After going into the sea, I met the witch.

The cave was dimly lit, and it was only a dozen or so steps to the end.

Before Ryan lay a spacious grotto, where light streamed in through the cracks in the stone ceiling, casting a soft glow.

Ryan immediately spotted the giant beach crab in the corner of the cave.

It was stuffing some kind of unknown algae into its mouth with its two pincers, and the wound on its abdomen was still bleeding, but much slower than before.

Clearly, the wound will heal in time.

After feeding for a while, the beach crab found a relatively damp spot, cautiously looked around, and once it was safe, prepared to rest.

Seeing this, Ryan suppressed his emotions, hid around the corner, and waited quietly.

After a short while, the bulging eyes of the beach crab gradually shrank back.

This is a symbol of a crab sleeping.

it's time!

Ryan held his breath, longsword in hand, and approached slowly.

One step, two steps...

Perhaps due to injury or exhaustion, the beach crab was sleeping soundly and did not react at all until Ryan came to it.

Moreover, because it was lying prone, the injured area on the crab's abdomen and navel was concealed, making it inaccessible to Ryan.

Seeing this, Ryan's eyes hardened, and he thrust his longsword mercilessly into one of the giant crab's retracted eyes.

"Pfft!"

The sound of the lens being pierced rang out, and the sleeping beach crab was awakened by the intense pain. It instinctively swung its pincers, but Ryan, who was prepared, stepped back to avoid the sweeping pincers, and then turned and ran without hesitation.

Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet.

The beach crab, now with only one eye remaining, chased after Ryan relentlessly.

The two fled and chased each other, and soon ran out of the cave and came to the beach under the heavy rain.

Ryan kept a close eye on the beach crab behind him. Because it hadn't entered its "berserk state" with its body covered in red veins, and was also injured, the beach crab wasn't very fast, and its speed was basically the same as his.

"Rumble..."

Lightning snakes danced in the dark clouds.

After chasing for over a hundred meters, the beach crab gradually slowed down.

Ryan noticed that the wound on its navel, which had been healing, reopened due to the violent movement, and blue blood flowed out again.

The massive blood loss caused the beach crab to reach its lowest point ever.

After chasing for another ten meters or so, the beach crab stopped and turned around.

It also realized that if it continued to chase, it would likely be the first to die.

How could Ryan possibly let go of his prey once he had it in his grasp?

He turned and began chasing the giant crab on the beach.

At this moment, the roles of hunter and prey are completely reversed.

Ryan did not approach rashly, but kept a distance of twenty meters from the beach crab, which was neither too close nor too far.

He runs away as soon as the beach crab tries to turn around and chase him, and he chases after the beach crab as it runs away.

The beach crab, whose blood loss was becoming increasingly severe and whose condition was deteriorating, was furious but helpless.

Finally, after running 300 meters, the beach crab collapsed weakly on the sand.

Ryan used the stones he had picked up along the way to throw forcefully at the fallen beach crab.

"call out--"

The whooshing sound triggered a reaction from the beach crab, which raised its pincers and flung the rock away.

This action also exhausted its last bit of strength.

Faced with the stones that were subsequently thrown, it no longer had the strength to resist.

Ryan stepped forward, stabbed the longsword into another eye of the beach crab, and stirred it forcefully a few times.

The beach crab twitched a few times before falling silent.

A few seconds later, a gray notification popped up in front of Ryan's eyes.

-

[Level]: 1 (7%)

[Spiritual Value]: 100

-

The level increase gave Ryan a comfortable feeling of being immersed in warmth, and even the fatigue in his body and mind was relieved a bit.

At the same time, Ryan also felt that his body had become stronger.

He couldn't determine exactly how much stronger he had become because there was no testing.

Slumped to the ground, letting the raindrops drip down his face, Ryan burst into laughter.

"Haha...hahahaha..."

"It's so... exhilarating!"

Perhaps this is the life he truly yearns for deep down.

“Sasa…”

The soft sounds came from all directions, and Ryan's face froze as he saw one giant beach crab appearing in front, behind, left, and right, reflected in his eyes. He could no longer smile.

……

On the vast sea, a sailing bamboo raft drifts with the waves.

Ryan opened his eyes and covered his forehead in discomfort.

"damn it!"

He couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath.

During his travels, although he leveled up to level 1 after killing the beach crab, he was in poor condition and could not resist for long when faced with the attack of four beach crabs that appeared later. He was caught in the claws of one of the beach crabs and his clone died tragically.

The price of returning from death was that his mind became weak and his head was spinning.

After a long while, Ryan, feeling a little better, rubbed his forehead.

Feeling his body had become noticeably stronger, a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

His relentless hunting of giant beach crabs throughout his travels was not in vain.

After the initial joy, Ryan couldn't help but sigh.

Compared to the extent to which the clone becomes stronger, the main body seems to only experience one-fifth of the effect.

"A promotion is a good thing."

That was the only way he could comfort himself.

Looking at the attribute panel, Ryan was surprised to find that the value in his [Spirituality] column had changed from "0" to "0.1".

"What exactly does 'spirituality' mean?" he pondered.

Ryan shook his head and lay back on the raft.

He is still very weak and needs rest.

When I woke up, several hours had already passed.

Ryan sat bored on the raft, staring blankly at the sea.

He stretched out his hand, feeling the slightly more humid air as the sea breeze passed through his fingertips, and his expression turned somewhat grim.

The skill 【Navigation (Beginner)】 tells him that it will rain in a while.

This was undoubtedly terrible news for him.

In the wind and rain, the raft beneath him had a very high probability of capsizing.

Time passed slowly, and the clear sky gradually turned gloomy.

……

A three-masted sailing ship sailed on the sea, its hull remaining stable even in the heavy rain.

At the bow, two slender figures stood proudly, while behind them on the deck, dozens of pirates knelt on the ground, heads bowed, not daring to look at the two, their eyes filled with fear.

"Cecilia, what do you think we should do with these guys? Chop them up and feed them to the sharks, or just kill them?"

Her voice was clear and melodious, but the content of her words made the pirates on the deck tremble.

The person being questioned was a young girl wearing a light chainmail suit that accentuated the curves of a female leopard's lithe figure, with a slender sword at her waist.

Just as the girl was about to answer, suddenly, her eyes flickered, and she looked towards a certain spot in the southeast direction.

"It sounds like someone is calling for help?"

Chapter 5 [The Black Rose]

With the help of two men dressed as pirates, Ryan struggled to climb onto the deck using a thick rope. As soon as he got on the ship, he couldn't help but vomit a few mouthfuls of seawater.

The weather at sea is truly unpredictable; one minute it's cloudless, and the next it's pouring rain.

The surging waves were far beyond what his small canvas raft could withstand.

Stumbling and falling in the waves, he was eventually swept away by them.

Fortunately, the "Descendant of the Vikings" attribute granted him exceptional swimming skills, and even more fortunately, in his moment of despair, he spotted a three-masted sailing ship in the distance.

……

After spitting out the seawater in his mouth, Ryan, whose breathing had calmed down, finally raised his head and looked around.

The scene that came into view made him pause for a moment.

Under the torrential rain, dozens of pirates knelt on the deck, and even the two pirates who had just pulled him up with ropes knelt back down on the deck.