Side Story 2: Undersea Dungeon 05

During the casual conversation on the way to the dungeon, Silent Sea shared some valuable information with us. Guess we need to repay him by fulfilling his request.

「Hmm, there it is.」

Silent Sea pointed his head at a small cave so deep underwater that it was practically untouched by sunlight. It looked like a narrow hole just wide enough for a single person to squeeze through.

「Already?」

I’ll admit that Silent Sea is a fast swimmer, but still, that quickly? I’m pretty sure we’ve been in the water for less than thirty minutes.

「Indeed. The short distance is how I managed to find you.」

Apparently, he had been searching for potential helpers in the dungeon’s vicinity when he sensed the divine aura of Fran and Urushi. And since Fran turned out to be a divine sword wielder, that’s some really incredible luck.

「Now then, let us begin! Hang on tight!」

「Nn?」

『What do you mean by――』

Before I could finish asking that question, Silent Sea suddenly propelled his massive body forward.

The water resistance pushed us back due to the incredible speed, but Fran activated her physical enhancement to cling onto Silent Sea. Meanwhile, I used water magic to help her by weakening the force of the water.

I noticed a high-pitched whooshing sound during this. Judging by the flow of mana, there seemed to be something rapidly flying past Silent Sea…

Upon closer inspection of our surroundings, I realized that there were a number of giant clams latched onto the area around the entrance. They were trying to shoot us with high-speed water jets, but Silent Sea seemed to be diverting the barrage by manipulating ocean currents.

We quickly closed in on the dungeon entrance.

Then, Fran suddenly found herself clinging onto nothing, as Silent Sea had completely vanished. Or rather, he had transformed himself into water.

This water wrapped around Fran and guided her through the entrance.

Once Fran passed through the cave, Silent Sea returned to his magical beast form and gently caught her.

「Are you alright?」

「Nn. I’m fine.」

Fran shook the water off her head, quickly standing up to take a look around.

This room appeared to be the dungeon’s entrance hall. It was fairly spacious, at least enough for Silent Sea to return to his original form.

「The dungeon has expanded a bit outside of the cave as well. Dealing with the creatures protecting the entrance seemed like a hassle, so I decided it was best to push forward forcefully. My apologies for the rough landing.」

「Those clams outside… They’re part of the dungeon too?」

「Right.」

Apparently, those water magic clams could be installed en masse to function like turrets.

「There’s air in here?」

Fran asked the question with great surprise.

I had also assumed that a dungeon located under the sea would be filled with seawater. That’s only natural. It would be flooded unless the Dungeon Master specifically configured it to remove water.

The Dungeon Master of an undersea dungeon was very likely to be a sea creature, and no one was stupid enough to make their own home unlivable.

Thus, we prepared ourselves to dive into a flooded dungeon. But it seems this was one of the rare undersea dungeons that actually had air.

I guess the large supply of air I put in my dimensional storage will be unnecessary.

「Yes, and this air is precisely why we struggled with the dungeon! A majority of Leviathan’s kin relies on gill respiration, you see.」

So it’s like finding a flooded dungeon on land. Clearing that would be a real pain unless you can breathe underwater.

Similarly, bringing someone who can breathe air seems would be the easiest solution for this dungeon. Leviathan’s kin could probably manage with magic, but constant usage would drain their mana fast.

Incidentally, it seems Silent Sea can use both gills and lungs due to his transformation skill.

「Let’s begin the operation right away! Be cautious, as there are traps around every corner!」

「Nn!」

The interior of the dungeon looked like ancient stone ruins. In my experience, dungeons with this kind of design tended to have far nastier traps than natural ones.

『Leave the trap disarming to me! Urushi, keep an eye out for magical beasts!』

「Woof!」

CLANG!

「Woof?」

『Seriously, Urushi!? Already!?』

「Watch out.」

Fran effortlessly swatted down a volley of arrows flying at us from the corridor. There were only a few, but they came really fast.

What’s more, the arrowheads were coated in poison. This was clearly a trap set with lethal intent.

『Urushi! We just told you to be careful!』

「Kuhn…」

Well, to be fair, no one would expect to step on a trap right next to the entrance. No wonder Silent Sea warned us about traps in advance.

Seeing Urushi get scolded, Silent Sea let out a loud, booming laugh.

「Fuhahaha! Kin of the Divine Wolf! At this rate, you will bring shame to your master’s name!」

「Kuhn…」

「You fool! Show some fighting spirit! When else do you plan on redeeming yourself!?」

「Kyan!」

「Weakling!」

What’s going on with them? Silent Sea-san seems absolutely furious with Urushi for some reason. Maybe they share some sense of camaraderie, since both are kin to divine beasts.

Perhaps that’s why he can’t stand to see Urushi acting so pitifully. Well, our Urushi certainly pulls through when it counts, but there are times when I suspect he’s lost his wild instincts.

I can understand why Urushi might appear soft to a beast brimming with feral power.

I wonder… If a super experienced veteran like Silent Sea-san were to train Urushi, would he be able to regain those instincts?

「W-Woof!」

「Good! That’s the spirit! Remember this well. Pitiful behavior on our part reflects poorly on the reputations of our masters.」

「Woof!」

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