The greater arboreal ape landed a few feet in front of Liam, opened its mouth wide, and Roared. Spittle flew from its three-inch-long canines. Liam could see all the way down its throat to the uvula dangling at the back. Liam stood there, completely unaffected, now that he was aware of the attack. His mental defenses were no joke. Once the Beast petered out, Liam spoke. “ Are you finished? Or do you need to go again?” He growled out.

The creature reeled back in surprise before settling onto its knuckles, appraising Liam anew. Liam did the same. The Beast stood at a massive eight feet tall, its hair a similar coloring to its lesser comrades. In fact, the only real visual difference was the added height, muscle, and its disturbing glowing crimson eyes. When the creature spoke, its voice boomed out in a loud, commanding tone.

“What are you doing in these woods, human? It is far from one of your kind’s ‘blessed’ cities. Beware, you are at the edges of the Queen’s territory. Stray much farther and you will face her wrath.”

Liam snorted. “Don’t speak to me of the Queen’s wrath. Has your power gone to your head? You hunt the edge of her territory but don’t scent your prey?” Liam was glad. It seems these creatures were stupid, not insubordinant. They simply hadn’t realized who they were attacking. He would much rather let his mother deal with the politics of her forest than have to enforce its laws. She had explicitly told him to stay out of it after all. The greater arboreal ape had a thoughtful look on his face, then took a big sniff. Liams relief disappeared as a massive smile appeared on the creature's face. Liam knew enough predators to know that this smile was not kind. It was hungry. And it made him angry.

“Ah, one of Lorna’s brood. So she adopted a human brat. It will be so satisfying eating you.” The ape said with monstrous glee.

“You would defy the Queen?” Liam growled out the question.

“Defy? I would dethrone her. I’ll eat you and use the power I gain to advance. With that, I’ll be strong enough to bring an army to heel. Then I will take this forest as my own! I’ll eat Lorna and the rest of her pups and become a true Transcendent Beast! I will be glorious!” The creature rose to its feet, beat its chest, and Roared once more.

This time, Liam didn’t even hear it, his anger rising as the ape spoke until all he could hear was the roaring of his own blood in his ears. This dumb, vile creature had just threatened to murder and eat everyone he loved. It. Would. Not. Stand.

"Astra," Liam said in a low, guttural growl. "I'm going to use everything."

Are you sure? The strain-

"Astra." Liam cut in before she could finish writing. "He just said he was going to eat Tasi. And Nyx. And Jenozelle. And everyone else. I'm going to end him."

Fine. Just be careful. And don't go overboard.

"No promises," Liam said, the growl in his throat almost overpowering the words as he conjured the Core Shard. He then activated one of its most powerful abilities and summoned a third tier Earth elemental. The Mana Beast composed of living rock rose from the ground behind the Greater Ape and wrapped it up in its rocky limbs.

“Hah, you think this measly third tier can stop me? You are a fool, just like the Queen.” The ape laughed.

Not bothering to respond, as everything the vile creature said made him angrier, Liam focused inward. He could feel a section of his mana blocked off to maintain the Earth elemental, about a fifth of his total max. However, that wasn’t his focus right now. Now, he was looking at the mana being used by Overload. Interfering in the mechanics of a skill was normally significantly easier than an ability, but Overload was affecting his entire body. If he messed up, it would kill him. Liam did it anyway. He wanted to end this creature right now. He didn’t want the ape to have even the slightest chance of escaping, so he was going to kill it as fast as possible. It was worth a little risk. So he grabbed hold of the mana of Overload and added even more. Liam felt the effects almost instantly. It felt like he could suddenly lift a mountain. Like he could run across a raging river without slowing. Then he felt the other effects. His skin felt tight, and his muscles twitched randomly. Everything around him seemed to be moving faster and slower than before. Liam knew he couldn’t withstand this for long.

Leaping forward, spear held high, Liam blurred across the few yards between him and the ape in a heartbeat. However, when he thrust his spear to pierce the Beast’s neck and shatter his spine, the tier four beast suddenly jerked its head down and caught the blade of his spear in its teeth. Then, before Liam could even react, he was flung through the forest, slamming into a tree a dozen yards away. He groaned, feeling several of his ribs were close to breaking from the impact. “Hmm, that's some high-quality mithril. A good snack.” Liam heard the screech of metal tearing. “You know, I was going to play nice with you. Maybe just tear off your limbs and leave you alive to see what I’m going to do to Lorna and the rest of her ilk. But you just had to go and try to kill me.” The ape said smugly. With a grunt, the red-eyed ape flexed, and the elemental binding him shattered. Liam gasped as he felt an entire fifth of his mana disappear. “I could be convinced to play nice again if you tell me how you got so strong all of the sudden.” Looking down at his spear, Liam saw the top few feet were broken off. He could see the ape chewing up the last of the other half of his spear. He glared at the Beast as he rose to his feet. His anger rose with him, to the point where he felt beyond words anyway. His whole body shook and an endless growl rolled out of him.

“No? Just going to stand there shaking in terror? Fine. Let me demonstrate how outmatched you are. Maybe then you will feel more talkative then.” The green-furred creature sneered. The ape started flexing, his muscles bulging. Suddenly a change overtook him. The red from his eyes began leaking out over his face, forming swirling patterns wrapping around his head. His fur turned a steely grey, took on a metallic sheen, and spikes formed all over his body. He grew another two feet and gained three hundred pounds of muscle. The newly transformed creature opened its mouth, its teeth now the same red of its eyes, and laughed. “Aah, it feels good to stretch. Do you understand now, human child?” He said menacingly.

Liam, it… It's a sixth tier. I don’t know how, but he was hiding his level. You have to run! He's out of your league. I can tell now; he’s a step away from reaching seventh tier. Only Lorna can deal with him now. Some part of Liam’s mind processed this information. The rest was awash with anger. Before him was a creature that had threatened his family and was capable of following through. He wanted it dead. With a cry of rage, Liam dug his feet in and leaped across the distance even faster than before. His charge was met with a backhand that sent him flying even farther back, crashing bodily through a tree and rolling across the dirt. Many of his bones were broken, his face torn open from the ape’s spiked fur. And all he felt was rage.

“Well, if you won’t respect me, you’re nothing more than food. Die with your secrets. I don’t care. If it wasn’t strong enough to harm me even a little, then it's not worth much anyway.” The ape said as it walked leisurely toward Liam’s broken body. Liam didn’t hear any of it. He was lost in his own mind.

“I was given gifts. I was placed here for a reason, given a task most would call impossible. This is how I die?” Liam questioned internally.

NO

A booming voice echoed in his mind. Liam could feel it resonating with something inside him. “Then what? How do I win? How do I save those I care for?” He asked the new voice.

Watch. I will guide you.

With that, Liam felt a fathomless power reach out and grab hold of his mana. It felt like the ape’s Roar, but instead of wild and unfocused, it was controlled. Precise and exact raw power. The foreign power held everything that made Liam who he was, and he could tell this wasn’t even a fraction of this entity's power. Carefully, the alien energy made a pathway of mana connecting his Perseverance and his Overload and then bound that mana with his Rage. Then it grabbed hold of his body itself.

Now, I will show you Slaughter.

And Liam remembered no more.

{}

The sixth tier, nearly Transcendent, greater arboreal ape was reaching down to grab Liam’s head lying inert on the forest floor, when suddenly the body disappeared. Along with his hand. He roared in agony as blood spurted from his stump, only to have his eardrums almost shatter from an even louder roar above him. Liam, now standing on the apes' back and holding the Core Shard and the metallic Beasts severed hand, had let loose with a roar several magnitudes louder than the apes. Much louder than should be possible. However, there was something in the sound that made the sixth tier creature very afraid. As he looked up at the human standing on him, Liam ripped a chunk out of the hand he was holding and gulped it down. Almost immediately, all of his wounds began to close. The mana of a sixth tier Beast with a Transcendent bloodline was no joke.

Before the ape could do much more than let out a cry of outrage, Liam disappeared again, and a wound opened up in the side of the monkey’s neck. The injured ape gurgled as blood gushed from his throat. Liam, now standing a few feet in front of the Beast, continued to eat its hand before its eyes. As he ate, the Sixth tiers bleeding began to subside. The injuries he had received, while painful, were not life-threatening to his robust body. The bleeding had almost entirely ceased when Liam finished consuming the entire hand.

“I hope you enjoy your last meal human brat because it's the last- HURg” The furious Beast began threatening, only for Liam's obsidian dagger to pierce through his throat mid-sentence. With Liam standing right before him, the ape looked down into his opponent’s eyes and saw no reason or mercy, only boundless rage. And something behind it that terrified him to his core.

“Regret everything you are and die,” Liam spoke, but it was not his voice. With that, in a flash, Liam was behind the ape, and the head of the sixth tier beast went flying through the air. The greater arboreal ape’s headless body collapsed to the ground. Not even a second later, Liam’s unconscious body followed suit.

{}

Hours later, Liam awoke, his whole body aching. He felt like every inch of him had been worked over with a hammer. Groaning, Liam slowly opened his eyes. “What?”

Oh, thank Grim! I knew you weren’t dead, but whatever you did at the end seriously messed with your mind and mana. How do you feel?

“I don’t… I feel like I got run over by a behemoth, but how am I alive? Last I remember that ape was breaking some bones and a few vital organs. What happened?” Liam said, confused and groggy.

You don’t remember? The ape was about to kill you, but then suddenly, your mana started acting strange, and you gained a massive boost in all your primary and sensory abilities and even your weapon skills. It was amazing! You beat a sixth tier in less than thirty seconds! I still don’t know how. The thing that made you that strong is still a part of your mana, but it's not really a skill or ability of its own. I’m still analyzing it, but it seems to be made of a connective mana superstructure connecting your Perseverance and Overload, bound with something else, possibly even an Ethereal concept, but you don’t have access to any ethereal concept even though everything that makes up the mana structure is made of your own mana! It’s impossible! Isn’t that amazing!? This is something even the gods have no knowledge of! I know, I searched all the records, and nothing about anything even remotely similar showed up. What do you remember? How do you think this happened? THis is your tenth impossible thing! Honestly it's almost starting to get annoying. Can you-

“Astra!” Liam yelled for the third time.

Yes? What?

“While I’m glad you found something interesting to research, you’re talking over my head. And I would really like to know what happened since I don’t remember anything.” Liam said with a groan He hadn’t felt this terrible in a long time.

Oh, right, yeah, sorry. Let me show you. Liam’s eyes were covered in a mirage of colors. In a moment, the colors cleared, and Liam saw a familiar scene. He was looking through his own eyes at the beginning of his fight with the greater arboreal ape.

So, where did you lose consciousness? Astra’s words flickered into existence, the scene frozen. Liam, familiar with this ability of Astra’s, directed her to the point where his memory ends and watches his own actions throughout the battle. Afterward, Liam sat down next to the corpse, contemplating what happened. “Astra, what did that mean? Regret everything you are and die?” Liam questioned, “It felt significant, since it's the only thing I said during that time, and it doesn’t sound like me talking.”

Yeah, I know what you mean. Plus, it sounded almost… ritualistic. Like it was necessary.

“Yeah,” Liam said distractedly. Shaking off his darker thought, Liam jumped to his feet. “Well, we need to figure out what to do next,” Liam said in a much more cheery tone. “We can worry about what all this means once we get home but for now I need to finish what I came here to do.” He said resolutely. Looking up at the sky through the loosely intersecting branches of the forest, Liam saw it was just past midday. “Dang, how much time did I lose?”

Three hours, fifteen minutes. We can still get home before the end of the day if we hurry.

“Um,” Liam said, looking at the corpse of the ape. “Yeah, I don’t think that's happening.”

What do you… Oh, right. Liam could feel Astra sigh despite her lack of verbal communication. Sorry, distracted. Alright. Get on with it.

Liam could feel Asta’s reluctance from the slight prickling sensation on his arm. “Sorry, Astra. But-

Li, it's fine, really. I just don’t like what it makes you go through. Especially after what just happened.

Now it was Liam’s turn to sigh. “I know Ash,” Liam said gently, “but I need this. If anything, this fight proves that I need to be stronger. I couldn’t do anything until some mysterious crap happened that we don’t know if I can replicate. That’s just unacceptable. I can’t rely on outside sources to protect my family.”

I know that. I do, it's just hard to watch.

Not replying, Liam glanced around the trees around him. Seeing nothing of interest, he settled down next to the greater ape’s corpse and sent a message to Vit. Immediately the Falcon came blazing out of the sky toward him. Stopping just barely enough not to harm Liam, Vit slammed into him, nuzzling his feathery head under Liam’s chin and sending sensations of grief, fear, and guilt through their bond. Liam wrapped his arms around his friend, hugging him tightly.

“It’s alright Vit. I wouldn’t want you to get involved in a fight with an unknown fourth tier, let alone a sixth tier. You did everything right. It was much better for you to hang back and let Mom know what happened if I would lose than to get yourself killed trying to save me.” Liam said soothingly, stroking the emotional bird along his broad back. “We just need to get stronger together so no one can mess with us, ok? That way something like this will never happen again.” Vit leaned back from Liam, tilting his head so he could look Liam dead in the eye. Liam felt resolve and a desire to improve surging through their bond. It was the most intense emotions Liam had ever felt from Vit. Overlaying that was an intense desire to protect his family that resonated with Liam on a fundamental level. “Yeah buddy, exactly. I protect you and you protect me, so no one can stop us.” Liam said, smiling.

With that, Vit let out a soft trill and leaped off Liam to fly into a nearby tree. There he sat swiveling his head to observe the surrounding forest, instantly on guard. Laughing softly, Liam said, “Hold up buddy, I know you normally guard while I eat and vice versa, but there is a lot of ape here, and a sixth tier beast is an opportunity to grow we can’t pass up. So, just this once, I have another idea.” Drawing Core Shard and checking his mana reserves, Liam confirmed he could do what he wanted to. It was something Astra had mentioned a while back, but Liam had never felt the need to implement it. He summoned a fourth tier Air elemental, losing a little under half his mana in the process. A Tornado formed a few feet in front of him, the air swirling so intensely it was visible. Then, with a mental command from Liam, it dispersed. Invisibly, the Air elemental covered nearly a square mile of the surrounding forest in a radius around Liam and the ape corpse.

“There. Now nothing will be sneaking up on us. Now get down here and have a bite.” Liam said once the Air elemental had finished spreading. With that, Vit hopped down on top of the ape corpse and both of them dug in. As he ate Liam used the second power granted to him by Life Eater, to tell what he could absorb from the flesh of the creature. “Let’s see. What's within my range. Quite a bit of Strength and Speed but I’m not really looking for the primary abilities. What else? Steel Flesh? That sounds cool. Claws, Fangs, oh Unarmed Fighting is pretty high but skills are a pain. There’s the Dominion Ethereal magic. No way I’m getting that. Minimal amounts of Fire, Earth, and generic Metal, but nothing significant enough to warrant the effort. Oh, here we are, Beast Roar. ability at the Low rank, perfect. Any objections Astra?” Liam said, Looking down at his arm.

No, It’s the best one for you. Especially since it only affects a limited portion of your body. You might not be able to talk for a while though.

“I have Telepathy. Not really worried about that.” Liam said flippantly

That still means you can’t talk to me, dumb-dumb. Liam’s arm prickled with Astra’s displeasure.

“Oh. Right.” Liam said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “My bad.” Liam could feel Astra snort derisively.

Whatever Li, just get on with it. I’m going to figure out what it was you did earlier.

“Right,” Liam said, focusing internally. Liam sent the energy of Life Eater into the mana containing the apes Beast Roar ability. Almost immediately, his throat started to burn with unbelievable pain. Grunting, Liam bore through the burning agony. He was used to it since it happened every time he incorporated another creature's abilities. It was better than a skill. When he tried to do those, it felt like his brain was on fire. It was the main factor that limited how much he could get from Life Eater. He had to be able to bear with the pain until the process was done. If he lost consciousness or focus, the transfer failed. That, and there was a hard limit on how much he could absorb from a single creature. Sitting with his legs crossed in a meditative position, Liam rode the waves of agony as best he could. Almost an hour later, he was done. Massaging his aching throat, Liam relaxed.

“Well, that was easier than normal.” Looking at the not insignificant amount of ape left, which Vit was steadily eating through, Liam had an idea. “Hey, Astra. Since there's still so much ape left, couldn’t I absorb more?”

Yes, but please don’t. It’s pushing far enough to absorb this much from it. Any more and your body might not be able to process the mana. The hair on Liam's arm stood on end, showing Astra’s concern. Liam paused, thinking over what Astra said.

“How bad would it be if I just absorbed some of his primary abilities? Not much, just a little.” Liam questioned.

Hold on… That should be fine if you can handle it, but no more for at least a few days. Absorbing an ability is already a lot for you Li. I’m sorry, but your body just isn’t strong and stable enough for you to absorb all that you want to. Astra said apologetically.

Liam sighed. “I wish I could do more. I mean, this whole fight shows just how far I have to go. I get the risks, it's just frustrating.” Liam said unhappily.

That's a very reasonable attitude. I’m glad you’re finally growing up.

Liam stuck his tongue out at his arm. It shivered with Astra’s laughter.

Or maybe not.

Instead of responding, Liam tore another chunk out of the ape and chowed down. Focusing once more, Liam pulled out thin fibers of the Strength and Speed mana in the flesh. He pulled almost twice the amount of Speed as Strength since his fighting style was much more focused in that direction. Like before he felt the intense pain; however since he had pulled much less mana this time, the pain was more of a bone-deep ache and soreness. Since he was pulling a primary ability, the pain was spread across his entire body, making it harder to endure, despite the lesser amount of mana.

Liam nearly lost focus many times but managed to endure solely because of his awareness of how close he had come to death today, and his desire to improve. A few hours later, he was done. He became aware of his surroundings again, soaked in sweat, the light of the sun indicating that it was well into the afternoon. Breathing heavily, Liam relaxed back against the ape corpse, which he noticed was much smaller than before. Leaning his head back and looking up at the afternoon sky, Liam let out a massive sigh as his breathing calmed.

“Well, that sucked.”

I told you.

The words scrawled across his vision. Not bothering to respond, Liam closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest around him. He was pulled out of his reverie by chirping above his head. Opening his eyes, Liam stared directly into Vit’s piercing golden orbs. Concern radiated from the bird. Liam smiled and sent calm and peace through their connection as he reached up and rubbed Vit’s feathered head.

"How you feeling buddy? You ate quite a bit.” Liam said quietly. He received a sensation of a barrier being broken, and new understanding reached. He could feel that Vit was ready to reach fourth tier. Liam’s smile grew wider. ‘That’s great buddy. You can advance tonight. I’m so happy for you.” Vit chirped and sent feelings of pride and joy. Liam settled back to relax for a minute before continuing. He still had to get those Water Lotus for Lorelie. After a few minutes of rest, his arm lit up. Looking down he saw Astra’s writing.

You’re not going to believe this.

Liam groaned internally. Anything Astra said he wasn’t going to believe was probably something he was barely going to understand let alone believe.

“I have no doubt you’re right.” Liam said wearily, “But try me anyway.” His skin tickled with Astra’s laughter.

Ok, so I’m analyzing the energy structure that was made inside you right?

“Right”

Well, turns out it resolves like this. Astra drew out her usual representation of Liam’s portfolio on his arm. It was a complex diagram that Astra had come up with to help teach Liam about the deep and varied connections between skills and abilities and how they affected themselves and each other. While it wasn’t the way that his actual portfolio looked, seeing as that wasn’t a physical thing, it was a good visual aid.

The various skills and abilities were represented by p[oints of light, like stars, with the power written on it. All of them were connected by various chains and ropes denoting the varied and nuanced relationship they all shared. Apparently, this wasn’t going to be another lesson on mana physics and the underlying structure of abilities, because almost as soon as they appeared, the vast majority of the twenty-some lights disappeared, along with the multitude of connectors until only two lights and one connector remained. The two lights were his Overload and Perseverance, in blue and red lights respectively. The rope connecting them, however, was new and unlike any he had seen before. It was faint, barely visible. Astra used this to denote how strongly the powers were connected. Secondly, the normal rope seemed to be wrapped in a cord of barbed wire that was dripping red, trailing off and leading to nowhere. Liam had been right. He did not understand what he was seeing.

“Ok, this is the part where you explain to me what exactly I’m looking at, I say I still don’t get it, and you call me an idiot,” Liam said jokingly.

Well, maybe I just won’t tell you if you take all the fun out of it.

“Oh, come on. Tell me. Please?” Liam said pleadingly. He had just been joking. Even if he was pretty sure that was exactly what would happen.

Fine, since you asked so nicely. It means… I don’t know. At least not entirely.

The last sentences appeared in a rush after a long pause. Liam snorted. “Well how about you start with what you do know, and we'll work from there. "

Sure. So, first of all, what happened to you when you almost died unlocked something new in you. A new ability and a new skill.

"Alright, I'm assuming that's what's connected to the end of the barbed wire?"

No. I have no idea what's going on there. The rope connecting Perseverance and Overload registers as both an ability and a skill at once. It's called Berserk.

Along the rope wrapped in barbed wire, the word Berserk appeared in black letters.

"Is it similar to the Berserker Calling?"

Yes and no. The Berserker Calling allows one to access a different mental state suited for combat, along with abilities and skills only available in said state. That's not what's happening with this… Power.

"We need a new name for this. Calling by a generic term for both skills and abilities feel kinda less impactful." Liam mused.

Yeah, I'm working on it. For now, we go with power.

Liam shrugged. He didn't particularly care. Whatever Astra came up with would work.

Anyway, this power. Astra spelled, making the word power significantly bigger than the others. Isn't like that. It is what it appears to be. A joining of Overload and Perseverance that manages to maximize both of their best features. It puts you in a similar state to a Berserker, but without the new powers. It simply maximizes your usage of all your current powers to their theoretical maximum.

"OK, now you're losing me. How am I not already using my powers to their maximum potential?" Liam said, slightly offended. "What am I doing wrong?"

This isn't a right or wrong thing Li.

"Kinda feels like it," Liam muttered.

I'm sorry, what was that?

Liam felt like nails were digging into his arm. His finely honed survival instincts kicked in. "Nothing, please continue. You are being incredibly helpful and informative."

That's what I thought. Now, as I was saying, this isn't a right or wrong thing. No one can use all of their powers perfectly, all at the same time. The mortal mind isn't that strong. To get around that, this power cuts out your conscious mind and brings control of your other powers into the subconscious. This unfortunately cuts out a lot of skills that require your conscious mind to even activate, like magic. You’re so lucky that you were using a dagger and your animal instincts are strong from all the power you absorbed through Life Eater. Normal weapon skills wouldn’t work in this state. But, since the Core Shard was close enough to a Beast's claws, it worked out.

“Wait, do you think it would be a good idea to absorb Claws from a Beast then?” Liam asked excitedly.

Hold up, you’re getting ahead of me. You can’t even access Berserk right now.

“What? Why? How?” Liam questioned confusedly.

That barbed wire isn’t for show. It’s supposed to connect to something else, some third factor that makes this new power work. But it's not there, obviously. To make matters worse, I can’t even tell what was there, beyond that it feels similar to Ethereal magic. Which should be impossible, because it has your mana signature, and you obviously don’t know any Ethereal magic. This makes me think that whatever it is, is similar, but something new.

Liam contemplated the problem. “Hmm… Maybe not.” Liam said thoughtfully. Something tingling at the back of his mind. Something he couldn’t quite remember.

What do you mean?

“Well, think of it like this. What if, and this is a big if, but what if something happened right before my death that triggered this whole thing and gave me access to an Ethereal concept. Then, the same whatever magic crap that gave me the concept set up this whole ‘not a skill but is a skill’ thing.” Liam supplied. There was a long pause as Liam waited for Astra’s reply. Eventually, letters began scrolling across his forearm.

That's really implausible, but not the weirdest answer I’ve come up with. It also explains why you were acting so weird. Although it doesn’t explain why you can’t use it now, but I have some ideas about that.

Liam shrugged. “Something about the idea feels right. Dunno if it is though. As for the can’t use it part, that empty spot feels vaguely familiar. No idea why though.”

That’s fair I guess. It doesn’t change the fact that you can’t use Berserk without the missing piece though.

Liam groaned. He was so caught up in coming up with an answer to Astra’s question (an incredibly rare occurrence) that he failed to notice he hadn’t actually solved the problem. He was really interested in this new power. Liam’s arm tickled with Astra’s laughter once again.

Don’t worry Li, we’ll find an answer. So get up and get that Water Lotus, whiny butt. We’ll figure this out when we get home.

Liam sighed and then laughed. “Yeah, ok,” He said, jumping up once more, and setting Vit to flying above them. “I’m ready to go home anyway. It’s been a long day.” He smiled. Just then, he received an image from Vit, along with a great sense of urgency.

“Oh no,” Liam said, knowing his day was far from over. There was a human in the forest.