<h4>Chapter 13: Water Breathing</h4>
The cold waters enveloped Ss as the boat sank beneath the surface of the water. Through the murky depths, he could see the remaining tigerfish circling menacingly, their sleek bodies cutting through the water with ease.
Ss locked his eyes on the nearest tigerfish. He waited for it toe within range, and then plunged the harpoon into its open mouth. The creature thrashed around for a few moments before falling still.
Rathgar moved quicker than Ss thought someone could move in the water, his harpoon taking out two tigerfish nearly simultaneously. His movements were precise and efficient, with no wasted energy.
Thest two tigerfish must have finally realized they were in danger, because they tried to dart away from the two men. With powerful kicks, they gave chase, determined to silence the threats.
With the light of the moon, Ss was able to keep track of the fish. As it tried to swim past him, he buried the harpoon deep into its side.
Thest tigerfish tried to flee past Rathgar, but he was ready to meet it, plunging his harpoon into its eye socket. The creature convulsed before floating lifelessly in the water.
[Quest Completed: +10 Exp]
Finally out ofbat, Ss and Rathgar surfaced and gasped for air. They tread water for a minute to catch their breath and then turned their attention to the fallen tigerfish. Rathgar gestured towards the nearest one.
His voice was gruff, but approving. "Well done,d. Now, let''s see about collecting those mana cores."
Ss and Rathgar worked quickly and methodically, harvest the mana cores from the bodies of the tigerfish. The cores were roughly the size of marbles and pulsed with a faint blue glow. When they were done, they had gathered nearly three dozen glowing cores.
Whenever Ss harvested a mana core, his skill ''Drain'' would activate, sucking up the residual mana left in the core, leaving it dull and lifeless. He noticed the mana cores of the tigerfish were not only of a smaller size than his leviathan core, but they also had a silver grey hue.
Ss also noticed something else that was strange. Roughly every fifth tigerfish had two mana cores in them. Sort of. Ss would see the mana core, remove it, but then after removing it, another one would be in its ce, and he would remove that one.
Rathgar carefully stored half the cores in a leather pouch, securing it to his belt. The other half he allowed Ss to have. He didn''t know about the duplicate cores.
"A fine haul. These will fetch a pretty coin at the market, or serve as excellentponents for magic weapons and armor."
"Oh damn!" Rathgar eximed. "My lucky hammer sank with the boat. I never leave home without it."
"I have an idea. I think I can get it," Ss said.
"How? Thiske is deeper than you think, and there''s much more dangerous beasts than just tigerfish."
"Hold on. Let me check something." Ss pulled up his notifications, and sure enough, he had leveled up again, giving him an additional 20 affinity points on top of his unspent 10 from thest time he leveled up.
He searched through the biomancy skills until he found ''Water Breathing'' and purchased it with his points. He noticed he also had 9 ability points to distribute. 5 from his previous level up, and 4 from his recent one.
At this point, he wasn''t sure whether to put his points into luck again. He was starting to reach the upper limit of what he could do with his physical stats.
Ultimately, the allure of having outrageous luck was too strong. He put the 9 ability points into luck, bringing him up to a frankly ridiculous 29. Assuming 10 was the normal luck for most people, he had nearly three times as much luck as other people.
The only person he knew had more luck than him was Tiffany, and at the rate he was leveling up, he would catch up to her soon. Her luck probably had something to do with the fae magic she was imbued with, and not something normal people had.
After closing the system menu, he felt a strange sensation in his neck. He put his hand to the side of his neck, near his vicle and he could feel slits in the skin. The system must have made him grow gills so he could breathe underwater.
"I''ll take the harpoon. It''s hard to exin, but I can adapt my body to different environments."
"Some sort of transformation affinity?"
"Something like that."
"Ok, if you''re confident you can get it. Be careful."
"I''ll see you in a few minutes."
Ss submerged himself in the water, swimming down towards the bottom of theke. It was quite dark, but his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and he could see the light of the moon shining through the water.
Instead of breathing as he normally did, he breathed through his gills, taking in water and expelling it. He didn''t feel the need to take a normal breath so he figured it must be working.
Using his powerful legs to slice through the water, Ss propelled himself deeper. The depths of theke were quite dark. Ss went into his system setting menu, something he hadn''t even touched before, because he had a feeling there would be a brightness or gamma setting.
As he suspected there was a brightness and a gamma setting. He decided to turn up the brightness. This was a trick he used quite often when yingputer games with his mom.
The game designers prefer the yer bnce the brightness of their game so you can see what you''re supposed to see and you can''t see the traps or hidden enemies.
But they almost always left the yer with the option to crank up the brightness or the gamma, which illuminated dark areas and made it easy to see in dark ces.
With his turned-up brightness and the light of the moon, he was able to make out the shape of the rocky bottom below with ease.
Ss could sense the presence of other creatures around him on his way to the bottom of theke. Massive shapes slowly drifted past him. With the increased brightness, he was able to see far more detail of these creatures than he wanted to.
He turned his eyes away and just tried to pretend they weren''t there. Ss was in no shape to fight these creatures, so he focused on his objective.
Finally, heid eyes on the wreckage of Rathgar''s sunken boat. Ity mostly intact on thekebed. Stillying in the back of the boat was Rathgar''s lucky hammer, the head glinting dully in the faint light.
Ss grabbed the hammer. He performed essence revtion on it out of curiosity.
Stats:
Name: Rathgar''s Lucky Hammer
Enchantments: Forgemaster''s Blessing
"Hey mom, what does Forgemaster''s Blessing do?" Ss thought.
"I''ll let the system answer that one," She said.
[Forgemaster''s Blessing: Allows a skilled wielder to make equipment that is up to two tiers higher than the materials provided]
"Whoa! No wonder Rathgar wants this thing back."
With the hammer secured, Ss turned his attention back towards the surface, his legs propelling him upwards.
As Ss got near the top, he was able to make out Rathgar''s silhouette. The old man was just bobbing in the water as he waited patiently for Ss to return.
Ss broke through the surface, gasping for air and adjusting to the change in mode of breathing. His gills were still there, but they no longer functioned as they did underwater.
"I got your hammer," he said, offering the hammer to Rathgar.
"Lad, you''ve done me a great service. This hammer has been in my family for generations. I wouldn''t be where I am today without it."
"No problem, Professor," Ss replied.
"Name your desire, Ss ckwood," Rathgar rumbled. "Whatever you require, be it a weapon, armor, or a tool, I shall forge it for you."
"I appreciate that, Professor. I''m sure there will be a lot of items I''ll have you forge for me in time. If that''s alright with you, of course," Ss replied.
"I''d be d to forge anything you need," Rathgar said.
"Thank you. I assume you must know your hammer is enchanted," Ss ventured.
"No. Is it? How can you tell? Most enchantments have markings or runes," Rathgar said, a little confused.
"I have a spell that lets me inspect the magic within items," Ss replied.
"Do you? You seem to be a man of many talents, my friend. You can grow gills at the drop of a hat, and you can identify magic? What else can you do? Fly?" Rathgar joked.
"Not yet," Ss replied seriously.
"Well if my lucky hammer is enchanted, I owe you a greater debt than I imagined!" Rathgar eximed.
"Yeah. It lets you craft higher tier items than the original materials," Ss said.
"Huh. I just knew I did my best work with this thing and I could never replicate it with any other tool. Interesting. No wonder it''s been in my family so long," Rathgar said.
"Well, now that we''ve established I owe you my career, let''s swim to shore," Rathgarughed.
"Let''s," Ss replied.
Ss and Rathgar swam back to the shore, their movements cutting through the still waters with practiced ease. As they neared the shallows, Ss could make out the flickeringnterns that marked the path back to the university gates.
The cool night air caressed Ss''s skin as he and Rathgar emerged from theke. They hoisted themselves onto the dock, rolling onto their backs. Water from their wet clothes, soaked the nks of the dock. As they began their long walk back to the school, water streamed off of them, leaving a trail behind them.
Rathgar handed Ss his pouch with his share of the mana cores inside. "I think I owe you these. Take the pouch too. You could use it while you''re out adventuring, and I have a ton in my workshop."
"Thanks!" Ss eximed. Ss took the mana cores he had loose in his pockets and stored them in the pouch, and tied it to his waist.
They made their way up the winding path that led back to the towering gates of Arcanium University. The flickering torchlight cast dancing shadows across their path.
As they walked, Rathgar''s voice cut through the quiet, recounting the events that had brought him to find Ss. "I was outte at night, fishing. It helps clear my mind. Then all of a sudden I heard a huge ssh out on theke."
His brow furrowed as he recalled the memory. "I didn''t know what it was. I knew it couldn''t have been a fish. The sound was too loud and violent."
Ss listened intently to Rathgar''s recollection of the events. "I rowed my boat as fast as I could. And that''s when I saw you floating face down in the water."
Rathgar''s eyes found Ss''s, concern making its way across his weathered features. "You didn''t fall from the university, did you,d?"
Ss nodded, his expression somber. "I did."
Rathgar''s brow furrowed deeper. "But how in the Forge Mother''s name are you still alive? That fall must be at least a hundred feet!"
A tired smile found its way onto Ss''s face. "I can regenerate using mana. It''s part of my affinities."
"Hmm. Your talents are never-ending it seems," Rathgar said, as he stroked his beard.
As they approached the gates of Arcanium University, Rathgar followed up his question. "But that still doesn''t exin how you ended up taking a plunge. You didn''t jump, did you?" Rathgar looked concerned.
"No, I didn''t jump. I was thrown off," Ss admitted.
"By who? If I get my hands on them, I''ll wring their necks. I don''t care who they are." Rathgar growled, his jaw clenched.
"I only saw one of their faces. His name is Damien Devereux. He''s a second year student here," Ss revealed.
Ss and Rathgar trudged through the gates of Arcanium University leaving a trail of water in their wake. Their exhaustion was beginning to get to them. Every step was a struggle.
They were met by a contingent of guards shortly after setting foot within the university grounds. Their armor glinted in the torchlight. One of the guards stepped forward, a stern-faced man with a little bit of stubble.
"Professor Ironforge," the guard greeted, inclining his head respectfully towards Rathgar. "We''ve been searching for someone fitting the description of this young man. Are you Ss ckwood?"
"Yes," Ss replied.
"You muste with us immediately. There are questions that need answering," the guard said.
Rathgar bristled. "What''s this about, Sergeant Halford?" he demanded.
"It concerns a student, sir. Damien Devereux. He was found unconscious, mumbling incoherently. The only thing we could make out was the name ''Ss ckwood''," Sergeant Halford said, turning his attention back to Rathgar.
"We need to take him in for questioning," Sergeant Halford stated firmly, looking at Ss.
Rathgar''s brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing as he regarded the guards with a mixture of defiance and calction. "Now, see here, Sergeant," he rumbled, his voice carrying a warning edge. "Thisd has been through enough tonight without being subjected to your interrogations. And as I''ve heard it, Mr. Devereux is the reason I found myself fishing Ss here out of theke."
"What are you saying Professor?" Halford asked.
"I''m saying Damien Devereux and some other students threw Ss into theke. From the university," Rathgar stated.
"That is a mighty big usation. Do you have any proof?" Sergeant Halford''s expression hardened, his jaw set in a firm line as he regarded Rathgar''s defiance.
Rathgar stood firm. "No."1
"Well then I''m afraid there''s nothing I can do. But those grave usations will have to wait. This questioning isn''t up for debate," he stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. "The Devereux family is a major benefactor of this institution, and they demand answers regarding their son''s condition."
Ss felt a surge of anger as the reality of the situation became clear. The Devereux name carried weight, and their influence extended far beyond the boundaries of the university. If they were determined to uncover the truth behind Damien''s current state, there would be no shortage of resources at their disposal.
For a moment, Ss thought Rathgar might defy the guards outright, but then Rathgar''s shoulders sagged, and he let out a weary sigh.
"Very well," Rathgar grumbled, his voiceced with resignation. "But I''ll be joining you for this... questioning. Thed''s been through enough tonight without having to face your interrogations alone."
Sergeant Halford nodded curtly, his expression betraying no emotion. "As you wish, Professor." He turned his attention to Ss, his gaze unwavering. "Come along, Mr. ckwood."