A Monster

Hearing Eclipse's words, even though the thunder mice couldn't understand them, they knew that there was no escaping their fate as he finished speaking. They closed their eyes and embraced their fate with trembling bodies. They weren't upset as all of them knew how this place lived by one rule only "survival of the fittest".

The only thing they were confused about was why they were so determined to kill this one creature of which they had never seen before. Something felt strange about the single creature in front of them that forced them to attack even though they were all full and unprovoked.

They all sat there with eyes closed pondering this strange phenomenon that put them in a frenzy to chase the creature that was about to slaughter them all. After a few moments of feeling absolutely nothing, one by one all the mice started to open their eyes. To their surprise they were all still alive, but no one was more surprised and horrified then Eclipse.

"Error, host does not have enough mana yet to utilize Abyssal Magic. It is recommended that the host either level up and increase their stats to use higher grade magics, or to use lower tier magics." The system said in a mocking tone, showing emotion for the first time.

"What about Gravity Magic?!" Eclipse screamed running for his life yet again while being chased by what could only be described as a tsunami.

"Host doesn't have enough mana to utilize Gravity Magic."

"Fine, what about water magic?!" Eclipse screamed, his hope now extinguished.

"Host is capable of using water magic. However, water magic at low mastery isn't effective in combat. On top of that the thunder mice have an affinity with the lightning element from birth giving them a high resistance against water based attacks." The system told Eclipse stomping on the lingering embers of his hope.

After running for 3 minutes now, Eclipse was running noticeably low on stamina as the thunder mice once again started closing the distance between them. It was at that moment when Eclipse was about to give up that he heard it. The faint sound of a raging torrent from up ahead could be heard louder and louder with each passing step.

Now having a newfound hope, Eclipse's speed nearly doubled as he broke into the fastest sprint of his life. Jumping over mossy boulders, through various vegetation of all sizes and colors, and around colossal trees reaching hundreds of feet high. Eclipse easily traversed the terrain with agility and speed on par with an olympic athlete, no his speed was notch above even them with his new body.

Finally the finish line was within sight as the sound of running water could be heard as clear as day. Using up the last of his stamina, Eclipse charged head first through a green and orange bush that had pink rose shaped flowers and stumbled onto the riverbank.

"What on Earth is this?!" Eclipse shouted as he looked out at what he thought was a river originally but now wasn't. The river had sparkling crystal blue water like the oceans on Earth, with the speed of the river's currents moving at a rapid pace forming white caps every so often. It went on for as far as he could see in both directions surrounded by giant jungle trees with thick and colorful vegetation on both sides. However, there were two features that stood above all of this.

The first was that the river was over a mile wide making Eclipse wonder if it could even be considered a river at this point. The second and more important of the two was the aquatic life.

Various creatures from fairy tales he was told about as a kid and other monsters he'd never heard of before swam through the varying depths of the water. The further towards the center of the river a person went, the deeper and more dangerous it would become as stronger creatures lurked in those depths.

SNAP!

Eclipse swiveled around to see his pursuers had finally caught up to him trampling over the orange flowered bush similar to how a tsunami consumes the shoreline. Currents of electricity could be seen building up as it traveled back and forth among the throng of mice like a wave, slowly building in power. Hundreds of beady bloodthirsty eyes glared daggers at him watching his every movement as if waiting to pounce.

A few seconds passed as if all the participants of this chase were frozen, not a single person moving an inch. Finally Eclipse slowly started to take a few steps backwards while keeping his eyes locked on the hoard of thunder mice that were now almost all covered in blue electricity. To his surprise however the mouse wouldn't move a single step towards him even when he was slowly increasing the distance between them and getting closer to the water, closer to his escape.

"Why aren't they rushing me when they have me cornered? At this rate I'll be able to get away from them via the river." Eclipse softly mumbled to himself in pure confusion. This didn't make sense to him because the system was clearly using some ability to make them attack him, so why weren't they giving chase?

Upon inspecting the thunder mice more closely, something caught Eclipse's eye. Though it appeared the mice weren't moving, upon looking more closely he could see the slightest of movement coming from their azure blue bodies. The thunder mice that were chasing him through the jungle without a care in the world just moments ago were shaking. They were afraid.

The moment Eclipse realized this he heard an explosion as water rained down from the sky everywhere around him. Slowly turning around without caring about the thunder mice anymore Eclipse looked out at the river behind him that was now embroiled in absolute chaos. At the center of this chaos, a few hundred feet from the shore where the water had exploded, a head rose out from the depths.

The creature's head that came out of the water was a mix of green and yellow, covered in slime that reflected the sun off its smooth skin. It had ocean blue eyes that carried a predatory presence within its pupils. Green electrical currents rippled at random across it's head and neck. A mouth big enough to swallow a school bus whole and lined with sharp teeth as long as a grown man's arm adorned its demonic looking face.

Within its slowly closing jaws was some kind of red scaled fish-like monster similar to a piranha. It had sharp yellowish fangs lining its mouth and dull gray eyes that were slowly losing strength as the teeth clamped down on its 40 foot body.

SCREECH!!!!!!

The piranha looking fish gave one last bellow before the teeth clamped down like a guillotine severing its massive head from the rest of its body. Crimson blood fell from the monster's mouth like a waterfall dyeing the waters red around it. Slowly the creature sank back beneath the waves soon leaving no trace that it ever even existed besides the blood soaked water.

After a few moments when Eclipse could no longer sense its presence he fell to his knees covered in a cold sweat. He clutched his shirt where his heart was beating so rapidly at a rate above what a normal human heart could beat at before collapsing in on itself.

The sheer size of that monster alone was frightening, but this wasn't what scared Eclipse. It was the domineering aura of power and bloodlust that rolled off the monster in waves that easily suffocated not only Eclipse, but every single creature in the surrounding vicinity. It was as if he was a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, unable to move or resist due to the sheer gap in power.

After a few moments of collecting his breath Eclipse stood back up getting ready to attempt to run around the mice and back into the forest where he hopefully could lose them. There was no way he was going through with his original plan to lose them by swimming in the river. Not after he found out that powerful monsters like that piranha that could easily swallow him whole roam the shallower parts of the river. Or worse, monstrosities like that serpent called the deeper parts of the river their home.

Just as Eclipse turned around getting ready to run around the thunder mice, he noticed that the once wild electricity that was slowly building up among the throng of mice like rolling waves had seemingly stopped. It was so calm and peaceful, like a tranquil ocean. It reminded Eclipse of a saying that an old fisherman at his hometown used to always tell him… the calm before the storm.

Instantly the electricity that the mice had been building up was released in a single beam of lightning rate at Eclipse. Eclipse tried to run but it was useless as the lightning struck the ground rate in front of him causing a massive explosion that sent him flying backwards through the air.

As Eclipse felt the soft breeze slowly carry his body through the air, he closed his eyes and lost consciousness. His body then slowly started to descend, dragged back down by the greedy clutches of gravity. With a splash that caused water to rise almost 20 feet in the air, Eclipse's unconscious body landed in the dead center of the crimson water.