Adaptation

Hearing that, Kyle had no doubts now he didn't even have to open the chest and he already knew what was inside. 

 He didn't have time to panic, those words were the final and definitive nail in the coffin. The unacceptable situation was a cruel, unwelcome reality. So he walked over to the chest and opened it with a 

crack 

 Inside, there was what looked like a fishhook. It was a hook nearly two meters long, but the shank that looked like a hilt, and the rest of the hook was not unlike a hook-shaped sword with a sharp point. 

Immediately, recognizing the danger ahead, he looked around and scanned the people who were still gathering. A frightening possibility came to his mind. He turned to the group and shouted, his voice echoing across the water: 

"Hey, spread out! It's not safe! Get as far away from each other as possible!" 

That was the most he could do and After saying that, he simply swam as far away as he could. The people looked at him, but didn't understand anything that was going on. 

Only a few did what he said, either because of Kyle's words or because they felt there was something else wrong. 

"calm is not definite yet, it may not happen, just stay away, just in case" he said to himself, trying to stay calm and get as far away from the people as possible. 

But it was already too late, although he tried to swim fast, but he was not very fast to begin with, although he tried with all his might. 

Swoosh! 

Suddenly, as if appearing out of nowhere, a large number of tuna fish emerged. They were no ordinary tuna; they were twice the size of a normal one and seemed especially focused on attacking people. 

One, in particular, lunged after Kyle. Noticing this, he turned quickly to face the huge beast. 

He placed the hook, which now looked like a sword, in front of him and braced for impact, which came seconds later. 

BAM!!!

"ughh!!!" 

The impact pushed him backwards. "Splash!" The water around him cushioned a little, but the tuna kept pushing him back as it took the bait. 

 He could clearly see the inside of its mouth, and it definitely wasn't like a normal tuna's mouth; rather, it had teeth like a grotesque shark's, arranged all over its mouth. 

If it bit off a limb, it would definitely lose it. Finally, the tuna pushed it until it touched the sea floor. It barely found some support, but even being underwater, it wasn't enough. 

Humans were definitely not meant to be underwater; everything was different and way out of what he was used to. 

However, he didn't back down. After being pushed for a while, his back made contact with what looked like a piece of concrete 

"ackhh!!!" whether it was a wall or a piece of ground, Whatever it was, he finally felt that his back and feet had enough stability to draw his strength. 

Hands steady but shaking, Kyle swung his nearly six-foot hook, aiming the curved point directly at the eye of the tuna that outnumbered him in size by twice as much.

Knowing this was his only moment, he took a breath, concentrated, and with all his strength made a sweeping "swing" motion, as if holding a baseball bat. 

The hook sank into the tuna's flesh, cutting the inside of its mouth as it tried to free itself. The fish let out a violent flutter, but the sharp point managed to penetrate its eye, releasing a torrent of blood into the water. Kyle couldn't stop himself; he knew a shallow strike wouldn't be enough. 

Determinedly, he pushed the hook deeper, levering it to ensure the hook went deep enough. The tuna fought with savage force, flailing desperately, its sharp teeth just inches from tearing Kyle apart. But he continued to hold on to his weapon, dodging the fish's onslaught. 

Suddenly, the tuna, in desperation, decided to swim away at high speed. Kyle was dragged with him, the water resisting his every move. His body tensed, but he never let go of the hook, because being left without his only weapon would leave him completely defenseless. 

But as luck would have it, the fish's speed, combined with Kyle's weight and the sharpness of the hook, caused it to sink deeper and deeper into the tuna's flesh, widening the eye wound and even driving the hook in further. 

A stroke of luck caused the point of the hook to reach a critical angle, piercing completely through the fish's brain. 

 The tuna flailed one last time before losing all its energy. Slowly, the monstrous fish stopped swimming, its body floating limp in the water. A muffled sound, a "squelch," marked the end of the fight. 

"haaa~...haaaa~..." Kyle was breathing shakily and deeply. It was an intense battle, but pitifully he still couldn't be calm. The tuna managed to drag him back to where the gathered people were. 

The surrounding area was chaos; there were limbs and blood everywhere. The tuna did not discriminate at all; they eliminated everyone equally. He could even see the top of what once appeared to be the fireman gathering the people. 

It was an inferno. The smell of blood, which shouldn't be possible, even entered through his nose. He didn't know how that was even possible, but right now that wasn't a priority thought for Kyle, as a nearby tuna noticed it and came to attack him. 

He didn't panic. He looked around and, as usual, he was in an awkward position, swimming without any support. The previous situation could be repeated, but luckily, the carcass of the tuna he had just killed was nearby. 

 It wasn't the best, but it was the only thing. Using it as a support, he prepared himself. And just as the tuna was near, he positioned the hook in a way he thought was right. 

At the last moment, using the carcass of the first tuna, he thrust sharply to the side, so that the tuna sped past him. But that wasn't all; he had the hook in a position that would get caught in the tuna's mouth. He held the hook tightly, and, just as before, it was pulled in, but the sharpness of the hook again caused it to start tearing. The hook followed the path from the mouth until it finally came out of the tuna's body. 

By the time the hook came out, the tuna had a long, lethal wound all over its side, Solo swam for a while longer until he stopped from blood loss. 

[You have leveled up] 

At that moment, like the previous voice, he heard a voice in his head. Quickly, and now that he was a little far from hell, he shouted: 

"Status, window, stat...window open!!!," 

Kyle began to shout, his thinking was quick and with the message just heard, he thought of something else that if everything was as he thought it should exist, but, his attempts were in vain, nothing happened. 

"Shit, so far everything has been pretty much the same, what's wrong?" 

He didn't know what the problem was. He thought for a while, but his time was running out. 

He could see the tuna almost finishing people off. It was a tragic sight, but he couldn't help, he would just be one more of the victims. Even with the situation, he tried to think calmly and think of all the factors, everything he knew. 

The voice said I went up a level. So how can I 'see my status'?" 

He didn't have to think much anymore At that moment, when he thought just that suddenly, what looked like a transparent panel appeared in front of him. When he saw it he was glad that was what he wanted to call up. He looked quickly and the following appeared: 

--------------------------------

Kyle Ashford 

Level: 1 

Race: Human 

Base Attributes: 

Strength (STR): 6 

Vitality (VIT): 5 

Agility (AGI): 5 

Aquatic Adaptation (AQA): 3 

Anima (ANM): 7 

Free Stats: 5 

---------------------------------

Just as Kyle thought, everything was as he thought. Still, he quickly assigned his stats to Aquatic Adaptation. The problem, again, was that he didn't know how to do it; it wasn't like simply clicking like in a video game. 

But, guided by his previous experience, he seriously thought about assigning those five points to Aquatic Adaptation. 

[Would you like to assign 5 points to AQA?] 

"Yes," he replied aloud, and it worked. Immediately, his status window changed. 

[Aquatic Adaptation (AQA): 3 > 8] 

At that moment, he felt freer and, how should I put it, more in his comfort zone. Honestly, Kyle felt strange; it was as if he had spent a lot of time in the water, when he only occasionally went out to the beach or to some nearby pool. 

 But the time for thinking was over. The tuna began to notice his presence and swam toward him. He was more prepared. Kyle didn't retreat, but advanced. 

He didn't know what gave him the guts to do something like that, but he did, and, as if he felt that better than before, he somehow felt he had more control over his body and could position himself correctly, even with nothing to lean on. 

His experience was scarce, but again he tried the same technique of using the speed of the tuna against him. 

 He held the huge hook like a bat, and, thanks to its greater stability, more easily dodged the tuna. 

He more easily hooked the hook into the tuna; stabs was not dragged, he only felt a slight tug. And as he turned and looked he saw the tuna, snapped in half. 

"I made it!" 

Now his legs were enough to keep him steady and resist the inertia that carried the tuna to the point where the sword hook snapped it cleanly.