*Shaaa*
Blue waves clashed against the dragon of war. The galleon shook and tumbled on the chaotic waters, but its occupants didn’t even bet an eye on the environment.
It wasn’t anything new in their eyes. Trolls, ogres, and thousands of beasts were used to such weather. It was three days ago when they sailed from the third island. Nothing changed on the first day as they journeyed through the cyan waters.
However, the situation took a sudden turn at the midnight. A never-before-seen fish attacked their ships in droves. The situation was similar to the time when they sailed for the first time.
And they were even more shocked after daybreak. The ocean went from cyan to blue as far as their eyes could see. The temperature, the intensity of the winds and fish that swam in the ocean…everything was different. It was almost as if they were teleported to a new ocean overnight.
Only after Zyrus explained that they had crossed over into a new zone did they calm down. Zyrus had realized that the non-human players didn’t know anything about the sea unlike those from earth, so he decided to make use of this boring journey to teach them about the ocean.
“Yes, the ocean is much much bigger than the forest.” Zyrus’s words echoed through the 20+ ships.
Now, here he was, speaking to a bunch of fierce-looking monsters. The sparkling looks in their eyes were almost blinding. Zyrus felt like he was a distant relative who came from the city, and now he was telling exaggerated stories to his little cousins. They even argued about who will board the dragon of war since listening from the longboats was ‘boring’.
“Yes, there really are monsters who can kill you within seconds,”
Zyrus answered Druv and Strongfist one after another. It was somewhat difficult to shake their firm beliefs, but they came across in the end.
Anyone would after fighting non-stop for two nights. The vastness of the ocean and the might of those who resided in them was nothing to scoff at.
‘I'd better hurry, maybe we’ll reach there tomorrow,’ Zyrus thought while he drank some water.
“All right everyone, I’ll be leaving tomorrow, so this’ll be my last lecture,”
The beasts perked up their ears at his words. He had already told them that he would be gone for a few days.
Well, not really gone as he’ll be traveling underwater in the same direction.
“Let’s talk about different regions in the sea. The deeper you go, the more complex the lifeforms will become,”
“Strong…fish?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The ocean is classified into different zones based on the depth. First 200 layers are called Epipelagic Zone, also called the sunlight zone. Most of the fish we encounter are from this zone,” Zyrus continued after pointing at the fish they had collected this morning,
“They’re small, weak, and in large numbers. Nothing dangerous as long as you’re careful. Next, from 200 to 1000 meters is the mesopelagic zone, also known as the twilight zone. This place is home to the most dangerous fish and aquatic monsters you’ll be facing,”
Zyrus held up one of the five-meter-long piranha-like creatures they had killed and continued,
“They’re more ferocious and often have some bothersome abilities. The creatures living in this zone swim to the sunlight zone to hunt at night. This is one of the reasons why we are attacked every night.”
The fish from the lower layer migrated upwards to feed on the weaker fish. It agitated them, and thus, they would attack the players relentlessly. Of course, the main reason for the attack was the flag’s aura and their instinctive greed for evolution.
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Zyrus told them how to deal with them by giving various examples. All in all, he was sure that they’d be able to make the journey without him.
“Are…there….more…fish…below…?” Druv asked with a curious expression.
“Of course, but you don’t have to worry about it. They won’t come up under normal circumstances,”
In all honesty, the reason why the sea was labeled as a dangerous region was due to the creatures that lived in the deep sea. But apart from him, no one had to deal with them just yet.
Zyrus concluded his lesson and went back to his cabin to make final preparations. It was suicidal to go towards the depths of the ocean with his current stats, but he didn’t have much of a choice.
‘At least I managed to get the trait,’
Even without the cube’s mission, he would’ve gone down to the ocean sooner or later. As much as it was a perilous place, it was also a treasure trove.
There was a good reason why he brought along the flag despite the dangers. The flag would’ve been safer at their base, but it went against the spirit of conquering.
Apart from the buffs it provided, there was another major benefit in bringing it along- The storage. The meter-long cyan flag that was fluttering on the dragon of war had enough space to fit all of the ships inside of it.
Besides, Zyrus had the ability to store materials remotely as long as he was within a certain range. It was one of the many convenient buffs the flag acquired after the last upgrade.
‘Let’s see…heat suppressors, climbing hooks, dried rations, waterproof scrolls….’
He stored dozens of random items into his personal inventory after much consideration. Unsurprisingly, the first thing human researchers worked on was food. Bread, fermented vine, meat jerky, and many such things were present at daily meals.
It was a pity that Dragon of War left the base before the ballista and the rest were ready, but he was able to bring along other niche items the researchers made.
The sun went down and the fights broke out as usual. Zyrus sat on the mast amidst the howling gales and looked down at the vast sea below.
The oceans he saw on earth’s history were beautiful and wonderous because humans were the apex predators of the planet.
*Craash*
But the sanctuary was different.
The ocean here was dark and gloomy.
And he would be going to that place all on his own.
*Kaboom*
Hours slipped by as the monotonous fights went on. The drakes' breath attacks cleared the water filled with dead fish, and the beasts dealt with the occasional fish that landed on the ship.
Occasionally, blasts of lighting broke the dark shroud of night. A faint silhouette of Zyrus became visible every time the white light flashed.
His red eyes passed through the thousands of fish and penetrated the black waters. He sensed a pair of eyes gazing at his fleet from the depths of the ocean.
Since there was no way his senses could reach hundreds of miles away, there was only one conclusion.
Someone or something was telling him that they were waiting for his arrival.
‘Heh, it’s rude to keep the hosts waiting,’
Zyrus gulped down the last drops of vine from his gourd and jumped down from the mast.
*Splash*
Along with the first rays of sunlight, Zyrus started his journey towards the deepest region of the ocean.
…
‘Hmm… it doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all,’
Zyrus waved his tail and swam near the surface to get the hang of his trait. Underwater breathing was working as per written in the system tab. There was almost no difference between swimming and running on the ground.
‘In fact, this is better since all my limbs are free,’
His tail was more effective than his hands and legs. He had expected as such, and it was the reason why he changed the Xisheng arts’ target. Now, his horns were ‘sacrificed’ instead of his tail.
*Guduk*
He released the breath he was holding in to check the main function of the underwater breathing. It felt somewhat strange to not breathe all of a sudden, but he got used to it within minutes.
Every pore on his skin was absorbing the mana and oxygen from the surrounding ocean. In a certain sense, he was even superior to the fish who had to rely on their fins.
‘Good, everything’s set,’
Zyrus gave one last glance to the dragon of war and dived down into the deeper regions. 30 meters…50 meters…100 meters…500 meters….
The sunlight had almost disappeared at this point. He felt the pressure increase at every second, but thanks to his trait, he was fine.
This was the reason why he opted for a seemingly useless trait like underwater breathing. Similar to earth movement, it didn’t just allow the user to move underground.
It adjusted one’s body to handle the environmental factors associated with the trait. In this case, Zyrus’s body was evolved to endure the pressure of the deep sea.
Forget about the lack of oxygen, just the pressure on the lower zones was enough to crush one into mincemeat.
Quite a few fish and aquatic creatures noticed his presence. Most of them were wary of his strength, but since all of them were full from the recent meal, no one bothered him along the way.
Zyrus made good use of this time as he searched for any good materials.
And soon enough, he came across the first target.