After a while, Mark finally entered the 3rd Floor.
'I can more or less detect things entering my Aura now. Still, it's just a contingency plan. If things go well then, all I'll need...'
He pushed open the huge doors in front of him.
Shining pupils pierced through.
'Are these eyes.'
Right away, three streams of water were shot at him with great speed.
Only one of the three streams was aimed right though.
Mark defended by lazily raising an open palm.
The water splashed upon contact with his hand.
'Huh...' Mark thought as he turned back.
Two holes had appeared through the thick doors he had just passed through.
'Oh, right. I gained Water Resistance a while ago...'
An arrogant smile on his face.
Mark turned back towards the attackers, but he found none.
'Did they run? Anyway, what's more important now is...'
The room Mark had entered was circular.
Its diameter must have been about 15 to 20 meters.
Below him, a chunk of land.
He looked up.
The ceiling was about 5 meters high.
'Ugh...'
Around the chunk of land, was a body of water.
'Don't tell me...'
On the walls, no doors except the ones behind him.
'Am I supposed to fight underwater?'
After taking three steps, Mark's feet were already underwater.
He leaned forward and stared for a bit.
Mark noticed creatures swimming in the shallow water.
But beyond that, all he could gaze at was darkness.
Mark called back his Underlings into the Familiar Necklace.
'It seems deep. Very deep. I might even need to breathe underwater...' He thought.
Mark raised his arm up.
'I'm sure if I spend enough time underwater, I would develop a Passive Skill that would allow me to do so but...'
A black liquid appeared above his open palm.
It turned into a solid javelin.
Using all his strength, he threw it towards one of the swimming creatures.
The javelin pierced through the water.
Splash-
Seconds later, a dead creature floated to the surface.
Mark flew towards the dead Monster and grabbed its body using his tail.
The dead Monster had the anatomy of a crocodile, although its legs were longer.
Its jaw wasn't as long as a crocodile's.
Mark brought it back to the small chunk of land before devouring it.
'No new Skill, huh? Guess I'll have to do that some more.'
Not wanting to fight in an environment he was not used to, Mark attacked the Monsters from a safe distance and let their bodies rise to the surface.
'I wonder if I'm being too cautious.' He thought while taking a bite of a Monster's arm.
After devouring about fifteen Monsters, Mark had acquired the following Skills:
[Passive Skill: Underwater Propolsion[E]
Acute control over one's tail to move underwater swiftly.]
[Passive Skill: Water Pressure Resistance[D]
Can resist the pressure that one is subjected to underwater. Can resist about 100 meters of depth worth of pressure.]
'100 meters, huh? Who knows if that'll be enough... Ugh. I didn't want to do it, but it seems like breathing underwater isn't a Skill.'
As Mark touched the last Monster he had defeated, its body turned into a red sphere of energy.
'I rather like this form. I don't want to change a thing, but the ability to breathe underwater seems to be anatomical.'
The next instant, Mark's body changed slightly.
Three slits appeared on each side of Mark's neck.
They were gill slits, resembling those of sharks.
Mark passed his hand over them.
'Huh. That's a nice addition.' He thought.
Mark rotated his shoulders, preparing.
'Let's get to it.'
He jumped into the water.
Thanks to his gill slits, strong tail, but also his new "Underwater Propulsion" Passive Skill, breathing and moving underwater quickly became natural.
Mark spent some time under the surface without diving too deeply.
'I'm getting the hang of moving around. Still, I feel like I can't utilize all my strength. The fact that water has both a higher density than air but also a lower concentration of oxygen...'
Three Monsters started approaching Mark.
[Ludroth: [D] Rank Monster.]
'Three all of a sudden?'
One approached from behind, another from the side and the third from above.
'[D] Rank, huh? Might as well bring more of them then!'
Just as two of the Monsters opened their mouths wide, Mark's claws pierced through both of their necks.
'And for the one above-'
Mark hit the last one using his tail.
Sonic Tail Flick.
A powerful attack that ended the Monster's life.
So powerful, that Mark was pushed deeper into the water.
He was sent spinning by his own attack
'Shit!' He cursed while trying to regain his balance.
Once he managed to stop, Mark found himself close to the ground.
It was covered by a combination of sand and dirt.
From it, various plants were growing.
After looking around him, Mark found a huge hole in one of the walls.
It wasn't as much a hole as it was a tunnel or passage.
A tunnel that would lead to the continuation of the Third Floor.
***
Sometime later, two underwater doors stood in front of Mark.
He pushed them open and entered.
Mark swam to the surface.
Seconds later, his body left the water, as he found land.
'Damn. Finally... So the Guardian isn't underwater, huh? Good. I got the hang of it, but still...'
Mark stood on a large circular platform.
Around that platform was, of course, water.
On the other side of the room, two huge doors.
Mark looked around him for a bit, before massaging his forehead.
'Shit. I'm all alone on this platform...'
The next second, something was preparing to emerge from the waters.
A long tail left the water before diving once more.
Crystals appeared before disappearing.
Mark called out all of his Underlings, except the Moonlit Feline.
He readied himself.
Red Aura appeared all over his body.
'It's coming!'
The Guardian's head left the water.
Its two front legs climbed onto the platform, while the rest of its body stayed underwater.
Blue scales covered its body.
Its claws were razor-sharp.
On its head, two small horns.
GROWL-
Piercing yellow eyes stared at Mark.
The latter couldn't help but smile nervously.
'Some kind of underwater dragon?'
The Guardian opened its mouth wide.
The crystals that covered its back started radiating light.
The light quickly turned into sparks of electricity.
As if channeling that energy, the electricity disappeared from Guardian's back and turned into an electric bomb in front of its mouth.
The instant the attack was shot, Mark spread his wings as quickly as he could.
BOOM-
The platform was covered by a thick cloud of dust.
As the smoke started fading, Mark checked his Underlings' condition from above.
'Tsk.'
Three of them had already returned to the dead.