Warmth.

The feeling was comforting. But it was just a feeling.

Just like the wetness.

Slush, slush, slush. Turning, something soft blocked the way.

Tap. It threatened to break. Tap, tap, tap. The wall gave out.

Crack!

Squeezing through, the little fish poked its head out of the egg. It tilted its head, staying still for a second. Then it swam up—

Only to crash into a jelly-like film.

Splurch!

The little fish wiggled as it tried to break free from the sticky sac. The gelatinous walls didn’t give.

“Gnah!” the fish cried out, trapped in terror. “Gnah! Gnaaaaaah!”

And that was when Thera woke up.

* * *

The baby Mystic Turtle opened her eyes as she heard the soft squeaking. She raised her head, blinking as she blew out a bunch of bubbles from her back. At first, she thought she was under attack— it almost sounded like the Arctic Electric Eels had found her. A sense of dread settled in as she readied herself for battle. But when she poked out of the alcove, she saw no monster there.

“What was that noise?” Thera wondered aloud curiously.

“Gnaaaaah!” The squeaking sound echoed once again. It came from her underbelly, and for a moment, she thought it was because she hadn’t eaten in a while.

Her left flipper was still glowing with [Indomitable Soul], even when she’d been asleep, keeping Mors’ eggs safe and warm in the frigid waters. She shifted her flipper to the side, and her eyes narrowed. Something was wriggling within the sac. The gelatinous film bulged, and Thera could see the obfuscated figure of a fish trapped there.

She couldn’t make out the full details of what was inside, considering the sac’s composition. Reaching out, Thera peeled away a small section of the jelly-like surface, and gently picked up the struggling small figure.

It was a fish.

Thin, round-eyed, and oval-shaped but tapering towards the edges, it looked like an ordinary fish. Yet, it wasn’t an ordinary fish. It was a…

[Lophis]

Unlike Mors, the Lophis didn’t have an antenna with a light on its head. It did have a small protrusion above its eyes, but it didn’t radiate any light, looking more like a little nub than anything. Its scales were a pale shade of yellow too, far more vibrant than the dull gray of a Luminant Lophis.

It lay on her flipper, looking up at the much larger turtle. “Gnah?”

“You…” Thera stared at it, wide-eyed. She couldn’t put her thoughts into words— in fact, it was mostly feeling. One of the eggs had hatched!

The baby Mystic Turtle beamed as she raised the Lophis, spinning in a circle in the alcove. Tilting its head, the fish stared back at her quizzically. Thera paused, blinking.

“And the others?” She looked into the sac, only to find the translucent fish eggs still lying inert. That flummoxed her. Frowning, she turned back to the Lophis. “Why are you the only one that hatched?”

“Gnah,” the fish replied.

“Are they… dead?” she asked, fearing the worst.

“Gnah?”

“Or will they hatch soon?”

“Gnah!” the Lophis exclaimed.

Thera hesitated, listening to its responses. Finally, she thought to ask, “Can you not speak?”

“Gnah…”

The answer was evident. The Vanima Testudine slowly lowered her flippers, deflating. She thought she could recover if the eggs hatched. Even with [Improved Mana Regeneration], keeping [Indomitable Soul] continuously active was very draining. And as long as the eggs were vulnerable, she wasn’t going to be able to rest.

The Lophis floated off Thera’s flippers, moving its little limbs as it gained its bearings. It swayed around in an odd motion.

“What are you doing?” She poked it softly.

It bobbed its mouth, squeaking, “Gnah…” It sounded like it was in pain.

Thera peered into it with a look of concern. But before she could pull her flipper back, the Lophis latched on and gnawed on her leathery skin. She blinked.

“Gnaaaah…” the fish said weakly.

The gnawing sensation wasn’t really painful to the Vanima Testudine. She drew her flipper back, meeting the Lophis’ gaze. It opened its mouth, revealing a toothless maw that practically begged to be satiated.

“You’re hungry?” Thera asked, and it nodded.

She pulled herself out of the alcove and ushered the Lophis forward. It paused, apprehensively watching her go. It glanced about as Thera waved it forward.

“Come on. I’ll get you some food.”

The small fish drew forward, before pulling back. Thera watched as it repeated the action three times, looking around in a worry. At the fourth attempt, it edged out of the alcove, halted, before rushing to her side.

“Stay with me, I’ll keep you safe,” she reassured the Lophis.

Thera swam up until she reached the peak of the rock. The water was darker now— no light leaking in through the ice sheet above. It was either night, or the storm clouds had blocked out the sun entirely. She had only the dim glow from her [Indomitable Soul] to illuminate the surroundings.

She couldn’t see very far, but she knew that there were brine pools at least a hundred feet in every direction. A curtain of misty frost girdled her as shards of broken ice spun and ascended. As she scanned the area, a clicking sound drew her attention.

Looking down, Thera saw a shadowed figure swimming towards the slant rock. She leaned forward as the Lophis huddled close to her.

“What is that?”

Whatever it was, it landed just ahead of the Mystic Turtle, ready to challenge her. It was…

[Onyx Crab]

It was the same crab she had scared off when she reached the rock, and it had come back for revenge. The monster snapped its pincers at her, daring her to come closer. With a single [Mighty Crunch], Thera broke through its joint and snapped off its pincer. Thera brought the limb back to the Lophis as the Onyx Crab fled.

“Here.” She tore apart the shell, offering the crab meat to the small fish. “Food.”

It stared at the food as she prodded it forward. But the Lophis refused to eat it for whatever reason. Thera waited. A minute passed as they looked at each other without moving. Then it was ten minutes. And, finally, she broke eye contact.

“Why aren’t you eating it?” She scooped up a bit of the crab meat, nibbling on it. It tasted fine, although she preferred algae and moss.

The Lophis didn’t respond. But it still looked hungry. So, Thera tried to feed it. She brought the flipper-full of crab meat to its face, and it finally moved, latching on to the food. But all it did was suckle on it.

“Oh, no teeth.” Thera lifted her flipper, looking at the small fish as it just held the food to its mouth without swallowing.

She pulled the Lophis back and brought the crab meat to her mouth. Chewing on it for a moment, she spat it out in an even mushier form than before.

“Mors did this for me,” she said as she proffered the half-chewed food to the fish. “With the Phleglings. They tasted good, so I liked to eat them sometimes. But their skin was too hard to chew, especially when I’d been smaller and weaker.”

Thera spoke fondly as she recounted her memories with the Luminant Lophis. Her heart ached knowing that Mors was dead, but she would live and remember as she promised.

“Is it good?” Thera asked as the small fish finished its meal.

The Lophis copied the gesture, eyes sparkling like it wanted more. Shaking her head, Thera produced more of the crab meat, processing the food through her mouth first. After a few more gulps, the Lophis looked satisfied.

“Gnah!” It excitedly spun before her.

The baby Mystic Turtle lowered what was left of the crab meat. “Finished?”

“Gnaaaaah.” it answered, satisfied.

Thera was glad. Not just because it was well-fed, but also because she was getting hungry herself. She picked up the broken crab leg and feasted on it. Tossing it aside when she was finished, she cast her gaze around at her cold surroundings.

“Now what?” she wondered as she watched the eddying iceflakes rise from the brine pools.

The baby Mystic Turtle was still hungry. There had barely been enough crab meat to feed both her and the Lophis. And what would happen tomorrow when they both needed to eat again? These kinds of questions hurt Thera’s head. When she was trapped in the Ruins of Brunnholl’s Fleet, Mors was there to answer them for her.

Now, it was up to her to figure it out.

Leaving was not an option in her current state. Perhaps, if enough time passed, she’d be able to regain her full strength just by hiding away thanks to [Improved Mana Regeneration]. But that didn’t solve the problem of food. Other than that Onyx Crab, there was nothing to eat at the rock.

The magical ice storm had killed a lot of sealife, and anything that survived would be hunted down by the predators that thrived in these freezing waters. Thera needed something— anything— she could cling on to to help her here. Sighing, she lowered her head.

And something caught her eye.

A brown object stuck out of the sand at the bottom of the rock. Thera remembered the reason she even came here: the flash of soul magic that served as a beacon. And a wooden crate, lying untouched in the seabed. She stared at it from above, wide-eyed.

“Gnah?” the Lophis said, puzzled.

Its words broke the turtle from her stupor. She immediately dove down in a hurry as the fish cried out.

“Gnaaaah!”

It gave chase to her, not wanting to be left alone. Meanwhile, Thera landed right next to the wooden crate, already trying to pry it open. She didn’t know what it held within, but she remembered the Scroll of Nativity.

Was it a treasure? A place of safety? Or perhaps it hid another Luminant Lophis inside of it…

The baby Mystic Turtle hoped it kept something good. The Lophis reached her as she ripped apart the top of the wooden crate, ready for what was inside. A column of bubbles poured out. The little blast of air knocked aside the small fish, sending it tumbling. She gasped, taking a deep breath. She took in the sight of what was within—

Nothing.

There was nothing inside except for a broken crystal ball. Thera reached inside, pushing around the pieces, rummaging through the crate for anything that could help her. But that was it. She felt no aura of magic coming from neither the crate itself nor the orb. [Basic Appraisal] told her nothing of these objects either.

[Broken Scrying Orb]

She found nothing. Raising her head, Thera watched the Lophis tumble back down towards her. And she knew the small fish was all she had.

There was no Mors here. No secret buried treasure. No source of air or food. There were only monsters that lurked both above and around the rock. Arctic Electric Eels, Letus Seals, Horned Orcas, and more.

A little Lophis landed on her flippers. It didn’t understand the intricacies of these problems. It just looked up at Thera, quirking its head, still confused about the bubbles from earlier. Meeting its curious gaze, Thera resolved herself.

After all, if these monsters could thrive in this environment, hunting and preying on the weak and vulnerable for food, then there was no reason for Thera to starve here. She would just have to become a predator herself, not the prey. And for the next few weeks, that was exactly what she did, hunting down whatever monster she could find, feeding on them—

Growing stronger.

You have leveled up!

[Vanima Testudine (Mystic Turtle) - Level 14] -> [Vanima Testudine (Mystic Turtle) - Level 15]!

You have leveled up!

[Vanima Testudine (Mystic Turtle) - Level 15] -> [Vanima Testudine (Mystic Turtle) - Level 16]!