The cyclops burst onto the beach, crushing its way through the tree line. The monster swayed as it adjusted to the strange feeling of the sands shifting underneath its feet. The creature's single eye stared down at Malysseus as he drew his cutlass. The monster faced off with him from thirty meters away.

Further down the beach, the crew fought about what action to take. Many argued the crew could not abandon their Captain again, still feeling the guilt from doing so earlier. Several of the others swore they would not approach the cyclops. Ultimately, Kewari swayed the vote to a decision. The crew would escape into the forest because it's what she believed Malysseus would want.

As the crew made their way into the forest, Gurten paused at the tree line. His gaze lingered on the two formidable fighters facing each other, knowing Malysseus was no match for a cyclops.

The cyclops unsteadily moved forward, heading in the direction of the crew. When the sailors disappeared into the forest, the monster tenuously made it back to the cover of the trees. Malysseus followed, cursing at the dregs remaining in the bottom of his Mana reservoir.

He had to sprint to catch up with the creature, but he did so, cutting through a giant misshaped sandal. An ice trail followed the blade as the cutlass sliced into the cyclops' foot. The creature growled in annoyance, returning its attention to Malysseus. He was forced to roll out of the way as a colossal foot tried to crush him.

Already panting from the exertion, he raised his cutlass, making another pass through the feet of the creature. He noticed something important through this process. The monster had a severe advantage in size and bulk, but it moved impossibly slowly when turning. He could use that to his advantage—somehow.

Some of the trees had been knocked aside by the giant. For the moment, Malysseus could watch his crew moving into the distance, out of sight. He filed their direction in his memory, knowing he would need to meet them in that direction. He wanted to lead the cyclops back to the beach, where its feet had been unsteady.

Calling on what little Mana remained, he fired a crystal spear into the cyclops. He didn't aim particularly well, hitting the creature in his shoulder. To his surprise, the crystal spear pierced straight through the skin. The crystal magic had been even more effective than Malysseus expected. Howling in rage, the cyclops slowly turned in his direction. He ran toward the beach so it would follow.

When he arrived at the beach, he went to base camp. Hiding behind one of the small dwellings, his line of sight to the cyclops was broken. Breaking his line of sight meant the creature would also need to seek him out. He was okay with that.

Malysseus breathed deeply with the few extra minutes he bought. His Mana reservoir slowly pooled fresh energy, tiny fractions at a time. He could feel the ground shaking as the creature slowly lumbered into the beach. He imagined it searching for him and forcibly suppressed the chuckle rising in his throat.

The capacity had reached about six percent when the cyclops made its move. With a roar, a giant tree trunk passed across the base camp, knocking over all the poorly constructed temporary buildings. Malysseus was forced to duck to avoid losing his head.

Searching around him for a way out, he saw only tattered remains of a base camp and a ship. Malysseus sprinted onto the dock in a burst of inspiration and made his way for the boat. With the right level of wind magic, he knew he could push the ship away from the pier. Once he was at sea, he could recover his magic. He could sail for another part of the island, using his spell for tracking headings to find his crew's direction through the forest.

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He called to the wind magic, pushing it into the limp sails of the Opportunity ship. As the magic stirred, the cyclops howled in fury. A realization clicked in Malysseus' head: the monster did not like magic. He leaped toward the ship, watching in horror as a giant tree trunk descended for it.

Blessedly, he could not jump far enough to land on the ship, reaching his hand for the railing. When the trunk crashed into the ship's middle, he simply braced his body, landing against the wooden side of the vessel. The surprise impact sent the breath rushing from him, and he tumbled into the water.

It took him a few moments to mentally collect himself from the shock. When his wits returned to him, Malysseus pushed himself to the surface, pulling in gulps of fresh air to fill his lungs. He spotted the cyclops standing on the shoreline and searching the waters. Its large nostrils sniffed the air, though the water likely washed out any scent he might be emitting.

Malysseus was a talented swimmer. With the ship destroyed, he sensed an opportunity to escape the monster at sea. He decided to swim to another part of the island, following his original plan, but without his ship.

The cold water was not pleasant to swim through, but he forced his muscles onward by sheer force of will. His hands cut through the freezing waters, propelling himself forward. He couldn't even count the minutes go by as he swam. His mind could focus on a single thing: move forward.

Finally, Malysseus began questioning his body's capability to continue moving forward. He needed to shake some of the cold from his bones. He turned his body, angling back to the beach. No cyclops was waiting for him. He tried to warm his body by collecting firewood in the sun's heat. The sun's warmth slowly dried him.

He lacked the energy to create fire through friction, so he took a chance to use magic. Malysseus, knowing he risked the cyclops finding him again, tossed a tiny mote of fire magic into the fire. The flames roared to life as he sat, shivering, and prayed the cyclops would not find him.

Not only did his body warm as he sat, but his Mana slowly recovered. The process was not quick without meditation, but it was much more comfortable. He breathed deeply of the warm air. No cyclops ever showed itself. He swam far enough away that the creature could not sense the magic.

Looking to the sky, as time passed by, Malysseus knew he needed to get moving. If he started soon, he would likely catch up with the crew before nightfall. Though only pathetic amounts of light leaked through the tight canopy in the daytime, it was better than nothing. Forcing himself to his feet, Malysseus doused the fire with sand and cast the spell to determine his heading.

He memorized the direction, knowing he couldn't cast any further magic in the forest. He couldn't risk it. Feeling very alone, with a deep sigh, he marched into the trees.

He could hear birds chirping, but they were not the noises of a predator. Since the trees were so large, it was easy to stealth through the area. Even the smallest fallen branches from the trees were not really twigs. They were still large enough to be considered the branches of a standard tree. Even in the soft light, they were easily visible.

On the other hand, the branches that fell from the trees resembled fallen logs. Malysseus made his way around them, trying to keep his focus on maintaining the proper heading. The longer he spent away from his crew, the more disturbed his mental state became. He nearly jumped out of his own skin as a frog let forth a powerful ribbit noise nearby.

He started jumping at shadows.

As he combed through the foliage, trying to follow the path indicated by his spell, he finally stumbled upon a trace left by the crew. He found their trail through sheer dumb luck as his spell merged with their heading. Solemnly, Malysseus made his way down this path until he found the mouth of a large stone cave. The rock led deeper into the earth.

The path led into the cave, so he followed. On the inside, he found his whole crew huddled together. They carried few supplies, relying on whatever they had been holding when the cyclops attacked the base camp.

The cave led deeper into the earth, but the crew sat in a vast room. Lighting another small torch in his hand, Malysseus looked around the room. He knew using the magic was a risk, but he already had a sneaking suspicion about the cave based on its size. In one corner, he saw a large pallet made of straw. In another section of the cave, he saw a large pile of rags. The misshapen leather looked precisely like the clothes the cyclops wore.

"You fools," Malysseus whispered as the cave's rock shook violently.