Lukey read the description in his mind once, then twice, and finally a third time before he finally understood the magnitude of what he had obtained.
He had just reached level ten and obtained his second art from his class. Lukey wondered for a long time what it could possibly be, but after reading the name and description, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
[Wild Trapper] allowed him to make and use traps faster. It was a natural result considering half of what fishermen did was trap prey. Lukey could only assume the hunter class had the same art, perhaps with a different name. While the art was a bit plain, however, he knew differently.
The description described what the ability did, but not what it could do. Lukey had already seen just how versatile [Fisherman’s Stance] could be when applied to situations outside of the original intent. He could perhaps push [Wild Trapper] to do the same, though it would require rigorous, perhaps dangerous testing.
The only thing Lukey had on hand that could be used as a trap was the crab lure he made. After getting used to his spear, he abandoned it for being able to react quickly to enemies. The lure was just too slow in a fight where every second counted.
It seems Hemingway thought of this and developed an art specifically towards utilizing traps. How exactly it worked remained to be seen, but it was nice to know Lukey could keep his options open and not have to rely on a spear forever. If there was one thing he wanted as a fisherman, it was versatility.
Lukey took the rope and tied it around a rock. Right away, he noticed that it took considerably less time to wrap and tie the rope around the stone. When it was done, Lukey was impressed by how little time it took to prepare all the knots.
Next, Lukey threw the rock away and pulled it back, repeating this motion to see if there were any significant changes. There was nothing, or at least nothing Lukey could see. Perhaps the difference was so minute that it didn’t register to Lukey’s senses.
For now, Lukey untied the rope from the rock and wrapped it back into a coil. He would figure out how to best utilize this new art, but for now he needed to decide something. Now that he made it far into the labyrinth and made it to level ten, he accomplished quite a bit. There was no reason not to leave and come back.
Should I stay or leave?
Lukey contemplated this question as he sat against the watery cavern’s walls. He already got plenty of oil glands, he advanced his levels to prepare for next time, and he tested the new equipment. Overall, he could say this was a pretty good run.
But is it enough?
If Lukey left, he would have to spend time finding his way through the labyrinth all over again. He would also have to wait days for new equipment and repairs to be made. Sooner or later, he would also need more oil glands, so wouldn’t it be best to get them all now rather than make a second trip?
Lukey wasn’t hungry; he ate a big lunch before making this trip. He also did a good job conserving his energy to avoid being worn out too quickly. To top it all off, what was down here? Aquaclaw scavengers, caretakers, and broodmothers. Lukey hadn’t encountered any new enemies yet, and he expected that wouldn’t change anytime soon.
Lukey got up as he came to a decision: he would stay and clear out this level.
There was nothing dangerous here, and if he got tired or hungry, he would just leave. It was best to do everything he could do before leaving, so why wait when the opportunity was right in front of him?
Lukey got everything together as he prepared to leave. When he was ready, his spear was in his hand, his rope was around his arm, and his bucket was at his side. He left through one of the two exits as he started making his way through the labyrinth once again.
…
Lukey stood in the knee-deep water, looking at another Aquaclaw scavenger.
After going through a third room filled with four caretakers and a broodmother, Lukey continued to make his way through the labyrinth.
He encountered a few after leaving the previous room, and they were all fairly easy to deal with. This one, however, managed to sense Lukey before he struck it with his spear. It quickly got up and swam out of the way of the strike, moving to the other side of the tunnel.
This started happening occasionally, enemies running away before he could hit them. It seemed to happen even more often as the aquaclaws got higher in level as well. Lukey could only guess that the aquaclaws were getting stronger and faster at the higher levels.
Perhaps he was overconfident in clearing the rest of the labyrinth, but Lukey was determined to see this through. What troubled him was that he didn’t have anything to combat them. [Fisherman’s Stance] was great for striking and swift bursts of movement, but what he needed was rapid continuous movement.
The only thing Lukey could think of was making a trap using [Wild Trapper], but he wasn’t able to think of anything. The only thing he had was rope, a bucket, a spear, and bait; Lukey was smart, but even he struggled to think of a way to use all this to make something useful. That’s why he was still stuck chasing down scavengers.
Lukey trudged through the water to chase after the swift scavenger. The water did a good job in slowing him down, whereas the scavenger was just gliding through the water. This was a terrible position to be in, since the creature could crush his leg if it grabbed him and he had no way of dodging.
Lukey was forced to use the crab lure as he quickly tied a rope around one of his bait fish. He was running out of bait, and he didn’t like having to use his dwindling resources against a common enemy. It was times like this he wished he had brought his net with him.
Lukey threw out the bait and waited for the scavenger to grab it. It waved its claws cautiously, but it eventually grabbed the bait and drew it towards its mouth. With a light pull, he drew the scavenger towards him and prepared his spear. It tried to ground itself with its legs, but the sandy bottom combined with the water made it difficult to stay in one place.
When the scavenger was close enough, a solid thrust with his spear pierced its shell and ended it.
Lukey had mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was probably having a very easy time with these aquaclaws compared to fishermen of the past, and he had no room to complain about it being ‘too difficult.’ On the other hand, he had to make destroying the aquaclaws even easier if he wanted to reach the end of the labyrinth.
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The net… The answer has something to do with my net, but what?
Lukey continued to ponder the question as he began taking apart the scavenger. All he knew was he needed a way to entangle his enemies, but a net was too elaborate. He couldn’t waste that much time on making something that was difficult to use in a rush and would likely break after use. He needed something simpler, something that could be made without much effort and thrown in a hurry.
The basic net was just a web of threads woven together; the gaps were added because they allowed things to get tangled while saving on material. Lukey added the stones to the ends of the net to help weigh it down and keep prey from getting out. What he needed was a combination of these elements: stone weights on the least amount of thread possible.
Nothing came to mind, so when he was done extracting what he needed from the corpse, he stopped for a break. Lukey picked up some round stones from under the water and began tinkering with no destination in mind. He took one stone and tied it to one end of his rope; this was the simplest thing Lukey could think of.
Lukey watched the stone as he swung the rope around. It felt good in his hand, fast and solid, but he would be lying to himself if he thought it could do damage, much less trap something. Regardless, Lukey tested out his makeshift invention on a pillar of rock that stuck out from the side of a tidepool nearby.
Lukey swung the rock at the pillar, watching as the stones clicked on contact and repelled each other.
That was underwhelming. Though I wonder…
Lukey swung the rock again, this time aiming past the pillar as he tried to get the rope to wrap around it. He was pleasantly surprised as he watched the rock spiral around the pillar, the rope wrapping around it as it went. When it stopped, the rope hung loose, and the rock began to spiral back.
If I can add a hook to this, maybe the other end will catch onto the length of the rope. The rock-rope trap worked, if only for a moment; now it just needed refining. The rock needs to tangle onto the rope more, and it needs to span a greater area.
This was where Lukey began to apply one of the core practices in tinkering with new machines: when in doubt, double up. So, after some cutting and tying, he ended up with a rope that split off into two ends, with each end having a fist-sized rock tied to it.
To add some momentum, Lukey swung the split part to his side and held the rest of the rope in another arm. He released the rope and watched as the rocks separated and caught the pillar of rock in a snare. His trap was successful, but it still needed work.
Lukey got lost in trying to modify his design. He spent so much time preparing for Aquaclaw Cove that he forgot the simple joy of tinkering to gain the slightest increase in efficiency. It was also at this point that he was grateful to [Wild Trapper], as he would’ve taken way too long to modify and use his design otherwise.
A madman’s laughs echoed in the labyrinth as Lukey began the process of devising the perfect trap.
…
In what was now his fourth room within the labyrinth, Lukey faced down what was now a mob of enemies.
[Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 8]
[Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 8]
[Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 7]
[Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 8]
[Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 7]
[Caretaker Aquaclaw Lv. 7]
[Broodmother Aquaclaw Lv. 12]
[Broodmother Aquaclaw Lv. 12]
Well, this is certainly a step up.
Unfortunately for them, Lukey was tempered by his time in the labyrinth. He finely tuned his skills with each encounter and knew exactly how to face each of these enemies. He only had to adjust his tactics slightly, and fortunately he had just the tool to do it.
Tied around Luke's waist were two new additions. They each looked like a set of three rocks connected using a piece of rope. Two of the rocks on each of the new items were used to tie the tools around his waist. Lukey removed one of the contraptions and used [Insight].
The name was Lukey’s own devising. He figured it was fairly accurate to what the trap was: a set of stones that tied up enemies. It was so nice to be able to create tools like in a crafting class; Adran once told him there was no greater feeling than seeing what you made become a true tool to be used by others.
The only difference was, Lukey intended to use this for himself.
The caretakers began approaching him as the broodmothers hung cautiously in the back. Lukey had the stone tie in his left hand and the spear in his right. He waited in a ready stance as he watched the caretakers quickly approach.
The first caretaker reached his waist and began to wave its claw at Lukey as it tried to grab some part off him. He didn’t let it, as he began waving the stone-tie back and forth, knocking its claw back with the rocks on his trap.
It wasn’t meant to be used like this, but Lukey only had two stone ties, and he wasn’t going to use them on this fodder. Instead, Lukey focused on beating the oncoming caretakers back as he looked for an opening. As luck would have it, an opportunity arrived as one of the caretakers was skittering sideways towards him from the left.
Lukey quickly hooked his boot under it and pushed it forward onto its shell. The caretaker scrambled to get upright, but it was useless, as none of its limbs were made to push off the ground. He would have loved to end it right there, but more caretakers were approaching his flanks, and he didn’t want to get boxed in.
Lukey backed off and repeated the process with every enemy that approached him. He swiped his stone-tie at their claws, he danced from side to side avoiding their grip, and he watched their movements as he looked for openings.
Another opening arrived, and Lukey kicked the caretaker to his right, knocking him over. Lukey maneuvered left and got behind another caretaker that was separated from the rest of the back, kicking it forward. A swipe from his stone tie knocked one of the caretakers off their feet, and a stab from his spear bought time for him to get around another.
By the time he was done, all the caretakers were on their heads, legs flailing uselessly in the air as they tried to prevent what was to come. Lukey stabbed the caretakers nearest to him, making sure to end each in one strike. He was about to end the others as well, only to notice that he was surrounded.
Lukey didn’t notice it earlier, but the broodmothers had started moving along opposite sides of the wall. It seems they were finally willing to act after the caretakers had failed. The broodmothers were closing in from opposite sides of the wall, and Lukey still had his spear stuck in crab guts.
Time to test my new creation.
Lukey switched hands as he moved the stone-tie to his right hand. He then began to twirl the trap in his hand, spinning the boulders to gain momentum. This process was made infinitely easier with [Wild Trapper], which sped up the process considerably. When it was at the height of its momentum, Lukey launched the stone-tie towards the broodmother at the left side of the room.
The broodmother tried to dodge to the side, but the sheer speed at which the trap was launched made it impossible. The crustacean ended up getting hit with the trap along its right side, and the stone-tie began the process of wrapping up her right legs and claw. It was surprisingly effective, as the trap created a tight binding that made it impossible to move.
Lukey watched his trap at work with sheer satisfaction. Eventually, he came back to reality as he realized there was one more broodmother to deal with. He untied the second stone-tie from his belt and started spinning it, letting it speed up before launching it in a similar fashion towards the broodmother to his right.
Just like the first, it ended up with an arm wrapped up with its legs. The broodmother crumbled to the ground as it was rendered immobile, and Lukey wasted no time rushing over as he got behind each of the broodmothers, kicked them over, and started a stabbing spree.
It was ludicrous how easy it was to kill them once they were immobilized, and it seems that Lukey had finally developed the perfect strategy for defeating them. He could only wonder how Caldoon or Triton would react when they hear how he did.
My overconfidence will get me killed one of these days, but not today.
Lukey intended to conquer this labyrinth, and he felt sorry for whatever enemy was waiting at its end.
