“It’s- It’s… But it’s huge,” Olivia stammered, her jaw hanging open at around hip height.

  “Yeah, duh,” Eik grinned. “We’re visiting an inter dimensional super alliance, remember?”

  “Is all of this part of the headquarters of the Nidafjeld Alliance?” she asked.

  “Technically only that big thing of stone up there,” Heath said and pointed up. “but Gimleh, the sprawling city below plays host so you can kind of think of them as one.”

  Olivia scanned the rooftops slowly, taking in the sight of a genuine other world. “It doesn’t really look… that different from home, does it?” she noted.

  “Right? I guess some things just work. It’s hard to say whether it’s a coincidence or if there’s a deeper reason,” Eik said.

  “Are we walking all the way there?”

  “Nah, I’ll open another fracture to take us all the way there. I just like to let new visitors see the view when they first arrive,” Mikla said with a smile.

  Olivia snapped shut her mouth and eyed the fracture specialist with some concern. “We’re going through one of those again already? I can still feel the aftermath of the first one.”

  “I promise you get used to it quickly. You’re just going to have to bite the sour apple for now,” Eik said. “You’re the one who wanted to come along, sis.”

  She sighed. “I know… Fine, fine, I’m going. Let’s just get it over with.”

  As Atla lead the way through the second fracture of the day, Mikla tried to reassure Olivia. “With your B-rank body, I doubt it’ll take you more than a handful of trips before you’re completely used to the sensation. You should even feel a significant improvement already on the second one now.”

  Jaw tight, the fire user marched resolutely through. The rest of them followed.

  The fracture hall was empty when they arrived. As the portal spluttered shut, Mikla waved to someone on duty in the small office that took up a corner space of all the fracture halls in headquarters.

  “This is the hall closest to the prison holding Menka Tokanami,” Mikla said to Eik. “so I’m afraid Ihasu Ougi won’t be here today.”

  “Whatever,” Eik answered hastily while Olivia arched an eyebrow.

  “Who’s Ihasu Ougi?” she asked.

  “She’s Eik’s cru—” Heath tried to say but a Movement Boosted, lighting-quick lion killer choke from Eik shut him up before he could finish the sentence.

  “Nobody. She’s nobody. Just a woman I met a little while back,” Eik muttered while Heath tried to tap out against the D-rank assault.

  “And you like this girl?”

  “Come on, Oli!” he drawled as Heath’s face turned purple. “Oh, sorry, dude. I forgot you were there.” He let go of Heath who fell to his knees coughing.

  Olivia was clearly enjoying teasing her little brother. “What? It’s not like you can’t have a girlfriend, Eik. No need to be embarrassed about it.”

  “Oh, my god, Oli!” he said and marched toward the exit, passing Michael who had to use every ounce of self restraint to not burst into tearful laughter, lest he got the same treatment as their tank.

  Mikla stayed behind in the office and let the rest of them continue on without him. Eik didn’t know exactly what kind of story Atla had fed him to explain her need to haul Eik back to the prison but if the man didn’t mind then that was all that mattered.

  Warden Harfol seemed to be expecting them when they were let through the reinforced door by the armored guards. Atla showed them the paperwork to inspect and once inside handed it over to the warden as well.

  He took his time and read through it thoroughly. “Understood,” he mumbled and knocked hard on the reinforced door leading to the cell block. “It’s Harfol.”

  “Mig Miq’Miqq,” a voice answered.

  “Juy Hun,” called another. Weren’t those the same guards who had been here the first time they came by?

  “Unlock your side.”

  “Yes, sir. Unlocking now.”

  Once the many locks had slid open, the heavy door swung open slowly. They walked along the rows of cell doors.

  Menka sat in a chair inside her cell, head lulling slowly from side to side, greasy, unwashed hair covering her face completely.

  “Oh, wow,” Michael mumbled, shivering slightly at the sight of the woman. “She’s gotten even worse than last time we were here. I didn’t think that was possible.”

  “Thank you, Warden Harfol,” Atla said with a nod. The man rumbled something in response and let the cell door swing shut. Now only the cold, heavily enchanted cell bars protected them from the murderous mother.

  “Do you seriously think her condition is because of a mind skulk?” Heath asked.

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  “Not entirely. A mind skulk doesn’t just rule your every move and thought. They can’t do that. They enhance negative emotions like aggression, anger, fear, jealousy, frustration. That kind of stuff. In her case, I think the grief of her son’s death was pushed way too far for her brain to handle and maintain sanity.”

  “And you think Eik’s toxin had something to do with it?” Olivia asked, her gaze never leaving the hunched over mother. The moment the B-ranker had laid eyes on Menka, she had frozen up like a cat staring at dog walking through its front door. “Why is that again?”

  Atla side eyed Eik who started to sweat a little bit as he realized his mistake.

  “I, uuh… I was gonna tell you, I promise,” he stumbled. It was true. He had been planning to tell her. She was the most important person in his life. She deserved to know what was going on with him. Maybe it was a bad idea, but Eik couldn't handle keeping such a big and life-altering secret from her.

  He swallowed and gestured for the group to follow him back outside the cell door, Menka giving no sign of having been aware of their presence in the first place.

  “Can we talk safely here?” he asked, to which Atla nodded.

  He gave Olivia the rundown of his situation, including the truth of his ability and the implications of owning a Worldbreaker in the Unified Mass.

  “So the only people who know about your Profound Toxin, the Worldbreaker thing and its potential effect on these mind skulks are us here? How about Mikla? Or Travis?” she asked.

  Eik shook his head.

  “Alright, let’s get to it then.”

  Back inside, Eik stood in front of the bars and stretched out a tendril of liquid toxin toward the cage. He paused before coming into contact with the invisible barrier he knew hung there between him and the scary lady.

  “It’s a one-way barrier so don’t worry about it,” Atla said, seeing Eik’s hesitation.

  “Oh,” he breathed and sent the little branch all the way through. With no reason to wait and with the go from Atla, he plunged the tendril of Profound Toxin into Menka’s lolling mouth.

  Immediately she started screaming, and witnessing the woman’s desperate, mindless struggle put a spike in Eik’s stomach. This wasn’t like killing monsters or even like killing the assassins in combat.

  Yes, she had most certainly been responsible for a good bit of misery in Eik’s life but essentially torturing a defenseless person felt rather awful regardless. But while he didn’t stop, despite the displeasure he felt at the deed, Menka soon stopped it for him by literally biting through the toxic limb.

  Eik thought what he’d already gotten inside had been enough, however. Here was an Awakened so strong that she could have rivaled anybody on Earth, yet what she resorted to was biting — not the abilities she must surely have drilled into her body and mind relentlessly over many years of training and experience. Was she that far gone?

  The look in her eyes was wild and unpredictable, foam dripping from her lips like a rabid animal.

  “Is-Is she okay?” Michael stammered.

  “I doubt it,” Heath muttered dryly, unable to tear his eyes from the spectacle.

  “You can continue,” Atla told Eik.

  “I don’t know if she’ll let me do anymore than this.”

  “You can turn it into a mist, can’t you? She won’t have the lucidity to hold her breath against it.”

  “But she’s…” he began, trying to find the right words to describe what he was feeling. “She’s suffering.”

  “She tried to kill you. Twice.” Atla’s tone told them that she was confused.

  “Yeah, I know, but still.”

  Olivia put a hand on his shoulder. “Eik, you don’t have to do anymore. We can just go home.”

  Eik looked to Atla who sighed and nodded. “Of course you’re allowed to leave but this could be an important step toward understanding the mind skulks, which, in turn, might help prevent hundreds or thousands of parasitic infections in the future. It would be extremely valuable information to the alliance.”

  Valuable to the alliance, huh? What the hell could he say to that then? "Valuable to the alliance" translated directly to another card on Earth’s hand.

  “I’ll do it,” he said with finality. Olivia stepped back, looking less than pleased with Atla’s method of persuasion.

  Like Atla had guessed, the unkempt woman coughed and spluttered but didn’t hold her breath, and Eik felt more Profound Toxin flow in to join what had already begun to take hold in her system. He kept it up while she struggled, forcing himself to face what he was doing.

  It didn’t take as long as he had expected before her behavior began to change. The frantic resistance gradually turned into a series of unnatural, jerking convulsions.

  “Should I—?”

  “Yes, keep going. I think something’s happening,” Atla urged.

  Seconds later, Menka’s face started to change color, and not in the way the skin of Eik’s victims usually did. She began to heave, large and heavy movements.

  A piercing screech tore through the small space of the cell, accompanied by a wet, disgusting squelching. It wasn’t particularly loud.

  “That doesn’t sound like her,” Heath rightly concluded.

  “Look, look!” Michael hissed, crouching to get a better angle. “There’s a… Oh, what the fuck, there’s a head wiggling around in her mouth!” he gasped as he stumbled back until his back cracked against the thick stone wall and he slid down onto the cold floor.

  “Oh, my god, I think it’s coming out now,” Sonja managed to say before she had to turn around as an enormous dry heave rocked her entire body.

  “Alright, hold the poison now,” Atla said, fascination and disgust mixing in her expression. “It really worked,” she said as the same disturbing creature that had crawled out of Rock Fist Bart fell to the floor.

  Without taking a second to regain its bearings, the alien thing sped across the floor with undulating motions, reminding Eik of a mix between an earthworm and a fat, white grub worm. He felt ready to follow Sonja’s example and retch in the corner.

  In the chair, Menka’s breathing was labored and shallow. She had Profound Toxin in her system, yes, but it shouldn’t have been nearly enough to cause this kind of reaction in someone of her caliber. The mind skulk definitely wasn’t supposed to separate from a live host. To think that little thing had left her in such a state.

  Eik didn’t know how, but Atla disabled the magical defensive measures and unlocked the heavy, barred cell gate, a decision he would have liked to be involved in, seeing as Menka Tokanami could now get to them out here.

  She walked in and snatched up the mind skulk and threw it into a clear container that looked like glass. Then she walked out, Menka making no move to escape. She was just that far gone now, it would seem. She was dying.

  “That was perfect, Eik!” Atla complimented him. “That was exactly what I had hoped for. Thank you! I’ll make sure you’re rewarded for this. In fact, pull out your credit slab. I'll transfer money from my own account right away!”

  “Thanks…” he muttered, still staring at Menka’s hunched over form, not even looking at the amount she deposited. What a world they lived in. “Can we go home now?”

  “Of course,” she said with a beaming smile and lead them out of the cell. “Let’s go get Mikla.”

  On the way out she stopped to have a short conversation with Warden Harfol before leading them back out into the sun. The beautiful flower beds outside stood in particularly strong contrast to the prison after that. Eik wanted to dive in head first just to get a whiff of the peaceful plants.

  Back home he curled up on his bed, cat clutched to his chest with an expression that said she was ready to write a formal complaint about the treatment.

  How strange it was that there were times when the killing and maiming didn't bother him, but then also times like this that refused to leave his mind. For once, it would have been nice if Profound Toxin could have stepped in at least a little bit.

  Seeking out the distraction, he dove into his mind in search of the world of Profound Toxin.

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  The Green Forest