Ryuji woke up after an unknown amount of time. He sat up and realized that he felt better. His muscles no longer ached with pain and he felt somewhat stronger, and lighter after resting.


    He looked around the cave watching the floating balls of light sparkle and dance around him with their now familiar comforting glow. He wondered how much time had passed by since he first entered this place, but decided that time was the least of his worries at the moment. He needed to focus on getting out of this mysterious place.


    Ryuji closed his eyes, took a death breath and plunged back into the water, sending a rush of bubbles up to the surface.


    He opened his eyes and noticed something different about the water. It was no longer freezing. Instead, it now felt pleasantly cool.


    He swam around the pool for a little bit, the glowing balls flew alongside him in the water as he swam. He went up to the surface for air then headed into the next tunnel, continuing his journey forward.


    And so, Ryuji swam and swam, moving through one tunnel after another. When he reached the surface and entered a new chamber, he would catch his breath, rest, eat some moss to curb his hunger and gather strength, then head back into the water once more.


    As he continued swimming, his strokes grew stronger with each passage. He felt more and more comfortable underwater with each passing moment. He was no longer nervous like before.


    Each new tunnel forced him to test his limits. Hold his breath further and further. Swim further without air or rest, but it didn''t bother him anymore. In fact, he felt joy in pushing forward, testing his body’s limits before collapsing from exhaustion each time.


    As Ryuji swam, he grew more comfortable in the water. With each dive, he found himself needing to go to the surface air less and less. Sometimes he just swam right through the chamber without surfacing for air.


    At first, he didn''t notice anything different but as he continued subtle changes to his body were revealed. His lungs no longer ached from lack of oxygen. He only came to the surface when he felt a twinge arise from his chest every now and then to remind him that he still needed air.


    He felt more and more at ease as he continued traversing the water filled tunnels with only the glowing balls of light as his companions. He didn''t know what they were but his instincts told him that there was something special about them. They felt alive.


    On and on he swam, further and deeper. The further he went, the darker it became, until the only sources of light were the glowing orbs that danced around him. Their soft glimmer was the only thing lighting up his path.


    It felt like the deeper he went, the more the world around him faded, leaving him surrounded by an endless darkness, but he didn''t fall into despair.


    The lights kept him company, their vibrant hues bouncing up and down, lifting his spirits up and encouraging him to continue whenever he started to show signs of feeling down.


    With each passing moment, he felt more connected to them. The thought of returning home was slowly fading to the back of his mind, no longer top priority. He wanted to explore this place more and get to know what the lights were and how they were connected to everything.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    As he swam down the tunnels, he noticed something strange happening to him. His vision was changing. The darkness that should have made him unable to see no longer blinded him. Even the areas untouched by the glow of the lights were no longer concealed by the darkness. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to swim through the ever growing complicated tunnels with newfound confidence.


    On and on he swam. As he continued swimming through tunnel after tunnel and chamber after chamber, the changes grew more pronounced. His vision sharpened. He could now see his surroundings which were once hidden in the shadows without the help of his new glowing friends.


    Somewhere along the way in one of those many water filled paths, a sudden, persistent itch appeared on his neck. Without thinking much about where he was at that moment, he stopped to give it a scratch. This relieved some of the itchiness as some dead skin fell to the bottom and revealed bumps on his neck.


    A rush of panic flooded through him, and without thinking, he opened his mouth, gasping in shock. A second later he realized his mouth was open. He closed his mouth and grabbed his neck expecting to be choking on the water, only to find out he was perfectly fine.


    He held his breath, or what was left of it anyways and hurriedly tried to reach the next chamber. He didn''t want to run out of oxygen. The familiar feeling of suffocation clawed at his lungs and his vision blurred, starting to fade out. The lights bobbed around him frantically, clearly worried about him.


    Just as his consciousness was fading away, he heard a steady, calm voice urging him to breathe. He wasn''t sure if it was a hallucination from the lack of oxygen going to his brain or something else.


    He didn''t understand what the voice was telling him.


    Breathe?


    Underwater?


    Surely he would die if he tried to breathe underwater, he thought.


    The voice told him to breathe again and Almost as if possessed, he took a quick breath still expecting to choke on water, but instead found the pain in his chest disappear and his vision became clearer again. He took a bigger deeper breath and sighed in relief. He wasn''t going to drown.


    Suddenly his eyes opened wide with shock. He was breathing. Under water. He was surrounded by water and was breathing perfectly fine. He tentatively touched his neck as he remembered the unfamiliar bumps. He touched his neck again and breathed in and out like normal. The “bumps” moved in rhythm with his breathing. It was then that he realized he now had gills.


    Ryuji was shocked. He couldn''t understand what was happening to him anymore. His ability to hold his breath longer had seemed natural, like something anyone might experience after spending so much time pushing their limits and holding their breath for a long time. He attributed his improved vision, being able to see in the dark more clearly, as something like his eyes just adjusting to the lack of light in the enclosed area.


    But getting gills was something different. It was something more than just adapting to surroundings. Something in him was changing and he wasn''t sure what to think about it. He didn''t quite understand what was happening.


    Panic rose within him as he realized that he now had gills. The feeling on his neck was too real to be fake.


    Questions started to fill his head.


    Did that mean he was no longer able to go on land?


    Would he be stuck living underwater from now on like other sea creatures?


    What would happen to him now?


    Would people notice he was missing?


    Maybe he shouldn''t have followed the lights.


    Thoughts of doubt filled his head as he continued to worry about the sudden change to his body as he fainted from shock, losing consciousness before he could swim to the next chamber and get onto solid ground.