Morning came quietly.
The ship cut through calm water beneath a pale sky, its sails full as the wind carried it steadily north.
Arthur stood near the railing again.
The sea stretched endlessly in every direction, broken only by the slow wake trailing behind the vessel.
He had been watching the water for several minutes.
Something felt wrong.
It wasn't fear exactly.
Just pressure.
Predator Sense stirred faintly.
Arthur narrowed his eyes and leaned slightly over the railing.
The surface of the ocean looked normal.
But far below, something moved.
Before he could focus on it—
The ship jolted violently.
A massive impact struck the hull from below.
Passengers screamed as the entire vessel lurched sideways.
Crates slid across the deck.
Arthur grabbed the railing to keep his balance.
Then the ocean erupted.
A massive serpentine body burst out of the water beside the ship.
Dark scales glistened as the creature coiled upward, towering over the deck.
The Prana Beast's body stretched longer than the ship itself.
Lightning flickered faintly across its scales as raw Prana spilled from its form.
The serpent slammed down onto the deck.
Wood shattered.
The ship groaned under the weight.
Chaos broke out instantly.
People ran in every direction.
Some froze where they stood.
The serpent lunged.
Its jaws snapped shut around one of the crew before anyone could react.
Arthur's instincts moved faster than his thoughts.
"Below deck!" he shouted.
But panic had already spread.
The beast's tail swung across the deck.
Several passengers were thrown aside.
A few never got back up.
Arthur clenched his jaw.
This route was supposed to be safe.
Hunters cleared these waters regularly.
A Prana Beast shouldn't have been here.
Another figure stepped forward.
The captain.
The older man drew a curved blade from his side and faced the serpent without hesitation.
"Clear the deck!" he barked.
Prana surged faintly through his stance.
Arthur noticed immediately.
The captain was a trained fighter.
The serpent lunged again.
The captain stepped into the attack.
His blade flashed upward and carved across the creature's scales.
The beast recoiled with a violent hiss.
But it wasn't enough.
The serpent twisted its body and struck again.
Arthur felt the pressure building.
Predator Sense flared sharply.
The beast's movement shifted.
The captain was about to be crushed.
Arthur stepped forward.
He didn't think.
Prana surged through his body instinctively.
His core responded with overwhelming force.
Arthur raised his hand.
Then he pushed downward.
The pressure exploded outward.
The serpent's body slammed into the deck as if gravity itself had increased.
The ship groaned violently.
The ocean beneath them churned.
Arthur's vision blurred instantly.
Too much power.
Too suddenly.
The serpent shrieked as its massive body pressed flat against the shattered wood.
The captain didn't hesitate.
He drove his blade straight down through the creature's skull.
The serpent went still.
Arthur collapsed.
The world tilted sideways as he hit the deck.
His chest burned.
His body refused to move.
Somewhere close to his collarbone, the pendant grew warm.
A faint pulse of energy spread through him.
Not enough to restore his strength.
Just enough to steady the chaos inside his core.
Arthur drifted into darkness.
⸻
By the time the hunters arrived, the storm clouds had already begun to gather overhead.
An airship descended slowly through the gray sky.
Several armored figures jumped from its deck before the vessel even finished lowering.
They landed across the damaged ship with practiced ease.
The first thing they saw was the serpent.
The massive body still lay across the broken deck.
One of the hunters exhaled quietly.
"…That's a large one."
Another crouched beside the captain.
"Still alive?"
"Barely," the captain muttered.
His left arm hung uselessly at his side, blood soaking through the sleeve of his coat.
A healer stepped forward immediately.
"Sit still," she said calmly as she began treating the wound.
Around them, the hunters spread across the ship.
They moved quickly but without panic.
Checking bodies.
Searching for survivors.
Stabilizing the injured.
Most of the passengers had not survived the attack.
A few crew members still breathed.
Arthur was among them.
One of the hunters knelt beside him.
"Pulse is weak but stable."
The healer glanced over.
"Bring him over here after the captain."
Another hunter walked toward the edge of the ship and looked down at the water.
"…That's strange."
The ocean behind the vessel wasn't calm.
A wide circular current churned slowly in the wake of the ship.
Not violent.
Just unusual.
Like the water had been forced downward for a moment and was still settling.
The hunter studied it briefly.
"…Probably the beast's movement," he said.
Another hunter nodded.
"Maybe."
He turned back toward the destroyed serpent.
"What bothers me more is how it got here."
The captain looked up from where the healer worked on his arm.
"This route was cleared before we left port."
"That's what the reports say," the hunter replied.
He glanced across the damaged deck again.
"A beast that size shouldn't have been anywhere near this route."
The captain said nothing.
He didn't remember the moment the serpent collapsed.
Only that suddenly it had been pinned long enough for him to finish it.
The hunter looked back at the slowly turning water behind the ship.
Then he shrugged.
"The sea does strange things sometimes."
He turned away.
"Focus on the survivors."
The hunters continued their work across the broken deck.
Stabilizing the wounded.
Preparing the dead for transport.
Above them, the airship engines hummed steadily.
And near the center of the ruined deck, Arthur Valcrest remained unconscious.
The pendant around his neck had gone quiet again.
But deep beneath the ocean's surface…
The water still turned slowly in a massive spiral.
As if something far heavier than the serpent had pressed down on the sea.