A new day had arrived and Matt decided it was time he went to the docks to try and find a water mage who's magic he could absorb. He came up with the excuse that he wanted to see how the fishermen worked so he could follow his dad to the docks.
His father agreed to this saying it'd be nice for him to see how the different jobs around town worked. Once at the docks, his father introduced Matt to all the fishermen he has been working with, and explained what all their different jobs on the ship were.
"This, son, is 'The Salty Scale', finest fishing boat this town has ever seen." Matt's father said as he pointed dramatically at a large wooden ship, tied up at the end of the docks. "That's the ship we'll be working on today, first thing's first though, we gotta talk to the skipper, no one's allowed on the ol' Scale without his say so."
Matt follows his father into a large building full of fishermen getting ready for a hard day's work. Among the many fishermen was a tall dark man with long graying hair and big beard, Matt's father walked up to the man before starting to speak.
"Son, this is Ralph, he's the skipper of the Salty Scale. Ralph, this is my son Matthew, he was hoping to watch us work today, he's interested in working with fishermen in the future."
"Like father like son, eh Zack. sure, you've been a great help these past few months, I'd be happy to show your kid the ropes." Ralph shouted with a hearty laugh.
After about 30 minutes of preparation, the Skipper got up on top of a table and shouted "Alright everyone, let's get a move on, there's fishing to be done!"
After a lot of yelling and excitement, everyone made their way to the Salty Scale, ready for another day of fishing. Matt was surprised to see the fishermen using magic as soon as the ship left the docks. Immediately after the ship was released, wind mages began creating giant gusts of wind to push the ship ever forward. Once they had enough space, the water mages also started making waves to push the ship. As soon as he had the chance, Matt cast Magic Absorption on one of the big waves. There were so many waves that he didn't have to worry about anyone noticing him absorbing the magic.
| You have absorbed a new type of magic. Basic Water Control skill unlocked. |
As they made their way to a suitable fishing spot, the mages allowed the ship to slow down and come to a stop a great distance away from the shore. But the water mages didn't stop chanting, they continued to chant something that Matt couldn't understand and soon the water around the boat was completely still, it was as if the water was frozen in place.
The skipper finally came out and said in his normal booming voice" Alright everyone, this looks like a good spot, let's get to fishing. prepare the nets!"
As if by second nature, everyone began to move, perfectly in sync. Within seconds, 2 giant nets were hanging from the sides of the boat, ready to be dropped into the sea as soon as the command is given.
"DROP 'EM!" Shouted Ralph, and in an instant the nets were dropped and water mages started moving water into the nets, creating currents to lead fish into the fishing nets.
Seeing the fishermen using water magic motivated Matt to work on his water magic as well. For the next hour or so, Matt looked over the edge of the ship, using what little skill he had to move around a small amount of water.
As Matt was trying to create more complicated shapes with the water, the ship rocked suddenly, making Matt lose concentration and ending his spell. Matt looked around to see what was going on and saw a jet of water piercing through the hull.
"It's that damn crab again! no matter where we go it always finds us. Today's the day I slay the beast, or my name isn't Ralph Seastone!"
In an instant the once calm crew was scrambling around. Water mages were going below deck to pump out the water and fix the hole on the bottom of the ship. Air mages ran to the sides of the boat and were ready to attack as soon as the crab showed its head. Matt however had no idea what was going on, he knew there were dangerous creatures in the water, but he thought the chances of encountering one were slim to none since the bottom of the ship was covered in Hydroscales, making it invisible to any creature underneath.
Matt's assumptions were quickly proven wrong as a giant blue and black crab with many slash marks across its body popped out of the water. It's left claw was almost twice the size of the right one. It waved the claw in the air as if trying to frighten the crew of the ship.
As Soon as he saw it, Ralph ran to the side of the boat and shouted, "There's the bastard! aim for the big claw, that's its main weapon. We break the claw, we break the crab!" and immediately began throwing blades of wind at the crab's left claw. Every single attack met its mark, but the crab's exoskeleton was tough and only small shallow marks were made.
The crab put its giant claw underwater, and once more a jet of water tore through the ship. This time hitting one of the fishermen and tearing his hand clean off. Painful screams could be heard as the now one-handed fisherman realized what happened.
"Take it down fast, before it shoots again" Ralph shouted at his crew. All their efforts seemed to be in vain, however, as they had yet to do any real damage to the crab.
It looked like the battle would take far too long this way. The crab's exoskeleton was just too thick to cut through with simple wind blades and none of the crew were trained in combat. The ship would be destroyed before they even made a dent in the crab's exoskeleton. Matt quickly realized that they would either need one big concentrated attack instead of the many scattered small attacks they were currently doing. Or they needed to find a weak point, a gap in the proverbial armor, or maybe a literal gap in its actual armor. The Joint!
As soon as he realized what they needed to do, Matt yelled as hard as his lungs would let him "The claw is too thick to cut through, attack the joint to cut off the claw!"
Surprisingly, all the mages did as Matt instructed and focused their attacks on the joint that connected the claw to the rest of the arm. There was still no immediate response from the crab, but after a few seconds, flesh and muscle began to tear as the attacks had gotten through and began to do some real damage. As muscles tore and the tension on the claw was released. The claw let out one final jet stream before being torn off completely. Due to the crab's panic as it realized that it was in actual danger, the final jet missed the ship completely. The crab, not only having its main weapon, decided to flee before it could suffer any more damage. With that, the battle was finally over, and Matt received another message from the system.
| Your quick thinking and great battle tactics allowed your companions to defeat an overwhelming opponent. The System rewards you for this impressive feat. |
| "Combat Tactician" title unlocked. |
| Combat Tactician: You are a master of strategy. The longer you battle an enemy the more gaps you find in their defense. |