The two robed people were standing on the air, arguing with each other. Both of them were wearing white robes, ones that might resemble a priest's attire, along with white gloves and white boots.

Their faces were hidden by two black masks in the shape of smooth cubes, giving the two people an enigmatic appearance. On the male's mask, a '3' was inscribed in a big, white font. On the female's one, a '4' rested similarly on the front face.

The male one, Number 3, was much taller with a larger frame. He was also standing with his arms crossed and legs spread apart, slowly scouting their surroundings. His companion, Number 4, had her back bent toward him, hands on her hips, face looking directly at him.

"Is it so difficult to trust me ONCE?! You know how great I am with these things!" She said while opening her hands to the sides in an incredulous manner.

"Shut up. Just tell me which one is an Otherworlder." Replied Number 3 while barely moving. His muscles made the robe look tight and ready to explode on his skin.

Number 4 clicked her tongue and shook her head, sitting down on the air with her legs crossed. A quick search revealed that their objective was in a pocket dimension near the center of the clearing.

"What do you think all these monsters are doing here, in such an organized manner?" Asked the girl distractedly.

"Doesn't matter. We were sent here to retrieve our objective, nothing else. Don't get distracted."

Under the cubical mask, number 4 puffed her cheeks out in annoyance.

"There are four, just as we expected. They are in a pocket dimension managed by someone with a Space affinity if I am to guess by the complexity of the technique." continued the girl.

The man nodded his head and asked, "Any entry points?"

Number 4 seemed to mull the question over, before replying, "We could either force our way through, but that would definitely blow our cover, or we could force the user of the pocket dimension to let us in. I would go with the second one, honestly." She shrugged.

"Very well. We'll now find whoever is in charge of that." Number 3 then put his hand on an inside pocket, retrieving a spherical object the size of a tennis ball, covered by eight symbols distributed around the surface.

"Woah! What is that? Can I touch it?" Said number 4 excitedly. The great amount of Influence imbued into the object greatly attracted her sense of curiosity.

Number 3 moved the object away from her, annoyance entering his tone, "This is not something to be touched lightly. It will help us find the Space user. Each of these symbols represents a common Soul affinity. Space is not in there, so we have to find them by process of elimination." The man tapped the fire symbol, which granted him the ability to see nearby souls with the fire affinity. After doing the same thing with every other common affinity, he searched for any souls of a certain tier. After all, no low-tier could make pocket dimension techniques.

His gaze settled on a tier 6 creature resting on a stone platform, preparing to go to sleep.

"Okay, I've found it. I'm sure it's that one," He then pointed at the capybara-looking monster sleeping peacefully on a cloth bed. Number 4 happily got up, stretching her arms.

"Ladies first," Said number four, gesturing sarcastically to the other man. He shook his head angrily, flashing immediately to the side of the monster. Number 4 followed soon after in the same way.

---

What the fuck?

Prometheus had heard what the two people were saying, only thanks to his complete focus on their voices and his instinct. In normal circumstances, he never would have discovered them. After having found their objective, they disappeared from where Theo had heard them. The golden lobster tried his best to understand where the two people went, thinking through their words, They talked about pocket dimensions. Major Fuoco created that flame dimension, but that doesn't sound right. it's not something you would use to keep people inside... Pocket dimension... They are a piece of space separate from our own. Space... Major Brown maybe? Fuck, I have no other leads.

The shapeshifter tried to shift to his cheetah form but then realized he wouldn't make it fast enough. He started running with his lobster form, which wasn't ideal for sprinting. Various sleeping monsters were resting scattered on the clearing, with only a handful of ones still awake. The Unsafe Hours were approaching, he realized. The levels of wrongness were rising steadily, as he suspected.

When he spotted the stone stairs, he rushed to meet them, his eight walking legs furiously moving to meet Theo's demand for speed. While climbing the stairs, thoughts rushed into Theo's mind. They talked about 'Otherworlder energy'. I hope they aren't talking about me and my owners. He shook his head, realizing there was a good chance they were indeed looking for the humans from Earth and Theo.

I couldn't sense their Soul, or anything else for that matter. Fuck. Climbing over the edge revealed Examiner Brown. He wasn't alone, unfortunately. Two figures stood by his side, a woman and a man. Both of them wore bizarre clothing, looking like priests from a crazy cult.

Theo stopped in his tracks, blinded by the two souls. They are much brighter than the Major...

The man, around two meters tall, moved his head to Theo. The shapeshifter felt his Soul being touched by something foreign, but he couldn't tell what.

The woman held Examiner Brown upright, holding a blade around his neck. Theo could feel a mental connection between the capybara and the woman, the former squirming around scaredly and energetically.

The woman glanced at Prometheus before tilting her head to the side, looking confused, before speaking, "Hey, 3, have you ever seen a soul like that?" She said while nodding toward Theo.

The man shook his head, replying, "No. And it doesn't matter, we need to hurry up. We don't want to waste any time." Prometheus tried getting closer until he found a boot crushing his body to a paste. The man had stomped him, completely obliterating his body, It then rested atop his Core, which was unharmed.

"Its soul is very resilient. Number 4, how far along are you?"

"This guy... Shit-head! Waste of space!" Yelled the woman angrily while pushing Examiner Brown away. "He's not spilling anything! Maybe we could torture him," Suggested the woman to the other man.

"Again, we have no time for that. I can see your memory is just as degraded as your personality." jabbed Number 3 to Number 4.

The woman hummed to herself, studying the pocket dimension techniques intensely. After half a minute of silence, she exclaimed excitedly, "I think I got it! If we kill him, everything in the pocket dimension should spill out here as the technique collapses!"

Number 3 lowered his head and asked, "How certain are you that it will keep the objectives alive?"

She shrugged, "Pretty sure. I think."

The man growled quietly at the lack of certainty, grabbing the brown monster by the head. Prometheus' thoughts grew frantic, thinking of any possible solution to save his favorite examiner. He didn't have enough time to make vocal cords and his body was completely splattered, rendering him...

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Useless. I am...useless.

The man's grip strengthened around Examiner Brown's head. Theo could hear a crack sound in the creature's skull. A single wet 'pop' resulted from Examiner Brown's death.

Prometheus had still one working eye, fixed on the Examiner's body. It spasmed, before falling to the ground, shaking occasionally. Brain matter and blood decorated the otherwise pristine stone platform, accompanied by the intense smell of death.

A ripple in the air before them appeared, making all present move their head. After some seconds of this ripple intensifying, a hole appeared in the air, directed downwards. Various pieces of furniture escaped the hole, such as sofas, beds, and wardrobes. Most importantly, four humans fell out of the pocket dimension as well: Mr. Fluffernutter and his three children.

"Good. Number 4, pick up those two," The man pointed at the two boys, and picked up the man and the little girl. The four screamed and thrashed around, but they couldn't escape the robed people's iron grip.

The woman chuckled as she held the two boys over her shoulders, exclaiming, "I hope the Bossman will let me have some fun with these ones,"

"As long as they are alive, he'll probably let you." replied the man calmly.

At those words, Theo's world narrowed to the two kidnappers. His thoughts focused on one single thing: Killing them.

They're dead.

He shifted his cells to repair his body, the process all too slow for his liking. Faster... Theo began burning double the calories to speed up the transformation, still being too slow for him.

I need more speed, faster, FASTER!

Something began to change. Theo's Influence moved to his cells, aiding their replication and change. Prometheus had done so almost unconsciously, as a last resort. Normally, cell replication was so complex and detailed that using Influence to speed it up would be impossible for almost anyone. Theo's profound knowledge of everything related to cellular activity and replication made this feat achievable. His body came whole in just a couple of seconds, making the golden lobster stand upright.

Congratulations! For creating a Soul technique on the spot, your Shapeshifting skill ranked up and leveled up!

Low-rank Shapeshifting lvl 5 -> Medium-rank Shapeshifting lvl 2.

Immediately, Theo could notice the difference. His cells moved at light speed compared to when he was still on Earth. What used to take him hours now would take him minutes.

The shapeshifter took advantage of the rank-up to add poison glands to his claws, using the most potent chemical substances he could mix together in a couple of minutes. Some part of him knew it wouldn't be enough, as these people were insanely strong judging by their Sou-tier, but he didn't care. He couldn't care.

Not when the kids are in danger.

A sudden burst of speed made Theo appear behind the woman, readying for a strike on her exposed back. He hoped the robes were as weak as they looked. Just when he was about to reach the woman's back, his claw bounced off of something.

Steel.

A shield appeared out of thin air, hovering over the spot he had tried hitting. The Influence on it was staggering, almost enough to create one hundred mental connection spells by Theo's math. The defensive equipment seemed connected to the woman through an Influence link, but much more complex than anything he had ever seen.

"So rude, trying to hit me from behind. Do gentlemen not exist anymore?" Said the woman while glancing back at him, talking in a sarcastic tone. Theo's legs shook and spasmed at the sight of the woman.

Trash like you shouldn't be allowed to exist.

A greatsword flew out of her pocket, circling in the air before aiming straight at him. He had no time to react before it crossed the distance in a millisecond.

Just then, everything stopped. The sword stopped in its tracks, the two kidnappers stiffened up considerably and Theo's owners lost consciousness. They weren't dead as he could still hear their heartbeats.

My wrongness sense is going crazy. What's happ-

A figure appeared before them. It was at least five meters tall, extremely thin, with a grey body and limbs, completely covered in holes through them. Its head was the shape of a half-moon rotated upwards, giving the macabre impression of a smile.

The creature was squatting, tilting its head at the three beings in front of it. It first pointed at the man and said, in perfect English with a deep and unnatural voice, "A leg," Holding a thin and massive hand open. The man straightened his hand and covered it with Influence, making it take the shape of a blade. A quick and precise strike amputated his leg cleanly and quickly. The man then offered his amputated leg to the creature, which took it immediately. Upon touching its skin, the flesh and bones started pulverizing, filling the various holes in the creature's body. It nodded, satisfied. Its head moved to the woman, and did the same to her, asking instead for an arm.

"I- I don't want to give you an arm! You- You can't take it from me!" The man immediately amputated her arm with a show of incredible speed, making her drop to the ground in pain. His bleeding had been stopped by some Technique.

He then whispered, "Fool".

The creature took the arm and pulverized it the same way. Its gaze lingered on the woman a bit longer, its fingers trembling slightly.

"An eye" It asked the woman once again. When she began to refuse once again, its arm moved much faster than anything that respected the laws of physics. Prometheus tried to understand what had happened, but even with speeding his mind to the maximum he couldn't get it. After seeing a gouged eye in the creature's hand, Theo understood. The woman's screams became louder and louder, eventually softened by the man healing her with some Technique once again.

The eye pulverized, and the creature's head moved toward Theo. It held a hand out to him, and commanded, "Your body."

Theo recoiled for an instant from the request but followed it immediately, walking on top of the hand. He then expelled his Core from the back and rolled away to safety. The creature nodded after Theo's body disappeared, appearing to be satisfied. It then vanished from their sight like it hadn't existed in the first place.

"Get up, you damn fool, you know that my Soul doesn't like wasting time." Shouted the man at the woman, who was still sitting on the platform, holding her mask.

"Wh-What was that?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to the base. Use your good arm to carry those two, unless you can use [Limb Interim]." He instructed the woman. A massive amount of Influence rushed to the man's stump and formed a leg made purely of Influence. The two of them rushed through the air, escaping with his owners, while Theo could do nothing but observe, powerless in his ball state.

---

Fuoco was preparing himself to go to sleep, resting on an intricate blanket made specifically for him. He held his favorite object to pass the time, the Reading Tablet. It was a simple stone tablet with an enchantment that took information from far away, allowing him to read the most recent news relative to the Monster Army and the various nations. He didn't exactly understand how it worked, as enchantments had become so much more complicated than what he had in his youth, but it didn't matter much. He still enjoyed spending time reading whatever came up on it. The snake couldn't do it too often, as his Soul sought chaos and destruction, so he had to balance the two sides.

Mmm, the Sapphire Republic declared independence from the Iulan Kingdom? That's the human kingdom if I remember correctly. Hopefully, our Emperor will take advantage of that.

Fuoco's room was simple. It was a small burrow in the ground polished and barely decorated. Other than the blanket and other very basic pieces of furniture, it would have looked barren to most people. To an old snake like him, it was perfect.

I wonder what I'm gonna do tomorrow. I'll probably just check how the candidates are doing. For now, there are only around a dozen that have actual talent and potential. One of them is defin-

A soul lamp shattered over his drawer, situated on the left. His eyes immediately opened to attention, observing which one of the four broke.

Brown...

Major Fuoco flew out of the borrow, flames intensifying around his body. What awaited him outside wasn't a scene of destruction. There were no signs of an attack happening, except...

The platform!

He could see a shiny ball fixed on the platform, rolling around in circles. Fuoco knew that it was Prometheus, but his gaze went to the body on the shapeshifter's side. He knew it wasn't Prometheus that had done this. The shapeshifter was too weak for that.

Brown's head had been crushed, brain matter and blood covering the ground. Fuoco lowered his head, eyes closed. The flames dulled immediately, his tail delicately picking up the body of his fallen companion. A great amount of focus allowed Fuoco to use his Influence and gather all of Brown's remains in a single spot.

A wooden casket in the storage room awaited, many of them prepared side by side for events like this. They all knew that they could die at any moment, but it didn't make things any easier. Fuoco gently placed his friend inside the casket, closing it. A mental communication to the other Examiners was sent, informing them of their colleague's passing. Fuoco moved the coffin to a clear area outside, resting his tail on top of it.

All three of them rushed to him. Examiner Rocktooth, the Hegderaptor as Theo called it, Rushed into the coffin, screaming in defiance, demanding to know who had killed his companion. Fuoco remained silent with his eyes closed. Examiner Dripsworth, the walking jellyfish, placed a tentacle on the coffin, silent tears dropping on it. Examiner Durge, the snapping turtle, walked to Fuoco, asking, "What shall we do about it, sir?"

Rocktooth immediately pointed at Durge and yelled, "Why are you so calm?! Do you even care that he died??!"

"I am simply trying to make the best of the situation. Crying and getting angry will not revive Examiner Brown." Replied the turtle with a serious tone.

"You bastard..." Growled the Hedgeraptor.

"Follow me, everyone. We'll ask the witnesses present what happened." That seemed to calm the three Examiners, who nodded at him.

The group moved to the stone platform, finding Prometheus in the same position he was minutes ago. Sensing that the shapeshifter was still alive, Fuoco asked him to tell them what had happened.

"Two people. They came and they killed Examiner Brown. After that, they..." He paused.

"They kidnapped my owner and his children. I couldn't do anything about it, I was powerless..."

Fuoco nodded, asking for various details of the event.

Robed individuals with cubical masks... I have never heard of them. I'll have to report to the higher-ups.

"Another thing, Theo. Did Brown have any last words?" Fuoco knew it was unlikely, but he asked either way. Theo replied negatively.

"Very well. Dripsworth, send a request for reinforcements and possibly information about this group."

"Who should I ask for?" Added the jellyfish, wanting clarification.

"Request for a General. Nothing less."

"Sir, are you serious? A general coming here is..." Dripsworth seemed to lack the words he was looking for.

"We need to eradicate those fools from the face of this planet and get the Doctor back. They chose to mess with the wrong monsters." finished the Major.

"Understood, sir. I'll be on my way." Dripsworth then moved to the warehouse, sending a request with reinforcements and information.

Fuoco thought to himself, his Soul and flames brightening massively,

They'll pay for this, if it's the last thing I do.