~~~Stanley~~~

Stanley didn't mind talking to the first wizard in line. In fact, he was hoping the guy had some good news. "Did you figure out how to track the spell already?"

"Ah, not yet," Theo said. "Though I have assigned a team to get started. I had hoped to discuss another topic if you have a moment?"

So, in other words, he was useless.

"Fine," Stanley said while taking the chicken from Zeke and feeding it to Caffeine himself. "Who’s a good boy, Caff!?"

"Well, you see..." Theo cleared his throat. "I received a message from Mr. Neveral shortly after our... battle. He was quite distraught and kept going on about broken time and how we had all died..."

"You're a good boy!" Watching that curly tail wag back and forth was the best thing since... well, since the last time he'd seen it.

"He also said he had seen into oblivion and it had... winked at him," Theo continued. "Honestly, I thought he was hysterical and convinced his apprentices to place him under a sleeping enchantment before he hurt himself... or someone else."

"You're a good boy!" Stanley said again, beaming to see and feel Caffeine's happiness.

"I had hoped," Theo said with a slight edge of impatience in his voice. "That you might have some insight into the events of last night." Nate shifted beside him, and Theo's tone vanished. "If you don't mind, that is. I understand if you do not wish to discuss it."

"It's possible," Stanley said without looking away from Caffeine. "The winking, I mean. The broken time thing was real, but I think whatever fixed it is probably what your friend saw. Did he say what it looked like?"

"He... may have tried to describe it, but like I said, he wasn't making sense. That was when I contacted his apprentices."

Stanley already had a pretty good idea of who and what the voice belonged to. It had to be that fake man who had taken him back to watch how this all started on that day in the mountains. Time travel, of a sort. It had said they weren't really there, but Caffeine had growled at it... so maybe it was actually time travel?

He'd felt nothing from it to match the power of that thing that had attacked Lee, not before and not last night, but Stanley expected it had been on par. Something with the power to fix a hole in reality like that had to be a god, right?

Theo kept talking. "Am I correct in assuming his reaction involves the... artifact you left behind?"

"The what?"

"He's talking about the invader you killed back at the base," Nate said. "It's... something else. Even gives you a notification if you try to touch it."

"It..." Stanley stared at him, but the guy wasn't kidding. "What does it say?"

Nate shared a glance with Theo, then grinned. "You should probably see it for yourself."

"Just fucking tell me!" Stanley snapped, his anger rising fast and hot. Too hot.

Luckily, Theo was in a more helpful mood. "It says not to touch things you don't understand."

"That’s... weird." Stanley looked back and forth between them. "So you all touched it anyway?"

Nate laughed. "We're only human, aren't we?"

"True... for now." Stanley turned and glared at the next wizard still waiting in line. "What!? Can you track the soul yet!?"

"I..." The man looked nervously around, then turned and left. "I can come back!"

The rest of the eager wizards followed his lead, as they all seemed to suddenly remember that they had other important things to do. Stanley watched them go with a glower, then looked around at his friends. He'd been hesitant to leave Zeke alone before, but the new marks had him feeling a lot better about the prospect. Better, but not comfortable. "How safe is he?"

"No one is safe," Nate said quietly, following his gaze. "But given how they cleared out of here ahead of us is... reassuring. You scared them, Stanley. That thing was already terrified, but then you showed up and did... that."

He glanced around, then whispered, "Did you really break time? I felt something for an instant, and I could have sworn there were notifications... but now there's nothing."

"I did. A god fixed it. Or at least, I think it's a god. Said I owed it a favor."

"You..." Nate scoffed, then stared at him. "You're serious."

"Yup. There was a big hole in reality, and..." Stanley smiled. "Caffeine growled at it." His smile didn't last. "I thought it was going to swallow me up... or all of us. Then it closed, and I heard a voice telling me I owed it one."

"That's... a lot," Nate finally said, his gaze calculating.

"I'm still stronger than you," Stanley said. "In case you were wondering."

Nate looked dubious but not eager to test the matter, either. "You were definitely terrifying enough last night... and today. I also can't help but notice that you're... still glowing?"

Stanley frowned at the lines of purple light shining from beneath his skin. "Yeah, it's being stubborn about fucking off... I might need to meditate longer..."

"Then do that," Nate said. He was seriously worried about this. "We can wait all day if..."

Stanley meditated. Not because Nate told him to, but because the man's genuine worry was making him angry. He stayed in longer this time, for what felt like an hour at least, until Caffeine woke up on his own and started sniffing the air.

Racial Evolution Progress... 20%... 21%...

It still hadn't gone below twenty percent... and just looking at it bumped it up another percentage point. Damn it.

Racial Evolution Progress... 21%... 25%...

Damn it!

Racial Evolution Progress... 25%... 30%...

Oh, for fuck's sake!

Stanley grabbed the food, and this time, he ate a few bites himself rather than let Zeke heal him, mostly to make sure he could regenerate without the healer...

Luckily, it turned out he could, though it took a lot of food. Instead of eating everything, he saved the chicken for Caffeine and flew outside to find a lair for himself.

The nearest one was corrupted... not quite undead, but damn close. He wiped it out, queen included, and it was easy... like pinching ants between his fingers. He didn't even need to try... a simple sweep of his power left everything, even the lair itself, shattered and broken. Like brushing away cobwebs.

Racial Evolution Progress... 32%... 49%...

Unfortunately, all that wonderful power came with a cost... Stanley meditated for a bit, then flew back to Zeke rather than eat any more of Caffeine's chicken.

He tried using Still Mind for the next lair... and it didn't work. As soon as he attacked, the skill broke. He kept trying, but it kept forcing him to stay angry. Or he kept forcing himself...

It was annoying and infuriating, but also so, so good. The power at his fingertips was intoxicating, and he couldn't get enough. Even the anger stopped bothering him after the initial irritant of his Still Mind ending. Hell, he didn't actually feel angry. He felt amazing!

Caffeine was the only bummer with the way he kept sitting up and looking all sad... and Stanley loved him for it. Caffeine really was the best dog, and mercifully, no matter how annoyed he got with the pug, Stanley never felt the slightest urge to hurt him. Instead, he wanted nothing more than for him to be happy, and that definitely made it easier to let go of the power.

Lee and his friends helped too... but so did Stanley's friends. The brands he'd stuck on them went both ways, after all. It felt simultaneously like they were right beside him but also in the distance, and they all knew when he was spiraling...

Stanley almost regretted branding them, more so when the brands led them right to him, but he didn't. Not really. They cared, and it was a good feeling. Plus, it made Caffeine happy when they showed up.

Though they didn't all care the same.

Nate still had something lurking inside him... regret and guilt, mostly. It wasn't really a problem because Stanley could tell that the man was still fully on his side. He cared, but it was more... calculating? No, that wasn't quite right; maybe more... strategic? He didn't care less, and he wasn't cold about it, but he also wasn't going in with blind affection like some others... mainly Zeke.

Zeke's soul held a fanaticism that bordered on disturbing. Likely a holdover from his religious background, and it had only gotten worse since he'd known him. God, I hope he's not praying to me... He probably wasn't. I can't hear you, Zeke!

Eve was almost the opposite, with a desperate devotion toward her brother and nothing else. That was probably unhealthy... but who was he to judge? Between his brother and his dog...

The rest weren't quite to the level of being willing to die for him, but they were ready to fight on his behalf, physically and emotionally... and that was enough. Better friends than he'd probably ever had.

Stanley opened his eyes when they stopped beside him.

"Any trouble?" Nate asked, eyeing the rapidly rotting corpse Stanley had snacked on.

"The opposite," Stanley said and stretched out his hand. "I feel like a god." Probably a poor choice of words, given how Zeke's soul reacted... but it was true. He closed his fist, and the entire four-story building-turned-lair imploded.

You have attacked a... Lair destroyed.

It wasn't entirely his new and permanent willpower boost. He'd tapped into his soul for that demonstration... Unfortunately, that didn't change the cost of showing off.

Racial Evolution Progress... 25%... 46%...

He could only imagine what would happen if he were really trying... or actually angry. He'd crept right to the edge twice now. First, last night, then even closer today, and he hadn't even been fighting the second time... It would be a delicate dance, but he should be able to destroy at least one invader without falling off, though, just in case...

"Eve," Stanley said. "If they come for Zeke... I'll stop them, but... just stay out of my way afterward. That goes for all of you. If I change... well, I don't think I'll hurt any of you... at least not if you don't try to stop me."

Zeke didn't like that, but Eve only nodded, oddly comforted by his statement.

Nate was more pragmatic. "They won't attack him again. Not while you're still alive, at least, and I doubt they'd risk attacking you directly, either."

"But if they do..."

"They won't," Nate stated. "They know they can't beat you, so they'll try something else." His confidence wavered, and he muttered, "Though I have been wrong before..."

"Either way..." He rallied quickly, despite the moment of doubt, and glanced around the group before receiving silent nods from each of them. "We think it's time for you to try something else, too."

Stanley glared at the odd looks and smiles coming his way, trying to discern what they were conspiring about...

"You've done enough," Nate said, and Stanley shook his head. This couldn't be going where it sounded like it was going. "You've carried this entire dungeon on your back. Now it's time to take a break and let others take up the..."

Stanley picked him up and, sans a cave wall to hit him with, threw the idiot into the sky, aiming for somewhere over the horizon.

So, of course, Nate somehow kicked off the air, reversing his flight and landing back where he'd started. "...fight. You've earned a break."

He couldn't be serious... "I'm dead serious about this," Nate said. "Yeah, you're powerful, but look at yourself. You said you didn't want to change, but now you're playing with fire by..."

Stanley wanted to throw him away, harder this time, but Caffeine was sitting up in his lap with that worried look on his face. So he meditated instead. It had the added benefit of muting Nate's stupid voice.

The moron was serious. Nate really wanted to sideline him... and it was only the day after they'd just lost one of the most important fights of their lives. Had he given Nate brain damage with all those blows to the head? Or did the man just think he was hot shit after reaching D-grade? How strong was he, really?

While he alternately mused and fumed, Silas created a crystalline platform and used it to carry him after the others when they jogged away. It was strange to be moving while he meditated, but not enough to distract him from the issues at hand.

It didn't matter how strong Nate thought he was. There was no way Stanley would or could sit out the fight. No way in hell! So what if he had anger issues!? He could still fight! Even if he had to take some extra breaks... it wouldn't be that much different from his early days.

They stopped at the next lair, and Stanley remained in his meditation, though he listened to their souls to gauge their progress as they wiped it out. Not nearly as fast as he could have... but decent. Then they dumped the cores onto the platform beside him and ran on...

Stanley glared at the cores through his domain. Really? You're going to buy me off with a few cores!? I don't need your pity! I don't need to be carried!

The irony of that last thought pulled him back out, and Stanley flew on ahead before Nate could say anything else so stupid. They were fast, but he was faster and arrived back at the base well before they caught up, whereupon he found the place in a state of... organized chaos.

People rushed in all directions, carrying stuff from the damaged building to a whole train of giant wooden platforms lined up outside. Each platform was the size of at least two semi-trailers side by side and lined with short walls around their perimeters. Like very rectangular boats... or barges.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The best part, in Stanley's opinion, was how one barge floated in the air a few feet above the ground. Going by the group of gray robes surrounding it, the wizards were finally making themselves useful. He left them to their weak imitation of his power and went looking for Jerry because if anyone would have some food ready, it would be him.

Along the way, he noted the scene of last night's... execution. It looked identical to what he remembered, if not a bit more sparkly in the sunlight. Maybe bigger too? Everyone moving between the building and the platforms gave the area a wide berth... Stanley did, too. He'd come back to see the notification Theo had mentioned after Caffeine had something to eat.

"Stanley," Bernard's voice whispered in his ear. "Could we..." It went away when Stanley stilled the air between him and the flying man overhead. He didn't want to waste time getting angry over whatever bullshit the man had cooked up. Food first.

The glittering edge of his... artifact stretched all the way inside the walls, through a gaping opening that Stanley was mostly sure had been there before he arrived the night before. The damage didn't stop at the wall, and Stanley flew into the building through the brand new entrance. On the upside, it made it easier to get inside since no one else was using the gap...

He didn't like that the trail of destruction came awfully close to Jerry's grill, and he might have been worried if he couldn't see the man's soul in there... where Jerry had a giant chicken rotating on a spit over his cookfire.

"You're still alive," Jerry said without sparing a glance. Instead, he only had eyes for Caffeine when the pug sat up with a wagging tail. "Hello to you too, Caff. Hungry?"

Caffeine's tail wagged faster, and he made excited noises of agreement while hopping out of Stanley's lap.

"Here," Jerry said, and cut off a leg of the roasting chicken with a flick of his knife. He'd barely held it out when Caffeine ballooned in size and ate the entire thing with a single crunching chomp, bone included. After which, the pug stared intently at the remaining chicken while licking his lips.

"Oh, you're feeling much better, aren't you!?" Jerry said with a laugh. "Who's a good boy!?" He followed his words with more chicken, this time in smaller bites, and Caffeine loved each and every one.

Stanley drank in the sight of Caffeine acting so energetic and happy. It was the perfect moment... until Jerry ruined it. "You know you're flying around in your underwear, right?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Nah," Jerry said, scrutinizing him up and down. "I wouldn't dream of critiquing your fashion sense, and the whole glowing bit's a pretty good distraction. Though if I could suggest one thing..." Stanley only stared at the man. He knew this was going to be something stupid, and it was. "You should put your crown back on. It would really tie the whole look together."

Stanley frowned and touched his head while Jerry chuckled to himself. Where was his crown? He was fairly certain he'd been wearing it when he flew in last night... had it gotten blasted into the woods at the end there? Technically, nothing should be able to leave his domain without him noticing, but he didn't remember losing the crown. Or the cannibal core...

Jerry finished laughing at his own joke but never stopped feeding chicken into Caffeine. That sight, along with thoughts of his domain, reminded Stanley of something from... last night? A memory of sorts, except not one of sights and sounds. Instead, it felt like an echo from his domain. "Did you feed Caffeine last night?"

"Of course," Jerry said. "I've been keeping a stockpile of chicken on hand ever since he knocked out. Figured the poor little guy would be starving when he finally woke up, and he was."

"Thank you!" Stanley said, almost choking up from the feelings surging inside him. "You're one of the good ones, Jerry, and I'm glad you survived that shitshow last night."

"Please." Jerry rolled his eyes. "Don't get all emotional on me now. I just happen to know that Caffeine's my only chance to survive when you finally snap and kill everyone." He eyed Stanley critically. "Though you are looking a little less murder-y today..."

Stanley rolled his eyes and shoved the cook, but only gently, since he didn't want him to stop feeding Caffeine. "Whatever. I'm still glad you..."

"No!" a woman's yell came from somewhere in the building. "You have to stay in..."

"Caffy!" A much higher-pitched voice screamed behind him, and Stanley turned in time to see a small child literally bounce off the ceiling as she careened into the room. The girl crashed into another man on her way back down, launched herself off a table, and slammed to a halt against Caffeine's side when the pug appeared between her and the massive firepit she'd been flying straight toward. What were they feeding the kids these days?

"Denise!" a woman shouted as she came through the door behind the girl. "You aren't allowed to play in the..." She locked eyes with Stanley and trailed off as the blood drained from her face.

Stanley looked away from the terrified woman and instead watched Caffeine attack the child's face with his tongue. She had no reason to be frightened, and she had to have known he was here already... On that thought, Stanley put his soul shield back up. As expected, it did nothing to mute the branded souls of his friends and one still unhappy wizard... so that was good.

"Irene," Jerry said, his voice barely carrying over the child's squeals. "How many times I gotta tell you that Stanley's harmless?"

The woman started moving again but went wide on her way to the girl and Caffeine. "You also tell everyone that he'll snap and kill us all!" she hissed, then winced and forced an apologetic smile Stanley's way. "No offense!"

"I only said he probably would!" Jerry protested. "Otherwise, he's harmless! He won't hit on you, he won't undress you with his eyes, and he won't look at you like he's hoping you wander far enough out that he can have his way with you."

"Wow," Stanley muttered, giving Jerry a much harder shove. "Glad I'm living up to your ridiculously high standard of not being a serial killer."

Jerry grinned at him. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? But you obviously haven't heard the bullshit some guys try to pull after getting a taste of power."

"So?" Stanley frowned at him. "You just kill them, don't you?" Though that reminded him of Brett... Where was he? If June was dead, that probably meant that Brett was, too. Had he dropped a core? Nate probably knew...

"See?" Jerry said, smiling at Irene while holding both hands out toward Stanley. "He's a simple guy with simple solutions. Long as you aren't a problem, you got nothing to worry about!"

Shockingly, his speech did nothing to make the woman feel better. Instead, she tried futilely to capture the child chasing after Caffeine between and under the tables. "Come along, Denise! We have to stay out of the way while everyone is..."

"Let them play," Stanley said.

"I... but it's not safe in here!"

Stanley glanced around at the tables and chairs, not to mention the huge bed of coals in the open firepit. None of it mattered. Given her entrance, she was probably tough enough to walk barefoot through the fire, and besides, Caffeine would protect the kid no matter what. Still... there was only one of them here, and Caffeine would want to play with all of them.

He caught the child—taking extra care to be as gentle as possible with his new power—and carried the squirming thing back to its caretaker, Caffeine now in pursuit. "Where are the rest of them?"

"I..." She looked back and forth between him and the floating child before sighing. "This way... and thank you."

Before he left, Stanley took the remaining leg from the roasting chicken, and Jerry shouted after him, "You're welcome!"

Stanley waved without looking back, instead focused on steering the squealing child's hands away from the doorjamb and everything else she tried to grab onto. Caffeine helped by effortlessly avoiding her grip while darting in and out to lick her face.

Irene led him past the room Stanley had last seen the kids, and he understood why after a glance inside where a portion of the ceiling no longer existed. He could see into the floor above, and there was daylight shining through from somewhere out of sight.

It made him angry—well, angrier—and Stanley flicked on his Soul Sight to find his destination quicker. He took Irene with him and moved toward the large cluster of child souls. Caffeine kept up without trouble, and Stanley heard a single booming bark come from Barbie before he dropped his cargo and fell into meditation.

Caffeine's presence helped distract from his soul shield failing. Either that, or the kids didn't care, because none of them seemed to react. Not like the adults did. Then the chaos that followed made a fantastic background to his meditation.

The kids were thrilled, and Barbie no longer felt any fear at seeing the pug. In fact, the pit bull's soul actually seemed more relaxed after his arrival... maybe he finally understood that Caffeine would only help him protect his human better?

Those were all good things, but the best feeling of all came from Caffeine, because the pug was having the time of his life...

It all added up to an extremely pleasant atmosphere to meditate in. More exciting than soothing, but still great.

The pleasantness waned when a vaguely familiar woman entered his domain and started talking at him. It waned further when she started yelling and poking him. Irene's worried soul was speeding back his way when Stanley opened his eyes.

"...like a lump when someone's talking to ya, boy!" The angry little Black woman finished yelling, and Stanley remembered why her soul felt familiar. Her name was still a mystery, but she'd been equally annoying the last time he saw her...

"Trudy!" Irene called. "What are you doing!?"

"Telling. This. Boy," Trudy said, punctuating each word with a finger jabbing into his ribs. "To put his clothes back on!"

Stanley looked down at his briefs. "I'm wearing enough."

"Bah! Enough, he says! Where'd your suit go!? Ya looked good in that one!"

Her soul felt weird when she said that last bit... not so much angry as wistful... and something else he couldn't place. Wasn't she one of Eve's friends? That would probably explain her weird behavior... Still, friend of a friend and all that. Instead of wasting his time getting angry or arguing with the lunatic, Stanley flew away. His evolution progress was low enough, and there was still something else he wanted to check.

The skeleton stood like two separate halves of a statue amidst a field of glass, and Stanley stared at it for long moments before he could bring himself to approach the thing, let alone touch it. It was a menacing sight, even broken, and it loomed large before him as he drifted closer. Though not as large as he remembered...

These things had always felt so much bigger in his nightmares. Unstoppable behemoths that hounded him relentlessly.

Now, here in the light of day, dead and broken, it still towered over him, but only physically. It hadn't been unstoppable this time, and he had killed it. Hell, he'd more than killed it. He had annihilated it.

Sure, it hadn't gone quite how he'd wanted, but he'd still won. Mostly. Trying to change the past had always been a long-shot plan... hadn’t it? Technically, the only thing preventing his plan from working was the same thing that had always held him back. He just needed more power.

"I do not fear you, foul thing," Stanley finally whispered, before reaching out to touch one half of its face... His hand never reached the bones; instead, his fingers ran into a glass-like wall almost a whole foot away, and a notification appeared.

(Hi, Stanley! I left... you a little reminder... here, since you might have... lost a few notifications when... I fixed your mess. Ha... Ha...)

The familiar voice and laugh were not a surprise; he’d already suspected that creature’s involvement, though Stanley had a feeling that neither Theo nor Nate had seen this particular notification... They would have mentioned that terrible laughter if nothing else.

(Ha... Ha... After all the... trouble I went to... to give your other half a taste of time... magic, you were the one... who went and pushed... it! Ha... Ha...)

Stanley shivered but didn't miss what it had said. His other half... was it talking about Lee? Had it given him something? When!? And how!? And what the fuck did a taste of time magic mean!? Wait... the god that had attacked Lee... was it...

The disturbing laughter finally ended and the disturbing voice continued.

(Oh, right... the notifications.)

At least the following notifications were normal... or as normal as they could be given what they said.

Warning! Spacetime rupture detected! Emergency Quest created. Preparing containment measures.

Warning! Isolating Grand Raid: [The Fall of Boston] from Dungeon World (Earth)

Warning! Strengthening Dungeon Perimeter to Contain Spacetime Rupture.

Warning! Sealing Dungeon Perimeter. Consigning all Sapient and Sentient...

Emergency Quest accepted.

Spacetime rupture contained.

Isolation and consignment of Grand Raid: [The Fall of Boston] aborted.

Recalculating Threat Level of Lee and Stanley Cascade...

That was a lot. Nate definitely hadn't seen this. He wouldn't have been so amused with himself if he had... and that last bit was especially troubling. Never mind the faint laughter that trailed off into a whispered...

(Remember, you owe me one.)

So it probably wasn’t the thing that attacked Lee, considering it wanted something from him... or maybe both of them? Did Lee owe it a favor already? Did he get a similar message?

Other than that, it was definitely the same man that wasn't a man. The system even mentioned quests again... but why? Why couldn't the system fix the rupture itself? Was this being more powerful than the system? Or were there simply certain things it couldn't do? What did the quest say? Did it bring that being here, or was it already here and watching?

If it was already watching, then why? Why did something so powerful even care about him or want something from him? What could he possibly do that it couldn't, and worse, what did it mean that he owed it one?

"Mr. Cascade," Bernard's voice came from behind him, and Stanley didn't bother to turn. The man's grudges and schemes just felt so... small in the face of everything else. Who cared who was in charge? What did any of that matter? Though Bernard's soul felt... strange, and he was being oddly polite. "Sir!"

Stanley turned then, mostly because he couldn't believe what his domain was telling him.

It wasn't wrong. Bernard was saluting him... in plain sight of everyone, where he hovered a few feet off the ground.

The man didn't meet his gaze and instead stared over his shoulder, but his soul was sincere, if not entirely thrilled, when he said, "Thank you, sir."

Stanley wasn't about to salute back, but he opened his mouth to say... well, he wasn't sure what he wanted to say.

Luckily, Bernard didn't seem to expect any response. He dropped the salute and instead held out a bundle of different-colored cloth. "I brought a variety of clothing options in case you would like to get dressed."

Again with that? What was everyone's problem with clothing when they could all die at any fucking moment!? Well... looking at Bernard now, the man was wearing more armor than clothing. Not that Stanley needed armor these days... at least, not against most monsters. It just so happened that the only actual threats to his person were beyond any armor he'd seen yet. Except the clothing on offer wasn't armored... so maybe Bernard understood that.

Stanley sighed. "Where did you get all of this?"

"I asked around when you arrived. Though I'm sure I could procure something more tailored to your specifications if you don't mind waiting." Yeah, and Stanley could do the same if he wanted to.

"It doesn't matter," Stanley said instead of arguing and took a gray cloth from the other man, which turned out to be a wizard robe, though that wasn't why he took it. The cloth turned out to be exactly as soft as his domain had shown, and he donned it with only minor reservations about what magic might linger within. He would have only folded it in his lap since he mainly wanted Caffeine to have a softer bed when he came back for his next nap, but this way, maybe people would stop bitching about his outfit?

"I suppose now you want my help with all this?" Stanley asked, waving at the surrounding chaos.

"On the contrary," Bernard said. "Not only did Mr. Washington give a direct order that you were to be left out of it, but I agree with him. You have done enough for..."

"You can fuck right off with that bullshit!" Stanley snapped. "Nate was bad enough, but you're brain-damaged if you think I can't still fight!"

Bernard held up both hands and drifted back, frightened. "I don't think that! Rather, I hope and pray for the opposite!" Despite his fear, he moved closer again in a swirl of air, though he lowered his voice before continuing. "I'll admit I've had my doubts about your commitment to humanity, but after last night, that is no longer the case."

He was a bastard, but he meant what he was saying. "Whatever you need to see this through, I and mine stand with you. So long as you continue to uphold the values and ideals of this great nation..."

Stanley stopped listening and started meditating. Bernard definitely feared him more than he had. A perfectly healthy amount of fear. But whatever he'd seen, the guy had changed his tune. To a point. Bernard probably wouldn't risk turning on him now, but Stanley wouldn't be surprised if he started trying to steer him toward replacing Nate... Not that Stanley was feeling very good about Nate's leadership right now.

Conniving or not, Bernard took the hint and fucked off. Which was good because Stanley had one more rather important thing to check. His soul. More specifically, the wound in his soul.

He hadn't fixed it yet, and he needed to make sure it hadn't gotten worse from what he did. More importantly, he needed to make sure he could still finish the repair job with his new... limitations. He'd been afraid to look too closely before, but now it was time to face the music.

Good news, it didn't look any worse. In fact, it looked better than it should...

Stanley studied the wound he was all too familiar with, along with the new glowing symbol Lee had stuck over it. Unlike the previous symbol, this one looked far more... simple? Except it didn't feel simple. It was only a single line doubling back on itself in a swirling pattern, but it felt like there was so much more hidden within the deceptively plain lines. More than that, something about the symbol felt... right. Like it... belonged.

Within the oddly comforting symbol, Stanley could still feel all the souls who had helped him before, some more dim than others, but all of them packed into the tiny thing. Somehow. Not that he really had a way to judge size and scale in here...

He was taking it all in, trying and failing to make sense of how Lee's magic worked, when something shifted. It was a minute change. Minuscule enough to be almost unnoticeable, but not to him. Not when he saw and felt what it did. Especially not when he left his meditation to find a new notification waiting...

Debuff Downgraded: [Minor Soul Wound(Unbroken Soul Binding)]

Lee's magic was repairing the wound with no input from him. He almost couldn't believe it, but after all the time he'd spent repairing their soul, the effect was undeniable. It was slow, but it was there. Unceasing. Moment by moment, Lee's magic was pulling their soul back together.

Stanley smiled, but it was bittersweet. Lee kept having to help him. All the time he'd spent trapped in this place... it was time he should have spent protecting his brother. He should have been by his brother's side through everything. Instead, Lee was the one who kept saving him... Thank you, Lee. I won't let it be for nothing, and I swear I'll get back to you!

He added his own efforts into the mix and found his soul more receptive than ever to his power, or maybe that was just his increased strength? Unfortunately, that didn't mean his soul wound could handle the extra strain that came along with the power, and he reached his limit almost instantly.

That wasn't a bad thing, and Lee's magic worked slowly enough that it wasn't a problem either... but it left Stanley with extra free time. He considered going hunting, especially when Nate arrived and chucked a bag of cores into his lap... but he didn't. Despite Nate's optimism, Stanley still thought the undead might come back to try again.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason he stayed. He had another very good reason not to go hunting. It involved the notification he got every time he tried to absorb a core.

Racial Evolution in progress. You must complete or abort the evolution process before upgrading further.