Saltwind's outer reefs were loud at night.
Not with sound.
But with pressure.
Jeather moved through dark water illuminated only by faint bioluminescent veins threading through coral pillars. The sea above reflected moonlight like fractured glass.
His body still carried aches from yesterday's hunts.
Good.
It reminded him he was alive.
A shadow passed over him.
He looked up.
A Bronze-tier Reef Talon Gull skimmed just beneath the surface layer, diving occasionally to snatch dartfish.
Jeather watched it for a moment.
Then dove deeper.
The terrain shifted after an hour of descent.
Coral gave way to slanted stone shelves that dropped in uneven tiers. Strange crystalline growths protruded from the rock — faintly glowing, pulsing slowly like a heartbeat.
Mana crystals.
Not refined.
Natural.
Rare.
Jeather slowed.
That much concentrated mana didn't form without reason.
Something guarded it.
He didn't have to wait long.
The stone ahead rippled.
Not water.
Stone.
It peeled upward like skin lifting from muscle.
Silver-tier Abyssal Rifthound — mutated variant.
Its body resembled a lean panther, but armored in jagged mineral plates. Veins of glowing crystal pulsed beneath translucent sections of its hide.
Its eyes were wrong.
Too aware.
It wasn't just guarding the crystal cluster.
It was feeding from it.
The moment Jeather's aura brushed the area—
it vanished.
Not speed.
Displacement.
A tear opened in the water itself behind him.
Claws tore across his back.
He barely twisted in time to avoid a severed spine.
Blood spread instantly.
"Shit—!"
He kicked off the stone shelf and spun.
The Rifthound flickered ten meters away.
Its mutation wasn't brute force.
It was spatial distortion.
Astrael manifested, aura flaring cautiously.
The Rifthound's lips peeled back.
Then it split again— two afterimages darted forward simultaneously.
Jeather dodged left—
Wrong.
The real one emerged from below.
Its jaws clamped onto his forearm.
Pain detonated.
Velkaria surged, forcing a current wedge between its jaws.
He tore his arm free, skin shredded.
The Rifthound retreated again — blinking across fractured space.
It was studying him.
"Fine," Jeather muttered, blood trailing behind him. "You're clever."
He scanned the terrain.
The crystals pulsed.
Each pulse caused slight distortions in the surrounding water.
That's how it moved.
It was syncing to the crystal's mana frequency.
He shot forward suddenly — not toward the beast—
but toward the crystal cluster.
The Rifthound reacted instantly, blinking to intercept.
Jeather grinned.
"Got you."
He didn't stop at the crystal.
He slammed both hands into it.
Mana surged violently.
The crystal overcharged.
Pulse destabilized.
For half a second—
space glitched irregularly.
The Rifthound blinked—
and reappeared half-phased into solid stone.
It howled, thrashing violently as the distortion backfired.
Jeather didn't hesitate.
He closed the distance and drove his knee into its skull.
Astrael concentrated flame at a single fracture line along its mineral plating.
The crack spread.
The Rifthound tore itself free of the stone and lunged desperately—
Jeather caught its jaw mid-snap.
Seal glyph ignited.
The Rifthound thrashed wildly, claws carving trenches into the shelf.
It almost broke free—
But the destabilized crystal pulse weakened its spatial sync.
The glyph completed.
The mutated predator dissolved into spiraling light.
Jeather collapsed briefly against the stone.
"…Okay. That one was fun."
Inside the Beast Realm, Saxum's booming laughter echoed.
"Crystal dog strong! Jett stronger!"
Jeather peeled himself upright and examined the remaining crystal cluster.
He hesitated.
Then sealed the largest intact shard as well.
No reason to leave power lying around.
He didn't notice the second presence until he began ascending.
Someone was following him.
Not stealthy like a beast.
Measured.
Controlled.
Jeather didn't turn around immediately.
He let the presence close the distance.
When he finally glanced back— he saw her.
A girl hovering in the water with effortless buoyancy, long dark hair tied high. Twin crescent-shaped blades strapped to her hips.
Her uniform marked her clearly.
Saltwind Tidal Academy.
Ranked.
Strong.
Her gaze wasn't hostile.
It was assessing.
"You're the new one," she said calmly. "Rank 9,998."
Jeather rolled his shoulder.
"Climbing soon."
"I'm Nerissa Vale. Rank 312."
Ah.
That explained the confidence.
"You've been hunting outside academy zones," she continued. "That shelf is restricted."
Jeather blinked.
"Didn't see a sign."
"There are no signs."
"…Convenient."
Her eyes flicked to the faint crystal residue in the water.
"You fought something strong."
"Mutated Rifthound."
Her expression sharpened slightly.
"You sealed it?"
"Yeah."
Silence.
Then:
"…You're reckless."
"Probably."
A tremor rolled through the water beneath them.
Both of them froze.
That wasn't crystal pulse.
That was weight.
Something massive moved in the trench below.
Nerissa's eyes widened slightly.
"That depth is uncharted."
The tremor came again—
Closer.
Jeather looked down.
Darkness shifted.
Then two golden eyes opened.
Gold-tier juvenile Leviathan Spawn.
Not full-grown.
But already enormous.
Serpentine body armored in layered tidal scales. Bioluminescent streaks ran along its spine like molten lines.
Its maw alone could swallow a Silver-tier whole.
And it was rising.
Nerissa whispered:
"We need to leave."
The juvenile's head snapped upward.
It had locked onto them.
Water compressed violently as it surged.
The pressure wave alone slammed both of them into opposite reef pillars.
Jeather felt something crack in his ribs.
The Leviathan's roar wasn't sound.
It was force.
Coral shattered for thirty meters.
Nerissa launched forward, blades igniting with condensed tidal mana. She slashed across its snout.
Sparks erupted.
The Leviathan barely reacted.
Jeather cursed under his breath.
"That's Gold-tier, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Fantastic."
The Leviathan's tail whipped.
Nerissa barely avoided being pulverized.
Jeather summoned Astrael and Velkaria simultaneously.
This wasn't hunting anymore.
This was survival.
The Leviathan lunged again.
Jeather darted sideways, grabbing Nerissa's arm and pulling her out of its bite radius.
"Don't engage head-on!" he snapped.
"I know that!"
It dove beneath them.
Then—
the entire trench imploded upward as it burst from below.
Jeather was caught in the shockwave and hurled toward a jagged coral spire.
He twisted midair, barely preventing impalement.
Blood clouded again.
The Leviathan coiled through the water like a living typhoon.
Its eyes were locked on Jeather now.
Predator instinct had chosen its target.
"Why me?!" he shouted.
Nerissa barked back:
"Because you're bleeding!"
Of course.
The Leviathan charged.
Jeather didn't dodge.
He dropped.
Straight downward.
The Leviathan followed.
He angled sharply at the last second and shot between two narrow rock pillars barely wide enough for his body.
The Leviathan tried to follow—
Its massive armored body scraped violently, scales cracking.
It forced its way through anyway.
Relentless.
Jeather's lungs burned.
Stamina fading.
He couldn't seal something this large mid-combat.
Not yet.
It coiled around him.
Pressure crushed inward.
Ribs screamed.
Vision blurred.
Velkaria pushed desperately against the compression.
Astrael flared violently, scorching scale after scale.
The Leviathan tightened.
Jeather felt something give in his side.
He clenched his jaw.
"Not— dying— here."
His hand slid toward the Beast Realm.
Toward a trump card.
He hesitated.
Not yet.
Instead—
he punched.
Directly into the scale seam at the base of its jaw.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Blood seeped.
The Leviathan roared in fury and loosened slightly.
Nerissa darted in from above and drove both crescent blades into the same weakened seam.
The Leviathan convulsed violently.
Its coil loosened fully.
Jeather tore himself free and kicked upward.
The juvenile thrashed wildly, smashing into reef structures and sending debris raining.
Its movement grew erratic.
Juvenile.
Strong.
But not experienced.
Jeather gathered every remaining ounce of mana.
Astrael compressed flame into a single piercing lance.
Velkaria forced surrounding water currents inward, creating a crushing vortex around the Leviathan's head.
"Now!" Nerissa shouted.
She drove her blades deeper.
Jeather launched forward with the flame lance.
It pierced through the damaged seam beneath the jaw and detonated inside.
The Leviathan screamed.
Its body spasmed violently—
Then went still.
Not dead.
But unconscious.
Silence filled the trench.
Jeather hovered there, chest heaving.
"…Seal it?" Nerissa whispered.
He stared at the massive Gold-tier juvenile.
He could try.
It would drain him.
Completely.
He pressed his palm to its scale.
Seal glyph began forming—
Halfway through—
The Leviathan's eye flickered.
Jeather withdrew immediately.
"…No."
It wasn't stable enough.
And if it woke mid-seal—
He exhaled slowly.
"Another time."
They retreated together as the juvenile slowly sank deeper into the trench.
Alive.
Watching.
Remembering.
Shoreline
They reached the reef edge near academy territory long after midnight.
Jeather dragged himself onto rock, coughing seawater.
Nerissa climbed up beside him.
Silence stretched.
Finally she spoke.
"You're insane."
"Yeah."
"You're also not 9,998 material."
He smirked faintly.
"Tell that to the board."
She stood.
"You'll climb."
Then she paused.
"Next time you hunt outside zones… tell me."
He raised an eyebrow.
"You want in?"
She met his gaze evenly.
"I don't like losing potential advantages."
She dove back into the sea without another word.
Jeather lay back on the rock, staring at the stars.
Today:
Mutated Silver-tier Abyssal Rifthound.
Mana crystal shard.
Encounter with Gold-tier juvenile Leviathan.
And now—
Someone ranked 312 knew he wasn't weak.
Beneath the reef—
the Leviathan's golden eyes opened again.
It was not finished.
Neither was he.