The octopus that I had previously seen while falling into the cavern had me in its clutches and I now had a much more intimate look at it.

I couldn’t see it entirely but it was obvious that the creature was enormous, ginormous even. The tentacle was as thick as my body and it crushed me as I was wrapped up in it. Its tentacle suction cups were ranged in size from my fist to my head; one was actually stuck to the side of my head, which is unfortunately how I knew the dimensions. It smelled like rotten fish and left a viscous slime at the edges. Its skin was a mottled green and purple and the green parts had a slight sparkle at certain angles.

I could only see a portion of the creature’s massive head and body since most of it was still underneath the dark water. The creature's face was scarred with one of its eyes a milky white indicating blindness, but the other was focused on me. The tentacle slowly moved me toward its eyes and the point where I assumed its beak was just under the water. I imagined the octopus’s beak snapping open and closed loudly and its tongue prodding the ridge in anticipation of its meal. Unfortunately, for this creature, it didn’t know this meal bites back.

I still had the spear in my grip and even though one of the tentacle rolls I was in kept me from moving my arm. I hoped that the octopus couldn’t eat me while I was wrapped up. Once I was positioned above its head, it slowly started to unravel my body from its crushing grip. I spun as I was unwrapped and when my arm was freed from the vice-like grip, I was looking at the glowing blue crystals of the ceiling.

I prepared my spear to stab or throw. When I was turned to face it I would strike out at its good eye and repeat the attack until it let me go. Then I would be able to escape since it wouldn’t be able to see me. I make the best plans!

Just as I was on the cusp of being able to strike, my body started to slide from the grasp of the octopus. I twisted frantically trying to get into a position where I could get in any type of attack before I fell into its beak and was crushed. The tentacle wrapped tightly around my ankle stopping my fall. It seemed that the octopus let me slip through on purpose so its tentacle was out of the way as it devoured me. Apparently, it wasn’t intelligent enough to know of the danger it was in as I could now strike it with my spear.

Also apparently, I wasn’t intelligent enough to know octopus physiology. They hadn’t covered that in school and I was working off my knowledge of old cartoons. I was unable to stab it in the eye since the octopus’s mouth and beak was not located under its eyes. While I was being spun into position, the octopus was moving itself into position. I dangled a meter above the water, centered between its writhing tentacles and what would be a normal creature’s underbelly.

The octopus’s beak snapped a foot or two from my head and I reeled back as a reflex. I adjusted my grip on the spear as best I could and began stabbing the octopus in the beak. My knife just glanced off the hard beak, the octopus not even registering my attack.

Well, shit.

I tried again, determined to hurt the monster. My spear struck the beak again and slid off, stabbing the soft tissue around it. That seemed to anger it because it lifted me up, swung me around and slammed me into the water. There was a loud slap as I struck the surface of the water with my face. My stomach lurched as I was swung around and slammed to the water again.

I was slowly raised again to dangle over the beak of the giant octopus. I was dazed from the attack and being swung around by my leg, but I still had my spear. The octopus slowly lowered me to its beak, eagerly anticipating ripping me apart. Its beak was snapping open and closed as I dropped down.

Come on Nat 20!

Right after its beak snapped closed and it started to open, I chucked my spear right down its throat. The entire spear disappeared as it went into the octopus. I was afraid that it somehow didn’t do anything to the massive creature. I was still being lowered for a moment before it suddenly stopped. The beak opened and I could hear a sound like a cat hacking up a hairball.

If this thing just hocks my spear up, I am so screwed. How strong is this thing anyway? I should analyze-

I was suddenly spun around and my stomach fell out from under me as I was violently flung through the air. I hit the water and bounced like a stone, once, twice, three times before skidding across the surface of the water. I continued to slide until my head and back struck the wooden ship. I splintered some of the wood with my impact, but the ship was an immovable object and I slid into the water for a moment.

I swam back up and broke the surface. The octopus was thrashing wildly in the water and wasn’t pursuing me, so I looked for a way to get up the pirate ship. There was an old rope and wood ladder that was hanging over the side so I quickly clambered up onto the deck. I learned something interesting right then, octopi can roar. Well, I don’t know about all of them, but this one could.

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As soon as I was on the deck, I turned to watch the octopus hopefully die as it choked on my spear, but I was horrified to see that same spear fly from its mouth. The octopus roared, but perhaps it was more of a screech, then it turned to me and quickly closed the distance.

The octopus moved through the water with stunning speed, propelled by all eight tentacles. I didn’t know what it could do once it got to the ship but I prepared for anything, not that I could do much to the house-sized sea monster without a weapon. Before it reached the ship it suddenly dipped below the surface of the water leaving only the shimmering remnants of flowing water.

I crept slowly to the edge of the ship to peer over the side for a trace or hint of where the creature was or what it was going to do. Before I could get to there, it shot out of the air like a bullet. The octopus’s leap from the water was majestic. The blue light from the crystals glistened off its multicolored body as it seemed to hover like a hot-air balloon. Millions of water droplets cascaded off it in a shower of diamond glints. At the apex of its leap, the octopus splayed its tentacles out in every direction and then it began to wildly spin.

Black ink shot out of the twirling creature. Unlike the glistening shower of water that previously fell from it, the ink squirted in rivulets. It fell in powerful streams that struck with enough force that it broke the wooden rail of the ship's deck and completely shattered old barrels that had been strewn around. Miraculously, I wasn’t hit directly by the ink, but it landed with such force that even the splattered droplets that hit me and made me wince in pain.

Nearly every inch of the deck was covered in ink, and the octopus was quickly descending with its body still spinning and its tentacles still extended. It tried to turn and run but slipped in the thick layer of ink covering everything. One of the tentacles slammed down next to me severing the deck in two. A moment later a wave of water washed over the area from the octopus’s impact. Unable to grab onto anything I was swept into the bowels of the ship that had opened.

I landed awkwardly on my neck and tumbled down what felt like a mountain steel. The huge amount of water that washed me into the ships hold quickly drained from the large crack created by the octopus. The tentacle attack didn’t pierce any further than the lower deck I was in, so the ships integrity was still secure. As the water drained out and I was able to look around and catch my breath, I almost stopped breathing again as I looked upon a veritable mountain of treasure.

I had landed on and tumbled down a large pile of gold coins but that wasn’t the only piece of treasure. There were other piles of coins of varying sizes but no pile was the size of the first. Interspersed between the piles were literal treasure chests. Some were closed, concealing their contents, but some were open showing a myriad of contents within. Gold and silver could be seen but also a plethora of jewels that glittered from the blue hue washing over everything.

From ship’s gaping wound another tentacle crashed into the hold. It slammed into the pile of gold creating a spray of coins. As soon as I noticed the tentacle, I jumped to the side. The golden coins pelted me as they flew but my leap mitigated some of the damage.

The tentacle flopped around the area, blindly searching for any sign of me. It flailed toward me swiftly and I leaped over it. I narrowly avoided it but landed poorly. I slammed hard into the wood and coins that covered the floor. The tentacle started slamming up and down causing ship and everything in it to rattle with every impact. It moved back toward me while continuing the slamming motion. Still lying on the ground, I rolled out of the way after one of the strikes.

The octopus continued to pound its tentacle as it worked its way back up the large pile of gold. As the appendage slammed down close the peak, the octopus suddenly shrieked from outside the ship. The tentacle lifted off the pile, followed by an open faucet of blood. It slithered quickly out of the ships hold, violently thrashing as it did. I looked to pile of gold and I could see the pointy edge of metal protruding from it.

I moved to the pile to dig out the object that wounded the sea monster. I shoveled away large swaths of the coins. The eye of the octopus peaked through the broken crevice. I scooped more coins away but inadvertently caused an avalanche that covered my goal. Another tentacle loomed in the opening and this time the octopus could see me. The tentacle dropped quickly and I used gravity to fall back and out of the way while shielding myself from the pelting of coins.

I landed hard on the ground as the appendage landed hard on the coins. The pile collapsed and the octopus dragged its arm back dispersing the pile even more. I scanned quickly for any signs of whatever pierced the octopus. The arm reared back and shot forward to my chest like a spear. I dodged like Mr. Miyagi taught his pupil with a den-den daiko then jumped back. The arm swung toward me and I dropped and rolled to dodge it. As I dropped to the ground I could see the still bloody tip of a long sword which looked like it should have been in a fantasy novel. As I jumped up, it was between me and the octopus appendage.

I grabbed a handful of coins and chucked them at the octopus’s giant eyeball, which was still staring at me through the gap in the ship’s side. It reeled back from the attack and struck toward my position with its tentacle but I was no longer there. I leaped forward and rolled to get out of the way. As I sprang up, I was right next to the weapon. I picked it up and a screen popped into my vision

Congratulations! You have uncovered the legendary weapon Kuran, created to defeat the great dragon Ramdedon.