The monster was huge, 50 feet tall, sharp at the top, and 20 feet wide at the bottom. Its shell was spiral shaped and changed color depending on its environment. At this depth, the camouflage seemed pointless, however the monster also released a faint, blue light, attracting unsuspecting prey which it then killed.

‘Come, foood!’ the snail bellowed.

‘You’ll get a tummy ache. This is your last chance. Hand over the shell or I’ll boil you.’

Finn summoned several miniature suns. In response, the giant snail trembled. Its huge shell wiggled back and forth, and soon, countless sea creatures came out of it.

There was an entire school of mutant tuna, about 20 giant crabs, more than 100 sea snakes, and a dozen goblins wielding spears with tiny clams as the tip.

‘Excellent,’ Finn grinned. ‘Now I want it even more.’

‘Dieeee!'

The mutants attacked in droves, but their power was weak. Finn split his six fist-sized suns into dozens of smaller ones, sent them flying at the enemies and riddled them with holes.

‘If I don’t let them explode, they make excellent bullets.’

Several tunas shot water streams at him, but he blocked them with his sword hand. Using mana to propel himself through the water, he instantly appeared behind one of the fish and sliced it clean in half.

‘Perfect offense, for both long and short range. Now, if I can just make a shield…’

A laser beam came hurling towards him, so he got out of the way, leaving the tunas to get roasted.

‘Maybe I should specialize though.’

An endless stream of multi-headed snakes surrounded him, while the goblins threw their spears.

‘Not even a hero can do everything. Although, if I don’t test my limits, how will I know where they are?’

A moment before impact, Finn disappeared. Suddenly, the mutants started dying one by one, some of them being cut to pieces while others straight up exploded. Before long, the entire army of snakes, fish, and crabs was defeated, most of the goblins were killed, and the last one’s face got mushed into the sand with Finn’s boot pressing on his back.

‘You’re much weaker than I remember. Don’t all of you have a crystal?’ “Can you speak, goblin?” Finn gurgled something unintelligible when a laser beam struck his location and eviscerated the goblin’s body.

‘That wasn’t very nice. Wasn’t he your guardian?’

‘They are teeeenants! And they should protect their hoome.’

‘Oh,’ Finn raised an eyebrow. ‘Then, can me and my friends take their place?’

‘Hahaha, straaanger! You must defeat me first!’

Finn raised his left arm above his head and opened his palm. He then sent mana towards it, an absurd amount of mana. Soon, a sun-like ball formed above his head, one larger than a carriage, or how the snail saw it, larger than both of its eyeballs combined.

‘Youuu have passed the test,’ said the snail. ‘I shall permit you…’

‘Not yet.’

In an instant, Finn reabsorbed the giant sun, disappeared from his spot and punched the snail straight in the eye.

'I need to prove my worth.' The boy grinned and proceeded to hand out a beating. When the snail retreated into its shell, Finn tipped it over and continued punching him.

After about half an hour of resistance, the mutant finally shouted: ‘Please, spare meeee!'

‘No more drawn out words.’

‘NOoo!’ [Smack] ‘I mean no.’

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

‘Get rid of the remaining tenants. You’ll teach me how to speak telepathically, tell me everything you know about the ocean, keep my friends hidden and obey my every command. In exchange, I’ll protect you from harm. Understood!?’

‘Yes… Master.’

Soon, about 50 creatures popped out of the snail’s shell and scattered in every direction. Among them there were young goblins and some slightly smaller mutated tuna, but Finn could not allow himself to get sentimental.

‘I can’t trust that they won’t kill me in my sleep. This snail's already a liability.’

‘I shall not betray you, Master!’

‘You’re not allowed to read my thoughts.’

‘Then how will we communicate?’

‘You can read them only when I tell you.’

‘...But how will I hear?’

…………………………..

Back in the underground, Michael, Natalie, Annie and Tommy had gotten used to their life under the ocean. Too few days had passed for them to get bored, yet too little time since they had escaped the labyrinth. The accumulated stress and adrenaline had yet to drain from their system, so the four were enjoying a much deserved rest.

While waiting for Finn, Annie showed them her experiments, and they would talk at length about the monsters and the ocean.

“How do you think mutants speak underwater?” asked Natalie. “Sound doesn’t go that far.”

“And they don’t have lungs,” added Michael. “Do they?”

“I believe the goblins had lungs,” said Tommy. “Perhaps crabs do too?”

The four went on and on about gills and lungs, wondering how an underwater society might work, when a tremor put a stop to their conversation. The ground was shaking, ever so slightly, and it did not stop, so it couldn’t have been an earthquake.

“We’ve got visitors,” said Michael. “I’ll go check.”

A minute later, he returned with a frown.

"It's like a mountain moving towards us."

"An octopus?" asked Natalie.

"No, a snail."

"We should leave," said Tommy. "The water pressure is weighing down on us, Annie needs to constantly feed us air, and Michael's the only one who can swim at a decent speed."

So they wouldn't lose contact with Finn, the group decided to relocate just a couple hundred feet out of the monster's path. They assumed the snail would keep trailing forward, and that seemed to be the case in the beginning.

Then, when it reached their initial hideout, the behemoth suddenly changed directions. The ground started shaking and a terrible noise burst through the water.

Somehow, this noise got translated into their heads, and the teens heard: 'Fee, fi, fo, fum, I'm coming for youuuu!'

"Let's move," said Natalie.

Annie brought their bubble to the surface quickly, split the air among the warriors, and they all started swimming for cover.

To buy some time, Annie stayed behind and lifted her arm. She summoned a tiny ice spike which grew and grew until it was the size of a bus.

The mage focused as much mana as she could into her projectile, putting most of it into the tip. She then spun the spike for extra penetration and launched it at the snail with all of her force.

It was like a cold torpedo aimed at the monster's shell. The mutant leaned its shell back, trying to avoid the blow.

It was too late, however, just meters before the ice missile hit, something small and yellow appeared to intercept it. An explosion soon followed which melted Annie's attack and illuminated the snail's surroundings.

"Wait!" she shouted at her friends. They could not hear her, so she pulled back the air pockets surrounding their heads.

With no other choice, Michael, Tommy, and Natalie followed along while complaining. However, when they got closer to Annie and the giant monster in front of her, they saw another familiar face, riding it like a bull.

An hour later, the group was all dry, safely hidden in an air pocket inside the snail's shell. It was a wide tunnel, slowly going up, littered with tools and the remains of its former inhabitants.

There were snake skins all over the place, dead fish and even mutants. In a certain spot, a bit hidden away, there were cooking utensils and some makeshift beds made out of dried algae.

"Goblins used to live here," Finn explained. "A bunch of other things too. It will need a lot of cleaning, but for now, this is home."

"We already have a home," said Natalie. "I'm not living inside a slime infested monster."

'Heyyy, this is prime real estate! You should be grateful!'

"Shut up! You're too loud, talk only when I tell you to."

The snail grumbled in protest but said nothing more. While Finn talked to Natalie, Annie kneeled down and patted its shell.

"I want to go home just as much as anybody," said Finn. "However, there are two problems with that:

1. According to the snail, we're to the west of the empire, past Trident city.

"That's good," said Michael. "What are we waiting for?"

"There's an Echidna Kingdom past Trident city and we're past it. Basically, there's an entire country full of mutants standing between us."

"What's the second problem?" asked Tommy.

This time, Finn hesitated for a bit. His gaze moved to each of his friends, until eventually, he took a deep breath and spoke clearly:

"The second problem is you."

"Huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"To traverse enemy territory in a medium where they have the clear advantage, all four of you are far too weak."

"Bullshit!" said Michael and Natalie in unison.

"If we adapt to fighting in water…" said Tommy.

"I'm weak too?" Annie raised an eyebrow.

"On land or in water, it doesn't matter: you're all weak. If you don't believe me, then fight me. Or are you afraid I'll beat you all to a pulp?"