It’s a trap, I thought, as we entered one of the many caverns in the ocean floor. The nearby monsters were only making a token effort to stop us.
The ocean floor itself was uneven, with jutting ridges and deep caverns. Without Mana Sensing, it would have been incredibly time consuming to find the Zone Lord. The water around us was infused with mana, but I could still see several hundred feet away, deep underground in one specific cavern, there was a dense, glowing bundle of water attuned mana in the shape of a snake, or eel.
I gestured again, and Dawnbreaker swam ahead of me, with me following next, and Abelino “flying” the Aviaton behind us.
As we descended deeper into the cavern, I was glad to note that there was enough space for the Aviaton to follow behind us.
Thanks to Dawnbreaker’s glowing, silver armor, and the Aviaton’s headlight-equivalent, there were numerous shadows surrounding us, offering the monsters around us potential options to surprise us.
But none of them did.
What do you think we’re up against? I asked Samantha, as the ridge we were descending into turned into an underwater cave with only one path out.
Samantha said, speaking about the glow from the snake we were approaching.
Samantha even sounded vaguely nervous.
In retrospect, maybe this wasn’t the best plan. Every Zone Lord I had fought so far had almost killed me—with the exception of the Sandman, which I could essentially hard-counter.
But going up against a Zone Lord, literally in its element, with very little intel, seemed like a death wish.
At least I wasn’t alone.
Dawnbreaker swam ahead confidently, pausing every once in a while because Abelino was navigating the Aviaton very slowly through the passages that were growing increasingly more narrow.
The mana is too dense, I realized, suddenly. Did we just find another Aether Vent?
Would we build a city here?
Are the mer—
My mental question was cut off when I realized I was no longer moving.
Or, to be more precise, my legs and arms were still propelling me forward in the water, but there was enough of a current that I wasn’t actually going anywhere.
Dawnbreaker had apparently noticed this too, and she sped up her stroke.
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I followed suit, and sure enough, the current picked up as well.
At the same time, I could tell that the snake was moving away from us, clearly unimpeded by this current.
Samantha said.
I lunged ahead of Dawnbreaker. My unisuit, under Samantha’s guidance, formed propellers that tore through the water, and with all my floating points in Agility, I advanced quickly.
But then I hit a wall. At first, it felt viscous, like swimming through syrup, but as I pushed through, I found myself held in place, immobile.
Previously, I had been breathing the water like air.
But now, I couldn’t get the water to budge. It was like I was submerged in fully hardened cement.
Even with my superhuman strength, I was barely able to break the water’s hold on me. My movements had no momentum, like I was chipping away at a stone one strike at a time.
Dawnbreaker was also caught, frozen in the water for an instant. She struck, punching the water, and the water gave way easily but then locked into place when her arm was fully extended.