Trillia found that even activating skills underwater was a significant challenge. The group had run into a single solitary level one hundred shark.

Both Trillia and Frederick dropped below ten percent health. The group was just slow and cumbersome under the water. Their skills didn't fire off quite right, and half their magic was useless.

However, when they did finally defeat the shark, all of them gained at least one level. There was a massive experience bonus for fighting in difficult terrain.

The group now sat on a small rock ledge with an air pocket. There were runes on the wall that filtered the air to make it breathable for the group. Frederick had removed his armor and was currently lying on his back. The worst of the wounds had been healed, but it had still been a terrifying experience.

Trillia groaned as she sat up from her own lying position. "The worst part of that was the blood in the water. We can't see through it. It's like being in a room filled with smoke."

Fred scoffed next to her. "Sure. If the room filled with smoke had a giant monster created of teeth and nightmares hiding in it. Did we even get anything worth it? As far as drops go?"

Amelia perked up at that and dug through her pouch. "I'm personally just happy that we got some experience. That was a hefty amount. We got some shark skin. Our Alchemist or Armorer will need to look at it and tell us it's uses. As well as uhh....crap. Fifty shark teeth...."

Trillia and Frederick both shuddered at the thought of it. Layla stared into the water. "It's skin was rough. It felt like running my hand across a knife. But the experience was really, really good."

Malor was still in the water, treading and staying afloat. All of them were trying desperately to get better at this whole swimming thing. Fred sat up and grabbed the shark leather.

After a few minutes of inspecting, he nodded. "My appraisal skills aren't nearly as good as Mom or Dad's. But this stuff is really tough. I'm not sure if it's even possible to work it into leather. Even if we couldn't, this stuff would still be comparable to most other forms of leather we can get our hands on. There's obviously better stuff, but I've never seen Dragon Leather to know its baseline stats."

The others gave him approving nods. More resources and materials for armor were always a good thing. Malor finally spoke up. "Might be worth hunting those things for a while. Get better at fighting them, get enough leather to make ourselves sets of shark armor? There's probably some sort of bonuses from wearing that stuff in the water."

That drew a bunch of 'ooooohs' from everyone. Amelia took the leather back and nodded. "I'll bet this stuff takes water mana enchantments really, really well. We might even get permanent water breathing or something from it."

The group exchanged glances. Trillia and Frederick shared a look and a heavy groan as Trillia stood up to speak. "Fine! We'll go back into the water with the nightmares made of teeth." She slowly inched her way closer to the water and stared down into it with a shiver. " Everyone else was so pretty and friendly. Then that thing showed up."

Layla offered her most encouraging smile. "That was a pretty small shark. So we should be careful hunting them."

The entire party snapped their eyes to the Cleric, who shrank back slightly from their gazes. Amelia motioned for her to continue. "Well. My tribe used to live on the north side of the continent near the sea. I went fishing with my parents frequently. Another tribe raided our village. Instead of letting me get killed with the rest of my tribe, my father cast a spell of water breathing on me, tied a stone to my waist, and threw me in the ocean."

The group stayed frozen, staring at the young orc who had never really spoken of her past before. "The water was really red shortly after I was thrown in. Lots of big sharks came by. I'm not sure why. I was never attacked by the creatures. Everything else was, though." Layla looked down at the stone she sat on. "I guess. I didn't want to experience that darkness ever again. So, I learned a lot about underwater spells. I was lying on the beach, starving and thirsty, when Lady Ora'sys first spoke to me. Urged me to keep going."

Trillia's mood soured quite a bit, and she scooted closer to Layla. "What was the name of the enemy tribe? We can go give them a thrashing if you want."

Layla shook her head and glanced over at Trillia. "Why? They just did what most orcs do. Raid and pillage to get by. Our village was a simple fishing village. We stayed on the coast, and because of that, our weapons were weak."

The answer obviously didn't sit well with the rest of the group either, but no one said anything. A few more long minutes of silence passed before Trillia stood up. "Let's go hunt a shark. Hopefully, another small one."

-=- A While Later -=-

The group swam further into the dungeon. Up to this point, most of it had been lit up. They now came to a cavern that was almost pitch black. Amelia was their saving grace with a minor light spell she knew.

The light refracted oddly but mostly did its job.

As the group continued to swim deeper, the water grew colder. Trillia paused and tugged at everyone's mental connection to do the same. Ialu sensed something was off, and fear ran through the wolf.

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As the group paused, the water slowly gave way to a huge, dull grey shape. The glowing white of teeth warned her that it was another shark...

Then another.

And another...

Trillia's heartbeat quickened as she gave the warning to the others.

[Dungeon Beast - Great White Shark - ??] Water Mana Manipulation

[Dungeon Beast - Great White Shark - 117] Water Mana Manipulation

[Dungeon Beast - Great White Shark - 101] Water Mana Manipulation

The group immediately swam toward one another. The first shark zipped past, rubbing rough skin along the metal armor. It produced an odd scraping sound in the helmets that sent the spine-shivering. Trillia thrust out with her rapier and unloaded a barrage of mana bolts as it swam past. The mana bolts pounded harmlessly into the side of the creature, and the tip of the rapier just barely poked the surface.

Frederick and Malor both tagged the next shark to make a pass. Malor struck true and struck the thing in its gills.

Blood began to fill the water, and the eyes of the sharks began to glow faintly. It made them easier targets, but the group knew they'd begin using water-based spells soon.

As the third emerged from the growing cloud of blood with its mouth open, Ialu yelped under the water. The jaws snapped shut, and Trillia's heart sank as the highest-leveled shark tore the poor wolf in two. Panic began to take over.

It was impossible to see through all of the blood. The sharks took turns ripping and tearing at the armor they all wore. The group flailed and got in loose stabs here and there, but nothing of serious note.

Trillia could feel the panic through the connection, her own rising as each connection was severed.

First Layla.

Second was Malor.

Trillia tried to rally them. Tried to call out instructions the best she could through the mental connection.

Amelia lasted an extra four minutes.

Trillia felt agony run through her right arm. She raised her left arm and unloaded barrage after barrage into the thing's snout. It thrashed, yanking her arm back and forth. She felt tendons and muscles tear as the water became a bloody, cloudy mess.

Frederick's connection faded.

The last thing Trillia remembered seeing was a merman swimming toward her. The pain from the wounds clouded her vision.

-=- A While Later -=-

Trillia sat in a bed in the healing hall. The other delvers gave the group a wide birth. Their shiny metal armor had been half torn to shreds. Most of the wounds had been healed, but as with all magic. Such healing could only do so much on its own. Natural healing was needed.

Trillia knew that the group would have to talk about this. Would have to strategize. But right now, none of them wanted to speak. Trillia kept glancing around, expecting her vision to go cloudy with her own blood. Expecting her right arm to be torn off.

How could creatures so large be so silent and fast in the water? How could they possibly do so much damage?

She remembered all the warnings she had gotten in her life about how dangerous the ocean could be. Another shiver ran down her spine.

-=- A Few Hours Later -=-

The group sat in Amelia and Trillia's tent. She had resummoned Ialu. Even the wolf was rather shaken by the experience. The group sat huddled around a little fire as Amelia cooked stew. Frederick was the first with the bravery to speak on the incident. "I... I don't know how to handle that. We can't communicate well. We can't see. Half of our attacks are ineffective against their hide. Sorry... after the first one bit into me, I just panicked."

Everyone gave weak, little confirming nods. It had been the first time that the group truly felt as if they had been utterly dominated by the dungeon. They didn't kill any of the creatures and had been torn apart. Layla poked at the base of the fire with a stick, hugging her knees to her chest with her other arm. "Do you think Red River was angry at our plan to farm the sharks?"

Trillia shook her head as she watched Amelia chop up vegetables and meat. "No. I think Red River was showing us how dangerous they are and testing how well we do under pressure. The answer was not good, evidently."

Amelia nodded her agreement but otherwise stayed silent.

A few moments of heavy silence later, Frederick spoke again. "We need to figure out a plan. I just. I don't know what that plan could possibly be."

Layla looked over at the human. He was in a simple white tunic with brown cloth pants on, his hair was disheveled, and he looked as if he needed a solid day of sleep. "I think we should ask others for advice. I know I've often said I don't want to be spoiled for future floors. And I still don't...it's just..."

Amelia finally broke her silence as she added the last of the ingredients and sat next to the fire with them, watching it stew. "It's just that we know some of the floor now. Knowing how to face such creatures will be important. I don't want to waste weeks of our time, like we did on the second floor, to crawl forward an inch. We need to stop being so prideful. Red River isn't killing us."

Trillia sighed heavily. "Red River won't. But any other dungeon will. We've had this talk a dozen times. I agree. I think we should seek the experience of the other delvers and see how other people handle it. It's obvious, despite being a group of five, that we're missing something."

The group avoided talk of the dungeon for the rest of the night. They agreed to go late tomorrow and ask around about the third floor. The conversation shifted to classes, skills, and things of that nature. Apparently, Malor had gotten a skill called [Underwater Adaptation]. It was a weak skill for now that mostly just improved his ability to hold his breath and swim underwater. He didn't immediately feel the difference. But that did mean there were such skills to be had and learned.

Trillia pulled a pretty red plant from her bag and looked it over with mana-sight.

[Ludwigia Repens]

Known Alchemical Compounds: You do not currently know any compounds utilizing this reagent.

Known Alchemical Applications: This plant can be crushed and chewed to grant a working set of gills for roughly two hours. This potion is often used to create [Potion of Greater Underwater Breathing].

A pretty underwater plant with a red hue. This plant helps the surrounding water by absorbing waste byproducts such as blood and biological waste. Small fish also use it as cover and as a form of play.

Trillia rolled the plant over in her fingertips for a few moments before storing it back in her pouch. "I think we should do more exploring. Sure, we can fight. But we should also look into harvesting plants, maybe catching some of the fish. I think we're trying to rush a floor that's not meant to strictly be a combat zone."

The others glanced over at her. She had broken the unspoken agreement to not talk about the dungeon more. But everyone was still thinking about it anyway. Amelia nodded as she began to ladle out soup. "I agree. I wanted to make progress and see results. But if we're going to get crushed like that, maybe we should take it a little slower. Sorry, Trillia. I know you want to strategize and discuss this, but can we wait until tomorrow?"

Trillia looked around at the others and saw the exhaustion in their faces. She nodded. "Sorry, everyone. My mind just went back to the dungeon, and I didn't think. We can have a proper meeting tomorrow while we gather information.