Encounter!

The mist-clad battleground echoed with the relentless sound of gunfire, the rhythmic thuds of Stage 5 fish providing a haunting backdrop.

Rin, armed with her firearms, was at the rear, becoming a ranger; she strategically unleashed a barrage of bullets that tore through the swirling fog.

Her assault emitted rapid bursts of blue energy, each shot finding its mark with deadly precision, piercing the body of the shark.

She took care of both rear and front, as the entire party was surrounded by a large legion of small fish in control of a single shark; those who could harm the Stage 5 Shark took the role of attacker marking them as prey.

Weaker individuals who had recently invoked and didn't know how to use spirituality took care of the smaller fish.

Ragna's keen eyes scanned for any lurking threats, ensuring the path was clear for the gunfire onslaught.

A shark lunged out from the mist, attacking Alex in the centre.

A sailor swung around, desperately firing at the incoming threat, but alas, the normal bullet was of no harm. Munch... suddenly, the shark grabbed his hand, and decapitated his hand before any more harm could happen.

Rin took down the shark while the healer took charge to stabilise the sailor's condition. There were two more injured people there surrounded by Alex and Steve, who took charge to save them from any further damage.

Alex, stabilizing, fired at incoming fish.

—Bang!

_What should I do? I can't give all the burden of my safety to someone else. I can't trust them entirely right now; my safety is in my hand._he thought

He knew in a situation like this, it's human nature to do anything that could guarantee their survival.

While the situation is bad, it's not worse; they are fighting to be safe, not for survival. Currently, there are people like Seth, Rin, and Ragna who can injure those sharks, and they are doing everything in their power to do so while also saving their companions.

Initially, everyone believed they could take care of the Stage 5 creature but The reality is quite different. It brutally crushed their dream.

It didn't even take too much time. The moment the legion attacked it quickly overwhelmed the individuals who could deal with them, all of this because the number of threats is much more than anticipated.

In circumstances like this, it would be right to say if Alex didn't arrange his own survival, the threat to his life was certain; that's why he was trying to use the technique Dev had shown.

His right hand glowed with a light blue flame, punching on incoming fish.

Thud...

The moment it collided, the spirituality in his hand dissolved in mist.

Quickly using the gun, he was able to kill the fish.

Again trying the technique, he enveloped his hands, already aware more fish would be ready to attack him, as the spirituality he was using was like a magnet that attracts them.

—Thud!

Another fish was also taken care of by the guns.

"You moron! Stop attracting the fish."

Rin was beside him and yelled at him, but when her attention went to his hand she immediately understood what it signified of course she was shocked but not for too much time quickly regaining her composure She said, "Come here, manage the close combat beside me."

Alex didn't rush to her side; instead, he took a detour, running away, taking the other side of the injured member.

"What! No way, I don't have the capability to deal with danger like that."

"I'll do that." Steve, who was beside Alex, said and ran toward Rin.

"You annoying piece of shit, come here right now, or your day on campus will be ruined." Rin yelled at him with such an impulse, like her head would burst apart with sheer anger. But then she calmed down and said, "If you continue to use your technique like that, it'll attract more creatures. So instead of standing beside injured and attracting danger, why don't you be a man and fight in the field? Keep an eye on my bullets, see and observe."

—Bang!

That was the moment Alex decided to follow her instructions, while he did know that the most safe place is with the injured, that was the reason he was with them in the first place he didn't care about them his only goal was to secure his Survival.

Thud...

Suddenly, the tension in the atmosphere thickens, almost transforming into suffocating pressure.

—Boom!

A sound of explosions echoed, but not because of the firearm; it was a genuine collision of fist and body, a body flying past them covered in injuries, crossing the path between Alex and Rin.

Thud, colliding with a pillar in path, it landed on the ground.

Everything seemed to flow in hush, allowing details to be more perceiving.

It's often associated that when survival is on the line, a human body is pushed to the limit, doing unthinkable deeds, and the current situation is one of them.

But the instinct Alex had awakened quickly dies down as pressure around too disappeared.

-Uff, uff, uff.

Alex forgot what he was doing; instead, he directly took a corner, holding a gun aiming at the front where the legion of sharks originated and fired at it no bullet come out

His hand was enveloped with spirituality. This time, instead of firing, he threw the gun toward the adversary, rotating in the air. The handgun pierced the fog, avoiding the individual fish, shark, and even Alex's own party member, a shred of spiritual still attached to it. Then it collided with something in the mist.

When everyone focused on that, a terror-inducing surge originated from within.

A humanoid creature, the owner of a head that of an octopus with injured arms bleeding blue fluid through, a see-through hole in the chest,

the creature ran, no, that can't be called running; instead, it was crawling with two legs, four injured arms supporting its weight.

Lub-dub...

The glow in the mist disappeared. A calming wave spread around, as the attack of the shark reduced almost like that creature had retreated with it.

Finally, Alex took a step back and turned around, seeing the incoming body; it was none other than the strongest person in their party Seth, barely holding with thread eyes bleeding, one of his arms severely injured, almost barely hanging with the shoulder, bitten marks on the waist and abdomen.

"Healer."

Rin's voice brings Alex out from the stupor.

He finally breathes in, struggling to say any words. Nevertheless, he said with a deep hiccuping voice,

"I wanna go home."