Ragdoll

While the river water bubbled, Ace looked at the alligator guide in his periphery . The screen told him that there was only one in his vicinity.

It was the only thing standing between them and fresh drinking water. If they could get past this creature, they could fill their water tank and bide their time until the start of the second wave. They just had to get it to reveal itself.

Eventually, the bubbles ceased and a dark shadow breached the river's surface. Amidst the explosion of mist, something large grabbed hold of the bat corpse. In the same instant, Ace bolted from his hiding spot, dashing further down the river with a water canister outstretched. Noticing the movement, the mutated alligator abandoned the bat and set its sights on him.

Acting quickly, Stellis stepped in front of Ace as he filled the canister. Unable to full register the beast's ludicrous speed, she was only able to brace herself with her sword before she was enclosed on both sides by a massive pair of jaws.

Ace watched from a few feet away as the beast tried to close its mouth and eat her. It seemed to be having a hard time doing so. 

'All according to plan I guess...'

He eyed the water canister with anxious eyes, desperately shaking it in hopes that it would fill up faster. He wasn't sure how much longer Stellis could stall for time.

Inwardly, he was glad he was the decoy. He definitely wasn't fast enough to catch the alligator and its appendages were too big to get a grip on. His death would have been guaranteed.

The alligator beast continued to thrash around, desperately trying to consume its armored prey. In a motion that Ace had trouble taking seriously, it began to roll around on the floor rapidly.

He spared another glance at the canister. It was full!

Moving as quickly as possible, he slammed the cap on the canister, screwed it on shut, and tossed it back into the tree line. Before he could join the fight, the sound of a large splash erupted behind him. 

Fearing the worst, he ran over to the water's edge. Beneath the rapidly overlapping currents he couldn't make out Stellis or the creature who had dragged her into the water. 

"No no no no no no! We were so close!"

Unable to swim, the thoughts of jumping in after the pair were quickly removed from his mind. He could only stand helplessly on the river bank, waiting for a miracle. 

Before long, the water bubbled furiously once more, making him jump back several feet. Shortly after, the creature burst from the water. Only this time, it cleared the ground and traveled a dozen feet into the air. Much to his delight, Stellis was now outside of the alligators mouth, holding onto it by one of its front teeth. 

Soaring through the air, she landed on the ground before whipping around her shoulder and heaving her arms forward. Somehow, impossibly, the rest of the creature followed the movement of her upper body, whipping through the air like. 

With enough force to dent the very earth itself, Stellis slammed the alligator into the ground, sending up a massive cloud of dirt. 

Ace looked on with wide eyes and his jaw hanging open. 

'But, that's not poss-' 

Almost without pause, the cloud of dirt was blown away as Stellis lifted the creature over her head and slammed it down in the opposite direction, sending up yet another dirt cloud. 

She continued her assault, ruthlessly pounding the alligator into the earth until it stopped moving entirely. From his position on the riverbed, Ace heard Stellis' voice boom through the obscurity of the dust cloud. 

"Finish this thing Ace! I'll hold it down!" 

Grabbing his crowbar and running forward, he dove into the dirt cloud and towards the massive shadow. Jumping high into the air, he raised his crowbar and filled his arm with energy. Immediately upon landing on the creature's head, he thrust down his weapon down at the creatures skull.

It bounced off harmlessly.

'Huh?' 

Talos chimed in his ear. 

[The alligator's scales grow stronger when exposed to high moisture! Find another way! Hurry!]

With the creature regaining its senses, he started to panic. He was running out of time. 

Without thinking, he jumped off the creature's head and dove past Stellis right into its maw. Stopping right under where he thought the brain was, he charged his arm and stabbed upwards.

Shortly after, Talos once again echoed in his mind. 

[You have slain a Grade 1 Alligator! A chisel is available. Retrieve 5 scales from the tail of this beast! You will also need a clothing item!]

Ace couldn't hide his excitement as he ripped out his crowbar and climbed out the side of the creature's mouth. He was finally going to get a chisel!

In spite of this, he was having trouble fully enjoying the moment. It didn't make sense how easily Stellis had subdued the creature. 

She was strong, maybe a little too strong.

The imagery of her slamming the alligator into the ground like a ragdoll wasn't something he was going to be able to forget. 

Lost in thought, he almost didn't notice her when she stepped in front of him. Wearing a bright smile, she stuck out a hand. 

"That was a good hunt!" 

Sweating profusely, he clasped her hand while nodding his head.

He tried not to show it but he was scared that he would suffer the same fate as the crocodile. He didn't hold the handshake for long. 

Moving quickly, he used his crowbar to pry off some scales from the Alligator before climbing back into the treetops. 

At the same time, Volcan dropped down from his perch and dug into the remains of the crocodile. It never ceased to amaze Ace how hungry his avian friend seemed to be. Maybe that was the secret to his growth?

While Volcan enjoyed its meal, the two youths did the same, devouring a set of ration bars. After a brief rest, Ace prepared to make his chisel, pulling out the five alligator scales. 

Based on what happened with Stellis's Bat chisel, he could only assume that the scales would somehow be infused into whatever clothing item he picked. Almost all of the damage he had taken was to the upper body so there wasn't much of a choice to be made when deciding what clothing item he would pick. 

A few seconds later, he stood shirtless over the chisel materials , embarrassingly aware of Stellis' stare. 

"Yes?" 

She only pointed at his arm, or rather where one should have been. 

"You said you were born with one arm? That looks like a sword wound, and one from an expert at that. It's perfectly level."

Ace only huffed air as he turned his attention back to his shirt. 

"Yea... I think I'm pretty sure. It would have healed by now if it wasn't, you know the rules... In any case, it's time to see what this turns into." 

Excited to see what he would get, Ace placed his hand on the scales and sent his Sever Energy into them. 

There was a brief flash of light before he could see his garment again.

The scales had disappeared and in their place was just the same purple shirt. Confused, he reached out to pick it up. Only this time, the shirt was easily four to five times heavier than it was before. 

'What the?!'

A notification screen appeared in his vision. 

---

Chisel: Hydrophilic Armor (Top)

Description : This armor is moderately durable in normal conditions but grows excessively so when in contact with liquid of any kind (Blood, sweat, water, etc...). It does not scale in strength with the user.

--- 

Reading the description, Ace's eyes widened. He excitedly told Stellis what it did. 

She pouted and turned away. 

"Now I want one..." 

Ace rolled his eyes and laughed. 

"It's not like you need it anyway. You seemed to be doing pretty well back there even without it. Seriously, does your Notch make you invincible or something? That alligator was many times the bat's size and you absolutely manhandled it! I wish mine was that straightforward, the only thing it does i-"

Before he could finish, Stellis raised a hand to his face with a serious expression. 

"I can see now that you really are from the slums... You were about to tell me what your Notch did weren't you?" 

Ace shrugged his shoulders. 

"Am I supposed to keep it a secret or something?" 

Stellis shouted in his face. 

"Yes! I don't know what you've been taught, but only your closest companions are supposed to be told the specifics of your Notch! Everyone else should only see its effects. You're pretty dependable, so consider this me doing you a favor. Don't tell anyone about your Notch but those you trust..."

With those words, she turned around and walked further down the branch. Ace stood still for a while before taking a seat with his back to the tree. While grateful for the advice, he felt like she was speaking from a place of personal experience. The look of anger on her face told him so. 

Shaking his head, he sat in place, day dreaming about a reunion with his family.