It took a while to get through the rest of the jungle quests. The whole time, Kaldalis expected a shoe to drop. A Contender-ordered cordon, or the missing Jormongumo fighting against whatever exile Dalgaard had put them in, or an army of Infernal Horde just over the next hill.

But things went smoothly.

They thinned out the encroaching irritators, and then they tracked down the needed herbs for the Infernal Horde censers. Like the medicinal herbs, there were monsters looming over them like protectors, but this was just a particularly large and vicious lontra, and without a spooky burrow to leap out of, they saw the giant furred snake coming and didn’t give it the chance to get the upper hand.

Together they tracked down the stolen construction tools and the rare wild spice that Courbois’s contact in the cafeteria wanted in the same area, surrounded by more normal-sized - though no less territorial - lontra. And the whole while, they hunted down their other kill quests, and farmed up their gathering quests, wiping out swaths of threatening monsters and collecting the lumber, plant materials, ore, and stone the construction projects needed.

When they reached the beach, they circled around to the eastern side of the town to catch the last quest - seeking the ruins there to ascertain Lataxinan dietary needs. They also had to kill a handful of troublemaking daemonraptors lurking around the area. When they reached the ruins - which were the remains of a Lataxinan plantation - Kaldalis felt silly for coming all the way out for the quest.

After visiting the Lataxinans in the void, he knew what Sardol wanted to know.

The critical staple crop of the Lataxinan culture was the malivae. An almond-shaped fruit roughly the size of an apple. The ruins didn’t have many living malivae trees left - they required careful cultivation, and the jungle had encroached on the farmland - but there were enough to provide the evidence and information that Sardol would need.

With that done, the trio rushed through town, turning in all the quests. Between all the higher-level objectives, Kaldalis hit level 17 off the quest turn-ins, which felt like a tremendous boost for a single day’s efforts - except that it meant he was outpacing his gear and would need yet another crafting binge.

“Do we wait for the others to catch up?” Kaldalis asked.

“We should get rolling on the coastal quests,” Balrim said. “The sooner we get those done, the more easily we can help the others when they show up. We’ll know what we’re up against down there, and can warn them about the problems we face.”

“Works for me,” Kaldalis said, noting that his Dedication Ring was about to roll over to be ready in the next few minutes. “As long as we’re climbing the experience point ladder, I’m happy, even if it means doing this underwater circuit twice.”

The trio went to the beach, near to where they could most easily reach the first quests out there. They took a moment for Balrim and Myrin to get their underwater gear on.

The underwater gear was “cosmetic” gear, like Kaldalis’s armor. It didn’t give stats - stats came from charms, not armor - but it changed their visible outfit. In it, they were covered in something approximating a wetsuit made out of shimmering green fish scales. It was form-fitting around the legs and chest, but in the middle included a thick leather belt that almost looked like a lifting belt. The headpiece was a fish scale balaclava with a mask that went over the mouth and nose. Apparently wearing the whole set gave them the ability to breathe water. Meanwhile, Kaldalis swapped out his weapon for his fishing rod, checking its stats instinctively.

Weichen’s Fishing Rod

Relic

Item level: 100

Increases fishing skill by 25

Increased Critical Catch rate by 25%

Unbreakable

Endless Breath

It was that last ability that was most important. His lungs would be perpetually filled with fresh air. He could stand on the ocean floor forever and never drown. But he wouldn’t have a proper weapon, so he needed to stay close to Myrin and Balrim. He could whack stuff with the fishing rod and probably establish aggro, but he was never going to do damage with it.

“So why don’t you guys just keep that stuff on all the time?” Kaldalis asked the others as he waited for them to finish getting ready.

“You mean besides that it looks bad?” Myrin shot back with a smirk. She gestured down at herself. “Look at me. I look like a shitty mermaid halloween costume. And my girls can’t breathe at all in this thing. I’m already sweating and we haven’t even started yet.”

“Utility gear has a durability stat,” Balrim said, giving Myrin a dirty look. “It will need periodic repair to keep its non-cosmetic effects active. And I worked hard on these, okay? A little appreciation would be nice.”

“Oh, I’ll appreciate it,” Myrin said quickly. “But I’m gonna appreciate it when we’re underwater and not one second before that.” She looked over at Kaldalis as she pulled the mask part of the balaclava up over her mouth and nose. “How about you? Are you ready?”

Kaldalis held up his fishing rod with a shrug. “Yeah. I just need this equipped. What do you want me to do, hold it up over my head and do an anime transformation sequence?”

“I mean, if it’s not too much trouble,” Myrin muttered. “It’d make me feel better, at least.”

“Fishing prism power, activate!” Kaldalis barked, holding the fishing rod up. He couldn’t make a bunch of flashy lights dance around, but he could spin the rod around like a sword and do a dorky little dance.

He knew he looked ridiculous, but it was just Balrim and Myrin.

“There,” he said when he was done, “is that better?”

“A little,” Myrin said. “I’m still gonna look ridiculous all afternoon, while you only looked ridiculous for a second, but it’s a start.”

“Kal!” a voice called from the beachside gate of Cotanaku. “What the hell was that little show? You didn’t tell me you could fuckin’ dance like that.”

Kaldalis turned to see Heluna approaching. He felt the mortified embarrassment that filled him, turning his face purple.

She hadn’t changed since this morning, and was still wearing the form-fitting sleeveless shirt that clung to her figure in a way that made him feel weak in the knees. Though her smile was a lot more mirthful and teasing now than it had been at breakfast.

“Okay,” Myrin admitted. “Now I feel much better, thanks.”

“Hey,” Kaldalis said quickly, trying desperately to change the subject. “What’s up? Why are you out here?”

“Because of the big fuckin’ quest push, we’re short of materials for the fuckin’ boat,” Heluna grumbled. “So we’ve got an unexpected day off while we sort out where the hell the lumber is fuckin’ coming from.”

“Sorry,” Kaldalis said, absently scratching the back of his head. “I didn’t think it would interfere so much in normal activities. I guess I was wrong, huh?”

“It’s alright, hun,” Heluna said as she reached him. She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re worried about all our lives, and I won’t fuckin’ argue that our already-shitty schedule on building a fuckin’ boat is more important than our godsdamned survival.”

“So what are you here for, then?” Kaldalis asked again. “I bet your friends are having a celebratory drink.”

“Yeah,” Heluna said, “and I was drinkin’ with them. But they all kept tellin’ me to shut up about you and your bullshit, so I thought I should go where my input is fuckin’ appreciated.”

“Well, we’re about to head into the ocean to…” Kaldalis checked his quest log. “Fight nautilobsters and sygnaceous crabs, collect more ship debris, dive for pearls…”

“Fuckin’ perfect,” Heluna interrupted. “I can help with the ship debris. Make sure you fuckers aren’t bringing back useless crap, and getting the shit we actually need.”

“There’s still a lot of other things we’re doing while we’re out there,” Kaldalis continued. He grimaced as the list of aquatic monster hunts went on. “Some of this can be a bit dangerous.”

“Don’t worry, Kal,” Balrim cut in. “I won’t let your girlfriend die.”

Kaldalis was about to instinctively snap back that she wasn’t his girlfriend but before he could get the words out, he admitted to himself that she kind of was. They hadn’t defined their relationship yet, but ‘girlfriend’ certainly fit for now until they could have a proper conversation about it.

“You’ll need to be careful,” Kaldalis said to Heluna. “I’m not exactly wielding a proper weapon here, so I won’t be that good at protecting you.”

“I’ll stay close,” Heluna promised. Though her tone made the remark more flirty than reassuring. “Besides, I’m a fuckin’ natural in the water. I’ll be swimming circles around your ass for sure. Might be that I’m fuckin’ protecting you.”

“Alright,” Kaldalis finally relented.

He checked his ring. It was almost ready for its first use, and he didn’t want any of it to go to waste.

Kaldalis returned his attention to Heluna. “But if we run into anything big, I want you to book it for shore.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Heluna said, leaning in close to him. “I’ll let you be the big strong man and run like a bitch if that makes you fuckin’ happy.”

“Forget running like a bitch,” Balrim cut in, “if we run into something big, I want you coming back with reinforcements.”

Heluna tipped her head at Balrim with a smile and put a finger over her lips. “Don’t fuckin’ say it out loud. He fuckin’ hates when I come to his rescue.”

“I do not,” Kaldalis grumbled. “And it only happened once. Twice. Whatever.” He shook his head, before shooting his friends a grin. “Can we get underwater already? At least then I won’t have to hear you all talking shit about me.”