The magnetic field, the same exact beast listed as an A rank mission along with the ravens. This was a massive one, and could permanently erase data. It feeds on information, like horses grazed on hay.

I could now see an entirely different world, where information flew through the air in digitized packets, all across the sky at all times.

It was casually taken out instantly by a blast of red lightning from my third eye. The core shot out of the cloud, and my wings swept away the remaining magnetic debris.

It would be nice to consume this core, gaining some magnetic powers, but it would be a bad idea to return with nothing, especially after having taken Au-ha

“Just eat it. You'll get stronger.” said The Lord of Stars.

“No, you should bring it to the guild, they will be suspicious otherwise.” countered Au-ha.

I thought for a while, both made good points. In the end though, Au-ha’s answer was just more logical.

“Oh, now I'm going to be overruled by a woman. You men are all the same.” The Lord of Stars would have crossed his arms if he had any.

Wasn’t he a man too?

Au-ha disappearing wasn't nearly as big a deal as I would have thought. All they cared about was that the central tower remained working, they took the magnetic core, and declared the mission completed.

Within a week, a new virtual assistant came to be. This one’s default name was Ana, Automated Network Assistant. Interestingly enough, you could pay a premium, and could personally design your assistant and name them. I couldn't help but feel like this was somehow planned.

“Ana? Pathetic Wench, she just puts out for anybody who pays, huh?” Au-ha was completely unrestrained in speech now.

“I like her waaay better.” Argued Big Star. These two would bicker more than ice and fire.

Time moved forward.

Johnson got married to the receptionist, he no longer joined us at the bar, on orders from his wife. Barbos reached rank B at last, and was getting quite close to this “mate” of his, He still appeared for a drink rarely. Cyrek was now a world famous mage, and would very rarely come by just to subtly brag how good life was for him.

Even Party would rarely stop by these days, he had obtained a harem of different birds, and was holed up in his home all day and night as of late. Glamour quickly came by for my blood weekly, leaving in a rush as the paparazzi bombarded her outside. She was no doubt happy with this.

And I was truly happy for all of them. But still, I learned the pain that was born of growing apart. A slow decline in relationships, until they naturally faded away.

I still went to the bar every night.

“This is life, little star. The people closest to you are the ones that will always hurt you the most.” The Lord spoke in solemn tones tonight.

“True, I have seen it time and time again, humans calling upon me to complain, cry, and try to fight the tide of time.” Even Au-ha solemnly agreed. “Only Lovers and family stay together for life.”

It was too bad I had neither. At Least I could always speak to the voices in my head.

I drank and drank, but it never seemed to truly affect me. I took some pills, mushrooms, and other drugs from Party’s secret stash. I could only hear the sounds of squawking as I snuck in and out of his house.

I gulped them all down at once, after a while, my pains were forgotten. So this is what made people addicts, huh?

I could understand, I could get behind it. I felt good tonight.

I roamed the streets with a bottle of liquor, and a smoke. I ended up laying upon a small open area on a cliffside, the moon in full view. Soon, I would be destined to leave this place. The stars were the only ones who stood still. As if they were waiting for me to free them from their prison. I felt the whispers of the stars, as they told me their story in the briefest of fragments.

They told me they were supposed to be infinite, now they are frozen. They told me that they were the guides of fate, and led all life unto balance. They told me that Heaven had taken their rightful place.

With these whispers echoing in my mind, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of an electric bird.

I was a bird born, and forgotten just as quick. No other eggs in the nest, no mother to take care of me. I soared through the skys learning to fly on my own. An electric raven with a third eye. I was a dragon of the lands, all things were beneath me.

But oh, how lonely it was. Even when I mated with another, formed a tribe of my own kin, that feeling persisted. I was missing something. What it was, I could not know.

One day, I met my siblings at last. Oh how much fun they seemed to have, Oh how they seemed so carefree, Oh how I wished I could’ve spoken to them.

I wish that storm had taken me too.

The night they left, I slaughtered all my kin in a fit of rage. I was on the precipice of becoming something more. My body melted, a soul was forming, words were sp/oken. Oh the joy, oh the pain.

The next day I was eaten alive by another beast.

A fate I well deserved.

“Wake up, it's 8 o'clock. Wake up, it's time to rock.” Au-ha sang me awake to a strange tune.

Another day. I trained with Sergio still, everyday. It was starting to seem pointless now. My technique had reached the highest level it could with these enemies. There were no S-rank missions, as they were only prescribed to S-ranks themselves.

I fought a serial killer with a chainsaw arm. He was finished with a swipe of my tail.

I fought off some more beasts. A golden ape, this time. It took quite a few blows to the chest. My technique was flawless as I dodged like a wave being pushed, my blows strong and adaptive. My kicks fierce and steady. It was finished by a hyper-speed barrage of punches. I saw this on TV.

There was also a diamond bear. It would have been a worthy opponent, but my lightning crushed it in three strikes. It shattered into beautiful crystals

I ate the beast cores, growing slightly stronger.

I asked Au-ha why the humans had not colonized the other planets in their solar system. She told me that every being who went into space would disappear mysteriously.

I couldn't help but wonder if out in the stars lay other worlds. I couldn't help but wonder, as I look above, what worlds lay right on top of me, or below me, hidden through different dimensions.

On the ninth month of consuming my blood weekly, Glamour had reverted into an egg. Presumably she would will herself to be born a humanoid creature.

The Lord of stars explained. Different beast’s evolve at different speeds. The evolution of a beast is the leap of what Qi cultivators referred to as a “large realm” that is, a massive gap in strength. It would likely take a few years for such a dramatic evolution to occur. My first evolution occurred instantly due to the transformative nature of the Blood Horde. Next time, I may be put out for a while.

After beasts formed a core, they hoped to melt it into a soul. This way, a beast could potentially remain after death. After the soul was formed, all beasts would learn language and gain the ability of speech. Not that this mattered in Glamour's case.

Party left his harem, and did not leave his sister’s side for a single moment. Of course he was still often passed out, drunk or high most of the time. I would visit him often.

“Stop taking me drugs, bro.” He took a puff and passed it to me.

“I'm not taking them, I'm just borrowing them.” I took a puff.

He was not of his usual self these days. I often reminded him that this was normal, and his sister would be fine.

He often spoke of sports, cars, and women. By ‘women’ I mean female birds to get his mind off of things. There was little I could contribute to the conversation, so I just listened as he rambled.

“The Jaguars just cost me 100,000 credits, my sports broker f-ed me…”

“The new X-tio plasma car is sweet as hell, i'm definitely gonna get one...”

“This macaw is off the hook, I didn’t know birds could be this flexible…”

“Hey,” he looked at me, and spoke without a hint of his usual casualness. “You’re leaving soon, aren’t you?”

I nodded without a word.

“Where?” he questioned.

“Wherever the stars guide me, friend. I am just a wanderer.”