The empty Volanten River was housing a hazardous monster, which was rushing towards Cloey Taffel underwater.
The darkened creature zipped through the water, like a speeding car, almost to the point where vibrations in the surface of the water became visible.
Cloey had not reached the leaf pile, as she was only 10 meters away from it. Seeing that considerable distance made Nate's breath ragged, even more so when he continued to see the creature underwater, also near the leaf pile.
Nate had to shout out to her, warn her about the thing that would come up to her, with who knows what would happen by then.
"CLOEY! LOOK OUT! SOMETHING IS COMING UNDER THE WATER!"
He shouted, yet he was still frozen, his feet glued to the ground by the river, despite the initial pain in his head beforehand. The light had also messed up with his senses, but even then, he tried to proceed forward as quickly as possible.
Still in shock, he dropped off the things he was carrying to the side and jumped into the once-calm river. As soon as his skin made contact with the water, it made Nate's body jerk slightly from the cold, as to be expected since he was swimming in autumn.
I... I really wonder how you were able to force yourself to swim here, Cloey...
Nate pulled through the water with force that he believed was from all his might, and made his way towards Cloey before it was too late. The current was moderate but manageable, allowing for easy swimming with just a little effort. Besides the water in his eyes getting splashed, he could only manage to see that the creature was only a short distance away from Cloey.
If his heart wasn't beating so fast before, it was certainly drumming at an increased rate after this. Nate wondered if he could reach her in time, but what should he do when between them? Should he fight and hope for some miracle to happen that will save both of them before they sustain serious injuries... or do I get out while I...
No... No, no, I can't give up now. I'm already near, so I have to do something about the creature underwater.
While thinking of a way to block the creature, with a potential idea to use his own body as a shield, Nate glanced at something shiny underneath him next to his hands.
The little spark suddenly grew in size and brightness, along with a green hue. It was like a little star that was born in the vastness of space itself.
Nate's palms felt filled, a cylindrical shape somehow appeared in his hand, and the weight behind it was noticeable, but usable for his light arms for some reason.
He couldn't believe that something like this just happened, especially when a supposed monster was in the way.
Nate momentarily glanced at Cloey, who had finally noticed the currents caused by the monster submerged.
I don't know what to do. That thing is going to kill me. After it's done with me, then it's going after Cloey.
No... no no no no no...!
I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen! I won't.
His head swirls like crazy, the soft winds pushing the currents of the water as it meets with Nate's own waves from his flailed splashing. Nate then angled his sword overhead, with two hands gripped, trying to position himself over the shadowy monster incoming.
The monster remained at the same speed, making no sound, only the splashing of water.
Nate drew his sword, ready to strike the monster with all his might with both of his exhausted arms from swimming.
The monster leaped out of the water, into the open, with its claws and jaw ready to chomp into one of Nate's limbs.
The sword gleamed with green light, almost bright enough to blind someone with it. As the creature faced towards Nate in mere meters, the boy propelled his sword down.
Nate closed his eyes, either to brace for the impact that the monster would make or to slash through the creature's flesh.
But luckily for Nate Elfirm, it was actually the latter that really happened.
One moment, the shining sword was spotless, without a speck of impurity latched upon its surface; the next thing was that the sword was stained with a familiar coat of red.
The monster roared as the sword was still embedded inside the monster's hide.
Nate can only push himself away, causing him to descend underwater. Cloey remained shocked as to what had happened, only trying to swim towards Nate.
"Nate! What just happened?! What was that noise before?"
Nate shot up and grabbed onto her hands. "Hurry! We need to go back to land. There's something dangerous here."
Cloey's face became more bewildered as Nate pulled her towards land. It was hard to quickly leave the area, even with the two of them walking in the shallow water. Their legs had to push through the water forcefully, like they weren't in water.
The shadowy monster finally showed itself, and it was something that Nate could confirm wasn't native to Standart City, or even this country in general.
The creature is large, slightly towering over them both. Its jagged teeth run horizontally, and the skin is also patterned to be scaly. But unlike the fish Nate presumed it to be, the monster utilized limbs not unlike a deer or a moose.
Cloey's face twitched into an expression of fright when her eyes latched onto the view of the monster still inside the river.
"H-hey, you saved me from that monster—" Cloey sputtered out the Nate, both of them still drenched and exhausted from frantically swimming back to land.
However, Nate still held his guard with his raised sword against the potential charge the monster may be using.
The shadowy monster aggressively gurgled at the two of them, albeit with its spit reaching Nate's knee, which reflexively made him yelp in disgust. It glanced at its wound for a second before turning to Nate. It then made one final glare with its beady eyes and went away, into the deep ends of the river.
Seeing that the monster had gone away, Cloey walked up close to Nate. "Is it really gone? I don't think I want to be seafood right now."
"Yeah, I think so," Nate puts the sword down on the ground. "That thing probably ran away when it saw it was injured."
Cloey's expressions changed into one of reassurance.
"Um... Nate, you totally saved me back there. If you didn't get me out of the water, then I would have died right there, you know."
Nate wasn't sure he could call the situation really real. Some creature casually hanging around in a city as bland as Standart, and suddenly attacking them. He couldn't believe it, not to mention the sword he had magically grabbed hold of before the shadow monster attacked.
"But are you okay. You seem a little shaky," Cloey asked with concern.
"It's fine, really. I didn't get hurt at all."
"I guess that's a relief."
Cloey pointed towards the sword on the ground. The weapon still shone with brilliance and a green aura, which somehow stands out on the already green, flowing patches of grass.
"That sword. It's like something you would see in books and movies. Nate, are you like some sort of superhero?"
"I don't think that's how it works."
"Oh, yeah, I see..." Cloey said. "It's still so unbelievable for you to have that, one of the craziest things I've seen in a while."
She then propped up a familiar black-and-white ball close to Nate's face, a bit too near. That wet ball is Aliana Augero's lost soccer ball, which has acquired some green mush on its surface from spending time underwater on the riverbed.
"Don't you think that you were the only one who achieved something. While you were saving me, I managed to snatch the soccer ball at the last second before the monster could notice it. I guess you could say that was a 'boss move,' don't you think so?"
She really came back from her funk and changed it into a positive attitude. It really is a strength of hers.
"Right, we were lucky that we didn't get injured or something like that."
Three figures appeared from their side in the distance. They seem to be running towards them.
Manson, Aliana, and Brandin had finally arrived, just after the monster attacked.
"Hey, you two okay? Did something happen here or what?" Aliana frantically questioned the two of them.
"We were worried since neither of you came back to discuss what we searched, so we looked for you everywhere," Manson questioned, while he panted from the running he had to do just to catch up with both Aliana and Brandin.
Brandin remained distant, still grumbling about how he was wasting his day on Aliana's plan.
Aliana darted her eyes to Nate and Cloey's drenched clothing.
"Wait... Did you really swim in the river, cuz you're all wet and that?"
"Nate, should we..." Cloey began to ask, but Nate remained firm on what decision he was about to take.
"Everyone, there was this monster that attacked us while we were looking for the soccer ball. It attacked us while we were in the water. Thankfully, though, it ran away after we somehow scared it off. That thing— the monster could've gotten Cloey, but I chose to stand in its way, to somehow, shake that thing off our tail."
Nate continued. "This monster, it was like there were shadows violently spurring inside its skin, and some of it came out of it as tendrils. There were also gills and flippers like some sort of fish, but its arms and legs looked like they came from a land animal."
"It's really true, believe us! I thought I was gonna die before Nate arrived to help!" Cloey pleaded, while still wringing out the water from her clothes.
The three of them were all wide-eyed upon hearing the explanation Nate just gave out. In their defense, it is kind of difficult to believe this type of story, especially when the monsters from outside the city rarely appear around here, and especially in a place like the Volanten River. That is why it is mostly peaceful around these parts of Standart.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry we didn't come here sooner," Aliana profusely apologized. "If I were there, I would've punched this thing and made it go away."
Brandin scoffed. "Really? Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something? Nothing like that happened to Standart for like 10 years or something."
"You have gotta to be kidding me. I mean, I could understand being assaulted by thugs, but Nate... What you're basically describing... You are talking about a Faden that somehow went past the city's defense and landed here," Manson explained with a look of concern on his face.
"A Faden? You mean those scary-looking monsters that I've heard about in stories? Nate, you're so lucky that you were even alive, Cloey too," Aliana responded.
"Oh... yeah..." Cloey said, with tints of being unsure in her voice.
Nate shuddered while imagining the Volanten River Faden once again.
"But I don't understand, shouldn't there be the police or hunters that can stop these creatures before they get into Standart. Heck, maybe bring some big-shot warrior from that strong kingdom, Moderma, to kill the monster here," Nate asked, unsettled with the lack of action.
"I don't think I have an answer to that, Nate, but there were other instances of these Fadens attacking major cities, not unlike Standart."
Manson pointed his finger to the Volanten River before proclaiming:
"But one of us should probably contact the authorities for this, so no one else would get harmed by that monster."
"Oh come on, guys, there aren't any Fadens around here—the city won't have another Faden attack for maybe another 50 years, I think," Brandin argued.
"Not gonna lie, knowing a Faden is probably lurking around these parts kinda makes me want to avoid practicing with my soccer ball. That gives me major downer vibes..." Aliana sadly stated. Her optimism for this place probably depleted as soon as she heard Manson speak about the dangers of Fadens and them coming here.
"Oh! I almost forgot, but I may have a little surprise for you, Aliana. The hint is that it's something we tried to find for half an hour or so," Cloey gleefully exclaimed, which made Aliana perk up, with her eyes beaming.
"Yeah, that's right, dumb it down for her to understand," Brandin sneered. Aliana attempted to strangle, but remained focused on what Cloey was trying to say.
"Everyone, please ignore this idiot. Cloey, you got something awesome to say or what? Because I don't think I can handle the feeling of sweet anticipation much longer."
"Okay, take a look at this—"
Cloey held up the soccer ball and presented it to the group. The mere sight of the ball caused Aliana to shriek in delight, where she would hug the ball like it was her own family member that she loved.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much, Cloey, for finding it!"
Aliana squeezed the air out of Cloey with a tight hug; she endured it like a champ, but Nate could notice her pain expressed through the muscles of her eyes.
"You're welcome, Aliana! If I knew you were gonna be this excited over finding your soccer ball, then I would've searched for it twice as hard in about half the time it took."
"Whatever," Brandin interrupted. "So can I go now? I really need to have a much-deserved gaming session with my friends."
"Oh, right, I guess you can go, but don't do anything stupid or something that will make me mad," Aliana asked harshly.
Brandin went off without saying another word. Nate and probably the others hoped that he would be fine walking back home or somewhere.
Manson cleared his throat.
"Anyway, we should be cautious. If what Nate said was true and it really happened, then I guess we don't stop often around the Volanten River. Who knows when the monster might show up again?"
"Yeah, it would be best. Besides, aren't there other places we could hang out?" Cloey said.
"Like... in Vivid Forest perhaps. It's a nice area... most of the time." Manson said.
Vivid Forest.
Nate thought about what happened there. Even though something weird happened there, can it still be considered safe? There is probably not another Faden there, as it would be considered unlucky to experience that once again.
"Okay, guys, I don't know about you two, but I am gonna go home and practice my game. So see ya later."
Aliana waved her goodbyes and left.
"Nate, Cloey, you should probably get yourselves dry. And get a new pair of dry clothes with that," Manson said.
Nate looked at his shirt and pants. It was still damp to the touch even when they were talking for a while. It would be nice to be back home sleeping comfortably.
"Yeah, totally, I think I am going to get a cold if I don't change."
"I really like this shirt though," Cloey complained. "It had a nice snuggly feeling when you wear it."
I am still freaked out by that sudden Faden attack, along with the whole making a sword out of thin air deal. That feeling back then was weird, like something was crackling in my blood, but I don't know if it was blocked or let out uncontrollably.
Regardless, this is probably not the last time a monster will attack. At this moment, something else might arise from this, and I'm not ready to deal with these things yet.