Chapter 55: Encounter with the Astacideas

There were several species in the Lost World.

And out of the species, there were crustaceans, or to be exact, a species that looked like crawfish. Their official name was Astacidea, but the majority of the players just called them lobsters.

‘They are a species that have high physical abilities and can breathe underwater, but…’

Their intelligence was pretty low. Most of the individuals were at least better than the Ogres, whose intelligence wasn’t even shown in the stats most of the time, but they weren’t very controllable. And they had an inherent flaw that wasn’t marked in their stats.

‘They’re repulsive.’

Humanoid species such as Humans, Elves, Dwarves, or Halflings all found lobsters repulsive. It was a flaw that species resembling insects possessed, which made social interactions difficult for them in the early stage of civilization. As a result, it is harder to play with Astacideas.

‘But it’s fun since they can breathe underwater. I did once try having them as my first tribe.’

What made Sung-Woon wonder, though, wasn’t the Astacidea themselves, but where they came from.

‘There is an island southeast of the peninsula.’

It would be an archipelago to be exact, namely a scattering of several islands. Combined, they would be about the size of the peninsula, and a few of the main islands were large enough to develop their own individual civilizations.

‘Is that where they were from? How did they even get here? In theory, I guess it would be possible for lobsters to walk along in the ocean…’

Sung-Woon ignored the lobsters scouting the beach and circled the coastline.

‘Of course.’

There were three ships. They weren’t simply wooden rafts. Rafts were still common among tribes living on the coastline or by the rivers. The common rafts would be used for fishing, harpooning, and collecting fish and shellfish rather than as means of transportation. However, the ships Sung-Woon saw were quite impressive. Although the finishes were rough, the ships had a distinctive feel due to the woven wood from the stem to the stern, and there were also oars and sails. It was a proper ship one could redirect by rowing when simply sailing by wind wouldn’t do.

‘I did see shipbuilding and sailing techniques develop quite often on the southeast islands.’

But Sung-Woon couldn’t simply be glad there was such technology nearby. The competition might have been another player. Still, Sung-Woon thought there was a low chance for players to be on the southeast islands, and even if there were, he thought they would make for the central area of the continent since chances were civilization would be more advanced there, rather than approaching an area like the peninsula.

‘Alright. Let’s send a scouting party first.’

Sung-Woon used Small Area: Birds to create a few albatrosses and send them to the islands. In the meantime, the Astacideas began to slowly walk towards the Lizardmen village at the end of the peninsula, Maganen.

***

Tatar, the executive who had been sent to Maganen, was a bit of a straight arrow.

The day Tatar was appointed an executive and found out that he would be sent to Maganen, another executive appointed on the same day said to him, “Things must be comfortable on your end.”

“Why do you think so?” replied Tatar.

“Isn’t Maganen at the end of the land?”

“So?”

“It’ll be less likely for other species to bug you. And since it’s pretty distant from Orazen, if warriors were called to gather at Orazen, you would be on the bottom of the list.”

Tatar hit the ground with his tail.

“Are you saying Chief Lakrak sent me to Maganen because I’m useless?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what?”

“Hm, in my opinion… Didn’t you always fight beside Chief Lakrak? There’s not a single person who doubts you are one of the best warriors.”

“But?”

“Not but! Since you’ve worked hard until now, don’t you think Chief Lakrak is sending you to Maganen so that you could live a comfortable life now?”

“What?” Tatar then asked, “Aren’t you saying that Chief Lakrak is sending me to Maganen because he thinks I’m old and useless now?”

“Why are you twisting my words like that? If you were useless, wouldn’t there be no reason to appoint you as an executive?”

“Then it probably means that I’m the most useless out of the executives.” Tatar ended up pointing at his left eye, which he had lost. “How useful would a warrior with one eye be?”

“This fellow…”

“Hmph.”

Tatar let out a puff of air from his nose. Then he went down to Maganen without saying goodbye or acknowledging the other executive. But Tatar now thought that the other executive might have been right.

‘This really is a relaxing place.’

The weather was warm, it rained moderately, and the winter wasn’t too harsh. Perhaps because of the climate, the Lizardmen became more gentle here, so there were fewer crimes; even when a quarrel arose, they would talk and work things out. There was a Dwarf tribe hanging around, but thanks to Tatar having a good conversation with the new Dwarf tribal chief, there were no further fights. Moreover, there weren't many external issues to worry about other than when merchants or Orazen’s tax collectors came.

Tatar really didn’t have much to do.

‘But even though it’s a relaxed place, it is Chief Lakrak’s land. Someone has to protect it.’

Lakrak was the reason why Tatar thought that way. Lakrak had said that even if a place seemed relaxing at a glance, they should never relax their guard, and that they should always be prepared for external threats. At the time, Lakrak had used Maganen as an example.

‘But Chief Lakrak… What is it you’re saying we need to protect this place from?’

It was a real pleasant surprise when a warrior then rushed to Tatar, as if in response to his thought.

***

“Those guys?”

“Yes.”

Tatar armed himself and looked down from the cliff. He saw the anchored ships and the Astacideas building temporary huts.

The warrior then said to Tatar, “They scouted around our village and went back.”

“Have you fought those crawfish?”

“No.”

“And you haven't talked to them?”

“I haven’t.”

“Good.”

Tatar pondered what to do. News that a strange-looking species had appeared at the coastline was sent to Orazen through an errand boy. It was an urgent matter, so Cockatoos would be ridden through every village to pass on the message, and in a few days, Lakrak would know of their existence.

‘Before then, it’s up to me to decide what to do with them.’

Seeing the bemused look on Tatar’s face, a young warrior prepared for battle. Stories about the Cockatoo warriors who fought with Lakrak were widely spread, and Tatar was one of the famous ones. It was a well-known tale that Tatar had passed through the wilderness on an errand for Lakrak, saw Troll robbers raid a group of weak individuals, defeated the Trolls alone, and lost an eye in the process. The young warrior saw Tatar as a loyal and belligerent warrior, and judged that Tatar would drive away the new species trespassing into Lakrak’s land through force.

The young warrior thought to himself, ‘So today is the day I die with honor.’?

And just as he thought that, Tatar said to him, “Let’s go down.”

“What?” replied the young warrior.

“I had expected them to be mere crawfish walking around, but seeing them talk amongst themselves makes me think we might be able to hold a conversation. I need to go down and talk to them myself.”

As Tatar trudged down the hill, the Astacideas saw him come down and shook their antennae.

Tatar walked all the way to the middle of the group and asked, “Who is the leader among you?”

An Astacidea went up to him.

“It’s me.”

This Astacidea was a little bigger than the others and wore a belt made of metal pieces linked together.

Then Tatar crossed his arms and said, “I am Tatar, the executive of Maganen. Reveal who you are, where you came from, and with what purpose you have come.”

The Astacideas murmured among themselves.

The young warrior came running to Tatar and whispered, “Mr. Tatar, the warriors of the village will be coming soon. Why are you jumping into the group yourself?”

“They are for sure people we can have a conversation with. They would be more wary if we came to talk with an army of warriors. Plus, I’m confident that I can get myself out of here even if they attack altogether.”

The young warrior couldn’t get himself to ask what would then happen to himself. Revealing those kinds of feelings was a bit embarrassing.

The Astacidea leader then said, “We are the Turquoise Astacidea Tribe. We have come from across the sea. And our purpose for coming here is…”

“Your purpose is?”

***

Sung-Woon was relieved when he saw the information the Albatrosses brought and the system message that just appeared.

[Clash of Civilizations!]

[Two different tribes have come into contact. Experience points (XP) are rising for both tribes.]

If the opponent was another player, there would have been a third line stating a warning, but that wasn’t the case. And in Sung-Woon’s opinion, he didn’t think it would really matter even if was another player.

The Astacideas’ development was very slow.

‘Did they just barely start making bronzeware?’

If there were no player interventions, and species were isolated and had no way of communicating with others, it was inevitable for their development to be slow. Not only did they just start making bronzeware, but they didn’t farm or grow anything. Since the islands were in the south, and there were plenty of living resources, they seemed to be satisfied with hunting and gathering. Their hunting techniques were also lacking though.

‘It doesn’t seem like a fiend has appeared there. Are their numbers all that I can get information on?’

Sung-Woon examined the whole archipelago. A few other species along with other Astacidea tribes were scattered over the place. It seemed that the shipbuilding technology was fairly advanced for them to travel between islands of the archipelago for fights. The Astacidea tribes being united had given them an edge, but there didn’t appear to be much to worry about; there were signs of disharmony between the Astacidea tribes.

‘Since they don’t believe in the same gods, it would be hard for them to identify as one tribe when they have different colored shells.’

Then it could be said that they wouldn’t be much of a threat even in the long run.

‘They probably won’t be able to completely unify and fight for the long term. That would be better.’

In Sung-Woon’s opinion, there was only one reason for these Astacideas to come all the way from the islands to the peninsula, which was quite far away.

‘Of course…’

***

The Astacidea leader squirmed, and Tatar patiently waited for the answer.

Then the Astacidea leader barely said, “We…”

“Say it.”

“We are shipwrecked.”

“You’re shipwrecked?”

“...Yes.”

Even though their shipbuilding techniques were pretty impressive, the Astacideas had only ever sailed their ships to places from where they could still see each other’s islands, and not having traveled long distance by sea meant their sailing techniques were rudimentary at best.

Tatar asked for permission to check their belongings to see if the Astacidea was being honest. They were really out of food, and Tatar knew the Astacidea leader was embarrassed so they couldn’t bring it up easily.

The young warrior thought, ‘It’s a golden opportunity.’

Not long ago, the executive of another village had led a group of warriors to wipe out a tribe threatening the village. The news soon reached Lakrak, and Lakrak himself went down to the village and encouraged the executive and warriors.

‘If we defeat these guys, the king will give us a reward.’

It was obvious that Lakrak would greatly praise Tatar if he kicked out those who dared to set foot in Lakrak’s land.

The Astacideas looked like they were in good health, but they had starved for days. It was a golden opportunity.

‘I heard that all the executives who used to fight with Chief Lakrak missed the heat of battle. I’m sure Mr. Tatar is thinking the same.’

And as the young warrior turned around, warriors were gathering along the slope of the hill. The Astacideas didn’t draw their weapons, but they looked at the gathering warriors with vigilance.

The young warrior and the Astacidea leader both waited for Tatar’s next words.

Then Tatar opened his mouth.

“Alright, then…”