Tens of familiar humanoids were gathering on a rocky beach, jumping out from the water together with their prey in the form of a lizard’s corpse. Naked and armed with just a single long knife, they immediately started to cut through the flash to take the desired trophy – the heart. Every time one of the underwater men raised its prize into the air, the horn sounded over the surroundings as to celebrate the accomplishment. The loud praise ended with a huge bite of fresh from the cut organ. The action was followed by granting a winner the odd armored robe and a short spear with a wide serrated blade. No one even bothered to clean themselves from the blood and guts after butchering the dead predator.
The armor was blue and clearly made from the leather of an unknown creature. Tight-fitting not to be a liability in water, it covered an owner from the chest to knees, leaving shoulders open. It was almost a copy of defensive gear worn by others, differing only by additional pattern, pictured on it. The very same unique pattern that they already had on their skin but made in multiple colors. The sole exception was the taller amphibian humanoids, who were leading this potential adulthood or warrior ceremony as their equipment could also boast a decoration from lizard’s teeth.
However, the leader had some kind of crown on his head, which looked like made from horns. Towering above others, he was most likely very old. Robert wasn’t totally sure about otherworldly anatomy and their process of aging. Still, the fact that earlier light grey skin had turned into almost pure white while getting a lot of wrinkles in the process, was a partly confirmation of such theory. Despite that, the leader’s physique wasn’t influenced at all as bulging muscles on an easily five-meter (over 16 ft.) tall figure looked intimidating and not weak in the slightest. Especially with a long double-blade spear in his hands.
Just by observing them, quite a few Rob’s questions finally got their portions of answers. Those humanoids not only were sapient but had their own civilization deep under the water. Using the lizards in their ritual, they defiantly honored the combat prowess as otherwise, Rob couldn’t see another reason why they had to fight with them naked with just a single knife. The second point was a confirmation about this world – the bigger the creature, the older it was. It didn’t change anything but still was an interesting fact for him.
Okay, now is the real question – what to do? Do I try to speak with them or is it better to hide my presence? My God’s Envoy trait may give me the ability to communicate with them, but it doesn’t make them friendly by any means. Not sure how they will react to my appearance. Moreover, so much blood of small lizards can provoke them… Oh, crap!
Realizing it, Robert immediately turned around only to see rushing figures of multiple predators. There were no angry roars, but the hisses were enough to make him tremble from incoming danger. There were too many lizards, way too many not only for him but also for three dozen of amphibians.
“Be ready, the marked ones! You stayed loyal till this point, surviving a death battle with just a single fang. It is your valor that has finished the ritual of summoning those foul creatures, but the hardest part will be right now. Swim in their blood, eat their hearts, cut their bodies so their cowardness will leave no option, but to call for the help of their Queen – because only her entity can produce a powerful enough heart to become a Reborn Dra’lo’Kiaj. I need your help, your strength, and even your lives to keep our Kingdom united by my rule for another life as it is the only way to prevent an incoming inner war. And be sure – I will not forget your sacrifices, your efforts, your courage. For the Deep!”
The odd grinding voice sounded in Rob’s mind, making him halt his movements in an attempt to stop it. However, it appeared to be futile, as the strange unknown words, but with clear meaning still managed to slip inside as if there were no barriers on his mind. The constantly changing tone of this voice went from squeal to metal-metal grinding only to turn into a displayed violin with a mixture of fingernails squeaking on a slate. Maybe because there indeed were none – Robert never anticipated the psionic attack in the form of telepathy with a terrible tone. At least there was no answer – other amphibians just raised their spears up in acknowledgment before pointing forward.
Rob wanted to curse such a way of communication, despite understanding its usefulness for water creatures. With no sounds to hear, it was obvious they couldn’t compare with anything to hear how horrible it was. He also wanted to wonder about their possibility of staying on the surface as he clearly remembered their gills. However, he couldn’t do it as the first row of lizards was already nearing him with maws wide open.
The green car-sized creature was inches away from biting his head off when Robert conjured the round shield directly on his forearm, which was already placed in front of him. Rotating his torso to the side, he managed to decrease the impact by turning into a sliding hit. A moment later the shield disappeared, only to be replaced with a short sword in the other hand. A piercing strike cut through the neck, but it was not deep enough, it still managed to lead painful hiss from the predator. The latter tried to jump away from the danger, but Rob was already focusing on making multiple hooks right on the blade, which was still inside the flesh.
The pain caused an instinctive spurt of the big monster that almost sent Robert flying. However, with his grip strong, the endpoint of his brief hovering appeared the very same neck that the lizard wanted to hide. His attempt to conjure a thorn on his knee failed as formless something that appeared instead didn’t have any sharp edges. Still, the force behind the hit broke something as the creature dropped to the ground, failing to stand up. Raising the summoned giant axe, Rob immediately had to fall backward, barely avoiding the fate of being beheaded. The swing of a clawed paw from another monster cut through the air, leaving a deep mark on his face and sending a wave of fear of being overwhelmed by a sheer number of enemies. But this thought was thrown out by him as all his attention went to the surroundings, the lizards, his own movement and mostly conjuring.
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Trying to stand up, he summoned a shield once again to deflect the strike. The force from a multi-ton predator almost crashed him against the ground, cracking his bones in the process. Pushing him to the side, Robert simultaneously redirected the part of his mana’s flow to restore his injuries quickly before headbutting the lizard’s maw from the bottom. The teeth clenched, cutting off the painful hiss, which was a result of a steel horn that had conjured on Rob’s forehead a moment earlier. The dispersion of it blinded him for a moment, as a bloody waterfall covered his face. Still, that didn’t stop him – creating a short spear, Robert stroked with even with his eyes closed. The sharp end pierced the green skin but got stuck in the process.
Another mental command started to turn it into a wide thin blade right in the body of the creature, causing a painful scream from it. Rob only gripped the shaft tighter before pulling it to the side with all his strength. However, despite all his efforts, he couldn’t cut through, so after just a few seconds he changed his tactics. Decreasing the size of the blade of his improvised glaive, he slightly moved before resuming the blade again, thus widening the wound. Four repetitions appeared to be enough to cut through the neck of now dead creature.
Covered with blood on the top of previously applied feces, he stood motionless for a moment. Loudly sighing, he pushed himself to the first lizard, still trying to stand up to finish it with a strike of giant hammer, which was conjured up to the limit of the available weight. The loud splash ended its struggles but not Robert’s. Nothing was over as three more monsters were already surrounding him. Hissing from the distance, they were quite eager to rush onto him, only being halted by a mixture of fear and caution. However, Rob was sure it wouldn’t last long before it would be pushed aside by a bloodthirst.
Slowing down his restoration ability to the bare minimum so as not to overstress his body in case of emergency, Robert wiped his face a few times as the blood was obstructing his vision. Calmly turning around and placing himself between two bodies of fallen lizards, he created a spear before pointing it forward. There was no fear in him right now, as it already died out at the beginning of their battle. He felt nervous, but it was more from expectations of another confrontation. Maybe somehow those predators caught his resolve, resulting in their pause.
There were sounds of fighting between amphibians and monsters in the background, which attracted most of them. Rob had a small hope that the first would manage to hold their ground, so he would try to communicate with them. The timed help from him might picture him in a good light, setting the foundations for their future cooperation. He might even…
“Fight to the death, the marked ones!”
A sudden familiar voice, which felt like the mixture of the most awful sounds, attacked his mind with a new telepathic message. That led to almost dispersing his weapon when his whole concertation was redirected to the protection of his mind. Rob even closed his eyes involuntarily. He opened them in the next moment, already foreseeing a bad consequence of such action. Rob appeared to be right as the nearest lizard managed to cover half of the distance between them.
Stupid fish!
Pressing the opposite side of his spear into the rocky ground, Robert focused on making it in the form of a huge icicle for better toughness. Unfortunately, this time either his aim wasn’t good, or the lizard reacted in time. The sharp point only left a deep scratch on its head, drawing just some blood. Still, that stopped the monster for a moment as it tried to avoid being pierced. However, such a pause led to another predator jumping directly onto the first one, creating a mess between the two bodies. The mess, which Rob immediately tried to capitalize on.
Climbing on the corpse to the left, he pushed himself up, before rising into the air right above the head of one overgrown animal. Despite the need for enough time to conjure properly formed things, just pure creation was almost instantaneous. Therefore, the weight of Robert himself with the addition of at least a third part of it on top of the summoned ball almost broke the neck of the unlucky predator. Not wasting any time, Rob rolled to the side right underneath the second one. Pushing himself forward, he struck one of the rear legs a few times with a giant hammer, breaking the bone in the process before finally distancing from both wounded lizards. That ended badly, as the last lizard wasn’t going to stay behind.
It was much smaller than others, which could be the reason why it wasn’t rushing forward. However, smaller didn’t mean small as its maw was enough to almost bite Robert in two parts if he wasn’t fast enough to create metal plates on both his chest and back. The grinding sound of screeching teeth over the steel was awful, but the feeling of pressure was even worse. The air was pushed out from his lungs, while the ribs were on the verge of breaking. An attempt to strike with a conjured sword ended with nothing as the lizard started to swing its head chaotically, almost making Rob vomit. That feeling reminded him he tried to strangle the beasts, so he pushed all his available mana into creating a giant cork inside the creature’s maw.
The steel again confirmed its toughness as an unnatural wide opening in the mouth soon led to a painful silent hiss from the lizard. Turning around his body, Robert pushed it further, breaking it in the process. Dropping down on the ground near an almost unconscious predator, he finished it by piercing its brain through the eye before walking to other wounded creatures. The first one was already crawling away, but a few hits of the lumber axe broke its legs. Soon, everything had ended, leaving bloodied Robert’s figure in the middle of five giant corpses.
I am sorry, but I need to kill – your souls are my possible way out if I don’t manage to achieve the set goal. Not sure that God will take them, but I don’t want to return empty-handed again. Too risky. So either you, or me. Not a difficult choice to make.
Despite ruthless behavior in the battle, Robert wasn’t happy to take the lives of wounded animals. Yes, animals, as those lizards were ordinary predators. Huge, but ordinary. Their sizes made him aim for a neck, eyes, or joints, but sometimes it wasn’t needed as with his strength that long passed the Earth's genetic maximum Rob could break their bones without many difficulties. He didn’t want to exterminate the whole population, hunting only when needed and simply hiding in other cases. However, this wasn’t the time for such principles as his main goal was approaching.
The enormous beast was hastily moving toward the group of amphibians. Somehow it was obvious that the giant was on the verge of blowing up from rage and hatred. Robert couldn’t understand how he felt, but it was clear that the alpha predator wasn’t going to stop until each of them would end up dying here. Yes, each, as, despite its focus on location with most enemies, it still spared a single glance towards Rob’s position clearly also marking him as a future target.
Likewise, lizard, likewise! Okay, here goes nothing! Do or die! Wait... there is another giant for a second attempt. So, try once before doing or die. Yeah, that’s correct. GO!