Lukey woke up the next morning with an urge to go back into town and keep making progress. Not only did he have to worry about practicing his spear throwing, but he also needed to keep working on his equipment and look to make improvements. It was a lot, but he didn’t want to wait around to do any of it. Instead, he got his clothes on and walked to Tranquil Waters.

  Lukey was still feeling sore, but after two days the wounds were starting to heal. His leg had created a scab over the teeth marks, and his hand was slowly getting stronger. Still, he couldn’t practice spear throwing like this. It was only after a good night’s rest that he started to rethink his strategy for taking on Claw Cove.

  Why am I bothering to practice using a weapon right now? It’s not what I’m good at, and practicing will only make my injuries take longer to heal. It’s just an inefficient use of my time.

  Once again Lukey’s method had to change, but making changes to his equipment would require making lots of things and acquiring other parts to make those things. He needed a way to keep track of everything he needed and every potential idea he could have. He also needed something to make notes of any monsters he encountered.

  What he needed was a log, a journal that could keep track of everything he needed to do. If he were more powerful, he could probably invent an art like [Insight] that kept track of tasks; in fact, the scholars probably already came up with something like that. However, Lukey’s resources were limited, so he had to settle for a journal instead.

  It was for this reason that Lukey was headed to the general goods store in Tranquil Waters. It was located near the harbor, in a corner store that had a warehouse right next to it. It was designed specifically for goods to quickly be transferred from the dock to the store and had a display made of glass that was wrapped around the entire corner of the store.

  Every so often, shipments of everyday goods arrive on the island from merchants traveling between the continents. Many of the villagers on the island didn’t really need the stuff that came from outside the island, but a few people have taken interest. Caldoon had this place made specifically to stock up on general goods that one day may have great demand on the island.

  Lukey arrived at the storefront that read ‘Offshore Imports’ and looked through the windows. Inside he could see wooden displays chock full of an assortment of items. One stand had blank books and writing utensils, and another had what looked like fabrics and string. There was also rope, basic tools, and kitchen utensils.

  Lukey headed inside and immediately picked out what he needed. He took a journal and flipped through it to confirm that it was indeed blank, filled with clean white pages; it even had a latch to keep it closed on long journeys. Lukey used [Insight] to see the description.

  [Blank Journal (Book)—A simple journal with nothing written inside]

  The description is a bit lacking. [Insight] doesn’t really show its official name or how it’s meant to be used.

  He knew it was created by his own mind, but this was basically telling him what he already knew. There had to be a way to improve the art; the scholar’s guild invented many arts doing just that. This would be something to investigate in the future.

  For now, Lukey took the journal and a strange writing utensil with ink inside. He needed something durable to write with, and this looked sturdy enough to meet his needs. After some consideration, he also took some rope in case he needed to build something. He took it all and moved to the front desk of the store.

  The desk was empty, so Lukey dropped everything on it and then looked around. To the left of the desk was a door that seemed to lead up to the second floor of the building. To the right, there was a door that led into the warehouse next door. On the desk was a small brass bell and a sign that read ‘Ring for Service.’

  Lukey rang the bell since he saw nobody around. A few moments passed with nothing happening before he finally heard something. Hurried footsteps could be heard overhead as someone on the second floor began rushing down. He heard the footsteps move to the left, then down the steps before the door swung open.

  Inside the door he saw an islander woman not much older than him. She had raven hair that ended at her shoulders and curled inwards. Her face was rounded, with a pair of large, round spectacles that sat in front of her pink eyes. She was taller than Lukey, but only by a few inches. She wore a pink band around her chest, a knee-length petal skirt, and flat sandals with a wooden base and straps.

  “Welcome! Did you find everything you need?” She spoke.

  “Yes, I did,” Lukey said, then looked around. “Did you get a lot of customers recently?”

  “So-so; some of the recent arrivals came here to stock up on some things, but many brought their own supplies.” The woman said.

  “The other islanders don’t come here?” Lukey asked.

  “Not many, unfortunately,” the woman sighed, then put her elbow on the desk as she continued to ramble. “The village elders can be so stingy about change. Many of them are still being obtuse about telling people about the new town, and some are even talking badly about the emperor and the foreigners.”

  Lukey looked at the woman in disbelief. Caldoon was easy-going, sure, but he was still well respected for his strength. Talking badly about him, at the risk of being discovered, was like willingly diving into a pool of sharks.

  “Sooner or later people will have to embrace the changes,” Lukey said. “I know there are a lot of things the foreigners have that will improve the island in the future.”

  “I know what you mean,” the woman said, tapping her glasses. “When I was young, I had eyesight difficulties, and nobody could figure out the problem. The emperor had a crew take me to one of the big cities, and I had these glasses made. I even got my class while I was there.”

  “Your class? And what’s your name?” Lukey asked with sudden interest.

  “It’s Lucia, and I have the merchant class.” She replied.

  With the new information, Lukey used [Inspect].

  [Lucia (Experienced Importer) Lv. 57]

  Lucia had a title that she likely gained after importing a lot of goods, which made sense since that was her business. He also noticed that she was approaching level eighty, which meant that she would hit the first major threshold soon. Lukey had heard about it but never knew what it entailed.

  “Alright, let’s see what you have,” Lucia said. “One traveler’s journal, a pen, and a length of rope; that will be thirty-five tins.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Lukey reached for his pouch and pulled out a fifty-cent coin. Coinage was the common currency used across the world. It was established a long time ago by the merchant guild and spread throughout the world as a unifying method of exchange. Tins were the lowest value of currency, with bronze, silver, gold, and platinum coins above that.

  Caldoon gave Lukey some money before he left him to his devices. The emperor said it was an investment in his potential and gave Lukey one hundred tins to start with. He wondered if the emperor was just being stingy but then remembered that as a guild member he was expected to make his own money.

  One thing he heard made Lukey tilt his head, and he figured he should ask while he was in the store.

  “A pen? I’m sorry, I’m used to using charcoal pieces. Do you mind explaining how it works?”

  “It’s easy,” Lucia said, “just press the button on top and the writing tip comes out. The ink is contained in a barrel in the pen, and it only comes out when you put the tip on paper.”

  Lukey stared at the little device in wonder. To an ordinary person, this was just an improved means of writing. Lukey, however, was genuinely impressed by the many moving parts working in tandem to improve upon a simple action. He kept clicking the button and watched the tip move in and out several times before asking another question.

  “Do you know where this was made?”

  “Of course,” she said. “Incidentally, it was the same place I got my glasses. The city of Grand Dynamo, on the Novus continent.”

  Lukey’s eyes sparkled. If there was an entire city of people who made stuff like this, what kind of class could he get there? If he ever got the chance, Grand Dynamo would be the first place he visited. Lukey returned to focus as he saw Lucia continue.

  “The city is located on the eastern coast, so we get a lot of goods from there. Ships also come often enough from there, so it will be the first place you go if you ever leave for Novus.”

  Lukey now had even more things to look forward to and couldn’t wait for the future. For now, however, he had to focus on his current projects. That meant heading back to Ocean’s Bounty and planning with his new journal.

  “Thank you for everything,” Lukey said. “I’ll be heading back to my guild now.”

  Lukey took his things and headed out of the store. As he left, he couldn’t help but think that perhaps work on the island might pick up if people had more resources to work with. As it was, only Thousand Acre provided anything, and the value obtained from growing new plants was rather limited.

  The island’s main resource was fish and anything found in the ocean. If Ocean’s Bounty grew, the island would grow, as they were dependent on one another. Originally, he thought of the emperor’s plan as poorly conceived, but now he saw how ingenious it was. The guild was the best chance at improving the island’s status and securing its future.

  ...

  Lukey walked into the guild building and sat down at one of the empty tables downstairs.

  The building was still empty, likely because the guild master/emperor hadn’t anticipated anyone joining yet. Lukey had the place to himself and could use the equipment Caldoon prepared as he needed. This was perfect for him, as he planned on completely changing how fishing worked, at least for him.

  Lukey clicked the pen and saw the tip poke out, then wrote something out on a scrap piece of paper. To his amazement he didn’t need to press hard to make anything come out; this would enable him to write a lot of words very quickly. Now that the pen was tested, it was time to write.

  First, in big letters, he wrote ‘Quest Log’ as the title of the journal. He thought a lot about what he wanted this journal to be, and now he finally had an idea. This would be a list of tasks that he would set out to do, both around Tranquil Water and for himself. Lukey’s mind was often scattered with ideas, so it helped to organize everything into a list.

  He turned to the first page and began to write.

  Quest 1: Waterproof Weaving

  The local weaver, Ginny, has asked that I look for a material that can be used to make waterproof clothing.

  I talked to Caldoon, and he said that large crabs have organs that emit an oily coat for their shells. The crabs can be found in Claw Cove.

  That’s all Lukey wrote for that page, as he had yet to make any significant strides towards that request.

  Instead, Lukey flipped to another page and began writing down something else.

  Personal Quests

  -Upgrade Spear

  -Upgrade Fishing Rod

  -Discover Claw Cove and Investigate Crabs

  -Make New Traps and Equipment

  This was the list of personal goals he would set for himself. He had a lot of improvements he needed to make and wanted to make every day as efficient as possible. Writing down everything let him consider what was possible or impossible, prioritizing what he could do next.

  Looking at this list, Lukey began considering what to do next. Based on the list, it was so obvious what he needed to do that he wanted to slap himself for not doing it earlier.

  He needed to go to Claw Cove.

  ...

  It didn’t take long to reach the labyrinth from the town.

  Lukey was already headed down the path that went down to the beach when he started to see it.

  Crabs…everywhere…

  Before Lukey were what looked to be about a hundred different types of crabs huddled together in various groups. On some rocks were smaller black crabs that climbed around the stones. On the sand, he saw larger red crabs scavenging for dead fish that landed on the beach. Inside the water he could see blue crabs, with their much more elaborate shells, swimming through the water.

  Not far from where Lukey was, he spotted the mouth of a large cave that was partially submerged from the high tide. It seemed to lead underneath a cliff and wrapped around the west side of the island. From where he was, Lukey could see various boulders and tide pools inside where barnacles, sea anemones, and urchins lived.

  Beyond them all he saw a red crab that came up to his knees in height and sat just under the water a little way into the cave. It was only slightly shorter than a chair, and it was buried with its arms and legs tucked into its body. Lukey used [Insight] to identify it.

  [Scavenger Aquaclaw Lv. 5]

  So, this is Claw Cove.

  He didn’t know what to expect after seeing all the smaller crabs, only about a head in size, trawling around on the beach. After seeing this big beast, however, he started to realize that this was a labyrinth, where monsters were far more dangerous than the garden variety.

  Lukey didn’t come here to fight anything, however. He brought his spear and net, but only for self-defense. Instead, he went only to observe the crabs and devise new ways to fight them. He stood a short distance away from the groups of crustaceans to hopefully observe them and began taking notes.

  First, it was clear that these creatures were scavengers. They don’t fight directly; rather, they look for dead things and eat them. The crabs in the labyrinth were likely the same; however, Lukey would likely encounter stronger variants as he made his way inside. Just because they were scavengers, however, didn’t mean they couldn’t defend themselves.

  Every crab had two sets of claws in the front that they used for pinching food. Based on his experience, crabs had an iron grip on whatever they caught, and that would prove especially true for the larger variants in the labyrinth. Even the scavenger he just saw could break his bones with its grip.

  This must have been their mating season, because all around he saw groups of crabs practically piling on each other. If he went into the labyrinth, no doubt would Lukey encounter herds of crabs in the caves, waiting to dogpile him first chance they got. He needed a way to lure them out one at a time if he wanted to combat them.

  Finally, their armor. Not only did larger crabs have thicker, tougher shells, but all shells had that waxy coating that let them glide through the water with ease. If someone like Lukey went in during high tide, it was suicide. There were, however, small gaps in the plates on their stomachs, and that gave Lukey an idea.

  Lukey looked at his own spear and immediately saw the problems when being used to combat the crabs. First, it was bulky, with the weight making it unwieldy, especially underwater. Second, the spearhead wasn’t shaped well for piercing their shells; it was as thick as the spear pole and barbed. This was a spear for piercing the fleshy hides of large fish and bleeding them to death.

  Of course, if Lukey focused on strength like Triton or Caldoon, the shape of the spear wouldn’t matter. Sheer force would drive the spear home through its target. Lukey, however, wasn’t strength focused, and he needed every advantage he could get.

  Satisfied with the new information he obtained, Lukey began to hike up the hill back to town. After jotting down two more items in his quest log, he shut the journal and hurried back.