Chapter 70 - Underwater adventure (1/2)

[Ernudol's token] (Quest Item)

Aura Effect 1: Leads you to the Ernudols obsidian gem of transport.

Aura Effect 2: The aura of the merman prince allows you to breathe and move like a merman underwater.

Aura Effect 3: The Aura of the merman prince prevents most water monsters from attacking you.

With the token pinned on his chest, Shadow immediately used his disguise skill to morph into the shape of a bandit and went into stealth. Though the bandits were of another race, he could put on a disguise that covered him up with rags similar to the bandits. He also had put himself in stealth just to avoid any trouble that might come towards him.

He went toward the lake where he could see a couple of mounted weapons that would shoot bolts continuously like a machine gun. These weapons had a barrel which held a bunch of arrows. It was like an automatic crossbow but had bolts the size of harpoons instead. It looked like the native life of the lake wouldn't be much docile if these guns were being used by the guns.

”I might need to be careful in the water,” thought Shadow looking at the weapons. The weapons clearly indicated monsters inside the lake that needed them. He would hardly stand a chance against such monsters. ”I hope that aura effect of the token works,” thought shadow as he got into the lake.

As he got into the lake a blue aura light got our from the token and covered him. It formed a figure similar to that of a merman around him. He could see the figure having webbed feet and hands. He could also see a blinking shark symbol at the bottom of the lake indicating the location of the obsidian gem.

He saw an entirely different world in the lake, he couldn't see from above the water. There were no fish close to the surface of the lake. He expected his visual range would diminish on entering the water. But his visual range actually expanded. It seemed to be a welcome side effect of the aura.

When he tried to swim, he could also notice that he could move with great speed and had good control over it. ”Maybe this would be the feeling if I was a merman,” thought Balthazar mesmerized at the feeling. He had used tools to move underwater in his previous life, but this was an entirely different experience than those.

As he went down a few metres, he saw various kinds of fish in the lake. These varied from level 4 to level 15. A few large ones that looked like sharks came close to him but turned back once they touched the light blue aura around him. He could see bandits in the lake fighting a few fish and sharks, but weren't successful. He decided to go deep before any bandit notices the aura. Luckily, most of them seem to be preoccupied with the monsters.

It seemed that he would have a smooth trip in thy lake. The only thing that surprised him was the depth of the lake. He couldn't see how deep it was and he was at the edge of the lake. The bank was so steep that it was almost vertical.

After he swam down what felt like 500 feet, he finally saw the bottom. At this depth, his visibility and mobility both reduced. He could see only up to a few tens of metres. There was hardly any sunlight at this depth, he could only see because of the token.

He needed to search the bottom. Any treasure if found would be on the floor of the lake. He had no options other than searching for treasure chests as he we wanted to gather some valuable from this trip. Attacking any monster underwater would be suicidal for him. He was only able to move safely as he could avoid aggro of the monsters.

Reaching the bottom, he started to move along the edge of the lake observing everything he could. The symbol for the obsidian gem always pointed to the centre of the lake bottom.

He also noticed that there was something peculiar about the lake floor. It was elevating upwards towards the centre as far as he could see. ”The lake might have some kind of underground hill like structure,” thought Balthazar as he saw the terrain. ”But the gem still seems to below my level. Most probably there is a hole or something at the centre. I doubt they would make it so easy.”

Though he already walked for quite a large distance on the floor of the lake, he couldn't find any treasure chests. But he did find a few herbs like white pondweed and obscure kelp. These would be useful in making of potions.

The obscure kelp is a dark colored weed seen at the bottom of underwater areas which is used in making in obscurity powder which could be used to hide from magical tracking. It has other uses in potion along with the white pondweed.

These were level 15 herbs. Though he wouldn't be able to find any recipes for these anytime soon nor they would be any use till they reached level 20 and tier 1, he still chose to harvest them. He best put in whatever he found in his bag.

Harvesting herbs also provided experience which was something he didn't do since he entered the camp. Though the success rate isn't high due to him being 5 levels below that of the herbs, he decided it was better than nothing.

Soon, he found a path made of stone bricks that led to the centre of the lake. He decided to check the path first. As he walked towards the centre along the path, he also saw a few arches on the path.

”There might be some old ruin at the centre,” thought Shadow as he continued along the path which was sloped upwards. He became more sure about his idea of a submerged underwater ruin or something similar as he couldn't guess the plot for such a ruin in a lake in the plains.

Soon, he came to see a few stone huts and other buildings covered by moss. It was definitely some old ruins. There were all dilapidated with window holes and doorways which were missing windows and doors. He went to search these areas but found nothing. After a continued search in these stone structures which proved futile, he reached the centre of the lake.

There was a crater at the top like the mouth of a volcano. The crater seemed to be the centre of the ruined civilization and had a relatively larger building made of stone which looked like some kind of old mansion with three stories. It was in the shape of a rectangle with four spires at its four corners and spherical dome at the centre. It had a metal door which was closed shut.

Luckily for Shadow, a large hole was there right beside the dome where the roof collapsed inwards. His search of various building was in vain till now. He didn't find anything other than herbs in this entire 90 minutes he spent searching the lake bottom. The symbol for the gem also pointed toward the mansion. He desperately hoped to find some treasure chest or items in the mansion.