For the next two hours, Ryan was busy and things got a bit smelly. The huge Spineshrieker corpse he'd left out worked like a charm.
First, a pair of scuttling, six-legged creatures called "Scrapjaw Scavengers" turned up. They were Level 3, not much of a threat individually, but they had nasty, rust-colored teeth that looked like they could chew through metal.
Ryan watched them for a bit, hidden in his tree. His Neural Symbiote Map painted little target icons on them. When they got too engrossed in tearing at the Spineshrieker, he dropped down silently.
They were so focused on their meal they barely noticed him until his knife was doing its work. He got a few god Points from them, and his system managed to extract "Digestive Enzyme Fluid [Minor]" from their innards.
Ryan made a face. "Not sure what I'll use that for," he muttered, "Maybe to dissolve annoying rocks?" He also got a couple of "Chitinous Leg Segments."
Then, a bigger customer arrived: a "Gloom Stalker," a four-eyed, panther-like creature of Level 4, its fur the color of shadows. It had clearly smelled the feast from afar.
This fight was a bit tougher. The Gloom Stalker was fast and tried to use the dim light of the Overgrowth to its advantage. But Ryan's own Agility, boosted by his recent essence gains and his trusty Phase Gauntlet, was up to the task.
He used a "Short Blink" to get behind it as it pounced, and a well-aimed strike finished it. From this one, he extracted a nice "+1 Agility Essence" and something called "Shadow Gland [Weak]."
More Agility was always good; he was starting to feel like he could almost outrun his own shadow. Almost.
Between these impromptu hunts, he also checked the CommNet for trade requests. A few players, hearing he was in the Overgrowth, messaged him.
One guy traded a handful of "Luminous Fungi Spores" for a small piece of Ryan's specially roasted, sap-infused rations.
Ryan's system told him the spores could be refined into a slightly better light source than his current bioluminescent ones.
Another player, a nervous-sounding girl, traded him a "Precursor Data Chip [Slightly Damaged]" for directions out of a tricky part of the wilds she'd blundered into. Ryan had already memorized most of this area thanks to his map, so it was an easy trade.
He kept his Ultimate Infinite Extraction System busy. With each creature he defeated, he'd patiently extract what he could.
His system was very good at telling him when he'd gotten all the basic essences like Strength, Agility, or Vitality from a particular type of local creature. After a few extractions from the same species, the yield would drop to almost nothing.
"All tapped out on Level 3 Scrapjaw Vitality, it seems," he'd think, as his system gave him the "diminishing returns" notification.
He was systematically working his way through the local Level 3 and 4 fauna, making sure he got every last drop of permanent stat boosts they offered.
By the time the two hours were up, Ryan had a nice little pile of loot: over a dozen Anomaly cores of various sizes and energies, a few more Precursor fragments from trades and lucky finds [like a "Bent Precursor Gear" he found stuck in a tree], and a collection of weird creature parts that his system cataloged with names like "Hardened Beak Shard" and "Rubbery Hide Patch."
He felt like a very successful, if slightly grimy, garbage collector of magical monster bits.
He checked his god Interface. His experience bar had climbed steadily. He was now Level 5, with 1050 out of 1500 god Points needed for Level 6. "Getting there," he murmured. "Slow and steady wins the… well, hopefully wins something good."
Curious about how everyone else was doing, he pulled up the Regional Leaderboard. His own name, Ryan Stone, was sitting comfortably at the very top: 1st Place, Level 5. A small, satisfied smirk played on his lips. It wasn't about ego, not really. It was just nice to see his hard work paying off in a clear, quantifiable way.
He scanned the rest of the list.
2nd Place: Scarlett "Red" Viper, Level 4. "Good for her," Ryan thought. She was competent.
3rd Place: Jennifer "Quake" Lee, Level 4. Another strong player from Outpost #7.
4th Place: Emma "Sage" Thorne, Level 4. Smart and tactical.
It seemed the top brass of Outpost #7 were doing well. The leaderboard showed that about ten players in total had managed to reach Level 4. Below that, the top 100 were all at least Level 3 or higher.
The Outpost was definitely growing stronger, thanks to the recent NP boost.
Ryan decided it was time to adjust his trading strategy. He had enough of the common Level 3 creature parts and most Level 4 basic essences were now extracted for him.
He needed more advanced materials for his system to work with, things that could give him bigger boosts or more unique properties.
He opened the Outpost #7 CommNet channel. It was still buzzing with chatter about monster sightings, close calls, and the occasional boast about a good kill. Ryan typed out a new public message:
"Ryan Stone: Trading update. Will now ONLY trade for the following items:
Level 4+ Anomaly Cores [especially from fire-based or earth-based Anomalies, if you find any].
Untainted Primal Hearts [from Level 5+ creatures, the big ones!].
Functional Precursor Components.
My usual custom essences and improved rations available for fair trades. Thanks."
He kept it short and to the point. The CommNet reacted almost immediately.
"Whoa, Ryan's getting picky!"
"Level 5+ Primal Hearts? Does he think we just find those lying around?"
"Makes sense, he's Level 5. He needs the good stuff now."
"Guess my collection of pretty pebbles won't impress him, huh?" someone joked.
Ryan ignored most of the chatter. He knew his new conditions were demanding, but he also knew his custom-made items were valuable. Someone would have what he needed, eventually.
And sure enough, not long after his announcement, a private message pinged. It was from a player named Elias "Collector" Vance.
Ryan had heard of Elias. The guy was legendary in the CommNet for being an obsessive hoarder. He apparently collected everything, from shiny rocks to weird bugs to broken Precursor buttons. Most people thought he was a bit eccentric, but harmless.
Elias's message was brief: "Ryan Stone. I have an item. Might be Precursor. Old. Hums. For one of your 'Minor Stamina Potions' and a basic utility knife, if you have a spare. Meet at the three twisted trees?"
Ryan raised an eyebrow. A Stamina Potion? His potions, made from carefully extracted essences and rare herbs, were pretty good at restoring energy for long treks.
Elias, being a collector, probably did a lot of trekking. And a basic knife was almost worthless to Ryan now. The "hums" part was what caught Ryan's attention. Things that hummed in this world were often interesting.
"Agreed," Ryan replied. "Be there in ten."
He met Elias by the three weirdly contorted trees at the edge of a murky swamp. Elias was a scrawny man with wide, shifty eyes that darted everywhere, constantly scanning his surroundings as if expecting a rare mushroom to sprout at any second. He clutched a dirty sack to his chest.
"The item?" Ryan asked, keeping his voice neutral.
Elias rummaged in his sack and pulled out a small, metallic object. It was a shard, clearly broken off something larger, about the size of Ryan's thumb. It was made of a dull, silvery metal, but it felt strangely warm to the touch and gave off a faint, almost inaudible hum.
As Ryan took it, he felt a weird tingling sensation, like the air around the shard was vibrating very, very fast. The shard itself had tiny, almost invisible etchings on its surface.
"This is a 'Cracked Chronometer Shard'," Elias said, his voice a conspiratorial whisper. "Found it in a collapsed Precursor burrow. Definitely old. And it does that weird hummy thing. So, potion and knife?"
Ryan handed over a small vial containing a green, faintly glowing liquid, one of his Minor Stamina Potions and one of his older, basic utility knives that he kept for just such trades.
Elias snatched them up, his eyes gleaming, and stuffed them into his sack. "Pleasure doing business!" he chirped, and then he scurried off into the swamp, presumably to find more "treasures."
Ryan looked at the Chronometer Shard. It felt… significant. He activated his "Lore Scanner" function, the one that came from that Corrupted Data Fragment he'd found ages ago.
The god Interface fed him information:
[Cracked Chronometer Shard]
Tier: 1 [Precursor Artifact Fragment]
Description: A fragment of an ancient Precursor time-keeping device. Pulses with faint temporal energies. Extremely rare.
Properties: Unknown, but rumored to be a component for keys to "Sealed Time Vaults" or devices that interact with temporal mechanics.
Special Note: Activation of certain unique regional events or interaction with specific temporal phenomena tied to artifacts like this may require a high level of "Influence" within the god System.
Ryan's eyes widened slightly. "Sealed Time Vaults? Temporal mechanics?" This little shard was way more interesting than he'd initially thought. And the note about Influence… Ryan currently had 8 Influence points. Was that "high"? He didn't know, but it was higher than most.
Elias, for all his collecting, probably had very little Influence. The Collector likely had no way to make this shard do anything special, which was probably why he was willing to trade it for a consumable potion and a basic knife.
"One man's unusable junk is another man's SSS-Tier aptitude fuel," Ryan mused with a grin. This was a fantastic find.
His good luck seemed to be contagious, or perhaps his new trade announcement had just reached the right people. Over the next hour, more trades trickled in.
Emma "Sage" Thorne messaged him, offering a "Level 4 Geomancer's Core" [from an earth-elemental Anomaly] and a "Level 4 Pyre Hound Core" in exchange for a vial of his "Concentrated Intellect Essence."
Emma was always looking to boost her smarts for her tactical planning. Ryan happily made the trade.
Then, to his surprise, Chris "Boulder" Magnus contacted him. Chris, since his humbling rescue, had become a bit more cautious but was still focused on getting stronger.
He offered two "Level 4 Bruiser Beetle Cores" for a vial of "Fortified Strength Essence." Ryan agreed. It was good to see Chris channeling his energy into productive growth rather than just smashing training dummies.
Ryan felt a current of satisfaction. His SSS-Tier system wasn't just about fighting; it was about growth, understanding, and now, even a bit of economics.
He was building a network, accumulating resources, and getting stronger with every passing hour.
The Shifting Wilds were still a death trap, but for Ryan Stone, they were also a treasure chest, waiting to be unlocked one extraction at a time.