Chapter 8: Makoto Takatsuki Challenges the Seafloor Temple
Tomorrow, we would be leaving the Habhain Islands and traveling to Highland...which meant that today was my final chance to attempt the Seafloor Temple. However, there was something different about my strategy this time.
"The weather's awful, Lu," Sasa grumbled. She seemed bored and was splayed out on the bed, kicking her legs in the air.
"Yeah, this is our last day! It's not fair," Lucy whined. She was also on the bed, though she was tending to her staff.
The rain outside was torrential. It wasn't just drizzling—the weather was honestly bad enough to be considered a storm. Maybe a tropical cyclone or a typhoon was bearing down on us. I looked out at the scenery, gazing past the raindrops striking the window.
"We are leaving for Highland tomorrow, so let's get packed today'h," Nina suggested. She'd been here on and off when she'd had breaks from working for the Fujiwara Trading Company.
Fujiyan had also come along with her today. "Make sure you do not forget anything. If there are any items you need, then I shall prepare them..." He trailed off as he noticed what I was doing. "My esteemed Tackie? Where are you going?"
"Just, you know, around," I answered vaguely. That was enough information for him to infer my true intentions.
"Take care." "Thanks, Fujiyan."
I was wearing the same gear I'd worn back in Macallan, and the only weapon I carried was Noah's dagger. In a change from my previous
attempts, I was pretty lightly equipped. I had a feeling that I'd been pointlessly weighing myself down with all those extra supplies.
Time to go back to basics. It reminded me of being in the Great Forest, facing off against goblins with my dagger.
As soon as I left our lodging, I was buffeted by the storm. The rain sprayed against my whole body, drenching me and making me feel like I'd stepped under a shower. Trees in the courtyard were bending like bows, and every flower petal had been blown back.
I heard an amplified voice in the distance—it stated that today would be the last day of our trip and advised everyone to wait inside.
"Hero Makoto...? Are you going somewhere?" I turned to see that Princess Sophia had walked outside to address me. That was a shame since the rain was now soaking through her gown.
"Water Magic: Flow," I incanted, using magic to stop the drops from hitting her. I also dried her dress.
"Th-Thank you," she answered, bewildered. "I'm going to the Seafloor Temple," I told her.
She looked at me like I was crazy. "In this weather?!" she exclaimed. "We're in the middle of a storm!"
"Makoto! It's dangerous to go out when it's like this," Lucy protested.
"She's right," Sasa added. "When we were in school, they taught us not to go outside during a typhoon."
"Makoto! Are you leaving right now?!" Prince Leonardo asked in shock.
Everyone was right—I'd normally never go out in a storm like this. The temple and guild had both given similar advice on that topic. I'd also learned that every contingency should be taken into account
when adventuring. Your condition, your equipment and tools, and the environment should all be as ideal as possible before you embark on a quest. That was the norm for adventurers in this world. Though, of course, risk was part of adventuring, and it was difficult to plan for everything.
By all of that logic, it was a mistake to go out in this storm.
But...
"Leaving now is actually the right choice," I told them as I looked toward the edge of the pelting rain. "It'll give me the best shot at making it to the temple." I saw blue lights sparkling all around us, which indicated the presence of water elementals. In fact, there were more of them than I'd ever seen in one place.
"Makoto...?"
"Takatsuki..."
Lucy and Sasa were looking at me in concern. The two royals wore similar expressions. But since I was the only one who could see the
elementals, explaining things wouldn't help any of them understand.
"Elementals," I called softly, placing my right hand in front of me, palm up.
Huge amounts of mana swirled toward me.
"Wha...?" Lucy was the first to react since she was a mage. Next was Princess Sophia, and she shuddered slightly at the sensation of the flooding mana.
The amount of mana whirling around me was massive, easily dozens of times the amount I'd used against the blight monsters.
"M-Makoto?" Prince Leonardo asked, but he faltered as the wave of mana overwhelmed him.
"Water Magic: Water Phoenix." I cast the king rank spell without an incantation and created an enormous phoenix made of water.
"M-Makoto, that's a king rank..." Lucy murmured, her eyes wide.
I smiled at her as I climbed on top of my phoenix. "With so many water elementals around the islands, I can use as many king rank spells as I like." There were more of them than ever—this was the right time and the right place to try and achieve my goal. My chance at conquering the Seafloor Temple had finally arrived, along with the final day of our vacation.
Lucy, Princess Sophia, and Prince Leonardo were all dumbstruck. On the other hand...
"Wahhh, that's amazing," Sasa said openly. She was the only one of them that wasn't a mage.
I gave farewell with a quick, "See you later, then," and this time, no one stopped me.
"Later, Takatsuki," Sasa called, waving. As she did, my phoenix and I set out for the Seafloor Temple.
As I left the magical barrier that surrounded the island, the storm grew even stronger. The rain posed no issue for me, and I thought of it as a firm ally. The water phoenix also blocked out the driving wind.
In moments, I was flying high above Deep Scar. The sea's surface was rougher than usual, and huge whirlpools swirled among the waves.
The water elementals were all frolicking about energetically. It made sense, I reasoned, that they were causing the ocean to become more turbulent.
So...how should I proceed down to Deep Scar? Until now, I'd used Stealth to swim there peacefully. However, that only seemed to work on the fringes—there were strong monsters within the trench that
could find me despite using Stealth. I certainly couldn't treat this quest the same as ones in the Great Forest.
Should I try forcing my way through? That wasn't a method I'd tried before, and it went against my usual policy of being careful with encounters. But...there were more water elementals here than I could even count. And if I called out to them, even more would flood the area. In these circumstances, fighting through the monsters was worth a try.
"Heeeyyy, elementals!" I yelled out across the deserted tempest. "Let's play!"
Their interest immediately shifted toward me. Waves the size of buildings rose above the sea, and sheets of rain drove sideways into them. A boat would have capsized in moments, downed forever to sleep with the fish.
If I hadn't been a water mage, this environment would've been a hellish sight. The elementals, though, were whirring around in enjoyment.
"Come on, elementals! Let's play even more!" They answered my cry.
This...might work. I kept greedily gathering mana. More, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more...
Uh, Makoto, I heard Noah say, that might be a bad idea...
Just as I was about to ask why, a chill ran down my spine. "Hey, you there? I think that's quite enough."
The deluge halted. It didn't exactly stop raining—the actual drops were still there, but they hung motionless and quiet in the air. Water, wind, and waves, the whole storm... Everything had stopped.
"Hmm, that's pretty impressive. Who taught you elemental magic?" asked a beautiful voice. It rang out so clear that the voice seemed to not even be of this world.
I shuddered. The idea of turning around to look at the speaker
frightened me, but I didn't have a choice—something I couldn't see rotated my body.
Then, I saw. A bright light shone into my eyes, so I couldn't really tell what the figure looked like.
"Oh...so you looked after all. Maybe you don't know fear." The voice laughed.
"U-Uh, who are you?" I asked, even though I knew. The woman in front of me was no human. Several wings of light stretched out behind her, and she looked like the angels we'd learned about in the Water Temple.
They were known as guardians of the lands, and they appeared from time to time, though the number of sightings had markedly diminished as the years wore on. They were only supposed to have one set of wings, though. The being in front of me had far more than that.
There was a sensation of pressure on my soul. It felt like I was up against an enormous wall. Fear and unease clouded my mind as if I were being left behind in the dark. It...felt just like when I'd first met Noah.
The divine being didn't bother to answer my question or offer her identity. "I came to check on the sea because it was more energetic than usual. So, you're the cause?" She seemed to stare at me for a moment, then spoke, as if realizing something. "Oh, are you Noah's
precious child? The one I've heard so much about? Hmm..." She used Noah's name...
My goddess piped up immediately. "That's right, so don't scare him so much."
"Noah?" I asked. Her voice wasn't in my head like normal but was tangible and something I could actually hear.
"Teach him properly then," said the divine being. "You know that he'll cause a disaster if he gathers too many elementals."
"All right already. Makoto, you shouldn't call anymore," Noah
warned. "If you go too far, the island that Lucy and Aya are on will end up sinking."
"What?" I'd thought we were far enough away to avoid that danger...but no, this was coming from Noah, so I should believe her. "Got it. I'll be careful," I said, responding to both Noah and whoever was in front of me.
"Good boy." The mysterious girl giggled. "Well then, see you, Noah." "Bye, Eir."
In the blink of an eye, the divine being vanished, and I felt like I'd imagined the last few minutes. The storm came back full force and the rain pattered against my cheeks, gradually cooling me down.
But, before I got back to my quest, I suddenly registered the name that Noah had used.
"Eir...?" That was the name of the goddess that held dominion over water in this world. That's a bit bigger than some angel! I thought
frantically to myself. I set Calm Mind to 99% and willed myself to relax.
It was fine... One of the Sacred Deities had found me, but she'd let me go.
Don't worry, Makoto, Noah reassured me. It's one of the rules of heaven—goddesses can't directly interfere with mortals.
Oh. I get it.
Elemental magic will cause environmental disasters, though. If you go too far, you'll attract divine attention...like you just did.
I'd...need to be more careful about overdoing elemental magic. "Elementals," I called softly.
They'd vanished in fear at the water goddess's arrival, so I called them forth again. A blue glow rose around me.
Right then, let's go. I'd gotten my wits back and was ready to proceed.
Without hesitation, I leaped into a huge whirlpool.
The water beneath the roiling waves was pitch-black, but I carried on through it. While this area was teeming with huge monsters, there
weren't many aggressive ones.
Let's cut through!
This time, I was going to make a beeline straight for the depths, carrying with me all the elementals I could manage. They schooled around me like a shoal of mackerel and formed an orb-shaped shield that protected me from the monsters. The mana from thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of elementals was apparently a threat to the underwater beasts—none of them bothered to attack.
Was...this the right call? I wondered. I honestly wasn't sure... It felt a touch too violent.
By now, I could see a glimmer of light further down, and it was getting gradually brighter. Before me once again was Deep Scar, a massive rift that sliced across the ocean floor. Strong monsters lived within its depths. At first, I'd thought that there must be a less- dangerous path to the Seafloor Temple, one with fewer enemies.
However, I'd spent every day so far looking for it without any success. I guess this wasn't exactly a normal dungeon, but a last dungeon, one where humans had yet to step even a single foot.
There was never going to be a simple route.
The opening of the trench was getting closer, and I could see the monsters inside it as well. Each and every one of them was calamity level. Normally, I'd turn tail and run right about now, but I had the elementals with me this time. While lots of the fierce beasts made threat displays in my direction, many of them also fled from the power surrounding me.
And so, I dove headlong into the trench.
It's going well, I thought to myself after a while.
I'd just come across some sea dragons, monsters that I'd usually be doing my best to sneak past. However, they'd fled when faced with the mana of the elementals all around me.
There was magicite lining the walls of the trench, and it glowed brighter as I passed, reacting to the swirling mana. It was as if a path had been lit up just for me.
Not everything was going to go perfectly, though.
One particularly large sea dragon stared irritatedly in my direction. Judging by its size...it was probably an ancient dragon.
Crap, it's attacking!
Dragons that lived for longer than a millennium were called "ancient dragons." They were prideful creatures and had no patience for anyone who trespassed upon their territory.
Water Magic: Yamata no Orochi. When faced with the massive eight- headed serpent I'd conjured, the ancient dragon turned and left in anger.
That paved the way for a new strategy—every time a monster came nearby, I drove it off with magic. I didn't outright beat them; I just needed them to flee from me.
I went deeper and deeper, progressing ever further, and thinking only of one thing: Noah was waiting for me in the Seafloor Temple!
After swimming a while longer, a wall loomed up from the darkness in front of me.
A dead-end...?
I stopped, staring at the huge wall that had appeared within Deep Scar.
Wait...it's not a wall... It's moving!
The width of the trench had gradually narrowed as I'd gone down, but even so, the opening was still easily more than a hundred meters across. And this creature was large enough to block up the entire space.
The beast was a kraken—an enormous mollusk that was known as the "terror of the seas." They were usually rare sights but would sometimes appear above the waves and swallow ships whole. Even sea dragons were said to avoid them.
Normally, I'd run away...
As I peered around more carefully, I could actually see several of them. Was this their nest...?
Suddenly, my RPG Player skill showed an option.
Will you cross the nest of the krakens, terrors of the seas?
Yes No
I didn't hesitate. Besides, I wasn't here to defeat them or anything. My goal was to reach the Seafloor Temple.
I'll push through! I activated my Flee skill to ensure that no kraken would grab hold of my legs, and then sunk even farther down into Deep Scar.
The trench itself kept narrowing. As it did, there seemed to be more and more magicite clinging to the walls. At this point, pretty much the whole area was reacting to the mana and shining brightly.
If I chipped a piece of it off to take home, would I be able to sell it and live out the rest of my life just playing around?
Then, a massive amount of mana rolled past me. I had no idea what was producing that much power. There were rumors of ley lines that could produce infinite mana...so maybe down here...?
Suddenly, one of the kraken's tentacles whipped toward me with a rumble.
Barely missed! That was close! One of them was still chasing me.
Water Magic: Yamata no Orochi. The king rank spell hit the kraken dead-on. That magic had been at least somewhat effective against a blight dragon, but...Not against a kraken.
The monster's tentacles effortlessly wound around the water serpent I'd created, and my Yamata no Orochi was crushed.
I realized then that if the path down the trench got too narrow, I'd find my way back blocked off by the kraken. Should I turn back before I get cornered...?
Just as I was considering that, I swam out into an open space. It seemed to be a wide, cavernous area within the trench. And, for a moment, it felt like I was swimming through boiling water.
A barrier?
The huge space before me was covered with a barrier...but I'd just gone straight through it. Was it to block out the monsters?
That hope was immediately dashed as the kraken followed me through. Guess the barrier's not for blocking out beasts... So what was it for?
This kraken's damn annoying! It still hadn't given up on catching me and was stretching its tentacles toward me again.
Fine, I'll go on the offensive then, I decided. I shifted to speak with the elementals.
What...?
I was in shock—there wasn't a single water elemental surrounding me. Where'd they go?!
Was that barrier set up to block elementals?!
I had no time to think as the kraken started attacking me. Time to get away! I used Flee to put some distance between us, but the huge monster was already coming for me again. Crap! I thought, dodging a blow from the tentacles.
But seconds later, there was a swish...and a spear of ice pierced right through the kraken.
What?
The monster had been skewered... I couldn't follow what'd happened. That kraken was easily over a hundred meters long, and an ice spear large enough to stab clean through its body had just...appeared! Out of nowhere!
As I processed the first icicle strike, several more thudded into and through the monster's body. The kraken slowly faded into the depths as it sank toward the seafloor.
Magic...? Who cast it, though?
I peered around the strange environment once more. This open space within Deep Scar was huge—large enough that Roses's capital city could fit inside it several times over. The walls glimmered with magicite. At the base of the cavern, I could see a circular ridge of what looked like underwater mountains.
Not a single soul was here with me... There was no one who could've cast that spell. The only things moving were me, and the corpse of the slowly sinking kraken...
But then, there was an earthquake. That's what it felt like at least... If the earth shudders, it's an earthquake, right? This wasn't really that, though. The ground was simply moving.
More precisely, the mountains beneath me were stirring. I soon
realized that there wasn't a mountain range down there. It was one huge creature. I'm not sure if "creature" is even an appropriate term.
It was the divine beast, Leviathan.
According to legend, this monster had the strength to destroy the world. The beast, divine or otherwise, had also learned magic at some point. It was as big as a mountain range, and it shifted, opening
a mouth that was large enough to swallow the entirety of Roses Castle. It engulfed and consumed the kraken whole. The currents produced by its open mouth knocked me away.
That's...a divine beast. The pinnacle of all sea creatures.
I watched it. At a glance, it had looked like a mountainous landscape, but seeing it move was a nightmare. The real nightmare, though, was something I'd only just noticed.
On the back of this divine beast was something that looked like a small temple.
Uhhh...what?
That's right... In the abyssal depths of Deep Scar was a temple. I'd been aiming for this place the whole time, and it was supposedly on the seafloor.
But...I'd never expected that it would be on Leviathan's back.
"Is this...for real, Noah?" I said, sending a prayer her way without even thinking about it.
I thought that telling you might scare you off, so I didn't mention it...but yes. You're currently looking at the Seafloor Temple. Her voice echoed in my mind ethereally.
The Seafloor Temple...was on Leviathan's back...
Makoto, I get that you're shocked, but it's looking at you.
I whipped around and saw that its eyes were slit open and peering my way. Even with Calm Mind at 99%, it felt like my heart was being crushed with fear.
I-I need to run!
Leviathan had seen the enormous kraken as nothing more than food... This thing was so far beyond my level, that fighting it wasn't even worth considering.
Suddenly, the beast roared. The sound wave made the water swirl, knocking me back toward the wall of the trench. Was it rampaging in the abyss?
I could sense that the other monsters were afraid, terrified of the king of the ocean's wrath.
Makoto, it was just yawning, said Noah.
But regardless, I was tired of being shocked and thrown off-kilter. Plus, I no longer had any water elementals with me.
I didn't fight against the currents dragging me away but just used my magic to swim furiously toward the surface. Thankfully, the krakens and sea dragons had been afraid of Leviathan's yawn and had hidden.
Before I knew it, I was on the beach. The awful weather had broken up. My body felt immensely heavy, and I didn't know whether it was from physical or mental exhaustion.
Leviathan. What the hell am I supposed to do about that?!
It was a legendary creature...like a living mountain range! This wasn't something that could be defeated.
I looked dazedly up at the sky, but suddenly, a shadow fell over me.
"Makoto? You took your time." It was Lucy, peering over me as I lay on the sand. "Princess Sophia and Aya were worried when you didn't come back." She was standing right above my head. From this position, I could see her underwear. They were red today.
"Lucy, I can see your panties."
"Idiot," she retorted before sitting next to me. I pulled myself upright to sit beside her. We stayed side by side in silence for a while, staring out toward the sea.
"So, what was the Seafloor Temple like?" she asked eventually. My memories shot back to life.
There were monsters down there bigger than anything in Labyrinthos. Among them were the terrors of the seas, the krakens. And then, on a whole other level, was the divine beast Leviathan, who saw the krakens as nothing more than tasty snacks.
That last detail in particular made my heart stop. After a long pause, I answered. "Terrifying."
It was impossible to make it to the temple...just not something I could do. I'd almost died.
"Hmm, right."
Her bored response put me on edge. "You don't really seem to care," I pouted.
But a second later, her arms were around my neck. She held tightly to me. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"L-Lucy?"
"Did you think I wasn't worried?" she demanded with a glare. I'd pissed her off... I could tell by her voice. "You were being reckless!
And you wouldn't listen to anyone trying to stop you," she chastised. Her speech was similar to the one that Noah had given me. "I can't help now, but take me with you next time! Got it?!"
"Yeah...you're right." Lucy was the first comrade I'd found in this world. She'd asked about my goal back in Macallan and had been scared when she'd heard me say "the Seafloor Temple."
Yet, I'd tried it alone. Gone in alone. And was now moping...alone. "We'll go together next time," I agreed.
"Hmph, it's a promise," she replied with a smile. Her grin lifted my mood a bit.
"Oh, right. Look over here," she said, putting her index finger in front of my eyes.
"Hm?" I wondered, turning to look.
Then...
I got kissed.
It felt like there was a red light sparkling at the edge of my vision, but I couldn't spare the brainpower to check.
"L-Lucy?" I stammered.
"Got you," she said cheekily. "Now cheer up already!"
I was going to shout, but the second I saw her smile, I couldn't
complain. Well, I didn't exactly have any complaints. That had been my first kiss though, okay?
"Ahhh, Lu! No fair!"
"Mmph."
Sasa grabbed onto me and pressed me down, our lips locking the whole way.
"A-Aya?!" I heard Lucy say, panicked.
"Mmmmhh!" Sasa put the full weight of her small body on top of me, not once breaking the contact of the kiss. Her tongue made its way past my lips and started caressing the inside of my mouth.
About ten seconds passed as we were suspended in the middle of a deep kiss.
"Phwah," exclaimed Sasa as she finally released me. Behind her, Lucy was trembling.
"How was it?" Sasa asked shyly.
Does she think she can get away with anything because she's cute?
After a moment, I spoke. "Thank you for the meal."
"One more time then!" cheered Sasa.
"A-Aya! Stop!" Lucy protested, pulling her off. "You went too far. I only got a peck!"
"Well, you cut in for it!"
The pair of them grabbed onto each other and looked like they were about to start scuffling.
"Hey, guys," I interjected, trying to head it off. The two of them peered at me with glinting eyes.
"You idiot, Makoto! You're so dense!" "You moron, Takatsuki! You womanizer!"
Then, they both ran off, yelling back at me as they went.
What the hell? It kinda feels like I don't even have time to feel upset about Leviathan... Were they...trying to cheer me up? Well, the way they did it was...a bit too stimulating.
The storm had already blown past the southern islands and now there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The waves were calm, and the water stretched out as far as the eye could see, with pale white sand visible beneath it. The sea was gentle...so gentle that you'd never think a divine beast could lurk under the surface.
I'll just have to figure out some strategy, I decided.
The last dungeon. The Seafloor Temple.
Well, that place was certainly difficult enough to earn its name. And I still had no idea how to beat it.