Tunnel Rat

Chapter 327: Fish or Cut Bait

Milo sat and watched the chaos aboard Captain Pike's ship from above. He was staying out of the way, sitting at the edge of the road the Engineers had carved into the cliff face. He'd climbed up to the road, away from the water as the water nearest to him churned with enraged eels. The constant swarming of small eels around the docks had annoyed the Captain and distracted his crew. Twice more eels had jumped from the water to attack Milo, both of the fishy monsters only about six feet long but with sharp teeth. They couldn't surprise him any longer, and both times he'd slashed with his claws, taking off their heads with ease. They were currently cooking on the brazier and he was taking a break, chewing on the small eel that had been cooking when he arrived. Pike had stuffed it with onions, garlic, and a tangy sauce.

The larger eels were quickly butchered by the ogre and cut into two-foot segments. One went to his grill and the rest to his ship to be stuffed in barrels with salt. No ogre ever let food go to waste. Two sailors were told to gather up the guts and organs in a tub. "Take those tasty bits over to The Salty Mermaid and tell the cook I expect to have some tripe pies when I get back from fishing. Grab any of the lads drinking there and tell them to get their asses back to the ship, then check the other bars. We're going eel fishing, and damned soon."

Milo had tried a slice of fresh-roasted eel at the Captain's urging. He was surprised to find he actually liked the taste, even with just salt and pepper. Eel had a spicy-fishy flavor, and the meat was firm when cooked. It wasn't cheese or puffcakes by a long shot, but it wasn't bad. Told to stay away from the boat and out of the way of the crew, he rested, chewed on his chunks of eel, and finally took some time to look at his messages.

Oh, there you are! Welcome Back. Are we ready to get caught up with our paperwork before causing more trouble? You've been so busy lately; almost like you were burning the candle at both ends. I've gone to quite a bit of trouble to organize things for you. It's the least I can do for someone who reunited me with my loved ones. You've been moved from 'Dangerous Threat' up to 'Merely Annoying' status. Don't expect much from that, but I will hold my Snark down to 90% of normal.

Reminder: You have 18 unused Enhancement points earned for killing The Tunnel Tyrant.

Quest Reward (Rescuing Jeremy): The Goddess Mnemosyne has rewarded you 20 Enhancement Points for rescuing Dr. Jeremy Cooper. She requests that you visit her someday and tell her the epic tale in your own words. Icarus tried, and while she loved talking to each of his incarnations, his memories of the day were jumbled.

Quest Reward (Fixing the Dungeon You Broke): Wistyburble the Underodent rewards Sir Larry, Knight of the Jackalope, and Squire Squeak with 15 Enhancement Points each for fixing and improving her dungeon. She also approves of the proposed trade agreement between Hippityhop Hollow and Limburgher Hollow but leaves it to you to find the Trade Route.

Quest Reward (Knight of the Jackalope): Prince Leporidon, Knight of the Jackalope (retired), rewards his heir, Sir Larry, Squire Squeak, and his Brave Hound with one (1) Large Favor, 50 Enhancement Points, and Travel Papers bearing his mark that gives you the freedom to enter the Fae Lands. You are welcome in his castle at any time and encouraged to visit.

Quest Reward (The Cure for Bone Blight): Mama Laveau thanks you for curing the Bone Blight in one of her children and showing her how to cure others. She rewards you with 10 Enhancement Points and invites you to stop by Hungrytown anytime for a slice of pie.

Ares, God of War, has bestowed the Title of 'Godslayer' upon General Maximus and hopes to see him travel to this world again and bring him news of weapon developments in the 'Other World.'

You have gained experience in the following skills:

Diplomacy (CHR): 300 points.

Magi-Tech (INT): 6000 points.

Rune Carving (DEX): 1000 points.

Claws of Alta Viator (DEX): 1000 points.

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Tail-Fighting (DEX): 500 points.

System Rune Lore (INT): 2000 points.

Runic Casting (INT): 500 points.

Stealthy Skulking (WIS) 500 points.

Engineering (INT): 1500 points.

Manipulate Bone (WIS): 500 points

....and many more small gains. I'm sure you know how to use a character sheet at this point. OH! One more thing!

Ding! Ding!

Welcome to Level 13: You gain +100 Health, +100 Stamina, and +200 Mana.

Milo found it odd to be reading a System message after having met the person who was the personification of the System. Knowing what Llama had gone through he understood his snark and sarcasm. If anything Milo was surprised he wasn't twice as strange.

He longed to spend some time looking at all the options for spending his Enhancement Points and making a long-term plan, but he didn't have time for that today. Still, there were some things he knew he'd be getting that would help with what was sure to be a dangerous experience.

He spent 30 Enhancement Points to buy three points of Toughness and three points of Constitution. With Toughness adding +80 health per point, and Constitution another +50 health for each point, that was another 390 Health. His total increased from 6100 to 6690. He debated buying either Extra Health or Near Fiendish Regeneration. Buying Extra Health 2, 3, and 4 would give him +650 health for 30 Enhancement Points. But the next level of regeneration would put him nearly even with Larry and the girls. His gut told him to go with Near Fiendish Regeneration and he paid the 40 points for it. Extra Health could be purchased bit by bit. Buying the big abilities, especially abilities that most other players couldn't get, was more optimal. That left him with 43 points left to spend, still a considerable chunk. On a whim, he clicked on Hekate's blessing of Canine Speech. Better communication with his pet was important.

There were benefits to healing fast, especially for someone who got hurt as much as he did. Healing twenty-four times as fast would let him bounce back quickly from almost anything. If he was only down health, he would regenerate to full in an hour or less. More serious injuries would still take longer than health, but even a day would cure all but the worst injury. A secondary aspect was regenerating his bones. Some of his spells needed a bone to cast the spell, and if he didn't have one handy, the material came from him. His experience after the fight with the World Boss had taught him how horrible that was. He carefully moved down to where a crewman was cooking eel for Captain Pike and stole another large chunk. Regeneration made him hungry, so he might as well start the voyage full.

Pike seemed ready to go and was yelling for everyone to get aboard. Milo leaped from the back of the docks to the gunwale and then to the main mast, quickly climbing to the crow's nest. Pike saw him at the top and grinned. "Good thinking. No sense letting the eels smell you until we get out to the feeding grounds with the big ones."

Thoughts of 'big eels' made Milo clench his hands and manifest his claws. He'd been thinking defense. But these were eels! Captain Pike wasn't going to be fishing just to fill his belly. If there was something larger out there, the Monster Hunter would find it, and he should be ready. He threw points into the next level of bonus damage for Claws of Alta Viator. STR increased his claw damage as well, and while mining would help him raise his STR, an extra three ranks from Enhancement Points would help him today, and the extra 90 Health was a nice bonus. He'd ignored Extra-Stabby until now, thinking of it as more of an assassin skill and himself as an explorer. But today he was hunting eels, and a better chance at critical damage could make a difference.

With only a few points left, he looked at the water. His last points went into Breathless 2. If Pike went looking for something big with himself as bait, he calculated he had at most a 3% chance of staying dry.

Less than twenty minutes after Pike had decided to go hunting, the ship was pushing off of the docks and a longboat was pulling them out of the cavern. With the first hint of wind the foresail caught and the ship headed out into the deep bay. The two pirate ships were waiting for the fishing fleet that was coming into the bay and tightening their formation.

Milo began designing a Runic Formation while staring at the pirate ships and scanning the water for the sign of eels.