Kyle yawned, opening bleary eyes as he looked out into the red glow above the sea of black glass.  Absent mindedly reaching for some smoked fish, he began to chew as he looked over his haul.  In the four weeks since arriving on this planet, Kyle had managed to clear out the entirety of the outer segment and most of the second layer. 

Each building he explored in the second layer held a wide variety of different treasures, many of which were of a similar quality to the woven robe.  Sadly, none had an affinity he could use, so one by one they were sent off to be evaluated.  He hoped he’d secured enough to earn some offers, but he couldn’t be sure. 

His eyes drifted to the pile of obsidian shards he’d set aside, eleven in total.  While he was no expert, he felt confident that these were likely the most important pieces he’d uncovered during his exploration.  Buildings with the labs were few and far between, and each time Kyle broke into one, he found one of the shards prominently displayed. 

Much of what they had put together was conjecture, though the implications were interesting.  C.H.A.D.D.’s scans indicated that the shards resonated with one another the same way they did with the volcanic glass below.  Looking at projections, it appeared that they fit together in some type of three-dimensional puzzle.  From what Kyle could tell, there was one piece left, a jagged piece that would help form a rough sphere.

Their understanding was incomplete, though C.H.A.D.D. had been able to decipher some of what had happened.  It appeared as though the unified orb was recovered from a crater not too far from the city.  The material took inscriptions effectively, and it could be separated and rejoined with little effort, which the local scientists were quick to do. 

Layers upon layers of inscriptions were put on the material as the scientists split and rearranged it.  Their goal appeared to be tied to energy creation, but they overdid their experimentation. Eventually, the shards reached a point where they were unable to fuse again due to the sheer number of inscriptions.  That’s when they’d contained each shard, with the intention of repairing whatever damage had been done.  Kyle didn’t know why that was so important to them, though he hoped more of the mystery would be revealed when he found the twelfth piece. 

He absently reached out an arm to touch one of the containment spheres, and jumped at the look of his arm.  Veins of dark gray ran down its length, branching out like spiderwebs across his flesh.  Kyle gave a gentle pull with his Willpower, reducing the mana circulating through his skin.  That’s still going to take some getting used to, he thought, watching the pattern recede. 

[DR. MAYHEW, IS THERE A REASON YOU’RE DEACTIVATING YOUR ABILITY?]

“It’s a little unsettling, that’s all.  Besides, it’s not like I need it right now.”

[LIKELY A WISE DECISION.  CENTRAL HEALTH HAD REGULATIONS ABOUT TATTOOS FOR A REASON, AFTER ALL.]

Kyle looked at his arms again, allowing the grey veins to reappear.  I guess it does kind of look like a tattoo.  “That was a dumb policy, and you know it.  Somehow, I don’t think they’ll care.”

[IN FACT, I BELIEVE MS. ROCHELLE MAY APPROVE.]

Kyle rolled his eyes as he looked outside his makeshift shelter, reflecting on all that had happened over the past four weeks.

Even though Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. found very little that they could personally use, Kyle found a treasure of a different variety.  The second layer of the city had been rife with schools of the magnetic fish.  No longer.  Kyle’s encounters with the creatures had not ended well for them, with scant few remaining.  He would have been content to leave them be, but their aggression left him little choice. 

Some of the D Grade variants had proven challenging, some shrouding themselves in armor made of volcanic glass while others attempted to crush him underneath cascading waves.  Kyle adapted and faced them all.  Weaker Willpower was a consistent theme among them, and Parasitic Resonance greedily consumed their energy.  The Core of the Parasitic Devourer filled with every kill, until it hit 10%. 

Kyle still remembered the kill that had topped it off; a D Grade fish shrouded in a swirling armor of volcanic glass from his second-to-last encounter.  After Parasitic Resonance connected, it drained just a little of the creature’s energy before the effect stopped.  He felt his body begin to itch all over as the skill reverted to what it had been before fighting the fish.  His core had been satiated.  For now.

Finishing off the school hadn’t resulted in any further response from the core, nor did the deaths of the final school that he defeated.  Instead, when he entered meditation, he saw a notable change to his status.

 KYLE MAYHEW.  ARTHRO-HUMAN CHIMERA (PARASITE), SURVIVALIST.  LEVEL 59 (D)

CORE OF THE PARASITIC DEVOURER 10%

ADAPTIVE ANATOMY – 8/? – ENHANCED CARAPACE (FERRIC AUGMENTATION), AURIC PERCEPTION, EXOSKELETAL STRENGTH, CEASELESS VITALITY, INSTINCTIVE INTELLIGENCE, COVERT DEXTERITY, UNBREAKABLE WILL

VITALITY: 880

ENDURANCE: 1050

STRENGTH: 363

DEXTERITY: 664

WILLPOWER: 1300

INTELLIGENCE: 1300

PERCEPTION: 988

FREE ATTRIBUTES: 0

Like much of his Adaptive Anatomy, the Ferric Augmentation gave him very little when he focused on it.  Fortunately, the effect was evident when he allowed his mana to flow freely through his body.  Veins of biological metal formed and hardened under the woven carapace of his skin, creating the unusual web pattern.  Kyle experimented with it a bit, though at this point he could do little outside of suppressing its effects, leaving only faint traces of gray. 

He looked back down at his arms, then sighed as he allowed the mana to flow freely, the pattern growing more pronounced once again.  Why should I care?  Ultimately, it took a modest level of focus to keep his new ability suppressed, and for what?  To intentionally weaken himself to appear more normal?  The thought almost made him laugh.

Kyle wasn’t sure exactly how much tougher he was by comparison, but if C.H.A.D.D.’s scans were correct, it was a lot.  Coupled with the improvements to his Endurance, Kyle suspected that Tillienne’s lance attack would now have a hard time even piercing his skin.  He said a quiet thanks that Skippy wasn’t around, as the skrell would certainly want to take the opportunity to see how he measured up. 

The other important development was, of course, his increased level.  Kyle just crossed the threshold to Level 59, though he didn’t expect to make it to Level 60 before Phase Three was done.  The entire Practicum had proven to be an excellent training opportunity, pushing him to his limits time and time again.  Will levels come this easily in the future? 

There seemed to be diminishing returns as Kyle adapted to the challenges he faced, coupled with marginally increasing difficulty between each level.  The peak of D Grade was Level 125, and he couldn’t help but wonder what it would take to get there.  The thought was both exciting and overwhelming, and Kyle took a moment to resettle himself.  There would be plenty of time to focus on that later – for now he had a job to do.

“C.H.A.D.D., can you pull up the rough map you have of the inner area?”

[CERTAINLY, DR. MAYHEW.]

A three-dimensional map expanded inside the makeshift tent, highlighting his exploration so far.  The heart of the settlement was still largely obscured, though Kyle had ventured in a few steps to help C.H.A.D.D. get some readings.  Between the notes they found in the labs and the drone’s analysis, they expected the central area contained the central lab, and little else outside of residential housing.  The final lab was the most important, nestled into the very heart of the city.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to access.  Every glimpse Kyle got was obscured by swirling volcanic glass.  Visibility was near-zero, which was only the first problem.  The density of the fish had increased nearly threefold between the outer layer and the second, and Kyle suspected that would hold true for the inner area as well.  If that was true, he would end up fighting virtually the entire time he was exploring.

As powerful as he’d become, it was difficult to overcome the advantage of sheer numbers.  The presence of multiple D Grades in the smaller area also meant that the lab could more easily get caught in the crossfire.  Enough powerful attacks could still damage the structure, protective inscriptions or no.

“I don’t think a full exploration is going to be an option.” Kyle mused, looking at the map.  “C.H.A.D.D., what can you tell me about how the fish detect prey?”

[FROM WHAT I CAN TELL, IT’S A COMBINATION OF MANA SENSE AND SENSITIVITY TO CHANGES IN THE VOLCANIC GLASS, DR. MAYHEW.]   

Kyle nodded.  “That’s consistent with what I was expecting.  If we want to get to the final lab, we’ll need to mitigate both.  I can suppress my mana, any thoughts on limiting the disturbance in the sand?”

[DUE RESPECT, DR. MAYHEW, BUT I DOUBT YOU’LL BE ABLE TO MINIMIZE THAT TYPE OF DISTURBANCE.  YOUR ANATOMY DOESN’T LEND ITSELF TO SKATING OVER OR SWIMMING THROUGH THE SAND.]

“We can probably afford to attract some attention; I just don’t want to have an entire school after me at once.”

[THE MOMENT YOUR SKILL ACTIVATES, STEALTH IS OUT OF THE QUESTION.  DRAWING IN ENERGY THE WAY YOU DO ISN’T SUBTLE.]

“Do you think they can even detect me through the cloud of glass?” Kyle asked, hopefully.

[ALMOST CERTAINLY.  THE MAGNETISM IN THE CENTRAL AREA IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE’VE SEEN FROM THE OTHER FISH, ALBEIT FAR MORE PRONOUNCED.  IF ANYTHING, THE CLOUD LIKELY MAKES DETECTION EASIER.]

Kyle felt his brows crease as a frown began to take shape.  He stood and began pacing, thinking through the problem.  A full search was out of the question, and Kyle contemplated for a while if it was even worth sticking around to try and enter the inner area.  He was curious about the scans of the shards, particularly about the applications of layering different types of inscriptions in rearrangeable patterns.

As they were, each shard had static layers of enchantments, which were impressive.  If the notes were correct, when the whole construct was put together, those layers could move up and down, creating a mind-boggling number of possible combinations.  The twelfth shard was the final piece of that particular puzzle, and with C.H.A.D.D.’s scans, there was a good chance they could reverse-engineer the process.  Assuming they could find a qualified crafter, of course.

There was also his next skill upgrade to consider.  He might be able to eke out another level, but it was far from guaranteed.  He’d have to slaughter a lot of the fish.  While time wasn’t an explicit factor, he understood that the evaluators would be adding a qualitative evaluation to his process.  He had to assume the slow speed with which he completed the acquisitions would count against him, so he would need both the quality and quantity of his retrievals to be exceptional to make up for it.

He stopped then, an idea coming to him.  He looked at the piles of damaged furniture he’d set aside to keep the cooking fire going, and grinned.  “C.H.A.D.D., your understanding is that their detection through the sand is mainly due to the presence of foreign objects obstructing the natural movement, is that right?”

[A RUDIMENTARY, BUT ACCURATE ASSESSMENT.  YES.]

“If that’s the case, I think that stealth is probably the wrong approach.”

[YOU INTEND TO FIGHT THEM?]

“No, I’ve got something a little different in mind.”