Path to Transcendence

Chapter 477: Donʼt Go In There

He stared at the water’s surface for longer than he would have liked. However, he wasn’t able to come up with a plan. He was almost entirely sure that a token or, at the very least, a valuable treasure was hidden in the depths of the lake.

The main problem was that he wasn’t able to extend his perception beyond the water’s surface. That made him nervous for multiple reasons. For one, he was rarely ever left completely blind. His spatial skill was very good, allowing him to keep track of his surroundings at all times. It was why he almost never got caught off guard.

Yet, the little turtle had managed to ambush him before he could notice, taking one of his toes as a snack. That small attack had given him more of a scare than he would care to admit.

Furthermore, it wasn’t just the turtle he was worried about. He was concerned that other threats and dangers were lurking in the lake. Threats that he couldn’t sense because of the water’s weird property that blocked his perception.

Not even his mana or aura senses were able to see through it. There was so much mana tangled together in the water that it was basically a brick wall to his mana senses.

However, he realized that he needed to make a decision soon. Either leave for other opportunities, or suck it up and indulge his curiosity.

He slumped his shoulders. When he thought about it like that, the answer was quite simple. He squared his chest and, displaying more courage than he felt, he stepped close to the water’s edge. He bent down to his knees and lowered his head so that it hovered just above the surface for a few brief moments.

He could feel his heart pounding slightly, a mix of anxiousness and excitement. With his perception skill, he had always been calm because he had a general idea of what was awaiting him. He chuckled. The fear of the unknown was surprisingly effective.

Before he could overthink it, he swiftly plunged his head beneath the water. To his shock, when he opened his eyes, he saw everything very clearly. It was as if a thin, illusory barrier covered the surface of the water, preventing people from seeing beneath it. However, once you break the surface tension, that barrier would no longer prevent you from perceiving the water below.

Sure, it was still hard with the unique water, but at least he was able to see various vegetation floating on the bottom of the lake, as well as a small number of fish swimming about.

The lake itself was deeper than he imagined, but not so deep that he couldn’t see the bottom. Of course, the crystal-like quality of the water helped matter, but he would estimate it to be around a hundred feet deep.

He didn’t spot the turtle anywhere, but he paused when he saw a small fish the size of his hand swim nearby. It glanced at Julius with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. It didn’t look aggressive at all and slowly floated closer to him.

He let it get closer to his face and didn’t move even when it nudged his nose. He simply kept on looking at it, and the fish stared right back at him. Then it must have gotten bored or at least satisfied its curiosity, because it turned around and swam off in the other direction.

Julius pulled his head out and wiped his wet hair from his face. He still hadn’t spotted the hungry little turtle, but he had sensed something interesting. There was a section of the lake where a shimmering, light blue glow was emitted. It was down toward the bottom, and Julius’s gut told him that this was where he would find the treasure or token.

However, now that he wasn’t so nervous about going into the water, he took off some of his clothes, leaving only his underwear on. He was about to jump feet first when he sensed someone staring at him.

He turned around slowly. “Umm, can I help you?” He asked the woman archer. She had her stealth skill activated, but Julius had still sensed her approach.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her voice surprisingly soft. Julius watched as she removed her hood that was obscuring her face, and he was surprised at how young she looked. Most of the competitors were older; he was one of the youngest-looking people there. Yet, this girl seemed to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.

Soft black hair, bordering on ashy gray, flowed over her shoulders, framing a graceful face.

He strutted over to the area closest to where he had seen the glow and looked back at her. “I’m about to go for a swim,” he said with a shrug.

“A swim?” She asked, sounding both perplexed and wary. Her bow was at her side, but he could tell from her grip that she was prepared to use it at a moment’s notice.

“Yeah, the water here is pretty interesting. What happened to the rest of them?” He asked, changing the topic.

She tilted her head as she stared at him, deciding whether or not to answer him. “The one you put a hole in his chest died, and his body was removed from the realm a few minutes later. The one with the shield also died. The redhead crushed his head,” she finally explained to him.

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“And the redhead?”

She looked away, not meeting his eyes. “He ran away,” she said.

Julius finally focused his full attention on her. “He escaped from you? An archer on an open plain with almost nowhere to hide?” He found it hard to believe.

She scrunched her forehead with irritation. “Yeah,” she gritted out. It sounded like it pained her to admit that.

He shrugged. Who knew? Perhaps that redhead had a hidden card up his sleeve that helped him escape. Julius was about to judge her.

“So what now? You want to fight me next?” He gestured at his half-naked body. “Although, if you want to do that, I would appreciate it if you let me put my clothes back on,” he said with a rueful smile.

To his disappointment, she shook her head. “No, I don’t have any plans to fight you,” she said, and despite him not trusting her, he believed that was true.

He had felt her use a good amount of mana during that fight with the redhead, and while the redhead had clearly run out before her, she must have used a significant chunk of her mana pool.

Furthermore, if she wanted to attack him, she would have already done so. She was an archer and had decided to approach him. If she wanted a fight, she was putting herself at a disadvantage.

Regardless, he was interested in hearing her reasons for approaching him if that was the case.

“So what do you want?” He asked her.

“I was curious what had caught your attention. You ran off so fast and let all of us fight each other, but you came over here.”

He yawned and stretched out his arms. “I told you, the water here is pretty neat. Take a sip, you will see for yourself,” he offered.

She looked at him hesitantly, clearly not believing him at face value, but the fact that he was prepared to swim in it must have made her feel more comfortable, because she walked over to the lake and bent down, storing her bow away.

“Oh, and be careful of the turtle,” he warned her quickly, before she could touch the water.

She flinched back and looked at him with concern. “What turtle?”

“I was dipping my toes in there a few minutes ago and a turtle took a nibble at my toe,” he admitted, though he didn’t tell her that the turtle had actually removed his toe entirely.

“How big?” She asked.

He used his hands to demonstrate the turtle’s size.

“That’s it?” She seemed oddly relieved at that, and her hesitation faded.

He was going to warn her that the turtle was actually a very powerful beast, but she was already going for the water before he could explain that to her.

***

Lyra POV

She recognized the boy from his earlier match in the first round. He had displayed an astonishing amount of power, slaughtering the monsters within a minute. He was definitely one of the elite competitors in terms of offensive power.

Those constructs of his were even scarier when she saw them in person. She had just seen how easily they had torn a hole in that blonde’s chest.

She didn’t know that much else about him. He hadn’t attacked her when he had seen her, so that was a good thing. Regardless, her danger sense skill was pinging her whenever she looked at him. It wasn’t like it was saying he was a threat, but it was warning her to be careful nonetheless.

That in itself was worrying. He had noticed her despite none of the others sensing her presence. He also seemed way too casual about things. It was like he was taking an afternoon stroll through the park rather than in the middle of the Empire’s secret realm.

However, she set those thoughts aside for the time being. She was very intrigued by this water that he had ignored everything else for. The body of the monster hadn’t revealed anything other than a unique-looking core she had snagged. Not the token she had been expecting.

But maybe this lake was the real treasure.

She leaned down and used her hands to cup a little bit of water in her palms. The crystal-like water trickled through her fingers, and she took a big sip. The moment the water hit her tongue, she doubled over in pain.

She leapt back and grabbed her throat. It felt like she had just drank liquid fire, and it didn’t feel good at all. She held back the scream that came to her lips. She looked at where the black haired youth was standing off to the side, making sure he wasn’t planning to attack her while she was down.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like he had that intention. He looked a bit concerned for her, but was keeping his distance, which she was grateful for.

“Are you okay?” The mysterious boy asked as he took a small step toward her.

She didn’t respond; she focused on breaking down whatever dangerous substance she had just drunk. She can’t believe she just drank the water based on his word without making any preparations of her own. To be fair, the water was indeed a treasure.

She just hadn’t been expecting it to have such a kick. It was a very potent liquid, something that was less water and more of a body evolution potion she had taken in the past.

Now that she wasn’t in crippling pain, she could examine what the water was doing to her body. To her shock, it was literally purifying her body of impurities at an obscene rate. With just that small amount, her body was already undergoing small changes. That was likely where the pain came from, as exemplified by the small bit of black gunk coming out of her pores.

“Hmm, you might want to follow me afterwards. That black stuff coming out of you is kind of smelly,” he said while pinching his nose.

She looked at the boy once again with a baffled frown. He had told her that he had drunk the water, making it sound like a refreshing drink rather than the painful, transformative substance.

Yet he wanted to take a swim in this water. What kind of idiot was he?

He would either be subjected to extreme mana poisoning or quite literally explode from the intense amount of energy contained in the water. His body would undergo such an extreme amount of purification that he could die from the pain.

“Don’t go in there,” she exclaimed when she saw him about to step into the water.

He looked at her with a confused frown, one foot already above the lakeʼs surface. “Why?”

“You will die,” she quickly stated.

He laughed. “You are funny. Don’t worry, I will be back,” he said, and before she could stop him, the water was already swallowing him up.