Chapter 511: Underwater Stroll
“Ufu?”
“Yeah, it feels nice.”
As I stepped in, the seawater gracefully parted around me. When I reached out to touch a shell at my feet, the water didn’t shy away, and my fingertips got wet.
Alright, the air exchange for breathing is all set, and the air layer surrounding me is structured in three layers, so I should be fine even at this depth. The outermost air layer continuously absorbs air, expanding even under the pressure of the water.
“Ufu!”
Ufu smiled happily.
While I was having what could barely be called a meeting with Ufu and the Spirits, something approached from the offshore.
“A turtle?”
“It’s a turtle! Can I poke it?”
Did we see the same thing? The Ex-Staff chimed in energetically.
“No, let’s not poke the turtle.”
I’ve heard that sea turtles can’t retract their limbs into their shells, and the old tales about them are unsettling.
It doesn’t seem to be a Demon Beast, though.
Ahead of us was a large turtle, about two meters in size. Smaller than the Demon Beast turtles I’ve fought before, but still quite big for a turtle. Huh? Is this a Spirit?
“Ah. Young master, are you the Spirit King?”
“Maybe?”
“Ufu?”
I replied to the turtle that was half-submerged in seawater, looking up at me.
“Ah. I’m a turtle sent by Seikai-sama to escort you. Please, climb onto my back.”
The turtle turned around. Is its name Turtle?
It had something fluffy on its back. Is it called a Minogame? Apparently, this turtle is the guide Seikai mentioned. — Am I like Urashima Taro now?
“Master, it says it’s here to escort you!”
“Isn’t there a catch about the flow of time being different underwater?”
“Ah. Are you the type to worry about time? Don’t worry; it’s just like on land.”
Seems like the turtle doesn’t care about such things.
I climbed onto the turtle, which began to glide through the water. Ufu followed closely, not disappearing. Is she okay underwater? I hope she’s not pushing herself.
Underwater.
As we moved forward, the blue deepened. The warm sea was filled with colorful fish, and in the shallow areas where light reached, there were corals and seaweed, presenting a different scenery from the northern lake.
As we went deeper, the seaweed vanished, and the types of corals changed. …Wait, are these coral Demon Beasts? Are there Spirits too?
A swarm of fish rushed toward us, splitting into two around us before merging back together.
“Ah. The Demon Beasts are being driven away from this area by Seikai-sama’s orders. Some didn’t make it in time since we were in a hurry.”
Ahead, a large fish with horns was being gobbled up by an even larger fish Spirit.
It seems several Spirits ahead are driving away the Demon Beasts right in front of us. Can they really swallow them without any issues? They seem fine, and it looks like they’ve grown a size larger.
“There are a lot of big Spirits.”
The Demon Beasts are huge too. The predation is quite dynamic!
“Ah. That’s how it is underwater.”
The turtle replied.
“Even if they’re big, the Spirit’s Power isn’t necessarily impressive. Unlike on land, size doesn’t correlate much with the strength of a Spirit, Master.”
“Is that so?”
The Ex-Staff explained.
The Ex-Staff, despite its grand appearance, is quite knowledgeable.
“Yeah. The idea that bigger means stronger is only true within the range of human perception. In the depths of the earth, there are many incredibly small yet powerful Spirits.”
“Really…”
I imagined ants scurrying around underground.
So, Spirits are influenced by human thought too. They exist independently of humans, but the way humans perceive them definitely affects their existence.
While they are influenced, it’s a different matter whether they can be controlled. There are fears and subconscious influences that can’t be controlled, after all.
Just like the Spirits in the jungle, some have an aura that repels humans.
A Spirit resembling a fish made entirely of bones swam beside us, while a Spirit in the form of orange shrimp danced in a swarm, and a plump jellyfish-like Spirit drifted by, along with some unidentifiable deep-sea fish Spirits.
As the deep blue became indistinguishable from black, tiny, colorless lights floated like snow.
When I reached out, they seeped into my palm and vanished. It seems like these are gathered “tiny things”? Or something puffed up? I can’t quite tell.
We advanced through the quiet, dimly lit sea. The algae trailing behind the turtle scattered silver bubbles, and the air exchange surrounding me occasionally made a soft “plop” sound.
After a while of unchanging time, we arrived at a spot where large bubbles were rising from below.
The seawater shimmered as if shimmering with heat. It’s well-protected, so I’m fine, but is the seawater here about to boil? Is the turtle okay? Is it going to get cooked?
“Ah. This is it. Right below here.”
Looks like the turtle is fine.
The ocean floor was rocky and rugged, with fine sand filling the gaps between the rocks.
There was a large crack in the rock that could be called a hole, faintly glowing orange. Big bubbles were rising, and upon closer inspection, there were small Spirits inside the bubbles.
Peering through the bubbles, the bottom of the hole distorted into a deeper orange.
“Ufu.”
“Ah, they mentioned something about creating heat-related Spirits.”
“Should we poke it?”
“If it doesn’t wake up.”
It seems there’s a Fire Spirit at the bottom of this hole.