The town had been reclaimed by the surreal night. The darkness was held at bay by the lamplight. However, the creeping fog could not be banished by the magically-powered lamps.
'I have a lot of things to do today,' Eisen thought to himself as he walked down the abnormally quiet street-- he had already gotten used to the liveliness and commotion during the day and the relatively calm atmosphere during the night felt heavy and unusual.
After Eisen reached the western fringe of town, he slowed down to warily scrutinize the gate that protected Mudbrick Town. A massive iron gate, when lowered, would securely barricade the archway of stone. The huge gate was terrifying and almost seemed that it would fall onto and crush an unsuspecting traveler. Thick, heavy chains hung loose from the massive, granite gateway. The towering guardhouse gave off a menacing and oppressive feeling.
'Looks like the gate to hell or something,' Eisen nervously joked to himself.
He quickly passed through the slightly unnerving gate, not wanting to spend more time than necessary near it. Once he didn't fear being accidentally crushed, he breathed a sigh of relief and started following the muddy trail through the wetlands.
The crescent moon and glittering stars overhead in the night sky was mirrored in the murky water, while fireflies and other magical, glowing insects drifted through the marsh like ghostly, floating lanterns.
He ventured further into the brackish swamp. Within the depths of the twisted mangroves, he heard ghostly wails that were quickly lost in the wind.
Eisen hurriedly continued slogging through the dark waters as the amount of stable, dry ground dwindled.
Suddenly, the stagnant water surged upwards. Within the water a huge, scaly beast emerged and attacked Eisen. Through the spray of brackish water, he caught a glimpse of the creature:
[Crocodile lv. 2]
[hp: 300/300]
The crocodile surged forward and opened its massive jaws. Numerous teeth sank into Eisen's raised arm.
[-23]
[You have been Grappled! A movement speed reduction will be applied based on the difference between Strength stats. Attacks against Grappled targets deal an additional 10% damage!]
He screamed in agony. Rage made him move his body instinctively. Without any hesitation, he unsheathed his sword quickly and swung hard.
'Moonlight Slash!'
His blade glowed with soft light. Eisen vanished from his Grappled position between the crocodile's teeth, and he reappeared several meters behind the giant crocodile.
[-36]
Suddenly, blood sprayed from a deep slash that appeared on the enormous reptile's tough, scaly hide. The wound was bleeding profusely and the crocodile appeared agitated and furious.
'Looks like the crocodiles have a higher attack power and defense than the wolves,' Eisen thought, wincing from the attack he had received earlier.
Before the crocodile could submerge itself into the swamp water and escape, Eisen swung his sword again. 'Now die!'
'Power Strike!'
[-43]
Eisen followed the Power Strike with a barrage of quick slashes; he wasn't going to let the overgrown reptile strike him again.
Under the onslaught, the beast couldn't survive. Within a minute, the crocodile died and burst into sparks. He quickly gathered the drops and limped towards some dry land. He waited for his arm to heal, before he advanced further into the tangle of mangrove trees and water.
After a few minutes, Eisen discovered an exceptional grinding spot where the crocodiles quickly respawned after he killed them. He soon learned that the crocodiles were mostly solitary animals, which was strange.
Most mobs that were not bipedal creatures with dextrous hands could not make another attack after Grappling their opponent. Making another attack would require them to release their Grapple. However, pack tactics would obviously cover this weakness.
'Despite the solution being available, the game developers clearly designed the habits of the crocodiles to be solitary creatures,' Eisen thought while kiting a crocodile around a mangrove tree. 'Though the main gimmick would be the surprise attack the crocodiles have when submerged.'
Normally, the crocodiles would be camouflaged as drifting logs. When enemies approached, the monster would attack them and gain a damage bonus. However, the surprise attack was effectively canceled, since Eisen could watch where the crocodiles spawned and engage them before they dove into the swampish water.
He made sure to fight only one crocodile at a time to avoid getting brutally killed through sheer numbers.
Eisen was incredibly frustrated with his tedious progress. He was more efficient and experienced with fighting wolves, but the crocodiles followed a completely different attack pattern. Eisen had nearly gotten himself killed on several occasions from overconfidence.
He continued motivating himself with the prospect of future riches, and the benefits that wealth would come with-- 'women will be lining up at my door!'
Not only that, he was also slowly, but surely, becoming more capable of predicting and avoiding the crocodiles. After several hours of grinding, he was rewarded for his continued diligence.
"A Skill book!" he exclaimed happily. The Skill book was used for learning Thunderbolt, a spell for Arcane Apprentices. While Eisen couldn't use the Skill himself, he could still sell the book for an incredibly high price.
He began salivating from just the thought of how much the Skill book was worth. His eyes flashed with deep greed and his face twisted, making him look like a disgusting pig.
However, his idle dreaming was interrupted as another batch of crocodiles spawned. Several crocodiles immediately targeted him and began swimming towards him. From his estimate, there were more than 7 of them chasing him.
Eisen panicked and began running from the horde of scaly monsters-- albeit, it wasn't much of a run. While his Agility completely outclassed the crocodiles, the same could not be said while he was waist-deep in sludge water. Meanwhile, the crocodiles received a Movement Speed increase while swimming.
With a tired grunt, he slogged through the water as fast as he could while beating back the crocodiles with his sword. However, this simply made them more intent on biting him to death. Suddenly, he spotted a narrow burrow near shore. There, he could force the crocodiles into fighting him one by one and eliminate the numbers advantage the crocodiles had.
He desperately swam towards the cave and lured the crocodiles towards the entrance. With his Skills and careful movements, he slowly butchered the crocodiles.
Once the last crocodile was dead, Eisen breathed a sigh of relief. He had survived another deadly encounter.
[-21]
Suddenly, he screamed as a sharp pain pierced his left leg. He twisted around and brandished his sword.
A smaller crocodile had sunk its sharp teeth deep into his lower calf. Even worse, there were over twenty more crocodiles behind the first. Behind the massive horde of monsters was an even larger crocodile with a yellow-ish underbelly and a purple-black ridged back. The orange, slitted eyes studied Eisen with a surprising amount of intelligence.
[Crocodile King lv. 5]
[hp: 1000/1000]
He was inside a crocodile den.
"Well, fuck."