Noah was falling. He could see the surprise on Ronan's face as he tumbled through the air. The monstrous eye of the Kraken retreated to be replaced by its ravenous maw. Ronan cursed as he entered the cavernous mouth. Noah's [Grade 1 Inferno Breastplate] once again flared of its own accord. The flames caused the Kraken to screech in pain as its grip on the fortress slipped, giving Noah an opening to fall through.

As the fire from the [Inferno] blocking Noah's vision cleared, he could see an Amber butterfly fluttering inside the pit before it was closed off by the Kraken's enormous body. Noah was twisting through the air as he struggled free of the chain's entanglement. The ocean below was fast approaching as he fell.

The Kraken was clinging to the underside of the Fallen Citadel above him. It was missing three of its tentacles while the remaining ones were twitching strangely. One of them released its grip on the fortress. Taking advantage, Noah watched Roger's tiny figure unleash a destructive pink blast to sever it into a stump. The Kraken failed to react as the boss piloted his modified winged-Titan to attack another tentacle. Noone noticed Noah as the Kraken released its grip and began to fall. Stone was spreading through its body as it plummeted toward him.

Ronan must have used his [Stone Touch] ability after the Kraken ate him. What's going on? I'm falling slower than I should be. The Kraken is catching up. Oh, it's my wind-attuned body. It's making me lighter!

Noah adjusted his body into a foot-first dive before making contact with the ocean's surface. He had loosened the chain but was unable to escape in time. Flames danced across the surface of his armour in a sawing motion, gaining speed and heating the chains red-hot.

Suddenly, a [Inferno] surged toward the water at Noah's feet. A geyser of water rushed into the air to meet Noah. He shielded his face from the spray as the chained harpoon dropped away from his arms. A moment later, Noah entered the ocean. He began to panic as he accidentally inhaled a mouthful of seawater.

The light streaming from the surface was darkening, interrupting Noah's attempt to kick his legs free of the chain dragging him down. He turned his head to look upward. His eyes widened when he noticed the shadow of the stone Kraken approaching. Noah started swimming downward, ignoring everything else as he tried to escape.

He felt something snag the chain trapping his feet. Noah adjusted his body to investigate. It was a barracuda that had caught the barb of the chained harpoon in its mouth. It reacted violently as its blood clouded the water. Orange-lifeforce shimmered through its body as it began to swim at an unimaginable speed. Noah was dragged along behind it holding his breath.

Noah squinted as bubbles streamed past his face when he looked back after escaping the shadow of the Kraken. Not long after, the stone colossus impacted the water, breaking apart into rocky fragments that began to sink downward.

Are they both dead? None of them should have survived that.

***

The barracuda swam so fast that by the time Noah struggled free of the chains binding his legs, it was gone from sight. He lost track of how long the fish had dragged him for. If it were before his advancement to grade-three, he would have already lost consciousness from the lack of air. Noah released his breath to determine the direction of the surface. He swam upward as his vision began to blur.

Noah's head burst through the surface as he inhaled a deep breath of air. He looked around him. The Fallen Citadel was nowhere in sight, but he could see a shoreline on the horizon as the sky darkened into night. Noah began to swim. The weight of the armour was barely noticeable with his newly advanced strength. He didn't want to place it inside his [Zero-Space Dimension Ring] in case the blood from his wounds attracted predators.

Noah hauled himself onto the stony beach. He collapsed, soaking and exhausted as his stamina ran out. The aurora borealis illuminated the beach's stones with colour as Noah faded into unconsciousness, lulled by the peaceful sounds of the waves on the shore.

Noah awoke sometime the next day. His clothing was dry from the night before, but a coat of sweat caused his clothes to stick to his body. He could still hear echoes of screaming from his nightmares replaying the scene of the Kraken killing the countless number of people. But this time, it was him who was the Kraken, swallowing innumerable people as they rained down into his ravenous mouth.

He tried to forget the dream as he peeled his face away from the warm stone, acting as a pillow to stand up. He stretched his tired and sore body as he investigated the shoreline. It was an endless stretch of stony beach in both directions. An overgrown wilderness edged it, shimmering with lifeforce.

Noah looked up at the sky. He was unable to determine the time because of the familiar fiery clouds blocking the sun.

What is that? There's now colour in the clouds similar to the aurora at night, just not as intense. Is this part of grade-three like the changes in my vision after grade-two? I don't have the answers to that. I need to choose a direction, but I don't want to risk entering the forest. That leaves only the beach.

The familiar red sky had changed now that Noah noticed it. There were traces of colour pulsing through the clouds. At random intervals, the hue would shift between the different colours of the spectrum. The fiery clouds now only served as a backdrop behind the aurora in the daytime, a welcome change from the constant apocalyptic red overlay.

Noah stopped looking at the clouds and decided on a random direction to start walking. To the left, the beach stretched endlessly in a straight line with no breaks in sight. But to the right, there was a peninsula far off in the distance shrouded in ocean fog. Noah decided to walk toward the outcrop. There may be something on the other side.

As Noah walked, he retrieved Craig's origin crystal from his [Zero-Space Dimension Ring]. Holding it up, he could see a collection of ability symbols floating amid the orange-lifeforce under a layer of dried blood. Noah stopped examining the ability crystal to crouch down at the ocean's edge to wash away the blood in the shallow seawater.

Standing upright, Noah dried off the shimmering ability crystal on his pant leg. He stuffed Craig's origin crystal into the inside of his left bracer, pushing it deep enough that the orange light couldn't escape. He checked him [System Interface] to find three new ability symbols at the bottom of the hexagon floating inside his consciousness. Three lights flashed on the corners in an unpredictable sequence with his abilities listed in the centre. The new symbols showing from Craig's crystal pressing against Noah's skin inside his bracer were [Ice Bullet], [Ice Spear], and [Freezing Aura].

It feels strange taking an origin crystal from someone I knew. He may have been scum who abused his power, but I should at least feel a little guilty about killing him, right? But I only want to know how his crystal can help me survive. Interestingly, the abilities don't include Craig's unique combination one, [Ice Harpoon]. Oh well, I still feel much more secure by having three more abilities to protect myself with, if need be. I wonder what their descriptions are?

[Common Water Element ability: Ice Bullet. A single bullet formed of ice can be directed towards a target.]

[Uncommon Water Element ability: Ice Spear. The User manifests a spear formed from ice. It will disappear if not in contact with the User.]

[Rare Water Element ability: Freezing Aura. The User emits a mist that freezes objects within it.]

Immediately in response to Noah's rhetorical thought to himself, the System dutifully supplied him the information on his new abilities. He began to walk toward the jutting peninsula in the distance as his mind became filled with dark thoughts.