《Monster Forge - A Monster Collecting LitRPG》 Ch. 1 - Crash Landing The flashing of warning lights and the shake of atmospheric entry woke me. My head pounded, and I did not know where I was. A helpful voice reminded me, ¡°NOW ENTERING ATMOSPHERE. CONSCIOUSNESS SUPPRESSION: RELEASED. PREPARE YOURSELF, VOLUNTEER.¡± My eyes felt heavy and clogged with mucus. Ugh, fuck. Was the only thought going through my head. How long had I been unconscious? It felt like months. Something was covering my face¡ªan oppressive pressure that only added to my discomfort. Goggles and a mask of some sort. I tried to take them off, but my arms were bound. Legs too. My scream was muffled, and I nearly gagged from the pain of it. Something was in my throat. It felt like a rope of razors, digging in with every panicked breath. I closed my eyes again and took in a long, painful breath. Calm down. I told myself. You expected this. I looked at my environment. It was small, like a broom closet. In front of my face was a small window. If I could have gasped, I would have. I saw a vast, green landscape made up of clear, distinct shapes. The blue water of an ocean, shining beaches. Patches of jungle, woods, grasslands. A paradise pieced together out of order. The landscape swiftly became the ground, and I couldn¡¯t help but start to panic about the speed I was going. Not that I could do anything about it. There was a roar of noise from below me. Rockets to slow my descent. The pod became warm, then hot¡ªalmost unbearably hot. A red and orange glow obscured the ground that was quickly rising to meet me. The temperature kept rising. And then¡ªcrash. My body screamed. I was jolted, shaken. If it wasn¡¯t for these restraints, my body would have shattered. ¡°LANDING SUCCESSFUL. FORCE DISTRIBUTION SUCCESSFUL. RELEASE IMMINENT.¡± The voice sounded like a dozen voices speaking together with a mechanical edge to it. With a hiss of releasing pressure, the door to the pod popped open. Water poured into the pod. It was steaming hot and quickly reached my knees. My limbs unlocked, and I immediately fumbled with the mask. My limbs shook with weakness. The water continued to rush in, climbing to my waist. Ripping the mask off my face was painful. A long plastic tube pulled from my throat. "REMINDER: YOU HAVE BEEN PROVIDED BASIC SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT. ONE MONTH OF SURVIVAL REMOVES ONE YEAR FROM YOUR SENTENCE. TIME REMAINING: 180 YEARS." The door was heavy, but I managed to collapse through it into waist-deep water. My head went under, and I tasted it. Salt. A sea. I grabbed onto my pod for support. It wasn¡¯t sinking. Luckily, I landed in shallow water. After catching my breath, I searched the pod. There wasn¡¯t much¡ªa simple mask and tube connected to some system above, the harness I was clamped into. But behind the harness was a small pack. Too exhausted to be excited, I grabbed it. I was expecting at most a multi-tool or a knife. It was attached to the pod by simple clips, easy to remove even with my shaking fingers. Turning toward the shore, something caught my eye: a glint of light in the water. It was moving towards me, fast, slicing through the water like a fish. It darted past me, brushing against my leg with a cold, faint sensation. I saw red blood drift into the water before the pain hit me. Stinging pain radiated from my leg. Shit, shit, shit! I thought. I just started this new, exciting chapter of my life, and it was already in danger. A cut this deep to the leg can be life-threatening. The fish, or whatever it was, had turned around. Almost lazily, it drifted in and out of the blood cloud. I got a decent look at it through the clear water. It was like an eel. Maybe three feet long. Two long bright silver razors ran down its top and bottom. It didn¡¯t just swim through the water but cut through it like a knife. While it feasted¡ªI assumed it was feasting¡ªon my blood, I crawled towards the shore. My leg screamed with pain. With tears welling in my eyes, I ripped off a part of my shirt. I just now realized I was wearing a simple shirt, thick pants, and 3D-printed boots. The pants likely saved me from losing the entire leg. Luckily, I knew some basic first aid. I tied a strip of my shirt to the wound, tightening it with some driftwood nearby. I just lay there a moment. It¡¯s amazing how exhausting being released from a medically induced coma and then trying to avoid drowning can be. I rolled over and vomited. My body hurt, a lot. My throat was raw, body felt weak and on the verge of death, my leg stung, and the light of the sun felt blinding.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Despite my situation, I couldn¡¯t just sit here, out in the open. 180 years. Or, if I survived, 180 months¡ª15 years on this planet. Giving up here would probably be easier. Crawl back into the sea and let that thing finish the job. But, no. I was only guilty of loyalty to my people. I would make it off this planet. Fueled by my anger, I shoved myself out of view, into the dense foliage. They wouldn¡¯t break me¡ªnot here, not like this. Not yet, at least. Finally, I managed to catch my breath, stopped heaving, and just lay there. What had happened? Where was I? Slowly, it came back to me. I was imprisoned. All rights stripped from me, as if I had any to begin with, and sentenced to a life of slavery. In prison, I¡¯d been given the option to be sent to a dangerous planet where I¡¯d be monitored constantly. Every month here would reduce one year from my ridiculously long prison sentence. They didn¡¯t tell me why they wanted to drop convicted criminals on this planet so badly. I took the deal anyway. I could see the smoke trail from my pod in the sky¡­ and five others. Six pods in total. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was excited or terrified that there were others. The sky was blue and calming. My eyes drifted closed. ¡°No!¡± I told myself. Pushing myself up on shaky limbs, I forced myself to look around me. Nothing was in sight, but that didn¡¯t guarantee anything. Shelter, water, protection, then food. Those were my priorities. After tending to my leg, of course. I didn¡¯t even want to check how bad it really was. I did anyway. The cut was clean but deep. Stopping the bleeding wasn¡¯t as big of a problem as I feared. Maybe I could make it through. Hopefully, the pack would have some needle and thread. I quickly took inventory of what I had. The pack itself was small but well designed. Waterproof, with separate pouches and straps to wear it on my back. I noted each clip had a small whistle built in. Inside, two large objects took up most of the room¡ªbrick-sized blocks in foil wrapping. I placed those to the side. A sturdy knife was tucked into the side. The handle felt lighter than it should, and I realized I could unscrew the bottom of the handle. Inside was about a dozen waterproof matches. The pack also contained three metal containers, each about three inches tall and one inch wide, with a release pin and a nozzle. I nearly dropped them, thinking they were grenades, but a plastic wrap around each had bright writing: Emergency Nexocite Medical Spray. Nexocite. I wasn¡¯t sure what that meant¡ªmaybe a company that made them? There were simple instructions on the back. 1. Clean wound. 2. Pull pin from the ENMS while pointing directly at the wound. 3. Allow spray to fully cover the wound. 4. Let ENMS foam sit, undisturbed, for at least one hour. 5. Remove excess foam and wash wound. Perfect. I had no idea what this stuff was, but I couldn¡¯t pass up an opportunity like this. Using another bit of my shirt, I removed as much sand and dirt as I could from the cut. My leg stung as I peeled away the soaked bandage. Blood oozed out. Well, here goes nothing. I pointed the spray tip at the wound, a good six inches away, and pulled the pin. A silver liquid exploded from the nozzle, cold as ice. I did my best to cover the cut, watching as the initial burst slowed to a steady spray. The foam was more like metal¡ªsticky, mercury-like. It moved on its own, smoothing itself over my leg as if it had a mind of its own. It reminded me of moss or fungus creeping over a log. I shivered, skin crawling. Satisfied I wasn¡¯t going to die immediately, I turned my attention back to the pack. I examined the bricks first. They were wrapped in pure silver packaging, with no writing. Each was about two pounds. I decided to open one. Inside was, well, a brick¡ªa compressed gray matter mixed with brown flecks. I suspected what it was. A quick sniff confirmed it: oats and sesame. Yup, food. I took a tentative bite. Once I bit through the structure, it crumbled in my mouth, like dense oatmeal with a faint medicinal taste. Bland and dry. I was ravenously hungry but only ate about an eighth of the bar. The food bar was surprisingly filling. While I chewed, I kept rifling around in my bag. Some cord, a water filter, a collapsible canteen, and an emergency blanket. Handy stuff. I nearly choked as a roar echoed from somewhere in the jungle. My blood ran cold. Whatever it was, it was big but distant. Feeling exposed, I crawled towards a small nook made of tree roots and waited. Only another half hour was all I could stand. During that time, my leg flashed between a cold and itchy sensation. I envisioned the metal, moss-like material oozing into my body. The foam had dried into curling little patches of dull metal. Wiping them away was like peeling off old scabs. The cut was completely gone. It didn¡¯t even hurt. It was as if I¡¯d never been cut at all. Leaning closer, I could see a thin silver line running across my leg. Weird. But it was time to get moving. Shelter, water, safety. The basic rules of survival. I¡¯d need all of them if I wanted to last through the night. Ch. 2 - Jungle Exploration I couldn¡¯t just walk straight into the jungle. It was simply too thick. Instead, I decided to hike down the beach, keeping an eye out for¡­ well, anything. After a while, I came upon a small stream flowing into the sea and used the opportunity to filter some water into my canteen. I¡¯d try to boil it later if possible. For now, I still felt hydrated from whatever they¡¯d pumped into me in hibernation, though my body was noticeably weaker. However long I¡¯d been under, it had left me feeling hollowed out, like I was missing pieces of myself. The jungle was strange. Not like the jungles back on my home planet. The trees were towering, ancient¡ªeasily hundreds of years old. They seemed to just appear at the edge of the beach, as if a child¡¯s drawing of a map had come to life. At ten or fifteen feet up, the trees started sprouting limbs. Yellow fruits drooped down in bulbous clusters, hopefully edible, though I didn¡¯t dare risk it yet. Beneath these giants, smaller trees struggled to survive, their branches choked by bigger competitors. The ground was blanketed with ferns, mosses, and other dense plants. I could push through, but without knowing what was poisonous, I didn¡¯t take the chance. Eventually, I found an opening¡ªa path, maybe a game trail. I slipped in, senses on high alert. The path was lined with broken branches, fallen trees, and deep gouges in the mud. Whatever had formed this trail was big. Very big. Probably whatever had made that roaring sound earlier. The heat was relentless. Sticky sweat trickled down my neck, and the insects buzzing around me were a constant irritation. I didn¡¯t recognize any of them, which meant I had no idea what was venomous. I did my best to move quietly, gripping my knife tightly in one hand. I was no master of stealth, but I wasn¡¯t taking any chances. The jungle was dark. Not so dark to make it impossible to see, but dark enough to make every shadow look threatening. After an hour of cautious exploration, sudden movement caught my eye. I ducked instinctively as something smashed into a nearby tree and burst open, leaving a wet spot. Whatever threw it moved, a flash of bone-white limbs disappearing into the branches above. My adrenaline spiked, and I bolted. The creature didn¡¯t like that. I heard it rustling through the trees, following me, fast and agile. I ducked as another object whizzed past¡ªa stone this time. Then, something heavy landed on my shoulder, and I tumbled to the ground. Thin, hard arms latched onto my face, my throat, my hair. Too many tiny hands pulled and twisted, claws digging in. It screeched, a shrill sound that pierced my ears. My vision swam as we wrestled in the mud, its thin arms tightening around my neck. Get off me! Desperation took over. I twisted onto my side, swinging my knife blindly. I felt it connect with something hard, briefly lodging in place. The creature howled in pain, its grip loosening, and scrambled off me. Gasping, I rolled over to get a look at it. A skeletal monster stood before. Though small, its glowing red eye instilled in me dread. I focused on it, getting a clearer image of what had attacked me. It was like a monkey stripped to its bones, with four spindly arms and a body sheathed in ivory-like armor. The plates gave it the look of a skeleton. Its face was a hairless skull, with pink, raw flesh where the joints connected. Black blood oozed from one of its eyes¡ª deep sockets that glowed faintly red. I must have hit it there. Serves it right. I scrambled to my feet, ready to fight. The creature looked at me, then stood tall, maybe two and a half feet, and slowly lifted all four arms. It bared its chest and screeched¡ªa challenge. Fine. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I yelled, stepping forward and roaring back.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. That was apparently all the courage it had. The little monster spun around and dashed off into the jungle, leaving me alone with my heart hammering in my chest. I was only bruised and scratched, but that thing had made one thing clear¡ªI was prey here, and the jungle was watching. Paranoia filled every step of my journey. I kept glancing up and around, half-expecting the monster¡ªor something worse¡ªto appear at any moment. So much so, I almost walked right past the cave. It was strange, like a massive boulder balanced on top of the earth, not truly part of it. A shallow hollow carved into one side formed a natural shelter, shielded by an overhanging slab of rock. Silver veins of metal threaded through the stone, catching the light and pulsing faintly. The entire structure seemed¡­ out of place, as if someone had put it here on purpose. Something else felt off about it. I circled the boulder, examining it from all sides. Piles of stones lay around the cave, scattered like the remnants of an old camp or shrine. The silence weighed heavily, but seeing nothing dangerous, I ventured inside. The floor was strewn with loose gravel, but it was empty. Room enough for three adults to sleep comfortably. I should have questioned why nothing else had claimed this as home, but I was too exhausted to care. I covered the entrance as best I could, cleared a space to lie down, and used my pack as a pillow. I was asleep in a moment. When I woke, bright light was streaming in the cracks in my makeshift camouflage. I ate a piece of the meal bar for breakfast, washing it down with water from my canteen. The filter left a chemical aftertaste, but it was better than dying of thirst. After that, I got to work. Over the next few days, I began setting up my camp. I rigged simple traps around the entrance¡ªstones balanced on sticks that would crush anything small enough to scavenge the bait. Crude, but effective. Back home, I¡¯d learned these tricks from my father; now, they were the only thing keeping me from starvation. I fashioned a spear out of my knife, binding it to a sturdy branch with some cord, and even made a fish trap in a nearby stream. The local creatures¡ªsquirrel-like animals and odd-looking birds¡ªweren¡¯t half bad when roasted over a fire. But I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of being watched. The one-eyed monkey had been shadowing me for days, peering from the trees before darting away. It didn¡¯t attack, just observed, as if waiting for me to drop my guard. And judging by the occasional distant roar, it might have been waiting for something bigger to kill me so it could scavenge the remains. I kept reminding myself that this wasn¡¯t my territory. The jungle was alive in ways I couldn¡¯t understand, and I felt like an intruder with every step I took. My goal was to gather enough food for an extended trip. I needed to explore further, to learn and understand my place in this environment. One day, the dynamic between the one-eyed monkey and me shifted. The one-eyed monkey emerged from the underbrush, holding a stick. No¡ªnot a stick. A spear, sharpened to a deadly point. My stomach turned as it lifted the weapon, pointing it toward me in a silent warning. How intelligent was this thing? And how many more were there? I suddenly had the unsettling suspicion that I hadn¡¯t been seeing just one monkey all this time. Rather than attacking like I expected, it simply walked away. Was it a warning? A threat? I had no idea, but it scared the hell out of me. I decided this was my last day in this territory. That night, as I lay in the cave, something else caught my eye. The silver ore in the stone seemed to converge at a single point, a circular hollow in the rock. It looked like something had been removed from the cave, leaving behind a faint network of silver strands. I had no idea what it meant, but I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that this place held secrets beyond my understanding. The next morning, I packed food, water, and my tools, casting one last glance at the cave. The silver veins gleamed faintly in the early light, as if watching me leave. Whatever mysteries this planet held, I wasn¡¯t going to find them by staying put. It was time to push deeper into the unknown. Ch. 3 - My First Companion BOND SUCCESSFUL. PULSE HOUND DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Beast LEVEL: Hatchling 25% HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 6 STATUS: Bonded BOND: 40% SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: WOULD YOU LIKE TO DESIGNATE WEAPON? SPEAK THE DESIGNATION OF THE WEAPON OR SPEAK ¡°HELP¡± FOR MORE INFORMATION. THE DESIGNATION OF YOUR NEWLY BONDED NEXOCITE WEAPON IS YOUR PERSONAL CALL FOR THIS WEAPON. IT IS WHAT WILL BE USED TO DISTINGUISH YOUR NEXOCITE WEAPONS AS WELL AS TO ISSUE VERBAL ORDERS TO YOUR NEXOCITE WEAPON. YOUR NEXOCITE WEAPON WILL RESPOND TO THIS DESIGNATION WHEN USED BY OTHERS, BUT IT WILL ONLY FOLLOW ORDERS OF ITS OWNER. SPEAK THE DESIGNATION NOW OR USE A COMPATIBLE DEVICE TO TYPE YOUR RESPONSE. THE NEXOCITE WEAPON HAS BEEN DESIGNATED, ¡°Uhking¡±. IS THIS CORRECT? PLEASE SPEAK THE DESIGNATION NOW OR USE A COMPATIBLE DEVICE TO TYPE YOUR RESPONSE. THE NEXOCITE WEAPON HAS BEEN DESIGNATED ¡°King¡±, IS THIS CORRECT? This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Ch. 4 - Rivals and Alphas SKELKY DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Warrior LEVEL: Hatchling 90% HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 5 STATUS: Wild SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: THIS WEAPON MAY BE BONDED. PRINSAUR DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Mountain Primal LEVEL: 26 HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 5 STATUS: Wild SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: THIS WEAPON CANNOT BE BONDED IN CURRENT STATE. REDUCE STATUS TO LIFE THREATENED IN ORDER TO BOND THIS WEAPON. Ch. 5 - Training Sometime later, I managed to track down my old shelter. It was almost completely dark, but the sight sent a wave of relief through me. Text appeared in my view as I looked at my cave. BULLDAR DESIGNATION: N/A STATUS: Deceased SOUL: Harvested It took me a moment to realize what this was. I suddenly felt sick. My shelter wasn¡¯t some strange cave. It was a corpse of one of these monsters. I re-envisioned it in my mind¡¯s eye¡ªthe hollowed-out stomach, the jagged stones propped up were discarded limbs. My skin crawled. I¡¯d been sleeping inside the remains of a giant monster, killed and gutted by¡­ who? Or what? This planet wasn¡¯t just dangerous. It was a graveyard. It was going to kill me, I thought. But not until after I get some sleep. I will process this in the morning. I crawled into the cave, and told King to wait outside and keep guard. I was asleep moments later. When I woke up, King was curled up against my legs, breathing gently. I needed a new plan. The prinsaur knows me, my scent. If that means anything. But One Eye was for sure hunting me. He is probably recovering as well, so I doubted I¡¯d see him soon. King ate the last of my rations, but I had some food in the pack. That would cover me for the next day or two. I sighed. Time to figure this out. I looked at King. He was still asleep. I focused in, trying to see his stats again. There was something there, at the edge of my mind. I could feel it. If only I could¡­ there! I pushed at the sensation and Kings Stats popped up. His hatchling increased to 37%. Power up increased to 11%. Savagery increased to 26%. I noted that his hatchling increased by 12, while the two skills increased by 6 each. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was important or not. I made a mental note to keep better track and wondered how these skills worked. What measured them, and how was I being given the information. Did the stats reflect what it could do, or what it was allowed to do? Was I connected to some sort of wireless network? Subconsciously I touched the green light on my hand. The text changed. PULSE HOUND. THE GUARDIAN. A CANINE-LIKE WEAPON DESIGNED TO BE THE PERFECT GUARD DOG, WITH THE ABILITY TO SENSE INVISIBLE ENEMIES AND TO REPORT DETAILS BACK TO COMMANDERS. ITS CRANIUM IS A POWERFUL RECONNAISSANCE AND RECORDING DEVICE THAT IS ALSO EQUIPPED WITH A STRENGTH ENHANCING FULL BODY EXOSKELETON. FULLY TRAINED PULSE HOUNDS ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO AMBUSH, TRICK, OR OUT MANEUVER. Wow, that seems really useful to have in an ally. That proves my theory that these things were built or designed. King woke up from me shifting my weight, and made an annoyed ruff. He scurried away from me and growled, as if I was the one who curled him up next to me. ¡°Good morning to you, too.¡± I went to pet him, but he snapped at me. Eh, I thought, he¡¯d come around. ¡°Let¡¯s go get some breakfast.¡± Starving was not one of my worries here. There was a bounty of food in the jungle, if you knew what to look for. Fruits, fish, small game, and plenty of insects if I became desperate. I didn¡¯t know how much King would eat, but I would adapt. My biggest survival challenge was the monsters. One eye is out there somewhere and I was pretty sure this was still the prinsaurs territory. King stayed with me as I collected some fruit. I tossed him a rind after I managed to get a piece down, but he only growled at it. My fish trap worked great, and I managed to grab three decent sized fish from it. I tossed one to King who ate it eagerly. Kings bond went from 46% to 50%. Interesting. I never trained dogs, that was my cousins families lot, but I knew some basics. Some dogs were food motivated. Maybe King was too. I also needed to train him. His skills had a percentage next to them, and I wasn''t sure what that meant exactly. But it implied they could be better. His tackle, paired with his power up, Seemed to be his best move. When I made a small fire to roast the fish, I tried to work with him. ¡°King, come here.¡± He immediately did, though he growled lowly. That surprised me. He clearly hated my guts, so what was it that made him listen? I didn¡¯t want to think about that right now. His head cocked to the side in a curious manor. I pointed at a nearby tree. ¡°Ok, bud, attack that tree.¡± King looked at it, then back at me. His tail wagged once. Ok, maybe that wasn¡¯t going to work. ¡°King, tackle that tree.¡± King barked excitedly then ran to the tree. He lowered himself into a fighting position, growling at his opponent. Then, with all the strength of a perfectly normal puppy, he head butted the tree. It was¡­ kind of adorable. But it wouldn¡¯t help In any combat situation. It seemed that mentioning his actual skills helped.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°King, power up and tackle that tree!¡± This time his cranium glowed yellow, and he barked excitedly. He took a few steps back, tensed, then tried to launch himself at the tree. What happened instead was one foot slipped in mud while the other had solid purchase, sending King corkscrewing through the air with a terrified yelp, missing the tree entirely. This was going to need a lot of work. We took a break to eat the fish, I gave him half of a fish, which didn¡¯t increase his bond at all. Then for the next couple hours we practiced with his skills. The next day we also practiced. It was slow progress. Turns out, each use of power up requires two energy. He also can¡¯t use power up too often, only every five seconds or so. The previous day, I reset my traps. So King and I went to check them together. It was then that One Eye attacked. King noticed it before I did. His intense snarling nearly caused me to jump. The monkey wasn¡¯t climbing, but was investigating one of my traps. Actually, something seemed off. It was smaller and was not missing its eye. This wasn¡¯t One Eye, but another of its kind. It picked up a stone and threw it not at me, but King. The stone bounced off his head with a clang, and King bolted towards it. He was fast, for a puppy at least, and was on it in seconds. The monkey went wild, screeching and stumbling back. After the initial shock, I grew excited. This was our first real fight together. A prime moment to work on our teamwork. ¡°King,¡± I ordered, ¡°bite him!¡± King did just that. Latching itself onto the monkeys lower left arm. The monkey screamed in surprise and slammed down with all three fists. Each hit slammed King into the ground. I winced as he whined with each blow. Kings health dropped from stable to winded. To his credit, King kept a hold of the monkey. But, despite his best efforts, he was doing nothing. The bone-like chitin was too tough to crack. I had an idea. Would power up work with his jaws? ¡°King, use power up!¡± The only acknowledgment was a yellow flash in the cranium. CRUNCH. King suddenly bit through the monkeys arm like a dry stick. The chitin splintered like bone and blood sprayed over King. The skelkys shriek was painful to hear. A raw scream of pain and loss. I felt woozy and felt my stomach drop. I¡¯ve been in a few fights so far, but nothing this¡­ visceral. Did king do that? Or¡­ did I do that? I was the one giving the orders. That wasn¡¯t survival. King unceremoniously dropped the skelkys arm. It tried to crawl away, I saw the plate on its back. I briefly considered bonding it. It probably would have saved its life. Shamefully, I decided not too. If not because this was a weaker skelky, but because it was severely wounded. Besides, I had already subconsciously decided One Eye would be the next monster I bond. I sighed, and picked up the heavy stone used for my trap. King had latched onto its leg, the panicked monkey trying to crawl away, half heartedly hitting King on the top of the dome. This is a kill or be killed planet. Its just like hunting, I told myself. But the words felt hollow. With a shaky breath, I dropped the rock. Kings savagery, power up, and hatchling status went up to 35%, 19%, and 54% respectively. Seems a battle is much better at training than practice. Our bond also increased to 60%. I could hear the crashing of trees that signaled its time to move. I grabbed the skelky corpse, and began to move. King happily ran beside me, tail wagging. He had the skelkys arm in his mouth like a stick. I remembered when King had my hand in his jaws. I was lucky the cooldown for the power up was still in place, or I would have lost my hand. I made a mental note to be careful when I gave him treats. Back at base camp, I tried to butcher the monkey. Meat was meat, and I wasn¡¯t squeamish about butchering my own kill. But my lack of a decent tool and a its chitin made it impossible to harvest. Besides, I took a close look at the muscle of the thing, where king had tore off its arm. The fibers were more like cords than meat. Hard, like metal almost. I couldn¡¯t eat it anyway. King made a whining sound. He was begging for food. ¡°Go ahead.¡± He did a happy little hop and set to work. Chewing on the corpse like a bone, licking and teasing at any morsel of meat. I shuddered. This was a kill or be killed world. I understood that. But, the pure brutality of it was still difficult to deal with. King was a puppy, and it was already vicious. I hoped this bond lasted. If it went away when King was larger, I wasn¡¯t confident I would survive. Ch. 6 - Showdown! One eye vs. King WOULD YOU LIKE TO BOND THIS WEAPON? BOND SUCCESSFUL. Interlude: The Bitch Queen Lydia marched down the long hall. With every step, her heals clicked and echoed through the ship. He had summoned her. The knowledge that he even knew her name sent shivers through her. A blend of fear, excitement, joy, and disbelief. She knew the ship well, but had never dared to approach the throne. A long hall filled to the brim with defenses, weapons, poisons, and¡­ monsters, all hidden from view, was all that stood between her and her lord. Finally, she stopped in front of a large shuttle style door. Two guards stood before it. Neither human. What they truly were was obscured by their hoods and cloaks. Long, serpentine-like lower halves disappeared into the shadow. She said nothing. They knew to expect her. There was a hiss, a release of pressure, and the door began to open. An aura of power nearly dropped Lydia to her knees. ¡°Enter.¡± Called a voice. Both deep and distant. Like the voice of a mountain remembering what it was like to be human. Shaking, she moved into the room. It was spherical and impossibly dark. A long walkway seemingly suspended over a void. It led to the throne. Not a seat, but a tapestry of technology, screens, wires and webs. All equally mechanical and organic. She fell to a knee. ¡°Closer¡­¡± The world itself shivered. The bridge shrunk. Not a mechanical movement, but as if the world was being crushed by the will of her lord. It snapped back, and she found herself at the edge of the central platform. She trembled. ¡°My lord. You have summoned me.¡± Lord Sydrak shifted his bulk. Lydia dared not to look upon her leader. From the void above, a long insectile arm reached toward her. At the end, a perfectly normal human hand covered in a fine white glove. Gently, it nudged her jaw upwards. Like how one would lift a lovers face.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Do not be afraid to gaze upon me, child. I am not yet a god.¡± Only remnants of humanity remained. A pearl white human jaw. The hints of a human body wrapped in layer after layer of pure nexocite. Like a great shimmering cocoon, working to birth a new, perfect being. Glowing red eyes glinted off his metal armor. He smiled, showing rows of void-black teeth. Behind him were screens which showed an impossible amount of information to track. Other long arms tapped away at screens. Forms of life grew on the screens, changing with every tap of a hand. A casual act of pure creation. ¡°Lydia¡­ the Bitch Queen.¡± The way he said her name was intimate, but her nickname among the other smiths was spoken with sharp tones. ¡°Do you wish to be tempered?¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± She barely could contain her excitement. ¡°Then prove yourself. Descend upon Nexilon. A legendary weapon will soon be born. Retrieve it. It holds another key to our ascension. A fragment of the whole that will be us.¡± On the screens behind him, an image of the small fox-like creature appeared, its eyes glinting with cosmic light. Lydia¡¯s heart raced at the sight, her mind already spinning with plans. ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± she whispered, barely able to contain her excitement. ¡°I will not fail you.¡± Sydrak¡¯s gaze, unblinking and inhuman, seemed to pierce through her. ¡°If you do, Lydia, I will cast you away. You will join the others when the time of culling comes.¡± His smile returned, cold and absolute. ¡°But succeed, and I will add you to the Ascendancy. Your loyalty, your faith¡­ they have not gone unnoticed.¡± Lydia shivered, feeling as if she¡¯d been anointed. Lydia had clawed her way to the top among the other smiths, earning her harsh moniker with pride. But here, in his presence, she was nothing more than a supplicant. ¡°Thank you, my lord. I live only to serve.¡± ¡°Then go, Daughter of Perfection.¡± His words curled around her, both a blessing and a command. ¡°Bring me the creature, and take your place among the chosen.¡± Ch. 7 - In the Nests SKELKY DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Warrior LEVEL: 1 HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 5 STATUS: Bonded BOND: 17% SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: WOULD YOU LIKE TO DESIGNATE WEAPON? THE NEXOCITE WEAPON HAS BEEN DESIGNATED, ¡°Balor¡±. IS THIS CORRECT? SKELKY. THE PROUD WARRIOR. SKELKIES ARE DESIGNED TO SINGLE OUT IMPORTANT WARRIORS ON ENEMY BATTLEFIELDS. USING THEIR CHALLENGE ABILITY, THEY ONLY BECOME MORE POWERFUL AS THEY DEFEAT FOE AFTER FOE. HOWEVER, THEIR INNATE SENSE OF HONOR IS OFTEN DETRIMENTAL TO THEIR PURPOSE AS AN ASSASSIN. THE ONLY WAY TO ESCAPE A SKELKIES CHALLANGE IS THE DEATH OF EITHER PARTY. PULSE HOUND DESIGNATION: King SOUL: Beast LEVEL: Hatchling 100% HEALTH: STABLE ENERGY: 6 STATUS: Bonded BOND: 68% SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: THIS WEAPON IS READY TO GROW. SHAMKY DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Treant LEVEL: 11 HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 5 STATUS: Wild SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: THIS WEAPON CANNOT BE BONDED IN CURRENT STATE. REDUCE STATUS TO LIFE THREATENED IN ORDER TO BOND THIS WEAPON. Ch. 8 - A New Form NEXOCITE EGG DEVELOPING SOUL: BEAST: 13% COLOSSUS: 10% FAE: 5% FLAME: 8% GAIA: 15% MAGI: 17% MYRMIDON: 11% SEA: 6% SPIRIT: 4% STONE: 12% WARRIOR: 39% THIS EGG IS NOT READY TO HATCH. IT WILL HATCH WHEN A SOUL IS DEVELOPED. PLEASE INSERT SOUL OR WAIT FOR NATURAL DEVELOPMENT. HUNSAUR DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: BEAST LEVEL: 1 HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 5 STATUS: Wild SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: SKILL DISCOVERED: FLASH DODGE 5% PULSE HOUND DESIGNATION: KING HEALTH: STABLE STATUS: Bonded BOND: 66% SOUL: Beast LEVEL: 1 SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Ch. 9 - In the Maze We decided to run. Eventually, I would want to take down the alpha. Make the area safer. For now, however, there was no way we could test it. As I ran through the jungle, my companions kept even pace with me. In fact, I was sure I was the one slowing us down. Maybe I could learn to ride King eventually. I dropped that thought. Way too dangerous. Before we knew it, we exited the jungle. I skid to a stop. Before me was a rolling grassland. Tall, impossibly tall, green grass waved lazily in wind. Small woods spotted the landscape. A herd of some sort of creature wandered off in the distance, creating a line of clear area. I remembered my view from above. The patchwork world that I hurtled towards. The landscape was far from natural, but how it was constructed I couldn¡¯t begin to understand. Then, I saw something that gave me hope. A circle of scorched earth. At the center was a pod with its door wide open. Someone else was near. Or dead. I looked at the jungle. A solid wall of trees with a clean separation between one place and the other. Jungle, then not-jungle. There was yet another biome to the jungles right. A craggy, mountain-like area filled with valleys, crevices, and caves. A flash of shadow drew my attention upwards. Something large drifted above on large, feathery wings. It spun in lazy circles. Too far away to see any detail. I could not stay out in the open. The prinsaur roared behind me. Where to go? Was the bird getting closer? I made a decision. ¡°King, Balor, we are going into that valley.¡± The valley was a mountain seemingly split in two. We ran. Lungs burning, I glanced up. The large bird seemed to have spotted us. It was diving, fast. Hands grasp my hips and armpits and suddenly I was off the ground. Balor screeched as he through me. I landed squarely on Kings back. King barked, then sprinted. I screamed and held on with all my might. I heard the hoots of Balors laugh. Eyes wide, the grass blurring past me, I looked towards him. Balor was keeping impressive pace. Running on five limbs, the sixth holding his spear to his back. A large, dark shadow started to close in on us. Before I knew it, we zoomed into the stone hallway. King skid to a stop. Balor had to leap over us to avoid colliding. Above us was a loud whoosh of sound and I felt a great pressure of wind. The giant bird had spread its wings wide to stop its decent, landing atop the stone above us. It looked like giant eagle with goat-like horns. Human hands replaced its talons. Then, it was gone just as quickly as it landed. Flying off out of view. I scratched King on the side as I slid off. My whole body was shaking. The fear and adrenaline of the sudden ride was draining away, leaving me feeling empty. Balor was on the floor, hooting with laughter. King play bowed at the skelky and ran excitedly in circles. My mind raced. We were somewhere new. There was a predator in the sky. It looked like the jungle touched the mountains, somewhere, so I could go back. The problem was, that area of the jungle was beyond the skelky territory. Unknown jungle. Also, A new environment means a new ecology. New monsters and likely a new top dog. I didn¡¯t want to risk running back out of the open, now that the sky devil saw us. Why didn¡¯t it hunt that herd I saw? Maybe it just likes human. After some time, I gathered my companions. First thing we need to do is find somewhere to sleep the night. Then find a new source of food, or find a path back to the jungle. I was getting tired of fruit anyway. Best to get started as soon as possible. We explored the chasm. It branched several times, turning into more and more of a maze as we went on. We had come to a dead end, one of several we had run into so far. The walls simply met at a point. We turned around and found two paths. One straight to our left, the other off to our right. Balor grunted in surprise. I agreed. We had just traveled a good 50 yards down the tunnel before We came to the dead end. Yet, when we turned around, the path had changed. What was going on? There was no sound of stone moving. No sensation of being moved. ¡°Balor, any idea what this is?¡± He looked at me and shrugged. Well, when in doubt, fuck the system. We can just climb out, hope the bird doesn¡¯t spot us, and figure this out from a safe distance. I felt my stomach drop as I looked skyward. A thin line of light was all I could see above me. Somehow, the walls were much taller than before. Impossibly tall. When I shifted my gaze back down, the crevice had darkened. It wasn¡¯t like that before. King started to whine. There was no way we could climb that. I felt cold and alone. Just when I was getting a foothold on this planet, it throws something new at me. No, not alone. I had King and Balor. We were in this shitty situation together. With a great force of will, and not at all to avoid looking like a coward in front of Balor, we took the left path. The maze-like chasm had become a true maze. Twists, turns. Halls upon halls. I pulsed with king periodically. My perception was filled with a complex series of maze-like tunnels. The pulse couldn¡¯t pierce through stone as well, but it seemed to be able to wrap around walls and bounce information back. There was no exit that I could sense. Wandering blindly was our only choice. We took a left turn¡ªno, wait. Hadn¡¯t we just come from that direction? I looked back, but the path behind us seemed¡­ different, somehow. Narrower? Or had it always been that narrow? My thoughts slipped like sand through my fingers. I forced myself to focus, to remember which way we¡¯d come, but the harder I tried, the more the paths seemed to twist and shift around me. King whimpered, glancing back at me with wide eyes. Even Balor looked uneasy, his shoulders hunched, ears twitching as though he were hearing something I couldn¡¯t. After half an hour, we made no progress. My legs felt like lead, each step slower, heavier. I blinked hard, trying to clear the strange foggy haze creeping into my vision. When had I started sweating so much? The air was cool, but I could feel beads of sweat trickling down the back of my neck. King panted beside me, his head drooping, his steps faltering. I glanced at Balor, who was dragging his spear along the ground, barely lifting his feet with each step. His usual leer was gone, replaced by a blank, glassy stare. For a split second, I couldn¡¯t remember why we were even here, why we were pushing forward through this maze. We were getting tired. But¡­ that wasn¡¯t right. Sure we¡¯ve been moving quickly. Had a few close calls. But, nothing more extraneous than most of my days here. But¡­ it was so difficult to move. Maybe a nap would help. Yes, just close my eyes and¡­The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I slapped myself awake. Something was happening. Looking around more carefully, I noticed a thin green fog had settled on the ground. The sight seemed to trigger all of my senses. A sickly sweet scent permeated the area. The air itself was dense, heavier. I almost gasped. How did I not notice before? I shook King then Balor who screeched at me lazily and stumbled back. ¡°Poison! We need to move faster. If we stay like this, who knows what would happen.¡± We broke into a jog, but every step felt like wading through molasses. My vision blurred, the walls of the maze tilting and swaying like a funhouse mirror. King stumbled, and I caught him before he could fall, my hands numb where they touched his fur. ¡°We have to¡­ keep moving¡­¡± I gasped, barely recognizing my own voice. But even as I said it, my legs buckled. Every muscle screamed at me to stop, to lie down and just¡­ rest. Just for a moment. No. I shook my head, gritting my teeth. We had to get out. We had to find whatever was at the center of this nightmare. The green fog clung to the ground, swirling around my ankles in slow, curling tendrils. It pooled in the dips and crevices of the rocky floor, giving everything a strange, underwater look. While we moved, I pulsed every few moments. Finally, after 10 or 11 pulses, I found something. A chamber with pulsing walls. If we didn¡¯t have Kings pulse, there was no way we would have found it. We trudged towards it. I realized the maze was circular, the cavern at the center. At the center of the cavern was something glowing incredibly hot. A creature maybe, or some sort of machine. It ran hotter than other creatures we had seen. Soon, we dashed into the central chamber. The fog was thickest here, pooling around us in rolling waves of green. In the center of the chamber, something hung from the ceiling like a monstrous bat. Long tentacles spiraled down in a twisted helix. The tip of each tentacle oozed a thick green gas, dripping into a bubbling pool below. I squinted, trying to make sense of it. Its skin was translucent, stretched tight over sinewy muscles that pulsed and quivered. Every few seconds, its body would twitch, and more gas would spew out, filling the room with that sickly-sweet stench. My stomach turned. We were so close. So close. But my legs felt like jelly, my hands shaking. I was too weak. King half heartedly barked at it. ¡°Balor¡­ it¡¯s¡­ there.¡± I pointed. He was our only chance. I didn¡¯t know what he could even do in this situation. He looked exhausted. Drained of life. But, he figured out what he needed to do. He lifted the spear with a shaking hand, one hand holding the shaft and another cupping the base. Oh god, I thought, Even Balor is too weak. What a disappointing way to go. Slipping away into death from squid gas. Balor glanced to King. Then, weakly, he pushed me aside and placed a hand on kings head. The pulse hound made a faint whine. A pulse of yellow light flowed from Kings dome and through Balor. He suddenly stood straighter, reared back, and with a unique double handed throw, hurled the spear at the monster. The throw was not as powerful as mine was, but it flew true. With a schlep sound, the creature was ripped from its roost. It unfurled as it fell. A octopus creature drifted through the air. Small teeth-like protrusions pointed from each tentacle, which just previously had been spiraled around in a point. There was no wound from the spear, but it still hit the ground heavily. My vision started to blur. ¡°King¡­ Power¡­¡± I managed to whisper out. The last thing I saw before I fell unconscious was King flashing yellow, then bolting towards the creature. I slept¡­ really well actually. Whatever gas had put me to sleep had worked really well. I was being dragged by my feet. I would move a foot, then stopped, then moved another foot or so. Balor had managed to drag me out of there. ¡°Balor, that¡¯s enough. Give me a moment¡­¡± ¡°Oh, good. You¡¯re awake.¡± I was let go. ¡°You weigh a lot more than you look.¡± It wasn¡¯t Balor. I scrambled back, panic and surprise waking me up in an instant. There was a human. An actual PERSON. He was the one who pulled me out of there. The man wore the same clothes as me. His hair was a wild mess and he had a thin, greasy looking mustache outgrowing his stubble. This guy was lanky. Not an ounce of muscle or fat on him. ¡°What- who are you?¡± I looked around for King and Balor. They were nowhere to be seen. We were in another crevice. I wondered if this was another trick, like that maze. ¡°Relax dude. I¡¯m Luke. Try to be quiet, the monsters were asleep. I don¡¯t know how long they will be out.¡± He gave me a hand to help me up. ¡°I¡¯ve got a hideout not far from here. We can get there, you can rest, then we can deal with the whole ¡®Another human?! What will I do?!¡¯ thing. Alright?¡± It was then I noticed his other arm. Rather, the lack of it. From just above the elbow, it was gone. The limb was caped by a silver metal. ¡°I have some friends. I need to go back and get them.¡± ¡°Naw, dude. Sorry, but it was just you. But, I didn¡¯t see any human-shaped piles of gore so maybe they got away.¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand they-¡± I was cut off by a loud monkey-like scream. Luke grabbed my arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I jogged off with him, only so I could keep up with him. ¡°KING! BALOR! I¡¯m here!¡± I called. Luke look terrified. ¡°Luke, listen-¡± ¡°What are you doing!? Fuck this, you are crazy, man.¡± He let go of me and started running. Just then, King skidded around a corner. On his back was Balor, crouched on top of him. He looked furious. King had something glinting in his mouth. Balor placed a hand on King head, and used Power Up. He lept from Kings back, shoving king off balance with a yelp, and hurtled through the air. His spear was raised high, about to come down with all four arms¡­ right into Luke. The idiot thought I was in danger. ¡°NO!¡± I screamed, and jumped in front of Luke who I had just noticed stumbled out of fear. A look of terror flashed across Balors face. Then, he kicked the wall next to him. The maneuver sent him off course, tumbling to the ground past me and Luke. There was the sound of bone breaking. ¡°Balor, calm down. I¡¯m OK. KING, down boy!¡± I held up a hand towards each monster. King approached growling at Luke. Balor made a whimpering sound. It wasn¡¯t a bone that snapped. He held up two pieces of his spear. Balor whined pitifully. ¡°What the¡­ FUCK, DUDE!?¡± Luke yelled. He scrambled back from King. Balor made another distressing moan. Poor guy. ¡°You can control these things? What are you, ASU?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m¡­ not military. Look, I was a prisoner. Just like you, I think. I saw your pod. We have the same outfit on.¡± King seemed to calm down, but was still tense. Balor hissed and threw the remnants of the spear to the ground. ¡°This is King. That¡¯s Balor. King, Balor, this is Luke. I¡¯m Kaelen. Kaelen Rhyse.¡± There was an uncomfortable silence. ¡°Right. Well, do you want some stew?¡± Ch. 10 - The Hatchling SOUL OF THE MAGI MAGI SOULS ARE PROGRAMED WITH THE CAPACITY FOR MAGIC SKILLS, LEAVING THEM NO ROOM FOR UTILITY, TACTICAL, OR BIOLOGICAL SKILLS. WEAPONS INFUSED WITH A SOUL OF THE MAGI DEVELOP +1 ENERGY AND DEVELOP A RESERVED PERSONALITY. YOUR CONNECTION HAS LEVELED UP. NEXOCITE WEAPON BORN. BOND SUCCESSFUL. WARNING: YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR LIMIT OF NEXOCITE BONDS. BLINKET DESIGNATION: N/A HEALTH: STABLE ENERGY: 7 STATUS: Bonded BOND: 100% SOUL: Magi LEVEL: Hatchling 0% SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: SPECIAL TRAITS: WOULD YOU LIKE TO DESIGNATE WEAPON? Ch. 11 - A Serious Chat BLINKET. THE ADAPTABLE MAGI. BLINKETS HAVE A UNIQUE QUIRK THAT PREVENTS THEM FROM BONDING MULTIPLE SOULS, LIKE MOST NEXOCITE WEAPONS. RATHER, IT GAINS TEMPORARY, POWERFUL SPELLS AND STATS FROM CONSUMING SOULS. THE SOUL IS BURNT OUT AFTER A SHORT TIME. THIS, PAIRED WITH THEIR INNATE ESCAPE ABILITIES, CAN MAKE THEM AN UNPREDICTABLE AND UNSTOPPABLE FORCE OF DESTRUCTION. HOWEVER, THEIR DOCILE NATURE MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO TRAIN FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE. Ch. 12 - Chaos at the Beach YOU ARE NOT ADAPTED TO THIS DEVICE. ADAPTION POSSIBLE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADAPT TO THIS DEVICE? THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE NEXOCITE COLLECTION PROGRAM. ACCEPT A QUEST TO BEGIN. QUESTS CAN BE COMPLETED IN ANY ORDER WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT PRESENTED. WHEN YOU HAVE CAPTURED OR SUBDUED YOUR BOUNTY, SELECT TURN IN AND AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM WILL COME TO RETRIEVE THE BOUNTY. DEPENDING ON THE BOUNTIES DIFFICULTY, YOU WILL RECEIVE A REWARD IN THE FORM OF A NEXO-BOX. THE HIGHER TIER OF BOUNTY, THE GREATER CAPACITY YOUR NEXO-BOX WILL HAVE TO CREATE TOOLS TO HELP YOU CAPTURE MORE BOUNTIES. FOR EVERY TIER OF BOUNTY, ONE DAY WILL BE REMOVED FROM YOUR SENTENCE. GOOD LUCK CAPTURING, VOLUNTEER. SAWTIDE DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Myrmidon LEVEL: Hatchling 39% HEALTH: NEAR DEATH ENERGY: 6 STATUS: Wild SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: Ch. 13 - Exploring the System WEAPON SMITH DESIGNATION: LUKE MOORE NEXOCITE ADAPTION: 6% BOND LEVEL: 0 BOUND WEAPONS: 1 OF 3 SKILLS: NONE ATTRIBUTES: SAWTIDE. MASTER OF THE BUNKER. A TURTLE SHELLED WEAPON WITH THE ABILITY TO CREATE ANY TOOL TO SUIT ITS NEEDS. WITH AN INSTINCT FOR INGENUITY AND DESIGN, SAWTIDES CAN BE TRAINED TO BUILD DEFENSIVE BUNKERS FROM VIRTUALLY ANY MATERIAL. WHILE THEIR GRASP OF SPACIAL REASONING AND MECHANISMS IS IMMENSE, THE REST OF THEIR MENTAL FACULTY IS IMPRESSIVELY LOW FOR A WEAPON OF SUCH HIGH BASE INTELLIGENCE. QUERY? ANSWER: ACTIVATE THE LINK WHILE LOOKING INWARD. WEAPON SMITH DESIGNATION: KAELEN RHYSE NEXOCITE ADAPTION: 46% BOND LEVEL: 1 BOUND WEAPONS: 3 OF 3 SKILLS: NONE ATTRIBUTES: QUERY? A LINK IS FORMED AT 10% NEXOCITE ADAPTION. YOU HAD PASSED THIS THRESHOLD UPON BONDING. THE LINK ALLOWS ONE TO ACCESS DEEPER INFORMATION HELD BY THE SYSTEM CORE. THE MAIN COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENT ORGANISM WHICH GOVERNS AND PROGRAMS NEXOCITE INTERACTIONS. NEXOCITE IS A FORM OF MATTER WHICH CAN ADAPT TO ANY MATERIAL, SUBSTANCE, ENERGY, OR REALITY PATTERN GIVEN THE CORRECT SOUL. IN THE CONTEXT OF NEXOCITE, A SOUL, OR SOUL GEM, IS A CONDENSED CRYSTALLITE NEXOCITE FORMATION THAT HAS BEEN CULTIVATED INTO ONE OF SEVERAL TYPES AND PREPROGRAMED WITH AN ORGANIC MACRO-PROGRAM. SOULS ACT AS THE BRAIN AND EXTRA COMPUTATIONAL ABILITY FOR NEXOCITE WEAPONS, ALLOWING FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF SKILLS, SPELLS, AND OTHER TRAITS. SOULS CAN COMBINE, FEEDING THEIR INFORMATION OFF ONE ANOTHER TO CREATE A NEW, ADVANCED SOUL GEM. SOUL GEMS MAY ALSO BE ACCENTED BY OTHER SOUL GEMS, ALLOWING FOR THE USE OF SKILLS AND SPELLS USUALLY UNAVAILABLE TO THE WEAPON. SOUL GEMS CAN BE USED TO CRAFT AND POWER BATTLE SMITH GEAR. NEXO-BOX. A RANDOM ASSORTMENT OF ORGANICALLY GROWN NEXOCITE TECHNOLOGY. HIGHER TIER BOXES WILL CONTAIN MORE ADVANCED ITEMS. NEXOCITE ITEMS ARE GENERATED UPON ACTIVATING THE BOX. NEXO-BOXES WERE DEVELOPED AS A REWARD TO ASSIST THE SURVIVAL OF SMITHS AND TO ALLOW THE SYSTEM CORE TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEWLY GENERATED NEXOCITE TECHNOLOGY. SOME EXAMPLES OF NEXOCITE TECHNOLGY INCLUDE HEALTH REGENERATING DEVICES, SOUL GEMS, BATTLE SMITH GEAR, AND NEXOCITE WEAPON SPECIFIC ENHANCEMENTS. Ch. 14 - Confidence and Monster KIlling Minimole DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Stone LEVEL: 2 HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 6 STATUS: Wild SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: WEAPONS SKILL HAS BEEN FULLY REALIZED. LEVEL UP OR EVOLVE SKILL? WEAPONS SKILL HAS BEEN FULLY REALIZED. LEVEL UP OR EVOLVE SKILL? SKILLS, WHEN FULLY REALIZED, MAY EITHER BE INCREASED OR EXPANDED. LEVELING UP, OR EVOLVING. LEVELING UP A SKILL ALLOWS THE NEXOCITE WEAPON TO UTILIZE MORE COMPLEX AND SUBTLE PROCESSES TO ENHANCE THE SKILL, GENERALLY INCREASING ITS ACCURACY, EFFECTIVENESS, AND/OR RANGE. FULL EFFECT VARIES BY SKILL. EVOLVING A SKILL INVOLVES SELECTING ONE OF SEVERAL OPTIONS TO CHANGE THE SKILL INTO A MORE INTRICATE FORM. THIS IS GENERALLY LESS POWERFUL THAN UPGRADING A SKILL, BUT CAN EVENTUALLY LEAD TO A MORE SPECIALIZED AND DEADLY WEAPON. PLEASE SELECT ONE OPTION: MARTIAL ARTS: THE WEAPONS SKILL CHANGES TO ALLOW FOR VARIOUS TECHNIQUES OF HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT. THE MARTIAL ARTS SKILL UNLOCKS SEVERAL SKILL CHOICES. WEAPON SPECIALIST: CHOOSE ONE TYPE OF WEAPON. THE WEAPON BECOMES LESS EFFICIENT WHEN USING OTHER WEAPONS, BUT THEIR SKILL IN THAT ONE WEAPON IS GREATLY ENHANCED. THE WEAPON SPECIALIST SKILL UNLOCKS VARIOUS WEAPON-UNIQUE SKILL OPTIONS. WEAPON MASTER: THE NEXOCITE WEAPON NO LONGER CAN GAIN WEAPON SUB-SKILLS. INSTEAD, THE NEXOCITE WEAPON USES ALL WEAPONS AT THE SAME LEVEL OF SKILL. WEAPON MASTER UNLOCKS WEAPON-UNIQUE SKILL OPTIONS. HOWEVER, ANY WEAPON-UNIQUE SKILL CAN APPLY TO ANY COMPATIBLE WEAPON. BALOR HAS REACHED LEVEL 2. PLEASE SELECT AN AVAILABLE SKILL. Cephlabrith DESIGNATION: N/A SOUL: Magi LEVEL: Hatchling 37% HEALTH: Stable ENERGY: 6 STATUS: Wild SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED: WEAPON SMITH DESIGNATION: KAELEN RHYSE NEXOCITE ADAPTION: 48% ENERGY: 5/6 BOND LEVEL: 1 BOUND WEAPONS: 3 OF 3 SKILLS: ATTRIBUTES: ENERGY: 2 Ch. 15 - Collecting Fruit After struggling to skin the Minimole, Henry waddled over and decided to help. Surprised, I showed it what I wanted. It honked, produced a blade, and easily sliced through the hide. Very handy. Afterwards, we cut some meat from the minimole, for the nexos, and wrapped it in the hide. The process took about two hours. Luke wanted to explore his new companions capabilities, so we decided to drop him off at the cave. Backtracking, we made it back in relative safety. Something seemed off with Luke. Well, as off as I could tell given how little I actually knew about him. He looked pale, and was being particularly silent. ¡°Hey, are you doing OK? You seem¡­ unnerved. Is it the tentacle monster?¡± Luke lifted squigly and looked at it, smiling softly. ¡°No. Squiglys¡¯ kind of cute, actually. No¡­ it¡¯s just. I don¡¯t know, man.¡± I felt for him. There was something he needed to work through, but something is stopping him. ¡°We agreed to work together. Whatever the problem, we can work through it together. Talk to me.¡± Having over a dozen siblings was paying off, it seemed. Being the oldest, I was responsible for being the authority before my parents would get involved, leaving me with above average communication skills. Luke took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m scarred, Kae. The monsters, the¡­ I don¡¯t know. Magic? It wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this.¡± I could gather that much. ¡°Luke, you told me you orchestrated your own imprisonment and transport here. What did you expect?¡± ¡°I knew it would be dangerous. But, my plan was to hide and use the communication device hidden in my arm for help.¡± Oh, that explains why he wanted his arm back. I had thought he simply wanted revenge. ¡°This fighting, surviving, I am not cut out for it. I¡¯m a programmer and roboticist. A hacker with lofty, naive ideas on how the galaxy should work.¡± ¡°Who were you going to contact?¡± ¡°I have a contact with¡­ our mutual friends.¡± Even here in a wilderness, the taboo of speaking openly about the resistance still made us talk in circles around it. ¡°My plan was for them to come down, do their thing, and keep me safe.¡± ¡°I see. Well, that plan is shot. What¡¯s your plan now. What do you want to do?¡± I paced, I could see where this was going. ¡°Luke, no offense, but I can¡¯t have you freeze and hide out there.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t take me with you!¡± He almost yelled it, but held back. ¡°My problem is sometimes, I forget that I am a coward. But I am. I¡¯m not like you or Balor or King.¡± ¡°So, what? You want to hide away in a cave all day? Have me come and drop off food. Let your nexos stay as hatchlings?¡± I wasn¡¯t being fair, I knew that. But, I was under a lot of stress too. ¡°See, this is why I didn¡¯t say anything. You¡¯d be mad. Lets just forget it. Ill¡­ muddle through.¡± ¡°Wait. I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s been stressful for me too. Let me think.¡± I couldn¡¯t explore and train with Luke if he was just going to hide. It meant I would have to protect him, and that would make me more vulnerable. We could work on his confidence. But I didn¡¯t know if that would stick, and who knew how long it would take. I was no drill sergeant. Maybe I was looking at this wrong. I need to focus on his strengths, not his weakness. Somehow, I have been defaulted to the group leader. I was OK with that. Thinking in that lens, how can Luke benefit all of us while also not endangering himself or us. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s try this. You stay here. Experiment and explore the Nexocite in your free time. Keep track of any information I find. I¡¯m not a smart guy, like you. If there is a pattern to find, find it.¡± ¡°Kae, I-¡± I didn¡¯t let him finish. ¡°I bring you food, you cook. If I find any tech, you fix it. You will break down and use monsters I bring back. Ill get your arm, you use it connect to.. whatever. Train Henry and Squigly the best you can, and defend the cave. I will be the outside, you be the inside. Pick up eachother slack. How does that sound.¡± Luke mulled it over. He was thinking deeply, I could see it in his eyes. Suddenly, his brow furrowed into a determined glare. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. Even if the device is destroyed, Ill be here. But, I might ask you for things.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°And you have to tell me everything, even small details.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Luke smiled softly he seemed to relax. ¡°Thank you. I am glad you found me and not some crazy ax murderer.¡± I laughed. ¡°I might still be an ax murderer, all we have is a hatchet. But, yeah. I am happy you didn¡¯t end up being a tax avoider or something.¡± Luke laughed and sniffed. Balor made a gagging sound. Moments latter, we were heading south. Stella, Balor, King, and I. If I was right, there was a place where I could reach the jungle. It didn¡¯t take long for me to find it. The maze like chasms opened directly into the jungle. Like walking from one room to another. The temperature shifted as well, becoming hotter and more humid. Here, I had Balor climb into the trees to collect fruit. We managed to gather a good haul of nutritional treasure before King began to growl. Instantly, we pulsed. Something was out there, moving in slowly. As if to stalk us. ¡°King, stand down until it attacks. Let it think it has us.¡± Balor was off gathering fruit. I readied my blade.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! It attacked quickly, diving from behind a bush with a screeching yowl. I didn¡¯t see it until it was already in the air. It was flying towards me. King jumped at it, knowing its position, his arch would have taken him directly to the enemies throat. Then, it fly to the side. The monster unfurled large, colorful wings, slowing and altering its trajectory to dodge King. Luckily, this meant it couldn''t attack me, yet. I got a good look at it. It was feline, about the size of a leopard. But, it had bright, multicolored wings and feathers in place of fur. Its tale was a tuft of bright pink hair. It continued its flight, pulled up before it hit a tree, then ran up the tree with its claws. It stopped, clutching the tree, looking down at us and snarled. I pulled up its stats. Leovien DESIGNATION: N/A HEALTH: Stable STATUS: Wild SOUL TYPE: Beast LEVEL: 1 SKILLS Camouflage: 14% Flight Level 2: 42% Kinetic Shield: 12% Savagery: 97% ATTRIBUTES Strength: 3 Agility: 5 Density: 2 Energy: 2 Utility: 2 DERIVED ATTRIBUTES Speed: 6 Intelligence: 4 Toughness: 5 Reaction: 7 King tried to run up the tree after it, but lost momentum and fell back to earth. He turned and landed on his feet. Stella was on my shoulder, growling at it while cowering behind my head. Make up your mind. I thought. ¡°Stella, use light when I say.¡± I waited. Then, the leovien dove, twirling in the air to go after me again. It seemed to think I was the easier target. I placed a hand on Stella, ¡°NOW!¡± I shut my eyes, braced for it. The monster roared in suprise and pain, temporarily blinded. Swiftly, I stepped to the side and slashed. There was a resistance, then the wet sound of slicing bone. Yowling in pain, the monster tumbled to the ground. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I had sliced off a wing. King dove on it, ripping at it. But, the leovien wasn¡¯t out of fight. It scratched, bit, and rolled. The two monsters were locked in a deadly grapple of claws and teeth. I was about to give King the command to use power up, when Stella screamed and popped to the ground infront of me. Something slammed into my back knocking me to the ground. I felt the sharp, metalic teeth sink into my neck. I screamed in pain, which only made it worse. I could feel my blood pumping out of my body. I would be dead as soon as the second leovien ripped out my throat. King was still locked in combat, but I faintly could see the yellow light of a power up. He wouldn¡¯t be fast enough. Stella came to my aid instead. She popped onto its back and started biting and ripping at the back of its neck. With every quick bite, small chunks of flesh and down was ripped free. The monster released my neck on reflex and growled. Stella hadn¡¯t wounded it too much, her teeth were small, but it was enough. With a screech of pain, Stella was knocked off its back with a quick roll. But, when it went to slice at the small nuisance, she had already popped away. I hadn¡¯t planned on using it without more tests, but I could feel the blood running down my neck. Soon, I would die without healing the wound. Aiming with a shaking hand, I activated thorn. With the same near-nauseating feeling, the spike of bone slammed into the leovien. But it didn¡¯t break through its kinetic shield, instead glancing off of it. That skill has been creeping in the back of my mind. Seemed that everything aside from hatchlings had it. It blocked fast moving attacks. Spear throws, thorns, and hurtling pulse hound puppies, but didn¡¯t seem to affect melee attacks. Before the second monster could finish me off, however, King flew in from the side. He had killed his opponent and came to help. I could see that King was wounded, but still he fought with fervor. I struggled to pull out a health spray, then doused my neck with it. I didn¡¯t want to, the nexocite really freaked me out, but I was losing blood too fast. The cold feeling flooded into my wound and spread through my body. While I healed, King and the monster continued to tear at eachother in a blindingly fast exchange of blades. SAVAGERY SKILL HAS BEEN FULLY REALIZED. LEVEL UP OR EVOLVE SKILL? Not right now! I yelled, internally. I wanted to help, but couldn¡¯t be sure who I would hit. King used power up once again, and launched the leovien away with his back feet. It caught itself in the air with its wings, dripping blood like rain. Then, it tried to fly away. I wouldn¡¯t let it. With a snarl, I launched a thorn at it. Striking true, the bone spear bounced off the shield, but there was a snapping sound as the shield broke. I didn¡¯t have time to launch another attack. It was going to get away. Stella popped onto its back, and continued to tear at it. ¡°Stella? What are you doing?!¡± I yelled after them, as they disappearing into the jungle. Cursing, I stood to chase after them. The vertigo I felt knocked me back on my ass. My already tattered shirt was soaked in blood. My blood. Still, I crawled forward. King dashed off, limping. I found Stella a few yards away, feasting on the back of the leoviens neck. Its metal plate was located just above its tail, so she had free access. I don¡¯t know if it was stella, the fall, the blood loss, or divine intervention, but it was dead. I sighed in relief. Soon, I was able to stand and dragged the leovien over to the other. Just then there was a thump as Balor landed into the clearing. His jaw dropped open and the fruits tumbled to the ground. He ooked and screeched, pointing and holding his head. Marching up to me, he pulled at my shirt and looked at my neck wound. Balor gave a defeated groan, then an angry screech at King, who whined like a dog in trouble. Laughing, I checked what savagery could evolve to. PLEASE SELECT ONE OPTION: SAVAGERY, VENOM: SAVAGERY ATTACKS, SUCH AS TOOTH AND CLAW, GAIN A VENOMOUS COATING THAT CAN KILL QUICKLY. ELEMENTAL SAVAGERY: WHEN THE NEXOCITE WEAPON MAY ENHANCE THEIR SAVAGERY ATTACKS WITH AN ELEMENTAL TYPE, DEPENDING ON WHICH SOULS ARE BEING USED. COMPATIBLE SOULS: FLAME, SPIRIT, FAE, SEA, MAGI, AND STONE. EXTRA SAVAGERY: THE NEXOCITE WEAPON GROWS A SAVAGERY ATTACK CAPABLE LIMB. SELECT THIS EVOLUTION FOR MORE OPTIONS. Venom would be nice, but I was worried how that would affect him licking me and Stella. King also did not have any compatible souls, so elemental savagery was out. I could have selected it for latter, but I wasn¡¯t sure how useful it would be. Not worth the risk. As for extra savagery, I selected it to browse the options. Tails, stingers, claws, horns, spikes, spines, tentacles and more. I couldn¡¯t see how that would really help, his jaws were plenty strong. Ultimately, I went with the boring option. I decided to increase the level of savagery. Kings jaws and claws began to glow with a white light, similar to when he grew. After a moment, his teeth were larger, more menacing. Barely able to be contained within his jaws, which were noticeably larger as well. His claws had transformed from sharp dog-like claws into long blades. King was significantly more terrifying and deadly looking than before. He was beginning to move away from a familiar wolf-like form and into the territory of a true monster. Ch. 16 - Some Much Needed Upgrades KING HAS REACHED LEVEL 2. PLEASE SELECT AN AVAILABLE SKILL. I decided to put it off until I got back to the cave. An hour later, we had made it back to the cave with a handful of fruit and two nexo corpses. It was rough, the feeling of blood loss made me tire more quickly. With effort, I crawled up the wall and into the cave, abandoning the kill below to retrieve later. ¡°We¡¯re back-¡± I stopped mid sentence. This was the wrong cave. That, couldn¡¯t be right. Did I get lost? This cave was larger, with a few tunnels branching out of a large cave. Luke came jogging into view, grinning. ¡°Oh, welcome- what happened to you?!¡± He spotted my half-silver neck and my blood drenched shirt. ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ what the hell? Did you dig out the cave?¡± Luke grinned like an idiot. ¡°Nope! Come on, I will give you the tour.¡± The cave had tripled in size. Small tunnels connected three large ¡°rooms¡±. One, the largest, had the fire place, tools, and remnants of the minimole, which appeared to be in the process of being turned into something. The other two rooms were still large, and had furnishings carved into the walls. Small desks and alcoves. A raised stone area that could act as a bed. ¡°This one is yours.¡± Luke said as he led me into the third room. ¡°Do with it as you please.¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t gone THAT long. What happened?¡± ¡°Squigly. Its labyrinth ability is amazing. It takes a semi-confined space, and expands it. It doesn¡¯t need to be labyrinth shaped. I had it expand the size of the cave. Then, Henry chiseled some basic furnishings. It doesn¡¯t seem to tire Squigly out too much, but if it leaves everything goes back to normal.¡± ¡°So if we fill it with stuff, it will get crushed?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I tested that, laid out some stuff in one room, then deactivated it. Everything moved in a way that they didn¡¯t touch or overlapped harmlessly. Then when I turned it back on, everything moved back to their old positions.¡± ¡°That is really convenient. Huh, nice. Well, King seems happier about it.¡± King and Stella went back to their normal activity of playing, enjoying the extra room. Balor was off exploring on his own. Henry was at work, chipping away at the walls, moving stone outside. It was coming along quickly, very quickly. I tried to imagine a few weeks of this, or a few years. We could put down a fortress almost anywhere. Then I remembered these monsters were designed to fight in war. That was likely exactly what they were designed to do. I gave Luke the details on our outing and showed him the new monsters. He was gripped on every word, then went to investigate the new creature. I slumped down on my hard bed, not bothering to pile anything onto it yet. Then I called Balor over. He did, begrudgingly. When exploring my link, I discovered how to more easily navigate the menus of my nexos stats. I pulled up the options for the new skill. My view filled with options. The next ten minutes were spent combing through them. Many were useless, as they could be selected but required certain souls to work. Things like fire punch, savagery, elemental weapons, and so on. I discovered I could sort those kind of skills out and my list drastically shrunk. What remained were mostly a selection of weapon skills. Cut air, heavy crush, boomerang throw and final slash were just a few examples. I noted that there were a few skelky unique skills. These peaked my interest. Rage, battle calm, and spider monkey. Rage would send Balor into a frenzy. Increasing his strength, but reducing his utility as well as sending him in a, well, rage. I thought this suited Balor, he always seemed upset with me for some reason. Battle calm seemed to do the opposite. Reduced his strength, but increased his utility and agility. That seemed bad at first glance, but as a result his reaction and skill with weapons would increase. It would also keep him level headed in stressful situations. Finally, spider monkey. This gave Balor two additional arms. Amusing, but not very helpful. A few others that peaked my interest were cut air, energy strike, and Duel. Cut air was a sword skill that sent a blade of¡­ energy, I assumed, through the air. I wasn¡¯t too knowledgeable on the physics of it all, but with his weapon master skill it meant that any attack of his could become a ranged attack. Energy strike allowed him to imbue energy into any weapon attack. That was a staff skill. Finally, duel intrigued me. It was a warrior soul only skill. It locked Balor and another enemy in battle. If the other enemy attacked someone else, they would take a lot of mental damage, whatever that meant. Balor didn¡¯t use his energy, so energy strike would be something he could spend it on. But, he also did not have a lot to spare either. Cut air could be very useful. Then again, I had ranged cover with thorn, for now. Spider monkey and rage were out, rage would be too risky and with spider monkey¡­ I didn¡¯t see it being helpful. I wish I knew how much damage duel would do. After hemming and hawing, I went with battle calm. Increased skill in weapon use, which utility seemed to govern, and quicker reflexes would outweigh slight reduction in damage. That and having someone with a level head in a fight would be useful. Dismissing Balor, I was about to call King. Still tired, I had the will to do it but hesitated to call out. Despite that, King barked and bounded my way. He arrived with Stella holding onto his tail. She giggled as the powerful tail swished her back and forth. Odd, I didn¡¯t call him yet. But, there was a distinct feeling when I made the decision to. That piano wire like thread that connected me to King, Stella, and Balor seemed¡­ thicker? It was all mental, but it seemed I could touch it somehow. I twinged it mentally. King barked happily. Curious, I twinged Stellas. She let go of the tail and flew through the air, then popped landing in my chest with the the momentum hitting me full on. She looked up at me, then nuzzled my face. I twinged balors line, and a moment later he poked his head in the room and grunted. Huh. I wondered how far I could push this. I mentally touched Stellas line and thought, Get off me, girl. With a disappointed whine, she did. Using the same method, I had King walk to different spots in the room. Why could I do this now? I looked at my stats. Adaption was at 53% and thorn had increased to 11%. Was this because adaption was over 50%? I¡¯d tell Luke later. Instead, I had a Pulse Hound to upgrade.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I went through a similar process with King as I had with Balor. Removing all of the useless skills and focusing on Pulse Hound skills. Aside from those, King had a few others that were interesting. Less than Balor, but still worth searching through. His Pulse hound specific skills were Record, Electrify, and Hammer Head. Searching through his other skills, I only saw a few I liked. Rend, Feast, and Feral Instincts. Record allowed King to record information and to replay it¡­ somehow. I suspected I could see what he saw the same way I used pulse. Electrify would enhance King with electricity. Basic, but could be powerful. Hammer Head simply gave him an upgraded attack, similar to what he did as a pup, being able to slam into enemies with his head. I suspected this would be much more powerful now. I decided to drop that from the potential list, as I had just upgraded his savagery skill and didn¡¯t want to diversify too much. Rend was a series of fast attack that could rip an opponent to shreds. I dropped it for the same reason. Feast was interesting, it allowed King to heal faster when eating. King didn¡¯t get wounded often, but against multiple foes maybe it could help? Finally, Feral Instincts honed his instincts to react to and sense danger sooner. That was a bust, with pulse covering that already. Between record, electrify, and feast, I decided to go with electrify. Record would have been an excellent choice, but without knowledge on how to use it it would be useless. That decided, I viewed all of my nexos stats, just to remind myself where I was at. PULSE HOUND Designation: King Level: 1 Health: Stable Energy: 6 Status: Bonded Bond Strength: 88% Soul Type: Beast Skills Power Up: 68% Pulse: 42% Flash Dodge: 10% Kinetic Shield: 5% Savagery Level 2: 0% Electrify: 5% Attributes Strength: 4 Agility: 3 Density: 3 Energy: 2 Utility: 2 Derived Attributes Speed: 4 Intelligence: 4 Toughness: 7 Reaction: 5 SKELKY Designation: Balor Level: 2 Health: Stable Energy: 5 Soul Type: Warrior Status: Bonded Bond Strength: 51% Skills Challenge: 55% Weapons Master: 12% Trickery: 39% Kinetic Shield: 10% Battle Calm: 15% Attributes Strength: 3 Alacrity: 3 Density: 2 Energy: 2 Utility: 4 Derived Attributes Speed: 4 Intelligence: 3 Toughness: 3 Reaction: 4 BLINKET Designation: Stella Level: Hatchling (38%) Health: Stable Energy: 7 Status: Bonded Bond Strength: 100% Soul Type: Magi Skills Blink: 25% Light: 17% Bite: 11% Attributes Strength: 1 Agility: 2 Density: 1 Energy: 3 Utility: 1 Derived Attributes Speed: 2 Intelligence: 4 Toughness: 2 Reaction: 3 Special Traits Soul Burner Soon after, I ate some boiled fruit with Luke while the nexos all ate some minimole meat. I decided to take the next few days easy, replenishing my blood supply. I took the risk of letting Balor go and explore and collect more food for us. Surprisingly, this increased his bond by 5%, the most it ever has. Maybe trusting Balor was the direction to go with him. Meanwhile, we worked on our small home. Pelt bedding and strategically placed shells could really liven up the place. Luke had been working on the pelts, collecting a bowl full of fat from them. It turned out, something to do with how the nexo body was constructed had left the hide flexible and sturdy, even without curing. Luke didn¡¯t realize how useful that was. Normally to get any good use out of a hide, you would have to cure it for weeks or months, and the process could be pretty disgusting. I wondered if that was on purpose or a happy accident. Did the designers take that into account? Allowing for a fallen weapon to be used more efficiently in a survival situation. I didn¡¯t know, and I didn¡¯t care. We would reap the rewards. Similarly, the bones were also useful. Not quite fully metal, they were sturdy and did not need to be dried for months before being useful. We had gained a functional, albeit cave-man like, stash of useful material for Henry to work with. After the third day, I was feeling a lot more confident about going out again. Luke had also, finally, finished his project. He bequeathed it to me like a royal armorer. It was a coat. I had long since abandoned my shirt, going topless in the cave, so the coat was a welcome gift. It was crafted of the minimole hide, stiff and sturdy. An effective armor. The inside was lined with leovien down, so it was soft and warm to wear. Colorful feathers decorated the wrists, and bone buttons were used to hold it shut. I was impressed. ¡°I thought you said you were a roboticist?¡± ¡°A roboticist with a rebellious streak and pension to try things without permission. For money, I worked at my moms tailoring shop. We also did hats, belts, jewelery¡­ you name it. I hated it, but it felt good to work with clothes again.¡± I tried it on. It was a tad snug, but Luke would later fix that. I took a look at myself in a reflective shell. I looked¡­ pretty threatening. The coat was a dark gray with thick lapel which made me look more muscular than I was. Lines of silver peaking through on my neck and hand, as well as my now unkempt beard. Most threatening was an almost dead look in my eyes. A tired look only someone who has nearly died multiple times would have. I wouldn¡¯t want to meet me in a back ally. After the refitting, I was finally ready to explore, hunt, and train once again. My plan, to scout the strongest monster in the jungle and to find a way to defeat it. Ch. 17 - Hunting XP I took with me half of the health equipment. One spray and one pill. The plan for the day, scouting and testing new abilities. In the event that I would not be able to make it back to the cave, I made sure to pack a lunch of some fish and fruit. My new jacket was warm, almost hot, as I moved back into the jungle region. I was thankful of its protection, however. We traveled with Balor in front, King behind me, and Stella riding King. I was hoping that we could use some of her skills in combat, allowing for her to grow. She was pretty small now, smaller than King was at her stage, so I didn¡¯t expect her to grow into some powerful monster. Rather, I was hoping her special abilities, light and blink, would become more useful. It wasn¡¯t long before I encountered our first monster. It first appeared as a pair of red, glowing eyes. Then, it dropped from the canopy. An adult Skelky, with a slightly different skull and chitin shape to Balor. It wielded a staff made of wood. Bringing up its stats, it was a level one skelky, with nothing different than Balor at that level. This was an opportunity to test mental commands. Using my thoughts, I kept King and Stella at bay. I commanded Balor to use challenge. Nearly at the same time, the enemy used the same ability. Both roaring at each other, the challengers advanced. They clashed with tremendous speed. The two monsters exchanging blows, parries, and strikes. Each shrieked and hooted at the other, but neither had a clear upper hand. I ordered Balor to use Battle Calm. Instantly, the effect was noticeable. It was like a switch, changing from a furious monkey into a calm master of combat. The enemy continued to strike, twirling his stick at blinding speed. But, Balor dodge every attack with simple sidesteps. He seemed to analyze his foe, anticipating strikes, rather than out-speeding him. Calmly placing his body where it wouldn¡¯t be struck. It was cold and clinical, terrifying even. Then, he attacked. Moving his two kama in a deliberate motion, he scissored one of the enemies hands right off from the wrist. It screamed in pain, but did not back down. They had initiated a duel and fleeing was not an option. But, Balor¡¯s skill with his weapons was simply in a different class than the enemies. This was only a one level difference. I shivered remembering the level of our current quarry. Balor sidestepped another attack and hooked the leg of his opponent, sending it falling into the mud. Without hesitation Balor simply crossed his kamas around its neck, and beheaded it. The whole interaction took less than a minute. I was REALLY glad I fought him at level one. Now, I wondered what King could do. Balor¡¯s arms and chest swelled slightly after the fight. I took some time with my blade to cut away at the corpses armor. I wanted to see if I could fit it onto my jacket, or something. Then we continued with the short break while the nexos ate the leftover meat. I was feeling pretty good about our team. That was one of the few fights with no injuries, besides a few bruises on Balor¡¯s end but he would heal. We had to cross skelky territory to get to our destination, so I was sure we would run into more of them. It would have been faster to travel across the grassland and to the jungle there, but that would risk the giant bird. I wasn¡¯t ready for that fight. A while later, more skelkies came to challenge us. A handful of smaller hatchlings warned us first, and a quick pulse revealed three adult skelkies. Like the dropping of bombs, they slammed into the jungle floor. Each wielded sticks smoothed into simple staves. I acted immediately. Sending King to one and Balor to another. The third refused to help either ally, and instead rushed me. Yellow lightning zapped to life around King, causing his hair to stand on end. The smell of burnt dog breath wafted through the air as king opened his jaws, energy zapping between large fangs. Balor, likewise, activated his passive skill, challenge. He roared with a slightly deeper pitch than before. I shot a thorn at my challenger, which bounced off its shield and carapace with a cracking sound. Internally I groaned at the uselessness of the thorn. My enemy lept in the air and came down with the staff as hard as it could. But this wasn¡¯t my first tussle with their kind. I knew their general tactic. Sidestepping, I swung my blade. The staff split in two. Stella gave a happy little chirp and gripped harder to my shoulder. In my peripheral, I could see that Balor was locked in combat with his opponent, but had the clear upper hand. I couldn¡¯t get a clear view of King, but based on the screaming monkey noises, he was doing well. I closed my eyes and had Stella use light. The flash was visible even through my eyelids. The now blinded skelky attacked uselessly, giving me an opportunity to cut down hard with my blade. I aimed for the neck, but only managed to cut a gash through some of its chest carapace. There was a sound of crunching and zapping of electricity. Kings enemy suddenly stopped screaming. Balor was taking longer than his canine companion. Lacking the destructive bite of King, he was whittling down the enemy, tiring them out so he could go for the kill. Still partially blinded, the Skelky I was focused on attacked madly. I managed to block the blow, absorbing it with my blade and leather jacket. It still hurt, but not nearly as much as when I fought Balor. More experience and better equipment can really make a difference. A weight was suddenly gone from my shoulder and Stella appeared right behind it. With a battle-squeal, she bit onto the skelkie¡¯s ankle. It dealt very little damage, but it distracted the skelky just enough for me to slash again. I aimed for the already cracked armor and formed an X. Before it could retaliate, I stepped in close, placed my palm on the broken armor, and used thorn. With that sickening feeling, I released a full force bone spear into the monster, pushing both of us back. I stumbled, holding my sore wrist, the attack nearly fractured it, and was ready to attack again. No need. The spear had pierced through the weakened armor. The skelky was on the ground, bleeding out. Stella got a few more bites in as it died. Checking on the others, Balor and King had defeated their enemies without a scratch. I couldn¡¯t help but grin, we had improved greatly since our earlier days. Taking the long way around the skelky nests was our best bet for survival. I couldn¡¯t guarantee they would stay as reasonable as they have been. Still, we were attacked by five more skelkies that day. Four adults and one very brave hatchling. King and Balor each defeated two adults, I made sure to balance out experience between them. King was getting close to leveling power up. I took a risk with the hatchling, and allowed Stella to show us what she could do.Stolen story; please report. After the small monkey approached and thundered its chest, I set Stella onto the ground. She nervously looked back towards me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will step in if things goes south.¡± Balor was busy holding it back while I gave Stella a reassuring pat on the head. King have he a lick that covered half her face. We released the nexos for their duel. Stella desperately needed to grow, this life was simply too dangerous. The skelky charged at her immediately. Just before it attacked, Stella disappeared. With a cry, she then fell onto the confused skelky from behind. Teeth gnawed uselessly on carapace. A moment latter, Stella was thrown off of its back by two dexterous arms. She rolled and King, snarling, nearly rushed in. I held him back. Then there was only light. A blinding flash of light that blinded me. For moments, all I could see was white. Blinking back into focus, Stella was biting at any exposed place. Nips and the snap of teeth on carapace. Finally, the skelky recovered. It swung its fists towards her, but she was already gone. Again and again it tried to strike her, but Stella teleported away from each attack. Finally, after five teleports, she failed to leap away. There was a heart breaking crunch as Stella went flying from a four fist attack. I cried out and King dashed in. In one quick moment he grabbed the skelky and shook it until it died. I checked on Stella. Her status was wounded and she was out of energy. She made a sad little pip sound. ¡°You did great. For not having practically any combat abilities, you nearly got him. Proud of you, girl.¡± I patted her head, and she made a happy chirp, then fell asleep. Checking her stats, she did improve greatly, but was only 75% of the way to being grown. With Stella resting in her back, we left the Skelky territory and approached the prinsaur¡¯s land. For old times sake, I swung by my old camp ground. All of my traps had been demolished, as I expected. I spent some time making a small fire and rested in the husk of the monster. The next day, Stella had recovered fully from her fight and the extra strength Balor had faded away. After quick breakfast, we traveled in a direction I had yet to explore. Somewhere I would expect to be the heart of the Prinsaur, and hunsaur, territory. This was where things would get dicey. Stealth was the priority. So, we moved slowly and carefully. I used pulse as often as I dared. Ground slowly gave way to a spongy mud and it was noticeably getting more humid. With pulse, I could sense puddles and pools of murky water around us. Finally, a pulse revealed a living creature. A nexo. The shape was unclear, but it was about the right size and had the correct number of limbs to be a hunsaur. It was busy eating something. Using mental commands, I tried something I wanted to test out. Stella lept onto Kings back and placed her hands on his dome. King pulsed, giving her a clear sense of the area. Then, with some reluctance, reality ate them. It was like a wormhole prying open, sucking in the two. It sounded like the ripping of metal mixed with a thunder-like crack. King reappeared next to the hunsaur. Immediately, he chomped down on its neck and electrocuted it. Thrashing and kicking at King was useless and its energy to fight slowly drained away. Once it was dead, I rushed over to check on them. Stella sat atop King desperately gripping his fur. She looked dazed and tired. Checking her stats, I noticed that used five of her seven energy. Ok, so that was an emergency only move. Got it. Then I noticed the other creature on the ground. It was a pulse hound. Just like King, but with a smaller jaw and a more pronounced dome. But, it was dead. Food for the hunt. Seeing King in action, I was surprised one of the hunsaur took one down. Then the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Instantly, I pulsed through King. Two hunsaurs were watching us from about ten yards away. I commanded Balor to come closer. Looking at him, I nodded towards each of them. He nodded back in understanding. King was standing as still as a statue, snarling. Thick globs of saliva drooped to the ground. With a command, all three of us slowly turned our backs on the hunsaurs. There was a faint sound of moving leaves, then we turned back around ready to strike. Two hunsaurs were hurdling towards us. I launched three spikes, one missing and two hitting home. It didn¡¯t do much other than to slow it. Balor activated his battle calm as he moved forwards. Kamas held close to the blades. King, likewise, activated his electrify ability. Twin roars echoed through the jungle. The hunsaurs were louder than what seemed possible. Fear flooded through me and I stepped back. My fourth spike going wide. Both King and Balor also hesitated. This must be their intimidate ability, I realized. One latched its jaws onto one of Balor¡¯s arms, which he sacrificed to stop the creature from biting anywhere else. Kings hunsaur instead rushed past, slicing and rending with six claws. Blood began to soak into his fur. I could do nothing in this fight but watch. Stella, however, used the last of her energy to pop onto the back of the hunsaur grappling with Balor. ¡°You idiot!¡± I yelled and rushed that direction. Balor had a look of terror on his face seeing Stella appear in danger. Nevertheless, she bit down on the back of the creature, taking small chunks of flesh with her. Text appeared over her. THIS WEAPON IS READY TO GROW. Both pride and fear swelled in my chest as stella was thrown from the creature. Somehow, it managed to twist itself and use its back legs to attack her. Balor growled and started cutting into with his weapons. I swung at it as well, getting a satisfying cut in. That was when I realized Balor was holding its jaws shut, one of his four arms trapped within, carapace and bone shattered. With several more attacks, we cut it down. King was already shaking apart his kill, electricity burning its flesh leaving a foul smell in the air. I sighed. How could I keep the upper hand when I don¡¯t know the enemies abilities? I would need to keep a log of some sort. Getting paper to Luke was one of my priorities. Maybe he could check on them. Stella was at my feet, holding her arms up. She wanted me to pick her up. Normally, she would just pop up there. I laughed, then picked her up. Then I placed her next to a hunsaur. ¡°Eat. It¡¯s time for you to grow.¡± As she feasted, King licked his wounds. I checked Balor¡¯s arm. The carapace was shattered and the bone was clearly broken. Using a stick, I fashioned a brace for it. He winced several times, and even yelled at me once. Finally, Stella began to change. There was the white light. It emanated from her tail. Small hexagonal metal plates popped in and out of existence around her tail. So that was where I could connect to her. That was a mystery solved. From them, the white light pulsed. Faster and faster until, with a blinding light, Stella grew. She doubled in height, coming to nearly three feet. Other than that, she looked largely the same. Her dress of matted fur had straightened into a gown-like shape. Her tail was longer, and seemed to naturally rest over her head. Smaller eyes and a larger snout, but her eyes still swirled with the light of a cosmos. I checked her stats. BLINKET Designation: Stella Level: 1 Health: Stable Energy: 8 Status: Bonded Bond Strength: 100% Soul Type: Magi Skills Blink: 55% Light: 27% Bite: 34% Attributes Strength: 2 Agility: 3 Density: 2 Energy: 5 Utility: 2 Derived Attributes Speed: 3 Intelligence: 7 Toughness: 4 Reaction: 5 Special Traits Soul Burner