Sea Legs (II): Shark Bait, Broken Wings

That stupid shark was persistent, it has been following us for the past thirty minutes, looking for an opportunity to chew us to pieces. I've spent the better part of that thirty minutes chucking the Convolurian fire rubies at it, almost to the point of emptying one of the bags. Many of them missed the shark, and the others that did hit the monster couldn't cause much of a damage.

Because the damn thing was level 150,a full 140 levels above me. I felt the elephant touch me, and I turned to see it pointing at a spot in the distance. It was land! Or to be more precise an island. It would take us another forty or so minutes to get there, which means we just had to endure the onslaught of this shark until then.

Unfortunately our assailant had no plans of letting us go. I'm sure the shark had also seen the island in the distance, and knowing that getting on that island meant an escape, he became frantic with his attacks. He rammed the raft, making sure it was his silver crystal like horn that met the raft at the point of impact.

A sizable chunk of the wood came off, and little cracks spread across that area. I panicked, my shoot skill, needed a 25 second cool down, so I couldn't use it as much as possible. And as if that wasn't enough, I was also running out of MP to power the skill, and it took five minutes for 1 MP to regenerate.

I was running out of time, and he only thing I could rely on was my precise aim passive skill. It helped me keep up with the crazy speed of the shark. I needed to do something drastic, if not both the elephant and me will both be thrown overboard and become shark food before we get anywhere close to the island.

I picked up a handful of the fire rubies, and moved to the edge of the raft, making sure my toes were in the water. Then I squeezed the rubies tighter, keeping them enclosed in my fist as the shark drew closer. This was a little trick I had learnt when I was hunting fishes; apparently this rubies are fragile, volatile and incredible reactive to a lot of things, including friction.

I was afraid about taking my next action because I could get my hand if not my entire body blown up. But I don't really have any choice now, I had to take the risk. I first saw it's dorsal fin, and then it's silver horn poke out of the water, coming closer as my heart beat strongly in anticipation. I started turning my arm, making it go round and round like a Ferris wheel. The rubies in my fist caught on fire, the flames were so intense that I almost dropped it.

[Your Dragon heritage has helped you resists 40% of the flame damage and pain]

It was still painful, but not so much. And that when he poked his head out of the water, jaws open wide as multiple rows of sharp teeth poised for an attack. The idiot took the bait, by now my shoot skill was already off it's cool down, and I had just enough MP for one final use of the skill. So no matter what I had to make it count, this shark had already proven it was fast enough to evade my shooting skill, so I had to play it safe and make sure that no matter what, I. Didn't. Miss.

It was 10 meters away now....9 meters.....8meters.....7. By now my hand had already burnt to the point that my flesh was turning black and the crisp aroma of barbequed flesh, intermingled with the smooth ocean air. I have to admit, I really smelt nice and very tasty...….2 meters! Now!

"Shoot!"

I threw the fistful of flaming rubies into the Shark's mouth, and then turned. I flapped my wings, propelling myself forwards and over the raft, I grabbed the elephant and the remaining two bags of Convolurian fire rubies, and shot forwards, spreading my wings as we glided over the surface of the water. There was a loud crash as the shark smashed through our raft, but barely five seconds later, there was a huge sound.

BOOOOOM!

The shark exploded in a shower of guts, blood, and blackened skin. A shockwave was released after the crystals exploded in it's stomach, creating a might draft of wind that caught on my wings and pushed me forwards at an incline, closer to the island. I flapped my wings to get more speed, shortening the distance.

Since we flew up at an incline, relying on the power of the shockwave, there was no reason to actively use the glide skill. It wasn't until ten seconds later, when we stopped our ascent, and were quite a ways up in the air that I activated the skill.

I felt the wind catch my wings, in the same way it would catch on to the sails of a ship. I flapped it twice, and then tucked my wings around my body, covering the elephant as we fell from the sky like a missile. Our descent was also at an decline, covering more distance and bringing us closer to the island.

When we got close to the surface of the ocean, I spread my wings again, and let the wind carry us forward. The speed with which we moved, and because of how close we were to the island, made us raise a stream of water behind us, in much the same manner a speed boat would.

The island ahead of us had jagged rocks stretching out from the sea, serving as a natural barrier for it. I could see the reef beneath the water, and due to how close it was to the surface I concluded this was currently the low tide season. However because of that, I doubted any ship could dock or navigate around the island.

But I had another problem; I have spent hours under the sea, learning to swim like no other, but maneuvering myself outside of the water, in the air, with just my wings was something I was completely unfamiliar with. And not to mention, the rocks were too clustered for me to navigate around properly with my amateur flying skills.

CLIIIP "ARGGHHHH" BAAANG! CRASHHH! "FUUCK!" SPLASH!

[Your wings have been damaged terribly, you have incurred the pain debuff, speed and directional orientation -80% until wings are fixed.]

Only God knows how I dragged myself to the island, my body ached so much and I could almost feel myself blacking out. But I didn't, instead I felt every bone in my wings twitch and creak in pain, as they lay behind me, badly twisted and broken. It would take a champion flyer to go around those rocks, of course the flyer could go over them, but I don't think that would work.

From what I could see, the smallest of those jagged rocks was about fifteen meters above the sea level and about ten meters in diameter. The biggest was about a hundred meters tall and fifty in diameter, but immediately after that, a thick cloud surrounded and covered the top of the island. The occasional crackle of lightening and the booms of thunder I heard from it, let me know that those were storm clouds, really thick and dangerous storm clouds.

This island was protected by a slew of natural defenses. There was absolutely no way for anyone to approach the island, not by the sea or under it due to the coral reefs and rocks, and not by air due to storm clouds. And since it was hard to come in, it was just as hard for anyone to leave. We were stuck here, but it's too early to jump to conclusions, this was just one part of the island anyway.

[You have slain Jitusat Silver Horned Tiger Shark. You have been given 140 million XP, for killing a monster 140 level above you.]

[For reaching level 20 without allocating any stat point or skill point you have been given the title: Thrill Seeker. +3 extra skill point every level, +5 extra stat point every level. The Compass of captain Jack Sparrow( the title Hoarder has been removed)]

[You have killed over 200 aquatic monsters in a row. And over a hundred at the same time. You have been given Augmented Racial trait: Gills (III): can breath underwater for eight hours/You have been given the Augmented Racial Trait: Swim Bladder: +70% to speed underwater, can talk to fish]

[For being the first to get to level 20 you have been given the Registered Encyclopedia Of Beast Knowledge And Monster Physiology. R.E.B.K.M.P]

There were no inventories in Lost Descendants, there were equipment that functioned as inventories, and they were called spatial treasures. But it was still a little surprising, for a compass to appear hanging from a string around my neck, and for giant book a meter long and wide, and made of energy to appear and shoot into my chest.

Ten seconds later, I was wracked with pain, as I felt something growing in me. The pain was so much it almost drove me crazy, however I was able to grit my teeth and bear it, until it was done.

After the pain ended, I felt free, so incredibly light, like I had a pocket of air inside of me or something. It didn't make me feel weird or uncomfortable, it just gave me an awareness that there was something extra inside of me.

I was turned over with my face to the ground, thankfully I was not on my back, if not I could not begin to imagine the amount of pain I would be feeling now, with my broken wings. I got on my hands and knees, and took a look at the Compass hanging around my neck.

[The Compass Of Captain Jack Sparrow./Grade: Mystic/ a magical compass that once belonged to the greatest pirate to roam the seven seas, captain Jack Sparrow. It was lost after his death, hidden In the streams of time for many years until now. +50% chance to find Mortal treasure, +40 chance to find earth treasure, +30% chance to find heaven treasure, +20% chance to find legendary treasure, +10 chance to find mystic treasure, +5% chance to find divine treasures. It can help you find anyone, anything, and lead you where your heart desires to be the most. All you have to do is ask. Bound to Player Aaren]

Okay this was insane, it's the first piece of equipment I've gotten in the game, and it was at the mystic grade. But I knew about the legend of this compass, granted I learnt it from a movie that's almost a 160 years or so old. And it did it's original justice in it's capabilities.

This really was a cheat item, and it was gotten out of sheer luck. I felt my wings twitch and my vision went dark with pain for a moment. This game was so damn realistic, and I won't be able to focus on anything with this kind of pain in play. So it's better to check my stats and then log out, whatever adventure happens next, that's for another day.

Name: Aaren/ Level: 20(35.472.480/104.857.600)/ Class: N/A

Race: Dragon Kin Tribrid(Dragon/High Elf/Human)

Title: Thrill Seeker

Attack: 10/ Defense: 5/ Speed: 10/ Magic: 15

Hp 10/10 MP 2/30

Stat points:57 Skill points:26

Passive skills:

• Nature buff (level 1) basic + 2% to all nature oriented skills, spells, or tasks.

• Wind child(level 2) basic. +5% to all wind oriented skills and spells.

• Adaptive(level 3) basic. +2% speed to learning skills and leveling up.

• Precise Aim(level 2) basic. +5% to aim when in motion, +10% to aim when stationary.

Active skills:

• Shoot(level 6) basic. +10% damage and speed for projectile weapons. (Cost 5 MP) (cool down 20 seconds)

• Glide(level 1) basic. Glide in the air for 15 seconds. + 5% to speed during flight. (Cost 20 MP) (cool down 40 seconds)

• Hard punch(level 1) basic. Hit your opponent for 40% extra of your total attack. Speed +5% during skill.(cost 10 MP) (cool down 20 seconds)

Augmented racial trait:

• Gills (III): Breathe underwater for eight hours

• Swim Bladder: +60% to speed underwater, converse with aquatic creatures