Alex had plenty of stored kinetic energy from the bird’s assault. Now, he had a way to use it. He was having trouble getting close to the hawk due to its speed, and the fact that it kept flying away. Now, Alex could pepper the bird with shots from afar.

He loaded up his finger guns and aimed. It was harder to aim the further his target was. Alex didn’t have much hope for actually hitting it, but he did hope he could force closer quarters if he kept his barrage up long enough. Alex felt like a wizard as bolts of bright light flashed from his fingers all around the hawk. Most missed as expected, but enough landed to disturb the hawk’s flight. It began to wobble slightly and made its way down towards Alex. It was still moving extremely fast, so Alex readied himself.

The hawk seemed to like its strategy of flying in the sun, because yet again, Alex was blinded by the sun’s rays as he tracked the bird. Instead of waiting for the bird to strike, this time Alex charged up a death ray and aimed it directly into the sun. The air hissed as the ray was sent flying in the direction of his aerial assailant. A screech sounded and suddenly the bird was out of the sun’s light. It was still recovering from the sudden blast and Alex took the initiative.

Two powerful explosions shot out of Alex’s feet, launching him at the bird. In an instant, he was on top of the bird, a wing in each of his outstretched hands. Alex had long ago grown tired of the bird’s antics and was not interested in prolonging this fight any longer.

Alex tugged at the wings. He tore at the them as if he was ripping a stack of papers. In fact, there was about as much resistance as if it were a stack of about fifty papers. Bone was released from flesh in a spray of blood. The bird’s screech sounded like a train whistle as it flailed around. Alex remembered his pounding headache from the hawk’s relentless attack earlier and anger welled up inside of him. So much, that Alex was actually alarmed.

Why am I so angry?

Just like before when his anger reached a certain level, he felt his control slipping. As he sunk into his own consciousness, he felt another rise up. The king was taking over again.

----------------------------------------

When Alex awoke, he was back in the oasis surrounded by bodies.

I don’t like that this is becoming a common occurrence. I don’t like blacking out and waking up with dead things next to me.

Alex counted and there were at least fifteen dead animals and twelve dead plants around him. A mix of monkeys, lizards, and bell plants. Oh my!

“I thought you weren’t going to take control of me anymore!” Alex screamed.

“I didn’t intend to,” Nagaar answered perplexed.

Alex narrowed his eyes. He had a hard time taking what the snake was saying at face value. Already, he had taken control of Alex twice.

“Why did you kill all this stuff though?” Alex looked around to take in the carnage again. “How long was I out for you to kill all of this stuff?”

“It wasn’t very long at all. A couple of hours. And I killed them all because of the Eonsteel,” the king answered.

“What do you mean because of the Eonsteel?” Alex asked. A pit growing in his stomach.

“It has a mind of its own. I was the first to claim it and it led to my ruin. I was always ambitious, but when I absorbed the Eonsteel a new hunger awoke within me. The steel was hungry. It seemed like with every kill, it grew hungrier. It was a big reason why I kept my crusade up. Over time, I had started to see the error of my attack, but because of the steel, I was unable to stop. If I went too long without feeding it, it would feed on its own,” Nagaar said.

Alex blanched. It was much worse than he thought. He thought he would only need to keep the cobra in check. Now, he had to keep the Eonsteel fed too. How was he going to do that? It’s not like he could just go around killing stuff all willy nilly.

“Why were you in charge then? Why would the Eonsteel not just take charge like it did with you?” Alex asked.

“If I were to guess, I would assume it’s because I could give it a more targeted approach. The Eonsteel acted more like a rabid animal than an intelligent being. I believe the two of us have formed a deeper connection over the years. Maybe I have been incorporated into it more so than it has been incorporated into me. I am the sentience to the madness, so to speak,” the king posited.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Alex stayed silent for a few minutes. He didn’t like the implications of this at all. He wasn’t even sure how much of it he could believe. Like the king had said, he was ambitious. Alex wouldn’t be surprised if this was all a ploy to somehow gain a bigger foothold on Alex’s mind and by extension, Alex himself. He didn’t want to lose control, and he definitely didn’t want to be a prisoner in his own body.

He was also worried how much he was losing control even when he was the one steering the ship. He had gotten extremely angry at the bird. Granted, it was extremely annoying and it was giving him a major headache, but something was off. He was ready to tear that bird apart, literally. Before he lost control, he had imagined splitting the hawk down the middle by separating its beak and tearing through the rest of its body.

That wasn’t a thought that normal people had. Everyone was allowed to have their moments of frustration, and sometimes that came with outbursts, whether verbal or physical. But what Alex had experienced was on another level entirely. Was his life causing him to see the world differently? Was he becoming more desensitized to violence? He understood that he couldn’t hesitate in battle, or he would die. But he had beaten the hawk already. What he was looking for, was pure annihilation.

What was causing this change in him?

He wasn’t sure it was all because of the Eonsteel. Did the Forge do something to his mind? Did have something to do with his increasing stats? Was it directly linked to a specific stat? Intelligence maybe? Was it because of his skewed stats? If he balanced them out, would his aggression come back under control?

Alex had so many questions and no way to answer them. He felt so helpless. It had been nice when his only concern was how he was going to beat the Sand Drake. He had one goal—get stronger. Now, he wasn’t sure if he should go back to Earth. He felt he would be more of a liability than a help to the people back there. Could he rely on his friends to keep him in check?

Alex took in the carnage again, worry creeping on his face. He had just been bragging to himself about how he had been outpacing his friends back on Earth. If he really had gotten that much stronger than them, how could they contain him?

He had a feeling that he should slow his growth down. He wanted to make sure that he wasn’t overwhelming his friends. And yet, he had a strong desire to get…well stronger. He hadn’t felt a drive like this in a while and was in a near constant state of exhilaration. Alex didn’t want to stop growing.

He was torn, but at the end of it all, he had no choice. Currently, he was only on Saxar IV because he was being punished. He couldn’t just stop fighting. The Coalition would likely just charge him with more punishment tours at best. At worst, they would execute him for not doing his duty. Alex didn’t know any of the laws of the Starbound Coalition, but just based on the fact that they conscripted random soldiers on random planets didn’t bode well for them being a merciful government. They likely wouldn’t care about his qualms and would only expect him to follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders.

So, Alex would just have to continue on his current trajectory and hope for the best. There really wasn’t another option.

Alex looked at his status page once more.

Alex Sullivan

Race- Human

Rank- Private

Grade- F

Class- Shift

Level- 47 to 51

Strength-321 (380)

Agility- 229 (274)

Intelligence- 128 (158)

Durability- 477 (588)

Endurance- 296 (351)

Health- 1,758/5,880

Stamina- 576/3,510

P.E.- 1,256/5,880

He had gained four levels in a day. It went to show how much destruction he had unleashed in such a short amount of time. His health and stamina were also pretty low. The sun was beginning to dip and Alex didn’t have any intention of wandering around the desert in the dark. Instead, he headed back to his hovel to spend the night. Maybe a good nights rest would allow him to think a little clearer.

He made his way into his makeshift camp and nestled in, his gear tucked directly on his side for quick access. The second he laid down, exhaustion overwhelmed him.

----------------------------------------

Alex awoke with a start. He looked around, but couldn’t see anything around him. He started rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

What the heck?

There was no sign of anything nearby, and he wondered why he had been startled awake. He had always been a heavy sleeper, and with the day he had, he didn’t expect to wake up until the heat made it impossible to keep sleeping.

Alex cocked his head to the side to see if he could hear anything nearby. He didn’t hear anything. Alex instantly got more alert. There was always sound. The oasis was full of life of all kinds and there was a certain bustle that permeated the environment.

Alex had seen nature documentaries enough to know that when the forest was silent, an apex predator was nearby. Nothing wanted to attract the ire of the top of the food chain, thus the silence when they came around. The silence that Alex was currently enduring.

As quickly and silently as he could, Alex grabbed his gear. If things were about to get dicey, Alex wanted to have his gear close. He still hadn’t healed all the way so he popped a health bomb into his mouth. His eyes were instantly more alert, but he also began breathing heavier, trying in vain to ward off the heat of the health bomb.

Dang it. I need to be careful with these things. Should I take more to get used to them? I only have so many. I don’t want to use them all up, but I also don’t want to get accustomed to them. Will they stop working if I take them too much?

A crunching in the sand behind him cut off his thoughts. He was no longer sitting, he was crouched and ready for action. His eyes darted side to side hoping to see something, anything. The sand swirled in the wind. The only sound to be heard now was the soft whistling of the breeze. He started to question whether he had actually heard anything when suddenly he saw a familiar sight.

White, sharp teeth filled his vision. Teeth he had seen before. Only this time, the mouth they belonged to were much bigger. There was only one creature that these teeth could belong to. As the rest of its body appeared, Alex identified it to clear all suspicion.

Saxar Primate King

Level 62