Chapter 126: Uh Oh?

They entered the dungeon without much thinking. The first thing they saw was water. Lots and lots of water. It was flowing everywhere, and it seemed to be coming out of a broken dam. The water level was rising with every single second, and Aria instantly knew that this was bad news. From the point where they were standing, there was a large hole in the ground that seemed endless.

Aria took a careful look inside the body of water and saw a pitch black shadow looming from the bottom. There were also grumbling sounds that made her feel unsettled. Because Aria was experienced, her first reaction was to take in everything that existed inside the dungeon and try to spot whatever might contribute to her victory.

It was a rather gloomy dungeon like structure, but there were holes made on the wall that spurted water out in high pressure. The stream of water was loud, and the combined volume of all the water flow made her hearing be interjected.

A water dungeon. Clearly, this water flow has been running for a long time. The dungeon was enormous. There were no monsters in sight, however. Aria sensed ominous presences from inside the water. It was bad news. Aquatic creatures always had to be dealt with in a specific way. Some were extremely resistant to fire, but some would require you to use fire to even harm them the slightest bit. This was one of the reasons why large and diverse parties were advantageous: because you would have a larger selection of elements you and your team could manipulate to destroy the opponents.

As of now, the elements she and the child possessed were Water, Ice, Earth, and Fire. She did not know which ones were the monster's weakness.

Aria started to launch her detection magic to identify who she was going to be facing. She sensed one creature. It was a large bodied monster that was passively moving inside the water. The water had quite the strong current, and this creature was riding on the currents without actually moving by itself.

There were no other creatures that she was able to detect, leading her to believe that this thing she spotted was indeed the one and only Dungeon Boss. However, she also worried about another thing. The System did not send her any notification that specified the beginning of her fight with the Boss. If the System initiated the fight, then at least she would be able to know the Boss' identity and take suitable precaution measures.

She reckoned that she had to actually land a blow on the monster for it to consider her to be in a fight with this seemingly immobile monster. Although it did not seem to be aggressive, it must be high in defense just judging by its physique. If they randomly started a fight, the monster might react badly and cause the place to rupture.

Everything was a gamble at this point, and things weren't looking too good for them. Aria gritted her teeth as she began to rack her brain to come up with a solution for this.

First of all, fighting. How would they fight? Or was there another way to end this dungeon without fighting, like the one they performed over at Leonis' dungeon? Second, what type of attacks would work?

"...This is bad. Alena, can you fight in water?" Aria knew that she was at least capable of doing water fights, but she didn't think that Alena could withstand it. She had to shout just for the little child to be able to hear her in this area.

Alena shook her head, but her eyes conveyed a strong determination. "Big sister, this is just a speculation, but is it possible to create a platform using Ilyin's magic? If it comes down to the worst case, I think freezing the place should be an option," Alena stated, a bit panicked by the current state of things.

The water's temperature was cold, enough to create complications for them to perform normally. If the did have to enter the water, Alena wouldn't be able to do much. The slime also did not have aquatic fighting capabilities as it would be severely slowed down. Freezing the place up would not only lower the temperature down even more, but also waste mana.

With the amount of harsh water, the ice would be melted in no time.

"It wouldn't work," Aria denied, taking a deep breath and tapping her finger rhythmically.

Another idea came to her mind. Her fire spirit, Igna. She hadn't explored on him a lot yet, but she had great expectations from him ever since the System unlocked  her Summoner powers. Igna was a strong spirit, but his current form was just that of a child. She worried whether or not the spirit would even be able to comply with her orders.

Even as a child, Igna's power couldn't be ignored just like that. He was capable of spurting out fire tornadoes the first time Aria met him, which could be attributed to his high magical potential.

They desperately needed warmth and aquatic fighting capabilities. If her guess was correct, then she should be able to lure whatever is inside the water to come out using fire. There was one specific creature that acted similarly to how the massive guy down there did. But because she hasn't confirmed what the creature is yet, she couldn't take rash decisions. Alena was just a child, and the cold area would cause her to be affected. Luckily, she had the experience of going through Ilyin's torture. She was familiar with the feeling of coldness and naturally built a certain amount of resistance to it.

Dianthe was on her side, so she would be able to move around better.

"Listen. This dungeon may risk our lives, just like the insect one we did previously. It's a very troublesome concept. But if we are careful, I think we can get through this. The monster doesn't seem to have any attacks. It's like a still rock that is being carried by the water, drifting slowly everywhere. Can you use your power and try to figure out what this monster is all about?" Aria calmly instructed after getting them to a safe place that had the least amount of water flow around it.

They were already wet from the splashing water coming from all directions, so the time they had in hand was not much at all. There was a thin layer of pooling that formed on the ground they were standing on. It signified that in the near future, the ground they were in could be completely covered, forcing them to advance into other ways.

Information gathering.

If Alena succeeds in her job, then Aria could take it from then on. She just needed to know the monster's details, nothing else. With the time running against them, the risks they could take were reduced even more. Alena's information would prove to be significantly helpful so that she wouldn't be striking blindly.

Alena nodded, agreeing with Aria's words and starting to channel her magical power in an attempt to wield her signature ability. This technique would require Alena to be still for the time being, as she had to focus. Aria knew this, so she looked around with caution and prepared defensive measures for the two of them.

The progress went on quite smoothly. That was, until another problem struck them.

A whirlpool.

A large ass whirlpool forming in the middle of the body of water, causing water to splash everywhere out of the hole's borders. Alena, who was sitting in place sensed the change and began to reveal some disturbed effects. Aria clicked her tongue, knowing that the little girl's operation hasn't been ready yet, and that she couldn't just let this be.

"...Godbless," Aria closed her eyes, feeling like this would be the end of things if she wasn't lucky enough. She had one mission in mind, and that was to protect Alena for the rest of the time that she was focusing.

This was her only hope. If this didn't work, then she had to dive down and personally check on what this thing is.

She had to withstand the raging water until Alena succeeds and create an opportunity for her to charge confidently.

"Alena, things are going to get rocky from now on. Be prepared, I will try to make it not obstruct you as much as possible," Aria grinned, laughing at the near death situation they just put themselves in once again.

Thank God she went through the Tower yesterday and gained the status boosts. She would be able to last longer. Aria knew this fact and started chanting enchantments over her entire body before cooperating with her other spirits to start her flight. She was going to avoid the whirlpool, but the entirety of the ground will be hit for sure.

Then, she had no choice but to go up.