Aqua

  Once I manage to recover from the body slam, I tighten my grip on my trident before grabbing it with both hands and moving to the side the moment I see the putrid shark beginning to charge again. Making the thing slam into the wall instead of me.

  Then I notice something.

  Scraps of flesh are literally falling off the putrid shark as it does these body slams. And when I notice some stuck to my armor, I quickly remove them with a slightly disgusted look on my face.

  That’s just gross.

  The chat seems to agree when I see it in the corner of my eye.

  But I don’t have the time to read more than just a couple messages as I rush at the putrid shark while stabbing straight at the thing with my trident. Only for shock to appear on my face when the trident gets stuck in the flesh without even going more than two inches deep.

  Shit.

  The putrid shark suddenly does a spin, sending me flying straight into the wall again with a grunt. Following which it latches its half rotten teeth onto my left arm, digging down and beginning to make tearing sounds out of my armor.

  Shit.

  Without hesitation I summon one last tentacle and make it grab onto the shark. Then I stab my trident straight into the narrow opening between its mouth and my arm. Piercing into the roof of its mouth and making the thing let out some sort of clicking sound after it lets go of my arm.

  Taking my damned trident with it as the thing is stuck in the roof of its mouth.

  I feel my arm limp at my side, but that doesn’t stop me from slamming my right fist straight into its lower jaw. Which in turn actually ends up pushing my trident further into its head from within its mouth.

  The shark doesn’t just take it lying down though as the thing suddenly rushes forwards, tearing the tentacle a bit while stretching it before slamming into me with its mouth as wide open as it can get. Only for its jaws to chomp down on my right arm that is still outstretched a bit from punching it. Letting its teeth sink into my arm, only barely stopped from going far by the trident still prying its mouth open.

  I grit my teeth as I feel my bone taking on a lot of impact from that, but it doesn’t matter.

  Because this battle is over.

  Without hesitation, I send a blade of pressurized water right in front of my right hand that’s currently inside of its mouth flying right into the roof where my trident is stabbing. With said blade then entering into the shark’s head through the roof of its mouth, then into its brain.

  Finally making the thing stop moving.

  I pant in exhaustion and pain as I grab my trident and begin to rip it out, only to realize I never got a message. So I stab the trident back in before pulling my arm out of its mouth. Drilling it into its head just like that pressurized water blade.

  And I do that three more times until the shark finally dies.

  Then I realize I should’ve taken the blade out of its mouth before doing that as the shark’s jaws suddenly lose all strength and forcefully close on top of my arm making me let out a cry of pain. As they drill through my armor and into my arm itself.

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  “Shit!” I swear through gritted teeth, only to use the barely-hanging-on tentacle to open the shark’s mouth.

  Because I can’t do that right now. Not with my left arm still hanging limp and my right inside of its mouth in even worse shape.

  After getting my arm and trident out of its mouth, the shark begins to flip over. Just floating helplessly in the water as I pant in exhaustion and pain watching it.

  But it’s fine. My regeneration is about ten times the speed of a normal human. So these wounds won’t take that long to heal.

  I breathe in deeply before breathing out deeply. Then I finally look at the wounds on my right arm, only for a grimace to spread across my face at the sight of the discolored wound.

  It looks infected.

  No doubt by the shark’s putrid state and rotten teeth.

  Fuck.

  Thankfully my other arm just has some fractured bones and nothing more. Nothing that can even get infected as it didn’t pierce my armor enough to get to my skin.

  But damn. This hurts.

  Now that I’m in the clear, I finally recheck the System Messages for that battle.

  [You have killed a level 8 Deepsea Green Shark. EXP has been granted accordingly.] x4

  [You have killed a creature underwater. Apex Predator of the Depths has been activated, increasing your REGEN stat by one.] x4

  [You have killed a level 9 Deepsea Green Shark. EXP has been granted accordingly.] x4

  [You have killed a creature underwater. Apex Predator of the Depths has been activated, increasing your REGEN stat by one.] x4

  [You have killed a level 10 Deepsea Putrid Shark. EXP has been granted accordingly.]

  [You have killed a creature underwater. Apex Predator of the Depths has been activated, increasing your REGEN stat by one.]

  Right. My regeneration is over ten times a normal human’s regeneration now after that. It’s closing in on eleven times at this point.

  I glance at the section of cavern where the putrid shark was staying where I find the eight green sharks all dead with some small amounts of poison around them. Then I look at the tunnel beyond them. Only to turn around and begin heading back to my air pocket to wait and heal.

  Marking the end to my sixth day of being a Pioneer.

  Alliance Drama Central

  Oliver Ashfyre taps his finger against the desk in front of him as he sits in his office watching a Pioneer news report. Showing the faintest hint of intrigue on his face as he stares at the screen.

  “And she does it again! Aqua Fallen has survived yet another brutal battle!” the reporter exclaims, singing the girl’s praises. “But I wonder, how is she going to handle these injuries? Because they’re not small. Will she hide in her air pocket until the sponsorships roll in? That infection is going to become a problem if it’s not dealt with. And antibiotics aren’t cheap for sponsorship options. Especially for universal ones that can handle unknown worlds.”

  Oliver continues to tap his finger against his desk for a while before eventually turning off the news report and spinning in his chair to look out the window.

  “She might work…” he eventually mutters without taking his gaze off of the moon rising high above the ocean outside of his company building. The headquarters of the Alliance Drama Central company currently leading the entire TV drama industry in the Alliance.

  And Oliver, a rather popular director from the company, feels something as he remembers the face and expressions of the woman. Of the Pioneer. A face and expression that would work incredibly well for his next drama.

  After several seconds of silence, he proceeds to make a few calls, confirming with the company and staff his exact choice for the star of his next drama.

  That star being the Pioneer on the screen.

  Aqua Fallen.

  But before he can get her to make an appearance, he has to deal with a few troubling matters first. Starting with her infection and ending with her lack of a safe place to stay.

  If it’s just that, I can sponsor it with ease.

  More important to him is her being in top form when she comes to shoot. Especially since he’s sure she’ll need to take some acting lessons beforehand.

  Most Pioneers aren’t skilled at acting before becoming Pioneers after all.

  Oliver sighs as he thinks about the work that’ll be involved in this production. But at the end of the day, he knows it’ll be worth it.

  And he’s not worried about her rejecting his offer and going with any other offer. Because he’s certain no one would be willing to give her a better offer, much less a better company to work with.

  Now that he’s made his decision, there’s nothing that will change his mind.

  So he turns back to the window to stare up at the moon once again.

  Letting the silence fill the office in the process.

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