Chapter 149

While Candy and Tuffy escorted Ray to a section of the swamp, Ray asked them several questions about this so-called Mud Crab. The Mud Crab was apparently the big boss of the swamp, similar to the winged beast that stayed on top of the mountain, only the Mud crab was a lot weaker. In hunting areas, there was generally one creature that was stronger than the rest. The stronger the leader was the stronger creatures it would attract around it as well. If the leader was only an intermediate class, then that area would most likely only be filled with basic tier creatures. This was the case of the Black forest that was near Ray's village when he was younger. The wolf Ray had slain was also the boss of the forest, which was why the forest was filled with only basic tier creatures. From the description the kids were giving of the Mud Crab, Ray could guess what tier it was at. The kids could see that Ray wasn't taking them seriously. They were trying their best to talk about how scary the Mud Crab was. "I promise you the mud Crab's shell is unbreakable," Tuffy said while Candy nodded in agreement. "No one in our guild has been able to defeat it yet." Candy also added. "Oh really?" Ray replied, "So let me ask you, what tier is this Mud Crab?" "It's an advanced tier beast." Tuffy Replied. Ray had to stop himself from blurting out with laughter. He had guessed that the beast might be a king or super tier but not advanced. The kids knew that Ray was strong but didn't think he was able to defeat an advanced tier beast. The difference between each tier for beasts were great. Even if an army of basic tiers tried to defeat an intermediate tier, they would stand no chance and it was same going up the ranks. If Ray was to guess his current strength right now, he would put it at that of the bottom of the king tier beasts. When Ray fought the minotaur underneath Avrion, Sir K was the one who had finished him off but if Ray was to fight it now, Ray thought he would most likely win. So dealing with an Advanced tier Beast would be no problem for him. The kids took Ray's silence as a small victory. They thought they had managed to convince Ray of how powerful the beast truly was but it was the opposite. Ray was hoping that the beast would be at least at the king level so he could see how much he had grown. Fighting against an advanced tier beast meant nothing to him at the moment. "Nes, can I ask you a question?" Candy said politely. "Go on." "Why hasn't your brother said a word?" Candy asked while pointing to Ray's clone that was silently following them from behind. "Oh, I completely forgot about him." Ray clicked his fingers and suddenly the clone vanished into thin air. The kids rubbed their eyes thinking they were seeing things. "It's a skill of mine." Ray decided to de summon his clone as he realised there was a downside when using the clone. The clone would stay out as long as it was still alive but if Ray didn't deactivate the skill, his mana points would never increase above 50/100. It was as if his mana was constantly powering the clone.

"You mean you're a mage, wow that's so cool I've never seen one before!" Tuffy shouted. "But you look like a warrior?" Ray laughed nervously. "I'm a fighter mage, I use weapons and magic." The kids seemed to be even more interested in Ray now. Finally, the kids had led Ray to a part of the swamp that was mostly filled with just water. It looked like a giant lake of muddy water while the outskirts of it were filled with trees and vines. Inside the lake though, there were several green boulders. "You see those there?" Tuffy said pointing at the boulder closest to them. "They're called Green clops, if you get close to them, they'll start moving all of a sudden. This place is perfect for anyone who is looking to train, as they only react when someone gets close. This way adventures can fight them one by one rather than a whole horde of them." Ray started to walk towards the green boulder and just like Tuffy had said, the boulder started to shake and move. A single red eye had opened on the top part of the boulder and suddenly the boulder stood up. It was covered in mud making it difficult to see what its body looked like, all that could be seen was its giant red eye. "Careful, there known for its hard…" Before Candy could finish her sentence Ray had punched the giant mud ball and caused rocks and mud to splatter all over. Ray was pleased with the hunting area the kids had shown him. It was rare for creatures to bundle up like this unless it was in their nature like bee type creatures. Ray got lucky last time due to the Dragon roar attracting everything around him. So, for them to know of a place like this was practically a gold mine for him. Ray continued going to the boulders dealing with each one as easy as he did the first. The kids got to work quickly as it was more difficult for them to find the Crystal cores due to the way Ray was dealing with them. Parts of the Green clops would splatter everywhere and into the mud, making it hard for the kids to find the right body part containing the crystal. The muddy lake was gigantic and it looked like there were about 100 green boulders. After Ray had defeated 30 of them in the first half of the lake, he suddenly stopped. The kids were wondering what had happened. It was simple though, Ray was no longer gaining any Intermediate crystals from the Green clops, so there was no need for him to continue killing beasts. The kids thought Ray's actions were weird. He had defeated each of them with ease and didn't look like he was tired. If he continued to kill the beasts then he could go on to sell their crystal cores. "Come on let's get out of here," Ray said. Suddenly though, in the centre of the lake, a loud rumbling sound could be heard. Small waves were starting to be pushed out towards them. "What going on!" Candy shouted. Tuffy was too frightened to say anything, he was just shaking in fear pointing at the centre of the lake. When Ray turned around to get a look at what was behind him, he saw a Giant Crab covered in mud. It was the Mud Crab.