Agnisotra: Origin Tails

Day 287. I had done various missions and I had nothing to improve with my sword fighting skills. I didn't want to but Silver Torrent got more fame because besides doing Silver Torrent stuff I could also cut down anything that I wanted. The situation in the capital Zanyr or should I say Brilliance, had calmed down. Yup, they renamed their capital to Brilliance. Most people find this ridiculous and keep calling it Zanyr. The assassination attempts on me have also stopped. I had a different problem. I was trying to get a hold of Toxic Donkey but I was unable to. Thalia was still missing and I was getting worried. I might still be sticking my nose in but I think this has been long enough. The rescue teams looking for her had long given up. I had gathered crumbs of information but they all conflicted with each other or were unreliable.

The only thing that seemed to be consistent is that she was last seen in Alledra, the capital of Aquini Kingdom. I didn't put up a request or anything at the Adventurers Association. I did indicate that I would go solo and look for her. I ran to yjr Aquini Kingdom. I went as fast as I could. This would be a no-bullshit mission. If I have to blow up a country so, be it. I arrived at Alledra and holy shit this city is beautiful. It was a floating city it had channels everywhere and water everywhere. It looked like a paradise. The city was clean. It was as varied in races as Gittrian. I couldn't point out any flaw.

The people were nice. How did Thalia disappear here? I scanned the city for suspicious neighborhoods but there were none as far as I can see. This would be the first city I’d consider moving to. I could see an enormous waterfall in the distance. The water was rushing down the mountain and filling this gigantic lake. I think this is the biggest lake on the continent. Ice peaks could be seen behind the waterfall in the distance. The Aquini mountain range. These mountains were way taller than those of the Penumbra, Umbra, or Lucidus mountain ranges. I don't know who decided to build a city here but besides it being on a lake it was genius. I suddenly felt like I didn't want to leave this place. Maybe Thalia didn't disappear but took up residence here but… I headed over to the Adventurers Association. If she did then this Adventurers Association would probably know and she wouldn't be marked as missing. Excuse me, I’m looking for the Eternal Desertflower, has she been here in the last year?

“She has yes but she didn't visit the Adventurer’s Association. We only know this because some adventurers have spotted here but that’s all. They just admired her beauty but didn't pay attention to what she was doing or where she was going.” Is there a general area where she had been seen?

“The Crystal Deck, you can't miss it, it's the large open space looking out over the lake.” The Crystal Deck was indeed hard to miss. It was a large open space with a clear floor and the fish swimming below us could be seen. I understand why she came here. Why is this city so beautiful? I started to scan the area. Nothing interesting. What if… I looked down. This lake was crazy deep. Some good 2400 meters. I remember Thalia mentioning practicing underwater combat or something of that sort. What if she is still doing that? I couldn't look too deep in the water. I dove into the lake and got my tails out. There is a low likelihood she is still in the city since she would've been found by then, there is also no underground in this city, and there are sewers but. I looked back. They are immaculate. Boshi got dethroned from having the best sewers. If she was still around this area, she must be underwater. This lake is enormous though…

I spent a week searching under and around the capital. Another week in the middle of the lake all with no clues. The noose of time started to creep up on me. Day 360 is when I meet up with my buddies but if this continues, I might not be able to find her before that. I have 59 days to find her. I spent another week looking for her near the waterfall. There were so many underwater caves here.

I created shadow clones and sent them into each cave and I went into one myself. I just don't hope to find her corpse, please be alive. Most caves didn't go deep and ended up being empty or having underwater creatures live there that weren't happy with my sudden appearance. I should've gone and looked for her sooner… A clone found a cave that branched off in a complex system and he needed assistance. I teleported over with my clones. I discovered that short-range teleports go further underwater. 3 holes went down, 4 went up, 3 left, 1 right, and 2 straight ahead. All these also had their own branching-off routes.

I put more mana into my eyes and crossed off 3 that had early dead ends. Just enough for me and my clones to get one each. I decided to go down and took the 3rd hole down. A lot of ugly fish but I had no time for them. I cut down everything in my path. Nothing here. I retraced my path and went into another one. I needed to sleep as I haven't slept since I dove into the lake. I’m hitting my limit. I found a dead end with an electric eel. These assholes again. I cut him in half and stored him in my dimensional pocket. I used [Counterspin] and created an air pocket. I froze the bubble to be sure and curled up in my tails and went to sleep.

I had a strange nightmare, people screaming. I was pissed about something and hungry. The dream had a very unpleasant feeling.

I woke up sweating. What was that? I don't dream often but this felt real. Am I just fatigued? The problem was… I recognized the place in my dream. It was Alledra. But all its blue and white was stained in red. I hope this just stays a dream. I finished looking through every nook and cranny of this branch. I teleported over to a branch my clone was looking through. Another week passed and I was wondering if this place would never end. We were helping the last clone because he found a huge space even deeper under the ground and this also branched into many corridors. This place is a maze. The large space had some very strong monsters that 3 of my clones were fighting. I had already cut some open to check their stomachs for human remains but as far as I could tell their diet was just fish. Then again Thalia had been gone for months, one might have eaten her and digested her fully and I would never know. I found it somewhat promising on day 318. A small merfolk community. They brought me to their village to talk.

Has a human been here in the last year? Female, dark skin, super-hot, scratch that might not mean anything to you. Ehh, brown hair, obsessed with immortality?

The chief of this village was so kind to answer my questions. “Hmm, we have encountered a human like that yes, she stayed here for 2 days. We were wondering what a human was doing this deep and far into the Aquini Mountain range.” Ah right, I guess I’m under the mountain range now can you tell me what you remember?

“She was very nice, asked a lot of questions about how we move and fight underwater, about our lifecycle and lifespan, and if we knew about the Heart of Xeyvna.” What? What is that?

“That was our reaction too. She said she suspected it was somewhere here and left the next day. She used techniques similar to yours to move underwater, she didn't have any tails though.” Thank you, she has been missing so it’s good to hear something. Where did she go?

“She went deeper even though we told her not to… even we don't go there, we don't know what’s down there but it’s very dangerous. And I don’t want to be that merman but… that has been months ago she is probably…” I know, but if that’s true I can at least recover her body. I hope she is still alive… Thank you, Here are some fish from the ocean. I gave them some fish to compensate them for their hospitality and information.

”Don't you need to rest?” I will rest eventually, but thanks! I went deeper and the pressure started to become insane. If Thalia made a mistake, it would've been game over in an instant. I made more shadow clones and kept looking. It was just a wide tunnel going down. How much water was in this place?

An enormous blind shark. It was using the flow of water to detect us. But there were multiple targets so it was easy to confuse. I cut the shark into bite-sized pieces and stored it in my dimensional pocket. I kept descending. Heart of Xeyvna? What is that? What have you gotten yourself into Thalia? It must be related to immortality else she wouldn't put this much effort into this. I reached the floor but the water still stretched on. Was I still under the mountain range or did I get into the ocean to the east? My geography was failing me so I forgot what the ocean was called. There was some sort of ceiling that I could see vaguely.

Then I saw them. Strange humanoid sludge creatures with red eyes. They looked extremely creepy. They made a strange bubbling sound. I evaded a blast of sludge and it corroded the rocks behind me. Corrosive sludge. Can I just finish my mission in peace? I decided to ignore them and swim past them. I sped past them and left [Frost Mines] behind. This seemed to do the trick. I became more and more worried. I don't want to say Thalia is weak but I'm cheating with my race to get here, this will be many times harder for her. I continued on believing that these wouldn't pose a threat to her.

Day 321 and I had the feeling that maybe she had found a way out and is somewhere else. I didn't want to declare her as dead yet. The absence of evidence isn't evidence that she’s dead. As I thought that the floor started to slope down. Even deeper?

My eyes told me that I was currently 6711 meters below sea level. This is insane. I followed the floor and saw something glow in the distance. I got closer and closer and saw a gigantic city sitting on the ocean floor? Cave floor? It had an enormous air bubble around it. I detected ancient technology. Is this what Thalia was looking for? I tried to estimate how big this city was. It is bigger than the country of Lopahz… is this an underwater country then? Why is it here? How did Thalia know it was here? I got in the bubble. This city had similarities to Ardella in color scheme but that was all it had in common. As far as I could tell it was deserted. Is Thalia here? This place is as big as a country. Finding her won't be easy if she’s here. I found a good spot and dropped a [Dimensional Anchor]. No way I’m going to get back here like I just came, screw that. This place was extremely tidy as if it had been built but nobody lived here after it had been completed. I also couldn't detect a trace of any human ever being here.

Thalia?! I kept looking and scanning the area. This place wasn't just as large as a country it had 6 layers. Assuming she is here, it will be like finding a needle in a haystack even with my eyes. Day 354 came. I was desperate. I haven't found any clue about her. I sent out magic waves and such out that if she could feel or see it, she knew it was me but again this place is as large as a country and has 6 layers… I have only been looking at the top layer. I felt lost for the first time. I haven't had a defeat like this since we lost our home. I have a dimensional anchor here. I can return… My clones returned with nothing. This place has a self-defense system, by the way. It will react if I start flinging magic around to draw attention. I wanted to continue but I was exhausted and I needed sleep.

More nightmares and I awoke on day 358. I need to go… I spent 4 hours convincing myself that she is at least safe here. Nothing attacks you unless you do something stupid. Not on this layer at least. I haven't put any energy into finding out why this place exists why it was made etc. Maybe I would have found clues if I did. I just didn't know anymore. Maybe if I had paid more attention, I would have found more clues. I’m slowly noticing that for someone with overpowered eyes I don’t pay a lot of attention nor take note of important details. I should work in this flaw…

I will come back, I promise, stay safe. I tugged on my [Dimensional Anchor] and returned to Girai, to my old house. I’ve gained a lot in these years but I've also lost some. Unfortunately, this is what happens when immortals mix with mortals. My tails were soaked. They got dried off after I moved the water out of them and they also got some good brushing. I would sleep till tomorrow noon. I needed this sleep to feel better. In the end Thalia had made this choice by herself. I trust and respect her wishes. She is not stupid or weak. She got to that merfolk village which means she got to that city. Maybe there is something else beyond the city that I haven't found yet. I had only been looking for 2 months-ish, she has been gone for almost a year if she is still alive, she has had way more time to investigate that place and move on. Thalia’s competency made me calm down. I will see my buddies soon. That is something to be excited about.