"Our point of entry is through there. But it would seem that there won't be any mermaids or men to open the door for us this time. Although that one door in particular is open right now but seems dodgy at best," said Kirin.
"Brilliant plan… but who's going to close the door? You do realise that the door will need to be closed for the water to be drained, right? And judging by the looks of it, I don't think there's anyone who'll be closing it for us anytime soon. We need some other point of entry into the city," I explained.
"I don't think there's any other. We had spoken to the mayor before, didn't we? The only entry into the city are those three main entry points. Unless we're going to cut through the glass dome itself, there's no other way for us to enter," Rose explained.
"It would appear that there's another way in, one that the Underwater Dragon King had created for such an event. And very few are aware of it for classified reasons. And he would like it to remain that way," spoke Kirin after Kelpie grunted for some time.
"Our lips are sealed. You can count on us keeping it safe. Rather curious to see where this "secret path" that the Underwater Dragon King kept so hidden to his chest is," I smirked.
Kelpie swerved away from the glass dome and headed towards another direction. There must be some super secret hidden hole that we're not aware of that leads into the city. Ohh, what's this? Is it behind that rather large boulder? Umm… why— are we not slowing down or even changing course? We're heading straight onto a rock!
I immediately pulled the reins to stop Kelpie from killing us, but he started neighing loudly and refused to stop.
"He said to stop pulling the reins and let him do his job. Otherwise, he's going to bite off your head," warned Kirin.
I immediately released the reins and allowed Kelpie to do his job. If he wants to kill us, I'm sure the Underwater Dragon King will avenge us, maybe. Let it be known that two of the strongest humans ended up dead by crashing onto a giant rock.
Rose and I started screaming as we face-planted onto the boulder in question, only to realise that we had miraculously passed through the boulder unharmed. A magical passthrough boulder that acts as a fake door? Wakanda place is this? I can barely see anything as Kelpie continued swimming ahead. Where the hell are we?
Kelpie jumped up to some sewer-looking environment and proceeded to walk along the drainage area. The sewer was rather dark with very little light source for me to understand my surroundings. Rose was rather worried since we could barely see anything as it seemed that the ability to see underwater doesn't work on land.
Finally, some visible light source can be seen ahead after some time, and it would appear that someone is holding it up. Kelpie approached the individual holding the lamp and neighed loudly, seemingly urging us to dismount. By this point, Kirin and Byakko's spectral selves had already retreated back into their respective weapons, so we had to judge for ourselves what Kelpie is trying to tell us.
I dismounted from Kelpie first and quickly helped Rose dismount safely. The strange figure holding the lamp was rather short and was wearing a hooded robe, which was obstructing all of the person's features. He asked for the reason as to why I'm here, and I answered to help the city. He replied that if I really amhere to help, then why do I need to use this secret pathway? It is not meant for foot travel and only under certain circumstances is this pathway allowed to be used.
Seemingly puzzled that this individual seems to have no idea what's happening to the city, I recalled the Underwater Dragon King handing me a strange coin and I showed it to him directly, hoping he'll understand what it means.
"Ahhh… I'll buy it at a high price," spoke the individual.
"W— what? This is not for sale. I thought you'd understand what this item meant when I showed it to you," I answered with my mouth agape, completely taken aback by his remarks.
"Hah hah! I'm just messing with you, Master Zen. It's been a while since our last transaction," laughed the individual.
"Who— wait a minute, that demeanour, Quasimortuus? Is that you?" I asked with disbelief.
"Pleasure to meet you once again, Master Zen. Follow me right this way," he said as he slid off his hood and led the way.
"What are you doing here instead of the East? Isn't your business flourishing there?" I asked him.
"The Underwater Dragon King is my regular customer, and he has secured many peculiar items for me in the past. He personally requested my help in exchange for business continuity. And I'm certainly not about to lose one of my most valuable customers when he requires— help," he explained.
"I take it you didn't have much of a choice. What I'm more surprised about is that you're here, in this secret passage that is supposedly only known to a select few. I don't even know if it even leads to anything," I chuckled.
"Have no fear, Master Zen. This is not my first time being here. Follow along and you'll reach the city soon. A word of caution though, take extra precautions. The city is not in good shape and the invaders have gained a foothold in some parts of the city. Incidentally though, would you like to see my wares?" he asked as soon as we came upon an intersection.
"You— set up your shop here? Colour me intrigued but I don't have anything to trade with you right now as I had just finished a long battle before coming here. If you're willing to accept money, then perhaps there's purpose in browsing," I explained to him.
"Hmm… do come in first, maybe I'll get some more ideas about both your tastes, Master Zen and Rose," he gestured us to enter the intersection which leads into a small room.
Rose followed behind me as I entered. There were a couple of wooden shelves that didn't seem to belong to this place as it was rather new and out of place. Did he bring all these things here in the hopes that someone would be using this secret entrance and willing to browse his wares? That's a lot of effort for a lot of "what if" situations. Quasimortuus might even be more mysterious than that hooded wandering merchant that sells special trinkets. I pushed aside other unnecessary thoughts and focused on finding what's able to help me for my next fight.
Both of us glanced around but nothing seemed to tickle our fancy. I had hoped to restock some of my potions but alas, I have no ingredients nor do I have my alchemical equipment with me to brew them. But what's more important to me was recharging my gauntlets. They don't have much charge left and who knows how much more I'll need for the upcoming battle? I wonder if Quasimortuus is capable of restoring them?
After checking everything available on the shelves, I concluded that there was nothing that would benefit me for the upcoming battle. Sure, there were interesting weapons and even guns available, but I already have two legendary weapons and even a hidden dagger behind my back, not to mention these guns are the fire-once and reload type, which is rather pointless for me in the heat of battle. Give me the automatic ones, then we'll talk.
I approached Quasimortuus and removed my gauntlets, asking him whether he's capable of recharging them, but he turned me down as he said that he's not the right person for that request. Guess there's nothing I can do but face my challenges with whatever I have with me now. Will have to talk with Rose about what she has brought along.
"Do you have any room that we can use for personal discussion?" I asked him.
"Buy something and I'll let you use the next room, for free~" he chuckled despite only having one door visible, which was the one we came in from.
I turned to Rose as there was really nothing that interest me, although it would seem that something had caught her eyes. She grabbed something rather small and placed it on the table in front of Quasimortuus. It looked like some sort of gem. What could she possibly need that for? We have plenty of gems at home, don't we?
"Can you tell me what this is? Something is telling me to get this, but I've no idea what it is," asked Rose.
"Ahhh~ you have a good eye, Master Rose. This here— is a gem, that is imbued with a rather unique attribute; the ability to hurt demons more than one should, with your weapon, for example," smirked Quasimortuus.
"What do you mean by "hurt demons more than one should"? How does one even use this gem?" asked Rose as she continued being puzzled but intrigued.
"Your weapon is capable of changing shapes, does it not? Just insert it into your weapon and voilà, you'll be killing demons like never before," he continued smirking.
"So you're saying it's a gem that increases damage against demons, why didn't you just say so?" I asked him.
"Well, I never said that. I just mentioned it has the ability to hurt demons more," he shrugged.
"And what is the "ability" in question?" I squinted at him.
"Well— buy it and you'll find out. No point in spoiling the surprise, shall we?" he smirked.
I turned towards Rose, and she shook her head with disappointment, seemingly close to giving up on the gem. Yet she decided to ask one last question before officially giving up.
"Show me how to use this and the price," Rose removed the scabbard of her weapon and placed it on the table.
"For this gem? Hoho~ it's a special one indeed. However— I won't be charging you money, Master Rose, but on one condition," he started smirking as he rubbed his hands.
"Y— you're not suggesting to get physical, are you?" Rose's face wrinkled up with disgust.
"I like your jape, but no, Master Rose. You have a— gathering that you lead who worships the Imperatrix, am I right? I wish to have the water that you had blessed," he chuckled with a grin.
"How—do you even know of its existence? No one outside my circle even knows about it!" shouted Rose.
Quasimortuus just shrugged as he continued smiling. Rose was definitely hesitant to proceed as she looked rather uncomfortable that Quasimortuus knew about the existence of her special water.
I kept silent and allowed Rose to make her own call since I've got no idea what's so special about her water. She sighed and rummaged through her hip pack, stopping after she found what she was looking for and placing it on the table. I thought I was hallucinating, but the glass bottle filled with water was miraculously shining. What did Rose even do to make that water so shiny? Turning it into some holy water or something?
Quasimortuus's eyes were sparkling as he kept his eyes on the bottle as she placed it on the table but immediately took it back and smirked at him, telling him "No deal". Surprisingly though, he agreed and said that it was only fair for him to offer more should he wish to secure the deal. One thing I like dealing with Quasimortuus is that he weighs the trade fairly since he somehow, somehow understands the true value of every item that comes his way.
He pulled out a small chest from somewhere and placed it on the table, seemingly excited to show us what was inside, like a giddy little boy finally showing us his prized possessions. Rose seemed unamused but humoured him anyway, gesturing him to show what he's willing to trade for Rose's supposedly special water.
The small chest was rather squarish and old in nature, seemingly made of wood that was foreign to these lands. Whatever it is inside, Quasimortuus is rather confident that Rose will cave to it. He took out a strange-looking key and unlocked the chest, only to reveal what looked like a necklace and an ancient-looking book inside. Oh no… is that— what I think it is?
Rose's eyes widen as she realises what Quasimortuus was offering for the trade with her special water. She turned to me with puppy eyes, as though wanting me to offer something else to him instead, but all I could do was shrug as I really had nothing special on me.
"I think it's best for both sides to explain what you're trading for, me to understand the value of each item from both sides," I asked both of them.
"Listen, Onii-chan… I really didn't want to keep this a secret from you since it was just a little experiment that I was trying with mixed results. What I'm holding is something really unstable and not meant for human trial. Truth be told, not even my flock is aware of its existence, which is why I'm curious as to how Quasimortuus found out about it," she squinted at him as he chuckled.
"This water— is an attempt at creating a healing potion. It is really unstable, only working about 20% of the time while doing nothing most of the time. As it turns out, using my healing spell on some water for long periods of time grants it some healing effects. However, it's not a guarantee that it'll work on humans at all as all I've been testing was on some pet rettes so far," she continued.
"Healing water? Or I guess you can call it holy water. That's amazing, Rose! I'm not sure why you felt the need to keep it a secret from me seeing that I'm constantly making failed potions all the time," I smiled. I genuinely wasn't angry that she kept it a secret from me as I'm sure she had her reasons.
"I was worried that you'll be jealous that I figured it out first. I knew you had been trying since the beginning of your alchemy career, and if I were to inform you, I figured that I should make it stable enough first," she showed me her puppy eyes, hoping that her explanation would suffice for me to forgive her. I responded by petting her head.
"It's okay, Rose, it's not a race. I know it's controversial when it comes to healing effects, since you're literally the only one that can perform it currently. But you don't have to keep it a secret from me. We can figure it out together; maybe it might require a blend of healing spells and ingredients," I shrugged.
"Shall I introduce my side of the bargain?" asked Quasimortuus with a smirk, as it seemed as though we had forgotten about him, but I gestured for him to proceed.
"Ho ho~ What I have here is something even more ancient than the Gods of this realm. What I have here— is a rather special seal that is driven by faith, way more than the one you're using currently, White Angel. And this here book— is a prayerbook. I'm certain you'll find it useful," he smirked.
Rose's fingers were restless upon hearing what Quasimortuus was offering in exchange for her water. He certainly knew how to drive a hard bargain in pushing people to give up their valuables. Can't even count the number of times I had to turn down attractive items to keep my most valuable +stats recipes from his prying hands.
"Why… would you be willing to trade something so valuable in exchange for this water when it doesn't work most of the time? What do you even get out of this?" asked Rose as she stuttered.
"Well— I like trading things with people that can make full use of it. Besides, your water is one of a kind. I certainly have some uses for it," he smirked.
"If… I were to agree to the trade, will you be mass-producing this and selling it to people? Giving false promises that it'll heal any wounds?" questioned Rose.
"What I do after the trade is my business. But rest assured, I don't sell or trade items based on false promises. I'm sure your husband is well aware of that. I always ensure that my items are in tiptop shape and deliver on their promises," he bowed lightly.
Rose turned to me one last time as though asking for my approval, but I just told her to follow her gut. This transaction is purely her own to make without me overstepping my boundaries.
She sighed and nodded her head. Quasimortuus laughed cheerfully and summoned a large rectangular table for the transaction with a snap of his fingers. Rose stood on the far end while I retreated to one of the room's corners. Both persons placed their items on the opposite side of the table and waited. Rose's special water in exchange for a book, seal, and a gem. Felt like a steal, in my opinion.
"Wait— will you be showing me how to use that gem?" asked Rose as she finally recalled that it was part of the bargain.
"You'll figure it out, White Angel. It's not something difficult, I assure you," he smirked.
Rose sighed and nodded, initiating the process of the trade. Rose walked one side of the table while Quasimortuus was on the other, mirroring each other's walking pace. It wasn't Rose's first transaction, so she knew what to do by now. Upon reaching their intended place, Quasimortuus picked up the glass bottle and smiled giddily, like a child finding something new to play with. Rose picked up the gem and placed it inside the chest, locking all the items inside.
"Fulfil your other part of the bargain in providing us with a room for personal discussion, please," Rose spoke.
With a wave of his hand as he continued gazing away at the special water in his grip, a door appeared on one of the walls, and it opened with a creak, signalling for us to enter. We headed in, only to find a small table in the middle with nothing else around, and the door shutting behind us as soon as we entered.
Seemingly unconcerned with the door, we walked to the table and placed all of our items to delegate for the upcoming battle. I had very few potions left, but Rose, being the brightest, brought spares for me as she knew I would have used some of it by now.
Let's see, agility, strength, and all stats potions are here; resistant potions are with Q. Guess the only thing I can't restock are my gauntlets' charges. Rose noticed I was stroking them and apologised since she had no method to restore their charges. Truth be told, neither of us had found any method to recharge them and had been depending on the city's priestess or priest to recharge them, with a fee, of course.
I just petted her head and told her there's nothing to apologise about since it was beyond any of our knowledge. We had tried, and we both failed since it wasn't well studied, partly because there are barely any other items in this world that can be recharged in the first place.
Before we headed out, I asked Rose to clarify something for me. I took out a coin and began flipping it while focusing myself. She was confused at my sudden behaviour but quickly noticed something. She realises that the coin was seemingly slowing down when it gets closer to my hand. She thought she was seeing things but after paying attention for some time, it would appear to be true. She was baffled and demanded that I explain myself and I told her this was something new to me as well. To put in a nutshell, I might be emitting an aura around myself whenever I focus myself. It's not a wide aura, pretty small actually but it's there. Might prove useful in combat on top of my faster speed and reaction speed.
We packed our things and headed towards the only door available inside the room. Upon opening it, it led us straight back to the sewers with an arrow pointing us in the right direction. Guess we're going to find out what's going on in the city soon. With only two Lightning Strikes and one Lightning Charge remaining, I really hope that's enough.