Flood and Oliver were walking in a jungle, it had been a day or two since they came to the surface, at first they thought about what to do and came to a conclusion, first things first they needed a lot of stuff like food, shelter, money etc so they decided that going to a city was most important, but as they were about to head out they discovered a very important fact, they had no idea where they are and where the city was too, Flood was sealed for a long time after all and as for Oliver, well he wasn’t from here, even if he had part of the memories of the body he was in he didn’t have them all and whats more just by the fragmented memories Oliver could tell that even the original owner didn’t know exactly where the prison was, as that was another form of security for it, its location wasn’t well known, few knew its specific location.

After thinking for a bit more they decided that just walking was good enough for now, whats more Oliver liked the idea as he craved adventures, that’s why he signed the pact in the first place, that decision however led them to the current situation, they were surrounded by animals who looked like giant praying mantises with iron beetle armor around their bodies, Oliver was fighting with a smile on his face but the battle was not advantageous for him.

They had been travelling for some time, a day or two and almost all of it was spend fighting, there were few short moment in between where Oliver could eat the meat of the beasts and rest a bit, but that was barely enough, his fatigue was accumulating, normal person would have long since fallen, but he wasn’t a normal person, he had been in similar situations before and whats more now he had god power as well, but there was still something bugging him.

Oliver “so cant you help a bit”.

Even though he liked fighting he wasn’t an idiot or he couldn’t have lived for so long, so he knew his position in the current fight and it wasn’t a good one, these creatures were swarming like ants, he was fighting one against many and whats more he even protected Flood for some reason cause the latter looked to be scared, and all those factors combined made it extremely difficult situation.

“usually I wouldn’t mind protecting a beauty, but considering this time the beauty is a God I don’t think you need my help ” Oliver said throwing a charming smile at Flood.

The latter however answered completely unfazed

Flood[well, usually you would be right, but in this case you are wrong, I cant use my power or it would be like a beacon as to where we are, my power is not magic, its nature itself and you cant hide a tsunami, so until we want to be found by everyone you will be the one fighting, I can only use minor healing to help you from time to time, and also..]

Flood showed a little bit of fear in her eyes, which alarmed Oliver.

Oliver smile disappeared “and also what, is there something dangerous even to you”

Flood gave a hesitant answer [I wouldn’t say dangerous, but … I am scared of bugs]

When Oliver heard that he blanked out for a second but still dodged the giant scepter of the mantis coming towards him, after which he started laughing.

Oliver ”HAHAHAHAHAH, are you for real, you mean to tell me that you, a God, is scared of bugs , how does that even work”

If he wasn’t fighting he would be rolling on the ground right now holding his stomach, but the blade which scratched his cheek reminded him he couldn’t do that.

Flood puffed her cheeks angrily, which didn’t give Oliver any dangerous feeling and instead made him think that it was cute.

[why do you think that gods don’t have fears as well, you do understand that we are soul creatures right, we are not stones or metal ] Flood said dejected.

Oliver gave a heartily reply ”no, but you are a God, and you, a God the strongest race is afraid of literal bugs, this doesn’t even need a comparison, a god is afraid of bug, how is that not supposed to be funny”

As someone who loved facing dangerous situations he couldn’t wrap his head around it, how can you be afraid of something you could squash with the slightest of effort, it didn’t make sense.

Flood sighed, she knew that even if she explained Oliver wouldn’t understand, it wasn’t cause the difference of species or power but cause the difference in personalities, a brave person cant explain to a fearful one how to be brave, simply comparison would be, he came here to face dangerous situations and fight, while she stayed cause she wanted to explore, read books and see new places, this showed the difference in their world views, they don’t mind being together cause both purposes needed exploring to do, but that is as far as the similarities go, even in the current situation Floods first instinct was to run while Olivers was to fight white a smile, which didn’t seem crazy, but at the same time gave a fanatical vibe which showed how much he liked challenges.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Flood[well even if I am stronger those bugs are still nasty and you know, you cant win against their numbers so lets run, they wont stop coming no matter how many you kill]

Olive gave Flood a questioning gaze, if he had a way to get out he would have used it, but they were encircled.

Flood [the circular swords aren’t good only for attack]

Oliver thought for a second and understood what Flood meant, he ran towards her and grabbed her after which used the ring swords like steps to climb to the sky and started to run on them in the air, the bugs gave out angry noises but couldn’t follow them, they didn’t have wings and the heavy armor on them made them slow even on the ground.

While they were up high they started looking down to get a better idea of their surrounding but all they could see were trees and jungle and no cities for now.

Oliver “honestly why are there so many strong creatures in here, if a normal human goes around them he would be noting but food, even those bugs I just fought had an armor that felt slightly stronger than the dome of the prison ”

Flood[well its normal, the prison dome was meant to be more durable than sturdy and the two are not the same size, the dome was huge, so the dome defense might be a bit weaker than the bugs on first look but considering its size and how old it is you cant even compare the two]

Oliver was paying attention to the jungle but gave flood another look, the latter however didn’t mind him at all, as he saw that he made a resolution in his mind, but as he was thinking something which made him grim devilishly Flood pointed in the distance.

Flood [a waterfall]

Oliver “where” he coundnt see it at all, but he also wondered why it mattered.

Food[I can feel my worshippers there]

Oliver frowned ”you mean like the giant blender fishes around the prison, I prefer the bugs, lets change directions”

Oliver knew his limits, after fighting and constantly suppling power to the disks he was out of energy, he could maintain them for around another twenty minutes tops, if he focused all his power on them, but that meant he wouldn’t be able to fight when they land and that wasn’t preferable in the jungle.

Flood [no, not like the Depths, these ones have more intelligence and also either way they wouldn’t attack me, their God, but you might be in a bit of danger ]

Olive “thank you for the information, so you want me to change directions after all”

Flood shook her head [no, don’t worry, those ones have high intelligence I can feel it]

Oliver sighed, even though he really didn’t trust Flood words yet he didn’t have a choice, he needed a rest already, the days they spend in the forest were almost constant fighting so even if he didn’t let it show he was really tired.

Oliver”so after how much time will we arrive I cant do this for long”

Flood thought for a second [around 12 to 15 minutes, you should be able to see it soon]

And as she finished the sentence he really could see it now, a huge waterfall started to appear in his view, they were still far away, but even from here he could see the pure blue water crashing into the ground forming several rivers, after a few more minutes as he got close he started to hesitate for a bit.

Oliver”I see the waterfall but I don’t see anything else, where is the safe space, cause my instincts are telling me, this is not one, and I doubt that something can live in that strong current”

Flood smiled instead of replying, so Oliver just made unsatisfied expression but continued to sky run towards it.

When they arrived he had completely no energy left and collapsed on the ground, after a few seconds a hissing sound started to appear in the bushes, Oliver immediately got up and summoned his weapon taking a stance, but that was for appearance only, if something attacked him currently he was done for, so he gave Flood a look seeking help, it doesn’t matter if the kingdoms doesn’t know they are here if he dies now does it, but Flood seeing the eyes of her partner just shook her head.

Flood[what are you doing, don’t you remember what I said about this place]

Oliver still kept his stance.

After a few more minutes from the bushes people with strange looking armors and helmets similar to the heads of the Depths appeared and pointed their weapons at them.

As Oliver saw this he once again gave Flood the look for help, he most certainly couldn’t fight this many people with no power left, but the latter still looked as calm as she could be, in that moment from behind the guards a person appeared running towards Flood and jumped, bowing so hard he made a dent in the earth as he fell before her.

“King of the mermaids and tritons bows before the mighty God of water, oh please don’t be angry about the insolence of my people, they coundnt recognize the mighty existence before them, please spare our lifes ”

Seeing that several different thoughts appeared in Olivers head, such as, how can I understand this dude, what does he mean mermaids and the hell is a triton, and others but he still let out a calm sight and once again collapsed on the ground, he truly had no more energy left.

Flood saw the relaxed Oliver and gave him an {I told you so } smile.

After a few talks with the King he took them to a nearby hill and opened a secret door, after walking for several minutes they were deep underground, in front of glass door, when they entered it a surprised and astonished expression appeared on Oliver face

Oliver eyes opened wide{yes, that is most definitely a new world}

King “O God of water and her Saint, welcome to the water people Kingdom, Welcome to ATLISIA”

Before them a stunning view appeared, building made from corrals, shels ,and other underwater materials giving off numerous gorgeous, different colored lights, the building themselves gave off relaxed feeling, a lot of noise could be heard coming from the streets, Oliver and Flood could see a lot of different species of sub-humans as well, on Olivers face appeared even more exited smile than the one before, between the buildings there were huge streets, water walls with fishes in them, different trees and beautiful decoration, the kingdom had giant dome similar to that of the prison but in it could be seen an artificial sun and moon, there were quite a few spaces where there were doors connecting the dome with the outside waters, and stalls with a lot of different kinds of food circulating everywhere, but most surprising for Oliver was that this place didn’t seem to be too far back on the technology in his world, there were things that seemed like phones, a giant hologramic screens and even things who looked like computers in the form of a giants sea shels, this kingdom looked a bit like a sea resort, but it was still incredible to say the least.

The King gave a proud expression looking at Oliver face, he could guess the other sides feelings right now, but he still had a lot of things to do, he was the King after all, he didn’t have a lot of time.

King bowed slightly ”O God of Water, may I ask you, can you spare a bit of spare time to talk with me”

Flood gave a conforming nod and brought Oliver back to reality, he could enjoy himself later, first was the tedious part.