Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 119 The Heart of Mutation

At this moment, the newly appointed fish-man prophet Fingart entered the stilt house and, right at Richard's door, respectfully bowed and reported:

"Master, a mutant crab demon has been discovered by our tribe's warriors. Its current location is in a cave in the Gray Fern Wilderness."

"Huh! You even found such a rare monster as the mutant crab demon? Well done!" Richard said happily, his face beaming with joy.

It's important to know that the Mutant Crab Demon Heart is the main ingredient in another top-secret recipe of the blind fishmen—the Mutant Heart.

The "Blind Clan's Potion Making Manual" records a total of eleven potion recipes, seven of which are effective only for Murlocs, and four of which are effective for all races.

Of these four recipes, the two most valuable are the Golden Horned Frog Egg and the Mutant Heart.

Of course, to make the [Mutant Heart], you also need to use precious auxiliary materials such as the Eye of the Troll Mantis. In addition, the difficulty of making the Mutant Heart is no less than that of the Golden Horned Frog Egg.

Of course, the effect is also better.

Actually, it's not really appropriate to compare the two directly.

This is because the Golden Horned Frog Egg increases affinity with the Dark Element, while the Heart of Mutation enhances mental aptitude.

According to the Fishman's Notebook, the Heart of Mutation can slightly improve one's mental strength aptitude, but the notebook does not provide a specific quantitative description of how much this slight improvement is.

10% is a small change, and 15% can also be considered a small change.

But that's not the key point, because Richard wouldn't let go of any potion that could improve a wizard's aptitude!

After all, with the Inspiration panel, wizard aptitude is now his only weakness.

Half an hour later, Richard, surrounded by a group of fully armed fishmen, marched in a mighty force toward the cave where the mutated crab demon was located.

Since Richard's repeated displays of power in killing the Demon Horned Frog, his status among the fish-man warriors has rapidly risen.

Although Richard was merely a "wandering wizard" who was "employed" by his tribe's prophet to hunt monsters, his formidable strength made ordinary merfolk warriors admire him greatly.

Because of Richard's magical powers, the blind mermaid tribe reaped a great harvest while hunting the demon horned frog.

This gradually made the mid-to-high-level murloc warriors in the murloc tribe develop a good impression of Richard, especially after the fruitful harvest of the demon horned frogs last time, which reminded them that the blind tribe was just as powerful when the previous murloc prophet was in power.

In the eyes of ordinary merman warriors, anyone who is powerful and helps them, regardless of whether they are merman or not, is worthy of respect.

In particular, Richard's presence greatly reduced the casualties among these ordinary soldiers.

Along the way, some wild beasts that didn't know any better appeared, and in an instant, they became the team's collection.

Among them, there was one that resembled a honey badger, an otherworldly version of a "honey badger." It actually dared to charge forward and attack after seeing the massive formation of forty or fifty fishmen. It was truly insane.

This made Richard sigh, "There are such fearless creatures everywhere."

A few seconds later, a dead honey badger appeared on the wooden stick carried by a merman warrior.

After about an hour, the group arrived at the entrance of a cave that was at least four or five meters high, surrounded by the remains of wild animals of various sizes.

Just as the group of merman warriors had formed their ranks and were ready for battle, the creatures in the cave seemed to have noticed something was wrong.

Just then, a foul stench wafted from the cave, and soon after, a terrifying monster with a huge body and a strange appearance crawled out of it.

The monster's tall and ferocious appearance immediately caused many ordinary merman warriors to change their expressions and involuntarily take two steps back.

This is the mutant crab demon, a large monster. Its appearance is similar to a hybrid of a spider and a crab, and it is six meters wide and more than three meters tall.

Judging from its size alone, it already surpasses the shelled octopus that Richard killed earlier, which is also a large monster.

Unfortunately, the Soul-Eating Spider is currently on his shoulder, while the previous octopus with a shell has been stored away as food in the cellar of the blind fishman tribe.

The Soul-Eating Spider cannot leave the corpse it inhabits for too long, as the proteins and other organic matter in the corpse will undergo changes in properties, making it impossible to control the corpse again.

Last time, Richard let the Soul-Eating Spider crawl out of the octopus shell and enter the body of the fishman Dib. After reading Dib's memories, it became uncontrollable because it had been away from the octopus shell corpse for too long.

Otherwise, you could see a battle between two large monsters.

The mutant crab demon is covered in a hard, dark green carapace, which is also covered with dense spikes. It has four pairs of limbs and a pair of enormous, exaggerated pincers.

Its hard shell is impervious to blades and spears, making it immune to the vast majority of physical damage. This makes the mutant crab demon extremely difficult to kill, while an ordinary fishman warrior probably couldn't even pierce its shell with a single blow.

At this moment, the mutant crab demon seemed extremely angry at the swarm of ants surrounding its doorstep.

After emitting two sharp, warning "sizzling" sounds, and seeing that the ants still hadn't dispersed, it charged towards the group of fishman warriors in the next second.

With four pairs of segmented limbs, or eight bladed legs, it moved at lightning speed. A dark green shadow flashed by, and the mutant crab demon was sent flying, along with several fishman warriors at the very front of the formation.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The mutant crab demon used its huge pincers to snap the two fishman warriors, who were flying through the air, in half at the waist!

Suddenly, a shower of blood, along with entrails, rained down.

This terrifying destructive power immediately demoralized the ordinary merman warriors, who were all filled with fear. If it weren't for the presence of mid- to high-level merman warriors to hold them off, they would probably have scattered and fled.

Before they arrived, the blind merman tribe had made preparations. Each ordinary merman warrior was equipped with a long wooden pole, about the thickness of a bowl, more than three meters long, with one end sharpened.

But so far, this attack has only caused a little trouble for the mutant crab demon. It can't even pierce its spiky shell, and only adds some white spots!

Richard watched as the mutant crab demon, after repelling a high-level merman warrior, rampaged through the merman horde, relying on its massive size advantage. He immediately frowned, thinking to himself:

"This mutant crab demon's strength is a bit beyond expectations. It's even stronger than the shelled octopus. I'm afraid even a level three wizard apprentice would be no match for it."

We can't let it attack any longer, otherwise, even if we win, most of the merfolk warriors will probably be killed or wounded.

I was originally planning to let the merman warriors wear it down first, but now it seems I have to make my move!

Richard gently pointed his Bone Summoning Staff, and a huge circular light green magic circle appeared on the ground, from which four skeleton summons crawled out.

This time, Richard only summoned one skeleton archer; the other three were all skeleton guardians wielding swords and shields.

As soon as the three skeleton guardians appeared, they followed Richard's orders and charged toward the mutant crab demon with a series of "clicks and clacks".

Richard then cast a Dark Element Shield and Bone Armor on himself and began chanting incantations.

Suddenly, a gray mist and a black mist descended one after the other on the mutant crab demon's head, immediately reducing its movement speed and attack speed. This was due to Richard casting two level zero spells in succession: Slow and Weakness.

Three sword-and-shield skeletons rushed up to the mutant crab demon and began to fight it.

However, the huge difference in size meant that the three of them couldn't last long and were knocked away from time to time!

"Fingart, unleash acid splash to lower its defenses!"

A few seconds later, Fingart's level-zero sorcery, Acid Splash, a large ball of pungent green liquid, was poured onto the mutant crab demon.

Suddenly, a hissing sound of corrosion rang out, causing the mutant crab demon to experience intense pain for the first time!

Looking at the opponent's originally hard, spiky carapace, it was now pitted and uneven, its defensive capabilities greatly reduced.

Richard's face lit up with joy. He immediately used a secret technique to possess the skeleton, attaching himself to the skeleton archer. He took out the arrows he had prepared beforehand, which were tied with Fire Dance Star and Silver Moon Dust, and launched a series of multi-shot attacks on the corroded area of ​​the mutant crab demon!

A series of loud explosions rang out, and the mutant crab demon was immediately engulfed in intense flames and thick black smoke.

The next second, a scream that echoed throughout the entire arena came from the center of the field. Many merman warriors were so shocked by the terrifying sound wave that their eardrums ruptured, and they collapsed to the ground in agony, clutching their heads.

The mutant crab demon was also severely injured by Richard this time!

The carapace, already corroded by the acid, could no longer withstand the violent explosion of the Fire Dance Star mixed with Silver Moon Dust, no matter how sturdy it was.

The corroded area on its body had large patches of its carapace broken open, and streams of dark green fluid were gushing out.

At this moment, the enraged mutant crab demon was staring intently at the skeleton archer not far away, its two crab eyes wide open.

This is the guy who shot me, it hurts so much!

The next second, the mutant crab demon charged at the skeleton archer with all its might!

Richard reacted exceptionally quickly, immediately casting a dark element shield on his own skeleton archers who were drawing enemy fire.

The Grandmaster-level Dark Element Shield takes only 0.2 seconds to cast.

Double-claw attack!

In an instant, the mutant crab demon swiftly swung its massive pincers, leaving behind several afterimages!

"Click-clack!"

After the giant pincers struck several times in rapid succession, the skeleton archer was no longer human, having been shattered into three pieces, its hard white bones scattered all over the ground.

"Hiss! The attack power of these two pairs of pincers is terrifyingly high! Even my Grandmaster-level Dark Element Shield could only withstand two blows before it shattered." Richard exclaimed in surprise, pondering to himself.

However, this is clearly a special ability of the mutant crab demon, which cannot be used continuously and requires charging.

Before long, it was surrounded by three skeleton guardians again, accompanied by harassment from mid-to-high-level murloc warriors. For a time, the battle became intense.

"Fingart, continue the acid spray, attack its injured area!"

While giving Fingart instructions, Richard himself cast Shadow Grip, the most powerful level zero sorcery he possessed.

"Sizzle!" Another violent corrosive sound came. This time, the mutant crab demon saw that it was the guy with the fishbone staff attacking it.

But a few small insects around it kept bothering it, which was really annoying!

Suddenly, the mutant crab demon raised its massive pincers high!

"No! Get out of the way!" Richard shouted immediately, but he realized as soon as he finished speaking that the fishmen probably couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Boom!" The pair of giant pincers slammed heavily onto the ground. Centered on the point of impact, the ground immediately cracked open, and the shockwave instantly formed concentric circles, spreading outwards.

The once peaceful ground around them, now pliable and soft like noodles, is being churned up by the ripples of energy.

Immediately, the skeleton guardians closest to it, along with several mid-to-high-level murloc warriors, lost their footing and were blasted into the air, each bearing injuries.

Meanwhile, the ordinary merman warriors who were further away also staggered and lost their balance, ending up lying on the ground.

In an instant, the mutant crab demon extended its two pincers with lightning speed, clamping Richard's two skeleton guards in mid-air, shield and bones together, into two pieces!

His ferocity was unparalleled for a time!

Just as the mutant crab demon had cleared its surroundings and was about to charge at Fingart...

A giant dark elemental hand, over two meters in diameter, suddenly appeared and grabbed at its shattered carapace with such speed that it didn't even have time to react.

This is the Shadow Grip after casting the secret technique Shadow Concealment. The dark elemental hand suddenly disappears in the shadows and then suddenly reappears behind, often catching the opponent off guard.

Under Richard's control, the dark elemental hand moved with the agility of a human hand, deeply plunging into the cracked shell of the mutant crab demon and forcefully pulling it out!

It's like a different world version of "Black Tiger Steals Heart"!

The next second, a large mass of internal organs was pulled out by the dark elemental hand controlled by Richard.

With its internal organs almost completely ripped out, even the most robust mutant crab demon couldn't withstand such an injury. It let out a miserable howl and collapsed to the ground.

[Is absorbable energy detected? Will it be absorbed?]

"yes!"

[Gained 8239 energy points.]

"Hiss! The mutant crab demon is indeed powerful. The energy points it gave me must be the most ever!" Richard murmured.

Seeing that the fish-man warriors seemed to intend to move forward and carry away the mutant crab demon, Richard quickly changed his mind and whispered to Fingart:

"Leave this mutant crab demon here. I have a great use for it. Just tell it's for me to undergo a zombie transformation and that the mutant crab demon can help me in the fight."

So Richard pretended to draw an intricate six-pointed star array under the mutant crab demon, as if he were performing a zombie transformation ritual.

In reality, Richard secretly released the Soul-Eating Spider, allowing it to crawl into the body of the mutant Crab Demon and possess it, thus disguising itself as a zombie.

As the Soul-Eating Spider began to devour the soul of the mutant crab demon, Richard once again experienced the blissful feeling of being on cloud nine!

However, judging from the feedback of soul energy, the mutant crab demon's effect seems to be weaker than that of the brain-eating monster.

I suppose this is probably related to one person using their brain more and the other using their body more.

A short while later, the mutant crab demon stood up unsteadily.

This immediately drew cheers from the surrounding merman warriors.

(End of this chapter)