In the winding tunnels of the labyrinth, a large red crustacean was sleeping peacefully. It had its claws and legs tucked into its body and was lying half buried under a group of water-worn rocks. It was done scavenging for the day and decided that it would rest in this spot until it got hungry again. It would’ve continued to lie there as well if it had not been disturbed.

  The gentle movement of water alerted the scavenger to the presence of a predator. The aquaclaw quickly got out its limbs and jumped out of the sand. After getting on its legs, the scavenger began waving its claws and turning about to look for an intruder. Unfortunately, it registered its enemy too late.

  A sharp blow from above went right through the poor scavenger and pierced the soft sand below it. Its brain and shell were both destroyed in an instant, and the aquaclaw went limp as it was still wondering what attacked it.

  ...

  That makes number seven…

  Lukey had been prowling through the tunnels for a while now, hunting down every scavenger in his path. After testing out some different methods of attack, Lukey settled on driving the spear through the face of the aquaclaws. Throwing was safer but risked damaging the spear with that much force, and he didn’t want to be caught without a weapon.

  Piercing the aquaclaws through their faces also risked damaging the organs less, something Lukey had been mindful of after finding one of the shell oil sacks destroyed. He had been getting good at it as well, learning to avoid striking until the last moment to avoid the risk of the aquaclaws running off.

  While he liked how easy things were getting, he had hoped his first labyrinth would be a bit more challenging. So far, the only things he encountered were scavengers, and although they have been slowly rising in level, they weren’t all that threatening. This would change soon, hopefully, since the tunnel seemingly ended just ahead.

  Lukey quickly took apart the corpse and removed the sac, then threw it in the bucket as he adjusted his equipment and headed towards the exit. Before him there was an arched opening that led into an open area. Lukey looked inside the room; it wasn’t all that big, with a floor made of bluish-black rocks and a single tide pool in the room’s center.

  More importantly, Lukey could see two other tunnels within the room, presumably taking him deeper into the labyrinth. His exploration was inevitable, so Lukey made his way into the room.

  It wasn’t unlike the tunnel before, with algae glowing within the water to light up the room. The only difference was the stone floor he was standing on and the tide pool in the middle. Curious, Lukey got closer to said tide pool and used [Insight] to identify anything within. After using it, he was pleasantly surprised.

  [Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 7]

  [Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 7]

  [Broodmother Aquaclaw Lv. 10]

  Within the tide pool, three aquaclaws were gathered in a group. All of them were a deep red, with two of them reaching up to Lukey’s waist, with rounded shells and claws that made them look powerful but not as dangerous as the scavengers. The last one, however, was huge.

  The big one was presumably the broodmother, since it was the only aquaclaw up to this point that reached Lukey’s chest in height. It also looked a lot more threatening than the scavengers; it had spikes all along the side of its shell and even some barbs along its claws and legs. There were also red streaks on the underside, contrasting with the white bellies of the scavengers and caretakers.

  As Lukey got closer to the tide pool, all three of the aquaclaws rose. He jumped back and dropped everything except his spear as he prepared for a fight. The aquaclaws scuttled out of the water and faced toward Lukey as each of them waved their claws at him. The caretakers weren’t very threatening, but the broodmother scared Lukey as she waved around claws that could crush his arms if he wasn't careful.

  The two sides found themselves at a standoff, as each had refused to make a move. Lukey decided to keep his spear aimed at the broodmother, since she seemed the most dangerous. However, contrary to his expectations, it was the caretakers that turned and crab-walked towards him.

  The two caretakers sped over to Lukey and threw their claws at his legs. Lukey dodged their attempts to grab him, but it became harder to concentrate as he continued to watch the broodmother. After a few moments of it just standing there, Lukey decided to switch targets.

  Lukey used [Fisherman’s Stance], raising his spear and striking at the caretaker to the left of him.

  Things did not go according to plan, however, as the caretaker took a defensive pose and angled its rounded shell towards Lukey. His spear made contact but proceeded to glance off the shell and over the caretaker’s body. The caretaker must have felt like this was a good opportunity to strike, as it released its defensive pose and attempted to grab Lukey once more.

  Lukey wasn’t about to let those giant claws grab ahold of him, but he was thrown off balance by the missed thrust and couldn’t correct in time. This required an adjustment; instead of correcting himself, Lukey pulled one leg away from the other caretaker and kicked the one he missed as hard as he could.

  The kick managed to push it away, giving the fisherman room to correct himself.

  As he finally got a breather, Lukey thought of something. He ran towards the caretaker he kicked and kicked it again, this time making sure to catch his foot on the lip of its top shell. Lukey sent his leg upwards, flipping the caretaker onto its back with its legs flailing rapidly in panic. Once it was immobilized, Lukey stabbed at the soft underbelly, killing it instantly.

  The fisherman then turned and leveled his spear at his two remaining opponents. The other caretaker was already approaching Lukey, but he knew how to handle it now.

  The fisherman thrust the spear below the remaining caretaker, who took a defensive stance at the missed attack. Lukey then used two hands as he lifted the tip of the spear upwards, along with the crustacean. After using the polespear as a lever, the remaining caretaker was flipped over. Another quick thrust to the underside gave Lukey a second kill.

  The broodmother must not have expected this situation, as up until now she had let the caretakers do all the fighting for her. She was strong, but that didn’t mean she wanted to fight as her first option. It would’ve been far better to let the caretakers kill the food and get a piece later.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  For Lukey, while he did feel better about his chances now than he did a minute ago, that didn’t mean he was confident. After all, the spear glanced off of the caretakers; who was to say it would be effective against a far mightier broodmother? Lukey had to try, however, as he would make no progress without destroying the creature.

  The fisherman leveled his spear at the broodmother’s face and began to walk forward, slowly. He noticed it made multiple attempts to turn its hefty body and start a sideways dash. Lukey didn’t let her, however, as he shuffled back and forth to keep himself face-to-face with the giant crustacean.

  This resulted in a strange dance, where Lukey was shuffling back and forth to stay in front of the broodmother, while she was shuffling back and forth to get into a more mobile stance. Eventually, Lukey managed to shuffle his way up in front of the broodmother.

  Lukey used [Fishermen’s Stance] and thrust his spear forward as fast as he could. This wasn’t fast enough though, as the broodmother shuffled quickly to its right to avoid a fatal blow. With the sudden movement, the spear ended up lodged inside her left side, avoiding the guts and striking muscle instead.

  Since the broodmother was still moving, the spear ended up getting pulled away, along with Lukey. To avoid falling off balance yet again, he was forced to let go of his spear. The skirmish ended with the broodmother retreating to the far side of the room, with Lukey’s spear still lodged in its side.

  Now Lukey was thoroughly disarmed. He could try to go for his spear, but the broodmother’s reflexes were better than his. If he was too slow, she would lunge at him and rip an arm off. He had no weapon to keep her at a distance, so now she could approach unimpeded.

  I’ll have to adapt, but how?

  As Lukey was stuck wondering what to do, the broodmother was approaching him slowly. It rhythmically moved each of its eight legs, pushing each one directly forward. As it did, Lukey watched the broodmother’s claws as she waved them about, moving them around methodically in anticipation of Lukey’s movements.

  I’ve never seen an animal do this before… Could I do that too? Maybe I can try to grab her claws and immobilize her.

  With a plan in place, Lukey took the best defensive stance he could muster. He put one leg back and put both hands in front of him in a wrestling stance. Naturally, he would be a fool to wrestle a giant crab, but he didn’t need to, as he only needed to grab its arm.

  Lukey took a few hesitant steps forward, watching the broodmother as it shuffled towards him. Both opponents made no moves to duck left or right; they kept their gazes locked as each sought to end the other.

  One foot followed the other, and Lukey reset his stance after each footstep. He was eventually close enough that he could reach for the spear's pole, but he knew it was a trap. The broodmother would move out of the way at the last second and jump him when he lost his footing.

  Instead, Lukey kept to the left side of the spear pole, the side that the broodmother was heavily leaning towards. It seemed that the spear did do something, as the broodmother was limping a little on her right side. Lukey knew the other side of her body was weaker due to the damage, but he would have less room to move if he stayed on that side.

  Lukey was around three feet from the claw in front of him; at this distance either he or the broodmother could grab the other. He was prepared to make a grab for the claw, but he wasn’t sure if he was fast enough. Lukey had decent agility and dexterity, but he wasn’t sure if that would be enough against a monster five levels above him.

  If only he had an art that allowed him to lunge faster…

  Wait a minute!

  Lukey had a realization as he started [Fisherman’s Stance]. The art didn’t just work with spears; it worked on any weapon. So long as he performed one of the associated actions, the stance would empower him. It was with this realization that he pulled one arm back and prepared for the catch.

  Lukey held out his other hand, attempting to bait the broodmother into grabbing it. The broodmother seemed to realize something as well, since it stopped waving its claw around and instead leveled it with his hand. He only managed to take one more step forward when the broodmother sprang into action.

  The blackened interior of the claw opened slightly as it made a beeline straight for Lukey’s hand. As he watched, Lukey was amazed by the level of control the broodmother had over its large claws. She only opened it far enough to slide his hand through and thrust it forward like it didn’t weigh anything at all. He barely managed to get his hand out of the way before the claw closed around the empty air.

  The fisherman was so entranced by the claw that he almost missed his chance. Lukey quickly thrust his other hand out as he made to grab for the claw. Any fears he had that this wouldn’t work were alleviated as soon as his fingers wrapped around the broodmother's arm.

  Lukey seized his chance; with the arm in his hand, he lifted up the broodmother so she was slightly off the ground, immobilizing her. He then switched the hand the claw was in and grabbed the knife he had at his side.

  The broodmother’s underbelly was a mess of legs, but Lukey’s knife and gloves went right through them as he went for the exposed belly. He aimed straight for her mouth and jammed the knife into the opening as he attempted to destroy her brain.

  The knife sank into the mouth, and the broodmother began flailing even harder, but it wasn’t a kill. Lukey kept stabbing at the exposed underside, managing to get everything from the sides of the legs to the face. However, even being stabbed all over its body wasn’t enough to deal a killing blow.

  This is starting to feel like the trollfish all over again…

  Lukey eventually decided enough was enough. He used [Fisherman’s Stance] again as he reeled his hand back, then thrust at the crevices near her face. The fisherman managed to get a grip on the faceplates and did his best to dig his fingers in before starting to pull.

  It was like yanking a stone that was lodged in the mud; the face was stuck to the rest of the broodmother’s body. Eventually, however, something gave way as the face started to separate from the rest of the shell.

  Lukey, feeling increasingly sick of the situation by the second, decided to put his boot on the crustacean to speed up the process. Then, with one more strong pull, the broodmother’s face was ripped off her body.

  Lukey ended up using too much strength, though, and ended up falling backwards to the ground. He quickly got to his senses as he scanned his surroundings for any further danger.

  The second the broodmother’s face was ripped off, it fell to the ground. Lukey, on the other hand, fell on his rear, and it only took a second before he got his bearings. He slowly got up as he saw the dead broodmother with the spear sticking out of its side.

  Once again there was a flood of energy into his body as the death of the broodmother finally registered. Lukey had neglected to check his level recently, and now that he had a moment to breathe, he decided now was as good a time as any.

  [Lukey (Beginner Fisherman) Lv. 7]

  “Unbelievable…”

  Lukey hadn’t spent long in this labyrinth, but so far, he had managed to jump two levels. It was timely progress, especially for his first labyrinth run, but he couldn’t help but feel that Lv. 10 was just so far away.

  Lukey was already starting to get tired of using the spear with [Fisherman’s Stance]. At this rate he would have to kill at least three more broodmothers before he gained his next art. He could certainly manage, but it would take forever.

  Lukey sighed, then began cutting open the three corpses.

  I need a better way to kill these aquaclaws. If only I had some better protection…

  Lukey managed to cut open the shells of the three aquaclaws, then searched through each of the corpses until he located their oil sacs. All three sacs were promptly thrown into the bucket Lukey had abandoned earlier.

  While Lukey was preparing his equipment, he investigated the tidepool the aquaclaws woke up from. Inside were hundreds of eggs, presumably the brood of the mother he just killed. Lukey didn’t feel bad for them though, since the mother would have probably eaten them whenever she got hungry. Instead, Lukey tossed a dead fish from his bucket in the pool as a meal for the children when they hatched.

  The fisherman was all prepared to leave, but before he did, he took another look at the corpses.

  The two caretakers had exceptionally smooth, nearly flawless shells that Lukey didn’t even manage to scratch. There was also the armor of the broodmother, who had claws bigger than Lukey’s hands.

  Maybe I can use these…

  Lukey dropped all his equipment and grabbed his knife as once more he began cutting the corpses.

  People may look at me like I’m crazy, but if it helps me survive, then I don’t care…