First room down, onto the next.

  Lukey slowly made his way down the flooded tunnels. Instead of the flat, linear layout of his previous run, the labyrinth had completely changed, with tunnels that wound down into the island in various directions. His best guess was that the labyrinth had changed according to the conditions. Water flowed down, so to get rid of it, the labyrinth had closed off all the open-air chambers and instead opened various pathways downward.

  I guess the labyrinth has rules that involve protecting the broodmothers and their eggs. If a labyrinth exists to protect and provide energy for monsters, it makes sense that there are various sections to prevent monsters from fighting against one another.

  As he swam down, Lukey came upon an intersection in the tunnels. A quick [Ripple Sense +] revealed a chamber to his left, and Lukey quickly swam in that direction. The pathway led downwards, toward an open hole that widened out into a larger area. Lukey went up to the entrance and peeked into the chamber with another ripple.

  [Shell-bearer Aquaclaw Lv. 25]

  [Shell-bearer Aquaclaw Lv. 25]

  Two shell bearers? This might get difficult. Though, I suppose it’s pretty good training for dealing with multiple opponents.

  Lukey entered the room, and the shell bearers immediately began rushing him down, claws extended. They were fast, but still slow enough to see their attacks, letting him prepare for a proper defense.

  Now, how exactly would I defend these things? Let’s see… Let’s call the position with the short end outward the standard grip and the long end out the reverse grip.

  Deciding to use one tonfa for each shell-bearer. Lukey changed both hands to a reverse grip, extending each one toward the oncoming claws. Once the aquaclaws reached him, he quickly shoved the rods into the claws, pushing them both away from him and deflecting their attacks. This motion, however, also pushed Lukey back, rendering him unable to counter.

  Dammit! It was effective, but underwater, every action has a reaction!

  Opting to back away, Lukey quickly charged up some aether and threw both arms forward, launching him backwards and into the wall. From here, Lukey could begin thinking of a new strategy. Unfortunately, he had to think fast, because the aquaclaws were just about to begin swimming once again.

  I’m starting to see why fishermen tend to favor spears underwater. Piercing weapons pierce flesh with very little force and don’t push you back with every attack. Meanwhile, with impact weapons, the force can easily launch you far away. Unless you brace yourself against something, there’s no way you can muster enough force to…

  Lukey looked behind him, at the wall he was standing on.

  I am such an idiot sometimes.

  Lukey quickly pumped as much aether as he could into his legs, then launched himself off the wall towards one of the approaching aquaclaws. As he closed in on it, Lukey switched his right hand to a standard grip, then began charging as much aether as he could into that arm. The aquaclaw braced itself for Lukey’s attack by placing its shell shield in front of itself. Unfortunately, it couldn’t have predicted what would happen next.

  A little more…

  Lukey angled his body upwards as he sailed through the water, streaming up and over the aquaclaw as he unleashed all the force he could muster into the top of its shell. The impact was brief but deadly, as Lukey drove the tonfa into and through the aquaclaw’s shell, tearing it in half. Lukey couldn’t stop admiring the scene, however, as he continued to speed into the wall. Before he hit the wall, Lukey did a flip to stall his motion, then braced himself against the wall once more.

  Interesting… Just like I saw in that vision with Hemingway, I can change my trajectory by curving my body mid-swim, and these tonfa… It seems impact damage is really good for breaking through their defenses. All that force driven into a small area—it's enough to shatter any defense, assuming you put enough force into it.

  Much like the spear, the tonfa relied on thrusts and lunges, but unlike the spear, it could break through any defense with armor-shattering force. On the one hand, piercing enemies with the spear was far better strategically, and he could keep his distance if anything happened. However…

  This… this feels a little addictive.

  Lukey charged up his legs and pushed himself off the wall once more. As he approached, he placed his left tonfa in front, standard grip, and reeled his right tonfa back, charging it with aether. The shell bearer defended itself, and Lukey met its shield with his left before driving his right directly through the shell bearer's face, which was completely ripped apart from the force.

  Once that was done, Lukey turned his body and kicked off the shield, assessing the damage a short distance away with excited eyes.

  That was… exhilarating. Blowing your enemies apart like that is something only people like Saphina get to do with their massive clubs. It’s strange, but these tonfa seem to have a lot of impact force when combined with my stance. Looks like they’re not just for defense after all.

  Lukey swam over and took what he could off the shell bearers' shells before continuing on into the labyrinth's depths. As he did, he began considering his next course of action.

  Bouncing off the walls is good for gathering a lot of force quickly, but what if I’m in the open ocean? I can’t very well just jump off the seafloor whenever I need to gain some momentum. There has to be a better way…

  Thinking back on his previous fight, Lukey recalled how he had used the shield to stop himself before launching his attack. For that brief moment after impact, the shield functioned as a brace for his body, letting him steady himself to launch his attack. If only there was a way to latch onto his opponents. Apparently, some fish, like the suckerfish, had ways of latching onto other large forms via a suction cup on top of their heads. Unfortunately, Lukey had no such art that would let him latch onto his opponents like that.

  Or do I…?

  Lukey thought back to what Kiran had taught him about inverted arts. If you could make an artwork backwards, then you could potentially get an entirely different effect out of your art. Lukey was still a greenhorn when it came to arts, but it seemed worth a try considering the situation.

  Let’s see… I need an art that involves sticking to things or creating suction. The opposite of that would be repelling things.

  Looking back on his arts, the only thing that came to mind was [Aquatic Nature], with its ability to create a water-repellant sheen above his skin. It was weak and limited, but in this case, it would suit his needs. Lukey began focusing on the art, manually altering it according to will. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was doing, so all he did was cause the art to become unstable as he used it.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  A bit later he finally managed something, though it wasn’t what he expected. After one attempt, the water began flowing through his body instead of around him. It was a strange sensation, as if he were some sort of aquatic ghost. Unfortunately, it also cost a ton of aether, so Lukey quickly released it and began to reassess his situation.

  This is stupid… I’m making this way more complicated than it needs to be. Think, dammit! I need suction; how do I create suction? Suckerfish create suction through sealing out the air and water around their foreheads. How do I replicate that?

  Lukey looked at his hands; if he pressed them against the surface, they could repel water, but it would still seep in through the cracks around his hands. Some minor alterations to [Aquatic Nature] still needed to be made to achieve the intended effect.

  Let’s see… nothing too complicated, right? Just expand the water repellent shield a little around the fingers and palm, and then…

  Lukey poked one of the rocky cavern walls, and to his astonishment, the finger stuck in place. Then he tried placing an entire hand onto the rock. Lukey watched with excitement as the entire hand locked into place. After confirming his success, Lukey proceeded to pry off his hand.

  It will take some time to control, but this new version of [Aquatic Nature] will definitely make underwater combat much easier. Though… I still wonder about that inverted art. What would happen if I inverted the airflow element? Instead of absorbing air, I expel it from my body.

  Lukey tried it, and after many botched attempts, he successfully managed to expel some of the air from his body. Unfortunately, it was a very tiny amount, and nothing he could use at that moment.

  I’ll work on that later. For now, I’ll just stick to the suction grip.

  The labyrinth continued, with Lukey busting his way through every shell-bearer he saw.

  …

  Lukey made his way through the winding tunnels until he reached the next chamber, taking care to practice his new suction grips as he swam. The unseen force of the labyrinth was starting to build, and it looked like he would soon be leaving. Eventually, he finally reached another chamber and dared to peek inside as he used [Ripple Sense +] and subsequently [Insight].

  [Razor Aquaclaw Lv. 33]

  Woah… he’s big…

  The razor aquaclaw was roughly as large as the guardian was, about three or four times Lukey’s size, with a dark gray shell. Instead of kelp and seashells, this aquaclaw had managed to decorate its body with pieces of scrap metal. In fact, the entire floor was covered in bits and pieces of scrap metal. They either flowed into the labyrinth from the outside or grew here in the labyrinth, because the iron aquaclaw had managed to shove sharp bits of metal into every open piece of shell.

  The top of its shell is laced with sharp bits of metal… and its claws could practically be used as sharp bludgeons. I hate to think of what that thing could do to me if it caught me. Well, at the very least it must trade off speed in exchange for defense, so it must be slow.

  Lukey walked into the chamber, but to his dismay, he was immediately charged the second he entered. He barely had time to react as the aquaclaw swam toward his location at ludicrous speed. Suppressing his panic, Lukey charged his legs and shot off the floor, high above the razored menace. He then watched with astonishment as the aquaclaw began clawing at the place he had been.

  Aggressive, aren’t we? What should I do? With those flippers on the back, it can chase me anywhere…

  The razor aqua claw turned, but Lukey didn’t run. Instead, he prepared himself for another assault as he reeled back his arm. His practice with the shell-bearers had helped him develop a sense of when to counter, and this was the time to put it to the test. Lukey waited right up until the aquaclaw was upon him, then he threw everything he could into his tonfa, driving it upward with the standard grip.

  BACK… OFF!

  The razor aquaclaw was stunned with a mighty upward blow. Unfortunately, Lukey didn’t come out unscathed, as one of the claws grazed his side, scratching his unarmored body with the many iron razors implanted into its shell. Lukey now had several gashes along his side, but he ignored them as he charged up and drove his left tonfa, standard grip, into the aquaclaw's underside.

  The short end of the tonfa tore directly into the aquaclaw’s underside, creating a small hole that was lined with cracks. Lukey wasn’t done, however, as he followed it up with another charged thrust, then a third. Unfortunately, that was all Lukey could manage until the razor aquaclaw began thrashing, forcing him to swim away and reset his stance. Taking advantage of the brief respite, Lukey assessed his situation.

  Crap, that metal is no joke. Fortunately, with my current strength, I’m able to take a resist cut to some degree. Still, that hurts… My blood is already leaking into the water. I need a better way of parrying these attacks.

  Opting for a different approach, Lukey switched to the reverse grip, then readied himself as the Razor Aquaclaw began its charge once more. This time Lukey lowered both tonfa, steadying himself as he prepared for another counterattack. The razor aquaclaw practically flew towards him, and Lukey waited with a mix of anticipation and fear as he waited for the perfect opportunity as his nerves screamed in rebellion.

  Hold… Hold… I said hold, dammit!

  Lukey was forced to silence his fears as the iron-lined claws closed in on his face. Only once they were close enough did he throw up his tonfas with all his strength, shoving the claws upwards while simultaneously revealing the aquaclaw’s underside. However, Lukey didn’t bother attacking, because he had something different in mind.

  Lukey maneuvered his boots beneath the aquaclaw, then planted both feet on its underside. Once that was done, he manually took hold of [Aquatic Nature] to create that suction beneath his boots. Just like that, he was latched onto the underside of the aquaclaw as it began flipping over itself repeatedly to strike at him. Of course, its claws couldn't actually reach Lukey, so it was rendered helpless to his attack.

  Great, now let’s get rid of these arms first.

  Gripped firmly to the razor aquaclaws' underside, Lukey raised both tonfas in a reverse grip, but before he attacked, another thought occurred to him.

  Wait… Can [Fillet] be used here too? The art says it’s for disassembling sea creatures. I assume this would apply.

  [Fillet] activated, and Lukey was surprised to find two things happening at once. First, his grip and control over his tonfa had increased, which was a welcome surprise. What was more astonishing was the ether flowing through his mind. Within Lukey’s sight, the various joints of the aquaclaw became highlighted, showing him where to make various cuts.

  Woah… This will be useful in the future.

  With reignited glee, Lukey used the art as a guide as he raised his tonfas in reverse grip. Then, he charged aether into his muscles and let loose. The tonfas were brought down upon both sides of the aquaclaw and smashed into the joints that connected the body to the arms. Unimpeded, Lukey did it again and again, bashing the joints until the muscles began to show. Then, with one last empowered strike, Lukey bashed the arms away from the aquaclaw, tearing away the last of the connecting muscles.

  I’M NOT DONE! TIME TO FINISH IT!

  Lukey quickly switched to a standard grip and began thrusting the tonfa into the exposed underside beneath him. Each hit made a satisfying crunch as the rods pierced the shell, breaking through and exposing more guts and intestines with each blow. Lukey got so lost in the frenzy that he didn’t even notice how he absorbed the aquaclaws aether, a sure sign that it was dead. It took a while, but once Lukey finally calmed down, he kicked himself off the Razor Aquaclaw and assessed the extent of the damage.

  Alright, it looks like its upper shell is still intact, so I can use that to rebuild my armor. All this iron too… I bet Adran could use this in his forge.

  Lukey took out two seashell chests and began stuffing them full of materials. Unfortunately, the main body would have to be taken by hand, since it was too large to fit in any of his chests. As he retrieved all the materials strewn about, Lukey looked at his level.

  [Lukey (Beginner Trapper) Lv. 48]

  Just one level… After all that… Looks like I need to fight more enemies closer to my level if I want to get to eighty.

  Fortunately, Lukey accomplished everything he set out to do. The tonfas were perfect for him, and now he knew how to use them. They weren’t complicated at all, just two sticks with handles that allowed you to drive the impact into a very small point. They were simple, yet shockingly effective.

  Combined with his newfound knowledge of how to manipulate [Aquatic Nature], the tonfas were now a truly effective underwater weapon. More than that, Lukey now knew how to properly fight underwater, and with some more experimentation, he could probably become even deadlier.

  Satisfied with his gains, Lukey packed up the seashell chests and shrunk them to fit onto his belt. He then took the top half of the razor aquaclaw with him as he rode the labyrinth's current, created by the unseen force, back to the entrance.