Noah stripped off until he was in nothing but his black boxers. People that could swim with their clothes on were weird. Especially socks. He shuddered at the thought.

It was important not to rely on swimming alone in the ocean. Although the waves seemed calm, it could change faster than he could shout help. The waves only needed to change slightly for him to be swept back, far into the ocean from a sudden riptide. He wasn’t very knowledgeable when it came to alien waters, but there was one thing that frightened him. The ocean. It was unpredictable and dangerous.

His time watching the national geographic was clear on his mind.

The fact he was here first to the anomaly gave him the edge up in that regard. He could prepare. Noah was certain he wouldn’t be the only one tempted by the allure of a Rare grade weapon–or armour.

Heading to the border of the tree line, Noah found an enormous palm leaf that was almost as tall as he was and as wide as Krall’s new evolved form.

It was thick and light, perfect for a raft. Next up was finding a long, wide oar. Which wasn’t difficult thanks to the help of the ocean currents. There were broken pieces of draft wood all over the beach. Taking one, he was ready to head on out.

He dipped his toes in the ocean and continued until the water hit his knees. The water wasn’t cold, rather, from the beating sun, it was quite warm. But compared to the battering of the sun's rays, it was a godsend. It was like bathing in the chalice of life.

About to dive in, he glanced back at Krall. Oh right. With all the armour on Krall’s body, Noah severely doubted his floating capabilities. No doubt he would sink straight to the bottom.

“Stay here Krall, and stop anyone from chasing me. Just don’t get yourself killed, you hear me?” Noah said over his shoulder as his pet nodded with enthusiasm.

Noah puffed out a breath of air as a smirk pulled at his lips. The sight of Krall was just like his old dog Hank. He had a stupid smile and the excitement of pleasing his master caused him to thwack his club into his palm

Glancing to the System granted mace on his hip, he threw it over to Krall for him to use. With not being able to use his legs, or much of his hip strength in water, the power would be lacking compared to his spear or dagger.

Besides, the faster Krall could defeat his enemies, the better. It also helped that Krall held a higher natural strength than himself, against the other survivors–his strength was unrivalled.

Maybe not against Thraz, or triple Strength Pathstone users, for that matter. Noah shook his head. No-one was crazy enough to do that.

A triple strength path meant that they had no gain to the Constitution Stat. Their bodies wouldn’t be able to hold the Strength within their muscles. Each swing would burst the blood vessels within.

Of course, there were always the crazy bastards that found a rare Skill to bypass that negative. But it was just that–rare. Banking on the chance of obtaining such a Skill was suicide.

Noah kneeled on the leaf and paddled with both hands pelting the water with his increased Strength Stat. The speed he tread over the shallow waves surprised him. With enough Constitution, he could probably paddle all the way to the circled islands in the distance.

He wasn’t so naive to believe alien waters would be so kind as to let him travel unimpeded. But, it was all going swimmingly so far.

Until a pair of beaded eyes tore straight at him. Gritting his teeth, Noah [Thrust] his spear forward. It pierced the water and was about to poke into the flesh of the mysterious fish, before it flapped its tail, and swam away.

Noah was sure that the monster felt the danger in that attack and decided it wasn’t worth the risk. If it was a predator, then it wouldn’t attack unless it knew it could escape the battle unscathed. Just like the dark feline he had faced before. It was cautious of its every move to the point of almost exhausting them before the fight even began.

However, Noah quickly realised that not all monsters shared such a philosophy. The fish tore through the water, sending a misty trail behind its tail–just like a shark. However, its body was more tuna-like, just smaller, and with sharpened teeth capable of tearing his flesh to pieces.

The fish ducked under water, then breached it in a bid to taste the human.

Noah knew he had to conserve strength here, so he used [Thrust] once more. The tip sliced through the scales of the fish. The fish continued its momentum.

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It was about to strike Noah's chest, but he swept his spear to the side. The monster snapped his jaws shut, just as he swatted the monster back into the water.

Red trailed from the fish as it skittered through the water. It was returning.

Just what the hell was the fish on? Noah frowned as he readied himself for another attack.

Something seemed to have stimulated the fish. It leaped from the water, sunk down, then leapt once more. A red hue had covered its eyes. The monster was twenty-five metres away in a full throttle charge.

A strange current caused his leaf-raft to bob from side-to-side, then a sudden explosion of white, burst out of the water in front of him. An enormous maw of multi layered teeth snapped close around the tuna-like monster. Half the tuna flopped into the water–followed by a burst of red mist. The other half vanished entirely.

You defeated a - Level 7 Quipper.

Experience has been reduced for low participation.

The huge monster had breached the water at least fifteen feet in the air with its massive mouth just like a trap. It looked exactly like a shark, but thicker, as if it had no lack of available food to fuel its growth. Oh, and the long-horn that emerged from its skull. But it seemed to only be for decoration.

What goes up, must come down. The monster slammed back into the water. Noah’s heart was racing. No way he could face such a monster with his puny spear.

The water was approaching a still. Weak ripples of water from the monsters submerging travelled in all directions and although his vision was obscured from it–and the blood–Noah’s gaze was frozen on a pair of frigid eyes. They watched him like a pair of submerged lanterns. Then, they retreated.

Even with the monster so far underwater, the power of its tail caused the leaf Noah was kneeling on to bob from side-to-side.

When he was certain the monster had indeed left, Noah released a sigh of relief. His heart was smashing against his rib cage. He could hear the thudding beat of his own heart. Without him realising it, his hand had seized onto his spear. He had to manually pry off his dominant hand with his left in order to free it.

Why had it not attacked? No way he could pose a threat to the monster–Unless it was afraid he would deal damage to it. Even if just a little. Noah shook his head. He had no way of knowing.

Instead he focused on his original objective. Noah had narrowly avoided death. It was time to either flee, or make use of that life to reap the rewards. He chose the latter.

Whether it was brave, crazy, or suicide–it didn’t matter to him. He had volunteered himself for the sole purpose of leading a different life. A life filled with freedom.

Rekindling his paddling efforts, he beat the water until it brought him next to the suspended lightning strike. It was like it was frozen in time. The previously black box had turned a deep blue as it descended further into his vision. Straight to him.

An anomaly has occurred. A Rare drop has been birthed into existence. Be the first to reach the item drop. Become the victor.

| Time Remaining until drop: 3 minutes 13 seconds.

| Reward: Equipment cache with a chance of a rare piece.

The time was ticking. As it reached three minutes, the ocean changed. Noah almost had a heart palpitations, thinking that the monster had returned. But that wasn’t it. The previous calm ocean waves changed from that of a tepid wave, to one that forcibly moved him closer to the shore.

Noah beat the water once more, taking him back, but it was evident the waves were growing. Fast. Each second that passed caused the waves to double in size. Not only that, a rip-tide was forming at the shore. The current headed straight for a collection of jagged, pointed rocks.

The high tide swept up a piece of driftwood and the rip sucked it in toward the jagged rocks. In only a matter of seconds, the log smashed into the solid slabs before swiftly being obliterated. The waves erased any evidence that it once existed.

Noah had researched a lot about the ocean just in-case he had to start on a beach, and it came into practice. Rip-tides were difficult to detect from an untrained eye. If one didn’t know what to look out for, it was easy to become a victim to the overpowering force of nature.

But he knew where to look. His friends had pointed it out to him a countless number of times. It was like a sandwich. Stay clear of the clear wave next to the white crashing waves. For the clear water ripple was the rip.

That was how he remembered.

Using his muscles to power over another incoming wave, he skimmed over it thanks to the leaf. It was then that he heard shouting from the shore. But more than that, he could feel the fighting intent from Krall.

He was ready to fight. Ready to complete his master's wish; to protect the ocean.

Noah flicked away the water that had blurred his vision. As it cleared, he noticed a group of humans emerge from the jungle tree-line. While the others were too far to make out their features, there was one person who was impossible to mistake. An enormous dragonborn–Thraz. There was also a humanoid full of thick hair. Which he didn’t remember seeing.

It must be Declan and the others.

They stopped in front of Krall. It looked like they were talking to each-other about something. Presumably on whether or not they risked fighting the heavily armoured Krall. It didn’t take long for one of them to act. The tall humanoid full of thick hair bolted forward with its weapons brandished.

Krall stood ready in a fighting stance copied from Noah. The furry humanoid was fast, reaching Krall in only a matter of seconds. Its strange weapons cleaved through the air and struck Krall.

Instead of worrying, Noah grinned. The connection within his mind told him that the hit had done nothing.

However, the next moment, a red glow emitted from the monster's weapon. It had activated a Skill.