Knowing he couldn’t run or wait, Elem contemplated doing the opposite. What if he jumped towards the shark and simply kicked it in the gills? If he could show the shark that he was more trouble than he was worth, there was a chance he could dissuade the animal from attacking him. Or would a move like that just give the shark an opportunity to devour him? Elem wasn’t sure.
Whatever the case, he decided that worrying was pointless; he swallowed his fear and posted his body against the cliffside. Then, just when he was ready to jump forward, a sudden spark of Essence rattled through his body.
“Kappa!” he exclaimed.
Elem had been so distracted by the threat that he’d nearly forgotten about Summon. His Kappa was still swimming somewhere in the waters below and was now signaling that it had found something, possibly the cave they’d been looking for. Elem couldn't believe his luck. It was truly a miracle that he’d managed to hold on to his summoning trance this whole time, especially while focusing on something completely different.
He stirred his Essence towards the Kappa and called the Summon back to him. The Water Summon could surely deal with the shark but that would only help if it swam fast enough to reach the surface before the beast struck him.
It almost seemed as if the shark sensed the urgency brewing in Elem’s body. The beast abruptly dashed forward. Its large nose breached the water as it tussled, revealing rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth. Elem felt a rock cut into his skin as he staggered backwards and wondered how he ever even considered attacking the massive fish.
“Great,” he grumbled, realizing that his blood would probably pull the shark deeper into its murderous frenzy. Elem gritted his teeth. He knew he was done for.
However, instead of scarlet, the ocean water colored a luminous blue. A sweet, sweet color that Elem had seen many times before.
“No way!” he exclaimed. “No freaking way!”
A pillar of beaming water spouted up from the depths, instantly ripping the unexpecting shark in two. The attack came with a greater velocity than the shark’s severed body parts could register and Elem watched the fish helplessly squirm and flail until it died shortly after.
The Kappa leaped up from the water seconds later and triumphantly landed on the shark’s drifting remains.
Elem stared at the Kappa with disbelief. His Kappa was an amazing Summon. It had too often been dismissed as a weak, Common Class Summon, but the stubborn creature had been defying the odds time after time. And now, the Kappa had even heroically saved Elem’s life.
Once the Kappa jumped off the shark, Elem raced towards the Water Summon and threw his arms around its shell.
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“Did you find the cave?” he asked.
The Kappa twisted its head like a confused dog- Elem was almost certain that the Summon had never been hugged before- and then let out an affirming hiss.
“Good,” Elem continued. “Now you know where it is, we just have to find a way for me to go down without drowning.”
The Kappa peered into the depths before nodding, indicating that it had an idea. It seemed to understand Elem’s problem with breathing while underwater. As reptilians, Kappas didn’t have gills to extract oxygen from the water and were forced to go up for air every now and then themselves. It gently pulled Elem below the waves and began manipulating the water, forming a large bubble of air around its summoner’s head so he could breathe.
When Elem tightened his grip around its shell, the Kappa began its descent. The Water Summon guided Elem through the kelp forest, smoothly sliding between the red-green mash of bubbled leaves and vines until the sunlight had almost fully disappeared.
Then, the Kappa swam over to the cliffside where it pointed at a car-sized cavity hidden behind a cluster of seagrass. Elem winced as they entered. Not only was the cave pitch black and narrow, it also appeared far deeper than he had initially anticipated.
Luckily, the cup atop the Kappa’s skull exerted just enough light for them to see their path and traverse further. Light or no light, Elem kept his eyes shut and tried not to think about the chance they’d bump into something that could pop the bubble containing his oxygen.
While the Kappa navigated through the tunnel, Elem had his hands full with maintaining his connection with the summon. He’d been summoning non stop for some time now and doing so while swimming, searching, and battling a shark had only added to his exhaustion. On land, this would’ve been the moment he’d plop down and take a break but that wasn’t an option now. As a summoner, he was the anchor that pinned Kappa to the physical realm and once he’d stop cultivating or ran out of Essence the Summon would simply disappear before his eyes and leave him to drown.
Just a little more, Elem thought to himself. Inside the cavernous tunnel, he had little access to External Essence so Elem worked hard to garner more internal energy from his body. Still latching onto Kappa with his left hand, he hoovered the other over his own abdomen- the part of the body known for generating and storing most Essence- and began forming improvised cultivation patterns. The energy danced at the smooth movements of his wrist and the firm presses of his palm, pumping through it through his tired body.
He had to dig deep. Very deep; but he could only go forward. There wasn't enough space in the tunnel to turn around and he did not intend to die in some watery grave.
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Elem could only frantically gasp for air when the Kappa finally reached the end of the tunnel and dragged him onto the rocky floor of an underground cave. As his Summon disappeared, Elem lay flat on his back for some time, simply trying to catch his breath while staring at the stalactites protruding down from the ceiling.
A strong incense-induced aroma wafted through the cavern’s interior, entwining with its stale and musty atmosphere. The chamber itself was illuminated by a faint blue glow, similar to that emitted by the Sacred Fountain he visited on Thunderbird Mountain. He had finally reached Unagi’s Water Temple.
“We did it,” Elem mouthed in between breaths. “We did it Kappa! You see? Nothing can stop us!”
A jolt of Essence pulsed through his energy depleted veins.
The Kappa agreed.