With the double sized male Lion Seal bearing down upon him, Sage retracted the two blades on his forearms, recovering their energy back into that of the Jade Mantle surrounding him like armor. He lifted his arm up to his side and pulled it back so his fist was beside his cheek. Then his fist opened and his fingers stretched outwards before curling inwards like claws. While the females circled around him, Sage kicked hard, simultaneously burning some of the Jade Mantle to gain another boost, propelling him towards the male at his top speed. He activated all the muscles in his body, twisting at the waist and shoulder, concentrating all of his power into the clawed fingers he threw towards the Lion Seal.

The beast didn’t lead with an open mouth this time, charging towards him with a fierce and undaunted gaze. It tracked his motion intently, and only at the last instant did its mouth open, baring its fangs and dipping its head downwards. The Lion Seal attempted to duck down beneath the threat it felt from Sage’s fist and intended to snap him in half at the middle. For a brief instant it seemed the huge seal was successful, Sage’s hand was moving on what seemed to be an uninterruptible path while the beast had curled perfectly out of the way. It’s jaw dropped downwards, opening its mouth only slightly, which was more than enough to fit Sage’s whole body into. With its head twisted sideways, the slightly open mouth was the same size as a doorway, a doorway lined with sharp fangs to either side.

This seeming inevitable conclusion was suddenly broken by a violent bang. Sage’s hand suddenly clenched, forcing the tips of his fingers to contract together into a single point. At that small point the water was compressed, culminating in a sudden detonation. The explosion blasted the Lion Seal away, knocking it off course and preventing its teeth from closing around Sage’s body. The huge beast swept past, disoriented once again by its opponent's strange actions. Sage spun around and with the same clawing motion punched upwards, snapping his fingers together in the face of one of the females. This Lion Seal was not as agile as the male had been and couldn’t avoid his clawed fingers in the same manner. His hand clenched hard and the pressure detonation went off right in front of its face.

A shockwave went off, blasting apart the seal’s face and spilling its blood and gore into a messy cloud.

There was a moment of shock while the other Lion Seals seemed to analyze what had happened. They released more ferocious roars and charged towards him from every direction at once. He quickly identified the direction with the fewest seals and shot towards the gap in their formation. His comparatively small body shot through the gap and then he spun around to meet the first pursuer with another explosive clenching of his clawed fingers. Another blast rippled through the water and one more of the Lion Seals met its end.

Sage continued to flee from the Demonic Beasts, stopping to attack whenever an opportunity presented itself. The water was filled with loud bangs and rippling shockwaves. The male Lion Seal was bloodied and ragged, caught by the close range detonations over and over again. It had so far been able to avoid a direct injury, but just being nearby had caused it so much damage already. The Lion Seals stopped moving, finally seeming to overcome the bloodlust that had been inspired by their companion’s deaths. Only now did they realize the damage they’ve suffered without inflicting any significant losses to their opponent. The male released a low growl and the females swam around behind it, putting its own body between them and Sage. They seemed on the verge of retreat and Sage felt that his training at this time was about to come to an end. Just before he called out the Purple Mist Sect, there was a sudden loud whistle rippling through the water.

The whistling was followed by a few loud clicks and the Lion Seals changed from a posture of hesitance to one of utter fear. They pressed tightly together around the male and barked softly. The big male looked around rapidly, with its big blue mane swishing around in the water frantically. It was only at this time did Sage catch sight of what was giving the Lion Seals so much anxiety. A dark outline resolved in the distance, passing from right to left, moving in a wide circle around them. Then he spotted another, and another. The Lion Seals took off, swimming rapidly in a single direction.

There was a loud roar from the male as it tried to clear its path using its Fear Law. Sage watched from a distance as the roar was just not enough. Just after the empowered sound waves passed by, a dark form swooped by and snatched up one of the Lion Seals. The seals swam faster and Sage didn’t attempt to follow them. The dark outlines carried on the hunt, but not all of them. A few of them stayed to surround Sage and by now he had already recognized their dark bodies with splashes of white. Especially since he’d already based one of his own abilities upon their shape.

Killer Whales. The legendary Orca. They also existed in this world, though their size was many times larger than what he was used to. There was also the fact that they were many times more powerful as a Demonic Beast in comparison to the mortal animal of Earth. Yet, even with these differences it was almost more interesting that their body shape and appearance was exactly like that of Earth Orcas. Just as humans seemed to just grow more powerful on this world while still looking mostly the same, these Orca were more powerful and their only cost was an increase in size. I wonder how that came to be? Have our species reached the peak of evolution, or is it a decision made by some higher power or authority?

“Yarr! We were just in time to save you. You should be grateful enough to offer payment for this service, right?”

“Hand over all yer valuables or we’ll take them from your corpse!”

Sage was surprised to learn that not only did these Orcas talk, they also spoke with a strange affectation. It also seemed that at least a few of them didn’t bother to waste time with pretense and were eager to rob him. They gave him an ultimatum, but they didn’t move to enforce it yet. Instead they circled around him and seemed to be waiting patiently. Sage was curious to see where this would go so he waited there with them. After a few minutes the others of their kind came back while dragging large bodies in their mouths. Sage did a quick count and it looked like only the male and a couple females were unaccounted for. The whales that had just arrived tossed the bodies over to those standing guard who then bit into them.

They took turns eating and watching Sage, which he found to be quite fascinating. It was only after they all ate their fill and the many Lion Seals had been completely consumed that they finally put all their attention upon him. It was something of a shame to not capture any of the Lion Seals alive, but Sage felt these Orcas were far more interesting. He could always find some more Lion Seals later. One of the Killer Whales had scars all over its nose and it swam closer to him than the others.

“Ye got some guts, eh? You still haven’t passed over your valuables after all this time? Do you not think we’ll follow through on our threat, or do you not value your life?”

“Come on Cap’n! You don’t have to give this barnacle any slack. Let’s bite his head off and search him. He must have something good he doesn’t want to hand over!”

“Don’t interrupt, scum! You’re just a scrap catcher, you have no right to question the Captain. If you don’t shut your trap, your head will be the one getting removed.”

The scarred one, presumably the Captain, didn’t even bother to look at or respond to the urging of the other Orca. Instead the scarred Orca moved a bit closer, and Sage’s golden eyes fixed upon the dark eyes of the whale as he spoke.

“Your kind seems pretty interesting. Have you ever thought about relocating? You seem pretty smart, can you run a whole sea?”