Chapter 126: Treasures in the first Islet

"What's this?" Ryu asked, baffled at the two potions. Upon closer inspection, he was amazed at what he saw. Twirls of lightning and thunder fizzled while a storm ravaged the ocean, all captured inside the glass bottle.

Seraphina gasped and curled her hand over her mouth. "That's a Storm captured by Tethyt herself!"

"Is it expensive?"

Seraphina didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's a shame to sell it. It could literary be a lifesaving item, and you have two of it!"

Ryu was skeptical. "I don't even know what it does."

"If you break that bottle, a storm would ravage your surroundings. It could help you flee and catch your enemy off guard while you escape."

"Or it could also kill you with its thunder and lightning and winds," Ryu countered.

Seraphina huffed a sigh. "That's true too." It was a double-edged sword. But handy nonetheless.

"No one can make a Storm, much less put it on a bottle. Only a God could do that. I read one time that there was an awful storm that hit Septverden. Thousands and thousands died, living destruction in its path. It said that Tethyt captured this storm and put it in a bottle. . ." 

Seraphina was awed, but then she muttered, ".. . for fun." She captured it for her amusement. Tethyt must have planned to use the storm to wipe out those who came for her treasures.

The end of Ryu's nail pinched the cork. "So if I open it. The storm will come out?"

"Don't!" Seraphina squeaked then coughed on her fist. "That's dangerous. Don't play with Mother Nature, and let's save it if we're in real danger."

Ryu took a second look at the bottle and said, "Let's each take one in our traveler's ring and roll the dice for it later."

Seraphina waved her hand and leaned back. "I don't want something that dangerous. You store it."

Shrugging, Ryu kept the bottles and proceeded to the last chest. That last chest was a peculiar one. It was metallic black and appeared ominous.

When Ryu opened its contents, he was bewildered by a single bottle bridled with black chains. Inside the glass, it raged with black thunder and fog, and the water was murky like ink.

Upon closer inspection, the fog revealed shadows of crawling worms. And when the dark smoke dispersed, those worms turned out to be tentacles splashing against the glass while a woman with slimy grey skin raged in in her captivity. She looked like Nereid but only sinister.

Ryu gasped when she hissed and her eyes wrapped in swarms of her tiny tentacle-like locks crawled to her face. He almost dropped the bottle in surprise.

"Be careful." Seraphina caught the bottle with her two hands and immediately gave it to Ryu like she didn't want to touch it. "That's Ursula, the witch of the sea. A godly beast. She's Nereid's sister and rumored to be evil who loves torturing all creatures in the sea."

Ryu clutched the bottle tight. "N-Nereid."

"They're sisters who didn't get along with each other. It said that the sea knew no peace when they were still alive. Old books have pictures of them until they were forgotten to this day when they suddenly disappeared hundreds or so years ago."

Seraphina gave an elegant half-shrug. "Who knows that Tethyt had captured her." She then breathes, spinning to take the sight all at once. "I wonder if Nereid was captured too."

Ryu looked on the other side and changed the topic, "What happens if you break it?"

"Break it?" Seraphina asked in incredulity. "We should leave that thing in here if it were me. Ursula is a catastrophe in the sea, and without the Gods to check on her, she'll run amok and do a rampaging spree."

"Hmm. . ." Ryu then extended the bottle to Seraphina. "Do you want to store it?"

Seraphina backed away and shook her head, rippling her blonde hair. "Absolutely not. You store it. I don't want something that dangerous with me."

Ryu looked at Seraphina with a deadpan expression. It's sealed, so it's safe. Nevertheless, he stored Ursula's bottle just in case they needed it in the future.

After clearing the cave of its treasures, Ryu and Seraphina were met with a sudden problem. .. they didn't know how to get out and get back to Kai and the others.

But they didn't have to think long when the place rumbled, and out of nowhere, large waves of water swallowed them whole.

Ryu didn't know what happened next. One moment the giant waves towered over them and smashed them against its might, and the next, he found himself standing underwater. Cold and shuddering.

"W-what?" Ryu swept his eyes at his surroundings. It was nothing but water, corals, seafloors, and all sorts of plants and sea creatures. They were back underwater. The only difference was a clear mist sprawling at sea like fog, and it was so cold that even his bones were shivering.

"I think we got transported out of that cave and into the open underwater again."

Ryu looked at Seraphina from behind. It seemed to be the case. But how was this part of the sea so cold? 

"What now?" Seraphina had a look of trouble on her face as she assisted their current situation. 

There were only the two of them out in the open. They'd be preyed on by the others if someone spotted them. Ryu wanted to track back where the cave was, but he didn't know-how. 

He didn't even know where they were at this point.

"Should we hide first and wait for Kai and Jane to show up?" Seraphina suggested that though she wasn't sure if they'd meet Kai and Jane again with how vast the underwater was.

Ryu was about to agree when he caught sight of something. "What's that?"

He pointed to a group of whirling creatures not far from them.

Seraphina gasped, and bubbles erupted from her mouth. "Those are mortals. We really are back underwater."

One of the humans spotted Ryu and Seraphina and gestured with his finger over his mouth. His face was ashen and severe.

"What's going on?" Ryu suddenly had a bad feeling when groups after groups of beings, mortals, halfbreeds, demons, elves, swam across the ocean. Their faces were grim and pale. No one even bothered anyone. Their attention was nailed forward.

Ryu and Seraphina looked at each other before they swam towards them out of curiosity. With this many beings congregated, something was going on.

When they drew, close some mercs signaled to stay quiet and pointed towards a location.

Ryu and Seraphina immediately looked at the area they were pointing at and saw a massive creature covered in blue scales and colorful fins. It was over ten meters thick, and its length stretched across the mountains of corals and rocks as far as the eyes could see.

Ryu's heart shook. "The Legendary. .. Leviathan."