Reborn As a Pirate - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: New Discovery!
Along the trail, Ryan stumbled upon an unexpected sight not long after setting out.

Beneath the expansive canopy of a towering coconut tree, a massive beach crab was busily engaged with its meal, taking apart a coconut that was nearly as large as a human head with its formidable claws.

Ryan watched, intrigued. It dawned on him that despite the abundance of these colossal coconuts, he hadn’t yet tasted one himself.

These coconuts grew on the lofty branches of enormous trees that stretched up into the sky, hundreds of meters tall, their access seemingly impossible.

Ryan had assumed that the formidable size and toughness of these coconuts made them impervious to falling, but the scene unfolding before him on the sandy beach suggested otherwise. The giant crabs seemed to thrive here, feasting on these fallen giants.

“How does a giant beach crab sustain itself in such a barren landscape?” Ryan had previously pondered. The answer now seemed glaringly obvious: the large coconuts that plummeted from the heights were their primary sustenance.

“It’s rare to find such a large fallen coconut, but I can’t simply leave it for you to devour,” Ryan mused with a smirk.

With a newfound determination, he approached the beach crab, making no effort to muffle the sound of his footsteps.

“Tap…”

The crab, momentarily distracted from its meal, cast a wary glance upwards and caught sight of the approaching “strange monkey.”

With a swift motion, it dropped the coconut flesh from its claws and scuttled sideways towards Ryan, its thick chelicerae propelling it faster than the average man. It paid no heed to anything significantly smaller than itself.

The two, one man and one crab, closed in on each other rapidly, the distance between them melting away to just two meters within seconds.

Ryan’s gaze was steady, his heart thrumming with an exhilarating mix of anticipation and clarity. The crab, previously a blur in its speed, now seemed to move in slow motion, each of its movements meticulously captured in Ryan’s keen eyes.

Two meters, then one and a half… As they were about to collide, with only a meter separating them, Ryan made his move.

His eyes narrowed, adrenaline surging through him.

“Roar!” Ryan’s challenge echoed across the beach, marking the climax of their confrontation.

As the sound of Ryan’s roaring challenge echoed through the air, visible ripples instantly spread across the sandy beach. The first to feel the brunt was the massive beach crab, which momentarily froze, its eyes dulling as it struggled to process the sudden onslaught.

The sheer mass of the crab meant it wasn’t physically repelled by Ryan’s high-spirited war cry, but the intense sound waves left it dazed, plunging it into a state of confusion that the locals often referred to simply as “shocked.”

“Interesting,” Ryan murmured, a smirk playing on his lips. He felt a surge of strength coursing through him and his body lightened, a clear effect of the “morale gain” from his spiritual battle cry.

Choosing not to attack immediately, Ryan halted gracefully, ready to observe how long it would take for the crab to recover from its bewildered state.

Approximately a second later, life flickered back into the crab’s eyes. By the second second, it had fully regained consciousness and, in a flurry of anger, snapped its formidable pincers towards Ryan.

With a swift sidestep, Ryan dodged the attack, aware that his high-spirited battle cry would need some time before it could be employed again.

With a resonant “clang,” Ryan drew his long sword, the blade singing as it cut through the air. He lunged forward, aiming not for the creature’s eyes but for its sturdy back shell, a target he had previously found challenging.

He was eager to test his enhanced strength, bolstered by a 3.42 physical index, One-Handed Weapon Specialization, and the morale gain, against the tough carapace.

“Stab…”

The sword struck true, carving a deep gash into the crab’s shell, slicing through to the flesh beneath, a testament to Ryan’s improved capabilities. The crab writhed in agony, its body streaked with light red veins that seemed darker than any Ryan had observed in previous encounters.

Driven into a frenzy by the pain, the crab’s strength and speed surged as it entered a “violent state.” Yet, even in its enraged condition, it was no match for the prowess of the current Ryan, who stood ready, sword in hand, for the next move in their intense beachfront duel.

As the Beach Crab flailed wildly with its claws, Ryan moved with the grace and agility of a storm petrel dancing through ocean spray. He deftly evaded each frenzied attack, and in a swift, calculated move, he blinded the crab by striking its eyes.

With a crisp “Crack!” Ryan thrust his long sword deeper into the existing wound on the crab’s back, stirring the blade to ensure fatal damage. The crab, now blind and with its internal organs severely compromised, flailed wildly in its final throes of madness before collapsing motionless onto the sandy beach.

Ryan casually flicked his wrist, clearing the cyan blood from his blade, and sheathed his sword with a smooth, practiced motion.

Glancing at the progress bar on his digital panel which now read “Level 2 (88%)”, a slight smile played on his lips. Another Beach Crab, and he would ascend to a new level of power.

Standing solemnly beside the lifeless form of the giant crab, Ryan reflected on the battle. He had gained a clear measure of his current combat abilities.

Even without resorting to his [Arrogant War Cry], the Beach Crabs posed little challenge. He recalled a past peril, a siege by four such creatures. Now, he felt confident he could dispatch them with ease, potentially with a single strike each.

And with the [Arrogant Battle Cry], dispatching a Beach Crab would be trivially easy.

Turning his thoughts to his abilities, Ryan checked the panel again:

[Spirituality]: 2.0 (1.5)

Here, “2.0” represented the maximum limit of his spiritual strength, a reflection of his inner fortitude, while “1.5” indicated the current available amount.

Utilizing the [High-spirited Battle Cry] depleted his spiritual reserves, which would slowly regenerate over time. Ryan calculated that after deploying [Arrogant War Cry], it would take about a minute before he could use it again, meaning he could employ it up to four times in a span of four minutes, an important tactical consideration.

With these reflections, Ryan strode towards the towering coconut tree nearby, ready to challenge the next part of his adventure.

Ryan’s curiosity about the enormous coconut was piqued, could it possibly contain some essence of spirituality? As he reached the towering coconut tree and prepared to examine a broken coconut on the ground, his attention was abruptly diverted.

A piercing “Screech!” tore through the air, accompanied by a rush of wind so powerful it nearly knocked him off his feet.

Standing at the base of the coconut tree, Ryan watched in astonishment as a colossal bird, boasting a wingspan close to ten meters, swooped down from the sky. With astonishing speed and precision, it seized the lifeless beach crab in its talons and ascended sharply, vanishing into the dense foliage of the island’s interior without a trace.

“What was that?” Ryan murmured to himself, his throat suddenly tight with apprehension.

The bird’s speed was such that Ryan could barely make out its form, let alone any detailed description that might flash before his eyes.

“Could it be a formidable creature that dwells within the forested regions of this secluded island?” he wondered, a sense of foreboding settling over him. The island, it seemed, held more mysteries and dangers than he had anticipated.