"Professor, for my dissertation project, I was planning on going to the Elemental Planes to research some of the native life forms."

"An admirable goal. Where exactly do you plan on going?"

"There's not alot of research done on the border of Earth and Water. I was thinking of starting my work there."

"I assume you have your affairs in order?"

"What do you mean?"

"You remember when you were a young adventurer and you went down to the beach with all the other adventurers and there were hundreds of crabs? You were told to kill them until you were level 10."

"Yeah."

"Great! Now imagine those hundreds of crabs can cover you in earth up to your neck while throwing icebolts at you."

"I'm going to pick somewhere else."

"Wise choice."

--Dissertation Recorded Interview, College of Elements. AC 1376.

After finishing my meal, I take a look at the combat logs to confirm a suspicion I have.

*********************************

You are in combat!

[Dungeness crab] attacks you for -10 HP!

Improvised Armor (sand) takes (8 HP) damage!

You have taken -2 HP damage!

[Dungeness crab] uses [Tackle]!

You are [Rooted]!

[Tackle] failed!

**********************************

"Ha! It worked!"

I had no way to test my sand armor, so I was going off of instinct. I'm glad to see that I wasn't too far off the mark. Though, it looks like it's not perfect.

Hmm.

"It probably depends on the toughness of the material."

I bring up some sand in my claw.

"I was holding it close and compact to my body, but maybe sand can only do so much?"

I let the sand fall to the ground.

"Rock would probably work better, but it'd be even heavier and harder to use. That and I can't really move a whole lot yet."

*sigh*

I let the moment of melancholy pass through me before banishing the thought.

"You'll get there Crabby! Step by step!"

Checking my status, I see that I'm fully recovered. Clambering to my feet, I turn on [Mana Sense] to look for the next illusion to pass through.

I see nothing.

My stalks scan the walls, as I walk around the perimeter of the room. The light gold shine of mana evenly covers the circumference of the circular space; the familiar discoloration of an illusion not appearing to my vision. Not finding anything, I start scanning the entire area, looking for a hint. It's not until I reach the very top of the roof that I see the portal to the next area.

"Ooof."

I was a ghost crab before. The coastal life was for me, and I embraced it. After all, it was the only thing I had ever known and I wasn't really good at the whole "thinking" part at the time. Funny thing about coastal crabs is that we can't actually breathe underwater. I didn't even have any body parts for swimming. I just had legs for days.

...

......

That's a weird phrase.

Anywho!

It wasn't until I evolved and I got my fancy new swimmerets that I could swim in the open water. Unfortunately, just because I can swim, doesn't mean I can swim well. I certainly can't swim covered in sand armor.

Sighing, I dismiss the concerns from my mind.

Here we go Crabby.

I jump from the floor and swim towards the entrance to the next area.

As I pass through the illusion, I'm on edge, spinning wildly in expectation of an imminent attack. I'm pleasantly surprised to find nothing rushing towards me, no enemies preparing to strike. What immediately grabs my attention are the surroundings. I find myself in a vertical shaft, gently illuminated with crossing bands of light. I see three sets before me; tapering off into the distance.

"This is new."

A sinking feeling erupts in my chest as I look at the maze of lights.

This... this feels like a trap.

I let myself sink back into the room I had just left, floating to the floor before engaging [Earth Manipulation] to make a stone. Crunching down with my will, the sand compresses; and I carry it next to me as I return to the shaft. I land on the wall, legs locking in to hold me in place.

My instincts are screaming at me to return to a horizontal orientation. The position I'm in feels very unnatural; I don't think crabs are designed to climb up and down vertical surfaces.

*sigh*

I send the rock ahead of me, letting it gently waft through one of the bands of light. My control over the rock breaks as a spear materializes from the wall, it's speed creating waves in the water as it pierces the rock and shatters it into pieces.

*gulp*

I couldn't dodge that.

I couldn't dodge that if I was horizontal and on land.

I couldn't dodge that if I was horizontal, on land and with a speed buff.

I couldn't dodge that...

No! Think Crabby!

There's gaps in the bands of light, dark places big enough for me to pass through. The problem is that there's also dark holes in the walls that I can't see into. My [Mana Sense] isn't showing me their contents either. I reach out with my will to the falling pieces of rock and gather them together. Reforming them, I send it ahead once more, threading through the light and near one of those dark holes.

A massive claw reaches out and shatters the rock in front of me.

*gulp*

The claw was about half the size of my body. If I got hit with that...

Best not to think about it.

The good news is that the holes are too small for whatever those things were to come completely through, it looks like only their claws can fit.

Alright, so I have to move vertically through the shaft of death, not crossing any lights that will immediately kill me and also dodging any attacks that will immediately kill me while also making sure that while dodging the attacks that will immediately kill me, I don't cross the lights that will immediately kill me.

*phew*

Piece of cake Crabby, you got this.

The other good piece of news is that I can see the end of the shaft. Estimating the distance... it's about a hundred, maybe two hundred Crabby lengths away.

I form a plan, imagining threading through the light as I plot a path. Swimming is right out, I can't move fast enough through the water for that to work; especially not vertically. And my [Water Manipulation] isn't to the point where I can use it to shuttle around.

I'll have to climb along the walls, piercing the rock with my legs to climb. At least I'll be able to take advantage of [Coast]'s secondary effect of faster actions where Earth and Water meet. Plan made, I grit my mandibles and raise my claw. I'm going to need everything I have for this.

"Sir."

"Sir."

"Sir."

"SIR CRABBY!!! HOOOOOO!"

'ding'

**********************************

**Sir Crabby's Music has been applied.**

**Effect: +30% increase to STR, DEX.**

**Effect: 1 minute remaining**

**********************************

Power surges in my body and I race upwards, aiming for the first dark space between the bands. The music pounds in my carapace as the rhythm informs my every step.

♫♫♫"Sir Crabby is on the move!"♫♫♫

♫♫♫"Sir Crabby is loose!"♫♫♫

I cross through the first gap, eyes scanning wildly for a claw coming to strike me unseen. Seeing that I'm clear, I continue racing upwards, time slowly ticking away. As I close in on the second band of lights, a claw erupts from the shadows; zooming towards my scrambling form.

I tuck my head low to the wall, feeling the claw miss me by inches as the current rips at my hold.

Gotta move! Gotta go!

Scrambling to the side of the claw, I continue upwards, clearing the second beams of light.

♫♫♫"Feel the magic, Fear the Claws!"♫♫♫

♫♫♫"Sir Crabby is loose!"♫♫♫

I'm running out of time, the buff more than halfway through. As I reach the third set of lights, two sets of claws erupt simultaneously from opposing sides of the shaft. I won't be able to dodge both them and the lights. Mind scrambling for a plan, I watch as the claws zoom closer to strike. Estimating their trajectory and the gap in the lights on the other side, I make my choice.

I leap from the wall, aiming not for the gap, but the other side of the shaft where it's still clear. As the claws intersect below me, I unleash a [Slice] with my pincers, using the rebound from the attack to accelerate my movement.

I land on the opposing side of the shaft and scramble through the last gap, body shaking in exhaustion as the music ends.

♫♫♫"Sir Crabby."♫♫♫

I clutch the wall, holding myself in place, safe for now. I see the end of the shaft and I can tell it opens up into air. It looks like the next portion of the dungeon is on land, which will be a nice change. I take a moment, letting my stamina regenerate as I hold myself still. Once I'm semi-recovered, I scan the final portion of the corridor and don't see any holes that the claws can come from.

Still cautious, I continue upward, moving slowly in case I missed something. I'm only five Crabby lengths away from open air when my instincts scream in warning. I freeze, trying to figure out where the danger is coming from. I see nothing, smell nothing, it's just me, the shaft and the water. Striving to determine what it is I sense, I realize what it is. The ambient mana levels had increased in this area. Activating [Mana Sense], I look ahead...

And see criss crossing bands of light.

"Oh... you sneaky dungeon you."

Gritting my mandibles, I move gingerly to the side. Having narrowly avoided death from the invisible trap, I crawl into open air.