“The ocean is a storyteller, with secrets hidden in its depths and tales etched in its currents.”

Anon

“No, you’re not going.” The Neriad leader Huli had not minded when we were discussing the generalities of someone from his tribe finding the former tunnels of Zaravia but was less keen when it was his son Hulio who was the one volunteering. Thankfully all the deals had already been made with Neriad swimming or floating the goods up to the Alzena. So this was not causing a hiccup in those already completed talks. The crew and Captain Kashif had already returned, and it was just Arawn, Huli, Hulio and me left for this final family discussion.

“I’m not a child any more.” He argued. “It’s why we came north. To rediscover some of our heritage and hopefully find some small remnant of what we had lost. You can’t stop me.” Hulio turned to leave, finished with the argument but hopefully not with his father.

“Wait,” I asked him. If they parted while angry with one another, it would hardly bode well for future cooperation. I looked beseechingly at Arawn. I could hardly offer to look after him without my family's support.

Sighing, Arawn stepped up to support me in my statement. “The Silversea family will happily host and look after his welfare while he is with us.” I bowed formally to Huli, the leader of this tribe of Neriad. With my family’s backing, looking after him would be no issue, provided the inner lagoon was a suitable living space for the volunteers. Hopefully, we would find what they were looking for, but if we didn’t, and the lagoon was not suitable, we could always bring them back on a return trip.

Ultimately, only four of the Neriad decided to join us on our journey home. Huli and three of his friends from the group of eight that had risen to meet us when we first arrived. More could join them later if we could reopen the tunnel into the inner lagoon. The possibility of tunnels in and out of the inner lagoon raised some interesting ideas for tidal power generation. It also raised some concerns about some of the larger sea beasts attempting to enter our relatively peaceful local lagoon if we ever opened up the underwater tunnels. But these would be issues to address once we had discovered the underwater entrance and after we had worked out the feasibility of actually opening them up again. My mother and I could definitely do it but work underwater would add a layer of complication and take a little more time.

Interestingly enough, the four Neriad were perfectly capable of travelling back with us on the ship, though with too long out of the water, their skin would dry and crack. They also preferred sticking to the shade. They were overheating a little in the midday sun without being immersed in water to help them regulate their temperatures. Some hastily constructed shelters out of spare sail patches tied up over the stern solved the second problem.

The first problem was nothing that could not be alleviated with a little bit of magic. They were the only people I knew who enjoyed being hit with one of my water balls. But that meant they were perfectly willing targets for my magic practice.

"Bala Nerano."

"Bala Nerano."

"Bala Nerano."

"Bala Nerano."

I was practising my quick-fire incantations against the happy targets. The Neriad seemed to delight in the magical production of water, and with so much around us, it took less mana than usual to practice it.

Less happy were the sailors who had to mop up after us. So whenever they needed another soaking, we did it against the stern railing to ensure the majority of the excess water went over the side. Then it was back to the search for sunken treasure.

While Captain Kashif was very happy with the trades he had managed to make with the Neriad, for me, the biggest success was swapping a copy of our maps with theirs. I now had a detailed underwater map of the local area in exchange for one of the maps I had drawn of our burgeoning barony. I’m sure that given time and experience, I would be able to use future Neriad maps to help predict where we might find sunken ships. But for now, we were sticking with our search pattern. It was just pleasant to have an idea of what would be coming up next.

I also left him with letters of introduction to our local Wester Levante and Little Wester leaders to facilitate future trades. I would let them know by carrier pigeon once I returned so that they would not be surprised should they surface from out of the depths later on.

Huli had not been willing to part with a map of the Neruda settlements further south and into Libbecian waters, but he had been happy with sharing his local knowledge with us. Hopefully, he would be happy to share the rest in time.

The most exciting new knowledge on these maps was the general topographic information that they held along with the currents that the Neruda used to traverse the ravines and gullies of the underwater realm. Captain Mercurio and Captain Kashif’s maps hinted at their general locations, but with the wind to power their vessels, they were nowhere near as accurate. In fact, with this new map of the local currents, I could see several ways in which their journeys could be sped up if they made good use of them.

Unfortunately, we were not making the most of these currents as we were still or acting our spiral patterns around the islands and were far more likely to find untouched treasure off the beaten paths of the underwater currents.

The most important feature of the map, though, was the more accurate locations, levels and territories of the local sea monsters. No longer would the Silversea maps of the local area have that vague ‘Here be sea monsters’ to represent the unknown dangers of the sea. But add actual ranked danger zones for the sailors. There was a surprising amount around our three isles. But few within them. When I questioned Huli on the difference between the areas, he commented on the relatively shallow nature of our inner local seas compared to the wide-open Azimuth Ocean. Particularly compared to the depths of an abyss, which ran North to South to our west, marking the end of their maps. They had nothing marked past there; for them, it was the equivalent of ‘here be sea monsters’. I guessed I would not be getting rid of that phrase just yet when it came time to update our maps.

We were nearly halfway home when my senses finally found something new.

. . .

We were to the west of the mana reef. Perhaps I had subconsciously had us avoid it. We were working closely with Captain Kashif, but there was no reason to give him more knowledge than he needed and keeping secrets came naturally to me. The mana reef was a regular hunting ground for my father and me. There was no reason to share it with anyone else just yet. Perhaps in the future with the Neriad, but I’m sure they already knew about it judging by it being marked and mapped on the charts they had traded with me.

Besides, without my senses, a larger ship might clip the top of the reef and rip open the bottom of the hull like the ship sitting on the sea floor below us. For a fleeting second, I considered the possibility of the envoys having similar problems on their return journeys. But the thought was soon sunk by the moral cost such a decision would take, particularly by the loss of life of so many sailors and the boats themselves. Though perhaps they would be salvageable.

This wreck seemed to be a more recent addition to the seafloor as no sea monsters appeared to have taken up residence just yet. Furthermore, with it hopefully being under the water for not too long or being too deep, we could float the whole hull and sail it home to salvage what we could of the hull, either refitting it or taking it apart for parts.

“Hold.” I cried out to the captain. The helmsman used to my commands by now didn’t wait for the captain to repeat my command, and the crew, too, was already fast at work laying off the sails. This had to be providing a significant amount of experience for my Sailor metier.

“Another village?” questioned Namir regretfully. He was looking forward to putting his two feet on dry land again. The village had been a long delay without any monsters to have made it interesting for him.

“Another sunken ship?” Captain Kashif asked, excited at the idea of more profit.

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“Looks like it.” I didn’t raise the suggestion of treasure as my sense for it was not pinging. Should the hull be salvageable, it might be its most profitable aspect.

“Empty or inhabited?” Arawn asked the pertinent question.

“As far as I can tell, uninhabited,” I answered, uninhibited.

“You can tell from up here?” questioned Hulio, surprised by the confidence in my answer.

“I’ve spent a long time looking carefully at the world with all my senses wide open. The world and system have rewarded me for it with special skills.” I was a little vague in the method and the manner in which I gained the skills. However, if we were going to be working closely with the Neriad on our underwater exploration, there was no point in keeping them in the dark as to my underwater abilities. If I said there was something, I needed them to believe it.

“Amazing. No wonder you discovered our village.” Hulio commented, and I realised that they maybe had more than one reason for accompanying us home. As beneficial as a positive relationship would be to both of our communities, an adversarial relationship would probably end up far worse when we could easily sail above their homes and they would struggle to reach ours.

“Treasure?” Captain Kashif was keen to focus on the most important aspect of treasure hunting. While we kept most of the haul that we were finding, a significant portion of it went to paying Kashif for anything extra that we were after and could not yet be produced on Wester Levante or our two neighbouring isles.

“I think so.” The skill was not strongly pinging, so there would not be any great wealth to be hauled up.

I turned to Arawn, “Ready?”

“I guess.” He sounded put upon as if he had not spent the morning lounging on the deck.

“Would you like to accompany us?” I asked our four new friends.

“Gladly.” Hulio gestured to the heat and wind of the open air.

We dived into the cerulean waters, swiftly swimming into its depths. The Neriad eclipsed us in skill and beauty under the water. Made to move underwater rather than simply powering through it with the strength of stats. Not that they didn’t do that, either. Their entire lives were spent underwater, and they had built the muscles for moving through it.

The webbed toes and hands did not hurt either as they propelled themselves down toward the wreck far faster than I could while Arawn kept pace with me.

Hulio’s POV

Humanities spawn were different indeed to what I had heard from his father. The child Kai, the local Silversea lord, moved no worse than one of our own children and had to have his swimming skill above the 50s to descend as quickly as he was. Born underwater and having spent every minute of every day below it, the skill - swimming, was one that came easily to all Neriad. Supposedly not so with humans. The number of drowned sailors was a testament to that though it probably did not help that they could not breathe underwater. Easily charmed by Sirens, they would follow them ever deeper to their deaths before they ever thought of attempting to breathe, or so he had been told. He’d never seen it for himself. Whenever they came across a Siren, it was a battle to the death. They had never watched them without engaging them, and this was the reason for the lengthy tridents he and his friends carried down to the wreck on the sea bed.

A wreck that the Lord had somehow unseeingly sensed below the waters as they glided above them at speed. That sensory skill was worryingly effective. For sure enough, the wreck was only now coming into sight below them. It was not immediately obvious as the sea floor here was not completely flat sandbanks, but the wreck had settled into a shallow rocky gully in the seafloor. It was easy to miss without the flat sands for the hull to stand out against. It was comfortably nestled within the trifling trench that led to the west. What were the odds of it falling out of the line of sight?

So close to their outpost, they would have discovered it for themselves sooner or later, but the depression had hidden it from them until this lucky little Lord simply sailed over it and pointed it out.

Slowing as he approached the wreck, the boy may have said it was empty, but that was no reason to through caution to the wind. Nearly every cautionary Neriad tale began with some overexcited pup poking his head into something unknown. The trident went first as he cautiously leaned into the hole in the hull, legs poised to push him back out of the hole should anything leap out at him. His darksight skill triggered as he needed it to make out the details within the hold.

No sea creatures seemed to have made the hold their home. He slowly made his way in, his friend guarding his back while two more stationed themselves outside the standard formation for four Neriad exploring a new site or cave. They needed to defend from both within and without, depending on whether what they disturbed was in or out at the time.

He could see bars of corroded metal stacked in the hold. They were useless to the Neriad, not lasting any length of time before whatever they were made into fell apart to the power of the sea. The only metals that lasted any length of time were bronze, silver, gold and mithril. Any unranked swords, shields or armour wasted away quickly enough whenever they ended up in the water. But perhaps the corroded metal could be reused above sea somehow.

The hold was suddenly thrown in sharp relief as light intruded, forcing the darkness to flee. The child and his grandfather had appeared. The first casting his own magical ball of light, the other carrying a lightstone, though if the private talk his father had with him before leaving, he doubted he needed the rune-carved stone he carried to sense what lay in the darkness. He was impressed at how long the child could hold his breath underwater. He was thinking that he was not leaving a lot of time for the return journey when he was cautioned to step back from the two. Unoffended, he flitted out of the hold with a flick of his hands and feet, wondering what the child could be up to now.

Kai’s POV

Reaching the hold through the hole in the side, the relatively recent nature of the wreck meant that the ship seemed suitably salvageable. The wooden hull seemed sound enough to float it should I be able to patch the gap and sort out the buoyancy issues of displacing several tonnes of water. I had spent a lot of time since our last wreck diving experience trying to work out a more efficient method of raising the goods to the surface and decided that it may be best to bring the whole hull up next time.

Plan in place, I was ready to get started. I gestured to Huli and his friend to clear the area before I started to get to work. It was time to get to business. Having formed my core, I was no longer restricted from carrying my amulet, and it had both the runes and the mana to get this done.

First, I took a small seed from the pouch I had carried all the way down here. My lungs were beginning to feel a little tight, so I had less time than I would have liked to get this down.

Step one of raising the ship was patching the hull. I held the seed against the hull while I released my mana, blessing my tutor Aleera for finally teaching us chantless casting for our spell crafting. Otherwise, doing this underwater would have proved a little more problematic.

The secret to doing this in saltwater was the seed we were using. The salt-tolerant mangrove tree, also called a halophyte, meant that this particular tree I was growing to patch the hull needed only sunlight and mana to grow surrounded as it was by ocean water. My mana blazed forth, filling the seed with light and life as it grew to fill the hole in the boat's hull. Humans did not use this technique in their boat building, but if ever Elves found the need to sail the rivers or seas, they did it in living boats that were grown and shaped by one of their Spellsong Wizards. This was more of a patch than a boat, but it would be enough to keep it on the surface if I could displace the water and float the ship.

The patch filled my lungs were beginning to feel uncomfortably tight. But this should at least relieve that problem. Pressing the amulet and releasing a small portion of the mana held within its emerald gem. It burst forth into the form of a sphere of air surrounding me and pushing back the depths of the water. The water pressure kept the bubble much smaller than I was used to, but another press of the amulet extended the bubble of air in size so that Arawn could step into it. Hulio floated outside our bubble of air, shocked by the sudden developments.

“What’s next?” Arawn asked, unperturbed by another novel approach to carpentry.

“Aww, I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm, old man.” I chided.

“Wow, Lord Silversea. You never cease to amaze your humble servant with your novel approaches to life. Happy?” he asked sardonically.

“Well, not really, now that I had to ask for it.” I pointed out, scuffing a foot in chagrin.

“You’ll have to settle for impressing Hulio.” He pointed at the accompanying Neriad who still looked amazed. “Now, before you waste the rest of the collected mana. What’s next?”

“Same again,” I suggested stepping forward and forcing the water back out of the hold while leaving air behind us. Hulio and his friend swam out of the ship ahead of our advance.

We worked our way through the bottom of the hold, sealing each room behind us before moving forward and up. The ship was beginning to shift on the sea floor, and I felt it would only be a moment or two before it was enough to start rising up toward the surface.

“Very impressive Kai.” Arawn finally said as the boat started to rise. “But have you forgotten something?”

“I don’t think so. A few more rooms and I should have displaced enough water for the buoyancy from the air to take us up to the surface.” I answered, frowning. It was starting to work as the ship suddenly lurched upward with another sealed room behind us.

“No, that seems to be working well enough.” He said as he consciously stepped to the side of the room, leaving me in the middle of the open room.

“What then?” I asked, confused.

He waited for a second before answering, “This.” Stepping up onto the wall that had now become the floor, then the ceiling as the ship rolled completely over. Leaving me to slide precariously to one side and then up the wall in quickening steps before finally coming to stand on the ceiling with him as the boat continued to accelerate upward to the surface. Hitting the surface at speed, we left the floor for a second as the ship stopped rising, but our momentum kept us moving up.

“You could have warned me.” I grumped when we finally settled.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he smiled.