The man was quick to take action and swung his sword, scratching the bladed barnacle’s belly. The monster's blade was inches away from his shoulder as he rolled away. Navia wanted to return to him, but the Barnacles blocked the path.
The man was slowly pushed toward the wall. The monsters were strong, but they were slow. August was able to avoid their blades, but he was scared for his life; a single mistake could cost him his life. “I’m surrounded. Dodging and running won’t save me… I have to try!” Stepping to the side, he avoided the massive blade of Barnacle, which was a foot taller than him. With a quick thrust, the blade went through the monster’s throat.
August was glad he was able to kill a monster, but as it died, he felt its heavy body leaning against him. He had trouble pulling the sword out of its body as another Barnacle was closing in. Trying to take a step back, he faltered; his legs were shaking, strained because of the corpse’s weight.
Seeing the oncoming blade, he twisted his body and made the corpse fall and intercept the attack. As the body was falling, August was able to pull out the sword and, continuing the swing, he sank the blade into the Barnacle’s shoulder. Its right arm limped as it was no longer held by the muscles. Except it was a monster, it wasn’t about to scream in pain, fear the pain. It was a monster, a creation of the Gods to kill humans. Even with a heavy injury, it swung its other arm, breaking the wooden floor as it moved in an arc from the bottom. August brought his sword down to block the blade, except he didn’t anticipate such a difference in force. He was pushed back, staggered, he fell down, his sword swept into the ceiling.
“So… That’s as far as I go…” He thought, shaken by fear. August could only watch the monsters approach him with a single intent. The intent of killing him. “Gods be merciful…” He whispered as he closed his eyes.
Suddenly, he felt cold, and everything around him got silent for a moment. Touching his face, he felt a cold substance, yellow liquid from the barnacle. It was its blood, and as he looked forward, the monster was dead, and Navia stared directly into his eyes, angered by what he said. “Never ask Gods for anything… They are the reason for all of this.”
Navia was covered in the sick yellow blood as corpses of cut Barnacles lay all around. If there was anyone else among them, he would have thought that someone else killed those monsters. From what he had seen, Navia was all about swift and precise cuts, but this felt more like a massacre. In her hand, she had a single long blade. The sword was almost as long as her; it seemed a bit chipped, not from the battle but from the design. Compared to other weapons, this one was well-made, visualized from her memory.
“I did it again… I mimicked him. Whenever things get hard and dire… I tend to copy him.” Navia was angry because she was forced to fight like that; she hated Godan, but at the back of her head, there was admiration for his strength. Irritated, she pulled August back to his feet. The sound of screeching wood reminded him of the collapsing floor.
Navia killed all the Barnacles that were in the trap, but there were more incoming, a mixture of those similar to humans and a few heavy and bladed ones among them. August stood behind but tried to stay as close as possible to Navia without disturbing her in the fight.
The long sword cut the monsters in half with one swing, the blade coming from right to left, from top to bottom, without stopping. She was no longer concerned with changing the weapons and using them according to the situation. She kept the long sword and swung in violently, each swing with an intent to kill, just like the monsters. There was no thought of killing with one blow. It could take two or ten; that didn’t matter if the monster was about to die either way.
“It’s as if she is a different person…” August watched, the admiration he had slowly was swept by confusion and unease. As if a person he knew suddenly wore a mask of a much different character and tried to act like that person, even though they are total opposites.
After cleaning her path toward the first massive bladed barnacle, Navia took its arm with one swing, as it tried to attack with the other, the arm slid to the ground as it also got cut. Before she cut off the head as a finishing blow, the blade crossed the monster’s belly, chest, and shoulder as it rose to its neck. The limbs and guts of the monsters flew to the right and left. She let the flow carry her blade, even if the current led her past the monsters, as she noticed a Frog trying to hide from her. The blade went straight into the wardrobe, and as she pulled it out a yellow blood poured out of the hole.
She instantly turned back and beheaded the three barnacles closest to August. He was able to hold a sword and swing it, but his arms were shaking, making it hard to attack or defend. Blocking the attack of a massive barnacle took a toll on his muscles.
“We’ll get to the top through the window!” Navia shouted like it was an order. Once she had opened the window, she looked back at August, who was hesitant. “Don’t just stand there! We have to get moving!”
“I can’t! My arms… They feel heavy… I can barely hold your sword!” August raised his arms, showing how much they were shaking.
Navia clenched her teeth and groaned. “Okay! Stay close! I’ll clear the path!” Navia dashed toward the walking crowd of Barnacles, butchering the path toward the exit. It seemed almost as if there was no end to them if not for the wall at the end of the corridor, which gave them the sense of how much more they had to endure.
“I don’t see any more of those big guys. Looks like I can sweep them with one move.” Navia turned her long sword and the whole armor into two razor-sharp chains with a small morningstar at the end. She threw them and swung them left and right, cutting each barnacle toward the exit, almost clearing the path to the exit as her chains stopped moving. She wasn’t prepared for them to be swept from her hands as a different kind of barnacle appeared. It was thin, with each bone visible through its skin, yet its hand barely seemed injured after taking away Navia’s weapon from that far. Most of the barnacles were on its head, with barely a few on the body. The only thing it had on its pale body was brown baggy pants.
“Did it just…” August thought. This whole time, Navia was overpowering them, but seeing one catch her by surprise made him concerned. He waited for her to create new weapons, but she stood there, conflicted. “Maybe she can’t lose any more blood.” August took a step forward and gave her his sword, “Navia, take this-” She raised a hand, a sign for him to stop.
“Hold it just in case… I’ll have to take it out by hand.” As soon as Navia dashed forward, so did the monster. Navia pulled her arm for a heavy swing, and so did the thin Barnacle; their fists met and carried the sound of the punch down the stairs.
Both of them withdrew their fist, except the monster followed his fist with his other hand, then with an open palm and bent fingers, it pushed both arms forward, striking Navia straight in the stomach. It didn’t look or sound like a heavy attack, but Navia vomited, and along with the liquid from her stomach was blood. The Barnacle then followed with a straight knee to Navia’s chin.
She fell to the floor, her vision blurry and shaky. Her mind was fogged for a moment, confused. Slowly coming to her senses, she looked up at the monster. “Did it just use Martial Arts…”
The thin Barnacle took a wide stance with its left leg toward Navia, then twisted its body with its left leg rooted in place, and with that swing, it built up the force of the falling heel. Navia rolled back in time, landing right next to August. The floor in front of them collapsed, stranding them in the corridor without any way out.
“Maybe you should take-” August wanted to give Navia the sword back, but she refused, pissed by the beating she just got.
With her thumb, she pressed the side of her nose and sneezed out some blood from her nose. “I haven't fought hand-to-hand in a long time… This should be a good warm-up.” Navia had one open hand straight forward and the second near her chest. “It’s my first time fighting a Monk Palm Hand style. Though I had seen it once, back at the Order.”
The thin Barnacle dashed forward at Navia, his fingers bent toward the palm, looking like the paws of a tiger. The monster threw hands at Navia, looking for a solid hit, but Navia swept each of his attacks to the side. “Too bad, I know the basics of this style. It’s a brutal one, but considered a Path of Mercy. Each attack is mainly aimed at my joints to dislocate them and reduce me to a state where I can no longer fight.”
They both seemed on par; none of them was able to land a hit, exchange of attacks, redirections, and dodges. As Navia pushed his arm to the side, she locked it with her arm, pulling him closer, straight into her fist. Two solid hits to the face were all she could do since the monster ignored the pain. Seeing as the barnacle was throwing another punch, Navia let go of its arm and dodged.
Navia expected the monster to pull its arm back. She went for another punch, this time aimed at its throat. The monster grabbed her neck and pulled her straight into its elbow. One of her teeth flew out of her mouth, but she ignored it, using the opportunity that the monster was so close, she headbutted it. Even August could hear the skulls breaking, but he wasn’t sure whose skull made the cracking sound.
For the first time, it seemed like the monster was in pain or at least disoriented by the heavy hit to the head. Navia stepped forward and threw a flurry of punches, with each hit making the monster take a step back. They were getting close to the edge when the Barnacle came back to its senses and grabbed Navia’s fist. It thought it would take the upper hand, but Navia suddenly raised her arm, twisted it, turning the monster around and pressing its arm to its back. With a single squeeze, she dislocated its shoulder. When it tried to grab her with its other arm, August ran up and pierced its head from the chin with the blood sword.
Once she felt the body go limp, Navia tossed the corpse down into the crowd of Barnacles on the floor below. Seeing as their path was blocked, Navia checked the holes left by the massive Barnacles. “Looks like this is the only path we can take…”
They moved through the rooms, vigilant as there could be another trap right behind those walls, but to their surprise, the path was empty. Not a single sign of a monster. “Did most of them attack us? There are many of them on the floor below, but it seems like the path is safe.” With a wave of her hand, Navia signaled to August to follow her, no longer concerned about being sneaky as they quickly marched down the corridor toward the exit.
“This might be the most dangerous part… Are you ready?” Asked Navia, trying to warn and let August prepare himself for what was about to come. Once he nodded his head, Navia kicked the door open and dashed forward, two daggers ready to slash any monster on her path, except there wasn’t any. Looking above the door was also nothing. Just an empty deck of a ship in the darkness with an awful stench in the air.
Looking around, there wasn’t much difference when she looked out the window. It seemed like they were in a cave, except it was too dark to tell how massive it was.
“All clear,” Navia informed, and August came up to her, looking around for any monsters.
Looking at the masts, he pointed at the middle one, which was the tallest. “We should be able to see the most from the top of that one.” From the side of the building, there was a ladder leading to its roof from which they could reach the middle mast. There were no signs of any monsters nearby.
“Seems like they didn’t enter through the top… There must be a hole in the ship from which the monster walked in.” Navia looked down but could barely see the ground and pools of water around.
The tallest mast was slightly tilted, but compared to the other two, it was in the best state. “So… Navia… How did you join the order? Was there some kind of test?” August asked, trying to break the tension and silence as they climbed the ladder.
“They found me… My home was raided by the pirates, and I was the only one who escaped. Members of the order found me and took me back to the main fortress. I happened to show potential and interest in fighting, so they trained me along with other recruits. There are tests, but to gauge your potential and your position in a squad. Coming out alive from hell like this will look good on paper.” Navia lightly giggled.
August was glad that the process was simple, as he was thinking more and more about joining the order, but what clouded his mind right now was Navia’s past. From what she told him and the behavior he noticed, it wasn’t an easy one.
Once at the top, both of them looked in opposite directions as August instructed, since the flare won’t shine for a long time. “Let’s see where the exit is.” As the red flare flew up, toward the ceiling, it lit the whole cavern. August looked for any crack or hole that would reach somewhere. “I see one!” He gladly shouted as he noticed a way out in the distance. He turned around to check if Navia also found something, but she didn’t look down for the exit. She looked up with a terrifying look in her eyes.
After a moment, August came to the same realization. It wasn’t a cavern as the walls weren’t made of stone; they were wet and smooth. Some of them moved slightly, and between the pinkish colors, there were red and blue lines. There was a single massive hole at the top that could fit ten ships like the ones they stood on.
“That doesn’t look like a cavern to me…” Whispered August, trying to take one last look as the flare was fading.
Once it was dark, Navia grunted, clearly frustrated and angered as she clenched her teeth. “I’ll get the truth out of this man…”
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