The wind whistled through the concrete skeletons, carrying the musty scent of rusted metal and the faint, peculiar tang of glowing moss. Perched precariously atop a crumbling skyscraper, on the edge of Gamma 7 Scavenge Zone, Lucas huddled in his tattered jacket, his eyes fixed on the colossal defensive barrier that encased New Harbor Citadel.
Inside that formidable wall lay the life he dreamed of: brightly lit streets, bustling markets overflowing with food, and most importantly, safety from the Abyssal Creatures that constantly lurked beyond. For Lucas, a Scavenger with no special abilities, no noble lineage, merely surviving each day was a victory. He was gaunt, his hands calloused from digging, his eyes perpetually weary. He was the epitome of the weak, easily discarded in the harsh world left behind by the Great Collapse.
Today had been a dismal failure. Gamma 7 was already picked clean, yielding nothing but worthless scraps. How many days had it been since he found anything valuable enough for a decent meal? Lucas sighed, his empty stomach rumbling. "Am I going to have to gnaw on those dry energy biscuits from the patrol old-timers again?" he muttered.
Suddenly, Lucas's gaze snagged on a small fissure in the crumbling wall below. It was an unofficial entry point, a dangerous crack leading deeper into forbidden zones, places even the boldest Scavengers rarely dared to tread. Such places held lethal dangers, but they might also... hold untapped riches.
"Just one last try," he told himself, the image of a hot, meaty bun flickering in his mind.
Carefully squeezing through the gap, Lucas stepped into a shadowy corridor. The smell of dampness and dust was stronger here, mixed with the faint, unpleasant stench characteristic of Abyssal Creatures. He flinched, hastily drawing the dull knife from his belt. His combat skills were next to nothing, but it offered a false sense of security.
A faint "clack-clack" echoed from deeper within. Lucas held his breath, listening. It was the sound of a Bone-Eater Grub – a low-tier Abyssal Creature that fed on carrion and debris. They weren't too dangerous if alone, but a swarm…
He decided against making noise, attempting to skirt around it. Taking light steps over the rubble-strewn ground, Lucas suddenly stepped on something sharp and hard. A dry "clink" resounded.
Immediately, the "clack-clack" intensified. From the shadows, a bulky, multi-legged form, covered in thick, dark brown chitinous armor, lunged out. It had three pairs of glowing red eyes and pincers as sharp as blades. It was the Bone-Eater Grub.
Lucas froze. His survival instinct screamed at him to run, but his feet felt nailed to the ground. The Bone-Eater Grub let out a guttural hiss, its pincers snapping as it lunged.
In that moment of impending death, with the sharp pincers mere inches from his throat, Lucas instinctively threw out his hand to block. He felt something sharp and cold pierce his palm.
CRUNCH!
A tearing sound. Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the end. But then, the pain didn't come. Instead, he heard a high-pitched, feeble shriek.
Opening his eyes, Lucas saw the Bone-Eater Grub writhing on the ground. A jagged, dark green shard, crude in shape, was deeply embedded in one of its glowing red eyes. It was the same shard he had just stepped on! The creature twitched for a few more seconds before falling completely still, a trail of thick, greenish blood oozing from the wound.
Lucas stared at the shard in disbelief. It wasn't large, only about two finger-joints long, and seemed to be made of an unknown material, emitting a faint, eerie glow in the gloom. He had accidentally thrown it directly into the Bone-Eater Grub's fatal weakness.
With trembling hands, Lucas drew his knife, intending to pry the shard out. As his fingers brushed against it, a chilling sensation shot up his arm, then abruptly, a flood of information assaulted his mind.
VAGUE IMAGES…
He saw himself burrowing underground, feeling the vibrations of prey above. He smelled damp earth, the scent of fresh blood. A powerful urge to feed surged through him. Then he saw a pair of glowing red eyes, a sharp pincer lunging…
Lucas gasped, snatching his hand back. He was breathing heavily. That was… the Bone-Eater Grub's memory! He had "seen" what it saw, "felt" what it felt in its last moments. He had unwittingly absorbed the memory of a dead Abyssal Creature!
His heart hammered in his chest. This wasn't magic, nor was it the kind of superpower wielded by the city's mighty Crystal Warriors. This was something entirely different, and he didn't understand it.
Lucas looked down at his palm. The laceration from the shard had stopped bleeding, but a small, star-shaped scar had formed in the center of his palm, emitting a faint, dark green light.
He knelt, looking at the dead Bone-Eater Grub. A crazy thought sparked in his mind. If he could absorb its memory… could he absorb the memories of other Abyssal Creatures? And what would that grant him?
For a weakling like Lucas, this wasn't just a discovery; it was a glimmer of hope. A hope to no longer tremble before dangers, a hope to protect himself, and perhaps, one day, enter New Harbor Citadel with true worth.
He carefully picked up the shard, clutching it tightly in his hand. The putrid smell of the Abyssal Creature no longer seemed so terrifying. In this moment, Lucas felt something awakening within him. A new journey, fraught with peril but brimming with potential, had just begun.