Takai was terrified.

There was no other way to put it.

There wasn’t a single thing in the whole world that he feared more than facing the giant squids that had climbed up on the deck of the galleon at the moment.

He wasn’t thinking of anything, truly.

There wasn’t any deeper thought in his mind other than ‘I am dead afraid for my life right now.’

And he was within reason.

When he had faced the Abyssal Scuttlers back on Solara, Takai had known that his help would have been very valuable to the village as an Initiated.

And that was why he volunteered to kill the crab-looking monsters.

But, excluding the fiery feeling elicited by his mother’s overprotectiveness, he hadn’t been eager to fight.

Not at all.

Unlike Talia, who really wanted to prove everyone wrong, Takai had nothing to prove.

The only thing he wanted was to help.

He was dead afraid then and he was dead afraid now.

Nothing had really changed.

Plus, the reason why he had gotten injured in the first place against such a weak monster like an Abyssal Scuttler was that he had gotten cocky.

After killing two of the monsters with his Sword Skills, he simply relaxed.

And then, the moment fear had left him, Takai had lowered his guard and an Abyssal Scuttler had almost ripped an arm off him.

In fact, if it hadn’t been for one of the other guards, he would have indeed lost the arm forever.

That’s what was stopping Takai from jumping into the fray: knowing that he could get hurt.

Others loved to think about how heroic they would look or the power they’d gain from this, or perhaps even their future as Water Riders.

But him?

He thought that if an Abyssal Squid landed a good hit across his neck, he’d be done.

Forever.

Sure, he didn't like how his mother had babied him when he had gotten injured, but the truth was that hidden behind his protests to return to the fight again, Takai had really wanted nothing more than to be done with the fighting.

He might have never even been Initiated in the first place if he wasn’t friends with Talia.

It had always been Talia telling him to try harder when he had failed the talent test to qualify to be Initiated.

He would have been honestly fine doing nothing all day on the island and picking up a trade.

But he also listened to Talia when she said that he had talent in spades with a sword.

Still, when he had heard that Talia had failed the test, Takai had been really tempted not to go through with the idea of following her.

He knew that they were made of a different cloth.

Talia dove head-first into things that could get her killed, and she also had some weird juju about her that allowed her to pull through pretty much anything—she had proven it barely minutes ago when she had somersaulted into the air and gotten back on deck while everyone else in her position would have fallen in the water.

Even now, he had no idea how she had managed that.

No idea whatsoever.

And he was supposed to follow her cat?

Him?

How?

Takai wasn’t sure how he hadn’t died yet.

He was extremely self-conscious about the fact that his life wasn’t Talia’s and that even if he had some capabilities with the sword, that didn’t make him special.

Instead, he knew for a fact that Talia was.

And Fiora, too.

And even the weird guy with two daggers.

He knew that all three of them had something special going on.

Perhaps a few loose screws too, but who was he to judge?

He just knew that, deep down, he was just another guy going to the Academy, a guy who wasn’t destined for it or anything similar.

He was just…

There.

And pissing himself from fear.

But when he saw Talia struggling, dealing with two monsters at once, he felt a tug at his heart.

The same tug that had made him keep training, the same tug that had made him get on that rickety raft with her and not allow her to leave him behind.

Takai didn’t know what it was exactly.

He only knew what felt right and what felt wrong.

Now, standing still felt all kinds of wrong.

“Dammit,” he cried, using his sleeve to dry the snot going down his face and finally leaving the door.

Takai approached the front line with shaky legs.

He gripped his sword so tightly his skin felt like it would split.

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And his heart threatened to burst through his ribcage.

“I-I'm here,” he stammered, positioning himself beside Talia. His voice cracked, immediately betraying his resolution.

Talia glanced at him, relief and concern warring in her expression.

“Takai! Are you ready to-”

“No,” he interrupted her, swallowing hard.

But when an Abyssal Squid lashed out with its tentacle, aiming for Talia’s head, he inhaled deeply and moved his dominant foot forward.

Before a few days ago, Takai had never understood how his mother could know so much about swordsmanship if she had never been Initiated.

It made terrible sense when Talia revealed the truth about his mother in order to stop Akua from abusing her and hurting the village any further.

For years, Takai had practiced under Lani, his mother.

And that had made all the difference.

She had imparted everything she knew – or that’s what she always said, at least.

But the day Takai had come back with the raft from the Deep, Initiated alongside Talia and Fiora, his mother had not reacted well to his news.

That’s because he had inherited his father’s Affinity and Class.

That’s right, he was starting from exactly the same position as his father, the Sword Demon.

“[Silver Draw]!” Takai shouted the Skill after bringing the sword back to his side.

The tentacle that was about to smack Talia with its acidic suction cups flew over both of their heads.

Talia looked at him with wide eyes but immediately regained her focus.

“Give me an opening with this one!” The girl shouted at him, pointing her glaive at one of the two monsters in front of him.

Takai took a second to observe the situation, just like his mother had taught him to.

Battlefield awareness, Takai.

Those were his mother’s words.

And in a split-second, he saw Fiora struggle with her Abyssal Squid while the guy with daggers was still holding his own without a problem.

He felt like Talia’s judgment call wasn’t optimal.

Fiora was struggling too much, and it would take time to kill the two monsters Talia was personally dealing with.

Nonetheless, he decided to follow her lead.

Takai gritted his teeth, his sword flashing in the sunlight as he hacked at the Abyssal Squids' writhing tentacles.

Tentacles fell to the deck with wet thuds, only to be replaced by new ones moments later.

“[Double Slash]!” he called out, his blade blurring as it cut through two tentacles simultaneously.

Talia nodded in appreciation, readying her glaive. “Just a few more, Takai! I need a clear shot at its head!”

But for every tentacle Takai severed, two more seemed to take its place.

The Abyssal Squid's regeneration was relentless, its bulbous body pulsing as it kept regrowing lost limbs at an alarming rate.

Every second that passed, Takai could feel in his bones how wrong this approach was.

Talia wasn’t even looking at Fiora.

She was too focused on the enemy ahead!

“I can't keep this up forever!” Takai shouted.

The Abyssal Squids regenerated so fast that, not even a minute into the fray, he could feel the muscles in his arms burning from the exertion.

Talia's eyes narrowed in concentration.

Blood gathered around her glaive, forming a deadly, crimson edge.

“Just one more push!” She told him.

As Takai prepared another strike, they heard a moan of pain from behind.

Damn it! Takai thought, his fear momentarily forgotten.

He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw Fiora stumbling backward, clutching her arm where an Abyssal Squid's tentacle had struck her.

The blonde's face was contorted in pain, her Sunwater attacks faltering.

“Fiora!” Takai called out.

In that moment of distraction, a tentacle whipped past his guard, narrowly missing his face.

He stumbled back, barely keeping his footing.

“Focus, Takai!” Talia snapped.

Takai found himself torn.

Talia needed his help to create an opening, but Fiora was clearly struggling. The dagger-wielding recruit was too far away to assist her, locked in his own battle with the fourth Abyssal Squid. With a deep breath, Takai made his decision.

He knew Talia wouldn't approve, but he couldn't stand by like this.

“You two, go help Fiora! I can take these three for a moment!” Takai suddenly shouted with an asserting voice.

“What?!” Talia sounded incredulous.

The guy with two daggers just gave him a cursory glance before returning to his battle.

“I can do it, Talia! Go, please!”

“You—Are you—ok! Just don’t die on me!” Talia shouted, dodging a tentacle and rolling toward Fiora.

Professor Iakopo observed curiously as the drama unfolded before his eyes.

“Kill that one, I’ll keep these three at bay!” Takai said, and this time, even the dagger-wielding boy followed suit.

Takai’s first two Core Skills were nothing impressive.

[Silver Draw] was a Skill that relied on his Secondary Affinity, Silver Water, to empower a drawing strike.

Silver Water was the most powerful and the most limited, empowering Affinity.

Most Affinities granted a degree of magic and spells that allowed the users to execute incredible attacks right out of the box. Silver Water, instead, was an Affinity that was solely responsible for empowering the body of the wielder. That meant that whoever had Silver Water as their strongest Affinity was responsible for figuring out their own techniques.

If one didn’t know how to wield a weapon properly, Silver Water was essentially useless.

However, if someone did, it could be a devastating Affinity.

Takai clutched the sword and jumped in the middle of the three Abyssal Squids.

I shouldn’t have been so afraid of a Skill.

Many Skills, at their most basic level, like [Double Slash], were basically useless.

They were little more than empowered strikes that one could execute with a greater mastery over their Mana. However, the simplest Skills were also the ones that could evolve into the most terrifying Skills. [Double Slash], for example, could evolve into [Blade Tempest], one of the most powerful Skills a swordsman could wield without burning excess Mana.

He had one of such seemingly simple but devastating Skills – the same one that his father had honed until it made him the strongest swordsman of all and earned him the title of Sword Demon. Just like his old man, Takai had received it as soon as he had gotten the Class.

A Skill he had been afraid to use up to this moment.

His mother had told him to be very careful, that people might associate him with his father because of it, and that they would start treating him like they treat Talia.

But Takai was already an outcast.

And this was their only shot at passing Professor Iakopo's test.

“[Silver Mist]!” Takai shouted, hearing several gasps from the recruits behind him.

He felt his Mana rapidly leave his body.

As Takai activated [Silver Mist], a shimmering, silvery haze erupted from his body, quickly enveloping the area around him and the three Abyssal Squids.

The mist swallowed half the deck, creating an otherworldly, ethereal effect upon the otherwise clear, sunny sky.

Takai felt his Mana rapidly evaporating, pouring out of him in the form of a misty landscape.

But as his energy drained, his senses sharpened exponentially.

Through the silver haze, he could perceive every minute movement of the Abyssal Squids with crystal clarity.

Each twitch of a tentacle and each ripple of their bodies became as clear to him as if they were moving in slow motion.

He could see the entire battlefield with his eyes closed.

This was the legendary skill of the Sword Demon.

[Silver Mist] allowed its user to coat an area in a special mist that had a double effect.

Firstly, through [Silver Mist], one could easily see the enemies' and allies' every move. And it wasn’t a fuzzy, distant feeling – it was astoundingly precise even at Level 1.

The more one leveled the Skill, the more precise it became, with the higher levels allowing for a weak version of foresight that would grant one the ability to know immediately where the enemy would hit first.

Secondly, [Silver Mist] empowered blade strikes and, at higher levels, could be used to generate [Mist Blades] that worked as copies of one’s blade.

The recruits behind him gasped in awe.

This was the simplest, yet deadliest Skill a Silver Water user could wield.

An Abyssal Squid to his left lashed out with two tentacles.

Takai saw the attack coming as if it had been telegraphed minutes in advance.

He pivoted smoothly, his blade flashing as it cleaved through both tentacles in one fluid motion.

The monster screeched in pain, but another was already flanking him from behind.

Without even turning his head, Takai sensed its approach. He spun, his blade describing a perfect arc that caught the monster inches from its head.

The Abyssal Squid recoiled, dark ichor spilling from the wound.

“Incredible,” Takai heard someone murmur behind him.

But he couldn't afford to lose focus like he had done with the Abyssal Scuttlers.

The third Squid, perhaps sensing the danger Takai now posed, began to retreat.

But within the [Silver Mist], there was nowhere to hide.

Takai lunged forward with a blindingly fast dash.

With the two other monsters still confused amidst the mist and this one showing him its back as it tried to flee toward the main mast, Takai sensed an opportunity.

Now or never, he held his breath as he brought the sword to his side.

“[Silver Draw]!” He felt the mist aiding his body, making it move faster and propelling the blade forward even quicker than before.

And so, his sword pierced the space behind the creature's head, right between its eyes, and poked out from the other side.

The Abyssal Squid convulsed once, then went still.

[You have slain Abyssal Squid Level 7!]