Tasty

He was alive, albeit in a sorry state, the main takeaway was that he was alive. A brief glance at the lower half of his body revealed nothing about his injuries. His armour covered up the majority of his body, so he could only assume the severity of his injuries by the amount of pain he felt in certain regions.

Now that he had complete control of the sensory side of his body, he found that the pain was not scarce. His thigh, which had been an appetizer not too long ago, was the loudest followed by a close second that was in his left upper arm region, where the Umbra trawl had assailed during their underwater spat.

His armour seemed to be in great condition even after the several devastating hits it had been taking. It probably repaired itself while he was unconscious and only in his military bodysuit. His gaze returned to the three monsters ahead of him, the creatures were perverse versions of wolves. Their rabid expressions gave away their crazed nature. A set of daggers lined both their upper and lower jaws and their black furry coats seemed to absorb the light around them. Their thin and malnourished frames suggested that perhaps they were, scavengers.

'Great more shadow-esque powers...'

The still mind enchantment helped Casimir battle any intimidation these creatures' appearances would normally provide. Two of the beast began flanking him and the third remained stationary. Casimir understood what was going on and he needed to disrupt their plan before it was set into motion. His stance changed and his blade came down quickly on the first of the abyssal creatures. He had begun the Dance of Deidemia.

His movements were sharp and lacking at the same time. He had full knowledge on how to perform the dance but he still lacked the fundamental understanding required to perform the dance successfully beyond just dancing. His swing downwards was followed by a horizontal swing to his left and a stab to his right, all the while his steps were erratic and haphazard. The abyssal creatures all managed to dodge successfully, except for the last one. Perhaps it hadn't expected him to attack all three of them in quick succession and because of that, it had obtained a fresh scar right above its eye and close to where its ear begun.

The use of his Origin ability would not be efficient given its ether consumption, so he would rely on the tier three blade's ability to cut anything inferior to it, like a hot knife through butter. He would only use the flames as a trump card or when the situation became dire. This time the creatures dove in first.

The first monster lunged at him, but Casimir was quick to react. He dodged to the side and swung his blade, slicing a deep gash into the creature's side. It howled in pain and retreated, but the other two monsters were quick to take its place.

Casimir spun around, his blade whistling through the air as he fought off the two monsters. Their claws lashed out at him from every direction. But he was fast too, darting between them and knocking their attacks aside. He couldn't let up. If he did, they would be on top of him again before he could blink. Soon blood dripped from his blade as he fought, and he felt his heart racing with adrenaline. He knew that he couldn't let up for even a moment

The were savage, they were desperate, they were most probably hungry and now he had spoiled their day by fighting back. With each step, his movements became much faster, his blade much deadlier and his senses much sharper. The familiar sensation of the Dance's finale being upon him urged him on.

The abyssal creatures were at a disadvantage, they could sense it. Their prey was evolving before their eyes. Unfortunately, it was too late to even try to run away. Two of the monsters realized this when the head of the third one hits the floor with a small thud. His blade was after them, and the best chance of survival they had would be to kill.

Kill or be killed, Casimir knew what was happening now however, the monsters were too late. In an attempt to grab a hold of his achilles with its jaws, Casimir's leg went up in the most unnatural manner possible, as if he had discarded his centre of Gravity altogether and his blade came down on its throat at its breakneck speed. Another head rolled on the floor and his blade was already upon the third creature. It dodged his vertical slash and went straight or his jugular, however, Casimir's feet propelled him backwards and on came a horizontal slash that severed head from body.

Blood poured out from the crumbling form of the abyssal creature he had just beheaded, its body spasming away. He had done the dance perfectly, but he had only received a half epiphany if he could even call it that. He was close to realizing the use of the first form of the dance. His glabella was warm, his glyph calling out to him and he obliged.

[You have defeated superior beast Rabid Canis]

[You have defeated superior beast Rabid Canis]

[You have defeated superior beast Rabid Canis]

He looked toward the bloody battlefield. He was in some sort of hallway or underground cave system. His muscles were aching even after being out cold for that long. He didn't even know where he was or how he got here in the first place and neither did he know where to go next. He was tired, and he wanted to rest. His thigh was still in pain and he didn't know how much of it was missing.

He looked at his wrist and to his surprise his communication device was still there. It didn't switch on though when he tried to operate it. Perhaps the water had messed with it, he didn't know much about how the devices worked so he couldn't be too sure, and neither could he fix it.

He got up from where he lay. He needed to keep moving and he had to leave this place considering all the blood within the vicinity had the potential to attract predators and scavengers at any moment. His blade cut through the leg of one of the creatures and he picked up the hind limb he had cut off.

There were three exits... or entrances depending on how you looked at it and with the still mind enchantment still active he went through the one on his far left.