From the Depths to the Sky

After an hour of circling around the area, none of us could spot anything that seemed like it could have possibly been an entrance to the cavern where the Gravity Root is located. I can feel the presence of the Root, indicating that it is nearby, but we just can't find out how to reach it.

"I think we should give up the search for the time being, the bar on the System has reached 60% so we should probably hurry back. We know where the general location is, so we can return later," Lia says.

"*Sigh* you're right, it's not like the Root is going anywhere anytime soon," I reply.

Seeing that even after we've circled around the area for so long and still found nothing, there isn't much else left other than trying again later but with better detection methods. Making the decision to leave, instead of moving straight up, I choose to follow up the slope I originally used to leave the first time I had been here, where the footprints lead to. Now that I think about it, I didn't really check this area during the search, so I can keep an eye out for anything unusual as we leave, as a last-ditch effort.

After informing everyone of my plan and seeing that they didn't mind, not that I would've listened to objections anyways, I locate the footprints on the seafloor and follow them towards the slope leading up. After arriving, I see that nothing has really changed in the area, other than perhaps a bit of erosion of the rocks nearby. But as I swim up the slope I notice something strange with the water flow. When I was here previously, I still hadn't become an Elemental Spirit Dragon nor did I have control over the Element of Water, so I'm not too surprised that I passed over such a minor detail. Off towards the side of the rock wall, the flow of the water is a little unusual.

"Aurelia, is there something strange about the wall over there?" I nodding towards the area where the water flow feels off.

Looking over towards where I pointed, Aurelia squints her eyes as she says, "there is indeed something unusual about it, just like you thought. The area behind it is hollow and leads down, and the hole isn't too small, if you shrink down a bit and if I reduce the size of the barrier, although it would be tight, we would all be able to fit through. From what I can tell, the wall is artificial, likely made to conceal the entrance."

Moving closer to the wall, I shrink down as Aurelia reduces the size of the barrier proportionally, and with my control over the Earth Element, I move aside the rocks that make up the wall as water begins to rush in towards the new opening. Naturally, before anyone can say whether or not to actually enter, I rush in as well following the flow of water.

As I'm following the current, I move faster than usual, and as we dive deeper, the presence of the Root grows stronger. And not just it's presence, but the effect of the Root grows more pronounced as we can confirm this is the Gravity Root as Aurelia says she can feel periodic fluctuations in the gravitational pressure being exerted on us.

After around thirty minutes, I think, it's hard to tell, we arrive at a large opening, revealing to be a dead-end. At the centre of this room, is a small dark sphere, with water swirly around it, similar to how a moon orbits a planet and a planet orbits a star. I can feel the sphere exerting a strong attractive force, pulling me towards it, giving us more evidence of this being the Gravity Root.

Since I need to get closer anyway, I don't try to resist the force pulling me in and instead follow it. And after a few seconds, I draw near and open my jaw, causing the sphere to enter my mouth. Closing my mouth, I immediately notice how dense the sphere is as I swallow it whole, causing my body to undergo another change, much like when I ate the other Elemental Roots.

I feel the constraints of gravity being removed as I begin to understand the benefits that consuming the Gravity Root brought me. The most notable thing is the attractive force of gravity, allowing me to draw other objects or even people towards me. I've also gained an ability that is opposite of that, a repulsive force, while I'm not entirely clear how it works, I do recall one of the professors at my former workplace saying such a thing was possible, but I would probaly have to speak with Hakase or Aurelia to get a better understanding of this ability. One of the key things I've gained is that I can now fly through the sky as a proper Dragon should.

"I take it you've achieved your objective?" Aurelia asks.

"Yeah, but I'll need to take a bit more time to fully understand my new abilities. I want to talk about it in detail, alongside Hakase as well."

"Fine with... me... I'm also... interested..." Hakase says.

"As am I, but I think we should hurry and return to the surface. I'm running out of energy to maintain the barrier and the increased depth combined with the pressure from the Gravity Root wore me out," Aurelia says.

Keeping Aurelia's energy reserves in mind, I hurry and return the way we came. Moving fast enough to reach the surface before Aurelia is out of energy, but not so fast as to cause any problems from rising to quickly.

Before long we eventually rise up to the surface and as I jump out of the water, I take to the sky, finally being able to truly fly for the first time.