CHAPTER 127: HIDEOUS MERMAID

Elliot looked exhausted as he swam in a strange sea, slightly obscured and surrounded by seaweed that blocked his vision.

Still, something in front of him was shining: The Hideous Mermaid.

This beast, the boss of this aquatic dungeon, is really a Horrifying Mermaid; it looks like something out of a horror story.

Her face is that of a terrifying beast with a big mouth and many teeth, while her two eyes seem to be on her forehead. Her hair is slicked back from her strange face, floating in the water.

Its mouth is normally closed, but when it opens, it swallows a lot of water or spits it out with a powerful sea pressure that creates strange waves inside the sea.

These waves have the peculiarity of being disconcerting. If they hit you, you might be stunned for a second, allowing the Mermaid to attack with its strange claws, which look like the teeth of a shark.

Elliot had been fighting this thing for a while, but it’s too hard to move.

During this time, he hadn’t been able to kill anyone, and it’s not because he didn’t want to. He tried, but fighting underwater is too tricky. Even more so because most beasts inside are very fast and their movement is severely limited, because of the pressure of the place.

But now he encountered a beast that was not too fast, but it was the dungeon’s boss.

Thanks to the pressure of the place and the blows he was receiving, his stamina was going up, but he was not able to raise it. He was in the same situation as at the beginning, with the peculiarity that now his body seemed to be slowly adapting to this dungeon.

The problem was...

He had been here for more than 10 hours.

He struggled desperately to dodge the repeated waves this mermaid was throwing at him and gradually moved closer to her.

’She’s not strong; the problem is that she has a territorial advantage.’ He tried to swing his sword hard, but the pressure prevented him.

Still, his sword managed to move fast enough to split a wave in two, and with that, he made it to the front of her, for the first time since he arrived here.

Excited, he quickly moved his sword back and forth as fast as he could. But it was a slow movement in the eyes of the mermaid.

She seemed to smile at the sight of him attacking her like that and responded boldly, swinging her claws forward and creating a wave with her mouth.

She seemed to want a head-on battle, but the wave hit Elliot immediately, as it was precisely created inches away from him.

’Will it attack vitals?’ Elliot quickly brought his sword to his neck to protect himself, but after the initial daze, he felt his suit was slightly torn on the cheeks.

Blood immediately spurted out, as his suit was not sturdy enough for this attack.

When he reacted, the Mermaid had already moved away from him.

He frowned and put his hand to his cheek. Bleeding in the sea... it wasn’t the best thing that could happen to him.

Before, he had seen beasts like large sharks and other beasts that could smell blood for miles. His blood could attract them.

’Although they are not very powerful, avoiding unnecessary trouble is best. I can’t breathe underwater if they damage this suit.’ He thought and looked at the mermaid who had acted cunningly to win.

Perhaps she had judged that she could not on her own, so she would call the rest in this strange dungeon.

In the distance, they could both feel, from the water currents, that many beasts seemed to be using strange magics with their sense of smell, and, because of that, many nearby seemed to make the decision to approach.

Elliot immediately drew a 2nd sword after noticing this.

He immediately threw it against the Mermaid, and it seemed to emerge propelled by all its strength, but the pressure of the water immediately reduced its speed, though not completely.

With the reduced speed, the Mermaid could see it clearly, then create a huge wave before her to stop it. Once again, she opened her mouth and filled it with water to make another wave aimed at Elliot.

But when she looked towards him, he was no longer there.

A 2nd sword was flying towards her, so, on impulse, she threw the wave at that.

But then she had to wait a few seconds before she could activate her ability again.

The first sword soon hit the wave, and with the pressure, the sword was completely neutralized.

Seconds later, the same thing happened to the second sword, but this one managed to pass through the wave to the other side, and it was not fully neutralized until the end.

These seconds were enough for the mermaid to be able to activate her ability again, so she opened her mouth wide, ready to launch her next attack.

But then, Elliot finally appeared from behind her with a third sword in hand. Despite the pressure, his speed was fast enough to cut off her head before she could attack.

This seemed to create a strange whirlpool in front of Elliot. He felt dazed and tried to swim backwards quickly, but then, the whirlpool sucked him towards it, as the Mermaid’s body fully transformed into that whirlpool made of water and...

’A portal?’

Soon his mind was blank, and he saw the light again the next second. This time, he looked at the trees, the distant city, and...

Anna.

It was then that he realized the dungeon had ended that way. The peculiarity of the portal creation at the end...

It had caused him to lose two C-Rank swords.

’Shit.’ He put a hand to his head and frowned.

’Will there be any beasts in there that can use those swords? Most of them don’t have hands... the mermaid maybe can?’

He was not worried about losing those two swords. Although they cost tens of millions of dollars, they were not indispensable.

He was rather worried about the next awakened ones to come.

He left those two swords as items there, meaning they would be grabbed by the dungeon and its beasts when the boss was reborn again.

If the Mermaid took them as her weapons, it would endanger the rest of the Awakened who entered later.

When she saw him leave, Anna smiled at first. But seeing him more worried than hurt, she approached.

"Did something happen?" she asked.

He looked at her and nodded after thinking things over.

"Two C-Rank swords were left inside." He replied.

"Ohh." She quickly understood his concern and looked at the dungeon once more. "Well, that will add some excitement to the future. There are rumors that aquatic beasts might evolve when they get items used by land races. So, leave it at that, accidents sometimes happen for study." She smiled and turned away.

"Get up. We’ll need to talk about a few things before we continue."

Elliot had to nod as he watched her walk away and tried to get up, but then his body succumbed, and he fell to the ground.

"Ah."

Anna stopped and looked at him. "You can’t move?"

"No, " he smiled sheepishly. "I’m too exhausted. My muscles won’t move for a good while." He dropped to the ground and looked up at the sky.

Somehow, he didn’t seem sleepy. His mind had strengthened nicely. But his muscles were in their worst state in a long time.

It didn’t matter what he did, for today he wouldn’t be able to get up anymore.

"Hahaha, looks like you’re finally getting hit by fatigue." She went over to lift him up and so carried him back to the city.

During this time, they weren’t staying at Elliot’s apartment. They were staying in some guild apartments located in another guild’s territory.

Thanks to that, they were able to hide quite well.

When she laid him down on his bed, she sat down next to him.

"Just so you know, this first week only covers a month’s training and is the introduction to Resistance training. This is the hardest stat to cultivate, because it can break your spirit and consciousness, but it is also the most fruitful, because it can prevent your death."

"Underwater training is usually more intense, as is training on fire. But this serves as an introduction to what you will surely see if you aspire to win the World Championship. Remember, not all tournaments are as simple as the one you just played or the Leveled Leagues."

"Some take place inside a dungeon; others require you to fight beasts so powerful they could break your soul. There are no limits to what the System can do to make its players suffer."

"That is why this suffering is necessary, and it is the most indispensable for all awakened, even those who do not use Resistance."

Elliot listened patiently and nodded to her.

"I understand. Now comes the Strength, right?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Yes. But before that, I have a question for you."

"Which one is it?" Elliot moved his head slightly, the few things he could move right now, to look at her.

"You don’t have stat restrictions, right?" she asked directly.

Elliot frowned and sighed. "Mr. Steward told you?" he asked.

She looked at him in surprise. "Steward knows?" She asked.

"Hm? Wasn’t he the one who told you?"

Anna frowned slightly and looked thoughtful for several minutes.

No one could know what she was thinking until she stood up.

"Tonight, don’t leave here. Tomorrow morning, I’ll come and get you and bring you breakfast. The last week of training begins, and we’ll be training Strength. Sleep until I get back."

After that, and without giving him any explanations, she left the room.