Tim endured quite the explosion there. The lair had been blown to bits, and he would've suffered a similar fate, if the system hadn't used every fraction of a second to get him out of trouble! She saved his life, and although this seemed uncharacteristic from the system's side, she still did so, her success was radiant. She saved his life, in exchange for tens of mana points; That’s all she took throughout her intervention.
Tim couldn’t care less about the mana points. Sooner or later, he could replenish any mana he lost, naturally even, so it was more important that he was alive to do so, he didn’t complain. Most of the sect didn't have the same luck as him, after all, and he could see that. The sect members were vaporized by that explosion, they were dead, while Tim himself, he only withstood a bit of damage, he was in one piece.
“My belly is fucking steaming…” He naturally complained, but then he thought. “Then again, my belly was burning for food a few hours ago, so steaming can't be that different from burning; I'm good.”
It was important to be optimistic throughout this madness, otherwise he'd be enveloped by a single dot of insanity sooner or later. He was optimistic for a while, and he felt even more so, once he escaped the dust cloud, and discovered that fifteen fish had survived the explosion as well!
These fish belonged to the sect, and their collective power was immense, because each of them could boast their level three mana quality! These fish were tough, but in this case, they survived the explosion purely out of luck, and not due to their toughness.
They had been sent out here to fight the previous attackers, which meant that they hadn't been in the immediate proximity of the sect, and its explosion. Sure the explosion both deafened and blinded them for a little while, but that was about all the damage they withstood, these fish were otherwise really healthy.
Tim met with them, and asked the question that most would ask, he exclaimed. “Hey guys, so, what the fuck is going on?”
“Infestation and eradication! A rather efficient one, may I add? We got wiped out clean, most of us.” A fish answered.
Tim spoke to a great, but not fully grown, barracuda. Barracudas had a ferocious attitude, typically, and this barracuda was no exception! He had a sharp body posture, gruesome teeth, and overall, he had enough power to back his ferocious attitude!
That aside, one could easily tell what was going on through the barracuda’s mind right now. Even though he had the power to survive for longer than the average fish, he was tense and he was especially intimidated.
The barracuda felt intimidated by that explosion especially, because the whole context regarding anti-mana seemed unnatural and out of place! This hinted that death could envelope him randomly, at any given time, regardless how powerful he was. This train of thought weighed on his little fish consciousness immensely!
In that tense state, he hollered. “Man, fuck this anti-mana nonsense! We spent an eternity trying to make this place a sect, and we lost it within a week? It’s not fair, for the lord's sake!”
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“It's not fair, but what are we gonna do now? We still gotta live.” Tim followed along.
It was very important to input that question, because at this point, most of the sect members were gone, and the sect's lair itself was destroyed. It was important to focus on that, if they were to come up with a proper plan regarding how to survive. The reef wasn’t safe anymore, so they couldn’t live like they used to any longer, they needed a new plan.
The remaining members of the sect were strong, they were ideal fish, but the handful of fish that they were, wasn't enough to protect and carry on the ideals that the sect had tried to set to stone. Not to mention, the reef was far more dangerous now! With all of that considered, it was very important to ask a couple of questions, to determine what was to happen with the blistering mana sect. Separation, in this case, was the death of all things they held near and dear!
That barracuda, whose name was John, blurted out an answer, he said. “We get out of here, and we find a new lair. Marlo is gone, the big guys too, so there isn't much for us to salvage here! Let that bastardous anti-mana have this damn lair, we’ll find a better and safer place!”
“That's reasonable enough, cuz I'm not going back in there either.” Tim added.
Tim couldn’t agree more with John the barracuda, but half of the other survivors weren't as cooperative. They weren’t willing to group up any longer, nonetheless be a part of a sect; They lacked the motivation to do so.
There were a couple of meter-long reef sharks, who were especially hesitant. They greeted everyone and simply left the premises! They were reef sharks, so they naturally wouldn't steer too far away from this coral reef that the lair used to be based on, it’s their home, but in terms of cooperation, they've made their answer clear. They didn’t want to be part of the blistering mana sect any longer!
A few plague flounders were hesitant as well, but only half of them floated away, the rest, including some red nurse sharks, decided to stay. With that considered, Tim and John were now part of a ten-fish group, where Tim himself was the weakest member! This group didn't have the slightest clue regarding what the future withheld, but it was better to hang around with them for now, and depend on each other for protection. It was a smart decision.
The reef didn't bear any major threats, other than the pool of anti-mana, but as today proved, danger can be quite spontaneous! These fish needed each other to stay alive.
With that considered, they started taking that previous idea seriously, which was to find a nice and new, dependable lair. They were hoping to find a lair that anti-mana couldn’t quite penetrate, not under any circumstances. Although they didn’t know what that kind of lair would look like, they hoped to figure it out along the way!
Tim felt motivated, he thought. “We'll find a new layer… If not, at least I'm stuck with these strong fuckers who know their way around. It's like I have my own personal body-gaurds! Of course, they're not the quickest fish either so I'll rely on myself as well, when it comes to protection. Only a stingray would know just how a stingray should be protected.”