Lukey stepped onto the sandy bank, with his spear and stone-ties in his hands.

  His steps took him up the bank and through the archway that led into the room. Lukey walked slowly as he took in the sights. The glow of the tide pools lit up the entire cavern, and he watched as the waves danced on the ceiling. The quiet sloshing of water, the soft sand below him, and the soft blue lighting combined to give the room a sense of serenity as he continued.

  As he walked, Lukey used [Insight] to gain a clearer picture of how he had progressed.

  Lukey couldn’t help but be amazed by his progress. Before entering the labyrinth, his rating sat at one hundred and ninety. Ten levels later his rating rose to over one hundred points. His strength was modestly increasing, but it wouldn’t help him any time soon. On the other hand, he was very pleased with his agility and would be sure to factor it in as he danced around his enemies.

  What made Lukey grin, however, was his luck. It rose far and above all the other stats, and Lukey knew it would be extremely useful going forward. Based on what he knew, luck was a combination of things, from acquiring more aether with each successful action to being guided by the aether in certain ways. It was how gathering classes like miners and botanists managed to keep pace with classes that regularly hunted monsters.

  Perhaps it was his luck that allowed him to get this far, but he knew it couldn’t protect him forever. Lukey had a building sense of anticipation for this place. Instead of turning back with his meager gains, Lukey decided to continue through the labyrinth all to reach this point. He had expected to see some sort of monster or even an arena, but he saw none of that as he took in his surroundings.

  The ceiling looked like it had one big rock at its center and ten arches that led outward. Lukey thought it kind of resembled a crab; perhaps it was created by the labyrinth? The arches started out from the round boulder in the middle and ended halfway to the edges of the room. He could only roughly make out the outline on the ceiling as he trudged onward.

  Towards the back of the room, there was a large mound of sand. Lukey readied his spear and began to approach it slowly as he held his weapon in front of him. He placed one foot in front of the other, with his spear leveled at the enemy before him. It was safe to say that something was buried within that mound of sand, and that something would not be happy about Lukey’s intrusion into this place.

  Lukey was around two yards from the mound before he finally decided to act. One strike would help immensely in ending the creature quickly, and he was determined to make it. Just as he did fifty times before, Lukey used [Fisherman’s Stance] and reeled his arm back for a quick thrust in the center of the mound.

  The fisherman took a deep breath, then thrust his hand with all his might into the mound of sand. He felt the spear tip pierce something and move into it, then watched as the pile of sand began to jerk. Lukey successfully managed to catch the creature by surprise, and now it was time to face his enemy properly.

  The sand began to move; cracks began to form around the mound as dried sand began to separate and fall. The sand on top of the mound began to rise, as many moving body parts began to appear within. The creature only rose halfway up before it stopped and started to stretch its body. By this point Lukey had already pulled his spear out and was watching some distance away.

  Lukey watched as the monster gradually unfolded its massive body that was hidden beneath the sand. One red leg slowly pulled out from beneath its body; the leg alone was as large as Lukey, with sleek red chitin that was lined with large thorns that jutted upward. The large leg was just the beginning, as more legs were pulled out from beneath the creature’s body.

  One leg became two, then two became four, until eight legs began raising up its body along with the pile of sand. The creature seemed to be bothered by the sand, as in the next moment it quickly began the process of shaking everything off its body. The piles of dried sand gradually fell away to reveal the monster beneath it.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  [Guardian Aquaclaw Lv. 20]

  This was the monster that ruled this level of the labyrinth. Just as Lukey expected, it was a few levels above what was expected from the other decapods on this level. Perhaps it was responsible for impregnating all the broodmothers. Regardless, Lukey readied his spear again and got a good look at his opponent.

  The first thing Lukey noticed was a crown of sharp spikes around the guardian’s shell, each curving inward at a wicked angle. Thinking about it, he believed those spikes were for added protection, or maybe to signify superiority.

  The guardian itself was a deeper red than the other decapods, a darker shade even. Lukey had seen enough animals to know that darker colors generally meant virility, which only added to his theory that this was the father of the other decapods on this floor.

  The final thing of note was the massive claws it raised in front of its face. The broodmother’s claws were big enough to crush an arm or a leg, but the guardian’s claws were large enough to envelop his entire waist and crush his ribcage. While they certainly looked strong, they also looked a bit heavy and slow, so perhaps Lukey could avoid them with good footwork.

  Altogether the guardian rose to be Luke’s height plus half, towering over the fisherman.

  Lukey prepared to attack, but before he could, he heard a rumble from behind him. He turned around to witness the entrance to the room gradually becoming enveloped in mud. It slid down from the walls and piled up in front of the entrance as the mud accumulated until it rose to the height of the entrance.

  What happened next concerned Lukey even more. The mud seemed to move on its own as it clung to the sides of the entrance, then smoothed itself out as it blended with the surrounding walls. He couldn’t tell with just a glance, but Lukey could tell that the wall was probably difficult to get through.

  Looks like the labyrinth is sealing me in. No more free attempts to escape. Looks like I have to kill this guardian or be sealed here.

  With a plan in mind, Lukey began his attack. He began by approaching the guardian the same way he did the broodmothers, watching for its movement and adjusting to match it. To his pleasant surprise, the guardian seemed to move somewhat slower than the broodmothers. Lukey was confident that he could outmaneuver it, so he decided to try and catch it off guard.

  Lukey quickly sidestepped the guardian to reach its backside; however, that quickly proved to be impossible.

  The guardian swung its body around with blinding speed and raised its claws. Lukey was momentarily surprised but tried again as he swung his body around the other side of the guardian. Sure enough, the situation repeated itself as the guardian swung around and leveled its gaze at Lukey.

  So, what it lacks in lateral movement, it makes up for in turning speed. It seems that the guardian lives up to its name, specializing in defending its body from almost any attack. The question remains, though: how do I get through its defense?

  One of the stone-ties could be used to tie up its legs, but the guardian looked powerful enough that Lukey believed the hastily made traps would snap against the stress. He only had two of them, and he refused to waste one on something that only had a small chance of working.

  Lukey briefly considered leaping over it, but against all those spikes on the guardian’s head, he’d rather not risk it. His legs would be shredded before he even made it to the other side. He was about to scrap the idea altogether, but that was before he noticed the guardian’s underside.

  The area underneath it was wide open. The guardian was protected from all sides, but its underside was wide open from the front and back. It had its claws in front to protect its face, but the arms were short and didn’t reach all the way down to the ground.

  Lukey found this strange; wasn’t the underside the place where it should be most protected? This could have been a trap, but how would it attack anything underneath its body? He was tempted to take the risk, as he saw no other way to approach the decapod.

  The fisherman crouched down and prepared [Fisherman’s Stance]. He felt the muscles in his limbs coil up as he readied himself to dash through the opening. Dashing through a gap his size wouldn’t be easy, especially when he was holding a fishing spear. Lukey pulled the spear close to his body and turned it upside down to avoid stabbing himself. Then he took a deep breath and ran.

  Lukey charged straight towards the guardian as he kept his body low to the ground. When his face was one foot from its claws, he ducked down and threw himself forward, beneath the guardian’s body. He felt his body go airborne for a moment before landing on the ground and entering a roll. He only barely managed to get to the other side before the guardian’s body fell to the ground.

  It looks like it could tell what I was planning. Good thing it was too slow to catch me.

  The guardian was stuck in its lowered stance; its legs were strong but lacked the mobility to pick its body up quickly. Lukey quickly stood up and righted his spear; he needed to capitalize on this chance before the guardian lifted its body. His first move was to grab its backside and try to throw it on its shell.

  Lukey grabbed both sides of the guardian's surprisingly spikey shell along the edges. He still had the sphere in both hands as he grabbed its shell with the tips of his fingers. He lifted with his entire body, bending his knees and pushing his arms to the limit. The guardian was held in place with this move, but to Lukey’s astonishment, he was completely unable to lift it.

  What in the abyss is this thing made of? Its body is so heavy I can’t even get it off the ground!

  This was pointless; if throwing it wouldn’t work, he had to switch tactics. Lukey switched to grabbing it with one hand as he took his spear in the other. Lukey was still tired from the previous use of [Fisherman’s Stance], but he reeled his arm back regardless. He aimed for an opening within the guardian’s shell, then thrust his spear as hard as he could.

  The spear hit true yet only landed an inch deep into the guardian’s body.

  Great, this must be the side effect of not focusing on strength. If only I could use both hands, this might’ve been easier.

  Lukey had no choice but to continue stabbing its backside. Each stab only made light cuts between the plates in the guardian’s shell. It seemed that the guardian’s muscles were just as tough as armor. He could only get a few more light stabs in before the guardian began to shake violently. Lukey took the hint as he quickly let go and backed away, readying himself for another round.

  The guardian scrambled to its feet and turned around with its usual quickness. Once more the two combatants were locked in a standoff, and this time it seemed that the guardian wasn’t going to wait around. The guardian knew Lukey couldn’t harm it and began approaching him in earnest. It turned its body to the side and began scrambling towards Lukey, who quickly maneuvered himself to the guardians’ front side.

  Lukey gritted his teeth, this time trying something different. Instead of aiming for its back, he decided to simply go for its front. He slowly made his way in front of the guardian, took a stance, and thrust at an open area of its face. Like before, the spear barely scratched it, but it did do some quick damage as Lukey removed his spear before the guardian could grab it.

  Lukey got rid of this strategy because it ceased being effective against every other monster he encountered. Immobilizing his enemies first proved to be far more effective than striking repeatedly in hopes of landing a killing blow. It was also the main reason Lukey managed to conserve his strength so well throughout this labyrinth, despite being so low level.

  It seemed, however, the only thing that could get through the guardian was pure grit. Thus, Lukey continued to stab the guardian's face, backing up and moving forward, watching his footwork as he continued to chip away at its health.

  Lukey moved up, thrust his spear into its mouth, and backed away. The guardian swung its claw at him, and Lukey danced to the side. While that claw was busy, he managed to get another quick stab in. Thrust, backstep, sidestep, thrust, backstep, sidestep, sidestep, dodge, thrust, backstep, thrust.

  The guardian charges forward; backstep, backstep, backstep.

  Lukey became lost in the dance between him and the guardian. This was the longest that any opponent had lasted against him. He could already feel his stamina start to drain fighting it. His agility let him keep up with his opponent, but his vitality just wasn’t at the point where he could keep up for long periods.

  Even so, Lukey knew he was doing damage. The guardian’s faceplates were already coming off in several places, giving the fisherman a good view of the tough muscle underneath. Even without the armor, the muscle was still thick enough to slow his spear, but the lack of armor certainly made the process easier.

  Labyrinths are all about endurance and persistence; this is no different.

  Once again, Lukey threw himself into the battle dance. A drawn-out fight was exactly what Lukey didn’t want to do, and yet he found himself getting lost in the rhythm all the same. In the pattern of dodging the claws and thrusting his spear, he noticed something else as well.

  There was a faint…something in the air. It tugged at his mind, surrounding it but not making its way inside. Something in this labyrinth was trying to enter him, something in the aether. Unfortunately, Lukey lacked the understanding to grasp it; what he did know is that it was triggered by active combat. There was something else; whatever it was, the guardian was trying to grasp it too.

  Lukey didn’t have time to contemplate this as he continued striking at the guardian’s face. With each strike, he watched as the spear entered the guardian’s face before being pulled out. Each thrust with the spear ripped away shell and muscle, giving Lukey more access to the innards. It wouldn’t be long before the guardian’s entire face was a bare mess of torn crab meat.

  That was what Lukey was hoping for; before long, thick muscle would give way to brains and guts. A few strikes to the vitals would end the guardian; he just needed to make a path. Lukey attacked with even greater fervor as he went and started going for the eye sockets. The guardian was too slow to do anything as it continued swinging its claws in Lukey’s direction.

  The end was so close, Lukey could almost taste it. He was so excited he couldn’t help but voice his thoughts.

  “It’s over!” Lukey shouted. “I’m going to bust through that shell!”

  Just as he finished saying that, a red light beamed into existence from above, creating a small circle on the ground between Lukey and the guardian. Both combatants froze as the red light moved around before it finally settled on the guardian.

  In the next second, a massive form fell from above.

  Aw, coconuts…