Chapter 0038: The Swamp Giant Crocodile King

The following day, Grimm had the dubious fortune of encountering two "green gnomes" in the tower, both reeking abominably. Clearly, these two unfortunates had suffered the attack of a mud monster and, in their further misfortune, triggered a shrinking curse, thus finding themselves in their present sorry state. Yet before Grimm could cautiously inquire into the details, the two "green gnomes" spotted him, glaring at him from afar with bared teeth.

Faced with their hostile stares, Grimm had no notion of what he had done to offend them; he could only quickly submit his trade information to Danny and make his exit. Danny, after all, was the most well-connected of the apprentice wizards, having established a thriving underground market by trading in requests and information. Grimm's purpose today was to circulate the news that he had swamp drake eggs and magic iron ore for sale; any interested apprentice could then seek him out for barter. He also took the opportunity to purchase a few useful items from Danny.

Today, the Swamp Tower was far more lively and bustling than usual. Most of the wizard apprentices had abandoned their solitary abodes, choosing instead to mingle with familiar "friends" and trade the latest news. The mandatory missions grandly promoted by Master Anderson had landed like a bombshell, turning the lives of the tower’s apprentices upside down.

All apprentices were forced to interrupt their research projects, anxiously and fervently following the unfolding situation. Only a handful of apprentices had managed to select their own mission at the very first opportunity; the majority still lingered in uncertainty, watching and waiting. It was apparent that this round of missions had been issued by the Scattered Towerlin Wizards' Association, meaning apprentices would form temporary teams with others from across the Towerlin region, fighting side by side as comrades in arms.

Never before had such a situation arisen. Along with the novelty, it brought the tower apprentices boundless anxiety and unease.

Grimm made his way through the chattering crowds, walking slowly through the second-floor common hall. Wherever he passed, clusters of wizard apprentices fell silent, their eyes betraying a trace of rejection. Even the "lone wolf" apprentices who sometimes exchanged a word or two with him kept their distance, their expressions complicated.

Grimm was like a lone wolf shunned by the pack, moving through the grass in search of a companion who would accept him—but finding none. He drew up his hood to obscure his face and left the hall.

There were only three figures in the tower whose mere presence could inspire such universal wariness, and Allen certainly wasn't one of them. Grimm had no interest in probing why the other two powerhouses had turned hostile toward him; it was, in all likelihood, something to do with Red Mary. What mattered to him now was finding a way to strengthen himself in the short term, so he might survive the terrifying reconnaissance mission that loomed ahead.

Taking advantage of the general distraction, Grimm once again slipped out of the wizard tower unnoticed.

Returning to the vicinity of the muddy swamp, Grimm finally sensed the desolation permeating the place. However foul the stench, however bleak the landscape, his spiritual senses had always been able to detect clusters of swamp hags lurking at the edges, waiting for prey. But today, standing by the water’s edge, Grimm swept the area repeatedly—yet detected not a single red dot to mark a hag’s presence.

Within sight lay four or five vast pools of fetid water. In the past, each pond would have housed a hag clan: some with twenty or thirty members, others with as few as seven or eight, all giving an impression of teeming prosperity.

But now, after a great battle, the core swamp’s largest hag clan had suffered devastating losses, and the peripheral clans had been all but wiped out as well—a most pitiable sight.

Yet, in a way, this suited Grimm perfectly, sparing him considerable trouble. Today he had come specifically to hunt monsters and needed a broad battlefield above all. Even if the hags had not fallen to Alice’s hand, they would not have escaped his today.

After another circuit to survey the terrain and allow his chip to record every detail of the surroundings, Grimm finally retrieved the earth golem core.

After more than ten hours of recovery, all four energy nodes on the summoning core were filled with earth elemental energy—the perfect moment to summon the earth golem. Grimm tossed the core to the edge of the mire; the instant it touched earth and moisture, great billows of ochre smoke rose. This was no ordinary vapor, but a dense cloud of earth elemental particles.

The earth element surged together, and under the guidance of a mysterious will, the damp soil began to rise and twist, swiftly coalescing before Grimm’s eyes into a humanoid golem of earth, roughly his own height.

It was a shame this was not a stone or iron golem; their defenses would have been tenfold greater, perhaps even enough to go toe-to-toe with the crocodile king he had in mind. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for: the earth golem was inexpensive and effective, but its defense barely matched that of a human warrior clad in full leather armor—hardly a match for the terrifying bite and powerful tail strikes of the swamp crocodile.

Still, the swamp crocodile was not without its weaknesses. Otherwise, with the crocodile king’s strength rivaling that of an advanced apprentice, only a madman would seek to tangle with it.

...

It was early morning, and the muddy swamp remained tranquil. Less than half a mile from the hags’ fetid pond lay the broad marshland where the swamp crocodiles made their lair. There, clusters of monstrous crocodiles slumbered in the grass at the water’s edge.

But as they were enjoying their languid peace, a loud splash broke the calm—a disheveled, moss-covered figure tumbled headlong into the marsh. Matted, mossy hair; black, filthy claws; a gaunt yet sinewy frame—it was none other than one of their neighbors, a swamp hag.

As native magical beings of the marsh, every powerful monster had its own territory, and boundaries were strictly observed; never did they trespass upon one another. Yet today, this foul, stinking hag dared to invade the crocodiles’ domain, provoking the wrath of the beasts, who woke from their dreams enraged.

Without a sound, seven or eight massive crocodiles slid from the grass into the water, vanishing from sight as lines rippled swiftly across the surface toward where the hag had fallen.

For some reason, the fallen hag’s limbs had been broken, and though her body remained strong, she was helpless to save herself. Soon, a gaping maw burst from the water, seizing her upper body and dragging her beneath the surface. More crocodiles appeared nearby, water flying and mud churning as the blood-crazed brutes tore hungrily at the struggling hag.

A crocodile even larger than the rest now appeared at the shore. Unlike its kin, it did not join the feeding frenzy upon the hapless intruder, but half-raised its bulk with kingly composure, scanning the marsh for any sign of disturbance.

The hags, too, had their own chieftain; it was unlikely one would trespass here without reason. Could Simba be trying to provoke another war among the monsters?

As a monster leader that had undergone a special evolution, the swamp crocodile king had developed a rudimentary intelligence, able to ponder simple problems with a measure of reason.

Even as it puzzled over this mystery, another hag came flying in, swept along by a fierce wind and tracing an odd arc before plunging into the depths of the marsh. The crocodiles, not yet sated from their feast on the first intruder, moved at once in a pack to seize this new prey.

Only the crocodile king, motionless on the shore, saw clearly: this new hag had plainly been thrown in by someone—someone now hiding behind a clump of ghost trees not far from the water.

At once, the crocodile king lumbered forward, moving its squat, powerful limbs in a swaying gait toward the ghost trees. To avoid alerting its "enemy," it took care to skirt the marsh, hiding itself in waist-high grass as it crept stealthily toward its target.

Here was a monstrous creature doing its best impression of a wilderness assassin. Grimm, concealed in another ghost tree at a distance, could only shake his head in disbelief. Monsters, for all their evolution, possessed only the barest spark of intelligence; compared to the deep, hard-won cunning of humankind, their reasoning was laughably childish.

Even lying flat, the crocodile king’s immense form stood over two meters tall, and the thickest grass barely concealed its limbs and belly. Its armored back and towering spines were impossible to hide—visible from afar. Yet it persisted in its "you can’t see me" approach, a display of such intelligence as to bring tears to the eyes.

Worse still, its massive body, weighing twenty or thirty tons, made the very earth tremble as it moved—yet it crept about in a parody of stealth, as if ignorant of the commotion it caused.

After skillfully weaving around a series of obstacles, the crocodile king finally spotted a suspicious figure behind the ghost tree: a detestable human in apprentice robes, with two or three crippled swamp hags at his side, which he was steadily tossing into the distant marsh. Thanks to his antics, the once-tranquil swamp was now a riot of activity, the water rife with crocodilian feeding frenzies.

The crocodile king glared furiously at the hateful apprentice. Determined not to let his prey escape, it inched closer, patience strained to the breaking point.

One hundred meters...

Seventy...

Fifty...

Twenty...

Today was truly a lucky day.

It had nearly crawled right up behind the detestable apprentice, and "he" had noticed nothing amiss. The crocodile king congratulated itself, lowering its bulk in preparation for a thunderous, earth-shaking strike.

Die, human! Today I’ll taste the flesh of a wizard apprentice!

With a howl of murderous wind, the swamp crocodile king lunged at its foe.