ShanDeRad
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Chapter 53
🕑 Added 2024-04-20 18:20:31 +0000 UTCShaun didn’t bother going back into the air to look around for where other monsters may be hiding, instead he tried a different approach and utilised his water affinity to attempt to cover ground quicker. When he swam at first he wasn’t able to fully utilise his ability to manipulate the water around him, it would take practice and patience, but the more he attempted to control the current to push him around faster, the closer he came to gaining full control.
As he moved around he continuously used his echo skill, and after an hour he was able to take full advantage of his affinity and was shooting through the water faster than he could comprehend his surroundings through eye sight alone. It didn’t matter though as he was relying on what he felt through his detection skill rather than what he could actually see.
He was moving at what had to have been 10 times the speed as he had been in the air and thankfully the time he had used to practice had paid off. He found a monster not long into the second hour of searching and he wasted no time in tracking each and everyone one of them down. He did spend a second or two getting an identify in and was thankful that he had found the first set of monsters before finding the last boss of the dungeon.
*Oceanic Octopus – Level 19*
They didn’t have anything special about them, they were able to move decently quick through the water and had long tentacles that would try and wrap around him when he got close, but his new affinity to water made him nearly impossible to catch and he simply would shoot himself past the monsters and cut through them with his sword, not even bothering to use any of his stronger attacks.
Thankfully all of the octopus were decently close together and it didn’t take long to find all of them and kill each and every one. The boss didn’t even stand a chance, he simply sent straight up to it and cut it in half. The loot was just the tentacle meat, which although may taste good when he cooked it right, wasn’t anything that he was excited about.
When he had finished counting off all of the monsters he needed to kill here, Shaun immediately turned back the way he had come and shot through the water towards where he had killed the sharks. If things were in the same kind of structure he realistically should have killed the octopus first, then the sharks to finally move on to the last of the monsters in the dungeon, he had screwed up the pattern but he was slowly getting back on track.
It didn't take him long to get to where he had fought the sharks, and he just sped straight through where he had the battle and continued on in a straight line that would hopefully lead him to the end boss, and with it, the end of the worst dungeon he had ever done.
As he was swimming he caught sight of something that he did not expect, it was an underwater structure, a spiral that led up to a giant shell, on it sat a creature that he had to look at a few times before he truly understood what he was seeing.
*Mermaid Queen – Level 25*
If he had to describe the boss creature he wouldn’t hesitate in saying that it was beautiful. It had flowing blue hair, cascading down around it, the top half of it was humanish, although its skin was tinged blue, rather than sea shells covering its chest it had scales covering parts of it body, leading down to a tail that shifted colour from blue to green hues and practically sparkled when it swished through the water. In its hand was a trident, the length of its body and ending in three sharp prongs. From what he could make out the weapon was gold metal but also had a gem forged into the centre close to the top before it started to split into the tips. He knew this as he could see a glowing blue light coming from it.
This was unlike any of the bosses he had fought before, not only did it have a weapon but it seemed that it was more powerful, more sentient than any of the monsters he had met before. She, it, he wasn’t sure. I will refer to it as she, it is a queen after all, and clearly female. The queen had yet to make a move, she watched as he approached but made no sign to go on the attack.
Around the queen were the twelve other creatures he had come to expect, each had a weapon, not a trident like that of the queen, but they had spears and shields made of shell, each showing an intelligence that he had not seen before, they were organised, alert, but not rushing at him to attack.
*Merman Guard – Level 23*
Shaun slowed his approach when he noticed that they weren’t coming at him, weapons drawn and ready to kill. Although the merman were keeping watch and seemed to be ready to attack at a moment's notice, they seemed to be waiting for the order rather than simply giving into their base instincts. He did continue to come closer and it wasn’t until he got within 10 metres of the guard did they change positions and point their spears at him.
The queen simply raised her hand, immediately the merman lowered their weapons and went back to simply watching him. What is happening here? They aren’t acting like monsters in the slightest, if I didn’t know I was in a dungeon I would have assumed they were just a different race in the multiverse.
For a while they just floated in the water, the creatures watching him, and him assessing each of them in return. It wasn’t until his gaze fell back onto the queen on her shell throne that something he truly hadn’t expected came to pass.
“He has bonded with water, has he not Captain Filesh?” Did the queen just speak?!?! And to one of the guards?
“Indeed he has your Majesty. It is most peculiar, if you do not mind my saying.” This came from the merman closest to the queen, almost directly by her side.
How am I even understanding what they are saying, there is no way they are speaking English. Only after some thought did he realise that it was due to the unique skill he had gotten when he first entered the tutorial, Universal Tongue, which allowed him to understand and converse in any of the languages of the multiverse. Should I speak?
He couldn’t deny how confused he was at the current situation, but he was not willing to just attack, knowing that they were actually sentient, and in many ways just like him. He tried to open his mouth to say something before realising he was underwater and that he couldn’t actually speak with a mouthful of water. Finding a solution, he focused on the air that was in the water, trying to pull it close to him and form a bubble around his mouth in which he would be able to speak, and hopefully, for them to understand.
The moment he started connecting and moving the air, all of the gathered merman went back to an attacking position and even the queen shifted her position to aim her trident at him. He stopped what he was doing for a moment, letting his connection to air go, and instead put his sword into its sheath at his side and raised both hands in the air with his palms open, the universal sign that he meant no harm, or at least he hoped it was universal and not just an earth thing.
This caused some level of confusion to come from the gathered Merfolk, he didn’t shift his position further but did reconnect to the air and start pulling it back in towards his mouth. They didn’t attack, but they still kept their positions, ready to impale him at a moment's notice, or try at least.
Once he had gathered enough air around his mouth and formed a little bubble, he took a breath, then, more nervous than he had been in a very long time, decided to try and communicate.
“Hello, my name is Shaun. It is a pleasure to meet you all.” Good manners would hopefully get him far, if they understood him at least. “Oh, er, I mean, your Majesty?” Damn it, why do I have to be so awkward!
The moment he spoke, every single merman present flinched, the queen though simply looked at him, a look of consideration on her beautiful face.
“You speak Mer?” This came from the queen, who had now, thankfully, stopped pointing the trident at him.
“No, I speak English. Ummm, your Majesty? Should I call you your Majesty? You are coming up as a queen when I identified you. And the umm, Filesh? Yeah, that’s what he called you right?” So very awkward. I wish I could just hide under the covers of my bed and die!
The queen didn’t reply to him straight away, in fact she ended up sharing a look with the captain, communicating without speaking, before she looked back at him.
“You are odd, even for a human.” She said, God , her voice is like a song, a melody that just lures you in and makes me feel safe. “You are not Mer, so you may call me Queen Vilerelle.”
“Thank you, Queen Vilerelle. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Yeah that sounded smooth.
This caused the queen to smile, a small pretty smile that seemed like she would indulge his stumbling, for a while at least. He had so many questions, but he didn’t want to risk saying the wrong thing and ending up in a fight that he was hesitant to be in. He knew he would need to kill the queen if he was going to make it out of the dungeon, but to kill a sentient being for no reason other than to finish the dungeon, which truly he didn’t need to do now that he had finished all of the objectives, seemed wrong.
“I have questions, Shaun, which I hope you will answer willingly.” It was phrased like a question, but there was no mistake in that it was anything but.
“I also have questions, Queen Vilerelle. Maybe, if it is acceptable with you, we may take turns in asking and answering the questions we have for each other?”
Immediately the merman started to shift towards him, angry at what he had said. He thought it was a reasonable request, but maybe to them, answering with a counteroffer to a queen was not done?
“Yes, I can imagine you would have many questions.” She said to him, she waved the merman down who immediately lowered their weapons. “Tell me Shaun, is this your first dungeon?”
“Is that your first question, Queen Vilerelle?” He tried to come off as confident with his question, but really, he failed, and instead came off as rude? Maybe a little flirty?
The queen just laughed at him, “And is that yours?”
Shaun was starting to get very comfortable with the situation he was dealing with, it was clear that the queen, Vilerelle, was not going to order his death just because of a lack of formality or protocol, he actually found he was enjoying the back and forth with the queen.
“Touche, Queen Vilerelle, to answer your question, this would be my fourth dungeon since starting the tutorial.”
“And I assume this is the first time that any of the denizens of a dungeon have been able to communicate with you?”
“That would be correct. Although in my last dungeon, I found that the griffins I had to fight were much more aware than in the previous ones I have been in. They did not speak, or communicate with me though.” He figured giving a bit of information would help him form a connection to the queen, or some trust, so when he asked questions back she would be more likely to answer.
“Griffins you say? I would assume that it would have been a dungeon focused on the element of air then? An element that you seem to be able to use rather easily? Almost as if you have bonded said element?” So she is now fishing for information, pun intended, she must be very curious about me.
“You are correct in that it was an Air dungeon, and if I have bonded the air affinity? Although I am new, very new, to the multiverse. I assume that asking one about their affinity would be rude. Would it not be something that people keep quiet about?” He was pushing the level of what one would say would be respectful when talking to royalty, but he was fishing for information himself.
The queen laughed again, clearly knowing that she had been called out on her question but taking no offence. “You would be correct, but know that anything you share in here will never leave. We are all but a replica of who we are on the outside, a base copy taken purely for this dungeon tutorial.”
Interesting, so they aren’t actually monsters, not like those previously found in the dungeon, somewhere out in the multiverse they are real creatures. “If you don’t mind my asking, why are you here? I thought the dungeons would only have monsters, not copies of actual creatures in the multiverse?”
“Hmmmm. I shall answer your question, if you answer mine.”
Shaun ended up weighing the benefits of telling the truth vs whether to lie. This was an opportunity to find out more about the multiverse, maybe even get his questions answered by someone who may know them. But he was on a time limit and he would need to decide whether he would give up the rest of his gains stage 2 for information. It wasn’t a hard decision, he made his choice pretty quickly, information was power, and right now, he had none.
“Deal. You are right that I bonded air into an affinity, and as you assumed earlier, I have also bonded water.” He said nothing about the other elements though. She didn’t ask so he wouldn’t divulge that information.
This caused a stir with everyone present, he knew that having an affinity was important and that having two was something that only the peak of the multiverse had, but the reaction from the merfolk was something else entirely.
“Get comfortable Shaun, we have a lot to talk about.”
