Eo’s fluid body pulsed as he steadied himself, his translucent form shifting as fresh wounds rippled across his structure. The jagged-toothed predator circled him like a shadow in the mist, its movements deliberate. It had already drawn first blood—a warning that it was the superior hunter.

  But Eo wasn’t prey.

  His semi-liquid tendrils undulated as he adjusted, the mist around him thickening. He had assumed this fight would be like the others—a clash of instincts and movement. But this was different.

  This creature controlled the mist.

  Eo had felt it. The shift in pressure, the unnatural pull—it had manipulated the very currents of the water. He didn’t know how, but he couldn’t ignore it. If his enemy could influence the mist, then so could he.

  He had to try.

  The predator struck again, but this time, it didn’t rely on speed alone. Its body slithered through the water, a blur of movement, and the mist around it shifted unnaturally. The currents warped—pulling at Eo’s form, trying to disorient him.

  But this time, he was ready.

  Eo stilled, allowing his body to become more fluid, stretching his tendrils outward to feel the disturbance. The moment the pull came—that unnatural force gripping his structure—he countered it.

  He didn’t know if it was instinct or something deeper, but he pushed back.

  A sudden resistance.

  The mist wavered for a fraction of a second, just enough for Eo to break free from its grasp.

  The predator lunged, expecting him to be off-balance—but Eo was already moving.

  He shifted.

  His body elongated, twisting like a coiled tendril as he struck back. A sharp limb, hardened from his shifting mass, lashed across the creature’s snout, tearing into its flesh.

  A burst of dark blood.

  The creature recoiled, snarling, but Eo didn’t give it time to recover.

  He surged forward, forming a pointed appendage—aiming for its throat. His limb coiled around its neck, but then the mist exploded outward.

  A crushing force slammed into him.

  Eo was hurled backward, his body splitting into fragmented strands before reforming. His core pulsed, the impact sending tremors through his structure.

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  It had used the mist again.

  The creature wasn’t just fighting—it was manipulating the battlefield itself.

  Eo’s tendrils flexed as he stabilized, his mass rippling with tension. His form quivered between fluid and solid, instinctively adapting.

  This wasn’t just a test of strength.

  This was survival.

  And if he didn’t figure out how to control the mist, he was going to die.

  It had already forced him to the edge of death once.

  He wouldn’t allow it a second chance.

  Eo stilled, his liquid mass dispersing slightly, allowing himself to become more attuned to the water around him. Instead of rushing forward, he watched.

  Every movement. Every twitch. Every ripple of mist.

  The creature didn’t attack blindly. It flowed. Its body moved like an extension of the water, shifting seamlessly between offense and defense. But more importantly—the mist followed its motions.

  Eo focused, studying the minute shifts in pressure.

  When the creature moved, the mist responded before its body did. It wasn’t just using its speed—it was using the mist as a tool, a force to control the battlefield itself.

  Eo extended his tendrils slightly, feeling the currents.

  The mist thickened around the predator before it lunged.

  There.

  That’s how it does it.

  Instead of just moving through the water, the creature was displacing the mist, pulling it inward and pushing it outward in bursts.

  It was weaving the mist into its movements.

  Eo’s mind raced. He had felt something similar earlier when he had tried to resist the pull of the mist. He had instinctively pushed back. But he had done so in opposition, trying to counteract the force.

  What if, instead of resisting—he moved with it?

  The creature lunged.

  This time, Eo didn’t react with brute force. He let himself flow.

  As the predator’s movement disturbed the mist, Eo shifted his form—aligning with the current rather than against it.

  He disappeared.

  For a brief moment, his body blended seamlessly into the mist, his fluid structure dispersing with the motion. The creature’s attack passed through empty water.

  Then, Eo struck.

  His mass condensed in an instant, coiling into a hardened limb that lashed across the predator’s exposed flank. A deep gouge split the creature’s side open.

  A snarl of pain. A burst of dark blood.

  The jagged-toothed beast recoiled, but this time, Eo didn’t give it space to recover.

  He moved with the mist.

  He followed its rhythm, his form dispersing and reforming in quick succession, weaving through the battlefield just like his opponent.

  The creature snarled, eyes flickering with wariness. It had lost the advantage.

  Eo pressed forward, tendrils extending, shaping into razor-sharp points. He lashed out—but then, the mist shifted again.

  The creature wasn’t done.

  The air around them compressed as the mist thickened unnaturally. Eo’s senses screamed a warning—the creature wasn’t just using the mist for movement.

  It was weaponizing it.

  A pulse rippled through the water.

  Then, without warning—the mist exploded.

  A violent burst of force slammed into Eo from all sides. His form shattered apart, his liquid mass breaking into fragmented pieces before he could fully react.

  For the first time in this battle—he felt pain not just from an attack, but from the environment itself.

  It had used the mist like a shockwave.

  Eo’s mind reeled, his body struggling to reassemble as the creature rushed toward him, jaws widening for a final, fatal bite.

  But as his form realigned, his thoughts sharpened.

  If it could use the mist like that… then so could he.

  And he only had seconds to figure out how.