The sensation of walking underwater while being able to breathe was a liberating one. If he’d have been in a diving suit with an oxygen tank, Liam would have disliked moving along this dark corridor. Being able to walk without any extra encumbrance made this a positive experience, a pleasure even, except that the water was cold. Progress was slow and his movement involved leaning forward far more than usual and reaching ahead to pull at the water: it was as much swimming as walking.

After ten metres or so, Patricia halted and suddenly the corridor was much brighter. On either wall was a triangular metal bracket from which hung a brass and glass lantern, now glowing bright blue.

Sheathing her sword, Patricia gave a thumbs up. Then pointed at the nearest lantern and mimed walking.

She asks me to tell you that she believes these mage lights to be very promising. Why would someone have put something so valuable here unless they used the corridor? Also, she asks us to note that brackets have been fixed by metal nails hammered into the wall. The ancient images of the lost gods and rulers of the palace do not accord with the placement of these lights. See how the nail here goes through the headdress of the priest? Someone put these lights in a long time after the corridor was built.

Liam nodded in reply and returned the thumbs up gesture. When Kate, Daniel, and Aengus had done the same, Patricia took out her sword again and pushed on. Not more than a dozen steps further were needed for the slope of the passage to end and then they were walking along a straight corridor to a distant rectangle where there was a faint glow of light.

A touch on his arm from Aegnus gave Liam a slight jump, it was so unexpected. His brother pointed to the carvings on the wall. While they were very faded, it was possible to discern a ceremony of some sort, where a person was kneeling at the front, facing away from the crowd. Long tentacles from … a giant octopus perhaps?... were reaching for the figure.

They continued on, although a thought that Liam had suppressed this whole time now presented itself in full force and caused his pace to slacken. What if they were in serious danger? What if there were traps and monsters here that would be a challenge for Level 50 or 60 Adventurers? Not that anyone from the Plane of Life these days was that high, but the planes didn’t know or care about human society. They had every level of encounter, from 0 to 100, and no book or YouTube channel knew about this hidden area. There were a few guides that recommended the ancient ruins of the island of Olamanth for level 20s. But what if the region stepped up several degrees of difficulty for this mini-dungeon? What if he was walking towards disaster? Outdoors, as they had proven repeatedly, their mobility and crowd control skills could get them away from danger. Here… they were trapped.

Your concern is legitimate. A mighty power resides ahead.

Tell Patricia!

She has been informed.

Heart pounding and no longer feeling the cold, Liam saw that Patricia had stopped and her broad silhouette stood out against a pale green light beyond her. Coming up until just behind Daniel, Liam saw a wide chamber ahead of them, whose floor was covered with long tendrils of luminescent green, like someone had painted dozens of ropes with luminescent paint and thrown them on the ground. Towards the centre of the floor, the ropes all clustered and connected to a cylinder-shaped object that was twice Liam’s height.

That is the power.

I don’t understand.

It is an anemone.

And suddenly it all became clear to Liam. The giant anemone had filled the room with tentacles that were disproportionately long. It was an enormous monster and very much alive, to judge by the light it was emitting, light that was slowly oscillating in brightness.

Patricia tapped a metal pole beside her to get everyone’s attention and then pointed to chains that were fastened to it and which ended in manacles. She then pointed her sword towards the monstrous anemone, whose presence loomed over Liam like a slave-owner with a whip.

While I do not believe humans to be more quick witted than demons, in the current matter, you are all reaching a conclusion that accords with mine. In times past sacrifices were made to this monster. A conclusion to which I add the following encouraging thought. Were I a pirate who trusted no one, with a wealth of treasure, then would I hide my wealth beyond this creature, bringing it a sacrifice each time I wished to use the chamber.

A bit harsh on the person being used as a key.

Never fall captive to a pirate.

Admirable advice. I can see you have made the most of contemplating upon your life experience.

While I am most willing to offer you more on this subject, for your edification and education, your brother wishes me to propose to everyone that he try Ki Shock Wave against the monster.

Tell him not to be crazy. Anything could happen.

You are outvoted. The rest of us agree.

Surprised, Liam allowed himself to be guided away until they were well back in the tunnel, just within the twenty metres range of Aengus’s skill. His brother taking position ahead of everyone else, looked around. Kate, Daniel, and Patricia gave him a thumbs up. Liam gave him a frown.

Regardless, Aengus turned back and with a violent move, launched his Ki Shock Wave. Performed under water, this was a far more dramatic skill than in air. A disc of compressed water, distorting the view of the room beyond, travelled at great speed into the chamber; a moment later Liam felt a pulse of pressure, perhaps because the wave had hit the stone wall beyond the monster which had reflected some of the energy of it.

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Nothing seemed to have changed and a sense of relief was growing in Liam when he realised he was wrong. Accompanied by a pang of anxiety in his stomach, Liam could see that the tentacles were moving. They undulated with an uncanny co-ordination, forming a loop by being raised from the ground and then smoothly launching the loop as a wave that ran out to the tip of the tentacle. There was something almost hypnotic about this, with luminous writhing everywhere and yet it was far from being a confused jumble of motion. There was a distinct and almost pleasurable pattern to the flow of loops.

Hunger is this monster’s dancing partner and you look upon the pair of them, moving in delighted anticipation of the feast to come.

But it can’t actually hurt us, can it? Not back here.

The dance is also a summons. Wide-mouthed are the sharks that assemble.

Sharks?

Darkness crowded in upon him as the corridor ahead filled with ominous shadows. A Fortify buff appeared, increasing his Hit Points by 4, and at the same time, Daniel’s Bless, which increased Physical Attack, Magical Attack , Natural Armour, and Magical Defence by 8.

Then came a skip of his heart and the delicious acceleration of Lord Azanth’s Rush of a Prawn Cocktail Crisp. Pressure waves struck his chest and immediately after came dreadful sounds, like that of nails being dragged over an iron sheet. Ahead of him, Patricia was ducked behind her shield; a massive shark was trying to bite its way through to her and Liam saw with horror that it had hundreds of teeth, each as big as his forearm.

Thornskin.

Of course! The transition from exploring in peace to an extremely violent encounter had happened so fast that Liam had not properly gathered his wits. It didn’t help that they couldn’t speak to each other in the roiling dark water. Holding the wand was all that was necessary to use its skill and for fear of losing it in the confusion, Liam kept it in his belt and aimed the buff at Patricia. Her lamellar armour produced long, sharp thorns and she looked like a sea urchin. Her Physical Defence was improved by 20 and every bite attempt by shark was met with ripostes from the thorns, thrusting into its mouth and face.

Daniel, albeit speaking in less poetic language, tells you to have non-consensual relations with the sharks, with your utmost vigour. He urges you not to panic, though chill-fingered Panic has laid her hand upon his breast.

Tell him I’m on it.

It was fortunate that Magic Missile did not require an exact focus on a target, because the shark was in such a frenzy of motion and the ripples in the water so disturbing to his vision that Liam would have found it very hard to target the monster. As it was, he blasted away at it as fast as the refresh rate allowed. Beside him, Kate was doing the same and better still, Aengus’s Ki Shock Wave seemed to be particularly effective in this confined space and thicker medium. Each time it came around, the shark was knocked back and the damaging wave continued, presumably smashing into all other sharks beyond.

On his tenth cast of Magic Missile, the shark died. Out of the murky, bloodied water another immediately took its place.

Now that his panic has receded thanks to the extraordinary damage you youths have been able to inflict in such a short space of time, Daniel asks for a mana check. I approve his new calm and mathematical approach to the crisis. Please be as precise as possible.

I’m at 178… now 179… out of 230.

Better than I hoped. There are seven more sharks we must defeat; control your skill, let not your pool deplete. While through healing the cleric has been drained by half; we may yet survive to live and laugh. Each arriving shark is already harmed, your brother’s skill our lucky charm. Our lives are on one side of a balance and Death presses down upon the other. Reason and calculation serve to counter that weight, it falls to me our skills to co-ordinate.

Just tell me when.

His Magic Missile timer was reset.

Now.

Liam triggered his skill, a bright, white orb rushing from his fingers to smash into the shark’s open mouth. He counted to himself. Six… seven… eight.

Now.

Again, Liam counted and again he came in on eight. Want me to keep up this exact rate of fire? I can use the skill on a count of eight and you can concentrate on the others.

Very good.

What mattered more than his own skill, was the rate of drain on Daniel’s mana pool. Healing Patricia as she held the shark off had to be very demanding and he was already half… Oh. Another Rush of a Prawn Cocktail Crisp landed and soon after came Fortify again. It was only 4 Hit Points but Lord Azanth was making a vital contribution to the healing rate. Beside him, Kate was launching Magic Missiles on a cycle that was just a bit longer than his own. At first her missiles had flown into the maelstrom just after his own cast; now they were distinctly later than his own.

The second shark died. The next was noticeably wounded and although just as ferocious, lasted but half the number of his casts. Liam was down to 75 mana. All the same, he was greatly heartened by the very battered condition of the fourth shark. All those Ki Shock Waves must have travelled down the confined space and torn into the monsters before they could even make an attack. In a more open area, Liam’s group would have all died if faced with an onslaught by eight giant sharks.

When the last of the sharks moved into battle, it was sluggish from the outset, already close to death. Which was just as well, because after Liam cast another Magic Missile he was out of mana. A few seconds later, Kate’s glowing missile finished off the shark. The pounding waves of pressure and the violent swirling of the water ceased. They had won!

Not one of you has the remaining mana for the use of a skill. Neither demon nor human find it becoming to boast. I shall not therefore boast for myself but for your part: you may wish to say that you were present when Lord Azanth, the fallen demon, the prawn cocktail crisp, conducted a group to victory over a shiver of sharks twice their level with a precision unmatched by any orchestra leader.

You managed that very well. I don’t think we’d have survived without you to co-ordinate us. It was too dark and confusing and impossible to hear one another.

Everyone had sat on the ground; mana regeneration was a touch faster that way. The water was very slowly beginning to settle and clear. As he caught up with all his notifications Liam felt a glow of happiness spread from his heart. The sharks had been excellent EXP and he had reached Level 15!

Liam Nowak Level 15 Mage

Rank 1 Evolution 0

A former Junior Fresh student of Magecraft at Trinity College Dublin, now an independent Adventurer, this young human is searching for moral certainty in a world that he feels has betrayed his former faith in goodness.

HP 59

Mana 259

Health 30

Strength 7

Agility 8

Intelligence 22

Physical Attack 3

Magical Attack 47

Natural armour 0

Magical Defence 37

3 Attribute points.

Equipped Slots:

Left Hand: Hazel Wand of Syceus

Right fingers: Ring of Freedom of Movement

Exp 34.37m / 64m

Soul Stones 0/100

Rank quests 5/30

Skills

Magic Missile level 2

Freeze level 2

Choose one.

Titles:

Puzzle Solver

Member of the Purple Order