Zyrus swam towards a region that was glowing with a faint red luster. Such ‘faint’ light was equivalent to a floodlight in this twilight zone. Even so, he would’ve missed it for sure if not for his trait.

Of course, one can use mana to do everything the trait did by using skills and items, but it was a very inefficient process. This was also why the ocean wasn’t explored before the merging of the second and third rings.

‘Let’s see…it looks like a flower, so it’s probably Nautilus Bloom,’

Zyrus recalled that it was a native species that grew on the blood and flesh of monsters. Contrary to its gruesome origins, its power was calm and pure in nature. It was one of the key ingredients in making recovery and mind-calming potions.

‘And you can consume it as is to negate any mental debuffs,’

Although he knew the material was useful, he didn’t dare to rashly approach the region. Every natural resource was guarded by monsters. The strength of the guardian was proportional to the material’s value.

Zyrus swam around in circles but failed to discover anything. He couldn’t use his skills either as it was equivalent to announcing his presence to everyone in the region.

In the end, he decided to check it out in person. He could afford to be reckless in this region with his current strength.

Red lotus-like petals were floating in the middle of an empty region. The Nautilus bloom was a flower without any root or branches. Its birth was a miraculous process. The carcasses of dead creatures would suddenly disappear into nothing, and in their place, a red flower would bloom.

It was a random occurrence, and as such, the material was rare. Just as Zyrus reached within 10 meters of the nautilus bloom, he noticed the hidden guardian.

“Motherfu-”

The creature he saw was a stuff of nightmares.

*Krekrekre*

Zyrus had to admit that he was creeped out by the guardian. It was a mutated Telescopefish. Whoever named it was a lazy person for sure. But the name was apt.

He stared back at its purple face from a hundred feet away. As its name suggested, the meter-long fish had tubular eyes like a telescope. With a short snout and recurved teeth that went past the eyes, it could compete with the Nidhoggs when it came to being eerie.

*Krekre*

The Telescopefish wriggled and inched closer to him in a threatening way. Its fins and spine were almost boneless and transparent, so it looked like a purple face with tubelike eyes was swimming at his way.

‘What the fuck?’

Zyrus was speechless as he noticed another detail- the fish was trembling. That thing was practically a nightmare fuel, and it was scared by him.

‘Tch…whatever, I’ll just take it,’

*Kruuuuu*

Zyrus felt like he was bullying the little fish as he stowed away the Nautilus bloom. Anyway, it was a peaceful conclusion for both sides.

He swam down at a measured pace and crossed the 2000-meter mark. He was inside the second largest zone in the ocean, the third zone below the Sunlight and Twilight zone.

It was called Bathypelagic Zone or the Midnight Zone. Almost no sunlight or natural bioluminescence was present in this region. The temperature went below 4 degrees whereas the pressure increased by almost 300 times compared to the islands.

Zyrus changed his relaxed attitude and activated items that concealed the light and heat signatures around him. Although he would emit mana signals in the process, it was preferable.

Those who could sense such faint usage of mana were far fewer compared to those who detected any heat and light signatures. Pretty much every creature living here had large eyes like the Telescopefish.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘It’s a great place to train willpower,’

It wasn’t easy to live in a region like this. There was no light, no sense of direction, and to top it off, you could be ambushed anytime and anywhere.

And this wasn’t a temporary situation. The conditions wouldn’t change as long as one stayed in this region. How long could a normal player hold out under such stressful conditions? How long could they maintain their vigilance before losing their minds in fear?

Could they find food and water? Could they maintain their MP and stamina consumption? Such questions were hard to answer.

Zyrus knew that almost 99% of the current playerbase would either die or become insane after living here for a month. As for traveling in a group or building a submarine? It was even more suicidal.

Both things were tantamount to broadcasting ‘I’m here fishes’ to the whole zone. It’d be fine if you had the power to withstand the aggression. Otherwise, the only outcome was utter annihilation.

The sea was vast and lonely. Hours went by as Zyrus swam in the dark water. It was fortunate that he could sense the flag which was on the dragon of war, otherwise, he’d have lost his way as well.

As an added safety measure, he had summoned the entire abyssal legion on the dragon of war. They could adjust the speed of the boats so that he wouldn’t be left behind on the ocean.

‘It'd be great if they could swim though,’

Reconnaissance and exploration would be a piece of cake if that were the case. However, he knew that it was just wistful thinking. Even if his summons had the ability to survive in this environment, the problem mentioned above would occur: Their mana signals would attract too much attention.

It was out of question to conquer the deep ocean without crossing lv 50.

Zyrus swam and swam before he lost the track of time. He almost felt glad when he discovered the fish living here. Their creepy faces were a welcome sight in this boring environment.

Of course, not all encounters were without a conflict. On the bright side, his attacks weren’t hindered underwater. The vortex manipulation worked even better under the ocean.

Zyrus made use of these fights to further hone his controlling skills. Afterall, it was his first time fighting underwater with a low level. He didn’t face any problems when he was stronger in the past life, but now the things were different.

In this process he also learned to manipulate the ocean currents. It was fundamentally different from using the airflow to charge his vortex. Zyrus knew that soon enough; he’d be able to generate a tsunami-like impact.

‘But let’s hope I don’t have to use it…’

Almost a week had passed since he started traveling in this zone. He didn’t particularly enjoy the pointless journey as he was still far off from the mission’s target.

But this was necessary.

His strength was sufficient to move around in the first three zones, but that was it. The next zone was a boundary region between the second and the third ring. It was a perilous place even for him.

As for the last zone? He was no better than a bug compared to the creatures that lived there. The only way he could survive this trip was by adapting to this environment.

Who said that ants couldn’t survive in a jungle ruled by a lion? Adaptation was the key to survival.

*Shuaaaa*

‘Finally, it’s here,’

Zyrus’s yellow eyes gleamed in excitement as he saw the white columns rise from below. His agility wasn’t low to begin with, add to the fact that his tail was better at swimming than his legs were at running, he was overall just 30% slower than the dragon of war.

The galleon’s speed was manyfold faster than his at the daytime. But the advantage given by the wind was negated once the night fell. His fleet was slowed to a crawl under the attack of the fish.

Meanwhile, he himself wasn’t targeted by the schools of fish. In their eyes, he was no different from one of the many strange creatures that lived around here.

Zyrus speedily made his way towards the rising columns. Hydrothermal vents- also called the treasure troves of oceanic metals.

They were one of the primary targets he selected. Ballista, cannons, torpedoes, or even weapons and ships, everything needed metals. What better source could there be to get them?

‘Hopefully, I’ll get something to fix my armor as well,’

Lorica Squamata was damaged beyond repair in the fight against the Nidhogg king. It wouldn’t be too difficult to recover its durability, but the main concern was the Auricrust crab’s soul which was damaged when he used lunar aura.

After swimming for half an hour, he finally saw the ground after days. He didn’t hesitate and dived down to the seafloor.

‘Huu.. it feels great to stand on two legs,’

Zyrus surveyed the surroundings with gleaming eyes. The region was somewhat brighter in his eyes due to the thermal heat that escaped from the floor. Although the hydrothermal vents were more than a kilometer away from his current location, he could see them with ease.

As far as his physical improvement was concerned, his eyesight was second only to his tail. He walked with soft steps that didn’t even ruffle the sand on the seafloor. The off-white plumes of steam became bigger and bigger in his eyes.

It took him another half an hour to finally reach his destination.

As much as it was dark and gloomy, the ocean was just as beautiful in places like these. The hydrothermal vents here were fundamentally different from the ones Zyrus saw in earth’s history.

They released thermal energy along with vast amounts of mana. It looked like reverse mountains were rising from the fissures on the seabed. The energy dispersed from the concentrated columns and created a beautiful region that stood in contrast against the dark ocean.

‘I suppose only those who can ‘see’ mana can enjoy this sight…’

The peaks of these mountains were concentrated with heat and mana which created many valuable metals. And naturally, there were those who guarded this treasure trove as well.