Chapter 717: The Guardian Botanist Evolves

[Your Profession has evolved into Sentinel Botanist of Mother Freya]

Done.

[Evolving skills...]

And the skills really did evolve.

[Plant Manipulation of Mother Freya (Rare)] -> [Plant Manipulation of Mother Freya (Ultra-Rare)]

Luke clicked immediately to see what had changed.

[Plant Manipulation of Mother Freya (Ultra-Rare)]: Similar to one of Mother Freya’s sacred authorities, you can mentally command plants you have cultivated or bound to your territory. Within the range of your perception, they respond to your will like extensions of your own body, moving with greater precision, coordination, and instinct. Larger plants can now also be affected. The stronger your bond of friendship with the plants, the more complex and synchronized their actions can become.

He clicked on the next notification.

[Botanical Bond of Mother Freya (Rare)] -> [Botanical Bond of Mother Freya (Ultra-Rare)]

[Botanical Bond of Mother Freya (Ultra-Rare)]: The Sentinel Botanist deepens his bond with Mother Freya until his connection to nature becomes territorial. By remaining in a region long enough, tending its land, and rooting his essence into the soil, he can cause the area to recognize his presence as part of its natural cycle. Plants within a bonded territory share emotions, signs, and impressions with greater clarity, allowing him to sense environmental changes, foreign presences, and damage suffered by the flora. More sentient or spiritually awakened plants may feel comfortable speaking with him, offering memories of the land or revealing secrets hidden among roots, leaves, and soil. Within this domain, seeds germinate more easily, plants grow with greater vigor, and the flora he nurtures develops deeper loyalty, as if the territory itself responds to the one who fed it, protected it, and claimed it as home.

The third and final evolved skill surprised him a little.

[Botanical Transmutation (Epic)] -> [Botanical Transmutation of Mother Freya (Epic)]

[Botanical Transmutation of Mother Freya (Epic)]: The Sentinel Botanist deepens the power of [Transmutation] through the [Corrupted Blood of Mother Freya], pushing his botany beyond seeds and living plants. This skill allows him to alter plants, control their germination, perform instant grafting, modify natural cycles, and fuse compatible materials into plant structures to create unique specimens. As his mastery advances, his transmutation begins to reach materials of plant origin, allowing him to reshape, reinforce, purify, or adapt them, as long as their foundation remains tied to plant life. This marks a new stage of botanical creation, opening the path to new species, new harvests, and new forms of plant matter shaped by his will and Mother Freya’s essence.

Interesting.

Luke quickly picked up a large leaf he kept in the laboratory and focused. The transmutation did not come immediately. It demanded patience, control, and a more precise understanding of plant structure than he had expected. An hour later, part of the leaf had turned white.

Luke touched the altered surface, feeling the different texture beneath his fingers.

“Paper.”

It was only a beginning. But now he had a path: turning plants into materials.

Luke spent the next few days holed up in the lab, testing everything he could while the ship sailed on. After a week at sea, the group still hadn’t run into anything truly dangerous. Until that dawn. The first warning was a boom. Then another. And another.

Cannons.

The hull shuddered under the force of nearby explosions, and the smell of gunpowder began to mix with the salt air. Luke stepped out onto the deck just as Angie appeared above them, beating her wings against the night wind.

“Three ships incoming!” she shouted from above.

They had appeared out of nowhere, advancing through the darkness like predators. This wasn’t some random attack. It was exactly the kind of thing Marten had predicted. Participants were starting to attack each other along the route. Some wanted to thin the competition. Others just wanted loot. In the end, the difference didn’t matter much. The result was the same.

Angie shot toward one of the enemy ships.

“Charlie, stay with Anne. Protect the ship.”

She didn’t even get the chance to answer. Luke had already jumped into the water. The cold swallowed him for a second. Then he released the kraken.

One good hit to the ship and we’re screwed. We don’t have anyone who can patch it.

The monstrous shadow moved beneath the water with a speed nothing that large had any right to have. The kraken reached the hull of one of the enemy ships and activated its skill.

[Leviathan’s Embrace].

Tentacles wrapped around the vessel from below, like living chains. Wood groaned, cracked, and then gave way. Luke saw pirates throw themselves desperately into the water while others were trapped on deck and dragged down with the ship. Below, the kraken finished it. The ship was crushed into wreckage.

The creature returned to Luke’s side, and the two moved on to the second target. This crew was smarter. They didn’t panic when they saw the mass of tentacles rising from the depths. Some raised weapons. Others started preparing some kind of counterattack.

Luke didn’t give them much time. The kraken used [Spectral Roar]. The sound spread through the water and the air like something that should not exist. Fear flashed in the pirates’ eyes before they even understood why. Their formation broke. Screams started. Hands shook. Orders turned into noise.

Then the tentacles hit the hull. Luke boarded in the middle of the chaos. He climbed the soaked hull, dropped onto the deck, and started killing. There was nothing elegant about it. Just efficiency.

In the past, using [Leviathan’s Embrace] would have drained the kraken enough to force it back into the core. Not anymore. The monster’s attributes had grown with Luke, core after core. The kraken Luke had with fewer than a hundred cores had been dangerous. With nearly five hundred, it was a nightmare. Much stronger.

***

They reached the area marked by the event with one week left before the deadline. It was the edge of the Sunken Realms region, right on the border of the Abyssal Zone. But something had changed. The waters, once much lower, were now nearly at the top. The world really was flooding, exactly as the system had said.

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Luke looked over the ships scattered around them. One of them has a white cloud with snow over it. Pretty sure I know whose ship that is.

Over the course of that week, more and more participants arrived. Some came in impressive vessels, others in improvised ships. There were even people in rowboats or small Viking-looking craft. No one was stupid enough to try stealing a ship there, though. Anyone who did would be killed immediately by an entire line of participants eager to remove another competitor.

Luke and his group spent the days diving into the ocean and hunting beasts. It wasn’t rest, but it wasn’t a waste either. Every core mattered.

“I see... the fish monster,” Anne said.

Luke was diving with them when they found the creature. The hunt wasn’t quick, but it didn’t drag long enough to become a problem. When the monster finally fell, Luke collected the core, stored it in his storage item, and returned to the ship.

With one push, he burst out of the water and climbed up the side of the vessel.

“I got it.”

Charlie, Anne, and Angie followed right after. Luke had already arranged the cores on the deck. He looked at the three of them, his expression softening slightly.

“I wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Thanks.”

Then he touched the first core.

[You have absorbed a Rank D core]

[Rank D Cores: 497/1000]

He touched the second.

[You have absorbed a Rank D core]

[Rank D Cores: 498/1000]

Then the third.

[You have absorbed a Rank D core]

[Rank D Cores: 499/1000]

And then the fourth.

[You have absorbed a Rank D core]

[Rank D Cores: 500/1000]

[Your Spectral Beast Core has unlocked a new skill]

For a moment, the deck went silent.

“Did you get it, Master Luke?” Anne asked.

Luke stared at the new skill in front of him.

“Yeah. I got it.”

The message appeared in his vision.

[Spectral Fusion I (Legendary)]: The Spectral Beast partially fuses its essence with the user by completely consuming one of the cores stored by [Form Devourer]. During the process, the selected core is destroyed and its power is released directly into the bearer’s body. Spectral armor forms around the user, taking on traits of the creature linked to the consumed core. While the fusion remains active, the user inherits part of the chosen beast’s attributes, instincts, and skills, drastically enhancing their physical and magical capabilities. When the fusion ends, the core used is completely destroyed, permanently removing that form from the Spectral Beast’s slots until a new core is devoured.

Luke read it once. Then he read it again.

It was powerful. Very powerful.

***

The deadline expired. Luke stood at the bow of the ship with Charlie, Anne, and Angie, staring into the Abyssal Zone. The sea had risen until it merged with the ocean around the volcano. There was nothing separating the two regions anymore. No visible wall. No physical barrier. Just an imaginary line in everyone’s head, a silent reminder that crossing it might mean never coming back.

The sky was dark, covered in heavy clouds. A storm was forming above them, and several ships remained anchored around the area, all waiting for the same signal.

“It’s been... one year since the event started,” Angie said.

“Yeah,” Luke replied. “One year trapped here. And today... is my birthday.”

“What?” Angie and Charlie blurted at almost the same time.

Anne brought her hands together and gave a few soft claps with her usual solemnity.

“Happy birthday... Lord Luke.”

Angie looked genuinely guilty. “I was so focused these last few days, I didn’t even realize. I’m sorry, my lord.”

“I forgot too,” Charlie said.

“It’s fine.” Luke shrugged. “At some point, all of you had birthdays too, and we didn’t celebrate those either.”

“Well, what a gift, huh, Luke?” Artemis said. “Turning twenty-one, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll spare you the usual harassment today. Happy birthday. And I’ll be cheering for you to make it out of this event alive.”

Luke stayed silent for a second. That was surprisingly mature, coming from her.

When the timer reached zero, a notification appeared for everyone.

Stage 3: The Expedition

A great ship once used by the royal family of your region is approaching. The vessel, long lost, awakened when the event began. It came from the continent where the newly integrated humans were located and crossed the entire Abyssal Zone, returning once more to its kingdom.

The ship will serve as the stage for the final challenge. It is infested with creatures that have made it their home. Participants who wish to continue must board the ship when it approaches the kingdom and begin the expedition inside. Participants who are not on the ship when the deadline ends will be automatically disqualified from the event and sent back to their planet of origin.

Good luck, because only one of you may win the event and become a legend of Sunken Realms.

On the horizon, a silhouette appeared. The challenge ship was coming. At the same time, shouts of excitement began to echo from the ships around Luke’s. Some cheered. Some prayed. Many simply stared ahead.

Anne turned to Cadmus. “Is that... your ship, Lord Cadmus?”

“You could say that,” the robot replied.

The water began to churn. The rain came soon after, light at first, then heavy. For almost an hour, they watched the structure crawl closer. The closer it got, the less it looked like a ship at all.

Luke narrowed his eyes.

“That is not a fucking ship.” He stared at the colossal mass advancing across the sea. “That’s an island.”

It was gigantic. Bigger than the citadel by far.

Cadmus laughed. “How amusing. The system translated my maritime war fortress as a ship for you.”

“War fortress?” Angie asked.

“A structure capable of traveling through the Abyssal Zone without being swallowed by the things that live there,” the robot explained. “It is artificial, so in a sense, it functions like a ship. The island’s foundation, especially the lower section, was built using special ores, plants, and even petrified creature eggs. All of it was meant to create perfect camouflage for navigating the Abyssal Zone.”

Luke looked at the island advancing through the storm. “I thought no one had ever sailed that sea.”

“How do you think the old kingdoms waged war?”

The island kept drawing closer. The rain thickened. The water turned violent. Lightning split the horizon, briefly illuminating the colossal fortress rising from the darkness.

Then another message appeared.

[This world has begun its decline and is collapsing! May the ocean reveal its champions, and may death claim the unworthy. The Expedition has begun!]

For a few seconds, no one moved. There was only the sound of rain. Everyone knew what came next. They had to reach the island. And to do that, they had to sail through the Abyssal Zone.

Luke looked at that dark, unstable water. “Guess no one’s crazier than me.”

“Stay on the ship,” he told the three of them. Then he jumped.

Luke was the first to cross the invisible line into that sea. The Abyssal Zone closed around him like it had teeth.

“Myth Slayer, I’m counting on you.”

The Spectral Beast appeared in the form of the Flying Fish. Luke mounted the creature, and they shot across the sea at absurd speed. Behind him, shouting began. One ship advanced. Then another. Then several more pushed into the turbulent waters, as if Luke’s madness had ripped the hesitation out of everyone else. Then came the horns. When he reached the halfway point, the Flying Fish made a huge leap. Luke raised a hand toward the sky and fired shadow balls, signaling his ship to advance.

Behind him, the ships were already coming. But not in peace. The sound of cannons cut through the storm.

“The war’s already started,” Luke muttered.

As he approached the island, he felt something different in the water. It wasn’t just the current. It wasn’t just pressure. Something below the surface radiated a strange presence, heavy enough to crawl up his body like a warning.

When his feet touched the island, a notification appeared.

“Remember, Luke Moon. The Tomb is hidden here. Win, and I will take you to it.”

Luke took a deep breath, looking at the maritime fortress around him.

“I know, robot.”

Then he read the notification.