The Administrator got up and looked toward the city below, hands behind his back. Prometheus moved up from the chair and went for the door saying, “I don’t think I’m capable of preventing the literal death of the universe, so I’ll have to refuse your offer. Have a nice-“ before he could walk through the door, the man interrupted him, “We will not ask you to work for free, naturally. The trait and title you received are just a small taste of what we have to offer you. Make your request, and we will discuss whether we can give it to you.”

Theo hummed internally and asked, “Can it be anything?”

The Administrator nodded, “If you prove successful in your endeavors, then we will reward you with almost anything you wish.”

Theo chuckled and rubbed his hands together, “That’s what I like to hear. I need a way to save my owners from the Emperor, I’m almost sure he wants to absorb their Souls. Actually, you’re omniscient and all, so can you confirm my doubts?”

“I cannot provide such information, but what I can do is give you the location of a certain human with an ability that you might find helpful in your mission.”

Prometheus and the Administrator talked about where that person was, and what Theo would have to do to ‘save the universe’. Apparently, he just needed to imprison the anomalies and limit their exposure on the world. It sounded quite simple, so he didn’t understand why someone else hadn’t done that already.

“One last thing. Take this, it will assist you in locating and studying the entities,” The man then passed over the anomalous book to Theo, who took it with an ethereal hand.

“Our time here is over. May the Behind retreat from our realm.” Announced the Administrator.

“Absolutely, whatever you say,” The shapeshifter replied before his world went white.

- - -

Theo was back in the training room, and by looking at Giuseppe, very little time seemed to have passed. Before moving on with finding the ability the Administrator had told him about, he decided to tier up and check what that Multi-Weapon was. Warning Giuseppe that he was going to be unavailable for a bit, he began absorbing the cores from the priests he had killed. He hadn’t even used a quarter when he reached the required amount, and he fell unconscious once again.

- - -

The first thing he heard was the passing of water in front of him, accompanied by the soft sound of leaves dancing against the gentle breeze. Green grass created a colorful carpet beneath him that expanded for as distant as he could see, completely occupying the space around him.

Prometheus was leaning against a tree, and the shadow it created gave the shapeshifter a much-needed respite from the heat released by the Sun above. Sun? Did the Sun come back, taking the place of the black hole?

A figure next to him threw a fishing rod into the river, sitting back down to hold the rod while calmly looking at the water.

“Hello,” Prometheus said to the man next to him. He was wearing a large backpack, a front-capped hat, and some simple clothes.

The man nodded in response, keeping his eyes on the water.

“What are you fishing for?” Asked Theo.

The fisher shrugged and kept a strand of hay in his mouth, playing with it to pass the time.

“I could get into the water and get the fish you want. You wouldn’t need to wait hours for it, either.”

“And why?” Asked the man.

“Why what?”

“Why ruin the peace of such a beautiful river, just to catch some fish?”

Prometheus didn’t understand the man’s words. He understood what each of those means, but he couldn’t grasp the meaning behind them.

“You’re fishing to catch some fish, that’s not any different than what I offered.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes going for the quickest solution isn’t the best one.”

Theo scratched his head. “What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing, really. Just enjoy the world, and don’t get obsessed with making everything more efficient and perfect. There’s beauty in flaws.”

The shapeshifter narrowed his eyes, once again not understanding the man’s words. Whatever. He’s just crazy.

- - -

“Wake up already, dumbass, you’ve been sleeping for over an hour,” Was the first thing he heard, from his Soul no less, as soon as Theo had woken up from the tier-up.

“I’ll never get used to them.” Said Theo to no one in particular.

“To what?”

“Dreams.”

His Soul snickered and replied, “That’s what you’re worried about? What’s so weird about them?”

Theo tilted his head side to side clicking his mandibles softly, as he tried looking for the right words, “It feels like reality, but it clearly isn’t, and I’m never aware that it’s an illusion. It feels like someone is tricking me, or controlling me. I don’t like dreaming.”

“Well, unfortunately, you have no choice in that regard, as you will have to dream every time to tier up. Hey, did you know that many people have a limit on their potential?” His Soul said.

“How do you even know that?”

“I’ve made a mental communication with the Major’s Soul, and we had a conversation. That Soul is a real comedian, let me tell you.”

“You can make mental communications on your own?”

“Yes? Why does that surprise you?”

Theo shook his head, “No reason, just thought it was weird for you to use a technique on your own.”

“Bah, it’s simple enough that I can do it without your assistance. So, what are you gonna do now?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Theo took out the red cube that he had received from the Administrator, which measured forty centimeters by each side, and was denser than tungsten. It fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and Theo couldn’t pick it up with his Ant limbs. A sound disturbed his experiment, that being of a mushroom worker climbing down a rope to collect the chairs and table Theo had used for the captives. The worker was familiar to Theo, who recognized it immediately.

“Funguy!”

The mushroom seemed not to have heard Theo, as it sped up in its job. Naturally, Prometheus wouldn’t let Funguy go away without exchanging a couple of words, to reminisce about old times. The shapeshifter ran in front of the mushroom, who froze up like an ice cube and said nothing.

“How are you doing, buddy?”

The worker nodded wordlessly and asked if he could go and continue his job.

“Wait, before you go, I want to give you a gift, for the good friend that you’ve always been to me,”

Theo took out a single, small core, and his Hungry Toolbox. After he realized that he could make tools from his body, he came to the conclusion that he had rarely used it and didn’t need it anymore, thus being the perfect gift. Funguy took the two objects with hesitation, but then thanked the shapeshifter and moved on its way.

Ah, feels so good to give gifts to my friends! Talking about friends, where are Zilch and Sayuri?

“Stay focused, idiot. You just said you wanted to experiment with the red cube weapon thing.”

“Right, right, no need to tell me.”

Prometheus observed the blood-red metallic cube. Many enchantments were present on its faces, but they didn’t look coordinated or organized. They looked like a jumble of spaghetti all thrown together to make a perfect Italian dish. The System had called it a Multi-weapon, so maybe it could transform into many weapons. It was almost two tons in weight or one thousand and nine hundred twenty kilograms.

Theo shifted into a large, rhinoceros-like beast with large arms and rotated it around to look for any buttons or controls that would allow it to become a sword, an axe, or other cool weapons. His stats allowed him to lift the incredibly heavy object somewhat easily. As soon as he had thought of a sword, the cube immediately vibrated loudly and ground itself to form a double-edged sword with a simple, curved handle guard. Thinking of a warhammer, the sword transformed once again, taking the form of a two-meter-tall Warhammer. Further experiments showed that he could shirk it down, making it much denser, but not expand it more than the starting volume of forty centimeters by each side, equivalent to sixty-four-thousand centimeters cubed. Nice. I can’t lift it that easily for it to be a practical weapon, but as I get stronger it should become more useful.

Then, he experimented with the new tier-up. As a tier four, Theo had now another ability slot to take, as well as being able to create softer metals with his body, but stronger ones like steel were probably going to be possible only at the next tier up.

“Hey, Soul. We have to find a name for you, I’m tired of thinking of you as my ‘Soul’. Anyway, do you think I should tier up right away?”

“You’re right, my metaphorical ears bleed every time you call me. I have an idea. Call me Saul. Saul the Soul. Also, no, remember when the General said that you should consolidate your techniques and ability without rushing?”

Theo sighed and nodded, “Yes, Saul, I remember that. Whatever. I’ll go and find my friends.”

Prometheus put the red weapon back into his inventory and shifted into a light, large eagle to fly to the floor above, looking for his friends. Both of them were listening to a lesson from their two mentors, the Majors, giving instructions on certain techniques and whatnot. Prometheus waited patiently for when the lesson ended, as he approached them,

“Hey guys, what was that lesson for?”

Sayuri, the samurai made of bamboo, replied first, “They taught me how to combine [Enhancement] and [Influence Bolt] to create a flying blade of Influence.”

“I learned how to assassinate someone with a spike of Influence!” Said Zilch, the horse-sized deathworm with sharp teeth. He then focused his Influence into a serrated blade shape and moved it around.

“Nice, nice, very good. I’m going to a small city, two days from here. There’s apparently someone there with an ability that I really want. Do you want to come with me?”

His two friends looked at each other, and Zilch spoke, “What do you mean by an ability that you want?”

Theo snickered, opening his eagle wings wide, pruning some feathers on them, “Ah, I still haven’t shown my ability to you guys, have I?”

They both shook their heads.

“Look at this.”

Theo focused on activating his ability, which he had called [Prometheus FIrst Art, Ability Assimilation], and conjured the USB stick for the Metallic Spire manipulation ability. His two friends were still unimpressed, but still watched on as Theo inserted the object into a USB slot in his neck, which made a timer of six minutes appear in his vision.

“I can steal abilities from others by killing them in a certain way, and replicate them with these objects. Now, I have temporary access to this ability,”

Theo removed the cube of metal in his inventory, finding a perfect use for it, and imagined it taking the shape of a sharp and long spiral. Using his ability, he could easily command the object as a distant weapon, as the range was quite great. He tested it out and launched the spiral at the wooden wall, which it perforated like a knife through butter. Theo made it burrow around the base before returning it in front of him. He couldn’t pick it up in his eagle form, so he put it back in his inventory.

“So, you can make a piece of metal move around?” Sayuri asked as she crossed her arms.

Theo shook his head. “Much more than that. I have two other abilities stored. I’ll show them to you another day. Still, do you want to come with me or not?”

“We’re not sure, we might need to train with the Majors here,” Zilch said.

Theo huffed and walked to the two Majors who were busy exchanging words with each other, “Excuse me, Majors, can I bring Zilch and Sayuri on a mission with me?”

“Where to?” One of them asked.

“A small town south of Golden Lake, called Iron Feather. There’s a tournament with gladiators that I need to be part of.”

“Understood. I will provide you three with Soul masking pills. They will make your Souls look human, if you wish to infiltrate it stealthily.”

Prometheus nodded quickly, surprised at how easily the Majors had accepted, and took three pills and put them in his inventory, quickly hopping back to his friends, “Perfect, I got their permission. We should move as soon as possible, the city’s a bit far away. Any questions?”

Sayuri shook her head, while Zilch seemed to hesitate for a moment and said, “Is-is there going to be any danger?”

Theo shook his head and said, “No, definitely not. With me around, nothing can hurt us!”

Zilch sighed and nodded, relenting to Theo’s request.

The three monsters walked out of the fortress, where the shapeshifter noticed bright lights on the horizon, with many shockwaves emanating from the same direction, Must be the General fighting.

They decided to let Sayuri ride on top of Theo’s large eagle form to fly faster, while Zilch would burrow below them underground. The deathworm had apparently leveled up his Burrowing skill, and he had a technique to burrow through the ground as well, so Zilch was incredibly fast underground. Prometheus held back his speed to match Zilch’s, and they traveled at around one hundred kilometers per hour.

Sayuri had some trouble staying stable on Theo’s back, but when he shifted a saddle-like structure he had also made for Giuseppe, her ride became much easier. After hours of travel, where they avoided passing monsters and humans alike, they stopped right before the Unsafe Hours began, clearing a small patch of vegetation to settle down and rest.

Prometheus gathered some wood, put it in a batch together, and lit it on fire easily with a spark from his fingers. Zilch breathed heavily, as he had traveled many kilometers underground.

“Tired?” Theo said to Zilch.

“Uff…yes…I haven’t moved this much in weeks,”

Theo chuckled and tapped his wing to Sayuri, who was silently looking at the fire with her pitch-black eyes.

“Why so silent all the time?” He told her.

She clicked her tongue, despite not having a mouth, and said, “I like silence. Words always sound so loud to me.”

“Oh, come on, I don’t talk that loud!”

“I didn’t mean…just ignore it.”

“Sure,”

Half an hour passed in silence, where Sayuri was tasked with gathering wood for the fire. Their surroundings weren’t comprised of a forest of any kind, as the gravel plains were partially present here as well, but there was enough vegetation to get wood and make fires. The cracks of the burning fire were quite relaxing, attracting Theo’s eyes to focus on the waving flames, like tongues that wanted a taste of reality.

“Do you guys want to see something cool?” Theo said while looking at the other two.

“Sure!” Said Zilch. Sayuri just grunted.

Theo took out the anomalous brick, the one that would randomly teleport around. He held it up in his beak, saying, “I found this thing while I was awake during the Unsafe Hours. It’s just a brick that teleports around at random, but it’s still kind of neat.”

“Does it do that often?” Asked Zilch.

“I think every minute or so, but it varies,”

“Wait, so won’t it escape then?”

Theo slowly blinked, noticing how the brick had indeed teleported around. His Collector title reverted the progress to zero out of five, and it removed the bonus stat.

Fuck.

- - -

The group spent a weirdly large amount of time looking for the warping brick, which they managed to catch eventually. Zilch and Sayuri went to sleep, while Theo remained awake. I need to see what Anomalous Resistance actually does, and if there are any anomalies I can capture.

Zilch coiled around himself like a snake, while Sayuri slept sitting down, legs crossed. Prometheus moved to a distance away, in case he encountered any destructive anomaly that might hurt his friends.

Nothing’s happening.

The next two hours were spent empty and desolated, with Theo trying his best to get any anomaly to attack him. He just hoped it wouldn’t be one like that gray monster that appeared when the Numbers were kidnapping his family. He was sure he would never be able to subdue that one.

“Saul,” Theo said, to his Soul.

“What?”

“Wanna play rock papers scissors?”

“Sure,”

Theo made a mental image of a closed hand, and he and Saul opened their mental hands in sync. They played around twenty matches, and Theo had lost all of them. He hadn’t won, or even tied, a single one.

“Wow, you’re trash at this,” Saul remarked, more confused than disappointed.

“Shut up, it’s just a game of luck.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever you say dumba-“ Saul’s voice cut off.

“Theo,” Saul said after a pause.

“What?”

“Look up,”

Theo had felt his Supernality sense, which was the combination of the Anomalous sense and Soul sense, tingle. So, he looked up. Other than the usual black hole in the sky, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. If a large black hole dangerously close to their planet could be called ordinary, of course. But what caught Theo’s attention was something else. His incredible vision, which had been enhanced by the System, allowed him to see a dot of light in the sky, the first he had seen since coming into this world. He had never seen any stars yet.

What?

The dot expanded, and with it, the feeling of wrongness intensified massively, reaching levels he had never felt before. His entire body started shaking, and his mind was lagging and thinking of many possibilities. That sensation felt familiar. He had felt something similar back when he had dreamed for the first time.

Fear.

The dot increased in size even more, looking like a penny in size. Prometheus knew that if it looked like a penny at such a distance, the object must have been truly gigantic. Only when it looked as big as the Sun looked from Earth, and when he saw how the entire sky lit up and warmed up, did Theo realize what he was looking at.

That’s a fucking star… on a direct collision course with Eventum!