Nick picked up his oar and began paddling as fast as he could, praying that they could make it to shore before the second angler reached their raft. He pulled his makeshift paddle through the water as hard as he could, timing his strokes with Sophia’s to keep the disintegrating vessel on a steady course.
While he fought to cross the river, Nick desperately tried to come up with a way to fend off the other predator. He didn’t have enough mana for a second ray, and the darts he could summon wouldn’t do more than annoy a creature of that size.
He decided that if he was forced to make a last ditch move, he would use his wand to launch the damaged oar like a harpoon, although he doubted that it would buy them more than a couple of seconds tops. Then it would be time to slam his flask, and hope that the mana it restored would be enough.
In the end, his plotting proved to be unnecessary. Only two seconds later, an intense shockwave rippled through the water, nearly sinking the raft and knocking him into the river. Before he could fall, a hand grabbed him by the toolbelt, hauling him back and helping him to regain his balance. He nodded his thanks to Sophia, then looked back over his shoulder to see what had caused the disturbance.
Nick was just in time to watch the beginning of what would prove to be a vicious deathmatch between the pair of anglers. Apparently, the beasts were more than happy to hunt one another if they sensed an opportunity to strike from a position of strength. It seemed that the wound Nick had inflicted had been enough to kick off a feeding frenzy.
Blood, bubbles, and scales rose to the surface as the twin titans battled. The battered raft rocked beneath the waves that the titanic predators kicked up from their fierce exchange of blows, placing even more strain on the loops holding it together. The relief that had risen within Nick vanished a handful of heartbeats later, when another set of vines snapped, leaving only the ones on the other end holding the raft together.
“Hurry Sophia,” he cried out. “It’s going to fall apart sometime within the next few seconds!” Sure enough, ten terrified heartbeats later, the final section of vines parted and gave way.
Before the logs could separate, Sophia ran to the back of the raft and then charged forward in a blur, leaping when she reached the front. She soared a good fifteen feet before diving into the water with a loud splash.
Nick followed her example without hesitation, the whole raft falling apart half a heartbeat after his boots left the ground. His leap didn’t take him quite as far as his partner’s. His vision was obscured as he plunged into the river, the water shockingly cold against his sun-and-exertion-warmed muscles.
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Vulnerable and afraid, Nick began swimming as fast as he could, fighting against the current as terror filled his veins with adrenaline, turbocharging his imagination. He forced aside images of gaping jaws closing around him with every stroke, focusing on moving through the water as fast as he could.
The anglers must have been consumed with finishing each other off, frightening off the lesser predators in the process. Because the blow that he’d been anticipating never landed.
By now, the riverbank was only a dozen feet away, and Sophia had already made it to the far shore. When Nick put his legs down, to his immense relief, he could feel mud squishing below his boots. Gasping for breath, he staggered out of the river and stepped onto shore. He walked a few dozen feet further onto dry land before laying down beside his partner on a warm patch of sand.
Drenched and filled with adrenaline, they looked at one another and began to laugh. A long series of cackles that were half the thrill of surviving a close brush with death, and half triumph at having cleared the last major obstacle standing between them and the Tower of Rizzen.
They peered into each other’s eyes and when Sophia raised her fist toward him, Nick returned the gesture in kind, bumping fists while the coppery light of a foreign sun warmed their waterlogged clothing. Their brief swim made her blue robes wrap tight around her muscular curves, causing him to take a reflexive second glance, then looking away before she noticed.
That was when he felt a great rush of disorientation and heat. It was intense, but not nearly as bad as the first time, now that he knew what to expect. I just leveled. We must have gotten exp for the assist when the wounded angler was killed.
Ten minutes later, they had recovered from the worst of their exhaustion and their clothes were starting to dry. They made a light lunch from their provisions, then pulled up their profiles. Both of them had leveled from their latest adventure and had free attribute points to spend.
Congratulations. You have accumulated enough experience to reach level [13].
You have gained one point of magic and one point of dexterity from your level.
You have one free attribute point awaiting allocation at your discretion.
Through use you have improved the following skills:
Evasion has increased from [5] to [6].
By the time that he was done looking over his menus, Nick was ready to make his decision. He put the point into toughness, then sat down to ride out the electric worms reconfiguring his tissue, molding his body into a new, more resilient configuration.
It had been a while since he’d put a point into toughness and he wanted to be able to shrug off bigger hits, now that their opponents were growing in both power and size. Equally important, there had been several recent encounters where Nick had needed to perform at his peak for prolonged periods of time. More toughness would help with that as well.
When they were done, they began hiking once more. In just a few short miles, they would reach the tower at last. We’re coming, Taltos. We will win back our planet and rebuild. After that, I’m coming for you.