"I-I don't want to anymore," Mathias said, backing away.

He looked at the gentle face of the woman from afar, who seemed infatuated with him, and backed away.

"Come on... if not you, who else?"

"T-that... do you not know what that is?!"

"Someone that sure as hell looks easier than a giant rock gorilla!"

"Or a sand snake!" Added Ayla irritably, still upset he refused to wash out the sand when she came to. Another female student obliged her request and she was soaked and still felt sand in her clothes. "Just do it! Synthy, you're fine with it, right?"

"Yeah, it's no big deal."

Synthy was stretching her arms and legs, rubbing her wrists, and verifying the quantity and quality of fire that coaxed her entire right half above the torso and below her head.

"They, that's an Undine! Y-you never mess with one!"

"That's what people should say about sand snakes! Deal with it!"

Ayla only saw a busty woman about her height that was entirely comprised of water. It was nesting in one of the larger ponds made from the waterfall. While it was probably strong, it had a human shape. And even seemed capable of conveying more human-like emotions, if the winks and smiles she cast Mathias' way were any indications.

Ayla did not understand why Mathias was so scared. Two other male water mages refused to say a word or even look at her. They, however, were not noticed at all - except by the Undine. Another did not even notice the stare she directed his way - on account of just not looking up once he heard the other two mention the name.

"It-"

"Yeah, yeah. You lucky bastard! Build the bridge already!"

"Earth Wall!"

Since the formation was reverted back to its original form, the formation allowed the easier use of earth spells to build a bridge. There were not even any whirlpools. However, with Mathias not moving, Erik sighed and said, "Synthy."

She grabbed him by the collar and dragged him inside with her left arm. Despite the size differential, she easily dragged him past the moat and the Undine jumped up eagerly to receive her visitors.

Two scarlet gems appeared in her eyes.

"Fire Lance!"

Synthy said, casting a spell directly at the undine. It just disappeared. Mathias already broke out of her grip and was jumping over every puddle and stream he saw.

Just as he cleared a stream and was about to jump over another pool, he skidded to a stop. The undine, once on the opposite side, appeared suddenly and gave a sultry smile.

"N-no!"

He grabbed the ice-coated staves on his back and swung them erratically. He was too stressed out to think. The undine did not mind at all. She just moved forward.

Flames erupted from her chest and head, but it was reformed instantly.

"... What? What is going on?" Synthy shouted.

Her fifth punch did nothing to wound or slow down the undine. She was acting the escort since the creature seemed fixated on Mathias.

They were immortal. Not in the sense that they don't simply age; rather, they just can not be killed - at all. Trapped, perhaps, but not killed.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Except he had no way of dealing with a (male) water mage's worst nightmare.

He ran away. He even cut off another student who was about to climb the ledge. Mathias did not care. He cast off all the water on his body, but ran into Synthy who tore through a puddle going the other way to cut him off - she launched the water at him.

Mathias recoiled and pushed away all of the water he could. Except a coating no larger than a palm print appeared on his arm.

"Dam-"

A woman grew from his arm.

She pressed her arms forward, carefully cradling Mathias' head as he tried to scream. She just gently covered his mouth before he could and let gravity take them to fall beside a small stream.

With one arm completely weighed down by the undine's forming body, he jabbed his free staff into her chest.

Ice crystals began to form in her clear stomach, but it was too slow. He had to try something else.

She opened up the mouth on her expressive face, licking her lips, and sharpening her canines.

The fire burst her head apart again. As if by obligation, the undine nodded to the female she ignored, but felt herself rise.

Mathias yelped when he saw her scarlet eyes look at him sadly. All the beasteries said that that was the sign that they no longer cared about playing, they became disinterested and simply opted to begin siphoning the blood of the water mage's veins. Synthy struck again, brows twitching as she felt annoyed at any tangible progress. Even if the head was gone for another moment longer.

The Undine still, however, sharpened her watery nails and cut across his chest while ignoring the clear lack of a head on her own shoulders. Once it reformed, she tasted his blood thoughtfully, licking her nails.

Mathias finally managed to shift all the water in his immediate surroundings and isolate the particles of water on him. And he pushed.

The undine was sent flying, engulfing Synthy, but Mathias was already gone. He started climbing a seemingly unnecessary path, bouldering to the left and right instead of where other, simpler paths existed as he felt the body near him.

She appeared atop the middle ledge, completely ignoring the others who stiffened seeing her so close. Rather, she sat cross-legged in a pool and slowly dug her nails into the earth. Channels were playfully cut out of the sediment from overhead. Water trickled just beside his shoulder and she smiled brightly when he jumped another hold - nearly falling as a result. She appeared on another pool closer to that side and carved out a new channel.

Her smile indicated that she became slightly interested again.

He gripped another dry rock and pulled himself to the side. She uncrossed her legs, leaned forward provocatively, and cupped her hands with making a show of holding it over the ledge. Small as it was, it was enough to paralyze the terror-stricken boy.

The water splashed closer.

Mathias, already ten meters up, grimaced, and leaped towards the wet area once more.

If she landed on him and he fell, he was sure she would take her time killing him while his back would surely give out and he'd be unable to move. The rock gorilla's attack was not kind to him.

He jumped and pulled himself up the next ledge, seeing the others already descending, and saw Synthy finally coming up as well.

Mathias hesitantly stuck out his staff. He felt a pool above him, below him, and directly in front. He wanted nothing more than to get off this formation, so he decided to risk it.

As the top sections of the water froze, he greedily built up the mass in each staff. The staves, once no thicker than two inches, tripled. Except for the ice he intentionally left on its surface burst open.

With a look that seemed to convey, 'surprise! It's me!' The undine sauntered forward, clearly amused at sensing the ice.

It goaded him to act too. It ran its finger down its breast and stopped below where he stabbed it before. He obliged.

The undine laughed silently, nesting her cheek in her palm as the hard ice completely enveloped its torso. And he cut through the legs, then shoulders, and finally neck, and scowl. Freezing one aspect of its body only prevented the weight from becoming unbearable - not to disarm its claws, fangs, or malleable legs.

He ran in primal terror.

Had he used any other ice, she would have broken free immediately. This gave him a minute, tops, but he felt a hand grip his arm as was forced to allow the water to wash over him. He couldn't bring himself to look. He climbed up the last ten meters in seconds, jumped down each ledge, and saw Synthy waiting from the corner, impatiently glaring at him as she was unwilling or unable to keep pace with his eccentric movements.

Mathias kept running and she finally saw it: a detached head was latched onto his neck, arms wrapped around his chest as the claws dug into his flesh, and even two tendril-like legs coiled around his legs, digging into his flesh with their own talons.

He ran straight across the water, tripping thrice, as scarlet puddles appeared were he collapsed before he quickly righted himself.

Synthy looked up to see an icy cage shatter just in time for him to run out of the boundary.

Everyone else in attendance finally saw the barbed tendrils with talons, clawed fingers, and the vampiric teeth still wet with his blood.

A torso appeared, bounced, and collected her body parts for no other reason than she wanted to savour the blood of a male water mage with her full essence.

Synthy was thankful that the bridge was still in place as the Undine let out an all-too-human smile, a wave, and began cradling her own cheeks in her palms. As if to suggest that there was nothing Synthy could do to hurt it at all.