I trained diligently under David's tutelage for over two weeks already. Now the boulders he brought me were about my size and I could carry them without feeling like my spine's filing for divorce. I no longer thought of it as torture but more as 'high pain, high reward' training. However, every good thing must always come to an end.

  [Notice: You have reached the limit of stat gains through physical strengthening.]

  Well, that's a shame...

  Still, I couldn’t complain. Ten points in Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality each. Not bad for two weeks of back-breaking hell. My numbers now were Strength 20, Dexterity 17, Vitality 19. Not exactly David-tier, but I'll take it.

  Two more days of the same routine later, David finally announced, "This training's no longer efficient. We'll do something else."

  Then he... let me rest.

  The entire day.

  Although my muscles were really sore and hurt me a lot, I decided to make my way through the Operations Center room, where Isaac always was, because rest only meant one thing: free time to interrogate Isaac. I still had a lot of questions that lingered in my mind.

  *

  I found Isaac in the same spot, as always, hunched over a console surrounded by glowing screens. But instead of monitoring the cameras, he was bent over a strange cylindrical device, twisting and adjusting its inner rings with surgical precision.

  "Hey Isaac, what's that?"

  "It's an Energy amplifier," he said without looking up.

  I leaned in until my nose was practically over the thing. It was about thirty centimeters long and ten across, with delicate runic lines etched into its surface and a gauge bar. It looked similar to a container. "What's it for?"

  "Step back, you're too close." His voice was flat, but sharper than usual. Then, as if deciding I wouldn't stop pestering him unless he explained, he added, "It's for the ship's fuel. The Boss wants us moving toward our base as soon as possible."

  "Oooh. And how does it work?"

  "It uses consolidated energy to provide a stable, continuous power flow. The bigger ones can power an entire facility by itself, and the smaller ones, an artifact if it is not too energy-consuming."

  I looked around the room. There were twenty of these amplifiers lined up like metal soldiers. Only five glowed with a slow, steady blue light — like a giant's heartbeat. "Why are only five lit?"

  Isaac's mouth twitched in irritation. "Because someone," he said, mimicking David's voice in a ridiculously deep tone, "'believes true height is reached only when you are the strongest' and spent all his magic fibers strengthening himself. That muscle-headed idiot."

  I hummed thoughtfully. And then... well, curiosity got the better of me.

  I stretched out my palm toward the nearest empty amplifier.

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  [You have synthesized 300 magic fibers into consolidated energy.]

  [Note: reconversion will yield only 1/100 of the original amount.]

  A soft blue glow formed above my hand, gathering and condensing until it hardened into a bead the size of a nut.

  "Is this what you need?" I asked, grinning.

  Isaac studied it for a beat, expression unreadable. "That will cover... about a third of a single amplifier." Still, he plucked it from my palm and slid open a lid on the device. The bead dissolved instantly, swirling into a luminescent liquid that filled a third of the chamber.

  "Oh." My grin faltered. That was half my hard-earned stockpile, gone in seconds. I was officially poor.

  "How many full amplifiers do you need to get the ship out of here?" I asked, nodding toward the glowing ones.

  "To escape this cave? These five are enough. To reach our base? Maybe thirty more."

  Thirty amplifiers. Thirty thousand magic fibers. Easy peasy... in an alternate dimension where I'm a factory.

  Isaac waved me off. "I'm busy now so go away."

  Fine. No Isaac-encyclopedia today.

  *

  I wandered out into the cave beyond the ship, white, faintly glowing rocks dotted the walls, casting ghostly pools of light. The air was cool and damp — and quiet. The only sound were my new boots clicking softly on the stone floor. I found them hidden in the bottom of a crate inside the storage room so I tried them, and they felt very confortable.

  Then after two minutes of walking aimlessly I heard it: a distant howl. Low. Echoing. Not alone.

  Curiosity — reckless, stupid curiosity — tugged at me, and I followed the sound. It wasn't long before I stumbled into a scene straight out of a wildlife documentary gone wrong.

  Twenty wolves circled a bear the size of a house. Six wolf bodies already littered the ground, and the bear bore scratches and bite marks but still held its ground.

  No weapons. No plan. But... David always fights bare-handed, right? Why not me?

  I grinned, wild and reckless...

  And I charged.

  The nearest wolf never saw me coming. My hands snapped its neck with surprising ease.

  Half the pack whirled toward me, snarling. I sank into a simple fighting stance, my mind sharpening. Behind me, a wolf lunged; feeling it through my psychic powers, I immediately spun, my fist crashing into its skull. Crack!

  I didn't wait. I seized another by its forelegs and hurled it into its companion. They went down in a tangle of fur and yelps.

  The others hesitated now, eyes flicking between me and the bear. I didn't give them time to think. I pivoted toward the bear's attackers, my movements sudden, unpredictable. Two more fell, their skulls crushed against the stone floor.

  Somewhere deep inside, a part of me... enjoyed it. The efficiency. The finality.

  It wasn't rage. It wasn't even survival. It was something colder.

  I never knew I could be so cruel.

  *

  By the time the fight ended, the cave was littered with bodies. Only the bear remained, although barely alive and eyes glazed. They held mine for a long moment, pleading.

  I saved him but at the same time couldn't. It made me feel a bit bitter so I snapped its neck quickly to give it the most painless death possible.

  Then came the reward.

  [You have killed 21 mid-mutant class beasts. Acquired 9,975 magic fibers.]

  [You have killed 1 low-destructive class beast. Acquired 1,200 magic fibers.]

  I grinned. I'm rich! Now let's use everything to level up!

  [Consumed 4000 magic fibers to reach level 10. Acquired 5 stat points.]

  [Stage advancement available!]

  [You have killed more than 10 mid-mutant class beasts and one low-destructive class beast. Special conditions met for stage advancement Tier-5: +10 stat points.]

  [Consumed 7200 magic fibers to reach level 13. Acquired 6 stat points.]

  I allocated my stat points carefully, my status now looking deliciously impressive:

  _ _ _

  [Game Status]

  Race: Chimera

  Soul(s): Earthling / Nebularian

  Current Identities: Eliza White / Eliza Belladone / Test Subject C-127

  Gene(s): Chtonian (1/3) / Xenomorph (dormant) / Primordial Demon (dormant) / Dragon (dormant)

  Magic fibers: 199

  _ _ _

  I have a feeling that it will be very soon until my next gene awakens. My eyes lingered on the word Xenomorph. Should I ask Isaac? Maybe not yet.

  For now, I turned back toward the ship, leaving the corpses behind. My steps were lighter, but the cold edge still lingered.

  ___ ___ ___