22 Pure Sea.

They could only watch as the current dragged them under the raging storm, dampening them and their spirits alike. The surroundings continued to get darker giving everything a creepy hue. The ancient trees looked more scary than the ones in those horror movies, with all those strange spikes, thorns, vines and all.

Strange creatures could be seen swimming in the muddy brown water. Sproule sneakily dipped his hand in the water, attracting the several creatures swimming around them which leapt towards the hand like moths going after light. Two were able to bite onto Sproule's palm and fingers before he yanked his hand out of the water. Their sharp set of teeth sank into his skin as he let out a yell. Sajjad, who was sitting at his right, was quick to pull the brown fish and behead the poor little things. Tommorow's main course was confirmed.

The current kept taking them to wherever it was headed. They were passing through a forest so the thought of climbing the nearby trees came across their minds several times but somehow, the trees had transformed and become unclimbable. Thorny, thin swaying branches, tentacle-like vines and whatnot. Moreover, the current had found this damnable route where the closest tree was always three meters away from them. If one were to jump, the rest would become bygones.

After what seemed a distance of several kilometers, they finally realized where they were headed. Through the dim light, they could perceive the huge patch of darkness right ahead of them. At first, it looked like the shadow of the large disk which was, in fact, covering the sun above the dark clouds, but on closer inspection, they realized that it was a sinkhole!

"We aren't gonna do nothing and let ourselves to be thrown into that pit, right?" Lucy turned her head left and right to look at the others.

"I won't let myself be thrown their!" Awiergan announced.

"Duh! Do you have any other choice?" Orbona groaned.

"I'd rather jump, that's more manly", puffing his chest, Awiergan replied.

Orbona face palmed, "what's the difference. We are all going to drown anyway...".

"Huh? Drown! I don't like drowning!" Sproule shouted.

"Sometimes, the process is more meaningful than the result itself", to everyone's astonishment, Blake actually willingly spoke even when he was not directed to! But his words were not that much suitable for the occasion, no?

To their horror, Blake dove into the water after saying his words. And to further their horror, Blake violently shook the log they were on, making them fall into the water as well. The surrounding strange fishes immediately lunged towards the seven, their small, sharp and sparkling teeth piercing through their clothes and sinking into the skin. But after a place was bit, the fish would 'eject' their teeth inside them and swim away. It was extremely painful for hundreds of tiny teeth to be pierced inside their bodies and left there.

"Don't pull them out", Blake ordered them when he saw the six intending to pull the tiny teeth out from their skin. They looked like they were Demi-humans with the blood of porcupines with all those 'needles' protruding out from their skin. The six looked at Blake and saw that although his clothes also had those tiny punctures on them, no teeth could be seen protruding out from him.

They did not know wether the fish could not bite him or he had been too quick in pulling all those needles out from himself, they chose to put trust in him and did not pull the teeth even if he did not provide them with a reason. The fact that he chose to speak was enough for them to put their trust into him.

The water was extremely muddy, making it thick. Swimming was out of the question but the current drew them near the sinkhole, the speed kept increasing the farther they went.

Soon enough, they were falling into the sinkhole.

"Ahh~!", if the screaming was not mentioned, the situation would loose its feel.

They fell for quite a while, at least more than ten seconds. In the middle of their fall, they realized the muddy water disappeared at some point when they were falling.

The sinkhole was as dark as the outside, which was not pitch black. They could clearly see the log they were previously riding 'overtake' them mid-fall because of it's heavier weight, and miserably get shredded into pieces by an invisible formation, freezing their spines as they were going to be next!

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. The formation had a 'cooldown' phase of a few seconds and they safely passed through thanks to the log's sacrifice.

Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash! ... Splash!

Seven consecutive sounds of splashes echoed as the group landed on calm waters.

Good, first an underground river, than a muddy, mysterious expanse of water and now an underground lake. They felt like they would not be surprised even if it suddenly started to snow here, deep underground...

The water was extremely pure and rich in natural energy. A refreshing feeling rushed inside them as they saw the teeth sticking inside their skin started to dissolve inside their bodies. In under two minutes, all the tiny teeth had already dissolved inside and become the part of their skins. The six could observe their skin had turned harder, stronger and more flexible. It had turned more shiny with a faint metallic hue.

They now realized why Blake had advised against pulling the teeth out earlier. Even if it was painful, it was worth it!

The shore was not far, just a few yards to the right. It was not your usual underground cavern but a large rectangular hall. Pure-Wood Stone was used in the construction of the floor, walls and the ceiling. It was a very sturdy type of stone which contained the most pure form of wood element. There were only three walls, the open end was connected with the lake.

A doorway was connected to a corridor leading away from the hall on the left most corner of the hall. The front wall had two words molded out of gold:

Pure Sea.