The murky waters of the Slums of the Tide seed to vibrate with the aftershocks of the battle against Warlord Kulit. The news had traveled faster than a shark in a feeding frenzy: the Seahorse Warlord was dead, and the outer reefs were free.
Alvian stood inside Master Thorne’s shack. The old Guardian was busy polishing his new, quicksilver legs, a look of fierce pride on his weathered face. He looked like a man who had been given a second life, and he intended to use every second of it.
"You did it," Thorne said, his voice gruff but filled with respect. "Kulit was a plague. The city breathes easier today because of you."
"The city can breathe later," Alvian replied, his voice calm and detached. He wiped a speck of algae from his [Vestnts of the Void Monarch]. "You promised a na. The Second Guardian."
Thorne stopped polishing. He looked at Alvian, then at Valeria and Seraphina standing guard by the door.
"You want Kaelen," Thorne said, shaking his head. "The Flash of the Deep. He’s... different. I was the shield of Azureus. Kaelen was the spear. Or rather, the arrow."
"Where is he?" Alvian asked.
Thorne pulled out a map of the city. He pointed to a district located on the upper levels, near the massive intake valves that cycled the ocean water through the city’s cooling systems.
"The Slipstream Sector," Thorne said. "It’s a district built around the strongest currents in the city. Kaelen lives there. But he doesn’t just live there. He runs. He never stops moving. He believes that stillness is death."
Alvian nodded. "Inefficient energy expenditure, but excellent for training agility stats."
"He won’t just teach you because you ask," Thorne warned. "He values speed above all else. If you can’t keep up, he won’t even look at you."
"I’ll keep up," Alvian said.
He turned to his team. Valeria was adjusting the new rubber insulation padding she had added to the joints of her plate armor. It made her look bulkier, less like a shining knight and more like a deep-sea diver, but it was necessary for where they were going.
"Ready?" Alvian asked.
Valeria grunted, flexing her arm. "I feel like a tire. But I’m ready."
"Let’s go."
They left the slums, taking the magi-lifts up to the Slipstream Sector. As they ascended, the water grew clearer, the architecture more refined. But the most noticeable change was the current.
The water here was moving. Fast.
Massive turbines built into the city walls churned the ocean, creating artificial rivers that flowed through the streets at breakneck speeds. rfolk and high-level players zood past on sleek mana-boards or riding streamlined sea beasts, using the currents as a highway system.
"It’s like a racetrack," Seraphina noted, her chanical eye whirring as she tracked the blur of passing traffic.
"There," Alvian pointed.
In the center of the district was a massive, circular plaza. But it wasn’t a gathering place. It was a whirlpool. A controlled, artificial vortex contained within a transparent mana field. And inside the vortex, a figure was running.
He was running against the current.
The water inside the field was moving at easily two hundred miles per hour. The figure was a blur of blue scales and silver armor, running on the inner wall of the vortex, defying physics with sheer velocity.
[Target Identified: Master Kaelen (The Flash of the Deep)]
[Level: 56]
[Class: Abyssal Speedster]
[Status: Training]
Alvian walked up to the edge of the barrier. The sound of the rushing water was deafening, a constant roar that drowned out all thought.
He placed his hand on the barrier.
"System. Analyze mana frequency."
[Scanning...]
[Frequency identified. Constructing sonic pulse.]
Alvian didn’t shout. He tapped the barrier with his finger, infusing it with a precise burst of mana designed to resonate with the shield’s frequency.
"PING!"
The sound cut through the roar of the water like a knife. Inside the vortex, the running figure stumbled. He recovered instantly, flipping mid-air and landing on a floating platform in the center of the whirlpool.
The water slowed. Kaelen looked out.
He was a tall, lean man with gills on his neck and fins on his forearms. He wore streamlined armor made of blue dragon scales. His eyes were wide, twitching, scanning everything at once.
"Who broke my rhythm?" Kaelen snapped, his voice high and fast. "I was on a personal best! Who are you? Turtles? You look like turtles. So slow. Standing still. Disgusting."
"I am Alvian," Alvian said, his voice amplified by magic. "I seek the Second Abyssal Art. [Abyssal Flicker]."
Kaelen laughed. It was a manic, staccato sound.
"You? You want the Flicker? You’re wearing a dress! And that one..." He pointed at Valeria. "She’s wearing a mountain! You’d sink before you could blink!"
Valeria bristled. "This ’mountain’ just cleared the Coral Plains."
"Slowly, I bet," Kaelen sneered. He blurred, appearing at the edge of the barrier, inches from Alvian’s face. "Speed is life, boy. Speed is power. If you can’t catch the lightning, you get burned. You want my Art? Prove you aren’t a statue."
"Na your test," Alvian said.
Kaelen grinned. He pointed east, toward the dark, stormy waters beyond the city limits.
"The Storm Reef. Ho of the Lightning Naga. They are fast. Faster than you. And they are led by General Voltex. He stole my favorite trident. A sentintal piece. Useless, really, but it’s the principle."
[Quest Generated: The Need for Speed.]
[Objective: Enter the Storm Reef. Defeat General Voltex. Retrieve Kaelen’s Trident.]
[Difficulty: Level 48 Elite Raid.]
[Ti Limit: 24 Hours.]
"Bring the trident," Kaelen said, vibrating with impatient energy. "If you survive Voltex, maybe you’re fast enough to learn. If not... well, fried fish tastes good too."
"Consider it done," Alvian said.
"Go! Go! You’re wasting ti standing there talking! Move!" Kaelen waved his hands frantically, then turned and jumped back into the whirlpool, resuming his run.
Alvian turned to his team.
"We have a target," Alvian said.
"General Voltex," Seraphina recalled the data. "He’s a Lightning Naga Lord. Known for [Thunder Dash] and [Chain Lightning]. In water, his range is effectively infinite."
"Then we don’t give him range," Alvian said, equipping the [Lance of the Void Winter].
He looked at Valeria. She looked ridiculous in her rubber-padded armor, like a silver golem wrapped in black insulation tape. But Alvian didn’t laugh.
"That insulation is going to save your life," Alvian said, adjusting a strap on her shoulder. "Keep your helt sealed. If the water inside gets electrified, you cook."
Valeria nodded, her expression serious. "I trust you. Just point at the snake."
"Let’s go," Alvian ordered. "We’re going into the storm."
They left the city, swimming out into the open ocean. As they moved away from the lights of Azureus, the water grew darker. The current grew stronger. And in the distance, flashes of blue light illuminated the deep, accompanied by the low rumble of underwater thunder.
The Storm Reef awaited.
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