Quick as a whip, Daniel skewered the creature on his spear mid leap, only to be shocked.

  Literally.

  That electric blue light was actual electricity, running along the creature’s skin, and it seized upon the spear faster than thought. The blue current leapt down the blacksteel haft, forcing Daniel to drop it immediately in surprise and pain. Staggering a little, he heard the barking sounds of more of these creatures running towards them and reacted without thinking. He lashed out with a high kick, crushing the skull of another Xenos yet simultaneously feeling more electricity surge through his leg. Losing control of the limb, Daniel was forced to one knee. He looked up just in time to watch a third Xenos leaping right at his face.

  A spear came from out of nowhere, catching the creature right on the side and carrying it out of his vision. He watched electricity run up this spear as well and heard Jordan curse, metal clanging as his friend released the weapon. Men cried out in fear and confusion as the ambushers fell upon their party, their spears suddenly used against them. Daniel grit his teeth, clawing back control over his spasming right hand, then he summoned his revolver and activated his Domain.

  Eight Xenos were still standing, their four-legged figures bathed in a hazy purple in Daniel’s ‘vision’. One of them had stolen a Pioneer’s spear, snatching it in its jaws, while another had pounced on top of the downed man. A well-placed bullet put the latter out of its misery before it could tear out the Pioneer’s throat. Daniel quickly switched targets, shooting another creature in midair as it targeted an unsuspecting soldier. It would still tackle the man, but it was dead before it hit the ground. Two more Xenos looped around, flanking from the left, and Daniel rapidly swapped his revolver from his right to his left. Two more shots put them down, but he noticed that one was off target, taking the creature in the shoulder instead of the head.

  There was no time to worry about the miss, though, as another Xenos was pouncing right at Daniel from the front. Rather than hit it again, Daniel ducked and let it sail right over his head, and into the waiting arms of the Gon the Dunid. His furry friend had moved hastily to help him, and the looming non-human carved up the Xenos with his claws, accepting the damage of the electricity stoically. Daniel pivoted around him, switching shooting hands once again and finishing off two of the hounds who had tried to flank them. As he was reloading, Daniel saw three more Xenos enter his Domain’s territory, and he spun around to neutralize them, only to be blinded by blue light again.

  Gunfire rang out as several of the others martialed their rifles and neutralized the remaining threat. Daniel winced a bit as the sudden light that was coming from his allies. It was seldom used, since it was power intensive and could be distracting to the user, but the Codex had an emergency bright function that allowed it to glow heavily and light up any darkness. Several of the men had remembered that and turned it on, allowing them to see the shadowy forms of the remaining attackers and put them down with prejudice. Eventually, the only sounds that remained in the cavernous space was the panting of scared and injured men, the acrid smell of gun smoke lingering unpleasantly in the air: “Status report, sound off!”

  Everyone sounded off, indicating they were alive. A few had been scorched or paralyzed by the Xenos, but nothing life threatening. Once he’d confirmed the safety of his men, Daniel decided to take a closer look at their attackers.

  The creatures were very large canines, with grey fur and a sapphire colored, glass-like substance growing on their backs like a kind of armor. This ‘armor’ was cut into smaller, hexagonal shapes that glowed softly with reflected light when Daniel scrutinized it, and he was interested to see that the creature’s teeth and claws were made of the same substance. The hound’s face was also different from a normal dog’s. It was unusually long, thin, and cruel looking, with a large black snout and four beady, navy-colored eyes. Gazing further at the creature was disturbing, so Daniel inspected his Codex instead: “Tempus Hound: The lesser form of the Fulgur Hound, Tempus Hounds consume electricity, in addition to animals, to live. The carapace on their back is known to attract and absorb lightning for sustenance, meaning that these creatures often rely on storms as a food source. Capable of channeling an electrical current through their skin, claws and teeth as an attack and defense mechanism. Adult Tempus Hound spotted! A pack of Tempus Hounds spotted!

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Class: Mid-Grade Zeta: Individual Threat Assessment: Low: Group Threat Assessment: High Moderate.”

  It spoke a lot about how much Daniel had grown that a Mid-Grade Zeta was a low threat to him, though they were still a serious threat as a group. Especially since they’d been ambushed. It turned out that the cafeteria the Pioneers had walked through was not the only eating hall. Further examination showed that there were two smaller rooms adjoining the central one, and one of these rooms possessed more tunnels leading downward and upward. That explained how these things hadn’t been here initially, only later appear. This whole facility had become a den of Tempus Hounds, which explained the destroyed electronics.

  Rather than put them off, the Pioneers were glad to discover what had trashed the facility before them. It answered the mystery while also failing to deter them, since the Tempus Hounds were a manageable threat that also promised resources: “Corpse of a Tempus Hound: Weight 56 kgs. Value: 1,216 Credits.”

  All told, the team had killed 14 of these things, for a final total value of 15,764 credits from the bodies alone. Some of those bodies had yielded something extra, however: “Zeta Class Morphic Stone: Psionic Capacity: Electric Discharge. Value: 14,100 Credits.”

  Roughly one in ten Zeta class Xenos dropped one of these, but the Pioneers had gotten lucky. Two whole stones with the same Capacity had been dropped by the pack, and there was some debate over what to do with them. It was foolish for Daniel to use them, since his slot was taken up, and he wouldn’t want to anyways. The abilities weren’t great, and he would rather hold onto them and keep the money. On the other hand, Daniel knew that using them on someone would help keep the group alive: “How about this: We hold onto them for now and see what we find downstairs. This ability can’t help much with these doggies anyways. If we need to go back above ground, then we can use them.”

  It was Ramirez who offered the salient point that finished the discussion. They left the stones in Daniel’s safekeeping for now. They then chose to take a break and recover in the cafeteria, lighting a modest campfire underneath the hole in the ceiling that the hounds had made, which functioned as a makeshift chimney. They then cooked and ate away at their recently obtained food supply, but especially the Sparkhoof meat. They would need as much Constitution as they could get.

  The gang chose to spend the night and the next day recovering and resting in this area. The rest of the facility wasn’t going anywhere, after all. They also had a lot of meat, which took some time to cook and prepare properly. At the end of this period, Daniel decided to check his stats again:

  Status:

  Strength: 93

  Dexterity: 113

  Constitution: 82 -> 84

  Adaptability: 86 -> 87

  Psyche: 97

  As per usual, stat increases were much more difficult to get once one raised their stats high enough. He’d been lucky enough to see a single uptick in Strength and Psyche during the last few days on the surface and was happy to see a full two-point jump in Constitution now, but it was a reminder that things got much harder from here.

  With all their meat cooked and prepared, the men packed up camp and set off for the next floor.

  …

  A hulking black form crashed through the brush, powerful limbs tossing aside trees and rocks aside with total impunity. It came upon a large river, tracking the source of that strange flare up of alien power. After several days of travel, it could feel that it was close. It received confirmation of that when it came upon what remained of its minion.

  The Two Eyed One’s blood perforated the mud of the riverside, the stain remaining stubborn even in the face of the rushing water. It’s body was nowhere to be seen, yet its death had been confirmed through their bond. The giant stooped down to examine the ground, eyes glowing softly as it processed the situation. Everything it had seen of this new enemy so far indicated relative backwardness, in comparison to its people’s ancient foe. Nevertheless, the power that had done this was likely quite advanced. Perhaps a recently built weapon? Or an older one, left over by that ancient foe? It sorely lacked information. How dangerous could this be to their people? The power it had sensed so far wasn’t terribly concerning, but it knew how such things could grow and change. It couldn’t sense that power or its prey anywhere nearby, which left it only one option.

  The great beast sat down in a lotus position, curling its hands into fists. A perpetrator always returned to the scene of a crime. Even if it didn’t it couldn’t be too far, and it would surely use that weapon again.

  When it did, Plokathar of the Kharnidd would be ready.