(POV - 3RD)

While he was determined to find a way to obtain more EXPs, (Y/N) wasn't actually too sure where to go next especially when he had no clues on tracking any sort of Grimm other than through the instructions and directions of a bounty.

However, while the board in the guild was lacking in anymore Grimm bounties, there was still a plethora of other commissions that required almost little to no skills except for a selective few that needed a more dextrous and flexible pair of hands.

Which is why the Player now finds himself in the middle of the sea near Magnolia Village fishing alongside another man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties donned in casual clothing while wearing a bucket hat that shielded his face from the sun on top of a wooden boat.

He was also generous enough to provide one to (Y/N) as well though the contrasting appearance of the hat and his outfit did not make a good match but he didn't really care about that because turns out, paying attention to the fishing line amidst the sea of rolling waves needed as much attention as one can provide.

"Now that's quite the scary face you're making lad, ease up or you'll scare the fishes away." His partner in fishing chided lightheartedly with a chuckle.

"This is my first time fishing so forgive me for being too... inept." (Y/N) replied, attempting to relax his facial expression as he sighed and earning another chuckle.

The next few minutes were spent in relative silence as both fishermen, one amatuer allowed the sea breeze and smell lull them into peaceful patience though the latter was more inclined to make some notes on some things that occurred earlier.

Turns out the blessing that the "God" granted him seems to only extends to combative skills rather than miscellaneous skills, meaning his act of fishing clearly wasn't instantly perfected by the [System], leaving him to level up [Fishing] from scratch.

Though from how many fishes he had caught within the first hour of doing so- namely none so this entire endeavour is going to take more hours if not the entire day if he's intending on finishing this commission, aka helping this fisherman catch more fishes.

So far, the score was a pitiful zero against fourteen with him obviously being the zero though it shouldn't be surprising considering the fact that his partner here had decades of experience compared to his less than an hour duration of fishing.

At this point, the only thing he'll get out of this commission would be participatory reward instead of an actual reward if he doesn't catch a fish or two or more soon but unfortunately, it looks like he won't be getting reeling in any time soon.

"Goodness, you must have upset someone in the ocean if you're hardly getting any twitches on your line." (Y/N)'s fishing partner commented, glancing over as he reeled in another fish.

"If I did then I'll happily do so again as payback." He rebuked lightly, ignoring the less than mild irritation inside him from seeing another fish getting caught.

"Lad, I'm not sure if pettiness is going to help you in a situation like this." 

"Good thing I don't care-" (Y/N) began but he quickly cut himself off as he suddenly stood up on the boat, dropping his fishing rod and earning a bewildered expression from his partner.

"What's the matter now??"

"...Do you always come here to fish?" The Player inquired, fingers twitching as he kept his five senses wide on and open, listening to the answer that was soon given.

"Usually yes, but when the weather's bad or the fishes have migrated then I would set course for another area in this region and Grimm in the ocean usually dwell in deeper waters than here." 

"..." Hearing that, (Y/N) only kept silent whilst debating furiously on whether or not the sudden red glows that appeared for not even a second was a mistake of his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey, I understand you're a huntsman, mercenary or adventurer or whatever but I've been fishing in this area for decades and never have I ever seen-"

Anything else he wanted to say was cut off immediately as (Y/N) slammed his hand onto his back before throwing both of them down onto the boat- just as a large shadow burst through the water surface and right over where the latter stood, an ominous red glow can be seen trailing behind as the blur as it landed back into the water.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" The fisherman demanded, coughing from the abrupt movement as their quaking boat toppled over the buckets of fishes and paddles.

"...Grimm." Was all (Y/N) said as he took out the Saw Spear from his [Inventory], ignoring the perplexed expression on his companion's face who remember the weapon not being there.

He had considered using one or two of his swords from the case but using a serrated weapon would be better if the enemy was going at rapid speed, both that and [Shadow Orb] would deal a significant damage to what he assumed is the shark Grimm swimming around them.

"Here?! Over thirty years of fishing and I never got attacked by one!" 

"Probably my fault." (Y/N) admitted with a frown, getting needlessly irked by his failures is something to be improved on, especially when negative emotions attract more Grimm.

The attraction of Grimm may as well result in the death of innocents, something he won't forgive himself if it happens, he had already failed to save two lives that could be easily prevented had he done everything more seriously, had he been faster..!

(Y/N) exhaled harshly, tightening his grip on the Saw Spear as he finally, he hurled the [Shadow Orb] into the water, its size having grown to that of a large gym ball whose effect was quick and violent as the ocean surface rippled once before exploding into gigantic pillar of water which expended a total of 150 [MP].

"How the-?!" The fisherman exclaimed, holding his bucket hat tightly as he looked to the briefly darkened skies where the saltwater fell like raindrops.

He had heard of Semblances being powerful but this was absurd! Furthermore, the usage of Aura must be insane to pull of a feat such as this, who the hell is this kid?!

While his partner was busy contemplating everything going on around them, (Y/N) ignored the falling saltwater drenching his hair and clothes as he looked around repeatedly in a frenzy, searching for that Grimm which attempted to take his head.

It wasn't until another few seconds later did the same large shadow burst out from the waters that was blown apart with violent waves and ripples surging everywhere, it was the definition of chaos out in the middle of the ocean and (Y/N) didn't care.

Because he reeled back the Saw Spear and extended it quickly before swinging it forward with all his [Strength] can offer, causing the air itself to sound out loud from the pressure of the weapon being swung towards the Grimm shark closing the distance towards him.

Just as the Grimm reached them at an arm's length in the air, (Y/N)'s Saw Spear made contact with the front nose of the shark before the effect was instantaneous as the serrated edge tore into its body, ripping through bone plates and dark liquid and cartilages. 

(Y/N) didn't relent as he continued pushing his weapon forward through the Grimm shark, from the frontal tip to the end of its tail until he swung the Saw Spear down out from the body, causing the two bisected pieces of shark to plummet into the ocean.

He quickly turn around to see black dust dissipating into the depths but only to see more for crimson glows appear from where the first shark was killed, (Y/N) didn't hesitate to call forth another [Shadow Orb] as he turned to the fisherman.

"Start rowing back to land, now!" He ordered, keeping an eye out on the waters, prompting his companion to hastily grab the paddles.

"R-right!" He stuttered, uncaring if he's drenched or lost a bunch of catches although at this rate, reaching land could take hours if they're becosted by the Grimm.

It doesn't help that (Y/N) is preoccupied with dealing with the attacking sharks which meant he couldn't help row the boat, he made the mistake to not test out if [Shadow Shift] could be used on or in water but he isn't willing to test it right now when there's enemies surrounding them.

That also goes for [Shadow Lock] and [Shadow Aura] but the latter was whether or not he could use it on another person or animal so for now, he could only defend both of them and the boat.

(Y/N)'s heart was hammering as it was quickening with the situation growing increasingly dire as he managed to cut through the second shark that lunged at him, he had only saw a red glow underwater but that didn't meant he knows how many of those Grimm are there.

However, one possible solution to this would be blasting a [Shadow Orb] into the water and hope the explosion would be big enough to reveal or kill the Grimm hiding within like it did earlier but the only concern would be if the explosion could capsize their boat.

Unfortunately, their situation does not give him the leisure to think everything through, not when he killed a third shark and blown another away so (Y/N) could only drop the Saw Spear before casting [Shadow Orb] with both hands together as his Mana began rapidly draining.

[Mana Points] - 3823/4000

"If you're doing what I think you're doing then we could roll over!!" The fisherman shouted, paddling furiously with sweat and saltwater dripping down his body.

"Just keep rowing!" (Y/N) retorted back, quickly kicking away a Grimm that leapt out to him, the [Shadow Orb] in his hands having once more, grown to the size of a gym ball.

This time however, he isn't stopping here.

[Mana Points] - 3747/4000

He continuously gathered more and more Mana into the orb, enlarging it by the seconds until it expanded even further than he had expected but that didn't matter because he's going to need more firepower assuming the number of Grimm in the water comes in many.

He had only slain three Grimm but he doesn't want to know if there's more lying in wait.

[Mana Points] - 3612/4000

Bigger and stronger with a power enough to send this entire blanket of water flying into the air and perhaps even their boat back to the mainland.

The orb had grown even larger than before, capable of engulfing him and the boat itself now but soon enough, he was about to hit the limits with how potent he wanted this attack to be.

[Mana Points] - 3350/4000

Now, that was the sole response (Y/N) had when he saw his [MP] stop at that exact number, taking a good chunk of 500 [MP] as the orb now enshadowed the entire area with a size roughly equivalent to that of an elephant or slightly bigger.

"What the fu-" Before the fisherman could even finish swearing with a dumbstruck face, the Player hurled the gigantic [Shadow Orb] into the ocean only to shout immediately.

"Brace for impact!"

The effect was instantaneous as the entire surface of water blew up into a titanic pillar of salt water and foam and sand and fish alongside the Grimm sharks that swam underneath, casting a turbulent shockwave that almost toppled them and their boat.

What came next was akin to a scene out of a movie or storybook as the waves blown from the sheer force of (Y/N)'s [Shadow Orb] sent cascades of giant ripples in the ocean surface, effectively pushing their fishing boat towards land even quicker.

All the while (Y/N) noted the brief notification that he hadn't seen in a while.

[You Leveled Up!]

"Who knew blast-fishing would be effective..." He silently commented, feeling the rushing wind pass by his face as he held onto the still-rushing boat with his partner clutching on tightly.

"REMIND ME TO NEVER TAKE YOU FISHING!" He shouted, holding a hand onto his hat as the Player soon saw a small number of people converging on the coastline as he soon thought.

"They've probably seen my handiwork and it's going to be a pain to explain." 

Although he wasn't bothered to do so, it was something that he had to resolve lest he paints himself a worse image in the minds of all the other villagers, he'd honestly rather stay out in the ocean by himself while eliminating the Grimm sharks that may plague the area.

That and also gain more EXPs as evident from how he managed to level up once despite him slaughtering many more Beowolves and Ursai in the forest but only to gain nothing, perhaps hunting new breeds of Grimm would be one way to increase his level.

Though (Y/N) wouldn't realise that his need for more experiences would come in the form of an arising mound of water that soon broke apart to reveal another gigantic figure from beneath the waves, another Grimm as shown by its glowing red eyes.

However, it wasn't another shark but something definitely worse as exclaimed by the fisherman next to him screaming in utter fear mixed with disbelief and growing dread.

"A SEA FEILONG?!!" 

His shout was somehow heard through the rushing winds and waves as the crowd forming on the village beach began shouting themselves and pointing though their words were unintelligible from this distance but (Y/N) only glared.

He had expected Grimm gathering in this one spot due to his negligence on watching his emotions but this has already gotten out of hand especially with this Sea Feilong, it was like leaking a single drop of ink on a bright white sheet of paper, clear and prominent.

With Magnolia Village being a rather peaceful and quiet place that is usually devoid of any negativity, just one spike of negative emotion was enough to attract the attentions of Grimm, big and small with him being the one to ruin it all.

So by default, he should be the one to resolve this before any more harm comes to the villagers and the place which is why (Y/N) gripped the Saw Spear tightly in his hand once more as he stood up on the rocking boat in front of the baleful serpentine Grimm.

"It's just one problem after another..!" (Y/N) sneered to himself, glaring at the Sea Feilong before preparing himself for a wet, wild, dirty fight.

...That came out wrong.

"Wait, hold on! What do you think you're doing?!" His companion demanded, turning from the Grimm to him and back again, seeing (Y/N)'s foot standing on the edge of the boat.

"You row back to shore as quick and hard as you can." Was all the man got in return before the Player kicked off from the boat, his leap in addition to his [Strength] pushing the entire thing further on the water which prompted the fisherman to steady himself in shock.

A single Sea Feilong would require a few veteran huntsmen and huntresses to deal with and several skilled apprentice huntsmen-in-training to fight off but he was just going to go solo?!

The thought itself is suicidal especially when there's nothing to stand on in the sea!

Sadly, he couldn't voice out his concerns because (Y/N) had already made contact with the serpentine Grimm and his boat was far gone from the place of conflict, leaving him only in a state of worrisome dread as he saw the figures fighting in the distance.

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(POV - (Y/N)

Perhaps jumping onto a Grimm that specialises in marine combat and hunting without any form of leverage in the open ocean would be considered stupid and disastrous but it's the only way to do so without endangering bystanders.

The only thing I could do to increase the chances of my survival was to deploy [Shadow Aura] and hope it'll hold out against the Sea Feilong whose body mass and size obviously dwarfs my own body by a huge margin that isn't even laughable.

Unless I aim for the vitals, in this case being the eyes or face, I won't be making much of a dent in the Grimm's body though if I take in account for all my stats then I may be able to find a loophole in the fight and ease off my burdens quickly.

As a dull black sheen enveloped my body, my Saw Spear found itself lodged among the dark scales of the Grimm who simply snarled in irritation as it began thrashing around in the waters, attempting to throw me off but I managed to hold onto the scales with my free hand.

I knew holding on like this wouldn't get me anywhere so I materialised a shadowy dagger into my empty hand before stabbing it into the Sea Feilong just as I ripped out my Saw Spear. 

My plan was quite simple in hindsight, stab my way up to the Grimm's head and try to end it right here and now but with how much the bastard was moving around, getting up there would take more than a while with all this motion around me.

So in the midst of all the thrashing with salt water splashing onto my face and mouth and eyes, I did briefly wonder if [Shadow Shift] worked on large entities as it did on land but thinking about it won't do me any good so I didn't need anymore incentives and activated the skill.

[Shadow Shift has activated]

Immediately, my world became an inverted vision of black with white lines before I let my body fluidly move up towards the Sea Feilong that almost looked confused on me suddenly disappearing from its body though not for long as I closed in on its head quickly.

Without a hitch, I burst from the world of darkness and right next to the serpentine Grimm's head that hissed back in what appears to be surprise that soon turned into anger and pain as my Saw Spear in its extended form pierced straight into one of its red eyes.

Black liquid that was likely the Grimm equivalent of blood burst out from the wound as I quickly drove the shadow dagger into the other eye, effectively blinding the Sea Feilong as I began repeatedly stabbing the Grimm in the face.

A guttural screech was heard and suddenly, my stomach was punched with a white-hot pain as if something stabbed a piece of burning steel right into my abdomen, there was a faint buzz of static which I then realised I was shocked by the Grimm so I glanced at my stats briefly.

[Health Points] - 2954/3500

Over five hundred points of damage just from a single shock?! If I get hit several more times then I'll die is certainly what I thought but for now, I am willing risk hanging onto the Grimm as I endured the stinging pain and resumed stabbing my weapons into its face.

More roaring and screeches were heard that nearly deafened my ears before I felt the change in the scenery as the Grimm let loose its wings which brought forth quick and huge gusts of winds that pushed itself and myself still hanging on right into the air.

With the loss of its eyes, the Sea Feilong could only flap its wings it disarray as the pain distracted it from flying smoothly as it continued to try and shake me off with little to no success  while firing off stray bolts of lightning that thankfully hit nothing but air.

The sensation was disgusting but I endured it all as I dismissed the shadow dagger from my hand as another [Shadow Orb] was activated and charged up with my palm inside the Grimm.

Although letting it build up into a more powerful attack would be better, I'd figured it would be quicker to end this by releasing the orb early when my hand is already deep inside its head so a direct hit would most certainly eliminate it.

However, I noticed our manoeuvre was erratically flailing towards Magnolia Village, given how much pain and more I'll inflict on the Grimm, there's definitely the possibility of us falling into the settlement and potentially crushing and hurting someone.

That or needlessly destroying structures when it could be easily avoided is something that I am certainly not risking, not when it obviously can be circumvented so I cancelled [Shadow Orb].

I then found myself stabilising my hold on the Sea Feilong's head which was thankfully designed to just be slightly bigger than my entire body mass with the bony plates covering its face being another set of footholds I could use to let myself reel back an arm.

Although I hadn't properly evaluated on how powerful each stats of mine is, I could only hope my [Strength] at the moment is enough to topple the Grimm away from the village.

Suffice to say, the result is more effective than I anticipated as I grabbed hold onto the Grimm that swayed violently to the side due to my punch right into its skull and away from the village.

[Shadow Orb has activated] 

Words were not needed when I began charging up another orb for what is hopefully the final blow against the Sea Feilong though at this point, I also had to wonder how much damage would I take if I fell from this height straight into the ocean.

The view itself was jarring as it was nerve-wracking, pretty evident due to an occasional tremble in my legs that composed itself while I hammered my focus solely onto the Grimm serpent.

There was no room nor time for any more thoughts, the [Shadow Orb] in my palm having grown to the size of a gymnastic ball once more which I quickly hurled straight at the Sea Feilong as I leapt off its head and high into the sky thanks to my [Strength].

Unfortunately, whether it was my [Luck] still being too low to be considered "lucky" or it was just coincidence, the Sea Feilong let loose another bolt of lightning from its mouth, one that managed to hit me in the chest as I briefly yell out in pain myself.

[Health Points] - 2408/3500

Although my [HP] dropped again, I didn't keep my eyes off the Grimm that was blinded and in pain, my attack easily landed with a direct hit and small implosion of darkness and dust greeted my vision that soon revealed a headless Grimm fading into nothing as it fell.

Alongside me and another surprising notification.

[You Leveled Up!]

[You Leveled Up!]

The notion of levelling up twice and thrice today would have been nice to think about had it not been for the fact that I am now free falling down into the ocean with nothing to hold onto, especially when the Sea Feilong's body had already dissipated.

"ALL OR NOTHING!" I shouted to myself before activating [Shadow Shift].

The sensation that soon greeted me was clearly not solid ground or something that allowed me to stabilise myself whilst falling down, quite the opposite when my vision once again turned into that of black and white but my entire body felt like it was sinking rapidly.

Perhaps the concept of gravity doesn't work in this inverted world of shadows but everything felt so slow to the point I was certain I would take any damage when I hit the ocean surface.

I was so very wrong because IT FUCKING HURTS! I CERTAINLY TOOK MORE DAMAGE FROM GRAVITY RATHER THAN ANY ATTACKS FROM GRIMM AND WHATNOT!

I quickly emerged from the seawater in a fit of pain and gasp as I sucked in as much air as possible while holding in several curses and hisses of more excruciating pain though that didn't do much especially the cold ocean water seemingly amplified my pain.

"Son! Of! A! BITCH!" I coughed out, spitting away mouthful of salt water that got in.

At least now I know I could use [Shadow Shift] in the air albeit getting hurt in the process which stung my entire body despite wearing padded clothing and some armour but for now, I don't possess the capability to manoeuvre myself well enough in the air.

Before I could continue on with my ranting, a distant yet almost discernible noise of shouts reached my ears through the flowing waves as I turned to see the villagers and the fisherman at the coastline waving and screaming something whilst pointing at me.

Are they... blaming me for something..? Did I spook the fisherman too much??

Despite my depreciating thoughts, I began swimming my way back to the shore but the villagers just looked more... agitated? Frantic? Desperate? All three words seems to suit their behaviours but it wasn't until something burst through the waters into the air with me that I realised why they were so panicked even though I managed to eliminate a Sea Feilong.

Because I forgotten there was a bounty clearly detailing that there were two Sea Feilong in the area near Magnolia Village, I only managed to kill one but not the second one.

Which is precisely what propelled me into the air and straight into a gaping mouth filled with sharp fangs as I watched the Sea Feilong attempt to devour me whole, causing everything around me to seemingly slow as I activated [Shadow Aura] once again.

Fangs capable of ripping apart flesh and armour were closing in fast and my Saw Spear was out of reach and the time to replace it back into my hand is too long as compared to the rapid speed that the Grimm was reaching to me.

That also goes for [Shadow Orb] and seeing how little time I had, I couldn't risk attempting to use [Shadow Lock] to freeze the Sea Feilong which meant there was only one option left.

Take it head on but with what? Both my Saw Spear and armament case were too far gone to be quickly summoned and deal with the Grimm so that leaves me with one last trick.

[Shadow Arms has activated]

There wasn't any concepts of weaponries that came to my mind when I activated the skill, I only had the desire to rip and tear through my enemy as effectively as I can so lo and behold, both of my arms were covered in enveloping dark shadows that soon transformed into thick gauntlets with long serrated claws that was reminiscent to that of a certain member of the X-Men.

I didn't think much more of it before I lunged both of my arms forward and down at the Grimm, a visceral noise greeting my ears as I tore into the jaws of the Sea Feilong with my [Strength] keeping the maw wide open and pained as I started exerting more power.

Slowly but gradually, in addition to both my hands and the claws latching deeply onto the Grimm's jaws combined with my [Strength], I tore its lower mouth straight off its head.

 The Sea Feilong didn't even have time to charge up one of its lightning bolts before I stabbed my shadow claws back into its head and again and again and again and AGAIN.

I didn't stop even when it began dissipating into dust and it wasn't until the cold sensation of the sea water met my body did I realise I killed the Grimm in what appears to be out of desperation rather than a rational head with plans.

[You Leveled Up!]

I ignored the notification out of the need to understand that letting my emotions control me was an experience that wouldn't serve me well especially against a stronger and more intellectual enemy so it's best if I calmed and take things in strides.

Though with the lack of enemies right now, I suppose I can let myself relax just a bit right after that fight, levelling up four times today was already a job well done in my opinion, definitely one when I glanced at my current stats to see quite a number of expendable points to invest.

I'll leave that for later since I'm content to just float in the waters, letting the sun shine down at me as I spotted from the corner of my eyes the approaching boat with the fisherman and a few more men coming to bring me back to shore.

What a hectic day... and that's an understatement.

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[Name] - (Y/N) (L/N)

[Title] - Beast Hunter

[Race] - Human

[Level] - 37

[Health Points] - 3800/3800

[Mana Points] - 4300/4300

[Fatigue] - 23%

[Currency] - 99,900

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[Strength] - 52

[Endurance] - 30

[Agility] - 35

[Intelligence] - 24 (+5)

[Sense] - 40 (+5)

[Luck] - 29 (+5)

[Available Points] - 20

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[Player's Mind] (Passive) - MAX

[Player's Body] (Passive) - MAX

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