~~~Stanley~~~

Rat didn't taste all that bad. As long as you roasted it enough... and if you didn't, Caffeine was happy enough to eat it for you.

As much as he hated the idea, Stanley let Caffeine guard him through the night. Not that he left them any more exposed than necessary. The rat lair included the building above the pit, and Stanley holed up in a bathroom on the top floor. Hoping that anything seeking to claim it would be after the hole instead.

He slept... terribly.

There was no clock, so he didn't know how often he woke, but it was far too many times. Nightmares, both forgotten and remembered, plagued him. Every time, Caffeine was there when he woke screaming or thrashing, and every time, Caffeine stayed in his arms until he drifted away.

Stanley would have given up on sleep and gone hunting more than once, but the damn debuff held him back. His execution of the human monsters had extended it up to eight hours... then a few of his nightmares brought it up to nine.

The only good thing about the fact that he was using his power while asleep was that it always broke him out of the nightmare. The pain in his head saw to that.

Still, it gave him an excuse to take a leisurely breakfast with Caffeine, which the pug thoroughly enjoyed. Stanley just hoped the snow still on the ground outside meant the meat hadn't gone bad overnight. It didn’t feel cold to him… Though, with his metabolism, he wasn't sure it mattered. Besides, it still tasted good... or reasonably good after he roasted it.

He dragged the mess of dead meat and cores from the hole before he left the building, then immediately recreated his shield from the day before. Only... not exactly the same. It was such an obvious solution that he wanted to kick... he should have done it sooner. Everything non-living was exponentially lighter than the alternative. He always could have simply carried enough matter between him and the monsters that they couldn't see or reach him. Especially for magic.

Dirt had worked out well for the acid, but Stanley wanted something more... durable. Something he had in excess all around him. Something he'd used as a weapon the day before.

He left that street behind with over a dozen engine blocks orbiting him and Caffeine. Then he went down the side streets until he had nearly a hundred of the solid steel chunks creating an impenetrable shell around him. At least, that was the hope. Stanley doubted it would be that simple because, as he knew, magic was bullshit.

Worst case, he had heavy ass missiles to throw at his enemies. Best case, they wouldn't be able to touch him, and he also had heavy ass missiles to throw at his enemies.

The only issue was the fact that he couldn't see shit. Which was easy enough to solve with a view port. He'd more than proved he could fight without eyes on his targets the day before, but it would be faster if he found them first and then turtled behind his armor.

It didn't take long. He spotted another bug thing... and didn't kill it. Just ripped a leg off. A little something to encourage it to find its friends for a gangbang.

That worked. Not because it ran for help, but because a bunch of identical bugs came running at some unseen signal.

Stanley threw some engines at them. He only wanted to kill enough to make the others run, because what he was really after was... all of them. They obliged by running... into the building right next door. That works.

His armor shell closed around him, and Stanley pushed his mind into the building. It wasn't quite what he would call a skyscraper, but big enough to have plenty of monsters.

He stayed outside, obviously, and only sent his mind in. Then simply felt for movement. Stanley couldn't feel out every single thing he touched, not on such a large scale, and not if it didn't move. So he pushed everything.

The bugs responded by moving, which Stanley could feel, and then he squished them. It was a simple system, but one that worked exceedingly well. The only drawback was he still had to get the cores... That part took longer than the killing.

Still, the stats added up as the day went on. Stanley went building by building, lair by lair, and slaughtered everything in his path.

Most lairs were not as accommodating as the first. With most, the monsters charged out in mass the moment he attacked. That worked just as well, if not better, because he didn't have to go searching for the cores afterward. Unless, of course, he wanted the queens, who almost universally stayed on the top floor or the deepest hole.

Stanley still didn't delve into the underground. Instead, he dragged everything to the surface and sifted cores from the mess of gore like he had that morning. For the buildings, well, windows were a lot easier to break after his upgrade. Though, to avoid surprises, he liked to duck through the door first. Something he learned when the queen didn't react to his pushing and so was still alive when he broke the window.

All he had to do was see if the notification popped up...

The Queen has surrendered. Lair [Withering Dark] Defeated.

That was new. He'd suspected something was wrong when nothing he'd crushed felt stronger than the rest. Usually, the queens had a serious leg up on their minions. Unless they were the huge breeding type, but that usually meant it had stronger guards, not to mention the extra size.

A cursory glance around the entrance revealed that all the doors deeper in were closed, which was unusual. The monsters couldn't roam if they couldn't get out... though they were all dead. Except for the queen, apparently. He nudged a few and found all of them secured far more tightly than any door pre-system. That, coupled with the core at the entrance, suggested something intentional.

Apparently, they could give up.

Stanley doubted it was enough to keep him out if he put in the effort, but would he still get another core from the queen? Or was this something to discourage his method of wiping out every lair he found? A way to keep the queen around and ensure a new crop of monsters.

He thought about it for a minute and left it as it was. Maybe for the more annoying monsters he would attempt to wipe them out completely, but the less bothersome ones were a good source of cores. Why not let them repopulate for a later harvesting? He'd just have to remember to come back and check on them.

Most of the day passed productively, and with only a few injuries from bullshit magic sneaking past his armor. None of it touched Caffeine.

The cores rolled in, and he left entire blocks free of monster infestation. Aside from the occasional surrendering queen.

Of course, there were always humans to ruin an otherwise good day. "Help! Please help me!"

Stanley stared down at the screaming man in disbelief. Did he actually think that scam would work? It was so obviously a trap.

"They're gonna kill me!" How the man knew there was a human in the ball of metal was a mystery, but it was probably just a good guess on his part. He looked bloodied and messed up, so he was at least putting some effort into the illusion as he staggered down the street.

More out of curiosity than anything, and maybe because Caffeine whined, Stanley hesitated above the man. He opened a bigger gap to yell down at him. "Okay, I took the bait. Are you going to attack me yourself? Or are your friends waiting down there?"

The man glanced up quickly but didn't stop running. "They're coming behind me! Oh god, they..." He was really selling the bit, which made it slightly less surprising when another human abruptly appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the guy. Less surprising, but still extremely disturbing.

Stanley closed up his shell and flew higher. So the guy wasn't lying. Or maybe they just killed him because he didn't get Stanley to come down. Either way, it was just more human monsters. Not his problem.

It became his problem when the killer appeared inside Stanley's sphere with no warning or apparent difficulty.

Caffeine growled at the newcomer, where he now stood on one of the floating engine blocks with a blade in one hand and the now dead man in the other.

"Were you trying to..." the man started. Then Stanley pulled the engine out from under him and slapped both bodies back toward the ground. He only hit one.

Skill Level Up: Premonition

He felt the warning pain in his back at the same time Caffeine kicked off his legs and sent him sliding sideways. The man appeared behind him right on cue, but only scratched a line into his side as Caffeine's push sent him out of the way. Then Caffeine ricocheted off an engine, kicking across the city, and shot toward the man. Who vanished and reappeared back in front of Stanley.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Rude," the man said, once again standing on one of Stanley's engines. The way he moved... it had to be teleportation. Not even Caffeine was that fast... Talk about some bullshit magic. "You try to steal my kill and then run with no..."

He was one to talk, after trying to stab him. Stanley struck harder and faster this time, even as Caffeine launched back in pursuit.

It was useless. The other man vanished the instant Stanley started his attack. As if he could feel it coming...

The premonition came with far too little warning, but Stanley was already pushing before it appeared. Which meant the blade only stabbed through his eye and not into his skull beneath. Once again, his mental touch only barely brushed the man's skin before he was gone. Stanley was already climbing higher, hoping to leave the lunatic behind while trying to keep his engines from getting kicked away by Caffeine. His rising anger granted strength, but Stanley hadn't forgotten the cost of his rage. He didn't want to fight this monster. Better to flee.

Unfortunately, the teleporter wanted to fight.

Caffeine bounced around the interior of the sphere like a pinball as he pursued the man, and Stanley gave up on flying away when his own injuries kept adding up. He dove for the ground instead.

The fucker took his other eye... right before the engines slammed into a building and demolished it in an expanding dust cloud. Stanley stayed in the dust, hoping Caffeine's senses were better than the monster as he felt him kicking up even more dirt with every booming leap.

His first eye healed while Stanley huddled low and stuffed his mouth with the raw meat of whatever had been living in the building he just destroyed. It was gross, but not worse than the liquid running down his face from his eye...

The knife stabbed into his hunched back with the too short warning, only this time, a blast of wind and sound arrived with it.

The shockwave blew away his dust cloud and Stanley saw Caffeine drop a hand on the ground, a knife still clutched in the dismembered limb.

Further away, the teleporter appeared, clutching his bleeding stump. "You bastard!" He vanished before Caffeine arrived and then stayed gone as Caffeine bounded back to Stanley's side.

The pug was panting heavily as he circled unceasingly around Stanley's legs. He paused occasionally to growl in specific directions before resuming the spin. Stanley could only assume he was tracking the monster somehow. Which meant the fuck was still around and hadn't run away for good.

Stanley wanted to fly away more than anything, but he'd finally found a monster that wasn't impeded by his preferred tactic. His best bet now was to stay on the ground, where Caffeine was at his most powerful. So he kept eating the raw meat, which he could finally see was from a non-human monster. He'd worried...

"You're a damn cockroach, aren't you!" the man shouted, his voice coming from three different directions. He was only the second one to call Stanley that... and Stanley didn't mind. He was good at being a fucking cockroach.

"That's fine," the voice echoed from far away and then right behind him on the last word. Stanley got no warning from premonition this time... and instead heard Caffeine yelp immediately after his earthshaking dash. "I'll just have to take your fucking dog apart first!"

The blood dripping from Caffeine as he continued his circling sent Stanley's anger straight to eleven. Time seemed to slow down as the monster appeared in front of Stanley, but behind the pug. A new blade already plunging mere millimeters from the dog's back in his left hand. Stanley's mind exploded toward the man... but Caffeine was faster. The pug twisted impossibly quick, growing slightly larger as he did.

Stanley couldn’t even follow the motion with his eyes. One moment Caffeine was facing him and the next he’d turned a full one-eighty and snapped his jaws shut on the man's leg at the same time the human vanished.

The distant scream was sweet music to Stanley's mind, but Caffeine shrinking and falling to his belly as he spit out a bloody foot took his full attention.

"You'll pay for..." the scream vanished in the wind of Stanley's flight as he took himself and Caffeine far away. He wanted to catch the bastard and peel his skin off an inch at a time. But Caffeine was more important now. Those bursts of speed drained the pug a lot. And now he was wounded too.

Stanley swallowed his screaming rage and used the extra power it granted to drag them through the sky, backwards. The skin of his back burned and flayed apart as the howling wind threatened to rip off his ears and half of his scalp. He welcomed the pain if it meant Caffeine was safe, and he didn't stop until the city was a distant smudge in the distance.

Then he dropped out of the sky and killed the first thing he saw.

A giant moose.

Together, in the woods, they ate, feasting on the massive carcass.

Caffeine ate his fill and passed out. Then Stanley held him close and flew further west, just in case.

The whole time, he seethed. That fucking monster! Stanley hated being weak! If this was what all those useless people felt... no wonder they were crazy. It was the fucking worst! If he ever found that fucker again... ideally asleep... or find a skill to lock him down. Then peel him...

Caffeine shifted with a whimper, twisting slightly to give access to his belly. Stanley unclenched his fists and administered the well-deserved belly rub while trying to calm down. He just needed to get stronger. That was all there was to it. And he would!

~~~Cunning Fang~~~

Cunning Fang crouched low in the brush as her nose tasted the air ahead. There was blood, meat, and something else... something new. Something Dangerous.

"I smell our end," her mate huffed softly beside her. "We run. Not worth it."

"Agreed." It was nice when he saw sense. The free food sitting in the shattered clearing was rich and tempting. It would sate the pack. Grow their strength and prepare them for the next hunt. But it was wrong. It smelled of... rage. And worse, it smelled of Power. A power that whispered to the ancient huntress inside her. Power that told her to show her belly and beg for mercy.

Or die.

She also knew how strong the large-horns were, and that they ran in a herd. Nothing here showed a fight. Whatever had done this had crushed the animal and sent the rest fleeing in fear. Her pack was not ready for something that could do such a thing. She was not ready to face... whatever had done this.

New strange creatures roamed into her domain every day now, but this was unlike those who came before. New was dangerous. She and Night Runner would have to scout the newcomer before they risked the pack. "Come," she told them. "No food here. We run."

They followed, some more reluctantly than others, but they obeyed. They were hungry after the last hunt went wrong, and that hunger made them foolish. She would follow the herd of large-horns toward the cold. The rage scent went a different direction. With luck, they would still be spooked and her family could isolate a weaker meal from the herd.

"The Lair den would feed us," Night Runner huffed, as he loped beside her.

"It is a trap. I have told you this."

He huffed and fell into a shadow below the trees. He sprang up a dozen strides ahead, in the shadow of another tree. Then repeated the process until he was out of sight ahead.

Cunning Fang stayed with the pack as they followed behind. Her mate had chosen his power when the voice spoke to the world. She had chosen a different path, but one that her instincts agreed would give her family the best chance to survive. She chose knowledge.

The choice had already paid off when the same voice offered them a Lair to make their home. She saw through the promise of food and shelter for what it really was. A trap. It would start with her, binding her forever in the cave until she died. Whereupon her daughter would become bound.

They would lose the world for a hole in the ground. Nothing more than rodents in a burrow waiting for the fox to dig them out. That was not the path for her family. They would be free, and they would become strong enough to remain free. She would make it happen. No matter what.

~~~Somewhere~~~

Steven followed the others in the pitch blackness, his only sense of direction from his hand on the man in front. He stopped when the others did, and then they waited.

"Welcome," the voice was unnatural, dry, and raspy. "You are the most promising candidates we've found. Humans who desire to rise above, to reach beyond their limits, and to become Eternal."

Steven shivered at what he heard. Did he truly want that? He'd only gone along with the others because they'd promised power. Classes that could fight. Immortality. Who wouldn't want that?

"Unfortunately," the voice said in the dark, and Steven could have sworn, with a smile. "We only have room to welcome one of you into our ranks."

What did that mean? Why had they all been brought here if they only wanted one? What... Lights bloomed overhead, and he wasn't the only one blinking in the sudden illumination. Nine others stood in the circle of light, all watching each other warily. Those last words from the darkness had hinted at...

One man abruptly lunged toward another's back, metal glinting in his hand. The other man didn't even have time to scream as the blade stabbed deep into his back. His attacker didn't stop there, stabbing repeatedly as he rode the man's body to the ground.

When he stood and faced the frozen group, the only sound was the drip, drip, drip of blood running from his knife to the stone below. Then he lunged at the next man and all hell broke loose.

Steven hesitated, not from fear, but waiting for the right moment… and it appeared when the killer was riding his next victim to the ground. Steven pounced and landed on the man’s back, arms and legs wrapping around him in a restraining hold. "Help me!"

Surprisingly, a few brave souls ran to his aid. Steven never quite locked down the man’s knife arm, and they all got stabbed at least once while he wrestled with the man.

When no one else was willing or capable of stepping up to help, Steven had to take matters into his own hands. He abruptly clamped down with his arm around the man’s throat, then twisted sharply.

He was panting heavily as he rolled the murderer’s limp body off himself and then tried to stand up.

A hand grasped his own reaching arm and hauled him upright. "Thank you," Steven wheezed, leaning on the other man. It was the first one who came to his aid. The strongest one.

Perfect.

Steven thrust the recovered blade between the man's ribs… and twisted it. He was lunging for the next strongest before the man finished dying.

It was a mop up after that. No one else had what it took to survive. All of them were screaming and crying as they tried to escape the ring. All of them died.

Then it was over.

"Congratulations, supplicant! Stand tall and accept the gift of eternity." The towering creature that emerged from the darkness held a glowing black shard in its hand.

Steven took it with a wide smile.

Race Change Shard…