Water surrounded Suna. His ears bristled at them—bumbling with uncertainty; it was like the water questioning his insanity.

  And honestly, Suna did too.

  But if it was not clear already, Jack had insisted on them chasing Dua and her sister's soul that was trapped in her lantern. Apparently, it was critical to do so, since they were much stronger when with Delia. And now one of them was incapacitated, and they didn’t know what had happened to Delia.

  Still, though, it turned out Jack did not have Gale step like James and Desha. So it was up to Suna to keep track of the boats’ movement.

  That was why he was currently holding his breath and tracking the dark shadows of four boats, with one much larger than the others. To Suna's right was an enormous mass of earth covering his sight. They were about to make a landing, which meant it was time for him to try his luck.

  Suna summoned his Gale Bow; the wind bow gurgled into existence, forming a ribbon of flowing water. Suna held the spell bow, still questioning if this was wise.

  Of course, he had tested it underwater with his Emberwind Arrow, and to his dismay, the force of his spell arrow was much weaker. But it should be enough to do what Jack did. Now he did not need to track them any longer; this was the time.

  A crimson arrow boiled around Suna's right palm. He nocked it and aimed straight up, letting his body hover.

  A slight hue of blue marked where the boat was. His Arcane String hugged his arrow, and with the help of his Spell String mastery, power hummed around him. The water around him grew hot, and Suna furrowed his eyebrow. Without his Brimhat, this would be difficult to control.

  This would be the first time for him to Flintdraw without his Brimhat in quite a while.

  Suna still remembered how his spell arrow exploded against the Drow [Seeker] before it even reached her.

  So this was a testament.

  If acting helps with class advancement, then being able to control it through equipment should also allow Suna’s brain to get used to it.

  Suna Flint Drew his Emberwind arrow. Searing heat rushed into his arm, and a tint of headache stung him. But this heat kept him focused. Flame burst like a serpent's tail above his shoulder.

  His body complained as he started to feel the strain. His Brimhat sure did help a lot… Suna watched as his Mana drained away. With his Brimhat, it shouldn’t be this much.

  He released his arrow, letting it shoot upward, in a jet of red. Water rushed around it, dampening the spell. But, Suna let out a smile—his arrow burst apart the largest boat. He could hardly hear the sound of destruction. But the clatter of broken wood made its way down. And with it were four enormous bodies of the Undead Shieldnite.

  Suna drew another arrow; he aimed at the Shieldnite, just in case. But they just flailed around, and their hands went into their mouth. The creatures made a choking gesture and their lives were fading away.

  Maybe I shouldn’t waste an arrow on them…

  Besides…

  Green and red lights shone among the dark water.

  Dua the Undead Lantern Mistress descended; her dress fluttered, and her body was caught between two lights that shielded her from the darkness.

  Her green eyes stared down at him, and they widened in anger.

  The Undead looked like some kind of angel figure, despite being anything but.

  Suna Flint Drew another Emberwind Arrow, letting the arrow blaze again. Once again, heat bumbled around Suna.

  Dua did not seem to struggle being underwater. The Undead lady swam down, carrying her light with her. She tapped her green lantern into one of the Shieldnites, and the creature went limp; it just died.

  Dua’s green lantern now blared with white light, abruptly changing the vision around her in radiance. A huge, almost transparent cube appeared in her palm, and she raised it above her head. Its size was three times hers.

  Suna did not want to find out what it could do, so he fired his arrow up, pushing his body deeper into the sea in recoil. He felt something tied to his back. Good–it was still there…

  The block of white broke into small shards, each sharp as a spear end. There must be hundreds of those. The shards dived down, straight at Suna’s arrow. They clashed against each other, each shard stuck to his arrow, like paper, and engulfed it in nothingness. It just disappeared like that…

  But the shards were not done yet. They kept diving—straight at Suna.

  He bit his lips; he still couldn’t connect an arrow to the Undead Mistress. Suna, with his left hand, took the spear on his back, wrenching it before him.

  The spear moved on its own, pointing to his left. And Suna's body moved with it—his left hand still clenching tightly on the spear shaft.

  Before the shards of white could reach him, the spear lurched at tremendous speed, yanking Suna with it. It swerved up, jerking Suna’s body into sudden motion. He wanted to scream, but for obvious reasons, he couldn’t. Suna tried to maintain his Gale Bow, but in a panic, he let go of it. The shards were still on his tail. Suna's heart beat as he approached the surface.

  The spear burst up with a splash, and Suna's world turned to a different darkness, now with the night-like cave instead of endless darkness. He gasped for breath before he screamed. Half of his body was still submerged in water. The spear zipped through the air, and he held still, gritting his teeth.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Jack stood above their raft, and the Tiefling held his hand up. The spear shot straight forward faster, and Suna also lost his grip, falling into the lake once more. He immediately kicked his feet down and propped himself up. Suna jumped onto the boat; it swayed under his sudden weight, and he finally let out a huge breath, his heart still racing in a thousand beats.

  “You, my friend, are crazy,” Jack stated.

  “It did not sound crazy at first,” Suna huffed, shivering through his wet clothes. Suna took his dry Mage Cloak and put on his brimhat he had left. Then he summoned Emberwind Arrow to warm himself. He let out a shuddering breath as he settled down, lying upon the wooden surface.

  He closed and opened his eyes; the abyss of the sky ceiling greeted him. The darkness of the depth was suddenly a comfort to him.

  “I destroyed the huge boat,” Suna said, laying his hand on his chest, feeling his rapid breathing.

  “Oh?” Jack broke into a wide grin. “Did you kill her then?”

  Suna shook his head, and Jack's face quickly fell to Suna’s annoyance. That was almost a successful mission!

  “She can swim well, I killed four of the Shieldnite though… Ah, it also took one of the Shieldnite souls, I think. And her lantern glowed white, and she could use new magic from it.”

  “Mmm, I heard Dua, usually has low-level undead to sacrifice for the skills, and it's similar to what you mentioned, but probably on a smaller scale. Still four Shieldnites dead? Did you get any levels?”

  “No,” And perhaps that was the most vexing part.

  “Unfortunate,” Jack said, shrugging. “They made a landing then?”

  “Yes, it's not far—”

  The water exploded in a loud splash. Suna immediately crouched, and he saw those white shards still flying at him.

  Suna nocked the Emberwind arrow, summoned his bow.

  But, he was too late—Jack also just spun his spear for defense, but it didn’t have enough rotation.

  What can they do—

  A bluish flame jumped and burst out from Suna’s collarbone area. He lurched back in panic, almost falling. The Pyre Flame rushed forward, and Suna gathered his wits and shaped it with his Brimhat. He formed a shield, just in time to block the shards that launched like bullets.

  A shard made it through, but it lost most of its power and just managed to flick Suna’s forehead. Suna held the flame still, focusing, then suddenly the flame was gone.

  Pyre Flame: 82 → 0.

  By then, however, Jack had completed his skill. The Tiefling’s wind pushed against the shards, knocking them down straight back into the lake. The magic went drowning, and no longer tried to rise again.

  Suna and Jack went quiet for a moment, both still processing their lucky break.

  “Did it chase you? All the way here…”

  “It did,” Suna muttered. A newfound fear for Dua rose inside of him. And he had to ask the question. “Do we keep going?”.

  Jack was more familiar with Dua’s power than Suna was, certainly, and Suna would do what the Tiefling recommended, but if it were up to him… He wanted to do this.

  “We’re going,” Jack said, resolute.

  That was an answer he did not expect. He thought the Tiefling would prioritize a rendezvous with Floundea; they still didn’t know if the Thiefmasters had really defeated the gatekeeper or not—the chance of that happening was high, but it was still only a possibility.

  “Suna… If we take down both Dua and Uzu, it would be a huge blow for the Undead… No one has ever done so… I–I did not do this for glory, but I truly believe we have one in a hundred chances here.”

  Jack did not end by asking whether Suna wanted to do it or not. The Tiefling’s desperation probably wouldn’t allow him to consider such an alternative, but then again, Suna didn’t mind.

  “Let's do it.”

  --

  “Land!’ Jack shouted. An outline of an island appeared, and three boats were on its shore. The land was huge enough for a beach. Sands separate the line between the dark lake and the greenery. A house, a humble cabin, was on the green inland.

  By the beach, Suna spotted six Shieldnites ready with their gigantic shields. Walking between them was Dua, the undead Mistress, who lifted her green lantern, and the spell bubbles appeared again. This time, however, she took time to form them into a single sharp, twisting Javelin, only one of them. It spun and spun, gathering magic around it. The green javelin grew larger. Suna could sense a taint of Mana emanating from it. It coalesced the Undead Mistress’s power, one of her signature skills, perhaps.

  “This is an uncharted area, Suna,” Jack said, tapping his spear up and down. The Tiefling’s eyes took in the island, and he was lost in deep thought. “An island with a house… The depth is strange…”

  “Can this soul skill of hers revive her sister?”

  “If given time, yes–she needs to be immobilized to do it, though. If she had held a massive spell like that,” Jack pointed. “That means she hadn’t made any progress.”

  That was good news. If it was just one of the sisters, then they might be able to handle her. At least, Jack thought so.

  “Well, Jack, will she nuke our boat?”

  “Nuke?”

  “Ah, it means blow it up.”

  “Yes,” Jack said, muttering under his breath as he still tried to memorize the island. “She probably will. It doesn’t matter, though, does it?”

  “Well, I will be just fine from this range. How about you?” Suna asked.

  “Did you forget your fun ride already?”

  Fun ride, sure.

  “See you on land, Suna.”

  The Undead Lantern mistress shook her green lantern, and the javelin spiraled forward, bursting at lightning speed—straight at them.

  Jack threw his spear up. The Tiefling launched his body into the sky, his spear striking in an arc straight toward the ground.

  Suna, on the other hand, stomped his foot down, causing a gaping hole. Wood cracked with a groan; their boat was now dying in exchange for propelling Suna high up.

  Dua's magic blasted his boat into smithereens, with an explosion of water. Suna steadied his brimhat and kicked the air, launching himself straight at the land.

  Name: Suna Amor

  Level: 37.

  Class: [Flintwind Archer]

  Rune: 123

  Feat: 18

  Mana: 12555/14250

  Pyre Flame: 0

  Class Skill (12/15) → (12/35)

  - Archer Instinct [Uncommon]

  - Gale Backstep [Uncommon]

  - Moving Shot [Uncommon]

  - Flint Draw [Uncommon]

  - Arcane String [Uncommon]

  - Gale Bow [Rare]

  - Spell String Mastery [Rare]

  - Hissing Volley [Rare]

  - Drill Arrow [Uncommon]

  - Still Form [Uncommon]

  - Saproot Arrow [Rare]

  - Emberwind Arrow [Rare]

  General Skill (11/15) → (11/35)

  - Swift Draw [Uncommon]

  - Drowfication [Rare]

  - Rune Seeker [Uncommon]

  - Gale Step [Uncommon]

  - Wind Veil [Uncommon]

  - Thermal instinct [Uncommon]

  - Enchanced Sense [Uncommon]

  - Enduring Body [Uncommon]

  - Battle Focus [Common]

  - Eagle Eyes [Uncommon]

  - Pyre Shield [Rare]

  Strength: 1157

  Dexterity: 1355

  Vitality: 889

  Arcanery: 1425

  Sense: 845