(Julian)
"Julian, wake up!" Silva yelled out. My eyes opened slowly; I felt as if they had been glued shut the prior night. The sky was a light blue, and it was a cloudy morning. But why was my sleep being interrupted?
Boom!
The boat shook.
I wheeled myself out of the top compartment. Finally, I gained a clear view of what was actually happening.
Another boat, around the same size, had collided with ours. That is what made that shaking effect. Rushing out of it were barbarians!
It has suddenly become clear to me!
We came too close to the shore. The senseless barbarians caught wind of this and attacked. My eyes fell to the deck.
[Cast: Iron Spear]
A weapon of steel manifested in Silva's hand. She closed her hand, grabbing it tightly.
Fwsh!
She threw the spear at the deck with effective force. It cut through the air, reminding Julian of a bullet.
It dug through the neck of a barbarian on the deck who had been applying heavy force to Saldair.
"Keuk!-" he spluttered.
"Nice!" Saldair yelled out. He grabbed the cutlass, pulling the barbarian and throwing him overboard.
Saldair, Sodror, Lyrei, and Rar all held up a good fight against all the barbarians, despite being outnumbered.
Everyone in this world is so… impressive. I wanna grow impressive and strong like this!
Crsh!
As soon as the barbarian numbers were dwindling, a large tentacle shot through our boat. It left a hole in the ship. Then, another tentacle! And another-
.
(—-)
Julian was slapped into the ship by another tentacle. In an instant, he was knocked unconscious.
"Julian!" Saldair yelled out.
Rar's head immediately turned. He was the farthest away from Julian, yet he ran.
[Cast: Dark Flashstep]
His movement speed increased a lot. In an instant, he cleared the distance between him and Julian.
Fwsh!
Though not fast enough. The sharp tentacle lunged up, cutting off Rar's arm. He winced in pain, falling back. This time, it was Lyrei screaming.
"Rar!" she yelled out.
The predicament was rough, along with the waters that had grown more violent. Saldair, Silva, and Sodror were the only people left functioning.
"I-I know what this is! It could only be the legendary sea octopus!" Lyrei yelled out.
"Are you kidding me? That's something that I've only heard of in fairytales!" Sodror yelled out.
"We can't rule it out, though. Especially in this moment. Lyrei, what do you know?" Silva asked.
"… It has a low appetite. One fresh, alive person will suffice. It must've smelt the blood in the water."
"So… Lyrei, you couldn't be suggesting…"
"It's the only way. Do you think the saint will be able to heal two people? With Rar injured… It's gotten to this!" Lyrei reasoned. She was not completely wrong.
Wasting no time, she ran over toward Julian, throwing him onto his back.
"L-Lyrei, stop!" Saldair ran toward her, but he slipped on the seawater that had splashed atop the deck.
"Understand my decision, Saldair! There's no choice! Do you want to live?!"
She grunted. In one movement, she tossed Julian overboard.
Plop!
Seconds passed. Seconds turning into minutes. The water became still.
Lyrei panted. Sodror kept a still face. Silva turnt her head to the side.
. .
(Julian)
I felt myself slowly returning to a stable state of consciousness. And when my eyes opened, it was still dark.
Where… the hell am I?
It's moist. The air is incredibly hot and humid. At my feet, I can feel a mushy material, along with a sticky wet substance that tingles at my feet.
Movement!
I quickly moved around to grab hold of something. It was incredibly hard to do without legs.
My fingers were placed, and I squeezed. But the soft, easily mushable material that I had grabbed proved to be useless. It left droplets of a mysterious liquid splattered across my fingers.
"…"
This… I'm inside somewhere?! A stomach?! That explains the humidity.
We were at sea. All I remember is us fighting against those barbarians. I guess… I fell into the water, and I was swallowed by a beast.
Damn it…
This is the worst scenario ever. I'm gonna die, aren't I?!
It's hot as hell. If I don't die from starvation, these stomach acids will-
Splosh!
The stomach acid moved violently.
Before I knew it, I was shot out of the sea beast's mouth!
"Aaah!" I yelled out, soaring into the air.
I was so high in the air…
All around me, it was a beautiful blue sea. Nothing else.
It's… beautiful.
But… I'm so high up! Gahhh!
My… agh… I'm getting dizzy… damn it!