Eik stared down at the wooden plaque in his palm. No matter how many times he was met with it, this insane rate of progression never failed to surprise him. Not that he was complaining at all. In fact, it was probably the greatest rush he had ever experienced.

Well, it was that or the extreme euphoria of being connected to the toxin as it coursed through a system only to detonate in the most glorious of calamitous blasts.

"It actually isn't that crazy that you're leveling up like this," Olivia said.

"You don't think so?"

"Think about it. My 'generation', so to speak, Awoke to our powers around the same time the monsters began to appear and attack us. That is, at the time where the power ceiling was at the very lowest possible. That meant that the power progression of the monsters must have more or less followed our own, right?"

Eik shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, it makes sense when you put it like that, I suppose."

"So, since I've mostly fought monsters that were weaker than me or at around my own level, the system, or whatever the hell it is, didn't judge it to have been sufficiently challenging to advance me as quickly as what you're currently doing."

"I have mostly been against monsters and other Awakened that could have wiped the floor with me under different circumstances. That's definitely true," he snorted.

"That's another good point, actually," she agreed, snapping her fingers. "Fighting other Awakened in battles to the death is probably better for progression than killing monsters as well, if I had to take a guess. More tricks and intelligent use of abilities and items to overcome."

"I've been thinking the same thing, actually."

"Not to mention your main ability, Profound Toxin. It is literally the most potent destructive ability I have ever seen — and absolutely perfect for big prey. The fact that it is also both versatile in its usage and provides you with a not insignificant boost to your defense in the form of those shells you can create only makes it even more incredible."

"Oh, stop it, Oli. You're making me blush here."

"I'm saying we have to protect you at all costs, Eik. There is no doubt in my mind that you will become an invaluable asset to Forest and humanity at large in the near future. With your personal power along with your ability to create potions and medicines that help all of us, you might well be the key that allows us to navigate this induction into the Unified Mass without meeting a terrible and bloody end."

The expression on his sister's face was utterly solemn and Eik began to realize that what she was saying was not just a string of effusive compliments, but rather a statement of a firmly held belief. A weight settled into his stomach as she regarded him with eyes full of gravity. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Uuh… Thanks. That's… great," he managed, sweat breaking out on his forehead.

She smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. "And I will support you through it all, Eik. We're family and that will never change."

Tears tried to push through but he just barely kept them in. "Thanks."

"Which is why I've decided to come with you to Copenhagen after all."

He pulled back. "What? Are you serious?" Relief flooded him at the thought of someone to travel with. Being all alone in what was now unknown territory had not been a comforting notion. Simultaneously, however, he worried for the people of Forest who would then be short one of their strongest and most loyal protectors. "Is that really okay?"

"Pssh," she huffed and waved his concern away with a nonchalant hand. "You know what, I've been thinking about it, and they're going to be just fine without me here while we're away. According to Mikla we're probably getting alliance troops permanently stationed in the city from now on."

"I know that, but still…" Why the hell was he trying to talk her out of coming along? He wanted her to come more than anything else!

"What you're aiming for — finding more people to help us all survive — is so important right now. We need to show everybody in Forest that there is a way forward and that someone is fighting and doing their best to take even a single step in the right direction. We need the hope your mission creates, almost as much as we need weapons and powers to eradicate that fucking cult the next time they feel like showing up at our door step."

Eik snorted a laugh. "You're right, Oli."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I'm always right."

"Right, sorry. You're right, just like you always are."

"Enough talking now! Let's see this next power rank of yours!"

"Right!" he said and took a deep, calming breath. Moving to the floor where Bin was still playing around with the normally fatally toxic Living Manifestation, he got into a comfortable position on his back as he prepared to enter the unconscious state that always accompanied an increase in one's rank. The other fused beast quietly moved in under his head to act as a pillow, its soft, gel-like body morphing to fit his neck and the back of his head perfectly as if it was made of memory foam.

Holy shit, he was about to be a C-rank equivalent Awakened. The moment he approved the option to evolve, darkness descended and the ceiling and the faces of Olivia, Bin, and the two manifestations were swallowed up by the nothingness.

***

Plip. The sound of a droplet of water.

Plip. Plip. Again they fell.

Now the gentle drumbeat of a spring shower.

A downpour. A torrent to wash away everything.

A flood to annihilate all life in an extinction event.

A true rebirth of all organic life.

Eik's eyes flew open. He was surrounded.

The world around him was an overwhelming expanse of pure blue,

Already knowing that the Profound Toxin he was floating around within would soon retreat and leaving him hanging helplessly in a vast nothingness, he immediately set off downward while he could still move.

Last time he was here he had discovered that he was intrinsically connected to every single mote of toxin in this space. And it was vast. So vast that his brain had no way of comprehending it properly. To his mind, there seemed to be no boundary. It was infinite.

Upwards and outwards, that was. Below, somewhere that felt like a distance of about a hundred paces under his feet, the connection with the toxin suddenly cut off. How could he not be curious about that?

When he had been at the rank of Acolyte of Toxin, the equivalent of E-rank, he had only just barely been capable of manipulating the toxin that floated immediately around his body. Now, at the D-rank equivalent Instinct of Toxin, he seemed to be able to reach more than two of his own body lengths away and still have a firm grip on the blue fluid.

This was more than enough to propel himself through the substance at high speed. Intent on reaching the boundary of the toxin before it could all disappear around him as it had done before, he rocketed downward recklessly and reached it within only a few seconds.

Eyes unable to see anything in front of him, he could only hope that the boundary he felt was something other than a solid wall. If it was, he was in for a serious headache.

As he reached the exact point where he lost the connection with the toxin, he shut his eyes tightly, expecting the worst, but as he felt was his body suddenly enter free fall.

He inhaled sharply as his eyes widened to teacups. The world had opened up before him. Literally. Above him was a thick, churning cloud cover of sickly green. It was exceedingly familiar at this point. Below were vast swathes of forest that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance. In all directions, a fog that grew opaque on the horizon obscured anything that might have existed further out.

Closer to the thick fog were what looked like ancient and dilapidated ruins interspersed among the trees, as if left behind by a prehistoric civilization long since faded from the dusty, cracking pages of the history books.

Most notably was the titanic land form rising prominently above the immense forest like a natural monarch. The clouds above seemed to swirl madly with the summit of the mountain as its epicenter. And by what was surely a total coincidence, this epicenter was exactly where Eik had fallen from.

There was no doubt that this was the realm of Profound Toxin that he had visited so many times. So the unending ocean of poison that he was placed in during a rank up was the skies above the world? The green glow of those angry, diseased clouds had always been nothing more than the luminescent blue light distorted through the atmosphere?

Just how far above the world did the ocean continue? The enormity of it sent shivers through him.

He howled as he plummeted toward the peak of the mountain. The wind buffeted his face roughly as he fell. With how enormous the mountain was, it would take little more than a handful of seconds before he was eventually crushed against the exposed rock with a bloody splat.

Desperately, he willed the same rigid wings of blue he had used before to glide to safety on the ground but for some reason the Profound Toxin refused to obey his mental order. But he had just been using his control over the toxin to cruise through the sea above. Why the hell was it suddenly not working?

"Wings, wings, wings!" he screamed, futilely hoping that a vocal chant would somehow make a difference and summon the crystalline appendages that could save him from becoming a puddle on the ground. "Parachute! Trampoline! Big fuckin' swimming pool! Just give me something!" His limbs windmilled as he approached the ground at break neck speed.

Whether the impact would kill him or not he was not actually quite sure, but it would most definitely hurt like an absolute bitch.

At this height, a small basin became visible in the center of the bowl of the mountain peak. It honestly didn't look like much. It was unadorned and inconspicuous, but there was definitely something strange about it. It appeared to be a simple rocky protrusion, like a mini version of the mountain itself. The groove of the basin contained a scarce amount of Profound Toxin.

But there was something extraordinary about the substance. It was… somehow different from what Eik had seen thus far. For one, it was brighter and looked purer than what he could produce. But more strikingly, it exuded a deep and primal power that couldn't be compared to anything he had felt before.

Even when he had faced Andihar Dayarunar it hadn't felt like this. Granted, the man had been calm and not hostile but Eik had still been able to tell that there was something terrifying under the surface.

But this… It was something else entirely. It was all-consuming, for lack of a better word.

There was no doubt in his mind that this is what had pulled him toward the mountain. That indescribable attraction that had taken a hold of his mind and refused to let go until he was thrust back into his own world. This was it.

And he was falling straight toward it with no option to stop himself.

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