Lakeside (2)
Heading down along the river, I didn't run into any dangerous animals. Rivers usually attract all sorts of beasts, but maybe it was the fierce current or the golden frogs—nothing showed up. That said, it wasn't like I saw zero animals. Every now and then, I'd spot some small ones.
Is this a lizard?
YasaengGrill (pic of a ridiculously huge lizard)
What species is this thing? The size is no joke?
Of course, "small" by Four Seasons Forest standards. The lizard bolted the second it saw me. Dodging a fight is great and all, but curiosity's curiosity, so I asked the Gallery.
└Cheonma What a tremendously large lizard. How about catching it to eat?
└YasaengGrill Good idea, but it ran off.
└Cheonma Hm. It must have instinctively fled upon sensing your strength.
└YasaengGrill Nah, doesn't seem like it lol;;
└Olfather Judging by its appearance, it's an iguana. It's grown quite large due to the Four Seasons Forest.
└YasaengGrill Herbivore?
└Olfather Yes. No need to be wary since it's a herbivore. Still, given its size, stay cautious.
└YasaengGrill How's it taste?
└Olfather It'll taste like ordinary meat. What a shame. Should've caught it instead of snapping a pic.
But regrets come quick and hit hard. Shoving aside my disappointment, I kept moving. Drip, drip, drip—following the river, the current slowed bit by bit. The river widened too, so this must be the downstream area. No twisted spaces or sudden environmental shifts along the way.
Screeeeech—except for the massive mosquitoes buzzing around. At first, I thought my depth perception was off. But when one thrust its needle-like proboscis at me, I realized it was a monster.
Clang! In a panic, I barely blocked with my shield. The golden shield was dented from the muscle mushrooms, but still plenty useful. The moment I blocked, I whipped out the sword from my left waist.
Shing! I swung at the mosquito the size of my head. Its bulk made it slice clean in two. Watching it flop on the ground, I couldn't help but stare in disbelief.
Am I in a dark fantasy world or what? I shook my head. Better to chalk it up to this forest being weird. But one worry nagged at me. If mosquitoes are this huge... what about bees? Swarms of head-sized bees attacking? The thought alone was nightmare fuel.
Thank god there's no hive near the cave. With that in mind, I stepped past the corpse. A few paces later—rustle! A sound from behind. Every little noise had me on edge, so I whipped around, shield up.
Scamper, scamper! The iguana from earlier, chomping the mosquito carcass in its mouth, fleeing at top speed. I gawked at it vanishing. This place was impossible to get used to.
Bet there are even weirder things out there. How much freakier could it get? Looking forward to it, in a twisted way. I trudged on silently along the river, sword at the ready for an instant counterattack.
How far did I go? Felt like at least an hour, but nothing noteworthy popped up. Splash! The fish were the only highlights—massive ones leaping occasionally. Might've been my imagination, but way bigger than what I'd caught. Downstream with calmer waters meant more fish habitat.
Could set up basket traps here...Whoosh! I'd just had the thought when something surged from the downstream river—not quite a whale, too big for a fish. Pitch-black body radiating sheer menace.
Splash! It dove back in, spraying water everywhere. I could only gape.
...Whales in the river too? Urge to head back surged. I could handle most beasts, but not that. Still, I wanted to check the river's end, so no quitting now. Tense as hell, I pressed on downstream.
"Ha. Holy shit." A sigh burst from deep in my chest—pure exasperation.
"Is this a sea or a lake?" At the river's end stretched a vast lake. Or... not quite. Incredibly shallow for a lake. Crystal-clear water revealed the bottom perfectly.
Stamping 'no escape' right on my hopes. My resolve cracked a bit. Sighing, I posted to the Gallery. Feeling down, needed some reactions.
Found a pretty lake!
YasaengGrill (pic of the expansive lake)
River led to this lake. Pretty, right? How do I escape lololol
└Cheonma What a beautiful vista. Makes this lady want to row out a boat and recite a poem.
└YasaengGrill Teacher?
└Cheonma Is there a problem?
└SwordTasteStar Read the mood. Does Grills have the luxury to drag a boat around?
└Cheonma Hm. Quite so. This lady apologizes. The scenery momentarily entranced me.
└YasaengGrill No worries. Happens to the best... lol
└Anyway, it really is pretty lol
└Gotta paint this.
└Lake's got a lot of rocks.
└Depth looks super shallow?
└Yo, what's that faint thing at the far end? Looks massive?
└Just a rock?
└Grills, it's hot—dive in to cool off go go
└YasaengGrill Too shallow, I'd crack my skull;;
└Lake but shallow? Sure it's a lake?
└YasaengGrill Beats me. Too big for a pond, too shallow for a lake.
└Usually that's a swamp.
└YasaengGrill Lots of gravel, not a swamp.
└PassingDwarf Your boots holding up? Combat boots a must to cross that.
└YasaengGrill That's what I'm pondering. Don't wanna overload you with requests, so thinking of asking someone else.
└PassingDwarf Yeah, shoes ain't my forte. Plenty of humans better than me at it, excluding kin.
YasaengGrill Guess I need boots later too. I'd mentioned clothes but overlooked shoes. Crucial for all this walking. Wanted to ask the dwarf, but as I said, too dependent. He advised finding a specialist for shoes anyway.
Never thought I'd crave combat boots outside reserves. Life's unpredictable. But beyond boots, waterproofing mattered most here. Prolonged wet feet meant illness and swelling.
No rubber in auctions... Tough it out today? Dilemma: push on barefoot-wet or head back? Returning was fine, but felt like quitting too soon. Not a dead end yet.
Alright. Could build a raft, so scout a bit more. Any deeper water, and I'm out. Nodding, I skirted the shallowest edges. Circling the lakeside, but progress nonetheless.
This way, I could bypass the lake no boat needed. Seemed possible to reach the other side. Puddles soaked my shoes unavoidably. Alert as ever, walking—
"Grrruk."
"Grrk. Grrk."
"Huh?" Weird noise. Right ahead. Big rocks clustered together. Didn't take long to realize they weren't rocks—they were alive.
Crabs? Why crabs here? Sidewalking crabs. Bigger than lobsters—torso-sized. Antennae eyes twitching, claws clicking. I approached cautiously. They ignored me, busy with claws.
"...Fish?" Fish corpses. Crabs were scavenging them. Heard crabs clean up, sure. But why fish bodies here?
Shallow water, hard to swim. Bad luck? Snap a pic first, ID the species. Posted the feasting crabs to Gallery.
Anyone know the species? (pic of crabs chowing down)
Spotted crabs eating by lakeside. Torso-sized. Know what kind?
└Crabs in a lake too?
└Yeah, they're adaptation pros. Water = home.
└Crabs are tasty af.
└Look normal, grill 'em?
└Olfather Edible gaper crabs. Normally fist-sized.
└YasaengGrill Parasites inside?
└Olfather Nothing survives fire. Don't eat raw.
Perfect. Grab one on the way back. Shell not too tough? Stabbed experimentally with Cheonma's sword.
Crunch! Clean pierce through the carapace. The impaled crab flailed claws and legs. Others kept eating, unconcerned.
Cheonma's sword lives up to hype. Never doubt. Shook it off; crab hit ground, flipped, twitched a bit. Fleeting guilt.
"Grrruk."
"Grrk. Grrk." More crabs gathering—around the pierced one. Watched curiously. They encircled it, raising massive claws.
Crunch! Crackle! Claws smashed the flipped kin. Shell shattered with each blow. It stopped twitching. Dead. Now kin's meal.
"..." Nature's brutal. Shook my head, moved on. Lakeside crawling with them—all similar. Lakes usually teem with variety; odd uniformity.
How'd crabs conquer the lakeside? Strong claws, but weak overall. Pondering, bumped into a huge rock—bigger than me. Oddly protruding, but detour easy.
"Grrk."
"Huh?" Rock made a noise—like the crabs. Stared suspiciously. Rumble— Legs sprouted from beneath. Giant claws on sides. Already huge rock now towering—I had to crane my neck fully.
"Grrk. Grrruk."
"..." Antenna-eye locked on me. I backed away slowly. Rock—no, mega-crab stared, then shuffled legs. Whew, turned away. Lost interest.
...Wait. Don't crabs sidestep? Exact thought—
Whoosh! Massive claw plummeted toward my head. Reminder: crabs are "cleaners." Meaning omnivores.
BOOM!
"Argh!"