With the Collector's efficient movements, it reached the den within thirty minutes, and there it found the den much the same in structure to that of the other hobgoblin's.

Like the previous den, this one too was comprised of a simple system of tunnels made by a specimen much larger than the goblins, and, judging now by serrations on rock formations within the den, by a creature that did so with hosts of rotating teeth.

Quite likely an annelid-type creature, perhaps the very same as the one the hobgoblin the Collector recently digested, this 'Grun' as he was called, referred to in his memories as a giant worm.

Interesting.

A brief analysis of the rock formation and the mossy vegetation growing within the den indicated that no such specimen had occupied this area for quite some time, not to mention that the goblins themselves would not take up residence here should there have been a risk of encountering such a creature.

A burrowing worm would allow the Collector to easily access subterranean movement and vastly enhance them with adaptations of its own.

This would be extremely useful in evading detection by the primitive humans of this world that lacked any of the advanced sensor systems that their spacefaring counterparts possessed.

It simply needed to track down the worm. Further investigation needed on that end.

For now, the Collector focused on the case of the goblins, for if they were to mobilize soon, within the span of one to two days, then the Collector had to act quickly.

Any significant movement of these goblins clashing with the humans in the southern settlement would generate enormous amounts of attention that the Collector did not wish to be dragged into.

But at the same time, should the goblins and the humans clash, then the Collector would lose its chance to gain easy access to the biomass and genetic samples of the goblins, and though the dull species did not interest the Collector before, the discovery of this 'champion' and 'lord' piqued its interest.

The Collector, like many of its warrior strains, did have a certain degree of embedded personality within it, and unlike the Dominator or Infector strains, the Warrior strains possessed traits that developed from the many predator type genes that comprised them

Thus, the Collector held pride for the fight, for the hunt, and once it set out to hunt a target, it would not easily give up its quarry, especially to lesser specimen such as humans.

And perhaps more importantly, the goblins were an advancing force. They would fight and if they failed, die on human territory. Their genetic samples would be difficult to scavenge there.

Massively increased human surveillance and militarized presence throughout the forest was also inevitable in such an outcome.

The Collector wished for none of those.

The forest was a quiet, remote biome that it could handle on its own with its current, weakened capabilities. It could not risk having to flee from this biome, especially if hostile human territory surrounded it or there were only harsher biomes elsewhere.

The Collector thus searched the den for more information but after a few minutes of thorough investigation, found nothing anomalous about it.

Its layout was almost exactly the same as the other den it had ransacked already with a general living space for the lesser goblins and a private cavern for the hobgoblin.

The only difference lay in the presence of remains in the furthest chamber where in the other den the goblins kept human captives. Instead of live captives, there were instead three skeletons picked clean of flesh and blood, lined up neatly together atop a rough bed of grasses.

The Collector crouched down by the skeletons and analyzed them. Judging by their proportions, they were human in origin.

An oddity.

According to the behavioral habits the Collector knew from consuming goblins and taking their form, the goblins did not consume bone and threw the bones of their prey out.

Usage as a tool, then? No. The Collector took up a skeletal arm and crushed it with ease. Too weak. Too brittle to utilize in any meaningful way.

Perhaps, as the Collector recalled the bone-wearing hobgoblin from Grun's memories, a simple means of gathering accessories for visual differentiation in a rudimentary societal hierarchy?

Whatever it was, the Collector would not pass up on consuming these skeletons. It passed up on biomass beneath its efforts such as plants or, now that it was more developed, some of the smaller creatures scurrying about in the lowest grasses of this forest, but human remains were different.

There stood the chance that certain human biomass samples were special, providing more than they should.

And the Collector found that it did not regret its decision as it scarfed down all the remains.

>>>

*Biomass gained +10*

Biomass Level: 100/100

>>>

All three skeletons were special.

A coincidence it could not place significance on yet but noted in its mind. It could not extract memories from the skeletons for extraction required fresh biomass from a neural center with sufficient structural integrity that, if expired, had not decayed too significantly.

These bones, however, were still rather fresh, splotches of recently dried blood remaining along their skeletal curves. Along with the live captured woman, these human deaths likely provided the reason the humans had sent three of their kind against the dens.

With the humans further potentially alerted by the Collector causing the demise of their scouts, there was the potential that already the humans were readying themselves in greater numbers.

Soon enough, if the advance of the greater and much more powerful goblin force in the darker zone was left unchecked, there would be quite the large-scale altercation. The Collector would consume the goblins before their movements caused the forest to become too dangerous to inhabit.

And to do that, the Collector had to evolve. It headed outside of the den and found a secluded patch of taller grass to metamorphose under.

The Collector could access its third metamorphosis level from consuming the special skeletons, though it would have spent time to hunt other creatures to reach the third level anyway had the skeletons been mundane.

The warm feeling in its body had steadily intensified with continued consumptions, and as the Collector shrank into the ground, its hulking, musclebound figure breaking apart into a cocoon encased puddle of flesh, it sought not only to adapt itself against the darker zone, but also to try and figure out what this warmth was.

Every successive metamorphosis level meant that the cocoon the Collector formed became larger, more complex, requiring more space, but for now, it still did not attract much attention, being perhaps a meter and a half in diameter.

Now with its form broken down and its consciousness spread throughout primordial, pliable ooze capable of bending the raw essence of creation to its will, the Collector first inspected the genetic materials it had available.

-Black Ant

-Black Goblin

-Human

-Frostboar

The Collector inspected the human material, analyzing it to parse any abnormalities within it that could explain its aberrant levels of biomass.

It found nothing. No mutations. No uniquely expressive genes among the special skeletons or female specimen. Further investigation needed on this subject.

The Collector took to splicing together a new form.

It kept its hobgoblin and black spider genes, useful as they had been so far, but it discarded its striped centipede material for that of the Frostboar, finally ridding itself of this bipedal form.

The metamorphic cocoon housing the Collector pulsed and grew, roots of flesh expanding outwards from its perimeter as it expanded, latching onto vegetation and consuming it.

Within minutes, an embryo formed from within the liquid-filled, flesh colored cocoon, visible as a dark nugget through the cocoon's membranous, vein-dotted skin.

The embryo grew rapidly, and within minutes, was the size and vague shape of a goblin. A minute later, it was the size of a human. A minute later, the size of a hobgoblin.

The Collector incorporated the Frostboar gene now, and the humanoid shaped embryo completely altered in shape, morphing in a pulsing, twisting mass before becoming larger, wider, four-legged.

Here, the Collector also restored one of its previous adaptations: the Pyrocatalytic Glands that would allow it to invoke flaming misery upon this oxygen rich world.

It eagerly awaited as its metamorphosis entered its final stages, feeling the coveted glands -the product of evolution the Collective had carefully selected over a hundred worlds - grow within its half-formed throat.

When the Collector burst forth from its cocoon, warm, viscous liquid steaming and dripping from its furred form, it found to its satisfaction the feeling of land under four stable feet. Yes, this was its structure, the same it had been born with when the Collective initially birthed it.

>>>

Metamorphosis Level 3>4

Biomass Level: 100/100>0/100

Stored Genetic Material:

-Black Ant

-Black Goblin

-Human

Adaptations:

-Ultrafiber Muscles Rank 3>4

-Sensitive Hairs Rank 2>3

-Organic-Hyperalloy Carapace Rank 2>3

-Monomolecular Claws Rank 1>2

-Pyrocatalytic Glands Rank 1 (NEW)

Current Form:

Black Hobgoblin/Frostboar/Jungle Spider

>>>

The Collector was as tall as it was before, being about a head taller than a hobgoblin, but were it to stand up on its hind legs, it would tower over any hobgoblin, even the champion from Grun's memories.

Ultrafiber musculature rippled in dense coils all around the Collector's four-legged, barrel shaped body, and though the ordinary frostboar would have looked rounder, softer with blubber, the Collector looked like a giant chunk of bulging sinews weighing close to half a ton.

Much of the cold resistant blubber from the Frostboar had been condensed into marbling and a smaller, thinner layer coating the ultrafiber muscle mostly to maximize total muscle mass and strength for cold alone, unless it reached extreme freezing temperatures, affected the Collector little, and the dark zone did not seem to possess temperatures low to that degree.

If the Collector charged through the forest right now, it had no doubts it would simply smash through trees and rocks alike utterly unimpeded, let alone the fleshy and weak bodies of humans or goblins.

Two massive, curved tusks tipped with monomolecular edges gleamed from its mouth. Thick, coarse light brown bristles and fur lined with ultrasensitive hairs covered its body, with a particularly shaggy mane growing around its neck.

Three glowing yellow compound eyes along with thick, monomolecular edge tipped mandibles dotted either side of its elongated, porcine head.

And finally, six arachnid appendages burst out from its back, each of them tipped with small monomolecular claws with one of them possessing webspinning capabilities.

The Collector could not infinitely manifest certain adaptations or traits. The monomolecular claws, for example, required significant biomass the Collector did not yet have, so it could only tip its tusks and mandibles in them.

Still, the Collector was pleased with its new form.

This was far sturdier, stronger, and faster than its previous one.

In celebration, it stood on its hind legs, towering high and shaking off the last remnants of the embryonic fluid dripping from its fur, and loosed a controlled jet stream of chemically ignited fire from its mouth as it reclaimed once more one of the many prized adaptations the Collective had gifted it with.

Now the Collector was truly ready to hunt.