Stanley didn't fear death at this moment, but he felt a terrible fear for what was coming towards him.

It wasn't a monster. But Stanley dreaded the thought of facing it. Of looking into those big brown eyes. Dreaded what he would see in them.

A hulking form stopped next to him. A big cold nose bumped into his face, sniffed, and hot breath washed over Stanley's face. Then a tongue crashed into his face and a loud whine echoed throughout the underground chamber.

Stanley finally dared to feel for Caffeine through their bond and then he could only weep. "I don't deserve you, Caff. What did I ever do to deserve you?"

There was no recrimination or disappointment, nothing in Caffeine but worry, love and joy.

Stanley tried to lift his arms and touch the pug but they refused to work. He was too drained and weak, he could only lay there while Caffeine whimpered in worried happiness and licked the tears from Stanley's face.

Then Caffeine took a step back and Stanley heard a strange rustling and scratching noise, followed by a… "A zipper?" Then suddenly smelled… chicken?

Something landed on his face and rolled off onto the ground. Caffeine's snuffling mouth picked it up and dropped it on his face again. And Stanley figured out what it was.

It was a piece of chicken! Caffeine was trying to drop chicken into Stanley's mouth… from his own mouth.

"That's gross." He thought and caught it on the next try. "Why are you such a good dog…" Stanley managed to chew it a few times and swallow it without choking.

He suddenly became very aware of just how hungry he was and accepted each additional piece of chicken that Caffeine dropped.

Stanley could feel his body taking in the food, each piece followed by a visceral surge of energy and revitalization throughout his drained and wounded form.

Caffeine kept dropping food into his mouth and Stanley didn't think about it too hard. After all, he remembered plenty of times where he spit out pieces of gristle or meat and Caffeine would happily snatch it out of the air.

Then he had the realization of the fact that Caffeine was picking up chicken, in his mouth, and not only did he not swallow it instantly but he was dropping it willingly, to let Stanley eat it…

Fresh tears ran unimpeded down the sides of his face. "You must have been so scared and worried… I'm so sorry Caff…"

Stanley still couldn't move but he could feel injuries healing, pain that he only noticed as it faded, his bad eye writhing and itching in his skull.

He looked at his Status to check how he was doing, even as he dreaded the knowledge of just how much of an idiot he was.

A wall of Notifications appeared and he skimmed through them.

"And I get stronger still…" It seemed that reckless and suicidal charges were rewarded. If you survived of course… Guilt, regret, fear, and anger all washed over him in rapid succession and then drained out of his exhausted mind. He swallowed some more chicken and looked more closely at one of the Notifications.

Class Level Up. [Soul Psionic] No Evolutions Available. Upgrade to Apprentice Available. Proceed? Yes/No

"That's new… Yes."

Class Rank Up.

[Soul Psionic(Apprentice I)](Rare)

New Class Skills Available. Proceed? Yes/No

Stanley accepted and saw the first available Skill.

[Soul Meditation(Initiate)](Rare)

Increase Regeneration of Body and Mind.

Soul Psionic may enter into their Soul Space while in a Meditative Trance that increases all Regeneration and Refreshes the Mind, Body and Soul. Allows for Reduced Sleep Requirements while Retaining some Awareness. Higher Levels will further Reduce the need for Sleep and Increase Awareness.

"That is…" Stanley only glanced over the rest of his options, just in case…

[Pyrokinesis(Initiate)](Uncommon)

Create…

"No."

[Cryokinesis(Initiate)](Uncommon)

"Nope."

[SoulBurn(Initiate)](Rare)

Burn a target Soul with your own Soul. User receives an equivalent SoulBurn on their own Soul. Higher Levels will reduce SoulBurn received by User.

"Interesting…" But he already knew that he would take the first one. "I won't need to sleep… refreshes the mind…" He was in desperate need for something, anything, that could help his mind. He just really, really hoped that it would help him more than the Undead Skill had.

He didn't second guess himself and accepted it immediately.

New Class Skill Gained. [Soul Meditation(Initiate I)](Rare)

The knowledge of how to activate it flowed into his head and Stanley cursed silently when he realized that he needed a specific pose.

A piece of slobber covered chicken bounced off his face with what felt like a little splash and Stanley opened his eyes. It was pitch black… "Did I make light before? Or was I fighting in the dark the whole time…" He couldn't actually remember and that bothered him… and at the same time reassured him. If he had fought all of that while only using his mental touch… Well, he hadn't fought very well, considering the state he was now in. "No… I must have made light… at least for some of the fighting…" One of his eyes had been… bad. He thought he remembered something about acid, melting… popping… Stanley forced his thoughts away.

He still couldn't lift his arms more than a few inches off the ground so Stanley gently and tentatively tried to lift himself upright with his mind. It worked, with only a slight pain in his head and he settled into the cross-legged position required by his Skill, almost identical to the way he had been carrying Caffeine. And speaking of Caffeine, he could feel the pug wiggling with a happy tail and butt wag while stepping on his lap to lick his face with happy yips and whines.

"Go… Good… boy." Stanley managed to croak out through his raw and dry throat.

Caffeine continued his happy dance and Stanley activated his new Skill. It required him to alter the flow of various Energies around his body and Stanley slowly pulled them into place.

As he did, Stanley felt his hearing go completely quiet. Not even the sounds of his own body, nothing.

His vision went next. The darkness behind his eyelids shifted and changed. Seeming to deepen and expand into the distance.

His feeling of touch faded as well until he was only a mind adrift in the void.

And something else changed.

His raw and frantic emotions…

They didn't vanish, not like Still Mind. No, instead they moved… apart. He felt them, they were all still there, but there was a distance between emotion and thought now. As if the signals in his brain had to travel further and along the way they lost the urgency that usually accompanied them. Stanley would have cried at the relief from the anguish but that emotion was also distant. Lessened.

In this new state, he couldn't feel his body but could still 'see' it, with more of an outside looking in feeling. He could feel his Psionic power propping his body up in the required position but he couldn't reach any further, couldn't reach out to touch Caffeine or the ground around him. When he tried to feel Caffeine in his lap, Stanley lost the required focus and the Skill started failing. He abandoned the effort to touch Caffeine and put everything behind the new Skill.

Stanley could already tell that this was something he could learn to do by instinct, eventually. Exactly the same way he held himself in the air now, by habit and instinct. An ability which he was grateful for, since that was the only way he could keep his body in the correct position at the moment.

Stanley stopped trying to analyze the Skill and simply let it soothe him. He would figure it out later, for now he would rest and he could rest easy because despite the extreme vulnerability that the Skill created, there was one more effect.

Even though Stanley couldn't see, hear, or feel the pug curling up in his lap, he still knew that Caffeine was there.

He could feel Caffeine's Soul.

He could feel many Souls, they twinkled like distant stars in the field of darkness all around him. Though they did feel further away, or more faint? "I get to keep [Soul Awareness] while using this but it isn't a Class Skill… is that a loophole or just a product of this being a Soul Skill as well? Technically I'm in my Soul right now…" Sort of. Despite everything, Stanley still didn't really understand the way his Soul worked. He could feel the sphere of his deformed Soul behind him, Soul Wound, Source Crack and everything else. But it wasn't really 'behind' him, more… adjacent… no. All around him?

His meditation wavered.

Stanley gave up on that track and simply tried to relax. Caffeine lay in his lap and Stanley watched his Skill work. Watched the entwined and combined energies as they flowed around his body. The Energy was doing stuff at different places in his body but Stanley didn't try to figure it out now, only focused on controlling the flow.

Skill Level Up. [Soul Meditation]

The distant Notification brought his awareness back. "How long have I been doing this?" Stanley thought. He looked over his body and felt like he should be able to move.

He canceled the Skill and immediately felt terrible. All the guilt over what he'd done to Zeke, the fear of everything, the fading pain of his former injuries, the anger…

Stanley grabbed the backpack and pulled out the chicken, stuffing it into his mouth as fast as he could and washing it down with the included leather water skin. "That's a throwback."

Caffeine watched from his lap but didn't even sit up for potential chicken snacks. "How much did you worry, Caff?" Stanley swallowed the chicken past the bitter lump in his throat and reactivated his new Skill.

Calm washed gently over him and he relaxed.

"Caffeine brought a backpack full of food and water. Someone must have packed it for him… " It had most likely been Nate. The man didn't want to lose his strongest ally… and to be fair, maybe he did actually care beyond that.

Stanley dreaded going back, facing everyone. Well, he dreaded it while outside his Meditation. He had seen himself in the Soul reflections of everyone else. He was the Monster.

Everyone had felt his rage, felt his unstable madness. Eve had been sure that he would kill her when she attacked him, but she had no choice. She had to protect Zeke… Her brother.

"I'm fighting for my life, all to get home and protect my own brother… how many other brothers and sisters will I kill to make that happen?" He thought.

"As many as necessary." That next thought surprised Stanley, but not very much. He knew he would kill everyone to make it happen, if he had too… But not for no reason, not his allies, not people who had saved his life and were actively helping him…

He had lost his temper, had… tortured Zeke because the boy wasn't used to pain and had frozen up. Had been about to hurt Eve because she was getting in his way.

Sitting here, in this place, apart from his emotions, Stanley could see what the problem was.

He was afraid. So very, very afraid.

All the times when he nearly died… He had survived, prevailed against all of it and yet… no one else was stepping up, no one else was strong enough… He had been feeling a growing sense of being alone in this fight, everyone standing back to let him face the monsters by himself.

Stanley knew that wasn't true, not completely. His new perspective showed him that much. He wasn't alone, people were trying to help in the fight. They were just too weak…

As he stewed and ruminated on his memories with emotion now at a distance, Stanley came to another realization.

It was the smiles, the seemingly carefree, happy people he saw around. "Why did they get to smile when they weren't the ones paying the price? How dare they!" The way Zeke thought he could go out and fight! As if it would be easy! "As if he wouldn't have to scream in agony and still keep fighting! How…"

Stanley lost the meditation and literally shook with anger, which was followed by some face licks and whines until he managed to regain the Skill.

"That was stupid… Zeke wasn't mocking me or making light of me. He truly wants to help. He was even willing to get hurt to prove it. I just went too heavy and too fast." He was just a kid, he didn't know true physical pain. Only emotional… Stanley knew that. He had known that, had seen it in the boy's Soul, but somehow had overlooked it… or ignored it because it hit too close to home.

Looking back now, Stanley could see the signs. Fear buried deep down. Body shaking tears, drained silently into a pillow in the dark. All hidden underneath a smile that shone strong from his very Soul. Because he still believed in smiling, even after everything. "I'm the one who got it wrong…"

It was the anger…

Stanley had used anger to override his fear, to keep moving and it had worked, very well, until it hadn't… He could see the spiral that had led him to this Lair, into a near suicidal rampage that almost ended everything.

Though Stanley had a feeling that Caffeine had been watching over him and had been ready to step in if it proved necessary. It likely had been at the end, as Stanley had been under a [Starving] Debuff by then. But Caffeine wouldn't let him go so easily…

Skill Level Up. [Soul Meditation]

Stanley knew he needed to go back and apologize to the boy who had saved his life that first night, his sister, and everyone else… some of them… maybe just Nate.

He sighed. "This is going to suck…" He hated apologies, he never knew what to say. "I could bring them a reconciliation gift…" Stanley sighed and got moving, grabbing the Queen's Core as he left.

[Claw Strike(Initiate)](Common)

Slash your…

"Useless… for me at least."

He hugged Caffeine tight on the way out of the Lair. The pug was happy for the cuddles and happy for the lap to sit on. Stanley did stop a few times to meditate, especially when the light started shining through from the entrance and the fear rose up with anger right behind it.

The feeling still snuck up on him so easily, despite the fact that he now knew what was happening. But he did love his new Skill and Stanley planned to use it at every opportunity, if he could eventually use it while traveling… or even fighting… it needed to be leveled as fast as possible.

Aaand maybe he would ask Walter about the shrink… it might help… maybe.

Stanley hesitated when he was near the surface; he felt Humans outside and had to take another Meditation break before he would risk dealing with them. In that calm state he realized that he didn't recognize them, plus they felt wrong… off.

Stanley left the building over the Lair slowly while the Humans outside were fighting a rat. They killed it right as he stepped out the door, Caffeine walking beside him. Their Souls felt weak but he wanted to be ready and Caffeine to be ready, if they weren't actually Human.

Turned out they were Human, but they were 'off'.

Three men stood around the dead rat, they were emaciated and sickly with patchy hair and ragged clothes. One of them saw him step outside and spun to face him.

"Back off! This is our kill!" He yelled and brandished a machete.

"We're starving." Another of them yelled. "Just leave us alone, please!" He pleaded.

Stanley stopped in surprise. "They're going to eat That?" It was one of the corrupted rats. Maybe even from the Lair that had 'Infected' in its name. "That's…" Caffeine trotted over to say hi.

Stanley opened his mouth to warn them but one of them suddenly blurted out. "That's clean Meat!" And then he lunged at the pug with his knife.

Stanley almost killed him. It was so close… but in the last instant, Stanley attacked the ground instead.

Caffeine easily hopped aside from the weak swing and Growled. While that happened, a perfectly smooth and straight gash appeared in the decaying street between Stanley and the man who attacked, Stanley's successful redirection of his deadly impulse. The crack extended to within inches of the man's feet.

The ground shook and the deafening boom of the street splitting open almost drowned out the deep thrumming of Caffiene's Growl.

Stanley dropped into his meditation. It was the only way he could avoid killing another Human and he didn't want to add that additional burden onto himself, not unless it was necessary. Plus he knew they couldn't even scratch the pug, he was surprised they'd managed to kill the rat, but just seeing them try…

From the dark void of his [Soul Meditation], Stanley could only watch their Souls since he was deaf and blind, but that was enough. They were terrified and frozen for a few seconds and then they ran, as fast as they could, which wasn't very.

"Is it the Miasma?" Stanley wondered in his much calmer headspace. "I didn't think it was that bad." Though… he had never actually been affected.

Stanley watched them go and saw the twinkling of Souls ahead of them, at least a dozen or more, and the three men stopped near that other group. More Humans. "I should save them… take them to the purified area." He didn't want to help someone who wanted to eat Caffeine. "But… if I was starving… and it was someone else's dog… maybe a mean dog that bites babies. Damn it! Maybe kill that one guy and save the rest?"

Stanley dropped his Meditation and spent a bit petting Caffeine, both to calm his anger and to apologize for thinking about eating a dog. Then he followed the runners. They had taken the rat with them…

He found them in a church. One of those quaint, small town style churches. A rectangular box with sloped roof and a steeple. The windows down the sides were boarded up and he couldn't see into the interior. Fading white paint was crumbling on the walls and made the building look far older than it probably was.

Stanley landed at the front doors and paused before opening them when he felt a strange energy around the doors and going on around the whole building. It felt familiar but he couldn't place it. And it felt weak.

As he studied it, Stanley heard voices from inside and thought he heard someone say 'Beast Lord'. He grinned. "That's right. Don't fuck with the Beast Lord!" He slowly reached a hand out and touched the Energy. Nothing happened and his hand went through without any noticeable effect. So he tried the knob. The doors opened easily and Stanley walked inside, Caffeine beside him.

You have entered a [Weak Sanctuary of Faith]

Stanley looked at the new Buff description.

[Weak Sanctuary] Monsters outside the Sanctuary are less likely to approach or detect anything within.

"Guess that's how these weakling's are still alive…" The smell was the first thing he noticed and it pulled his attention from the Notification. It was almost gag inducing but then he was distracted from the smell by a shout.

"There it is! The monster!" Heads swiveled, people screamed and started scrambling away, albeit slowly.

Stanley glared in annoyance as he walked down the aisle between the pews and towards the group of people near the front. He opened his mouth to yell at them and Caffeine grew next to him until Stanley's hand rested on the pug's large back.

That mostly shut them up and Stanley calmed as they cowered in place and the only sound was that of Caffeine's feet thumping heavily against the floor.

There were maybe twenty Souls in the church including a man dressed like a priest. All of them were emaciated and dying. But the worst ones, the ones who grabbed Stanley's attention, were the children, six of them.

They lay unmoving on the floor behind the pulpit, on top of and under old clothes and blankets. None of them so much as stirred at the commotion and Caffeine whined as he approached them, his tail drooping.

"Please spare the children." The priest rasped as he stepped into Stanley's path, trying to block his sight of the children. "Take me instead, Demon."

Stanley didn't even look at him. His eyes on the unmoving forms.

"Why are they so weak? Why did no one fight?" He was so angry. So very, very angry. "Did they just hide in here this whole time?" And so very sad. Everyone in the church was sickly and dying… but the children, they looked dead already. They weren't but they were close. "Why? Don't I have enough nightmares already?" They looked far too much like mummified corpses, or zombies…

Stanley could feel their Souls flickering under the assault of his own bleeding Soul and he abruptly realized that his Soul shield was down. Stanley built a shield stronger than he ever had before and wrapped it tight around his damaged Soul. Then he built it stronger and stronger still, layer after layer.

You have demonstrated the Class Skill [Psionic Soul Shield(Initiate I)](Rare)

Stanley ignored the message and kept layering his shield until their Souls settled back down. It was a strain on his Soul and Stanley felt like he was pulling on the stitches. "I can do this quickly."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Stanley lifted the unconscious children as gently as he could and started floating towards the door.

"I am going to save all of your lives." He said as calmly as he could to the room. "Please go outside. Do not speak, do not threaten me, do not threaten my dog ...or I might kill you." He was growling at the end.

They moved.

Most of them did… Stanley picked up a couple that didn't or couldn't move and one cut off a squeak of terror by clapping her hands over her mouth. Once outside he lifted all of them into the air.

"It will help if you close your eyes." That was the only warning he gave before he Moved them.

The ground fell away and then blurred past them below, all without a hint of motion for the Humans. Stanley heard more than one person gag from the nausea, but he wouldn't risk g-forces on the nearly dead children.

A few of them tried to fight his hold but they were far too weak, barely F Ranks. It felt like they hadn't done anything since this started, hadn't even tried to get stronger… Stanley forced away the anger and flew towards the only green place left within sight. The Purified area… and Zeke.

He dreaded the meeting to come. Could he face the boy after that? …he would, and maybe Zeke would be glad for more people to heal… He did like healing…

There were gasps and a few whispered words quickly cut off when they passed into the Purified zone. And then they were slowing down, approaching the base.

He was surprised to see Zeke outside, sparring with Nate! Even as he watched he saw the man use a throw to toss the boy into the dirt flat onto his back.

Then someone must have noticed his approach, and people started yelling and scurrying around. Stanley zeroed in on Zeke and approached quickly. His [Soul Awareness] was very dim thanks to the shield he'd conjured, but Stanley still felt the boy as he got close. He felt fear coming from Zeke and Stanley felt the guilt and regret rising up again.

Stanley set the people down gently, especially the children, almost right in front of the healer and felt Zeke's fear shift into horror. The horror vanished a heartbeat later as the boy burst with Golden Light and determination. He stepped forward and all of the newcomers vanished underneath that light. Someone sobbed loudly in the light and there was a surge of joy and hope.

Stanley fled. Again.

This time he only went to his house, sat on the porch and dove back into his [Soul Meditation].

He couldn't maintain his shield while meditating and wasn't sure what his leaking Soul felt like to others when he did. So Stanley decided to wait there. He could drop by later, after the newcomers were healed up.

He could still see their Souls while meditating but they were quieter while under his Skill's effect, so he couldn't tell much other than that they were still alive. He tried not to worry about it and instead focused on improving his mastery of his Skill. "Oh right." He remembered the last Notification and pulled up the new Skill description.

[Psionic Soul Shield(Initiate I)](Rare)

Protect your Soul from attack and detection. Create a shield around your Soul to prevent the emanations that can be detected by others. Shield also acts as a barrier against Soul Damage.

Soul Shields can be created with various Energies, including the User's own Soul. Using more types of Energy in the Creation of the Shield will increase the potential effectiveness.

Higher Levels can increase either effect or both.

Psionic Variant increases effects based on Willpower and User's focus.

"Did I just never put enough effort in before? Or did I finally make the shield enough times?" He still didn't know how any of this worked. He hadn't gained any knowledge with the Skill but then again he already knew how to do it. "I didn't know about the protection bit… and the part about using different Energy…"

Stanley thought about how he created his shield and realized that he was definitely using Psionic Energy to create it. Especially that last time when he needed it to be stronger. "Does that mean anyone can learn this? Can Zeke? Or Nate?" That was an interesting idea. "I wonder if I could teach them… someone said something about unlocking the Soul Attribute."

Skill Level Up. [Soul Meditation]

Stanley was pulled from his thoughts by the Notification and by the abrupt movement of Caffeine's Soul away from him. He was about to drop the meditation in anticipation of danger but then he saw the Souls approaching.

Caffeine stopped next to a brilliant Golden Soul and two others. "They are here." Nate and Eve moved beside Zeke.

Nate's Soul felt the same as always. Solid, firm in his convictions, with the usual small turbulences of his hopes and dreams peeking through.

And then there was Eve, shining brightly with a layer of anger over her terror. She was following a similar trajectory to himself. Hiding behind anger to avoid the fear. And she had seen enough to be scared…

Stanley kept his meditation going while he tried to think of what to say but before he could, Zeke was in front of him, and afraid. Stanley's memory supplied him with a vision of the boy's face, his expression one of horror, pain, and fear, with tears running down his face.

Golden light intruded on Stanley's meditation void. It joined easily into the flow that he was maintaining throughout his body and brought with it that wonderful warmth.

Stanley slowly let his [Soul Meditation] fade and found himself wrapped in a hug. Zeke had thrown his arms around him, his Soul no longer carrying even a hint of fear, only happiness and relief, tinged with a faint sense of worry.

"I'm glad you're okay, Stanley." Zeke said softly, arms still wrapped around Stanley in a tight hug, still radiating Golden light.

"Zeke, I…" Stanley choked and then forced out the words. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Zeke said. "I forgive you."

Zeke's Soul was all sincerity and Stanley looked at him in shock as he felt the truth and belief in his words. "What?"

"I forgive you." Zeke repeated as he let go of Stanley and sat back.

"But… why?" Stanley whispered. "I…"

Zeke stood up and laughed with a big smile. "Jesus says to forgive those that hurt you."

Stanley just stared at him. "What?"

Zeke only smiled and reached a hand down to help him stand up.

"That sounds very unChristian of you." Stanley said as he stood up. "I think you're supposed to hate me and accuse me of persecuting you."

Zeke smiled somewhat sadly. "I know." His smile widened. "That priest was very upset that I was consorting with Demons! He told me I should smite you before you turned on us."

Stanley just stared at him in confusion. Then asked. "Are they okay? The…"

Zeke nodded. "Yep. I healed them right up. They were getting some food when we left. You saved their lives!"

He looked up and down Stanley.

"You know you're covered in blood right?" Zeke asked, his head tilting. "You actually look kind of scary, that could be why he thought you were a demon. Oh and your angry Soul."

Stanley winced at that and looked down at himself, finally noticing the condition his clothes were in. "Walter is going to be pissed…"

His suit was absolutely destroyed. Holes, cuts, gashes and whole missing pieces covered what he could see. Dried blood and 'other' things covered what was left of the suit and whatever skin could be seen through the gaps.

"Most of it is not my blood…" Stanley finally said.

Zeke poked his leg through a big hole. "It looks like you took a lot of hits. How did you heal back up?"

Stanley swallowed nervously as he looked at the extent of the damage he had taken. "I have very good Regeneration…"

Caffeine whined and Stanley looked up to see the pug looking back and forth between him and the bag in Nate's hand.

Nate smiled slightly. "I'm glad to see you're okay too." He said and stepped around to sit in a chair on the porch. "I brought food. Let's eat."

Stanley looked at Eve. She was glaring at him, full of rage.

Zeke sat in the other chair on the porch. "Eve, I forgave him. It's okay."

"Like Hell!" Eve exploded. "I don't forgive you and I never will!" She yelled at Stanley while taking careful steps forward. Small steps. "You're a fucking lunatic phsyco that will snap and kill us all!"

"Eve!" Zeke exclaimed.

"You fucking snapped and ran off, now you come back covered in blood!" Eve angrily gestured at him.

"You're right." Stanley agreed with her.

"What!" Zeke and Eve both said together.

"I'm bonkers, off my rocker, gone round the bend, Yada Yada." Eve kept glaring with her guns pointed at him.

"Would you feel better if you shot me?" Stanley offered.

"No!" Zeke yelled.

Eve shot him. Right in the face.

Stanley blinked away the spots in his vision. "Not in the face! Who's the lunatic now?"

Eve blasted him in the chest.

Stanley sighed. He was glad that her attacks didn't seem to enrage him, maybe because he had offered? He pulled up his torn and battered pant leg. "Poor Walter." He held out the leg and pulled his shield away with some effort. "There." He was actually surprised at the effort required to stop shielding. And he was happy about it. Better protection was…

Eve blasted his leg with every cannon on her person.

[Source Regeneration] Activated.

Stanley spun and slid through the air from the burning impact but managed to catch himself before he went too far. He looked at his leg and then at Eve.

"Damn…" Zeke whispered. Eve glared.

"You barely got through my skin…" Stanley was incredulous. "Can't you do better?" It felt like a bad sunburn, nothing more.

Eve shot him in the face again. "You fucking blocked it!"

Stanley started to protest and then shrugged. "Maybe? It's very instinctual. How about this." He concentrated… and his lower leg bent in the middle with a sickening crunch.

Zeke gasped and Eve looked a bit green as she took a step back.

Stanley meanwhile was blinking away the small teardrops in his eyes. "That stings… just a bit." He let his leg down and swung the flopping bit back and forth, grimacing at the piercing pain but enjoying the look on Eve's face too much to stop.

Zeke jumped up and tried to heal him but Stanley stopped him. "I want to see how long it… takes to regenerate." He had to catch his breath and stop the swinging of his leg.

He felt eyes on him and looked over to see Caffeine watching him from next to Nate and the chicken in the man's frozen hands.

"Hardcore." Nate said thoughtfully. "Can you do that to my leg?" He held out a leg.

"Nate!" Zeke exclaimed.

"What? I want to see how much tougher I am. Plus you can heal it anyway." Nate said to the boy.

Stanley ignored Nate, watching his leg healing at a rapid pace. It itched like mad when he wasn't distracted by an ongoing fight and he could feel his hunger growing by the…

Debuff Gained. [Hungry]

"So I can heal super fast… but it doesn't come from nowhere." He chuckled at a thought.

"What's so funny?" Eve snapped.

"Just thinking of a game where you can eat endless wheels of cheese in the middle of a fight." Both of the siblings stared at him in confusion. Nate handed a small piece of chicken to Caffeine. "Never mind… I'm hungry. Let's eat."

He wiggled his broken leg and it no longer flopped. "Almost healed." It barely even hurt anymore.

Now the siblings stared for another reason. "How did you heal so fast!" Zeke exclaimed.

"I told you, I have a very good regen." Stanley told him. Nate chuckled, Eve glared at him and Stanley suddenly remembered something, he pulled off his backpack and dropped it in front of them.

"Brought you a little present as an apology." He opened it up to reveal the Cores, nearly half full. Hundreds he thought, but he hadn't kept count. "This is where the blood came from."

"Woah." Zeke was wide-eyed.

"I don't need your damn charity!" Eve spat with venom in her voice as she stood up.

"Don't you?" Stanley said and Eve glared. She was really good at that. "And if you don't need it then why can't you touch me?" She glared harder and her guns started glowing.

"That thing." Stanley growled, pointing to the south. "It broke my defence with a slap." He pointed at her guns. "Those are just flashlights. So you need me whether you like it or not!"

"You're a fucking lunatic!" She screamed.

Stanley spread his arms. "Crazy fucking lunatic is all you've got. So unless you are going to kill that monster when it comes back, and it will, then give me a fucking break!" He shouted and both siblings recoiled.

Nate calmly fed another piece of chicken to Caffeine.

"This hasn't…" Stanley choked on something between a sob and a scream. "It hasn't been a fucking picnic for me either!" He yelled at Eve and then deflated. "Why are you so mad? What did I ever do to you?"

Stanley forced himself not to use [Soul Meditation] since he wouldn't be able to speak or hear anything while using it. But he really wanted to.

Eve was quiet as the glow faded from her guns. Stanley could feel her anger and pride warring against her own very real fear. And not only her fear of him. He was sure that she would storm off more than once, but she did not. She stood her ground and trembled with either rage or fear… or both. Then she drew in a deep breath and Stanley braced for another explosion.

She didn't explode. "I saw you that first night." She only growled with a slight waver in her voice. "Saw you killing everything." Her Soul screamed with fear at the memory and her hand twitched. "You were going to kill me… You wanted to… you…"

Stanley didn't know if it was his higher stats or something else, but his memories of that first night were getting a little easier to see, a tiny bit less blinding, and he remembered Eve. A face peeking through a broken window.

"What did she see? Did she see the abominations? Did she see just how fucked we all were?" And they had been absolutely fucked. An enemy so beyond anything they could ever survive… and then Stanley had cracked open his Soul, had Burned.

"She saw me Burning." All Stanley knew from the bits and pieces he could see, was the Rage. He had been consumed by rage and the desire to destroy everything that was in his way, everything that threatened him and hurt Caffeine.

"She met my gaze while my Soul was literally on fire with the Source." Did she feel that rage? Was that why she had feared him ever since meeting his eyes in the truckstop?

"Oh." Stanley sighed and deflated. "I… should tell you… all of you, about that." Stanley said softly, before glancing around and listening to his [Soul Awareness]. He really didn't want the Undead to maybe overhear this.

Just to be safe he put a barrier around all of them, lifting all of them up in the process. Eve protested but not very much. Stanley even added an air gap to his shield, but since he had no idea how magic worked… Hopefully between Zeke's Aura, Caffeine's nose, and the barrier, they would be safe.

He took a moment to think about what he was planning to tell them. Did he really want to trust them? Did he need to?

Zeke was very important. Stanley had a feeling that the kid could solo all of the Undead if they got him strong enough. Eve was important because she was Zeke's sister… and she had already seen some of the truth. Nate… he was honestly the most stable person Stanley had met since this all started. And the strongest, and had also gotten a tiny glimpse before.

Stanley told them his story. Most of it, anyway.

The mountains, Source, at least what little he could recall. His twin and Caffeine, the three of them doing 'something' to survive, the anomaly and the strange message he'd gotten afterwards.

"That night I was only thirty years old." He met their wide-eyed gazes. "Killing those monsters Burned years of my life… and my brother's." Stanley looked down at Caffeine who had abandoned the chicken to sit in his lap and was staring up at him. "Caff saved me… but he got Burned too before… he stopped me…"

Stanley took a few moments to hug Caffeine while the pug licked his face.

He looked at Eve. "I'm sorry that I scared you. I wasn't myself and honestly I can barely remember most of it. When I used that power I was… I don't know. Caffeine was dying… I was so angry… And then you found me. Thank you for that." Zeke smiled when Stanley met his eyes.

"I can't do it again." He told them. "I'll die. My brother will die. And probably Caff…"

He pointed south. "That one, the second one. It was inside my Soul!" Stanley took a few breaths.

"It cut my Soul open trying to take Caffeine for itself." He took a few more deep breaths while hugging the pug and continued. "It saw the Source inside my Soul. It was excited, said that it would be a god and rule this world." He stared at nothing. "So I… I ripped out chunks of my Soul… our Soul… to kill it."

Stanley looked at his hands, they wouldn't stop shaking. "I had to… Do you know what it feels like… to… to… I was so angry. I had to be angry… I couldn't stop it any other…"

He tried to enter into his [Soul Meditation] but he couldn't seem to get the flow of Energy to move properly. "Fucking Work!" He screamed and instantly regretted it when he opened his eyes and saw Caffeine's face in front of his own.

Before he could apologize, Caffeine licked his nose and a small hand touched his own blood stained and wrinkled hand. Golden warmth washed through him and Stanley looked up at Zeke. "It hurt so…"

"I know." Zeke said and Stanley realized that he was broadcasting too much again. He buried his face in Caffeine's gray fur and took some time to breathe until he could rebuild his Soul Shield. He didn't use the actual Skill version, that one was too difficult, it strained his Soul and he couldn't manage it at the moment anyway.

No one moved or spoke while Stanley recovered within the warm glow of Zeke's power and when he was ready, he continued. "I… we, would have died again but my brother stitched up the wound in our Soul somehow. I don't know how, but he saved us."

He glanced at Nate. "Daryl and Adrian finished off the rest of its army I think… with Caffeine's help." Nate was watching him seriously as he listened. "Then I woke up in their tower."

Nate leaned back in thought. Zeke had tears in his eyes and Eve was still glaring angrily but her glistening eyes and horrified Soul betrayed her.

"I am sorry about what I did to you Eve." She was still glaring but not directly at him anymore. "And you Zeke. I have been fighting to survive and escape since the first day… and I… I'm an old man now, my Soul is bleeding, and I think I am losing my mind."

"I didn't…" Eve whispered, her expression horrified.

Stanley thought she was about to cry but then her anger reappeared, clawing its way over the horror and fear. "But that's no excuse for acting like a fucking psycho! Oh No! I got a boo-boo so now I'm going to go all edgy and psycho! Don't think I won't still shoot you!" She yelled at Stanley.

Nate was wide-eyed and Zeke's light faltered in surprise. Stanley looked up at her and was surprised to find himself smiling. Eve staying true to character somehow made him feel better, the absurdity of her anger, the refusal to admit defeat, it was actually inspiring. Especially when he could feel all that fear and pain swirling around inside her. Maybe not the best coping strategy but what did he know?

"You'll shoot me with that flashlight?" He taunted her with a grin.

Eve glared harder and the gun on her shoulder popped up, spun around, and shot a beam into the tree in front of the house.

Stanley had a moment to realize that the tree had definitely grown a lot since he'd first seen it, and then it exploded in a cloud of splinters and leaves.

"My weapons 'Are' powerful!" She yelled over the ringing in their ears. "You two are the fucking freaks!" She leveled glares at both Stanley and Nate.

Nate, for his part, was gazing thoughtfully at where the tree was raining down across the overgrown lawn. While Stanley met her angry but mostly still frightened eyes.

"Why Eve? Why?" He covered his face with his hands. Her anger faltered under rising guilt and confusion. "I… I loved that tree!" Stanley choked back a sob as he spoke.

Eve shot him.

But in the leg this time… so, progress?

"Have you considered that you might have anger issues?" He asked her with a smile.

Nate leaned forward in his chair abruptly, just as Eve opened her mouth. "Thank you for telling us all that, Stanley." He said, in a clear attempt to change the subject. "I knew it was bad but I didn't know how narrowly you scraped by." He sighed and slumped back. "As for going crazy… who isn't? This shit is crazy!" He nodded at the lawn. "Nice shot by the way."

Zeke was staring at Eve with a knowing look but she wouldn't meet his gaze.

"I did just gain a new Skill." Stanley said slowly into the new silence. "I think it will help with my anger problems… not like that!" He snapped at Nate. The man grinned at him while Zeke and Eve just looked confused.

"I'm also sure that the other Raid Leaders don't know 'how' I killed either of those two… or they would have come and killed us all." Stanley said. "And I doubt that I can kill another one… yet." He growled out the last word.

"Others? Plural? How many are there?" Eve demanded.

"I don't know… but I suspect at the very least two are left." Stanley said quietly and Nate nodded at his statement while Eve glanced back and forth between them.

"The Miasma." Nate stated and it was Stanley's turn to nod. "I think one of them is creating it." He glanced at Zeke. "Just like you do the opposite."

"Oh!" Eve glared at no one in particular. "Fuck."

"Exactly." Stanley looked around at the three of them. "Now if we all teamed up… especially if we all get stronger…"

"I'm trying…" Zeke said quietly. "But it hurt so much…"

Stanley took a slow breath, and a measure of their Souls. "This is what I was trying, badly, to teach you… before I… lost my temper."

Eve bristled as expected but Zeke was curious. "What, is there a way to block pain?"

"What? No! Well… not that I know of." Stanley shook his head. "Zeke, can you heal yourself constantly? Or do you run out of Mana?"

Zeke thought about it. "I think I can. Healing uses Faith, I don't even have Mana." He said finally. "But it is something I have to focus on and it does get more difficult over time."

"Faith?" Stanley asked him. "How does that work?"

"Faith. It's an Attribute and a big part of my Class but I have no idea how it works or how to make it go up…"

"That's…" Stanley didn't know what to make of it. "Do you still believe in that after all… no nevermind, don't listen to me." Stanley quickly aborted his comment. The boy had helped him and Stanley was about to attack his Faith. Not cool.

Zeke didn't seem bothered, only shrugging. "I have had those same thoughts." He said quietly. "But that doesn't make it go down… It only went down a couple times, when my parents said…" His Soul shook with pain from whatever he'd been thinking about but he rallied and continued. "And when I thought I was too weak to protect Eve from the Raid Leader." More pain shone from his eyes and Soul.

Eve moved angrily past Stanley, knelt in front of her brother and threw her arms around him. "You did everything you could! You healed me!"

Zeke hugged her back and Stanley saw a tear slip down one cheek. "I could have saved more… Byron…"

Eve squeezed tighter and Stanley felt the grief in both of them. "Everyone has suffered and lost…" Stanley knew that intellectually but hadn't been able to grasp it when he was hurting. Hadn't wanted to…

Caffeine ballooned up and attacked the hugging siblings right in their faces. With his tongue.

Zeke laugh cried and tried to dodge the tongue as Eve leapt away. "Caff, stop!" Zeke laughed.

"Disgusting!" Eve swiped angrily at her cheek but Stanley watched her watching the laughing healer get mauled by a giant pug. And he felt the pain in her Soul easing and dimming as happiness and nostalgia rose to replace it.

Zeke was smiling again when Caffeine was lured away with more chicken by Nate.

"It went up when you killed the Raid Leader. My Faith, I mean." He looked at his sister. "Eve was screaming at it." His Soul stumbled over something painful in his memory but then Stanley felt embarrassment rising from Eve as she snapped. "Shut up, Zeke."

Zeke grinned wider at her reaction and laughter bubbled up in him. "She screamed about how you would rip them to shreds and…" That was all he got out before a bright red Eve clamped a hand over his mouth.

"I'm going to kill you!" She hissed.

"She said nice things about you!" Zeke yelled through her hand as he laughed.

Eve sighed and let him go. "Yea right. This crazy old fart?" She sounded less embarrassed now, more resigned and sat down on the porch. She glanced into Stanley's eyes once before quickly looking away, not in embarrassment but in fear.

Stanley smiled slightly. "Just try and find out if you can heal yourself nonstop or if you can work up to it." He glanced back and forth between the two siblings. "If you can increase your endurance and maintain it nonstop, you could be basically unkillable, like Wolverine. And maybe get you a helmet and armor, just in case."

Eve looked and felt thoughtful as she gazed at her brother.

"What's Wolverine?" Zeke asked.

It was Stanley's turn to be upset. He looked at Eve for confirmation of what he was hearing.

"He led a sheltered life." She said, still looking at him thoughtfully. "Very sheltered."

"I saw you sparring with Nate." Stanley said to Zeke. "That's a good place to practice your healing. Also, you'll need to get used to some pain…"

Zeke paled and Stanley felt the memory of his leg fill his Soul with remembered pain, at least that's what he guessed the memory was.

"Yea, it hurts, but channel that pain into attacking or healing… or you know what. Maybe don't listen to me, I'm a mess and I might have everything wrong."

Nate leaned forward. "No Stanley, I think you're onto something. I'll help you Zeke." He glanced at Stanley. "We'll start slow, I've been holding back too much in the sparring, I think."

Zeke groaned. "That was holding back?"

Nate stood up. "I will do what is necessary." He glanced north towards the base. "I can delegate some things and focus more on our strength. Zeke you're with me. Eve… I don't actually know…"

"I can handle myself." She growled with worried looks between Zeke and Nate. "I'll be watching you."

Nate nodded. "Of course, and Stanley, while we do that… can you…" He hesitated but Stanley knew what the man would ask.

"I will bring back any survivors I find."

Nate smiled. "Thank you." He was a strange man.

Zeke was whispering something to Eve and she was glaring at Stanley with murder in her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"I… Forgive… you." She ground it out through clenched teeth while Zeke beamed at her and Stanley gaped in surprise. "And… I'm sorry." She said the last part almost inaudibly.

"Shut up!" Eve snapped at her brother but he just kept smiling.

"Don't think I won't call you on your shit!" She told Stanley, just shy of yelling in his face.

"Likewise." Stanley responded, mustering up a small smile.

Eve glared at him, fuming, then turned to stomp away. She went two stomps and spun back around. "You want to help me?" She stomped back. "Then tell me how you got your Soul so strong!"

Stanley blinked in surprise. "She is using Soul?" He hadn't expected that. And hadn't noticed… he also hadn't tried to check.

"I… cheated." He said after a moment. He shivered, his mind recalling a day in the woods, so long ago. "I think…?" He was pretty sure that it had happened at that time but also didn't know why they hadn't gotten old that first time touching the Source…

"But… I did raise it a couple points recently…" She stared expectantly and Stanley sighed. "Let's go get some food, this will take awhile. I assume you have started using Soul Energy?"

Eve nodded as she walked alongside him towards the base. "Yes, but I need more. Much more…"

Zeke grabbed the backpack and followed.

"Can you see Soul Energy? Or at least feel it?" Stanley asked her.

She nodded. "I think so."

"I might be able to teach you a Skill…" Stanley thought about it. He was more and more certain that aside from the initial knowledge that came from a Skill Core, all the levels were only a mark of your own proficiency. Hell, he'd learned Soul Shield by mostly copying Walter's coat effect. "Could I teach her Soul Awareness? That's how I did it. Or maybe Soul Sight first… but would she get the same evolution options?" He decided to try, maybe she could learn one of them at least. "Actually, everyone should try to learn these Skills." He told Nate and then thought about getting a shower… the tower had such a nice… "Walter's coat!" He pulled up his Status to check on something.

Status

Name: Stanley Cascade

Race: [Psionic Source-Touched Human](E Rank)

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

Titles: [Solo Hunter]

Class: [Soul Psionic(Apprentice I)](Rare)

Class Skills: [Mind Over Matter(Apprentice VII)](Epic) [Soul Meditation(Initiate III)](Rare) [Psionic Soul Shield(Initiate I)](Rare)

Attributes:

Strength: 41

Vitality: 45

Dexterity 42

Perception 47

Intelligence 41

Willpower 61

Twin-Soul 200

Non Class Skills: [Still Mind of the Psionic Beast(Initiate IV)](Rare) [Soul Awareness(Initiate VIII)](Rare)

[Source Regeneration]

[Heat Resistance I(Passive)]

[Cold Resistance I(Passive)]

Buffs: [Soul Support Tether] [Walter's Gratitude]

Debuffs: [Deadly Soul Wound(Patched)(Shielded)]

"Still have the buff… guess enough of the jacket survived?" He noticed something else. "Did Lee fix the patch and did I lose a point of Soul?"

Stanley went back over his Notifications and found it. He did lose one, it was the wound… "I will fix that..."

"Another thing I want to know…" Eve said from beside him. "Is how you got so beat up when my guns don't even scratch you or your suit?"

"That… is a good question." Stanley thought as he stopped in place. "Was I just that…"

"Here." Zeke held out a Core. "This is why."

+1 All Base Attributes

"They are all the same…" Zeke had his arm shoved in the backpack and was feeling around in the pile of Cores.

Stanley shared a look with Nate. "Everything in the Lair..." He hadn't checked the Cores on the way out, only chucked them in the bag. "That can't be good…"