Beyond The System
Chapter 118: Running Out

The world shook as the sky shattered, and the roar of a great beast echoed across the heavens. It pushed its head through the atmosphere, regal and powerful but... somehow veiled. Its shape was clear, yet its details remained vague, slipping from understanding.

Szzz.

It let out a mighty scream. The sound shaking my body slightly even from some far away.

SZZZ.

What the hell was that?

I opened my eyes, greeted by… actually, never mind. A warm pressure pulsed in my chest. I shifted slightly, heat blooming through my body.

Thea lay beside me, sound asleep despite the thunderous noise that, as I now realized, wasn’t some cosmic monster.

It was Bristle. Snoring.

Oh god. I could smell it.

Food. Real food.

Not dried rations or fasting from endless trials, but the smell of eggs cooking in butter, and meat, greasy and filled with fats, slow-cooked to render, soaking in its own flavor.

Perfect.

I glanced at Thea and thought better of sneaking off without her. “Thea?”

I grinned, already anticipating the challenge.

“Theaaa?” I called again, gently nudging her. Predictably, nothing happened.

Hmmm. She loved food too. Maybe she just hadn’t smelled it yet. Since my second purification, my senses had definitely sharpened again.

“Thea, it’s your plant boy. He’s got snaaacks.” I poked her cheek a couple of times.

“Mmm.” She murmured, brushing my hand away, but her next words told me she was awake. “I told you not to do that,” she said, the ghost of a smile growing across her face. “Am I still dreaming?”

I leaned in and kissed her gently. “Glad I’m still in your dreams. I’m starving, let’s go eat.”

“Okay, let me just—”

SZZZZZ!

I scooped up Bristle, who stirred immediately, whining softly as I hugged him to my chest. I laughed. “What'd you want to say?”

Thea opened her eyes at last and stretched. “Nevermind. Let’s eat.”

We both got up, and I set Bristle on the floor. After a moment, we headed downstairs, drawn by the promise of a glorious bounty that awaited us.

Just as I suspected, only one, actually two, people were up. The second was hard to recognize at first. His hair was now a tidy, short brown, and his beard was gone entirely, revealing a man who, honestly, didn’t look so bad cleaned up.

A far cry from the jungle beast he resembled before. No doubt his wife's work considering how defensive he was about the hair to me.

Marcus sat surrounded by his five familiars, all of whom stood as Bristle approached like a long-lost sibling, greeting him with playful bites and sniffs.

Marcus glanced at me and nodded. I slid into the seat across from him. “You have a knack for screwing with my system, Peter,” he said, flat but not unkind.

“What?” I blinked as Thea sat down beside me.

“Pet Five is gone. No longer part of my system,” he replied, nodding toward Bristle, who was now sniffing his old companions before ducking under the table. All five huddled together with him, our new squad of foot warmers.

“I… I took him?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“Can’t imagine what else it could’ve been. He follows you now, too. It’s not a big deal, I needed the slot anyway. Just be careful with that power.”

“What power?” Thea asked.

I remembered Synthia’s gift from the old man, red lightning like the rest of us, but giving her the ability to see and manipulate energy. “It was the gift from the statue. You know, the old man. What'd you end up getting?”

Thea raised a hand.

Crackle. Crackle.

It wasn’t her usual electricity. The lightning started with a pale bluish tint, then danced into a soft violet snake curling around her fingers.

“Whoa.” I leaned in, heart thudding. The hairs on my arms stood on end, and I could feel the heat radiating from that little bolt. “Thea, that’s—”

“Not all,” she cut me off, her tone proud as the lightning deepened to a rich violet. Beads of sweat formed on her brow.

Now even my scalp tingled.

“Combining it with cultivation... way stronger,” she explained, then lowered her hand.

“No more shocking me,” I said, half-ordering, half-pleading.

She grinned and kissed my cheek. “Of course not.”

I was… not convinced.

“Strange,” Marcus commented, raising a brow. “You were so shy just admitting she existed, and now you're like that in front of me?”

“She did it,” I deflected instantly. “Not me.”

He just shook his head. “Yeah, yeah.” Then he stood and walked toward the kitchen, muttering something in the tone of a man pleading with a goddess.

Not long after, a slightly flustered Helen stepped out. “You really can’t wait for your own daughter?”

“No. Definitely not,” Marcus said flatly. “She’ll be fine.”

My plate was the first to land in front of me, and my nose had been right: eggs and sausage. With a trembling hand, I grabbed my fork and stabbed into a thick meat link, lathering it with a bit of soft scrambled eggs.

There’s no polite way to describe my reaction. Marcus's mirrored it almost immediately.

Good thing there weren’t more people watching, but the ones that did went red in the face for us, embarrassed by the noises.

I mean, I guess I could be blamed, but Marcus? I'm surprised he wasn't sobbing like a child... Maybe he got some food last night too?

Thea rolled her eyes and ignored us. Helen, unfazed, set plates down and disappeared into the kitchen again with a simple: “I’ll cook up some more.”

The silence between bites was broken by footsteps upstairs, three sets. Elric, Sia, and Lyra made their entrance.

Sia gave Marcus a small smile. He returned it with a subtle wave. Awkward, seems like anyway, but I didn’t sense any real tension between them. Not that I was the gold standard for reading emotions.

Sia sat next to Marcus, Lyra beside her, and Elric on my other side, across from Sia.

It was peaceful. Everyone was relaxed, quietly enjoying the calm. Miss Star returned with food for everyone, including herself, and I finally slowed down, halfway through my second plate, enough to join the conversation.

“So, how’s everything been around here? The guild, matches, all that?” I asked, cutting into some discussion about dreams.

Lyra surprised me by answering first. “We shut the guild down a while ago. It was getting too… dangerous.”

Elric picked up from there. “We were having too much of an impact. Mages and healers taking on warriors and winning? For a couple weeks it was exciting, but months of that? It drew too much attention. Made things weird.”

That made sense. I hardly experienced any time with the guild, so honestly, I wasn't so attached. It barley even felt like a spark in my experiences here.

Thea chimed in next. “Sia and I still do matches, but lately they just forfeit like they used to.”

Given the odd atmosphere around here, that seemed like the smart move. Still, I leaned forward, eager to share. “What about cultivation? Techniques? Anything new?”

“Elric can sense other elements!” Sia blurted, clearly proud of her boyfriend.

Now that was surprising.

“Just a little,” Elric said, trying to be modest, rubbing the back of his neck. “I used your technique, Sensory Vei, blended it with Precursor Energy and reversed it. It’s more refined now. Heightens our sensitivity.”

He let out a sigh. “But I can only barely detect them. No real control yet. I can still use the veil to block things out completely, though. I’m working on making it more precise, but it is a pretty versatile skill.”

'Peter.' Wyrem interrupted in my head. 'Put me in that boy. I beg you.'

'You wouldn’t even be able to talk to him!' I snapped back.

'I’ll find a way! That boy is on the cusp of a domain, you can’t just let that opportunity slip for me!'

I ignored him, already feeling the buzz of energy radiating from the inside of my body. I turned to Thea. “What about you? Got anything new?”

“Yes! I call it Spiritual Refinement!” she said, grinning like she just won something.

“That sounds awesome,” I said, just before Elric decided to kill the mood.

“The name doesn’t even make sense. She just likes how it sounds. Nexus Refinement would be more accurate.”

Thea responded with a very specific hand gesture. One not appropriate for any dinner table. I just found it funny how humans developed similar movements to represent insults... or other actions.

“He just doesn’t get it. The name matters. If it doesn’t sound cool, who’s gonna want to learn it? And it’s like Body Refinement, just the opposite, so it makes perfect sense.”

I wanted to ask more, but Marcus cut in. “Peter, you need to go see the man Drake told you about, and the rest of you, finish your daily tasks and report back.”

I nodded and squeezed Thea’s hand. “We clearly have a lot to catch up on.”

Then I glanced at Elric and narrowed my eyes. “We’re going to fight soon.”

He grinned, meeting my challenge. “Can’t take all the credit, the system changes came from you, but still... Peter, you don’t stand a chance.”

That alone was enough to fire me up. I stood, energized. Bristle perked up too, hopping to his feet.

“I’ll go with him,” Thea said, rising beside me.

I turned to her. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. Just finish up the battle. I don’t think anyone around here can threaten me anymore.”

Marcus chimed in from his seat. “He’ll be fine, young lady. Even the guards here would soil themselves. You’ll have plenty of time together later.”

She hesitated, then gave a small nod. “Just hurry back. I’ll finish up and meet you.”

I looked around the table. Man, this kind of peace was rare.

Should I say it?

...No. I shook my head, drawing a few curious glances.

It would be so messed up if I did. Sia would implode. Lyra… well, she’d probably just smirk.

And Elric?

Could he survive?

Yeah, definitely should not.

'What the heck are you thinking about? It's distracting.' Luna's voice cut through, catching my drifting thoughts.

“Hey Marcus,” I said casually, turning toward him. “Did Sia tell you she’s dating him?” I pointed at Elric. “Oh, and her too.” I added, nodding to Lyra.

The table froze.

Marcus looked stunned.

Elric? Completely stone solid.

Sia went red, not shy red, vengeful fire red. Lyra, as expected, didn’t flinch. Too cool to be rattled,

I finished with a grin, already backing toward the door.

“Pretty sure it was his idea,” I said, jerking my thumb at Elric. “Took advantage of her kindness. Anyway, bye guys!”

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