'Crack… Crack…' The sound of breaking rocks continuously echoed.
'We need to hurry…' A hurried voice rang out.
Liam's hands gripped the stone walls, gripping so tightly that his handprints were left on the surface of the path he took.
'There's no sound anymore… Maybe that monster isn't coming.' James's voice came from behind.
Liam continued climbing the slippery tunnel, which had an incredibly steep incline. From a distance, light started to come into Liam's view. At that moment, his racing heartbeat began to calm.
'We've made it…'
A fresh breeze from the underground rivers blew onto Liam's face as he emerged from the rock hole. The scene in front of him would have been more peaceful if it weren't for the frenzied fishmen swimming wildly on the river's surface.
'What's happening…' James, with a panicked expression, climbed out of the rock hole and looked at the creatures.
Liam sensed that something was wrong, and sweat continuously poured from his body.
'We'd better follow these creatures…' Liam immediately jumped into the river, followed by James.
Glancing at the fishmen swimming away hastily, so hurried they didn't even notice him and James, Liam's anxiety grew. After swimming for a while, they finally reached the exit. Many of the creatures were frantically gathering and swimming out through that exit.
What seemed like it would be a safe escape quickly changed when the stone walls around the exit began to crack.
The fishmen seemed panicked, pushing harder to swim out, ignoring their companions in front. Their actions resembled people shoving each other to grab discounted items in a supermarket. Finally, the stone wall that separated the outside from the cave completely shattered, revealing the massive head of a killer whale. Its large yellow eyes scanned the area, indifferent to the terrified fishmen frantically trying to escape.
A hideous fishman, shoved aside by its companions, blocked the killer whale's view.
'Screech… Screech…' Its piercing scream echoed as the killer whale crushed it with its hand before quickly devouring it with its sharp teeth.
'It's… it…' James cried out in fear, causing some salt water to get into his mouth.
Liam frowned as he saw the situation unfold. He hadn't expected the monster to chase them all the way here. Turning back now would mean losing the advantage of following the fishmen. If they swam away, Liam and James were certain to meet their deaths. This was the most critical moment of their escape.
Liam pointed forward, signaling James to swim quickly and follow closely behind the creatures.
Though the distance to the exit was extremely short, it felt like a path stretching thousands of kilometers to them now. Both were in a state of extreme tension. The only thing they could do was swim behind the fishmen to stay out of the killer whale's sight.
'We're almost at the exit…' Liam was quietly pleased as they neared safety, but also a bit anxious about the giant creature spotting them. Luckily, both James and Liam safely escaped the cave. Meanwhile, the killer whale began entering the cave to search.
At this moment, only one thought was running through Liam's mind: 'Swim faster…'
Energy burst through his body, spreading all over and creating a large red aura. He pushed himself to use 100% of his strength to escape this hellish place. The fear he had felt was now replaced with a surge of vitality, growing stronger as he neared the surface of the ocean.
'I'm alive…' Liam happily relaxed his body as he emerged from the sea. He sat down, breathing heavily. If he hadn't just come up from underwater, the droplets running down his body would definitely have been sweat.
Shortly after, James surfaced as well. He was in the same exhausted state as Liam.
Without giving James any time to rest, Liam stood up and walked forward. He glanced at James, his face weary.
'Let's go.'
James, still sitting down on the water's surface, struggled to say,
'Can't we… rest for a bit?'
Liam kept walking without turning around.
'Do you think that monster will let us rest? We need to get out of this damned fog.'
Hearing that, James forced himself to stand up and continue walking. After all, what Liam said was true.
After a few hours, they finally regained some energy, though they were still very tired.
Holding a hot grilled piece of meat that James had just cooked for him, Liam ate it heartily, thinking to himself,
'Space rings are amazing… perfect for long trips.'
He turned to ask James,
'How's the direction?'
Looking at the compass needle spinning in circles in his hand, James scratched his head and replied,
'It seems there's a magnetic field around here, so we can't use the compass right now.'
Liam sighed,
'So we're still wandering aimlessly, huh.'
James put the compass back into his ring and said,
'Maybe once we're out of this fog, the compass will start working again.'
Liam finished the last of his meat and looked ahead, where the thick fog still loomed.
'Let's hope so.'
After walking for another half a day, there was still no sign of escaping the fog. Both James and Liam were showing signs of mental and physical exhaustion.
'I'm so sleepy…' James yawned and added,
'I wish I had awakened the water element instead of fire… I could make us an ice bed to sleep on.'
Liam, with tired eyes, responded,
'How can water make an ice bed?'
James chuckled lightly,
'Let me remind you of some basic knowledge you've forgotten. Normally, there are five elements, but the water element is special. Those who possess it naturally have the ability to freeze. The Smith family is the only family whose bodies are inherently aligned with this element from birth.'
James turned to Liam and sighed,
'Pretty enviable, huh?'
Liam stroked his chin, thinking,
'Yeah… But can't your fire burn through ice?'
As far as Liam knew, the elements always had some form of opposition to one another. None of them were omnipotent. Water could douse fire, but water could also freeze, and ice could be melted by fire.
James shook his head and replied,
'That's true in nature. But for people like us, the one with more mana wins, no matter the element.'
'Looks like the fog is clearing up a bit,' Liam said, sounding more alert. It seemed their small talk had helped, at least as a temporary remedy.
'The exit's over there,' James pointed toward the area where the fog was thinnest.
'Finally… we've escaped…' Liam sighed in relief as the fear of being stuck in the fog forever began to dissipate.
Both of them sped up to escape the fog. But as they emerged, another concern hit them. The sky was pitch black, and the vast ocean stretched endlessly with no visible end. In their current state, it would be difficult to survive until morning.
'What now? We're too exhausted, and our boat is gone,' James said, his eyes drooping.
Liam wasn't too surprised by the situation. Things would have been much harder if he had been alone. But this time was different.
'You'll drag me across the surface while I sleep. We'll take turns.'
'I'll go first since you've already had quite a bit of rest, haven't you?'
James was surprised by this plan but didn't object.
'Alright… We'd better take advantage of the calm sea while it lasts. If the waves pick up, it'll be tough to sleep.'