The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The waters of the lake were disturbed by waves and ripples of foam from the rise of the nine-headed lotus hydra. Its low roars from the beautiful flowery heads rang through Oscar's body, and involuntary shivers sprang across his skin. He let out a fearless smile, but a drop of sweat ran down his chin.

Under the view of his Prinstyct, a large shadowy fog was obscuring the glimmers of intent, not allowing a single light to pierce through. Straining himself a little more, Oscar began to see some faint particles of intent. This creature was strong enough to cover so much of itself from his Prinsyct.

"A variant of a hydra…." Oscar whispered to himself.

He had read about this particular race of creatures–a monstrous creature with nine heads on serpentine necks connected to a large, powerful body. Some variants of the hydra had the ability to grow more heads if any were cut off and were masters of their element. Oscar frowned and wondered if this creature was the same.

"Serena, this beast is strong. And we have little footing to work with." Oscar glanced at the two lily pads under their feet, softly swaying with the waves. Though they seemed sturdy, right now, they appeared as fragile as glass against this monster.

The beast attacked before she could reply. The waters erupted from under them, and Oscar and Serena fell into the lake. Oscar expected a wave of pressure to crush him, but it never came. Somehow, the restrictions were no longer in effect.

'It must be because we encountered this hydra. Of course, a treasured lake would have its own dangers and unexpected events.' Oscar squinted and saw the hydra swimming toward him. Suddenly, a force of water rammed into his side and forced him out of the way. It was Serena.

"We have to play it safe. I don't want to risk you losing control of your body in these waters." Serena tugged on his hand. Water swirled under her feet, and she sped up to avoid the hydra's snapping jaws. "Under the water, I can move faster."

With their increased mobility, they sped through the waters. Oscar formed another silver star and released it with Reis. The silver star rippled through the waters and reached the body of the hydra.

No damage. The star cracked apart without so much of a scratch on the creature. Oscar frowned and wanted to try again. Then the waters trembled. Oscar widened his eyes and felt a large amount of Ein gathering in the hydra.

All nine flowery heads opened and blossomed, emitting an alluring glow. The waters swirled into tiny concentrated spheres at their centers, sprouting into torrential beams. Oscar frowned at the white beams and lifted his bulwark.

What tremendous power! As the beams approached, he felt the waters tighten around, refusing to let him and Serena move. The oppressive pressure and Ein from the beams somehow constricted the waters. Using his ripple shroud to diminish the pressure, Oscar quickly swam over to the bound Serena and kicked her before the gripping pressure returned.

"That was close!" Oscar stared at the passing beam, nearly a pinky away from his arm, red and aching with a burning feeling. Rubbing his scorched arm, Oscar turned to Serena to find she was alright. It was a very close call.

'But the pressure is now gone!' He summoned his trusty deer anima and launched himself off of its antlers. The hydra's necks had gone limp, and heads had furled up. This was his chance. Its large beams must have drained it or had a drawback.

Not wanting to find out if the beast would recover, Oscar invoked the Eirin. Two short lances encased his fists, bubbling not with foam but spheres of Eirin. Oscar grunted from the usual heaviness and pain of Eirin. Still, he traversed across the waters and reached the beast's chest.

Oscar did not waste any more time. His arms moved rapidly through the churning waters, tearing into the hydra. Its thick hide and hard skin were as he had expected. Even his newly found Eirin powers needed time to chip away bits of mossy flesh and bark skin.

But chip away at them, he did. After a short burst, Oscar stabbed into its beating heart. Green blood spilled out, and he heard a loud screech and glanced upward. Above him, Serena's figure whipped around and targeted one of the heads that opened up to the fullest. Her fearsome water imploded one of the heads and scattered its large petals to float to the surface.

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"It's not dead yet?" Oscar frowned. Retreating away from the hydra's body, he dodged many of its lashing necks and snapping flowery jaws. He was sure he had pierced its heart. "It must have more than one. Serena, stick close to me. We have to dodge its next strike."

Her water whip made its way toward him and tied around his waist. He found it funny how she could still use water spells underwater. Ein was a wonderful and miraculous power which he could not tell its depths.

"It's coming!" Serena cried out.

The powerful beams of Ein and torrential water, eight this time, concentrated into one. The pressure froze his movements again. Oscar gritted his teeth against the constraint, but it was far more powerful this time. Before the beam could reach him, Oscar combined his two abilities.

'Ripple Shroud x Shattering Wave'

The same technique he saw Demon use in the battle against Orden. It worked. The pressure instantly disappeared, and Oscar swam out of the way with Serena. He felt discomfort in his chest, and every inch of his skin ached—a small price to pay for avoiding certain death. The power behind these beams was something he could never handle.

This time Serena led the way, and her water whip dragged him along. Oscar let out a stream of bubbles from his mouth as the pain subsided. He started his work on the hydra's chest once more. Oscar was surprised to see the chest had regenerated and all of his work earlier had been wasted.

"Wait a minute. If its chest regenerated, perhaps its heart did as well." Oscar realized the way to defeat this creature. Destroy its heart to expose its head and destroy it. It would have required a large team, and luckily, he had the Eirin to empower his spells to penetrate through its hard defenses.

Once again, he exposed its heart and stabbed it with a smile. The hydra's screams trumpeted the sounds of victory as Serena imploded another head. Oscar saw the path to victory, to rinse and repeat.

Minutes passed, and Oscar's lungs burned, releasing large amounts of bubbles. He used the Eirin eight times now in short strenuous bursts. His arms could barely lift themselves. "One more."

"One more." Serena nodded. Her face was pale, and her hands quivered while clenching her axes. The battle had taken its toll on her as well. Unlike himself, she didn't possess a strong body, and the pressure would have felt much worse for her.

One more. Oscar rallied himself. He followed the same routine and faced the hydra's immobile chest. Before he could plunge his Eirin lances into it, he hesitated. The hydra was on its last legs, yet it was off.

"Serena, be careful of any surprises or ambushes," Oscar shouted. Cautiously, he stepped forward and barraged the hydra. He tore away at its chest until he saw its beating heart again. Eyes focused, he slowly pierced its heart.

The hydra gave one last roar until silence befell the lake. Before Oscar could swim, the hydra's body jerked. Its green body trembled and shook as bulges expanded from its skin, growing larger.

"Protect yourself!" Oscar quickly wrapped himself in his silver sheen made of Eirin. He didn't have time to go to Serena and hoped she would be alright. With a sound that nearly destroyed his ears, the hydra exploded. The water surged around his silvery body. Cracks formed, and parts shattered as he was helplessly flung around all over the waters.

Oscar gasped. The waters finally calmed down. Blood flowed from near his chest, and he dug his hand into the wound and pulled out a piece of debris. He swam up to the surface and drank a healing elixir. After his wounds healed, he looked around. There were no signs of Serena.

'She could be unconscious underwater.' Oscar feared the worst for Serena and dove back into the lake's depths. After a short swim, he returned to the site of the explosion. Nine large lotus orbs and a green orb, releasing the aura of a beast, floated near the bottom of the lake. Oscar quickly stowed them away and glanced around.

"Serena?" Oscar shouted.

She was gone. Oscar took a few minutes to scour the vicinity. He found nothing but rocks and enclosed lotuses. A cold shiver extended to his fingertips at the thought of her being vaporized into nothing. Frantically, he continued his search. Until finally, he found her axe armament.

The yellow axe was nearly buried by a bed of dirt and sand. His eyes barely caught a glimpse of it, if not for how closely he scrutinized the floor. As an Exalt, Serena would have never let go of her weapon. Oscar looked around, knowing she or another clue had to be somewhere near.

An hour later searching, Oscar nearly gave up. He bit his lip and shook his head. Giving up now meant failure. He could not fail Serena, who had believed in him. Oscar sped up his search, not caring about the Ein he used. Her life was the priority.

It took a few minutes to scour more of the area. Then he stopped at the unexpected sight—a cave. A cave provided relief and safety, and Serena might have come here to seek shelter if she was too injured. Feeling heartened for the first time in hours, Oscar swam into the cave.

As he rose from the waters, he landed on a small beach. He groaned as he stood from the water. Crystals on the rocky walls provided a dim light to show the rest of the area. This place was out of the ordinary. Oscar expected a shallow, small cave, but instead, there was a wide tunnel leading away from the shore.

"Serena?" He noticed two sets of footprints leading away from the waters. Between them were the markings of something being dragged away. Something or someone….Serena. A faint red hair in the sand gave him the confirmation he needed to know.

Oscar clenched his bulwark and cracked his fists. He was not alone in this cavern. Something had dragged Serena away.

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