Bubbles

Yin thought that Edrick was a bit too joyful about potentially encountering one of those horrific, water-dwelling creatures… Sure, what hid in the depths might not always be as awful-looking as the likes of an anglerfish. Naturally, the seas, oceans, lakes, and such did not only house monsters, but also majestic beasts and animals, as well as sapient species.

Still, everyone should know that humans, for example, were firmly terrestrial beings who preferred to have solid ground beneath their feet. Even if they learned to breathe underwater or fly indefinitely, they would always want to walk with their own two feet.

So she was firmly against the idea of going into the water to confront an unknown threat, especially since her swimming skills, as she had stated, were far from stellar. She also had no way to fight whilst submerged. Yet it seemed like Anoteros instead found the idea of facing a creature on its own turf fantastic.

She had not quite taken him for a battle-lover. He had always seemed to think through every action and act with perfect caution and calculated risks. His fight with Xiao had been like that, and the way he acted when in the woods also supported that view. But it seemed like the tomboy was going to witness another side of him today.

“I should have brought a trident for this” he mused to himself, setting down the bag he carried on his back. Edrick had packed quite a lot of stuff, including a spear. Although he had no weapon cultivation technique to accompany it, his own personal skill should be enough. For he had experience with spearfishing.

Edrick then took off most of his clothes. Only keeping his lower garment on, which he lifted before settling his bare feet into the shallow waters of the lake’s edge. He felt the grass and abundant vegetation that grew beneath the surface. It was odd, it barely even felt wet.

It was certainly soaked, but not nearly as imbued with water as he would have expected.

The water was not too murky, as he could see a fair distance through it. He had already noticed schools of small fish darting away as he disturbed the lake’s surface. All smaller than the average man’s thumb- Edrick was attentive, like a hunter stalking its prey. Barely any movement could escape his attention, at least, if it occurred within the water, it wouldn’t.

A distance away, Yin was looking at the scene with a worried expression. No words could describe how bad it would be if she got him wounded when she was just supposed to distract him for a couple of hours.

Though the worry left space for a bit of fascination. This made Yin realise that she had never actually seen him hunt, and had only seen him fight a handful of times. And all of those times had all been spars. Never had it been an actual fight that staked life and death.

The tomboy absentmindedly tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, finding that focused expression oddly interesting to look at. This was the face of an experienced huntsman. A man who had hunted and killed all sorts of creatures, small and big game alike. Yin was not experienced or old enough to discern that it made no sense for Edrick to have the vibe of such a veteran. But honestly, she wasn’t thinking very deeply about it anyway, merely observing attentively.

Anoteros was too focused on the task at hand to notice anything going on with Yin at the moment, so he could not revel in her expression.

He spotted what looked like a catfish moving away after curiously approaching, seemingly getting spooked by what it did not recognise. Indeed, a human was certainly an uncommon sight around here. But just as the catfish turned tail to swim away, Edrick noticed a crimson cloud rising from where it had fled to.

The young noble stopped moving entirely, his spear raised aloft and ready to be thrust down if necessary. His eyes concentrated on the rising cloud, which was undoubtedly blood. He had seen plenty of that firsthand, and it seemed like the catfish had run into misfortune nearly immediately after appearing within Edrick’s sight.

But he was left somewhat disappointed as the predator revealed itself, holding the struggling catfish. It was merely a big, semi-aquatic snake from the looks of it. Currently, it was trying to bring the catfish ashore to eat it. Probably because the prey was still struggling fiercely, and was too big.

“Yin, a snake is going to emerge where you are standing with a live catfish in its mouth, don’t be surprised” he casually said aloud. The girl nodded as she took a step back.

Probably not used to actually having to worry about anything, the snake rapidly emerged without doing its due diligence and actually checking the surroundings. Leading to it having its skull pierced by the precise strike of Yin’s Piandao, killing the snake on the spot.

“Mmh… Doesn’t look like a venomous one, it should be perfectly safe to eat” she commented to herself. It was just a mundane animal, but its meat should be nourishing nonetheless.

She looked back up at Edrick, who had ventured a few steps deeper into the lake. Since he was so tall, he could go further than most before being too deep in the water. He even reached one of the trees growing out of the lake, inspecting it for a little while. But just like the rest, it was just a tree that was somehow perfectly content having a portion of its bark and entire root system submerged.

It seemed to neither thrive more than those out of the water, nor be affected negatively.

“Well, I see absolutely nothing out of the ordinary” he said aloud, slightly tilting his head forward, as though hoping that him saying that out loud would cue some hidden creature to spring forward. But nothing did. The lake was full of fish and other common creatures you would find in that sort of place, but there was seemingly nothing that qualified as a beast or monster, only most mundane animals.

So after trying to peer under the water, he headed back on dry ground, finding Yin already taking apart the snake and catfish.

“Now that I think about it, perhaps there is some sort of natural treasure at the bottom of the lake?” she began “You know, that would explain why things grow like normal in it. So I was thinking that there is perhaps some natural wonder that was responsible, but it is a rather normal assumption to make. So I don’t see why the core disciples I spoke to would not have retrieved it already if that were the case…”

Anoteros shrugged.

“Maybe it is too well hidden? Maybe it has to do with the area itself, who knows?” he casually went behind a tree and got a change of pants, as the ones he was wearing had been thoroughly soaked.

Meanwhile, Yin focused on starting a campfire to cook their catches. Since they had caught some food, they might as well eat it right now, whilst it was still fresh.

As they sat around the fire, discussing, they both noticed that something was happening in the lake. Bubbles were rising from its center, only a few at first, and merely for a second, but it undeniably happened.

And soon enough, a shadow neared the bank…