Chapter 517 - Submerged Dungeons

It didn't take long for Ryan to find the nearest dungeon and the first wave of enemies that would get on his way. Those creatures were much uglier now that they had human size. They were the mutated or an alien version of the Seahorses. While Ryan didn't know much about those types of creatures, he was pretty sure they weren't supposed to have a light blue skin tone.

Azure Seahorse Lv 430

Health: 35.000/35.000

Mana: 55.000/55.000

Stamina: 25.000/25.000

Strength: 2600 (+ 300)

Dexterity: 3900 (+ 600)

Speed: 2500 (+ 300)

Intelligence: 5500 (+ 900)

Endurance: 1900 (+ 400)

Control: 3800 (+ 700)             

Mentality: 3300 (+ 400)

Luck: 2500 (+ 300)

Recovery: 12.000 (+ 3000)

Willpower: 3300 (+ 400)

Coins: --

Status: --

Skill List

Offensive Physical Skills: Aquatic Charge Lv 300

Passive Physical Skills: Improved Intelligence Lv 250, Improved Recovery Lv 250, Swim Lv 500

Spells: Water Cannon Lv 350, Ice Spear Lv 300

Support Skills: Cryomancy Lv 350, Hydromancy Lv 400, Cold Resistance Lv 600, Water Breathing Lv 600

"I never saw those creatures before, but their level is pretty high…" Femradiel said via Telepathy. "They must be the species that are hunting in the Giant Crabs in these parts, that is why we didn't find any of them."

Ryan had a few things to say, but he just nodded since he couldn't speak underwater. However, in the end, Femradiel notified him of a pretty obvious fact.

"You don't need to use your mouth to talk," Femradiel said. "I can read your thoughts; you just need to give me temporary permission."

"Ah… right," Ryan thought.

Ryan already had done something similar before. In fact, he does that whenever he leaves his domain. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to communicate with her properly over long distances.

Several of those creatures spread around the area in order to surround Ryan. He immediately equipped his Amphibian Crossbow and pulled the trigger. However, much to his surprise, his target sped up and dodged the projectiles. Despite the effect of his weapon, the bolts still were much slower than he had imagined.

The number of enemies was relatively low, so Ryan didn't have to worry about mana. Before they could enter their attack range, he activated Deadly Aim and Perfect Aim. The monsters were fast, but not that fast. As expected, the monsters suffered critical damage at every single shot. They were fast and relatively decent long-ranged fighters, but their endurance was stupidly low.

"I suppose I should make a crossbow using their spirits," Ryan thought.

Aquatic Crossbow (+8)

Effect: At the cost of one hundred points of mana, it temporarily increases your intelligence after using this weapon for ten seconds. The bonus in intelligence will be four points per shot and can stack.

Dexterity + 150, Intelligence + 150

Durability: 130/130

Despite the fact that Ryan was pretty sure he was the fast person stupid enough to fight underwater, he didn't find that many monsters. Ryan and Femradiel found several azure seahorses, but it couldn't even be compared to the number of monsters he usually faced in dungeons that have been left alone for several weeks.

"It is probably because they aren't at the top of the food chain here," Femradiel said. "While they must have the advantage against Giant Crabs, those creatures probably only serve as a snack for the Megalodons."

Ryan nodded at that, but in the end, not even those gigantic sharks were the kings of the oceans. While Ryan was warier of the Hydras, it doesn't mean that there were no other predators around. Hopefully, Ryan won't have to deal with creatures like Krakens. If Megalodons exist, then those other monsters probably exist as well. However, Ryan found himself shivering while imagining their long and slimy tentacles. It looked like Ryan found another fear…

"How weird of you to have a fear like that…" Femradiel said.

"I am already regretting letting you read my mind…" Ryan thought. "Anyway, which direction is the nearest dungeon?"

"At your one o'clock, five hundred meters away from your current position," Femradiel replied.

Moving underwater wasn't that difficult since Ryan could use Telekinesis to move his own body. Still, then he realized that he was wasting a good chance.

Congratulations! You learned the skill swim.

Effect: it passively increases your movement speed while underwater by five percent per level.

You obtained 01 status points.

While it would take a while for Ryan to reach a decent speed while using that skill alone, he was certain that it would be worth the hassle.

In the end, Ryan found the dungeon with plenty of time left before he started to feel the need to return to the surface. In the end, the dungeon was just another underwater cave, and much to his disappointment, there wasn't a single boss guarding the place. The number of azure seahorses barely reached the three-digit mark.

"Something is off here…" Ryan thought.

"Really? If you ask me there is nothing weird," Femradiel said. "This dungeon might have broken several times and hundreds of bosses spawned, but they wouldn't endure stay inside their base for so long without feeling the need to hunt for food. They probably left and spread around and were hunted down by a stronger monster."

What a terrifying imagination… but in the end, Ryan noticed that it was only logical. From the monster's perspective, it was probably easier to hunt other monsters in the ocean. He thought things down there would be way more terrifying given that all the underwater dungeons pretty much broke more than six times, but in the end, that wasn't the case. Or so Ryan thought at the beginning, then he realized that the lack of monsters was a sign that the big guns were more powerful than any monster Ryan fought inland.

"I should have asked the Hydra's level to Gustavo…" Ryan thought.

It was too late to worry about that. Still, Ryan decided to proceed carefully since the lack of monsters was a sign that something powerful cleared the area a few days ago.