Chapter 39: Katuna

The fish seemed like a shark at first glance, but had more than ten fins on its body, allowing it to propel itself even faster. Right as it opened its maw, intending to clamp on Fealta, she brought forth the Armament on her right, unleashing an energy blade.

It was a sword, spanning a metre in length. But in an instant, she increased its length to ten metres, and then widened it by five metres. The tiny sword had increased in size to such an extent it simply severed the fish into two.

Fealta condensed another sword using the Armament on her left, piercing it into the snout of the fish, repeating the same as she severed a tiny portion. She ducked, watching the severed halves of the fish fly above her.

Then, she got up, grabbing hold of the tiny piece of meat that she had severed in her second attack. Followed by a leap, Fealta landed on the ground, quickly distancing herself from the water, watching a couple of fins peek out of the water, stopping before the land.

Dropping the piece of meat on the ground, Fealta pointed at the tiny crystal on it, "We were lucky this time. The Katuna has a tiny Darble crystal on it."

Fealta then looked at Compass Carburettor, "The energy blades condensed by our Armaments don't have any weight to them. So, you can't wield them like a regular sword or spear. The main strength of an Armament is its State. When I activated the long sword State, my sword instantly increased in length. Thanks to its sharpness, it can pierce through tough objects. No matter what, the increase in length won't stop until it reaches the designated length. And by activating the wide sword atop that, I managed to instantly kill that Katuna."

"That's how we fight with Armaments."

'My Armaments only have one State though. And, one of them is a basic sword, and the other is a shield.' Compass Carburettor thought, thinking of giving it a try anyway as he followed Fealta's example, jumping onto a foothold.

Suddenly, he noticed three Mental Energy streams exit the water and land on him. In the fraction of a second, Compass Carburettor instinctively understood what was up, quickly jumping towards a nearby foothold, watching three Katunas jump out of the water and attack the foothold he had been upon just now.

'Well, at least, I would no longer be ambushed, thanks to this.' He smiled. The moment the Katunas sensed his presence and intended to attack him, they had thought of him. And, Compass Carburettor sensed that Mental Energy stream they emitted, since he was the target of the said thoughts.

This allowed him to picture the direction they would jump out from, evading promptly.

Caithy was surprised at the scene, wondering just how Compass Carburettor had done that. She assumed he had dodged the first time through a fluke. But, upon seeing him do the same a couple more times, she realised, 'He has extraordinary senses!'

She slowly retracted her hand, relaxing. At the start, she and Fealta had been ready with their Armaments, intent to rescue Compass Carburettor the moment his life was in danger. And, they had positioned themselves accordingly so that he was still in the range of their attacks.

This way, saving him could be done instantly by activating their long sword. But now that he proved his capability, they didn't interfere, only watching from the side, ready to step in at a moment's notice.

'This is hard. Even if I can dodge them, I am unable to wound them.' Compass Carburettor thought, timing himself accordingly as he slashed forth with the sword, creating a gash on a Katuna. But, the injury wasn't deep. Moreover, he had to constantly change his footholds to prevent himself from sinking or be caught by the Katunas.

As he continued to dodge, he noticed some of the footholds—that had previously sunk—resurface. 'It takes about 10 seconds for the footholds to resurface. That's comforting.'

Holding the sword in his right, Compass Carburettor had to be alarmingly close to the jumping Katuna to slash it. And while doing so, he had to be careful not to lodge it too deeply.

But, right as he thought so, his timing was off as a Katuna jumped at him, causing him to deactivate his sword to dodge. And, placing the Armament closer to its moving body, he activated the sword in reflex, causing it to plunge deep into its body.

But, in his fluster, he failed to deactivate it on time, causing the Katuna's momentum to be transferred into him, pulling him along. Compass Carburettor's eyes widened in shock as his heart leapt. He watched the water surface approach closer and closer to him, also seeing a Mental Energy stream appear from right underneath.

'Dammit!' Right as he planned to summon his gun, an energy blade appeared between him and the water. It was Fealta. She had used both the long sword and the wide sword, extending it towards him while placing the Armament on the ground, treating it as an anchor.

She used one of the footholds as the other anchor to keep the energy blade stable. With a length of 10 metres and a breadth of five metres, it formed a large platform to land upon.

Compass Carburettor landed on its flat surface, watching the Katuna collide into it from under. The momentum caused the energy blade to swing up, throwing him off.

Fealta hurriedly changed the angle of her energy blade, causing Compass Carburettor to be thrown off towards the ground.

Making an arc in the air, he landed on the ground, rolling the moment his feet touched the ground, saving himself from being injured by the fall. He hurriedly got up, only relaxing when he realised that he was a couple of metres away from the water body.

Looking at the two Armaments he had dropped on the ground while rolling, Compass Carburettor heaved a sigh in relief, picking them up as he looked at Fealta, "Thank you. I almost died just now."

"It's fine," Fealta said promptly, "We were just doing our job."

She then pointed at the footholds once again, "Since you are uninjured, get back out there and kill some Katuna. We aren't going to stop until you kill at least 10 of them."

"Alright," Compass Carburettor took in a deep breath, feeling his thumping heart as he stood at the edge of the land, controlling his breathing as he focused. This time, he was planning a different approach.