NOVEL NEXT B2 | Chapter 52
Aria
The next day sees me up bright and early to gather everything I need from a certain very enthusiastic merchant before I head out towards the ferry with Azura and Selenia. And a bunch of royal guards. But I ignore them.
And when we arrive at the ferry, we immediately find the ferry completely void of people. Probably due to the royal entourage.
Actually wouldn’t be surprised if these royals just used their own ship to get there instead of using the ferry.
They’re probably only using the ferry because I’m gonna be using the ferry whenever I go over there, and one of the purposes of this trip is to show me how to get there.
Not much point in that if I won’t be using the same mode of transportation during their little tour trip as when I head there myself.
I can’t help but feel a tad sorry for the owner of the ferry though. Unless he was paid off, of course. Which is possible.
The ferry owner aside though, we quickly begin the journey over towards the Grand Ocean. A journey that only takes about an hour or so, with the ship moving quite a bit faster than I was expecting.
And the actual Grand Ocean itself… is beautiful. I’m not really sure what else to call it.
Just beautiful.
The ocean water itself is actually incredibly clear. So clear that I can see incredibly deep down into it. Obviously not to the bottom, but at least several hundred meters deep. And within the part that is visible, beautiful mana creatures can be seen just swimming about. Many of whom glow with an equally beautiful light that shines like a beacon down there, especially below the visible points in the water where the lights are all I can see.
Meanwhile above the water, high in the sky, is a seemingly endless aurora. Just cutting all the way towards the center of the Grand Ocean. With the sun in the sky shining down on the water, making it look even nicer in the process.
Of course, any of the mana creatures close by begin to attack us. Beautiful or not.
So the ferry itself just stops at the edge of the Grand Ocean, likely to let us off. Since I don’t think I can see a ship like this heading deeper in, even if it has some defenses down below to deal with these weaker mana creatures.
I glance at Azura as he steps up to the rim of the ship and says, “You’ll have to remember this spot to return to the ship. Just use the aurora as a guide mark to get here.”
That makes me nod before he continues while pointing down at the water, “This part of the Grand Ocean is the Tier 1 section. And each Tier of the Grand Ocean grows progressively harder to see through the water. So when you see the water shift in lighting, that’s when you’ll know that you’ve entered the next Tier.”
Interesting. Makes me wonder if it’s any less beautiful deeper in.
“The mana creatures in the Grand Ocean’s first Tier, or first ring as you might hear it called, are all generally fish of some sort,” Azura says as he turns back to look at me again. “Large fish. And the second ring are more fish mixed with larger types of fish like sharks and the like. With the third ring starting to have some more monstrous looking mana creatures. It isn’t until the fifth ring that you have to start worrying about krakens though.”
Right. Krakens. The giant squids I remember from the Hunter’s Bay that would reach up and grab people and fish from the higher Tiers.
“Most of the resources in the Grand Ocean are closer to the ocean’s surface or within little caverns down on the surface, and the mana creatures of each ring are stronger the deeper you go down,” Azura continues before pausing, seemingly like he’s trying to remember if there’s anything he’s forgetting. Then he looks like he’s remembered something as he claps his fist against the palm of his hand and says, “Oh, right. And if you enter into the sixth through tenth Tiers, make sure you watch out for the leviathan. Because that’s the ruling king of the Grand Ocean and it likes to wander around the central five rings without a care.”
Well that’s not foreboding at all.
“What’s it look like?” I ask out of curiosity.
He gives me a flat look and says, “You’ll know what it is when you see the sea dragon that’s larger than the capital and castle put together.”
I stare at him blankly at that before muttering, “Oh. Right.”
So it’s a big fish.
A very big fish.
“And please try not to be swallowed by it,” he says with a raised brow. “I know you make a habit of being swallowed by large mana creatures,” some of the royal guards send me odd looks at that, “but please don’t get swallowed by this thing. You’ll never get out until the thing eventually dies of old age. If that’s even possible.”
Please stop ruining my reputation.
I do not have a habit of being swallowed by mana creatures.
“Just in case that didn’t drill it into your head deep enough, the thing is too strong for Mother or Father to kill, even working together,” he adds after seeing my nonchalant if slightly annoyed expression.
That has my eyes widening at last.
A mana creature a pair of level seven hundred somethings can’t kill… must be tough. Very tough.
I wonder… is it bad that my first thought isn’t to run away from it?
Because I kinda wanna see how strong its soul energy would be. Since I’ve learned that soul energy is mostly from how long someone’s lifespan is, not how powerful they are, or how strong their ability is.
So just how powerful of a soul core would something that strong and likely long lived give me?
Maybe something to ponder over a few millennia down the road.
Because he’s right. I’d rather not end up spending years in its stomach.
“Why do I get the feeling your thoughts aren’t where they should be right now…” Azura mutters, making me focus on his face as I tilt my head a little in confusion. But he just shakes his head and turns to look out at the waters while saying, “Let’s head into the waters now.”
I nod my head at that and both he and I jump into the ocean waters. Then his teenage sister does the same before the ship itself begins to move away with the guards still on it.
Guess they’re only here to escort the prince and princess to the Grand Ocean and not through it.
Putting that aside, It’s just so bizarre to be able to see so clearly in the water. Almost as if I’m not even in water. Almost.
Also, a bunch of the fishies start heading towards us. Large creatures at about half a meter to a meter in length. With lots of what look like oversized piranhas.
So without hesitation, I begin summoning some Lesser Death Spirits.
Only for them to prove rather pointless when a certain prince goes and swipes his arm, literally killing the creatures with a wave of his hand that sends a powerful ripple through the water in the direction he swiped it.
I stare for a few seconds, then turn to look at the bisected fish. Then I stare some more.
‘Please don’t do that,’ I tell him telepathically through our communication ring.
He glances at me before shrugging.
The next time we’re attacked after just a few seconds of moving forwards, into the waters, I find my Lesser Death Spirits no longer pointless. Although the princess is also helping by freezing a bunch of them with her ice magic, proving the girl to be an ice mage.
After dealing with this next wave, Azura says, “I’ll go ahead and take you to the best spots in the Grand Ocean. Both the spots for resource gathering and the spots for mana creature hunting.”
‘Much appreciated,’ I tell him with a nod despite him being in front of me.
Then we proceed to travel deeper down into the waters till we’re a few hundred meters deep. At which point he levels out and we go straight.
“Traveling through this portion is generally the best since it’s far enough underwater that you can catch the more expensive mana creatures yet still not deep enough for visibility to be an issue,” Azura continues as if giving a lecture. Speaking out loud just like all atlanteans seem to do while underwater.
Still not sure how that works.
And like that, we continue swimming through the waters, occasionally dealing with mana creatures and storing them in our storage rings along the way.