The deeper I was pulled in, the more water I ended up swallowing as I struggled, trying by all means to free myself from the tentacle that was pulling me in. But no matter how hard I pushed, the tentacle wouldn't even budge. My vision was already starting to blur, and my consciousness was slipping away.
But I knew that if I lost consciousness at that moment, it would be the end of me. So I tried my best to stay awake. I probably should have drowned a long time ago if I count the time I was underwater, but my regeneration ability is probably what's keeping me going. However, this surely wouldn't last for long. Finally, after being pulled down, the tentacle released me.
I looked around, but all I could see was darkness. Even in this situation, my mind remained calm, or rather, I think the right way to describe this situation would be to say that my mind and body weren't in sync. While I was struggling with the tentacle pulling me down, my mind was trying to find some way to escape.
(Does this have anything to do with my new race?)
I thought as I looked around. As this was happening, I could feel something moving around me. I couldn't identify the size or shape, but there was one thing I knew about the thing that was surrounding me—it was extremely large.
Red eyes that were almost 5x my size appeared in the vast darkness of the ocean and started to stare at me. The monster's shape was simply too big for me to see. Other than that, I was already running out of air, causing my vision to blur.
Slowly, the monster's tentacle began to wrap around my body. Suddenly, a large spiral mouth full of teeth appeared in front of me. I was too weak to react. Slowly, the monster began to pull me closer to its mouth.
"Roaaaaaaaaaaar"
But before that could happen, an extremely deafening scream echoed from the bottom of the sea. As soon as I focused my field of vision on what was in front of me, the mouth was half full. Although I couldn't see the extent of the monster, I realized that something had eaten the monster that was going to devour me.
Slowly, the tentacle began to release me. However, even free of the monster, my situation was not good. I would drown as I could not return to the surface. At this point, my last chance would be to consume this monster. Following my thoughts, I extended my arm while activating my ability. As soon as the monster was consumed, a voice echoed in my head.
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CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (UNDERWATER BREATHING)
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL (UNDERWATER VISION)
YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE MIMICRY (KRAKEN)
As soon as the voices finished echoing in my head, I felt my breathing normalize, the burning in my lungs had completely disappeared. Not only that, but now I could also see beyond the darkness that surrounded me before. Looking around, I could see several fish swimming and several coral reefs surrounding me.
I didn't really know how deep I was at that point, but I was able to see the ground. Continuing to look around, I noticed a temple among the reefs. It was a huge brick construction, very well carved into the sea floor.
With my eyes focused on the temple, I started to swim towards the structure. Now that I could breathe underwater, I wouldn't have to worry about a lack of oxygen. Strangely, it also seemed that the pressure I must have been feeling from being at such a shallow depth no longer affected me.
With this thought in mind, I approached the temple. As soon as I reached the entrance, I could see how big the temple was. The entrance looked grand and oppressive, and my perception indicated to me that there was something inside.
"It looks like you have found the boss on the fourth floor”
Aurora-sama's voice echoed in my head while I was thinking about this. Hearing her voice, I started to pay even more attention to the temple in front of me. Looking at the temple, I wondered if I should enter or not. Even if I went back to the surface and warned the girls, I still didn't have a way to bring them with me.
After sighing, I started swimming back to the surface. I decided it would be better to talk to all of them. Maybe they can think of something. Besides, in case I need to fight alone, it would be better to warn all of them before doing so.
"That was a good choice. You would probably take fatal damage if you tried to face the boss alone... but even if you and the girls teamed up, your chances of victory are still low"
Said Aurora-sama in my mind. Her words made me wonder more and more what kind of monster would be hiding inside that temple. Although it has a bad side, I can't deny that it also has a good side. The stronger the monster is, the stronger the skill I will get from it when I defeat it.
With this thought in mind, I swam to the surface, and in a short time, the blue sky was in sight again. Looking around, I could notice the island where I had come from at a certain distance. After knowing more or less the location of the temple, I started swimming to the island where the girls were.
After a few minutes of swimming, I had finally reached the beach. Looking around, I noticed that there was no one on the beach, indicating that the girls had not yet returned. Seeing this, I lay down on the ground near a coconut tree while looking at the sky.