¡¯d only recently learned to control welled up inside; no amount of force or willpower would stop it. And truthfully, I didn¡¯t want to. I really, really, wanted to hurt her. Damn near every bone in my body wanted to launch at the fox, but I wanted Daila to live more.


    And the woman saw that.


    Her cloak no longer shrouded her face, torn and burnt by Daila¡¯s knives and concoctions, revealing a bright orange pixie cut hairstyle. She had a few wounds of her own as well, blood seeped from a gash above her right eye, forcing it to stay shut. Her entire cloak was riddled with burn holes of varying sizes and colors. She was hiding her other hand behind her, making me think it may be injured. At least it looked like Daila took a pound of flesh.


    But the leader¡¯s remaining eye smoldered with emotion. I wasn¡¯t sure what emotion, though. She was neither angry nor triumphant.


    Before I could figure it out, her single open eye moved down to my hands. I looked down as well, shocked to find that massive arcs of electricity jumped across each claw.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, let me put him to sleep. Then¡ª¡±


    I twisted over to the massive red-haired woman, swinging my claws out. The arcs on my hands shot out towards her, climbing up her arm. But she endured it, not taking her eyes off of her mistress for a second.


    The fox woman slowly shook her head. ¡°No, Glenna. He will come. Liam. I promise you, Daila is only passed out. She isn¡¯t dead.¡±


    My head twitched as the anger burned inside, but I looked down at the mouse woman. Her chest rose and fell. Softly, even peacefully.


    ¡°Okay, Liam, all I need you to do now is revert from that form. I will remove the blade once you do. Then we can speak on equal terms.¡±


    My eyes darted back and forth between the Daila and the fox-tailed woman. How do I know she¡¯ll stay true to her word? But she will kill Daila. Right? This isn¡¯t some bluff. Argh! But she hurt Daila! Thoughts of anger and uneasiness collided in my head. Ursa really wasn¡¯t the form to be in for this type of turmoil.


    But before I could make a decision, the crow man that stood next to her in the beginning walked over to her side, one hand down his trousers, the other holding a rope that dragged along the ground. A good amount of bruises and bruises adorned his bare chest, while more than a few of his dark feathers were signed. He panted when he stopped.


    ¡°That, huff, was not, whew,  fun, my lady.¡± He said in between tired breaths.


    ¡°I know. But did you¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course. Have I, puff damn it, ever let you down? Now come on, you two.¡± He pulled the rope harder. I followed it down, my heart dropping into my stomach once I saw what was at the end of it.


    ¡°Tawny! Hait!¡± My fury reignited upon seeing the two tied up together. Both of their mouths were filled with feathers and eyes wide with panic. My vision went completely red. But then, right before I delved further into that crimson abyss, I heard a small, mousey cough.


    And in that split second of clarity, I shifted into base form. My armor loosened as I shrunk back down. My knees hit the dirt. The anger still simmered in my chest, but it was directed at myself for getting them all wrapped up in my bullshit. Even if I didn¡¯t understand what it actually was.


    Once it finished, I turned to the fox woman. ¡°There, happy now.¡±


    The leader grinned, and promptly removed the blade from Daila¡¯s throat. ¡°Yes, and please call me Lisse.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The name sounded familiar, but I couldn¡¯t place it.


    Her red-haired hulk snorted. ¡°No ma¡¯am. You must be addressed as Chief, especially by this city folk.¡±


    ¡°Glenna, we have been over this. He isn¡¯t city folk. He¡¯s as Feral as they come, just like us. Isn¡¯t that right, Liam?¡± Lisse¡¯s voice grew friendlier by the second as she addressed me. She wore a warm smile as the crow man wiped the blood from her brow with one of his feathers.


    ¡°We must leave now. Glenna round up¡­¡±


    Lisse barked orders to the soldiers surrounding her, but the words were deaf in my ears. I looked around the area. The entire squad of soldiers I marched with had been wiped out. Some still breathed, tied up like the twins, yet others didn¡¯t. At least there was some solace to be had; I wasn¡¯t the only one who lost. We were all utterly defeated. I closed my eyes.


    I shivered. The hairs along my entire body stood straight up. This feeling again. I looked up behind Lisse, past her, up at the giant silver tower. A shining red light blinked back at me. The boss¡¯s challenge.


    Mimic the boss.


    ¡°Wait!¡± I yelled at the busying group of ferals. They each turned over to me. Lisse spoke up first. ¡°Liam. We¡ª¡±


    ¡°No! Before we go anywhere, I have two conditions for my surrender. If you meet them, I will go with you willingly. No fuss, no fight. Hell, I¡¯ll go with a smile on my face and skip in my step.¡± I said with a cheery tone. ¡°But they must be met,¡± I said, returning to my serious tone. ¡°If not, then I will be the largest pain in the ass you all have ever met. I kick, scream, and bite at every single one of you for the rest of my days. I will try to escape every chance I get. And I will never cease trying. I will attack every single guard you put to watch me. And you will have to tie me down and water board me every single day to get me to cooperate.¡±


    The whole crowd was stunned by my outburst as they looked among themselves. I knew I probably sounded like a petulant child throwing a tantrum, but I had to try.


    The crow man was the first to respond, walking up to me. He stood nearly a foot taller than me. His face twisted as he leaned over, getting right in my face. ¡°Do you really think you have leverage here?¡± He tugged on the rope holding the twins, trying to prove his point.


    I held his gaze for a moment before turning to the twins. Worry rimmed their eyes. I said no words and gave them a pointed nod. They looked at each other and then back at me, returning the nod.


    Before the crow attempted to intimidate me further, Lisse stepped between us.


    ¡°Let us hear him out first. Please, Liam, we mustn¡¯t linger here long. I want you to join us freely. If I can meet these conditions, then I will. So tell me. What do you want?¡±


    I cleared my throat. ¡°First off. I want you to make sure Daila, and those twins get back to the command tents as soon as possible. You will heal any injuries you have caused them and ensure their safe return. That goes along with all the soldiers in this squad, as well as any stragglers your people may find.¡±


    Lisse nodded, turning back to the crow man. ¡°Handle it.¡±


    ¡°But chief¡­¡±


    ¡°Handle. It.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Always the fun work. Alright, runts. Lesgo.¡± He pulled the rope again.


    Lisse smacked the back of his head. ¡°Untie them first. And get the feathers out of his mouth.¡±


    He grumbled under his breath but followed her orders.


    ¡°Liam, don¡¯t do this.¡± Tawny said as soon as her mouth was free.


    ¡°The city will brand you a traitor. If you even come near Laurel, you will be killed on sight.¡±


    I shook my head, a sardonic smile grew on my lips. ¡°Is that all?¡±


    ¡°Liam, now isn¡¯t the time for jokes.¡± Hait said as his feathery gag was undone. ¡°You will never be welcome back home.¡±


    I shook my head again, finally saying what I thought. ¡°Thanks guys. But let¡¯s be real, it was never really my home.¡± Tawny tried to protest further, but Hait stopped her, giving me a nod. She relented, copying her brother''s gesture.


    Oddly enough, Lisse chuckled at my words, as if agreeing with them.


    The crow man pushed them along with the aid of some other ferals.  The group picked up the other survivors as well as Daila and followed after. I called out to the twins before they got too far away, remembering something vital. ¡°One thing before you go. Make sure you tell Mrs. Warbler, ''Thank you!¡¯ for me. She was the best person I met in that whole damned city.¡±


    ¡°AYE AYE SIR!¡± They replied in tandem, giving me the Laurelhaven shoulder salute.


    Lisse smiled at them. ¡°They are wonderful." Her words sounded full of nurturing as she looked at the twins. She sighed, turning back to me. "But now on to your second condition.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°This is the tough one.¡± My eyes wandered back over to the silver tower.


    ¡°I need you to escort me to the boss.¡±

 144. Stupid Plans

    I gulped as my eyes wandered upwards. The boss¡¯s self-made tower rose unbelievably high in the sky. Its interlaced silver threads climbed towards the heavens; I swore it was tall enough to touch Len''s flames. I turned my attention to the flames dancing in the sky. I think Len¡¯s strength was finally waning. The flames didn¡¯t roil as wildly as they did at the start of the Final Wave. They grew dimmer, enough for those at the tower to see just fine, but the rest of the battlefield was growing dark. Though that was fine. Most of the fighting only took place at the tower now.


    Hordes of legionnaires scurried around the bottom of the tower, fighting off the waves of silvered reptiles that spawned from the tower¡¯s base. The metallic liquid that made up the tower dripped and the droplets that fell turned into the beast¡¯s that the legions fought against. A sonorous refrain of steel and bone resounded in the air as the battle raged.


    A huge green arc spiraled around the tower''s peak, slicing off a huge chunk of the tower. The entire tower wavered for a moment, shifting like paper in the wind, almost looking as if it would fall over. But as the cut portion fell towards the ground, a side of the tower unraveled and extended underneath the falling wall. The broken portion fell on and then immediately reintegrated with the tower. The wavering stopped after it finished absorbing the part.


    I should be happy. That was clearly a sign that Jaren and company were whittling down the beast, that victory was nearing. But the tense pit in my gut told me I was running out of time. That I couldn¡¯t miss this chance.


    Lisse coughed, bringing me back to reality. We knelt on a ridge away from the fighting. Far enough away to get a view of the battle and not be noticed. Easy enough with the meager size of our group.


    On my left was the fox-tailed chieftain of the Ferals, Lisse. The wounds she received in her fight against Daila had mostly healed up after one of her subordinates¡ªa Support by Laurelhaven standards¡ªhad her drink an odd colored tonic along with a quick use of Basic Healing. She stared at the battle unperturbed. If she was nervous about this ridiculous second condition of my surrender, she didn¡¯t show it. I was still shocked at how quickly she accepted my request about getting to the boss. I thought I¡¯d have had to fight a lot harder for it. But here we are.


    On my right was her bodyguard and assistant, Glenna the barbarian, or at least that¡¯s what I called her. She¡¯d received some healing as well, but most of the damage I inflicted didn¡¯t amount to much. But though her mistress already okayed the mission, Glenna was not happy about being here. A fact she didn¡¯t attempt to hide for even a second.


    ¡°Close enough yet?¡± She asked, her deep voice only barely hiding her discomfort at our present situation.


    ¡°No, like I said earlier, I need to be within twenty five feet away to mimic it.¡±


    She snarled. ¡°What does that even mean? And how the hell are we going to get you there? You said you had a plan.¡±


    I shook my head, backing up the blatant lie I¡¯d said on our way over to the boss. ¡°I know, I¡¯m¡­just waiting for the opportune moment.¡±


    Glenna grunted at my weak answer, something I have noticed is her primary form of communication, aside from when she speaks with Lisse that is.


    Lisse shook her head. ¡°No, we promised Liam. I¡¯m sure he has a plan, I saw it in his eyes.¡± I looked over to the fox woman, giving her a thankful nod.


    ¡°But ma¡¯am, we are too exposed out here.¡±


    ¡°Calm yourself Glenna. Do I need to cast Soothing Vapors on you?¡±


    ¡°No. I must remain vigilant. It''s just¡­ I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re trusting this¡­buffoon.¡±


    ¡°The buffoon has a name, and is sitting right here.¡± I said, not that I really disagreed with her sentiment, I was pretty buffoonish.


    ¡°Quiet, buffoon. Do not interrupt my lady.¡± She bared her teeth at me, revealing the gnarly set of teeth in her mouth. They were her trope, one she tried to hide most of the time, from what I could tell. She didn¡¯t show off those gorilla teeth even once during our bout. But she was clearly nervous now and wasn¡¯t worried if a buffoon like me saw them.


    Lisse gave me a rundown on her and Glenna while we trekked over to the boss. Glenna had the Gorillian gene, pretty on the nose with the name this time. It explained her immense strength and speed. And her¡­assertive personality.


    Lisse herself had the Foxen gene, but that was apparent, though her powers were somewhat atypical. She had a suite of mists and vapors she could exude from her tail that did a number of things, though she was opaque in her explanation; by design I assume. I¡¯d earned a level of trust with her for some reason I can¡¯t explain, but not a complete one. Girls need their secrets, I guess.


    I turned back to the battle at the tower. I was searching for something, anything to give me an idea of how I could get to the boss.


    There was no chance at climbing from the bottom. The Legions themselves were fighting a full scale conflict down there. And while these two women are terrifyingly strong, no way we¡¯re getting through all that unscathed. Plus if these two get captured the Ferals would launch an assault on the already battered Laurel forces.


    I¡¯d thought about going under the battlefield using one of the Feral digging crews, but Lisse told me she¡¯d already sounded the retreat once she found me. And apparently her underground teams reported that the tower''s base went far underground as well, nearly to the bedrock. So it wouldn¡¯t have worked anyway.


    That only left one solution, getting to it by the air. And as fate would have it, no one here had flying powers. Not a part of a gorilla or fox¡¯s wheelhouse.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    But getting up the tower was only one half of the problem. I was missing an exit strategy as well. Something Gramps harped on anytime I tried to do something half-cocked on one of our expeditions. ¡°Damn it boy. Don¡¯t run into a burning building if you can¡¯t get out without your ass catching fire. Prep first, then go.¡± And he would know, he ran into a few of them during his days in the military.


    I remembered when he took me rock climbing in Arizona one summer when I was sixteen. I was so excited to get to the top of this huge red plateau, it was the tallest in the area and would let us see for miles.


    I climbed up a quarter way up the two hundred foot rock wall until I realized I¡¯d forgotten to bring some climbing spikes. Got berated for that one the whole rest of the trip, and the next three trips after.


    I closed my eyes. What would you do in this spot, Gramps?


    Just about every form was still on cooldown. Salamandras was up but¡­I looked at the two women next to me. Nope. Not that spitting acid would particularly be effective in the first place. Ranged battle wasn¡¯t helping the Legions either.


    I watched on as I saw archer after archer try to aim shots up at the top of the tower, none ever making it past the three quarters mark. Heck, one poor sap was trying to throw knives and hand axes up to it. He was matching the archers though, must be an ability.


    There was a whole plethora of interesting tactics the Legions were using against the boss adds. From phalanx formations to pincers, they were trying it all. My favorite was the guy at the back line throwing what appeared to be barrels of oil or some other flammable liquid as mages in the backline ignited it, torching the chrome lizards.


    As I watched the guy pick up another barrel, something clicked in my head. I looked over to Glenna, who responded to my sudden movement with a snort and glare, then over to the archers firing up the tower. And with that a plan formed in my head. Yet another stupid plan, but this one might just beat out the rest in its sheer insanity. A stupid plan to reign supreme over this entire day of stupid plans.


    The tower wavered again, this time hit by a bright white explosion. Huge chunks of the silver substance dropped to the earth, splattering on both monster and soldier alike.


    ¡°Damn it.¡± I didn¡¯t have time to question the plan any longer.


    I turned over to Glenna. ¡°Look down there,¡± I said, pointing down to the guy throwing barrels.


    She followed my finger, scoffing once she looked upon the man. ¡°Hmm, what a weakling. Look how hard it is for him to toss a simple barrel just a few dozen feet. You city folk are truly pathetic. I¡¯d toss it three or four times the distance without breaking a sweat.¡±


    Ignoring her jab, I asked the burning question. ¡°Can you back that claim up?¡±


    She flexed her arm, the veins on her bicep rippled. ¡°Of course.¡±


    I turned to Lisse. ¡°Can she?¡±


    Lisse head title to the side. ¡°No doubt,  but why?¡±


    ¡°Because I need her to fling a barrel as far up the side of the tower as she can.¡±


    Glenna scrunched up her face. ¡°What barrel?¡±


    I smirked, ¡°this one.¡±


    I activated Object Mimicry, choosing my barrel form, the one I got back when I hid with Ingrid in the storage room in the Gloom. Faux-wood grew from under my skin, leaking around my clothes and then hardening around me. The planks came together as I contorted my limbs around, getting them as close to my chest as I could. And after a second, I finished. I was now a barrel in the middle of a battlefield.


    I opened one of my eyes on the side of the barrel and looked up to the two feral women. Each having a vastly different expression. Lisse looked intrigued beyond belief, her face moving right up to my barrel body, then all around it. Her breath tickled when she moved near my backside. Glenna sat in utter disbelief and just a bit of disgust, her mouth wide open.


    ¡°It¡¯s just like Griddy said. Just how does that work? Can you feel everything? Can you speak?¡±


    ¡°Yep, sure can.¡± I said, making the lid of the barrel move as I did. Which I¡¯d never done before. I¡¯m not actually sure I¡¯ve ever spoken in an object form before. I just knew that I could. What do the other forms do when I talk? I wondered.


    Glenna raised her fist in shock and nearly punched my lid before Lisse stopped her.


    ¡°It¡¯s so unnatural. My lady. Is this truly who we were looking for?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve never been more sure than right now.¡± Her eyes alight with curiosity.


    I rolled along the edge of my bottom around, to face Glenna. She leaned back as my little eye stared at her.


    ¡°Okay, go ahead.¡±


    She squinted her eyes at me, then looked over to Lisse. ¡°Ma¡¯am. I, um.¡±


    ¡°Do as he asks.¡±


    ¡°But ma¡¯am. How are we going to retrieve him? Once he gets what he wants he could just slip back in with the soldiers. That is if he doesn¡¯t break his neck on the way back down the tower.¡±


    My lid clattered, Glenna had just pinpointed the major quandary with my plan. An exit plan. For a musclebound gorilla woman, she was sharp.


    Lisse raised a hand to her chin. After a minute, she looked at me and nodded.


    ¡°Throw him.¡±


    ¡°But ma¡¯am¡ª¡±


    ¡°Enough. I have spoken. He gave us his word, and I believe him.¡±


    Glenna opened her mouth, but closed it soon after. She took a deep breath, and grunted with all her might. Shifting red energy rose from her shoulders. She grabbed me off the ground, lugging me under her armpit.


    ¡°Buffoon. From this distance, I might get you about halfway up. Can you climb the rest?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± She lifted me in front of her. I closed my eye and lid, tightening every plank together as closely as they could.


    ¡°One moment.¡± Lisse said, stopping her subordinate. Anxiety hit me like a truck(something I know too well). Was she about to force a time limit on me or ask for some assurance that I would return. Something like we¡¯ll hurt the twins if you don¡¯t get back here in ten minutes.


    ¡°Liam.¡± Her voice was calm. ¡°Be safe. Throw him.¡±


    Without missing a beat, Glenna twisted her body and spun. She spun me around in circles, faster than any amusement park ride ever had. She was using her body like a sling, spinning to gain the correct force. Once we hit her max velocity, she let me go.


    I flew through the air, fighting off the intense desire to scream my lungs out, but god only knows what would happen to my lid if I tried that. I settled for peeking open a single eye. I was spiraling through the air, flying above the intense battle below, yet still rising. Luckily, Glenna tossed me sideways, so I could see my distance every rotation.


    Slight issue. I was moving fast. Way faster than I imagined in my head. My stomach shifted once I hit the peak of my flight. I was only a few feet away from it now.


    Ah, this is going to hurt, isn¡¯t it?

 145. Tower Climb

    I braced for impact; I had a feeling that even with my plank covered body that this was going to hurt. The twisting silver rods interlaced together didn¡¯t really scream ¡°easy landing.¡± But just before I closed my eyes, the side of the tower I was hurtling toward¡­opened?


    The shifting metallic rods unraveled, making a hole, a barrel sized one at that. I slipped right through, a slight panic building in my chest. Did it know it was me flying through the air? But before I could dwell on it any further, I crashed into something. My back slammed into a pillar on the inside of the tower.


    I shifted out of barrel form the second I fell to the floor. I stood up, rubbing my sore back. ¡°Yep, not doing that again.¡± I said with little confidence. I stretched my body a bit, making sure there weren''t any injuries to worry about, and pleasantly surprised that my stomach wasn¡¯t aching after all that spinning. Maybe not that surprising though, this mimic gene gave me an iron stomach after all. I checked my status bars to get a more detailed report. Stamina was fine, about 90% full after a quick boost from the ferals. Though my mind was getting tired.


    My HP sat at about 85%, pretty good all things considered. Maybe barrel form had some defensive prowess. Something to think about.


    Yet the thought was kicked out of my head immediately once I focused back on my surroundings. I stood in the center of the tower. It wasn¡¯t as huge inside as it appeared from below. The hollow interior was maybe just a tad larger than the boss itself, its radius being maybe around 20 feet. Solid silver pillars, exactly like the one I crashed into, littered the inside of the tower, one being placed about every couple of feet from the next. They weren¡¯t very big; I could wrap my arms around them with no trouble. They must help give the tower its structure.


    My eyes climbed up the tower I sat stood next to. They went up about ten feet before hitting another floor. It¡¯s wild that this tower had floors in the first place. Why would a boss need to make more than one floor to begin with? I figured that damn lizard would make one platform at the very top and just sit there pelting the poor saps below with silver juice.


    I walked up to the edge of the tower, then made a dire mistake. I looked through the shifting silver bars that made up its walls, and saw just how freaking high up I was. The legions fighting off hordes of reptiles looked like children¡¯s toys. Only faint roars of battle made it this high. I leaned away from the edge once my anxiety couldn¡¯t handle it anymore. I looked off in the direction I flew in from. Glenna tossed me up higher than I thought she would. I watched as a few arrows and assorted throwing axes stopped at their max height and fell back to the ground.


    I must have been over three quarters of the way to the top. As I went to celebrate with a quick fist pump, the floor beneath me shook, along with the whole tower itself. I grabbed onto the pillar next to me and looked around. The roar of an explosion resounded above me. I looked up just in time to catch green, roiling energy flash around the tower above me. Another of Jaren¡¯s assaults. I prayed it wasn¡¯t enough to kill the beast. I got this far, I needed to see this through.


    Once the shaking calmed down, I looked around the floor, searching for a way to climb up the tower. ¡°You opened up for me and I appreciate that, but now would you be so kind as to give me some stairs.¡± I said, mostly out of nervousness. But there was nothing aside from the pillars. ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t think so.¡± I sighed, continuing my search.


    I found a way after I looked up at the ceiling again. The center most pillar wasn¡¯t directly connected to the ceiling or the floor. It was surrounded by a hole, kid of like the poles in a fire department. I looked up and down the pillar, then shrugged. ¡°If anything, it''s an escape route.¡±


    I wrapped my arms and legs around the pillar, the smooth yet sticky substance felt weird, but I could climb this no problem. Hell, the sticky nature would help. I started my ascent, making sure of my footing. How many of these floors are there? I wondered as I got close to the ceiling. Would the boss be at the top or would it hide amongst the floors. Maybe that was the reason there were so many. It would make my life easier if it was on the next one. Just a quick mimic and then a terrifying slide down the longest stripper pole on Kniyas. Easy, no muss, no fuss. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I shook my head. Yeah, right. Man, I''m so ready for this day to be over. God, I want to sleep.


    Just as I made it halfway through the hole in the ceiling, the tower shook again, this time huge thorny vines slammed into it, breaking through some of the silver rods making up the tower wall and even the pillars inside. I gripped down tighter on the central pillar. But as I did, the pillar heated up. Not enough to burn me, but enough to notice. Then an odd rushing sound came from the pillar. Like water rushing through a pipe. I felt something drip on my head. I looked up.


    ¡°Ah shit.¡±


    Silver goop streamed down the pillar right above my head. I kicked off the pillar just before the liquid poured all over me. My chest hit the edge of the hole and I climbed up it, rolling away from the central pillar. The silver liquid splashed around the pillar as it flowed downward. I looked over to the vines that broke through the wall. Odd, they didn¡¯t grow from the ground, like plants should. No, these seemed to come from higher up the tower.


    ¡°Lirae must be higher up.¡± A fact that didn¡¯t bring me any joy. No, it would probably only complicate things. But that didn¡¯t matter. I just needed to get the boss form and I would be out of here. I¡¯ll try to avoid her if I can.


    I looked at the central pillar. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can use this again. I¡¯ll avoid getting slimed by the boss if I can.¡±


    The silver rods and threads of the tower wall began to stitch themselves back together, cutting around the vines that broke through. They couldn¡¯t quite hack through them though, leaving a small hole in the wall. The boss must be getting weak, or it just doesn''t see the point in dealing with these vines. But they might just be my ticket up the tower.


    I tugged on the vines. They were sturdy, like thick rope. They¡¯d hold my weight with no issue. But¡­


    I peered over the edge of the tower. I gulped before backing away.


    It would be a terrifying climb if I tried it. No telling how the wind would throw me around, let alone Jaren and the light guy¡¯s attacks. If only I had a form that was good at climbing¡­


    I rubbed my forehead as my front teeth grew three times their normal size. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing thish.¡± I said with a slight lisp. ¡°Freaking teef.¡±


    I climbed up on the bundle of vines. A surge of power flowed through me. Bark Skim, the only ability Squirrel form had, activated. It gave a 20% boost to my AGI and DEX while climbing a tree. I guess it activated for any type of plant, not that I was complaining.


    I clamped down and made my way up.


    The ascent went smoothly enough. I¡¯m not sure if it was Squirrel form or not, but I felt way more confident climbing up the vines. Probably something to do with the fact that Squirrels are used to high places. I even looked down a few times and didn¡¯t piss my pants. Sure, Jaren and company thrashed around, but Squirrel form had no problem just hunkering down and waiting them out.


    It was hot though. Len¡¯s flames only grew hotter the closer to them, I got. I was shocked Jaren and Sparky could fly around in a fight in this intense heat. Or how Lirae¡¯s plants didn¡¯t dry up. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what I¡¯d be like when I got to their level. What kind of ridiculous feats could I achieve as a high-level mimic? I welcomed the random tangents, they were better than the monotonous climb.


    Separate lengths of vines draped all around the tower, leading me to believe that Lirae has been all around this tower, fighting on different floors. It reinforced my earlier idea that the boss must be hopping around them.


    The patch of vines I was currently climbing didn¡¯t grow all the way to the top. It was only enough to get me a few floors up. If I had to guess there could only be four more floors until I was at the top.


    I climbed up the vines and back into the tower. I dropped to the floor and sat down. Even if the climb wasn¡¯t too difficult, the heat sapped my strength and sweat kept getting into my eyes.


    I wiped my brow, taking in a deep, hot, breath of air. I was tired. Sure not according to my stamina, it sat a whopping 90%. But my mind felt exhausted, if it didn¡¯t sound so presumptuous I¡¯d even say my soul felt the weight of this exhaustion. My eyelids felt like lead weights at this point. But I wasn¡¯t done. The boss was just around the corner. I stood back up.


    HMMPH!


    I froze halfway, slowly tilting my head toward the source of the loud sigh. My eyes shot open, all of that exhaustion evaporating in a heartbeat, replaced with shock.


    ¡°Not around the corner then. More like right in front of me.¡±

 146. Silver Room

    Fear gripped each of my limbs as I stared at the pale monstrosity. I sat completely paralyzed, half bent over, only my eyes able to move. I¡¯m not sure why, maybe my subconscious recalled how this beast just about killed me. And that it might happen again. I licked my enlarged front teeth, ice filling my veins.


    NO! Remember why you came up here! Just mimic it and get the hell out. That¡¯s it! But even with my reasoning, my body didn¡¯t want to listen to reason. It wanted to stay alive. And it deemed moving to be the quickest way to that end, so still I stayed.


    Hmph.


    It breathed out loud again. But not as loudly this time. If anything, it was weak. Its shallow breaths flowed across the floor, its heavy stench curling my nose. It smelled just like the mountain of corpses back in my forest camp. The stench of death.


    My eyes focused and cleared up, allowing me to actually examine the boss. Fresh scars littered its body, blood seeping and pooling on the ground. Thorns stuck out all over its body, and dark burns dotted its body. Some of its silvery liquid tried to staunch the flow of the blood, but it seemed to have a hard time gathering enough of it, or even raising it from the ground. Specks and splotches hopped off the ground, gaining next to no height. Some of the surrounding columns turned back into that liquid as well to aid in the recovery efforts, but it was for naught. Anymore and it would threaten to disrupt the integrity of the tower.


    The giant red stripe that ran along its back lost the majority of its color, the effect of the blood loss, perhaps. It laid on the floor of the tower, head curled up to its side, eyes closed, and somehow looking far smaller than it had when I first encountered it. The beast was still massive, not actually losing any size, but it looked¡­fragile.  The battle with three of the strongest Laurelhaven had to offer clearly took its toll on the beast.


    Which begged the question as to where they even were. Jaren, Lirae and her husband were nowhere to be found on the current floor. They must be searching for it, knowing how close to death it is.


    Upon seeing its weakened state, the fear crippling me almost vanished in a heartbeat. I stood tall, this was my chance. Mimic it and get out.


    I activated Creature Mimicry, but nothing happened. I was still too far away. It''s alright, just a few steps. Then you''re done.


    But the very moment I took my first step, the pale lizard¡¯s eyes shot open. Even in this weakened state, the red glint that pierced down to my very core was as strong as ever. Or for that second at least. It closed its eyes again, using what was left of its remaining strength to pick up its massive head.


    This time, both eyes stared at me, the red glint as ferocious as ever. It still acknowledged the challenge it had given at our first meeting. It meant to keep that bloody promise. But looking upon the bloody and beaten boss made my stomach twist. Scales and burnt flesh fell from the beast¡¯s body as it rose to its feet. It opened its mouth, but instead of the rows and rows of teeth it had the first time, only a dozen or so remained. Blood poured out from its missing teeth.


    This once terrifying creature, king of the raid, master of this oddly beautiful tower, reduced to this. Yet even with all of its injuries, it wished to continue our battle.


    I should just mimic it and run. That would be the smart thing. Even I could tell, by the hairs standing up on my neck, that even in this feeble state it could probably easily kill me. But¡­


    I cracked my neck, matching its eyes. I¡¯m not sure why, but I needed to take this challenge head on. I took a deep breath, sucking in the air through my buck teeth. I smiled. Maybe not in this form.


    I looked around, then with a shrug shifted out of Squirrel form. Back in base form, I walked up to it, getting within the twenty-five feet mimic requirement.


    ¡°Mind if I do this with your form? Probably the only chance I¡¯ll have against you.¡±


    It snorted, almost as if it answered my request. I raised my hand, and activated mimicry once more.


    My skin tingled, as it always did with new forms. My head burned, my eyes watered. Something was wrong. My whole body wracked with pain as the mimicry went on. I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach. What¡¯s happening?


    The pain continued for what felt like hours. Drool and snot poured out of my face, and blood dripped from my ears. Was I about to die? Did Tutor just send me to my death with this quest? I cursed at the unending suffering, until a notification popped up.


    Quest Complete! Apex Form Acquired.


    Processing¡­


    Error: Insufficient Competency.


    Sealing Form¡­


    Reptitan Form Sealed. Will Unlock at¡­Level 11.


    Reverting to Base Form.


    The pain vanished. I checked my status bars; I wanted to know just how close to death I came. But to my surprise, they were full. 100% on all fronts. I moved on to my form timers, to see how much time had passed.


    A minute, that was it. That agony was only a minute long. ¡°But how?¡± But before I could ask another question, a fresh wave of death stink washed over me. I looked up. The boss took a step forward, leaving a bloody footprint in its wake. Apparently it was tired of waiting for me.


    I stood up, wiping the drool and snot off my face. ¡°Shit man. I know I promised you a battle, but your form just about killed me.¡±


    It snorted again, answering me again. No way. I was reading too much into it. The tower shifted again. Another of Jaren¡¯s attacks? Maybe I wasn¡¯t going to have to fight it after all. I looked around. I was wrong, that wasn¡¯t the shift this time. The bars and threads that interlocked and made up the walls doubled, then tripled in number as many of the columns fell into the floor. Their liquid filled up the holes left in the wall. Finally, the fluctuations halted as the wall rods stopped interlacing with each other, now tightening up, forming a solid wall. The reddish light from Len¡¯s flames died out as the room became dark, the walls, floors and ceiling completely blocking out the light.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Dark Vision activated. The outside world had been blocked out. It was just me and the boss in this silver room.


    I couldn¡¯t help but scoff. ¡°Heh, had to make a boss arena for us. How clich¨¦.¡±


    It snorted again. I tilted my head. It''s answered three times now. Starting to feel like a pattern.


    A loud bang rocked the walls behind the boss. Then another on my side. Jaren and company, most likely. If this was the only part of the tower to solidify like this, then it''s a pretty dead giveaway that the boss is hiding out here. And the longer it''s alive, the longer the raid takes, the more lives are lost. It needs to die.


    I shook my head, then looked at my form cooldown notifications. All but one sat under my health bar. My newest and least used form. I sighed, looking at the surrounding walls. ¡°Well, I can at least use it without female intervention.¡± I grinned, shifting into Salamandras form. The strange goopy sweat began to pour from my body.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this sausage party started then.¡±


    I ran at the boss¡¯s side, firing off a few shots of Acidic Salvo. I aimed them up at its head, but the boss only roared, blood spewing out from its mouth. Silver liquid launched off its head, intercepting each of my shots. But that wasn¡¯t my target. I was after that one bloody foot it had, just like my fight with the huge Reptan.


    I rushed around, shocked at how much control I had over my body. I thought running barefoot and sweaty would affect my agility, yet It felt like I was moving better than before.


    But my plan was pretty easy to see through, the boss pulled its injured foot back. It roared again, three-foot silver spikes flew from its head. I jumped away, dodging all but one of the spikes. It cut through my arm, not deep, but I felt it. I pushed forward, dodging a few more of its spikes and taking pot shots at its side.


    It managed to block most of my shots with its defensive liquid, but I saw some land true. The greenish yellow acid flowed down its side, landing right on one of its gashes. The boss screeched as the acid ate away at the inner flesh. Its metallic goop covered the wound as it flushed out the acid, giving me a chance to get closer to my target.


    But as I got close, the silver liquid formed a wall in front of the foot, blocking off any attempt at an acid shot. I felt a shiver run down my back. A Preflex! It was on the money, too. I hit the deck just in time for its massive tail to fly right over me. It stopped at the silver wall around its injured foot. I saw a burn on the side and welled some acid up in my mouth. I spat it out as I climbed up.


    The beast roared as another of its injuries melted down from my acid. I almost felt bad, you know, except for all the killing and maiming it''s caused. And it did almost kill me, so maybe I shouldn¡¯t feel pity for the thing.


    Yet as our battle went on, me spitting more and more acid all over its various wounds and it''s lashing out with all of its body parts and silver liquid, I couldn¡¯t help but feel bad. It even let me mimic it.


    As I lept away from more spikes, I caught another glimpse of the red glint in its eye. It never wavered. Its attention stayed on me. But why? Why was it so stuck on me? I felt it gnawing at me from the moment I ran from it. Did Jaren feel it too? Surely he¡¯d have given you a better challenge.


    A spike flew into my left forearm, not a glancing blow this time. The spike dug in and got stuck. I backed away, hiding behind one of the few columns left in the room. I pulled it out. Blood mixed with my sweat before I covered it. ¡°Damn it.¡± I peeked around the column. I looked up and saw the ceiling had a few holes in it, small ones, but enough to let light through. Dark Vision off.


    The once pale white boss was now covered in a myriad of colors. Red blood, black burns, green thorns, and my yellowish acid painted the boss. Yet it wouldn¡¯t go down. I needed to make a decisive blow.


    The pain subsided from my arm. I looked down and saw that the Protective Mucus had activated on its own, covering the hole in my arm. It didn¡¯t cover my whole arm this time however, only around the forearm, leaving my hand free. It was like a mucus made gauntlet.


    I stood up and walked around the column. The boss, towering above me, turned right at me. He opened his mouth, roaring again, spitting blood around its jaw. A lot of the wounds along its body had healed to a degree, all but the wounds in its mouth. I nodded. That was my target.


    I rushed forward again, attacking like I was going for his foot once more. The silver wall erected around the foot as a few more spikes showered near it. But I stopped in my tracks, turning back to its front. I welled up acid in my mouth.


    It whipped its tail at me, but I saw it coming and hopped, just high enough to get over it. It stopped its tail midair once it saw the attack missed. Yet, I jumped back up, landing on its tail. I whipped me up, bringing me higher in the air. I lept once I was above its head.


    I fell toward my target. The boss opened his mouth with a cry. Death stench covered my entire body, almost making me gag in the air. But I needed to hold on just a bit more.


    As I fell closer and closer to its gaping maw, I filled my mouth with as much acid as I possibly could, to the point my cheeks hurt from how stretched out they were. The Gexen¡¯s mouth shut when I got close, its few remaining teeth bared down on me. But I shoved my mucus covered hand into them just in time. The pain was excruciating as the immense pressure from its teeth bore down on my forearm. But with the help of Protective Mucus, it held up.


    I breathed in through my nostrils as deep as I could muster, then spewed all the acid out of my mouth. I covered every inch of the boss¡¯s mouth with the burning liquid. The smell of death mixing with my acid made the most abhorrent reek imaginable. I think it forced me to vomit even more acid.


    The beast flung its head to the side, throwing me away and into one of the side walls. I smashed into it, the pain forcing all the air from my lungs. I hit the floor with a thud. My vision blurred as I tried to look up at the boss. My health bar blinked red, the first time I¡¯d seen it do that in a long while. If that didn¡¯t work, then I was done for. The floor rumbled beneath me, slow steady quakes. It was walking up to me. I tried to get up, but my body wouldn¡¯t listen yet.


    I wiped my eyes, trying to fix them, but it wasn''t working. The world was still blurry, but I could make out the boss¡¯s silhouette waking up to me. ¡°Shit. Shit!¡±


    My hands tried to push off the ground, I even tried to crawl away, but nothing was working. The small rumbles of the Gexen¡¯s footsteps ceased, it sat right in front of me.


    ¡°No! Not YET!¡± I yelled, flinging my hands around. Until my vision cleared up.


    I looked up at the boss. Its lower jaw was gone, left behind as it walked up to me. Blood and flesh fell from the roof of its mouth. Its red stripe was completely gone now, its tail dragged across the ground. I looked up into its eyes. The red glint was gone, now replaced with a blank stare. Until it looked down at me. There was no pain or challenge anymore, just acceptance. It had lost. Yet maybe something else too. If only Tigris was available, then I could read its aura.


    It knelt it utterly destroyed head down to me. Then a foreign thought entered my mind.


    Well fought, my L¡ª


    You Leveled Up! Nice Going! You are now Level 6!


    You Leveled Up! Nice Going! You are now Level 7!


    You Leveled Up! Nice Going! You are now Level 8!


    You Leveled Up! Nice Going! You are now Level 9!


    The notification chimed multiple times as each level up came around, cutting off the thought before I could hear it fully.


    The boss fell to the floor, unmoving as its body disintegrated from the acid wounds.


    I won. I won¡­ I WON! I threw a tired fist in the air.


    ¡°What an utter waste of experience.¡±

 147. Thorny

    Can someone please explain to me why, just why, I never get to revel in my victories? Every freaking time I eke out a hard earned win, some dumb crap pops up. I fall asleep or get knocked out, or, as it looks to be in this case, someone comes in to rain on my parade. I didn¡¯t quite catch what they said either, but it didn¡¯t sound pleasant.


    I lowered my celebratory fist down and rubbed my face, which kind of hurt. My whole body hurts, actually. Couldn¡¯t get sent to a world where I healed off leveling. I mean come on, I just leveled up like four or five times. But nope, no I get¡ª


    My stomach roared, cutting off the thought. It was the first time in what felt like forever since it''s happened. But I guess even my stomach understands that it''s finally over. My eyes wandered over to the giant lizard carcass. Wonder if boss meat tastes good. It has to, right? I shook my head, bad move when you''re low on health, I just learned.


    I finally raised my woozy head to search for whoever spoke. A multitude of green vines slithered through the cracks and holes in the ceiling, enough to put the Amazon to shame. The holes widened as the vines pushed themselves through, a few twirled downward; thorns poked out of the sides, creating a sort of spiral staircase.


    Not exactly who I wanted to celebrate with, but beggars and all that right. I tried to stand up, but intense wounds on my back and arms stopped me. I looked down at my mucus covered arm. I sighed and shifted out of Salamandras form, thankfully no problems this time. The mucus on my forearm melted away, revealing the gnarled flesh underneath it. Probably should have left it. Eh, a meal and a nice long nap is all I need.


    Lirae walked down the spiral vine case(?). Once she got to the bottom, her eyes rested on the carcass of the huge Gexen. She looked over to me with an unreadable expression. She snorted, turning back to the boss and flicking her wrist towards it. Several of her vines twisted together and smacked the boss¡¯s body. The thorns tore through the flesh of the beast, leaving behind some in its hide. Some blood leaked out. Not much, mind you, it lost the majority during our bout.


    Her vines whipped and sliced all around the body. I wasn¡¯t sure why, maybe there was a double tap policy on boss¡¯s, make sure they¡¯re truly dead and all that. But as she mangled the corpse of the great pale lizard, I recalled the strange thought that invaded my mind just before it died. It''s glazed over eyes bore into my own. It almost sounded like it spoke to me. No way. It had to just be my overactive imagination. Or the blood loss. Bit of both, maybe.


    Yet for some odd reason, as Lirae desecrated the corpse, I felt something for it. Pity. But why? It killed who knows how many soldiers. It almost killed me, for chrissakes. Yet the feeling sat in my stomach all the same.


    Lirae clenched her fist and the vines wrapped around it, squeezing down on the body. She sauntered over to me, with an uneven gait. She favored her right leg.


    I grabbed one of the silver bars behind me and lifted myself up. It was a struggle, but I hid it the best I could. She wasn¡¯t one you showed weakness to. Though I did just beat a boss, maybe that will win me some brownie points. I hope so.


    She stopped just an arm''s length away, close enough that I could smell the mixture of sweat and perfume coming off her. She looked tired; the battle must have taken a toll on her. Her one pristine leather armor was covered in cuts and tears. Each of her breaths sounded wheezy and uneven.


    I opened my mouth to say something, but as I did, I looked into her eyes. They burned with anger, hate even. I definitely gained some points with her, just whatever the polar opposite of brownie ones are. A wave of pressure crashed down on my head, I gripped the wall harder. It took all of my remaining strength to keep myself from falling back to the floor.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The whole room darkened. I thought I might¡¯ve been passing out, but that wasn¡¯t it. Len¡¯s flames died away, letting the night sky reclaim its territory above this field. Only the moon¡¯s pale light washed along the silver room. Silence pervaded the tower, until Lirae broke it.


    ¡°All of that work, all of this pain, all of my soldiers. Gone. Dead at the hands of that creature.¡± She clenched her fist down next to my head. A crunch resounded in the room. ¡°And who reaps the rewards? A sniveling feral rat.¡± She spat.


    Her beautiful face twisted in disgust and as another wave of hate-filled Aura accosted my mind. It felt like the entirety of her hate for Ferals bore down on me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how you got up here, but I can venture a guess. It must have something to do with the Ferals crawling around.¡±


    I flinched at her words; she wasn¡¯t entirely wrong.


    She grew a twisted, almost maniacal, grin. I hardly recognized her anymore. ¡°I see. Was this the plan all along? Have one of their kind join us and cripple us from the inside. Infect our Legions and destroy us at our weakest?¡±


    I opened my mouth, but she silenced me with a hard slap. She gripped my chin, her nails digging into my cheeks. ¡°I bet you were expecting praise for this. Praise from the whole of the city. The Feral Wonder boy. The apprentice of the great Leonard Ainsworth single handedly defeated the boss. That¡¯s what you were hoping for.¡± She motioned her free hand, waving out towards the masses at the bottom of the tower.


    ¡°But I¡¯ve seen through all that. And I will crush you here and now.¡±


    Terror clutched my heart as she spewed her venomous words. I let the wall go and grabbed her hands, but she just waved her hand at me. Vines crept under her feet before snaking around my body. They wrapped around my arms and forced them to my sides. I flung my head around, searching for something, someone to save me. Len, Jaren, anyone! I tried to scream out, but the vines gagged my mouth.


    ¡°What, searching for a savior? Sorry, I¡¯m the only one who even knows you''re up here. Jaren is spent from the fight, most likely searching for Len now that Len¡¯s flames have quelled. It''s just you and me.¡±


    Lirae let my face go, flicking her wrist, commanding the vines to destroy the wall behind me. Once the silver rods of the tower were gone, her vines held me up, outside of the tower now. Cold wind buffeted my face. She smiled.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t work, child. It was never going to work. But I do thank you. You have shown me just how much corruption this city has, all thanks to your ilk. A great reformation must occur.¡± She looked off in the distance, off toward the city, her face filled with a sick determination.


    ¡°And I must root out all of it, starting with that man. The man who brought you here. Who has tried to undermine me at every step. How that bastard can stand you, after all of what your kind has done, will forever be a mystery to me. What they stole from us can never be forgiven.¡±


    She stared off into the night sky. ¡°Farewell, you wretched piece of filth.¡±


    And with another wave of her hand, I fell. The vines kept me completely wrapped up, so I couldn¡¯t even try to stop the descent. All of my forms were exhausted, along with my body itself. My health and stamina both sat at below 10%.


    Everything slowed down as I fell. So many memories filled my head, all from my time on Kniyas. The many days and nights in the wilderness, the training days with Len, the first raid, my days in the city, my trip to the Gloom. All of it flashed in my head over and over again. But all of that was gone. This was the end.


    I closed my eyes.


    I wonder if I¡¯ll get to see Terrence again. Maybe I¡¯ll even meet Tutor. That¡¯d be cool. Finally put a face to the world¡¯s most annoying tutorial.


    Wind whistled in my ears for a moment. It was sort of peaceful, in a morbid way if that makes any sense.


    But then it all stopped. The wind, the sensation of falling, the vines squeezing my body.


    I opened my eyes, only to find a familiar scene. A cream colored landscape, as far as the eye can see.


    I sighed as I laid on the nothingness of the Dark Room, running my fingers along the perfectly smooth ground.


    ¡°Guess I was right.¡± I said to myself. ¡°Died again.¡±


    I heard a noise come from behind my head. Footsteps. ¡°Terrence, that you?¡± I asked without moving.


    ¡°Damn it boy, what have I told you time and time again. Always have an escape plan!¡±


    I shot up upon hearing the words. I nearly broke my neck as I turned around.


    ¡°GRAMPS!?¡±