Three days after his departure, Kawao was on the brink of starvation.

He regretted not packing more supplies before setting off. He realized this bitterly now.

Aside from the compass and the map, he had also taken a net and a spear.

In the past few days, he had tried to catch fish with the spear, but to no avail. He also didn’t have any water with him.

He wouldn't last much longer.

Suddenly, something shook the boat. He quickly looked into the water but saw nothing.

"Am I hallucinating already?" he wondered.

But then something hit the boat from below, launching it into the air and shattering it upon impact. Now he was adrift in the open sea!

He didn’t care that his belongings were sinking into the sea. Instinctively, he managed to grab his spear in mid-air.

He dived and looked around, searching for the source of the disturbances.

Suddenly, a glowing column of water approached him, and he narrowly avoided it.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

He resurfaced.

"Something down there is targeting me! If I don’t deal with it, it won’t let me continue. Not that I can continue sailing anyway," he decided.

After calming himself, he took a deep breath and began another dive. This time, he aimed for the source.

Now he had a rough idea of its location. Quickly but cautiously, he swam toward the sea floor.

During his hunter training, his breathing was trained to allow him to dive for up to five minutes without issues.

Slowly, he could make out the bottom. As well as his opponent.

Among some corals, a large bright red crab was hiding, with holes in its pincers. It likely shot those water columns from them.

His suspicion was confirmed when the crab shot another column at him. Once again, he narrowly avoided it.

Seeing him dodge, the crab foamed in rage and immediately fired more projectiles at him.

"Can I do this?" he wondered.

Just before he was hit, he remembered the power he had used during the attack on his village.

"I have to try!"

He quickly focused on his legs, and the next moment, he felt a surge of energy flow into them. With this newfound strength, he could easily dodge.

He used a brief moment of the crab's confusion to gather strength in his arm and threw his spear with all his might.

Faster than the crab's projectiles, the spear shot through the water and precisely severed its left claw.

"Damn! I missed!"

But upon seeing its severed claw, the crab retreated, leaving him behind.

"I must have scared it off!"

Suddenly, he realized he was running out of air. He quickly made his way back to the surface.

The higher he ascended, the more he felt the energy drain from his legs and arm.

When he finally breathed in fresh air again, he could barely keep himself afloat. His legs and arm were numb.

And the remnants of his boat were nowhere to be seen.