I slept the rest of the day and missed a bunch of classes, but I didn't care too much, since I immediately messaged my friends and they told me that the professors only gave out assignments or droned on and on about topics I already knew about, which was great. I woke up really late at night, almost 9:00 pm, which meant I'd been asleep for more than twelve hours. Holy shit. And, with the way colors seemed to fade around me, I knew for a fact that I was now a [Blank]. Unlike Crentist, however, who was kind of stuck with who and what he was till he ceased to exist, my state as a [Blank] could be freaking toggled on or off.

Since I didn't want either of my parents to be scared of me if I ever walked into them in the living room, I toggled my [Blank] state off – for now. I was turning it back on the moment I stepped out of the damn house. A quick view told me that my [Blank] was at level 1 – with a numerical factor of 1000, which I figured was the value of life or magic that I could nullify. By extension, I also now knew that Crentist – and, by extension, other [Culexus Assassins], had a minimum [Blank] level of 2, which was Crentist's level.

It was night time, which meant I had to be out there. Someone was definitely hunting for me and I'd be stupid not to perform the ol' switcheroo by hunting them back, in turn. I was a lot stronger now and it was gonna take a lot more than just a fancy fireball to kill me.

First and foremost, however, I checked out my stats and grinned.

STR – 38
DEX – 30
VIT – 37

Oh yes. I felt so much stronger now than before. So much so, in fact, that I was pretty sure I could splinter hardwood with just my grip, which was exactly what I did with an old bat I used to play with when I was a kid and liked baseball. The bat was made entirely of hickory and was technically an antique, given that it was made sometime immediately following the second world war – old and durable. My dad bought it for me off of a former neighbor's garage sale. I hadn't used this bad boy in... a very long time.

Hickory was not something that broke easily. In fact, crazy people with wooden baseball bats have been known to break apart cars and shit, usually drugged up gangsters, angry ex-wives, or just angry drunks. It was durable. And so it came as something of a surprise when the length of it began splintering hard when I wrapped my fingers around it and squeezed with all that I had, my muscles straining.

I'd gone far beyond the realm of superhuman by this point and entered something that was closer to the stuff that people did in movies, like freaking Captain America.

The bat splintered, but I couldn't break or snap it in half no matter how hard I squeezed. Smiling, I let go and let the bat fall to the ground with a hand-shaped dent in what used to be its thickest part, the length of it now covered in cracks and little breaks. I stared at my hand and grinned. Oh yeah, it's all coming together.

However, I was pretty sure that gaining more points from exercise would now be almost entirely impossible, unless I gained access to a magical gym, where the bars didn't break after filling it up with like a thousand kilograms of weight.

My newfound strength and stats confirmed, I checked out the list of dungeons and discovered that, indeed, the Level 2 Slaaneshi Dungeon was still marked with a little red skull. So, it was too dangerous for me as I was now. Oh well. No need to rush. I was pretty sure that I was getting stronger at a ridiculous rate anyway. No need to risk my life when I could just... well... not do that. I still had the rest of the night, however, and I definitely wasn't planning on going back to sleep.

So, what I planned on doing now was-

My eyes narrowed. There was something odd about the air, a chill that tugged at my very bones. Its presence was faint, but unmistakably there. I toggled my [Blank] state back on.

Something was wrong.

Immediately, I noted the silence. It wasn't that late at night. Mom should still be watching one of her favorite shows in the living room, like the Golden Girls. Though my room was generally soundproofed, I should still be able to hear the sounds from the TV, considering how much my senses have expanded. Through the slight opening of my window, I heard the low buzz of something, accompanied by moans and groans- and oh boy, Mrs. Goodman was masturbating.

I stood up and rushed down to the living room. The TV was on, but instead of color or anything, really, there was only static. The furniture looked fine. But the center table was a little off-center and that was weird, because mom had OCD and made sure everything was perfectly aligned or otherwise arranged. One corner of the carpet was folded over. Someone was here. I wasn't sure if there was a struggle, but someone had been here. Or mom left the house in such a hurry that she forgot to arrange anything first... or... someone took her.

My eyes narrowed at an envelope on the center table – blood red and etched with a golden wax seal and upon that seal was the image of an owl... or some other bird that kind of looked like an owl. The ominous feeling, I realized, came from the letter. I shook my head and checked every single room in the house, including the master bedroom, where my parents slept. None. Nothing. My mom wasn't in any of them. I rushed back to the living room and opened the envelope. Inside was a latter, similarly blood-red, and etched upon it were words, written in some golden ink or some shit.

There were only a few words written on it.

Not two seconds later, I gritted my teeth and crumpled the letter. "Son of a bitch. Someone kidnapped my mom."

Go to the abandoned warehouse, where you killed my aunt. If you do, I'll release your mother; if you don't, I'll skin her alive and make a new coat out of her and then I'm going to the same to your father. You have two hours. Don't keep me waiting.

Aunt. Whoever sent this was related to that... inhuman thing that Crentist and I killed in the warehouse. She definitely wasn't human, despite her human looks. Probably some kind of illusion. The one who sent this letter was that creature's niece. Yet another inhuman entity in this world that needs to die. If it did not have my mother, I would've just used the [Exocrene] to bomb the shit out of it and everything around it.

But I couldn't do that. I'd be at a disadvantage if this turned out to be a fight, which it most definitely will because anyone or anything that thought it could kidnap my mom without consequences was just crazy. I'm gonna kill a bitch.

First and foremost, however, I needed to plan. The element of surprise was on my side. So, I could definitely make use of that to my advantage. My enemy probably didn't know about the [Incubi], the [Ork Nobz], the [Carnifexes], the [Exocrene], and the twenty [Cadian Shocktroops] that I could just call out on a whim. Not to mention Crentist, who was a [Blank], like myself. And so the plan was pretty simple. I go in and if things went south, then I was dropping every single unit atop a bitch's head. Whatever the case, the only way this ended was with my mom's kidnapper dying and nothing else.

I summoned Crentist. "We're going back to the warehouse. I'll go in, while you stay out and check the perimeter. If things go south, bust in and help me take down whoever kidnapped my mom."

I knew he'd obey whatever I told him to do. So, I turned and walked right out. My dad was probably under surveillance or was being followed. I needed to end this as quickly as I could. "Let's go."

Turns out I could now run really fast, literally outrunning a speeding motorcycle on the freeway and tearing my shoes apart. I made it to the warehouse in less than ten minutes. It took me a while to realize that, despite the oppressive darkness around this part of Portland, which was mostly woods, I could see really well. I could make out the individual leaves on the ground, the pebbles and twigs, and all sorts of things that should've been invisible in the darkness. Which of my stats was responsible for this, I wondered? Because Dexterity, Endurance, and Strength didn't really include anything regarding optical abilities.

And I couldn't see this well in the dark before.

I shook my head and walked up to the warehouse. Through our link, I knew that Crentist was moving between the shadows of the tall trees, searching for anything amiss. Were were dealing with a magic user, however, and so it was entirely possible that he wouldn't find anything by virtue of deleting anything magical around him. But, if I worried over every little detail, I'd never get anything done. I'd improvise if necessary. Come what fucking may. My mom's life was on the line.

I walked right up to the warehouse's entrance, an old door that flew right off its hinges and crashed into the wall, cracking apart the concrete as soon as I pushed it open. Huh, I might have to get used to this strength. I stepped inside. "I'm here, just like you asked!"

There were no rooms for the inhuman creature to hide in. The warehouse itself was a vast, open space. So, I walked straight to its center and, lo and behold, there I saw my mother, unconscious, wearing her pajamas, floating right above a massive glowing symbol on the ground, red and wicked, a pentagram that was surrounded by legions of smaller symbols. Crimson chains snaked around her form. And a shimmering bubble of nearly-invisibly energies surrounded her. My monkey brain tells me to run up over there and try to break her free.

My human brain tells me that's what my enemy expects of me and has probably lain a trap. And, seeing as I'm nowhere near as strong as Crentist in terms of blankness, I don't think I was quite as anti-magic as I'd like – resistant, certainly, but not a true null. Oh boy, this was going to hurt.

"Mom?" I called out. But she remained asleep, her eyes blissfully closed.

"You've made quite a mess of things, down in the underworld," Someone suddenly spoke from the rafters. I looked up and saw a woman there – black hair, crimson eyes, pale skin. She wore a black tanktop and what appeared to be leather pants. She was barefoot, too. She looked down at me, her face calm and stoic and icy cold. "It's not everyday an unaffiliated human kills a member of a Great House. They're in uproar, clamoring for the head of whoever is responsible."

I sneered. Not human. Still, I thought I'd buried my tracks perfectly. "How'd you find out?"

"I tracked you by smell," She shrugged and jumped down, landing a few feet away from my mother. She made no noise as she moved. "It wasn't that hard. Now, it seems you've asked the wrong question; the real question should be: what now? Tell me, human, do you believe you can fight your way out of this? Your pet abomination, the one outside, well... he'll be a little troublesome, but nothing I can't deal with. You, on the other hand, are just a weak little human boy, who was born with a Sacred Gear."

I honestly had no idea what she was talking about and, all things considered, her finding out about Crentist was something I'd expected. But, she really didn't know everything about me. She knew I had something, but she had no idea what that was. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about. I only found out about this supernatural shit a few days ago."

That got a reaction out of her. "And my aunt died by your hand? I'm almost tempted to just let you go and tell everyone back home that she deserved to die."

I brought my hands together. "Oh pretty please?"

"No." The woman said. "I'm going to tell you what you can do. Choose wisely. I'm not entirely fond of making slaves out of humans, but I will if it benefits me."

My eyes narrowed. "Huh. Let me stop you right there. I choose my way."

I got into a firing stance, willed forth the [Tau Rail Rifle] into my hands, and fired immediately.

AN: Chapter 25 is out on (Pat)reon!