Aqua
One other benefit I’ve noticed of leveling up.
I move faster when I have more strength and dexterity. So it takes less time to cross the distance and catch up to where I left off yesterday. Even if the exact time difference isn’t too great.
Still. A small difference is still a difference.
And with that I manage to save some time before finally making it back to the cavern filled with jellyfish corpses and crimson jellyfish insides floating around.
Not really a very pretty sight, but what the abyss.
Doesn’t really matter.
With that thought in mind, I go ahead and pass through the cavern before entering the next tunnel. And immediately finding some rather… unusual… monsters inside of it.
They’re giant isopods.
[Deepsea Slick Isopod – Level 16]
[Deepsea Slick Isopod – Level 15]
[Deepsea Slick Isopod – Level 16]
Or as their name states, deepsea slick isopods. Probably because these things – that look kind of like large meter-long bugs with shells – seem to be covered in some sort of slimy film.
Out of curiosity, I approach one of them before stabbing straight at it with my trident.
Only for said trident to immediately just slide off of its shell to hit the floor. Following which the isopod starts chewing on my trident.
“Hey, that’s not food!” I exclaim with a frown on my face.
Then, as if deciding it agrees with me, the isopod stops chewing on my trident, makes a face almost like it didn’t like the taste of my weapon, and turns its gaze towards me.
How rude.
“So my weapon isn’t enough so now you’re going to try eating me? This weapon has been with me for a long time now after all,” I mutter with a huff. “It deserves more respect than that.”
The chat floods with messages at my words.
[Did she just get upset at the isopod for trying to eat her weapon, then get upset at it for making a face when it realized it didn’t like it?]
[That she did.]
[Typical Aqua.]
I choose to respectfully ignore their chatter as I raise a foot and stomp on the isopod. But as I’m preparing to attack it some other way, I end up feeling my armored foot straight up crushing the thing’s shell and killing it with ease.
Uh…
I stare blankly at the crushed monster, then at the message playing out in my vision.
[You have killed a level seventeen Deepsea Slick Isopod. EXP has been granted accordingly.]
[You have killed a creature underwater. Apex Predator of the Depths has been activated, increasing your REGEN stat by one.]
Silence fills the tunnel with the only noise being that of the other isopods, who were previously approaching me with that same hungry look this one had, fleeing at top speeds. Clearly scared by what they just saw.This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Just how slick is this thing’s shell to make my trident just slide off despite my foot stomp crushing the entire thing?
Also, just how strong am I getting to crush that thing under boot?
Then again, considering how many stat points I’ve been putting into strength, along with my boost from my trait… yeah, this isn’t all that surprising after all.
Well, if that’s the case…
I immediately proceed to hunt down the other isopods. Crushing them all with my feet or hands one after another while praising the fact that I’m underwater and therefore won’t be getting dirty from this.
A couple hours pass while I go around crushing these isopods before I finally find another cavern. With this one being filled with what look like a bunch of starfish. With a single massive starfish at the center of it all.
And right as I’m feeling rather carefree, my entire body tenses the moment I identify the massive starfish.
[Deepsea Eater Star – Level 25]
My mouth parts open before closing again.
Why is a starfish level 25? The same level as that shark?
I don’t understand this logic.
And why is it called an eater-
My answer ends up interrupting me as some random delfish in the cavern gets too close to the massive ten-meter-long starfish and ends up being grabbed by one of its five limbs. Then pulled towards the center of the starfish that ends up opening up to reveal circular rows of razor sharp teeth. Dozens of rows in fact.
I stare blankly at the starfish as it quickly tears the delfish apart in its mouth and devours the entire thing. Only to go silent again as its mouth closes without revealing any hints of there even being a mouth there.
Uh…
Yeah, that doesn’t look like fun to fight.
If anything down here could be considered fun, that is.
I continue looking around the cavern for a bit before deciding to try hunting some of the much smaller starfish. Which are around my level.
And they prove to be a lot easier to hunt. Especially when I kill them from a distance with my pressurized water blades.
The smaller ones are pretty much the same as the large one in a lot of ways. Except with the smaller ones being orange in color and only about one to two meters in size, varying by starfish. Whereas the large one was black in color and ten meters long. Just sitting in a large dip in the center of the cavern.
It’s rather easy to kill the small ones just by sending a blade of pressurized water right into their mouths when they open them to eat.
The things die almost right away from that. So I just continue hunting the small ones while keeping my distance from the large starfish.
Eventually I manage to level up one more time, reaching level 22. Following which I finally turn around and head back to my little home.
After a very long swim in which I get home by around midnight.
When I make it to my little cavern, I immediately take off my armor and collapse onto my lovely backpack pillow. Then I take that little bracelet the orc king was wearing out of my storage ring and frown at it, still trying to figure out what the heck it does but also being too wary to put it on.
So what to do…
Wait, I think there’s some sort of scanner in the sponsorship items for dungeon loot.
I quickly open up the Sponsorship System menu before looking around. Only to find that the scanner in question is locked until I reach level twenty-five.
Damn. That’s a shame.
Then again, I’m only three levels away from level twenty-five. So I guess that’s just another thing to add to my list of reasons to reach that level as quickly as possible.
After I reach it I should be good to finally go deal with that shark as well.
Anyway, while lying down on the backpack, I go ahead and check the message from Jack Verol’s agency again. The one about the music video.
It’ll be the first job I’ll be doing tomorrow.
The plan for the morning is to have me come in, sing a few songs for them to hear my singing voice and skill, then go from there. Deciding if we can immediately begin recording the song or if we need to wait a bit for a vocal trainer.
Then I have a shoot for an ad about mints. Which I was rather vocal about doing, to the surprise of the one who offered it.
Mints are life though, so they shouldn’t be surprised.
And the third job for tomorrow and last job for the day is another modeling job. Except this one is in summer attire. No swimsuits.
Although it will be me walking along the beach in said summer attire.
Just a summer dress and a hat I believe. Along with some other similar outfits.
Come to think of it, the people I met for both shoots were incredibly excited to meet me for some reason. It makes me wonder what they’re so happy about.
But whatever. At the end of the day, work is work. And I have to get it over with to live.
I need those sponsors after all. Not to mention my life after I eventually get out of this place.
Pioneers who actually manage to survive generally end up taking over their world and becoming its representative in the Alliance. More often than not.
A job that requires quite a bit of support from the people of the Alliance.
An Alliance that doesn’t generally treat new worlds joining them very well. Unless they are headed by a popular Pioneer.
I yawn before finally closing out of all my menus. Then I begin to close my eyes as well.
Time to sleep.
Don’t want to end up late or tired for the morning.