The Beginning Of A Five Year Agony-Chapter 52: Regeneration can also be a curse

Blood dripped from his mouth as he pulled the blade out of his chest, the wound already beginning to close...

He held his head and chest at the same time, feeling the sharp, lingering pain from the recent impacts from his blade and the internal shock...

A roar erupted from the lake in front of him, a guttural sound that vibrated through the atmosphere. But then, as abruptly as it began, the roar suddenly stopped...

A female figure emerged from the lake, her lower half the body of a fish, her upper half human-like... Then she rested her elbows on the edge of the lake. "Greetings, traveler," she uttered, her voice melodic. "Didn’t expect you to still be standing after listening to my song. You’re quite strong."

"She is a mermaid," Aegirion informed Samuel in his mind, its voice was calm and informative...

"I know," Samuel replied, his grip on his blade tightening... He sighed, a tired exclaims... "Is there anything normal about this world?" He seemed to answer his own question. "Let’s get this thing over with."

He threw Aegirion up in the air, and then delivered a powerful, high-velocity kick to the blade... It shot forward, aiming directly for the mermaid’s head. The blade struck, busting into her head... Orange Blood splashed out in all directions... But to his surprise, she gripped the blade firmly and pulled it out. The dark green essence emanating from Aegirion was burning her hands, but she ignored it, pulling the blade free. She then threw it onto the ground beside her. Samuel called his blade back, and it flew instantly to his hands...

"You know, that’s rude," she explained, a hint of annoyance in her voice, yet a smile played on her lips. "I haven’t even finished talking, and you attack me... But seeing the surprise on your face, I can say for sure that it was worth it." She paused, her smile widening into a devilish grin. The injury from the blade on her head was already healing, closing rapidly. "You’re not the only one who has a trick or two." She started moving her hands in the water, and all the water around her began to move in response, rising and swirling...

Samuel called out his shield..." faith keeper."..manifesting it before him. It blocked the incoming attack of sharp, concentrated water blades that flew towards him.

The shield absorbed the impacts, beginning to glow from the kinetic energy. "Too much kinetic energy," Samuel muttered, recognizing the excess power building up in his shield. He pointed the shield upwards, aiming at the cave’s ceiling directly above the mermaid.

He released the stored energy, blasting the ceiling. Debris, large chunks of rock and ice, fell down, one sharp piece severing her arm. But in an instant, her arm grew back, regenerating with incredible speed.

Samuel’s eyes narrowed. In that moment, he understood the true annoyance of having such rapid regenerative powers, as he himself possessed them... He hadn’t regained enough essence to use "ASH To All," which would be his ultimate attack if things truly went sideways...

While he was thinking, assessing his next move, the mermaid launched forward at Samuel, her claws extended, slashing at his face. He reacted quickly, kicking her back into the water with a powerful blow. But she came out again, immediately. Samuel stood there, breathing heavily, the exertion of the constant fighting evident, even though he could not get physically tired, he could still be drained mentally...

The mermaid’s eyes widened as she saw Samuel also regenerating his facial wounds. "You are strange, traveler," she said, her voice now filled with a strange eagerness. "Your essence smells so good. I really can’t wait to have your flesh." She smiled, and all her teeth suddenly elongated, becoming sharp and predatory towards Samuel...

"Hmm," Samuel responded, his eyes cold and unwavering. He activated "Periodic Poltergeist," turning completely invisible.

She immediately jumped back into the water, thinking she was safe, a sense of relief washing over her. But an invisible force...Samuel...dragged her out of the water.

"Hand of War," Samuel activated.

He slammed her against the wall repeatedly. Her facial skin was pulling and stretching under the force, and her eye sockets became visibly distorted... She commanded the water, and the surrounding water in the cave began to move on its own, rising and showering every part of the cave. This action exposed Samuel’s appearance, as the water outlined his invisible body. She then commanded the water to strike Samuel. The water hit him with force, slamming him against a nearby wall and forcing him to let go of her. The moment she landed on the cave ground, she activated a strange power...

The blood inside Samuel’s body began to boil. Then, it burst out of his skin in fine streams, piercing his flesh. Samuel watched in horror as his own blood erupted from his body. He shouted in pain, an agonizing cry that echoed through the cave. But it seemed the mermaid enjoyed his screams... She started dancing, her fish tail moving with every deliberate movement of her body, swaying to the rhythm of Samuel’s cries...

But something was wrong. She abruptly stopped tormenting Samuel and started moving towards the lake, wanting to go back into the water. Samuel noticed that the wound on her face was regenerating more slowly than before, especially compared to how quickly she healed when she was in the lake. He understood... the water was her source of power, accelerating her regeneration...

"Aegirion! Don’t let her get in the water!" Samuel shouted. He didn’t want to activate "Art of War" yet, as Aegirion being smaller had more advantages in this tight space than its massive knight form...

Aegirion flew straight at her fish-like gills, piercing through them with precision. The blade pinned her to the wall. This damage had a significant effect... it released Samuel from her hold. All his blood, which had burst from his skin, immediately flowed back into his body, re-entering his flesh as his regeneration worked to close the tiny wounds...

Immediately, Samuel ran forward, straight at her, before she could fully regenerate from Aegirion’s attack. He called Aegirion back into his hands. Then, with a heavy, powerful movement, Samuel stabbed his blade deep into the mermaid’s neck...

Her orange blood dripped out, staining the wall and the floor. She started using her claws to scratch at Samuel’s face and body, but he endured it, his resolve unshaken. With another heavy movement, he stabbed the blade even deeper into her neck. This forced her to fall to the ground, holding her neck, orange blood still dripping out as she tried to stem the flow...

Samuel then kicked her body over onto her back. Her fish tail was twitching uncontrollably, a sign of her weakening mind and state...

Samuel got on top of her and activated "Hand of War." He began pounding his fists down on her face, treating her like a punching bag in a gym. Orange blood splashed out in all directions with each impact. She started crying, her pleas for mercy guttural and choked, but it did nothing to Samuel mentally. It only made him punch harder. The sickening sound of bone and flesh breaking was heard throughout the cave chamber...

Samuel kept smashing his fists down on her face. Despite her rapid regeneration, he did not stop. Her broken bone fragments became stuck in Samuel’s hands from the sheer force of his blows. Then, he pushed his hands into her eyes, bursting them. Watery liquid mixed with her orange blood, flowing from the empty eye sockets...

Then, in that final moment, she let out a loud, intense cry, a roar that echoed through the cave, vibrating the water in the lake...

Then Samuel ripped her head off her neck with a final, decisive pull. He stopped, holding her severed head for a moment, then dropped it to the ground. He stood up, waiting for another passageway to open. This time, there was nothing. The cave remained silent, no new path appearing...

He sat down, waiting. He waited for at least an hour, perhaps two, in the quiet, damp cave. Then, it all came to him. He realized that the lake was the exit. And that he had to swim. He walked close to the lake, looking at its dark, still surface, the depths obscured by shadow...

Samuel swallowed, steeling himself, and then jumped into the lake. He began swimming in the dark water, but thanks to his powers, he could see well in the darkness and underwater. He swam for a considerable distance, which felt like a very long time. Eventually, he entered a large, vast space underwater, which was surprising for what was supposed to be a mere lake...

Then he reached a dead end, a solid wall of rock. Samuel thought perhaps he had gone the wrong way. He punched the wall underwater to see if there was any way he could break through, but it remained solid. Then, as soon as he turned around, he felt a distinct presence coming from that very same wall he had just punched...

But as he turned back, he saw it...a massive eyeball staring directly at him from the wall...

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