He smiled and nodded in astonishment. “That's pretty cool. I was a bit worried when you went off on your own, but you seem to be extremely good at this.”

  “I adapt fast. What can I say?” Vernisha twirled her bloodied daggers, mocking a few slashes in the air. “I’m curious, are these weapons made from some kind of material that cuts through monsters easier?”

  “Not sure. I think they’re just forged from incredibly tough metal, but they also have status effect skills sealed into them.”

  She glanced down at the daggers, rolling them between her fingers. “I see, I see.”

  Ferzan watched her for a moment before asking, “Do you still want to continue? My bird spotted a monster that might interest you. It'd be useful for traveling.”

  “Oh, right!” Vernisha nearly lit up with excitement before sighing. “But I’ve already captured four monsters. From what I’ve heard, that’s the limit.”

  He thought for a second before saying, “Give me the ugly shark one. I’ll store it at my monster farm for you.”

  “Holy... but that one's my strongest right now.”

  “It’s a common-rarity monster. The one I have my eye on is uncommon, an Earth-body type. You need the bird for full aerial vision, and the snake has great agility with solid racial skills. It just seemed stupid when it fought you. What else did you capture?”

  “Some kind of flower monster. It attacks with petals.”

  “Oh! Twirlflower. Sneaky attacker. Yeah, that one’s a keeper. Good for ambushes.”

  “Damn. Alright. How do I transfer it to you?”

  He extended a finger. “We make contact. You’ll get a system prompt, we confirm. There are other ways, but this is the best one.”

  Damn it.

  She hesitated. “My left hand is disfigured, so close your eyes. And tell your monster not to look.”

  “Oh, okay.” He turned away and shut his eyes. His monster, still high in the sky, averted its gaze.

  Taking a breath, she reached for his finger and pressed her palm against it.

  [Ferzan Starwort is requesting your monster, nicknamed [Mon], be transferred to him. Do you accept the request?]

  Yes.

  A flash of black and white surged between them.

  [Transfer successful.]

  She pulled her hand back instantly, shoving it into her pocket.

  Ferzan opened his eyes. “Alright. Let’s go. Oh, wait, I’m curious, what life buff did you go with?”

  “Inspect.”

  One minute later.

  “FERZANNN!”

  Vernisha tore through the dense forest, weaving between towering trees and grotesque, oversized plants. Her feet barely touched the ground as she leaped over fallen branches, boulders, and twisted roots.

  A massive purple cabbage, almost her height, shriveled into tight rolls as she passed. It reeked like a rotting rat. Weird.

  But not as weird as the monster chasing her.

  A beast with a heavily crustacean-armored body shaped like a bull barreled through the forest behind her. Its speed was ridiculous, its charge a straight, unrelenting path of destruction.

  She didn’t want to die. Not like this. Not this easily.

  It was barely a meter away. She risked a glance over her shoulder and activated Inspect.

  Level 10

  Same level as her.

  The armored bull lunged, only inches from striking. She grunted now.

  Out of nowhere, her bird monster dove from the sky in a blur of motion.

  [Deep Dive.]

  Its talons raked across the bull’s exposed joints. The beast’s leg hyperextended, and it stumbled.

  She didn’t waste the opening.

  Spinning on her heel, she struck at its joints with her daggers.

  The blades sank into its hide but stopped at the muscle.

  Ferzan was right. Monsters were, on average, four times stronger than a Vlandos of the same level. But this was absurd.

  “I’ll handle it,” Ferzan said.

  His massive bird plummeted, snatched the monster up, and shot skyward.

  She shielded her eyes. Then something fell.

  The bull monster.

  It slammed into the ground.

  “Nice shot,” she said.

  “Thanks.”

  She approached the wounded monster. “By the way, if you could… I don’t like people watching when I seal a monster. So, uh, yeah. Look away.”

  “You did it in front of me before…” He sighed. “Okay.”

  With him turned away, she pressed her left hand against the bull’s hide.

  A black flash engulfed it.

  Absorbing it into her seal was straining, like trying to lift something far heavier than she could handle. Because they were the same level, her control over it would be weak.

  “Alright, I’m done.”

  Ferzan turned back.

  She couldn’t tell if he was pitying her or judging her. She wished she didn’t care.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  For a fleeting moment, she considered saying her seal was on her private area. It would have been a solid excuse. But if that rumor spread…

  She would either need a monster capable of mass memory wipes or mass murder.

  “Okay. I want to level up just a bit more. Think I can reach fifteen?”

  “Hm... Just aim for thirteen…”

  “Right. Can I test it out, or would that be a bad idea?”

  “Bad idea.”

  She sighed and turned to Forwing. The bird landed on her shoulder.

  They continued. Ferzan weakened monsters while she finished them.

  Progress was slow. After six kills, her experience bar barely moved. After six more, she reached level eleven.

  Her knees buckled. Level fifteen was out of the question.

  They pressed on. Two hours later, she reached level thirteen.

  She wasn’t happy.

  Her body felt sick. Nausea churned.

  She dropped to her knees and vomited. The world spun. Her vision blurred.

  This can’t be from the parasite-killing medicine he gave me.

  “I’m sick…” she muttered.

  He helped her stand. “How bad is it?”

  “Everything’s spinning…”

  “Did you accidentally poison me? Oh my god, it's an overdose. Am I going to die?”

  She would have to secretly heal herself.

  “No. You’re just experiencing level sickness…”

  “What the hell…” Her hands curled into fists. She wondered why she got rewarded, then punished, for killing the scum of the world.

  “Do you want to rest here?”

  “Please. How long will this last?”

  “Maybe two or three hours.”

  “Ugh… and if I level up again during that time, would it get worse?”

  “What do you think?”

  The doctor ran his hands under the faucet for the past hour.

  He didn’t understand what they had brought to him.

  Their cells constantly changed. If it were only cancer, it could be cut away. But every single cell reproduced corrupt copies. He had no idea how he was supposed to save them.

  He had made it clear he couldn’t cure them, but his mind kept racing.

  He left the sterile bathroom and returned to the medical room. He hesitated at the door when he heard voices.

  The man was apologizing in his sleep.

  The woman responded.

  “What is wrong with you? Sorry this, sorry that…”

  He cracked the door open.

  She stood at his bedside.

  “Sorry for not being…”

  She froze, then turned to Ulah.

  The boy muttered in a language the doctor didn’t recognize.

  She took his hand. His rambling stopped.

  “Mammy…”

  She whispered in his ear.

  Cold filled the room.

  What the hell?

  He tried to breathe, but his lungs refused.

  She turned, meeting his gaze.

  Shit.

  His instincts told him to close the door, but that would be obvious.

  He opened it instead. “How are you holding up?”

  She approached. He stepped back.

  She touched his face. “You didn’t see anything. Oh, and please perform the surgery immediately.”

  A minute before.

  The strange black cat stood before Ulah once again.

  He didn’t understand why. Why now, when he couldn’t even move his legs?

  It gazed over the scorched field, the sky thick with dark fog.

  “What are you thinking?” the cat asked.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Are you scared?”

  “I just want my mom… and Vernsisha. I want them.”

  He wanted them to take away the hunger. The thirst. The pain.

  A sharp ache lanced through his gut, and he gritted his teeth, clutching his stomach with sheer willpower.

  “Can you hear it?” the cat asked.

  “What...?”

  “That song you love so much.”

  From the sky, a voice cut through the heavens, divine and sorrowful.

  Balash wird fallen. Sie werden schreien,

  Sie werden weinen, aber ich werde ihre Tr?nen genie?en.

  Ich werde ihr Leid genie?en, dafür, wie sie mich verraten haben.

  Mom. She was here.

  She was always at his side.

  Despite the pain, relief flooded through him. He was happy. Happy just to hear her sing.

  He tried to mimic her.

  “Balas… wird fillen...”

  Again and again, he repeated the words, each time trying to make them sound just right.

  The cat asked him, “Why do you want to learn that song? To sing it better?”

  He looked at the cat. “I want to do it for my mother. I want her to be proud of me, to smile at me, the same way she smiles at Vernisha. A smile that says I am the most important thing in the world.”

  Natasha walked through the streets, passing crowds of people.

  If they were to die, how would you feel?

  She remembered that question she had asked Vernisha.

  She had expected her reaction, yet it still disappointed her. She could only blame herself for how she had raised her.

  At the same time, she didn’t know what else she could have done. Every parenting skill she had came from observing other mothers and trying to determine what worked.

  She had never been parented herself.

  Mothers and fathers passed by, carrying their babies.

  She didn’t want Ulah to die, but as she saw it, her desires didn’t matter.

  That bread had been on her mind for a while, and she doubted it was a coincidence.

  A bread that caused horrible mutations but had no effect on Vernisha.

  She glanced down. It rested in her hand. The bread roll, warm yet oddly bitter to the touch.

  She hadn’t wanted to taste it, uncertain of its effects.

  She did it anyway.

  The flavor was unmistakable.

  It tasted like her sister’s ether.

  Tch.

  She didn’t even want to think about her.

  She passed a Balash temple and stopped to look.

  Inside stood a statue, a chaotic fusion of stone, animals, people, monsters, and sky.

  Blue water trickled down its surface.

  Mercy water.

  People listened to stories of Balash. A line of sick people waited near the basin.

  Some would not be fully healed.

  She hoped Vernisha’s father and brother’s deaths would serve as motivation.

  Vernisha claimed she didn’t care for her father. Natasha had never been sure. But now she could only hope. And hope that her love for her brother wasn’t deep.

  She turned and saw Bahmos.

  He asked, “Did you come to have your memory erased... too?”

  She held his gaze.

  She didn’t need him anymore.

  Abella stood at the top of a long staircase, emeralds and jaspers lining the railings.

  Tanisha leaned against her. “Why don’t you just call Ferzan and ask where he is?”

  “I don’t think I need to.”

  “My legs are killing me.”

  “Then why haven’t you taken a chair? I told you to an hour ago.”

  “You’re standing, so I’m standing.”

  The doors opened. Her son stepped inside, moving like a spy.

  “We can see you,” Tanisha said.

  He flinched. “… I kinda had a feeling.”

  “Why are you so late?” Abella asked.

  “I was busy leveling up.”

  “You disappeared for almost the entire day.”

  “It’s a little complicated. I went to get caffeine and, well… Granny is coming tonight. I wanted to make her proud of my level.”

  “By yourself?” Abella asked.

  “What does it matter? I’m strong,” Ferzan replied.

  “Anything could have happened to you.”

  “Nothing ever happens to me.”

  “Go to your room.” Abella sighed.

  “Kay Kay.”

  Later, he went to her room and found Katie on the floor watching blue ants in a glass box.

  “What’s new?” Ferzan asked.

  Katie replied, “Nothing. Professor Alox told me to experiment with ice ant acid and venom.”

  “What results are you supposed to get?”

  “Beats me,” she shrugged.

  “What do you plan to wear to dinner?”

  “I don’t even want to go.”

  “But you must," Ferzan enthused

  “I know that.”

  “You should be excited.”

  “Uh-huh.” She was slowly becoming irritated.

  “She’d want to see you happy.”

  Katie examined herself. “I don’t see any monster seal on me, so that can’t be the case. I hate when you act ignorant.”

  Ferzan sat down. “Yeah… Sorry.”

  “You shouldn’t apologize. I just wasn’t born lucky. Now watch these ants with me.”

  The level sickness still clung to Vernisha, but not as fiercely. She could move.

  Ferzan had dropped her off in the city. She searched for Bahmos at the House of Relief.

  He wasn’t there.

  She searched more streets.

  She couldn’t find him, no matter how hard she searched. Vernisha ran up and down, searched every corner she could. But it was all pointless.

  Shit. Just shit.

  She gave up and went back to the doctor’s office. Vernisha was certain Natasha would have found a solution. However, Vernisha was certain she wouldn't like the answer.

  The first person Vernisha saw when she approached the doctor's office was Natasha. She was standing outside, waiting for her.

  “The payment has already been taken care of,” Natasha said to Vernisha.

  “You paid it?” Vernisha asked, confused.

  “How else would it have been handled?”

  “But where did you get the money?”

  “A friend.”

  “What friend?” Vernisha asked.

  “You should be more concerned about your brother and father.”

  “Don’t just say that, how are they?”

  “We’ll see,” Natasha replied.

  Thirty minutes later, the doctor stepped out.

  Sweat beaded on his forehead. His fingers twitched at his sides. “Things have… complicated. Whenever I cut into them, their condition worsens.”

  Natasha asked, “Are you saying there’s nothing you can do?”

  “I’ll have to try again, but not now. My monster control is exhausted.”

  “Can we see them?” Vernisha asked.

  The doctor answered, “Yes, of course. They’re even awake, and for now, they have control over their minds.”

  They entered the office and were led to the room holding Caren and Ulah.

  Caren lay on the bed, barely human. His body was swollen and green, his skin puffed and distorted—except for his face, which remained eerily untouched.

  His jaw moved as he tried to speak. The sounds that came out were incomprehensible, guttural gibberish.

  But Natasha seemed to understand. She turned to me and said, “We don’t know yet, but maybe Vernisha can save you all.”