Thirstfall - Memory of a Returnee-Chapter 38: Azure Dividend

The Reef Stalker doesn’t just charge; it displaces the air around it, barreling toward Veric like a runaway freight train.

Veric plants his heavy boots deep into the submerged rocks. He lowers his center of gravity, bracing his tower shield with both arms.

"Azure Dividend!" he roars.

A pulse of deep blue light erupts from his Vanguard armor, coating the metal in a thick, geometric aura just as the monster slams into him.

The impact is absolute. The shallow pool explodes outward in a massive, ten-foot geyser of white water, completely obscuring them for a split second.

When the water rains back down, Veric is still standing. Barely.

His knees are buckled, trembling violently under the sheer kinetic weight of the beast. I can hear the sickening pop of his joints protesting. A steady stream of blood leaks from his nose and the corner of his mouth as he takes ragged, heavy breaths through clenched teeth.

But he doesn’t yield an inch.

If it weren’t for that skill, the Stalker would have shattered him into a hundred pieces.

Damn bastard. I let an unwanted smile escape.

I remember Azure Dividend well from my past life. It’s a progressive kinetic-absorption skill. The more physical damage Veric takes, the more the armor converts that impact into raw defensive stats.

It’s a classic, hyper-efficient Tank ability. It was the exact skill that made him a legendary Vanguard in the future—and also an insufferable, arrogant prick.

The beast gnashes its bifurcated jaw against the top edge of the shield. It doesn’t roar. Instead, it emits a deep, oscillating, guttural thrum from its chest cavity. It sounds unnatural, like a heavy sci-fi warp engine spooling up to critical mass. The bass of it vibrates right through my boots.

Its massive claws rake over the metal, missing Veric’s helm by inches. The Vanguard is visibly red-lining.

"Sands!" Veric screams, his voice strained and wet with blood. "What the hell are you doing?! Don’t just stand there gawking, do something!"

I’m standing still for a very specific reason.

I’m not frozen in fear. I’m playing my part. The best predators know exactly how to simulate fragility to draw out scavengers. I needed the people hiding in the cliffs to think we were overwhelmed.

Right on cue, I catch a flicker of movement on the left side of the ravine—a subtle shift that breaks the static pattern of the mossy rocks. The ambushers are shifting into position.

A sphere of condensed, roaring flame shoots down from the high ground, aimed directly at Veric’s exposed flank.

It’s a solid cast, but the distance betrays them. Magic projectiles are notoriously slower than bullets. I step smoothly into the fireball’s trajectory, drawing the hilt of Eventide. I activate the shadow blade for a fraction of a second, batting the fireball away into the waterfall where it fizzles out in a cloud of blinding steam.

I tap my comms rune.

"Lola," I say, my voice dead calm. "We have some annoying gnats buzzing on the left ridge, your seven o’clock. Put them to bed."

Through the earpiece, I hear the distinct, terrifying sounds of the Lullaby deploying—the pneumatic hiss of pressurized air and the heavy clack of magnetic locks snapping into place.

"Gnats are loud," Lola murmurs softly through the comms. "I will swat them."

Three seconds later, the ravine is illuminated by a blinding, artificial flash.

The Reef Stalker flinches, its six eyes squeezing shut against the glare. For a split second, all ambient sound in the waterfall seems to get sucked into a vacuum.

Then, the supersonic CRACK of the heavy projectile shatters the air.

It hits the left ridge with the force of a meteor. The entire cliffside detonates. A massive shockwave ripples through the ravine, sending a localized avalanche of jagged boulders, dirt, and thick gray smoke cascading down into the pool.

"Big booms make the quiet parts feel much nicer," Lola adds over the comms, sounding entirely pleased with herself.

Veric, using the beast’s momentary hesitation, shoves his shield forward with a grunt, pushing the massive Stalker back a few feet. He looks up at the smoking crater in the cliffside while wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand.

Then he lets out a wet, unhinged bark of laughter.

"Was that the little girl?!" Veric yells, spitting a mouthful of bloody water. "What a completely fucked up team! I love it!"

Isn’t it?

While the dust and smoke veil the ravine, I move.

I sprint through the shallow water, vaulting off a slanted boulder to gain vertical momentum. At the apex of my jump, I ignite Eventide and slice cleanly through the thick rope binding Rhayne’s ankles.

She drops. I catch her firmly against my chest before she can hit the jagged rocks below, absorbing the landing by rolling backward into the shallow water.

The dust begins to settle. The Reef Stalker snaps its attention toward the avalanche of rocks. Its chromatophores flash violently, shifting into a chaotic pattern of warning colors. The explosion spooked it. It feels cornered, and a cornered apex predator is the most dangerous thing in this jungle.

Through the clearing smoke, I look at the base of the collapsed ridge.

Four cadets are groaning in the waist-deep water, struggling to pull themselves out from under the debris. They are battered, bleeding, and completely disoriented, but alive.

Lola’s aim is still terrible, but enough...

"I knew it," I mutter to myself. "The second they thought we were pinned, they tried to seal the coffin."

I set Rhayne down on a flat rock. I quickly untie the bindings around her wrists. She gasps for air, rubbing her raw skin. She looks up at me, her eyes wide, and wipes the mixture of tears and waterfall spray from her face using the back of her thick leather gloves.

She mouths a silent thank you, her hands still shaking.

I give her a curt nod, turning my back to her.

The Stalker is enraged. The four ambushers are crippled. Veric is holding the line.

I pull the hilt of Eventide from my belt, my thumb resting heavily on the trigger.

"Alright," I say, my voice cold enough to freeze the water around my boots.

"Now it’s my turn."