Obscurium, the Ocean of Fallen Legends
"Go... Deepy!"
The seal moved its fins, and the small boat splashed away at an extreme speed.
"Shit..."
Atlas had to hold fast to the wooden planks to support the powerful thrust that wanted to send him back.
"Hahaha... boy, you are too weak. You can't even handle less than half of her top speed. Where are you planning to go with this little power? How do you plan to survive in this hellish world?"
With that strong wind, the young man found it difficult even to speak, so he hid like a rat under the wooden planks, naturally triggering even more mockery from the old man.
"HAHAHA... you are ridiculous. Get out of there."
Drunkum waved his hand, and suddenly, a barrier made from a thin layer of white light surrounded the boat.
Atlas could still feel the thrust, but the force had been reduced to a minimum amount, so he came out from the hole and sighed a little bored: "Do you find it so funny... right?"
"Hehe... in fact, yes. Give me the second bottle. This docile breeze is so boring..."
By now, they had sailed and reached an agreement, so Atlas did not linger any longer.
"Mmm... excellent wine. I knew that old toad Kurin hid good stuff..."
Gulp! Gulp!
Drunkum quietly sipped the wine from the bottle, but at one point, he started talking: "I talked to Waret... and apparently, if you come back safe and sound, you will reward us with a lot of wine. Since I am the one who is accompanying you, I am entitled to at least twice the bottles promised to those four."
'Old monster... when he had time to talk to them...'
It was too late to back down, and since he didn't have to pay for the wine out of his pocket, Atlas had no problem promising him a whole ship full of wine.
"If we bring Rose home, her father will reward you surely."
Gulp! Gulp!
"Hehehe... The village chief definitely explained some things to you. But, since only one of us can approach the mainland every six months... How do you plan to bring all these quantities of wine to our village?"
Atlas had already thought of a solution but did not tell the truth and instead lied shamelessly.
"Do you remember the portal that brought me here? Well, I just have to transport the goods in that way..."
"You are a sly little brat... But even if you keep lying, I can feel you are not a total bastard."
Gulp! Gulp!
Drunkum observed the grey fog surrounding them, perhaps peering even beyond it, and then spoke: "About that portal... How did you do it? If you don't want to tell me, it's the same, but... well, I'm quite curious about it."
Surely, Atlas couldn't tell that the portal had appeared out of nowhere due to the divine intervention of Nihilir, so he concocted some nonsense: "Well... I know a skilled Expert with Space Power... but I'd rather you didn't talk about it with the others..."
Gulp! Gulp!
"Really?! ..."
Drunkum understood the young man's intentions and did not insist further.
After all, everyone had secrets they wanted to hide, and he was no different.
The two talked about this and that for a while until the fog cleared and a breathtaking scene appeared.
"Amazing..."
Atlas opened his eyes wide in amazement, but Drunkum was calm and unfazed.
"Oh yes... really amazing. But you will change your mind once you reach those waters..."
With the fog now gone and the sun's rays shining to guide him, Atlas could finally see the features of those terrifying seas.
From a distance, the waters seemed peaceful and emitted a crystal-clear color, but above them hovered a turbulent air.
Black clouds full of dazzling lightning stretched to the horizon.
The young man could not see the end, and a macabre feeling urged him to escape as far as possible.
"You feel it... that overwhelming feeling of danger? It erodes your mind and body in the long run. So don't let yourself be dominated by it..."
Atlas lost his eyes over the horizon, but Drunkum's words awakened him.
"What happened?"
Only now had the young man realized that his body had moved by itself and was one step away from jumping into those icy waters.
Gulp! Gulp!
"You should drink a little... Take!"
Drunkum tossed another bottle to the young man, and without thinking, Atlas sipped a small portion.
Gulp!
"Bah!! What is this shit?!..."
Unfortunately, the taste was so disgusting that he vomited the soul off the boat.
"Hahaha... that's the broth I have to drink every day. So, remember to bring me back a high-quality wine and not this shit..."
Drunkum was impassive in the face of that unbearable feeling. In fact, he did not care even a little and continued to discuss the terrible wine he had to drink every day in the village.
"It tastes like urine... How do you drink such a disgusting thing... "
Gulp! Gulp!
"Oh?! Is it so disgusting? Maybe I was wrong, and that's the urine of some sea creature... Let me feel it..."
Suddenly, the bottle appeared in the old man's hand, and he could not help but twist his nose in disgust, smelling the terrible stink inside.
"Cabbage... this is definitely urine... How careless..."
"Bastard!!"
Atlas almost fainted from anger hearing his words and vomited for the second time outside the boat.
Blah!
And then a third...
Blah!
For some stupid reason, Atlas kept vomiting until he felt a strange sensation all over his body.
"What's going on?" Atlas looked at the old man in shock: "Did you poison me?"
Gulp! Gulp!
"Oh... incredible... you didn't faint even once. You are weak, but your body is very tenacious. Impressive."
Atlas didn't care about his obvious vain compliments and asked, "What was inside that bottle?"
"Trust me... better that you don't know... Hehehe..."
Gulp! Gulp!
Evidently, this old drunkard didn't want to talk about it, but Atlas didn't give up: "Hey... old drunkard... Was it a potion or a poison? I want to know!"
Gulp! Gulp!
"Ahi... if you care so much, then... It should be a mixture of Rainbow Dolphin Urine and Hanging Feline Fish Blood, with the addition of a few drops of holy water. A special elixir of the Holy Lucent Divine Sect. Hehehe... It will help you resist the Miasma of Death around this place."
Blah!
Atlas couldn't help but vomit again and then rails against him: "Damn you... Pray that I will not fill your wine bottles with pork urine..."
"What an exaggeration... Do you want to go back under those planks?"
The young man certainly did not want to feel that hateful stormy wind again, so he kept silent and returned to observe the horizon with his stomach in complete turmoil.
|||
After a few minutes, the boat finally reached the beginning of Obscurium, but it did not stop or slow down. Instead, Deepy released even more power from his fins and accompanied by a deafening noise, they threw themselves into the arms of the death without delay.
Bang!
It was as if they had crossed a kind of barrier, and after that noise, Atlas found himself wrapped in a dark veil.
"Hey... what's going on?"
"Boy, don't get upset... If we want to travel undisturbed between these waters, we must necessarily hide our presence with this Totem."
Atlas looked at the strange object and discovered that it had the features of a simple puppet wrapped in weird black strings as thick as a finger and with crystals set on them.
There were countless weird objects all over the world, so Atlas wasn't so alarmed by his eccentric appearance.
"Try to remain silent as much as you can... We will be safe from the darkness with this object. However, be careful about any noise around us because here, silence reigns supreme, and every little noise is always accompanied by a nefarious presence. Just follow the Soul Compass, and in a short time, we will find your beloved..."
Atlas listened carefully to Drunkum's words and patiently observed the outside, even though he could see little with that barrier in front of him.
It was a silent journey, and although the young man heard disturbing noises every now and then, Drunkum was very careful to get away from them.
Squeak... Crock... Swish...
After a few minutes, the moods increased, and at that very moment, Drunkum finally spoke.
"Be quiet... we are surrounded..."
Squeak... Crock... Swish...
Squeak... Crock... Swish...
It was nerve-wracking not to know who the enemies around him were, but he was not a fool and remained motionless.
Squeak... Crock... Swish...
Squeak... Crock... Swish...
The young man listened to his requests but could not understand why that old drunkard continued to swallow the wine from the bottle with so much relaxation.
Not to mention his constant warnings...
Why is it??
Squeak... Crock... Swish...
Squeak... Crock... Swish...
The noise suddenly subsided, and Drunkum sighed, relieved: "They almost discovered us... that was too dangerous."
The two continued with the journey and naturally encountered many dangerous situations.
There was even a time when that old drunkard vanished from the boat only to reappear shortly after as if nothing had happened.
It had undoubtedly been a few hours since they entered those waters when suddenly, the bow came across something.
That sudden impact frightened the young man so much that he held his faithful companion in his hands, ready for any eventuality.
Fortunately, the old man reassured him: "Calm down... Finally, we reached one of the many islets scattered in this sea. Rejoice because finally, you can see the real shape of this place with your own eyes."
Finally, the long-awaited moment had come.
Atlas nodded vehemently and followed the old man out of the boat, sinking his feet in the icy ocean waters.
Soft sand under his feet supported his body, but he could not see its color for some reason.
While Atlas was lost in his thoughts, Drunkum had already freed Deepy and dragged the small boat to the shore.
"Deepy... hide in the depths of the sea and do not return to the surface until you hear my call..."
The giant seal swallowed four Luminescent Codfish and only then disappeared into the icy waters.
As far as the young man knew, only the two of them were left on that island, but the words of the old drunkard made him suspicious: "Are you ready?"
Atlas wanted to reply but was still highly alert about possible enemies.
Seeing no response, Drunkum gave him a tap on the forehead: "Fool ... you can talk now. I'm about to remove the barrier. But I warn you, it will not be a pleasant feeling."
"Wait... Hold on... what does that mean?"
"Hehehe... soon you will see it ... Remember that on dry land, the miasma is very weak, and with that concoction you have absorbed, its effect will be minimal. In addition, there are mostly low-level dark creatures here. So, you will have to take care of it while I rest for some time..."
"Wait... there are enemies on this island?" Atlas was taken aback by the old man's words and did not know how to react.
Gulp! Gulp!
"Of course... Take advantage of this opportunity to adapt to this terrible Death Energy. I'm not your scullery... Good luck!"
These were the old man's last words because suddenly, the barrier surrounding the young man vanished, and he found himself in a completely different world...
"What the hell..."