On their way back to the cave, the soldier was almost happy. For the most part, at least. There was still an undercurrent of rage carefully simmering far beneath the emotionless veneer his helmet provided, but it was far better to be exterminating races that wanted him dead with the albeit marginal assistance of someone else.

Pausing for a moment, he turned sideways, and Aliss ground to a halt. "Doom? What is it?"

One of the smaller demons sprang out from a window, teeth bared and claws extended. The soldier didn't bother with any firearms. He reached up, grabbed the demon by its horns and by its waist, and then pulled it in half with a loud squelch.

Turning back around, he was mildly startled to see a morbidly excited expression on Aliss' face, one which she blinked away with no small amount of embarrassment, putting her heavily gauntleted hands over her rapidly reddening face. "I'm so sorry! That was not an appropriate response to seeing something that gruesome!"

Giving her a shrug, the soldier continued on, but was interrupted by a blue board.

The soldier sensed a strange glow as his armor lit up, the seams and cracks shining like molten lava. Slowly growing a bit, the soldier ended up around seven feet tall, a good six inches taller than Aliss, and his armor had darkened. Raising a gauntlet, he examined it carefully. He'd had his suit for... well, a decade at the very least, and he'd grown extremely attached to it. Almost literally.

The blue board showed up next, and he squinted at it.

This eternally sharp sword is permanently mounted to your left forearm and is both sharp enough and tough enough to cut through even the worst demon's hide like a bullet through rice paper. It will not stop, will not cease, and will likely end the lives of every enemy within its reach.

This cabled and fabled projectile is mounted to your right arm, and can be launched via the specialized attachment included with this perk. Its spikes are strong enough to punch through the toughest materials, and the cable is more than capable of supporting both your weight and any elephants you might bring along.

The soldier examined the two Perks thoughtfully. He could think of a variety of uses for both, but which one would be more advantageous?

He could use the blade for close quarters to devastating effect, he was sure of it. He could always tear his enemies in half bare-handed, but that took time that he could be better spending turning faces into craters. The sword would definitely speed up the close-range process.

Stolen novel; please report.

On the other hand, the grapple would be a powerful mobility option, and he could almost see using it to get up close and personal with the heads of the larger demons, specifically the twenty-foot fleshy ones. A shotgun would pair with both quite well.

Making a decision, he punched both of them at the same time, and the board flickered uncertainly.

He punched them again, and the corners of the board glitched in a panic.

Flexing his hands, the soldier firmly placed his palms on the options, and the board gave way.

Both of the soldier's arms lit up with the volcanic glow, metal distorting and forming into two stubby shapes on his forearms. With a grin, the soldier raised one arm and squeezed his fist, and a dual-edged blade four feet long sprang from his left forearm. Relaxing his grip, the blade retracted, and the soldier once again wished he could laugh. He didn't want to try the grapple in such close quarters, though.

Ever wanted to see what would happen if you shoved a few packages of highly concentrated explosives down a golem's throat? Well, now you can with the Explosive Munitions Perk! Summon any and all kinds of hand grenades, trip mines, landmines, claymores, and who the heck cares what else. Blow it all to smithereens for all you care.

Ever felt like you weren't strong enough? Fast enough? Tough enough? That ends today (assuming you pick this Perk)! This Perk will enhance the physical stat gains you receive from leveling up by 25%, which will result in a total stat gain of 25 points per level!

The soldier rubbed his helmeted chin thoughtfully, then smashed his fists on both options. This time, however, the boards flickered and then disappeared, replaced by a purple one.

Shrugging, the soldier selected the Explosive Munitions Perk. He'd had a feeling it wouldn't have worked twice, and it was significantly harder to threaten something with the genuine, bone-rattling fury simmering inside him when the target was actually being incredibly helpful.

The boards flickered out of sight, and the soldier felt a small amount of knowledge flood into his mind. Glancing down, he raised a hand, and a standard frag grenade appeared in his palm.

Looking around, he pulled the pin. There was really no reason for him to cause any further damage at this point, but it was a grenade. What else was he supposed to do with it? Not blow something up?

Tossing it through a window, the soldier waited for a short moment, and Aliss frowned. "What was that? Why did you toss that ball into the-"

All of the windows on the building blew out as the majority of the top floor was decimated, the shingles on the roof coming loose and raining down in a sharp hail of rock.

The soldier grinned even wider.

There were a lot of things he could do with a few grenades. Creative things. Strategic things. Things that would make even the toughest, biggest demons he'd seen in this Hell cry for their mothers, if they had any.

This was how someone like the soldier could have fun.