Chapter 663 - Exploring the Underwater Cave
All spirits appeared simultaneously by Anna"s summon.
The spirits had little information about what they were going to do next, so they looked at Alex mysteriously.
Suddenly, Anna stepped forward. "I will explain our current plan!"
Anna began explaining the plan until she reached where Alex wanted to discover the Underwater Cave. No one objected to this plan because they also wanted to know about this Underwater Cave. However, there were three spirits that would be greatly restricted by this setting: Fabio, Leoz and Jeanne. These three were the strongest combatants, and having this restriction truly hindered their progress.
Besides, Alex and his contracted beast had all fire elements. The same applied to Firia. Alex wanted to test how his Pure Fire fended this disadvantage and decided on the second plan.
"For the time being, I will also add plan B for this. I am not confident that everyone could fight underwater, so I want to make a separate team for those who can"t join this Underwater Cave exploration."
"What do you want us to do?" Leoz seemed to know he would be one of the people in this group.
"Just clear the area around us. There are many high-level monsters around us, right? It"s good to have another source of EXPs." Alex nodded.
"My Lightning is restricted to water. I am afraid it will also attack Young Master and the others, so I will probably stay." Leoz said while glancing at Jeanne.
"Fire Element is restricted, but I don"t know how powerful the restriction is. That"s why our Fire Element users will test it first."
Alex thought for a moment and nodded. "Where is the cave? Should I use my Teleportation Array?"
"It"s not far from us. Only around three hours fly, it should be fine." Anna rejected the idea. "Sure. We can fly there. I am also curious about our surroundings." Alex nodded. "But I need time to build a special realm to hide our temporary base."
"We understand."
Alex then proceeded with his job while the others waited for him. Considering the size of the house, he only needed a couple of minutes before coming back inside. He only added a Special Realm, an Illusion Array, and a Gathering Array since this place itself was quite hidden.
As soon as he finished his jobs, Firia and the others came out. They flew to the sky according to Nelson"s direction.
…
Three hours later,
Alex looked at the entrance. It was a bit unexpected for him because he could see quite a big hole, leading to the underground pool. The hole itself was quite deep while the water surface was fifteen meters below the ground.
Right above the water level, a hole that seemed to be the entrance came into his vision.
"That is the entrance, Young Master. Previously, I and Jean walked around two hundred meters before we needed to submerge. Jean could use a water bubble for us to stay. And If I am not wrong, Young Master"s Pure Fire can do the same due to how powerful your Pure Fire is." Nelson came to him and advised.
Alex thought for a moment and activated his Spirit Eyes to see the bottom of this pond. It seemed to not have anything underneath, so he quickly jumped inside the hole and landed on the water surface. He looked up and shouted. "Come here. We are going to test our strength."
Hearing his orders, everyone jumped into the hole before looking at him. Alex knew he needed to go first, so he quickly summoned his Pure Fire beneath his feet.
The fire slowly turned into a sphere that enveloped him alone. He looked at the others and nodded before descending the water.
It was at this moment, something crazy started. The water level suddenly lowered to the point it revealed Alex, who just descended into the water.
"…" Alex was speechless and quickly got off the water as soon as the water level was below his head. His clothes weren"t wet from all of this. "So… I indeed feel my energy draining because of this. From my little observation, it seems that my fire is too hot and instantly evaporated the water around. If I need to maintain that sphere without attacking, three hours will be my limit before my Spiritual Energy runs out."
"Sherry has the same cultivation as Master, so she must have a similar case," Sherry added with a nod.
"Indeed. We will also need to fight inside this cave and possibly fight 4-Star Martial Saint monsters. If we are on the surface, I have some confidence… But it seems we will avoid any Martial Saint magical beasts this time around." Alex nodded.
"I agree. We can go back here later since our purpose this time is to explore and figure the sphere out to see if it"s really a kingdom or not." Firia crossed her arms and said her piece.
"I also agree with this scenario. We still have one and a half years before the Seven Alliance Banquet. In other words, we have time to increase our strength. Besides, we won"t have to attack the Fire G.o.d Clan before that unless they make a big movement." Anya was also in favor.
"Anyway, all of you can try the water first… Starting from Leoz."
Leoz nodded and released his lightning. He placed his finger inside the water and closed his eyes in disappointment.
"Unfortunately, it will really spread around and… might strike us. I"m afraid you need to be on the Surface Team." Alex shook his head in disappointment. Their overall strength would go down because Leoz was their strongest fighter.
Jeanne also did the same, and the lightning spread like Leoz. Although she had expected this, she still couldn"t accept it. Yet, the only thing she could do was to wait beside Leoz.
Those who had problems went first. After these two lightning people, Firia proceeded with her Sacrificial Fire. Surprisingly, the effect was also the same as Alex, and the water level started decreasing. But the moment Firia came up, she took a deep breath and sighed.
"I can produce the same effect as Alex… But I"m afraid I can only stay around one to two hours only without fighting. It"s taking too much toll on my body."
Fabio, Kyle, and Stina descended into the water at the same time. The water quickly went down to the point they could see the bottom of this hole.
Alex let out a long sigh as he saw these three might have a problem with this mission.
"I and Stina have trouble sustaining the barrier. We won"t be useful enough in this battle, so we will go with the surface team." Kyle reported with a sad expression.
On the other hand, Fabio was disappointed in himself as he realized his clothes were wet. "I"m sorry, Young Master."
"It"s fine. In other words, five of you will kill the monsters on the surface while we are exploring this cave. If you are going to fight with your Spiritual Energy alone, I am sure you are strong enough to withstand the sea pressure. However, it will still be too dangerous because the sea monsters will be much faster than you.
"Only if you can create a sphere like this where you can move freely like you are on the land, can I be a.s.sured." Alex sighed. "Unlike me, you guys also don"t have Sky Movement. I can use Sky Step to move around the water like I am on the surface. But you… Anyway, you five can do anything you want on the surface. If Kyle and Stina want to go back to our base, you can.
"Anya will be increasing our strength in order to negate the restriction from water pressure. On the other hand, Leoz will be the leader of the surface team. Inform me if anything happens."
"Yes." The five cupped their hands and bowed.
"The problem will be how we divide our group. Can ten of us come in together?" Alex asked.
"There should be some rooms where we can take a breather by simply using Young Master"s Pure Fire to evaporate the water." Nelson thought for a moment and said. "Besides, the cave itself is big since you can imagine how big the monsters are. That"s why we won"t have any problem entering together."
"That"s right. I can create a water barrier myself. Without using my Spiritual Energy to boot." Jean nodded smugly. "I am a Water Spirit after all. Water is me; I am water. In fact, my fighting ability will be increased here."
"That"s good then." Alex nodded before turning to Leoz. "Then, I will leave everyone to you."
"Don"t worry, Young Master. I will surely protect them." Leoz looked back with a solemn expression. He then flew to the surface with the other four.
Alex looked at their backs and sighed. He wanted to have everyone, but it seemed to be not possible.
Jean came closer and said, "Young Master. We should go in. This is going to take a few days…"
"That"s right. Can you make a very huge bubble to the point it expands and pushes all the water away?" Alex asked.
"I can… but not to the extent of the one in Young Master"s mind. The one that I am planning to make is around this hole size… Around fifteen meters in diameter. More than this will require more Spiritual Energy. Of course, if we come into a room inside, I can expand it a little and fight them without water."
"Yeah. I am planning to use that one." Alex nodded. "But bigger…"
"I am sorry, I can"t help Young Master about this. I also need to consider the push coming from the ocean that fills this cave with water. In the worst case, I can seal the entrance to the ocean while Young Master and Sherry turned the water into vapor. If I roughly calculate the amount in my mind, you might need seven days. This is the worst-case scenario, so it can only go faster. But it will surely take too much energy and dedication."
"!!!" Alex opened his eyes and exclaimed in astonishment. "Why can"t I think of this plan…"
He recalled Leoz and the other here.
"Young Master?" They were obviously confused with this sudden action.
Alex ignored their confusion and looked straight at Nelson. "I need the map for this Underground Cave. I also need the spots that I can use to evaporate all the water inside this cave."
"I can draw you a map and mark a few spots that can be considered as the bottom of the cave, where the water will flow. If we do that, the sea monsters wouldn"t have any water, and their strength will be greatly decreased. There is even a chance to kill 4-Star Martial Saint." Nelson was excited about Jean"s plan. He began drawing the map as soon as he finished replying to Alex.
"I, Sherry, Firia, Kyle, and Stina will drain the water with our power. Jean will plug the hole that leads to the ocean. Considering there might be monsters that will come to this place, Anya, Fabio, Greg, and Nelson will be a.s.signed to a.s.sist him. On the other hand, each of us will have a.s.sistance.
"Anna will go with me. Vera will go with Sherry. Artur with Kyle. Vera with Stina. And Leoz with Firia. After we drain the water, we will regroup with Jean. I might rea.s.sign the group to protect us from behind and the one who explored the cave."
"Understood."
Leoz felt relieved since he could join this exploration because there were so many dangerous monsters around. Alex even a.s.signed him with Firia. He swore no harm would come to her.
"Let"s go inside," Alex said as he entered the cave, leading the group for two hundred meters before finding a dead end where he could only submerge to go forward.
Jean stepped forward and raised his right hand as water circled around them, slowly forming a water bubble and enveloping everyone. He turned around and nodded.
"Let"s go inside. Cave Exploration time." Alex nodded as they followed Jean submerged.