The Achievement Junkie - 644 Hungry on the Ocean Floor

Before long, they reached the dead zone where sunlight dwindled away and left the world in permanent shade.

Lunara made no stops though and continued her descent through that place. Both Jack and Lina could feel the water pressure growing substantially but they both managed to shrug it off. Jack’s divine physique was put to good use and Lina being a Glacial Hydra, a species dwelling more than ten thousand meters below the ocean’s surface, made the shifting water pressure slightly uncomfortable at best.

A bright beam of light burst out of Jack’s hand as they entered this area. Like a spotlight, Jack peered into the briny depths of the ocean.

At the same time, a swarm of large, black eels rushed towards the light’s source. They were almost ten meters in length and half a meter in width as they barreled through the water toward Jack.

While Lina licked her lips and Jack was about to act, Lunara was the first to make her move. A layer of frost exploded out of her body and killed the lv. 50 eels on impact. However, Lunara didn’t stop, causing Lina to frown as they passed up on what she thought would be a snack.

‘This is where it gets harder…’ Lunara telepathically stated, getting the attention of the other two. ‘Pay close attention, Lina. Down here, without me and Jack, you would still be at risk.’

‘I can handle myself, Mom,’ sighed Lina, disappointed to hear that.

‘No, you can’t. Not where we’re going,’ Lunara corrected. ‘Stay on my back and speak only telepathically. We don’t want to attract unnecessary attention and waste time or destroy ecosystems without a need.’

‘Okay…’

‘Jack, making a light is fine but don’t keep it shining on any one creature for too long. It will spook them or draw them to us,’ added Lunara.

Agreeing, Jack lessened the mana used to cast Beacon of Light and dimmed the spotlight. It wouldn’t let Jack see much at once but it was enough to look around.

To Jack’s surprise, Lunara was growling time and time again. It wasn’t very loud but Jack could guess what was happening.

‘Can you see with sound waves?’ Jack asked.

‘Really? Is it that hard for you to find?’

‘I never bothered searching for it and was focused on fleeing when I left, so I didn’t mind forgetting the way back then,’ responded Lunara.

‘Can’t I swim next to you, Mom?’

‘No, Lina. I don’t want to attract attention and that means we can’t interact with anything, which is what you want to do.’

‘But… please?’ begged Lina.

Lunara begrudgingly answered, ‘No… not this time. In the future, after we know the way, we can explore the depths together. Okay?’

‘Okay…’

Amazed at Lunara’s streamlined charge through the ocean’s depths, Jack did his best to find and remember any noticeable landmarks on the way. It would come in handy in the case he wanted to visit later as well, but it also filled Jack’s mind with more wonder than ever. To have such a wondrous, unexplored world so nearby was astonishing for him.

This pace continued for a while. Lunara only slowed down after she finally reached the bottom of the ocean floor at around six thousand meters deep. They had encountered a few fish and sea life that tried to attack them and Jack’s light but nothing that could withstand Lunara’s frost body. The strongest creatures wouldn’t be found until now and even those may not attack should they sense a threat from Lunara’s gigantic presence.

‘Now… We search every crevice for signs of Glacier Reef…’ Lunara sighed, getting Jack and Lina to do the same out of habit.

Lunara’s speed was lessened as she inspected the nearest drop off carefully. Rather than dive into the depths of each crevice and trench, Lunara tried to sense the currents and gauge the deeper water temperatures. It took some time but would be faster than exploring every inch of every crack.

Wildlife became harder to find. But when Jack and Lina spotted something, it was either gigantic, minuscule, or traveling in large groups.

The day passed slowly compared to their meteoric descent. And the slower it got, the more impatient Lina was. They had passed on every snack she spotted on the entire trip and were inspecting their fifteenth drop off, crevice, or trench. After a long day of doing nothing, Lina struggled to ignore her hunger.

At the top of the trench, Lunara was slowly scanning their surroundings. Jack kept a dim light searching through the pitch-black depths with only specs of bioluminescent light as a guide. Their focus was elsewhere and not on Lina.

The young, lv. 71 hydra was starving and was unable to deny her instincts. She could sense some movements in the water nearby and Jack’s light gave her a glimpse of a meal. The light revealed a giant school of small, transparent fish clustered together. Jack wasn’t too interested in the fish, having seen similar fish in the other crevices, but Lina was eager to eat.

As soon as Jack moved the light elsewhere, Lina kept her focus on the traveling school of fish. After a moment passed and her babysitters weren’t paying attention, Lina darted forward at full speed.

“Lina!”