The passage narrowed as Ember and Mia descended.
Water washed over their boots, cold enough to bite through the leather. The stone walls closed in, covered in thick moss and thin vines that trembled whenever water dripped from the ceiling. Behind them, the entrance to the cavern had already disappeared around a bend.
Ahead, the darkness continued, filled with the constant, muted roar of a subterranean river.
Mia raised her staff, and a small sphere of pale light appeared above its tip. The glow spread across the passage.
Crystal.
Blue-white formations grew from the walls in clusters, some no larger than fingers, others thick enough to resemble tree roots. Their surfaces caught Mia’s light and scattered it across the damp channel in faint reflections.
Ember slowed. He had expected a simple flooded tunnel.
This was something else.
The passage opened suddenly into a wide underground chamber. Water covered much of the floor, forming a shallow, fast-moving stream that rushed between half-submerged stone structures and disappeared beneath several natural bridges. Moss clung to waterlogged masonry. Vines hung from collapsed lintels. Ancient foundations sat drowned along the edges of the channel.
And farther ahead—Ember spotted drowned rooftops and broken archways protruding from the flood. Not natural rock. A submerged town.
Mia stared for several seconds. "...That’s bigger than I expected."
Ember nodded. "Yeah."
She looked at him. "That’s all you have to say?"
"What do you want me to say?"
"I don’t know. Something impressive."
He looked across the drowned ruins again. "Very impressive."
Mia sighed. "You’re terrible at this."
A quiet splash came from the water near a collapsed pillar. Both of them stopped. Ember’s hand moved instinctively toward his quiver. The water rippled again, and something small moved beneath the surface.
Mia lowered her voice. "Creature?"
"Probably."
The ripple disappeared. Ember waited, keeping his weight centered on the slick stone. He crouched near the edge of the stream, watching the current swirl around a buried wall. There—a faint translucent shape moved against the flow.
[Appraisal]
Monster: River Slime
Level: 3
Rank: Common
The creature rose from the water. It was barely larger than a man’s hand, its body almost completely transparent except for a faint blue core pulsing inside it. Then another appeared beside a drowned doorstep. Then a third.
Mia smiled faintly. "River Slimes again. Those don’t look too dangerous."
"Only if you miss the core," Ember said, drawing an arrow and tracking the glowing blue orb inside the leading gel.
The first slime launched itself from the current. Ember held his draw until the creature reached the peak of its arc, exposing the core, and released.
The bowstring slapped his wrist guard as the shaft struck with a dead thunk against the solid mass inside the gel. The fluid body lost its shape instantly, collapsing into an inert puddle across the stone.
[Monster Defeated]
River Slime defeated.
[Experience Gained]
+12 EXP
[Skill Proficiency Increased]
Archery +0.8%
The remaining two slimes surged forward together. Mia pinned one against a stone foundation with a quick frost spell while Ember dispatched the second with a close-range shot straight into its glowing center.
[Monster Defeated]
River Slime defeated.
[Experience Gained]
+12 EXP
The last slime broke free of the ice, hesitated, turned, and slipped rapidly back into the deeper current. Ember lowered his bow, watching the ripple fade.
"That one learned."
Mia tilted her staff. "Follow it?"
"And walk into whatever nest it’s running to? Pass."
Mia paused, looking at the dark water ahead. "...Good point."
Ember crouched beside the remains of the two slimes. Using his hunting knife, he carefully scooped out the intact core spheres before the bodies dissolved completely into the river.
[Gathering Successful]
Collected: Slime Core ×2
Gathering EXP: +6
They continued deeper, wading through ankle-deep water that swept around submerged stonework. A flooded canal had once carried water between these buildings. Several broken wooden beams still rested across the drowned walls, black with rot and coated in river silt.
Ember crouched beside a carved foundation. Deep, deliberate chisel marks were cut into the stone—not natural weathering, but ancient construction.
"People lived here," Mia said softly, her light reflecting off a submerged staircase.
"A long time ago."
She moved toward a patch of pale green plants growing out of a crack in the drowned masonry. "Oh."
Ember glanced over. Mia was already kneeling, reaching out.
"Don’t pull that one."
Her hand stopped mid-air. "Why?"
"It’s toxic."
Mia pointed toward a smaller, nearly identical plant growing a few inches away. "That one is edible."
Ember leaned closer, reaching out to turn a leaf over with his thumb. He ran his nail along the leaf’s edge, feeling the tiny, razor-like serrations on the toxic plant, then compared it to the smooth, waxy edge of the edible leaf beside it.
"They look almost identical until you touch the edge," Ember noted, memorizing the texture.
"Almost."
"That’s comforting."
Mia smiled faintly. "You’re the one who said you wanted to learn gathering."
"I didn’t realize the plants were going to try to poison me."
"They aren’t trying anything. They’re just growing."
"That’s what the poisonous ones want you to think."
She rolled her eyes, but waited while Ember inspected both stems, applying Garrick’s tracking principles to plant identification before they moved on.
The cavern grew colder as the water rose toward their calves.
Then came a rasping scrape of heavy shell on stone. Ember raised a hand, and Mia froze instantly.
Two broad, heavily armored shapes shifted near a drowned archway across the stream. The creatures crawled out from behind a collapsed wall, their bodies resembling giant crabs, but their upper shells were formed of thick, translucent crystal. Blue light shimmered beneath the crystalline plates as their massive claws clicked against the stone with heavy metallic thuds.
[Appraisal]
Monster: Crystal Shell Crab
Level: 5
Rank: Common
Mia whispered, "Crystal Shell Crabs."
"Front shells are too thick for arrows," Ember reminded her, backing up a step to widen his angle as the lead crab scuttled sideways across a drowned foundation with surprising speed. "We need to expose the leg joints."
"On it."
The crab charged, its heavy claws splashing through the water. Ember stepped back onto a raised stone step while Mia slammed the butt of her staff against the submerged floor. A burst of ice spread across the stone beneath the crab’s legs, freezing its footing and forcing its heavy body to tilt sideways.
Ember moved instantly. With the creature tilted, the dense crystal armor shifted, exposing the soft, pale joint where its leg met the lower body. He released.
The arrow bit deep into the exposed tissue. The crab recoiled with a wet, rasping screech.
Mia sent a wave of compressed wind across the channel, catching the second crab from the side as it tried to flank them through the water. The pressure slammed the heavy creature against a ruined stone pillar. The crystal shell spider-webbed under the blunt force. Ember didn’t wait—he drove an arrow straight into the fissure.
[Monster Defeated]
Crystal Shell Crab defeated.
[Experience Gained]
+24 EXP
The first crab recovered and lunged at Ember. He stepped aside as its massive claw smashed into the stone step where his foot had been a split second prior, shattering the edge of the ancient masonry. Ember circled behind its turning radius, aiming low into the exposed rear joint beneath its main shell.
He released point-blank.
The creature shuddered and collapsed into the shallow current.
[Monster Defeated]
Crystal Shell Crab defeated.
[Experience Gained]
+24 EXP
Mia lowered her staff, letting out a quiet breath as the water settled. "That was cleaner than last time."
Ember knelt beside the fallen crabs, drawing his hunting knife. He worked the blade around the cracked edges of the crystal plates, harvesting the intact shell segments and meat before the remains dissolved into the water.
[Gathering Successful]
Collected: Crystal Shell Segment ×2, Crab Meat ×2
Gathering EXP: +12
"You created the opening," Ember said, standing up and cleaning his blade.
"You used it."
"Good teamwork."
"Don’t sound so surprised."
"I’m not."
"You are."
He started walking toward a half-submerged staircase. Mia followed, her boots splashing softly. "You definitely are."
A few minutes later, they reached a tranquil alcove where the river formed a quiet pool beside a collapsed stone archway. Something pale blue grew near the drowned steps. Mia crouched, her expression shifting immediately.
"Wait."
She stepped into the knee-deep water, Ember watching the dark alcove above her. Near the sandy floor grew a small cluster of thin, silver-green leaves. A faint frost-like shimmer covered their edges despite the water around them remaining liquid.
[Appraisal]
Plant: Frostwater Herb
Rank: Uncommon
Type: Alchemy Material
Harvest Difficulty: Medium
Description: A rare aquatic herb that thrives in freezing subterranean waters. Highly valued for its heat-absorbing properties.
Mia carefully extracted the roots intact, keeping the delicate stem together. "Frostwater Herb. It’s used in cooling potions and frost resistance mixtures. Fresh ones are especially valuable."
"Valuable enough to keep us from getting ambushed?" Ember asked with a faint smile as she stowed the plants.
"Valuable enough that I’m not leaving it here."
"That’s the face of someone who just found money."
"It’s the face of someone who found something practical."
"Sure."
Mia ignored him, sealing her alchemy pouch securely.
[Gathering Successful]
Collected: Frostwater Herb ×1
Gathering EXP: +8
They continued deeper, where the rough natural cavern gave way to square-cut masonry, lined with faded, low-relief murals. The floor was paved with fitted stone slabs, and the subterranean river flowed through deep channels cut directly into the streets of the drowned settlement.
Ember stopped abruptly beside a broken stone pillar.
The air temperature had dropped sharply. A draft of icy air swept down the flooded street ahead, carrying the smell of deep water and frozen stone.
He studied the water, the gleaming crystal formations clinging to the drowned rooftops, and the deep shadows beneath a grand collapsed archway. Something felt wrong. The quiet here was unnatural.
He reached slowly for an arrow.
Mia noticed the shift in his posture and stopped instantly. "What is it?"
"Nothing visible yet."
"You don’t stop like that for nothing."
Ember scanned the drowned structures. The pale blue light from the wall crystals flickered on the water’s surface.
A long, pale shape shifted against the wall of a ruined building. It didn’t look like stone moving—it looked like the crystal itself was sliding across the wall.
"Move!"
A massive serpent lunged from the shadows of the archway. Its translucent, ice-blue scales blended seamlessly with the crystal formations on the drowned wall, making its long body nearly invisible until it struck.
Mia scrambled backward onto a dry foundation as Ember released his drawn arrow.
The shaft struck the serpent’s neck at an angle, skittering off its thick scales but forcing its strike to veer sideways, crashing heavily into a ruined stone pillar.
[Appraisal]
Monster: Frostscale Serpent
Level: 8
Rank: Common
Attribute: Ice
Behavior: Territorial / Aquatic
Special Attack: Frost Breath
Description: A pale serpent covered in translucent blue scales that lives in the coldest sections of underwater ruins. It coils around submerged masonry and remains motionless, using the gloom and cold water to conceal itself before ambushing prey.
The serpent reared back, its jaw unhinging as a dense cloud of freezing white mist billowed from its throat.
"Down!"
Ember dropped flat behind a stone foundation. The freezing vapor passed over his head, striking the drowned wall behind them and instantly coating the ancient stonework in a thick layer of rime. Mia swung her staff from her raised position, releasing a sharp gust of wind that dispersed the lingering frost before it could envelope them.
"That would have frozen us solid," she muttered.
The serpent struck again, its heavy body smashing through a rotted wooden beam as it lunged across the flooded street. Ember rolled across the wet stone, drew his bow, and shot it directly into the flank where its scales were flexed open. The arrow bit deep.
The serpent hissed in agony, its long tail whipping around in a violent arc that shattered a drowned wall and forced Ember to retreat onto a narrow stone ledge above the water.
Mia cast a blade of wind across its path, cutting into its side and forcing the creature to recoil back toward the deep channel running down the center of the street. It submerged instantly, vanishing into the icy current.
"Don’t chase it into the water," Ember warned, keeping his bow drawn and scanning the dark surface.
"I wasn’t planning on it."
"We need it on open ground," Ember said, gesturing toward a wide, dry stone platform higher up the ruined street.
Mia nodded. She raised her staff, channeling mana and slamming a compressed sphere of force directly into the deep pool. The water churned violently, but the serpent remained hidden beneath the dark current.
Ember didn’t waste another spell. He drew an arrow, aimed at a shadow moving beneath the current near the edge of the platform, and shot straight into the water.
The arrow struck home below the surface.
The river exploded outward.
Ember was already moving, retreating back onto the dry stone platform. The Frostscale Serpent surged out of the flooded channel, sliding aggressively across the wet stone in pursuit. As it crossed the threshold, Mia cast ice across the stone slabs beneath its trailing body, slicking the surface and causing its rear coils to lose traction.
The serpent’s massive head snapped toward Mia on the raised ledge.
Ember drew his bowstring back to his ear.
He didn’t fire immediately. He waited.
The serpent twisted its upper body to strike upward at Mia, exposing the pale, softer scales along the underside of its throat.
He released.
The arrow buried itself deep into its throat. The creature thrashed wildly, turning its fury back toward Ember and charging straight across the platform.
Ember drew another arrow. He held his ground. One step. Two. The massive beast closed the distance with terrifying speed.
His breathing slowed, tuning out the chill of the air and the roar of the water. The world narrowed to the movement of the pale head. Its jaw unhinged to deliver a desperate bite.
Ember stepped inside its turning angle—his shoulder scraping hard against the creature’s slick scales as the massive head snapped past—and drove the shot upward at point-blank range.
The arrow struck clean through the underside of its jaw, piercing straight into its skull.
The Frostscale Serpent’s momentum carried it skidding across the stone platform, its tail whipping once before its pale scales lost their icy sheen and went completely still.
[Monster Defated]
Frostscale Serpent defeated.
[Experience Gained]
+68 EXP
[Bonus Experience]
+6.8 EXP (+10% Level Difference Bonus)
[Combat Insight]
Quick Shot +1.2% Proficiency
Mia lowered her staff, letting out a long, slow breath as she stepped down from the ledge. "That one was much stronger."
Ember wiped sweat and icy mist from his forehead, his forearms aching from the rapid draws. He knelt beside the fallen serpent, drawing his hunting knife to harvest the thick scales and venom sacs before the remains degraded.
[Gathering Successful]
Collected: Frostscale Hide ×1, Serpent Fangs ×2, Cold Venom Sac ×1
Gathering EXP: +18
"Level eight," Ember said, looking up at her as he cleaned his knife. "And that was just a Common."
Mia looked past the platform toward the darker, grander archway leading deeper into the drowned city. "Whatever built this place—or whatever lives at the center of it—isn’t going to give us much room for mistakes."
They moved past the serpent’s resting place, arriving at a collapsed stone structure at the end of the street where the ancient murals were clearest.
Mia raised her staff, its pale light illuminating three distinct carved figures across the cracked stone: a serpent-like humanoid holding a crystalline sphere, a human warrior clad in heavy armor, and between them, a four-legged animal spirit surrounded by fine lines of flowing energy that swept down into carved representations of water.
Mia stepped closer, tracing the carved lines of energy with her eyes. "Look at the energy lines... they flow straight from the spirit into the crystals and the river."
Ember studied the weathered stone. "The serpent figure isn’t attacking the human in this panel. They’re both looking at the spirit."
Mia glanced at him. "So it’s not a depiction of a war?"
"Doesn’t look like it," Ember said, touching the edge of the weathered carving. "It looks like a pact. Or a ritual to contain something beneath the water."
Mia stared at the serpent-like humanoid for another moment. "Think whatever is down there is still holding up its end of the bargain?"
Ember looked toward the dark, flooded archway beyond the mural, where the cold river flowed into total darkness. "We’re about to find out."
She let out a short, quiet laugh, turning back toward the path. They continued deeper into the gloom, leaving the ancient carvings behind in the cold draft of the subterranean river.
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