Substitution
Ayaan went past the third cave-dwelling without any sign of monsters.
He went to the fourth and experienced the same. And the scene in the fifth cave clearly showed the reason for such a scenario. An intense battle is going on between some mob monsters and a large creature that resembled an eel.
The creature is fighting from within the stream, while the monsters are trying to swarm it from the open space of the cave, where the depth is much lesser.
The monsters are of course humanoid, except for the guard they are fighting.
The appearance of these monsters is a lot different compared to the Brookborn. They are Lanky, amphibious humanoids with barnacle-encrusted armor plates on their bodies. Their skin is a dull gray-blue.
Just like Brookborns, there are multiple types as well.
Level 2: Brineclad Skirmisher, these are the highest in number and these are also dying the fastest under the onslaught of the guard. They looked weaker with a lot less muscle mass compared to other creatures. They resembled the children suffering from malnutrition.
Level 3: Brineclad Lurker, these looked a bit bigger than the skirmishers, both in terms of height and mass. They are a lot more agile. They seemed to be the primary attackers that are attracting the rage of the guard.
Level 3: Brineclad Harpooner, these are the largest of the bunch, even a bit bigger than a full grown human being. If the skirmisher is a mal-nourished child and lurker is a fit athlete, then this one looked like a body builder. This also seemed to have a special ability similar to the wavecallers of Brookborn.
While all three monsters are using spears, the spears in the Harpooner are clad with conjured water surrounding an actual spear.
It is very similar to Aqua Manifest and it very well be the same.
Just from initial estimate, there are around 3 dozen skirmishers, 5 Lurkers and 3 Harpooners left. Which means, the rest of them are all dead.
Ayaan can see why.
The guard of the stream path. The Eel like creature, is the Level 4: Ripstride stalker.
With a sleek, armored hide covered in patches of bioluminescent markings. It has long, whip-like tendrils along its jaw and a razor-lined maw capable of crushing even the toughest armor. Its serpentine body allowed it to move with fluid precision through both water and land, making it an unpredictable and relentless pursuer.
And it is pursuing those Brineclad monsters extremely well. It also seemed to be very smart. It recognized the lurkers and harpooners as the threat and it is focusing on them, while pushing the skirmishers away.
Whenever its health drops a certain amount, it kills the skirmishers easily, making it regenerate its health.
Still, Ayaan noticed that these Brineclad monsters were not dumb either. From their tactics, it is pretty apparent that they are letting the skirmishers be sacrificed. The harpooners and lurkers seemed to have gotten the hang of the Stalker's movements and habits.
They are not taking much damage and are preserving themselves properly.
Ayaan who was still in the stream, hiding his presence as much as possible, decided that this is the perfect time to intervene.
He moved close to the edge of the stream. He is still pretty far away from the battle scene. He carefully raised his hand out of the water and aimed it at the group of Skirmishers that are about to move.
*SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* SWOOSH*
2 MP bullets shot out one after another dealing with the Skirmishers. The Stalker that was about to chomp on them was stunned by the sudden fall of its prey. It looked in the direction of the attack, but the Harpooner took advantage of its distraction and made a move.
The head of the spear hit the stalker, stabbing it at the side of its head. Even with that large conjured spear… the head of the eel is much bigger. It is almost double the size of the blue serpent Ayaan just killed in the previous cave path.
The spear did make the damage though. The health of the stalker was reduced by 5%. It immediately turned its head to go after some other skirmishers.
*SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH*
The water bullets came and destroyed the skirmishers. This time, not just the stalker but even other Brineclads also noticed the sudden death of their peers. They turned around and Ayaan already went much farther from his initial position. He went to hide in the path.
Of course, the Brineclad didn't miss this chance. A lurker landed a blow on the stalker's neck, breaking some of its scales and leaving a gash.
The health dropped by another 5%.
*SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH*
Ayaan killed another batch of Skirmishers closer to the stalker.
*SCREECH* *SCREECH* *SCREECH*
The brineclads didn't take it lightly this time. One of the Harpooners even turned around and screamed. The stalker took this chance and chomped on its shoulder.
The HP of this harpooner was reduced by fifty percent in one bite.
*WOOSH* *POP*
Ayaan shot a 3 MP bullet immediately, aiming at its head.
[Exp+1000]
[MP+100]
The credit for killing the harpooner fell into Ayaan's hands, and at the same time, the Stalker didn't gain its health back. On top of that, it became a victim of another wound to its head.
[████████████████░░░░░░] 82.0%
The health dropped further and this time, the stalker had it enough. It immediately dove into the water, ignoring all the Brineclad monsters. It rushed towards Ayaan.
Ayaan on the other hand took a deep breath and went underwater. He focused on his fingertip, conjuring the water bullet. He wanted to test something out once again.
The stalker reached him in an instant. Ayaan held the alloy sword in his hand and stabbed it into its open maw, making it close its mouth in pain. He was pushed back along with the stalker as it writhed a bit.
Ayaan let himself drop to the stream bed, kicked it with all his strength and came out of the surface.
His finger that had the water bullet conjured hurt and he even felt a sharp pain in his head. He ignored it all and came up along with the head of the stalker. He placed his finger, point blank on the head of the stalker and… *BOOM*
It sounded as if he really shot a shotgun.
[MP-4]
It is a 4 MP bullet.
The scales cracked and its flesh was torn apart, the bullet penetrated straight into its skull, fracturing it and revealing its brain matter before blasting it away.
There was an instant and rapid decline in its health bar.
[█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 24.0%
It only slowed down there, but it didn't stop. However, the stalker didn't have any strength to move, even with the 24% health.
As it surrendered to the mercy of the stream, its health dropped one point at a time.
Ayaan checked the effect of the water bullet. For 4 MP at point blank, it did a lot more damage than a shotgun slug. He picked the sword out of its head and put it out of its misery.
[Exp+ 10000]
[MP+1000]
Ayaan picked the loot and threw it in the inventory. The inventory slots became full. Ayaan ignored it for now and looked ahead to see that the Brineclads are there looking at him, without attacking. The next moment, they turned around and started swimming away.
Ayaan frowned at this and went after them at the fastest speed possible. He managed to catch up to them. They ignored him. He followed them as went past the cave-dwelling and soon arrived at the edge of the waterfall.
They halted there and came out of the stream, standing on the cliff edge just like Ayaan did before. Then under the lead of the Harpooner, they are trying to get down.
At this point, Ayaan's curiosity died.
*SWOOSH*
A water bullet flew and blew the head of the said Harpooner. The Brineclads finally paid him attention and came at him.
*WOOSH* *POP*
*WOOSH* *POP*
*WOOSH* *POP*
At that range… they are open targets to him. There were not many creatures left to begin with and even though a couple of striders managed to close the distance, they fell under the sword strikes and water bullets.
Now came the real trouble for Ayaan.
The loot.
The Riptide stalker did give Ayaan a drop, which filled his last slot. Since he took out the Black Alloy sword, that opened up a slot. Luckily, the Harpooners gave the same Aqua Manifest skill, so no extra slot was required.
But there are two more drops.
The Spears and the Lurker Essence.
The Lurker essence also has a very interesting use.
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ITEM DETAILS
==============================
**Name:** Brineclad Luker Essence
**Grade:** Uncommon
**Type:** Consumable
**Level Requirement:** 1
Description: Essence extracted from the body of a Brineclad Lurker. Increases the agility of the player by 3 points temporarily. The effect is stackable.
==============================
There are five of them left and if it is the same as the Brookborn essence, then the effect of each will last for five minutes. He didn't want to throw that away.
The spears are the obvious choice to discard.
He did try to open the shop and sell them off. But he couldn't. The shop was inaccessible during the quest. He could only discard the place. He held the Black Alloy Sword in his hand and went to the cliff edge.
He wanted to check the progress on the other three caves and the embryo as well.
Luckily, the embryo is still in the same state. It didn't change at all.
He went back into the second stream path and found the hidden crevice to enter the third one, hoping that the path guard in there was still not cleared.
.
.
.
Ten minutes later.
In the third stream path, the fifth cave-dwelling. There is a large crayfish in the shallow waters of the cave's open space.
Its shell is half broken and with several blades stabbed into its body. The cave walls, its claws, and its white and grey body are covered with red blood, creating a stark contrast with its skin tone. But in that dark cave, maybe not many people will notice it.
Except for Ayaan who was currently peeking at it through a hole high up in the cave walls.
Level 4 River Chuul [████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 40.0%
Ayaan didn't know what creatures had attacked this cave. But they are all dead and the health of this monster is only 40%.
Maybe he got way too lucky by getting a position at the top here.
The hole is also big enough for him to move around a bit. Ayaan placed the sword on the side and took out the shotgun.
He is sure that he is going to lose the shotgun and the slugs in this quest. He needs those slots for the loot, so he might as well, use it.
*CLICK* *BAM*
He shot the monster on its head.
*CRACK*
The shell cracked open and the slug did a number on it.
[█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 24.0%
A decent decrease, but the shell does seem to have great resistance. The Chuul turned around, but its movement was extremely slow. It couldn't even finish its turn before another slug was shot. This time, it was shot at the same spot, at the already broken place.
*BAM* *SPLATTER*
The head exploded completely and it splattered around.
The health bar dropped to zero.
[Exp+10,000]
[MP+1000]
Ayaan came down to check the loot. Like the other pathguards, this one also dropped only one item as loot. He placed it in the empty spot created by the removal of the shotgun from the inventory.
He carried the shotgun and the sword in either hand and followed the stream to reach the cliff edge.
This time, however, Ayaan is greeted by something that he didn't expect to see.
On the cliff-edge of the fifth stream path, eleven humanoid creatures appeared. They walked out of the stream.
Hulking humanoids with dark, slimy skin . Their eyes are pale and pupil-less, their arms unnaturally long, with fingers ending in webbed claws.
Level 3: Groomlurk Strider
All eleven of them are the same and none of them have full health. They seemed to have just finished their battle and got out. They looked at Ayaan who stabbed the sword into the ground and loaded the shotgun, all the while locking is gaze at them.
At that moment as if to interrupt the stare-down, the monsters from the fourth stream path also came out.
Tall, slender humanoids with translucent, glassy-blue skin and long, flowing fins along their arms and legs. Their eyes are pure black, reflecting the depths of the caves they came from.
Level 3: Drenva Executor
There are a dozen of them. One more than the Groomlurks. They also didn't have full HP. Ayaan looked at both the creatures and felt a bit angry. Their presence here meant, only one thing and one thing alone.
The stream path guards are dead. That means he lost 20000 Exp points.
He aimed the shotgun and shot.
*BAM*
[Exp+1000]
[Exp+1000]
The slug went through the first one and hit the second creature, killing them both.
*CLICK* *BAM*
*CLICK* *BAM*
*CLICK* *BAM*
The shotgun loaded and shot, and the sound reverberated throughout the caves.
The monsters angrily jumped towards Ayaan. But the path is narrow and they didn't have much to move around about. Ayaan didn't even have to hurry much. He managed to shoot them down and almost emptied the box of slugs.
By the time all twenty-three of the monsters are done, he only has three left in the barrel and the box is empty.
At that time, a familiar notification appeared in front of him.
==============================
HIDDEN REQUIREMENT
==============================
A hidden condition has been met!
**Blood of all Aqua-humanoids has entered the Lake and is being absorbed by the embryo**
**All five tribes of Aqua-humanoids failed to provide the essence to the Embryo**
**The Embryo is substituting the essence with the blood of the aqua-humanoids**
==============================