NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80: You Can’t Swim!?!
After assessing the battle Agis made time to move forward to the sunset. His eyes were fixed on the beauty he saw on the horizon, but mine were busy looking down at the two fighters, sitting next to each other and appreciating the view.
“Can you go to any place and time you want?”
“Only within my own kingdom. I have a strong connection to this land.”
“So how did you not know who would win?”
“I'm not omniscient, I specifically went to something I hadn't seen before. I guess I could have guessed the outcome though. She was always better at controlling lightning. Come to think of it, she was pretty much better at everything.”
“I thought you said they were rivals though?”
“They were… that's because when it came to any magic that had to do with fire. He was unsurpassed by even the mages from other faraway nations.”
“I thought you said there was no one skilled at magic in Kasesh. Was he really that good?”
He chuckled. “Those two were an exception for sure, they honed their magic outside as adventurers before they came back. You saw for yourself, didn't you… You know the famous bay near where you grew up? That lake was actually made by his spells destroying the landscape.”
I had never actually seen it myself, but I heard it was so large that it was regularly patrolled by naval ships. “How did someone like that die?”
His eyes turned away from the horizon and down to the couple below us, staring at them wistfully. “His body wasn't the strongest, and he wasn’t the most perceptive either… your warbows can shoot from a great distance. One shot from an archer not unlike your brother Airsidh and he was skewered….”
I thought back to when I had seen Airsidh shoot his bow firsthand and imagined an arrow of that size piercing a human body. It was hard to imagine.
Even having seen some real fights, I was only able to envision it in a cartoonish way where the arrow would rip right through them like a laser, leaving nothing but a hole.
I looked over at him, the sadness on his face only grew more and more intense. ‘I’m sure… In real life, it was probably pretty gruesome…’
‘We should go somewhere else before the mood gets dragged down too much… Mopping around is contagious, and it never leads to anything good.’
I let out a sigh, standing up and pacing a hand on his shoulder. “OK, well then Mr King, why don't we take another trip? You showed me a good magic fight. Now it's time for me to show you something. You know that cave spring near my family's castle? Let's go there. Present time.”
He looked confused but agreed anyway. “You really think you can show me something? I ascended hundreds of years ago. I can observe almost anything that I want within this or any other world.”
“Pft, whatever.” We arrived at the cave spring and I got off of Flicker, making sure he did the same. He may have been tall, but he wasn't all that heavy-looking. ‘This should be easy.’
I may not have harbored a grudge against him for reincarnating me. I admit it though, I liked the idea of a little playful revenge.
‘I can say whatever I want about ice cold baths, but if they do one thing well it's clear your mind. That means it gets rid of all the sad thoughts too.’
I placed one foot just slightly in front of him and shoved him from the back attempting to send him plunging into the water. The next thing I knew I was upside down flying through the air in slow motion. ‘What… Did he throw me?’
For a brief moment as I flew threw the air I saw his face as serious as that of a killer. His eyes were like blades, electrified with pure instinct. It all happened so fast I could hardly even process how he managed to do it.
“Siya!” I heard him yell. From the corner of my eye, I could see him jump out and catch me, throwing me back so that I landed on the dry ground, while he himself ended up drenched.
Again, his movements were so fast they were incomprehensible. Somehow the sensation of falling was gone, and I was standing on dry ground as if I had only slightly shifted my weight.
I heard loud splashing as the cold water flew across the cavern, some giving me goosebumps as it landed on my arms. “I-I can't swim!” he yelled.
“What! Just kick your arms and legs!” ‘He can’t be serious right?’ It took a moment for my mind to catch up with everything that had happened. ‘How am I here, and he's in the water… But… Wait… Is he actually in trouble?’
He started panting and before long he was sinking. The cave spring was mostly shallow, but there were a few parts that were deep enough even my father couldn't stand up in.
‘If he's really panicking, it would make sense that he couldn't get out. But what kind of demigod or whatever doesn't know how to swim? Can’t he just teleport out or something!?!’
After stalling for a moment to try and see if he was just messing with me I hesitantly took a step forward. “AGH!!!” I yelled in frustration, taking off my hoodie and throwing it to the side, jumping in after him.
The cold shock caused me to inhale sharply, but that's why I jumped into a shallow part of the spring and kept my head above water.
Taking in a deep breath, I managed to swim out and drag him back to the shallow part, gasping for air. My old body wasn't adapted to the cold at all, and it certainly wasn't conditioned to move in those conditions.
In just a few moments I was shaking uncontrollably, and my body was starting to go numb. Struggling to pull him back to the shallow part of the spring, I ended up gasping for air, out of breath after making it back to the edge. ‘Was I really this out of shape in my past life?’
I quickly pulled myself out, reaching down to help him too. “Come on, you have to get out quickly before you freeze.”
He pulled himself out without taking my hand and smiled wryly again. “That kind of thing doesn't bother me that much.
Standing there shivering, I was beginning to feel annoyed. “What kind of freaking demi-god doesn't know how to swim!”
“What kind of herald throws her patron in a lake?”
I groaned, starting to shiver worse as a gust of wind blew through the cave entrance. “What's the deal with this anyway, I'm not even actually here, right? Isn't this all an illusion anyway?”
Flicker moved over close to me offering her fur as a towel, which I gladly accepted.
“Well, yes, but you can still feel things. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to feel the soft or warm things either. It wouldn't be very comfortable.” He seemed completely unfazed by the whole event, his smile never dimming, even as he saw me shaking.
‘That smile…’ “You were faking weren’t you!” I yelled out rubbing my arms.
“I guess you could say this makes the score 2 to 0 now,” He said, looking rather pleased.
“AGH! You dove in first, that means I won, and the last one was a draw, you looked even more embarrassed than I was, one zero me.”
“Oh, how generous of you, I am truly in awe of your thoughtfulness, giving me a draw when you so clearly won,” he said sarcastically.
I let out a low grumble as I tried to shake some of the water out of the ends of my hair. ‘He's so childish… Wait… Doesn't that mean I am too though?’