:)Ch45
In my old life I was always a big fan of nature shows. Watching a fish jump clear into the air to snatch it's dinner was one of the coolest things for the young me to watch on television. Now seeing it in first-person, upscaled a few orders of magnitude, my one time awe sees only terror instead.
My senses start to clear as I realize how truly and utterly fucked I am right now. "Uhhh [Game]! Could really use a suggestion if you have one!"
Skill Lv up! Bullet Time Lv. (2/30) → (3/30) -Your ability to perceive time at a slower rate while in combat. Slowed perception increased from (6%) → (9%)
'Fantastic! Now I can watch myself die in slow motion!'
I've fallen half the distance by this point. In a few more seconds I'll be able to smell the rancidness of Slinn Voda's breath.
'No! No! No! I will not die to something on the same level as fucking Momoo!'
I pull my last disposable sword from my [Inventory] and hold it straight down. Determined on being defiant until the end.
Only four seconds left. I was almost close enough to see the victory gleaming in the Sea Kings hateful red eyes.
'Screw you ya damn fish! I'm not going down that easy!' At the last possible moment, with perhaps but a fewmilliseconds to spare on my side, I thrust the weapon downward and bounced it off one of Slinn Voda's humongous razor-like teeth. The brief contact vaults me over the top of his jaw, and sends me rolling down the bumpy ridges of his snout.
"GG MOTHERFUCKER!" I screamed as the combined force of gravity and the Sea Kings own upward momentum help me slide the entire length of the blade straight through the monsters cornea and into the depths of its skull.
CRITICAL HIT!
8,000 Damage! (0/8,000)
'BOOM! Get one-shotted ya bitch!'
Skill Level Up x3! Bladed Weapon Mastery Lv. (8/150) → (11/150)
-Your ability to expertly wield swords, knives, spears, or any other sharpened tools. Ding!
Quest Completed!
Quest: Defeat Slinn Voda!
Reward 15,000 Exp.
You have reached Lv. 35!
You have reached Lv. 36!
You have reached Lv. 37!
You have reached Lv. 38!
You have reached Lv. 39!
You have 75 points to spend!
For a moment, time itself came to a standstill. Slinn Voda's corpse still towered in the air and I stood atop its face, my hands covered in all sorts of foulness from the monsters eye rupturing outward like a splattered fruit.
The rain was still pouring. The lightning was still thundering. And it is in this moment of triumph that the horrifying realization hits me.
I don't know where the ship is.
My head snaps around, scanning for its outline through the murkiness of the storm. I spot it quickly, which I suppose is lucky, but the sight does nothing but fill me with dread.
It's far. Too far.
They're...they're going to come pick me up right? They'll realize pretty quick that the Sea King is dead r-right?
The second realization comes just as swift as the first.
Only this one isn't horrifying.
It's worse.
'I told them I have a Devil Fruit...'
There would be no rescue attempt. No searching of the waters. No looping the ship around to look for me. 'No one is going to come...'
They'd probably already written him off. Tragically lost at the bottom of the Blue like so many other 'hammers'.
Slinn Voda's body begins to crumble and my calm goes with it. 'Shit!! Shit! What do we do? Do something! Do fucking anything! Do something or you're gonna fucking die again Jack!'
Oh god. What if he treaded water for hours or even days before he finally drowned? What if the [Game] respawned him in the middle of the ocean?
He could spend all of his remaining lives just swimming aimlessly...lost in a storm with no sense of direction or where the nearest island could be...all in sea-monster infested waters...this...this could be it...if he didn't think of something this could really be the end. Game ov-
'NO! I REFUSE!'
I leapt off the falling beasts head and towards The Marjhan in the distance. Trying not to focus on how the ship was getting farther and farther away with each passing second.
'This is insane Jack! You don't know how toStop it! Do not think like that!'
This will work. It has to work.
It will work because I will it to work. Because the alternative of it not working is wholly and entirely unacceptable.
Slinn Voda's form sinks beneath the waves and my own horrible crash with the ocean surface is approaching just as quickly.
'I've only got one shot at this! [Game]! Dump everything I have into DEX! DUMP IT ALL! Request Acknowledged!
Points to spend (75) → (0) DEX (115) → (190) I angled myself forward as best I could… ...tucked my legs in…
...and pushed!
Ding!
New Skill Acquired!
Rokushiki Technique #3 of 6. (Geppo). Lv. (1/50)
-One of the vaunted 'Six Powers'. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. By kicking out at incredible speed, users of this technique are able to generate an impulse off of the air itself and launch themselves in a desired direction. Masters of this [Skill] can use it to hover in place, perform it with only a single leg, or even combine it with other techniques.
Note: Due to your low level with this [Skill] there is an 80% chance the [Skill] will fail on use.
A white cloud of displaced air and rainwater flares into existence beneath my feet and suddenly...I was flying.
Holy shit I was flying!...and now I'm falling again. 'Go up go up go up go up!' I panic, kicking my feet out wildly.
[Skill] Failed!
[Skill] Failed!
[Skill] Failed!
[Skill] Failed!
'Go up!'
Geppo activates again and I manage to avoid a watery grave...for a few more seconds at least. For three and a half heart-palpatating minutes my mental state swings erratically between hopeful and panic-stricken as I slowly shorten the distance between myself and the two dueling ships, one of whom has just broken off and is in full retreat.
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