“There are dozens of special cases within each Family, if not hundreds of others. Low. High. Hazardous. You get me. Aspects are strengths and weaknesses added together. Weaknesses slowly diminish until they become nearly non-existent in the further Ranks. It changes in time, quality, and quantity of Madness, or touches of Arcana, flesh, scales, unique body attributes, sight, or impractical or unique circumstances. Fengs has a bunch of them. One is Bloodthirst. Second is Echo. Third is Smell.” Mi-Yung explained.

  “That sounds a bit silly.”

  “That comes from dogs, so how else to say it? I mean...” Mi-Yung once more glanced at Hound and wasn't sure what to think. It was little, looking cute like a puppy, yet it was a Dark and looked way too freaking attached to Celeste for some reason.

  She had a lot of questions to say about it to Dreadus and Celeste alike, but it sounded like she would be way too forceful if she did that. So she kept up with her appearance and figured she would do something about it later. Behind Celeste's back, hopefully.

  Celeste caught up to their conversation, lifted Hound high in the air, and praised his little furred coat. Hound howled in response to her praise.

  “Dog.”

  It barked, sounding rougher and grinding instead of being pleasing and soft.

  The Federation have dogs. Outside too, but they were far too rare nowadays, almost like most species. They were always good little creatures, and both domesticated and helpful companions.

  Hound was far away from it, like a car flying in the sky.

  In a second, Hound was on the floor, left and eyed by three people since he had grown too large for Celeste to hold him because of her praise. He was two dozen inches tall, and his changeable size and weight weren't standard Aspects, but they were there.

  Mi-Yung had described it enough because expecting something weirder was normal. Unique and changing were probably the same thing.

  Each part of a Family had at least a couple of gruesome and unique ideas and potential anomalies. Family Aspects were simple terms to make sense of the entire group, and Walkers had to know each part rather than the entire thing.

  For once, William knew that a Dark Hound was part of the Feng Species, which were divided into many wolf-based subtypes. Hellgar was included, and most of their Ranks fluctuated between Rank 1 and 4. They also often mixed and altered, with instincts mixing with savagery and wildness of demons, and so on.

  So what made such Darks adequate for a different name? For once, it was about the quality of Dark Aspects and their bearing. Danger and quality of power were definitely there, and no matter when anything proceeded, Walkers knew how to understand Darks and gave them names because of that. If there was enough disparity, they would do it, or the System did it instead.

  This one on the ground was probably at Rank 5, which was quite strong and complex, yet... here it was. It barked, hugged by a girl far from any hunt. It was shameful, yet it didn't mind it, and... its Rank was still not clear, no matter what Mi-Yung said and did to it. Rank 5 didn't sound right. Even getting low was strange.

  “It is a dog,” William said suddenly, crouching beside Celeste. “Where have you found it?”

  “Found?” she asked, unsure if that word was even right. It was more like a force of nature pushed it to her, while everything else didn’t let it go away. She was never able to do it, and it always stuck around, so she couldn't answer him.

  “Well, it seems harmless,” William added, trying to pet Hound, and... oddly enough, succeeded. Hound's fur was rather soft yet resilient, constantly moving like a crawling spiky skin. Out of reflex, he touched it just a little more, and it didn’t bark or snatch his hand away.

  Sitting and observing, it wasn’t as if that right arm looked funny or nasty. It was just there, marked by something devious and weird. It wasn't tasty. No. Definitely not!

  Mi-Yung clapped to change this charade. “Back on track. No pets in class next time.”

  “No!” Celeste shouted and hugged Hound in distress. “It stays! If not, I not.”

  “I was joking. Joking. Let's give it more attention next time, shall we? Fengs are known as savage Darks thanks to their sly instincts. Hellgars, Dreadhounds, Fiddlers, and so on. There are a lot of Beasts, and Fengs are fine to take as a sub-family, kind of. Some places love such separations, but in the end, the System values Ranks and Dark Aspects rather than humans. Oh, and Feng shelves have Darks at a decent clearance level, and each has alphabetical order. More about that is on a bunch of spreadsheets because Kaufmans made it way too convoluted.”

  “Which means,” Ellie suggested, pointing to a wall right around the entrance, “there is a much-needed core of content, and it is a great system to look out for.”

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Mi-Yung rolled her eyes and pointed to the same place as Ellie.

  The table of contents was close to the tables and chairs, where one could sit and do their research. There was enough space for dozens of people and hundreds of laid-out documents. Privacy was an issue, however, so there was a possibility of borrowing such documentation, sensitive papers, or copies out of this room. One would pay prices or borrow it thanks to whatever system this place worked with.

  Not like Mi-Yung had to mention it for the time being.

  “Oh, shall we take a look?” William asked. “Or should we, or you, look at something else? For example... how does this work with my card?” Pulling his full-pass card out, it was a good question. At least Mi-Yung gave it back.

  “How the hell am I supposed to care for something out of my touch?” Mi-Yung excused herself because she didn't care and was more or less willing to bet Heidi didn't either.

  William stored it away, frowning.

  “I will fetch you the first ones myself, alright?” Getting to a shelf, she pulled a card out of her pocket and took documents about Hellgars out.

  She tossed them to the table, letting a heavy *bam* sound echo until dust flared around. A lot of paper got old and dusty. William took a seat beside Ellie, who had Celeste on her other side.

  “All of this is for Hellgars?” William asked, counting at least a hundred documents.

  “Yes and no. They are one of the most common Dark species in South and North America. Europe has a fair share of them as well. While not the weakest, they are well-rounded in almost any situation and could grow to be... problematic. Many reach demonic stages and turn away from the Beast Family. You see, there are limits to what Madness brings, unlike in others. What is based on Earth isn’t really as strong as… those things.” She paused when Hound crawled to the table, sniffing the papers.

  He sat down in curiosity right beside Celeste.

  “Anyway, Hellgars at Rank 1 are much fiercer than any animal. Rank 2, 3, and 4 are what? Stronger variants, faster, quicker, or not so much as others because of one or two vicious Dark Aspects eclipse them to the next Rank in terms of raw power.”

  “Yeah. Becoming Rank 2 or 3, or 4 Rank Darks without a change of name is common. I've heard about it. As long as they won't change too much, that is,” William said, realizing a point he learned long ago.

  Many Darks had simple ideas and bases, with considerable changes being rarer and very important yet refined. Not that every change drove and moved their name and Ranks to the next level. Because of that, this system of documents made perfect sense.

  Mixing Darks up was still rough. No matter how William looked at it, Dark Aspects were like an endless torrent added to the Corruption and nature of those creatures. Physical appearance wasn’t even the heaviest point they were known for. They were most obvious for instincts, brutality, and a very chaotic Arcana potential.

  Their bodies were strong, and their minds were kind of weak, but not in a way William should think. It was common to launch dozens of bullets at the body or head before their deaths. That included even human sub-types, though Crawlers or Shriekers could die quicker if aimed at properly.

  Human-like weaknesses were great since a head was a common flaw. Then, ripping legs until they wouldn’t move was another great thing. That sort of thing worked both ways.

  Hellgars had their variants in their heads. They could be flatter, thinner, or longer, and their jaws could be wide or very long, like those of an alligator.

  “Overpowering attacks come from jaw, pressure, paws, or Dark Aspects, which range from sudden sharp spikes, tendrils, tails, or breaths. It is a lot about body parts, rather than ranged or outer things.” Mi-Yung explained remarkable details and wondered and tested if Hound would show them off.

  He did not, though he looked at her as she talked.

  Furthermore, she described documents dating back to the Dawn, while others were recent. 2014 to 2040 was a general era of rough darkness, during which a lot of the worst things happened, and Darks were more than just new apex predators. They were straight-up apocalyptic and like a true cataclysm—some literally.

  In Mi-Yung's opinion, pests like Hellgars were also worth talking about, since what about a whole Horde of them, led by a vicious high-rank variant reaching hundreds of feet in size? Thousands of them could charge up without even an Alpha in lead and cause mayhem anywhere.

  “What else do you have to say?” Mi-Yung asked William.

  “I know these beasts a little. Saw them. Ran from them. Not good times. Overall, Darks won't die with the motion of time. They might persist for a century, so they are nothing natural or normal.” William tried to recall a lesson from someone and tried to go deep into his brain. It wasn’t working as well as he expected.

  “You've noticed that just now? Although Corruption is tough, many Darks are prolific takers of lineage and bloodlines. They don't proliferate like most animals. They Corrupt instead. Change. Evolve. Sometimes together, or by eating and stuff.”

  “What Corruption?” Celeste asked, shifting her ass on the wooden chair. It wasn't as comfortable as those below.

  “One of a kind of energy.”

  “That... doesn’t help,” Ellie whispered to her.

  “Think of it as shadows that consume, take, and change. Those monsters have it all, but true and pure Corruption is rare and falls into a couple of categories. It is a poison. That's the best way to put it. In the air. Soil. Souls, perhaps?”

  “Both flaming, crawling, sizzling, breathing, flying, and howling. It hurts a lot, like weight and pressure. It changes the living and dying,” William added, just in case he thought about it better. He was almost correct. Corruption was more vague than any regular elements, even if it had a suitable base in natural selection.

  Celeste opened her mind like her mouth, but nothing came from there. She wondered what sort of Corruption she had seen before, or what Arcana was about.

  Dreadus said she had it too, and he had it more than well, and so did those monsters. Weird. She wasn’t a monster, so why was it so complicated? Everything had it, or... what didn't have it?

  Confused, could Hound do the same things as her?

  “Apocalypse is running and changing things over the past century. Constant research is critical, and whatever is fine is getting abroad. The evolution apex of instincts and predators is what's up. That's what many people describe in Darks, and why missions to uncover them are never over. So what if they are almost made to hunt and destroy the civilization?”

  “Then they are terrible if they are taking this long to wipe some pests—I mean people. Yeah. People. They wiped shit ton of animals and who knows what else,” William mumbled and escaped Mi-Yung's hand, that nearly hit the top of his head.

  “Hmm? You dare to dodge? Impressive. Most Impressive. I won't miss next time.” She said with confidence.

  William coughed, grabbed a random document, and began reading. It was better than accepting her barrage of emotions, but he couldn't change the topic either.