Regrouping (2)
‘Ah, come to think of it, I'd forgotten all about that.’
After the Gallagon pack departed, I crawled out of the burrow and checked my text boxes.
Midway through the fight, a Predation Effect had triggered. When I'm not using the Avatar of the Hunt, the odds of claiming Genetic Essence are abysmally low, yet fortune had smiled on me this time. And it wasn't the essence of some Green Gallagon either — it was a White Gallagon's.
When I pulled the box back up, barely ten seconds remained before the choice would expire. Startled, I hastily selected the trait acquisition.
Stolen biological trait from 'White Gallagon': Galagon's Horn
The trait Galagon's Horn has been applied.
‘Whew. That was a close call.’
The moment the trait took hold, the horns on my head began to mutate.
All six of them had grown far larger than before. My cranial carapace was unchanged, but with the horns swelling, my whole head felt distinctly heavier.
There were subtler changes as well, beyond sheer size.
For one thing, every horn now bore a thin layer of scales sweeping backward across its surface. The crevices between the scales had bleached white, so that my black horns looked as if white fissures had split through them.
And of the six horns I'd possessed before the mutation, two had been broken — a fact the transformation had faithfully preserved.
My horns had originally come in two varieties: a pair that spiraled in a coiled whirl, tips angled forward, and four that jutted upward like spikes in a single row along the carapace.
Odd Grad's breath had damaged one of the spiral horns and the last of the four in the row. They had still been mid-regeneration when the mutation applied itself, and the result was an asymmetry in both size and shape between my horns.
The right one had thickened into something stout and imposing, while the left had sprouted a wild thicket of razor-sharp scales like the teeth of a saw. The four in the row had fared no differently.
‘Hmm.’
It was an unexpected change, but I couldn't imagine it interfering with their use as weapons. I ran a hand over the horns, now stranger than ever.
‘Galagon's Horn, huh.’
The effect of the psychic trait called Galagon's Horn was beautifully simple.
It completely ignored the effects of psychic power techniques.
Take Reflection, for example — the technique that had vexed me more than once.
Even against an enemy shielding itself with Reflection, a thrust of my horns could not be blocked. The horn simply pierced straight through the barrier's domain. Every other shield-type psychic technique would be broken the same way.
The nullification was limited to the horns themselves. The instant my carapace touched a Reflection, my whole head would be flung away — but the horns were so enormous that this was rarely a problem against ordinary Cultists. A single horn was well over a meter long, after all.
‘An excellent trait when fighting the Cult.’
The pity was that these horns would never get their moment against Gallagons. They didn't use techniques like Reflection in the first place.
Having confirmed the state of my horns, I turned to review the messages that had accumulated in the meantime.
I had failed to kill Odd Grad, but the battle had yielded a tremendous haul. Without my noticing, my APEX kill count had climbed to twenty-eight.
Only kills I landed personally counted toward the APEX requirement, and unleashing God's Whip on the Gallagon pack had let me rack up the numbers in a single stroke.
‘Just two more, and the APEX condition is complete.’
Not that I'd stop hunting them afterward. I still needed to acquire ten Unique Traits and six Types, after all.
Thanks to the Transcendence System handing out Unique Traits, acquisition had gotten comparatively easier — but it was never meant to be this way.
In the game, the orthodox method of obtaining a Unique Trait was hunting a creature that already possessed one. You either killed something in the upper-mid ranks of the APEX hierarchy or above, like a Black Gallagon, or you slew a player who held a Unique Trait.
The latter meant killing enemies who actually utilized Genetic Essence — Outspacer players or gene-modified Mega Corp players.
It went without saying that even a Black Gallagon was brutally difficult for a player to take down alone. And the Red Gallagons and Arcane Orcas above it were far more powerful still.
And what of the players who'd claimed Unique Traits from killing those? Each and every one was a top-tier player on par with a Ranker, no explanation needed.
Obtaining a Unique Trait in the game, in short, was never easy.
How hard was it? Fewer than ten players — myself included — ever reached Adult Amorph in the entire game. I'd suffered enormously clawing my way past that wall myself.
‘By that measure, the Transcendence System really is revolutionary.’
I'd been in this world less than a year, and already I was this strong. I was mulling that over when my body suddenly rose into the air.
No. 26 was using her psychic power to carry my injured form.
[Zzz zz-zzzz (I'm fine now)]
｢No. Big Baby is hurt, so I'll carry you.｣
The lower half of my tail hadn't finished regenerating yet, and the bones in my wing-arms were still knitting themselves back together.
‘I suppose I'll accept her help for now.’
She wobbled a few times as she lifted me, then seemed to find her rhythm and hauled me along properly.
Before long, PS-111 appeared dragging the Gallagon corpses behind her, and No. 26 scooped those up too.
‘Impressive.’
She showed no strain whatsoever lifting me and several Gallagon carcasses with psychic power alone. Fitting for a quasi-raid-boss-class creature.
We gathered up the Gallagon bodies and moved with deliberate care. There was no telling when Odd Grad might send pursuers after us again.
I'd already told Adhai and Nel Germa to meet us at the nest. They would be hiding somewhere in the forest, moving on their own.
About half a day into our journey, my wing bones had nearly finished mending, so I asked No. 26 to set me down.
｢Big Baby is still hurt. When you're hurt, you have to rest.｣
[Zzzz-zz (I'm fine now, really)]
The pincer on my tail had a long way to go before it regenerated, but crawling on the ground posed no real problem. I took a few of the Gallagon corpses from No. 26 and secured them firmly with my erosion tentacles.
"Those tentacles appear highly versatile and very useful."
[Zzzzzz (I suppose they are)]
"Genetic information will be required to incorporate them into a future upgrade."
[Zzzz (Denied)]
Having flatly refused her request, I set off with the Gallagon bodies in tow. Aside from the hollowness in my lower half, I looked to be in decent shape.
Thus, after a short rest, we set out once more toward the nest.
Since I was traveling on foot now, my pace improved dramatically from before — though still slower than flying. Only after losing nearly a full day did we finally draw near the nest I had built.
As we approached, Adhai and Nel Germa, who had arrived ahead of us, emerged from the forest.
"Sub-controller 2. Confirmed as Little Baby. Welcome back."
｢Hi, Little Baby!｣
｢Little Adult｣ ｢Hurt child｣ ｢Safe｣ ｢Relief｣
After greeting No. 26 and PS-111, Adhai took one look at my still-regenerating tail and recoiled in shock.
｢Big Adult｣ ｢Injury｣ ｢Severe｣ ｢Okay?｣
[Zzz zz-zzzz (It'll heal soon)]
｢Rest｣ ｢Needed｣ ｢Return｣ ｢Qui—｣ ｢?｣
Adhai cut off her thought-burst mid-sentence and tilted her head. Those lavender eyes, fallen like petals onto a snowfield, were fixed precisely on my horns.
｢Horns｣ ｢Feel｣ ｢Different｣
[Zzz zzzzz-zz zzzz-zzzz (Odd Grad broke them earlier)]
｢Broken｣ ｢Different｣ ｢Horns｣ ｢Changed｣
[Zzz zzz zzz-zz-zz (These changed because I ate prey)]
｢One side｣ ｢Bigger｣ ｢Other side｣ ｢Sharper｣ ｢Wild｣ ｢Attractive｣ ｢Yes｣
｢Agreed｣
Adhai nodded, apparently preferring my horns' new look. Nel Germa beside her sent a thought-burst of agreement as well.
｢Appendages bigger mean attractive?｣
"Among certain species, it is said the males flaunt elaborate tails or horns to advertise their sexual appeal."
｢Don't understand.｣
[Zzzz-zzzzz zzzz-zz-zz zzzzzz (Enough chattering. Was there any trouble at the nest?)]
At my words, Adhai finally seemed to remember, and thought-bursts came pouring out in a flood.
｢Big Adult｣ ｢Important thing｣ ｢Exists｣ ｢Very｣ ｢Very｣ ｢Very!｣ ｢Important thing!｣ ｢Now｣ ｢Nest｣ ｢Must go!｣
[Zzz zz (What is it?)]
｢Nel Germa｣ ｢Daughter of the Shooting Star｣ ｢Opinion｣ ｢Agree｣ ｢Black kin｣ ｢Home｣ ｢Check｣ ｢Necessary｣
Seeing even the composed Nel Germa adopt such urgency sent a ripple of unease through me.
‘Did something happen to the nest?’
Or perhaps Mother of the Sky had been gravely wounded. I hurriedly checked the parasite lodged in her head — wait, no, that was Adhai. I checked the one riding Adhai's skull. It looked healthy, so nothing catastrophic had happened to her body, at least.
‘Then why the rush?’
[Zzzz zzzzz (Is something wrong with the nest?)]
｢Nest｣ ｢Problem｣ ｢None｣ ｢Problem｣ ｢Something else｣ ｢Quickly｣ ｢Confirm｣
Following Adhai as she bounced and bounded along, urging me onward, I broke into a run toward the nest.
Through the trees in the distance, I could see the mouth of the cave, half-buried in the ground. Beside the entrance lay something enormous, a mingling of red and white.
‘Huh?’
I was still thinking the shape looked oddly familiar when someone emerged from the cave.
It was a beast with a body like a gaunt black skeleton, the massive antlers of a stag, and a head shaped like a beast's skull.
A spitting image of the malevolent phantom beast of Space Survival — the Wendigo.
And the Wendigo-like beast turned to look at me. From its empty eye sockets, a familiar pair of amber will-o'-the-wisps flickered to life.
The Wendigo was Mother of the Sky, using her Hunt God's Disguise Husk. She had been keeping watch on Odd Grad's nest, and had made it back here safely.
The moment she saw me, she gestured frantically.
｢There's no time! The injuries are too grave — she won't last long! We have to use the Symbiote Spores, now!｣
Only after hearing her words did I understand what the colossal object beside the cave entrance was.
Torn wings. Broken, twisted arms and legs. A shredded tail and a shattered horn. It was a White Gallagon, wrecked almost beyond recognition.
And this Gallagon was someone I had met once before.
‘Ham Ort?’
Adhai's mother, who had risen in rebellion against the Black Dragon. The one sealed away in Odd Grad's nest was here.
‘Did Mother of the Sky bring her?’
I wanted to ask what had happened — but there was something I had to do first.
I generated the Symbiote Spores and pressed them against the dying Ham Ort's body.
‘She's a valuable source of intelligence. I can't afford to lose her here.’
Even as I attached the spores, the creature didn't so much as twitch. I couldn't even sense her breathing — she was clearly wandering the border between life and death.
The reason I'd left her outside the nest rather than carrying her straight in was that my lair was crawling with hazards that would harm any creature lacking my sanction.
Thanks to the traits I carried, the nest was constantly venting substances toxic to other organisms. None of them were potent enough to threaten a White Gallagon's life on their own — but Ham Ort's injuries were critical. Left inside as she was, nine times out of ten she'd end up as fertilizer for the nest.
‘Spores are on. Let's move her inside.’
With the Symbiote Spores attached, Ham Ort could benefit from their restorative effects. I lifted her gently with my erosion tentacles and laid her down in the depths of the nest.
Perhaps it was the warmth rising from the nest itself, but I could feel life slowly returning to Ham Ort's body.
[Zzzz zzzzz (What happened?)]
｢Explaining in detail would take a while. I'll fill you in later — you should rest too.｣
She was right; my tail injury hadn't fully healed either. She said nothing more and stepped back out of the cave.
‘There's so much to think about...’
Perhaps it was the relief of finally making it back to the nest, but a wave of fatigue came crashing over me all at once.
‘I'll rest for a little while, just for now.’
And so, on the warm marsh, I closed my eyes.