บท 11: Saving a damsel in distress

I began climbing down with the help of the roots. Now that dawn was about to emerge in a few hours at most, I was quickly fleeing.

"Can't waste more time by dilly-dallying."

Reaching a safe height I directly jumped into the lake.

The freshwater lake felt cold and comforting. I swam quietly while looking around.

"If I forget that everything here is trying to kill me. This place is very captivating."

A beautiful lake covered by an equally beautiful forest and a floating island overlooking everything, away from the daily hustle-bustle. Anyone would be happy to live in such a place.

I looked down, trying to see if I could see the lake's bottom.

"Was that an eye? Nah, if it was, then the monster would be the size of the island itself."

I again looked down, but only darkness greeted me no matter how further down I tried to peer.

"Sigh… I am getting too paranoid."

Wonders what a single day could do to a person. Now I was seeing things that even weren't there.

Swimming at a steady pace, I quickly reached near the outlet. I took a deep breath, and I dived.

The river was 70 feet wide and 15 feet deep. I was swimming near the bottom of the lake.

After covering a reasonable distance, I decided to take a quick gasp and dive again.

Before I could reach the surface, three shadow foxes suddenly jumped into the river.

I hurriedly dived deeper and stuck to the bottom of the river like a lizard.

'Don't look down. Down look down.'

If the shadow foxes noticed me, I would have no choice but to come out of the river.

After which they would smell the dead shadow fox on me and call other shadow foxes.

Since many shadow foxes were near, they wouldn't have to worry about reinforcements.

'Why are they here, anyway?'

Shouldn't they go where the shadow foxes were gathering? Why were they so far from their group?

I didn't know if the shadow foxes would be alerted if I moved underwater, but I wasn't taking any chances.

I stood motionless like a statue.

By now my breath was running out. But the shadow foxes, unaware of my predicament, continued playing with each other.

Thinking a little, I brought the Greenhorn rabbits' cores out.

'I can only use these cores now.'

Beasts always attack humans upon spotting them, but they also attack other beasts. This was because all the beasts contain aether cores. Absorbing cores enabled them to grow stronger and possibly evolve.

The only times when the beasts don't fight amongst themselves is when they are of the same species, a higher power is restricting them or they are sentient.

I held two Lvl. 3 cores in my hand as I got ready to throw them.

Just as I was about to throw the cores, the shadow foxes finally left the river.

But I didn't celebrate or sigh in relief. By now, my field of vision was already beginning to darken at the edges.

I bent my knees as I got ready to reach the surface in go. But suddenly I realized that I couldn't move my feet.

Looking down, I saw that my ankles were tangled in underwater weeds. I hastily bought my spear out and slashed it to cut the weeds.

[Congratulations, you have killed a Lvl.3 Hollow Gutweed. You have gained 10 exp.]

Seeing the notification, my eyes widened. But before I could move, another weed held my ankle.

I slashed again. My vision was thinning at an alarming pace.

[Congratulations, you have killed a Lvl.3 Hollow Gutweed. You have gained 10 exp.]

I again felt something on my feet and I attacked again.

[Congratulations, you have killed a Lvl.3 Hollow Gutweed. You have gained 10 exp.]

As the weeds continued to hold me down, I tried to attack them to the best of my ability.

Slowly but surely, I was getting away. But my consciousness was also bordering on the periphery of awareness and sleep.

***

"Should I look for someone again?" A young, petite boy who was carrying a wand in his hands asked. He was wearing a green cape over his black suit.

He threw another pebble, which crossed the river and hit the tree on another side.

"I don't know! Let's just get over it." Answering him was a red-haired youth. He had a buffed body which showed his rigorous training. Currently, he was making a camp near the river.

"I wish we could do that, but… Hm?" Suddenly, the young man's posture changed as if he was getting ready for battle.

Sensing the change in his demeanor, the red-haired youth also got in a battle-ready stance and vigilantly scanned his surroundings.

"Hey Lark from where?" Even after searching thoroughly, the red hair didn't find any sign of an enemy.

But Lark didn't answer his question. He simply walked towards the river with furrowed brows.

"There, we already found one." Lark voiced while pointing at the something floating in the river.

"Huh, are you sure?" The thing he saw didn't look like a human in any way to him.

Lark patted the red-haired youth on the back and pushed him ahead.

With an unwilling expression, the red-haired youth jumped in the river and bought the green swampy thing ashore.

He placed it on the bank of the river and got ready to do CPR.

He pressed the chest of the body a few times. Seeing no response, he brought his mouth near where its lips should be.

Just as he was about to begin, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Step aside." Lark crouched beside the body and placed his fingers at its neck.

His expression remained solemn until his eyebrows twitched. Then he placed his hands above the body's chest.

Sweat quickly began forming on his forehead as he tried to maintain his concentration.

After a little time, his palms began glowing in a blue hue.

He swiped his hand from the chest towards the neck of the body and finally to the mouth.

Then he pulled his hand back. But unlike before, his hand wasn't empty. There was a blob of water floating on his palm.

He turned his hands away, and the glow receded. Following this, the blob of water fell to the ground.

"Cough..*deep breath*..Cough…*deep breath*" Just as Lark had thrown the water blob, the youth lying on the ground started coughing violently.

He took deep breaths in between his violent coughs as he tried to sit.

Finally, after a minute or two, he could again breathe properly and his eyes gained a bit of clarity.

"It really is a person. But what are these things covering him, Lark? He looks more like a monster rather than a human." The red-haired youth grunted while pointing at the weeds and algae that covered him.

"I don't know. And this isn't the time to talk about this, Ryan." Lark sighed at his companion's rude remark but still chose to answer him, as he wasn't wrong.

The person being spoken of was covered in green algae from head to toe. Only his blood-red eyes were not covered with weeds.

He looked more like a monster than a human.

Rubbing his eyes, the youth looked at the people surrounding him.

Near him was a youth who had red hair and buffed body. Slightly away from them was another youth with black hair, who was wearing a green cape that covered his body. He looked tired from his uneven breathing and he was drinking something from a flask.

Both of them looked exhausted.

Suddenly, the red-eyed youth jerked his body and rolled on the ground away from them. He took a battle stance as a spear appeared in his hands.

Lark and Ryan were both stunned at his sudden actions.

"You fucking piece of shit. We saved you and this is how you show gratitude? Fine!" A great sword appeared in Ryan's hand and he brashly walked forward.

"Wait, Ryan. He must be disoriented from being in shock. Please, we aren't here to fight you. Rather, we are the ones who saved you from drowning." Unlike Ryan, Lark kept his calm as he tried to talk to the stranger with a calm smile on his face.

By now, Lark was back beside Ryan. He no longer looked tired.

The red-eyed youth kept vigilantly looking at both of them with his blood-red eyes. He had furrowed brows as he listened to the Lark.

After a few moments, his eyes widened as a look of realization dawned on his face and his mouth opened in a small circle.

"Sorry about this. Suddenly seeing unfamiliar faces upon waking up in this place was a little bit… thank you for helping me." The youth relaxed his position as his spear vanished from his hands.

He calmly walked toward the duo as he thanked them.

"It's fine, we understand. I am Lark and this hot-head here is Ryan." Lark raised his hand for a handshake.

"I am Nathan. And again, thank you for helping me."

Both of them shook their hands and smiled gently.