First vessel

Ryoichi went down to the trench to find the three sacred vessels, which could be used to end the curse for all the monsters in the Mariana Trench. The area near the spiders witnessed no alive creatures, which brought here peace and scary atmosphere. Didn't know how much time had passed, he saw a spot around the infinite darkness.

Should be there! He swam to explore. After the second reborn, he felt that he became stronger and faster, eyes could see clearer. All of these seemed to compensate the pain he had suffered from eating up from thousands of spiders.

According to what the spider king said, it would be bounced off when they approached the place. However, he ain't a spider figure, but an authentic human, so he went straight to the spot. The light spot became larger as he came closer. Then, he saw it clear, which looked like a portal with whirlpool in it. Instead of being bounced off, the portal swallowed him as soon as he touched it. Where was he transmitted to?

After a second of faint, Ryoichi opened his eyes and found himself in an area of peace sea with deeper black blue. Well, say it was sea, but it reminded Ryoichi of the outer space he saw on TV. Water and all kinds of ocean creatures were quietly moving but seemed like it didn't never reach his body. At this infinite area was infinite quietness and loneliness. To the end of the road, which also seemed to be the center of this place, stood a humpbacked old man with amiable smile on his face.

"Welcome, kid."

"H…i…, sorry to bother you but I'm looking for…"

"No need to explain. I know what you've come for, kid. You've come to end the curse for Suleyin, that little spider."

"Ummmm, is it little?"

"Oh hahaha, he must be growing up, forgive me."

Ryoichi also smiled with him. He seemed to have a special feeling for this old man, who was very nice and kinda reminded him of his own father.

"So, you know I've come for the three sacred vessels. The spider, I mean, Suleyin, has told me two, one is Poseidon's trident and the other is his horse for riding, so I'm wondering what is the third vessel?"

With a secret smile, the old man said: "Don't be rush, kid. You'll know it when you've got the first two vessels."

"So what are they? I guess they are not easy to get, right? There might be some tests before I can get them?"

"Of course, kid. That's the routine of a story, haha. Let's start with the first."

Ryoichi asked: "The trident?"

"I tend to, but since you've brought that up, let's start with the beast for riding."

"…"

The old man continued: "The beast is quite nice. I'll introduce you there and what you have to do is just to ride it and have it under your control."

"Okay, it seems not that hard."

He led the way in front of Ryoichi and said: "We'll see."

Followed him and stepped into the field of the ocean creatures, all of the beautiful fishes were swimming around Ryoichi. He was wondering what the horse of Poseidon might look like.

To a place where the creatures were obviously lesser, both of them knew it should be here.

The old man called with a sonorous voice: "Hey! Come! We have a visitor!"

A few seconds' silence and there came a giant shadow.

It was not a horse. Instead, it was a megalodon!

By a quick visualization, it was about 60 feet, even larger than the shark owned by Katharina! It shining teeth reflected a scary light all the time. The deterrent force it provided was nothing less than the spider king. No, even more.

"Wasn't Poseidon riding a horse or something?!" Ryoichi could not stop screaming out the question.

"I told ya. It's the beast for riding, not the horse. It's the top predator in the ocean world. Only such beautiful creature can match the prestige of Poseidon, don't you think?"

Ryoichi smiled with bitterness: "Indeed, but, how can I get such giant creature?"

"Capture it, tame it, ride it, of course."

"Excuse me? How?"

In a second, a chain appeared in the old man's hands: "With this, my kid. I know where you come from, and I know what you've been through. You're from the famous queendom whose people have the talent of controlling the fish. I believe you can sense the signal provided by this megalodon, but you have to convince it before ordering it. The way to convince it, is to tame it with chain. Recall how your clansman or woman chain a monster." By saying this, he handed over the chain to Ryoichi.

The shining chain was not very thick or heavy. Ryoichi measured its weight and questioned: "Would it be broken? What if I fail?"

"Well," the person coughed a little and continued, "since you're the chosen one, and I kinda like you. I haven't talked to anyone for years. I'll allow you to try infinite times, so as long as you won't give up, you can try forever. But just a reminder, if you give up, you also abandon the identification of the chosen one, so you will be sent back to become a spider as same as others. Every time you try, you'll be entering the boundary where there's only you and the megalodon. Either you're killed or he is tamed. But no worries, I can cure you and bring you back to life. It's just, the pain will be real, and, you won't forget it. So, let me ask this question: do you really want to continue? You want to go back now to suffer from the endless hunger or continue to challenge the endless death cycle?"

Ryoichi laughed: "I've been eaten up by thousands of monsters. I still remember that kind of endless and horrible pain. The worst thing would just be eaten by the megalodon. I believe it can kill me in a quicker way and I believe some time in the future I can do it even if I can't right now. I ain't going back to be a spider without the light of day."

The old man nodded: "Okay. Bless you, kid. I'll tell you one more thing: The key, is the speed. Good luck. Tell me when you're ready. I'll send you to the inside."

Ryoichi took a deep breath: "Arigato. I'm ready now."