The crab made a high-pitched squeal and rushed at me with more legs than I thought possible, with the front two jutting out to impale me. I was ready for it and used Break Stuff with the ice pick in hand. One of the claws shattered and the crab dropped to the ground, pulling its legs inside the shell and letting out a cloud of poison dust. I barely used Super Jump to get out of the way. Hopefully, that did at least some damage.
When the dust settled, smoke continued to come out of the shell. While I didn’t want to give the crab a chance to recover, I also had another skill to test.
Acid Spit
Card Battle Card
The image of a stick figure and three drops of what could only be spit coming out of his open mouth appeared above the words. Not wanting to waste any time, I swapped out the cards and lowered myself to get the best shot. If the crab knew what was coming, it didn’t react.
Since I couldn’t barf on command, I hawked up the biggest loogie I could and spat at the hole. To my surprise, the spit came out tasting of sour apple candy with a lot more volume than I thought possible. Acid coated the crab’s shell, letting off an acrid smell as it began to sizzle. The crab thrashed around again, letting out another blast of poison but didn’t come at me like the previous time. Instead, it ran in circles, crashing into the other crabs like a rogue pinball.
Sensing an opportunity, I took out the icepick and crept closer. The first time one of the legs came into range, I swung at it using Break Stuff. The skill slammed into the legs before they could retract, not only destroying them but also leaving a crater on the floor that the crab fell into upside down.
The other crabs skittered away, leaving their fallen comrade writhing with only half of its legs remaining. Seeing its soft underside, I put it out of its misery with a well-placed Break Stuff.
You have gained experience.
The rest of the crabs were a lot easier to kill once I saw the effect of acid spit. Unlike fire, the crab couldn’t make it go away by stopping me from using the skill. It ate away at everything it touched, even the shell. This drove the crabs mad until, eventually, they ended up on their backs and were easy to finish off.
Congratulations! You have reached level 3!
Congratulations! You have reached level 4!
Congratulations! You have reached level 5!
As it turned out, fire breath and acid spit used mana, and that in turn gave me experience in the much-needed Demolitionist class. Because it was so low level, I gained nearly a level for every kill. When each crab died, the claws and shells glowed. They were easy to harvest but they were damaged, likely due to the acid I used to kill them.
Damaged Crystalline Claw
Crafting Component
Damaged Crystalline Shell
Crafting Component
With the first threat out of the way, I looked for a way to proceed. The room had no natural exits that I could see at a glance. It was only after some searching that I found it, a ledge high in the chamber wall concealing a passage.
“A normal group would be stuck here,” I muttered.
There was no point climbing the wall like I did in the first dungeon. Not with skills. I lowered my weight and easily made the jump to the ledge. The path beyond led to another chamber with a pool of magma at its center. An obsidian fin protruded from the water and moved in circles as something just below the surface stalked back and forth.
Lava Shark
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Mid-Boss
Level 30
Duh-Nuh
I cringed at the thought of dealing with the beast. It would likely have to be fought in the lava, and while I had several ways of doing that, neither was ideal. I could walk around on the surface using my lava walker’s boots but that would make me a sitting duck for the shark, waiting to be eaten. The other option was the lava-proof armor but not only wouldn’t I be able to breathe but I would also become a human burrito just waiting to be feasted on. What I needed was a way to make the shark come out of the pool, or at the very least a way to face it on even ground.
Skills: Break Stuff, Power Dig, Ping, Whallop, Make Explosive, Detonate, Detect Weakness (Structure)
Traits: Fireproof, Ignore Darkness
Proficiencies: Pickaxe, Shovel, Explosives, Alchemy, Basic Seamanship
Heart Deck: Poison Spit
The first plan was fairly simple. I took out a jar of blast oil and used Make Explosive. I chucked it into the magma where it floated briefly before sinking beneath the surface. The shark showed no interest in my bomb.
“Fire in the hole!” I barked before uttering the Detonate word. “Kablooey!”
The lava bulged but the expected explosion or the rain of shark guts never came.
“Next,” I grumbled, taking out a blank card and writing: Lesser Earth Dragon.
The mini dragon appeared beside me and knelt, expecting me to climb on. Instead, I pointed to the magma pool and said, “Go get him!”
The dragon gave me an exasperated look before bolting off toward the shark fin. It hesitated one final time at the edge of the pool before attempting to snap up the shark fin in its jaws. The magma churned briefly as the shark shot away from the dragon. It then launched out of the magma and I saw the whole shark for the first time. It was easily the length of the pool, making my mini dragon tiny by comparison. The shark snatched the dragon up in its jaws and pulled it into the magma. They both thrashed about for a bit before the pool became eerily silent. Then the fin reappeared and began circling once again.
“I’d say burn it with fire but it would probably enjoy that,” I muttered, steeling myself for a risky maneuver. “Plan three it is then.”
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I doubted myself as I hung from the ceiling above the magma pool clad in lava-proof armor. Getting up there was the easy part. It was the splash at the end I was worried about.
“Here goes nothing,” I sighed as I let go. “Cannonball!”
Part of me expected the shark to rise up again with its mouth wide open to swallow me hole. While I managed to center myself over the fin before letting go, it sensed me coming and darted out of the way at the last second.
Doing a Cannonball in magma is not the same as it is with water. It’s liquid rock and the thud I felt as I made the contact felt like it. Cannonball was useless at breaking my fall, let alone damaging anything below the surface. I scrambled to swim back to the surface when I felt the magma shift and ripple around me. Something was approaching fast. Somewhere in my head the theme of a certain horror film played in my head. At least death came quickly.
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I stood at the gate to Under Drunder in my Lava Proof Armor filled with nothing but regret as the guards gawked at me. Rather than face them, I fast-traveled to a place I hoped would be less crowded; the Kingsport landing. Unfortunately, it was no longer launch day and several players rushed over to see what the excitement was all about. I unequipped the armor as soon as I saw them coming but the damage was done.
“What was that?” a female elf with blonde hair and extraordinarily long ears asked
I was saved from answering by an irate Abigail, who glared as she approached. “Where did you go? I only went to that mountain to group with you, you know. When I logged in, they told me you went your own way.”
“Well, um,” I stammered. “They wanted to catch up to my level…I was going to go back…I um…”
She sighed. “It’s fine. You’re here now. So, when are we going to do that treasure island quest?”
It suddenly dawned on me that I was talking to a fisher. “Hey! Have you ever heard of a lava shark?”
“Lava shark?” Abigail asked, her eyes lighting up. “Why? Did you find one?”
“I did!” I exclaimed. “Do you think you can help me catch it?”
She rubbed her chin as she considered it. “Well, maybe. It all depends on how big it is and where it’s located.”
“It’s big enough to swallow me in one bite and it’s located in a small pool of magma about the size of a pond,” I guessed.
“That settles it,” she chirped, dragging me toward a building at the end of the pier. “Let’s go catch a shark.”
“Where are you taking me?” I gasped, struggling to extricate myself from her iron clutches.
“You want to catch a fish, right?” she asked, not letting go. “Well, in that case, we’re going to need the right equipment.”
We entered a small shop that smelled strongly of fish. Buckets of murky water with living things swimming just below the surface sat on display tables. Abigail ignored them and walked to a counter where a burly woman in overalls watched with her hands on her hips.
“Back already, Abi?” she asked with a smile. “I swear you go through bait faster than…”
“Lava sharks!” Abigail cut her off, breathless with excitement. “I need bait and tackle for lava sharks.”
The woman frowned. “Those are deadly, and even harder to catch. You’re better off killing them from a distance. Why do you want to catch one?”
“For my fishing log, of course,” Abigail beamed at her.
“I figured,” the woman sighed. “Fine. You’re going to need an impervious lure and spider-monkey line. I also don’t think any rod we sell is up to the task. You also need to consider how you’re going to kill it once you pull it out.”
“It’s fine,” she beamed. “That’s what I got him for?”
The woman looked me over for the first time. “Are you sure you’re up for this? What she’s hunting ain’t no fish. It’s a veritable monster.”
“I know,” I sighed. “It already ate me once.”
“I see,” she tried to cover her chortle with a dirty hand. “I suppose you do know what you’re up for. If you’re both set on this then the only other thing I can recommend is some sort of chum. Let me see. Ah, yes. I do have something that just might work.”
She pulled a large sealed jar from one of the cupboards. “This contains ghost snipper chum. Don’t open it until you get there. Even the fumes will burn your nose and eyes. It shouldn’t melt in the lava and rumor has it lava sharks can’t get enough of them. Remember, this shark will most likely destroy your rod, so you’ll need to pull it up quickly.”
“I can do that,” Abigail looked committed.
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Once we were outside, she asked, “So, how do we get there?”