In the box lay a legitimate work of art. It was a knife that looked equally beautiful and deadly.

The cheek of the blade was a darkened, matte metal with a silvery and highly polished edge setting a stark contrast between the two. From the choil near the guard to the tip, deep ridges ran parallel to the frighteningly sharp edge, the almost invisible gaps no more than a needle’s breadth. Along the spine, numerous tiny holes lined the spine of the blade.

The guard was sized well and would allow the wielder to move freely without the risk of obstructing the knife’s path with the wrist. Holes dotted the handle as well, placed so that they could be covered by the hand that held the blade. The pommel was a simple, solid chunk of the same matte metal as the blade.

“This looks…” Eik began.

“Intricate?” Ben finished.

“Well, I was actually going to say ‘incredible’, but I suppose there are some parts I don’t really understand.”

“You see the holes here, right?” the smith asked as he tapped the handle. Eik nodded. “You release your poison from your hands and this is the intake I’ve built into the knife.”

When Eik stared at him with confusion the man continued, running the fingers of his other hand along the thin, precise ridges.

“You push the poison in through the holes in the handle here. It runs through specially built ducts inside the spine and flows out from almost the entire blade through these ridges along the edge here, as well as the row of holes on both sides of the blade cheek here. The larger holes at the tip will allow you to deliver your poison effectively even when stabbing.”

“This is—, it’s amazing, Benjamin. Thank you so much, both of you. I’ll make sure to put this to good use.”

“You’d better do!” Ben said, holding out the weapon to Eik, handle first. “I spent many nights at the drawing board designing this thing. The fact that I managed to include a feature to reduce the likelihood of a blockage in the ducts is a miracle in and of itself.”

“Wow, really? That’s so cool!” Eik said, studying the blade closely as he turned it carefully in his hands. When he was done he looked at Ben, silent.

“Well, give it a wave!” the stout man exclaimed.

“Here?” Eik asked “My poison doesn’t really care about whether you’re a friend or a foe, I think.”

Ben nodded. “Right, okay. Let’s go to the backyard, then.”

The backyard consisted of a small, unkempt lawn squeezed in between buildings on all sides. The grass was a littered with failed projects lying rusted and broken. Walking barefoot in this backyard would be a case study of tetanus.

Eik stepped away from the father and son and held the blade firmly. He focused and limited the excretion to his palm, the internal ducts hissing satisfactorily as Profound Toxin flowed through, filling them.

At low output, the blue substance simply ran over the blade to coat it, but when he pushed it through with more force, the liquid welled forth like a fountain. When he swung the blade, the blue hue of Profound Toxin resembled a gymnast’s ribbon as it twirled around his body.

Having gotten his fill, he went back inside with Ben and Andrew, clothes covered in poison. With a thought, it disappeared into his skin as if it had never been there. It was something Eik had worked out how to do after getting back from the Alliance headquarters.

Any Profound Toxin physically touching his skin he could reabsorb like a sponge. If he filled a glass with it, he could drain it in its entirety just by sticking in a finger.

“So, what do you think?” Andrew asked with excitement as he pushed the door open for them.

“It’s beyond anything I could have imagined possible. I have to get better at controlling it, but I can finally cut and slice, not just stab.”

“Good to hear, lad!” Benjamin said, clapping Eik on the shoulder as they passed through the smithy and into the well-lit front room store again.

“Again, thank you for this,” Eik said, clasping hands with both of the men. “But I really wish you’d let me pay for this—at least just a little bit.”

“Eik, my boy, if you give me money, I will punch you.”

***

Eik left the grocer with an armful of fresh fruit and some of his homemade cookies in a bag in his backpack. He had been invited over to Sonja and Heath’s house for dinner tonight, something they had decided to make a regular thing after officially becoming a team. An important part of effective teamwork was comradery after all. Trust in one’s teammates was essential and trust was bred through closeness.

Their house was in a different residential area, so it was a bit of a walk, but the early evening air made the walk a joy. The inner city where the biggest markets, stores, and restaurants were located was still a hub of activity, groups gathered around café tables set up along the side of the street drinking and eating merrily.

Ever since the monster waves, people had regained a taste for enjoyment, especially the younger demographic having suddenly opened their eyes to the fleetingness of life.

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At points where the streets grew narrow, Eik had to weave between tables and people just to get through the throng. There were several shoulder bumps along the way and sometimes, when someone turned to apologize or deliver a snide comment, they would fall silent and stare.

Looking back over his shoulder, Eik would catch them whispering to their friends and pointing in his direction. The looks they sent his way varied between curiosity and open hostility. Eik frowned but kept walking.

Heath and Sonja were only just unpacking the groceries to get started on dinner when Eik arrived. Michael was already there, mixing a pitcher of lemonade with leaves of fresh peppermint floating around the surface. Another Awakened bison had been hunted and brought back since their initial discovery of the species, and, as a gesture, they had been gifted a cut of meat from the kill. It had become tradition to offer the first taste to the discoverers of a new species.

“How can I help?” Eik asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly. “I make a mean marinade—”

“No,” Sonja said, immediately shooting him down.

“No? Whaddya mean no?” Eik asked with exasperation. “You’ve never even tasted my marinade, and I swear it’s good! There’s honey in it!”

She sighed and cut through a trunk of broccoli. “Eik, you are practically made out of a deadly poison. I’ve seen it kill dozens of people after you snuck it into their soup.”

“I mean… Come on… Plus, it was more like a stew.”

“You can get plates, knives, and forks from the cupboard over there and set the table instead,” she said with finality.

Heath patted him on the back with a crooked, patronizing smile. “Just give it up, bro, you’re not gonna win this one.”

“You’re not helping either, Heath. You’ve been accidentally breaking stuff in the house left and right ever since your jump to E-rank strength. Go put a table cloth on the dinner table instead, please,” Sonja said.

“What! Are you serious? That only happened a few times!”

Eik beamed like star in the night as he caressed Heath’s back with loving spite. “Looks like we’re losing this one together, then, Heathy,” he laughed gleefully at the red-faced tank.

“This is so cozy,” Michael said, pouring lemonade into four glasses. “Thanks for this, guys. I really needed it.”

“Isn’t it just?” Eik said. “By the way, on my way here it felt like people were talking about me as I walked by. Have you guys heard anything about that?”

Heath didn’t seem to know what he was talking about but Michael and Sonja both nodded along with his words. “I’ve actually noticed the same thing myself,” Michael said. “People will sometimes elbow a friend when they see me and point at me and whisper. I thought I was just overthinking it, but if it has happened to you as well, then maybe it’s for real.”

“I’ve noticed it as well.”

“Isn’t it just because we went through the fracture that nobody understands anything about and they didn’t? They’re just jealous.”

The rest of the night went by merrily. Even though Eik wasn’t allowed to make his famous marinade, the meal was one of the best he could remember having. The company sweetened every bite.

Heath’s face was the very incarnation of envy when Eik pulled out his new knife from its beautiful leather sheath. Even the sheath had been made with the utmost care, intricate, decorative patterns etched all the way down its length, making the weapon look more like a museum piece than something made less than two days ago.

Sonja as well had a hungry look in her eyes, her gaze following the blade as he handled it. When she asked for the creator’s name and where to find his store, Eik knew she was just as envious as her brother. Not that that was an odd thing to be—it was an exquisite blade that fit his skills perfectly.

Michael just seemed genuinely happy that Eik loved his new weapon so much, ooh’ing and aah’ing at all the right times when his friend showed off the different features of the knife.

Heath and Sonja, enterprising as they were, had been in contact with Mission Central and come to know about an upcoming expedition into the new forest where their team had discovered and fought with the Awakened Bison.

Since their report about the gigantic lake, scouts had been sent to the location to investigate more about the mysterious body of water. Although they had been unable to discover anything about the origin of the lake except for the fact that it appeared right after Earth’s second transitional phase into the Unified Mass, they had discovered something far more alarming.

There was something within the lake. Something large. Something powerful. Whatever was lurking beneath had yet to be seen directly by anyone, but a titanic shadow had been observed roiling in the deep on several occasions. Anytime the monster cruised close to the surface, the water’s surface would churn and whirl as if disturbed by the passage of a naval ship.

The opaque fog that loomed densely on the lake in the distance also seemed to be permanent, causing deep concern among Forest’s leadership. No one knew what was hidden within that fog, but judging by the ridiculous development of their world thus far, nobody was willing to hope for candy, ice cream, and rivers of hot chocolate.

Ever since the second phase of Earth’s induction into the Unified Mass, Forest’s leadership had grown desperate to secure their local perimeter. An essential step in that effort would be the neutralization of any unknown threat like whatever horror lurked in the lake and within the fog.

After dinner, Sonja sat down with them and introduced them to a technique that was supposed to allow them to feel their abilities and recognize that which might lay dormant inside. Eik had heard about these types of meditative practices, but it was all really quite vague and cryptic. It had been explored as a way to advance by the Awakened on Earth since the beginning.

Even so, Eik couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that it worked. It felt a bit to… spiritual for this universal system to which they had all become subordinate. Sonja expressed her own reservations about the techniques, but there were Awakened who swore by it, insisting that it had helped them push their capabilities beyond their limits.

It was the kind of thing that certainly wouldn’t do any harm, even if it didn’t work.

The four of them sat on the carpet, living room table moved aside. Sonja had guided them through the steps that should theoretically let them sink deeper into their minds, closer to the connection with the new, super natural aspects of their beings.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, focusing only on metaphorically falling backwards into themselves.

Heath was the first to give up. He snorted and laid back on his elbows. “This is dumb. It’s a total scam, right, guys?”

Sonja cracked a displeased eye, maintaining her posture. “I’m still trying here, Heath.”

“Me too,” Michael grumbled.

Heath looked to his last ally. “You agree, right, Eik?” He elbowed Eik in the arm. “Eik?”

Michael opened his eyes and studied Eik’s relaxed face. “He’s completely gone.”

“Eik?” Heath asked and put his hand on his shoulder. “Guys, I think his plaque is vibrating.”

Heath pulled the thin piece of polished wood out of Eik’s shirt. For a moment he grew silent as he stared at the text etching itself into the flat surface. “Guys… he’s advancing to E-rank.”

[Reached threshold: Evolution to E-rank possible]

[Evolve?]

Sonja and Michael looked over Heath’s shoulder.

“He really is…” Sonja muttered, dumbfounded. “But I Awoke before him…”

“But he still hasn’t accepted the evolution, right?” Michael asked.

“Doesn’t look like it, no.”

“Then why isn’t he waking up?”