It had been a long time since Sam had used Dean and Tabby as bait; it must have worked, because there were no signs of any centipedes chasing them.

Mary was sobbing on the floor, it was more for Tabby than Dean, but she was still sad for abandoning him. Though she had seen a lot of death since the world's gone to ruin, a friend and family's death were still hard on her, and how it went by in this manner made her heart ache.

Tabby was like a child to her. Mary and her husband were never able to conceive children, they were alone, no pets and no children.

One time when Mary and her husband went on a short holiday in France, they met a stray cat in the streets of Paris.

The cat was old and toughened by the life of a stray. It took some time for the stray to warm up to the two, but after the cat gave them a chance, they loved each other to bits. It seemed to be the start of a new happy family, but sadly the cat passed away shortly after they met. However, there was still hope; the cat ended up having a litter with another stray.

Tabby was the only kitten that survived.

A cute, little ginger thing who was cold and barely breathing. They took her to their hotel room and warmed her up. That's how they ended up adopting Tabby.

Mary's connection with the cat was much stronger than a normal pet and human relationship; she loved her like a daughter. After her husband died at the hands of a Gate monster during the flood, Tabby was the only family she had left.

"You killed them; you killed my baby!" Mary sobbed. Sam didn't react and chose not to respond to her cries. He was focused.

Sam squinted, looking back down the tunnel they just came from. Except from Mary's sob, the underground railway was in complete silence.

"I did it so we could both live."

Sam's eyes were unmoving, focused on the tunnel. He had to be sure that they weren't followed.

Mary continued to cry. Her eyes were sore and stained red, her hands damp with tears. It was all she could do for the loss of her child and a friend.

"Come on Mary, we have to go."

Sam went over to pick her up, but Mary pushed him away. She wanted to stay and grieve, but her protest was ineffective and fell on deaf ears.

Sam put Mary over his shoulder, she squirmed trying to get off. However, Sam easily kept her in place and continued down the tunnel. He knew she would come around soon.

...

Dean was stood in front of hundreds of burnt centipedes. The large blue tiger that was once defending him now turned back into the form of a fat ginger cat. Tabby was licking her paw, tired from using her energy to transform and handle the bugs. She gave Dean a look as if she wanted to be paid for defending him.

"I don't have any food on me except these."

Dean brought an energy ball from the Contestant Store and held it out for the cat. Tabby turned her head away; she was clearly displeased with what he offered.

"Sorry..."

Dean shrugged and threw the brown ball into his mouth. He thought he would never get used to the unpleasant taste as it went down his throat. His body felt warm and full from the magic ball.

The corpses of the Gate monster centipedes littered the underground railway. The monsters didn't disappear like they did in the Gates. A reward didn't drop either, the points that were rewarded for the kills all went to Tabby. Dean got nothing. She must be drowning in points, but does a cat even know how to spend them?

Dean looked at the corpses, he was glad that he survived but he wished he got something in return for the ordeal. That's when he remembered a fellow classmate of his had a theory about the Gate monsters.

He believed that all the Gate did was shorten the process of taking apart the Gate monsters and gave the Hunters only what was beneficial; sometimes it even gifted a Hunter with something extra. But why would the Gate do that?

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

No one believed the classmate, they told him he was crazy. Dean didn't know why it came into his mind just then, but it gave him the idea to try something.

[Opening Contestant Store]

The store window opened in front of him. He navigated to weapons and brought a cheap skinning knife.

[Consuming 100 Points]

The knife appeared from a green light in front of him, secured in a holster. Dean put the holster on and pulled the knife out of its sleeve, then looked towards Tabby.

"I think it's time to test out that theory."

Tabby looked at him and then went back to licking her paw, cleaning the green blood-like liquid that had splattered over her body during the fight. She had no interest in what Dean was doing and would rather be back with Mary.

She was not happy being left with Dean.

Dean stepped over to a centipede that had the least amount of damage and started to cut between its shells. After cutting for a while, he disconnected the centipede's head from its long body. The same green blood that covered Tabby, and the railway, oozed out from the cut, covering Dean's arm. He heaved; the grotesque corpse made him feel sick.

It's just a crab, it's just a crab. He told himself, he tried to get the image of the mangled creature out of his mind. After dissecting the head of the centipede, he found an F-rank soul stone. He had only ever seen pictures of them in his study books.

The soul stone was a black ball, about the size of a marble. It had a small swirling vortex on the inside that shone red and green with little white lights. It was very pretty and could make some wonderful jewellery.

[Using Sage's Eyes Lv1]

[Collecting Information]

[Information Collected]

A window appeared in front of the marble like soul stone in his hand.

Name: F-Rank Soul Stone

Description: The soul stone of an F-Rank monster, will replenish a little magic if consumed. Can be sold on the Contestant store for 10 points.

"Ten points? The centipedes are huge, why would they be that cheap?" Dean shouted.

Tabby wasn't bothered by the shouting and continued cleaning herself with her pink sandpaper tongue.

A black window popped up soon after analysing the soul stone, a sense of familiarity came over Dean.

[System Side Mission: Collection]

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions:

Collect F-Rank Cores: Incomplete (1/100)

Time Limit: None

Rewards: ???

Failure: None

Dean rolled his eyes and looked to Tabby.

"This is going to take a while."

...

Dean had dissected more than a hundred centipedes by now, his arms were covered in their green blood. His forehead was sweating heavily; dissecting so many was tiring work. The skinning knife's blade was now dull from going through all the centipede's tough flesh.

Ding!

[System Side Mission: Collection Complete]

All of the soul cores got absorbed by a black mist, disappearing from sight.

[You have been rewarded an upgrade by your system]

[Please select a skill]

Soft Point Lv1

Sage's Eyes Lv1

Protect Lv1

Dean was amazed, all he had to do was collect some cores and he was being gifted another skill.

The last two had been more than helpful to him, one saved his life, and the other had given him important information. He scratched his head and thought deeply about his choice, making sure not to accidentally pick one like last time.

He knew what these two skills already did, but what would Soft Point do?

[Activating Sage's Eyes Lv1]

[Collecting Information]

[Information Collected]

Soft Point: When activated on a target, a red light will shine for the user. The red light indicates where the best spot to attack would be.

A skill that would show Dean where to hit would be nice, but Sage's Eyes and Protect had been extremely useful for him. Besides, knowing their weak spots doesn't guarantee he'd be able to fight anything effectively. He would still be just as inexperienced in combat; he never even got the chance to start that part of his training.

As his father used to always tell him: the best offensive is a great defense.

"Protect."

[You have acquired Protect Lv1]

[System has detected two duplicate skills]

[Combining and Evolving Skills]

[Protect Lv1 has evolved into Soul Protect Lv1]

[Using Sage's Eyes Lv1]

[Collecting Information]

[Information collected]

Soul Protect: An evolved version of the Protect skill. A new Soul Shield has been added. Unlike the physical Protect shield that prevents one from physical harm, the Soul Shield protects the owner from attacks against the soul.

The Protect skill became something completely new. Dean didn't know why he got this system, but he was glad he did.

He swiped away all the windows and looked to Tabby.

"We better head to Waterloo and get you back to Mary. Come on Tabby."

Dean picked up the torch from the ground and started to walk in the direction that Sam and Mary went. The cat didn’t move from her spot and stared at Dean. If her face could speak, it would say "You expect me to walk? I just handled all of these Centipedes for you."

"Tabby. We have to go." Dean tapped on his thighs and whistled, calling her over.

But she didn’t move an inch and continued to stare at Dean with her black eyes.

Dean let out a short breath and stroked his hair back.

"Alright."

He went and picked Tabby up, nestling her into his arm. The cat purred as she rested, content with the comfortable ride.

"Spoilt brat."