The inner door of the bus opened and with great haste I scurried away from that place, a few Euros richer than before. I had taken them from the magician, along with some extra articles of clothing.
I doubt traveling stark naked is acceptable in Italy, but considering he tried to attack me for stupid reasons his 'donations' will be put to good use.
Letting out a single chuckle I went back to more pressing matters, and first off I need to know more about my pursuers, since I know there would be more of them later if that moron coming after me was any indication, either to finish what the idiot started or to retaliate for what I did to him. Either way, I had to keep moving in order to gain more time.
It didn't take long before I was able to get another bus ticket directly towards Olbia, with great timing too, since it was about to leave.
Running to take the last bus of the night I managed to see, from far away, a man being dragged away by some police officers, and again I had to stifle my laugh and act calmly as if I had nothing to do with that. Fortunately I'm made of sterner stuff now, so I could act naturally without problems.
Granted, I had a small smile on my face, but I also managed to catch the bus right on time, so everything evens out.
~~O~~
The ride toward Olbia was uneventful this time around, letting me catch my breath. Unfortunately, the city was a good checkpoint for my pursuers, since I intended to catch a ride to the continent from here. My sense of paranoia went up and I quickly looked after my boat ticket, checking everywhere and everyone that might be looking after me.
The stress was catching up to me as I walked towards the ticket boot when I got a call.
Of course, I had forgotten to buy the damn chip for the phone so there was only one person that could have called me.
'Sleep outside for a week. Reward: 2 dice.'
'Accept quest? Y/N?'
Looking at the screen I almost instinctively hit 'Y' once more, but stopped to think things through. I had to ration my money until I could find a reliable source and hotels are expensive as hell. I could try and find a shelter, but a single week won't kill me and I could easily change locations to sleep, making it harder to track me down. With that in mind I hit 'Y' to accept the quest.
Just as I did that another ring sounded and I got another call. Two quests in a single day?
'Earn 100 Euros by begging. Reward: 3 dice.'
'Bonus: Earn it in a single week. Bonus reward: 4 dice.'
Again I almost hit the 'Y' instinctively, but it didn't take long for me to hit it 'Y' again. Once more the quest didn't have a hard time limit except for the bonus dice, but there was still a nice reward even without the bonus.
"Are my quests going to be like that from now on?" I asked X while looking around. So far there was nobody suspicious looking at me, and I relaxed a bit in order to talk with my GM.
'Not all quests are instant like the ones before.'
'Then again, those types of quest don't have a time limit so it's basically impossible to fail them.'
'You should thank your ever merciful GM.'
'(-.^)'
"Of course I should," I muttered under my breath before moving back into the line for my tickets.
~~O~~
While in the line I kept searching for suspicious-looking people after my skin. Fortunately, there weren't any near the place right now, allowing me to relax a little, for the moment. Once I got to the ticket booth, however I had to face deception.
"What do you mean there aren't any?" I asked, indignation and ire in my voice.
"I'm sorry sir," the attendant says, unfazed by my tone, the tick Plexiglas doing its job nicely, "But we sold the last ticket for today already. If you want, we have some for tomorrow.
I took a deep breath to calm myself and sighed. "Fine, I will take one for next afternoon."
I almost choked after seeing the price for the ticket, but held my breath and bought it anyway after tearfully parting with the money. It's a good thing my salary was rather high, but without a sure source of money it'll dry fast with daily dispenses, like food.
Speaking of money, I have one day to do whatever, so I might as well start my first quest.
~~O~~
It took me a while to get a good spot without anybody else, so I started my quest.
Or tried to, at least. When I went for the first time I kept hesitating, my hand always going back to my pockets and I simply let people walk around me, giving me weird looks when I apparently glared at them.
After ten minutes I started asking for some help, literally begging them for something they could spare, the act cutting me like a knife with both the act itself and the stuttering I couldn't keep out of my voice.
In the end it was a wasted hour, but I managed to get a little 'practice' on what to do and I endured the shame and wounded pride, thinking to myself that I wasn't doing it for the money and rather for the Dice, which actually made it easier to perform the deed.
It was by luck that in the next hour I managed to earn a few coins, an old lady taking pity on me and giving me some spare change. I thanked her profusely for her generosity before I paused for a while.
That simply wasn't working like it was supposed to. You could say I was too stage shy to properly beg and ask for a few coins, and to be honest I doubt people would normally be inclined to part with their hard earned money if you just ask.
Going back to a bench I brought out my cellphone. "Hey X, do I need to ask for money for it to count as begging or can I perform something else so long as I get the money?"
'Whatever you do to finish the quest isn't my problem =p'
'So long as the quest parameters are somehow fulfilled it shouldn't be a problem.'
"I see," and with that I had some better idea on what to do.
Standing up, I took off my bag and placed it in front of me. Taking a deep breath, I centered myself. Setting myself into a neutral stance, I quickly switched to an attack posture and did a jab followed by a kick, taking a single step ahead.
Rising my leg, I caught with a single leaf falling from the trees with my feet before jumping and spinning once more, hitting the same small leaf with my other leg and landing near a pile of leaves, making them drift away with my landing.
Without missing a beat I spun on my leg and made a cartwheel, spinning backwards and landing in another, more stable stance while I punched with both of my fists, two, three, four times. Pulling my leg close to me, I set my leg upwards as if catching another leaf on the wind. I jumped with a spin, hitting an invisible, impossibly tall opponent with my leg.
Thus it kept going like that for almost an hour, with small pauses to ask for a little donation for an unemployed martial artist. This time I earned some money, it was just a little of course, but this time it came more steadily than before.
The next hour I tried something different, with more acrobatics in order to bring in more viewers. Using the bench as a stepping stone to fly higher in the air with a spinning back flip kick, sometimes using the edge of the seat to balance myself before kicking off in a impressively high hell drop kick.
In the end three hours of martial arts displays and asking for donation earned me a whooping twelve euros total. Not bad since it was my first day, but not good either since at this rate I'll barely scrape the quota for the bonus Dice.
Sighing, I took my bag and went to the fountain for a cool drink. At the edge of my vision I saw something suspicious. A small group of five men were watching me for a while, but at the time I dismissed it as mere curiosity for the guy performing martial arts, but now they kept their distance and were not only watching me, but also my surroundings.
My sense of paranoia rose at those signals and I stood up and started to walk away from the park to somewhere else, first at a sedate pace then at a faster walk. A single glance backwards let me know they were still after me.
Turning a corner, I started to run away as fast as I could, jumping through trashcans and walls in order to shake off pursuit, but not so much that I couldn't track them down with some effort. Taking another look backwards, I could see them following my trail at top speed.
Kicking on the walls I climbed up to the second floor to a building, and noticed that I had jumped unusually high, roughly 5 yards from a standing position. I wasn't exactly ready for that revelation and stayed still for a few seconds before I caught my pursuers' shadows from where I was and the chase resumed.
I let them come close enough to me before restarting the chase, then I turned into a corner in the building, waiting for one of them to come.
The fastest was hit with a kick from around the corner just as he turned to face me, his expression one of surprise before I planted my feet firmly on his face, sending him backwards on his back right into the ground. I didn't want to take my stand here, but I could hear the guy friends quickening their pace after my display of willingness to inflict copious amounts of violence.
After running a good deal ahead I paused a minute before I let them catch up to their fallen friend, and as I saw them from my point near the stairs I flipped them off. I stayed just long enough to see one of them pulling something from behind their pants, most likely a gun, but I was already away at the time.
Running away from the dangerous people was somewhat easier than I thought it would be thanks to my speed, even if I don't go all out. In order to get to the next level I jumped from the terrace into the upper floor using my newly discovered jumping abilities, balancing myself with a single hand on the sidewalk before pulling myself up.
On the next floor I waited a bit for them to come after me, two of them coming up this time, and smarter than the previous one since they came from the back of the corner instead of the front allowing plenty of time to see me.
Too bad that as I noticed them coming I ran fast towards them, jumping and delivering a devastating flying knee kick to one. Using that enemy as a balance point, I twisted and threw myself at the other guy with a kick on his jaw, both of them dropping to the ground bonelessly from my assault.
There was still some time for me to see the three other guys, the man I nearly knocked down in one shot far away with the two whoever they are after my hide. This time I could see the weapon on the hand on one of my pursuers and I started to run away, hearing the gunshot just as I turned back on the corridor.
This time I kept running forwards without skipping floors for a few more minutes until I hit the top floor after opening the last door. Jumping upwards on the door I waited patiently until they came, hiding myself by crouching and staying silent.
Two pursuers came, one after another, and I jumped on the guy that was obviously armed, catching him by surprise. He turned around in order to shot me, but my feet went right into his head, sending him back a few steps backwards before he tripped, falling to the ground.
The other pursuer took a knife from his pocket and charged at me. I dodged his clumsy attacks with such grace that it surprised myself, his movements slow in comparison with mine. The man with the gun tried to stand up and fired a shot, but he missed me by a mile and just as he finished that he made himself my priority target twice over.
Running at him, I hit him on the head with an axe kick over his already tattered nose before sparing a glance to his stunned expression, finishing him off with a flying spinning back kick to his jaw.
The guy with the knife looked at me, then at his weapon before running away, and this time it was me going after him. It didn't take long before I caught up to him and slammed his face into the wall, painting it with his blood.
I spared a thought to search them for money, but discarded that thought easily. I could brush off beating up five guys going after me, one of them with a gun, but not if they were missing money and if I gave them that idea then things would end badly for me.
It was with those thoughts in mind that I meet the last guy panting from the exertion and holding his bleeding noise. I pause right at his side and he looks up. He looks left and right, not finding his friends.
"Uhm, parlay?"
O decked him in the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground.
~~O~~
The next day my shoulders were cramped due to sleeping on the bench but otherwise I was fine, and I did yet another bout of martial arts display on another, different, park in order to earn my keep for the quest.
I kept things simple since I had no idea how to make it more cooler other than taking a more acrobatic kata and concentrating on what I was doing to make it as perfect as possible, and perhaps that was the best and only thing I needed. After four grueling hours of intense martial arts showing I earned thirty two more euros, a nice catch for now.
I used some of my money to eat something nice before getting on the boat on time, but just as I was inside something caught my attention. I tried to look around but there was nothing, except the faint feeling that I was being watched.
~~O~~
I took my time walking around the ferry to enjoy the sights, and soon I found something interesting: inside the boat there was a small bar that sold some liquor and snacks.
"I didn't know there was a bar on this boat!" I couldn't help but exclaim from my seat to nobody in particular. The bartender, however, let out a small chuckle before going back to cleaning some glasses.
"It's new. For quite a while there was a demand for better accommodations on the boat since it takes a while to get from Sardinia to Italy, so the company is employing these more expensive boats. It isn't any faster than the other models, but the experience is more enjoyable, I'm told."
It certainly was. I had a small but comfortable cabin to myself, though it didn't have a toilet included, forcing me to use the public one. But on the other hand it came with showers. Speaking of showers, I might go after one later. "For now just give me a soda," I said, placing a few coins on the table.
"What can you tell me about the city we're going to?" I asked the barman.
"Nothing much", he said, shrugging. "It's a port town, with all that implies. I know some nice restaurants if you're interested."
"I think I'll pass, those restaurants are usually pretty hard on my frail wallet." I was about to take a sip from my drink when I saw something, or at least I thought I saw something. "Did you put something in my drink?"
"Just ice, why?"
"Nothing, just checking." Looking around, I couldn't see anybody suspicious, but a sense of unease crept over me for a while.
~~O~~
I couldn't find anyone suspicious-looking, so, perhaps against my better judgment, I went towards the public toilet to take a refreshing bath. Putting my clothes in the bag I brought some soap and a single fresh towel.
Letting the soothing hot water fall on my head and shoulders everything came back to me, how now I can even fight against someone wielding a gun and come out unscratched, or even how there's too much conflict in my life now compared with before. Can't say I regret how things are going right now, but I think it'll take a while until I get used t-.
Pain. Pain pain pain PAIN!
"AUGH! WHAT THE HELL!"
I looked at my right hand and there was a fish biting on my hand. Just as I noticed the fish I found myself being devoured alive by sea life, like fish and octopus and being stung by a sea urchin! Trying to protect my more vulnerable area I slapped down a crab going after me. Tripping on the wet floor I hit the ground hard, where there were more sea urchins waiting for me.
I tried to run from there but it took all my effort to keep that murderous seafood from going after my vulnerable parts, and the balls of needles on the ground wasn't helping much.
"Is anybody there?" I hear someone asking before coming in. "What the hell are you doing?"
Just as he said that I felt the weight on my body vanish and looking around there was no signal for any hostile sea life.
"Do you need any help?" He said, a bit hesitantly at first, though there was something in how he said it that made me uneasy.
"I'm mostly fine, thank you for asking." I said while taking his hand and pulling myself up. I was full of minor cuts and bruises from the attack. "I just need to bandage those up."
"Er, sure, go ahead. I will be, uh, out while you do you stuff. Take your time." With that last part he went away in a hurry, but I can't fault him for that.
~~O~~
Thankfully there was an infirmary on the boat to bandage me up, though it was a bit awkward to answer how I got those wounds.
"I tripped on an aquarium."
"When was that?"
"Earlier. Look," I said to the nurse helping me, "It's an embarrassing story, can you just forget about it?"
"If you say so." At that moment a ringtone came from the nurse's pocket and she looked at me.
"Go ahead," I said with a sigh before the nurse excused herself.
I was tired from the ordeal and still a bit confused about what the hell happened, but I was also thinking how to proceed from here. A new enemy had appeared and was using sea life to attack, with dangerous fish and crustaceans after my skin, yet I was still in one piece.
I knew there were several more dangerous things to throw at me, most of them extremely poisonous or bigger than a piranha, so either the enemy is toying with me or there's a limit to his or her attack patt-.
"AUGH!"
I yelled just in time to see another piranha chewing at my neck and I quickly searched for a source of water, finding a cup of water spilled on the ground. How the hell this fish jump this high?
Taking away the fish I put my hand to my neck to staunch the bleeding while stomping on the other piranhas on the ground coming in and out from the water pool until they stopped coming altogether.
"What's going on?"
The nurse came back to a scene of chaos with me stomping on nothing, as the enemy attack had suddenly disappeared again, with me bleeding on my neck.
"Something bit my neck!" I quickly said while showing her the chewed-up spot, not letting her get much time with questioning. Her reaction was quick and resolute and soon my neck was treated.
I quickly gave my thanks to her and ran away from the place, the nurse's protests notwithstanding. Apparently the attacker didn't want to have any witness to his assaults so I went to 'hide' in the bar which was full of people and I could think calmly for a moment.
~~O~~
Inside the bar, I ordered some coffee, not really trusting the water in the end. I had to figure out my attacker, but I still had no idea how the enemy managed to attack me. I knew the vector for the attacks was nearby sources of water, which the fish and other sea life could be violently ejected from to perform their attacks.
Aggressive, flying sea life in the middle of a boat. I would laugh if I didn't want to cry.
I tried to sip on my coffee when I saw someone bringing a bucket of water at the entrance, making me tense immediately. The barman opened the faucet to clean some cups and other dishes, creating a large pool of water which did nothing to help the situation.
Just as I was about to bring my cup to my lips the janitor turned outside to take something he had probably forgotten, when suddenly I dived on the ground to avoid a fucking SWORDFISH going after my neck jumping from the pool from the barmen, who apparently saw nothing, and the damn swordfish managed to dive straight into the bucket of water.
Both janitor and barman saw nothing, one away from the bar at the moment and the barman had in that split second looked at something bellow on the balcony.
Goddamn it!
I needed to figure out how the enemy managed to attack me, and fast, otherwise I wouldn't last the trip.
~~O~~
I ran towards my cabin in order to have some peace and quiet since there isn't any water in it. The only window is closed airtight and probably strong enough to deal with little things; most importantly, it faces away from me.
I left the door open since I didn't want someone to close it from the outside, as it's painfully easy to do with simple Thaumaturgy, being one of the few procedures listed on the book I had.
Without much actual knowledge I have to guess at what's happening. The fact that fish and other sea life is being Summoned using water as a vector is painfully obvious, but how he's able to keep making them go after me is the tricky part.
Perhaps with some tracking device planted on me? If he or she were stronger or simply a better mage, then I would be attacked by things more dangerous than berserking seafood, or at least truly dangerous sea life (barring the swordfish incident).
Searching myself, it didn't take long to find the tracking token, a small handkerchief with an intricate pattern drawn in black ink. Since I'm fairly sure it isn't mine that's almost certainly what my enemy is using to track me down.
But why? Why would I be targeted by someone?
That last thought made me facepalm, since it's rather obvious: the previous guy targeting me called for backup of some sort. Whatever the reason, they went after me first. Now it's a question of honor to take me down, especially if I also take down this next pursuer.
This time, however, I'll take the time to properly interrogate whoever came after me. I may not be the best at interrogation right now, but I'm sure if I beat him to a pulp he will be quite amenable to talking.
… Maybe I'm jumping too early towards violence, but anyone would after being a literal chew toy for hostile fish. Still, there's no reason to think I can overpower him or her so easily, considering it's a magic user I'm dealing with.
"Hey X, do you have some quests real quick right now?"
'Shouldn't you be concerned about whoever is after your neck instead of MOAR QUESTS?'
'I wonder what kind of power hungry fool wants more power while being besieged by discount Lovecraft enemies?'
'Oh wait, I don't need to wonder, I already know what kind, it's you! LOLOLOL'
'However I'm feeling magnanimous today, so here's a spare few quests, all of them within your reach. Aren't I nice?'
Another chime came and the new quests appeared.
'Drop half of all your money on the sea as an offering to the Sea God.'
'Reward 2 dice. Bonus: Drop all money on the Sea. Bonus Reward: 2 dice.'
'Accept quest? Y/N'
'Get off the ship ACCIDENTALLY and directly into the sea.'
'Reward 3 dice. Accept quest? Y/N'
'Be chased by a shark or a shiver of sharks.'
'Reward 5 dice. Accept quest? Y/N'
'Eat some raw fish.'
'Reward 1 dice. Accept quest? Y/N'
I looked at the quests and accepted all of them on instinct. Regardless of their nature, I need some extra power right now as a safety net before encountering the magus with a vendetta against me.
But first I need to check a few things first…
~~O~~
Good thing the bar sold some sushi and sashimi alongside other dishes, netting me a (almost) free die.
Next I dropped all my money in the sea getting four more dice and right now I'm on the border of the ship, sitting rather dangerously and barely balancing myself, just waiting for the ship itself to toss me out of th-
"GOD DAMN ITTTTT! HELP! HELP!" I yelled with all my might before, while and after hitting the water. Good thing I'm a good swimmer, or at least became a good swimmer thanks to the Dice.
Soon a small group of people came to look at the fool who fell off the ship. "Are you alright?"
"I'm FINE! But I would be better back in the ship!"
Somebody had the foresight to throw a lifebuoy with a rope to me, but at the time I had momentarily frozen from the sight in front of me. A large shark appeared from nowhere, I wasn't looking and then suddenly that famous shark fin appeared outside the water.
"SHARK! PULL ME IN, PULL ME IN!"
I didn't actually want to be chased by sharks when I accepted that quest!
"Come on, we're getting you out of there!"
I tried my best to swim as fast as I could before climbing away from the shark with everything I had, and I still had to had to kick it away, otherwise I would have been bitten by its monstrous jaws.
After getting back up, I took a deep breath and checked for the dice; no way I'm almost dying just to let someone else get my hard earned prize!
One, two …, six, seven, "Thank you!" I said while quickly snatching the last die from someone that had picked it up previously. Ignoring protests from both the guy and the sailor who saved me, I went straight ahead to my cabin to pick up my towel.
I've finally had with these motherfucking fish on this motherfuckin ship, that magus is going down!
~~O~~
*Knock Knock*
"Sir, we found out that your ticket had some problems. Could you please follow me and talk with the captain immediately?"
"Really? … Alright, I'm going."
After a few seconds the sound of the lock opening the door was heard. In front of me was a young man, no older than his early twenties with light brown hair appeared. You could say he was handsome in a girly way, with a weak looking constitution.
For a moment he stared in shock, unable to move even a single muscle at what he was looking at. After all, he was looking directly at me.
"Oh fuck me."
"But I haven't even started!"
With a sucker punch we both entered his cabin.
~~O~~
A few minutes earlier I took a look at the book about thaumaturgy and searched the bit about magic sensing and seeing. There was a little ritual that allowed me to see the residual mana of a cast spell, a mere cantrip to be honest, but it was more than enough for what I need right now.
Mana Seeing, 1xp
Awareness 3 - 4, 6xp
Martial Arts - 3 - 4, 6xp
Perception 3 - 4, 12xp
Investigation 0- 4, 15xp
The Mana Seeing ritual was simple enough and didn't require anything special to perform other than something to draw blood and performing the necessary prayers, so I quickly went about doing it, with a deep breath to center myself first.
"Mortals Bound by Flesh, Spirits Unbound."
"Prana is the life of the universe, the breathing of the world."
"Allow this lowly self to witness the universal flow."
"Grant this mortal an instant into heaven's secrets."
With the prayer finished I bit my finger hard, drawing some blood. I smeared it into my eyelids in a red eyeshadow. I opened my eyes, and my vision became blurred to the world.
Looking at the small handkerchief I could see a light blue light emanating from it, and if I strained my eyes I could see a very thin thread of light coming from it and out of my cabin's door.
With a wicked grin I started following the trail.
~~O~~
"So," I said while cracking my fists, "Let's have a little chat, alright? Let's start with 'Why are you after me?' and work our way from there."
"You broke my n-", he tried to yell but I hit him in the gut first, making him double over.
"Less bitching, more answering my questions. Who are you and why are you after me?!"
I was still ready to attack him, and that made the magus pause for a moment. We locked eyes for a few seconds, my glare intensifying, clenching and unclenching my fists as time passed by.
He averted his gaze first and started talking. "If you must know, I'm the apprentice of the great Alessandro Abelli il Terzo and I'm here to avenge the humiliation you put my master through!"
Come again? I wracked my brain for a minute before I recalled the two knights coming to bother my former employer, and dare I say the first friend I made in this world.
"One of the guys with the stupid plan?" I tried, and immediately the magi's expression darkened. Seems like I nailed it. "Do they have that much free time to send their minions after someone's ex- servant?"
"Don't you dare trash talk about my master! I came here of my own volition to avenge the shame you put him through alongside my friend, but you took him down already! Do you know how hard it will be to get him out of jail?"
"Not really my problem if he comes after my neck and has to face the consequences. Just dissing them once is grounds for attempted murder, though? I still remember the sharks and the swordfish."
"Hah! If you were killed by them it wouldn't be my problem, there would be no evidence of your demise after all. But then again…"
Suddenly my body tensed and I flipped back, unable to stop him from quickly standing up with unnatural grace, pushing me away with a kick coming inches from my face, an aura of power surrounding him for a while.
"I know how to handle myself in combat."
As he said that he charged at me with a punch I barely avoided, his speed like nothing I had ever encountered before here or in my life. If I were to guess I'd say it's a product of the aura surrounding him enhancing his movements.
I tried to retaliate but he easily blocked my kick, preventing from rising by slamming it into the bed. He tried to capitalize on that momentary distraction by sending a haymaker punch but I quickly tossed the blanket on the bed towards him, giving me enough time to push the magus away from my face.
Using the distraction I feinted with my hand, but in reality I was aiming at a lower part of his with my next attack.
"Augh!" He whimpered, and his aura flickered for an instant but was still active. Perhaps he's better than I thought. Still, with this injury I can quickly defeat him if I keep pushing my att-
A pillar of water hit me in the chest, sending me crashing down backward through the door. I coughed up some water. My back hurt, but I could still fight. In my enemy's hand there was a thin blade of water, while he kept his other hand on his lower injuries.
"I'm going to gut you like a fish!"
He rushed after me and I tumbled out of the way of the piercing attack. I could see some drops slipping from his arm to form the water blade, so perhaps he has a time limit to how much he can use it. Perhaps he can keep it up all day, perhaps only a few minutes.
I don't have minutes to play. Quickly a harebrained plan formed in my head, it will take a lot of luck to make it work but for now it's what I have, other than 'punching him until he stops moving,' that is.
Still, I had to keep fighting against him until the right time. "I hope you don't wet yourself trying to finish me off."
I could see a vein bulging from his forehead and the angry expression marring his girlish features, coming at me with a charge once more. However, I intercepted his blade fist by jumping inside his reach instead of retreating, making my enemy widen his eyes at my bold approach. So while he can 'handle himself in combat' he probably doesn't have much experience in real life battles, if this little display is surprising to him.
Capitalizing on that I spun on my heels for a spinning back kick to his gut, managing to hit him in the ribs and feeling the soft tissue cave in for an instant, the air going out of his lungs from my attack, but he in response grabbed my leg and tried to slash it. I managed to get out without being maimed, but the injury made me pause for a moment. It wasn't so serious that I couldn't walk or even run, but it will certainly hinder me.
I had to be calm and focus, ignoring the pain from my leg while I led my enemy through the corridor into the outside patio where I 'accidentally' fell. Usually there's nobody there, most of the passengers either in their cabins at this hour or on other parts of the ship. The magus didn't slow down with his attacks, trying to cut me while I narrowly dodged away by leaping and rolling from his assaults.
With my back turned to the sea I started to pant, pretending to be far more tired than I actually was, hoping that my plan will take effect. "You know, those fish of yours where a better challenge than you."
"Oh? Then how about I reintroduce you to them?" He said, and with a quick chant, too far away for me to interrupt, I felt something coming close to my back.
Now!
Turning around I had a split moment to see that my gamble actually paid off and without waiting I grabbed the large shark coming to eat me alive and I tossed him towards the magus.
I couldn't see his expression, but whatever his reaction I was already moving to attack him, using all my will and power for the next attack. The magus narrowly dodged the shark but he came straight into my face and straight into a flying knee kick, sending him backwards into the sea.
"Wah… Gah!" He was mostly uninjured when he hit the water, but he had no idea I had thrown back the shark into the sea and straight back at his face.
"AH-" crunch, snap!
I averted my gaze from the gory mess, and making sure nobody had watched our fight I limped back to the infirmary.
Hopefully I can have a good night's rest before getting back on land.
Updated 24/08/2014
