After asking a villager about it and, unexpectedly, actually getting a response I was able to find a blank notebook that I could use to keep track of my spells. Admittedly, I only technically had two of them, and one was just a Telekinesis Equivalent, but any self respecting mage has a grimoire. Or so I’ve been told.
I ended up buying a blank blue notebook, the shade was close enough to my Lightning, and filling the first page with information on my Telekinesis. It was a little sparse, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what to put there aside from the skill I used for it and the way I managed to get it working.
The second page was much more full, since my other spell was much more complicated. After sleeping on it, I ended up calling it Lightning Burst, because it’s a burst of Lightning. Hopefully I’d come up with a lot more to go in there, but until then I’d be leaving it at the bottom of my pack. I probably wouldn’t actually end up using it for anything to be honest, but it only took like 20 minutes to write so there’s no reason not to.
Plus, I could use it to show off to Kaelan.
After finishing up with the grimoire (I guess just calling it a notebook is more accurate but grimoire sounds cooler), I left the house to find that the village seemed to have changed completely overnight.
Wait, not the village. The villagers. They’re acting strange.
For the past few days the villagers had just been walking from place to place, doing whatever work needed doing, but today they all seemed to stop and stare at me whenever I walked by. It’s not like they didn’t want to do the work or anything like that, because every now and then I noticed one of them visibly restraining themselves from continuing about their day.
Did something happen that no one told me about?
As I walked towards the salt pan, my unease only grew. Something had clearly changed, and I didn’t think it was anything that I’d done. I threw out the possibility that they were impressed by my grimoire, because that just seemed a little unlikely since I never told anyone about it. Eventually the feeling became too much, and I increased my pace as much as I could without using Lightning Steps.
Lightning was already beginning to crackle around my legs by the time I neared the edge of the village, and I was nearing an all out sprint. I usually preferred not to use Lightning Steps too close to people or their houses, but I couldn’t restrain myself from activating the Skill when I saw the familiar dirt road that would take me to the salt pan.
A burst of Lightning flew out of me as I activated Lightning Steps at full throttle and sprinted away from the village.
Gods that was weird. Why the hell was that so uncomfortable?
After a few minutes the unease subsided and I was able to think clearly again, but that didn’t make figuring out what just happened any easier. I wouldn’t normally get so nervous just because people were looking at me, and I couldn’t imagine why someone would be using some kind of fear inducing skill, so I was stumped.
I tried to put those thoughts out of my mind, these guys were just friendly villagers that I guessed cared a little too much about privacy, I was completely over reacting and seriously needed to calm down.
Just a few minutes later, much faster than I usually managed to get there, I was able to get to the salt pan and continue my hunting. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely certain why I was even still here. I’d already gotten what I came for, and I could’ve sworn that I planned to go back home when I got level 15. It was some pretty easy money, but I never really cared too much about that, and there wasn’t a whole lot that I even needed money for at that point.
My concerns were interrupted by a sudden unpleasant feeling washing over me. It was like dozens of immaterial beings wanted me dead, and they wanted me to know it. The closest thing I could compare it to was a sense of unease magnified by a hundred. Then I noticed a shadow on the horizon, it was hard to make out at this distance but it looked like some massive group of… something walking towards me.
For a few seconds my unease was overshadowed by my confusion, but when the silhouettes got close enough for me to make out what they were it was replaced by a startling realisation. There were dozens upon dozens of crabs, all grouped together, marching towards me.
Those Crabs are here to kill me, that unease is- was- Sense Danger warning me about something wanting to kill me. I’d completely forgotten what it felt like, I’m just so used to feeling it in Ironhold at this point that I didn’t even see it as relevant. I’ve raised my Wisdom so much, how is it not helping here?
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
By the time I was done mentally berating myself, the Crabs were already over halfway to me and I was completely unprepared. I was startled for a moment, then remembered what I was supposed to be doing and began to slowly Charge a Lightning Bolt. Without really thinking I also formed the now familiar Channels, but they wouldn’t be an issue unless I purposefully pushed my own mana into them so I just kept them there.
The Crabs neared and I felt the unease mount, they weren’t the regular Giant Crabs. When I first arrived at the salt pan there was just one Killer Crab, and then I never saw another. I guess they were all just waiting until now, for some reason.
Sweat began to drip down my back as it occurred to me that this might not be a fight I could win. My Mana had already dropped by a quarter, so I slowed the flow until it was just barely slower than my natural recovery. I was strong enough now that I didn’t need to rely entirely on escaping, like I had back in the sewers, but it was beginning to feel like that may be my only option.
If this Bolt is as good as my best one, then combined with a Breath it should be able to take out a few of them on its own, and that should Chain across a bunch of them. How many would that kill? I don’t know, a lot? A few? What if they’re higher level than me? I might not even be able to kill one!
They reached just 10 metres away from me and pushed aside all of my concerns and fears. They wouldn’t help me right now, and I needed to focus so that I could make the right decisions. My gaze hardened and I glared at the Killer Crabs as they approached. At the very least, my Bolt should be able to slow them down.
Just before they reached the range of my attack, they stomped their legs into the ground and stopped moving all at once. In fact, they were eerily in sync to the point of being disturbing. For the next few seconds we simply stared at each other, sizing each other up, but our tenuous peace was interrupted by one of the Crabs close to the centre losing its nerve and running at me with a bizarre screeching sound.
Instantly, I let out the Breath I was holding and fired the Bolt, launching a cone of bright Lightning at the poor Crab. It barely knew what hit it before it died, and the rest of the force jumped from its corpse and flew into another Crab, though at just roughly three quarters of the size.
It was only able to make three more jumps before it fizzled out and failed to do any significant damage.
Ah, so that’s how many I can kill.
Knowing that I was completely outclassed, I spun around and prepared Lightning Steps, but I barely got to move when something unexpected happened.
“STOP!” An elderly voice called out from behind the line of Crabs. It sounded like a woman but I was never the best at judging these kinds of things.
More out of shock than anything, I complied and slowly turned to greet the speaker. As it turned out, I was right about them being an elderly woman. She had grey hair tied up in a bun, and was wearing what looked like armour made out of the same dark chitin of the Killer Crabs’ claws.
“Oh, uhm. Hey, what’s up?” For some reason, she was not impressed by my greeting.
“You’re an adventurer, right? Came here to hunt my Crabs for Saltrock?” As she spoke the name of the village she spat on the ground.
“Uh, yeah. They need them for food because their best fisherman died I think. I didn’t know they were yours, I bet they didn’t either. I’ll just go tell them and then they’ll probably take the job down.” She scoffed, as though what I said was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard.
“Oh, they know alright. Or it might be more accurate to say he knows, the rest of them are hardly in a state to know anything. You don’t look to be under his influence. How the hell did you manage that?” What? Who’s influence?
“I-I’m a little bit lost to be honest. Who’s influence, exactly?”
“Luke Davis, the guy claiming to be the leader of the village. He’s been brainwashing everyone for months now, he’s probably the only one that you can actually talk to.” Luke Davis?
“The leader’s name is Matthias Seamount, are you sure you’re not making things up?” At this, she burst into laughter. I would have asked what was funny, but then the Crabs joined in and I didn’t want to be the odd one out, so I hesitantly joined in too.
Slowly, she calmed down enough to speak, “That sounds like something he’d do. The dumbass probably thinks it sounds cooler,” Her expression lost any trace of mirth, and her voice took on a grim tone, “So you don’t know anything then, huh? It’s a miracle you managed to keep your wits about you, or you wouldn’t be able to fight back when he tries to make you into one his ‘Followers’” She said the last word with such venom that it was a wonder I didn’t actually get poisoned from it.
“Erm, so-” She cut me off with a sharp swipe of her hand.
“Enough, I’ll explain the situation to you, then maybe you can get out of here and tell the Lord about this.” She needs my help with that? Why?
“Why can’t you go?” For a fraction of a second, so short that I almost thought I’d imagined it, a pained look crossed her face, but just as quick as it appeared it was gone without a trace.
“That’s none of your concern. Just know that if I left the consequences would not be good. Now you better pay attention, because I will not be repeating myself, got it?” I nodded, “Alright. I don’t know the specifics, the blasted boy never tells me anything, but I know enough.
His awakening was 3 months ago and he was to be a fisherman, as far as I was aware that was all he’d ever planned on doing, but it didn’t go well. He set out on a boat with his father, and came back 3 days later alone but for a Gods Damned monster. I don’t know what it was, never seen nothin’ like it in my life ‘cept for these Crabs, but it was twice the size of a horse with claws that could take a man’s head inside with room to spare.
Something happened out there, on those seas, and it changed him. The boy’s father died, probably eaten by the very monster he relies so heavily on, and he doesn’t seem to care in the slightest! He’s never been a charismatic one, but for some reason the villagers all listened to him, I listened to him,“ Frustrated tears were beginning to build up in her eyes, and I wondered what her relation to Matthias (or Luke) actually was, “I don’t know how he did it, but at some point my Path changed to somethin’ called Crustacean Tamer, and he asked me to look after his pet. Or his God, if you’d take him at his word.
I can’t bring myself to fight him, or to leave, so you need to do it for me. Go get the Lord, he’ll know what to do. He’ll be able to save everyone.”
I think I get it. She wants me to run away and get help. That’s probably the best play here. I’m not sure what his level is, or what the hell this monster is, or even what kind of Path he has. It would be stupid to go in there and try to fight him myself.
But I guess I was never all that smart, was I?