Prometheus soared through the sky, reveling in the fresh air and chilly breeze. Zilch was right under him, carried by Theo’s hind legs, while Sayuri was on top of the wyvern. Ever since he had departed from Iron Feather, a strange pain had been annoying him at the bottom of his Soul. It was a new sensation because he almost never felt pain, physical or otherwise. Every time he tried shifting his cells into elements, the pain sprung up again.
Is this some sort of limit?
Zilch wiggled in Theo’s grasp, activating his intangibility for when attacks shot at them in the air. Prometheus had avoided them by simply turning his cells into elemental ones, but the pain prevented him from doing so now. He would be temporarily stuck with organic cells. Just as they passed over the walls, all of the attacks stopped at once.
Hm, what’s this? Why did they stop?
“Are they preparing a larger attack?” He asked his two friends.
“I don’t think so, the men on the wall simply stopped and are observing us,” Sayuri offered.
“Creepy. Zilch, how you doing down there?”
“I HATE THIS!” Zilch shouted while squirming once again.
“You know that this is the best way to carry you, plus we can move on the ground when we get far away enough from the city, Sayuri, everything alright with you?”
“Yes, I’m doing fine.” She said.
“Perfect. Have I already told you the plan for rescuing my family?”
Both of them shook their heads.
“Actually, I needed to tell you guys this. I’m preparing to betray the Army and the Emperor to get my family safe, but that means that they’ll want to kill me. I don’t want to drag you into this, so if you want to do your own thing, you’re free to do that.”
Zilch stopped squirming, while Sayuri looked into the distance.
“Do they mean that much to you? That you’re willing to risk your life for their sake?” She asked.
“Yeah. I am sure of it,”
“Very well. The Monster Army is a soulless and honorless group, intent on destroying everything for their victory. I would rather not stand by their side,” Sayuri nodded.
“I-,” Zilch began but stuttered soon after. It seemed like the deathworm couldn’t get his words out.
“It’s okay if you want to remain with the Army, I couldn’t blame you. You did enough for me, you deserve it,” Prometheus said.
“Where did that compassion come from?” Sayuri said.
Theo sighed, “I was shocked when you came to rescue me. I didn’t think anyone would do that for me. I think it’s only fair if I give you the choice to not risk your life for me once more, especially against a much stronger enemy.”
Zilch grumbled slightly, then said, “Theo, I can’t just become the enemy of the army! I‘ll get killed in less than a second!”
“That’s likely to happen, yeah. That’s why I can’t blame you either way.”
Zilch lowered his head and continued, “Can I have some time to think about it?”
“Sure, you just need to decide before we arrive. Oh, on another subject now, do you guys want to tier up? When I raided those weird priests I got a ton of high-tier Cores.”
“Didn’t the General explain that Cores that we get from someone else aren’t nearly as effective?” Sayuri said.
“Oh, you’re right,” Theo replied.
“Saul, is that actually the case?” Prometheus asked his Soul.
Saul yawned before replying, “If a much higher-tier monster got them for you, then they wouldn’t work. But if someone emotionally close to you, and around your tier, gave them to you, there shouldn’t be any problem,”
“What the fuck? Why is this arbitrary distinction there? And how could you even tell who got the Cores in the first place?”
Theo felt his Soul shrug, continuing, “When you kill another living being and collect their Core, your Soul, in this case me, leaves kind of an imprint. So, if Sayuri’s Soul or Zilch’s Soul imprinted a Core, I wouldn’t mind absorbing them, because they’re my friends,”
“They’re…your friends?”
“What do you think I do all day? Do you think I wait for you to talk to me? No. I like talking to them. Zilch’s Soul is very stoic and strong. Sayuri’s Soul is more relaxed and wise. I like both of them, so if we exchange Cores we imprinted between each other there shouldn’t be any problems,”
“Why didn’t the General tell us of this, then?”
“Hell if I know. Ask him yourself,”
Prometheus shook his head and moved his attention to Sayuri, who was patiently looking at him, “Apparently, if we exchange Cores between us, they shouldn’t lose effectiveness. But if we get them from somewhere else, they would become much less effective.”
Sayuri hummed quietly and nodded. Once they were far enough from the city, Prometheus landed on a flat area on the ground, making sure no one was around them. Zilch sighed heavily once he touched the ground, going for a quick burrow.
“Okay, here’s some Cores for you. My Soul helped me choose the ones with compatible Affinities,” Theo then took out a handful of Cores, mostly brown and blue, for his two friends to take and absorb. Sayuri bowed to him and began the tier-up.
Zilch observed the Cores silently and looked at Theo, “Uff, you’ve always given me cores to tier up. I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything on my own.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“What? Why would you think that?”
“I mean…you’re always the strongest between us, even at tier-zero you were able to take out an entire bandit outpost on your own. I feel like I’m dead weight,” Zilch explained while lowering his large frame on the ground.
“That was the past, and the present is now. I don’t think I would have survived without you yesterday. I really felt like I was about to die back then. Also, think of this gift as a favor I’m doing to you, which I’ll ask you to repay to me one day. How does that sound?”
The large deathworm thought about it and nodded, thanking the shapeshifter.
“Remember, try not to get larger with the next tier-up. If you get much larger, it’ll be hard to get into tight spaces,”
Zilch nodded and fell unconscious, tiering up. Theo didn’t want to transport his two unconscious friends, as they would be difficult to protect, so he decided to camp on the ground until they woke up. Prometheus shifted into a rhinoceros with metallic armor all around its body, just for the fun of it. I don’t think I’ve ever taken this shape. Feels amazing.
With nothing else to do, he took out the red cube and experimented with it. First of all, it was much harder than any other material he had ever heard of. Using some fire from shifting his cells, he also noticed that it was very thermally conductive. He tried the same with electricity, and the material acted as a superconductor, with a resistance so close to zero that it made him actually think if it had truly zero resistance. It would allow infinite current through, so I don’t think it’s possible.
The weapon also shifted to his desires, which he knew already, but he wanted to check how diverse he could make it. Any melee weapon he could think of was possible. Range weapons, though, were what surprised him. He tried making a small revolver, and it successfully shifted into one. All of its internal mechanisms were present, except for the propellant powder. The problem was the bullet. He tried using an organic, explosive powder, mostly made of oxygen and nitrogen. Part of the gun easily shifted into a bullet, which rested nicely inside the barrel.
Theo shot it toward a tree in the distance, and the bullet did fly, but ten meters in the distance, the bullet stopped mid-air and returned to the gun, as if attracted magnetically. Prometheus hummed loudly, thinking of possible solutions. So, I can’t make bullets of this perfect metal. I can’t use any inorganic materials in my body either, as they’ll deteriorate immediately. What about bone? Can I make one good enough?
Theo shifted a bullet-shaped protrusion of bone, and cut it off from his body, inserting it into the gun. This time, it fired quite well, but it wasn’t as powerful as he had hoped. The organic powder he made wasn’t as powerful as industrial-level smokeless powders, and the bone bullet wasn’t able to spin well enough from the barrel’s rifling. It was decent in short ranges less than forty meters, but anything more wasn’t likely to be hit or hurt by the projectile. In other words, it sucked.
Too bad. What about a bow?
Unfortunately, the same was true for a bow or crossbow. The red metal wasn’t flexible enough for the drawstring. For now, he would have to be content with melee weapons, but he wouldn’t give up on finding solutions for the gun shape as well. Wait. What about a biological gun?
Theo shifted a barrel-like structure on his shoulder made of a combination of durable chitins and carbon fiber while using a stronger propulsion powder. As it wasn’t separate from his roots, he didn’t need to worry about it degrading. His roots were protrusions made of the same material as his Core, which fed the various cells around his body. Prometheus condensed the red metal into a small bullet, but he noticed it was too heavy to be effective. He could barely lift it, as it was still two tons of material, but another idea sprang up in his mind. What if I make a short-range weapon? Something that shoots many small projectiles?
Prometheus shifted the red metal into hundreds of smaller projectiles and loaded them up in an organic magazine made of bone. Loading a handful of them at the same time, he ignited the weapon, watching as the weapon’s sound created a shockwave loud enough to be heard for hundreds of meters in the distance. The red projectiles shot forward with insane speed and shredded the tree that was in front of Theo, soon after stopping mid-air and returning inside the barrel.
Wow. I think I solved two problems in one go. I made a ten-meter-range shotgun with infinite ammo. This is amazing. Another experiment proved that the red projectiles returned to the closest available largest mass of red metal, so if Theo shot all of the projectiles in rapid succession, they wouldn’t return to him anymore, they would just attract each other wherever they had been fired. So, he needed to shoot them carefully. Another advantage of using an organic gun is that it was easier to aim and clean, while also knowing exactly what was happening inside of it at all times.
Prometheus modified the barrel to make less noise, as he didn’t enjoy attracting attention, and soon after spent more than an hour destroying trees with the shoulder gun. Some of them were much tougher than others, and he noticed that they also had a structure similar to Souls, but not quite. They still seemed to tier up though. His shapeshifting skill and tier-ups allowed him to create the propellant cheaply enough that he didn’t need to worry too much about calorie consumption, but even then, after hundreds of shots, he would have spent a couple of kilograms of biomass. An acceptable trade-off.
Right before he could shoot another tree into oblivion, both Sayuri and Zilch woke up. He approached them, and they backed off in alarm when they saw him, calming down immediately after. None of them changed much. Sayuri’s skin became slightly more blue, going from a dark green to a dark turquoise. She was still two meters tall and lanky with her bamboo limbs. Zilch, on the other hand, remained the same size while his skin seemed thicker and his teeth sharped and serrated, perfect for shredding opponents.
“How do you guys feel?” Theo began.
“I feel stronger. My ability feels like it could cut through anything,” Sayuri added.
“I feel…weird. Like I could crush a boulder with ease,” Zilch said, before continuing, “I think I’ll join you as well in your plan. By the way, you still haven’t told us what it is.”
Prometheus nodded and explained his plan to his two friends, who nodded in understanding.
“Perfect. We need to move fast. Let’s get on the same formation as when we came here,”
The three monsters moved forward, with Theo shifting into a cheetah with enhanced muscles combined with both organic and inorganic materials, while Zilch burrowed underground. He could move at around one hundred fifty kilometers per hour after the tier-up. The day before they arrived, Theo tested the subspace-ability, confirming that it could transport other people inside of it. Theo kept himself at Zilch’s speed, and they arrived back at the base in just two days. Theo didn’t stay up during the Unsafe Hours, he had no time to waste.
Prometheus repeated his plan to them once again, more because of the gnawing sensation he felt in his stomach than anything else, and immediately moved to look for the General. When he found the tree monster in a meeting room with the three Majors and other high-tier monsters, he rushed in and shouted, “General, sir, the defenders are on their way here!”
Theo didn’t like to lie but it was necessary in this situation. The tree monster sat up and replied, “Are you sure? Where are they?”
Prometheus nodded and continued, “I’m positive, sir. They should arrive here anytime! Also, please request a portal to the Emperor so I can explain the situation to him!”
General Espanto shook his head, “No need, I can send a communication, which is much quicker,”
Theo began clawing the ground with his paw, thinking of another excuse, “I need to be present so I can protect the Doctor in case anything goes wrong!”
The General sighed heavily, continuing, “Again with your obsession, I see. I’ll make the request, but I can’t promise anything,”
The General sent two long-range communications, one to warn the Emperor, and the other to request a portal for Theo. Luckily, it was accepted soon, and he stepped through after he was applied the protection from the Emperor’s withering effect.
The other side of the portal held the same environment as the last time he had seen it, with a burning and empty landscape. He approached the Emperor’s hut, which held both the Emperor himself and Nightmare Dalo. Prometheus bowed and sent a mental communication to the eye-demon, “Greetings, Supreme Emperor, may I see my owners?”
The Emperor was discussing some matters with his subordinate and waved Theo away while a portal opened up to the apartment. Theo had come here to visit them many times so both of the monsters were used to Theo coming and going. A tension in his mind quickened his step and accelerated his thoughts. He still didn’t know if the Emperor had indeed killed them. Walking inside, the sight released his tension. Arthur was playing with the children, throwing them into the air and catching them in turn, while the three kids were laughing and jumping around to be the next to be thrown.
“Oh, Theo, nice to see you. I like the new look, the cheetah form fits you well,” Arthur began with a smile.
Prometheus walked over and nodded, without saying anything. The kids screamed in excitement and ran up to pet Theo, so he made his fur as soft as possible. He shifted his forehead to be flat and white, drawing words on it with black cells on the white surface, ‘I am here to rescue you from the Emperor. Please don’t speak aloud, as they might hear us, and reply only by nodding and shaking your head. Is that okay?”
Arthur recoiled slightly with wide eyes and said, “Theo, why would you want to-“
Theo wrote, ‘I have a plan, that can safely rescue all of us. Just trust me, please. The Emperor will kill all of you, otherwise.”
Arthur frowned and growled, looking at his children. He closed his eyes, and Theo waited. After a long pause, he finally nodded.
‘Perfect. I’ll use my ability on you and get you out of here. You’ll feel like underwater, and you need to hold your breath. Tell your kids to get ready.’
Arthur kneeled to his children and told them, “Can we play a game?”
They all nodded, smiling.
“Let’s see who can keep their eyes closed and hold their breath for the longest time, while Theo holds us up!” Arthur said. He was smiling and gesturing, but even Theo felt the man’s anxiety seep through his voice. I’ve been getting better at reading emotions.
The kids accepted and closed their eyes. Theo took out the USB stick, which had a blue and purple image of currents drawn on it, and inserted it into his neck. Theo nodded at Arthur, who nodded back and said, “Let’s start! One, two three!” With that, all of the four people closed their eyes and held their breaths, and Prometheus grabbed all of them with a shifted arm, comfortably holding all of them on his back. He activated his ability, shifted into a Great White Shark, and swam toward the still-open portal to the Fortress. His world took a blue and purple hue, almost as if he were looking through a colored lens.
His enhanced musculature allowed him to each it in half a second, and he found himself back in the fortress’ main room. He sent a mental communication to his friends, who hopefully would run to their planned destination. In less than ten seconds, Theo had swam out of the fortress, and he continued going for another ten, releasing his ability after he shifted back into a large cheetah-like creature. Arthur and the children took a deep breath and asked what had happened, but Theo had no time to waste. Since the Unsafe Hours were almost upon them, they needed to hurry up. In the distance, he saw Sayuri running at great speeds toward him while carrying Giuseppe in her arm, and Zilch slithering with three creatures on his back: Buzzelina, the wasp Queen, Splash, the water spider, and Lunch, the feathered lobster.
They were his friends as well, so he wanted to rescue them. They all joined Prometheus and they began running west, which he knew was the opposite direction of where the Iulan Kingdom was. The problem was that he would be going deeper into the Monster Army’s territory, but it was a risk he was willing to take. They would hopefully arrive at the country on the west of the continent, the Zason Confederacy. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until a blade of Influence flew from the distance towards them.
NO, DODGE IT!
Theo jumped at the last second, Sayuri wasn’t in its direct trajectory, and Zilch activated his intangibility. Unfortunately, it still bisected the three smaller monsters, who began squirming and dissolving into dust. Theo froze in place, looking at where they had been, before Sayuri managed to unlock him and they continued escaping. An old man with a white mustache, long hair, and a greatsword at his side was pursuing them with a bored look.
I’ll make you pay! Theo thought to himself, continuing to run.