A few days had passed, and the second week of the game had come to an end.

It was Sunday afternoon.

Martin stood alone on the shore near the Baby Kraken’s nest. He had not come for another routine farming run. That part was already over. After days of pressure, repeated kills, and total control over the lake with Ao Tenshin beside him, Martin had already claimed the full Broodtide set for himself.

Today, he was here to test what it had made him.

The armor gave him a completely different presence from before.

A dark visor curved over his face in a sleek, predatory line, hiding part of his expression while making his gaze seem sharper behind it. The chest piece wrapped his torso in layered plates shaped like a hardened shell, broad across the shoulders and tight at the waist, giving him the heavy, immovable silhouette of something built to hold the front line no matter what struck it.

His legguards and greaves carried the same deep-water design, thick where they needed to anchor him and streamlined where they needed to move. Even the gloves looked made for controlled violence, fitted closely enough that neither shield nor trident would ever slip.

In one hand, he held the Broodtide Bulwark. In the other, the Baby Trident rested with cruel familiarity.

Ao Tenshin floated near his shoulder, bright-eyed and attentive. Martin had taken to calling her Angel, and she drifted a little closer when he shifted his grip on the shield, only to check herself and float back again as if she already understood this was not a fight he meant to share.

Martin rolled his shoulders once and looked at her.

"Come with me, but do not interfere," he said. "I want to see exactly what this set can do."

Ao Tenshin bobbed once in the water, then settled into stillness with obvious effort.

With that, Martin stepped forward and dove into the lake.

The water closed over him at once, yet it no longer clung to him the way it used to. He cut through it cleanly, shield first, descending toward the Baby Kraken’s nest like a hunter returning to a familiar killing ground.

The lake answered immediately.

The Baby Kraken stirred within its nest, its swollen body shifting behind curtains of weed and silt as thick tentacles rolled outward through the dark water. Its bulk seemed even uglier up close, all bloated flesh and hungry motion, with the water around it warping under the weight of its presence.

Then one of the tentacles snapped toward Martin with explosive force. It was the kind of opening strike that would once have smashed into his guard and hurled him backward through the lake.

This time, Martin met it head-on.

The impact boomed through the water, but his body did not budge. He stayed exactly where he was, rooted in place as though the lake itself had hardened around him. The tentacle shuddered against the shield, and Martin’s arm barely moved.

[Current Brace (Orange):

Successful guards greatly reduce knockback, drag, and loss of footing, especially in water. When the wearer blocks a heavy hit, the shield anchors the body in place and strengthens the next spear or trident action used immediately after guarding.]

A flicker of satisfaction passed through Martin.

"So the shield really does anchor me," he said. "That changes things."

The Baby Kraken answered with another tentacle, then another, hammering at him from both sides. Martin braced again, and the shell-like chest armor absorbed the violence. The impacts were heavy enough to crumple a lesser player’s stance, yet his own held firm. His guard did not break, and his body never twisted off line.

Even underwater, he remained planted and composed.

[Pressure Shell (Orange):

Greatly reduces stagger while guarding, bracing, or using spear/trident skills underwater. Heavy blows are less likely to break stance, interrupt defensive actions, or force the wearer off balance.]

Satisfaction touched Martin’s voice.

"It cannot move me as easily anymore either."

He drove forward on the next opening.

His trident shot out after the block with such clean precision that it felt almost unnatural. There was no slip in his grip, no wobble in the weapon line, and no loss of control from shield recoil. The point lanced into a tentacle and tore a red trail through the water. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

[Broodtide Grip (Orange):

Greatly improves weapon-and-shield control underwater. Guard transitions become steadier, shield recoil is reduced, and spear or trident attacks launched immediately after blocking are harder to interrupt or knock off line.]

Martin glanced at the window only briefly before pushing in again.

"The follow-through is cleaner too," he said. "I do not even have to fight my own weapon anymore."

Reeling, the Baby Kraken churned up bubbles, silt, and dark water until the entire nest vanished behind a boiling cloud. That trick had worked before, but not anymore.

The lake turned dim and wild around him, yet Martin could still read the movement inside it.

He caught the shifting lines of the tentacles through the foam, the thicker shadow of the body behind them, and even the angle of an attack gliding toward his blind side before it could fully form.

His mouth curled beneath the visor.

[Hunter of the Depths (Orange):

Improves visibility and target recognition in murky water, foam, and heavy current. Aquatic enemies become easier to follow, and surprise attacks from blind angles are harder to land.]

"There you are," he said. "You do not disappear just because the water turns ugly."

A tentacle coiled around his leg in answer and yanked hard, trying to drag him off balance and pull him deeper toward the nest.

Martin felt the force surge through the limb around him, then felt it fail against his stance.

His lower body locked into place. The pull strained against him, but it could not carry him away. Lowering his center of gravity, he let the tension load through his stance and held his ground against the Baby Kraken’s full underwater leverage.

[Undertow Anchor (Orange):

Greatly reduces forced movement caused by currents, drags, pulls, and body-checks from large aquatic enemies. While guarding or thrusting, the wearer becomes even harder to displace.]

Martin’s expression tightened with focus.

"Even your drag is not enough now."