Chapter 41: Blood in the Water: Ash's Reckoning
Moments of fight with level 2 fishmen and level 1 fishmen, Ash is injured, but he also tries to evade the attack of the fishmen. Slowly and steadily, he is going in the direction where Ram and others are gathering wood. He feels pain from his injury, but with determined will, he is going towards Ram and others. He knows in his mind absolutely that he can't win against level 2 and level 1 fishmen in a fight where his life depends on it, so his survival in this depends on whether he can meet with Ram and others.
After many attacks by level 1 and level 2 fishmen, he preserves his life and dodges their attacks. He is running fast in the direction of Ram and others. He thinks in his mind, "Thank god only level 1 and level 2 fishmen are coming towards me, and other level 0 fishmen are maybe in their base. And why are these stupid beasts smarter compared to other beasts? I'm going to kill all the relatives of level 1 and level 2 fishmen if I survive today."
With furious eyes and a determined mind, he runs as fast as he can on the land, and he does not care about the attacks of level 1 and level 2 fishmen. Due to fishmen generally living in the sea and being water creatures, level 2 fishmen match the speed of Ash, but level 1 fishmen can't, so the level 1 fishmen return to their area. But the attack of the level 2 fishmen is faced by Ash, and roughly—with caution—he is able to dodge the attacks of level 2 fishmen, but some attacks could really kill Ash if he is not cautious enough.
Minutes pass. He does not remember when he started running and when the fishmen are going to attack again, so he does not rest but runs faster. He feels pain in his shoulder and legs, and both are bloody red, but Ash continues to run towards Ram and others. Some other beasts also start to attack him, but clenching his teeth, he just runs faster and does not bother with them. Some of these attacks really hit him, and his speed is also becoming slower. He feels that the attack from the level 2 fishman is not coming to him, and he does not see the beast, but he feels this cunning beast is hiding and waiting for his mistake to attack him. So, he does not stop—only steadily, with speed more than walking speed, he continues the journey towards Ram and others.
A few minutes later, he arrives near the area where Ram and others are chopping wood, so he relaxes somewhat but continues his run towards Ram and others. And moments later, he meets them. He instantly takes one healing pill from the system space, puts the healing pill into his mouth, then just sits on the soil and relaxes. He does not absorb the mana from the surroundings because of the corrupted mana, but the healing pill also has mana in it, so Ash's healing is not disturbed, though it will take more time compared to taking mana from the surroundings.
Two minutes later, Ash feels some relief from the pain, and a small smile forms on his face. He thinks, "I really almost lost my life this time. I have to be more careful in exploring the forest alone. Otherwise, I will die very easily here." He looks in the direction of the others and finds they are cautiously protecting him from any danger from beasts by creating a formation. He also finds the level 2 fishman did not follow him or cleverly fled from here because of Ram and others.
Minutes pass. Ash's injury shows some healing. Then he decides with others to attack those fishmen—not because of revenge but to get the white-grade treasure for the city. He thinks, "This treasure is really going to be useful to the city."
A few moments later, he and others decide to hide the 300 woods in a nearby mountain because beasts can destroy some wood. He and others go in the direction of the fishmen, and he thinks, "I really need to be more mature in this world. I am feeling bad because I am going to kill some intelligent beasts. I will do everything that is going to make me powerful and survive in this world, and these intelligent fishmen attacked me first, so I am going to kill them."
In the journey, Ash and others meet some monsters, but he does not decide to kill them because he thinks, "I need to focus on fishmen those fishmen can escape from the river where I saw them because maybe they are feeling retaliation from me." More minutes pass. Ash and others arrive at the river where those beasts are living, and he finds them collecting materials for fleeing. He is surprised and shocked because he also doesn't believe it. Surely, they are fishmen—but after seeing this, he firmly believes these fishmen are intelligent.
Ash asks about fishmen from Nexus, and he gets to know that other species also live outside the altar—but mostly are some adventure people. They get treasure and transport these treasures from one altar city to another. But some exceptional species also are not affected by mana corruption in the monster plane, though they are very few, because by inhaling corrupted mana for a long time, their breeding capability becomes slow, or they are part of a very powerful race—but their number is very few.
He sets aside those issues and focuses on killing these fishmen. For this, he and Ram already decided a plan before. He finds those fishmen are prepared with their weapons and claws to attack. He feels these fishmen are looking to their leader—that level 2 fishman—for permission to attack.
He listens to sounds from the level 2 fishman, but he does not understand it because of language. But he becomes cautious and grips his flame sword instantly. He thinks, "This battle is going to be tough, after all. Most battles we fight are on the defending side—the side of Nexus—and Nexus's passive ability also helps us."
He sees all 13 level 0 fishmen start attacking Ram and others. Among the 13 fishmen, 7 are fighting with the level 2 fishman against Ram, and the others are fighting the soldiers, Evan, and him.
Since Ash is injured, Evan is mostly fighting with level 1 fishmen, and other soldiers are fighting against 4 fishmen, and he is fighting with 2 level 0 fishmen.
Ash uses fireball on level 0 fishmen. Since the fight is happening in the underwater river of the fountain, fireball is not very effective against the level 0 fishmen, but it makes the fishmen stay without attacking him, which gives him enough time to behead the second level 0 fishman. Minutes pass. He instantly attacks the first level 0 fishman, and moments later, he kills the first level 0 fishman. He thinks, "Underwater fighting is really risky compared to land. I hope our soldiers have enough mana reserve in them to fight a prolonged fight underwater. I really want to steal the treasure, the Pure Stone, and get out of this underwater fight—but that level 2 fishman is holding the stone, so we have to kill that beast first."
He decides to help soldiers first in fighting level 0 fishmen. Soldiers are not fighting well with level 0 fishmen because they are fighting underwater. After Ash helps the soldiers, the situation becomes stable, and they are no longer in danger of dying. He attacks two fishmen simultaneously and lets the other two fishmen be handled by four soldiers. He uses flame and sword against the fishmen, but these two fishmen dodge his attacks. He thinks, "I can't use more fireballs because it will make my mana low." Then he uses flame sword on the first fishman near him with full strength and determination, and his attack almost cripples the first fishman. He beheads the fishman with his flame sword.
Then he attacks the second fishman. He decides to use fireball attack on the second fishman. The fishman dodges the attack, since fireball attack is slow and has thin destructive power in water. Instantly, he rushes to pierce his flame sword into the brain of the fishman. He sees the fishman unable to dodge the attack, and the flame sword is embedded into the fishman's head. Slowly, he pulls his flame sword back from the fishman's head.
He then rushes to kill the other two fishmen. With cooperation from the other four soldiers, he attacks two fishmen with his flame sword, but decides not to use fireball because of mana consumption. He thinks, "I will use it in a more dangerous situation in this fight, and in underwater, attack with fireball is not really effective now."
Moments pass. With cooperation from the other soldiers, Ash beheads one fishman easily, and the other fishman is already cornered because of number and level disadvantage. Because of Ash, he thinks, "This fishman really dies cruelly because all the soldiers cut all its body parts alive in the process of the fight. I really appreciate this fishman's courage to fight in the last moments of his life."
He looks towards Ram and Evan. Both are feeling pressure from their opponents. He thinks, "Ram can manage now. I should first deal with Evan's opponent because killing level 1 fishmen compared to 7 level 0 fishmen and one level 2 fishman will be easy." He orders the soldiers to follow him in helping Evan against level 1 fishmen, and the soldiers unanimously follow Ash.
Ash first strikes the level 1 fishman with his flame, and Evan also attacks the level 1 fishman with his axe. He sees soldiers are also attacking, taking advantage of his and Evan's attack, but the level 1 fishman dodges their attacks with some difficulty in movement.
Attacks against level 1 fishmen continue by Ash and Evan and others. Ash sees Evan use his axe to attack the fishman's neck and use his shield to defend himself from the fishman's attack. Then he also suddenly attacks the fishman's neck, but the fishman defends the attack by injuring Ash's left hand. Ash instantly takes a position that is safe from the fishman's attack, but he sees one soldier is slightly injured while attacking the fishman. He decides against giving a healing pill to the soldier because the soldier is not fatally injured, and the injury can heal with the help of mana refining.
Minutes pass. Attacks on the level 1 fishman continue. The fishman loses one hand entirely. Ash's attacks wear out the fishman, and Evan finishes the fishman with an axe by cutting its neck. Ash sees the lifeless body of the level 1 fishman near the underwater rock, and its lifeless head is near it.
He orders the soldiers to exit from the water and wait near the shore. He thinks, "The mana reserves are very low for the soldiers, and I don't want them to die unnecessarily in this fight where they are going to slightly influence the result. I am confident in winning this battle now."
After all soldiers exit the waters, he focuses on the fight between Ram and the fishmen. He finds two level 0 fishmen are dead, and attacks on Ram are very fierce by the fishmen. Ram's body shows some new injury marks. Ash thinks, "Ram is at a disadvantage because of the environment, otherwise he should not be this cornered in fighting one level 2 and seven level 0 beasts."
Moments later, Ash and Evan decide to kill the five level 0 fishmen first, and then they will fight against the level 2 fishman with Ram. Attacks from Ash and Evan start. Since they are fighting near where Ash and others killed fishmen, the remaining fishmen know they are going to attack them. So, the level 0 fishmen cope with the attacks of Ash and Evan for minutes.
Again, Ash starts to use fireball in this decisive battle. Using fireball does not impact the attack much, but it distracts some level 0 fishmen, so Evan can kill one level 0 fishman. This tactic, used in the fight, gives good results to Ash and Evan. He sees Evan use his sword to behead one level 0 fishman. After, Ash gives backfire to Evan so he is not surrounded by all level 0 fishmen. Then he uses his flame sword to injure one fishman advancing towards Evan. The attack against fishmen continues.
Minutes later, Evan and Ash are covered in the red blood of fishmen. These four level 0 fishmen decisively flee from the fight. Because of this, Ash decides to focus on the level 2 fishman and deal with the small fry later.
With some planning from Evan and Ash, Ash decides to give the responsibility of guarding to Evan, because he is not sure if those level 0 fishmen will decide to interfere in the fight against the level 2 fishman. From the condition he sees the level 2 fishman in, his help is sufficient with Ram to kill this level 2 fishman.
He thinks in his mind, "Distracting is enough for Ram to give a decisive blow to the level 2 fishman," so he follows his thinking and attacks the fishman with the intention to distract, so Ram can attack the fishman. His strategy works quickly, and the fishman is injured. He thinks, from seeing the face of the level 2 fishman, "Maybe this fishman is frustrated because of my disturbance. From its look, it is going to suicide-attack me, so I should fight cautiously against the level 2 fishman."
Few minutes later, the level 2 fishman manically attacks Ash. He is prepared for this, so he decisively flees from the area. He sees the fishman following him like a ghost, but Ram uses the situation and pierces its chest into its heart. Minutes later, the level 2 fishman dies in agony.
Minutes pass. He decides to take the mana core from their body, and he searches their living area to see if they can find anything, but he is disappointed because he does not find anything more. So, he only gets the Pure Stone and mana core.
After, he and others leave the underwater area with their war gains. They decide to rest before departing to gather their wood and go towards the Nexus city.
Minutes pass. Ash and others go to the area where they hid their 300 wood. After taking the wood, they start their journey in the direction of Nexus city. On the path, Ash and others see something that shocks him and surges some fear in his heart. With slight courage, he decides to see the status to confirm his guess.
A window pops up in front of him.
Name: Fish Men
Grade: Low-Grade Beast
Level: 2
Quantity: 5
Description: Fish Men with sharp mouths that chew wood and leather. They prefer trees and plants in water. They live in packs. Females can birth six children a year.
Abilities: Fast Reproduction
Weakness: Fire and sharp attacks
Name: Fish Men
Grade: Low-Grade Beast
Level: 3
Quantity: 1
Description: Fish Men with sharp mouths that chew wood and leather. They prefer trees and plants in water. They live in packs. Females can birth six children a year.
Abilities: Fast Reproduction
Weakness: Fire and sharp attacks