Chapter 33: The Collector’s Call
For the next two hours, Ryan was busy and things got a bit smelly. The huge Spineshrieker corpse he’d left out worked like a charm.
First, a pair of scuttling, six-legged creatures called "Scrapjaw Scavengers" turned up. They were Level 3, not much of a threat individually, but they had nasty, rust-colored teeth that looked like they could chew through metal.
Ryan watched them for a bit, hidden in his tree. His Neural Symbiote Map painted little target icons on them. When they got too engrossed in tearing at the Spineshrieker, he dropped down silently.
They were so focused on their meal they barely noticed him until his knife was doing its work. He got a few god Points from them, and his system managed to extract "Digestive Enzyme Fluid [Minor]" from their innards.
Ryan made a face. "Not sure what I’ll use that for," he muttered, "Maybe to dissolve annoying rocks?" He also got a couple of "Chitinous Leg Segments."
Then, a bigger customer arrived: a "Gloom Stalker," a four-eyed, panther-like creature of Level 4, its fur the color of shadows. It had clearly smelled the feast from afar.
This fight was a bit tougher. The Gloom Stalker was fast and tried to use the dim light of the Overgrowth to its advantage. But Ryan’s own Agility, boosted by his recent essence gains and his trusty Phase Gauntlet, was up to the task.
He used a "Short Blink" to get behind it as it pounced, and a well-aimed strike finished it. From this one, he extracted a nice "+1 Agility Essence" and something called "Shadow Gland [Weak]."
More Agility was always good; he was starting to feel like he could almost outrun his own shadow. Almost.
Between these impromptu hunts, he also checked the CommNet for trade requests. A few players, hearing he was in the Overgrowth, messaged him.
One guy traded a handful of "Luminous Fungi Spores" for a small piece of Ryan’s specially roasted, sap-infused rations.