The zone had changed.
Xerion noticed it the moment he passed the boundary of the dead nutrient field. Where once spores floated freely and prey wandered without fear, now everything moved with purpose. Tighter formations. Faster reactions. Less waste.
More predators.
The balance of the Genesis Zone was shifting. The weaker had either evolved, hidden, or died. What remained were the survivors—the hunters, the schemers, the monsters.
And him.
He wasn't the strongest. Not yet. But he was different.
His new neural web gave him clarity. While others fought with instinct, Xerion processed data: motion vectors, threat radius, stimulus response. He could track, stalk, even feint. Concepts like strategy and anticipation had meaning now.
Still… numbers didn't lie.
[Dominance Rank: 44th of 64][Noted Threats Within Local Radius: 6][Two above Host's estimated combat tier. Caution Advised.]
Good.
Let them underestimate him.
A small cluster of spindle-worms clung to a nutrient vent up ahead—snapping at spores, shoving one another for position.
Xerion didn't rush in.
He waited.
A pulse from the left.
Another creature crept forward. Faintly translucent. A minor predator. He didn't need the system to identify it.
A Slick Fanglet. Glass-thin body, crescent-shaped jaw. Fast, fragile, greedy.
It struck the spindle cluster fast—ripping one in half.
Xerion moved at that exact moment.
Camouflaged. Silent.
While the Fanglet fed, Xerion surged in from behind and latched onto its rear node. It flailed, tried to spin—
Too slow.
Toxin flooded its core.
[Fanglet Consumed. Energy +0.024. Bio Point +1][Spindle Worm Fragments Absorbed]
No wasted motion. Minimal risk.
He didn't fight. He outplayed.
Minutes later, a new signal.
Strange vibration. Deeper. Colder.
A Void Shrike passed overhead—serpentine, black with tendrils of energy curling behind it. Rank: 21st.
Too strong.
Xerion stayed perfectly still, veil camouflage pulsing faintly to match the surrounding debris.
The shrike paused—hovered over a corpse—but didn't strike. It couldn't detect him.
Good.
His evolution wasn't only for battle. It was for survival under power. Learning when to strike—and when to disappear.
The Void Shrike moved on.
Xerion remained still for five full cycles before moving again.
[Caution Reflex Reinforced. Instinct Layer +1.]
The system was learning from him now.
Not the other way around.
Eventually, he reached a cave-like fold in the fluid terrain—a crevice where darker matter drifted. It was quiet here. Undisturbed.
And that meant one thing.
Occupied.
But by what?
He extended his neural threads outward—slow pulses scanning vibration, pressure, heat.
Something responded.
Not with aggression.
With awareness.
"I see you, Neural One."
He froze.
The voice wasn't mechanical. It wasn't the system.
It was another mind.
Refined. Soft. And very much alive.
"You are not like the others. Your pulse is ordered. Your code… deliberate."
He scanned for threat signatures.
None.
Then—she stepped out.
A shape drifted from the far wall. Graceful. Light pulsed gently across her membrane, threads of silver and violet weaving through her form.
She wasn't fully solid. More like condensed light, swimming in spirals.
[Unknown Entity. Rank Unlisted. Aura Stable. Passive.]
Xerion readied toxin just in case.
"I won't harm you."
He didn't speak back—he couldn't yet. But he focused, shifted his body slightly, a ripple of caution.
She responded with stillness. A gesture.
Respect.
"I've been watching. You learn. You choose. Most of them… react. You think."
A pulse from her reached his mind—gentle, like warm current.
"You will leave this place, Xerion. The others won't. Most don't even know there's more beyond the Genesis Zone."
His neural web trembled.
How did she know his name?
He didn't give it. He hadn't spoken it aloud.
"I am not from here."
He felt her presence fade.
Before she vanished, she said one last thing:
"When the stars begin to speak, remember this moment. Evolution is only the beginning."
Then she was gone.
The system didn't record the interaction. No data log. No memory capture.
But he remembered.
Every word.
Back in the main fluid stream, his hunger returned.
He needed to grow.
He needed power—not just to survive, but to seek her again.
Who was she?
A hallucination?
A future version of himself?
Or something else entirely?
Whatever the answer, it meant one thing:
The Genesis Zone was only a starting point.
And he wasn't the only anomaly.
[Evolution Trait Unlocked: Passive Resonance Sensory – Minor psychic detection][Memory Imprint Capacity: +1][Dominance Rank: 38th of 64]
He was climbing.
And soon, they'd know his name.