Landing on the second platform, Victor looked behind him and stepped to the side to leave some room for Nameless.
The girl nodded her head before gulping down a mouthful of saliva. She would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling terrified at that moment. If she fell into the water again, she might not be able to leave it this time. The spider might be lurking right beneath them, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
'It's fine, I can do it.' She thought to herself and shook her head. If fear was going to stop her, then why even bother to try? She might as well let go at that moment.
Quickly, her eyes turned sharp as she took a step back and ran forward with all her speed. She immediately noticed that her speed increased and her legs didn't hurt when she stepped on them. She also didn't feel the horrible headache as much.
With a single leap, the girl rose in the air and landed on the second platform. But, due to the slippery nature of it, she almost fell forward, and that was when Victor grabbed her collar from behind, stopping her fall.
"Be careful." He said coldly.
"..." The girl nodded her head and balanced her body.
Then, the boy looked to the next part. 'An even smaller platform… That won't be enough for both of us.' He squinted his eyes.
"Ok, this will be the last platform we both can stand on. Everything after this is on your own." He told Nameless.
"I'm ready." The girl replied.
With that, the boy took a step back and jumped in the air, landing on the next wooden plank before he quickly jumped to the second one with agility. His exhaustion didn't affect his precision that much.
Using his years of harsh training, he leaped from one platform to another without stopping for a moment. Meanwhile, Nameless was trailing behind him, a little slower. She had to stop at each one to make sure she can make the one after that.
With that, the two very slowly made their way through the sinking ship while keeping their eyes to the water beneath them. They couldn't find any traces of the spider around them. Victor suspected that it had gone too deep, or it was simply searching for its next target to consume.
However, he didn't let those thoughts settle in and simply focused on making his way back to the boat. If they reach it safely, the spider should not be able to reach them.
'I can already see the boat. It's still attached to the ship.' Victor peeked from the side of the deck at his boat. The thing was surprisingly looking fine. The violent waves didn't seem to affect it at all. However, Victor knew that this won't last for long.
Since the boat was tied to the ship, there was a chance that the sinking ship might drag his boat along with it. Looking at the condition of the vessel, he estimated a minute or two before the entire ship completely drowned.
'We need to hurry.'
Looking behind him, Nameless wasn't falling behind that much which was a good thing. So, the boy continued moving, finally reaching the outside of the deck where the number of wooden platforms was cut really short out of nowhere.
Suddenly, he had a hard time finding a single good one to jump on. 'The small wooden planks won't be enough to jump on, they would drown immediately.'
Frowning visibly, the boy tried to look for another solution. His eyes wandered to the side of the ship where he saw something potentially good.
'The shrouds… They're still intact.' His eyes squinted.
Tied neatly to the side of the ship that was still above the water were the shrouds. Even though their condition didn't look good, they seemed in good enough condition to use as a quick bridge to the end of the ship where his boat was.
However, this naturally posed a lot of threat since beneath them was all water and a single mistake would end up with them falling into the far more violent sea. If one fell, it was the end.
'Is there really a better choice?' He frowned as he turned to Nameless. "We're going to use those shrouds to pass the second part! Don't fall behind!"
Nameless was confused for a moment before shifting her eyes to where the boy was pointing. He could almost see the flash of emotions in her eyes at that moment… She had realized the danger too. But, she didn't say a single word and nodded instead.
With that, Victor finally took his position before he ran and jumped with all his power. His leap made him reach a certain height where the shrouds were in reach. Quickly, he grabbed into the rope, barely able to stop his fall with one hand.
'Hnng!' Clenching his teeth, Victor pulled himself up and finally found some footing to stand on. Then, he slowly moved to the side. Seeing that, Nameless sucked in a deep breath.
'That's a hard jump.' She thought to herself. Not only was the distance great, but it also required a lot of grip strength and quick reaction from her, and all of that happened in less than a second. The fact that the chaotic dark sea was right beneath it didn't help much either.
However, there was really no other choice. They didn't have time to idle around. So, without thinking twice, Nameless jumped to the last platform before she finally looked at Victor.
The latter was already a little far away. But, he stopped to look at her. He didn't say a word, but she could see it in his eyes. 'don't hesitate.' They said.
For some reason, that simple look gave her a boost of confidence. 'I can do it.' She thought to herself as she gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
Then, without looking down, she rushed forward as fast as she could and jumped. 'I can make it!'
For a moment, things slowed down for her as she saw the shroud getting closer and closer. However, at the same time, her momentum was slowing down as she started descending. So, she extended her arm, hoping to catch the rope at the last moment. All she had between her and the dark sea was the rope.
Luckily for her, her hand was able to grip the rope at the last possible moment. Gripping it hard, she smashed into the side of the ship before she started sliding down. The rough rope caused her hand to bleed as it slid down.
'Ugh!' Groaning inwardly, she was barely able to stop her descent into the water, a few inches off.
"Hah… Hah…" Looking down, she frowned. "I'm fine… I'm fine…"
Feeling a relief wash over her heart, she finally grabbed the rope with her second hand before she started climbing up.
Seeing that, Victor nodded his head and turned to look at the next part he had to pass. 'We're not that far.'
Feeling even more confident, he continued moving to the side carefully. The duo continued moving as quickly as they could as the ship sunk underneath the water's surface. They tried not to rush urgently and fall because of a mistake.
However, surprisingly, everything went smoothly for the most part. In less than a minute, the two found themselves only a dozen meters or so away from the boat. There was no trace of the spider either.
Mid his climb, Victor looked down for a moment to check for any potential movements before he finally took the next step to reach the last few ropes. However, at that moment, he heard a sound.
*CRACK*
The sound was so loud and so sudden, he almost didn't understand where it came from. His eyes quickly moved to the source and much to his misfortune, the piece of wood that the ropes were strapped to had suddenly broke.
Before Victor could even react, the wood was pulled out, and he found himself free falling from the side of the ship.
'Goddamit!!' Cursing loudly, Victor grabbed tightly into the rope right before he smashed into the water before getting completely swallowed.
"Oh no!" Nameless saw that and her face turned darker. Without thinking twice, she quickly moved forward as fast as she could. "I will pull you up, hold on!"
Even though she yelled loudly, the sound of the storm drowned her voice. Victor didn't hear it at all.
'It's cold.' Opening his eyes, all he saw was darkness. The dreadful feeling of the abyss beneath was horrible. But, Victor was able to keep his calm. He had taken a deep breath before he fell into the water so he didn't struggle.
However, that was the least of his problems. Looking at the rope in his hand, he tried to drag himself up, only to realize that the rope had gotten too loose.
'You… have got to be kidding me.'
The worst possible scenario had just happened. Victor was now stuck in the water.
A//N: Don't forget to support the book with Golden tickets :) Thank you