Powerful, unstoppable, undeniable. That's how Silva felt as his domain absorbed the energy of the bird. His abilities increased in power and efficiency. This improvement was exactly why he took the risk of falling to his death. And the movement he felt within his domain was exactly what made the risk necessary.
Silva dove down deep, his gills supplying his body with oxygen. He was within the city but the crabs had destroyed all the buildings this far in their territory. Silva thought the water wouldn't be deep but he soon realized that the crabs were actively digging into the ground and deepening the lake.
Silva moved through the water swiftly as he avoided any areas where he detected the crabs. The crabs themselves seemed to turn almost invisible to the eyes when within the water. 'If I didn't have a domain, I would have bumped into them. For a bunch of clean freaks their senses are horrible. I can only detect them when they enter my domain which should be around 15 meters by now but they don't even know that I'm here. '
Silva suddenly stopped. He moved multiple meters to the right then did the same thing to his left. He returned to his original position with a deep frown. 'They aren't moving. I know a few of them sensed my presence but they refused to react. I can tell that they're alive. Something doesn't feel right. All this water had to come from somewhere and the crabs don't seem to be capable of self producing water. I gotta investigate. '
Silva swam straight up like a torpedo. He broke the surface of the water and dove back into the water, this time, behind the wall of crabs. The reaction was instant, violent and suffocating. The crabs rushed the intruder. The killing intent they exuded was worse than when Silva dirtied their lake. As for the target of such murderous intent, he was staring at a violet sphere.
'I recognize that. It's exactly like the planet transfer portals from Invader's Paradise. A purple portal should lead to Avaleria.' Silva made his decision instantly. He dove straight toward it but the crabs that moved first managed to block his path. Silva summoned his machete and swung it at the closest crab.
The crab covered its face with its claws but that was exactly what Silva wanted. He swam past it without so much as a backward glance. 'They aren't very agile so I can use that to my advantage to reach the portal. '
Silva was agile, graceful and elusive. His domain allowed him full view of everything within its range. He could see and feel every movement the crabs made. Getting their claws on him was nothing but a pipe dream. Before the crabs realized, the invader was within range of the portal and vanished inside.
Silva felt the world flip. All he saw was purple. It felt like he has falling at a crazy speed but there was no wind. After what felt like an eternity stuck in a tumble dryer, Silva came to a sudden stop. He felt the familiar embrace of water. The dizziness he expected to feel wasn't there. And a few seconds later, he acclimated to the direction of gravity and swam upwards.
Breaching the surface, Silva took a breath of fresh air. A flap that blocked water from entering his lungs opened and air filled his lungs. He scanned his surroundings and immediately headed for shore. He only took two steps on land when he heard a familiar voice. The same voice that welcomed the apocalypse. The voice that confirmed his successful login.
"The world of Avaleria has noticed your presence. Your current status has switched from Defender to Invader. The blood of Avaleria's children taints you. You have gained Invasion Points. Invasion Points will be quantified and usable after the planetary connection stabilizes." The voice went silent for a while before it continued.
"You are the one hundred and forty first invader in the world of Avaleria. You will be strengthened by any destruction or chaos you cause. Be warned, each planet will have beings that act as defenders. Killing defenders is the fastest way to get invasion points. Since invasion points are currently unquantifiable, they will be used to directly improve your abilities. "
"Congratulations! Due to your contributions during the connection period of the invasion. The connection period would have appeared as a virtual reality world. You will be awarded a chance to gain either one skill or item you had gained from the world of Avaleria." The voice paused for a moment then continued.
"You had two skills. The first was Mana to Qi conversion. It allowed you to convert free mana directly into Qi. The second was Water Conjuring. It allowed you to conjure clean water by breaking down solid matter into mana."
"You had only one item from Avaleria. It's the enchanted weapon you named Frisbee. Error encountered. Your body is incapable of using mana. The two skills will be unusable. Automatically providing the enchanted weapon Frisbee." There was a bright flash of light and a bracelet fell on the ground. Silva was about to pick it up when he heard the voice again. "More of the features you experienced during the connection period will be unlocked as you gain more invasion points. "
Silva stood still for a moment, waiting for the voice to say anything else. He proceeded to collect the bracelet after realizing that the voice wasn't talking anymore. He looked at it for a moment but didn't know what to do with it. Silva remembered that Frisbee was a donut shaped blade that could fly and was controlled by gestures. The only reason he even had it was because he found it fun to play with at the time.
'How do I use it? Do I have to learn the gestures? But I don't even remember them. Wait, if this is an enchanted item then it requires bonding with blood. But I really don't want to hurt myself. Since I'm in Avaleria, I can just let one hurt me and use that blood to bond with Frisbee.' Silva looked around at the forest that surrounded the tiny lake he had come from.
He deployed his domain to its limits then entered the forest. He was only a few meters in when he stopped and sighed. 'Of course it's a bug. ' Silva thought to himself as he walked towards the bug he had sensed. 'Based on the shape, it should be a praying mantis so I don't have to worry about poison. I just need a tiny cut. '
Silva closed his eyes, stretched his left hand forward, took a breath to steel his nerves and charged at the camouflaged mantis. The frightened bug lashed out, its barbed claws piercing Silva's forearm. Silva, feeling the pain, struck out with his right hand. He crushed the bug's skull in an instant then carefully pried its claws open.
Wincing, Silva pulled the bracelet from his inventory and let some blood drop on it. The plain silver bracelet expanded into a donut shaped blade. The instant it did, information about the usage of the blade filled his mind. 'Hmmm, so it doesn't need gestures. Just thinking about its movements is enough. Let's try it out.'
Frisbee started spinning and shot at the mantis carcass. A smooth cut was made, separating it in half with Frisbee ending up in the ground. With a thought, Frisbee shot into the air and got to work clearing the surrounding trees. The thick trunks that had stood strong for years were easily split apart. Within minutes everything within Silva's domain had met Frisbee's edge.
'I wonder how far I can sense it from? ' With that thought, Frisbee shot in the direction of the lake. It's blade sliced through everything in its path as it flew in silence. Silva felt his command of the blade weakening until it completely went out of control. He could feel it general direction but his commands didn't work.
Once he was sure that it was out of his command range, Silva decided to test one of its three enchantments. Thinking of the trigger word, the enchantment Straight Return activated. The enchantment allowed Silva to summon Frisbee regardless of distance. The only downside was that it would always move in a straight line towards him. Meaning it would try to cut everything in its path but it would be blocked if it met something it couldn't.
Silva felt Frisbee enter his domain even faster than he had launched it. He flinched and tried to dodge only for Frisbee to stop about one meter away from him. Silva activated the second enchantment that turned it into a bracelet then put Frisbee in his inventory. 'The final enchantment requires special energy to activate but I don't have any mana. It's still useful though.'
Silva went to the edge of the lake and ate all the food he had left in his inventory which wasn't much. He dove into the lake, his blood tainting the clean water. His body adapted back to his fishman form. As he adapted, his wounds healed automatically but it made the adaptation drain his energy. Silva swam to the bottom of the lifeless lake and fell asleep.