The floating village was quiet under the cover of night. Lanterns swayed gently in the wind, their flames flickering across the sea's black mirror. Most children slept, curled together in cramped huts. Adults took turns keeping watch, their spears and harpoons close at hand.
Ren did not sleep.
He sat cross-legged near the farthest dock, his spear lying across his lap. His gray eyes glowed faintly, reflecting the system screen hovering before him.
[Status Window]
Level: 4
HP: 200
Power: 18
Agility: 22
Speed: 21
Defense: 12
Luck: 4
Skills:
Piercing Lunge (Active)
Predator's Instinct (Passive)
Frenzied Bite (Active)
The numbers were improving. His body felt lighter, sharper, more attuned to the sea. Yet Ren knew something was missing. Strength came from pushing limits, not hiding in shallows.
His gaze drifted to the horizon, where the darkness was deepest. Somewhere out there, larger predators roamed creatures infused with far more of the gods' radiation than anything near the village.
That was where real power waited.
The system pulsed suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.
[Warning: High-Level Entity Detected Nearby][Suggested Action: Retreat]
Ren's heart skipped once. The system rarely offered suggestions its tone almost felt… urgent.
He stood, eyes narrowing at the map. A red mark pulsed just beyond the anchor chains that held the village steady. It was moving closer.
Too close.
Without hesitation, Ren gripped his spear and slipped into the water. The villagers might not notice the threat until it was too late, and he wasn't about to let the first real test slip by.
The sea swallowed him whole.
The deeper he swam, the colder it became. Darkness coiled around him, broken only by faint bioluminescence drifting like stars in a drowned sky. His gills flared, his strokes smooth and efficient, his body cutting through the currents.
Then he saw it.
A shadow, vast and hulking, moving with deceptive slowness. Its form dwarfed any predator he had faced so far. A sleek, muscular body glided through the abyss, its scales reflecting faint green light. Rows of jagged teeth gleamed in its open maw.
[Target Detected: Abyssal Shark – Level 8]
Ren's stomach tightened. Level 8? He was only level 4. The gap was monstrous. The system's warning replayed in his mind. Retreat would be logical.
But retreat would also mean stagnation.
Ren's grip tightened on his spear. "If I back down now," he muttered, bubbles spilling from his mouth, "I'll never move forward."
The shark turned. Its golden eyes fixed on him. And then it charged.
The water erupted in chaos.
Ren barely twisted aside as the monster's jaws snapped where he had been, teeth closing with bone-crushing force. The current from its movement slammed into him, hurling him back. His chest burned with pressure.
"Piercing Lunge!"
He shot forward, spear leading, striking at its flank. The weapon scraped across its scales, barely leaving a scratch. The shark twisted, tail lashing, and the impact sent Ren tumbling into darkness.
Pain exploded across his ribs. His HP bar flickered in the corner of his vision:
[HP: 200 → 143]
Ren coughed blood into the water, eyes wide. That one strike… it almost halved me.
The shark came again.
Instinct screamed, and Predator's Instinct took over. His body jerked sideways a heartbeat before the maw closed, the teeth grazing his shoulder instead of tearing it off. The pain was white-hot, his arm numb.
He had no choice. "Frenzied Bite!"
Ren darted forward, latching onto the creature's wounded flank where his spear had grazed. His teeth sank in not human teeth anymore, but sharp, predator's teeth. Flesh tore, blood clouding the water.
The shark thrashed violently. Ren clung with everything he had, his jaw locked, ripping free a mouthful of meat. The essence burned through his veins, fueling him, his HP bar flickering upward.
[HP Restored: +30]
But the reprieve was short-lived. The shark twisted, slamming him against a stone outcrop hidden in the dark. The impact drove the air from his lungs. His spear spun from his grasp, vanishing into the abyss.
[HP: 173 → 98]
Ren gasped, vision swimming. His chest felt crushed, his bones screaming. The monster circled again, blood streaming from its side, but its eyes still burned with hunger.
He was running out of options.
Think. Don't fight head-on.
Ren's eyes flicked to the anchor chains above, stretching into the depths. His mind sparked. If he couldn't overpower it, he could outmaneuver it.
As the shark lunged again, Ren twisted upward, darting toward the chains. His body blurred, Piercing Lunge activating once more. He grabbed the thick, barnacle-crusted metal, pulling himself aside just as the shark's jaws closed around it.
The chain groaned with the impact, the shark biting down, thrashing angrily. Its teeth stuck for a heartbeat.
Ren didn't waste the chance. He retrieved his spear from the seabed in a desperate dive, blood dripping from his wounds. Every muscle screamed, but he ignored the pain.
He launched upward, driving the weapon straight into the shark's gills.
This time, the point sank deep.
The beast roared, bubbles and blood exploding into the water. It thrashed violently, snapping the chain free from its mouth. Ren was nearly ripped apart by the current, but he clung to the spear, twisting it deeper, deeper until at last, the monster convulsed one final time and went still.
The sea grew quiet again.
Ren floated, body broken, chest heaving. His HP bar flickered dangerously.
[HP: 98 → 21]
One more strike, and he would've been gone.
But he wasn't gone. He was alive.
The system chimed, its voice almost reverent.
[Target Eliminated. Abyssal Shark Essence Absorbed.][Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!][New Skill Unlocked.]
Blue light bathed him, knitting faint wounds, strengthening his battered body.
[Status Window]
Level: 7
HP: 280
Power: 27
Agility: 30
Speed: 29
Defense: 18
Luck: 5
Skills:
Piercing Lunge (Active)
Predator's Instinct (Passive)
Frenzied Bite (Active)
Tidal Surge (Active): Briefly enhances speed and power underwater, mimicking the charge of a shark.
Ren laughed once harsh, raw, but alive. The sound bubbled from his throat, lost to the sea. His whole body trembled, but his eyes shone brighter than ever.
He had stared into the maw of the abyss. He had nearly died. But he had survived.
Dragging himself back toward the surface, every stroke burning his muscles, he whispered through clenched teeth:
"This world… will not drown me. I'll rise above it."
And as the lanterns of the floating village came back into view, Ren Arclight carried with him not just strength, but resolve sharper than any spear.