Chapter 11: Ghoststeps!
Daniel moved like a ghost, his low-level [Ghoststeps] skill silencing even the faint sounds of his steps on the mossy ground and loose rocks.
Triple his enhanced Agility made him incredibly swift, yet he forced himself to move deliberately, exploiting every shadow and piece of jagged obsidian the basin had to offer as cover.
His full attention was split: one part tracking the methodical movements of the leather-clad woman dissecting the Spike-Backed Ravagers, the other focused on reaching the two fallen recruits from Darius's team.
The newcomer seemed utterly engrossed in her task, her twin daggers flashing with surgical precision as she harvested claws, teeth, and what looked like internal glands from the Ravager carcasses.
Her focus was absolute, a predator processing its kill, seemingly oblivious to the lesser spoils nearby.
Daniel reached the first body, the recruit felled early by the [Spine Volley]. His grey fatigues were shredded, his chest a mangled ruin.
Daniel averted his gaze from the grisly wound, kneeling swiftly beside the corpse. The cold calculation warred briefly with a surge of revulsion, but the grim necessity of survival and growth in the Verge won out. He focused his intent, the familiar mental command forming: Assimilate.
A surge of energy flowed into him, weaker than the creature assimilations but carrying distinct traces of the recruit's latent potential and final moments of panicked struggle.
[Soul Assimilation successful on Fallen Awakened: Recruit NAME_PENDING_1 (Talent: Enhanced Reflexes - D Grade).]
[Warning: Residual Consciousness Echo detected. Adaptability check passed. Minimal psychological imprint.]
[Gain: Agility +0.1]