11

His power had jumped when he fused with his blade. I didn't think he could be more powerful. In my eyes he was already a death god poised over my throat. When his power jumped it felt more like a hundred death gods. A power jump that substantial couldn't be a good for your body, but Letty could pretty much ignore all damage. 

I'd seen him do that sort of thing dozens of times. I'd attacked him with all my strength on multiple occasions. He'd just shrugged off being sliced like deli meat. I stretched out my claws so my fingers were concentrated into a blade. Creating a flame sword off the tips of my talons by using them as a focal point for my mana. 

If underwater torches could burn then so could I. My flames were having trouble igniting underwater, but the heat building off my claws was starting to work. I was one flash away from actually forming a flame blade like I wanted. The heat was doing almost as much damage as the flames would. I just needed to be a bit more patient for just a little bit longer. 

It was going to work. One more flash was all it took. Flames ignited beneath the water. The torch wasn't nearly as long as I wanted but it was long enough. Hacking, and slashing through all the enemies before me.

Not touching them with a single one of my talons. Just as I'd been instructed. All while staying close to the portal to close it. My muscles sang as I tore through my enemies with ease. Now that I'd figured out how to get the flame burning this was all too easy. 

I was enjoying it. Probably a little too much. Was this what Letty was trying to show me? I wasn't sure. I was enjoying it all just a little too much now. 

It turned into a little dance of death beneath the waves. I killed everything that came within my reach. I enjoyed all the death a little too much. Expending all this energy would make me hungry in the long run though. I was already a bit hungry as it was. 

Good thing I was surrounded by food. The water turned a dark purple in the dark of the depts. I moved on as soon as I was done with the portal. One down. Two to go. 

The fish that were coming from this portal must have been consumed by the weird ones from the last portal. This portal was much smaller then I expected. Barely big enough for one of the fish beasts to pass through. It was also really weak. I fully expected this not to last long. 

Portals like this were usually more stable then the larger ones. I found it funny since you'd think the smaller portal would be easier to close, but no that wasn't the case. The smaller portal was actually more stable then a large one would be. I kept on killing the weird piranhas. All while closing the portal slowly. 

Some of them even rushed through the portal when they realized it was closing. Coming back into my world. Urgently trying to return so they could survive since that wasn't their world. My claws continued to lash out. Sending blades of fire through the creatures easily. 

The danger I presented was starting to dawn on the creatures. I didn't understand why they didn't run. My presence was stretched further then the boundaries of my spatial awareness. Even the magicless humans felt the weight of my presence so why did these creatures not seem to know exactly what I was capable of. Maybe my presence was stretched too far. 

Maybe they thought I was weaker because of it. I pulled my aura in. Tightening it within the bounds of my spatial awareness. The effect was immediate. The fish fled. 

Terror was evident in their emotional hues. I watched them flee well beyond the range of my spatial awareness. The ones that were coming though the portal even stopped. I didn't know that I could increase the pressure my aura naturally gave off by focusing it. That was another thing I needed to learn more about.

If I learned to control that part of my power then I would be a more dangerous foe. My aura compressed even further until it was concentrated to just the hundred feet around me in all directions. Nothing weak would come within a hundred feet of me willingly. I looked around the area cautiously. Just because nothing weak was willing to attack me didn't mean there wasn't something strong enough to try its luck against me. 

I moved on to the next portal once I finished closing this one. A flick of my tail propelled me over to the next portal. Now this whole thing was starting to be boring. I kind of wanted to spread my aura back out, and invite them in to attack me. I snorted. 

Boring was not what I wanted, but it was probably better for me to be boring at the moment. I folded my wings tightly into my body, and landed on the seabed. This portal was sunk into the sand so it didn't let as much through. It was obvious that something had come through though. There were small pieces of flesh in the sand. 

Whatever had come through had been bigger then the portal. The sand had also been dug into a good amount. I wondered what this creature was. How big could it be? My spatial awareness picked up something moving my direction. 

Something that didn't seem to care how strong I was. I turned my head, and looked at the creature, and found myself face to face with the same beast I'd struggled to beat during the portal outbreak at the wolf island over a year ago. My water element was much stronger then before so I simply dodged its strike. Slamming my tail into its head as it sailed by. I mustered enough force to knock his head to the side, but that was it.