The cheetah walked up the stone stairs, his paws laying on each step delicately. They barely made a sound. He couldn't believe his circumstances. I got transported to another world, possibly another dimension. All of the data in the world couldn't have prepared me for this.

The wind cut through his whiskers, swaying them side to side. His yellow fur stood out in the light gray of the stone below him. Is Examiner Rocktooth maintaining this platform? Could be.

He reached the top of the platform, where many monsters were in line to continue with the trials. The next trial was the Infiltration one. Thinking back to his companions, three of whom couldn't be considered army candidates, he requested a mental connection with Examiner Brown, who was lying down on a green cloth bed at that time.

"Excuse me, Examiner Brown?" Asked the shapeshifter.

"Yes, how can I help you?" Replied the capybara-like monster very calmly. Each of his words, even in the mental connection, was pronounced very slowly.

"I have three monsters with me that don't technically classify as army candidates, but one of them already performed the physical test. Should they do the trials?"

"Mmm, no, I don't believe so. As long as you feed them and they are your responsability to take care of, we don't care. They don't need to complete the trials, even though they tried to with the, you know, Melee trial."

He nodded, walking to the back of the line. He spotted his companions in their usual spot, around fifty meters from the base of the stairs, playing tag. Theo tried creating a mental connection to reach them, but after a certain point, he couldn't move his Influence further. Prometheus felt the Examiner's Influence grab the end of his spell, which was moved to his companions down below. Prometheus nodded in appreciation. He might be my favorite examiner yet.

His three companions, not counting Zlch, were told not to do the trials, so they focused more on playing with each other and eating the food in the warehouse. He also told Zilch to join him, which the worm wasn't particularly inclined to do.

"What do you mean you don't wanna go first?" Asked the cheetah in the worm's language.

"I simply wanna wait for others to complete it first, and so I can.. uh, oh yeah! I can ask them for advice based on what they did." Replied the tiny scout quickly.

Prometheus hummed and nodded to himself. These trials, strangely, were finishing much earlier than the melee one. Maybe they are failing this one more quickly?

In the meantime, he practiced more with his Soul-sense skill. This was done by analyzing every Soul near him as much as he could and trying to guess its tier. Most monsters present ranged from tier 2 to tier 3, but the tier of the Soul didn't seem to correlate directly to strength. One of the massive grey humanoid monsters, taller than a single-story building, was a tier 1. Granted, Prometheus himself was a tier 1 monster, but he was sure he could beat most candidates here. I suppose there are many factors apart from tier alone to determine overall strength.

After reaching tier one, his ability to sense souls increased, but even so, he could barely study the details of the souls. They looked like blurry, bright masses of energy with foggy details. I BET they are extremely intricate, like mine. His own soul looked like a cube on the surface, but lines and geometrical patterns formed on the faces of the cube, even though Prometheus could not yet sense those.

Low-rank Soul-sense leveled up to lvl 2!

In a matter of days I have accumulated a handful of skills and leveled them up, so why does Zilch have so few levels? It doesn't make any sense.

Zilch behind him, he waited. After a couple of hours, only three monsters were in front of him. A dark yellow slug monster, as big as a horse, with crystals growing on its back, was in front of him. It had two eyestalks that seemed to focus on nothing in particular. He tapped its side with one of his paws. He felt toxins invade his body, which he broke down immediately.

Creating a mental connection, he started talking, "Excuse me mister slug, what do the crystals on your back do?"

"Mmh?" The slug hummed confused, "Oh, they absorb light and help me. They make me less hungry and also do other stuff. I got them when I tiered up to tier 2." Explained the invertebrate slowly.

"Can I touch them?" Asked Prometheus without a drop of shame.

"That's kinda weird to ask but sure. Careful about touching my soft body, it is toxic to others." Warned the creature. Theo nodded and placed a paw on the light-yellow crystals. Interesting. I don't recognize these crystalline structures. They almost look like ones used in advanced solar panels. Is it creating... energy on their base? Very interesting.

"What's so interesting about my crystals?" Asked the slug.

"I've never seen anything like that, so I was really curious. Thank you." Theo replied while retracting his paw. The slug moved its head to look at him, its two eye stalks focusing deeply on the cheetah.

"Ah, I see." replied the monster while turning its head forward. Another twenty minutes passed before it was his turn, and Examiner Brown walked up to him before the trials started. "Hi, uh, Prometheus, the Major told me to tell you something. The monster army really needs, like, strong soldiers, especially now with the oncoming war, so he will reward you a lot for passing the trials as well as you can. Please do that and thank you."

They will reward me? and A LOT? I have to perform at my best. I want those rewards at all costs.

"Of course, examiner, I'll do my best." Replied Theo confidently. His anticipation for what he would get was pulling at his Soul. The most appropriate form would be the Eclipse one, the stealth-focused form. It was a small, dog-sized chimera-looking creature with wings and a deadly poison on the tip of its tail. It focused on maneuverability and camouflage, so it wasn't strong at all, and he would have to get rid of most of his body mass to achieve it, leaving him exposed and vulnerable if danger met him.

The steam from the removed mass made most monsters stumble and retreat slightly from the heat. Except Zilch. The worm had activated its power and avoided the steam altogether.

How can Zilch stay on the platform and not phase through it? Also, wouldn't the vacuum created after the power create a shockwave?

He left the questions for another time, as he had to focus on the task at hand. The examiner asked if they were ready, and when they nodded, he created the usual portals and all five of them stepped through, another environment waiting for them on the other side.

---

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Prometheus stumbled out of the portal, falling down a couple of steps later. Fuck, why was it so bad this time? Maybe it's because I have a lot less mass. Well, whatever.

A chunky mental package arrived to him through a mental connection spell attached to his Soul. It read: Disrupt the weapon workshop in the Greenlake village. You have been transported to a warehouse near the workshop. A guard has been corrupted and will help you enter. Bonus points depending on the time taken and traces left.

He looked around to notice many crates in one corner of the small room. Judging by all the dust on the floor, it wasn't treated well. Shelves lined the sides of the walls, holding water and food, mostly. A couple of them held clothes, simple and unadorned jumpsuits made of cloth.

A single door faced Prometheus, made of dark wood. It opened inwards, causing Prometheus ti immediately move toward the boxes, hoping to not get noticed. He tried applying the same technique he used during the melee trial to suppress his Soul.

An armored man walked into the room, tired and red eyes decorating his face. He was covered in light armor protecting his vitals, with a belt around his waist holding a sword hanging from his hip. His beard was unkempt, hiding his chin. The guard's hair was hidden by a simple helmet.

He glanced directly at Prometheus even though he was hiding and said through a mental connection, "Why the fuck are you hiding? You're the one that needs to get into the workshop, aren't you?" Said the man tiredly.

He came out of hiding, nodding his head at the man's question.

"Hurry up, if anyone sees I'm bringing a monster into town I'll get executed, but the pay was worth it," then the man set foot outside the room, walking through the hallways of the building. Prometheus followed the man by walking upisde down on the ceiling, using his camouflage to look like the wood above his feet.

"How did you see me in between all those boxes?" Asked the tiny shapeshifter to the man.

"And why the fuck should I tell you?" Replied the guard while turning around and perforating Theo with his eyes alone.

"So I know how to avoid it in the future." countered Prometheus.

"And what do I get out of it?"

Prometheus thought to himself, What could I offer him? I guess a genetic improvement to his ugly face.

"I can change the shape of your face, but it'll take around a week to see the effects."

The man narrowed his eyes. "I know you aren't deceiving me, but shaping soul techniques are not permanent, not the low-tier ones at least. And your Soul is weak enough that i could easily mistake you for an inanimate object," The tired man then released a quiet laugh at his own insult.

"I can guarantee you it is permanent." rebutted the strange monster.

The guard's face turned serious, seeming to contemplate Theo's words.

"Deal. First, you'll do your part of the deal then I'll tell you what you want to know." after walking down the ceiling, Prometheus walked up to the man's face, which was scrutinizing him closely. He explained to the man how the procedure would go and asked what he wanted changed. After that, Theo went ahead with his genetic modification. Since it was a cosmetic change only, he didn't need to change to his Sponge form, making the process much quicker. The new levels and improvements to his body and mind made the ordeal last around twenty minutes, and it was painless.

"Mm, you said I'll see the results in a week. I hope for you it is the case. For how I found you, it was simply with your body temperature and the small air shifts, as well as some perception techniques and skills guards use. Good enough or do we have to stay here any fucking longer dipshit?"

Prometheus appreciated the man's propensity to save time and stored the information in his mind. He wouldn't get caught again, he was sure.

They went through another door which opened into a massive warehouse full of many items, primarily foodstuffs and water, as well as general supplies. The building looked terribly kept, with holes in the ceiling and multiple spots with rotting walls. A large gate rested on one of the walls, which Prometheus

Disgusting.

They went to the back of the warehouse, opposite the gate, where another door led to the outside village.

"Can you fly?" Asked the man. Theo nodded, and the guard explained that he would be better off following him from the sky. He was also instructed to suppress his Soul.

From high up in the sky, he could notice various things. First, it was a simple village with probably less than one hundred residents counting the houses. Second, the condition of the buildings in general was pitiful, with many of them missing spots on walls or the entirety of the ceiling. The fields around the village were also much smaller than would be sufficient for such a town to be self-sufficient. Maybe the ground isn't fertile?

The biome the village rested on was arid, with very sparse vegetation. An endless expanse of dry soil broken up by sprouts of grass was all that surrounded the village. A single dirt road passed through, reaching unknown destinations. The overall technological level was medieval, once again. I can't believe that with all the abilities and improvements people can get here they couldn't have evolved their technology.

The guard was walking confidently toward a specific destination. In less than a minute, he went to the back of a medium-sized building with a massive chimney and gestured for him to follow him. Prometheus flew down and noticed the man take out a crystal with Influence in it. He moved the crystal to touch the lock of the door, which made all the Infuence move in mysterious ways and open the door.

"From now on, you're on your own. If anyone finds you, I'll take their side and fight you. Do you understand? You monsters have been very good for my pockets so it would be a shame to end it."

Prometheus nodded and analyzed the man's Soul. It was less bright than the Examiners' souls, but definitely brighter than all the monster candidates.

"Of course. Thank you for your help." With that, Theo walked inside the workshop. He used every sensor to check if there were any people inside the entrance, and fortunately, there weren't any. Just from the door alone, he could spot a massive difference between this building and the others: There was a lot more metal used and the wood was of much higher quality. The inside was much the same, with walls made of bricks and wood. Near the door, a couple of dumpsters were holding what looked like scrap metal and other garbage. This area looked purely functional, with various benches holding many tools on them, as well as unfinished items.

These things might turn out to be useful, I'll just take them. He opened his inventory and took out the toolbox, putting every tool he could find inside of it. Many of them were ones he recognized, such as hammers and saws. Others, such as a tool with three prongs holding a string, were new to him. The toolbox seemed to have much more space inside than would be expected, finally making itself useful. Then, it moved. Huh?, Thought Theo to himself, looking at the red case jumping slightly, and bending over to 'eat' all the tools and materials present. It then burped loudly and calmed down. Prometheus opened it up to find all the tools safe and sound. What wasn't present though were the random scraps and unfinished items.

Prometheus crafted a theory, It eats stuff to produce that enlarged space? Neat. He tried to grab a tool inside, but the toolbox closed up, refusing to open up. Instead, it spat the tool he wanted at him. Theo caught it in mid-air and examined it, noticing some interesting details. Before eating this saw it was a bit rusty and chipped. Now it looks pristine. Did this thing here do that? He glanced at the toolbox, which was now sitting immobile. As long as it doesn't eat the tools themselves, I can use it to my advantage.

He put the case in his inventory and continued on. The hallway had multiple doors, with the first one opening into a meeting room, with a large slate, a wide table, and many chairs. Various weapons could be found on the table, such as swords, spears, and interestingly, a small cannon. There was even a small amount of gunpowder inside of it. Fascinating. So, these people have discovered gunpowder and are trying to make weapons out of it. This seems like information that I should communicate when I come back. In the meantime, I'll take this prototype and see where they documented it. Looking around the room showed him that paper was rarely used, such as documenting the recipe for gunpowder. He obviously burned them and every other document present after copying its contents in his mind.

Going outside the planning room, he found another three doors, so he chose the closest one to investigate, and he was surprised to find the actual workshop room. A massive furnace stood at the back of the room, with a wide chimney going through the roof. Here, the walls were lined with many more kinds of tools than at the entrance, which he quickly used to fill up his toolbox. The main workstation was a wide bench with an anvil and a water casket to the side. A manual press from overhead could be activated with the pull of a level.

Prometheus went to the furnace and studied how it worked, noticing a manual powered bellow and various levels for the materials to fall into. He simply tried to break the bellow, which was the part that introduced a constant flow of air into the furnace, but found that he couldn't easily damage it. This thing is much tougher than it should be. A quick release of acid through his mouth burned at the bellow, completely ruining it, though much slower than what should be normal.

He then went and poked many holes in the furnace, which was also very resilient, as well as slightly denting every necessary piece of equipment. He went outside, to the hallway, and entered the storage area, where various raw ores could be seen lying in crates and shelves. He proceeded to degrade them as much as possible using chemical compounds he could make. Returning to the main work area, Theo heard the single sound he wished not to: footsteps. Two people were entering the workshop from the main entrance, and it was too late for him to get out of the room, so he climbed the furnace's chimney. He could hear the two individuals walk inside and light the room up with no discernable torch or other apparatus.

They were clearly annoyed but became silent once they got closer to the section where Prometheus had taken the tools. Shit.

The two men got agitated and started looking around, going into the door toward the hallway. Prometheus saw how fast they moved from a hole in the furnace. If they spotted him, they would catch him. He went to the front door and slammed it shut from the inside, immediately after retreating into the furnace once again. Both the men rushed into the workshop room, clearly having heard the door slamming shut. They opened it up and rushed outside, looking for a robber that wasn't there.

Mind +1

He used that opportunity to walk outside from the backdoor and fly high up in the sky. Perfect, I've made it, now I'll just wait for the portal to open.

He waited even more but the portal didn't appear. He tried flying outside the city, around fifty meters from the walls, and the familiar whirring of the portal sounded behind him. Walking through it, he returned to the stone platform. He came out just as disoriented as he had come in, which he found annoying. Examiner Brown simply nodded at him and urged him to move, which he did after explaining to Zilch what he had done and giving the worm some advice.

Watching his other companions still joyously running around trying to catch each other made Prometheus feel like joining in. Why not, I can afford some time to play.