After successfully refining the four sea wraiths Nereus hurriedly swam away from the sunken ship while practicing recalling and withdrawing the wraiths from the seal mark on his forehead.
Now that he'd received an overall increase in power and ability during this trip and given the fact that his grace period had come to an end, Nereus decided to swim back to the Vorteesi sect.
With his new and improved speed it took him almost no time at all to make it back to the sect.
However, once he returned he realized there was barely half of the day left and that he had missed meal time.
Cutting his losses he looked eagerly towards making it to his hut so he could bide himself over with some leftover rations he had stowed inside.
However once he was within a few meters of the small path that led to his hut in the back of the sect, a sudden feeling of unease raised the gills at the sides of his neck.
SWOOSH
SWOOSH
SWOOSH
SWOOSH
At that moment, the four sea wraiths darted out from the seal mark on Nereus's forehead.
Before exiting the seal mark the sea wraiths became completely incorporeal and disappeared from sight before shooting off in four different directions.
2 of the sea wraiths began to surveil the perimeter around Nereus and the third swept downward into a ravine just off the path, while the fourth swam straight up above Nereus to gain a bird's eye view of any discoveries made by the other three.
Nereus felt his psyche pulse erratically through their connections, as if sensing something strange beneath the sea floor.
Moments later, the sea wraiths delivered their findings.
After a short time, the two that had gone to investigate the perimeter dotted with kelpwood trees and rugged terrain discovered three hooded figures that looked to be fellow Mer hiding within the branches of one of the kelp trees.
The third wraith, however, had discovered a fourth attacker, crouched in the shadowed trench just behind the nearest rock outcropping.
All four of the Mer wore dark cloaks that covered their faces somewhat but judging by their sizes they couldn't be much older than Nereus was and their varying shades of blue tails showed they were Vorteesi sect members as well.
From the apprehensive looks on their faces as they peered at Nereus's back standing still on the path, he knew all four had ill will towards him, and two definitely were giving off ebbs of killing intent.
Thanks to the mystical surveillance abilities granted by the use of the sea wraiths, Nereus could see all the details through their eyes as if he was standing before his assailants himself.
'Hm I bet these fools are after my token, and so soon after I just returned at that …simply shameful...an example must be made!'
Wasting no time Nereus then recalled the four sea wraiths within the seal mark on his forehead unbeknownst to his four would be assailants who could only see that Nereus had suspiciously stopped during his trek home.
As the wannabe assailants watched with anxious and anticipating gazes, they couldn't help the impatience growing within their being at Nereus's lack of movement.
"What are we waiting for" one of the four whispered to the leader of the group, "...his guard's completely down right now, we should strike while he's not looking"
"Shhh, something's off here can't you tell? He was previously moving quite speedily towards his home and now he's just abruptly stopped... We have to proceed with caution from here on..."
"Caution be damned we've been staking out here all day for him, we even missed breakfast and lunch for this, urgh I'm going in and claiming his token for myself!
"Wait you idiot, you'll ruin everything." his companions tried to stop him only for their warnings to fall on deaf ears as he darted from behind the tree towards Nereus's position.
'Gotcha!' he thought with a smirk
Just as the impatient assailant made his move and rapidly swam towards Nereus while circulating his sea essence in preparation to attack, he and his companions were suddenly shocked at the occurence before them.
Before anyone knew what was happening, with a quick and powerful swish of Nereus's tail a 2 meter arc of pressurized water aglow with concentrated sea essence explosively rocketed towards the unprepared assailant who was moving far too speedily to dodge.
BOOM
After the cacophonous impact echoed loudly, the bruised figure of the now unhooded merman was revealed amidst a torrent of bubbles as he crashed against a nearby kelpwood tree.
His body lay in a crumpled heap while he lay unconscious from the savage surprise attack, allowing Nereus to get a rather good look at his face.
'Hmph not surprising, he's one of those bottom feeders who'd have no chance at Inner Core status without shameful tactics such at this' thought Nereus recognizing the assailant as one of his fellow classmates who often sat in the third row of the Forum.
Nereus then thought back to the other three assailants who were surely still hiding with bated breath before shouting out,
"The three of you can come out now as well!"
At that moment shocked expressions shown on the faces of the other assailants as their eyes bulged in an almost comical manner from their covers being blown and seemingly so easy.
'Wait—'
The fourth attacker, the one lurking in the ravine felt a sudden chill.
"Damn it," he whispered. "How?!"
'But how?!' thought the other as well with a creeping suspicion appeared in his mind...
Their position blown, the three Mer hesitated before two emerged from the foliage and the other from behind a small ditch wall, gills fluttering with unease.
They were all visibly trembling, especially under the dense, overwhelming pressure now leaking from Nereus's body.
The aura of a Peak Wave Ruler blanketed the clearing, but it wasn't just power — it was suffused with deathly stillness, the energy of a predator too practiced to waste motion.
And then there were his eyes — glowing whirlpools of pale blue that churned with ghostly light. Looking into them made their stomachs turn, as if they were being dragged down into a crushing abyss.
'Fuck this!'
At that moment the fourth attacker had decided to take a gamble and begun to inch backward, trying to melt back into the shadows.
Nereus smirked.
"Nice try."
SWOOSH.
One of the sea wraiths then returned like fangs unleashed. Taking to the air it descended like a cormorant toward the retreating attacker.
Before the other two could even register what was happening the wraith was already upon their comrade.
Nereus's lips parted in a single mental command: "Devour."
A strangled cry erupted from the trench as the fourth Mer was dragged backward by the fourth sea wraith, his weapon clattering uselessly against stone as his body convulsed.
"ARGH"
Bubbles filled the water as his blood, sea essence, and his very mind were drained in mere moments. By the time his companions turned to look, all that remained was a pale, brittle husk.