booktalesy Chapter 10 Touch of the Deep Sea
Chapter 10 Touch of the Deep Sea
The peaceful voyage was shattered a few days later in the dead of night. The waning moon hung high, making the already pitch-black sea even more difficult to see.
The giant ship was sailing smoothly, and all around was quiet except for the monotonous sounds of the sails billowing and the waves lapping against the hull.
Most of the reserve apprentices in the lower cabins were either lost in meditation or in restless light sleep.
Suddenly.
"Boom!"
A deep, heart-stopping thud came from the bottom of the ship.
The entire giant wooden ship was as if it had been violently thrown upwards by an invisible giant hand, and then slammed down heavily.
The violent tremors turned the cabin upside down instantly. Hay, debris, and even people were flung violently against the cabin walls, accompanied by piercing screams, painful howls, and the sound of breaking planks.
Li Ang was jolted awake the moment the shockwave hit. He reacted extremely quickly, instinctively activating the [Gentle Breeze] spell, which created a lifting airflow around his body. This offset most of the impact force, allowing him to only stumble and bump into the bulkhead, avoiding a head injury.
"Enemy attack! Sea monster!" The sailors' heart-wrenching roars echoed from the deck, followed by a sickeningly sticky screech, like countless giant suction cups clinging to the ship's hull.
"Waaah—"
A piercing roar, imbued with terrifying pressure and violence, pierced through the ship's deck and went straight to the soul.
An invisible mental shock, like a giant hammer, slammed into everyone's mental world.
A series of painful groans and vomiting sounds instantly filled the lower cabins. Some of the weaker reserve trainees even fainted on the spot, as if their bones had been removed.
Li Ang felt as if his head had been struck by a hammer, and his vision went black. He barely managed to steady himself amidst the frantic flashing of stars.
Under the moonlight, the sea surface instantly resembled a boiling inkwell, and a gigantic monster emerged from the sea, its head alone being the size of a small mountain.
It has an octopus-like appearance, but is more ferocious overall. Its body is covered with a thick, dark purple carapace, and it has a dozen or so thick tentacles covered with suckers and bone spikes at the ends.
At this moment, its tentacles were tightly wrapped around the hull, and one of the tentacles had just completed a violent lash, leaving a shocking dent in the sturdy hull.
"It's a Level 3 'Abyssal Hunter' sea monster. Everyone on high alert."
The voice of the wizard Celeste was like thunder, instantly dispelling the chaos caused by the sea monster's mental attack.
He had somehow already taken up a position at the highest point of the bow, his black robe fluttering in the gale.
He held a slender magic wand in his hand, then raised his hand, pointing the tip of the wand at the sea monster, and the fire element in the air quickly gathered around the wand.
[Level 3 Spell - Binding Flame]
With a tap of his wand, several crimson chains of fire, as red as magma and radiating terrifying heat, appeared out of thin air.
Like living venomous snakes, they emitted a sharp, piercing sound as they precisely coiled around the enormous tentacles that were trying to tear at the ship's hull.
The sizzling chains of fire wrapped around the sea monster's shell and suckers, producing a chilling burning sound.
The dark purple carapace quickly turned red and cracked under the high temperature, while the suckers contracted violently, emitting billowing white smoke with a foul odor. The sea monster let out a painful roar, and the tentacles wrapped around the hull loosened slightly.
Theronster's eyes were devoid of pity. He held his wand in one hand and held the other hand loosely in front of his chest.
The raging fire element was compressed and condensed wildly in his palm, forming a dazzling white light spot. The destructive heat emanating from that light spot distorted the air around him.
[Level 4 Spell - Flame Spear]
He thrust his palm forward with a swift motion, and a giant fire spear, over three meters in diameter and composed entirely of highly compressed, raging flames, shot out instantly.
The flaming spear, trailing a long tail of flame, tore through the night sky, emitting a piercing shriek like divine punishment, and shot fiercely towards the center of the sea monster's enormous head.
"Pfft—Boom!"
The flaming spear pierced through the sea monster's head, which was covered in thick armor, without any resistance. A charred hole appeared instantly, and the carapace and flesh at the edge of the hole vaporized instantly under the extreme heat.
Destructive energy exploded violently inside the sea monster's skull.
The sea monster's enormous body suddenly stiffened, and all its tentacles began to twitch wildly.
A desperate, mournful wail echoed through the sky.
Then, a chilling scene unfolded: the severely damaged sea monster's head suddenly exploded open.
The scattered chunks of flesh split into countless basketball-sized, bizarre little creatures, resembling dark purple jellyfish with long, thin stingers.
They were like hornets whose nest had been disturbed, swarming out in all directions with sharp hissing sounds.
One small group, about a dozen in number, like sharks that have smelled blood, followed the violently fluctuating mental energy of the trainee apprentices below due to fear, and quickly scurried into the lower cabin through the ventilation shaft.
"ah"
"Help! What's that?"
"Get away! Ah—"
Heart-wrenching screams erupted from the lower decks.
Those dark purple 'jellyfish' were incredibly fast, and the bony spikes at their tails carried a dark blue, corrosive venom that could easily pierce flesh.
The stabbed trainee was instantly paralyzed, his skin ulcerated and turned black at a visible speed, and he quickly lost his life amidst a piercing scream.
Li Ang's pupils contracted sharply as a dark purple jellyfish emerged from a gap in the room's ventilation vent. Its blood-smelling stinger gleamed with a ghostly blue light, aiming straight for his face.
At the critical moment of life and death, Li Ang's mind was more focused than ever before.
The [Gentle Breeze] spell was activated almost instinctively, and a powerful repulsive gust of air slammed into the 'Jellyfish'.
"Bang!" The monster was slammed against the bulkhead as if struck by a hammer, its dark purple fluid splattering everywhere and corroding the wooden planks with a hissing sound, but this also rendered it completely motionless.
A small, metallic object fell out of its broken body and landed on the damp floor with a soft thud.
It was an old-fashioned brass pocket watch covered in sticky residue.
"Hey, what did that monster drop? It looks like a pocket watch?"
Looking at the corroded floor around him, Li Ang had no choice but to take out a handkerchief to use as a mat, and bent down to pick up the pocket watch, without even having time to examine it closely.
"No, go away, help!" A scream filled with despair and fear came from the passageway not far away.
He recognized the voice; it was Helena's voice!
Li Ang had no choice but to put away his pocket watch first, and then dashed out of the room.
The passageway was in a mess, with several people lying crookedly, and cries for help could be heard from the surrounding rooms.
Helena was leaning against the bulkhead, her face ashen, waving a decorative dagger in vain.
Before her stood two menacing, dark purple jellyfish, one on each side, like scorpions hunting their prey, their stingers raised high, ready to strike.