Chereads / My Life as a Salamander / Chapter 34 - Kracken or Calimari

Chapter 34 - Kracken or Calimari

I stared at the kracken and it stared back at me. It hissed at me in slight surprise like it was suddenly fighting over territory instead of just food. And feeling slightly insulted by how it reacted, I hissed back.

Sam looked at me. " What did it say?"

" I don't know." I replied. "But it made me feel offended. Can I kill it now or are we just going to stare at it?" Sam gave me a look of confusion and shock while the captain was already charging at it with a yell.

I opened my wings and took to the sky. The kracken swung a tentacle at me but missed by a mile with how fast I was moving. The tentacle slapped the deck close to Sam who had no choice but to duck out of the way.

I opened my mouth as I got behind its head and let loose a bolt of lightning. It made contact and the entire thing went slightly rigid for a moment. (Did I stun it?) I thought thinking I could dive-bomb it. That is until it spun its head around and shot a jet of water at me. I had to barrel roll out of the way feeling some of the water spray on my face as it passed.

I let heat rise in my throat and let a river of flame roar out of me. It hissed against the krackens wet hide like it hardly did anything. When the fire abated it was left almost completely unscathed. (Figures that a water beast wouldn't be afraid of fire. ) I thought as I flew past Sam who was chopping at a tentacle in front of her. The pain from her chopping made the kracken more agitated seeing her blade was just bouncing off after leaving hardly a scratch. But seeing she was stronger than most I imagine her strikes hurt more than most cuts.

The tentacle swung around knocking Sam away and into the stairs that led to the inside of the ship. ( Crap!) I thought as my mind raced about whether she was okay. But I couldn't stop. Sure I was worried for her safety but there wasn't much I could do. It was either the ship sunk or we killed this thing.

( Fire doesn't work but lightning has an effect.... that means if I hit it with more lightning that it should either run away or die.) I thought as I started focusing energy into my throat feeling a slight crackle. (If I hit it with alot more than last time it should do more damage. Hopefully enough to matter. But how much should I try to accumulate?)

/ Host has gained elemental control of electricity. Energy Control lvl 1 Acquired/

I continued focusing till I could feel an almost steady hum in my throat. My muscles were starting to get weak from exhaustion. Flying is a lot of work especially when I'm draining my magic reserves. I finally landed on the mast of the ship in front of the kracken. Its front was right in front of my face. ( Point blank..... Alright. Fire in the hole!) I opened my mouth and the best thing I can use to describe what happened next was a buck shot blast of energy. Little balls of energy shot from my mouth and into the kracken. Each exploded sending electrical arcs across its body. It was such a strong shot that it almost blasted the things neck half off. The smell of cooked meat filled the air as a shriek filled our ears. It was like metal nails scraping on a chalkboard. One of the most painful shrieks I've ever heard. Until it suddenly stopped and the thing flopped to the deck.

" Is it dead?" I groaned out. I had fallen from the mast after I let off the blast and was just laying there winded. After a couple minutes one of the men walked over from his hiding spot and poked the beast. There wasn't a move. Not even a twitch as it's purple blood began to cover the boards beneath us. "Its dead.... We Killed It!!!!! Hahahahahahah!!!!"

( Oh brother....You didn't do a thing while I dealt with it.) I thought. I dragged myself over to the cabin area and saw Sam laying there with a cut on her head. After checking her condition and seeing if she was really unconscious I grabbed the collar of her shirt and dragged her to our quarters. Unfortunately I couldn't put her in the cot as my size and strength weren't up to it. But the floor was good enough for now. (Nothing will hurt her here.) I thought as I laid down to rest.

When I came to I looked out the window to see the sun had shifted to just past mid-day. Letting out a satisfied yawn I stretched before looking over at Sam who at some point had moved into her cot. (Taking a blow like that would make me want to sleep more too) I thought as I left our cabin to see what he situation was like outside. And what I found was startling.

The kracken was being hauled onto the boat with ropes. As it was being brought out of the water I realized what this thing really was. Originally I thought krackens would be like a huge Octopus. Turns out, they aren't. They are a sea dragon with dozens of limbs. They are like a centipede except all their limbs are tentacles allowing them to wrap around and strangle anything they come across. I noticed a large chunk of its flesh that was sitting off to the side like it had been forgotten.

I walked over and started to chewing it seeing as I couldn't really help with much else. I'd simply have a snack and observe. The flesh was seared and tasted like calamari with a type of chicken texture. Ding!

/ Host has consumed Adolescent Kracken. Host has acquired aquatic DNA sufficient for forming gills. Acquired Skill Water Breath lvl 1. Combining with Destruction Skill Set. Acquired Water Resistance lvl 1. Combining with Multi-Elemental Resistance lvl 7( MER). MER now level 8! Congradulations Host./

( What! This thing can get bigger... ugh. Whatever. I already have enough to worry about.) I thought tiredly as I chewed.

I finished the chunk and went back to the room where I laid next to Sam. ( Maybe I'll be able to protect you better one day.) I thought as I let the darkness drown out the world. It was a sleep without dreaming. Pitch black without soul. It was like I was floating in an endless abyss without time or meaning. Knock knock knock! I heard. (What?) I suddenly felt tapping on my head and was suddenly forced awake.

I was groggy and slightly out of it when I looked around to see who was tapping. It was Sam. "Ignis... Could you get off me? Your heavy." I rolled off her and onto my back. (Dunno how I ended up there.) I thought groggily." Sam sat up and looked at me. " I swear you grow like a weed." She touched her forehead and felt the dried blood. She sighed and got up to take a look in the mirror and started cleaning herself up. I shook myself a little and started moving falling out of the cot embarrassingly enough.

Though as I stood the room was smaller than I remember. I stood in front of the window to see a faint reflection (as no mirror was in our quarters) and realised I had grown quite a bit while I slept. I had even grown a set of gills that opened and closed occasionally. ( Wierd... but cool) I thought as I followed Sam onto the deck. And heard a shout.

" Hey!! Where'd this monster come from!?" I turned my head to see a sailor with a long white beard charging at me with a harpoon. My tongue lashed out and knocked the harpoon away as I rolled my eyes and kept walking the deck. I felt something hit my side and turned to see the same man hitting me with a spear.

" Why! Won't! It! Go! In!" He grunted as he kept hitting. He was hardly leaving a scratch on my scales. I whipped my tale around behind his legs and tripped him. "I'm not a monster you should mess with." I said calmly. I looked him up and down. "To be honest I don't think you're qualified to either." His body was frail for a sailor and he looked a little ragged.

" Johnathan! Leave the lizard alone. He's considered a guest with his master!" I turned my head slightly to see the captain behind me.

"Back to repairing the crows nest with you." She hauled him up to his feet and shoved him back toward a pile of wood I hadn't noticed before. (I guess they like to repair on the road) I thought. I turned and saw him trying to climb a rope with a single board. He was struggling quite a bit.

I looked over at the pile and got an idea. I was bigger than I was before. I'd wager about the size of a St Bernard.

I walked over to the mast and started to climbed. The man watched me warily from the ropes he was on. I got to where the crowsnest was being built. It was a square frame with hardly any wood planking on it.

( Bet I can speed this up.) I looked at the man and he stared at me. ( Might as well try to get on the crew's good side.) I shifted my head toward the wood pile and shot my tongue out. It stuck to the wood planks and retracted bringing a couple up at a time.

It had taken Johnathan a couple minutes to get up the mast. And it had been painful to watch with him struggling to bring a single board. And It was taking me half the time and effort doing it my way. And by the time I got the boards up "John" (as I found it easier to call him) had realized what I was doing and was hastily clearing a place to put the extra boards.

It took a few minutes for me to understand what he was doing though. And the design we needed to complete. But once I understood, it became faster work. I would haul up the boards and he would install them after I put some sticky spit on the parts he wanted. Some boards he had to cut which was the thing that took the longest especially in a world without power tools.

So it only took 3 and a half hours to rebuild the previously destroyed crowsnest. Though this one was a little further down the mast from where the last one had been snapped off. For very obvious reasons.

"You're a useful Beasty aren't you?" John said with a smirk as he sat down. A slightly Irish sounding accent coming from his calmer voice. He let out a sigh "Well. Back to work. Cap'n be furious if she saw me be'n a lay-about." He gave me a pat on the head and made his way back down the mast to start making a proper way to get up and down from the crows nest.