Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 229: Sunken Dungeon

We decided to wait until morning to begin our dive. All of us were excited to get started, but it made more sense to be well-rested. There was no way for us to know how large the dungeon would be, and that night's rest might be the last bit of safety we could count on.

A level one dungeon with our skill-sets and at our level was no joking matter. I hoped that the danger scaled up as we advanced deeper and our levels rose. We would retreat if we had to, abandon this first dungeon and to keep searching, or come back after we had gained more levels.

I was hoping that the theme of the shrine wasn't a prelude to the Undead. The ghosts and skeletons of the civilization that we were given a quest to understand made that likely. The only thing we knew for certain was that Bell Spiders would be part of the dungeon's ecology. But the spiders would only be a part of what we could be expected to fight, no dungeon had ever formed with only one type of animal or monster.

The submersible that Sieph was pear-shaped by design. A much larger Triton device had been attached and was located at the top. This Triton was powered by an enchantment. Carbon dioxide was heavier than oxygen, so Sieph had devised a system to exchange the gases, keeping the air breathable while we rested. It was a perfect meld of magic and technology.

Of all Sidhe, the Knockers had worked hardest to advance their technological proficiencies. They had reverse-engineered any magi-tech devices that the Olympus embargo allowed. They had been the ones responsible for understanding how M-AI's were created. They had been the ones to create the nodes that used the planet's ley-lines as the infrastructure for communication networks.

This off-the-cuff solution for an underwater dungeon was well within Sieph's abilities. We had to be careful when placing it submersible when removing it from spatial storage. Level and cleared ground was the most suited, we found. Taking the time to prepare the ground by clearing any obstructions, cost nothing but time. If we tried to move it and created an imbalance in level, the inside would be easily swamped with water.

It could be cleared, the pump system Sieph had devised was capable of removing water as well as carbon dioxide, but it would take time. With our face masks, that wouldn't be a major concern, but I was hoping not to be forced to sleep with the Triton wedged within my mouth. Not that it was uncomfortable, it wasn't, but there was a sense of restriction as we were forced to breathe through our mouths.

The real problem came with the involuntary action of swallowing. It was possible but required effort and attention. Sieph was pleased to find she gained experience in creating and enchanting the devices. I hadn't given skills like enchanting or metal fabrication much thought, but if we could level up foraging and skinning, it only made sense the same could be said for other skills.

[You are about to enter Dungeon: Sunken Shrine - Level one. Warning: Inhabitants of Sunken Shrine range from levels five to fifteen.]

[Enter Yes/No]

Selecting yes, I tried to move forward only to have a whirlpool of water activate. The water surrounded the entire party and sucked us inward, irrespective of our intentions or actions. It didn't matter how hard we swam or fought the waters drag, once I had agreed to enter, there was no going back.

The transition was dizzying, the time it took to cross the border extended by our actions. It had been instinctive to fight the waters draw but doing so resulted in the time spent as debris claimed by the whirlpool. We never did stop fighting the water's pull, but eventually, we were all deposited in the Dungeon's starting location despite our efforts to escape.

The area the whirlpool sent us looked out over a city of crumbling buildings. Areas of seaweed and kelp grew in large plots, intermixed with lotus, water chestnuts, and watercress. A quick analysis by Sieph of the water was baffling. Most of it registered as salt-water, so the inclusion of seaweed and kelp made sense, but there were eddies and currents of freshwater. Water that managed to remain separate somehow. There was no mixing to create the conditions for brackish water, the two mediums simply existed in harmony.

There were groupings of coral that proliferated, an abundance of color, and shapes that nested and claimed fallen buildings as a base to use as an anchor. Schools of colorful fish inhabited these coral colonies, each focused on foraging for food.

I didn't recognize the species, so had no way of knowing if any of the fish were dangerous. They appeared harmless, and I doubted they would leave the protection of the coral. The fish ignored us, and unless they proved dangerous, we would ignore them.

[Identify] proved they had no levels, so killing them wouldn't provide experience. I thought they were dungeon filler, used as a backdrop to set the scene, they were window dressing but harmless otherwise.

"It's beautiful," Sieph exclaimed. I had to agree with her, the striking shape and color of the coral was unique to this type of environment. You would never find groupings of blue, yellow, and red in such vivid contrast on the surface.

"That just makes it more dangerous," Thutmose warned.

"He's right," I agreed. "Don't let down your guard, we know exactly how deadly and dangerous something beautiful can be."

It wasn't until I spoke that I realized that I was able to speak and hear what the others were saying. The way the Triton was designed, it should have been impossible. At best my words should have come across as muffled, my mouth filled with metal interfering with speech. It was something I hadn't considered.

"Sieph?" I said gaining her attention. "How are we able to speak this easily, and so clearly?"

"The Silinium reacts to the micro-movement, translating those movements of your mouth and tongue you make as you attempt to form words. The metal then works as an amplifier, broadcasting what you are saying so that we can hear you. There is some magical aspect included in the enchantment that negates the muffling effect of water," she explained.

"Thutmose? Bob? You don't have one of these masks. Can you talk and hear us?" I asked.

"Sure," Bob said his voice echoing with resembling whale song. The clicking patterns of dolphin intermixed with the soul-piercing music the larger whales make.

"The Slaugh start out as creatures of water, our ability to process language is first learned in that environment." His words comprised of harmonies, otherworldly melodies that were fascinating to listen too. He probably spoke in this manner when out of the water, unfortunately, the air wasn't an ideal medium for Slaugh's song, so it didn't have this kind of musicality.

"The hieroglyphic tattoo has a feature that works very like sonar. I am able to send out controlled bursts that are interpreted as speech. The sound waves aren't real, more attuned to illusion than reality, but it works," Thutmose explained, answering my question.

"Even better, the tattoo has been created in such a way that it can be directed. Only those I want to hear what I have to say will hear my words. It will allow me to speak, even yell when encountering an enemy without drawing attention to myself or the party."

Everyone seemed ready to begin, even Beag. He had refused to wear one of the Triton's Sieph had created, instead of proving he could survive underwater by navigating within the shadow. He had no need to breathe within the two-dimensional safety of Shadow's Realm, and he was adept enough that he could fight effectively by spamming attacks and retreating to the safety of that realm when needed.

We had experimented and found that Beag could form a connection with my shadow, able to maintain relative distance with me and move as I moved. It would mean we couldn't use him as a trailblazer. But with Bob a creature of water, that wouldn't be an issue. He would take the point position, just as he had when he flew.

Our mini-maps worked even better in the dungeon than they did before we entered. Fog of war was still active, but the System revealed information by zone, possibly by floors in other dungeon types.

We could see the entirety of the Sunken Temple zone on our maps, as well as the waypoints that labeled where the next zone entrance was located. The map contained detailed information about the zone, including a note feature that updated. It would allow us to track the creatures we discovered and their levels.

That information would have been helpful, a database that we could share with those that might brave the dungeon after us. That functionality would work for other dungeons as our people came to explore the planet. For this dungeon, the saved information would be worthless. If we succeeded and claimed the dungeon core, the dungeon would close, any data we gained destroyed as the dungeon died.