“What do you mean I’m fucked?”

“I really didn’t expect this when I woke up this morning,” Miss Aimee groaned, shaking her head. “There’s a lot you need to know before we move forward.”

“Are you sure we should tell him?” Deja asked with a raised eyebrow. “You weren’t even supposed to tell me, mom.”

“It’s the least we could do,” her mom shrugged. “And if he survives even just a little bit longer, then I count that as a win in my book.”

“Ahem, excuse me,” Dario interjected. “I’m right here you know, and I can hear everything you’re saying.”

The mother-daughter duo glanced at each other before turning back towards Dario.

“Right. Anyways, as I mentioned before, you’re in a bit of trouble,” Miss Aimee said.

“Yes, I figured that was the case,” Dario sarcastically replied. “I just want to know why I’m in trouble. Is it because I’m this— what was it you called me earlier?”

“An Assimilator,” Deja helpfully replied.

“Yes, that. What does me being an Assimilator have to do with anything?”

“Well...” Miss Aimee sighed. “Of all the Power Classifications, Assimilator is the rarest.”

“Oh.” Dario blinked. “That’s a good thing right?” All this talk of trouble and foreshadowed doom had him feeling nervous.

“It’s both good and bad, but generally bad in the long term.” Miss Aimee looked around and walked over to a nearby table. “Come, let’s sit down for this, it’s a lot to take in.” She pulled out a chair and looked at her daughter still standing by Dario. “You can leave if you want now, Deja.”

“And miss this?” she asked, an expression of intrigue on her face. “No way, absolutely not. This is a once in a lifetime sort of thing, and I get front row seats to the start of it all.” She cheerfully skipped to the table and took a seat.

Miss Aimee shook her head in exasperation and sat down. She patted one of the empty chairs and gestured towards Dario. “Well?”

Dario shook himself out of his stupor and walked over to stand by the chair. “This isn’t about anything world ending right?” he hesitatingly asked.

“No, of course not.” Miss Aimee paused. “It’s probably not,” she corrected.

“Alright.” Dario put aside any lingering fears and sat down with a determined expression. “Hit me with it.”

Deja punched him in the shoulder in response.

“Ow, really?” Dario asked with a twitch in his eye.

“Couldn’t help it.” She grinned without remorse. “And you need to lighten up, you’re gonna need it for this.”

Before Dario could respond, Miss Aimee cleared her throat to grab their attention.

“Children please, this is serious business.”

Once she had their attention, she turned to Dario and looked at him with a solemn expression. Her entire demeanor changed and nothing in her countenance showed even a hint of her previously flirty nature.

“For you to understand why you being an Assimilator is a bad thing, you first have to understand why us supes go out and fight monsters in the first place.”

“Because if we didn’t, then we, humanity that is, would be in a lot of trouble, right?” Dario asked.

“While that is a big reason, it’s not the only one.” Miss Aimee took a deep breath before exhaling. “The other main reason is much more selfish. In fact, it’s the reason most supes go out and take a shift as a Vanguard in the first place.”

“What’s a Vanguard?”

“That’s not important right now.” Miss Aimee waved her hand dismissively.

“Vanguards are supes who take on the role of culling out growing threats in the Wildlands,” Deja chimed in. “It’s one of the more higher paying jobs if you decide to work for the Guild.”

“Deja, please.” Her mother facepalmed. “Let me finish.”

“Right, I’ll be quiet now.” She mimed zipping her lips, and leaned back to place her feet on the table. “It’s weird seeing her in school teacher mode,” she whispered to Dario.

“As I was saying, supes go out in the Wildlands for one simple reason.” She lifted a single finger in his direction. “And that’s because it’s the best way of improving and evolving our powers.”

“Powers can evolve?” Dario asked incredulously. If that was the case, then maybe he could improve his own dismally simple power set.

Miss Aimee nodded. “Yes, and killing monsters is generally the best way of doing it.”

Dario leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. “How does killing monsters evolve our powers, and what’s that got anything to do with me being fucked?”

“Hold on, I’m getting there, let me build up to it,” she chided. “First, let me ask you something. Where do you think the World Energy inside a living being goes, when a supe or monster dies? Do you think it just disappears, never to be seen again?” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “No, it never goes away, and it can’t be destroyed either. So, I ask again, where does it go?”

“It goes back into the environment,” Dario reasoned.

“Yes, and no,” Miss Aimee corrected. “You see, when World Energy has been in a person or a living being for so long, it tends to… for lack of a better word, ‘desire’ being in a live container.”

“You’re saying it’s sentient?” Dario raised both eyebrows.

“Not exactly, but for our purposes, we’ll say it is. Now, because of its need to be in a live host, as soon as a monster dies, the World Energy inside it explodes outwards and tries to integrate with nearby sources of life. Preferably one that already contains large amounts of energy similar to it.”

“What do you mean energy similar to it?”

“Over the centuries, we’ve discovered that World Energy actually has twelve different constituents. Each one is unique and provides different effects. This is where we get our Power Classifications from,” Miss Aimee lectured.

In the corner of his eye, Dario saw Deja yawning with a hand to her mouth. This was probably old news to her, but it was a treasure trove of new information for him, so he gave the impromptu lesson his full attention.

“Let’s take us for example. Both you and I have all twelve forms of World Energy.” She gestured towards Dario and herself. “But each person can only utilize certain types, so you end up having a much higher concentration in those Energy types compared to the others.” She pointed at him. “You have higher levels in what we dub as Assimilator, Defense, and the standard Physique. I, on the other hand, have more in the Manipulator and Diviner subtypes rather than Assimilator.”

Dario quickly saw where she was going with the topic. “And because World Energy has these traits, supes go out and kill monsters to absorb what’s released from the corpses, thus increasing their own pools of World Energy. The more of it we have in our bodies, the more likely our powers evolve?”

“Precisely,” she confirmed with a satisfied smile. “Luckily for us, each of the twelve types of World Energy converts into the most abundant subtypes in its new host during absorption, albeit at a very inefficient rate, with the excess that wasn’t converted bleeding back into the environment. Because of this, we can go out and kill literally any monster and still gain progression in our specific power classes, regardless of whether or not they have similar Energy subtypes as us.”

“Is this getting closer to the part which concerns my wellbeing?”

“Yes.” Miss Aimee solemnly nodded. “The rate of Energy conversion is much less efficient the more powerful you are, and killing random monsters will only give you diminishing returns after a certain point.” She leaned forward and steepled her hands together. “At some point, you will have to focus on killing beings that have the same Energy subtypes as you if you want to continue developing your powers.”

“Does that mean what I think it means?” Dario asked with a pale face.

“It is unfortunate, but there are those who will hunt down fellow supes with similar powers, or at least be nearby when they're in near-death situations,” she said with a frown. “There are strict regulations against this, but that doesn’t stop some people from occasionally trying.”

“Great, just great.” Dario slumped down in his chair and laid his head on the table. “And because I have the rarest classification or Energy subtype, I’ll be in really high demand.”

“Not quite,” Miss Aimee rectified. “I meant it when I said that Assimilator is the rarest power class. I could count on one hand all the Assimilator supes that are alive today in the entire world. The most recent one was born nearly a century ago.”

“Okay, so it’s not so bad then, right?” Dario asked with hope in his eyes. “There will only be a few people who might be interested in murdering me, and they’re all old geezers by now.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at Miss aimee. “And like you said, there are rules against killing fellow supes for power, so I have some protection,” he reassured himself. “That’s not so bad. I think that’s manageable.”

“Do you know who the Assimilator that was born most recently is?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No…”

“He’s the current reigning sovereign of the Arogard Kingdom, of which you and I are citizens.” She smiled humorlessly. “He is our King, and way above the authority of any regulations. I assure you that he is far from the old geezer that you picture him to be.”

“...”

Miss Aimee continued, “He was given the nickname ‘The Bloody King’ by the small minority who know of his abilities or have seen him in battle. The few classified reports of his battles state that he tends to act like a bloodthirsty killer whenever he’s in combat. Most supes don’t even know he’s an Assimilator, due to his abilities being a state secret, but I happen to be privy to a lot of classified information.”

“...”

“In his free time, he likes to hunt down specific monsters that hold Assimilator Energy since he’s hit a soft cap in power. He’s reached a point where he can take on an entire legion of supes by himself.” She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “My sources tell me that he’s the ruthless power hungry type.”

“...”

“He’s also considered to be the weakest of the four known Assimilators alive today.” Miss Aimee tilted her head and looked up in thought. “Although, technically, as the newest contender, you’d be taking over that title. Congratulations, Dario.”

“...”

“Now you know why you’re fucked,” Deja piped up with morbid amusement. “I pray for the poor fools who get stuck in a team with you.”

They sat in silence as Dario took a few moments to process his latest predicament.

“Dario, are you alright?” Miss Aimee asked concernedly.

“I think his brain just melted,” her daughter said while using her hands to mimic liquids pouring out of Dario’s ears.

“I’m fine,” Dario replied after a few seconds. He took a few calming breaths and rubbed his eyes before leaning back in his chair to look at the ceiling. “I’m perfectly fine, this is just another day in the life of Dario Sindred, moving from one shitshow to the next,” he said with a sigh of exaggerated melancholy. “But that’s okay, I’m used to it. I’ve handled every shitty problem life dealt me so far, and I’ll get past this one too.”

“I have to say, I expected you to be a bit more hysterical,” Miss Aimee admitted. “I mean, being told that your future consisted of being hunted down by someone named The Bloody King would terrify most people, I think.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Dario muttered. “No, this doesn’t change anything. I’ll deal with it when the time comes.” He sat up straighter in his chair and looked at the older woman with steely eyes. “No one knows I’m an Assimilator apart from you two right? Just don’t tell anyone then. If he doesn’t know I’m like him, then he won’t hunt me down, problem solved.”

Miss Aimee winced and said, “Unfortunately, upon a new Status Band’s first use, it sends a one-time, err, packet of information regarding the Power Classification of its user towards a central device known as the Registry. I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before the right people find out.”

“Of course.” Dario nodded in acceptance. “Of course that’s a thing.”

“Don’t worry though, nobody really looks into or even cares about the Registry. It’s only really used as a reference for which job offers a newly registered supe gets.” Miss Aimee snapped her fingers looking like she just remembered something. “I happen to know the people in charge of that, and I don’t think any of them are agents of the King, nor are they aware of his Assimilator status like you. It’ll take a while for anyone who matters to find out, and if you stay incognito without causing any trouble, then no one will have reason to investigate you,” Miss Aimee assured.

“Right, everything is just peachy.”

“Look on the bright side, dude,” the white haired girl spoke up from beside him. “You’re an Assimilator, a supe with the literal rarest power of them all. You share the same power class as some of the most powerful people in the world. The possibilities are endless!” She spread her arms wide to accentuate her point.

“So, you two never explained this to me, but what exactly can an Assimilator do?” he asked.

“In general, it means that you can assimilate something,” Deja replied with a twitch of her lips.

“What does that even mean?”

“To Assimilate means to absorb and make part of you,” Miss Aimee responded. “What that means when it pertains to you could be anything. Power Classifications are quite wide ranged when it comes to the specifics of a person’s capabilities.”

“Once again, what does that mean?” Dario repeated.

“It means that you could be capable of absorbing any number of things, we just don’t know yet,” Deja answered. “Take the classification of Traveler for example,” she began to explain. “It generally means powers that enhance a supe’s capability of moving around. This could be anything from Super-Speed, to flight, teleportation, or even the ability to walk on water. The point is that Power Classifications only tell a supe’s powers in the vaguest terms.”

“Exactly,” her mother agreed. “The fact that Assimilator is extremely rare only makes it harder to guess what you can actually do. The best we can do is compare it to the few existing cases.”

“Alright, tell me what The Bloody King can do then, since he’s an Assimilator like me.”

“I’ve only seen him in battle once and what else I know of him I heard from other sources but—” Miss Aimee looked off into the distance with her brows furrowed. “His powers seem to revolve around absorbing emotions.”

“What kind of emotions?” Dario asked. He didn’t even question how strange such an ability was and simply wanted to understand. It was always important to know one’s future enemies after all.

“All of them, and he could pick and choose which to absorb at will,” the bald Superior replied. “He would then use it to empower himself physically, in both strength and speed. The more emotions he absorbed, the more powerful and hulking he appeared. This ability seems to be the basic rundown of an Assimilator. They generally seem capable of absorbing some kind of abstract aspect and use it to empower themselves physically. Additionally, they can reutilize whatever it is they absorb. In this case, The Bloody King can project the emotions he consumed, outwards onto others.”

“Just how strong was he exactly?” her daughter asked with a curious expression. “You never told me about any of this before, and he sounds like a badass.”

“Honestly? He could probably lift a small mountain,” her mother replied with certainty. “He was nigh-invulnerable too, just tanking damage like it was nothing. And that’s not even the most amazing thing too.”

“What could be more amazing than lifting a small mountain?” Dario incredulously asked.

“Well, imagine fighting alongside someone who can take away all your fears, all your anxiety, and just leave you with happiness and awe inspiring anger towards your enemies. It’s one hell of a morale boost to your allies, that’s for sure.” She chuckled in remembrance.

“Now, imagine being on the opposite end of that. Imagine fighting this indestructible war machine while you’re filled with nothing but anxiety, and sheer panic-inducing fear. Nothing you do can change how you’re feeling.” She shuddered in discomfort. “And riding alongside him is an army of bloodthirsty, fearless troops, unafraid of injury or death ‘cause they’re so jacked up on happy juice that they don’t feel pain. That is what fighting against The Bloody King is like.”

“And that’s who you’re up against,” Deja cheerfully told Dario with a grin.

In response, Dario simply sighed in acceptance before trying to show off a confident smirk of his own. It was more of an attempt to trick himself into feeling good than actual confidence, but they didn’t know that.

“If he can lift a small mountain, then I guess I’ll just have to get strong enough to lift an even bigger one, won’t I?”