Between a Rock and a Carapace

40. The Upper Reef

The closer we come to the top of the coral jungle, the more life I’m able to sense. My Mana Sense is detecting signs of energy up to fifty metres away at its current rank, and it’s clear there is a whole lot more going on above. We begin to encounter new forms of monster as well. To my amazement, they’re more fish-like, matching the leviathan I saw when we entered in their ability to ‘swim’ through the Shadow Mana.

We spot an eel with the appearance of a large lamprey with three heads. I thought a single lamprey mouth was horrific enough, but the Cerberus effect took the disgust to a whole new level.

The horrible thing launches itself out of the shadows and latches onto Tiny. A quick snap of the mandibles is enough to sever the body in twain, but the many, many teethed heads require Crinis to dig them out before I can heal the suffering ape.

What a nasty creature. Naturally, we eat it, and I’m interested to see what the Dungeon has to say.

[Sanguisugae Rapax: Ravenous Leech (III). This creature is extremely adept at stealth, able to hide its body and conceal its Mana signature with ease. Once latched onto its prey, it will attempt to burrow its head inside, feeding on the life energy and draining the Mana from its victim. Be aware, they can regrow their body from the head, so ensure all of the creature is destroyed!]

Oh… that’s… yuck. If we’d been a little slower, it would have tunnelled into Tiny’s body and regrown itself? I may be an ant, but that thought makes me nauseous. And what’s more, it drains the Mana out of your body? This is the first I’ve heard of a creature who can eat Mana from another creature.

Wait a second—if it can eat the Mana from inside another creature… is there a chance it could drain the offending Shadow Mana still rampaging through Tiny’s body? We might need to experiment with this. I’m sure Tiny will be excited. Medicinal Leeches might be making a comeback!

Trying to keep an eye out for more leeches, we continue our climb and soon run into another ‘swimming’ monster. This time, it’s just straight up, unapologetically, a fish.

Darting around a thick frond of shadow seaweed, it comes at us like a dart. Almost three feet long and with razor-sharp barbs for teeth, it’s a literal nightmare piranha. Sadly for the fish, it’s not quick enough to avoid getting snatched out of the air by Crinis and torn apart.

I insist on eating what’s left to check the profile.

[Umbra Salmo: Shadow Salmon (I). This base fish species is weak on its own but deadly in a school. Their teeth are powerful and their only weapon of note.]

Explains why the monster was relatively small and unthreatening, only a tier one. After a few evolutions, though, it could prove to be quite scary. The main question I have: how the heck are these creatures able to fly? Is it a property of their shadow flesh?

[Crinis, do you feel like you could swim through the air down here?]

[I don’t think so, Master. It’s hard to explain, but the air feels, tangible, like I can take hold of it, shape it, should I want to. Does that help?]

[Not really. Maybe try and experiment a little. See what you can make happen. If there’s some cool stuff you can do in this stratum, it’ll only help us out.]

[Okay.]

From that moment on, Crinis begins to constantly wave a few tentacles, feeling out the Mana and trying to do something with it. I don’t know how her efforts are going, but hopefully something comes of it. In the meantime, we keep pushing our way upward and eventually make it to the top of the corals and find a whole new world laid out before us.

Just as I suspected, this is a reef! And like any reef that exists under the ocean, it is teeming with monstrous life. The wide-open spaces above are no longer empty but full of fish-monsters, eel-monsters, and all sorts of other critters, swimming about avoiding each other, hunting each other, or generally minding their own business.

Schools of small fish-monsters move together in strange harmony, darting this way and that at blinding speeds as they seek prey. Along the top of the corals are other monsters like crabs, spiders, even a few slugs fighting each other for space, no doubt wanting to lure in willing Biomass from above.

My Mana Sense tingles with the abundance of sources, but strangely, I feel as if I’m the centre of attention, as if all of these sources are pointing at me. Curious, I flare my ever-present ball of fire by pumping some extra Mana into it, beating back the shadows a bit farther so my eyes can see.

What is revealed is that every monster up here has turned their mainly eyeless faces toward me, or more specifically, my little ball of fire. If I’m not mistaken, their faces are full of what I can only describe as wordless rage.

I freeze under so much attention. Very slowly, I bring the level of flame down to its previous state, but even now, I can’t quite bring myself to dismiss it. Perhaps they’ll be okay with just a little flame?

[Tiny, Crinis, let’s head down a touch, okay? I don’t think these guys appreciate Fire Magic.]

The three of us move slow and nonthreateningly as we climb down the coral branches. My claws are gripping tight to the stony surface, but my mind is laser-focused on the area above. After about ten seconds, I sense something rush toward us.

[Haul ass! Get down, now!]

We frantically skitter downward, and I flare the fireball, revealing dozens of angry salmon darting in closer at breakneck speed!

Omen Chomp!

My mandibles slam shut, but the fish are small and display remarkable agility, slipping through or changing direction so only two fish are caught in my bite. In moments, they’re upon us, snapping at the three of us.

My carapace holds up nicely, but Tiny and Crinis are less fortunate as the creatures try to take chunks out of them. Tiny unleashes a burst of electricity that the fish shy away from, whilst Crinis unfolds dozens of tentacles that lash out at them.

And wouldn’t you know it, this is the time our shadowy pursuers decide to pounce…