'Trust me, I asked that myself many times when I watched you sughter them all,' Nyx ented, once more looking at him. 'Not even my predecessor had that much power avaible to do what you did in the beginning... Leo, you single-handedly brought down that building.'

  Leo frowned, sc his head for anything that might expin what had happehen. But there was nothing there.

  "I don't remember a thing about that," he admitted. "All I have are short fshes of the time when I was already out. And evehose barely make any sense. I definitely don't recall turning into a massive beast of shadows. Shit..."

  Nyx hummed. 'I wish I could help you. I really do, but none of the knowledge in my head refers to anything simir. Ruthless Efficy might as well be uo you or at least rare enough that you have to figure it out on your own.'

  "I expected as much," he sighed, dropping his head against the wall and shutting his eyes. "So what do we know? It pletely takes away my trol without eveich. It uses rage and bloodlust to somehow make me strohan monsters far beyond my level. And to add a cherry oop, it use my affinity much better than me."

  'I think you apply the st oo all your abilities. It didn't even have to look away to Devour all the enemies in sight,' the feline added. 'I holy wouldn't be surprised if it also used Reinfort to push your physical capabilities at least past assion levels.'

  Leo's shoulders sank. "True..."

  Maybe he never had a strong ego, but holy, it stung a bit that a rage-driven ability used his body and skills better than him. Although the fact that Ruthless Efficy artially made up of an ability supposed to protect him made him feel a bit better.

  If only I could learn how to trol this Inferno stage. Or at least how to keep myself from losing half of my mind wheivates... Maybe now that I'm much stronger, it will be easier. He shook his head lightly. Nah, doubt it.

  Not that Leo felt all that more powerful after getting all of those additional attributes. Apart from bigger Essence reserves — ohey recover, of course — and some much better senses, he didn't feel all that different. This would most likely ge once he had recovered, but for now, he couldn't even imagine fag a Nightmare, let alone dozens of them.

  I'm pretty sure I could sleep for a whole week. I probably even would if I could...

  Yet, instead of closing his eyes aing the rest he needed, Leo just sat there, thinking and anizing the mess in his head. One of his hands even found its way into Nyx's smoky fur, scratg the pce behind one of her ears. Going by the low purring that filled the silence, she didn't mind it at all.

  For a time, they remained like this, both rexing and dealing with today's problems in the safety of their minds. It wasn't until Leo happeo recall a part of their old versation that he broke the silence.

  "Nyx?" He muttered, getting the felio open her eyes, though the purring didn't stop. "You once mentioned you don't have a css. Does it mean you didn't get anything at level twenty? How are Voidlings even supposed to match a survivor's strength if that's the case? Not that I'm pining, of course, but still... I'm curious."

  Nyx raised her head, tilting it to the side. 'I did get something, just like every other Voidling does after reag the tweh level. But no, it's not a css. Like with everythied to my growth, it's my species that received an upgrade.'

  Leo furrowed his brow, his eyes slowly sweeping across the feline's body, searg for any ges. There was nothing, just like he expected. He would have seen it before if Nyx's form had ged anyhow.

  "I don't get it."

  She huffed. 'I didn't evolve. It will still be a while before I do that, especially now that I'm treated like a survivor and not a mindless beast... No, what happened was that the System made my race striving it more attributes per level. It's like..."

  As Nyx paused, searg for the right word, he finished for her, finally realizing what she meant. "Like an update, going from one version to a better one."

  She blinked. '...Yes... exactly like that.'

  Leo chuckled. "It's normal for software development. I dabbled a bit in the past," he expined. "Instead of developing airely new program, you just update the existing one, slowly making it better. Sooner or ter, it stops being worth the time and work, but that's where full evolution es in, hmm?"

  The feline gave him a long, bnk look before averting her gaze and lying down again. 'Teology,' she grumbled.

  Sn, he gave Nyx a few more scratches. "It's pretty useful," he paused. "Well... was useful. Makes me wonder if someone already figured out how to make it work after everythio shit."

  'Useless pieces of garbage. I have everything I need right here, right now,' she muttered, her purring spreading over the hall once more.

  "Don't agree, but good to hear you're happy," he smiled. "Anyway, getting ba the subject. How many attributes do you now get per level?"

  Nyx closed her eyes. 'Twenty-two. It was thirteen before that.'

  Seems abht. I now get twenty-four points per level and fourteen when I was still an assassin.

  Nyx still remained a bit weaker than him, especially as she didn't possess her Apex species advantage anymore. heless, if it tinued like that, then they would always be of simir strength. Only their level difference could ge that, but that was something to work on ter.

  Time for sleep. One more thing before that, though. Show me the shop, System.

  Right away, the wide window popped up in his vision, a vast sele of items repg the few rows from before. All kinds of hunter's tools still took up most of the space, but now the items at least seemed useful, their quality rising.

  Weak elemental traps came up first, followed by unon tools and even a feons. There was more muuff, but what really caught his eye was the small se of Ether items.

  An unon-quality fre and a small pile of golden wood joihe on fres from the past. Unlike before, the System offered a very short description for each item, giving Leo all the information he needed.

  Five minutes duration with stronger effects than the on fre for one huher. Not bad, but also nothing special. He noted, seleg the other item. A pile of special wood for a campfire. be ignited with typical methods and will create a weak miniature safe zone for about two hours. Huh, . And how much for it?

  Leo g the price, his eyes bulging out.

  What the fuck?! A thousand bloody Ether?! After killing so many Nightmares, even I only buy five. What the hell, System? You're supposed to help survivors, not bleed us dry.

  However, no matter how much he wao pin, the prices wouldn't ge anyway. Not that it stopped him from buying some other stuff and then giving the System one giant finger.

  He really hose new pants and the pile of wet towels. Apart from his cloak, his current clothes barely covered his lower body, and he didn't want to walk around covered in dry blood from head to toe.

  'Leo?' Nyx eyes fluttered open, squinting at the items that appeared before them.

  Rising from the ground, he shrugged off his cloak and approached the towels. "Don't worry. I just o up a bit. 't show up looking like this. People would run."

  'You should rest.'

  He sighed. "I will, in a minute. You go to sleep too. I won't be that far behind."

  'Okay...' She closed her eyes again. 'Be quid try not to trip.'

  Leo snorted.

  Slowly, Leo's eyelids lifted, his vision ing bato focus. A few rays of the sun slipped through the holes in the roof, illuminating the old produ hall in low light. The day had finally e, and with it, the time to face Holden and co.

  With a siion, he jumped to his feet, the movement ing out faster than any other before. His entire body felt lighter, yet stronger, while his muscles brimmed with hidden power waiting to be used.

  Guess I really needed some sleep. Leo mused, flexing his arms. Suddenly, the Nightmares don't seem too scary... Nyx? You there?

  'Leo!' The feline chirped like an eager puppy. 'You're finally awake! I was worried you wouldn't wake up for another day. I will be ba a moment; I just took a look outside.'

  His mind came to an almost plete stop. What? Wait, hold up, Nyx! What do you mean by another day?

  'Oh... Yeah... Leo, your nap took a bit lohan you probably wanted. You have been asleep for over twenty-four hours.'

  Chaos65