At this point, Lukey’s schedule had fallen into a pattern. He would wake up, head straight to the guild, pick up his equipment, and then practice thrusting and throwing with his spear. After practicing until the sun was high in the sky, Lukey would then take a fishing rod from the equipment room and go fishing.

  After fishing, he would always return to the guild and lay out half his catch in the sun and keep half for himself. All that fishing led him to eventually reach Lv.5, with the next level eluding him for days. It seemed that his progress would halt until he went into the labyrinth.

  Today, Lukey expected it to be no different. He arrived in front of Ocean’s Bounty and was about to head inside, but before he could, he heard someone call out to him in the distance.

  “Lukey! Wait! I have something for you!”

  Lukey looked to his left to see Adran running to him, holding something in his hands.

  In the blacksmith’s hands was a large spear unlike anything Lukey had seen before. It had a long wooden handle with a grip, and the spearhead sat on a long pole of metal that came out of the top.

  The spear was thin too; while the handle was thick enough for his hand to grasp, the spearhead and its metal extension were extremely thin. Lukey had a feeling that this thin extension to the spear would allow him to maneuver it more freely underwater.

  “It’s finished,” Adran said, huffing and puffing as he came to a stop in front of Lukey.

  “It took me a while to get everything ready and almost an entire day to get the recipe right for the ingots, but it’s done.”

  The blacksmith handed the oversized pole spear to the fisherman, who gingerly took it in his hands and examined it with wide eyes.

  “This is beautiful…” Lukey said. “And you’re sure it’s sturdy?”

  “Absolutely,” Adran said. “This is a Bonesteel Polespear; the extended spearhead is thin, so it cuts through the water without any resistance. The wood is also sealed against water, making it very durable.”

  Lukey looked at the spear reverently. This was a real weapon, made using modern methods. It was nothing like the cheap spears that were made on the island. This could carry him through the labyrinth and even beyond it.

  “Thank you,” Lukey said. “I don’t expect you to work for free though; how much do I owe you?”

  “It was quite a time-consuming project,” the blacksmith sheepishly said. “If I combine the cost of all the materials plus the work I put into it, at the very minimum I’d say it’s around fifty tins.”

  Lukey was taken aback at the amount. Fifty tins could buy him a month’s worth of materials, or around a hundred fish. He never expected a spear to be so costly. Then again, it was made of quality materials and made by a professional. It was a weapon that could last him years if he took care of it, so it was an investment more than an expense.

  Lukey eventually complied and pulled out a fifty-tin coin from his pouch. After this, all he had left were the fifteen tins that were left over from his time at Island Imports. He needed a way to make money soon, or he’d be broke before the end of the week.

  “Here,” Lukey said, then handed over the coin. “I need to go, but I’ll keep in touch. I’m going to test this out today.”

  Lukey and Adran said their farewells, and Lukey headed inside the guild building. He headed down to the communal area and took out his journal. Then, he crossed off two entries from his personal quests and added a new one.

  Personal Quests

  -Upgrade Spear – Make, thinner, lighter, studier

  -Upgrade Fishing Rod

  -Make New Traps and Equipment

  -Discover Claw Cove and Investigate Crabs

  -Make Crab Lure

  -Conquer Claw Cove

  He had already made his preparations, and now it was time to face the labyrinth.

  ...

  Lukey walked down the trail that led towards Claw Cove.

  To the east, he could hear the receding waves telling him it was low tide. A gentle wind blew through the canopies of the palm trees as their leaves shook from the ocean breeze.

  Lukey was wearing his full outfit: long pants, a shirt, and his vest, with a few extra additions. First, instead of sandals, he wore boots made by Ginny. They weren’t waterproof, so they wouldn’t last very long, but they did protect him from damaging his feet from a long trek. Next, he had gloves like what his mother wore, also made by Ginny. These two items cost him the remaining fifteen tins he had left, but Lukey decided they would be necessary in a long trek through a labyrinth.

  In terms of equipment, what he had was simple. The newly made polespear, a rope, a bucket filled with fish he let ripen for a few days, and a newly made bone knife. Lukey wished he could afford a backpack or something similar, but for now he would have to make do with carrying all this around. He had the rope wrapped around his left shoulder, with the pole spear in his right hand and the bucket in his left.

  Just as he was starting to enjoy the feeling of the noon sun, he saw where the trail splintered off towards the beach. He walked down the beach trail until he returned to the entrance to the cove.

  Just like before, there were crabs everywhere. Lukey would’ve been afraid of stepping into a horde of crabs that reached up to his ankles, but with his new boots, he walked forward confidently.

  Lukey walked up to the entrance to Claw Cove, and once again he saw it.

  [Scavenger Aquaclaw Lv. 5]

  The massive red crab that reached up to his waist was just sitting underneath a rock. This was the perfect monster to test out his newly acquired spear on. Lukey walked forward into the mouth of the cave but stopped when he felt a wave of energy washing over him.

  It felt like he just walked past an invisible threshold, like diving into a cold body of water. Lukey could feel the energy coating his entire body. He moved his hand through the air around him but didn’t feel any physical resistance. Yet, it still felt like a layer of slime covered his entire being. He could only assume it was the ethereal energy flowing through this place.

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  Lukey was momentarily stunned, but since it didn’t hurt him, he pressed on. The fisherman took the lower end of the spear into his left hand as he prepared to pierce the crab and destroy it. With both hands on the spear, Lukey used [Fisherman’s Stance] and leveled himself with the scavenger.

  Lukey got closer and saw the massive crustacean resting peacefully. Its arms and legs were tucked underneath it, but the top of the shell was wide open. Normally, you wouldn’t want to attack the top of the shell, since it was the sturdiest part, but this spear was made for piercing.

  Lukey raised his knees a little higher as he aligned the spear with the top of the aquaclaw’s shell. With everything in place, Lukey let the spear fly as he thrust it towards the scavenger’s shell. His aim was true, and the scavenger barely had time to unfold its arms and legs before it was pierced clean through its body.

  The spear worked, but perhaps a little too well. The spear went through its body, but Lukey felt the spear shake as the scavenger attempted to move out of the way. As it turned out, it went right through the shell and missed all the important vitals.

  Lukey attempted to pull the spear out of the scavenger’s body, but the barbs on the end of the spear caught onto its underside. He tried to pull the spear back, but all that ended up happening was the monster getting pulled closer to him.

  Lukey was amazed at how little it took for things to go awry. He expected this to be a clean kill, but the crab still moved despite being cleanly pierced through its shell. Now his weapon was stuck, and he had nothing on hand to end the crab with. The fisherman panicked for a second before realizing he had another weapon on hand.

  Lukey placed the spear in his left hand as he took one end of the rope and extended it towards the scavenger. Currently, the oversized crustacean had its claws flailing about as it was attempting to snap at Lukey. He moved the rope over to one of its claws and gently brushed the interior of the vise.

  The claw closed around the rope, and Lukey moved closer. When a crab's claw closed, it wouldn’t open until the prey was done struggling. Lukey pulled the rope as he moved towards the scavenger, yanking it closer to deliver a finishing blow.

  The fisherman took care to avoid the other claw, since that one could still hurt him. Instead, he moved the rope and the spear apart to suspend the crab as he went in to deal a killing blow. Lukey raised his boot and stepped down on top of the scavenger to press it to the ground. Then, he grasped his spear as he began shoving further into the crab before yanking it up and through its body.

  Lukey intended to destroy the scavenger from its soft underbelly, so he did his best to ram the spearhead into it repeatedly. Repeatedly the spear was lowered, then raised, tearing away at the scavenger while digging back into its insides. This continued until, with one sharp pull, Lukey yanked the spear out of the scavenger’s body.

  It was in the next moment that Lukey felt a wave of energy enter him.

  Finally, the energy is entering my body. That must mean it’s dead.

  A quick prod with his spear confirmed that the scavenger was no longer moving; its legs went limp as it slowly lost all tension in its muscles, making the body fall to the floor. The arms were unmoving as well as they fell at the scavenger’s sides.

  Lukey encountered some trouble, but he finally succeeded in killing his first monster. Nothing before this point could even count as a monster, except maybe the Trollfish. Still, Lukey noticed how different the energy was this time. The fish he caught from the harbor was nothing compared to the massive amount he just gained from this monster alone.

  Still, Lukey had a job to do, and he got over his excitement quickly as he took his bone knife and began cutting around the edges of the dead scavenger. It was messy, but at least Lukey had the foresight to wear gloves for this trip. Eventually, he managed to pry the upper and lower halves apart to get a good look inside.

  The guts of the crab were a jumbled network of yellowish-brown tubes. It looked disgusting, even to Lukey, who was quite used to gutting fish. It even smelled nasty, as whatever oils were in the crab began spilling into the water around the corpse. Lukey wanted to throw the corpse away, but he had a job to complete, and eventually he found what he was looking for.

  Inside the guts, near the center of the scavenger’s spine, was a small yellow sack that was attached to the top of the shell. It was small enough that Lukey could close his hand around it, but not so small that he could fit more than two in his hand.

  Lukey poked the sac with his finger and watched as a small amount of oil came out. He rubbed his fingers together and saw that the oil began to seep into his leafy glove and somehow make it smoother. This was what he was looking for: the Shell oil.

  The fisherman quickly took his knife and cut out the gland, then threw it in the bucket with the stinking fish. He would need a lot more before this trip was over, so it was best to get a move on. Lukey took the corpse and chucked it out of his way, then he continued deeper into the cove.

  Lukey only walked a few more yards before taking in his alien surroundings.

  The beach he came from was now just a small light in the labyrinth's entrance. The cave instead was lit up with bright lights that came from each of the tide pools that surrounded the path Lukey was walking on. He investigated one of these tidepools and saw all sorts of sea plants, barnacles, and even some fish.

  The most prominent creature, however, was the glowing algae that grew inside the tide pools and along the walls. The entire labyrinth seemed to be infested with the stuff. There was even some algae growing in the shallow water at his feet, lighting up the clear sandy bottom.

  If he looked up, Lukey could see the lights as they were magnified by the water onto the ceiling. It was like he was underwater, looking up at the surface above. This was all accompanied by the sounds of water slowly sloshing against the rock echoing through the cave. The labyrinth was quite cool as well, likely due to the lack of sun coming into the cavern.

  It was nice to know that Lukey would be able to see in the labyrinth, and it was even better to know he wouldn’t be cramped, as the tunnel he was in was around the same width as his room. Lukey continued through the tunnel as he watched for any other encounters.

  Sure enough, just ahead of him was another battle, this time with two of them.

  [Scavenger Aquaclaw Lv. 5]

  [Scavenger Aquaclaw Lv. 6]

  This is perfect!

  Lukey’s encounter with the previous scavenger proved he was inexperienced. He couldn’t always fight them one on one, so he needed a more efficient way to deal with them. These two would make great fodder for the new trap he devised as well: the Crab Lure.

  The fisherman took one of the ripe fish from his bucket. At last, he was happy to be rid of these things after leaving them stinking up the guild’s backyard. He took one end of his rope and tied it around the fish, making sure to do multiple loops to make sure it didn’t slip free.

  Once the fragrant bait was tied up, Lukey took the fish and threw it, letting it fall near one of the scavengers. The rope was slack in the water but still connected the bait to the rope in Lukey's hands. He had his spear in both hands, along with the rope, and would pull as soon as the scavenger clamped down on its food.

  It took a while for anything to happen, but after numerous throws, one of the scavengers finally took notice. It waved its claw toward the bait before eventually clamping down onto it. On cue, Lukey yanked the rope back, treating it as if he just hooked something on his fishing rod. The scavenger he caught got dragged towards Lukey, creating a distance between the two scavengers.

  Unfortunately for the scavenger, Lukey was waiting in his [Fisherman’s Stance] to pierce it. His stance was a bit lower, as he wanted to pierce through the face this time. When the scavenger got pulled close enough, Lukey thrust forward with his spear, piercing through the face and into the shell.

  The scavenger still wasn’t dead, so this time Lukey decided to twist his spear around to see if he could destroy the insides. Sure enough, after a few moments of turning the spear inside the scavenger’s body, Lukey felt another wave of energy.

  The crab lure worked perfectly, luring the monster away from the other and keeping it pinned so it couldn’t escape. There was only one more thing left to test, and he had one more scavenger to test it on. Lukey took one of his bait fish and tossed it over to his next victim.

  The scavenger immediately saw the bait and began eating it. Meanwhile, Lukey used [Fisherman’s Stance], taking on a throwing stance as he aimed toward the scavenger’s face. His aim was terrible when starting out, but after a few days of practice he could hit a target like this easily.

  Lukey launched the spear with everything he had. The weight shift may have thrown his aim off a bit, but the spear hit true as it pierced the front of the scavenger’s shell, its face, and the sandy bottom beneath it, pinning the target in place. Another wave of energy followed.

  Lukey’s preparations were paying off, and only time could tell how far he could take them.