Cutter knew he was improving too. He was seldom spotted before his ambush had begun now, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd taken more than a superficial scratch. Some drunk Okranite suggested he find a man called Stan the Stalker, who apparently shared similar hobbies—hunting stray Shek and making a name for himself doing it. He'd pissed himself when Cutter appeared to challenge him. Disgusted, Cutter dumped the corpse off at Squin, where it was his turn to be stunned. Called 'kin' by none other than a Hundred Guardian. It seemed the Shek were appreciative of not only his work, but his talent as well. After bringing in a rogue Berserker to Admag, it seemed the news just kept spreading. Cutter was now a welcome friend of the Shek Kingdom.

Uneasy with their embrace, Cutter traveled to the Eastern United Cities. He spent his glut of cats on the various privileges one could, but quickly became bored of hunting simple highwaymen again. Aimless, he mused about the half-sunken lab in the swamp. It proved little challenge for him to draw most of the spiders out, close the gate on them, and dispatch the remnants—he was so nimble and agile that the spiders could never've caught him, even with the boggy footing and treacherous roots everywhere. The arcane treasures within were sold off to Tech Scribes or kept stashed at the bottom of his bag, mostly meaningless to Cutter. He knew they contained worthy secrets, though, and needed to consider how he could extract them.