The First King of Beasts

"This time, we have to cross a river, huh?" Marcel said, as he stepped out of the forest walking towards the river banks.

"Yeah. It's already evening, I suggest we cross to the other side as soon as possible. Don't want to be soaking myself in cold water early in the morning." Nathan said.

"I was thinking the same, not about your bathing issues."

"I know."

"Hmm. Let's inform the others, someone might have a different opinion." Marcel said, as he returned to the group of men behind them.

As Marcel walked into their midst, he waved a hand lightly to signal silence, and almost immediately the low grumbles quieted down.

"As it is, we are going to be crossing this river anytime now! As it is, the only way to go about it is swimming to the other side!" Just then, someone in the crowd raised a hand, so Marcel paused his speech and pointed to the one with the raised hand, "Yes?"

"Leader, is discovered a tree along that side (he points towards the location) that seemed to have been cut down, and my guess is today..." Before he finished, he got cut off.

"And you are suggesting it was used as a make-shift canoe, or boat, something like that, to cross the river?" Marcel sad.

"Yes."

"And you are suggesting we do the same?"

"Yes."

A brief moment of silence passed before Marcel spoke again. "Look at the other side of the river. Tell me what you see." Marcel said, as he motioned for the man to turn and look ahead where his hand pointed.

The man observed for a while, so did everyone else. After a few seconds past, Marcel spoke again. "What do you see?"

Murmur filled the crowd instantly, as no one could understand what he was motioning at. Then, the man that had made the suggestion, answered. "Well, there are trees and dirt everywhere. And a few stones too."He said, and others chuckled at his words as he had lightened his tone.

However, Nathan interrupted their brief moment of care-freeness as he spoke. "There's no canoe or even the lightest sight of that huge tree truck, not even tracks left behind from dragging it across the dirt." Nathan said, his words causing the others to turn their gazes towards the other side of the river, taking note of what he just said.

"Exactly, and that only means one thing. It sank." Marcel said, as his tone got a bit deeper towards the end. Then he continued.

"The tree is still too fresh to float in such waters. This river may be big, but for a tree this big and heavy, it won't float for long. And we don't have the luxury of cutting down trees and diving trunks. The only option left is to swim." Marcel said.

Truth be told, if they really mean to cut down a tree and use it, maybe they would have been able to, but there was thing this group lacked, even with all their equipments. It was skill.

Unlike Mizu and Raven that had undergone continuous training since a young age, Marcel and Nathan didn't. While Mizu and Raven and their skills as their strength, the brothers had their equipments. Seeing as none of them was willing to use their precious equipments to chop down wood, they could only embrace the cold waters.

After everyone was prepared, with some taking off their clothes, they formed a line and started the attempt to cross. As for the possibility of a monster attack, Marcel and Nathan were on standby at any moment ready to hack down attacking monsters, after all, only weak F rank monsters filled the forests.

The team the brothers had formed had many people at this point, easily up to a hundred. By the time they had stretched themselves in a straight line and started crossing the river by swing across it, the line formed connected both sides of the river.

As the first set of people arrived at the opposite side, more started coming as the line reduced. By the time half of the group had safely crossed, they got a surprise of a lifetime. At first, the water seemed fine and calm, and wasn't even as cold as Nathan had exaggerated. The crossing was going fine, and there seemed to be no monsters in the water. Nathan and Marcel even left the water as it was safe, and so the others needed no protection. But, it was then that the long anticipated monster made it's appearance.

Towards the shallow part of the river, near the other side where the group was crossing to, a huge shark burst out of the water as it propelled itself half way into the air, and as it landing back into the water, it took two men with it. In an instant, the water near the men that were now half way into the river mixed with a shade of red that needed no explanation as to how-

The unexpected appearance of a monster rendered everybody silent, and for a while they just watched the red colour from under the water mix and flow slowly towards them as they followed the tide.

"What are you fools doing! Get out of there now!" Marcel barked, as he dashed for the river and with a great leap, jumped into the waters whole.

It was then that the silence broke, and chaos soon ensued. As disorderly as it could get, the remaining forty something men that were still in the river started peddling with their hands like boats, as they struggled wildly like a canoe trying to get away from a water fall.

The whole scene was like one of riot, only this time it was on water. This might have done more harm than good, as their disturbance only assured the monster of their location. The next time the shark emerged, it did so from underneath one of the men towards the back, only slightly missing the last person's head. The man was swallowed whole, as he looked like a peanut entering someone's mouth from above.

"Get the fuck out of there!!" Nathan roared as he too leaped unto the shark, stabbing his sword into the shark's side. He immediately took out another sword, the one everyone received on arrival to stab it a second time, but before the sword could reach it's skin, he stopped and blocked something attacking from his side.

He had only felt like something was about to kill him for a brief moment, and without processing the thought, he swung his sword towards the side the danger came from. On impact, that sword was knocked out of his hand as he also managed to interject the trajectory of whatever attacked him.

It wasn't till a closer inspection that Nathan noticed what he could only describe as whiskers from a cat fish swirling and twisting around the shark's head. What was more, this things could be used to attack like he just experienced, and they were incredibly strong too.

"Fuck!" Nathan screamed in frustration. He only had two options now, continue holding onto the shark and die from the whiskers, or jump down and safe himself.

This was no time to play hero, so Nathan almost immediately decided on what to do, as he pulled out his sword while pushing off the fish with his legs. The moment when he landed in shallow waters, was also the moment the fish hit its large body on the water surface, causing a wave to follow.

The next moment, Marcel could be spotted coming out of the water with two people in both hands, as he dragged himself to the banks. The wave created by the shark smacking against the water had carried the remainder of the men that were yet to cross to the banks, saving them. The only one left was the last man, who out of fear swan back to the other side of the river where they came from, after the wave on his side pushed him back.

'It's over for me, Why am I so unlucky?'

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