The victory over the Ash-Scale Wyrm was monumental, but for Adam, it was a means to an end. The wyrm's meat had fortified his body, but his spirit yearned for the sky.
The Membrane Wings fragment, sitting at 0.5/1.0, was a constant, tantalizing presence in his mind. It was time to finish the hunt he had started long ago. It was time to find more bats.
His Hunter's Sense, now honed to a supernatural edge, was his primary tool. He filtered out the scents of earth, fungus, and larger predators, focusing on the specific, musky odor of bat fur and the faint, chittering vibrations unique to their echolocation. He wasn't looking for just any bat; he needed the specific Gloomwing Bat variant to ensure fragment compatibility.
He found a promising lead: a thermal updraft from a deep fissure that carried the distinct, concentrated scent of a large bat colony.
Using his Gecko's Grip, he scaled the wall beside the fissure, moving with a silence that defied his size. Peering over the edge, he saw it—a vast, subterranean hollow, its ceiling lost in darkness, but teeming with the rustling, hanging forms of hundreds of Gloomwing Bats. It was a roost.
A direct assault would be suicide. He was tough, but a swarm of hundreds would overwhelm him in seconds. He needed a strategy.
"I'm a sniper, not a brawler," he reminded himself. "And I'm a patient hunter."
He found a perfect vantage point: a rocky outcrop partway down the hollow's wall, shrouded in shadows. His Deep Camouflage made him part of the rock.
From here, he could observe the colony's patterns. He noticed that smaller groups, often juveniles or adults returning from hunting, would land on nearby ledges to rest before re-joining the main cluster.
These isolated bats were his targets.
He waited. When a trio of bats, each the size of his head, landed on a ledge thirty feet away, he acted. He didn't use Weasel's Sprint; the noise might alert the colony. Instead, he used the pure, controlled power of his Agility. He pushed off from his perch, slithering across the wall with Gecko's Grip in a fluid, silent dash.
He was upon them before they could react. A single, powerful Constrict crushed two together, while his tail, empowered by his new Strength, whipped out like a bludgeon to smash the third against the wall. The entire encounter was over in the space of a heartbeat, producing only a few muffled crunches.
He quickly consumed them, dragging their bodies back to his perch.
[ Membrane Wings Fragment: 0.6... 0.7... 0.8/1.0 ]
[ Echolocation Fragment: 0.7/1.0 ]
"So close," he thought, the excitement a physical thrum in his veins.
He repeated this process over the next several hours, a phantom reaper on the walls. He became a master of the silent, swift kill.
He used Crystal Shard Shot to pick off a single bat from a distant ledge, its body tumbling into the depths before the others noticed. He used Mantis Slash to sever the wing of a bat in mid-flight, sending it spiraling into his waiting jaws.
Each kill was a calculated risk. Each consumption brought him closer.
Finally, after dispatching a large, solitary male that had strayed too far from the group, the notifications he had been yearning for appeared.
[ Membrane Wings Fragment: 1.0/1.0 ]
[ Echolocation Fragment: 1.0/1.0 ]
[ Skill Fragment Complete! ]
[ New Skill Acquired: Echolocation (Active) - Cost: Low Mana ]
Effect:Emit high-frequency pulses to create a mental 3D map of your surroundings, effective even in total darkness or through visual obstructions.
[ Unique Trait Unlocked! ]
[ Prerequisites Met: Agility 21/25, Vitality 18/15 ]
[ Evolving: Membrane Wings... ]
A sensation far more intense than any skill acquisition washed over him. It was a deep, fundamental rewriting of his form. He felt a burning, stretching sensation along the sides of his body, just behind his head. It wasn't painful, but it was profoundly wonderful.
Ribs of flexible cartilage extended, pushing against his scales, which thinned and stretched into a tough, leathery membrane. The process was swift, and when it was over, Adam felt... different.
He craned his neck to look. There, folded against his flanks, were two sleek, dark wings. They were not large enough for sustained flight—not yet—but they were perfect for gliding.
He didn't hesitate. He pushed off from his perch, and for the first time since his reincarnation, he was not falling.
He was flying.
He glided silently across the vast hollow, the air rushing over his scales, the world below him shrinking. He used his new Echolocation, and the entire cavern, every stalactite and every sleeping bat, was painted in perfect, three-dimensional detail in his mind.
It was a feeling of freedom so profound it stole his breath. He was no longer bound to the dungeon floor.
He landed gracefully on the far side of the hollow, his heart soaring higher than his body just had. He checked his status, a wide, triumphant grin on his face.
[ Status ]
Name:Adam Smith
Species:Stalker Shadowscale (Winged)
Level:11
EP to Next Level:56/60
Evolution Points:163/1000
Skill Points:0
[ Attributes ]
Strength:16
Vitality:18
Agility:21
Intelligence:13
[ Traits ]
Deep Camouflage,Prey's Tremor, Hunter's Sense, Membrane Wings (Gliding)
[ Skills ]
...Echolocation (Lvl 1) ...
He looked back towards the tunnels that led to the Rime-Tail Scorpion's domain.
The time for preparation was over. Adam, now a winged predator, returned to the frigid cavern of the Rime-Tail Scorpion. This time, he didn't slink through the tunnels.
He descended from above, his wings spread in a silent glide, his Hunter's Sense and Echolocation mapping the entire battlefield in a perfect, three-dimensional tapestry. The scorpion was there, exactly as he remembered, a monument of chitin and ice.
It sensed him immediately. Its head, with those cold, compound eyes, tilted up. The Rime-Tail glowed, and a wave of frost erupted towards him. But Adam was ready. He folded one wing, executing a sharp, banking turn that the ground-bound creature couldn't anticipate. The frost wave passed harmlessly beneath him.
"You can't hit what you can't predict," Adam thought, a surge of triumph fueling him.
He dove, not to attack, but to harass. He used Crystal Shard Shot, the projectiles pinging off its armored back. It was useless for damage, but it was infuriating.
The scorpion roared, its pincers snapping at the air. Adam flew circles around it, using his Gecko's Grip to make brief, unpredictable landings on the cavern walls and ceiling, changing angles constantly.
The scorpion grew more enraged, its movements becoming wilder. It was exactly what Adam wanted. He was looking for an opening, a moment of over-extension. It came when the scorpion, in a fit of fury, slammed both pincers down into the ground where Adam had been a second before, momentarily embedding them in the stone.
"Now!"
Adam dropped from the ceiling like a black comet, Weasel's Sprint propelling him straight down. He aimed for the one spot his Hunter's Sense had identified as slightly warmer, a minor fissure in the chitin at the base of the Rime-Tail, where the frozen orb met the body.
He coiled in mid-air, putting all his weight and his enhanced Strength into a single, devastating Mantis Slash (Lvl 2). The invisible blade of energy struck true, carving a deep gash into the joint.
Icy, blue fluid—the creature's lifeblood—spurted out.
The scorpion let out a shriek of agony that shook the very foundations of the cavern.
It was wounded. Critically.
Adam landed, ready to press his advantage. He would use his venom, his constriction—he would wear it down now that it was hurt. This was his victory.
He could taste it.
But the dungeon always had a crueler twist.
From a massive, unseen shaft in the cavern's ceiling, a shadow fell. A sound like tearing canvas filled the air. Before Adam could even look up, something colossal and feathered slammed into the Rime-Tail Scorpion with the force of a meteor.
It was a Cave Roc, a monstrous, flightless bird of prey that treated other large monsters as its food source. Its talons, each as long as Adam's body, dug deep into the scorpion's back. The scorpion, already reeling from its injury, was driven to the ground.
The impact was catastrophic. The section of the cavern floor where both monsters now struggled—directly beneath Adam—shattered.
It wasn't just a crack. It was a collapse. The ancient, frozen stone, weakened by the scorpion's rage and the Roc's impact, gave way entirely.
Adam had no time to react. One moment he was poised for victory, the next the world was falling out from under him. He tried to spread his wings, to glide, but he was caught in a torrent of falling rock and debris.
A large stone struck his head, and his world exploded into stars and pain. His wings were battered, his body tumbling uncontrollably.
He caught a final, horrifying glimpse: the Rime-Tail Scorpion and the Cave Roc, locked in their mortal struggle, were falling with him, down into a deeper, darker abyss than any he had ever known.
The fall seemed to last an eternity. He crashed onto a hard, cold surface with a force that drove the air from his lungs. Agony flared through his entire body. His vision swam, his Hunter's Sense a chaotic mess of pain signals.
[ Health: 8/65 ]
[ Status Effects: Major Concussion, Multiple Fractures, Wing Sprain ]
He was broken. Barely conscious. Through blurred vision, he saw the two titans land not far from him. The Roc, more agile, recovered first, and immediately began tearing into the mortally wounded scorpion.
The fight was short and brutal. The Rime-Tail Scorpion, was being devoured alive.
The Roc feasted, its screeches of triumph echoing in the profound darkness.