An old sign half buried in sand rattled, as he stepped foot on a beach. He waved his hand and the sand fell away revealing the words. “Warning killer crabs in the ocean. Don’t step on the crabs on the beach.” Markus nodded and took a step only to look down to see a crushed crab. There were blue tentacles covered crabs all over the beach.
Water exploded as hundreds of massive crabs rose from the ocean and hermit crabs the size of wagons exposed themselves to dive under the sand. Markus glared at the army of crabs scuttling his way. It was almost comical, if there weren’t thousands of soldier and knight uniforms washed up on shore.
Markus stepped forward the sounds of crabs crunching loud and clear. He was still pissed off after the lamia city and this was clearly what remained of the crustacean city. Massive tentacled claws lunged for him to slice him in two.
Ice covered the crabs, as the wind picked up. The once warm beach rapidly dropped in temperature. as all the heat was forced up. The crabs moved showing the jointed weaknesses in their armored shells. Frozen slashes ripped through them as Markus stepped towards the ocean.
His sword waved glowing blue with channeled ice mana. Light from the blade made it glow brighter as ice crystals magnified the light mana. It was no wonder slashes from his sword carried over hundreds of feet.
Waves of mist shot up as the warm and frozen air battled for supremacy. He found a small encampment covered in giant crab shells. Five soldiers stood at the ready with a large man who seemed to be their leader.
He thrust his hand out in greeting. “I’m sergeant Memphis of the Kingdom’s army. Are you a part of the scouting party? We called for reinforcements days ago.” Markus shook his head negative.
“I’m sorry but I didn’t see anyone heading this way. I came here because it’s a strong dungeon. My name’s Markus, I’m an academy student and adventurer.” He smelled something cooking in their pot.
“What do you have there, Sergeant?” Markus asked. The Sergeant relaxed.
“Crab meat with the last of our butter. The bastards have been attacking us every day. There are always more of them. We thought our last meal should be a grand one.” A large cast iron pot was sitting atop a hastily made fire pit. They had charcoal for kindling.
“I’m on my way to clear the dungeon and kill whatever is doing this to it. Your group is welcome to come with me if you want.” The Sergeant shook his head.
“We won’t survive, and you know it. We’ve fought for a week with little sleep and less food. The crabs will be back soon. Or the hermits will begin their assault. Either way, we’re dead without reinforcements.” Sergeant Memphis whispered. The rest of his men stared at the pot or slept.
“I froze the ground pretty good. The Hermits will have a tough time getting through it. I have quite a collection of heavy armor. If you won’t go with me then guard me while I change. More than a few have died in the middle of changing armor in a dungeon.” The sergeant nodded his head.
Markus had a set of crab chitin armor. It was light strong and best of all had 25% resistance to water-based attacks. The only down side was the 25% increased weakness to lightning. When he put it on he looked like some warrior god that stepped from the sea to slay all the land dwellers.
The helmet was a crab claw. He moved around in the armor feeling it. He needed more vigor if he was to use it to its highest caliber. Going into the stat menu he bought vigor for 20k and dropped 99.999k to bring it to 1000 and bought both abilities that went with it.
Atlas
Like the great Titan who once held the world you can now wear greater weight without an endurance penalty. +100% vigor after damage calculation and double item carry weight.
Jormundur
You have become like the great world serpent an ocean can rest upon you, and you will grow stronger because of it. +1000% Vigor after damage calculation and +1/10 Vigor to Strength when armor weighs over 1000kilos.
The armor felt better than wearing nothing. He hopped around feeling how good the armor felt. Markus wanted to take his sword out and try a few moves but remembered he had company.
“You must be someone special to throw around points like that. That was more than most of us will likely see in a year.” The Sergeant said. He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it with a tiny fireball.
“Alright, we’ll go with you, but my men follow my orders. I don’t want you to give orders unless its life or death.” Sergeant Memphis said. Markus nodded his head.
“Well if I were a betting man, the next floor is beyond that ocean.” The Sergeant nodded.
“That’s where the most mana is pouring out but how are we going to get there. There isn’t exactly much kindling out here.” Markus gave the man a look.
“I’ll take care of it.” He placed his hands in the water and froze a good amount of it. A massive ice burg shot out of the water. Using form, he shifted the ice forming a close approximation of a ship. He made sure to make the hull as thick as he could.
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The squad of soldiers followed him up the stairs and they sat at the top. Markus waved his hands and the ice berg began moving with the current.
There was a cabin in the ship where the men stayed. It was the only warm place on the ice berg. Markus had to continually freeze the ice berg while the warm water wared again his efforts. He watched his journeyman freeze slowly creep from four to five.
“Sir do you need to see this.” Markus got up from his meditation and walked to the bow. Hundreds of thousands of seas creatures followed behind them. Crabs, sharks, wales, sea serpents, and was that a water dragon?
They were all covered in the same shadowy aura as the lamia queen. Markus wasn’t sure if he could absorb that much darkness all at once.
This aura felt familiar, like he knew it in his bones. He knew it he could sense how familiar the darkness was to his own. Now he couldn’t act with the men around. Not that he could pull in this much darkness at once. He had literal tons of ammunition at his disposal, then the iceberg shook. In the middle of this ocean a whirlpool appeared.
Something was rising from the ocean something big. Markus stood at the ready, but it seemed confident to let them sink in the whirlpool. He let out a sigh and walked over to the edge.
“What are you doing?” Sergeant Memphis said. Markus jumped and hit warm water. He shot through the water spinning around with the current. He didn’t know how far down this ocean went but once there was no light and his vision cleared he saw the creature.
He expected some sort of great leviathan or perhaps a phantasmal beast of some type. What he didn’t expect was a group of mermaids dancing and singing under hypnosis. He calmly took the darkness out of them. They sang a beautiful song once freed. He listened for half an hour before his need for breath over took his enjoyment of the song.
Markus shot out of the water and back to the ice berg. They began traveling back on course. “What caused the whirlpool some monster?” One of the men asked.
“No, it was the darkness that caused it. It casts illusions and bends the will of people. The dark is powerful and easily misused.” Markus said.
They reach an island where the currents lead. A cave is the source of the increased mana. Walking through it they came to the boss chamber of floor one. Massive tentacles shot up out of the water fleshy and thicker than a man. A beast with a single eye rose up. It opened its mouth and covered the ground with bone spikes. Markus put his sword in front of himself, but the men weren’t so lucky. Bone spikes ripped through them.
Markus ran forward sword raised ready to slay the beast. It caught him in its tentacles before he could strike it down. From its mouth it shot him with a water laser. It tore a hole through his armor exposing his bare chest. Then it turned its head for a second attack. Markus felt the flesh around his chest peel away until it hit his bones. It felt like a pinch. The flesh peeled away so quickly he barely felt it.
The monster threw him against the cave wall with such force that the cave began to shake. Part of the cave fell covering him with rubble. Stones weighing tons shattered on his shoulders.
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“It wasn’t him either. I had hoped finally, I had found him.” A figure said. He wore a white coat covered with medallions and enchantments that moved like drops of black rain. In his hand was a sword of oriental make shimmering with darkness.
“Are you sure? He was strong, in a few years he could have become a hero or more.” An entity that danced between physical and phantasmal said. She wore a robe of red silk and had a set of horns that were trimmed. Her dark skin contrasted with the man’s lily white.
He shook his head. If that was his brother, then there was no reason to take him back. The family would just eat him alive.
“I’ll stay for a few more days. Before returning the the north. It isn’t time to take the king. The four seals still prevent me from finding the name of the great monster below the palace.” The woman vanished, and he crossed his arms. “If you are my brother prove it.”
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Markus’s eyes burst open and he took a breath. Slowly, he rose the rubble continued to collapse and his psychic might stopped the falling boulders. His hand reached out and his sword returned.
He pulled the boulders behind him and launched them at the boss monster. Its squishy flesh took the impacts and where were the soldier’s bodies? The dungeon must have already absorbed them he reasoned. How long had he been out?
Feeling his chest, the muscle and flesh had regrown. The effects of having high vitality. The creature opened its mouth and unleashed a storm of bone spears. It was time to stop playing around.
In a burst of speed, he made his way to the edge of the monster’s pool of water and froze it solid. Then leapt up to drive his sword in the creature’s head. There was a flash of light and five swords stabbed him in the back.
It was the soldiers. Their bodies were half rotten with tentacles and eyes sticking out of him. They pulled their swords out of him and stabbed him in the chest. “Wow you are hard to put down no wonder you survived and let us die. But now we are stronger.”
Markus lost his cool for a second seeing this dungeon use fallen adventurers against him wasn’t in this dungeons playbook. So, he didn’t have to play either. He stood up to his full height the pain from the swords in his chest was ridiculous. Another water laser shot at him, but he deflected it with a psychic barrier.
He pulled the swords out of his chest one by one. Fire balls and lightning bolts rained down on his barrier as he worked. But they all worked with psychic power he could turn them away in the creation process. Before they were ever fired they were off target.
With the swords gone his wounds began to heal. Indiscriminate pierce, slash, and blunt ice spells shot out around him. He walked towards the boss monster, as the reanimated corpses fired upon him. They were well within his psychic range.
Markus funneled his light mana into his sword and it grew brighter and brighter. “Star Break Down,” Markus called and slashed his blade carrying its light mana and physical cutting power with psychic to increase its range. A line attack swept across the ground and into the boss monster.
Its body was split open, but its tentacles still moved to put itself back together. Given time the dark energy would heal it. He wasn’t about to let that happen. He pointed his sword at the monster. More light energy built up in it and he thrust it forward. “Star Break Point,” a concentrated beam of light carrying piercing damage through his psychic energy ripped fully through the boss monster. It fell away as the dark energy in it was finally extinguished. He slashed his blade finishing the soldiers off.
Markus didn’t know what was down there but he would face it without holding back.