After a couple of hours of getting ready to dive, we had picked a team of specialists to get the job done.
First, I would be going to carry the heart and help kill the guardian. I was also to be the team leader and my magic would ensure that we could stay underwater.
Next, Isabella and Cassandra would provide support to me in battle as usual. I was much more comfortable fighting while knowing that Isabella had my back.
Also...I had become surprisingly okay with Cassandra being around and relied on her skills to help me kill things.
Lastly, Leiso would work with the ocean itself and ensure that we could move freely underwater.
It went without saying that she would be, by far, the most useful member of this group.
The entire ocean was a weapon that she could use to do anything. Truthfully, I wasn't sure the guardian stood a chance.
And also, I wasn't convinced that Leiso even needed our help to begin with. But that remained to be seen.
We wore special outfits for diving. By that, I meant that Leiso had us wear bathing suits...
Isabella wasn't really happy about showing so much skin in front of the crew, but Rastair forced them to stop ogling her. And then there was Leiso...
I usually couldn't tell, but she was quite the sight.
I didn't stare so much as I just noticed. She didn't seem to be bothered by the outfit as this sort of thing was normal on Ignitus. Although Jallah had to go and open his mouth...
"Man...that's a rare sight. Leiso in a bikini? What a nice view- GAH!"
Rune punched him in the jaw.
"Don't look at her like that!" Rune said angrily.
"Ah...s-sorry dear... Forgive me?" Jallah said with a nervous smile.
"Always..." Rune said as she relaxed.
Leiso just sighed and allowed herself a slight smile as she stared over at me.
I was wearing swimming trunks. Rastair wouldn't stop trying to flirt with me and Cassandra had mixed feelings.
"He's so wonderful! Mizik is just the most amazing man ever! But...I wish those scars would go away..." Cassandra said.
"You gave them to him, didn't you? He told us a while ago when we asked... That was some horrific torture. How is it that you also managed to fall in love with him?" Leiso said.
Before Cassandra could have another panic attack, I put my hand over her mouth.
"I'll hug you if you don't scream. Deal?" I said. Then I turned to Leiso. "You should probably try not to bring that up. She's...kind of broken. The memories of what she did cause her severe amounts of emotional stress...like you witnessed back on Ignitus. She feels nothing but regret about that incident, but if you want the full story, I'll tell you later. For now, just accept it."
"You are a strange and interesting man, Mizik. Very odd that you have so many females in your life..." Leiso said.
"It isn't on purpose. It just sort of happened," I said.
"C-can I have my hug...n-now...?" Cassandra said as I felt her breathing hard on my hand.
I hugged her and she giggled to herself while rubbing her face on my chest.
"She's kinda freaky... I've been wondering for a while, but why is she so submissive to you? You mentioned that she was evil at some point, right?' Jallah said.
I covered Cassandra's ears and looked at Jallah.
"Like I said, she has panic attacks if you bring up her past. So could you please stop doing that? And to answer your question, I think Difar did something to her. Although, she apparently had feelings for me for a while. She became my personal slave as a means of redeeming herself," I said.
"Yeah...that's kinda...wow. Was she okay with this?" He asked.
"She's the one who wanted it in the first place..." I said.
"Haaaah...yes! I am Mizik's possession! I belong to my darling Mizik and serve him well! I follow all of his orders without question and adore him more than life itself!" Cassandra said happily as she wiggled her head out of my hands.
Jallah shook his head.
"And it doesn't bother you that she's...you know... The one who did those things to you? And also that she's obsessed?" He asked.
"I choose not to let either of those things bother me. Her life is in my hands as payment. And...it's kind of helpful that she has those feelings for me. It keeps her loyal," I said.
"Whatever floats your boat. Sorry for bringing those things up, Cassandra. I'm a bit inquisitive by nature. I don't mean to pry, I just like to understand things," Jallah said.
"You need not worry, Enforcer Jallah. I am working on my panic attacks for when I'm reminded of my...reprehensible past... And Mizik refuses to treat me badly even when I request it. He is quite cruel by treating me with kindness. He will not allow me to feel retribution for my sins. Although...I must admit, I'm living a wonderful dream! My darling Mizik is so kind! He treats me so well!!! I love him so much!!!" Cassandra said.
Then she hugged me again and started smelling my chest.
"Alright...that's enough! You can let go!" I said uncomfortably.
"Right. Hey, Rune...ever thought about being crazy for me like that?" Jallah said.
"I'm already devoted, but I'm not crazy... No offense, Cassandra..." Rune said.
"None taken! This is normal for me!" Cassandra said happily as I pushed her away. She kept holding on, however...
She was a hell of a lot stronger than I remembered her being.
"Get off of me, dammit! Isabella, help me!" I said.
"Ah! You're being so rough, darling! I like it!" Cassandra said.
"Let go of me!!!"
Then she let go just as Isabella switched in.
She sighed heavily.
"She was suppressing me... My apologies... Touching your bare skin made her get a bit too crazy..." Isabella said.
"That's kinky..." Jallah said.
"Very strange, indeed... I might want to try that for myself just to be sure, however..." Leiso said.
I looked over at her and narrowed my eyes.
Everyone was silent for a moment and then Leiso cleared her throat.
"Well then, is everyone ready? We can just step into the bubble..." Leiso said, changing the subject.
A stream of water flooded up onto the deck and formed a large sphere. There were metal plates linked on the bottom for something to stand on.
"Nice save..." Jallah said.
Leiso narrowed her eyes at him and he looked away.
"Let's go then..." I said.
We stepped into the bubble of water and were lifted off of the deck. We slowly descended into the ocean fter that.
Just before entering the water, I touched the places on the upper center of the two girls' chests and cast a group spell.
"Soul of the Sea," I said.
The spell would last for an entire day and imbued the targets with multiple attributes.
Among them were waterbreathing, swift swimming, and night vision.
"Mizik...don't you think you ought to ask permission before touching so close to my...womanly parts?" Leiso asked.
I hadnt noticed...but Cassandra switched in just before I touched her.
"Heeeee...Mizik touched me! I'm so happy!" Cassandra said.
"Damn you, Cassandra!" Isabella said angrily.
"Sorry, but I didn't think it would be a problem. If I need to again, do have permission?" I said as I ignored the Albatross sisters.
"Hm...you can do as you like as long as Isabella agrees to it," Leiso said with a wink.
Not you too... Please!
You're supposed to be the neutral party, Leiso! A role model! I look up to you!
"I will never agree! Even if Leiso is a dear friend and a beloved comrade. Never!" Isabella said defiantly.
"It was worth asking. My apologies, Isabella," Leiso said.
Isabella let out a sigh of relief.
It was nice for someone to stop when asked, for a change.
"Right...so let's just focus on the mission, then?" I said.
If we have to do something like this again, I'm going to wear a shirt next time!
We slowly dropped down further into the ocean and I could see everything around us.
Many creatures were swimming around. Some of them looked very similar to animals I had seen on both Avernia and Ignitus.
I guess making a world doesn't mean reinventing the wheel when it comes to wildlife...
As we got lower in the water, I started to see something below us.
It was like a huge chasm beneath the waves.
But I couldn't see the bottom...
We went lower and lower until we finally reached it, but we didn't stop. We continued down into the chasm.
"Leiso, will the pressure cause any issues?" I asked.
"I have already made preparations for that. My Aspect gives me complete control of water, so I can negate this. However, I still cannot breathe underwater, so I'm relying on your magic to keep us alive."
"Can I help in any way?" Isabella asked.
"Yes. If anything comes too close, protect us with your barriers. I'll use my Aspect to crush them," Leiso said.
"Understood," Isabella said.
Isabella pulled out Bravery and readied her shield. She didn't put her armor on yet, however.
I assumed she would wait until we were actually in danger for that.
The further down we got, the larger the monsters seemed to get.
At one point, something shot towards us and it slammed into Isabella's barrier. Then Leiso waved her arm and it simply stopped moving. I could see blood coming out of its mouth and sides.
The Iron Tsunami is one of the most lethal enemies someone could ever face in the water...
After another few minutes of descending, we finally reached the bottom.
"Now then, this place is rather large, but I would prefer to stick together," Leiso said.
"Agreed. We can search as a team," I said.
We began walking on the seafloor with the bubble Leiso made surrounding us.
The water within the bubble was preventing the pressure from crushing us. I looked at Leiso to make sure she was fine, and it seemed like she was expending very little effort while keeping it active.
"Leiso, is doing this difficult for you?" Isabella asked.
"It's like keeping your finger on a button. It isn't difficult, it just requires a bit of focus. Only a small amount, though," she replied.
"That's comforting to hear. If you weren't around, I would probably have to use my barriers to keep us safe. That isn't really the most ideal situation..."
"I am happy to be of assistance. I'll continue to aid you both as long as I can. Also...I just want to say that it's good to be reunited after that horrible incident on Ignitus..."
"I just wish the others would have made it..." I said.
"Iris has not received the souls of Michael or Gavin. It is likely they could be alive, but...they were cast into the Void. The possibility that their souls could have been erased is also very real..." Leiso said.
Truthfully, I shuddered to think about what horrifying fate befell those two after they were thrown in the Void...
A fate worse than death. To be completely erased.
Valtheim...you truly are a monster. And you'll be one hell of an obstacle to overcome... But mark my words, you will die.
As we walked on the sand at the bottom of the trench, we began to see something in the distance...
Glowing crystals that seemed to get larger the closer they were to an old structure.
"Leiso, are you sure you'll be able to handle so much magic?" I asked.
"I've had plenty of time to get used to this world. I'm hoping it won't be a problem," she said.
We eventually began walking by the crystals, and Leiso seemed only mildly bothered by them.
Soon, we came to the temple entrance... The doors had long since been broken off, but I could tell by the magic radiating from below that this was the place.
"Seismic lookout," I said.
My vision went dark as I looked at the outline of the temple and its rooms below.
It was fairly small, except for a massive cavern-like room below the main hall.
Good. This should be simple...
We went in and quickly looked around.
There were a few holes in the floor and below us, I could see something glowing brightly...
Surrounding it was a gigantic sea serpent monster with large squid-like tentacles protruding from a mane around its head.
Its face looked menacing and its teeth were each bigger than I was.
This thing could likely destroy entire ships with one bite.
"Is that the guardian?" Leiso asked.
"That's what I assume," I said.
We stepped into one of the holes in the floor and Leiso lowered us down.
Once we reached the bottom, the creature opened its eyes.
It uncurled itself and prepared to strike, but as it opened its mouth, Leiso stretched out her arm and clenched her hand.
The creature began convulsing violently and its eyes rolled back into its head...
Blood began oozing from its sides and mouth as it started to slowly sink back to the ground.
"It's...dead?" I asked.
"Well, considering I impaled its insides with metal spikes and crushed its brain with water pressure, I would say it's definitely dead," Leiso said bluntly.
Brutal...but highly effective.
"Good work, Leiso. Let's grab the heart stone," I said.
We made out way over to the back of the room where the heart stone was and passed many others along the way.
These types were apparently called faded hearts. They were lightly powered stones that only fed off of residual energy generated by actual heart stones...
They could form around legendary and normal Heart Stones.
In other words, they were nearly useless for what we intended to do.
Instead, they were mainly harvested by Elysium as a power source for their machines.
When we got close to the stone, I could immediately tell that it had a very similar type of power to the Heart of the World.
This one had a darker blue energy radiating off of it, instead.
I walked up and quickly transferred it to my inventory.
"That was easy..." Isabella said.
"Is it gone...? That thing has way too much magic coming off of it... Ugh...I feel like I'm going to throw up..." Leiso said while clutching her stomach and holding her hand over her mouth.
"I thought you said you were used to it, Leiso," Isabella said.
"Nngh...I can function in this world... But those stones are far too intense..."
"Well, it's gone now. So let's get out of here," I said.
In hindsight, it might have been a good idea to set some kind of spell to teleport back after we finished... I'll start making something like that then...
"Just stay close. I'll take us back," Leiso said.
* * *
Nearly an hour later, we emerged from the water.
Several creatures tried to attack us on the way back out of the trench, but Leiso simply killed them all before they could even touch Isabella's barriers.
We finally got our feet back on the deck and everyone eyed us curiously.
"We have the stone. Let's make our way to mount Gahu," I said.
"Can I...see it?" Rastair asked.
I had a few problems with taking it out, but it was only because of the intense magic. Oh well. She deserved to at least see it.
"Everyone stand back. Especially you Enforcers," I said.
I reached into my inventory and pulled out the Heart of the Deep.
The magic touching my hand was searing hot, so I had to let go. But I caught it in mid-air using telekinesis magic.
"I've never seen such a radiant Heart Stone, before! This is the legendary one, right?" Rastair staid.
I nodded and she leaned in close.
"It's so...magnificent! This thing is probably worth a tremendous fortune..." Rastair said.
I immediately placed it back in my inventory and she looked at me quizzically.
"We already had someone try to steal a Heart Stone from us. If you try anything..."
"D-don't worry! I wouldn't dare! Besides, I wouldn't get very far with it, would I? Being in the middle of the ocean and all..." Rastair said.
At least she's smart enough to realize it...
"Not to mention, I doubt we would survive the aftermath. We have a deal, don't we? I am a woman of my word. I won't betray you. Pirate's honor!" Rastair said.
Pirates don't have honor. Do they...?
"Whatever you say..."
I looked around and saw that the other Enforcers, despite having stepped back, were all looking violently ill from being in such close proximity to the heart stone.
I silently hoped to myself that they would be able to get over that someday. But regardless, we needed to get moving.
"By the way...has anyone heard of the situation between Elysium and...what was that other country called again?" I asked.
"It's called Lokan. And they're still at relative peace...as far as I know, anyway. We've been out on the ocean for a while and haven't had any contact with anyone. Why? Did something happen?" Rastair said.
Oh. Right. There are no telecommunications in this world...damn it all...
"Ehm...nothing happened! Not that we know of! Haha!" Isabella said cheerfully.
"Hm. Whatever you say. Anyway, shouldn't we get moving?" Rastair said.
"Right! Let's get moving, Mizik!" Isabella said with a nervous smile.
We spent the next hour making preparations to head towards mount Gahu.
Once we had finished, we were off.