‘Shadow Stalkers use extremely thin mana tentacles to drain energy with absorption waves,’ knowledge flowed while Ren prepared his trap. ‘And those waves follow a very specific pattern…’
The mushrooms in his hair pulsed while he extracted the Silver-rank proto-core crystal he’d obtained from the worm. Unlike a normal crystal, this one still maintained part of the incomplete core’s mana storage structure, making it perfect for his needs. Its imperfect core nature actually made it more suitable for what he planned.
‘If I overcharge it with the correct pattern…’
With precise movements, Ren began introducing mana into the crystal, carefully mimicking Shadow Stalkers’ drainage waves.
Each pulse had to be exact, too strong would alert the male immediately, too weak wouldn’t affect the Bark Stalker from a safe distance.
It was risky work; every energy pulse was like a beacon for the male at the cave entrance, who would interpret it as a rival male’s presence. This was why the crystal needed to be perfectly calibrated for a range that was neither too long nor too short.
The male shifted position, its head turning slightly toward Ren’s location.
Though still too far to detect him completely, its mere movement sent chills down Ren’s spine.
‘Just a little more…’
The crystal began emitting a barely perceptible hum.
To the Bark Stalker, it would feel like an approaching Shadow Stalker male, the wave pattern was unmistakable to a creature that had survived this long in such dangerous territory.
The reaction was immediate and dramatic.
The camouflaged giant tensed, its perfect environmental fusion faltering for a moment. The mushrooms pulsed in response, the primitive fear of losing years of accumulated energy, so close to evolution, was overcoming its instinct to maintain position.
Ren moved the crystal with surgical precision, directing the waves.
Finally, the Bark Stalker began retreating, abandoning its position with clear reluctance. Each step, taken as quickly as its massive form allowed, brought it closer to the cave while trying to escape what it perceived as an approaching predator…
The male at the entrance rose to its full height, its body revealing itself in all its terrible glory.
It had detected the Bark Stalker, a prey too tempting to ignore, especially one so rich in accumulated vitality.
‘Now comes the dangerous part,’ Ren thought while preparing to move.
He needed the male to chase the Bark Stalker far enough from the entrance, but not in his direction nor toward the school’s safe zone where teachers and assistants might detect the commotion.
The mushrooms pulsed frantically when the male launched its attack. The Bark Stalker, caught between the false Shadow Stalker and the real predator, chose what it perceived as the lesser evil.
But Ren didn’t falter. Instead, he redirected the waves to quickly give the monster an “escape route” where it wouldn’t have to face either of the two “males” it sensed pursuing it.
Its retreat turned into a full sprint as the real male gave chase, heading exactly in the direction Ren needed them to go.
‘The entrance is clear,’ the knowledge showed him he had about 20 or 30 minutes, at most, before the male returned. ‘The black females are at the cave, and if he could find the…’
It was time to discover if his entire plan was worth the risk.
♢♢♢♢
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed while he slipped toward the cave entrance. The knowledge flowed freely now, Shadow Stalker females slept in groups, their fifty-centimeter bodies piled in the darkest zones where mana naturally concentrated.
‘The skin is the only valuable part in the market,’ he thought while preparing his equipment with practiced efficiency. ‘And only the outer layer… But I have an idea for the tentacles, if only the male…’
The tunnel descended in a gentle slope, its walls gleaming faintly in certain places where years of mana absorption by the creatures had saturated the very rock. The air grew thicker with each step downward.
In some of these places, crystals had formed naturally, their structure altered by the constant exposure to the creatures’ unique mana manipulation.
These were the crystals that females accumulated as supplements to feed the male before going deeper to sleep.
It seemed Ren had gotten lucky, arriving just before the absorption date when the collections would be at their peak.
Ren collected a bag of those rocky crystals, as many as would fit.
He had to be careful not to get too close to the swarms’ sleeping zones and not descend too deep into the cave, or he’d risk mana poisoning so severe he wouldn’t even last the two and a half days at camp.
Though if his plan worked…
The mushrooms pulsed more strongly, warning about the increasing energy density as he descended deeper into the cave system.
The tunnel widened into a first chamber.
Ren’s faint glow revealed groups of sleeping Shadow Stalkers in the walls’ natural cavities. Their black, fifty-centimeter bodies piled on top of each other, their skins absorbing mana even during rest.
The sight was both fascinating and terrifying.
Ren paused to study their breathing pattern.
The knowledge flowed: during daylight hours, their metabolism slowed to an absolute minimum, making them vulnerable but still lethal to touch.
‘But I need a way to separate the skin without touching or damaging it,’ he thought while observing more closely.
The creatures, though asleep, remained mortally dangerous. A single touch and they would begin draining his vital energy.
The knowledge helped him find the most efficient path through what would be a labyrinth to untrained eyes as he ventured deeper. The chamber connected to others, each housing more sleeping groups.
Finally, Ren reached a deeper chamber, its walls marked with distinctive patterns.
‘This is the molting chamber,’ the knowledge flowed while he observed the walls.
Distinctive marks covered the rock, scratch patterns where creatures rubbed to shed their old skins during the process.
A movement caught his attention. In one of the higher cavities, a Shadow Stalker writhed in its sleep, its outer skin naturally detaching.
With morbid fascination, he watched as the external skin came off cleanly, like a perfect sheath, maintaining all its mana isolation properties while leaving the sleeping creature with its new, gleaming skin.
The new body emerged larger and more fragile, but within days it would absorb enough mana to regain its hardness and elasticity in the outer layer.
This was the chamber he’d been searching for, dozens of skins rested on the ground.
Some had been ruined by moisture, insects, and decomposing remains on the floor, but many new molts rested atop the damaged ones, in perfect condition.
