After about ten minutes of rolling around on the dry rock they were on, everyone in the team, apart from Gustav, managed to shapeshift! They had been in a sub-liquid-like form all this time, because that was the key part of the process, but this part didn't bother them whatsoever, because it wasn’t painful at all. Having sub-liquid bones and flesh for ten minutes was exceptionally painless, it was even therapeutic actually, because even their light joint pains disappeared during that period.
Anyway, once they shifted, they left their backpacks behind, and jumped in the water quite fearlessly! They didn't fear these ancient creatures of the deep, because if their understanding of this time period was correct, then the fish within the sea here didn't have any magical powers at their disposal. The fish were just big, and hungry, which was the main way for them to be threatening, but that was about it.
The latter wasn't too big of a challenge for them. Each and every member of this group had faced greater challenges in the past, so not only did they leap in the water, but they ended up killing a couple of big fish soon after! The eyes of the common aqus goblin were very sharp, it allowed them to see perfectly within the increasing darkness of the sea water!
Arvena killed three of them, she was the main shooter! Her Laser Shot ability was very useful in absolutely crippling her defenseless opponents, even from a great distance, because she would impale their skulls. That was one of the best ways to kill any huge fish or animal, she even killed a shark-like creature that looked a lot like a smaller version of a megalodon, and she did so easily! Arvena believed that if they bothered to sell the meat of these fish, they could make a fortune, because meat like this was surely rare, almost impossible to find!
Anyway, with little challenges in their way, the team progressed exponentially. They swam deeper, and tried to hit the bottom of the sea, because that's where the roots were supposed to be. Mana roots were either wedged between rocks, covered by sand, and sometimes they were even a couple of feet underground, but they were always at the bottom, so it was best to try and swim as deep as they could.
The plan was sound, but they noticed that their mana decreased faster, the deeper they swam. What started as a few points every now and then, turned into five points per second! It was alarming.
Arvena was a bit more lucky here, because her mana was too dense for a simple root to abuse. She only lost a couple of points every now and then, while everyone else’s mana pool was dropping quicker than a dog's tongue at the sight of a potential mate! It was rapid, so at the one-hundred meter mark they even considered turning back!
[-4 mana points]
[-6 mana points]
[-3 mana points]
[-5 mana points]
The system kept notifying him about this leak every other second. She displayed them on the corner of his eye, and he was getting really nervous about this leak, because although the points he lost didn't look like much, the overall loss accumulated over time! At this rate, he was losing about three-hundred mana points a minute, it was a huge amount, and it could deplete a great portion of his mana pool even if he stayed in the waters for half an hour!
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At the two-hundred meter mark, their mana was going down even faster, so he had to pressure the other. “Do you at least know how to stop the mana roots from using us as its fertilizers, woman? Don't get me wrong, sleeping for almost two days has its benefits, but even the 37k mana points I have, may not be enough to feed the hungry bastards below us!”
“I have an idea in mind, but we need to find the roots first.” Arvena answered, knowing that his question was directed at her. “Don't worry about losing points, because once the roots are fed, they'll give us our mana back tenfold! Let's try to have a positive attitude here, because at this rate, there has to be tens of mana roots down there, we have to find them!”
“Tens, eh? It's worth the trouble, then.” He said, and started swimming just a little bit faster, he forgot to be nervous. “Maybe we'll even bolt through the God's Punishment Realm of mana today!”
A result like that was what made him more confident. He didn’t fear losing mana as much now, and he certainly didn't fear the creatures of the deep, so he pushed forward with a stubbornness that would surpass that of a hormonal donkey's!
At the four-hundred meter mark, they made it to the bottom of the sea, this was as deep as they could go. After they explored the bottom a little bit, they discovered a few roots soon after, and this got them very excited, but then they discovered another patch, and started getting weirded out!
The team found eighteen mana roots all together, which was a great find, however, they were aligned so perfectly with one another, to the point where the team was sure that someone had planted them! Someone was looking after these roots, and it couldn't be the fish here, no, as their heads were as empty as one’s head could be!
[-55 mana points]
[-77 mana points]
[-62 mana points]
[-87 mana points]
The system kept showing those little notifications at the corner of his eye, but he didn’t bother with them. The confusion he felt while he observed the neatly rowed roots, was a much greater emotion than the fear he felt regarding losing mana! At this point, his pool could be emptied up until the last drop for all he cared, he just wanted to know if someone planted these roots!
“This can't be normal, right? I’m thinking that a human swam down here and planted them. Either a human or a goblin, because they shouldn't be all together in one place.” Tim theorized, and he was right to think so, as this encounter encouraged it.
Arvena was confused as well, but thankfully she was more optimistic about the matter, so she started guiding the team. “It's not normal, but it doesn't matter. Let's try and overload the roots, and we'll be able to harvest them soon. Everyone, pour your mana into it, the roots are already growing, I can see them moving around!”
Afterwards, she went ahead and laid on top of a bunch of roots, and didn't fear them, because they were premature roots, so they couldn’t hurt her even after they were done feeding. The brown roots around her grew as thick as her arms, in mere seconds, because she was feeding them hundreds of her points without batting an eye! The roots surely enjoyed munching on the decent mana quality that she had to offer!
Eventually, the roots got too big, so she was covered by them, she was stuck between them. Though this was a bit alarming, she didn't care about being trapped, because she was going to harvest them sooner or later!
The rest of the team did the same thing, they laid down on a bunch of roots, and hoped for the best. Whatever Arvena's plan was, they were hoping that it would work!
“A root is trying to climb, and sneak in my ass.” Timothy mumbled, and moved his anus out of harm's way.