I gripped Khugor’s membranous back as best I could and began beating him wildly with my sword. What damage I was doing wouldn’t be much but every cheap shot I could get in would be worth it.

Khugor groaned and walked back to the middle of the cave’s pool. The monster flexed the squishy skin on its back and everything I held on to pulled back into its body. I fell and hit the water with the flat of my back. I sank underwater and instinctively held my breath when the Oxygen Bar came up, showing how long I could be underwater before it damaged my health. I looked down to find Khugor’s lower half, the mess of tentacles that it was.

I was about to swim up to the surface when I realized we hadn’t discovered a weak spot for the monster. Up until this point, Shawn and I had just been brute forcing the monster’s health down. Swimming in for a closer look, amidst all the tentacles was a large red sack shaped like an octopus’ head. It appeared to be glowing softly from the inside. If that wasn’t a weak spot, I don’t know what is. I swam up and thrust my sword into it.

The tentacles around me whipped in all directions and pushed me further underwater. Khugor’s health shot down massively. If I could swim back up and hit it once more, that might actually kill the monster.

Pushing my way back up, the tentacles parted and out of an orifice on the red sack came five more of the Khudgath Spawn. The dog-like creatures hadn’t spotted me yet. A couple swam up towards solid land, but my Oxygen Bar was rapidly depleting. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I swam for the surface as quickly as I could. If Animal Planet had taught me anything, panicking swimmers always draw predators.

I breached the surface of the water like a desperate whale, sucking in air until the Oxygen Bar refilled. Submerging again, the Khudgath Spawn were nipping at my feet. I swam as hard as I could with my sword in hand. Slashing underwater was out of the question, too slow. A thrust though, that might just work.

One of the dog-like creatures grabbed my leg and pulled me towards its gaping maw. I turned and thrust my blade deep into its mouth and the beast swam backward. I dove down deeper with four more chasing me. If I could get to Khugor’s weak spot one more time, it might be enough to kill it. If I died now, Shawn wouldn’t last long.

I swam beneath the tentacles under Khugor’s rubbery body as my Oxygen Bar was just under half full. One of the Spawn crashed into my side and pushed me further underwater, I raised my sword to block and the creature clamped its jaws down on it. The more I struggled, the deeper I sank.

I looked up at Khugor’s weak spot, it seemed so far away now. Behind the creature attacking me lurked three more. My oxygen was at a quarter of the bar. If I wasted one more second, I’d either have to surface or die trying to kill Khugor.

Pulling my sword, it slashed the creature’s mouth, the water clouded with purple blood. When the Spawn’s jaws opened, I pulled the sword back and drove the blade into its open mouth. The beast quickly swam away from me but two others were quickly advancing toward me.

My oxygen was almost depleted. I quickly looked through my inventory for anything that would restore any HP. The only item that gave me an option to use was the Elder Star Crystal. Shawn and I hadn’t taken the time to figure out what it would do, I just figured it was something that could be sold. If there was even a slight chance it could help, it’d be worth it.

A Khudgath Spawn grabbed my arm and another my neck. A bright light, like a flash of lightning, shot out from the crystal and the Spawn floated away from me holding their faces. Thank God it wasn’t something that’d damage me too. Knowing the stun effect wouldn’t last forever, I swam upward as fast as I could. My Oxygen was seconds away from being totally depleted and my vision was beginning to tunnel and turn black and white.

I thrust my sword into Khugor’s red sack and the puncture I made erupted into thick purple sludge that seeped into the water around me. I turned quickly to find all the Spawn swimming after me pause just before reaching me. Their skin seemed to melt off their bones and turn into purple sludge as toothy skulls fell off their boney, disintegrating skeletons.

My vision turned darker, the Oxygen had been depleted. I swam quickly towards the surface near the pool’s side, vision pulsing. -1 fell from my health bar. I was almost there! Near the surface of the water, my heart pounded as panic fueled my limbs. I was one hitpoint away from death.