The Sorcerer of the Deep
The voice trembled like a leaf in the wind.
“Is this really okay?”
I nodded, perfectly calm.
“You’re doing well.”
“No. If I mess up, we all die.”
“Die? At worst it’ll get dangerous.”
The party walked across the open sea.
We weren’t using the Water Walk skill or any consumables like the tutorial’s Water Mark. What held us up was Lee Jiyoung’s Vibration Barrier.
Hexagonal tiles glowing like prisms stretched out beneath our feet.
WHOOSH! A towering wave slammed into the underside of the barrier. The platform trembled lightly. Jiyoung collapsed on the spot.
“M-Master… I can’t anymore…”
Her face had gone deathly pale. Her eyes brimmed with tears that looked ready to spill over at any second.
No helping it.
I turned and crouched so we were eye-level.
“Jiyoung. I believe in you.”
“Master?”
“Even if something goes wrong, do you really think I wouldn’t have prepared a countermeasure?”
In truth, I had nothing. Fighting Deep Ones in the middle of the ocean was burdensome even for me. Solo, I could manage. Protecting an entire team while pushing all the way to the island was impossible. At best I could drag everyone back to the beach.
But—
“I believe in you too, Master.”
Jiyoung rose again, trusting my words. Her legs still shook. The tremor in her pupils showed she hadn’t fully shaken off her fear.
“Hoo… hoo…”
Even so, she steadied her breathing and calmly expanded the barrier once more.
“Hehehe.”
“Kikikik.”
Deep Ones leaped through the waves and landed on the platform.
“Where do you think you’re going without fear?”
Mountain Lord Wave Claw is used.
SLAAAAASH!
Razor-sharp nails ripped the Deep Ones apart. The Metal Reflection Gloves applied their effect to my nails as well, since they were recognized as part of my body. What began as a defensive skill became far deadlier when layered over claws—both edge and durability skyrocketed.
The martial art unleashed through those reinforced nails tore the boarders into dozens of bloody pieces that rained back into the sea.
“Ah. Used a bit too much force.”
“That obsession with essences never changes.”
“One must never forget one’s roots.”
“Such a consistent man.”
Nyx shook her head in exasperation. At her gesture, Polar Night surged forth and wrapped around the falling corpses, dragging their flesh back toward us.
“Looking after a sloppy contractor is also this one’s duty.”
“Your grace leaves me eternally grateful.”
I grinned and devoured the Deep One’s remains.
Free Water
Grade: ★★
Type: Passive
Allows free movement in water.
A skill extracted from the Deep One’s essence. Now that I could breathe underwater too, I no longer had any reason to fear aquatic combat.
The problem was my teammates.
THUD! THUD!
More and more Deep Ones assaulted the barrier. Some thrust tridents upward from below the surface; others clambered onto the platform and lunged straight for Jiyoung.
“You three protect Jiyoung.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I dove into the sea.
Free Water applied. You may now move freely in water.
Gills applied. You can now breathe underwater.
Beneath the surface, the water teemed with Deep Ones. Hundreds of bulging white eyes locked onto me. It looked like a scene straight out of a horror film.
I used the Blessing of Greed to solidify the water around my feet. The technique was similar to the one I’d used against Ness during the tutorial, but both my magic reserves and my control over the blessing had grown by leaps and bounds since then.
The Deep Ones circled me warily instead of charging.
Testing me?
“Idiotic fools.”
Ars Goetia — Internal Skill: Barbatos’s Iron Mace
A dark-magic shockwave ripped through the sea. Even the Deep Ones’ protective formation couldn’t block internal damage. Hundreds were torn apart in an instant.
“Come at me, you fish bastards. You half-baked Outer God worshippers think you’re qualified to test me?”
“Kikikik!”
“Kikikikik!”
I flashed a cold smile as the horde surged toward me.
The Deep Ones’ lair lay roughly ten kilometers from the beach. Every member of the party possessed physical abilities far beyond ordinary humans. On flat ground we could have covered the distance in an hour, but maintaining the barrier while advancing across open water turned the journey into several grueling hours.
“Jiyoung, are you all right?”
“Y-yeah… I’m fine.”
Her face was still ghostly pale.
“You rest. Brother Youngsu, back her up.”
“Understood.”
“Team Leader, I’m okay—”
“You worked the hardest. Take a break.”
No matter how efficient the Vibration Barrier was, sustaining it for so long devoured enormous mental strength. Add the unfamiliar environment of the open sea, and it was a miracle she hadn’t already fainted.
“There really is no end to them,” Ping Lei growled through clenched teeth.
We had already slaughtered thousands since the beach battle. Their combat strength easily matched Silver-rank players despite being labeled Bronze. Only our team’s superior skill had kept us alive. Yet after cutting through the fog to reach the island, another force equal in size to everything we’d killed so far waited for us.
“Many enemies,” Karla said, showing rare signs of fatigue.
A Deep One wearing a crimson cloak—Deep Sea Shaman—steadied himself with a staff. Before him, a chained otherworldly monster drooled while staring at us. Shoggoth.
The Deep Ones stood in disciplined military formation.
“No wonder no one could clear this place.” I clicked my tongue.
Ordinary Bronze-rank players would have been wiped out on the beach long before reaching the island. Even promising talents would have died at sea.
“Same plan as always.”
The wide-open space was perfect for Solar Explosion. Underwater, rearranging flame and light mana had been impossible. On land, the story changed.
Solar Explosion
A blazing sun materialized above the enemy formation and detonated.
The Outer God’s aura interferes with the spell.
Solar Explosion’s power is reduced by 40%.
The blast was weaker than it would have been on land or even at sea. Because I hadn’t used Demonic Power, the Deep Ones farther from the epicenter survived.
“Kikikikik. A fitting sacrifice.”
“Kik. Take him alive.”
The Deep Sea Shaman pointed his staff at me.
“Who said I’d let you?”
These idiots didn’t even understand the power gap. If they wanted to use me as a sacrifice, they couldn’t afford to inflict fatal wounds.
“Perfect. Team Leader, please take the lead.”
“I could always throw you as the sacrifice instead.”
The smile vanished from Ping Lei’s face. He still didn’t fully believe I meant what I said.
“Tekeli-li!!”
The Deep Ones released the chained Shoggoth. A purple, slime-like monster covered in multiple green eyes. Its round mouth spun with vortex-shaped teeth. The creature crawled forward on two arms, leaving a long, glistening trail of acidic mucus that hissed and smoked on contact with the ground.
“Don’t get close to the Shoggoth. It’s acidic.”
“Then shouldn’t we kill it from range?”
“I doubt it’ll leave me alone.”
The Deep Sea Shaman raised his staff toward the sky, lips moving rapidly. He was the one suppressing my spell’s power. The amount of magic I sensed through my Thousand Eyes was no joke.
Shoggoth and Deep Ones in front. A powerful sorcerer preparing a major spell behind them. A weakened Solar Explosion couldn’t break through that wall.
Barbatos’s Iron Mace still had hours left on cooldown.
“No choice then.”
“Huh?”
“Hold the line for a bit.”
I kicked off the ground. Cloud Flow Steps and full sprint activated together, closing the distance to the enemy formation in a flash.
“Tekeli-li!!!!”
The Shoggoth’s body split open into an impossibly wide maw lined with countless teeth. I slipped past the first wave, then the second and third crashed down like breaking surf.
“That damn team leader!”
Ping Lei leaped after me a moment too late. Karla silently swung her scythe. I’d told them to hold position, but they never listened.
Shrink
The second skill created through Fusion Qigong. The moment my foot touched the ground, the hundred-plus meters between me and the Deep Sea Shaman shrank to a single step.
The Veil of the Void interferes with Shrink.
This is not a magical technique. Interference nullified.
Movement proceeds normally.
Shrink effortlessly overcame even the power of the Void.
“Kikikikik!?”
“Am I that welcome?”
In a single step I stood before the Deep Sea Shaman. Before he could swing his staff, my nails flashed.
Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts — Second Form.
Mountain Lord Wave Claw shredded both the staff and the shaman’s body in one brutal stroke.
Sudden silence fell. Deep Ones, Shoggoth, and my own teammates all stared in shock.
“Why are you surprised? Striking the head first is the basics of war.”
The Deep Sea Shaman had been a troublesome opponent even in my previous life. He wielded every kind of sorcery and borrowed the Outer God’s power for magic. Any long-range attack I threw at him was countered. A truly filthy enemy. Using something like Blink near the Veil of the Void would have backfired. Shrink was a high-difficulty technique I couldn’t have performed at my current level without Fusion Qigong removing all penalties.
◈ Stamina +7
◈ Magic Power +20
◈ New Skill — Maelstrom
Maelstrom
Grade: ★★★
Type: Active
Creates a massive whirlpool. Can only be used where water is present.
Though location-restricted, its destructive power rivaled 4-star skills. Since I had already wiped out every Deep One in the sea, actual combat testing would have to wait.
The moment the shaman died—
“Tekeliii???”
“Tekeli-li!!!”
The Shoggoths swivelled their eyes in confusion, uttering bizarre cries. With their controller gone, they had returned to their senses. The species could not understand intelligent speech; they communicated through specialized telepathy. The shaman had used unique sonic waves to dominate them. Now that he was dead, the hypnosis had broken.
The freed Shoggoth immediately turned on its former handlers.
“Tekeli-li!!!”
CRUNCH. It swallowed the nearest Deep One whole.
“From now on, kill each other.”
I sat on the altar, grinning at the panicked Deep Ones.
One hour later, the island’s fog completely lifted and the gate leading back to the original world appeared.