Swim

Star struggled in the pool of blood and Larian could see him sink. 

The arena which never stopped had been collecting blood at every waking moment. How deep would this pool go?

Larian was conflicted. On one hand he didn't where the tunnel led, on the other hand, he Star was the main reason he achieved so much in his blade.

He could confidently say Star helped him master the entire Shinki Style.

'Fuck this is a bad idea. But I have to do it.'

Watching the kid's face slowly drown into the blood pool, Larin jumped down the hole.

Chapter end.

Diving down into the red pool, a thick smell of disgusting metal assaulted his nose. Larian submerged himself into the slimy liquid. Catching a breath he strained his exhausted body to grasp about for Star, but no matter how hard he searched he couldn't find him.

'Fuck! Where is Star! He can't die here, not because of me!'

The constant splashing of blood that flowed from above was  masking all noise and Larian lost Star.

Unable to accept the situation, Larian gasped for a mouthful of air and dived down the blood pool.

Head deep into the blood pool Larian could taste and smell the blood with every fibre of his body. 

Enduring the disgusting feeling Larian swam down, he wasn't sure which direction was correct but he kept swimming down.

Larian still couldn't find Star.

Was this risk worth it? Who knows how deep Star had already sank, what if this was a useless gesture and he was already doomed?

In Larian's heart, he was reminded of Shiro. The sword art was the most important lesson she had imparted to Larian and because of Star he made progress in it's mastery.

Larian chose to persist.

Swimming deeper into the blood pool Larian didn't have the time to be surprised at how deep the pool went.

He was sure he had sunk tens of meters deep.

Still no signs. 

15 meters, 20 meters.

'This is insane! How much blood is collected here?!'

One second passed, but it felt like minutes had gone by.

'I can't… It's lost, if Star sank this deep… I'm sorry.'

Larian finally hesitated. Where was Star? Was he above him? Or much deeper into the blood pool? There was no way he was finding Star.

It was  impossible…

Unless…

From beneath a bright light shone, it was dark red because of the blood but in the opaque blood the radiance felt dim. Fake even.

But Larian held onto hope, he dived deeper towards the light.

As Larian's arms spun and his legs kicked the thick blood, the dim light became brighter and brighter.

Finally Larian came close to the light, it was a sword. Reaching his hand out, Larian grabbed the blade. He gripped it tightly and felt his fingers burn, but the pain that was welling up from his lungs drowned the pain out.

Larian pulled with his sore muscles and kicked upwards. He had to return to the surface immediately.

Tugging the blade the weight on the other hand of the metal sick was causing the cut on Larian's hand to deepen. 

But how could he care about his fingers getting sliced when he was going to die soon.

It may be because of the the exhausting fight earlier but every fiber of Larian's body was screaming in pain. His nose was begging to open up for any breath of air and his lungs screamed for him to escape.

The lack of air made Larian's body burn. It felt like the life was draining out from him and Larian thought he was about to lose everything. But the pain of his burning lungs did not compare to the scorching pain from being bathed in fire.

So Larian endured and controlled his chains to push himself harder when his body felt like they slowed. There was no fun here, this moment decided his life or death.

'Kick with everything! Cup the slimy blood and push yourself up!'

From the blood all around Larian saw things. Was it due to the exhaustion or the lack of oxygen flowing to his head. He didn't know, but he saw people. The beings that this blood flowed from, he saw humans, he saw beast, monsters and creatures he didn't understand. 

They were all around him, dragging him down. There was not fight here, only the silence of drowning and the hope for air.

Larian crawled through the liquid. 

Larian's muscles had shut down, he couldn't feel his entire body anymore. But the chains in his mind forced him in the repeated loop of swimming up. He repeated the same stroke the same kicks. 

Every millisecond felt like hours, but he maintained his lucidity. 

'Stay… awake…! Must… not… STOP!'

Larian roared. From above he saw the dimly lit arena. Just… one… more!

Bursting out from the liquid Larian vacuumed the deep…sweet…nectar of oxygen with every available orifices he could control.

The screams and scorch of his lungs now yelled in relief. Finally… fresh air.

Gasping for another breath Larian's mind cleared. 

The reason he dived down, Star.

'Star!'

He pulled with his arm and from the other end of the blade, he saw the figure of Star.

His entirely blood drenched body had his eyes closed. Larian brought him out of the blood pool, but he wasn't breathing.

'It's not the end yet!'

Larian didn't spare any thought thinking about why he didn't use his prosthetic arm to grab the blade or whether Star was still alive.

He wrapped Star with one arm and pointed his prosthetic arm upwards. A rope shot out and stabbed into the bloody walls.

He activated the contraption and it reeled in. Pulling with his numb body, Larian grasped the thin blade of that was holding the entire weight of Larian and Star.

Grasping the dagger, Larian pulled it out and shot it out again. As he fell he shot it out before he fell into the pool of blood again. It stabbed into the wall and he was reeled upwards.

Larian scaled the wall as best he could.

A whip and a twirl, he slowly reached the grilled ceiling.

Finally Larian kicked off the wall and shot towards the opening he created. 

As it reeled in Larian pushed the dripping Star up.

Pulling himself out Larian ignored the gasp of the crowd.

This was no time to hide his prosthetic arm.

Laying Star evenly on the grilled floor, Larian felt his pulse.

It was still.

'No time. I have to do it now.'

Larian immediately gasped a mouthful of air and breathed them down Star's throat.

He kept giving him a mouthful of air until he felt his lungs puff up.

Pressing both hands on Star's chest, he pressed down and gave him chest compressions to pump his heart.

Larian was in no condition to give Star the proper treatment he needed. He was never trained in first aid in his previous life, he was exhausted from the fight and nearly drowned himself in a blood pool hundred meters deep.

Pulling himself out he was still entirely bruised and cut under his armour.

But he remain clear headed and suppressed the panic in his heart. It may be the multiple near death experiences Larian had experienced, but his hands remained steady and firm as he did CPR to the the best of his knowledge.

Larian repeated the cycle of breathing fresh air in through Star's mouth and and completing the chest compressions.

The situation was bleak. Star remained unresponsive despite all Larian's effort.

…

…

'...'

Minutes gone by. Star remained motionless. It's the end, he was dead.

Larian sat motionlessly staring into Star's hollow eyes.

The red liquid that dripped from his body flowed down silently.

"CPR? They teach you that in Selarian Academy? Schools these days are getting more advanced huh?"

From within Adam spoke out.

'There's still this miracle worker.'

Larian's eyes lit up.

He spoke in hurried breathes.

"Adam! Save Star, he's dying right now! You have to help him!"

Adam took some control from Larian, with his eyes he looked down on Star's lifeless body.

"A talent that compares to Heroes of the past… I don't have any life saving miracles if not I would have directly preserved my previous host. But I have a way to wake you up temporarily."

Holding out one finger, Adam used Larian's finger and pressed down on Star's chest. When they came into contact, tiny red tentacles spread out and latched onto Star's chest.

"The rest is up to you."

Larian felt the contact and a sensation linked into his brain. It allowed him to sense every nerve in Star.

'Is this the parasitism skill?'

Larian could feel Adam wringing essence out from his already depleted reserve of magic essence. It surprised Larian that there was still any left, but his attention was on something more important.

The energy invaded Star's tiny body and wrapped around Star's heart. But it didn't move, instead it spread upwards directly into his brain. Once it completely controlled both organs, the energy sunk and assimilated into both of them.

Star's eyes burst open, but his heart was still not pumping.

His eyes reflected intense pain and his body convulsed, but he immediately understood his situation. Magic welled up from within him, and it rattled with electrifying energy.

The energy delivered an electrical shock to his heart and restored it to a normal rhythm.

*Gasp

Star sucked in a big gulp of air and coughed violently. Blood splattered out of Star's mouth as his fit of coughing stabalized. He was alive.

Larian gave out a sigh of relief. Star was shaking all over and he couldn't speak from the nearly drowning experience, his eyes showed great fear at the loss of sight from the blood which had soaked his eyes. 

He was forced to keep them shut for the time being, and from his paralysed body from the lack of blood flow within him, he was stuck like this. 

This was the first time Larian had seen the little monster soo fragile. Despite the leaps of talent this little monster had displayed, Larian forgot that Star was just a kid.

The gates rattled as it opened a way forward, this was the first time Larian could advance beyond the fifth arena in his numerous attempts. Who'd known he would advance against Star.

Larian tried to wipe the bloody liquid off of Star's face but he was also entirely drenched, so he decided to carry Star with him. Larian couldn't leave him blind and paralysed in this hell hole that nearly killed him.