Chapter 83 - The Weaver's Map III
To her own surprise, Claire was able to consume roughly half the massive plate before finally filling her stomach to its brim; something in the vein of fifty whole veaber tails had gone down her throat. Sylvia, on the other hand, had only eaten two. She had claimed that she wasn’t a big eater to begin with, but Claire knew that it was really just the lack of flavour speaking. The fox’s stomach was practically infinite, as evidenced by how she had consumed more than twice her weight in fish just the previous night.
The remaining tails were sacrificed to Shoulderhorse, who gladly accepted them without a moment’s hesitation. A similar process was used to dispose of the crab’s corpse. The ravenous pony consumed the entire thing in a single breath, leaving the occasional wad of cotton as the only reminder of the monster’s demise.
Once everything was spick and span, Claire directed her gaze back towards Llystletein authority’s menu and inspected her newest action. According to the skill, she had apparently learned to vomit at the press of a button. It cost only the slightest bit of mana. Twenty points was a miniscule amount that would regenerate in the blink of an eye, but she didn’t bother running any tests. The lyrkress saw no purpose in spontaneously forcing herself to regurgitate.
Far more pressing than a shiny but pointless new ability was determining her approach. Frankly, she had no idea how she was planning to tackle the labyrinth. She had always hated mazes, be they on paper or in some absurdly rich merchant’s garden. It always felt like she was just randomly selecting pathways and arriving at solutions through nothing but sheer coincidence. Navigating Crabby Crags was almost sure to provide the exact same experience, only worse, courtesy of its scale. And that was only one of two major red flags. The other more prominent issue at hand was the one that Sylvia had mentioned in passing: the scaling. The crab corsair that had almost killed her was a lowly grunt, one of the maze’s weakest monsters. It was just a borrok. The warrior and rotblood equivalents were sure to make quick work of her if she failed to step up her game; she was going to have to scrounge up every last drop of experience she could get if she wanted to stand a fighting chance.
Despite only winning her last battle by the skin of her teeth, Claire didn’t immediately invest any of her ability points. She felt as if she was starting to understand a few things about her body, but her grasp on her own biology was lacking, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to invest more heavily in might or magic. Still, she was confident that her second battle would go more smoothly than the first.
She had already come up with a number of different ways to turn the tide in her favour. The first proposition was to dig her way underground and ensnare her prey, as she had the king of the ravens, but she soon dismissed it upon recalling that the one-eyed crustaceans were earth mages. They were sure to be sensitive to the tremors that would accompany an underground excursion.
Working around that consideration was what led her to her second idea, diving at them from up above. The aerial approach appeared viable, at a glance, but it too was soon set aside. Air-to-surface attacks were risky at best. She couldn’t tell where their eyes were looking, but the organs’ positions seemed to suggest that it was possible for them to see overhead, and the last thing she wanted was for one to catch her with her feet off the ground. It wasn’t easy for her to change directions in midair; she didn’t have the finesse to dodge the spells that they would surely sling her way.
That was why she picked solution number C.
Weaving between the rocks, she located the closest crab, a slightly larger individual sitting atop a rock and basking in the sun. The brachyuran perked up when she rounded the corner, raising its body and preparing itself for battle.
Its reactions were quick.
But not quick enough.
An ice-cold glare froze it in place before it could so much as take a step. The spell was followed by a deadly projectile, a broken crab leg reinforced with a thick shell of mercury. Landing right on target, the weaponised limb burrowed itself through the base of the crustacean’s eye and blinded it by severing its optic nerve. Still, it managed to evade. Darting to the side, it escaped the hook with most of its body intact, a sure sign that it had managed to anticipate her second attack.
What it didn’t anticipate, however, was the first projectile’s ability to drill through its flesh. Claire leapt into the air, positioned herself directly overhead, and pushed the blade with all the magical force she could muster. It was driven straight down, through its target’s flesh. Neither the crab’s brittle cartilage nor its cotton fibres were capable of putting a stop to the blade. Only its gills were able to offer any semblance of resistance, but they were quickly overpowered and destroyed. Just like that, its heart was pierced, torn in half by a weapon made from one of its kind.
But it didn’t die. Unlike the last crab she fought, which had fallen the moment its heart was crushed, the larger crustacean had yet to suffer a litany of blows. It had certainly been weakened, based on the way that its legs were trembling, but it wasn’t down for the count. Raising its cannon, it fired haphazardly and wildly swung its hook.
The attack covered a large area, but Claire had already vacated her first victim’s vicinity. Leaving the blinded decapod where it was, she transformed into a centaur, boosted herself down the hall, and charged straight at one of its compatriots. Like its ally, the second crab immediately prepared itself for battle. But raising its arm was about as far as it got. She paralysed it the same way she paralysed its friend and jammed her crab arm straight into the joint holding its gun to its body. She suffered a hook to the arm for the overly ambitious attack, but it was well worth it. The crab was no longer able to move its cannon.
Catalysts were known for making it easier for mages to cast their magics. And for good reason, at that. They bolstered the spells’ power, lessened their channel times, and honed their accuracy. Or at least that was what they did when they were pointed at their targets. A spell cast through a wand would always fly exactly where said wand was directed. Guiding a magical phenomenon elsewhere required making a conscious effort to exclude the catalyst from the casting process. For a disciplined, well-trained mage, it was an easy, almost negligible task. But the same could not be said for a monster that had spent its life with a magical implement embedded in its body. If the bards were to be believed, at least.
Moving behind the crab confirmed that the assertion was a fact. The red-shelled sea creature was able to swing its hook at her even after she circled around to its rear, but all the spells it fired were let loose in the direction of its unmoving cannon.
Claire smirked as she dodged another swing and retaliated by smashing one of its legs. She was starting to see why the corsairs were grunts. They were deadly if allowed to act on all their options, but depriving them of their agency was as easy as robbing a fool of his fortune. Their body plans were incredibly flawed and easy to take advantage of, so long as one was able to bypass their raw stats.
The corridor’s third and final crab tried to help its associates by attacking Claire with a barrage of bullets and swings, but its melee attacks couldn’t keep up with her centaurian speed and its boulders simply never made their mark. She had it completely fooled with one of the techniques that Durham had explained on one too many occasions. Running at only two thirds her maximum speed and accelerating to different degrees whenever she needed to dodge threw off its aim; it simply couldn’t get a decent enough read on her trajectory to get a good shot on her. The few lucky strikes it nearly landed were all deflected by Shouldersnake. The serpent was bashing its face into all the rocks that strayed too close.
Claire took the opportunity to focus on crippling the arm-locked crab. Breaking off all its legs with her mace, she tackled it and shoved its face into the sand before charging at the sole combatant that remained fully intact.
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It whipped its hook at her, but Shouldersnake intercepted once again. With her focus no longer split, Claire was able to wrap the serpent along the extended limb and tear it right out of its socket. The broken limb was flung aside as she flashed a confident grin. She already had it in check. It no longer had any way of besting her in close combat. Plunging a leg into its cannon’s shoulder joint would render it completely helpless.
That was why she thought nothing of it lowering its weapon. Until she nearly tripped over her own feet. Raising her legs turned from a trivial task to one that required attention and care. Her lower limbs were getting sucked into the ground every time she took a step. Because the sand around the crab had all been turned to mud.
Skittering over the sludge, the crab fired a pair of cannonballs as it approached. She was able to narrowly evade both, but the barrel swing that followed hit her square in the side and sent her tumbling through the air. She managed to repel the projectile that came afterwards by firing an icebolt from her chest, but she couldn’t retaliate or stop the monster from raising its gun to the sky.
A number of rocks soon followed. A far greater number than what she had anticipated. Every single projectile produced by each of the three corsairs rose alongside the monster’s launcher. Shouldersnake was her only saving grace. The ophidian tore the crab’s arm right off and interrupted its spell midcast.
Claire dashed in as the monster reeled and barraged it with a mix of physical and magical blows. She clobbered its shell with her mace, fired icy spears from her chest, and even thwacked it with her tail.
Only after hitting it with the appendage did she recall that her physical attacks were enhanced by her newest skill, in part because the lashing strike had completely shattered the crustacean’s shell, and in part because of the trail of frost left in its wake.
The goddess’ voice started speaking to her as soon as the attack landed, but she ignored it and focused on the pair that she had yet to execute. In theory, her approach had been perfect. Disabling each crab in turn and looping back around to finish them off was the most efficient use of her energy, and keeping the half-dead individuals around provided the opportunity to finish them if she ever found herself running low on resources. But Claire had failed to adapt. She failed to realise that the third crab’s ability to manipulate every stone was not unique.
Crab number two was incapable of raising its cannon and casting the spell. But the first brachyuran was not as broken. Holding its cannon in the air, it focused its magic and swarmed her with a wave of missiles.
Again, she was subjected to a storm of stone, a hail of rocks, sharp and heavy enough to tear her body to shreds. That was why she dashed to the end of the hall, dropped her weapons, and stopped moving. To a bystander, it may have looked as if she was giving up, but that was exactly the opposite of what she had in mind.
The icy enchantment accompanying her tail had reminded her of another one of her martial arts skill’s functions.
Projectile deflection.
The gears in the back of her mind suddenly sped up as she raised her arms and braced for impact. Her hands knew exactly what to do. Just like her hooves and her tail. Each rock that approached was bashed away. Her fingers snuck between the spikes and knocked them off course. Her scaled brush darted through the air, smashing everything it touched right into the sand below.
Her defence wasn’t perfect. The occasional stone bullet would slip through or fail to be knocked perfectly astray, but Shouldersnake made up for most of her more egregious errors. She didn’t exactly come out unscathed, but unlike the previous barrage, which had placed her on death’s door, the second left her with most of her health present and accounted for.
Her arms were covered in scratches, one of her fingers was broken, and her tail was frayed. The soft, feathery mane was completely ruined. But that was it. Her ability to do battle had only barely been compromised. By contrast, the crustacean was dying. The quicksilver flowing through its system had weakened it. Retrieving the leg embedded within its body—magically ripping it straight from its chest—was more than enough to finish it off.
The final crab was executed just as easily. Closing the distance, she leapt atop its back and stomped with all her might, crushing its shell and spraying its guts across the beach.
Only then did she finally stop to catch her breath and check her log.
Log Entry 1829
You have slain a level 76 Llystletein Cotton Crab Corsair.
Log Entry 1830
You have leveled up. Your health and mana have been restored and all harmful status effects have been cleansed.
Your secondary class, Llystletein Force Mage, has reached level 45.
You have gained 6 ability points.
Log Entry 1831
Frostblight Lyrkrian Martial Arts has reached level 6.
Log Entry 1832
Ice Manipulation has reached level 6.
Log Entry 1833
Lyrkrian Shapeshifting has reached level 7.
Seven already?
Log Entry 1834
You have slain a level 72 Llystletein Cotton Crab Corsair.
Log Entry 1835
Cloak and Dagger has reached level 9.
Log Entry 1836
You have leveled up. Your health and mana have been restored and all harmful status effects have been cleansed.
Your racial class, Frostblight Lyrkress, has reached level 52.
Your secondary class, Llystletein Force Mage, has reached level 46.
You have gained 18 ability points.
Another force mage level. It’s getting close…
Log Entry 1837
Club Mastery has reached level 12.
Log Entry 1838
Force Manipulation has reached level 17.
Log Entry 1839
Makeshift Weapon Mastery has reached level 18.
Log Entry 1840
Throwing has reached level 8.
Log Entry 1841
You have slain a level 81 Llystletein Cotton Crab Corsair.
Log Entry 1842
You have leveled up. Your health and mana have been restored and all harmful status effects have been cleansed.
Your primary class, Llystletein Bloodthief, has reached level 56.
You have gained 6 ability points.
Only one? From something almost double my level? Getting my second ascension is going to take a really long time, isn’t it?
Log Entry 1843
Frostblight Lyrkrian Martial Arts has reached level 7.
Log Entry 1844
Phantom Blade has reached level 7.
Log Entry 1845
Achievement Unlocked - The Reckless Reign Triumphant
You have actively engaged in a number of acts that others would deem suicidal and come out on top. First kill bonuses will provide your vitality with an even greater increase to accommodate your lack of caution.
The bonus is nice, but I’m not reckless, Box. No one thinks that.
“Woah! I can’t believe you managed to pull that off!” Sylvia stepped out from behind a nearby rock. “I thought going after them one by one was crazy enough, but you went after all three at the same time!”
Okay, fine. One person thinks it.
Log Entry 1846
You have received a divine revelation:
Two.
…Shut up, Box. Goddesses aren't people.
“Uhhh… Claire? Helloooo?” Sylvia climbed up the lyrkress’ front and started waving a paw in front of her face. “Did one of them hit you too hard in the head or something?”
Claire grabbed the fox by the nape and set her back down. “I was thinking.”
“Oh, right. Logs and stuff. Do you need another minute?”
“I’m done now.”
“Great! So… I guess that means we’re finally going to start moving through the maze?”
Claire nodded.
“Yes! I can’t wait for you to start taking down eels! They’re some of Llystletein’s tastiest fish!”
“No promises.”
The next intersection wasn’t very far from where she had slain the crabs. The only thing stopping her from using it was a simple, but profound question that made her long for her guiding candle.
Left? Or right?