Chapter 789 The Small Fishing Village <TOC> Chapter 791 Loss of Hearing
Translator: SumTLMan
In the face of the child who had fallen into the water, given Angel’s nature, he was not opposed to lending a hand. However, from the chatter of the surrounding villagers, Angel realized that his initial suspicion was indeed correct. This child, Kumol, was entirely to blame for his own predicament. From the outset, he had intentionally stayed submerged in the water to frighten his peers. By the time he wanted to surface, the present mishap had already occurred.
This mischievous youngster needed a lesson, and Angel believed that becoming prey to a sea creature would serve as an appropriate instance of instant karma.
Thus, he did not intervene immediately. Instead, he stood at the back of the crowd, watching the spectacle with aloof detachment. After all, no matter how fast the sea beast was, could it possibly outpace Toby?
He patiently waited for this disaster to strike a significant blow in the life of the mischievous Kumol. Unexpectedly, someone charged in recklessly, risking their life to save the child midway through the ordeal.
That person was Drew.
Angel shook his head, wholly disapproving of Drew’s actions.
Good and evil, enthusiasm and indifference are merely choices for all life forms. From a position of absolute rationality, there is no right or wrong, it solely depends on one’s personal choice.
To a large extent, influenced by Jon’s Earthly education, Angel inclined towards the orderly and rule-following faction of the white wizards.
Yet even so, Angel found Drew’s actions irrational.
If Drew was facing merely an ordinary beast, that would be one thing. With human intelligence and skill, even when confronted with a formidable shark, one might not necessarily lose. His display of compassion and fervor might indeed create a miracle.
However, Drew was now facing a transcendent sea beast. As of now, he was merely a regular person. What qualification did he have to confront such a superior life form? Moreover, he was in the sea beast’s home turf. This was undoubtedly a certain-death situation.
In the end, not only would he fail to save the mischievous child, but he would also risk his own life. This was indeed irrational.
The most valuable assets of a wizard are the knowledge inside their head and the longevity required to acquire and deepen that knowledge. If one were to die, everything would be over. As Drew was a potential transcendent who was about to embark on the path of seeking truth in the future, Angel did not agree with his actions.
In the ruthless and calculative world of wizards, one can be kind and passionate, but they must understand their own abilities. One should act according to their current capabilities.
Angel still did not move, only watching from afar, indifferently observing Drew and his comrades guiding their boat towards the spot where Kumol had fallen into the water.
What was initially intended as a lesson for the mischievous child had now involved an additional person.
As time slowly passed, Drew’s boat was drawing nearer and nearer to Kumol. The lurking sea beast, with a glint of bloodlust in its eyes, seemed to be ready to cast its net.
The shore-dwellers had plunged into the depths of despair, as they now had a clearer grasp of the situation, realizing that the sea beast was deliberately setting a trap. Some even cried out for Drew and Leif to retreat, not to get involved, but it was clearly too late.
At this juncture, Angel’s attention shifted from Drew to Kumol.
“Something’s odd.” Angel furrowed his brows. This little rascal had been floundering in the sea for quite a while, and he was still floundering. A normal person would have been exhausted by now, and the longer one flounders, the higher the chance of cramping.
This kid was like a perpetual motion machine, not seeming like he was in the water at all, but more like he was hopping on the ground.
Angel was somewhat puzzled but didn’t dwell on it. Perhaps for a child who had been living in a fishing village since childhood, being waterborne was an innate talent?
When Drew and Leif’s fishing boat was still two boat lengths away from Kumol, the latter finally realized that someone was coming to his rescue.
The wailing child, whose throat was already dry, immediately tried to swim in the direction of the fishing boat.
But as soon as he moved, he found his whole body starting to sink. Everything was fine before, but now there’s a problem? The child immediately began to bob up and down in the sea, his head dipping in and out of the water, making his situation even more precarious than before.
“Uncle Drew, save me!” Kumol spat out water, sea water started to rush into his nose, making him look extremely pitiful: “Save me…”
“Damn kid, how many times have I told you to call me brother!” Drew’s voice was soft, unconsciously responding while extending the oar towards Kumol: “Grab the oar!”
Kumol struggled for a while, but his hand couldn’t touch the oar at all, he just kept covering his water-filled nose, then weakly said: “I… I have a cramp in my leg…”
“Damn it!” Drew cursed, why did the cramp have to happen now, of all times! Why didn’t you cramp earlier?!
At this moment, Leif, who was behind Drew, trembled and said: “D-D-Drew, the sea beast is coming…”
Drew turned around at this point, only to see the sea beast, which had been stationary, finally revealing more than half of its head, lazily swinging towards Drew. In its eyes, the two mortals on the boat were already a meal in its mouth, so it didn’t even use any energy, just darted over like a normal fish.
Even if the sea beast was just swimming normally, its movements were extremely fast.
By the time Drew was shouting “Watch out!”, the sea beast had already opened its huge mouth wide, fiercely biting down on the not-so-large black-clothed small boat.
The sound of giant teeth chewing, along with two thuds, rang out simultaneously.
Drew and Leif, standing at the bow and stern of the boat respectively, then jumped into the vast sea on either side. The sea beast’s bite, on the other hand, directly bit the boat in half.
The sea beast, having had a mouthful of wood, shook its head, shedding the wooden chaff from its maw. Its crimson gaze once again targeted the two humans.
“Swim fast, head back to the shore!” Drew hollered at the top of his lungs.
Actually, even before Drew’s shout, Leif, right after diving into the water, had started swimming towards the shore, driven by a primal instinct for survival.
On the shore, their loved ones were weeping, even as they tried to direct them towards safety.
Drew had dived near Kumol, he initially intended to swim back, but hearing the unconscious cries of “Uncle Drew” from the boy beside him, he gritted his teeth, reached out and pulled Kumol into his arms, swimming with him.
Fortunately, Kumol was in a state of semi-unconsciousness, his limbs not putting up a struggle. If he had, their instinctual struggles against drowning would have surely spelled their doom.
However, even in this state, their situation was far from hopeful.
The lizard-like sea beast had chosen Drew, who was carrying another person, over Leif who was alone.
The beast continued to swim leisurely towards them, Drew, for all his desperation, couldn’t outrun this creature of the sea.
As the sea beast swam to a spot just two meters behind them, it opened its foul-smelling maw and lunged viciously at them.
Years of survival in the Devil’s Sea had honed Drew’s reflexes, allowing him to barely avoid the strike in the nick of time.
But fortune couldn’t favor him indefinitely. After failing to catch its prey twice in a row, the sea beast grew irate. It stirred up the sea, obstructing Drew’s path and vision.
The beast lunged again, Drew dove to the seabed and swam through from the right side.
He managed to dodge successfully, but he could hear a whistling sound from behind him. Turning his head, he saw several water jets spouting from the sea beast’s mouth.
Drew’s battle instincts kicked in, allowing him to curl up and avoid most of the water jets. Still, one of them managed to graze his left cheek, the skin instantly tearing open.
Before the pain could register, the smell of blood started to spread.
Drew reached up to touch his left cheek; he could still feel the smooth skin, yet he couldn’t shake off a strange sensation of loss… It was then that the intense dizziness and pain finally hit him.
Pain wasn’t lethal, but Drew felt a cramp in his calf. The aftermath of his strenuous efforts in the sea was starting to surface.
Hearing Drew’s screams from a distance, Leif didn’t know what was happening behind him. Still, he dared not look back and could only continue swimming forward.
As Drew was cramping up, the sea beast slowly swam towards him again. In the face of Drew’s despairing gaze, it opened its maw once more.
Drew thought today was his curtain call, an endless surge of regret welling up from within.
Had he not returned to the small fishing village initially, had he disregarded Lief’s invitation to return to Moonset City yesterday, had he not ventured out to sea today, had he not been impulsive enough to rush to someone’s rescue, would he have… avoided the face of death?
Yet everything had already transpired, and his flawed choices had led him down this path of demise.
Drew closed his eyes, his face etched with profound remorse.
Just as he was bracing for death, an indifferent voice echoed in his ear: “This is your mistake, stepping out of your depth without understanding the reality.”
“Remember, this time, it’s your life that I have saved. Value it, for I am waiting for you to repay this debt.”
Drew’s eyes snapped open abruptly. Unbeknownst to him, a lean and towering figure had appeared in front of him, confronting the sea beast that was a terror beyond measure to him.
With one swift strike of a crescent blade, the sea beast was cleaved in half.
“Am I… am I saved?”
Observing the once formidable sea beast now split into two, a whirlwind of emotions swirled within Drew. In addition to his relief from salvation, there was a sense of emptiness following his rash action.
The savior, of course, was Angel.
Hovering above the surface of the sea, Angel glanced sideways, his cold eyes locked onto Drew’s bewildered face: “I hope you learn your lesson this time.”
With that, Angel waved his sleeve, ensnaring Drew in a grip of Magic Hand, and carried him back to the shore.
The collective gasp and cheer from the shore caused Lief to pause. Unaware of the absence of the sea beast’s movements, he quietly turned around, only to spot the two halves of the sea beast floating on the sea surface.
As he looked towards the shore, he saw Angel suspended in the sky, placing Drew and the unconscious Kumol on the sandy beach.
“Is that the… wizard that Drew mentioned?”
As Lief swam back to the coast, it should’ve been a moment of widespread joy, yet everyone remained silent.
Lief glanced over in confusion, only to see Drew sitting at the center of the crowd, holding his left ear, his face a picture of shell shock.
It wasn’t until Lief took a closer look that he noticed a gaping wound on Drew’s left cheek, and his left ear… it had simply vanished.
Chapter 789 The Small Fishing Village <TOC> Chapter 791 Loss of Hearing