This doesn’t seem right… but the notification proves true. I feel a slight tightness in my chest, but nothing more, and my stats reflect the new acquisitions. This can’t be right. The system is always so balanced, but this would rapidly make Energy grossly overpowered. I could just farm like… fift, or even a hundred Carnines, and I’d be virtually unkillable. The returns are probably temporary, or they decay with each subsequent usage. Maybe different monsters only have a certain number of Eliminations before I can’t get anything more from them? That would… make no sense.

I eliminate the next one… same result.The third? Same. Result.

A feral grin crosses my face. You’ve got to be kidding. They didn’t balance Energy?! Ahhahaha! Oh you morons, you’re all so fucked.

Something is wrong. No, this is just the feeling of being strong. I know I always want to think things are a trap, but the system knows so little about Energy, it could totally have let this slip. The tightness in your chest got worse every time. It’s just growing pains. You’re talking to yourself. And? I always do this.

“Predator?” An actual voice interrupts my internal argument. “Yes, Kaythe, what troubles you?”

“You’ve been… ‘laughing’ for quite some time, but I do not understand the source of your amusement.” Laughing? I close my mouth. So I had been. Odd. I must have been too involved in my own head to notice. Whatever. “I’m happy Kaythe, I’ve found something the creators of this twisted system missed, and it will make me… us unstoppable.” “Oh?” Kaythe wiggles happily. “This is excellent news predator!” “Indeed it is…”

Not just an infinite supply of Energy, but also the capacity to have as many Energy slaves as I want. I can dominate freely… how many Carnine? No, Lieutenants! How would that filth react to having its will forcibly subverted, and turned against its allies? People, too, would be within my power- NO. Fine. Not people. But, everything else? Your mental state has deteriorated. I’m just happy. Yes, what does a bath matter in the face of this discovery? I need to find more things to kill.

It doesn’t take long, especially now that I can move faster than the wind for minutes at a time, and run damn fast the rest of the time. A Lieutenant, too far from home. What do the four carrion-in-waiting matter with prize like that in their midst? I bet it won’t even see me coming…

But as I bare down on the group, the Lieutenant perks its ears, then turns immediately to me. Its noble bearing disappears as it quickly crouches, only starting to snarl by the time I arrive. The air sings in the wake of my blade, cutting a vicious gash in the thing’s side. It would have been dead, but I was trying to incapacitate it, and its dodge almost killed it. Stupid animal, you can’t die just yet. Don’t you know you’re destined for greater things? You’re mine.

I try to activate the River’s Flow, but the skill evades me. Probably something with Fortify still taking too much concentration. I don’t need it anyway, not with trash like this. I roar, amplifying the sound tremendously with Fortify enhancing even my diaphragm. The action completely destroys my vocal chords, but a healthy dose of green Energy numbs the pain immediately. The monsters, however, either howl in pain as their eardrums burst, or get off with just being stunned by the sudden noise. Fueled by the success of my unwitting attack, I let loose with all the fury I’ve been holding back over these past days. Lost friends, lost resources, inconvenient feelings… truly, killing is a great stress relief.

I smash the back of the last combat-capable Carnine with the flat of my blade, destroying the bones in its spine, and tear off a chunk of flesh that froze to my blade. The howls of their pain… should bother me, but they don’t something is wrong at all. In fact, they almost you’re breaking sound good. I turn to the Lieutenant, who stops backing up as my eyes rest on it. Stop. “Well monster? How does it sound to hear your comrades dying around you? Were these friends of yours? I hope so.” It stares at me, seemingly weighing its odds of successfully escaping. “Try it, I dare you. I’ll hunt you down… like a dog.” I let loose a mirthless laugh at my own joke. It doesn’t matter, this thing couldn’t appreciate the humor anyway. I sigh, mournfully. Time to end this, I suppose…

“...(you)...” What? What the fuck said that. “Kaythe?” “It was not me, Predator.”

“...(are)... (monster).” The… Lieutenant? It stares at me, with something approaching conviction, but it spoke? I… I’m positive its mouth never moved. It used the same means that Kaythe and I talk through?!

“You… fucking dare? You, murderer of the helpless, slaughterer of the innocent, DARE to call ME a monster? Well, you worthless filth, you may rest knowing you have suffered worse than any who came before you.”

It leaps to avoid my first slash, thinking it’s a kill stroke, but that just means it wasn’t listening to me. I rotate the blade mid-swing, smashing its legs with the flat, and shattering them in a grotesque manner and sending the monster spinning in the air, until it inevitably hits the ground and screams. Unable to control its fall, it had landed on its broken legs. I tossed aside my sword and punted the thing, just to hurt it more. It managed to bite my leg in the process, but the surge of pain it must have experienced when half its ribs shattered and collapsed its lungs made it let go quickly. The wound already heals as I approach it again. I go to stomp on its back legs- enough… fine. I still take longer than I need to when destroying its (admittedly impressive) Energy defences. It almost took 15 Energy to break through. Hah, formidable!

[Success! Dominate (-100 max E) OR Eliminate (+100 fragments, +200 Power, +25 Max E)]

Leave this one. We don’t know if this is sa- doing it.

A searing pain rips through my chest.

[Soul stability reduced; minor soul damage sustained.] [Concentration of ‘Other’ has reached the first milestone. Fluctuations detected.]

WHAT?! You knew there was a limiter FUCK YOU you were warned ENOUGH. My… my hand, why does it feel… numb?

A thin thread of jet black Energy lingers in my hand, which I quickly snuff out. Just that? I… must have missed it before… gotten too absorbed… yeah.

But then another appeara. And another.