As I advanced, I noticed a pattern with those giant mushrooms: the closer they are to the first or bottom layer, the smaller they are, so the platform in the middle layer tends to be larger than the not-even twenty-meter radius one I was on right now.

The platform was so small, I had the horrible feeling that it could break apart at any time with our weight.

Yes “our weight”, This time, I’m venturing downward, dragging with me something heavy, so each time I descended a platform, it would be accompanied with a loud thud.

After thinking about it through and through, I suddenly found "the solution to all my current problems"

I once stated that there was nothing around here that was fireproof that could replace those tendrils of mine, but I was mistaken.

There was something.

I remember reading in one of the books I’ve read there was once a mention of a monster, an aquatic high beast living generally with water wyrm, to be exact it was some sort of semi-sentient plant monster it was said that plants instead of producing leaves are producing a long black and red thin yet durable tentacles hovered and intertwined in a meandering manner around itself to protect itself from a predator the same way I do.

These tentacles are said to have the durability of a diamond with the flexibility of an elastic fiber. Those materials are known to be used by the church to craft weapons, but these things are so complicated to acquire that only a handful of people have access to that material.

It was simple to find those things; all I had to do was look for water wyrms, and luckily for me, there was no better place to look for water wyrm than the lower stratum.

If the first layer is inhabited by Wyverns, and the second layer is swarmed by Drakes, the third layer is on the other hand overrun by Wyrms.

Just like Drake and Wyvern, Wyrms are Dragonoid but two things that really set them apart are that wyrm has the tendency to have snake-like or even salamander-like bodies.

The second thing that sets Wyrms and especially water wyrm from other Dragonoid: it’s their territoriality and their ferocity.

And by how much these were mentioned in the book there was no doubt that these things were no monsters to take trivially.

And it’s for that reason that I dragged that thing here.

Reaching the lowest platform available in the middle layer, I slowly descended it onto the bottom layer the big thing I was dragging since earlier with my tendrils.

I deeply and steadily anchored myself on the ground.

I had supplied myself with several supplementary tendrils for this yet I still had the feeling that it wouldn’t be enough for me to reach the bottom layer.

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Before the thing even reached the water, I heard several suddenly splash.

Immediately felt an unbearable weight dragging my body toward the bottom.

I immediately let go of the thing and with a loud splash, it fell into the water, followed by something I would assume by the mere hearing to be a vicious underwater fight, along which I heard something resembling a snake shuffle.

After a while, it calmed. I smelled that one particular smell I hated so much, there was no doubt that thing was ripped to shred.

The thing I had been dragging since earlier was that Drake body.

I planned to use it as bait to enlighten about the number of wyrms around and maybe help find a way to reach the plant I need to replace my tendrils. But there was no doubt that there was room for any plan to blossom here.

I didn’t expect the thing to be this overly swarmed by wyrm.

Suddenly once again with a splash, something emerged from the water but this time instead of making any noisy noise, everything was simply silent.

Dead silent.

“Pshtt!!”

Hearing a sound similar to water gushing out at very high pressure, I felt every hair of my body rising.

With a swift motion of my tendrils, I propelled myself the farthest away from where I initially stood, to finally reach the other vertical side of the ravine.

And not even two seconds after, I heard and felt the whole platform I was a few seconds earlier exploding.

Without any hesitation, using my tendrils I climbed the wall, and I heard the similar “Psht” as earlier and each time I heard it, I felt something trenchant flashing at me at a hallucinating speed.

I knew what these things were, water wyrms are the only dragon subspecies that do not possess those fire breathing abilities. Instead, they developed an absolute advantage in underwater fights, and if the wyrm is a magical beast it can use something like a water blade, keen-edged water sent at a breakneck speed that would cut through steel like butter.

Needless to describe how easily it will chop off a human body.

Behind me, I could hear firsthand the viscosity of those dangerous water blades.

I like an agile spider a climbed the way, retreating to the upper layer.

I finally reached somewhere safe after fleeing for some time.

Being exhausted by my tedious task, I simply lay on the ground

There’s no way I can pull this out.

That particular plant should dwell in the rock bottom of those waters, but I doubt I will be able to even remotely reach that place with those things around.

And not only that but if I pass through those things, I’ll still have to find a way to defeat that plant, after all despite being a plant it was more or less sentient, it will definitely fight back, it goes without a doubt that in an underwater fight I’ll definitely be the one in disadvantage.

“Raaah!” I vented in frustration.

I suddenly remembered what happened to that Drake corpse, I couldn’t see it, but I could only imagine its gory fate; If I ever try to plunge into those water I’ll be torn to shred by those wyrms.

“I can’t see can I reach that plant with those wyrms around.”

I knew that, but I also knew that I couldn't give up on it.

I absolutely needed those new appendages not only to protect myself from monsters’ fire-breaths but also as a way, a hope, for me to defeat the thing that had humiliated me by forcing me to run.

Suddenly an idea came to me.

It was a mad, gory, and yet bright one.

This is it.

I will do that.

“I need those… even if for that I’ll have to taint that whole bottom layer with red blood.”