He needed the strength required to wipe out the Xenos without relying on the System, and he needed it quickly. A Zeta class Morphic stone with Electric Discharge would not cut it. He had acquired the corpse of the Fulgur Hound in the room with the bridge, but it didn’t have a stone. Just his luck. That left him with one option. Daniel took a deep breath, then stuffed some cloth into his mouth. He needed something to bite down on. He couldn’t afford to start screaming. He couldn’t afford to pass out either, since going comatose for a few hours would definitely doom his men.
Preparations complete, Daniel held the Delta class stone up to the Codex and began the absorption process.
The wave of discomfort was immediate, cold power flowing into Daniel’s body and forcing him to start shivering despite the environment. It ramped up quickly, his body convulsing uncontrollably, and Daniel hastily laid down before he was forced to collapse. Staring at the ceiling, he tried to focus on specific details to keep himself awake. Then it flipped from cold to hot, and Daniel’s vision went white. His body was on fire, muscles going catatonic as lava flowed through his veins. Time lost all meaning as Daniel wallowed in his agony, his only thoughts a desperate fight against the encroaching darkness of unconsciousness.
Mercifully, his blood eventually changed from a boil to a simmer, before finally settling down. Daniel coughed out the fragments of cloth still in his mouth, gasping for air as he worked to get over his shock. Dazed, or otherwise, he’d done it. He was still awake, and the mental fog caused by the pain was rapidly abating. Daniel pulled up his stats.
The more he read, the more his eyes glowed with triumph.
…
The Pioneers were running out of rope. Their platform was shuddering unsteadily, its foundations growing increasingly thin. The pack of dogs below them had stopped increasing in size, but there was still a substantial pack. Stanoslav, Ibrahim, and Ramirez had officially run out of ammo and were now resorting to throwing random supplies at the enemy trying to climb the wall. Stanoslav had gotten so frustrated that he’d thrown his spear, killing one enemy but leaving him bereft of a weapon. They only had two extras left. Poor Gon couldn’t even use a firearm, due to the size of his claws and lack of opposable thumbs. He did his best to contribute, killing any attackers that came too close with his massive claws, but eventually he got so electrocuted he could barely twitch a finger.
All that left Jordan, Macneil, and O’Riley as the only people able to keep the Fulgur Hound at bay, but even all three of them shooting at once could barely keep it away. And that strategy was also wearing thin: “I’m out!”
O’Riley’s announcement that he was out of ammo resounded like a death sentence in Jordan’s ears. The man grimly loaded his final magazine as he watched the Fulgur Hound peek its head out from behind cover: “Come on Danny, where are you? Show me more of those lasers!”
His friend had told him to “hang tight”. The baffling message, followed by the man’s retreat, tugged at Jordan’s concentration. Why couldn’t Danny act immediately? Was that thing still alive? Was the armor out of juice again? If so, what was Danny’s plan? The Fulgur Hound had jumped out from cover fully now, positioning itself to fire on their platform. One of Jordan’s bullets pinged off its skull, a bullseye, but the fiend hardly seemed to register it. From the purple light building up across its skin, Jordan could tell that the fiend was charging up for the killshot.
Then, from the corner of his eye, Jordan saw Danny reappear in the distance. Standing up straight, the commander’s eyes were locked on the Xenos about to destroy them, and Jordan felt a momentary flash of sadness. His friend was too late. But in the space of a moment, that sadness changed to confusion.
Why was Danny’s arm glowing yellow?
…
Daniel locked on his target, angled his body, and lifted his spear in the space of a heartbeat. He only had one shot at this. With a deep inhale, he activated his new ability. Fingers dented metal as his right arm was infused with superhuman power, but Daniel had no time to savor the sensation as he positioned his spearhead.
Then, he exhaled and threw his spear.
The black weapon lasered across the room, unbending to gravity as it hurtled in a straight line. Right on target.
It pierced the body of the Fulgur Hound with consummate ease, passing through one side and out the other in a flash of midnight lightning. The buildup of energy died in the Xenos’s throat, the light in its eyes vanishing right along with it. The spear continued along as though nothing had happened, striking the wall and burrowing deep into the stone. Daniel, and everything else in the room, stared at the dead beast and the hole in the rock with a breathless, mute shock.
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The Tempus Hounds got over the surprise first, turning to look at Daniel with a few antagonistic barks. They made a beeline right for him, old prey forgotten as they sought to avenge their fallen leader. Daniel immediately whipped out his revolver and started blasting away, but there were too many. He was forced to turn and retreat, but was gleeful to find his body as light as air. Powerful legs carried him over the platforms below, wind flowing through his hair as he swiftly navigated the perilous room. Feeling confident, he tried making a long jump to a far platform.
And he absolutely overshot it.
Daniel’s eyes opened in sudden horror as he watched the platform sail under his feet, suddenly in midair right over the magma pit. Just as he started to fall, Daniel’s arm snapped out and grabbed the edge of a nearby bridge. He hauled himself back to safety with one hand, heart hammering at the close call. The hostile barking of the pack behind him prompted him to keep moving, but he silently resolved to be more cautious in the future.
Despite that, Daniel soon left the pack in the dust. He stopped and turned around, bringing his revolver up to fire on them again. Each shot was loosed with deadly precision, each bullet flying home in a hound’s skull. Daniel had plenty of time to pick them off before turning and putting even more distance between them. After a few rounds of this, the Xenos had had enough. The dozen remaining dogs turned tail and ran, dashing into one of the side tunnels with a few frightened yelps. Daniel let them go, preferring to determine the status of his men rather than chase after them.
As he ran back to the others, he checked his status sheet and reviewed his recent changes:
User Name: Daniel Sylvester Hardgrave
Age: 18
Pioneer Class: Epsilon
Rank: Private Second Class
Status
Strength: 180
Dexterity: 181
Constitution: 145
Adaptability: 144
Psyche: 175
Psionic Capacities:
Slot 1: Hunter’s Domain (Epsilon) (MP=1/10)
- Establish an Extrasensory Domain with Psionic Energy surrounding the User.
- Senses are enhanced within the Domain. User extends Senses throughout the Domain.
- Dexterity is enhanced while the Domain is active.
Slot 2: Destroyer’s Strike (Delta) (MP=0/21)
- Use Psionic Energy to temporarily Enhance a user’s limb or weapon.
- Enhancement increases the attack power and durability of the limb or weapon.
- Enhancement reaches its pinnacle when first activated, losing power quickly over time.
Personal Attributes:
Slot 1: Predatory Grace (Epsilon) (MP=0/7)
- Significant enhancement of natural Dexterity.
- Improves the ability of the User to move silently.
- Scales with Dexterity (E) and Adaptability (F).
Slot 2: Titanic Might (Delta) (MP=0/15)
- Considerable enhancement of natural Strength.
- Toughens skin, making User harder to damage.
- Scales with Strength (D) and Adaptability (E).
Slot 3: Empty
It was a boost to make anyone eat their heart out. 325 total points, catapulting his combat abilities into the middle of Epsilon immediately. Keeping up the good news was the addition of two major new abilities, which was quite unusual. Morphic stones usually only granted one benefit: a Capacity or an Attribute. Getting one of each was a rare bit of luck if it only happened once. To have it happen twice…well, Daniel doubted that was a coincidence. Between that, the similar poison, and the similar color scheme, there was definitely some connection between the big Delta class fighter and the Epsilon class hunter. He’d taken samples from each of their bodies, and it would be up to Command to figure out what was happening. For now, he’d have to hope there weren’t more of those freaks running around out there.
Daniel grinned when he saw his group making their way toward him in the distance. They had probably climbed down and come to help him, even though the party was clearly running on fumes. The whole party let out a cheer when they found out their leader was alive. Even Stanoslav seemed happy to see him in one piece. He embraced Jordan and got a bear hug from the Dunid as well. After a bit, Daniel broke the embrace and looked around, preparing to give the men some good news. He was planning to share some of his Tempus Hound corpses with them, to make up for his use of the Z class stone. But one thing suddenly stood out to him: “Where’s Mubarik?”
…
Aldo Mubarik had been a decent man. While quiet, Daniel had known him to be compassionate and straightforward. He should have had a long career in front of him. Now the men just grimly looked on as Daniel zipped up his body bag. He carried the body respectfully to a safer place, near where the Pioneers were constructing a meagre base camp. They then went about sorting through the Xenos’ bodies. There were 53 in all, a seemingly small amount before you remembered that many of the bodies had fallen into the magma below. The 53 was all that remained. The Tempus hounds had also yielded a total of 4 whole stones. Daniel took twelve of their bodies, one of the stones, and the single Fulgur Hound corpse, which yielded a pleasant surprise: “Epsilon Class Morphic Stone: Personal Attribute: Eyes of the Hound. Value: 71,800 Credits.”
Daniel turned the stone over in his hand thoughtfully. There was a part of him, one that had gotten a taste for growing stronger, that wanted him to use it. That part was quickly outvoted. The Eyes of the Hound likely wouldn’t be that useful of an ability for him anyway, since it was perception-based and he already had the Hunter’s Domain. He really wanted to just pocket it and keep the money. But something held him back. He remembered the feeling he’d had when Gulliman had just pocketed the Diaboco stone unilaterally, only coughing up a piece of the body as a consolation prize. He remembered the anger and took a good, hard look at the others. They had all finished their work and were watching him expectantly. There wasn’t a judgmental look on one of their faces. He’d brought them this far, they reasoned. He’d even saved their lives. Why shouldn’t the commander take the best for himself?
Daniel just grinned at them in response: “How about I buy this thing off you boys? We’ll trade for it.”
That got everyone cheering all over again.