Owin stood near the fourth barricade. Codhyses had suggested going farther back, but it wouldn’t take him long to hit full speed.

Nikoletta and Siora stood before Avani like they were protecting her even though the mobs were dead.

Shade waited near the wall, watching eagerly. He was more excited for the plan than anyone else, which could only be a bad sign.

“Ready?” Codhyses had one hand extended and his short staff pointed to the wall.

Owin had his knife and wand back in his belt. He hoped he wouldn’t need them right away. Drawing them never took that much time, but a moment could be the difference between surviving or getting a grenade in the face.

He preferred surviving.

Owin nodded. Codhyses shifted a bit and traced the path he wanted to follow with his finger, pointed up to the edge of the wall.

The cetanthro on top watched with interest.

“Are you sure you don’t want to open the gate?” Shade asked.

“Yes, we’re sure.”

Owin took a deep breath. Time to go.

He sprinted alongside the barricades and jumped with all of his strength. As soon as he passed over Codhyses’s, a telekinetic wave hit his feet, throwing him higher into the water. His momentum carried him toward the wall, though the water did slow him down. A burst of energy shot from Codhyses’s staff, increasing Owin’s speed beyond what he was expecting.

The stone parapet greeted him far sooner than he had expected, and the cetanthro behind it found a way to widen its already massive eyes. Owin’s hips hit the parapet while the top of his body continued forward, forcing him into a flip where he headbutted the fish with enough force to knock the grenadier backward. They both collapsed and rolled over the wall, plummeting off the opposite side.

Behind the wall was covered with piles of bags and stacks of boxes, mostly all pushed against the stone wall. Various trash and debris covered the ramp, leading to another, much shorter wall.

Owin landed on top of the cetanthro and punched him repeatedly in the face until the experience notification flashed in his view.

“Okay,” he said quietly as he righted himself. It was disorienting to flip over the wall, especially when he had expected to land on top.

The ramp shook under his feet without the noise of explosion. Two more quick shakes brought Owin’s attention across the expanse to the next wall. A fish was walking toward him. A huge fish.

Owin’s eyes widened. It wasn’t walking. It was building up speed, working toward a sprint.

Ocean Mob

Itjara Giganta

Level 38

The mob was built the same as the itajara he had seen before with big, wide faces and muscular arms, but the giganta was at least twice the size of the other itajara, and it had built up speed quickly.

Owin cast Smoke Cloud, obscuring him from the charging fish, and dove to the side. Unfortunately, the spell also hid his surroundings, causing him to dive straight into the side of a box. Chitin tumped against wood. No matter how uncomfortable it was, Owin was suddenly grateful for the helmet.

A boom thundered through the water as the giant fish crashed straight into the stone wall beside Owin. The box he had landed upon was only a foot off the ground, and a stack of other boxes blocked his escape. He hopped off the box and cast Shade’s summon spell, putting the skeleton on top of the wall.

“Find a way to open the gate!”

Shade looked around, panicked, ran straight into a grenadier, and exploded.

Summon the Withered Shade

“Second try!” Shade shoved another grenadier off the wall and ran, disappearing from Owin’s view.

Unfortunately, Owin yelling had grabbed the attention of the itajara giganta. It blindly reached through the smoke and caught Owin in its finned grasp. He felt its power wrap around him before tossing him out of the smoke, farther down the ramp. Trash cushioned the landing as Owin bounced twice before recovering.

“Bombs away!” A fish wearing a beret pointed at Owin.

The ramp was covered in trash and debris because a gallery of cetanthro stood under the seamount wall, in a section where the stone had been cut away. There was a mix of phyraena, grenadier, itajara, and other cetanthro Owin had never seen.

All of them held something, whether that was a trident or a grenade. All of it could be thrown. And from their sudden panicked movements, they intended to throw everything.

He slipped on a random piece of cloth and nearly fell on his face as the first object, a sharpened stick, sailed right past his face. Everything on his right darkened as a flood of items flew from the cetanthro.

Running was probably faster, but Owin decided to jump as high and far as he could as the first grenade hit the ramp where he had just been standing. He flipped through the water and was able to catch a glimpse of the items clattering on the wooden ramp, adding to the trash and debris.

Itajara giganta had left the smoke cloud by the time Owin crashed against the ramp again, so he turned off the spell. The last thing he needed was to end up back inside, blinded from the charging giant.

The gate was still closed, and a cloud of gray dust floated above the parapets like Shade had died while jumping.

Summon the Withered Shade

If he tried moving ahead, he was going to get a million objects thrown at him, and if he retreated to the gate, he would need to fight a fish that was even bigger than the ogres he had fought back in the Great Forest.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Without the gate open, he couldn’t get help from the other heroes.

“I can’t help with this,” Shade said.

“I know.”

“Itajara giganta? More like ‘Big Fish.’” Shade sighed. “I’m not feeling very funny right now.”

“Move!” Owin shoved Shade aside and dove as the giant fish charged through.

It stuck its arms out and grabbed Owin and Shade, pulling them right off their feet. A quick stab into its hand would force it to let go, but his arms were pressed close to his sides and he couldn’t find a way to get the lich bone knife from his belt.

The itajara slowed in front of the gallery and held Shade and Owin up triumphantly. Fish cheered.

“What now?” Shade asked.

Owin pressed both his hands against the itajara’s oversized fingers. Out of all the bad ideas he had had in the past, this one felt like the worst.

Discharge.

Electricity flowed through Owin’s hands. With a deeper mana bar, even after casting Smoke Cloud, there was plenty of mana to consume. If the Band of Power 1 still worked, he would have even more mana to feed into the itajara’s finger.

Electricity arced through the water, zapping Owin and the giant’s face, feet, and everything else nearby. It roared and threw Owin straight at the ground.

He curled into a ball and hit the wooden ramp hard enough to bounce. Shade hit the ground next to Owin and exploded into a mess of bones. Usually he turned back into gray dust.

Owin took the opening to run back toward the gate, away from the sudden influx of thrown objects. Heavy footsteps trailed behind.

What was the best way to kill a giant? Artivan had told him to aim for the eyes, but that was for ogres who had stone-like skin. Would stabbing an itajara in the eye be the best? The giant liked to grab and throw, which Owin specifically did not enjoy.

“Get me over the fucking wall!” Siora shouted.

“The plan was for Owin to open the gate,” Codhyses said.

“Do you see the moron on top of the walls?”

“Fine! Get ready!”

Owin stopped at the stone wall and pressed himself against it, hiding from the cetanthro still waiting on top. As expected, the itajara was sprinting toward him once again. Its face was scorched, making it look even more angry.

“Not our best plan, to speak honestly,” Shade said.

“Ah!” Owin turned and punted the skull beside him. It hit the seamount wall and poofed into gray dust. “Oops.”

A burst sounded from the other side of the wall as Siora appeared over the parapets. She landed perfectly atop the wall and slashed her glowing sword through a cetanthro’s skull. A quick step and pivot brought her sword through the chest of another mob.

“What are you doing?” she shouted.

“Trying to open the gate!” Owin pulled the knife from his belt, bounced on his feet, and darted right between the giant’s legs as it crashed against the stone wall again. He leapt and stabbed the knife right into its back, easily puncturing the scaled skin.

A small knife against a massive enemy did little. The fish turned and slammed Owin into the stone wall. Its scaled skin enveloped him in darkness. A flash of yellow passed his eyes, followed by a burst of blood and viscera.

The itajara giganta fell diagonally in half with skin still sizzling from Siora’s blade.

Owin brushed fish guts off his face. “Thanks.”

“Stop messing around.”

“Okay.” He pulled the lich bone from the itajara’s back. It had hardly made it past the mob’s thick skin. “How do we open a gate?”

Siora rolled her eyes. “Why did we send you over if you don’t even know what you’re doing?” She climbed on top of the box Owin had landed on earlier. “Get up here.”

He climbed up the box and followed her lead as she tossed him into the air, landing on top of the taller stack of boxes. “How do you get up?”

“Can you summon that thing?”

Summon the Withered Shade

Shade poofed into existence on the box beside her. It wasn’t a big box, so he just leaned his elbow on her shoulder. “I have to say, kicking me was so unnecessary.”

Siora shoved him away.

Shade flailed and fell off the box. “Everyone is so rude.”

“Get back up here and help me.”

The skeleton hesitated, then crawled back up. “How am I going to assist?”

“Pick me up.”

Shade lifted his arms straight into the air. “These arms have the strength of a newborn child. If you want me to pick you up—”

“To your knees. I’ll use you as a stool if I have to.”

“That I can do!” Shade immediately fell to his hands and knees. “Try not to get that foot of yours between my ribs.”

“This will be a lot less weird for me if you shut up.” Siora stepped on top of Shade, then jumped, shattering the skeleton’s spine in the process. Owin caught her arm and helped her the rest of the way up.

Summon the Withered Shade

“Well, that went as expected.” He stood on top of the wall, looked around, then leaned on the parapet. “Ah, there you all are. You look terrible.”

“Thanks,” Codhyses said.

It was a quick jump from the stack of boxes to the top of the wall. Owin joined Shade on the parapet while Siora muttered something and strode to the side, over the gate.

“You’re alive!” Codhyses waved to Owin, which earned him a glare from Nikoletta.

“For now.” Owin’s health had taken a big hit from the throws, the slam, and his own spell.

“It’s this easy,” Siora said, gesturing at a lever on a pillar in the gatehouse. She grabbed it in both hands and forced it up. As it moved, the huge gate parted, opening the way for the other heroes.

“I’m too short to open that.”

Siora rolled her eyes again. “Come on.” She climbed down a nearby ladder, which Owin had not seen earlier.

Instead of waiting, he hopped down. With the water, the distance was a simple fall back to the ramp. Shade also jumped off, but his coordination was worse and he fell right onto his head.

Owin picked the skeleton up and set him on his feet.

Nikoletta led Codhyses and Avani through the gate. She took a moment to look at the itajara giganta, then leaned in close and whispered something to Siora, who laughed.

“Owin, you’re hurt.” Avani crouched at his side. “This looks bad.” Her finger pressed into a burn on his cheek, which he had caused.

“Kill your enemies faster,” Nikoletta said.

“That is good advice.” Shade leaned his elbow on Nikoletta’s shoulder.

Owin quickly shook his head.

Shade moved his arm just as Nikoletta’s eyes started to glow yellow. “Apologies. I, uh, yeah.” He nodded and took a dramatic step away from the mender.

“Let’s keep moving before any more mobs respawn,” Siora said.

“Not before Owin’s healed,” Avani said. She grabbed Owin’s shoulders and turned him toward Siora. “Look at him.”

“He’s just as ugly as normal,” Shade said.

“Nikoletta, you’re a mender.”

“I don’t heal monsters.” She folded her arms across her chest. “My mana is for humans.”

Owin glared at her. He had heard all this before, back when he first met Nikoletta and her party. Before her party died.

“Owin helped save our lives,” Avani said.

Owin nodded. He even smiled a little. If Nikoletta was going to cause a scene, he would let her. What was she going to do?

Both of them had leveled up. Significantly, even. But they couldn’t win against him.

“Heal the wounds. He can manage his own health,” Siora said.

Nikoletta sighed, crouched, and pressed fingers into Owin’s breastplate. Pain lanced through his face as the burns recovered. A few other injuries he hadn’t been aware of fixed themselves in the brief burst of pain before Nikoletta removed her hand.

“Thank you,” Avani said.

“A real talent, you are,” Shade said. “Can you try that on me? Maybe I can grow back my—”

“Stop!” Owin yelled.

Shade narrowed his eye sockets. “. . . skin.”

“Oh.” Owin adjusted his helmet and belt. He had to be ready to move quickly against the gallery of fish. Did he jump into the stands or did they run past? Avani and Codhyses were too injured to sprint past without risking their lives.

“We need a real plan before we continue,” Siora said. “Not some bullshit about throwing the goblin.”

Owin scowled. That was his plan.

Shade leaned far too close to Owin’s ear and whispered, “I was going to say penis.”