Chapter 115: Getting out of the storm
"SHRRRRRRRRR...!"
The sky was dark and there was fog on the surface of the seawater.
The waters were dark now, almost black.
It seemed like the god of the ocean and the god of lightning were battling.
-GHHHHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT...!
The way the lightning cracked and exploded up in the dark clouds almost gave the being in the center of the gray fog a heart attack.
She had been here, holding this boat and her master for the last two days, and then a few hours ago, the weather suddenly took a U-turn.
The clear blue sky became black and the lightning was blasting on the surface of water, destroying the surface tension and basting the heated water several feet above the ground.
The storm was returning more water to the ocean than what the lightning evaporated, but then again, the lightning could never return the lives that it was taking right now.
"Shreeeek...!"
"Mulllll...!"
The fishes, big or small, large or thin, predator or food, before the heavy bolt so lightning, or even the deafening sound of the thunder, none of them were a match.
Even the creatures who could use the lightning attribute in the ocean avoided the water right and went deeper.
The creatures of the deep sea were going to be safe today, but they were still not going to remain in the same position as they were right now.
A storm meant a change. Once the creatures on the upper levels of water were harmed, the ones in the deeper waters would take their place, and then the ones who hunted them would have to change their habits as well.
A natural phenomenon would change the entire ecosystem of that particular region but that’s just what the life in the water looked like.
"Meow!"
Still, there was the storm, lightning, and the creatures of the sea, and then there was a single lonely boat that was resisting the wrath of nature with the power of a single young mystique.
{ "Master! Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up! We are going to die!!"}
Felix was holding the boat with her skill, but her power was not very useful against natural phenomena.
She had trapped a few useful magical sea creatures in her illusions and she had created a protective barrier around the boat with them. That’s how she was holding off until now.
But, she had been using her skill for quite some time now. Even before the storm, she was moving them to the only piece of land that she managed to find after searching for so long.
The land wasn’t too far from here. They could reach there in less than a day.
But, that was the case if they weren’t in a situation like this.
As things stand, they would die way before she finishes using her skill.
One bolt of lightning on their heads and they were done for.
The fishes that were protecting them would die and the only boat that they heard would be sinking inside the water.
’Maybe we should have gone inside...!’
She did not have this idea when she needed it so it was useless right now.
If they had moved inside the water, they would have at least been safer. There were creatures they could have used to save themselves, but those ideas were meaningless when she was barely holding off everything with her current powers.
She didn’t know when he was going to wake up, but she needed him to wake up right now.
"MEOW!"
If Nyx were here, he would poke his head with his beak to wake him up.
But he wasn’t here, and she did not have a beak!
"Meow meow meow!"
She could only slap his head with her paw, hoping he would come back to his senses.
-GHHHHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT...!
The lightning was scary.
She didn’t even know how she was holding on right now.
She wanted to go and rest inside her essence card, but she did not have that luxury when both her master and she were about to die!
"MEOW...!" In a desperate attempt, she pulled out her claws and was just about to scratch his forehead...
"GASP!"
"Meow!"
When his eyes jolted open, scaring Felix off.
"Arghhhhh! Ahem Ahem ahem!"
Sam gasped for air first, smashing his chest as if he was not able to breathe properly.
It took him a solid minute to stabilize, his eyes were blank at first but they retired to normal as his breathing became rhythmic as well.
{ "Master...!" }
Since he was finally awake, Felix jumped on him, her claws still out, which certainly scratched his arms, but not his cute face.
"F... Felix."
He took deep breaths as he embraced her, his head still hazy.
The last thing he remembered was falling into the water after the flying seahorse dragged them to this faraway place.
There were certain blanks of him spending time in some unknown place as well, but the only thing he could remember from that was a place with water.
It was strange but he seemed to have forgotten something. It was a disturbing feeling but right now, his partner as well as the situation they were in mattered more.
-GHHHHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT...!
The lightning was unforgiving. It was nothing more than luck that they were still fine right now.
"Calm... calm down." Sam observed everything around him first and figured out what Felix had been doing to save them.
Then, taking a few more deep breaths, he checked if his golden energy was still working.
He was fine even though his mind was still a little unstable, but that staying still wasn’t an option right now.
They needed to get out of this place as soon as possible.
So, first of all, Sam pulled Felix back inside her Essence card.
"Meow?"
"Thank you, for everything."
"Meow!"
He did not wait for her answer or response. She was too exhausted. She couldn’t even resist when he pulled her in her card without her permission.
{ "Go east!" }
"Haaa..."
He took another few deeper breaths and then took out a certain mask from his storage ring.
-Scuup!
The mask resembled the ones that his eldest brother wore, but the moment he wore this one, a pocket of air was created around his head.
That much was enough for now.
’She found the land.’
Her last message before he put her essence cars away was clear. She had done everything she could for them.
She kept him alive and at the same time, she found them just what they needed right now.
-Ooooooooooooooong!
The storm was becoming worse with each passing moment.
He knew staying in this part of the ocean would only get them killed.
Felix wasn’t here now so the illusion she had been maintaining all this time was gone as well.
The storm was getting worse and the lightning wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Thus, staying above the water was out of the question.
-Thumlp!
He stored the boat away inside his storage ring and dived deep inside the ocean, his eyes glowing red-gold right now.
"GUUP!"
He had a device that would help him breathe inside the water, but it had its limits as well.
He knew he needed to move quickly so he took control of the fastest creature he could see using his Red String.
Unlike the winged seahorses, the creatures of the ocean were of a much lower rank, making them easier to deal with.
He felt stronger for some reason as well, but that wasn’t important either.
"GUUP!"
He maintained his breathing, taking as small breaths as he could.
In the process, he also shifted to the faster creatures, jumping from the smaller gray sharks to the scaled dolphins and then to a Purple Sailorfish that must have been separated from its group during the storm.
It was one of the fastest creatures he was going to find in this part of the waters so he kept the creature and moved at almost half the speed as the airship underwater, protecting himself with his energy.
The red string that temporarily bound the creature to him was established hastily but it would endure.
He was in no state to cast a proper taming sequence but this was simply too important right now.
-SHRRRRRRRR...RRRRR!
With the Sailor, he moved all the way to the shore first, and before releasing the creature, he first observed the island for any threats.
He did not want to encounter any one eyed giants or armoured warriors of a cannibal race... or Nymphs, for that matter.