Now they had to survive the night on this strange new island.
While the night sky above looked marvelous, Zero did not spend too much time looking at it. Complacency could mean death on these floating islands.
Rolling off his back, Zero glanced towards his two companions. Caelum was attempting to heal Alice's face, but it seems like his attempts were not working.
"I apologize, Alice. It appears that I am out of Vie."
Zero scooched over and manifested the Harvest Talisman into his hand, then pushed it into Alice's.
"Here, take this for now…"
Alice obliged, and Zero soon felt the Harvest Talisman leave his Spirit Storage.
{Harvest Talisman transferred}
"If you have another fruit, eat it."
Zero then scanned the surroundings. It was hard to see anything in detail, but he was very much able to make out the looming mountain in front of him. Thankfully, it seemed scalable with soft edges rather than sharp ones.
Then Zero looked towards the sky and searched for a void in the stars. Not in the sense that the stars could be missing, that would be ridiculous… but in search of the mother drake.
The fire from the Ravenger and Wrath's fight still burned on, but the Wrath was nowhere to be found. Was it injured? Or had it perished?
Hopefully the latter, but Zero still found it hard to wrap his head around. That a Ravenger, ostensibly weak to fire, could beat or kill a mature dragon. Yet, three pitiful humans had bested it.
Although they really should not have won that fight. The ledge breaking and having the Remembrances from the baby drakes were truly miracles.
'Hmmm… we would've died if I hadn't attacked the little drakes. Alice owes me an apology!'
Not that Zero was going to ask her for that now. The poor girl probably could not even speak. The only reason she was able to get enough oxygen was because the fight was over. Still, her breathing was rather raspy and forced.
"Hey Caelum, you're good, right?"
"Yes, Zero. And you?"
"Yeah, yeah, good. Stay here for a second."
Zero turned back to Alice, who was lying down, then reached over her to grab Nascent Drake Head.
"Don't dismiss it."
Alice nodded weakly, then Zero set off towards the mountain's base.
It had rained a bit earlier, but most of that water had dried, seeped into the soil, or fallen into the void below. However, with a more rocky base, there was a good chance for puddles, and a puddle Zero found. Or perhaps more of a pond.
Zero summoned Valiant Blade in his free hand, then cautiously approached the water.
The starlight shimmered across the rippling water… rippling water.
Zero took a step back and donned his, well Alice's at the moment, dragon head.
'What heinous thing did I do to deserve this? All my water is either plagued by monsters or is a monster! Actually, now that I think about it, I probably did do a heinous thing. I'm cursed after all… focus Zero, focus!'
Zero thought about throwing something at the pond, but he had a better idea. He was leaving.
Turning around, he began walking away and only looked back when he heard an audible splash. Of course, a Chaos Beast would not just let him leave. The Transcended Ravenger pursued them, even if it meant its demise. Why would this creature be any different?
About this creature, it was similar to the beast Zero had encountered in the previous pond. Eight tentacles, a slimy-looking head, and two large eyes. It was practically an octopus, not that Zero knew what that was.
"Bring it on, slimy! I just slayed a Transcended Ravenger. A mere Seeker is no match for me."
Just then, another head popped up from the water and crawled its way onto the shore. There were now two slimys, and then three. Zero half expected another one to emerge, but luckily it did not.
'I just had to say that… Should I run?'
Zero seriously considered it; he was out of Vie and severely exhausted. Of course, he would have to run in the opposite direction from where Alice and Caelum were, then double back. However, there was a chance Zero could run into something worse than three Seeker Fledglings.
'Ah, how bad can it be. I'm already poison proof.'
Zero approached. If he had Vie, the gem in his sword would have been shining a brilliant crimson.
The pond dwellers advanced, but almost as if they were going to take turns fighting Zero. They were in a line. A foolish move by them, but their brains were infected by Chaos, so it was kind of expected.
The first Fledgling jumped at Zero, using its back four tentacles to propel, and its front four to attack.
Zero side-stepped and sliced cleanly through one tentacle, but only left a gash on the other. If he had the Vie to use the Valiant Effort skill, he would have sliced cleanly through both, but this is what he had to work with.
Then, Zero lunged forth and struck at the second beast before it could even attack. After landing a devastating blow, Zero danced backwards to avoid a lunge from the third. Taking the opportunity, Zero quickly struck at the second and finished the job.
{Seeker Fledging, Nascent Octopus slain}
{Received Seeker Spirit Crystal}
'One down, two to go… please say there isn't a fourth that's going to appear now.'
Thankfully, a fourth octopus did not appear behind him. Zero did not have time to marvel at his kill before the first octopus attacked again with its remaining six and a half tentacles.
Zero struck forward with a stab, but the beast did not stop its advance. The slimy creature hit the blade and let it cleanly pierce it. Sliding down the blade, it reached out and wrapped its tentacles around Zero's arm.
Shocked for a moment, and perhaps slowed by his exhaustion, Zero fell victim to a second attack as the other octopus sprang forward and wrapped around his leg.
'Agghhhhh'
Zero panicked and fell backwards, hitting the back of the dragon head against hard stone. Due to the Soft Skin Attribute, the force was not too jarring.
Now the impaled octopus was atop him, and another was tearing up his leg.