Chapter 516 Flashback To Cy's Quest (3)
"How are you doing?" I smiled, bringing I in for a quick hug before hopping on his boat. It was no bigger than two coffins, but it fit so much luggage that it might as well have been a cargo ship.
"Good, sir."
Teston, a rugged and weathered figure of the high seas. His tail is a shimmering tapestry of azure and seafoam green scales. His upper body, strong and muscular, contrasts with the graceful curves of his aquatic lower half. Yet, what sets him apart from his fellow merfolk is the singular eyepatch that stretches across his right eye.
The eyepatch is crafted from the leather of some long-forgotten sea creature, as dark and mysterious as the abyss itself. Its edges are frayed from years of saltwater exposure, bearing the scars of countless battles against the creatures of the deep. Affixed firmly over his right eye, it hints at a story untold. No matter how many times I ask, he refuses to tell me how he lost that eye, but I still haven't given up.
The merman's remaining eye, is a deep and penetrating emerald green, gleaming with a mix of wisdom and mischief. It holds the secrets of the ocean, having witnessed the hidden wonders of coral gardens, the haunting beauty of shipwrecks, and the graceful dance of elusive sea creatures. It's an eye that has scanned the endless expanse of the ocean's horizon, searching for the glimmering schools of fish that sustain him and his underwater community.
And finally, that luscious hair, a tousled mane of dark kelp, frames his weathered face, and a tangled beard of seaweed adorns his chin. He carries a trident fashioned from the bones of a colossal sea beast, a weapon and tool that has served him well in both the hunt and the defense of his underwater home.
"Did the grandma tell you where we're going?" I asked while tying the sail to the post and generally just helping I set up the boat. It was mostly powered by water magic, but once we got to the surface, everything depended on this man's skills.
"Yes sir," He quickly replied in a firm tone before taking the sail from me and setting it up himself. "Please let me do this. Just load the cargo into the rest of the storage compartments and we'll get going."
Well, I wasn't too good at helping. But besides that, these storage compartments, little wooden spaces carved into the boat held their own pocket dimensions. The modern-day invention within my eon would be something like a storage ring: a small pocket dimension that you basically wore on your finger. Depending on how much you paid, you would be able to fit a lot or very little.
As the anchor was untied from our vessel, the boat rose, with a gradual transition. Sunlight began to filter down, casting enchanting beams into the abyss. The surface was tantalizingly close, a shimmering mirage that beckoned me upward.
The iridescent jellyfish, their translucent tentacles aglow with otherworldly colors, encircled the boat like a pulsating net. With a swift and practiced thrust, I jabbed my gleaming spear at their reaching appendages.
The sleek, predatory shark, its muscular form slicing through the water with predatory grace, circled relentlessly. It darted in with sudden bursts of speed, seeking to seize an advantage. But I was relentless, parrying its advances with the precision of a seasoned warrior, and occasionally slipping in a few stabs to ward them off.
The school of barracuda, their silver scales gleaming like blades in the filtered sunlight, surged forward in a coordinated attack. With fluid motions, my spear became a blur, slashing through the water in a deadly arc. This sent the pack of hungry fish into disarray, keeping them back as we continued to ascend.
And then, beneath the boat, the ancient guardian of the deep stirred. A colossal shadow, a behemoth of the abyss, loomed with a presence that sent shivers through the water. Its massive form moved with a deceptive slowness, hiding the power within.
With a thunderous burst of power, a leviathan, the guardian of the deep, surged upward, its massive jaws gaping wide, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. My heart pounded with exhilaration as I had to act swiftly.
With unwavering resolve, I met the leviathan's charge head-on. My spear became an extension of myself, a weapon forged by countless battles with the sea, sky, and earth. I aimed for the creature's gaping maw, seeking to strike a vulnerable spot.
The clash was cataclysmic. The guardian's immense head thrashed with fury, sending towering waves cascading in all directions. The boat rocked violently, threatening to capsize while still underwater. Yet, I clung to the vessel's edge, my muscles straining as I maintained the balance of the boat.
The sea churned with chaos as I and the leviathan engaged in a primal struggle for survival. The guardian's immense strength was undeniable, but my determination was equally unyielding. I drove the spear deep into the creature's jaw, eliciting a deafening roar of pain and fury.
The leviathan recoiled, its enormous body writhing in agony. Blood clouded the water, a testament to the damage inflicted by my spear. Yet the guardian refused to yield. With a final, desperate lunge, it attempted to swallow the boat whole.
"[Deaths Departure]."
In a heart-stopping moment, my entire spear was covered in an eerie aura of hanging skulls. And in an instant, I twisted and thrust the spear into the creature's eye, a desperate, last-ditch effort to save the boat. The guardian convulsed in agony, its eye a grotesque, empty socket as the particles of death began to eat away at its very atoms.
With a triumphant holler, Teston scrambled to the boat's helm, steering it further away from the thrashing leviathan.? And just like that, the ancient guardian, blinded and mortally wounded, descended back into the abyss, its immense form disappearing into the depths.
"Tsk... that would have given me so much experience..." I complained, but upon seeing the surface, I decided to only look ahead.
... nOVe-lB-1n
As the small wooden boat finally broke the surface of the ocean, an ominous stillness hung in the air. The moment of triumph was short-lived, for the tranquility was shattered by a deafening roar that reverberated through the water. Emerging from the depths, a colossal, nightmarish creature rose to confront the vessel: a massive Kraken, a creature of legend and terror.
"Shit... Teston, just steer. I'll handle this," Cy announced as he felt every bit of his mana sap away at the presence of the mythical creature. "This is what I hate about these things..."
The Kraken's immense tentacles, thick as ancient tree trunks and covered in slimy, iridescent scales, erupted from the churning water. They lashed out with malevolent intent, striking the boat with a resounding thud. The vessel quivered, its timeworn wood creaking in protest.
Cy, his heart pounding with a mixture of fear and determination, clung to the boat's edge as the tentacles closed in, their suckers like grotesque mouths hungry for prey. In one hand, he gripped his trusty spear, while the other held onto the boat for dear life.
The Kraken's tentacles, thick and sinewy, struck the boat with bone-rattling force. They coiled around the vessel, their sucker-covered ends resembling monstrous mouths hungry for a feast. Cy clung to the boat's edge with white-knuckled determination, the cold spray of seawater and the acrid stench of the Kraken's breath assaulting his senses.
With lightning speed, Cy countered each strike of the tentacles with his trusty spear. The wood and steel became an extension of his very being, a lifeline in this desperate struggle. He aimed for the gaps in the Kraken's armor-like scales, driving the spear deep into the creature's flesh, seeking to wound and weaken his monstrous adversary.
The Kraken, a creature born of nightmares and legends, was relentless. Its tentacles whipped and coiled, encircling the boat, and threatening to crush it into splinters. Cy's body strained against the onslaught, his muscles aching with exhaustion, but he refused to yield. He fought on, fueled by a determination to protect not only himself but the vessel that represented his dreams and aspirations.
The sea itself seemed to rage around them, waves crashing in turbulent fury as if echoing the ferocity of the battle. The boat rocked perilously, its timeworn wood groaning in protest. Saltwater and sea spray mingled with sweat and blood, creating a salty, metallic taste in Cy's mouth.
As Cy's spear struck true, finding vulnerable spots in the Kraken's massive form, the creature let out an otherworldly, guttural scream of pain and fury. Its tentacles spasmed, thrashing with wild abandon, creating whirlpools of foaming water and chaos.
With a final, desperate lunge, Cy managed to pierce the Kraken's colossal eye. The creature's agonized wail pierced the air, and its inky blood poured into the water like a morbid curtain.
Blinded and wounded, the Kraken recoiled in horror, releasing its grip on the boat. This allowed Teston to easily steer away with the assistance of water magic, slowly bringing us towards the ghostly cove of fog not too far in the distance.
