The megalodon was closing in fast. On land, Priam would have attempted a preemptive strike by launching Promesse. Underwater, he doubted he could seriously injure the monster before him.
The creature was now just a few meters away, its jaws wide open. In a defensive stance, Priam waited for the last moment. A massive tooth penetrated his Domain. Now!
Priam activated [Kinetic Control]. Caught between two formidable forces, the tooth snapped, barely slowing down the monster. Priam's Domain then covered its mouth, absorbing as much kinetic energy as possible. The megalodon's momentum diminished, but it didn't stop entirely. With his left hand, Priam grabbed the creature's snout and let himself be pulled backward.
The human was out of reach of its teeth, but the megalodon wasn't stupid. With its mouth still open, the predator began to suck in water. Priam felt a powerful current guiding him towards the gaping maw.
Flexing his muscles, he resisted the pull by holding onto the snout. Summoning a second instance of [Kinetic Control], Priam froze the water before him. A moment later, a massive block of ice appeared in the monster's mouth.
Instantly, the current ceased, and the Viscount thrashed about. Like a stopper, the ice block was lodged in the shark's trachea. A land mammal would have choked, but the megalodon breathed through gills. The ice wouldn't be enough to suffocate it. With this in mind, Priam had an idea.
As the shark struggled, momentarily forgetting about the human, Priam moved towards its right gills. Brandishing Promesse, he waited for the right moment to strike it forcefully on the respiratory organ. Despite his considerable strength, the spear only penetrated about ten centimeters.
That'll do. Without wasting a moment, Priam channeled his kinetic energy to agitate the molecules on the surface of his spear’s blade. Superheated, the tip instantly cauterized the wound in a cloud of steam and blood. This gill would never breathe again. Nine more to go.
Lvl Up: [Kinetic Control] lvl 41
VIVA +2
DEXT +3
META (FOCUS) +4
The megalodon let out a terrifying sound, wracked with pain, before turning to retaliate. With surprising agility for its size, it attempted to bite Priam. He struck the foe with his spear to push it back. The shark's teeth measured over twenty centimeters each, and Priam had no desire to test his constitution against the force of its jaws. His policy was to only take winning bets.
The Viscount retreated slightly, a mere nick on its snout. Its cruel little eyes assessed Priam. The light emitted by Promesse allowed Priam to see these details. A light that would undoubtedly attract all predators in the vicinity...
Grimacing, Priam stopped channeling his thermal energy. Promesse's steel cooled, and darkness once again swallowed the two adversaries.
The megalodon was at a standstill, and Priam understood it was hesitating. On his part, Priam was pleased that his skill could finally manipulate thermal energy. His level allowed him to easily create attacks at high or low temperatures.
Priam refocused on his opponent. He should have killed the Viscount much sooner, but the aquatic environment was problematic. The viscosity of water created enormous friction. Priam's last attack had barely scratched his opponent, even though he had used all his muscle power.
Suddenly, the megalodon turned and fled. Caught off guard, Priam took a second before leaping forward. No way he was letting it get away. He could win this fight.
Activating [Kinetic Control] and [Swimming], Priam set off in pursuit of the Viscount.
Lvl Up: [Friction Resistance] Lvl 11
AGI +1
Lvl Up: [Echolocation] Lvl 3
PERC +2
DEXT +1
The aquatic monster was fast. Very fast. Despite his skills, Priam was losing ground. After about twenty seconds, his opponent was more than fifty meters ahead. The Viscount had to possess a movement skill. Friction resistance? Enhanced swimming? Damn, it's going to escape at this rate.
Lvl Up: [Swimming] Lvl 11
STR +1
Closing his eyes, Priam connected to the mist concept. His aether reserves began to plummet as the ocean turned a milky white. An ethereal mist overlayed reality. The next second, Priam rode it.
A moment later, a steam explosion erupted on the megalodon's right side. Priam appeared, his left hand gripping the gills. In his other hand, he held his overheated spear and struck. The megalodon screamed as it performed a barrel roll. Without hesitation, Priam continued to attack, ruining the right gills of the animal and cauterizing the wounds.
For an immortal like Priam, preventing an enemy's regeneration was one of his priorities. The megalodon was massive and likely possessed an enhanced regeneration skill. Cauterization would prevent it from using it.
Priam ran his hand over the mutilated gills to check his work. Satisfied, he began to move towards the left side of the monster. Suddenly, his Domain recorded a fluctuation. A high-pressure water blade was about to decapitate him.
Using [Kinetic Control], Priam absorbed the kinetic energy of the attack.
Lvl Up: [Asphyxia Resistance] lvl 10
VIT +2
META (END) +1
The level-up reminded Priam that his time underwater was limited. He put that thought aside as a dozen blades attacked simultaneously. Absorbing the kinetic energy provided by his opponent, Priam continued to advance on the back of the monster. As long as the attacks were below a certain intensity, his skill made him immune to purely mechanical attacks.
Priam eventually reached the left gills. Promesse lit up once again, turning the nearby water into steam. [Unrelenting Thrust] x8.
Level Up: [Unrelenting Thrust] Lvl 4
STR +3
All the gills were now ruined. Priam clung to the monster's back and absorbed its attacks. Now, every movement the animal made consumed its oxygen and brought it closer to death.
It took about ten minutes for the megalodon to lose its vigor. During that time, Priam had used [Frozen Meditation] to conserve his oxygen. Using Micro, he had slowed down the pace of his body to preserve this precious resource. Without it, he would have had to surface to breathe, losing his prey in the process. Unthinkable.
Lvl Up: [Frozen Meditation] lvl 10
PERC +2
WILL +1
Lvl Up: [Asphyxia Resistance] lvl 11
VIT +2
META (END) +1
The attacks gradually ceased, allowing Priam to focus on the ambient pressure. If the animal had tried to dive deep, he wouldn't have been able to follow. Fortunately, the megalodon must not have liked great depths and stayed above five hundred meters.
Eleven minutes and thirty-two seconds after the start of the battle, the creature passed away. Priam ensured it with [Aether Perception] as the corpse started its descent. When an animal died, its spirit vanished, and its body lost its defenses. The skill could then locate the monster's core. It was found in the brain, and Priam set about dissecting the corpse.
He remarked that the core's position seemed to vary from monster to monster, even when they belonged to the same species. I wonder if it has to do with the meridians...
Priam noted his reflection while continuing his bloody work. It took him almost a minute to reach the crystal. The corpse was so massive that Priam had to dislodge the core with Promesse's help, then manipulate it with his Domain. When he pulled it out of the body, Priam grabbed it and let his add-on examine it.
[Detection of an inferior-quality trophy. Creating a gate using this trophy is not recommended.]
Oh? Same sentence as for the juvenile.
Heavenly Dragon considered a Viscount's core as inferior. Priam graciously accepted this result. Building a house with straw or earth was possible, but even if the second material was better than the first, it didn't match reinforced concrete. Priam smiled as he reread the notification. The more picky his method was, the more impressive the result would be.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
But I'll need to kill at least some Earls for the gates... And a Marquess for the fulcrum? Or perhaps a Duke?
His instinct told him he wouldn't like the answer to his question, and Priam preferred to refocus. The megalodon's corpse continued to slowly sink into the abyss, and he had no idea of his position anymore. After all, the Viscount had swum very quickly for over ten minutes. His add-on informed him.
[Distance traveled: 23,056 meters. Current depth: 488 meters.]
Damn.
He was very far from his starting position. Without his system, he would have certainly struggled to find Mirscella. Despite his burning lungs, Priam decided to stay on the corpse to reach the five hundred meters depth and thus improve his Title.
The seconds ticked by until he surpassed an invisible threshold.
Title upgraded! [Ocean Diver - Bronze] becomes [Atlantis Citizen - Silver]. Congratulations!
[Atlantis Citizen - Silver] - You continue to delve into the seas, seeking adventure. Capable of enduring great depths, your bravery draws the Ocean’s favor. With one hand they reward you, with the other, they challenge you. Will you continue to descend?
Increases the learning speed of underwater skills.
AGI +20%
Valaryth's Ocean’s reward: Level up [Friction Resistance] x5.
Lvl Up: [Friction Resistance] Lvl 12,...,16
AGI +5
Instantly, Priam pushed with his legs, using the corpse as a springboard to rocket back to the surface. His lungs burned, and his strength was leaving him. Using his kinetic charges and the new enhancement of [Friction Resistance], he sliced through the water at the speed of a torpedo.
Suddenly, [Echolocation] reacted. Something was approaching from the depths. Something enormous. A moment later, the megalodon's corpse disappeared, swallowed by an ocean's titan. What the hell is that thing?
The calamity continued on its path, catching up to Priam. A primal terror, the kind one felt when lost alone at sea, thinking of the horrors beneath, seized Priam.
As his brain desperately lacked oxygen, he used his remaining strength to merge with his mist, making a hundred-meter leap. His aether reserves dropped to zero, but Priam continued to swim. Drawing from his kinetic reserves, he accelerated beyond the safe limit. The water pressure distorted his skin, and tried to tuck his head into his neck. His cervical vertebrae began to twist, but fear made him ignore the pain.
At two hundred meters from the surface, his add-on vibrated. According to its calculations, the monster would catch up to him before he could reach the surface. Dammit! If this thing eats me, [He Who Eludes Death] or not, it's over! He would resurrect in a stomach only to die again.
Lvl Up: [Swimming] Lvl 12
STR +1
Lvl Up: [Echolocation] Lvl 4
PERC +2
DEXT +1
Priam didn't have many solutions. It was too late to charge a draconic Breath, and his aether reserves were empty. He was left with only two options.
The first was drastic: to commit suicide and escape with his spiritual body, leaving his physical shell behind. The problem was that Priam's instinct told him the creature would sense his spirit. He had no desire to entrust it to a Lovecraftian creature.
The second solution was almost as insane.
Mentally, Promesse trembled, offering its help. His partner suggested that he leave it in the monster's mouth and detonate it. Priam gritted his teeth, continuing to swim. He would only sacrifice his spear as a last resort, not before.
At a hundred and fifty meters from the surface, light reached him. Priam looked behind him and swore. The titan was a vision of horror, a fusion of a giant lobster and Cthulhu's offspring. Its size was titanic, and its mouth could swallow an adult megalodon without flinching.
[Identification]
[Charybdis’ descendant - Tier 1 - Earl] - The seventh ocean’s terror.
Holy...
Priam felt his terror take shape and activated [Emotional Discipline]. Mastering his fear, he called upon Hecate's New Moon. In the Colosseum, his mutation had managed to halt space and time to block the cursed armor boss. Priam needed only a few seconds to survive and was willing to sacrifice an eye for it.
His eye remained silent.
One hundred and twenty meters below the surface, Priam began to panic. He had no idea what the true nature of his mythological mutation was, or how to use it. Perhaps there was a connection with [Moon Mist]? The last time, it was his Tribulation that had awakened Hecate's New Moon. Now, he was in mortal danger, yet his second heart remained silent.
Damn it!
As panic clashed with his [Emotional Discipline], Priam made a drastic decision. A nightmarish creature was preparing to devour him, sealing his fate in the process. There was no time for methodical plans. To awaken his Tribulation, he was ready for a risky gamble.
Priam raised Promesse and resolutely plunged its tip straight into his second heart. The organ exploded, destroying the structure created by the System to contain the affinity Priam had stolen. Deep within him, Tribulation awoke. In a moment of epiphany created by the destruction of his draconic bloodline's seat, Priam guided this indomitable power to his eye.
A black moon replaced his pupil.
The celestial body emitted white and black rays that froze the world. Priam found himself immobilized, just like the monster, in a monochromatic scene. Nothing moved except thoughts. The world had lost its colors and its reality. A concept lurked in his eye, and when it emerged, reality trembled.
Unfortunately, this was not a power that Priam really mastered. Only the Tribulation contained in his bloodline allowed him to use it temporarily.
The ocean fell silent as man and monster locked eyes. Suddenly, Priam felt a consciousness shatter against his Domain, and his mind fractured. The moon housed in his eye quivered. The titan was fighting against its influence. A second passed, then two.
The monochrome world exploded, and Priam's pupil split. The waning moon receded and reality took over.
His groan of agony was drowned out by the monster's roar.
At eighty meters below the surface, Priam's vision blurred, and he swallowed water. His brain was starved of oxygen, his right eye was ruined, and his aether reserves were depleted.
Priam's left eye conveyed a vision of horror. Charybdis' descendant was so massive that it filled his entire field of view. The creature opened its mouth and sucked in. Mobilizing his last reserves of strength, Priam resolved to play his last card. After the Moon, the Sun.
At that very moment, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Startled, Priam lost focus and fell unconscious. As he felt his brain disconnect, his weary mind took over to observe the scene. The monster's mental attack had shaken his Domain, injuring his mind.
Behind him stood a man in his fifties. No, not a man, he corrected himself. The individual had blue-gray scales and gills. With an impressive beard, he looked noble. The most striking thing was his piercing gaze, which seemed to see directly into Priam's soul. He finally averted his eyes to focus on the monster.
"Ehola Charybdis eyu," he said. Priam had no idea how the stranger managed to speak clearly underwater, but he wasn't done surprising him. With a snap of his fingers, the merfolk created an air tunnel to the surface. Without another glance, he catapulted Priam's body.
Shooting up the tunnel at breakneck speed, Priam reached the surface in a second, losing sight of the combatants. The stranger had propelled him with force, and his body soared nearly a hundred meters high before coming to a stop. At the peak of his trajectory, Priam scanned the surroundings.
Dozens of ships braved the ocean, their red and black sails cutting through the blue sea. Priam spotted several people looking up at him, pointing. His body began to descend. Using the healing power of [Three-Headed Hydra], Priam restored his second heart.
Up in the air, Micro forced his stomach to expel the water he had unfortunately ingested. As he approached the ocean's surface, his body began to regain its strength, and Priam hesitated. Should he use [Kinetic Control] and flee to the island where Mirscella awaited him? Or was it in his best interest to meet these people?
His thoughts were interrupted when a shockwave lifted the water's surface by nearly twenty meters. If someone had told Priam that a small nuclear bomb had just exploded, he would have believed it. The underwater battle was extremely violent.
The boats fell back, and the sails began to glow. Within a five-hundred-meter radius, the water's surface abruptly flattened, canceling out the effects of the explosion. The waves disappeared, and the boats resumed their course, moving away from the combat site. A second shockwave lifted the sea almost a kilometer further.
At the end of his fall, Priam's body struck the water. The impact awakened his body, forcing his exhausted mind to merge with it once more.
Priam opened his valid eye and spotted a boat approaching. A young man got rid of his tunic before diving into the sea. Seeing him swim in his direction, Priam let himself be carried away by unconsciousness. Recent events had exhausted him, and he needed rest.
From the sailors' perspective, it was the second time they would save his life. He decided to trust them. I hope it's not to execute me in some ritual afterward...
The young stranger lifted his head out of the water and shouted something as Priam lost consciousness.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1091812795361787904/1100186018969292830/SymboleFin_NB.png]Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)
PHYSICAL:
Strength 357 (+7)
Constitution 604
Agility 383 (+34)
Vitality 508 (+5)
Perception 566 (+7)
MENTAL:
Vivacity 312 (+2)
Dexterity 383 (+5)
Memory 116
Willpower 599 (+1)
Charisma 418
META:
Meta-affinity 295
Meta-focus 225
Meta-endurance 173 (+2)
Meta-perception 84
Meta-chance 216
Meta-authority 12
Potential: 679 (+23)
Tier 0
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED.
[Tribulation]: Three Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 177 days 10 hours 28 minutes 24 seconds.