The water was different this time.
Mark stood at the marsh's edge, the Wind Blossom Katana humming in his grip. His reflection shimmered in the glassy surface—pale hair streaked with dried blood, eyes blue like the ocean. Behind him, Ren paced, his Death Scythe flickering in and out of existence like a dying candle.
*"You're seriously doing this again?"* Ren asked, voice tight.
Mark didn't answer. He flexed his fingers, feeling the power thrumming beneath his skin.
**[Blood Slash Mastery: 10]**
**[Wind Blossom Katana Mastery: 7]**
**[Level: 9 (EXP: 95/470)]**
**[Strength: 14 → 23]**
Every stat point had gone into **Strength**. Every kill had honed his blade. Now, he needed to test it.
He dove.
The water embraced him like a second skin. Sunlight speared through the depths, illuminating schools of those same silver fish, their bioluminescent bones casting ghostly trails. Mark didn't chase them. He waited.
And **struck** the water with his fist.
The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward. The fish scattered. The marsh held its breath.
Then—
**Movement.**
Not one, but **two** shadows uncoiled from the abyss. The same nightmare fish as before—two meters long, scales like oiled metal, jaws lined with needle teeth. But this time, they moved **together**, circling him with eerie synchronicity.
Mark exhaled a stream of bubbles.
*Good.*
---
### **The Kill**
The first fish lunged.
Mark twisted, letting it graze past him, then **swung**.
The Wind Blossom Katana cut through the water with unnatural ease, its edge leaving a trail of shimmering air bubbles. The blade sheared through gills, flesh, and spine in one clean motion.
**[You have killed Unclassified Level 7 River Maw. +85 EXP.]**
The second fish struck before the first's body finished sinking.
Mark didn't dodge.
He **let** it clamp onto his arm—its teeth sinking deep, blood clouding the water—then grabbed its lower jaw with his free hand.
And **ripped**.
The creature's mouth tore clean in half, its body spasming as black blood flooded the marsh.
**[You have killed Unclassified Level 7 River Maw. +85 EXP.]**
**[Wind Blossom Katana Mastery: 7 → 8]**
**[You have reached Level 10]**
**[Strength +2]**
**[3 Status Points to allocate freely]**
Mark surfaced, gasping, dragging both carcasses behind him.
Ren stared. *"What the hell is wrong with you?"*
Mark tossed the fish onto the bank. *"Dinner."*
They returned to chaos.
Screams tore through the air before they even reached the camp's perimeter. Mark broke into a sprint, Ren at his heels, the fish forgotten in the mud behind them.
The scene they stumbled upon was a slaughterhouse.
Four bodies.
**Brutalized.**
One man's ribs had been **cracked open**, his heart missing. Another's head was **twisted backward**, his face frozen in a silent scream. The other two were barely recognizable as human—just **meat and shattered bone**.
Colonists clustered around the corpses, some retching, others praying. Maya stood at the center, her pendant clutched so tight her knuckles were white.
Mark didn't ask.
He already knew.
His hand shot out, grabbing **Alex** by the throat and slamming him into the wall hard enough to dent the metal.
*"Why?"*
Alex's feet dangled a foot off the ground. His face was a mess of blood—some his, most not. His pupils were **pinpricks**, his breath reeking of copper.
*"I didn't—"* Alex choked. *"They forced me! They tried to—"*
*"Bullshit."* Mark's grip tightened. *"You enjoyed it."*
Alex's lips peeled back in a snarl—then, just as suddenly, his face **crumpled**. Tears cut through the grime on his cheeks. *"I didn't want to..."*
For a heartbeat, Mark hesitated.
Then he **hurled** Alex across the room.
The impact sent crates toppling. Colonists scrambled back as Alex slid to the floor, coughing up blood.
Mark's voice was ice. *"Next time you do this? I kill you."*
Alex didn't respond. He just stood, wiped his mouth, and walked out—past the horrified stares, past the bodies, into the jungle's waiting dark.
Alex made it fifty paces before his knees gave out.
He collapsed, vomiting blood onto the ferns. His ribs screamed where Mark had thrown him. His skull pounded like a war drum.
And then—
**Laughter.**
Soft at first. Then louder. A voice that wasn't his, **couldn't** be his, slithered through his mind:
*"You really gon' let them do you like that?"*
Alex froze.
The voice **giggled**, high and unhinged. *"Big bad monster, crying in the dirt? Pathetic."*
Alex's hands shook. *"Shut up."*
*"Make me,"* the voice purred. *"Or better yet... let me out again."*
Alex spat blood. *"No."*
*"Liar."* The voice faded, but its echo remained. *"You liked it. The blood. The power. You'll call me soon."*
Alex clenched his fists.
Somewhere in the jungle, something **screeched**.
And for the first time, Alex smiled.
---