Chapter 664 - Learning Underwater Tactics

"Look! There are three monsters in front!" Alex warned everyone after finding the monsters with his Spirit Eyes. 

Nelson covered his body with Spiritual Energy before leaping out of Jean's balloon. Darkness Energy gathered around his sword.

"Scree!" 

Alex could see three sea monsters. The first one was a 5-Star Martial Emperor goldfish and the second one was another 5-Star Martial Emperor red fish. Both of them were chased by 3-Star Martial Monarch black fish. The size of the first two fishes was the same as humans, but the last one was three times their size.

Looking at the blood gushing out of their body, the two front fishes would become a meal for the big fish. And Nelson coming out wanted to precisely kill the big fish.

'I can withstand the water pressure, and my attack won't affect and won't be affected by this water.' Nelson thought as he leaped to the front.

Alex also came out of the bubble with his two weapons, covering them with his Absolute Blade Intent. He didn't use his Pure Fire to conserve his power. His targets were the two fishes, planning to kill them in a single strike. 

However, Artur didn't forget that this was the first time Alex fought a sea monster. These monsters could fight on the land with their restricted power, but inside water like this, their ability was strengthened. He came out with his sword, waiting right behind Alex.

When the two fishes passed Nelson, Alex appeared in front of them, slashing both weapons at the same time.

*Fwoosh!* 

"!!!" Alex suddenly realized that his movement was a little bit restricted due to the water-resistance, while the fishes showed a speed that was beyond 5-Star Martial Emperors. He understood why Artur came out too and changed his stance to focus on a single fish. 

"Triple Draws!" 

He struck the golden fish, slicing it into seven pieces while letting Artur deal with the red fish. Alex focused on the black fish instead of the one behind him. 'It seems Nelson wants me to familiarize myself with this new warfare that I know nothing about. I can kill the red fish behind me by using my Sky Movement to jump over water, but it won't give me time to watch Nelson's fight. I would rather learn first.'

On the other hand, Nelson slashed his sword downward, sending a black sword wave flying.

The fish noticed this and head-butted this sword wave. Just like the clash between metal, it lasted for a few seconds. Nelson raised his hand as shadow erupted from below his feet, making their way toward the fish and locking it down. 

"I am Shadow Spirit, the king of shadow. Obey me! Sword!"

The fish was startled by this black thread and struggled to break free from it. At this time, Nelson unleashed his second attack. His shadow spread around the wall before spiking as if blades were coming out of the wall. 

"Roar!" The fish released its aura as its skin turned into pitch black. The shadows stabbed the fish on ten different spots, but surprisingly, everyone could hear a clicking sound.

"!!!" Alex furrowed his eyebrows and found out that none of the shadow blades managed to pierce the fish's skin. He realized once again that this monster was a 5-Star Martial Monarch fish. 

"Are you trying to steal my technique, Nelson?" Artur's voice was heard as the real person came behind Alex after killing the fish. 

"There is no way I'm going to steal a technique." Nelson was still calm and shook his head. After that, he charged toward the fish that was struggling to break free from Nelson's net. Unfortunately, Nelson already locked him as he added another few chains to keep the fist in one spot. 

The dark energy gradually rose inside his body until it broke through. His energy and strength were increased due to the darkness. Nelson struck his sword to the fish's black metallic body, but this time it managed to break through its skin and open its stomach.

The water turned red, but Alex could still see them just fine because he was using his Spirit Eyes.

"Young Master… You and the others might not have experienced fighting like this. That's why Nelson is fighting against the bigger one while the others didn't come to help you with the two fishes except me." Artur swam to his place and said. "There are many methods to fight underwater, but if we are inside the cave, there is one very effective technique."

"And that is?" Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

"Look at Nelson." Artur pointed his finger to the front. "He used the first sword wave to stop the fish movement before binding it with his shadow chains. After that, he began his true strikes until the fish died. You must know that the fish is superior in water combat. However, sea monsters can't do anything if they are not able to move…"

"I see. As long as we take away their movement, they are weaker than monsters on the surface." Alex understood the concept.

"Like Young Master's plan, we thought you already realized this, so we didn't say anything."

"No. I just realized it from your explanation." Alex shook his head, ashamed. 

"Well, it's good as long as Young Master understands it." Artur nodded. "Besides, it will be another experience if you are fighting inside the sea. Considering the area, depth, and Spiritual Energy density, we will be swarmed by sea monsters as soon as we come out of this cave. Young Master can use your Pure Fire and Sky Movement to enhance your fighting ability in the middle of the ocean, and if possible, you can drag them out of the water."

"In other words, the sea monsters actually rule the world?" Alex narrowed his eyes. 

"I won't go that far. It's just we have too much disadvantage fighting inside the water. There are several problems. First, Lightning ability is very restricted because it has the potential to attack your own friend. Second, Fire Ability is also overwhelmed by the water. Young Master's flame might be able to instantly evaporate the water around you, but it will require a huge amount of energy. These two reasons cause the third reason.

"Humans don't like to hunt them inside the sea because it will be hard, and the chance of dying is high. That's why the monsters usually multiply continuously to the point the human won't be able to wipe them out. If we are talking about how many monsters in the sea right now… I believe their numbers are at least one hundred times than those on the land.

"That's why we experienced two monster hordes in this short time. Unfortunately, we might need to move our base somewhere because the people from the Divine Kingdom will notice a drop of sea monsters and send someone to investigate." Artur sighed.

Alex nodded his head. "We will wait and see first. If there is an actual need to move our base, we will leave. It's such a shame since this place has so many EXPs, but who can we blame?"

"Indeed." Artur nodded before pointing his finger forward. "Look. Nelson has killed the fish."

Alex thought for a moment while observing Nelson. He took a few minutes to kill one monster, even in this darkness that should have increased his strength. 'As expected of a Martial Monarch monster… They are hard to kill.'

He also glanced on his back and found Anya teaching Sherry and the others about underwater battles. It seemed this was their plan all along.

"Young Master." Nelson came back to him. "We should continue."

"Yeah. Thank you for the lesson. I was too confident with the sea monsters and tried to fight them with shallow strategies."

"There is no problem with Young Master's strategies, it's just Young Master doesn't calculate the water's effect." Nelson shook his head and smiled. "Young Master should be able to fight equally against them right now, and you will kill them easily before long."

Alex nodded and came back inside the bubble before continuing. 

They met many monsters, from a horde of fishes to only one single fish. Luckily, none of them was Martial Saint, allowing Alex and the others to get used to the water combat.

Sherry was struggling at first because she could only use her Pure Fire, but after some time, she decided to use her original form and overpowered her enemy with her strength.

Kyle and Stina were in a pinch because they only knew Fire Element technique. If they turned back into Phoenixes, they would be suppressed by the sea water. In the end, they chose to fight with their fist, albeit it wasn't pretty effective. 

Firia was also suppressed this time, but her master gave her a technique to control her shawl. The fire around her shawl disappeared, and the shawl showed its true appearance. It turned out that the shawl was formed by multiple big strings, and the fire was only there to stick them together.

Her master did this to train Firia's Fire Control and strengthened her fire since each string had a powerful Fire Energy. Firia used all these strings to kill the monsters in front of her. In fact, she looked like she had experienced a battle like this. 

Alex was surprised at that time, but the joy suppressed that shock. He felt relieved that Firia was already so strong and achieved what she hoped for. 

They continued marching toward the hole that connected this cave to the sea. Nelson chose the path carefully and only crossed the path where there were not many monsters available. 

Alex didn't reject the idea because those monsters could easily be killed as long as they had evaporated all the water. 

After a few hours, they finally saw the entrance that led to the sea. It was a very big hole with a size three times bigger than their path. 

"Young Master. I will start sealing the gate and make sure no water can come inside again. In the meantime, you can drain the water around with your Fire. I will take care of all the monsters that come through the hole as well. After there is little to no water, I'm afraid I will be stuck here with the others to protect this gate." Jean crossed his arms and thought.

"In other words, I will only move around with nine other people? And most of them are Fire Element and Lightning Element users." Alex thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright. We can kill Martial Saint with these members alone since their power will be around half of their original power." 

Nelson added, "Due to the size of the tunnel, we might need around a week to clear all the monsters in the area. If Young Master doesn't mind, we can start moving to our position." 

"Wait a minute." Alex stopped him before slowly going toward the entrance. He was curious about what kind of sea he could see in another world. 

Unfortunately, the reality didn't meet a single speck of his expectation. He could still see the light from the surface and many sea monsters swimming around, but the light barely reached his current position, and the monsters looked gross.

Even so, it didn't stop him from glancing at the bottom of the sea with his Spirit Eyes.

"This—!" Alex gasped as he observed it. "I can see a huge amount of Pink Spiritual Energy that appears to be Space Element. Inside the barrier are also many Pink Spiritual Energy but this type of sign… They are humans! Doesn't this mean there is a human influence under this sea? What kind of concept is this? Not only is there no record about this influence, but the absurd amount of people having Space Elements baffled me!" 

"!!!" The others were also surprised since they had no recollection of this. 

"What should we do?" Firia asked.

Alex contemplated for a few minutes. "We are going to clear the cave first before I sneak inside the place. We will see what we can do after that." 

"Understood!" 

Jean then released his Spiritual Energy, stood in front of the gate to maintain the barrier that blocked the water, and expanded the barrier.

"Expand!"