Versatile: Alternate World

Chapter 294 - Under The Deep Blue Sea (I)

As much as I want the quest to end as soon as possible, I don't want to risk too much when it comes to facing Lemis. She is very powerful on her own due to her ability to seal skills and to cause corrosion. She can even manipulate minds and can temporarily control you if your will is not strong enough or your cleric is incompetent in clearing debuffs.

Since Remis is killed, I doubt Lemis will just sit there and do nothing. She is a high-ranking demon and if she can disrupt the Insect Kingdom easily, she can do that again. Aside from that, there is also the matter of the Weapon of Pride. If my assumption is correct, she is going to control the king and use the power of the Weapon of Pride to deal with us.

To make sure the chances of winning are 100%, I needed to reach out to the Kingdom of the Sea and find a way to ask for help without offending them. Also, this is a chance to repair the broken artifact I got from Serbal. That way, I can dive underwater without using any kind of item that will allow me to breathe underwater in a limited time.

"Master. I know you said that you have a way to ask for permission to get the recognition of the Kingdom of the Sea, but may I ask what it is?" Lina got curious and she didn't hold back her question.

"Yeah, I am curious too!" Lucia seconded.

Tina didn't respond but based on her reaction, she is also curious about my method.

"Well, this is kinda complicated. Basically, we will have to dive under the water to do this."

"Huh? Dive under the water?!" the three were shocked hearing the first method.

"Hey, I know diving under the water of Aquagius is pretty dangerous but that is our only choice of this matter and besides, we won't dive underwater without a special plant that will allow us to breathe underwater and act underwater like we are just on land."

"You mean, we need to fetch the Lung Moss?" Lucia scratches her chin.

"Yeah. The Lung Moss. Do you perhaps know about it?"

"Not really. I just heard it from my father before. I didn't see it personally but I know that it exists."

"Yes. It does exist and it is native to the Aquagius Continent. I read a book in one of the dungeons I raided before and saw one of the locations of this item. We can use this info to get it."

With a pat on Leona's back, we soar above the sky to search for the Lung Moss.

...

...

Around 30 minutes of flight, Leona arrived on a lone island in the vast sea. We are far from the Insect Kingdom and everywhere you look, you will only see the deep blue sea around. No other land is present other than the land that we just arrived at. Not only that, the island that we landed on is not even a full island since this was just the entrance of a long cave that extends deep down the underground.

"Master, this is pretty far from land. We can't even ask for help from other people and we can't even find help from ships since I doubt any ship will pass by here!" Lina is concerned about our safety especially in the new area we are in just the vast sea. Anyone who is not familiar with the sea would overthink of dangers around.

"Don't worry about it, Lina. Just think of this area as a dungeon and our task is just to clear it. Nothing much of a problem and don't think too much on it."

"Heh, yeah. Don't think too much about it, Lina-chan. When we see enemies, let's beat the crap out of them. No need to get worried about it!" Lucia on the other hand is quite enthusiastic.

Before we explore and dive deeper, Tina stopped me from going.

"Hey, I have something to ask."

"Huh? You needed something?"

"When you were confronting my impostor siblings, how did you know they are no longer my siblings?"

I glanced at her and decided to bluff out of it since I knew that she will not believe it if I say I knew them in the past timeline.

"As someone who has dealt with demons before, I can easily tell whether they are one or not. They might have to wear a disguise to hide their original faces but their aura and their real identity cannot be hidden in plain sight. As much as I want to let you deal with them, it will just be a suicide attempt if you really confront them like how I did."

"What about my parents? Are they also..."

"No. Based on their aura, they are still human. However, maybe due to the power of the demons who have taken over the identity of your siblings, they are currently "puppets" of the demons. You can say that they are under their control and will not be able to interact with you. Perhaps the reason you are still alive despite being one of the babies who never got a mark is because of the remaining consciousness of your parents. It seems they managed to resist doing it for you. Of course, that is just a speculation."

Tina doesn't look convinced but I cannot change her outlook on the current situation of her parents.

"Do you think my original siblings are still alive?"

"..."

I didn't answer her question. As much as I want to say there might be a chance, I know deep inside my mind that is not possible. Once a demon decided to "devour" your existence and replace you, you will no longer have the chance to remain as yourself. As for the original? The final verdict would be that they have been erased from existence. There will be no chance for them to return to life.

"I can't say anything from that. You need to discover it yourself."

...

After our conversation, we traverse the thick forest that covers the entrance of the cave. In the past timeline, this was discovered by one of the players who decided to not participate in the raid and decided to explore the massive place of Aquagius.

The Participants of the Aquagius Pioneer quest are twice the size of participants of the Sandurk Pioneer quest. Due to the size of Aquagius and due to the lesson they learned in the past Pioneer Quest, the previous pioneers who have learned a big lesson decided to divide the team. One is the Raiders, the one who is tasked to clear the main requirement to finish the Pioneer Quest and the Explorers, the guys who are tasked with exploring the other places of Aquagius and looking for hidden quests that might help to finish the main Pioneer Quest.

Now the one who discovered this place is one of the players tasked to explore and along with some players who like to also explore, they stumble on this island. At first, they thought it was a dungeon but it wasn't a dungeon but a normal hostile area where monsters spawn regularly. This is also the place where they discover the Lung Moss, the item that once consumed, you will gain the ability to breathe underwater for 1 hour.

It's not as useful outside of Aquagius since you can barely see any exploration you can do in the sea but in Aquagius, most of the exploration point of interest you can find here is located underwater.

With the help of some players who have the Gardener Ex Job, they managed to reproduce the plant and they no longer need to go here to grab at least a few. Of course, those who want to farm, get them free and explore, can just visit it again.

Since this item is still not available in stores, the only main source to grab these things is in this place.

Entering the cave, the echoes, and sounds created by the sea waves under the cave are enough for someone who is not used to spelunking would freak out easily. As for me, this place is a regular place for me to farm the Lung Moss since I don't have enough money to buy a single piece of it. If I want to acquire one, I will have to explore this cave and hope to find one growing on the rocks or dropped by monsters.

"Oh, I saw a chest over there!" Lina pointed to the corner and indeed, a huge golden chest is currently in view. I rarely see chests around when I explore so it's pretty much a chance that we managed to stumble one today. Of course, since there is a chest, that means there are also monsters.

[Mutated Piranha]

Level 102

HP: 200,000/200,000

Type: Aquatic, Fish

"All hands! Prepare for combat! We have some fishes to fry today!"