[New Mission: Survive (S Rank)]
[The charts show that you are currently in the territory of a Great Monster class creature known as an Emperor Perch and it is extremely hostile. It has the home field advantage and is literally in its element while you are a few miles from shore.
Objective: Survive
Reward: 1000 Exp.
Failure: Death
Fuck. My. Life. Kyle thinks to himself almost going into full blown panic mode. Almost. He has been in dangerous situations before. Not to mention the incident that happened sailing through the Red Sea, he has quite literally swam with sharks. Great whites even, and he also knows that panicking will only use up more oxygen which his body will definitely need if he is to somehow miraculously survive this ordeal.
Kyle takes a deep breath and forces himself to calm down. His grandfather's training kicks in and the first thing he does is assess possible ways to defend himself. Knowing that it would be impossible to out swim a fish he knows that his only possible route to survival would be to convince the beast that he is not a meal worth the effort.
Shouldn't be too hard right? I'm only skin and bones… I'm gonna die again, aren't I? Kyle sighs inwardly for the 3rd time since his reincarnation forgetting a very important detail.
This is not Earth.
Wait… don't I have magic and a spear of lightning or something. Quickly choosing to use the weapon since he doubts he has the time to learn how to effectively use magic, while the spear on the other hand should be pretty simple: Just poke the enemy with the pointy end.
Opening his inventory on his HUD, he sees the weapon he was gifted upon awakening his system.
Oh right… The Reign of Storms. Now how do I summon it? Before he can even try to touch the illusory screen in his vision, the object he needed suddenly appeared in his hands. He is startled at first and nearly drops it but quickly tightens his hold on it as if for dear life because it might hold the only key to his salvation.
Looking at it again he can see that it is just as beautiful and deadly as it appeared in his mind the first time he seen it, but that isn't the first thing he noticed.
Am I really this weak or is this thing really that heavy?
The spear is indeed very heavy being made entirely out of some mysterious metallic material. So heavy in fact that it is slowly causing Kyle to become submerged.
instantly deducing that he would lose a lot of energy trying to stay afloat and vehemently refusing to either drop or unsummon his only weapon he quickly decides on the only real option he has if wants to survive. Taking several deep breaths to forcefully expand his lungs and then one final larger deep breath, he allows the weight of the spear to pull him fully underwater.
I refuse to lose to the sea a second time.
…
Once fully submerged, Kyle quickly searches for the alleged adversary in the partially dimmed light of the sea. He can't see more than 30ft away before it becomes too distant to see any further but its more than enough.
Not even 10 feet away is a sight that would even shake the most stoic of warriors… but not necessarily Kyle. He has swam with much larger creatures like whales, but he also wasn't the one on the menu at those times like he is right now. The 20 feet or so giant red fish is swimming in place while watching its prey slowly sinking due to the of weapon. Its gleaming red scales look almost impervious in the dimmed sea's depths. It kind of looked like a giant Magicarp with its large webbed dorsal fin from one of his old animes.
I bet it knows more than just Splash.
Kyle has his weapon cocked at the ready while palming the counter-weight at the back end of the spear waiting to thrust it forward at a moment's notice as he continued to slowly sink deeper while the eyes of the sea monster which were the same size as his head followed him at the same time changing its depth in order to stay level with its aggressive looking meal.
The waiting game that the monster is playing is wearing on Kyles nerves even though it hasn't been more than eight seconds. The problem is that he is borrowed time. He has no idea how long he can hold his breath for in this new body which is why he is doing his best to not panic and keep his heart rate because that would only use up his very limited oxygen supply. If it was his old body, even a few minutes wouldn't be a problem… but alas, it is what it is.
Finally, after what felt like forever but was really more like ten seconds, the monster started to open its mouth. Predicting that this type of fish uses a gulping method to capture its prey, like many other species of fish which utilizes its mouth to create a vacuum like effect, he immediately thrusts his spear forward aiming right between its eyes.
His body is instantaneously pulled forward forcefully at a great speed slightly throwing his aim off as he squeezes his eyes shut hoping for either a quick death or a miracle. He'd prefer a miracle but whatever happens will happen as it is out of his hands now and he can only hope for the best.
Squooosh
The muffled sound of metal piercing flesh.
Instead of piercing the monster between the eyes, he actually stabbed the monster right through its giant left eye which had an immediate effect. The emperor perch launched its body forward jerking from side to side trying to dislodge its assailant, while all Kyle can do is try to hold on for dear life because even though the spear pierced deeply into the creature it seems to still have a lot of life left in it. Enough to kill a helpless human left at the mercy of sea at least.
And the sea is anything but merciful.
For the next 20 seconds Kyle is dragged around by the creature and is getting close to his limit as straining his muscles is also using up his limited supply of oxygen. Soon, something has got to give, and if Kyle gives first, he will without a doubt still become fish food. That is until he suddenly remembers a very crucial detail. Something he should have never forgotten, but with the suddenness of everything that has happened, and not used to thinking of magic as being real he decided to give himself a pass
Unable to shout out loud for obvious reasons, he instead shouts in his mind.
DISCHARGGEEE
It happened instantaneously. The spear glowed a bright blue, white color before releasing thick electric arcs. The monster died immediately after spasming multiple times. Then it slowly started to float towards the surface.
Ding.
[You have Killed…
Unable to wait any longer Kyle unsummons the Reign of Storms and starts to fight his way to the surface as fast as he can. In the battle with the emperor and unbeknownst to him, Kyle ended up being dragged 40 feet below the surface.
Seventeen years had passed since his birth in his past life, and in that time, he had learned to conquer the waves of the vast sea. Yet, today's victory had come at a price. The sea monster had been a fierce adversary, its scales as dark as the abyss, its eyes gleaming with malice that seemed to pierce right through Kai's soul. His heart still pounded from the exertion of the battle, his arm muscles aching from clenching tight to his spear. The creature was no more, defeated by his hand, but the victory was bittersweet as he now faced the possibility of becoming a victim of the sea once again.
The weight of the water above him was like an invisible force pushing down, eager to keep him in its cold embrace. His arms felt like lead, his legs weak, and his breath was running out. The spear that had brought him glory moments ago was now a burden, dragging him down with every stroke towards the light.
Each movement brought him closer to the surface, but his body was growing weaker. The light grew brighter, and the pressure lessened, but the darkness was creeping into the edges of his vision. He knew he didn't have much time.
Almost there…
10 feet from the surface, he is at his limit.
Just a little more…
The darkness is nearly blocking his vision entirely. Then just as he is a couple of feet from the surface…
Everything goes black.