~~~Stanley~~~

Stanley dove right in, not wasting time before checking the first evolution option.

[Psychomancer](E-grade Human)

You have gone beyond the limits of your class.

You have survived despite taking fatal wounds that should have ended you. Survive further.

You embraced your rage as a tool of violence and used it to kill those who sought to end you. Rage against your enemies.

You ignored the damage to your own flesh in order to see them dead. Victory at any cost.

Continue on the path that has carried you this far as you ascend to a higher grade.

This will not reduce your future evolution options.

Traits: [Adaptable](65%) [Energetic Resilience] [Psycho]

It was the same thing he already had. Next!

[Rageweaver](E-grade Human)

Let your rage reign supreme.

Thousands have died to your rage. Rip and Tear!

Hundreds of lairs have fallen to ruin beneath your rage. Crumble and Break!

Souls tremble before your rage. Buckle and Bend!

Source has fueled your rage to new heights. Ash and Dust!

Your rage gives you power and has carried you far. Tread deeper onto this path and use the power of your rage as you ascend to a higher grade.

This will reduce your future evolution options.

New and Altered Traits: [Adaptable](60%) [Psycho] = [Rage]

More anger. It had indeed carried him this far; why not keep it going? He checked the trait.

[Rage]

Rage is Power. Unleash it!

Take no thought for anything but that which you must destroy.

Fear nothing in your rage, for nothing can kill the rage.

Effects:

+500% - 2000% Effective Willpower

+100% - 1000% All Regeneration

-50% Effective Physical Attributes

Not bad. It would strengthen him, no doubt about that. Maybe the regeneration would help with the debuffs? He'd been trying to move away from being angry all the time, but if that was what it took to survive...

He still looked at the next orb.

[Wrathstorm](E-grade Human)

Find calm in the eye of the storm.

Thousands have died to the tempest of your wrath. Yet some found safety in the Storm.

Hundreds of lairs have fallen to ruin in the wake of your wrath. Yet some found shelter in the Storm.

Souls tremble at the presence of your wrath. Yet some found power in the Storm.

Source has empowered your wrath to new heights of destruction. Yet some found a light in the Storm.

Your life has wavered repeatedly in your wrath. Yet you have found life in the Storm.

Your mind has wavered repeatedly in your wrath. Yet you have found peace in the Storm.

You are the storm that sweeps all away, including yourself. Yet now you seek calm in the eye of the storm, even as it ravages the world around you. Step onto this path and wield the fury of your wrath from the calm within as you ascend to a higher grade.

New and Altered Traits: [Adaptable](58%) [Eye of the Storm] [Psycho] = [Wrath]

Even more anger... though worded differently. He checked the trait, since that was really what mattered.

[Wrath]

Wrath is rage with purpose. Unleash the storm, but take care what its fury rains down upon.

Never lose yourself to the wrath, lest the storm strike that which you never intended to destroy.

Effects:

+100% - 4000% Effective Willpower

-0% - 50% Effective Physical Attributes

That was better... and worse at the baseline. It also included nothing about regeneration. Though there was a second trait...

[Eye of the Storm]

Wrath directed is a great power. Terrible, but great.

Wrath without purpose will unleash ruin upon all that you cherish. Control your mind and control the Storm.

Stand apart from your wrath and wield it with ever greater power. Control your emotions and control the Storm.

+100% - 1000% All Self-Control Skills

+100% - 1000% All Regeneration Gained from Skills

Stanley knew it was a better option. But it would require more... effort? Or focus? He'd still be using his rage to fight, but he had to control it better? It looked like the second trait would help his meditation... but he wasn't sure what the ranges meant. Did they depend on his anger level or how well he controlled it?

Did he have to learn to meditate while fighting?

It was a hard choice. Take the easier and guaranteed power of rage. A rage that looked a lot like a berserker rage. A blind rage.

Stanley liked blind rage. At least while he was in it. He liked not caring too much about anything. It was better than being afraid—better than feeling the pain.

The aftermath could be unpleasant, though.

Or he could take the harder route, but one that could potentially make him more powerful. Albeit, with what looked like a lot more work and the potential that he might fail to pull it off.

He didn't want to be angry all the time. It sucked. Plus, it made Caffeine upset, and the good boy didn't deserve that.

There wasn't a lot of time to decide. Not only was he feeling pressure to hurry for Caffeine's sake, but his own life might be on the line if the undead came calling.

That thought made Stanley realize something... He could still feel Caffeine.

It was very different in here. There was no direction for the sensations, but they were undeniably there. Caffeine felt... tired, but not worried. Which didn't tell him much, other than the fact he probably wasn't fighting. Not yet. Though it was hard to say with Caffeine. He could very well be fighting for their lives and just wasn't worried about it.

Stanley kept focusing on the pug and listening for any sign of pain that might hint at fighting. He did that while he went over the remaining options and considered what path he would take. He had a feeling about the remaining orbs in here. There were no more good choices.

[Eternal Bones](Eternal Bones)

The Civilized Dead.

You have touched an Eternal race shard. Even if you destroyed it.

You are Adaptable. You don't need permission.

Change your fate. Change your alignment.

Racial Traits: [Immortal] [Genesis] [Mind Above]

That was... interesting—that he still had the option, not as an actual choice. Caffeine made it very clear that this wasn't their path. Of course, there was still an option for the Beast Lord race... Stanley skipped it and went right to the blindingly bright orb.

[Source of Power]

Burn Bright. Obliterate All who Stand in your way. Burn All to Nothing.

You have Bound to a Source.

Take up the Power trapped inside you and become a God as you Burn. Do as you Wish. Unstoppable to the End.

New Trait: [Source]

It couldn't be that easy. Stanley checked the trait.

[Source]

Unchain the Source. Burn Bright.

Unleash the Power. Burn Everything.

Effects:

+1 Source

The system was trying to kill him, wasn't it? There were way too many mentions of burning in the descriptions... Did it not want him to hide the source? Or was this just here because it knew he had it? There had been no mention of it at his F-grade evolution, but then the system hadn't known he had the source... presumably.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

It was tempting, despite knowing it would kill him. If it wouldn't kill Lee along with him, and if he knew Caffeine wouldn't die trying to save them... Stanley might just say fuck it and burn the undead right out of reality...

That would mean his death, but at this point, it wasn't such a terrible option. He'd die a hero. He'd save the world from these monsters.

But he couldn't do that to Lee and Caff.

He would fight to the bitter end for them. No matter how much it hurt. No matter how much he wanted to quit. He would fight until he couldn't anymore. Then he would keep fighting! I will never give up, you shit-stain fucks!

Time was running out, and he still had to finish the actual evolution of whichever option he chose.

Evolution to [Wrathstorm](E-grade Human) has begun.

F-grade Attribute Fortification:

Strength: 0 +0% Effective Strength

Vitality: 92 +92% Effective Vitality

Dexterity 0 +0% Effective Dexterity

Wisdom 0 +0% Effective Wisdom

Intelligence 0 +0% Effective Intelligence

Willpower 100 +100% Effective Willpower

It was better than nothing. He'd almost made it to a hundred extra vitality...

Pain burned through his body following the notification... and that was when he felt Caffeine get angry.

~~~Caffeine~~~

Caffeine looked back at Dearest Human and whined sadly.

Dearest Human had very suddenly laid down and seemed to be having a nap. But Dearest Human was not having a good nap. He smelled like pain and hurting… but not dying. And he was glowing. The hurting glow seemed to be making him stronger...

That was good. Dearest Human hurt himself a lot. It would be better if he was tougher.

The big wall, far away from the not interesting hole, burst open in a rain of rocks. Caffeine stood in the way so they wouldn't hit Dearest Human, and then he Barked at the Very Bad Stinky Not Humans that climbed through the hole.

Most of them jumped back into the outside, but a big one stood on nothing right outside the new door. It was the Very Bad One that hurt Dearest Human. The one that hurt Caffeine's Friends. It was just like the one that tried to take Dearest Human away before...

"NO!" Caffeine Growled at it, and it stopped making the bad light with its not for belly-rubbing hands.

"YOU CAN’T TAKE HIM!" Caffeine Barked, and the Very BAD Not Human smashed itself into another tall house farther away.

It tried to come flying back. So Caffeine Barked again. "NO!"

It made more bad light. "NO!"

It told the Stinky Not Humans to come into the inside. "NO!"

It kept trying to make bad light, and Caffeine told it, "NO! NO! NO! NO!"

It tried to be sneaky and make bad light away from the new door. "YOU ARE BAD!" Caffeine Growled at it. "NOT HUMAN! NOT FOOD! NOT FRIEND! You are only BAD."

More Stinky Not Humans crawled into the inside while Caffeine growled at the Very Bad, but his new Friend Flapping Dogs went to eat them. They were very good at eating Stinky Not Humans!

They made a very big cloud with lots of flapping and some loud bangs when they exploded. Caffeine thought it didn't look very fun to explode... but they kept doing it, so he didn't say anything. He was very tired after so much angry growling, and the Flapping Dogs were very good at blocking the bad light.

Caffeine wanted to go into the outside and make the BAD Not Human stop being alive, but he couldn't leave Dearest Human alone while he was napping. So he stayed with Dearest Human and ate any Bad Light that made it past the Flapping Dogs.

The Bad Light tasted bad. It wasn't spicy or interesting. It was Only Bad. Just like the BAD in the outside.

Lots and lots of Flapping Dogs went into the outside and chased the BAD. They didn't chase for fun or play. They chased to eat. Caffeine liked that and Howled the magic words for them, "Good Boys!"

They chased so much that the BAD flew away before they could eat it. Caffeine didn't like that, but he was so tired... So much growling, and barking, and guarding, and protecting. He needed a nap.

Caffeine was hungry and tired. But now some of the Flapping Dogs were crawling closer to Dearest Human. Not like good dogs either. They crawled closer with hungry faces. They were being Not Friends...

"No!" Caffeine Barked, and the tiny Flapping Dogs jumped away and fell down. Then they started getting back up and coming closer again.

"Danger! Attack! Hungry!" was all they would say, even when Caffeine did his best sad whine.

"I'm hungry too!" he whined, but they didn't listen, only charged.

"No! Bad Dogs!" Caffeine growled at the tiny Flapping Dogs. They all sat very still, and very obedient. "Good…"

They charged again. "No!" he barked. They jumped back again. "Dearest Human needs to rest," he huffed. "I can't play right now."

One of the Flapping Dogs jumping over Caffeine on his way to the outside suddenly turned toward Dearest Human and tried to hurt him. Caffeine had enough. He ate the tiny thing in one bite.

He swallowed it, and it made his belly feel weird and not in a 'eating Dogs is bad' way. They were not Dogs. They were stupid and mean. Dogs didn't try to eat Friends or Dearest Humans.

Caffeine growled again, and while they sat still, he warned them. "I will eat all of you if you don't let Dearest Human rest."

"Danger! Attack! Danger! Hungry!" They wouldn't say anything else...

Caffeine decided then. If you will not stop, you are food. And Caffeine was hungry.

They attacked, and Caffeine ate them all before they reached Dearest Human. His stomach felt very weird, but also like he just had dinner. Good snack, but would rather have chicken!

More Flapping Dogs came in and most of them flew past through the big door into the outside, but not all of them.

"Dearest Human needs to sleep," he woofed at the tiny Flapping Dogs crawling closer. "Please let him rest or he might anger shout at you when he wakes up."

They didn't listen, and Caffeine ate them when they tried to jump on Dearest Human.

The ones who jumped onto Caffeine were okay. They only wanted to snuggle and play a friendly chewing game. "Don't fall on Dearest Human," he reminded them with a huff as he walked closer to the big Hole. "We can play over here." Caffeine lay down and rolled over.

Some of the Flapping Dogs ran away and jumped into the big Hole. The others got tired of playing with him and tried to play with Dearest Human. Caffeine ate them. His belly was feeling not good.

Like too many snacks, he thought, before giving himself a good shake. I am very tired! Caffeine realized, and he sighed. I must be starving… too many snacks… that's not a real thing. He couldn’t believe he'd had such a strange thought.

Interesting noises and bangs came from the Hole. But Caffeine decided to stay and comfort Dearest Human. I'm a good boy. The Hole is not that interesting.

More tiny and some less tiny Flapping Dogs came from the Not Very Interesting Hole. They moved towards Dearest Human and Caffeine warned them again. "I will eat you," he Growled, and they all stopped again. "Even though you taste bad..."

He Barked and a lot of the tiny Flapping Dogs jumped into the very, Very Not Interesting Hole. Some of them missed and crashed into the wall.

More Flapping Dogs climbed from the Hole, and one of them was bigger than the others.

They started walking forward on their Flapping legs, and Caffeine stepped forward to meet them. "Dearest Human is very tired," he huffed, and they didn't stop. It was very not nice. "If you make him anger shout, I will eat you."

He Barked, only a little, only to explain that he was serious.

They all jumped backwards very suddenly and fell over. Caffeine sat down again after making sure he hadn't woken Dearest Human.

"If you let Dearest Human rest, I will not eat you." Caffeine woofed very kindly. "Also, I'll tell Dearest Human you were a good boy." His tail wagged as he thought of Dearest Human saying the happy words that ended with cookies! "He might give cookies!" He woofed excitedly. "Or belly rubs!"

The Flapping Dogs were sniffing at Caffeine and at the Big Not Interesting Hole.

Bad smells came from the Hole, Stinky Not Human smells. Caffeine growled at the Stinky Hole. He did not like the Stinky Not Humans. They smelled bad. And tasted bad. Though they did have tasty crunchy bits…

Loud bangs came from the Stinky Hole, and the smell got louder and louder until Caffeine thought he might have to angry bark at the Stinky Not Humans and make them run away.

Before he could, a Stinky Not Human jumped out of the Hole and looked at Dearest Human. Bad! The Fast Stinky Not Humans were very bad! They always tried to hurt Dearest Human!

Caffeine bit the Stinky Not Humans head off, and it fell down. Bad! No play! Only Die!

He dropped it. Yuck! It tasted very bad.

The tiny Flapping Dogs all jumped onto the Stinky Not Human. They were very happy while they ate it and that made Caffeine remember that he was starving.

He found the crunchy snack in the Stinky head. Yummy! He looked at Dearest Human guiltily. I am a good boy for letting Dearest Human sleep… he would want me to eat some snacks; after all, we haven't had dinner in a very, very long time. He looked away, now very sure that Dearest Human would want him to eat the crunchy snacks, and saw that the Flapping Dogs had eaten the Stinky Not Human!

They are strange Dogs. He pushed the Stinky Not Humans head over to them. "You can eat this." They did. Very strange Dogs.

Some of the Flapping Dogs crawled slowly back into the Hole with glowing bellies. That's why you Shouldn't eat Stinky Not Humans. The rest started looking at Caffeine and Dearest Human again. "I will eat..."

More Fast Stinky Not Humans jumped out of the hole, and Caffeine took away their heads before they could try to Kill Dearest Human.

The Flapping Dogs got very excited and ignored Dearest Human to eat the Stinky things instead. Caffeine ate the crunchy bits and let them have the rest, though he did have to growl at one of them who tried to take his snack.

When they finished eating, they started walking towards Caffeine again. Stupid Dogs.

But the biggest of the tiny Flapping Dogs screamed very loudly at the smaller ones to stop and they did. Very loud, stupid Dogs. But the big one was less stupid. "No Attack? No Danger?" It screamed at him.

Caffeine sighed and sat down. "No attack." He huffed in agreement. He was very tired. He must not have eaten enough…

Slow Stinky Not Humans climbed out of the hole and the Flapping Dogs jumped on them and ate them before Caffeine could help. Then the small ones all turned and jumped into the Very Boring, Not Interesting Hole. Good dogs.

Some more Flapping Dogs came in and sat with the one who screamed, but they all stayed by the Hole.

Caffeine laid down. He was tired. A nap would be nice. But Dearest Human's cuddle naps are the best naps! Caffeine decided he would wait for the best naps. He sat up again.

Loud bangs were coming from the Not Very Interesting Stinky Hole. Too loud. They made his ears twitch.

Caffeine stood up and woofed politely at the tiny Flapping Dogs. "I will tell them to be quiet." He stepped forward, and they moved out of the way.

Caffeine looked into the Stinky Hole. Lots of tiny Flapping Dogs were crawling through the hole. They were glowing and smelled Interesting… but Stinky Not Humans were crawling in the hole too. Caffeine woofed at them to go away. They did not listen.

I hope Dearest Human won't anger shout if he wakes up. He took a deep breath. Dearest Human doesn't like the Stinky Not Humans, so he will be happy if I chase them away! The glowing Dogs all crawled past, only Stinky Not Humans were crawling up in front of him.

Caffeine Barked. "Go away!"

All the Stinky Not Humans jumped away from him and went down the hole. Good.

Caffeine looked at Dearest Human. Still asleep. He walked back and sat down next to Dearest Human. I am a good boy!

The Flapping Dogs smelled like afraid and Caffeine friendly woofed at them. "Dearest Human might give you a belly rub if you are good! Belly rubs are the best!"

Dearest Human suddenly screamed and made the air go wiggly. Caffeine quickly comforted him with a good face cleaning.

"You're a good boy!" He said the happy words to Dearest Human, but he still smelled like hurting. But it was less now! "You're a good boy!" He woofed again, but it didn’t seem to help the second time. Caffeine sighed and gave him a reassuring face lick.

The Flapping Dogs were all trembling now. "It's okay." He huffed at them. "Dearest Human is only sleeping." Caffeine curled up next to Dearest Human's head. He rested his head on Dearest Human and listened to his sleep sounds. I am a good boy too.

Dearest Human slowly calmed down, stopped smelling like hurting, and smelled only like tired. Caffeine decided maybe a small cuddle nap would be okay...

He really hoped Dearest Human would wake up soon.