Tides from the Deep - Blood Devourer

The pre-dawn light cast long shadows across the beach as Talia made her way through the sparse vegetation lining the shore.

Her footsteps were silent on the cool sand.

As she neared the hiding place where she had left the raft, she felt anticipation building up in her chest.

It was as if the gentle lapping of waves against the shore grew louder as she approached her destination.

Pushing aside a curtain of hanging vines, Talia stepped into the secluded inlet where the raft waited, covered by a canvas tarp that blended with the surrounding rocks.

She laid her eyes on the raft, soon slinging the two ropes she had fastened across it over her shoulders and began to carry it toward the sand.

Talia could scarcely believe the turn of events.

Despite having a non-existent Level 0 Primary Mana Channel, Talia now had the chance to bring it up to Level 2 thanks to her new skill, [Blood Siphon].

However, the same [Blood Siphon] skill made her prone to believing the villagers who called her a monster.

She paused, looking at the large snap-on bracelets covering her wrists.

Beneath them, nasty tentacle-like marks had been living on her skin since her birth.

It doesn't matter, Talia thought to herself. As long as I use these powers to show them I'm not a monster, it doesn't matter at all.

Once she had experimented with her skills and calmed down the day before, she realized her powers were extremely handy.

She didn't know how difficult it would be to keep leveling up her Primary Mana Channel, but she knew it would be possible, regardless of the usual difficulties one had in doing so.

Most importantly, the fact that she could absorb skills and Attributes made Blood Siphon the most powerful skill she had ever heard of, at least in the long term.

Now all that remained was to venture to the outskirts of the Deep and keep killing monsters.

She had already faced the worst possible monster there is in the Deep—the Abyssal Cuda.

Solara being the southernmost island in the Great Archipelago of Nā Moku Kai meant that nearby monsters could only get so strong.

Therefore, with Hemomancy at her fingertips, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume she could easily take care of herself against any monster she found in the South Deep.

The South Deep was known for being the least dangerous.

In contrast, the East and West Deeps had more monsters as well as Initiated people, with the Water Riders Academy situated between them.

The North Deep, instead, was the most treacherous but also the richest in resources and opportunities.

It was also where the Kraken would usually reappear.

Talia felt confident she could handle the edges of the Southern Seas and gain enough levels to satisfy the Water Riders Academy requirements.

It had been her dream all along; finally, she would enter the Academy and follow in her mother's footsteps.

Perhaps this was the first step toward discovering whether her mother was still alive, somewhere out there.

As she neared the shoreline, a series of clicks and scrapes made her pause.

Talia slowly lowered the ropes she used to carry the raft off her shoulders.

“What in the name of the Deep?” she muttered, crouching low and peering through the sparse vegetation.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

There, scuttling across the dawn-lit sand, were creatures she had never seen before.

Two dog-sized, crab-like monsters with brownish shells stood before her, each with a tag hovering above them.

[Abyssal Scuttler – Lv. 2]

[Abyssal Scuttler – Lv. 3]

Abyssal Scuttlers were not a great threat.

In fact, they could barely be defined as a threat at all.

They were at the very bottom of the Abyssal Monsters hierarchy, so much so that they could barely be considered a danger even for Uninitiated people who knew what they were about.

An islander with a spear would be able to take care of those two monsters.

Even Uninitiated people weren’t defenseless, especially when one had to grow up around the sea.

Talia raised an eyebrow and stared at the two monsters for a second, seeing them scuttle about aimlessly on the sand before thinking about the villagers.

Two monsters are not a problem. But if there are two of them, there could be more.

Right as she thought that she heard leaves rustling by her side and turned just in time to see a large pincer swoop by her head.

The Abyssal Scuttler's pincer whistled through the air, missing her face by mere inches as she instinctively jerked backward.

The acrid stench of brine and rotting seaweed assaulted her nostrils, emanating from the creature's chitinous body.

This one was stronger than its friends on the beach, its shell a darker shade of brown with jagged protrusions.

Talia's mind raced – her glaive was still on the raft and out of reach.

She had left it there to have an easier time carrying the raft.

But that decision might get her killed now.

She needed to get past the monster and to her weapon.

The Scuttler’s beady black eyes fixed on her, alien and unblinking. Its pincers clicked as it sidled closer, sand crunching beneath its multiple legs. Talia's bare feet sank into the cool, damp sand as she shifted her weight, ready to move.

“Come on, then,” she muttered.

The Scuttler lunged again, its pincer snapping shut with a sharp clack.

Talia ducked and rolled, feeling the rush of displaced air above her head.

Sand clung to her skin and clothes as she came up in a crouch, her heart pounding in her ears.

She needed something to keep those pincers at bay until she could reach the raft.

Her eyes darted around, finally landing on a piece of driftwood half-buried in the sand.

Without hesitation, she dove for it, her fingers closing around the weathered wood just as the Scuttler scrabbled toward her.

Talia swung the makeshift club with all her might, connecting solidly with the creature's side.

A satisfying crack echoed across the beach, followed by a high-pitched keening that set her teeth on edge.

The monster stumbled, green ichor oozing from a crack in its shell.

The commotion had attracted the attention of the other two Scuttlers on the beach.

They turned as one, their legs propelling them across the sand with alarming speed.

“Shit,” Talia hissed, darting past the injured Abyssal Scuttler after throwing the driftwood on the sand.

The monster’s pincher grazed her arm, leaving behind a long wound, but she ignored it and jumped on the raft, grabbing the heavy glaive and swirling back toward the monsters.

The three Abyssal Scuttlers now surrounded the raft while staring at her with foam at their mouths.

While it was true that dealing with one of these monsters wasn’t impossible for an Uninitiated, three of them made for a much greater challenge.

She glanced down, wincing at the sight of blood running down her arm.

But something was amiss. The wound was... fizzling. It was actually closing in real time!

“What—” Talia shook her head and raised the glaive to her chest, focusing on the battle.

“Alright,” Talia muttered, “let's see how you like a taste of Hemomancy.”

A flicker of excitement mixed with guilt coursed through her veins.

She had spent her whole life trying to prove she wasn't a monster, yet here she was, eager to unleash the powers that seemed to confirm everyone's fears.

But these abilities, as unsettling as they were, represented her best chance at surviving and achieving her dreams.

Most importantly, though, if she had easily killed the Abyssal Cuda with this skill, she should be able to make short work of the Abyssal Scuttlers.

She focused on the blood trickling down her arm, willing it to coalesce and form deadly projectiles as it had against the Abyssal Cuda.

But something was wrong.

The blood barely stirred, forming small, sluggish droplets that hovered uncertainly in the air.

“What?” Talia's eyes widened in disbelief. “Come on, work!”

She redoubled her efforts, straining to manipulate the blood, but it remained stubbornly inert.

The largest Scuttler, seeing an opening, lunged forward with surprising speed.

Talia barely managed to lift the glaive up in time, deflecting the monster's snapping pincers with the shaft.

The impact sent shockwaves down her arms, nearly causing her to lose her grip on the weapon.

“Fine,” she growled, abandoning her attempts at Hemomancy. “We'll do this the old-fashioned way.”

As the Scuttler reeled back from its failed attack, Talia went on the offensive.

She swung the glaive in a wide arc, its blade whistling through the air.

The weapon's weight threw her slightly off-balance, but she managed to maintain her footing on the unsteady raft.

The glaive's edge caught the largest Scuttler across its shell, carving a deep gash.

Greenish ichor spurted from the wound as the creature let out a high-pitched shriek of pain.

Emboldened by her success, Talia pivoted to face the other two Scuttlers. They had spread out, trying to flank her.

She kept her glaive moving, using its reach to keep them at bay.

“That's right,” she panted, “stay back, you oversized crabs.”

But the Scuttlers were relentless.

The two uninjured ones tested her defenses.

Talia managed to land a few glancing blows, but nothing decisive due to how unwieldy the glaive was for her.

If this had been in the water, I would have it much easier, Talia thought, frustrated.

Managing the weight of the glaive outside of the water, even with four points into Strength, hadn’t gotten that much easier.

She was pretty sure that the bare minimum to swing the weapon efficiently was twenty-five Strength.

Talia's arms began to ache from the weight of the glaive.

She knew she couldn't keep this up forever.

Desperately, she tried to summon her Hemomancy again, focusing on the blood now coating the glaive's blade.

To her relief, the blood responded this time, albeit sluggishly.

It formed a thin, wavering tendril that snaked towards the nearest Scuttler.

But before it could strike, the tendril lost cohesion, splattering harmlessly onto the sand.

“No!” Talia cried out in frustration.

Her momentary distraction cost her, though.

One of the Scuttlers darted in, its pincer clamping down on the shaft of her glaive.

With a sharp twist, it wrenched the weapon from her grasp, sending it clattering to the edge of the raft.

“Oh, shit,” Talia swore, looking at the three monsters slowly closing in on her.