Chapter 40 - Crabby Goo

  With a cry of rage, I threw myself toward two of the lobster-men. One of them stabbed at me with a spear, but it glanced off my Armored skin. I snatched the spear from his hand and used it to end him, instead. The lobster next to him tried to run and made it about three paces before I tossed the spear hard enough to sail straight through him. He toppled to the ground.

  More of the creatures charged me, warbling what I assumed were battle-cries in their own language. I grabbed a pair of broken cobbles from the sidewalk and whipped them toward the nearest two, shattering both their chest plates. They staggered back. I closed the gap, finishing both of them with punches to the body and face.

  Two more spears stabbed at me from behind. The impacts hurt, but the blades still couldn’t penetrate my skin. I whirled in place and grabbed both spears. One of them let go. The other was unfortunate enough to hold on to his spear. My tug yanked him entirely off his feet, sending him helplessly through the air. He crumpled into a heap against a pile of rock nearby.

  The crabs were both coming at me, now. Those were a threat. Their higher rank made them dangerous even to me, so I shot back into the air and landed on the back of the nearest, stabbing down with the spear I’d swiped from one of the lobsters. The spear blew apart into shards from the impact, but the blow also drove the crab into the ground. Its legs scurried against the pavement as it struggled to haul itself back upright.

  I reached down and grabbed the crab’s shell, intending to tear it apart like I had done to the first one I’d battled. Before I could get a strong enough grip, a massive claw closed around my waist. The fourth crab! It’d managed to close with me, and now it had me solidly in its grip. It lifted me from the other crab’s back, the claw squeezing so hard I struggled to breathe.

  But I wasn’t without options. My arms were still free. I punched the claw hard, right into the joint. I struck once, twice, and the third blow finally cracked the shell. I must have hit something tender, because the claw dropped me like it had gotten burned. I didn’t hesitate, rushing toward the new foe. A fast leap carried me from the back of one crab onto the other.

  The first crab pivoted to chase after me. This was that scenario I’d worried about earlier, with two crabs cooperating against me in close proximity. While I stood on a crab’s back, there wasn’t much it could do to me. But with two of them there was always one that could sink its claws into me. It had only grabbed me for a few seconds before I got free, but that was enough to convince me I didn’t want to repeat the experience! These things were terrifyingly strong. All they needed was good enough grip, and I’d be done for.

  Dozens more lobsters surged up alongside the crab, firing Ice Blasts and throwing spears my way. They were more of a distraction than a serious threat, but I couldn’t afford the distraction. I couldn’t just stand there and wait for them to get their act together. Sooner or later, they’d figure out a way to damage me.

  Instead, I jumped skyward again, activating Flight and heading back to my rooftop. A few more Ice Blasts shot past me before I flew out of range, but I was in the clear. I dropped back onto the roof, panting and out of breath. Below me, the remains of the squad organized themselves quickly. It looked like they were preparing to advance again.

  “These guys just don’t give up,” I muttered, trying to figure out how best to deal with them.

  I could try hitting them with the rebar again—there were still a few more of those in the pile I’d set down earlier. What I really needed was a bigger, sturdier spear. How much could I lift? Especially while flying? The weight of the rebar stack hadn’t drained much more mana than lifting just myself, so my guess was my limits were a lot higher.

  How high? I supposed I was just going to have to find out.

  A quick zip across to the building where I’d grabbed the rebar gave me what I needed: steel girders. The upper level of the building was still a skeleton of the things, and construction teams must have been adding more when their equipment all died, because there were a trio of the long beams laid out and ready to be attached to the rest of the structure. I lifted one. That was easy enough. Did I need a second? Could I lift two of them?

  I checked my socketed stones. The one I’d gotten from the dead crab had been a tier four Strength crystal that merged with the tier four I’d already had in place. That opened up a new slot, and I needed all the Strength I could get my hands on, so I fished the one Strength stone I had in my pocket out and placed it there.

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  Probably not the best long-term decision, but it would give me a boost I very much needed.

  As ready as I was going to be able to get, I hefted a second girder. My muscles cramped instantly. I was trying to lift far more than I was capable of, but I couldn’t let that stop me. With a groan, I managed to get both girders into the air. I held onto them with everything I had, holding one in each hand, dangling below me like stalactites.

  Racing back toward the enemy, I swooped in so I was only about a hundred feet above them. I’d wanted to kill both crabs, one with each, but I couldn’t guarantee my aim at that height, and wasn’t sure the impact would kill if I dropped much lower.

  Arms screaming from the effort, I released the first girder. As I’d figured, the lobsters were watching for aerial attacks now. As soon as I dropped the first girder, the crab I’d been aiming for darted sideways with more speed than I’d expected from something so large.

  But now I had both hands back. I hefted the second girder up, using both hands to manipulate it like it was just a huge spear. Then I hurled it downward with every bit of Strength I had. It rocketed through the air, racing toward the crab like the world’s biggest lawn dart.

  The first girder smacked into the street with enough force from the fall that it shattered the pavement, but the second one didn’t miss.

  These hunks of metal were twice as long as I was tall, and unlike the first one, I’d hurled the second down. There was no dodging this one. It blasted through the crab’s shell like it wasn’t even there, sending shards of carapace like shrapnel in all directions. The crab was definitely dead. There was no way anything had lived through that much damage.

  I dropped down, turning myself into another projectile. The lobsters scattered as they saw me coming, but the last crab couldn’t move fast enough. It was the one I’d already injured, and although it tried to dodge, it couldn’t escape me. My boots landed on the crab’s shell. It held, but the crab’s legs were all knocked out from beneath it and the thing’s belly made a crunching noise as I drove it into the broken pavement.

  Before it could react, I jumped down behind it and lifted up on the rear end of the shell, flipping the crab over onto its back. Now all its legs waved in the air as it tried desperately to get back upright.

  “Not going to happen,” I growled. The first girder I’d dropped was just a few feet away. I snatched it up, flew over the crab, and drove the weapon down into it.

  It jerked once, then went still.

  The remaining lobsters were gone. They’d fled while I dealt with the crabs, but I was fine with that. It was those crabs which represented the primary threat, anyway. If I removed them, the police could probably handle the rest of the attack.

  I went swiftly to each crab in turn, tapping them for their stones.

  One was a tier five Strength stone which sank into my palm the moment it appeared. It merged with my other tier five Strength crystal, which gave me two tier six stones. With a snap, those two merged as well, forming a single tier seven stone. The rush of power that washed over me was so intense it was painful, burning through my veins.

  It was over quickly, though, and I went to loot the other two crabs. Those were a pair of Stamina stones, one tier five, the other tier four. They were just what the doctor had ordered. I absorbed the tier four first, which merged with an existing Stamina crystal, and then the tier five as well. The whole mess merged together again, giving me a tier seven Stamina crystal as well, and an empty socket to boot!

  I filled that slot with all the Agility stones I’d gathered, giving me an instant tier four. It was more than enough for me to call the battle a success. Not only had I stopped the enemy force from breaking through a weak spot in the police lines, but I’d grown substantially more powerful. I had a hunch if I needed to pick up two girders again, it wasn’t going to be a problem next time.

  I quickly looted the nearby dead lobsters. They’d mostly been tier one, but there were three Ice Blast stones, two Will stones, a Natural Armor crystal, and a tier two one I hadn’t seen before—Water Breathing. That one sounded like it might come in handy, too. None of them were useful at the moment, though, so I tucked them away in my pocket with the others.

  Magical Stones

  Point 1: Clear Stone (Tier 7) - Strength

  Point 1, Second Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 7) - Stamina

  Point 1, Third Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 5) - Agility

  Point 1, Fourth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 4) - Agility

  +

  Point 2: Yellow Stone (Tier 4) - Flight

  +

  Point 3: Grey Stone (Tier 6) - Natural Armor

  Point 3, Second Ring: Grey Stone (Tier 5) - Natural Armor

  Point 3, Third Ring: Grey Stone (Tier 2) - Regeneration

  +

  Point 4: Clear Stone (Tier 4) - Will

  +

  Point 5: Clear Stone (Tier 1) - Strength

  Spare Stones

  Clear: Strength (Tier 1) x1, Charisma (Tier 2) x1, Will (Tier 2) x1, Will (Tier 1) x2

  Yellow: Lightning Bolt (Tier 3) x1, Air Elemental (Tier 2) x1, Gust of Wind (Tier 2) x2

  Blue: Ice Blast (Tier 2) x1, Ice Blast (Tier 1) x3, Water Breathing (Tier 2) x1

  Grey: Natural Armor (Tier 1) x1

  I took off and flew high enough that I had a good view of the streets to the southeast. The nearest enemy troops were very distant. The lobsters who’d fled were already a couple of blocks away and moving fast back toward the water. More of their troops waited there, including a few crabs, but they looked like they were holding position rather than advancing.

  This area looked like it was clear, for the time being anyway. But the sounds of battle from the northeast were loud enough to hear even at a distance, and it didn’t look like the battle was going well for our side there, either. I turned and flew toward the Cambridge Street fighting as fast as my Flight power could bring me there.