Chapter 4: Depths

As expected, delving down the falling waves on a sloop was a lot like riding a roller coaster, or rather Splash Mountain; Your lungs feel like they're going to burst out of your chest, and you scream at the top of your lungs, as if screaming will somehow amend the situation.

The experience lasted for a total of ten to fifteen seconds, which was honestly longer than I thought it was, and much longer than Splash Mountain. It goes to show that reaching the bottom of the ocean, even at maximum speed, can be a lot harder than it sounds. When I started approaching the bottom, I feared that my sloop would crash straight into one of the main pillars, sending me to a watery grave.

Thankfully, it hit the bottom level with a rather large splash, showering me with saltwater. If I wasn't drenched before, I was now. It didn't matter to me though, because the impact slowed me down enough so that I sailed right into the main part of the temple.

It was much larger than it appeared from up above, because while drifting in I noticed that this particular section was more or less…well, a dock. Surrounded by water under the temple roof was a large platform, with slabs jutting out from the main part. On top of the central platform was what looked like a small stone cabin from a distance.

Letting out a sigh of relief that I survived the experience of diving headfirst into the equivalent of a maelstrom, or at least that's what my mind thought at the time, I steered my sloop in the direction of one of the slabs, drifting my way there slowly but steadily.

Once I made sure that I was close enough to the dock, I went to one of the few barrels on my ship and hefted a heavy rock tied securely to a rope. Struggling to keep it in my grasp, I staggered over to the ship railing, and with all the might I had left, tossed it over the side and onto the dock.

Gripping the railing lightly, I supported myself as I leapt over the side and onto the stone floor. Breathing deep, I made sure I had my main sword equipped: just a simple Katana that has served me well since Floor 1. Nothing overtly special about it other than sentimental value. I planned on getting a better sword once I leveled up a bit more and a few more floors were cleared, but for now, this will do.

Once I made sure it was secure at my side, I proceeded to the stone house-looking structure in the center, and saw that a pair of double doors were keeping whatever was inside locked. The doors themselves were intricately designed with patterns of water and waves. Above the doors read what I assumed to be the name of the dungeon.

"The Abyssal Ruins…" I spoke to myself. Fitting for our location. Checking my inventory one last time that I had the right amount of healing and teleport crystals, I raised both my hands and pushed the twin doors.

Swinging open, they revealed a long set of stairs descending into the darkness. The hall reeked of salt and brine, though that didn't bother me. Hardly at all. Torches lined up against the walls started lighting themselves, one by one, going deeper and deeper down the stairs.

You just can't march through a dungeon with a couple of players. Saphira's words echoed in my mind. I gulped. Closing my eyes, I took one final deep breath. "I don't care." I told myself. Steeling my nerves, I drew my sword, glinting in the torchlight, and began to descend the stairs.

Everyone else in this world fights to escape. I thought to myself as I went down another step. I fight for a different reason. One that is greater than their own.

…

"Are you sure you wouldn't just like to wait until we get back to the Front Lines?" Saphira asked Mataras as they made their way down the rainy streets of Wileris. Mataras merely brushed it off by saying "We might need to grind a bit on our way back, or perhaps something else might happen. No, I would say it's better to restock on essential supplies here while we have the chance."

Saphira wore a thoughtful expression on her face. "I mean, won't the effects be weaker than those bought on the highest floor?"

"Probably. Probably not. All I know is that it's better to be prepared with under-leveled healing potions than with none at all."

Saphira mulled over his words for a minute before she nodded in agreement. "Fair point." Shortly after, they found one of the local shops. Entering from the rainy weather, they saw that it was a fairly small shop, but it still seemed to carry necessities from first glance.

Two players were already present, with them looking over some of the weapons display cases. They didn't look up from their gaze when they heard the doorbell ring, signaling someone entered. They didn't, but what Mataras took for as the shopkeeper did.

"Why, good morning!" He waved to the two of them. "Might I ask how you two are doing today?"

Saphira smiled and nodded at him. "We are doing just fine, thanks for asking!"

Mataras walked straight up to the counter. "I assume that you have healing items in stock?"

The shopkeeper opened up his menu in response. "Ah, someone wanting to get straight down to business? I can respect that. And yes I do, sir."

While Mataras started ordering the needed supplies, Saphira wandered over to the window and gazed out into the rain, looking over the surface of the ocean past the nearby docks. As much as she knew she needed to get back to the front lines, she actually kind of liked it here.

"Mataras, are you sure that there isn't anything else we need to do here before we leave?" She asked him from where she was standing.

"Positive." He replied quickly, not even looking away from his menu.

"I mean…We could still find Phantom." She turned around to look at him. "You could still apologize."

"As much as I would like to," He started in a voice that clearly sounded like he didn't like to at all. "We have no idea where he is. We aren't even friended. Who knows where Phantom could be now."

"You know Phantom?" The shopkeeper perked up, listening to our little conversation. Mataras looked up at him, slight surprise etched on his face. "…Yes? Do you know him?"

The shopkeeper gave a small laugh. "Actually, the chap came into my shop earlier, ten, fifteen minutes before you, give or take. Bought one of my Oceansun Stones."

Saphira made her way over to him. "Do you happen to know where he is now?"

He scratched his head. "Well, He didn't really tell me where he was going…" He then snapped his fingers, as if a light bulb lit up above him. "But those two gents over there entered not too soon after he left. Maybe they saw where he was going!" He motioned to the two players still looking at the weapons display case.

Striding over to them, she lightly tapped one of them on the shoulder.

"Hm?" He barely responds, only now looking up from the weapons case.

"Sorry to bother you, but you didn't happen to see another player leave this shop earlier?" She racked her memory, trying to recall Phantom's appearance enough to describe him. "Male, dirty blond hair, dark blue trench coat with a hood, white skin?"

The player put their hand to their chin, as if they were trying to remember. "Oh, that guy? Yea, saw him just as we were entering. When I looked out the window shortly after, I think I saw him sailing out, if I recall correctly."

Mataras came over as he finished making his purchase. Hearing what the player told Saphira, he raised an eyebrow. "Sailing out? But practically every other island out there has been cleared. Why would..." Realization dawned on his face as he let out a small grow. "…The imbecile."

Saphira's eyes widened as she got what he was getting at. Turning back to the player, she gave a small bow. "Thank you for your time, Sir." She then bolted out the shop, starting to make her way to the docks when a firm hand grasped her arm.

She whipped her head around to see Mataras standing firm, hand tightly gripping her arm. "Mataras, let go of me." She told him.

"He was a fool for trying to convince us to go to the dungeon, only the three of us. He's even more so by going alone."

She struggled against his grip. "Which is exactly why we have to go and get him!"

He shook his head. "He is most likely going to die before we reach him. We couldn't make it through that dungeon with just the two of us."

"You said so yourself! It's possible to complete that dungeon if we had another person on our level! Besides, we don't need to clear it, we simply need to make it to Phantom before he dies!" She finally broke free of his grasp, but she wouldn't back down from him, a fire burning in her eyes. "If we don't go to save him when we knew we could, his blood will be on both our hands."

She couldn't tell what was going on in Mataras's head. Saphira may have been his sister, but even then Mataras could come across as an enigma even to her.

After what seemed like forever, He let out a long sigh before walking past her. "I suppose that we should get a rental. We have practically an entire floor's worth of ocean to search. Let's get started."

…

After paying for a rental sloop, they began their search at once, even though they didn't specifically know what to look for. All they had to go off of was Mataras's memory of the general area that Phantom circled on his map. He couldn't recall the exact location.

After about twenty minutes or so, they finally found it. A giant hole in the sea, if you will, funneling down to what looked like a temple. Mataras, at the helm, at first swerved to avoid going in once it was in his sight, but after peering below, he realized what he needed to do.

…

I made significant progress through the dungeon. At first, it wasn't anything too hard, but I eventually found that it was more of a maze than anything. Occasionally I would come across a fork or some other then take the wrong turn, only to arrive at a dead end.

Or, if I was really lucky, it would lock me in a room with a handful of monsters, and it wouldn't let me out until I beat them all. This happened to be where I was now.

It must have been my birthday.

Lightly panting, I held my katana with both my hands, guarding myself by having it at an angle as if the sword was a diagonal line in front of me. Before me were two of the dungeon's main enemies: rotted swordsman who had cephalopods for heads. It was almost as if Davy Jones's head just went full on squid rather than just 'tentacley.' Apparently, they were called 'Squidheads.' These were what was left of the room's monsters, the other 2 felled by my sword.

The two of them rushed at me again, swinging down with their cutlasses, but I was able jump back before running forward and slashing right past one of them while his guard was down. It didn't finish that one off though, simply made him cry in pain in what sounded like bubbly noises, more or less.

That same Squidhead rushed at me with his sword, catching me slightly by surprise, but I was able to parry his blow, albeit rather weakly since I was slightly off guard. I followed that up with another slash to his ribs which knocked him to the side, but that was when his friend decided to strike, and he was able to take a slash at me while I was taking care of the other guy.

My body was thrown across the floor, and I noticed that a good chunk of my HP was gone. As of now, I was right above half health. Rolling on my back, I was about to get up when that same Squidhead tried to rush me again while I was on the ground. When he slashed down, I brought my katana up to block it, supporting it with my second hand.

Our swords remained clashing together as he stood over me. Some of his saliva or whatever is inside a squid's beak dropped onto my face in a couple drops. Disgusted I ended our current clash by giving him a swift kick to the chest, knocking him backwards. This gave me the opportunity to get to my feet while his friend tried to rush at me while he had the chance.

That was his mistake.

I quickly and easily sidestepped the attack while simultaneously swinging my sword in a side-arc, slicing right through him. This caused the last of his health to deplete as his corpse-like body was cut cleanly in half, erupting in what seemed to be a mix of blood, bones and seawater as he let out a final cry of pain before landing on the stone-cold floor. Seconds later he shattered into a thousand fragments of light.

Turning to face his friend who was acting a bit more cautiously, holding his cutlass in a more defensive position, we started walking in in a circle, facing each other almost as if both of us were waiting for the other to strike. His HP was fairly low, and so was mine, already dipped in the red because of this fight.

This exhilaration…this fight…This was one of many experiences I had in this world that made me love it more and more. A dark smile made its way onto my face. There was simply one thing that this enemy had failed to take into account.

With a series of quick and elaborate swings, I sheathed my sword to its scabbard on my left side, as if I was taunting the cursed swordsman.

The Squidhead didn't take this too kindly from the bubbly noises he made, possibly angry. I couldn't speak Squidhead, so I'll never know. He arched his sword behind his head and started running at me.

The fool. Telegraphing his attack like an amateur. I fingered my trump card on my right side as he got closer and closer.

When he was 5 feet from me, the perfect and unmissable distance, I acted. Quicker than a flash of light, I pulled my dagger from my side and threw it with strength and precision, straight into his forehead. As soon as the dagger left my fingertips, I sidestepped his swing, getting a single strand of hair from my bangs sliced off in the process.

The Squidhead stumbled forward, his mind failing him and with it, the rest of his body. He fell to the floor, completely and totally immobile. He then shattered like his fallen friend before him.

Adrenaline still pumping through my system, though slowly dying out, I went over and retrieved my fallen dagger and carefully sliding it back into its sheath. I then collapsed on my bum, being supported from falling on my back by my hands. I let out a small laugh as soon as I felt the adrenaline finally leave my system.

"Well…That was good." I speak to myself, bringing out a health potion to gulp down my gullet. In the corner of my vision, I saw my health bar slowly replete to the point where I was fully healed.

Taking the bottle away from my lips and gasping for air, I tossed the glass container to my side where I heard it shatter into nothingness. It truly is a shame. I thought to myself. You can't observe the fallen or the expended out of respect. I just…disappears. As if it never was.

That was simply the way things were. It was a universal truth to this world. The fallen become nothing. The nothing become forgotten. To become forgotten is to have a fate more terrible than anything anyone could ever imagine.

Careful not to fall, I unsheathed my katana to help me get to my feet. I swear to you. I will not become forgotten. Not now, not ever.

It was here when I noticed that a chest had spawned in the center of the room. Most likely because I defeated all the enemies in the room. Still in recovery from the adrenaline rush, I walked slash wobbled my way over to the chest. Once I heaved it open, I found something that made accidentally wandering into this room worth it: 75,000 col.

Grinning as I deposited the cash into my inventory, I exited the room and checked my progress in mapping the dungeon out.

The maze-like structure seemed to make it where every wrong turn made it so that you ended up in either an enemy infested room, booby trapped hallway, or just a regular dead end, and you could turn around and continue on your merry way. There were only a small handful of those.

I had been crawling through this dungeon for about thirty minutes or so, possibly more. I lost track of time whenever I went on expeditions like this. It was definitely starting to drain me, I'll say that much. I was getting a bit low on healing potions and crystals, but I felt I had enough to continue a bit more.

Finally making it back to the fork in the tunnels I arrived to earlier, having taken the wrong turn into that room of Squidheads, I found that there were only 2 other paths I could take. I initially took the right path, but right was apparently wrong. So, on a mere whim I decided to try my luck with the left path this time.

Walking for a while, I eventually made it to a creaky wooden door. At this point, there was a door at the end of almost every hallway I took, wrong turn or not. So, with no other option, I unsheathed my katana in preparation for a fight if it came to it, and I pushed open the door.

Entering the domed room, I turned my head this way and that, trying to find if the room was friendly or hostile.

Then all the torches were lit at once, revealing several Squidheads and Crabheads, guess what the Crabheads look like. I can wait.

Anyways, I counted about five in total. I looked behind me to see the door still open, but I could see ethereal chains across the frame, preventing me from exiting.

I sighed to myself as I readied my sword. I had my work cut out. I couldn't afford any mistakes. With that said, I did a swift dash, slashing through one of the nearest Squidheads with my sword and making it across the room in one fell swoop. Looking back, I was able to stagger him and take out a little less than half his health.

I was going to play it safe and try to, more or less, primarily use this skill to try and take them all out slowly, playing the long game. That was when they all did something that I didn't expect: all of them at once started to run at me, swords ready to strike.

Before this room, they almost never coordinated among themselves to this extent, so I was severely caught off guard. I was able to parry one or two of their blows, but the remaining 3 stabbed me in the gut, causing a burst of pain to sprout from my stomach.

They all jumped back to prep for another attack, but I was able to dodge it to the other side of the room with another swift dash. Looking at my HP, I saw that it was exactly at the halfway mark.

I considered my options. Considering I was able to drop only one of the cutlass-wielding fish people's health to above half, and they can coordinate their attacks with precision, I doubted that I could win this fight.

I loved stabbing bad guys as much as the next guy, but a chess player has to know when he's in check.

I stayed on the defensive as I started to pull out a teleport crystal, but before I could finish, two of the fish people received two slashes each from behind them. They didn't even have the chance to react in surprise before dissolving into nothing. Their remaining 3 companions leapt away in shock to see who or what felled two of them, and I was equally as shocked as they were when I saw who it was.

"How…How in the world did you find this place?" I asked them.

Mataras swung his sword a couple of times in case one of the Squidheads decided to try and rush them while Saphira held her sword in a defensive position. "We'll talk after this. Are you ok?" Saphira asks me.

I simply nod my head as I put away my menu, no longer needing a teleport crystal. I re-readied my sword as I responded. "Let's fight."

For the most part, due to the surprise attack by Mataras and Saphira, the 3 on 3 match was rather easy. We each took one Squidhead down, as the two of them took down both Crabheads with their surprise attack. Shame, honestly. I wanted to see if their fighting style was different from Squidheads or if they were the same.

Merely five or ten minutes later, the enemies were defeated in a flash of light, with my health only barely reaching yellow. I swing my sword a few times before putting it back in its sheath, while Mataras and Saphira did likewise.

We stood in silence for a few seconds before it hit me that we still had that argument. "Erm…" I start, nervously rubbing the back of my head. "I just want to say-" I never got to finish as Mataras strode over to me and slapped me square in the face with enough force to make me fall to the ground. I only lost about a tenth of my HP, though it still stung.

"Your own pride and foolishness almost got you killed." Mataras told me in an unnervingly calm voice.

Saphira nodded at his words. "While I think that slapping you was a bit excessive, he is right, Phantom."

I sat up into the sitting position, gently rubbing my cheek. "…I deserved that, I'll admit." I then hoisted myself up to look at Mataras in the eye as Saphira walked over to join us.

"You deserve a lot more than that." Mataras answered, still in his unnervingly clam voice. "We told you the consequences of what would happen if you stormed this dungeon with just three people, and yet you tried to storm it all al-"

"I'm sorry." I cut him off. He blinks, as if he isn't used to being cut off or something. I continue. "I'm sorry for the way I acted and how I treated the both of you at the café. I…lost my head. And frankly you saved my life." I bowed to him. "…even though I had full intention of teleporting out before you arrived." I shouldn't have added that comment, but I also didn't notice in the moment that I wasn't stuttering.

Mataras is silent for a minute. Since neither of us were saying anything, with Saphira merely watching us, I decided to show him something. I opened my character profile and flipped it to his direction.

His piercing eyes glossed over the information before I saw realization in his eyes. It was definitely faint, but it was there.

"You asked what level I was yesterday. I was being too stubborn that I didn't want to show you. Well, I'm level 16."

Mataras closed his eyes and continued to say nothing for a minute or so. "…Well, that explains how you made it so far down here without dying." He opened his eyes. "How did you get so high? I don't think I've ever seen you on any of the boss raids."

I chuckle. "I'm told by some people, both here and in the other world, that sometimes I'm so silent that they don't even realize I'm there. Believe me, I've been to most of the raids so far. And I like to level up if I'm doing nothing or some other."

Mataras merely nods at this. He has a good poker face, I'll give him that much. I can't really tell what he's thinking in the moment, but he eventually says something. "…I apologize for threatening you at the café. And since you asked earlier, Saphira and I are both Level 17."

I gave a small whistle. I mean, I was only a level behind them, but even still, I felt that I should give them some form of appreciation.

That's when I felt something on my shoulder, and there stood Saphira with a hand on both my own and Mataras's. "Well, glad you two drama kings were able to work that little argument out. But now that that's done…what now?"

I close my eyes. "…I still hope to complete this dungeon. I don't know what lies ahead, but I feel like I can't just back out now." I opened them, staring into Mataras's swirling grey eyes. "I know that you think it sounds suicidal, but…this means everything."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why exactly is that?"

Silence. Ten seconds. "It won't matter if I never reach the dungeon's end."

Saphira gives me a little pat before folding her arms. "Still intent on being cryptic, I see."

I smirk. "It's what I do. It's my thing."

She gives Mataras a curious look. "Well, Mataras? Are you going to acknowledge what you said earlier?" I had no idea what they were talking about, but I could tell that Mataras was deep in thought, looking between Saphira, then me, then back to Saphira.

"…Well then, let's see how far this dungeon goes." I felt a smile creeping up on my face.

…

We decided to party up for the rest of the dungeon. There were a couple of other rooms with a bunch of Squidheads and Crabheads, but with the three of us being high leveled, they were dispatched without major risk.

For the most part, we engaged in a bit of small talk while walking. Nothing major or important, just about ourselves and other unimportant things.

Eventually all our walking and fighting through the dungeon finally paid off. Walking down a final hallway and looking ahead of us, we finally saw what we had traveled all this way for: The boss door.

It looked a lot like the doors at the dungeon's entrance, except it seemed to be even more intricate, if you can believe that. Patterns of massive tsunamis, clouds pouring down rain, several creatures that inhabited the deep sea. It was as if Michelangelo had created this masterpiece himself with how beautiful it was.

Drawing my sword, I looked to Mataras and Saphira to see that they were doing the same thing. Looking to them, I asked, "Are you ready?"

Mataras gave a reaffirming nod. "Let's do this."

The three of us stepped forward and each put a hand on the doors and gave them a small push, but it was more than enough to open the massive stone doors.

The second they cracked open, the sound of crashing water flowed out into the hall. Walking inside, the view we found was incredible. We were in a circular room, where the floor had a spiral pattern going from the outside to the center, but that wasn't the most impressive thing about the room.

The room we were in was surrounded by cascading waterfalls on all sides, coating the floor in a thin layer of water. At least that's what it seemed like at first…we soon realized that they weren't waterfalls per se, but rather walls made of nothing but water, going out into the pitch-black darkness of the oceans depths. Above us was a never-ending ceiling of darkness, almost like a reverse-bottomless pit. It reminded me a lot of Ganon's Castle from "The Wind Waker."

At first, I had no idea where all the light was coming from, but then taking a closer look, we saw several little creatures within the walls of water, some being bioluminescent jellyfish, others being creatures that just acted as orbs of light.

Needless to say, our breath was taken away.

Turning this way and that, a single question lingered in the back of my head.

"Where's the boss?"

The three of us stood on our guard as nothing happened for a small amount of time. Standing in place, we all turned in a circle to see if the boss would pop out from somewhere.

That was when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Whipping around, I saw something in the walls of water. A large black shadow that, at first glance, seemed to be as large as a galleon. "Guys." I alert them, even though they probably already were when I whipped around.

Following my eyes, they were able to see the same shadow that I saw, circling the room through the cascading water.

Then it stopped moving.

And then all heck broke loose.

In a giant burst of salt water, splashing all over the three of us, making us all thoroughly soaked if we weren't before, there stood a giant monstrous creature. It was giant. It was horrifying. It was…

…pink?

Letting out a roar that made the entire room shook, the boss's name and 4 HP bars appeared above it. The Axolotl. It looked like a normal axolotl for the most part, except for the fact that it had an obvious crazed look in its eye, and its whiskers, tentacles, whatever you want to call them seemed to have a medusa effect to them, because they all faced towards us and hissed with their mouths.

The boss then started rushing at us, and we quickly jumped into action. And by 'jumped into action,' I really mean we jumped out of the way.

The Axolotl missed us completely and dived back into the water, where we saw its shadow swim around the circumference of the room before swimming away into the depths.

Anyone else would have wondered if it was simply swimming away, but I played enough video games to know what was really happening. "It' gonna jump out from somewhere unexpected!" I yelled to Mataras and Saphira. "Get ready!"

I then moved to the center of the arena, as it would give me equal opportunity to dodge any which way the Axolotl decided to ambush. The other two got the same idea and joined me. It was mere seconds later when I heard a splash behind and above me. Swiftly running straight ahead and away from the sound, we all felt a massive tremor that, while not doing damage to us, did cause us to become stunned for a few seconds.

This came as a surprise to all of us, but we still kept our guards up either way. Turning around, there lay the Axolotl on his back, most likely dazed from the fall. We didn't need to be told to go and start attacking the thing as much as we can.

After we dealt a good amount of damage, about a fifth of his first health bar, his eyes noticeably flashed, signaling to us that he was most likely going to retaliate, so we retreated back a bit.

True to form, He spun around a few times before jumping back on his feet, and charging past us, just missing his targets, ramming headfirst into the water.

"It should be easy, at least for now." Mataras notes. "The boss is telegraphing his attacks so that they're easy to dodge. Just keep your guard up."

"Don't jinx it, Mataras." I respond, muscles tense from waiting. The same thing happened, although this time the sound was behind us. It fell down and the shockwave effect stunned us for a bit, and then we rushed it for as long as we could. This was basically the first health bar of the boss. Nothing too hard. It was when we depleted that bar that things got significantly more interesting.

When it was back in the walls and we thought it was going to dive out again, something different happened. We heard the Axolotl roar before orbs of solid water cascaded from above us, threatening to crush us.

They were rather large and numerous, but my reflexes were able to make me dodge nearly all of them. Yes, I was hit by one and it took away a seventh of my HP, but for the most part we all came out primarily unscathed.

That section of dodging falling objects reminded me of some of my favorite platformers, such as Cuphead and Drawn to Life.

The second that the final orb of water made impact with the ground, another loud splash echoed through the chamber, and hearing it directly above me, I realized it was the Axolotl above me. Trying to rush away, I was able to avoid the brunt of the blow entirely, but I was still close enough to be knocked back when he fell, launching me towards the floor.

"Are you alright?" I heard Mataras ask as he went to slash at the boss. My HP bar read that I was losing a third of my HP bar in total. I brought myself back up to my feet.

"Yea. I'm fine." I told them before joining them in the assault. After that during the phase, I consciously dialed up my awareness so that after the orbs of water all fell, I would anticipate the Axolotl and where he fell. While we all lost a bit of HP during this phase, nothing of incredible concern happened. We made sure to stay out of the yellow.

Then things took an incredible turn the millisecond that the next two HP bars became depleted, leaving only one left.

The Axolotl, shaking its head as it got up to its feet again, after our most recent assault, seemed to gain a crazed smile along with the creepy look in its eyes, and the most unexpected thing happened: Its whisker tentacles all faced us and roared.

Tendrils of pure saltwater, six of them, erupted from the walls and started attempts of slashing and whacking us, while the Axolotl turned tail and ran back in the water, circling around the chamber menacingly.

I immediately directed my attention to the tendril closest to me, and it started to bring itself around in a horizontal slash. Out of pure reflex, I tried to parry it with my sword, only to have my eyes widen at what I saw happen next.

The tendril passed straight through my sword and slammed into me, sending me sprawling once again on the floor, wind knocked out of me.

Gasping for breath, I tried to make it back to my feet, but I was knocked back down by another tendril.

Between being beat around senseless and quick respites, I saw Mataras and Saphira having the same issue, being beaten around the room.

"Why are none of our attacks working?!" Saphira called between breaths.

"It's water! Our swords are completely usele-OOF!" I was once again knocked down the tendrils. Looking at my HP, I almost had a fourth of health left. The tendrils didn't do much in terms of damage, but they were so quick and effective, not to mention unblock-able, that at this rate we were all going to be beaten to a pulp. Literally.

There's got to be a way around this. I wondered, trying to dodge as much of the tendrils sweeps and stabs as I could, same as Saphira and Mataras.

You know what you need to do to win this fight. The small voice in the back of my head told me. And he was right. I didn't want to though. I really didn't want to.

Looking back at the two players who risked themselves to follow me down into a dungeon to save my frankly-sorry hide, I saw that they were keeping up with dodging for the most part, but they were obviously getting tired. It was only a matter of time before we were all killed.

…Fine.

Continuing to dodge the tentacles to the best of my ability, I briefly closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

When my eyes opened, the viridian irises would have seemed sharper to anyone who looked closely. They darted around the room, taking in every possible bit of information that they could while dodging an endless barrage of attacks.

They observed.

The Axolotl has stayed out of the main room, keeping entirely to the watery depths. Most likely how his last phase is in its entirety. The initial explanation would be for us to jump in after him and attack him as much as we can, but axolotls in general can swim comparatively faster than humans, especially considering the massive size difference of this one, so it would get away as soon as we got a single hit. That is slow and rather ineffective.

"Anyone…anyone have…have any ideas?" The voice of Saphira rang out, weariness present, although weak.

No, our main goal would have to be to somehow get the Axolotl out of the water, where it was slower and more vulnerable, but it has no need to confront us with the tendrils doing the work. Ergo, this fight was designed to have us get rid of the tendrils in some way.

"I've got nothing." Mataras called. "Phantom? You?"

If the Axolotl can actively control the water and by extension, the Tendrils, then why not attempt to finish us off faster by also sending down more orbs of water? Or summoning more tendrils? Is there a limit to how much water it can control? But where exactly is that limit? How can we tell…

Looking at the Axolotl encircling us in the water, I tried to see if there was anything distinct about it, and then it looked at me straight in the eyes, a bloodthirsty stare penetrating my being.

That was when it finally clicked with me.

Six tendrils.

Six whisker tentacles.

"I have an idea!" I called out to them. Without waiting for a response, I rushed over to the part of the waters where the Axolotl dwelled, dodging tendrils as I went, and dived right in.

Holding my breath, I readied my sword as I got closer to the Axolotl. It turned to me, looking at me as if it was thinking "Really bro?" before turning its head back and preparing to swim away.

However, that didn't mean I couldn't get one good hit in before it fled. Activating one of my sword skills, an upward swing, I slashed right through one of the Axolotl's whisker tentacles.

Even though we were both underwater, the roar from the Axolotl could be noticeably heard, before it sped away around the chamber.

Rushing back out of the waters myself and into the open air, I gasped for breath as I fell out of the water and back to the floor.

I noticed that there was one less tendril of water in the room.

Mataras, right in front of me, dodged another strike from the remaining tendrils. "So that's how we do it…" Without further warning, he leapt into the water, right after the Axolotl. Saphira and I exchanged glances before quickly diving in after him.

Making it to the monstrous pink creature, we all struck and each dismembered one of his whisker tentacles. When it swam away and we made it back to the chamber for air, there were only 2 tendrils left. We were all able to dodge them with ease since they weren't backed up by numbers. Mataras and I then jumped in after the Axolotl one last time, slicing off the remaining 2 whisker tentacles.

That was when it left us in the water as it re-entered the chamber, facing Saphira alone.

I noticed a dark look in Mataras's eyes as he sped after the Axolotl, whittling down its HP as soon as he made it back with Saphira.

Still in the water and seeing the Axolotl having only a quarter of health left, I decided to try and finish it off with a final blow. Swimming up through the water, going higher and higher above the floorlevel, struggling to hold my breath, I finally burst out and began to fall towards the Axolotl.

Sword in hand, without so much as a battle cry, I initiated a Vorpal Strike while plummeting headfirst towards the Axolotl, intent on finishing it off once and for all. Mataras looked up to see what I was doing, and from where I was I swear I saw him giving me a dark smile.

Then, in a flash of dark purple light, my sword penetrated the Axolotl's forehead. On impact, he reared his head in pain, and I was forced to jump off without my katana. Sticking the landing, I stood back with the other two as we watched the Axolotl thrash this way and that, obviously in pain from the attack.

I almost felt sorry for it, but then I remembered that this was the beast that tried to brutally kill us.

As its HP finally reached zero, it started to glow a bright light. However, I swear that its eyes were trained on me, with a look in them that held a maniacal feeling that felt as if the thing wanted to kill me right there on the spot. It sent chills down my spine.

Then it erupted into crystal shards, as a congratulations sign appeared above where the creature used to be.

All of us breathed a deep sigh as we simply sat down where we stood. My own HP was in the yellow, right below a fourth of my health remaining. Two things appeared before me. The first and most prominent was my level up screen, showing me that I raised by two levels. I was pretty close to leveling up before fighting the boss, so gaining the extra level after the one I had coming was pretty sweet.

The second was a last attack bonus that I received. All it said was that I retrieved an item called the Mask of the Depths. I simply dismissed it for the moment.

"Well that was exhilarating." I offhandedly remarked, pulling out a healing potion and taking small sips at a time.

"That's one way of putting it." Mataras said has he and Saphira did likewise. "Good job though. Figuring out that last phase, I mean."

I nodded. "Don't mention it."

Finishing up my potion, restoring me to full health. "So…" Mataras started. "You said there was something down here you specifically wanted to find."

I stopped and thought for a moment, processing what he said. Once my head registered that, I realized something.

"…Oh no." I stood up looking around the chamber. I paced around it, looking for any sign of what was insinuated to be down here. "No no no…NO!" I ran both hands through my blond hair in frustration. There was nothing here. No items, no text, nothing that alluded to what was supposed to be here. "It was supposed to be here! I KNOW it has to be here!"

Saphira got to her feet, trying to step in front of me, stopping my pacing. "Phantom, what's wrong?"

My mind was still reeling.

It's not here.

I slowed down, took a deep breath, and looked her in the eyes. Now wasn't the time. "It's nothing, nevermind Saphira." I told her. "I thought something was supposed to be down here, but…well, it looks like it's not. I'm sorry I practically dragged you and Mataras on a wild goose chase."

"We beat a secret boss in a secret dungeon, leveling up in the process, and I assume you got some last attack bonus." Mataras stands next to Saphira. "I wouldn't call that a wild goose chase."

Saphira nods. "Mataras is right. I don't know what it was you were looking for, but this adventure wasn't for nothing."

Taking in their words, I close my eyes and lift my face upwards, feeling the brine and water sprinkling around me. I don't move, but I felt a smile grow on my face. "Thanks guys. I mean it."

Bringing my head back down, I opened my inventory and pulled out the Mask of the Depths. It materialized in my hand, and I have to say that it looked cool.

It was a simple silver mask that looked like, more or less, a stretched out V with two upside-down triangles for eyeholes. Putting it on my face, I found that I could see as well as if I wasn't wearing it.

"It looks rather good on you." Mataras noted. "The eyeholes appear simply like pure black lenses though, unable for us to see through it. I assume you can?"

I nod. "Yea." Looking back and forth between the two of them, I could firmly say that I feel like they were some of the best, if not some of the first, friends that I made in the first 92 days of this new world's existence. Whether they reciprocated or now, I didn't know.

Man, I hoped so.

…

WHEW! Man, I spent so much time on this chapter, I hope I did well on it. This was a long one, and I can say that I myself am personally very satisfied with it.

I kept thinking about what I should make the boss while writing the first part of this chapter, and I just kept thinking of creatures associated with the sea when it randomly came to me, no joke, "What about the Axolotl? Has anyone ever seen that as threatening?" All I can say is that I hope I did a good job writing the boss fight, as sometimes that can be one of the trickier things for me to do.

As always, please leave a review, maybe constructive criticism, and as always, thank you all so much for reading!

-Silver