Chapter 24

I teleported first. A wave of affection filled me as my view of the Holy Capital was swept away by the familiar sight of Cerulean Town. I hadn't realized how much I'd grown to love the place until I had another town to compare it to. The Holy Capital might have a lot of people, shops, and hidden opportunities, but it wasn't a place I would ever call 'home'. I was far more comfortable in a sleepy place like this.

"Welcome back, Jayladon," the return scroll vendor said when she saw me. I smiled at the proof it was possible for any NPC to warm up to a player. It just took longer for the NPCs who were regularly treated as kiosks.

"Hi," I replied. "I have some human friends who are about to teleport here to visit. Is there any way to do something to make their transition easier?"

"There's no need to worry. The creator of the teleport platform was a well-known pioneer who understood the biggest danger of exploration was the first step into the unknown. Therefore, all teleportation platforms have been installed with safety features. As soon as a non-native life form appears, a shield will form around the platform to protect it."

She barely finished speaking when the shield appeared. It felt as if I was hit with a gust of wind as the water shifted away from the platform to create a crystal clear bubble of air.

Marshall appeared first. Since I'd already warned him about the way metal rusted underwater, he wore only a blue selkie suit and rebreather mask he'd retrieved from the party's shop. The rest of the guys appeared one-by-one on the platform next to him, each wearing a selkie suit and mask in a different color.

I snickered like I did the first time I saw them all together. They looked like a wannabe super sentai squadron. Maybe they could call themselves 'Ocean Force' or something.

They stared at the air bubble surrounding the platform for a long second, then slowly approached it and put their hands through the invisible barrier.

"Cold!" Takumi yelped as he pulled his hand back. His voice had a weird, muffled tone due to the mask he wore.

"Of course it is," Trace said in a snarky voice. "We aren't in a pool. This is the ocean."

Jackson laughed and, surprisingly, he was the first to completely step through the barrier. "It's not that cold. I'd actually say it's warm. You just need to jump in."

Trace's face filled with surprise after he did exactly that. "That's strange. The water actually is warm. It was only cold for two seconds."

I turned my anchors off so I could swim over to them because it was obvious they couldn't swim to me. Once they were in the water, their movements slowed to a crawl. A few of them managed to stay standing, but most were buffeted by the smallest micro-current and knocked to the ground.

"We're not that far from the surface," I explained as I watched them. The impression of a super sentai team was completely gone. They crawled on the ground like toddlers or were swept up to float with no control. "I think it'll get colder the deeper we go, but I haven't really gone far yet. So I can only give you my guesses."

I wasn't sure if any of them heard me. Most of them were still trying to figure out how to stand. The rest seemed to be focused entirely on my legs. I glanced down at myself to see I'd put my feet together out of habit. My tailfin belt had reacted accordingly, sealing itself to give me a tail, and my feet had been covered in the illusion of a golden fin.

I chuckled at the guy's expression and swam a circle around the teleportation platform to let them see it in action.

"I'm confused. Are we supposed to walk or swim?"

"How do we get tails?"

"A tail would be great. Heck, a set of flippers would be appreciated at this point."

"We're not mermen like Jay. Don't try to walk. Just swim like a human."

"I don't remember swimming being this hard. Will a tail make it easier?"

"Forget about tails. Check your logs. Are you guys seeing this?"

Everyone fell silent as they checked their individual systems. Trace was the first to suck in a shocked breath. "Is this real?"

Shey hissed like he'd been burned. "My stats are flying. This has to be a bug."

I shook my head, already knowing what they were seeing. "It's not a bug. I thought the same thing, too, so I asked. The environment here is considered extreme and it was made even more extreme with the last update. Your attributes are rising because of the constant water pressure you're fighting against. The more you fight, the faster your attributes will rise. Eventually, they'll normalize and you'll be able to move around freely. Until then, you're better off sticking to town."

"So it's like we're back to level one," Shey said as a micro-current slowly rolled him in place. He didn't react to the motion, having decided to literally roll with the punches for the moment.

I tried to think of some way I could help them and I could only come up with one solution. "You need foot anchors."

I swam to Marla's store to find she'd been watching us from an open porthole-shaped window and laughing herself silly over my clumsy friends. I didn't have to say anything. She smiled and winked at me as she offered a trade—eight novice starter packs for eight ancient coins. The starter packs would give them the choice of Atlantean, Chondrik, or Estuarian style novice clothing and the choice between a spear, a dagger, a corsair sword, a mini harpoon gun, a bubble wand, or a drill hammer.

I pouted. "Why wasn't I offered a harpoon gun?"

"Sages in some areas start with staffs. You're already lucky they were nice and let you have a spear instead." When my pout didn't go away, she said, "Think of it this way. If we gave you everything you wanted upfront, you wouldn't have a reason to play the game."

She had a point. Giving her my thanks, I swam back to the guys and passed out the starter kits. A few minutes later, everyone was able to stand up and walk around with starter gear covering their diving suits, although the shifting currents still blew them over too easily. Only Marshall seemed capable of withstanding the force, yet even he walked slowly and carefully like a man in a windstorm.

I realized it would be a while before they could catch up with my progress. "Why don't I introduce you to the Mayor?" I suggested. "You can do some of the same quests as new mermen players. It'll help familiarize you with the area. And, Reese, if you ask what he needs the quest items for, there's a chance of picking up a hidden quest that'll give you crafting recipes."

Everyone was on board with the idea. I spent ten minutes introducing everyone around town, then showed them to the entrance of the Cerulean Caves—the location for the first of the Mayor's novice quests.

"I'll let you guys go ahead without me," I said, taking them by surprise. "It'd be pointless if I went with you. I can already move around better than you, so having me around would minimize the challenge."

"What are you going to do instead?" Trace asked. I didn't hear any accusation or disappointment in his voice, which made me relieved. Part of me had been scared they were only exploring the area to make me feel included. Trace's tone made it clear they were there because they wanted to be—for themselves.

"I'm going to log out to the system lobby and try the offline arena app for a few hours. Hopefully, it'll help improve my spearmanship for the Tournament."

The guys traded knowing glances through their masks. Takumi slowly swam closer to tug on my wrist. "Be careful. Okay? I've heard some bad rumors about the training app."

"What do you mean?"

"It's supposed to be tough. That's all I know."

"I'll be fine," I soothed.

I didn't realize how naive my words were until it was too late to change my mind.