Chapter 320 (Patreon)

Chapter 320

Cirrus had joined the domain project, and the group returned to their travels to get closer to the demon continent. They boarded their boat again and left the archipelago of the cloud dragon and returned to the open sea in search of land. Or something else to get distracted over.

“Good to have you back!” A day had passed since meeting Cirrus, and as Kel had finished teaching her the ropes of Sophia's domain, he joined the group again on their travel towards the demon continent. Doing so made Ari quite relieved because she had the big water dragon scaring away all the possible water monsters around them.

"Does anyone want to see a scary place?" Kel circled the boat a couple of times before moving his massive head high into the air to gesture to their left.

“I’VE NEVER FELT AS BETRAYED AS I AM RIGHT NOW!” The jaguar didn’t appreciate that at all.

“Let’s go!” Steph seemed to be a fan of the suggestion.

“Define scary.” Maya, who might be a bit of a scaredy cat when it came to scary things, wasn’t an immediate fan, either.

“Yeah, details, please!” Sophia, on the other hand, was looking at him with sparkling eyes.

“What she said!” Chloe felt the same.

“My lair is nearby.” The dragon was still looking towards the open sea on their left. “I haven’t been there for a little while, but I imagine some of you would like to see it. You're a curious bunch after all."

“Your lair?” The dog-girl tilted her head. “I thought that was the lake in the desert Sophia fished you out of?”

“That was merely a holiday home of mine.” He lightly shook his massive head. “It does not even begin to compare to my actual lair in this ocean.”

"Let's go!" Steph, Chloe, Sophia, and Anna, too, had the same reaction.

“So much for not getting sidetracked, huh?” Aura reacted with a small chuckle as she looked at the blonde. “It lasted almost a full day, didn’t it?”

“It’s okay if it’s a fun distraction!” Sophia stared back at her. "Seeing an interesting place while traveling is part of the goal! It’s only a bad thing if the distraction is boring!”

“What she said!” Steph wholeheartedly agreed with her sister.

“You were the one who said we should try not to get sidetracked, not we.” The female wolf was still looking at the tiger.

“Shush now!” Sophia knew that the wolf was just trying to mess with her again. “Will we even be able to see your lair, though?” She then changed her attention to the dragon. “Like, I assume it would be under the water, right?”

“Kind of, but I also did some land, well, ocean-scaping while I was at it.” Kel paused for a moment. “The demons started calling it the abyss at some point, and I think that sounds pretty nice.”

“That doesn’t sound nice at all!” Ari raised her voice. “In fact, that sounds horrifying!”

“Yeah, it’s awesome, not just nice!” Steph nodded a few times. “Why is it called the abyss, though? Did you create a massive whirlpool that drags ships to the bottom of the ocean?”

“Would you like me to tell you, or would you like me to bring you there to see it with your own eyes?”

“Please bring us there!”

“It does not drag down the boats of people who are friends of the might water elder dragon, right?” Ari got even more concerned. “R-Right?”

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Kel dragged the boat along a current he had created for about an hour, when the sea eventually began to change. Up until now, their journey on the ocean had been more than peaceful, and the most they saw were some gentle waves that rocked them around the tiniest bit.

The water was becoming increasingly more turbulent as they were getting closer to Kel’s lair. The waves were getting higher and higher, many tens of meters high, which were creating a massive amount of mist and white foam as they collapsed, significantly reducing the visibility even further.

On top of that, the current the dragon was creating wasn't the only one tugging at their boat any longer. Multiple other forces were constantly trying to pull them in their direction and get them away from Kel's current. Naturally, the elder dragon of water easily overpowered them, though.

All of that was nothing compared to what awaited them when their boat made it over a massive wave that gave them a good view of what lay ahead. Luckily, for Ari, there were no whirlpools. Unluckily, for Ari, there was something much worse.

The waves and turbulences fully disappeared in an instant, but they got replaced by something that doesn’t usually happens with water, especially not in the middle of an ocean. The water just split. There was a massive trench where the water flowed over like a waterfall, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, while being roughly two kilometers wide, and disappearing into the seemingly endless depth of the trench.

“Woah!” Everyone had the same reaction.

“Alright, I’m out.” Almost everyone because the jaguar just shook her head, turned around on the deck of their boat, and took a portal to Sophia’s domain.

“Welcome to my Abyss Trench~.” Kel seemed to like their reactions. “Well, that’s what everyone on the continent calls it. For me, it’s just my lair.”

"I can definitely see where it got its name from." Steph kept looking at it with big eyes.

“Yep.” Her sister nodded a few times.

“How deep does it go?” Chloe got a little closer to the railing and strained her eyes while trying to look down the trench. “I can’t see the bottom at all.”

“I’m not quite sure.” Kel paused for a moment. “I’ve never measured it, but it goes all the way to the bottom of the ocean, so a couple of kilometers, I’d say.”

“Wow!” The fox-girl was genuinely impressed. “Okay, so my next question would be the following: HOW?!”

“An excellent question!” The sisters wanted to know the same.

“Magic, of course~.” The dragon sounded a tiny bit smug. “I am the water elder dragon. Water is kind of my thing if you’ve forgotten.”

“I have not, but this spectacle seems to be going against several rules of physics and magic.” Chloe pointed at the trench in the water in the middle of the ocean.

“Cirrus can create clouds that trick you into a maze, can change forms and density, shine in a pearlescent hue, and are able to lift enormous islands in the sky. What makes you think that I wouldn’t have a trick or two in my repertoire when it comes to my element and specialty?"

“If you put it that way.” She scratched her cheek. “I guess it’s because you’ve been doing mostly regular water-based magic ever since you came to Sophia’s domain.”

“I just don’t like to brag.” Kel stared right at her. “I’m a very humble dragon.”

“…” No one believed him, and everyone shook their heads in return.

“How rude.” He sounded upset for a moment. "I've just awoken from a long slumber, and I still feel lazy."

“Valid.” Sophia thought that this was a perfectly adequate reason.

“I see.” The fox-girl decided to leave it at that and gestured at the trench once more. “Then, my last question would be: Why?”

“Why not?” Kel didn't see the problem.

“Fair enough.” Chloe had nothing to add there.

“I love how whimsical the dragons are!” Sophia excitedly clapped her hands. "Cirrus put islands on clouds because it's cool, and Kel split the ocean because why not!"

“Makes you feel connected to them, huh?” Kel let out a small chuckle. “You’re at least as whimsical after all.”

“Absolutely!” The blonde embraced it. "Two for two so far, and I hope I can get along with the others, too!"

“You won’t have many problems with that.” Kel reacted with a small nod of his massive head. “You’re a very curious being, and we like the unknown. Also, once you show them your domain and mention the magic growth, you won.”

“Awesome!”

“Were you holding back during our fights?” Aura had been staring at the massive trench the entire time and eventually faced the dragon while sounding quite disappointed. “You’ve never used anything remotely as grandiose as this when we had a match.”

"Have you shown me the full extent of what you're capable of already?" Kel just lazily moved his eyes in her direction.

“Well, if you put it that way, I can see the reasoning.”

“Also, this type of magic is highly situational.” The dragon looked around for a moment before focusing on Aura again. “Sure, I could try to create an ocean around you and trap you at the bottom of it in an attempt to drown you. Or, change the properties of water to make it harder for you. However, this will require time and my undivided attention. What would you do while I’m busy getting a large-scale attack like that ready?”

“It wouldn’t be just the tip of the horn hanging on the wall in the cottage as decoration.” The wolf could follow his reasoning.

“Exactly.” He simply nodded. “With your speed, you could easily kill me during that time.”

“What a lovely conversation~.” Sophia rolled her eyes while listening to them.

With that topic being taken care of, the group continued their exploration of Kel's lair, at least the abyss part that was visible from the surface, while marveling over just how extreme the area looked.