Primo stood motionless in the center of the messy room, his ears straining. He waited for the sound of responding shrieks or the thumping of heavy paws, but the dorm remained deathly still. It seemed the rat's screams hadn't been enough to draw a crowd.
He exhaled a long, shaky breath, letting the tension drain from his shoulders. His eyes swept the room one last time, searching for a scrap of paper, a scrawl on the wall, or anything that resembled a note from Wyn.
Nothing.
"You really were in a hurry, weren't you?" he whispered.
His gaze fell on the mangled corpse of the rat in the corner. If the dog had a "Gene Core," this thing likely did, too. He knelt beside it, feeling a strange mix of revulsion and necessity. Using the sharp tip of his makeshift spear, he carefully sliced into the creature's chest.
A small crystal rolled out into the pool of dark blood. It was a red marble, much like the one from the dog, but noticeably paler—almost a translucent pink.
He didn't hesitate this time. He took a water bottle from his pack, thoroughly rinsed the blood off the crystal, and wiped it dry with a clean part of his shirt. He knew he had to do this to survive. He popped the marble into his mouth and swallowed.
[Assimilation in progress...]
[Target: Feral Rodentia Core (Low Grade)]
[Status: 50%... 99%...]
[Assimilation Complete]
[Feral Rodentia Core (Low Grade) Absorbed]
The process was jarringly different from the first time. There was no searing fire in his ears, no agonizing crawl in his muscles. Instead, he felt a faint, pleasant warmth settle in his stomach, like he'd just finished a hot meal. It was over in seconds.
[Gained:
+1 Evolution Point]
That was it. No stat boosts, no new skills.
Primo frowned, looking at his hands. Why so little? He figured it must be the quality. The dog had been a more formidable predator, while this rat was essentially a scavenger. Or perhaps his body was becoming more efficient at absorbing these cores, meaning it took more "essence" to trigger a physical change.
He opened his status window to check his total Evolution Points. He had two now. He still didn't know how to use them, but he had a feeling they were the key to something much bigger than simple attribute points.
He was about to search the desk drawers one more time when his Great Ear twitched.
Thump. Thump-thump.
Heavy, frantic footsteps were hitting the pavement outside. They weren't coming from a distance; they were right at the dorm's entrance. And they weren't alone—he could hear the distinct snick of claws against concrete and a high-pitched, chattering sound that made the hair on his arms stand up.
Whatever was coming, it wasn't walking. It was sprinting. And it was heading straight for the stairs.
Primo gripped his spear, his heart rate spiking. He hadn't been found by a lone scavenger this time. Something had tracked him, or maybe it had followed the scent of the dead rat.
"Time to go," he hissed to himself.
Primo didn't wait to see what was coming. He bolted out of the room, turning his back on the main staircase and sprinting toward the far end of the hallway.
His Great Ear tracked the pursuer with terrifying clarity. It was fast—much faster than the dog he had killed in his apartment. Behind the lead creature, he could hear the heavier, staggered footsteps of others, but they were lagging behind.
He reached the fire exit at the end of the hall. He threw the door open and, as he swung it shut behind him, he caught a fleeting, heart-stopping glimpse of the beast. It was a dog, but its body had been stretched and warped into something skeletal and sleek. Its legs were unnaturally long and slender, built for pure, predatory speed.
SLAM.
He engaged the latch just as the creature reached the door. A massive THUD vibrated through the metal, followed by the sound of the frame cracking. Primo didn't stick around to watch. He flew down the emergency stairs, his feet barely touching the metal steps.
He was halfway down the second flight when a deafening crash echoed from above. The door had given way.
Primo hit the ground level and burst out into the alleyway, his lungs burning. He didn't look back until he heard a heavy, wet WHAM behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. The slender dog had jumped straight from the fire exit landing, a drop of nearly twenty feet. It was scrambled on the pavement, whimpering and disoriented from the impact, its spindly legs struggling to find purchase.
"Keep moving," Primo hissed to himself.
He sprinted toward the university campus. He knew the main gates would be locked for the holidays—and likely barricaded by now—but he had a different target in mind.
Wyn had once told him about a "secret" entry—a section of the perimeter wall where the concrete had crumbled, topped with a makeshift wooden step. It was a legendary shortcut used by students who were too lazy to walk to the main gate or those trying to sneak back in after curfew.
He headed for the area near the back-alley food stalls. The scent of old cooking oil and stagnant dishwater filled his nose, but he ignored the revulsion. He found the spot—a low section of the wall hidden behind a cluster of overgrown vines and a discarded dumpster.
He leaped, grabbing the top of the wall. His new +1 Strength and Agility made the climb feel effortless compared to how he would have struggled weeks ago. He hauled himself over and dropped onto the school grounds, his heart thundering in his ears.
His eyes darted around the shadowed corners of the school buildings, his spear leveled. He needed to make sure he hadn't jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
But before he could finish scanning his new surroundings, a chorus of snarls and frantic scratching erupted from the other side of the wall.
Scritch. Scritch-scritch.
He could hear the slender dog's claws skidding against the concrete, its breath coming in ragged, frustrated puffs. The rest of the pack had arrived, and their combined weight slammed against the wall. They were desperate to follow the scent, but the wall was too high and too smooth for their mutated anatomy to gain purchase.
Primo didn't move. He stood with his back to a nearby tree, spear gripped so tightly his knuckles turned white. He watched the top of the wall, ready to impale anything that managed to poke a snout over the edge.
The barking grew more frantic, echoing through the empty campus. They knew their prey was just inches away, separated only by a layer of stone. This lasted for several agonizing minutes until, finally, the lead dog let out a long, disappointed howl. One by one, the sounds of their paws retreated, fading back into the alleyways of the city. They had realized the hunt was over.
Only when his Great Ear confirmed the street was silent did Primo allow his shoulders to drop. He let out a long, shaky exhale and slumped to the ground, sitting with his back against the rough bark of the tree.
He wiped a mix of sweat and grime from his forehead, his chest still heaving.
"I've done more cardio today," he muttered to the empty campus, "than I have in my entire life."
His legs felt like lead, and the adrenaline crash was starting to set in. He was safe for the moment, but he knew he couldn't stay in the open for long. The school was a maze of buildings, and if the city outside was this bad, the campus likely had its own horrors hiding in the lecture halls.