C28: Water Serpent

"Aghh!!" Alan yelled out as the thing that took hold of his leg pulled him down. He glimpsed at the view below and he wished that he never did.

It was like a half-rotten dead body. Even its skull was visible.

The creature was too ugly. It was a river ghost, a nightmare. These creatures were born from the people who had died in the river, drowning or for some other reason. But when a dead body floats in a river at night, the soul of that human becomes a nightmare.

Alan shook his leg to let loose from the bloody creature's grasp, but he couldn't. And worst of all, the creature had attracted the many other nightmares below and now all of those nightmares lurking underwater was coming straight at him.

"Ahhh! Alan! What are you doing! Come on!!" Winry uttered as she tried to pull out the boy from the water. Yet, her strength was not enough to pull him out.

The nightmare was stronger.

'Goddammit!' Alan couldn't wait till the whole bloody swarm of river ghosts swallowed him. He summoned the Hydro Blade to his hand, just by a mere thought.

A swirl created around his hand and the blade formed from it. He instantly swung the blade towards the nightmare and slashed its head. The nightmare was mostly bones and rusted body parts, so it cut through like a butcher cutting through fish.

Suddenly, some light blue orbs came from the dead creature's body as it let go of Alan's leg. The little orbs entered Alan's body and instantly disappeared, but not without a prize.

[5 souls obtained. You have been granted with soul power.]

[Overflow! Overflow! You have maximum soul power!!]

And just as this happened, his mind felt like it was been dumped into a huge river of secrets.

The skills, the power, and the strength he had returned to him... But not the level and his statistics.

"Aghhh!" Winry pulled out the boy, soon as the nightmare was killed. As soon as she dropped the boy down, she mounted him and tried to breathe on the boy's mouth.

The river ghosts could not go above the water, so the ghosts stopped charging at the boy. They were cursed beings... And if any of these beings struck above sea level, their bodies are disintegrated.

Winry's lips met the boy's, but the boy was already breathing. He kissed Winry back, placing his hand on the girl's face.

"Mmm!" She pushed back as her face reddened after the boy's reaction.

"Ah! You can breathe!? After all that long!?" She asked from the boy, utterly astonished.

"Yes yes... I have the Element of Water, don't you remember?"

"Mmm..." she looked down, blushing.

ROAAR!!! The lightning dragon roared from the far skies as a blast of lightning shot across the air. It was chasing Riza and the most interesting part was the arcs of lightning that constantly ran across its body.

Riza couldn't take a break to hit the creature. She was too scared to do so because the enormous dragon was chasing her and blasting her constantly.

"Winry! Take the dragon down! Take it down!" Lucy yelled at Winry from the edge of the boat. Lucy was frightened to see the dragon recovering itself.

An enormous spiraling cloud formed above the dragon in the high skies, and it drew the lightning from those clouds. The lightning was the reason it was recovering so fast.

"AGHH!!" Lucy released another arrow, but the arrow got destroyed before it could even hit the dragon. The arcs of lightning surrounding it was protecting the dragon from every possible obstacle.

"I —" Winry hesitated to blast the dragon with her powerful magic because there was a slight possibility for Riza to get caught in it.

But, she didn't let go. She held up the staff and pointed it at the dragon, but her arms started to tremble after she got its target on a pinpoint.

"Winry... Let me give it a try."

The voice dumbfounded Winry, making her release the target and turn. It was Alan's voice. She turned to him and looked into his eyes.

"You can't —" Alan raised his hand and placed it on her lips before she would say anything more. "Shush... I can do this." He silenced her, stepping forward.

His eyes darted to the dragon above, and he tightened his grip on the sword. He closed his eyes and the memory came to him.

"Once a man had reached the limit of his soul power, he would never lose it. Not in any life. His soul would carry it forever. So the strength one gained using all their might would not be lost, because of a simple thing called death."

He had read the quote in an ancient book in his library. Now, the memory came in handy.

Once a soul reaches its limit with soul power, it also achieves the ability to attain any skill at any time they want. That is how king Lucas was so powerful.

"I'm invincible now," Alan whispered to himself, pushing his sword beside. A bright light flashed inside his head and the thought came to him by his mind.

He had never even used the skill before, but as if it was by mere instinct, it came to him.

"Water Serpent! Grade two! Hydro Slash!!!"

The boy yelled, leaping out of the boat and into the thin air. And as he did so, the water in the lake suddenly rose, reaching for his blade.

The water swallowed him up but inside, he still held the blade. The risen water suddenly took the shape of a serpent and the serpent-shaped water flew across the air, reaching for the dragon.

The lighting dragon saw this and it knew that this attack could not be ignored. It instantly changed its pace and flapped its wings, turning towards the enormous serpent which was reaching out for it, from the river.

Slash! But it was too late. Alan had slashed the dragon's wing before it could do anything. The serpent had clipped its bloody wings.

ROAAR!!!

[Mana: 39/40]

>>>>>

[Mana: 10/40]

>>>>>

[Mana: 0/40]

However, it was too late for Alan too. His mana ran out, the moment it slashed through the dragon's wings.

"Oh shit!" Alan couldn't keep his balance any longer. The serpent's manifestation broke and the water dropped back into the river. Even the blade disappeared from his hand.

"Aghh —" before Alan could even scream for a second, Riza caught him in midair.

***

"Ha! This is my chance! I have to get the dragon now!" Winey muttered to herself, pointing the large staff at the dragon.

"Grade one thunderclap!"

The skies roared with thunder and the clouds surrounding the dragon started to deform, hiding the dragon in the clouds.

Even with one wing, it managed to take further into the air, not giving a moment to rest. It was trying to reach into the clouds to heal itself once more.

Regardless... It was already too late.

The clouds deformed from the spiral shape to their normal form and a second later, a bright red flash occurred in the sky. The dragon had simply turned to dust.

Thunderclap, one of the most dangerous spells only the highest leveled mages can master. And this little witch here, made it happen.

[Mana: 190/200]

>>>>>

[Mana: 10/200]

"Finally!" Winry crouched on the boat, letting out a sigh of relief.

The little noble boy was gazing at the scene like it was some kind of stage performance. However, he loved it. And most of all, he had grown quite a liking to the elven girl who had done one of the most powerful spells of all time.

The Thunderclap. A furious blast of magic formed by crashing the skies together.

'Mom... Please let me marry her,' the boy thought to himself, looking at Winry's gorgeous body.