In front of him stood a visage of pure ugly and vile, an absolute horror from the depths, a bottom-dwelling horrid creature whose toad-like and wart-infested green skin was partly covered by black scales on the legs, back, chest, and arms area; Its hands ended on long black skinny claws more than capable of tearing through meat and bone, and Einar was fully aware of this.

The monster lunged at him. Einar was unprepared for the assault. His sword was still slung across his back. It was nearly impossible for him to reach for it quickly enough and block the attack.

So he opted for the second best option; he dashed as fast as he could and pivoted out of range; he positioned himself on the right side of the monster, Einar cut the strap holding his sword and took hold of it before it could fall to the floor, then he used his still sheeted long-sword and clumsily stabbed the creature on the ribs, his intention wasn’t to cause damage, he wanted to create some distance between them, and he succeeded, the humanoid creature was launched some distance away causing it to lose its balance long enough for Einar to unsheathe his sword.

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The blade shone under the light of the lamplights. The experienced sailor readied his stance. The runes carved on the blade glowed as he poured mana into the family relic.

Einar channeled mana through his right leg. His muscles contracted, and the veins popped. He grabbed the sword with both hands, reading himself for a horizontal slash.

The monster recovered, it turned towards its prey, but it was already too late for him, he couldn’t react fast enough as the blade connected with his right flank, the sword broke the black scales, easily tore through its hide and finally every bone in its body.

The big lump of meat fell to the floor, blood poured from both halves.

“It’s mermen, captain!” Einar declared to the old man at the helm.