Before I could even begin to feel confused, other things imdiately dragged into the depths of fear and panic. I was still underwater, and wherever my eyes landed there was only murk and bubbles.
I had no ti to gather my thoughts. My body was moving rapidly, twirling and spinning, caught in the heart of the current and at its rcy. A mont later, my back slamd into sothing hard. Instead of stopping, I skidded along and then crashed into the next object. This ti I hit jaw-first, and I thought it broke.
But I couldn’t even worry about wounded flesh and broken bones. I was suffering sothing far worse, sothing more torturous.
I was drowning.
My lungs burned. I couldn’t help but gasp for air, but only water rushed in. To call it painful was an understatent.
I had grown accustod to pain, after years of harassnt and even beatings at the hands of my brothers and parents. But this kind of pain was different. This was unbearable. I wanted to scream, wail, beg for rcy.
The worst part was that I couldn’t even make a sound.
For a fleeting mont, I found hope. That familiar numbness of looming unconsciousness wrapped around . Maybe at last I would be spared. Maybe I could finally rest in the comforting arms of death. I closed my eyes in surrender, yearning for eternal peace.
But sothing was wrong. Maybe this was what they called hell—just colder, darker, and wetter than I expected.
Each ti I drifted toward unconsciousness, I was wrenched back. Dragged away from the jaws of death, only to be forced into the torture again. It repeated endlessly.
I would rather die than endure another second of it. But it was relentless. Seconds bled into minutes, minutes into hours.
The panic for air. The burn of water flooding my lungs. The sharp sting of jagged rocks tearing my skin. The violent shocks of my body slamming against the riverbed or boulders.
I felt it all. Every mont of it.
At first, I tried to think of a way out. But the agony was too overwhelming. My mind couldn’t conjure plans—only questions. Why ? What did I do? Hadn’t I already suffered enough? Why was I punished for things I couldn’t control? Why was I even born?
And then... what was that strange blue shape that kept flashing before my eyes, covered in words I couldn’t focus enough to read?
[Minor Trait Acquired: Cold Resistance I]
[Condition t: Sustain continuous cold damage for 10 minutes without hypothermic shutdown.]
[Environntal cold damage reduced by 15%]
[Minor Trait Acquired: Bruise Guard]
[Condition t: Endure 30 instances of blunt trauma]
[Skin density increased; blunt damage reduced by 10%]
At first it was only a fleeting flash of light in the midst of my suffering. I noticed it, but I couldn’t care.
[Minor Trait Acquired: Oxygen Efficiency I]
[Condition t: Maintain oxygen deprivation for a cumulative 3 minutes without losing consciousness.]
[Breath-holding increased by 50%]
But after a while, I realized sothing. Each ti the blue light appeared, the tornt lessened. The water didn’t feel as frigid. The cuts didn’t sting as sharply. The blows weren’t quite as crushing.
At first I thought it was simply my body adapting. But then it happened—my lungs stopped burning. Water still filled them, but instead of agony, it brought relief.
[Trait Acquired: Amphibious Respiration]
[Condition t: Experience 180 cumulative minutes of drowning damage within one cycle of consciousness]
I could breathe.
I had read of potions that let n breathe underwater like fish. But I had never touched one. All I had swallowed was river water. Yet here I was, alive, breathing in it.
I was still helpless, though. The current carried wherever it wished, slamming into bedrock and debris. But for the first ti, panic loosened its grip. I began to wait—consciously—for the blue light to return.
Ti passed. I didn’t know how long. Minutes, hours—impossible to tell. But the cold grew bearable.
[Trait Progression: Cold Resistance II]
I tried to read the words more clearly, only to be interrupted by another crash. My skull struck stone, though this ti the pain was muted.
I had endured enough. I wanted control. I rembered once hearing that to swim underwater, one must not fight the water, but move with it.
Easier said than done. I was weak, injured, nearly broken. Every motion hurt, and I could barely see.
But I persisted. The pain dulled. The current’s violence beca tolerable. I began to sense control.
[Trait Acquired: Dense Musculature]
The agony didn’t vanish, but it grew faint, muted.
[Trait Acquired: Pain Tolerance I]
My wounds closed quickly.
[Trait Acquired: Rapid Clotting]
The water cleared. My vision sharpened. I could see through the murk, dodging silhouettes in the current.
[Trait Acquired: Low-light Vision]
My bones knitted together. The collisions that once broke now barely slowed .
[Trait Acquired: Adaptive Regeneration]
[Trait Acquired: Kinetic Conditioning]
The fear that had ruled lted away. The river no longer smothered —it embraced . It felt like ho.
My reflexes honed. I slipped past obstacles as if it were second nature. I felt I could outmatch a fish.
[Trait Acquired: Predator’s Reflex]
[Condition t: React to 10 lethal threats within 10 seconds of detection]
[Effect: Reaction speed increased 40% in hostile environnts]
I had no idea how long I had been trapped in the river. But eventually, sothing changed.
The water’s taste shifted—from fresh and earthy to sharp, faintly salty. The current eased. The roar softened into a low thrum. Light broke through above, blue and shimring.
Beneath , the river widened and deepened.
[Milestone Achieved: Survive 24 hours of lethal damage without respite]
[Trait Acquired: Damage Conversion]
[Condition t: Remain alive under lethal conditions for a full day without external aid]
[Effect: Cumulative trauma converted into 300% Physical Attributes for 10 minutes]
A sudden strength surged through . With that burst, I swam upward.
The sunlight welcod like a long-lost friend. The sky had never looked so beautiful. The air in my lungs had never tasted so fresh. Only then did I realize just how long I had been subrged.
My fear of drifting too far into the open sea faded as I lowered my gaze. The shore was only a few ters ahead.
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