November 2, 2022
Day 13
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Rahul and the others had given Maya as much time and space as she needed and had taken turns scouting their surroundings.
They were on a dry patch of land, almost an island, in the middle of vast swamps. These swamps were all filled with crocodiles, and Rahul and his team had counted at least 15 floats of crocodiles. Yes, floats. Matt had helpfully informed Rahul what a group of crocodiles was called. Each float had between 50 to 100 crocodiles, for a total of some 1000 crocodiles surrounding the island.
They had used inspect on the crocodiles and found their levels lying between 5 to 9. As Daniel had suspected, and Martin had foolishly forgotten to mention, this instance of the dungeon only had opponents up to level 9. That was the maximum level at which the humans were permitted to enter the dungeon, so it made sense.
A part of Rahul hoped that the level cap didn't change as the four of them advanced in levels, though another part of him wished for higher-level enemies so he would gain more XP.
But that was all a concern for later.
Beyond their immediate surroundings, Rahul had noticed multiple other similar dry patches of land off in the distance, easily accessible to them via the sturdy outwardly protruding roots of mangrove trees. Easily accessible, except for the threat posed by the aforementioned crocodiles, that is.
So far, the crocodiles had been content to bathe in the sunlight and just laze about in their swamps, but as Rahul saw the sun getting closer to the horizon and the afternoon turning into evening, he was worried.
If the crocodiles were to actively hunt for them, they would have nowhere to run, and if they attacked under the cover of night, the group wouldn't even see them coming.
Deciding they didn't have any more time to wait, Rahul nudged Maya.
"Are you feeling better now? We need to find someplace safe for the night. If the crocodiles attack at night, we won't see them coming, and by the time we spot them, we won't have anywhere to run. We can't defend such an open position either. "
Maya had stopped crying a while ago, but she had asked to be left alone for some time. Her eyes were still red from earlier, but she nodded sagely.
"I understand. Thank you for your patience, all of you. I'm ready to move, I won't be a burden anymore. "
That last part was met with immediate resistance as all three men vehemently disagreed.
"Don't say that, you aren't a burden at all. Please don't think that way. "
Those were Rahul's words, but Matt and Charlie voiced similar thoughts.
Maya was a bit taken aback by the sudden jumble of words as the three had spoken together, but she got the gist of it, and raised her hands in surrender before she spoke, and started getting up.
"Okay! Okay! Got the message loud and clear, I'm not a burden! I just wanted to be a little dramatic"
She mumbled that last part to herself, but in all seriousness, she was feeling better. The way her three colleagues, no, friends, had fussed over her all this time, coupled with their strong reaction to her remark about being a burden, finally managed to lift Maya's spirit just as she rose to her feet.
Once she was standing, they all noticed a small and subtle smile tugging at her lips. Everyone's mood visibly improved.
"Where to? ", Charlie excitedly asked Rahul.
Rahul replied.
"We need to explore the other dry patches and hope one of them has some non-open space we can use. Something like a cave would be ideal, but any kind of physical feature would be better than open plains. All this we must do before the sun goes down"
Charlie spoke, with less excitement this time.
"We'll need to kill a lot of crocodiles to pave a path to any of those islands. Fighting even one had been, well, quite traumatic. "
Rahul tried to instill confidence in his voice as he replied.
"Yeah, but we will have to contend with those crocodiles, one way or another, no matter what strategy we come up with. They're everywhere and we can't possibly ignore them. We had a lucky break earlier, with you spotting the crocodile in time. But we will need to face them again, sooner or later. With the sun setting, I think sooner is a lot better than later. That's not to say we will fight without a plan. "
Charlie nodded and replied.
"Yeah, I guess there's no way to avoid the crocodiles completely, but yeah, let's come up with a strategy first. That reminds me, did you guys notice something different about the crocodiles? "
Rahul had a hunch, and he nodded. Maya and Matt however had confused looks on their faces.
Charlie replied.
"Let's go back to the site where we encountered that crocodile. "
Charlie looked at Maya with concern as he finished speaking. Maya shook her head and spoke.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. But let's keep an eye out for any other nasty surprises. "
So, the party slowly retraced their steps back to their spawn point and noticed the Saltwater Crocodile. Even dead, it looked quite menacing.
Charlie gathered all his courage and went closer to the reptile's body, bending and inspecting the two arrows that had penetrated its scales, one in the torso, and the other in the head. Then he checked the dent on the scale where the third arrow had hit and bounced off. He only had to look for a few seconds before he nodded to himself and joined the others who were standing at a distance.
Charlie spoke.
"Earlier today, when we were at the outer walls, I had fired many enhanced stamina arrows, and saw a few pierce right through an albatross and go on further to kill another. In terms of penetrative force, that puts our enhanced arrows at least at par with a bullet shot from a hunting rifle. Possibly even stronger than that. That fact made me think. Those rifles can certainly pierce a crocodile's scales, even a strong enough jab with a sharp knife can. So how come one of the arrows bounced right off the crocodile's scale? "
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The answer was easy for everyone to guess.
"It was level 6", Rahul said.
Charlie nodded and replied.
"Levelling seems to have made the crocodile scales tougher, perhaps even bulletproof. But if you look closely, you'll notice one other thing. Their scales are structurally changed. They are now layered like a dragon's scales, or maybe like the tiles on a rooftop. My point is, a normal crocodile's scales may be a little bumpy, but it is otherwise continuous and without any exploitable weaknesses in between. "
Then, pointing at the level 6 crocodile, Charlie said.
"This one has individual scales layered across its body, with gaps in between. The arrows embedded in its body both entered through that gap between scales. It might even be possible to pluck off individual scales. Perhaps we can even reassemble them into scale armor, though I definitely am not going to do that. "
Just the thought made the other three squeamish, and they unilaterally shook their heads to refuse as well.
Charlie continued unperturbed.
"If these were pre-integration crocodiles, we might have been able to one-shot them with arrows to their head. At level 6, their scales are strong enough to deflect the arrows, but not if it hits the gap. That chink in their armor saved our life, but we need to exploit it further. "
"What are you proposing? ", Rahul asked dubiously.
Charlie replied
"The crocodile's armor is what prevents us from killing them en-masse as we did the frogs and birds. Still, we know that if we fire enough arrows, some will find the gaps and kill the crocodile. But sooner or later, we will run into one at close range, and we need a way to deal with them without arrows. We need to see if we can cut them with our swords or damage them with our fireballs. The latter would need testing on a live target, but for the former, we have practice armor right in front of us. I know it seems like we're defiling a corpse, but it just might save our lives. "
Everyone was hesitant at first, but eventually, Rahul, Charlie, and Matt all took out their swords and looked at Maya.
"You're a mage. You don't have to if you don't want to. ", Charlie said.
"No, I need to be able to defend myself. ", Maya said, as she too unsheathed the sword hanging at her waist.
For the next fifteen minutes, they all took turns and attacked the crocodile with swords, axes, and knives. They tried overhead swings, vertical and horizontal cuts, stabs, and everything else they could think of.
Swings were completely ineffective, the long edge of the blade unable to get between the gaps in the scales. Cuts could sometimes find purchase and enter the gaps, but the stabs proved most effective.
Stabbing at the proper angle and continuous application of force made the tip of the blade slide across the scale, in contrast to arrows that would lose all their momentum and bounce off the scales. The sliding blade would eventually reach the point that marks the end of that scale and the start of the next one - the chink in the armor. The blade would then easily slide into the gap and penetrate the reptile's hide.
The group believed they had found a way to fight the reptiles in melee combat, and were ready to put their experiments to the test.
As they all wiped the disgusting blood off their swords and knives, Rahul spoke excitedly.
"Let's see if our blades can still pierce the scales when we go up against crocodiles that move, resist and bite back. "
Rahul hoped that outwardly excitement would mask his inner unease, as he silently wondered how many crocodiles they'll have to kill in the limited hours before nightfall if they wished to explore the other hospitable patches of land.
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"We're going fast, but we need to go faster if we want to clear up enough of the crocodiles to safely venture towards one of the other dry patch lands before the sun sets", Ivan said to Daniel as they retreated after another successful raid on a large crocodile float.
The group had been fighting for the past few hours, only taking short rests in between to recover stamina naturally. They had opted to save the stamina potions for emergencies. In this entire time, they had managed to eliminate 4 of the smaller floats and harassed many of the others. But now as evening approached, they had a decision to make.
Daniel spoke.
"Even at the pace we're going, we should be able to completely clear the east and head in that direction before sunset. But we'll be cutting it close, and that will leave us in peril if we don't manage to find a defensible natural feature in the large dry landmass to the east. If we go faster, we might have enough time to explore two or even three such landmasses. We have a choice to make. "
Ivan's reply was immediate.
"As I've been telling you, every minute we spend retreating is a minute we waste. Let me switch to melee and hold the line, while you guys use the arrows. We will fight till we kill every last crocodile around. If I get into trouble, hit them with the fireball and I'll use the mayhem to get away. "
Ivan had suggested various strategies in the last few hours, and Daniel had acceded to almost everything.
By now, they had done away with the two teams structure and were all peppering different targets, only retreating when the crocodiles came within 20 feet. Even while running, they would frequently stop and turn around to loose some arrows. All in all, they had optimized their strategy to maximize killing efficacy while minimizing risk as much as possible.
Daniel had agreed to all of Ivan's suggestion, all but one. So far, Daniel had turned Ivan down every time he requested to fight in melee as it exposed him to mortal danger.
This time, Daniel gave in.
"Fine. You are the only tank in our team, and we need to come to terms with the fact that you'll be in the most dangerous positions. But be careful. The first sign of trouble, and I'll light up your vicinity with fireballs. Use that opportunity to run, and immediately use a healing potion if you are hurt or burnt. "
"Don't worry, I won't take any unnecessary risk. "
Ivan replied with complete sincerity.
"Be careful, Ivan"
Helena and Alex both said those lines, and Ivan nodded as the team ran east intending to eliminate all the remaining floats in that direction in one go.
Once they found an appropriate location for Ivan to defend, they all took positions around him and nocked their arrows. Ivan did the same.
His axe would make an appearance later.
And so it began.
Four arrows zipped through the air and met four targets. Three crocodiles died instantly, and the rest stirred.
The team launched four more volleys in rapid succession before the crocodiles started moving toward them with intent.
As two more volleys followed, the crocodile's swimming grew more frantic and fast.
The team had already let loose ten volleys before the first crocodiles set foot on the dry land.
Five more volleys and the crocodiles were 30 feet away. Time to switch weapons and tactics.
Ivan threw his bow and quiver to the side as he picked up his axe. The others retreated and continued raining arrows from Ivan's flanks.
As the first crocodile came within fifteen feet of Ivan, he raised his axe overhead and looked at the tiny panda on his shoulder. He wasn't allowed to call him Inertia, so he had just started calling him bud. Helena was not happy about that either, insisting that 'bud' would stick, but Ivan had to call the little guy something.
"You ready bud? "
Martin had said that the presence would not understand human speech till he leveled up, but Ivan could swear he felt the panda stand a bit straighter.
The next moment, the crocodile covered the remaining distance in a blur of motion, leaping at Ivan with a speed belying its large form. But Ivan was ready and just before the reptile's jaw could clench around Ivan's leg, 6 inches of steel struck from above and split its brain in two.
Ivan pulled with all his strength to get the axe out of the ground, and it came out not a moment too soon as another crocodile jumped for Ivan. This time, the axe head split its jaw in half, but the reptile kept thrashing and did not die immediately. As Ivan tried to pull his axe out again, a well-positioned arrow from Helena to the reptile's head finished the job.
Ivan nodded his thanks as he cursed himself.
This was one of the reasons Daniel was so adamant about not letting Ivan participate. The Unstoppable I skill didn't have any cooldown, though it consumed stamina faster and caused mental exhaustion. Ivan had tested the skill against a bunch of trees and found out he could use it 15 times before he grew too exhausted to concentrate. In this context, that was enough. He would kill 15 crocodiles, and buy his team enough time to down a few dozen with arrows.
The problem with Unstoppable I was that no matter how hard Ivan tried, it was impossible to moderate. And Daniel worried for the safety of Ivan if he couldn't pull his axe out in time.
And Daniel wasn't wrong. As Ivan killed another crocodile and struggled to pull out the buried axehead, he vowed to carry a pack of as many axes as he could on his back next time.
No matter how cumbersome they would be to carry or how ridiculous he looked.