Stanley was screaming as the monster loomed above him with glowing red eyes. Its mouth opened to reveal horrifying rows of sharp teeth. Clawed hands rose up, ready to rip him to pieces.

"Nooooo!" He screamed and the monster's face grew large in his vision and it licked him. "What…"

It licked him again. And again. It was making strange whimpering noises now. Stanley reached up and felt the soft fur of a squirming pug. The tongue continued attacking his face until he wrapped his arms around the dog and held it still. "I'm awake, Caff."

He opened his eyes and sat up. He could see more than a few people quickly look away as his eyes roamed around the area. He let go of the still squirming pug and mentally lifted himself into the air and onto his feet. "I'm going to get fat and lazy if I don't have to use my actual muscles anymore." He mused.

He stretched out said muscles and walked over to the fire pit where Nate was sitting and talking to a few people that Stanley didn't know. He had a steaming mug in his hands and once Stanley got close enough to smell it he immediately started looking for his own cup.

"Where's the coffee!" He yelled.

Just then a group of people staggered through the open doorway. They carried a variety of bags from duffel to shopping. All of them looked exhausted and dirty. "Incoming!" One of them gasped out as they dropped bags and moved further inside.

Stanley decided to hold off on coffee for the moment as he headed for the door. Caffeine came trotting behind as he walked outside and activated his [Soul-Sight].

He quickly spotted a large number of glowing souls inbound. "Another Red-Eye." He felt fear nipping at his mind but he clamped down on it as he looked over the horde. It looked like a single Red-Eye had buffed a group of weak zombies, at least based on the glowing souls he could see.

"No more…" He thought and struck. He sent a spike of mental force at its head... and missed! "What the fuck!" He couldn’t tell if the thing just happened to stumble or if it had actually dodged his attack. "Are they getting smarter too?"

He took a breath and glanced at Caffeine, sitting calmly next to his feet. "I'm still too weak to play games and conserve power." He decided.

"Dodge this." He lashed out.

The leader of the horde fell and tumbled to a sliding stop in the parking lot. Stanley looked at the zombie head that floated through the air, the glow in its eyes slowly fading. Behind it, the rest of the zombies toppled when their buff vanished. They weren't dead but Stanley left them there as he ripped open the leaders head and took the core.

"Red-Eye dead." He said to Nate as he walked back inside. "I left the weak ones out there."

Nate nodded at him and raised his mug in greeting. "Now. Coffee. Where?" Stanley demanded.

"It's only instant." Nate told him and pointed at a large thermos nearby before he started calling out names and sending them out for zombie clean-up. All the people called seemed happy to go or at least determined. Likely they had seen Nate fight or maybe it was Stanley’s own demonstration the night before. Whatever the reason, they all wanted to get stronger and getting cores was a big part of that.

Coffee finally in hand, Stanley wandered back outside to watch the zombie clean-up. Most of the people killing the zombies used improvised weapons but a few had some fancy tricks. One man would knock them over then rush in and touch them, setting the zombie on fire. It didn’t seem to burn fast enough to be a reliable attack but maybe he was just trying to level his skill up in the hopes it would get better.

Another used gusts of wind to knock down a zombie and then bashed its head in with an axe. The last one looked like she was enchanting her weapon or something similar.

Stanley scanned the sky habitually and then went over his notifications from the night before.

+1 Willpower

Willpower Attribute Fortifying +1

That was all he had gained after nearly dying to the General…

Class [Psionic] Level Up.

Skill [Mind Over Matter] Level Up.

Skill [Soul-Sight] Level Up.

That was after he crushed the Red-Eye. He assumed that the fight with the General must have pushed him towards the next level at least. He checked his status.

Status

Name: Stanley Cascade

Race: [Human](F Rank)

Traits: [Adaptable] [Source-Touched]

Titles: [Solo Hunter]

Class: [Psionic(Initiate VI)](Rare)

Class Skills:

[Mind Over Matter(Initiate VI)](Epic)

Attributes:

Strength: 7

Vitality: 7

Dexterity 10

Perception 10

Intelligence 15

Willpower 20+

Twin-Soul ???

Non Class Skills:

[Soul-Sight(Initiate IV)](UnCommon)

[Source Regeneration]

Buffs:

[Caffeinated]

Debuffs:

Stanley smiled when he noticed his debuffs had disappeared. “Guess seven is the bare minimum?” He was making progress but had a long way to go. He wanted to go out with Caffeine and grind monsters even though the thought made his heart rate speed up and his palms damp. “But first…” Stanley looked at the spear hovering next to him.

It was odd. He could feel… something, some kind of energy in the spear. He couldn’t tell what it was or did but after seeing the way it pierced zombie skulls he didn’t care. He would use it. It also reminded him of something else. The people who had helped him. “Eve and Zeke.” Stanley had no idea whether or not the group with them could fight off the Red Eyes.

He walked back inside as he chugged his coffee and approached Nate. He told him about his plan to go north and about the healer. “Will you come back here?” Nate asked him.

Stanley shrugged. “Maybe… just depends. Why?”

Nate glanced around. “This place isn’t the most defensible but so far it is less dangerous than it was closer into the city.” He paused. “Of course that could be because the General was keeping other monsters away… also the Miasma is weaker out here.” He shook his head. “Check out their situation up north. If it's worse, bring them here and we’ll go from there. If it’s better let me know and we can join them up there. Please.”

Stanley looked around. “How many do you have here?” Nate didn’t have to think about it. “Ninety-eight.”

Stanley shook his head. “I can’t carry that many.”

“I wasn’t thinking of…” Nate started.

“Get a bus or a truck or something.” Stanley told him. “I can push it. Might be better than walking…” The other man looked thoughtful as Stanley turned and headed out. His bag flew to him, he had restocked with some additional supplies, Caffeine jumped out of the warm lap he had acquired and followed after.

[Soul-Sight] still on he took to the air, pug in his arms, spear and bag following behind. He didn’t care if his skill bothered people anymore, the world was too dangerous and the skill was too useful. Speaking of danger, he did stop once in the sky and after a careful scan for any souls, he retrieved one of his new supplies. A package of wet wipes. Much better than toilet paper. Dirty deeds done, no squatting on the ground for this psionic, he followed the freeways below to find his way to where he had parked so long ago. “Two days…”

The freeways weren’t actually that clogged with useless cars, likely because this had started late at night. From his high vantage Stanley couldn’t see clearly whether the cars were smashed or if the dark patches were blood stains rather than fluids leaking from wrecked vehicles. And he didn’t want to see. He did note that even the most mangled wrecks held no bodies. “All zombies now.”

On the coast he saw a massive cloud of what he guessed were seagulls, all swarming and dive bombing something on the beach. He couldn’t see past the collective glow of their souls to whatever they were attacking and he flew well clear of them as he kept on north.

Nothing attacked him for once and as he approached the truck stop from the air he noticed something. There was a faint, but very noticeable from the air, color change in the environment. A large circle around the area was… greener. As he entered the greener circle he felt like a stench that he had gotten used to, vanished. Stanley stopped and flew back out of the circle.

[Miasma] Resisted.

“Interesting.” He couldn’t really smell a difference but the air just felt... worse. “No wonder the undead wanted him gone… If he keeps getting stronger?” He realized that the boy was going to be a target of priority for sure. In fact he was surprised that they hadn’t already attacked again. “Maybe we hurt them badly that… night.” His hand trembled as he clenched it into a fist. “Good! I hope you fucks are suffering for that!”

He found the building he’d seen them go into last time. Stanley thought he saw a glow through a window but couldn’t be sure. He approached slowly, just in case someone had itchy trigger fingers. “Itchy Skill fingers?” He hadn’t seen or heard anyone using a gun and since this is America, he assumed guns, like cars and phones also no longer worked.

As he approached the double front doors a very large man stepped out. He looked like a football player but even bigger. Ridiculously bigger. He had to duck to get through the doors. “What attribute does that?” Stanley wondered.

“Whaddya want?” The man yelled in a deep voice. Caffeine was squirming in Stanleys arms, likely he wanted to go sniff the guy and see if he had snacks.

“I’m looking for Eve and Zeke.” Stanley told him while slowing to a stop on the ground. The man's soul was almost as bright as Nate’s had been and Stanley ignored the useless confusing sensory inputs it sent him.

“What for?” The man demanded.

Stanley was getting a bit worried, only the fact that the Miasma was still held back kept him from thinking the worst. “Are they okay?” He asked the hulk.

“What’ch ya asking fer?”

Stanley was about to start yelling when another voice sounded from behind the behemoth and Zeke walked out from behind him. “Relax, Byron.” He told the big man. “That's Stanley, and Caffeine.” He added as the pug yipped and squirmed free to go running to the boy with happy whines and barks. “Hi Caff!” Zeke said, smiling as he bent to greet the happy pup. Stanley felt something coming from the boy. A feeling of warmth and light that while it didn’t actually reduce the cold on his face, it did feel good.

You have gained Buff [Purifying Aura].

Stanley relaxed and started walking closer while eyeing the big giant guarding the door. He finally noticed that the man was holding something in his hand. It was a chainsaw… no, he realized. It was a chainsaw sword, the motor replaced by a long handle, though the thing looked like a toy in his large hand.

“What stat makes you so big?” Stanley asked the man as he gazed up at him. The man squinted at him then leaned over to glance at the pug pawing his leg. “Constitution.” He said bluntly and turned around. “Inside Zeke.” He said to the boy, not unkindly. “Don’t let the monsters get'cha.”

“Another extra Attribute… how many are there?” Stanley looked up at the sign above the door as they both walked inside. “Serenity Acres. Senior Living.” He followed them in. Inside, the entryway was a bland, neutral, almost clinical area. It extended all the way through to the back of the building with hallways branching off on both sides and elevator doors in the middle on opposite sides of the hall from each other. The room extended upward three stories to the roof with balconies extending into the space above. The linoleum floors had a lot of dark stains of something splashed and pooled all over.

Stanley walked past Byron and watched as the man dragged a large dresser across the doorway. Stanley looked above the door where tall but narrow uncovered windows extended upward for three stories. “This place is not very secure…” The light coming in the windows did help light up the place though.

“Zeke!” A new voice brought his attention back and he turned to find an old man in a wheelchair rolling out of a hallway. “There you are.” He glanced at Stanley. “Oh hi there.” He looked back at the boy. “We can’t handle those kids by ourselves, we need…”

“I know.” Zeke interrupted with a sigh. “I’m on my way.” He looked at Stanley and pointed at a hallway further down. “Eve is over there. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” He turned and followed the wheelchair.

“Yea, real happy…” Stanley glanced at Byron. The man was sitting with his back to the dresser, his eyes half closed and looking almost like he was sleeping. “Better… I guess.” The man was almost bigger than the dresser he was blocking the door with.

As he approached the hall where Zeke had pointed he heard angry voices yelling back and forth. “Who’s the goddamned electrical engineer here, brat?” A male voice yelled.

Another voice, a woman’s voice, responded. “Maybe that would matter if we were dealing with fucking electricity you senile old fart!”

Stanley walked into an expansive room, large windows down one wall let in enough light to see the chaos strewn about. Countless seemingly random appliances were everywhere. Round tables were spread around what must have been a communal dining hall at one point. Stanley saw microwaves, toaster ovens, blenders, coffee makers, leaf blowers, another chainsaw, a washing machine, dishwasher, and even a riding lawnmower. At least half of everything was disassembled or partially disassembled. In the center of the room he saw Eve.

She was facing away from him and leaning over something on a table in front of her. Behind her another old man in a wheelchair saw Stanley walk in and winked at him while Eve continued her tirade of insults. Stanley grinned and nodded at the man while he walked quietly up to stand next to him while Eve ranted. When she finally turned around and her eyes landed on Stanley, she jumped at least a foot into the air as she screamed.

“Hi Eve.” Stanley gave a small wave while grinning at her. He watched the look in her eyes go from fear to rage, before another unfamiliar look came over her.

“I thought I felt someone looking at me but I thought it was just this old pervert staring at my ass again.” She glared daggers at the man in the wheelchair who only chuckled at her. “Stanley…” She growled through clenched teeth. “You’re back. Guess you found the wall then? And turn off that fucking ability!” She stared into his eyes. Only the slightest tremor in her hands betrayed her fear.

Stanley’s smile faltered, it wasn't as fun when he saw the real fear. He deactivated his sight and quickly got to the reason he had come. He told her most of what had happened since he left and of the new and improved monsters he’d seen. And about Nate.

“Bring them.” She said emphatically when he mentioned the other group. “We are stretched thin here. We have mostly old farts like this grouchy fuck.” She waved at the man in the wheelchair, who only smiled at her. “And a whole classroom's worth of special needs kids that just showed up outside yesterday, naked.” She shook her head.

“Those three you met yesterday… Well Mike has been very helpful but the other two, always fucking bitching about everything.” She slumped into a chair. “We’re barely hanging on here.” She said quietly. “If it wasn’t for Byron… We need better defenses and more fighters and more food and… we need everything.”

“What’s her name, said that the ground is getting better and better for growing thanks to Zeke.” She said while waving towards a window that looked out onto a green lawn.

“Matilda.” The old man chimed in.

“Yea, what’s her name.” Eve said again while the old man rolled his eyes. “She keeps going on and on about how we’ll need to grow food to survive.”

She muttered something under her breath about "that cranky bitch".

A short while later, Stanley flew up into the sky with Caffeine in his arms. The pug had apparently had a blast playing with the children and had been reluctant to leave but once Stanley started flying away the dog bounded into the sky after him.

As he flew Stanley scanned the area with his skill while Caffeine growled at the flock of seagulls swooping and diving around the river mouth nearby. Stanley noted that the birds were inside the Purified circle of greener flora and wondered if they would have to fight off wildlife trying to claim the Purified area. Would the smart ones understand that a human was doing it?

He wasn’t too worried about the birds attacking at the moment. Between what Eve had told him of Byron and the relatively narrow hallways the birds wouldn’t be a major threat, hopefully, and he didn’t see anything else nearby. Well, there was something big or maybe a lot of something, glowing in the river but he hoped it was aquatic and would stay there or just get eaten by the seagulls.

He did decide not to start killing the seagulls, at least until more people were around to deal with any counter attacks. Plus there were a lot of them and he wasn’t sure if they would all team up against a common threat.

Skill [Soul-Sight] Level Up.

As he started towards Nate and his group he did keep an eye out for anything to kill since they would likely come back through the same areas and it wouldn’t hurt to thin the herds while there weren't a ton of people to protect.

Behind him the frenzy of seagull caws reached a crescendo. Stanley glanced back. “Shit.”

A crab had crawled out of the water. A seagull dangled limply in one of its claw's until Stanley saw a ripple spread out from the crab in all directions. The seagull fell to the ground in two pieces. A moment later he heard a loud *Clack*.

“Holy shit! Was that its claw?” Stanley watched the birds continue to dive bomb the crab while he thought about what a pistol shrimp would be like in this new world. His eyes wandered to the ocean nearby and he thought about all the scary and freaky creatures living in its depths, depths that were largely unexplored. “The Kraken is very likely a real thing now.”

Stanley turned away from the ocean with a shiver, trying very hard not to think of piranhas and alligators. “At least I’m not in Florida…” He was starting to wonder if the undead were really the actual threat here. A glance back to the crab saw the birds still harassing it but no more had gotten caught yet.

“Why are the animals all getting bigger but humans aren’t?” He wondered as the realization came to him while watching giant birds attacking a giant crab. “Aside from that dude Byron…” Maybe it had something to do with that bit about sentience, humans get better brains and animals get more of what makes them… them? “But why would the seagulls…” His thoughts trailed off as he noticed something.

The birds were only attacking the crab from one direction before quickly flying out of reach. As if they were just teasing it or baiting… or leading it. He looked at the trail of crushed trees and disturbed snow and drew a line with his eyes, past the crab through more leafless trees, a few houses and… the senior housing where Zeke, Eve and a lot of other people were hiding out. “Fuck.”

Stanley quickly started scanning the area again as he angled his flight to get ahead of the crab. “No way these birds are doing this without direction.” None of them had the brighter soul like the zombies or rat leaders but Stanley was pretty sure there must be one, only hidden, since he couldn't spot it.

He did briefly consider that it wasn’t a brighter souled leader and was blending in with the flock but if it was, it was suicidal. Another bird got bisected with an echoing *Clack*.

But he did know what all the leaders hated, at least so far, watching their army die. The next bird to dive the crab didn’t pull up. It stopped abruptly and was snipped in half. There was a hesitation in the attacks and the crab took the opportunity to grab the last bird and start eating it. That got the birds moving again, still diving from one side though, pulling the crab step by step towards the others.

Stanley caught the next bird as well. Snip. And the next. He was trying to keep his eyes moving because he had no idea what the seagull leader would be capable of and still didn’t know where it was hiding. Snip. Another bird died and all the remaining ones abruptly turned and started winging towards him.

He pushed down the surge of anxiety by snatching the head off of the closest bird. He launched it at another bird and ripped the head off a different one. He could feel the drain on his energy but didn’t bother looking at his bars. He mentally aimed and was about to snatch another head when he felt… something.

Stanley looked straight up and tried to rip a piece out of the bird diving straight for him. His power hit it but instead of tearing it apart he only pushed it aside. The bird shot past him towards the ground and he realized with some surprise that it was the size of a regular seagull. “That Soul though…”

It was definitely a leader. He ignored the oddity of its size and tried to use its diving speed to drive it into the ground below. The bird's wings spread wide and its downward velocity almost instantly transferred into horizontal speed and it shot across the sky as a grey and white blur.

Behind the bird, on the ground below, Stanley noticed the Crab walk sideways through a house and out the other side of the wreckage. “It’s going for the others…” In the distance ahead of the crab he could just make out the large form of Byron standing outside the building. “Can a chainsaw cut that thing?” He thought of those pincers snapping closed hard enough to make a shockwave. “Fu…”

The small seagull zipped towards him only feet away by the time he noticed it. He reflexively struck at it. Once again instead of hurting it he only pushed it aside and it sailed past his left side where he could have sworn he felt it brush his jacket sleeve.

Then the other seagulls were on him. He angrily snatched a head from one neck and shot it at and into the giant bird adjacent to it. Stanley saw the beaked head drill all the way through the other bird and out the other side. He turned and dove for the ground and the senior home.

When he got close enough he ripped his jacket open and dropped the squirming pug towards the ground zipping past below. The dog didn’t even stumble as he hit the ground running and ballooned up into the size of a horse. Stanley spun as he felt that same feeling from before coming up behind him. He didn’t know if it was its Soul he was feeling or something else but it was there when he turned, coming for him like a missile.

He slapped it aside, taking advantage of its small size and the fact that its wings were tucked tight during its diving attack. It worked and the bird missed him. Caffeine Barked and trees shattered but the bird slipped past seemingly unscathed. Behind the pug Stanley saw the crab scuttle onto the street and head for the building where a lone giant of a man stood guard.

“Caff! Kill!” He pointed at the crab and the pug hesitated as its head followed the bird up and around before he turned and charged at the crab with a shower of kicked up dirt and leaves.

Stanley held himself still in the air, waiting for that feeling to come again. “There!” He turned and mentally clawed the bird aside as he tried to grasp onto it. His eyes widened as they finally focused on the approaching bird and everything seemed to slow down as his mind realized what had just happened.

He had been hitting the bird from his right side to the left, mostly out of the habit of being right handed, and the bird had noticed. It hadn’t been aiming at him this time, instead it aimed off to his right. And he had just pushed it on target.

“Why do they get to be fucking smart too!!!” He screamed inside even as his mind reflexively blocked the bird missile trying to drive a hole through his chest.

The impact forced him backwards in the air until he slammed into a tree. The air left his lungs as the bird's long beak stabbed through his invisible mental barrier. “No…” It plunged towards his chest in slow motion.

“Stop.”

Pain roared into a blazing inferno inside his head but Stanley didn’t let up. The tree behind him shattered into a cloud of splinters as he slowed to a stop in the air. His eyes burned as he glared at the seagull frozen in place before him. “No more!” His hand reached out towards the bird and its wings spread out as far as they would go and then kept spreading. “No more running.” His brain was burning while at the same time freezing icicles drilled into his skull from all directions.

The bird opened its mouth and screamed as its chest collapsed inward. Stanley’s vision was turning red and he could feel something running down his face. He felt notifications trying to be heard but he ignored it all. “No more holding back.”

The bird exploded.

Its wings ripped free and disappeared into the trees while its head wrenched from its neck and its body imploded in a spray of blood.

Stanley fell to the ground in a daze and he watched the seagull’s head plop onto the ground in front of him. "May have gotten carried away there..."

He felt as much as heard a rumbling vibration that shook the ground under him and he looked toward the sound trying to focus through the burning pain in his mind. “Caff…”

The crab had its right pincer around Byron and the man had his forearms braced on either side of himself, holding back the claw that was digging into the flesh of his arms. Stanley saw Caffeine tear a leg from the crab and send it flying with a toss of his head. The crab spun, still holding onto Byron with one claw and the other snapping towards the pug.

There was a blinding flash and Stanley blinked as a line of blue light, starting from a second story window and ending at the crab, was burned into and now floating in his vision. The crab dropped the big man after the flash and seemed to stagger slightly to the side.

Byron landed on the ground and wobbled for a moment before he collapsed to his knees, his bleeding arms falling limply to his sides before he toppled onto his face. Behind him was a small child.

The child had dark skin and short, dark curly hair. He didn’t look older than ten and he held his arms up next to his head with his hands twitching and twisting. He was rocking forward and backward as he looked at the man lying face down in front of him. The crab turned and its left pincer reached for the child. “No…” Stanley’s stupor was fading as the sight before him forced his mind back into focus but it wasn’t fast enough.

The claw descended on the child and then a large pug was blocking the child from sight. Caffeine Barked at the claw and it was launched away from him. Behind the pug Stanley saw the right claw coming around even as the left was pushed away. The claw reached over the pug and just around its head as the huge claws began snapping shut.

Stanley’s heart stopped. His power flooded through his mind, reaching, straining to be in time. And then… the crab was… not there…

Stanley heard the pincer slam shut and his eyes tracked over to the crab now thirty feet further away from the pug. It seemed as confused as Stanley about how it had moved, its pincers flexing open and shut.

Stanley didn’t care. The pain in his head was gone, drowned under a seething rage. The trees in between him and the crab leaned out of the way and then splintered and fell as he floated forward.

The crab started to move sideways and froze, its legs and arms twitching. Stanley didn’t see any of it. All he could see was that claw closing on Caffeine’s head. “No…” He whispered. He didn’t feel the blood running down his face, didn’t hear the voices behind him, didn’t feel the pain in his head. "Die.”

The crab split in half horizontally as the shell on its back was ripped up and away in a shower of gore. Its legs flew away to the sides and the claws ripped free and hung in the air above what remained of the crab.

Stanley felt something tear in his mind as the crab died and everything suddenly seemed to be less important. He just smiled as he collapsed to the ground. “Caff, safe, now.” The world started getting dimmer and harder to focus on while his notifications got more insistent. He couldn’t block them anymore and the latest and angriest popped up.

Debuff gained. [Brain Bleed] -1% HP per second. Cognitive function -50%

He heard voices but they were underwater and unintelligible. Something wet was hitting him in the face repeatedly.

[Regeneration] Activated. +0.7% HP per second

He felt hands touching him.

You have gained [Purifying Light]

More gibberish voices.

Debuff Removed [Brain Bleed]

"He's okay, Caffeine." The voice of Zeke was clear and mostly calm. "He's regenerating quickly."

"It's okay, Caff." Stanley whispered and the tongue attacked his face again, along with loud whimpering. Stanley reached up and wrapped his arms around the pug. "Good boy." He thought. "I'm just going to take a quick nap." The pain in his head was back and worse than before but the warm glow coming from Zeke was pushing it away and leaving a deep weariness in its place.

Everything faded for a bit and when he came back he could feel Caffeine squirming and trying to roll over on his arm. Stanley cracked his eyes open and looked at the white ceiling. "Someone brought me inside."

The child from earlier was sitting next to him. On his other side he saw Eve standing next to a table and leaning over something as she worked.

"Zeke!" Eve abruptly yelled. "He's awake! I can feel him staring at my ass." Stanley jumped slightly in surprise at her yell.

"I'm not staring at her ass." He thought. His eyes tracked down. "Those are some tight jeans…" He looked back up and found her watching him over her shoulder.

"Hah! I knew you were an old pervert!" She smirked and turned back to her work.

Stanley sighed and turned to the boy who was petting Caffeine while the pug was trying to flip over for a belly rub.

Stanley just stared for a moment. The kid's Soul was… he didn't really know what he was seeing, it was bright and not in the same way as Nate or Byron but the lack of blinding brilliance let him see the details. He kinda wished it didn't. The Soul was filled with impossible shapes that folded into themselves and lines that went in the wrong directions. Tiny pinpoints of light that…

Skill Level Up [Soul-Sight]

He closed his eyes. "Holy shit!"

"Thank you." Stanley whispered when his brain stopped spinning. "You saved Caffeine, didn't you?" The kid didn't respond to him and just kept petting Caffeine’s belly. "What's your name?" He asked him softly. Nothing.

Stanley thought back to when he had first seen him. "Autism?" He mused. "Could be... Whatever it is, I owe you one." He thought. "Thanks." He said again.

He closed his eyes, left Caffeine to his belly rub and went over the rest of his notifications.

Skill Level Up [Mind Over Matter]

Warning! Your Skill [Mind Over Matter] is a Higher Rarity Skill and is Channeling more Psionic Energy than your Physical Body can safely withstand.

Warning! Your Skill [Mind Over Matter] is Stressing your Body. Improve your Physical Attributes to minimize this Stress.

Skill Level Up [Mind Over Matter]

Warning! Your Skill [Mind Over Matter] is Damaging your Body. Improve your Physical Attributes to minimize this Damage.

New Trait Earned [I Made My Choice]

(Your willingness to sacrifice your Physical body for Psionic power has not gone unnoticed.)

Effects:

+5% Effectiveness of All Mind Attributes

+5% Physical Resistance to All Psionic Energy

-5% Effectiveness of All Physical Attributes

"Well damn…" He thought about it for a moment and realized he didn't mind. "I need more power and I'm not about to start punching the monsters."

+1 Willpower

Willpower Attribute Fortifying +1

And that was it. He opened his eyes and slid his arm out from under the pug who was still upside down getting his belly rub. Stanley floated himself upright and into a hover. "Might as well not worry about exercise." He saw what Eve was staring at on the table. "Damn I forgot all about the spear…" He settled his feet onto the ground next to the table.

"Where did you get this?" Eve asked, without looking up from the spear. "I can’t figure out what its made out of.”

“Samantha.” Stanley said softly, as memories of the day before resurfaced.

“Is she a crafter?” Eve asked him.

“She’s dead.” Stanley whispered. “She saved my life… and died for it.”

Eve glanced up at him, emotions moving across her face too fast for Stanley to read. “I’m sorry.” She said and looked back to the spear. “Can you turn off that ability?” She asked him. “Please.” She said, sounding pained. Whether from saying please or from his Skill, he didn't know.

Stanley thought about refusing. He needed to level all his skills as fast as possible but finally did as she requested.

“Thanks.” She said quietly. “Now this spear… what is it made out of?”

“It’s wood… I think? She said she was a Wood Worker. Whatever that means.”

“Seriously?” Eve said. “It feels like metal… and there is some kind of energy focused here.” She pointed near the base of the blade. “And I think it’s slowly drawing in more.”

Stanley looked at the spot she was pointing to and felt a chill run down his spine. “I shoved her Core into there…”

“Her Core…” Eve trailed off and looked at him with wide horrified eyes. “Humans drop…”

“Yes.” Stanley nodded solemnly. “We all have Cores too.”

Eve pulled her hands slowly away from the spear. “Maybe I’ll just leave it alone.” Her hands started rubbing against her pants as if trying to scrub something off. “Whatever it is… It’s sharp.” She looked at him again. “Why didn’t you use it on the crab?”

Stanley looked away from her. “I forgot.”

“You what?”

“I forgot I had it. Okay? It’s been… rough” He watched the boy petting the now asleep and twitching pug. “How is Byron?” He changed the subject.

“He’s fine. He used some Skill that tired him out and Zeke healed the scratches.” Eve wandered away from the table with the spear and over to another table with a rifle lying on it.

“Does it work?” Stanley asked her and pointed at the gun when she looked questioningly at him.

“Oh, yea. Sorta…” She touched a finger to the stock and a pale blue glow lit up on it. “I was just waiting for my Mana to recharge. You probably saw that blue flash?”

Stanley nodded in sudden understanding. “That was the gun?”

“Yep. It put a hole all the way through that thing.” She said proudly before deflating slightly. “Too bad it apparently didn’t care.”

“Does it use Mana? How many shots do you get on a charge? Can anyone use it?” Stanley fired off questions excitedly.

“I,” she said, “get one shot, and it takes hours to charge.”

“Oh.” Stanley deflated. “A one pump chump.” He carefully didn’t smile.

“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

“Ouch.” Stanley clutched at his chest. “Ow my poor old heart.”

She ignored him and kept the glow going on the rifle.

“Who’s the kid?” Stanley gestured at the boy.

“No idea.” Eve said. “He showed up with the rest of em. Though I’m pretty sure he is the one that brought them here, given how he likes to pop in and out unexpectedly. Doesn’t talk though.”

“Yea…” Stanley said. “I think he moved the crab away from Caff.”

“If you're good to go then you should get that other group here before more fucking giant monsters come knocking.” Eve told him.

“I know…” Stanley reached out and touched the spear hesitantly. Nothing happened and he picked it up. It didn’t feel any different. “Did the crab drop any Cores?” He asked Eve.

“Yea, a skill. Some armor shell something or other. I gave it to Byron.” She glanced at him before looking back at the rifle. “It said something about ‘boosting physical defence’. Figured you wouldn’t want it…”

Stanley ignored his flash of anger at her and simply nodded. “It’s fine. I’m more Mental myself.”

“You’re mental all right…” She muttered under her breath, before she looked up and flushed slightly when she met his eyes.

Stanley just smiled, being sure to show teeth. “I am, just a bit.”

“Your dog grabbed this.” She pulled a glowing Shard out of her pocket. “He kept dropping it on your chest over and over until I took it away.”

Stanley took it and absorbed it. “Thanks.”

+1 All Attributes

Willpower Fortifying +1

“Let’s go Caff.” Stanley said and reached a hand out to pat the kid on the head as the pug flipped over to his feet.

“Oh yea, don’t touch…” Eve said as Stanley patted the boy’s head.

“Thanks…” He was outside the front door. “Right… autistic, doesn’t like to be touched.” He wasn’t even mad, in fact he was impressed. “I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Stanley! What did you do!” He heard Eve yell.

“Uh oh.” He walked back inside.

Byron nodded at him as he went by. “Don’t touch the boy.” He said in his deep voice.

Stanley found Eve standing over the limp form of the boy with Zeke crouched next to him. “He’s fine.” Zeke said as he stood up. “I think he just pushed too hard with his ability.”

Caffeine whined at the boy and licked his cheek before he trotted over to Stanley and stared at him with judging eyes. “I’m sorry Caff.” Stanley crouched down to pet the dog who huffed and walked past before he could touch him. Stanley looked up at the siblings who were also staring at him judgmentally. “I didn’t do anything… not anything that bad.”

He sighed, grabbed his pack from the floor nearby and turned to leave.

“I’ll be back.”