No pain. No gain.
What is the ranking system based on? Strictly speaking, it is based on the quantity and quality of someone's soul juice. This is precisely why sea creatures arented rated within this system. The ranking system demands the use of spiritual power to be rated in the first place, but completely neglects the physical aspect of strength. Most sea creatures, on the other hand, rely completely on physical strength! The only way for humans to estimate a fish's strength would, of course, to measure its size! In the ocean, where an animal can move in all directions without the worry of gravity and surfaces, the size of such creatures can reach mind-boggling heights. In fact, if a person saw a sea creature that can use its spiritual power, they'll immediately run for their lives. Their tyrannical bodies are already enough to deal with, but now we have to deal with this s**t!? Aight I'mma head out.
The deciding factor here, in the end, is consciousness. Intelligence! The consciousness is intrinsically related to the soul and the more intelligent you are, the more powerful your spiritual power is; and vice versa. Now that's not to say stupid creatures, including humans, cant have powerful souls, because they most certainly can. But, rather, the issue extends from the application of such power. The bare minimum amount of intelligence needed to use spiritual power, and soul juice, would be at the level of a human child, at least. As such, then why would Ran react in such a way, if the fish isn't even smart enough to use its God given gifts?
Like I said earlier, it's all in the meat. Just the weight of its body pressuring on him was enough to distort Rans sense of reality as he saw the room warp around the fish and, yes, its spiritual power had affected the pressure; though it was only a natural influence made by its aura. But more importantly, that blood core that he had absorbed had affected him in ways Ran never thought possible. From his improved senses, his improved capabilities; after all, being starved and dehydrated for a week and all his energy being sucked out of him, his body and soul quite literally had nothing to survive on! Being able to live in such condition, not even a miracle would be able to save him, yet he still did! His ability to move freely in the water, improved sense in the water, connection to the ocean, as well as the blood mist are all by products of eating this darn thing!!! Phew, calm down… calm down, it's the only reason he's alive right now-definitely not plot armor… definitely not.
Right where was I? Ah, yes, adding the filler to this chapter. And the blood core had made him especially sensitive to the ways of the sea. The bloodline inside him was stirred and agitated as it was feeling oppressed to the point of dissipation. This was the real most important reason as to why Ran considered himself prey!
***
Looking into the eyes of the Giant Snakehead, Ran wanted to flee. Run like the Dickens. However, no matter how much he tried, his body wouldn't let him. It would stiffen and his blood flow would slow to a crawl. His own body was forcing him to fight to the death! Yes, this is the way of the sea. Eat or be eaten. When facing an opponent, there is no fleeing to live another day, only life or death.
His instincts were no longer telling him to run away, as it was already too late for that. Instead, they fought back harder than they ever did before. His eyes were bloodshot as his blood flow suddenly reversed. All the blood in his body shot towards his heart at incredible speeds in an effort to agitate it awake. Clearly it was successful as an engine could be faintly heard.
Badump, badump. His heart pumped like crazy to fight back against its blood flow and set it back to default, but after one circulation it came back even stronger, so his heart had to fight with an even stronger force. Like this, his body quickly set itself in a cycle of superficial adrenaline and his leg shook as it prepared to move forward. But the actions of his body only served to further the bloodlust of the Snakehead. Hearing the pumping of the heart, the Snakehead's own blood flow sped up with its thirst for blood as its aura rose.
Boom. A small explosion happened when its tail forcefully pushed aside the water to propel itself forward. It pushed itself forward with swaying motions, looking very threatening. Its mouth was open and one can see sharp teeth scattered about the mess of crushed flesh of all the fishes it had eaten. Even when it was only about 2 meters, or over 6 feet, Ran had yet to react as his leg had barely been able to move a couple of inches in front of him.
Crash. Ah s**t, he got hit again didn't he!? Dang, it's almost like I'm putting Ran in a disadvantageous position, on purpose, every time he's in battle. Rams head blanked out for a second as the force he felt was even worse than when he crashed straight into the wall from Fluffys attack. On top of that, he could even feel the pressure from the water in front of him being pushed aside as he was dragged outside the castle.
Crush. In that moment of weakness, the Snakehead proceeded to chomp on his leg, causing blood to splatter. The uneven arrangement of teeth sunk into his flesh and the force behind the bite snapped his femur cleanly in two.
"F**k!" Being rammed into was already the limit of what Ran can handle. After all, he isn't a M… or is he? No, he can't be, right? Anyway, adding the stabbed and crushed leg was more than enough to send Ran over the edge. Rage filled his eyes as he shouted, "I'M-NOT-AN-M!!! GAH!" Splurt. Holding his sword tightly, he stabbed it into the fishes eye. Unfortunately, the sword's blade was too wide and it was the greatest at stabbing, so it couldn't fit all the way to reach the brain and it also lacked the power to break through the skull; even with the sword imbued with soul juice. However, something else happened at that moment. A cold glint flashed by Rans eyes as it flickered with the same red-pink soul juice.
God, what is that s**t!? It always comes in to save the day, geez, it's like plot-armor. Puey (a spit sound for those who don't know), I pity a fool who relies on such Tom foolery to tell a good story. A hint of disdain flashed by the authors eyes as he looked at his own reflection, while writing the chapter.
Tiny, hair thin, tentacles branched out from Rans imbued sword (specifically from the soul juice already present) as it reached out and slapped the fishes brain like slapped ham. The Snakehead grew out of control as it began thrashing about in the water like a bull. Shoom. Ran was flung from the fishes head, but the sword stayed stuck in the fishes eye. Taking the opportunity, the tentacles wrapped around the fishes brain, though they couldn't strangle it passed the need threshold to kill. But, it did allow for the sword to stay locked in the eye and the strangling was enough to make the fish become enraged… no, the not the right word; insane. The fish lost all control over its body movements and could no longer think rationally, for a fish anyway. This, however, did not affect its bloodlust, but instead increased it! If there was one thing that a sea creature will always know, is that whenever prey is in front of its eyes, it must be eaten. If it is the prey, it must fight until its final breath. It's ingrained in their very being and it's the equivalent to a law for them, like gravity or that time always moves forward. And this could be said to Ran as well for the most part, at least, while he's here.
Ran abruptly got out of his stupor and was stunned momentarily, then it hit. He ended up getting a severe headache. Maintaining such a level of concentration to keep the sword locked in place was already past his limit. He could feel like his mind was falling apart. Indeed, in Rans mind, the shimmery ocean was currently experiencing a tsunami and the mountain ranges were obliterated. The sakura flowers were falling like they lost their source of energy and pieces of bark were being chipped off. However, at regular intervals, the destruction would heal part of itself, momentarily creating peace before the destruction came back even stronger. And Ran could feel it too. He was adapting! Growing stronger! However, he could feel that the Snakehead would simply die like that; with its energy sucked out of it. And what more, Ran knew he seemed to finally start to crack. The splitting headache, his aching heart that seemed almost about to explode, his bruised organs from the head on collision, and the broken leg. That's a lot of damage! How can a human being handle such devastation; and the reality is they cant, at least not for long.
"First, this dang leg!" He thought it reflected the damage on the fish and indeed it happened. However, it left a few indents and scales falling off to reveal bruised skin. And that had taken about a quarter of his energy and it was being consumed by a rate of 10% a minute. He could feel the rate lower ever so slightly because of his rate of adaptation every once in a while. He even knew it was because of all the damage he's sustaining was stimulating his soul to grow stronger. But he had to get rid of his broken leg, otherwise he would be a sitting duck, fish, and he really doesn't like the feeling of pain; or so he says.
However, after he transferred the damage to the fish, it suddenly did a 360 degree turn and rushed in his direction in an erratic fashion. Good thing he healed his leg, otherwise he would've been finished right then and there. Swimming upwards, he managed to just slip past the fish with it running into the castle wall. He didn't come out of this unscathed, though. Coughing up blood, he accidentally inhaled a bit of water that entered his lungs. He coughed up blood because when he swam up, he agitated and further damaged his organs causing some internal bleeding. It seems he's still a noob, however; he's just there coughing, and the fish had recovered from running its body sideways at the wall. Coincidently, this insane behavior allowed it to escape having his sword stab further into its head. It once again toward the cough master and only then did he realize his mistake. Once again, he slipped past it, and thus, began the game of cat and mouse.
Ran, even though he was hurt, was experiencing a baptism of sorts. As he stayed longer in the ocean and fought within it, his blood, body and soul grew an increasingly intimate relationship and connection with the ocean. He was slowly increasing in speed and maneuverability as he swam away from the Snakehead. Many times he had slipped past it, but other times not. The fish was still currently faster than he was and one time, with one of its teeth sticking out, it had gashed out a wound an inch thick and 6 inches long. "F**k, I just healed that one you bas***d! Cough, cough." He was now coughing incessantly and had turned pale from the huge amount of blood loss. He had to get proactive or he'll just be whittled down.
Focusing on the fish, he noticed one thing. It always, always, always had its mouth open! The sword inside the head had also caught his attention. Suddenly, a lightbulb hovered over his head; he got an idea. Going back to his memories, he went back to his training of imbuing his sword from the past few weeks. The soul juice would come out and imbue the sword. More specifically the edge and then it would amplify it to make it sharper. But how did it amplify it? His soul juice juice never had the unique characteristic of being sharp. So then why? There was one explanation. "Mimicry!" Yes, without even realizing it, his soul juice would mimic the sharpness of his sword which then allowed it to amplify the already existing sharpness on the sword. But, why is he thinking about this?
"Do I need my sword to mimic it in the first place?" There was only one way to find out. Paying attention to the memories, he felt the oppressive nature of the energys sharpness. He saw the structure it had taken, and he even ran his finger along the edge to get a feel for the sharpness itself. All of this stimulation had given him a comprehensive look at the exact makeup of its mimicry.
While deep in thought, he was caught lacking again and another wound appeared on his body. In fact, he was being caught a lot more often with her attention being divided in so many ways. "Damn it! You've forced my hand now, guppy!" Extending his hand out, tiny threads swiveled around his hand, cocooning it. "I don't have enough to completely cover my hand, cough, but I don't have much time left anyway cough, cough." Coughing more blood, he created two balls the size of a green pea. At this point, he only has about another quarter of energy left and the rest he wants to use for his injuries. Seeing it come for him, he placed one ball where he's floating and then swerved the fish so he could stand behind him.
Gulp. That like, the fish ate the pea without a second and then turned around to pounce on Ran again. One had to know that by now, the fish had lost enough energy, thanks in part to Rans sword, to be a little sluggish on the back turn. This allowed enough time for Ran to finish his plan. This however, did not remove the danger as it can still eat him whole or chomp on him with its teeth if it got too close.
Seeing this, his eyes lit up with hope. Activating his sigil again, he tried to concentrate to give his ball the power of parry. But he failed! "Ahh!" In the end, it was too much of a burden on his mind for him to handle. So, there was only one way out. To untangle his sword! To do this however would be the equivalent of giving it back it's intelligence. With its sanity back, it wouldn't be so easily fooled with a simple swerve and turn every now and then. But, then again, he had to do it-and he did. The sword untangled itself and due to the fish's speed and movement, it broke free and drifted in the water nearby.
Being free from the burden, he quickly focused on the ball again. Luckily, with Ran sustaining it with his energy, it won't dissipate and the fish's body doesn't have the spiritual means to counteract this ball of soul juice. After successfully adding the affect, he did it on the other ball in his hand and then it happened. Throwing the ball lightly, it floated in front of, being an open target. With a swift motion, his cocooned hand slashed at the reflective ball.
He slashed once. He slashed twice. Three times. Five times. Seeing the fish still furiously coming after him, he gritted his teeth in frustration. Again! He shouted in his mind. He slashed ten times. 20 times. His hand grew increasingly faster the more slashes he performed. Thirty five times. Fifty times! At this point, blood was spewing from the fish's mouth, but still hung on and continued its aggression; being only 2 meters away from Ran. Seventy five times! One hundred times! Splurt. Its eye exploded and its assault stopped, its drifting slowing down until it just lightly booped Rans nose.
Inside the fish's body, its whole internal structure was ruined. Heart, intestine, swim bladder, everything; ripped to shreds. Its brain was split into multiple sections and one slash even managed to weave it's way to the eyeball.
At this point, Ran was coughing unceasingly and blood was flowing from his body in great amounts. His whole body was red as the blood and heart fought each other, though it was clearing up now. Ran felt awful, with his head feeling like it's going to split itself, his heart on the verge of rupturing and his organs bruised and battered. His body, also in tatters from the sharp teeth gouging into him. He was quite literally on the verge of collapse, but at that moment, he felt something.
On his cheek, he could feel a wet, scratching sensation. And he recognized it.
"Ah, Fluffy, you've come to rescue me have you?"
***
Suddenly jerking awake from his dream, Ran spewed a bunch of blood on the ground. Looking at his body, indeed, the wounds transferred over. Looking up, he saw a worried Fluffy as it had just seen wounds and blood spatter about from Rans body-completely out of nowhere. How could this have happened? She thought. "Aww~ Fluffy you do care about me don't you?" He went to give a Fluffy a little kiss on the forehead, when she swerved away. Following her, he saw the Giant snakehead he had just caught. Fluffy was currently digging in ravenously as it wasn't allowed to eat the fish in the pond even though fish was its favorite food.
"Oh so you DON'T care about me then? Okay… okay."