The two monsters took notice of Ronan the moment he conjured the hammer. However, while they were both fast, there was no time for them to react to his sudden appearance. Ronan reached the crab’s eye-stalk-level, and swung his hammer.

  He’d used Enchant - Explosion and Magic Strike, which was a lethal combo. The hammer smashed into the eye-stalk and it burst apart into jelly-like debris that splattered across the crustacean’s shell. That was only the initial impact. When the explosion went off, the other eye stalk was eviscerated and a portion of the crab’s shell cracked and dented.

  The monster made a strange wailing noise and buckled under the pressure. Ronan jumped off, not wanting to get caught by one of its wildly flailing claws. As he fell, he conjured a few throwing knives and tossed them into the air. Most were caught by the mark on the crab, but a few stray blades swung towards the shrimp’s underbelly.

  Unfortunately it hadn’t exposed itself, so they clattered harmlessly against its tough shell. The crab’s leg, on the other hand, was weaker. Unfortunately his casual throws hadn’t been powerful enough to break the joint, but a few cracks appeared as the leg buckled. That was plenty of damage for his opening salvo.

  He landed near the woman who was injured. He grabbed the concrete block that was trapping her leg and gently lifted it up. She cried in pain as it was removed, but her face showed only relief. Ronan smashed it out of the way before helping her up. “Run away. I’ll handle the monsters,” he told her. She nodded and started limping. It was all he had time to do.

  While the crab was distracted and going wild, smashing everything in the vicinity with its claws and stomping its legs, the shrimp’s gaze was firmly locked onto Ronan. Two beady black eyes followed his every movement and its two claws were twitching slightly, ready to unleash a lightning-fast punch at a moment’s notice.

  While he was confident in his stats, he doubted he would enjoy being struck by one of them. Just as those two frost giants had pulverised him in a single strike, he suspected this monster was capable of the same. Therefore, he just had to not get hit.

  He conjured a few more throwing knives and tossed them out while running in zig-zags. As he did that, Ronan started to channel a mana bolt in his left hand. He was going to put the marks to their fullest use.

  Unfortunately the shrimp was not as bamboozled by his erratic movement as he suspected. Right as Ronan reared back his arm to let the mana bolt fly, the giant monster twitched. He barely noticed its body tilting forwards before one of its claws ripped through the air.

  He threw himself to one side and launched the mana bolt at the oncoming claw. It wasn’t enough. The spell exploded against the claw, but that only slowed it by a small amount. He avoided instant death thanks to his rapid evasive manoeuvre, but the claw still struck him right between his arm and his chest.

  All the wind was blown from his lungs. Ronan felt weightless for a second as he was launched into the sky. That feeling of freedom was torn from him as he smashed into a pile of rubble. His arms shot upwards to guard his head. He felt a dozen sharp rocks stabbing into him. For a second he couldn’t even move. A shadow fell over him.

  The shrimp had rushed after its prey, eager to follow up where its ally had failed to. Ronan knew that he was dead if he didn’t find a way out of the predicament. But how could he take on a creature that could punch his spells out of existence without a care in the world?

  The shrimp looked down at him with its unfeeling black eyes. It really makes me rethink all the times I ate shrimp. The eyes were always creepy but it's another matter staring into them. Guess this is karma. I won’t apologise for loving seafood, though, you big bastard.

  Right before a second punch fell, Ronan remembered a skill he’d earned a few iterations ago. One that he had never used because he had always outclassed his foes. As the mantis shrimp’s claw blurred and shot towards him, a defiant grin appeared on his face, revealing bloodstained gums.

  When the second punch struck, Ronan activated Porcupine Shield.

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  It was as though he was tightly encased in super-durable bubble wrap. He felt the claw strike him, but it was soft; a muted blow. His body was pushed deeper into the rubble, but it didn’t further exacerbate his wounds. The shrimp’s claw had just started to retract when the effect of his skill ended.

  All the warning it received before the reflected damage struck was a faint hissing crack. Then a spiderweb of cracks appeared along the length of its claw, a fraction of a second before the entire limb exploded in a spray of chitin and soft chunks of flesh. Ronan was sprayed with a mix of viscera and a sticky blue liquid that smelled vile. He wiped his face while hauling himself upright, and then marvelled at the damage that Porcupine Shield had dealt.

  The shrimp reeled, screeching and undulating. Its gaze flicked to Ronan and it hissed. He only smiled back. Even as a level 0, these colossal crustaceans weren’t invincible. They could be damaged, which meant they could be defeated. The crab was still flailing blindly, but it was moving towards the sound the shrimp made.

  Ronan hadn’t escaped unharmed. The first punch the shrimp had landed stole nearly half of his health points. He couldn’t quite move right, but he had fixed most of the external damage with his sorcery. It seemed that healing magic did not require an attunement and so his class evolution had only served to increase its potency rather than limit it.

  Unfortunately the current circumstances were less than ideal. He was still bleeding internally and while his health points could absorb the drain for a while, another hit like the last would likely kill him. And he couldn’t use Porcupine Shield again during the battle.

  However, with both his foes wounded, Ronan wasn’t without a chance at victory. The shrimp still had one working claw, which would be the main threat to watch out for. The crab’s claws would be deadly if they struck him, but without its sight, it was forced to rely on its sense of smell and the vibrations around it. In that regard, the shrimp was helping Ronan a great deal. Its size and current pained movement meant that the crab had no hope of isolating Ronan’s position. Not to mention the foul smell of the ichor that dripped from the destroyed limb of the shrimp that would no doubt obscure his own scent.

  As long as he evaded the shrimp’s punches, he could win. So he started to run, letting a storm of blades and mana bolts fly at the two monsters. Individually the knives and bolts didn’t do a great deal of damage, but they made up for it with sheer quantity. Ronan dispelled the mark on the shrimp’s underbelly and moved it to the gaping wound where its destroyed claw had been.

  Each time one of his attacks struck it, the shrimp convulsed slightly and stopped moving. The crab’s first leg eventually broke under the repeated barrage and it nearly collapsed when the limb fell to the ground. However, with seven other legs left to keep it upright, it managed to correct itself in time.

  If anything, the circumstances proved the power of legendary skills. Despite only being able to use Porcupine Shield once per day, that one use had turned what would have been guaranteed death for Ronan into a complete role reversal that put him in the driver’s seat. The two crustaceans were on the back foot and all they could do was weather the constant assault he was sending their way.

  Every so often, one of his strikes would land a critical hit. When it was the shrimp, that meant large chunks of its insides being blown apart and fresh rivers of ichor leaking from its convulsing body. The once fearsome boxer now resembled a badly gutted ingredient. As for the crab, any critical hit would blow apart its spindly legs. It had just five remaining now and was struggling to walk properly.

  He had dealt enough damage from afar. With both his foes crippled, Ronan felt confident in closing the distance to land a finishing blow. The crab would be first. The shrimp seemed to be struggling to even keep itself upright and wouldn’t have the ability to interfere without harming itself and its comrade.

  Ronan conjured another hammer and started adjusting his movements. Instead of continuing to circle the two crustaceans, he gradually moved towards the crab. As he drew near, the large monster finally took notice of him. The vibrations of his steps were easier to pick out at that distance, but unfortunately for the big yellow bastard, Ronan was too fast for it to hit.

  An errant claw slam sent a cloud of dust and rubble into the sky, but Ronan deftly sidestepped it. With a hop, he used the lowered claw as a ramp, racing up the large chela towards where he had decimated its eyes at the start of the battle. It felt his intrusion and flicked the claw upwards, but Ronan simply hopped off, angling the jump so that he would fall right onto where its brain was protected by the thick shell.

  He raised the hammer and enchanted it with explosive power. He twisted his body so that the hammer would strike first, utilising all of his momentum. He activated Magic Strike and Surging Strikes in concert as he swung the conjured weapon. A loud bang echoed through the streets as it struck, the first blow shattering the chitin and exposing the vulnerable brain within.

  The second blow tore apart the soft brain matter. The crab shrieked in shocked agony and collapsed to the ground. Ronan weathered the fall, but a shadow fell over him as it raised its claws to strike him down. The crab knew it was dead, but wanted to take its killer down with it. Ronan could respect that determination, but it was too late. When the third surging strike hit the brain it exploded with devastating force, blasting what little remained of the crab’s insides in every direction.

  Splattered with disgusting goop and crab blood, Ronan stood up and turned to face the furious, wounded shrimp. It was time to end this battle for good.