B2 Chapter 11: Blood on the Sand (Patreon)

As the sun rose over the beach, the glorious sound of screeching shanker monkeys greeted me. They’d found the body of the one I’d killed as soon as they’d awoken. I’d made sure of it by placing the body where my knife had been to highlight what I thought of their little trap.

The monkeys were apoplectic as they rushed to the beach, only to stop right at the edge of the jungle, like last time. Even in their rage, they still couldn’t bring themselves to cross the sand. It was odd, and I wondered if perhaps it was something to do with the sand itself?

I grabbed a handful and tossed it at them, but it had no effect. A few of them spat at me and found small rocks to throw, which I dodged. Honestly, I was just grateful that they weren’t throwing other things. But still, if the sand wasn’t the problem, then maybe they feared the water?

In any case, it was time to eradicate the group for good. I needed their experience points, and I needed a way to safely explore the jungle if I ever wanted to find the elevator and get out of here.

The monkeys continued to hurl stones and take swipes at the air if I got too close. Not that I wanted to get close after my last fight. No, instead, I drew blood out from my cache and formed a longer needle-like sword.

The shankers looked unimpressed until I stabbed one of them through the eye and pierced its brain.

*DING!* You have slain [Jungle Shanker Monkey (Common)] Level 60 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired.

Seeing another one of their own die made the rest of them howl with rage. Their previous hesitation over the sand vanished, and they all crossed it in pursuit of me.

They hounded me and aggressively forced me onto the back foot. Some tried to circle around, but they were wary of my blood sword and a few swings held them at bay for the moment. The monkeys were adapting quickly though. I don’t think they realized how vulnerable they were until they saw one of their own die. Now whenever I struck, they were quick to bring their claws up to defend their faces.

I struggled to find an opening to exploit while the monkeys pushed me further back. I moved closer to the water, hoping that it would frighten them, or if the worst came to it, they wouldn’t be able to swim after me. The problem was that the shanker were too relentless about getting their revenge to care and they were getting closer.

I pulled a shanker claw out of my inventory, and it appeared in my empty hand. It was the only weapon I had that could break through their skin, and I wasn’t going down without a fight.

One came at me from each side, hoping to take me by surprise. The blood sword ineffectively hit one of them, but I used Savage Rupture with the claw and ripped through the other shanker’s chest. Blood sprayed everywhere. I wanted to use it to blind some of the other monkeys, but it already took a lot of focus to maintain one blood source. Controlling two different sources of blood was beyond me right now. Heart of Darkness wouldn’t have worked, either. Not under that bright sun.

Another notification appeared, and I ignored it. The monkeys all shifted to the side of me that carried the blood sword now. They were learning and adapting. Each time I killed one of them, they adjusted their tactics.

Fear cropped up in my chest as I was running out of ideas. Going for a swim had started as a silly thought, but now it was looking more like a real possibility.

The cold ocean tide rolled over my feet as fought them on the edge of the beach. Unsurprisingly, they were unfazed by the water as well. Though they used it to get around me so that I was fighting a group in front and to my left on the beach.

The shanker pushed me further towards the water and that’s when I realized I hadn’t drawn them here. The monkeys had wanted me in the water. For what reason, I didn’t have time to ascertain as one monkey jumped at me in a display of suicidal recklessness I hadn’t seen from them since my first fight.

Still, I obliged it and used Heart Strike with my claw weapon. It fell dead into the water and blood poured out of it.

The other shanker became more cautious after that, poking and prodding at my defenses. After another minute of that, an unknown terror gripped me and I almost froze. I hadn’t felt like that since I’d encountered the Void Spawn on the Stairwell. Call it instinct, situational awareness, or some spidey-sense going off because of my heightened perception. All I knew was that I was suddenly in terrible danger.

I gave up fighting and dashed inland towards the jungle, knocking several shanker aside in the process and not caring if their claws and teeth cut me.

A large dark shape was coming from under the water, swimming closer to the beach. The shanker tried to flee as well, but they were too slow. A fin appeared just before its head breached the surface. A giant shark’s head with two sets of eyes next to each other, opened its gaping jaw opened wide. It swallowed half of the shanker group before disappearing back under the water.

*Beast identified* [Abyssal Shark Seeker] Level: ???

The rest of the monkeys panicked and scattered in different directions.

I almost did the same. That shark had a set of hands underneath its body that would allow it to walk on land. The gills on it suggested that it couldn’t go too far away from water, but it explained why the shanker monkeys usually stayed away from the beach. Not that I could blame them. That shark was like something out of a nightmare. As if regular sharks weren’t scary enough on their own, the tower had to go and make something like that to haunt me.

Now that I knew all their tricks, one-on-one fights with the shanker were much easier to handle. Seeing the abyssal shark had unnerved them too, and I used the shanker claw to cut them all down, one by one, before they regrouped.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 55 – Experience Acquired.

It was nice to get another level up, but I was still far from the average creature's level for this floor so I didn’t pay it much mind other than throw some points into Constitution.

When I was certain that there were no more surprises, I went back into the jungle for a more methodical search. It still contained a variety of bugs, small birds, and rodents, but nothing that seemed threatening. I kept my guard up anyway as I hastened through the jungle.

Enough time had been wasted on this damn island. I was sick of it and eager to move on. But finding a door proved difficult and then seemed impossible. I rechecked every inch of the jungle, only to come up disappointed.

Had I overlooked something?

The jungle wasn’t very large and at my level of speed; it didn’t take me long to cover the entire island, but there was no sign of any door. No elevators and no Stairwell.

I returned to the beach when a depressing thought hit.

Those Shanker Monkeys were all level 60 and that creature from the sea was far higher than that. There’s no way that this could be floor 94. I’m on a floor in the 80s at least, but if that’s true and there are no doors on the island, then that can only mean one thing.

I groaned.

The System has dumped me on the next foundational floor. The doors I’m looking for are somewhere out there, past the sea’s horizon. Which means I’m going to need to build a boat.

Luckily, the jungle wasn’t short on trees to choose from. I cut a few down by hacking away at them with my blood sword and then carried the logs back to the beach. The jungle also contained thick, tough vines that proved durable enough to use as rope to tie the logs together until I had built a makeshift raft. Using the shanker claw, I carved out an oar from a smaller piece of wood and was ready to push the thing into the sea when I hesitated.

That thing was swimming in the waters out there. It might still be nearby, searching for its next meal. It also didn’t look like the type that would let a flimsy raft impede its dinner.

I shook my head. No, I have to try. I can’t just stay on this island. It’s fine. I can do this. It’s just water. Incredibly deep water with lots of scary things in it.

I pushed the raft into the water and before I could even climb on it; the raft sank.

I laughed. Perfect. This whole island is filled with wood that’s too dense to float. Feeling trapped and angry, I screamed and threw the oar into the ocean.

“What am I supposed to do now?!” I shouted at the sky.

No answer came.

Food and water weren’t a problem. I could use my blood healing to supplement those or hunt the rodents and birds in the jungle. No, the real problem was all the time I’d be wasting while I try to figure out this floor’s secret puzzle.

I started pacing around the beach while I thought it through.

If this is a foundational floor, then there’s lots of other people here. They’re just on another part of the floor out in the ocean somewhere. So all I have to do is find a way to communicate with them.

The idea hit me like lightning and I started making preparations for it on the beach. I had most of the ingredients for it, the hardest part will be starting the whole thing.

And after an embarrassingly long time banging two rocks together, I got my bonfire going. Using as much wood as I could salvage, I made it as large as possible. It was still daytime, so the light from the fire wouldn’t travel far, but the smoke might draw someone’s attention.

I sat down on the beach and waited. It grew dark and the only thing I did was the keep the fire alive and stare out at the horizon. No more sea monsters came to bother me and to stave off boredom, I built three other bonfires around the island. Jogging between them to keep them lit was the only thing that kept my mind occupied.

It became the next day, and I wondered if I was wasting my time. My mind started coming up with wilder ideas, like the doors were buried underground somewhere on the island and I was supposed to dig them up. Then I thought about whether this floor had a time challenge for it. Like what if I’m supposed to just survive here for a certain amount of time?

I pondered this thought in particular as I went to feed another bonfire. As I did so, a glint of light caught the corner of my eye out in the ocean. I looked closer. There was something was out there in the water. Something big. And it was getting closer.

The object turned out to be an old Galleon pirate ship with massive sails. I put my cloak and weapons away to look less menacing when I was sure that they could see me. The ship dropped the anchor a little way from shore and they lowered a smaller row boat down with a group of men on it.

I felt a sense of relief when they started rowing towards the island. Finally, I was saved or about to be plunged into some new type of danger. Either way, at least it won’t be boring.