‘Pretty boy. A grey suiter. A fresh one, fresh fish from the Drowned Gods. I had a suit like that once, we all did. Pretty thing. Very nice. Very pretty. You want to enter? No, no. We need to welcome you. You survived the trials the Ocean Gods provided, please. Come with us and have a drink. We’re all friendly here. Aren’t we folks?’ said the sunburnt face of the older woman as she addressed Matthias to unseen figures in a side building behind her.

The leering woman was dressed in a standard leather guards uniform and encrusted with salt which to his eyes looked used and handed down. From her appearance Matthias considered that she was at least two decades older than him but the look on her face reminded him of the town guards back on his home world of Avalon.

She had entered out of a side building soon after he appeared on the wooden docking which extended outwards from the gate. There was no immediate sign of Carissa and Matthias assumed she was alive but there was an immediate disconnect from their connection. As part of her group and the message he knew that she was inside the place called a Floating City but he couldn’t pintpoint her exact location.

The strange woman Glauglau who had effortlessly fought back against his sword had told him to save Carissa and that she would be taken care of. He was aware that she could have snapped his neck if she wanted but there was a look in her eyes which he had recognised and seen in his own. She was faithful to a religion and saw Carissa as a person of deep interest.

Faith. She had faith in her. A half-mad woman who talks to herself and wasn’t prepared for this world. They make a fine pair. Best to focus on myself.

For now he had to deal with the bane of all fresh adventurers on quests, gate guards who held a scrap of authority for those who entered and tended to bully or intimidate their way into getting something for free.

He could try and bribe them, the grey suit wasn’t going to be given away granted that it enabled him to breath underwater and provided physical protection and a boost to his marginally more than average swimming skills.

When he had been with his mentor she had usually used her status as a High Knight of the realm and beaten them into submission with the flat of her blade before throwing them into a moat. Although there had been times when she had disguised herself as a madwoman in rags, hidden her sword and sent Matthias to gain entry for both of them without spending coin.

Greedy for something. Weak enough not to take it and lacking honour.

‘I...I passed a trial against a demi-god and then I was sent to the Floating City. Look, we can be reasonable about this. I don’t have any currency to bribe you with but I’m sure can find an arrangement which doesn’t mean I’m meant to satisfy your lust.’ said Matthias.

He’d yet to take the coral sword out of his spatial bag attached to the belt on his waist but he’d been in similar situations before. He would fain weakness and then respond with strength depending on their reaction. In this world, this place there were hidden dangers.

They could either be constructs, hidden monsters as the scientist had been or players like himself who had submerged themselves into a role. Considering his words, Matthias softened the look on his face and played his relative youth and so-called pretty looks to his advantage.

‘Wait, do you mean you want me to work in a brothel? Do they accept Starter Level Players? I need to tell you that you’re not my type my Lady. I am most humbled by your kind words though.’ said Matthias as he gave her a courtly bow with a mock look of mild terror on his face.

His eyes remained fully open and he kept his senses keen to observe his immediate surroundings. He’d remain paranoid and cautious for as long as he needed to. Putting them at ease and then switching his tone would cause them to pause for a moment while he regained his full awareness.

Next to the main gate entering the massive wooden structure in front of him was a small building with a door which had swung open as soon as he had arrived. A guard house of sorts he supposed, which meant that those who were stopping the gate from being opened would be either living there or took shifts.

The fact what he wasn’t looking for an immediate fight. Not after the initial message. After a fight with a higher level being any adventurer inside a dungeon would have been given a chance to rest. An opportunity to grow complacent before danger struck the unwary.

Despite bowing, Matthias tensed his body lightly. His boost of speed earlier against the priestess called Glauglau had made him aware of changes within.

The Ocean Gateway System called me a Starter-Level Player. No longer a Player-Candidate. A path to power lies ahead. More promises and lies. Only the words of the Lady and the Demon-God hold value here in this place.

His body had grown stronger he knew, there was dungeon boosted strength there resting inside the bones, muscles and tendons of his body. When he breathed in the air mingled with smells of meat, waste and living humanoids his lung capacity had increased. Compared to before he was stronger but just how much he’d need to measure in a fight where the odds were in his favour or on a testing ground.

Matthias had never stopped to consider the changes that the virus from the intermediate-level Player dungeon called the Deep Water Purification Facility had wrought upon his physical form. He had read the notes of the man Carissa had killed. The advanced alchemist had run experiments on prisoners under orders from a higher authority. Nothing new there.

He had been tasked with hunting down and putting an end to vile necromancers doing much the same in their failed ambitions for immortality and power who sought to rival the blessed Lady of the Lake. He had even been forced to kill the failed experiments of melded flesh and bone. Abominations who had begged for mercy from twisted lips.

His faith and the power of the Lady had protected him from the worse diseases and green magics then but he was alone in this place aside from an ally and a few other friendly to him who were half-mad at least.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

‘I would beg for a moment to enjoy the view before I enter the city. You and your gate guards may enjoy it each passing day but for me this is a fresh experience. Please grant me this before we continue in our discussion. Fighting a demi-god was a challenge in itself but I survived.’ said Matthias.

His earlier tone had been too weak, too soft and they had seen him as a viable target. Harnessing his willpower he reached out for the tendrils of the Ocean Gateway System, for the muted messages which could pass between him and Carissa but there remained nothing.

For all intents and purposes he was truly alone once more. Perhaps this would be his own trial, to find a half-mad woman whom he trusted with his life and had supported him.

The older woman spluttered meaningless words behind him as Matthias turned his back on her and the others inside the guardhouse next to the main gate of the Floating City and saw nothing but water, clouds and a sky with a greenish tint.

There was storms further away and he thought that he saw movement under the surface of the waters past the wooden platform. Laughter came behind him as he heard more voices, likely the other guards in the guardhouse exit and tease the older woman who had first greeted him he had arrived unseen in this place.

Underneath his feet there was the sound of water splashing and his enhanced senses picked up creatures there. Either clinging to the wooden planks or finding safety from the reaches of the ocean under an artificially built structure.

Not your type old gate guard woman. In more ways than one. And the fact that you’re old makes it even worse. Ugh. Pretty boy? You think I’ve never been called that before? Sea hag. Go and laugh with your friends. Laugh at the young idiot who turns his back unaware of danger. Laugh until I cut you a second smile on your throat.

The young man with platinum hair had seen his comrade and leader of their group Thassalaphobia dying underwater a short time ago from his perspective. She had been punctured through by a broken piece of a ship and her body had been broken.

A single hit from a demi-god had caused her sufficient damage to close to end her life and leave him alone. She had given him the means to save her, the strange wooden carving which had been altered had managed to repair the worst of both her wounds and his.

He had only been poisoned but not in imminent fear of his own death. The priestess of one of the Ocean Gods had given him the means to reach her but her words held little value, all she told him was that he needed to reach her and help her survive the trial.

Matthias had followed the orders of Carissa to try and kill the priestess Glauglau, he had failed of course but in one sense he had succeeded in reinforcing the connection between himself as a follower and the woman as a leader. She had more potential and awareness than he had and she had even saved him from possession from the Demon-God.

His body had changed after he had received a message from the Ocean Gateway System, a message that the demi-god trial was completed, he would receive a random item upgrade, be transferred to a gate of a Floating City and then he would receive a new title as a Starter Level Player.

Speaking aloud to grant him a little more time to prepare himself in case the gate guards turned on him he raised an empty and and cupped it over his eyes as though to see better in the distance.

‘The view of the oceans goes on for miles. You fellows and ladies and indeed lucky to enjoy a view every single day here. I’m not sure that I’d like to take a swim in those waters though. Why I’d need to strip first.’ said Matthias to the sound of laughter behind him. He picked up four voices, the older woman, a younger one and two males ones.

Matthias was clear about one thing with Carissa. She was likely insane. Either she was half-mad before she arrived in this world of water and made worse or on her own planet she had escaped from a prison where she had been locked up.

And she was the only person that he could realistically trust as well. He had met the other Player-Candidates inside the Deep Temple and introduced himself to several of them before the High Level Player Mike had grabbed him and pulled him into one of the corners for an explanation.

None of them had impressed him. All had wanted power or had been conditioned by the Ocean Gods to believe in the final purpose of becoming one of them. Thankfully his faith in the Lady of the Lake protected him from the religious spells they tried to cast on him to affect both his soul and his mind.

Yes, he was aware that they drowned this world and that was their choice. But he did not believe that they did so out of benevolance or as an act of kindness. If the Lady had decided to flood and entire castle and surrounding villages killing all the nobles and peasants alike he would never accept it as an act of charity. Vengence perhaps but never charity.

Matthias stopped looking at the oceans and turned back to see that he had been correct. Three more guards dressed in similar fashion to the older woman had joined her. One was clearly younger but held back with a look of wariness and disgust on her face. She held no obvious weapons in her hands but she could easily have the same advantage as him with a spatial bag on her person.

The two men were a constrast, one was tall and thin with bluish skin and the other was shorter and heavier but his stomach protuded with a measure of fat. The taller man didn’t even look in his direction and was doing what Matthias had done earlier, gazing out to the oceans surrounding the wooden platform outside of the gate. He was seemingly disinterested in Matthias but his body twitched a little and then he gave a bored wave with a hand and headed back inside the gatehouse.

One down then. And what do you want to say?

The squatter guard crouched down to the ground and stared at Matthias as he licked his lips.

‘No. Amari, this fish is too fresh, too clueless for this place. Why don’t we all take him and throw him back in the waters surrounding the Floating City or hold him underwater until that worthless grey suit of his finally breaks and he drowns. He’d thank us for it. Better to be given the choice of death than continue trying to win this insane game.’ said a rough voice behind him.

‘And I said we need to give him a drink. Been a long time since I’ve seen someone so young and pretty here. Hey boy, you like Amari don’t you? Come, share a drink and dance with us. We have a special drink here that only new players can truly enjoy their first time here. The name is a little odd but we need to tell you according to the rules. Good though, it tastes good. Take all that worry out of your face and relax your pretty face a little. Malik. Go and fetch the Rain Piss you keep hidden away in the gatehouse. Nothing is hidden from my gaze. Go!’ said the sunburnt woman.

The heavier built man sighed, rolled his eyes and stood up before following the taller, thinner man back into the gatehouse.

Two down.

The sun had been shining in Matthia’s eyes when he had first arrived on the Floating City. In front of him was a doorway which could be been suitable for a fortress but it was only made of wood and heavily decorated with seashells and dried ocean plants.

There was life beyond, he could hear sounds of people shouting and fresh foodstuffs being cooked. His mind remained half-dazed though and he didn’t know how long he had simply been standing there staring at the gate into the city beyond.

Behind him lay an endless ocean, storms raged further beyond and massive sea creatures swum around the boundaries of the Floating City keeping it safe but also preventing any form of easy exit.

He had two opponents to deal with. Whether he would need to fight depended on their attitudes. He recalled his coral sword into his open hand from his spatial bag.