Before going out, Hali handed the three of them some air artefacts. If your abilities allow it, one can be a 'rune smith', which is a legitimate profession where blacksmiths enchant tools with runes made from their abilities. The queen trusted them with a set of pearl necklaces with runes inscribed on them. These runes produce an air bubble around the wearer, the same mechanism they used to make an air bubble around the city.
Niles and the two greenhorns were walking on the lakebed, untouched by the water thanks to the air necklaces. Jack and Arthur were on guard in case they were attacked. There were many creatures that dwell in water, and all of them dangerous. Niles did not give them weapons as, using his own words, 'You won't always have a weapon on you, so use your fists. That is the foundation of combat'. He also said that no normal weapon could even harm any creature, but the mermaids offered them enchanted swords which could definitely deal some damage. So when Niles rejected the swords saying Jack and Arthur will be using their fists instead, the two were rightfully angry with him, not like they could do anything about it anyways.
Niles abruptly stopped and signalled the two behind him to look around. Jack and Arthur immediately got close to Niles, looking for danger. They agreed beforehand that if something dangerous was approaching them, then Niles would let them know. A couple of seconds later, the water around them trembled violently but the source of these vibrations was not visible yet. It was fast approaching.
"5 seconds." A deep voice warned them.
5
The monster was finally visible, approaching them fast.
4
They saw a set of sharp teeth dangerously smiling at them.
3
They realised what the monster was. It was a Cetus, one ugly bastard with the body of a hairy seal and the head of a hog.
2
The Cetus was close to them now. It was enormous, around ten meters in length. Just its mouth was over two meters wide, enough to swallow them whole. "This is all you." Niles kindly let the two greenhorns take care of this behemoth by themselves.
1
Arthur and Jack separated, ready to flank the Cetus on both sides. The monster in question opened its mouth, ready to eat them alive.
0
Arthur dashed to the side, barely dodging the attack. As the bigger man, the Cetus went straight for him thanks to all the meat on him. The monster was a hell of a lot faster than Arthur, even seeing the attack five seconds ahead was not enough for him to dodge unscathed. He felt a strong impact on the right side of his ribs, peeling off the fabric and skin that covered the bones. His skeleton was now bare and he was in agony. The pain was on the same level as when his body rebuilt itself . He fell to his knees, preventing himself from rolling on the floor and screaming. He wanted to scream, but he could not. He had to prepare for the Cetus' next attack. Jack was sympathetic of his pain, not even wanting to imagine his pain. Niles on the other hand, was looking at the situation apathetically with no expression on his face.
The Cetus swiftly spun back, ready for another attack. It did not even dare to try and attack Niles. Every animal had an instinct, and its instinct was screaming at it, telling it to avoid him. The Cetus accelerated towards Arthur once more. Jack sprinted to him and helped him up. It was too fast for the two of them to even try to flank it. For a second time, the monster went through the barrier made from the necklaces with its jaws wide open, trying to get the two of them in one bite.
In a split second, Jack jumped towards it, doing a summersault. Whilst him and the behemoth were in the air, Jack extended his arm and stabbed its eye with his own hand. Niles taught him that as an enhanced human, it is inefficient to fight like a normal human. His hand by itself had more force than a heavy sniper bullet, but it was still hard for him to poke the Cetus in the eye.
The Cetus screeched and re-entered the water, swimming away from them. Its wails were banging on the force field around them, giving the impression that it was about to break. Not much later, the Cetus focused its one eye back on its prey. It did not want to eat them anymore, no. It wanted to give them the worst death possible. Mauling them alive, biting their limbs off and slowly eat their stomachs, the Cetus was going to make sure they pay in full for what they did to its eye. It started accelerating faster and faster towards the men, and Jack and Arthur stayed still. Arthur was still incapacitated by its first attack, whereas Jack's hand was broken. The Cetus' eye was still too hard, so hard in fact that all of Jack's fingers were bending the wrong way and the bones of his fingers stabbed through his skin.
The behemoth was now only a couple of meters away from them, baring its sharp teeth at them. One moment it was heading towards them, the next only its tail was heading towards them.
The waters that surrounded the tail were deep red, whilst the tail itself seemed to have been forcefully detached from the body. The Cetus was dead, instantly.
"You two are weaker than I hoped."