Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 58: Beneath The Waves

Chapter 58: Beneath The Waves

If anything, he was happy with the opportunity to warm up, facing down the berserk fish-man of a gray, striped body. It slobbered as it growled, beating its own chest like a savage ape. He’d be lying if he denied it being intimidating, though he didn’t shy away from it.

"Temporary Summon: Familiar!" He shouted.

At the same time he shouted the invocation, the humanoid creature ran at him, briefly sprinting on all fours. It kept its head lowered and forward, making it clear it intended to ram into him with its wide skull.

Right as it came within range, he sidestepped it, letting it pass right by him as if leading on a bull. It nearly went off the edge before digging its foot into the soil, forcing itself to brake before turning around.

’Quick on the turnaround, eh?’ He thought.

[Familiar Temporarily Obtained: (B) "Living Cactus"]

It manifested right between him and the charging hammerhead: a cactus with limbs vaguely like that of a man. The fish-man crashed right into it, bursting the verdant plant into smithereens.

"Ah," Gael reacted.

Observing the fight from a safe distance while casually leaning against a tree, Jaxon whistled, "Well, that’s unfortunate."

[Familiar "Living Cactus" has died.]

In death, the prickly summon left its mark as the hammerhead was left writhing in agony, thrashing its limbs aimlessly. Gael noticed upon squinting; it was completely covered in the cactus’ needles.

While it was left blinded by the pricks in its eyes, he moved in, though it still proved somewhat of a problem. As he aimed to cut its neck, the fish-man swung its fists wildly. He leaned back as one of its wild swings passed by, feeling the air brush through his hair.

’These things are strong. If it lands a clean hit on my head, I could be in trouble,’ he thought, avoiding its blind thrashes.

As he clenched his dagger, setting his sights on its exposed neck–

"Gael, watch out!" Jaxon shouted.

The desperate call-out caught him off-guard as he halted his attack at that moment, assessing the sanity-deprived creature. At that moment, he felt the soil beneath his boots vibrate, realizing the hammerhead had stopped its desperate assault, lowering its head again.

Its entire body flexed to an unnatural degree, tightening its skin around its stone-like muscles. A wind swirled around its shape, hissing sharply before–

It launched.

In that split-second, he hardened his own muscles to defend himself as the ground beneath the hammerhead’s foot shattered. He felt the air whistle against his ears as it launched, crashing its wide head against his chest.

The speed it dashed forward was beyond natural, breaking the sound barrier as all he could make out was the blur of the forest around him.

’Shit. I wasn’t expecting that,’ he thought as his consciousness flickered.

Through multiple tree trunks, his back crashed, though he hardly registered it over the pain that ached through his chest. It was only as his body slammed against a boulder fixated between two trees did he finally come to a stop.

"Haaah..." He breathed out, brushing himself off as he stood up with a slight wobble.

Exchaling came with a wheeze and a sharp pain in his sternum, though more than that, he felt embarrassed in his first impressions for his comrade.

’That definitely broke something, so thanks for the luck boost,’ he thought.

"Summon: Skill!" He shouted, immediately feeling his chest tighten in response.

[Permanent Skill Summoning Initiated.]

Before seeing the creature, he could hear its savage footsteps, causing the foliage to sway. Watching the trees up above quiver, he found where it was coming from as the hammer-headed savage smashed through the drooping branches.

The moment it laid its beady, black eyes on him, it unleashed a roar as its gills twitched, baring its rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"Yeah, I hear you loud and clear, Fish Breath," Gael mumbled.

It was no more than ten meters away, charging for him again as it smashed the ground beneath its feet. As he held his ground, wrapping his fingers around the handle of his pitch-black dagger, the summoning etched itself into his body–

[Skill Permanently Obtained: (R) "Flashbang"]

As naturally as breathing, he called upon a ball of light into his left hand, tossing it underhanded behind his back right as he stepped closer to the beast. The bright sphere rising up above caught the savage’s attention briefly before it released:

The dazzling blast of light completely blinded it, leaving the beast stunned as it began thrashing its limbs again. Gael moved in, learning his lesson this time as he stepped past it, driving his dagger into the back of its skull.

"Gotcha."

[EXP: +3000] [4100/12500]

It was surprisingly tough, taking some effort to free his blade from the hold of its skull before its body fell limp. It hit the soil with a "thud", leaving the seagulls sitting on the branches to flee in a hurry.

"Phew," he breathed out, wincing again, somehow forgetting his cracked bones.

As he took a seat, the crunching of twigs and leaves brought his gaze to Jaxon, who still had his hands in his pockets with no haste.

"Got you good, did he?" Jaxon asked, sliding his hands out of his pockets as he knelt in front of him.

Gael gave him a nod as he winced again, "Didn’t think it could pull something like that off...Came at me like a bullet train."

"That was wind magic it used, along with the absurd bodies these things gave. Nasty combo," Jaxon explained before gesturing upward. "Lift your shirt."

"Ah—? Sure," Gael hesitantly followed, lifting his black uniform.

As expected, his entire chest was already purple-and-blue, tender to the touch.

Jaxon snapped, casting a pale flame above his fingers, holding it close to the young man’s bruised torso.

"Woah—what’re you doing?!" Gael asked, leaning away from the heat.

"Hold still, would you? I’m helping you out here," Jaxon urged worriedly.

Lending some trust to the man he only recently met, the flames touched his skin. It did not burn, though it brought a soothing warmth.

"Ahhh—hold on, it doesn’t hurt?" Gael realized, blinking a few times in surprise.

Jaxon kept the flame against the bruising, "’Course it doesn’t, Greenhorn. Think I’d burn you for the chuckle?"

"Well, maybe. I think Jae-Seong would," Gael answered, imagining the childish laughter from the person in mind.

"Don’t compare me to that guy. He doesn’t know the meaning of "take it easy", not at all," Jaxon said.

He watched the Englishman hold the flame to his chest as the bruising began to fade from his complexion. Breathing came without labor, no longer experiencing a sharpness in his chest.

"Woah," Gael gasped.

Jaxon pulled the gentle flame away, snapping it away with a smile, "Works like a charm, doesn’t it?"

"It’s pretty amazing. Is that part of your system?" Gael asked curiously, pulling his shirt back down.

"Sorta," Jaxon answered, standing back up. "Man, I’m starving. I’m really tempted to grill up one of those fish-men."

"Seriously?" Gael asked.

"’Course not. Don’t think they’re even edible," Jaxon said.

–

[Beneath The Waves | Atlantis]

"They sure did mess up the warp, didn’t they?" Talking while pacing, Jae-Seong looked around at the scenery.

It was far removed from the sights of green grass and blue skies; instead the sky was the sea itself, finding himself within the confines of the underwater region. Difficult to see was the barrier placed between the sea and the ground he stood on. It was the only thing between him and suffocation.

There was a forest of underwater trees, swaying subtly; grass of a faded, blue complexion covered the sea floor, slightly swaying. It was as if the bottom of the ocean was a valley in itself, bearing resemblance to the surface.

"I never thought I’d visit Atlantis directly," Jae-Seong remarked.

The woman in the witch hat followed beside him, touching the tree of azure leaves, "This isn’t Atlantis itself. It’s the outskirts of it."

It was above the translucent barrier that they watched a leviathan swim with its serpentine body that seemed to stretch for miles. Everything vibrated as the impossibly massive creature passed, hardly seeming to even register the presence of the humans.

"That’s freaky," Jae-Seong mumbled.

"We’re in their world now," Esmeralda quietly remarked. "It’s best if we get used to their presence..."

"Well, that’s going to be a challenge," Jae-Seong said with a dry chuckle.

It wasn’t the only of its kind; as the two slowly walked along the ocean environment, the leviathans lurked above.

Jae-Seong walked while looking up, "If that barrier just decides to give, we’re probably screwed, y’know?

"Hmm," Esmeralda disregarded the comment.

"How far beneath the surface do you think we are? Ten thousand meters?" Jae-Seong theorized.

"I don’t know if that’s the real issue..." Esmeralda observed while walking amidst the deep-sea trees.

The presence of the leviathans and their impossibly lengthy bodies was constantly looming. Hearing their low calls echo through the reaches of the ocean made goosebumps rise on Jae-Seong’s arms, clashing with his own awe.

"Leviathans...The Guardians of Atlantis, right? I’ve read books about them," Jae-Seong noted. "The kind of stories parents would tell their kids to keep them behaved."

"It sounds like they did the trick for you as well," Esmeralda playfully said.

"Can you blame me? Those are the things of nightmares," Jae-Seong laughed.