《The Misadventures of the Man Formerly Known as Victor Heart》


 V1CH1 Prologue

    Our story starts with a young man walking down the street thinking about what he would have for dinner. It was down to steak and rice or chicken and pasta with red sauce. While it was not some critical decision in the grand scheme of things, it would decide how his day went. The wrong choice could lead to him being unhappy with the major meal of the day thus it would turn the day into a bad one. A normal choice in a normal day in a normal life for a normal man.


    He would have continued to lead a normal uninteresting life if not for an uncommon occurrence in the omniverse. You see the thing is that occasionally people just fall between the seams of reality. This has a one in six hundred twenty quintillion chance of happening which sounds like a rarity but when you factor the infinite moments in the lives of infinite people occupying the infinite worlds that make up the omniverse, it does tend to happen.


    Traveling through what is known to some as unreality was like putting yourself inside a giant running blender then throwing that into a riptide off the coast of Alaska and hoping to end up in Hawaii. Most die quick, but the unlucky ones were the ones who could adapt enough to survive but not enough to do anything with that life.


    The space quite ironically had no concept of space, or time for that matter. As a result, if one did not learn how to move through the chaos, they would be trapped in the unreality forever. This was due to the fact that one could not die as they would need to progress to the next moment in time to be allowed to do so. Which as previously mentioned did not exist in unreality.


    To live an eternity in nothingness teaches all those who suffer it one of the hardest lessons to learn in life, that there are some fates worse than death.


    ***


    One second, I¡¯m walking down the street, the next one I¡¯m surrounded by what I can only describe as space turned to water. It looked like black water with glowing stars of all colors floating around in it. Now I know with certainty, somehow, that my surroundings were not that. My senses were just interpreting my surroundings in a way that I could interpret.


    I tried unsuccessfully to shut my eyes as some sort of instinct told me that my surroundings were not meant to be seen by sane mortal eyes and they would try to correct that. As the first adjective was easier to fix than the second, they would go with that. My surroundings were driving me mad, distorting my view of the limited portion of reality I was previously familiar with, shattering my perceptions and reforged them skewed and corrupted, but that was not my major problem.


    Which is troubling.


    My body was being torn apart, burned by both fire and acid, frozen, and bashed around. And yet none of those things were happening as those were all reality-based concepts. My surroundings were just making my body come undone and yet even that was still not my major problem.


    Which is even more troubling.


    It started with threads suddenly coming out of my chest. Now I know they were not actually threads as my senses were yet again coming up with a way to process what was happening to me. I could now feel my soul in its entirety. Unfortunately, the first sensation my new nerves felt was literal soul agonizing pain as the aforementioned threads snapped one by one.


    Each time I lost a connection to some aspect of my being.


    The first of the threads to snap was my connection to time. Don¡¯t ask how I know what it was or why it was first, I just know in the same way you know that you have two hands, and the left was just cut off. With its severance I would forever be a foreigner in the river of time.


    The first effect of this disconnect, immortality, was both a blessing and a curse as all immortality tends to be. While I could still be injured and killed inside reality as those events would force the world that I was in to remember to impose the concept of time upon me, I was immune to aging as no world could penetrate deep enough into my being to reimpose time upon my very existence. I was forever twenty-five, so at least I was lucky enough to be paused young.


    Being a foreigner in time was weird in a way that¡¯s hard to describe as while time was fairly subjective to humans, it was ultimately objective. A second is a second no matter how mortals choose to view it, but to me that old quote from Einstein rang true. Kissing a girl could truly feel like a single instant me no matter how long it occurred and burning myself on the stove could truly feel like a lifetime.


    This also made me immune to paradoxes and time alterations. You could kill my grandfather and it would have no effect on me, hell I could kill him. Which was nice, niche but nice.


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


    The next thread to go was space. With its severance I was adrift in the sea of space, which came with both benefits and demerits.


    On the plus side, I could now walk through space like few others. One step could take me anywhere in the world, and I could enter and leave almost any space at will.


    The downside to this is that I could be banished from or pulled to different realities against my will with startling ease.


    Both severed threads fundamentally changed how I interacted with their related concepts. Some forms of manipulating time and space would come naturally as a fish swimming while others would forever be outside my grasp.


    The next thread severed was fate. I would never again be restricted nor protected by fate; never again would I have my actions foretold. This had the small disadvantage of never being able to view or change it, but seeing as I believe that fighting against fate is possible for the determined and/or powerful it is not all that impactful to me. It came with a huge upside though, I would never be squashed by fate or used as a footstool for another as so often happens to the unchosen ones in stories.


    The last of the outbound threads was the one that connected me to my home reality and reality itself. Now, while I could live in any world without ever feeling rejection, no plane of existence would ever feel like home again and unless I got lucky, I would never again see my home, family, or friends except in my dreams. I was also now resistant to reality-altering effects and the constraints that reality inflicts upon its residents.


    Now all these abilities and demerits would only come into effect if I could get myself out of this rather tricky situation as I ran out of external things to be taken.


    Next came my soul. If I thought everything that came before was painful, I did not truly know the word until now. However, this space seemed an adequate teacher.


    I started to lose what made me who I am: talents, interests, loves, hates, and attachments.


    It turns out I had quite a talent for the violin.


    There goes my high school crush that I still semi carried a torch for.


    Where did my feelings for my childhood bully go? Oh, wait I lost it to unreality, how could I forget that?


    My only idea to get me out of this situation is to weave the unraveling threads of my existence back together. I don¡¯t know how to go about that or if that would even work, but not with that attitude it won¡¯t.


    The other problem with my plan was that I had already lost critical parts of my soul and body. My mind was also a distorted pretzel at this point.


    I reached with my mind, body, and soul towards the threads that made them up. Which was a trippy experience, let me tell you.


    The threads wiggled.


    I lost my understanding of Indian history. Which as far as knowledge goes is probably one of the best to lose as all I know of the country¡¯s history would fill half a page at most.


    I reached with the determination that came from not knowing what I would lose next. I could feel the threads with the new sense that this area forcibly gave me during my corruption. This allowed me to manipulate them. That was the wiggle backed hope at least.


    The first step was to build a barrier around myself made of the things I don¡¯t mind losing: my vitality, all talents unrelated to my current endeavor, and my feelings for all those expect the closest friends and family. While those things were a lot to lose, they all would do me no good if I was dead.


    The second step of my admittedly uninformed plan was to unravel the remaining threads and weave them together with unreality energy in the hopes that I built up an immunity to it. This led to the next step, weave the trio together in hopes that they filled in each other¡¯s gaps and support each other. The resulting structure resembled a trio of three dimensional spider webs tangled together comprised of the ¡°pink¡± threads emanating from my mind, the ¡°red¡± threads of my heart, the ¡°blue¡± threads of my soul.


    This connected the three energy circulatory systems together and caused the circulating vital energies to mix. This should have been extremely lethal, but I had two advantages. The first is that unreality had already gotten rid of all my weak points, and I had covered for the missing parts by leaning the three against each other. The second was that all three were already dead by most standards. So as long as I kept the proverbial balance, I still had a chance at revival.


    The next period of timeless time was spent on a mix of letting the energies mix and fixing the damage caused by incorrect combinations. Eventually I did get an energy that could provide energy to all three centers. The result was a composite thread that glowed a ¡°blackish purple¡±. The rest was simply propagating this change throughout my body.


    Due to accumulated damage and degradation, I was now child-sized and crippled in a myriad of ways.


    The big disadvantage of my new state of interconnected being was that my three bodies, physical, mental, and spiritual, would share defenses. Physical, mental, and spiritual attacks would be distributed amongst all three defenses. While this would turn into more and more of an advantage as the three defenses increased. Currently this dragged me down as the majority of attacks would be physical and affect the other two bodies that were more susceptible to damage.


    I was done not a moment too soon as the moment I was done black water breached my sacrificial defenses. Luckily, when the water washed over me, I was already a proverbial fish. With my newfound status came instincts that contained how to leave this space and a sorta map of nearby exit points. I opened a portal to a mildly safe world containing the needed supplies to fix my precarious situation. That was the hope at least, I was working on a deadline after all. I had lost the majority of my vital energies after all. Every action, every thought, every emotion brought me closer to the deadline.


    A tear opened in front of me, and I willed myself through into the unknown.

 V1CH2 New World, Who Dis?

    After exiting I found myself in the bad part of a city, at least I hope this is the bad part. Graffiti covered every wall as far as the eye could see, cigarettes filled every sidewalk crack, trash spilled from every alley onto the sidewalk, and there was just a bad vibe in the air.


    However, that last one might just be this world that I am in. The very air was infested with the darker aspects of reality. Turns out the sense I gained in unreality worked in reality as well and allowed me to see reality¡¯s building blocks as threads. Which was good as I was pretty sure I was blind and only ¡°seeing¡± the world with my sixth sense as the world seemed to be dayglo. This could just be how the world looks, but I doubt it.


    The aforementioned infestation had one major effect according to my preliminary observation of the surrounding essences. Essences were what I decided to call the various concentrations of concepts. The observed effect was that essences that seemed fueled by or incorporating negative concepts are empowered and positive aligned essences are suppressed. It followed in my opinion that any powers or abilities would follow this trend. Another educated guess was that dark emotions and thoughts would grow ever more present in the minds of inhabitants. Put those two guesses together and you get a world that probably was full of bad powers and people.


    I got up from the ground using the wall my back was up against and my only functioning arm. Old leftie if you¡¯re curious. I then attempted to walk over to a dingy store front across the street from me as it had a glass window behind iron bars in hopes of checking the damage. I already knew that my right eye and ear, my right arm, and left leg were crippled.


    My bad leg buckled under my weight the second my arm left the wall and I fell into the empty street. I looked at my ¡°good¡± leg and found it twisted and deformed. The only thing I could say it had going for it was that it could hold weight to at least some degree.


    I reached for the threads that made up the ground just like I had previously done with my own body in the space between worlds in hopes of shaping it just like my body. It was an exercise in will, determination, and hope. I was correct in my assumption and finally I was able to make a misshapen cane comprised of concrete.


    I then shambled over to the window and attempted to take in my new form. It turns out I was right about that blind thing. I could tell I was looking at a reflective surface, but could not see any reflection. The mirror was little more than a silvery wall to me.


    If I could have taken in my reflection I would have seen a short goblin-like creature that looked like melted wax in both color and texture. The creature had chucks removed and leaking a blackish purple along with a huge crack running through its right eye and ear. The only hair to speak of on the creature were tuffs of dry white hair on its head. The only visible eye had a shattered mirror pattern leaking the same light as found in the cracks on its pupilless white iris.


    So, it was probably a good thing I could not see that as I was already dealing with quite a bit. Thankfully unreality weakened my emotions, sure that would eventually be a problem but for now I will take what I can get.


    Unfortunately, my blindness made it so I could only look at my insides with my new sense. Which were no bueno, no bueno at all. My body, which was a gestalt made of my previous physical, mental, and spiritual bodies that fulfilled the functions of all three, was twisted and deformed far more than my appearance ever could be. In my defense I was the equivalent of a kindergartener with clay when it came to sculpting bodies.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Out of nowhere I felt like my strings were cut and I collapsed to the ground. The consumption of my vital energies was a bit more rapid than predicted and I was left empty handed in terms of a solution.


    *Thud*


    I turned my gaze to whatever just hit me in the head. Turns out it was a golden apple with a note pinned to it.


    ***


    Congratulations! It¡¯s a boy! :D


    Welcome to the family, little brother.


    Here¡¯s an apple.


    With love,


    K.O.C.


    P.S. Be careful out there and always remember you are what you eat


    ***


    While eating random things given by strangers named after genitalia is usually a bad call, it seemed like the best of my options. Well, my only option.


    It was a struggle, but eventually I was able to lift myself up and crawl over to the fruit. On my hands and knees, I leaned my head down, wrapped my teeth around the apple, and took a bite.


    The gold tasted like nothing. The rotten fruit inside, however, was sickly sweet, the kind of taste that was so close to being good, but your body just instinctively rejected it. I was able to choke it down though, keeping it down though was an endeavor.


    The rest of the bites were just as fun. I could not risk one bite not being enough for whatever the apple was supposed to do. If it did anything at all, brothers were known to mess with each other, and some people had quite the twisted sense of humor.


    When I finished my impromptu meal, the urge to vomit grew overwhelming and I tried to hold it off.


    I failed.


    The golden projectile vomit splashed against the ground. The vomit then flowed back towards me. Which was quite disgusting by the by. The golden vomit eventually reached my arms and crawled up them then spread across my skin leaving a golden layer covering me.


    What happened next was a strange experience. The best way I can describe it was the rotten apple after losing its gilded cage grew proverbial roots and spread, causing anything they touched to rot. I then felt a jolt run through my form as my insides shifted into a strange rotten form.


    The only hint my new senses could give me of my current state was that my body was comprised of several black gemlike structures connecting to an abyssal spine running through a blackish gray body with a golden shell surrounding everything.


    Given the note from the phallic brother and this makeup, I am guessing that I have turned into a human apple. Observing the energy flow of my new form I noticed that my energy problem has mutated I no longer need straight vital energies, I needed new seeds. The seeds contained a strange rotten energy that fed my fruit which kept me ticking.


    Now I just needed to find out how to craft one.


    My current seeds gave me enough energy to keep the doctor away for another day. Well, medical examiner, but they were doctors, so I think the expression still fit.


    Well with that out of the way, time to find somewhere to spend the night.


    I looked around for a building full of rats as that was my best source of subjects to experiment with seed creation.


    Approaching the warehouse I saw how my new body ran, poorly. I was so weak that I could not walk without a cane and was insensate outside my sixth sense. And yes I moved blind up to insensate, I could no longer hope that it was just a quiet scentless night.


    The only true solution to this problem was replacing my insides. This process was in theory extremely simple as all it involved was replacing the failing parts with functional ones. The snag was that my insides would rot anything that touched it conceptually except my skin. That meant that I either needed to completely replace my entire being, a task that I cannot even think of a way to do, or find some other solution.


    With that inspection of my long-term needs done, I was on an ever-present deadline for a plan to address them. I had a day to figure out seed creation.

 V1CH3 Quit Clowning Around

    A woman was frantically running down an empty city street in the dead of night. Her face, which was covered in snot and tears, was twisted up in a grimace. She went in and out of the shadows cast by the streetlights while running from her pursuer, only stopping periodically to try doorknobs and bang on doors. She did not realize the significance of the black fog that clung to all the surfaces around her partially hidden by the shadows.


    For you see this world had a very special property, an invisible black smoke, which hid the moonlit world from the uninitiated. It would dampen noises, alter sight, twist perceptions, anything to keep dark deeds hidden from the mundane. There were only two ways to be initiated: awaken some mystical ability, be born a creature of the night, or be confronted with evidence that you could not refute or explain away. As the latter usually involved being attacked by what goes bump in the night, often fatally, the former two ways were the more common methods for those that were truly residents of the moonlit world.


    This chase kept up until she stumbled over her own feet and fell to the ground. She then looked back and saw what caused her current state.


    _


    Eugene Simmons AKA Killer Klown


    ¡°IDK. He¡¯s kinda boring, like all killer clowns¡±


    Grade D


    _


    The clown had a huge, twisted mocking smile and an axe that like its wielder was covered in blood. The clown¡¯s body was twisted up into knots and almost danced along the ground towards its target. He was also billowing a cloud of the black smoke thus explaining how both a bloody clown and a woman screaming bloody murder could be ignored.


    He started approaching her while dragging his bloody axe behind him. She backed away from him until she hit the wall and could go no further.


    ¡°HELP! HELP!¡± the woman screamed hoping that someone would hear her. It was her misfortune that her attacker happened to have a certain aptitude for manipulating the smoke.


    ¡°PLEASE! MERCY!¡± the woman beseeched.


    ¡°PLEASE! MERCY!¡± the entity mockingly repeated along with his victim savoring her desperation.


    The woman closed her eyes and prayed it would be over quick, but she had a feeling that the clown would make this long and painful. She felt the axe strike her thigh bone and tried not to cry out so as to not give the clown any more pleasure. She was unable to keep it in any longer when the clown got to the second bone in her thigh.


    When it was over, the woman was not relieved, she was worried about what she was going to lose next. She sat there trembling, weeping, and waiting in dread.


    ¡°Killer clowns, so clich¨¦.¡± Said the mysterious man with a mouth that seemed full of gravel.


    She saw a tall man wearing leaning on a cane standing behind the clown.


    ***


    It took about five hours and fifty-seven rats before I figured out seed creation. I turns out that I don¡¯t create the small black seeds I have to create ¡°apples¡± that rot into seeds. I saw the end stage of my cores not what I needed to provide. The apples were about the same size as the seeds but were a vibrant red and were created by weaving together the brain, heart, and soul of a being.


    Well, the outer layers of a soul. The core of a soul was off limits. No idea why, but the second I even thought of keeping one I felt the very world turn to look at me. Something told me that if I continued what I did would be forever remembered, so I let it out of my proverbial grasp. It blinked out of existence the next instant.


    I had five slots for seeds total and the apples did not allow for long term storage. The apples were by design meant to break down and provide energy. Which meant that rat apples only lasted me several hours total before I needed a new set of five. That also wasn¡¯t considering that the energy provided was the equivalent of junk food. It filled me up but made me feel awful.


    I spent the next week suffering the rat apples so that I could practice and experiment with my abilities.


    I had stumbled across another aspect of my new abilities sometime during the week, creating artifacts. Artifacts were what I called items that achieved some extraordinary effect that I created using essences. Each artifact contains an essence core which produced the corresponding essence. The larger the core, the faster the energy regenerated and the larger the reserve. Cores were created by concentrating essences until they crystalized, another thing I figured out. The artifacts were finished by giving them a name that solidified their purpose and place in reality.


    I created two tier zero artifacts during the week. The tier system was something I had come up with to help categorize artifacts. Tier zeros had limited use and/or power, usually just this side of magical. Every tier afterwards was a somewhat arbitrary jump in one of those categories.


    The first artifact was created to provide training to my sixth sense, Sense Cane. Not the best name, but I couldn¡¯t think of a clever name so a descriptive one would have to do. The cane was created out of the various senses I obtained from different animals. This was a rosetta stone that allowed me to translate physical senses to the outputs of my sixth sense. It also had the side benefit of providing some support as I was quite weak physically. This artifact appeared as a simple wooden cane engraved with various sensory organs: eyes, ears, fingers, mouths, and noses.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The other was a simple bone gun that shot bone bullets that I named Weaver¡¯s First Firearm. This was from some of the rats I had left over.


    Sense Cane allowed me to finally see what I now looked like. I was a seven foot tall adonis with golden hair and nails that lacked any visible flaw. Those were not too noteworthy, unlike the next set of features, blackish veins and pupilless molten gold irises. Said features showed my clearly inhuman nature, but they were nothing a light layer of black smoke won¡¯t fix though. And what a discovery that was, a prevalent essence that could befuddle the mind and senses. I had to create an artifact that could produce it before I left this world as my abilities made me a natural.


    After a week to get my bearing straight and prepare, I set out to acquire better apple fertilizer. My self-imposed deadline of two hours was so that if I didn¡¯t get anything I had time to make more rat apples.


    Surprisingly I only had to walk for about twenty minutes before I noticed a concentration of negative aspects that stood out from its surroundings. Another two minutes I came upon a scene that had just what I was looking for, a big bag of energy that I would not mind taking.


    My target was boring and clich¨¦ in addition to his sadism. Which while a lesser crime than mutilation, torture, and murder, was still a strike against the man. I mean really, a killer clown. Don¡¯t get me wrong it¡¯s a great concept, the contradiction between someone meant to bring joy and someone bringing suffering is interesting. It even benefits from clowns naturally being a little off-putting. It¡¯s just been so over done that it¡¯s become uninteresting. Most are silent as well, which takes away the best part of the idea in my opinion, the whole laughing at the world and morals thing.


    All this to say, ¡°Killer clowns, so clich¨¦.¡±


    The clown¡¯s head rotated almost one hundred eighty degrees to face the new potential threat.


    ¡°Well now that¡¯s just creepy¡± I said in my distorted gravelly voice resulting from my rotten vocal cords.


    The clown started to charge me with its axe.


    ¡°Look out!¡± the woman called for some reason. Seriously why do people do that when either the other party is clearly already ¡°looking out¡± for what was right in front of them or is going to be distracted by the shout.


    Nevertheless, the clown continued to charge at me. It looked at my hand raised with a bone white gun pointed at its knees. It does not matter what else is going on ability-wise, being kneecapless is debilitating. The several bullets that promptly went through its head and chest were more debilitating I would imagine.


    Before I could take my prize, I first had to rid myself of my audience.


    ¡°Hey lady, you interested in a deal?¡± I asked, still surprised by my new voice.


    The woman visibly confused at the series of events, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Listen I can reattach your leg, but I will take all knowledge of this night¡± I offered. I wanted to keep a low profile after all.


    ¡°You can really reattach my leg?¡± the woman borderline begged with hope in her eyes and tone.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I just said. Now yes or no, I¡¯m on a bit of a deadline.¡± I told the girl feeling my self-imposed deadline.


    ¡°Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!¡± the girl shouted before trying to get up and subsequently failing.


    ¡°Alrighty then. Nighty night¡± I said before using my weaving ability to knock her out. While my weaving was too slow for combat, out of combat it was quite versatile.


    I then extracted the memory of this encounter. This was usually hard to do without damaging the person, but her agreement went a long way to stopping her subconscious from rejecting the extraction.


    It then was just matching frayed threads in her limb and attaching them back together. This was easy as her soul accepted that her natural form had two legs, this even helped smooth out my mistakes. If this was an old and/or meaningful injury her soul would have recognized it as a part of her and thus rejected the change. This would lead to body and soul rejecting each other and a violent painful death. Unless I also manipulated the soul into a new form which was above my skill level and much riskier. The only reason I did it the first time was it was on myself and if I failed unreality would put me out of my misery quickly.


    With that done it was time to move on to my own business.


    The first thing I did was craft a clown apple from the comedic corpse. This one would last me about a week.


    The next thing I extracted was the clown¡¯s skill and talent in black smoke manipulation. My skill came from a general talent for manipulation, while this was specialized and more potent. While I could integrate it into my body, this was a strong talent that would have to be integrated individually over a long time and it was not worth it for such a situational talent. Instead, I made a ring out of it.


    _


    Black Smoke Ring


    ¡°The cover of dark deeds¡±


    Tier One


    A ring that grants the user near perfect control over the obscuring smoke of a certain world


    _


    I then proceeded to put my new ring on my right middle finger.


    I next extracted the clown¡¯s flexibility, his killing intent, and a sliver of his death essence. I put the grape sized pink and ice blue essences containing the first two in my spatial storage along with a translucent pale green dog tag created from the last. The spatial storage was something I created during my experimental period. It was just a bubble in unreality that I could throw things inside.


    With that business out of the way I went back to my current sleeping arrangements while picking up the clown¡¯s axe along the way.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    []


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [Black Mist Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Murder Weapon: Axe]

 V1CH4 Did You Order The Code F?

    A man wearing sunglasses and a dress shirt with the top couple of buttons undone was driving a convertible down the highway when he received a call.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation.¡± The man asked with an annoyed expression on his face.


    ¡°Agent Cole, you¡¯re expected in Sunset City. You¡¯re being reassigned.¡± the voice on the phone told the man now identified as Agent Cole.


    ¡°Why me? I¡¯m just starting a two-week vacation and quite happy with my current position not in the sticks.¡± The man complained.


    ¡°You¡¯re the most qualified person not running an office.¡± The voice on the phone said matter of factly.


    ¡°What about ¡­¡± Agent Cole started before he was interrupted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it. You¡¯ve been chosen. You¡¯re expected. You have your first case as location head. Now go. Your sh*t will be at your new place by end of day.¡± The voice ordered in response.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll be there in about a day.¡± Agent Cole told the operator before hanging up.


    ¡°Damn!¡± He shouted into the air and slammed his hands on the steering wheel before making a u turn heading towards his new destination.


    *About a day later*


    Agent Cole walked up to the crime scene while tying his tie around his neck. He took in the scene: a body missing several major organs, a sidewalk covered in blood, a bunch of lights, and cops all around. The only witness was the victim who was now in the hospital.


    ¡°Alright give me some room.¡± Agent Cole told the cops who promptly backed up.


    Agent Cole walked up to the puddle and put his hand on the dried blood. You see Agent Cole was an investigator for a secret branch of the FBI that handles ¡°special¡± cases. These special cases primarily fell into one of several situations: monsters, mystic artifacts, and regular people who awakened special abilities.


    Agent Cole was one of those people who had awakened a special ability, psychometry. This ability allowed him to read the psychic traces left at a site by living beings interacting with it, on the condition that they were not stronger than him. Which made him quite the investigator. The thing was, he never practiced with the ability due to arrogance and laziness. This led to him only seeing brief glimpses of the past. The only thing that he got from his ability was that the suspect was a large man obscured by black smoke.


    The fact that the victim was missing all his heart, brain, tendons, ligaments, and joints led him to a frightening conclusion that he hoped he was wrong about. He would hold off judgement until he talked to the witness.


    *Twenty Minutes Later at the Hospital*


    ¡°So, you don¡¯t remember anything?¡± Agent Cole asked the bedbound woman skeptically.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s all just a blank. One minute I was walking home, the next I was lying in the street with a mutilated clown with nothing in between.¡± The woman said while visibly upset.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± Cole said frustrated at the lack of anything that would disprove his theory.


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


    ¡°Sorry!¡± The woman eked out.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry. That was completely inappropriate. I¡¯ll leave you to your recovery.¡± Cole said before leaving the hospital room.


    Out in the hallway Cole called the operator that handled communication between field agents and HQ.


    ¡°I have a suspected code F on my hands here.¡± Cole spoke into the phone.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± The operator said losing her cool for the first time Cole could remember.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly starting to shape up to look that way¡± Cole sounding done with the fact that his first case as location head was so troublesome.


    ¡°Settle this issue as soon as possible. You know what can happen if a code F is left unchecked for too long.¡± The operator said with fear starting to slip into her tone.


    ¡°Consider it settled. Judging by how many parts he needed and their low quality, this code F seems to be an early one.¡± Cole assured the voice on the other end of the call.


    ¡°Good, call me when it¡¯s done.¡± The voice said before ending the call.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no reason that the suspect can¡¯t be at a bar¡± Cole said to himself before heading out of the hospital and towards said location.


    *Several Drinks Later*


    ¡°So, get this I¡¯m on my vacation when I get called in. All those surfing plans gone in an instant.¡± Cole bemoaned to his drinking buddy.


    ¡°Oh, you poor baby.¡± Cole¡¯s drinking buddy, a beauty with raven hair, blood red lips, and a matching dress, said with a sickly-sweet tone.


    ¡°I know right.¡± Cole said feeling so validated that he missed the mocking undertone of his company¡¯s words.


    ¡°How about we go back to your hotel room, and I make it up to you.¡± The mysterious woman offered to the inebriated man.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay off our tab and we can go.¡± Cole said before flagging down the bartender.


    The two eventually reached his new apartment after an ever so fun game of grab a**. Cole headed towards the bed while the woman closed the door behind them. After he heard the door close, he heard a squelch and then felt an intense pain in his back radiating towards his stomach. He looked down and saw a woman¡¯s arm protruding from his stomach.


    _


    Diana Longfellow


    ¡°Sucks as much as riding the bus¡±


    Grade D


    _


    The arm then left his abdomen and with it he lost his only support. He fell to the ground with a severed spine. The woman flipped him onto his back and straddled him. She leaned in for a kiss and then came back up. A trail of orange energy followed her. When she was done Agent Cole was a mummified corpse.


    Cole missed all the signs foreshadowing his fate. The fact that a beautiful woman was interacting with his average looking inebriated self. The fact that he could not see any psychic imprints originating from his new friend, which only happened when dealing with a stronger soul than he had, and the abruptness of her offer.


    With her meal completed the woman left her victim and exited the apartment building. While walking down the street she looked around and discovered a man walking with a cane surrounded by black smoke. She decided that he was not her problem. As for a potential witness, anyone with such proficiency with smoke manipulation was a predator just like her and as a result was unlikely to want any interaction with the police or MFBI. She barely paid him a glance before heading on her way, not noticing the spectator following her with his sixth sense as she walked away.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    []


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [Black Smoke Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Murder Weapon: Axe]

 V1CH5 No, I Ordered The Chinese Food

    I was walking home, read abandoned warehouse, with various supplies that I planned to turn into assorted essences that I managed to get with the money I scrapped together from my exciting new startup business. Said business currently only involved making and selling various metal ingots created from the metals I found in abandoned buildings that were not cost-effective to extract with conventional means.


    I was about to reach ¡°home¡± when a scruffy man emerged from the shadows with a knife. That was the downside to needing a cane, people saw you as a target. The Black Smoke Ring did help though by preventing my attacker from noticing that I was drawing my gun and putting it against his throat. This gave me time while he was p*ssing himself to pull the same trick as I did with the clown victim, memory extraction and knock out. A simple robber did not warrant being murdered. While I needed more apples, I needed standards more.


    While a bit odd, I made a thousand dollars off that interaction. I figure the man probably kept his savings on his person for whatever reason. You know what that means, I get to sleep in a bed not surrounded by rats.


    While not the most strategic of resource allocation, I was effectively a dying man living on borrowed time and I was tired of sleeping in a building infested with rats. The downside of my new senses is that they were not based entirely on the physical plane and thus closing my eyes did nothing to block out the rats.


    I promptly turned around and headed to the nearest hotel that looked relatively nice.


    As I walked down the street, I was excited to not be sleeping with rodents even if it was only for the night. While walking, I saw a creature heading towards the way I came. It looked like a beautiful woman with jet black hair and ice blue eyes. It was the next set of features that told me she was something that went bump in the night, a set of horns and a pointed tail covered in black smoke. We exchanged glances and both decided that our businesses had nothing to do with each other. I couldn¡¯t help but stare at her though as her appearance seemed perfectly designed to attract attention. It was a supernatural beauty, naturally sculpted perfection.


    After she left, I decided to follow the energy trail to where she came from in case there was something of interest to me there. It was probably nothing, but what if it wasn¡¯t. I had literally nothing to do except play around with my powers and look for targets. Hell, if I¡¯m lucky I may have just found one.


    Entering the room at the end of the trail, I saw a mummy lying on the floor draped in what I could only assume were his clothes. It seems that someone, presumably the woman that I was starting to suspect might be a succubus, drained all this guy¡¯s physical and mental energies. Fortunately for me they/she left the mummy¡¯s soul intact.


    I put my hand on the mummy¡¯s chest and extracted the glowing blue sphere that was their soul.


    The soul provided me with several things that were of critical importance: information, abilities, and supplies.


    First was information provided by a member of a secret branch of the FBI dealing with mystical events. This granted me vital information about my environment and more importantly my situation.


    Turns out that Agent Cole here called in a code F aka a code Frankenstein due to my extraction of the clown¡¯s innards. It turns out beings searching for multiple disparate body parts are not so uncommon in this world. Since most beings are balanced with strengths and weaknesses and Frankensteins only collect the prior, if left unchecked they develop into a super being aka a Grade S or god forbid Grade EX entity. All this to say that the magic FBI put them as a top priority.


    The fact that I was not going to use it that way was irrelevant. I could not just call off the code F using his phone as Cole did not have that authority. The only way to do so would be to provide a body or an explanation, but really a body.


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


    There are bright sides to my situation though. The first is that soul manipulation at my level was an ability so rare so as to be nonexistent. This had multiple positive repercussions for me. The first was that they don¡¯t know that I now have a fair amount of information on their organization. The second was that they don¡¯t know that I could create a key to the city¡¯s wards out of his soul and list myself as the location head in his place as he had yet to do so. It also meant that they did not know I could create a fake body with false evidence of foreign soul and body integration.


    This plan was further helped by the fact that due to Sunset City¡¯s remote location Cole was the only member of the Sunset City¡¯s MFBI office. One only needs one agent for a small remote city isolated on one side by the ocean and the other by dense woods.


    Making a fake code F body would be a challenge to my abilities, but I can¡¯t blame anyone but myself as this situation is the result of my carelessness. I left that clown corpse just lying there while in no way hiding what I had done. I could have easily burned or buried it, but I was sloppy. While I could point to the fact that it was my first murder or that I didn¡¯t know about the magic police. It was careless, plain and simple, and now I have to make a fake corpse that can hopefully trick experts.


    In addition to his soul itself, I acquired what was inside it, his skills and experience as a magic FBI agent. While he was just an inexperienced investigator lacking advanced training or experience, he was still trained to deal with mystic situations, close quarter combat, and basic firearms. All of which are critical skills to me. I grouped them up into a pink sphere that I would absorb before I went to bed and then integrate them over night.


    I also saved his ability for later use. According to the magic FBI, every individual has the potential to develop powers with little in the way of rhyme or reason. Agent Cole had the ability to read psychic imprints left at locations by individuals. Which will come in handy with my new job.


    I then took stock of the dead agent¡¯s possessions: a standard FBI badge, a laptop, keys, clothing, a Glock, silver and iron bullets, a knife made of the same materials, and several thousand in cash.


    The clothes, consisting of largely of dress shirts, slacks, and dress shoes, were a cause for great concern as they fit me perfectly, practically tailor made. This gave me a sinking suspicion which I immediately grabbed the agent¡¯s laptop to confirm.


    I found that it needed both a retinal and fingerprint scan to access it.


    I created two key chain artifacts to access the phone, Glass Eye and Green Thumb. While they cost me some time, it would be worth it just to confirm or reject my suspicion. They were designed to mimic a person¡¯s eye and thumbprint respectively. Glass Eye had the appearance of a stained-glass lens that looked like an eye. Green thumb had the appearance of a wooden thumb. They were both only barely Tier Zero artifacts but did the job all the same.


    While the laptop could not access all the information of every agent it did contain some files. These files revealed something troubling, Cole was not the best man nor the closest man for the job but was still sent here where he died his first night leaving me with critical supplies, knowledge, and a chance to end a major problem before it became one, the code F debacle.


    Normally I would attribute this to fate or the world¡¯s will, but I was not bound by either. Which meant someone wanted me here for a reason and I don¡¯t have the faintest clue as to who or why, but I was going to find out one way or another. In the meantime, I now have a job and an apartment.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    []


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [Black Smoke Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Murder Weapon: Axe]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH6 Crafting Stuff & Thangs

    The next day I decided to shop for some things to hunt that succubus down as it would have several things that are of use to me. While it may seem callous of me to not feel anything about hunting a living thinking being, she was a hunter herself. Just like the sheep can¡¯t be mad at the hungry wolf, the wolf can¡¯t be mad at the protective farmer. Not that my motive were quite so pure, but my conscience, or at least the empty husk of it hollowed out by unreality, was clear.


    My first couple of stops the next day were at various religious sites to collect faith for the first of my projects.


    I spent the next several hours visiting churches, mosques, and synagogues around the city. I would have visited more, but America tends to only have those around. After I collected a bunch of faith into a golden sphere, I returned to my hotel room with said ball and various other supplies to start crafting artifacts.


    The artifact that I was collecting faith for was the Holy Straight Razor. It took the form of a white straight razor the handle covered in golden swoops and whirls. The blade featured golden symbols of various religions: a Dharmachakra representing Buddhism, a Cross representing Christianity, an Om representing Hinduism, a Star and Crescent representing Islam, a Star of David representing Judaism, a Torii representing Shinto, and a Taijitu representing Taoism.


    The blade purpose was to quickly disable/kill a target with only one hand. The straight razor had a conceptual relationship with slitting throats. As such when used in that way the artifact received a small boost. This boost was critical as I was quite physically weak.


    _


    Holy Straight Razor


    ¡°Dead slump or devout kneeling, Looks the same to me.¡±


    Tier One


    A straight razor empowered by faith


    _


    The next artifact incorporated the clown¡¯s flexibility and stainless steel from a refrigerator, the Suit of Armor. The steel granted durability and the flexibility made what would have been incredible stiff clothes into some of the most flexible dress clothes in the world. The ingredients lead to the suit being a dull grey. Its purpose was simply to provide some protection to my fragile body.


    _


    Suit of Armor


    ¡°The modern man¡¯s suit of armor¡±


    Tier Zero


    An Italian cut suit with unnatural durability and flexibility


    _


    The other artifact was one I was holding off on until I had an actual need for it. The artifact was named The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach, and its main job was to store apples. I did not need this earlier as rat apples were so widely accessible. Sinner apples provided much more time, but I could only hunt every so often. While it may be overly optimistic, it¡¯s entirely possible that I may have more than five apples sometimes. Also, it will allow for longer intervals without a hunt.


    I created the artifact out of a bunch of stomachs I picked up from a butcher and an entire bucket of rat apples. I now had a small red leather pouch hanging at gut level off a leather cord. No reason for the cord being leather other than personal preference and the fact the animal product mildly resonated with the stomach attributed crystal.


    _


    The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach


    ¡°This will go straight to my hips¡±


    Tier Zero


    A magical amulet that stores an energy source called apples


    _


    My next artifact was The Mentalism Ring. It looked like a pink gem shaped into a brain wrapped in black chains that also made up the band. Its purpose was to store mental related abilities, currently that was just Cole¡¯s psychometry.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    _


    The Mentalism Ring


    ¡°I¡¯m seeing a J¡±


    Tier One


    A ring that grants the following mental abilities: Psychometry


    _


    For my next artifact, I infused an undershirt with some muscles, read various cuts of red meat, I got from the butcher. This created a pink undershirt that I named Muscle Shirt. This increased my physical abilities to the level of an average man.


    _


    Muscle Shirt


    ¡°Strong like bull¡±


    Tier Zero


    A pink undershirt that grants the wearer physical abilities matching the level of an average man


    _


    To finish up my wardrobe, I created a gray pair of dress shoes named Cement Shoes. They just made me harder to move at the cost of sinking like an anchor in water. They were made from a pair of Cole¡¯s shoes and cement picked up from a hardware store.


    _


    Cement Shoes


    ¡°Get this man some shoes of the cement variety¡±


    Tier Zero


    Shoes that make the wearer harder to displace at the cost of cursing them to sink in water


    _


    The last of the artifacts were created to take advantage of the power system in this world. You see, apparently in this world people can grow stronger and evolve by feeding off an energy produced by negative emotions, usually fear. Learned that from analyzing the clown and some other regular people from this reality.


    This method was innately corrupting though, which meant that most of the monster hunters just trained in the standard fantasy methods, magic or mystical martial arts.


    My solution was a mask. This was possible due to a mask¡¯s ability to become the face of an identity and the mask in question was designed to absorb that energy. I doubt that I am the first to have this idea, but I¡¯m probably the first that can create a mask that has the potential to truly reach the heights of this world.


    The artifact would also help with fear collection by making me more recognizable. It wasn¡¯t just when observed though, a mask would make linking my deeds together easier thereby speeding up the creation of a legend.


    The mask would solve a much more mundane problem in addition, hiding my face. The mask achieves the best of both worlds: recognized when I want and unrecognizable when I don¡¯t.


    I took inspiration for my mask from one of my favorite creatures back home, the wasp jackal. They were remorseless, unyielding, vicious hunters that never stopped until they or their targets were dead.


    I constructed it out of bone I got from the same butcher as the stomachs and some bubblegum for stickiness essence. I ended up with a stark white jackal mask with visible lines denoting the exoskeleton and a mouth that split apart two different ways. It was just a mundane mask that stuck to my face when worn.


    When I put it on though, it reacted to me and turned a stark black. I felt the mask connect to what I can only describe as a story carved into reality itself. The mask imparted said story.


    The black wasp jackal was distinct among his kind. He was a solitary creature that was forever both hunter and the hunted. To understand why you had to understand how most wasp jackal swarms worked. Each swarm had a queen that only really had two abilities empowering the swarm and enslaving it. While everyone else were slaves and hunters. However, sometimes a wasp jackal gains the ability to resist the queen¡¯s commands. This had happened a few times before and the wasp jackals are usually killed, but he was powerful enough to fight the rest of the swarm and kill the queen. When that happened, it set off a series of events: the wasp jackal¡¯s exoskeleton turns jet black, all the other drones died, and the strength of the entire swarm was concentrated into the black wasp jackal. From that point on, the black wasp jackal lead a life of hunting other swarms for their power.


    The reason my mask turned black was due to concept resonance. Both the black wasp jackal and I lost our home and became all the stronger for it. both of us were unique. Both of were doomed to forever be hunters. This empowered the mask and bound it to a legend. I fed The Black Mist Ring to it. This, due to the similar concepts of hunting and stealth, strengthened the contained ability and allowed the mask to create Black Smoke. This solved the problem of such a useful ability only being available in this world.


    _


    The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face


    ¡°We all wear masks, this is mine¡±


    Tier One


    A mask that grants the following abilities: resistance to mental and soul-based attacks & creation and manipulation of Black Mist


    _


    At the end of this I ended up with an amulet, a mask, some clothes, and a week to live.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    [Suit of Armor]


    [Muscle Shirt]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Murder Weapon: Axe]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH7 Succubustin P1

    I spent the next day getting used to the psychometry provided by The Mentalism Ring to trace the psychic traces leading to the succubus¡¯s home. I found that in addition to a couple of her hunting grounds. It was fortunate that the succubus was not particularly cautious and hunted those grounds every night.


    While I could ambush her when she was hungry and thus weaker, it was the wrong call. With how much her charm attacks overpowered my defenses and her physical abilities eclipsed my own, that weakness would not make any substantial difference. My only win condition is to blitz her and end the fight before she can react. So, I wanted her to be fed and content over hungry and hunting.


    I had my approach plotted out. The location I chose was an alleyway that was right before her residence. Now I just needed to wait for her to come back home.


    It was several hours later I saw her strutting down the sidewalk with a smile on her face.


    When she just passed me, I sneaked up behind her using a new technique that I had been developing.


    I developed this technique due to an observation that movement caused disturbances in the smoke. I surmised that I was unlikely to be the first to think of it. I spent some time in the previous days practicing moving through the smoke while controlling it in hopes of minimizing disturbances. I had gotten to the level where unless you were looking for it you would not notice any of my movements in the smoke.


    This technique bought me the first second I needed to get behind her. I then blew a cloud of concentrated black smoke at the back of her head then pulled it back towards her face to disorient her for the second of the seconds I needed. This was another thing I learned in the previous days, that concentrated smoke could disorient most people and open some weaker people to suggestion.


    I used the additional second I had just obtained to grab her hair and pull her head back, leaving her throat wide open. While I was not strong enough to do this to anyone not disoriented, my opponent very much was disoriented. I then dragged the Holy Razor across the succubus¡¯s throat. She dropped to the ground and started to gush orange energy into the air.


    ¡°Did you know that succubi store the chi they steal in their throat? I was surprised too. Most store it in their dantian, an energy sea located near the diaphragm.¡± I told the woman glaring up at me from the ground. She lunged at me, but I foresaw this and had given her the appropriate space. Thus, I was able to dodge the desperate attack.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, why is my charm gaze not working? Well, I severed the chi veins leading to your head. It¡¯s not the typical engagement recommended by the MFBI, but I did not want to stab you in your chi organ as I quite like it. So, I decided to cut above it to sever the veins preventing the use of a succubus¡¯s two greatest abilities, charm gaze and charm speech.¡± I told the clearly uninterested dying party.


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


    ¡°Sorry to drag this out, but I don¡¯t get many opportunities to talk to people and humans are social creatures don¡¯t cha know. I also like to toot my own horn. Here let me put you out of your misery.¡± I said before putting Cole¡¯s silver knife through her brain.


    It was then time to collect the first of my prizes, her lips. While a weird body part to take, a succubus¡¯s lips facilitated the absorption of chi in particular and any energy in general.


    They were later that night made into another ring that I slotted onto my left middle finger, Succubus¡¯ Kiss. It was a crimson ring shaped like a pair of lips that basically did what their source material did. This artifact would help me quite a bit in essence acquisition.


    _


    Succubus¡¯ Kiss


    ¡°The kiss of death¡±


    Tier One


    Improves the wearer¡¯s ability to extract energy from persons, places, or things


    _


    The second thing I extracted was the succubus¡¯s chi storage organ. This was stored for whatever later purpose I could think of. The real gain of this was that it taught me a new usage of essence, imbuing the essence¡¯s properties into various materials based on chi¡¯s attribute of imbuement.


    The last of my prizes were her charm abilities, charm gaze and speech, that I promptly fed to The Mentalism Ring.


    _


    The Mentalism Ring


    ¡°I¡¯m seeing a J¡±


    Tier One


    A ring that grants the following mental abilities: Psychometry, Charm Gaze, & Charmed Speech


    _


    When I looked at her soul, I got an unexpected surprise, a collection of energy containing information that was connected to her soul. I named it the charm matrix as it contained a blueprint on how to appear attractive and charming: how to look, dress, walk, talk, eat, and every other aspect of life. I promptly turned that into a knowledge sphere that I planned to integrate overnight.


    This provided me with two additional pieces of helpful information: a blueprint of humanlike bodies and a way to store information as energy. While the first was more appearance than substance, it was still way more knowledge of biology than I had.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    [Suit of Armor]


    [Muscle Shirt]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Murder Weapon: Axe]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH8 Succubustin P2

    I used the energy information structure to create another ring, Mena¡¯s Book. This would act as an archive that would store all the knowledge I gather on my travels. As a side benefit, it would store my memories as well making me mildly resistant to emotion and memory altering effects. The name came from a story I heard as a kid.


    The story goes like this:


    Once upon a time there existed a magical lake that granted the wish of whoever drank from its waters. One day three strangers came upon the lake, each only connected by their shared dissatisfaction with their lots in life.


    The first, Mena, was a scholar. While he was intelligent, his peers always made him feel so dumb. He was above average in a world of geniuses. He was tired of feeling foolish, so he set out to find the fabled lake. He would either be a true fool looking for a fictitious place or get his wish and never feel foolish again. When he drank from the lake¡¯s waters, he wished to know all that there is to. The lake granted him a grimoire containing all the world¡¯s records.


    The second, Bodi, was a farmer. Bodi had been physically weak his entire life and thus was pushed around again and again. He was first bullied by his parents, then his peers, culminating in his crush publicly humiliating in front of the entire hamlet. He set out to find the lake not caring if he fell in the process as life as a weak man in medieval times was no life at all. He drank from the lake¡¯s waters wishing for strength. The lake granted him a set of armor that granted him great physical abilities.


    The third, Solaris, was a knight. Solaris had been a coward for as long as he could remember. While he was a genius in all matters relating to knighthood and excelled in training, he trembled and hesitated whenever he was in true combat. He committed his first act of bravery leaving his home and everything that he had ever known in pursuit of courage. He drank from the waters and was granted a scepter by the lake. The scepter granted whoever held it great courage and the ability to inspire it in others.


    The three strangers felt a connection with each other as they were all starting their new lives at the same time. They set out to travel the lands with each other and with time they grew closer and more famous. Years later the tales of three brothers spread across the lands. The group helped all they came across.


    Mena became known as the wisest man under the heavens. He granted advice and guidance to all who came across him. He spread new methods that benefited every profession and revolutionized every field of study.


    Bodi became known as the mortal god of war. He defeated every warrior he came across; none could even approach his strength. His name spread fear to every lowlife and thug in the realms.


    Solaris was granted the title of God¡¯s Mouthpiece. He could lead farmers against even the most well-trained armies and win. He gained a reputation as a fearless commander who had never lost a battle.


    However, with time and fame they grew apart.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Mena locked himself away in a tower to research and push various fields of study even farther.


    Bodi went around seeking more and more challenges.


    Solaris built an empire.


    Mena¡¯s isolation caused him to grow colder and more distant from the world. His research caused him to see worldly matters as more and more beneath him. This happened until the brotherly feelings that used to fill his heart turned to nothingness.


    Meanwhile, Bodi and Solaris grew resentful of each other. Bodi hated that he was seen as a dumb brute, while Solaris hated that he was seen as a weak man who hid behind his subordinates. This resentment grew more and more as the years passed, until their brotherhood was a twisted hateful remnant of what it once was.


    This culminated in a war breaking out between Solaris¡¯ empire of virtual strangers that worshipped him as a messiah and Bodi¡¯s small elite group of subordinates that he beat into submission. They both went to what they both thought was still their good brother Mena, but both were met with rejection and dismissal. Mena barely heard a word they said before going back to thinking of his various projects. Where once he would have tried to mediate between them or deescalate the situation, it now seemed like a waste of time and headspace.


    Solaris and Bodi proceeded to tear each other apart unimpeded. When Mena looked up from his books and out of his ivory tower, he saw that he was alone and found that he was indifferent. He did, however, find that he cared about the fact that he did not care. He had lost his last connection with the world without even knowing when it had happened. He spent the rest of his life buried in his books and pushing the boundaries of various fields. He died alone just like his brothers and finally realized the cost of the lake.


    He and his brothers all got what they wanted at the cost of everything else. He became known for his wisdom, Bodi for his strength, and Solaris for his courage. However, they had each died alone, He in his ivory tower, Bodi with his slaves, and Solaris surrounded by worshipping strangers.


    My newest ring was the distillation of Mena¡¯s story.


    _


    Mena¡¯s Book


    ¡°A compendium of all my knowledge¡±


    A ring that stores the user¡¯s comprehension and knowledge of various concepts: charm matrix


    _


    It did not have a tier as it did not really do anything, for now at least. It was a simple origami ring covered in various lettering.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    [Suit of Armor]


    [Muscle Shirt]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Murder Weapon: Axe]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH9 Spooky Stories, Spookier Events

    Somewhere in the woods surrounding Sunset City a group of college students were sitting around the campfire telling stories. The group contained four sets of siblings with weird rhyming names: Brad, Chad, Mandy, Candy, Randy, Addison, Madison, Aiden, and Caden. It¡¯s up to each person to decide which is weirder, so many twins being friends with each other or the names. Personally, I think it¡¯s the latter. It was currently Chad¡¯s turn, and he was telling a story that supposedly happened in the camp they were counseling at, Camp Vaguely Offensive Name.


    ¡°Ok so the story goes like this. Once upon a time there was this loser¡­¡±


    He was promptly interrupted by his friend Randy, ¡°Hey, lay off the fictitious kid.¡±


    With an eyeroll Chad continued his story, ¡°Back on topic, this poor sweet summer child was bullied by every other person at camp, even the paste eater. No one could ever tell why he was chosen, he was just chosen as the sacrifice, the scapegoat. The children showed just how cruel kids can be by inflicting every horror they could imagine on him. They would put random stuff they found in the woods into his food, sometimes making him sick and sometimes it just made the food taste bad. They would pants or wedgie him whenever they passed by and he was not paying attention. Then there was the psycho stuff: thumbtacks in his shoes, peeing all over his clothes, and creating a fake secret admirer that he was tricked into falling for only to be mocked by everyone. Honestly it was a lot of work for something so meaningless.¡±


    ¡°As with many things, the attacks escalated and with this Bobby became more and more resentful, but not at his peers. He somehow had the maturity to know that the other kids were not at fault, the fault lied with the counselors who did nothing when they witnessed the abuse. The abuses he suffered grew ever worse as his tormentors feared consequences less and less. This culminated in the worst night of his life, also his last. They woke Bobby up in the middle of the night by throwing a backpack over his head. When he struggled against his attackers, they proceeded to tighten their grip on his limbs and lay into his ribs with several punches. When they carried him into the woods, they passed a counselor. When the counselor asked what they were doing, the kids said horseplaying and Bobby begged for help. The counselor decided he did not really care and took the path that required less work, to take the kids words over Bobby¡¯s. When the kids reached a clearing in the woods, they dropped Bobby on the ground. When they did, they realized he was no longer breathing. Hyperventilating and restricted airflow are an unfortunately fatal combination. Scared of the consequences, they ran back to their bunks and feigned sleep even though it never came to them, too tormented by the realization of what they did and had become.¡±


    ¡°The funny and tragic thing is that if they got him help, they could have prevented two tragedies. For you see Bobby was not dead just unconscious, but a night in a ditch without help remedied that. The first tragedy was that of a young boy¡¯s tragic and premature death. The second was what came later. As the young boy¡¯s corpse lay in that clearing his soul was trapped in his earthly vessel by his unjust death. That young boy was then twisted by his hate and resentment into an unholy creature. Bobby had become a twisted mockery of the human form: one arm gigantic, one skin and bones, one foot facing forward, the other backwards, skin a sickly gray, and a face that could be barely recognized as human let alone as Bobby¡¯s. The abomination started making its way back to the cabins while picking up a pair of garden shears it encountered along the way. When the kids woke up the next day it was to all the counselors¡¯ entrails spread across the camp. The monster was never seen again but is said to still wander these woods to this day.¡±


    ¡°Well on that note I gotta go empty my bladder on some tree. Here¡¯s hoping that I don¡¯t meet Bobby along the way.¡± Caden chuckled before walking into the woods.


    Caden missed the shadow shambling in the background while relieving himself. One could hope that if he saw it what was to come could have potentially been avoided. Unfortunately, no one would ever know how that branch of this story could have gone. Instead, he went back to the campfire unaware of the uninvited guest.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Ok Ok, it¡¯s my turn.¡± Madison said while clapping excitedly.


    ¡°Once upon a time¡­¡± Madison started before being interrupted.


    ¡°That¡¯s for fairy tales, not horror stories¡± Randy interjected.


    ¡°Randy, I swear to god if you interrupt someone again, you¡¯re gonna see some stars.¡± Brad told the young man before glancing at his not-so-secret crush.


    ¡°okie dokie back to my story. Once upon a time¡­¡±


    Randy suppressed his chuckle after seeing Brad¡¯s glare.


    ¡°There existed a small family consisting of parents and their single child. This was not a normal happy little family due to the father having what was like totally a drinking problem. The drink unveiled what was hidden inside the man, a small ugly angry monster that took out his anger on those who used to care for him. One night something just set him off and he did not stop even after his wife was on the ground unconscious. His daughter ran to him and tried to beat him off or rescue her mother. She was subsequently thrown into a huge mirror that hung in their living room. The mirror shattered and left a bunch of shards in the young girl¡¯s arms and back. She picked a large, pointed piece off the ground and put it into her father¡¯s neck. She then collapsed due to her injuries. That night the girl died in a puddle of blood and mirrors and Bloody Mary was born in that same puddle. Ever since every time she sees something she does not like, she goes into a blinding rage that leaves everyone involved including the victims dead.¡± Madison concluding her story.


    After another couple of hours of storytelling, the counselors split off and turned in for the night.


    Brad with Mandy, Chad with Candy, Randy with Addison, and everyone else alone.


    After several hours, the night was broken by a blood curdling scream. After being woken up all the counselors converged on Madison¡¯s room where they believed the scream originated from.


    They dreaded what they would find in there, especially her sister, but they had to find out.


    Chad pushed open the door and the smell that emerged told the group exactly what happened.


    When they entered, they all choked on the metallic scent in the air and were horrified by what they saw. It was a lesson of contrasts: a pale white corpse in a sea of crimson, a peaceful young woman surrounded by violence, beauty surrounded by ugliness.


    They all stood there in awkward silence, not a single one of them knowing what to do. No one wanted to break the silence as the moment they did, it would lock this moment into reality and once it was, they would need to deal with it. However, reality is often heartless and to deal with it they must.


    ¡°MADISON!!!¡± Addison bellowed before dropping to her knees with her hands over her mouth covering her screams.


    Randy rushed to his girlfriend¡¯s side to comfort her.


    The others just stood around not knowing what to do with the situations regarding either sister.


    After several minutes, Addison¡¯s face morphed into an angry grimace.


    ¡°I¡¯m totally gonna find this B*****d and when I do, he will regret ever being born¡± Addison gritted through her teeth before storming off.


    Randy was conflicted, on one hand was his girlfriend and the other was his sisters. Chad seeing him torn, decided to put aside their differences and help him out.


    ¡°Randy, you stay here with Aiden and Caden to protect the girls. While Brad and I will go with her.¡± Chad said before chasing after Addison with his brother.


    ¡°Hey, keep her safe.¡± Randy called out behind him thankfully.


    ¡°I will, never doubt that. You keep your sister safe for me¡± Chad called over his shoulder jogging to keep up with Addison.


    Addison was already at the entrance of the forest by the time Brad and Chad reached her.


    ¡°Hey Addison, wait up for us.¡± Brad called out behind her. He then handed her one of the weapons he could find, a fire poker.


    ¡°Let¡¯s split up to cover more ground.¡± Addison stated monotonously all business.


    ¡°Ok Daph, you go north. Me and Scoobs will go east and west respectively. Are you kidding me? Its Already bad enough we are trampling through the woods looking for a killer. Now you want to separate. What pray tell will a hundred twenty-pound white girl wearing short shorts and Ugg boots do to the guy that eviscerated that exact same girl earlier tonight?¡± Brad retorted.


    ¡°Finding the killer in these woods is a needle in a haystack. The only way we have a shot in hell to find him is to split up.¡± Addison implored not caring about reason or logic.


    Brad, while thinking, ran his hand through his hair.


    ¡°Alright, fine. But only if we stay close to each other and call for help at even the slightest hint of trouble. Deal?¡± Brad offered.


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    And off into the woods they go. Only one would return from this excursion.

 V1CH10 Spookiest Conclusions

    After an hour of kicking up rocks in the woods, the relative silence of the trio¡¯s surroundings was broken by a sickening crack.


    The surviving duo rushed to the source of the sound. Judging by the lack of screams, shattered tree, and the broken boy they guessed that the assailant snuck up behind Chad and put him through one of the surrounding trees. Which was a concerning level of strength.


    Chad rushed to his brother¡¯s side and pleaded with every deity out there that this was a nightmare or a sick joke. However, if a benevolent deity existed in this dark world, it most certainly wasn¡¯t there with them this dark night and the malevolent ones were rejoicing in the tragedy.


    After several seconds, Chad¡¯s face gained a resolve rarely seen in his shallow day to day life.


    ¡°Addison let¡¯s go get this b*****d and make him pay.¡±


    However, while this event strengthened Chad¡¯s resolve, it demolished Addison¡¯s. It was a reality check for her.


    ¡°Chad, look at what happened to your brother. I¡¯m starting to think we made a mistake choosing fight over flight. Let¡¯s get back to the others and do what we should have in the first place and leave.¡±


    ¡°I am looking and I¡¯m not leaving these G*****n woods until whoever did this is in the ground. You can go back to the others if you want, but I actually care for my sibling.¡±


    Both faces morphed after the statement left Chad¡¯s mouth and hung heavy in the air. Addison¡¯s broke and filled with tears, while Chad¡¯s was filled with shame and regret. Before Chad had the chance to apologize or take back his thoughtless statement Addison took off into the woods. Chad took off behind her trying to stay with her and protect her as he promised.


    This chase went on for several minutes due to both of their athletic abilities, Addison¡¯s for track and field and Chad¡¯s from football. The chase came to a tragic conclusion when Addison fell victim to the cruelest entity there is, simple dumb chance. Addison tripped on a tree root and bashed her head on a rock. Chad simply stopped and looked in horror at what he had done with a carless word and an even more careless action.


    Chad walked back to the cabin housing his friends with his head down. How he wished that the killer would take his life before he reached his friends, that he would never have to tell them what he had done, but as was so common in this incredibly dark night his luck just wasn¡¯t there.


    As he stood in the doorway alone under the stares of all those he considered friend, he couldn¡¯t get out the words he so desperately wanted to. It just did not want to pass his lips. His first luck of the night was that he did not need to. They all knew what him coming back alone meant.


    Randy¡¯s face went from shock to sadness then settled into rage.


    ¡°You promised you would look out for her! You promised!¡± Randy bellowed before punching Chad across the face and knocking him to the ground. Randy proceeded to climb on top of Chad and proceeded to wail on him, each punch punctuated by a heartbreaking sob. Chad didn¡¯t know which hurt him more, the punches or the sobs.


    The others pulled Randy off him.


    ¡°Let me go!! He killed her!!¡±


    The others tried to tell him that there was nothing that Chad could have done, that he had probably just lost his brother, and that now wasn¡¯t the time to have this confrontation. That first claim hurt him more than anything Randy had done to him. He so desperately wanted to tell them the truth, but they were right about this not being the right time. They needed to stick together if they were to get out of this situation with everyone alive.


    They decided that staying to fight would only end in further tragedy. They rushed to Randy¡¯s truck as that was the best automobile to rush through the woods.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t over, when we get out this, we will have a very serious talk.¡± Randy gritted through his teeth after pushing past Chad.


    Chad knew exactly how that conversation was going to go as he had no choice but to tell everyone what really happened if he had any hope of looking himself in the mirror again.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    After reaching the truck they all packed themselves into the truck using every available space, sitting on each other¡¯s laps up front, and piling in the truck bed.


    After about two minutes of being thrown around the truck while it was driving over roots and uneven terrain, a tree fell right in front of them. The truck swerved out of the way but all that did was change which tree the truck ran into. Fortunately for them, being so packed together in addition to the reduction in speed brought by the change in direction and subsequent braking reduced the damage to only some nasty bruises and busted lips. Unfortunately, the beat-up truck would go no further as it no longer started up.


    Their injuries were irrelevant however due to the killer likely being close to them. They exited the truck as quickly and efficiently as a group of terrified twenty somethings could and proceeded to run as quickly as they could while staying together. The less athletic members jumped on the backs of their more athletic companions in an attempt to speed up the retreat.


    This continued until Randy, with his sister on his back, was clotheslined by a huge gray arm that suddenly jutted out from behind a tree.


    _


    Bobby Jenkins


    ¡°You change the world or the world changes you¡±


    Grade D


    _


    Sandy got the breath knocked out of her due to her brother landing on top of her. Randy tried to get back up and defend his sister but was stomped back to the ground.


    Chad rushed the creature, half hoping to somehow make up for what he had done and half to prevent any more innocent victims. He was subsequently hit into a tree by the being before he could do anything though. The creature raised his foot again about to put it through both Randy and his sister¡¯s chests.


    Chad stared at what was about to happen, it was more painful than his probably cracked ribs.


    Everyone closed their eyes as no one wanted to see what was about to happen. As a result, no one saw the pale-yellow lightning bolt shoot out from the trees and brush past the monster. Afterwards the creature¡¯s throat suddenly had a thin black line that grew into a thick black gouge that started to billow smoke like it was set alight.


    ¡°Sooooo, whatcha up to?¡± A gravelly voice sounded out from the figure that suddenly appeared following the disappearance of the lightning bolt. The figure wore a grey suit and a black dog mask with a pale blue lightning bolt finger painted across the left eye.


    ¡°Night¡­ is¡­ falling¡­¡± the creature croaked out.


    ¡°It¡¯s already here my friend, but thanks for the heads up. Now in all seriousness, why did you come out after so many years dormant?¡±


    ¡°Night¡­ is¡­ falling¡­¡± the creature croaked out again.


    The man sighed and then in a mocking tone said, ¡°Well, that¡¯s just not helpful, but as those seem to be the only words in your vernacular lets draw this conversation to a conclusion.¡±


    ***


    I decided to see if its corpse would be more enlightening.


    I proceeded to the dying creature relying heavily on my cane. While that lightning trick was effective, not to mention extremely cool, it took quite a toll on my body. My essence painting method based on what I learned from the succubus¡¯ chi had a major flaw, while traditional chi provided a uniform boost, my method was lopsided. The lightning imbuement provided speed and power, but not the durability to withstand those boosts.


    I walked back to my car after picking up the creature¡¯s rusty shears and having my mask consume the creature¡¯s accumulated negative energy. I blew out a cloud of black mist to cover my exit as I did not have anything to say to or ask from the co-eds.


    As I was later driving back home, I could not help but think back on what the creature said, night is falling. I had no idea what that meant, and its soul was not particularly revealing. All I got was that there was some vague feeling that told the creature to walk the earth again. Add that mystery to list right under what plans someone had for me and whether or not they related to the aforementioned coming night.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    [Suit of Armor]


    [Muscle Shirt]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Murder Weapon: Axe]


    [Murder Weapon: Shears]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH11 Im Kinda On The Kids Side, Who Buys A Little Boy An Antique Porcelain Doll

    About a week after my encounter with the camp zombie, I was called to a murder scene due to its strange nature. When I arrived at the house covered in police tape, I told everyone to clear the scene using the FBI badge that I got from Agent Cole.


    Well, the old agent Cole as I was now Agent Cole.


    Standing in front of the house alone, I raised my right hand and willed The Mentalist Ring to activate. With an unnatural pink gleam flashing over the gem, I was taken away from the present to see what I could find about the series of events that lead to this scene. Fortunately, I had a stronger soul than Cole and actually trained with it, so I got a lot more than the snippets he got.


    ***


    In an ordinary house located in Cedar Hills, a suburb located in the northern part of Sunset City, lived a relatively normal family, whatever that really means. The family was made up of Alex, his son Nick, and his new wife Sandy.


    This family was relatively happy with the only problem being the small one of Nick having trouble accepting his new stepmother. In a happier world based on happier movies this problem would have been resolved after a series of hijinks that culminated in a heart-to-heart talk right before the stepmother left on an airplane. Too bad for everyone involved, this was not such a happy world. Instead, this family would invite a plague upon themselves in pursuit of solving this small problem.


    The small event that set off this series of dark events was the purchase of a not so simple vintage porcelain doll.


    The previously mentioned newly married couples were coming home from a date night. The man was a tall black man with close cropped hair and stubble. His new bride was a shorter redhead with a face full of freckles holding a doll she saw in the window of a pawn shop on the walk home.


    ¡°Honey, I love how you are trying to connect with Nick, but you can¡¯t just force these things or buy a kid¡¯s love. Also, I don¡¯t know if he is at the age to appreciate a doll.¡± Alex said while trying to talk Sandy out of her endeavor.


    ¡°I know, but I have to try to something if I¡¯m ever to get through to him. Also, my mother got me and my brother dolls at this age and we both loved ours.¡± Sandy defending her position.


    ¡°I¡¯ve met your brother and as a result I am almost positive that he was just too nice to share his true thoughts on the matter with your mother. Also don¡¯t you think that doll is a little creepy.¡±


    ¡°Oh hush, he¡¯s going to love it.¡± Sandy reassured her husband while excited and hopeful for Nick¡¯s reaction.


    Sandy threw open the front then walked into the living room where Nick and his babysitter were watching cartoons. The babysitter, seeing that the parents were back home, excused herself and left after getting her pay from Alex.


    ¡°Look Nick, I got you a present.¡± Sandy said full of anticipation.


    The young boy whipped his head around in excitement at the mention of a gift. Only for his smile to fall then come back noticeably more strained.


    ¡°Oh, a doll. Thanks.¡± Nick mumbled clearly disappointed.


    Sandy visibly deflating told her son, ¡°I thought you would appreciate it. I know I did when my mom got me one when I was your age.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not my¡­¡± Nick started before seeing the despondent look forming on her face and his father¡¯s raised eyebrow behind her.


    ¡°Thank you for the gift. I love it.¡± Nick said while trying to sell his enthusiasm as much as a kid his age can.


    Nick took the doll and went up to his room.


    ¡°He hates it.¡± Sandy bemoaned after sinking into the living room couch.


    ¡°He appreciated the effort and that you¡¯re trying.¡± Alex consoled while sitting down next to her.


    ¡°Thanks for that.¡± Sandy told her husband while leaning into his arms.


    The next morning the two adults awoke to a surprise waiting for them downstairs.


    The downstairs was trashed with trash strewn about the floor and someone had carved ¡°B***H¡± into the wall of the living room with a knife that was then stuck into the wall as punctuation.


    ¡°Nick!! get your butt down here right this instant!!!!¡± Alex bellowed out, startling his son awake.


    ¡°What Happ¡­¡± Nick said while walking down the stairs before the sight before him silenced him.


    ¡°Nick you¡¯re going to clean all of this up and you¡¯re grounded for this entire month.¡± Alex borderline yelling while trying to keep his anger contained.


    ¡°Nick, I thought things were going better. Why would you do this?¡± Sandy croaked out, barely holding back her tears.


    ¡°Dad! It wasn¡¯t me!¡± Nick pleading with his guardians.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear. Oh, and I¡¯m adding another two weeks to your punishment because you refuse to take responsibility.¡± Alex told his son.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you this wasn¡¯t me!¡± Nick reiterated.


    ¡°That¡¯s another two weeks right there. You¡¯re at two months now, want to go for three?¡± Alex questioned his son.


    ¡°This is so unfair!¡± Nick shouted before getting started on the cleanup.


    ¡°Honey, I got to go to the hardware to get something for the wall, can you make sure Nick cleans up his mess?¡± Alex asked his wife.


    ¡°Of course, I can handle a kid acting out.¡± Sandy reassured doing a small fist pump that brought a smile to her husband¡¯s face.


    Alex then threw a sweatshirt over his pajamas, grabbed his keys and wallet, then left for the store.


    Things were going fine at the house besides the awkward silence that permeated the downstairs that was occasionally broken up by the young boy¡¯s cleaning endeavors.


    This continued until Sandy got up to get a glass of water from the kitchen. When she was just entering the room with the living room behind her, she was pushed from behind and banged her elbows and knees on the ground. She got back up and looked at the young boy looking at her from his position in the living room.


    ¡°Nick, we do not hurt others. This behavior is unacceptable, you are grounded for another month.¡± Sandy said, getting angry for the first time.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡± Nick started tearing up.


    ¡°It was Fredrick!¡± while pointing at the doll that appeared on the couch somehow.


    ¡°Nick while I appreciate that you like my gift enough to name it, that does not excuse your behavior or lying. Another month of being grounded. Now go up to your room until your father gets back.¡± Sandy sternly said, turning red in the face.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t name that stupid doll.¡± Nick mumbled under his breath before stomping upstairs.


    What followed was a tense day of Alex fixing up the wall and cleaning up downstairs himself, silent meals, and early bedtimes as everyone was done with the day.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    [Suit of Armor]


    [Muscle Shirt]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH12 Dont Be Too Hard On The Parents, Would You Believe A Child Blaming A Doll

    The following week was marred by strange events: electronics turning on and off, things being moved, and that creepy doll being placed in weird locations and positions.


    Not to get off point, but it¡¯s hard to tell what Sandy was thinking with that doll. The porcelain gave it the appearance of having the skin of a corpse with fisheyes to match. The hair had a weird artificial look that was hard to truly describe. The face carried a smirk that can only be described as mocking and contemptuous. The doll¡¯s little suit with dress shorts was also a strong choice.


    Back on topic, these events were mainly attributed to Nick. This led to increasing tensions between Nick and his parents when he strongly denied any hand in it and kept blaming a seemingly inanimate doll.


    Nick was tempted to destroy or otherwise get rid of the doll but feared the consequences since the doll spent most nights since its arrival whispering them in his ears.


    This continued until the cursed doll over played its hand. You see the doll fed on the strife it caused its victims, more strife leads to more food and thus more power. As the doll used a variation of this world¡¯s power system that utilized strife instead of more common fear. The doll got greedy and wanted the complete dissolution of the family unit. It overestimated the strife it caused and underestimated the bonds between them.


    It rushed to the climax, a common mistake among amateur story tellers and a rare one among those with its experience, but mistakes do happen. The doll set the scene: Alex went to the store to get supplies for dinner after calling out his departure. The doll silenced the announcement with its ability to cause hallucinations. Then he used the ability to create a hallucination of Alex in his wife¡¯s and son¡¯s minds.


    ¡°Nick, get your a*s down here! I¡¯m tired of your sh*t and I¡¯m putting an end to it right now!¡± Hallucination Alex screamed from the living room.


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Sandy yelled while frantically stomping down the stairs.


    ¡°Getting ready to teach my disrespectful sh*t of a son some discipline.¡± The hallucination sneered.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?!¡± Sandy said with a horrified look on her face.


    ¡°Get out of my way! If he¡¯s not coming down, I¡¯ll go up there myself.¡± The hallucination told sandy before stomping out of the living room. The doll used telekinesis to make it seem like the hallucination pushed her to the ground to get her out of the way. The hallucination then raised its hand to strike Sandy to really sell the moment and when it did a look of realization came over her.


    ¡°Who are you? You¡¯re not my husband. He would never act like this, not in a million years.¡± Sandy stated with the same amount of certainty as she had in the fact that the sky was blue.


    ¡°Tch. How sloppy of me. Well, it was fun while it lasted, but it¡¯s time to clean up and move on.¡± The hallucination told the woman before fading away. Sandy then saw the doll sitting on the coach and had a realization.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    _


    Fredrick Schmidt AKA Fredrick the Killer Doll


    ¡°You hear that ringing bell Ann?¡±


    Grade C


    _


    ¡°Fredrick?¡± the woman questioned clearly confused, then a look of horror overcame her face, ¡°Nick was telling the truth all this time?¡±


    ¡°Fraid so, but don¡¯t be too hard on yourself, the smoke is a killer.¡± The doll¡¯s voice rang out through the air.


    She rushed up the stairs to Nick¡¯s bedroom to get him out of the house. She was thrown into the wall next to the stairs several times on her way up. She was lucky that the doll liked to play with its food and that it underestimated her resolve. The fact that it was daytime, which weakened the creature also helped.


    Sandy burst into her son¡¯s room, swept him up in his blanket, then jumped backwards through the second story window to protect Nick from the glass and absorb the fall. The adrenaline helped her continue to run away from the danger. After running for several blocks, she reached for her phone to find out where Alex was and tell him what had happened. Her face turned a stark white when she found her pockets empty.


    She was tempted to try to intercept her husband on his way home but was too worried to bring her son anywhere near that house and didn¡¯t want to leave him unprotected. She also had no way to know where her husband went or if he was even alive. She started running for the police station to get help and possibly get them to contact her husband.


    Back at the house Alex had arrived home and saw one of the windows broken. Which sent him into panic, and he rushed inside fearing for his family. When he passed through the door a knife was launched into his throat. It seems like the doll was not playing anymore after its last prey got away.


    Hours later, Sandy came to get everything she needed from the house in the safety of being in public and with company. There were unwritten rules enforced by some people that were listened to when they talked that summed up to keeping the secret world secret. As she was leaving, she heard a voice in her ear.


    ¡°You got away from me, but you won¡¯t survive the Night.¡± The voice whispered.


    Sandy decided to let any thought of vengeance go at this point and just focus on raising her son.


    When she got back to her car, she took Nick and left the city entirely. That night she spread a bag of salt around the hotel room and didn¡¯t sleep for the entirety of the night, hoping the entire time that salt would work. When the sun rose the next day, she set out on the first day of her new life as a single mother and as a person aware of what was truly out there.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    [Suit of Armor]


    [Muscle Shirt]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH13 Dolling Myself Up For The Big Event

    With a jolt I was back in the present again. Taking what I had just learned I looked through MFBI files on my new work laptop to see if they contained anything of use. I had hit the proverbial jackpot.


    I was dealing with Fredrick the Killer Doll. They had been searching for the doll even before the FBI was created, and the previous magical oversight organization merged with it. The doll was a slippery one due to its various abilities. It went from one family to the next, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake.


    It was a typical haunted doll story; sick Victorian boy dies of his illness while cursing God and the world around him which imbued his spirit into the doll. Now this was a harder and more involved process in most worlds that needed a lot more conditions being met, but this world was just that kind of place. Lucky for a sick Victorian boy, not so lucky for all the victims over the years. It had the standard possessed object abilities: teleportation, electronic disruption, fear aura, night empowerment, stealth, and the ability to cause hallucinations.


    ¡°Nothing to it, but to do it.¡± I said, psyching myself up for my latest hunt.


    When heading through the front door I summoned my mask over my face and drew a quick finger painting of a sun on its forehead using faith essence. I found the paint method was the most bang for my buck and had the most versatility.


    I tried pills, but those only offered weak effects for an extended period of time. Which was good info, but not quite was I was looking for. Artifacts worked about the same as the essence paint but were a waste of a slot. Not to mention that it was a pain to create one for each essence I wanted to use.


    It was also extremely easy to turn essence to paint. The only problem was storage as the paint tended to ¡°evaporate¡± to their natural form as energy. I solved this by turning essence to the more stable crystalline form and skimming some for paint.


    The type of paint affected the result. Electricity was one of go-tos due to its wide availability and it merely increased speed. Faith was another favorite as it massively increased the damage I could put out. It had saved my skin a number of times against various night bumpers, like those ji¨¡ngsh¨© that nearly killed me via siphoning all my internal energy.


    I used the essence paint as war paint as it fits the theme of battle and strength thus strengthening the effect. I directed the intent towards the Muscle Shirt instead of my body as my current method of infusion was multiplicative instead of additive. Normally this is a good thing, but normally one does not have rotten apples for muscles. This had the effect of weakening the strengthening as the muscle shirt was already infused with other concepts due to its artifact nature. This left little room for faith or any other essence.


    My painted sun gave me five minutes of faith imbuement before running out of juice and I was hesitant to put on more during what was likely to be a tough fight. So, I was on a five-minute time limit.


    One might think going in without weapons was a bad call and it was no doubt, but I had little choice in the matter. I simply lacked the coordination to use any weapon effectively. While muscle shirt provided me at least a basic level of strength, it did little to mitigate my rotten nerves. That problem could not be fixed as easily as my muscles. Trust me I tried.


    To sum it up, I can¡¯t aim for sh*t and anything longer than a bread knife was unacceptably unwieldly. My knife worked for most situations, but a powerful monster made of porcelain. That was a little too much to ask of my knife.


    Righty and lefty also had the advantage of attacking the mind and soul in addition to the body due to my intertwined nature. Which is always a plus


    Anyways back to the action and five-minute time frame.


    ¡°Little pig. Little pig.¡± I called out with my voice echoing through the house.


    My sixth sense felt an object flying towards the back of my head. Which I promptly ducked under. Well, fell under. All I had to do was let go of my cane and temporarily dampen my connection to the Muscle Shirt. Without either support I dropped like a¡­ well like a guy with rotten muscles.


    The vase shattered against the wall instead of my skull.


    I then noticed a wave of purplish energy rushing towards me. I grabbed my cane, engaged the Muscle Shirt, and used my newly recovered strength to throw myself away from the focused center of the blast. It rang my bell a little but by and large I was fine.


    The second psychic wave launched me through the wall, with some small gashes exposing my insides causing instant weakness. Without my skin keeping the rot contained, it leaked through the gaps and damaged everything around it. Namely Muscle Shirt, Suit of Armor, and my faith imbuement. This weakened the two artifacts and dropped my timeframe from five minutes to two. So, two minutes to do something that I was unsure I could do in five.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Through the plaster dust, I could see a porcelain doll floating in a storm of purple energy. And what I weird moment that was, intimidated by a doll wearing short shorts and a bow tie.


    I was presented with a choice: continue going with my current strategy or go with a backup plan.


    I decided to risk it for the biscuit. Said proverbial biscuit being my life. I shifted my intent guiding the faith paint to flood both Muscle Shirt and Suit of Armor with faith essence, dissolved the bonds in both artifacts, and weaved the resulting storm together. This was a technique I developed as a trump card; it condensed a lifetime of usage into a brief window where the artifact¡¯s abilities spiked. The only downside to this move is when this brief window ended, I would be without any other cards to play.


    I created golden energy armor so dense as to be almost opaque. The armor covered every inch of my body with paladin-esque armor.


    I noticed the spread-out silverware around me all lift and turn towards me. The silverware proceeded to be launched at me. When the doll saw its opening salvo doing little more than scratching my armor, it spun the various utensils around like a makeshift shredder. Said shredder was rapidly grinding down my armor. Which shortened my already brief window to win the day.


    However, due to focusing on my armor it left itself open to attack. I rushed it and threw a wild haymaker. While the doll had an energy shield, it could not stand up to the power of my temporary armor.


    I, in large part due to my armor, had blown away a huge chunk of the doll¡¯s side and took an arm. Dense black sludge started pouring out of the hole. It was all the negative energy that the doll had accumulated over the centuries.


    ¡°NO!!!! NO!!! NO!! IT CAN¡¯T JUST END LIKE THIS! I¡¯VE COME SO FAR, DONE SO MUCH. JUST TO HAVE IT END IN AN INSTANT RIGHT BEFORE NIGHT WAS FINALLY FALLING.¡± The doll screeched as its power literally bled out of its chest.


    When the last of its power was gone, its body dropped to the ground and shattered. All evidence that the doll ever existed was the pile of broken porcelain, black sludge, and purple shards.


    I quickly took some thread made of connection essence from my storage and sealed the tears in my skin before my rot could do more damage.


    With that done I created a simple wooden wheelchair to get me around and back home. As I was without my artifact given strength and too tired to use a cane.


    Now time to check my spoils.


    The purple shards contained the second of the mixed energies, spirit. Spirit¡¯s purpose was domination. Whereas chi was the combination of physical and mental, spirit combined mental and spiritual.


    This energy like chi could not be used by me directly, but it did teach me a skill just as useful as imbuement. How to overcome other beings¡¯ Aura. Aura is what I took to call the field people naturally put out that resists unnatural change, it¡¯s the reason blood mages can¡¯t just boil your blood. The reason telekinetics can toss people around but not rip out hearts. Well not without being way more conceptually powerful than you are. This skill will allow me to ignore some of that gap, with the amount increasing with proficiency.


    I put the purple spirit shards away for later.


    Unfortunately, the doll did not have any organs due to its nature, but I still had enough for the foreseeable future due to regular hunts.


    I then had my mask consume some of the porcelain shards on the ground.


    My mask turned from bone into porcelain shards. Where the mask used to have lines denoting the wasp jackal¡¯s plating, the plating turned real and was held together with a black liquid. The last of the cosmetic changes is that the mask could now articulate and follow facial movements. This had the side benefit of being able to open the mask¡¯s mouth and eat with it on.


    The porcelain allowed the mask to use some of the doll¡¯s abilities: disruption, fear aura, night empowerment, and stealth. These abilities raised the mask to tier two.


    The rest of the porcelain was fed to The Mentalism Ring to grant it the doll¡¯s ability to create hallucinations.


    I laid my hand on the pile of doll remains and extracted the doll''s soul. I proceeded to consume the doll''s experience with said abilities and spirit in general. The teleportation ability will not be of too much use to me though as I had a better one due to my relationship with space.


    After I was done, I left the scene and submitted a report to MFBI HQ that Fredrick the killer doll was off the board. Someone was getting a bonus and commendation, but that was little comfort as I still was clueless about anything to do with the falling night. Fredrick eliminated all traces of it from his soul as a final act of defiance.


    Time to wheel my chair back home. Well wheel my chair to the car and hope I can drive using essence threads.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH14 Standard Night In The Life Of A Man Aiming To Become A Boogeyman

    ¡°What¡¯s a beautiful young thing doing in a place like this.¡± A twenty something man wearing a high-end suit asked a beautiful young brunette resting her head on the bar. The only response he got were the mumbles under the young woman¡¯s breath.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get you out of here, you poor little thing.¡± The man said with a malicious sneer before carrying her out the bar. Why no one saw a problem with that, I don¡¯t know. Just that kind of place I guess.


    While walking to the man¡¯s car, they walked past a dark alley. Right when they passed the alley an arm swung out and pistol whipped the man. He was subsequently grabbed and thrown onto the ground in the alley.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± the man screamed in terror with a stark white face looking up at the gun aimed at his head.


    ¡°The climax of a pretty beautifully written script. At least in my opinion, which is the only one that matters. In terms of relevance to you? A lure and a trap.¡± A tall man wearing a black dog mask told the poor excuse for a man.


    ¡°What do you want from me?!?!¡± the man pleaded.


    ¡°To be honest with you Jimbo¡­¡± The mysterious man started before he was so rudely interrupted.


    ¡°My name¡¯s not Jimbo!!¡± the man now known as Jimbo shouted.


    ¡°I can assure you that fact could not matter any less. Now back on topic, I¡¯m going to use you to create some apples. This will also help with a long-term project of mine to become the boogeyman.¡± The masked man explained.


    ¡°Ok, just go ahead and do it then you can let me go.¡± Jimbo pitched visibly offput and confused about the apples.


    ¡°Jimbo, I got some unwelcome news for you. Apple creation is not something one walks away from.¡± The masked man told Jimbo.


    ¡°Why are you doing this to me? I have never hurt anyone in my entire life.¡± Jimbo pleading for mercy.


    ¡°Really? I made the illusion that led you to this little party of ours act so drunk ¡°she¡± could barely even speak let alone walk, and you were carrying it out of the bar towards your car. But that could be a one-time oopsie daisy, we all have one-time oopsie daisies, though admittedly yours is morally reprehensible and a sure ticket to hell. Which I can assure you does in fact exist in this reality. Also, judging by your comfort with the act it was most certainly not a one-time oopsie daisy. However, let¡¯s get off of a single moment of your life as that¡¯s just not fair to judge your fate by, let¡¯s focus on your entire lifetime of oopsie daisies. You see the thing is that I see a lot of this world and you my friend *whistles*, your soul is as black as it comes.¡± The masked man told Jimbo.


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true!¡± Jimbo yelled, trying one last time to deceive the masked man.


    ¡°Jimbo, your soul is black as pitch. That is a fact. It is howling with the screams of all that you have hurt. That is a fact. It is carved with your dark deeds: murder, extortion, blackmail, r**e, intimidation, and everything else you have done to get what you want. That is a fact. That I am here to kill you. That yet again and unfortunately for you is a fact¡± The masked man slowly explained to the hysterical man.


    ¡°I can pay you anything you want. Do anything you want. Say anything you want.¡± Jimbo said, desperately pleading with the man.


    ¡°Here is the thing, the only thing I want is your life. It is just that simple. Every debt comes due and yours has come due this day, this night, this very moment. It is truly fitting that the life of a man defined by using people to get what he wants, not caring of how it affects others, is going to end because of the wants and indifference of another.¡± The masked said while chuckling to himself.


    ¡°Who are you!?!?!¡± Jimbo screamed.


    ¡°As I previously told you, nothing could matter less.¡± The masked man stated while shaking his head. He then proceeded to sever the soul body connection, no need to extract what he needs while the victim is still alive. The masked man proceeded to cover the corpse¡¯s face with his hand and when he pulled it back it contained a brain. He did the same to the chest and heart.


    He then unraveled the three things he took and weaved them together into a small red sphere.


    The masked man walked several blocks away from the scene of his crime, magically dismissed his mask, then headed to his apartment.


    The man spent the next several hours training with his various abilities as best as he could in the small apartment before going to bed and thus concluded a standard day in the life of a man trying to be the next boogeyman.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH15 Witch Please

    One night while heading to my table at a diner, I encountered a little baby coven oozing black magic. When I used my psychometry to chart my new course, the pink gem on The Mentalism Ring gleamed and I was taken away.


    ***


    In a normal house on a normal street in one of the suburbs of Sunset City a sleepover was happening. One just like many others that have occurred in this very house, except in one small but meaningful way. One of the participants brought what she believed to be a party game.


    The participants were a trio of friends, sisters in all but blood.


    Sapphire was a young woman with red dyed hair and snow-white skin wearing a faded band t-shirt and worn-in pajama pants. Her biggest passion in the world was magic in all its forms, even though she did not truly believe in it. It served more as an escape from the harshness of her home life.


    Elizabeth was a blonde elfin girl with large blue eyes that had a white night gown hanging off her frame. She was the only daughter of the neighborhood¡¯s preacher.


    Cassandra was a young black teenager with long wavy hair. She had gym shorts and an over-sized T-shirt on. She was her school¡¯s star athlete and was on track to be valedictorian.


    ¡°Lookie what I got here, a real-life spell book.¡± Sapphire said with a glowing face and laugh.


    ¡°Come on Saphie. I know you like all this witchcraft stuff, but it¡¯s a bit dull for the two of us.¡± Cassandra explained to her friend.


    ¡°I know, but It just looks really cool and I wanted to share my hobby with you guys.¡± Sapphire said with a small pout.


    ¡°You know my father would freak out if he got even a whiff that I was even anywhere near that. I¡¯m already on thin enough ice as it is with the gossip going around.¡± Elizabeth said with a worried look.


    ¡°Lizzie it¡¯s just a party game. Let loose a little, your father¡¯s not going to find out.¡± Sapphire exhorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you said last time I was in a situation like this and look how that turned out.¡± Elizabeth said with a semiserious glare.


    ¡°Oh, come on Lizzie, let¡¯s just humor her for a bit and then we do something else. The only reason what happened with Chris happened was because Chris is a b***ard.¡± Cassandra explained.


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s get on with it.¡± Elizabeth said with a defeated look.


    They all sat cross-legged on the ground around the book opened on a page describing a cleansing ritual. It was not the most magical or visually stunning, but it was quick and easy. It only required a cleansing agent; they used a facial cleanser. It was also the only ritual that Sapphire and Cassandra could convince Elizabeth to even pretend to try.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Let purity scrub the wicked deeds from our minds, bodies, and souls¡± They all chanted.


    ¡°Let purity scrub the wicked deeds from our minds, bodies, and souls¡± They all repeated.


    ¡°Let purity scrub the wicked deeds from our minds, bodies, and souls¡± They all repeated a third time.


    When they were finished white fireworks launched out of the book and hit the three teenagers.


    Each girl had a different reaction to this mysterious event: Sapphire was elated, Cassandra was curious, and Elizabeth was frightened.


    Cassandra¡¯s firework purified her mind. All the stress she accrued maintaining her athletics, academics, and social life just melted away leaving her at peace.


    Sapphire¡¯s firework purified her body. The spark scrubbed her hair of its dye, cleaned her skin of the secret tattoo she got, pushed the piercings out of her body, and then healed the resulting holes.


    The last firework purified Elizabeth¡¯s soul. It cleansed her soul of its needless guilt and regret, but the largest effect was that the spark shattered the chains of her father¡¯s repression. All those mental chains that previously bound her thoughts and actions were gone. She felt freer than she had ever been.


    The three sisters in all but blood looked at each other in shock as none of them expected the ritual to work and for good reason too. The only reason it did was that several conditions were met: the three considered each other sisters, all of them had magical potential, the artifact belonged to the same branch of magic as them, and there were three of them which was an important number in magic. These conditions made the three teenagers into a coven and thus empowered. This empowerment allowed them to perform magic without skill, experience, or even true belief in the mystical arts.


    Elizabeth¡¯s face turned bone white, ¡°What have we done?¡±


    ¡°We discovered magic, that¡¯s what we did¡± Sapphire replied while cackling.


    ¡°We performed the devil¡¯s work!¡± Elizabeth cried hysterically as even without her metaphorical chains; her upbringing gave her a certain perspective on things.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t what just happen just seem right. I know personally that I haven¡¯t felt better since all of us were running around on the playground as kids.¡± Cassandra comforted her friend.


    ¡°Its¡­ its¡­ just the devil¡¯s influence. It corrupted us.¡± Elizabeth said before slumping drained of energy as even she did not believe in her words.


    ¡°It felt so right. If that¡¯s the devil¡¯s work, then maybe he is better to follow than some distant deity.¡± Cassandra, trying to convince her friend.


    ¡°How could you say that!!¡± Elizabeth screamed at her friend.


    ¡°Do you even really believe any of that stuff or are you just regurgitating what you heard from your father?¡± Sapphire called out from the side.


    ¡°Yes. No. I don¡¯t know at this point. All I know is that ritual changed something in me, and I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m okay with that.¡± Elizabeth equivocated, confused with the situation surrounding her.


    ¡°Some change is for the better. And this was better. This has the possibility to change all our lives for the better. Think about it: me out from under the thumb of my father, Cassandra you could be the star student and athlete of our school, and Elizabeth you can have your vengeance against Chris.¡± Sapphire said, trying to convince her two friends.


    Cassandra looked her in the eye full of resolve, ¡°Alright I¡¯m in.¡±


    Elizabeth sounding unsure replied, ¡°I just don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s fine. We don¡¯t do a thing until you are on board and if you decide against it, that¡¯s fine too.¡± Sapphire reassured her friend.

 V1CH16 Quit Your Witchin

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

 V1CH17 Big Witchin

    While hanging around an area for the express purpose of watching teenage girls day seems like a bad call. That was because it is and always will be excluding a very limited number of situations. I just so happened to run into one of them: they were in way over their heads and would not realize it until the water was already in their lungs. They needed someone there when that happened. While I had limited knowledge, read none, of magic, I had something they did not, the ability to download the book into my memory.


    My days were filled with doing paperwork, solving small cases involving weak dumb magical creatures, and keeping a cursory eye on the girls. In addition to downloading the spell book they left in sapphire¡¯s room into Mena¡¯s Book. As this was a relatively weak artifact it was taking time, I luckily had the time when they were at school and when they were asleep to absorb the knowledge. I just had to make sure to put the book back where I found it when the owners were around.


    The book had three things of note: the mana sleeve technique, the recipe for mana, and assorted knowledge of witchcraft.


    The mana sleeve technique involved shaping mana into a sleeve that wrapped around the user granted increased physical abilities. The main difference between this and chi was that it was additive not multiplicative. This made it much worse for those who had strong bodies, but perfect for squishy mages. The technique would work just fine with essence which allowed me to ditch the strength essence ring I had been using for a technique that I could just dedicate a portion of my attention to until I come up with something better. It also allowed me more control of my body.


    Next up was my discovery of mana. The final of the primary mixed energies was made from mental and spiritual energy. Its iridescent coloring reflected the inherent property of mana, transmutation. This in addition to the domination concept allowed me to shape essences rapidly provided I had the corresponding essence to get things started.


    This also seems like a good time to explain the difference between the mixed energies and abilities fueled by them. The raw energies just did their innate property when utilized. Whereas abilities that were fueled by them did their own thing. Gasoline can burn on its own or it could fuel a car.


    For spirit and chi the differences between the two usages tended to blur as the abilities were usually just specific uses of the innate property. Mana was the opposite as you could not really utilize the innate property on its own. Mana was just the fuel used to transform one thing into another guided by one ability or another.


    Now none of that mattered to me, but hey maybe it matters to you.


    The last of discoveries was witchcraft knowledge that outside knowing how to help or hinder witches had little use to me. The downside to existing outside reality is that the world does not help me with magic, which meant that what worked for other people did not work for me. I had to translate everything others use into my native language. So, while there was some helpful stuff, nothing too game changing.


    By the time three weeks passed, the water was already starting to pour in with the girls. Each had gotten so wrapped up in their own situations, they grew apart from one another. They had lost one of the most important things one needed when going down a bad path, an outsider¡¯s perspective.


    ***


    Cassandra was starting to see the effects of the Champion¡¯s Medal, a name he learned from skimming their magic cheat sheet. What the girls did not realize about the talisman was that it was unusually cheap to produce. This reduction in price stemmed from where it got those extra physical and mental attributes. They stemmed not from the production materials, but from draining the user¡¯s surroundings.


    This had two very major side effects: the first is that due to its negative effects on others, its dark magic. Which when used without care darkens the soul and lowers inhibitions. The second stems from an intentional property of the medal, it also takes in the ¡°competitor¡¯s¡± pride and aggression to literally suck the motivation of them and give it to the user to push them onward. These two effects compound off each other making Cassandra a landmine just waiting for someone to set her off.


    The person who had the misfortune of proverbially stepping on said mine was the star field hockey player on Cassandra¡¯s rival team, Missy. You see Missy had enough aggression and vitality to stave off the effects of Cassandra¡¯s medal for most of the game. She had spent said time showing Cassandra up. This culminated in Missy tackling her. Cassandra proceeded to get up and attempt to cave the young woman¡¯s skull in with her stick. The only reason she failed was that both teams saw what was about to happen and held her back in time. With time Cassandra cooled off and realized what she had almost done. After her realization, her face turned ghost white, and she ran off the field. When she got home after her impromptu jog she dug through her stuff and found the business card she had been given all those weeks ago.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    When she dialed the number, I, due to keeping an eye on the situation, was ready to pick up right away and told her to meet me in the Dim Diner to talk about the situation.


    ***


    Sapphire had a seed of darkness implanted in her soul. These were quite common when beginners worked with curses as they did not learn that while emotions strengthen curses, they also infect those very emotions. This problem is easily solved by even the most basic of purification rituals that most are taught to perform on themselves and their workspace after working with magic to prevent earlier work from contaminating later projects and prevent long term buildup of effects. This is especially true for dark magic as it¡¯s particularly contaminating.


    They can also be resolved naturally when they¡¯re as small as hers by the natural release of emotions. Unfortunately, the young woman learned early on in life that anger and/or tears won¡¯t help her and will only make her situation worse. As a result, she naturally bottles up her emotions, which is unhealthy in the best of circumstances, but is especially troubling when a seed of darkness is placed in said bottle.


    The seed fed on all those years of fear, hatred, and sadness. It blossomed within her and started to skew her perceptions of reality. It turned everything darker in her eyes. It turned accidents into deliberate malevolence. This nearly caused a fight when a classmate accidentally spilled their juice on her shoes. It turned her friends¡¯ preoccupation with their own situations into betrayals, leading her to ignore their own troubles. It blinded her to the fact that helping them would leave them open to help her. Where once she saw the world as full of potential allies and friends, she now saw it as cold, dark, and callous which lead to further isolation.


    It turned all those years of repressed emotions to venom in her soul just waiting for the chance to be injected into another¡¯s veins. That venom slowly led her down a path she would never have otherwise ventured. It started with seeing her father flinch when she passed him in the hallway at home. When she saw that she could almost swear she heard her world view shatter. She truly looked at her father for the first time in what seemed like her entire life. She was disgusted with what she saw in both him and her former self. He was unshaven, unwashed, unkempt, and a small man in every meaning of the term. She could not believe her former self was ever afraid of the man.


    This revelation led her to insults and intimidation. What used to be her chores had turned into his. What used to be her having to carefully watch every step in her own home turned into him having to. Where once she had been torn down at every opportunity, it had become his time to experience that.


    This reached a boiling point the night of the big game.


    Sapphire had decided to skip watching her friend¡¯s triumph as she no longer saw her as such. What set her off was the fact that her father spilled a glass of water at the dinner table. Unluckily for everyone involved, there was no one there to hold her back this time. What started as a slap had turned into a beating. Which led to her taking out all her rage in the form of repeatedly stomping the man while he was down.


    When she looked down at him cowering while having blood run down his face, she saw her former self. This moment could have gone two ways: she could have taken out her disgust in her former self like her father had taken out his when he saw his own weakness reflected in her or she could have self-reflected and realize what she had done, what she had become. She chose in that moment to grasp the goodness in her heart instead of the venom that had infested it. In that moment the seed of darkness that had previously bloomed withered away leaving in its place a confused and scared little girl.


    She immediately ran to the bathroom and started vomiting in the toilet. After she cleaned herself up as best as she could, ran to pick up her phone, and looked at the picture she happened to take of that FBI agent¡¯s business card before chucking it what felt like a lifetime ago. When she dialed said number, he told her where he was headed and asked her to meet him there.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH18 Cant Handle The Heat

    Elizabeth was relatively unscathed compared to her friends as dark magic potions tend to be divided in two: barely dark and the darkest of the dark. The boil concoction was the prior. As a result, all she got was a relatively weak seed of darkness that was quickly exorcised by her bright and kind personality that openly expressed anger, fear, and guilt. The only thing that could have stopped that was her previous repression, but that problem was already solved by the purification ritual the group had already luckily performed.


    Elizabeth had spent the past few weeks obsessing over the results of her potion. She grew horrified when she realized that the boils were communicable. This realization came about as she noticed that Chris¡¯s ¡°itch¡± was spreading.


    First it was Madison, one of the cheerleaders, then it was Johnathan, one of Chris¡¯ teammates on the football team. It spread from there to the entire football and cheerleading teams. Candace on the debate team was also caught itch, happened late enough that Elizabeth was unsure who it came from.


    Seems like the disease was getting around a frankly expansive web and that boils weren¡¯t always a dealbreaker in teenage sex. The first was particularly horrifying to Elizabeth. As her actions had led to an epidemic and because she had slept with one of them.


    This came to a head the night of the big game. Elizabeth came to the game because she wanted to support her friend despite their recent estrangement due to her distraction caused by obsessing about what she had done. However, she couldn¡¯t stop watching the cheerleaders and football team in the crowd. They were all wiggling in their seats, rubbing the boils, basically trying everything they could to relieve their pain.


    This came to a head at the same moment of Cassandra¡¯s assault, perhaps as a part of some larger grand plan. She completely missed that event though as she saw one of the football players suddenly start furiously scratching his privates. This continued until a pool of red started spreading from his groin and immediately his face turned bone white. Elizabeth¡¯s face soon followed when she realized what happened.


    She rushed from the stands at the same time that Cassandra was rushing off the field. After she got out on the street, she took out my business card that I assume she kept on herself just in case I was right about them needing help.


    I told her to meet me and gave her the location.


    While it may seem coincidental or convenient that all their situations came to a head at the same moment, I knew better than that. I got the impression that fate was a storyteller and that having all three girls realizing the depth of their mistakes at the same time would lead to a neater story and a highly entertaining moment. Also, without my help to resolve it they all would be in situations that would require further dark magic to resolve and thus continuing what would have been quite the vicious cycle.


    Luckily for them though, someone not bound by fate was there to help them.


    The three just so happened to meet in front of the diner. This actually was coincidence as fate was no longer the author of this script the second I came up on stage.


    ¡°What are you two doing here?¡± Sapphire asked her friends clearly confused.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t see what happened at the game?!?!¡± Cassandra shouted clearly baffled by her friends¡¯ ignorance as she was sure that everyone in the area knew what happened at the game by now.


    ¡°What happened?!?! Are you alright?!?!¡± Both of her surrogate sisters asked in unison, horrified at their ignorance of the situation their friend was in. They were both realizing how wrapped up in their own endeavors they had been.


    ¡°Nothing much, just pretty much threw my entire future away.¡± Cassandra stated monotonously before tearing up.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Cassie, tell me what¡¯s wrong.¡± Sapphire demanded before hugging her friend with Elizabeth following right after. While both had situations of their own, they were both luckily contained and relatively free of personal consequences.


    ¡°I almost beat a girl to death.¡± Cassandra got out between sobs.


    ¡°There. There. Everything¡¯s going to be alright.¡± Sapphire told her friend while rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Even if I¡¯m lucky enough to not be thrown in juvie or God forbid prison, I am never getting into a good college!¡± Cassandra cried out, feeling defeated.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get through this together just like we always do. And don¡¯t feel too bad I beat up my dad tonight.¡± Sapphire comforting her friend.


    ¡°Troy is in the hospital with his penis gushing blood right now.¡± Elizabeth admitted.


    With a small humorless chuckle, ¡°See Cassie, we all made mistakes. And hopefully this agent wasn¡¯t talking out of his a**.¡± Sapphire told her pseudo-sister, before leading the group towards me as they must have remembered my appearance from our brief encounter several weeks back. My stolen badge hanging off of my hip and the distinctive cane leaning against my seat probably helped though.


    ¡°Girls, it¡¯s nice to see that you all have finally decided to come and receive some help.¡± I told the assembled group. I decided to act like I was not keeping an eye on them as I needed them to trust me.


    ¡°We should probably talk somewhere more private.¡± Sapphire said before looking around at the other diner patrons.


    ¡°That¡¯s a hard no to three prepubescent girls following me to a remote location without witnesses or God forbid back to my apartment. In addition¡­¡± I started before being cut off.


    ¡°We¡¯re sixteen¡± the group of girls interjected.


    ¡°Firstly, please do not interrupt me again, it is a sign of disrespect. Secondly, I¡¯m twenty-five, sixteen might as well be twelve to me.¡± I told the group.


    I then continued my previous thoughts ¡°Getting back on topic, I¡¯m sure you must have realized that the black smoke that you must have started seeing recently is noticeably thicker around us, it is to hide us from interruption or eavesdropping. Here will be just fine for our discussion.¡± I told the assembled group.


    ¡°You¡¯re like us?!?!¡± The group was shocked by my revelation as they thought I was a paranormal detective and those tend to not have powers of their own. Blame TV for that misconception. Anyone with half a brain would tell you that you don¡¯t bring a knife to a gunfight or a mortal to a magic one.


    ¡°In the way that a gecko and silverback are the same. Technically correct, but fundamentally incorrect. While we¡¯re both animals, we are of a different breed and power.¡± I said without any sign of arrogance, exaggeration, or deception.


    ¡°You¡¯re not an FBI agent, are you?¡± Cassandra asked based on a feeling she was getting from this man with statuesque pale skin.


    ¡°I mean I fulfill the job requirements of a member of a certain branch of the FBI, I collect a paycheck from them, and I am keyed into their wards for this city. However, you are correct in the fact that I am not an FBI agent, but I do want to help you girls.¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Why do you want to help us?¡± Sapphire asked suddenly suspicious of this mysterious man. Which if we¡¯re being honest should have been her viewpoint from the jump.


    ¡°Well to cut a long story short, I want some good karma, and I like helping good people in bad situations.¡± I explained.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?!¡± Elizabeth asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Karma does in fact exist in a certain manner of speaking and it has a certain use to me.¡± I said expanding upon my previous statement.


    ¡°So where do we go from here?¡± Sapphire asked.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH19 Stay Out Of The Witchin

    ¡°So, where we, and by that I mean me, go from here is cleaning up your mess. Our first course of action is the destruction of that medal.¡± I said while pointing at the medal in Cassandra¡¯s pocket.


    ¡°Ok. How do we do that? I¡¯m guessing that we can¡¯t just throw it in a fire and let it burn.¡± Cassandra asked as she guessed that it was a more involved process. She then handed the medal to me.


    ¡°That would actually work fairly well. It would destroy some of the stored attributes and harm you in the process, but it would get the job done. However, since I¡¯m here, we can go for a more efficient process. I¡¯ll destroy the outer physical layer, sever its tie to you, then wrap the attributes in a protective coating to prevent damage or dispersion in the transit process.¡± I explained before unraveling the bonds keeping the physical medal, Cassandra, and the spell together. I then allowed the attributes to be transferred back to their original owner, but not before applying the coating using a method I had devised over the weeks for this exact situation.


    ¡°Now on to you Miss Elizabeth. I¡¯ll make the rounds tonight, putting that football player¡¯s humpy dumpty back together again and ridding every one of those nasty boils.¡± I told the girl. I was planning to travel to the various concentrations of pestilence in the area. The actual procedures just involved extracting disease essence and providing some health essence. The eggshell rebuild would take minimal effort following the data in the Charm Matrix and my experience with my own body.


    ¡°Just like that?¡± Elizabeth asked, confused by the ease of the process.


    ¡°Just like that. What is difficult to you all is easy to me who has both knowledge and power.¡± I explained.


    ¡°As for you Sapphire, do you even want the curse reversed?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?!?!¡± Sapphire asked, shocked by the question.


    ¡°Your curse is relatively unharmful and uncorrupting now that the seed has been exorcised by your shock and repulsion at what you did. The only harm done is to a man that deserves it.¡± I responded.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to say anything about that it¡¯s not right or that I have to be the bigger person?!?¡± Sapphire shouted, before glancing around at the people who did not notice the outburst.


    ¡°Sapphire, that curse is in my opinion is the embodiment of what curses should be, giving people a taste of their own medicine and/or teaching someone a lesson in either meaning of the term. Your father chose to live by the wings, in this case fear, thus he can be killed by the talons. The only truly dark things that occurred were your actions that had little to do with the curse. Now that you know just how slippery that slope is you can take care while treading it.¡± I told the confused young girl.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I fear what I will become if this situation is to continue.¡± Sapphire said while staring at her feet.


    ¡°Good. One should always think of what kind of person they want to be and what kind their choices will make them. You are the author of your story, only you can truly decide what you will become. Say the word and I will either lift the curse or leave that man to suffer his fate.¡± I said clarifying the young woman¡¯s choice.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    *Sigh*


    ¡°Leave it as is.¡± Sapphire resigned to her choice.


    ¡°Sapphire!!¡± Both of her friends shouted aghast.


    ¡°It¡¯s the only way that this ends peacefully. I can¡¯t stay in his house with him as he was before now that I have power, he will eventually push me too far and I will have no choice but to react which will lead to his maiming or death. However, I can¡¯t leave home and stay in this city with you two as the police or your parents will eventually have to send me back.¡± Sapphire explaining her choice.


    ¡°So be it. You girls go home and rest, you¡¯ve all had an eventful night. Wake up tomorrow to your mistakes expunged.¡± I told the young girls to send them off.


    ¡°I brought the book with me; don¡¯t you want it?¡± Sapphire asked.


    ¡°Why would I want what¡¯s yours. In fact, here¡¯s a notebook I threw together on my thoughts on the material contained within the book, it should help you avoid potential pitfalls and dead ends in your understanding of it.¡± I said before handing them a spiral notebook filled front to back with my thoughts and opinions. While I was still relatively new to magic, I had as good an understanding of the material contained in the book as its author and the ability to see the fabric of reality. The notebook should help them learn from the book and even to go further than it due to notes provided by a man that had a unique perspective on magic and reality itself.


    ¡°Why are you doing this after all that we have done?¡± Elizabeth asked almost crushed by her guilt.


    ¡°For me, that sweet sweet good karma. As for you, several reasons. Firstly, you have learned your lesson and won¡¯t repeat the same mistakes. Also, I¡¯m still in town if you need any more help or actual punishment for future actions. Secondly, One cannot simply put everything back in Pandora¡¯s box. You will forever be magical and thus hunted until the day that you die. Take that as your punishment if you so wish and prepare for the wolves at your door.¡± I told them before sending them all off to bed.


    Before my night of breaking into teens¡¯ rooms and clearing boils, I went to the mundane police and told them that I was tracking a serial poisoner that had spiked young Cassandra¡¯s drink, letting her off the hook. No reason to solve her magic problem and not her more mundane one, fake badge for the win.


    When I was done with what I had told the girls that I would do, I went home for the night and prepared for my next case, disappearances out at sea.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH20 Kraken Up

    My psychometry gave me a unique perspective on Gordon¡¯s Fish Shack¡¯s claim of ¡°Great Fish Since 1902¡± that was written on their sign. The fish was of fair quality in the beginning with a peak in the roaring twenties, then a fall during the great depression for obvious reasons. The second world war took the new owner, son of the original, away from the business for a time which actually helped. You see the thing is his wife was a much better cook than both her husband and her father-in-law with a lot of ideas for the recipes, but she was ignored by her husband in the name of tradition. He wanted them to continue with his father¡¯s recipes.


    Which in my opinion was silly as innovation and change was critical to business and life in general. It was as the red queen theory of evolution stated: everything was constantly improving and if you¡¯re not, then you¡¯re falling behind. Or as its namesake once said you must be constantly running to stay in place.


    When the second owner got back, he was understandably angry with his wife, but understood that she was right due to the increased business she drew even in a time of rations. So, they continued with the wife¡¯s new recipes and experienced an even greater surge in customers due to the war ending. They kept that business due to the new recipes.


    This success continued into the modern day with that couple¡¯s grandkids still running what had become an institution on the coast of Sunset City. All this to say that the sign should read ¡°Great Fish Since 1945¡±, which is still an impressive achievement.


    When I walked in, I saw the place with my own two eyes for the first time. I saw the faux vintage tables and chairs that replaced the worn genuine articles five years ago. The bar that has been there since day one told the history of this place even without my powers. The pictures decorating the walls also told the story of the family, the restaurant, and the world at large for over a century.


    Some would say researching a place¡¯s entire history to decide whether or not you wanted to eat there was overkill, but those people must never have had bad fish. Also, it only took minimal effort to divine.


    I walked over to the hostess stand and saw the daughter of the current owners playing the role of hostess. It was strange to see a woman that I had seen grow up before my eyes look at me like a stranger, but I knew that was exactly what I am to her.


    ¡°Welcome to Gordon¡¯s Fish Shack, Great Fish Since 1902. Party of one?¡± Diane the hostess asked me with a kind smile.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s just me.¡± I replied with a smile of my own.


    Diane proceeded to lead me to my table.


    ¡°Your server will be with you shortly.¡± She told me before handing me a menu and walking away from the table.


    After a minute or two, Diane¡¯s sister Margaret showed up at the table.


    ¡°What can I get you honey?¡± Margret asked.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a root beer and the cod fish fry with a side of fries.¡± I responded. I then proceeded to listen to the gossip being spread at the bar, the reason I went into the seaside restaurant in the first place. I just so happened to overhear the gossip I was looking for.


    ¡°Can you believe that the harbor master is covering up those deaths?¡± An old man, who we are just going to call Person A, asked his drinking partner.


    There is the reason I¡¯m having lunch at a fish shack instead of my usual diner, I needed anything I could get on the deaths at sea before heading out onto the water. If I did not get anything, I was blindly searching the sea for a relevant trail.


    ¡°What deaths?¡± responded the younger alcoholic aka the infamous Person 2.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard about all the people disappearing recently. Hell, O¡¯Neil and his two sons haven¡¯t been seen in a week after heading out into the water on their boat. I¡¯m telling you it¡¯s UFOs.¡± Person A told the young man trying to convince him of what¡¯s going on. Which he should as Person A was telling the truth. Not about the aliens thing though, they don¡¯t exist. In this world at least.


    ¡°What?!?! That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t seen them recently?! Why isn¡¯t this more well known?¡± Person 2 started to freak out as he was starting to put credence in the drunkard¡¯s rambling.


    ¡°The harbor master. Haven¡¯t you heard a goddamn thing I¡¯ve been saying? Brock is covering up the disappearances for some unknown reason.¡± Person A rambled onward. From my preliminary investigation Brock was just pulling a mayor Vaughn, wanting to keep the waters open as closing them reflected badly on him.


    As I was listening to the conversation my food arrived, and I proceeded to dig in. I left the restaurant when I was done as I did not believe the drunkard had any critical information. It was a hail mary anyways, just on the off chance that my search could be narrowed. For the record I did not enjoy the fish, too much oil. It just goes to show the flaw in my psychometry, I see what other people think of something, not the thing itself.


    I walked down to the waterfront while taking off my socks and shoes. I felt the sand between my toes, this did not benefit the next action I just liked sand on my feet. I looked out on the water and saw a large squid-like mass of energy far offshore. Apparently, the creature was a giant sea squid aka a kraken. Thus making my pit stop at the restaurant even more irrelevant as I could never miss that flare in the dark.


    The kraken was bad news for my hunt as it was too strong for me in the water and there was no way I was getting it out of the water. Fortunately, the MFBI thought I was even weaker than I actually was and sent a team to help.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Cement Shoes]


    Armaments:


    [Weaver¡¯s First Armament]


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH21 Insert Kraken Pun Here

    I ran to my car to pick up a tie and jacket as the MFBI had a bit of a dress code for location heads. The group of people sent to help was a mobile strike team called the Templars that responded to major threats like the kraken. The second a kraken appeared off the coast of a warded city it immediately sent an alert to them without needing my approval. Now I just had to hope none of the members have ever worked with the dearly departed agent Cole.


    As I walked up to the group, I overheard a conversation between a group of templars off in the periphery separate from the main group.


    ¡°Can¡¯t wait to finally meet the no name that took the job meant for Captain.¡± Agent A complained to the group.


    ¡°Yeah, I get what you mean. Any word on who it is?¡± Agent B asked.


    ¡°Some former investigator is all I know. The wuss has probably never even seen combat. Brogan¡¯s back is gonna be aching carrying that dead weight.¡± Agent A responded.


    ¡°How about you all shut your mouth before I report your insubordination to the captain and get to work.¡± Agent C told the group before walking away from the group. I followed the man as he like me was headed towards the main group.


    As I approached the group with Cassidy, I took in a short busty twenty something with raven hair and chocolate brown eyes, the infamous Agent Brogan. Well, infamous to me due to her being previously mentioned in conversation, most would say the infamous Agent Brogan was her father.


    It was my first time meeting a Gaia¡¯s Chosen, the main characters of life. They were destined for great things. Take Brogan for example she was meant to get my current job instead of Cole and fight the coming night. Or at least that¡¯s my guess. Who can say about god¡¯s will, certainly not the guy blind to it


    ¡°You¡¯re the pencil pusher my father sent me to pull out of the fire?¡± The young woman asked while trailing her eyes from my head to toe.


    ¡°I earned my quote unquote pencil pushing and you¡¯re more than welcome to take on a kraken without any help.¡± I replied trying to justify my potential later actions and physique. It was to my advantage that information tends to be compartmentalized and classified, as a result only the ones who truly stood out were broadly known. No one here had apparently worked with Cole before.


    ¡°Well at least you look like you can take care of yourself. Grab anything you need; we are heading out now.¡± Agent Brogan told me before leading her men away.


    I followed them onto a boat they either had or somehow obtained. After Brogan, the other agents, and I got on the boat it left the harbor heading towards the horizon.


    The next hour drifting around the sea with a group wearing tactical vests with runes stitched into them and carrying various armaments carved with similar runes was filled with awkward silence and boredom. Fortunately, our quarry came to us before that continued any longer.


    The large blue squid¡¯s tentacles rose from the sea causing water to pour over us and the boat. As we stood in its shadow, all the agents lifted their carved assault rifles, imbued them with orange chi energy, then fired upon the limb.


    _


    Dal¡¯Fraquil AKA The kraken in front of me


    ¡°Not every enemy is meant to be confronted, some are to be redirected. And then there are those you run the f*ck away from. Quickly.¡±


    Grade S


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    _


    While they were doing that, I fired my revolver at the creature. This gun was not really anything special except for the essence bullets. I really needed a better weapon, especially now that I can actually use it with the increased bodily control granted by mana sleeve.


    We quickly realized something was wrong when our ammunition did little more than give the kraken the equivalent of bug bites. This kraken was more powerful than anyone thought. In my defense though, I only saw traces from a distance which means that it¡¯s a testament to The Mentalism Ring that I even knew it was a kraken.


    We kept firing, but we were little more than insects to it. The problem was that one swats at flies that annoy them. As the blue tentacle swept over us, a wave of water followed due to its hydrokinesis. Everyone on the boat was dragged over the side of the boat by the wave.


    Sensing what the kraken was about to do, I dove even deeper into the water. Those clever enough followed me or thought of the same. When the kraken clenched its tentacle, all the agents that did not dive turned into crimson splotches in the water. The boat was similarly crushed by the water.


    Everyone surfaced and kept firing. Well, everyone except me as I had a problem. Quite the big one in fact. Cement Shoes made me an anchor in water, and I was in water, with Cement Shoes. Not my smartest moment, but in my defense, they did not do much due to their weak conceptual strength. They improved my footing, which I appreciated, but at the end of the day there is only so much you can expect from something I whipped up from mundane cement and a connection to the expression cement shoes.


    All this to say I had to let go of my gun and scramble to untie my shoes. While I did not require air, I was currently a proverbial sitting duck before the kraken. When I eventually slipped out of my shoes and breached the surface I took in the current situation.


    The MVP was Brogan whose rifle appeared to be firing lasers with how much Chi she was able to pack into bullets. Her shots were causing actual wounds, scratches really, but wounds all the same.


    A few minutes of dodging the water crunches and tentacle slams later, we achieved victory.


    There were several caveats to that though.


    The first being that by ¡°we¡± I meant the templars as I had lost my only weapon except a knife. What I left on the sea floor was no big deal fortunately. The artifacts were barely magical and would be unraveled into harmless base components by reality within days of being outside my presence. While I could protect my artifacts from this, I saw no need as this was a great anti-theft feature.


    The second was that the meaning of victory changed during the course of the fight. We didn¡¯t kill it obviously. The thing is that a bunch of mosquitos buzzing and biting with one even going for your eyes is enough to drive most off. The kraken finally just had enough and left. We were not even worthy of the kraken truly trying to kill us. That was victory for us.


    Everyone started swimming back towards shore in hopes that the kraken was truly done swatting at flies, and they could report back what happened.


    This kraken being so powerful and close to a city was odd as krakens of that level stay in the deep sea and rarely approach land let alone populated areas. As a result, something or someone drew it here and the MFBI needed to investigate what. That duty would be dropped on someone and by someone I meant the location head aka me.


    Before following the flock to land, I took the kraken¡¯s blood imbued with aquatic energy and talent floating in the water. I had plans for it later tonight when I got back to my apartment.


    While swimming back to land though I turned in a different direction as I found a weak essence trail in the water. Seems like the kraken had a friend.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH22 Whoop Whoop

    Swimming several miles back to shore in dress clothes was not the most fun I¡¯ve had on a Sunday afternoon, but needs must and all that.


    Eventually I reached a hidden cove containing a quite rare specimen in this world, the elusive siren. The siren is quite an unfortunate creature in this world, beautiful outer appearance, voice, and personality, but no means to defend their beauty. This is due to them tending to have noncombative personalities, relatively weak charm that can only be used with their voice, and ease of containment when on land due to their lack of legs. These attributes lead the race to almost always be a slave to someone or something, the lucky ones simply got to choose their masters.


    As far as masters go a kraken was one of the best choices as one only had to be a songbird for it.


    The siren had long flowing silver hair, skin seemingly made of dusk, and a fish tail that matched her hair. The instant she saw me tears welled in her eyes telling me that there was no fight in her.


    ¡°Listen I will cut to the point. I have an offer for you. I can give you legs thus allowing you to live free amongst the humans. While your beauty would still be a problem, human society would protect one that is seen as their own as you would be. All I ask is your tongue.¡± I offered the frightened creature.


    ¡°Really!!! I would finally be free to live under the sun!!¡± the siren shouted in an excited tone. The siren¡¯s charm infused voice rattled my proverbial bones a little due to my mind body connection. My mask killed most of the mental effects carried by the sound waves before they could truly damage me. Good thinking on my part to equip it before making land. It made the siren¡¯s voice less effective at its intended purpose but could have been distracting to me if this had turned into a fight as each word would strike a blow to my body.


    ¡°But my tongue though? Why do you want it?¡± the siren asked suddenly unsure about the situation.


    ¡°The tongue would be of a more metaphorical nature. It would symbolize your voice.¡± I explained to the girl.


    ¡°But I could never sing again.¡± The siren whined with a metaphorical rain cloud over her head.


    ¡°Yes. You must ask yourself which woman you want to be. The mute young woman free to explore all that a free life has to offer or a young woman who joyously sings until she gets put in chains again. Also, while you could not sing, your musical talent would make you a quite talented musician. Your playing could be your voice. That¡¯s your choice be a free person with a chunk missing from her core being or an enslaved person who is whole. It¡¯s not a great choice, but a choice all the same.¡±


    ¡°Why do I have to choose at all?¡± the siren asked frustrated with her situation.


    ¡°Every world has a will and with that a different set of rules. Some different, some similar. Now one of the rules that is almost always the case is critical to this situation and us, conservation of potential. You see every world has a set amount of potential in it and removing that potential will incur a world¡¯s displeasure and they will mark someone for it. I call that bad karma; you get enough of it and the world will turn against you. Bad karma causes what seems like bad luck, enough of it and lightning will literally fall from a clear blue sky at you. You get enough bad karma from enough worlds and that is your default state when you enter a new one. You can also gain it by giving too much potential to a world, i.e., giving American revolutionaries a modern history or engineering textbook.


    So, to give something you must take something, to take something you must give something. However, you can get good karma by helping the world¡¯s chosen, think of them as the main characters in the book of life. This good karma will allow you to take without giving or vice versa if you so choose. I maintain my karmic balance by playing parts in the stories the world sets up.


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


    I tend to play the huntsman or the wiseman roles. These tend to be accepted roles in most stories. By playing along I can guide events to a positive end by helping the chosen, either with knowledge or personal ability, and profit from the situation without negative karma. All this to say, in this story of the sad siren, I can¡¯t just give you something for nothing. It is just not interesting enough to qualify for a story. However, the siren who goes off into the big bad world after making a deal with a mysterious someone is an interesting one. The dealmaker role is another one in my repertoire.¡±


    ¡°So, where¡¯d ya land? Mute wanderer or singing slave?¡± I asked for the final time.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll regret this if I accept?¡± The siren asked for advice from the only person around.


    ¡°I think either way you go there will be days where you regret your decision. However, I think the great thing about freedom is that you can always keep going or try something new. If you ask me, I think freedom is the most important thing in the world and it¡¯s worth the cost every time, but it does benefit me if you choose that option. So, take it with a grain of salt.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ok I accept.¡±


    ¡°All you need do is shake my hand, it¡¯s my preferred dealmaker ritual.¡± I told the young girl while extending my right hand.


    ¡°Wait! before we go through with this can I make a request?¡± the siren inquired.


    ¡°Of course, but please do make it quick.¡± I spoke.


    ¡°Can you give me a name? I never had one before.¡± The siren requested.


    ¡°I feel like you should really choose one on your own, but I guess that¡¯s the beauty of freedom, making your own choices. I think Luna is a great choice on account of your hair.¡± I said after some thought.


    ¡°Luna, a great word to be my last. Luna.¡± She said before shaking my extended hand.


    I extracted a silver tongue and fishtail from the girl. I stored the first for later.


    I then used my ability guided by information from the Charm Matrix to construct the siren¡¯s new legs.


    I then decided to try something out that if it worked would benefit both of us. This situation was an opportunity to try out an idea I had, soul tattoos.


    They were artifacts inscribed into someone¡¯s very being. They would function the same as regular artifacts except for the facts that they were inseparable from the user and the user could use the artifact¡¯s abilities with a natural ease. These advantages came at a cost though. The tattoo had to match the recipient because if they did not the tattoo would force them to. This forceful transition ranged from death to mutation to crippling. The mutations varied in form from eye color to eldritch.


    This was a perfect test case for a soul tattoo that safely modified the recipient as the tattoo was composed entirely of her own body and essence. I dissolved her tail into its raw essence components and tattooed her legs with them. It would allow her to keep the same grace in water that she had with the tail while gaining the ability to walk on land. She got to keep an ability and I got to prototype an idea.


    It worked swimmingly to both of our fortune.


    ¡°And with that I¡¯m off, but before I go a small gift as a signing bonus. Here is my understanding of ASL. Good luck.¡± I told the girl before sliding a pink ball containing the previously mentioned knowledge out of Mena¡¯s Book and into her chest.


    That night I fed the siren¡¯s ¡°tongue¡± to The Mentalism Ring which strengthened its charmed speech ability and granted a further boost to it when used while singing.


    With that work out of the way, I turned in for the night.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Kraken Components]

 V1CH23 Brogan Slogan

    I was sitting in a coffee shop relaxing after the kraken hunt and my impromptu swim when I heard the door chime. I shifted my sixth sense¡¯s focus to update the mental map of my surroundings.


    Agent Brogan was walking in, something told me she was here for me. That something being common sense and the fact that she scanned the shop, saw me, and started approaching me.


    ¡°Agent Cole, it¡¯s so nice to see you got away from the kraken as well. Mind if I sit?¡± Brogan asked while not really asking.


    ¡°Feel free.¡±


    ¡°Weird thing happened, a beautiful mute that showed up at the police station looking lost right after we drove off the kraken. Know anything about that?¡± Brogan said, starting what appeared to be an interrogation.


    ¡°Not ringing any bells. Why would I?¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, why would you. Well, nothing you can do.¡± Tiny shrug. ¡°Let¡¯s move on to some lighter topics.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s¡± I replied seeing how this part of my day was going to go.


    ¡°I happened to talk to HQ about you and I must say they did not due your appearance justice. I see that you got hair replacement recently.¡± Brogan stated.


    ¡°Gotta look good for the ladies.¡± I told the woman.


    ¡°You dyed your hair and got contacts.¡± Brogan continued.


    ¡°See my previous answer¡± I replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re blind.¡± Brogan added.


    With a dead eyed stare, ¡°Blinded by your beauty.¡±


    With a dead eyed stare of her own, ¡°You¡¯re no longer black.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll freely admit I don¡¯t have a comeback to that one. Well not one that does not seem some shade of racially insensitive. While I wouldn¡¯t mind talking to a beautiful woman such as yourself all day, can we drop the charade and get to the point.¡±


    ¡°Well Agent Cole, do you mind if I call you that? I have a feeling I will not get any other form of address.¡± Brogan said.


    ¡°Agent Cole works.¡± I told the agent.


    ¡°Well Agent Cole I would usually attempt to bring you in for all manner of things, including but not limited to impersonating an officer, but I¡¯m not looking to go toe to toe with a man who took down Fredrick the killer doll in a coffee shop in the middle of the day. I¡¯m good, really good in fact, but just because one can probably finish a fight does not mean one should start one. I¡¯m not going to report you either. A city that attracted both Fredrick the killer doll and an elder kraken in a matter of weeks, probably needs someone like you in it. Do you mind answering a few questions though?¡± Brogan asked.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go tooting my horn so much. Fredrick was more a matter of punishing his arrogance and inexperience in an equal fight than true skill. But enough of my self-deprecation, what do you want to ask?¡± I asked back.


    ¡°Where you from?¡± Brogan asked.


    ¡°Not around here.¡± I replied while laughing internally at the deadpan look on her face.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    With a crooked grin, ¡°Don¡¯t know yet on a long-term basis, but short-term fun and adventure.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Brogan rolled her eyes at that answer, ¡°Your idea of fun and adventure is leaving a trail of bodies all across this city?¡±


    ¡°In the same way that a child¡¯s idea of fun is leaving a plate and fork covered in cake crumbs and frosting.¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Why did you spare the siren, then?¡±


    ¡°Despite your impression of me I don¡¯t enjoy killing, I enjoy fighting the strong and punishing the wicked, along with other things that aren¡¯t exactly germane to this conversation. Neither of those groups included that young woman. Also to hold off any questions about it, Cole does not fall in either category, that was someone else and I just benefitted from it. listen the fact of the matter is that mad dogs get put down. If that innocent siren died, we probably wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation right now. Instead of a beautiful twenty something coming through that door and sharing a coffee with me, it would have been that same woman with an assault rifle and a templar squad in the middle of the night. Well, while this has been fun, I¡¯m done answering questions and will be on my way now. Have a nice trip on your way out of my city.¡± I said before standing up and walking towards the door.


    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re not done talking!¡± Brogan shouted before getting up and grabbing my hand.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like to be touched. I will ask nicely only once to let me go.¡± I told the woman with a glare.


    ¡°Make me.¡± Brogan told me with a glare of her own and a hand full of gathered chi.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to think that might be just what I have to do.¡± I told her, ready to drain her of all vital energies before she can use that gathered chi.


    Before this could get truly heated, we both overheard one of the baristas talking to another.


    ¡°Amelia, I¡¯m telling you that you have to go to the police.¡± One of the baristas said.


    ¡°And say what? That a ghost is moving my furniture and stealing my panties?¡± The woman I can only assume is referred to as Amelia borderline shouted while feeling exasperated, before looking at her staring audience embarrassed.


    Brogan and I both looked at each other and decided to postpone our ¡°disagreement¡± as we were both interested in what we just heard. We both then powerwalked slash raced each other to the counter.


    I won of course, well I got out my words first and that¡¯s all that matters.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but overhear what you two were just talking about.¡± I told Amelia.


    ¡°Sorry about that, frayed nerves and all.¡± Amelia responded.


    ¡°No worries. My partner Agent Brogan and I were just concerned about what we just overheard.¡± I said, causing Brogan to turn to me with a disbelieving look.


    ¡°Yeah, my good old partner is such a softie for troubled young maidens.¡± Brogan gritted through her teeth before slapping me on the back and slightly cracking my mana sleeve.


    ¡°You believe me about the ghost?!?¡± Amelia squealed with hope in her eye.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said, causing a glare from Brogan and the other barista in addition to the hope draining from Amelia¡¯s eyes.


    They filled right back up at my continuation though, ¡°Ghosts don¡¯t exist, but it sounds to me in my professional opinion¡­¡±


    *Brogan Snorts*


    ¡°Agent Brogan can you please be professional. Sorry about that, rookies am I right. It sounds to me that you have a stalker and those can get quite serious. Luckily, my partner and I are here to help.¡±


    ¡°THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!¡± Amelia shouted before leaning over the counter and wrapping her arms around my neck in a hug.


    ¡°When can you come?¡± Amelia inquired.


    ¡°No time like the present I say.¡± I told the girl.


    ¡°Marcy, can you cover for me?¡± The girl asked the other barista.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Well off we go.¡± I told the girl before Brogan and I were led to the young woman¡¯s house to investigate.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Kraken Components]

 V1CH24 What A Loser

    After a fairly awkward and silent twenty-minute walk to the barista¡¯s apartment, we started to look around the living space.


    After a while, Brogan and I reconvened to discuss our findings.


    ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any evidence of ghosts. Looks like this is a bust.¡± Brogan told me.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t as this is not a ghost.¡± I responded.


    Brogan then asked, ¡°Then what is it wise guy?¡±


    ¡°I do not know, but it¡¯s definitely something dangerous though.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhh, so mysterious. So where is this creature that I found no evidence of by the way?¡± Brogan inquired with a skeptical tone.


    ¡°I do not know.¡±


    With an eyeroll, ¡°So how do you even know it exists?¡±


    ¡°I can read the pasts of places and because of that I know Amelia had a pair of blue and white striped panties up until they vanished. I mean that literally the panties had a history in this place until a certain moment three nights ago when they just stopped existing. Due to a unique sense of mine I can see energies in my surroundings. If I did not know for sure that those panties existed and that someone must have done something to them, I would swear only Amelia has been in this apartment in at least a week.¡± I explained.


    ¡°You have psychometry? Where¡¯d you pick that up?¡± Brogan asked with a surprised expression on her face.


    I looked at her deadpan and responded, ¡°I think you can guess.¡±


    ¡°Oh right, Cole. You got the one that got him, right?¡± Brogan questioned.


    ¡°Yes. Now let¡¯s get back on topic. Something or someone is invisible to my senses and is stalking a young woman. What¡¯s our plan?¡± I asked my temporary ally before continuing, ¡°keep in mind we might have company right now.¡±


    Brogan answered, ¡°I have an idea or two.¡±


    ***


    I couldn¡¯t stop watching the clock waiting for the workday to end. Luckily, I was in the final hour of the workday that always seemed to go faster. Just another hour of dealing with the luddites that came to the store with their computers and problems that even the simplest of children could solve. Another hour and I can finally be back with my beloved.


    I always loved the simple nights we spent together in companionable silence just watching TV together. I so hated those stupid shows she watched about the carcrashians or something, but being able to witness her beauty was worth it. The gifts she left lying around for me were also a plus, especially the panties. Her beauty and generosity made up for her utter lack of anything approaching intelligence. What I would give for a partner with a higher IQ.


    Her stupidity was so great that she did not even notice how great a guy I was at first. I was certainly smarter than all those musclebound simpletons she usually spent time with. I thank God every day for bestowing upon me the power I so rightly deserved for all my suffering. All those wedgies, swirlies, insults, and shoves into lockers from my lessers.


    One day I woke up and realized that I could go unnoticed no matter what I did, not the power I truly deserve. That would have been mind control, so I could show my lesser their place and the girl that belonged to me that she indeed did. However, I still used my new abilities to get back at those who wronged me.


    My steroid infused brute of a neighbor got tacks put in his shoes and hot sauce in his shampoo every once in a while. I may have also used a pipe on him while he was sleeping a time or two. It was so easy to follow him past those new locks of his that were put up after the first couple of times. The injuries meant he could no longer do his work on the docks. This led to him and his snot-nosed brat being on the streets. That would have been the greatest moment, if not for the time I heard the rugrat use his father¡¯s shampoo. That screech was the pinnacle of my achievements to date.


    The b*tch with a painted face that lived next door got a boat load of candid shots I took of her released on the internet. She got fired from her job teaching kindergarteners. Which led to her not having the funds to see her dying mother in another state before the old hag kicked it. That will teach her to ignore her betters when they deign to be nice to her. Those kids and their parents also owe me thanks as well due to the fact she would no longer be passing on her rudeness and idiocy to the next generation.


    My menopausal boss that took all her aggression out on me was next. After years of her complaining when I did not lower myself to her or insulted the idiots that came into the shop. She always went on about how the only reason I still had a job was because she was friends with my mother, as if other employers could not see my greatness if I ever deign myself to their level to apply for a job. I got her back for all the abuse by stealing a baggie of cocaine from some local ne¡¯er-do-wells and putting it in her pocket. She tried to explain that it was not hers, but how can you explain how a large baggie of cocaine was in your pocket without your knowledge. She now has ten years to think about what she has done to me.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    My crowning achievement was acquiring a grade A piece of a*s called Amelia. She was truly mesmerizing with her scarlet hair and alabaster skin. Her freckles were a demerit, but I am nice enough to overlook her deformities. I now spend most nights with her. I have been getting a little annoyed with her glances around and screeches at some nonsense ghost. Even more so at the fact that I have to hide just to spend time with my girlfriend. I have decided that tonight that will come to an end. I will finally claim my prize tonight.


    I saw her walking home from work with that ugly ponytail that she kept up at work. She entered her door and closed it behind her. Rude. I grabbed the handle to follow her. The last thing I felt before waking up was fire traveling up my arm.


    I woke up in a wooden chair with wooden tendrils wrapped around myself. I took in my surroundings and saw my girlfriend standing with two other people.


    The first was some steroid scarfing mother trucker wearing a douchey half buttoned dress shirt.


    The second was a really fine lady with some serious badonkadonks barely contained in her shirt. I would hit her up if I was not already in a committed relationship.


    All three were looking at me with disgust. HOW DARE THEY!!!!!! It¡¯s my pig of a mother that is at fault for my weight and acne. It was just not worth exercising or eating right when my mother already condemned me to life as an ugly person. People should overlook my appearance and see the greatness contained within.


    I reached for my power as I did not fancy fighting the Beanpole looking at me with disgust. When I tried, my world turned to agony and I screamed.


    The Beanpole proceeded to chuckle before telling me, ¡°That is my bad there Jimbo. I extracted your ability and fed it to my mask as you seemed undeserving of it due to your actions. I was not too careful with the first due to the same reason.¡±


    ¡°WHAT??!! HOW COULD YOU?!?! THAT WAS DIVINE RIGHT TO RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± I bellowed in my reedy voice. My mother¡¯s fault again.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m done talking to you.¡± The Beanpole said before starting to talk to the b*tch with big knockers ¡°Brogan, I must commend you on the electric doorknob idea, it was a stroke of genius.¡±


    The busty b*tch responded with fake sincerity, ¡°Please, it would have been nothing without your masterful illusion idea and execution. How else could we get the idiot to touch the knob. Also, I took it from an old movie, so let¡¯s not applaud my genius too much.¡±


    ¡°ELECTIC DOORKNOB!!!!!!!!!! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± I screeched at these monsters.


    ¡°That was an acceptable outcome.¡± The Beanpole stated monotonously before continuing ¡°Brogan I¡¯m thinking we go code B on him.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking the same.¡± The big-t*tted witch responded.


    ¡°What¡¯s code B.¡± I asked confidently, read shaking in his proverbial boots.


    ¡°You see the organization my lovely assistant¡± ¡±I¡¯m no one¡¯s assistant¡± ¡°works for has a lot of unresolved cases that involves a perpetrator that cannot be tried in public court for some reason or another. This means sometimes they have a perpetrator and no case. While other times they have a case and no perpetrator. Someone from her organization had a light bulb moment and started matching cases with people creating code Bs.¡± The Beanpole sneered enjoying my suffering, read tiredly stated.


    ¡°I would kill you, but this seems more satisfying.¡± The Beanpole tacked on.


    ¡°Amelia how can you let them do this¡± I pleaded to my girlfriend.


    ¡°WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!¡± my beloved girlfriend shouted, betraying our love in the process.


    I roared, read sniveled out, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Why would you do this to a complete stranger?¡± she asked, seeking some answer to the universe about how guys like him could exist.


    ¡°We connected when I helped you with your laptop at that McRonald¡¯s.¡± I explained.


    ¡°My laptop? I don¡¯t have a laptop.¡± *Uproarious Laughter* ¡°You dumb mother*cker. You can¡¯t even remember faces. I can also tell you without a doubt that whatever connection you thought you had with this girl was inside your demented mind and does not exist.¡± She cackled breaking my heart.


    ¡°But¡­¡± I started before the wooden bound creeped up and gagged me.


    ¡°I¡¯m done hearing your voice. Brogan, how about you drop him off at the police station and fill out the paperwork. I will take my leave after so nicely gift wrapping your going away present.¡± The Beanpole said before walking away.


    ¡°Wait! I can transfer to this city, and we can work together. You get help and the ability to leave this city on templar jobs. I get to watch over both you and this city. How¡¯s that sound?¡± the black-haired b*tch called out to the stupid Beanpole.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like paperwork and could always use someone watching my back. See you tomorrow at 9am for your first day.¡± The Beanpole responded over his shoulder while walking away.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s get you behind bars. Also, Amelia lovely to meet you and good luck in your endeavors. Also tell anyone any part of this and you¡¯re dead, that goes for you too pervert.¡± The suited woman said before dragging me off into the night.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Kraken Components]

 V1CH25 Vampires And Werewolves And Gangs, Oh My

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

 V1CH26 The Man Who Laid The Asphalt

    In a supermax prison somewhere in the heart of Texas we see a man sitting inside his cell waiting for the phone he ordered. He was a six-foot-tall man with corded muscle wrapped around every inch of his body. His face was covered by long shaggy blond hair and a horseshoe mustache, both with gray streaks threaded throughout. There was not an inch of body from shoulders down that did not contain a tattoo or scar.


    This man was named Jebediah Isaacs, and he was the founder of The Hounds. He was the man that had singlehandedly built an empire out of blood and violence.


    He had gotten word that one of his men had gone against orders and started a war with The Crypts and to say he was angry would be an understatement.


    *Knock*


    *Knock*


    ¡°Here¡¯s your order boss.¡± A guard said before sliding the phone through the meal slot and waiting outside the door to take it away when the man was done.


    ¡°Thank you, brother.¡± Jebediah told his subordinate. He proceeded to call another of his subordinates, the wayward Charity.


    *Dial tone*


    The call was picked up and a woman¡¯s voice came out of the speaker, ¡°I know. I know. But they attacked me in my own home. My own home Pops. I can¡¯t let that disrespect go.¡±


    ¡°You will let it go for the good of the pack and that¡¯s an order.¡± The man ordered.


    ¡°You¡¯re not out on the streets. You don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like anymore.¡± The woman countered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the streets?¡± *Laughs* ¡°I¡¯ve known the streets longer than you¡¯ve been alive. Hell, I laid the f*cking asphalt.¡± The man immediately refuted.


    Charity immediately backpedaled knowing that Jebediah would only tolerate so much, ¡°I meant no disrespect. It¡¯s just that tension has been ratcheting up lately and the boys need to let off some steam. If I did not move on this disrespect, they would have rioted.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, it¡¯s your job to keep your pack in line. Just as it is my job to keep my pack in line. If you cannot do your job, I will do mine and find one who can. Is that clear?¡± Jebediah asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Pops, but I can¡¯t look weak and let this go. Not if I am to be alpha one day.¡±


    ¡°You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be alpha.¡± Jebediah sighed out, disappointed in the woman he had been grooming as his replacement.


    ¡°Maybe it is you who no longer understands what it means to be alpha.¡± Charity let slip out before she could catch herself.


    ¡°Watch yourself girlie.¡± He growled before calming down and sighing in disappointment. ¡±I think that we are done here. Follow your alpha¡¯s orders or I will send your replacement.¡±


    *Click*


    ¡°Brother the phone.¡± Jebediah told the guard waiting outside before holding out the phone.


    Just when the guard was about to take the phone, it rang.


    ¡°Who is this?¡± Jebediah angrily asked as he called others, not the other way around.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Nobody.¡± A man¡¯s smooth baritone responded.


    ¡°Well Odysseus, can¡¯t say I¡¯m not curious about what you want?¡± Jebediah responded in a tone somewhere between anger and curiosity.


    The response came from the phone oozing charisma, ¡°I want you to cut Charity and her men loose.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and why would I do that?¡± Jebediah asked in a simple tone.


    The response was simple, ¡°We both know that she will not follow your orders.¡±


    ¡°You know my orders how?¡± The gang leader inquired.


    ¡°The same way I know they will not be followed. I studied you and Charity. There are two traits that took you from small time thug to an emperor of crime, discipline and restraint. Those traits are the same reasons that keep you in a cage for ten years while your pack flourishes due to it. You sacrificed ten years and are planning to sacrifice ten more, while she can¡¯t even let go of a small piece of her pride. She does not deserve to even be a member of the pack, let alone the future alpha.¡± The voice explained.


    ¡°I see your logic, but a pack member she is all the same. We shall handle it if and, I mean if, she does not follow orders.¡±


    ¡°You send your men in, and it will be seen as an escalation. Dominic will send in men as well and the very war we seek to avoid will occur. Even if he does not, your pack member will have to in all likelihood slaughter their brothers and sisters. Let us handle the matter and clean up both sides. You and Dominic can send in your replacements for local leader afterwards. They both are skirting the edge of breaking the treaty with our organization and will pretty quickly when the war does start. A puddle of blood or an ocean, you decide.¡± The voice stated before waiting for a response.


    After several minutes of silence he got one, ¡°She is kin no longer, but if she suffers so too do you.¡±


    ¡°I thank you for doing this in the name of peace.¡±


    *Click*


    ¡°Gabriel take the phone and send word that the Detroit chapter is no longer kin¡± Jebediah told the guard, before laying on his bed and proceeding to stare at the ceiling in thought.


    ***


    After my phone call I walked back into my hotel room where Brogan and I were planning our operation in Detroit. This arrangement with Brogan only took three weeks to benefit me, this was my first gang war.


    ¡°What¡¯d he say?¡± Brogan asked me.


    ¡°She¡¯s excommunicated¡± I told her. My improved charm speech is ever useful after all.


    Brogan then told me about her phone call, ¡°So is Reggie, Dominic agreed after pointing out that Reggie was too emotional about his brother and would lose him a lot of blood and money. War would lose him even more.¡±


    ¡°That settles it then. Want to make it a competition. Loser buys dinner?¡± I offered with a grin on my face.


    ¡°Sounds good to me. Let¡¯s time it so we can do it one at a time and have each other on standby just in case though.¡± Brogan said agreeing.


    ¡°It¡¯s a deal then. I want The Crypts though, that alright?¡± I asked, arranging the matches.


    Brogan finally had a grin to match my own, ¡°I was going to call The Hounds anyway. You are so going down.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t threaten me with a good time.¡± My grin getting ever so slightly bigger.


    That got me a small laugh from my companion, ¡°Sorry but I¡¯m not into the less fair sex, especially cocky ones.¡±


    ¡°Ladies love my cock¡­iness¡± I stated with a laugh of my own.


    ¡°How about the black veins?¡± She immediately countered.


    ¡°It¡¯s a tougher sell, but some do dig it though.¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Yeah, the blind.¡± Brogan throwing in one last jab before we got back to planning our respective fights.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Kraken Components]

 V1CH27 A Piece Of Brogans Ever So Mysterious Backstory

    We pulled up to the outer ring of Charity¡¯s territory in Brogan¡¯s car sometime around midnight. We spotted several lookouts scanning the roads into the territory making sure The Crypts could not storm the territory without warning.


    Brogan turned to me and asked, ¡°So what decides start time?¡±


    ¡°First active move against the group, prep does not count?¡± I offered.


    ¡°Deal.¡± She said before getting out of the car and going to the trunk. She pulled out the standard templar equipment: a long sword, a metallic shield, Glock, back-up knife, gauntlets, greaves, and a bullet proof vest with various consumables and tools hanging off it. All were either stitched or carved with runes.


    After putting on her equipment, she proceeded to charge the lookouts with her equipment lit up chi orange. As she approached the two werewolves, they changed forms into large wolfmen.


    The left wolf lunged with its teeth at her, which she promptly ducked. She then used her shield to guard against its right claw and her sword to chop off the left.


    The right wolf leaped over its partner¡¯s back to claw at her. It was in two pieces before it hit the ground.


    The remaining gang member was left with one hand and no partner; it was promptly dispatched with a simple pierce to its undefended side.


    A warning was already sent though, and the entire pack was coming. Within three minutes a group of werewolves was storming down the street towards us. The war had thinned the proverbial herd of werewolves in the gang to a small group of elites and a larger group of new recruits created as fodder for the war.


    Brogan promptly grabbed several cylindrical grenades from her vest with her shield hand, pulled the pins with her teeth, and chucked them into the crowd.


    A cloud of silvery mist spread out from the grenades and burned the group like acid. Those older, thus stronger and wiser, got off easy. Those younger did not know to hold their breaths when in the silvery cloud. As a result, they breathed in the silver infused gas and promptly suffered a gruesome death.


    The survivors emerged from the mist with various degrees of burns and a whole lot of anger.


    ¡°DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU¡¯RE MESSING WITH?!?!?!? THE HOUNDS WILL CHASE YOU TO THE GATES OF HELL FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± the blond lead werewolf bellowed shaking the windows of the surrounding buildings.


    _


    Charity Evans


    ¡°It¡¯s funny how a woman named after a virtue is guilty of so much sin¡±


    Grade C


    _


    Brogan explained Charity¡¯s situation, ¡°It seems that you missed the message Charity, you¡¯ve been declared kinless.¡±


    ¡°WHAT!?!? HE WAS SERIOUS?!?! AFTER ALL THAT I HAVE DONE FOR THE PACK, HE THREW ME AWAY LIKE TRASH?!?! HE PROMISED THAT I WOULD FOREVER BE HIS FAMILY!!! HE¡¯S A LIAR AND I WILL DEAL WITH HIM WHEN I¡¯M DONE WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Charity half sobbed before her face turned into a snarl halfway through.


    ¡°He couldn¡¯t let you continue, not after all the damage you¡¯ve done and how public it¡¯s been. You and Reginald have filled the city¡¯s morgue with innocent people, werewolf corpses, and vampire bodies. All of which had to be covered up and disposed of. As a new friend once said to me you don¡¯t talk to a rabid dog, you put it down and you have proven yourself to be one. I¡¯m sorry I ruined your opportunity to die ignorant thinking that you had family and that they would avenge you. I thought you knew.¡± and Brogan did genuinely look sorry.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Nothing more was said as there was no longer anything to say that could change the situation.


    The ten wolves stormed down the street towards us.


    As they did, Brogan¡¯s armaments lit up like a sun in her hands. It seems that Brogan was not just standing there twiddling her thumbs. She was storing her chi for this moment.


    She swung her sword. A huge orange slash flew from her sword and bisected the group.


    All the elites were not used to facing a Templar, they had spent most of their life facing their equals, other werewolves and vampires, and their lessers.


    The only survivor was Charity, she got out of the experience with only a large gash across her chest. She was thus weakened.


    Note to self that if I ever end up fighting Brogan to not give her minutes of being able to stand in place without interruption.


    Charity then did something that we did not expect, she Howled with a capital h. It was a technique that Jebediah had created. Everyone thought he did not pass on, turns out that we were wrong.


    *Howl*


    Howl was a technique to awaken the beast hidden inside werewolf blood. This enhanced the chi and magic of the user.


    Charity immediately doubled in size and turned a blood red color. Her chest wound bubbled up and steamed. When the bubbles and steam disappeared, so too did the wound. She blurred towards the still shocked Brogan and slapped her into a car parked on the side of the street then turned towards me.


    I looked over at Brogan with a questioning glance and got a shaky thumbs up. Seeing that, I teleported up onto a rooftop overlooking the street.


    Brogan sped towards the large red wolf¡¯s back and slammed her sword down on it. It only went in an inch through the enhanced muscles telling everyone how long this fight was going to be. She quickly took back her sword, not giving charity the chance to tense her muscles and trap the sword.


    Charity immediately spun around brandishing her claws. Brogan was able to enhance herself in addition to her shield enough to both defend herself and stay in place. She countered with a quick swipe at Charity¡¯s ribs not risking her sword getting stuck. Brogan knew she had to bleed her opponent out. Charity wasn¡¯t going down without exhausting every last drop of her blood, chi, and magic.


    The fight went on for another thirteen minutes and got kinda boring after the first three minutes as it became quite clear who was going to win early on.


    Charity needed to burn chi and magic to maintain her form. Her form also automatically used both energies to heal every wound, no matter how minor.


    Brogan got hit a couple of times, but her chi made those into bruises, not broken bones.


    At minute three Charity made the worst mistake she could, she went on the defensive. The woman would have known about the error, but the dumb beast that Howl turned her into did not. For you see, you can¡¯t win a fight on the defensive, only run out the clock.


    I walked over to the exhausted victor, ¡°Twenty minutes and twenty-one seconds. Not bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see you do any better.¡± She got out between pants.


    ¡°Oh, you will.¡± I said with a grin before walking over to Charity¡¯s corpse.


    I proceeded to extract the beast in her blood and the Howl technique. I stored the two in containers I make to hold various things that I am not ready to use yet, either because of missing other ingredients or lack of inspiration.


    ¡°I do all the work and you get all the spoils? Hardly seems fair.¡± Brogan said after catching her breath.


    ¡°The spoils were useless to you, and I will buy you a breakfast sandwich on the way to my turn.¡± I explained then offered.


    ¡°I would prefer one of your little toys.¡± She countered.


    ¡°That can be arranged. Tell me what you want, and I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± I said, heading back towards the car.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    [Holy Straight Razor]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Kraken Components]


    [Werewolf Blood Essence]


    [Howl Technique]

 V1CH28 Holy Watering The Crypt And Making The Name Literal

    I spent the morning walking around the city collecting negative emotions to temporarily power up my mask for the first part of my plan. I picked up this along the way, it was quite handy being able to sacrifice small permanent growth for a short-term power boost. This gang war created an all you can eat buffet of negative emotions. So much so that it caused a permanent boost in addition to the boost I was storing. The yellow of fear and the red of strife mixed to create two large, twisted horns of orange gemlike material growing from the mask¡¯s temples. These new accessories raised the artifact¡¯s tier to three.


    Just goes to show you how small Fredrick the doll was thinking. I got more strife over the course of three hours than he got over the centuries.


    After my proverbial meal of energies and my literal meal of a breakfast sandwich, I met up with Brogan and then headed to one of the local ¡°Crypts¡±. ¡°Crypts¡± were buildings that the titular gang used to hide during the day. They were typically guarded by human members and lower ranked vampires completely covered by clothes with both carrying automatic weapons.


    This one was an abandoned mansion that had been vacant for a number of years due to being borderline condemned. The Crypts came in, set up some supports and made the house a home. Admittedly this home was coated in the blood of the innocent, but then again home is where the hearts are.


    We arrived just outside the observation range of the guards. I grabbed my laptop and a device I had created using my more mundane skills from the backseat. I started up a program I had devised to accompany the device.


    Brogan gave me a weird look, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Without even looking up from my computer I said, ¡°Looping every camera in the area that sends its data to the city¡¯s central security hub and blocking every cellphone in the area.¡±


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡±


    ¡°The device collects the ID numbers of surrounding city cameras. The program utilizes a backdoor I created in the central hub¡¯s cybersecurity to loop them.¡± I explained.


    ¡°I mean it¡¯s been month since we met and I¡¯ve yet to see you not have just the skill you need in every situation.¡±


    With an eye roll, ¡°Its simple math, Ability to take skills plus homeless people plus rice sacks and water jugs or something else they want equals pretty much any skill that I care enough to find.¡±


    She gained a weird look at that, ¡°You feed off homeless people?!¡±


    ¡°I do not feed off them, you are thinking of society. I trade something they want for something I want. I get valuable skills and they get food or warmth. It says something about society that expert level coding skills only cost me five rice sacks.¡± I said looking offended.


    ¡°That¡¯s how you got Jeb¡¯s number.¡± She stated with a look of realization.


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    After saying that I got out of the car and headed towards the mansion.


    I spotted three vampiric lookouts in the surrounding buildings that was a simple matter of teleporting behind them and putting a wooden stake through their hearts. While they were faster and had better response time, they were undisciplined and unfocused.


    The next order of business was the humans that had assault rifles on lookout around the house. This would be more difficult as they were actually disciplined unlike the newer vampires that were constantly distracted by their urges.


    The guards were rarely out of sight of at least one other member. There were nine guards total as they did not want too much attention on the house: two stationary guards on the roof, two at the front and the back, and three doing rounds constantly.


    Now was the time to use all that juice I got for the mask. I breathed out a cloud of black mist around the house so thick that I effectively blotted out the sun which put the guards on high alert. I then caused every member to look like a werewolf using hallucinations. The mist put their fingers on the triggers and the werewolf illusions made them pull them. It also covered the flash and bang of their rifles so that the ¡°beauties¡± inside the mansion did not awaken from their sleep.


    While I was tempted to burn the house down, that would lead to a bunch of flaming and angry vampires scattering all over. Potentially leading to the fire spreading and the runners tearing anyone they find limb from limb. Even if it worked, I would have to spend hours identifying bodies making sure I got all the higher ups.


    The vampires could see through the mist and were strong enough to resist any hallucination that was too large or noticeable. Tier three was high, but conceptually powerful creatures like vampires were able to resist it. So, the mist¡¯s only purpose at this point is to hide what is happening from anyone who happens to walk past.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Now was the time for my newest toy, Matthew¡¯s Water. This artifact was made from Holy Straight Razor and the kraken components I previously picked up. The kraken components contained a water authority which was the name I gave to a type of abilities that encompassed the traits of all three hybrid energies and allowed the user to do anything involving their type only bound by potency.


    While the kraken was quite potent, I intentionally weakened it by mixing in Holy Straight Razor. This was done for multiple reasons. Firstly, holy water was a specialized concept that really worked well in this world. Secondly, the kraken raw power was beyond my skill level to control at the moment. Thirdly, I had outgrown the holy weapon. Lastly, Holy straight razor was the weapon I used for almost half a year and thus shared a connection with it that would carry over to the new artifact.


    _


    Matthew¡¯s Water


    ¡°Wash away your sins.¡±


    Tier Three


    A ring containing a holy water authority


    _


    The holy water artifact was a thing of beauty with a silver band shaped like crashing waves with a center piece of a tear drop shaped gem, blue with a golden shimmer.


    ¡°Nothing to it but to do it¡± I say to myself before running the hand that held Matthew¡¯s Water through my hair and heading inside. When my hand passed through my gold hair, it turned the same color as the gem. My mana sleeve also gained golden wave markings.


    As I pushed through the door it set off an alarm waking up every vampire in the house. Seeing everything does not mean paying attention to everything.


    ¡°Sh*t¡±


    The first vampires I saw were a group of five that rushed out of the living room to the left. I launched a fire house of holy water aura at the group, they turned to ash almost immediately and mixed with the water turning it into a greyish sludge.


    The next two came from the kitchen and dining room to the right. Looks like they wanted a midnight snack. I for one was a believer that the only thing you should have before bed is a glass of water. You know what comes next: holy water fire house, ash, grey sludge.


    I looked up at the second-floor balcony that overlooked the central staircase and entranceway. Said balcony had twenty pale white faces contorted in a snarl, forty red eyes alight with malevolence, and eighty fangs sneering.


    They all came down simultaneously but did not train out the impulse to fight one at a time like a movie. They were trained as hunters and soldiers, but not fighters.


    The first was taken out with a simple jab that created a hole in its torso due to my acid like touch resulting from my current imbuement.


    The second went with a kick that took its left leg, leaving it open to my finishing blow.


    The rest were dispatched similarly to the first two. While they were stronger and faster, my holy water authority was a direct counter to their existence.


    After I was done my entire body was caked with ash and my suit was grey.


    I did not find Reggie though, so I went up to the upstairs office that had psychic traces leading into it. It was shielded from my sight though, which I did not know was possible.


    The second I breached the door I saw the laser light interrupted by my ankle and knew what came next. The whining increasing in volume and pitch was another sign. I promptly tackled Brogan and covered us with the thickest holy water barrier I could on such short notice.


    The next second our world turned into one of heat, light, and sound. Those things breached the barrier I erected, tore off the back of my shirt, and seared away all the skin on my back exposing gray fruit surrounding a black stem with crimson gems hanging off it. the red gems promptly evaporated.


    A cloud of rot came out of the new hole and started to spread. Thinking quickly, I wrapped my remaining skin around Brogan turning her into a living golden statue and banished all my artifacts to my storage. Without any of my skin the rot turned into a storm that rampaged across the house across the entire house causing anything biological to rot and all metal to rust.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Brogan asked while taking in my current form, a man made up of purple and yellow rotten muscle.


    ¡°I¡¯ll live.¡±


    ¡°Can you take your skin back?¡± Brogan asked a little uneasy.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s literally the skin off my back, you could be a little appreciative. Or at least all my skin except the back.¡± I said before we started looking at each other in awkward silence.


    And then we both laughed our a*ses off in relief and excitement.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s go find ourselves a Reginald and then dinner.¡± I said, getting up off the ground and reaching down my hand to help Brogan up taking my skin back as I do it.


    ¡°You know you have lost and are paying right.¡± She told me while grabbing my hand.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m aware and I¡¯m gonna to take it out on the hide of Reggie.¡±


    I unleashed my senses to find Reggie¡¯s trail and off we went.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Matthew¡¯s Water]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Werewolf Blood Essence]


    [Howl Technique]


    [Ruined Dress Clothes]

 V1CH29 A Show And Dinner

    A tall slim man walked into an abandoned warehouse with every inch covered in graffiti. The man walked to the center of the large inner room and looked around, but seemingly missed the figure hiding in the shadows.


    The figure looked like a nine-foot-tall skeleton wearing a skin suit with cheekbones and ears that could cut glass. His eyes were a blazing red, and his mouth was adorned with multiple rows of fangs. This was a form that stronger vampires could take, it increased the physical attributes at the cost of needing a lot more blood to sustain.


    _


    Reginald Taft


    ¡°This guys sucks¡±


    Grade C


    _


    The figure approached the man by sticking to the shadows. When it was close enough it leaped at the man¡¯s throat. The figure wrapped its large, clawed hand around the man¡¯s throat and raised him into the air.


    ¡°Any last words blood bag?¡± The vampire¡¯s rancid breath billowed out into the man¡¯s face.


    The man chuckled and then said, ¡°I like playing with bombs too.¡±


    With that said, the man grew bright golden cracks all over his body that rapidly expanded.


    The vampire¡¯s grayish brown face turned even grayer, and it dropped the man. It then tried to escape the blast zone, but it was too late. The man turned into a large blast of golden light that seared the entire back half of the creature.


    The crippled creature was in the fetal position on the floor borderline crying in pain when it looked up and saw the man that had just blown-up walking towards him followed by a woman.


    ***


    As I followed Reggie¡¯s trail, I added apples from my surplus before the residual energies in my fruit ran out and changed my suit. I had several just for such an occasion. I stored the remnants of my previous suit as they had become imbued with the concept of sacrifice and thus would make for great material.


    Finally, after a thirty-minute walk, we had arrived at where Reggie was holing up, an abandoned warehouse. I spotted a large source of blood essence hanging off one of the rafters in the corner of the central room.


    I knew that if I walked in there it would be a tough fight and that was without the pounding in my head and soul. Matthew¡¯s Water was just not up to the task of dealing with a powerful vampire that seemed to be in a special state.


    Now was the time for the gift I had created just for little Reggie. It was a bomb puppet that was made in my image. It was little more than a holy water ballon though.


    _


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Holy Water Bomb Puppet


    ¡°BOOM¡±


    Tier Zero


    Releases a blast of holy water attributed energy when activated


    _


    I sent the puppet walking into the warehouse. It looked pretty natural to me due to the puppeteer skills I had picked up. It was a little jerky due to the mental and soul damage resulting from my recent explosive experience.


    When the puppet reached the center of the warehouse I had it spin in place while miming looking around in an attempt to draw out my prey.


    The fish took the bait and when I set off my bait, it tried to escape the hook. A futile effort when dealing with a fisherman such as I.


    After the creature got a back that matched my own, Brogan and I entered the warehouse.


    It was an ugly creature before the explosion and the patches of carbonized flesh did not help its appearance.


    I unloaded a holy water bullet into its heart utilizing the created hole to both finish it off and to avoid retribution from getting too close.


    The entrance and exit wounds grew golden cracks that spread all over the creature¡¯s body which turned to ash after the cracks completely covered it.


    I collected some of the death essence created from the creature¡¯s demise and created a pale green dog tag that I added to a ball chain.


    I collect them to document my noticeable kills. Currently it was just my first kill ¡°Nameless Killer Clown¡±, my first eradication of a group ¡°The Detroit Branch of The Crypts¡±, and the third simply read Victor Heart. It was an artifact that did nothing but document my history at the moment.


    I added the blood essence that I collected from old Reggie to the essence collected from Charity and shaped it into a small crimson beast artifact. The artifact crawled up my arm to my chest before turning into mark bearing the image of a crimson beast trapped inside a similarly colored ribcage


    ¡°What the f*ck was that?!¡± Brogan screamed.


    ¡°A contingency.¡± I then looked to my companion and said, ¡°Let¡¯s round my turn to an hour twenty as I¡¯ve lost either way. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°Sounds great to me. I¡¯m getting my free dinner either way.¡± Brogan said with a sh*t-eating grin.


    ***


    In a high-end restaurant, two twenty somethings were having dinner.


    ¡°You¡¯re really squeezing the most out of this free dinner. I even had to make your dress for you, for free again.¡± The man wearing a tan suit with a blue tie told his companion.


    ¡°And you got to see me in said dress for free.¡± The beautiful raven-haired beauty wearing a slinky red dress retorted.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡±


    ¡°So, I know this is several weeks too late, but if I am to share a meal that¡¯s not pancakes and french fries with someone there is something I must know. What is your actual name?¡° The woman asked.


    ¡°This is going to sound real overdramatic and cringy, but the man I used to be died. I¡¯m still deciding on a name. For now, let¡¯s go with Jesse. I could ask you the same though Brogan.¡± The man now known as Jesse explained.


    ¡°You know my name, but Olivia. My name is Olivia and that¡¯s pretty much decided.¡±


    ¡°Nice to finally meet you, Olivia.¡± Jesse said before extending his hand for a shake.


    ¡°Nice to meet you as well Jesse.¡± Olivia shaking the offered hand.


    ¡°Okay next question, what were you before you were this?¡±


    ¡°An accountant.¡±


    ¡°You were an accountant?!¡± Olivia got out between laughs.


    ¡°Yeah. I was a good one too.¡± Jesse said with a chuckle of his own.


    ¡°An accountant is rapidly becoming one of the greatest monster hunters and serial killers in the country?¡±


    ¡°What made me what you call a code F, also took some things from me: fear, worry, love, memories, and so much more. While those first three are not completely lost, all are heavily dampened. Odin gave an eye; I gave a heart.¡± Jesse explained.


    ¡°You¡¯re insensate. You lost both your eyes. And your ears. And your tongue. And your nose. And your fingers.¡±


    ¡°Then I got quite the raw deal, but I did get a new friend.¡± Jesse told his companion while raising his glass for a toast.


    Jesse than asked a question of his own, ¡°Any other questions?¡±


    ¡°Are we going after the one behind the war after dessert?¡± Olivia stated with a grin.


    ¡°Of course. Fun and adventure remember.¡± Jesse grew a grin to match.

 V1CH30 Bowling Sounds Fun

    Olivia and I spent the whole flight talking about our suspicions. We had suspected an unseen hand in the situation as the situation seemed suspect. The initial hostility was created by an attack that came from nowhere as neither group seemed like the likely perpetrator. Charity was too aggressive and cared too much about her subordinates to sacrifice them in such a roundabout plan. Reginald was too cautious and intelligent to perpetrate an attack that seemingly had no upside as burning the kennel gained him nothing but a potential war.


    The attack was the perfect combination of causing a large amount of hostility while not weakening either group. When both groups were told to ignore the attack, two events that happened at virtually the same time that neither group could ignore putting the groups on the inescapable path to war.


    The gangs went from the lowest level of hostility in years to the highest in a single night.


    To confirm our suspicions, we went to the local branch of the FBI to check the bodies for anything suspicious.


    The second I saw the bodies I knew that we were right.


    ¡°Bingo was his namo.¡±


    ¡°What do you see?¡± Olivia asked in a curious tone.


    ¡°The werewolves are infested with necromantic energy, and I suspect I¡¯ll find something righttttttttt aboutttttt hereeeeeeee¡± I said while combing through the hair on the back of a werewolf¡¯s neck. ¡°There it is.¡± I found what I was looking for, a pinprick.


    ¡°How¡¯d you know that was there?¡±


    ¡°Saw a concentration of poison essence there and made a guess.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°What about the leeches?¡±


    ¡°That is even easier. Here let me show you.¡± I opened one of the vampire¡¯s chests with material weaving and displayed a shriveled grey heart with a symbol made of glowing green stiches.


    Olivia leaned in and looked at the heart, ¡°Magic is not really my thing but I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s a control sigil.¡±


    ¡°It is rapidly becoming mine and it is. A necromantic one at least.¡±


    ***


    After dinner, we went to St Mark¡¯s Graveyard following the trail I picked up from the necromantic sigil. We stopped at our hotel to change into our battle attire, well Olivia did. Ironically, I had yet to create true battle attire due to a previous lack of inspiration and/or materials to create something special. Though that would soon change due to something I picked up here in Detroit.


    ¡°You really know how to treat a girl, take her to a nice dinner and then a creepy abandoned graveyard.¡± Olivia said with an eyeroll.


    ¡°Killing zombies sounds like much more fun than bowling.¡±


    ¡°I do love bowling.¡± she said coquettishly.


    ¡°I got a secret; I love it too. Want to go after this?¡±


    ¡°Love to.¡±


    ¡°If you two are done with the flirting, I would like to get started on our fight now.¡± A creaky voice called out from the shadows.


    ¡°You done doing ¡°the flirting¡±?¡± I said with finger quotes and a laugh.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°I do like it. Just under bowling in fact.¡±


    ¡°Well let¡¯s finish this quick and get to the bowling.¡±


    ¡°What about the flirting?¡±


    With a wink, ¡°We can do that too.¡±


    The creaky voice called out from the shadows again, ¡°Alright Abbott and Costello let¡¯s get going.¡±


    ¡°We secretly can¡¯t stand each other?¡± Olivia and I said at the exact same moment. We then turned to each other, ¡°You can¡¯t stand me?¡±


    Our conversation partner did not appreciate our resulting cackles.


    ¡°ARGHHHHH!¡± The hooded figure that stepped out from the shadows screamed before unleashing a wave of pale green energy across the graveyard. Zombies and skeletons broke out of the ground following the necromantic wave of energy.


    _


    Thomas Cain AKA The necromancer standing in front of me right now


    ¡°You¡¯ll be the death of me. You know¡­ if you were much stronger and I was much weaker.¡±


    Grade D


    _


    ¡°Kill them.¡± The figure gritted out while pointing at us. The undead stormed towards us.


    I unleased a wave of holy water essence in response which swallowed all the undead and tried to do the same to their creator. The necromancer was able to avoid said fate by creating a platform of bone.


    The holy water was soaking into the ground to prevent any other dead bodies from springing up. This was an active process that I had to actively manage and was thus unable to contribute to the fight much after starting.


    Olivia charged the necromancer with her shield and sword up. The necromancer tried to stop her with bone spears, but Olivia enlarged the defense provided by her shield with chi thus covering the entire front of her body.


    This guy was a plotter not a warrior and it showed. He did not even scratch her barrier by the time she was in front of him. He was subsequently bisected, and the two halves were swallowed by the wet earth to prevent liching.


    ¡°Night is coming. You cannot stop it.¡± The man said before the ground completely swallowed him.


    I extracted the information he had on necromancy which was minimal but showed where he had picked up the skill. I walked over to an opened crypt and saw an open stone casket containing a yellowed skeleton covered in carvings that represented a compendium of necromantic knowledge. The necromancer was a low pay grave digger that had been attacked by a werewolf thus piercing a veil and with his new sight had discovered said skeleton. He subsequently developed delusions of grandeur and ruling a city. Said thought was put into his head by a voice modulated phone call that gave him the plan he used and told him to prepare for the coming night. Not that he knew what that meant unfortunately.


    This skeleton was highly useful as it contained quite the necromantic knowledge and was made with quite strong bone infused with the concept of all thing necromancy.


    I first copied all the inscriptions into Mena¡¯s Book, then stored the skeleton for later.


    After leaving the crypt I walked up to Olivia, ¡°So, bowling?¡±


    ¡°Sounds great. Just gotta make a call first.¡±


    ¡°Have fun. I¡¯ll be in the car.¡± I said before walking away and intentionally tuning my bat hearing to avoid eavesdropping. She deserved her privacy.


    *Ring*


    *Ring*


    *Ring*


    ¡°Code D is a go. You got your contender for the title match.¡± Olivia told the person on the other end of the phone before hanging up and meeting her new friend in the car.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Matthew¡¯s Water]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sense Cane]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Werewolf Blood Essence]


    [Howl Technique]


    [Ruined Suit]


    [Necromantic Skeleton]

 V1CH31 Handling Balls And Some Guys Bone...s

    After thoroughly schooling Olivia in bowling, we walked back to our hotel rooms.


    ¡°How do you do that?¡± she asked me.


    With a raise of my eyebrow, ¡°Do what?¡±


    ¡°Be good at everything.¡± She said with an exasperated tone.


    ¡°As I previously told you I buy skills. It¡¯s not foolproof though, I¡¯m only as good as the skill taken due to being very selective on integrating talents. Meaningless talents do almost nothing except take up space and time, two commodities I am extremely reluctant to lose. If you were to turn skills into a level system, I¡¯m at level five in terms of bowling and no matter how much I train I will never progress to six. Also due to my most common source of skill, they are almost exclusively under the mortal peak.¡± I explained.


    With an eyeroll, ¡°Still sounds like you¡¯re good at everything.¡±


    ¡°Among the mundane, I am almost godlike. Among those we run with, I am universally skilled. Among those I am looking to compete with, I am a jack of all trades, master of none. Among those I will eventually run into, I am almost pathetic.¡± I told my companion while making a so-so gesture.


    ¡°Wowsers.¡±


    ¡°Wowsers indeed.¡±


    ***


    The first of the things I did was retire Sense Cane. It had served its purpose and taught me how to utilize my new senses, but it was now little more than a crutch. I held on to it for too long already due to sentimentality.


    The next was the creation of a new artifact, Sacrificial Scarf. This is the artifact that I had saved my ruined suit for as the concept of sacrifice was powerful and extremely useful. While it was maybe not the most useful application of the concept it is something I would rather have and not need than need and not have.


    The scarf transitioned from black to white with red being the intermediate step and transferred injuries from one person to another. The injured party wraps the black end around themselves, and the recipient uses the white end. The artifact has two major caveats though: the white party must be willing, and the injury being transferred cannot be too conceptually powerful.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    _


    Sacrificial Scarf


    ¡°Take me instead¡±


    Tier Three


    A scarf able to transfer injuries


    _


    I wrapped the scarf around my neck like an ascot. While a little preppy, I think it worked with a lot of my suits.


    After I was done with Sacrificial Scarf, it was time to handle some bones. After some time playing with some guy¡¯s bone¡­s, I had a ring called Orpheus¡¯ Melody. It was a pale grey gem shaped into a lyre and set into a simple band made of bone. The ring would allow me to do many of the things that a typical necromancer could do.


    _


    Orpheus¡¯ Melody


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the doubt come in¡±


    Tier Five


    A ring containing a necromantic authority


    _


    After slipping my new ring on my finger, I turned in for the night.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Matthew¡¯s Water]


    [Orpheus¡¯ Melody]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sacrificial Scarf]


    [Beastly Heart]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH32 Doing The Foxtrot

    After getting back from Detroit, we received news of people going missing in Sunrise Park and apparently that¡¯s the kinda thing that gets investigated. Due to magic residue being found at the scene, we are handling it. The MFBI places magical wards on all mundane law enforcement badges that notify them of such residues.


    I caught flashes of tooth and claw as whatever was responsible for the attacks was magical enough to cloud my psychometry. All I knew was that some number of beasts were infesting the forest doing something to people.


    After telling Olivia what little I knew, we entered the forested park in the center of Sunset City.


    After twenty minutes of walking, we entered a clearing near the center of the park.


    After turning in place and taking in the surrounding trees, ¡°You want the good news or the bad news?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go with the good news.¡±


    ¡°I found what¡¯s causing the disappearances.¡± I told my partner.


    ¡°And the bad news?¡±


    With a touch of unease in my voice, ¡°The skulk of tailed foxes eating those who pass through the park now surrounds us.¡±


    With a chuckle in hers, ¡°That seems like good news to me. Now we don¡¯t have to go looking for the perpetrators.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I like about you, always looking on the bright side.¡± I said before prepping for the battle to come.


    The tailed foxes stepped from the shadows revealing foxes of various pastel colors and number of tails.


    Due to our skillsets, it was decided that Olivia would take the pastel pink four tailed suspected leader, while I would take the one to three tailed subordinates.


    Olivia faced the four tails holding up a spear and aspis.


    The four tails charged her in a zigzag pattern before splitting in two. As Olivia did not know if the fox truly split, created one illusion, or created two, she had no choice but to assume both were real and look out for a hidden third. She blocked the left one with her shield and pierced the right with her spear.


    Unfortunately, both passed through her armaments like the weapons were not even there, mainly because the foxes were the ones not there. The real fox was behind her with its tail acting as a spear headed towards her back.


    Olivia¡¯s instincts saved her at the last moment though and she pivoted. Instead of piercing her heart, the spear shred through the back of her armor and left a large gash across her shoulders. Her chest armor fell off. As a result, the next time an attack reached her would likely be fatal.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The fox pulled the same maneuver again, only this time came in from the side. The fox overestimated its wit and underestimated Olivia¡¯s though. Olivia had the same response as she still did not know what is real and what is fake. Only this time the second the foxes passed through her armaments; she swept her spear three hundred sixty degrees around herself. The fox¡¯s head and throat were bisected into top and bottom. The four tails was a clever beast, but a beast all the same it was.


    Meanwhile I quickly dispatched my opponents as my way of perceiving the world plus my intertwined body state made me practically immune to all but the most powerful of illusions. Take away illusions and low tailed foxes are virtually helpless. The grass in the clearing was turned to spikes using the bones accumulated over the centuries in the ground and my newest ring. That move killed all the one and two tailed foxes, leaving only a handful of three tails. Those were taken care of by holy water bullets.


    I proceeded to feed all the tailed foxes to The Mentalism Ring, strengthening its illusion capabilities. One mildly concerning event was that a blond two tailed fox boosted my illusion capabilities way more than it should have.


    ¡°Ready to get going.¡± My partner asked.


    ¡°Yep.¡± I said before dropping to my knees due to a vision forcing its way inside my skull.


    It was a tall, emaciated woman with golden hair a Rapunzel level of length. She had white paper covered in blood red kanji rolled up into balls inside her mouth, nostrils, and ear canals. She wore a blindfold made of the same paper covering her eyes and keeping the paper balls ears, nose, and mouth. There were chains completely wrapping her body leaving no inch of body unexposed and stakes driven through all nine of her tails.


    ¡°This will be remembered.¡± The figure whispered in my mind.


    Even the slightest whisper from someone so powerful, even as suppressed as she was, was deadly to my interconnected state. My fruit got turned into mush, my stem grew cracks all along it, and all my apples dissipated.


    Olivia rushed up to me, ¡°OH MY GOD!!! Are you alright?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna need to have a several day coma, but I¡¯ll be fine. Well as long as you put all the tiny red crystal in the pouch hanging around my neck on my bare skin after I pass out.¡±


    With that I shambled up to our car and threw myself into the backseat. I promptly passed out and woke up from my several day coma tucked into my bed. Olivia, such a sweetheart.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Matthew¡¯s Water]


    [Orpheus¡¯ Melody]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sacrificial Scarf]


    [Beastly Heart]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH33 A Fun Day Of Sun & Blood

    In a dark room illuminated by a swinging light bulb, there were three people that looked nothing like each other.


    The first was a middle-aged black man with whipcord muscles. The only light in the room gleamed off his shaved head. The shadows meanwhile covered all the blood and bruises covering his face and body.


    The second was a Slenderman looking mother trucker. It was only if you looked closer that you realized that the man was slender in the way a snake was. In reality he had all the muscles of a champion bodybuilder just spread out over a body that was much taller. His slightly torn and dusty white dress shirt tucked into his black slacks with the top few buttons undone showcasing an ascot.


    The last occupant was a short busty woman with jade skin and raven hair. Her purple dress shirt and slacks were immaculate.


    ¡°So, tell me. How did we get here?¡± the larger man asked the bloodied one.


    With a roll of his eyes the man answered, ¡°That partner of yours rung that bell of mine and I woke up in this room.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the resolution. I want the inciting incident. The rising action. The climax. Tell me a story.¡± The scarred man said with mock excitement and an even more mocking smile.


    ¡±And why should I do that?¡± the roughed-up man inquired in an exacerbated tone being done with this ¡°story¡±. Everything he built had come crashing down in a matter of days.


    ¡°You need to understand that Norman Musa tragically died due to his injuries caused by the ambush that killed his men. We are the ones who decide if you leave this room ever again and where you go if you do. Currently, we¡¯re just not feeling much sympathy after what you have done and the lives that you have ruined. Need I go on?¡± The other man explained.


    The man starting his story, ¡°Very well. It started just about three decades ago during one of my first patrols as a new recruit¡­¡±


    ***


    It was during one of my first patrols as a new recruit that we were attacked by enemy combatants. They came from nowhere, one moment we were alone and the next one surrounded. We rushed through a gap in their formation. My new brothers dropped around me one by one until we crested a hill, and it was just me.


    Unluckily the direction of the previously mentioned gap was into the desert. This was my first week in the area and I was understandably unfamiliar with the terrain.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    I wandered through the desert for days. The sun beat down on my neck. The light seared my flesh and took every drop of water from me. It was so hot. I was so thirsty.


    After several days of conserving my limited water, it ran out. Then came the next stage of my parade of sh*t, hallucinations. Those seared my spirit. I saw my brothers in arms again at one point, but this time they were full of bullet holes blaming me for not seeing their killers. I then saw my girlfriend and family making similar claims. For you see I was the lookout for our troop.


    After that so joyous of a time, I saw something I hoped was an illusion, a giant rotting serpent with a head on both ends. I did not want to think that such creature could exist in this world. I later found out that my altered mental state allowed me to pierce the mist.


    The serpent blood smelled so foul I choked on it even at a distance. It smelled like smoke, the sickly-sweet scent of rot, and chicken. I did not want any part of that in my body, but needs must and all that sh*t. I was so thirsty, you understand.


    I took the smallest of sips and let me tell you, the smell really undersold the taste. I had to choke it down and when I did, my world opened up. It was how I imagine overdosing on LSD your first time ever taking drugs is like.


    I felt each and every thing around me, even the tiny ants wriggling in the sand. At first, I could not tell up from down, left from right. The world was spinning on every axis at the same time. It was like I was blind and yet all-seeing at the same time.


    I later learned that the Amphisbaena was a mythical creature created when a drop of Medusa¡¯s blood landed in the Libyan desert while being carried by Perseus. Its descendants spread from there, both by natural migration and people wanting one. It possessed a powerful seismic sense allowing it to find its main food source, ants.


    It turns out that ingesting a monster¡¯s blood grants its abilities and a powerful addiction to go along with it. I learned the first with my sip and would only learn the second much later when it was already too late.


    It also had the side effect of solving my problem as it quenched my thirst with only the tiniest of sips. I know it¡¯s going to sound silly and made up, but I could feel the addiction growing like a cancer from that very first taste. I had no choice though; I needed that sense and drink to have any hope of escaping the desert.


    I filled my canteen with all the blood it could fit.


    After several more days of following the vibrations in the sand, I ended up in a small village. From there I found my way back to base.


    I spent the next several years using my canteen to thrive in the military and move up the ranks, one sip at a time.


    I did eventually run out, but I had been preparing for that by studying all that I could about the moonlit world and my preferred prey. After running out, I would occasionally sneak off in the night to hunt for more Amphisbaenas to increase my supply.


    Eventually, I was leading my own unit, and I was anything but stingy with my supply. I shared my own supply of blood and other types I had collected over the years with my men and women.


    As our success reached ever higher, we were able to increase the range of our activities and find more varieties of blood types with higher purities.

 V1CH34 A Not So Fun Night Of No Sun & A Lot Of Blood

    My troop¡¯s success led to increased fame in my base as I became known as Four-eyes as it seemed like I had a pair in the back of my head. It was not the most intimidating or impressive name, but I liked it as I never had a nickname before.


    Everyone wanted to know my secret, but I knew that I could not have been the first person to discover what hid in the shadows of our world. If what I was doing was without large risks, it would be wider spread in the military. I would either disappear or be forced to stop if what I was doing got out.


    The first two people I drew into my secret group were two other people in my batch of recruits, Eli and Barbara. They were ambitious like me and would ignore the dangers like me as well.


    Years later the three of us were famous within our camp and I got an offer to lead my own elite team with Eli and Barbara. We were stuck with new recruits though, Thomas and Tad.


    Our group became even more well known as we were able to convince the new recruits to follow along with us.


    The group was made up of the following members at the time:


    Me an early thirties black man with the standard increased physical abilities and seismic sense.


    Eli Popov a muscular white guy of a similar age that needed to always wear sunglasses due to the cockatrice blood he regularly consumed. The ability that it granted was a paralyzing glance that unfortunately was always active.


    Barbara Perez a slim Latina that wore long sleeve shirts and gloves due to her blood choice. She chose basilisk blood that granted her a toxic touch that like Eli¡¯s was impossible to turn off.


    Johnathan Smith, one of the two younger members, was a blonde that chose sphinx blood granting him increased intelligence and wisdom.


    The other younger member, Sherman Jefferson, chose mongolian death worm blood. It allowed him to swim through the sands like water.


    We became known throughout the military as the go to team in the area to take on bases. We were a well-oiled team that never failed a mission. The army in their infinite wisdom decided to add a new gear to that well-oiled machine.


    Trevor Long was a hothead even before the addition of Jinn blood gave him pyrokinesis. Afterwards he was a liability, and this came to a head on the mission that brought you here.


    The mission started off with business as usual.


    I took off my boots and wiggled my toes in the sand to scout out the enemy base. My seismic sense allowed me to create a map of the base with the position of guards and equipment. Johnny and I then came up with a battle plan based off my map in the sand.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Sherman tunneled up to the wall and then launched himself out of sand with Eli, Trevor, and Barbara wrapped in his arms. Sherman was able to soften the landing leaving the enemy combatants oblivious to their guests. When they landed in the center of the base, they split up as planned.


    Sherman went back in the sand and proceeded to pull the various pieces of equipment stashed around the base into the sands.


    Eli and Barbara went around taking out the guards as stealthily as possible. Eli would paralyze them and then slit their throats. Barbara took off her gloves and ran her fingers over unsuspecting throats. Johnny and I provided support with our suppressed rifles utilizing our enhanced abilities to avoid a single missed shot.


    We were able to take out most of them without suspicion, but then our rookie lost his cool. He started throwing around fire willy nilly. The camp went up like everything was doused in gasoline.


    Eli and Barbara got out with the help of Sherman leaving the arsonist behind to continue his f*ckup.


    It¡¯s hard to say who was angrier, the people who got caught up in an impromptu bonfire or me who had to explain how an enemy base burned to ash without any heavy ordinance of our own or any reason to use it.


    Trevor came walking out looking like a burnt corpse with eyes made of fireballs and spikes sticking out irregularly from all around his figure.


    Before we could tan his hide for what happened or ask about his new appearance, he released this strange screech that dropped everyone else to their knees. They then started to change.


    ***


    ¡°It¡¯s an alpha screech.¡± I explained to the man telling his story.


    ¡°What?¡± the soldier asked with a confused expression on his face.


    Answering his question, ¡°That strange screech that caused the transformations is called an alpha screech. The jinn you used must have had quite the pedigree to be able to use it, let alone pass it along in its blood. Alpha screeches are used by high level monsters to summon subordinates. These are usually already existing monsters in the area, but it can also awaken the dormant monster DNA in people creating new ones. This dormant monster DNA is usually some remnant of a distant ancestor, but it can apparently also be the result of long-term monster blood ingestion without sufficient plasticity. You apparently have such plasticity; your subordinates were not so lucky.¡±


    ***


    My men¡¯s bodies distorted and shifted on the ground. When they got up it was as changed people.


    Sherman gained a sheen of slimy mucus and lost a lot of his facial features. His ears and nose turned into holes. While his eyes disappeared entirely. He also lost all the hair on his head and body.


    Eli gained a red comb and wattle in addition to green scales and russet feathers.


    Barbara gained grayish white scales and fangs.


    Johnny now had brown fur and feathers all over his body. He also gained claws on his hands and feet.


    They all turned to face me, and I got the message to run.


    I got back to base and tried to explain how I lost my entire elite team on a standard mission. I did not do a great job at that as I am now talking to you.


    ***


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this story does not end well for you. You got your entire team addicted to a known dangerous substance and did it for no reason but pride and vanity. You will not be leaving this room.¡± I told the man before turning the glass of water he was drinking into a large spike that went through his heart.


    I turned to my partner, ¡°Well that¡¯s settled. Let¡¯s go comb the desert for a jinn, cockatrice, basilisk, sphinx, and Mongolian death worm. Hopefully before nightfall.¡±

 V1CH35 Who Could Have Guesses

    We were pulling a classic Moses and wandering in the desert when I discovered a mongolian death worm/ human hybrid approaching us from beneath the sands. Gotta love the sixth and only sense.


    _


    Sherman Jefferson AKA His Holy Worminess


    ¡°Half Human, Half Worm, All ugly¡±


    Grade C


    _


    One quick conversation and a Roshambo later, it was decided that I would take this one.


    While I continued walking forward, Olivia hung back to keep an eye out for any other approaching hostiles.


    In the couple of seconds I had before the fight truly started, I thought about my approach. Matthew¡¯s Water was out as this creature was not dark inclined which excluded faith and was sand aligned which weakened water.


    That left Orpheus¡¯ Melody and something I have been working on since day one.


    Orpheus¡¯ Melody emitted an eldritch green glow that soaked into the ground and then all the bones buried in it.


    Said bones speared towards the worm man that was about to exit the ground and were promptly evaded with ease. This resulted in the hybrid being able to fly out of the ground, take a chunk from my bicep, and quickly reenter the sands.


    This played out a few more times with me losing a few more chunks of White Immaterial. This was not a problem though in the short term as the hybrid lacked the power to damage my bones and thus disable me. now don¡¯t get me wrong I wasn¡¯t made of White Immaterial, well I was literally but I meant the expression, but I could afford to lose some to achieve an objective.


    Fortunately, the hybrid did not realize what my objective was. It just thought I was getting better at aiming the bones and that was why I kept getting closer to piercing it. I did not notice all the rings of distorted lights intersecting through its body.


    I must say I was proud of those rings as they were the culmination of months of effort. I could now weave essences in battle. As long as I had a lot of time and opportunity. It was still a niche skill.


    These threads of space essence stitched my wormy opponent to the fabric of space and thus slowed it down. Seven stitches later and the first bone pierced its arm. The rest of the body was pierced shortly afterward, and I was left with a worm pin cushion.


    The cushion was turned into a new ring, Moses¡¯ Trek. It was a typical authority ring ruling over sand this time. The ring had a tan triangular gem with a band broken up into ten sections with indents.


    _


    Moses¡¯ Trek


    ¡°Let the scorching sands be your bed¡±


    Tier Three


    A ring containing a sand authority


    _


    With my newest piece of the bling bling, it was back to wandering the desert.


    ***


    Two pairs of individuals were staring at each other across a short distance.


    The first pair were modeled after salt and pepper with one being raven haired and the other being canary haired.


    Yes, I made that up for my hair, but I think that it really worked. In my defense it was the first yellow bird I could think of.


    Anywho¡­ lets get back on topic.


    The second was made up of two scaled and feathered humanoids. One was covered in green scales and russet feathers with a red comb and wattle. The other had dark brown fur and feathers with claws on his hands and feet.


    _


    Eli Popov AKA The Cocky Cockatrice


    ¡°Kinda a d*ck¡±


    Grade C


    _


    _


    Johnathan Smith AKA The Shifty Sphinx


    ¡°Riddle me this, What¡¯s black and blue and red all over? You.¡±


    Grade C


    _


    Looking at their opponents, the woman reached up and rubbed a finger across her necklace.


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


    On her neck laid an orange gem necklace with a silver border containing carvings of various types of weapons and armor. This magical artifact was created by her partner using a sliver of his material shaping ability.


    _


    Armament Amulet


    ¡°A good warrior should never be without a good weapon¡±


    Tier One


    Creates weapons and armor made from surrounding materials and empowers the creations using chi


    _


    Sand started swirling around the woman covering the woman¡¯s figure in a tan armor featuring the same carvings on her necklace. The sands then swirled into a broadsword and kite shield. All the armaments had an orange aura swirling around them.


    They had a plan for who they would take if possible. The man would take the jinn and the cockatrice, as he had a weapon that countered the first and due to being blind had a defense against the second. The petrifying gaze of the cockatrice only worked on eye contact or if it released a beam of energy, being blind made him immune to the first. The woman would take the basilisk and the sphinx. As she had armor that prevented the poison touch from working and the sphinx was the only one left.


    In addition, due to her partner¡¯s nature, the basilisk¡¯s poison is a severe risk to him. It either would be completely ineffective as it¡¯s swallowed by the rot or strengthen said rot out of his control leading to it rampaging through his body which would in turn affect his mind and soul. Death would follow soon after. The man had no idea which one it would be.


    She then moved to engage the sphinx human hybrid as her partner sunk into the ground. While the woman and her opponent approached one another, her partner proceeded reached his hand above the surface and grabbed the cockatrice hybrid¡¯s ankle. He then dragged his opponent away from their partners.


    She readied herself for the incoming battle.


    The hybrid opened the battle by rushing her claws outstretched and mouth snarling.


    The hybrid was on her almost immediately scratching and biting like a rabid animal. It was barely doing anything to its opponent except pushing her back and in return was receiving large gashes.


    The woman wondered what happened to her opponent. While the transformation should have reduced impulse control, increased aggression, and some higher thinking, it should not have made someone truly rabid.


    When she tripped over the rock and saw the smirk on her opponent¡¯s face, she knew the reason. Only it was too late as a set of dagger like claws was already in the face gap of her armor.


    Fortunately, her partner was great at his job and created a sub feature that reinforced the air around gaps in the user¡¯s armor. While nowhere near the defense provided by the reinforced solid armor, it turned a killing blow into a nasty gash that barely reached her teeth.


    The hybrid committed to what it perceived as the killing blow. When it wasn¡¯t, the hybrid was open to counterattack. The woman¡¯s sand broadsword turned into a spear that pierced the hybrid¡¯s side, through its lungs and heart.


    She then started off towards her partner.


    ***


    By the time that the cockatrice hybrid reacted and prepared to launch a beam of petrifying energy from its eyes, its opponent¡¯s hand slipped back beneath the surface.


    The man copied the strategy of a previous enemy of his, by keeping below the sands and taking potshots. The main difference is that his new enemy could not see or have any effect below the sands.


    Eventually the hybrid legs were nothing but bones with a few muscle strands hanging off them. It finally fell to the ground and when it did the sand pulled it under. The hybrid never saw the light of day again.


    ***


    I fed Olivia¡¯s trophy to Mena¡¯s Book empowering it to the first rank and enhancing my ability to quickly access information.


    The second corpse was turned into a ring that featured a caustic orange eye with a slit pupil and a bone housing with feather and scale carvings.


    _


    Petrifying Ring


    ¡°Like a beautiful woman, my gaze makes men hard¡±


    Tier One


    A ring that releases a beam of petrifying energy


    _


    After another several minute walk we arrived at our next set of matches.


    Brogan prepped her armor and weapons while staring at the basilisk in the eye. I held up Matthew¡¯s Water while siking myself up for a fight against the jinn.


    _


    Barbara Perez AKA Basilisk Barbie


    ¡°Accessories not included¡±


    Grade C


    _


    _


    Trevor Long AKA Jinn Ken


    ¡°Accessories not included¡±


    Grade C


    _


    Just when the party was just getting started, a large demon-like figure came from the shadows and tore out our opponent¡¯s hearts. The figure was nine feet tall and had muscles on its muscles. Its frame was wrapped in bluish gray skin and on its head were two huge grayish blue curved horns.


    _


    Gordon AKA The Jinn General


    ¡°Accessories not included¡±


    Grade B


    _


    In a gravelly voice the figure spoke, ¡°The shame that has been put upon the great jinn king Robin shall be washed away with the blood of all those who have witnessed it.¡±


    I turned to my partner, ¡°It seems like the jinn king is displeased with the ingestion of his child¡¯s blood. Who could have ever guessed.¡±


    ¡°yeeeeeaaaah¡­ It seems like a pretty easy guess, but I¡¯m pretty sure they did not know that the blood was royal and would thus create an alpha screech. Or that said screech would turn everyone into monsters and alert the corpse¡¯s parents of how they desecrated their child¡¯s corpse.¡± my partner responded.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s clean up a mess made by idiots¡± I told my partner after sighing.


    With a sigh of her own, ¡°That seems to be a large portion of my job, my job title might as well be janitor.¡±


    ¡°Not the best joke, but we¡¯ll workshop it later.¡±


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Matthew¡¯s Water]


    [Orpheus¡¯ Melody]


    [Moses¡¯ Trek]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sacrificial Scarf]


    [Beastly Heart]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]

 V1CH36 Monster Hunters Be Shopping

    The shadow jinn charged us with a guttural roar. Judging by the sheer power and brutality that radiated off it, a single strike would probably take either one of us out of the fight. To our fortune though, evolution caused it to not need physical speed due to being able to travel through the shadows.


    That¡¯s my guess at least. But who needed physical speed when you had the ability to both sneak up on people and move around the battlefield unimpeded using shadow travel.


    Turns out someone facing an opponent that could cut off access to other dimensions using their abilities did. It turns out being connected to unreality allowed me to bring forth a sliver of its power and distance other dimensions from the one that I am in thus cutting access. Without that access, it was just a lumbering brute and thus it struggled to even touch either of us. For Olivia that was a combination of chi imbuement and skill, while for me it was more a matter of distance. I know cowardly, but I knew when I was beaten.


    I shot holy water bullets at it while Olivia was slicing and dicing the brute¡¯s chest and arms. After a brief intermission in the fight, each party took stock.


    There was not even a single scratch on its hide. While we were already getting a bit winded.


    When we reengaged, I was paying attention to Olivia¡¯s strikes to see what was going on. The shadow jinn was strong, no doubt, but it couldn¡¯t just shrug off blows from her.


    When she next struck, I saw why. The demon could still shift parts of its body to shadow, turns out I could weaken its connection not completely sever it.


    My bright idea was to use my new artifact, Petrifying Ring. It wouldn¡¯t do much to such a strong creature except turn a small to medium section to stonelike substance for a brief time. This would usually be of middling use as it also strengthens the defense of the area, but when you want to hit shadow, harder helps not hurts.


    Now it was just a matter of aim and timing, I just had to set the stage for Olivia¡¯s strikes.


    I called out to my friend, ¡°Hey Olivia, ever play whac-a-mole?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Why is now the time to discuss our pastimes?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna play ourselves a game!¡± I yelled before launching a beam of orange energy at the jinn¡¯s side. Olivia followed with a blow to the affected area.


    We proceeded to dismantle the lumbering jinn. We missed the timing a few times, but since Olivia was careful to avoid completely relying on a new strategy, she avoided any reprisal.


    When the creature was good and gone, we started to laugh in relief.


    ¡°Well, that was fun.¡± I got out after finishing laughing.


    After finishing chuckling, my friend replied, ¡°I have a confession to make, I hate whac-a-mole.¡±


    ¡°Me too. Skee-ball fan myself.¡±


    I created yet another ring from the corpse before we left, [REDACTED]. It was a simple band made of an obsidian-like material.


    _


    [REDACTED]


    ¡°[REDACTED]¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Tier Four


    A ring containing a shadow authority


    _


    Too bad I missed out on the abilities of the jinn and basilisk hybrids due to the missing hearts containing most of the essences.


    ***


    On our way back I arranged a stop off at Milan where there was supposedly a black market for magic of all kinds.


    When I arrived at the warehouse housing the market, I knew it was worth the stop.


    The first table that caught my eye was run by a white guy with dreadlocks and reeked of patchouli oil. He was selling a variety of crystals, herbs, and dreamcatchers. I bought some of his herbs and crystals as they had some use as supplementary materials for my various artifacts. None were particularly conceptually powerful though.


    The next table of interest was selling Slavery Cotton. It was a nasty material created in the American south during some of its darkest days. It was heavily imbued with the concepts of chains, oppression, misery, pain, death, and many other dark concepts.


    It had some interesting uses and was a viable material for some clothes. The concept of chains would make the resulting clothing have the durability of iron. It could also make very good restraining cloth material. Hell, it¡¯s probably one of the best low level cloth restraining artifacts.


    The material just gave me the ick though. I know that it would not benefit anyone involved, I could purify it of the negative aspects, and that it would do a lot of good in this world, but I just wanted nothing to do with it.


    Off in a corner I found a person selling a bunch of weak prayer shrouds, beads, and crosses for cheap. I bought the person out and fed everything to Matthew¡¯s Water, empowering it. not enough to jump tier, but every bit counts.


    In a prime spot at the center of the warehouse, I found a guy selling Nemean Lion leather. Well, a distant descendant of the Nemean Lion at least. I was tempted as it was great material, but the guy was asking a price usually reserved for a much closer relation.


    After wandering around for a while something else caught my eye, a wardrobe packed to the gills with clothing. After asking the seller, it turns out that his aunt was a collector of clothing from throughout the ages. They had collector¡¯s value, and they contained some weak concepts that would contribute to some magical endeavors.


    It was a tough sell though. The mundanes would pay for only the mundane value and the magicals would only pay the magical value. He thought he would give it a shot here to see if he could get both from someone. If he did not, then he would settle for the higher mundane value.


    I just so happened to be the perfect customer. The clothes would provide me with appropriate attire no matter the situation, which will pay dividends when traveling the various worlds out there. They were also the perfect base for empowerment as they already were strongly imbued with concepts that I would just have to proverbially feed. The wardrobe was worth every single cent, hell I would pay ten times that amount.


    Extracting precious metals from the ground and making medallions of them was worth the time and effort. They were hard to transform into currency, but magicals were willing to take them.


    After throwing the wardrobe into my storage, my partner and I left for home as we were referred a case from the mundane police there. If only I knew then what I know now.


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    [The Energy Baron¡¯s Stomach]


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Succubus¡¯ Kiss]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Matthew¡¯s Water]


    [Orpheus¡¯ Melody]


    [Moses¡¯ Trek]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [[Redacted]]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Sacrificial Scarf]


    [Beastly Heart]


    Storage:


    [Various Essences]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]

 V1CH37 Prelude To The End

    After a trek through the woods, we arrived at a luxury home in the middle of the woods. As everyone knows, there are only two kinds of high-end homes in the woods: the log cabin and the kind that you don¡¯t throw stones in. No idea why that is the case, but it is. To our good fortune it was the wooden kind, so they might not see us coming.


    Turning to my partner, ¡°So, what are we dealing with here?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to tell me. All we know is that a cop went missing while investigating a string of missing persons¡± Olivia responded.


    And that¡¯s my cue. With a raise of my hand and a flash of my ring away I went.


    ***


    I lived quite a nice life. I had a beautiful wife, Honey, that loved me and the family we built together. I had five children that I loved more than life itself. The twins Mary Sue and Annabelle, co-captains of the local cheerleading troop. My youngest son, Samuel, is a mathlete. A middle son, Robert, who, while a stoner, I still loved. And my eldest son Ulysses Jr, the star linebacker.


    I also provided for my family by running a very successful hedge fund. Which allowed us to live in a luxurious forested mansion outside Sunset City.


    One day I started hearing a voice in my head that kept whispering promises. About immortality. About pleasure. About enhanced abilities. I was not interested. If there was one thing I learned from a lifetime of investing: know when to be happy with what you have. If there¡¯s two: know when a deal is too good to be true.


    When I ignored the whispers, then came the screaming. Sometimes it was what I assume was its victims¡¯ pleas. Sometimes it was indiscriminate screaming. Sometimes it shouted its story.


    It was a passenger on one of the first ships to America from Britain. That group was ill prepared for the winter. The wendigo back when his name was still James did not listen to the indigenous people as he believed them to be superstitious savages. As a result of both facts, James consumed those who died from starvation or the harsh conditions.


    At first the meat did little more than fill his stomach, but eventually he started noticing changes. He grew stronger, faster, smarter, but most importantly hungrier. His form shifted and he gained grey eyes ringed with a fiery orange, a mouth full of black fangs, and sharp claws. Soon he was the only one left in his settlement. He then set his sights on the tribe. While the tribe knew what they were dealing with, James, who was now the wendigo, was already too powerful for their shamans.


    After he was done with the tribe, he set his sights on the world. In the wider world he quickly learned that he was far from the biggest fish in a sea that was infested with sharks. Afterwards he stuck to the shadows and ate when he could. Over the centuries, he grew more powerful, and his form shifted more. Eventually he became a monstrous giant. Which severely hampered his hunting abilities, giving him no choice but to recruit helpers.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    It told me that if I kept refusing, it would move on to my family. When I heard that I gave in. I went into town and picked up a day laborer. It¡¯s a sad fact that few would miss him and those few were not in any position of power. I took a couple of bites from the man¡¯s arm and then gave the rest to my new master. To my shame those few bites were pure ecstasy.


    Eventually my hunger grew and not just the physical kind. I¡¯m ashamed to admit I grew quite addicted. I¡¯m even more ashamed to admit that I wanted to share my power and addiction with my family. I started sneaking it into our food saying that it was pork.


    By the time my family found out what I was doing, they had already grown to enjoy our new diet. From then on, my hunts were family events, we would run through the woods enjoying our new abilities and the hunt itself.


    We were so careful, and we got away with it for long time due to that.


    People kept going missing in the area.


    As one of the only houses in the area, we were questioned, but no one suspected the hedge fund manager and his family. And it would have stayed that way except in a later interview that was just seeing if they saw anything a detective noticed something.


    A single drop of blood on the hem of my lovely wife¡¯s sundress.


    Just goes to show you no matter how careful you are or how long it is, it only takes the slightest of slipups for it all to be meaningless. Unfortunately for him, he was quite a bad actor. We followed his eyes and noticed what he did. He noticed that we noticed and went for his gun. My little belle, who was closest, tore out his throat with her teeth before the Glock even cleared his holster.


    He became the appetizer for dinner that night.


    ***


    ¡°Wendigos. The entire family.¡± I told my partner.


    _


    The Ford Family


    ¡°The family that stays together, decays together¡±


    Grade C


    _


    ¡°You mind if I get this one?¡± She said hoisting her riot shotgun.


    ¡°Why not.¡±


    I followed her up the driveway to the front door. She rang the bell and we waited. My senses told me it was Senior coming. The door opened just a crack when Olivia leveled her shotgun against it at chest height and pulled the trigger.


    Senior was sent flying back with a huge hole in his chest. We heard a screech emanating from the kitchen off to the left side.


    ¡°BABY!!!!!!!!!!!¡±


    We turned and looked at the source of the scream.


    There stood Honey Ford with a six-foot-tall willowy frame and platinum blond hair accompanied by blue eyes. Well at least her eyes used to be blue, they were now grey with a reddish orange outer ring. She also grew claws on her fingers and toes. Her lips and teeth turned jet black, and her transformed mouth was entirely filled with long sharp fangs.


    She charged and then went head over heels due to a shot gun blast. She joined her husband on the floor.


    Two teenaged versions of Honey, fangs and all, dropped from the second story balcony. They didn¡¯t even reach the floor. Well, I mean I guess they did reach the floor just dead and without throats or heads.


    Robert came running on all fours down the stairs and was blasted against the wall. He slumped against the cracked plaster.


    A little gremlin came scurrying in from the living room. The resulting blast took off the entire top half of the corrupted child. Looks like we can cross Samuel off the list.


    A huge ogre slowly stomped down the stairs.


    ¡°Out of bullets.¡± The figure grunted out.


    ¡±You can count? Consider me impressed¡± My partner countered.


    *roar*


    With that roar, the creature charged us. Olivia created a wooden chi infused sword and bisected it.


    After a clap of my hands, ¡°Well that¡¯s that.¡±


    *Deafening roar coming from outside the house*


    ¡°Something tells me it¡¯s not.¡± Olivia said with a nervous chuckle knowing how powerful wendigo can get.

 V1CH38 The End Of The Prelude

    When we approached the source of the roar, we saw two giant creatures.


    The first titan was the Alpha Wendigo. It was a fifteen-foot tall, emaciated man with a stag head completely covered in dirty knotted pitch-black hair. Its several foot long daggerlike claws radiated a black miasma of corruption, pestilence, and consumption.


    _


    James Cain


    ¡°It¡¯s greatest weapon, the stench¡±


    Grade S


    _


    The other titan, a bigfoot, was a very rare creature for this world, a powerful positively aligned being as it was a protector of nature. It had as much muscle packed on its ten-foot frame as biologically positive. Said muscles were wrapped in clean green fur that radiated a vibrant green glow of enhancement. The only part not covered in fur was its simian face. It also had gigantic feet as you would suspect given its name.


    _


    Samuel Oakborn


    ¡°I got big shoes¡±


    Grade S


    _


    The two figures were engaged in a slugfest lacking skill of any kind that was only impressive due to the sheer power being thrown around. Both parties were as powerful as spirits can be without becoming literal gods.


    Which was both good and bad news as whichever entity succeeded would be vanquishing a powerful enemy of the same attribute but an opposite alignment. That would be an ascending act that would make the victor a god and turn the forest into their flavor of nature.


    The wendigo would become a god of famine and pestilence ruling over a forest with that same fundamental nature. The forest would spread across the earth, spreading great famine and disease with it. Due to those concepts being closely associated with the apocalypse, the new god would usher in an apocalypse that would strengthen it. Which would in turn strengthen the apocalypse, creating a vicious feedback loop. The only hope in that situation is that it runs into a more powerful entity that liked the status quo before it built up too much momentum.


    While the bigfoot would become a god of protection and nature ruling over one of the few bastions of positivity in this heavily negative natured world. It would be a powerful candle of hope in the sea of darkness that is this reality.


    It was due to these possible outcomes that the world was giving the slightest of boosts to the wendigo. This sliver was enough though and the twisted spirit was winning.


    The bigfoot had multiple lacerations that leaked black sludge. It got some good shots in as we watched but it was a losing battle, and everyone knew it. The bigfoot gave up its slightest chance of winning when it stopped trying to win and started trying not to lose.


    We were witnessing the beginning of the end and worst of all there was little Olivia or I could do about it. Quite simply neither one of us had the power to pierce the defenses of the wendigo and it would just overpower any effect on it or the battlefield I could create. My artifacts just were not conceptually powerful enough. Orpheus¡¯ Melody was my best chance but its tier of five was dwarfed by the wendigo about to reach tier ten and ascend.


    When the wendigo missed a claw slash and destroyed a tree sending wooden shards infused with a powerful corruption everywhere, we realized we were not even qualified to witness this event.


    We entered a nearby cave that we quickly discovered was where the wendigo resided to avoid the aftermath of the titans¡¯ clash. It was filled with skeletons seemingly made from a material similar to what I¡¯ve been calling White Immaterial. It wasn¡¯t exact, but it was like a generic version of my personal brand of cola. The ceiling was covered in gray mist made of the victims¡¯ soul remnants and resentment. The wendigo was quite the messy eater leaving those scraps lying around.


    Having an idea, I, with Orpheus¡¯ Melody¡¯s help, forged the skeletons into chains and imbued them with the scraps of soul and resentment. They could feel that there would be no reincarnation or afterlife for them. That they would cease to exist when their job was done. The twisted remnant of people just did not care. The instant I was done with the imbuement, the stark white chains that glowed a sickly gray flew out of my hands towards the cave entrance. I had created an artifact could affect a borderline god which was quite the achievement in my opinion. Even if I had the perfect materials for it and it would cease to exist very quickly after it was first used and it could only affect a single entity, it was still an achievement to be proud of.


    We followed the chains out and saw the wendigo with its spindly arms pinned to its side, its maw sealed shut, and its legs bound together. The bigfoot, which had been half eviscerated in the time that we had been gone, proceeded to stomp its opponent¡¯s head into the ground. It only stopped when the head was only a memory of what once was.


    The bigfoot pounded its chest and released a roar over its opponent¡¯s corpse. It started to glow, and the light slowly grew into a pillar marking the process of its ascension to a god.


    The light suddenly blinked out.


    The bigfoot succumbed to its injuries and then fell backwards dead.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s disappointing.¡±


    ***


    While looting corpses, especially of something that was just my sort of ally, was not the most ethical, it was who I was now. I was less troubled by looting the corpse of the being that could have ended the world.


    I next extracted the core essence of the two beings. These contained both sides of nature: the growth and the decay, the nurturer and the reaper, the beginning and the end, the giver and the taker. It showed the cycle of how rot nurtures new growth, how death leads to life, but also how all things end. How everything dies, whether that be in an instant or an eternity. The buds of life will always include a sliver of death and death will always have life sprouting from it.


    These resonated with my body as it was all about using rot to create life. The golden skin also resonated due to its paradoxical nature of both purity and taint, of both angelic and demonic. I did not even need to weave it into my body as both essences dissolved into me as soon as I touch them.


    Going off instinct I immediately dissolved a series of artifacts: Matthew¡¯s Water, Orpheus¡¯ Melody, Moses¡¯ Trek, Sacrificial Scarf, and [Redacted]. I promptly threw them into the process the core essences started.


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


    My body started reaching for something higher, something fundamental. When it reached some cosmic record, I was presented with a choice, what was I? was I the all-consuming fungus. Or the mighty tree. Or the beautiful flower. Or something else entirely.


    The bone apple tree. I was a bone apple tree. It spoke to me like no other. The tree got its name from the fact that it grew amid a graveyard of bones. You see the tree created death from life by producing toxic fruits that killed any creature that consumed one. It then drained all the nutrients from the corpses to grow ever larger, creating life from death. The second I confirmed the choice I felt a shudder run through me.


    I was no longer a golden apple. Now I was a bone apple tree. My body no longer resembled an apple made up of a skin, fruit, and a stem. However, it did not resemble a tree either. The tree was more conceptual. It more decided how my body would operate than its structure. My new body was homogeneously made up of threads imbued with the concept of the bone apple tree.


    Now that did not mean that it was wood or nature aligned. I was by design fairly unaligned; the only real alignment I had was to life and death. Which was the same for every being to various degrees. It more meant that my body could process both life and death essence to operate. I was a paradoxical being that was both dead, undead, and alive all at the same time.


    The main effect of this new form was that I no longer needed ¡°apples¡± as I could draw energy from a myriad of sources. Now I would in all likely hood need to keep feeding on people to maintain an acceptable energy level, but I could survive of environmental energies. Besides that, I was still pretty physically weak, but I was more FE Male than Supreme Man anyways.


    The real gain was the authorities contained in the two core essences: empower and consume. I think you can guess which came from which. The first could bump up the potency of pretty much anything as long as its below godhood. The second would help me drain energy quicker. Neither were game breaking, but they were the best things I could create and still control. I was a long way from godhood.


    The extra ingredients led to my body having a soul tattoo crafted from nature itself, Celestial Weaving. While not the perfect job, it was perfect for me as my body and it were designed in concert. It covered my arms and shoulders with a rainbow wavy grid like structure made up of specialized body threads. I finally found a use for my collection of various essences even if they were all currently tier zero barring a few. It looked like an aurora had a baby with a graph. The tattoo also had seven starlike focal points stemming from my sacrificed rings: sand, water, faith, holy water, necromancy, and rot. Water occupied a blue part of the grid, faith a golden part, and holy water the intersection of the two. Sand was between a yellow section and a green one. Necromancy was smack dap in the middle of a black section. Shadow hovered between black and gold. Rot was right next to necromancy and glowed so bright that it was almost a sun. The rot had only strengthened after feeding on the wendigo¡¯s pestilence. Too bad I could never use it, the rot had always been a rabid dog the only difference now was that I had chains on it.


    The tattoo also featured two starting celestial bodies, one on each shoulder. My left shoulder blade featured a vibrant green sun and my right had a blacker than black blackhole with a small crimson planet orbiting it.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    When I was done my hair had turned into a messy dark green mop with the occasional splotch of red. While my eyes had turned a matching crimson that seemed to draw people into them.


    Moving on to the next order of business I looked through both creatures¡¯ souls. There was little of note except for the wendigo¡¯s feeding method. It fed by turning the sins and corruption contained in the minds, bodies, and souls of its victims and eating them. This showed me a method to produce more of the rot that my body so loved, well something that was close. it was an even better way of consuming people, it seems life really wanted me to kill people.


    With my business out of the way, it was time for us to head back to the car.


    As I was following Olivia, I caught a scratch on her side leaking a jet-black fluid.


    With the proverbial blood draining from my face, ¡°Olivia, your side.¡±


    She put her hand on her side and felt some wetness. She looked at her hand and saw what looked like an oil smear on it. ¡°F*ck¡± was all she got out before falling to the floor.


    I was able to soften her fall by catching her in my arms, ¡°I got you.¡±


    After coughing up some black corrupted blood, Olivia got out, ¡°I¡¯m not feeling so hot. Think you could patch me up here?¡±


    I saw a black spiderweb weaving all throughout her body with several branches running through her soul, ¡°I¡¯m not liking what I¡¯m seeing. The infection is too interwoven and set in too deep. I could maybe fix this with much more experience years down the line, but right now all I can do is cut out everything that has even the slightest chance of containing the infection and fill in the gaps where I can with whatever I can find or have. The only problem is that you will integrate too much, too quickly. It will become a question of what non-human thing you would like to become. Wound transfer is also off the table as the wendigo was close enough to ascension and I lost just enough in the integration for the wound to be just out of my reach.¡±


    With a look of resolve I rarely saw on my friend¡¯s face, ¡°I would rather die than lose my humanity.¡±


    ¡°That is the only other option.¡± I said with a defeated sigh knowing I had a better chance of convincing water not to be wet than changing Olivia¡¯s mind on this. Not that I blamed her, she takes me up on my offer and there is no place for her in this world anymore. She would be an outcast to the MFBI and due to her family¡¯s heavy involvement in the organization, she would be an outcast there as well. She also would not be too welcome amongst the monster due to her previous employment.


    ¡°I have a confession to make.¡± Olivia said lifting her head to look me in the eye.


    ¡°Is this where you tell me that you have always loved me?¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°No.¡± *Laughter* ¡°God No.¡± *Laughter* ¡°it¡¯s about how I¡¯m an empath¡±


    ¡°I know¡±


    ¡°I know you know. Just as I know you know that I know the true depths of your hollowness. Cover it with humor all you want, fake it till you make it all you want, but I know that this is the equivalent to your fifth favorite TV show being canceled.¡± My friend said with a smile.


    ¡°You know I want to be sadder, right?¡±


    ¡°I know. I also know that a good man is in there fighting a flood of apathy and indifference. That¡¯s why I want you to take my heart, my ability. I want you to live in my place, feel happy in my place, feel love in my place, and unfortunately feel sadness in my place.¡±


    We spent the next several hours talking about everything and nothing. When she finally passed away from weakness, I used my Petrification Ring and material weaving to create a statue of my friend. I would not allow my friend to become a rotted skeleton.


    I collected a wisp of the death essence in the area to create another Death Dogtag to remember the loss of my first friend. Unfortunately, she would in all likelihood be far from the last. I then fulfilled my promise and put her heart inside my chest.


    After placing the note she dictated to her father on the statue, I left for a second time that day, only this time without my friend and partner being truly with me.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Murder Weapons]


    [Green Thumb]


    [Glass Eye]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]

 V2CH1 Dancing On Graves

    ¡°We are here today to determine the fate of the Code F self-named Jessie. Before we vote on whether or not to invoke plan D I would like to hear the thoughts of this council.¡± Said a man that looked like merlin got a government job but kept the beard.


    ¡°I say that we do what we originally planned and use plan D on a loyal member of the MFBI, not this wild dog. While the loss of our prime candidate, Olivia Brogan, is a tragedy, my son is willing and able to take her place.¡± Said a man that screamed white privilege even though he was Latino.


    ¡°We decided to invoke the plan on this creature for a reason, he was powerful and hungry enough that he would go for our goal with minimal prodding. While Olly¡¯s death caused the lack of a handler to take her place, the fact remains that he is still hungry and will go for the goal regardless of our thoughts. Better to help him, than have him in the way. Also, Gideon, your son is even more of a ponce than you and will never have my vote as a result.¡± A woman that would not look out of place as CEO of a fortune 500 company told her companions.


    With a proverbial creak ¡°Merlin¡± turned his head to last occupant in the room, ¡°Bulk I know that Olivia¡¯s death has hit you hard, but it unfortunately falls to you to decide. I will abstain from this vote and we already know how Gideon and Mara will lean.¡±


    ¡°My daughter saw something in that boy. I do not know what as all I see is a callous, cold-hearted boy that seeks only entertainment, but I have to believe that my daughter was right. That this boy can become the god killer that we have been looking for.¡± The man, the myth, the legend Bulk Brogan rumbled out.


    ¡°You cannot be serious! This mon¡­¡± Gideon barely got out before he was interrupted.


    With a glare that could cut glass ¡°Merlin¡± stated ¡°Gideon the decision has been made and will be followed. Start spreading the word that Code F Jessie will henceforth be referred to as Dracula. Gideon you will make sure all news stations call him such. Mara will handle other law enforcement agencies and Bulk will tell our men. Dismissed.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Welcome to Channel 13 News, I¡¯m your host Chip Chocolate.¡± The squared jawed news anchor announced.


    ¡°And I¡¯m your host Raisin Oatmeal¡± his co-host followed up with.


    ¡°Tonight, we bring you ill tidings. The serial killer and mass murderer nicknamed the evis¡­ Dracula has struck again. This time at a rave being thrown by the Crazy Ps a small-time gang whose primary business involves the distribution of narcotics. Luckily, we were able to get footage of the event. Please be advised people at home that this video contains quite graphic content.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Hello party people!! K-dog here with the latest. The hottest. The sexiest parties.¡± A rich kid dressed in fake ¡°gangsta¡± style called out over the thumping bass to the tens of people watching his live stream, while acting like he was performing for thousands. He was holding up his phone showing himself and the party taking place around him in an abandoned warehouse made iridescent by neon lights.


    He was enjoying his teenage rebellion by nodding his head along to the beat. The kid at least had the smarts to know that partaking in the drugs and alcohol all around him would be mistake. Not smart enough to not show up to a party run by a known gang mind you, but a shred of smarts all the same.


    Suddenly, the music suddenly shifted from hip hop to folktronica.


    Everyone started looking around in confusion, or at least those sober enough did.


    ¡°Hey what¡¯s going on?!¡± ¡°What happened to the music!?¡± ¡°Where¡¯d the beat go?!¡± ¡°Who killed the beat?!¡± ¡°Who took my cookie?!¡± ¡°Where¡¯d my teddy bear go?!¡± ¡°I want my teddy bear!!!¡±


    Amidst the confusion, the rich kid focused his sight and phone¡¯s camera on the only man not looking around confused, instead he was horribly dancing. I mean really making a mess of it.


    The tall man was wearing a mask that looked like a horn dog¡­ a dog with horns. He was wearing a nazi officer coat, a blood-stained tie dye t-shirt with bullet holes in it, green plaid pajama pants, and pink bunny slippers.


    The coat was imbued with the concept of a coward willing to kill for his own life. The tie dye shirt was imbued with the concept of a brave man willing to die for the lives of others. Both low-level artifacts increased his durability and regeneration to a limited degree.


    The last component of the mysterious man¡¯s attire was a series of dog tags hanging from his hip that jangled around as he danced. The dangling dog tags read: Victor Heart, Killer Clown, Sunset Crypts, Olivia Brogan, and Jessie.


    So focused on the strange dancing man, that the rich boy missed the black sweat that was forming on everyone¡¯s body, including his own, and those were the lucky ones.


    Some were projectile vomiting black sludge and those were still considered the lucky ones.


    Now we come to the unlucky ones. They were literally melting with black liquid running off what looked like glass skeletons. Soon all that stood in their place were the skeletons, the only evidence those people were ever there. That evidence soon followed everything else on the body by melting too.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The two mysterious liquids converged in front of the equally mysterious man.


    When the folktronica song ended, the man reached down and picked up the two beverages that were placed in front of him.


    The first was a liquor bottle containing black liquid with SIN written in big gold lettering.


    The second beverage was a white milk carton with a golden cartoon cow head on it.


    The man then proceeded to walk out of the warehouse leaving behind a floor covered in passed out party goers. Apparently, their experience was quite tiring. Everyone woke up the next day not knowing what happened and not really caring either. The second was due to the fact that everyone there was clear of all afflictions. Everyone that was there that night was now free of all addictions, diseases, and injuries. They were also more attractive, which was always a plus.


    ***


    ¡°Chilling. Truly chilling. Twenty-three dead due to an unknown substance brought by the man known as Dracula. What do you think Raisin?¡±


    ¡°That man should really take some dance lessons.¡±


    ¡°Not the most cognizant take away but moving on. Are firefighters depriving cats fun tree time? we¡¯ll dig into that after this short break.¡±


    ***


    On the way back to my apartment with my new ingredients, I was broken from my thoughts by a morosely melodic voice.


    ¡°Fortune?¡± the voice said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Can I read your fortune.¡± The voice reiterated.


    I took in the voice for the first time. The voice came from a willowy young woman with flowing curly hair colored a rich brown who was adorned with a white lace face-covering veil and dress. However, my sixth sense took in her astral appearance, and it was like nothing I had ever seen. And I meant it when I said nothing as she was a complete blank. The only reason I could see or hear her was because she forced me to.


    I had to admit I was curious about the result of such a mysterious being looking into the fate of a man without fate.


    ¡°Fire away.¡±


    ¡°Give me your hand.¡± She instructed me, which I followed.


    ¡°Ah, I see that you have recently lost your love.¡±


    With a chuckle, ¡°Sorry to contradict you there lady, but the woman you are talking about was just a friend.¡±


    Her gaze eerily shifted from drifting off in space to piercing my innermost self, ¡°I do not speak of the one known as Olivia Brogan. I speak of another.¡±


    In a joking British accent, ¡°No idea what you¡¯re on about luv.¡±


    ¡°What I¡¯m on about boy, is that your destined one is fated to die without you in your original home.¡±


    ¡°Cinderella was a young girl that was ordinary in all respects but one, a prodigious talent in coding. A group discovered this talent and decided to take advantage of it. They took her from her home and over the course of a decade made a weapon of her. She eventually escaped but it was already too late.¡±


    ¡°She had no idea how to live an ordinary life as she had lost the skill somewhere along the way. She became off note in the symphony of life, and she felt that in every song. She was also afraid of everything and everyone as she did not know who or what to trust. Anything and anyone could work for the organization she escaped or one of the myriads that she had discovered during her training.¡±


    ¡°She lived life as a shadow merely observing the world going on around her and forever running from a past that was chasing her. That was until one day, she met someone.¡±


    ¡°She knew the man from seeing him at the grocery store occasionally. Apparently, the man also saw her and was quite smitten. One day he approached her and told her he felt a spark. He gave her his number and asked her to call if she felt it as well. He then left to not pressure the young woman.¡±


    ¡°The woman went home and researched the man to find out if this was a trap. Normally she would get out of dodge at the first sign of attention, but the thing is that she did feel a spark. At first glance she was sure he was a plant as the man was squeaky clean with nothing untoward in his history. He was the dictionary definition of ordinary, which was common among covers.¡±


    ¡°However, she dug deeper and even called school faculty, former classmates, and ex coworkers to cross reference his life story. While extreme and slightly unhinged, she had to be sure. She knew that if she put herself out there and was wrong, it was over for her and not just her physical freedom. If she were wrong, she would forever be a prisoner of her own mind with bars of mistrust and shackles of fear. She would simply never attempt to escape again as the prison was now familiar and comfortable, while freedom was neither of those things.¡±


    ¡°She eventually concluded that the man was exactly as he seemed, a good and honest man. She called him up and arranged a date with the man. Over the course of months, they fell deeper and deeper into love, until one day the man asked the question that was one of the things that got her through those dark days of her past. She learned that day what crying from happiness was like.¡±


    ¡°However good things are not so easily acquired in life. Her former captors found her and tried to bring her back into the fold. The thing is that her captors were not prepared for the woman they would find. Her captors thought they would find a frightened young woman who was tired from always running and jumping at shadows, instead they found a resolute young woman who had found something to live for. Something to fight for. And if necessary, die for.¡±


    ¡°That young woman single handedly brought a global criminal organization to its knees. Or at least that was how the story was supposed to go. The thing is that the man meant to change her life instead fell into a hole in reality. Without him, when the organization tracked down Cindy, a frightened young woman who was tired from always running and jumping at shadows was exactly what they found. Well, the corpse of that woman as she would rather die than ever work for them again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s crazy how even the most mediocre are important.¡± The young woman said, finishing her story.


    With a raised eyebrow, ¡°Are you it¡¯s a wonderful lifeing me right now?¡±


    ¡°Merely telling you your fortune. I¡¯m just sorry that it was not good news.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not, but maybe it¡¯s just what I needed. I have already had one woman I was close to die because of this situation; I will not allow another. But I think you already knew that I would react in such a way.¡± I said while eying the woman.


    ¡°While your future is blind to me, knowing the present and past is enough sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Something tells me I¡¯ll be seeing you.¡±


    In an ethereal voice, ¡°Eventually all see me. Few do twice. Even fewer a third time. None have made it past four though as I hate teases.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± I told the woman a little off put.


    ¡°See that you do.¡± And with that she was gone in between blinks.


    Now that I have gotten out of my funk, it¡¯s time I got off my a*s and finish up the story my friend can no longer participate in. I will stop the coming night in my friend¡¯s place and if I fail, I will make sure there is a coming dawn.

 V2CH2 Interlude Part 1: Get A Job

    My entire life has been defined by a lack of luck. I know that sounds like a pathetic man blaming the world for his failures, but it¡¯s really not. In fact, I was even once appreciative of my lot in life. I had a loving family firmly placed in the middle class, above average intelligence, fairly good looks, and was even quite talented at sports.


    It was just my lack of luck that grinded me down until I had nothing left in this life.


    I was always a planner and as a result had a life plan since I was five years old. My family¡¯s financial situation required me to get a scholarship to attend college. Which I believed to be very achievable.


    My first life path was sports. It seemed the easiest of my possible paths as I had more talent than smarts. I practiced baseball until my hands bled. I breathed baseball. Ate baseball. Dreamed baseball. It was all I thought of.


    That was until a bad pitch hit my knee and ended my baseball career in high school. I did not blame the pitcher though; he was a friend of mine, and it was an honest mistake.


    I still did not hate life as I had a future.


    So, I moved on to academics as my path forward. I threw my entire being into studying to be a doctor. I was behind the 8-ball due to dedicating my past life to baseball. I was an average student and that was being kind. However, I was not ready to give up and I had friends there to help me along my new path.


    When I was a senior in high school, I had the next fifteen years of my life planned out and a scholarship that was going to make it happen.


    That was when it happened. It was my parents¡¯ date night. It was the night my plans were thrown out the window. It was the night I became an orphan. It was the night I became the parent to two small children. It was the night that the car accident happened.


    That meant making sacrifices. That meant giving up college. That meant giving up being a doctor. That meant getting a minimum wage job.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    I still did not hate life as I needed to take care of my family and accidents happen, even car accidents.


    So, I threw myself into being a line cook and father. Always working was hard, oh so hard at times. When I wasn¡¯t sweating over a deep fryer, I was wrangling two kids. My siblings were too young to truly understand what happened or the sacrifices I made for them, all they understood was that their parents were not there. Things were difficult with them, and I had to not let some of the things they said get to me.


    As the years went by, I moved up in my career until I became the head chef of a very nice restaurant. The situation with my siblings improved until we became a new family. They were even fulfilling the life plans that I never could. My younger brother was on the way to a college basketball career and hopefully a professional one as well. My younger sister was on the path to being a valedictorian and then lawyer. I was happy with my unplanned life.


    Then my brother was killed in a drive-by.


    I still did not hate life as I still had my sister that had become like a daughter to me. She was my last connection to life. My last hope of making something of this life. Then she had a stroke and died. That. That was when I started hating life.


    ***


    I had always hated the story of Job as the concept that God inflicted tragedies upon someone just to test their faith made them seem like a god no one should follow. If God would not help me, then maybe someone else would.


    That idea was what led me to creating a pentagram of pig¡¯s blood with black candles at the points in my sister¡¯s former room.


    At the witching hour, aka 3am to 4am, I said the incantation I found online.


    While this may seem pointless. Or stupid. Or strange. Or a tragedy waiting to happen, but I needed something. Anything to hold on to as I was at the end of my rope. If this did not work at 3:00am, I would be dead at 3:05am.


    When my incantation ended, the candles blew out and the shadows in the room deepened.


    Out of the shadows stepped a very stereotypical devil, ¡°What do you desire?¡±


    ¡°Luck. All I want is a chance at life.¡± I gasped out, finally releasing all that I had kept inside for so long.


    The creature outstretched his hand and unfurled it, ¡°What do you give?¡±


    ¡°What do you want? My first-born child?¡±


    With a distorted chuckle, ¡°What would I want with a baby?¡±


    With a confused face, ¡°That¡¯s what demons usually want in cases like these.¡±


    Waving a skeletal clawed hand down his demonic visage and body, ¡°What about me makes it look like I¡¯m running an orphanage?¡±


    ¡°Well, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get your soul when you die. How¡¯s that sound?¡± the demon offered with an outstretched hand.


    While shaking the hand, ¡°Sounds like we have an accord.¡±

 V2CH3 Interlude Part 2: Kenny Was Right

    The next morning saw me flipping and catching a coin while waiting for a seafood delivery to arrive. The coin had a goat¡¯s head on one side and a horseshoe on the other. Apparently, this was my good luck charm.


    Eventually the delivery truck arrived, and the driver got out.


    While the driver was opening up the back, ¡°How¡¯s it going Tom?¡±


    ¡°Not to be rude, but I just want to get on with this.¡± I said in a snippy tone.


    ¡°Just one of those days, I get it. Well, I don¡¯t know if this will change anything, but we got a bunch of that special tuna you so love.¡±


    With a slightly lightened mood and small smirk, ¡°I guess it¡¯s my luck day then.¡±


    I grabbed the landing coin, slipped it into my pocket, and then went inside the truck to help Barry unload my catch of the day.


    ***


    Later that week I arrived at a produce farm to review if it could be a good source for the restaurant. That was where I met Dahlia, the owner.


    She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her honey blonde hair. Her rich earthy brown eyes. Those cute thick glasses of hers. The freckles that dusted her cheeks and nose.


    In her oh so beautiful voice, ¡°Hey, you Tomas? The restaurant guy?¡±


    That broke me from my trance, ¡°Yeah. Yeah.¡± I proceeded to stick out my hand, ¡°Tomas Richards at your service.¡±


    ¡°Oh my. A strapping young man at my service, it¡¯s my lucky day then.¡± She said, taking my hand.


    Looking into those beautiful eyes I leaned down to kiss her hand, ¡°I think it¡¯s mine.¡±


    We then stood there in silence, both enjoying this moment of ours.


    ***


    The next week while working I got a call from a stranger. I held it between my left ear and shoulder.


    ¡°Is this Tomas Richards?¡± the voice on the phone asked.


    ¡°This is he. How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Your great uncle has unfortunately passed away. While he did not have many assets, he left you his rent-controlled apartment. You will need to come in and sign some papers.¡±


    Apparently, I have a great uncle, it¡¯s news to me.


    ¡°I can come in tomorrow at 10am if that works for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you then.¡±


    The next day I saw my new apartment and apparently my uncle had some luck himself as it was one of the nicest I¡¯ve seen outside a magazine.


    ***


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    One night I woke up in the emergency room clutching my golden coin in my hand.


    ¡°Son you¡¯re lucky to be alive with that accident, let alone without a scratch except a small bump on the head. It¡¯s nothing short of a miracle.¡± The doctor standing over me said.


    ¡°Not a miracle, but certainly a lucky break.¡± I said flipping my coin and catching it.


    ***


    A year later I was standing on a church alter looking into the chocolate brown eyes that still captivated me to this day.


    ¡°Do you Tomas, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold from this day forward, so long as you both shall live.¡± the priest announced.


    With a smile, ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Do you Dahlia, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold from this day forward, so long as you both shall live.¡±


    With a smile of her own, ¡°I do.¡±


    ***


    A couple weeks after getting back from my honeymoon, I had a conversation that changed the course of my life.


    I was doing a live cooking performance in front of the entire restaurant for a special event.


    A slim woman with a black bob cut and wireframe glasses turned to her server and asked, ¡°Could you pass my card to the cook, I would love to talk to him about something.¡±


    It was a weird request, but in fine dining you had to acquiesce to weird demands sometimes to keep the customers happy.


    When I got the card of the woman named Lillian, I went over to see what she wanted.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Chef Tomas. We¡¯re both busy people, so I¡¯ll cut to the chase. I am a higher up in The International Food Channel and I think you can become something great on the channel. Would you be interested in something like that?¡± She pitched.


    ¡°I would have to the Mrs.¡± I hedged.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t wait too long, this could be your lucky break.¡±


    ***


    A year after that meeting, I prepared a surprise celebration dinner.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the occasion?¡± My lovely wife asked.


    ¡°Tomas¡¯ Kitchen has become the number one show in its time slot.¡±


    Raising her wine glass that she for some reason avoided taking a sip from, ¡°Congrats babe, I know how much work you put into your show.¡±


    Clicking her glass, ¡°Thanks honey.¡±


    ¡°I have some news myself. I¡¯m pregnant.¡±


    ¡°WHAT!?!? THAT¡¯S FANTASTIC!!!¡± After shouting that out, I leaped from my seat and rushed to give my wife a hug.


    ***


    I spent the next nine months taking care of my wife, loving every minute of it. It was an experience like no other. One night she sent me out to have a break as the baby was coming soon and she thought I deserved it.


    I decided to just go get a drink at a bar for a couple of hours.


    After drinking for a while.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re Tomas from Tomas¡¯ Kitchen, right?¡± a busty blonde came up to me and asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to bl*w a celebrity.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡± I said before getting up and walking away I called over my shoulder.


    ¡°Come on, it could be fun and who doesn¡¯t want to get lucky?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve always been a fan of luck.¡±


    Now if only I had been lucky enough to see that camera snapping a shot of the two of us leaving the bar.


    ***


    To say Dahlia was unhappy would be an understatement. She kicked me out of the apartment, her life, and most painfully my daughter¡¯s life.


    I spiraled from there, falling deeper and deeper down a hole.


    I wasn¡¯t there for my daughter. Wasn¡¯t there for my job. Wasn¡¯t there for anything or anyone but myself.


    When it was not alcohol, it was s*x. when it was not s*x, it was drugs.


    This culminated in me losing the last of the gifts granted to me by the coin.


    ¡°Tom, I¡¯m sorry, but we are gonna have to let you go. You show up late almost every day and if we are truly lucky some days you are sober. Also, your image is just no longer right for our channel.¡± Lillian said.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry Lillian. I let you down. Let everybody down.¡± And with that I left her office.


    ***


    While wandering the streets after that meeting, I came across a dirty-encrusted kid scavenging in the trash.


    He seemed like he could use some luck.


    ¡°Hey kid¡± He turned to face me, and I flipped him my coin which he promptly grabbed. ¡°Use it better than I did and know when you¡¯ve had enough of the coin.¡±


    ***


    I sent my ex-wife and daughter letters explaining how much I love them and apologizing for what I did. what I was about to do.


    I approached a cliff and shouted, ¡°Demon I am done with my soul. You can have it now.¡± A shadow passed over me and then I fell off the edge dead.

 V2CH4 This Seems Familiar

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

 V2CH5 I Just Cant Seem To Put My Finger On It

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

 V2CH6 Shifting Shapes

    Somewhere in a bar, somewhere in a city, somewhere in a country, somewhere in a world, somewhere in a galaxy, somewhere in a universe, somewhere in a reality, somewhere in the omniverse, something happened.


    To be more specific on the where, a night club by the name of GR8, Slaughterville, South Carolina, United States of America, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, The Cosmos, what some call The Horror Movie Reality.


    To be more specific on the what, a simple bar fight that was only important for what it preceded.


    The bar fight started when a tall black man came out of the crowd filling the dance floor, walked over to a long blond-haired bodybuilder drinking at the bar, bounced his head off of said bar, and promptly weaved himself back into the crowd.


    ¡°You¡¯re f*ckin¡¯ dead!¡± the bodybuilder screamed before storming into the crowd.


    He pushed everyone in his path out of it until he saw his assailant¡¯s back. He promptly grabbed the man by the shoulder and roughly turned him around.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your problem?!¡± the man said before being sucker punched in the face.


    The man did not like that, not one bit. So, he threw a punch of his own. However, the man was simply not a fighter and missed. Missed so much that he hit someone else. Her boyfriend did not like that one bit either and thus threw a punch of his own throwing the man in to another. Chaos ensued as it so often does. Punches were thrown, fights were fought, and injuries were had.


    A figure that was the spitting image of that original black man walked out of the bar leaving the pandemonium behind.


    ¡°Bye bye.¡± With that and a smirk the figure was gone.


    ***


    A man walked up to his fellow church patron after service, ¡°Ezekiel I bring troubling news.¡±


    With a visibly disturbed face, ¡°What is it, John?¡±


    ¡°I found my son watching the pornography. While that in itself is troubling, what is even more troubling was that one of the hedonists was your daughter Diane.¡±


    Ezekiel looked like he was visibly struck, ¡°this simply cannot be.¡±


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


    ¡°Oh, but it is. Oh, but it is.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a liar¡± With seething rage in his voice spat out before storming off.


    ¡°Bye bye.¡± His friend called out from behind.


    Later that night while eating dinner with his daughter the single father could contain his rage no longer.


    Turning to his daughter, ¡°So I found out about your whoring.¡±


    With a face full of genuine shock, ¡°What are you talking about dad?¡±


    ¡°What I am talking about is you being a sl*t in those horrid videos of yours.¡± Her father growled.


    ¡°What are you talking about?!¡± the young woman sobbed.


    Jumping to his feet, ¡°DON¡¯T YOU LIE TO ME YOU JEZELBELL!!¡±


    ¡°How can you talk to me like this!?¡± Diane got out between the sobs.


    Suddenly her head was whipped to the side. Both her and her father stared at his outstretched hand in shock.


    ¡°All I ever tried to be was the perfect daughter. I went to church every week to be there with you. Never went to college as you needed me. Never had a boyfriend as that would have been as you put it ¡°improper¡±.¡± she mimed air quotes. ¡°you know what. No more. I have no father and you no daughter. Lose my number.¡± She said before storming off and gathering her things.


    She ignored the pleas of a broken man behind her to stay.


    A couple blocks later she flagged a man traveling in the opposite direction, ¡°do you know where the train station is?¡±


    ¡°Keep following this road for another seven blocks, then hook a left. Go another four blocks and you¡¯re there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She told the man before continuing on her way.


    ¡°Bye bye.¡± The man called out after her.


    ***


    Brian was leaving the office when he got a text message from his lovely wife.


    His face lit up when he saw the picture attached to it as it was quite the saucy pic. It then grew stormy as the message read ¡°what you see Colin? ;)¡±.


    He got home in record time; all it took was taking red lights as suggestions and almost crashing into another car several times.


    When Brian arrived home, he reached over into his glove compartment and grabbed his pistol. Which was a bad call in my opinion if one wanted this situation to end anywhere close to well. However, the fact that he brought a gun into it tells you that he did not want it to.


    The door slam told Britney that her husband wanted to have a spirited discussion. The stomping down the stairs told Brian that he was going to get it. Upon seeing his gun, the woman knew that no debate would be occurring.


    With a paling face and raised hands, ¡°What the f*ck are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I saw your text.¡± Brian said with complete calmness as he had already decided what he was going to do.


    With a tone full of confusion and agitation, ¡°WHAT TEXT!?¡±


    With a little agitation creeping in, ¡°Your text to colin.¡±


    ¡°WHO¡¯S COLIN?!¡±


    ¡°DON¡¯T YOU F*CKING LIE TO ME YOU WH*RE!!!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯M NOT!¡±


    ¡°SHOW ME YOUR F*CKING PHONE!!¡±


    Her face paled as reached for her pocket and found it empty. It grew ever paler when she looked around and could not find it.


    In between sobs, ¡°I lost it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± The man told his wife with a resigned tone.


    *BANG*


    Ten minutes later Brian was being carted away in handcuffs. a man sitting on a bench across the street took in the scene, then stood up and walked away.


    ¡°Bye bye.¡± And with that he was gone.

 V2CH7 Fishing Fates

    These cases were just some of the suspicious cases that have occurred over the past couple of weeks. Other examples included: a decorated cop shotting a seemingly random man in cold blood, a beloved priest throwing a grenade into the crowd at mass, and a respected doctor putting patients down in mass.


    But no use crying over spilled blood, I was on the case now. While I was no longer connected to the MFBI since leaving my post in Sunset City, I still had a badge and an interest in hunting.


    The only problem is that I had no idea how to track down a shapeshifter that can change their energy signature almost entirely. I was able to piece together what I think is the creature¡¯s actual signature using the scraps that matched among the victims that I believe met it. All that got me though is that I¡¯ll be able to know if someone within my limited range of perception has a good chance of being who I was looking for.


    Instead of searching a haystack for a specific piece of hay that I don¡¯t know for certain what it even looks like, I decided to go with a plan I thought up that might decrease the size of the stack I have to go through.


    I first created a bunch of compasses that would point to the person that most resembled my collected sample and linked them to a map of Slaughterville. I then taped said compasses on all the buses that I could find at the depot. Let me tell you waking up before the sun is never fun even when you don¡¯t really need sleep.


    I set a city map in front of me to mark my suspects, then got started by sitting criss cross applesauce in my apartment that was about in the center of the city. I wanted a decent response time no matter where in the city I needed to go.


    The name of the game was to strengthen the connections between the compasses and the map. Each compass made a line of slightly increased temperature on the map.


    Time for my green sun tattoo to pull its weight.


    It started as a slight ache that grew ever worse. By the time I had slightly narrowed down the districts it was a severe full body migraine. Yay for interconnected existence. When I finally had general areas, it felt as though I had magma in my proverbial veins. Then I had to focus on the areas of interest, that¡¯s when blood started pouring outside every orifice. Every orifice. But I was done.


    Well, I say blood, but it was more the liquefied remnants of damaged threads. I did not even know that was a thing.


    As I wiped the ¡°blood¡± off my body, I looked over the map. It had five burned holes which meant I had five suspects.


    The first on the list was Annabelle Lee Rory. I was able to cross her off the list as she was the closest thing to a saint you could find on this earth: organ donor, volunteer at several different charities, devout catholic, and a public defender. While my sixth sense was not good enough to see if someone was a shapeshifter as they were natural deceivers, but finding the darkness inside a heart was well within its means.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    And then there were four.


    The next one on the list was Samuel Bennet. He was viable as he had quite a bit of darkness in his heart. Unfortunately, that meant I had to follow around Sammy boy until I could either confirm he was the shapeshifter or exclude him from the list. That night I was able to do the latter as he took out a knife and was about to slit a prostitute¡¯s throat.


    As a result, I unholstered my gun and pointed it at the back of his head, ¡°Freeze!¡±


    While it may seem odd for me to have a gun, it brought me numerous benefits. Mundane people recognized a gun unlike magical artifacts and thus could be threatened by it. it was not magical so counters to magic did not disable it unlike a lot of my other weapons. It could also be used in front of mundanes, which is always a plus.


    ¡°What seems to be the issue officer?¡± Sammy said with a smug tone.


    Cocking my gun, ¡°you know what the g*ddamn problem is. Drop. The. Knife.¡±


    ¡°I can explain.¡± The man said while raising his hands.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can. I won¡¯t ask again. Drop the knife.¡±


    Sammy whipped around with his knife, and I whipped around the butt of my gun upside the side of his head. He dropped to the ground with blood running down his face.


    I threw my handcuffs down in front of the man, ¡°put on the bracelets. Try that rabid dog stuff again and I¡¯ll put you down like one. Are we clear?¡±


    Again handcuffs were useful for the same reasons as my gun.


    ¡°Crystal¡± he said before promptly putting on his new accessories.


    ¡°Great. Now stand you¡¯re a*s up.¡± I told the man before yanking him to his feet and shoving him against the wall.


    I patted the suspect down then asked, ¡°I¡¯m about to search your pockets. Is there anything in them that could stab, poke, or otherwise cause me offense?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    With a smile, ¡°Super. See what happens when you follow along.¡±


    I then reached into his pockets and took inventory of what I found: phone, wallet, keys, and a small zip lock bag of tarragon.


    *whistle*


    ¡°Looks like I found myself The Tarragon Killer.¡± I said with an exited tone as this was great news. The Tarragon Killer was a serial killer operating in Slaughterville that would butcher prostitutes then spread tarragon over the corpses. No idea why, but that¡¯s his journey.


    The only thing relevant to me is that this will improve my relations with the local police. I will let them keep the credit as why do I care. Also, I was new in town and having the police like me is always a plus.


    And then there were three.


    The third, Carl Geezer, was an invalid in a nursing home. Pretty sure he¡¯s not faking it, but I¡¯ll circle back if the other two are a bust.


    And then there were two.


    I walked up to the suspects door and knocked, ¡°FBI.¡±


    The growls and sound of claw on wood emanating from behind the door told me to back away from it.


    The Siberian tiger launching itself through the door told me that I had found the shapeshifter.


    _


    Gustav Roman


    ¡°No matter how beautiful you make your face, it will never change the ugliness within¡±


    Grade B


    _

 V2CH8 Shifting Fates Or Fishing Shapes. Maybe Even A Little Lifting Of Weights

    To my fortune, I was wearing an outfit that gave me a small boost to all things big game hunting, including killing tigers. It was comprised of a pale tan button-up, a pair of slacks hued a darker tan, a blood red ascot, and a belt with a large ivory elephant buckle.


    My opening salvo was to send orange energy threads imbued with Olivia¡¯s Friendship, a ring artifact that I made out of Olivia¡¯s Armament Amulet, towards the wooden shrapnel to both stop them from piercing my body and create impromptu weapons. When the threads connected the wooden shards transformed into daggers and were subsequently launched into my opponent.


    _


    Olivia¡¯s Friendship


    ¡°A good warrior should never be without a good weapon or a good friend¡±


    A ring that assists the user¡¯s innate abilities and allows for the rapid creation of weapons and armor by using the surrounding materials


    _


    In retrospect, I should have used them to create a more long-term weapon or a shield as I was trapped in a thin hallway with a tiger and no tools to deal with it. I did not have the time to turn my surroundings into weapons.


    So, it was time to see how good essence weaving was in a straight on fight.


    The azure thread of water essence flew towards the tiger¡¯s head and acted like a water cutter bisecting it. Normally that would be fatal except for the fact that shapeshifters have a core that contains their consciousness. They were also masters in redundant biology and could adapt to any damage taken. I knew this but the shapeshifter was conceptually dense enough to block my sixth sense from piercing deep enough to find the core.


    The shifter realized that it was only matter of time though until I got lucky and bisected said core though.


    Muscles bulged under skin until it inevitably tore, but the muscles grew ever larger until the shapeshifter turned into a large skinless beast with a pelt hanging off its frame.


    This process gave me the time to condense a sphere of Consumption.


    It for whatever reason decided to open its mouth to charge me aiming to tear out my throat. I think it¡¯s either the beastly instincts dumbing it down or it did not realize how dangerous my little sphere was.


    I shot my star turning it into a black shooting star and when it hit the shapeshifter, a much larger sphere was no longer there for the creature


    It slowed the creature down but did not stop it. It kept going and I knew that if it reached me, I was dead. I lost the tank to my dps. While Olivia and I fought alone most of the time that was only when we had an edge in power or compatibility. Any time that wasn¡¯t the case, like my current opponent, we needed the other.


    The missing sphere left a huge orifice where the tigerlike head used to be. Which allowed me to continuously create smaller consumption spheres and fire into its stomach again and again. Each time the tiger grew weaker and slower. After a quick salvo the tiger¡¯s front legs were barely attached and had a crimson core exposed. It was only pulling itself forward with its paws at this point.


    It did eventually reach me but could only slump its body to the ground at that point. I sent blue threads made of water essence to rip out the exposed core and the creature was dead.


    The core contained a shapeshifter matrix that similar the charm matrix that I got from the succubus was a collection of energy that contained information. I had been looking for something like the shapeshifter matrix for quite a while. The charm matrix helped with rebuilding my body but that was almost entirely on the outside as it was all about appearances.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    This new matrix contained all that there was to learn about physiology. It allowed me to do a lot more with my unique biology.


    The shapeshifter matrix also contained a fair bit of knowledge on manipulating people. The charm matrix was all about how to get people to like or trust you. This matrix contained that, but also how to get people to feel every other thing about you or someone else. How to poison relationships and sow discord. Just what to whisper in someone¡¯s ear to get a certain reaction. What face to wear in every situation.


    That was promptly added to Mena¡¯s Book as well.


    I then crafted something that I had been planning and thinking about for a while, an armament of my own.


    I took the bodily remnants of the shapeshifter into its apartment to get some privacy for my work.


    I finally had that special something that an artifact that I had in mind needed. I had been collecting various murder weapons from my myriads of cases to create an artifact that represented the very concept of murder weapons.


    The problem was that while I had a bunch of weapons, I had nothing to tie the idea together. That¡¯s where the shapeshifter¡¯s body comes in with its ability to take the shape of any weapon. It also really fit the theme; Cain made the first murder weapon out of the jaw of an ass after all.


    I was left with the symbol of murder that had supplanted the dagger, a gun. The artifact¡¯s default form was an ivory flintlock that copious amounts of smoke will have to obscure.


    _


    Murder Weapon


    ¡°Forged in hate, Quenched in blood¡±


    Tier Three


    A gun that can shift into any other implement of murder


    _


    With that done, dinner at the diner. I mainly go there as the food is great and I like the alliteration.


    ***


    ¡°Same as usual Mr. Garnet?¡± The kid serving me asked. One of the fake names that I used to hide where and when I eat. One makes enemies in my hobby/profession and being predictable is the enemy when you have enemies.


    ¡°Same as usual Gary.¡±


    *Ten minutes later*


    After setting my french toast, scrambled eggs, and a glass of cranberry juice down in front of me, ¡°Here you go.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You hear about how they caught the Tarragon Killer?¡± Gary asked while I was digging into my food.


    Looking up from my food, ¡°Don¡¯t really watch the news.¡±


    With a chuckle, ¡°Yeah, me neither, but my girlfriend loves watching the news from all around the world.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡± I said while regretting my coming here. I forgot Gary works Tuesdays.


    ¡°Yeah. She is currently obsessed with the Dracula.¡± He said not knowing that he was talking to his girlfriend¡¯s latest interest. I don¡¯t love the name, but it could be worse. Also, not a lot of names for the guy leaving exsanguinated bodies all over the east coast.


    ¡°That¡¯s rough, but there are other fish in the sea.¡± I got out between mouthfuls of my food.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good one, but we¡¯re quite happy.¡± Gary said while cackling.


    ¡°That¡¯s fantastic. Happy your happy.¡± I said before gulping down my juice. I then threw down a twenty and left the restaurant.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRor]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]

 V2CH9 The Lu Bu Flu

    In one of the backrooms of The Slaughterville City Museum of Asian History and Culture, several workers were preparing an exhibit on Lu Bu. He was a general and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Their major job was to document the actual history of the man and how Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a very famous fictional story from the 14<sup>th</sup> century, shaped his legacy and image in the minds of present-day people.


    While working around the statue, the workers were startled when it suddenly cracked. The workers scrambled around trying to do something. Anything really. Then the groaning started, and the cracks grew larger. The groans sounded almost human, but no one paid any mind because why would mundane people. No one knew what to do, so all they could do was watch.


    When the cracks met each other, the statue fell apart. Or at least that was what the museum employees expected. Instead of that happening, it was only an outer earth layer that fell off and revealed a large, blue-skinned man adorned with ancient Chinese battle armor.


    Suffice it to say the employees were stunned. So stunned that they did not even think of running from the strange creature. The creature trailed his eyes along each person in the room with each person paling when its eyes passed them.


    From one moment to the next, the creature disappeared and reappeared behind one employee. The next it was behind another and the first was looking at their back via their head that had been turned one hundred eighty degrees. In the following moments each and every other employee followed the first in looking behind them.


    The creature panned its gaze across the room again and then walked away.


    ***


    *knock*


    *knock*


    *knock*


    At 8:45 in the morning I was awoken by a series of knocks at my door. When I opened it, I took in my visitor, a tall thin stick of a man that was shaking like a rabbit.


    ¡°Agent Cooper. I can call you Agent Cooper, right? Right. Agent Cooper I am your new partner, Dominic Plantain.¡± A lamb being led to the slaughter said to me. Turns out I did not quite quit the MFBI as much as I thought I had. They just swapped me and Slaughterville¡¯s head because they really wanted me here for some reason. I¡¯m beginning to think the MFBI and I have two halves of the same story.


    Due to my continued employment, they needed someone to keep an eye on their resident Code F/D. That meant they either needed an experienced one that would do a great job for a long time or an inexperienced one that was disposable and judging by my new partner¡¯s ¡­ well everything, it was the latter.


    ¡°Two things. First, we work a night job, which means our 9 to 5 hours are PM to AM not AM to PM. Second, we have an investigation that I was notified of last night. Let¡¯s go.¡± I told my new partner.


    I then walked out from my apartment and shifted to my work clothes. I heard Dominic trailing behind me.


    We reached the site of the massacre about half an hour later. I tended to avoid museums, too much temptation. The last thing I wanted was to take an important cultural relic from the people they belonged to, even if they were not who they should really belong to. The second to last thing I wanted was to forever be tempted by something my morals would not allow me to have.


    As a result, we skipped the tour and quickly went to the scene of our investigation. It was to mundane eyes a relatively bloodless and sterile scene. To my senses though the place was infested with blood, death, and undeath.


    "Oh my god!" the rookie to my left shouted. Muy unprofessional.


    ¡°Oh, there is no god. Well, there are gods, but no overarching all powerful force of goodness and rainbows.¡± I told my partner.


    With quite the confused face, ¡°what do you¡­¡±


    ¡°WATCH OUT!!!!¡± I shouted before attempting to tackle him out of the way. Alas I was too late. I knew that Dominic was not long for this world, but I thought he had at least a day in him.


    A zombie punched my new, well old, partner¡¯s head off his shoulders.


    _


    Lu Bu


    ¡°One of history¡¯s most skilled warriors only slightly dulled by his new state of being¡±


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Grade B (A+)


    _


    I turned and took in my new friend. He was a giant of a man that spewed war, death, and undeath essences. He held in his hand a pillar that was shaped into a facsimile of a spear.


    I took out my brand spanking new gun.


    The figure blurred towards me and every bullet fired was stopped by his spear.


    He launched me into the wall.


    As I flew through the air, I turned it into armor to soften the blow. I did get my clock rung though. When I saw the blur heading towards me again, I scrambled out of the way.


    I did eventually get to my feet though. I quickly turned the concrete floor into a set of grey armor and turned my gun into a pair of trench knives that poured out the golden light of faith essence.


    The next set of fighting I won¡¯t get into as it was quite embarrassing. While I was close to the peak in terms of human fighting ability, this zombie was at it in every respect. Mena¡¯s Book simulated a combat talent quite well, but it was dwarfed by even an average level of talent. Usually this does not matter as the level of skill I had was matched by very few people in the entire history of this world, but Lu Bu had an even greater level of skill and his talent was at the mortal peak.


    While I had collected a lot of talents in my time, none of them were combat related. You see concepts were important in my ability. Me being a builder, a crafter, a poet, a writer, a healer, or any other artistic or creative occupation worked with it. Me being a warrior could work but would dilute my concept of being. My opponent was a great example of this he had reached the peak in combat, but almost certainly lacked any ability or talent in creation.


    All this to say I was losing and losing badly. Also, when I say losing badly, I mean fighting poorly and losing as a result, I was not doing a poor job at losing i.e. winning.


    There were only two reasons I was still in the fight. The first was my stars with my shadow star allowing me to slip around the room using shadows and my sand star allowing me to turn concrete to sand destroying his footing. The second was that Lu Bu¡¯s mind and body were ravaged by his undeath making him just a little delayed, just a bit sloppy.


    Even with these advantages Lu Bu was adapting and learning. Every time he reacted just a bit quicker to me popping out of a shadow, was just a bit quicker to regain his footing.


    Good thing I wasn¡¯t just randomly jumping around the room, I was collecting the remnants of his shell. When I got enough, I shifted the covering into a mud like substance and slowly covered the zombie in the Grave Dirt. Which was a death aspected earth essence that was the primary component of the zombie¡¯s previous and current casing.


    I now had a statue that no one knew still existed, I promptly stored it away. I then created scorch marks to justify why there was no zombie anymore.


    I had a long day ahead of me telling the MFBI why my partner was dead in less than a day.


    ***


    I was able to slowly drain the zombie over the course of days. I also found traces of why the zombie got free all of a sudden. Whoever was ushering in the night had freed this zombie and judging by the fact that it stuck around and waited to ambush me, tried to kill me.


    I did get three things out of it though. The first was a greyish brown star hovering between the black and brown sections of my tattoo containing Grave Dirt. I also was able to learn some sealing concepts from the scraps of paper talismans that were once whole inside the casing.


    Lastly, I was able to get a useful artifact out of it. Due to how I killed it, I was able to perfectly preserve the body and soul of the creature. I just released the core spark of the soul into the afterlife when I was done. Death would not mind as this soul was one that believed in reincarnation, so the plan was to clean it of its past life anyway. I even saved death the trouble.


    Jekyll¡¯s Hide was a grayish brown leather jacket with diamond stitching on the shoulders. It provided a better mana sleeve that was automatic that put me at peak human for this world. It also let me access Lu Bu¡¯s combat talent without diluting my core.


    _


    Jekyll¡¯s Hide


    ¡°If you were to say I was one, it is only because I am so much of both¡±


    Tier Three


    A jacket imbued with the abilities and concepts of one of history¡¯s greatest warriors


    _


    So, all in all it was a decent day of assassination attempts and harvesting.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRor]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Jekyll¡¯s Hide]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]

 V2CH10 Shriek

    In a suburb just outside Sunset City we see a black female high schooler wearing a gray sweatshirt and navy-blue booty shorts curled up on her couch reading a book. She had her dyed blond curly hair tied up in a bun and a thick pair of glasses hanging off her nose. Her peace was disturbed by a piercing ring tone.


    With a yelp the young woman picked up the call, ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Do you like horror movies?¡± the electronically distorted voice asked.


    ¡°Go f*ck yourself a*shole.¡± She told the person on the other end of the call annoyed at the pointless interruption before ending the call with a click.


    *Ring Ring*


    *Ring Ring*


    *Ring Ring*


    She decided to turn her phone on to silent and ignore the call hoping that the person would get bored and stop.


    The call picked up and was put on speaker by itself.


    ¡°You did not answer my question.¡± The voice stated.


    With a growl and a snarl, ¡°what do you want?!¡±


    ¡°For you to answer my simple question.¡±


    ¡°Fine then. I hate them. They¡¯re all so dull. There is only so many ways you can kill someone with a knife. There¡¯s no artistry. No creativity. No passion. I prefer Rom-Coms, I so love seeing idiots stumbling around in futility searching for something so ephemeral and meaningless as love.¡± The young woman ranted with passion and zeal.


    ¡°that¡¯s too bad¡­¡± the voice started before trailing off. ¡°CAUSE YOU¡¯RE IN ONE!!!!!¡± the voice, that now emanated from a figure rushing into the room, shouted.


    The figure rushing the young woman, who I guess can now tell you is named Sally, was wearing a crimson hooded cloak and a bright silver mask. The figure held a large bowie knife made of the same material as its mask.


    When the masked figure entered arm¡¯s reach of Sally, she shoved them into the kitchen island located in the open concept kitchen connected to the living room. The figure picked themself out of the created divot and rushed the young woman again.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The figure tackled Sally to the ground while knifing her in the gut. As the figure held her down Sally drove her nails into their shoulder and threw them off her into the kitchen island widening the divot.


    ¡°Come on, you¡¯re really wrecking my pad here.¡± Sally taunted with a mocking sneer before stalking towards the fallen masked figure.


    As she stood over her defeated opponent, the figure lashed out with its knife and slit her throat. Light smoke followed the knife through the young woman¡¯s neck.


    ¡°F*ck.¡± Blood followed the word. ¡°You.¡± Sally got out before dropping to the ground.


    The figure stood over Sally this time. They tilted their head while taking in the corpse before going off into the kitchen to grab something. The figure came back with a bottle of bleach from under the sink. They proceeded to pour bleach all over the place while focusing on Sally¡¯s bloodied nails and any other blood found around the room.


    With that the masked figure¡¯s work here was done and they walked away.


    ***


    The next day we see a group of high schoolers eating lunch together discussing the previous night¡¯s events.


    The line up included: Chad, Samuel, Harry, Eli, Gabrielle, and Henrietta.


    Chad was a refrigerator of a man at six and a half feet tall and two hundred fifty pounds. He was also a linebacker.


    Samuel was the stereotypical star quarterback: rich, blond, athletic, and handsome.


    Harry was a running back that was little more than Sammy¡¯s shadow. He just went along with whatever Samuel said or wanted.


    Eli was a nerdy kid that only got an invite to the table due to being Sally¡¯s brother.


    Gabrielle was the brunette cheerleading version of Samuel: rich, athletic, and beautiful.


    While Henrietta was the Harry to Gabrielle¡¯s Samuel.


    ¡°Harry know anything about what happened to Sally?¡± Samuel asked his court.


    With a shake of the head Harry replied, ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°What about you Chad?¡± Samuel asked the large man.


    All he got in return was a negative grunt in between shoveling food in his mouth.


    Samuel then turned his gaze to the last male at the table, ¡°How about you Eli? She is your sister after all.¡±


    ¡°I was at a sleepover maintaining relationships.¡± Eli sheepishly replied with his head down.


    ¡°Girls?¡± Samuel asked the females at the table while trailing his eyes over them. Both young women shook their heads


    ¡°So, no one can tell me anything. Not who did it. Not why they did it. If our plans are at risk. If all that we have done is for nothing. If our plan to party the night away is naught but smoke. NOTHING!¡± Samuel said while getting increasingly animated, near screaming at the end.


    The shout at the end in addition to him pounding the table with his fists drew unwanted attention. Noticing this Samuel calmed himself by taking a deep breath and running his hand through his hair.


    ¡°Sorry about that people. Just a little dispute among friends. Nothing to concern yourself with.¡± With that and a smile Samuel waved off concern.


    As he sat back down the smile slipped from his face, ¡°There cannot be a repeat of this. Stay on your toes. Kill on sight. Failing that, run. He will try to pick us off one at a time. Try to stay in groups as much as possible. If you¡¯re not with one of us, be with at least two other someone elses. Is that clear?¡±


    Everyone knew the only response was in the affirmative.

 V2CH11 Shout

    ¡°Well girls we¡¯re heading out for a hot date night. Need anything else before we leave?¡±


    ¡°Yuck dad. Leave before I barf.¡± Gabbrielle said in a fake sugary sweet tone.


    The smile fell from her face as the man turned and left.


    ¡°I swear that man¡¯s annoyance is rapidly exceeding his value.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on. He¡¯s not that bad. An idiot, but not a bad father.¡± Henrietta giggled.


    ¡°I hunger for popcorn. Get me some before your annoyance exceeds the value you bring me.¡±


    With a mock salute, ¡°Righty-ho boss man¡­ or woman I guess.¡±


    Henrietta then left for the kitchen. When she found that the popcorn box was empty, she left for the store to get some. While the punishment for defying Samuel orders would be bad, that would just be physical pain. Her boss was much more imaginative when taking her ire out on others. As for being murdered, that would be a mercy compared to either option. And if she was quick all three options would become less likely.


    After several minutes had passed with no sign of Henrietta, Gabrielle went looking for what the holdup was.


    When she found the kitchen empty and the back door left open, to say she was displeased would be an understatement.


    ¡°That stupid little imp.¡± Gabrielle gritted out through her teeth.


    ¡°I know right.¡± An electrically distorted emanated from around him.


    Gabrielle whipped around to face her attacker while shoving her elbows into their ribs. She felt the ribs give under the strike.


    Unfortunately or fortunately depending on which party in this interaction you ask, she turned the wrong way. Destroyed the wrong side of the ribs. She chose left when the masked figure was righthanded, which opened Gabrielle¡¯s back up to a strike.


    The knife drove between her spine and skull, skewering the brain afterwards. Smoke blasted out of the entry hole temporarily blinding the killer. Luckily Henrietta was not in the headspace to take advantage of this fact.


    Instead¡­


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°OMG!!!¡± Henrietta called out from the door, revealing both that the killer had company and where it was.


    The masked figure decided that discretion is the better part of valor and ran.


    Henrietta chased after him, but eventually lost him.


    ¡°F*CK!!!¡± Henrietta shouted into the void before trudging back to the house dreading the phone call she had to make.


    ***


    We next find our friend group sitting around a campfire in the woods.


    ¡°Did everyone ask their parents?¡± Samuel queried his group.


    With a manic grin Henrietta responded, ¡°I asked them real hard.¡±


    ¡°This boy not have any.¡± Chad grunted.


    Eli and Harry both just gave simple nods.


    ¡°Good, cause we¡¯re here till Nightfall.¡± Samuel told the assembled group before continuing. ¡°Now onto our next order of business. Henrietta, I could forgive you for defying orders or letting my wife die, but not both. Did you at least get any information on our attackers?¡±


    ¡°I told you that b*stard was wearing a mask made of silver. You know that my vision couldn¡¯t pierce it.¡±


    ¡± Tsk. I am afraid that is just not good enough.¡±


    ¡°Wait! I can¡­¡± Henrietta started before being silenced, and rather permanently at that, by a large red talon piercing through the roof of her mouth. Everyone traced the talon back to its source, well everyone but said source, Samuel.


    ¡°Well now with that out of the way. Let¡¯s move onto suspects.¡± Samuel said with a grin.


    ¡°It could be the vamps that go to our hosts¡¯ school. Those wh*res have the knowledge to know what we are, how to hide from us, and how to kill us. It could be that serial killer, the drucula or something. He likes to kill sinners and practically screams something supernatural. Or that magic cop that¡¯s running around. However, I¡¯m thinking something closer to home.¡±


    His eyes panned across the three remaining members of his court, ¡°Every person here knew everything those vamps knew and more. It could have been Cassondra as she was the one with Silith and is the only one to have seen this boogeyman, but my gut tells me no.¡±


    ¡°It could be you Slever, but you¡¯re a sniveling brown noser.¡± Samael the 5<sup>th</sup> stated while focused on the aforementioned demon¡¯s physical form, Harry.


    ¡°It could be the cowardly nerd, Yellaw.¡±


    ¡°You think I killed my own blood.¡± Yellaw, aka Eli, interrupted his prince.


    Samael¡¯s stare turned to ice, ¡°Two things. First, never dare interrupt me again. I only tolerated you in the past as you were my general¡¯s kin and that is the case no longer. Tread carefully. Secondly, I only brought up the possibility that you did.¡±


    ¡°Now onto my closest friend, Guntar. We have been together since we hatched. I hesitate to even accuse you as simplicity and loyalty were always your defining traits, but all great traitors are the ones you least suspect. Anything to say?¡± Samael questioned his large friend.


    Guntar lifted his head and met Samael¡¯s gaze, ¡°Trust. No trust. Your choice.¡±


    ¡°Well said my friend. Here¡¯s what we are going to do. This guy does not attack in groups, so we split up and each walk in a circle intersecting at camp every hour on the hour. Anyone gets attacked we converge at their location and finish the b*stard off. Anyone not there¡­ well let¡¯s just say you better be there when I get there. Sound good?¡±


    Everyone agreed, even knowing how annoying this was gonna be as they all had the feeling that dissenters would be sent to meet Cassondra in oblivion.

 V2CH12 Screech

    Three nights later, the killer grew impatient as it was becoming clear that Samael was not going to relax his vigilance. While three days is not the largest of sample sizes admittedly, the killer knew they had to make a move. The longer they waited the more obvious that they were one of the trio.


    Guntar was strolling through the woods, keeping an eye out for uninvited guests as he was told to. He was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the masked figure as they sprinted at him with a knife. However, he was unskilled enough that even with that luck all he could do was throw his arm in front of his throat. The figure¡¯s silver knife caused a large smoking gash that ran from his elbow to his wrist.


    Knowing that Guntar¡¯s screams would attract the attention of others, the masked figure fled from his failed attack. I guess I can now use masculine pronouns as we all know that the killer must be one of a group that was completely comprised of males.


    As he was running, he ran into Yellaw, who was even less of a fighter than Guntar, and promptly slit his throat as he ran by.


    Now we jump back to Samael jr jr jr jr and Guntar.


    ¡°You see the guy?¡± Jr jr jr jr queried his subordinate.


    ¡°You know I didn¡¯t.¡± Guntar snipy responded letting the pain get the better of him.


    With a half growl, ¡°Watch your tone with me.¡±


    Guntar immediately broke eye contact and looked at the ground. ¡°I apologize my prince.¡± Guntar sheepishly replied.


    ¡°Now, where the f*ck are Crabacus and Yellaw?¡± Samael asked himself and seemingly the air. He then heard feet pounding heading in his direction.


    Samael took in the sprinting form of Crabacus as he approached the duo.


    ¡°Crabacus, where the f*ck were you?!¡± Samael asked with a questioning shrug.


    ¡°My route.¡± the large young man grunted.


    Samael shook his head at that, ¡°Crabby, oh Crabby¡­ I¡¯m afraid that is just not good enough.¡±


    A silver blade fell into the young man¡¯s hand and was promptly sent flying through Guntar¡¯s head.


    With a smirk and a chuckle, ¡°You got me. or is it I who got you? I¡¯m so excited to find out.¡±


    With a chuckle of his own, ¡°Tell me has Crabacus been hiding his intelligence for thousands of years or has Chad been doing it for sixteen?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    ***


    I realized pretty early on in life that I was never gonna go far in life with my intelligence. Don¡¯t get me wrong I wasn¡¯t dumb, but I was of average intelligence at best.


    Fortunately, I was always the biggest and the strongest, even in kindergarten. That gave me capital. I would have taken the leadership role in the class, but I lacked the looks and/or charisma for it. Also, there already was someone who had both the looks and charisma, Samuel. So, being the leader was out.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    My next best option would have been vice leader, but that position was already taken by a brown noser named Harry. So, the muscle position it was.


    The thing is that no one wants muscle with its own brain. That meant that I had to fake being a mouth breather.


    It worked well for me for over a decade. I ended up part of the social elite and a star athlete with a practically guaranteed scholarship in the future. All it cost me was pretending to be an idiot at all times.


    It was not so bad though; my friends were legitimately my friends, and we took care of each other always. We were siblings in all but blood.


    That just made what came next all the harder.


    It was a typical Friday night for us, drinking and smoking the mary jane at their hideout in an abandoned overpass. Something must have been slipped in one of those vices as we all passed out and woke up shackled inside a pentagram. The crimson pentagram spanned the entire floor of the abandoned warehouse they found themselves in.


    While my friends were aimlessly struggling and crying for help, hell one or two were just plain crying. I on the other hand was the protector of my found family and had been in a scrap or two. So, I was analyzing our situation.


    That¡¯s why I found the person I suspected of being the responsible party for our situation.


    The woman was a weird mix of satanist and preppy. Her preppy side led to a high blond ponytail, pink and white striped polo shirt, khakis, and white tennis shoes. Her satanist side was a creepy white masquerade mask, speaking in tongues, and two large cuts spanning from her elbows to her wrists. The flowing blood connected her to the floor spanning pentagram.


    The woman¡¯s chants grew increasingly frantic until it reached a fever pitch and then abruptly cut off. The pentagram released a burst of crimson light when she stopped.


    ¡°Arise child of the Lightbringer and his followers! And bring your ancestor¡¯s influence with you.¡± the mysterious woman shouted.


    Then came the invading mind and with it the pain. It was an invading cancer that infected all that touched it, leaving nothing but pain behind it.


    It should have been a swift and painless process as two minds merge with the stronger, usually the demon, taking over. However, that was predicated on the premise that the minds were similar.


    My friends and I were picked on our similarities to Samael the 5<sup>th</sup>¡¯s court. The thing is that my similarities to the demon Crabacus were based on my false persona, which meant that the smooth painless takeover was now a painful fight. The good news was that a fight could be won.


    While Crabacus was stronger, he was a little more than a brutish beast. He fought hard, I fought smart and won.


    The thing was that I was only one man, albeit one empowered by demonic forces, and my enemies were many. The only positive about my situation were that the mysterious woman left when her work was completed, and that the possession was in the early stages.


    That second one meant that our power levels were roughly equivalent. Which was a blessing with a sh*t lining. It meant that Samael did not far exceed my power level, but it also meant that I was not much stronger than everyone else. Another blessing of that second one was that our special abilities were unavailable to us, which affected Crabacus least of all with his simple one of super strength.


    That night I got back to my house and started to create a plan. I needed one to get revenge on my dead friends as this type of possession ritual was a fatal one for the victims. The only bright spot of that was Crabacus was dead and would not be telling my new ¡°friends¡± about me.


    My parents were out of town to my luck which allowed me to melt down our silverware for step one of my plan.


    I created a sloppy mask and dagger out of silver. The mask would hide my identity due to demonic sight not being able to pierce such a holy material. The dagger would help with the actual killing part of my plan.


    The material did not affect me even if a demon is the source of my powers. No idea why, but my best guess is that I¡¯m not actually a malevolent entity. It was too my fortune though, so I did not question it too much.


    I then set out to kill all those who took my friends from me, and you know how that goes.

 V2CH13 Silence At Last

    ¡°And that brings us to know.¡± Chad said finishing his story.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s some sh*t luck right there.¡± Samael chuckled.


    With a chuckle of his own, ¡°For you and me both.¡±


    The smile slipped from Samael¡¯s face, ¡°Well let¡¯s get on with it then.¡± His hands turned into large crimson hands with long daggerlike claws.


    Chad walked over to Harry¡¯s slumped form and yanked his knife from its skull, ¡°Let¡¯s.¡±


    Samael put his right hand flat and sent it towards his opponent¡¯s throat. The hand was promptly deflected by Chad¡¯s knife.


    This played out in slightly different permutations several more times. Chad knew this situation was untenable though, he could only play defensively for so long. He had to read his opponent right every time, while his opponent only had to read him right once. He needed to go for a win condition. A golden opportunity.


    That opportunity came about when he was presented with a trade. His eye for their arm. The exchange ended with a gash through his left eye and a silver knife left in Samael¡¯s left shoulder.


    This led to a bloody fight as both sides now had a weak side and wanted to be the aggressor. Both were willing to trade muscle for bone.


    Several minutes later Samael looked like ground beef and Chad¡¯s entire left side looked like it was put through a shredder.


    Both moved to strike the finishing blow. Both fell to the ground, no longer able to continue the fight. Both heard footsteps approaching them.


    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m late to the party. In my defense though Chad you really ran through the demons with a quickness. Also, nothing about the cases was obviously supernatural. That second one meant that it took time for the case to reach me and even longer to solve said case. The first meant that I did not get that time.¡± the figure told the duo. Silence followed due to every other party in the conversation being too close to death to add anything.


    The silence was then broken, ¡°Well¡­. anywho, I¡¯m here now.¡±


    The figure with a black dog muzzle mask then promptly shot Samael the 5<sup>th</sup> in the head with a bone bullet imbued with faith essence.


    ***


    I looked at the demon wearing the corpse of a teenager that now had a hole through its head. I then took in the teenager whose soul housed a dead demon.


    ¡°Well then let¡¯s get you okie dokie.¡± I said while approaching the injured young man.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± the young man laying on the ground barely gasped out.


    ¡°Let me be with my friends. Let me be done.¡± Chad told me gaining a temporary second wind.


    With a tone full of resignation and a small nod I responded, ¡°If that¡¯s how you want your story to end, then that¡¯s ok. You¡¯ve done enough. You¡¯ve done much more than could ever be asked of anyone, let alone one so young. Have a nice rest.¡±


    I reached over and shut the young hero¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°One last request, find the woman that did this to me and bring her down.¡±


    ¡°Judging by the physic residue on you and your friend there, I was already looking for her as she led to the death of my friend as well.¡±


    I did not say much more as I knew someone who wanted to be left alone with their thoughts. I did the only thing I could do for the kid, I made sure he died unalone.


    Sitting with a dying teenager infested with demonic powers gave me a lot of time to think. Unfortunately, I had nothing to think about really. Things were by in large going well. If the person behind the coming night kept trying to kill me, I would only grow stranger and ever closer. I also was slowly but surely getting better at combat essence weaving.


    When the boy finally past, I looted his corpse. Not the most noble of things to do, but I was never the most noble. Also the equipment used by someone who killed an entire court of hell, even as low status and weak as Sammy boy¡¯s, was quite powerful.


    I empowered my mask with Chad¡¯s. This bumped the mask to tier five and turned the mask metallic black. It incorporated the concepts contained in Chad¡¯s mask: demon killing, killing in general, and a weak concentration of stealth & protection.


    I then picked up the silver knife. Well, it used to be silver at least, it was now covered in black blood and ash. I promptly fed said knife to my gun adding some pretty classy silver engravings.


    Well with that out of the way, time to get pancakes and fries at the diner.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Jekyll¡¯s Hide]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]

 V2CH14 Youre Draining The Life Out Of Me

    So, there I was eating my traditional break¡­ dinner of champions, pancakes and French fries, when my meal was interrupted by Gary¡¯s usual inane chatter.


    ¡°Mr. Garnet How¡¯s your day?¡± ¡°Pretty g¡­¡± ¡°My day¡¯s going fantastic. After my shift I¡¯m spending time with my girlie friend. We¡¯re work shopping our Dracula theories. Remember Dracula, he¡¯s our local serial killer. Well one of them. We have a lot of them, serial killer capital of the world. Well country. I can¡¯t imagine our tourism department likes that or maybe they love it. Back to Dracula, my girlfriend thinks Agent Cole is the man, that¡¯s the very guy tasked with finding him. Crazy right?¡± ¡°Crazy.¡± ¡°Annyywwhhooo¡­ how¡¯s your food?¡±


    I considered being rude or brushing him off, but that¡¯d be like kicking a puppy. A particularly verbose and annoying one, but a puppy all the same.


    ¡°It¡¯s good. Thank you for asking.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve already talked your ear off, I¡¯ll leave you to your food.¡± Gary told me before walking off.


    ¡°Have a nice time with your girlfriend.¡± I called after him.


    Right when I was about to dig back into my food, I got a call.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    With a sigh, ¡°I¡¯ll be right there.¡±


    With one last longing look at my food, I dropped a twenty on the table and left.


    ***


    I walked up to the police circled around a body with a stomach empty of pancakes and/or fries.


    Detective Hopper oversaw today¡¯s scene. I like working with him. He¡¯s all business and does not really care who does the job, just that it gets done.


    ¡°So, David, why am I here and not eating dinner?¡±


    ¡°The victim. Exsanguinated body. Long list of domestic disputes. Looks like your guy.¡± Hopper reported. See what I¡¯m talking about, short, sweet, and most importantly to the point.


    Now we all know that he¡¯s wrong, but that¡¯s not his fault. How could he know that I was Dracula and that since I did not know about this body it was not Dracula.


    ¡°Sounds like it. Can you finish up here? I want to look around the area.¡± I said while walking away from the scene.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, but don¡¯t see how that¡¯s going to do any good. Guy¡¯s a ghost.¡±


    ¡°Worst case scenario I get a nice evening hike.¡± I said while waving over my shoulder.


    I followed the trail that was like a flare in the night sky to my senses. Whoever, and judging by the savagery contained in the psychic traces it was closer to a whatever, actually killed this man was at the end of the bloody brick road.


    I must say that when I find this entity, I might have to sue for copyright infringement. The entity¡¯s aura trail was infested with blood, hunger, and consumption. Add killing the deserving and we got ourselves a copycat. The problem is that judging by the aforementioned savagery, my copycat got lucky and will not be so discerning in victim selection.


    When I reached a lake contained in the park, don¡¯t know if it had a name or if that¡¯s even a thing for lakes in parks, I knew I had found my feline.


    The lake was dyed crimson in my senses due to the entity¡¯s aura. So dyed in fact that I could not locate it inside the water.


    My first thought was to draw it out by firing my gun in the air, but that was idiotic. If I can¡¯t see it, it more than likely could not see me. Now I was not going to bet my life on that as no one will ever tell you that you were not the smartest in the room. They will just fleece you for all your worth.


    Also, there was no reason to enter the water as it clearly contained some flavor of aquatic creature. I was looking for fun and adventure, not a death sentence.


    That left me with my least favorite activity, waiting. So, I spent the next day of my life sitting on a tree branch with my back against the trunk. It did not help that to minimize the chance of the creature finding me, I had to don my Ghillie suit for that. It was a basic magic artifact made of a regular Ghillie suit infused with nature and stealth essences.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The way I killed my time was my second least favorite activity, performing maintenance on my artifacts. I love making them, refining them, hell I even love fixing them. The one thing I hate is maintaining them, lots of boring work for little return. So, I only do it once a week or when I¡¯m waiting on something.


    Twenty-two long hours later, I saw a giant leech with arms and legs walking out of the lake.


    Which was perfect as I had just the right bullet for such a creature. I had thought of salt bullets for various dark creatures that my standard bone bullets wouldn¡¯t work on. It was my good fortune that salt was contained in the body and thus could be easily created by Murder Weapon. It was just my luck that those bullets would utterly wreck this creature due to its dual nature of both leech and dark.


    *bang*


    And suddenly the giant leech had a second huge hole, the first was the toothy maw. Said first hole was vomiting blood while the being it was attached to shriveled up.


    The first boon I got was from the corpse¡¯s soul. It was a new way to feed. I had been mimicking the way succubus¡¯ feed all this time which, while effective, did not even hold a candle to the leech¡¯s method. The biggest benefits of this new method are the speed of the drain and strength of the connection. These two features allowed me to drain people in combat which vastly improved my combat repertoire.


    The two treasures I unearthed from the corpse itself were the leech¡¯s teeth and muscle.


    One of the teeth was used to add an anti-coagulant effect to Murder Weapon. This was worth using one of the smaller teeth.


    The teeth were infused with the concept of consumption and the muscles took to enhancement like I had never seen before. If this creature was smart enough to learn how to use either, I would have been the one taking a dirt nap.


    Neither were good enough to infuse on my body as the materials from the bigfoot and wendigo were everything they were and more.


    My next thought was to recreate Muscle Shirt, but quite frankly I had outgrown it. Mana sleeve brought me to human standards and Jekyll¡¯s Hide only boosted it even more. I was additive in my strength acquisition, Muscle Shirt¡¯s multiplicative method would only throw off a good thing. The muscles also would not meld into something for the mana sleeve technique.


    I considered a chain dagger to further boost my combat draining but it seemed a waste. While the materials paled compared to their betters, they were better than an artifact of limited use.


    With all my ideas dried up, I decided to save them for when inspiration struck me.


    With my job done, it was time for a second try on those pancakes and fries.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Jekyll¡¯s Hide]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]

 V2CH15 Welcome To The Circus

    ¡°LLLAAADDDIIIEEESSS AAANNNDDD GGGEEENNNTTTLLLEEEMMMEEENNN!!! I AM THE GLORIOUS MASTER OF THE MYSTERIOUS HOUDONI AND I PRESENT YOU TONIGHTS PERFORMERS!¡± a middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache and ringmaster outfit announced to the crowd assembled around him inside the big tent.


    ¡°THE MAN KIDNAPPED AND FORCIBLY TATTOOED BY DEVILISH ABORIGINALS, TATTGHOULISH!¡±


    A tall skeletal man covered in tattoos showed off his tattoos by moving them around his exposed torso leaving the crowd to wonder how the trick was done.


    ¡°THE MAN WHO BENCH PRESSES ELEPHANTS, DONE BRAWN!¡±


    A giant of a man with muscles on his muscles flexed his grotesque muscles before showing what they can do. He lifted a giant barbell over his head then proceeded to throw it up into the air and catch it.


    ¡°THE BEAUTIFUL TWINS WHO ARE PRATICALLY JOINED AT THE HIP, TALIA AND DALIA!¡±


    A set of beautiful conjoined twins, one blonde and one raven haired, blew kisses into the crowd.


    ¡°THE WOMAN WHO IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN BITTEN BY SPIDERS AND GAINED THEIR ESSENCE, SPIDERINI!¡±


    A petite woman wearing a spider mask and black leotard proceeded to do a quick appetizer of her later performance on the tightrope.


    ¡°THE LIVING CANNONBALL, BOLT!¡±


    A man wearing a white jumpsuit and helmet launched himself from a cannon across the pit before landing on the other side without a scratch leaving everyone to wonder how they did it.


    ¡°THE MAN WHO IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN BORN WITH TWO KNIVES IN HIS HANDS, SERGEI THE UNMISSING!¡±


    A young man with slicked back black hair and a goatee threw his knives in winding unnatural paths around the tent before catching them.


    ¡°AND HIS LOVELY WIFE WHO HOLDS HIS BALLS, IRINA THE JUGGLING!¡±


    A young woman with pale blond hair and paler skin demonstrated her skills by juggling twenty balls helped by her husband who threw her the balls.


    ¡°AND THE EVEN LOVELIER, NATALIA! THOUGH I MAY BE BIASED AS SHE IS MY WIFE.¡±


    A curvy mature woman with a luxurious beard copied the twins by throwing kisses into the crowd.


    ¡°NOW THAT EVERYONE IS INTRODUCED, LET¡¯S GET ON WITH THE SHOW!!!¡±


    ***


    The circus troupe was having a late dinner after the show was wrapped up.


    ¡°Now that we have broken bread and had our wine, it¡¯s time to talk business. The man that took Bobo from us is in town. We previously let that grudge go as he was across the country and Bobo had already left the family, but he is no longer across the country and Bobo will always be family.¡± Houdoni said while looking around the table at his found family.


    With a pound on the table Sergei responded, ¡°That man is a MFBI agent and has left a trail of powerful figures in his wake. Bobo was a f*ckup. He had no discipline. No control. He turned his back on this family when you tried to instill some. To risk this family for him is the height of folly.¡±


    ¡°Sergei you are right, but we are carnies and freaks. Folly is our bread and butter. However, while I am the head of this family, you all are the life blood of it. let¡¯s put this to a vote. Who says we take revenge?¡±


    Tattghoulish raised his hand in the air. Done Brawn followed his lead. Dalia did so as well to her sister¡¯s shock. Natalia agreed with her husband. Spiderini has never turned down a fight.


    ¡°And with that decided, let¡¯s go get us a federal agent.¡±


    _


    Killjoy Circus Troupe


    ¡°No laughing matter¡±


    Grade B


    *Induvial members range from D to C


    _


    ***


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


    A young man with dark green hair walked down the street towards his home. The man had on a grey leather coat, plain white t-shirt, jeans, running shoes, and a badge hanging from a ball chain necklace.


    The man¡¯s senses failed to give a heads up to the conjoined twins that knocked him to the ground using their superspeed. He tried to enter his shadow, but the twins were quicker and grabbed him by the shirt keeping him in this reality. They then spun like a top and launched him into a wall.


    He had sand armor wrapped around his body before he touched the ground. When the twins came at him again, they left only a scratch. As he was preparing to end the fight, a form jumped from a rooftop then turned into a human missile headed straight towards him. The greenette strengthened his armor knowing that he could not dodge the guided missile slowed down by his armor and the twins would keep him from the shadows. Surrounded with as much fire and force as the missile was it plowed through the greenette¡¯s armor and left him sprawled on the ground.


    Greenette¡¯s armor shifted from sand to water hoping it provided the armor with the right balance between agility for the human cannonball and defense for the twins. His hope was rewarded as the fight was turning in his favor.


    This momentum was halted when the twin¡¯s attack was preempted by a knife that carved an opening in the armor giving the twins an in. They proceeded to grab the greenette and throw him into the human cannonball.


    The greenette¡¯s armor shifted to grave dirt as it provided a little more defense to the armor compared to water with little reduction in speed. The true trade off was agility, but that was fine for this fight.


    The death essence in grave dirt weakened the knife enough that they could not shred his defenses. The fight was once again turning in his favor. That was when the lead balls came from the shadows, they could hit him unlike the human cannonball and had enough energy to make it through the armor unlike the twins or knives.


    The greenette activated his last resort by dissolving his gray leather jacket and turning the resulting energy storm into opaque gray oriental battle armor. This armor did everything his previous ones did, just vastly better.


    The battle was immediately different. The next time the human cannon ball entered the greenette¡¯s reach, he was spiked into the ground. The greenette did not finish off the opponent due to needing to get the twins before his time limit was exceeded. The technique took a lot out of him to perform. He proceeded to chase the twins while shrugging off all the balls and knives thrown at him. When he eventually cornered the twins and was about the strike the killing blow, white webs wrapped his legs together and black hair bound his arms to his torso.


    The greenette was about to break his bindings when a grotesquely muscular man came from nowhere and gave him a bear hug keeping him in place.


    Even with all that the greenette was still struggling to break his bonds, but alas the armor had weakened enough with time to allow the strongman to shatter it.


    The greenette was about to teleport to escape and regroup when a heavily tattooed man laid his hands on the greenette¡¯s biceps. The tattoos slithered off the marked man and up the greenette¡¯s arms and spread all along his body. The tattoos suppressed the greenette¡¯s natural abilities and the hug prevented him from reaching his gun. Not that the gun would do anything before being knocked from his hand by one of several people.


    Even still the greenette did not give up. His natural abilities fought the tattoos every inch and even pushed it back in places.


    ¡°KNEEL¡±


    The word struck the greenette like a hammer causing him to falter and the tattoos to dig their hooks in even deeper. When he looked for the party responsible, he caught a well-dressed middle aged man sporting a handlebar mustache.


    ¡°GIVE UP¡±


    Another blow and a further sinking in of the tattoos. The greenette could fight off the tattoos or the mind control effect, but not both.


    ¡°GIVE IN¡±


    While all but immune to mind control effects due to his peculiar nature, attacks of the mind still hurt him and due to that same nature hurt his soul and body.


    ¡°FALTER¡±


    The muscle man had his body, the mustachioed man had his mind, and the tattoos had his soul. He could usually rely on the other two anytime one was attacked, but the group had everything covered.


    All that resisting would do now is prolong the inevitable and waste the precious last of his strength. So, with the last of his strength, he stored away all of his equipment, just in case he ever got another opportunity and to deprive his opponents of them.


    All he could do was hope that he would wake up again.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRor]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]

 V2CH16 Welcome To My Parlor

    *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*


    One moment I¡¯m ¡°off¡±, the next the world exploded back around me. Waking up was always a strange experience for me now. My sleep state was akin to a laptop, just running at a low energy state until prompted by something.


    I took in my situation. I was naked in an animal cage wrapped in chains and this wasn¡¯t even the worst part. Which is really saying something. The real problem was the black tattoo bands wrapped around my body, mind, and soul. They restricted all of my abilities leaving me a borderline indestructible statue. I¡¯m now experiencing the downside of my state of being without my active abilities I cannot puppet my body.


    ¡°Wakey¡± ¡°Wakey¡±


    That would be my guests, the human tops. The conjoined twins were joined at the hip and shared a lower half. The only differentiation between them was the hair: one had pale blond hair and the other used the cheapest hair dye I¡¯ve ever seen. Seriously the hair dye was more akin to black paint.


    ¡°It¡¯s impolite¡± ¡°To ignore people.¡±


    *ZAP*


    There¡¯s the reason for that cattle prod of theirs. The blond one touched the prod to my chains. This did nothing as my threads just let the current run through it without resistance.


    ¡°Wowsers¡± ¡±It¡¯s true.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t kill you.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re¡± ¡°so¡± ¡°excited¡± ¡°to¡± ¡°try.¡±


    That explains the shotgun.


    *BANG*


    The pellets hit the side of my face blasting the threads making it up apart. The threads wrapped themselves back up quickly afterwards.


    The next couple hours went largely the same with the twins experimenting with various methods of injury. None of them worked.


    Those hours gave me all the time I needed to work on my band tattoos.


    The tattoos spread corrupting black roots throughout my being. I had to slowly push them back and push them together. Threads became strings that became ropes that became a thick black shackle like band covering my entire left calf.


    The new band allowed me to utilize all my abilities but one. I was cut off from the unreality. Which meant no teleporting or access to my storage/ artifacts.


    ¡°well¡± ¡°well¡± ¡°well¡± ¡°what do we¡± ¡°try next?¡±


    With a smirk, ¡°How about some role reversal?¡±


    Before the twins could react a swarm of blackish purple threads came from their shadows and pierced throughout their bodies. The threads then dragged them into the shadow realm, well shadow plane. While unreality is out of my reach, my tattoos gave me a strong enough connection to certain closer realms. My combat weaving training was truly the gift that kept giving.


    I severed the threads connecting my hands to the shadows in the room before merging into said shadows. Now it¡¯s time to hunt.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ***


    ¡°Come my love. It¡¯s time for our turn watching the prisoner.¡± Sergei told his wife while extending a hand towards her.


    Grasping said hand, ¡°Let us hope we can have some fun my darling.¡±


    Walking hand in hand the duo walked down the dim hallway towards their destination.


    Sergei, who was a half-step ahead, barely felt the cut until a drop of blood was formed. He promptly threw his wife back.


    ¡°Hey!¡± his wife squawked.


    ¡°Run.¡± Sergei stated like a man who knew he was already condemned. His wife scrambled up and away.


    ¡°You know it won¡¯t make a difference, right? She is already condemned. All you did was ensure that she dies tired and afraid.¡± a voice called out from the shadows all around him.


    ¡°I know. By God do I know, but I can hope. I can hope.¡± The man responded before taking out his phone and turning on the flashlight. The light allowed him to see the web of black threads weaved all around the hallway.


    ¡°Sorry to tell you this, but hope is bleeding out. I can feel it in the very air. I don¡¯t know if this will bring you any solace, but I will make it quick. I always make it quick.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you come out and face me like a man?!¡± Sergei screamed while brandishing his knives.


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t believe I will. I¡¯m better served in the shadows for now.¡±


    The man in the shadows kept his word, it was quick.


    ***


    The remaining members of the circus grouped up then tried to leave the trap filled encampment. They were planning on regrouping and then retaking the campsite. Their premature exodus was thwarted when they reached the encampment¡¯s border.


    The circus was surrounded by a ring of black webs weaved between the trees. Natalia¡¯s hair got cut when she tried to open a gap. Irina¡¯s balls got bisected several times over when she tried. Done Brawn charged and did actually stress some of the threads. He unfortunately had to stop as the threads caused several large gashes to form all around the front of his body.


    ¡°Bolt up next.¡± Done Brawn got out between pants.


    ¡°DB I don¡¯t know is that¡¯s such¡­¡± Houdoni said before being interrupted.


    ¡°Watch and learn plebs.¡± Bolt said with a smirk before launching himself at the wall.


    Bolt¡¯s force field actually snapped some of the threads giving the others hope. That hope died when they saw Bolt slowly come to a stop between the threads. His body with threads cut into several spots around his body holding him up in the air.


    ¡°That S.O.B. killed Bolt.¡± Tattghoulish gritted out.


    ¡°Darwin killed Bolt. I truly did not plan for the wall to get any of you, but I should¡¯ve known better.¡± A voice called out from the trees surrounding the camp.


    ¡°Spiderini you¡¯re the only one with a chance. Live a good life and remember us.¡± Houdoni told his prot¨¦g¨¦.


    The young woman with tears in her eyes climbed up the wall and ran as fast as she could through the woods.


    ¡°Do you think she¡¯ll make it?¡± Natalia asked her husband.


    ¡°She is a strong girl. A nimble one too, she¡¯ll be hard to catch. We can only hope she¡¯ll be hard enough to catch that she escapes. We must worry about ourselves now.¡± Houdoni told his wife.


    ¡°She was not in fact hard enough to catch.¡± The statement was punctuated by a head flying out one of the surrounding shadows. Natalia had to choke back a sob.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Storage:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]

 V2CH17 Said The Interdimensional Entity To The Outdated Source Of Entertainment(Freaks not Circuses)

    Now. Now. I know what you¡¯re thinking messing with these people is wrong of me. It¡¯s cruel. It¡¯s unusual. Its punishment. But what can I say, I¡¯m a dramatic b*tch. I like the dramatics. The the-A-ter.


    Also, I already tried a straight up fight and got my tight a*s handed to me. While I would love a rematch, I know when my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Well, that¡¯s a lie, I¡¯ve rushed into many a situation that were too much for me, but I really want to do the movie monster thing. It¡¯s simply not fair that most of the time I only get to be the monster hunter.


    You see my new empathy had some unintended consequences. Before my new empathy everything was dull and colorless, but being all I had I made the most of it. Reruns of I love juicy are better than no television at all. That stopped the very instant emotions were brought back into my life. The ecstasy of joy. The crushing sadness. The lightning in your veins of excitement. The fire in your stomach of rage. The venom of hatred. The love that makes your soul ache. The fear that stops your heart dead. I love all of them. They brought color to my world, and I cannot, will not, ever go back to monotone. All it takes to paint my world was to paint someone else¡¯s.


    I¡¯m sad to admit that it has become something of an addiction. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it¡¯s more chocolate than heroin. Also, my job exposes me to all those emotions anyways, so it¡¯s not too much of a detriment. The only real change to my life is my new habit of people watching using The Mentalism Ring¡¯s psychometry and empathy.


    Anyway, let¡¯s get back to my killing of the rest of the troupe.


    ¡°Go. I try now.¡± Poor Dumb Brawn told his family.


    Houdoni tried to dissuade his brother, ¡°Gregor you don¡¯t need¡­¡±


    ¡°No need. Want.¡±


    ¡°See you on the other side brother.¡± Houdoni told his brother before doing that weird forearm grab handshake. He also got a back pat from tatty and a quick hug from the two women. They left to set up what I foresaw as the finale.


    ¡°Come. Man to Man.¡±


    Who was I to deny a man¡¯s last request. I shifted some of the surrounding shadow webs to construct our arena.


    ***


    In the middle of the night just outside Slaughterville we find quite the unusual scene. A ring constructed of black thread surrounded two figures gearing up to fight.


    The first was a huge man with muscles on his muscles, a brown handlebar mustache, a shiny bald, and wore only a singlet. The other looked like a marble statue came to life due his inhumanely white skin tone and muscles that looked to be carved from stone. The man wore what looked zombie themed boxing gear. They were all a sickly green with decals that looked like exposed muscle.


    Neither man said anything as there was nothing to be said.


    Muscles charged Statue who bobbed and weaved towards him. Muscles threw a sloppy haymaker that was promptly bobbed as could be predicted. Statue punished him with a brutal blow to the chin that sent saliva flying and crumpled Muscles to the floor.


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


    Don¡¯t look down on Muscles, everyone¡¯s got a glass jaw when hit with a boxing glove made of necromancy authority that hit mind, body, and soul. In fact, you should applaud muscles for pulling themselves together and getting on his feet.


    Muscles charged again as that was the extent of his knowledge of fighting and quite frankly, he was just trying to keep Statue¡¯s attention so as to give his family more time to prepare.


    This was met with a jab to the ribs, right cross to the head, left cross to the other side. Muscles dropped again. Statue started mockingly hamming it up for an imaginary crowd.


    Muscles got up holding his ribs and then charged Statue again. Ribs, right, left.


    Charge, ribs, right, left.


    Charge, ribs, right, left.


    Charge, ribs, right, left.


    You gotta give it to Muscles he was taking the punches like a champ. His body¡¯s superhuman durability took the physical side of the punches with only some tenderness. He just powered through the headaches and soul pain, but they were steadily increasing.


    Wobbly Charge, ribs, right, left.


    Walk, ribs, right, left.


    Stumble, ribs, right, left.


    ¡°Ok this is getting a little sad and boring. In the interest of avoiding anymore sh¨­nen sh*t, If I agree to wait for five minutes, will you stay down?¡± Statue proposed to his opponent.


    ¡°Ten *pant* minutes.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    ¡°want *pant* word¡±


    ¡°My word is my bond.¡±


    Statue did not get a response as Muscles departed from this world.


    ***


    After waiting the required ten minutes, well fifteen as I decided to give Brawn some face, I headed toward the big top.


    On my way the black band on my calf shattered and promptly disappeared. Not gonna lie I¡¯m excited to see what I¡¯m walking into.


    As I entered the big top, I took in quite the scene. Ringmaster, Tattghoulish, and Irina lied dead inside a crimson red sigil. Looks like they sacrificed three lives with all the attached relationships and emotions. When I looked at the only other living person in the tent, I could see what said sacrifice was for.


    Looks like Natalia went to the salon as her hair and beard had turned crimson. Now I was not dumb enough to think that was the extent of what was done to Natalia. I was just excited as I hope its something unique.


    ¡°You will pay for what you have done.¡± Natalia told me before her hair wrapped all around her body creating a crimson armor.


    ¡°Someday and someone. But not today and not you.¡±


    Being:


    Body:


    [Bone Apple Tree]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Assorted Circus Corpses]

 V2CH18 Bad Hair Day

    So where did I leave off, oh I know I was about to fight a bearded woman hopped up on Satan juice. I gotta say my habit of messing around and jumping headfirst into situations really bites me in the a*s, but it was fun. Something tells me I¡¯m not gonna enjoy this part nearly as much as the last.


    The woman¡¯s armor was ten feet of pseudo muscle shaped like a Viking with a horned helmet and everything.


    I barely unholstered my gun and leveled it when Natalia appeared right in my face. She got three golden glowing bone bullets to the chest, and I got launched through the wooden stands surrounding the ring. My bullets barely reached skin, in return my threads grew a little frayed along my back. Her armor repaired along with my back.


    Her wounds on the other hand were there to stay. It did not matter though as her wounds did not slow her down, not one bit. She pummeled me to the ground and made sure I stayed there.


    Boy am I thankful for the fact that I no longer feel pain. This would hurt quite a bit if I did. I did need to do something about this before she somehow found a way to kill me. I was not as immortal as I would like to believe. Just because I can¡¯t think of a good way to kill me, does not mean someone else can¡¯t.


    I would try to enter my shadow, but Natalia was wise to that trick. She had wrapped several strands of hair around my body to keep me on this plane. I tried to call the web I weaved around the camp but that was futile. Natalia simply had the better threads.


    So, it was on to prison tactics. I turned Murder Weapon into an icepick and put it into her side piercing her left kidney. Her hair wrapped around my shiv and locked my only weapon away from me.


    Well, there goes my best idea.


    The next five minutes were spent storming the brain and braining the storm. Also getting a beating, don¡¯t forget the beating.


    I was about to use my last resort when I felt it. A heartbeat. Which is strange as I don¡¯t even have a heart to beat. A blackish red heart overflowing with malevolence grew in my chest. Looks like I reached the critical point in my mantle development.


    Mantles were what I termed as an identity that is conferred by the world¡¯s will prompted by enough people attributing the identity with a person. Most mantles don¡¯t really grant anything except a second true name. however, some mantles are multiversal identities that permeate various realities. When you are conferred one of those you are imbued with all the powers and weakness of said identity. or more accurately you form a connection with the concept and have the attributes of the identity infused throughout your body.


    In this case it was Dracula. This was a little tricky as I was both too similar and too different to the identity. I feed off people, am near immortal, and look inhuman. The sticking point was I feed off energy, not blood. I also lacked a lot of subordinate traits: I wasn¡¯t particularly aristocratic, nor prone to anger, nor indifferent to what type of victims I pursued.


    This granted an opportunity to create a new mantle. I could just inherit the typical Dracula and become an extremely strong vampire, but that was the limit of this mantle as I refused to draw closer to the source of the mantle and become more like him. If I kept my current personality, I would be fairly weak as far as Draculas go.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Instead, I could craft a new vampire progenitor mantle. This would start off fairly weak but offered the ability to forge my own legend and path. I would have to finetune the mantle later, but for now the natural formation of the new energy vampire progenitor would have to do.


    To my good fortune I was able to get a temporary power boost from purging the excess power left over from rejecting the Dracula mantle. The excess power did force me to transform into my new vampiric true form and like all first transformations it was be driven by nothing except base instincts. So now my opponent had to deal with a rabid energy vampire temporarily halfway to godhood. I did not like her chances.


    ***


    In a devastated circus tent a large red metallic Viking was pounding a midtwenties greenette into the ground. A huge blue fist rushed up from the ground and launched the Viking across the tent into the stands on the opposite side. The greenette stood up from the ground showing the world a new form.


    The man¡¯s hair and the entirety of his eyes turned blacker than black. The other major difference was that his shadow turned inverse and became a human shaped spotlight.


    ¡°I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!¡± the Viking screamed in a woman¡¯s voice before charged at the man.


    To say the man shrugged off the attack would imply that it moved him even a little. Hell, it did not even cause a depression on his skin. The man¡¯s shadow turned into a sickly green translucent robed skeleton that reached out and strangled the Viking. The hair armor turned gray and flaked off with her throat following soon afterwards. The Viking escaped the hold and turned her hair into a pseudo throat.


    She created a large crimson blade made of hair and rushed towards her opponent. The shadow turned into a translucent blue pirate holding an anchor and chain. The pirate swung the anchor shattering the blade and piercing the Viking¡¯s chest.


    The Viking fell to its knees and unraveled revealing a bearded woman. The man walked up to her and dragged her up off the ground by her hair. He then opened his mouth revealing four long abyssal metal caps over his canine teeth that he proceeded to bury into the woman¡¯s throat.


    The woman turned into a dried husk and then dust, leaving only a glowing red hair pile in her place. With his hunger sated the man transformed back into his more human form.


    ¡°Well¡­ that happened.¡± The man said before throwing the hair into a starry void and then leaving the camp behind.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Consumption: Tier Nine]


    [Wound]


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Empathy: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Chi Organ]


    [Spirit Shards]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Assorted Circus Corpses]


    [Diabolically Empowered Hair]

 V2CH19 To Be Or Not To Be, A Vampire That Is.

    I spent the next day or so analyzing and fine tuning my new vampiric form. The most immediately noticeable change was my appearance.


    The first major change was my facial features. They had all changed ever so slightly, but when all put together it changed the entire feeling of my face. The previous featured were shaped by the golden apple to be beautiful in the way a piece of art was beautiful. My new features were forged in all the savage beauty contained in one of the multiverse¡¯s worst monsters. It was hard to put into words, but it was like I went from the white knight to the demon king.


    The next change was my eyes. The left seemed to contain a rich brown tree set alight. While my right looked to be chipped from a block of ice. I saw them as two perpetual warnings of the two extremes of human emotions, all-consuming obsession and dispassionate indifference. These were important due to my new diet, emotions. If my stomach got too low all my emotions would fall away, and I would go down roads better off left untraveled. If I gorged myself, I would be flooded with emotions and likely end up largely the same.


    The last of my outward changes was that my hair had turned into another unsubtle metaphor about warring emotions. My new mantle had turned my head into a battle ground between honey blond and platinum blond hair.


    The inward changes were more startling mostly because I finally had innards again. My body had finally turned into something resembling a human. While losing the inviolability of my previous form was a strong choice, especially after it just saved my life from the circus, I had to get rid of it. While it was fine for this world, not every world had the required magic for an entirely magic creature to exist. My connection to unreality would allow me to negate that fact, but I had just been shown that connection was not inseverable.


    Also, the ability to die is a privilege that I knew I would regret not having in the future if I rejected this new form. There are fates worse than death and traveling the multiverse, hell even just this world, I was likely to run into them.


    It was also due to the fact that a lot of power systems required an actual body to function, and I wanted to experience them when I eventually reach a reality with one. In addition, I just wanted to have a semiregular body again.


    Make no mistake though, no one who saw my insides would think I was human. For one I had two hearts, one was black as coal and the other white as snow. For another I had vastly more veins, arteries, and nerves.


    In terms of new tricks, I had gained various emotion-based abilities with the highlights being emotion manipulation and empowerment. I also gained a base human level of physical ability, well the very peak of human, as a bonus. I could have gained more physical ability, but at the cost of weakening my emotion-based abilities. Seeing as those were more impactful, I decided to make my flavor of energy vampire a mage build.


    Now enough about all the fun and good things to come from my mantle. Let¡¯s get to the ¡°fun¡± things.


    The most critical was my new weakness to gold. My body operated on a paradoxical nature of being simultaneously impure and pure as represented by my two hearts. Gold, symbolizing both impurity and purity, taints my purity and cleanses my impurity.


    The next joy was my new relationship with the sun and moon. The sun¡¯s rays burned my body like an oven while the moon¡¯s beams gave me ever worsening frostbite. I had to dress like an artic explorer at night and desert wanderer during the day.


    The only good news was that faith had no effect on me. so, there is that.


    I also now lacked a reflection. Take that for whatever you want.


    All in all, my new state of existence was a lateral move that will hopefully become increasingly positive. I just had to keep a lookout for my new body ascending to godhood. which due to its connection to the god of vampires, was a distinct possibility.


    This was due to not wanting to ascend due to it. The first time you ascend creates your primary divinity or aspect, depending on how you ascend. Divinity is granted when you ascend due to believers imparting some of their innate spark of ascension. Aspects are granted when someone elevates their spark by doing something beyond mortal means.


    The vampire mantle will primarily result in a divinity. Which means that my powers will rise and fall with my believers i.e. if I were to go to a place that did not believe I would be weakened. For instance, a world that does not even have the concept of vampires, which I will inevitably run into.


    The other important reason is that I am a crafter before anything else and my first ascension must reflect that. It is the difference between Poseidon being the god of the sea and also horses and Poseidon being the god of horses and also the sea. The second will forever be lesser.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Any who let¡¯s get to the next part of my day, artifact crafting.


    To warm up I created a simple artifact, Idle Hands. The thin skintight red leather gloves were made from Natalia¡¯s hair, Spiderini¡¯s spinnerets, Sergei¡¯s accuracy, the chi organ I got a while back, and some loose spirit shards. The gloves could create and control thread based on Natalia¡¯s demonically empowered hair.


    _


    Idle hands


    ¡°Are the devil¡¯s playthings with the world being the playground¡±


    Tier Six


    A pair of gloves that can create and control evil attributed thread


    _


    The next thing I did was refine the artifact that my mantle naturally created, a set of four fangs made of twisted black wire that resembled veins and acted as caps. This I feed my black hole tattoo representing consumption ability. This would normally not be possible, but the caps were practically part of my body as they were how my fangs manifested. This did weaken the consumption ability, but in return gave the ability potential to grow and evolve.


    _


    Vampire¡¯s Hunger


    ¡°The teeth hunger for all things¡±


    Tier Six


    A set of tooth caps that empower all consumption related actions and allows the user to consume wounds from others


    _


    My next artifact was created from the conjoined twins¡¯ superspeed. The Comet Kicks were an asymmetrical pair of shoes that granted superspeed. The left shoe was a gold that transitioned to black at the soles with the right being its inverse.


    _


    Comet Kicks


    ¡°Rocks you fast as fire¡±


    Tier Three


    A pair of shoes that grant low level superspeed


    _


    The last artifact of the night was a brass bull head ring named the Brash Ring. It was made from Done Brawn¡¯s superstrength.


    _


    Brash Ring


    ¡°Strong like bull¡±


    Tier Three


    A ring that grants low level superstrength


    _


    ***


    I was driving to get dinner at the diner like I usually do when I noticed my car being surrounded.


    Large blue spectral wolves were running alongside my car. Now call me a pessimist but I think this might be an attempt of my life. One of the wolves got in front of my car and tried to stop it. my car¡¯s front opened up into a fleshy gapping maw and shallowed the spirit in one bite.


    Now might be a good time to mention that I picked up this car/mimic on a previous case. It was quite voracious as the owner, well various owners because you know, did not feed it. Now I have a car that runs great, has great security, and drives itself all at the low cost of buying a whole cow from the butcher every week.


    The wolves on the side were torn by the huge claws that its doors turned into. The doors shifted back, and I got some distance from the rest of the pack by sticking my hand out of the window before spewing a cloud of Black Smoke imbued with the emotion of confusion behind me.


    The cloud disoriented the wolves long enough for me to create a clear enough gap for my next maneuver.


    I switched from smoke to corpse oil created from necromantic energy. After leaving a trail I ignited it by swinging a cross made of faith essence infused with righteous anger against the pavement created holy sparks that ignited the oil.


    Holy flames, even those weakened by having to purify the oil, were enough to reduce the remaining pack to cinders.


    I banked a hard U-turn and followed the trail the wolves left behind. That was an invitation and I was sure that if ignored it would not be me the next pack was sent after.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]

 V2CH20 I Know The Whole No Name Thing Is Annoying, But I Like It. For Now.

    A black vintage sedan was speeding along a dirt road through the forest. The only reason it stayed on the road was due to its living nature along the wheels shifting in real time and the driver¡¯s peak human driving ability. The car eventually left the road to weave through the tree following an invisible trail that only the driver could see.


    Eventually the driver reached his destination, a clearing somewhere in the center of a forest. the driver got out of the car showing his monochrome attire. White leather jackets were admittedly douchey, but I think he pulled it off. The entire outfit excluding the silver mask was crafted from an old spacesuit the man had picked up a while back. The outfit insulated the man from the biting cold created by the man¡¯s involuntary absorption of the yin energy produced by the moon.


    The man patted his car¡¯s hood and told it, ¡°Thanks bud, but you should probably get some distance from this next part.¡± The car shifted into a large panther that took off into the woods.


    After sending off his transportation the man took in his opponent. The scruffy druid had only tattered jeans and a manic smile on. What concerned the man were the golden clawed gauntlets covering his opponent¡¯s hands. Judging by the fact that they were pristine, his new friend had a friend who took offense at his continuance at drawing breath. A very well-informed friend as the man had only learned of his weakness to gold earlier that day.


    _


    Maxwell Gradey


    ¡°Animal in the sheets, Animal in the streets. He¡¯s just a plain animal¡±


    Grade B


    _


    The man¡¯s ears barely picked up the druid muttering under his breath, ¡°Speed of the cheetah¡±


    The druid was in his face the next instant with ethereal spotted feline legs surrounding his own. The gauntlet¡¯s claws following right after seeking blood. The man redirected the claws away utilizing the strength granted by a bull shaped ring on his right thumb. The man utilized the opening to brutally headbutt the druid with the horns on his mask wrapped in an aura of aggression.


    Another mutter, ¡°Hide of the rhino¡±


    This was followed by the druid¡¯s head forming an ethereal helmet resembling a rhino just before the man¡¯s headbutt landed nullifying it. The two men both jumped back breaking away from one another.


    The druid was no worse for wear, while the man had visible wounds showing on both forearms.


    The man looked at his injuries, ¡°Pain, how I¡¯ve missed thee. This will be fun.¡± And with that, the man gained a manic grin of his own followed by a black aura spreading around his person. The aura fed off of the man¡¯s pain and would grow stronger with it.


    ¡°Strength of the tiger¡±


    And with that the druid¡¯s armor completely covered his body turning him into an ethereal blue chimera.


    The two men reengaged each other. The two men¡¯s physical abilities were roughly equivalent. The druid was a little more durable, but a little weaker. This was of course taking into account that neither man wanted to use ¡°unmanly¡± abilities. Both wanted this bloody and brutal.


    The two men could not be any more different in fighting style. The druid was an animal, all instinct and aggression. The man was a machine: cold, efficient, technical. The only similarity was their inhuman brutality. Neither man had an ounce of empathy or sympathy.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The druid quickly exposed the man¡¯s weakness, lack of talent. The man fought like a video game character, all combos and textbooks. This meant that he could not react to anything he had not seen before, and the druid fought moment to moment with no real technique.


    The man¡¯s body was quickly broken down, exposing bone and a weird little crimson creature in his chest that quickly hid. The man had lost most of his clothing as well. The loss of yin protection caused some ice to form and slowed his movements down.


    The man¡¯s fate seemed sealed when out of nowhere he spoke, ¡°I see.¡±


    After that simple statement, the situation suddenly reversed. The man started tearing muscle and cracking bone. You see the problem with machines is that they have no imagination. You tell a machine that if the input is A the output is B, it will remember that forever more. However, you give it an input of C and it will have no idea what to do. That was the problem fighting instinctive fighters, all inputs were Cs.


    The thing is that every time you get a C you can create a D.


    The druid targets the stomach and face at the same time, kick the exposed side of the arm aiming high.


    The druid spears both hands towards the torso, drop and sweep the leg.


    Now those Ds create Es, but the man created Fs. This seemed like a revolving door that would grind down both parties, except there were several factors that skewed things towards the man. The man remembered every interaction exactly, while the druid¡¯s instincts remembered vaguely. The man could input exactly what he wanted every time as machine are want to do, the druid¡¯s greatest strength, unpredictability, made such a feat difficult. The druid only had so many different possible actions and every exchange the man learned one. On the other hand, the man had learned every martial art that he could to as high a level as he could. Providing him with many possible responses to the same problem.


    Now these reasons could be reversed if the druid¡¯s instincts were strong enough, if they could learn faster and/or better than a machine. It boiled down to the fact that they simply were not. The man had found the underlying algorithm that guided the seeming randomness and exploited it too much before the druid could correct it.


    There was little the druid could do before the man ended it by forming claws made of demonic hair at the end of his fingers and proceeding to rip the druid¡¯s heart right out of his chest.


    The man put his hand over the corpse of his opponent and drew out blue translucent threads that gathered into a matching chimeric figure the size of an apple. The man chucked it into a gap that opened up into what looked like space before whistling and walking away.


    The panther rushed out of the woods and turned back into a car. The man pulled all the remnants of the fight off his body with threads, gathered them up into a ball, and threw it away.


    The man then got in his car and drove to get his dinner at the diner he frequented.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH21 Everything Dies

    ¡°Here you go Mr. Garnet.¡± Gary, my regular waiter at this point, said before placing my order on the table.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Seeing that Gary kept standing over me seemingly waiting for something, ¡°Can I help you with anything?¡±


    While shuffling his feet, ¡°Mr. Garnet, I don¡¯t mean to assume anything, but with the tattoos and muscles you look like a guy who knows how to handle himself.¡±


    With a shrug, ¡°I¡¯ve been in a scrape or two.¡±


    ¡°You see the thing is that I¡¯m having some trouble with bullies and the teachers won¡¯t do anything and I don¡¯t want to bother my mom cause she works so hard and it was fine when it was just me but my girlfriend is becoming a target now and I just don¡¯t know what to do.¡± Gary word vomited.


    ¡°Well, it depends on what you mean by ¡°bullying¡± *finger quotes*. Are they just calling you names, are they taking things and pushing you around, or are you on the lookout for a shiv.¡±


    With a series on rapid nods, ¡°the second one, definitely the second.¡±


    ¡°Well keep everything you own on you at all times so the only way they can take something from you is to physically take something from you. As for shoving you around, ignore it and they either move on to a better target or escalate to a point the administration can¡¯t ignore. If they taunt or insult you ignore it, who cares what those losers think. Also get all the evidence you can of what they¡¯re doing.¡±


    ¡°What if none of those work?¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s a card for my friend, Jesse Cole. He¡¯s with the FBI. There¡¯s few in this entire city powerful enough to cause an FBI agent to ignore a situation if you have the evidence. While he can¡¯t do something directly, he can put a lot of pressure on those who can.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Gary took the card and left me to my meal.


    ¡°Nice thing you did there for that kid.¡± A man from the booth one over called out.


    Ah yes, my new friend made of ash, blood, and smoke. He had fiery red hair and a sharp beaklike nose. His eyes were the most noticeable feature though as they held millennium more years than the young tawny face they were set in.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a regular mother Teresa.¡± I told the man accompanied by an eye roll.


    In a monotone voice, ¡°I don¡¯t really care. I hear you¡¯re the man capable of killing me, is that right?¡±


    ¡°It would be very painful.¡± I told the man.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been through worse.¡±


    ¡°I find it hard to believe you¡¯ve been through worse than having a core part of your being ripped out of you while still being alive. I¡¯ve been through unreality and even I dread what that would feel like.¡± I said with a shudder.


    ¡°More things in heaven and earth, young Jessie. I have no doubt you know much more than I do about a myriad of topics, but this world is not one of them. You have only scratched the surface of what this world holds in your year here, I have experienced all that it holds. Well, I believe that at least, but many who know but a fraction of what I do also believe that.¡±


    ¡°Well, can I finish my pancakes and French fries first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve waited longer than man has mastered fire to die, I can wait another twenty minutes.¡±


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


    ***


    ¡°Before you kill me, do you mind if I tell you a story? I have left so many behind, but not the most important one to me, my beginning.¡± The humanoid phoenix asked.


    ¡°On one condition, you tell me the rest of those stories. I¡¯m a collector.¡±


    *Laughter*


    ¡°Very well.¡± the phoenix said with a smile.


    ***


    I was always a fragile child. Which was unacceptable as son of the tribe¡¯s leader. I was born with what is now known as osteogenesis imperfecta, hemophilia, and a myriad of other diseases. My mother was horrified when her baby was born shattered and bleeding. She was awed when that same baby started smoking and spouting cinders. She was ecstatic when her baby was without blemish.


    My father, Raging Waterfall, saw my fire and envisioned my future as a great warrior. My mother, Calm River, only saw my broken state.


    As I grew my father thought he could excise my weakness. He thought he could defy nature by breaking its balance. He thought I could gain nature¡¯s gift without paying her price.


    He succeeded in making me a skilled fighter but failed in making a warrior. I was good, great even, but no human is skilled enough to win every battle without taking even the slightest injury and even the lightest of touches could take me out of the fight. I tried with all my might to be the warrior he wanted but I could not even give my father an honorable death to find glory in my existence.


    My father grew disappointed in me as time went on. My mother, who loved me for no other reason than that I was her child, tried to convince him of my worth but his mind was made up. He exiled me and told me that if I ever came back, he would find a way to truly kill me.


    I never saw my mother again and that was only the first of my many losses. For you see my flame not only healed me, but it also stopped my aging. I never aged a day after my twenty fifth year.


    I also learned the second price nature exacted; my flame could not be passed down. After the fifth of my children withered in front of me, I stopped having them. After their descendant grew so distant from anyone I truly loved, I stopped following them.


    I became a fixed constant in an ever-changing world. I took up nearly every occupation there is. With time I learned to hide my fire so that I could take up more physical work without exposing myself as otherworldly. Which became increasingly necessary as humanity advanced.


    I achieved everything there is to achieve, experienced everything to experience, and suffered everything there is to suffer. Until everything turned grey and lifeless around me. just as it will for you too, you have more to achieve, more to experience, and more to suffer, but you will all the same end up where I did.


    ***


    And with that story time was over. He gave me the location of his journals and told me it was time.


    The saddest part of it all was the fact that he was right, he felt nothing as I tore his ability away from him.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH22 Welcome To The Terracotta

    *Ring*


    *Ring*


    *Ring*


    The greatest joy of my new form is the ability to truly and deeply sleep. One of the worst parts is alarms.


    *Bang*


    The fact that my emotions, for example annoyance, empower my abilities, for example physical strength, leading me to accidentally damage my own property, for example phones, is another of the bad parts.


    Quick weaving of the threads making up my phone and a redial later.


    ¡°Agent Jesse Cole reporting for duty.¡± And let me tell you the fact that my name is officially Jesse Cole is a source of continued minor annoyance. I am still undecided on a name and only told Olivia one for convenience. I chose Jesse only because I had recently watched an episode about Jesse James and like it. As for the Cole surname, that truly annoyed me as they just stapled that on for their convenience, but we were all maintaining a polite fiction that I was truly one of their people.


    ¡°We¡¯ve received reports of disappearances around the intersection of Butcher Boulevard and Axe Murderer Avenue. Please check your email account for all the official documentation related to the case.¡± Said the voice on the other end in their typical monotone.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get on it. Expect my preliminary report by end of day.¡±


    And with that I dragged myself up from the bed. Time for a shave and shower.


    ***


    I just knew the day was going to be a pain the second I saw the geyser of black mist coming from the construction site by my destination.


    It was only a matter of minutes before I found the crevasse that the previously mentioned geyser sprouted from. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m not excited to see what lies at the bottom of this here rabbit hole.


    ¡°Well nothing to it but to do it.¡±


    I jumped down the crack in the ground while digging Murder Weapon in the shape of a climbing axe into the wall to slow my fall.


    When I reached the ground, I took in my surroundings. I found myself in a cathedral-esque hallway composed of smoky black bricks.


    I thought I had mastered the manipulation of black smoke, that was naught but arrogance on my part. Whoever had created this building was the true master. I was able to create magical artifacts due to an innate ability granted by one of the strongest entities in existence, unreality. The unnamed builder had no such ability, yet they were able to shape the black smoke into physical form that lasted an untold number of millennia.


    Well enough of patting a dead man on the back. Let¡¯s get back to investigating the ever so mysterious hallway.


    I barely rolled underneath the stone sword swung at me as I was turning the corner.


    It turns out that my new senses were taking a little getting used to. My sixth sense based in unreality had merged with the other five. This meant that I could no longer sense around corners. In return I could sense essences using my other senses. I could see and hear farther than my previous range, follow the equivalent of scent trails, and feel remnants left on surfaces. So, while I did not divine the entity that swung the sword, I heard and smelt them. Not that I could do much of either as the black smoke walls suppress every sense of mine, both past and present.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I turned Murder Weapon into a spear and drove it into where I suspected the core of the revealed golem. Another downside of my new senses. I was fortunate that I was close enough to right to nick the core, I thought center mass when it was at the heart location. The terracotta solider in Han dynasty armor quickly dried up and turned to dust after that.


    I smelled another statue about to turn towards me at the next intersection. I immediately activated the unnoticeability ability contained in my mask and wrapped a cloak of shadows around myself. I gauge that the ability will hold up against the conceptual weight of a statue unless they see something attention grabbing.


    I let the statue get to the middle point of the hallway before sliding Murder Weapon into its ¡°heart¡±. This was to avoid another statue seeing it and creating a possible chain reaction.


    I spent the next hour sticking to the shadows and mapping out the cathedral. The cathedral was shaped like a wheel with hallways making up the outer diameter and spokes, what I could best describe as cages in between the spokes, and a central room that oozed malice.


    The crack that leads to the surface also released the inmates of this prison, emaciated demons. The crimson demons crawled all around the prison fighting the statuesque guards whenever and wherever they met. They also released the other demons as they went.


    The only reason the demons did not flood the surface was due to the fact that what I guessed to be the warden created a barrier that anyone could enter, but no one could leave without killing him first.


    This created a tricky situation. I could not leave without killing the warden. I could not kill the warden as that would release all the demons into the city. I could not just kill the demons as that would trigger the guards. I could not kill the guards as that would activate a defense mechanism that would feed the slain guard¡¯s power to the warden. The cherry on top of this whole thing was that the warden was succumbing to the greatest enemy of all, time.


    The centuries had ravaged all the occupants of this prison with the warden most of all. This prison would have turned into a tomb for everyone in a couple of years, but someone had popped the top off this jar. Now the guards were running on fumes and the warden had to carry the burden of the emergency barrier.


    So, my options boiled down to either waiting for the warden to die and fight off the entire prison of demons in front of the exit or killing everything but the warden and take my chances with it. seeing as one option only dooms me, that¡¯s the one I went with.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH23 Burning Down The Zoo

    Clearing the prison was easy, in a general sense. My mask simply made sneaking around and choosing my moments too easy. My only gripe with my mask really is that most of the abilities only worked on those beneath my weight class. Neither the guards nor the demons were in said weight class.


    The guards were relatively simple to remove from the board as long as I paid attention to preventing cognition chains. The only close calls I had were from demon screeches reaching farther than I predicted and causing guards to rush towards us.


    In addition to almost killing me, the high pitch screeches were also just plain annoying after a while. Seriously this is why I like humans; they were quiet if you kill them during the tail end of the bargaining phase. While that way causes me to miss out of some of the emotions, not having to hear all the crying and begging was worth it.


    The demons were easy pickings after I removed the guards. Not much loyalty existed between them you see. The screeches sent the demons running away which helped mitigate guard reaction and thinned both groups. But don¡¯t be too hard on them, the demons were all starving after who knows how long without food. It was just bad luck that the first living thing they met was an energy vampire that did not exude any sin for them to feed off them, much like looking at a regular vampire seeking blood. It wasn¡¯t happening papi.


    After collecting the lives of all the inhabitants of this here prison excluding the warden and my lovely self, I collected all the demon corpses.


    These corpses were turned into a set of artifacts that I chose to call the jars of hearts. I chose to not create cores to increases the power of the artifacts in return when they ran out of energy that was it. These canopic jars were temporary artifacts I created from the core essences of all the demons. Each of the seven jars was created with all the essences of an entire population of demons and featured an animal head.


    The red demons contributed The Bull¡¯s Jar of Wrath.


    The pink demons contributed The Hare¡¯s Jar of Lust.


    The green demons contributed The Dog¡¯s Jar of Envy.


    The gray demons contributed The Lion¡¯s Jar of Sloth.


    The brown demons contributed The Wolverine¡¯s Jar of Gluttony.


    The purple demons contributed The Rooster¡¯s Jar of Pride.


    The yellow demons contributed The Squirrel¡¯s Jar of Greed.


    When I entered the warden¡¯s den trailed by the floating jars I took in the warden¡¯s distorted form. Five faces twisted together to form a head that looked in every direction but down. The torso was jam packed with as many arms as could fit, all with weapons. The torso full of arms elongated long past what was normal creating what could best be described as a millipede tail.


    ¡°Well, nothing to it but to do it¡±


    And with that I took a bottle full of viscous black liquid that bared the word sin in gold lettering out of a starry black void and downed the entire thing. I had collected all the corrupted nature existing in the human heart from entire groups of people. I previously collected it hoping to find something to do with it. my new vampiric nature could consume it in place of emotions thus allowing me to store a food source indefinitely.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Now I usually only take a shot every few days as that is all I need. My bottle currently contained about 2 gallons or around one hundred seventy shots. All this to say the bottle condensed a year and a half of feeding into a single moment.


    My left eye suddenly seemed to contain a raging inferno until the moment that it could no longer. The fire spilled from my eye like tears that flowed down my body and formed into a puddle that surrounded me.


    Each of the canopic jars feed themselves into the fire.


    The Bull¡¯s Jar of Wrath caused the fire to gain an angry oppressive heat that turned it a vibrant blue.


    The Hare¡¯s Jar of Lust caused the fire to spread across the floor like a cancer.


    The Dog¡¯s Jar of Envy caused the fire to gain an almost animalistic hatred of the warden.


    The Lion¡¯s Jar of Sloth caused the fire to appear as if it were about to die out, but in reality, the fire gained the ability to burst out with the entire sea of flame anywhere even a spark remained.


    The Wolverine¡¯s Jar of Gluttony caused the flame to start devouring the surroundings to feed itself as the air was no longer sufficient to feed the growing beast.


    The Rooster¡¯s Jar of Pride caused the flame to become inextinguishable for as long as its enemy was not vanquished.


    The Squirrel¡¯s Jar of Greed caused the flame to start feeding off the warden animating magical energy.


    The only downside to my new friend was that it was quite the air hog, and I still needed said air. While I could hold my breath for a long time, a long time was not forever.


    ***


    Two entities stared at each from across a cavernous cathedral made from smoky black bricks. The first was an abomination made of a bunch of statues stitched together. The other was a blond surrounded by a field of azure sparks.


    ¡°PrIsOnEr!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± the abomination screeched in a distorted voice before rushing the blond with its tail trailing in a wavy line.


    The blond simply raised his left hand, extended the pointer finger, and drew a line across the air. As his finger went along its path the sparks pointed at flared into life creating a wall of blue plasma.


    The statue tried to halt its momentum, but tons of stones simply do not stop on a dime. Seeing that the wall would have its pound of flesh, the statue arrested its momentum by swinging its tail. It also hoped to get an ounce back with the severed tail flying around the side of the wall.


    Alas it was not meant to be as the blond simply dodged backwards using artifact provided superspeed.


    This was followed by the blond pulling an invisible bow string with his left hand. The plasma wall quickly deformed with its center being pulled towards the blond. The statue quickly used its remaining tail to launch it to the side seeing what was about to happen.


    The blond released the invisible string, and the wall quickly surged forward taking what was left of the statue¡¯s millipede tail. The statue now had to use it arms to support itself off the ground.


    The statue tried to scuttle toward the blond but was stopped by a blue wave on energy that emanated from the blond¡¯s foot following a stomp.


    The wave took most of the statue¡¯s torso away from it leaving only the shoulders and head.


    The blond raised his left hand and splayed out his fingers causing all the sparks to form a constellation around the statue remnants. As the man closed his hand into a fist, the sparks flew towards the center leaving molten pin sized holes all over the statue¡¯s remaining body.


    One last distorted howl emanating from its soul across the vacuum before it promptly died.


    The blond walked over to the statue and placed a finger on its remains. When the man took his finger back, there was a single blue spark on it about to die. The man quickly placed the spark in a sphere made seeming of outer space itself. The sphere crafted of unreality would hold the spark in stasis until the man could find some kindling to nurture it.


    While a single spark that may never find powerful enough kindling was not a lot of reward for a day where death was a possible outcome. Any plan that would allow for increased spoils was deemed too risky. Better to burn with fire than to be buried with dirt.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]


    [Spark Of Emotive Flame]

 V2CH24 Nice To Meet You, Brother

    I do so hate being woken up in the middle of the night. Let me tell you something, energy vampires have the wildest dreams. Emotions carry scraps of memories and having a soul chock-full of scraps of memories further emboldened by The Mentalism Ring¡¯s psychometry makes for some trippy dreams.


    I hate even more when I have to drag myself out of bed, spend ten minutes in front of a mirror making myself look something approaching presentable, and put on a full three piece suit. While the last one is not strictly necessary, I have a reputation to uphold.


    Fortunately, my car drives itself, so I can just create an illusion of a driver then throw myself in the backseat and take a nap.


    ***


    VROOM


    After jolting awake, I put my head back on straight and then showed the appreciation that my car was clearly thought deserving, ¡°Thanks Kirby¡±


    With a pat on the backseat, I got out of the car while using an illusion hiding the fact that I was exiting the backseat.


    I walked up to the detective running the scene and asked, ¡°So why am I in an alley that smells like hot garbage and not in my bed dreaming of Kim Novac?¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± the detective asked after turning to face me.


    ¡°Never seen the film Rango, I take it.¡±


    Giving me a weird look, ¡°Aallrriigghhtt¡­ can we just talk about why I brought you in.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that wanted to ask questions instead of just inferring the meaning of my statement with the provided context clues.¡±


    With a quick eye roll, the detective finally arrived at his point. ¡°I was told to call you in if I got anything weird. This guy looks like he got hit by several cars inside an alleyway that couldn¡¯t fit even one. That¡¯s weird enough to make this not my problem and thus I¡¯m going home to my busty wife.¡±


    And with that the scene was now my problem.


    I walked down the alley and took in the body. Detective Busteweif was not kidding about the multiple cars thing. Whatever or whoever did this was big, strong, and, due to the body being driven into the ground like a nail, likely flight capable.


    ¡°Well, nothing to it but to do it.¡±


    I activated my artifact given psychometry and away I went.


    ***


    Tonight¡¯s performance involved a man conducting a crucial business meeting about an unexpected delay in his returns.


    ¡°WHERE¡¯S¡± the word was punctuated with a kick that drove into the stomach of a man lying on the ground.


    ¡°MY¡±


    Another kick to the same location.


    ¡°MONEY!¡±


    The last kick landed a little further down the body than intended.


    The man on the ground did not respond to initial inquiries. So, the entrepreneur, seeing that the presentation was not being given adequate attention, decided to change his engagement strategy by stomping on the man¡¯s leg and breaking it.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    That got the entrepreneur a scream and his customer¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Tony, I¡¯ll get you the money you know I¡¯m good for it.¡± The beaten man whimpered out.


    ¡°What I know is that you¡¯re a bad investment with a poor rate of return. If you keep such behavior up I will have no choice but to make up my money by investing your debt into the marketing division. It should prove adequate for my current advertising campaign. I call it the dangers of not paying.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you the money.¡± The beaten man assured Tony.


    ¡°See that you do.¡± Tony told the man before taking his leave.


    Good thing too, as about a minute later a shadow flying overhead saw the concentration of aggression and dived towards the scene.


    When the figure landed it started to huff and its eyes turned an iridescent red.


    The figure was hard to make out as the man laying on the ground had quite the concussion in addition to blood in his eyes. Not that the man was given time as the figure quickly rushed towards him.


    The figure grabbed him by the throat, threw him up into the air, quickly flew above him, and then drove him into the ground.


    ***


    And that¡¯s how I got my victim. Too bad it was next to useless as I had no idea where to start looking nor what I was looking for. A physically strong creature that had opposable thumbs and could fly was a pretty short list, but none that I could think of matched the M.O. they either did not hunt like this, did not go after these kinds of targets, did not live in this environment, or would not just leave a perfectly intact body behind. So, either it¡¯s something buried deep in some record, it¡¯s an outlier, or I was missing something. I don¡¯t know which of the options was worst. Tonight was really not going my way.


    When I was wondering how it could get worse, my phone started ringing.


    Picking up the call, ¡°This is Agent Jessie Cole. What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°Agent Cole, Department Head Bulk Brogan has decided to conduct an audit of the Slaughterville Branch. Please drop any and all non-critical tasks and return to the local office to facilitate.¡±


    ¡°I have to return anyways to research possible culprits in my most recent case. Please tell Department Head Brogan that I will be there in twenty minutes.¡± After saying that I promptly hung up the phone.


    ¡°F*CK!!!!¡± while not the most professional look to scream obscenities at an active crime scene in front of a bunch of witnesses, I had just been kicked in the balls by Murphy. I should have known better than to taunt him.


    Now I have to meet one of the strongest human chi users in the world and the father of my dead best friend who at best actively dislikes me. Also said ¡°local office¡± was my living room as was standard practice among smaller offices. This was due to many entities requiring being invited into someone¡¯s domicile.


    Yay me.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]


    [Spark Of Emotive Flame]

 V2CH25 Bulkamaniacs

    ¡°Welcome my boy!¡± a voice called out as soon as I entered my apartment.


    I took in the man standing in my living room. He stood as a mountain of muscle at seven feet, five hundred pounds. He had a kind face though, albeit one marred by age and scars. What really grabbed my attention though was the hand covered with brown and black paint.


    With an eye roll, ¡°Did you really have to kill it? Those take quite some effort to make I¡¯ll have you know.¡±


    ¡°That beast attacked me first my boy. Also please do not bullsh*t me, I know that painting probably only took a visit to a paint store and walking through a pet cemetery.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough¡­ so why the audit?¡± I asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d meet the newest location head and kick the tires so to speak.¡±


    So, we are avoiding the herd of elephants in the room. Good to know.


    ¡°Welcome to Slaughterville, Department Head Brogan. How can I assist your audit?¡±


    ¡°Please my boy, as a friend of my daughter call me Bulk.¡± Bulk told me while looking me dead in the eyes. Ok so not every elephant.


    ¡°Well Bulk, I¡¯m currently investigating a case involving a suspicious death. Feel free to shadow me. I also have the physical versions of all my submitted case files as is procedure.¡± I had been preparing for an audit since day one as I knew that the slightest error would hang me. Now that was back before our unofficial agreement that we both ignore that I¡¯m not the original Agent Cole, but habits persist.


    ¡°Anya tells me your reports are airtight. If she can¡¯t find a flaw, an old hunting dog like me would just be wasting his time. So, I¡¯ll just shadow you on this case of yours.¡± Bulk said with a chuckle.


    I don¡¯t know what I believe less that Anya who could recite every procedure for every form of law enforcement in the world by memory couldn¡¯t find a procedural flaw or Bulk Brogan who is one of the best investigators to ever grace the MFBI couldn¡¯t find a flaw in one of my cover stories. Cause make no mistake, Bulk was far from ¡°an old hunting dog¡±. He had a degree in criminal justice, psychology, forensic accounting, computer forensics, and just plain old forensics.


    ¡°My first order of business is to look through our records for what I could be walking into. Then we have a long day and night of wandering around the industrial district looking for our guy.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good my boy.¡±


    ***


    After an afternoon of research and discussion I had narrowed down the list to four likely possibilities: gargoyle, flying monkey, chimera, or fallen angel. Each fit what I was looking for but also had some disqualifying trait.


    The gargoyle had the form, the hunting method, and the region. It did not have the victim selection as they were protectors and would never attack the victim.


    The flying monkey had it all except region and hunting method were both a little off. Flying monkeys were more of a European creature. While it was not impossible to see one stateside, it was unlikely. Additionally, their hunting method matched how this creature hunted, but they did not have the physicality to drive a person through concrete.


    A chimera was a possibility, but only because they could come in any form or nature. The category was so broad that any collection of traits could match one. So, while chimera was possible, it was not remotely helpful.


    The last of my options, a fallen angel, was the least likely. Now fallen angels were not anything close to true fallen angels and thank God for that or the devil. The fallen angels I was talking about were closer to succubae. They were soul suckers that looked like emaciated androgenous humans with sunken black eyes and gray featured wings. Early supernatural scholars saw something that resembled the bible, and the name stuck. The only thing that matched was form. The only reason I included it was due to the rarity of a humanoid form with wings growing out of their back.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Now it was time to wander the streets hoping I get lucky enough to find a trail.


    ***


    Two hours of walking in awkward silence with my dead best friend¡¯s father later, we received a report of a similar case.


    We quickly moved to the scene of the crime. When we arrived a few minutes later, I observed something strange, the area was completely devoid of aggression. Which was odd because even a coffee shop has some level of ambient aggression. This means that someone or something cleared the area of aggression.


    None of my candidates even have the potential to do that, which is troubling. On the other hand, I now had a trail of missing aggression that I could follow right to it.


    As neither of us could fly, we made our way to the rooftops and followed the trail from there.


    ¡°There it is my boy!¡± Bulk called out while pointing at a shape flying in the distance.


    ¡°I see it.¡± I told my companion before pulling out Murder Weapon and shaping it into a handle and bow limbs. I then created the bow string using Idle Hands.


    I aimed and prepared my shot, but before I could fire, I was interrupted.


    ¡°I got it my boy!¡± Bulk shouted before proceeding to stomp on the ground, sending a wave of orange chi enhanced gravity. The figure dropped like a rock and hit the ground in the middle of a desolate street.


    We quickly made our way there.


    Good news, it was a gargoyle which means that I was right. Bad news, something was happening in this city that corrupted a benevolent magical creature. Gargoyles were meant to be protectors of the innocent and defenseless, this one was so hopped up on aggression that it had turned into a rabid dog. And as everyone knows the only thing you can do for a rabid dog is to put it out of its misery.


    When we finally stood before the gray stone creature, the orange holding it against the ground suddenly faded.


    _


    Isto


    ¡°Me. Protect. Good. Punish. Bad.¡±


    Grade C


    _


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you handle this one my boy. I need to see you in action after all.¡±


    ¡°Fuc¡­¡± was all I got out before the creature launched me into a nearby parked car.


    *Crack*


    After I cracked my neck, I was ready for round two.


    When the gargoyle next flew at me, I was prepared. I sidestepped it to the left while throwing Murder Weapon in knife form to the right with a water imbued Idle Hands thread.


    The Gargoyle was promptly bisected.


    I walked over to the body, ¡°Well, that was underwhelming.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me my boy. So, what now?¡± Bulk asked.


    ¡°I figure you try to kill me; I kill you, then I take the gargoyle remains.¡± My voice echoed out through the silent street.


    Behind me Bulk finished putting on a pair of golden brass knuckles.


    ¡°I quite like that first part my boy.¡±


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]


    [Spark Of Emotive Flame]

 V2CH26 Beating Up The Elderly

    V2CH26 Beating Up The Elderly


    ¡°What the f*ck happened to you.¡± Gary asked shocked looking at my roughed-up state.


    ¡°An old friend¡¯s father came to town.¡± I told the teenager.


    With a chuckle, ¡°You guys have a disagreement or something?¡±


    ***


    Two men stared at each other inside a dark hallway both waiting for some sign from the world to start trying to kill one another.


    Jessie Cole, for now at least, was a tall slim figure with mismatched eyes and a blond storm raging on his head. The energy vampire took a stark white gun from its holster and shifted it to a spear.


    Bulk Brogan was a mountain of muscle with slicked back grey hair and earthen eyes. His armament was a pair of golden knuckles.


    As they took each other in, both readied themselves for the upcoming fight.


    Jessie¡¯s spear became surrounded by a trio of halos: a sickly green one made of necromantic essence, a black one made of shadows that was near invisible in the dark alley, and a blue one made of water. Next came a new technique he had developed to give him some much needed power. The halos combined into a dark greenish blue one representing the essence combination River Styx. The new halo ranked as tier seven on Jessie¡¯s scale.


    Bulk¡¯s weapon meanwhile ignited with orange flames displaying the sea of chi his body contained. Bulk had a mastery of chi nearly unrivaled in the entire history of humanity. He was able to empower everything around himself ranging from forces like gravity and wind resistance to concepts like beauty and ignorance. Not the best example for the concepts I admit, but I think you get the picture.


    A car backfired in the distance and with that away they went.


    Jessie surged forward with his spear leading the way and watery shadows trailing behind him.


    His spear was redirected to the side inches away from Bulk¡¯s throat by a patch of increased air resistance. The only reason Jessie wasn¡¯t rocked by the haymaker Bulk sent in reprisal was the shadows that were wrapped around the offending arm. Shadows made up of River Styx essence were best at weakening, corrupting, and nullifying. And as Bulk soon found out, they stick to whatever they are attached to like gangrene on a bone.


    Bulk tried to burn the shadows away by empowering their conceptual death. While it worked, it required all of Bulk¡¯s chi to bring death to such a powerful naturally resistant essence like River Styx with its undeath alignment.


    Before Bulk could completely rid himself of the River Styx shadows, Jessie embedded his spear into the alley¡¯s shadows, turning them all into a pseudo-River Styx. This made it so Bulk had to invest all his chi to the task of resisting the new domain. At the same time Jessie lost his primary weapon and had to invest all essence control abilities in his task.


    This made it so that the fight was now man to man with no special abilities. Both sides had advantages in such a fight.


    Bulk had his knuckles made of a metal that was like acid to Jessie and a combat talent rarely seen. He also had about a foot on his opponent, at least a hundred pounds of muscle, and a significant reach advantage.


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


    Jessie meanwhile had mastered nearly every way of harming another in this life. While you could maybe make the case that Bulk was the better warrior, Jessie was by far the better killer.


    Bulk adopted a boxing stance as his golden knuckles were the only method he had of harming Jessie at the moment.


    As Bulk charged and threw a jab at his opponent. Jessie dodged and put his finger through Bulk¡¯s arm at a pressure point. The destruction of that pressure point removed the protection on his arm opening it up to the River Styx. The domain turned his forearm to dust.


    Bulk threw another punch through the cloud of dust aimed at Jessie face. That lead to another pressure point being destroyed and that lead to his other arm turning to dust at the bicep.


    Bulk tried to continue the fight, but it was already lost.


    Eventually Bulk was defeated.


    ¡°You have won my boy. I hope you make her proud.¡± Bulk said from the ground before passing away.


    I forgot to mention Jessie¡¯s largest advantage, he still wanted to win. He still wanted to live. He still had to honor his friend¡¯s memory. And the fact of the matter was that Bulk just did not. Bulk had lost his parents as a child to a werewolf. Had lost his wife to cancer. Had lost his only child to bad luck. Had lost his chance of vengeance to time. Had simply lost the will to win.


    All of this was simply to see if Jessie could obtain the revenge he sought against the force that took his daughter.


    As Jessie was walking away from Bulk¡¯s corpse, he took in his appearance. All his clothes were covered in blood and tears, with the most noticeable being his previously white currently crimson T-shirt. The clothes did do a well enough job covering all his welts and bruises. Excluding the ones on his face of course.


    While Jessie probably should throw an illusion around himself, his head was bumping and he had little desire to maintain one long term. Luckily Slaughterville was the kind of place that you can walk around looking like you got in a car accident, and no one will bat an eye.


    Next stop the diner as while food did not fulfill my hunger, it did provide some comfort.


    ***


    Breaking from my thoughts, ¡°You could say that, but it¡¯s fine. He¡¯s cooling off with his daughter right now.¡±


    ¡°Well hope all that works out for you. The usual?¡± He said awkwardly.


    ¡°The usual.¡± I said before resting my pounding head on the diner table.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    [Idle Hands]


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Petrifying Ring]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    [Brash Ring]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    [Comet Kicks]


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]


    [Spark Of Emotive Flame]


    [Gargoyle Remains]

 V2CH27 Case Report: 666HE-2285

    Case Number: 666HE-2285


    Suspect Name: Alfonso Garcia


    Major Charges: Unethical Human Experimentation, Sexual Assault, Torture, & Kidnapping


    Case Agent: Jesse Cole


    Location: Slaughterville, South Carolina


    Section 1: Case Summary


    During a review of missing persons pertaining to a different case, 683S-0089, I discovered a pattern of missing women. All women in their mid-twenties with peak level health and holding high skill level positions. What drew my attention was that some of the scenes contained evidence of a monster being present. Due to the police¡¯s ignorance of the moonlit world, they had failed to make the connection. See section two for case files.


    After going to several of the scenes, I found a common psychic trace. All were too faded to track, excluding the most recent crime scene. Following the trail led to the residence of one Alfonso Garcia. Seeing that the residence oozed resentment and suffering, I decided to go in heavy. After busting down the door, I saw Mr. Garcia jump towards a set of syringes. A beanbag round to the chest disabused him of that notion. I rendered him unconscious to investigate the rest of the house.


    The first thing I investigated was the set of syringes that Mr. Garcia was reaching for. They were full of quite the inventive serum made from monster blood. It gives the user a concentrated boost of monster abilities with no chance of overdose or long-term effects. See the samples I sent in for analysis, Item# 666HE-2285-1 ¨C 666HE-2285-7.


    I proceeded to investigate the basement. While my path was blocked by a solid metal door, it was barely even an inconvenience. Behind the door I found the missing women, both living and dead. According to the documents, Mr. Garcia was attempting to create a team of hybrids completely under his control from birth. See section two for related photos and documents.


    I then diagnosed and provided preliminary treatment to each of the surviving women to ensure safe transport to one of our medical black sites. See section three for care given on site and recommended follow up treatment.


    Once I had them squared away, I performed autopsies on the deceased women. See section three for the previously mentioned autopsies.


    After those were done, I packed up everything to send in with my report. See the samples I sent in, Item# 666HE-2285-8 ¨C 666HE-2285-39.


    With everything packed up and sent out, I ensured that nothing would see the light of day including Mr. Garcia.


    Section 2: Related Documents


    [Case File: SSC-56839364: Kidnapping of Jane Miller]


    [Case File: SSC-56809289: Kidnapping of Kiera Ramirez]


    [Case File: SSC-56880283: Kidnapping of Molly Kingsley]


    [Case File: SSC-56812845: Kidnapping of Heather Smith]


    [Case File: SSC-56857024: Kidnapping of Samantha Erikson]Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    [Case File: SSC-56867083: Kidnapping of Grace Lee]


    [Case File: SSC-56880679: Kidnapping of Yolanda Jefferson]


    [Case File: SSC-56824058: Kidnapping of Fiona Quinn]


    [Files found on site]


    [Pictures taken on site]


    Section 3: Medical Reports & Autopsies


    3.1: Jane Miller


    Jane was artificially impregnated with werewolf seed. Due to an average level of bloodline purity, it is unlikely that a larger lycan group was involved.


    Jane has a high chance of survival. While the fetus is causing a large amount of internal damage, it is also supplying an adequate level of healing stemming from its lycan bloodline. It is my opinion that the healing will keep pace with the increasing damage as the fetus develops as long as it is supplemented with healing regents. Unfortunately, due to said healing, traditional and mystical anesthetics will be of little use and as a result the pregnancy will be a painful ordeal. This will only be semi addressed by the anesthetic effect built into the lycan bloodline. Jane will also need a large supply of raw meat to supply the bloodline with the required resources.


    After explaining these facts to Jane, she has decided to continue with the pregnancy citing religious beliefs and infertility problems.


    3.2: Kiera Ramirez


    Kiera was artificially impregnated with vampire seed. Due to the high purity level, location, and previous infractions, I presume that the Ramara coven was at least partially involved.


    I do not believe that the infant can be brought to term without turning the mother into a disposable incubator. The fetus¡¯ consumption of blood has outstripped the healing given by the shared bloodline. I do not believe any amount of healing regents under the safety threshold will be able to bridge the gap as the baby develops. The only solution would be to exceed the safety threshold which would put Kiera into a permanent vegetive state.


    After discussing the options with her, Kiera has requested to be supplied with a holy water solution to terminate the pregnancy.


    3.3: Molly Kingsley


    Molly was given the seed of an Anansi kin. The infant had at some point passed which resulted in it dissolving into a swarm of spiders. The spiders proceeded to consume Molly from the inside out. I took the corpse to create a more comforting corpse and left the spiders there to be consumed by the fire.


    3.4: Heather Smith


    Heather was implanted with shapeshifter seed. There must have been some incompatibility as the fetus turned into a cancerous mass that spread tendrils throughout the host body. I promptly incinerated the writhing mass. I turned a tree in the backyard into a fake corpse.


    3.5: Samantha Erikson


    Samantha had giant DNA forced upon her. The fetus¡¯ growth had exceeded the growth in size granted by the shared bloodline. Samantha could not survive the fetus outgrowing its home and the fetus could not survive the loss of its home. I patched up the damage done to Samantha. I also buried the fetus in a plot I bought as I believed it deserved some remembrance.


    3.6: Grace Lee


    Grace Lee was something of an outlier as she was kidnapped pregnant. By observing the psychic traces and interviewing Her, I put together why.


    One night Grace¡¯s husband came home from a business trip, and they became intimate. The next morning, she found out her husband¡¯s plane had gone down with no survivors. Several weeks later she found out she was pregnant.


    While initially confused about the how and why, she decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth. However, like the trojans, she really should have as she had several scares about missing heartbeats and invisible ultrasounds. Unfortunately, Alfonso Garcia heard about this situation before us and picked her up.


    I would recommend just the standard pregnancy procedure as I do not foresee any problems stemming from the baby¡¯s unique constitution. However, I would recommend ongoing supervision and assistance of both mother and child as I foresee problems in the mother¡¯s ability to raise an empowered child.


    3.7: Yolanda Jefferson


    Yolanda was impregnated by a descendant of Abaddon. Due to long standing ties between the Abaddon clan and the Ramara coven, it strengthened my confidence in their involvement.


    From my examination, I concluded that the cambion¡¯s soul was rotten to the core and any purification would amount to little more than brainwashing and indoctrination. I also concluded that Yolanda¡¯s mind was shattered so completely that there was nothing to be done. She was already brain dead.


    Yolanda did not suffer when she was put out of her misery, neither did her child.


    3.8: Fiona Quinn


    Fiona was impregnated with the seed of a jinn. The baby¡¯s temperature had exceeded the heat resistance granted by the jinn bloodline and she was boiled alive. The fetus did not survive the relative cold of the basement. I turned the cinders into a better-looking corpse. I buried the baby in a plot next to the giant baby.

 V2CH28 Same Thing As Everything Else

    As a large cloaked man entered one of the myriad occult shops in Slaughterville, the bell hanging off the door frame jingled.


    Hearing that sound a woman in the backroom called out, ¡°Be right there!¡±


    The cloaked man approached the counter and waited for the woman.


    As the woman ducked between the beaded curtain her eyes widened as she took in the giant.


    ¡°Hey there Gigantor, how can I help you?¡± the employee asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Jesse Cole.¡± The man stated.


    ¡°Sorry buddy, but nobody here with that name.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that you are unable to help me?¡± The man asked before leaning over the counter to loom over the woman.


    The woman looking at the cracks emanating from the man and spreading across the counter, ¡°Sir I do not want any trouble. I really do not know anyone by that name.¡±


    ¡°That is a shame. It truly is.¡± The figure said with a sigh.


    ***


    The figure walked out of the shop¡¯s door while wiping the blood off his hands before turning to another cloaked figure.


    ¡°This place was a waste of my time. I truly hope you know that I detest my time being wasted.¡±


    The second cloaked figure immediately dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.


    ¡°My deepest apologies my liege. Cole is well versed in counter surveillance and covers his tracks behind several faces and identities. We are chasing shadows in the mist; a few detours are to be expected.¡±


    The first cloaked figure reached down and wrapped his hand around the top of the other¡¯s head.


    ¡°I do not pay you for excuses. I pay you for results. If you cannot provide me with them, I will find someone who can. Nothing will deter me from my hunt. Go now, I tire of your presence.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± The figure said before dissolving into shadows.


    The figure turned to leave down the street when a glowing red arrow flew into his shoulder. It promptly bounced off, but it did leave a small cut so there is that.


    ¡°Jesse Cole, I presume?¡± The figure called out while ripping off his cloak exposing what laid underneath. The shirtless man was a goliath of muscle wrapped in verdant skin. The only things he wore were a large metallic belt and baggy black pants. Yes, that means he was showing off his tootsies.


    ¡°Adam Frankenstein the fifth, I presume?¡± Jesse replied while standing on a nearby roof. He held a stark white bow strung with glowing red threads.


    ¡°Enough talk.¡± Adam said before launching himself like a cannonball at Jesse.


    _


    Adam Frankenstein the Fifth


    ¡°Any resemblance to a certain flag was entirely on accident.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Grade A+++


    _


    Jesse was a veritable gatling gun with his arrows. Sadly, the arrows made of demon enhanced hair only left wounds a little bigger than paper cuts. Adam had the good sense to protect his face with his arms, so the wounds were not even advantageously placed.


    Jesse quickly rolled out of the way. Midroll, he shifted his weapon¡¯s form to a spine-like whip.


    Adam quickly recentered and rushed his opponent.


    Jesse tried to keep his opponent at a distance with his whip imbued with a combination of essences he calls River Styx, but it was a losing battle. Adam shrugged off the blows.


    Jesse maintained a distance for a time by teleporting away whenever Adam got close. This continued until Adam grew tired of a fight going nowhere.


    ¡°ENOUGH!!!¡± Adam shouted before slamming his fists against the ground, releasing a wave of verdant lightning. Jesse tried to dodge, but the lightning knocked him off his feet. Adam was quick to capitalize by rushing over and spiking Jesse into the ground.


    Jesse quickly shifted his weapon into a shield to protect against the next set of blows. Adam was able to put several large cracks into it before Jesse slipped into its shadow and repositioned.


    Jesse imbued his weapon now a spear with Phoenix Fire to repair the damage. He kept it imbued to allow the weapon to work above its maximum capacity without damage. Such a maneuver impacted its long-term usability, but Jesse could fix that later after he survived this fight.


    Jesse danced around his opponent, opening wounds all across his body. For all of Adam¡¯s power and speed, his size took some agility away from him. Jesse squeezed every last drop he could from that. However, it was for nothing as the wounds healed right behind the blade making them. Jesse might as well be cutting water.


    Seeing this going nowhere and feeling himself grow ever tired, Jesse dissolved all his non-critical artifacts.


    The first to go was Jekyll¡¯s Hide Mk II. It was a gray leather jacket made from a gargoyle Jesse hunted along the way. It created a translucent grey set of armor wrapping around his body.


    The next artifact on the chopping block was Idle Hands. They were a set of gloves crafted from demonically enhanced super hair. They formed crimson gauntlets and pauldrons covering both armor¡¯s arms.


    The Petrifying Ring was a ring made from a basilisk. It turned Jesse¡¯s right hand into a giant eyeball with an orange iris and slit pupil.


    The Brash Ring was a ring that grant superstrength. It turned Jesse¡¯s left hand into a bull¡¯s head.


    The final sacrifice was Comet Kicks, a set of sneakers that granted superspeed. They turned Jesse¡¯s feet into two flaming comets.


    ¡°Finally, some excitement!¡± Adam bellowed before shifting his form into a literal force of nature.


    Facing off against Jesse was a living lightning bolt wrapped in metallic armor that only exposed its chest and head.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH29 Rime Or Reason

    Jesse opened round two by launching a barrage of petrifying stone shards. Adam flashed sideways avoiding the entire salvo. Jesse did not give up though, he formed a huge spike of petrifying stone and rushed his opponent utilizing the increased speed granted by the comets covering his feet.


    ¡°Enough with these toys!¡± A staticky voice shouted before Adam suddenly appeared at the side of Jesse¡¯s body. He promptly crushed the stone spike and the eye at its core. The resulting explosion of petrifying energy slid off Adam like water off a duck¡¯s back.


    Adam flashed again and appeared across the rooftop, ¡°Fight me like a man or I¡¯ll kill you like a dog.¡± He growled.


    Hearing this, Jesse started a chant.


    ¡°With boiling blood and overflowing bile.¡±


    ¡°Towards everything that makes me hostile.¡±


    ¡°To burn to ash all that I revile.¡±


    ¡°As the one who unleashed your anger from its cage.¡±


    ¡°As the one who set you on your rampage.¡±


    ¡°By my authority as your liege I demand my wage.¡±


    ¡°My Regent of Rage.¡±


    When the last word left Jesse¡¯s mouth a torrent of blackish red energy poured out of his body. The giant bull¡¯s head covering his left hand proceeded to breath in the sea of energy morphing in the process. The bull became a blackish red metal that then spread up Jesse¡¯s arm until covering his shoulder.


    As Jesse prepared to reengage his opponent steam shot from the vent formed in the new arm covering. Jesse then charged with a vicious haymaker lined up.


    Adam met his charge in the middle with a haymaker of his own. When the two fists met, Adam¡¯s immediately plowed through shattering all of Jesse¡¯s temporary armaments. Jesse was sent flying and landed in a heap at the edge of the roof.


    Adam was over him in a flash.


    ¡°I¡¯m disappointed. I really am. That witch promised me a lion and all I got is a mouse. Do not worry though I will end your shame right now.¡± Adam said standing over his opponent preparing to stomp his head into a paste.


    Just as his foot was about to reach Jesse¡¯s head it stopped, and Adam flashed backwards.


    ¡°You are just delaying the inevitable. Why do you not just give up?¡± Adam said with a shake of his head.


    His question was met by a series of icy spines lurching from the floor.


    Adam took in the newest of his opponent¡¯s forms. Jesse¡¯s right eye had turned into an orb of artic blue with a trail of frozen tears flowing from it. His skin had turned a deathly pale, and his lips turned a cyanotic blue.


    Jesse dropped an empty milk carton on the floor. He then slowly walked towards his opponent.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Vampires are a funny race of creatures. For you see most creatures are at their strongest when they are well sated. Not the vampire though. They are creatures of hunger. Hunger brings them closer to the core of their existence. It unleashes something primal.


    In the case of the energy vampire, it releases an ever-hungry frost. A frost that consumes all that dares to be warm. To be vibrant. To be alive.


    As Jesse approached Adam could feel the changing environment. Everything slowed to a crawl. Air. Thoughts. Lightning. The metallic armor he wore slowly grew a layer of hoarfrost.


    When Jesse got close enough, he lifted his hand and placed it on Adam¡¯s chest. From the hand sprouted tendrils of an abyssal black ice that spread like a cancer throughout the lightning bolt that made up Adam¡¯s body.


    As Adam looked into Jesse¡¯s mismatched eyes, he saw nothing. No pain. No joy. No anger. No sadness. No mercy.


    As Adam looked into himself, he felt those same things fade away. He remembered something he had read as a boy. The best way to die was to be murdered. Blooding pumping. Adrenaline racing. Life on the line. You never feel so alive as when you die that way. The worst way was to freeze to death. Systems shut down one by one. You realize just how much a machine you are as said machine breaks down. You feel how much you were never really alive as you die.


    ¡°No.¡± Adam whispered under his breath.


    ¡°This is not how I die.¡± Adam said it slightly louder and with renewed energy.


    ¡°I am Adam Victor Frankenstein the Fifth, and this is not how my story ends!¡± Adam shouted before unleashing an electrical storm around himself that vaporized all the ice by overloading it with energy.


    Jesse slid away from him after creating a shield made of ice between them.


    Turns out that it was not only Jesse who got to be a multi-stage boss.


    Adam had gone from lightning bolt to living storm. He was a twister of lightning and metal shrapnel forced into a vaguely human shape.


    Adam surged towards Jesse as a cloud of death and was met by Jesse surrounded by a snowstorm of black ice.


    The black ice did slow the lightning and cause some of the shrapnel to crumble into dust, but it was a losing battle. For every lightning bolt that fizzled, two more burned across his skin. For every shrapnel that Jesse took, five more scored his skin. For all that his new form gave, it took as well.


    Jesse was unable to use any other energy type or ability. Which meant that he had no way to heal the damage accumulated. He covered his wounds with ice to both protect and mitigate them, but it was a stopgap at best.


    Jesse had to break the ¡°in case of emergency¡± glass, his last resort. He had to unleash the rot and hope for the best. He just did not like what ¡°the best¡± was looking like.


    Being:


    Body:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor]


    Soul Tattoos:


    [Celestial Weaving]


    [Sand: Tier Three]


    [Water: Tier Five]


    [Faith: Tier One]


    [Holy Water: Tier Three]


    [Shadow: Tier Five]


    [Necromancy: Tier Five]


    [Rot: Tier ErRoR]


    [Phoenix Fire: Tier Nine]


    Special Abilities:


    [Empowerment: Tier Nine]


    [Emotional Empowerment: Tier One]


    [Emotional Manipulation: Tier One]


    Current Equipment:


    Head:


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face]


    [Vampire¡¯s Hunger]


    Earrings:


    []


    Necklace:


    []


    Clothes:


    []


    Rings:


    [The Mentalism Ring]


    [Mena¡¯s Book]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship]


    Bracelets:


    []


    Shoes:


    []


    Armaments:


    [Beastly Heart]


    [Murder Weapon]


    Storage:


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH29 Umbra

    It was almost immediate, the realization that Jesse had vastly overestimated his own abilities and underestimated the rot. Jesse had likened the rot to a rabid dog. Something that he could direct at a target and then reign it in with chains while disregarding the collateral damage.


    He was wrong, not dead wrong but it was damn close. What Jesse released was more akin to a storm. Make no mistake the rot did what was requested. The storm of black particles eradicated Adam Frankenstein the Fifth leaving only scraps that luckily escaped the first pass through.


    What happened next is a touch odd though. The rot condensed into a vaguely human form. Said figure looked upon its work. It had killed its ¡°father¡¯s¡± enemy repaying its birth. As for its ¡°father¡±, if he died, then he was simply unworthy of being its relation. It had better things to do, places to ravage, people to hurt.


    The rot opened a starry void in the air next to it and entered it.


    While that was going on, Jesse was focused on the fallout of his ¡°child¡¯s¡± birth.


    The second he gave the rot the slightest bit of slack, it rushed out of his body rotting everything in its path. Celestial Weaving. The Energy Vampire Progenitor mantle. His artifacts. His gestalt body.


    His rings and what he called armaments were turned into scrap and that was the best outcome, which is quite telling.


    When his mask shattered it created what Jesse would later call a conceptual pressure difference. The mask acted as a conduit for Jesse¡¯s connection to the concept of the wasp jackal and with its destruction a vacuum was created in the metaphorical pipe. This vacuum sucked related concepts from both ends of the pipe leading to a distorted cloud of concepts. That cloud tried to form a wasp jackal according to its blueprints. Two problems with that were that the cloud was right next to Jesse¡¯s head and the blueprints were inherently flawed.


    The cloud had turned into a black wasp jackal head growing out of the left side of Jesse¡¯s neck that had multiple trails of chitin trailing across his chest, shoulder, and back. Well, what could be best described as a wasp jackal as it had multiple distortions like five eyes, a half functioning mouth, and no nostrils. Taking even further from the traditional form were silver elk-like horns based on remnants of Jesse¡¯s mask.


    All that was just the outside as the cloud also formed a deformed wasp jackal body inside Jesse¡¯s chest.


    Jesse¡¯s vampire mantle was also shattered leaving a jagged, flawed, hollowed out corpse in its proverbial port. This corpse shaped Jesse¡¯s body to fit its new blueprint. This caused several large mouths full of deformed teeth to open up all across his chest. It also caused his inside to become even more jumbled.


    This led to another problem as the vampire mantle had previously suppressed the remnants of his previous form, the bone apple tree. Without this suppression a bone apple tree grew throughout his entire body causing even more problems.


    Celestial Weaving¡¯s shattering showed why having concentrations of essences inside your body was a bad idea. With the tattoos shattering, all the essences were released into the open air and turned into the form Jesse had conceptual established as their form in that environment, crystal. Crystal growths shot from his back while also burrowing into his chest.


    All this was compounded by the remnants of rot that would continuously break his body down causing the other forces acting on it to fill the new gaps with increasingly mutated filler.


    Jesse had an idea that would at least get him through the next couple of hours and with any hope he could use those hours to get days. However, he really did not like what it entailed, but now was not the time for whining.


    Jesse created several threads that pulled the metal remnants of Adam and the remains of the Frankenstein mantle towards him. His hope was that the metal, the mantle, and a boatload of phoenix fire would conceptually heal him by invoking the concept of cauterization.


    ¡°Nothing to it but to do it¡± Jesse gurgled out before weaving the mantle and metal into the huge red crystal growing out of hi right shoulder. Said crystal did not like that. Not one bit.


    The crystal instantly turned into a conflagration that melted the metal and mantle infusing both into the flames. This turned them into a molten metallic substance. The molten metal spread throughout Jesse¡¯s body following the internal latticework of phoenix fire crystal, bringing agony everywhere it went.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The molten metal did heal the damage due to the cauterization concept backed by phoenix fire and bridged some of the gaps between the conflicting blueprints due to the Frankenstein mantle¡¯s nature of harmony.


    However, the phoenix fire was weakened due to the damage inflicted by the rot. While it could still heal, it lost its connection to the concept of the phoenix and healing. This meant that it could only heal what it recognized, namely: human and phoenix. My previous form was innately flawed and led to my current predicament so it could not be used as a template. All this to say that the molten metal was helping, but all it could try to do was jam human and phoenix pieces into the puzzle that was my body until something fit well enough.


    The most visible of these pieces was a wing that formed in the crystal¡¯s place. Well calling it a wing was being a little generous, it was more a cone of wing-like structures and feathers made up of molten metal.


    While that beauty was forming, there was the painful vomiting of various odds and ends: bones, organs, muscle clusters, nerve clusters, crystal lattices, tree branches, teeth, and some stuff he could not even begin to guess the identity of. Some notable contents were the Beastly Heart that had somehow survived until now but was now quite dead, his old hearts that were quite deformed, and his mismatched eyes.


    After a while the vomiting began to wane. Jesse then got to work cleaning himself up and smoothing out edges.


    He used the hours he bought wisely and at the end of it all he had a functional body and a new artifact. The amulet hanging off his new form featured a circular kintsugi inspired piece of porcelain like material. The white shards were held together by veins of an orangish metal.


    _


    Disparate Unity


    ¡°When you look past the surface, it¡¯s all connected. Or at least that was my crazy uncle¡¯s theory about the moon landing.¡±


    Rank: Low


    Primary Concept: Harmony


    Secondary Concepts: Metamorphosis, -


    Tertiary Concepts: -, -, -, -


    An amulet that stabilizes mutations and allows for controlled metamorphosis


    _


    Ok so before we move on with Jesse¡¯s new form, we should probably explain what¡¯s going on with his new classification system.


    The choice to change from tier to rank stemmed from the fact that both were arbitrary assessments of an artifact¡¯s power based on his opinion, and he figured three levels are simpler than nine. So, he created the low, medium, and high ranks with more to come as encountered.


    As for the concept thing, that was due to a discovery that changed everything and showed how stupid Jesse was all this time. The Mentalism Ring was destroyed but left a small green spark made of distilled time concept imbued with the aspect of psychometry. This meant that all this time Jesse was not even refining his materials. All the waste and lost potential caused the mother of all headaches in him.


    It was the height of arrogance that his was the only craft in all of existence that did not require refinement. While he saw no flaws in his materials, he was using sand not glass to make windows.


    Now let¡¯s move on to how human Jesse could get. The answer was a T-shirt, some excuses, and black smoke would get the job done.


    Jesse¡¯s entire body was a map of scars with the largest being the thick scars covering where his chest mouths used to be. He also lost his beautiful, luscious hair. So sad. In its place was a scalp full of scars. Such a downgrade.


    The left side of his neck, his left shoulder, and some of his chest were covered by thin black chitin with a silver vein pattern.


    His left shoulder, including the scapula, was covered with thin metallic feathers colored a molten orange.


    A series of interwoven thin branches and white flowers made its way up his spine.


    His left shoulder blade had a circle of rotten flesh.


    The last of his mutations was that the entirety of his upper back, barring the places already taken up, was a stony white with several white gems imbedded inside it.


    With all those beauty marks squared away, Jesse made a sweep of the rooftop grabbing everything that could maybe be of use for rebuilding. Cause Jesse was going to rebuild and be better than ever. He had learned the hard lesson that the world had been trying to hammer into him for a while now. His hardware was obsolete, and it was time for an upgrade.


    Artifacts:


    [Disparate Unity]


    Materials:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]


    [Empowerment (Remnants)]


    [Frankenstein¡¯s Lightning (Remnants)]


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face (Remnants)]


    [Emotive Fire]


    [Emotive Ice]


    [Time Seed]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship (Remnants)]


    [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]


    [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH30 The Good Doctor

    It was a typical Thursday night for Brayden. The young man was walking home from his afterschool job. He tutored his peers and underclassmen to both build up some savings for college. It didn¡¯t hurt that it made his applications to Yale and various scholarships look more impressive.


    While walking between the streetlights, Brayden observed a woman scrambling down the street in the other direction. The woman wore a trench coat thrown over pajamas and one bunny slipper. After noticing Brayden, the disheveled woman ran up and grabbed him by the face.


    ¡°THE DOCTOR IS GOOD! THE DOCTOR IS GOOD!! THE DOCTOR IS GOOOOD!!!¡± the woman cried out in a begging tone with a face full of tears and snot.


    Before Brayden could say or do anything, the woman ran off into the night. He quickly decided that whatever nonsense that was is someone else¡¯s problem. He put that encounter behind him and headed home.


    If only he had truly put that encounter behind him. It would have spared him from what was to come. Instead, as he laid in bed that night he thought of that woman and what the phrase she uttered meant.


    ***


    Everyone thought that the queen bee needed to have long blonde hair and blue eyes, but that it is simply not so. Those were so pass¨¦. You need to be unique, to be original, to be better. Or at least that was Beverly¡¯s opinion. Beverly was the undisputed queen of Tom¨¢s de Torquemada High, and her shoulder length chocolate brown hair was her crown.


    Some may consider all the time she invested in her hair a waste, but your hair was the first thing you saw of a person from three directions and had a profound impact on the fourth. While her routine took up most of the hot water, her siblings and mother understood the cost of perfection. Even if they say differently, she knew what was in their hearts.


    While thinking about all this, Beverley stepped out of the shower. She walked up to the mirror and took in the message revealed by the steam, ¡°The Doctor is Good¡±. She rolled her eyes and wiped away the message thinking it was a prank by one of her siblings.


    She was less amused by that same message being written in her specially ordered Liquid Lust lipstick across her bureau mirror.


    ¡°MOOOMMM!!!!¡± she shrieked across the house.


    After a series of ever approaching thumps, her mother burst into the room.


    ¡°WHAT?! WHAT¡¯S GOING ON?!¡± Selena, her mother, asked.


    ¡°Look what they did.¡± Beverly said while gesturing at her mirror.


    ¡°BRAYDEN! SUSANNAH! GET YOUR BUTTS IN HERE1¡± Selena yelled to her other children.


    This time two series of thumps approached the room.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening mom?¡± Brayden asked.


    Right after him a little girl in rabbit footie pajamas came in rubbing her eyes, ¡°Wuh happen mama?¡±


    ¡°One of you defaced your sister¡¯s mirror and I want to know who.¡± Selena said while looking at her two children.


    ¡°Mama my awms are tu scwawmy to weach dat high.¡± Little Suzie said while shaking her heading back and forth flapping her rabbit ears around.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Mom why would I care enough to sneak into her room and/or prank her.¡± Brayden said with a shrug, not even bothering to look at his supposed offense.


    ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t a ghost. So, you guys are going to clean it after school and daycare today.¡± Of course, she had no way of knowing that it was indeed a ghost.


    ¡°Mom!¡± Brayden cried out.


    ¡°Brayden, I don¡¯t want the hear it. You did it and you are going to clean it.¡± Selena told her son while making a shushing gesture.


    ¡°Mama how I help? My awms awe scwawmy and showt.¡± Suzie asked while tearing up.


    ¡°Suzie to be honest, you are just going to watch and hand things to Brayden.¡±


    ¡°Mom you¡¯re just going to let them get away with it?!¡± Beverly cried out.


    ¡°Listen no one¡¯s happy. That¡¯s called being a grown-up. Now you two get to the bus. I have to drop off Suzie at daycare. Suzie, go put on your laid out clothes.¡± Selena said before walking out of the room, leaving Beverly and Brayden glaring at each other.


    ***


    Beverly went about her day with a belly full of anger. Her sibling had not only wasted her Liquid Lust lipstick, but they had also prevented her from showing her subjects her full glory. She knows naught which was the worse offense.


    The anger had drained from her body when she was powdering her nose and saw what was carved on the door, The Doctor is Good. Unnerved, she quickly wrapped up her business in the stall and started to flee the room. Only to stop short when she saw that same message carved over and over again into the room spanning sink mirror.


    A teacher quickly rushed into the room when she heard the resulting screams.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on in here?!¡± the teacher harshly asked the teenager curled up on the ground with a face covered in snot and tears.


    ¡°Mirror¡­Mirror¡± Beverly whimpered while pointing at the mirror.


    ¡°Mirror? What¡¯s wrong with the mirror?¡± the teacher asked in confusion.


    ¡°HOW CAN YOU NOT SE¡­¡± Beverly shouted whipping her head up only to stop when she saw a completely unmarred mirror.


    ¡°What? How did that¡­¡± Beverly started before trailing off.


    ¡°Honey, do you need me to call your mother?¡± the teacher asked in a compassionate tone.


    Hearing that potential embarrassment bomb Beverly quickly pulled herself together, ¡°Sorry Ms. Gretchens, I think I¡¯m just a little dizzy from skipping breakfast. I think I just need to splash my face with some cold water and get a banana or something from the cafeteria.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure. Just let me know if you need anything, my door is always open.¡± Ms. Gretchens told the young woman before leaving the lavatory.


    ¡°Ok Beverly, get a hold of yourself. You¡¯re acting crazy and queen bees do not act crazy.¡± Beverly told herself in the mirror while cleaning her face with cold water. Only to jump back when she saw a figure lurking its periphery.


    She quickly decided she was cleaned up enough and quickly fled the room.


    Beverly spent the rest of her day pretending that everything was normal, and that figure had followed from the bathroom.


    That task grew harder while walking from her job at the mall. Every shadow seemingly hid a danger, and every sound hit her like a gunshot. The darkness grew closer and closer, slowly gaining on Beverly¡¯s ever quickening pace.


    This situation quickly reached a climax when all the streetlights suddenly cut out. The resulting screams could have woken the dead or summon something worse.


    As the darkness was about to drown Beverly, a sound rang through the night.


    *CAW*


    The darkness fled like it was trying to outrun the devil and maybe it was. With its departure the streetlights came back to life.


    Beverly turned to see her savior and saw a crow looking back.


    *CAW*


    With that the crow left the scene.


    Beverly quickly collected herself and rushed home before anything else could happen.


    Artifacts:


    [Disparate Unity]


    Materials:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]


    [Empowerment (Remnants)]


    [Frankenstein¡¯s Lightning (Remnants)]


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face (Remnants)]


    [Emotive Fire]


    [Emotive Ice]


    [Time Seed]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship (Remnants)]


    [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]


    [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH31 Dasheil

    Brayden was sitting on the baby Little Suzie when Beverly slammed the door closed behind. She leaned her back against the door praying that it could keep the horrors at bay. She was adrift in a chaotic sea of emotions and memories of her day.


    That scene was enough to cut through Brayden usual dismissal of his sister, ¡°Everything alright there, Bev?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Yeah. Just¡­ just need to go lie down.¡± Beverly trying to shake off whatever she just experienced.


    ¡°Well alright then. let me know if you need anything.¡± Brayden told his sister slightly offput.


    ¡°Kay. Kay.¡± Beverly called out over her shoulder as she rushed up the stairs to her room.


    Right when Brayden was about to get back to helping Little Suzie, a shriek sent him running up the stairs to his sister. Only stopping to grab the hammer they leave by the front door.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on.¡± Brayden asked from the doorway of his sister¡¯s room.


    ¡°Look.¡± Beverly said while pointing at her wall. Said wall had the message ¡°the doctor is good¡± written in animal blood. Or at least they hoped it was animal blood.


    ¡°Seriously what¡¯s the deal with that stupid phrase. First that woman, then your mirror, and now this?¡± Brayden said exasperated.


    ¡°I have no idea. I saw it in a bathroom mirror today. Except it wasn¡¯t really there. It was a hallucination. Ms. Gretchens was there. There was also this shadow, then this raven.¡± Beverly rambled.


    ¡°Do you know who we have to see?¡± Brayden asked his sister.


    ¡°Krazy Kayla.¡± ¡°Krazy Kayla.¡± They said at the same time.


    ***


    ¡°Hey Krazy Kayla¡­¡± was all that Beverly got out before being elbowed in the stomach by her brother.


    ¡°Kayla, we need your help.¡± Brayden said with a fake smile nailed onto his face.


    With a raised eyebrow, ¡°I don¡¯t love your sister calling the me crazy with a K, but you have my curiosity. What can I do for the sovereigns of the nerds and anthophilas?¡±


    ¡°Anthro whats?¡± Beverly interrupted.


    ¡°Bees¡± Brayden told his sister before turning back to Kayla. ¡°You¡¯re into all that magic stuff, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Again, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°Does the term ¡°The doctor is good¡± mean anything to you?¡± Brayden asked the girl.


    ¡°Only everything¡­¡± Kayla starting her exposi¡­ impassioned storytelling with practically a squee.


    The story went something like this. In the mid-1800s, there was a woman. Well, there were many women alive at the time, but I¡¯m talking about a particular one. This one had all her perfection concentrated in only two decades or at least that was what people said. For you see the young woman was beautiful, kind, wealthy, intelligent, ¡­ and sick.


    No one had any idea what was wrong with her. Only that every breath she exhaled took with it a sliver of her vitality. Some posit that her beauty was almost parasitic in nature as the disease only made her ever more enchanting as it killed her.


    Her father, a wealthy land baron, searched for a cure. Most doctors simply wrote it off as an offshoot of consumption and recommended rest, exercise, and fresh air. Her father refused to give up and sought ever more fringe experts. This continued until he met Dr. Dasheil, a doctor that claimed to be pushing boundaries and searching for answers wherever they were found.


    Dasheil claimed to be able to call on mystic forces that in combination with his treatments could cure anything. Her father was blind to the fanatism burning in his eyes due to it burning just as brightly in his own. So blinded that he let the treatments continue no matter how grotesque they became.


    In the beginning it was just shots that brought a new torture with each one.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The red with maroon flakes made the young woman feel like she was in an oven. Her skin turned flush and started dumping out water almost like it was attempting to douse the magma in her veins. This attempt¡¯s intention was to purify the body like a sword in a forge.


    After hours of agony, Dasheil did not see anything that would prove that the elixir was working. In fact, he had used too much, and the young woman was cooking from the inside. Seeing that he quickly injected her with another needle. This tincture was pale blue that brought her back to normal. For a couple of minutes, before the woman slowly started to look like she had been left out in the tundra.


    She grew increasingly pale and lost feeling in her extremities. Dasheil quickly injected the first again.


    The young woman¡¯s skin alternated between a flushed red and a deathly blue over the next several hours until Dasheil finally was able to restore her to a proper state.


    Dasheil claimed that what happened was hot and cold tempering and was necessary groundwork for the true treatment. The father¡¯s desperation caused him to gobble the lie up like a chocolate ¨¦clair.


    The next tincture was a noxious green. The idea was akin to modern day chemotherapy in that he wanted to kill whatever was causing her disease. Unfortunately, Dasheil was quite the dullard as he did not think about a simple fact. When in danger a parasitic organism would feed on its host often causing the host to die first, in this case the young woman. He quickly gave her the antidote.


    He tried a crimson one next. This one was akin to a steroid. He had concentrated several types of beast blood into a single concoction. This caused the young woman¡¯s veins to bulge and her to start thrashing about. Said thrashing caused severe muscle tears and cracks in her bones.


    He quickly gave her a grey injection that acted like a sedative. Seeing her breathing slowing to a stop, he quickly injected the crimson one again. What came next was another several hour ping pong.


    He told the father and daughter that it was all a part of his treatment plan. The father¡¯s desperation deafened him to his daughter¡¯s pleas to stop.


    Dasheil¡¯s desperation on the other hand drove him to increasingly desperate means. People say that God, the devil, or some other entity imbues every human with a sin as punishment, trial, or gift. If that¡¯s true, Dasheil¡¯s sin would be pride. He could not accept that he would fail, that he would be stupid.


    You see all his concoctions were made based on a book that he had found detailing various mystical fields. Dasheil was smart enough to avoid the entries involving the more esoteric entries that were completely outside his knowledge. He was content to use only the knowledge on potions to be considered a great doctor. That was until potions were not enough to feed his pride.


    He started performing rituals, summonings, and anything else he could try.


    This continued until one-night Dasheil decided to give up on saving the young woman. He decided that if a genius like him could not save her no one could. So, he decided to bind her spirit to the mortal plane so as to appear successful.


    It did not hurt that binding a beautiful young woman to himself had other advantages. After all it was only fair that she repaid his services with her own.


    So that night her father and him bound her to a ritual circle as she was much too smart to not see the cracks in Dasheil¡¯s facade. Luckily for her, Dasheil¡¯s grasp of proto-grecian languages was not nearly as strong as he thought it was. He had confused contractee with contractor.


    So, when he completed the ritual, his body dissolved into energy that impowered the young woman while also binding his soul into her service. All things were not good though, that increased power flooding her devastated body only killed her all the quicker.


    With her dying breath she cursed the man that had filled her last days with agony, ¡°Josef Dasheil, I take that which you value most, recognition. May you never again utter your name. May you never again show your face. May you never again appear before any who would come to know you. May you never again act in any way, shape, or form that would cause your deeds to be remembered. I bind you to walk until this earth forever more as an unremembered, unremarkable unperson.¡±


    And with that a brave young woman was dead.


    If only she had known the loophole she had left. A loophole that would haunt her father for the rest of his short life. While Dasheil could not do anything to those that did not know him, he was next to someone who did. Someone who could introduce him to others if given the right incentive and all memories of his deeds would die with him.


    And thus, a cognitive hazard was born. Dasheil who would eventually just be remembered as The Good Doctor would spend the next decades trapped with those who knew him. Forever fearing that his current host would die before he could leapfrog to the next.


    Artifacts:


    [Disparate Unity]


    Materials:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]


    [Empowerment (Remnants)]


    [Frankenstein¡¯s Lightning (Remnants)]


    [The Black Wasp Jackal¡¯s Face (Remnants)]


    [Emotive Fire]


    [Emotive Ice]


    [Time Seed]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship (Remnants)]


    [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]


    [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]


    [Leech Muscles]


    [Leech Teeth]


    [Chimeric Essence]

 V2CH32 Apples

    ¡°That¡¯s cool and all, but how do we get rid of him?¡± Beverly asked the young woman.


    ¡°You can¡¯t. He is a powerful spirit that has fed on humanity for over a century and you¡¯re a cheerleader and a mathlete.¡± Kayla told the duo with a flat stare.


    ¡°Well, you better think of one because I¡¯m pretty sure that you¡¯re now in the same boat as us.¡± Brayden said and watched the color drain from Kayla¡¯s face.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kayla croaked out.


    ¡°Yeah, you said anyone who knows and is around him is infected. That means you!¡± Beverly said feeling victorious.


    Kayla fell apart at that. She started weeping uncontrollably attracting the attention of the surrounding students.


    ¡°Kayla calm down. I¡¯m sure we can figure something out. Right, Bev?¡± ¡°Yeah. Tots¡± both trying to comfort the girl.


    ¡°You don¡¯t get it. I¡¯m a seer. What he does to us¡­ I cannot even mention it. We all might be f*cked, but me especially so.¡± Kayla said, panicking.


    That lead to a period of silence and contemplation that was eventually broken by Beverly, ¡°the bird.¡±


    ¡°What bird?¡± Brayden asked his sister.


    ¡°There was this bird that caused him to run scared.¡±


    Hearing that Kayla leapt across the table and grabbed Beverly¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Did it have no eyes?!¡± Kayla asked, filled with both hope and fear that said hope would be butchered.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ it was pretty dark out. Why?¡± Beverly asked slightly offput by the face in her face.


    ¡°Because an eyeless raven is the scout of The Shattered Brotherhood.¡± Kayla told them after calming down and letting Beverly go.


    ¡°The Shattered Brotherhood?¡± Brayden asked the girl.


    ¡°Or at least that¡¯s what I call them. In my visions I see them protect people in this city from various mystical threats. They¡¯re my heroes.¡± Kayla explained.


    ¡°There¡¯s Wolf Knight. He¡¯s my favorite. He has this awesome black armor with sliver veins and wolf shaped chest piece. His whole thing is blades and sonic screeches¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s The Insatiable. He has all these mouths that just suck the life out of his opponents like a man dying of thirst.¡±


    ¡°The brute of the group is The Living Mountain. He¡¯s this stone man that has these crystals that pump his body up like a ballon. I once saw him wrestle a cyclops and make it look like his little brother.¡±


    ¡°The girl of the group, Aviary, is like their mobile artillery. She has this cloak of molten metal feathers that cover her body and a bird skull mask. She shoots the feathers, and they hit like mortar shells.¡±


    ¡°The last member is The Walking Forest. He¡¯s this walking bush covered in thorns, flowers, and fruit. I once saw him restrain a troll with vines and force feed it this white apple and the troll just dropped dead. Like immediately.¡±


    A little offput Brayden interrupted the fangasm, ¡°Kayla that¡¯s cool and all, but how do we contact them?¡±


    ¡°Contact them? No, you don¡¯t contact them. They just come and improve your life like the knights of old.¡±


    ¡°Soooo, what now?¡± Beverly asked the girl, or her brother, or maybe the world itself.


    ¡°First, we thank our lucky stars mom and Suzie did not pay much attention to your mirror. Then we call mom and tell her we¡¯re spending the night at a friend¡¯s house. What comes next? Wellllll¡­we¡¯ll think of something.¡± Brayden before getting up and walking out of the lunchroom with the other two trailing behind him.


    ¡°So why The Shattered Brotherhood?¡± Brayden heard his sister ask behind him.


    ¡°They all wear amulet inscribed with cracks. I think they see their duty as mending the world.¡± Kayla said excitedly.


    ¡°Or they just thought it looked cool.¡± Beverly pitched.


    ¡°No. No that¡¯s not it.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Are you sure this is going to work?¡± Beverly asked Kayla while taking in the chalk circle drawn across the basement floor.


    The trio had taken up residence at Kayla¡¯s house for the night. While short notice, her parents were always happy to meet their daughter¡¯s friends. They even made pizza rolls.


    ¡°This circle is a hodgepodge of what I¡¯ve seen in visions and whatever scraps of arcane knowledge I¡¯ve dug up over the years held together by bubblegum and a dream. We have a snowball¡¯s chance in hell, but the alternative is to do nothing and hope The Brotherhood gets him before he gets us.¡± Kayla told the others.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather take my fate into my own hands. What¡¯s the next step?¡± Brayden asked.


    ¡°Now we shed the blood of those he seeks onto the circle.¡± Kayla said before proceeding to open a cut on her palm with a knife.


    The sibling quickly followed.


    When the last drop of blood landed on the circle it exploded with red light blinding the trio. When they opened their eyes again, they saw a shadow trapped inside a translucent red cylinder.


    ¡°Wowsers it actually worked.¡± Kayla said in awe.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think it would?!¡± Beverly shouted.


    With a handheld up in appeasement to his sister, ¡°Bev we need to focus on the fact that it did. What now Kayla?¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Now I make your lives hell, few have suffered like you will. Release me now and I will at least mitigate some small part of your suffering.¡± The shadow told the group.


    ¡°No, I do not believe that we will.¡± Brayden said before turning to Kayla. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± Kayla said, realizing how she had barely any idea of step one and even less of an idea for step two.


    *BANG*


    The shadow struck the wall caging him leaving several cracks spanning across it.


    ¡°Well think of something! he¡¯s gonna kill us!¡± Beverly shouted at Kayla.


    *BANG*


    ¡°Beverly not helping.¡± Brayden told his sister before turning to Kayla, grabbing her shoulders, and looking her directly in the eyes. ¡°Think. I believe in you. you can do this.¡±


    *BANG*


    Kayla yelped at that one.


    ¡°Blood, we need more blood to reinforce the barrier.¡± Kayla said before grabbing the previously discarded knife.


    Seeing the knife hovering over the inside of her forearm Brayden quickly interrupted, ¡°Give it to me. I¡¯m bigger and have more blood.¡±


    ¡°No, it has to be me. Seer blood is a lot more powerful and will buy you guys time to escape or think of something else.¡±


    *BANG*


    ¡°Uh guys. We don¡¯t have time for this martyr sh*t. We all contribute. live together or die together.¡± Beverly said while looking at the steadily growing cracks in the barrier.


    *BANG*


    They all yelped this time.


    Kayla was the first to draw a red line from her elbow to wrist. Beverly and Brayden soon followed. The streams all fell to the ground before snaking towards the barrier.


    The barrier quickly sealed all the cracks that the shadow had made.


    ¡°I WILL FEAST ON YOUR SCREAMS!!!!!¡± The shadow bellowed while slamming his fists on the wall separating them. The wall quickly strengthened, turning opaque and soundproof.


    ¡°Kayla not to rush you but you¡¯re now on a clock.¡± Brayden said before sliding down to the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s in the cards. The most we can do is trap him with our deaths long enough that anyone close enough to latch on to has died or forgotten.¡± Kayla said while sliding down to join Brayden in sitting on the ground.


    ¡°You can¡¯t just give up?!¡± Kayla shouted at the other two.


    Brayden turned his head to his sister, ¡°We¡¯re not giving up. We¡¯re redefining what victory looks like. Sometimes all you can do is turn a victory pyrrhic.¡±


    With that Beverly slid to the ground to join the others.


    They all sat there in silence staring at their death. At their victory. At their defeat. At a monster¡¯s coffin.


    Breaking the silence Kayla started talking, ¡°I was seven when I got my first vision. A vampire tearing out my aunt¡¯s throat. I cried for days. I cried even harder when I was told that she had died the previous night.¡±


    ¡°I lost my virginity to a total jerk. He had told me that he had loved me and being an idiot, I believed him.¡± Beverly said while not looking at either person.


    ¡°I had a secret girlfriend. She was a tornado in human form. She was everything I was not: confident, free, full of life¡­ happy. She opened up my world and when she died¡­ my world snapped shut again. Cancer. She never told me¡­ wanted to live her limited time without that hanging over her head. I wake up every day knowing that she would have used it better.¡± Brayden shared.


    Nobody said anything in comfort. That was not what any of them were looking for. They just wanted to tell someone something.


    After that they all just sat on the ground and stared at the red pillar lost in their thoughts.


    None of them noticed when a living ghillie suit entered the room. The figure covered in foliage waved his hands spreading tiny seeds over the trio.


    The seeds rapidly sprouted. The tiny vines worked themselves over to the trio¡¯s wounds before stitching them up. When the stitches were finished, they flashed with golden light and disappeared along with the wounds.


    The rapid healing along with the previous blood loss caused the kids to pass out.


    ¡°Sleep well.¡± The figure said while standing over the slumped bodies. he then stepped over them on the way to the barrier. When he reached it, he slid his finger along it causing the barrier to unravel. The shadow quickly tried to flee, but was restrained by a series of branches before it could move more than a couple of feet.


    The branches then twisted forcing the shadow to turn and head towards the botanical figure.


    ¡°What da¡­¡± the shadow started to say before the branches forced themselves inside his mouth forcing it open.


    ¡°No talking.¡± The figure said before pulling a bunch of broken shards bound together with a thin chain out of a starry wound in reality.


    The figure then held the shards in front of the shadow¡¯s open mouth. This was followed by a torrent of dark energy rushing out of the shadow¡¯s mouth into them. When that was done all that was left of the shadow known as the good doctor was a pile of black sludge full of faults and imperfections. Meanwhile the shards were now an amulet featuring a circular cloudy black gem.


    _


    Smoke


    ¡°You do not in fact want this smoke.¡±


    Rank: Low


    Primary Concept: Deception


    Secondary Concepts: Darkness, -


    Tertiary Concepts: -, -, -, -


    An amulet containing an improved version of a certain reality¡¯s mystical energy, Black Smoke.


    _


    The figure put the new amulet away inside the starry wound. He then whistled summoning his familiar. An eyeless raven flew in through the window before transforming into a strange beast. The ebony beast was canine except that it lacked both eyes and ears. Further differentiating it from other canines was a large star-like nose.


    _


    Bennett


    ¡°You reek of failure.¡±


    Rank: Medium


    Primary Concept: Consumption


    Secondary Concepts: Purity, Fault


    Tertiary Concepts: Defense, Stealth, Tracking, Sealing


    A loyal familiar whose primary purpose is as a hunter to its master


    _


    The beast quickly rushed over to the black sludge and devoured it.


    While his familiar was having its meal, the figure checked the trio¡¯s future out of curiosity. He ran his thumb over his bronze watch causing a flash of green to spread across the room


    _


    Time Piece


    ¡°Time is as always on my side.¡±


    Rank: Low


    Primary Concept: Time


    Secondary Concepts: -,-


    Tertiary Concepts: -,-,-,-


    A watch with limited control over time


    _


    After the flash faded, a green projection gave a sped-up version of the trio life. The trio stays close over the decades having bonded over this experience. Brayden becomes a high-power lawyer, Kayla a famous artist, and Beverly eventually joins Doctors Without Borders. Brayden and Kayla even end up together which made him happy.


    After both he and Bennett were done with their business, they left the scene.


    Artifacts:


    [Disparate Unity]


    [Smoke]


    [Bennett]


    [Time Piece]


    Materials:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]


    [Empowerment (Remnants)]


    [Frankenstein¡¯s Lightning (Remnants)]


    [Emotive Fire]


    [Emotive Ice]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship (Remnants)]


    [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]


    [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]

 V2CH32 Showcasing Spock

    ¡°Weapons check.¡± A behemoth of a man by the name of Raphael Rye called out to the other occupants of the armored vehicle¡¯s back area.


    ¡°Check.¡±


    ¡°Check.¡±


    ¡°Check¡±


    ¡°Check¡±


    ¡°Check¡±


    ¡°Ok everyone, our target of this glorious night is Jesse Cole. A man whose danger is only exceeded by his unpredictability. There is no telling what we are walking into, so heads on a swivel people. We go fast and we go hard. I want him waking up to saint peter. Is that understood?¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    The armored vehicle dropped off its passengers at the beginning of their target¡¯s long driveway before continuing onward. When it finally reached the front of the mansion, the large turret mounted on the roof swiveled around to face the house. It then proceeded to unleash a hailstorm of golden bullets that shredded the house.


    Before the turret could fire a second volley at the house a large muscular statue burst through one of its walls. The turret quickly focused a storm of bullets on the charging figure. The bullets slid off the figure¡¯s thick crystalline carapace like water off a duck¡¯s back. The figure hit the armored vehicle like a train would a soda can. Left much the same in its wake as well.


    The statue stood in the wreckage seemingly staring off into nothing for a few moments. The gigantic statue gleamed like a diamond in the moonlight showcasing its rough-hewn features and musculature.


    Its head suddenly snapped to the side and with eyes narrowed it focused on something in the distance. The statue hunched forward, and two waves traveled across his body. The iridescent one left human flesh in its wake before being immediately followed by a black and silver one that transfigured the flesh in a different direction.


    The new hunched form was supported by long arms that ended in steak knife-like claws that dug into the ground and digitigrade legs that matched. The figure was all but a shadow in the night due to the ebony shell that was wrapped around its lithe frame. Well, that would be the case if not for its head. For you see the figure¡¯s helmet was a tangled hurricane of silver blades that screamed their presence to the world.


    The instant the new form was completed the figure shot towards its destination.


    Within moments the lupine figure arrived in front of its uninvited guests, Raphael¡¯s team.


    ¡°Go set up. I¡¯ll keep the beast here.¡± Raphael told his men before charging the beast.


    With a tilt of the head, the beast charged right back, ignoring the scattering team.


    The two figures quickly reached each other. Before Raphael could react, the beast jumped onto him digging its hands into his shoulders, its feet into his thighs, and unfolded its head cyclone. In the next instant, the cyclone unleashed a sonic screech that hit Raphael¡¯s mind, body, and soul. The beast let go before the screech sent Raphael flying back into the metal fence encircling the property.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Standing up Raphael wiped the blood and organ fragments from his mouth with the back of his hand. He then proceeded to tear off his tattered shirt before charging back at the beast.


    The beast anchored itself to the ground with silver tendrils that threaded themselves through the ground like roots. The beast then unfolded and grew its head tendrils upward into a tree shaped structure. The branches started vibrating, unleashing a storm of sonic energy that shook everything surrounding them: air, dirt, trees¡­ organs.


    Raphael used Spirit to force his body to reach the beast and unleashed a devastating haymaker right into the beast¡¯s unprotected side. The beast¡¯s roots preventing it from dodging.


    Seeing the bladed tendrils start to swing at him, Raphael tried to back away. Unfortunately, he was too slow, the vibrating blades passed through his body like it was not even there leaving several large gashes across his torso.


    Raphael lit up with purple flames due to using Spirit to stop his body from collapsing. With the highest concentration located on his abdomen to keep his intestines from falling out.


    Using the time granted by Raphael fixing his body, the beast pulled back its roots and stood up. Well as much as the creature could at least.


    Its head then unfolded and wrapped around its body creating a silver headless knight with swords for fingers. The beast then rushed towards Raphael with its hands ready to tear him apart.


    Raphael squared up and prepared for the next round. When he went for a quick jab, the beast disappeared from in front of him and reappeared at his side. Before he could adjust the beast swatted him through the air.


    Raphael hit the ground like meteor and before he could get his head back on straight the beast appeared above him. The beast straightened its fingers into a spear that it promptly sent towards his chest.


    Raphael threw himself to the side but left his right arm where he was.


    He stopped the bleeding with Spirit, but it was of little use. The beast was on him in an instant.


    The beast grabbed his ribcage with one hand and his pelvis with other. Realizing what was about to happen Raphael infused his body with Spirit in hopes of keeping his body together.


    It was of little use though, the beast lifted Raphael above its head and then separated its hands, taking their respective sides with them.


    Covered in the blood of its victim, the beast howled in victory.


    After reveling in its victory for a few moments, the beast set off for those that remained.


    The beast reached the clearing where it had tracked the remaining members of the team. No sooner had the beast reached the center of the clearing than the golden shrapnel from exploded claymores and the golden bullets from the remaining members¡¯ artillery flew towards it.


    The team watching the smoke and fire with bated breath, waiting to see if they had succeeded. When the large morbidly obese man covered in gaping maws appeared swallowing said smoke and dust, they knew that they had failed.


    The man transformed into another creature with two waves of energy, one blindingly white and the other a vibrant orange. The new creature was covered in a cloak of molten metal feathers and a large bird skull shaped helmet.


    Before the team could unleash a new volley of golden bullets, the creature spun sending its feather flying in every direction. The lucky ones only had mostly identifiable bodies, most were reduced to cinders and cooked meat.


    Seeing that everyone was dead a wave of orange energy flowed across the avian form leaving what looked like a regular person in its wake.


    The man¡¯s only abnormal traits were his multicolored hair and eyes.


    The man then started walking back towards his house while thanking his foresight of getting a haunted one. It would not only save him on clean up by eating all the remains, it would use said remains to repair itself saving him from that as well.


    Artifacts:


    [Disparate Unity]


    [Smoke]


    [Bennett]


    [Time Piece]


    Materials:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]


    [Empowerment (Remnants)]


    [Frankenstein¡¯s Lightning (Remnants)]


    [Emotive Fire]


    [Emotive Ice]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship (Remnants)]


    [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]


    [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]

 V2CH33 Life: For Better Or Worse

    Do you know what I love about life? It¡¯s that if you open yourself up to the world, it will open itself up in return, for better or worse.


    Mourning Olivia was a strange bittersweet experience. I felt nothing the entire time I knew her due to my stint in unreality. Our relationship could be defined as me going through the motions of being someone, something, I no longer was. As much as I love all my abilities and as much as I try, I will never truly be human again.


    They say all magic comes at a price; I thought for a while that my ever-encompassing apathy was the price. I was wrong, for how can one experience the cost if they are indifferent to it. it is only after she died that I realized the cost, I will forever be outside reality. Be outside a normal human life. Even if I regain a human body, it will be an eternal one. I had exchanged a normal human life for every other possible one.


    So, I did not really mourn a friend. I mourned the possibility of what we could have become, what we could have experienced together. The possibility of what any relationship I form could have become.


    I did eventually come to terms with it though. Olivia had kept whatever goodness existed in my husk of a heart from rotting. While I will never be the good man she thought I could become, I will always carry that goodness with me. I had accepted that was all our friendship was meant to be.


    That led me to accept the fact that all my relationships will be but chapters in my book even if I fill the other¡¯s. I can at least make those chapters good ones.


    You might be wondering why I am having these thoughts, I certainly would at least. The reason lay dead at my feet. For better or worse indeed.


    Claire is¡­ was a friend. I would even go so far as to say a close friend.


    Claire was the granddaughter of Aphrodite and Hercules. She had inherited a sliver of divinity from both, beauty from Aphrodite and strength from Hercules. She could have used either in a myriad of self-serving ways, but instead she opened an affordable gym. She used her divinity to draw out the beauty and strength of all who worked towards either in her pseudo-temple.


    She quickly became a pillar of the community due to her extensive philanthropic efforts. She gave free memberships to at risk youths, battered women, and anyone else she thought could use it. She even opened her gym to the homeless during bad weather conditions.


    In short, she was a way better person than me.


    I met her when I signed up for some person training. She would invest even more of her divinities in her private clients, that¡¯s how she kept the lights on. My body was still in rough shape from my fight with Little Frankie, that¡¯s what I call him in my head at least.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Her divinities not only fixed up my appearance, but they also helped my insides get a bit more structured. Make no mistake, my insides are still a horror show and I¡¯m in perpetual agony. However, it was now more like a bad tooth ache than a dull rusty knife being run across my insides. I even got my hair back, even though it now looked like a unicorn threw up in it.


    It was not all her help that made me like her. It was her simple kindness. Olivia was a warrior of righteousness; she defended humanity with her life and her death. She showed me humanity¡¯s strength, resilience, and willingness to sacrifice. Clarie showed me humanity¡¯s kindness. She helped her fellow man for no other reason than that she could. I once saw her walk home in winter without a jacket because she gave it to another who needed it more.


    While she may have sounded like a saint floating above the earth, what made me her friend was that she wasn¡¯t. She swore like a sailor, drank like a drunkard, and gave her love freely. She once spent the entire weekend crying on my couch eating ice cream, because she found out that man she went on two dates with was married. I like to think that I enjoy life, but she showed me that I could never enjoy it like she could. She knew that even as a demigod her time was limited, so she wanted to stuff as much life into it as she could.


    So, suffice to say when I felt our karmic tie sever, I ran to her as quickly as I could.


    When I arrived, it was to sirens and flashing lights. I quickly ducked under the police before being stopped by one of the officers at the scene.


    ¡°Sir this is an active crime scene. Please step back over the tape.¡±


    Pulling out my badge and showing it to the officer, ¡°Agent Jesse Cole and this is my partner, Agent Bennett Flint.¡±


    The officer took in our appearances. Me with my fluorescent tie-dye hair and Bennett¡¯s human form with its mane made up of long curly hair and a beard.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m gonna have to talk to the sarge about this.¡± The officer said to us before walking away.


    With my badge and liberal use of Smoke I was able to take over the case, but I was unsure if I wanted it. if I wanted to deal with why she had died, that she had died.


    ¡°What happened to you.¡± I said talking to myself while running my hand through her hair.


    With a flash of green light from Time Piece, I found out.


    Artifacts:


    [Disparate Unity]


    [Smoke]


    [Bennett]


    [Time Piece]


    Materials:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]


    [Empowerment (Remnants)]


    [Frankenstein¡¯s Lightning (Remnants)]


    [Emotive Fire]


    [Emotive Ice]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship (Remnants)]


    [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]


    [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]

 V2CH34 Taking The Gold

    Last night Claire was in that weird office of hers that overlooked the gym. It was the second of a glass pillar in the center of her gym with the first being an open space with mats where she saw clients. She said she liked to overlook her domain and that it allowed her to see trouble coming a mile off.


    So, when she saw the group coming towards her, she knew trouble had come knocking. The head jackal was a real piece of work named Jeff Frugel. He liked to call himself a people person, others used the word trafficker. If there was a trade that pedaled flesh, he was somehow involved. Prostitution, modern day gladiatorial battles, organs, illegal adoptions, groceries, and those were the ones he put on his business card. So, suffice to say when he graced your doorstep you wished it was the plague.


    Following him like a bad stink was a pair of particularly large and ugly cyclops. All fat and distorted muscle those two were. They looked just like their boss; thugs who thought a cheap suit could cover their savagery.


    Their footsteps rang out throughout the empty gym like a bell tolling.


    Eventually they reached the top of the spiral staircase that wrapped around the first floor of her office.


    ¡°I hope I am not bothering you, Miss Lee.¡± Jeff said with a cat who ate the canary worming its way across his face.


    Looking up from her computer, ¡°Unfortunately, like all the other woman you have ever met that is simply not the case.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha. You¡¯re a funny one, Miss Lee. I like that, it makes what I am about to say all the sweeter.¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t keep me in suspense, spit it out. Though I know that will be a change of pace for a voracious guy like you.¡± Claire said with a smirk.


    ¡°I got paid to arrange a match between you and another party. To preempt your question, you are going to do it because if you do not, all those little kiddies that frequent this place¡­ well let us just say they will not be nearly as frequently. If ever.¡± Jeff told the woman with a smirk of his own.


    With a subtle arch of the brow, ¡°And what¡¯s stopping me from beating you to death right here in my office. Don¡¯t think for a second that tweedle dee and dum will be anything but your companions in the River Styx.¡±


    ¡°Now that is valid question¡± Jeff stated with a nod, ¡°It could be that you are business minded like me. You know that killing me will achieve nothing but angering all my clients and my client will just send someone else just like me with a similar offer. However, the answer is that I already have several of the aforementioned kiddies in my possession and if my men do not get a call in the next ten minutes¡­ well let¡¯s just say they better hope they grow gills.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can convince you to make that call.¡± Claire told the man with a glare.


    ¡°of that I am sure¡­ but in the next ten minutes¡± *tsk*¡±that I just do not see.¡±


    ¡°Olympus will not stand for this.¡± Claire said while rising from her seat and grabbing her gym bag.


    ¡°Somehow I do not see that either¡±


    It was only later when she entered the ring and saw her opponent that she knew what gave a worm like Jeff Frugel the courage to threaten a Greek demigoddess. Another one.


    ***


    I stopped watching there. I got enough information, I did not have to see what came next.


    Standing up I took out my phone and dialed a number.


    After the call was picked up, ¡°Bruno, I need you to find me where I can find Jeff Frugel and a demigoddess of Nike.¡±


    ¡°It will be done, my liege.¡± Said a deep rumbling voice on the other end before hanging up.


    ¡°Bennett, you stay here with the scene. I¡¯m gonna go with the body to stop any questions on the nature of the body.¡± I told my familiar and got a nod in response.


    As they were loading up the body, I hopped in the back to be with my friend on her final journey in the mortal plane.


    ***


    The very next night saw Bennett and I arrive at the club where Jeff ran his fights, The Colosseum. Let it never be said that Jeff wasn¡¯t original. One thing I did like about the place is that Jeff did not try to cover up anything with a veneer of sophistication. It was an ugly dirty warehouse located on an ugly and dirty street.


    We were stopped from walking right in by the cyclops acting as bouncer.


    ¡°Back of the line.¡± The smaller man acting as the cyclops¡¯ brain told us while pointing in said direction.


    ¡°Talent doesn¡¯t wait in line.¡± I said with a smirk. I know. what a douche thing to say but I wanted to make an impression. I wanted to get the higher ups attention. Most of all I did not want to wait in line.


    Looking us up and down the man saw whatever he was looking for, ¡°alright, go to the right when you enter and see Grace to register. I do not want to hear that I was lied to.¡±


    ¡°Righty oh good fella¡± I said with a mocking salute while walking past him.


    After turning right and walking through a hallway covered in fast food wrappers, used needles and excrement I arrived at a gated counter with a woman with about five pounds of metal in her face on the other side.


    With friendly smile, ¡°I am here to register in this fine establishment.¡±


    ¡°What does your friend want to be called?¡± the woman queried in a monotone voice.


    ¡°Oh, you are mistaken fair maiden, tis I who wants to register.¡±


    The woman looked over the two of us. Me looking like I just exited a rave with my fluorescent hair and baggy clothes that hid all the muscle on my slim frame. Bennett a bear of a man with his muscles straining the brown dress shirt he wore.


    ¡°Super. What do you want to be called?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go with Hieroglyph.¡±


    ¡°Great. Well wait for someone to come get you Hieroglyph.¡± The woman said before shooing us away.


    We then proceeded to the bar. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the next part of my plan to start.


    ¡°Hey Twink-le me elmo get out of the way so I can get with that thick slab of man meat next to you.¡± a young petite Asian woman with colorful blue and pink hair placed in buns said while pushing me out of the way.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°My my Louise, what will Bruno think when he hears about you sexually harassing poor sweet Bennett.¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°First, never call me that awful name. Second, Bruno knows who he¡¯s with. He can¡¯t send me off on my own hungry and not expect that I sample some of the tasty food I find along the way.¡± Loui¡­ Lulu said while hanging off Bennett¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Not that I don¡¯t enjoy our chats, but why are you here?¡±


    Turning her face towards me, ¡°Bruno is out of town helping Gwen deal with some territorial disputes and he wanted someone on the ground that knew the players.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s causing trouble in Roanoke?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± was all Lulu got out before being interrupted.


    ¡°Hieroglyph, you¡¯re up. Come with me.¡± a man said after tapping me on the shoulder.


    I followed the man to one of the locker rooms to get ready. I had prepared a pair of trunks and gloves both colored in bronze and brown made from some gladiator armor I picked up a while ago. I figured that I should fit the theme. Shortly after I got ready, I was called into the ring.


    ***


    An announcer voice boomed over the brightly lit arena located in the center of a crowd of revelers, ¡°LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! OUR NEXT FIGHT IS BETWEEN THE VETERAN FIGHTER MINO-SCAR!!!¡±


    Hearing his name, a towering black minotaur in bright red trunks raised his hands to hype up the crowd and judging by the wave of cheers that followed, it worked.


    ¡°VERSUS THE NEWCOMER HIEROGLYPH!!!¡±


    Hieroglyph was the opposite of his opponent in many ways. He was a colorful art piece with the rainbow mishmash hair and what looked like tattoos to the minotaur¡¯s unadorned jet-black body. The minotaur was a bull through and through, all brutish power, while Hieroglyph resembled a snake, muscle and death wrapped around a thin frame.


    ¡°ALL RIGHT MEN, LET¡¯S HAVE A DIRTY BLOODY FIGHT. I WANT TO SEE EYE GOUGES, HITS UNDER THE BELT, BITING, AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF!!! ARE YOU RIGHT?!?¡±


    Both men nodded at that.


    ¡°THEN KILL EACH OTHER!!!¡±


    And with that the minotaur was off. He charged headfirst at his opponent.


    When the minotaur was about to collide with his opponent, Hieroglyph grabbed him by the horns. They slid back a couple of feet before stopping. Mino-scar tried to free his horns from his opponent¡¯s grip by shaking its head, but the minotaur could not even move its head.


    The audience saw something strange as this struggle went on, Mino-scar was icing over. A black hoarfrost was spreading across the creature¡¯s large frame. While this was happening, hidden by that same large frame, vibrant blue line radiated from an amulet on Hieroglyph¡¯s chest.


    The jet-black amulet hanging off a string of beads seemingly made from the night sky featured a deer skull made into a set of scales.


    _


    Uneven Trade


    ¡°Placing our hands on the scales since 1923¡±


    Rank: Medium


    Primary Concept: Consumption


    Secondary Concepts: Famine, Bounty


    Tertiary Concepts: Fire, Ice, Siphoning, Bestowal


    An amulet granting the wearer the ability of conceptual transference


    _


    Hieroglyph siphoned all the minotaur¡¯s strength and durability, while ¡°bestowing¡± it with all his weakness and fragility.


    The crowd watched in silence as over the course of thirty seconds Mino-scar was turned into an ice sculpture. When the process was done Hieroglyph broke off its head and threw it through the rest of the sculpture, breaking it in the process. The crowd went rabid.


    ¡°AND THERE WE HAVE IT PEOPLE!!! THE SAVAGE MINO-SCAR HAS BEEN SLAIN BY OUR MODERN DAY THESEUS, HIEROGLYPH!!!!¡±


    Before he could be ushered from the arena, Hieroglyph announced to the crowd, ¡°Victoria, daughter of Nike, I challenge you now before all these people to a fight only ending in one of our deaths. Now show these people whether or not you¡¯re a coward!¡±


    ¡°You come into my club, kill one of my top earners, and now you have the nerve to make demands of me?!¡± Jeff roared through the ring speakers.


    ¡°Jeffy old boy, you and I both know that the second I challenged a daughter of the goddess of victory in a recognized place of competition that she has no choice but to accept. We also know that you would never deny an Olympus born their honor. What happens between the two of us at a later date is something we can discuss on said date, but right here and now you have no choice other than to allow the fight to go forward.¡±


    ¡°Fine, get this punk his fight.¡± Jeff growled.


    Hieroglyph did not have to wait long for his opponent. Victoria entered the ring after about five minutes.


    It was hard to say which Victoria had more of curves or muscle. What is easy to say is that she had a thing for gold. From her buzzcut to her fighting attire, she was golden from head to toe.


    _


    Victoria


    ¡°I love goooooold¡±


    Grade B


    _


    ¡°I do not know why you desire death so much, but in infinite kindness I will grant it.¡± Victoria said before charging her opponent surrounded by an aura of gold.


    Victoria quickly reached her opponent and unleashed a devastating haymaker. Right when her blow was about to land her aura flickered. Hieroglyph quickly bobbed and launched a jab right into her ribs.


    Victoria clutched the area and acted like she got shot.


    With a smirk, ¡°First time in a fair fight?¡±


    Victoria was her mother¡¯s daughter and inherited a sliver of her divinity. If a divinity of the sea allowed one to control water, a divinity of victory allowed one to win. Victoria was just fast enough, just strong enough, just smart enough to win. The only thing is that Hieroglyph drained all that as soon as she got close.


    It¡¯s a testament to the artifact that Uneven Trade could counter divinity, even if only a sliver. That was due to the fact that out of all his artifacts Uneven Trade had the potential to ascend given enough time and use. Both combatants had the seeds of something greater that canceled each other out.


    The result was a fight that could go either way. Hieroglyph had greater skill and physicality. Victoria had gold infused gloves. While that might not sound too important, it was.


    While not as skilled as her opponent, Victoria was no slouch and gave almost as good as she got and each of those gold infused blows left burn marks on Hieroglyph¡¯s body.


    Victoria had another thing going for her, Hieroglyph¡¯s left shoulder. She did not know how he got it or what exactly it was, but locating on his left shoulder was a greenish purplish black circle. What she did know was that Hieroglyph would abandon anything else to protect it.


    Eventually though, Victoria got her shot at that mark. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as right when the finishing blow was about to land a woman wrapped up in the audience¡¯s excitement said something under her breath.


    ¡°My king, I give my tribute to thee.¡±


    With those words the excitement of the crowd crackled towards Hieroglyph¡¯s body. surrounded by yellow lightning Hieroglyph was able to dodge the killing blow, spin around, and launched his elbow into the side of Victoria¡¯s head. The carbonized head was promptly detached from the body and crashed into the fences surrounding the ring.


    ¡°AND IN A SHOCKING UPSET VICTORIOUS VICTORIA HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN FROM HER THRONE!!! HIEROGLYPH IS OUR NEW CHAMPION!!!!!!!¡±


    After the announcement, Hieroglyph nodded his head at a large man in the crowd.


    ***


    ¡°F*ck. F*ck. F*ck. Why couldn¡¯t that dumb b*tch win. It¡¯s her entire f*cking purpose. Now I gotta explain to Olympus why there are two dead demigoddesses in my ring. F*CK!!!¡± Jeff rambled while rushing out of the building.


    He was turning out of the alley when he bumped into someone and was sent to the ground.


    ¡°Hey! watch where you¡¯r¡­¡± Jeff started to shout from the ground before looking up at the figure he crashed into.


    The man was a mountain of muscle practically bursting from his dress clothes. The figure looked down at him over their sunglasses revealing two pools of black sludge where their eyes should have been.


    Looking around and not seeing any of his employees, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It was my fault. Let me repay you somehow later.¡±


    The figure just continued to look at Jeff in silence. They then reached up and grabbed their bolo tie featuring a large brown piece of jasper set into a black metallic piece. When they ran their thumb over the jasper, a flood of blackish sludge poured out and over Jeff.


    When the sludge reached the ground, all that was left was a clear crystal skeleton and a puddle of the black goo.


    The figure reached down and grabbed both before exiting the alley to get back to their master.


    Artifacts:


    [Disparate Unity]


    [Smoke]


    [Bennett]


    [Time Piece]


    [Uneven Trade]


    Materials:


    [Nascent Energy Vampire Progenitor Mantle (Remnants)]


    [Olivia¡¯s Friendship (Remnants)]


    [Beastly Heart (Remnants)]


    [Murder Weapon (Remnants)]


    [Various Utility Artifacts]


    [Various Articles Of Clothing]


    [Death Dogtags]