Chapter 178: Sea child

With the giant monster dead on the seafloor, all previous presences that lurked around seemed to shrink back even further, intimidated by our previous battle. This was exactly what I was hoping for as I needed to clear the surroundings for our attempt at teleportation. The last thing we needed was a monster messing up our plans.

I glanced at my surroundings. The area appeared deserted enough. Still, I knew that some creatures were still there. Although most were intimidated by the fight, some remained unmoving. 'This is still not clear enough,' I mumbled to myself before turning my gaze northbound.

"Well, off to the next one. No rest for the wicked right?" I chuckled.

I didn't have to swim far before the seafloor changed into what appeared to be an almost large underwater forest. That was the only way I could describe it. What looked like normal green trees were growing on the sea bed, akin to a normal forest.

The only difference was that this was underwater. It was in this place that I felt the second presence, lurking between the trees.

"What about you? Are you willing to talk, or should I beat you into submission as well? Not sure if you'd survive that, however," I loudly spoke, my voice carrying over even when underwater. I wasn't sure If the creature could understand me, but it was worth the try.

I waited for a few minutes observing the forest below in keen interest. It appeared as if it was above ground, which made it all the more, fascinating. The trees had relatively normal-looking barks, the green leaves swayed gently with the water giving off a serene feeling to the entire area. After a while, a small shadow rose from between the trees and swam upwards towards me.

My eyes subconsciously widened in surprise as I scanned the newcomer. It was a mermaid. Her long dark blue hair stuck closely to her back, almost as if she was above water. She had small fins for ears. Her human part was naked, while her fish one had a piece of cloth wrapped around her waist.

She gazed at me with curiosity in her blue eyes, yet I could still see the vigilance in them. After a few seconds of silence, the mermaid finally spoke, "What are you?"

I was surprised at being able to understand her, yet I quickly composed myself and replied, "My name is Aether, and I am a Dragon, and you are?" I introduced myself before asking her for the same.

The mermaid frowned as she mumbled, "A Dragon? I don't know what's that. My name is Ilith a sea child."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ilith."

The mermaid once again frowned at my answer as if it was strange before asking, "Aether, the Dragon. You killed the basil."

"The basil? If you mean that giant snake, then yes, I did."

"Why?" She abruptly asked.

"Well, I wished to talk first, but it suddenly attacked me, hence why I was forced to defend myself."

"Talk? You are a strange one, Aether the Dragon."

"Is that so."

"Why did you come here? Did you come to 'talk' to me as well?" She asked, her brows frowned.

"That is indeed my intention, and It's good that you haven't suddenly attacked me."

"Hmm, a strange one indeed. What do you wish to talk to me about?"

"I am not from this land, you see, and I will be leaving soon. But to do that, I need a safe area to teleport," I said, my eyes scanning the mermaid in interest to see if she would understand.

"You wish to teleport here?"

"I would probably try to in a deserted area, and it's not safe for me to do so without scanning my surroundings, which brings me to this place."

"You are afraid I will interrupt your teleportation and harm you," said the mermaid.

"Indeed, I am."

"I see, and does that mean you came here to kill me to ensure that wouldn't happen?" hearing that question, I awkwardly scratched my head.

"Well, I was hoping I'd be able to, peacefully convince you to relocate elsewhere until I leave, then you can come back to your place."

Nodding, the mermaid spoke, "I see, and how long will it take you to leave?"

"I'll attempt to tomorrow, and It shouldn't take longer than a day."

"Okay, a day it is then."

"Hmm? That's it, you agree?" I asked in surprise, to which the mermaid tilted her head in puzzlement.

"Did you not just ask me to?"

"I mean, yes, but If I'm being honest, I thought it'd be a lot harder especially considering my previous attempt."

"You already killed the basil, so that proves your strength, not to mention this means his territory is now anyone's for the taking. And you don't seem interested in it. All I have to do is wait for a day and then claim it as my own as well. Besides, I saw no lies in your words. So I'd rather avoid fighting when I'm not fully confident in winning without sustaining serious injuries."

"You are rather awfully straightforward, aren't you?"

"And you are strange, Aether the Dragon."

"Well then, I hope you will honor your word."

Nodding, the mermaid shot me one final glance before she suddenly looked downwards and raised her hand. Thousands upon thousands of merfolks suddenly swam upwards. I froze for a second since I was unable to sense their presence at all. Ilith looked back at me and nodded before she swam away, her people silently following behind her.

'Well, I'll be damned. It feels like I dodged a bullet right there,' I muttered to myself as I watched them leave.

With another problem taken care of, I closed my eyes to sense other presences still lurking around. To my surprise, I was unable to find any. It seemed like Ilith's departure caused all the other creatures to back away. None of them appeared to be willing to spy on me any longer.

'Looks like, Ilith is way more important than I may have thought.'

With those final thoughts in mind, I finally swam back towards the lair of the now-dead basil. I explored the deep chasms with renewed interest. It helped that I no longer felt as threatened now that the area was clear. I had my doubts at first, but Ilith seemed to have truly moved away, that I made sure of using my water mana.

After I satisfied my curiosity, I found myself a comfortable underground cave where I curled around to rest for tomorrow, satisfied with my day's accomplishments.