Stanley went down for his nap before it became necessary. They were getting closer to the park, and he didn't want to risk an attack while debuffed. He also needed people like Eve and Daryl to keep an eye out in case the B Grade noticed he was sleeping and tried to make a move.

Stanley slept without dreams and awoke into golden warmth, a nice change from the last time.

"Thanks, Zeke."

"Anytime." The smiling young man didn't look as tired as he used to after these exercises… "My Skills are leveling up! A few hours isn't that hard anymore."

"I still appreciate it, and…" There was something else Stanley wanted to try, something he'd forgotten about. "Would you like me to try and buff you? I got a title that improves the positive effects I cast on others…" Plus, his new Words of Power might make it easier to actually cast buffs.

"Sure, that sounds great!" Zeke was excited, and everyone else except Eve was interested. Stanley suspected it was just her overprotective instincts for her brother, but she didn't actually say anything, so Stanley didn't mention it.

Instead, he spoke one word. "Faster."

There was no noticeable effect, but Zeke's eyes were unfocused as he looked at something only he could see. "Cool! I got an 11% boost for dexterity!"

That confirmed the theory well enough. Though, it didn't sound like much… especially not compared to when he hit a monster with Stop. On the other hand, if he used the Source… "How long does it last?"

"Hour and ten minutes."

That seemed like an oddly specific time… but if it was the title adding 10% to the duration, then it could also mean that the original boost to dex would have been only 10%. The next obvious step was to add more words.

Rather than try to boost one aspect higher, Stanley went for a more overall approach. "Better, Faster, Stronger."

"11% on intelligence, wisdom, and willpower," Zeke supplied after checking his status. "And 22% for strength, dexterity, and vitality. Three hours, thirty minutes this time." He hopped up and down a few times and then threw a few punches. "I can definitely feel the difference. Thanks!"

Daryl was watching while eating an early breakfast, and he nodded at Stanley. "Hit me too." Stanley obliged. "Can you give him anything?" Daryl said afterward, tilting his head toward Adrian.

"I could give him that same buff, but beyond that… I don't really know what is happening in there. I might help, or I might just disrupt something." Stanley was leery of trying anything fancy, but he did throw the same words at the egg. That alone should be minor enough that it couldn't hurt and might even help.

"Thanks," Daryl said without taking his eyes off the egg. "We'll head out in a bit." It was still dark in the predawn morning, but Daryl could create light with little effort. That, combined with Zeke's constant glowstick impersonation, meant they only really had to stop for rest or food. Or, in Zeke's case, to heal people.

"You should give this Buff to everyone else," Zeke said. "Caffeine's been giving his howls to Sara, and that usually gets a bunch of the others, but this might stack on top of it! Plus… it might make them less scared of you…"

Stanley rolled his eyes. "I don't care about everyone, and I really don't care if they're scared of me. Better they are scared than do something stupid and make me have to kill them."

He had been watching their Souls all of the day before, and fear was effective. The idiot who tried to kill Zeke should have died for his mistake, and thanks to Daryl and now Stanley's threats, he was well aware of that fact. Stanley had been watching him, especially in case the man got sore about his treatment. He didn't. Stanley's accidental Soul attack on the man had left its mark.

"I suppose…" Zeke, of course, did care. "They're not bad people, Stanley. Some are a little rough around the edges, but humans are complicated…" Zeke was a total bleeding heart, but it was part of what made him special. A big part of what made him powerful as well, or so Stanley suspected.

He wasn't trying to change that part of Zeke. The man could live his best life to his own drum and follow his own heart, but Stanley would also protect him whether he wanted it or not. "You can be the carrot, Zeke. Show them the right way to live and how to be better people, and I'll be the stick if they step over the line. Good enough?"

Zeke nodded somewhat reluctantly. "I guess."

Walter stepped out of his privacy field that sheltered the sleeping Sara and her mother from the less sleep inclined so he and Daryl could exchange some quiet words before they left, and while Zeke gobbled down some food himself.

The wolves followed them out, and Adam took their place at the table for his own less crowded breakfast. Of course, that brought Caffeine away from staring out the door and back to the table.

Stanley watched them go as he tried to gauge their progress from the first day of fighting. Everyone was getting slowly stronger, even Sara, who apparently gained attributes passively. She couldn't use the Cores, but she still gained from the exercise and combat. Her combat so far consisted of flying or running around, riding on Zeke's shoulders to kill stuff since she hadn't managed to fly while attacking yet, followed by lots of sleeping in the aftermath.

Angelina was calming down as well, and Stanley suspected it was all the time spent around Zeke. She was currently awake behind Walter's screen and watching her daughter sleep. The affection filling her Soul was both a soothing balm and a threatening blade against Stanley's own. That small child was so innocent still, so full of life and excitement, even in her dreams.

Stanley turned his mind away from worrying about her. Caffeine would keep her safe.

Stanley was currently almost surrounded by human Souls. Despite their fear, everyone still hunkered down for the night as close as they could get to him. Luckily, they didn't go as far as sleeping in the open street, so Stanley had some space around the truck.

"Anyone else want the buff?"

Adam shook his head, but Walter and Eve both wanted it. "I should like to see what it's about, Sir."

Eve didn't say anything, and Stanley could tell that she was hesitant but didn't want to turn down the extra power. She had probably made the most progress from the day before, and her Soul had improved more than anyone else for sure. All of Eve's bots weren't solely for hunting Cores; she'd designed more than a few to restrain and leech the spiders' Souls. The gains were small from each individual, but it was adding up through sheer numbers.

Stanley said the words.

Then he said them again, only at himself. At least, that was the intent. There was a strange feedback sensation, and Stanley half expected to get a message saying he had resisted his own power… but nothing else happened. No buff and no message. "Worth a shot."

His next idea was if he could strengthen someone else's Soul. Giving Sara a Soul Buff would likely assist her hunting, but… he was not going to experiment on her. Not only was she a Grade below him, but his Soul was too far beyond even anyone else. If it didn't work like he wanted, then he might do permanent damage.

"Maybe someone will do something extra stupid and volunteer as a test subject…"

"Can you go share your sinister mumblings with the spiders instead of me," Eve interrupted his thoughts.

Stanley ignored her grumbling; she probably just wasn’t a morning person. "Caff, you wanna hang out with me while Sara is sleeping?"

Caffeine looked at him, looked at the door, looked at Adam, and whined softly.

"Okay, okay. Just hang out here until I get back."

Stanley floated outside and then drifted over the buildings to the next street. His knives flew out from his jacket, and the slaughter began.

He would have almost felt bad, except that the spiders were pretty simple creatures. The orb weavers had some Intelligence, and their big boss had more, but the majority didn't seem like much more than insects running on instincts.

Stanley wasn't sure what the point of this whole layout really was. Like, how did it benefit the orb weavers to have all of these spiders out here? Especially since they actively fought and killed each other…

Was it a breeding program? Just send massive numbers out and see what makes it back to the park. That might make sense… but where did the orb weavers get so many other kinds of spiders? Maybe the B Grade could randomize its offspring?

The building full of spiders he was slaughtering had a basement. It wasn't large, and there were only a few spiders down there. Stanley liked to start from the top because if they ran from the carnage, then they usually came right to him. So he hadn't gotten to the basement yet when one of the Souls vanished abruptly.

Stanley had his mind only loosely touching the area around him, mainly the street he hovered above and the ground floor of the building.

He quickly reached into the basement and found two spiders. There was no corpse or Core to tell him what had happened to the third… which meant it had to be a mimic.

There was plenty of random crap down there, a lot of which he couldn't identify from touch. So Stanley just threw everything at everything else.

The spiders did not do well in the storm of flying debris.

He also didn't find anything else with a Soul. Stanley considered going down there in person, but there were plenty of cracks, holes, and pipes leading from the basement. It was likely the thing had already escaped.

Behind him, he felt Sara's Soul flicker into consciousness as she woke up. He did want to talk to those two before they left…

"Eat your breakfast, Sara. I need to talk to your mom." Stanley said once he returned and saw her dropping piece after piece of the meat onto the floor.

Angelina was worried and wouldn't meet his gaze as Stanley led her to the other end of the trailer. "Walter, can you give us a screen?"

The curtain cut them off from the others, and Angelina flinched.

"Relax," Stanley told her, "I just wanted to talk about your performance in the hunt yesterday, or lack thereof, as it were."

"I… I'm not a fighter…"

"You're a crafter, right? Seamstresses or something?"

She nodded.

"Do you sew? Or is it just magic?"

"I do some sewing… and some magic… Do you want me to make you something?"

"You probably have boosts to dexterity at least, right?"

"Yes…"

"Eve could make you a blade or spear, and you can start fighting yourself."

"I… but… I don't have any Skills…"

"Doesn't matter. Plus, don't you want to be able to fight back if Sara is hurt or tired?"

"I do! But… won't she always be stronger than anything I can do?"

Stanley shrugged. "Maybe. But even with all my power, I've had to be saved and protected sometimes." She looked highly doubtful. "Even God needed angels," Stanley added solemnly.

Angelina looked even more skeptical and a bit worried. "Are you saying… that you're…"

Stanley chuckled awkwardly. "It was supposed to be deep and profound…"

"Oh, okay…"

Stanley sighed. "Look, lady, I want you to start fighting. You don't have to go crazy with it but start earning your own Cores. I bet you will unlock some Skill or Class Evolutions along the way. Either a combat-capable crafter or all the way into full combat."

"I like the crafting… but I'm not against fighting… if you think I can…"

"Great, and don't worry, you'll have Zeke and Caffeine watching your back. Doesn't get any better than that, trust me."

"I'll do it." She was still nervous but getting on board with the idea.

"In exchange for you doing what I ask, I will do what you want and talk to Sara. I heard about her… adventures yesterday."

"Would you?" Angelina glanced toward her daughter, hidden behind the opaque barrier. "She barely listens to me anymore… I am so scared sometimes."

"Yea, who knew giving a toddler superpowers would be a problem."

She smiled at his joke, but Stanley knew it was just a pity smile.

"Sara!" Stanley exclaimed as soon as he could see her again.

She jumped and dropped her fork. "You scared me!"

Stanley laughed and sat down across from her at the table. "So I heard that you liked to run off and do your own thing yesterday. Zeke even had to drag you out of a few buildings."

"I am fighting monsters to get stronger!"

"That's good," Stanley said, "but from now on, I would like you to obey your mother when she tells you what to do."

Sara eyed him and Angelina. "I have to fight to get stronger…"

"Yes, you do. Your mom is going to fight with you too." That brought a surprised look at her mom, followed by suspicion.

"Yep. You can hunt together, but…" Stanley paused until he had her full attention. "If I find out that you can't do what she says, then I'll have to keep you with me."

She didn't seem as worried as she should, so Stanley elaborated. "Don't worry. I will still help you get stronger." He smiled. "First, I will tell you not to fly, and with my loud voice. That will train your mind while you try to resist it. Then you can run up and down the stairs to collect Cores for me. That will help your other stats…"

"I'll do what Mommy says!" Sara shouted almost before he could finish.

"Are you sure? I could give you some excellent training. I might even be able to make gravity heavier on you…"

"I really like to fly, mister Stanley…"

"If that's what you want," Stanley relented and glanced over to Eve. "Can you make…"

"Yea. What do you want, spear or sword?"

"I don't…"

"We'll try 'em both. While we do that, Stanley, can you go…" She sighed. "Boil the cauldron again?"

******

Caffeine liked the new tiny human. She was like a puppy Dearest Human! Her lap was a little small, but he could still sit, so it was fine. She also liked to play a very fun game of flying into the ground! Not good for napping, but great for playing!

Today they were hunting while playing, hunting more Stick Not Dogs. It was always fun to hunt sticks, and these Not Dogs were almost all sticks! They were Bad Not Dogs. They wanted to eat Puppy Human. Plus, Dearest Human didn't like them, that means they are bad.

Puppy Human would play Get the Stick by pulling sticks off the Not Dogs while they chased her. Caffeine loved sticks! And chasing!

Puppy Human did get tired a lot, though. But that was okay; she was still a puppy, and Naps were good!

"Die, monster!" Puppy Human roared her best roar at the Stick Not Dog.

Caffeine howled in support!

Puppy Human pulled one of the sticks free, and Caffeine pounced on it! "Stick!" He only chewed it a little before bringing it back to Puppy Human. Then she pulled off another stick!

It was a great game!

Then it was nap time. Puppy Human lay down in Big Puppy Human's lap, and Caffeine crawled in between them for cozy snuggles.

Big Puppy Human was a little bit afraid of Caffeine, but if he showed her his belly, she would rub it and feel better. Belly rubs make everything better!

"Another one, Mommy!" Puppy Human roared her little roar and woke Caffeine from his nap.

"Let's wait for Zeke, sweetie."

"But, Mommy!"

"Remember what he said, Sara."

"I know…" Puppy Human was sad, so Caffeine licked her face. That always cheered up Dearest Human, and it worked for Puppy Human too!

She laughed and squealed as he chased her around. Chasing was the best!

They chased until Warm Light Human came back. "Alright, I found another one that's good for you guys." He brought some other Not Dearest Humans with him. They smelled like boring and worried, but Warm Light made them follow to a big house full of Stick Not Dogs.

It was playtime again!

They chased lots of sticks!

Big Puppy Human used her Not for Chewing stick to poke the bad Stick Not Dogs when they tried to chase her Puppy Human. She was a Good Boy, scared of the sticks, but still a Good Boy!

Caffeine encouraged her with lots of friendly howling.

He also found one of the Many Things in the house. It was pretending to be a Stick Not Dog until Caffeine growled at it.

Then it turned back into a Many Things.

"Don't hurt my friends!" Caffeine warned it. He knew it was just a puppy too; it might not know how to play nice yet… so he could help teach it.

The Many Things turned into a rug and stayed very still after that, even when the Not Dearest Humans stepped on it.

"Good boy!" Caffeine barked and ran to keep playing.