At the end of the day, Leo ended up carrying the entirety of the materials and food supplies back to the working area. Lyra offered no assistance other than providing a small, rickety cart.
While Leo set about arranging the new beams and tuning pipes, Lyra began preparing a meal using her heat abilities. Over the past two weeks, Leo had learned that a few people in this realm possessed supernatural talents, much like the civilization in his own timeline. However, only a few could actually farm Aura.
The most striking difference was that the two paths he knew, Ascension and Corruption, did not seem to exist yet. Here, Aura was a singular force that only functioned underwater. Whether it existed on the surface was still a mystery, as no civilian had ever dared to reach the top, terrified of the legendary Tide of Seas.
The good news was that he was building the very thing meant to challenge that tide. Strangely, a part of him was starting to get curious. He wanted to see what the Tide actually looked like.
He stopped his work for a moment and watched Lyra. She was busy mixing the various meats and ingredients they had bought at the market. He was always fascinated by her cooking because it was unique.
She did not use a pot like the royal chefs back in Atlantis did. Instead, she manipulated her Aura to create a localized whirlpool, spinning the water until it formed a pressurized, transparent sphere that acted as a pot. She dropped the ingredients into the center of the vortex and then held her hand against the surface of the sphere, using her boiling abilities to cook the contents from the outside in.
It seemed that those who could farm Aura in this world only possessed abilities strictly related to the properties of water.
'Who could have built such a realm?' Leo wondered, leaning against a beam of iron wood.
Noticing his gaze, Lyra frowned and flicked a piece of seaweed at him. Surprisingly, people in the Abyssal Cradle were able to perform physical feats that should have been impossible underwater, like walking with perfect balance or throwing a wet piece of vegetation with extreme force.
Unfortunately, Leo's reflexes had not quite caught up to his new human body. The seaweed slapped him squarely in the face before drifting away.
"Ow! What was that for?" Leo rubbed his cheek, glaring at her.
"How dare you ask me that?" Lyra snapped, her face flushing as she turned back to her floating water pot. "You were staring at my backside again instead of working! Focus on the ship, you pervert!"
Leo sighed, picking up a glass tuning pipe. 'I was literally just looking at the water pot,' he thought, though he knew arguing would only lead to more seaweed or worse being thrown his way.
After a while, Lyra was done cooking. A sweet aroma filled the air or the water? Hell, if Leo understood how it worked.
Food was ready.
He ran to the center table where Lyra had placed two water made plates of an unknown delicacy. He dipped his hand in and took a single bite of the meat. His eyes slowly widened as he immediately attacked his food like a hungry wolf.
After three plates of food, his stomach was close to bursting. He belched and asked a question.
"Where does the meat come from?"
Lyra took the final bite of her food and smiled. "Ah, that is not hard. From sea monsters."
Leo lost his balance and fell to the ground. "Sea what now?"
Lyra laughed. "Yes. Aura has an effect on everything. So there is a high chance it will change a cute fish into a man eating animal. That is how Aura works. If you can't handle it, you end up succumbing to its madness and turning into a monster."
Leo sighed. 'Same way it worked back on Earth. An Aura Farmer can only cultivate after one or two seasons to achieve the next rank. If not, doing it regularly can turn them into Aura Golems. The higher the rank, the harder it gets to sustain the Aura. It gets stronger as the person gets stronger, and even grows wilder.'
Lyra, oblivious to his thoughts, continued. "Nothing to worry about, though. We have chased most of them to the eastern side of the sea, and there is a barrier with countless soldiers separating them from the city."
Leo stood up and glanced at the distant city. "So this is the only city in the ocean?"
Lyra shook her head. "I guess that enchanted wood hit you really hard. Sometimes I even think you are lying about the amnesia."
Leo's breath hitched.
"But I will answer you, nevertheless. I am a natural talker. You see, the ocean is split into nine regions, all of them connected by the Tide of Seas, in a way. Out of the nine regions, three have fully succumbed to the madness of Aura, which is where the sea monsters come from. That happened years ago. That is how meat was discovered and also how the existence of fish called sharks began."
She shivered. "I hate those things. Except for the whale. It is also a sea monster, once a human. Anyway, what I am saying is that the first three regions were closer to the beginning of the sea than us. They followed each other, and now the city closest to the beginning, or rather the entrance into the realm and countless deadly sea monsters, is the Abyssal Cradle."
Leo gasped. "What?! And you are just telling me that?! The sea monsters will devour us even before the spirit of madness gets here."
Lyra moved closer to him and placed a finger on his lips.
"Relax. Like I said, there is a barrier and soldiers out there guarding us. We are safe. Furthermore, the spirit of madness is still just a rumor you brought to us."
Leo moved away. 'Why did she get romantic all of a sudden?'
"So you people are the first to build a barrier and arrange countless soldiers?"
Lyra stared at him and scratched the back of her head with a forced smile. "Well, basically, we are the third."
"You see! That means we will also end up succumbing to the sea monsters. It can't be helped. I have to build the ship fast."
Lyra moved closer again, but Leo moved away before she could reach him. "Relax. You see, one can only succumb to the madness of Aura if one loses control of how to harness the Aura in their soul. We are known in our city for cultivating together after a season. And most of us are at the Taurus rank. A few commanders are Aquarius. The king himself is Sagittarius. No need to worry. We are safe."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "True. Why didn't I think of it? Aquarius? Does that mean Aquarius is a legendary figure? But he was the weakest of the brothers? Ah, it still makes no sense."
There were ten ranks, with the lowest being Capricorn and the highest being Pisces. So it still did not make sense. If the Rank Aquarius and the person Aquarius were connected in some way, shouldn't the Aquarius rank be the lowest?
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing much. So, I have been wanting to ask. What rank are you exactly? And what rank am I?"
Lyra took a piece of boiled seaweed that was hidden between her breasts and ate it. "Nothing much. Well, you are the strongest, since you have been determined to be a Pisces. Meanwhile, I am the same rank as the king, a Sagittarius."