But no matter.

The Collector now had the capacity to leverage a moment of surprise, feinting that it did not know the mechanisms of the creature's precognition and leading it into a counter. And with weapons such as the Shinchu's purifying light and monomolecular claws, the Collector could turn any moment of weakness into an instantly lethal blow.

By now, the goblin swarm had begun to inch back, but the Collector conveyed its intent to its carrier unit, and in turn, he gestured for the swarm to stand back.

This battle was the Collector's own to savor and devour now. The goblins instead would watch from the sidelines, in reverence at their king standing to defend them against a might that none of them would ever be able to match.

The enemy specimen looked to the Collector, then to the goblins, and understood that the swarm did not move on behest of the Collector's will.

Knowing this, the specimen grinned and loosed a guttural, rattling growl from within its throat. A sign of appreciation, perhaps.

The Collector kept its purifying light blades out but maintained sheathing on its monomolecular blades. The blades were still quite fragile, and if they were used for an extended period of time in such intensely cold weather as this, the formation of ice crystals would quickly compromise their structure and edge.

Even the flames of the Flametongue Salamander would not be sufficient to keep the monomolecular blades warm enough, not to mention that even with the Salamander's fireproof lipid coating, the blades ran the risk of being warped by the heat.

In addition, sheathing the blades allowed the Collector even more unpredictability. Its enemies would constantly have to question whether the Collector would strike with blunt force blows or unleash its deadly blades.

This time, the Collector made the move. It drew down low, its tail coiling up and swelling with musculature and red mana. The enemy specimen saw this and stiffened up, ready to take the Collector's charge.

The Collector blasted forwards, shattering a volley of rock behind it. Even with a powerful application of mana to enhance the speed of its movement, the Collector was still within an acceptable threshold of speed for the enemy specimen to react to.

But this, the Collector accounted for. When the Collector was within striking range of the enemy specimen, it continued further, smashing into the enemy specimen with a full body tackle.

Or, rather, this was the false intention the Collector conveyed with its mind in order to bait the specimen.

The very instant before the Collector slammed into the enemy specimen, the specimen reacted by opening its jaws wide, readying to clamp down on the Collector's head to counter the tackle and secure an instant victory.

However, the Collector did not fully follow through with its tackle. Instead, it pulled back even as it continued to project with its mind a full intent to continue and crash into the enemy specimen's ready and open jaws.

This was only possible because the Collector was capable of processing multiple lines of thought at once, something an ordinary tinkerer or specimen of this world was incapable of performing, it seemed.

The enemy specimen's glowing blue eyes widened in visible surprise, and before it sought to adapt to the sudden change in situation by closing its open mouth, the Collector acted.

Capitalizing on the enemy specimen's surprise, the Collector uppercutted its fist into the beast's mouth and unleashed its monomolecular claw from within. The blade cleanly sliced through thick layers of muscle, bone, and grey scale, piercing fully through the jaw, then through the brain, and finally, poking a glinting edge through the skull.

The enemy specimen made one final burst of effort, clamping down its jaws, perhaps even in unconscious reflex, and this movement was easily enough to completely tear off the Collector's arm.

However, the Collector was more than willing to part with an arm, and the specimen slumped down to the ground, its jaws clamped around the Collector's severed arm as a final parting gift to its worthy effort.

The blue light in the specimen's eyes dimmed down, and the magical energy crackling through its body faded, indicating its death.

The Collector gazed down at the enemy specimen's corpse, ascertaining that it had no capacity to defy a lethal wound through its brain. A thorough analyses indicated that the specimen's vital functions were now rapidly decaying, its heart mere seconds from halting.

This was the Collector's assured victory. It stemmed bleeding from its missing arm by condensing magical energy around the stump, promoting strong muscular contraction that constricted the blood vessels.

This was a technique the Collector had adapted from the four-star adventurer, and would prove useful until the Flametongue Salamander's regeneration healed the blood loss on its own.

A rousing cry shouted up from behind the Collector, and it turned to see the carrier unit raising its four arms up into the air.

"The king has won! Our king has won!" shouted Thokk.

The rest of the champions followed Thokk's lead and joined in the roaring chant.

The Collector held up a hand against the goblin swarm, bidding them silent. "Do not generate unnecessary sound. The feeling of triumph over battle, I can understand, yet, it is unwise to creature further attention when the nature of this enemy specimen is not yet elucidated."

With that command, the goblin swarm quieted down, leaving the Collector in relative silence to analyze further the enemy specimen and its nature.

Thokk trudged up behind the Collector with the elder on his shoulder.

"My king, you are now killer of dragons," said Thokk.

"Then this specimen is a 'dragon,' stated the Collector. "Yet, significantly weaker than what the elder's postulations and second-hand recollections would indicate."

"Forgive me, my king," said the elder. "I merely thought it like a dragon. I have never laid eyes upon a dragon, nor have most of the elders before me. All we know is that when a dragon unleashes its presence, it is akin to a natural disaster.

And this fierce monster's presence was much like that of a wild storm."

The Collector clicked its mandibles as it scrunched down, using its remaining monomolecular claw to shear off great strips of flesh from the specimen before snatching them up with its detachable maw. The elder was correct in determining that the nature of presences from these specimen were similar to that generated by environmental forces.

Likely, the Collector determined, the higher the Primal Density in a specimen, the more they became similar in presence to a function of nature or environmental disaster.

>>>

*Biomass gained (+5)*

Biomass Level: 100/100

*Genetic Material Gained*

-Frostborn Hobgoblin Thrall [Core]

-Vineswinger Goblin Champion [Core]

-Windcutter Wildcat

-Shockstripe Eel

-Lurker

-Goblin Lord [Core]

-Frostborn Goblin Champion

-Sabretooth Lion

-Grizzled Stormbear

-Draconid *NEW*

*Spirit Roots Gained*

Root Consumption Level Limit Reached

>>>

After devouring an adequate sample of the specimen to read its genetic code, the Collector could come to better understand the nature of these specimen known as 'Draconids'. There was an inherently powerful drive within them to seek out the challenge of combat, and this was implanted into them at a genetic level to such a strong degree that it was likely it was artificially constructed, not evolutionarily grown.

In addition, the specimen were based off of a base of another specimen, though with such a small sample that the Collector would not be able to glean the nature of the organism that these draconids were based off of.

Likely, however, based on speculation revolving around what the Collector knew, these draconids were sampled from the 'dragons' that had been talked about.

Yet, the Collector did not have much further time to ponder before an immeasurably powerful presence drew its attention to the sky. Hovering in the air, looking down at the Collector, then at the slain draconid, was yet another draconid.

Very much similar in appearance to the one the Collector had defeated, but at the same time, different.

This specimen's physical dimensions were similar to its slain brethren, but its eyes were brighter, far more intelligent, and by the sides of its body, where wings would have unfurled, there were instead shards of bright blue energy mimicking aerial organs. Around its neck also was a thick mane of icy white fur - a symbol of superiority among its kind.

But beyond these differences, there was an undeniable, immediate, and obvious difference in the sheer quantity of magical energy that made Thokk and the elder tremble.