Desser struggled to swim. He first used his arms to stretch his head above the water, but the mud-like sand made him sink below the surface. He tried to crawl towards the shore, but years of malnutrition and lack of exercise made him too weak. He couldn't drag his lower body to the surface since he had no upper body strength.
What made it worse for Desser was that he accidentally took in more water as he gasped for air because of the cold water hitting his body. His nose filled with water that went down his throat. His body naturally coughed underwater to clear his filling lungs, which made it all worse.
The stinging sensation froze his thoughts as he thrashed in the water because of his convulsive coughs. Desser only thought about one thing, 'I must fight to live!'
In what felt like hours for Desser but was only about 1 minute, he used his gun technique to blast energy like he did with the rocks. He knew that if he could shoot a strong enough blast at the ground below him, he could fly out of the water. His body instinctively used his Talent (Targeted Amplification) where he could magnify the Energy blast.
The power from his gun technique shot him out of the water, where he almost lost consciousness. Now that he was in the air, the oxygen forced him to cough even stronger to empty his fluid-filled lungs. As he fell back down, he shot again at an angle. Finally, he projected himself onto the shore.
He lay there face up at the sky as he coughed incessantly. Desser heard muffled screams headed towards him. The screams were muffled because he had water left in his ears.
'fuck it,' Desser thought. 'If the screaming is someone coming to kill me, I don't have the energy.'
"My prince!" Sonia yelled as she held him up.
Vince stood ready with his sword out and looked around for an enemy.
Desser tried to speak but would cough between every other word. "Where… were you?" He asked Vince.
"Your highness, a bear-like beast attacked us. What's strange is that they are not native to this area. As soon as I defeated the Ursi beast, we ran here because we feared more might be in the area. I'm sorry, my lord!" Vince hung his head in shame. He had great respect for the Mogarian King, and by extension, he greatly respected Desser as well.
Desser sighed, "take me back to the main tent immediately."
Desser could not stay there any longer. He also knew he couldn't tell Vince or Sonia to investigate because he needed them to stay by his side while he was still vulnerable.
Sonia and Vince took him back, where many of the knights looked worried. Desser couldn't tell if they were worried because he survived or because he looked like a drowned rat with cuts and bruises all over his body. After all, the sticks and gravel at the bottom of the pond cut into his flesh when he struggled for breath.
Desser yelled at everyone:
"No one is allowed to leave this camp except for Sonia, who will bring Magi Cornelius to me! Anyone who leaves will be put to death. Slay them where they stand!"
Desser turned to Vince and ordered him to follow him. Vince was the only one he could trust among the knights as he recovered in his tent.
Magi Cornelius returned quickly and began healing him without a word.
"Stop," Desser told Cornelius. He did not want his wounds healed. Right now, they were his reminder and the fuel to his anger.
Cornelius didn't object to Desser's command. Instead, he looked furious. He asked, "what are your orders? I will kill them slowly and painfully before you."
Desser had a look of surprise for only a moment. He remembered that moment of helplessness and weakness in the pond. Never did he want to feel that way. He needed to become more powerful. Power came with combat…
Suddenly, Desser had a devilish idea! He laughed to himself. Something inside Desser had broken. The years of abuse on Earth, the near-death experience in the pond, and the constant insults he heard from Alfonse…all these things wore down at him.
Desser replied, "find me the culprit, and I will find a suitable punishment."
Cornelius left, and in 20 minutes, he brought a young knight and priestly magic-wielder.
Before Desser could ask who they were, they all knelt before him – although, the knight was forced to kneel by Magi Cornelius:
"Your highness," Cornelius spoke, "this is one of my disciples."
Cornelius pointed to the magic-wielder wearing the black priestly robe that was similar to Cornelius's but did not have the gold griffin emblem on the front.
"His name is Priest Rognur. He has a Talent specializing in tracking. He can see traces of Magic and the signature of it." Cornelius explained.
Desser guessed that this signature must be a "Magic fingerprint." He looked at Priest Rognur with a smile and said,
"Well done, Rognur. I will be sure to reward you and Cornelius soon."
"It is an honour to have our future prophet praise me so," Rognur responded.
"And who is that knight?"
"He is the one that harmed you, my prince." Answered Cornelius. "What shall we do with him?"
"He will fight for his life as I have and become my strength!" Desser responded with fury. His anger sent an oppressive aura that Cornelius had never felt from the prince.
Cornelius asked the prince, "what do you mean?"
"Prepare your sharpest and lightest sword, then tie him to a chair."
Everyone looked confused while Desser grinned and said:
"I will have everyone witness this death game!"