He hacked up blood with all the air inside him and took a second before finding his bearings. The tentacle with suction cups came at him again. He rolled over and clawed away, but the shockwave of the attack rammed him and hurled him back. Two attacks were enough to know, he wasn’t this Astylind’s opponent. If not at the limits of Step-0, it was at least close to it.
So, he pushed his spirit to its limits and soared up. But the tentacle reached for him and whacked him down into the sand once more. Ewan jerked from the shock and vomited everything he had in him; a sharp rock below punctured his waist. His neck hurt, he suffered from whiplash, and something cracked in his body. Yet, all this could wait, his injuries weren’t a priority, his life was. He thrusted and charged up. The tentacle came at him as the water quivered from its roar. Ewan braked and halted where he was, and the tentacle missed, ripping the water apart in front of him.
He took the moment of respite and shot up, hauling his weight as hard as he could. The Astylind howled and stretched out its tentacles, but Ewan was already out of its reach.
Is it done?
His mind churned as he raced for the surface, his vigilance at its peak. It was dark all around, and even with his eyes and Ryvia, it confined his sight. Anything could come at him from anywhere, the dread seeped into him. Alone, injured, and against the infinite and the mighty ocean. The realization of his powerlessness shook his resolve, his confidence.
Can't give up, can't give up…
He repeated to himself and marched on. This wasn’t the end of his path, he still breathed, his heart still beat. He was still alive, so he would crawl if he had to, but he wouldn’t give up.
Ice Daggers!
The cast of the spell supported his crumbling morale, his collapsing spirit. The ice daggers plunged the temperature around him, frigid water blanketed him, comforted him, it also became another form of defense. The increased density from lower temperature burdened the thrust of his Ryvia, but he could sustain this much.
As his head broke out the water surface, and as he heaved, lungfuls and lungfuls, a pair of talons dug into both his shoulders and flapped him away towards the stormy clouds with a sharp peal.
Fuck!!
Before the man-sized bird could fly him high enough though, he attacked it with his daggers. The bird screeched and struggled, swatting the daggers away, its altitude dipping. Ewan attacked again and again, forgetting the stinging pain in his shoulders and his whole body. A few attacks later, the bird dropped him and flew away with another peal.
He crashed into the water with a splashing thud, groaning and gasping—something broke again.
….
….
Nimbus clouds parted for the moons, their familiar moonlight gleaming over the ocean reminding Ewan of home. He sprawled on the water; the tides rocked him up and down. His vision faded in and out as he struggled to hold on, bleeding away into the salty ocean.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Frost…
He opened the Dekoth and let Frost out, holding him above the water. His unstable situation could cause complications if he brought his Astylinds out, but he had no other choice now.
Frost cried when he saw Ewan, then howled, looking around for the enemy. The temperature plummeted and bits of ice crystals appeared around Ewan.
There’s no enemy…freeze a block….
Frost cried at Ewan again, staring at him with watery eyes.
I’ll be fine.
Frost aimed at the side—the white Anima soared—and froze a part of the ocean water into an ice block while glimpsing Ewan’s wounds, worried. Ewan let go and Frost dropped onto the floating ice block, dragging Ewan onboard. The glacial block chilled his skin, cramped his muscles, numbed his nerves, but it was better than rotting in the water.
Ewan glanced at his wheel tattoo and frowned; the skill continued. What would come next? He wondered.
The pain started with an itch and developed into a gut-wrenching ache. His joints twinged, his ears rang, his head throbbed, and he wanted to retch. The symptoms came out of nowhere; they matched the textbooks word by word. The backlash didn’t only mean external enemies.
Decompression….
And the roulette dinged in his mind, the backlash left him sick and died out.
…..
A frantic Iris healed him for the next few hours before his pain eased, his condition improved, and he connected to the hub. He couldn’t delay the matter, he needed to know Nana’s status, he needed to contact her.
In the hub.
The sight of his all too familiar shop gave him some mental respite, he was still on Airadia, the space crack didn’t throw him to some unknown world. But nostalgia and relief could come later, first he checked his transaction records. His automated worker couldn’t take messages, so Nana could’ve left some kind of obvious trace if she wanted to contact him. And indeed, someone had bought a Level-1 Astylind Core at nineteen times the market price.
It was her. Ewan laughed; all his tension and anxiety deflated in a moment. Her contemplation over the price was obvious from the transaction record. Nineteen times, she must’ve wanted to leave no doubt behind.
“Every day at sunrise.” He navigated to her shop and left the message with her automated worker. The Novas she spent on it could only allow this many words, anymore and it would overwrite. The fragility of the current situation prompted him to think about upgrading them, both his and Nana’s. Once his situation improved and stabilized, he would discuss it with her.
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Status: Injured
Step-0 [6th Awakening]
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 1.7
Spirit: 12.9
Anima: [Fire – 12.9 | Ice – 12.9 | Blood – 12.9]
Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]
Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [6th Awakening]
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Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-0 [Level-6] [Grade-B]
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Imp [Frost]: Step-0 [Level-6] [Grade-B]
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Blood Lotus [Iris]: Step-0 [Level-6] [Grade-C]
Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter].
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 523
Crelith: 4984