Tides from the Deep - Blood Devourer

The group of students, led by Mira, ventured deeper into the Placid Cave.

Fiora walked beside Agalei, looking around nervously. The blonde couldn't help but notice how her friend's usually warm green eyes, too, were wide with fear, darting nervously from shadow to shadow.

Fiora reached out and gave Agalei's hand a reassuring squeeze, making the girl whimper.

"Come on," Fiora whispered. "It’s not too bad. There’s light. We are casters, and we’ll just snipe them while the others attack them directly."

Agalei nodded, not convinced at all by her friend.

The auburn-haired girl had spent the journey to the cave researching the creatures they were about to encounter. She knew that casters were at a natural disadvantage against them.

While true that casters didn’t have to get too close to the monsters to fight, Torpedo Snappers were neither that big of a target nor slow creatures.

The big snakes were blindingly fast and unpredictable. They could bounce around the cave walls, using the environment to move in all directions, bouncing up to the ceiling and off the walls as easily as other snakes would have slithered across the ground.

Considering they didn’t even have one real lesson from Professor Luana before leaving for Placid City, it wasn’t wrong to think they’d fare poorly against the monsters.

Anyway, soon, Agalei started to shiver because of the cold. The cave was getting deep into the ground, and the air was chilly, to say the least.

Yet, despite having already walked quite a distance, no monster had appeared to this point.

Fiora's eyes scanned the group. As her gaze passed over each person, a sudden realization struck her.

She leaned in close to Agalei, keeping her voice low.

"Have you noticed? There's no one here from Kawena's School in Professor Iakopo’s class. Not even Kaia."

Agalei's brow furrowed as she looked around and then scrunched her brow.

"You're right. That's... odd.”

Fiora shrugged, filing away this piece of information for later consideration.

Right now, they had more pressing concerns.

As if on cue, a high-pitched shriek echoed through the cavern.

The students froze, eyes wide, as they tried to locate the source of the sound.

Suddenly, a blur of motion caught Fiora's eye.

"Look out!" she yelled, shoving Agalei to the side as a Torpedo Snapper launched itself from a nearby crevice.

[Torpedo Snapper Lv. 7]

The creature was about half Fiora's length, with a sleek body and rows of razor-sharp teeth in its maw. Its scales gleamed an iridescent blue in the torchlight as it twisted in midair, jaws snapping shut mere inches from where Agalei had been standing.

Fiora didn't hesitate. She thrust out her hand, summoning a globe of Sunwater, and launched it at the Torpedo Snapper.

But the creature was too fast. It twisted in midair, evading the globe of Sunwater with uncanny speed.

The projectile sailed past, dissipating harmlessly against the cave wall.

"Watch out!" Mira's voice rang out. A blur of motion caught Fiora's eye as another Torpedo Snapper launched itself from the shadows, heading straight for the two girls.

Before either could react, a spear of crackling azure lightning whistled through the air. It struck the second Torpedo Snapper mid-leap, pinning it to the cave floor and cooking it from the inside out.

The creature convulsed for a few moments before going still.

Mira strode forward, sighing.

"I forgot to mention," she said, her tone casual despite the danger, "Torpedo Snappers tend to target casters first. They can spot out casters thanks to a Skill they have."

Fiora's eyes widened at this revelation, but she didn't have time to dwell on it.

The first Torpedo Snapper was circling back, preparing for another attack.

This time, Fiora was ready.

She focused, employing the Overdrive Spiral technique Agalei had taught her.

A globe of Sunwater formed between her palms, spinning rapidly as she refined and concentrated its power.

The Torpedo Snapper launched itself from the wall, hurtling towards them with frightening speed.

Fiora waited, timing her attack carefully. Just as the creature reached the apex of its leap, she released her spell.

The supercharged orb of Sunwater shot forward, shaping itself like a spear.

It struck the Torpedo Snapper in midair, enveloping the creature in a golden glow.

A shriek of pain echoed through the cavern as the Sunwater worked, partially dissolving the monster's scales and flesh.

The Torpedo Snapper fell to the ground, twitching weakly before going still.

"Nice shot," Mira nodded approvingly. "But stay alert. Where there's one, there's usually more lurking nearby." The senior student turned toward the dozen remaining

Fiora exhaled slowly, frustrated with Mira for not telling them these disgusting monsters would target them first. With her heart pounding, she turned to Agalei, who was pale but unharmed.

"You okay?" she asked, reaching out to steady her friend.

Agalei nodded shakily.

"Thanks to you," she managed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Before they could catch their breaths.

More shrieks filled the air as more Torpedo Snappers emerged from hidden crevices, drawn by the commotion or perhaps the scent of their fallen comrade.

Fiora stood back-to-back with Agalei, both girls readying their respective magics.

Agalei seemed slightly calmer this time since the other students had formed a circle to protect them.

“We probably can’t take them without using Overdrive Spiral,” Agalei muttered, analyzing the situation. “But that means we’ll expend a lot of Mana upfront.”

A student managed to slash one of the Torpedo Snappers right in its maw, killing it on the spot.

“Damn it,” Fiora gritted her teeth.

This was the second time in a few days that Solar Glyph Mastery would have come in handy.

Solar Glyph Mastery’s first Glyph was a Speed Glyph. Still, Fiora had made zero progress since the test with Professor Luana.

She had no idea how to fully absorb the Glyph into her Akashic Record.

The Skill was supposed to provide Glyphs for her to learn. Still, she would stare at the Speed Glyph for hours on end, trying to understand what she wasn’t understanding and still having no idea how to go about it.

She also regretted that she knew no one with a Sunwater Affinity, meaning she couldn’t even ask. Perhaps someone would have taken pity on her and explained the secret behind the Skill, but so far, she was on her own.

She had tried consulting with Agalei about it, but the girl hadn’t been able to give her any valuable input, sadly.

And so, Fiora started using Overdrive Spiral to charge the globe of Sunwater she was summoning.

Agalei, by her side, was already shooting hardened Coral Water at Torpedo Snappers.

However, she wasn’t yet using Overdrive Spiral.

“What are you doing?” Fiora asked.

“Getting them off the walls,” Agalei said with a concentrated frown.

As soon as one of her weaker attacks got a Torpedo Snapper to move, she immediately used Overdrive Spiral to charge her next attack, nailing the Abyssal Creature against the wall.

A second later, Agalei whipped toward another snake that had finally jumped off the wall, lunging at them, and she released a spiraling jet of Coral Water. The multi-colored projectile struck the creature mid-leap, sending it crashing into the cave wall with a sickening crunch, ripping its body in two.

“I can sense Mana, too,” Agalei said under her breath.

Fiora raised her eyebrows, impressed.

She knew Agalei was more proficient than her with casting, but she had underestimated how effective the girl could be in battle, given that her auburn-haired friend was such a scaredy cat.

Now that she was fully focused, however, Agalei was terrifyingly efficient.

But it was also clear that Fiora's Sunwater was particularly effective against these creatures, much more than Coral Water.

As Fiora dispatched another Snapper, she heard Agalei gasp beside her.

Turning, she saw her friend's face had gone pale, her green eyes wide with terror.

"Agalei? What's wrong?" Fiora asked, concern evident in her voice.

Agalei's voice was barely above a whisper when she replied.

"There's... there's something coming. Something big. Much stronger than these Snappers."

Fiora frowned.

“Are you sure?” Fiora frowned, looking wildly around.

They had just killed all the close Torpedo Snappers and it didn’t seem there were more monsters on the way.

But, trusting that Agalei's Mana Sense was probably highly developed, she looked at Mira, seeing if their senior perhaps had the same hunch.

Mira was at the back of the group, ready to intervene if anyone actually found themselves in real danger, but she was currently distractedly fiddling with something in her pocket.

Before Fiora could respond, she noticed Agalei's body spasming.

"Hey, snap out of it!" Fiora hissed, grabbing her friend's arm.

But Agalei seemed frozen in place, her eyes unfocused as if seeing something beyond the immediate battle. Fiora made a split-second decision. She turned to the rest of the group, raising her voice to be heard over the chaos.

"Everyone! There's something strong coming our way! We need to fall back!"

The other students looked at her with a mix of confusion and apprehension. Fiora's gaze sought out Mira, expecting the older student to take charge of the situation.

But what she saw made her pause.

The older girl quickly pocketed something, a strange expression flitting across her face before it settled into its usual stern mask.

"Mira!" Fiora called out. "We should go. There's something big coming!"

Mira's eyes narrowed as she stepped forward.

"Nothing is coming our way," she said, her voice cold and dismissive. "Your friend is wrong."

Fiora opened her mouth to argue, but the words died in her throat under the harsh gaze of her senior.

Fiora had had enough trouble with nobles that she didn’t want to straight-up disagree with a scion of the Kane Family.

So, everyone held their breath, waiting for the arrival of the monstrous threat Agalei had sensed.

Seconds became one, then two minutes.

Then, from around a bend in the passage, a single Torpedo Snapper emerged.

It was slightly larger than the others they'd encountered but nothing like the terrifying beast Agalei's warning had led them to expect.

Laughter spread through the group as the tension broke. Several students turned to Agalei with mocking grins.

"Some big monster," one boy sneered. "Looks like someone's just a scaredy-cat."

Fiora felt angry at their words, but before she could speak up in Agalei's defense, Mira's voice cut through the chatter.

"You two," she said, her tone sharp. "Your cowardice will be reported to Professor Iakopo. False alarms like this could get someone killed in a real situation."

Fiora bit back a retort, instead focusing on comforting Agalei.

The auburn-haired girl was trembling slightly, her eyes downcast.

"It's okay," Fiora murmured, putting an arm around her friend's shoulders. "I believe you. Something weird is going on here."

The group resumed their exploration of the cave. However, now they would mock Agalei at every chance, making funny, scared faces or snide remarks.

Fiora, however, still believed her.

Considering Mira's strange behavior and Agalei's warning...

For a moment, Fiora considered reporting her suspicions about Mira to Professor Iakopo.

But as quickly as the thought came, she dismissed it.

She was already walking a thin line at the Academy, barely tolerated by many of the students from Great Families.

Stirring up trouble without concrete evidence would only make her situation worse.

"Don't let them get to you," Fiora murmured to Agalei. "We both know what you sensed was real."

Agalei nodded, but her usual warm smile was absent.

"I just don't understand," she whispered back. "I've never been wrong about something like this before. The presence I felt... it was so strong, so malevolent. How could it just disappear?"

Fiora frowned, considering her friend's words.

She glanced ahead to where Mira was leading the group, her posture rigid and alert.

What had the older girl been doing when Fiora had called out the warning?

And what had she so hastily pocketed?

As they ventured deeper into the Placid Cave, Fiora couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking into something far more dangerous than a bunch of Torpedo Snappers.