......

    deep in the middle of the forgotten sea, shin brought cloe and alice to the underwater temple of the forgotten god of the sea – the god of primordial waters, hydros.

    cloe seemed to be still upset about something after listening to shin''s ''explanation'' earlier. even though he could hear her complaining in a low voice, she still followed him here without saying anything.

    regardless, she was still willing to help shin with anything. she was just sulking since she thought this was finally the time when she could ''solo'' shin and have a time together. but who would have thought that they would be in the presence of a ''third wheel'', who happened to have some history and a complicated connection with shin?

    earlier, she and alice were somewhat getting along. but after this ''incident'', the gap between them seemed to appear once again.

    what upset her even more was when she learned that shin and alice had gone questing before with just the two of them. and it was not just once, but twice.

    cloe felt like crying since she had yet to spend time with shin together within the game themselves when her main purpose of playing the game when arthur first invited her was to play with him in the first place.

    but who would have thought that she would have to wait a very long time before shin joined them?

    then such a precious opportunity was snatched by some other woman!

    how could she not be upset because of this?

    alice, on the other hand, was oblivious to this. she remained silent as she followed them here under shin''s invitation. after all, he had helped her before during their time in the stormy mountain range between the storm empire and dark cloud kingdom.

    even if shin had told her that he was also doing his quest by helping her, she still felt somewhat indebted and wanted to repay him.

    after all, she had not only formed a contract with such a powerful elemental spirit queen, who was a fallen primordial god but also had gotten a top-notch secondary combat class during that quest.

    she felt that she had taken advantage of shin by gaining more benefits during that time, so she wanted to take this opportunity to repay that ''debt''.

    since this also happened to be related to contact with another elemental, the timing, and condition could not be any more perfect.

    this was the perfect opportunity to repay him.

    ...

    alice curiously looked around the underwater temple and observed the place. her eyes were especially attracted by the ancient murals painted and engraved on the walls, which were telling the legends of the sea.

    she knew that this guy was not that simple since he had contracted several elemental spirits with great potential and limitless aptitudes, but she did not know that she would be given such a surprise of this level.

    ...

    not long after, shin led the two to the hall, where the sleeping god of the primordial waters was.

    boom!

    when he opened the giant metal gates, an overwhelming pressure quickly rushed out of the hall and tried to drown the three of them.

    shin was relatively fine since he had already familiarized himself with this pressure when he first visited this place. moreover, his newly improved mental prowess could already withstand this kind of pressure. it was nothing to him.

    cloe and alice, on the other hand, were somewhat caught off guard by this sudden eruption of pressure. after all, it was their first time coming here.

    but they had their respective methods to withstand it.

    alice was protected by gaia, who released a cleansing aura that washed her mind from mental pressure and protected her from a mind mark that could leave fear deep inside her consciousness, putting trauma in it.

    cloe, on the other hand, released a holy aura that covered her body and protected her mind. the effects of this aura were similar to the one that gaia had released, but hers possessed more potent cleansing powers due to her high affinity for light and sacred elements.

    after recovering their footings, they raised their head and saw a cute little creature that seemed to be a humanoid whale ''floating'' in the air while being sealed in a glass-like container made of the purest form of mana.

    their eyes were also attracted by the huge magic formation that almost covered the entire hall.

    [it is indeed hydros of the primordial waters.] mumbled gaia after a brief silence. the form might be different, but she could sense a dense primordial power coming from this little creature.

    aside from that, she could also feel that this ''hydros'' had already lost all his memories after seeing this creature''s ''clear'' consciousness. it was no different from an infant which had been born into the world.

    but what made her frown deeper was when she could no longer sense any divinity from hydros'' current vessel – not even the tiniest hint of it. he had his divine powers completely.

    even she, who had been ''reincarnated'' multiple times through different vessels and forms, was still able to retain a small hint of divinity, albeit being broken.

    she could not help but sigh after realizing that hydros might have experienced much harsher conditions than her during the war at ''that'' time.

    ......