Lucian hadn’t noticed it before, but there were many minerals that were hanging from the ceiling of the hallway. Although the same brown and sticky fluid from the Sandworms dripped from the minerals in a steady rhythm, their shine could not be concealed.

Better take note of these minerals. I’ll be back with the equipment when I know what to look for.

Lucian notes down the description of the minerals and goes on his way deeper. The air was getting colder with each step Lucian took. Every droplet from the minerals seemed to exaggerate the uneasy feeling inside Lucian as he inched forward into the hallway.

The sounds of Lucian’s footsteps would have echoed through the cavernous void had he not used Muffling Stride. His breath was heavy with anticipation as he sensed something big at the end of the long pathway. The smell of earth and insect fluid filled his nose, but he was too focused on the way ahead to notice.

As Lucian reached the end of the path, he found himself in a large chamber, a cathedral to the unknown depths of the earth. He could see that the rocks and walls were covered with deep slashes, and some even had their surface caved in. As he surveyed his surroundings, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and a sudden shiver coursed through his body. A guttural, almost melodic clicking noise echoed through the chamber, sending a primal fear cascading through his veins.

Behind a boulder rose the monstrosity he had been warned of, a beast that resembled more like a monster from the depths of the ocean. Chitin covered its torso, the dark carapace a symbol of its formidable armour. Four pairs of spindly, powerful legs stretched out from its body, each ending in sharp, pointed tips that pierced the damp stone floor, while two powerful pincers extended menacingly from its sides.

The beast’s head, a grotesque fusion of crustacean and nightmare, loomed above the protagonist, its eyes dark and unfeeling.

What the fuck? What is this monstrosity? Don’t tell me I have to fight this thing now. No. Take a deep breath, Lucian, and look closely. Look closely at what it does.

As the beast walked slowly towards Lucian, he prepared his heart for the fight that was about to start. The beast raised its pincer in an attempt to crush Lucian into the ground, yet he dodged it easily. A little too easy. The beast eerily stared at Lucian, its beady eyes gazing into his soul as it lifted its pincer from the crater it had created with the strike.

One direct hit from that, and I’m gonna be Lucian sandwich.

Lucian cast Sparks at the beast first, and the lightning bounced from the chitin leaving only a small burn mark on the spot it had directly impacted. The crustacean face of the beast didn’t show emotion, but the dissonant clicking from its mouth expressed great annoyance at the spell Lucian had cast. It would hasten its steps as well as its attacks, its pincer gliding through the air at great speed that Lucian would dodge in the nick of time. Had he not learned the Tier-2 versions of Fortify Mind and Fortify Body, he wouldn’t have even lasted thirty seconds in the fight with this crustacean beast.

He would then cast Ignition, followed by Air Flick, at the beast, which would not even leave a mark on its chitin armour.

So Lightning attribute spells work well against this beast.

Lucian would devise a plan in which he would use the Earthen Bind spell to hinder its movements as he readied the Tier-2 spell Lightning Bolt in his hands. This time, the spell would come out of his hands instead of the short sword, the arcs of lightning moving mid-air erratically as it closed the distance on the crustacean menace. The beast, however, jumped sideways to dodge the spell, sensing the danger it posed.

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The crustacean beast would rapidly click its mouth dissonantly as if it was expressing its rage. It would then rush Lucian, clamping its pincers on the way as it raised its right pincer, ready to grab and bifurcate Lucian. Lucian would cast Air Flick on the ground just as the pincer grabbed him and would cast Earthen Bind mid-air while he landed at a safe distance away from the beast. The earth coiled around the beast, wrapping around the pincers and its torso, but would soon prove to be futile as the beast would jerk one of its arms with great force and break free.

The beast then opened its pincer and pointed it at Lucian. At first, he thought that the beast was taunting him as if to mock how weak he was, but after a few seconds, he would understand why it stood away with its pincer open. Through the small opening that lay on the point where the two claws of the pincer met, the crustacean beast would pump out a stream of water that reached Lucian in an instant. He dodged the jetstream within a breadth of his hair and looked back for a fraction of a second to see what had just gone past him. The wall behind him was caved in, with water dripping from the hole. If he had been any late in dodging the attack, it would have been him with a hole in his chest.

Goddamn it… All of its attacks are deadly. How do I even kill this thing?

Lucian racked his brains in the brief seconds he had in between attacks. The beast would pummel the ground at which Lucian stood, and if he were to create distance, it would shoot the stream of water that could cleanly cut a boulder in half if it had a bit more pressure. Suddenly, he would have an idea that could give him a chance. A glimmer of hope in this desperate battle against the beast.

The crustacean would click its mouth in a mocking tone as if to say that all hope was lost. All this time, Lucian had only dodged his attacks while his attacks did nothing. Yet the beast did not know that he had hidden most of his spells so that when the time came, he would deliver a finishing blow in an instant that it could not react to.

The beast would pounce on Lucian once again, but Lucian would only sidestep this attack. As its pincer made a hole in the ground, Lucian would use Sparks with each hand point-blank at the beast’s head. The shock would disorient the beast for a fraction of a millisecond, and after that, it would sweep its pincer sideways in an attempt to hit Lucian. He then used Air Flick and controlled the blast so that he would fall on the opposite side of the beast. He would then cast Incinerate combined with sparks directed towards its torso, as a result of which cracks would form on its carapace.

The beast let out an ear-piercing shriek in a fit of rage and flung wildly at Lucian. He then readied Air Flick in each hand, one aimed at the beast and the other at an angle aimed at the ground. After casting the spells, both of them would be flung in opposite directions. However, due to the weight of the crustacean, it would move only a few metres while Lucian was flung several metres.

The beast would then aim at Lucian with its pincer wide open, to which Lucian would smile.

So predictable.

As the crustacean fired its beam of water, Lucian had cast his own spell a second earlier, with flames forming in each of his hands.

Fireball.

Balls of flames the size of apples flew from Lucian’s hands, and when they collided with the water, a huge explosion rocked the cave. The sound would reverberate through the entire cave system as if the drums of war had been sounded, a sound that would deafen any ordinary living being. After the collision, the makeshift arena that the two fought in was enveloped in mist. One could barely see five centimetres ahead in the mist.

The crustacean would click its mouth while searching for its prey. But it would not find him, for he had cast a spell that would conceal his presence. As the beast searched and searched for the mage, it failed to notice that it had been snuck upon. Lucian could sense the beast through the mist without relying on his five senses and seized the opportunity by launching a surprise attack. One where he would impale the beast through the chink in the carapace created by his spells. The cave rumbled with the beast's shriek as the short sword slid into its torso. Lucian would cast Lightning Bolt through the short sword and channel it into the beast.

As the lightning coursed through the sword and into the beast, it swung one last time at its attacker. An attack that Lucian could not dodge, as the sword was still stuck in the beast’s armour. Its pincer slashed through Lucian’s belly, and Lucian could immediately feel the excruciating pain and, as such, fell to the ground with a loud scream. He held his belly in extreme pain and looked up at the beast. The fear of death ran through his mind. Was today the day he died? In the depths of a dark cave where nobody could find him? However, the beast would not move anymore. The four pairs of legs that carried it gave away as the upper body collapsed to the ground. The beast was dead.

Seeing that he had secured victory over the beast, he quickly tended to his wounds. The health potion that he brought would not be able to close the wound on its own. So, he would cast the Ignition spell and control its mana output with tears running down his eyes from the pain. He would then cauterise the open wound, followed by a scream from deep within his heart. As the wound closed up, he drank the health potion to recover his vitality, with exhaustion seeping into every part of his body.

Fuck Fuck Fuck…. I’ll lose consciousness at this rate. I’ll have to prepare.

With every ounce of willpower he had, Lucian cast Sinkhole under the beast he had just defeated and crawled into it. He then closed the entrance to the hole with Earthen Bind and immediately fainted, the corpse of the beast looming above him. As he fainted, he had only one thought in his mind.

Please, Gods. Don’t let any beast find me here.