The waves split apart in his wake, revealing the sea of corpses left behind as the consequence of a devastating attack caused by a single man. Travelling through the swamp had been an enormous challenge the first time around, back when they still had to create the path they walked on, but with Aguiar's welcome addition, things had become so easy that Giovanni almost wished for a little more challenge.
Almost.
Every enemy that tried to approach them by returning through the bridge Giovanni had created needed to emerge from the water, and that had become virtually impossible when the triton could basically massacre everything and everyone in that environment with a mere thought. The greatest advantage of those demonic tadpoles had become almost completely meaningless.
Even so, there was clearly something that made no sense to Giovanni.
'Isn't this a little... too strong?'
He was familiar with elemental manipulation, and even if he didn't exactly have experience throwing chunks of rock at people, for obvious reasons, it still felt completely irrational that water, even when controlled by Aguiar, could kill awakened creatures.
And yet, it was undeniable.
Liquid serrated blades, pressurised jets, and waves capable of crushing entire bodies. The triton looked less like a man and more like a natural disaster.
Just how strong could someone become in only a few weeks?
This was ridiculous.
"Yes! This is exactly what I needed, Giovanni! Do you have any idea how tedious it was living in that waterfall? Endless hordes of beasts thirsty for my flesh, reduced to piles of blood!"
His companion was further behind in pure ecstasy, laughing while raising his trident and exterminating a swarm of insects that had decided to join the chaos.
Every explosion of water turned potential Soul Shards into useless sludge, and Giovanni felt his soul leaving his body with every bit of waste.
"I didn't get the chance to ask before... but you got ridiculously strong since you came here. Seriously, killing that whale in one hit was, like, insanely cool." Giovanni praised him sincerely, though he was still trying to pry an explanation out of him.
Aguiar paused the massacre, seemingly amused by the comment.
"I admit I'd love to say it's simply my natural talent shining brighter than all others. But the reason couldn't be simpler." He pointed toward the skies.
Or rather, the ocean beyond.
"Thanks to an attribute, I become stronger depending on how close I am to water and how vast the quantity around me is. In a desert, my powers would be... tragic. But here? Hah! I've never felt so alive!"
Giovanni widened his eyes in surprise, but looking back now, it seemed obvious. The nature of that enhancement went far beyond mere physical improvement. It was something intrinsic to his aspect itself.
No wonder both his control over water and its destructive power had increased so drastically, even though he was still just a sleeper, incapable of manipulating soul essence.
At that point, maybe he wasn't so insane after all for saying he was stronger than Eric.
"But that wasn't all, of course. I'm stronger, sure, but I also had a little help from something else." He approached, letting the shorter boy get a better look at the weapon.
"This trident, called the Executioner of the Seas, has a unique characteristic. It becomes extremely potent and destructive against any maritime creature. I don't even need to say what the main type of nightmare creature around here is. So then, starting to understand just how incredible I am?! Hahaha!"
Damn it, Giovanni couldn't even argue back. That was completely unfair! If that pervert hadn't appeared on the other side of that crater, things would have been so much easier! Feeling a sting of envy, Giovanni puffed his cheeks and looked away.
"...Decent."
Aguiar laughed even louder.
"You sound just like Eric!"
The two continued onward, with one of them in an irritatingly better mood than the other.
---
Another thing that had been hammering away at his mind the entire time was the supposed conversation Sofia wanted to have with him once they reached the mansion.
To be honest, Giovanni had to stop himself from physically squirming whenever the thought crossed his mind. Everything that had happened inside the crater would steal many nights of sleep from him for decades to come...
Assuming he survived, of course.
What exactly did he want to happen?
Even he couldn't say.
Having his feelings returned would be great, and having a girlfriend was, like, one of the pillars of male existence, wasn't it? Something close to that, at least.
But it wasn't that simple.
It could never be.
The two of them were not in an equal relationship, no matter how hard Giovanni tried to create something resembling one.
He would never abuse his power, no matter what happened, but the mere possibility that he could was like poison to Sofia. If the situation were reversed, Giovanni knew he would never be able to fully relax either.
At the moment, they were always together, forced by their environment to survive side by side.
But what about when they returned to the real world?
'I need to find a way to remove this mark.'
That was the only thing running through his mind.
The control over his innate ability was still crude, but that could still change.
Or rather, he would find a way to change it.
If the possibility of leaving that connection whenever the other person wished existed, then the problem would be solved.
His internal monologue was interrupted by something that caught his attention.
Even though he was making a huge effort not to show what he was thinking, it seemed Giovanni was a terrible actor, because Shelly, walking a few steps ahead, cast him a strange look.
"You look like you swallowed a fly. What's going on?"
He hesitated briefly.
All of their latest interactions had made it very clear to Giovanni that Shelly, at best, did not have a very positive opinion of him.
What were the chances that opening up would lead to anything positive?
"It's a personal problem... You don't need to worry about it."
"If your head's gonna stay in the clouds, then I've got a damn good reason to worry. You're our eyes around here," she argued, pressuring Giovanni into talking.
Well, she had a point.
That didn't make him any more willing to speak.
"It's about Sofia, alright? Satisfied? You've only known us for a few weeks, but I've kinda been connected to her since the very first day. And this whole situation with my aspect is still really recent."
His words came out more acidic and full of regret than he intended. Now that the immediate danger had passed, the emotional turbulence seemed to have worsened.
To his surprise, Shelly didn't answer with the same hostility. She stared at the smaller boy with a conflicted expression before finally responding with a sigh.
"I said some stupid shit, okay? The things I said back at the mansion... and before that, in the forest. You're too nice, and I usually don't get along with people like you. I never thanked you for saving me when all this started, and not this time either... so thanks for everything."
He had never seen someone struggle so much just to say thank you.
It looked like the words were fighting to leave her mouth, but it still felt completely sincere.
But the girl still wasn't done.
"The two of them told me properly what happened while we were unconscious. I wouldn't have jumped into that fountain in your place, especially not to save someone who hates me."
Not to mention that he had also been risking the life of his best friend in the process.
"So why?" she asked, watching him carefully.
He had already thought about why he had done it, but to anyone outside his own head, it would probably sound insane.
Hell, even to Giovanni it sounded insane if he thought about it for too long.
But in the end, there was only one answer.
"Because I didn't want to lose. I've already lost a lot of things, you know? Almost everything. We're not friends, but I still only made it this far because of you. Besides, I had already resisted the song once before, so I didn't jump blindly. I just bet that I'd be able to resist it again."
Giovanni clenched his fist, renewed determination shining in his eyes. Considering everything that had happened, it was very possible that only he would have been able to resist that thing, so how could he blame the others for failing to do the same?
It was precisely because he was capable of doing what others could not that he was obligated to act.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be intelligent.
He would just be a coward.
Shelly's fingers trembled when Giovanni said he had only made it this far because of her. After a few moments of silence, the girl turned away and quickened her pace.
"And now you're scared of talking to a girl? Man up, shrimp."
She... was she making fun of him?!
Exasperated, Giovanni couldn't come up with a proper response and was forced to hurry after her moments later.
The group was finally finishing their escape from that disgusting Mangroove, and the plateau where the mansion stood was already visible just ahead.