Blood streaked down his face, his gi torn open and hanging loose, the healed scar on his stomach still visible beneath shredded fabric. He didn't move. He didn't rush. He simply stood, solid, unmoving, like the battlefield itself had decided to keep one thing alive.
Kellix stared at him in disbelief.
"How?" Kellix shouted. "How are you healed? I saw you get impaled!"
Rufo didn't look at him at first.
"Kellix," he said quietly, "you need to get out of here. This thing... it's far stronger than you and I."
Kellix shook his head.
"What? You're telling me to just run?"
"No," Rufo replied. "I'm telling you to leave, and come back another day."
ABI: 280%
Kellix clenched his fists.
"I am Kellix the Brave. I will never—"
"It ain't about bravery!" Rufo snapped, turning sharply.
He gestured weakly around them.
"Look around. We failed."
The battlefield lay broken. Bodies half-lost in fog. Rescue wagons long gone. Silence where armies once stood.
"The only thing left," Rufo continued, voice rough, "is to protect the ones we love. And only you can do that."
Kellix froze.
"Go back to the village," Rufo said. "Get the remaining women and children to the emergency locations."
His voice dropped.
"Please... look after my wife and my child."
Kellix stepped forward, panic rising.
"What are you saying? I'm not running. You're my brother in arms. I won't abandon you."
Rufo's knees buckled.
He caught himself just before hitting the ground, one hand digging into the dirt.
That's when the battlefield went quiet.
Too quiet.
The fog stopped moving.
The wind died mid-breath.
Kellix felt it first, a pressure crawling up his spine.
The ground behind Rufo shifted.
Not exploded.
Not shattered.
Opened.
Wet, organic sounds echoed beneath the soil.
Then, Debora emerged.
She rose slowly from the ground, flesh knitting, tentacles twitching, eyes narrowed, not amused.
Uneasy.
Her gaze locked onto Rufo.
Stolen story; please report.
"What's up with this guy..." she muttered.
"His Abi's barely above five hundred... yet he healed himself?"
She tilted her head, studying him.
A grin crept across her face.
"I don't know how you did it, but I'm impressed. Didn't know Artists could do things like that."
"Parasite," Rufo said calmly, "you misunderstand me."
"I am not an Artist."
Kellix spun toward him.
"WHAT did he say?"
Rufo straightened, blood dripping from his chin.
"The truth. My Fishing Art is a secondary ability I possess."
He exhaled.
"There are five types of Abi."
Debora smirked.
"Hmm, don't tell me you're going to go on about soemthing silly like bravery ."
"Earthen Abi," Rufo said. "Used by animals and humans without artistic skill.
Art Abi, creative, expressive.
Philo Abi, psychological, imposed onto the world.
Artimancery, Abi mixed with electro, though I've never witnessed the last two myself."
"That's four," Debora interrupted. "Guess you can't count."
"I wasn't finished," Rufo said.
"The fifth... is Marine Abi."
Debora frowned.
"...Marine Abi?"
"Artists draw joy from animals," Rufo continued.
"Artimancers from insects.
Philos from exploration.
Earthen from nature itself."
He looked down briefly, then back up.
"Marines draw Abi from the creatures of the sea."
Kellix swallowed.
"...Sea creatures?"
Rufo didn't answer him.
"I know you're stronger than me," Rufo said to Debora.
"But I have a wife. And a daughter."
His voice hardened.
"I will give what remains of myself to defeating you, so their future can exist."
Debora stared at him.
She had never heard of Marine Abi.
And she couldn't understand his determination.
"Marine... flow," Rufo said quietly.
"Hammer Head."
The air shifted.
Water-like Abi surged around his body, swirling violently. Wind tore inward. The ground vibrated.
Debora's eyes widened.
Rufo's Abi spiked—
500... 1200... 1800... 2300.
His form changed.
His presence changed.
Even Kellix staggered under the pressure.
"...What is this power, it's increasing his Abi like crazy?" Kellix whispered.
What stood before them now was no longer simply Rufo.
It was Tiger Shark Man.
Debora stepped back once.
"No way," she muttered. "This guy just got a major Abi boost, and he looks even more delicious than before."
Hammer Head Shark Man leaned forward.
"Parasite," he growled,
"it's time you became food."
He launched.
In an instant, he tore into her, teeth sinking deep, ripping flesh free. He chewed. Moved. Struck again.
Lightning speed.
Bite.
Chew.
Move.
Bite.
Debora screamed in fury.
"You cannot eat me!" she shrieked.
"I AM SUPPOSED TO EAT YOU!"
She surged forward, matching his speed, and the two collided. tearing, biting, consuming each other in flashes of lightning and blood.
And so...
the battle continued.