Since he had a pretty good idea of where he was by this point, Edge was able to find the river without too much trouble.

He spent the next few hours crossing the wetlands and found himself standing beside its muddy banks by the time that the sun was hanging low in the sky. That was easy enough, but where do I go from here?

There were two bridges across the river that he knew of, but only one was safe to cross. The other had been gradually falling apart for years. He’d heard that the last cart that tried to use it had fallen through instead. Although it would still be better than wading through the shallows, given the prevalence of aquatic predators in the area.

The problem was, Edge wasn’t sure if he was east or west of the good bridge right now, or the bad bridge for that matter. He couldn’t see any sign of either when he looked out across the water, so he eventually decided to head west.

Walking upstream would be slightly safer. If anything living in the river decided to attack, it would have to fight against the current to chase him, giving Edge more time to get away if he saw it coming.

His decision made, he began following the riverbank from the marshlands. He made his way carefully, staying far enough away that he didn’t have to worry about being hit by skills from creatures dwelling below the waterline.

While he still had a long hike ahead of him, Edge set out with a spring in his step. He was eager to escape the Ivory Plains and sleep in a bed for the first time since his new life had begun.

He found himself growing more excited by the footfall. He had already crossed a fair chunk of the biome over the last two days, and he’d managed to cycle-up his core and gain some good skills far faster than he had dared to hope.

After finding himself stranded on the most dangerous planet in the sector, stuck inside an uncored puppet and standing at the bottom of the food chain, it seemed that things were finally looking up. Through luck, skill, and sheer persistence, Edge had come out the other side of one close brush with death after another.

On top of everything else, he had just spotted a small beast darting into a nearby bush. He was planning to catch it and eat it. Maybe even steal a skill if it seemed like it had anything good. While smaller creatures weren’t likely to have a combat skill, they often had powers that could prove useful in other ways. I hope that it has something that can enhance my movement or perception, or perhaps something to help reduce my presence. Maybe surviving on Ord won’t be so bad after all.

That was the moment when a premonition of danger washed over him. An icy chill ran down his spine, like the reaper had just stepped onto his front porch and was knocking at the door.

He realized that the world around him had grown eerily silent over the last few minutes. The animals and beasts had gone to ground. Even the buzzing of the insects seemed subdued. When he took a deep breath, Edge caught the scent of rotting meat riding the breeze. The same rancid reek he had smelled just before obtaining his core.

He ducked behind a cluster of dense brush, just as something monstrous appeared along the southern border of the wetlands. Creatures whose movements were shrouded in shadow.

Edge took in the profiles of muscular bodies covered in feathers, punctuated by serrated yellow beaks and long black claws. Shadowreavers, five of them.

Judging from their size, the reavers were still stage-one. They were smaller than the towering monster he’d fought in the temple, birdlike creatures about the same height as himself. Although they were broader at the shoulders and far more massive.

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They were plenty big enough to drive their claws straight through him. Unless he got the drop on them, any one of the approaching monsters could end his life with ease. Against all five, Edge had no chance at all. He had to hide and escape the moment that an opportunity appeared. If the reavers found him, they were going to end his day in the worst possible way.

They must be the spawn the stage-two reaver left behind in its lair. But why are they ranging this far out from their territory? They must have passed by countless beasts on the way here, many of which would be easy prey.

He knew in that instant that the only possible answer was that they were stalking him. That the monsters had found his trail and tracked him across the plains.

His suspicions were confirmed when they bent down to sniff at the ground, following the same path he had taken toward the river. Edge was fortunate that the reavers hadn’t caught up to him while he was sleeping, but now his luck had run out.

They are tracking shadow step. When the thought crossed his mind, it was almost like someone had been speaking to him, rather than his own observation.

That aside, everything made sense if the monsters’ behavior had something to do with [Extracting] shadow step, the reaver’s rare skill. He didn’t know much about monster ecology, since it was a subject that was restricted by the System on the feed. Even if he did, stealing skills with Skill-Eater was an entirely unknown variable. Almost every aspect of his core was still a total mystery.

Maybe they needed to kill him to gain the power for themselves. Perhaps it would help them to evolve more quickly. Maybe they had enjoyed the taste of his flesh or were out for vengeance for killing their sire. Edge supposed that it didn’t really matter. In the end, the result was the same.

Five powerful monsters were hunting him, and they were already far too close.

The only good news was that they hadn’t spotted him yet. Every other aspect of his situation fell somewhere between bad and worse.

Half the world was already barred off, since his back was to the water. There was no way to escape in that direction and little cover in which to hide. Trying to swim across the river was a veritable death sentence, although he would try it if left with no other choice.

Edge wasn’t sure if shadow step would take him along the bottom of the river or let him float across the surface. Either way, he would run out of mana well before he reached the far side, leaving him stuck in the water and totally defenseless. And for all he knew, the shadowreavers could swim faster than he could.

Even if he were able to break through or sneak past the approaching monsters, they were clearly following his scent and fast enough to keep up with him as he crossed the plains. He couldn’t outrun them or take them in a fight.

They were headed his way fast, drawing closer by the heartbeat to the bush he was huddling behind. They would find him within a few minutes at most. Try as he might, Edge couldn’t think of any way out of his predicament.

None of his skills could save him. Trying to use slash or elemental blade would get him killed for sure. Entangle or shadow step might buy him time. But he suspected that the reavers could cut through his vines and would catch up within seconds either way. Edge needed to find a way to shake them off his trail and he needed to do it now.

He watched on in horror as the reavers approached his location. Two hundred feet. One hundred. He wracked his brain, coming up with and discarding a dozen plans out of hand. None of them were good enough and he was running out of time.

Fifty feet. By now, the monsters had spread out, poking their beaks into the bushes that they passed along the way. Soon, they were only a few dozen feet away, and one was heading right for him. Fuck. Oh fuck. What do I do?

Just when Edge was deciding that he would have to plunge into the river and take his chances, he felt something brush against his leg. Something soft and warm and covered in fur.

Half a heartbeat later, it was gone. He couldn’t see anything nearby, but he knew what had happened. The beast that I was hunting is in here with me. It must have some manner of stealth-based skill after all.

In that moment, he knew that he had a better option than fleeing with shadow step. Something that could help him evade the monsters’ notice, both now, and during his journey to Puppet Town.

But if wanted to take advantage of what he'd discovered, Edge had to work fast. There wasn’t a second to spare.