Return of the Fallen Volume 6 Chapter 22

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Return of the Fallen Volume 6 Chapter 22

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Author: Blue_Rat

ch22

Kazuki found himself sinking lower and lower after being thrown who knows how far by the carnivorous trees blow.

He felt cold all around him and felt his lungs start to burn as liquid-filled them. He was pushed forcefully and fought to try and swim to the surface but found himself getting pushed under by the current.

(Can’t fight against the current but what about going with it?)

Kazuki first forced the liquid from his lungs using his ki and then using his ki he managed to make an air pocket around his head so he could breathe. Now with a small supply of air, he changed direction. He dove down towards the bottom of this rushing river in hopes of finding a bottom. Thankfully, it wasn’t as deep as first thought. Coming down toward the bottom, he kicked off the riverbed as hard as possible, and using his forward momentum, he swam upward with the flow until finally…

*Puhaaa cough cough*

He broke through the surface and took in large swaths of air. This wasn’t the end though. As he went with the flow of the river, he could sense many boulders scattered in his path. Being smashed against these rocks with his already broken ribs was not something he was looking forward to.

Coming directly in front of one, Kazuki had little choice. His broken ruler once more transformed into that of a sword and sharpened to a fine and dangeropus point.

*Schink*

Kazuki slashed downward and split the boulder in half. After he swung his blade and split the boulder, he started to sink from his swinging action and the change in weight of his ruler. Kazuki quickly reduced its weight and shrunk it back down to the size of a ruler. As the rushing water pushed him forward, more rocks were strewn before him. Kazuki was forced to constantly change his black ruler’s shape, weight, and size so he could split the boulders in front of him before he crashed directly into them. Right after, he would sink under the surface due to his weapons increased weight. So began a cycle as he was forced down this never-ending river of death.

His path was not left up to him as he was dragged by the fast and winding river. All he could do was struggle for a long time. Any attempt to change direction or go against the flow was meant with a resistance, Kazuki could overcome. This struggle down the river went from seconds to minutes, to hours, until eventually the force of the river slammed him against a bank and he finally managed to drag himself out.

*Cough cough cough*

Kazuki had removed water from his lungs and stomach many times during his dip but even still, he had a gut full of water. Kazuki vomited right there and then and the heaving and convulsions of his stomach caused his broken ribs to rack with pain. At this moment though, Kazuki couldn’t care about the pain as he was burdened with exhaustion. After hours upon hours of fighting the river, Kazuki felt no strength in his body and collapsed face down in the dirt and vomit.

His clothes were soaked in cold water and bits of frost began to build on the surface of his skin and ripped clothes.

*Grrrrrr*

Kazuki heard a low grumble but was too exhausted to worry about his empty stomach.

*Grrr, Grrrrar, Grrorar*

Kazuki’s ear twitched as the number of growls coming from his stomach was odd. It was only then that the growls were not coming from his stomach but instead from something in front of him.

The sound reverberated in his ear and he got several images of the creatures in front of him.

More than that though, he could actually see a glint of light coming from these small creatures. Their eyes all shined with silver light. For the first time since Kazuki had fallen down in this abyssal trench, there was something he could actually see with his own eyes.

The light wasn’t particularly bright but Kazuki could still see that the eyes were silver. Besides that, he couldn’t make out their bodies with just his eyesight. As these creatures stopped in front of him, the image that appeared in Kazuki’s head was that of porcupines. At least 10 of them. All no bigger than a foot big. On their backs, they had hundreds upon hundreds of needles with barbed ends. Besides the silver eyes and the barbed needles, these porcupines resembled normal porcupines in every other way.

Kazuki was still exhausted and could barely move and thought about how he would deal with these beasts.

(They’re all small and move slowly. I can’t let my guard down though. Those sharp ass needles on their backs seem to be their only offense but I can barely move. They don’t have large ears and seem to actually use their eyes to locate things so the possibility of shouting at them with ki to send them away is small. Plus if I shout, some other creatures could come running over. In this weakened state, I can’t have something bigger showing up. I can’t move my arms right now so I can’t cut them but I can’t just lay around and wait for these little bastards to eat me.)

Kazuki thought about the ruler in his hand. It still had separate chambers in it to hold the foul water and azirian blood. He wondered if the smell of the blood might send them running but before he contemplated too deeply, all ten porcupines came rushing over.

(Fuck! I’ll just have to risk it!)

Kazuki sent out his ki to squeeze the black ruler to shoot a stream of Azirian blood out of it since he couldn’t move a finger but right as he was about to, all of the porcupines leaped over Kazuki’s body and came to the edge of the river. They completely ignored him.

(What, they’re not trying to eat me!?)

Since they were behind him, Kazuki could only hear what they were doing. As they moved about, Kazuki got several images in his head.

*Crunch munch munch*

The sound of rocks breaking echoed out behind him and Kazuki found the little porcupines were actually eating the rocks at the shore.

(They…They eat rocks???)

*Crunch munch crucnh crunch*

A constant sound of rocks breaking and being crushed resounded behind him.

(So when they were growling at me, they weren’t actually growling at me but were just hungry for the rocks at the river’s edge.)

*Gusha*

The water splashed behind Kazuki and something resembling a crocodile leaped out from the water and with a large bite, it engulfed a porcupine before slamming its large mouth shut. Kazuki’s felt cold sweat leak from his skin before it quickly froze over. The crocodile scared the shit out of him as he realized he had been swimming in such dangerous waters only moments before.

As he was freaking out inwardly, the porcupines showed no emotion nor signs of panic at the sight. Even though their friend had just been swallowed up, they didn’t even move from their spot and kept eating.

The crocodile began to retreat back into the water, satisfied with the free snack when it suddenly froze as though it had been paralyzed. Barely a second later and it’s mouth opened and it shook its head back and forth violently until the porcupine it had just eaten came flying out. The porcupine flew through the air in a small arc before it landed on the ground. It was curled up in a small ball and remained still for a moment before it unfurled itself. It wiggled its body for a second, inspecting itself, seeing nothing wrong, it ran back up to the river’s edge and began eating rocks with the others as though nothing had happened.

The crocodile on the other hand was thrashing back and forth. Inside its mouth, covering its tongue and roof of its mouth were dozens of barbed needles. The crocodile flexed its tongue constantly opened and closed its mouth, anything to try and rid itself of the barbed needles but nothing seemed to work. Finally, it found a large boulder and bit down on it several times until the needles came unstuck from its mouth and were instead embedded in the boulder. With its mouth finally free of agony, the crocodile retreated back into the river, a disgrace to its kind.

Kazuki sensed all of this in utter shock.

(These porcupines are so tough that they are unbothered by such creatures. When their friend was eaten they didn’t even give a shit. Those needles, just how sharp are they.)

Kazuki continued to lay there for quite a while. He circulated his ki to bring some warmth back to his body and melt the frost on his flesh and also mended himself. After a while more, the porcupines finished their meal of river rocks and once again leaped over Kazuki before leaving. From beginning to end, besides leaping over Kazuki, they completely ignored his presence.

Finally, Kazuki was able to get up again. He laughed inwardly, thinking about how he wasn’t even worth a spare thought of such tiny creatures.

Walking over to the bolder the croc had left the needles in, Kazuki curiously pulled one loose. Its sides were not sharp like the spikes coming from the cliff were but the barb at the end most certainly was. Kazuki barely touched the end with the tip of his finger and to his shock, the barb went through his hardened skin as though a knife through butter.

Kazuki pulled away faster than lightning and realized how terrible sharp these needles really were.

(They are just as sharp as the spikes on the wall. To get one stuck under the skin with those barbs would be tormented. It’s no wonder they walk around down here with such ease. The number of things that could actually eat them, besides the Titan and that monster that likes to stalk folks, what else could?)

*Grrrr*

Kazuki’s stomach once again growled.

Kazuki grabbed all the needles that the croc had managed to free from its flesh. In total there were about 8 of them. Carefully he took one of his gloves and made a little carrying sheath for them. The sheath gripped them from their sides so they wouldn’t poke anything. Kazuki tied this to his waist and then cautiously headed to the edge of the river. After testing the water, he found it was completely polluted with dark energy and couldn’t be drunk without filtering the energy out. Kazuki gathered some of it anyway in one of the empty chambers in his black ruler before finally turning and leaving.

(I have no clue where I am and the carnivorous forest is nowhere in sight. I must have been washed down the river for a few miles. Going by this logic, I should be able to find my way back if I simply follow the river until I find the carnivorous trees. After that, it will be simple to find my base.)