"Hey Phil?"

"Hmm."

"You know I thought about joining the army before this job?"

"I thought you were an artist before?"

"Yeah, I was. When I showed up to enlist they wouldn't let me."

"Why's that?"

"It's because I kept drawing fire."

...

"I hate you."

--Conversation between two Guards, Lenorian Dungeon. AC 1621.

We fought our way through the dungeon, defeating corrupted friends and enemies alike. We survived the smite of a god and then met the enigmatic hypnofrog. The frog was then revealed to be an agent of some other power. He summoned a mysterious man from the blackened sea who showed us the war being fought. Now?

Now, the man in the blue suit sits cross legged in the water. He floats ominously above our group as he says,

"You're in the army now."

A shocked silence rings out between Luna, Todd and me. I try to understand what he's saying and respond, but my mind is incredibly exhausted so I just manage a,

"Huh?"

He seems to take my weary commentary as invitation to repeat himself.

"I said, you're in the army now."

Luna starts talking. "Yeah... look here Mr. Floating blue suit guy. We didn't sign up for anything. I appreciate you coming out this way, but we're going to figure things out on our own. I'm sure we can find a way out of here no problem. Right Crabby?"

Her words shock me into a semblance of awareness and I nod, cautiously agreeing. Our third member chimes in,

"TODD."

"Yeah! What he said!" Luna unhelpfully supplies.

Our united front seems to take him off guard for a moment before he mirthlessly chuckles. His frown turns into a grimace as he says,

"It appears we have a misunderstanding."

The man begins to glow as mana builds within his body. I can feel the power wafting off of him. He's stronger than us... incredibly stronger. I raise my claws to prepare for combat. Then the hypnofrog speaks up.

"It is just a misunderstanding. You are not authorized unilateral action. As resident agent I recommend explaining the situation."

The frog's neutral monotone breaks the growing tension around us. The man shakes his head, releasing the light from the growing skill. His former grimace twists into a awkward thin smile as he seems to become embarassed. His arm raises and reaches behind him, scratching the back of his head. He says,

"Ah, sorry about that. A bit of war response I'm afraid. I've been on the front lines too long."

The frog adds,

"Maybe you should take some time away. A stint as dungeon guard may do you some good."

He looks out into the water. "Aye, that it might." He turns back to us, seeing us guarded and combat ready, and says, "Anyway kids, let me show you what I mean."

He gestures with his hand and I suddenly feel the water compressing around me. I struggle, trying to break the grip he has, but don't even manage a smidgeon of movement. He raises his hand and we all start floating upward, heading to the peak of the underwater mountain. He adopts a lecturing tone as he states.

"You are at the edge of the incursion zone, approximately fifteen thousand miles away from the sole super continent of Lenoria." He casts [Megalodon's Sight] on Luna and Todd respectively.

"As you can see, the front lines are there. But surrounding this area?"

We crest the peak of the mountain and I can see miles around in every direction. Bleak dead seafloor extends beyond sight. There is nothing moving, no sign of life. He continues,

"Surrounding this area is nothing. This is a special instanced area managed by the [system] and manned by [dungeon] monsters in order to protect this world. You can swim for most of your life in any direction from this point and the only thing you will find is death by starvation. Even if you manage to get to the edge of the zone you'll be blocked by a barrier that prevents egress. Any questions?"

He waves his hand once more and I discover that I can move again. I'm standing on a hardened platform of water that he created and I struggle to form a cognizant response. I finally manage,

"If that's the case, then what about you? You're obviously not a dungeon monster."

He grimaces once more and says, "I am one of the men in blue. For me, this is a volunteer assignment. I work as a civilian auxillary to military intelligence." He seems to consider for a moment before adding, "After this meeting you will forget we exist. If you decide otherwise, then you will receive a pleasant meeting with a hypnofrog and be made to forget."

*gulp*

These are some dangerous waters you've found yourself in Crabby. Let's move away from topics that make the unstable man grimace. I think it might be best to go along with what he's saying and try to find a better route in the future. Luna seems to be on the same wavelength and speaks up,

"So... what happens now?"

The man in blue says, "Now, we wait for the armored transport that I've called to arrive. They will transport you to the recruiting station inside Incursion City. It's too far away and too dangerous to venture there yourselves and I have things to attend to."

He turns back to the hypnofrog. "Agent Frog, you may return to your post in the dungeon. I can handle things from here."

The frog turns to each of us and I catch his eyes for a moment. The revolving *whirr* of his blazing pupils catches me off guard before he looks to the next member of our group. Finally, he says "Remember, you have a choice. Good Luck."

With that enigmatic statement, he descends into the sea, returning to the mountain and the dungeon. The man in blue watches him descend and then tells us, "Alright, sit tight. Your transport will be here in a little while."

He then visibly turns his back and stares off into the distance, watching the battle commence. I turn my back on him as well and huddle with Luna and Todd. I whisper, "so, what do you guys think?"

Luna says, "I say we go with him for now. If what he says is true we'll find out soon enough. And... I don't think we can beat him."

"TODD."

"Todd says that we should trust but verify. Extend them the benefit of the doubt but remain guarded."

I nod, their thoughts were the same as mine. We fall into silence and stare into the distance, thinking about our travels thus far. I am weary, exhausted beyond measure. But I still remember the notification I received as I left the dungeon. The one about the new title. Since we were waiting, I decided to pull it up.

Congratulations!

New Title Available.

Name: Smite from a Crab Feat: Survived divine intervention on a [system] world. Effect: Once per day, [Empower] an attack. Lore: "SMITE." - Aethir, God of Intelligence

'ding'

You have three related titles. Would you like to merge them? Y/N?

With a cautious claw, I reached out and selected, "Y"

**System: Analyzing titles.**

**System: Parameters set: Divine, Crab**

**System: Merging...**

I eye the message warily, I'm not sure I like how the system is thinking right now...

**System: Merging complete**

**System: Removed, "Luck of the Crab," "Kiss from a Crab," Smite from a Crab."**

'ding'

Congratulations!

New Title Available.

Name: Scion of the Crab Gods Feat: Three titles from the Triumvirate in their Crab Aspects. Effect: [Title Pool] Created. Twice a day you may either [Empower] an attack or [Dodge] attack that would cause your death. +1% to all stats. Lore: "Their forms are mine to perceive." - {REDACTED}

Okay... that... isn't nearly as bad as I feared. It seems like it just gives me more flexibility. Instead of just a single dodge or strong attack, I can do one of both or choose to do one twice. I can work with this. I close the title windows as I see something approaching in the distance.

It's unclear, but the shape gradually reveals itself as it comes closer. It's revealed to be a giant whale, covered in armor. Ragged iron plating forms a suit from head to tail, and it is painted in various shades of grey and blue. It isn't a perfect camouflage, or even a particularly good one, but it helped to break up his profile a bit. As he finalizes his approach a gruff voice sounds out in the water.

"Petty Officer Bill, reporting. I got a call about civilians needing transport?"

His head turns to the side and I am face to face with it's enormous eye. The eye that was bigger than my entire body. I tried to keep calm but my shell was shaking from the sheer size of the thing.

The man in blue says, "Yeah. These few just escaped from a dungeon. There's not a dedicated route to pick them up considering how close it is to the front lines. That, and hardly anyone ever comes out of there so..." He shrugs nonchalantly, "I need you to take them to Incursion City.

The whale huffs, and the force of the water emerging from his mouth actually rocks me back on my heels. He starts in on the man, "And who do you think you are? How did you even know the command frequencies to request..."

He trails off as the man holds up a blue medallion. Petty Officer Bill seems to rein in his emotions and gruffly says, "Fine then." He looks at us once more. "Okay you four, go ahead and hop in. I'll have you there in a couple o' hours."

A few seconds pass before Luna pipes up, "Uh, hop in where Mr. Petty Officer sir?"

She barely manages to finish her speech before the whales mouth opens wide. Long bristles of baleen descend from the roof. I emit a quiet sigh of relief. I don't see any teeth in sight. As it fully opens it is clear he intends for us to make the trip on top of his tongue. He continues to speak,

"I ain't got all day. Hop in, you'll be protected until we get out of this area. Then, you can come out and ride up top."

I turn to the others and shrug, "Well at least he doesn't have any teeth," before turning and swimming into the whales mouth. Luna catches a ride on my back and Todd hovers behind on a solid platform of water. The mouth closes and we huddle in the dark as I feel my momentum change. We must be underway.

I can feel the gentle up and down of the whales massive bullk propelling through the water. I say to the others, "I'm going to try to get some rest. Let me know when something changes." Luna taps my shell in acknowledgement. As I start to nod off I hear the Petty Officer's muted voice once more,

"Oh, and girlie? Don't call me sir. I'm enlisted, I work for a living."

His speech hardly registers as I fade into sleep.