Chapter 155: The Way Back

The ravine was a graveyard.

The explosion had carved deep gouges into the stone walls, their surfaces glassed smooth by the superheated steam. The water inside was still cloudy with residual venom and drifting scales, and the scent of boiled fish hung heavy in the current.

Gray drifted toward the ravine’s mouth, his blade-tentacles sweeping the area for any survivors. There were none. The swarm was annihilated, dozens of crimson bodies floating lifelessly in the confined space, their scales dulled, their needle teeth frozen in final, silent snaps.

’That,’ Gray said, ’was satisfying.’

Cindy hovered beside him, her glow dim and her frills drooping. The Frozen Current and Reinforce spells had drained her significantly, and her small body trembled with exhaustion.

"Remind me never to let you herd anything into a dead end again," she said weakly. "I thought my barrier was going to break."

’But it didn’t.’

"Because I poured half my mana into it!"

’And it works, so don’t complain too much,’ Gray said.

Cindy let out a long, defeated sigh.

"...I hate that you’re right."

Gray began absorbing the swarm corpses, one by one. The taste was sharp and briny, with a faint metallic edge from the residual venom, but the biomass was dense and plentiful. His carapace mended with each mouthful, the cracks sealing, the fractures smoothing over.

[Crimson Swarm Fish — Absorbed]

[Hunger Status: 3%]

’I’m full,’ he said. ’Let’s rest here for a bit before we move on.’

Cindy nodded, settling onto a flat rock near the ravine’s edge.

"I won’t argue with that."

Gray pulled up his status screen while they rested. The golden text materialized in his vision, and he studied the numbers.

[Level: 43]

[Stat Points: 20]

[Skill Points: 2]

He allocated the points carefully. Ten into SPD, five into ATK, three into DEF, and two into LUK.

[SPD: 348 → 358]

[ATK: 199 → 204]

[DEF: 124 → 127]

[HP MAX: 1350 → 1380]

[LUK: 48 → 50]

The skill points went into his newest abilities.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — Lv. 4 → Lv. 5]

[PHANTOM CLOAK — Lv. 4 → Lv. 5]

He flexed his blade-tentacles, feeling the new strength settle into his carapace.

’Better,’ he said. ’Now let’s figure out where we are.’

Cindy drifted closer, her frills swaying as she read the mana currents.

"The currents here are calm," she said. "More natural than the areas near the collapsed cavern. I think we’re closer to the Verdant Hollow than I thought."

’How close?’

"I can’t be sure. But the direction of the flow suggests the main basin is that way." She pointed with one tiny hand toward a distant ridge of pale stone.

Gray followed her gaze, his senses sweeping the terrain ahead.

’Then that’s where we go.’

They left the ravine behind, Gray leading the way through the dark water. The terrain was still unfamiliar, but Cindy’s reading of the mana currents gave him a direction to trust. The coral and spires passed in silence, and the seafloor gradually sloped upward.

Then the terrain shifted.

The pale stone ridges slowly giving way to something unfamiliar. The seafloor here was covered in a fine layer of silvery sand that shimmered faintly under the dim light, and scattered across it were strange plants.

They rose from the sand in perfect triangular shapes, their edges sharp and geometric, their surfaces covered in a lattice of dark veins that pulsed with a slow, rhythmic beat. They stood in rows, evenly spaced, like a garden planted by something with an eye for symmetry.

But something about them felt wrong. The way they stood so still. The way their tips pointed outward, like spears waiting to be thrown.

Gray slowed, his blade-tentacles spreading wide.

’...This is new.’

Cindy drifted closer, her frills splaying as she studied the plants with a mage’s eye.

"There’s no mana in them," she said, surprised. "No ambient energy at all. They’re just... plants. But they’re arranged too perfectly. Like they were planted on purpose."

The system flickered, and the analysis materialized.

[TRIANGLE BLOOM — RARE FLORA]

HP: 80 / 80

Threat Level: LOW (Individually)

« Analysis »

A rare deep-sea plant that grows in geometric patterns. The Triangle Bloom’s leaves are lined with microscopic, spring-loaded barbs that fire when disturbed. The barbs carry a paralytic toxin, and the plants are known to grow in dense clusters that create overlapping fields of fire.

Warning: Do not touch the plants. Do not swim between them. The Triangle Blooms are highly territorial and will fire upon anything that enters their growth zone.

"Gray, look at how many there are. They’ve covered the entire seafloor. We can’t go through them."

’Then we go around.’

They circled wide, giving the triangular plants a berth of nearly thirty meters. The dark veins pulsed silently as they passed, the tips of the blooms tracking their movement like the barrels of a thousand tiny cannons.

They moved on, leaving the triangle blooms behind. The terrain shifted again, the silvery sand giving way to darker rock, and the seafloor began to slope downward into a wide, shallow basin.

Gray paused at the basin’s edge, his senses sweeping the area.

’...Wait.’

Cindy stopped beside him.

"What is it?"

Gray was quiet for a moment, his blade-tentacles twitching as he read the terrain.

’I know this place,’ he said. ’This is the western edge of the Verdant Hollow’s territory. We’re close.’

Cindy’s frills lifted with relief.

"Finally! So we’re not lost?"

Gray was quiet for another moment.

’...We were lost,’ he admitted. ’But we’re not anymore.’

Cindy let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"So you’re saying we’ve been going in circles?"

’Not circles. More like... a very long detour.’

Cindy stared at him with flat silver eyes.

"...That’s the same thing."

’It’s not the same thing,’ Gray said. ’A detour implies we learned something along the way.’

Cindy’s frills quivered with frustration.

"What did we learn?"

’That we should avoid coral craters, ravine swarms, exploding pink fish, and any seafloor covered in triangular plants.’

Cindy was quiet for a moment. Then, despite herself, a small laugh escaped her.

"...Okay. That’s actually useful."

’See? Progress.’