The animal that finally entered the clearing seemed harmless. At least compared to the beasts I was familiar with on Talahm. An ant. Well, more like a giant ant. Larger than Beag, if it could be domesticated, I could see some Sidhe adding it to their stables. The problem was the mandibles; they seemed sharp enough to do any damage, and if the insect maintained the ratio of strength to body size, then one could be formidable. A colony could destroy a Sidhe town or community.

As I examined it, trying to find any clue that would suggest why System had labeled this creature dangerous, I received a System notification informing me of a new skill and some basic information about the creature.

[System Notice: Skill [Inspect] learned - Inspect allows you to identify objects, animals, beasts, monsters, and people. Higher levels of [Inspect] will display additional information.]

[Inspect]

[Formica (Scout) - Level 3]

I had a name and level for the animal, but even knowing this information, I didn't have a way to determine threat, as a Scout, it may be relatively harmless, more inclined to retreat and warn a larger hive. Regardless, I had entered Shadow, and although there was a level difference, I thought that our number advantage would offset the small level difference. I was hoping an attack from Shadow would allow us to kill it quickly and cleanly.

I activated [Shadow Passage] a skill that allowed me to blink from between patches of shadow, instinctively knowing that range was an issue. I could move between shadows up to fifty feet apart, a distance that would increase as I became more proficient at the skill. But there was no cooldown, and no mana cost since [Shadow Passage] was a skill, not a spell.

Shadow was different from [Stealth], I actually moved into a quasi-alternate realm. I was in a place between. Stealth allowed a person to hide, to camouflage their presence. Someone would have to be able to enter the Shadow Realm to have a chance of detecting me. The chances of the Formica detecting me were zero.

Movement within this Shadow zone was effortless. I didn't have any real mass or depth; I was a two-dimensional amalgam. A construct that was able to move between shadows as easily and adroitly as a whisper on the wind. I quickly positioned myself to allow for the most damage when attacking, striking from behind, when the insect aggroed on and attacked Thutmose. A golden glow emanated from the mandibles the only warning we received before it released a skill, [Crush], a ranged attack.

[Crush] was only an advance attack, a distraction to hold Thutmose in place as the insect readied itself for a finishing move. The Formica jumped straight up in the air, ten feet at least, and wings that had been folded in tightly against the carapace snapped open, giving the insect the ability to fly. Thutmose had managed to fight off the [Crush] attack but was still out of position when it dive-bombed towards him, grasping him with those serrated mandibles in a move that could have bisected him. Its attack doing force damage as well as slashing.

Sieph's quick action, a flick of metal that expanded to create a reinforced cage around Thutmose gave him the time he needed to regain his balance. The cage only delayed the attack, as the Formica was able to cut through whatever metal Sieph had used. It was enough though to allow Thutmose to raise both arms. One sporting a metal gauntlet, the other his mace.

His equipment was sturdy enough to stand up to the Formica's attack, not without taking some damage, the sound of his arm breaking testifying to the strength of the ant's power. I had planned on attacking using the metal daggers I was armed with but seeing the way the insect shrugged off or cut through the metal that Sieph and Thutmose had equipped gave me pause.

Instead, once I had pounced, leaving the safety of Shadow, I cast [Shadow Blade], creating for the first time the spell that System had assigned during integration. The blade was as ethereal as smoke, wisps of shadow that was an actual part of my body. No handle to hold, the blade extended from the radial bone in my lower arm, extruding from flesh above my wrist and projecting fourteen inches or so past my clenched fist. For all the wisp and smoke visual quality of the blade, it was surprisingly responsive and deadly.

The blade linked to intent and transitioning between shadow and solid with each movement and thought as I transitioned back and forth using [Shadow Passage] to position myself behind the Formica and begin my attack.

[Backstab]

[Ambush Attack]

[Piercing Damage]

[Slashing Damage]

[You have gained [Formica (Scout)], level 3 aggro]

[You have learned a new skill [Backstab]]

[Backstab: level 1 > (5/100)]

[Critical Damage dealt = 92]

Riding the back of the insect, my legs wedged between the thorax and abdomen, feet digging for purchase, I began stabbing that point where the head and thorax joined.

[Shadow Blade: Level 0 > 3 of 100]

[Critical Damage dealt = 47]

[Shadow Blade: Level 3 > 15 of 100]

[Critical Damage dealt = 38]

[Shadow Blade: Level 5 > 35 of 100]

[Damage dealt = 21]

[You have slain [Formica (Scout)]]

[Experience: 70]

[Shadow Blend: level 1 > (20/100]

[Shadow Passage: level 1 > (50/ 100)]

[Shadow Blade: level 3 > (35/100)]

[Dagger: level 2 > (15/100)

Sieph and Thutmose added to the damage done, but I was too busy to notice how they attacked and how much damage they managed, I only knew I managed the killing blow because of the System notice. With the immediate danger over, I checked with Beag by sending a pulse through my companion bond sharing his senses. I was able to satisfy myself that Beag's ability to identify the environment was much more advanced than mine.

"Sieph, Thutmose," I began once I regained focus, "we were lucky, so engrossed in playing with System functions we didn't bother setting a guard or making use of the System party function. We have to stop acting as this is Talahm and we are out for a casual stroll."

I was worried that we were off to a bad beginning. We hadn't even left the staging area we'd been dropped at and I'd already messed up. I couldn't ignore the mistakes that I had made, all I could do was try to do better, and I started right away by creating, and inviting Sieph and Bob to a party, something I should have done as soon as that option became a functional part of my toolkit.

Sieph and Bob were easy to invite, a simple thought was all that was required to send them the System prompt. Thutmose required an actual physical connection before we could get him included. His inclusion in my friend's list made simple skin to skin connection all that was required. I hoped we could solve the ability to sync the different System iterations as easily from now on, something else to discuss with Grandfather.

The Egyptians had to have encountered this issue before. It led me to wonder if the System construct that bound Talahm and the paradigm that worked with the other Pantheons had the same issues. I knew about obvious differences, Ranked versus Caste leveling paradigm the largest, but there had to be small inconsistencies that cropped up. The Egyptians had claimed enough planets that their System had to have adapted and grown immensely from the clean slate we were encountering on Ijal.

I had no idea what Thutmose saw once he accepted the party invite, but for Sieph, Bob, and I, we were given the option to modify the HUD, one where the names would appear at all times in a side panel, or the option to disable the HUD overview. I thought it might become an interesting and useful feature, especially in tandem with the mini-map since it allowed you to find and target a party member easily. I set my HUD not to display party members' names and toggled through a few other settings that had popped up.

Auto-splitting of any monies that we looted was an easy decision, but I decided to set the rest of the loot so that only I received it. It would make it easier to organize specimens and interesting finds for delivery to Talahm if only one person was handling loot drops. And anything that we found that would be useful was easily re-distributed between us.

Once the party was formed, and Bob had returned, we turned our attention to the [Formica (Scout)] corpse. The remains didn't bother us, none of us were fastidious about blood and guts. Too much of our training had included hunting expeditions. But although I had been trained in harvesting and skinning my kills from the very beginning, knowing how to dismember an oversized ant had not been part of those lessons.

Approaching the carcass, a System menu popped up asking if I wanted to loot. Not sure exactly what that entailed but hoping it would remove the need to manual harvest organs, meats, and armor, I selected yes.

[You are attempting to loot (1) Formica. Would you like to attempt to skin the Formica (Scout)?]

[Yes/No]

[Yes]

[You have successfully skinned (1) Formica (Scout).]

[Skill: Skinning: level 1 (0/100) learned]

[Formica (Scout): Carapace (2) crafting material common]

[Formica (Scout): Meat (3) common]

[Formica (Scout): Mandibles (2) crafting material uncommon]

[New Quest: You have encountered your first native animal on the planet Ijal. Explore the area and document the species native to the area 1/10.]

[Reward: System Bestiary]

[New Quest: Defeat Native Wildlife (1/10).]

[Rewards: 150 Experience]

System seemed much more intrusive and responsive than I'd been taught on Talahm. Perhaps this was how it learned and adapted. By monitoring and responding to every action we made.

I could see where this could get monotonous and hoped that eventually I would either begin to learn to ignore the least important notices or I would gain access to a System configuration menu. System notices during combat could become problematic if I couldn't find a way to disable them or save them for when I was not in combat.