Depthless Hunger

The next several days of the trip went smoothly. Kai stayed in formation and contributed when necessary. The group collected monster cores. They were allegedly nearing their destination.

But he felt as though he was dragging himself half-dead. It had been days since he'd properly cleaned up and he had the start of a messy beard. He still hadn't repaired his shirt in the places it had been torn. None of it mattered.

Maybe Gunjin and Hannagan and everyone else had been right to think he was doomed without a strong Class. Kai thought he was about as skilled as any member of their group, and he was more durable than most. But if they ever ran into a monster that couldn't be harmed by ordinary human weapons, he would immediately become a liability. Even if he put inhuman effort into improving himself, he wouldn't be able to handle the more powerful monsters deeper in the wastelands, much less defend the city during an incursion.

Once, Kai would have been glad for more experience against monsters. Now, every time they encountered something new, he held back and let the others handle it. He still watched carefully, particularly when they encountered a nest of snakes that instinctively dodged all ranged attacks. But he had no healing left and lacked the spirit to throw himself into danger.

"Hey!" Yangil trotted back from the front and waved to everyone. "There's a pond up ahead, and it carries some residual mana!"

"Wait." Curaina intercepted the group as they started to move forward. "I know you all want the chance to rest, but we've never confirmed the water is safe in this region. We need to check it out first."

Even if Kai hadn't been able to sense the hum of mana from the water, it would have been obvious: the hollow surrounding the pond flourished with plants that glittered purple. He didn't see anything dangerous in the clear water, but waited for Curaina to investigate.

Once she confirmed that she didn't sense anything, Kai waded into the shallows along with the others. He cupped his hands to draw some to his lips and was surprised that it tasted a bit like common potions. Mana-infused water was often used as a base, though he thought that it needed to be more intense than this pond. Something definitely felt wrong about it, even if he wasn't sure what. Maybe a question to ask Juray after he got back.

While the others drank or cleaned themselves, Curaina stood with her arms folded. After observing her scowl remain unchanged for some time, Kai approached. "Everything okay?"

"I feel like there's something wrong, but I have no rational reason to believe that." Curaina stared down into the deepest section of the water. "Some monsters can hide their presences, particularly hunters, so the lack of mana doesn't necessarily mean it's safe. But I examined every inch of the water and there's not even a flesh-eating minnow. Maybe it's just nerves."

"Uh..." Kai hesitated to contradict a veteran hunter, but his stomach was beginning to knot itself. "Is that the problem? Shouldn't a mana-rich pond like this have at least some monsters?"

"Shit. Everyone, listen up! No fast movements, but we need to-"

Before she could finish her sentence, eels erupted from the mud beneath the pond. Kai caught a glimpse of the Irunians closing together in a tight formation, weapons drawn, then he had an eel of his own to deal with. It lunged at him, mouth impossibly wide, and he only barely raised his pike in time.

After the eel skewered itself, Kai swept his pike in a wide arc, trying to ward off any others that wanted to strike. He noticed something odd: the monsters were all rising from the edges of the pond and arcing into the air before striking. They were spaced too evenly as well, as if it was a planned ambush. That, or it could be something much worse...

It looked like the Irunians were safe in a cluster, but two of the hunters struggled at the edge. Yangil waded in to save them, the eels clamping down on his armor. He grunted in pain, as if some of their teeth got through, but tore through the group. There was only a brief gap before the eels shifted to keep them enclosed within the pond.

The mud beneath Kai's feet shifted dangerously as something enormous emerged in the center. It had a narrow head roughly similar to the eels, but with far larger teeth and three glowing purple eyes. As more serpentine lengths uncoiled around it, Kai realized that what he'd been thinking of as eels were eyeless extensions of the central creature.

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Curaina struck before it could, stone spikes exploding from the pond in all directions. The burst of water was quickly joined by blood as tentacles fell in all directions. A larger spike tore through the center of the beast, which was just translucent enough that the stone was visible through its body. Deeper within, Kai thought he saw something deep purple stirring.... the beast might be sagging, but it was definitely still alive.

"Okay..." It took Curaina some time to catch her breath, but then she managed to call to the others. "This is an Aquagorgon... we're lucky it's an immature one that still can't regenerate well."

"You mean it's not dead?" Yangil blurted.

"Not yet. Stay away from the tentacles until we're sure. Everyone who can fight at range, begin carving up the central body. Every part of it is a threat until the core is destroyed."

The others began hurling mana toward the beast, which groaned and twisted as pieces were torn from its body. That left Kai useless, but instead of despairing he tried to examine the pond carefully. Many of the jawed tentacles had been severed, while the others lay still... oddly still. If the monster was in so much pain, why weren't its outer limbs thrashing?

"Wait, it's-" Whatever he had been about to say, he was too late. Apparently dead appendages leapt up and tore into the entire group.

Kai instinctively lunged to help the Irunians, skewering one of the jaws about to clamp down on Anoqa's head. Another bit down on Tusquo's shoulder and he grunted in pain. Before the others could close in, he swung his sword in a broad arc, a circle of mana tearing through the nearest. Anoqa recovered from her shock and sent ice spikes through most of the others near them, earning a moment to breathe.

The others hadn't been so lucky. All of them had been bitten by several tentacles, though their jaws were stopped by Yangil's armor and Curaina impaled all those near her with stone. Both of the other hunters managed to fight them off and raised their weapons, fending off the tentacles rising around them.

In the center of the pond, the Aquagorgon slid off the spike that had been impaling it, translucent purple flesh healing almost as quickly as it moved. Though the formerly clear water was now roiling with blood-stained mud, it didn't look like it had been dealt any serious injuries. Even when Curaina tore through its base, it only seemed to slow down.

So this had all been a trap. Kai was surprised that such an intelligent monster always made its tentacles rear up out of the water instead of...

"Get out of the water!" Kai shouted.

Fortunately, the Irunians understood. Tusquo swung his sword toward the shore and severed a swath of tentacles, then they all leapt. More tentacles tried to lunge at them, but Kai and Anoqa speared them out of the air and they managed to land safely on the shore. Kai urged them further back, just in case the Aquagorgon could tunnel further outside the pond.

When he turned back, for a moment he thought that his warning had been completely in vain. Curaina looked skeptical, while the other hunters stared back at him as if he was a coward. So far, the tentacles had remained back, dodging away from their weapons.

Then one of the hunters went down with a cry as the water churned around her. There were a few glimpses of more jaws rising to clamp down on her, drawing her under to finish tearing her apart. Her screams of pain were drowned almost immediately.

The others might have fallen as well if Curaina hadn't acted quickly. She drew up an entire platform of rock under the remaining hunters, the sheer edges cutting through some of the tentacles trying to ambush them. Yangil was still on his feet, but the other hunter had collapsed to one leg, clutching his injuries.

Another tentacle curled upward, snapping out and grabbing Curaina's outstretched arm. She must have been exhausted by the effort of raising the earth, because she hacked through the tentacle with a knife instead of generating any more spikes. Blood was pouring from multiple wounds now, but she still managed to shout to the others.

"Hit the core, or it will never stop!" She managed to generate another thick spike that temporarily pinned the Aquagorgon in place, but judging from her grimace it wasn't enough. "Yangil, I just need a distraction. Use your armor and-"

But Yangil used his firm footing to leap out of the pond. Curaina stared after him in shock, then several more tentacles clamped down on her body. Her F-rank Physique endured instead of being torn apart, but she obviously couldn't survive much more.

Behind her, the central maw of the Aquagorgon rose to consume her. Curaina struggled, but each spike emerged a little slower. Tusquo and Anoqa struck at range, but the Aquagorgon was healing almost as quickly as they damaged it. There was no one else coming to save them.

Before he knew what he was doing, Kai popped the overdrive pill into his mouth and swallowed. He felt nothing as he charged back toward the pond, but he didn't stop: they needed to kill it while it was still weakened from Curaina's strikes or they were all dead. As he jumped through the regenerating tentacles, he felt a surge of new mana and found the strength to knock them aside.

It was still nothing close to the burst of power he'd needed to overcome such a powerful foe. And yet Kai leapt from the stone, directly into the Aquagorgon's mouth. The hooked teeth closed around him and his vision went red.