We all woke up stiff and sore, sleeping on the sand and gravel of the tunnel was not the most comfortable thing. We quickly got packed up and ate the first of the dried rations. They were best described as dry.

“Well guys, let’s get this done,” I said as we walked into the cavern. “The only plan I can think of is to make use of the environment. If you guys can grab some big rocks and fly up I will be an aggro magnet and when I am being chased you fling the rocks at the enemy. What do you think,” I asked?

Sebastian looked doubtful and said, “One or two rocks might not be enough, and you had best be ready to defend yourself.” I nodded, he was right this might be the toughest level yet. I just did not have any other plan, without a tank to be a meatshield we had no choice but to try to improvise.

“A lot will depend on what attacks you,” Komhether spoke with a serious tone. I nodded, it might be crazy or it might be easy. I would guess more crazy than easy, but I was feeling grumpy from sleeping on the ground. As the guys each grabbed two fair sized rocks and then took off I positioned myself on the path and slowly began to walk.

The path zigzagged but in a roundabout way, it led inwards towards the mound at the far end. As I walked down it I suddenly saw the sand beginning to roil on my left side. Stopping I observed a crab, this one about two feet tall emerge, its eyes rotated rapidly until they focus on me.

With a rush, it began to move towards me the two claws raised up and opening and closing with a snap. I turned and began to run backwards with the crab following. After a few yards, I spun around in time to see the guys throw the rocks at the crab. It abruptly stopped and wheeled around looking upwards at the two figures who had managed to pull aggro. I noticed that the rocks had not done any visible damage to the crab.

Quickly casting lightning I hit the crab hard with bolts of electricity. It was temporally frozen, it's muscles locked tight. I yelled at the guys, “Change of plans land and flip him over then stab him with the tridents in the belly, it is the only area not armored.”

I began to run back towards the crab as the guys landed and watched as they each grabbed a claw and threw the crab on it’s back. Then grabbing the tridents they thrust them into the soft underside of the crab causing it to spasm for a minute and then die.

“Man that thing moves faster than I thought,” I said. Sebastian nodded and said, “That was closer than I liked, it would have caught up to you soon. It is a good thing that you stunned it with your lightning attack or that crab would have been eating tasty elf.”

“I agree, it was to close but the end result was good, once stunned and flipped over it was an easy kill. Let's try another and if it works we will continue on killing the buggers,” I said. The next attack went as planned and we soon had a second kill. Komhether suggested that he would yell when I should turn around and cast lightning, and then they would land and flip the crabs. It gave me an added measure of safety, and I appreciated that, watching a huge crab rushing at you to rip you into bits is a somewhat surreal experience.

The day wore on with the crab kills adding up and the timing becoming more tighter. At noon I called a rest, we had done most of the cavern with only a few patches of sand hiding crabs remaining. As we ate the dried bars we all tried to make the best of it but they tasted bland and were extremely dry. Sebastian spoke up and said, “With the smell of the sea hear my mind is on seafood. I wish we had some instead of these things.” I nodded I was hungry and not enjoying the rations much but it was what it was.

Komhether said, “I know of an Inn down at the docks where you can order fresh crab and fish caught that day. It is so good, it drives me crazy that all that food is so close and yet so far.” Lighting up three cigarettes I stared at my finger, the Dragon fire I used to produce the flame seemed stronger and hotter. I pointed this out to the guys and asked them what they thought. They both agreed that it seemed stronger and asked if any of my other spells happened to be increasing in strength?

Thinking about it I realized that I had noted that things were getting easier. After mentioning this to the guys Sebastian wondered out loud if it might have something to do with the buff that Gaiatoci had given me. The longer I spent in Topland the greater the potency of the buff he suggested.

I could think of nothing better to explain what was happening and we all fell silent smoking and relaxing. I glanced over at the last crab we had killed and thought it was such a waste of meat, any Inn would pay a fortune to have crab claws that size to serve. As I began to wonder if I could do a crab run once I had finished the dungeon I suddenly swore.

“Guys I have an idea, quick go crab those claws off that last crab we killed, I am going to grab some seaweed from some of the tidal pools we had past. Bring the claws here, I think we are going to be eating better very soon, I said.” Making my way to the nearest pool I reached in and grabbed handfuls of the thick seaweed.

Soon I had several large armfuls and began to carry them back to the lunch area. I dug a soft bowl shape in the sand and piled in the seaweed. The guys split the claws and then placed them on the seaweed. I stood a foot away from the seaweed and then holding up my hands I called forth Dragon fire.

As I watched the flames flickering above my hands I began to will the fire to be hotter and stronger, the flames responded after several seconds with an intensity that surprised me. I pointed at the pile of seaweed and crab claws and cast out the fire from my hands. It looked like two flame throwers spitting purple fire.

Within less than a minute the seaweed was dry and had ignited and the shell of the claws began to steam, with a satisfying smell of salty meat emerging. I reached into my bag and pulled out two of the four bottles of apple cider. Opening them I poured the contents into the cracked shells and listened to it bubble and gurgle as it hit the hot meat.

The smell was beginning to make my mouth water and by the look on the guys faces, they were smelling the lovely aroma of apple cider crab cooking also. Turning to the guys I said, “with claws this size this might take a while. Let keep an eye on the food so we don’t burn it.”

Seeing them nod I lit three smokes and we stood there waiting for the meat to finish cooking. Sebastian eventually thought that the meat was done and we could eat. The shells were too hot to touch but Sebastian was not bothered by the heat and pulled off three plate-sized pieces of the carapace. Then reaching into the claw he began to fill the plates with the meat.

As I sat and waited for the meat to cool I observed both Sebastian and Komhether stuffing themselves, the hot food did not bother them in the least. By the time, I began to eat my plate the guys had gone back to get more.

Sebastian spoke with his mouth half full of crab and said, “Torn this is the best meal, the meat is tasty and the apple cider mixed in with the little seawater gives it just the right amount of flavor. The only thing that would make it better would be a little butter.”

I nodded it was good, damn good. I remembered something about food always tasting better when you are hungry. That sure seemed to be true I thought as the guys went back for a third helping. They were beginning to waddle like a baby duck as they walked back to sit down.

Looking at them I asked, “Are you guys going to be able to fly after eating all that, I mean you had better loosen your pants or a button is going to pop off.” Komhether snickered and said, “We will fly, it is the takeoff that is going to be tough.” Sebastian and I began to chuckle at this, it was great seeing Komhether opening up and joking.

Once we had finally eaten our fill I looked at the leftover meat sadly, I hated to waste it but it would be impossible to take with us. We quickly made short work of the remaining crabs and I was happy to see that I leveled once again. We were finally standing in front of the mound with Krusty the king crab looking down at us. His claws were clicking and he was skittering back and forth.

As I took my first step up the path Krusty abruptly darted behind some rocks and hid. Calling out to the guys I asked, “Hey, what is he doing? I can’t see him anywhere.” There was silence for a minute and then Sebastian replied, “He is hiding, trying to dig under some rocks at the opposite end of the mound. It looks like he is afraid.”

I wonder why I thought as I stood there. Komhether suddenly yelled out, “He was looking at us the whole time we were killing the crabs but when we started cooking I noticed Krusty was acting a little strange. I wonder if we scared him and he thinks we are going to eat him.”

That he might be afraid seemed a little farfetched, but what if he was intelligent and could see what was coming. I was constantly amazed at the emotions and intelligence of the NPC within the game. It was possible that the crab was intelligence and could feel emotions.

“Change of plans,” I called out. Beckoning for the guys to land I started to think about what I had to do.

I did not want to kill an intelligent being that was trying to avoid me. The problem was I needed to finish the dungeon and the only way to do that was to defeat each level boss. I turned to the guys and asked what they thought. Komhether said, “We should kill Krusty, and finish the level. He is the level boss and the only way past is to defeat him.”

Sebastian stood for a minute overlooking the cavern and then turned and said, “Torn do you recall how you managed to get past me, get past all of us in the castle of six trials? You did not use force; you used empathy and your brains thinking your way past all of us. I think you should try to do the same here if Krusty does not want to fight then let's defeat him some other way.”

I nodded, I was not interested in fighting and killing, really it would have suited me more to have been sent to a summer camp that had a space MMO game. Now, of course, I would change nothing, this was home for me in a way that the real world had never managed to be.

“All right,” I said. “Let's try to do something other than wanton violence and killing. I somehow need to establish communication with Krusty to let him know that we are not going to kill him. How I can do that safely,” I asked. As I looked at Sebastian he smiled then shrugged, Komhether just looked disappointed.

“If I walk up to the top and just wait maybe I can get his attention, if he attacks I will run like hell back this way. Nothing else comes to mind,” I said. Shrugging my shoulders I slowly began to walk up to the top of the mound. Once at the top I could see the crab huddled behind some rocks, peering up at me. I found a stone large enough to sit on and began to wait.

After an hour, the crab was sitting in front of his pile of rocks staring at me, it was hard to say but I think he was curious about what I was doing. I was busy looking at my stats and trying to understand how my spells were increasing above my level.

My stats at level five with all the gear I had acquired now were,

Stats

Strength = 280

Agility = 280

Intellect = 85

Mana = 190

Health = 320

Speed = 280

I was pleased with what I saw, each increase was worth it. Closing the stat window, I saw that Krusty had crept up and was looking at me. For a crab, he had sad eyes and radiated a feeling of loneliness. As we stared at each other I felt a gentle tickle of something in my mind. Trying not to look startled I continued to look at the crab.

Suddenly I received a strong impression of loneliness and curiosity and fear. It was overwhelming for a minute but the strength of the emotions faded. The crab was using some sort of mental ability to communicate. It made sense, these were creatures that lived in sand and underwater, with no way to verbally communicate they seemed to have developed some sort of mental power, a psychic ability to share emotions and thoughts.

It amazed me as so much within the game did; it was just more than any developer would do. Focusing on the crab I thought happy thoughts at him. Peaceful thoughts about belonging and feeling secure. Thoughts I normally do not feel. As I began to relax the crab crept closer and finally rested against my leg, his powerful claws resting on the ground and his black eyes focused on me.

I gently reached down and gave him a scratch between the eye-pods. The damn crab began to gurgle and then moved his eyes so I could scratch him more. I suddenly had the feeling that Krusty wanted to stay with me, to leave this place with me. I mentally asked him if he wanted to leave and I had a brief flash of a white beach and swimming in the ocean.

“Alright Krusty, if you want to come you can but you must listen to me,” I spoke out loud, not sure if he would hear or understand. Seeing him nod I asked, “Can you understand me Krusty?” He nodded once again, the crab seemed able to understand me.

Thinking for a minute I addressed the crab, “Krusty will you follow me and listen to me, do what I ask when I ask you to? Seeing him nod I then asked, “Will you become my companion, I will not be your master but I will be your friend, what do you say?”

The crab tilted his head to the side for a minute looking at me, and then nodded. A window opened suddenly and I read,

Torn, you have gained a new companion pet; do you wish to bond with this creature?

Yes or No

Accepting, I became aware that I now had two more selections on my interface action bar. Summon companion and send companion to sleep. I looked at Krusty and said, “I am sending you off to sleep my friend, I will call you when I need you.” Seeing him nod I hit the sleep button and watched as he simply faded away.

He was gone in a second but both the buttons were still active and I knew I could call him back. Thinking of calling people back I called out, “Hey guys, you can come here it is all good. We are done this level.”

Sebastian came first and looking around he asked, “Where is Krusty, he is to big to hide?” I laughed and said, “I took your advice, and now I have a new pet companion. He is resting now, the poor guy, stuck in here dreaming of his beach and ocean. He was happy to join me.”

Komhether meanwhile was looking on in amazement, and asked, “So how did you capture him, how did you manage to trap him?”

I smiled and said, “I did not capture or trap him, I communicated with him, and he agreed to join me. I am not sure how many other people have a companion pet, but it is a pretty cool thing. I think he is going to be useful at some point.”

I looked around and saw the chest sitting beside the rocks Krusty had tried to hide behind. I walked over and opened the chest, not sure what to expect. Inside was a set of maces shaped like crab claws, the were blue items that had plus 20 strength on each one. Not what I wanted but they would sell at the Ah.

I observed that the entrance to the next tunnel was at the bottom of the mound, turning to the guys I asked, “What do you think should we stay here tonight or continue on and camp at the next cavern?”

Sebastian looked around and said, “let's stay here tonight, we can probably salvage some crab meat for supper, and with a little work, this mound will be a great place to sleep.” I nodded in agreement, one place was as good as the next, but the idea of good food was enough to keep me here for the night.

I suggested the guys gather some seaweed and crab meat while I worked on clearing the rocks from the sand and building a pit for the fire. It had been a good day, but I was ready to eat and rest.