Several dozen meters away from the Caves on Oceana
Jaleth feels awkward as he swims next to the woman he’s been searching for all this time. Both because of her saving him, and because of the way she saved him.
At first he thought saving her was both the right thing to do and would get him brownie points for getting her to join his group of hunters. But her saving him in return erased any sort of debt she may feel from his saving her.
Worst yet was the way she saved him, picking him up before he could even think. And in a bridal carry at that, clearly showing her immense strength.
Both the sight of her strength confusing him and the proximity to her body and face making him feel flustered took his usual confidence right out of him.
And of course, she chose that exact moment to ask who he was.
Now he can’t help but feel glad for the cold water around them that’s keeping him from blushing.
While searching for this woman this entire time, not once did he expect her to be so gorgeous. And when he glances at her from the side, he can’t help but notice that her eyes are glowing underwater for some reason.
Is that a skill? But she seems to be out of mana right now…
He decides to put that out of his mind as the two continue swimming until they make it far away from the serpent.
Actually, why didn’t she have a light orb while hunting in the caves? It’s basic hunter knowledge to bring one in case you run into a serpial. Since they often frequent caves at this level.
The only possibility that comes to mind for the strongest hunter in the world to make such a simple mistake is that she must’ve been run out of wherever she was before hunting.
Maybe a powerful deepsea monster attacked her home and she was forced out?
After that thought, his gaze turns towards her armor. Which is weird as well.
“Why are you using such low quality armor while hunting in the caves?” he can’t help but ask out loud with a frown on his face, finally regaining his usual composure as reality sets in and he takes in more than just her appearance.
To his surprise, the woman, Aqua, looks surprised by his words. Then she just shrugs and answers, “I don’t have any other armor, so it’s the only thing I can wear.”
That has him narrowing his eyes a little.
A single hunter training in the caves with terrible armor that’s even missing the part covering her right arm and without a weapon who doesn’t seem to know about light orbs? Yeah, she most likely got forced out of her home thanks to the System’s initialization causing a monster to rampage. And that armor was probably the closest thing to her. Or something like that.
At this point Jaleth firmly comes to this conclusion without almost any doubt. And judging by her level, and the strange fact that her System identify result is blue for some reason, unlike anyone else he has seen, he wouldn’t be surprised if she was from some special hidden clan living at the bottom of the ocean or something.
He’s heard rumors that people like that exist.
Not that anyone can actually get down there to check though.
Then he notices something that shocks him more than anything else.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“How are you breathing down here?!” he shouts as he realizes she’s not wearing a portabreather.
The woman blinks, tilts her head, and answers with a slightly lazy expression and voice, “By breathing?”
He stares at her.
She stares back.
Silence fills the water around them.
She’s definitely from one of those secret clans.
This conclusion firmly settles into his mind as he begins to wonder how to convince her to join his hunter group. Since someone like her must be rather picky about the type she associates with.
He sees that a lot with young people who are already this talented and clearly given some sort of special training or powers. Or maybe even just some powerful skills from the System thing aiding their civilization.
A lot of the hunters he’s seen who have been granted powerful skills by the System have grown extremely cocky after all, which he’s had to deal with while recruiting them for his team. And it’s even worse for a secret clan member who must’ve been born with a silver spoon in her mouth with power and money.
He wouldn’t actually be that surprised if her ability to breathe underwater was from a skill.
And his theory of her home having been destroyed has a single presence that strongly supports it.
The presence of that delvi could be the answer to it all.
What if her entire clan fought with it, and she escaped?
That’s the first thought Jaleth thinks of as he looks at her attire and strange powers along with her being alone.
I need more details first.

Aqua
This native sure thinks a lot. It’s like he’s getting stuck in his own head while looking me up and down lost in thought.
He’s also asking some questions that are probably commonplace in this world or something. But I have no idea how to answer them, so I think brutally honest ignorance is the best answer.
People often jump to their own conclusions after all based on their own assumptions about how the universe works.
Mostly though, I just don’t really care if people find out I’m from the Alliance. It’s not like it changes anything. And most people don’t even assume that there are other worlds in the universe invading theirs for a reality TV show sort of thing.
Especially with just one person whose level is the same as theirs.
And why would they?
That just sounds ridiculous.
Anyway, his identify result actually tells me a couple things.
[Jaleth Aerwyn – Bloodline: None – Level 24]
First, his level is actually pretty high for a native. And second, I’m pretty sure I recognize his name from somewhere. Which means he must be on the leaderboards.
So with that thought, I go ahead and check said leaderboards. Only to find him as the second ranker on it.
Right. Which means he must be relatively important amongst his people.
Probably.
He’s at least the strongest native. So there’s that.
I can gather some intel from him.
On that note, I glance at the chat to find it still going crazy. Whether it’s from crazy people saying they want to hurt this guy for some reason, just because I carried him in my arms. Or saying they’re curious about him and Oceana’s civilization.
There are also a lot of people laughing about how our conversation has gone so far, but I ignore them as they don’t exist in my mind.
As for the guy in front of me? He looks very confused, likely due to everything I’ve said and done so far along with the blue coloring of my identify result that marks me as a Bloodliner. Although he seems to be coming to some sort of conclusion at least.
But when it comes to his own appearance?
The man is actually rather bulky in terms of muscle, and he’s wearing a skintight suit with plates of some sort of blue scale armor on over the suit.
And judging by his comment about my armor being low quality, I have to assume his is much better than mine.
I wonder if he’d give, I mean lend, it to me if I asked?
Probably not.
Plus there’s no way in the abyss it’d fit me. Not when he’s a head taller, far bulkier, and, well, a guy.
A pity.
It’s fine though. I’ll be getting new armor soon enough anyway.
At level 30.
A new weapon too.
“Is your family somewhere in this ocean?” the man, Jaleth, asks with a frown on his face.
I blink at him before shaking my head and answering in a slightly darker voice as I don’t care much for people asking this topic, “I don’t have any family.”
It always makes people show me pity. Which I really don’t like.
Sympathy is fine, but pity?
It makes me feel… inferior. In a way.
My words make him freeze right in his tracks. Then for some reason a look of extreme pity far worse than anything I’ve ever seen before crosses his face, and he pats me on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry for asking,” he says, his voice full of emotion. “I’m sure they fought well…”
I blink in confusion.
What the abyss is this guy going on about?
I don’t know a thing about my parents, so why would he… wait, does he think I meant my family died here after the System’s initialization or something?
That’s… actually a logical conclusion.
Maybe.
Probably?
I’m just gonna go with it.