~~~Stanley~~~

Stanley stopped meditating once he felt calm enough and looked at his newest skill. The free one.

Psionic Soul Shield (Rare)

A shield of the mind. To protect the soul.

Allows user to protect their soul from attack and detection by creating a shield around their soul. This will reduce the chance of detection and also act as a barrier against soul attacks.

Soul Shields can be created with various energies, including the user's own soul. Using more types of energy in the shield's creation will increase the potential effectiveness.

Psionic Variant increases effects based on willpower and skill level.

Skill Level Effects (Novice):

+1% Effective Willpower

It looked solid, and it reduced the soul wound debuff slightly more while he was using it. The only problem was that it felt like he was straining his soul to do so. Luckily, he could still half ass it enough to shield his soul like before, just to a weaker degree.

He would finish fixing their soul, and then it would be great to have as an option for when he went hunting for the rest of the invaders.

Of course, he still had the class skills waiting for his decision...

The first one was out. He didn't need more weapons. His knives hadn't been enough, and even the spear had let him down. His mind was the weapon now. That left the mental fortress and soul burn as his only good options, with the soul skill obviously standing out.

Stanley didn't like it.

He knew the soul burn was probably a good skill. His soul was stronger than anyone's, and he even knew how to increase it without too much trouble... He should definitely take the skill. Soul magic was the strongest magic.

But he couldn't do it.

Just looking at the skill left him feeling sick. His heart pounded, his hands shook, his skin felt clammy, and all he could think about was the sensation of his soul getting ripped apart. All he could remember was ripping out pieces of himself to kill that monster!

It was the better skill. He knew it was. It would make him more powerful. More power would make it less likely that he'd ever have to suffer that pain again. It would make it less likely that anything would ever push him that close to death again.

But he couldn't fucking do it!

Hadn't he suffered enough already? He'd won. He'd done what he had to do to win. He'd endured the pain to make sure that monster died.

Wasn't that enough?

His evolved class already let him use his soul as a weapon. That was good enough, right? He could increase his soul and his willpower. It would be enough. It had to be enough!

New Class Skill Gained: Mental Fortress (Epic) - Level 1 (Novice)

Stanley relaxed, feeling as if a great weight had just been lifted from his chest. He might have made a mistake, but he didn't care. He'd made the choice. It was too late to go back now.

His suddenly buoyant mood dimmed when he felt Caffeine coming closer, and it wasn't the approaching pug that bothered him.

It was the golden soul coming with him...

He wasn't sure if he should run away... or shield his soul... or... Stanley fled into his meditation. It was dark, if not exactly peaceful. He wouldn't have to look at them in here. But he couldn't escape from their souls...

Eve was with her brother. Both of them were afraid, but Eve was much worse. He had cut off her arm. That was bound to make anyone upset... or was it? Zeke could fix that right up. Stanley had lost limbs and worse before. What did she have to cry about?

Despite his rationalization, Stanley was a coward. He hid in his meditation and tried desperately to make the soul shield work at the same time.

It didn't, and then even that didn't matter when Zeke walked into his domain.

The boy's mouth moved, and air vibrated. He was talking. Stanley actually felt like he could almost understand the words from only the vibrating air...

Zeke stepped closer, reached for him, and Stanley did nothing. He wouldn't stop Zeke if the boy wanted to hit him. Zeke could do whatever he wanted. It was doubtful he could do any serious damage, and maybe a little revenge would make him feel... better?

Only Zeke wasn't angry. He didn't even have a weapon on his person as his arms wrapped around Stanley... and stayed there.

He wasn't strong enough to hurt Stanley by squeezing him. So what was the point? He was even sending his golden light into the meditation, and that was anything but unpleasant.

Stanley saw the tears run down the boy's cheeks and realized Zeke was crying... and not in fear or anger. He was... happy?

His meditation broke, and he abruptly found himself in a hug. Zeke was hugging him.

"Zeke..." He didn't know what to say. "I'm..."

"Thank you, Stanley."

"...sorry. Wait, what?"

"You saved them!"

Stanley felt thoroughly confused as he hesitantly patted Zeke's back and looked up at the other two people in front of him. They made more sense.

Nate was nervous, but no more than he ever was, as he looked on.

Eve was terrified and absolutely enraged... So, the usual.

"I'm sorry," Stanley said to her, his gaze dropping away from the murderous glare.

"Fuck y..."

"It's a miracle!" Zeke exclaimed, interrupting Eve as he finally let go and pulled back. He beamed at Stanley with a smile brighter than the sun.

Did I hit him in the head before? Maybe he can't heal head injuries? Stanley didn't remember hitting Zeke's head... but maybe he'd missed? "Are you okay, Zeke?"

Zeke laughed and hugged Stanley again. Something was definitely wrong with him. "Don't you see, Stanley!?" he exclaimed. "If you hadn't done what you did... if you hadn't run off like that, then those kids, all those people, they would have died! You think I care about a little pain when it means we got to save their lives!?"

That was some serious look on the bright side energy... while jumping through some serious mental gymnastics. Or was it?

Stanley eyed Nate. Had this all been one of his machinations? But that made no sense. He could have just sent Stanley that way with a lot less trouble...

Nate lifted an eyebrow in question.

"I'm sorry about cutting off your arm," Stanley said, only somewhat sheepishly.

"You didn't kill me," Nate said, shrugging. "So technically, you only gave me what I asked for... though I didn't expect you to drag the others into it like you did." He acted nonchalant, but Stanley felt a little anger in that last line.

"I'm still sorry about torturing you," Stanley said to Zeke, finally pushing the boy back off him and holding him at bay in the air.

"I forgive you," Zeke said, and Stanley dropped him into the snow. There was definitely some brain damage.

"Just like that? Just because I brought those people back?"

"Yep!" Zeke beamed, though it slipped slightly when he added, "I don't always know what to believe anymore, but Jesus says to forgive, and I still believe in that. Plus, it all worked together for good... and even if it hadn't, I'd still forgive you."

"That doesn't sound very Christian of you," Stanley said. "I think you're supposed to get angry and accuse me of persecuting you..."

Zeke smiled somewhat sadly. "I know." Then he laughed. "Father Michael was very upset that I was consorting with demons. He told me I should smite you before you turned on us!"

"Ungrateful f..." Stanley swallowed back what he'd been about to say. "So they're all okay, then?"

"You saved them, Stanley. They were getting their first good meal in a long time when we left. You should come back..." He looked up and down at Stanley. "After a bath, maybe? You know you're covered in blood, right? That's probably why he thought you were a demon. That and your... um, angry soul."

Stanley looked down at himself. "It's not all my blood, I think?"

"Nate said you have good regeneration. Is that how you're okay?"

"Yeah... and one other thing," Stanley said, looking at Caffeine, who seemed to have decided everything was fine and was now pawing at Nate's leg.

Nate smiled slightly and moved around to sit in a chair on the porch. "I brought food. Let's eat."

Stanley wasn't sure if Nate was just sticking to the original deal of providing food or if he'd brought it to bribe Caffeine... The pug was too easy.

Eve made no move toward the food or a chair. She was still glaring at him, full of rage.

Zeke sat in the other chair. "Eve, I forgave him. It's okay."

She finally exploded.

"Like hell, it's okay! I don't forgive you and I never will!" she yelled at Stanley while taking steps toward him. Small steps. "You're a fucking lunatic psycho that will snap and kill us all! Hell, you already fucking snapped, and now we're just supposed to pretend it didn't happen!?"

"Eve!" Zeke exclaimed.

"I am a lunatic." Stanley agreed with her. "Would you feel better if you shot me?"

"No!" Zeke yelled.

Eve shot him. Right in the face. Right in his eyes... which turned out to be... unpleasant when they popped and boiled... Though the beam did little beyond that.

Stanley blinked away the spots in his vision once his eyes regenerated. A process helped along immensely by Zeke's aura. "Really? In the eyes? Who's the lunatic now?"

Eve shot him again, this time in the chest, and actually burned small holes into his flesh. Very small holes.

It was probably his psionic barrier skill. It had leveled a lot during his little melee brawl with the rats... or was it just his passive defense?

"You barely got through my skin!" Stanley said, incredulous. "Can't you do better?" It felt like a bad sunburn, nothing more.

"You fucking blocked it!" Eve shot him in the face again, and this time, he turned the silver beams away from his eyes. She really was psycho.

"Maybe? It's very instinctual. How about this?" Stanley held out his arm. The one without even a scrap of his suit remaining.

Cut

Zeke gasped, and Eve recoiled from his amputated arm as it hit the deck with a wet thump.

Stanley grimaced and squeezed until the blood stopped gushing. It hurt a little more than he'd expected... probably since he wasn't in the middle of a life and death battle. Still, it wasn't that bad.

Zeke jumped up and tried to heal him, but Stanley stopped him while looking at Eve. "Happy?"

She just glared, so he picked up the arm and stuck it back on the stump. Mostly as an experiment. Usually, when he lost a limb, it was to something more destructive than this... or something hungrier.

To his surprise, it actually healed back together, though Zeke's aura might have been helping it along faster than normal.

He felt eyes on him and looked over to see Caffeine watching from next to Nate and the chicken in the man's frozen hands.

"I didn't know we could stick limbs back on." Nate said thoughtfully. "Glad we didn't try that with my arm in the mud..." Caffeine whined, and Nate stopped talking to hand over the piece of chicken.

Watching Caffeine eat, Stanley finally remembered what he'd brought from the lair. "Here." He slid over the cores wrapped in his shirt. "I brought a little present as an apology. For the both of you."

"I don't need your damn charity!" Eve spat.

"Don't you?" Stanley said, and Eve glared at him. She was really into that. "If you don't need my damn charity, then why can't you fucking touch me?" She glared harder, and her guns started glowing again.

"Your little flashlights won't do shit against the monsters out there," Stanley growled. "So you need me, whether you like it or not."

"You're a fucking psycho!"

"A fucking psycho is all you've got," Stanley said, spreading his arms. "So unless you're going to somehow miraculously kill that zombie when it comes back, and it will, then give me a fucking break!"

He was screaming by the end of his rant, and both siblings recoiled from him while Nate calmly fed another piece of chicken to Caffeine.

"This hasn't..." Stanley choked back a sob. Then he screamed, "This hasn't been a fucking picnic for me either!"

He was breathing heavily as he traded glares with her, but his heart wasn't in it and he slumped after a few seconds, deflating. "Why are you so mad at me? Is it just because I didn't..." He couldn't say it in front of Zeke. Because I didn't kill your mom?

Stanley wanted to meditate as Eve glared down at him, but he didn't, and Eve went quiet as the glow faded from her guns. He could feel her anger and pride warring against her own very real fear. And not only her fear of him.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

He was sure that she would storm off more than once, but she didn't. She stood her ground and trembled with either rage or fear. Or both. Then she drew in a deep breath and Stanley braced for another explosion.

She didn't explode.

"I saw you that night," Eve growled with only a slight waver in her voice. "I saw you killing the skeleton." Her soul screamed with fear at whatever memory she was reliving, and her hands twitched as she whispered, "You were going to kill me. You wanted to kill me... you..."

Stanley didn't know if it was his higher stats or something else, but when he thought back to the first time he'd used the source, he remembered more than just the blinding light.

There were flashes of monsters dying. A skeleton was screaming as he turned it into dust over and over. Zombies flying away in pieces... and a face peeking through the broken truck stop window.

Eve's face.

How had he forgotten seeing her, and why hadn't she said anything? Other than flipping out on him after he woke up...

More importantly, what did she see?

Did she see the abomination? Stanley remembered seeing it before the source, and it was gone the next day, but he didn't remember killing it. Did she see just how fucked we were?

They had been absolutely fucked. An enemy beyond anything Stanley could survive. Far beyond anything she or her brother could have survived. Then Stanley cracked open his soul.

Then he burned.

She saw me burning.

One thing Stanley knew from the bits and pieces he could remember was the rage. An all-consuming rage that was born from his helplessness. From seeing Caffeine hurt and from knowing that he had screwed up too much.

She met my gaze while I was literally on fire with the source. Did she feel the rage? But why had she only feared him after meeting his eyes in the truck stop the next morning? Or... had she not known who he was until then? Had she saved him while not knowing he was her savior?

Of course, then she absolutely lost her shit, and only after knowing he'd saved her life. Petty. He hadn't actually killed her. Or even attacked her. Not that time, at least... had he? No, she'd be dead if he had.

Stanley let it go with a sigh. "You don't even know what that was, do you?"

He checked the area for souls and found none nearby. He wasn't even sure if secrecy mattered anymore. Not for this. The undead already knew his secret. Hell, they probably knew more about it than he did.

Just to be safe, he put a barrier around them, lifting all of them up to encircle the group. Eve protested, but not very much. Stanley even added an air gap to his shield for whatever good that would do. Hopefully, between Zeke's aura, Caffeine's nose, and the barrier, they would be safe.

Then he took a moment to think about what he was planning to tell them. Did he really want to trust them? Did he need to?

Zeke was important. Eve was important because she was Zeke's sister... and she'd already seen some of the truth.

Nate... despite the rocky start to the relationship, was honestly the most stable person Stanley had met since this all started. He was also the strongest, for whatever that was worth, and there was no telling what he already knew with his bullshit intuition.

Stanley told them his story. Some of it, anyway.

That day in the mountains and the source—at least what little he could recall. His twin and Caffeine. How the three of them did... something to survive.

He told them how it started that first night at the truck stop. How he'd just barely missed getting out in time... The fights that followed...

Stanley hadn't meant to tell them about Samantha and how he'd failed her, but it just came out. He wanted them to know about her. Even if it made him look bad, they should know what she did, how she saved him and, by extension, how she saved them.

They needed to know.

He told them how Nate tricked him into going that way. How it ended up with him running for his life... and how he failed to escape.

The pain of those soul spikes stabbing into him until they finally took him down. The pain of seeing Caffeine bleeding while he refused to run away. The source. The rage.

"That night, I was only thirty years old," Stanley said to the siblings. "Assuming Nate hasn't already told you this."

He must have told them, because Stanley received only a minor reaction from the siblings. "Killing that thing burned years of my life and, presumably, my brother's."

Stanley looked down at Caffeine, who had abandoned the chicken to sit in his lap and was staring up at him—the formerly black pug, now gray because of him. "Caff saved me... saved both of us... but he got old too."

He took a few moments to hug Caffeine while the pug tried to lick his face, then looked at Eve. "I'm sorry I scared you, Eve. I wasn't myself and honestly, I can barely remember most of it. That power... it felt like I was a god... and I just wanted to destroy everything that hurt me. I thought Caffeine was dying... and I was so angry."

"You guys saw the rest. You found me. I was actually dying then, but you saved my life, Zeke."

A life for a life. Hell, two for two. He'd saved Eve's life despite what she said, and they'd saved Caffeine. It was fair.

He told them about the strange dream figure and the message it had given him after he killed the skeleton. Along with what he thought it meant. "I don't think the system knew we had the source until I used it... I don't think we were supposed to have it."

Stanley pointed toward the city. "That one, the second one. It got inside my soul!" He took a second to breathe. "It knew about the source. It was here to take it from me, and it cut my soul open trying to do just that."

He took a few more deep breaths while hugging Caffeine. "It was a D-grade. Sent by someone else to claim the source... or contain it." He stared at nothing. "I couldn't use the source for more than a second; even that much almost killed us, and it blocked it. It fucking blocked it!"

Stanley's breath came in ragged gasps as he whispered, "So I... I ripped out pieces of my soul... our soul... to kill it."

He looked down at his hands. They wouldn't stop shaking. "I had to do it. There was no other way! Do you know what it feels like... to... to... I was so angry. I had to be angry... I couldn't kill it any other... I was dying... I killed it... but we still lost..."

Stanley closed his eyes and tried to enter his meditation. He had to get out of here! He had to escape! But... he couldn't get the damn energy to move properly.

"Fucking work!" he screamed and instantly regretted it when he opened his eyes to see Caffeine's face in front of his own.

Before he could apologize, Caffeine licked his nose, and a small hand touched his own blood-stained and wrinkled one. Golden warmth washed through him and Stanley looked up at Zeke. "It hurt so..."

"I know," Zeke said.

Stanley realized he was broadcasting too much again. He buried his face in Caffeine's gray fur and took some time to breathe until he could rebuild his soul shield.

No one moved or spoke while Stanley basked in the warm glow of Zeke's power. It really was something special.

When he felt ready, Stanley continued. "I... we would have died after that, but my brother sealed up the wound in our soul somehow. I don't know how, but he saved us. He bought us time."

"Then I don't remember anything until I woke up in the tower."

Nate had leaned back in thought. Zeke had tears in his eyes, and Eve was still glaring angrily, but her glistening eyes and horrified soul betrayed her. She'd just gotten a front-row seat to the whole experience. High definition soul-pain included! They all had.

"I am sorry about whatever I did to you, Eve. I'm sorry I didn't... save you when we first met." She was still glaring, but not directly at him anymore. "I have been fighting to survive this hell hole since the first day, and I... Well, now I'm an angry old man, my soul is bleeding, and I think I'm losing my mind."

"I didn't..." Eve whispered, her expression horrified and on the verge of tears.

Then her anger reappeared, clawing its way over the horror and fear. "But that's no excuse for acting like a fucking psycho! Oh, no, I got a boo-boo, so now I'm going to go all edgy and psycho! Don't think I won't still shoot you!"

Nate was wide-eyed when her screaming rant ended, and Zeke's aura actually flickered as he stared in shock.

Stanley looked up at her and was surprised to find himself smiling. Eve's staying true to her character somehow made him feel better. The absurdity of her anger and her refusal to admit defeat were actually inspiring. In fact, it reminded him of himself. Especially when he could feel all that fear and pain swirling around inside her.

"You'll shoot me? With what? Your flashlights?" He taunted her with a grin.

Eve glared harder, and the gun on her shoulder popped up, spun around, and shot a beam into the tree in front of the house.

Stanley had a moment to realize that the tree had definitely grown a lot since he'd first seen it... Then the tree trunk exploded in a cloud of splinters, and the entire thing toppled to the ground in a cloud of swirling snow.

"My weapons are powerful!" Eve yelled over the ringing in their ears. "You two are the fucking freaks!" She leveled a glare at both Stanley and Nate.

Nate, for his part, was gazing thoughtfully at where the remains of the tree were raining down across the overgrown lawn.

Stanley met her angry but mostly still frightened eyes. "Why, Eve? Why?" He covered his face with his hands, and her anger faltered under rising confusion touched with guilt. "I..." Stanley choked back a sob. "I loved that tree!"

Eve shot him.

But in the leg this time... so progress?

"Have you considered that you might have anger issues?" he asked.

Nate leaned forward in his chair abruptly, just as Eve opened her mouth. "Thank you for telling us all that, Stanley," he said, in a blatant attempt to change the subject. "I knew it was bad, but I didn't know how narrowly you scraped by."

He sighed and slumped back. "As for going crazy... who isn't? This shit is crazy!" He nodded at the lawn. "Nice shot, by the way."

Zeke was staring at Eve with a knowing look, but she wouldn't meet his gaze.

Stanley spoke into the silence. "I'm stronger than I was, but I'm not at full power. I'm not ready to face down another one of those bastards. I need to finish fixing my soul before they stop hiding and come after us again."

"I'm not at my full power!" Eve whispered in a mocking, singsong voice.

"It would be nice," Stanley said, ignoring her. "If I could have some real backup when the time comes. Not the best weaklings. Not people who are marginally better than a liability." He looked around at the three of them, particularly at Nate.

"James and the others were decent... and I'm pretty sure it's my fault a D-grade showed up, so I can't really blame them for not being more helpful. But if I had an army of people at your level, Nate... or higher. With a healer who can not only keep us alive but also actively hurt the undead..."

"I want to fight," Zeke whispered, downcast. He glanced up at them. "I don't care if it hurts. I still want to do it."

Stanley took a slow breath and a measure of their souls. "This is what I was trying, rather badly, to teach you. Before I... lost my temper."

Eve bristled, as expected, but Zeke was curious. "What, is there a way to block pain?"

"What? No! Well, not that I know of." Stanley shook his head. "Zeke, can you heal yourself constantly? Or do you run out of mana?"

Zeke thought about it. "I think I can, but healing uses faith. I don't even have mana. It is something I have to focus on and it does get more difficult over time."

"Faith?" Stanley asked him. "How does that work?"

"Faith. It's an attribute and part of my class, but I don't really know how it works or how to make it go up."

"That's..." Stanley didn't know what to make of it. "Do you still believe in... no, nevermind, don't listen to me." Stanley quickly aborted his comment. The boy had helped him and Stanley was about to attack his faith. Not cool. Also, he really didn't want to break their best healer...

Zeke didn't seem bothered, only shrugging. "I have had those same thoughts," he said quietly. "But that doesn't make it go down... It only went down twice. Once when my mom..."

His soul shook with pain from whatever he'd been thinking about, but he rallied. "It also went down when I thought I was too weak to protect Eve from the zombie." More pain shone from his eyes and soul.

Eve moved angrily past Stanley, kneeled in front of her brother, and threw her arms around him. "You weren't too weak! You fucking saved me!"

Zeke hugged her back and Stanley saw a tear slip down one cheek. "I could have saved more... Byron!"

Eve squeezed tighter and Stanley felt the grief in both of them. Everyone had suffered and lost. Stanley knew that intellectually but hadn't been able to grasp it when he was hurting. He hadn't wanted to grasp it. He just wanted to be angry... I really am fucked up, aren't I?

Caffeine ballooned in size and attacked the hugging siblings right in their faces. With his tongue.

Eve leapt away while Zeke laughingly cried and tried to fend off the tongue. "Caff, stop!"

"Disgusting!" Eve swiped angrily at her cheek, but Stanley watched her watch the laughing healer get mauled by a giant pug, and he felt the pain in her soul easing and dimming as happiness and a touch of nostalgia rose to replace it.

Nate lured Caffeine away with more chicken, and Zeke was smiling when he continued. "My faith went up when you killed the invader. I knew it was you... I could feel your anger, and I remembered how strong you were. I knew you would never give up... so I couldn't give up either."

Stanley felt... conflicted about Zeke's estimation of him, but said nothing and only watched Caffeine beg for the chicken.

Zeke looked at his sister. "Eve was screaming at the zombie." His soul stumbled over something painful in his memory, but he soldiered through. "She believed in you even..."

Embarrassment burst from Eve, and she snapped, "Shut up, Zeke!"

Zeke grinned wider at her reaction and laughter bubbled up in him. "She screamed about how you were the end of..."

That was all he got out before a bright red Eve clamped a hand over his mouth and hissed, "I'm going to kill you!"

"She said nice things about you!" Zeke yelled through her hand as he laughed.

"Yeah right. This crazy old fart?" Eve sighed and let Zeke go. "I just knew what a monster he... was." She sounded less embarrassed now, more resigned, and sat down on the porch. She glanced into Stanley's eyes once before quickly looking away, not in embarrassment but in fear.

Stanley didn't smile or tease her. Not again. While it was fun to see her embarrassed, there was too much pain tied to it. So he went back to the topic at hand. "Your healing is really strong, Zeke. It's faster than my regeneration. If you can keep it going non-stop... well, you'd be pretty much unkillable, like Wolverine. Though we should definitely get you a helmet and some armor, just in case."

Eve looked and felt thoughtful as she gazed at her brother.

"What's Wolverine?" Zeke asked.

It was Stanley's turn to be upset. He looked at Eve for confirmation of what he was hearing.

"He led a sheltered life," she said, still looking at him thoughtfully. "Very sheltered."

"The problem with fighting this way," Stanley said. "Is that it fucking hurts."

Zeke paled.

"Yeah, and if you can't handle it, then you die. If you can't fight through the pain and keep fighting, or in your case, keep healing, then you die." Stanley glanced at the somber faces around him. "Or someone you care about dies."

They all sat in silence as they digested his words. Then Nate leaned forward. "I screwed up, Stanley."

"Oh?" Stanley was sure he had. Somehow.

"Ever since you rescued Zeke, I've been more and more sure of his importance to all of our survival. But I've been too careful. I didn't want to risk him and, thereby, everyone else. I was wrong."

"You want to risk Zeke's life!?" Eve growled.

"Yes."

"You..." Eve spluttered.

"He's right," Stanley cut her off. "I didn't get powerful from using cores. I got powerful by almost dying repeatedly. I got stronger by fighting for my life day after day." Though he supposed using the source to get Mind Over Matter might have been a slight cheat...

"Exactly," Nate said. "Traits, titles, skills, and class evolutions. Those are what Zeke needs and what we all need. I'm sure you can understand that, Eve?"

Her soul flinched as she glared at Nate. Did he know something about her skills? "What aren't you talking about?" Stanley asked. "I pretty much just told you everything..."

"Nothing!" Eve snapped. "I'll..." Her gaze flicked to Zeke and away. "It's nothing."

"Zeke," Nate said, standing up. "If you still want to get out there, then you'll need to prove you can handle it."

"I can." Zeke stood, his resolve strong, and with just a little fear peeking through. "I will!"

Nate glanced towards the base. "I can delegate some things and focus more on our strengths. Zeke, you're with me. Eve... I don't actually know how to help you level your class, but I can still train..."

"I can handle myself," she growled, with worried looks between Zeke and Nate. "I'll be watching you."

Then Zeke whispered something to Eve, and she glared at Stanley with murder in her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"I... forgive... you." She ground it out through clenched teeth while Zeke beamed at her and Stanley gaped in surprise.

"Shut up!" Eve snapped at her brother, but he just kept smiling. "Don't think I won't call you on your shit!" she told Stanley, just shy of yelling in his face.

"Sure," Stanley responded, mustering up a small smile.

Eve glared at him, fuming, then turned to stomp away. She went two steps and spun around. "You want to help me?" She stomped back. "Then tell me how you got your soul so strong!"

She was using her soul? Stanley blinked in surprise, but then remembered how he’d felt her soul in that machine.

"I... cheated," he said after a moment, then shivered, his mind recalling a day in the woods so long ago. "I think?"

He was almost positive that whatever had happened to their soul had happened that day in the mountains. "But... I have raised it a few points more recently."

She stared expectantly, and Stanley sighed. "Let's go get some more food. This might take a while. I assume you have used soul energy?"

Eve nodded as she walked alongside him towards the base. "Yes, but I need more. A lot more..."

"I might be able to teach you a skill," Stanley said.

He was more and more certain that, aside from the initial knowledge that came from a skill shard, all the levels were only a mark of your own proficiency. Hell, he'd learned the soul shield by mostly copying Walter's coat effect. Could I teach her Soul Awareness? Or maybe Soul Sight first, since it was far simpler to use. Very straight forward in fact.

The only question then would be if she would get the same evolution options. "Actually, everyone should try to learn these skills."

"Nate," Zeke said as he walked and poked around in Stanley's makeshift pouch of cores. "Are cores usually this good?"

Stanley pulled one to himself.

Core Shard [E-grade]

+5 All Base Attributes

He checked another one.

Core Shard [E-grade]

+8 All Base Attributes

That was a lot higher than before, but it made sense. Because, of course, everything was still getting stronger at a breakneck pace.