[Player-Candidate Designates: Carissa Acqua, Matthias Fischer.
Group: Thassalaphobia
-Set Mission: Demi-God Trial in Progress.
-Trial Engaged by Player-Candidate Designate: Matthias
-Warning: Combat Engagement will begin shortly.
-Random Selected Demi-God: Selected.
The Ocean Gods bless those with courage and skill to survive. Show your teeth. Survive.]
A sound roared through the ears of Carissa, she wasn’t quite sure how she heard it whilst being underwater but then a massive echoing noise cut through the first sound before it died down and her senses tried their best to compensate.
A crowd. A crowd has roared aloud as though she was at a sporting event and she was the entertainment but it had lasted for the barest second. Granted that the Ocean Gateway System had described an arena inside a Floating City, the first she knew, the second she could only guess at.
The Ocean Gods liked to watch her actions, watch all of them, why wouldn’t they have an arena built for purpose to watch a series of survival games?
Matthias. I need to communicate with Matthias to work out our attack. Or survival. Better to let myself adjust quickly though. He can take care of himself. I hope.
Given that her eyes had been covered with the grey suit so she made part of it release itself from her hand letting bare skin experience pure, fresh water. Being blind in an immediate combat situation wasn’t going to help her easily so she made the grey suit retract from her eyes while keeping her mouth covered.
Her spatial backpack remained secure but she looped it and took out both a statuette that had been gifted to her by Mike and altered by Matthias as well as her bone-tooth club.
She quickly checked both through the Ocean Gateway System to check their usage and abilities. The bone-tooth club had begun to change she knew, it no longer required her direct will applied to it and responded faster and smoother as well as adapting to different shapes of weapon.
[Player-Candidate Designate: Carissa.
Weapon Received from Ocean Gateway System
-Bone Toothed Blade/Club
-Inflicts physical damage.
-Item cannot be transferred or sold to other players.
-Presently bound to Player Candidate Carissa.
A simple weapon grown from a piece of bone, teeth and sheath included.
-Growth Potential
-Warning: Weapon is presently infected with unknown virus.
-Warning: Risk to host user, pair bonding strengthened.]
This time it coiled around her arm and lengthened to become a long stinging barb, far easier to use underwater then trying to swing a weapon.
Then again given that it was a combat situation, it was far more likely that the ocean gods in their kindness had reduced the effect of underwater drag although with the bone-tooth club her best bet was to wrap it around a target and drag the sharp edges of the skin. She didn’t know it would be enough to injure a demi-god but she would try her best.
Next she checked out the only realistic lifeline she had available in this situation, the wooden gift from Mike which Matthias had made a few alterations to when they had been back in the Deep Water Purification Facility.
[Candidate Designate: Carissa and Matthias.
Gift Received from Player: Mike
-Second-Life Statuette/Altered.
-Will absorb medium amount of physical or mental trauma only.
-Single Usage only for group designate Thalassophobia.
-Self-Destruction Upon Single Usage.
-Item cannot be transferred or sold to other players.]
Demi-god or not I need to fight. Survival will count as a win in this situation. Matthias, you promised to back me up. Give me an option here.
In her immediate field of vision was a massive area of water with a graveyard of ships in front of her. There was clearly sunlight above her and judging from the amount of light streaming down, she wasn’t in deep waters below the surface.
With a little effort she could reach air in a relatively short time but Carissa considered that it wasn’t going to be that easy.
The waters beneath were buoyant, more so than normal and she pushed herself with the powers of the grey suit boosting her already highly skilled swimming ability.
The grey virus which had bonded with her immediately assisted her, but given that Carissa had already made alterations to her own genetic structure it simply reactivated her changes. Her pupils became smaller and the lens changed shape as the view underwater became entirely clear to her.
Most other parts of her senses had been deactivated, her ability to smell was gone as was her ability to clearly detect vibrations in the water. Still, Carissa would do the best she could. The grey suit would have worked for her otherwise or Carissa was certain that the ocean gods would have granted blessings which took the form of physical alterations.
Taking humans from their own worlds was one thing, throwing them into a water based environment and expecting them to survive, even fight and explore was entirely another. Up until now she had barely been underwater for sustained periods of time. Aside from being fully submerged inside the Deep Temple and a few other short periods she hadn’t been permitted to be inside the water for long.
Likely, most so called player-candidates haven’t spent as much time below the waters as I have.
The grey suit covering over her mouth and nose enabled her to breath fairly easily but Carissa had rejected implanting gills into her body, they had simply not intermeshed with the technological mount. Besides, she wanted to maintain her sense of beauty as much as possible. Webbed hands and feet were an option but not something she had been keen on.
After gently swimming in place and allowing herself to adapt to being underwater quickly a memory teased at her regarding the vast array of sunken ships in front of her. There were vehicles as well, sparse but noticeable. Boats, tracked cars and large metal blocks with main guns on the front..
Some of them were still relatively fresh and not even covered with algae and other sea life, others had been underwater for a handful of years but all had something in common. Something she recognised but her memories only hinted at, all of them were modern. None were of ancient design, all were clearly built of metal and plastic and other materials. Modern enough to have belonged to Terrus and one of the private-corporate run navies there.
I know those ships. Or at least the outlines and structures of them. Are we to fight a demi-god in a previous underwater battlefield?
There was a vague familiarity about all of the ships which had clearly been underwater for some time, almost all of them held massive guns of some type or another.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
On her home world of Terrus she had visited several naval bases, mostly dragged to by Liam who had always wanted to join and held a passion and seen fleet ships of different types and sizes. He had used his wealth to build his own ships of command, used for strictly commercial purposes to guard against pirates. All the guns, the technology, the training he had been keen to impress on her the value of sea power.
Her physical body, soul, brain and internal mechanical implants might have been tampered with but her memory remained clear. Except for Laci. That had been confusing. She died, she was certain, killed in a yacht accident days after they had parted ways for the end of the summer holidays.
Her parents had book her in with a support therapist for months afterword and she had begun to cut herself as a way to manage her emotions. To express herself. Then she had eventually met Liam and thrown herself into her studies of the ocean and how to fix the problems which her planet had developed with them.
Strange. I know she died. But the woman told me Laci was a construct and I felt nothing. No sadness, no pity. Nothing. Just awareness.
Another way in which the ocean gods had made an alteration to her brain, one more payment due to them when she gained sufficient power.
Focus Carissa. Coping mechanisms are fine when you’re safe but this isn’t the time.
A shift in one of the sunken naval vessels further ahead caused her attention to draw back to the present. The fact that besides some algae she had seen nothing alive, no fish, no sea creatures of any type was odd.
There. Movement of some kind of something. Slow moving but likely big.
A larger wreck bristling with damaged guns was moved and the debris and silt from the sea floor was pushed upwards as the grey suit passively informed her of movement in the water.
Despite her eyesight having cleared and the light from the surface all she could make out was a broken naval vessel being moved but there was nothing else there, no creatures swimming rapidly towards her.
What form do the demi-gods take? Sea monsters? Sirens? Whales?
The waters were relatively still as though stale and old. Besides her own movements swimming and the demi-god that had likely moved the sunken ships there was nothing. Considering the amount of light shining down from the surface and the relative depth of this place, it reminded Carissa of lagoons which she had explored in the oceans of her own world.
Deep enough to explore but close enough to the surface that she could have dived down and held her breath long enough even before she had made enhancements to her lungs and explored the true potential of the mammalian diving reflex.
They had been good testing ground when she had rented them privately through a series of shell companies for her experiments. Her own flesh had suffered but survived the process and she would survive the encounter with the demi-god no matter what form it took but she didn’t understand why it simply didn’t attack her outright.
After gently kicking her legs to keep herself buoyant underwater, Carissa considered taking out the bone-tooth club but she wanted to relish the experience of swimming by itself for pure pleasure just a little longer. For a moment she imagined her life with all her genetic traits activated and her inbuilt technology fully functional, a life of freedom underwater.
Alone and undisturbed. This is the life I wanted. To swim, survive and explore shipwrecks. The girl I was would have loved this.
Carrisa tried to contact Matthias through their group messaging system but there was nothing, no response, not even a notification. She then tried to elicit the Ocean Gateway System for a repeat of the mission she found herself on.
Matthias. You idiot. I told you not to touch the globe. You had better had a good reason for disobeying me.
Another sunken wreck shifted in the distance as Carissa saw a massive figure shove aside a huge ship covered with guns on the main deck. She remembered it was called a destroyer. This time the amount of silt and debris which rose up was diminished, likely artificially given the nature of the environment she found herself in.
Swimming forward in the water she moved closer to the giant figure in the distance, it moved slowly but each step was solid from what she could see. Carissa wasn’t sure what she had been expecting from a demi-god created by the ocean gods but a figure wearing an old style of diving suit, an atmospheric type usually used for longer diving under the water rather then short excursions.
There was a name for them. Old fashioned things. ADS. That’s it. ADS.
She recalled that the atmospheric diving suit was designed to protect the user from hostile elements while at the same time reducing the need for any medical operations when diving deep beneath the surface. The suit would maintain internal pressure and atmosphere within and protect the occupant.
A bright green glow emitted from the facial screen inside the giant suit as another sunken wreck got in their way as it was shoved aside with a side swipe showing the sheer strength of the occupant. For all it would be manned it looked like a mockery of a giant robot from a children’s cartoon back on Terrus with it’s bulky body and bubbly arms, for all she knew it was puppeted by an artificial intelligence and the demi-god was controlling it from a distance.
Strange. Truly strange. To be able to see underwater technology so clearly.
For all the hatred of the ocean gods had of technology in her mind it made little sense that they would allow a creature using it to become one of their precious demi-gods. They wanted nature, magic or otherwise and their own specific touch on their creations. Unless Oannes had a direct hand in creating it then Carissa couldn’t understand it.
A message from the Ocean Gateway System provided her with a warning.
[Player-Candidate Designates: Carissa Acqua, Matthias Fischer.
Group: Thassalaphobia
-Set Mission: Demi-God Trial in Progress.
-Trial Engaged by Player-Candidate Designate: Matthias
-Warning: Combat Engagement will begin shortly.
-Demi-God Designate: Jim.
-Warning: Combat Trial in Progress.
-Warning: Penalty will be imposed if Player-Candidates do not engage in combat immediately.
The Ocean Gods bless those with courage and skill to survive. Poor. Jim.]
Matthias. I need support. Where exactly did you get to?
A pain began to run down her spine as Carissa experienced a fine-tuned pain which began to run along the edges of her entire body before it ceased.
Ready or not. I’m not taking more pain. Not for anyone.
Forcing a message through the group messaging system she had created with Matthias when they had joined together as a team she told Matthias if he was unable to respond than to simply fight. Despite the warning about not fighting Jim from the strange robed woman in the waiting and resting area and the sandy fountain Carissa had little choice.
Tensing her muscles and allowing for the streamlined and boosted energy of the grey suit Carissa squeezed her arms over her head against her ears as she looked down towards the direction that the giant suited figure was making its way through.
Then she began to dolphin kick keeping streamlined in as straight direction as she could. The sunken ships would provide her with enough cover as long as she could preserve her own energy levels for a decent chunk of time swimming underwater and then finding the right place to launch her own attack.
A message from Matthias came through but it was patchy enough that even with almost her entire focus on her rapid swimming towards the form of the demi-god in the giant form of the atmospheric diving suit she was barely able to make out the words.
Something was blocking them as she carried out. She suppressed a sense of anger and frustration at the previous communication from Matthias.
As she drew closer to the giant figure in the diving suit the water rushed past her body and the thrill of pure swimming, pure energy expended in movement underwater, the true freedom that only mermaids and dolphins would experience she realised that the message held a familiar warning.
[C-C-arr-ss-a-d-d-d-n-n—t-ennnngaa – g------e]
Within the clear waters with a bright sun or other light source she saw the figure of the being that called itself a demi-god. This time she was only ten or so metres away, close enough to reckon the size of it was far larger than any normal human even factoring in the size of the suit.
At least three times her size relatively speaking. The person inside the suit had simply stopped moving when she approached. It didn’t talk or speak or make any threatening gesture before turning around and beginning to walk back the way it came slowly, pushing aside any broken ships or debris in its path with relative ease.
With her bone-tooth club wrapped around her arm Carissa kicked her legs even closer to the figure to look for a decent point of attack before it paused and swung a single arm through the water, entirely ignoring drag judging from the speed and smashing into her body sending her speeding through the water as she crashed backwards hard into the decking of another ship with several algae covered air planes aboard.
Carissa knew that something inside her was broken, and she could taste blood inside her mouth. Struggling with one arm as the one with the bone-tooth club refused to move she shuffled off her spatial backpack and pulled out the wooden statuette gifted to her clutching it tight to her damaged form.
Ne-nee...to use..use...sta-ta...
Her vision was beginning to blur and even the act of breathing in the water through the grey suit was becoming increasingly painful. She was aware that her spine had taken direct damage and something had punched through they grey suit on impact and she was leaking blood. She smelled it clearly in the water surrounding her even as her senses began to fail.
A grey suit covered hand reached out and grabbed the statuette holding it tight and squeezing it until it shattered into pieces as Carissa saw a glimpse of platinum hair and a face shouting out bubbles in the water.
Matthias. You sword bound idiot. You turned u-.
The impossible cheers of an unseen crowd filled her ears as she went into shock and her bone-tooth club wrapped loosely around her arm dug tighter into the grey suit, wafting gently in the waters as though protecting her from further threat.