The next morning, Chris, Greg, and Thomas headed to the Outside with Arose while Andrew went to school. "Well this place is fancy." Greg whistled as they walked through the City.

"No sun… I like it." Chris nodded in agreement.

"Wait really?" Thomas looked up, searching for a sun. "Huh… how does that work?"

"The Outside's physical laws are ever so slightly different than Earths." Arose explained. "Not enough to cause problems, obviously, but enough that technology can be… finicky."

Chris blinked at that and immediately went to open a portal. He felt a small hint of resistance as he did, frowning as he pushed through it and drew on something as a new world was called into being to connect with the Outside. Chris blinked at the meter radius sphere leading to an empty white void. "Huh… I haven't seen that in a while." He muttered as he began adding rules to the new world, until he could make the portal flat again, though he had a hard limit at one point nine four meters. "Damn, the rules really are different." He frowned.

Arose coughed awkwardly. "Chris, it's generally viewed as impolite to open portals within the City." He commented, looking around at all the other pedestrians who were shooting Chris dirty looks.

Chris closed the portal, raising an eyebrow at Arose. "Why would opening portals be rude?"

"Security concerns." Arose shrugged. "The City is protected by layer upon layer of spatial barriers, but they're all meaningless if our enemies can simply walk through a portal to get around them. Opening a portal outside the portal square is viewed as reckless endangerment, because who knows what could be on the other side of that portal that you could be letting in?"

Chris cocked his head. "I suppose that makes sense."

Minor faux pas aside, the four of them continued on to the Monkey Clan building to meet with an Elder. "Lord Arose!" Elder Barry greeted him with an ingratiating smile. "How can I be of service today?" He glanced at the other three. "New Support Staff to induct?"

Arose shook his head. "No, this is a bit… different. These three are friends of Andrew."

"What did he do to them?" Elder Barry immediately asked, frowning as he studied the three of them for any hints. Given the boy's track record, he was seriously considering barring him from any and all mortal interactions. At least it didn't seem like he'd formed any more Bonds, or he'd actually be here. Not that he blamed the boy, but there was too much strangeness surrounding him, and mortals simply weren't equipped to handle it.

Arose couldn't help but smirk at that. "Now Barry, why would you assume this was my grandson's fault?"

Elder Barry blinked. "Is it not?"

"No, it is." Arose chuckled. "Though it isn't anything he's done to them. He's simply the reason they're here."

Elder Barry raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid you've lost me."

"Allow me to introduce the Eternals Chris, Greg, and Thomas!" Andrew introduced the three of them with a sweep of his arm, before pausing as he noticed the three of them whispering between themselves.

"Why didn't you buy the translation trait?!?" Thomas hissed.

"I didn't think I'd need it!" Greg hissed back. "I thought everyone here spoke English! Why would I waste over half my daily points on a trait I don't need when I could be increasing my ability energy instead!"

"Why would you waste points on an ability when you don't even know what it does yet?!?" Thomas retorted.

"It still makes me stronger, so it's worth it!" Greg countered.

"Not when you can't speak to anyone!" Thomas snapped.

"I'll buy it tomorrow, just translate for me for now! You have to do it for Chris anyway!" Greg pointed out.

"No need to translate, I can speak English." Elder Barry switched languages, giving the three of them a strange look. What were points and how would they help with communication? He turned to Arose. "What do you mean by Eternals?"

"It's simply what they and Andrew call themselves." Arose explained as Thomas stopped Chris from handing Elder Barry a pamphlet.

"We can't die, and Immortals was already taken." Greg added.

"I'm sorry?" Elder Barry blinked, sure he'd misheard.

"That brings us to the purpose of our visit, which is two fold." Arose interjected, suddenly serious. "First, these boys need official identities, as soon as possible. And secondly… I am calling a Meeting of the Clans to discuss who these boys are and what their existence means to us."

Elder Barry's eyes widened in shock. "A Meeting of the Clans?!?" He glanced at the three of them. "Are they that significant?"

Arose gave him a hard-eyed smile. "These boys could change everything."

*

"So, what would you all like to do now? Explore the City? Watch a match at the Arena?" Arose asked as they left, after giving a nervous Elder Barry all the basic information he'd need to get them legit identities.

"I'd like to hunt." Chris stated simply. He couldn't start to grow until he captured a few Beasts to connect to his world.

"I also wouldn't mind a chance to let loose a bit." Greg grinned. "Though the Arena thing sounds interesting too."

"I kinda wanted to look around…" Thomas muttered, before shrugging. "But if everyone wants to hunt, I'm fine with it."

Arose gave the three of them a weird look. "Are the three of you… capable of hunting?" He asked hesitantly. He couldn't say he was the best at judging a beings power, but with millennia of experience, anyone would develop a certain level of skill in anything they had even a casual interest in, and based on his senses, these three would struggle with even the weakest of Beasts. Or more accurately, the weakest Beast could massacre them without even trying.

The three of them shared a look. "If they aren't immune to smoke, I shouldn't have an issue." Greg shrugged.

"I just need to get them through a portal." Chris agreed.

"I've got nothing." Thomas frowned. "Unless I can convince them to take the system and gain some points, which I could then use to fuck with their minds… but that's overly complicated and not all that helpful."

Arose shook his head. "I think it'd be best to wait for Andrew to give you a hand. He should be hunting tonight, so how about we explore the City and check out the Arena in the meantime?"

"Wait, couldn't you just help us hunt then?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ha!" Arose let out a short laugh. "Yes, I could, and then you'd have everyone watching you, wondering why Lord Arose was personally taking three strange boys hunting. The mere fact that I'm showing you around is curious enough! No, I'm far too visible for that to be a wise decision." He shook his head.

Chris clicked his tongue. "Damn."

"So… Arena then?" Greg asked, looking between them all.

"Arena." Thomas nodded.

*

The Arena was relatively hit or miss. Some fights were interesting, like a Rabbit versus a Rooster, but then there'd be a fight between something like an Ox and a Goat, in which the Goat spent the entire time avoiding Ox until it could find an opening. While a flying Goat was somewhat interesting, a whole fifteen minutes of it was less than exciting. Greg only lasted four fights before he needed something else to do and they moved on. Thankfully, if there was one thing the Bonded were good at, it was keeping themselves entertained. They spent the rest of the day doing rounds of the various entertainment venues, alternating between things to do and things to watch, driven by Greg's inability to stay focused on any one thing for longer than an hour.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"How are you this bad, but you can manage to sit and read for hours on end?" Thomas asked, shaking his head incredulously.

"Reading isn't just reading." Greg replied. "It's reading, visualizing, theorizing, and even a little bit of socializing, all wrapped up in one. Full mental engagement. You know, if you're doing it right."

"Socializing? Really?" Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think it's such a pain to read about a character you don't like?" Greg grinned. "Cause you're actually engaging with the character, and who wants to engage with someone they dislike? Or at least don't find a little interesting."

Thomas frowned. "I'm still not sure I'd count that as socializing."

That was how they spent the day until Andrew was finally done with school and ready to take them hunting. They joined him, Cathryn, and Li Jing in the portal square, bidding Arose goodbye before they all headed to the base camp. "Alright, so, how are we doing this?" Thomas asked as they gathered in one of the cabins.

"You three hide in Chris's world while I take something he owns out with me." Andrew replied, having thought about this during school. "I don't think I could even get you out the gate, otherwise."

"Or I can just attach a portal point to you." Chris pointed out.

Andrew blinked. "Or that, yes."

"I could help someone too." Li Jing offered.

"Well, we're mostly doing this for Chris right now." Andrew explained. "For Greg and Thomas, I can just give them crystals, but Chris actually needs to capture a Beast."

"Wait, you can just give us crystals?" Thomas blinked.

"Well… yeah? At least until you can hunt on your own." Andrew shrugged.

"Then why haven't you been doing that?!?" Thomas asked incredulously.

Andrew blinked back. "Because you were on Earth? Besides, it isn't like the other systems. You can absorb crystals by the bagful if you want, no problem. The limit is the supply, not your absorption speed."

Thomas glared at him for a moment, before shaking his head. "Whatever. Let's just do this already."

Chris anchored a portal point to Andrew before heading into his world with Greg and Thomas, and Andrew flew out into the wilderness, looking for a Beast to catch. He didn't need anything too impressive, because he could just switch out cores for Chris, so the moment he caught sight of a decently powerful Squirrel, he jumped on it, slicing its tendons. Chris opened a portal a moment later and Andrew tossed the helpless Squirrel inside. "One down." He muttered as he took flight again. There were many more to go.

*

"I hate this part." Chris muttered as he focused on the six Beasts Andrew had captured for him, the Squirrel, a Velociraptor, a Ferret, a Bat, a Fox, and a Badger, pressuring them one by one to connect them to his world. The Squirrel was easy to break, simpler than even a goblin, but the rest took a bit more effort. He only managed to connect the Velociraptor, Ferret, and Bat before the headache got too much for him. He rubbed his temple with a pained grimace as he analyzed the four Beasts to get their abilities into the world. These headaches were starting to get really annoying.

"So then these are for us?" Thomas asked, gesturing to the four crystals Andrew had left for them, repeats of Beasts he'd already gotten for Chris.

"You can have some of these as well." Li Jing offered, pushing her pile towards them as well. Getting the two of them to the point they could hunt on their own as quickly as possible would only help them.

"Jing…" Andrew began, before trailing off as she gave him a look. "Right, well, try a few, see what happens." He waved at the crystal pile. "If we're lucky, you have the Human ability, and you can absorb any crystals. Which means if we Awaken you guys, it'll be the same." He added, glancing at Cathryn and Li Jing.

"If?" Li Jing raised an eyebrow.

"When?" Andrew offered.

"Not." Cathryn grumbled, her expression twisting.

"Yes." Li Jing retorted, giving Cathryn a look. "Don't you want to stay safe?"

"You don't know what Andrew had to deal with before he learned how to manipulate his cores!" Cathryn countered. "People aren't meant to be that powerful! If we get abilities, then we might as well give up living on Earth!"

Andrew froze. How had he forgotten about that? "Maybe it'd be best if we held off on abilities." He muttered.

"Eh?" Greg paused right as he was about to stuff a crystal into his mouth.

"Not you." Andrew waved dismissively. "You can just make yourself another body. Same with Chris and Thomas. But Cathryn and Li Jing don't have that option, and I know from personal experience that living in a world that's way too fragile for you isn't a fun experience." He finished with a grimace.

Li Jing frowned, before nodding in agreement with a sigh. She remembered when she and Andrew first got together, and how careful he had to be with her.

"I wouldn't say I can just make myself another body." Thomas commented with a slight grumble as he took an ability crystal as well.

"We'll see if you can use one of my bodies after this." Greg waved dismissively as he popped the crystal into his mouth and focused on absorbing the energy.

Meanwhile, Chris was taking the energy from the Beasts he'd connected to his world, condensing it into ability crystals and running into a slight problem. How did he decide which ability to take? Not in the decision sense, but literally, how did he determine what ability he had… he only had one energy reservoir, even though he'd analyzed four Beasts. Chris frowned for a moment, before shrugging and popping the ability crystals into his mouth, making sure he had his world out so things would actually happen. Whatever was going on, as long as he could absorb the energy, it'd work out.

"Okay, that's just not fair." Thomas grumbled, turning to glare at Chris as he absorbed a frankly massive amount of energy.

"Oh, fuck, it's another meat situation, isn't it?" Andrew groaned, facepalming as he realized what was happening. It made perfect sense too. He knew how similar his and Greg's Worlds were. Why couldn't Chris do the same thing with crystals as he did with meat? Except it was even more ridiculous in his world, because there wasn't any absorption limit!

"Meat situation?" Li Jing asked curiously.

Andrew sighed. "Chris can connect things to his world and move them around, which means when he connects Beasts to his world, he can take all their energy and put it into a crystal."

Li Jing blinked. "Oh… that's impressive."

"It still gives me a massive headache to connect a Beast to my world." Chris commented. "I only managed to get four."

"Which is the equivalent of like forty crystals." Andrew pointed out. "That's almost as much as I get in a week!"

"True, but the stronger the creature, the harder it is to pressure into connecting to my world." Chris replied. "Like that frog seal. Took everything out of me. Once we start hunting stronger Beasts, it won't be as helpful."

"Plus, what benefits Chris, benefits us." Greg added. "Also, I think I'm absorbing all this energy, so… how do I use this Human ability?"

"You have to focus on your craving for connection, the void inside you that needs to be filled." Andrew replied.

Greg blinked. "Wow. That's so… emo. I'm not sure I can even pull that off." He frowned.

"What about Tessa?" Andrew offered. "Don't you miss her? Focus on that."

"Well, yeah, but that's more of a physical craving, rather than an emotional one…" Greg muttered. "Not that I don't love her, obviously, but… okay, see, as long as I know she's safe and happy, that's all my emotional needs met. Physical needs on the other hand… Well, there's only one Tessa."

"Huh… I'm the opposite. Not that that's surprising, I guess…" Thomas frowned. He and Greg had quite a few opposite traits. Though they had oddly similar expressions at times… "I crave that emotional connection, but sex, while definitely enjoyable, isn't that big a deal for me."

Chris raised an eyebrow at him. "Then explain Jade."

Thomas coughed awkwardly. "Well, when you don't have that emotional connection, sex is a good substitute."

"No it isn't." Chris shook his head.

"Yeah, no, but it certainly seems like it in the moment." Thomas sighed.

"That I can believe." Chris nodded.

"Can we get back to this Human ability thing?" Greg interjected. "How am I supposed to focus on cravings that don't exist?"

"Just- I don't know, focus on your humanness." Andrew gestured dismissively. "That's what I did."

Greg frowned. "My humanness…" He muttered, closing his eyes. Humanness, humanness… did he have humanness? He was a smoke person… nominally human, sure, but there was definitely something off about him. Maybe not as much as Chris, but still. His nature was primarily physical, as were his needs. The extreme physical side of the human experience… the physical need to experience everything. The hunger driving him to consume. And suddenly it clicked, and Greg's senses opened, feeling all the abilities around him. Abilities that could be his. "Wow, okay." Greg's eyes popped open. "Looks like the key isn't focusing on your need for connection, it's getting in touch with your… core desire? Deepest instinct? Something like that. Whatever it is, mine is to… indulge myself in the physical? So that's what I have to focus on."

"Huh… What's my core desire?" Thomas wondered, cocking his head. He wanted… freedom? No. Emotional connection? He'd just said that, but that wasn't everything. He wouldn't be happy with just people. He needed… he needed to earn. No, wait… it wasn't about the earning, but about the value. To be valued and to value in turn… for everyone to be valued. The desire to be significant. But not for no reason… he needed to deserve it. Earn it. Wasn't that a core part of human nature? Thomas breathed out, closing his eyes and sinking into that desire for significance, that desire to be more, and the ability opened to him, showing him all the abilities he could add to himself. "Huh… Well, now I want to know what Chris's core desire would be."

"That's easy. Jealousy." Chris immediately replied.

Andrew blinked. "Jealousy? Really?"

Chris nodded. "What's mine is mine. Don't touch it."