“Alright Shilung, let’s hear the final month’s report.”
The commander stood behind the station of its subordinate, waiting.
It had been six months since the beginning of this round of subjects. The commander was at the console of the lead examiner, ready to receive the last report regarding the end of their most recent experiment. So far, this round had been quite interesting. There was seventy-eight takeovers which was a slightly higher amount compared to the average of seventy-six.
As for the number of viable anomalies, after all were absorbed, there was one hundred and thirty-eight stable subjects. As for the most recent report, the commander now understood that there were only forty-two left. All of the subjects that survived absorption had perished to the weak tier ones or had failed the final phase one test.
The remaining subjects had consistently passed the last four phases and were almost all jumped back to the original holding facility.
It had been two weeks since the last subject had passed and yet again, the testers were waiting on the final subject to pass or fail. Subject 50 had been the primary source of annoyance for them. It waited until the absolute latest to complete every test and did its best to drain as much as it could from their quest cache. The only reason they didn’t cut each testing deadline was because of the power the subject was displaying.
They had documented eight subjects excluding Subject 50 that showed immense promise. They had finished all five phases very quickly. One in particular, Subject 2, has completed all phases in three months.
Whatever Umbra Subject 2 had met gave it an excellent collection of abilities, the commander thought.
Finally, Shilung turned around to give its report to the commander.
“It is a short one today commander. Subject 50 has just completed the last test and is currently approaching the last rift.”
The commander hummed in approval, “It is about time. Announce to the residents of the facility that I will be there tomorrow to analyze the subjects and ready them for release.”
--------
Seth finished absorbing the last of the inky black anima of his most recent kill. It had become significantly easier to take each tier three anima after he figured out how to use the Xtrey Hound’s. His control over anima was much more refined after five months of training. Now he could channel one tier three anima or multiple tier ones. Seth had also unlocked a new aspect to his Anima Release ability.
Anima Release:
-Stolen anima is channeled into existence and abides the will of the user. (No DE cost)
-(Tier Two) The user can give more complex orders to each channeled anima.
Seth had moved up to tier two a month after he defeated the first Xtrey Hound. Upon his level up, he felt a huge wave of energy ripple through his being along with a list of notifications informing him of the new ability aspects he received. Months passed and Seth had learned that the power he got from tiering up was honestly underwhelming. His physical attributes became a little stronger after crossing the threshold, but not insanely so. They were only substantially changed now that he had trained for four months.
Level: Tier Two
Intellect: Class D
Constitution: Class C
Might: Class C
Intuition: Class D
Resolve: Class B
He also realized how much harder it was going to be to reach the next tier. It had been double the time it took for him to reach tier two, and he was still not even halfway to tier three. He had no idea how many tiers there were, but if they all rose exponentially like Seth believed they did, then there had to be some truly powerful beings out there.
For now, the highest tier Seth had seen was tier three, and they were always the “bosses” of every planet he had been on. Each new place he had traveled after the boss fights were basically the same. It made surviving all this time relatively easy.
He had encountered five different tier one species in total. First was the Foulers, then the Clinnaks, which were basically just snakes on steroids. After that came two more species of Clinnaks. One was covered in bone spikes that gave Seth a very hard time because they could shoot them endlessly. The other was covered in scales as hard as iron. Anar cut through them easily, but just one hit from their heavy bodies could break any of his bones if he wasn’t careful.
The last species he had to deal with was definitely the most troublesome. They were simply called Dashers and their name did them justice. They could run almost faster than Seth could see. Only after the first kill could Seth discover that they resembled velociraptors. They weren’t very powerful, but it was impossible to hit them unless you somehow could slow them down. Luckily, Seth’s improved reaction speed, thanks to Nightmare Adrenaline, allowed him to dodge any fatal blows.
As for the bosses, there was a surprising lack of variety. All five tier threes he had beaten were Xtrey Hounds. The only thing that differed amongst them were their insane abilities. Each new beast contained another ability that was added to the abilities of the previous tier three. The second Xtrey Hound was a nasty surprise for Seth. It had almost taken his head off after its claws randomly grew to twice their size.
Had he not reached tier two, Seth would have died multiple times by now. Along with his new tier two powers, Seth had discovered his True Sight allowed him to see an ability starting up. The concentration of dimensional energy would gather in the spot an ability would be triggered, so it looked like of like a storm of purple sparks. His tier two level up also lowered the ongoing dimensional energy cost so he could use it continuously in a fight.
All of these factors still didn’t help Seth defeat any of the tier threes. He continued to use his trap strategy in every fight. One ability of Seth’s was the main reason he was able to cheaply kill every boss.
Sin of Satan:
-The injury inflicted by the user cannot be healed by any item or ability lower than one tier above the user. (Current Limit: Tier Three)
Now that his limit affected tier three beings, Seth only had to injure the hounds then wait it out just outside the chamber. It could take hours, but eventually they would die. And along with their deaths, came Seth’s favorite part: the rewards. After the first planet, his quest rewards only consisted of armor pieces for the Stalker Set and food. That’s not what he got excited for though. The good stuff really lied in his Plunder ability.
Seth first claimed all the quest rewards for this planet, then activated his ability and watched the items flow into his cache. Alongside the usual recovery potion and random body part, Seth finally got another piece of equipment.
Inmate’s Resilience (Class A):
-The wearer is unaffected by atmospheric changes that strongly differ from their home planet.
It was a simple looking ring; just a copper colored band. Seth slid it on his left middle finger with earnest. He felt a pressure he didn’t realize was there lift off his body.
“Should be useful.” Seth grinned.
He began to make his way toward the rift and moved the last piece of the Stalker armor he had just received onto the diagram. A new bracer appeared on Seth’s forearm to complete the set. He now had two bracers, a pair of armored black pants, a pair of dark colored boots, and a chest plate. Seth pulled up the details now that he had the full set.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
-(5/5) Of the Armor of the Stalker, grants basic protection, resistance to curses, and a slow self-repair function on all armor pieces. (Upgradable)
Set Bonus:
-Grants Stalker’s Anthem
Stalker’s Anthem:
-When activated, as the user stands still, they create a field around themselves that passively shirks attention away from the user.
Yet again Seth was disappointed with the capabilities of his armor. He had come to understand that every ability only works on opponents of the same or lesser power levels. A tier one armor set would probably only work on lesser beings like wild animals. There was a silver lining though, it appeared that the armor could be upgraded. Seth had no idea how to achieve such a thing but just knowing it was possible was good enough.
Upon arrival in front of the rift, Seth was suspicious of its new color. So far, every new crack he had traveled through was a deep black void. This one was different, for some reason, it was a stellar white color. It actually glowed so bright that it almost hurt Seth’s eyes.
“Looks like the endgame.” He commented seriously.
Seth’s grip tightened on Anar’s shaft. His whole body assumed a combative stance as his mind sharpened to a knife’s edge.
“No point in waiting.” He sighed as he entered the brilliant crack.
--------
Seth now stood in the exitless white room he remembered from what seemed like an eternity ago. He was temporarily overcome with blindness at the new wave of light from the walls, floor, and ceiling. Seth’s body tensed and he quickly activated True Sight to overcome his surprise handicap. He absorbed his environment quickly and discovered multiple figures awaiting him, roughly forty. His body relaxed slightly as he realized they were people.
Seth’s suspicion did not falter as he observed the figures.
Through his True Sight, Seth could tell the relative levels of power around him. All of them had some level of concentrated energy, but it was clear that a few were on another level. His regular eyesight came around but he did not deactivate his ability. There were eight individuals that felt particularly stronger than the rest.
Regardless of their power, Seth’s focus was only on one of them. This one was clearly dangerous, the energy surrounding them looked like it was shaking. Seth stopped his ability and resumed his normal eyesight to see what exactly this thing was. As his eyes rested upon the individual, Seth realized that they were also glaring at him. The glare’s owner was a large muscled black man.
He was dressed in heavy cargo pants and had huge chrome gauntlets on. Other than that he was barefoot and shirtless. The man looked like a Greek god. He basically consisted of pure muscles and his face was like a sculpture. A chiseled jaw graced his handsome features as well as his dark piercing eyes. He also had short corn rolls along with a large silver earring.
Seth was quickly interrupted from his stare off by a familiar voice.
“Wait, is that Seth?”
He reluctantly turned his eyes off the giant of a man to address the new presence. His eyes widened as he watched his old peer Will Rivera approach him. He was the same athletic looking guy with curly brown hair and a ruddy face. He was wearing what looked like a set of leather armor with a thick blue cloak.
“I can’t believe it’s actually you man!” Will exclaimed enthusiastically.
“I thought I saw you at the start of all this, but I didn’t get the chance to talk because… well you know.”
Seth absently nodded to show his understanding. He was still surprised that he was back here and with other people to boot.
“Uh, yeah man. So, what exactly is going on?” Seth inquired.
Will looked taken aback for a second, then replied.
“Well, I don’t really know to be honest. I got here a couple weeks ago and nothing has changed. People had been coming through here for a while now, but they stopped coming a couple days after I got here. I thought we were done after people stopped arriving but here you are! You sure took your time man!” Will said with a laugh.
Seth was about to reply when a booming voice overtook the room.
“Attention subjects. Now that all surviving subjects have arrived, the last examination will be conducted tomorrow.”
Everyone in the room paused at the new voice and silence filled the space.
“It’s about damn time.” The large man Seth originally was worried about claimed aloud.
His glare was yet again focused on Seth as he made his way to the farthest corner of the room and sat down.
Will soon spoke up, “Don’t worry about him man. Ty is just being an asshole because he was here first.”
Will got closer to Seth and spoke quietly. “He has been here for over three months; I almost couldn’t believe it when Syd told me.”
Seth was aghast. How the hell did he complete every quest that fast! Seth was aware he had dragged out his trials for maximum readiness, but he couldn’t imagine beating every boss in five months, much less three! He was truly shook by the might that was hidden behind that mans stoic stature. Seth’s brow furrowed for a moment as a thought crossed his troubled mind.
“Did you say Syd?”
Will turned back to Seth as his excitement returned.
“Oh yeah man, I forgot to mention Syd made it as well. Sydney Ranks, remember her from school?”
After he finished, Will started running into the group of people and shouted, “Let me go get her!” over his shoulder.
Seth was about to protest but decided against it after he noticed how far Will had already gone. He finally realized that he still had Anar out, and a couple people around him looked to be getting nervous. Seth quickly dismissed the glaive and adjusted his armor anxiously.
“You are acting like your old self.” He sighed in annoyance.
Even after all he had been through, Seth still couldn’t help reverting back as soon as he was put in a social setting.
No. I’m not that loser anymore, he thought.
Seth stopped fiddling with his armor and stood up straight. Yet again he scanned the room, but this time he used an air of confidence. He still didn’t wish to draw attention, but now it was for a different reason than before. Seth activated True Sight, but not to observe everyone again.
“Hey asshole!” A snide voice sounded behind him.
Seth turned around to face the newcomer. He could sense the guy behind him before he even said anything, something in his presence was like an alarm. “Why the fuck did you take so long to finish? Are you really so weak that you had to make us wait two weeks?”
Seth’s face took on an annoyed scowl. “I don’t even know you dude. Maybe get pissed at the things that sent us here in the first place.”
He went to go walk away when a hand gripped his shoulder.
“Ryan come on man, just leave the loser alone.” Someone called out from behind Seth.
“Shut up Greg, I have been itching to beat the dumbass that made us wait so long in this goddam place. Heh, not to mention he stinks like all hell! Hey buddy, make sure you hit the showers after I beat your ass!” Seth stopped in place.
His gaze casually changed to stare at the gauntlet carelessly sitting on his shoulder. This man was not one of the eight he saw with high dimensional energy.
“You need to move that in five seconds unless you want to lose it.”
The rough hand pulled on Seth’s shoulder and turned him around to face the opponent. It was a gruff looking man a couple inches shorter than Seth. For someone who had just made fun of Seth’s smell, this guy looked like he hadn’t bathed either. He had a long-ragged beard that was poking out of his helmet weirdly and was dressed in some heavy looking armor.
“You got some real balls for someone who got here last.” Ryan growled.
He had still not removed his hand from Seth’s shoulder and was attempting to intimidate Seth with his grip. He was about to continue berating Seth when he was interrupted.
“Zero.”
A gauntleted hand plopped on the ground with a shrill bang. Silence followed as Seth dismissed his glaive instantly after summoning it. He watched in disinterest as blood begin to pool on the ground. Ryan screamed in pain as his mind caught up to what had just transpired. His hand, as well as a good bit of his forearm was now twitching on the ground.
“My condolences, I know how it feels to lose a hand.”
Seth pulled one of the recovery crystals from his cache and tossed it on the ground next to the hand.
“Next time you think about touching me, remember that feeling.”
He left the pitiful man behind, slightly disappointed in himself.
He had meant to just cut off a finger.
--------
Julia stood alone in the white room full of strangers. It had been over two weeks since she arrived, and she still couldn’t find the courage to talk to any of the people around her. She had spent all of this time in solitude watching everyone. Julia’s abilities were more tactical than powerful. Although it took some time, she could analyze other people and test their levels of power, as well as get a feel for their types of abilities. Luckily, she had nothing BUT time due to her lack of social skills.
At this point, she basically had a relatively good idea of where everyone stood in power. There were eight people who were clearly above the rest. Not to mention the one man that almost made Julia piss her pants the first time she saw him. Ty basically radiated power in waves. When Julia tentatively inspected his energy, she found an unwavering wall.
At first, she believed that it was due to some type of ability, but she soon found that it was actually just the way his energy was. It was as immoveable as he looked and its shape reminded her of a fortress. Julia tried to shake off the thoughts of Ty and his interesting energy.
“You need to make friends for what is to come.”
She took a deep breath and did her best to steel her resolve. As she took a step toward the nearest group, a white crack formed on the other side of room and startled her. She activated her ability absently and watched with wide eyes as something emerged from the stellar rift. It had been weeks since the last arrival and everyone had been waiting in earnest for something to happen.
It was a lean man in some sort of light armor. He looked like a regular white guy with blond hair and some weird black highlights. The only thing that stood out about him was his dark weapon and even darker hand. As one of the people in the room seemed to recognize him, Julia gave up her interest and moved back to her sleeping spot. She was almost to her spot when she heard a familiar commotion occurring behind her.
“Here we go again.” Julia sighed.
Fights were commonplace as of recently. Everyone was paranoid and anxious because of the wait, so of course arguments broke out and turned physical. She sat down in her corner and watched the confrontation from afar. Julia snorted as she found out the aggressor was Ryan. The man had been in five fights already, and that was just after she arrived. He won all of them so far due to his weapon ability.
Ryan could turn his hands into different types of blades and change their shape to an extent. Not a lot of the people had offensive abilities in the room, so Ryan thrived on the fear he could instill in some of the weaker individuals. It seemed he was yet again on a power trip, looking to scare the new guy. Upon reobservation of the man, she noted he no longer had his weapon out, a definite mistake in light of Ryan’s approach.
Ryan’s hand was already on his shoulder so in Julia’s eyes, the fight was already over. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the sound. Nothing good would come out of fighting each other.
Julia only had her eyes closed for a couple seconds before the chatter of the room abruptly stopped. She lazily opened her eyes to see what happened and they instantly widened in disbelief at the scene in front of her. Ryan’s hand was in a growing pool of gore and the new man was standing over it. Julia quickly activated her ability and tried to analyze the man. As soon as she came into contact with the guy, a horrible chill ran down her being.
He looked like a man, but his energy did not match those of the people around her. There was always a small feeling of normalcy amongst everyone she had inspected, other than the powerful eight. This guy was something else entirely. He didn’t feel alien like Ty or the other seven, this man felt… wrong.
Julia had accidently recoiled on contact with the man, so she quickly reached back out toward him, more cautious this time. On contact, he didn’t display the weird feeling from before, instead, he felt alien like Ty. The man had already begun to walk away from the dismembered hand so Julia furrowed her eyebrows and tried harder to find that odd energy she felt just a moment ago.
After a minute or two, she sighed and retracted her ability, finding nothing. A mild headache hit Julia as she realized how much she strained her ability to read the man. She wasn’t able to find much out about him, but one thing was for sure; That man was dangerous.