The morning light filtered through the alien canopy in fractured beams, golden rays broken by twisting branches and hanging moss. Ethan Reyes sat crouched near his shelter, eyes scanning the forest with a hunter's paranoia.
The presence from last night—the one he couldn't see, couldn't name—had vanished. But his nerves hadn't.
It hadn't made a sound. Not a twig snapped. But every hair on his body had stood straight, and his breath had turned to frost. The system hadn't registered anything. No alerts. No species. No warnings.
That was worse.
The threat had passed… but the lesson remained. His shelter was too exposed. The lean-to, even reinforced, could be pushed over by something determined—or intelligent.
He needed defenses.
Ethan stood, rolling his shoulders and glancing at the trench he'd started yesterday. The shallow line was barely knee-deep and only spanned half the shelter's perimeter. But it was a start.
First priority: a spear wall. Something primal, simple, and effective.
He selected a stand of thin, straight saplings growing not far from camp—flexible but tough, with dense grain and a silvery bark. They split well under pressure. Using his improved stone knife, Ethan carved the ends into sharp points, using rocks to hammer them into the ground in a tight half-circle around the shelter's front.
The work was slow and brutal. Blisters formed along his fingers, his arms sore from bracing and chopping. But by midafternoon, a waist-high barrier had taken shape. He packed dirt around each stake's base, bracing them with rocks where the ground allowed.
System Notification:
Defensive Structure Created – Primitive Spear Wall (Incomplete)
+0.4 Defense Stat
+1 Point
Technology Tree (Defensive Construction): +0.9%
He wasn't done yet, but it was something. A warning line. A deterrent.
Next came hunting.
He slung his sharpened spear and followed the stream's path away from his camp, ears tuned to the strange sounds of this world. The birdcalls were wrong—clicks and trills instead of chirps. Branches creaked even when windless. He moved slow, watching for tracks, listening for the skitter of claws or the snap of hidden fangs.
He found his target just past a ridge: a creature shaped like a jackal, but with shimmering scales and a crest of feathered frills along its spine. It was sniffing at a tree base, unaware of him.
He moved silently, spear raised.
One throw.
The weapon struck true, burying in the creature's side. It thrashed, yelped once, then stilled.
System Notification:
Kill Confirmed: Species – Kreel Hound (Non-Sentient)
Civilization Code Absorbed: 0.01%
Resource Gained: Kreel Hide (Usable)
Resource Gained: Kreel Meat (Edible, Uncooked)
Ethan crouched over the body. The creature was light for its size—hollow bones, maybe. He skinned it quickly, folding the hide and placing it in a sealed crevice beneath a rock near a stream bend, far from his camp. No reason to invite blood-smell near his shelter.
He returned with more meat than he could eat raw, but enough to store and dry once fire became viable.
Then he paused.
That wasn't his only kill.
He'd hunted something earlier in the day: a small, humanoid creature with patterned bones and tribal markings. It had ambushed him near the berry bushes, wielding a jagged stone club. It had been a desperate fight. He hadn't known if it was intelligent until the system told him:
Species: Dreki Scavenger
Status: Semi-Sentient
Origin: World D-14
Technology: Basic Tool Use
He'd speared it through the chest after dodging a swing.
Now, as he sat back by the shelter with both kills behind him, he opened the Civilization Panel and looked at the entries:
Civilization Code - Homo sapien: 89%
(Down 11% from original)
Personal Contributions: 0.03%
Stored Codes:
– Kreel Hound (0.01%) – Non-Sentient
– Dreki Scavenger (0.02%) – Semi-Sentient
His hand hovered over the "Integrate/Analyze" option beside the Dreki entry.
A note flickered below it:
Integration will not grant species bonus. Use for potential technology or adaptive insights.
Warning: Civilized species adaptations may be dangerous or conflicting. Proceed?
Ethan clicked "Analyze."
The system pulsed.
Analyzing Dreki Scavenger Code…
Results:
+1 Point GainedTechnology Tree Updated: Basic Club Crafting (Unlocked)Knowledge Fragment Added: Bone Reinforcement TechniquesExperience Gained: +0.3 (Survival Combat)
He blinked.
So that was the other use of species codes: more than raw stats, they could yield technologies if the species had invented anything.
He checked his Technology Tree.
Shelter Design I
Stone Tool Crafting
Basic Club Crafting (NEW)
Locked:
Fire Creation
Water Filtration
Bone Reinforcement
Defensive Construction II
Points Remaining: 3
The fire icon glowed. He hovered over it. He could unlock it now. But again, he hesitated.
He needed the practical knowledge. Not just system-fed understanding. Not yet.
Instead, he opened the new club crafting tech and studied the diagrams. He didn't have to make one now—but the option mattered.
Night was creeping in. The air cooled. The light thinned.
His trench had grown by a few more feet. His spear wall was now a complete arc. He felt… not safe, but safer.
He sat by the shelter and added another log to the wall, reinforcing the weakest point.
Then the forest went silent again.
Just like before.
His breath caught.
Not the same pressure. Not the same predator. But something… else.
Movement.
A rustle. Not near. Not far.
His eyes caught a shimmer between trees—something moving low, fast.
He picked up his spear and stepped to the edge of the trench.
A pair of glowing eyes stared at him from beyond the stakes.
They didn't blink.
Then they vanished.