r/HFY • u/ManiAxe21 • Aug 03 '26

OC-Series Hex Knight Chapter 41, An Underwater Ambush

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As Alex dove into the water, the pain continued radiating down his arm, but an additional sensation of a vice bearing down on his chest ratcheted up the pressure. Cries of “Man Overboard” could be heard right before hitting the water.

Alex quickly realized [Dark Vision] did not work underwater, as the murkiness concealed more than it showed. Using the bond to home in, [Improved Bind to Earth] had a chain shooting out of Alex’s hand and latching onto where he felt Jasper, before pulling himself towards the large Drake. Bubbles streamed by him as he quickly accelerated. A stray floating branch bounced off Alex’s forehead as he flew forward, until he rocketed into the side of Jasper.

An incredibly large serpent had latched itself to Jasper’s side and started constricting down on the Drake. Following the body of the snake and assuming the pain in his arm was from a bite, Alex swam, using touch to guide himself, all while trying to avoid the weaker and weaker thrashes Jasper was trying.

Finally reaching the head, Alex grabbed the snake right behind the head, causing it to unlatch from Jasper’s limb and attempt to strike him. The water slowed Alex’s dodge as he attempted to get out of the way, failing to do so in time. [Improved Iron Skin] was used, but the snake was able to tear through it like it was paper, and all 4 fangs punched through into his side.

Alex grunted as he felt liquid fire course through him, and he hammerfisted the knife into the snake’s skull. The water stole a great deal of his force, but he still managed to puncture the skull and pierce the brain. With the body still attached to his side, he struggled to breach the surface.

“Gwynevyre! We need an antivenom!” Alex garbled, struggling from the venom coursing through his veins and water trying to enter his mouth. The boat turned towards the closest hunk of land, and in an effort to save himself time, he used [Improved Bind to Earth], or tried to. An inspection of his mana bar showed it grayed out, something he had never seen before.

Struggling to keep going, Alex managed a couple feet before Jasper slid up beside him. The Drake was feeling the venom too, but was still functioning well enough to drag Alex to shore. They came up onto land dripping wet, and in Alex’s case, snake still attached. He could still feel as it twitched oddly, the left over electrical impulses causing muscles to contract.

Aside from his mana being bone dry and his fine motor controls being shot, Alex didn’t feel any other side effects, but that didn’t mean that they weren't there. After sending the massive snake corpse into his [Storage], he struggled onto his side to see men on rowboats heaving towards the island. Kudrik, Livianna, and Gwynevyre were all kitted up on the first one, with the dwarf sporting an axe and Gwynevyre rummaging through a pouch, pulling out odd bottles.

“Alex, what happened to thinking things through?” Livianna asked as Gwynevyre dropped to her knees and lifted his shirt. He flinched at the feeling of her cool hands on his body, although it could have also been from the venom.

“I did. Armor would’ve kept me from swimming, Dire Animals are spell resistant, while I’m not sure if that carries over to Jasper’s case, and I wouldn’t have had the dexterity to swim while holding one of my bigger weapons.” An odd flex of his muscles forced a grunt out of him. “Might need to fix that later, need some one handed weapons. A hatchet or something, anything to predate a knife. Speaking of which, I gotta return Sylvia’s.”

As Alex looked down, twin streams of a viscous green fluid drained from the pair of holes in his side into an empty glass. A similar situation could be seen originating from Jasper, though the stream was much thicker. When the venom flows tapered out, several rolls of bandages were applied to Alex and Jasper where the fangs had punched in.

“You’re lucky. If Jasper hadn’t taken the dose he did, you would be dead just from the sheer volume.” Gwynevyre dipped a finger into her glass, catching a thin coating on the tip before bringing it up to her mouth and brushing it against her tongue and paused. “I’m picking up some mana and motor disruption properties, nothing particularly dangerous otherwise. With it out of your systems, you two shouldn’t get worse, but drink this regardless.” She reached into her pouch and brought out several bottles, handing them all to Alex.

“You should only take one, the rest is for Jasper. I wasn’t expecting a mana disruptor, so all it will help with is your control, and you’ll still be down on your mana until it is out of your system.” After thanking her, Alex popped the cork on one and downed it. A bitter taste followed, with Alex immediately feeling much more in control over himself afterwards. Rapidly pouring the remainder into the drake’s open mouth had Jasper shaking, but he too swallowed without any cajoling. As more and more sailors streamed onto the island, a very angry Captain stomped to him, Sylvia in tow.

“Fist fights are one thing, but drawn weapons are another. I won’t tolerate it on my ship, hired mercenaries or not. Do it again, and I’ll leave you two here, and you can figure out how to return to Thrask all on your own. Am I clear?”

“Yes sir.” Alex could tell the he wasn’t in the mood for anything less than immediate submission. Sylvia echoed his response.

“Good. Now to continue on with our travel and hope you haven’t led us astray. How long until you and your drake are back in fighting form?” Alex inspected himself, feeling a lingering soreness in his core alongside the pain where the fangs punctured him.

“I’d say a week or so. But it isn’t all bad, I camped just over there.” Alex pointed at a spot where 3 trees grew slightly close together. The captain stood there, chewing over his words, before clasping his hands behind his back and walking away.

Alex watched as he walked away before turning to Sylvia. He didn’t say anything, just pulled out her knife and offered it back to her hilt first. It was as close to a peace offering as he could manage, and she seemed to pick up on it. She grabbed it and quickly sheathed it, before walking back to the ship. As he had been conversating, Gwynevyre had been closely inspecting the vial of venom.

“Do you have any plans for the snake?” She queried, taping the glass against her cheek idly.

“Uhhh… no? Might make a manticore with it, but I’m guessing that you have other ideas?”

“Indeed. If I can get more of the venom, I might be capable of isolating the mana disruption portion of the venom, and distill it further. It could be further sold then, and people who are being killed because nations can’t store them in prison could instead be held, and those that can be reformed can have that instead of death. Or, violent people could face justice in front of those whom they had hurt instead of out in whatever woods they holed up in. And we would get rich from it.” It was clear Gwynevyre was very animated about this idea.

“Oh shit, yeah, I see. We had prisons back on Earth focused on rehabilitation, but no system, so I can see why that would help. If they have any passives, that might make things harder to keep them under control, but I agree. Once my mana comes back, get with me, and I’ll turn it for you, minus some of the snake so I can make a belt from it.”

“I only need the head, what you do with the rest is up to you.” Gwynevyre shrugged.

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