Ryan continued his solo exploration of the Shifting Wilds, feeling a bit like a kid in a very dangerous, very muddy candy store where all the candy could potentially eat him.
Every new plant, every strange rock, every weird bug was a potential source of extraction. He was slowly but surely getting the hang of his SSS-Tier power.
He’d even managed to extract "Minor Vibration Sense" from a large, cricket-like creature that made the ground hum before it tried to bite his ankle.
It wasn’t super useful yet, more like a faint buzzing in his feet when things got close, but hey, free senses were free senses!
Suddenly, a loud, official-sounding chi echoed through the entire Genesis Outpost #7, probably broadcast to everyone’s god Interface.
It wasn’t the calm, slightly bossy God Warden voice this ti, but a more generic, system-wide announcent.
"Attention Arrivals! An Individual Within Genesis Outpost #7 Has Achieved Assimilation Level 3! Regional Leaderboard Protocol Activated! The Top 100 Assimilation Levels Within This Outpost Are Now Visible Via Your God Interface!"
"Level 3 already?" Ryan whistled. "Soone’s been busy." He quickly accessed his Interface to check out this new "Regional Leaderboard." A see-through list popped up, ranking players by their Assimilation Level.
Genesis Outpost #7 – Regional Leaderboard [Top 100]
Scarlett "Red" Viper – Level 3 [Aptitude: Shadow Weave - A-Tier]
[Na Withheld by User Privacy Setting] – Level 2
[Na Withheld by User Privacy Setting] – Level 2
[ more Level 2s ]
Emma "Sage" Thorne – Level 2 [Aptitude: Tactical Insight - B-Tier]
[ even more Level 2s ]
Ryan Stone – Level 1 [Aptitude: (Hidden by User Privacy Setting) - SSS-Tier]
[ a long list of other Level 1s ]
Ryan blinked. Scarlett was number one, already at Level 3! That was fast. She must have gotten a huge chunk of experience from that Alpha Grove Stalker kill, or maybe she and her team had found a really good hunting spot after dealing with Alex’s situation.
Emma Thorne was also up there, solidly in the top ranks at Level 2. That made sense; her B-Tier talent probably helped her find objectives and avoid unnecessary risks.
And then there was him. Ryan Stone. Sitting at a respectable, if not earth-shattering, 55th place. Still Level 1, even though his Assimilation progress bar was teasingly full at 100/100.
He’d chosen to keep his Aptitude hidden on the leaderboard. No need to advertise "SSS-Tier Super Power Here, Co Investigate With Probes!"
He wasn’t too bothered by his rank. He knew his actual power and stat growth were outpacing his visible "Level."
This was a marathon, not a sprint. Or maybe it was a sprint and a marathon, with occasional breaks for near-death experiences and essence-sucking.
He imagined Scarlett and Emma seeing his na on the list. They probably suspected he was more capable than his Level 1 suggested, especially after their encounter and the dead Grove Stalker he’d "coincidentally" been near.
His low rank might actually confuse them, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Let them wonder.
Just as he was about to close the leaderboard, another system-wide announcent chid in.
This ti it was the God Warden’s voice again, sounding slightly more enthusiastic than usual, if that was possible for a holographic AI with a voice like a stern librarian.
"Assimilation Rewards Announced! To Encourage Swift Adaptation and Survival, Special ’Genesis Caches’ Will Be Awarded To The First Fifty Individuals In Genesis Outpost #7 To Reach Assimilation Level 5! The First Individual to Reach Level 5 Will Receive A ’Pri Genesis Cache’ Of Superior Quality!"
"Genesis Caches?" Ryan’s eyebrows shot up. "Special loot boxes for leveling up fast? And a Pri one for first place?" Now that got his attention. He loved loot. Especially loot that sounded "pri" and "superior."
His SSS-Tier system was great for internal upgrades, but getting actual gear or rare items from a cache sounded fantastic. Suddenly, reaching Level 5 felt a lot more urgent.
He was so busy thinking about potential pri loot that he almost missed the subtle shift in the air, the way the background jungle noises seed to hush for a split second.
His "Hyper-Awareness" and "Minor Vibration Sense" both tingled at the sa ti, like little alarm bells going off in his brain and feet.
Danger!
He looked up, his hand instinctively going to the reinforced knife at his belt.
And there it was.
Stepping out from behind a massive, gnarled tree whose bark looked like solidified lava, was a creature unlike anything he’d seen so far.
It was about the size of a large wolf, but its body seed wrong. It shimred and distorted at the edges, like looking at sothing through heat haze or a badly tuned TV.
Its fur was a patchwork of clashing colors sickly green, electric blue, and an angry red that seed to writhe and shift. Its eyes were burning yellow, and they weren’t quite focused, as if it were looking at multiple realities at once.
A low growl rumbled from its chest, a sound that seed to vibrate in Ryan’s bones and make his teeth ache.
His god Interface imdiately flashed a warning in bright red letters:
!! Anomaly Detected !!
Target: Distortion Hound [Level 2 Anomaly]
Threat Level: Dangerous
Notes: This creature has been warped by unstable god energy. Its movents are erratic, and its attacks carry chaotic, unpredictable properties. Significantly stronger than standard fauna of equivalent level.
Potential Loot Drops [Very Low Chance]:
Unstable Genesis Shard [Rare, 2% drop chance, essential for advanced crafting and so Aptitude upgrades!]
Minor Chaos Cache [ Very Rare, 0.5% drop chance, contains unpredictable but potentially valuable items! ]
"An Anomaly," Ryan breathed, his heart starting to pound like a drum solo. "Warped by unstable god energy. That sounds not good." The "Dangerous" threat level was also a bit concerning, especially since it was only listed as Level 2.
This thing was clearly in a different league from the Spine Whelps and Grove Stalkers.
But then he saw the potential loot drops. "Unstable Genesis Shard?" That sounded important, "essential" even. And a "Minor Chaos Cache"? Even a minor cache from an Anomaly had to be better than no cache at all.
The lure of loot, combined with the desire to test his true capabilities against sothing genuinely dangerous, was a powerful motivator.
Reaching Level 5 and getting that Pri Genesis Cache was his goal, and fighting powerful things was the fastest way to get experience.
The Distortion Hound let out another guttural growl, its shimring form taking a hesitant step forward. It seed to be trying to get a fix on him, its head tilting in that weird, unfocused way.
Ryan gripped his knife. His Agility was 14, his Intellect 17, his Spirit 14. He had Hyper-Awareness, Environntal Camouflage, and a fleeting instinct for pack tactics. He also had his SSS-Tier extraction power, but that wasn’t going to help him much during the fight.
"Okay, Ryan," he told himself, his voice a little shaky. "You wanted a challenge. You wanted to see what you’re made of. Well, here it is, gift-wrapped in shimring, chaotic, angry dog form."
He took a deep breath. He could try to run. His Agility was decent. But the Hound looked fast, and "erratic movents" suggested it might be hard to predict. And those Genesis Shards that Pri Cache.
He made his decision. He was going to fight it.
"Let’s dance, you freaky, fuzzy dinsional disaster," he muttered, and took a ready stance. This was either going to be a very impressive victory or a very short, very ssy learning experience.
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