[Ernudol's token] (Quest Item)
Aura Effect 1: Leads you to the Ernudols obsidian gem of transport.
Aura Effect 2: The aura of the merman prince allows you to breathe and move like a merman underwater.
Aura Effect 3: The Aura of the merman prince prevents most water monsters from attacking you.
With the token pinned on his chest, Shadow immediately used his disguise skill to morph into the shape of a bandit and went into stealth. Though the bandits were of another race, he could put on a disguise that covered him up with rags similar to the bandits. He also had put himself in stealth just to avoid any trouble that might come towards him.
He went toward the lake where he could see a couple of mounted weapons that would shoot bolts continuously like a machine gun. These weapons had a barrel which held a bunch of arrows. It was like an automatic crossbow but had bolts the size of harpoons instead. It looked like the native life of the lake wouldn't be much docile if these guns were being used by the guns.
"I might need to be careful in the water," thought Shadow looking at the weapons. The weapons clearly indicated monsters inside the lake that needed them. He would hardly stand a chance against such monsters. "I hope that aura effect of the token works," thought shadow as he got into the lake.
As he got into the lake a blue aura light got our from the token and covered him. It formed a figure similar to that of a merman around him. He could see the figure having webbed feet and hands. He could also see a blinking shark symbol at the bottom of the lake indicating the location of the obsidian gem.
He saw an entirely different world in the lake, he couldn't see from above the water. There were no fish close to the surface of the lake. He expected his visual range would diminish on entering the water. But his visual range actually expanded. It seemed to be a welcome side effect of the aura.
When he tried to swim, he could also notice that he could move with great speed and had good control over it. "Maybe this would be the feeling if I was a merman," thought Balthazar mesmerized at the feeling. He had used tools to move underwater in his previous life, but this was an entirely different experience than those.
As he went down a few metres, he saw various kinds of fish in the lake. These varied from level 4 to level 15. A few large ones that looked like sharks came close to him but turned back once they touched the light blue aura around him. He could see bandits in the lake fighting a few fish and sharks, but weren't successful. He decided to go deep before any bandit notices the aura. Luckily, most of them seem to be preoccupied with the monsters.
It seemed that he would have a smooth trip in thy lake. The only thing that surprised him was the depth of the lake. He couldn't see how deep it was and he was at the edge of the lake. The bank was so steep that it was almost vertical.
After he swam down what felt like 500 feet, he finally saw the bottom. At this depth, his visibility and mobility both reduced. He could see only up to a few tens of metres. There was hardly any sunlight at this depth, he could only see because of the token.
He needed to search the bottom. Any treasure if found would be on the floor of the lake. He had no options other than searching for treasure chests as he we wanted to gather some valuable from this trip. Attacking any monster underwater would be suicidal for him. He was only able to move safely as he could avoid aggro of the monsters.
Reaching the bottom, he started to move along the edge of the lake observing everything he could. The symbol for the obsidian gem always pointed to the centre of the lake bottom.
He also noticed that there was something peculiar about the lake floor. It was elevating upwards towards the centre as far as he could see. "The lake might have some kind of underground hill like structure," thought Balthazar as he saw the terrain. "But the gem still seems to below my level. Most probably there is a hole or something at the centre. I doubt they would make it so easy."
Though he already walked for quite a large distance on the floor of the lake, he couldn't find any treasure chests. But he did find a few herbs like white pondweed and obscure kelp. These would be useful in making of potions.
The obscure kelp is a dark colored weed seen at the bottom of underwater areas which is used in making in obscurity powder which could be used to hide from magical tracking. It has other uses in potion along with the white pondweed.
These were level 15 herbs. Though he wouldn't be able to find any recipes for these anytime soon nor they would be any use till they reached level 20 and tier 1, he still chose to harvest them. He best put in whatever he found in his bag.
Harvesting herbs also provided experience which was something he didn't do since he entered the camp. Though the success rate isn't high due to him being 5 levels below that of the herbs, he decided it was better than nothing.
Soon, he found a path made of stone bricks that led to the centre of the lake. He decided to check the path first. As he walked towards the centre along the path, he also saw a few arches on the path.
"There might be some old ruin at the centre," thought Shadow as he continued along the path which was sloped upwards. He became more sure about his idea of a submerged underwater ruin or something similar as he couldn't guess the plot for such a ruin in a lake in the plains.
Soon, he came to see a few stone huts and other buildings covered by moss. It was definitely some old ruins. There were all dilapidated with window holes and doorways which were missing windows and doors. He went to search these areas but found nothing. After a continued search in these stone structures which proved futile, he reached the centre of the lake.
There was a crater at the top like the mouth of a volcano. The crater seemed to be the centre of the ruined civilization and had a relatively larger building made of stone which looked like some kind of old mansion with three stories. It was in the shape of a rectangle with four spires at its four corners and spherical dome at the centre. It had a metal door which was closed shut.
Luckily for Shadow, a large hole was there right beside the dome where the roof collapsed inwards. His search of various building was in vain till now. He didn't find anything other than herbs in this entire 90 minutes he spent searching the lake bottom. The symbol for the gem also pointed toward the mansion. He desperately hoped to find some treasure chest or items in the mansion.
So, he quickly swam towards the hole. As he reached near the hole, a cyan colored tentacle suddenly shot out of the hole and grasped him around his waist. He couldn't do evade it and when he tried to stab at it, his daggers simply passed through it.
The tentacle pulled him into the hole at a breakneck speed which immediately dazed and blinded him. When he could see again, he was seated on a chair in a pitch-black room filled with water. "I am still in the lake," thought as he looked around.
He wasn't bound but he had an eerie feeling like he was still being constrained. A silhouette of a man was in front. The man glowed in a cyan light and appeared translucent. The scenario reminded him of the ambush and interrogation he had suffered just before his reincarnation. The silhouette immediately moved towards him as the tentacles that caught sprouted off its back slithering towards him.
[Guardian Spirit Barbotul - Polypoda Spirit]
Level: ??
HP: ??
The Spirit had the shape of a thin beautiful lady with long hair. It was the same color as the tentacles and was staring at him with its head tilted bearing a confused expression.
"Another high-level NPC?" thought Shadow surprised. He had seen two high level NPCs by now in exploring the plains. One was Arius and the other was a polypoda spirit. Polypoda's were supposed to be tier 2 sea monsters at the very least and can go up to tier 5.
He was extremely confused by the appearance of these high level NPCs. He didn't know that at the start of the game any new area or expansion had such entities to inspire interest to quickly explore the new areas at the start of the game. But the developers later decided to remove these special quests after the first upgrade.
"You are an odd creature. You bear the aura of merman royalty, but you are obviously not one," said the spirit in shrill voice as it continued to look at him. The tentacles caught his hands and pulled him to her. "Tell me, what reason do you have to come to this sacred place and why do you have that aura?"
"I was sent here by a captive merman to retrieve something of his. He needs it to return back to his homeland and provided me with something that leads me to his possession. The item also releases the aura to protect him," replied Shadow.
"Hmm! Recently an escape gem did find its way down to the holy grounds. It made its way in here. I would like to help the merman. But I can't trust your words blindly," said the Spirit. "Even if true, I can't let in anyone without confirming them to be not an enemy of the merfolk. I am bound by the rules and can't help you."
It threw him down on the floor in front of it. A few symbols immediately appeared beneath his feet and magical light poured out of them like a gush of water covering Shadow blinding him again. A few seconds later, the light covering him receded. He could clearly see that he was no longer in the lake.
He was at the edge of an island. There was a hill about 1 kilometer high out of which lava was pouring. There were a bunch of larian running towards him. These were creatures that looked like bulldogs made of stone with red glowing eyes and fire spurting out of their mouths.
These were a subspecies of the Hell hounds which were sworn enemies of the mermen. Hell hounds breathed hell fire having dark and fire attributes. Mermen were being that lived most of the time in water and many of them were civilization that mainly consisted of druids that practiced holy magic. There were natural enemies due to their natures.
[Larian pup] (Common monster)
Level 7;
HP: 2000/2000;
Shadow was still reeling from the shock of the light effects when he heard the barks of the larians running towards him. He immediately realized that the test of the spirit probably involved killing these small monsters.
The voice of Barbotul suddenly sounded in his ears. "This is the old training grounds for the young ones of the mermen race. They learn how to fight the larian at this place. It serves as a breeding ground as well as a prison to them. It has been a long time since this has been put to use, but it will serve well to determine your allegiance."
"Killing the larian in large numbers leaves mark on your body that makes you an enemy out of all the creatures of underworld. I am leaving you here for an hour. Impress me," said the voice as it disappeared.
Quest Updated: Save the merman prince: Prove yourself to guardian spirit Barbotul by killing the larians. Time: 1 hour.
"This was ridiculous. There is no indication of what the spirit means by large numbers or anything. How am I supposed to know what to do?" thought Balthazar.
Luckily, he was on an island on its shore. His feet were wet due to the water. The main weakness of these monsters is water. They are entities which seem to be made of something like hot clay with skin that looked like it was made of porcelain. It would be easy if these are directly step into the water. They would harden a bit and they tend to go get brittle which would allow him to kill them easily.
But the larian never get into water. Though it sounds easily to kill them by using water, it wasn't really a feasible option for him. He would need to improvise a bit if he wanted to do it. A group of them were rushing towards him from the hill. He had an idea to handle this group, but there were only about 50 larian. He was sure that he needs to kill more if he wants to impress Barbotul.