‘Preparation is for cowards and the weak, saying that we ended that nuclear submarine scenario without failure, even if some of us are reluctant to listen to direct commands from the group leader. I suggest we all find our own rooms, take a few hours rest and then move forward. Darren and I need some alone time. As I’m sure the rest of you do. Move it.’ said Bonnie.

She was getting extremely stressed and anxious. There had been a few lost moments in the ending of the submarine scenario she knew but a completion message had appeared and they had all been rewarded with further physical and mental boosts to their own forms.

‘We did a good job and the ocean gods are going to give us a little time to recover. I understand that the Ocean Gateway System is acting a little glitchy but it doesn’t matter. This place, this room, only winners get to end up here. The losers are removed. Inside each individual room is as much food, drinks of your choice and even construct servants to help you relax and prepare. Treat them well, or treat them like lost debris. I honestly don’t care. All that matters is that our group won. Relax for a little before we move to the final stage. Our physical changes will benefit us greatly. Use the grey suits to breath through the water.’ said Bonnie.

On her own body sharp spines had begun to grow under her flesh around her hands which only appeared when she willed them, a part of her body was beginning to produce poison on them to incapacitate her prey.

‘Bonnie. I’m hungry. So hungry.’ said Darren as he patted his muscular stomach which was defined underneath his grey suit.

His skin was beginning to match the same colour as he opened his mouth to show of sharp teeth as he gave her a grin and moved to a doorway and nearly ripped the door off before he entered it and slammed it shut.

‘Darren has found his own space. Direk, Blake, Ciara, feel free to explore this place or you can go to your room. Messages from the blessed Ocean Gods will come to us soon. I’m certain of it. Remember, we owe our power to them. They want us to rise to their level if we can.’ said Bonnie.

There was a part of her deep down which was screaming to gain her attention but Bonnie ignored it. Part of her mind or soul was fully aware of how she was becoming further involved and simply accepting the situation as normal when it was nothing good.

The captain of the nuclear submarine had ended up drowning by the hands of Direk, his control of water flowing from his hands had improved and he had formed a watery bubble around her head before releasing it and she had given up the codes for the access and launch codes for the submarine.

Bonnie hadn’t been aware of giving him direct instructions but she must have done so. Her own goddess was pleased with her performance and had instructed her that she and her group had achieved all objectives and needed to prepare for the next stage.

‘Bonnie. I’d, I’d like to have some space to myself now to commune with my god. I need time to process everything. As the leader can you authorise it?’ asked Direk.

The entire group had been moved into a waiting room of sorts with a large fountain in the middle and a water covered floor. The fact that their feet were getting wet as the water continued to splash out from fountain spray didn’t seem to bother any of the group in the slightest.

The room itself was damp and moist, the walls were covered in a variety of moss and drops of water continually fell from the ceiling. Shining blue marble and wave patterns covered the walls as images of each Ocean God appeared in a relief standing above a city full of figures bowing down as rain fell and waves were in an eternal moment of crashing down.

Blake and Ciara were both examining the walls, both in close proximity to each other and speaking softly. Bonnie wasn’t overly concerned, both of them would continue to follow her orders as long as she they were unwillingly absorbing the pheromones which she exuded.

Combined with the power granted by her Ocean Goddess Grumera to project her voice temporary to coerce others and the authority given by the Ocean Gateway System as the leader of her group she could manage them until they grew further in power.

A message came back as the strange error which had affected her during her final time on the nuclear submarine was finally ended.

[Player-Candidate Designate: Bonnie. You have received a message from an identified Drowned God. The Ocean God Grumera is pleased with your leadership and performance. One final task before all of you can become starter level players. A challenge is due and time grows short. Rest and reward need to wait. Your group will fight a demi-god and survive.]

The fountain in the middle of the room began to glow as a light from within filled the flowing waters with energy and purity. The sight attracted the interest of Direk who headed over to it immediately. Cupping his webbed hands he plunged his hands in and began to drank deeply as a sparkle began to cover his skin and then his entire body.

‘Refreshed. I’m completely refreshed, it’s like I slept for two days straight and then had the best meal I’ve had with a full stomach. Bonnie, you need to try this. The degree of purity inside this water is comparable to any of those temporary blessings the ocean gods gave us when we dealt with those constructs aboard the nuclear submarine.’

Direk suddenly received his own message from the Ocean God which had chosen him and enabled his own ability to produce water and partially shape it into temporary forms for combat purposes.

[Player Candidate Designate: Direk.

-An identified Ocean God has sent you a message.

I trust you with a mission. The waters of the fountain hold the blessings of several gods and will entirely refresh your bodies, minds and souls. You need to convince your team and your leader to drink. All will drink for time grows short. You will need to face a demi-god my chosen, strength and unity will be needed. There is no time to recover in one of the resting rooms. Believe in yourself Direk as I believe in you.]

The man paused for a moment as his eyes flickered and the message pushed into his mind as he continued to drink the golden coloured water from the fountain in the middle of the room.

Bonnie noticed his behaviour and she decided to call over Ciara and Blake. Both of them were slowly undergoing their own transformations but in her eyes Blake was easily the more noticeable of the two. Presently she saw him trying to pry loose a stone relief of an Ocean God towering over a modern city and swallow the stone with his expanding jaw and stomach.

Ciara was tracing her fingers across the images, her mouth was open as she muttered to herself but she didn’t make a single sound otherwise. Bonnie knew that if she wasn’t paying attention to the silent woman then she would simply meld into the background as her skin tone adjusted itself to the same colour as the wall, her grey suit was following suit as well.

The fingers of the woman had began to mutate into sharpened claws and her feet showed signs of similar change but no discomfort. Granted that both she and Blake refused to talk to her much but obeyed orders Bonnie was content to leave them to it but for the instructions from her blessed Ocean Goddess Grumera.

‘Bonnie. Granted that you’re also a chosen like myself we need to accept our loss and move forward. I know we only just finished the nuclear submarine scenario and need some time to decompress but the ocean gods demand that we face just one more trial before we lose our status as player-candidates. Let me go and explain to Ciara and Blake and you tell Darren. Time is short. But first, you should drink the water. I promise it only refreshes. You can ask your goddess.’ said Direk as he wiped one of his webbed hands across his dripping wet mouth.

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Bonnie took a good look at the room. There was purposeful design here, tasteful even and she saw the own image of her blessed goddess on a relief on the white marble stone. She stood in the middle of a massive crowd of people as they all bowed down to her, details on the figures showed that their bodies were in a state of change into a form better suited for water.

Walking over to the fountain Bonnie scooped up several handfuls and drank deeply finding that Direk was precisely correct, she had no need for relief or spending time with Darren as a pure escastic sensation filled her body and her mind immediately cleared up.

The mild sense of fatigue which she had experienced was washed away as her mind, soul and body became immediately refreshed. The sense of anxiety and the small part of her deep inside which had begun screaming when she had arrived on the drowned world was settled down even deeper.

‘Yes, yes it does work wonders. Thank you Direk. You make a decent second in command. Better for me to send a group wide message. By now Darren would have had his fill of the servant construct within and it doesn’t appear as though Ciara and Blake are interested in rest and relaxation for this time. The system will do our work for us’ said Bonnie as she cupped another hand and drank deep of the enhanced fountain water.

A message appeared in front of her eyes, clearly physically visible as it did with Blake, Direk, Ciara and herself. No doubt Darren would have his own inside the room and would be out shortly as long as he was satisfied.

[Player-Candidate Designates: Bonnie Xiomara, Direk Erickson, Ciara Seborg, Darren Skylsta, Blake Boudjellaba.

Group: Tidal Reach.

-Set Mission: Challenge a demi-god and survive initial trial.

-Rewards: Starter Level Player Status Enabled, Player-Candidate Status Removed, Rest/Recovery Room Unlocked.

-Single Item Upgrade.

-Emergency Resource Survival Pack.

The Ocean Gods blessings be upon you all. Remember, the Drowned Gods reward the faithful and punish the heretics.]

The white marble covered room remained relatively quiet as the player-candidates inside the room absorbed the message in front of them. Blake having noticed that both Direk and Bonnie had drunk from the fountain water with no immediate ill-effects abandoned his attempts walked over and dislocating his jaw began to drink down vast amounts.

Despite his attempts to swallow as much as he could, within moments he showed visible discomfort and began to retch up water onto the floor.

The sight visibly disgusted Bonnie as Ciara silently came behind the man and grabbing his long, lanky hair yanked him backwards and against a stone wall with her clawed hands before she threw her own head into the fountain and drank deep before imitating Bonnie and wiping her mouth dry.

‘Yes, missions usually need prep time. Bonnie, we need to work closely for this one. Your toy needs to come out of his box now.’ said Ciara as she moved closer to Bonnie close enough for their faces to touch.

Her own skin tone began to shift and match Bonnie’s as her features shifted a little. The sight of it caused Bonnie to pause as she shoved the woman back and imbued her voice with a little strength imparted from the blessing of her beloved goddess Grumera.

‘Ciara. Prepare yourself for combat. Quietly. Blake do the same.’

Her voice lent a little power to it as the pair nodded and settled into respective corners in the room, checking through their spatial bags and preparing themselves.

The part about an equipment upgrade surprised Bonnie as none in her group had entered with weapons fitted for them during the nuclear submarine scenario, she had a vague memory of holding a weapon back in the Deep Temple before she entered a gate but it slipped away from her.

Reacting to her thoughts, thin sharp needle like spines came out of her hands as her inbuilt weaponry responded to the thought of a threat to her. Calming herself, Bonnie took a deep breath before they retracted back into the skin of her hands.

A crashing sound came from one of the rooms as the door which Darren had entered slammed open and he stepped out with blood covering his mouth and a sharp toothed grin on his face. He winked at Bonnie before giving her a bow and strode over to the fountain, washing the blood of his body, face and hands in the golden fountain water.

Bonnie gave him a toothy smile in return and raised her own voice. A small pep talk would inspire them, or she’d need to kill one or two of them and find new comrades. Direk she clearly couldn’t touch, but the other three were beginning to annoy her.

One was ugly, one was disobedient and Darren was growing boring. She had run through a number of boyfriends and casual relationships like him. Always fun and interesting at first but they grew stale when they did everything she wanted.

A thought of the woman who she had met when she had been pulled from the oceans of the world and then brought to a wooden ramshackle structure came into her mind along with a sensation of sheer hate which Bonnie knew was from her blessed goddess.

Carissa. Did you survive your own nuclear submarine scenario? You don’t matter to me but my goddess hates you still and then so do I. Don’t die fighting a demi-god. I want to see how much of my new form you can handle.

Direk simply sat on the floor and closed his eyes as water entirely covered his form from the fountain forming a shield around his body. He muttered unheard prayers beneath their breath as the group began to prepare themselves.

The grey suit that Direk wore began to stretch and elongate as it covered his entire body and enabled him to breath through the watery bubble surrounding them.

Another Ocean Gateway System message appeared in the air. This time a semi-transparent glowing globe appeared in the centre of the marble room above the fountain and spun around slowly as a specific spot began to glow.

[Player-Candidate Designates: Bonnie Xiomara, Direk Erickson, Ciara Seborg, Darren Skylsta, Blake Boudjellaba.

Group: Tidal Reach.

-Set Mission: Survive Initial Combat with Demi-God Designate: Jazlynn (Mermaid Demi-Goddess)

-Due to current Player-Candidate Status of Tidal Reach combat zone will be restricted to underwater arena located in Floating City 26.

-Warning: All direct Floating City Access is restricted to Player-Candidate Levels

The Ocean Gods blessings be upon you all. Remember, the Drowned Gods reward the faithful and punish the heretics.]

Given that Bonnie’s group had all prepared themselves and willed their own grey suits to cover their entire bodies, including their facial areas the fact that the fountain in the centre of the room began to burst out water in a rising tide wasn’t a major concern.

Bonnie knew that the physical changes that all in her group were going through in part made the grey suit redundant but until she could be certain that all of them could freely breath water inside their lungs she wasn’t going to risk her group.

Not unless one or two of them happened to die by accident when in direct combat with the demi-goddess.

‘And off we go. A word of advice for this one, there’s going to be a decent audience watching us but don’t be distracted and do not listen to her voice. Only listen to the sound of my voice. Do not talk to her. Do not interact with her. She’s an ugly old sea cow and I will surpass her in true beauty.’

The waters inside the marble room began to rise rapidly and fill up the entire space as the centre fountain began to fill with a deep blue light as the figures inside the room shifted location.

What a shame if Ciara lost an arm. Or a leg. A shame indeed. New recruits might be fun.