Chapter 338: Clues!

The colorful school of mana fish slowly disappeared into the vast coral forest, their luminous scales fading like drifting stars beneath the endless blue.

Astra watched them go with quiet fascination.

"...I’ve flown above mountain ranges that stretched beyond the horizon," she murmured, her silver eyes wandering across the underwater landscape. "I’ve crossed volcanic valleys and ancient forests... but this..."

She slowly turned in place, "...this almost feels like another world."

"It basically is," Jax said as he drifted beside her effortlessly, one hand tucked into his pocket while the surrounding currents flowed naturally around him.

"The ocean’s deeper than most people realize, there’s layers upon layers all around down there," Jax said as they continued swimming.

Astra looked toward him mid movement, "You’ve only been down here for max a couple days and you’re already saying that,"

"I’ve seen enough. Plus at my level, we explore quite quickly," Jax said

Astra smiled, "I believe you."

For a few more moments neither of them spoke as there wasn’t really any need to. The ocean itself provided more than enough conversation from the incredible sights and sounds.

Gentle currents carried glowing particles through the water like floating embers. Towering coral pillars rose hundreds of meters into the darkness below.

Entire forests of sea plants swayed gracefully with invisible tides, while strange translucent creatures drifted lazily between them.

Everything felt peaceful and timeless as they swam forward, moving towards the target location in tandem.

Eventually, Jax broke the silence, "Alright."

Astra looked over, "We’re not sightseeing anymore."

She immediately straightened, "Mission?"

"Mission," Jax said, his expression became noticeably more focused, "We’re looking for something."

She nodded, "The thing Goddess Meridia mentioned?"

"Yeah," Jax said, taking a glance towards the deeper abyss, "Whatever woke up."

Silence settled briefly as Astra folded her arms, looking all around her, "What exactly should I be looking for?"

"Anything," was Jax’s immediate response, drawing a curious glance from the Storm Dragoness.

"...Anything?" She questioned and Jax immediately nodded affirmatively.

"Anything that doesn’t belong, looks out of place, or just gives you any sort of strange feeling, tell me anything," Jax said to her.

Astra raised an eyebrow, "That’s even more vague than I would’ve expected when you first told me about this mission,"

"I know," Jax said, chuckling to himself slightly, "I would tell you more if I knew but Meridia wasn’t exactly able to give me a picture, she’s pretty lost as to what it is herself after all,"

"So I guess we just investigate everything unusual?" Astra said.

"Pretty much," Jax replied, taking another glance towards the darkness below.

"Keep your eyes wide open," Jax said, and then he smirked, "And your ears peeled."

Astra blinked, "...Underwater?"

Jax looked back at her with a chuckle as his joke landed, "...Good point."

She couldn’t help laughing at him, "I understood what you meant."

"Good," was what Jax said.

Golden mana slowly expanded outward from Jax once more. Unlike before, this wasn’t merely the spell allowing them to breathe beneath the sea.

This was something much larger and more impactful. His mana spread across the surrounding waters in every direction.

Hundreds of meters, and then thousands.

Invisible waves of mana aura passed through the ocean itself. All of this mana worked to complete various missions.

From scanning environments for anything hidden, to listening for even the softest of sounds that could give them a lead, to feeling the various coral and more for anything out of place.

All of it was one massive search for an answer, and Astra just sat by, watching him do all of this quietly.

"I can actually feel your mana," She finally said.

"Hm?" Jax hummed, looking at her as he worked.

"It..."She stopped herself for a moment, searching for the right words to articulate her thoughts to Jax effectively.

"It almost feels like another current moving through the ocean," Was how Astra eventually described it after some thought.

Jax nodded at that description, "That’s basically what I’m doing."

His eyes remained closed, "I’m letting the ocean carry my senses farther than they’d normally reach."

"...Can it?" Astra asked, not having thought about using the ocean in that way before.

"It helps," Jax said, beginning an explanation, "Water is a perfect conductor of mana, and the higher your realm, the more you can manipulate water and mana to use it to your advantage,"

He opened one eye as he finished that sentence, "The sea’s already moving, the water is already everywhere around us, so I’m just using it to let it do some work for us. No need to overexert ourselves unnecessarily after all, "

Astra smiled faintly as she heard that explanation, "I don’t think I’ll ever get used to watching you solve problems, so intelligent,"

They began descending once more as Jax continued his mana-water infused search. Slowly and calmly, as they swam deeper and deeper, the sunlight that streamed down from above them became dimmer and dimmer.

The brilliant turquoise waters gradually deepened into a sapphire-esque color.

Then finally cobalt.

Eventually, only soft blue light remained. The coral forests changed as well. Bright tropical formations gave way to stranger growths.

Massive crystal-like coral emerged from the seabed. Their surfaces reflected faint mana light, illuminating entire valleys with gentle silver-blue radiance.

Towering kelp forests stretched upward toward darkness. Leaves several meters wide drifted gracefully through ancient currents.

Some emitted tiny glowing spores that floated around Astra, intriguing the Storm Dragoness greatly as after a bit, she reached out to them curiously, and one landed gently on her fingertip for Astra to look at an examine for a moment.

"How beautiful," Astra muttered to herself as she stared at it.

The glowing spore lingered there for several seconds before drifting away again and Jax glanced sideways.

"Don’t eat it, they’re all poisonous," Jax said.

Astra immediately looked offended as she heard that, "I wasn’t going to."

"You looked curious, I was just warning you," Jax said as he continued swimming.

"I was appreciating it," Astra explained, rolling her eyes at Jax.

"Mm," Jax just gave her a hum.

"You don’t believe me," Astra asked, staring at him.

"I absolutely don’t," Jax said with a firm tone.

Astra laughed, "I’m smart enough to not eat random glowing underwater plants,"

"There’s always a first," Jax said and they continued on.

Minutes passed and then nearly an hour. The ocean continued changing.

Life became larger, older and more powerful. The deeper they went, the mana density increased, making it the territory of the much more powerful species who were able to handle this level of mana density.

Eventually, as they were swimming, a massive shadow passed above them.

Astra instinctively looked upward and her eyes widened.

"...Jax..."

"Hm?"

"Please tell me that’s a cloud."

He looked.

"...No."

Far overhead...

An enormous creature slowly glided through the water. It resembled a manta ray. If a normal manta ray had somehow grown large enough to cast a shadow across an entire mountain.

Its wings stretched for what looked like several kilometers. Ancient glowing symbols shimmered naturally across its body.

Smaller fish traveled beneath it in enormous schools. It never acknowledged them. It simply continued drifting peacefully through the sea.

Astra watched in stunned silence.

"...That’s..."

"Huge?"

"I was going to say magnificent."

"That too."

She smiled.

"I’ve officially decided I love the ocean."

The deeper they descended, the quieter everything became. Even the currents seemed slower. As though the ocean itself had entered a state of meditation.

Jax noticed first, "We’re close to a potential lead,"

Astra immediately became more alert, "You can tell?"

He nodded, "The mana changed."

She closed her eyes briefly. Now that he mentioned it, she could feel it too.

The surrounding mana no longer flowed randomly. It moved purposefully and almost rhythmically.

Like breathing.

The ocean itself seemed alive. Not metaphorically but literally.

"...That’s unsettling."

"A little."

Jax expanded his senses once more. This time, something answered.

It wasn’t a voice or presence, but a simple ripple.

His eyes opened immediately, "There."

Astra followed his gaze.

"...What am I looking at?"

"Three o’clock."

She turned. At first, Astra didn’t notice anything special in that space, just standard darkness.

Then, after looking intently, Astra noticed it.

The water was moving strangely. Not flowing, but instead twisting.

A slow spiral barely visible against the surrounding currents. Like an invisible whirlpool turning without disturbing anything around it.

"...That’s not natural."

"No," Jax’s expression sharpened, "It’s subtle, but it’s definitely there."

Astra stepped closer, "It almost looks like..."

She frowned, "...space."

Jax looked toward her.

"What do you mean," Jax asked.

Astra pointed carefully, "The water isn’t actually twisting. It only looks like it is."

Jax nodded and focused harder. A moment later, his eyebrows rose.

"...You’re right."

The distortion wasn’t affecting the current. It was affecting perception. The surrounding ocean appeared bent.

Like looking through warped glass. A localized spatial anomaly.

Astra smiled slightly, "So..."

She folded her arms, "I found something?"

"You did."

He looked genuinely impressed.

"Nice catch."

Her smile became just a little brighter.

"I helped."

"You did."

The distortion lasted only a few seconds and then, it vanished completely.

As though it had never existed.

Astra blinked, "...Where did it go?"

Jax remained perfectly still. His golden eyes narrowed.

"It didn’t move, it just hid."

Jax slowly extended one hand. Golden mana gathered around his fingertips.

"This..."

He murmured quietly.

"...is exactly the kind of thing Meridia warned me to investigate."