Episode 26. pond (2)

“Now, shall we go in?”

Before the other researchers here could approach, I threw myself straight into the pond.

“no… !”

Dana shouted as she saw me floating on the matte lake that seemed to melt if touched.

“What are you doing! Come out soon! I heard that the mana concentration there is very high! Weird kids live… !”

“Shallows are fine. The mana concentration in the pond increases as the water pressure increases, but it won’t go all the way down today.”

Since the water pressure and the mana concentration in the pond are directly proportional, the researchers called the mana concentration by dividing it from 1 water pressure to 5 water pressure based on the water pressure in the pond.

Where the water pressure is weak, that is, the mana concentration of a pond with 1 water pressure is enough for humans to withstand.

The liquid in which mana is dissolved is rather a medicine for magicians.

For example, 1 water pressure pond water has almost the same composition as holy water, a specialty of St. Presen Cathedral. Of course, Seongsu’s visuals are much better, but… .

I dragged Professor Dana, who was reluctant to come in, and dived into the pond.

‘Because there’s nothing good about being caught by people related to the pond.’

He calmed Professor Dana, who was constantly struggling in the water, and continued his explanation.

“Professor Dana?”

“town?”

“Don’t hold your breath. You can breathe.”

One of the most characteristic features of the liquid filling this place is that it can breathe inside it, and that there is no light source outside the surface of the water.

“Up to 2 water pressure, the light of the goddess will be able to pierce the darkness and illuminate the surroundings. Can’t you see that the goddess’ protection is still illuminating the surroundings?”

“I see. No sunlight is shining inside… .”

“therefore. Stop walking and follow me. I was able to breathe, and my vision was open. What is there to be afraid of?”

Of course, monsters would be reluctant.

If I also think that something might be looking at me in a place where I can’t see anything… . It gives me goosebumps.

However, this was also fine because Elma was by my side.

“I said that the higher the water pressure in the pond, the higher the mana concentration. So in the depths live bigger and more terrible monsters. Conversely, those that live in the shallows are not very threatening.”

“Ah, so I guess the monsters here are weak?”

“It is relatively weak. Even if you’re a great wizard, if you run into the guys who live in 1 water pressure without any preparation, you’ll have your head eaten and float here as a corpse.”

Now, the monsters are unable to approach because they are afraid of the light they have never faced in their life, but this expedient is also a method that only works with 1 or 2 water pressure.

Going deeper into the pond, the brightness of the pond was so low that even the light of the goddess was consumed by the darkness, so it was meaningless.

‘The one I’m looking for is at 1 water pressure, so it doesn’t matter right now.’

“then. What if gigantic monsters come up from the bottom that can’t stand this much light? Monsters that live in high water pressure can even come up here!”

“That’s why researchers classify water pressure into stages. The guys who live here use mana to breathe, but those who live in high water pressure use more mana to breathe as much as they do with strong power. If the monsters below come up above the mana barn, they will choke to death.”

“Is it okay for kids living in low water pressure to go down?”

“It could be, but if you’re not lucky, you’ll be eaten right away by creatures that live at higher water pressure than you. So, most of the monsters that live here don’t escape the water pressure they live in.”

“Ah, that’s why the people who manage this place were able to do research so carelessly? Because the monsters can’t come up anyway.”

“Yeah. From what I’ve learned so far, monsters will never come out of a pond with zero water pressure, or low mana concentration.”

… That hasty conviction will turn this school into hell after a year, but it’s a year from now that even Elma doesn’t know about, so there’s no need for me to be thinking about it now.

* * *

Meriel quickly ran around looking for the ‘cave’ I had told her about before coming here, and Dana and I floated around the pond around Elma’s light.

Dana, now somewhat calmer, began to pay attention to the liquid that filled the pond.

“Junior, mana is invisible to the naked eye. But when I listen to my junior’s story, it sounds like that’s not the case here… ? The higher the mana concentration, the darker it became. Isn’t it no different from saying that mana is black in a lake?”

“There are two hypotheses to explain it.”

First, since the laws of the outside world do not work in this place, mana is revealed as a black light.

Second, that this pond is a huge magic.

It is a hypothesis that there is an existence at the bottom of a pond that is infinitely deep and has not yet reached the bottom.

Inside the pond is a place where there are definitely different rules than outside. A high concentration of mana exists in a liquid state, and you can breathe in it.

Suddenly, at some point, an ecosystem in which non-standard monsters live appeared.

It is argued that this kind of miracle cannot be manifested or maintained unless it is magic, in which a being equivalent to a god pours all its strength into it.

I guess that such an existence is casting a spell that allows living things to breathe in this pond and dyes all mana black… .

The correct answer is number 2, but I didn’t tell Dana about it.

“Professor Dana, the Goddess said… .”

“Yeah?”

“They say that a giant spider with a human mouth has been watching the professor ever since.”

“Uh, uh… . Can I go out?”

at that time.

‘Mister! I found it!’

Receiving Meriel’s signal, I shook my head.

“Going back already. I didn’t invite the professor for an underwater walk.”

“No then-”

“Follow me. I will speed it up.”

It was a strange thing to swim in the dark while breathing freely. Would an astronaut floating in outer space feel like this?

“When researchers investigate this place, it is rare that they dive directly like we did. Because not everyone receives the protection of the goddess.”

“That would be very rare. Who else in the world is there other than your junior who dives directly into a place like this?”

“… So, researchers here have been sending golems to remotely study the ecosystem and nature of this place. Of course, that method would be less risky, but it would be difficult to grasp the detailed topography of this place.”

Therefore, the existence of this cave that has not been revealed until now.

Without hesitation, I went into the small underwater cave that Meriel had found through a hole in the wall of the pond.

“… Junior? Don’t you think you’re 100% living here?”

“You must be alive.”

“Yeah!?”

To be precise, it was right after I was living.

Unidentified creature number 14, ruler of water pressure. Drowning body, Greyvine.

The humans thought they were looking into this pond, but the creatures in it were also observing humans and looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

* * *

As if death had come, there are intelligent beings living in the dark pond.

At the bottom, there were a few of them who responded to the will of an unknown being who gave strength and food to all who lived in the pond, and tried to realize that will.

One such entity is a drowned body. The pseudonym he took after crawling out of Kiruna’s sewer was Greyvine.

“This… . Doesn’t it look like a workshop!?”

“It looks like the owner of this place is away now.”

1 Greyvines that live in low water pressure are not exceptionally strong themselves, as they live in low water pressure.

Rather, its power itself is on the weaker side than other monsters that live in 1 water pressure. Because it has a body similar to a human, it is one of the smallest in size in this pond… .

Even so, Grayvine completely dominated the 1 water pressure.

Metals and body parts of living creatures with no way to know how they were obtained in a place like this. And when they come together, the masterpieces of Greyvine are born.

The reason why Grayvine was able to completely dominate the water pressure and become a predator that maintains order is thanks to various research achievements made with high intelligence.

1 A respirator that scatters mana at the level of water pressure around you like mist, allowing you to breathe even on the ground.

A water purifier that fills the space with a liquid similar to a pond.

A syringe that completely brainwashes opponents with its own processed blood.

Other than that, he leisurely came and went between this place and Kiruna, using inventions that were outside the scope of what the pond researchers outside could expect.

Something at the bottom of the pond moved as desired, and Grayvine went beyond exploring the outside world and followed the will of Grayvine to build and expand a force in Kiruna.

The escape of the drowned body was easier than he thought, as the researchers were convinced that the monsters inside could not come out even if they stood guard over the pond 24 hours a day.

That’s how Greyvine became the leader of the violent organization Akula… .

“Professor Dana. Do you know why I asked to come here?”

“… I don’t know?”

“Now, let me tell you.”

I kicked and broke the drowned man’s prized drawer.

You must have had a hard time making it out of materials you don’t have, but what can I do if I can’t open it because I don’t have a key.

‘I’m sorry, it’s a drowned body.’

“It’s an empty house thief.”

* * *

When I go somewhere, it can be annoying if I have a lot of things to bring. Engineers tend to make multiple versions of an invention.

So, there are prototypes in the studio, and there are versions that have improved the shortcomings of the previous work, and that’s it, right?

Even if Greyvine, who by now was conspiring with the children he had brainwashed in the Agoge underground canal, had brought several supplies, there was no reason for him to think about taking all his inventions with him.

Did you ever imagine that some crazy person would come here naked and rob your studio? If that was the case, I would have made a security system.

I also thought this was possible because there was a villain who actually dived into the pond in the original work and brought the guy’s invention.

“first… . Let’s take two of these.”

“What is it… ?”

“I’ll have to go out and do some research.”

I already knew everything from where to use it to precautions, but I pretended not to know and took the mana respirator and magic engineering calculator among Grayvine’s inventions.

I thought about taking everything in the drawer, but decided against it for two reasons.

The first is that the drowning body’s inventions have excellent performance, but there are also penalties. There are many things I can’t use even if I have them.

Second, if the villains who are supposed to be heavily armed with these inventions later become too weak… . Because one chapter could completely collapse.

If the villain becomes too weak, the hero who will grow by defeating him will also become weak.

‘Since we decided to protect Sepia, who will grow into a key figure in Akula… . If the power of the drowned body is weakened more than this, the warlock episode itself may disappear.’

Chapter 6. black magician.

An episode in which devil worshipers, who appeared in the ghost story club episode, sacrifice their lives to use forbidden magic and release demons (monstrous creatures in the pond) into the school.

In that episode, Akula’s second-in-command, Louis Sephia, who handles Grayvine’s inventions most efficiently, appears.

Luis Sepia is armed with magical engineering products of formidable performance developed by the drowning body, and catches even the notorious ‘Agoge’s Devil’.

Sepia, who is currently being bullied at school, was able to change like that because of her family.

“Professor Dana, are you not interested in manaology in the body?”

“Is that it? Not really interested. It’s been a long time since I’ve been abandoned in academia. Would it be difficult to find related papers now? The current emperor, unlike the previous emperor, dislikes the content so much.”

“okay.”

The Lewis family made a name for themselves in the study of mana in the body.

Most of Grayvine’s inventions work by burning mana in the user’s blood and organs.

However, since anyone dies when the body mana in the body is depleted, if you think that the risk of using it is death, Grayvine’s items feel very difficult to handle.

Even if he handed over his invention to an organization member who did not know exactly how much mana his invention burned or how far he could use it, he would die from mana depletion in his body.

Louise Sepia is almost the only student in the school who is fluent in body manaology.

‘If it’s her, Grayvine can trust his invention.’

There was a reason why the drowned body brainwashed her in the original work.

“Professor Dana. You said you would be conducting research with me in the future.”

“Yes? I’m kind of regretting it now.”

“Let’s stop going up. And, I have rescued the unidentified body floating in the pond… . I’m announcing to the pond officials that we’re going to work on this together in the future.”

“With me? then… .”

“Then the two of us will be promoted to official pond researchers.”

Pond, the biggest and darkest enemy of this novel.

Studying it steadily is not a bad thing for me, who has to live in this novel.

Dana and I got out of the deep dark pond safely, holding the two magic items that Louis Sepia mainly uses in both hands.

* * *

Late at night, the student council president’s private room.

Princess Euril, the ruler of Paideia, gathered all the student members.

“So, Rize, did you have a big fight with Ina?”

“… Yes. It seems that he has no intention of remaining in the student council. I try to convince you, but you just keep on crying-”

“Felix, Lise, and Herril. And the leading members.”

As if there was nothing more to hear, Auril declared in a voice filled with annoyance.

“Meet here tomorrow evening.”

“Yeah… ?”

“And, until tomorrow night… . Grab Frill and all the kids around her. Are you sick X? At this school, grades are equal to skill, so how many kids stronger than you are going to be swayed by kids like that?”

“But how can the fifth princess… .”

“Felix. am i higher Are the frills higher? If you know that, just grab it! I will take care of the aftermath.”

Euril gritted his teeth, recalling the frill that dared to hold his wrist.

“Tomorrow evening, war. okay? Catch them all, even if you see the blood, okay?”