The fight ended quickly after that, as the ant was completely unable to fend against Rohan’s attacks with only three working limbs, all at the rear of its body as well. It couldn’t even stand upright and maintain its balance, let alone use them to fight back.

[You have killed an E rank Nature Ant.]

[1 E rank (Normal) Origin Crystal has been dropped.]

[1 E rank (Normal) Camouflage gene has been dropped.]

"Oh!"

At Rohan’s joyful exclamation, Elane couldn’t help but look at him with hopeful eyes, wondering what had him so worked up all of a sudden.

After all, the beast had already been taken down, so what was there to be excited about afterwards?

’Unless...’

Her questions were answered shortly after.

"It dropped a Gene, Elane! An E rank gene!" Rohan turned to her and exclaimed excitedly.

He was practically jumping up and down with joy, which made Elane want to jump up and down with joy as well.

"Quickly! Quickly! Tell me, what type of gene is it?!" Elane pestered him instantly for more details.

Rohan’s grin widened even further at Elane’s reaction, amused by how she was acting.

"It’s called a Camouflage gene," he said, still sounding far too pleased with himself. "The exact type that Nature Ant used against us." He answered smugly.

"I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to bet that once it’s absorbed, you’ll gain the same ability to blend your body into the surrounding environment, and not just your skin either. That beast was able to obscure it’s presence even from all of your enhanced senses, so this gene’s abilities clearly go even deeper than just visual camouflage."

Elane’s pupil’s widened.

That sounded immensely useful. No, more than just useful!

It would be terrifying in the hands of someone like her.

Rohan noticed the shift in her expression and quickly continued while the details were still fresh in their minds.

"It’s not defensive type, like my old Firestone Skin, unfortunately, but if we take the Nature ant as a reference, it might even have some defensive properties to it as well, as its defence was tough enough to negate a decent amount of impact from my Commander tier spear."

He frowned slightly as he tried to consider it deeper.

"To list it out, it makes you harder to perceive, harder to spot, and probably much deadlier in ambushes or while scouting. It won’t let you tank such heavy hits like I can, but if you pair it with your enhanced senses and your attack style..."

Even Rohan grew weary of such a thought. He wouldn’t like to face off an enemy that had all of that in their arsenal.

He trailed off.

Rohan didn’t even need to finish his thoughts aloud, as both of them could already picture it.

Elane vanishing into the environment and becoming nearly impossible to track, only for an arrow to suddenly appear from nowhere and drill through the enemy’s eye.

Or slipping around the enemy unnoticed while Rohan acts as a distraction, positioning herself perfectly, and striking when the opponent is least expecting it.

Such a natural style of attacking fit her, almost perfectly.

’I was hoping to find a defensive gene like Rohan’s... But this one fits my style of attacking much better when you lay it all out like that.’ Elane thought internally.

She was planning to wait until they found a defensive type gene and let Rohan evolve it to a good enough level for her.

But the longer she stayed gene-less, the longer that weakness continued to drag them down. And now that they had stumbled upon an E rank gene no less...

The decision was practically made already in her mind.

Elane looked down at her hands, calloused from all her time using the bow.

Then at her bow itself.

And back to the orange orb sitting quietly in Rohan’s hands.

"A defensive gene would be nice," she said at last, mostly to herself. "It would make things safer, easier too."

Rohan nodded, but didn’t say anything more.

He could tell she wasn’t finished.

Elane’s eyes sharpened.

"But that’s not really me."

She took a breath and looked up at him, no longer just weighing the vague possibilities in her mind.

"I’m never going to fight like you, Rohan. Even if I get a defensive gene, I’m still not going to be that kind of person who charges straight in and crushed everything in their path." Her lips curled slightly.

"That role is already taken by a certain idiot I know."

Rohan’s brow twitched, but he let her have this one.

Elane continued, more sure than ever of herself with every new word.

"My strength has always been in my senses, my positioning, my timing and my support. Even before awakening, that was the direction I naturally headed towards. And now, with my talents and choice of weapon..." She looked at the gene again, and this time there was a certain longing in her gaze. " A camouflage gene doesn’t just suit me. It’s practically made for me."

Rohan’s blooming grin returned.

’She made her decision the moment I told her this gene’s type, this is just her trying to justify it.’

"It’s abilities are already this amazing while it’s just Normal tier. Seems like we might need to alter our plans slightly over the next few days once again." He gave Elane a knowing smile.

Compared to his heavy requirements for E rank Elite tier energy to evolve his Molten-stone skin to Commander tier, the procurement of E rank Normal tier Origin Crystals was far less of a challenge for them, as Rohan had just demonstrated.

E rank Normal tier beasts were far more common than their Elite tier big brothers as well — all they’d have to do was travel farther out from the city than they had before and they’d start encountering them more often than they would F rank beasts!

"I’ll keep hold of it for now, since you won’t be able to absorb it until we get back to the Federation anyway." Rohan stated.

"And besides," he smiled. "The hunt has only just started! We have another four days ahead of us."