Minimal light shined through the water from above. Due to the time of day, they were losing more light by the minute. Instead of growing some lights, or using skills that produced light, the group continued up in the growing dark.

  Leaves meant for giants blocked them from sight, still every now and then the large silhouettes could be seen through the small spaces between them. For however long the prison world existed, much had stayed the same. Now the leviathans had a tree growing in their domain. An object they had never encountered before, and they were no doubt curious if it was a threat to them.

  Synexus could feel the tree with Branching Intelligence, multiple creatures had already tried to bite through the thick bark. He could feel the large, jagged teeth digging in before the jaws became tired and gave up. One time the jaws wouldn’t let go and he used the skill to swat the beast away only for it to drain him of a lot of the mana he regained.

  Gentle sounds of water moving around the pocket of air the group had created was all they had for comfort. Pathfinders flew with the riders on their backs in a tight formation away from the bubble’s edges. Shell was given mana fruit after mana fruit to help her sustain the water manipulation. Prith had his sword out and ready. Kumo stepped on clouds in a bubble under an ocean that made up the shell of a planet and she was loving it. Dancer’s starlight scythe gave off a glow that the party hoped wouldn’t make them easy to spot. Everything was going well until there was a rustle in the leaves.

  “Synexus?” Vorin said in a lower yell.

  “Checking.” He moved his senses through the mana thread and focused on the branch the leaf was on. Numerous small vibrations could be felt moving between the leaves. “A school of fish.”

  Sighs escaped all who were present and most returned to looking up towards the surface—their destination.

  “A little lower than we thought. How long until we get to the surface?”

  “By my calculations, captain, fifty-two minutes.” Zuls was relaying information to and from Pioneer. She knew their capabilities better than anyone besides maybe Synexus.

  “Acknowledged. Keep a steady pace. Shell will you be able to manipulate the water for that long?”

  “It’ll be tight, but we have Synexus’ fruits in case my mana starts to get low.”

  “Dancer, your sight is quite impressive. What do you see on the surface?”

  She smiled and peered through the water towards their destination.

  “Stars. I see stars. Constellations never before seen by my people.”

  “We are going into space then. Synexus, be ready to grow your fungal suits.”

  He didn’t acknowledge Vorin.

  “Synexus?”

  Vorin looked over to see him sitting cross-legged on the back of a pathfinder. His eyes were closed and his hands were held to his head.

  “Synexus, what is it?”

  “Strange vibrations. The school passed, but there’s something else.”

  “Hostile?”

  “Not sure. Whatever it is has the lightest touch. It almost feels like a gentle breeze. Wait…”

  Everyone turned to Synexus awaiting his next words. Tense faces, stared through the small safe haven at each other.

  “All the fish in the school are gone. They were there one second and then gone the next.”

  “We are calling it hostile then. Everyone prepare yourselves.”

  All eyes moved to the outside of the bubble. The formation tightened and weapons were drawn. Even still they kept moving. Slowly creeping their way up through the ocean towards yet another frontier.

  Kumo snapped her head toward the bottom of the bubble and a gust of wind nearly knocked everyone off their pathfinders.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Captain! Something tried to enter the bubble.”

  “Did anyone see what it was?”

  A yellow humanoid with spikes protruding from his shoulders and back spoke up.

  “Barely saw. Moving water.”

  Vorin took a second to understand, but he was the leader for a reason.

  “Translucent hostile with a light touch. Zuls, Gene, any ideas?”

  “I do and Zullany should be quite familiar.”

  “Ghost? This is a jellyfish!”

  “Precisely.”

  “Any movement at all needs to be reported.” Vorin’s head moved like Prith’s blade cutting through the water.

  “Faint touch on a leaf twenty yards to our port.”

  Heads snapped to the left side of the bubble and watched hesitantly.

  “Leaf brushed below us. Another had a tingle of movement to our starboard.”

  “Multiple hostiles! How much longer, Zuls?”

  “Forty minutes, captain!”

  “I can reduce that by thirty, but we will lose a defensive measure meant for the leviathans.” Synexus looked to Vorin to say the word.

  “Hold. Let’s see if we can burn a little more time. Kumo, can you create an air shell to help Shell repel any attacks. Zuls, have Snowfall continue to freeze the walls. I know it’s breaking from the pressure as soon as we move, but it can’t hurt. Dancer, can you use your sight to spot the enemies better?”

  “I’ll do something more.” Motes of starlight formed and launched into the depths. Everyone gasped.

  Surrounding them in every direction were hundreds of enormous jellyfish. Each one was briefly revealed as if the lights drew them out of hiding. Several were right next to their bubble and frilled tentacles started to probe the outside only to be repelled by air or ice.

  “Don’t let them sting anyone! There’s no telling how potent these ones are.” Zuls shouted out and then sent the feeling through her connection with Pioneer. Cackles rang out in acknowledgement.

  Minutes passed silently. Every now and then a frill would be rebuffed on the outside of the bubble causing tensions to spike to even newer heights. Dancer would release another pulse of starlight to use as a radar almost against the nearly invisible goliaths. When the light spread out and revealed their surroundings, the tension would drop back down at the surreal view. Hundreds of jellyfish among a forest of branches and leaves. Of course, the crown of the tree was starting to thin out and soon they would be without cover.

  Another pulse came and things were calm. Most of the jellyfish had distanced themselves from the bubble and were floating calmly in tight packs. People started to relax again and their ascent continued.

  More light pulsed out to reveal they were nearly out of the branches of the world tree. There were more jellyfish than leaves and the vast number of them was astonishing to look at. Most people forgot they had almost been their prey minutes prior due to the beauty of the sight. Hundreds of jellyfish intermingled. Some moved closer to the edge of the bubble for a better look at the next pulse.

  Dancer obliged and the onlookers stared out waiting to see the wonderous beasts one last time. Only when the light passed where the largest group had been, they were gone. The people in the bubble looked towards the next largest group and waited for the light. Even Dancer was interested in gawking by this point and she released another pulse. An audible sigh released from the people watching the jellyfish until a shadow passed through them and wide reptilian jaws tore them all into shreds.

  Panic.

  Panic ensued. People and Pathfinders alike witnessed the slaughter and only caught a glimpse of the ferocious-looking titan before everything went dark again.

  “Keep calm and quiet! Zuls, how long?” Vorin barked out over the distressed people.

  “Twelve minutes.”

  “Synexus, can you eat that time with your plan?”

  “We are much farther from three now, but I do believe it will take most of that time away.”

  “Do it.”

  Synexus reached out through his connection to the tree and sent mana through it. He had planned for this, and multiple limbs were set up in the empty sky between the ocean and the surface rod. Each one was sucking in excess air. The carbon dioxide fed the massive tree while the oxygen was stored waiting to be used. Through Branching Intelligence, he sent the order to release the oxygen.

  The bubble rumbled and speed started to pick up. All around them a storm of bubbles came out of nowhere. Synexus’ tree violently released the oxygen, sending an upward draft of bubbles to help their ascent.

  Originally, it was going to be a way to confuse any curious predators and in a way, it was doing just that. The bubbles would shoot them up while also keeping the scaled horror busy. A lot of the oxygen would be wasted as they were too far from the crown to get the best benefits, but it would still get them a lot closer to the surface.

  Pathfinders struggled to fly fast enough to keep up with the bubble and Shell struggled to manipulate the water quickly enough. The bubble was on the verge of popping, sending them all scattered toward the surface when it finally started to slow.

  “Synexus, what kind of plan was that?!” Kumo shouted between labored breaths. She was practically running on clouds to keep up with their ascent.

  “That was unpleasant.” Treek got sick off the side of his pathfinder. An annoyed cackle rang out.

  “Whether it was unpleasant or not. Look!” Vorin pointed up and everyone could see numerous stars speckling the great vacuum.

  “Wait, what’s that?” Dancer pointed to a dark spot, and everyone squinted to see what was happening. Even this close to the surface, there was still water to stare through.

  “I don’t see anything. It just looks void of stars.” Vorin turned to Dancer and waved for her to explain.

  “It’s unnatural. Something is there. Something is waiting for us in space.”