"[Trueshot]!"
SU!
After the [Trueshot], I followed it up with a rapid firing of my bow, releasing one arrow after another. With the training I have done in the Ascension Realm, I managed to just rapidly use the bow and arrow like nothing, In the beginning, whenever I nock the bow repeatedly, it will tire my hands a lot, however, that no longer applies as it no longer tires my arms anymore. In fact, I can do it faster too.
"Alright, I confirmed you have eliminated the last Sword Baraccuda attacking us," Li reported.
"Are those things dangerous enough even though we are on the boat?" Lucia asked.
"Sword Barracudas are a bit troublesome. If our boat is made from wood with subpar quality, it will only take a matter of seconds before they can sink it down. Even if the wood is made from high-quality wood, I don't think letting those fishes damage the boat would lead to a good experience for all of us either," Atlas explained.
"You should not worry too much, we won't meet any of those fishes now that we are almost into the entrance."
Not too far from us, I can hear the gushing water getting really strong. The water current is also getting a bit more violent than usual. Then, I noticed the shape of the water ahead of us.
"Holy crap, a whirlpool!"
No, it's much bigger than a whirlpool. It's like a black hole in the sea.
"Don't worry about it, this might look pretty deep but everything is fine. This is the entrance to the Kingdom of the Deep Sea. It might look like a violent Maelstrom in the sea but it was basically designed to be like that so that ships will avoid it. Now, just let the Maelstrom drag our boat. Don't steer its current or we will be in a very bad situation. Also, be sure to hold tight to the boat. Don't let go no matter what happens or anyone will be dragged into the water current!" Sera explained and warned.
"But isn't the current enough to destroy our boat?!" Tina is panicking when she saw how big the whirlpool is. It is no longer a whirlpool but a maelstrom.
"No worries. It might look violent but the boat will be enough to handle the current of the maelstrom. It's not as violent but you guys should at least hold the boat for a bit so that you guys won't get thrown off from the boat into the swirl. You really don't want that to happen to you guys," Li grinned with a thumb's up.
"That doesn't help at all!"
...
SWOOOSSSHHHH!
The raging water now starts to drag our boat towards the big black hole of the water. Even I don't feel comfortable doing this. As someone who has experienced quite a lot of adventures in the Alternate World in the past timeline, that doesn't mean I experienced everything else. This is 'NOT PART OF THAT EXPERIENCE' in the past timeline as I would have never dreamed to experience this.
As soon as our ship starts getting swallowed by the maelstrom, everyone started to grab a hold of the boat's edges as the violent surges of the sea starts to rage and rock our boat. Li and Sera are just calm and they are not even holding the edges of the boat as they observe the situation.
"Hold tight guys, we will experience quite a huge wave this time."
SPLASH!
The boat is on the verge of toppling over the moment the wave hits and I can even feel my whole vision spinning around.
"How long are we going to endure this?!" Lucia shouted as our voices are now being suppressed by the maelstrom's noise and it was like we are inside a vacuum as our voice is too weak to properly hear.
"If things go smoothly, around 30 minutes but if we are unlucky, maybe around 1 to 2 hours," Li answered.
"That doesn't bode well dude..." Atlas's voice is also worried.
"Don't be scared guys. Just think of it like a boss we needed to defeat. And to defeat it, we need to hold out, remain steadfast and remain strong enough to defend ourselves. We don't need to fight it but just use it to test our endurance."
"That's asking for the impossible, Master! This is too scary! Urp!" Lucia tried to complain but she was held back when her seasickness kicks in once more. Cotton is just actively helping her by rubbing a bit of her back though I don't know if that ever helps her at all.
Lina is just quiet but her eyes are keeping an eye out of everyone. From the looks of it, once something wrong goes on, she will automatically go and try to fix or save anyone who will be about to fall. Tina is just the same as Lucia but she is just there with her eyes closed. Atlas is just in a helpless situation and is gripping the edge of the boat tightly while actively trying to balance the boat so that it won't sink in case things go wrong due to his weight.
As for the siblings, they remained the same and is just observing the sea and the current. They are just there to warn whenever something will happen before it gets really bad. They don't even show any kind of worried-looking face but just neutral.
Plenty of waves splash the boat multiple times and every one of us is already drenched. But our tribulation is not yet done and we are still being swallowed whole. It was like descending into the abyss without any hope once you managed to reach the very bottom.
Then, a pillar of light engulfed our boat. The violent surges of the water no longer clash with the boat. In fact, it felt like we are no longer in the water.
"You guys can now let go of the edge and see what is happening now. We are now out of the danger. Come one, and relax a bit." Li happily suggested.
Since Li already said so and my danger sensor in my body is no longer fearing much, I let go of my hands and realized that we are indeed no longer in the waves.
"Are we floating?" I tried to peer from below and saw that it is still the same dark bottom.
"Nah, we are currently falling but we are descending that allows for no impact once we landed. We are already at the entrance and we just needed to properly land the boat at the bottom before we can start to explore the place," Sera explained.
Seeing me fine after letting go, the others also let go from the edges and looked around. The sound of the waves is still resounding on our ears but it is no longer on our boat but just on the side of our boats where the wall of water seems to be ready to fall over down to us and drown us. No one would believe this maelstrom will be a portal to the entrance of the Kingdom of the Deep Sea. Now I know why Sera and Li said that the entrance won't appear if we don't use a ship. It's because to properly enter the maelstrom, we needed a ship. Leona wouldn't be able to properly fly back up in the process if she tries to descend on the maelstrom. Also, if this is part of the event, the maelstrom won't appear either if we are not on a boat or ship.
The descent of the ship is slow enough that no one would panic. Even I would panic if our descent is too fast as that would mean we will have big trouble once we fell to the bottom. That would be a death sentence to us all.
It didn't take long for the boat to land at the very bottom. Li and Sera are the first to move out of the boat followed by us. There is no soil but rocks. It was like it got cemented before we came here. Not only that but I can see some structures too that looks like it has been submerged by water. Then, we hear the surging water getting stronger. When we look up, the water that is currently creating the maelstrom is coming down to us.
"Calm down guys, observe," Li pointed.
That's when we saw that the water falling wasn't actually going to fall down straight to us. In fact, it stopped around the area where we are now ready to stand straight on the boat without being rocked by the water. Some sort of sorcery seems to keep the water at bay and just collects it like a basin or a glass of water's bottom.
"Well, there have been changes indeed but it seems we are on the right track. These ruins will lead us to the transporter that will lead us to the Kingdom of the Deep Sea."
We didn't know this before but we are in for serious trouble once we step into the Kingdom of the Deep Sea.