Extra's Perfect Ending

Chapter 108: Something in the Lake

The sharp fangs bit into the rubble raft as if they had been starving for millennia. Scratch that—they probably had been starving for millennia, or longer.

Reeva composed himself. If he panicked now, he would lose everything. The creature had only managed to bite off a part of the raft; he still had enough room left on this flimsy thing to stay afloat.

Now that it was clamped onto the raft, Reeva could see more of the thing under the water. Its fangs gleamed like metal, and its skin was smooth and spotless, almost like blue slime. He couldn’t spot its eyes in that brief moment, and frankly, he didn’t care to find out.

Reeva jerked the paddle sideways, trying to maneuver away from the approaching jaws. The raft wobbled, threatening to tip over, but he managed to keep his balance. The jaws snapped shut, missing him by inches, sending a wave of thick liquid splashing onto the raft.

That was close.

Reeva couldn’t help but notice that its size was out of place here. It seemed normal-sized, just like him, but it was still huge. Those jaws could easily have snapped him in half if they’d gotten a good grip.

His mind raced. He was stuck in the middle of this massive lake, rowing through some weird, dense liquid, and something in the water was trying to eat him. He had two options: go back or keep moving forward.

Staying in the lake isn’t an option, he thought. That would likely result in my death.

Reeva glanced back at the edge of the plate where he had started and realized he had come quite far out. The plate’s edge looked like a distant shore, while the pile of bones in the center seemed closer than ever.

Fop.

Suddenly, Reeva saw a fin cutting through the water, circling back to take another bite. He didn’t have time to think, his hands moved at lightning speed as he paddled with all his strength.

This time, his maneuvers were less frantic, which made them less unpredictable.

The maw appeared again, and Reeva could see inside it. The creature’s mouth was filled with a swirling blue liquid that was oddly mesmerizing. He rowed harder, knowing he did not want to get swallowed by that strange maw.

His instincts screamed at him to dodge as the jaws came closer. With a sharp snap and a crushing sound, the creature managed to bite into the raft again.

Reeva let out a small sigh of relief. At the last second, he had managed to dodge to the side. However, his situation was still far from ideal. The creature had taken a third of the raft, and it showed no signs of letting go.

He inhaled deeply and let his mystic force seep out of his body. The creature sharply reacted to the energy, turning its attention toward him. But Reeva was already upon it, his fist charged with mystic power, ready to deliver a heavy blow.

As he made contact with the monster, the first thing he noticed was that his hand almost slipped upon impact. Its smooth surface wasn’t just for show—it actually had the capacity to protect the creature.

Still, he managed to land the hit. The monster let out a painful cry as its mouth loosened its grip on the rubble raft. It stumbled backward and sank into the murky depths.

Reeva took advantage of the moment to row his boat out of there. His movements were more frantic than before, as he had little room left to maneuver.

The fin appeared again, rising from the depths of the glowing waters. Reeva steeled himself; this time, he would have to face it head-on. At the pace he was going, he knew he wasn’t going to make it.

He gripped his paddle firmly and, at the moment the creature’s gaping maw was close, he shoved it aside with the paddle. The monster changed direction, and Reeva hoped for the best. To add to his advantage, as the creature missed him, he took the opportunity to punch it again with his mystically infused fist.

The monster reacted as before, sinking back into the depths. Reeva resumed rowing. The pile of bones seemed closer than before—close enough for him to see something resting on it.

However, it wasn’t going to be that easy. Reeva knew it in his bones, and the universe seemed to answer his silent call.

The fin reappeared, heading straight for him. The sound of the liquid parting was as menacing as ever, but it wasn’t the only sound Reeva heard. Another creature was also heading his way.

Reeva held his breath and checked behind him; sure enough, another monster was quickly approaching from a different angle. Desperately, he rowed his makeshift raft, trying to get away from at least one of them.

To his surprise, he narrowly avoided one of the creatures, which lunged and missed him by a hair’s breadth. However, he wasn’t so lucky with the second one. He didn’t have time to react before its maw bit off another third of his raft. His face turned pale as his raft was reduced to something barely big enough to support him.

His journey seemed to end here. He thought about trying to cross the three waters another time, but for now, he could only try to push away the monster that was still biting his raft.

The other monster, the one that had missed him, circled back. Its maw gaped wide, ready to swallow the rest of the raft along with Reeva.

The creature’s mouth came terrifyingly close to snapping him up, and Reeva was about to find out what the swirling blue inside it was all about—but then something happened.

The vision of the approaching maw split in half, with a huge chunk of iron forcing its way between them. He didn’t need to think hard to know what kind of thing this was.

His body remembers it well, a huge chunk of iron that the huge skeleton wields.