The mermaid, whose name was Aquaria, floated closer to the edge of the shimmering air bubble. Her eyes, the color of sea-glass, scanned our battered gear. "You cannot reach the heart of the Shrine within these bubbles," she sang, her voice a haunting melody that vibrated in my very marrow. "Kraken has flooded the sacred corridors with a crushing weight. To face him, you must become part of the sea."
She reached into a pouch made of woven kelp and pulled out four translucent, pulsing pearls. They glowed with a soft, azure light. "These are the Ox-Gems. Swallow them, and the water will become your air. But be warned: they only last as long as your resolve."
I looked at the small, glowing orb in my palm. It felt cold, like a piece of hail. I looked at Sarah. She was staring at the dark, heavy water pressing against the barrier. Without a word, she took her pearl and swallowed it. I followed suit.
The sensation was terrifying. For a moment, my lungs seized. It felt like I was drowning on dry land. Then, a cool, tingly sensation spread from my throat to my chest. My skin began to shimmer with a faint, iridescent sheen.
"Now," Aquaria whispered. "Step through."
I took Sarah's hand, our fingers interlacing. Together, we stepped through the shimmering membrane of the air bubble.
The transition was instantaneous.
The silence of the deep engulfed us, but it wasn't the silence of death. It was a roar of pressure and life. I gasped, and instead of choking, I felt the cool, oxygen-rich water fill my lungs. It was effortless. I felt light—weightless.
"Whoa," Maya's voice echoed in my head. We weren't speaking with our mouths; the Ox-Gems were translating our thoughts into ripples in the water. "I feel like I could punch a shark into orbit."
"Don't get cocky," Elena's mental voice snapped, though she was already experimenting with how her fire spells reacted to the pressure. Tiny bubbles of steam hissed around her fingertips. "The physics here are completely different. My spells will be slower, but twice as heavy."
We swam deeper into the Sunken Shrine. The architecture was breathtaking—massive pillars of white coral carved into the likeness of ancient heroes, lit by glowing anemones. But as we moved, the beauty turned grotesque. Thick, black ink stained the coral, and the corpses of giant sea creatures lay scattered, their eyes picked clean by scavengers.
"He's close," I thought, gripping the hilt of my Mythril blade. The sword felt different in the water, dragging slightly, but I could feel the Vorpal energy hum even louder in the density of the deep.
Suddenly, the water around us grew cold—unnaturally cold. From the shadows of a collapsed archway, a dozen hooded figures emerged. They looked like humans, but their skin was translucent, showing the dark, pulsing veins beneath. They carried tridents made of sharpened bone.
"The Drowned," Elena warned. "Kraken's personal guard."
They moved with a terrifying, jerky speed, their tridents whistling through the water. I lunged, the resistance of the sea making every swing feel like I was moving through honey, but the strength from our "Levels" compensated. I cleaved through the first guard's chest, the Mythril blade leaving a trail of silver bubbles in its wake.
Sarah was a beacon in the dark water. She raised her staff, and a pulse of holy light expanded outward, slowing the Drowned and cauterizing their shadowed hearts.
As we fought, a massive shadow drifted over us. It wasn't a guard. It was a tentacle, miles long, tipped with a barbed hook the size of a longboat. It smashed into a coral pillar next to us, sending a shockwave that knocked the wind out of me.
"He knows we're here," I shouted in my mind, pulling Sarah closer as the debris settled.
In the distance, a massive door made of solid pearl began to groan open. A sickly green light, the same color as the corrupted Water Crystal, spilled out, illuminating a chamber that seemed to go on forever.
"One way in," I thought, looking at my team. "Let's finish this."