The sewers were dark, with only a handful of lights still flickering overhead. Julian found his footing at the bottom of the steps and joined the others as they each pulled out a flashlight. Julian reached to his bracer, summoning Omen as Maria summoned Matilda. Corona soon followed, resting on Kiyoka’s shoulder.

“Let’s get moving,” Andre said, taking the lead. As he stepped forward, the lights came on, revealing the direct path forward.

“Okay then,” Andre grumbled, clicking off his flashlight.

“That seems convenient,” Maria said.

“What? Afraid that Izun is watching us?” Julian smirked.

“Don’t joke about that,” Kiyoka interrupted them.

“What’s up?” Julian asked, looking from Maria to Kiyoka.

Kiyoka sighed. “Izun worked closely with my father on his work, under the parameters that they maintain the balance between the existing life and the new life being formed. It was all theoretical, of course, but it was part of the calculations Izun ran.”

“Kiyoka, I hate to say it, but the more information we get, the more it looks like your father sat out to cause this mess,” Maria said.

Kiyoka stopped, turning to face her. Her eyes studied Maria for a moment, looking for something.

Julian stepped forward.“Why destroy the world if only to give humanity a chance? If anything, we have a man who saw the end coming and couldn’t stop it. So he came up with a way to save what he could.” Julian held his bracer up.

Maria nodded at that, thinking it over.

Kiyoka nodded as well.“Thank you for that, but Maria does have a point. All the pieces point to my father being the most active party in this. It would be easy to spin a narrative off that information alone.” She turned and continued after Andre. “We really need more information.”

As they walked forward, everyone's bracers suddenly started vibrating.

Julian looked and saw a new notification.

[Time remaining: 23:59:59]

[Leveling System: Active]

[Statistics Synchronization: In Progress]

“Twenty-four hours to go,” Andre whispered.

Maria started tapping away at her bracer, looking at the new information. “Looks like a leveling cap on the Eidos has been lifted.”

“That’s good news, right?” Julian asked.

“For sure, and it also looks like we have levels now as well.”

“Huh?” Julian started tapping on his bracer. Sure enough, he found his information.

[USER INTERFACE:]

[User: Julian Koste]

[Class: N/A]

[Rank: N/A]

[Eidos: 1]

[Level: 1]

[Bond Points: 0]

“Oh, well, that’s a whole bunch of nothing.” Julian sighed, dropping his bracer to his side.

Kiyoka chuckled. “Gotta start somewhere, I guess.”

“Come on, guys,” Andre interrupted, “we’re almost to the front lines.”

Everyone got quiet after that.

Julian felt his nerves tick up a bit, but was soothed by Omen.

“Thanks, pal,” Julian whispered.

Omen shifted a bit out of the shadows and appeared at Julian’s side.

Julian scratched his ears, calming down to Omen’s presence.

Omen sent a wave of reassurance to Julian. They were in this together, and Omen would protect him.

With his confidence returning, Julian let Omen slip back into the shadows.

“Here we are,” Andre said, shining his flashlight at a set of steps that was carved out of concrete.

“What is this?” Julian asked.

“It’s a subway maintenance entrance. Service workers could get to the sewers easier through the subway maintenance hatches if they needed to bring bigger equipment down here.” Andre replied. He pulled the pack of capsules out of his bag and sat down on the concrete steps. He opened up the case and started sorting through them. Picking up a red one, he crushed it in his hand before setting the case down for everyone else to check it out.

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Julian stepped forward, immediately going for the red ones he was familiar with. There were only two left, so he checked them out together.

[Identify?}

[Yes] [No]

Julian pressed [Yes].

[Item Drop Identified: 1 of 2]

[Gear Capsule: Armor]

[Raider’s Body Armor w/Saddle: Epic]

[Light Body Armor that doesn’t impose evasion penalties. Comes with a built-in saddle for up to two riders.]

[+4 to Ferocity.]

[Note: Eidos must be classified as Large in order to not suffer from rider penalties]

——

[Item Drop Identified: 2 of 2]

[Gear Capsule: Weapon]

[Lightweight Wing Blades: Epic]

[A pair of blades that fit over the wings of flying Eidos.]

[+4 to Agility.]

“You know, it would be easier to pick gear if we know what it affected. This system sucks,” Julian grumbled. “I’m taking the first one here. Kiyoka, you might be interested in these.” Julian tossed the second capsule to Kiyoka.

She looked the item description over. “Looks good to me. What did you get?”

Julian crushed the capsule in his hand.

[Equip to Omen?}

[Yes} [No]

Pressing [Yes] once more, Julian watched Omen step from the shadows, looking at Julian with confusion as soft, dark leather armor appeared around the wolf’s body. Metal Rivets held the straps in place, and protective leather covered Omen’s neck without limiting his mobility. Riveted leather went down his flank, covering his body completely. On his back was a soft material saddle, with two riveted handles on his back shoulders for a rider to hold on to. It looked like the armor had been custom made for Omen.

Matilda jumped off Maria’s shoulder and onto Omen’s new saddle.

“Does this mean we can ride Omen now, too?” Maria asked.

“I don’t think so, but if he gets stronger, then maybe.”

Julian felt a wave of excitement through his bond with Omen as the wolf struck a pose, standing tall.

Kiyoka crushed the capsule in her hand, causing blades to equip themselves to Corona’s wings. Watching Corona, the blades could extend from his wings or sheathed back into them. The frame for the blades was lightweight and didn’t impair Corona’s movement.

Maria looked next, going to the blue capsules. Finding one she liked, she crushed it.

A small vest-like body armor appeared on Matilda, including a little helmet.

“It said this also increased her cunning. So we will see.” Maria said, shrugging.

“Oh yeah, what did you get for Oryx?” Kiyoka asked Andre.

Andre smiled, summoning the antelope in the alcove of the stairs. “This should help the big guy take some hits. Supposed to increase Tenacity or something? This would be easier if the whole system was active.”

It was just enough room for the big guy, but now he was wearing what looked like metal armor over his body. His horns even had armor on them, ending in nasty-looking tips. A soft-backed saddle rested on his back. Oryx was ready for battle.

Kiyoka spoke up. “Don’t forget to load an empty capsule in case you get the chance to capture another Eidos. Who knows what we’ll find up there?"

The others nodded, swapping out their Eidos capsules with empty ones. Julian tucked Omen’s capsule into his inside jacket pocket, just to be safe.

A lull fell over the group as they took the scene in. They were fixing to charge into battle against Eidos and people alike. They didn't know what awaited them up those steps and onto the street. All they knew was that this was possibly going to be the first of many battles to come…if they survived.

Julian was the first to find his words. “Stay close to each other. Matilda can protect us should anything come too close. Oryx should be able to handle most of the threats, and Omen can back him up from the shadows. We haven’t seen Corona in action yet, so let’s take it easy and not over-extend.”

Maria chuckled. “Since when did you become so good at this?”

“Since people I care about are stepping out into a firefight with monsters and people.” He looked at Maria, who stopped chuckling. He looked at Andre and Kiyoka. “You two kept up your end and gave us the information we asked for. You stuck around, even though you didn’t have to. This bracer says we are a party, and I’d like to keep it that way. Just know I’ve got your back.”

Andre nodded. “I’ve got yours, too.”

“Me, too,” Kiyoka added.

“Let’s do this,” Maria added.

Julian nodded, looking up at Oryx. “You got the steps, big guy?”

With a bellow, Oryx took off up the steps, his armor clanking softly as he charged.

Andre stepped forward. “Antelope is a prey species, but Oryx seems pumped.” He nodded in appreciation, taking off after his partner.

The rest of the group followed them.

Soon, they arrived in a subway tunnel, with a station about 30 yards away. A screech filled the tunnel as a wild Eidos shaped like a bat spread its wings overhead.

[Eidos detected.]

“Go!” Julian roared.

As the bat left its overhead perch, Omen was already out of the shadows, his claws rippling a deep shade of purple as he clawed into the bat’s back. His fangs found their mark on its neck as he rode the bat down onto the subway tracks. With his fangs buried in, he let loose a howl, coating the bat in ice, and letting the Freezing Howl pierce into the insides of the bat.

By the time everyone arrived at the steps for the station, the bat was defeated. It turned to dark particles and dissipated into the air.

“Way to go, buddy,” Julian whispered.

Omen leaped into the shadows and stepped out onto the station platform where everyone else was waiting.

As everyone walked forward, the sounds of fighting could be heard overhead. Roars of monsters and gunfire filled the air.

“Remember, stay close. We move together,” Julian reminded them.

They charged up the steps, Oryx struggling a bit, but they still made it to the top.

The scene that awaited them was one out of a movie.

Monsters were charging at each other from all sides. Artino guards and civilians were exchanging fire with each other while also firing at Eidos. Across the ground, Eidos energy particles were dusting the streets, and dead humans laid out in their wake.

"Andre, do you see anyone from your team?" Julian asked him.

Andre looked around the battlefield. "I don't see anyone I recognize. This is bad!"

“We need a distraction,” Julian called out.

“We got this,” Kiyoka said, stepping up to the edge of the alcove as Corona took flight.

The raven circled the battlefield, dodging other flying Eidos as they dive-bombed at him. Occasionally, he would flip out his new blades, slicing through the ones that got too close. Soon, he was flying circles over the humans.

“Corona Burst!” Kiyoka yelled.

With that command, Corona flared like a flash-bang grenade, covering the battlefield in light.

Julian’s bracer vibrated.

[Area of Effect Status: Detected]

[Status: Stunned]

“Nice work, Corona!” Kiyoka cheered as the raven flew back to her.

As they stepped onto the street, people and Eidos alike were stumbling around blind, covering their eyes. A few people tried to pull their gun’s trigger, sending gunfire spraying in random directions.

Julian and the others took off, with Matilda’s eyes glowing purple to cover their backs. A few stray bullets bounced off Matilda’s mental barriers.

The streets were filled with wild Eidos. Monsters of every shape and size blocked their path as they fought amongst themselves.

Julian watched as what looked like a large dinosaur-like raptor was speeding through the herd of Eidos, cutting them down with its talons.

Julian pointed his bracer at it.

[Running Identification protocol.]

“Keep your eyes open. There are some wild ones out here,” Andre called out.

“It’s a dinosaur!” Maria exclaimed, watching the reptile turn wild Eidos to shreds.

As the raptor got closer, Omen jumped at the thing, ambushing it.

The raptor was quicker, sidestepping Omen and sending its talons against Omen’s armored flank. Electricity sparked off Omen, stunning him.

[Eidos Identified.]

[Utah raptor: Level 3]

[Affinity: Electric]

“Level 3? Already?” Julian watched Omen as the Utah raptor turned, ready to take another swipe at his wolf.

Omen stayed still on the ground, still stunned by the raptor’s electric attack.

Julian suddenly realized: With the leveling system lifted, and wild Eidos fighting nonstop for the past hour, how powerful were they now?