NOVEL NEXT 1.42: The Goliath (Pt.3)
The clone dissolved into a cloud of ink, unable to defend itself against the sudden onslaught of both Henry and Maurice. With the Goliath’s support disposed of, the duo whirled back toward the main course.
“[It’s trying to run, get it!]” shouted Maurice.
The kraken had been slinking away, tired and weary. As the orange, blue-spotted kraken rushed back, holding a multi-colored crab in one of its forefront arms, it summoned a huge cloud of ink and swam away.
Even though he was exhausted from the mana expenditure and felt sore all over, Henry was reinvigorated by the sight. It’d taken forever to even begin tiring the Goliath, but their strategy–as boring as it had been–bore fruit.
Plus, Maurice’s excitement was contagious. Henry spoke up without looking away from his target as he pumped his arms. “[You looked a bit more worried at the start of this.]”
Henry chased the Goliath through his previously summoned illusion, then Maurice materialized a giant translucent claw and slammed it down on the confused Goliath.
“[This was the first time we fought together! I was worried I wouldn’t be able to help. It’s a C-Rank! It’s massive! I wasn’t sure we could win. And you kept getting knocked out!]”
Henry grabbed on to the flailing monster and resumed his assault, but this time, Maurice was fully engaged as well. “[I didn’t get knocked out that often!]”
“[Four times, actually. I counted,]” retorted the cheerful voice.
“[Fine. Just… Let’s do as much damage as possible, and I’ll stop its healing again.]”
Henry stopped trying to bite into the Goliath’s head, as there was no more venom he could squeeze out, and instead he worked on lodging a bone-spike into its brain. In the meantime, Maurice focused on trying to implode the base of one of the monster’s tentacles.
“[It’s so tough. Are you sure it’ll help?]”
“[That’s where its secondary brains should be. That’s what’s making it keep healing even though I’m stabbing it in the head.]”
“[Is that why you kept healing even when you were hit?]”
“[Yes.]”
“[So if I want to win against you, I’d have to do the same?]”
Henry froze up for a second, then resumed his assault on the brain of the Goliath. He knew this wasn’t some sort of sinister plot from the hermit crab, only unbridled curiosity, but he couldn’t help the little shiver that went through him. His eyes swiveled to Maurice as the latter focused on disabling the Goliath’s Octominds.
“[People usually don’t talk about how they could kill each other, Maurice. It gives the wrong idea.]”
“[Oh? Sorry. Yeah, that makes sense. I should remember that when we meet people. What else should I know? Is there a list somewhere? What if–”
Henry had to cut the crab off before he got too far from the situation at hand. “[Maurice, focus. We can talk about this later.”]
“[Right!”]
The Goliath kept trying to shake him off, but Henry wouldn’t let go. After a few minutes of struggle, Henry noticed the water getting low. Once or twice, he felt himself breach the surface and his heart soared.
It shouldn’t be able to get away from them now.
It took something like ten or fifteen minutes of continuously applying damage–even after Henry and Maurice were out of mana–for the Goliath to finally go down.
At some point, it stopped trying to run and fought back, but by then its reserves were low. It could empower its attacks only so often. At some point, it just ran out of juice, and Henry got the message he’d been eagerly waiting for.
They were partially beached, with Maurice slowly walking around in the few inches of water while staring at the sky. The rocky beach was not too far away, and Henry kept his eyes on it as well as on the sky. It was mostly deserted, but a few gull-like birds were already circling high above. Further away, almost at the other side of the beach, Henry could see the seals. Some seemed to be moving, probably curious at what was happening, but Henry wasn’t worried.
They could deal with some seals.
Henry breathed the clean air, feeling it go through his gills. He was getting something out of it, somehow, so he assumed evolution had helped. “Octopuses can’t breathe air, but krakens are something else, I guess.”
Significant contribution detected. Distributing Core fragments accordingly.
1x Greater Goliath Kraken Fragment (C) was collected.
“That’s new. [Maurice, did you get a message?]”
“[I got one Lesser Fragment! I got my share!]”
“[I guess we haven’t fought something together. Not to this degree. Aside from the clones, of course, but those don’t drop Cores.]”
Maurice seemed to agree for a second before raising a pincer. “[No, wait. We fought the juvenile Goliath together? I didn’t get anything then…]”
Henry hummed for a moment, recalling the fight. “[I guess I did a lot more damage to it back then. The message does say significant contribution. I guess your contribution hadn’t been that significant.]”
Maurice’s claw stopped mid-way to his mouth. He put down the bit of meat and slowly turned to Henry. “[What do you mean I didn’t contribute? I was bait! I hit it too!]”
The crab fumed for a few more seconds, but then went back to his meal, mumbling about unfairness and scams–which was Maurice’s favorite new word. He used it to describe everything that inconvenienced him, big or small.
In the meantime, Henry consumed the Core fragment and quickly glanced through his notifications. A couple of upgrades were available–namely, the Octominds and Regeneration–and he’d been tempted to convert the Core to tokens and get them right away, but with something as powerful as the Goliath kraken, he couldn’t pass up the free stat points and they could always do some hunting to afford the upgrades. Plus, if they were to take on the Trickster, they needed levels.
If the Goliath had been any other variant, they might have been in real danger.
But they’d get ready. And with this contribution system, he could focus on finding challenges and the system would reward them both, without them having to decide on who got what.
“[Maurice, keep an eye out. I’ll check my notifications quickly, and then we should go underwater.]”
“[Why? It’s so nice up here!]”
“[You know how there are krakens and serpents underwater? Well, something as dangerous could be up here, and I have no idea what that would be. And I don’t think we’re equipped to fight whatever shows up.]”
“[Oh, like what?]”
Henry eyed the list of Aspect level-ups and his own levels. It was a good haul. “[Who knows. Giant eagles could be a thing. Or owls. Or dragons, as far as I know. Anything could be out there.]”
Krakenbane Wanderer - Level 2 achieved!
...
Krakenbane Wanderer - Level 19 achieved!
3x Stat points awarded.
1x Strength Stat points awarded.
1x Spirit Stat points awarded.
1x Constitution Stat points awarded.
Goliath Kraken Core (E) contained significant Spirit Stats. 1x Spirit Stat points awarded.
Goliath Kraken Core (E) contained significant Strength Stats. 1x Strength Stat points awarded.
“Barely twenty levels… Leveling-up will only get tougher from here on out. But that’s still a good haul. Also, I realize I didn’t assign the three points from my last levels. They wouldn’t have pushed me over any threshold but still…”
Mimicking Arms: Recovery of the Goliath Kraken acquired.
Unimpeded Arms was copied by Magic Mimic. Added to Ephemerals
Amplified Impact was copied by Magic Mimic. Added to Ephemerals
“Oh… so that’s how it was hitting so hard? These would be a good addition. Anyway, I’ll check the details later. Let’s see the abilities’ levels”
Hunger of the Trickster (E): Level 6 -> Level 8
Arms of the Trickster (E): Level 1 -> Level 2
Misdirection of the Trickster (E): Level 5 -> Level 6
Arcana of the Trickster (E): Level 1 -> Level 4
Vitality of the Trickster (E): Level 1 -> Level 3
Dispelling Bubble (F): Level 1 -> Level 4
“That’s a lot of levels as well. And Arcana did the best of them all. What did that include already? Ah yes. Illusions, Mana Nexus, Telekinesis, and Telepathy. Yeah, those got a good workout. Hmm. Shiftiness didn’t get anything, but everything else leveled.”
With that done, Henry turned his attention outward. The seals were bobbing out of the water, quietly watching both Henry and the dead kraken. They clearly wanted to eat, but they finally recognized Henry as a threat and stayed back.
“[Ready to go, Maurice?]”
“[Yes! I took some meat, but you should take more. You’ve got more space than I do. It’s tasty.]”
Henry cut himself a few large slices, then began dragging himself toward the deeper waters. He placed Maurice on top of his head, and soon enough he was fully submerged again.
After a few moments, Henry broke the silence. “[I don’t think we’re ready for the other one, Maurice.]”
“[Yes. I think so too. But I’ll let you tell me why first.]”
Henry eyed the crab for a moment, wondering if he was bluffing or if he really had a theory. He didn’t doubt the latter much; Maurice could be incredibly insightful at times.
“[This one was just strong and regenerated fast. The Trickster would have more for us. More tricks. And it’s a lot smarter than the ones we’ve faced so far.]”
Maurice pulled a piece of kraken meat out of his multicolored shell and bit into it. “[The other krakens might have a copying ability, but the Trickster–like you–knows how to use it better. Or the others might have the ability weakened when they evolved. But the Trickster’s would be as good as yours.]”
Henry agreed. “[Exactly. So we should explore the area a bit more. Get some more levels. Prepare better. I’ve got a couple of ideas that could make a difference, especially if I’m able to push Ink Jet–I mean Misdirection to the next rank. We need some time. Then we can go fight it.]”
“[Exploring. Adventure… Yes!]” The crab pumped a pincer up, then looked back down. “[Also, when will you tell me more about people? I asked you earlier about what’s acceptable conversation and what isn’t and you said it wasn’t the time. Is now a good time? I need to be ready otherwise we’ll be discovered! And how will we–]”
Henry dove deeper, all the while resisting the temptation to pull the crab off of his head and chuck him back to the island.