Aqua

  The process of making my little home ends up taking about three more hours. Mostly because I’m digging through stone to make a little human-made cave of my own within the cave. Which isn’t particularly easy without any tools, even if I have more strength than a normal human.

  Unfortunately for me, I’m not in the water. So my strength is lower now.

  It’d probably be easier if I was in the water, but that’d completely dismiss the point of making this place above water.

  Avoiding any aquatic and land monsters by making it up here.

  If it were underwater, I don’t know when some fish monster might try to attack me. And if it’s just on a place easily reached by land then a land monster – if there somehow managed to be another one in here – could reach me.

  After finishing the home, I go ahead and move things around to be comfortable in it. Specifically placing my backpack in a corner and just leaving it there since I no longer have a use for it. What with this new storage ring.

  Well, no use for it other than a pillow. Since it makes a nice pillow.

  Or at least, nice compared to the hard rock.

  Although I should rip out the zippers before sleeping on it next time. Since I won’t need those zippers again.

  It isn’t comfortable to roll over and find my head on some zippers.

  Anyway, once I finish with that and walk back to the entrance to my little home, I put my hands on my hips and look back at it. Then I give a single firm nod of my head in satisfaction with what I’ve accomplished, completely ignore the chat going wild calling me adorable for doing that, and jump back into the water. Because my injuries are pretty much all healed by now.

  And I really need to see what the abyss is going on with that shark. Because it’s still not back after over half the day has gone by.

  So I carefully swim into the tunnel leading back to the environmental cavern. Making sure to make as little noise as possible in the process.

  But all I find are corpses as I continue making my way.

  At first the corpses are all whole, with a lot of them being orcs and others being random other fish monsters. But eventually they end up all being partially eaten.

  And by the time I’m getting close to the big cavern, there aren’t any corpses left.

  Just blood floating in the water with what looks like some chunks of flesh.

  I try to avoid looking at the flesh since I just ate about an hour ago and move past it. Still moving as quietly as I can.

  Then I see it.

  The shark seems to have taken over the largest cavern of the cave system. And it’s gotten bigger. Not to mention its level is higher.

  [Deepsea Ripper Shark – Level 25]

  It’s risen a lot.

  I cautiously glance at my own status.

  [REQUESTING STATUS: USER AQUA FALLEN]

  [STATUS RETRIEVED]

  [Name: Aqua Fallen]

  [Level: 18]

  [Mana: 180/180]

  [Strength: 36(24)]

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  [Dexterity: 19]

  [Constitution: 19]

  [Magical Strength: 17]

  [REGEN: 185]

  [Free Points: 0]

  [Traits: Physique of the Abyssal Kraken, Apex Predator of the Depths]

  [Skills]

  [END STATUS]

  Right.

  A level 18 versus a level 25.

  Hmm…

  I silently watch the shark, which is currently about eight meters in length now, as it lazily swims in large circles around the cavern. Although its height hasn’t changed all that much, making it still small enough to fit through the tunnel behind me.

  Right.

  I give a firm nod of my head before slowly beginning to swim back through the tunnel.

  Fighting against a level 20 orc king at level 16 almost killed me, despite me having the advantage in the water. So fighting a level 25 shark while at level 18 without any sort of advantage would just be suicide. Even if I’m not injured now while I was back then.

  Then, just like with the orcs, some random crab near me ends up pushing a large rock off a drop. Making the rock hit the ground and send out vibrations all around it.

  Please no…

  I turn my head to look at the shark, only to let out a sigh.

  Okay. Good.

  The shark didn’t notice.

  No idea why some leg crab is going around pushing boulders anyways.

  I continue moving through the tunnel. All the way until I safely arrive at my new home and proceed to lie down on my backpack-pillow-that’s-not-a-pillow.

  “Alright,” I mutter out loud with a nod of my head. “When you’re trapped underground with a large shark guard-dogging the entrance, what’s the best thing to do?”

  I glance at the chat.

  [wait, she’s asking us?]

  [She’s asking us!]

  [Uh, try to kill the shark?]

  [That’d kill her. And I don’t want our precious Aqua-Aqua to die.]

  [Maybe try to sneak around the shark?]

  [You could always just sleep and hope the shark leaves the cave system.]

  “Taking your ideas into consideration…” I mutter with a light nod of my head. “I will begin mining through the wall in the hopes of finding another cavern or even the outside. Because there’s no way in the abyss that I’m getting close to that shark again.”

  [Um, Aqua, none of us said anything anywhere close to that…]

  [‘Taking your ideas into consideration’ she says. LOL]

  [was she reading our chat or something else?]

  [I think she just ignored us.]

  [LMAO]

  “Now, would anyone like to sponsor me with a pickaxe?” I ask with a slight tilt of my head.

  [Ignores us then asks for a pickaxe. That’s comedy gold.]

  [She’s hilarious.]

  [Does the System even let people sponsor pickaxes…?]

  [Probably?]

  [It does. I just sponsored it <3]

  “Thank you random person A,” I tell them with a lazy smile on my face. “It’s much appreciated.”

  And without hesitation, I go to the Sponsorship System menu and find the pickaxe there before claiming the thing. Then I find somewhere else to mine that isn’t my lovely new home. Specifically somewhere at the start of the tunnel and on the other side of it from where I remember the surface of the underground area was.

  Wouldn’t want to end up flooding my cavern and therefore ruining the work I put in to make it after all. Nor do I want my home to be so close to the outside world. A world full of level 40 and higher monsters.

  Plus this should be easily far enough away from that main cavern to be safe to make noise. So I begin mining away.

  [This has turned into a mining broadcast. I was not expecting that.]

  [How does she even know how to mine like that?]

  “I spent some time in a mining yard back in junior high,” I state without letting up in my mining, briefly wondering why I didn’t ask for a pickaxe earlier while making my home. “It didn’t work out. But I did learn how to swing a pickaxe through it.”

  Turns out it’s a bad idea for a thirteen year old girl to try mining in a cave. Who would’ve thought?

  The guys who let me work there for a day for a bit of pay – people I knew from the convenience store – were laughing the entire time as well before giving me some mints on my way out along with my designated pay.

  I’m pretty sure they only let me mine because they wanted to help me and give me an excuse to give me some money though. And I don’t think they actually expected me to join in on the mining.

  On another note, the only reason I knew they were miners in the first place is because of their constant complaints about the city not being able to afford proper mining bots to help them out. Leaving all the work to them.

  It wasn’t until I left the mining place and found a rather nice shower waiting at their changing room that I realized why I never smelled the miners’ smell on them.

  The chat goes on about why a city would let a junior high school girl mine, but I ignore them as I continue mining away.

  And mining.

  And mining some more.

  All the way until I finally end up breaking into another tunnel.

  [Oh, she did it.]

  [Wait, it actually worked?]

  [Was not expecting that at all]

  [#MINERAQUA]

  I hope that hashtag doesn’t get spread around.

  But more important than that, it’s time to continue exploring.

  So I put away my pickaxe and pull out my trident.

  And proceed to enter the tunnel I just found.

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