Welcome to the True Man’s World – 1.10

It would be an incredible coincidence, sheer good luck, if this turned out to be a power that could get him out of this mess. What was he talking about? Neither coincidence nor dumb luck. Basically, everything that had happened up until now had been divine intervention. Directly or indirectly, Ares had caused this, so it was about time the damned god gave him a hand.

He read the description of Phase 2. A complementary skill.

“Get out!” Helena shouted again.

He completely understood her fear, and that was the only thing keeping her from seeing that there was no way to escape. The boat was too far, and the shore, even worse. He had no chance of reaching either before a creature this fast in water caught up to him. If he ran away with his tail between his legs, he’d be devoured without even leaving bones behind.

He couldn’t run. So fighting didn’t require courage. It wasn’t a decision at all.

“Let’s do this, monster.”

The spilled blood of the great white serpent, the stains on the ship, and those that had fallen into the sea, all flew into the air, gathering above his head, swirling, consolidating, and taking shape. Green knives, from hilt to tip, forged from the acid in the beast’s blood.

With a mental command, Max launched the knives. Most missed, but two struck directly in its left eye. It didn’t take the eye out, but it must have caused significant damage, as the monster chose to dive back into the water. Confused, presumably. It hadn’t expected that, hadn’t expected him to be capable of doing anything other than stabbing it with a small sword, a needle to a creature like that.

No wonder, he hadn’t expected it himself. War Spoils, the complementary skill unlocked by Phase 2, allowed him to turn many things taken from his enemies into weapons. Not just acid, not just blood. But here and now, of course, that was all he could use. He wasn’t sure if it would be enough, but he’d do his best.

As the serpent approached, it struck the boat first, sending it spinning into his chest. It was like being hit by a hammer.

“Shit!”

The impact knocked the air out of his lungs, and all he could do was cross his fingers and hope it wasn’t much more than that. Although, judging by the taste of blood in his throat, he was probably wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a notification that he’d lost health points, as if he didn’t already know. How many? He’d preferred not to check, so he didn’t know. Looking at how close he was to death would only scare him more.

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He was relatively intact, all things considered, focused on the prize. He shouldn’t do anything to screw it up. But the beast hadn’t surfaced. It had used its tail to move the boat, hurling it like a damn projectile at him. It was as if it were testing him, seeing how he’d respond, figuring out what else it could do to avoid another surprise. The monster was intelligent. More than a mere animal, maybe too much so. He had no doubt.

That was perhaps the worst part of it all, beyond its obvious physical advantages. Intelligent, the bastard had the capacity to learn, to adapt. How was he supposed to overcome that? Well, he would. Damn it, he’d figure out a fucking way.

A large shadow moved beneath the water. His heart pounded steadily but rapidly, betraying the weakness he was trying to hide. It was big, it was powerful, but it could be worse. He had to remember that.

The serpent burst from the water, roaring in pain and fury. As it thrashed, the sea churned along with it. Water splashed as far as the shore. It was a creature that could cause a flood on its own. Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but that was the impression it gave. And it was even more terrifying now with one eye destroyed, with the acid eating away at its tissue slowly, with blood and other fluids oozing from the wound like some malignant infection.

The spectacle of its mere presence was doubly horrifying because of that detail.

Max braced himself for another charge, but once again, it caught him off guard. It didn’t hit him head-on but struck with its tail, slipping it under the boat to whip at his legs and chest, sending him flying. But humans weren’t made to fly, so he immediately began descending back toward the water. If the serpent had its way, he wouldn’t return to either surface, as it had opened its maw wide to catch him in its cavernous depths.

“Oh shit, goddamn it!”

Max flailed in the air, but he had no way to change his trajectory. As if on autopilot, he kept forming blades from the beast’s acidic blood, shooting at its eye and body. It didn’t seem to matter, didn’t seem to be enough. And yet, all signs pointed to him being swallowed before anything could change. Max kept repeating his mechanical movements. He felt detached, as if none of this were happening to him.

But the darkness of death loomed closer. The darkness behind those gleaming jaws.

How absurd! I’m going to die here. That can’t be true. How absolutely absurd! But he had no means to change his trajectory in midair. So, what else could he do?

Max landed on the creature’s front teeth, barely avoiding being swallowed. But then he slipped downward. He fell hard, and those teeth snapped shut on nothing.

Naturally, now that Helena didn’t have to defend the boat, she was protecting him.

“Sir, it will only hold for a couple of minutes at most,” she murmured to herself.

Fine, okay. A couple of minutes is a lot of time. The problem is what to do with that time.

He was sure he could win, that he had the necessary tools. But even so, he was paralyzed with indecision.

Stupid. He needed to commit to a plan. Any plan. And quickly, or he’d end up crushed and heading straight to this thing’s stomach.

What should his next move be? Time was running out. Faster and faster.

Max realized something very important. The answer had been right in front of him the whole damn time. It was time for a counterattack.