SSS-Rank Awakening: My Infinite Absorption System

Chapter 79: The Species Gap

"Watch the gravel shelf on the left, Ruby, that shale looks loose."

A small cascade of slate pebbles clattered down the steep limestone quarry wall into the pit below.

"I see it, Fin, my footing is solid on the bedrock tier."

"Nila, how far back is the perimeter drone?"

"Hovering thirty meters above the southern gully, recording official survey telemetry for the remediation board."

"Good, keep it in the loop so the guild clerk doesn’t try to short our clearance bounty."

The crisp morning air carried the sharp, sulfuric tang of cracked mineral nodes and damp clay.

[ Rank C Active: Certified Hunt Contract ]

[ Target Classification: Quarry Carvers (Rank D+ Pack Species) ]

[ Stamina: 100/100 ]

[ Mana: 40/40 ]

The quarry floor stretched out beneath them in terraces of stepped white limestone, carved by decades of automated extraction machinery.

"Do you hear that clicking along the drainage ditch?"

"Twelve contacts moving in a wedge formation, Ruby."

"Can you make out their shell thickness?"

"Heavy obsidian carapaces, serrated front pinchers, roughly six feet across the dorsal ridge."

"D-plus pack carvers... back when we were Rank D, four of those would have kept us pinned for an hour."

"Now there are twelve of them, and they think we are trapped on this ledge."

A series of dry, sharp clicks echoed against the quarry walls as the lead carver surfaced from the loose shale.

"They are accelerating, Fin, two hundred feet and closing!"

"Ruby, take the bottleneck between those two concrete blocks."

"Already planted, kid, give the signal when you want the wall."

"Nila, wait until they bunch against Ruby’s shield, then take the rear flank."

"Understood, rapier is charged."

Fin stepped forward onto the center tier, feeling the dense, responsive power of one hundred and nineteen points of strength anchoring his knees.

The ground trembled under the scuttling charge of twelve armored monstrosities, their jagged legs churning the loose gravel into grey dust.

"They are hitting the choke in three... two... now!"

The lead three carvers slammed into Ruby’s composite shield with the concussive boom of falling boulders.

"Hold that ridge, Ruby!"

"I have them, Fin, but three more are peeling off to the right side!"

"Not on my watch."

’I focused my intent on the three beasts flanking to the right, channeling ten units of mana through my optic pathways.’

[ Triggering Class Skill: Apex Gaze (Level 1) ]

[ Mana Cost: 10/40 → Current Mana: 30/40 ]

[ Target Area: 6-Meter Conical Arc ]

[ Target Status: 3 Quarry Carvers (Rank D+) ]

[ Rank Disparity Detected: Target Rank Inferior to Operator ]

[ Psychic Disruption Inflicted: 3 Seconds Stun / Balance Loss ]

A sudden, silent ripple of predatory intent washed out from Fin’s eyes, distorting the air like the shimmer above hot asphalt.

The three flanking carvers froze mid-stride, their legs locking violently as their sensory antennae twitched in blind, disoriented panic.

"What did you just do to them, Fin?"

"Apex Gaze... three seconds of total disorientation!"

"Then I am taking the opening!"

Nila darted past Fin’s left shoulder, her rapier turning into a streak of pale silver light in the dusty air.

"First neck seam pierced!"

A pressurized jet of greenish fluid erupted from the carver’s throat plate as Nila withdrew her blade with a crisp snap.

"Second one down, clean brain stem puncture!"

The third disoriented beast shook its head violently as the three-second stun faded, its heavy claws snapping blindly into empty space.

"Watch the right pincer, Nila!"

"I am out of its reach!"

Fin closed the distance with a single stride, swinging his steel hatchet in a flat, downward arc.

The polished reverse spike punched through the carver’s heavy dorsal plate like a chisel striking soft pine, splitting the carapace in half.

"That is three cleared, Fin, but the main pack is swarming Ruby’s shield!"

"Shift right, Nila, flank them from behind!"

"Moving now!"

The remaining nine carvers hammered relentlessly against Ruby’s defensive wall, their serrated mandibles throwing sparks across the metal face.

"Ruby, can you drop the wall back two steps on my mark?"

"Give the mark, kid, my arms are getting rattled!"

"Step back... now!"

Ruby disengaged her shield hooks with a practiced twist, taking two clean, backward strides onto the higher ledge.

The sudden loss of resistance sent the front four carvers stumbling forward onto the slick limestone gravel.

"Nila, sweep the legs!"

"Suppression arc engaged!"

A sweeping arc of pressurized mana cut across the carvers’ knee joints, sending them crashing into the dirt in a tangle of broken limbs.

Fin stepped into the gap, driving his hatchet through the nearest skull plate with brutal, efficient repetition.

One carver reared back to snap at Fin’s collar, its jagged mandibles dripping with caustic saliva.

’With my elevated agility, its lunge looked sluggish, almost telegraphed in slow motion.’

A clean sidestep carried Fin past its snapping jaw, and the reverse spike took it behind the ear cavity with a single, conclusive thud.

"That is eight dead, Ruby, four remaining on the lower shelf!"

"They are trying to burrow into the drainage gravel, Fin!"

"Don’t let them dig in, if they get under the foundation they will undermine the road!"

"I will pin the left two with throwing spikes!"

Ruby drew two heavy steel javelins from her back harness and hurled them with whistling force into the gravel pit.

Both javelins pierced the burrowing carvers through their dorsal shells, pinning them hard against the bedrock floor.

"Finish the last two, Fin, before they reach the main drainage pipe!"

Fin launched himself off the limestone ledge, dropping eight feet straight down into the gully with his boots hitting the rock like a hammer.

The shock of the impact was absorbed effortlessly by Fin’s fortified joints, the ground barely shuddering as he drove forward.

Two swift, balanced swings of his hatchet crushed the remaining carvers into the damp earth, silencing the quarry pit completely.

The settling dust swirled in the morning wind, leaving only the distant whirr of the survey drone overhead.

"Twelve down, zero breaches on the perimeter fence."

"Check your armor, Ruby, any acid burns on your vambraces?"

"Just cosmetic scorch marks on the outer ceramic coating, nothing through the padding."

"Nila, how is your rapier tip?"

"Slightly dull on the edge from the chitin, but the alignment is true."

[ Combat Log: 12/12 Quarry Carvers Cleared ]

[ Contract Terms Fulfilled: Municipal Remediation Board ]

[ EXP: +4,500,000 ]

[ Total EXP: 4,500,000 / 250,000,000 ]

A heavy stream of experience poured into his core, establishing the first solid foundation in the vast quarter-billion pool.

[ Extraction Opportunity Detected: Pack Alpha Chitin ]

[ Predator’s Claim Active: Target Selection Verified ]

[ Available Passive: Chitin Armor Reinforcement (Level 1) ]

[ Effect: Grants 5% Physical Damage Mitigation after existing armor and defensive modifiers ]

[ No attribute increases attached to this passive ]

[ Harvest Passive? Y/N ]

"Fin, are you harvesting a core from the alpha corpse?"

"Taking a passive defensive layer, Ruby."

"What does it offer?"

"Chitin Armor Reinforcement... five percent physical damage mitigation, calculated after existing armor values."

"Five percent doesn’t sound like a mountain, but stacked on top of heavy plate, it adds up over a long fight."

"Does it give you extra strength or endurance?"

"Zero attribute increases, strictly passive skin hardening."

Fin placed his hand over the cracked carapace of the largest carver and confirmed the extraction prompt.

[ Passive Acquired: Chitin Armor Reinforcement (Level 1) ]

[ Source Depleted: Core Dissolved ]

A subtle, tightening sensation passed over his skin, like a thin layer of hardened resin settling beneath the epidermis.

"Notice any difference, kid?"

"My skin feels a little denser, like wearing heavy canvas under my tunic."

"Good, because tomorrow we have the coastal rift contract out past the western reefs."

"Maya said the rift has high electrical discharge signatures, Fin."

"Then we make sure we pack insulated boots and keep our boots planted on solid rock."

"Look at the survey drone descending, Fin."

The drone hummed down to eye level, flashing a green completion beacon and projecting a digital receipt onto the limestone wall.

"Contract verified by automated telemetry, captain... three thousand municipal remediation credits credited directly to our team escrow."

"Not bad for forty minutes of work in a dusty ditch."

"And the board added a commendation note for preserving the drainage pipes intact."

"Of course we preserved them, if we smashed the drainage pipes, Talla would have deducted the repair bill from our fee."

"She definitely would have, she has an entire ledger dedicated to collateral damage deductions."

Ruby wiped down her spear point with an oily rag, slipping the weapon into her leather back harness.

"Let’s pack the carver mandibles into the salvage bags before the scavengers smell the fluid."

"Iron Dogs are already waiting at the perimeter road with the transport truck, Ruby."

"Then let’s get moving, Jolly promised she would make dumplings tonight if we brought back a clean report."

"Then we definitely don’t keep her waiting."