DoorBound

He felt time slow down as he watched the tentacles below him thrash wildly. Making his feet as straight as possible, he pierced through the surface of the water. He felt the cold chill wash over him and was instantly met with internal waves from the water.

The tentacles were so strong that the forces being let off made Atlas look like a ragdoll. Atlas was sent flying in one direction, only to be thrown in another by the sheer force the tentacles gave off. Somehow, he wasn't hit directly by a tentacle yet.

One after another, a tentacle swished right by him. Atlas was running out of breath, so he started to push with all his might towards the surface of the water.

He broke through to the top and gulped in as much air as he possibly could. Looking around, he realized that the tentacles were getting a little more sluggish as time went on. Things were looking up.

That was until Atlas saw what was coming from above.

One of the tentacles finally aligned with where Atlas was. He saw it coming down at incredible speed. Atlas didn't have to think; instead, he dove under the water again, hoping that the surface tension would stop the attack, even if only a little.

He struggled to swim down and down, not bothering to look back. Of course, he was going to try and swim diagonally to dodge, but he knew it was moot. This tentacle was large, and since he didn't have the warp ability, it was a fact he was going to be hit.

Atlas was still clawing his way down when the tentacle struck his back with immense force.

Hurts!

It was so intense that his mind simply went blank. Nothing could represent the pain he felt. The very molecules that made up his body felt out of place, but somehow he retained consciousness.

Not only was he in pain, but the force of the attack sent him flying into the depths of the ocean at a staggering speed. He tried to move his body, but it was for nothing; he was too tired.

Vibrations washed over his body making him feel utterly useless. Each second that went by increased the stinging sensation across his back and body.

This was how Atlas died.

Slowly, under the water, swatted away like a bug.

This didn't sit right with Atlas.

He crawled his way through the maze with a broken spine and was able to recover from that. Why couldn't he push himself more? Why did he have to be such a weakling who couldn't live through such a simple hit?

If the squid hit him while being able to see him, it was a different story—he would have died on impact. But he didn't the squid was wildly thrashing not putting his full force into each tentacle strike. This meant there was a chance for him to live.

Atlas didn't care about his lungs that burned or his whole body that was aching from not only being hit but also from the depletion of his Aether core. He only cared about one goal: surviving. He struggled, pushing himself beyond what he thought was possible.

He tugged at the water, fighting tooth and nail for every stroke. He rose higher and higher at a pace that should not have been possible. Breath after breath, he rose, not caring about decompression sickness. If he drowned here, that wouldn't matter anyway.

He was closing the distance, begging to be able to breathe.

Six meters.

Five meters.

Four meters.

At three meters, he felt his lungs give out.

At two, he saw spots in his vision.

At one, he could no longer see and felt water enter his lungs.

Finally, Atlas broke free from the shackles of the water and sucked in as much air as possible while coughing up the water. His head was spinning in what felt like a million directions at once.

As he slowly regained sight, he remembered that the squid was still out there.

He turned and faced the squid and saw something incredible.

Instead of the thrashing monster, he was met with the squid laying on its side, not moving, as if paralyzed.

Atlas's plan worked out perfectly!

Using the flower the rabbit ate, he was able to stop the squid. He didn't know if it was only momentarily or if the squid would die from this, but he didn't want to find out either.

The only bad part about this whole situation was that he had no energy, barely able to tread water. His back still in intense pain.

That's when he felt movement in the water behind him and turned to see Iris wading his way.

One of her hands wrapped around his waist, and the other turned to cut through the water. The hands felt like heaven due to her filling them with her healing Aether.

At peace, Atlas finally was able to let go and stop struggling against the waves and the pain. Iris dragged them through the water towards a half of the fractured slab and threw him on top. Afterward, she lay down next to him, both absolutely at their limit.

Atlas turned his head and looked back at the squid's body and saw something interesting. The squid's color was turning from orange to a green, puke-ish color.

He wanted to fall asleep on the slab, but he was still shaken up mentally from the fight. That was the closest he had ever come to dying in his life. Even the strawman could not compare to the power the squid produced.

Out of nowhere, a feminine voice rang out, echoing through his whole body:

"You have killed a MultiSquid, Rank: Paragon."

"Congratulations, your Feat has been marked in the history books."

"Your core has grown exponentially stronger."

Atlas paused, overtaken by a feeling of pure bliss.

YES!

His plan not only worked in stopping the squid but also ended up killing it.

This made some sense because he gave the entire flower to it instead of just a single leaf like the rabbit ate.

But wait…

A rank of a Paragon… and my feat has been marked in the history books?

Both of these things didn't make sense to Atlas. The one thing he did feel almost instantly was his core growing stronger. A dizzy feeling came over him once again, and pain struck him.

His depleted core was instantly filled with Aether coming from seemingly nowhere. On top of that, the Aether he was using turned into an even more water-like substance.

After what seemed like forever, the pain subsided, and Atlas rose from his position on the ground, sitting up.

His curiosity took control, and he instantly dove into his Aether Core, back to the room where he found the technique information.

He read the walls and saw:

{Warp}

Rank - Sentinel

Level - 0/6

Looking a little lower, he saw new information that was not there before:

Core - 1/6

Surprised, he used his hands and touched the words, feeling even more curious than before.

This didn't make sense; there were simply too many mysteries to unravel.

He did not know how to increase his core every time he killed something. On top of that, he didn't know how to increase his warping ability.

To add even more mysteries, the fact he took down a creature of a Paragon rank and was awarded so much proved it was a strong creature, but he didn't know where that sat in the hierarchy of power.

He could only conclude that it was at least a rank above Sentinel, which would mean it was of the third rank at the very least. But it wouldn't surprise him if it was even higher than that, considering it broke the slab that made up the maze.

If a creature like that was a land animal, just how much destruction could it cause if it was in the heart of the maze?

The most confusing enigma was the statement about his feat being marked in the history books.

He didn't know what that could mean, but it was clear that what he took down was something no human should have stood a chance against. The only reason he was able to kill it was due to the flower.

And even then, how did this voice credit him with the kill? Why did it not credit the maker of the flower or even the flower itself? Did the voice only account for things that were human, or was it only things that had an Aether core?

While questions buzzed through his mind, he turned back around and saw the healer who had saved him giving him a curious and yet piercing look.

He realized that Iris probably saw the whole situation go down, and that included his warping.

Atlas knew that he had a hard conversation ahead of him.