Beside an uninhabited reef, a black mist was swirling, with black lightning flickering across its surface. If anyone else saw this power, they would definitely believe it to be an evil force, the power of a demon, but in reality, it truly was the power of a demon.
After Noah used the experience card, a vast magical power surged from his body. The immense magic momentarily caused Noah to lose himself, but he quickly regained consciousness. Within the black mist, Noah felt his body, sensing that it was no longer his human form but had transformed into another powerful state.
After regaining consciousness from the sudden impact of magical power, Noah raised his hand to disperse the magical mist that enveloped him, revealing Noah's current form.
The human who had originally stood there had vanished, replaced by a humanoid giant catfish wearing a red coat and a black top hat. He had a huge mouth that occupied half of his face, with two long whiskers swaying by his lips. When he grinned, he revealed sharp yet uneven teeth and a massive tongue.
"I've turned into Tahm Kench."
Noah tried to look down but found that he seemed to have no neck. Then he raised his hand, and what met his eyes was a fat arm with three fingers, adorned with a wrist guard engraved with patterns. Noah wiggled his three fingers. He could feel that his entire body was now filled with immense magical power—this was the power of Tahm Kench, a demigod, the power of an ancient demon.
Noah turned to face the ocean. At this moment, the ocean actually made him feel a sense of closeness. He now desperately wanted to jump in and immerse himself in the Water.
"I feel like I can control this ocean." Noah felt the power of Tahm Kench within him. Tahm Kench is the River King, possessing the power to control Water. In the game, his dialogue also states, "The World is a river, and I am its king." Therefore, Tahm Kench, this greedy demon born at the dawn of creation, possesses the power to control Water currents.
Noah stretched out his hand towards the ocean in front of him, using the magical power within his body to influence this body of Water. The originally calm sea surface gradually began to churn with large waves. Wave after wave crashed onto the shore. People playing on the adjacent beach had already noticed the unusual behavior of the ocean and, thinking a tsunami was about to occur, screamed and fled.
Noah continued to manipulate the Water currents. After the turbulent waves, a gigantic whirlpool appeared in the ocean far from the shore. The whirlpool rotated like a black hole, and Noah, who was doing these things, felt no strain, as if it were his instinct, effortless.
"Tahm Kench's power is indeed mighty!" Noah stopped manipulating the ocean's magic and exclaimed. His recent actions hadn't consumed much magical power, because Tahm Kench inherently possesses the power to control Water.
"Lissandra, look at my current form, how is it?" After stopping, Noah looked at Lissandra, who had been beside him from the beginning, patted his belly, and grinned at Lissandra with his wide mouth.
If it were an ordinary person, a humanoid giant catfish grinning at them with such a large mouth would have them trembling with fear, but Lissandra was not an ordinary person. She was an artificial intelligence, and she also knew that this monster was Noah, so she was not frightened, merely calmly stating, "Noah's current form is not as handsome as his human form, but I can detect that Noah in this form possesses extremely high energy reactions."
"Thank you for the compliment, Lissandra. This form is for my upcoming mission, and I can only possess this power temporarily. But, no rush, come Lissandra, take a few pictures of me. I want to collect them when I get back." Noah was very pleased with Lissandra's compliment on his appearance, but he wanted to take a few photos of himself in this Tahm Kench form first, to satisfy his collecting Hobbies. Noah has a Hobbies for collecting things, like collecting items and materials in games. Anyway, he's not in a hurry now; as long as the mission hasn't ended, there will be no time limit on this form.
"Huh?" Thinking of this, Noah suddenly had an idea: if he kept stalling this mission, could he have Tahm Kench's power for a long time and then do other things first?
Just as Noah was thinking of exploiting a system bug, the system, as if perceiving Noah's thoughts, popped up a notification.
[Summoner, the power of this experience card can only be used for this mission. If the events conducted deviate from the mission scope, the power of this experience card will disappear.]
"Ah? You bastard, you won't let me exploit bugs, huh?" Noah's idea was mercilessly thwarted by the system. He was very indignant but quickly calmed down. He wasn't in a hurry to do anything right now. Taking the missions step by step and slowly, his improvement speed was already very fast.
"Noah, are you ready? I'm going to start taking pictures," Lissandra said.
"Oh, alright, come on," Noah responded, then struck many funny poses, taking many pictures—some with bared teeth and wide grins, some sticking out his tongue and making funny faces. He decided that when he went back, he would develop them and collect them, creating a collection room to store them.
"Okay, that's enough. Now, prepare to go into the sea." Noah stopped moving. He had already taken many photos. He would choose some after they were developed and then frame them and hang them in his bedroom, but that would have to wait until the mission was completed. For now, he was ready to enter the ocean.
"Lissandra, come, get on my shoulder. I'll take you swimming later," Noah said. He had Lissandra secure herself to him. Later, in the sea, he might activate Tahm Kench's Abyssal Voyage, which would allow him to travel with Lissandra. Moreover, Lissandra's speed might not keep up with him in the sea, so he needed to bring her along.
Lissandra flew onto Noah's shoulder, and a portion of her body transformed into a shoulder guard, securing itself to Noah's body. Noah shrugged his shoulders, feeling that Lissandra was stable, and then leaped forward into the ocean.
Upon entering the ocean, Noah felt an unprecedented sense of comfort, as if the entire ocean was welcoming him back. He belonged here. Noah didn't move his arms to swim; he used Tahm Kench's magical power to propel himself through the ocean. Watching the underwater World scenery pass by, Noah felt his mood was excellent. These were sights he had never seen in Reality, only in online pictures and videos.
As Noah descended rapidly in the sea, entering waters where sunlight gradually couldn't penetrate, the surroundings grew darker and darker. But Noah was unaffected by the darkness; he could see very clearly even in such gloom. Noah looked at the system's guiding arrow and, feeling that he still had some distance to his target, decided to use Abyssal Voyage. In the game, Abyssal Voyage involved burrowing underground and emerging from another location, but in Reality, Tahm Kench viewed the World as a river, and he could freely travel through this river. This ability fell within the realm of spatial travel.
The power of Tahm Kench surged, and a whirlpool appeared beneath Noah's feet. Noah directly entered the whirlpool, then felt as if he had entered a river. After sensing that the distance was sufficient, Noah emerged from the river. A whirlpool appeared somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean seabed, and then Noah emerged from it.
The surrounding ocean was pitch black, devoid of fish schools and beautiful corals, filled with a desolate scene. At the bottom of the deep sea, very few lives survived there anymore.
"Almost there," Noah said, looking at the arrow not far away, which pointed towards the Vibranium mine. Then Noah looked at Lissandra on his shoulder again, confirming whether Lissandra was affected by the recent spatial travel and the current deep-sea pressure. After all, Noah was currently on the Atlantic Ocean seabed, and the Atlantic Ocean has an average depth of over 3,600 meters. The pressure at this depth is a force that humans cannot withstand, but Lissandra is a robot and would not be affected by this much pressure. Noah, let alone, felt as comfortable as if he were at home.
"Let's go, the mine is just ahead."
Noah accelerated towards the mission location.