A Universe of Bloody Evolution

At least that's one thing to cross off the list. Leo sighed, unable to stop his gaze from wandering all over the bathroom. The excitement of seeing everything so clear yet so different during the night just wouldn't leave him. The new color palette will take some getting used to...

Not even trying to make his eyes stop their constant inspection of every broken tile, Leo tried to focus his mind on something else in the meantime. Like for example, practicing his old skills with his newfound control.

He did test most of them when his Mind attribute ascended, but back then Leo didn't have much time to do more. Now, with the whole night ahead of him, he could progress his mastery over almost every skill he possessed. Hell, he might as well experiment a bit and find a way to evolve a skill or two.

Wishful thinking. Not that it will stop me from trying. Leo grinned, flexing his Essence. The energy answered right away, the tug of war from before the ascension almost nonexistent. First things first. Kiss of Death.

Minutes flew by as Leo entered a trance. Even with eyes open, his focus remained purely on the Essence swirling around his body, listening to his every command. He formed skill after skill, each time doing it faster than before.

With each attempt, Leo discovered more and more flaws within his abilities. These imperfections, which he had never noticed before, were now laid bare before him, taunting him. And so he crushed them all to dust, leaving only perfection behind...

Sometime during his experimentations with Decoy, Leo yawned, breaking his focus. He blinked, suddenly having to fight the urge to close his eyes. It had been a while since he felt such a big wave of exhaustion hitting him all at once.

Right... I haven't devoured anything for quite some time now. Leo admitted with another yawn. Should have expected this, especially after getting injured and not sleeping for a few days straight.

Leaning hard against the wall, Leo slipped his eyes shut, any thought of practicing his abilities forgotten. Darkness slowly crawled into his mind, lulling him to sleep for the first time in about seventy-two hours. Even Hunter gave in, falling into the embrace of the dark.

After all, even monsters have to rest sometimes.

You managed to survive the Night outside a safe zone. Zero Voidlings or survivors killed. Congratulations.

Limit Break reactivated. Devour reactivated. Your soul has recovered.

Leo groaned, popping his joints as he stretched his limbs. Although not the worst morning he had experienced, being abruptly jolted awake by a blaring alarm from the System didn't make it particularly pleasant.

At least it didn't let me sleep through the day. That's always something. Leo sighed and proceeded to unbarricade the door. He had yet another long day ahead of him. Doubt those will stop anytime soon. Like they say, there's no rest for the wicked...

Bursting out of the ruined house, Leo ran through the almost empty neighborhood until the familiar forest came into view. It wasn't long until he reached the same clearing from yesterday.

Empty... Leo tsked. In their hurry, he and Holden forgot to agree on a meeting spot for today. Not ideal, but also nothing to worry about. Safe Zone it is. I need to see Adam anyway...

Carefully, Leo wrapped the scarves around his head, leaving only his eyes peeking through the gap. Still an imperfect cover, but until they found something better for him, it had to do.

Wonder who will greet me this time. Leo mused, sprinting back into the forest. The Safe Zone appeared in his sight even faster than yesterday, which was expected since his injuries had mostly healed overnight.

Knocking on the entrance, Leo took a step back as the door swung open, revealing a familiar red-head.

"Great, you're here," Clara spoke and even offered him a small smile instead of the usual scowl. "Wait a moment. I will get Holden, and then we can go over today's plan again."

Yet, even as she said that, the woman didn't move. Instead, she kept looking at him as if someone kicked her puppy.

"What?" Leo raised a nonexistent eyebrow, almost expecting the same answer from the last time they saw each other.

Clara swallowed, finally meeting his gaze. "Listen... I know I made a right bitch outta myself yesterday. I was scared, and my mind kinda shut down when I Identified you... Guess my defense mechanism is being a reckless idiot..." She muttered the last part before shaking her head. "What I want to say is I'm sorry for attacking you and acting like the brat that Dylan brought... So, can we let bygones be bygones?"

Huh... Leo blinked. Honestly, I didn't expect that... Even if she's doing this just to make today's trip less tense, then good for her... And here I feared I had already met a female version of Tyler. Glad to be wrong sometimes.

As Clara kept waiting for an answer, Leo tilted his head. "Not going to apologize for calling me ugly though?"

Evidently, that wasn't enough to surprise the woman, as Clara took it in stride and only quirked an eyebrow. "Have you seen yourself in a mirror, Hale? Besides, you called me ugly too."

Leo nodded. "Point taken... And don't sweat it. Whatever happened yesterday, happened, and that's all there is to it... And, hey... it's not like there aren't other people out there who will react the same or worse."

"Thanks," Clara muttered. "With everything going on, I just wanted to clear the air between us... Better chances of me surviving out there if you know I don't plan to shoot you in the back."

"You don't?" Leo almost snorted.

The woman shrugged. "Not now, maybe not ever. You are working with us after all. And despite your appearance, I'm not that stupid to spit you in the face again when you're helping us… Even if you are doing this just to save your family."

Brutally honest. I think I was really wrong about her. Leo chuckled this time, not able to hold it anymore. "Good to hear that... Now, you should probably get Holden. We've been standing here for a bit."

"Right..." Clara coughed. "We will be back in a sec." And with that, the door closed, leaving Leo alone.

That's definitely taking a spot among the top ten of the weirdest conversations I've had.

"We will wait by the exit, Hale," Holden motioned to the warehouse's back door. "Try to be quick about it."

Leo nodded, and the leader, along with Clara, walked away, leaving him with Ava right before Adam's room. Holden didn't really want to postpone their outing to the Shadow Tail nest, but even he could see the advantage of letting Leo try to talk with his godson again.

Glancing at the tall woman, Leo took a deep breath. "Well, let's hope it will go better than the last time."

"Don't say that," Ava glared. "Whatever you did, Adam is better now. But just in case, I'm going first now."

Leo grimaced, not liking the idea. He didn't want to think about Adam hurting Ava, but with what happened last time, it was still a possibility. I will just need to be fast if anything happens.

"Alright, ladies first then." Leo bowed slightly, and Ava scoffed as she passed him and opened the door.

"Adam," Ava called as they stepped inside. "Look who came with me. It's your uncle, Leo."

On the other side of the room, the small boy raised his head, a small orb of black Essence disappearing from his hands. "Uncle?" Adam muttered, his mismatched eyes coming to meet Leo's violet ones. "You are here!"

Not seeing the same dangerous glint in the boy's eyes, Leo came closer and took a knee. "Hey, kiddo. How are you?"

Adam stood up and, with all the delight only a child could produce, ran towards Leo. "Uncle!" The boy squealed and hugged him around the waist with no hesitation. Obviously, having a monster as an uncle didn't register in the kid's mind.

"Got ya," Leo whispered, tentatively returning the embrace. A tear pricked his eye, but he just blinked it away, tightening the hug. "I missed you, buddy."

Still attached to Leo's chest, Adam replied, "Really? But Mum said you were here yesterday. You should have come, Uncle!"

Leo frowned and glanced at Ava, who only shook her head. So he doesn't remember... Maybe that's for the best.

"You know, uncle?" Adam spoke up, retreating from the embrace. "I saw you in my dreams. You are so cool there! Killing all those monsters. I want to be like that too! That's why I'm practicing and eating all the monsters they give me."

Okay, didn't expect that, even if I probably should… Better doesn't mean back to normal after all. Leo grimaced. And dreams? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

"That's great, Adam," he told the boy, hoping to skip over a part of this conversation. "And what exactly did you see in your dreams?"

"Everything, uncle!" Adam answered, and if it wasn't for his cheery tone, it would sound quite ominous. "I saw you fight the freaky stone spider. Run away from a massive monster. And the best one... you killing the huge white ant! It was awesome!"

Oh shit...