Alien Evolution System

The Collector watched as the fall of Grain obscured the lighting lit skies generated from its blast.

This was the draconid specimen's most powerful attack.

The draconid species were capable of generating electromagnetic fields around them through specialized cells, with the center of this field comprising of their prominent back fin.

This field could be extended outwards with the input of magical energy, and other living specimen that fell under the field would have their personal electrical activity such as their neurosynaptic functions read.

This allowed for the limited precognitive ability the draconid specimen showed.

Likely, the electromagnetic sensitive cells also assisted in navigation as they could also read the flow of environmental mana quite well, for pure environmental mana flowed in some way analogously to a magnetic field generated by a planetary core.

These, however, were only the most basic abilities of these magically charged, electromagnetic cells.

They could further be overloaded with magical energy, prompting them to color any mana that went into energy that was further converted into electrical output.

When this output was maximized by circulating the flow of charged mana through the dorsal fin, it gained even further abilities, ascending from mere electrical charge into a raw manifestation of a storm, creating dark clouds, rumbling lightning, icy hail fall, and surging winds that localized around the maw of the species, ready to be vented out as a beam or in wide range area of effect.

This was a derivative of a primal magic ability called Eye of the Storm, though, notably as the system shard classified, it was denoted as being (False), indicating an incompleteness.

Likely, the true version of this power belonged to the larger genetic sample the draconids were derived from, of which the white maned draconid was likely a greater part of.

Even so, when the inferior draconid specimen had unleashed its storm breath against the Collector and the goblins, it had generated enough force to completely blow apart a sizable swath of the cliff face.

Now, when utilized by the Collector in its gigantified fifty meter frame and drastically enhanced mana reserves, the attack truly became an unparalleled storm of destruction. A targeted hurricane of wind forces and lightning.

Such was the strength of the breath that the sphere shaped ship had disintegrated entirely, and this, too, was intentional.

The Collector did not want any wreckage of these ships to be found by tinkerers. A fleet of this size would have its absence noted, and though it was impossible for this fleet to have received or sent out communications through the Grain, it was likely that their destination was at the least logged.

The Collector could not stay here. It may have even been that the ships had been sent out to scout for it directly. This, the Collector could find out now.

The Collector stared down at the ball of crushed airships by its feet. Inside would be a few dwarven pilots to interrogate. It utilized its new Jotnar Shift ability, sizing itself down so as to minimize attention.

Jotnar Shift would also allow the Collector to build up mana to further unleash when it gigantified, so spending more time in a compact state would lead to larger payoffs when it did expand into its full size.

A misty, icy fog surged outwards from the Collector, through both its skin and through the miniscule pores in its carapace. The fog was thick, laden with ice crystals that would have visibly glimmered under sunlight, and it completely obscured the Collector's towering form, leaving only its red eyes to faintly flicker before that light too disappeared.

The temperatures emitted by it were also exceedingly low and could easily snap freeze most unprepared specimen.

This emission of fog catalyzed the Jotnar Shift, and the Collector noted it could be utilized to easily obscure its presence and catch enemies unawares, disorienting them with a sudden shift in its dimensions along with the cold.

The Jotnar Shift was a near instantaneous process.

The Collector's body temporarily become pure energy, and then it condensed down into a height that nearly reached three meters. The same height it usually occupied when it was condensing its biomass prior, though now it could freely alternate between compacted and uncompacted biomass forms.

The Collector now stood in front of the pile of crushed airships, watching as the ball of crumpled, crackling and sparking metal and wiring now stood taller than it. It was even dwarfed in the center of one of the great footsteps it had carved out in the snow previously.

The most glaring weakness of this ability was that the Jotnar Shift possessed a flat rate cost of one fourth of the Collector's total mana reserves, making repeated usages untenable.

It also noted that when it transformed from its current smaller size to its gigantified form, instead of an inward condensation of energy, there would instead be an explosive outburst, making the transformation itself a formidable area of effect attack when needed.

There were many things to consider now.

The idea of this entity known as the 'White Voice' came to the foremost of the Collector's mind in particular. Yet, contemplation would have to come after safety was secured.

The Collector approached the crushed ball of airships. At least a few of the piloting specimen were alive; it had made sure of that. It put a pair of hands on one of the cockpit windows and pried it open, the wrenching of metal filling the air.

A dwarf was there, pinned by a belt to its cockpit with its legs completely crushed by metal pressurized by the Collector's Sapia.

"That injury is not fatal," said the Collector as it dropped the torn apart cockpit window to the ground. "Speak truth to me, and I shall grant you a painless death. Lie to me, and you will know agony unknown to any tinkerer on this planet."

The dwarf looked up at the Collector, crackling pieces of technology screaming around it in malfunction. The dwarf specimen was covered in a suit of body armor. Sleek in design. Reminiscent of the United Front's infantry armor.

Specifically that belonging to the Federation of Humanity.

A coincidence that did not escape the Collector. It would soon know, however, when it began to question.

"Undeath Override," whispered the dwarf weakly, its voice mechanically projected in raspy manner through a filtration system in its helmet.

When the dwarf uttered those words, a few mechanical patches on its body armor changed their glow from green to black.

The Collector reached out its hand to grasp the dwarf, but as it did so, the dwarf spontaneously exploded, blown apart by ordinance inlaid within its armor.

The Collector was left grasping at a black cloud of acrid smoke, and as that smoke made contact with the airship remains around it, a sort of mass self-destruction sequence initiated. The airships began to combust and break apart wherever it could via its engines or circuitry.

All pilots within them further blew apart by their suits, regardless of whether they were alive or dead.

Curious that these specimens would have the immediate and available function to destroy themselves at a moment's notice like this.

Such a function was niche in its usage, with the Collector theorizing that it would be useful largely in times of war when the information held by certain individuals was sensitive.

Yet, the word 'Undeath'.

The Collector had heard this before and determined that it was something resembling some sort of pathogen or infestation that caused specimen to function after their primary processing systems had expired.

Likely, then, an 'Undeath Override' was meant to prevent bodies from succumbing to this pathogen, with the dwarf specimen conveniently utilizing it to escape the Collector's questioning.

An admirable quality, in some way. A willingness to throw away life for the sake of a misguided loyalty to a people.

The Collector left the pile of now broken apart, flaming ball of scrap to further deteriorate. It would fully destroy every trace of them later, but for now, it turned finally to the corpses of the goblin swarm.

Corpses it had taken care of to not damage in its prior altercation.

For the Collector now possessed an ability from the Jotnar it was eager to test.

The Breath of Life.