~~~Stanley~~~

Hidden Debuff Resisted: [Mind Sway]

"That did absolutely nothing!" Stanley growled, and not for the first time. "Use the other one already!" he demanded instead, and not for the first time either.

The coward just shook his head the same as he did every time Stanley asked for more. "Never! I won't do it!"

He was useless, and his shitty little sway ability was even more useless.

Apparently, his mental domination ability was supposed to be a permanent effect. At least it always was on the monsters he'd used it on, including the ones he still had under his control. Which probably explained why Nate and Caffeine had reacted the way they had...

It was what let him single-handedly protect hundreds of people... as well as attract a bunch of women to throw themselves at him. Allegedly of their own free will.

June wasn't lying, at least. She straight up admitted as much, saying she'd jumped into bed with him purely for his power and protection. Though she claimed that real affection had followed... and she wasn't technically lying about that part either.

Unfortunately, neither party seemed to be lying when Stanley questioned the women who claimed he'd manipulated them into feeling affection for him. They'd felt that affection right up until they'd arrived here, and Zeke's aura had both removed and revealed the hidden debuff from Harem's sway ability...

Or someone else's sway ability.

Except it seemed highly unlikely there would be someone else with the exact same ability, who then used it to make women like someone else... Because Harem, or Marcos, as he preferred to be called, also wasn't lying when he insisted that he'd never intentionally done anything to them.

The implication being that he'd fucked with people's heads unintentionally.

It was fucked. Absolutely fucked. Stanley would have taken his head off then and there, if not for the fact that he'd also dealt the occasional unintended... injury. Primarily in his sleep. During the nightmares.

Of course, it wasn't the same. Stanley had hurt people in his sleep, sure, but that was all he did. The worst he could do was kill someone, but Harem... Just thinking about it made Stanley's skin crawl. It also made him glad he hadn't gone down the route of mental or soul manipulation.

There was definitely power down that route, but it was a fucked up kind of power and Stanley could all too easily imagine the monster he might become with such power.

So, what if Harem just had horny dreams as opposed to Stanley's nightmares? Aside from it being totally unfair that he got the good dreams, was it reason enough to execute the man?

Well, yes. Yes, it was.

Or it would have been in any other circumstance.

The only reason Stanley let him live was because of Zeke, which was presumably the same reason Nate hadn't killed him, either. The kid didn't even have to do anything; his aura passively removed Harem's mind sway from anyone in range. Including from Zeke himself.

It was still fucked up, and lots of people weren't happy about it, which was probably why Nate foisted the unpopular man on Stanley.

"Do it!" Stanley yelled abruptly, also not for the first time.

Hidden Debuff Resisted: [Mind Sway]

"Stop doing that!" Harem protested. Again.

But it's not like Stanley was hurting him... it was just an experiment. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't actually control people like this guy. He could stop them in their tracks, or silence them, or inflict a variety of other effects, but he couldn't force them to think differently. He'd tried.

Sure, it was a little hypocritical considering what he thought about Harem and mind control in general... but there was power there. He'd be a fool not to try, right? Plus, who better to test on than this fucker?

Ahead, he saw a scaley quadruped burst from the slaughter-fest of Blindfold's unleashed gaze and make for the man himself. It dashed unheedingly straight into the black sphere that appeared before its face... and went down with a gaping hole through its head.

Stanley liked giving Bubbles a hard time about his class, but those bubbles were beyond powerful. Far beyond anything he'd expected from the first glimpse. Nothing they touched survived the experience. Nothing.

The only difference he noticed was in how large the guy could make them and also how fast he could summon one. There was a delay if he tried to stick it inside someone—a delay measured in milliseconds—but it was still a delay. Same thing if he put one directly into a lair's structure.

None of his bubbles lasted very long—a single second at most—but they would summon faster and persist longer when he summoned them in the open, as he'd just done to catch that monster. Though it required some skill in predicting a moving target since he couldn't adjust their positioning once summoned.

Hidden Debuff Resisted: [Mind Sway]

Skill Level Up: Mental Fortress

Stanley sighed in a mixture of relief and disappointment. The weaker sway skill could actually raise his own resistance, after all. It was just slow as fuck. After almost an hour of repeated attacks, he'd gained one more level... Now if only he could convince the coward to use his stronger ability again. Maybe if he left Caffeine back at the base? Except Harem still didn't believe that Caffeine was the shadowy monster...

The pug in question was skirting the edges of the red haze, which spread out in a cone ahead of Blindfold. He never strayed into the actual flames, but he kept dashing right up to the edge for sniffs as the border constantly shifted. Stanley would have been more worried, but Caffeine had already singed his nose the first time he tried to see what was happening. Now he never quite let it touch him.

Not that it was that bad. Stanley stuck his hand past Blindfold's head.

Debuff Partially Resisted: [Enraging Scorch]

Debuff Gained: [Scorch]

The guy didn't bother to close his eyes this time; he'd calmed down considerably once he realized Stanley was immune. Well, not completely immune, but he resisted enough that the power only gave him a light burn. There wasn't even a hint of the enrage effect...

Unfortunately, he didn't think there was a resistance he could train against Bubbles. The prick was enjoying himself out here. Ever since the wizards dropped in to tell Nate about this swarm and then tagged along when Stanley brought the new team out for a test run.

Now they were fawning over the man—at least the gray robes were—and he was eating it up. Something about his bubbles really got the gravity wizards excited... even Hugo, their house leader, had come out here to study those bubbles.

Stanley just had to make sure none of them killed him for the legendary class shard...

At least, that was what Nate wanted him to do. But was it that big of a deal if the arrogant dick got himself killed? They'd still have his class afterward. No problem. Hell, the guy had already killed someone else to get it himself.

Nate said he'd investigated Bubbles' group—or what remained of it—after they returned. Apparently, everyone of the survivors agreed Bubbles, or Quinn, as he preferred to be called, had acted in self-defense against the actual murderer who kicked things off.

Stanley had his doubts, but he was looking forward to seeing that power in action against the invaders. Hopefully, it would...

"Caw!"

Premonition warned him about the crow appearing on his shoulder, which was nice. It wasn't an attack, but something about the newly improved skill seemed to trigger much more often, even on things that might just startle him. All in all, it was a fantastic upgrade from the lower-level version.

"Hi, Bird," Stanley said, only for it to vanish again, mid-greeting.

"Caw!" It reappeared on Bubbles' shoulder, much to the man's alarm.

Stanley didn't bother to stop anyone, as more than a few of them attacked the little bird simultaneously. He knew how slippery that cheeky little bastard was. They wouldn't touch it.

As expected, none of the bubbles or wizard's spells got anywhere close to the creature as it popped in and out on various people's shoulders. Honestly, the bird was kind of a dick. It flashed enough glimpses of its soul for him to feel the clear amusement as it toyed with them.

"Stop." He did stop them when Caffeine came charging into the field of fire to say hello. He didn’t stop them for long with so many, just enough for them to get the message. "It's not an enemy." He'd need to get angry to deal with all of them, and he would have, but they aborted the attacks before it came to that.

Stolen story; please report.

The crow reappeared on Caffeine's back, showing Stanley its disappointment briefly before hiding its soul again and cawing at the pug.

Caffeine looked awkwardly back and up at the crow while turning in circles and wagging his tail furiously. He definitely remembered the bird, even though they hadn't seen it in what felt like ages.

"Caw!" A chunk of raw meat appeared in front of the bird's mouth as it squawked, meat that was still burning faintly with small red flames, and Caffeine snatched it from the air without hesitation.

"Did you see that?"

"The mana usage was so smooth!"

"How did it twist the space mana like that?"

The gray wizards all abandoned their fawning over Bubbles to gather around Caffeine and his crow passenger, much to the annoyance of Bubbles himself. Another point to the bird for annoying the blowhard.

Of course, once they were all gathered and ready with various spells to observe and study the bird, it did nothing but ride around on Caffeine's back. Together, they resumed Caffeine's careful investigation of the red fire that was decimating the swarm.

Stanley had to give Blindfold some credit, as well. The man hadn't once blinked or tried to see what the commotion was behind him when the crow appeared, despite his obvious curiosity and slight worry. He really didn't fuck around with that ability of his.

Unfortunately, the monsters under his gaze were running out of fellow monsters to kill and more of them started charging out to attack the people beyond the fiery border. Stanley maimed a few that came out too hot, but otherwise left it for the new team to handle.

This was a good practice run before he threw them into the thick of it tomorrow. Because if these people wanted to face off with the invaders, then they needed to step it up. Way up.

He wanted them to survive and, ideally, become a real threat to the skeletons, but he also wouldn't handicap his own growth to see that happen. They were going to fight at his speed or get left behind. He'd make sure they didn't die, but he wouldn't protect them from harm. In fact, it was probably better if they got hurt. They needed the strength to keep fighting no matter what, even on the brink of death. No, especially on the brink of death.

When it mattered most.

Stanley would do them all a favor and make sure that when the time came, they would be ready. Even if they hated him for it. Because some of them very well might before it was over.

"Look out!" Blindfold yelled as the leader of the swarm finally emerged from the chaos. It was half again as big as its smaller fellows, nearly ten feet at the shoulder, and twice as fast as it made a beeline toward the one responsible for its current predicament.

Despite its bloody condition and the red flames licking at its flesh, the creature dodged Bubbles' attack and bore down on the defenseless Blindfold.

Stanley was about to interfere when the crow vanished from Caffeine's back. There was a deafening pop, and the monster's head vanished just ahead of a storm of magic, courtesy of the wizards, that descended on the now headless monster.

Then the crow reappeared on Caffeine's back.

That was new... Apparently, it had some serious attack power to go along with all that dodging. Of course, the gray wizards got even more excited after the show.

"Where was your help!?" Bubbles yelled, red-faced, at Harem. He was probably just mad that he wasn't the center of attention anymore. Upstaged by a bird. Twice. If anything, it should motivate him to get better.

"I didn't have the mana!" Harem retorted, equally angry. "Stanley's had me using every scrap on him!"

"You know," Stanley interjected as Bubbles opened his mouth. "I wouldn't have to do that if you would just use..."

"For fuck's sake already!" Harem yelled, rounding on him. "I'm not doing it! I'm never doing it again! Ever!"

"Wow," Stanley said. "Just say something if that's the case. There’s no need to be so angry about it..."

"I... You..." Harem sputtered, furious.

"Caw!" Stanley grinned, but the crow screaming in his ear interrupted him before he could say anything. It reappeared further away with another caw, right next to the flying soul Stanley hadn't missed approaching them. He actually thought it was another crow at first, as they were both about the same size and color, even though its soul felt different and it wasn't hiding it at all. Then the new flyer opened its mouth toward the crow, and Stanley saw a familiar blue glow shining from within.

It was a bat...

The crow popped away from the light and reappeared, standing on top of the bat, where it cawed in its ear. A maneuver that sent both of them spiraling toward the ground. Of course, the bird simply teleported away with more amusement. So Stanley caught the flailing bat before it smacked into the dirt—or rather, before it crash-landed on top of Caffeine, who'd obviously gone running to check it out.

It didn't feel strong, and it was a long way from its home. Assuming it came from the same bat lair... Or had the lair fallen to another monster? Would they find a bat swarm flying across the city now?

The bat squeaked angrily from where he held it aloft, flapping its wings in confusion. Despite that, its soul wasn't nearly on the level of the really stupid bats Stanley had seen before, closer to the queen or king bats... Though the real source of its ire might have been the giant pug nose in its face.

Caffeine had grown in size until he was tall enough to reach the hovering bat. Nothing crazy, only five feet tall or so, but to the tiny bat...

Seeing the pug's tail start wagging, Stanley set the bat down in front of him, and Caffeine immediately dropped into a playbow as he shrank back to a less intimidating size.

There was some more confusion from the tiny soul, along with wariness, as it watched Caffeine dance around trying to play, and then it crawled awkwardly after the pug.

Stanley felt it then. The bat was here for Caffeine—not to challenge him, but... for something else.

Caffeine didn't care about anything but the chase, which he loved. He spun in a circle away from its reaching arms before dropping back into his play bow with an excited bark.

The bat squeaked at him and bounded into the air, pursuing Caffeine in the pug's favorite yet hopelessly outmatched game of chase.

~~~Caffeine~~~

Caffeine ran very fast away from the flapping dog, and he was much faster when he ran flapping through the air. Almost like Dearest Human did, but with more flapping. A much better chaser! "Isn't chasing the best!?"

"If it's what you want..." His new friend squeaked while he flapped past, and then it was Caffeine's turn to chase. Though it was less fun when he couldn't catch him way up in the air... So Caffeine jumped.

He jumped a little too fast.

"Oops," Caffeine woofed as he tumbled back down beside his new friend. "I chased too hard!"

"Sorry, Beast Lord! I got in your way!" Squeaker made lots of squeaky noises. Very loud! But he did stop tumbling and started flapping-chasing again when Caffeine ran into the dirt. Though he seemed confused...

"Did you see Beast Lord?" Caffeine asked as he dodged aside. "I thought he lived in the green place! Where is he!? We can all play chase together!"

"I... don't know..." Squeaker squeaked and smelled like confused. Caffeine didn't like confused. It was... not fun.

"Caff!" Then Dearest Human called from far away.

"We should go back!" Caffeine barked. "Dearest Human has the best treats! Or he might give us belly rubs... Or belly rubs and treats!"

There was a lot of noise and blowing stuff when he stopped in front of Dearest Human, but Dearest Human had Chicken! So he didn't notice any of that other stuff. None of it was snacks!

"Good boy," Dearest Human said the magic words!

"I am a good boy!" Caffeine barked while his tail wagged and his mouth got all wet. Then Dearest Human tossed the Chicken and Caffeine caught it with his best treat-catching chomp!

Only after it was in his mouth and he was about to swallow the snack did Caffeine remember his new friend. He should share... Dearest Human always shared, and Squeaker might have never had Chicken before... That was the worst thing he could imagine!

He turned to share... and saw Squeaker stopped very far away. His new friend smelled like worried when Caffeine ran over and dropped the Chicken, but he would feel better after eating. Caffeine always felt better after a good snack! "Here, eat the Chicken. It always makes everything the best!"

Squeaker didn't eat. He was only afraid. Then it got worse when Dearest Human sat in the air beside them.

"Don't worry," Caffeine huffed. "Dearest Human is nice!"

"This one scary!" Squeaker squeaked and started backing up slowly.

That was the strangest thing Caffeine had ever heard. "Dearest Human isn't scary."

"If you don't like Chicken," Dearest Human said something about Chicken! "Maybe this is more to your tastes?" Then he made a glowing rock float over to Squeaker.

Caffeine didn't like the rocks. They didn't taste like anything. But Squeaker stopped backing up when he saw it. Then he jumped forward, and the rock turned into light that flew into his mouth... When it was gone, he squeaked softly with a happiness noise.

"I guess you are from the same lair," Dearest Human said more not words while smelling like lots of sad things. Caffeine gave him a lick so he would know everything was okay, and Dearest Human smelled less like sad and more like happy! He also gave Squeaker another rock. It turned into lights, just like the first one.

Maybe the rocks tasted better like that? Caffeine thought about trying it, but then Dearest Human had more Chicken! "You too, Caff."

"Don't encourage the rat!" One of the Not Dearest Humans said something.

Caffeine looked up, very worried when he felt Dearest Human be angry with the Not Dearest Human. It was the one who made the Nothing Holes. They weren't tasty or interesting. Only nothing.

"Who the fuck are you calling a rat!?"

Not Dearest Human backed away while smelling like afraid. "N... no... I meant the bat! I was talking about the bat!"

"Relax, Stanley," a different Not Dearest Human said. He was the one who made heavy lights. Also not very tasty. "No one's criticizing your dog. But those bats are a plague for us. We don't even venture into downtown anymore."

"But he's so cute!" Dearest Human said something and pulled Squeaker into his lap, which his new friend didn't like at all! "Don't tell me you're scared of this little guy!"

Squeaker squirmed and struggled to escape, as if Dearest Human was hurting him, which, obviously, he wasn't. All the struggles stopped when Dearest Human moved Squeaker onto Heavy Not Dearest Human. Squeaker sniffed at him, very excited, and opened his mouth. Lots of lights sparkled when he did that, and he ate all of them.

Caffeine had eaten lights before, and they weren't tasty. But his new friend liked the lights more than Chicken! He was very strange.

"It takes the strongest spells I have to actually kill one of these. They eat anything weaker before it can touch them." Not Dearest Human made unhappy noises as he held Squeaker away from him. Squeaker didn't mind. He just ate more light from Not Dearest Human's hands, and with his eyes closed in happiness, like it was the best thing ever! Very strange.

"Why don't you resist the mana drain?" Dearest Human said more not words, but Caffeine didn't care because he also gave him more Chicken!

"You can't resist..." Not Dearest Human sounded like upset.

"Why not?" Dearest Human gave him more Chicken! "Aren't you guys all about controlling mana?"

"I..." Not Dearest Human smelled curious now as he watched Squeaker eat his lights. "I had not considered that. Using the bats as a training aid... If you don't mind handling our transportation, I will put your theory to the test."

"Yeah, yeah. I can carry everyone, but you better not hurt it. Caffeine already made friends." Dearest Human said his name!

"I... heard he does that... occasionally."

"Yes. Yes, he does." Dearest Human pulled Caffeine into his lap and gave him a belly rub while making Chicken fly into his mouth!

It was the best!