Stanley looked down at the truckstop for a minute before he could land. The remains of the Undead from the first night still littered the parking lot, including the large orb that used to be a towering behemoth. "They are all dead." He reassured himself with clenched fists.

The inside of the store was slightly foul with the smell of rotting food but luckily the truckstop didn't carry very much fresh food and it was still cold… at least he thought it was. There was still some patchy snow in places but after his stat boosting earlier…

Stanley left the truckstop with a new jacket and another backpack loaded with bottled water and whatever dry food and snacks hadn’t been looted yet. Caffeine snuggled once again into his spot inside Stanley’s jacket. He looked at his truck as he started flying away and hesitated. "Might be something useful here…" He couldn’t actually remember what he had been hauling when the world ended.

He opened the trailer and found floor tiles. "Not very helpful… but since I'm here." He started down the line, checking every trailer and found some useful ones. One was floor to ceiling cereal boxes. Another was carrying riding mowers. "Eve might want these." The last held beer, lots of beer. "Could boost morale." He decided to let Nate decide on it and after disconnecting them flew into the air.

Stanley had learned something important earlier today. His power wasn't about pushing, lifting, or hitting, not really. It was about him wanting something to happen and then willing that into reality. He didn't actually cut the worm that held Caffeine. He simply made the worm Be already cut. It was a strange distinction and he was almost afraid to think about it too hard, in case he questioned himself right into not being able to do it again.

Stanley looked at the three trailers that he wanted to take with him. He knew that his power could easily carry all three but rather than trying to concentrate on lifting each one and carrying it, he Willed them to fly with him and Knew that they would. It was the same way he had been carrying himself around, without quite realizing what he was doing, he knew he could and so subconsciously held himself up even when distracted.

That new understanding had been a small part of why he needed to get back out now, while he still believed he could do it.

The three useful trailers floated smoothly into the air and hovered behind him in a row. Stanley could feel a small drain on his Energy but it wasn't much compared to combat.

He was still unsure how his Psionic Energy worked in relation to his power. Did it go out into the world and change things? Or, did it get burned up by his mind somehow to empower his Will. All he knew for sure is that whenever he used his abilities, the Energy disappeared from inside him. Where it went was a mystery. Better not to think about it.

He smiled. "One step at a time." It wasn't a big step, using his power against non living cargo was easy compared to the living or Undead… Something about the Soul or maybe just Willpower, but nevertheless Stanley was learning and that's what was important.

The trailers followed him as he flew a few blocks back to the growing fortress. He sent the trailers down nearby and after seeing the terrified looks people were giving him, he just left, heading south once again. "Make one tiny scene and everyone loses their minds."

He went slowly as he approached the place where the worm was. The worm that he knew wasn't dead. Wounded and without a mouth but he had a feeling that it could survive that and regenerate. A feeling that came with this new understanding of his power.

Stanley had an instinctual feeling that the less damaging the attacks he attempted to inflict, the less power it would require. He also had a feeling that he should be able to Will something dead but that doing so would require much more power than a simple decapitation would. Why he felt that he couldn’t explain.

Maybe it was his skill. "I earned the higher evolution while using Source and so can't remember exactly what I was doing." He mused. "Maybe some of it's coming back? Maybe my higher stats are helping me remember?" He shook his head and refocused, ahead he could see the hole where the worm had been. And the drag marks that Caffeine had dug leading right up to the edge…

Caffeine licked Stanley’s chin.

"Good boy, Caff." He whispered as he looked away from the hole.

The Undead were gone from the bridge in the distance. He looked around for any signs of them but saw no glowing Souls. No Souls… anywhere. "Where did all the wildlife go?" He wondered nervously.

Stanley flew higher as he repeated his trick from earlier, boosting his [Soul-Sight] and looking around again. Still nothing. "This feels like a bad sign…" He looked down near the hole and flinched when he saw a glow. "That's…"

Stanley looked around again before cautiously descending. Below him the glowing Soul rose up to meet him and the spear landed in his hand.

The glow was coming from the whole length of the six foot long spear but it was brighter near the pointed top, where he'd shoved Samantha’s Core...

"I really hope it's just the Core and I didn't somehow shove her Soul in there…" As he studied it he started to relax. The glow wasn't like a person or even an animal. It was a smaller and more generic feeling. When he stopped boosting his sight the glow vanished. "It's probably nothing…"

A crow cawed somewhere below and Stanley noted how quiet it was. "It's…" Caffeine looked up past Stanley’s face and the air screamed in his ears as he shot sideways even before Caffeine started growling. He was already spinning and scanning for threats as he pumped Energy back into his eyes, ramping up his [Soul-Sight].

"No more ambushes! No more…" He looked up. "That's not fair."

Above Stanley was a wall of Soul light falling out of the bottom of the clouds. "Always look up dammit!"

A very, very bright Soul was at the center of the mass and Stanley immediately punched a hole through the air and Willed himself through the vacuum. "Not good!"

Another thing that he had realized after his frantic flight to find Zeke, was that he didn’t need to feel g forces, not if he moved All of himself at the same time. It drained a lot more Energy but right now he was not going to conserve. Better to escape rather than try to fight what was obviously…

"It's a trap…" His heart sank, as ahead of him to the north another very, Very bright Soul was rising into the sky. Stanley could see something glowy forming in front of the thing, magic, he assumed.

Below it and stretching out to the east and west, an army of Souls were appearing.

"They waited for me…" He thought in shock. "And I flew right in." He remembered that the first Raid Leader had spoken to him, had been intelligent and had mentioned others. "How did so many hide from me?"

Yet somehow along the way Stanley had started thinking of them as dumb beasts at best and mindless monsters otherwise.

"I'm stronger now, but…"

All the Souls he saw below were at least the strength of a Red Eye and far too many were even stronger. He could see arms waving below… "Run."

He changed direction abruptly as rocks, bones and other random shit flashed past where he'd been. The sudden shift in momentum felt very strange, almost nauseating, as if his brain expected the g forces and rebelled when he felt none.

He ran south, well, flew south. Above him the dark clouds of Undead birds descended and he raced to get out from under them.

A beam of darkness appeared ahead, stabbing down from above and swiftly sweeping his way.

Stanley juked aside and almost dodged the beam. It passed over his left foot and the searing pain that shot through him broke his concentration.

[Decay] Resisted

A wall of wind abruptly slammed into him and sent him tumbling towards the city below. He heard a deep howl that vibrated through him from his chest.

You have heard the Howl of the Beast Lord.

+5% Effectiveness of All Attributes to Friends

-5% Effectiveness of All Attributes to Not Friends

The small boost, as well as the comforting reminder of his canine companion, helped him focus and the air was pushed away again as he took control of his flight.

Houses flashed past beneath Stanley as he leveled off only feet above the rooftops. He poured his intent and Will into speed and noted only for an instant that he was holding his breath in the airless vacuum he flew through.

He had been too panicked to notice the first time he pushed air out of the way, not that he was much calmer now. "Hang in there, Caff."

The river loomed and Souls were blinking into his sight on the other side. He felt something coming from behind him and he made a snap decision. He dove under the water.

The drain on his power was worse in the water. "Under 50% now…" He turned left in the murky depths of the river, heading east and hoping to lose his pursuit.

Then something with too many teeth loomed ahead of Stanley and he launched back above the surface. "What the fuck was that!" Another beam swept past, missing him and something exploded behind him. He shot a glance behind and saw it. Four skeletal arms, a dark cloak flapping and skeletal wings jutting from its back with some kind of smoky energy stretching between the bones. "Great."

Around it was an army of Undead birds, mostly pigeons and big ones at that, but he spied some seagulls as well. "Fucking birds!"

The four arms were moving and a ball of sickly green light shot from the thing and straight at Stanley. He swerved west and away from the river, towards the skyscrapers ahead.

He passed a towering apartment building or hotel at the river's edge that looked to be on fire, flames flickering in many of the windows. "Haven't seen anything besides humans make fire…" He didn't see any humans though and who knew what crazy shit was out there now. Probably a fire breathing fish.

Ahead he saw Skeletal creatures swarming into the street. Bone blade appendages swung as they ran.

"No…" Stanley was horrified at seeing the monsters again and he lost track of his surroundings as visions of dripping blood and cries of pain assaulted his mind.

Something exploded against his back and the real pain swallowed his mind and the memories with it. Then he struck the street and bounced. He lost track of things for a few moments until he very abruptly stopped.

He blinked and saw Caffeine standing in front of him. Souls were coming from every direction and he saw a Zombie flying towards him. It flopped and tumbled to a stop at his feet headless, when Caffeine blurred, then the dog vanished and something crashed nearby.

A horde of Blade Arm Skeletons were charging him and there was a deep growl that vibrated the world around Stanley.

You have felt the Wrath of the Beast Lord.

The charging Undead toppled and fell over. Stanley noted that every Soul in sight seemed to pause at the same time and he finally acted.

He had to peel himself out of the crumpled car that had arrested his trip down the street by wrapping around him. "Psionic Energy…" He thought, as only minor aches could be felt after his high speed street bouncing and sudden stop. "I'll take it." He must have subconsciously kept his power around him.

When he was free he saw Caffeine sprinting his way. The car-sized pug stopped abruptly, spun, and Barked at the Raid Leader coming up the street behind him. The Leader swerved down a cross street and behind a building as a shockwave shattered windows and walls alike.

Stanley looked around frantically, searching for a path through the hordes. The toppled Skeletons climbed to their feet and Caffeine howled again, even louder.

You have heard the Angry Howl of the Beast Lord.

+10% Effectiveness of All Attributes to Friends

-10% Effectiveness of All Attributes to Not Friends

They were surrounded… the sky was raining Undead birds, the buildings were covered with Undead, jumping out of and off the roofs of every single…

Stanley looked more closely at the building to his left. It was full of glowing Souls but… they weren't Undead. "The enemy of my enemy…"

A General Zombie appeared around a corner and flashed towards him.

CUT

It bisected straight down the middle of its body and the two halves tumbled past as Stanley sagged with the power drain. "I knew I could…" His elation at killing one of his nightmares was short lived. "Too many…"

Class [Psionic] Level Up

"Caff, come!" He yelled, already moving as he pulled Caffeine to him while Red Eyes charged in mass down the street alongside the bladed skeletons. Stanley wrapped the pug in his arms and crashed through the glass front doors and into the ground floor lobby of the skyscraper.

You have entered a Beast Lair

Souls dropped from the ceiling in a wave as he flew past and he frantically looked for somewhere to go. Further in he saw open elevator doors and headed that way.

The falling Souls descended onto him and he could finally see what they were. Bats.

Stanley heard glass breaking behind him and instead of attacking the bats he only grabbed and threw them towards the entrance to the building. "Go play with them." There was an explosion and when his ears recovered there was a rapidly growing sound of clicking and chirping that made his ears twitch.

He was almost to the open elevator when more bats started pouring out and he veered off, heading towards the high ceiling that was now clear of bats.

Another explosion came from the entrance and Stanley spied an air vent on the wall just below the ceiling in a corner of the room. "There!" He threw more bats towards the front and was about to rip the cover clear when a high pitched sound slammed into his ears. He had an instant of clarity to remember that sound can't travel in a vacuum and he pushed the air away from himself.

The sudden silence was bliss and he fumbled for a moment as he heard only his own heartbeat thundering in his ears and the fading ringing.

He flipped the large air vent cover up, threw the bats coming his way at the Undead and dove inside. The metal grate swung closed in silence with only the vibration traveling through the metal tunnel walls.

Stanley settled his weight slowly, waiting for the whole thing to buckle and collapse, but it held. He threw up a barrier behind the grate and slowly let air return around him.

The high pitched shrieking returned but it was muted enough that he wasn't in pain as he gasped for breath as quietly as he could. Though he didn't think it mattered at the moment. Explosions rocked the building one after another and he slid very slowly forward until he could peek through the grate.

It was madness. Bats swarmed the Undead, a never ending flood of them were pouring from the elevator shafts and charging the Zombies. But none were coming his way. "I think I made it!"

Stanley didn’t have a very good view of the front doors but it looked like the bats were jumping or flying onto and biting the Zombies. Stanley thought he saw something glowing in their mouths when they attacked the Undead but couldn't be sure from his vantage.

The bats were taking losses, even as he watched, a Red Eye ripped a bat from its leg and tore it in half. The bat immediately exploded in a blue flash and the Red Eye staggered back with an arm missing at the elbow. A Skeleton bisected a bat and the explosion shattered it's bone blade.

More bats jumped and flew onto it, all biting, until it went down in the pile.

Along the walls and ceiling near the door Stanley saw the bats responsible for the sonic attack. They were attacking in waves and the screaming shriek was unending and unrelenting.

A General Zombie entered and started laying into the bats but they just kept coming. Explosions were almost nonstop until even the General slowed and finally fell, covered in biting bats. Stanley noticed some of the bats were heading away from the battle, glowing faintly blue and crawling back into the elevator shafts even as the flood of fresh bats poured out.

The General crumbled into dust under the swarm. "Yes! Eat them all…" Just as two more entered along with the Raid Leader and two Big Skeletons. "Fuck…" The skeletons had only one arm blade, the other arm ended in a bone shield. They were bigger than Byron… at least twelve feet tall. "...me."

Stanley held his breath and tried not to move but the Raid Leader looked straight at him. "Of course he can see me!" Stanley railed as the thing started waving it's hands, magic coalescing in front of it.

The bats went nuts throwing themselves at the Leader and while it's two General Zombies and Skeletons blocked most, a few got through, crawling between their feet or dropping from the ceiling, and started biting at the forming magic.

"Get him!" Stanley cheered silently.

The Leader failed to launch his spell and backed up to the door as his hands crushed the bats clinging to him. The resulting explosions threw it back outside and out of sight. Stanley held his breath hopefully.

A black ball of magic shot into the middle of the room and exploded. Stanley had time to see a veritable carpet of bats on the floor tilt their heads up and open their mouths wide.

Then the explosion of magic reached him and pain raged into him. He thought he heard whimpering but he couldn’t form a coherent thought until suddenly it was over and Caffeine was licking his face.

[Decay] Resisted

[Regeneration] Activated. +1.9% HP per second

+1 Vitality

"Wow! Fuck! How much damage did I take to gain Vitality?" He gasped for breath and replaced his barrier on the grate as the shrieking resumed. A peek through showed a swarm of glowing blue bats crawling into the elevator shafts even as other glowing bats collapsed and exploded. When one exploded the others would stop and bite at the explosion, blue light flowing into their mouths.

"They eat Mana." Stanley realized. "Literally the perfect enemy of the Undead." He laughed silently at them. "And I don't use Mana."

He checked his Health bar since he didn't have a good sense of how injured he was, only a deep ache all over. "Down to 55%... well that sucked."

He couldn’t see anything near the doorway, which was just an open area after the fighting and clear of any corpses. Only a dark stain across the floor but no Undead corpses. "Are the Undead mostly Mana and so disintegrate when drained or will that happen to a human as well?" The thought was slightly worrying but maybe the Undead were less stable? He knew that he absorbed Energy from the Cores but he wasn't actually sure what exactly that Energy was.

The bats were calming down now. As he watched they were crawling up the walls and settling back onto the ceiling. One crawled near his vent and he could hear its claws digging into the marble tiled wall.

Stanley poured more Soul Energy into his eyes and looked towards the street.

Skill [Soul-Sight] Level Up

"Fuck."

The Raid Leader was waiting just across the street… it shifted as he looked at it and Stanley started floating himself and Caffeine deeper into the ventilation ducts.

Another explosion of magic sent the bats into a renewed frenzy and Stanley didn’t quite escape the blast completely. Though it was only a brief tingling ache before it was over.

Stanley lay in the dark and caught his breath. "I'm trapped." He should have realized before that the Raid Leaders very likely all had [Soul-Sight].

Stanley sighed very quietly. "Fuck."

Quietly, because he suspected that the bats had good hearing and he didn't want to fight an endless swarm of the things while stuck in a narrow tunnel. Ideally they wouldn't even know he was inside the Beast Lair, whatever that was...

He lay on his back with Caffeine lying on his chest, to avoid his nails scraping on the metal duct, and tried to think of what to do.

His backpack was gone… likely in the street outside, and his spear… "Just as well." He sighed. It would have been too unwieldy in the air duct anyway. If he could find food and water in the building, there might still be snacks or candy in vending machines at least, and gain a few more Attributes… "Right. I need to Rank up." He remembered. "First though."

Skill [Soul-Sight] has reached the (Initiate) Threshold. Upgrade or Evolution Available. Proceed? Yes/No

"Please give me something useful." He thought as Caffeine started twitching in his sleep on top of Stanley. "Yes."

Upgrade:

[Soul-Sight(Apprentice)](UnCommon)

Initiate Effects:

The eye is the window to the Soul.

Allow the user to gaze upon and into the Souls of Others. Skilled Users may glean many details of their targets strengths and weaknesses. Masters of this Skill may learn everything about a target at a glance.

Apprentice Effects:

Increased Range and Sensitivity allows users to See Souls from a greater distance as well as gain more Insight from any Soul examined.

Users may Overcharge the Skill with extra Soul Energy to gain increased Range and Sensitivity and allow Soul-Sight through some solid materials.

Warning: Attempting to use against a stronger Soul will open Users Soul up to potential retaliation.

Warning: Overcharge greatly increases the danger of Soul Retaliation.

Minimum Requirements:

7 Soul(N/A)[Adaptable]

"Well, damn." Stanley thought. "Did I get hit by Retaliation earlier?" He had no idea what had knocked him out of the sky. "Also if the Raid Leader is using [Soul-Sight], can I retaliate against him?" Stanley gave up on the idea when he realized that he was clueless on how to even try. "The upgrade only gives me what I can already do… next."

Evolution:

[Soul Gaze(Initiate)](Rare)

You have used your Soul to Inflict Damage and to Intimidate

Effects:

The eye is the window to the Soul.

Allow the user to gaze upon and into the Souls of Others.

Users may Damage or Intimidate Souls weaker than their own. Eye contact will greatly increase this effect.

Masters of this Skill may kill a weaker Soul with a glance.

Warning: Attempting to use against a stronger Soul will open Users Soul up to potential Retaliation.

Warning: Users may Alter or Damage their own Soul while using this Skill.

"That would probably work…" Stanley realized, "...may Alter or Damage my Soul. The hell does that mean?" He hesitated since he still had no idea how strong his own Soul was. "What's the last one?" He decided to hold off, for now.

Evolution:

[Soul Awareness(Initiate)](Rare)

You have Resisted a Soul Attack.

You have a Damaged Soul.

You are Sensitive to Soul Energy.

Effects:

Knowledge Is Power. Know yourself and know your enemies.

Users Strengthen and Solidify their Soul.

Skill increases the difficulty for others to detect or gain information from the User's Soul.

Still your Soul, Focusing Inward on the incoming Emanations of Souls allows the User to Detect and Examine other's Souls nearby while still Protecting their own Soul from Retaliation.

Range and Sensitivity Increased with Skill Level and Soul Strength.

Stanley pondered that one. "I Resisted a Soul Attack… when? And I have a damaged Soul…"

You have gained the Debuff [Hungry] -10% To All Regeneration Rates

Stanley looked at his Health. It was full. "Does [Regeneration] make me Hungry?" He had eaten very recently and couldn't think of another explanation, aside from running for his life… "I'll have to figure that out later."

Stanley focused back on his Skill options. "An attacking ability or a defensive ability…" He liked the idea of fucking up the Raid Leaders with [Soul Gaze] but on the other hand he didn't know his Soul strength and well, did he really need another attack? "Of course I do. It might be useful against the bigger groups but… how strong will it actually be to start?" Stanley also liked the idea of strengthening his Soul but was just a bit nervous about that 'know yourself' bit. "What if I'm super fucked up? What if I broke…"

Caffeine licked his face. Stanley smiled and hugged the dog until he lay back down. "I know, Caff. You love me and you're the best so I must be awesome!" Caffeine rolled over with Stanley’s help and sprawled on his chest for belly rubs. But even as he rubbed the pug’s belly, Stanley had a bad feeling about his Soul. He still didn't remember what had happened… but he knew a price had been paid. "Harder to detect…" He thought. "Might help?"

Stanley also knew that he was only barely scratching the surface of his [Mind Over Matter] Skill and he had some ideas on what to try next. But first he had to survive and to do that he needed to be stronger. He chose.

Skill [Soul-Sight] Evolved into [Soul Awareness]

Error! Anomaly Detected! Analyzing.

"Oh come on! Now what!"

You do not hold full Dominion over your (Twin-Soul)

Solution applied. All parties involved gain Skill [Soul Awareness]. Skill Progression Speed Reduced and Balanced.

"That's… actually, that's great!" Stanley wished he could see Lee's reaction, he would be…

(Twin-Soul) Rebalance Begun.

The world changed.

Stanley was surrounded by an infinite sea of darkness. Directly in front of him was a horrifying, beautiful, misshapen orb. It wasn't a perfect sphere. Not even a good one. Looking at it reminded Stanley of a yin yang symbol but three dimensional and not black and white. And not a yin yang symbol.

It was beautiful… and… and it was ruined… "Nate was right." He wanted to cry but he couldn't seem to find the words to describe why or even what he was seeing.

It was a beautiful, fragile dish that had been shattered and then glued back together so badly that it was barely functional.

His favorite, warmest blanket, that had been torn to rags and then stitched into a useless bundle.

It was laughter but rather than a happy joyous sound, it was the laugh of someone who had just lost everything they loved and only laughed now because tears would be a pale mockery of their pain.

He could see places where something was missing, something had been cut out. And other places where some of the cut out pieces had been stitched on where they shouldn't be, patching even worse wounds.

"I did this." Stanley knew the truth in that moment and he sobbed as he looked at what he had done.

"We did this." Another voice in his head. "We chose life over death."

"Was it even worth it?" Stanley thought in a bitter response and stared away from his Soul and into the infinite void around him.

"You tell me." The other voice said gently.

"That voice…" Stanley looked back away from the void.

"Lee…" He could see his brother before him, sort of. There was something looking out from his Soul.

"Come in and see what we did." The thing said.

Stanley knew 'it' was his brother but it was an indescribable thing at the same time.

He moved inside the wreckage of his Soul and stopped. Everything here was without defining form or discerning features. Except one thing.

"It was worth it." He smiled at the vague form of his brother and at the very clearly discernible little black pug sitting next to him in a tiny yet perfectly preserved little shelter in the center of their Soul. He looked around his inner Soul and nodded. "We will survive."

"Yes." Lee said, his voice a bit dimmer. "I'm building a home over here for when you get back, twin."

"I'm working on it." Stanley thought.

"No big rush." Lee replied casually with a smile in his words. "I can see you're in a bit of a rough spot." He looked behind Stanley. "It'll just give me more time to spruce up the place."

Stanley looked behind himself and saw Zeke, Eve and even a faint image of Nate and other less distinct figures. "Some new friends." He told Lee. He also saw the Monsters surrounding him, dead and living. So many Monsters. "Some of them will have to go." He thought.

"Naturally." Lee replied, voice more distant now as Stanley looked past his twin and saw Elves fighting and dying and a Giant Snake diving to its execution. As well as a smiling family that stood around him protectively. A few shadowy figures stood further away and were indistinct.

(Twin-Soul) Balance Completed.

"Be seeing you." Lee started fading back into the images behind him. He crouched as Caffeine whined at him. "I missed you too, Caff." He rubbed Caffeine’s head as Stanley thought. "I Will be back."

"I know." And then he was gone Stanley was alone with Caffeine. Mostly.

It felt like there was a window and he could hear his brother talking on the other side. Not loud enough to understand what he said but enough to know he was there and okay.

He looked down at the pug. "You're a good boy Caff." The pug’s tail wagged rapidly but he didn't get up or move around. He sat still, directly on top of the blinding crack that ran through their Soul. Bits of light sparked and jumped from the crack but Caffeine’s Shadow moved. It pounced on them and pushed the light back into the crack or ate the sparks that landed sizzling on their Soul.

Stanley smiled as he faded out of the tiny shelter that Caffeine was guarding inside his ruined… inside 'their almost' ruined Soul.

And then he was back inside the air duct with a wiggling pug on his chest and a tongue in his face. He knew that only a moment had passed but it felt like so much more.

"The Skill was totally worth it." He could feel tears running down his face. "We'll be okay, Lee. I'll make it back!" He stroked Caffeine as he calmed and took in his new Skill.

It was already dark but he closed his eyes anyway and focused on the new sensation inside him.

He could feel something. Out in the blackness, something was alive. Like stars scattered across the void, lights flickered all around. Below and pulsing nearby, he could feel a very Bright, Angry, Hunting, Searching… "Raid Leader…" He realized with a chill.

More dimmer flickers directly below and further above. Most felt lazy, asleep, but some were wary with pulses of 'Danger?' 'Danger?' "Gotta be the bats?"

Stanley kept focusing and more lights flickered in at the edges of his Awareness. Danger? Hungry. Sound? Angry. Kill! Kill! Kill! Sleep. Feed?

The bubble of his Awareness kept expanding and more and more sensations came to him until the cachopany of information became overwhelming. He pulled back… or looked away… looked outward again. That was it. He pulled his focus away from his Soul which was where the information was coming from. He opened his eyes into the slightly different darkness of the duct. A breath of dusty air later and Stanley touched the pug lying on his chest, his hands digging into its fur, grounding himself, and slowly got back under control. "It's very different from before…" He mused. "I might actually be getting useful information as well."

His relaxation was interrupted by a clicking and whistling sound coming from the end of the air duct. "Shit!" His [Soul Awareness] was still active but without his focus on it the information was vague and distant. Right up until the clicking. When he heard the sound something else came to him. From inside himself Stanley could feel a sense of… interest… and growing alertness. Sound! Hungry! Sound! Danger? Sound! Hungry!

It wasn't really in words. It was just feelings, or not even that it was a faint impression of a feeling, of intent.

He held his breath and hugged Caffeine tighter, silently urging the pug to not start growling or huffing at the bats. The bat was crawling up the wall outside of the vent, he could feel it coming closer, the impressions getting louder… or clearer… he wasn't sure.

He suddenly realized his shield had fallen from behind the vent and he blocked off the end again.

The clicking faded somewhat but not completely as Stanley floated up from the floor of the duct and moved further into the pitch dark. He was smiling as he went. "So much better than before." The random colors and smells of his [Soul-Sight] had been useless but this… this might have potential.

He moved slowly through the air ducts, as he had to use his mind to feel out what was around him, like a blind man touching something to see it. And he didn’t want to bang into anything and set off the bats.

The Raid Leader was still outside waiting. It knew he wasn't dead. Stanley shivered at the memory of the sensation of its Soul. He was pretty sure most if not all the 'Kill!' feelings had come from the Undead outside.

Stanley found a junction in the ducts and went up. When he moved into another horizontal section he very slowly set himself down and then focused on his [Soul Awareness].

He felt a large group still below, likely in the lobby, and a few above him. He kept moving before his Skill got too loud inside his head.

Stanley needed to get his missing Attributes up while he was here and he was kicking himself just a bit for giving away the Cores earlier as well as not grabbing the ones he'd killed just outside. If he'd known what was waiting for him he would have said damn the consequences and Ranked Up. But hindsight and all that…

Eventually Stanley found a vent looking down from a ceiling and peered through. It was relatively dark inside the building but with his eyes adjusted in pitch blackness for a while, the light coming in the distant windows was enough to see by.

And he couldn’t see anything. Aside from the office cubicles directly below the vent.

Stanley pulsed his skill again. "Only three on this floor." All lazy and resting. He could feel more above and below but he decided that this was a good place to start.

He moved as close as possible to the three while remaining inside the duct. Then he sent his Mind down and around one. It was a very odd sensation, feeling as if he was touching it but the creature was not reacting to his touch. He could feel the hair on its back. Feel the tiny hairs on its wings.

They were about the same size as Caffeine and he felt a little bad about what he had to do. "Sorry sky doggos…" He snapped its neck. "At least it was quick…" The bat exploded.

Stanley felt it. Could feel the thing disintegrate into bloody bits. "Damn." He heard screeching and a quick focusing of his skill showed more than a few bats coming from above and below. Danger! Attack! Feed! Danger! Attack! Feed… "Is it the sound of the explosion or any sound?"

At least ten bats came to investigate and Stanley intermittently checked his [Soul Awareness] as they crawled around below him. There was a lot of, Danger! Attack! Feed! Until after a bit, when they found nothing except their dead comrade, and it got calmer. Danger? Attack? Hungry.

He did place a shield behind the air vents whenever one got close. Just in case they felt like exploring.

"That's gonna make it hard to get the Cores… if they drop them…" He realized that he hadn't noticed any Cores during the chaos in the lobby. Not that he had a good view…

Eventually they calmed down but most of the newcomers hung around, so Stanley moved up another floor and found another target.

This time he wanted eyes on his targets, so he waited near a vent until only two were nearby. He ripped off their heads and quickly tried to move them away before… they exploded right along with the bodies. He saw no Cores. "They're fucking cheating!" He thought as he went back down a floor. Going past the energetic feelings of Attack! Danger! Even more bats swarmed this time, clicking and chirping, and he briefly wondered if it was because there were two explosions. Either the extra noise or extra Mana from the explosions. They had swarmed nonstop in the lobby but they had been dying nonstop as well… something to investigate later, though he wasn't excited to test the bats and end up forced outside with the Undead. Also, he didn't want to find out how strong their exploding bodies, well, exploded.

There was only one on the lower floor now and he had another idea.

STOP

Something he had done out of desperation and instinct before, he now tried to do intentionally.

He froze it and waited. Nothing happened as he held it completely unmoving, completely still, inside and out. Similarly to how he could move himself completely, he could also move something else completely, or in this case stop it from moving, though his power drained much faster than moving himself. He quickly dipped out of the shaft and looked around. It was all cubicles with some offices on one side.

Stanley didn’t see a breakroom but he did see something else. Out the windows and clinging to the building across the street were the Undead. "No time." He turned to the bat and ripped its head off. No blood dripped, he wasn't letting it move. He waited, until a glowing Core fell to the carpet. "Yes!" He dropped the bat and… it exploded. "Shit!"

Stanley yanked the Core into his hand and shot for the air duct. He made it, barely. Attack! Danger!

+0.3 Dexterity

"This is going to take awhile…"