"Just a bit more," I said, wiping the nonexistent sweat on my charcoal forehead. "I can already see the top."

I wasn't tired but the ascent was a dangerous trek. I even died once and had to run all the way back here—a location further east of the Scholar's Lodge—because I fell and rolled down jagged rocks. Learning my lesson, I now always had [Greater Pyro Shell] up in case I slipped again.

According to the Big M, this place used to be a wide ledge snaking up the mountainside to the entrance of a massive cave system where a large community of Mardukryons lived before the Great Quake. The pathway collapsed during that calamity, leaving an extremely rocky and steep terrain as if giants had played throwing rocks at each other.

The thick snow that blanketed everything made the climb harder because it was easy to slip and I couldn't discern what I was stepping on with all a blinding white.

Unfortunately, the light was getting dimmer with the sun setting. A smoldering orange hue tinged the sky but everything around me was already becoming dark because the shadow of the mountain fell on this side. There were only a few golden crystals in this area.

What would happen when night fell? A bright moon and a starry sky could provide illumination but I doubted if that was enough.

My guess was it would be like 'movie darkness' where viewers could still see what was happening even though there was technically no light in a scene. I'd be pissed if I needed a source of light like a torch to move at night.

Reaching my destination, I beheld a massive arch carved on the mountain's face

Parts of it had crumbled away during the Great Quake but I could still distinguish runic symbols as large as my body and even bigger carvings of the heads of monsters adorning it. It was wide enough to fit a three-story building through its opening—back when it had an opening.

The entire entrance had collapsed, now blocked by boulders.

Crab monsters squeezed through the gaps between large rocks filling the tunnel, having made it their new home after the Mardukryons living here were wiped out.

The [Lvl 10 Hermit Crabore] were about two-thirds the size of the Craggy variety. Mehubanarath told me that they were smaller mostly due to lacking the thick rock-like carapace of their relative. To protect themselves, I learned that they'd scavenge anything hard and durable they could find, from the shells of dead Craggy Crabores, to skeletons of other monsters, to sturdy items from the Mardukryon settlements inside the mountain.

And that included armors and shields.

Unlike the craggy ones, I noticed that the 'naked' Hermit Crabores had six human-looking hands lining their backs, likely used to hold in place any make-shift shell they cobbled together.

It was a simple matter of waiting for a Hermit Crabore with the gear I wanted and then killing it.

Simple, yes. But it might take some time for a shield to appear. The five Hermit Crabores wandering outside the archway were either naked or only had bones and pieces of wood on their backs. The next one that came out carried a broken axe blade and the skull of a large monster. A naked Hermit Crabore went inside the mountain through the same hole used by its brother.

And so, there were five of them again lounging by the rocks.

Making myself comfortable, I sat on a soft patch of snow, partially hidden from the Hermit Crabore’s view by a rock. I only had about an hour until I’d have to leave my apartment for a meeting with the lawyers processing the permits for our two new branches here in Egret City. A hassle, but I understood why the city wouldn’t accept electronic signatures for that type of document.

"Still nothing?" I said with a sigh as I closed my WeeCee. I took two phone calls and answered ten or so urgent emails but no shield-wearing Hermit Crabore had shown up.

As before, five Hermit Crabores were by the colossal arch. Three of them were the same from the time I came here; the other two were replaced by a different naked Hermit Crabore and another that had broken pottery as its crude shell.

Five?

That must be the limit of how many Hermit Crabores could be in this area at a time.

And every several minutes, they'd have a sort of 'changing the guards'—a new one would come out while another would go back inside. Essentially, it was a raffle draw of what equipment I'd get. That was if a piece of useable equipment even appeared. With no reference as to the chances of which item, or even none, was going to come out, I couldn't tell how long I'd have to stay here. This was a waste of time spent on leveling.

Unless there's a way to do both at the same time.

I ran up to the Hermit Crabores and hit them with stones. "Come here, you overgrown crustaceans!"

If the system only allowed a maximum of five monsters in this area, what would happen if I killed these guys? It'd be great if a new batch of five would appear carrying different items with them. And even if the next group wouldn't have anything useful to me, I'd just kill them—as well as the next, and the next, and so on—to level up while waiting for a shield.

Only the Hermit Crabore I hit scuttled towards me. I zigzagged a bit to keep away from it as I drew the aggro of the others. After I had all five angry crabs wanting to pummel me with their sledgehammer claws, I led them to the sloping area covered with jagged rocks. This was a time I wished my bulky bull lower body was a mountain goat instead—those guys could climb near-vertical cliff walls better than a human rock climber.

I may not have that much experience climbing, but I had descended rock ledges and cliffs dozens of times. My more than a hundred deaths achievement at level one was a testament to that. With my improved tankiness and the added protection of [Greater Pyro Shell], I could risk a higher fall onto much more dangerous clumps of rocks. I only had to make sure I didn't continue tumbling off sideways to the abyss on the left and die like what happened earlier.

Looking over my shoulder, I yelled, "Hurry up! You have ten legs!" As if understanding me, the Hermit Crabores hastened their pace, their thin legs stabbing down the thick snow, their heaving abdomens digging a furrow in their wake.

Confirming my [Ancestral Constitution] was maxed and [Greater Pyro Shell] was up, I leaped off the edge, aiming to land in between two Mardukryon-sized pointed rocks.

Boom! My shell exploded as my hooves hit the ground. Only a modest chunk was removed from my health bar. It was quickly filled by my quick regeneration and a dose of [Healing Touch].

I have to get out of the way, I urged myself as I clambered over the rocks, using my hands to keep myself balanced as my hooves struggled to find a stable foothold. The Hermit Crabores were going over the ledge soon and I didn't want to cushion their fall. I wasn't even certain they'd meet their demise this easily. If they didn't instantly die, they'd kill me if I was still here.

But there were no heavy thuds or crashing sounds that followed.

I turned around. "The fucking hell? Can you just be dumb like the Mirdabons?" I exasperatedly said, observing the Hermit Crabores slowly but safely navigating their way down the tiers of rugged rocks with zero damage taken. Their legs, including powerful claws for gripping, helped them immensely. With my genius plan up in flames, I decided to move on to my not so genius plan—just kill them the old-fashioned way.

I headed for a small patch of relatively flat ground and waited for the Hermit Crabores to come to me.

They didn't have a charge attack like their heavier relative, but they did some sort of a leap into a body slam. Fortunately, I had moved into a more open area so I had space to evade as they fell from the sky. Their normal attacks weren't that concerning. My shell and regeneration were enough for me to facetank a couple of Hermit Crabores—but there were five of them.

If I stood my ground, my [Greater Pyro Shell] would run out too fast before I could cast the next one. Without the shell, all damage directly ate away at my health; it was impossible for my regeneration and healing to catch up to the damage. I had to run each time and wait for the cooldown of my shell.

I carefully made my way back up to the towering arch while trying not to die to the monsters chasing me. Only more rocks waited for me if I went down. I'd probably get cornered somewhere there or make a mistake kiting and fall to my death. There was also more open space in front of the arc, littered with a few boulders that helped me kite better.

Kiting? I don't think kiting is normally used to refer to what I'm doing. It usually meant hit-and-run tactics by ranged characters, not allowing the monsters with shorter range to get close. In contrast, I was running away to wait for the cooldown of [Greater Pyro Shell] and also to heal myself.

Hermit Crabores weren't that fast despite their numerous legs. They couldn't catch up unless they did their leaping move. And after they landed, they'd pause for a few seconds as if reeling from the impact. Whenever this happened, especially if at least two were stunned by their own move, I'd facetank the others to deal more retribution damage.

The health bar of the Hermit Crabore without a makeshift shell went down the fastest, each blast from my popped shell taking a chunky portion off of it. And after a few minutes, it died.

[ Loot: 74 Artas, 2 Crab Legs, 1 Clump of Chitin ]

I stared with bated breath at the boulders blocking the cave entrance. Another Hermit Crabore came out. I ran over to it, its fellows on my tail, to draw its aggro as well.

I was right! As usual. Time to reroll these crabs.

After about five batches of Crabores, I finally found what I wanted.

Thatched Buckler | Item Level: 3

Common | Shield | Off-hand

32 Armor

20% Chance to Block 32 Damage

Head-On Block 75 Damage

Requires: 9 Might, 12 Vigor