Chapter 415

Nick was born in a remote village in the mountainous region of the northeast of the Subin Province.

His family conditions were at least considered quite good in the village; his father was a carpenter who took on some business on weekdays and was able to support their whole big family.

This also meant that Nick didn't have to spend his childhood's beautiful time on endless farm work like the children of his age in the village.

On the afternoons when the summer weather was at its hottest, he would often go to the mountain behind the village to escape the sweltering heat; the shade cast by the dense forest made it much cooler here than outside, and villagers often came in to chop wood and pick up firewood, so safety was guaranteed.

Many times, leaning against a tree trunk, lying in the deep shade, listening to the rustling sound of the branches swaying overhead, and closing his eyes, an entire afternoon would pass.

Of course, the energy of a young boy was like the stray dogs running around in the village, never-ending; in a few years, he had almost figured out every corner of the mountain behind the village.

Near the top of the mountain, there was a small pool of water, reflecting the canopy, emerald green and clear.

It was unknown where they came from, but a few small fish inhabited the pool; they weren't very big, about the length of a palm, but they were particularly conspicuous because of the overly transparent water of the pool.

Just like the ignorant young boy who had lived in the depths of the mountains since childhood, these fish that grew up in the secluded pool had never experienced the contamination of the outside world and were completely defenseless against even the slightest temptation.

Even though Nick used a crude fishing rod he had made from "fallen tree branches," "discarded fiber ropes," and "thorn prickles," using earthworms he dug up at random as bait, these fish had not a shred of alertness, taking the bait again and again.

To be honest, these small fish didn't taste good; their meat was full of tiny bone spurs, and after eating them twice, Nick stopped bringing the hooked fish home, instead releasing them back into the pool.

Perhaps this was the reason why the future him was able to stand out among countless bottom-tier adventurers, successfully obtain a professional level, and become a veteran.

——Nick did not, like other children, quickly lose interest in fishing because of the overly easy results.

His attention shifted to something deeper.

He began to carefully observe the movements of the fish when they took the bait.

Attracted by the subtle vibrations of the earthworm struggling in the water, the tail fin would sway slightly, approaching quietly, the upper lip tentatively touching it to confirm its nature as "harmless food."

Retreating, leaving enough space for a sprint.

And then...

"Swish!"

To this day, Nick still remembered the performance of that palm-sized fish when it lunged to hunt.

The muscles of its cheeks, lower jaw, and throat contracted in coordination at an astonishing speed, just like a compressed spring, and then suddenly snapped open as the fish's body lunged forward, forming an expanding cavity.

The earthworm, along with the fishhook, was violently sucked into the fish's mouth, the upper and lower jaws closed rapidly, and the gill covers expanded and contracted to filter out the water in its mouth.

Nick felt this process was very interesting, and he had never had any other feelings about it.

After all, he was the one in control of that fishing rod.

To continue or to leave, the initiative was in his own hands.

Even if the young him had jumped directly into the pool at that time, those small fish wouldn't have posed any danger to him...

Until now.

When he was stung by the violent, raging wind that had been kicked up, and the blinding scarlet was reflected on the surface of his pupils.

When the hunter truly became the prey, and the angler holding the fishing rod became the bait hanging on the hook.

The feeling of extreme danger surging from within, and the shrill echo of the sound of death in his brain.

Only then did Nick finally realize the rules by which this world operated.

That proud Half-Elf with a beautiful face and exquisite features was standing opposite him.

Coming from the Elven bloodline within her body, her figure was naturally tall and slender, and years of adventure experience had given her body beneath her tight clothing a few more curves, filled with the beauty of powerful lines.

The slender, leaf-like eyebrows she had carefully trimmed in imitation of ancient Elven traditions were currently knitted together, her delicate, small nostrils were slightly fluttering due to the rapid breathing caused by intense emotions, her thin lips were slightly parted, and one could vaguely see the saliva sticking between her white teeth inside; the stubborn, crisp female voice still echoed at the corners of her mouth.

But in this space-time that seemed to have frozen at this moment, forming a glaring contrast to it was that gray-blue trailing shadow that was wrapped in countless splashed, shattered water droplets and frozen in mid-air.

It was a hideous, deformed, bloody mouth that made one's spine chill just to look at it.

Five rows of razor-sharp, serrated teeth were arranged like a brilliantly blooming, bone-white flower, and an indescribable stench gushed out with the airflow from the throat, where one could see the dark red throat flesh wriggling in its depths.

"Chhh... Crack!"

It was a wet, heavy, muffled sound mixed from multiple noises.

The screech of metal bursting under brute force, the sound of bones, internal organs, and muscles being violently crushed, and the squelching sound of some kind of plump, juicy object being instantly compressed and exploded.

The upper and lower jaws of the bloody mouth closed precisely around the Half-Elf's waist.

She didn't let out a scream; that exquisite face didn't even have time to show an expression of pain.

Everything happened too fast, as if even the pain had been isolated.

Lali's upper body still maintained the posture of standing and arguing from the moment before, her right hand even still clutching a wooden arrow that had just been pulled from the corpse.

But from the waist down, those long legs clad in deerskin boots, the knee pads specially chosen to match the colors, and the skirt armor engraved with traditional Elven patterns had already disappeared.

All that remained were jagged, uneven edges that looked as if they had been crudely gnawed by some kind of beast.

"Plop."

Scarlet blood and internal organs lost the restraint of flesh and blood, and under the action of gravity, they splattered onto the ground with a pattering sound.

And it was only when the Half-Elf's upper body also fell to the ground that Lali's painful, desperate scream exploded in Nick's ears.

Perhaps it was the surging, violent wind coming head-on, or perhaps it was some psychological factor.

This middle-aged man who had adventured for many years took two steps back involuntarily in his leather boots, which were splattered with fresh blood.

With a stiff neck, he turned his head to look at the huge, sturdy, hideous figure not far beside him.

Nick had never seen this kind of monster before.

Its height when standing was close to nine feet, its posture was slightly leaning forward, its center of gravity was low and stable, and it carried a streamlined feeling rare in land creatures; its shoulders were exceptionally broad, and from the chest down, it tapered rapidly, forming an exaggerated inverted triangular torso.

It was like some forbidden product born from the mating of a "Hunter Shark" from the depths of the ocean and a human.

A towering dorsal fin grew and bulged along the spine from the thick, powerful back of its neck, and there were small side fins on both sides of its shoulder blades used to assist in turning in the water; its entire body was covered with rough, gray-blue skin with the texture of sandpaper, and one could vaguely see dark spots and stripes on its surface.

The muscles beneath the skin of its arms were clearly bulging, its arm circumference was thicker than the waist and abdomen of an average adult male, and its hands were four black, sharp claws connected by thick, leathery webbing; its lower limbs were slightly more slender, more suitable for hunting in the water, and its tail vertebrae were slightly elongated, extending into a crescent-shaped tail fin that was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.

Of course, the most eye-catching part of this monster's entire body was naturally its huge, hideous shark head, which was completely out of proportion to its body.

Its snout was a sharp, inverted triangle, thick, wide, and long, with serrated teeth arranged in layers, a pair of fish eyes that were pitch-black and lusterless, and the gill slits on the back of its cheeks fluttered and opened and closed, spewing out bloody air.

Lali's lower body was currently in the mouth of this shark-beast.

Two small legs wearing leather boots dangled outside, but after slightly tilting its head to swallow, accompanied by a cold, bone-aching chewing sound, all of the Half-Elf's flesh and blood were swallowed into its belly.