Book 1: Chapter 16

Aqua Once I take an entire night of rest, I feel both better and worse. The wound on my right arm is absolutely infected and I can’t really do much about it, but the wound on my left arm is already almost fully healed. Along with the bruises pretty much everywhere else. So I’m stuck without my right arm. That’s about it though. I get the feeling this infection might get worse over time, but so long as I can get antibiotics when day ten arrives, I should be fine. And at this rate I wouldn’t be surprised if I get them even though they’re expensive. There is just too much attention on me not to after all. Anyway, I go ahead and leave my air pocket before heading towards that cavern again. Finding the occasional returned monster along the path but dealing with them rather quickly. Even without my right arm. It’s a good thing I’m ambidextrous. And I’m used to fighting through pain at this point. This pain isn’t even as bad as having bruising across my entire body like I had before being healed by the orca. When I arrive at the cavern again, I fortunately find the green and putrid sharks still dead and here with their corpses largely untouched. Unlike a lot of other corpses that end up being eaten by the time I come the next day. No doubt by other monsters. But considering the poisonous state of the green sharks and the putrid state of the, well, putrid shark, it’s no surprise nothing wants to eat them. The chat seems to agree. Actually, I haven’t really been checking the chat much today. Been too tired after yesterday. So I check it while swimming towards the tunnel the putrid shark was guarding. [The corpses are still there.] [Of course they are. Do you think there’s anything that would eat those things?] [They are disgusting. Very disgusting.] [please get them off the broadcast already...] [so gross] [Hey! She’s looking at the chat!] [Really?! Aqua! Good morning!] [She’s finally looking at us today!] [Good morning sleepyhead!] [Did you sleep well?] [Does your wound hurt?] I chuckle at their words before giving a brief wave – with my left hand of course – and continuing through to the entrance of the tunnel. Then, after a brief pause, I keep moving into the tunnel. Time for uncharted territory again. The tunnel in question actually begins to narrow as I get deeper into it. And I don’t see any monsters even after swimming through it for a couple minutes. But when I reach the three minute mark in my swim, I find a light shining from deeper in. A blue light. The Gate? I continue swimming before eventually finding something surprising. Well then... This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The tunnel opens up into another cavern. But the difference with this cavern is that only half of the cavern is filled with water, going up to about halfway up the cavern. And on top of that, there’s even some ruins that go above the water’s surface. Having dry land for a first in this place. As for the Gate? I can clearly see it even from within the water. The Gate is at the top of the ruins-like structure. I swim up to the surface of the water before looking up at the ruins. But something almost immediately catches my eye after surfacing. And it’s not the Gate. It’s the sight of orcs lined up along the ruins. [Orc – Level 7] [Orc – Level 6] [Orc – Level 6] [Orc – Level 8] [Orc – Level 7] [Orc – Level 7] The creatures are common Gate monsters all across the universe. They have green skin and are all pretty buff in terms of muscle and wear rather old and outdated leather armor. With most of them having their arms exposed with only their torso being covered by the armor. Other than that, they have three fingers and a thumb, and a mouth full of relatively sharp but not too sharp teeth. Oh, and they’re short. And bald. And for some reason look afraid as they stare off at a corner of the water? What are they afraid of? I frown for a moment before going back under the water and looking around a bit more. It doesn’t take long to find what they’re afraid of. And the instant I do, I lock up for a brief second at the identify result I see before me. [Deepsea Ripper Shark – Level 20] Level fucking twenty?! And as if that weren’t enough, the thing – which is barely visible as it swims lazily in circles in a corner of the water underneath some rubble – is massive. Spanning at over six meters in length and almost two meters in height, with a row of razor sharp teeth. The monster is honestly terrifying. And I know it’s too strong for me to handle right now. Especially with my injury. So I slowly begin swimming over towards the entrance of the tunnel. Strongly hoping that the thing doesn’t notice me. Which it actually doesn’t. Letting me make it a few meters closer to the entrance as I move rather slowly so as to not attract its attention. But then something happens that I wasn’t expecting. An arrow suddenly shoots straight into the water above the place where the shark is moving around. With the arrow going a couple meters into the water before stopping. Then another arrow follows, and I instantly realize what’s happening with just a single glance out of the water. Those fucking orcs are trying to get me killed by the shark. What the abyss did I ever do to them?! Just the sight of the orcs who were just terrified of the shark shooting arrows at it to get its attention out of its little cubby pisses me off more than anything I’ve ever seen before. And what’s worse is that the shark actually takes the bait. It looks up at the arrows before suddenly noticing me. I’m starting to hate orcs. The massive ripper shark locks its eyes onto me, meanwhile the chat goes wild. With a great many numbers amongst them openly wondering if I’ll be able to make it out alive this time. Considering my infected arm. And even I’m wondering that myself. I glance at the tunnel I entered before shaking my head. Because not only is it too far, but the shark could just follow me into the tunnel. After all, the tunnel is large enough to fit it. But then an idea comes to mind. Right as the shark begins to move in a slow zigzag pattern towards me, almost like it’s studying me before charging, I summon five different tentacles at once. Three of which I use to form a bit of a net in front of me in a way and the last two I have grab onto me. And when the shark finally charges straight at me, moving incredibly fast as it does so, I use the tentacles to fling me straight out of the water and over the ruins. Where I manage to land on top of an orc. I go ahead and stab the orc in the face with my trident since I’m already sitting on top of him. Then I quickly climb to my feet to face the other panicking orcs. Assholes. With that thought, I test out something that I’ve been wondering about for a while now. I summon a tentacle outside of the water that I then use to smack all these orcs into the water below. Turning them into shark food. “See how you like it,” I mutter while stabbing the butt of my trident into the orc at my feet, finishing it off and then crossing my arms at the sight below. Even if part of that crossing is just my left arm supporting my right arm at the elbow. Fun fact. The bottom of my trident is also sharp as hell. The chat instantly goes wild at my antics and survival. Meanwhile I just let out a huff. Then I have the tentacles I have down there – the surviving ones as the shark tore through the three I used to block it with ease – crush some of the orcs before the shark makes the rest of the orcs into snacks. Just for the free EXP and REGEN stat points. Revenge is sweet. That said, now I’m kind of stuck here. So I’m not really sure what to do at this point. Unless... I turn my gaze towards the Gate. Well, I guess I can just challenge the dungeon. Honestly, I was originally planning on waiting until the ten day mark. At which point I would use the antibiotics to deal with the infection before going ahead and taking on the dungeon. I glance down at the water, where I see the massive shark peeking its head out to stare at me after eating the orcs. Almost like it’s asking, ‘why are you up there?’ while still chewing on an orc. Because of this stupid shark my plans have gone awry. Well, the shark and those orcs. The shark wouldn’t have noticed me most likely if it weren’t for the orcs getting its attention. I let out a sigh before grabbing my trident and ripping it out of the orc’s body. Then I move over to a comfortable place to sit down. Just to rest a little bit. Then I’ll go check out the dungeon.