It felt like slow motion. Synexus was desperately swimming back to the Windswept. His heart was beating incredibly fast, and he was pushing the limits of his body. He looked up to see how far away he still was when he saw something massive ram the ship. Time stopped as he saw his home for the last three weeks crack. The entire ship was pushed into the air and an explosion of force tore across the ocean.

  The next thing he knew, a giant wave was pushing him farther and farther from his friends. His head cracked against what was left of a ship hull which finally stopped him. He could still see the tentacles in the distance, but the wave had pushed him too far to swim back.

  Debris surrounded him in every direction. That wave had pushed everything away. Anything that didn’t hit against a tentacle was at least a mile away. One thing that caught his eye was a part of one of the tentacles that had been shredded had caught the wave and ended up next to him. Being careful not to touch the outside, he pressed his sensors where the saliva wasn’t.

  Abyss, the Deepest Fear 28%

  Kraken Muscle has been added to Material Database

  Kraken Tongue has been added to Material Database

  Nightmare Aether has been added to Material Database

  Water Aether has been added to Material Database

  Fear Aether has been added to Material Database

  Kraken Blood has been added to Material Database

  Material Database has leveled up!

  Genome Library has leveled up!

  The levels were unexpected. He left his sensors on longer and the percentage started to tick up, but it would take way more time than he had. He put it in his thief plant and looked around more, but there was nothing else of interest. There was a floating piece of wood that could hold his weight. He got on and then used his Body Transmutation to turn his arm into a makeshift oar to row back over to his friends.

  ***

  “They should have left with my warning.” Gene said out loud. The Living System could feel the powers converging. The initial attack from Abyss had been a surprise, but Nihil wasn’t trying to hide at all. All the feelings they were getting were overwhelming for the vessel that Synexus had prepared.

  Gene warned Layola because she was closest. She ran to tell Vorin, but it was too late. The owl knew this and darted after her. The sun was blinding, and the smell was worse. They didn’t have time to react. Nihil had attacked.

  Flapping their vessel’s wings, the owl caught themselves in midair. The attack was brutal. Layola was nowhere to be seen, and the ship was destroyed. With a quick look around, Gene saw Synexus being pushed away on a giant wave. The shark had outdone himself. Without a second thought, Gene flew towards his friend.

  ***

  The attack had lasted fifteen minutes from the initial attack. It was still late afternoon, and the sun was shining down on the ocean. Synexus was hanging onto his piece of wood, his makeshift oar was awesome, but his arm was getting tired. He knew there was still awhile to go before he got back. What was worse was that the tongue tentacles started to disappear. Some looked to fade away while others retracted beneath the waves. The fight was moving, which was good since he could still feel the force of their powerful attacks. Their power was unbelievable.

  After nearly twenty minutes of rowing, a familiar looking bird flew down from above. Gene had found him.

  “I’m glad to see you! Do you know what happened?”

  “Nihil attacked. The ship was covered in the blood of Abyss and was unfortunately decimated in the attack.”

  “That’s what I thought. I got pushed way out here by a massive wave. I can’t comprehend their power. You were right, we should have fled.”

  “Yes, I should have pushed harder on the warning. These two have become absolute terrors. I saw you being dragged along by the wave and took off.”

  “Well, I’m heading back to try and figure out what happened to our friends. The fight is heading away from us.”

  “I would advise against that, but I know it will fall on deaf ears. I too would like to know the fate of the people aboard the Windswept, but first we should find something more stable than that piece of wood. The blood from the battle will surely draw in more sharks. You should be fine against regular ones, but magical ones will be a different story. I saw one of those floating forests a little over that way.” Gene pointed to their right.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Synexus changed course and they rowed towards a better situation. It only took them ten minutes to spot the floating forest which, calling it a forest, was generous. It was more like a group of five castaway trees. Once on the roots, Synexus realized they couldn’t hold a lot of weight, but each tree could probably hold one person. He pushed some mana into them with Extreme Growth and the roots became thicker. Their foliage became thicker and some large fruits that looked like coconuts started to grow. Naturally, he knew these were the seeds. Each one produced ten to twelve and he continued to use his ability to turn his safety raft into a proper forest. After seven minutes, the five trees floating together had turned into almost sixty full grown castaway trees. It was massive and the roots were overlapping with each other making a more secure raft.

  Normally, the floating forests go with the natural currents of the ocean, but Synexus used his oar to direct it toward the graveyard. It was much harder now and he realized that he should have waited, but it was too late. On they went with Gene taking a perch on a branch in the center being the lookout.

  With the increased size and the exhaustion, it took them another hour and a half to get back. It was desolate. There was silence except for the distant sounds of the battle that caused this destruction. Synexus felt sick looking at all the bodies floating in the water. Sometimes sharks or other sea creatures would drag them underneath. This looked like a hurricane had strolled through. Ship remnants and body parts were everywhere. It took another thirty minutes to find the shipwreck they wanted.

  There wasn’t much left of the Windswept, but Synexus would recognize the wheel anywhere. Close by he had also found the name plate that hung right below the wheel on the raised lip where the wheel stood. It had some holes in it, so Synexus used Accelerated Repair to make it whole again. Then he put the wheel and the name plate into the thief plant.

  All the bodies nearby were pirates except one. Layola had died and her body was floating along the surface. The animals hadn’t gotten to it yet. Synexus’ heart ached and felt a sense of rage for not being on board to protect her. What if his other friends had already been dragged under or melted away by the Ullashtt?

  He dragged her corpse aboard and wrapped it in a wet sheet that was nearby. If Laiko was alive then he knew that a proper burial was needed. Gene got silent when staring at her corpse. The owl felt a sense of guilt. They had survived, but not her. They were the only reason that she ran up on deck to meet her fate. It was no one’s fault. Things had gotten out of control and when it was that chaotic anything could have happened, but still. This would haunt the owl for a long time.

  After a moment to process the horrific discovery, they decided that no one else was there. They either swam away, got picked up by the pirate ships, or died. It was heartbreaking since the ocean was vast. The chances of finding them again were slim. His friends were lost and Synexus couldn’t do anything about it. It was aggravating. How could someone have abilities like his own and feel so helpless?

  That’s when he remembered something. Kumo and himself had purchased tracking rings for emergencies. Pulling his out and putting it on, it started to tug him in a specific direction and that was enough. They started their exhausting row in the direction that the ring was telling them to go. Sunset would be upon them soon.

  Gene called out to say that they spotted someone at the edge of the debris. Synexus quickened his rowing with excitement. Sure enough, in a pile of debris lay a body on a plank of wood. As they got closer, Synexus realized he knew the survivor. It was the pirate captain that had come aboard at the start of this. Minily.

  She was unconscious and it looked like half the skin on her face was melted off. Synexus pulled her onto the roots and shook her awake. Her eyes filled with fear immediately until she realized who he was. That was when he realized that her mouth had melted shut at the lips. He produced one of his pears before realizing it and now he regretted it. Before he could figure out what to do, she pulled a knife out and cut her lips apart. The pain she must have been in would be extraordinary, but she didn’t show it. There was no hesitation in her actions at all. His pear was gone in seconds, and he produced fresh water for her from his bag.

  His fruit was a miracle that saved a lot of lives during this for all the good it did since those souls were probably lost at sea now from the wave. All the same, he was glad that it was something he put effort into. In minutes the injuries on her face started to heal. The way health points worked was they would be expended to heal wounds. If your resource pool was empty, then there was nothing to spend to repair. At that point, you just hoped your body would hold out. Her resource pool must have been empty because within ten minutes, her wounds were gone.

  “Thank you! I thought I was a goner for sure.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay. I was afraid there for a second. What happened?”

  “I got hit the face by that damn kraken. The saliva started to melt my skin away, but my healing ability fought against it. I ran out of the health points and the saliva wore off. My system needed an infusion of health points which your pear apparently gave me. That thing is amazing!”

  “Thanks, it’s my own creation. I know you were preoccupied with the battle and almost dying, but is there any chance you know what happened to my friends?”

  “Oh yeah, I saw them and the king captain swimming off this way. I tried to yell out, but my mouth was melted shut. Instead, I attempted to follow and only got this far before passing out.”

  “That’s great news! Do you know if everyone was with them”

  “Sorry, I don’t. I was a little out of it. There were a lot of them though. Some were other pirates, but most were people from your ship. What do you say about travelling together to find them?”

  “Of course! I thought that was already what was happening. I would never leave someone here. I could also use the help with rowing. It’ll be dark soon. I worry for their safety.”

  “As do I, but we aren’t exactly safe either. Let’s get some longer pieces of wood to use from that debris and head out, Synexus.”

  They both smiled and went to work. Finding two suitable pieces of wood was easy enough. They also found some other supplies that could prove useful. It had only taken them a few minutes of searching and then they were on their way in the direction that Minily saw them go. If the group was swimming with class expected, then they should be able to catch up quickly. Unless the group had gone off course or ran into trouble.