Exactly five minutes later, the Collector happened upon the specimen, though it did not notice the Collector.

The predator specimen was, as the Collector had estimated, a sizable one. A feline built for power, wrapped up in thick, shaggy brown fur with a dense mane resistant to teeth and claws.

Even underneath the density of fur, the Collector could perceive highly built musculature specialized for ambush attacks.

The specimen moved slowly, slinking down low into the snow while its saber-toothed jaws dragged a frostboar carcass. It must have weighed nearly five hundred kilograms, most of that being hardened muscle mass.

An interesting detail to note that the specimen was still ambulating while masking its presence despite having succeeded in a hunt. Such behavior indicated the presence of further predators in the area.

Good.

The Collector would make short work of this specimen by itself.

The Collector aimed at the feline as it faced away from the Collector, its ears and whiskers twitching as it tried to sense for any potential intruders.

However, the Collector had masked its presence entirely. It had even diminished its magical presence by decelerating the flow magical energy through its body, almost completely eliminating it, though a complete standstill would be analogous to stopping the heart and therefore untenable.

Right as the feline grew more comfortable with its supposedly assured safety, beginning to put its paws forward again, the Collector moved.

Red energy condensed into the Collector's tail first. Then, the Collector unsheathed a monomolecular blade from one of its arms with a clink.

The feline heard the clink and immediately stiffened up, the hairs on its back raising, but too late.

The Collector unleashed the condensed magical energy in the form of a {Dash} that left it nearly instantaneously in front of the feline specimen in one remarkably quick burst of movement. A straight line drew across the snow marking the Collector's path.

{Dash} left the body rigid and immobile during the actual movement itself, so for most that utilized it, it only functioned as a means of movement. It was difficult to incorporate an attack with the movement itself, but with an appendage or bladed weapon thrust forwards, this issue solved itself.

At the same time, because {Dash} functioned only to create linear movement, any attack utilizing it would be highly predictable despite its speed. However, if the attack was not seen from the beginning, then there was no windup to predict from, causing a {Dash} based strike to be highly effective as an opening strike for an ambush.

The Collector stood up tall as the feline fell to its side, dead, most of its body from the hind legs up to the chest sliced wide open by the peerlessly sharp edge of a monomolecular blade. The boar carcass fell from its mouth. Coils of intestines, organs, and blood pooled out from the massive gash before they started to freeze in the weather.

The Collector stood over the two corpses and then ejected its detachable stomach. The mass of flesh and teeth from its split apart chest surged forwards and sucked in first the boar, then with two large bites, the feline.

>>>

*Biomass Gained (+6)*

Biomass Level: 5/100 > 11/100

*Genetic material gained*

Stored Genetic Material:

==

-Frostborn Hobgoblin Thrall [Core]

-Vineswinger Goblin Champion [Core]

-Windcutter Wildcat

-Shockstripe Eel

-Lurker

-Goblin Lord [Core]

-Frostborn Goblin Champion

-Sabretooth Lion

*Spirit Roots Gained (+8%)*

Root Consumption Level : 10/100 > 18/100

>>>

The Collector noted that the predator specimen, this 'Sabretooth Lion', granted approximately equal amounts of roots and biomass as a fully grown frostborn goblin champion.

With a weapon, the forstborn goblin champion would likely have bested this Sabretooth Lion in an engagement with 60% reliability. In simpler terms, this specimen was of no threat to the Collector even if it had not engaged in an ambush attack.

Yet the Collector had gleaned much from the specimen's behavior. The Sabretooth Lion's heightened caution had indicated to the Collector that it was wary of another presence, and this, the Collector would investigate.

The Collector began to slither towards the opposite direction from where the lion was headed, further into the danger it attempted to sneak away from.

Soon enough, the Collector began to realize there were anomalous patterns in the flow of mana within the area. The mana flowing through the land swirled, indicating a singularity point that the Collector knew now to be analogous to a dungeon.

The Collector headed to the source of the singularity, recalling information from the elder regarding dungeons.

The dungeons in this biome tended to be lairs that housed singular creatures. Usually sizable or notably powerful predator specimen that took the dungeon as a warm home that would nourish them and heal their wounds. The area surrounding the dungeon became their territory, though they could move away from the dungeon and hunt as they so desired.

Unlike the multi-layered structure of the goblin lord's dungeon, these dungeons tended to comprise merely of a single layer housing the predator specimen, the 'boss', and did not fade once the corresponding 'boss' was killed.

Rather, the dungeons acted largely like burrows in nature, and if a boss was killed by another predator, then the victor would often take the territory from them before it collapsed, receiving the dungeon's benefits for themselves.

What would happen if the Collector slaughtered the predator specimen that lorded over this territory? What would occur should the evolved swarm under its beckon strike down the specimen?

This the Collector would investigate soon, though, perhaps sooner than it had initially calculated.

The Collector felt it coming. The aura of a magically charged monster, and by the density of magical energy, one several grades above the Sabretooth Lion. Then, the Collector heard it.

Heavy, crashing steps that paid no heed to any need to hide for they came from a creature that had long grown comfortable with its strength.

The Collector clicked the mandibles of its main skull in eager anticipation.

Whatever this creature was, in terms of sheer physical mass, it far surpassed the Collector, though in terms of magical energy reserves, they were comparable.

As the steps grew even closer and the presence became even stronger, the Collector noted that the boss's trajectory was not directly zoned in on the Collector.

The boss was instead on course to where the Sabretooth Lion had been, quite likely having picked up on the lion's residual scent. The Collector, however, could control the output of its own scent and usually maintained a complete lack of odor.

Thus, if the Collector did not know draw the creature's attention to it, there would be some amount of time before they clashed in battle.

The Collector did not actively draw the creature's attention, and all the Collector perceived of the beast was its deep, guttural roar in the distance that crashed through the howling of the wind with piercing clarity, though soon, the roar faded as the monster headed further out to where the Collector and Sabretooth Lion had been.

The Collector did not know how long it would take for the specimen to make its way back to its lair, but it did know that it inevitably would return. In that meanwhile, the Collector would investigate the dungeon and scan the surroundings for any anomalies and external threats.

The Collector also signaled for the swarm to travel to its coordinates, though not particularly for its own self-defense.

The swarm was an hour behind the Collector, and quite likely, the boss would return to its lair before the swarm caught up with the Collector, but no matter.

The Collector was eager to test the might of its new form. It would face this 'boss' creature by itself first, and if it proved too meager a challenge, leave it to test the swarm's own combat capability.

For as of now, the swarm had not encountered any significant threat to itself. None, at the least, that had required the carrier unit to signal for assistance.

In any case, the Collector would soon obtain valuable data.