Rivers of the Night-Chapter 414: No-Name Beast

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Chapter 414: No-Name Beast

Theron didn’t turn and run. He didn’t have any movement methods to begin with, and the Water Mancer method he was self-creating was designed to mimic the fluidity of water, not actually move in it.

If he tried to just control the water to propel himself, he would find himself cut in half before he could even take a second stroke along the current.

’Low-tier...’

Theron’s eyes narrowed as the ugly thing lunged at him, a single whip of its tail practically sending his Water Mana spiraling out of his control.

Taken aback, Theron could only take a defensive maneuver, trying to slap out with a palm and use the momentum of the fish’s movement to increase the gap between them.

He should have absolute dominion over water. Runebound beast or not, he didn’t believe that a single tail swipe should have left him so helpless.

But then he understood.

He had just injured himself by failing. His soul had taken some backlash, and thus until it healed, his ability to communicate with Water Mana was severely hampered.

Plus, though he had suppressed Elder Kelyne Black back then, it had to be remembered that she was far from the best the Black Clan had—and she was a human.

Though the Black Clan had a Runebound Resonance, the rule of thumb was still the same: Mana Beasts were on average far more powerful than their human counterparts.

Even so, back then, Theron had also been dead tired and his soul was in a depleted state as well. The only reason he would struggle in this situation was because of backlash from the slab, a failure he was still trying to understand even now.

Theron’s defensive maneuver almost failed, and he had to quickly shift the position of his palm to slap out against one of the long, jagged canines of the underwater predator.

He felt a jolt run through his palm.

’Poison? Lightning? Light?’

Several thoughts flashed by in Theron’s mind, but his gaze turned icy cold. Half crippled or not, he wasn’t about to lose his life to some no-name creature at the bottom of the ocean.

Of course, this so-called "no-name" creature would probably produce quite the powerful Echo. It was on the same level as the Black Limbo Tortoise for a reason, and the difficulty in killing one was off the charts.

The Black Clan was able to keep a monopoly on the Black Limbo Tortoise Echo not only because of their power, but because even if someone stumbled onto one... how would you kill it?

But this no-name creature was far more powerful than any Echo.

The strongest Echo that could be absorbed was a Ninth Silver Resonance one. This, however, was a Gold Mancy Beast. It was on a completely different level.

Theron unsheathed his short sword and daggers in one fluid motion, his feet landing lightly on the bottom of the river’s floor. He felt like he could be floated away by the current at any time, plumes and puffs of sand rising from his feet.

He suppressed all the pain in him, a cool breath exhaling from his lips.

All of a sudden, the entire region seemed to become a hellscape of chill. The currents slowed, the attack of the no-name beast became rigid.

The strain on Theron’s soul was immediate. It felt like he was being ripped apart, and he sensed what others usually felt when they used their Laws all the more clearly. He felt the same fatigue and pain he never had.

**BANG!**

He shot forward, using \[Pressure Burst] to push against the water behind him. He closed in the distance on the fish so fast light seemed to warp around him.

The fish’s eyes turned to the wrong side, not realizing that Theron was actually using an advanced form of the Law of Refraction. He bent his image, making the fish see double, then triple, and then from the wrong location entirely.

His short sword stabbed down, ripping into the gill of the fish and filling the underwater hellscape with shrill cries and plumes of violet blood.

BANG!

Theron was sent flying, his body shaking as he felt his bones giving way. He was so fragile right now.

No, it wasn’t a matter of "right now." Theron seemed to have completely forgotten that he was a Silver Mancer. He wasn’t meant to be capable of battling Gold Mancers like this—low-tier or not.

Just now, it was actually the inner armor that saved him from suffering a fate that was far worse. In an instant, all the work the water around him had done to heal him had been reversed and made worse.

The good news? His father’s sword, at least when aimed to the proper vital regions, cut through the Runebound predator like butter.

The bad news? He wasn’t sure if he would get another opportunity like that again. He should have used the heating path to try and deal a lethal blow with an explosion of heated waters, but his soul couldn’t maintain both Mandates right now. If he had tried... he had smelt death.

Soul injuries weren’t a joke. The fact that Theron had taken the backlash of such a thing several times already was shocking enough. For most, a single crack in the soul meant being crippled forever.

However, Theron didn’t know this and had yet to realize that the failures he was taking for granted would have actually been the end of the road for someone else.

Theron landed on the sandy surface at the bottom of the river, rolling back and against the current so hard he really felt like he was being tossed around above ground.

With another swish of its tail, the fish and the huge lamp antenna on its head were before him once more. The light shone down almost viciously, making Theron realize to his shock that his Laws were actually being suppressed beneath its effects.

What was this?

He didn’t have much time to think as the maw of the fish opened up again, chomping down on him.

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