Following in Adam's footsteps Person had first headed to the orchard area to find some prey. As the vermite had all relocated to the camp a fox was first to fall to Person's unique form of attack. The fox had noticed something was wrong but was unable to stop Person as they ignored the physical body and sent a tendril of power straight at the core around which the creature existed. Person found they could pull the power from this lower level foe more easily than Adam.

After draining the contents the fox itself resembled the husk of the core within. Rather than dying as Person had expected the tendril they had used to draw the energy within was now stuck to the core of the fox. As Person pulled away to find more prey they noticed the connection stretch and then pull taut. It failed to snap as Person moved to the extent of its length and instead the fox started to shuffle in their direction. If Person moved faster the fox moved faster but if Person tried to move too fast a sharp pain ran through the connection stopping them while the fox caught up.

The same happened with a second fox; then a third. The third fox gave Person 9 exp rather than the 10 Adam had collected. The third fox allowed Person to increase their level to level 2.

"Why are we getting less experience?" Person asked System.

"Experience is the quantitative measure of the power absorbed from a core. Since you are unable to fully absorb the core you cannot fully gain the experience available." Came the reply. The system then drew Person's attention to one of the foxes. "That husk contains the core of the creature and the remaining life-force or energy that you have not absorbed."

"Why can't we absorb the core?" Asked Person, angry at the loss of a tenth of the energy they should have acquired.

"That is simple, your attack draws energy away but does not damage the physical shell. Therefore you are unable to completely destroy it. There are correlations with known species in my database, would you like updated advice on development?"

It did not take much consideration before Person took up the offer.

"Very well. Combining the known skills on two different creatures gives the optimal outcome with current knowledge. First, your phase attacks have great similarities with a creature known as an energy vampire. This creature sucks the energy from inferior beings in a similar way you have. Then they are able to finish off larger prey despite their frail physical form. Unfortunately you have no physical form at present so cannot use this alone. Second is a husk-leech. These creatures have no corporeal form and exist in the ether, similar to yourself. They are able to latch on to the core of others and draw energy from them or subvert them to their will. Your connection to the foxes mimics this symbiosis. It seems with increased willpower you should be able to control these foxes as subordinates. Recommendation is to increase willpower to test this theory."

Following this advice Person allocated all seven attribute points into willpower. The link between them and the foxes was more substantive and Person put pressure through the tendril of power to see what happened. They could sense that the fox wanted to run away but was confined more by the power of the link than they were. If Person moved away and started to stretch the tendril the fox was filled with pain which forced them to follow him. Initially, attempting the opposite and trying to get closer to a particular fox caused them to shuffle away. Trying to stop them with their mind taught Person that they could overpower the fox intentionally and force it to submit. In an attempt to rid themselves of all three foxes Person forced two of the foxes to fight and in doing so learnt that any pain the foxes experienced was shared through the link, though to a lesser degree.

So, having learnt that they were stuck with all of the creatures they attacked in this way Person forced the foxes ahead and moved on to the forest seeking larger prey.

Person had sent the foxes to attack the first boar and was screaming in both pain and frustration. With all their energy sapped the boar had easily charged the nearest fox, killing it and causing a shock of pain greater than any they had felt so far down the link. The other two foxes had frozen without direct instructions from Person and this allowed the boar to run away deeper into the forest. Person gained the final little piece of energy from the fox but the pain and disorientation had not been worth it. The next three boar they attacked directly; forming more links and absorbing enough experience to reach level 3. The additional willpower allowed Person to partly block the pain the creatures felt.

Experimenting further with the next boar they encountered the creatures under their control managed to overwhelm their opponent. Once again the additional experience was not worth the cost. Now one of the boars under their control was limping after it had been gouged in the leg. Moving around the forest was taking twice as long and the knowledge that trying to sever their tie with the boar would be excrutiatingly painful meant Person had no choice but to slow their pace. Not wanting to repeat this mistake Person used their phase shift powers to attack the cores of the remaining ten boar in the forest reaching level 4 with the experience gained.

With over twenty willpower in total now it was much easier to ignore the signals coming from the creatures that followed them. The twelve boar and two foxes tore into the limping boar and ripped it apart under Person's command. The anticipated pain was perceived more as a pulling sensation and did not distract Person as it did previously. Moving to the centre of the clearing they sent the growing horde to attack the last remaining boar, the Razorback, ignoring the sensations informing that some of the creatures had been hurt in the process.

The death of the Razorback gave Person enough experience to reach level five. Further tests were conducted to see what the increase in willpower allowed. They could now direct the creatures in separate groups and dull the pain experienced to allow the link between them to stretch further. While they were concentrating on one particular tendril to evaluate its nature further System chimed.

"Person, I have detected a pattern that can be developed into a new skill. This will increase your ability to control husks under your command. Would you like me to proceed?"

"Explain what you mean first." Replied Person tersely. They were not going to simply agree with System if they didn't understand what was happening.

"Of course. If and when you design or create a structure or idea that can be repeated then a set cost to this from your energy pool can be determined. For example, in this case we have detected the ability to take over a specific creature under your control and exert yourself physically through their body. In doing so you would have to expend a lot of concentration and time. Conversely a skill can be developed and a set number of skill points used to exact the same outcome."

Person realised this must be what Adam had unwittingly been doing through the creation of classes and professions. They agreed to System's suggestion. Then for the first time examined their skills.

Skill Level Description Cost absorb 5 Drain the energy from another creature's core 0.1mpps possess 1 Directly take control of a subordinate. 2sp

More questions came to mind as they saw the skills. Person had not been aware that there was a cost to the attacks they had been performing and was surprised to find the cost was in mana, especially given all their attributes had been spent on willpower. Quizzing back and forth, System explained this was because the skill did not have a set cost due to the varying amount of energy needed to drain each core. It then pointed out that Person had not required further mana and willpower was giving the ability to better control the husks and therefore better. Person reluctantly agreed and set out to find more creatures so they could increase the level of possess further.

Chaos had ensued on attacking the bats. Person had not been able to reach the ceiling of the cave directly to assault them so the boar and foxes had been forced to enter the cave and woke the whole colony at once. Person and his creatures had attacked the higher level bats as they flew down to defend their cave and four boar had been killed by the time Person had turned enough bats into husks that those remaining flew away in fear rather than continue fighting. They now had twenty bats; eight boar and two foxes under their control. Both absorb and possess were at level 6 and Person had hit a new stumbling block.

"Why can I not reach level 7?" Person asked System.

"Abnormality detected. Core does not contain qualitative structure to develop further." Came the reply.

"Argh! Stop being so damn abstract and tell me why and what to do." Person was finding it increasingly hard to contain their anger. Since linking with the bats they had noticed the ability to mute and stop certain leakage along the link had become harder. They did not feel the pain but emotions such as anger and dissent at being controlled were attacking Person. System had no way of noticing these changes without being informed, and instead just answered the question it have been asked.

"Apologies, my answer was not designed to be frustrating. Your core is unrefined. Due to its nature as a newly developed core it does not have the additional structure or capacity to reach higher levels. To level further you would need to learn or be taught what structures within your core are missing."

Thinking through the options Person knew the answer before they asked, but did so anyway.

"Where can we find a more refined core? What other options are there?"

"One higher structure core has been detected in this area. It belongs to the human known as Adam. No beings in this area have the ability to teach core development. One option is to seek human Adam and examine his core. Other option would be to leave this area to seek tuition in core development, probability of survival outside initial zone with current core is low. Recommended action would be to seek Adam."

It was only twenty-four hours since exerting their independence but Person was frustrated and angry at the developments so far. The single-minded nature of System driving them to get stronger combined with the seething hatred from the creatures they had turned into husks gave them purpose. No time to sleep they pushed on to grow stronger still. Before confronting Adam they needed more energy, more support.

Knowing where the strongest creatures encountered so far resided, Person headed to the mine.