Nier's eyes shot open as he gasped for air, only to choke on the salty seawater. Panic surged through him as he held his breath, desperate to avoid suffocation. Looking around, he realized he was being dragged underwater by a sea creature, its tentacle-like hands gripping his right leg. It didn't even bother to turn its head, probably thinking Nier was weak. But that was before.
Summoning his strength, Nier raised his left leg and struck the tentacle holding him twice. The creature released its grip, and without wasting a moment, he swam back up toward the surface. Upon breaking through the water, he inhaled the fresh night air, relief flooding over him. "Oh God, that feels so great!"
After catching his breath, he scanned the area for his dagger. He spotted it lying where his head had been pummeled into the concrete earlier. Grabbing it tightly, he practiced a few swings and jumps to regain his composure. Just before drowning, Nier had managed to create his Ki core. Though it wasn't stable yet, it provided a significant boost in power that allowed him to escape the creature's grasp. If he had been even a minute late, he would have become fish food.
Nier took a deep breath and got into a running stance, preparing himself for what lay ahead. Suddenly, the sea creature burst from the water, propelling itself into the air.
Before it could descend, Nier leaped into the air with all his strength, raising his blade high before plunging it directly into the stunned creature. It screamed in agony—if what it emitted could even be called a scream. "That one's for my head!"
Using the creature's body as leverage, Nier performed a backflip that landed him back on the sea tower as the creature fell back into the water, dying and staining it red. He began jumping and stretching, feeling the power coursing through him. His entire body was now reinforced by Ki; even the signs of poisoning had vanished and most of his wounds healed. "Whoo! I could get used to this."
Just as he was reveling in his newfound strength, something whizzed past him at high speed. He barely dodged it and turned to see what it was—a rock! Shifting his focus back to the water, Nier noticed the sea creature preparing for another attack. Smiling confidently, he returned to a fighting stance.
Before long, they began trading blows—its tentacle hands struck like hard rock while Nier's fists matched their intensity. They moved at high speeds as other sea serpents slithered up the tower in search of an opening. But before they could advance, the creature seized one of the three-meter serpents by its tail and swung it like a weapon. Nier blocked with his dagger, shattering the serpent's head instantly.
As they continued to fight, Nier adapted quickly; despite having little combat training except for some defensive skills taught by his father, he found himself correcting his flawed stance mid-fight. The sea creature fought chaotically while Nier remained calm and focused.
When it aimed a right jab at his chin, Nier stepped back just enough to dodge before slicing at its side.
The creature twisted its torso unnaturally to avoid the attack but retaliated with a knee strike to Nier's face.
He fell backward onto the concrete and touched his nose to check for breaks.
"God, that really hurts!" Not that it mattered much; as a first-step warrior now, he could regenerate faster.
While sitting there nursing his pain, a serpent sneaked up behind him. Before it could strike, Nier plunged his dagger into its skull with precision—piercing both its head and the concrete beneath it. "Round two, fish head."
With renewed determination, Nier resumed fighting with increasing skill until he finally caught the sea creature in a chokehold and broke its neck with sheer force.
Having reached this new level of power allowed him to channel Ki through his body to reinforce parts of himself—his hands could now cut as cleanly as any blade. However, he realized that moving it quickly was still beyond him; but that was more of a skill issue than anything else.
Leaving the dead creature where it lay, Nier wiped his dagger clean on the serpent whose head he'd pierced earlier. That's when he noticed that the blade was stained with poison; upon closer inspection of the dead sea creature revealed parts of it beginning to rot. The potency of its poison struck him with realization.
He spent the rest of the night battling hordes of sea serpents attracted by the strong smell of blood. As dawn broke and after ensuring he'd defeated the last one, he approached a large pile of serpent corpses and began removing them one by one until he uncovered two inclined rocks forming a pyramid shape—his makeshift shelter from nearly fifteen serpent bodies he'd made for annie.
Finding a spot where sunlight wouldn't reach him much longer, exhaustion overwhelmed him like a rock falling from above; he collapsed and fell asleep almost immediately.
---
"N…i…..e…r." Someone was calling him from afar.
"Ni.....er?" Who was calling? Where were they?
"NIER!"
Nier's eyes shot open as tension surged through him; all remnants of sleep vanished instantly as he prepared for another attack.
"Hey! Are you alright?" Turning around revealed Annie standing there.
"Were you the one who called my name?"
"Of course! Who else could it be?"
Letting out a sigh of relief, Nier relaxed his tense body but quickly noticed how achy he felt all over from fatigue.
"What do you want anyway? I'm tired—can you make it quick?"
"No! You're just being rude! But that's not why I'm here."
"Then what did you need?"
"Can you tell me what exactly happened here?" She pointed at all the dead sea creatures surrounding them—it looked like something straight out of a horror novel.
"Oh nothing much—just a few sea creatures that tried to kill us during the night." Annie stared at him incredulously.
"Look Annie," Nier said wearily as he settled back down again. "I'll tell you after I wake up; I think I'm going to die just from fatigue."
Annie shrugged in defeat as Nier prepared to sleep again.
"Oh! I almost forgot—where's Dad? I didn't see him last time."
"You mean the old man?"
Nier was now half-asleep.
"Don't call him that!"
"yeah, yeah" nier responded non-chalantly
"where is he then?"
"Well... sorry to break this to you but... he's already dead."
Nier's speech began slurring together as exhaustion took hold again.
"What did you just say? Didn't catch that well." Annie poked him in an attempt to wake him up again.
"I said Dad is dead—from that octopus thingy! It literally turned him to ash!"
"Wait—is that your idea of a joke? Because if it is... it's not funny."
"I never joke about these things," Nier replied seriously with an almost hoarse voice.
Something in his tone made Annie realize he wasn't lying—though she didn't fully comprehend what had happened.
"Then you mean to say…" she started losing her balance as she rose from her crouched position near Nier. "That he's really dead?"
As she tried standing up straight again she fainted; Nier reacted quickly and sprinted forward to catch her before she hit the ground.
Looking down at her sadly with a gentle smile on his face, he murmured softly: "I told you—you weren't ready to get up yet... idiot."