Chapter 24: West Territory (5)

Daniel and Seraphina froze.

The young man and woman felt piercing gazes coming at them from all directions. Eyes emanating darkness, filled with a thirst for blood.

Seraphina looked back at Daniel, their eyes met. In that look, there was no fear, just a determination to end the battle as quickly as possible. They waited.

Sharp, thorn-covered stems erupted from the earth like blades.

Three Aquaterns lunged violently at Daniel. Three lunged at Seraphina.

With a quick leap, Seraphina landed her sharp wooden geta on the stems, propelling herself off them, using them as a springboard for her attack.

Her face was a mask of confident resolve as she swung her leg, plunging one of the Aquaterns into the earth. Her speed was astonishing, seemingly exceeding both the Aquaterns and Daniel.

Two rocks materialized in her hands and flew into the faces of the remaining two Aquaterns, pushing them back.

Feeling his sword fill with energy, Daniel made a swift slash, cleaving the air and producing a spine-chilling melody of steel and wind. With feline agility, he swiftly turned his body, swaying on his heels. The stems missed him.

One Aquatern was flung aside. One fell to the ground. The last one was airborne right in front of his face.

The Aquaternn aimed at him like an arrow.

Daniel felt his pulse quicken. The monsters were as fast as he was, but he hadn't yet adapted to his enhanced agility. He felt the sharp stems approaching his neck.

In a flash, Seraphina grabbed his hair and yanked him towards her. With incredible speed, she delivered a powerful kick, sending the Aquatern flying backward.

Daniel and Seraphina quickly switched places. He now stood in front of the trio of Aquaterns who seemed to be just recovering from Seraphina's blow.

One of the Aquaterns with a damaged bloom rose quickly from the ground. The two who were pushed back also recovered. All three lunged at Daniel simultaneously.

'I've never fought alongside anyone, but…' — a thought flashed through his mind.

Daniel struck the air with a hissing sound. Several petals fell from the Aquaterns' heads.

Time seemed to slow for Daniel. He swiftly turned and saw how two rocks in Seraphina's hands shattered the head of one of the Aquaterns into splinters.

Daniel noticed two stems growing from the ground, aiming for Seraphina's legs.

'Fighting together is easier… And also…' Daniel quickly pulled Seraphina by her waist toward him.

In an instant, his sword struck the ground devastatingly. Seraphina raised her eyebrow in astonishment, and their eyes met.

'...this feels like a dance,' Daniel mused to himself.

The sharp stems that erupted from the earth suddenly stopped due to Daniel's strike.

'But this can't go on. We have to push them further from the water… Their aura makes them too strong.'

Daniel exchanged a glance with Serafina. She nodded.

Simultaneously, they both lunged at the Aquatern closest to the tropical forest. Seraphina, like a hawk swooping down on its prey, embedded her sharp wooden geta into the monster. Daniel immediately finished it off by thrusting his blade directly into the Aquatern's face.

[You have killed the Filth Monster, Aquatern.]

[You have earned 10 experience points.]

[You have earned 33 points.]

[You have obtained an item.]

The pair ran straight into the tropical forest. Four remaining living Aquaterns chased after them.

Daniel and Seraphina abruptly stopped and stood at the edge of the tropical forest. The monsters brandished their sharp, spiky limbs and leapt.

Suddenly, their speed dramatically decreased; the white aura that enveloped them ceased.

Without hesitation, Daniel and Seraphina immediately attacked the four remaining Aquaterns. Daniel's blade cut through two Aquaterns as if they were paper. Several system messages popped up before him.

[You have killed the Filth Monster, Aquatern.]

[You have earned 10 experience points.]

[You have earned 39 points.]

[You have obtained an item.]

[You have killed the Filth Monster, Aquatern.]

[You have earned 10 experience points.]

[You have earned 21 points.]

[You have obtained an item.]

[You have earned 10 points for assisting in the kill.]

[You have earned 10 points for assisting in the kill.]

`As always, neither the skill nor the damn paralysis activated. It doesn't seem like 10-12% to me — it's more like 1%, one freaking percent, that I'll trigger the skill or paralyze the enemy with my sword. What a nuisance,` Daniel sharply withdrew his blade from the corpse and turned his gaze to Seraphina.

Seraphina had just wiped her feet on the corpse of an Aquatern. She swiftly lowered her hands and took a deep breath.

"That was intense. You're not hurt, are you?" Daniel asked Seraphina indifferently. The girl, looking slightly offended, ignored Daniel's question and moved forward.

"It's your turn. Just be quick. We can't be sure when new ones will come."

Daniel nodded and approached the lake.

`Now it's my turn to be the dog drinking from the pool,` Daniel thought to himself as he lowered his face to the lake and began to drink.

The sense of thirst, which had already reached a 73% mark in him, started to slowly diminish.

Everything was quiet. Too quiet. All the rustling, all the sounds, all the movements—everything had gone silent.

Daniel was drinking but, at the same time, quickly scanned the lake with his eyes. Not a single monster was visible. Even that massive group of twenty Aquaterns, which had once stood far off, had vanished.

Daniel turned to look at Seraphina. She was standing calmly with her back to him, not appearing tense.

`Hmm, am I imagining things?` Daniel thought to himself.

Suddenly, the water in the lake trembled. The ground shook. Daniel jumped up abruptly and looked at Seraphina.

At first, the girl seemed slightly surprised and gloomy. But then, her eyes widened dramatically.

"We need to go, now!" Seraphina screamed, hints of fear flashing in her eyes.

Daniel nodded and took a step, but it was too late…

A monster leapt out of the lake, landing right in front of Daniel and Seraphina, blocking their way. It was a seven-meter-long creature. Its body was only one meter in diameter, but even so, the monster looked quite menacing. The monster resembled a liana, both in shape and appearance, only this gigantic liana had a huge mouth at its tip, twice the diameter of its body.

What frightened Daniel most was not this, but the system messages that popped up in front of him.

[Monster: Hydroglot]

[Rank: Monstrosity]

Both Seraphina and Daniel were paralyzed with fear. Neither could move even a finger. Both understood that, even together, no, even if there were ten Daniels and Seraphinas here, they still couldn't defeat it.

However, for some reason, the monster did not attack them. Though it stood before them, Hydroglot paid them no mind.

Moreover, the monster abruptly turned and went to the Aquatern corpses that lay at the edge of the tropical forest.

Hydroglot opened its massive mouth wide and calmly began to devour the monster corpses.

Seraphina stared in bewilderment at the spectacle, while Daniel appeared calm, although inside he was screaming in confusion.

Neither Daniel nor Seraphina knew what to do in this situation, whether the monster had noticed them or not, so all they could do was wait. Having finished eating the Aquaterns, Hydroglot abruptly turned around.

Stepping along the ground with its tentacles, Hydroglot finally moved towards Daniel and Seraphina. Daniel thought it was over.

However, to his relief, Hydroglot passed by him. Seraphina was less fortunate. The creature nearly knocked her off her feet. She staggered and was on the verge of losing her balance, but at the last moment, she managed to steady herself and stood on her tiptoes.

Hydroglot sidestepped her and approached the corpses of two Aquaterns lying near the lake. He also began to consume them slowly and calmly.

'Could it be that while we were fighting, he had already devoured those packs of Aquaterns?'—a thought slipped through Daniel's mind.

Seraphina started to lose her balance. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to stay on her tiptoes. A few more seconds, and she would fall back onto her heels.

Hydroglot, having swallowed the last Aquatern, turned back towards them again. His head was directed at Daniel and Seraphina, but the monster did not move. Both Daniel and Seraphina froze in tension.

Daniel noticed that the suckers on Hydroglot's tentacles suddenly dilated.

But then the monster turned and began to retreat into the lake, slowly submerging into the water.

Almost his entire body was submerged. Only one tentacle still tightly clung to the ground.

Unable to hold on any longer, Seraphina silently lowered herself onto her heels. Even Daniel, who was standing next to her, heard nothing.

A tense silence hung in the air for a moment. The suckers on the tentacle abruptly constricted, finally releasing the ground and began to submerge into the water.

Daniel relaxed for a moment, but in the next second, a massive long tentacle burst from beneath the water, grabbed Seraphina, and dragged her underwater with it.

Daniel's face remained calm, but he whispered in bewilderment,

"What?"

Daniel slowly approached the lake.

Silence settled again. The ground stopped shaking, only the water rippled slightly.

Daniel needed to make a decision, and quickly. His thoughts seemed to speed up fivefold.

`What do I do? What do I do? Should I dive in or not? No, she's gone. Face it, Danny, she's done for. You can't do anything here. Nothing. She's dead. Dead. That's it. And what would you achieve if you do dive in? The water is dark blue, visibility is crap, and that monster is in its element down there, not to mention who knows how deep it is. You won't save her; you'll just get yourself killed. Accept it, she's dead...` Daniel's rational mind argued.

`But, what if—`

`There are no 'what ifs'! Leave now, before that thing comes back!` Daniel argued with himself.

`No... I can't... She... She...`

`She what? She's just a girl from another class that you barely know. Don't tell me you fell for her just because she flaunted her butt a couple of times?`

`No. She has my geta! Geta that I earned and upgraded with my own hands! All that I've been through for them! I can't just abandon them! They're mine!` Daniel abruptly dove into the lake.

"..." Daniel's rational side was left speechless.