Grant felt the world coming back to him. He was still buried though, down in a deep dark hole. The world was a far away sound,a distant buzzing and murmuring, he wasn’t there right now. He was beneath it all, in a warm pocket of reality, just for him.

A slew of windows had appeared in his mind. One stood out in front of the others, demanding his attention.

First Temple of the Harbinger is awakening.

Prepare thyself Harbinger

Fuck, he thought, that was another thing to deal with. He assumed it was something to do with what Eva had done. Nothing he could do about it right now, not from down here.

He dismissed the window. The next three stood out in front of the remaining few. He read them as sensation began to return to him. His body was cold,but not in an unpleasant way. It was actually very relaxing.

The three windows, were his powers, newly leveled up. Nice, he thought. The changed portions stood out very clearly. They were in bold like the titles, but they were not underlined. That was a nice UI feature, he thought. He wished more games did stuff like that.

His mind was still foggy but he was beginning to realize that. He was becoming aware of pinpricks of pain. There were more windows, but he could tell they were less urgent. He ignored them for now.

He felt something pushing on his back, it was underneath him. He rolled onto his side and heard a wet plop. Something had fallen out of him hitting the concrete floor beneath him. A wild burning erupted in his chest. It was very itchy at the edge.

Then there was pressure as something began to press on his insides. His chest expanded. He felt the entrance and exit wounds as they closed up.

He heard the moment his regrown heart began beating again. The first few beats were slow, but they began to pick up the pace. It reminded him of a steam engine train leaving the station. The sound came on loud but slowly faded to the background.

It was replaced by gunfire and screams. So very loud, why couldn’t they be quiet. Why couldn't they relax like him. Grant laid there, remembering vaguely that he had to go deal with the solider. Perhaps later. He was too weak now.

Dammit, he was so tired. As the blood began pumping in his body again, everything ached. Pain was everywhere. A pair of hands grabbed him and shook him.

“Harbinger wake up!” A hand slapped him across the face. “He is distracted, you must go now!”

Eva’s voice was not shrill or pleading, it was icy cold. She was scary, there was no other way to put it. Still though, he was so tired. Grant just groaned and tried to push her away.

“Eric!” Olivia screamed, her voice was a plaintive wail. “Eric!”

“Harbinger” Her voice was a low growl now. “Get up, your flock needs you!”

Those words began to clear the fog from his mind. He forced himself to sit up. Adrenaline replaced the weakness that had been sapping him. All the same a head rush threatened to overtake him.

Olviia was kneeling over Eric who lay prone on the ground. A large wound on his chest was bleeding badly. At least it was still bleeding that meant he still had a pulse.

The soldier was facing away from them. He was gunning down masses of tentacles that were rushing forward. They were emerging from the hallways that fed into the Lobby.

Grant rose to his feet. His legs faltered for a moment. He took one lurching step forward then another. He reached out with his new Resonant Mind II.

Resonant Mind II

Increased Focus and Perception.

Skill: Create, stabilize, or destroy resonant links between minds.

Skill: Control the flow of vibrations along the link. Amplify or negate channels as desired.

Harken ye to the deeper song!

As Grant felt the link begin to establish, he negated his own presence along it. The process felt intuitive and simple, where before he had been flailing with raw power, now he simply reached out and turned a dial. One twist and he was muted down to nothing.

Reaching further along the thrumming strand between them, he turned the man’s hearing down. He couldn’t hear Grant approaching now, he could still hear the inhuman screeching of the masses of tentacles but it was quieter, as were the gunshots.

Grant’s staggering footfalls were utterly inaudible. Olivia’s continuing harrowing wail for her dying brother helped to drown him out. He felt something tear at his heart. He hadn’t seen her cry like this since she had shown up at the scene of the accident.

Eric had driven her there. It hadn’t been terribly far from their house. He shook his head. Not now Grant.

He reached Olivia and Eric. He bit into his wrist. He let some blood drip out onto Eric’s wound, he got some in his mouth for good measure. The neat hole there was quickly closed up in seconds.

That was good but not enough. Not enough at all. Grant reached out with Harbinger of the Beyond II.

Harbinger of the Beyond II

Increased Focus

Passive: Convert the emanations of the beyond into fruitful gifts.

Passive: Vessel strength increased.

Skill: Create, stabilize, or destroy pathways into the beyond.

Skill: Temper the untempered. Repair effects caused by exposure to the beyond.

The seed is planted…

Olivia looked at him, but only briefly. She returned to her brother who was waking up. He looked delirious, more so than Grant had been moments ago. Unlike Grant he was physically well.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Olivia pulled him up, he followed her. Snapping his head around to look at the approaching monsters being gunned down. Olivia hurried him off as fast as she could, back towards the stairwell.

Grant didn’t pause too long. He turned toward the soldier. He knew what he needed to do, but he had to time it right. The man was still killing multiple masses of tentacles. Grant could fight one at a time but not this many.

Four had just entered the lobby. Shots cracked out as the soldier swiveled targeting each in turn. They were downed but not dead. They formed a rough arc; The soldier maintained a safe distance between himself and the monsters.

The solider reached for a new magazine sliding the old one out and stowing it back into his belt.

Two more masses of tentacles followed the four.

Only two. Grant might not get a better opportunity than this.

Before he struck he channeled energy through Elder Flesh II. It was like leaning on a gas pedal. He felt energy thrum within him, then pain blossomed on his back.

Elder Flesh II

Massively increased Regeneration.

Passive: When you suffer damage, you will heal equal to that damage over a short period of time (requires abundant raw material).

Skill: Manifest tentacles. Maximum number of tentacles are determined by the strength of the vessel.

Rejoice in your remaking!

Two tentacles sprouted from his back. He felt an unexpected headache shoot along his skull. It was right behind his eyes.

Perhaps he had overreached. He had thought he was more than capable of two, apparently he was pushing up against his limits. It was scary to think how close he had just come to shattering his mind like Jacob had.

The link was still active and Grant felt the alarm wrench through the man’s mind. He had become aware of Grant as Grant had lost focus when the headache struck.

He wheeled on Grant, shouting “Get outta my head!”

The link broke as the man raged against it. It had caught Grant off guard along with the sudden shooting headache.

Before the rifle could be pointed at him, Grant grabbed it with one tentacle. He coiled it down the length of the gun keeping the end pointed away from him. The end of his new tentacle found the soldier’s hand.

The soldier’s other arm had dove down to his belt to grab a sidearm. A small torch. Grant reached out with his other tentacle and both arms. The soldier got the torch lit before Grant had him in his grasp. The white flame cut into the tentacle as it swung towards him.

Grant recoiled at the flame. He spared a look for the approaching monsters. They slunk low to the ground like stalking wolves. His plan had not gone off as neatly as he had hoped.

While he was distracted the torch cut across the other tentacle. It was severed neatly. Grant felt his body try to regrow the now missing limb. He was all out of flesh of the beyond though.

He felt his dwindling reserves throughout his entire body. It was as though he had just run miles. The wound closed up but the limb was useless for now.

The solider had gone off balance to swing across his own body with his off hand. Grant took that opportunity to push the man away towards the oncoming masses of tentacles. The two of them dove on the man.

To his credit he was able to catch one with the torch wounding it enough to make it recoil. The other went at him unimpeded though. It wrapped tightly around him and sucked onto his face plate. Grant heard the plastic crack.

A brief scream was interrupted by a wet sounding splurch.

Grant fell on top of the monster that was feeding on the man. It sensed him coming, it had no eyes, but they sensed somehow. It didn’t matter though, because it had wrapped all its tentacles around its meal, not thinking about Grant.

Grant bit into it, right near the center. He spit the hunk of tasteless meat out and went for another and another. The creature turned to black ichor and then began to evaporate. Soon he got two familiar windows.

You have killed mass of tentacles.

You have received:

* (7) Flesh of the Beyond

* (1) Consuming Essence

* (1) Writhing Essence

* (1) Propagation Essence

* (1) Grasping Essence

Your reserves are dangerously depleted. (7) Flesh of the Beyond have been automatically consumed to aid in the restoration of your body. You still require more raw materials.

Grant’s tentacles started to regrow.

Grant looked up to see the other wounded mass of tentacles had been creeping in towards them. Grant broke its link to the Beyond.

Before, on the first mass of tentacles, it had felt quite impossible. He had had to devour the center of the creatures to kill them without breaking its link before. The link had felt like an immovable boulder. Now it felt like wet paper.

That creature began to dissolve and then evaporate too.

Mass of Tentacles has been killed by Joseph Gross.

You and Joseph Gross have each received:

* (3) Flesh of the Beyond

* (1) Consuming Essence

* (1) Writhing Essence

* (1) Propagation Essence

* (1) Grasping Essence

Your reserves are depleted. (2) Flesh of the Beyond have been automatically consumed to aid in the restoration of your body.

Grant looked down on the bloodied soldier. His face was exposed once again now that the monster had finished evaporating. He glared at Grant ferocity burning in his eyes shining up at Grant through the broken faceplate.

It evoked nothing but pity in Grant though. The wounds on the man's face and neck were obviously lethal. Savage gouges had been taken out of the man. A pool of blood filled the suit around the man's neck and the back of his head.

Grant pinned the man’s arms down with his tentacle, just in case he tried something stupid. The gun and the torch lay at the man’s sides.

“I’m going to give you a choice,” grant said, “Do you want to live?”

The man just glared at him still, but his eyes slowly started to close. Grant watched as the man’s face screwed up, then he nodded.

Grant bit into his wrist and bled over the man’s wounds. He reached out with Harbinger of the Beyond II and tempered the man. He was still unclear on exactly what that meant, but he hoped it meant the man would get powers.

Grant didn’t like the man, but for now he needed him, he was strong. This place was an awakening temple. Grant had an idea of what that might mean, and he was pretty sure that would involve lots of fighting.

The wounds began to close up and the man took a deep breath inwards. A gasp of a drowning man allowed to breathe again.

He began breaking the links of the downed masses of tentacles. No more living ones emerged while he was doing this. Grant found the timing of the onslaught to be suspicious the more he thought about it. It could be that the gunfire had attracted them, but it had served grant very well.

He thought about that as he worked. More windows appeared notifying that he and Gross here were both receiving essences and flesh..

Grant dismissed those windows as they came up. More awaited him to read, from before when he had been blacked out, but those could wait till later. As the throngs of dead and dying monsters dissolved away to nothing the soldier pinned under became healed enough to speak again.

To his credit he didn’t struggle against the grip of Grant’s tentacles. They were very very strong, and as disgusted as Grant was by them, they were very useful. He would still be cutting them off later, after dealing with this temple, but he was impressed by them.

Gross cleared his throat, spitting a mouthful of blood to the side.

“So what happens now?” he asked.

“We get Olivia somewhere safe, and then we fight the monsters.” Grant said.

The man narrowed his eyes then nodded, ever so slightly at Grant. Grant let him go.