Damn abominations

Training... is hard.

Two and a half days have passed since Noelle's duel, but Kai has only gotten to level twelve.

Noelle even reached level 15 this morning and told Kai and Sofia she got another skill selection. Both Umbra and Sofia reached level 14 as well. Sofia's extra way to level up was something to do with being quick, while Umbra told him moon beasts only have one way to level up but its about as good as having two or three.

Kai on the other hand still has no idea as to what his other level up technique is. So how is he leveling up you may ask.

Aldred mauls everything and allows Kai to get the last hit.

For the last two days that has been their routine. Wake, eat, fight, sleep. It's honestly shocking how quickly Kai got adapted to not having a mobile phone anymore, he was the type of person to always be on it before the Flashing.

Looking back, he realises its probably due to Nonchalance, the uncommon skill coming in clutch once again in this damn world.

The skill has honestly been a gift so far, be would probably be dead without it after all. The white room, the wolves, Beefcake and Creepy, all those are situations where he should've died. If he ever gets the chance to upgrade his skill, he wants Nonchalance to be upgraded first.

Over the last few days, Kai has grown closer to Aldred, even through the wolf will calls him Catalyst. The gray wolf also shared what the world was like before the tutorial.

It was the exact same.

Ginormous trees, shadows everywhere, abominations threatening the forest constantly, it was an extremely dangerous place.

Not to say that it hasn't gotten better though. After Aldred weakened the dark side of the moon demon, he went on a purge of the weaker abominations. Unlike the demon, the gray wolf was unsuccessful in purging all the gibbous moon abominations, but he killed a large amount of quater moon ones instead.

Currently, the boy and wolf are walking through the forest while looking for some abominations to hunt, Umbra would've been with them except that Aldred convinced the wolf scouting team to let her train with them, something about familiarity helping her grow quicker.

"How many are we going to hunt today?" Kai asks as he follows the gargantuan gray wolf who walks calmly through the dark forest, utmost confidence is his steps that nothing can harm him.

"Just the one" The wolfs voice is gruff and deep, but has a certain charm to it. "One of our former allies decided to abandon and join the abominations forces, a quater moon bear that was level 24 last time I saw them."

Kai follows but thinks to himself, remembering the bear who attacked them during the week before they reached the dome. He chuckles and says;

"Well, they're level 25 now, but... why care so much about a level 25? I'm sure most of the beasts in the dome are stronger."

"Never underestimate anything, you will die if you do. Think about Noelle and Wa'rak's duel, if Wa'rak went for the kill right from the start he would've won the fight in a single attack, but he was cocky. Over the last few millenia, the beasts have grown complacent due to the abominations falling back while the demon healed. They will deeply regret it in the coming weeks, while they grew lethargic and weak willed, the abominations must've been planning and training.

I know something bad is coming soon, and my intuition is never wrong. One thing I learned about myself is that the reason full moon beasts are so rare is that they each have special abilities. My nose is able to sniff out things that should be unlercievable. Lies, bad omens, even the future can sometimes be smelled.

The demons ability though..." Aldred let's out a low growl, and sniffs at the ground.

"That conversation will have to wait for later, I've found the bears scent."

The gray wolf shrinks down in size to about the same size as Umbra. He takes a low stance and starts to creep forward, not a single sound under his paws as he delicately steps.

Kai follows suit, though not as silent as Aldred. A few minutes of creeping later, Aldred freezes as his nose twitches. Kai stops as well and waits for the wolf to set up the telepathic link.

"My nose was right, it's a trap, Calestrom knew we were coming."

Nearly breaking his neck at the speed he turns his head, Kai struggles to not speak out loud and quickly asks Aldred;

"What do you mean a trap! Are you sure? Why bring me then? How did that bear even know."

Kai learned a few days ago that majority of the moon beasts posses a name, there is a minority that doesn't though, the minority newly born beasts.

Calestrom, the fearsome bear who tried to maul the group, was one of the rougue beasts who abandoned the dome in favour of joining the abominations side.

For reasons Kai did not know, Aldred was very secretive about why he had to target the rougue beasts and not just aim for the abominations, but he had a feeling he was about to find out why.

"There are fifteen quater moon abominations and 5 gibbous moon ones surrounding us currently, Calestrom is at the back of the group."

His heart drops at the revelation. His grip around his dagger weakens as he panics, but Nonchalance helps calm him down slightly.

"What the hell do we do then? I can't fight any of those! And I know that you're a full moon beast and supposed to be super strong, but weren't you just saying it's bad to be cocky?

The wolf chuckles and bares his fangs.

"There's a difference between cockiness and confidence, Catalyst. Cockiness is underestimating your opponent-"

Aldred's form didsapears and all that is left is an afterimage, a moment later an unearthly cry erupts from deep in the forest and Kai hears one last sentence from the gray wolf.

"Confidence is having absolute faith in your abilities."

An agonising scream is heard to his left, then his right, then behind him. Kai stands in shock at the display of strength, wondering would he ever be able to do anything like this. Sadly, since Aldred is out fighting, Kai is left alone to fend for himself.

Hearing the same gurgling noise he heard when he was running through Creepy's smoke cloud, his blood turns cold as he turns his head slowly and sees an abomination.

This abomination is vastly different when compared to the one he killed before, the one before was just an oversized blob with tentacles. This one resembled a faintly humanoid form with two demonic fleshy wings on its back and it had no head. Instead, the eyes of the abomination were in the middle of its hideous chest.

Kai panics, there's no way in hell he can fight an abomination by himself, and that fact is further reinforced when he looks into the beasts third eye.

Shit!

A gibbous moon. He nearly died when running away fro a quater moon abomination, how on earth is he meant to survive a gibbous moon one.

Nonchalance, being the beautiful skill it is, goes into overdrive and gives Kai the best possible answer to get out of this situation alive.

Run

Sprinting as fast as his scrawny legs can carry him, he makes a break for the smallest gap on between the trees, hoping the abomination wouldn't be able to squeeze through.

Looking over his shoulder as he runs, Kai spots the fleshy wings retract into its back, allowing it to get through the trees easily.

Inwardly cursing, Kai pushes himself and runs for his life. At this point more and more cries are coming from all over the forest, indicating Aldred is nearly done cleaning up all the abominations. If only the monster would could've killed this one first.

With no way out, Kai I'd left with only one option...

Will of the Kaiser

The only problem being that Umbra is nowhere near him, meaning he's going to have a luck of the draw at what otherworldly creature he'll get. He hadn't used it without Umbra as an anchor since the fight with Noelle.

Becoming a frenzied creature in this situation sounds like a surefire way to kill himself, but if he's going to die anyway if he doesn't, what's the harm?

He looks over his shoulder one last time and sees the abomination right behind him, the bastard getting closer and closer the whole time. Cursing his bad luck, Kai finally gives in and activates his innate ability.

Hobgoblin mode activated

+6 Strength

+6 Dexterity

+3 Constitution

-10 Will

Lesser dagger proficiency -> Minor dagger proficiency

Shit! Is the only thought that gets into Kai's mind before he loses it, the feral instincts taking over once more. The same silhouette of the dagger appears in his right hand once more, only now it has an exquisite shine to it. The ghostly pale weapon now seems a little bit more real than the see through blade of the Goblin mode.

Kai's whole body shudders as his arms and legs twitch and swell, newfound strength flooding hid muscles. His fingers tighten around the dagger, newfound flexibility in his limbs.

The abomination closes in on Kai and its form starts to change. It's right arm, which was previously just a stump of fleshy grotesque ugliness, changes into the form of a blade. Just two sharp sides on either side of the flesh, but looking as if it could cut into Kai easily.

As the feral instincts attack Kai's mind, wanting him to charge at the flesh beast, something strange happens.

Nonchalance, which was quiet the first time he lost his Will stat, helps control the instinct this time. Still, it's nowhere near enough for Kai to think clearly, but it's enough.

As they say, a frenzied beast is easy to kill. A cunning one though...

A grin grows on Kai's face as he watches the abominations each and every move, newfound clarity entering his feral mind. The instincts which were so overwhelming previously now sit in the backseat, only offering advice from time to time to the driver.

No proper thought form in his mind though, only ideas and ways on how to kill the abomination in the most efficient way. And he sees that way.

So what does Kai do?

He turns around and runs even further into the dark forest.