Flobul seemed to be the first to come to her senses.

“What… What do you mean no monsters? You drove all of them back to a far away place?”

“Hm no. We simply don’t have monsters. I mean, we didn’t have any mana or powers up until a few days ago, so we would all be dead if there had been monsters.”

“THERE WAS NO MANA!?!” The two Mertides shouted at once.

“Well no, it seems it was sealed when the…”

“When the Nameless Plan happened!” Audrey interjected, and stopped me from finishing my sentence.

Come to think of it, it would probably be traumatizing to learn gods were imprisoned.

Empathy is now level 3!

+1 PER, +1 WIS, +1 CHA per level.

Come on, I’m not that daft!

Suddenly I felt something strong and dangerous coming. It seems everyone felt it as they were tensing, and both Audrey and Alibul had their guards up.

The close seawater slowly rose up, eliciting a small yelp from Flobul as she tried to distance herself from the phenomenon. The water column went till it brushed against the ceiling, then started changing form. A long and unruly beard made of seaweed appeared, covering the lower face of an old man with blue skin. He had white long hair that flowed gracefully to his broad shoulders. There started the torso of a man built from a life of work, that stopped around the waist, revealing a water vortex in which you could sometimes catch glimpses of green fish scales. The man left hand was holding onto a coral trident adorned with pearls.

In the silence that prolonged itself, the old man eyes slowly moved, and met with everyone’s gaze. His eyes were impossible to describe without being unjust to their fascinating appearance, the colors seemed to flow inside, from the deepest black to the lightest green, mixed with grey and blue, as if they contained too much, and were unable to express all of it.

Then he spoke.

“I am Triton, Father of the seas, those that live on, in and from them. I come to ask for your help.”

He turned his body to face Alibul and Flobul.

“My dearest children, you can’t imagine my joy, knowing you and your kind managed to survive all this time. For bringing me those good news, here are my rewards.”

He briefly touched each of their foreheads with his right hand, and their eyes briefly glazed over. They quickly regained their shine, and Alibul fell kneeling, as Flobul was bowing as deep as she could while still swimming.

“I accept this gift, and swear to always uphold the laws of the sea!”

“I accept this gift, and swear to always uphold your laws.”

“Don’t bow my children. I don’t deserve any of your respect yet, as I haven’t done anything for you in so long. But I will need your help, as the protections your ancestors used are far too powerful, and I can’t hope to breach them by myself. If you accept, your first task will be to open up the barrier cutting your people from the rest of the world.”

The two Mertrides shared a brief look before nodding at once.

“Good, good. However, as gifted as you two are, there’s a limit to how much someone as young as you can accomplish. If you agree to it, I would like to petition those humans to help you.”

They once again nodded together.

The god turned to watch us this time.

“I wish to offer my thanks. Without your presence here, it would probably have taken years until I got notice of their enterprise. For you, Liberator, I offer you access to my divine domain, and one request from me, to use right now. For you, her companion, as I can sense Hermes protection on you, I’ll grant you this token. It will allow you to enter the Abyssal Gauntlet once you’re ready for it. I suggest you look for the Abyssal compendium in there. It would be of great use to someone like you.”

Audrey took the small and perfectly unassuming seashell from the outstretched hand of the god. He then spoke again.

“I now want to offer you both a Divine Quest. You are to escort and support my new Priestess and Far Swimmer in the accomplishment of their own Quest. I’ll reward each of you with the answer to one question of your choice, maybe more if I deem you worthy of it. Do you accept?”

I looked at Audrey, who seemed thrilled. I nodded, and turning back to Triton, nodded to him.

“Very good. Know I’ll grant you my gift to allow you to breathe under the seas till you’re back up safe. Now, young Liberator, what is your request? And do you wish to access my pantheon?”

I think he specified that I had to cash in my request right now to avoid me using it as a joker. But it’s not a problem, since I already have a request in mind.

“I’ll take the access to the Pantheon, and for my request, I wish that you’d tell me everything you know about Jormüngandr last resting place.”

I was instantly rewarded with a blue screen informing me of my affiliation with the Pantheon of the Sea, that I waved away, and a pensive look in Triton’s eyes, as they slowly darkened. He stayed silent for a full minute, before speaking.

“I fear what you seek is not within the confines of my domain. As the beast was cursed to never leave seawater, and unless it somehow managed to lift it after the Event, which I doubt, he must have found a loophole and managed to get into an inland saltwater spot. Or something else.”

He slightly bowed to look me in the eyes.

“As I feel this is insufficient, I swear to make it a mission to my followers, however few they may be as of now.”

He then lifted his head, and look in the distance, before his body turned back in a column of seawater that came down crashing.

There was a silence, and I waved away the blue window informing me that the Gift of Triton was upon me, allowing me to breath and swim as a Mertride from now until the next time I would walk on land.

“So, how do we proceed from here?”