Hunting a Shark

Before Prince went after the second boss, however, he took some time for recovery.

He killed three fish, netting him two levels, and took a nap inside an abandoned building for a few hours.

Once he was done resting, he finally stood. Before anything, though, he wanted to make sure his shorts had regened. No rush, after all. He had just got here, there was no way he could clear the dungeon in one day.

Prince hung around, killing more fish and getting him two more levels. He found that as he progressed, he needed sleep and food less and less. He also found that he didn't need to use the bathroom much either and his hair strangely grew slower.

Prince yawned, blinking his eyes open.

It was time.

A puffer fish was nuzzling his body, which had been laid against a wall. 

Prince's fist shot out, completely obliterating the thing.

Going shark hunting with my bare hands... Prince flexed his wrist. Oh, this is gonna be fun.

He casually walked out of the building, kicking his feet so as to swim away.

Prince paused, spreading his... He didn't know what to call it- Perception? To find the Great White Shark.

He found it where he assumed as its hunting grounds, as its aura kept roaming about, bloodthirsty.

He swam toward there without hesitation.

Prince reached the area. Ironically, a sunken ship (Prince just assumed that it was spawned there like the goblin village) was its lair.

Prince paused right outside the wreckage that looked like it came straight out of a movie. He crossed his arms, floating downward slowly, yet warily, his body tense.

The Great White had noticed him. Definitely. It had sensed his aura, and it had smelled blood.

All was quiet. 

Prince didn't want to fight a shark in a ship. He wanted it out in the open. Plus, he reassured himself that a shark's only power was its bite.

Prince caught a flash of something escaping the ship, a blur. The System caught onto it for a little bit-

Great White Shark (Dungeon Boss) - Level 49

Great White Sharks are the apex predators of the sea. These things possess-

Prince spun downward, tucking into himself. 

A jaw snapped where his body had just been. Clamped shut with a resounding sound that traveled through the water, a shockwave that alarmed every competing predator and terrified prey.

Beady eyes slowly turned to look at him.

Had Prince been caught in that deadly mouth of glinting teeth, he would've died. 

Prince wasted no time retaliating with a Thunderous Palm. It collided with the shark's chin, sending it about a feet above, and dealing no visible damage to the shark.

Prince had only enraged it.

Here's the thing about the sharks: as a general rule, they don't make sounds. Across sharks' 400-500 species, no one has ever found an organ even capable of making sound.

This shark abided by that rule.

It opened its mouth, showcasing pristine, sharp rows of teeth. A silent, deadly roar.

Its aura buffeted Prince. It wasn't like it was overwhelmingly stronger than him, it was just at a point where Prince couldn't reach it. 

He extended his own aura to match its. His, however, was not as large.

"[The Odds Are Against Me]," Prince whispered.

The shark's eyes gleamed. Then they blurred.

Prince activated Warrior's Will. His body doubled in strength.

But in the time it took him to do that, the mouth was already approaching.

Prince already knew his strength would be no match for the shark's biting power- that thing could probably snap him like a cookie.

Thankfully, Prince knew the weaknesses of a Great White. He only hoped they were universal and worked on this big guy too. If they did, it would be a short fight.

Prince dashed diagonally, twisting so he was above the shark.

Immediately, he stabbed at the gills with his hand, willing that with the Dao of Martial Arts, his hand would obtain sword-like properties.

He cut deep, simultaneously jabbing its eyes with his other hand. He wouldn't be wasting any energy. Quick, efficient, tidy.

However, the shark was not dumb. As a precaution it rolled its eyes back into its sockets right before it had lunged, rendering it safe.

However, its gills were a different matter. Blood spurted into the water while the shark froze, stunned.

Prince withdrew his hand and swam backward, making so distance away from the shark's mouth. 

The shark began to thrash, spinning into a tail attack. Prince was sent flying into the ship, breaking through the wood and crashing into the floor. He blinked, feeling something hard beneath him.

Prince lifted something up, holding it before his eyes. It was a small, golden coin that glinted in the light. 

Convert to credit?

Prince stared at the screen. "Well, that's conviene-"

A giant maw snapped shut. Prince pushed the underside of the shark's chin with his legs, preventing its mouth from making contact.

"Die already!" Prince slipped away, swimming back around to shoot a Titan Fist.

The shark's head snapped away, drops of blood leaking from its snout. Its nose was slightly deformed, but other than that, his fist didn't do much.

"Shit." Prince delivered a kick to the shark's damaged gill, bloodying it even more. 

Prince spun in place from the momentum of his own attack. Fighting underwater was much different than on the ground. 

The shark backed away, disappearing further into the ship.

"Come back here." Prince swam after it.

Wait... Don't sharks see better in dark and murky waters than humans?

A flash of white.

Prince spun away, hoping that he dodged the teeth. He felt something cut his abdomen, drawing blood as easy as a knife through butter.

Another flash. More unsettling, it didn't make a single sound.

Damn it, I hate fighting down here, Prince narrowed his eyes.

He couldn't here a thing. The shark made no sound, except for the bubbling of water. 

Water was all around him.

Prince drew all the Water Essence into a barrier an inch from his skin. 

Not just any barrier- he kept it constantly rotating, until it could cut through stone. He suddenly had claws.

Prince's hand shot up in some sort of upper. Instead of forming his hand into a fist, his fingers carved the air like the Infernal Ape.

The shark, which had lunged at the exact moment, was thrown upward, three bloody lines left on its underside.

Prince manifested the Dao of Martial Arts. He imagined himself as a sword, cutting through any and everything.

His middle finger shot forward, piercing the shark's center while it was still standing up.

At that very moment, Prince had also activated Titan's Fist without forming his hand into a fist, concentrating all his power into a fine point.

The hole he made was much bigger than his hand, nearly splitting the shark in half. It was clean as if the shark always had a hole like that. The attack also impacted the shark's heart, cutting off a part of it.

The shark floated through the water, completely frozen. Blood clouded the dark water, and Prince swam away to where he had found the coins.

There were probably a few hundred. He began converting them to his credit card as he waited for the shark to die.

A few seconds later, he received the notification.

Level-up! You are now level 36.

Level-up! You are now level 37.

Level-up! You are now level 38.

Level-up! You are now level 39.

Prince released a sigh. He collected all the coins.

His whole body was sore, but this fight was surprisingly easier than the one with the Fish King. 

Prince swam out of the sunken ship, stopping to orient himself. 

Suddenly, a tentacle wrapped around him.