Lucas returned to his makeshift shelter as dawn broke, a sense of relief mixed with a new kind of apprehension. His encounter with Elara reminded him that the world beyond the ruins wasn't just filled with monsters. Humans could also be a threat, especially when he was hiding such a huge secret. The star-shaped scar on his palm still throbbed, a constant reminder that he couldn't keep living under the guise of a weak Scavenger. He needed to grow stronger, but in his own way.
The following days, Lucas devoted himself to honing his new ability. He no longer just absorbed memories randomly. He focused on creatures with specific useful traits. From low-tier Stone Centipedes, he learned to sense the tiniest cracks in rock, helping him discover hidden paths or structural weaknesses. From the small Night Beetles, he refined his night vision, turning the darkest areas into his hunting grounds.
Each time he defeated a creature, he didn't just take its memories. He also carefully dissected a characteristic part of their bodies—a segment of a centipede leg, a piece of a beetle wing—to study and remember. He wanted to understand their anomalous biology, not just their primal instincts. He discovered that absorbing memories from creatures of the same type helped consolidate and "upgrade" his existing abilities. For instance, after absorbing the memories of several Spine-Crawlers, his speed and agility not only increased but also became more fluid, allowing him to change direction abruptly without losing momentum.
Lucas began experimenting with new hunting methods. Instead of direct confrontation, he used his intellect and enhanced senses to gain an advantage. He dug simple traps based on monster habits, or lured them into areas where he could use the terrain to his control. He was slowly becoming a true hunter, an evolution far beyond the definition of a common Scavenger.
One afternoon, while Lucas was scavenging in a less dangerous area near the edge of Gamma 7, he noticed something unusual. The vibration in the air, a sense he had learned from his fight with the Shadow Stalker, became far more intense. It wasn't a specific creature, but a widespread energy disturbance, as if a tear was widening in space.
He immediately recognized the danger. This sensation was similar to what he had learned about "Rift Points"—places where the barrier between this world and the Abyss was thinnest, allowing higher-tier Abyssal Creatures to cross through. Though rare, when they appeared, they could cause disaster.
Lucas was about to flee, but then he noticed signs of a hidden supply route near the Rift Point that other Scavengers often used to avoid patrols and smuggle goods. Surely, there would be groups of Scavengers passing through there. If a higher-tier Abyssal Creature appeared, they wouldn't stand a chance.
Hesitating for a moment, Lucas made his decision. He couldn't abandon them. He knew he couldn't face a high-tier monster with pure strength, but he had his intellect and special senses. He could warn them and perhaps, devise a plan.
He slipped into the shadows of the crumbling buildings, moving as fast as he could towards the source of the disturbance. The closer he got, the more the sense of danger intensified. The air thickened, and faint, strange growls began to emanate from a single point.
When he reached a rooftop of an old factory overlooking the supply route, Lucas held his breath. At the center of a swirling, indistinct energy vortex, a colossal, grotesque shape was slowly forming. It was a Husk-Brute—an Abyssal Creature far higher tier than a Shadow Stalker. It stood nearly three meters tall, its body covered in a thick armor of horrifying muscle and bone, with massive claws capable of tearing metal apart. It moved slowly, ponderously, but each step carried destructive power.
And just as Lucas predicted, a small group of Scavengers—about five of them—were passing through the route below, completely unaware of the looming threat above them.
Lucas knew he had no time to think. He had to act immediately. He looked around, using his senses to scan everything: the piles of rubble, the rusted old cranes, the colossal, dangling water pipes. He needed a plan to slow the Husk-Brute down, or better yet, to make it harm itself.
In that moment of intense tension, an idea sparked in his mind. A combination of knowledge about weight, structural weaknesses, and the slow, heavy movement patterns of large creatures. He needed a large-scale trap, a trap that only someone who could "see" the environmental weaknesses like him could create.
Lucas began to move, as fast as a startled Bone-Eater Grub, and as silent as a hunting Shadow Stalker. He climbed one of the rusted cranes, towering many times over the Husk-Brute. It looked unstable, but he had sensed its weak points and potential load-bearing spots.
He was facing a threat far beyond his combat capabilities, but Lucas was no longer the weak Scavenger of yesterday. He was The Memory Scavenger, and he would use his intellect and new powers to survive and protect the innocent.