James wanted to rush over to help the kitsune until he watched souls start to blink out one after another. The group she had engaged was far larger than he was comfortable having her handle, but he also needed to let his partners grow at their own risk.

Running a hand through his hair, he returned his attention to his own giant group of Forsaken. His animal companions were following him through the streets now that he was back on the main stretch, and they were growing nervous at the large presence of foes. The only ones that were ready, was Shadow Paw and his mate, and the pack of wolves. They were growling in unison while approaching his side to attack.

"No," he warned. "I'm not risking you getting killed for attacking such a large group."

Shadow Paw narrowed his eyes at him, and didn't relent. Inching forward, he started building soul energy into his limbs in preparation for a pounce.

Groaning, James summoned his sword. "Fine. Kill them all."

The wolves and panthers flew past him and into the kelpy area with the two hundred odd monsters. The flying fish started to descend and James Siphoned them first, pulling them from their attacks and making them crash into the buildings.

The poisonous vines and growths were leaching energy from his companions as they walked over it, but somehow they were gaining energy from attacking the Forsaken. Almost like they were absorbing bits of their souls.

I really need to study this more. Especially since most of them will likely come with to the nest. I need to know what they are capable of.

Glancing at the horned rabbits, badgers, raccoons, and other odd animals, he shrugged. "Do you all want to get in there and grow stronger too?"

He should have known they would rush in, but he was more surprised when the horned rabbits screeched and charged with lopping hops that carried them over ten feet at a time.

His wolves barely had time to step out of the way before a horn two feet long punched through a fish monster and ripped out its guts. Eyes wide, James watched the wolves pull it off the rabbit and finish it before teaming up.

What have I started…

Closing his eyes for a moment, he thought over how his life could have possibly ended up where it was. He not only had several Soul Cultivators that looked up to him and trained with him, but now he had a following of animals that were ripping apart a horde of fish monsters among a sea of kelp, in the middle of a city, in the middle of the wasteland. There wasn't even an ocean anywhere around them!

Opening his eyes, he started walking into the horde. Nearly all of the monsters were already dead, and James could tell that they were rather boring in their attacks. They didn't have anything mutated apart from their bodies and their numerous claws and webbing. Pathetic, really…

Continuing through the kelp, he felt his pack fall in behind him as they licked the blood from their muzzles. A few of his companions were injured, but somehow they were already healing, as if they had active souls like him. That made him even more confused on what exactly was going on.

Reaching the other side of the kelp, he found the city had shifted. The vines transitioned into coral that towered over the one story buildings and spread a mist over the area. The fog was dense and once he entered, he felt something in his body shift.

New Skill: Deception Resistance: Level 1/10

Deception?

He didn't know what was supposed to be deceiving him until he heard one of his wolves howl in pain.

Turning, he found his companion on his side, bleeding from a hole in his stomach. Standing over him was a creature made from the mist, one of its clawed arms pulling out from inside the wolf. Before it could disappear, Shadow Paw latched onto it, and his mate ripped its throat out.

Rushing over to the wolf, James pressed his hands to the wound and stymied the blood flow as best he could. He didn't need to bother as the wound was already closing, and the wolf's stomach started to growl.

Pulling the dead monster over to the wolf's mouth, James sat with him while he ate and recovered the rest of the way. Shadow Paw chuffed orders at the pack, making the spread out as they sensed their surroundings.

"We have to get through this," James announced. "We're only a few miles from the city center."

While his wolf companion recovered, James checked on Linda and found her stealing kills from Zenaria. The two were fighting for the last few souls, anger roiling through both of their bodies.

Should I step in?

The moment he thought that, the women's anger switched to him and shoved his soul off them. With a small whistle, he turned his attention to Grace and found her abnormally happy.

***

Grace beamed the brightest smile as she watched the fish swim overhead. The way they danced and whirled on the wind, was amazing. That was why she summoned a bomb to her hand and hurled it into the breeze above the kelp.

The following explosion coated the area in poison as the massive fish fell from the sky. The buildings and monsters underneath were crushed from the impact and she grabbed all the Soul Energy that she could.

With a flip of her tail, she threw out a barrage of bombs into the remaining Forsaken, bringing them to their mutated knees as they spit up blood and spewed pools of bodily fluids. Their veins turned green as she smiled and wafted the air toward herself.

"This is what I'm talking about!" she roared.

Once again, she could feel James checking on her and smiled. She savored the feeling of his soul against hers, and gently pushed back to let him know she was okay. In fact, she was better than okay. She only needed a couple more kills to reach level five, and hopefully gain another attack.

Switching her Aggression Skill to its Avoidance Form, she moved through the kelp and over the dead monsters. All of the soul energy in the poisonous clouds became hers without her having to Siphon.

Pushing through the gas cloud, she frowned when the white poison took on a murky black tinge. Her first instinct that something was wrong was when she gained a new resistance. One that she was sure James already had.

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Knowing that something was likely coming for her, she spun and released a cloud of poison all around her. The wave only took a second to make contact with a misty monster that blended in so well, that it would have been impossible to find.

The creature was hunched over on all fours, its back arching high into the sky with bony protrusions that leaked more of the mist. A second later, it was clawing at its throat, ripping through flesh as it tried to back out of her toxic cloud.

"You're mine, bitch!" she growled.

Walking over to the monster, she stomped down on its head, feeling the bone and flesh squish below her boot. Grinding the brain into the asphalt, she started scanning the area. She was surrounded by inky mist that consumed the next section of her journey. Things were about to slow down as she flicked her tail and spread more poison.

***

James sighed as he felt Grace succeed so well against her foes. Not having to worry about her for a while, he checked on Amber and found her tearing through a huge pack of monsters that were piling on her. It was clear she found a kelp patch and was having a blast while growing stronger.

Luna was nearly caught up to him, and had split off further to find her own kelp patch. She needed thousands of souls to level and he had taken those directly on her path. The she-wolf was overflowing with starvation as she lunged from soul to soul. She couldn't maintain her Soul Form for much longer, or else she would likely rampage.

He was a little worried about her, but knew she would take care of herself and not endanger the others. That gave him the room to check on Linda and Zenaria. Once again, they were at each other's throats, at yet another kelp patch, stealing kills from one another.

Groaning, he smacked them with his soul, suppressing theirs so they got the message. Once he felt their embarrassment and regret, he let them go and started walking again. He still had a few miles to cover now that his wolf was healed.

"Keep your eyes open," he ordered.

The inky mist wasn't thick enough that he couldn't see the coral, but it was thick enough on the ground to obscure his feet, up to his knees. The road was all but gone, and the nearby buildings were scarily free of souls.

Deception Resistance: Level 2/10 (+1)

Tensing, he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. Pulsing his soul in that direction, he broke apart the mist and pushed back his followers as he slammed into a monster, catching it off guard.

Shadow Paw landed on it a moment later, ripping out the Forsaken's throat and tossing the body to the side. With a grumbling growl, he scanned the area and sniffed the air.

The problem James had was that the soul of the monster wasn't visible until he hit it. Only once it was revealed did he sense the monster fully. Somehow the Forsaken were masters of Soul Manipulation.

Running a hand down his face, he felt himself growing more annoyed than he thought possible.

Why would Mother pick a city like this? I want to slap her!

He knew she picked it to make his group stronger, but holy hell was it annoying.

Knowing that the others were actually catching him was also annoying. He wanted to walk through the mist without issues, but he had his animal companions to worry about.

He reached his boiling point when yet another monster tried attacking Shadow Paw, scoring a slash across his back before his mate ended its life. His annoyance turned to anger as he Soul Pulsed more than he ever had before.

The sheer force behind his attack destroyed the coral around him. The mist was all but evaporated as he blinked a few times. The Soul Pulse spread and took out Grace's coral, and Amber's as the women was making their away through it. He barely protected them in time before wrapping everyone in protection.

Zenaria and Linda hunkered down as their coral was ripped apart, and Luna dropped her Soul Form to try and find him.

Panning his gaze over the area, he watched as the buildings crumbled and collapsed like a wave settling in a pond. The Forsaken that were hiding exploded as their souls were ripped apart and a three-mile radius around him was decimated.

Spinning in a slow circle, he made sure everyone was safe before shaking out his body. "Well, that made me feel better."

Shadow Paw eyed him with a slightly raised brow.

"I didn't break anything," he argued.

Snorting, the panther started walking toward the next section of the city, which was thankfully free of mist.

"I didn't get angry!" he called after the beast.

Wincing as more buildings collapsed, he watched as a few more fish fell out of the air, their souls shredded. The kelp and poisonous vines were destroyed and the area purified of any threats.

He might have gone overboard…

Souls Absorbed: Soul Strength: 11.250022 (+0.003581)

***

Luna stepped to the side as a piece of wall collapsed near her. The crumbling stone rolled into her foot as she took in her surroundings.

The world was still falling apart as James retracted his soul from her and moved on. The sheer power of his attack leveled miles worth of space, and killed thousands of Forsaken in the process.

Feeling out with her own soul, she touched on Grace and found her laughing while trying to calm her own fear. Amber was ecstatic that James finally showed off. Zenaria and Linda were walking away from each other, finally chastised properly for stealing kills and clearly afraid that James lashed out.

Rubbing her head, Luna started walking. She would need to catch up to James at the rate she was going just to kill something. Her so called husband was killing everything on his way through, leaving her with next to nothing.

Dropping into her wolf form, she started running after him. Pushing out with her soul, she shoved as much annoyance into her husband as she could, making him twitch.

Yeah, that's right, James! I'm mad at you!

Racing across the ground, she snarled at the cloying blood lingering in the air from his many kills. Her senses were going haywire as she tried to find any more prey, that she knew wasn't really there.

After a few minutes, she reached her husband and changed back into her human form and promptly punched him in the arm.

"I hate you!"

Rubbing his arm, he frowned at her. "Why'd you hit me?"

Gesturing wildly to their surroundings, she raised a brow. "Why did I hit you? Why did I hit you? Are you serious, James? You decimated the area!"

"Why are you yelling?" he teased with a knowing smirk.

Face falling flat, she punched him again. "Bastard!"

"Words hurt, you know!"

Taking a calming breath, she crossed her arms. "I need to get stronger, James, and you killed everything within miles. How am I supposed to get stronger if you kill everything?"

"Umm…"

Narrowing her eyes, she listened to their animal companions laugh at him. Their chuffing and snuffling laughs were music to her ears. It was everything she needed in the moment as his face started to turn red from embarrassment, or maybe shame.

"You're in trouble, James," Luna stated. "Very big trouble. You were supposed to go ahead and find Mother, and here you are, killing everything and taking away everyone's growth. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Umm…"

Throwing up her arms, she walked off. "Come with me, Shadow Paw. Bring your friends. James is in trouble."

The panther padded after her, still chuffing with laughter. His back was healing as his mate walked by his side. Filled with warmth, she watched the couple for a moment before glancing at James.

He was still watching her with an unsettling amount of sadness. So much sadness that it seemed planned.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she shouted, "don't you dare try to guilt me!"

Laughter filled the air from her husband as he jogged after her. "Did it work a little?"

Grumbling under her breath, she nudged him with her elbow. "Maybe a little…"

Rolling her eyes at his silly smile, she sighed and looked out toward the center of the city. They still had a few miles to go before they reached the dragons, and she would lead the way this time.

Telling James as much, she started jogging ahead. Dropping into her wolf form, she prepared for battle as she neared the edge of the destruction.

***

Zenaria stared around with wide eyes as she walked next to Linda. They had started venturing from one another, only to come back together as the city collapsed. The sheer strength of power that James released wasn't even all that he could do. That was the power that she was looking for. What she strived for.

She could already picture the waves of enemies falling before her entwined wires. Their souls claimed as her own as she reached the gold soul and beyond. To make things better, she glanced behind her at the second flickering tail that had formed when she reached level five. It had appeared with her growth; shimmered white and moved to her thoughts. It was there. It was real and felt fluffy. James had given her this gift. The ability to become a true kitsune once again.

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