“Then you can stay behind and sleep. Don’t forget to block the door,” James shrugged. He felt this was the time to strike. He had had enough of following people's orders. From now on, he would follow his own intuition. Of course, the group didn’t want to stay behind. Grumbling, they prepared themselves to follow James.
As he ventured onto the deck inside the ship, his ears picked up another movement behind the door. A nice map of the ship was laid out on the wall. Looking at it, he found out that he was currently on the 14th deck, just a deck below the topmost one. According to the map, beyond the door was a hall that extended to more than three decks.
As James stared at the map, the door opened, revealing another humanoid octopus. This time, the octopus wore better clothes. A white shirt coupled with black trousers, a black vest, and a pirate hat adorned him.
The slime the octopus exuded ruined the nice shirt it had. James, who had lived in dungeons for so long, couldn't care less about physical appearance. However, Kaina, who followed behind, was visibly disgusted at the wriggling tentacles the octopus man had.
The corridor was narrow. Learning from his previous mistake, James sheathed his sword and decided to only use his axe. The bipedal tentacle monster grinned as it shot its tentacle toward James. James was about to slash it apart, but he remembered that Chimera couldn’t take damaged body parts. So, he formed ice spears while his left hand grappled the slimy tentacle.
“Shit!” James cursed as he couldn't grip the tentacle properly. However, he knew the reverse wasn't true. The tentacle slithered onto his shield and held it tight. James could feel that the tentacle was pulling him. James was confident in his strength. Even with his dominant hand, he was supported by his levels and new class.
The tentacle man widened his eyes. His usual tactics of disrupting the enemy's posture and striking him afterward were not working. Just from this exchange alone, it knew it wouldn't win even in a sword fight.
However, this was not a mere mob. He was a real pirate. Apart from his tentacles and cutlasses, he had two other trump cards: his ink and his gun.
Since James didn't budge when he pulled him, he decided to use his ink. He didn't spray his ink with his mouth; instead, using another tentacle that functioned like a hose inside his mouth, he slithered it out and spurted black ichor at James’s face.
James knew an ink attack would come and shielded his face with an ice shield, like wearing safety goggles. The method he used against the corrosive rats worked again. However, he didn't expect a gun to come into play. A gunshot rang out as a flash of a round bullet homed in on James.
James raised his shield. The crab shell was part of James’ body, so even though the bullet didn’t penetrate it, he could still feel pain shoot through it. Nevertheless, the shield held on. The 90% physical resistance was no joke. It wasn't as powerful as the original, but James was glad to have it.
Now, it was James’ turn to shine. He leaped forward while raising his axe overhead. He roared as his axe embedded itself in the pirate’s head. Blue blood spurted from it, bathing James in a pungent odor.
[Congratulations! You have obtained 30 coins! Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 13!]
Would you like to modify your body? Y/N]
[Available Body Part:]
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Mollusk Pirate’s Ink Sac (Skill: Ink Spray) (Extra Slot)
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Mollusk Pirate’s Siphon (Skill: Ink Spray) (Extra Slot)
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Mollusk Pirate’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 3 meters, Negative Trait: STR -30%) (Extra Slot)
“Yes!” James pumped his fist when he found out that he could grab its tentacle. However, the ink spray made him tilt his head.
“System, why does this octopus have two skills of the same name?”
[The mollusk pirates shot their ink through a hose called the funnel or siphon. The organ worked in pairs. Thus, to use the ink sac efficiently, Survivor James also needed the siphon.]
“I see. Well, forget it. I don’t want it anyway.” James shrugged. Now, it was the tentacle arm. He wanted it. However, his extra slots were full. The spinneret and her water magic core were a definite no. That left him with his shield and his gills.
“System, does this octopus have gills or lungs?”
[Yes. The mollusk pirates have lungs. However, since Survivor James already has lungs of his own, we decided to exclude that from the list.]
“Can its lungs breathe in water like sahuagins? Why don’t you tell me? I can free my extra slot.” The system’s answers threw James out of the loop.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
[No. Its lungs cannot breathe in water. And thus, it can drown.]
“What the heck.” James widened his eyes at the absurd information. However, he knew better than to question the system. James reminded himself that this was another world. The rules were different, and he must prepare if the creatures here behaved differently than on Earth.
Back on topic, James further asked the system about the tentacle arm that he was so interested in. Since the tentacle had ‘arm’ in its name, he thought he could use weapon skills with it. However, the answer that came to him made him disappointed.
[Survivor James couldn’t use weapon skills when using the tentacle arm. However, you could grab nearby objects up to 3 meters away.]
“Well, that’s a bummer." James also noticed that the Chimera somehow nerfed the parts that it plundered from the corpses. Nevertheless, human arms were usually 50–60 cm long. However, this tentacle could reach up to 3 meters. It was still short compared to the frog, but James still wanted it.
After deep thought, James decided to cast out his gills for the tentacle arm. James wanted that tentacle arm. Ever since he saw it, he thought he could use it to grab his crossbow, grenade, or pistols. In addition, he could use this tentacle to grab the weapons that he dropped on the ground. James certainly could use the extra hand.
[Where would you like to place your Mollusk Pirate’s Arm Tentacle?]
“On the back, please. It can extend or bend in whichever direction, right?”
[Yes.]
Dark motes of light swirled around the octopus and started to consume it.
“Hey! The corpse is disappearing!” Sanders exclaimed. James suddenly realized that he was not alone anymore. He then calmed them down with a hand gesture.
“It’s my skill. Don’t worry. My skills can plunder monsters' parts and make them my own,” James said. He decided to trust them. Well, not fully. As long as he kept secret what parts he stole from the enemies, he would still have trump cards if worse came to worst.
“A tail is coming out from your back!” Kaina yelped.
“Tail?” James imagined a tentacle growing out from his back. Instead of a tentacle, a furry tail came out. Chimera used the skin of his Firefur for the tentacle, making it have the appearance of a tail instead of the slimy mollusk. However, it was more elastic than a normal tail; it could wiggle, extend, and even contract itself.
After confirming that his new tail worked as expected, James opened the door to the hall. He was at the top deck, on a gallery leading to the huge hall of the luxurious cruise ship. There, a familiar crab that James had seen on the fourth floor was standing together with another octopus man. The bipedal octopus growled as it pointed its cutlass at him. Using its tentacle, it latched onto the railings and leaped toward Anderson.
James frowned as the bipedal mollusk aimed at the three stooges instead of him. A golden glow shone from Kaina’s spear as she charged toward the octopus man. Despite their low level, Kaina, Anderson, and Sanders had undergone training and received advice from Kouki and Andrew. Kaina had personally seen how Kouki fought off monsters and even bosses.
The octopus was thrown back to the first floor. James frowned as he saw the bipedal monster rise up like it was unharmed. Sanders and Anderson came in and unleashed their weapon skills at the tentacle that was gripping the fence. A purple light flashed when Sanders missed the tentacle by a slight margin and hit the fence instead.
The beast roared. James equipped his crossbow while throwing his axe to the back. The new tail he had was already put to good use. Not only did it make grabbing his crossbow quicker, but it could also put the axe he dropped properly on his back.
“Watch out! That guy has a gun!” Anderson warned, and the group jumped for cover, but James didn’t. He was not one to chicken out and run before the enemy.
The octopus reached out for its gun. However, the golden comet blew off its face before it could get a shot off. James was faster with his crossbow.
[Congratulations! You have obtained 30 coins! Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 14!]
“Thanks.” Anderson stood up and brushed off his clothes. “That was an impeccable performance.”
“You just lacked guts. And get more weapons,” James chuckled.
“I will keep that in mind. Hm… on that note, after we deal with the crab, may I take his gun?” Anderson pointed at the pirate’s gun. He didn’t expect James to agree, but he did.
“Alright. As long as you don’t use it on me, I don't mind.” James went for the stairs to meet the crab. He had dealt with this kind of crab before.
“Of course! What are you saying?” Anderson said, feeling offended. James never liked him, and his words felt like they were laced with insincerity and lies to him.
“It was just a joke.” Sanders elbowed him. He then followed him to the stairs. “Anything you need?”
‘Nah. I have met this kind of enemy on the fourth floor. You just need to flip him over and crush it from the belly. Did you guys miss this one?”
“We also met them. But since they were slow, we chose to avoid them. They also didn’t chase us,” Sanders said while following behind James like a duckling.
As usual, James used his ice magic to lift one side of the crab. He thought about using his axe to give the final push to flip it over, but a thought flashed through his mind.
He decided to give his new tail a go. Three meters seemed short, but it was still longer than either his sword or axe. He didn’t put much faith in it since the system told him that it had a STR penalty, but it worked wonders.
A golden glow shone from his axe and crashed into the crab’s belly, ending its life.
[Congratulations! You have obtained 20 coins! Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 15!]
“So, anyone want crab meat?” James grinned as he faced the team.
[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 42
Coins: 280
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STR: 138 (↑2)
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DEX: 134 (↑3)
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MAGIC: 89 (↑3)
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MANA: 900 (↑20)
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Novice Axe Mastery Level 4 (Powerstrike, V-slash)
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Beginner Sword Mastery Level 7 (Hurricane)
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Beginner Bow Mastery Level 7 (Quickshot)
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Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1
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Mind Flay
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Sense Alteration
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Mana Sonar
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Attacker (Level 15) (10% bonus when attacking, STR & DEX +1 per level) (↑1)
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Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
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Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
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Orc’s Left Arm (STR +10%) (Arm Slot)
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Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
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Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
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Ratking's Legs (STR +25%) (Leg Slot)
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Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
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Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
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Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
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Orc’s Head (Head Slot)
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Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
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Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
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Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
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Mollusk Pirate’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 3 meters, Negative Trait: STR -30%) (Extra Slot 3)
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Rock Crab Shell (Physical Resistance +90%) (Extra Slot 4)
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Land Shark's Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters) (Ear Slot)
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Leather Armor Set (+10 DEX)
- Lightning War Axe
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Longsword
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Crossbow (x12)
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Waterspout Dagger
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Mask of Identity
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Leather Bag
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Sphere of Fethusiane
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Cloak of Dark Night
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Thompson Center Contender (x2)
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Frag Grenade (x1)
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Flashbang (x1)