Cyrus examined his stats, his eyes shining with excitement. The bright rays of the sun pouring through the cave's entrance shone on his face.
—
POWER MODULE
[Name]: Cyrus
[Age]: 20
[Race]: Human
[Rank]: Awakened
[Title]:
[Class]: Artificer
[Talent]: Peak
[Etherion]: 140/1000
[Skill]: [Artisan Scribbler] [Eyes of Void] [Artifice Flame] [Extract] [Chained Lock] [Nullfire]
[Corruption]: 0.97%
[Doomed Fate]: +1
—
'People who know how it's done can easily max out their Etherion reserves.'
Cyrus hummed in happiness, pride radiating from his unmasked face. His previous experience, having filled his Etherion reserve through solo hunting, proved invaluable.
Leaning back, he gazed at the Power Module panel hovering in front of him, his excitement gradually waning as he finally took notice of it.
'Am I hallucinating or is Doomed Fate +1? Wait, the corruption decreased? How? Hmm… Now I get it, if I can increase my power quickly, I can erase the corruption. At least I can cope with a doomed fate rather than a corruption that will devour me the moment I slack. Well, let's move on.'
'There are only a few soldier armored crabs around right now; I've hunted too many of them. Even if I hunt tonight, I doubt I can fill my Etherion reserves as fast as I want. I should observe the armored crabs during the day to formulate a plan for daytime hunting. But if that proves too risky, I could venture deeper in search of a solo beast, even though that would be slower and more time-consuming. Safety first! Let me first try my luck with the daytime option.'
Cyrus rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he mused.
The thing is, solo hunting a pack is good for raking up Etherion until you get trapped.
Cyrus felt energetic even after the sleepless night, the excitement came from having a skill that was overpowered. It made his hunting easier. He even wondered how Tracy got the skill.
'She must have emptied her bank account.'
Skill shards, especially those of high quality, were hard to come by; the moment they hit the market, they were quickly snatched up.
Worse, skill Shards ranging from Awakened to Archon can only be gotten from a beast of the third rank—Archon beast.
Skill shards can sometimes be more expensive than the bodies of Archon beasts, as not all Archon beasts possess skill shards.
Shaking off the momentary distraction, Cyrus sprinted toward the location of the crabs, remaining extremely cautious since it was daylight. Along the way, he spotted numerous beasts and a few people wandering about.
When he reached the crabs' territory, he found it sparsely populated, but enough to kill him a hundred times.
'Hunting here is not viable.'
Coming to a conclusion after watching for a while, he left, following the trails left behind by the previous crabs.
This led him deeper until he spotted a herd of crabs extracting shiny rocks from the mountain's walls and transporting them back to their home.
'What are those rocks? Well, it's not my concern! This makes it easier—one crab has to carry the shiny rock back.'
Cyrus backed away, hiding around a corner, and waited for his prey.
He didn't wait long before a large, earth-brown armored crab came into view, its pincers clutching two shiny rocks. This crab was larger than the soldier crabs but appeared clumsier and less agile.
Cyrus held his breath in the crevice, waiting for the perfect moment.
As the armored crab sauntered past the crack, he raised his palm and activated [Chained Lock], freezing its movements.
Cyrus sprang from his hiding spot, ducking beneath a pincer that blocked his path, and deftly drove his sword into the crab's eye. He pulled it out, now coated in blood, and sank it into the same eye.
Though the armored crab's only eye remained open, they had already dulled.
'They have lower resistance than the soldier crabs.'
Even as he thought this, his hands worked quickly, pulling his sword free and securing the body in his ring.
'Easy.'
Just as he prepared to leave, he heard scraping sounds accompanied by falling rocks. He snapped his head around, only to be blinded by the reflection of sunlight.
Squinting, he spotted a golden armored crab clinging to the sloping wall of the mountain, its small eyes locking onto him as sunlight glinted off its golden carapace.
'Busted! How?'
Without thinking, Cyrus turned to run, not wanting to face a whole pack of armored crabs. It only took one to clamp him with its pincers and bisect him.
'They're slow, so I should be able to escape.'
But the golden crab crouched and vaulted off the mountain wall like a compressed spring, hurtling through the air like a blinding comet.
Cyrus turned, his jaw dropping as he saw the blur of gold coming his way, but it crashed a few meters from him, raising dirt and clouding the air with dust.
He didn't think to check it, continuing to sprint away.
The thrashing sounds made him look back, and he saw the golden crab up close—it wasn't as tall as the others, reaching only to his knee, but its pincers were as large as those of the soldier crabs and had long stalks connecting them to its body.
Chills ran down his spine as he realized the crab was scuttling at a pace that matched his own, if not exceeding it.
'Shit! What species is this thing? Aren't armored crabs supposed to be slow? Is it mutated?'
Cursing under his breath, he continued to run, but the crab remained right on his tail, steadily closing the distance like a shadow trailing behind him.
'This can't keep going. I'm approaching the territory of other beasts. Getting trapped in the middle is one thing I want to avoid, especially with a creature whose traits are unknown.'
Cyrus screeched to a halt and pivoted to face the speeding crab, whose pincers were raised, ready to squash anything in its path.
When it was about ten meters away, Cyrus stretched his left hand and activated [Chained Lock], but the black thread missed the crab, driving through the floor behind it. He sweated as he quickly deactivated the skill and tried again, but the result was the same.
'Too fast! My aim sucks!'
Now it was only six meters away, its footsteps pounding the ground like the chaotic drum of death.
Cyrus steeled himself, calming his racing heart as he locked onto the approaching beast. His focus sharpened, his breath held tight, and his palm remained stretched as he tracked its every movement.
When it was just four meters away, he activated [Chained Lock], shooting the black thread just before the creature.
As the golden crab ran into the thread, it froze, anticipation surging within him; he was ready to strike. But his joy was fleeting—within half a second, the thread abruptly flickered out of existence, and the crab vaulted toward him, swinging a massive pincer aimed at his neck.
Cyrus's eyes widened in horror as he realized his skill had failed him. He instinctively recoiled, knowing death was imminent.
Narrowing his gaze, he activated [Chained Lock] once more, sending the thread through the crab, and it froze the crab for a brief moment before vanishing. It was just enough time for him to leap back, heart pounding in his chest.
The armored crab landed with a thunderous thud, pincers raised, poised for attack as it advanced with calculated, deliberate steps.
Cyrus tightened his grip on his sword, hardening his resolve, his mind also racing with frantic calculations.
'The second chained lock held on longer than the first, which proves my thoughts right—active resistance reduces the time. But is that all? Even the soldier crabs were held for two seconds even when my Etherion reserve was empty. But this? It is destroying the lock like they are… threads.'
Before he could ponder further, the crab lunged, its pincers thrusting toward his waist, leaving no room for hesitation. Cyrus slashed desperately at the pincers, summoning every ounce of strength he had, but the impact sent him flying, his sword slipping from his grasp as he crashed against the mountainside, landing face-first on the ground. A metallic clank echoed beside him.
Pain coursed through his body—his arm vibrating, his back aching, and his head throbbing. Disoriented, he groaned and shook off the haze, pushing himself up to assess his environment.
The towering form of the crab descended from above, pincers ready to impale him into the ground.
With a burst of adrenaline, Cyrus rolled aside just in time, the pincers embedding themselves in the rocky ground with a resounding crack.
He scrambled backward, desperate to widen the gap, but the relentless crab was undeterred. It retracted its pincers and launched itself off the ground, swinging it toward Cyrus' waist with deadly precision.
Twisting his body, he barely evaded the attack, but the crab was relentless. It extended its pincers toward the mountain wall, using it to execute a flawless maneuver, landing with grace and launching itself at him once more, leaving no moment for respite.
Still reeling from the last blow, Cyrus found himself unable to dodge as the armored crab charged in, its pincers wide open, ready to clamp and crush his face.
As the pincers closed in, he felt the chilling breath of death more acutely than ever, but then a sudden clarity surged through him.
'I get it! It is not an Awakened beast; it is an Eminent beast! But how did it find me?'
The pincer loomed larger, the last sight before his inevitable doom.
'Bad luck? Yeah! Now I understand… Doomed Fate +1!'