Who searched for a chest full of gold.
Through shipwrecks so deep,
Past fish half asleep,
He found it—but left with a cold!
- Goldie Honorhide.
To my amazement, my Cold Resistance was still rising. I thought it was near the max, but apparently, it was not. The sea was icy, and there was the occasional iceberg. The wind was cold, and I was covered in ice and breathing through an ice tube. It was cold.
As for movement skills, all I could think of was running away, using Ice to create a platform to run on the water. So far, this has been a failure. I am too heavy. The Ice I made for even a normal run was too thin, and it cracked, sending me into the freezing ocean. The Ice would have to be more than a meter thick and stable enough that my weight didn’t tip it over.
I could do it at a walking pace, but the energy cost was high. This was impractical for escaping an enraged monster or even an enraged Mer.
I am out of ideas. Yoboc and Goldie are out of ideas.
The only thing that seemed to be left for me was to double down on my senses. If I can sense they are there before they sense me, I can back off in camouflage and give it up. Goldie thinks we should give it up and that it is not worth the risk. Yoboc and I think we should try.
And now I am kicking myself for not taking Farsight. It would have synced with Clearsight and increased the distance I could see underwater. It would be nowhere as good as above water, but it would have helped.
It's not that my Hearing Aid was bad. It was also good, and I spent time listening to the sounds in the ocean to get used to everyday sounds. This also helped with my camouflage, as I could hear the waves lapping against the log and against myself and try to mimic the natural sounds. I am pretty sure this is what finally triggered me to get Ocean Camouflage. Now, I need to level it.
I was in a hurry to get out there. Every day we delayed was a day for the Taniwha to get further away, but it was also another day for the Mer to heal. I am betting he is alive, and I am betting he wants his treasure. Our treasure, rather.
If I am doubling down on sensing then I wanted the sensing skill I was close to getting, and was just short of attributes in Spiritual Perception. I put all my free attributes into Spiritual Perception and started work.
The extra attributes helped My Spiritual Sensing immensely as well, and I felt I might be able to get a better skill in that now, but that was not my focus.
I was focused on the void. What I had noticed on the way here was the difference between air and water. It was hard to sense, but it seemed the difference was the gaps in the air were larger than the gaps in the water. The void was the gaps between bits of air and bits of water. With my extra Spiritual Perception, these gaps became much more noticeable. I could sense them with my affinity.
The void was a part of me. It was the gaps between parts of things. I didn’t have the words to really explain it, but I didn’t need words for myself. I just needed to sense the void in everything. What I realised with the extra Spiritual Perception was that it wasn’t just air and water. The void was everywhere. Solid objects had much smaller gaps, and the gaps in metals and rocks were small, but the void was there and in everything.
This was Void Sensing. The precision of the sensing depended on my Spiritual Perception, and the distance I could sense was based on my Spiritual Strength, except that, in my case, it synced with My Cosmic Aura just like my Spiritual Sensing.
The more volume I tried to sense, the more energy it used, but this was greatly reduced by my Cosmic Aura. I couldn’t have it going full blast in the full aura area, but I could have it pottering lightly there and flash it to get more detail. The better thing was that it also synced with my map skills, and the things I sensed appeared on my map.
This would have solved all my problems in the cavern.
Another good thing was that I could sense the change in the void of things, so I could sense where the dirt below me turned to rock. As the skill rose, this would get more sensitive. Eventually, I might get it sensitive enough that sense changes in something like a metal blade, but that is not yet. I will need levels in the skill and more attributes in Spiritual Perception. The attributes I added in Spiritual Perception only got me to the minimum that was required.
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I decided to go at night. My Clearsight and Nightsight were good, but my Void Senses gave me a clear advantage at night. OK, it is probably not that much of an advantage as the Mer probably has Darksight and Clearsight, but it should help if the Taniwha is still around.
I swam out slowly and quietly, but I was swimming and did not rely on my Ocean Camouflage. The place where we dropped the gear was too far out to go that slow. I would never have found it so easily without my Map Skill.
I stopped frequently and went into camouflage and tested the sounds and smells of the ocean. Yoboc was on shore with his bow, but I was already out of his range. If I needed his help I needed to get back to him.
I was tracking the bottom of the ocean with my Void Sense in my Cosmic Aura. At level 7, I had an 18-m radius, and I had it with me on the edge, and it focused below and around me. I could sense 35m down, and I had Void Sensing on low as all I was doing was mapping the seabed and tracking larger sea creatures.
I made sure I also kept an eye on the sky. The griffons had taught me that lesson. That was another reason to come at night, as most aerial creatures rested then.
There was a moderate swell on the surface and a light breeze. It took me almost four hours of slow swimming to get to the map position. I had not sensed the taniwha or anything larger than a small family of porpoises. I was worried they would sense me as they have a sonar ability, but they swam on.
My Ocean Camouflage, Hearing Aid, and Void Sensing were all levelling fast. I even got a level in my Olfactory, which was hard to get now that it was journeyman level. I guess using it underwater was stretching it and that is what you have to do to level skills, especially as they get in the higher levels.
I hovered over the place for quite a while as I stayed in Camouflage and tested what was around me. I could sense the gear on the rocky seabed about 30m below. I increased my Void Sensing to get a better look, and I found it interesting that the Spiritually enhanced ore was not significantly different in Void Sensing than the rocks around it. My Spiritual Sensing picked out the difference very clearly, but not my Void Sensing.
I planned my first dive. I would go for the ripped bag that was still about a third full of ore. It was probably the maximum weight I could carry up to the surface at one time, anyway. Yoboc was worried about how deep the gear was and that I had to be careful of the pressure of water above me. I was very strong in my physical constitution, so this should be fine.
Holding my breath is another thing. I would not have very long on the bottom.
It was night, so my Nightsight and Clearsight would basically be useless underwater. Hence, Farsight would also have been useless. What wasn’t useless was my Olfactory, Hearing Aid, and Void Sensing. Hearing Aid was hampered by its low level. Void Sensing would have been the same if Cosmic Aura hadn’t boosted it.
No more delays. I took several deep breaths and then struck out for the bottom. The Ice fur was giving me buoyancy, but now I had to swim against it to get to the bottom. I have swum a lot, both as a bear and in my humanoid form, but I rarely dove underwater for any length of time.
My lungs were burning, and I let out small bubbles to relieve the pressure. It was not hard, but my breath control was my limiting factor. I didn’t even try to look around but closed my eyes and concentrated on my other senses.
I left my Cosmic Aura in the same place, a little above the surface and extending down and out. Essentially, I was swimming through my aura while maintaining its position. This was a good use and nudged it toward the next level, although it was not enough to actually level it.
My best senses, reaching further than my aura, are my Olfactory and Hearing Senses. It is just that my Hearing Aid is too low-level. I am sure if the Taniwha was moving, I would hear and smell it. It if it lying still I should still smell it, even though I don’t like water up my nose.
I grab the bag and swim for the surface, my lungs burning. When I get to the surface, I keep swimming up, just to stay afloat with the bag as I take a number of breaths. I take a risk and reduce my aura, creating a small ice platform, tipping the edges, so I freeze a lip to it. I get the bag on the platform as I also extend my aura back out.
I float for a bit, recovering and taking deep breaths. To get everything, I will have to dive a number of times. The next one will be quick as I aim to get Yoboc’s pack. Then, there will be dives to gather the scattered ore and equipment.
I am not sure how long I should stay here. I am reasonably sure that the taniwha is not around, but I wouldn’t put it past the Mer to still be lurking.
I go back for Yoboc’s pack, concentrating on my breath control and keeping even strokes. That was a smoother trip. Once I got back to my platform, I lifted his pack up. I grabbed the ripped pack with the ore and emptied the ore onto the ice. I would use this pack to cart things back up.
Deep, even breaths. Dive. Smooth, even strokes. Listen. Smell. Keep moving. I spend time picking up ore and gems and putting them in the bag. I bypass the shield and spear for now. Ore and personal gear are the priorities. Swim for the surface. Deep, even breaths. Empty the bag.
Check the surroundings. Deep, even breaths. Dive. Smooth, even strokes. Listen. Smell. Keep moving. Scavenge ore and gems rise to the surface, empty the bag and repeat. This was getting easier every time I did it. I was moving easier, breathing more controlled, and lasting longer under the water.
I was leaning on my Hearing Aid and was surprised when I suddenly had more control. It had moved to the apprentice level already. The new, improved sense picked up on something. I let a bit of water up my nose as Olfactory was Journeyman level, and I recognised a hint of a smell. I pushed the water back out of my nose with a small air bubble.
I was most of the way down, so I sped up. Hearing Aid was telling me the noise I made was louder, but I no longer cared. This time, I went straight for the shield.