~~~Stanley~~~
Stanley didn't know when darkness gave way to light, but it did. Gradually.
He felt... distant. Disconnected. Absent. No sensations from his body... like a ghost might feel... His thoughts were cloudy, as if in a dream... and he found himself in a snowy forest. A familiar one, though not as he remembered it. He was looking down at an equally familiar person lying in the snow.
Himself, burning with blinding white light.
Caffeine was tugging on his jacket, dragging him away inch by inch, his little panting growls the only sound in the woods.
He watched in a daze, his mind sluggish as Caffeine grew larger and larger beside his unresponsive body. Watched the pug turn away and howl into the sky. Watched his howl tear apart the surrounding forest. Watched it blow a hole through the clouds above.
Now it was the forest he remembered from... months ago?
Caff...
"Remarkable, isn't it?" Stanley turned toward the voice. Or his attention turned. He had no flesh here. No eyes with which to see. Yet he still saw.
The man standing in the air beside him was unremarkable, normal, wearing a business suit and tie, carrying a briefcase, and absolutely not a human. Stanley didn't know how he knew that, but he did. This was not a human... not a mortal...
"Such a ridiculous series of... coincidences that all led to an impossible... outcome," it said, smiling at him. Its voice was wrong.
Stanley tried to speak, but he had no mouth, no voice of his own.
"No, you are not... dead. Either of... you."
Stanley hadn't asked if he was dead. Either...
"Yes, your... brother is here as well, and... no, you may not see or speak with... him. That might be... considered cheating."
Stanley knew it was speaking to another besides him. Not because it said so, but... he just knew it. Lee.
"I received a quest... you see. A quest to investigate... you." Once again, Stanley knew it wasn't speaking to only him.
"There are... rules, as you've no doubt... witnessed. Walls that must... not be broken. Boundaries not to be... crossed. Yet, you have seemingly... broken the rules by your very... existence. Fascinating!" It laughed then, a dry but very human sounding laugh that was most definitely not.
Stanley looked away from the thing, watching Caffeine as he howled in agony. It was horrible to watch... but numb, distant. It was also something momentous. Significant. But he watched with an odd detachment, memories not connecting properly to what he witnessed now.
The thing let him watch without interruption until Caffeine lay down next to Stanley's unmoving and no longer glowing body.
Then it spoke, "Claiming what you... did. Before Saturation... before even F-grade... hiding it away where even the... System would not see it." It laughed that terrible not-laugh again. "Creating... that. Truly inspired!"
Stanley wanted to know what this meant, why he was here, seeing this. He wanted to know if Lee was okay. If they were in trouble for... he couldn't quite remember... he'd done something... hadn't he?
Struggling for memories that wouldn't come left Stanley even more confused... and worried... He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here... couldn't even remember what he'd been doing before this...
"I requested this... meeting," it said. "As my... reward for finding what... the System could not."
Why? Stanley wanted to scream at it.
"It is so rare to be... surprised by anything when one can... well, I'm really not at liberty to say. Nevertheless, what you did here should have sent... shockwaves across the multiverse... only you hid them all... away, hid them from the... System, hid them even from... me."
It looked at him with eyes that were not eyes and staring out of a face that covered something far worse. Stanley felt like he should know what it was talking about... and he did... but he also didn't.
"Even here and now I cannot... see what you will do... Fascinating."
"As for your... worries, yes, you are in trouble. The rules have... changed now that you revealed what was... now that you've... opened the door. You will face greater... challenges."
What do we do? Give me something useful! How do I escape from the dungeon? How do I stop the undead? It was coming back to him… the undead… fighting for his life… the rage.
"I cannot... give you instruction, nor would I wish to. This is... your path, and I cannot wait to... see where it leads."
Fuck you then! You can fuck right off with your stupid, cryptic, fucking...
Caffeine growled.
Stanley looked down and found Caffeine looking back at him... Only... Caffeine wasn't looking at him. He was looking at... It. The not human thing.
Caffeine growled again.
The thing laughed uproariously. Terribly. "It shouldn't see me! We are not... here. Yet it doesn't care!" It laughed more, even using a finger to wipe away an imaginary tear from its not eyes.
"Ah... wonderful. Such a unique... creature."
Everything wavered on his last words, like a soap bubble flexing and about to pop.
"Seems our time is... running out. Ironic. One last... thing before you... go." It stared into his eyes, even though Stanley didn't have eyes.
"Prepare for..." There was a loud sizzling... static...
The bubble popped.
…
Stanley woke from a different nightmare this time. It was bright. Too bright... but with deep shadows... and blood... Caffeine's blood.
Caff!
At the same time he had the thought, Stanley felt the oh so familiar sensation of a pug stepping on his legs and trying to find just the right spot to curl up between them. Then Caffeine plopped down with a huff, his head shifting a few times on Stanley's leg before settling down.
It only took one long sigh and a few deep breaths before the twitching and yipping barks started when Caffeine fell into what he could only hope was a pleasant dream.
Stanley relaxed, almost back to sleep, but not quite. Something was still wrong. Something was off. He was so tired... and there were a lot of notifications... and he could remember... Undead!
That nearly dragged his heavy eyelids open... but then he remembered... the blindingly bright power. He'd killed the monster with it... repeatedly. Hadn't he? He remembered... laughing... and screaming as he tore it apart over and over.
Rather than move just yet, Stanley checked his notifications. He had a feeling that something had changed... something serious.
Anomaly Detected. Active Source use Detected on F-grade Dungeon World(Earth).
Outside Interference Probable.
Investigating...
No Interference Detected.
Trait Updated: [Energetic Resilience] = [Source Nexus]
None of that made any sense. Other than it looked like that power he'd used was called Source? It also came with a cost, as the following notifications made all too clear.
Source is burning your body and mind: -10 All Base Attributes per second.(+9 from Source Nexus)
-10% Health per second from Source
+10% Health per second from Source Regeneration.
Source is burning your body and mind: -20 All Base Attributes per second.(+18 from Source Nexus)
-20% Health per second from Source
+20% Health per second from Source Regeneration.
Source is burning your body and mind: -30 All Base Attributes per second.(+27 from Source Nexus)
-30% Health per second from Source
+30% Health per second from Source Regeneration.
All the way up to...
Source is burning your body and mind: -100 All Base Attributes per second.(+90 from Source Nexus)
-100% Health per second from Source
+100% Health per second from Source Regeneration.
That looked... not good. But it didn't climb any higher, just kept popping that same message over and over, until...
Vitality Attribute at 0.4 Death Imminent.
Soul-Bonded Beast(Caff Caffeine) has sacrificed -40 All Base Attributes
You gain +20 All Base Attributes
A couple seconds later...
Soul-Bonded Beast(Caff Caffeine) has sacrificed -20 All Base Attributes
You gain +10 All Base Attributes
Soul-Bonded Beast(Caff Caffeine) has sacrificed -10 All Base Attributes
You gain +10 All Base Attributes
The burning messages stopped after one more tick. The deluge of other messages also trailed off with that one, though a few more followed.
Invader Defeated. Contributions Earned. Defeat the Remaining Invaders to Claim Contribution Rewards.
Trait Earned: [Source Burned]
Debuff: [Ravenous]
Debuff: [Feeble]
Debuff: [Frail]
Debuff: [Emaciated]
You are losing -1% health per second.(+0.9% from Source Nexus)
That first one was good... and bad. He'd finally found and killed one of the damned invaders, but that meant the zombie hadn't been one? Or... he hadn't killed it...
Stanley stopped thinking about that unpleasant topic and kept reading the notifications.
The next one must have come later... Stanley felt a chill just seeing it.
Health below 1% Death Imminent.
How he'd survived might also explain the murmuring voices he was hearing. Though they sounded faint... underwater.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Buff: [Purifying Light]
Debuff Downgraded: [Starving]
Debuff Removed: [Emaciated]
Purifying... That word tugged at something in his memories... something bad. He didn't want to remember it right now. So he kept reading.
Buff: [Purifying Light]
Debuff Downgraded: [Famished]
It popped up a few more times until his hunger debuff finally left. That was it. No more notifications to read... though plenty he'd glossed over. He didn't want to go back over them. Didn't want to see his almost death again. Didn't want to consider the feeling of his brother in the distance... and how weak Lee felt...
So Stanley pulled up his status.
Status
Name: Stanley Cascade
Race: [Psychomancer](F-grade Human)
Titles: [Titan Slayer] [F-grade Source]
Traits: [Adaptable](66%) [Source Nexus] [Psycho] [Source Burned]
Class: Psionic (Rare) - Level 49 (Intermediate)
Class Skills: Mind Over Matter (Legendary) - Level 50 (Advanced) | Premonition (Epic) - Level 30 (Intermediate) | Accelerated Thought (Rare) - Level 20 (Basic)
Attributes:
Strength: 0.9(+30%)1
Vitality: 0.4(+31%)0.5
Dexterity 1(+30%)1
Wisdom 2(+1090%)23
Intelligence 1(+1089%)11
Willpower 26(+1495%)414
Twin-Soul ???
Non-Class Skills 0/3:
Buff:
Debuff: [Feeble] [Frail]
There were a lot of changes... Most notably, his non-class skills were gone. Though he had a new class skill in exchange...
Mind Over Matter (Legendary) - Level 50 (Advanced)
My will is reality.
Allows the user to alter physical reality as they see fit, and as their will can enforce.
User gains a budding domain with limited proximity. Effect of domain highly dependent on user's focus and will.
Skill Level Effects - (Advanced)
+10% Effective Mind Attributes
+10% Effective Willpower within Domain
Looked solid... in fact, it gave him more effective willpower than the other two combined. So that was nice. Or was it just because the skill was at level fifty? He wasn't sure what the domain bit meant, but he remembered where the skill came from. The notification was right in the middle of all that other shit.
Skill: Psychokinesis (Uncommon) has reached the Threshold of Level 50. Upgrade Available. Evolution Available. Combination Evolution Available.
Skill: Psychokinesis (Uncommon) Combination Evolution Forcibly Enacted.
Skill: Psychokinesis (Uncommon) + Psionic Weapon (Rare) + Psionic Charge (Epic) — Mind Over Matter (Legendary)
Having it forced on him was... not cool. But it looked good enough that he wouldn't complain. He'd test it first.
His horribly low attributes were... very not cool. Not at all. Especially his vitality. Though not surprising given what he'd already seen.
He would be more powerful than ever if his stats hadn't gotten deleted... Though now he just needed to kill something and get cores... sooner rather than later. Maybe those voices... but, no. One of them had probably saved his life... Plus, he only heard two voices. That wouldn't make a dent.
He focused back on his status. His trait had changed. What was that about?
[Source Nexus]
Your body and mind have been destroyed and rebuilt by Source repeatedly and have adapted to survive. As a Source Nexus, you emit Source radiation. Your adapted body absorbs this energy, fueling many enhanced processes. This has the effect of also deflecting a portion of all energy directed at you. Combined, this increases your regeneration while making you highly resistant to all but the most direct foreign energy. All energy resistance massively improved.
All regeneration massively improved.
Core absorption requirements increased due to adapted body.
Additional effects are possible. Continuing Analysis…
A few changes... but mostly just the word massively replacing the word greatly. All the mentions of source just felt in line with what he already knew. Which... wasn't a lot. The source had come from his soul... he knew that... somehow. Something about that spell attacking his soul... it had done enough damage to make a... weak spot? Hole? He didn't think it was a hole... maybe a thin spot?
Or a crack.
He could feel it. Could almost see it... out of the corner of his eye…
Stanley stopped trying to see what he was increasingly sure he really didn't want to see, and checked his newest trait. He knew it wasn't a good one. Which was some bullshit... but it was definitely related to the source.
[Source Burned]
Your body and mind have been burned by Source. Your mind endured the onslaught and emerged stronger but this energy was beyond the limits of even your adapted flesh. Nevertheless, you have survived an encounter that none before you have, and earned a Title to match, but not without a cost.
Effects:
[Frail]
[Feeble]
-50% Effective Body Attributes
+100% Effective Mind Attributes
Okay. It wasn't terrible. Not good, but... not terrible. At least considering his class. It helped his willpower, and he needed that more than ever. He checked the title next.
[F-grade Source]
You have wielded Source energy while still in F-grade. What was once considered impossible has now been proven possible. Congratulations!
Effects:
+100% Effective Base Attributes
Stanley had no idea how this worked. He got bonuses for doing something while simultaneously gaining negative effects for that same thing... Did that mean the system could add to his stats at any time? Could it make all of his debuffs go away if it wanted to? Did it just want him to suffer?
Buff: [Purifying Light]
It popped up along with the golden glow that enveloped him, body and mind. A glow that felt so pleasant that Stanley didn't even flinch at the hands touching him. It was wonderful... he felt so at peace... so safe...
"Don't waste your energy," a woman said nearby.
Fuck you! Stanley thought as the light faded. It had felt so nice...
"I don't know why he won't wake up?" a voice said right next to Stanley. It sounded young... a boy? Though high pitched enough that it could have been a girl. It was definitely the origin of the purifying light.
"Probably cause he's old as shit!" the woman said. "We should have left already! He's giving me the creeps..."
"I... I don't want to leave him here," the boy said. Stanley was pretty sure it was a boy.
"You said he was fine," the girl said. "The dog can watch over him if it's so worried."
"But we're already trapped here... and you said I should help people..."
"God damn it!" the girl hissed. Then, in a more normal tone, "Not you, Zeke. It's just... I swear I can still feel that fucking thing watching us..."
"Was it really that bad?" the boy said. "I think it's what woke me up... but it wasn't that..."
"It was a fucking lunatic, psychopath, demon! It killed..." she trailed off, and Stanley didn't need to see her to know she was terrified.
The boy moved away, closer to the girl. Stanley knew he moved away... but he wasn't touching anything with his mind. Weird. He should be... he was too vulnerable like this...
"I'm here, Eve. I'll protect you." He sounded so sincere.
"What are you going to do?" the girl scoffed. "Hug the monsters to death? Next, you'll tell me the pug is going to keep us safe!"
Hey, Stanley thought, his mind reaching out to feel his surroundings. Caffeine is a good boy! He reached a heavy hand up from his side and brushed it gently over Caffeine's fur.
The boy gasped. "He's awake!"
I guess I am, Stanley thought, and opened his eyes. It wasn't because of the boy, though. It was because Caffeine immediately scrambled to his feet and attacked Stanley's face with his tongue.
Stanley lifted Caffeine away from his face to spare himself a tongue lashing and then stared in horror at the pug.
Oh, Caff... what did I do!?
Caffeine's coat was no longer the pure black it had been before. Now his fur was completely gray, almost white. He didn't seem bothered by it, squirming and trying to get at Stanley's face with his tongue.
His own hands drew Stanley's attention as they trembled with sudden fatigue. They looked wrinkled... decrepit.
Rather than try to sit up, Stanley floated himself upright in the air. The act also showed that his new skill worked like the old one had. He really should be testing that...
He heard another gasp and finally looked at the people in this small room with him. A bathroom... no. He was in a truck stop shower... or at least that's what it appeared to be. He'd seen enough of them.
There was a flashlight illuminating the room... standing upright on the floor.
Two people were in here with him.
The boy looked young, barely a teenager. Black hair, blue eyes, just like the girl, who looked older, but not by much. Definitely still a teenager and likely a sibling going by the resemblance. She was also staring at him in wide-eyed horror as she whispered something that sounded like, "those eyes…"
Then she stopped whispering.
"Y... you!" she half screamed, half wailed. Then scrambled to her feet, lunged forward to grab the boy and drag him away from Stanley, all while brandishing a chainsaw at him.
Stanley was more surprised than anything. Until the chainsaw actually turned on, spinning up into a whirling blade of deadly intent.
His new skill worked fine when he slammed the girl into the tiled wall behind her. Her head hit with a crunch, but it was just the tiles shattering under the impact. Stanley didn't let up, pinning her there and ripping the chainsaw from her hands.
She was obviously F-grade, and threatening...
Caffeine ballooned up, filling Stanley's vision with his gray-furred face.
Stanley let up the pressure on the girl as he gazed into those big brown eyes, unchanged despite the gray hair. "Caff..."
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught Stanley's attention. He knew there wasn't anyone there... even before he turned to look... How he knew...
Damn.
An old man stared back at him from the mirror over the sink. Wrinkled, slack skin. Thin white hair... and a shaggy white beard. I'm old...
Caffeine pushed a cold nose into Stanley's cheek with a loud whine, then followed it up with a big wet tongue across the side of his face.
"Good boy, Caff," Stanley said, still staring at the mirror. The reflection's mouth mimicked his words... It really was him.
The girl was struggling in his mental grip and cursing up a storm with what little breath she had. Her brother was... praying. "Jesus, please protect us! Jesus, please shield us!" He was also glowing with a golden light that had spread to encompass his sister.
Right... Stanley remembered the notifications about purifying light, and he was pretty sure that was what he was looking at now.
He let her go. "I'm... sorry."
The chainsaw clattered to the floor behind him, as far away from her as it could go in the cramped room. He wasn't that sorry... but he was grateful. "You saved my life..." What had she called him? "Zeke. So... thank you."
See, Samantha? I can be diplomatic.
"How can I repay you? Need a lift? I could take you..." Stanley didn't want to think about Nate right now. Not when he was trying to be nice. "...somewhere." Though it was odd that the duo were alone out here...
"You can leave! You... you... monster!" The girl was still terrified of him as she forced Zeke behind her, as far away as they could get in the shower. The fear felt undeserved... he hadn't even done anything to her. Well, not until she threatened him... Plus, now she was directing some of that fear at Caffeine... that was just stupid.
Zeke calmed down at Stanley's words and was now peeking around the girl where she'd pinned him against the wall. He was staring at Caffeine as well, but not with fear. Stanley stared back at the boy as he held onto his sister... the sight looked... familiar. Plus the praying...
It finally clicked.
"Holy shit... You were in the cult!"
Then Stanley remembered how that encounter had ended and he looked away. "Um... sorry about killing your... mom? But... she seemed like a real psycho."
Though, was he one to talk? With a literal trait called psycho?
Yes. Yes, he was.
He wasn't the one spouting lunatic rubbish and brainwashing people. He just killed them. If they attacked him. Which too many of them did... but not all of them...
The girl kept the boy behind her, trying to shield him with her body as she attempted a menacing glare. She froze when he mentioned the mom, and Stanley supposed it must have been her mom, too. If they were actually related.
Her eyes jumped between Stanley and Caffeine, and her expression darkened. Something finally breaking through the terror.
Anger.
"That was you..." She only whispered, but Stanley could see her chest rising in preparation for the coming scream. Could see her anger growing.
Time to go, Stanley thought, and was immensely pleased to see his backpack in the room with him. Wait... it wasn't his pack. They had an identical one, but it was full of random junk... not food. One more thing he needed to find. Or... Nate...
"It was you!" the girl screeched at him. "Why didn't you finish the fucking job!?"
Stanley hesitated, his dark thoughts of Nate utterly derailed. What did she just say?
"She fucking survived! You could have ended that cunt then and there, but you let her go! Fuck you, you fucking piece of..."
Wow...
She went on. A very spectacular and foul vocabulary for such a little girl. It included a lot of inventive threats about how she was going to kill him because he'd apparently failed to kill her mom...
Just wow. Who's the psycho now?
Stanley squeezed her throat until she shut up. "If you threaten me again, I'll..." Her brother was crying... big choking sobs this time... and clinging to her. "Your brother saved my life... so I'll let it go." He let go of her throat, and she mercifully kept her mouth shut, only pulling her brother into her arms while he sobbed.
Caffeine was also whining the whole time and trying to get in between them and Stanley.
Stanley was torn about what to do next. Should he do something more for them? Saving his life was... Stanley stopped as another particularly unpleasant memory resurfaced. "It was here for you, wasn't it... you're the purifier it wanted?"
The boy kept crying, but the girl stiffened at his words, her eyes going wide in obvious recognition. She knew about the undead... an undead that was obviously chasing them… and Stanley once again ended up as the one who took a beating in their place. I'm going to kill you, Nate!
"We're even," Stanley said. He'd saved this kid from the undead and gotten his own life saved. Life for a life. Last thing he needed was more drama from these teenagers. Especially with one of them sobbing his eyes out and the other looking like she wanted to burn a hole through him with her glare.
Stanley pulled open the door and flew into the hallway, dragging Caffeine into his lap as he went. "Good luck."