The New World Chapter 51: Monsters of the Deep

Chapter 51: Monsters of the Deep

I an that literally. Once I passed a bit deeper into the cave, the walls bent and turned wet. I glanced around, wondering where the snails t. A few more turns down the passage, I found my answer.

This was an underwater cavern, mist floating over the water like white cotton. I neared the water, walking along a shore made of stone. A set of crawling legs clacked as a crab walked out of the water. One of its overgrown pincers dragged behind it, like it was dragging a club.

It stood five feet (1.5 ters) tall, and around twice as long. It turned its claws towards , the right one far larger than the left. I stood a solid distance from its snapping range, observing it.

Deep Dweller(lvl 376) – This is a weak but fully grown Deep Dweller. This crab species has an enlarged claw that it can snap to produce sonic booms above air, and it can produce stunning blasts underwater.

The way it works is the crab will snap its claws, producing a stream of water. This creates a low pressure bubble in its wake. When the bubble collapses, it sends a ripple of force that stuns nearby prey. During the collapse, the temperatures inside the bubble reach heat that matches the surface of the sun.

It’s only for a fraction of a second though, so the damage is minimal. Below water, you may struggle against this enemy. Above water is your domain, however.

My runes charged as the creature snapped the right claw towards . It didn’t even co close to , but the sound echoed louder than a missile’s explosion. My eardrums busted imdiately, but my pain tolerance prevented from falling to my knees in agony.

I ran towards the creature, oddly off balance. It was strange to run without hearing, but I gained a sense for it after a few steps. The crab didn’t enjoy coming closer, so it snapped the claw again, booming a loud sound.

Didn’t do much to now that I couldn’t hear though. Once I reached it, the crab snapped the claw at . It clamped onto my right arm before I pulled it back. Being heavier than it, I lifted it into the air before running over and smashing it against the wall.

Like squishing a giant cockroach, the shell smashed. As it squird and twitched in pain, I walked over and shot a quick punch into the face of it. My fist dug a few feet deep into the monster before finishing it off. A quick absorption of my armor later, and the fight was over.

Turning back to the pool, I glanced at the edges of the cavern. It was enormous, the size of a football field at least, and that was only the size of the top of the pool. Who knew how big it was below.

Of course fighting giant crab and slug monsters underwater seed like a jolly good ti, but I sat down and thought for a bit. If I entered the water, I could easily drown. That wasn’t the easiest way of handling this. Instead, I walked up the edge of water with oppression on.

The odd energy of oppression stretched out, covering most of the pool. I grinned before things started swelling to the surface. Dark, squirming things writhed in the water. The neared the surface, darting back and forth.

I created a long spike with my armor. The further out it went from , the harder it beca to control. It let create a spear stretching half my body length. With a quick, puncturing stab, I pierced into one of the dark shapes underwater.

The mont my armor stabbed into it, I let it shoot out like needles. The needles caught the thing, letting pull it out of the dark water. It was a glowing blue eel, short but muscled. Two dark blades grew from the back fin, looking razor sharp along with a swordfish’s nose. It squird on my spike, trying to get away from . I pressed it against the stone before heel stomping it.

Spectral Eel(level 421) – Though not the strongest eels, they make up for their lack of strength with an unparalleled speed underwater. They swim and dart around their prey, which is often much larger than it. Their fast tabolisms let them out speed their prey, then they eat until they are swell up to ten tis their normal size.

This food turns into a nutrient rich liquid that it then feeds to the queen of the pond they reside within. They give the queen tribute so that they can live. If you fight this monster underwater, be ready for a long and frustrating fight. Otherwise, this fish is useless.

Another heel stomp later, and the monster died. My armor absorbed it, and I went to work. Dozens of fish later, and an option finally showed up.

Evolution gained. V Harbinger of Cataclysm unlocked. Evolve Y/N?

I stepped away from the edge of the coast line, giving myself so distance before pressing yes. Of course, the pain ca, though not like before. I spent so of my skill points from to max out my pain tolerance, giving 99.9% pain reduction. If anything, it amazed that the pain was still notable. Just imagining the pain at full force made chills crawl up my spine.

This evolution took far longer than the others, probably due to the increase in mana needed for it. Unlike with the other transformations, the pain wasn’t severe enough to prevent from analyzing the reformation.

So far, the armor had covered my skin, and beco my bones. Now, tiny little tendrils of the armor laced within my muscles and tendons. Like cords of tal, these tendrils made my muscle and flesh harder to tear apart. When I charged my runes, the energy pulsing through my armor would conduct with those tendrils. That made using my mana even easier than before.

They acted like copper wires through a house, giving electricity the conductor it needed to power the ho. In this case, the electricity was my mana and the ho was . Having these cords infest my muscle hurt like a thousand needles digging all throughout you. Well, 0.1% of that at least.

As with all hard things though, it eventually ended.

V Harbinger of Cataclysm(Skin, Legendary Unique) – Skin that can absorb rift energy (Ambient Mana) for evolutions. These evolutions may add other special effects. Cannot be removed, only altered. This skin is regenerated with health. 0/65.5 Billion Mana left till next evolution.

A Harbinger’s Might – Increases Damage reduction cap by 3% | Current Max: 98%

Of Eldritch and the Unknown – Additional 25% increase to total health | Current Total Health: 125%

The Charging Calamity – Gives unique ability IV Oppression | Current Damage: (15,000 40% of health/min) within a maximum of a 200 ft/61 m radius. Affected by physical damage reduction.

A Perennial Force – 5% of health added towards health regen per minute, which is affected by regeneration multipliers | Current regeneration bonus including multipliers 20% of maximum health per minute

Wielder of Souls – Soul Forged Runes reduce total mana cost of spells by 20% | Current mana cost: 80%

Malignant – Decreases Charisma by 30% | Current Total Charisma: 70%

– And so, you wield . One day, I will wield you.

The main difference I noticed was the boost in health regen and oppression. Those aspects of the armor beca much stronger. Combine that with a solid boost to my runic boosts, and I felt far stronger. That extra health regen acted as extra mana, due to my arcane blood. Multiply the bonus mana regen with the extra conductivity from the wires running through my muscle, and my mana charging increased by leaps and bounds.

Itching to test new limits, I neared the pool once more. Easy as taking a step, I elongated my armor, producing a spike three quarters the length of my body. Controlling it beca easier after the reformation. With that extra range, I walked near the pond, ready for fishing.

As I did so, sothing under the water swelled. A hump appeared under the water, racing towards the edge of the pond. The monsters I worked so hard to pull from the water began flopping from the pond. Pufferfish covered in glowing spines of violet, anglerfish with hooked whips that shined yellow, even crocodiles with steel scales polished to a sheen, they all sprinted form the water. I took a few steps back myself, wondering what the fuck was going on.

A tentacle ca out of the water, covered in eyes and warped mouths. The tentacle slamd on top of a steel crocodile. Blood squirted from the mouth of the reptile, before the tentacle wrapped around it. It writhed in agony as the monster pulled it back into dark depths of the pool.

Claws snapped from the alligator’s hands as it dug them into the rock. I snapped at the rock ground, trying to get a hold on anything. With a desperate howl, it subrged into the water. Glancing at the tentacle, a ssage appeared.

Krakow-Wahl(lvl 700) – The fully ford version of the Krakow, this monster has amazing sight with its innurable eyes. With tentacles covered in mouths and those sa eyes, it can hypnotize prey with sweet sounding words.

Even then, its combat prowess is amazing. Underwater, this beast rivals a creature 500 levels higher. Its unseen body shifts in the water faster than the eyes can follow. It is but a writhing shape in the water, unknown and spelling death.

The only known piece of its massive body is the eye that opens when it swims near the surface. Many of its powers stem from this chanic. Avoid its clutches, for if it drags you out, you will drown.

Not the most comforting ssage. The welp of water disappeared as water poured from the top of the creature. A giant eyelid opened, revealing a giant eye. A glowing mist poured from it, but opened eye t my own.

A voice shook into my mind,

“Hello there, little lamb-“

“Is that like, an eldritch thing or sothing?”

A tentacle rose from the water, leaning back,

“Do you not fear ? I wonder if that is why you interrupt .”

I waved him away with a hand,

“Naw, it’s because so guy nad Baldag-Ruhl called a little lamb, and most eldritch that can talk do too actually. Just wondering if it’s sothing that’s inherent or…?”

The tentacle leaned closer to ,

“All of your kind carries two traits. You are all food, and you all obey a higher order. We do not follow the commands of anyone, unless forced to. Your kind bends at the slightest benefit.”

I rolled my eyes,

“Sounds like you’re just looking for so bullshit excuse to justify yourself. Sounds…contrived.”

The tentacle slapped towards the top of , causing my knees to buckle.

“Do not question my motives, child.”

With one knee on the ground, my head was bloody but unbowed. I stood with the tentacle across my back, like atlas carrying the sky.

The monster mumbled, “How is sothing so small so…strong.”

My ascendant mana roared in my armor as my armor grinned. My grip tightened, digging into the flesh of the tentacle. The bright, crimson mana bled from my runes like evaporating blood. The tentacle shivered, no longer able to crush .

“You are no little lamb…you are a wolf, masked in the skin of a sheep.”

From the tips of my fingers, my armor pierced into the monster. A thousand needles dug into the monster as it attempted to pull up. My weight stopped the tentacle from leaving . My armor sapped the strength of the monster.

Unique skill unlocked! Gorger of Mana(lvl 1) – You consu the power of others. 1% to draining speed. -1% to mana drain setup ti.

The voice roared through the room,

“Do you believe that you can eat ?”

My armor grinned wider as another tentacle shot out of the water. A splash of water covered , covering in the blood of the monster. As my armor absorbed more and more of its energy, bloody spots ford on the tentacle, spreading further down the limb.

With each passing second, the crimson spots on the creature spread further out. The other tentacle slapped towards . With my feet creating craters, I leapt backwards. The tentacle I held onto tore from the monster’s body.

With a roar of pain, the sea monster missed its strike. The piece of tentacle above wilted. Once fully drained, I tossed the dry, gray mush aside. More tentacles rose from the water, like the water was coming to life. Three of the eye covered tentacles darted towards , but I leapt into the air.

One the tentacles slamd into the ground beneath , another missed. The final one ca flying down from above. As it slamd downwards, I curled into a ball. Spines expanded from my back, jagged and strong as steel. They pierced into the tentacle before the tentacle below turned over. A circular mouth opened, revealing a sea of teeth.

The top most tentacle pushed into the gaping mouth before the squirming insides of the creature appeared. The teeth above closed. Saturated in red light, I pushed my arms and legs outwards. Two sharp, serrated swords grew from my palms, stabbing through the monster. With a surge of mana, a burst of strength exploded in my arms as I turned my palms in a giant circle.

A rain of blood covered as the cave appeared. The two walls of flesh separated as the kraken-thing roared in agony. The bleeding half of the tentacle retracted back into the water as I landed on the slippery ground. The detached tendril wriggled on the ground like a headless chicken. I stabbed my sword through the armor, draining it of the life force still there.

It wilted in seconds before I turned back to the sea monster. The tentacles wavered near the water, more cautious than before. I stomped my foot into the ground, shards of stone splintering upward near my foot. As the deafening echo radiated through cavern, I picked up two pieces of stone. With a step forward, I tossed one of them like a javelin.

The rock shot through the air before shattering against the monster. More a nuisance than a serious attack, I shot another boulder at the creature. The voice roared,

“Cease your pestering and leave be.”

I frowned,

“Odd how your kind is so open to fighting until you realize it’s going to be a challenge. Then you’re all about peace and rainbows. Pitiful.”

Six tentacles rose from the water, arcing towards . I grounded my feet, retracting the swords and pumping my mana into my arms. A tentacle slamd towards my right side, but I funneled force into my left arm. I pulled my right arm back, sliding on my heels before planting a strike into the tentacle coming towards .

Using a bit my telekinesis, I pulled the tentacle towards as my fist hit. The teeth and eyes broke and ruptured as my fist landed. Muscles composing the limb tore, as the voice yelped. Another tentacle wacked towards my left side, but I turned on my heels again. Twisting on my feet, my fist drilled through the air before I grounded another strike into a tentacle.

The ground beneath my feet cracked as my fist landed. Like detonating bombs underfoot, two clouds of dust wafted from . An enormous implosion of sound ebbed from the tentacle, like a tank shell firing beside your eardrum. The force of the blow rippled through the tentacle, exploding out the back of it.

The skin at the other side of the limb split. Flesh ruptured out of it, leaving the tentacle attached by a sliver of skin. A tentacle neared from above, but I pulled my right arm backwards. Another channel of power ford as I kept my elbows tucked, turning like a top on my feet. The tentacle slamd on , but I stepped forward with my right foot.

The foot stomped into the ground, forming a cloud of stone dust. The force off the stomp traveled up my foot. I turned my left heel, the weight of the stomp pulsing through my core. Like a gunshot, my left fist landed a fierce uppercut into the creature.

I dug deeper into the ground as another blow landed. A fissure ford beneath as my fist punctured the tentacle above . The sheer impact made my knees buckle at just how cleanly the strike landed. A larger cloud of stone dust erupted along with another thunderous boom from below.

Before I could stand up straight again, a tentacle wrapped around . With an explosive jerk, it pulled from my spot. I dragged against the ground, the deadly line of water coming closer.

I slamd my hands into the stone, expanding claws into the ground. They held for a second before chunks of stone cleaved from the ground. With the hunks of stone on my clawed hands, the line of black water grew.

I dug my heels into the stone, the rock cracking. I stopped for another second, but another tentacle wrapped around the first, reinforcing it. The pull doubled in strength, jerking closer. Before I slamd into the water, I inhaled as deeply as I could.

That’s when the water surrounded . The piercing cold, the all-encompassing wet, the suffocating embrace of the liquid was like the grim reaper whispering in my ear. The tentacle’s grip tightened around , like the monster was reminding where I was.

The black brightened in a flash of light as a gargantuan eye opened right in front of . Larger than the edge of my vision, the monster stared at for a mont. Lifting the eye up, countless legs of insects revealed itself. Suckers lined the throat of the monster, like they wanted to pump out my organs.

A voice echoed throughout the water,

“Now, little lamb…You lay in my domain.”