When the pod reached the top of its arc, Theo knew that they had almost arrived. The shapeshifter took that moment of calm to grab the annoying wooden doll, keeping it immobile in one foreleg. His Antis, the ant and mantis hybrid form, wasn't designed to grab things easily, but he didn't care. It was good enough to hold something like that. An instant later, the pod started falling downwards at incredible speeds, much faster than the terminal velocity should have been. Additionally, it was slightly gliding, allowing the three monsters to cover much more distance. Half an hour later, they arrived, landing on the ground. The impact was much softer than he had expected, thankfully.
"Goodbye little buddy, hopefully I'll never have to see your ugly face again!" He waved excitedly at the little doll as the shapeshifter was exiting the transport pod. A quick glance showed that he had arrived at an unassuming clearing, with different trees than he was used to. These ones were much thinner, firstly, and their leaves were fluffy and pink. He could also see the world's Influence, which was called Anima if he remembered Zilch's words, being absorbed through the leaves. But what happened after it was absorbed, he couldn't tell. The other two pods impacted near him shortly after, causing tremors in the area, and scaring various monsters into a crazed stampede.
Fuoco's pod, which was bigger than the other two, opened up, and the flaming snake shakily slithered out and shook his head. His eyes flew to Theo, prompting a mental connection, "I see the trip didn't hurt you much, kid. When I was your age, I could endure this and more, but my frail bones fail me more each day that passes!" Ended the Major with a shaky laugh.
The General elegantly walked out of his pod, examining his surroundings. "Well done, boys. We arrived in one piece. I didn't tell you earlier, but just arriving here had a ten percent chance of us being shot down by the Kingdom's Anti-air units. Thankfully, we were lucky!" The General then raised a thumbs up.
"General, didn't we plan to land on a city?"
"Are you out of your mind, Prometheus? We can't drop in the middle of the enemy's territory and not expect the Kingdom forces surrounding us immediately after. Even I can't go against a big city's full military power. The city's edge is fifteen minutes in that direction on foot." pointed the General in a general direction.
"Before we move, take these." The General offered two pills for Theo and two at Fuoco, instructing them to ingest them. Doing so, Prometheus distributed the pill's contents around his body and noticed that his Soul became almost invisible even to his own Supernality sense. The other pill did the same with his body's characteristics, such as making his skin almost transparent, muting his sounds, and lowering his body temperature to ambient levels, without causing any damage.
These pills would be perfect for Zilch.
"Follow me, men."
Espanto moved at a brisk pace, his meter and a half legs moving him quickly with few strides. The Major easily slithered behind, with Theo on the back shifting into the Goliath form. Taking biomass along the way, he easily reached the ten-ton, five-meter-tall shape he enjoyed so much. It was a massive, gorilla-like hybrid with the Titanoboa's scales and head, the Gorilla's muscles, and the Box jellyfish's toxin secreting constantly from every skin pore. A bit of human DNA made coordination easier, as well as letting him walk on two legs.
The other two monsters were invisible when Theo wasn't directly looking at them, but as soon as he concentrated on where they should have been he saw a really transparent and blurry silhouette of the Major and the General.
"Impressive form you got there, Private Prometheus."
"He isn't a Private yet, sir. The trials were interrupted due to... unexpected circumstances." Explained the Major apologetically, almost like trying to calm down a supervisor.
"If he survives this mission, he'll be on a whole other level than normal Privates. I am only taking him with us because of two reasons. The first is that I believe that his potential," The General pointed at Theo with a hand made of roots, "Is far greater than myself, possibly nearing a Nightmare, but probably not on the level of the Emperor. The System also seems to favor him greatly, simply by how quickly he gained his skills. The other reason is..." The General paused momentarily. "If he dies, he wasn't worthy of being my apprentice in the first place."
"I understand, sir." Replied the snake quickly, tasting the air with his forked tongue.
"Do you have any objections, Major?" Asked the General while not bothering to look Fuoco in the eyes.
"Absolutely not, General, I would never." Added the Major quickly.
"That's the wrong approach to discussions, Major. I am not presumptuous enough to believe that every decision I make is perfect and unbiased, so external opinions are important. Now, I will repeat myself, Major. Do you have any objections?"
The massive red snake thought for a moment before replying, "The only objection I could have is how dangerous this mission is for a tier-one monster. I was told that this group had many tier-six fighters, a handful of sevens and eights, and a couple of people above that. Any serious attack from them would kill him immediately." Explained the Major in a serious manner, almost worried about Prometheus.
"Don't worry about me, Major, I will defeat all those assholes by myself!"
Both of the older monsters chuckled at the shapeshifter's words, before continuing, "That is a fair criticism, Major. Look at it this way: If he is strong and talented enough to survive, the Monster Army might have a new prodigy on its hands. If he dies, we lose a tier-one monster. So not much of a loss."
The flaming snake nodded, eyes not completely convinced. He glanced at Theo's Soul and added, "His Soul looks stable enough to tier up, could we tier him up before we arrive?"
The General stopped in his tracks, which prompted the two other monsters to do the same. "Good point, Major. His Soul is also very interesting so I would love to study the process up close. Let's see...Yes, that should suffice." The General seemed to watch a random spot in the sky, devoid of anything interesting. His left arm moved up, aimed at that spot.
What? Has he gone crazy? Trees aren't known to go senile so that can't be it...
Then, Espanto's arm shot out like a snake, lengthening by hundreds of meters in milliseconds. Just after half a second, Theo could no longer see the end of the General's arm, which was continuing to grow longer each second. The arm made of roots finally arrived at its destination, returning back like a fisher reeling in its prey. What came back, along the General's arm, surprised the two monsters witnessing Espanto's endeavor. A massive, purple squid-like monster was squirming in the tree monster's grasp, bleeding profusely from its head which was pierced by the roots and immediately after slammed to the ground, creating a large crater. The Major and Theo stepped back cautiously. The squid was at least the size of a house, with hundreds of tentacles lashing around at everything around it and a disproportionately large head. When they hit the General, thorns appeared on the roots right before impact, ensuring the monster dealt more damage to itself than to the General.
"Prometheus, see this monster here? It is a tier five, but can you spot a flaw it made in its evolution?" The General faced Theo, holding the giant squid the same way an adult would hold an angry toddler.
"It's definitely how ugly it is. I mean, the purple leathery skin doesn't match at all with the green suction cups, its head looks too round and its eyes look weird." Explained Theo while pointing at each of the squid's body parts.
The General shook his head, chuckling loudly at his answer, "You're right that this guy here, the girl actually, is on the lowest end of the 'beauty spectrum' but that wasn't what I was talking about. Look at how big it is, much bigger than your typical tier sixes, wouldn't you say? That's the same tier the Examiners are at."
"Oh yeah, all the Examiners were around my size," He looked at his massive Goliath form, "My old size. The blue insectoid one. What's the problem with getting bigger? Wouldn't that be an advantage?" Asked Theo curiously.
"Yes, using all your energy of tiering up to increase your size is what will increase your strength the most, but look at how big of a target she is! I spotted this thing from kilometers away! It's much better to focus on strength density and other things. A tier ten monster once tiered up with only size in mind his whole life, and he had become the size of a hill. Do you know what happened to him? He was shot down by long-distance fighters, and he was too slow to do anything about it. The bigger you are, the slower you proportionally get. So, my advice is, tier up without size in mind, got it?"
"I understand, General, but how do I even change how my tiering up goes? I didn't really have any power last time."
"Major, did you forget to teach your soldiers how to control their evolutions?"
"I-I don't know what you mean by that, General. I never controlled my evolutions in any way. My mentor always told me to 'follow the flow and not think too much'."
"Oh dear System. That's... Inconvenient. First, that's the worst way to evolve. Second, you should never leave things to chance. Too much unpredictability for my taste. Anyway, here is how you control your evolution, both of you," The General then went on a short explanation of how internal feelings of self-worth and self-images were the main key to change evolutions. Thankfully, Theo's last evolution went well so he didn't need to worry too much. The squid had stopped moving minutes ago, with the General yanking its Core out.
"I hate big monsters, look at how awkward and massive their cores are. They won't be any better than smaller cores of the same tier, so they're just inconvenient for no reason. Absorb it, it should be enough to reach tier two." Espanto then handed the green core to Theo, who took it and rapidly replicated what he did last time to absorb a core. A simple tendril from his Soul touched the resplended gem, which exploded like air in a vacuum, flooding into his own Soul. The familiar sensation of falling unconscious assaulted his mind, but this time he had some milliseconds to analyze it, and realized that it was completely different than when he shut off his mind.
---
Prometheus was in his laboratory, the place he had called his home for his whole life. The familiar glass separated him from the scientists, who were all lined side to side, looking at him. All of their faces were blurry, and the walls were moving and morphing, which was unusual.
Walls don't normally move, right? Maybe they are Theo-walls, that would be cool.
One of the scientists, with their long white coat and phone in hand, moved through the glass and lowered himself to look Prometheus in the eyes.
"Why didn't you save them?"
"I-I cou-" The words didn't want to escape Theo's mouth. His body wasn't under his control, nothing was under his control. Power means control, and having no control is the same as being powerless. Prometheus felt powerless.
The scientist tilted their head in confusion and asked, "Are you sure you couldn't? Maybe you simply didn't want to. We couldn't blame you, being the personal property of someone else would make anyone resen-"
"THAT'S NOT IT! I WANTED TO SAVE THEM!"
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
"Didn't look like that to us, right?" The blurry-faced researcher looked behind his back, finding their colleagues who all nodded in agreement. "Just admit it, you hated your owners. No need to hide it from us, Chimera."
"That's not it... I swear..." His voice lowered until it was barely a whisper, which prompted the researcher to get closer to the shapeshifter. Prometheus retreated backward, seeking protection from the scientist's judging gaze. He couldn't see any facial details, but somehow he was sure they were all laughing at his uselessness, deriding him. A figure appeared at his side, elongated in form, with a circular mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Its white skin was enough to make Theo recognize the monster immediately.
"Zilch!" He shouted at the worm, but he didn't respond. His other companions appeared one after the other in his test chamber, looking blurry and lacking details.
"I'm so happy you're all here, what games do you-" He couldn't finish the sentence as a robed man walked into the laboratory with a black, cubical mask hiding his face. With unimaginable speed, he found his way inside the chamber, a fist flying directly at Zilch's head, the worm being completely unaware of anything.
Prometheus shouted and tried getting closer, to no avail. The man's first collided with the worm's head, resulting in an explosion of blood and brain matter. The shapeshifter rushed to the man, who was already throwing another super-sonic punch at Theo. He had no time to react.
---
"ZILCH?!" Prometheus woke up, nervously looking around for his deceased friend. Wait. Was that another dream? Both the General and the Major were looking at him worriedly, stopping in their tracks. The two old monsters had stopped in a random spot in the forest, talking to each other.
"Kid, are you alright?" Asked the Major, eyes scanning Theo up and down. "Last time you also acted weirdly."
Theo grasped for his body, moving his hands around his Goliath form, his scales providing some form of respite in the ocean of mystery and fear. After a couple of seconds, Theo realized he still had to reply to the Major, "I think so, Major... " The shapeshifter shook his head, trying to physically remove his mental discomfort, even though he knew it wouldn't work. His internal clock told him he had passed out for an hour.
"Well, your form is identical, but even then, I don't know how an evolution would affect a shapeshifter like you. I've never seen a creature like you, honestly." Explained the General, hinting at Theo to explain in return.
"My body... it's almost like it's able to transform into the impossible a bit better, such as iron or stone. I still can't transform my cells into those materials, but they are a bit closer. If my calculations are correct, which they always are, my cells will be able to resemble steel with a 99% accuracy at tier five, if the increase is linear." Nodded the shapeshifter, looking at the tree monster for his reaction.
"Good. You'll need that and more to survive. You might already know this, but each tiering up doubles your Influence capacity and control, so the growth is exponential. But don't get fooled: Tiers aren't the only thing that matters," The General raised a finger to emphasize his words' importance, "A tier three could easily take out a tier seven with the right skills, techniques, abilities, and circumstances. There are infinite factors on the battlefield, so don't listen to those who tell you to raise your tier as fast as possible. You'll only damage your future that way. You should rather train and master your skills, that way you'll always beat opponents of the same tier and probably even tiers above who rushed. Is that clear?"
Theo nodded, having listened intently for the first time in months. The General carried an aura of power and prominence, almost drawing his senses to him. What was that dream? Humans always say that dreams have hidden meanings, did mine have one too? He stomped on the ground like it owed him money. Useless thoughts. Let's focus on the mission for now.
"General, shouldn't we have a more throughout plan for such a delicate mission?" Asked the flaming snake, glancing to the side.
"No, I prefer to power through things and then think about them. If you want to spend all your life inside your own head without getting anything done, go ahead, but I am the General now, and with that comes the authority to decide how we will enact the plan. Any other complaints you need to share with us, Major?"
"No, sir. I have nothing else left to say." Replied the fiery Major, smoke intensifying around his nostrils. The snake usually did that when he was angry or annoyed, Theo had learned. Why would he complain? I would have made the same plan, honestly. Too much thinking stops you from acting, after all.
The trio continued on, uncaring of their surroundings. The local fauna immediately retreated from them, even though they had masked their souls and presences. I guess instinct always knows. The grass was starting to become similar to the trees, which Theo had named Cotton candy trees. Upon closer inspection, the trees weren't actually made of cotton candy, they just had thin and fluffy leaves. Disappointing. Sugar should be a human right. Wait. A Theo right?
"See that, gentlemen? That's what the 'civilized races' need to use against us." He pointed at the distance while exaggerating the words 'civilized races', almost in contempt. What the general was pointing at, though, could not settle in Theo's mind easily. Is that... an engraving on a mountain? No, too straight and vertical for that. A... a wall? Indeed, a massive barrier, easily reaching a kilometer into the sky, stood strong in the distance. Prometheus couldn't understand how they hadn't seen such a massive structure from kilometers away, in fact, it became visible only now that they were half a kilometer away from it.
"They need to hide within these walls, because they are weak, while 'monsters' deal with death and battle head-on." The General then continued on a rant about how the Civilized Races thought of themselves as superior when they were actually weak and pathetic. The wall, on the other hand, did not care, as walls usually do. It was perfectly vertical, with a wider base and columns jutting out every fifty meters. In terms of decoration, it was kept simple, with gray concrete making up most of its looks.
Various pieces of machinery could be seen on the top, but even Theo with his augmented eyes couldn't tell what it was from that angle. Some movement on the top of the wall kept the structure from being a lifeless gargantuan relic of the planet. How do they keep it so stable? Influence was densely packed inside of the wall, in ways so complex that Theo couldn't understand. It was essentially a massive number of moving parts, pushing around without pattern or direction.
"Now comes the hard part. These weaklings use so much technology and advanced creations to compensate for their weaknesses that we can't just blast our way through. Propose your ideas for how we can proceed." Asked Espanto while resting his hands behind his back, slowly walking around in circles. The General didn't seem like he actually wanted a solution, as Theo thought he was just teaching Prometheus, and possibly even the Major.
"We find the front door and ask kindly to let us in." Proposed the shapeshifter, using the same method he had used with the farmer Eadric in that smaller city. Both of the older monsters looked at him as though they couldn't believe what he had just said. They must be amazed by my incredible idea, I'm sure of it.
"You know what... They would never expect a raid from the front gate, so not a bad idea, Prometheus. Major, what do you suggest?" Hummed the General at Theo's suggestion.
"We can drill over the wall. My Soul would love to do that, sir." Offered the snake while smiling and nodding.
"Right, I almost forgot to teach that to our Prometheus here. Listen here, your Soul has an affinity. Don't worry too much about what it means, but for now, remember that using your Influence to follow your Soul's nature will always give better results. In the future, I'll explain better."
"I understood absolutely none of that, sir."
"That's fine, you will. Don't worry about it too much now." Smiled the bearded monster, eye stalks moving around excitedly. "Major, your suggestion would be feasible if this wall wasn't full to the brim of protective enchantments and hundreds of meters thick. We will follow Theo's suggestion of walking through the front gate. Follow me, I can feel that it's this way."
The three monsters followed the wall's side for half an hour until an asphalt road, dozens of meters wide appeared in the distance. Like in the smaller city, Theo noticed the road being divided into multiple colored lanes, with sidewalks on the sides. The trio stood a fair distance from the gate, which was a massive square opening with a just as massive door to it. Prometheus could bet that giant squid could have easily passed through that massive gate. Manning the entrance were six people, three to each side, wearing simple but protective full-plate armor. Two had massive halberts the size of trees in their arms, crossed over the entrance, blocking anyone from entering. Two others were equipped with giant swords the size of cars and the last two held a book each.
"Six humans, all tier seven. Major, can you get rid of them in a single hit?"
"I don't know. If I used my Domain, then definitely. But I don't think I can entrap all six of them in it fast enough, not in my old age at least." Lamented the snake while replying.
"Perfect, then. I'll use this opportunity to teach Prometheus about Domains as well. And don't worry, Major, I'll make sure you get all of them. Prepare yourself. At your signal, I'll get them all close. Start," Commanded the General.
The Major nodded, and closed his eyes, focusing intently. Prometheus could see the Influence opening up like a peacock's feathers, ready to jump out. Another mass of Influence coalesced into a drill-like structure, starting to spin slowly, gaining speed rapidly.
"Look at that. The Major is preparing his Domain. Now, you might ask what a Domain is, and I would compliment you for the acute question," Nodded the General. I wouldn't have asked. I experienced what I think the Major's doing on my own skin. The tree monster continued, oblivious to Theo's internal thoughts, "A Domain is simply an arena made of your Influence, in which you decide how the battlefield looks and acts. See that umbrella-shaped construct of Influence? When the Major is ready it will jump out at the weaklings and envelop them completely. The drill will cut a hole through space to isolate the arena. Any questions?"
"Do you have a Domain, General?" Asked Prometheus without much thought.
"Of course, I wouldn't be where I am without such an important asset. You'll probably get one when... if you reach tier nine. Now observe," He pointed at the humans. A small and inconspicuous ball of leaves appeared on the feet of the Guards, who were lazily hanging around and chatting with each other.
"NOW!" Screamed the Major through the mental connection, annoying Prometheus slightly. A moment later, vines slowly emerged from the ball, exploding rapidly at each Guard's waist and pulling them all closer to each other, forming an awkward jumble of armor and weapons. The flaming snake smiled, sending his Domain forward. The six guards tried their best to escape the constricting vines, but their efforts were futile. The Domain was already upon them, which upon closing completely made both the Guards and the Major disappear.
Espanto smiled, satisfied. "Right about now, the Major should be cooking those humans alive inside their armors." Chuckled the monster. Prometheus looked at the spot where the Major had been, waiting for his return. Not even half a minute later, the snake reappeared in the same spot, breathing heavily.
"Damn it, they almost got away. It's been so long since I used my Domain seriously." Hissed the Major at no one in general, "Well done. Prometheus, look at the Influence on that gate. What can you glean from it?" Theo did as the General told him and focused on the swirling energies inside the massive, square gate. "To me, it looks random. I can't see any order."
"If you manage to survive this mission, I'll teach you about enchantments and how important they are. For now, follow me." Espanto moved forward without even a hint of nervousness, getting on the asphalt road and approaching the gate. Theo noticed how walking on the road sped up his paces, even though he felt like he was walking at normal speeds. The General clutched the gate in one hand and ripped it off from its frame, throwing it to the side, and causing a massive *boom*.
"SIR! ISN'T THAT GONNA ATTRACT TOO MUCH ATTENTION?!" Yelled the Major, who was looking around for enemies. "Calm down, Major. The System likes when we approach problems brazenly and with a flashy entrance. You should have gotten a reward for your previous stunt right about now, correct?"
The snake's eyes moved to the air in front of him, probably looking at his Status. "A Soul Stat point? I haven't gotten one of those in decades!" He shouted in joy at the two other monsters. "That's right. The System loves stunts, especially risky ones. We need to hurry up, so follow me, gentlemen." The General sped up his walk until he began jogging, finishing with a full-on run. The Major couldn't keep up on land so he conjured flaming wings on his back to fly behind the General. Prometheus regretted his choice for his form but started running either way, using the opportunity to analyze the improvements from the tiering up, I can make slightly metallic bone structures that won't collapse or degrade, finally! They should be 19.87% stronger than what I used before.
The trio ran through the busy streets full of people living their everyday lives. Most of them were going to work, since they were holding various types of tools, such as hoes or carts full of goods. Theo didn't let the fact that the humans there carried massive carts and carriages escape his notice. Even though people here can surpass their physical limits and obtain superpowers, they are still stuck with medieval technologies. I believe something else must be going on. All of them held positive attitudes, not a single trace of worry on their faces. Also, Theo noticed they all spoke the same language as Eadric the farmer and the noble that had paid him that time to cure his daughter. He could understand what they were saying.
"My son just reached tier two, isn't that incredible? He's only five years old!"
"Oh honey, that's incredible to hear! Mine reached tier four at eighteen, and he's the highest tier in his friend group!"
The two random women continued boasting about their sons' achievements. Like the other city he had been in, the buildings were massive, resembling more mansions than houses. The scale of everything was increased, with huge tower-like structures deeper into the city, hundreds of meters tall. Not one building was made of wood, everything, down to doors and tables, was crafted from various types of stone. Additionally, he saw that the architecture was very rounded, with very rare sharp corners.
Theo noticed that the General's Soul was releasing many tendrils that attached themselves to every human they passed through, not doing anything on the surface. The shapeshifter asked the General about it, but he wasn't given an answer. They continued their mission unobserved until they reached a random building, identical to hundreds of others. It was the equivalent of a three-story mansion on Earth in size, resembling a simple house in shape and decorations. A few normal-sized windows adorned the walls, with a single human-sized door standing in the center of the ground wall. None of them could fit through the door without smashing the surrounding wall.
"We are here. These people use a secret knock to identify each other, but none of us looks anything like a human, so we'll have to smash-"
"WAIT! General, can I try something first?" Asked Theo quickly, hoping to stop the tree monster from destroying everything.
"What do you have in mind, Private?" The General had his arm reared back, ready to strike the wall. Theo removed the vast majority of his biomass, transforming it into a super-dense sludge, and putting it into his Inventory, which contained only his surprise weapons. The two level-ups had increased the volume to three meters cubed, so there was enough space for all his excess biomass. Prometheus started growing a white leathery material over his skin, completely covering his body except for the head. He made sure the skin was flappy and that it looked like a robe, exactly like the one the kidnappers had used. For the head, he created a black, bony structure with the shape of a cube, resembling the kidnappers once again. Both of them had numbers on their faces, using the Arabic symbols no less. I'll put a 5. Ugh, just taking a human form makes my insides feel uncomfortable.
"General, what's the secret knock?"
General Espanto seemed amazed at Theo's accurate disguise, before showcasing a series of ten distinct knocks with different pauses in between each one.
The shapeshifter nodded, walking to the door. It's showtime. With his closed fist, he knocked on the door in the exact order the General had taught him. No reply came. Did I mess it up? Then, the door opened with a similarly dressed man standing on the other side, much fatter than the other kidnappers. He had an '11' on his face. Then, the man spoke in English, "Oh, hey mister five. Did you put on some weight? Last time I saw you, you would have fit right in with the skeletons!" The guy asked casually, a bag of snacks in his right hand and laughing loudly.
"I have important matters to attend to, Eleven. Let me through." Commanded Prometheus, not letting his anxiety show in his voice. The obese man nodded and continued, "You know the protocol. I have to use your Soul signature to verif-" A blur flew past Theo's shoulder, grabbing the man's head and bringing him outside. Theo didn't have enough time to turn around to find the man's head splatted to the ground, brain matter and blood decorating the previously clean street. People from around the street exclaimed worriedly and gathered around the body, oblivious to the three monsters in front of them.
Prometheus stepped through, finding modern pieces of furniture inside the massive building, with stairs leading down and up. He reasoned it must have been the entrance, seeing how simplistic and devoid of useful furniture it was. "Prometheus, I feel a large open area below us, take this and break it when you arrive. it will open a portal from here to there. It's expensive, so be careful. Since we decided to take the stealthy approach we might as well continue the same way." Added the General, handing him a small rod, which emitted blue light from its ends every few seconds. Prometheus took it, and walked down the empty stairs, thinking to himself, Please, be alright, thinking about his owners.