Novels2Search

Ep. 644 Through the Gate Part 4

It is quite amusing, that is until they all suddenly freeze, making me start looking around. All I see is a large butterfly flying towards the trees, I don't see anything threatening. At least that is what I thought, then I see the butterfly catch and eat one of the mammals.

It is a good reminder that I shouldn't assume anything, this isn't my world. Once the butterfly leaves the remaining mammals go back to playing as if nothing happened. That is just how life is for animals I guess, but it is kind of sad when I think about it.

Closing my eyes I enter into my meditation, but I keep my senses active. After all, I am not exactly in a safe place right now so I can't let my guard down. The last thing that I want to do is wake up in something's mouth or stomach.

Because of that I only stay meditating long enough to fill my mana pool and get a little rest. After that I still stay in the tree and just try to relax while keeping an eye out. Considering how little I know about this island it isn't safe to go wandering around at night.

So far it has proven to be dangerous enough during daylight, and that was only the first day. I highly doubt that I have seen the worst that this island has to offer. Although, knowing my luck, I probably will before I am done here.

As soon as the sun rises I leave the tree and continue following the beach to the east. After two hours of walking the beach curves and leads me more northeast. Suddenly I freeze, I can feel something staring at me and it is not friendly.

Looking around it takes me a few seconds to spot the thing, it is out a ways into the water. All I can see is its eyes, other than that it is just a shadow in the water. I can't even tell what kind of creature it is, the eyes are on stalks and there are six of them.

They are all staring at me, as if they are trying to will me to walk into the water. In fact, they might really be trying to hypnotize me into doing so, but I am not about to let that happen. Going into the water is probably the only way to find out what it is, but I am not quite that curious.

Mental Resistance +1%!

'Oh! It really was trying to hypnotize me!'

When I realize that I start moving sideways, wanting to move away from the beast but not wanting to lose sight of it. If it can hypnotize then there is no telling what else it can do, I certainly don't want to let it get a surprise attack. As soon as I start moving away, the beast also starts moving, coming towards the beach.

While backing away, I watch as it finally reveals itself and climbs onto the beach. It looks like a giant crab, except it has six eyes, four pincer arms, and its shell is various shades of purple. As it comes on land its eyes are trying to tell me to stay still, but all I can think is that it looks delicious.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Mental Resistance +1%!

It is almost lunch time, and I did skip breakfast, so eating now wouldn't be a bad idea. The crab moves oddly as it tries to reach me, it moves from side to side instead of moving forwards. As it zig-zags its way towards me I draw Blitz and get ready, but its eyes tell me to drop my sword.

Mental Resistance +1%!

As soon as the crab is close enough it attacks me with its four pincer arms. Its attack pattern is simple to read and easy to avoid despite the eyes trying to make me stand still. It obviously has never had to actually fight anything thanks to its mental attack.

To test its defense, after dodging a claw I take a swing at it, even Blitz barely cuts the thick shell. However, the crab screams like I cut the arm off and its mental attack stops completely. I would guess that it has never felt pain before, that is the only explanation for such a huge reaction.

Taking advantage of the crab's reaction I quickly move around it and into its blind spot. Being behind the crab, not only does its shell block its line of sight but its claws can't reach me. Instead of cutting into it with Blitz, I put my hand on the crab's shell and start absorbing its life force.

As soon as I start I find out that the crab has a huge amount of life force. The crab reacts to me absorbing its life force and tries to turn around, but it is slow. It is extremely easy to keep pace with the crab and continue stealing its life force.

After about ten minutes the crab finally collapses and I am able to finish absorbing its life force. Nothing I have drained up to this point has had such a massive amount of life force. In my old world I remember hearing that lobsters had a type of immortality, maybe it is something like that.

1 Six-eyed Crab defeated! 50,000 Exp gained!

'That was really good exp! Especially for such an easy fight!'

"Krenocia, can you check my time remaining for me?"

Krenocia says "Sure...You have gained another six months! What did you find?"

"A giant crab creature with mental attacks."

Krenocia says "Just one?! That is a lot of life force for just one creature!"

"I know! I was really surprised! I am tempted to hunt around and see if I can find anymore of them!"

Krenocia says "Just be careful!"

"No worries! It was a really easy fight."

Once I am done talking to Krenocia I turn my attention back to the crab. My problem is how best to cook the thing, I don't have a pot big enough to steam or boil it. So instead I tear off a leg and do my best to cook it in its own shell.

To my vast disappointment it is not tasty at all, in fact it is fairly disgusting. In the end, I end up eating lunch out of my pouch before continuing up the beach. As I am walking I watch the water, hoping for more crab eyes to pop up.

Of course, I still keep an eye on the jungle, but I have yet to see anything come onto the beach. If those crabs are common that would make sense, they probably eat anything that does come to the beach. Not much would be able to resist the mental attack, I'm guessing my high stats saved me.

That is the other reason I want to kill more crabs, improving my mental resistance. Things with mental attacks are rare but they also tend to be pretty powerful. So, while I have the chance I would really like to get as much mental resistance as I can.

I keep walking until the sun starts going down with no sign of any crabs. Then just as I am picking out a tree to spend the night in I feel a hostile gaze on me. When I turn back to face the water there they are, except this time there are eight eyes staring at me.

Under that gaze I actually take a step towards the water before I am able to stop myself. The mental command is a lot stronger this time, it almost beat me. It would seem that I found the crab's big brother or at least a stronger relative.