Stanley hung in the crisp air, suspended between the clouds above him and Serenity Acres below. His [Soul-Sight] revealed more than a few humans moving around below as they scurried in and around the building and its growing fortifications.

Nate was serious about protecting and saving as many people as possible and had been rather excited yesterday when they entered the Purified area and the [Miasma] vanished. Stanley had also begrudgingly agreed to keep an eye out for other survivors and either bring them back or at least send them in this direction.

"We're even again." He thought of Zeke and Eve. "Nate will keep you safe now." Though he suspected that he would be returning here more than once, for a safe place to sleep if nothing else.

The purified circle was definitely growing larger, and greener. Stanley didn’t know why but apparently Zeke's Purifying Aura was bringing life back to the frozen ground and that was bringing the wildlife in.

Stanley caught flashes and glimpses of smaller creatures moving in the trees around the perimeters of the Purified area though there did appear to be a gap between them and the building. While he was slightly tempted to just go kill them, he remembered the rats fighting the zombies. It was possible that the wildlife would act as a buffer from the undead. Plus Caffeine had looked so sad after he killed a regular sized squirrel that Stanley didn't have the heart for a slaughter. "If nothing else, at least they'll be a meat supply for the people down there."

He drifted slowly south as he contemplated this. Keeping his eyes peeled for anything undead or extra large enough to be a threat. Or to be worth killing. The bear from the day before, for example. That had been a tense experience and a learning one.

Stanley had been so scared for Caffeine when he had jumped down but the dog had only been playing with it. Stanley rubbed the pug’s head that was sticking out of his jacket, it's eyes closed and nose twitching. After Caffeine ran circles around it, the bear had activated a skill and before Stanley could do anything more than grab it, Caffeine had exploded in size and growled at it.

Stanley smiled again at the memory of the tank sized bear that had practically rolled over and showed its belly. "You're a good boy." Stanley kissed the dog's head.

[Miasma] Resisted

"Here we go." He refocused his mind and continued his search for bigger and badder Souls. He was headed south today, towards the city of Boston and downtown. Nate had said that it was a nightmare of living, hostile wildlife and the undead. Mostly just zombies and a few red eyes at the time but Stanley expected that by now most of the zombies would have been upgraded to red eyes or killed by the Earth's new homegrown monsters.

"They can't all be Generals… right?" He really hoped not. Really, really hoped that General was a special, very rare monster and not what every zombie was heading towards. But just in case, it was a good reason to hunt down the undead now, while they still could.

Stanley shivered and gave Caffeine another head scratch. "At least I have you to protect me."

He wasn't an idiot though, he'd seen how tired Caffeine was after killing the zombie General. It had taken a toll on the pug.

"Even you have limits…" He thought at the pug. As hard as that was to believe, what with the way Caffeine kept surprising him but the dog wasn't invincible.

Yes, he would hunt them all down, all the Undead, eventually. But no need to charge into hell before he was ready. Today he intended to move slowly and try to get a glimpse of where things stood.

Later in the morning Stanley stopped in the air and looked down on the dense suburbia below.

It was a riot of colorful Souls, all competing for survival and territory. Rats, Opossums, Cats, Dogs, Raccoons, Squirrels, and many more. All defending their own space or attacking someone else for theirs. And mixed in among the animals were the Zombies.

Stanley watched a Red Eye leading a pack of buffed up regular Zombies. They went carefully down the street, not attacking anything unless it attacked first. They would stop occasionally at random houses and one or more Zombies would be brought out and join the horde.

"It's a fucking recruiting run…" Stanley grimaced at the realization.

One of the Zombies at the rear of the horde lost the red eye buff and fell back out of the pack. Something shot across the street and the newly headless Zombie collapsed. The Leader noticed and roared before dashing after the culprit. It tore up the house that the killer had headed towards but Stanley couldn't tell if the Leader actually got anything.

While it was doing that, more of the horde got picked off and Stanley decided to join in on bullying the Undead. When the Zombie Leader noticed what was happening it sprinted back into its horde and screamed, sending the smoky buff out to strengthen the weaker zombies.

Before the smoky magic hit the ground, Stanley stretched out hand. The Leader froze. Stanley yanked his hand back in a pulling gesture and its head ripped free of its body and flew into the sky.

Caffeine growled at the Zombie head as Stanley extracted the Core and the horde below was massacred.

+1 All Base Attributes

Willpower Attribute Fortifying +1

"Easy win." It never even knew Stanley was there.

He left the animals alone. It might become a problem later but Stanley wasn't going to slaughter the weaker creatures for their measly Cores or waste time hunting the stronger ones. Especially not when they were helping clean up the Undead.

The Zombie horde didn't last a minute after the leader died and Stanley looked down at the scattered remains of a couple dozen Zombies. None were eaten, only chewed up enough for something to get the Core and run away.

Stanley moved on and found more similar scenarios, though most of the Zombie hordes had two or more Red Eye Leaders. One had five Leaders and Stanley lost one of their heads to the wildlife while he was killing the others and dodging thrown projectiles.

"Easy come, easy go." He thought and went looking for more. He stopped when a new message appeared.

Intelligence Attribute Fortifying +1

"Progress." Stanley grinned and rubbed Caffeine’s head happily. "I'm getting stronger, Caff!" The dog licked his face.

Stanley continued, getting slowly closer to the river and the skyscrapers beyond. A couple more hordes fell to the wildlife and Stanley went higher as he harvested and collected his spoils. As he absorbed Cores, he kept a nervous eye on the cloud of seagulls above a section of the river.

"Stay over there and away…"

Perception Attribute Fortifying +1

Dexterity Attribute Fortifying +1

Willpower has reached the Fortification Threshold for (F Rank)

Attempting to Increase Willpower further may result in Detrimental Effects. Increase your Rank to Continue Increasing Willpower.

"What the fuck?" He pulled up his Status.

Status

Name: Stanley Cascade

Race: [Human](F Rank)

Traits: [Adaptable] [Source-Touched] [I Made My Choice]

Titles: [Solo Hunter]

Class: [Psionic(Initiate VII)](Rare)

Class Skills:

[Mind Over Matter(Initiate VIII)](Epic)

Attributes:

Strength: 18

Vitality: 18

Dexterity 20+

Perception 20+

Intelligence 20+

Willpower 20+

Twin-Soul ???

Non Class Skills:

[Soul-Sight(Initiate VII)](UnCommon)

[Source Regeneration]

Buffs:

Debuffs:

"Damn. So close…" Stanley considered the two Cores in his hand. "I could rank up right now." He shook his head. "What are Detrimental Effects…"

"Also Nate said it took a bit and it hurt. Probably should Rank up in a safe place regardless."

He scanned the area, looking for any regular Zombies. "I should be able to grind out those last stats from the…" Stanley frowned at what he was seeing.

The Zombies were retreating… he flew closer for a better look and saw the bridge ahead was covered in Zombies, all moving away from him and into downtown.

On his side of the bridge Stanley could see a huge mass of Red Eye Zombies all standing still in a long line along the river and in front of the bridge. "Almost like a defensive line…" Stanley was getting a bad feeling. They were facing in his direction and while he was too far away to see for sure, Stanley felt like they were looking at him.

Caffeine growled and woofed quietly at the Zombies.

"Nope." Stanley turned north. "We'll go back, Caff." He rubbed the pug’s head. "You can play with your friends again." He left with the city skyline shrinking behind him and kept an eye out for weak Zombies. "If I get lucky I can find the Cores I need. Or maybe someone at the base will have what I need and be willing to trade…" Unfortunately all the weak Zombies didn't have a chance to survive alone and Stanley had seen no living Humans at all in the area. He tried not to think about how many people lived in the city before this.

When he left the dense suburbia, he slowed and descended closer to the ground, looking for something to kill. Caffeine whined and after a careful scan of the area, Stanley hovered over a small park with scattered snow and leafless trees scattered around. He set the pug onto a clear patch of grass and while Caffeine did his thing Stanley looked around, scanning for threats.

He saw no Soul glows but his eyes landed on the snow scattered around the area and he realized something. "I'm not cold."

Stanley pulled his hands out of his jacket pockets and looked at them. "It's working!" His hands didn't look old anymore! Well not 'really' old at least… He pulled his beard out to get a look. "Still white… hmm." He could see his breath fogging the air in front of him but it didn’t feel cold on his face or his lungs.

Stanley set himself onto the ground and started walking across the grass, then running. Caffeine zipped past him as he ran and Stanley laughed. "Caff, chase!" He called and turned around to get a head start. Behind him he heard the panting pug closing in and he swerved as Caffeine raced by kicking up bits of dirt and grass as he banked into a turn.

Stanley had never felt so strong before and he found himself enjoying his sprint across the grass. "Never thought I'd enjoy running!" He thought happily.

He stopped near one of the naked trees and spun towards the approaching dog. Stanley crouched and juked back and forth to get Caffeine excited for the chase but the pug suddenly barked in a very not playful, very angry manner and blurred towards him.

"Did I do…" Grass and dirt cascaded into the air behind the charging and growing pug. At the same time Stanley noticed the tree branches on either side in his peripheral vision. "I wasn't that close to the…"

Sparkling bits of Soul appeared on the gray tree branches. "Shit. Go!"

He had an instant, a moment to see the bare gray tree branches stretching past him like reaching fingers. His feet were already off the ground as he started to haul himself away, but before he made it any further, the branches bent and lashed in around him and wrapped him up with unyielding bands of iron. "Fuck!"

Stanley was yanked backwards and he immediately pulled with everything he had against it, reaching for the sky. He felt a small hope as he gained some altitude but it wasn't enough.

More branches wrapped around him and he slowed to a stop in the air. "Noo!" He panicked as the branches tightened around him and something tried to dig into his back.

He heard a deafening Bark and was violently pulled to the side by the branches around him. As he fought against the pull he finally got a look at what had grabbed him.

Stretching out from a hole in the ground where the tree had been, was a large pinkish brown… worm? What had looked like a tree a moment ago was losing its tree likeness and turning pink as well and as it did the glow of its Soul started shining through. The branches around Stanley became fleshy tentacles stretching up from a gaping, tooth filled maw.

"It hid its Soul!" He realized in shock. He hadn’t thought that was possible...

"Fuck!" Stanley gasped out, as the worm's grasp forced the air from his lungs. He forced his power against the constricting coils but they had wrapped around him multiple times already and he couldn't get enough space to slip free before more pink tentacles slapped over his shoulders and around his face and neck.

Just before his vision was cut off he saw the worm's body undulating and it, and by extension Stanley, were dragged inexorably towards the hole in the ground.

"Nooo!" There was a deep growl and Stanley was pulled roughly up and to the side. "Get em Caff!"

Another growl followed by another lurch and Stanley was suddenly free. "Yes! Good boy!" He turned to praise the pug as he shot upwards and struggled to catch his breath again. "You're the best…" And saw the mass of writhing tentacles turn on Caffeine.

Stanley reached out desperately as the pug leapt aside from the questing worm tentacles. "He is fast enough…" He felt his soaring hopes dashed as one lone tentacle stabbed out towards and then into Caffeine. "No..." Caffeine stumbled and in an instant the giant pug was wrapped up by the rest of the thing and his pained yelp slammed into Stanley like a shockwave.

Time slowed as that horrible sound echoed through his head. Stanley’s power lashed out and dug into the worm, stabbing, cutting, and clawing points of power, digging for purchase.

Caffeine ballooned up bigger and bigger but the tentacles just stretched with him and around him. The worm flexed and pulled Caffeine across the grass and towards the hole. The pug’s massive feet left deep trenches in the ground as he was dragged back.

"Nooo!" Stanley screamed as he too was pulled through the air by his own power and the worm. "How fucking big are you?!" He railed at the worm that felt like it was simply ignoring his power.

Stanley was desperately trying to cut the worm even as he pulled against it but it was like trying to cut a tire with a kitchen knife. A truck tire. With a dull kitchen knife. He could feel the burning in his brain as he poured out his power… but it wasn't even slowing the monster.

His eyes landed on the spear lying on the grass where he'd dropped it earlier. "Yes!"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The spear snapped into and completely through the worm and it spasmed. "Yes! It'll work. If I just cut it enough it will…"

The worm rippled and dragged Caffeine closer to the hole, even as the spear stabbed through again. "It won't be fast enough…" Stanley's head was on fire and his vision was blurring with desperate and helpless tears.

Like lightning the spear snapped and stabbed through again and again but the worm simply ignored it and pulled Caffeine to the edge of the hole with another undulating tug.

Stanley felt time stop as his heart and mind burned. Caffeine, feet sunk deep into the ground, was staring up at him with his big, sad, hungry, comforting, trusting, loving, brown eyes.

"This can't be happening… not again… not after everything." Stanley had already clawed at the crack of light in his mind, ready to die if necessary. But it wouldn't open…

"My skill…" Stanley thought frantically, as the pug slid inch by inch, millimeter by millimeter. "Mind over Matter." He glared angrily at the worm. "You are Matter… I want… no. I need you to be cut!" It wasn't working! Caffeine was almost gone!

Stanley’s mind was shaking as he looked at those brown eyes that were being taken from him.

"No."

In that moment Stanley felt a realization, an understanding of something, it built and solidified as he pulled his eyes away from the straining pug and settled his gaze onto the worm.

Energy was building up inside Stanley, swirling and condensing, coiling to strike. "I don't want or need you to be cut…" He thought to the worm, as his mind stilled and calmed into deadly focus.

"You. Are." CUT

Power drained and vanished instantly from Stanley and then Caffeine was sprinting towards him as Stanley dropped towards the ground. The pink tentacles fell limp and slid from Caffeine as he ran and then he was in Stanley’s arms.

"You're okay! You're…"

Hot blood splashed on his hand. "What?!"

A bloody hole was dripping in Caffeine’s side as he whimpered and licked at Stanley’s face.

"Zeke!" The thought sent him into the air with Caffeine clutched tightly against his chest. "Zeke can heal him!"

Air screamed in his ears and tore at his face and clothes, so Stanley moved the air out of his path.

His vision started to tunnel as the g forces pulled his blood towards his feet so he crushed his body tightly and forced the blood back up to his head.

"Caffeine is bleeding! Too fast!" Stanley felt hot blood soaking through his jacket onto his chest. He slowed his acceleration slightly. "You're going to be okay, Caff!"

"Where is Zeke!?" He couldn’t see the building… was he going the right way?

Stanley strained his eyes, trying to find that golden glow. He couldn’t find it, and he desperately forced more of the Skill's Energy into his eyes, the Soul Energy. "Work, Damn you!" He screamed internally.

He saw glows start winking and appearing in the distance. "It's working!" He forced more and more energy into his eyes, even as they burned and pulsed in his head.

"Where is it?!" He pushed more Energy. "There!" A spot of gold appeared and he aimed straight for it. "Almost there Caff!" The blood on his chest was no longer hot… it felt cold...

The golden glow loomed larger and larger. "Too fast! Slow down!" His head throbbed as blood was forced into it and he had to reorient himself upright or he thought his head might explode.

A wall built from shipping containers was in his way so he ripped a hole through the metal. The side of the building loomed in front of him so Stanley shattered it into splinters. "Zeke!" The cloud of wood and plaster debris floated and tumbled lazily in the air as he pushed through and into the interior. "Found You!"

The golden glow was across a large room full of unimportant details. The boy he was here for stood wide eyed and frozen as Stanley approached through the room.

Stanley was concentrating fully on reaching Zeke and only on that. But he finally noticed the two other people's Souls, standing next to Zeke, when they attacked him!

A glowing foot flashed towards his face as a bright bolt of blue light shot from the other side.

"No!" He thought desperately. "Caffeine needs help!"

STOP

All his remaining energy vanished as the foot and the glowing beam slowed almost to a stop. Stanley's forward momentum shifted into a downward trajectory now that he could no longer hold himself up and he toppled forward as his feet touched the floor.

The glowing foot and beam of light accelerated again and shot forward, over his head.

He lifted his shaking arms as he fell, holding Caffeine over his head and off of the ground as he slammed face first into the floor and slid across it right up to Zeke.

"Help! Caff!" Stanley gasped as his vision tunneled.

He heard something but couldn't understand it over the pounding in his head. Stanley lifted his head, tasting blood in his mouth, and saw something that made his breath stop. "He's…"

A little gray and black tail, curled up and waving back and forth in a rapid dance. "He's alive!"

Stanley’s vision blurred as the furry missile slammed into his face, tongue first. He laughed through his tears and didn't even mind the searing jolt of pain from his nose when Caffeine crashed into it. "It's okay. Everything is okay now."

His mind and body tried to shut down as the adrenaline and stress drained from him but Stanley refused to let it. "I am strong enough…" He sat up with some effort and held the squirming pug in a panicked death grip in his lap, his face buried in Caffeine’s fur. The pain from his face grounded him and pushed back the fatigue. "I can do…"

[Purifying Light]

The warm light sank into him, slowly soothing all of his physical pains and threatened to undo him all over again but Stanley raged against the weakness and fear. "I can do this! I will be strong enough! I am strong enough!" He screamed defiantly inside his mind.

Someone gasped and Stanley finally heard the voices clearly.

"It's okay! Caffeine is fine!" Zeke was shouting.

Stanley looked up and three people flinched away violently. Nate, Eve and Zeke looked at him with horror. Eve and Zeke were backing up but Nate stepped forward and shouted at Stanley. "Turn it off!"

Stanley was confused. "Turn what off?"

Nate was pointing at his eyes and Stanley realized that they were still on fire with the overcharge that he'd forced. He quickly pulled the Energy back out and canceled the Skill. The glowing colors in the room faded and everything went somewhat dull when it finally stopped.

Eve turned away and vomited in the corner and Zeke's whole body was shaking and glowing brightly with golden light as he turned to his sister.

Nate sat down heavily on the floor and Stanley hugged Caffeine tighter. "We made it! You're okay! We're…"

Eve started sobbing and Stanley glanced at Nate. "Did I hurt you guys?" He asked quietly, working hard to keep his voice steady. "I'm sorry if I did." He hugged the squirming pug as it licked at his face. "Caffeine was dying and I was…"

"Um…" Zeke started and Stanley looked up at him. "Caffeine was fine…" Zeke wouldn't meet his eyes for more than a second as he spoke. "He had some blood on him… but he was fine when I tried to heal him."

Stanley looked at Caffeine, meeting his bulging brown eyes. "You were okay?" Stanley whispered and Caffeine whined and licked his cheek. "That's… that's… I'm so glad!" Stanley crushed Caffeine in another hug, his eyes burning. "Good boy."

Stanley furiously blinked the moisture from his eyes and looked at Eve. "What happened to her?"

Nate spoke up. "You did." He said calmly.

Stanley glanced around at them confused.

"When you were... approaching." Nate said. "We all felt it… we thought something was attacking." He looked at Zeke. "I…" He glanced at Eve. "We... came to protect Zeke from whatever was coming for him."

Zeke was trembling slightly. "I felt it…" He whispered.

"We all felt it." Nate continued. "It was very disconcerting. I 'Knew' something was looking for him, desperately looking."

Zeke nodded jerkily.

"Then you came bursting through the wall. Nice entrance there, dodged our attacks somehow and face planted." He smiled just a bit there before he turned serious.

"Your eyes were burning with light… awful light." He swallowed. "You were broadcasting… so much pain, fear, despair… and the rage… I could feel it all."

"Was it my skill?" Stanley thought.

"The light in your eyes…" He swallowed. "I could see something in that light… it was… not good."

"It felt like reliving the worst moment of my life…" Zeke whispered. "And the best moment."

Nate nodded. "It was beautiful and horrifying and… and… wrong."

"It was a baby's laughter." Eve croaked out in the corner. "And the deafening silence when it stops forever."

"Jesus christ!" Stanley exclaimed.

Nate nodded again. "Yes. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…" His eyes glazed over with an awestruck look for a moment before hardening and focusing back onto Stanley. "And it had been mutilated and ruined."

Stanley sat in silence, not sure how to respond to what he was increasingly worried were descriptions of his Soul. "My Soul isn't ruined…"

"And there was a crack… a blinding crack running through it all." Nate finished.

"Fuck." Stanley slumped and Caffeine whined and licked his face again. "That sounds like my Soul…"

He lifted his head to face the others. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to show you my Soul." He looked back down at Caffeine. "I was so scared for Caff… I was trying to find Zeke and I did something to my Skill to help me…" Stanley looked back up and paused at the expressions on their faces. "What?"

"That's... your Soul?" Eve whispered as she stared at him, her face horrified. Zeke backed up a step while Nate only frowned.

"I…" Stanley struggled for words a moment. "Fuck their opinions." He floated himself up onto his feet, Caffeine in his arms. "I have struggled for survival, now and… before."

"And paid the price." He drew in a shuddering breath. "I will do whatever it takes… whatever… it takes. I will escape this place and I WILL get home." He didn't quite shout.

He turned away from them and stopped when he saw all the other people in the room. A few tear stained faces stared at him with abject terror but most were slumped down and unconscious. At least he assumed they were unconscious.

Stanley briefly considered activating his [Soul-Sight] again to check if he had accidentally killed anyone but decided against it. He could feel Zeke's [Purifying Aura] all around him. They would be fine, probably.

Caffeine twisted in his arms and whimpered sadly. Stanley followed the direction the dog was looking and sighed.

The small autistic child was standing in the far corner of the room. He was facing into the corner and rapping his head into the wall repeatedly while his hands twitched and tapped at the wall.

Stanley set the pug onto the floor. "Go get em." He whispered and the dog zipped across the large room and squeezed in front of the boy. He grew bigger until he was as tall as the child and Stanley saw the boy slowly reach his arms around the pug and he looked away as his eyes started burning with unwanted tears. "No. I am stronger than that."

His hands wouldn't stop shaking so he stuffed them into his pockets. "Oh right." He pulled out the two Cores and looked at them before turning back to face the others. "Here." He held out the Cores. "For your help."

Nate was standing next to Zeke and Eve, the latter was glaring at him from the floor. No one moved to take the Cores.

"Get over yourself." Eve spat on the floor, wiped her mouth with a sleeve and stood up. "We're all fucked up… but at least we're not jamming our fucked up down everyone else's throats." She spat again and turned to leave. "I've got shit to do." She walked out the door. "And I'm not fixing that fucking wall!"

Nate stepped forward after she was gone and took the Cores. "I'll give it to her." He promised.

Stanley nodded at the man and turned to leave. "I've got shit to do as…"

A hand landed gently but firmly on his shoulder and he looked back at Nate.

"I've been through some shit myself." Nate said softly. "Not that I'm saying it was anything like what you've seen." He added when Stanley frowned. "But I've seen folks with that look in their eyes before and I'm here if you need to talk about it. No judgment." He smiled gently. "I'm no shrink, but I can listen."

Stanley stared into the man's eyes as memories of his nightmares flashed through his mind. The new ones as well as the older and more fragmented ones.

"I'll keep that in mind." Stanley pulled away and Nate let his hand drop.

"Are you going back out?" Nate asked, and Stanley saw him glance at his hand that was still trembling.

He clenched his hand into a fist. "I left my spear behind when… when..."

"You could take a few…" Nate started.

"I have to go now, or…" Stanley stared out through the hole he had made and into the daylight outside, his heart pounding. "Or I might never be able to." He finished silently.

"I get it." Nate said softly. "Take care of yourself out there. And take care of him too."

Stanley followed his gaze to Caffeine who was sitting still as the smiling boy hugged and petted him. Caffeine’s tail was a happy blur as he sat there.

"He was there, you know. In your… Soul."

Stanley looked at Nate. "What?"

Nate smiled at the pug before meeting Stanley’s eyes. "He was there, sitting in front of the crack, in front of it all… just like that."

Stanley looked back at Caffeine. "Huh…" He smiled. "Guarding my cracked Soul, Caff?" He had a thought. "Are you the one blocking the Source? If so are you protecting me or… Lee." He felt a chill when he remembered that he still had no idea whether his brother had enough Attributes to survive another event like that first night. But still, the thought of letting Caffeine die just to save himself or his brother… it made him feel sick.

"Whatever it…" He shuddered. "No!" He would make it happen. No matter what, he would see his family together again. "No one gets left behind." He thought and a small smile crept onto his face at the memory of a movie scene. "Ohana means family." His smile faded when he realized that he would probably never be able to watch it again.

Nate patted his shoulder and walked away and Stanley saw Zeke moving among the other people in the room, the golden glow infusing everyone he touched.

Stanley turned back and watched the small boy pour water into a glass on the floor and pet Caffeine while the pug slurped it up. Between refilling the cup and the slurping, they were creating a large puddle. He smiled and went looking for some water of his own, feeling suddenly thirsty himself and after realizing that his backpack was gone. As he did, he went over the results of his latest nightmare.

Stanley already knew what his notifications said and it was part of the reason he had given away the Cores.

Class [Psionic] Level Up

Skill [Mind Over Matter] Level Up

Willpower +1

You have increased your Willpower Attribute beyond the Fortification Threshold. Trait Upgraded [I Made My Choice]

Willpower +1

You have increased your Willpower Attribute beyond the Fortification Threshold. Trait Upgraded [I Made My Choice]

Skill [Soul-Sight] Level Up

Skill [Soul-Sight] Level Up

He sighed and looked at the aforementioned Trait.

[I Made My Choice]

(Your willingness to sacrifice your Physical body for Psionic power has not gone unnoticed.)

Effects:

+15% Effectiveness of All Mind Attributes

+15% Physical Resistance to All Psionic Energy

-15% Effectiveness of All Physical Attributes

It wasn't all bad, but while more Psionic power was a good thing, Stanley didn’t want to leave himself a cripple physically either. "How much of a difference will fifteen percent make?" He wondered. He couldn’t tell the difference at the moment but maybe it would matter later.

He finally walked to the hole in the wall and looked outside. He could see through the container where he had torn a hole and he used his power to push the metal more or less back into place while silently promising to find another container to replace it.

He flew over the makeshift wall and landed in the grass beyond. Caffeine landed next to him a moment later. Stanley leaned against the horse sized pug and rested his forehead on the dog. "You ready Caff?" The pug woofed gently and pushed against him slightly.

[Soul-Sight]

"Let's go." He flew slowly up and away, Caffeine in his arms and not his jacket after he realized that his previously new jacket was now soaked with blood. "Caffeine’s blood…" He shook off the thought and changed course towards the truckstop, for new jacket shopping.

Before he left the area he stopped and looked at a tree. "I forgot to tell them about the fake tree…"

CUT

The tree fell, it's regular wooden trunk sliced cleanly through. Stanley looked at his Psi Energy indicator bar and saw what he expected. "About half my energy for one attack…"

He watched as his Energy regenerated. "Regen is fast enough that this is a viable attack. Might even kill a General Zombie." His hands trembled around Caffeine. "No. It 'Will' kill a General."

After stopping to tell a very nervous lookout about the worm pretending to be a tree. A story which didn't help the man calm down and instead sent him running away, face pale, to find Nate.

Stanley flew away.

Eve stood at her table, fists clenched and staring angrily at the faintly glowing Core in front of her.

"Son of a bitch, coming in here like that, wrecking my wall."

"Fuck you, Stanley!" She muttered under her breath.

She snatched up the Core.

+1 All Base Attributes

She looked again at the notification that had appeared when Stanley… no… that Abomination... had crashed through the wall.

Soul +1

New Attribute Unlocked (Soul)

"That sick, fucked up, monster!" She couldn't stop seeing that… that… Nightmare. And then there was… the Crack. The Light.

She knew that light all too well.

"Fuuuck!" She flipped the table over and stood there, chest heaving.

There was just one little thing that she couldn't deny or ignore. As much as she hated that man, that thing, he had something she didn't.

Stanley was powerful. And Eve wanted that kind of strength for herself.

She 'would' have it.

She bent down at another table, over a small machine and reached out a hand.

"Soul… it might be just the thing I was missing." She mused as a grim smile slowly grew on her face.