“What the hell are those things?!” Ariyana shouted as she looked at them with slight disgust.
Liam swiftly assessed them as the creatures skittered towards them.
[Sand Flea Crab. 575/575 HP. 420/420 MP. Level – 12.]
[Sand Flea Crab. 625/625 HP. 480/480 MP. Level – 13.]
[Sand Flea Crab. 575/575 HP. 420/420 MP. Level – 12.]
[Sand Flea Crab. 625/625 HP. 480/480 MP. Level – 13.]
“They are Sand Flea Crabs. They range between level twelve and thirteen,” Mercer called out as he pulled out his flute and started playing his Resilience Defense song.
Artem placed his shield right in front of him and readied himself as Roman took a spot behind him. Avery placed herself behind Blair as she started channeling Gravity Mana before chanting a spell. Ariyana, lost on what to do, panicked a bit as Liam pulled out his hammer and studied the skittering crabs before them.
Liam noticed something strange as he watched the creatures sprint towards them. It wasn’t all of them, but the ones who were heading towards Blair’s direction. They had subtly changed their direction the moment Blair started channeling her mana. That subtle change of movement became more apparent after Blair started chanting.
All the Sand Flea Crabs halted their forward momentum and split left and right, away from the group before they dove into the sand, disappearing from sight. This confused everyone, including Blair, who had finished her spell and was holding it right in front of her.
Liam looked left and right, trying to figure out what the creatures were going to do next. He took a step forward and felt the unevenness of the sand beneath his feet. After walking and fighting on the rocky terrain, the feeling of walking on sand was completely different. It felt like it was harder to move, and he would need to put more strength into his legs if he needed to run. Rolling to dodge wouldn’t be possible either since the ground was too soft. He’d just fall to his side and barely move at all.
Liam looked at the others as they moved forward as well, their sight down on the sand coming to the same conclusion as him. He then noticed Blair’s spell start to pulse a few times. It looked to be going unstable. He was about to say something but realized he didn’t need to as Blair flung it out closer to the water.
The moment she did, the sand started vibrating all around them. Everyone’s guard went back up as the sand in front of them start to part as the Sand Flea Crabs reemerged. Liam scanned the creatures before them and noticed something was off once more. There were a few missing. Liam’s, Blair’s, and Roman’s ears suddenly twitched as they heard a noise from behind.
All at once, the three spun around. Blair swung her Axe upwards as she took a step between Avery and Artem. Roman launched an uppercut after taking a step while Liam hopped between Ariyana and Mercer as he swung his hammer in a twenty five degree angle downwards. Avery and Artem turned in time to see Blair’s axe slice through a Sand Flea Crab as Roman’s fist punched another in the gut. Ariyana and Mercer watched as Liam’s hammer smashed into a Sand Flea Crab, knocking it off course and right into another one. All four of these creatures were in the air almost within striking distance of their targets.
“What the hell?!” Ariyana shrieked.
“Sorry!” Liam shouted back, realizing how close he was to hitting her with his own weapon.
“How did you…,” Mercer started to ask until remembered. “That’s right. You guys have heightened hearing.”
“Yeah,” Liam stated as he moved as fast as he could for the two Sand Flea crabs that were on their backs, their claw like feet skittering in the air as their claws open and closed in a panicked fashion. Liam slammed his hammer down on the closest one as hard as he could. A could of sand exploded into the air causing Liam to close his eyes. After the sand settled he looked at the spot his hammer was and grew confused.
The head of his hammer wasn’t on the underbelly of the Sand Flea Crab he had attack, but instead was in a small crater of sand. He had felt impact on the creature when he struck, but the creature was nowhere to be seen. Liam shook his head to bring him back to the fight. He then brought his hammer back up and made his way over to the Sand Flea Crab.
As he took a step towards it, Liam saw the sand ripple in front of the creature struggling on its back. A second later, the Sand Flea he had attacked popped up from the sand. Blood dripping from its side underneath its shell, showing that Liam’s strike did cause damage. Liam tried to sprint towards them, but the loose sand slowed him down. Instead he watched as the Sand Flea Crab that had reemerged tipped over its fellow creature and dove back into the Sand with the other one.
Liam clicked his tongue before scanning the area once more. He tried to listen for any sounds that indicated they would try and attack him. Nothing was noticeable from the front. He looked to his left then to his right, nothing on either side. Listening for their movements proved to be harder than before since the others were chanting spells or shouting out warnings while attacking and defending. He could feel the vibrations of their spells hitting the sand or the bodies they collided with faintly across the sand.
Deciding to believe they had moved from attacking him to attacking the others, Liam started to turn away. As he turned away that’s when he felt it. It was faint at first and he had first thought that he was feeling it wrong, but the feeling was growing and growing the closer it got. It was Earth Mana being channeled. What made him believe he was mistaken about it was the Earth Mana being channeled was moving.
He looked around to try and see if he could figure out where it was coming from, but no matter where he looked it didn’t feel like it was coming from either direction. Behind him, to this left, right, and not even from where the others were fighting. Although he felt some similar mana types being channeled, these specific two Earth Manas being channeled were different as they got closer and closer.
He activated his Mana Sight and tried to figure out where it was coming from. When it activated his eyes widened. The Sand Flea Crabs were coated with Earth Mana as they moved around quickly across the sand. Their bodies had a light glow outlining their bodies as they jumped around, skittered across the sand, or dove into it. Liam’s eyes narrowed before they widened with realization as he watched a couple dive into the sand.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The light glow of Earth Mana had grew in color right before they submerged. The color continued to grow even more as they swam deeper into the sand beneath everyone going from one side of the fight to the other. Coming to this realization, Liam instantly looked down. Before he could set his eyes right below him, he pushed himself as hard as he could to jump backwards right as both of the missing Sand Flea Crabs jumped out from the sand and snapped their claws on nothing but air.
As soon as Liam’s feet dug into the sand, he pressed forward with his hammer and swung it horizontally into the underbelly of the Sand Flea Crab he had damaged earlier. That Sand Flea Crab flew across the sand and bounced a few times before rolling into a group of Sand Flea Crabs that were about to attack Blair. The other Sand Flea Crab dove back into the sand and swam away.
Not wanting to waste any more time relaying this new information he discovered, Liam shouted out, “Mercer!” Mercer tore his eyes off of the target he had set his sight on to look at Liam. Before he could ask what was going on, Liam beat him by shouting, “Use your Mana Sight!”
Mercer raised a brow before doing as Liam said and then looked back at the fight. His eyes widened as he saw what Liam was seeing. He then shouted out for the others to do the same. They were surprised at what they had seen. Grins grew across their faces as this discovery helped make things easier. Thanks Mana Sight they were able to defend against the creatures while they were skittering across the sand and be able to follow the ones that dove into it and surprise attack them as they jumped out of the sand.
They all collapsed onto the rocky terrain that bordered the sand after the last of the Sand Flea Crabs died. They breathed heavily as they pulled out water bottles and took generous gulps. Sweat ran down their faces and bodies as the heat continued to beat down on them.
“Good going on that Mana Sight discovery Liam,” Ariyana said as she fanned herself with her hand.
“how did you figure that out by the way?” Avery questioned as she sat up and looked at him.
“Lucky break if I would sum it up,” Liam stated before taking a sip of water. After he gulped and put the bottle away, he continued, “I felt something weird during the fight when the two I was facing dove back into the sand. I didn’t know what it was nor where it was coming from, but after watching you guys fight the creatures and slightly felt the same thing from your guys’ direction, I figured it had to do something with mana. So I activated my Mana Sight and after seeing what I saw, well, you know the rest.”
“Still though,” Roman stated. “I wouldn’t have figured that out.”
“That’s because your dense,” Ariyana giggled.
“Hey!” Roman protested before quieting down and looking back at the sand.
“What’s on your mind Roman?” Liam asked.
“I’ve been thinking about a couple of things,” Roman replied before looking back at him.
“Uh oh, you might not want to think too hard now,” Ariyana grinned teasingly at him.
Roman frowned but didn’t take the bait. This made Ariyana stop her teasing as she recognized he was being serious. “I think these Sand Flea Crabs have a high control and manipulation over Earth Mana.”
“What makes you say that?” Artem questioned, curious about Roman’s thoughts on the topic.
“Well, for starters they know when we’re on the sand or not there,” Roman started. “Have you noticed that the next wave hasn’t made an appearance yet?”
The others looked at the sand and realized that they had been resting on the rocky terrain for quite some time. So much that they weren’t sure how long their break has been. They looked at Roman once more as he continued, “It was the same when we first stepped foot onto the sand. They didn’t make an appearance until one of us did. If that’s the case then they are using the pressure on the sand to tell them when someone is there. Since none of us is touching the sand they believe no one is here, regardless of this being a wave dungeon.”
“That’s actually a very good observation,” Avery stated, sounding very surprised at Roman.
“That’s not the end of it either,” Roman continued. “I was watching how they moved especially after Liam figured out their trick with Mana Sight. They are using their Earth Mana Manipulation and Control to help their bodies move easily around in the sand. You guys felt how hard it was for us to run and fight in the sand right?”
Everyone nodded their heads and murmured a yes.
“Well, they are using their Mana Control and Manipulation over Earth Mana to move freely through and on top of the sand. I just don’t know how they’re doing it though,” Roman said as he started getting annoyed.
“I think it has to do with them channeling the mana,” Liam said.
Everyone’s gaze snapped at Liam. They were curious by what he meant as well as confused since they didn’t see these creatures stopping to channel mana. Wanting to know more by what he meant, Roman asked the question everyone was burning to ask, “What do you mean by them channeling their mana? Do you mean the coat of Earth Mana they had over them? Wouldn’t that be the excess Mana that was channeled?”
Liam shook his head. “I’m not sure if I’m right about this, but I think they are channeling Earth Mana as they move.”
Mercer’s instincts took over as he quickly asked, “What makes you think that? That we know of so far, you need to stand still when channeling mana.”
“See I thought that as well, but when I watched them move around and dive in and out of the sand I saw they had a consist amount covering their bodies, at least when it came to them moving around on top of the sand,” Liam stated. “When they were underground the Earth Mana was growing more and move. Almost as if they were building it up as they swam within the sand.”
“Do you think the sand has Earth Mana in it and they were just drawing from it while swimming around in it?” Artem asked.
Liam brought a hand up to his chin as he thought about Artem’s hypothesis. While it was a good guess, it didn’t feel right to him. Mainly because of one thing he saw and didn’t see. He then shook his head and said, “No. I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Why don’t you think that’s the case?” Blair asked, curious to know what Liam thought.
“When they are swimming inside the sand there isn’t any indication they are pulling or drawing any mana from the sand around them. instead, the Earth Mana is growing and pushing out from their bodies,” Liam said, confident in his answer.
“Hm,” Mercer muttered as he thought about it. The more he thought about what he saw and what Liam was saying he was starting to see it from Liam’s perspective. “I think you might be right about that,” Mercer said as he stared at the ground, trying to keep his thought process going. “I did see that the Earth Mana was growing and not being sucked in, but I have to ask…would we even be able to tell that? That if they were sucking in the Earth Mana from the sand instead of growing it? What makes you completely sure that they aren’t pulling it from the sand and that there isn’t any Earth Mana within the sand?”
“Two reasons,” Liam said as he looked at them. “First, the obvious. If the sand had Earth Mana then we would be able to see it with Mana Sight. The entire ground would be glowing the Earth Mana color.”
Liam saw nods all around as they agreed with that reason. Mercer then asked, “And the second?”
“My experience with crafting,” Liam smiled.
Confusion and eye brow raises filled their faces as they waited for Liam to continue. “Thanks to all the crafting I’ve done, especially with Poison Making through Alchemy, I have witnessed mana being sucked from objects into another. It’s not a subtle thing. It is very noticeable.”
“Is that so,” Mercer said as he quickly pulled out a notebook and wrote into it. “So if Artem’s theory is wrong and yours is right then do you think it’s an advanced application of Mana Manipulation and Control?”
Liam shrugged. “It could be. We won’t know until we figure it out or ask Uncle Naro after we leave this place.”
Mercer’s eyes beamed at the prospect of new knowledge. Roman, on the other hand, looked resolved. Liam wasn’t sure what was going on in his head, but he was curious to see what he was thinking because it would mean he wasn’t the only wanting to see if what he believed was going on was correct. And knowing Roman was higher in Earth Mana Type Manipulation and Control, that would mean he would figure it out before him.
“Alright,” Roman suddenly stated as he stood back up. “I think we’ve rested long enough.” Roman punched a fist into palm as he finished, “Let’s take on this next wave.”