To the Sea

With my first step into the sea, of course, the first thing I do is admire the scenery... then I'll go kill some fish. Of course, it's not just to admire the scenery, but to see if the surroundings will be of use to me. The seafloor is lined with an array of critters, from simple barnacles on the rocks to crustacean-like creatures crawling around. All sorts of fish I haven't seen before are swimming in the nearby waters. A little further out, I see something rather strange. If I'm not mistaken that's a kelp forest overlapping with a coral reef. It was my understanding that is wasn't possible for these to be in the same place as each other since kelp forest thrives in colder waters compared to the tropics where coral reefs generally found. The kelp forest and coral reef seem to be the best place to settle. Since my scales somewhat resemble the corporation of the kelp, its the perfect place to set up an ambush for prey and hide from everything that poses a threat, and just from a simple look at the monsters that I can even see further in the distance, there's a lot of dangerous creatures out in the deep water, Inspect didn't work on them either so I don't want to head out there until I feel sufficiently strong enough.

As I arrive at the kelp forest I find several others of my kind lingering around seemingly waiting to ambush unsuspecting fish that swim by. Perhaps because I'm an Elite Monster, I appear to be significantly larger than the other juveniles I came across, just barely larger than the adolescents. From what I've seen so far, my species seem to an ambush predator. That makes sense considering how well we blend in with the kelp forest. Unfortunately, while it is a safe option, it probably won't bring in a large amount of biomatter or experience. Moreover, as an Elite Monster, I should have a strong advantage over everything in my weight class and under. Now that doesn't mean I won't stay near the kelp forest, taking a quick peek at what lies beyond this area was absolutely terrifying. Monsters so big that they can eat me whole, and I'm sure that's not all that's out there but even with my Superior Eyes mutation I can't see too far, not that I would want to see everything that can kill me without even noticing I'm there.

After searching around for a bit, I find a nice spot where the coral reef and kelp forest overlap several metres down from the seashore. This spot gives me a nice area near the smaller crustaceans that live around the shore and I can easily venture deeper to find fish. Swimming closer to the seashore I find a couple of unsuspecting crablike monsters laying on the seabed, for starters lets Inspect them.

Race: Hatchling Brachyura Giganta

Level: 1

State: Idle

HP: 30/30

STR: 13

VIT: 18

DEX:5

INT: 3

MND:2

What the hell? Why are these things so strong, they're just hatchlings! I suppose since outside of there high defensive and strength stats, there isn't much to talk about, but if a mere hatchling is that durable then I don't even want to think about their evolutions. I little unfortunate since I thought these were adults based off their size, I was hoping to get extra experience from killing another adult, they certainly living up to the name Giganta. Since there are only two of them I should be able to do this if I use my higher mobility to my advantage.

As I get into striking range I use my Acid Spray on the exoskeleton of one of the crabs, alerting them to my presence. While the Acid doesn't completely break down their hard exoskeleton, it clearly did some damage as I see its health drop to 21. Of course, they won't just let me one-sidedly hit them, as the second crab attempts to grab me by the tail. In my attempt to dodge, the first crab I had hit makes it's move while my attention is elsewhere and succeeds in grazing me, dropping my health down to 7. Shit, that hurts! If I wasn't an Elite Monster that may have just one shot me, these guys really hurt. In retaliation, I bring my tail down full force onto the fist crab that hit me. Unfortunately, these guys are really damn durable! I only brought its health down by 1. To make matter worse, the water causes my Acid Spray to disperse, so I need to be within the crab's striking range if I want it to hit and that's the only thing I can do the seems to be able to cause any real damage to the guys.

Aha! I've got an idea! I swiftly move just outside of the crabs striking range and begin to swim in a small circle releasing acid all around me. Since it is composed of my own venom I should be pretty resistant to it, if not fully immune, and soon enough I find myself completely covered in my acid. I felt a weird feeling as if something was breaking my body down for a few seconds but shortly after I felt completely fine. Moving back towards the crabs I use another tail swipe on the first crab and while the impact itself didn't do much, I left a bit of my acid on its back bringing it down to 17. Not as much damage as blasting my Acid Spray directly onto its back but it did more than enough, as the corrosion has broken through the exoskeleton and revealed a portion of its fleshy innards. Not wasting any time, I dash towards the first crab and lunge at its exposed back to unleash my Venomous Bite. While all this is happening the second crab isn't standing idle as it grabs onto my tail, but the acid coating causing it to release me almost instantly after realising the damage it was taking. Since it didn't latch on for long it didn't deal too much damage to me, but it still brought my health down to 5. Fortunately, with my bite into the unprotected flesh of the first crab combined with my venom, it dies, leaving its brethren to fend for itself.

"You have slain a Level 1 Hatchling Brachyura Giganta. You have gained 15 EXP. Because you have slain a monster of a higher tier, you have gained and an additional 30 EXP. You have gained a total of 45 EXP."

I have some questions about that, but they will have to be put aside for a moment. I need to focus on this last crab. Based on the damage I took earlier I should be able to take one more hit. I move up close to the second crab and use Acid Spray right in front of it. Even with my quick speed the crab still manages to graze me in my retreat, bringing my health down to 3. But between the acid now covering its entire body and the damage from hitting my acid covered scales, its health drops down to 17 and is still dropping eventually stopping at 12. Like the previous crab before it, its exoskeleton was been worn down and begun to reveal its flesh, but unlike the other crab, this one has lost the use of its left pincer due to my corrosion. Perhaps because it understands the danger it's in begins to dig into the sand on the seabed. Not giving it the chance to escape I lunge back towards the crab, aiming at the exposed flesh. Even with my fangs in its back, it keeps on digging until it finally dies.

That fight was honestly a little to close for comfort. Gathering up the corpses of the crabs, one carried in my mouth and the other by my tail, I start to make my way back to my little hideout while wondering why the crab started to dig instead of fight.

Of course, not even a few seconds later I can feel tremours coming from the sand below where the crab was digging. I just had to jinx it, didn't I.

Rising from the sand stands before me what is probably the adult version of the crab. What! The! Hell! That thing is as tall as a house! I say this is probably the adult version of the crab because it both looks the part and is clearly staring me down in anger. And that damn System keeps telling me that Inspect has failed and to try again. As I run away I keep trying to inspect until my MP drops to 1 before finally giving me something.

Race: Adult Brachyura Giganta

Level: 30

State: Enraged

HP: 296,720/296,720

STR: 105,237

VIT: 326,986

DEX: 1,978

INT: 989

MND: 29,672

"Because you have successfully used Inspect on 3 monsters of a higher tier, the Skill: Inspect has been removed and replaced with Skill: Investigate. New information has been added to your status page due to the acquisition of Skill: Investigate. A new title has been acquired."

What in the blazing hell is that! What's the scaling around here!? Those stats are completely absurd. At the very least when compared to its other stats, its mobility and intelligence are pretty low... it's still far higher than me though. Going as fast as I possibly can I run for the kelp forest with the giant crab chasing me. Some unfortunate seabed dwellers have been crushed underneath its legs, on the bright side that seemed to have slowed it down a bit. Thanks, little guys, I appreciate your sacrifice even if you never wanted it. With the kelp forest as my cover, the crab has a difficult time locating me and just begin lashing out killing some other Talonian Sea Snakes until its satisfied and returns from where it came from.

Once the danger has passed I make way back to the hideout I made for myself earlier and begin to consume my haul. With the crabs safely in my stomach, I take a look at my gains and the new information the system said would be on my status.

Name: Cordelia Auspin

Race: Elite Juvenile Sea Snake (Talonian Regional Variant)

Tier: 2

Titles: Provoking Giants (-5 INT)

Level: 3

EXP: 90/200

HP: 8/10 MP: 1/10 SP: 3/50

STR: 15

VIT: 14

DEX: 20

INT: 28 (-5)

WIS: 20

MND: 8

CHA: 11

LUCK: 5

Acquired Skills: Investigate (1)

Innate Skills: Acid Spray (3), Tail Swipe (1), Venomous Bite (2),

Mutations: Superior Eyes (See Potential Mutations)

Current Biomatter: 130kg

Lifetime Biomatter: 170kg

Available Evolutions: N/A (See Potential Evolutions)

Details: A reincarnated Talonian Sea Snake. Some stats have been altered to accommodate for the previous life's attributes. As an Elite monster, you gain a bonus to all stats, current bonus +5. Starting to get stronger but you're still pretty weak. A fool who provoked the kin of a protective monster of a higher tier.

Just as usual, that last line is clearly trying to provoke me. Seems like my health recovered a little after eating and a new stat appeared. Focusing on SP I find that it basically correlates to my stamina. Skills also got divided into Acquired Skills and Innate Skills. After looking into it, Acquired Skills take MP to use and Innate Skills take SP. But the most important part is that damnable title. My first title and it's god awful. Like how was I supposed to know that attacking those crabs would bring a giants anger on me! I don't think I'll go near them in the future... although they did taste good and gave me a lot of biomatter for their size. NO! Don't think about it, Cordelia. I can't afford to mess with papa crab again. Looks like I'll be fish farming for the foreseeable future...

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