—Third Person POV—
The young man swam through the deep blue, only to be struck with a sudden sense of dread. Before he could react, darkness enveloped him.
But instead of sinking, he found himself standing still—on water.
A breath passed. Then he bent his knees and leapt, soaring upward into the sky until he hovered high above the waves. He turned, and what he saw made his heart skip.
There, basking in sunlight, was a monstrous blue shark—at least thirty meters long—with deep purple markings trailing from its nose to its dorsal fin. It shimmered like a living rune of the deep.
Just as he took it in, the beast dove back into the ocean, vanishing with a splash that echoed through the air, leaving the young man hovering in awe.
"…That thing..." he muttered, still stunned.
After a few moments of silence, he sighed, legs folding into a meditative pose midair. He had originally planned to train in the water, but now? The presence of that shark changed everything. Every disturbance in the sea seemed to alert it. He needed a better grasp of his powers before returning below.
He closed his eyes.
A moment later, he opened them again—this time, within his Mind-Ground.
This strange inner realm had first revealed itself during his earlier challenges, a place where his spirit met the beast avatars bound to him. It was where he trained, planned, evolved.
But something was different now.
The volcanic mountain range that once stood alone was now surrounded by an open ocean, waves glimmering under a mystical sky. And everything felt... more real.
"What happened?" he asked the space around him.
—Ding! The Mind-Ground changes with the ever-evolving host.
He flinched at the voice, glancing around, but saw no one.
"What are you?"
—Ding! Aide AI of the host. Part of the gift granted by the being.
"Gift?" he echoed.
—Ding! The host will understand upon completing the challenges.
He let out a long breath. "Figures."
Floating gently downward, he allowed himself to land on the sea's surface. "Questions later—training now."
With a pulse of mana, he shifted into his shark-hybrid form and plunged into the depths.
His days blurred into cycles of intense training.
Water manipulation. Wave techniques. Testing combinations of instinct and intent. Every spell, every breath refined his control. Being half-spirit gave him a natural edge—especially in magic. While others would spend weeks learning to control basic spells, he adapted quickly. The magic itself seemed to bend toward him.
At times, he visited the volcanic bear, sharing quiet moments of rest beside the massive creature sprawled in its lava lake. These peaceful interludes were brief, but grounding.
Then, back to work.
Over the course of a week, the ocean began to obey him more naturally. His control became instinctual, not just over the shark's powers, but also the volcanic bear's elemental might.
One afternoon, he rose from the ocean and stepped onto its surface, completely dry. The water no longer clung to him.
He strolled toward the volcanic range, soon reaching the familiar lava lake. The great bear lay lazily in the molten pool, not even bothering to acknowledge his presence.
He patted its head with a faint smile.
A low growl answered him.
He chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I'm off."
He reappeared above the same open sea. This time, he was ready.
A sudden rush of water surged toward him—but he simply stepped aside, the torrent missing him by inches.
He peered down, smirking.
"Time to play."
With a silent incantation, he activated one of his self-made spells—Mana Disorder—a technique that twisted the flow of magic around him, canceling all water-based elemental abilities in the area.
"No more tricks," he thought, diving straight toward the ocean.
Like a torpedo, he closed in on the shark's aura.
The idea had been simple: if he could shut down the beast's water manipulation, it would become a mere brute. Without the sea under its command, it would lose its edge.
But he was wrong.
As he reached the shark and struck with a slicing blow, he felt no resistance—no flesh, no scales. Just mist.
A ghost.
The image of the shark faded like a mirage. And then—
Blackness.
He reappeared in the air again, stunned. The last thing he remembered was the shift—the shark's presence had moved from in front of him to directly beneath.
"…What the hell?"
He dove again, this time increasing the spell's density—amplifying the mana distortion.
And just like before, the shark vanished into the ocean.
A heartbeat later, his instincts screamed. Something massive surged from below.
Without a second thought, he exploded upward through the water's surface, sonic booms echoing behind him.
Then he looked back.
A gaping maw had opened behind him—enormous, far larger than before. It swallowed the space where he'd just been.
Then—
Darkness again.
Floating in midair, he blinked slowly, pieces of realization clicking together.
"…It grew."
His face twisted in frustration. Then, a grin.
"Now that's a natural predator."