Meanwhile, Aimer was being warped away as a situation was transpiring back on his home planet.
Inside the Bureau of Secret Intelligence (BSI), there was a young woman with long pitch-black hair having a temper tantrum.
"WHERE IS MY SON! *SNIFF* *SNIFF* HAVE YOU NOT FIND HIM YET! WHERE IS HE!" the woman who wailed as tears flooded her eyes was Anysia Belafonte, Aimer's mother.
"Calm down ma'am! We're still in the process of doing so, you have to give us some more time!" a high-ranking officer said as he looked towards the woman who was being held back by two security guards.
"What! How much more time do you need! It's already been a month since he's been missing!!" Anysia yelled with an agonizing expression causing her beautiful countenance to look hideous.
Though for her it was a month for Aimer it's only been a day. On the planet that he was located time flowed ten times slower. Making a day equal to a month in Earth's time.
"Listen, we still have no way to find your son. It's as if he disappeared from existence.
Of all the Dwellers that entered the Entrance, his body is the only one not accounted for, all the others are dead.
But that doesn't mean he also perished. Maybe whatever they encountered captured him or it could be something completely out of our hands.
Rest assured we will continue to do our best." the man ended his conversation with Anysia before turning heels as she flopped to her knees, drenched in her tears.
The Bureau of Secret Intelligence (BSI): they were tasked with withholding the peace in this world. They were an absolute law. From capturing fugitives, locating the missing, solving crimes, and overseeing the Dwellers. They did it all.
So it was reasonable for Amir's mother to seek their help with her current situation.
.....
Back in the Spacial System Aimer was transported to another planet.
Kucceunerth: Rank third of the five planets within the Spacial System. It is %90 covered with water while the other %10 percent island. This is sole because the monsters that dwell on this planet lives in the sea, well, there was only one species that existed within the seas. Monsters that can be found on this planet are Earth-type and Ascendant type, all above Aimer's current level.
And as of currently Aimer opened his eyes and saw a bright red sky with black stars. It was at that moment he felt himself falling.
'Wait! What's going on!? Am I falling' Aimer thought as his eyes opened wide in shock? In mid-air, he turned around to see a vast blood-red sea.
'No! No! No! I didn't ask for this! Why am I plummeting into a sea! It's the window's fault! Hey, stop this!' Aimer panicked as he fell at breakneck speed towards the sea.
*DING*
"Train within the depths of The Lifeless Abyss"
'Train? In this shit! Take me back home! This is too cruel! Is this how I have to train! In a sea full of the unknown! I want out!'
*PLOP*
Aimer made contact with the surface of the sea before falling in. And as he did, he held his breath.
'Dammit! What do I do now! Do I keep holding my breath? Then what? It's just a matter of time before I run out? Is there a way out of this situation? I could use the cloaked item but won't that make me fall deeper by passing through the water?'
Aimer pondered as he slowly succumbed beneath the water.
It was dark, completely dark. In all directions, no light could be penetrated the surface of the sea hence the name The Lifeless Abyss. And for some reason Aimer just kept declining,
Deeper...
Deeper...
Deeper...
And...
Deeper...
This continued until he was approximately -10, 000 feet in elevation within The Lifeless Abyss. The darkness he was now surrounded by was on a greater scale.
'Huh? How long have I been sinking for? Minutes? Maybe hours? I'm not sure...but the resources that I'm detecting feel unbelievable. If I could train within this water at this elevation I could go leaps and bounds.
But why do I feel so sleepy...like I'm at my last breath. Do I have no choice? No, it seems I don't. This may be a stupid idea that I'll regret making? But I have to.
For one, this sea was made to keep things in, not out. Second, I have to survive this so-called training'
Aimer's mind was filled with a bountiful of reflections as he was approaching the last of his breath. Unbeknownst to him that there was a creature lurking deep within the sea.
Soon enough Aimer made a decision.
'Maybe the window desired this. By bringing me here...the previous rewards I received were to help me through this dilemma. But I won't, I don't believe that I need to use any of the items I've received.
It's better to save those for the latter' Aimer thought before he made his choice.
Skill [Adapt] has been activated!
Just after Aimer activated his skill he felt his body became lighter. The pressure of the sea greatly lifted from his body. His lungs enlarged granting him the capabilities of going long periods without breathing. His eyes that once saw a dark abyss now gave him an ounce of a luminous view.
'Just as I thought! This is what it meant when it said the "minimum requirement for survival". There is more to this skill than meets the eye' Aimer thought as he smirked underwater.
'Now that I have a little more room to work with let's get to training. The resource within the sea is beneficial to my growth' Aimer spoke inwardly.
Which he was right. In every planet, the atmosphere surrounding them contained energy sources that once absorbed into the body can rise a person/monster level or giving them the potential to unlock a hidden skill.
This brings you to why the monsters consistently tried to invade Earth. It's because their atmosphere in certain locations is the thickness of any other planet even though they are one of the lesser in the Fishbowl System.
Suddenly, Aimer began acting weird. He was punching and kicking within the water. As if that's possible. Because each punch and kick were unbelievably as slow as a sloth.
'This is tough' Aimer thought as he continued his kicks and punches.
From a viewer's perspective, his inclinations would seem lackadaisical and shambolic. And this progression lasted for forty-five minutes.
That was until his attempts transitioned into a more harmonious and coordinated movement. His training distinguished that of a great martial artist at the peak of his power. Aimer felt his body becoming one with the water, not being impeded by the pressure.
Eventually, the resources he's been absorbing made him level up.
[You've leveled up] x12
[You've leveled up] x9
[You've leveled up] x10
[You've leveled up] x9
[You've leveled up] x8
[You've leveled up] x3
'Seems I'm making progress yet again. But this is only possible due to the unknown window and the [Adapt] skill' Aimer thought with a proudful smile as he continued his training -10, 000 within the water.
....
For three hours since he started absorbing the resources has Aimer been doing this. And now the resources around him were depleting. But Aimer's actions awoken something.
Aimer immediately turned his head towards his left.
'Hmmm...what is that? It's big! Wait, is it coming towards me!' Aimer exclaimed inwardly as a ginormous shark shot towards him.
This monster was the only species that lived within The Lifeless Abyss, Sharkanhas.
An enormous cannibalistic shark that amassed hardened velvet skin with black spines protruding along its backbone. It was equipped with four rows of sharp canines which are used to rip apart species of its kind.
As the shark approached with its jaws broad open Aimer quickly dodged right barely escaping the jaws of death.
'It's incredibly fast. And from my observation, it's at least an Ascendant type. But luckily I'm used to this pressure and I can fight within its waters.
Too bad I can't check my status right now but killing this monster should able to knock me up quite a few levels' Aimer reckoned calmly with a slight smirk towards the end.
Item [Levrac Short Word]
Aimer summoned a mid-length silver blade with a blue and black handle.
'There's only one way to kill this thing' Aimer then thought as he saw the Sharkanha launching at him again.
*ROARR*
*GULP*
The Sharkanha swallowed Aimer as it went on its way.
'And it's from the inside!' Aimer suddenly exclaimed inwardly before raising his sword vertically to make contact with the ceiling of the Sharkanha's jaws.
He dug his sword deep and by using the momentum of the Sharkanha pushing through the water in one direction, he dragged his sword in the other slashing from its jaws to its entire interior then to its tail. The Sharkanha was split directly down the middle.
*ROARRRRGHHH*
The Sharkanha wailed in agony as it perished to Aimer's blade.
*CLICK* *CLANK*
Aimer's sword broke as he could now be seen with blood splattered over his body while floating in between the two halves of the severed shark.
'All those times alone studying up on the monsters discovered so far on Earth was not in vain' Aimer thought before he quickly swam to retrieve the Sharkanhas core and drop item before its body fell to an even lower elevation.
[You've leveled up] x1
[You've leveled up] x1
[You've leveled up] x10
[You've leveled up] x1
[You've leveled up] x2
'I guess I might as well absorb this core before too before I lose the chance' Aimer thought just he proceeded to do so.
Immediately after absorbing the monster core, he looked at the drop item.
[Sharkanha's Mark] - Legendary
Intelligence +61
Speed +79
Stamina +80
Awareness +55
Elusiveness +91
Description: grants the user abilities of the Sharkanhas species such as the power to remarkably healing fast, highly accurate long-distance navigation, ninja-like stealth, and night vision.
'Hehe, how freaking lucky I am. This shark had a legendary item equipped. And never mind the stats! Look at the abilities...it's this just what I needed to survive this sea. Even the Gods seem to be on my side huh?' Aimer thought as he looked at the item.
He progressed to reach out for it but the item propelled towards his neck before plastering on there forming a tattoo of a wide-open shark jaw painted red.
'So it's not a normal accessory? Well, non-matter I can already feel the stat boost and abilities' Aimer thought as he touched his neck where the tattoo was located.
He soon realized he didn't need to hold his breath anymore and so he deactivated his [Adapt] skill which was soon at its limit. After doing so he progressed to swim from -10, 124 meters below the water.
...
...
...
....
It took Aimer 17 hours to swim from such depth. During his swim, he met a few Sharkanhas but using his [Empathy] skill he was able to avoid a confrontation.
Now, surfacing to the top he was able to get his head above water, unlike last time.
'It must be because I've leveled up now that I can escape the sea' Aimer thought as he hovered at the surface of the sea. He took a 360-spin to glimpse nothing but water.
'Ohh, man! Is there any land I can find' Aimer sighed inwardly.
Aimer then chose to swim directly ahead of him.
.....
.....
.....
Aimer swam for about thirty minutes. But no matter how much or how fast he swam in his view was nothing but the red blood sea.
'I didn't want to use it so soon but why not?' Aimer thought as he was now using his acquired navigation ability.
Aimer's senses rattled as he detected the electric fields generated activities of the monsters moving on an island.
And with the help of his sense of smell Aimer was able to chart a path through the ever-shifting waters of the deep seas to a location diagonally from him.
'Found ya!' Aimer thought as he propelled himself towards that direction.
...
After swimming for a few feet an abundance of resources emerged within the atmosphere.
'Oh? This is rich! I should absorb as much as I can before I locate this island' Aimer thought in content
as he proceeded to do so.
Aimer transitioned his swimming type to that of the butterfly stroke. He propelled himself at a fast speed concurrently absorbing as much atmosphere resource he can without stopping.
[You've leveled up] x2
[You've leveled up] x3
[You've leveled up] x1
[You've leveled up] x6
Paying little attention to these notifications Aimer decided to wait until he reached the Island.
.....
[You've leveled up] x8
[You've leveled up] x5
[You've leveled up] x2
After swimming for about 5,000 meters from his original location, Aimer finally approached land. He crawled from the water to witness a surprisingly massive jungle filled with a variety of trees and plants.
He quickly stood upright and decide to view his stats before proceeding any further. But before that could happen the second window delivers a message.
"Congratulations! You've survived The Lifeless Abyss!"
"And has achieved the title Ascendant Dweller!"
Rewards - [Hidden Skill: Water Elementalist (Lvl.1)]
(Requirements not met)
'The merits of this survival are tremendous. I've attained the title Ascendant Dweller meaning I am at least over level two hundred.
But it still seems it's not going to be easy meeting the requirements for those skills seeing the results of this survival so far'
'Well other than that, I had yet another skill that needs requirement for use! But this a hidden skill...I think I've heard of these before.
Certain humans develop control over a specific element. It may be wind, fire, water, or earth.
But unlike drop skills that are used instantly with no room for growth these hidden skills rely on the user's magical prowess to level up which decides the user's control over that element.
'On the topic of magical prowess...l guess sometime shortly I'll have to figure out how to use this hidden skill....that is, if this window that has been taking the initiative doesn't show me' Aimer thought calculative, observation and educative.
"Status Window"
Name: Aimer Belafonte
Age: 18
Title: Ascendant Dweller
Level: ???
[Intelligence] - 201 (+139)
[Speed] - 140 (+167)
[Agility] - 131 (+183)
[Strength] - 137 (+75)
[Defense] - 144 (+100)
[Stamina] - 186 (+80)
[Awareness] - 142 (+55)
[Elusiveness] - 129 (+191)
[Luck] - 102 (+169)
Skills: [Adapt], [Half-off] - Legendary ( requirement not met)
[Asura] - Legendary (requirement not met)
[Truth-seeker] - Unique (requirement not met)
[Empathy] - Epic (requirement met)
Items: [Ring of Iblīs, The Prince of Darkness], [Iblīs, Blade of the Fallen], [Banshees Orb], [Lippu's Crystal], [Potion of Irrational Bravery], [Orkan's Whistle], [Sosrono's Wear Set], [Cloak of Drakel], [Shakanra's Mark]
[Hidden Skill: Water Elementalist (Lvl. 1]
(Requirements not met)
"Wait! Why can't I see my level? What's going on!!! Wait...calm down....calm down. It's the windows doing right?
So does it want me to solely focus on training and don't give a damn about my level?
Shit! I hate this. But it's not like I can do anything! Anyways let's proceed with my training until I can see my level again...whenever that is!"
Aimer was quite angry with the fact that he couldn't see his level even though he knew it was about two hundred.
Nevertheless, he brought himself to a calm and collective state before deciding to continue training as he entered the jungle.
*DING*
"Defeat the monsters in the Wasteful Skerry and locate The Collapsing Peak"
Hearing this Aimer knew what had to be done.