The Reef was a vast city, and despite visiting it, and dying within it, a number of times, Father had seen very little. There were obviously other Hardbody Crustaceans throughout the city like the grouper in the restaurant and like Mayor Borokurk in the trench. People in power had ties to the gang, and he intended to find them.

  Killing anyone and anything with ties to the Hardbody Crustaceans was already reason enough to go hunting. Finding any tomes or scrolls that might be hidden was just a bonus.

  Potentially dying to the random sea creatures that weren’t bosses was almost enough to dissuade him. Making the drive to the Reef was getting old, but going to fight Doctor Holo without being prepared wasn’t going to be any different. It would be another way to die, and another life with horrible diarrhea.

  Father pulled over, checked his weapons, and set off down the street. He garnered more than just a few weird looks on his hike down the sidewalk. Giant coral skyscrapers made the already faint light from the surface even dimmer on the streets.

  He nodded and smiled at those he passed, trying to calm any nerves they may have. Father knew he wasn’t some psychopathetic killer.

  “Wait,” he whispered.

  Maybe he was, but not of normal people.

  Only if they worked with or were friends with any sea creature related to the Hardbody Crustaceans.

  Father shrugged and kept walking. “That looks good,” he said to a fish with some caviar dish.

  A parrotfish host yawned and leaned casually on the podium in front of the restaurant’s entrance. He twiddled with a pen and didn’t seem to notice as Father approached.

  “Excuse me,” Father said.

  “Hm?” The parrotfish looked up and narrowed its bulging eyes. “A table for one?”

  “I need to see your boss.” Father set the barrel of the shotgun on the edge of the podium, aiming it directly at the fish’s chest.

  “The, uh, manager?”

  “No. The Hardbody Crustacean.” Father pumped the shotgun menacingly. “Now.”

  “Yes, sir.” The parrotfish scurried inside, nearly tripping as he vanished into the dark interior.

  Father kicked the podium aside and took a wide, ready stance. A grouper shouldn’t be bulletproof, but he had to be ready for whatever was thrown at him.

  Spark

  Zap

  Chill

  Tickle

  Hop

  Tickle couldn’t possibly be helpful. And now didn’t seem like a good time to try it. Father could hear the pounding footsteps of the approaching giant fish. Trying to tickle a grouper was like trying to tickle a landslide.

  Father looked at the shotgun in his hands. Shooting a landslide didn’t seem that helpful either. He just had to hope he was wrong.

  “Who is looking for Magaleus?” The grouper emerged in a rush. Bubbles floated in a trail, rumbling with the quaking footsteps of the fish.

  Magaleus paused upon seeing Father. He shifted his fins, stretching the leather jacket taut over his muscular body. “The Father.”

  Chill

  A tiny, almost imperceptible ball of icy energy flew from Father’s claw and gently bumped against Magaleus’s torso. White tendrils spread from the point of impact.

  Magaleus roared and moved, but the ice constricted him and made his movements sluggish compared to the barreling monster Father had seen before. Chill wasn’t going to single-handedly win fights. It was also one of the starter abilities that was considered weak. And a slow enemy was better than a quick one.

  “Where’s the money?” Magaleus roared as he tore at the icy tendrils.

  “In hell.” Father pulled the trigger. The shotgun spray didn’t hit or affect the icy tendrils on the grouper’s body. They sunk into flesh and let out little puffs of blood.

  Magaleus roared and threw his fins out to the side. The chill spell shattered. The grouper immediately surged forward. Father pumped the shotgun and fired. Even as more buckshot sank into the grouper’s flesh, the fish charged.

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  Tickle

  Laughter burst from Magaleus as a massive fin smashed into Father’s face. The Reef spun as Father flew into the road, bounced, rolled, and skidded to a stop on the opposite side.

  At least he had survived.

  Magaleus fell to his knees, clutching at his stomach while his laughter continued.

  Father pumped the shotgun, expelling the old shell, and marched back across the street. Some small cracks had formed in his shell from the punch, but it wasn’t anything deadly. Even if the shell fell apart, Father would survive. He would just be a little more tender in that area.

  Magaleus shook his head furiously and slammed both fins into the sidewalk. The sea creatures dining in the outer part of the restaurant finally took that as a sign to run away. Plates of lavish food were left abandoned as the sea creatures vanished inside the restaurant or down the street.

  Tickle was shaken much easier than chill had been. All that told Father was that he really did need the stronger spells. Magaelus wasn’t a boss, and he was still able to resist.

  Father reached the sidewalk just as the grouper stood tall again. Magaleus’s eyes were hardened, focused only on Father’s movements.

  “I don’t have your son,” Magaleus said quietly.

  “I know. He’s with the leaders in the Buttress.” Father raised the shotgun. “I just want to kill you.”

  Magaleus grinned. “Try.” The grouper took two big steps then leapt high.

  Father discarded the shotgun and quickly pulled the katana from his back. He considered just holding it upright to allow Magaleus to impale himself, but the grouper was heavy, and that much weight falling onto Father would crack his shell the rest of the way, if not just kill him outright.

  Magaleus came down on the sidewalk and smashed his fins into the concrete, missing Father by inches. The grouper roared and turned his massive face to Father, only to be met with the sharp side of a katana.

  Father swung it like a sharpened baseball bat and was surprised at the resistance found within Magaleus’s skull. Metal grated on bone and sent vibrations through the sword. The grouper choked and gurgled as a spurt of blood shot into the water before spreading out like a cloud. Father took a step and yanked on the katana, pulling it through the rest of the grouper’s head.

  Magaleus fell to the sidewalk with only half a head. Blood leaked out, quickly coloring all the water red. Father braved the bloody water to check for a tome or scroll, but he found nothing of the sort on the corpse. He backed away, sheathed the katana, retrieved the shotgun, and took a few bites of some of the discarded food.

  Patrons who had fled inside screamed and ran away as Father explored the restaurant. Even the employees had fled after seeing Magaleus killed. It left the place feeling dystopian in a way. So much money was abandoned carelessly. Thousands of dollars in food, drinks, and equipment were forgotten so easily. Father could never have allowed himself to care so little about wealth and food.

  It took a few minutes of poorly navigating through the restaurant before Father found the manager’s office. He was expecting an eel or a boss notification, but inside was just a huge chair for Magaleus and a messy desk of old, unpaid bills and dirty dishes.

  Father prodded the items on the desk with the shotgun. It was unlikely to be a trap, but it wasn’t impossible. The bills fell off the desk and a plate clattered to the ground.

  “Not a trap,” Father whispered. He took a step closer and moved more bills aside.

  Underneath an envelope was a small cylinder of paper. Father immediately set the shotgun down and grabbed the cylinder and unfurled it.

  Rock Throw

  Learn new spell?

  Yes / No

  Father picked yes and felt a twinge of energy as the new spell appeared in his ability list.

  Rock Throw

  Pull a chunk of earth from the ground nearby, lift it with magical energy, and propel it at a target.

  Father activated the ability. A fuzzy green circle appeared over the ground. Wherever he turned, the circle moved. With just a little focus, Father selected the current spot. It ripped the carpet and foundation right out of the ground and hovered a boulder of mixed materials in front of Father. He pointed his claw and sent the boulder crashing through the restaurant’s walls.

  Cooldown

  60 seconds.

  It couldn’t be used repeatedly, but it did put a massive hole through the wall. Father grabbed the shotgun and hurried back to the car. As far as he could tell, his theory was correct. That meant his next stop was the parking garage to get the gun and to find a new spell.

  Navigating from the restaurant took a few minutes of random turns. Father watched Reef police drive by with sirens screaming toward the restaurant. He wondered what they would think upon finding Magaleus and the destroyed office.

  Luckily, they hadn’t noticed him sitting at the stop sign. Father continued down the road and stopped only upon reaching the parking garage. He leaned against the nearby blue coral skyscraper as he loaded the shotgun using the shells in his bandolier.

  Hardbody Crustaceans joked and drank around barrels in the bottom of the multi-tiered parking garage. Nobody seemed to notice Father or his pigfish car. He walked across the street and immediately activated his new spell.

  Rock Throw

  A round boulder of cement lifted from the ground.

  That was enough to pull the Hardbody Crustaceans’ attention. The blue crab pulled the submachine gun from his pants but a little gun did nothing to a boulder.

  Father pointed and sent the spell flying at the closest barrel. It crushed the crab and his fish friends. The rest of the gang watched with horror as everyone was crushed. Father pulled a handgun from his waistband and easily killed the rest before they could fully react. A few tried to flee, but Father put bullets in their legs and heads. His aim wasn’t perfect, but one didn’t need to hit everyone in the brain to be deadly with a gun.

  A few fish rolled on the ground, groaning and crying. Father used the katana to quiet them. Once everything was silent, Father surveyed the area. The submachine gun was crushed beneath the boulder, which he should have been able to predict.

  Inside one of the barrels, amongst the glowing coals, was a metal tome. Father dumped it out and let the ocean water steam on its cover, cooling the metal. A few minutes passed before the glow of heat left the metal.

  Father used his foot to kick open the tome’s cover. Steam erupted from the front page.

  Fireball

  Learn new spell?

  Yes / No