Garden Of The Abyss

Thanks, Fedrin, he thought, I'll get to finally try this one out in battle, thanks to you.

He relaxes his shoulders as he allowed his arms to hang limp at his sides, stepping forward. Though he allowed his body to relieve into a form without intensity, welcoming minuscule stress--his mind endured a heavy strain born from propulsing concentration. Once more, blood slicked his lip, falling from his nose, though this time by his own actions rather than his enemy's own.

This one required me to master Shadow Step before even considering using it. I'm not very experienced with this...but in order to utilize this, I have to use reinforcement on my brain in order to process information at the rapid speeds this spell requires.

All in an instant; it'll be done, he thought, even if it's just for a moment...I'll transcend my limits with speed that I can't even fathom. If I can master this...it can be my very own trump card.

Letting out a shallow breath between his blood-slicked lips, he closed his eyes momentarily.

Sink into it; the darkness all around. With violence being the centerpiece of the parade of thoughts in my mind—fall silent.

Dance with the abyss, he thought.

"Araphel: March of The Unseen," he whispered.

As the cold, mystical words left his lips, he vanished; only traces of dark particles left behind.

"Hmgh—?!" The ogre held his burnt face, looking for the vanished human.

—One.

—Two.

—Three.

All instantaneously and without space between, three, visceral slashes were bestowed on the towering ogre's black-clad temple.

One slash took out his other Achilles' tendon, while the other two left the back of his knees to shreds.

After the unseen, rapid assault was finished, the snowy-haired young man appeared back to the same spot, watching as the Ogre Tyrant was brought down to his knees.

Fresh fountains of blood surged from the sliced weak points of the keeled over ogre.

"…What did you do?!" The ogre growled, salivating with rage.

He cracked his neck, looking down at the felled ogre, "I was tired of looking up at you, so I brought you down."

From the rapid movements he just endured, the stream of blood returned from his nose, running down his lips as he hid the sign of weakness from the ogre--swiftly wiping it away.

...That went better than unexpected, he thought, most of my practice with the spell back at the tower resulted in me flying straight into walls...it requires an incredibly precise plan, then an even stronger concentration to let it run smoothly. A wrong move there, and I could've flung myself off the ship.

Turning his eyes to Jae-Seong, he gave the man a nod with a smile, who traversed the distance in a blink of an eye. The speed in which he moved left both Fedrin and Ren surprised, but it was a welcoming feeling.

"Yo, ogre," Jae-Seong greeted.

No response came as the sweat-laden ogre only looked up as the curly-haired man with golden eyes brought his fist back; a surge of air coiled around his reared back fist, causing his black tank top to flutter.

"Do what you must--"

--As the ogre gave his words, they were cut short as the lean, but muscular otherworlder propelled his fist like a cannon, carving through space as it crashed against the snout of the tyrannical ogre.

Contrary to the massive size the ogre possessed, a valuable lesson was learned: strength trumps size. From the force of the simple, straight-right, the captain was blasted from the ship with a crack of the wind that grazed the wooden planks around.

By the orchestra of bones being shattered to a fine powder that filled their ears, there was no contesting the fatality of such a blow as blood trailed from the ogre's many pores as he was flung back through the enigmatic, solemn air.

Ren whistled, watching the ogre violently spin through the air, "Nice hit."

"Not my best, not my worst," Jae-Seong smiled, placing his hands on his sides.

The high elf joined at their sides, watching with them as the ogre finally plummeted down towards the sable waters.

Just before the massive, armor-clad figure could sink into the dark depths, a set of colossal, unnerving tentacles sprouted from the dreadful sea, wrapping around the ogre and pulling him into the depths without hesitation.

Silence befell the trio for a moment at the unexpected outcome, though they all felt the same sensation of their skin crawling from the creepy, gargantuan tentacles that briefly showed themselves.

"Well! Remind me to never touch those waters," Fedrin shuddered.

The young man nodded,"...Same here."

Stumbling as he took a step forward, he was caught from either side by his two companions, who helped him stand.

"Are you okay? You took a pretty gnarly hit back there," Jae-Seong asked.

Fedrin added, "Your nose is bleeding black...there is a lot of blood flowing out, Ren. You should take a seat."

He shook his head, wiping his nose with a reassuring smirk as a blood stain was left on his cheek, "I'm alright. This is just the price of a little experiment of mine--don't worry."

Though they didn't seem to buy his faux confidence, they chose to trust his words as he stood himself up.

As their less than gentle introduction to the third floor came to an end, they headed back to the side of the large ship--peering over the edge at their humble dinghy.

Or at least, the dinghy that should've been resting on the black waters.

"Urr, it was on this side, right?" He asked.

"Indeed," Fedrin confirmed with a sigh, "Indeed, it was."

Jae-Seong didn't hesitate to brush off the disappearance of the sea vessel they arrived on with a hearty laugh.

"Why're you so happy?" He looked at the fellow otherworlder with a raised eyebrow.

The golden-eyed former pop-star stepped to the middle of the ship before turning back to face the other two, "We can just use this ship, obviously!"

It was something Fedrin and himself didn't consider, but it wasn't because of an absence of thought--there was another problem.

"...First off, do you even know how to operate a ship like this?" He asked.

Though his words were pointed at Jae-Seong, the high elf stepped forward, "I can do it. I've seldom had the chance to but...I've read it in books."

As shaky as that reasoning was, it was their best chance as they accepted Fedrin's proposal.

"Okay, secondly...do we really want to use a ship littered with...all of this?" He asked with a look of disgust.

The disgust originated from the abundance of mutilated corpses laid out across the desk, creating not only an awful sight, but a worse smell.

"We can handle that," Jae-Seong smiled.

"'We'?" He looked at the man.

Jae-Seong placed his hand on the young man's shoulder, giving him a thumbs-up, "That's what teamwork is all about, my friend!"

Oh, no, he thought.

--With no other choice, the decision to claim the spoils of battle and seize the ship was made. As Fedrin occupied the helm of the ship, operating the wheel, the other two got to work clearing the mess of orc and goblin bodies from the ship.

Each and every time he was forced to listen to repugnant squelches as he lifted mangled corpses, he felt his stomach rise into his throat--expelling such disgust tangibly off the side of the ship.

"All done!" Jae-Seong wiped his hands.

"...Yeah, all done," he slumped over against the flagpole of the ship.

He watched as the ship was headed, slowly but surely, to the colossal island that seemed so distant still.

"We're coming, Iris," He whispered.

Once more, it was an absence of noise that allowed for a mixture of tranquility and looming dread; hearing the ship sail through the abyssal seas as the black water splashed when being parted by the bulk of the vessel, it made him feel miniscule within the bounds of the vast sea.

"Hey, Ren," Jae-Seong tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh? What is it?" He looked up to see Jae-Seong standing behind him.

The frivolous man pointed towards the stairway that led to a lower level of the deck, holding a smile as he spoke, "Want to check out if these guys were holding any treasure?"

Although by the grimy state of the blood-stained ship, he didn't expect anything lavish--there really wasn't anything else to do, other than waiting.

Standing up, he let out a small huff, "Sure, why not?"

"I knew you'd share my thought process!" Jae-Seong slapped him on the shoulder, taking the lead as the two began to descend the stairs.

Immediately, an ungodly stretch was carried by the isolated winds of the lower deck, pelting against their nostrils.

Covering his nose, he squinted his eyes that quickly began to water from the smell, "What the hell is that smell…?"

"No clue," Jae-Seong replied, pulling his shirt over his nose, "well...I have some sort of clue, but I'd rather just assume I'm wrong."

A part of him wanted to stop right there and return to the top deck, but his curiosity fueled his steps--lacing the soles of his boots with humanity's boundless curiosity as he followed Jae-Seong.

The curly-haired man was the first to reach the lower deck; standing still as he froze at the sight of something, leaving the young man to question what awaited.

As he joined Jae-Seong at the bottom of the staircase built on damp, deteriorating wood, his eyes widened with horror as he felt his gut churn in shock and disgust.

"Ghh…!" He gasped, covering his mouth.

Chains to the walls were those unfortunate enough to have fallen into the hands of the ruthless crew that once occupied the accursed ship; none were left breathing, left in a mutilated state.

It was a stench that passed the boundary of simply "horrid", but ventured into something that clenched his innards with a repulsion that made him want to spew out whatever laid in the depths of his bowels.

His knees lost their strength as he fell down, spewing out bile from the pits of his stomach--though what came from within him was not nearly as grotesque as what stained the floor with such vulgar, meaty grime.

Somehow managing to maintain himself, Jae-Seong helped him back to his feet, shaking his head at the grotesque scenery.

"...Why?! Why the hell is it always like this?!" He screamed out.

"I wish I knew the answer, friend," Jae-Seong replied quietly, "this world is beyond me."