He moved like a shadow, flowing between trees, vines and branches scattered around.
Every step was calculated, his Ash Gray senses creating a spherical radar around him. The "lens" through which he viewed the world had sharpened. Before, it was like looking through dirty glass. Now, the glass was clean.
He searched around into the Western Zone, hunting for his next target, as he had felt that he hadn't gotten the experience he needed from the previous encounter.
Suddenly, he froze.
Five feet away, a large beetle, the size of a dinner plate with iridescent green wings, was crawling along a branch. Normally, insects in this zone scurried away the moment a large mammal approached. But the beetle continued to munch on the bark, completely oblivious to him.
Sol narrowed his eyes. He leaned in closer. Closer.
He was within arm's reach. He could hear the crunch-crunch of its mandibles. He could smell the acidic scent of its secretions.
