"Run boy run," I murmured as I got out of the town once more, leaving Zolast alone to deal with the mess in town. We had a quick talk once he was finished with the dungeon … and it turned out, there wasn't much I could do back in town. Zolast would be talking with the Duke and arranging for the dungeon to operate officially.
I didn't know the exact date. While we technically have the initiative to delay it as much as we wished, that wasn't exactly the best play. Artmiss' visit made it clear that he was getting impatient, and I doubted it was because of his personal choices.
Clearly, something had happened during their trip.
We agreed that Zolast would give them a date based on what he could deduce during the meeting … and ideally, try to wiggle out some other benefits in the process.
For example, a location close to our headquarters where we might establish another casino.
However, the lingering presence of the knight meant that I couldn't just go to the outpost to farm Experience either. Using my Charisma to summon monsters was too attention-grabbing for an unsettled Artmiss.
Luckily, Zolast promised to set a mana-powered version of my Charisma-based monster wave trigger, along with some other wards, but he could only do that once the dungeon started operating.
Instead, Zolast asked me to address our most critical need: Our lack of Ability stones. They would be helpful for the kids during their third promotion. Apparently, if they could impress their gods with rare abilities, they might receive a class upgrade.
The benefits were clear … if only that didn't mean a long fishing trip for me.
As much as I didn't want to start my underwater hunting operation before I was at least level fifty, I was confident in my Speed and Perception to avoid the dangers nevertheless, and I still had some stats to be dumped into Speed in case of an emergency.
It had to be enough. "Let's see if it'll be as efficient as we think," I murmured as I finally arrived at an empty stretch of the sea, and found a cave to dump everything I had, except a sword, a dagger, and a long spear. They were all magical, and except the sword, all from the storage I had raided.
On land, especially the tamed areas like our current location, the Lord Beasts were hunted to near extinction. Apparently, that didn't apply to the sea. Not because of any kind of ecological sensibility by the nobles, but simply due to the unique challenges.
It was something I had long discovered. Skills weren't particularly adaptive. And, without a solid surface under one's feet, they were much harder to use. Zolast mentioned the existence of some underwater skills, but apparently, they were rare enough not to be a factor on a grand scale.
Even for me, it was a risky proposition. But I just took a deep breath and stepped into the cold water. The sea represented not only an opportunity to enhance our guild members, but also a very valuable currency we could use in the black market in order to acquire the restricted materials.
They were predominantly demanded by the nobles, making them both luxury and controlled products. And, as every criminal worth their name knew, that was the best market to tap into.
As I swam, my Charisma was working wonders to push away the smaller fish, while Perception turned the thick dimness of the water into a mere suggestion. I quickly moved away from the shore while dipping down. Just a few seconds later, I was half a mile away from the shore, and a hundred feet down.
Luckily, with my current Vitality, water pressure was more of a suggestion than an actual danger — at least at the current depth — leaving me to dance freely to look around …
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I swam, enjoying the intensity of the colors and the vivid, crowded nature of life beneath the waves. It was beautiful and untouched … too bad that they were driven by their instincts to kill any human they might encounter, leaving my Charisma-shield as the only thing keeping me undisturbed like an imaginary blanket.
Then, something large bursted out of the reef, charging with a speed that belied its size. Some kind of shrimp, I recognized, though considering it was the size of an elephant, it was still scary enough. It charged against me, and I swam away, and the shrimp chased me, opening its front claws threateningly.
First, a test, I thought, deliberately moving toward the shore, initially on a direct line, then with some sharp turns. It was both fast and nimble, I quickly determined, but it was much more comfortable turning left and right rather than up and down.
Now, it was time to test its shell. With a sharp turn, I used my spear, striking the thicker part of its armor deliberately, and not at full speed. Predictably, it bounced, but the moment I poked it, it responded with a sudden burst of speed, far faster than what it had been displaying.
Likely its ability, I recognized, as I attacked its armor again, using it as leverage to add some more speed to my escape just in case.
It passed next to me, its claw clacking uselessly.
That must have angered it, because the moment it turned, it used the same technique again, trying to catch me unaware. This time, as it passed, I aligned the spear, sinking it into one of its tiny eyes, the momentum allowing the spear to sink much deeper, earning an underwater cry.
That was not my only trick. As I maintained my grip, I closed my eyes, and concentrated on the image of an impossibly sharp spear.
And a glow flowed from my hand to the spear … my first mana attack attempt, after the crash course with Zolast, trying to copy the trick of the Advanced Skill.
[-37 Mana]
Admittedly, that wasn't exactly an incredible performance. The attack was supposed to create a sharp apparition of a mana spear to extend the attack further, penetrating armor and devastating flesh.
What I created was more of a spiky mana balloon that spread along the handle of the spear. Luckily, most of it was already in the shrimp, so it wasn't exactly wasted.
Of course, I could have just consumed one of the Advanced Skills for mana attack, but we decided against it after some tests with my Archery skill. It was much harder to use my Stats to their maximum while the skills constantly annoyed me.
I could probably learn to ignore them after some dedicated practice … if I had the time …
So, instead of risking losing my biggest advantage, I started experimenting with copying those mana attacks. Even if I failed, I only lost some mana.
Hardly a great loss.
Especially since the shrimp reacted to my mana attack with great panic, and started swimming away. I followed it closely as I swam under it, using my dagger to deflect its attacks while I used the sword to slash his softer stomach repeatedly.
It recovered from my blows, but not fast enough to maintain its peak speed. It swung its claw again, only to be deflected — though only possible due to my position — making it impossible to exert its full power.
It didn't take long for it to get annoyed at my constant deflections, and soon it stopped, trying to attack me directly. At that moment, I swam in the opposite direction and put some more distance, determined to harass it further.
It was not a prey that could be taken down in a minute or two.
Not unless I developed a much more devastating attack.
When it charged again, I deliberately lingered closer, touching the handle of my spear enough to repeat my earlier tricks.
[-18 Mana]
My reward was another underwater cry of pain. It committed to another round of desperate attacks, every mistake punished by another slash of my sword.
It couldn't escape, and it couldn't kill me.
Luckily, while it was smarter than the ordinary beasts, it was nowhere sapient enough for tactical brilliance, and its usual responses were proven useless. Interestingly, unlike the previous squid-like predator I had killed, the shrimp didn't retreat.
Instead, it charged me in a desperate rush as I slowly whittled it down, mainly relying on my sword, but mixing that up with the indirect spear attacks helped immensely. At the same time, I used health to renew my energy and extend my time underwater, with no intention of actually going to the surface and risking getting caught.
[-2 Health]
A note for the future. Bring more spears. Or better, harpoons.
We continued fighting, each slash and each stab bringing it down further, the occasional mana attacks particularly effective.
Still, even with my incredible advantage, it took fifteen minutes for me to properly bring it down, and only because it didn't retreat fully. Quite a long time, but it was still much shorter than my previous record against a Lord Beast. The improvement was nice.
[+617,284 Experience]
"Hopefully I'll do better next time," I murmured as I opened a pouch, and started replenishing my mana, while quickly butchering the beast.
Pity I had to leave it for other beasts to eat, but I couldn't risk carrying its meat while I dealt with other monsters.
I still had a lot of work to do.