Well that was boring. Starting out was exciting, my mind filled with dreams and possibilities. But after a few hours of making your unruly mana flow in a loop inside your body, it gets fairly repetitive. Each time I lost my concentration she whacked me in the head. Painful and boring. Still happy to learn it, because magic proficiency was close to pure, undilluted power. However, it seemed I would not get great results anytime soon. I was currently supposed to maintain the mana loop at all times, however I prefered to not let it distract me from the current hunt.

We'd come farther than we had dared to before, and we were rewarded with wonderful sights. Rocks on the floor created clearings that went up to the surface, allowing an azure light down, and letting us see other varieties of fishs. Various types of algae gave some diversity to the scene, every single one of them taking shades of yellow or vibrant green and blue. It truly felt like a forest here, not merely tangled dark green walls. Of course it had a teeming wildlife to go with : blue crabs scurried around our feets and schools of grey fishs swam with us, as multicolored stones reflected the sun's rays.

The forest still floated around us, but it didn't look so menacing now that we saw little critters running around. We still were careful, of course, but even Sofia did not look as wary as before.

It meant a lot to see life down here. I had not lost hope of better days, partially because I did not see the benefits of going back home, but I would've deeply disliked to be stuck eternally between endless white dunes and decrepit stone pillars. Life thriving was still a wonderful sight to behold.

Puffy green fishs were more numerous too around these parts and we each caught another. Today's dinner in hand, we had started trailing back to home when we came face to face with a big black fish. It was as big as a horse and a bit longer, with a sharp and flat nose and protruding jaw. Its emerald-striped form akin to that of any other algae just drifted near the sandy bottom without a care in the world, as if we weren't even here.

We had no chance at fighting this. It was the equivalent of coming nose to nose with a Great Earthbear back home, except I was naked and without my bow, my preparations and my traps. To add insult to injury, my movements were heavily and permanently slowed. My heart rate climbed up as I tried to find solutions, keeping my eyes locked on it.

I gently and carefully raised my hands, its black beady eyes snapping on me as I half-dropped, half-threw the fish we'd caught as far from me as I could. We just stood there, until the fish corpse I'd loosed touched the floor. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared and so did the shark. We turned, only to see it further away, chewing on the puffy greenfish. Sofia dropped her fish too and we started running towards the tight knit walls of green, only a scant few meters from us.

Adrenaline pumped, time stretched out, and the water warned me I had already lost the race. My movements did not propulse me as far or as fast as they should've. I Should have started running sooner, I should have been stronger. It was like in those dreams were you keep on running and flailing, but you only advance with steps as tiny as a bug's, and the end inevitably catches up. Too little, too late. As I swam-sprinted too slowly, I did not dare to look back. I couldn't afford to.

When we passed through a few of the jungle's first thick vines, pushing deeper in while trying to stay close to each other, we did not slow. Grabbing at passing plants to get ever so slightly further ahead. Only once we were in the thickest part of the foliage did we slow down and stop. I was not yet completely relieved. Maybe it had satisfied itself of the fish we threw him ? That was unlikely, but one could only hope. I cursed mentally at the surrounding water : yes it did make it so we didn't sweat, but this was not a human's natural habitat.

We were not adapted and ill equipped, in a place where survival of the fittest was the only rule enforced. Well, not totaly ill equipped, considering we had been blessed, but it was deeply frustrating to not be able to use even a shard of it properly. Trying to catch my breath, I sat down, closed my eyes and channelled as I'd been taught... it came easily. The energy was responsive, fluid and fast, unlike it had been this morning. It was intuitive to start weaving it in a loop, its pace sustaining itself without need of any continued interference. I cracked an eye open, only to see Sofia in a foetal position, shivering and whispering desperately " Not again. Not again. Not again. Not again. Not again. Not again. Not again not again not again not again not again not again not again not again not again not again ... "

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I got up and walked towards her, barely slowed by the water. She recoiled as I comfortingly put my arms on hers " Breathe. I am here. We are safe . " She looked blankly towards me for a few moments, then saw me. Recognition shined in her green eyes and she slowly sank back into the present situation, getting a hold of herself again. Slowly, but surely.

" What happened ? " I asked softly. She gathered herself and spoke up fragilely " The beast it ... it ripped through my squad. Sasha, Toby, Jim, Farey, Steven ... just torn apart... didn't even recognize Jim's body ..." She paused. " Sasha was pregnant." Her throat tightened and she began to turn red, her tears melding with the ocean " I couldn't do anything ... I didn't scout well enough, didn't detect the Beast Master ... I failed and got them butchered. " Her voice cracked " I survived alone. " It was barely a whisper now.

"It's my fault they died. "

I stood there in silence uncomfortably, not sure how to handle the bundle of warmth, sorrow and guilt in my arms. " Look. I understand. You blame yourself. I think otherwise, and we can, no, we should talk about it. But first we need to get out of this alive. Would be a shame to die with your new squad mate, no ? "

She didn't answer for a time. But her breathing slowed, and after a long moment she nodded and got up, anger and hope taking the place of despair and memories " Let's get this fucking fish."

Her fighting spirit got a smile out of me " I was thinking of running away, and maybe coming back with reinforcement. At least getting out of the forest so we're not at too much of a disadvantage. "

I turned my head to the right and saw a dark form slowly emerging through a far tapestry of dark green algaes, a ray from one of the holes above granting it a jade sheen.

" It's here ! Run ! " I bolted towards safety, realising I was much faster than Sofia. I barely felt the water, in its place only my loop's ebbing and flowing slowly picking up pace. The energy diminished minutely as a small portion of it pumped through my legs.

I shot a glance back only to see the shark was now chasing Sofia, and gaining ground. I turned back and dragged her to the side by the arm, the shark's fins barely grazing us. " Hold on to me ! " She did and I ran, each step propulsing me meters forward, the energy pumping increasing continually, though the loop didn't get bigger. It just spun faster and faster, trembling slightly like a waterwheel in rapids.

As we got out of the jungle and into the colourless desert, Sofia shouted " He's still faster !"

It seemed it had trouble making turns so I took a sharp one after a pillar, seing the black form barrel through where I just was a beat sooner. I dropped Sofia, taking care to angle my steps so I would stay along the ground. If I didn't have something to kick off of, I'd die. The shark was on me the next moment, so fast it almost blurred. I side-stepped to the right, striking it while channeling more and more mana to my arms. It was an experience similar to punching a stone wall. The kind that has an uneven surface, holes and edges. My knuckles bled, but the shark didn't even look affected. It would win unless I did something. The guards and brawlers with their pointy daggers would barely scratch it, the fire mage was useless and only the lady mage would have a chance.

I stopped running, channeling the vast majority of the flow to my dagger-wielding arm, and a tiny portion to my feets who were firmly anchored into the sand. The only thing that came to mind that even remotely resembled a plan was trying to rip through its underside with a slash, and dash to evade. My loop felt more akin to a waterwheel under a tall waterfall now. It shook violently, as did my arm which twitched and convulsed. The shark charged again, though from far away this time. Slowly gaining acceleration and momentum, its black and emerald skin blurring into one dark green arrow, jaw and rows of sharp teeths first. Dagger pointing upward, I imitated it.

When we clashed, it became apparent I had underestimated its speed. Slightly ducking and rotating to the side in one fluid motion, I jabbed my dagger upward. Right in its mouth. Shock waves formed in the water behind and something in my arm broke or teared. Not that it mattered. The shark just kept going, its speed and weight combined into too powerful a projectile to be stopped. The jaws ripped cleanly through my shoulder, taking my arms with it further away. The blow knocking me over and away, sending me tumbling away like a ballista bolt punching through a pigeon. I left a blood red trail, the only color in this pearly white void. Pain overtook both mind, terror, thoughts of consequences and split-second reflexes all the same.

All was pain.

As I clutched my shoulder, sprawled over the floor, my energy was drained into my shoulder. The flood poured, emptied. It sealed the hole, but left another inside. I was empty. Empty, hungry, tired, and cold. Dying. The last thing I saw where the crawlers who came near. No horror came at the thought of being eaten alive. I was already dead.

"Never again."

There was anger and despair in that voice, but no sadness to be found. In its stead were pride, conviction, and hope.