Kaleb ducked the massive scaly fist aimed at his head and jumped over the tail swipe that followed the mighty haymaker. The underside of his own new tail smacked his opponent's, and Kaleb staggered slightly. The big Brute lizard he was fighting took advantage of the slip and charged with a quick combination of punches. Kaleb managed to get his arm up to protect his face, but his body was pummeled mercilessly. His ribs screamed, and the air left his body as he backed away. But his opponent was ferocious. Following him to the edge of the combat circle.

Kaleb skipped along the edge of their tiny arena as he tried to find a way inside the bigger lizard's guard. The Brute sent a straight punch at Kaleb's nose, which he ducked and responded with a straight of his own. His opponent caught Kaleb's punch with his forearm and flung it aside before swinging a massive hook again. Ducking the hook, Kaleb lashed out with several punches to the lizard's mid-section before he charged passed away from the arena's edge.

As he rushed past, he felt the Brute Lizard grasp his tail and yank him back hard. Kaleb took a moment to concentrate and a sharp electric snap sounded in the air. His opponent yelped in surprise more than pain, but quickly recovered. A heavy blow struck Kaleb in the back of the head as he was turning to face his opponent again. The strike knocked Kaleb off his feet and into the dirt, face-first. Kaleb did his best to roll away, but he could hear the lizard marching after him. Then a sharp whistle cut through the sounds of fighting and cheering.

"That's the round! Out of the circle for the next pair." Aqwen called from somewhere to Kaleb's right.

He raised his one good arm in her direction and waved at her. Face still planted in the dirt. "Give me a moment, Aqwen. I can't feel my face."

"Then get it out of the dirt, Professor. We've got another pair wanting to spar. So unless you want to be a training mat…"

Kaleb groaned as he debated simply rolling out of the training circle. That's when a muscular arm curled around his waist and he was lifted up. He caught the coloration of another lizard as his vision swam. Blinking the spots and tears from his eyes, Kaleb came face-to-face with his sparring partner. The big lug was grinning like a madman as he dragged Kaleb out of the ring.

"The Professor is quick. But your puny fist doesn't do much."

Kaleb tried to defend himself, but his world was still somewhat swimming. So instead, he grumbled something halfheartedly about not usually fighting without his robotic arm. The big lizard, who was his sparring partner, rasped out a laugh as he dragged Kaleb to where Roy and Daivor were waiting. A chair had been set up and Kaleb was unceremoniously dropped into it.

"Ugh! Thanks, Lurch. Good game." Kaleb coughed as his brain tried to escape via his ears.

The big lizard stared at him strangely before he wandered off to watch the next sparring match. Kaleb grimaced as his knuckles screamed at him. His scaly fist was rubbed raw by all the fighting he'd been doing. Granted, he'd only been using his one hand the whole time. But he'd been trying to strike the bigger lizards on their softer stomachs and chests. A tactic which had barely seen results in the ring but was paying massive dividends with Kaleb's Skills.

Dodge Skill Level Up Movement speed while dodging increased 4%

Toughness Skill Level Up

Current Health increase: 8%

Current physical damage decrease: 4%

Hand-To-Hand Skill Level Maxed Hand-to-Hand damage increased by + 12

Conditioning Skill Level Up

Current Health increased by 14%

Current Stamina increased by 14%

Incoming physical damage decreased by 8%

In-Fighter Skill Level Up

Melee strength increased by 3

Stamina increased by 4%

Duck And Weave Skill Level Up

Dodge Distance increased by 4%

Chance to block or turn aside an attack increased by 2%

Kaleb grinned as he scrolled through his notifications. Although he felt his Toughness should've been at max by now. He'd been taking a beating for at least forty-five minutes. It made sense for Conditioning, In-Fighter, and Duck and Weave to be slow. Those were skills he'd created by combining other skills. So they were a bit stronger and harder to level. Still, he'd seen some pretty decent gains. He already had plans to combine In-Fighter with Hand-To-Hand when he got the chance. Maybe Dodge and D&W too. He'd just need a few more fights, he thought.

Roy slapped a glass of cold water into Kaleb's hand and he looked up at the boy, grateful. Roy was holding Kaleb's shirt, armor, and lab coat. Aqwen had been adamant that shirtless was the way the Brute Clan fought. The fact that Kaleb wasn't Brute Clan didn't seem to matter to any of them. He was apparently required to train shirtless and without his robotic appendage now. Kaleb finished his drink and sat the glass down next to his chair. Daivor was standing next to him, keeping an eye on Kaleb's robotic arm.

"I thought you had him when he grabbed your tail, Doc. That zappy thing your tail does seemed to stun him."

"Yeah, but I have to concentrate to activate it. That's part of the reason he tagged me."

"Another reason is cause you suck." Aqwen chuckled from nearby.

The female Brute Clan lizard was still reffing the fights. But apparently she didn't want to miss an opportunity to give him shit. Kaleb rolled his eyes at her back as he sat back in his chair.

"I'm a one-armed lizard fighting other lizards a foot taller than me. Not to mention all of them are muscled to hell and back."

"It wouldn't matter if you had both arms and were the same size as your opponents. You have no technique and you still aren't using your tail properly."

"Well, excuse me. But this morning I didn't have a damn tail. How the hell am I supposed to know how to use it?"

Aqwen finally turned to glower at him as Kaleb rolled his shoulder out. "It's instinctual. You should just know! A tail is as much a part of Brute Clan combat as the training circle."

"I'm not Brute Clan." Kaleb said for the umpteenth time.

Aqwen huffed and turned back to the fights. They'd been training for a while and even though Kaleb had been getting stomped, he'd been having fun. After so many hours in a dark cave staring at DNA helices, moving about felt good. Until he got a punch in the face, of course. But that only happened during the first match. Since then, he'd managed to pivot around the big lizards. The trouble was accounting for the weight of his newest addition. His tail was a heavy and annoying thing. Keeping it out of his way was simple enough. But attacking or defending with it was out of the question.

Although he did notice something about his latest Mutation.

Tail Mutation Tree

Attack Lvl 0 (Locked)

Tip of Stone Lvl 1

Defense Lvl 0 (Locked)

Dense Lvl 1

Utility Lvl 1

Electroconductivity Lvl 1

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Evolution Points: 20

Kaleb had no idea if 20 Evolution Points were a good thing or not. Probably not after more than a half-hour of fighting. But he hadn't really been using it. Also, he wasn't able to place any points in the Attack or Defense Trees. All he had was Utility and his tail's Electroconductivity. Which he really thought should've been called something like Static Shock or something. Sure, his tail could now hold a charge. But it wasn't even enough to appropriately shock somebody. The most he could do was scare them.

He thought about placing all of his points into his Utility tree. But images of Shaggy kept sticking in his head. The werewolf had lucked out, having his regeneration tied to his Utility Tree. That was a far cooler power than a sparky tail. Kaleb really couldn't see what dumping his points into the tree would get him. More of a sparky tail? Yippee. He'd have to talk to Two Gun and Abby when he saw them next. They were the experts. Until then, at least the Mutant Tree was cool to look at. Tiny little grey cells on a reddish background. Just waiting for him to pour power into them. Even with two of the trees grayed out completely, it was a hell of a sight.

Suddenly, a commotion appeared at the corner of the mansion. They were in the backyard, essentially. But Kaleb could still see the simple housing of the Brute Clan lizards. The clans were in another uproar now. As the sounds of thudding feet reverberated across the dirt. Kaleb had an idea about what was going on as he got to his feet. He slapped on his metal arm as Roy excitedly passed him his stuff. He wanted to tell the teen to relax, but Roy was halfway around the edge of the house when Kaleb finished dressing.

He snapped his armor into place and glanced down at Daivor. The tiny gnome looked up at him, teeth clenched around a pipe, and shrugged. Whatever was going on seemed important, though. So Kaleb reached down and picked up his familiar before following Roy. Aqwen and the other lizards looked annoyed at being interrupted, but otherwise unbothered by the commotion. They all moved as one around the house, and Kaleb immediately sighed at the sight beyond the gate.

The Players were back again. Ready to make another run at the Brute Clan's mansion. A few different parties had attempted to break into the place for the past while now. The Brute Clan had always beat back the idiot Players. So Kaleb was sure this time wouldn't be much different. Except this time, the Players were rushing the fence like a bunch of crazed idiots. Instead, a pale yellow alien Player was standing outside the gate with a smug grin on his face. The Player was in some decent-looking armor and seemed to have a bold confidence that made Kaleb want to smack him. As Kaleb approached, he couldn't see any Guild Markings or tags on the Player. But he could see the others slightly up the road away from the gate. The dude had backup ready and waiting.

The player waited until all the Brute Clan seemed to be assembled before he made his speech. A few of the Players from previous attempts had made similar demands. Give up the house, let us kill you for the XP, blah blah. The smug Player in the sophisticated armor though merely gave them a countdown.

"You have twenty seconds to vacate my new kingdom! Otherwise, you'll be forcefully evicted!"

The Brute Clan watched the skinny Player make his declaration before a chuckle rose from the crowd of them. The chuckle became a full-on laugh and soon the entire front courtyard was laughing at the Player's words. Kaleb, though, he kept an eye on the smug sonofabitch. So did Aqwen, who was standing a few yards ahead of Kaleb and was looking everywhere except at the smug Player. Kaleb scanned the roofs and street as well. The Player's companions weren't exactly hiding. But Kaleb wanted to be sure they were the only Player threat.

The Alien Player must've been counting down in his head. Because when twenty seconds were up, he got a sad look on his face and shrugged his shoulders.

"So be it. ATTACK MINIONS!"

The yellow alien Player raised an arm and chopped it down toward the mansion's gate. Kaleb rolled his eyes at the dude's showmanship. But he was surprised as a familiar sound hit Kaleb's ears. It wasn't the sound of feet thudding up the dirt road toward them. No. It was the sound of loud wings flapping rapidly. Kaleb's eyes shot to the sky as he looked around. They were coming from the western portion of Under-Town. Which was Phreak territory.

As the Brute Clan turned as one to watch the aerial threat, the smug bastard and his Players friends rushed the gate. Immediately, Aqwen started issuing orders and Kaleb drew his weapons. Shooting something was going to be way more fun after punching leathery lizards for training. The mass of Brute Lizard pushed toward the gate, but Kaleb kept an eye on the Phreak flyers. They were sweeping low for an attack run as Kaleb pulled himself from the scrum of bodies.

However, instead of dive-bombing the Brutes from above, the Phreaks made the mistake of landing in the courtyard. Kaleb stared in confusion even as his trigger fingers went to town. His Sun Gun and Cybar pistol flared to life with yellow and blue bursts of energy. He caught an insectoid Phreak in the wings and watched as the guy tumbled into the dirt. He double-tapped to make sure and then found another target as a woman with sheepish horns charged him. Kaleb sent a blast of energy into her stomach as he dodged away. But something caught his eye. The sheep-woman was glassy-eyed and seemed to be wildly flailing at him instead of fighting.

His investigations were cut short as Roy jabbed a stun baton into the woman's neck and she collapsed. All around them, the Brutes were happily fighting off the flying Phreaks. But something didn't feel right. The Phreaks could hardly be considered to be defending themselves during this fight.

A noise from the metal gate, brought Kaleb around to look and he found the smug asshole and his four friends scrambling over the gate. The brought Clan were jabbing them with their spears, but the Player's armor held as they hopped down into the scrum. Kaleb spotted Smug moving carefully behind his friends. The other Player's eyes were locked on the Phreaks. He got the message fairly quickly. Someone was controlling the Phreaks. Most likely Smug himself. As the man's friends waded into the scrum of Brutes, he waited in the back and used his power.

Kaleb pulled up his Cybar and fired off a few rounds. But more Phreaks stepped into the way of the energy rounds. Kaleb grit his teeth and turned to Roy. The boy was smacking his metal batons across a bull-man's face when he turned toward Kaleb. With hand signals, Kaleb stated that he was charging. Roy nodded as he shoved the end of his baton into the bull-Phreak's nose. There was a deep cry of pain as Kaleb zigzagged his way through the fight.

The Players were doing a great job of pushing the Brute Clan back. But they weren't finishing the job. As the Players shoved and beat their way around the scrum, Kaleb could see their goal. They were slowly rotating toward the mansion. Kaleb rolled his eyes at the attempt and made a beeline for the Smug Player. He shoved his way past the Brute Clan and soon he had a clear shot. With no hesitation, Kaleb fired three volleys of energy balls. Only for two to get absorbed into another Player's hand. He didn't have enough time to parse what had happened, though, as the enemy leader took one of his shots to the chest.

The man's armor absorbed Kaleb's attack, but he partially let go of his mental hold on Phreaks. He could tell because some of them immediately ran away. Taking to the skies and turning around. The pale yellow alien looked livid as half of his army just up and left. Kaleb didn't let up, though. He kept pushing forward, blasting away with both guns. Most hit the man's armor, but some clipped the man in the face and neck. Each strike seemed to enrage the player more, and he lost more and more control of the Phreaks.

At this point, Kaleb would've been happy to keep chipping away at his opponent until he was dead. But the other Player was so enraged now that he zeroed in on Kaleb and rushed forward. His friends and his remaining hold on the Phreaks were completely forgotten. The man made a bee-line for Kaleb, his yellow eyes locked onto to Kaleb's own. For a moment, Kaleb readied himself for a mental assault.

It hit him with all the finesse of a jackhammer. The other Player slammed into Kaleb's mental defenses as he rushed up to Kaleb and tried to deliver a powerful blow to his jaw. Kaleb tried to order his body to move, but the fighting, dodging and mental assault were a bit too much. The uppercut rocked Kaleb on his feet and, for a moment, the world sped up again. Then he met the Smug Player's yellow eyes again and his brain turned to mush. He tried to gather his mental defenses, but nothing was working as his body refused to listen to him.

The Smug Player threw a few more punches into Kaleb. But soon he grew bored. The Brute Clan members were winning the fight and soon the Players would be screwed. Drawing a black dagger from his back, the villainous Player attempted jab the weapon into Kaleb's eye. Watching everything from inside his trapped mind, Kaleb tried his damnedest to get his body out of the way. But nothing was working.

Squeak?

A whistle-like squeak echoed in Kaleb's mind and a sharp electric tingle shot down his spin and into his tail. Unbidden, Kaleb whipped his hips sideways and felt his new tail jab forward. Kaleb blinked his vision back as he tried to collect himself. There was a strangled, gurgling sound coming from ahead of him. But that wasn't the important thing. His tail had wrapped around his right side and struck out like a lance. Following the tail, Kaleb spotted the smug bastard again. He was bleeding heavily as the point of Kaleb's tail was embedded into the other man's throat.

Surprisingly, the other Player was still alive, and he was trying to reach out and strangle Kaleb. Unceremoniously, Kaleb unloaded his Cyber and Sun Gun into the other man until his body became cubes. There was a psychic backlash that snapped out of the Smug Player and soon the remaining Phreaks cut tail and ran. A couple glared at Kaleb's location, but not at Kaleb himself. Almost as if the other Player was still there.

The battle was breaking, so Kaleb turned to study his tail. Its sharpened stone-like end had moved almost unbidden. The swivel of his hips during the attack was almost instinctual. Did he have implanted memories of the Basilinoids with tails? No. That seemed a bit too farfetched. But he couldn't deny that his attack had been unprompted. He was about to catch a knife with his eye when Milly woke up and jolted his tail.

The little marmot, sensing her name, stuck her nose out of Kaleb's arm. She took one look at the surrounding carnage and then went back inside. A few of the Brute Clan had been hurt again. But as Aqwen organized the medical team to help the injured, she made another announcement.

"Training is still going to take place, people. We don't take a break just cause you've got a serious burn or something. See you behind the mansion in five."

Kaleb caught the slim Lizard's eye as he raised his arms as if to ask, "Seriously?" Her response was to shrug at him and then point toward the back of the mansion. Apparently, he too was still part of the training. He went through a few arguments he could make, but eventually discarded them. He needed to get a handle on this new tail, anyway.

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