“We’re doomed,” a skinny man said while looking at the sea.

“You’re not helping. Move your arms to row,” a handsome youth tiredly said.

“We’re hungry, we’re thirsty, we’re nowhere near land, we’re unable to use Victa, ergo, we’re dooooomed,” the skinny man complained again on their predicament, accentuating each reason.

Three men and two women in the middle of the ocean. Looking at the poorly made raft they were on, it could be assumed their trip wasn't made by choice.

“If you can still flap your mouth, you still have energy… We’re all in the same boat here, pun intended. Look at the bright side, at least no monster tried to eat us today,” the big guy tried to lift their spirits.

“Way to lift up morale, dude. I got no idea how you can always stay positive, Norman,” the skinny man said in a drawl. The strong sunlight sapped his energy. He was wondering if there was any hope at all.

“Will you stop complaining, Will? You’re like a bloody girl! Do something productive or shut your gums!”

“But Sandra…”

“No buts! Do you hear me or Irene complaining?”

But the skinny man didn't stop.

“Haaah… Just our luck. Told you we should change our team name… Rising Fortune… Why do we keep ending up in a miserable situation like this? Because someone upstairs doesn't like us, that’s why. I’m sad.”

“Will, I swear, if I hear one more word of your jabbering I’ll-”

“Shush, both of you,” Bruce shut Will and Sandra up by pointing at Irene.

The archer was aiming her bow to the sky, at a bird flying overhead. The party’s hopes immediately lit up. It would be their first food in two days.

After the ship they rode on had the unfortunate fate of becoming a kraken’s toy and broke apart, they managed to make a raft somehow using the remains. The tide separated them and the other survivors. After that, they were at the mercy of a storm. After it passed, they were lost and completely stranded at sea. To make things worse, the region they were in was unique, making them unable to use any Victa. No Victa, no Arte.

The silver lining was, in their current state, they didn't attract the attention of the plethora of monsters under the surface.

Irene carefully took her time to aim. With Arte, it was a simple task, but now she couldn't use any so the stakes were high. Inhale, exhale, steady hands. The arrow rose to the sky, and five pairs of eyes followed it. When it struck true and felled the bird, even someone that seldom showed her emotions, like Irene clenched her fist out of the sense of accomplishment.

The group of five rejoiced, especially their stomach. The bird was not particularly big and wouldn't completely satisfy five people’s worth of hunger but food was food.

The bird fell to the sea, only a couple of meters away from the raft. And then, as soon as their spirits were lifted, it got cast down to the pit of despair again.

“Goddess Holy Mother!”

Will screamed the loudest as a monster shark, much bigger than a normal shark, snatched their precious food. The emergence of the shark also rocked the raft, sending the big-bodied Norman to the sea.

Hungry mouths intended to eat the man, some could do it in one gulp. With so much disturbance, the raft wouldn't hold. The members of the Rising Fortune adventurer group felt their doom approaching as the sea roiled.

There was a sound not unlike a roar from under the water and a terrifying presence enveloped them. To their horror, the sea was made calm, as if the waves and winds were stopped in their tracks. The monsters, big and small that tried to eat Norman were paralyzed.

One by one the bodies of the monsters floated to the surface, counting the small ones, there were hundreds. The raft became like an island among the sea of marine corpses.

“Wh-what happened?” Norman took the chance to climb back on the raft. His question remained unanswered.

A death match of two monsters was the answer. One was a dragon and the other was a snake. The Rising Fortune became luckily or unluckily witnesses of the fish-eat-fish occurrence in the monster kingdom. The two mighty beasts didn't pay any attention to them and appeared for a short time; the ferocious wrestling match once again happened under the waves, leaving the five humans dumbstruck.

“That-” Will exhaled after a minute of total silence. “-was sick!”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“If I’m not wrong, that dragon is fighting a Jewel Snake. Its scales are like gemstones. Two rare beasts fighting each other…” Bruce had his hand on his chest, trying to slow his heartbeat. “Their aura is no joke. We’re very, very lucky to be unscathed.”

“That was a dragon? I thought dragons were supposed to have wings and stuff. This one has a serpentine body. I thought it was another snake monster.”

“It was a sea dragon, Norman. Their habitat is different,” Bruce added.

“Hey, the weaker monsters and fish are knocked out! We’ve got so much food!” Sandra exclaimed happily. “Let's collect 'em before they get up.”

“Look!” Irene pointed to a particular monster. “A Perretine Seahorse! It only eats kelp that grows in the shallows! We can tie it to our raft and follow it to land! With its size, pulling the raft won't be a problem.”

“Oh, thank the Goddess,” Sandra praised the Radiant Lady for her blessing.

“Filterbelly Fish!” Noram gasped. “The water inside their bellies is safe to drink.”

“For real?” Will jumped at the word drink.

“Look alive, we got work to do. We shouldn't be here when these monsters wake up. Gather what we need and row!” Bruce said.

“Wait a sec. Why did they get knocked out but we didn't?” Sandra asked.

“Some monsters’ effect is stronger on other monsters,” Irene replied.

“Who cares? I take it back! We’re damn lucky! Booyah!” Will rowed with great enthusiasm.

***

“Woooah…” Boram’s mouth was agape. “This place is incredible.”

After parting with Fio, Viers landed on a nearby island that had a Gate Plant. Truthfully, it would be faster to use his flying carpet as per his original plan but it would be uncouth of him not using Fio’s boat gift.

After seeing the verdure paradise brimming with high quality mana for the first time, Boram was impressed. Just like how in modern open-world games there would be a place early in the game that simply let the player breathe in the marvelous digital world that the developers painstakingly built, Viers gave Boram the chance to see the Biome in all of its glory.

“Welcome to Viridis. A sanctuary. This will be your new home. And don't tell anyone about this place.”

Rather than always calling it Dia’s Biome, Viers had planned to put a name to the place for a long time. He settled with the name Viridis, which meant green in latin.

“Home!”

“Yaa!”

“Fuu!”

“Whoa!?”

Viers’ familiars came out from the badges by Viers’ will and their presence surprised Boram.

“This is Dia, Faiya, and Futon; my dear familiars. Gang, meet Boram. You all will be coworkers so get along.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dia turned into a palmtop size dryad with a poof and hopped on top of the cloud elemental. She extended her tiny hand to Boram. “I am Dia.”

“R-right. Nice to meet you too. I am Boram.”

Dia shook the edge of Boram’s finger.

“Welcome back, Lord Viers, and Boram.”

“Heya. No problem?”

To the approaching two beauties, Boram greeted them nervously and as politely as he could. Their beauty made Boram nervous, like a kid sweating his hand as he held an antique porcelain vase.

“H-hello, pretty missus. I’m Boram Rockboa. My Master has kindly brought me here.”

“There’s no need for such courtesy,” Farley replied. “Although this is the first time we've met directly, you’re known to us.”

“So nice to finally meet you,” Paina said.

“Take a look around and get some rest. After that I want to know your progress. Around next week, we’ll be traveling abroad. In Latias.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Come come and see!” Dia urged on top of Futon. Faiya also floated around them. “Dia’s home is amazing, you’ll see!”

“Farley, can you go with them?”

“Certainly, Lord Viers.”

Boram gave Farley and Viers a look before getting dragged by Dia.

“I guess he’s confused about your name,” Paina said.

“I’m thinking about how much I should tell him and how much I should not. It’s a bit of a headache.”

“You reap what you sow,” Paina said without sympathy. “Your fault for having so many.”

“Quite,” Viers didn't deny her.

“Next week, huh? Don't know how much I and Farley can get done in just a week.”

They wanted to go with Viers but currently, they were Level 0. Too risky.

“I’ll have the kids and Boram with me. I believe there’s still time yet until some grand stage like in Valkut's finale. You and Farley’s strength will be needed. Even if you want to slack off, I won't let you.”

“What a slave driver,” Paina rolled her eyes.

Another portal opened and Arsène walked in.

“Phew, that was a tough fight.”

“It went on all night?” Viers was surprised.

“Chasing and pinning the snake down was such a pain,” Arsène sighed. “The snake’s body is in here.”

Viers caught the inventory ring that his other self tossed. While he was traveling by boat, Viers surveyed the opportunities for harvesting benefits. His Euryale Sight found quite a few things worth taking and he sent Arsène under the sea without Boram knowing.

When he found the Jewel Snake by accident, Arsène contacted Viers before chasing it. The snake would give his dragon form a good boost. While Arsène could do monster transformation, he couldn't upgrade the forms so Viers needed to be the one eating monster meat.

“And the jewels will be a good present for Boram,” Viers nodded.

He still remembered that Boram’s Profound Codex, Earthborn Amalgam, can make the user absorb precious stones to improve their constitution.

“Other than the snake, I got some bits and bobs in the ring, nothing major though.”

“Anything else worth noting about?” Viers asked.

“Nope.”

Arsène didn't know he saved his acquaintances by accident.