Silvanus looked at the little boy whose bright, sparkling eyes were fixed on him. In the end, he nodded and said softly, "Alright, I’ll help you look and see if your brother is down there."
After a pause, he added, "Shall we go back now?"
The boy shook his head. "No. I still need to clear away a bit more of the fog before going back. A lot of people get tricked even though they know the village rules. I won’t let anyone else end up like my brother!"
Silvanus paused for a mont, then simply nodded. "Be careful."
The boy waved his hand. "You go ahead first. I’ll be back in five minutes!"
Silvanus looked at him for a mont. The boy was watching him with a bright smile, as if the hope of finally finding his brother had filled him with joy.
Silvanus said nothing more and turned to leave.
The boy watched Silvanus’s retreating figure until he grew distant and disappeared from sight.
Suddenly, the boy smiled. The smile stretched wider and wider.
A mont later, his body seed to lt like so sort of liquid, dripping down onto the sand. A stream of translucent blue-tinted water rushed swiftly toward the sea, waiting to be found again the next day.
After a night of rest, they finally prepared to depart.
Nathan looked at Nicole and said cautiously, "The sea has been rough these past years. The rfolk are a proud and warlike race. Peace between us is very fragile. They are not gentle. Please, everyone be careful."
Nicole chuckled. "Don’t worry. If they dare attack, I’ll turn them into Caesar’s lunch. I’m sure Caesar loves fish."
Nathan froze for a mont. "Don’t let Lumin eat at."
Nicole burst out laughing, clapping Nathan on the shoulder again and again. "Hahaha, you’re still as naive and cautious as ever."
Nathan’s thin fra shook from her slaps, and he coughed twice.
"Alright then, goodbye. Go on. I’ll return safe and sound," Nicole said as she turned toward the sea.
Nana flicked her hair and followed imdiately. Silvanus nodded in farewell to the village chief, then quickly followed after Nicole.
To ordinary people, Aqualon was little more than a legend. Hearing that mages from Lumina were going down to Aqualon, many fishern gathered to catch a glimpse.
Silvanus searched through the crowd but didn’t see the boy with the shining eyes anywhere.
"Magic underwater — I trust I don’t need to repeat old lessons for my two excellent students, do I?"
Nicole’s voice rang out ahead. Silvanus’s expression turned serious as he murmured an incantation under his breath. In an instant, his entire body was wrapped in a gentle golden glow.
One of the reasons Humans never held the advantage underwater was because they had to continuously use flux to cast magic that allowed them to breathe and move normally beneath the waves. Short-term use wasn’t too taxing, but if they maintained the spell for too long, they would eventually run out of flux, forcing them to return to shore.
Nicole said softly, "At worst, we’ll just co back the next day."
Nicole was always confident whenever she said things like that.
Silvanus tapped the tip of Vivian’s nose.
Vivian blinked, confused, looking up just in ti to see Silvanus open his mouth. Instinctively, she opened hers too. A mont later, a pearl was tossed straight into her mouth.
"Keep it shut," Silvanus said before scooping Vivian up and diving into the sea with her.
Vivian’s eyes flew wide open — she hadn’t even cast magic yet!
Her small body thrashed in the water, looking utterly desperate and pained.
Silvanus frowned and gave her head a light tap.
Vivian jolted as if awakened. She blinked wide-eyed, opened her mouth, stared blankly around, then looked at Silvanus. Her two front paws lifted and patted all over her own body in bewildernt, performing movents that were very human-like.
Then Vivian’s eyes widened in shock, staring at Silvanus in disbelief, as if demanding to know where on earth he got that pearl.
Silvanus didn’t say anything. He simply lifted Vivian and set her onto his shoulder. Thanks to the magic, their bodies didn’t float — they sank directly to the seabed. This was only a shallow area, and they could clearly see coral reefs of many colors, glittering and brilliant under the first light of dawn. The sight resembled an unreal painting.
Fish of various shapes and sizes swam endlessly around them. Most were small; no sharks would ever appear in waters this shallow.
Vivian, who was initially overwheld, soon beca utterly ecstatic. Her body swayed through the water, twisting like a small sea serpent, her front paws swiping nonstop at passing schools of fish.
The tail fur that Dorian had braided into several little plaits had been undone the night before. It still wasn’t fully straight yet, looking even fluffier than usual.
Silvanus couldn’t help but laugh. "Co back. If you keep swimming around, you’ll get lost."
Vivian imdiately twisted her way back to Silvanus’s side. By now, Silvanus’s feet had already touched the sand. The waves made the sandy surface waver slightly, lifting bubbles and grains of sand into the water.
Looking out into the distance, all that could be seen was an endless stretch of deep blue, so vast it seed to have no end. Humans felt far too small before the ocean.
Nana frowned. Her expression wasn’t good. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, wide and tense, and the tips of her fingers were visibly trembling.
Vivian’s nose suddenly brushed against Silvanus’s ear. In a soft whisper, she said, "She’s afraid of the deep sea."
Silvanus glanced at Vivian. "You’re very concerned about others, aren’t you?"
Vivian stuck out her tongue and rubbed her head against the hollow of Silvanus’s neck.
At that mont, Nicole finished drawing the teleportation gate.
Of course, they couldn’t reach Aqualon simply by walking or diving. If it were that easy, Aqualon wouldn’t be a place that existed only in legend for ordinary people.
Even lifelong seafarers had never seen so much as a corner of it.
And the coordinates of Aqualon were a secret... not one that just anyone knew.
"Alright, let’s go. The rfolk are aggressive, so it’s best not to start any conflict. Naturally, I won’t let anything happen to you all."
As she said this, Nicole looked toward Nana.
Nana felt a bit indignant. Did Nicole think she was soone who went around picking fights?
But facing Nicole, she could only nod. "Understood."
Only then did Nicole nod in satisfaction, stepping into the teleportation gate first. Silvanus and Nana followed right behind her.
Almost the mont their figures disappeared completely, the portal closed.
The familiar dizziness hit as always. Nana squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, an expanse of deep blue ocean was pressed right up against her vision.
A wave of nausea and dizziness crashed through her head.
She clenched her fists and suddenly swung a punch toward Silvanus.
Silvanus had already steadied himself. Hearing the sound of water being torn apart, he dodged almost instantly, raising a hand to block Nana’s punch.
The water between them rippled sharply from the force.
Silvanus looked at Nana’s paper-white face, and the words that reached his lips twisted into mockery. "What’s wrong? Can’t stand how weak you look, so you’re taking it out on ?"
The veins on Nana’s forehead throbbed. Her stomach lurched violently, and suddenly she opened her mouth.
Silvanus jolted in alarm and instinctively tried to pull back, but Nana’s other hand shot up and clamped hard onto his arm. Her nails dug in with enough force to pierce through his sleeve.
Silvanus almost shouted, "You filthy thing — do you have any sha?! Turn away and throw up sowhere else!"
Nana had barely managed to suppress the urge to vomit, but seeing Silvanus squirm like a worm tossed into salt — his face twisting in sheer despair like a blade was pressed to his throat —
That was exactly the expression Nana always wanted to see on him. Yet no matter what she did, he was always unfazed!
Instinctively, Nana opened her mouth again and added a very convincing "bleh" sound.
Silvanus shouted imdiately, "Vivian!"
The mont the words left his mouth, Vivian shot forward like an arrow. Her normally small-looking mouth opened shockingly wide, fangs gleaming as she lunged straight for Nana’s face.
Nana jerked backward at once, releasing Silvanus. Her eyes flashed, she flicked her hand, and a bolt of light shot toward Vivian.
Vivian dodged effortlessly, bared her teeth at Nana in warning, then swam back to Silvanus’s side.
For all the fierceness of her attack, her dog-paddling made it impossible to take her seriously.
Nana crossed her arms and sneered. "Needing an animal to protect you — truly pathetic, Silvanus." She even felt better after saying it. The suffering of a commoner really was excellent dicine.
Silvanus smirked. "Should I try vomiting on you instead?"
At the thought of that, Nana imdiately frowned, murderous intent flaring. "A filthy commoner like you has definitely waded through things far more disgusting than vomit. Don’t think getting into Lumina puts you on the sa level as ."
The insult was harsh enough to make anyone frown.
Nicole glanced at Nana, though she hadn’t said anything yet.
Nana still stared at Silvanus, waiting for any reaction. At this point, he should react. He should show sothing — anger, annoyance, anything.
Why was there always nothing?
Why could he never see her?!
But Silvanus only gave her a brief look before picking up Vivian and heading toward Nicole.
That calm, unbothered attitude again — from a re commoner...
He was clearly just a commoner. Where did Silvanus get the confidence to act so arrogantly?
He clearly didn’t see her at all.
In his eyes, she didn’t exist.
Yet he was just — a commoner...
"I’m talking to you! Don’t you feel even a shred of sha?!" Nana’s eyes burned red. She snarled and reached out to grab him.
But at that mont, a strong force struck her hand aside, sending her stumbling backward several steps before she managed to regain her balance.
"I’ve already said it — we’re not here to fight. Nana, I told you not to pick a fight with the rfolk, so you decided to pick a fight with Silvanus instead?"
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