Words cannot express the utter and bottomless contempt Ozzy had for the swamp. One day they had to fight Cthulhu’s estranged nephew, then it was a small army of cultists, and now they were poised to get shredded by a monster somehow uglier than a root sucker.

  “What the hell is that thing Emil” Ozzy hissed/whispered.

  “Shut up or it’ll eat us.” Emil hissed back.

  So he shut up, hanging around casually as a good ol’ standoff ensued between the figures on the island swamp. One shook slightly, another remained still as the stone hidden beneath the murk, and the third slowly hissed as they all stared at one another.

  Exploding into action the crab lunged forwards, moving in a decidedly un-crablike fashion as it leapt pincers extended for Emil. It was stopped dead by Emil’s war shell. The crunch following eerily similar to what normal crab legs sounded like when you were getting ready to scoop the meat out, just three times as loud of course. Maybe they could cook this guy up?

  “Pierce the legs and it won’t be able to move!” Emil shouted, as he did what Ozzy considered to be quite literally the stupidest move he’d ever seen.

  In clear opposition of logic and reason Emil left the war shell. He didn’t even wait to cast a spell or pull out his sword. He was just out of there like the bubble wasn’t the only piece of solid cover around.

  CRACK

  The poison dripping scorpion tail of the giant crab hit the war shell like a falling missile. Piercing the protective dome like it hadn’t even existed and burying itself straight into the mud where Emil had been standing not even a second ago.

  “Well shoot.” Ozzy muttered to himself as he summoned a weapon.

  The double barrel formed in his arms and he had a singular rifle round summoned and sliding into the breech. Without the influx of mana from having just consumed a shard and potion summoning the bullet was like donating half of his blood supply and taking a sleeping pill. Not only could he feel his mana run just about dry but it physically weakened him.

  Taking aim at the giant crab he waited for a shot that never came, he would’ve wished for good line where he could’ve maybe taken out more than one leg but the crabs legs moved like a brain teaser, oscillating in a pattern that allowed it to run just as fast as they could without ever hitting any of its other legs.

  Unwilling to leave Emil hanging for any longer than he had to Ozzy took the shot. BANG. The bullet clipped the crab on its second leg back and threw its whole pattern of movement into disarray. It went down like a meteor, spraying bloody mud around in an explosive arc as it went headfirst into the muck.

  Not wasting any time Ozzy pulled the shotgun shells he’d looted out of his pocket. At the time of receiving the blessing he hadn’t realized how much of a blessing it would actually be being able to use unsummoned ammunition kept him the fight even when his mana reserves ran dry. It was a power a resource as invaluable as his weapons themserlves.

  Ozzy had eight of the rat teeth rounds he’d found over the course of their trip and there wouldn’t be a better time to use them. He dumped both shots into the crabs next leg over. His first shot mulching the joint and his second severing it completely.

  Despite the heavy fall the crab was already making its way back to its feet, and Ozzy hit a reload so smooth and rapid he almost lost concentration to pat himself on the back. All he needed to do was take this things legs out, just one more and he doubted it’d have strength left to tango. At least on its right side.

  Firing again he put a hole through the the crabs next leg over and fired at the last one. The last leg was reversed, and seemed to be more for turning and water locomotion than above ground strafing, it put up less resistance than a paper target and the rat tooth round tore it apart, leaving a hole the size of his fist in the center of the joint.

  Kicking weakly with its two remaining half working legs the crab tried to lift itself out of the mud but it could only manage a slow circle as its uninjured left side tried to continue the hunt and spin towards Ozzy.

  With a whump a ball of fire flew at the crab, slamming into the creatures face and clinging to it like a ball of sizzling napalm. Ozzy could hear the singe from where he stood nearly twenty meters away and knew it was definitely not helping the beast and when the flames finally did fade there was a distinct absence of eyes on the creatures face.

  In pain, anger, and the fear of a creature about to meet its end the crab lashed out at them with its pincers and tail, though neither hunter dared to get close. What followed was less battle and more death by firing squad as Ozzy and Emil laid into the monster with their ranged attacks, and after a few good volleys the monster ceased to move, dead to the world.

  “Jeez man, that thing was terrifying.” Ozzy said, ogling the creature as he walked up to it.

  “You should see em’ when they’re big and strong. This one’s barely even a teenager when it comes to Stinger Crabs, they get waaaay bigger. It didn’t even use its sonic attack.” Emil brought his arms in mock measurement.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Sonic attack?”

  “Yeah the big ones can scream loud enough to boil your insides if you get too close to them.” Emil added.

  “That’s horrible.” Ozzy said, grateful they’d killed it before it had the chance to use the attack.

  Together they parsed out the loot circle and Ozzy finally got Emil to show him how to power it. The catch was forcing Ozzy to promise that the next time they had to drag monsters out of the water that he would be the one to do it.

  Powering the circle was more intuitive than Ozzy had initially believed, the tricky part was understanding how to push mana into it. Emil had explained to him that anyone with enough mana could power a circuit, especially one as simple as their looting circle which had all of the magical scripts pre-written. It was however one of the cheaper ones money could buy and it consumed a portion of the energy of whatever it was looting as well as what the user added of their own mana, somewhat reducing the effectivity of the circle .

  Pushing mana into the circle was a bit like trying to push a fart out without trying to make any noise. You had to focus on simply releasing the power slowly rather than channeling it into any one ability and pushing something else out.

  After figuring out the circuit they were however left with a rather respectable pile of loot which Ozzy wasted no time in scanning.

  *BEEP BEEP*

  Items identified:

  Juvenile sting crab legs 20 lbs

  12 Stun blast shotgun shells

  10 Paralyzing poison vials

  Clicking on the shotgun shells he popped another screen up.

  Stun blast shotgun shells

  These shotgun shells are loaded with a special blend of powder and no shot. When fired at enemy combatants the flash and boom of the shotgun will be deafening, blinding, and incapacitating to individuals with weak constitutions.

  The loot left a lot to be desired when it came to helping Norman but granted the fight hadn’t truly been all that difficult and the shotgun shells did seem useful. While they’d definitely been in danger the crab had never really stood much of a chance against Ozzy’s weapons. He probably hadn’t even needed to use the rifle round.

  “We keep going then?” Ozzy sighed as he began to help pack away the majority of the meat and poison into Emil’s dimensional bag.

  “While I’d to, we’re getting closer to the Murk, I’d be killing us and Norman if I let the bastard Colber cross it without us.” Emil responded as he stepped off of the island and into the dinghy.

  “Let’s head back and hunt closer to the wagon.” Emil said.

  “I mean I’m happy to, but what’s the murk and why does it matter?” Ozzy asked, as he pushed them back out into the murky water of the swamp.

  “That’s a short question with a very long and complicated answer.” Emil sighed as he continued. “The Murk is the place we have to cross to get back into the greater zone of Myreluck. To make a long story short when the city was formed way back in the old days a God or big wizard guy I’m not sure which made a barrier to protect everyone from the monsters. I don’t know how it works or what it does to them but it keeps them from getting within the cities borders, most of them at least.”

  “Monsters are intrinsically linked to mana though, they require it to live more than they need air and food. So they go wherever the mana is densest, the closest hotspot just so happens to be our lovely city full of core users and artifacts, Myreluck.” He took a breath and tossed a chunk of catfish into the dinghy’s mana box.

  “So when they all start coming after the scent of mana wafting off of Myreluck they get stuck on the Murk. It’s a buffet line that never makes it to the food, and the monsters are not happy about it. Once we get there we’ll have to circle the border until we find the checkpoint which is nothing more than a temporary window the hunters culling the border manage to cut out of an endless horde of monsters.” Emil finished.

  “If we’re so close then would it be a bad thing if Colber took Norman across?” Ozzy asked.

  While he heard Emil and understood that the Murk was dangerous it sounded like they had a system for getting people across it. It didn’t make any sense to him that a city would have a system in place for something as important as food supply that didn’t work.

  “No, we’re still two days out from the city, we’re closing in on the Murk but Colber can’t wait around for us to cross if he decides to pull the wagon out of the water and if we’re not on board we’re screwed.” Emil said.

  “What do you mean pull it out of the water?”

  Running an exasperated hand over his face Emil glared at Ozzy. “I hate that you don’t know anything, the universe couldn’t have sent you my way with a little context?” Emil groaned.

  “I’m with you man.” Ozzy firmly agreed.

  “A swamp wagon is the ultimate vehicle for getting through the great swamp as you well know. It can go over land and through mud. Its wheels turn and become propellers when it goes into deeper water and it’s practically completely silent which is perfect for going over stretches of water here. Quick side note since you reminded me you don’t know anything. All of the islands float,” He gestured at everything out around them,” everything beneath them outside of a few specific areas, like where we got raided, is water. Don’t know how far down it goes and don’t care to. You do not swim under the islands or out into open water. Ever.” Emil said, his tone offering no room for discussion.

  “If you were to fall in over there,” Emil pointed at an area where the islands and trees grew sparser, “then you probably wouldn’t make it back into the boat, that’s called a flat, stay away from them. That’s why when I drive this thing I stick close to the islands. Any further out and you’re food for the actual monsters in this place.” Emil shivered as he stared out at the empty space of swamp. “Hate thinking about that.”

  “I don’t want to downplay what sounds like a horrific little bit of very important information, but what does that have to do with the wagon?” Ozzy asked delicately.

  “Right. The wagons can also go over those open spaces of water. It’s not recommended and outside of using it to get over the wide flat just before the Murk no one does it. The wagon literally lifts up out of the water and its wheels combine at the back into a giant thrust propeller that moves so fast it can let you skim on the surface of the water faster than just about anything right under the surface. Problem is, it’s super loud, good enough to get over the Murk where you already have tier 5 hunters blasting any of the big ones that get too close but out here? You’re practically ringing the dinner bell for the big things under the swamp and they will catch you.” Emil said gravely.

  “What about the dinghy?” Ozzy asked.

  “This flimsy piece of wood? We wouldn’t stand a chance crossing the murk in this thing. We’d practically have to sell ourselves to get another wagon to let us on as castaways. Going out into a flat on this thing though? Suicide.”

  LitRPG Progression Isekai

  The World Walker on a Tuesday

  "I threw a rock at a Machine-God and leveled up. Now my bodyguard is a sentient gargoyle who hates boats."

  Kaelen Vance didn't ask for a System. He touched a corrupted server rack in a London basement and the universe glitched.

  Now he’s stuck in a multiverse that runs on logic he doesn’t understand, trying to survive ecosystems that want to eat his soul. He has no fireballs, no cheat codes, and his "System" is a star-chart that tracks trauma instead of XP. Joined by Vrex, a sentient rock-golem tank who speaks like a physics professor, Kaelen must survive the only way he knows how: by exploiting the rules, abusing the economy, and applying physics where it doesn't belong.

  [System Log: Sensory Imprint]

  "The thing in the canopy—I mentally christened it Mr. Peepers—wasn’t looking at me. My new soul-compass, the Astrolabe, had made that clear. The Aetheric Shroud wasn’t a cloak; it was a localized paradox. A glitch. And Mr. Peepers, with its dozen unblinking eyes, was staring at the glitch. It was like seeing a patch of corrupted pixels in your vision; you can't see what's in it, but you sure as hell can't miss the spot where reality forgot to load."

  ? Smart MC: Exploits systems over brute force.

  ? Unique System: No blue screens. Only Trauma and unique system with Astrolabe & Star Charts.

  ? Buddy Duo: Snarky Human + Literal-Minded Rock Golem.

  ? Creative Combat: Kinetic manipulation & social engineering.