Chapter 8: Alpha Grove Stalker
Ryan stayed hidden in the thick vines, his super-charged senses from the Resonance Bloom taking in every detail of the fight.
Scarlett "Red" Viper was definitely skilled. Her A-Tier "Shadow Weave" Aptitude was impressive. She moved like a phantom, her red hair a flash of color amidst the shadowy duplicates she conjured.
These illusions danced around the angry Grove Stalker, making it snap and hiss at empty air. It was like watching a very dangerous magic show.
But the Stalker wasn’t just relying on teeth and claws. This one was a singer. A very bad, very loud singer.
Every few seconds, it would let out that horrible, warbling sonic pulse that vibrated Ryan’s teeth even from his hiding spot.
He could see Scarlett’s teammates flinch and stumble each time it happened. Their movements became clumsy, their aim, if they were trying to hit it with their basic knives, went wide.
The sound was clearly messing with their heads, making it hard to concentrate.
"So, that’s a sonic disorientation attack," Ryan mused, his newly enhanced Intellect [ now a mighty 17! ] filing away the information.
"Nasty. And very effective against people who need to think straight to fight." Which was, you know, most people.
He activated his basic Lore Scanner function the one gifted to him by the Corrupted Data Fragment from the Precursor Tablet. He focused it on the angry, singing Grove Stalker.
Scanning Target: Grove Stalker [Alpha Variant, Level 3]