Chapter 12: Sea Hunt

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Sea Hunt

​A cranky old fisherman was sitting on his fishing boat.

​But just then, his eyes were drawn to a small boy by the shore.

​Surprisingly, he was heading straight toward the sea.

​Normally, a boy of his age should be accompanied by his parents. So what was the boy doing there?

​He immediately became alarmed.

​"Hey! Where are you going, kid?! Don’t go any deeper! The waves are too high today!"

​

His booming voice was loud enough to carry for a kilometer, yet the warning had absolutely no effect on the boy.

​Cursing under his breath, the old man didn’t hesitate any longer. He dropped his nets and started running down the beach after the child, figuring that saving a boy from drowning today would surely earn him some great karma with the heavens.

​Up ahead, the boy glanced over his shoulder, noticing the old man rushing toward him.

​But instead of stopping or showing fear, the boy’s speed suddenly increased.

He moved much faster than a normal seven-year-old should be able to. His charged headfirst into the incoming tide.

​Within seconds, he dove under a crashing wave and was entirely out of sight. The blue water swallowed him whole.

Oh lord! That kid has just drowned himself! Someone save him!"

​The scream came from a young man who was here just to enjoy the sea breeze. He didn’t expect to witness a suicidal kid.

​"Yeah! I saw that too. What kind of idiocy is this?" added a woman.

​On the other hand:

​Krono had already gone ten meters deep toward the seabed.

​Even though he had the Water Breathing skill, he couldn’t open his eyes fully. Because of that, he was finding it a little difficult to spot sea creatures.

​So he swam forward.

​He swam and swam.

​And then, when he couldn’t hold his breath anymore, he activated his [ Water Breathing ] skill to adjust to the water more.

​As he did, literal fish scales and fins erupted out of his body. His lungs also expanded as if they had transformed into oxygen extractors.

In this state, he was able to breathe more easily, just as fish do.

​He could also observe his surroundings clearly.

​Unfortunately, this state would only last for 5 minutes.

​He had to hurry and hunt some sea creatures.

​Soon, something came into his view.

​A group of small Pipefish was heading toward him.

Their long ans slender bodies were snake-like, heavily armored with a surprisingly tough bone structure.

With their sharp, pointed snouts, some of them closely resembled miniature swordfish.

​Regardless...

​In order to avoid alerting them to his presence, Krono hugged the seabed, trying to remain as camouflaged against the dark rocks as possible.

To his knowledge, Pipefish were incredibly fast and highly perceptive when navigating their home turf. If he spooked them now, he would never catch them.

The moment they entered his striking range, he drove forward.

​Thanks to his recent stat gains of +4 Agility and +3 Strength, his movements underwater were surprisingly fast.

Before the fish could even react to the disturbance, Krono snatched two of them right out of the water with his bare hands.

​Swish!

The other pipefish immediately fled after being alerted.

​Nonetheless, Krono was content.

​He swam back to the surface to breathe, and then opened his mouth to swallow the two living fish.

​He was very excited, to be honest.

So, ignoring the momentary discomfort, he waited for the familiar notifications to ring.

​Ding!

​[ You have digested 2x Bone-Armored Pipefish. ]

​[ Received +4 Agility, +2 Strength, +2 Skill Fragments ]

​Krono let out a satisfied breath as he treaded water. He could instantly feel his muscles tightening, growing just a fraction denser and more responsive.

​Getting stronger simply by eating was an absolute cheat code.

And it seemed living organisms provide far more energy than dead creatures, in most cases at least.

​Next, he checked his system interface. His [ Water Breathing (F) ] skill had deactivated when he reached the surface, meaning he had conserved some of his Miasma. He still had enough energy left to activate the skill a few more times.

Without delay, he dove back beneath the waves.

​Almost immediately, a big school of large swordfish brushed right past him.

His saliva dropped.

​Unfortunately, these were far too big and strong for him to handle. If he foolishly picked a fight with them, he would be pierced through a hundred times over.

These weren’t like regular fish from Earth; their bills were as sharp as actual forged swords and radiated a lethal magical energy.

​They were true predators.

​So, being a knowledgeable and perfectly reasonable gentleman, Krono magnanimously chose to spare their lives.

​With [ Water Breathing ] still active, he ignored the swordfish and dove a little deeper toward a rocky coral outcropping.

Within a few seconds, he spotted his next target: a small seahorse.

​This prey was easily small enough to fit inside his mouth in one piece.

Although.. Like everything else in these waters, it likely had several survival instincts that could threaten Krono’s life. But if he could ambush it and secure a one-hit kill from the very first strike, its resistance would be completely futile.

With that objective in mind, Krono pushed off a nearby rock, using his boosted agility to dart forward.

And before the small creature could even register the movement, Krono’s hand clamped down hard over its armored shell, crushing its spine in an instant.

Crack!

​He immediately brought it to his mouth, ready to devour it.

"Screeech!"

​But before he could even open his jaws, a oppressive wave of magical energy washed over him.

He felt nothing but dread.

The water around him suddenly grew freezing cold.

​Krono shakily snapped his head around.

​Just then, rising from the dark kelp forest below was a second seahorse.

But this one wasn’t small. It was at least two meters tall, heavily armored in tough green scales. More importantly, its eyes glowed crimson, looking absolutely furious.

​"Screeech!"

It let another terrifying high pitched screech after noticing the lifeless statsme of the smaller Seahorse. From the looks of it, the smaller one was its offspring.

Krono just found himself in a great unexpected danger.

​How will he survive this time?