“Here we are!” Mazlak shouted out. “That’s my job done—all that’s left is for you to go ahead and dive right in!”
We’d traveled far enough from Lucaris that the city was no longer in sight, despite its size. All around me, all I could see was a wide expanse of blue ocean. Far up above in the unreachable sky, the sun—the natural enemy of all undead—shone brightly.
While it didn’t cause any harm to me, lower-ranked undead would find themselves reduced to ash if they stepped out under it, and even those powerful enough not to die instantly would suffer dulled movement and senses. Few were the denizens of the night who had managed to overcome the light of day—and for that, they were rightfully feared.
It was a curious twist of fate that I now had such a body myself, but in my case, I didn’t make the mistake of conflating that with being strong. Just like any ordinary human, a single moment of negligence could very well cause me to meet my end, and there was no guarantee that this undersea dungeon delve wouldn’t be my final adventure. So as I peered into the water, I braced myself for the challenge to come.
Mazlak had been quite confident that this was the place, but he must’ve known something I didn’t, because the few meters of water I could see into seemed no different from any other patch around us. Of course, the dungeon was much farther into the depths—we would need to dive down and make the rest of the journey under our own power.
In that regard, I would have it the hardest, relatively speaking, since I didn’t have much to weigh me down. The others wouldn’t have much of an issue diving, given the heavy armor they were wearing. Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether Niedz, Lukas, and Gahedd would be diving so much as they would be sinking, but I’d keep an eye on them to help them out if it looked like they were having trouble. There was no worry of them drowning, at least, since Diego had given them each air tubes of their own. As for the possibility of them being crushed by the water pressure, well... I’d just have to have faith in their sturdiness.
Capitan would be fine, since he could reinforce his body with spirit, while Diego was a beast-folk and had a sturdy body to begin with. Since Niedz and his friends were ordinary humans, however, relying on their raw physical durability might not work out so well. They could still manage the bare minimum as adventurers and enhance themselves with mana, of course—it was just a question of how well that would hold up.
“Regardless, we’ll be diving,” I muttered. “Capitan, can you go on ahead?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. You have the best idea of where the dungeon actually is down there, so I’d appreciate it if you showed us the way. After you can be... Diego, then Niedz, Lukas, and Gahedd. I’ll take the rear.”
“Got it. I’ll see you down there, then.” With a grunt of exertion, Capitan flipped backward off the boat and into the water.
“Likewise,” Diego said, and followed after him.
Both of them had hardly made a splash as they’d slipped into the water. You could really tell that they were used to this. For the other three, however, it would be their first time.
I turned to the trio. “All right, your turn. You’d better be quick, or you’ll lose sight of them.”
This was one thing I definitely couldn’t be soft on them for, or they really would lose sight of Capitan and Diego. I wouldn’t have the same problem, since my eyes were better than the average person’s, and failing that, I could sense people’s body heat. But while I was fairly confident that I could follow Capitan even if the visibility got low, I still couldn’t say for sure that I wouldn’t lose my bearings. Strange things happened frequently around dungeons, and it wasn’t uncommon for the laws of nature to get somewhat malleable in ways you wouldn’t expect.
Niedz must have sensed my urgency. “Damn it! To hell with it, then!” he swore, and leaped into the water.
As you would’ve expected, he made a huge splash that would likely have attracted any nearby monsters, were any around. I had hoped he would be more careful, since I didn’t want a run-in with a unit of kelpie riders anytime soon, but at least he’d done it. We’d probably be fine, anyway—Capitan and Mazlak had mentioned that the kelpie riders mainly preferred the sunset hours to the morning.
There was still a small chance they’d show up, though, so I wouldn’t be relaxing my guard...but as far as I could see, we were alone out here. I didn’t sense the presence of any strong monsters in the water either.
“Your turn,” I said, approaching Gahedd and Lukas.
“G-Got it, Boss!”
“Right... Here goes...”
They dove in. While Lukas had made a splash like Niedz, Gahedd had clearly done his best to minimize the noise. It seemed my read of him as the most composed member of the trio was correct.
“All right, my turn,” I said. “For the trip back, you’ll be waiting around here for us to surface, right?”
Mazlak nodded. “That’s right. I’ll be here even if there are kelpie riders circling the area, so keep the time in mind. Stay safe down there.”
I nodded back, then dove into the water. I was pretty sure I’d made barely any noise too, though I was dressed much more lightly than the others. It seemed like my childhood diving practice in the lake by Hathara was finally paying off, though.
Well, it had probably been closer to play than practice. Although, given all the spear fishing and such I’d done, maybe it did count. Capitan was the one who’d made me do it, in case you were wondering. Being primarily a hunter, catching fish was a part of his area of expertise—though his reason for teaching me had been more to ensure that I’d be able to hunt and fend for myself no matter where I traveled in the world. And rather than an ordinary hunting education, it had felt closer to an in-depth survival course. Not that you’d catch me ever complaining, of course. It was only thanks to the skills he’d taught me that I was still alive today.
I looked through the water, wondering how far ahead my mentor had swum, only to realize that it wasn’t that far. I could still see his silhouette descending into the water, followed by Diego, then Niedz and the others. They were all diving straight down, which was a good indicator of where the dungeon was: the ocean floor.
Although I still couldn’t see it through the dark water, I followed after Capitan and the others, diving farther and farther down. Honestly, I was rather excited.