Jose had a migraine from all of the mental gymnastics he’d been doing. But even so, he needed to see the outcome of his hard work.

  Strike had been primed at the beginning of the exploration of his ether and, as such, had provided the answer to his first question during his meditation. Could he push more ether into the skill?

  After all, he had done just that as he explored his ether capabilities. It was now time to answer the second question. Did loading more ether into the skills provide a stronger output?

  Testing it on inanimate objects was just not a viable option for him either, he needed to know how it would perform in combat.

  Jose made his way into the hall and began hunting for Tainted. He found a pack of six Tainted when he passed the room he’d been fighting in the night before.

  The Tainted all turned in his direction as one, tilted their heads, and uttered that disturbing “Huh” they liked to say before breaking out in their hyena-like laughter and charging him. Jose punched the first one to reach him, releasing the Strike he had primed.

  The results of his hard work were better than he could have hoped for. He struck with such strength and violence that thunder came with it, releasing a sonic wave that blew the heads off the next two Tainted as well. He smiled as he drew his blades and agilely evaded the attacks from the next three monsters, loping off their heads as he did.

  Jose couldn’t help but continue smiling on the walk back to the apartment he’d been resting in. His migraine had grown tenfold since the fight, but it was of no consequence. His skills had become stronger from his cultivation; he began calling it that afterward because it was assuredly what he’d done. He had cultivated his ether, making his skills more powerful than they already were, and in doing so, he had also improved his physicality.

  He sprayed bleach and other chemicals in the hall at the entrance to the apartment where he was resting, hoping it would mask his scent and allow him to rest for the night. He was now much stronger than he’d been the night before, but his migraine, and mental and physical exhaustion were relentless, and he was in no shape for a long night of fighting.

  Fortunately, he was able to find clothing that fit his new physique in the apartment and plenty of bottled water, some of which he used with a hand cloth to clean up. He ate what he could find in the apartment as well since his bag had been ripped off him in the frantic fight the night before, resulting in the loss of all his foodstuff and other supplies.

  ***

  In the following days, Jose had made simple work of any Tainted remaining in the building. He primed Orbs by day, and by night, he would antagonize the horde leading them into a killing field. By the third day he was standing on the highest floor, which had no ceiling, making it the new roof.

  By the time he defeated the last Tainted he was no longer receiving any nourishment at all. In fact, he was stuck at level eight still even though he’d killed hundreds of Tainted in the last week.

  Jose wasn’t sure if the diminishing returns were because the monsters were too low-leveled, or because he’d fought so many of the Tainted, either way, it was a worrying prospect. Would his leveling begin to suffer from defeating too many of the same monster? Or would he just stop leveling until he defeated higher-level monsters?

  He walked the perimeter of the ceiling taking in the surrounding area. He’d come from the south and already knew, to some extent, what was in that direction. To the north and east he saw what looked like a desert, and to the west a forest. Toward the desert he could see dark smoke rising into the air from several locations. It was likely that people were fighting monsters out there, or worse, fighting each other.

  The question was, did he want to head into that chaos and find out which? He struggled with the answer for a time. If people were fighting monsters, choosing a side would be easy. But if they were fighting each other, things would become much more complicated.

  He would have to find out what they were fighting about. Did he know anyone on either side? Was there a correct or more just side? So many questions would have to be answered before he could get involved, and even then. Was he able to bring himself to kill others again?

  Last time it was a knee-jerk reaction to the circumstances, and even now, it still haunted him, what he’d had to do. Could he bring himself to act after seeing these people, after getting to know them, and hearing both sides?

  He wasn’t sure he could, but nonetheless, he couldn’t turn his back on people in need. Above all else, what if some of his family members were in that struggle? He knew, even before starting his inner debate. He would go there and find out what was happening, and in the end, he would do what was needed.

  This was all assuming, of course, that he be allowed the time to find these answers before having to protect himself from others.

  ***

  Every ten floors Jose stopped to make two cache piles, one of any nonperishable foodstuff he’d found that he couldn’t carry, and one of any viable weapons. The food pile was made up of any non-perishable foodstuff, water, and other liquids. The weapons pile was made up of guns, knives, bats, golf clubs, and anything that could be turned into a useful weapon.

  Jose had pondered if taking any guns for himself would be smart or not. In the end, he was happy with his new skills and the way things seemed to be going. Besides, the problem with guns was that ammo would eventually become harder to find as time went on. He decided that leaving them in the caches for any that had not become galvanized to use was best.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  He wasn’t sure he would be returning to the building anytime soon, if ever, to make use of any of it. But he was sure that someone would come, this being the tallest building in the area it served as a beacon. It would attract both humans and monsters, and he wanted to give any person entering a fighting chance.

  Jose decided that he would leave such caches at every building he rested at along the way, so long as circumstances permitted it. He ensured that the caches were easily visible too, putting them in places like the hall in front of an entrance, or at stair exits, or even directly in front of any main entrances.

  ***

  On the way to the edge of the city, Jose heard a somewhat familiar sound. It was a loud and powerful bark followed by the sound of gunshots.

  He quickly ran toward the sounds and found a group of six fighting a monster dog, three large dogs, and ten other regular dogs of varying sizes.

  It was a large rottweiler similar to the monster dog he’d seen on the first day after the blackout. The other larger dogs accompanying it were overly large and muscular but did not have the same reptilian-like tail.

  The group was surrounded by the dog pack, with the larger ones interspersed between the regular dogs. The humans all had guns, but every time they fired at the pack, one of the larger dogs would bark and produce a barrier to block the incoming bullets.

  It was evident to Jose that the pack leader had increased intelligence on top of the enhanced physique. The pack was waiting out the humans, waiting for them to run out of ammo, they would likely pounce the moment they did.

  Looking around, Jose could see that the pack had been much larger and the humans had been able to whittle them down some. He could also see that this group only had one galvanized in it. He was a large man facing the pack leader holding a large riot shield.

  Every time the pack leader let out a sonic bark the man would deploy a skill that created a large barrier in front of the shield, effectively blocking the sonic wave. None of the others seemed to display any skills, only relying on the handguns they held.

  Everyone had a weapon except a woman standing in the middle of the pack. Everyone seemed to be protecting her. It was weird, the feeling he got when he looked at her, it was like he knew her but could not remember where he’d seen her… She was so beautiful, and sweet, and nice; she deserved his protection… She needed to be protected at all costs. He couldn’t let these beasts have their way with her… He - He couldn’t let such an angelic soul die here.

  The pack leader brought him back to the present as it barked an order at one of its lieutenants. One of the larger dogs and three regular ones broke off and charged him. Jose turned to the incoming monsters and shook a haziness from his mind as he prepared for combat.

  He dropped an Orb over the dog pack heading his way and the large dog produced a barrier over them, protecting them from the lightning. He figured the dogs could only produce one barrier at a time and fired a Bolt. He hit the large dog and it tumbled back a few feet, yowling and barking, it quickly recovered and made haste toward him growling angrily.

  Having confirmed that it could only protect one area at a time, he dropped two more Orbs over the beasts, pulled his knives, and ran to meet the charge. Unable to protect every angle, the Orbs made short work of the smaller dogs. He reached the larger one and risked a bite to the vambrace for positioning.

  As the dog chomped down on his vambrace he struck out with a knife in his other hand and gutted it. The dog fell with a whimper, and he stomped its head defeating it. The tough hide of the vambrace had kept the teeth from causing any real damage, except for a sore arm.

  [You have received nourishment for defeating a Canis Herald.]

  “Herald, huh? What a pretentious name,” scoffed Jose as he turned and ran for the rest of the pack.

  The pack leader seemed to reconsider its strategy and barked orders at the others as it decided to face Jose itself. The rest of the pack rearranged their formation around the others to block them from interfering with the leader's fight.

  It ran in at an incredible speed and released a sonic bark at Jose. He was forced to evade to the right and ran into the leader's tail, receiving a stab in the shoulder.

  Jose threw up two Orbs as he backed up to gain some space from the monster. The leader pounced around evading the lightning as it rained down on it.

  On one such jump, it landed hard and dashed at Jose. When it reached him it fainted left, then right, then whipped around swiping its tail at Jose’s abdomen opening a shallow cut.

  Jose accepted the swipe, thinking his armor would hold, and was surprised to see it did not. He dashed to the side throwing up another Orb, but it was just a decoy. When the leader began pouncing around evading the lightning Jose watched for where it would land and hit it with an overcharged Bolt.

  The leader crumpled as the Bolt struck, it tried to stand right back up but stumbled and fell back down. Its front left leg was charred and bloody from the powerful strike.

  Jose wasted little time in throwing several knives at the monster, scoring several gashes along its right flank as it tried to guard the injured leg. He ran in for a powerful Strike and immediately regretted it. The cunning beast had been overplaying the damage and quickly released a sonic bark in his face.

  He stumbled back, his head ringing and his body feeling like he’d run into a brick wall. Keeping his wits about him he jumped back into a roll, then a side dive, and another roll. He came up to see the leader standing still, watching him. It was indeed badly injured, but not enough to incapacitate it to the extent it had been acting.

  Jose spat out a wad of blood and wiped the blood dripping from his nose. “Sneaky fuck, aren’t you,” he said to the dog as he prepared for another round. Only, this time, he was more cautious and vigilant for its tricks.

  Left to right, they both spun half circles around each other, both injured from the exchange and with a newfound respect for the other opponent.

  The dog released two sonic barks in quick succession, left and right, trying to trap Jose in one spot. It followed up with a pounce down the middle, aiming to tear him apart with its deadly claws and teeth.

  However, Jose was ready for its craftiness now and wouldn’t be caught sleeping. He stomped the ground using Strike and Bolt creating a wave of energy that halted the monster’s momentum. He used this gap to shoot forward and stab the same spot he’d hit earlier with a Strike powered dagger.

  He could feel the dagger slicing through the tuff hide and crash into the bone. He hit with such force that he shattered the bones and continued on to puncture the rib cage. Not one to waste a good opportunity, he used Bolt as he removed the dagger and stabbed it back in.

  The lightning caused havoc as it entered the monster's chest and incinerated organs. He finished it off with a Strike powered spin kick to the head breaking its neck so violently that it nearly decapitated the monster.

  [You have received nourishment for defeating a Canis Harbinger.]

  [You have leveled up.]