Chapter 6 (The great doctor)

Max and Jizo guarded the boat while chatting. Max discovered that sleep was unnecessary and that he could live without it.

The sun rose again, and the frozen morning breeze fluttered their hair again. Max felt like he was Tom Hank from the film Castaway, although he was not talking to a ball. He watched over the vast ocean while eating the second fish he had cooked last night. Max never thought of traveling at sea before.

From a distance, He saw several waves coming. They were like rolled sheets of paper. Max asked Jizo if he should prepare something. Jizo took a break from meditation and looked at the waves Max pointed to.

“Nah, they’re small. Our boat can handle it,” he said.

But Max saw something moving and replied,

“Then, why do they look like Jellies and so dark,”

In an abrupt manner, Jizo checked again and was shocked.

“Oh, no. They are outsiders!”

Old Jizo could make some mistakes too.

Max quickly prepared his powers for an upcoming battle, and Jizo chanted a spell. A shield of protection appeared around their boat. The waves of dark jellyfish approached their boat, quickly surrounding the protective shield.

Slowly, it covered the shield completely, blocking the duo’s view. Everywhere they saw was filled with jellyfish. Max, using his demonic power, burnt down the nearby ones. But, the creatures seemed to be endless, losing Max’s patience. He used more flames than before.

“Bump!”

The duo could feel a violent knock under the boat, raising it in the air. Jizo’s shield broke as he lost his focus. His shield was vulnerable to the underwater attack. The attacker could shock the shield and lift it.

The giant tentacles grabbed the craft along with the duo into the water. As they drowned, they could face the one behind the assault. A colossal glowing squid of ten meters in height was in the inked water. It had ominous glowing skin like the outsiders. Its skin was glowing even in the ink-soaked water.

As they got drowned, the duo’s visions went blurry by the squid’s inks. The salty bitter taste of the ink was in their mouth. Max was shocked and confused at the same time. With its tentacle, the anomaly grabbed Jizo and Max separately. With a spike from its tentacle, the squid injected a venomous ink into Max’s belly.

Max could feel the effect right after the injections. His body weakened, and his vision darkened. His hands were numb, and he could swim no more. He could resist the water pressure no more. Finally, he could not move his limbs. Hopes almost lost.

Max could see a blue creature holding a glowing object in its hand attacking the squid, shooting a ray of lightning. His vision darkened, and he could see no more. He only felt that he was sinking.

….

“Can you heal him now?” Jizo asked worriedly to the blue siren boy. The boy replied, “I’ll try as much as I can,”

He gently touched Max’s injected belly and moved up to his mouth. The ink raised to the boy’s touch. During the procedure, Jizo chanted a short prayer for the sake of Max. When the boy’s hand reached the chest, Max’s eyes broadened. Max’s face was terrified when the boy’s hand reached his mouth. The venoms filled his mouth.

Immediately, he vomited all the venomous inks into the ocean. Like a caring doctor, the siren boy patted Max’s back and told him not to worry.

“Who are you? Have the outsiders gone now? Aren’t you a siren?” Max asked. The Siren boy said,

“I’m here to help you. My name is Iason,” Max looked at the boy carefully. His upper body was naked, and the lower was a fish. He had bluish hair, a Greek-looking face, and a fair complexion. His ears were like fins. Despite the Greek face, Iason’s appearance reminded Max of Vithura.

“He’s the one who drove the jellyfish away and slain the giant squid,” Jizo said. Max immediately remembered him as the boy with lightning in his hand and thanked him heartily.

The boy, the Great doctor, said, “It’s alright. I’m just doing my job of protecting you. Have you felt better after vomiting?” Max said that he still felt weak. Iason handed him a strange seaweed and told him to eat. Max followed his instructions and ate it. It tasted like seaweed but tastier, making him feel better.

“Alright, I can guide you two to the gate. Do you have a rope? So that you may tie your boat to me, and I could direct you to the right way,”

Max immediately thought of the rope that Sultana Maryam gave them. He found it safely in a drawer of the boat. With it, he bonded the boat and the siren boy, Iason. As Iason swam, the craft followed, speeding up the journey. Iason was strong enough to draw a canoe with two on board. His body emitted a pleasant aura in the water.