Nightfall approached.
Phaenora crouched low, her expression caught somewhere between frustration and resignation as she crept closer to the Krepsunas. Her bow rested in her grip.
"Why am I always the bait?" She muttered under her breath, her tone laced with annoyance. "Oh, Phaenora, you're so good at being a distraction. Oh, Phaenora, you're so fast and nimble. Guess what? That doesn't mean I enjoy being bug bait!"
The Krepsunas loomed ahead, their grotesque forms illuminated by the eerie light emanating from the massive pearl in the lake.
Each creature stood nearly two meters tall, their spindly legs long and sharp, clicking faintly as they moved. Their bodies were a disturbing mix of arachnid and humanoid features, their torsos muscular but segmented, with bulbous abdomens pulsing faintly as though filled with glowing venom.
It was a monster that would make a normal human throw up while running in sheer horror.
Phaenora's eyes darted between the creatures, counting silently.
'One, two, seven, twelve… sixteen of them near the shore. Perfect. If they come after me, Vastarael will have the opening he needs.'
She exhaled softly and tapped into Vastarael's renewed energy. She materialized a sapphire arrow on her hand and stretched the bowstring.
"Thank goodness that some of the master archers actually knows about the best arrows to use. Memory Extraction really is broken."
Her voice, though quiet, carried enough of her exasperation to elicit a sharp clicking sound from the nearest Krepsuna. Its many eyes swiveled in her direction, locking onto her form with a predatory look that made her stomach churn.
"Great," she whispered, notching the arrow further. "Looks like I got their attention. You're welcome, Vastarael."
The first arrow flew. It was not meant to kill, merely to provoke. It struck a boulder just beside the Krepsuna, erupting into a flash of light that startled the creature and sent the others skittering toward her, their legs moving in unnervingly synchronized patterns.
All sixteen of them charged towards her.
"Oh, come on," Phaenora hissed, turning to retreat further from the lake. "Why do you all have to be so cooperative with each other? Can't one of you just stay behind and take a nap or something? Don't Krepsunas sleep?"
Their long legs tore through the undergrowth with unnerving speed, the clicking of their mandibles echoing in the humid air. She gritted her teeth, the bowstring humming faintly as she materialized another sapphire arrow from thin air, the crystalline shaft glowing faintly with borrowed essence.
This time, she infused essence onto the arrow.
"Sixteen against one," she muttered, glancing over her shoulder. "Hardly fair. For them."
As the first Krepsuna lunged forward, its powerful legs springing it into the air, she spun sharply on her heel and released the arrow. The sapphire projectile gleamed like a shard of light. Its trajectory was flawless as it shot straight into the open mandibles of the creature. A wet, crunching sound followed, the arrow driving deep into the vulnerable flesh inside its mouth. The creature collapsed mid-leap, its legs twitching violently as it fell.
Another Krepsuna surged forward. Phaenora sidestepped the attack, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the weak joints where the limbs connected to the body. With a quick adjustment, she materialized and loosed another arrow, this time aiming for the thin membrane just below the mandibles. The shot landed perfectly, shattering the protective exoskeleton layer and causing the creature to screech in agony as it stumbled, its balance compromised.
The remaining fourteen Krepsunas were undeterred, their collective intelligence driving them to encircle her. She moved so fast, weaving between their attacks with uncanny precision.
But the Krepsunas were as fast as her. In fact, if it wasn't for the sudden essence bursts right before the legs and mandibles got to her, she would be skewered or torn in half.
One arrow found its mark in a Krepsuna's exposed joint, causing it to stumble just long enough for her to finish it off with a second shot to its gaping maw. Another arrow ricocheted off a boulder and struck the mandibles of a second creature, disorienting it long enough for her to leap backward and gain distance.
As one of the Krepsunas lunged at her from the side, she dropped low, sliding beneath its legs in a burst of agility that even she hadn't expected. Mid-slide, she twisted her body and fired upward, the arrow slicing through the soft tissue beneath its segmented abdomen. The creature convulsed, its legs buckling as it crumpled to the ground.
Each arrow she shit was moving at unbelievable speeds thanks to her essence.
"Whoa," she breathed, rolling to her feet and brushing the dirt off her knees. "Okay, that was cool."
Her confidence grew with each shot. She began to anticipate their movements, her arrows flying faster and with greater accuracy. The sapphire projectiles materialized like falling stars, each one finding its mark in the weak points of her enemies. She moved like a dancer, her body twisting and turning as she dodged strikes and countered with lethal precision. Her borrowed memories guided her hands, but it was her own quick thinking that turned the tide of the battle.
Phaenora was the female version of Vastarael. Whatever she learned, she knew it too. Be it the Plenituse Techniques, his hand to hand combat, his weapon mastery, all of it. She could even use a glaive if she wanted.
However, the Krepsunas weren't without their own cunning. Three of them charged simultaneously, their long legs slicing through the air like scythes. Phaenora dropped to the ground, rolling beneath the nearest one before springing to her feet and firing three rapid shots.
The first arrow found its mark in the lead creature's mouth, silencing it instantly. The second arrow pierced the joint of another, causing it to collapse in a heap. The third however, was deflected by the hard exoskeleton of the last Krepsuna.
"Damn it," she muttered, backpedaling as the creature bore down on her. With no time to draw another arrow, she swung her bow like a staff, slamming it into the side of the Krepsuna's head. The creature stumbled, giving her just enough time to nock another arrow and fire it directly into its open mandibles.
The battle raged on for a few minutes. As the final Krepsuna lunged for her, its mandibles snapping inches from her face and tearing her head off, she raised her bow and fired one last arrow point-blank.
The creature froze, its body shuddering before collapsing in a heap.
Breathing heavily, Phaenora lowered her bow, her arms trembling from exertion. The shoreline was littered with the twitching remains of her enemies, the sapphire arrows still glowing faintly in their bodies.
The final shot completely shattered the bow.
"Good job," Vastarael said as he walked to the lake shore. Fortunately, none of the Krepsunas gave their shrill call to alter the swimming Krepsunas in the lake, who were guarding the floating pearl.
"I need a new weapon to use," Phaenora admitted. "I'm not suitable for close combat."
"I can see that. Starting tomorrow, we'll start training."
"You make it sound like we're going to survive this. There are thousands of Krepsunas in the ocean. And these ones are only Warped, suitable for Essentia! The ones underwater are Sunderers!"
Vastarael's Soul Vision did not lie. There were literally thousands of Krepsunas of the Sunderer Rank underwater. Just one of them is the same power level as Vastarael and even though he is an Ascender, the same rank as them, he still didn't fully know how to control his body yet.
If he wasn't an Ascender, he wouldn't have ran halfway across an island in a few hours. It would take him a day and a half at full speed, a feat that only took him about six hours as as Ascender.
"Going close to the water is suicide. Not even plot armor—"
"Phaenora, can you use all my Tethere?"
Phaenora was surprised by his question but she nodded. She can copy his Tethers after all.
"Well, not all of them. I can't use Circlecraft but I can use Circlemancy with your created circles, I can't use Omniphage or Rune Drawing either because I'm not connected to the world's first language. I can't use your Codex unless you give me permission to. Oh, but I can use all your Base Tethers through."
"I see... well, I'm going to do something absurd. At most, I can only last five minutes. You need to get the pearl, put it in the inventory and run as fast as possible. We'll be using the Veil of The Ingenious Prince the second we get out."
"Okay, but how are we going to take it without the others noticing?"
Vastarael cracked his knuckles as he began walking to the water. Phaenora blinked, stunned, as Vastarael made his way to the water's edge.
"Wait a second. What exactly do you think you're doing? You can't just walk in there like it's some pleasant little swim!"
Vastarael glanced over his shoulder, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
"I'll be the bait this time. It's only fair, don't you think? Besides, I've got about five minutes in me before things get dicey. That's all the time you'll need to grab the pearl and get us out of here."
She quickly closed the distance between them, grabbing his arm just as he reached the shoreline.
"Five minutes? Are you insane? That's suicide! You might be able to breathe underwater but that doesn't mean you're invincible down there. We don't even know what's in that lake besides the Krepsunas!"
Vastarael gently pried her hand off his arm, his calm demeanor only further frustrating her.
"Watch me," he quipped, and before she could argue further, he stepped into the water and dove right into it.