Guild Wars

The problem was that… Conner knew exactly what he had to do. He had known from the moment he had woken up, which was why he had gazed at the ship captain in such a manner. 

It was why, despite the storm thrashing the fishing boat, he could come and stand out there without any fear of being swept away when even the captain dared not come up. 

Conner grabbed the railing tightly, wishing he didn't have to do this, but knew he had to. This was the only way, he had lived and worked with these men for more than three years. 

It was impossible for him to just look away and watch them drown when he knew there was something he could do about it. Conner closed his eyes and felt within himself, calling forth a power he had sealed away due to fear.   

Soon, he went deeper and deeper into himself, until he was lost in a trance. 

When he came to, his eyes suddenly opened with a snap, and he noticed that he was submerged in water that seemed to stretch out as far as he could see. The water was dimly lit, enough for him to see around, but a pervading darkness existed at the edge of his sight that caused him to feel panic. 

Not only that, but he began to hyperventilate as he could not breathe, which made things worse. He tried to swim upwards towards air, but no matter how high he went, the scene around him remained the same. 

Conner began to feel weak, dizziness clouding his mind as he floated in the water helplessly, wondering if he would die here. Then, a shadow emerged from the darkness that encompassed everything Conner could see, making his dull eyes widen slightly. 

A deep and powerful voice that rumbled his very soul spoke out the next moment, it was filled with wisdom and vicissitudes of times long gone. 

"How shameful. The Son of the Sea, drowning in its very waters. An irony for the ages." 

Conner wanted to argue that, yet he currently lacked the presence of mind as he was lingering on the edge of death, though he never seemed to cross it. 

"Hmph, even if the mind is clueless, the body understands. Your body is absorbing enough oxygen to keep you alive as an emergency, but you can only return to functionality if you BREATHE!" 

The last word was like a sonic boom that struck Conner's body, sending him spinning into the depths as his mind reeled. 

Breathe? How could he breathe in water? Did he look like a goddamn fish?   

However, Conner still made an attempt, and as one expected, he only filled his lungs with water. He began to cough and gag underwater, which made the giant shadow above him even angrier. 

"DO YOU ALSO INHALE EVERY GAS INSIDE THE AIR WHEN YOU BREATHE ON LAND, CHILD?! FILTER IT! CONCENTRATE ON THE OXYGEN PART INSIDE THE WATER! 

The voice roared even louder, blasting Conner away once more. Frustrated and angry, he gritted his teeth as he concentrated and wished that he would breathe in the air within the water, and not the water itself. 

Suddenly, Conner felt lightheaded as his neck itched on both sides, and the water in his lungs escaped him. Rather, directly from his neck, he felt oxygen flow down to his lungs, then back out from his nose. 

Conner's face changed as he couldn't find the right words to explain how strange he felt currently. It was the first time in his life he had not needed to breathe using his nose, that feeling of air directly entering his lungs from his neck would certainly take some getting used to. 

"Hmph, it seems there is still hope for you yet." The grand voice remarked with slight praise despite its earlier harsh words. 

Now that he was no longer asphyxiating, Conner could take a look at what had been looming over him all this while, and when he did, his eyes bulged despite his usually calm demeanor. 

Before him and slightly above him was the largest behemoth he had ever seen in his life. The width of its head alone encompassed the entirety of his vision, and he could not see an end to its body. 

It seemed to stretch to infinitum. 

Conner could only ask. "What… who are you…?" 

The behemoth 'looked' at Conner, though he couldn't even see its eyes with how huge its body was, he could only feel like its sight was trained on him. 

"Me? I'm the Overlord of the Sea and its depth, the greatest behemoth of this world, the Leviathan." It answered proudly, the water quaking it with might despite its mouth seemingly never moving. 

"I know about the mighty Leviathan, but what would you want with me?" Conner asked with confusion. 

The water trembled slightly. "If I had a choice, I wouldn't. There have only been a handful of times that someone was born who could wield my powers, yet never before have I been inherited by a descendant of the progenitor that is more irritating than you. Because of one slight setback, you sealed me in your mind space for over seven years and have lost your connection to the sea." 

Conner was not understanding what this entity was saying, yet it soon realized this issue. "It's a waste of time trying to explain it to you, instead I'll just force you to remember what you so foolishly sealed away." 

Soon, the water trembled once more and sealed Conner in a strange translucent ball, before forming strange ripples that passed over his body, especially his head. 

Suddenly, he roared in pain as his mouth opened, water flooding his throat and his head aching as if someone had used a claw to shred a part of his brain into pieces. 

Suddenly, Conner's eyes glazed over as he was lost in memories long past. 

........... 

"Conner! Conner, come quickly!" A desperate female voice shouted. 

Conner, starting to develop into a handsome young man at his current age of 14 years, was shocked and scared by his mother's tone of voice and rushed out of his room. 

When he got downstairs, he was shocked to hear loud noises and grunts, as well as screams of pain. Upon rushing into the kitchen, where his mother's voice had called for him, the teenager almost screamed when he saw her seated on the floor near the door, clutching her belly that was bleeding profusely. 

Around her were the bodies of five burly and well-built men who seemed to have gone purple from asphyxiation. Conner ignored this and rushed to his mother's side, feeling a wave of panic overwhelm him like none other before. 

His mother, a young and lively woman with a fierce visage, was smiling incomparably gently as she raised a hand to hold her son's face. 

"My baby boy… They found us. Those dogs from the Hunter Squad finally found us, and your father is keeping them at bay outside. I'm only afraid that he won't be able to do so for much longer." His mother whispered painfully. 

Conner pressed a napkin to her wound in order to stifle it. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, his mother placed a finger to his lips and smiled. 

"We don't have much time, so just listen to me, my boy. You might have already begun sensing it, but you're different from normal people. You come from a Lineage of powerful people, like those superheroes you love talking about." His mother chuckled at that, yet stopped as it worsened her condition. 

"However, even within our Lineage of people, you're special. You are stronger and have far more potential for growth than your peers. From here, it's important that you find your way home, to where we came from." 

"You are a proud descendant of the Serpent God Inheritance of the Lucifer Lineage, with 29% bloodline purity. You don't need to understand what it means, but just remember that and tell it to the right people, they will understand." 

His mother began to cough a bit more blood as her breathing became strained, but she forced herself to keep her words clear so that her son wouldn't forget them. 

"You're a member of the strongest Lineage and our Ancestral Home is in Italy, yet you won't be able to find it on your own. Rather, head to the Central State and look for a woman named Fyre. Tell her what I told you, and she'll take you back home." 

Conner stopped his mother for the first time with a fierce look as tears rolled down his eyes. "Who did this to you? Who are our enemies? What have we ever done to them?" 

His mother could only smile bitterly, then remembered that despite her son being so well-behaved and mature for his age, he was still just a boy in the midst of puberty. The fact that neither she nor her husband would survive this day pained her deeply, but she could only do her best with what time she had left. 

"Those mongrels hail from the Pangu Lineage. Ever since their Alliance forced our Elders to seal our prodigy, many houses within the Lineage broke away due to dissatisfaction. As if that wasn't enough, those bastards formed hunter groups to pick us off one by one." 

"Your Mom and Dad are strong, and we've cleared many such groups secretly over the years. However, this time, they've sent over someone from the main family, which is why your father is having a tough time. That is also why you must flee. Go now, and look for Fyre!" His mother concluded as she coughed out blood, which splashed on Conner, shocking the lad and scaring him. 

He obviously did not want to go, but his mother chastised him and pressed a strange pearl to his chest. Immediately, he was enveloped by a bubble of water which transported him out of the house he had grown up in rapidly, eventually entering the nearby sea and blasting through it like a missile. 

In that split second the bubble had left the house, young Conner had been able to watch as his father's chest was punched through by a burly young man with bronze skin, barely older than himself. 

....... 

Conner groaned and clutched his head, eventually waking up in the water again. 

"Do you remember who you are now? What you are?" The Leviathan asked with its deep, thunderous voice solemnly. 

Conner gazed at his fists and raised his head with a serious expression. "I always did. I only temporarily forgot in order to prevent my enemies from finding me. However, there is no need to do so anymore." 

"Oh? And what has changed from back then?" The Leviathan asked with interest. 

Conner clenched his fists tightly, fury blazing in him as he remembered the senseless death of his parents by their enemies. "First of all, I'm not a child anymore. That is enough for now." 

"Good! This is a worthy temperament for the Overlord of the Sea! Get back out there and calm your servant down, before returning here. We have much to discuss." The Leviathan instructed him with satisfaction. 

Conner then calmly closed his eyes and returned to the bow of the ship, though he had actually never left. He then gazed at the raging storm calmly and dove into the water. 

Once in it, he felt his neck shift as air flowed into his body from there, and the surrounding water, though full of its own wildness, seemed like a tamed horse he could rise. 

Without even moving his arms and legs, he blasted through the water using just his mind, reaching the first fisherman who was drowning. Conner caught him and returned to the fishing boat, tossing him aboard before rushing to the next one. 

Like that, Conner saved each of the 20 men before they could drown, though near the end, he was really pushing it closely. He easily leaped out of the sea and onto the deck of the boat, gazing at the 20 men who were recovering that were gazing at him strangely. 

Conner did not shy away from these looks, not like the first time he had subconsciously helped someone, and realized that there was something different about him. Of course, since he had repressed the memories of his parent's demise, he had forgotten all that key information until today. 

Conner turned back to the sea and revealed a solemn expression. Even though he had saved the men, they would still be drowned to death if this storm kept up. They didn't even dare to do anything but anchor tightly, and that was a big problem. 

Conner knew that his hydrokinesis alone could not help. It allowed him to fly about in the water like some superhero, but would not quell a whole storm, no. 

For that, he would need something more, something deeper. 

He did not know if it was the words of the Leviathan or some sort of spiritual help, but he knew what he had to do at this moment. Conner let go of the railings and gazed at the sea, a fierce expression manifesting on his face that displayed absolute authority and dominance. 

With a voice that was his, but much deeper and more impactful, he roared: "SILENCE!" 

His voice was like a sequence of sonar waves that were visible to all onlookers, passing over the sea as it slowly quieted down and settled, revealing the pristine blue waters and the sun which had been smothered. 

To the men standing behind Conner, they all fell to their knees gasping, not because of fear, but because at that moment, right there and then, the back of the man before them made them feel as if they were gazing at the largest behemoth they had ever seen.