"You were the one who said I should just go out and give the ability a try," Eik argued as Mis weaved lovingly between Ihasu's legs. The cat-shaped blob did the same between his.

"I know," she admitted with a sigh. "I just didn't really expect that… it would be living with us."

"I can't just let it roam around. Who knows what's going to happen?"

"So you want to keep it in the house?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's just a little guy right now. It can't do anything to either of us. It's only E-rank right now."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "It has a power rank?"

He nodded. "Yep. Pretty crazy, right? It's even got its first ability already."

"What ability is that?"

"It's called Learn. And it seems to be exactly that. We taught it to wave at us and it got like four levels right away."

Ihasu stared down at the blue blob cat licking its own butthole next to Mis, also licking her own butthole. "Seriously? Is it kind of weird that I'm kind of envious?"

"That they can lick their own buttholes?" Eik asked, taken aback. "I mean, if that's what you're inte—"

"Of course I don't mean that, doofus," she laughed and punched him in the arm. "I mean that I'm envious that it just Awakens during the first moments of its life and immediately gets an ability."

"Ah, right…"

"Did you stick that wooden plaque into its body?" she asked.

"Yeah, I kind of had to, I think," Eik said, stroking the blue cat's back. "It was screeching in agony before. Speaking of, look."

He read out loud for her.

[Acquired Learn — Lv. 23]

[Acquired Learn — Lv. 24]

"Twenty four levels in like twelve hours?" Eik breathed. "I've done that after a big fight, but this guy has just been screwing around in the house with our cat."

"It's remarkable," she said. "I've never even heard of an ability like Learn. But I suppose it makes sense. It Awoke before having the chance to have a life upon which the first abilities could be based. That's extremely interesting."

"Speaking of abilities, I haven't checked mine since before I fought all of those Gohkamorians. There were a lot of A-rankers there."

He let the Ak'ki interact with his body, the glowing script appearing quickly and eagerly.

[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 140]

[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 141]

[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 14…]

[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 146]

[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 147]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 194]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 195]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 19…]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 203]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 204]

And for Monarch's Will, new levels were not all he got.

[Skill evolution available. Skill available for evolution: Monarch's Will]

[Choose one]

[Monarch's Will — Noble Mentality]

[Monarch's Will — Tyrant's Pressure]

"What do you think they do?" he asked Ihasu, pulling her closer to him on the couch. Bin had long since run to her room. She was very into drawing these days and she would always put aside at least one hour every night to draw before bed.

"Honestly, both of these are pretty difficult to figure out from just the names," she muttered, reading over them again and again as if that would give her some kind of sudden revelation from above. Judging by how her brows furrowed more and more with every passing second, she wasn't having much luck with it.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Yeah, it's super vague. The best I can tell is that Noble Mentality is probably not an offensive trait while Tyrant's Pressure could be. But that might be totally wrong as well."

"So what are you going to pick?"

"For no other reason than that it kind of sounds cooler, I think I'll go with Tyrant's Pressure…"

"That is… one way to make a decision, sure."

"Got any better ideas?"

"Well, no," she admitted with a snort.

"Okay, cool, then," he said and made his choice.

[Evolved skill Monarch's Will. Skill acquired trait Tyrant's Pressure]

He let the other message appear.

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 239]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 240]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 24…]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 254]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 255]

No skill evolution for Profound Toxin despite hitting level two hundred and fifty, huh? The higher level one's skills became, the more stingy the system seemed to become when it came to giving out evolutions.

The next messages appeared.

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 149]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 150]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 15…]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 171]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 172]

Holy shit! Creating the Original Life had given him an insane number of level ups. It was unlikely that the next time he used it would award anything even close to as many levels as the first one had, but if he had to guess he also got levels when the Original Life gained achievements, such as leveling up its own skills.

Throughout the day, such as when he had been sitting in the cell waiting or in the courtroom, doing nothing that should have awarded levels, he had felt the familiar nudge of the Ak'ki trying and failing to inscribe its message into his skin. And although the level up notifications didn't offer the luxury of a time stamp, he could think of no other explanation.

With time, his Living Manifestation skill would grow to absurd heights, especially if he could keep creating new Original Lives through which he could harvest free levels.

But then again, what was a Monarch without his army?

"As always, your own leveling speed is completely ridiculous as well," Ihasu huffed.

He shrugged with a smirk. "What can I do, ey? It is what it is, baby."

"Please, oh, for the love of all that is good, please, stop."

***

Eik awoke to a loud and insistent knock on the door. Immediately, he was alert and ready. Before he had even opened his eyes, a blue blade had snapped into existence in his hand, Backflow activating automatically at moderate intensity.

The knocks didn't let up for even a second as he pushed Ihasu back into bed and muttered for her to wait where she was. In Bin's room his connection to the large Profound Toxic beast that functioned as her pillow told him that she had been woken up but hadn't quite come to yet.

With a mental order the Living Manifestation picked her up and carried her swiftly into their bed where Mis and the Original Life had already been sleeping soundly.

Eik approached the door relatively slowly, listening for any clue about who could be outside at this time of night. The clock put the time at a little past four thirty. Way too early for anything ordinary.

He couldn't hear anything that revealed who it was outside. Note to self: station Profound Toxic beasts in the garden outside at all times for Eyes of the Beast.

He wasn't nervous about his own safety. Barely any Awakened in the Unified Mass could seriously threaten him at this point, but the same couldn't be said for his family, so when he opened the door it was with a healthy dose of nervousness.

It was one of the A-rankers he had kept on payroll to keep and eye on the oracle. He breathed a sigh of relief, but then sucked it back in as the reality of it struck him. "What happened?" he asked the man frantically. "Were you attacked?"

"Ah, no," the A-ranker said sheepishly, his hand still raised and ready to knock again. "I apologize. I didn't mean to cause alarm. I come bearing news."

"What is it?"

"The oracle had come back to her senses. She is asking to speak with you urgently."

Eik was taken aback. "That's great. She recovered much faster than we had hoped. Let me just tell my family where I'm going," he said and grabbed his coat, heading back into the house.

With both of them being A-rankers, it was a quick run to the tiny house where the oracle had been staying since coming to Earth. The oracle was on the porch outside when they arrived, waiting for him with a hand on one of the vertical support beams holding up the half roof. She look unsteady on her feet.

"Eik Magnasen," she said breathlessly, trying to walk out to meet him but her knees failed her. Vendekaabe who had been standing close by behind her reached out to catch her on reflex but yanked back his hand just before making contact as if he had been about to touch a wad of acid.

A bouncy, jelly-like platform shot out of the ground to catch her as she fell. It stood her up and changed into a thinner handle she could hold on to as she stood before him.

"You don't seem well. How about you take a rest inside?"

She was panting hard as she sent him a look as if to ask if he was an idiot. "We don't have time for that. From what I've understood I've already wasted plenty of time sitting around confused."

"Have you contacted Andihar and Gul?" Eik asked the A-ranker who had come to his house.

"Yes, but your house was closer. I expect they will be here soon."

"Great! Let's go to my office and talk," he suggested to the oracle. "It's a little more private than this shed in the middle of town. Andihar and Gul both know where it is. Can you redirect them there, please?" he asked the A-ranker.

"Sure."

"Thanks, man. Here, have a snack," he said and tossed the guy a cinnamon roll. He had made more than he meant to, so he was giving them out left and right.

The A-ranker immediately bit into it with gusto, chewing thoroughly with an expression of pure satisfaction. "Can you just pay me with these from now on? It's probably the best pastry I've ever tasted," he laughed.

"It would be a lot gentler on my wallet, so you wouldn't be hearing any complaints from me." With a grin he tossed another and headed for the office.

Andihar and Gul arrived together just a few minutes after Eik, the oracle, and Vendekaabe had made it to the office. Judging by their clothes, hair, and expressions, it was obvious that they hadn't slept. Both of them flopped into a pair of chairs with super soft upholstery, sighing in choir.

"What is going on with you two? Look who's up!" Eik exclaimed with a gesture at the oracle.

Gul massaged the bridge of his nose with frustration, the rings in his ears clinking melodically with the movements of his head. "The cult attacked Gimleh tonight. A blitz attack like what we did, followed by another blitz attack an hour later."

"What? How bad is it?" Eik gasped.

"Pretty bad. Lots of dead. We think the first attack was initiated by hidden agents. They tore through a residential area before eventually being put down by Alliance forces."

"And the second?" Eik asked.

"Not as bad, but still a testament to their resources and fighting strength. This will definitely not be the last we see of them."

"Why wasn't I notified?"

Exasperated, Gul pointed to the oracle. "Because she's here! They are after her!"

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