D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

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?--- Lily ---

As Lily got closer to the kelp forest she started to hear clicking noises that almost seemed to cascade across her senses. Her sense of hearing was good enough that even underwater she could tell that it was coming from the kelp area. Lily was still at least five minutes away from the edge and still she was able to clearly hear the constant clicking that emanated from something inside.

Lily spent her time wondering what it could possibly be as she made her approach. She considered a number of mechanical gadgets and gizmos that could be hidden inside of the forest, alongside a bunch of ocean life, namely crustaceans. Of course, for most of her approach these were just guesses with no real evidence to support her conclusions. That is until she saw movement on the edge of the forest.

There, at the edge was a giant crab the size of a car. It was about as tall as a person, but much wider in both directions. The shell of the one Lily could see was bright red with purple rings… and unlike normal crabs that she was used to on earth, it had one large set of claws set behind a second sent of smaller claws. The secondary claws seemed to have a greater degree of movement, and the crabs had the 'correct' number of legs when compared with the ones on earth, giving them an additional set of limbs.

Lily wasn't sure what to think of the crab as she watched it run those smaller claws along the kelp for a few moments. Then it froze at a particular section. Lily continued to watch in confusion as it snipped a tiny bit of the kelp away and tasted. After a few seconds of chewing it snipped the kelp down near the bottom and sucked the now floating segment into its mouth like a long noodle. From there it walked over to the next row of kelp and started to check it out with its claws. This time it simply moved onto the next piece of kelp without doing anything at all. (f)reewe(b)novel

Huh… they're like gardeners? Gardner Crabs? I guess I know what the clicking noise is now. I just… don't know how dangerous they are. Those little claws are clearly for tending to the kelp. They might have more features I haven't seen… but those big claws? They MUST be for attacking stuff. The question is attacking what. They could just be like moose, where they compete with other moose for mates and stuff. I could see there being like… an alpha crab somewhere in here.

At the same time… crabs at least on earth, tend to stick to carrion. Kelp is NOT in their normal diets. So… that leads me to wonder if these guys also need a bit of protein to keep them going. I mean… they're HUGE. How much Kelp do they need to eat to keep going? Sure magic would help… but I don't know how much.

Lily's questions regarding the crabs diet only increased when she got closer and noticed that not only was there a bunch of little fish that moved around the kelp, even taking the occasional nibble of the massive kelp growths. Some of them even followed the crabs around. In fact, Lily was sure she could see a that clung to the bottom of the crab. Perhaps the fish kept them clean?

Lily kept her eyes on the crab as she approached. A good thing too, as when one of the nearby fish went to bite a section of kelp it was smacked away by the larger set of claws. The fish looked fine afterwards, with it simply swimming off to do something else, but that wasn't the problem. No the problem was how just how fast the crab was able to move its large claws. Perhaps the articulation wasn't as good as it was on the small ones, but straight line speed? Lily had seen only a blur of movement.

*Holy shit. Note to self, don't fuck with the crabs. They might seem relatively peaceful but if they want to go at you? You're not going to be able to stop them. You can only hope that they're feeling merciful. That fish didn't stand a chance. Though… the fact that the fish walked away might say good things about the crabs peaceful nature… not sure I'm as tough as that fish. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝙢

I'd hate for the crab to give me a 'warning tap' that cracks my skull. I certainly wouldn't wan to actively compete against a crab claw that's bigger than my entire body. Probably weighs more than my human form as well. Those things are pretty much all dense muscle, and I imagine magical fantasy crab claws are no exception to that rule. I guess… hmm… can I just swim upwards? How well can these crabs jump? How well can normal crabs jump? I… I don't think I've ever thought about that one. The closest thing I can think of that I know CAN jump is spiders but I'm not sure they're all that comparable.*

Lily frowned as she reached the edge of the kelp forest. Part of her wanted to just turn around and pick a different area to explore, but Thyme was watching closely. She wouldn't DIE from it, and any maiming would be temporary at worst. *This whole event is my attempt to prove that I can hold my own. I can't chicken out just because the crabs look really scary. I kept saying I'd rely on my stealth, so let's think of this like a stealth mission from now on. It can be practice for avoiding the other competitors.*

With her resolve firmed, Lily started to enter the kelp forest, and couldn't help but feel a massive wave of relief when the crab didn't immediately rush over and smack her. In fact, it didn't seem to care at all that she'd entered. That or it hadn't noticed her yet. Lily wasn't sure what was more likely. It's eyes were appropriately sized for its body, but Lily had no idea what that meant for its clarity of vision.

With slightly more confidence in her movements, Lily swam deeper into the forest while keeping her eye on the crab. That's when her ears picked up another set of clicking nearby. Lily gulped as she turned her head and found another crab doing the same thing as its buddy. It was moving from kelp stalk to kelp stalk, running the little claws up and down the length of it before moving on, or snipping off parts of the stalk.

*Oh great. Now I need to watch two of these things!* Lily was not happy a few minutes of exploration later when she found out that there was still more crabs around. On the bright side, she DID spot a treasure chest. It was laying in the sand with the top completely exposed, and the rest submerged to be roughly in line with the sand around it.

The chest had been placed on one of the crab pathways but currently that one wasn't in use so Lily swam over quickly before that changed. Lily quickly transformed and flicked the chest open, not wanting to stay in her human form long. The difference in reaction time and hearing quality quite noticeable. Perhaps these were things that could be fixed with training, but for now her instincts were much more attuned to the Memphis form and as such were able to make much better use of the information her senses gained.

Inside the box was what looked to be a set of goggles. Lily slid them onto her face and grimaced as she felt the band around her head slip almost instantly. *Dammit. These things were clearly designed for races with normal ears. Elves as well perhaps. They're clearly not intended for beastkin. Maybe if I move my hair out of the way it'll be less prone to sliding?*

A quick shuffle later and the goggles were already slipping once again. Annoyed Lily moved them so that the band was as tight as she could make it, before letting her hands go. Things seemed fine for a moment before Lily turned her head and the band started sliding again. Grumbling under her breath, Lily looked around, and noticed one of the crabs was getting closer. It was still a row off her position, and she likely wasn't in trouble, but Lily had no desire to waste more time then necessary with these. Especially when it seemed like she couldn't wear them.

Lily let the goggles drop down around her neck and gave the inside of the box a quick search. The paper Lily was hoping to find failed to materialise so she slammed the lid shut and transformed before creeping away from the approaching crab. It wasn't a problem right now, and Lily really didn't want to let encourage it becoming one. Once she was two rows away from the closest crab Lily started swimming upwards to continue her search of the kelp forest. Sure that there was more treasure… somewhere.