A small party of mer-people and sea-kin were on their way back to the Atlantean guild, something those outwaters would claim is nothing more than a cheap imitation of their own adventurers guild, though they’d only be met with a rebuttal and a claim of the opposite. The truth was, neither group actually knew which came first, but in the ever raging battle of racial superiority, nobody would concede anything they could use as ammo.

There were differences, too. Though both often were tasked with monster subjugation, the adventurers were also shouldered with keeping their dungeons in line, with the benefit of using them as efficient training grounds for their new blood.

Meanwhile the Atlanteans had their own tasks, one both similar to and wildly different from the adventurers. They were tasked with watching the various Trenches all over the world, something that many took pride in. Including this particular group of four, taken to calling themselves The Reefs Respite, they were a moderately experienced party, ranked B-, on their way to cash in a reward for the corpse and core of a C+ ranked Trench-Dweller, then take some time off.

The group consisted of two Mers, one man and one maid, as well as a siren and a sea-lamia. Jacky, the mermaid, broke the silence they had settled into during the trip back to the Border. Seeing the first growths of coral on the horizon, she let loose a sigh of relief, happy to be free of the open ocean.

The siren, Kelly, giggled softly, and even without consciously imbuing it with her Charm, it once again reminded the group how well-deserved the reputation of the siren is. Both girls felt their tension washed away, while Mel, the merman showed the extent of the mental training he went through to be able to stay in the group after his sister brought in Kelly. Flexing his arms, he focused on the tension, not caught up in the passive bewitchment. Kelly, for her part, coughed lightly, clearing her throat with a concerned expression, before turning to Mel.

Deliberately suppressing her Charm, and speaking with the rugged voice she had grown used to using “Mel, I’m really sorry about that, it just slipped out that time.”

Mel flashed her a quick smile, shifting the corpse of what looked to be a mockery of a large white brittle star, one with far too many limbs each far more serrated they appear, one of those arms falling down to the Reef below. Despite being merely a low level Trench-Star, it had given them far more trouble than its appearance suggests, only being subdued once Delia, the Lamia, resorted to using the venom that the Dubois variant is so feared for. Unfortunately, this left her drained of mana, and of venom, leading to the group departing the Trenches ahead of schedule for her own safety.

Therefore, they were all pleased to see how Delia perked up, regaining a bit of color once they passed through the border. While still running dry on venom, her mana was being refilled far faster than out near the Trenches. It’d be more accurate to say that there was no mana to begin with, the open ocean being too far from the land to acquire the mana produced by dungeons, too far from the Reefs to be suffused with their mana. This lends itself poorly to the quality of life, with only the hardiest or most self-sufficient species making it their home. This also means that anything found in the Deep tends to one extreme of strength or the other, ranging from the lowliest Common Krill, to the gargantuan Mountain-Back Whales, or the terrifying Marauding Orca, it’s a safe assumption that anything you see in these open waters is either a free meal, or sees you as one.

Of course this is only further enforced by the Trenches. What little is known of these dark, cold, heavy waters is entirely hostile. The creatures found in the trenches are of myriad shapes and sizes, who see any other creature as a source of sustenance, even while being ripped apart and consumed by the very thing they see as food. An unending hunger, coupled with their complete disregard of everything else, anything that crawls, swims, or floats its way out of the Trenches is immediately slated for extermination, no matter how harmless, or even beautiful it appears.

Nobody knows how the trenches create such endless tides of gluttony, their waters appearing to contain almost no mana at all, while the creatures all, without exception have some of the highest amounts of it in their body of any known creature, despite using nearly nothing in any fight. The Trench-Star that this group slew, for instance had more mana coursing throughout it than a juvenile Lesser-Dragon, yet attacked solely by lashing with its numerous sharpened limbs.

The group continued deeper into the Reef, invigorated by the thought of a warm bed, real meals, and most importantly: no more mana rations for the next few months. A mix of the coral and what anyone would tell you is dirt, packed into a weak shell to retain their shape, the accursed things tasted exactly how you’d imagine, and are absolutely vital to surviving the Trenches. Catching sight of the town at the other end of the path they were taking, they added an extra pep to their swim. Making it back into the small town they were happy to see that little had changed over their five months absence, just a few new mothers happily swimming along with their children, and a new shop by the Atlantean guild. Swimming through the archway, they happily greeted the receptionist, Jenny, and passed over the spoils of their trip.

“Not bad, a Brittle Trench-Star corpse, mostly intact, and its core will get you… three moonstone, seventeen pearl, and eighty-four abalone, and twenty-four coral.”

This was what the group wanted to hear, over three moonstone was an excellent haul, each member walking away with almost eighty pearl, enough for a small family to live well for years. Excitedly gathering their pay, then splitting between themselves, the quartet decided to go and try the new shop that had opened next door, Dry Desires. They were rather surprised to see the inside arranged as a formation, having a meter of water on the floor, and then open air for the remaining two meters to the ceiling. They all brought their upper bodies above the surface, leaving their tails fully submerged to stay hydrated.

Mel was the first to speak, “When did we get a formation master in this town?” he muttered absentmindedly, only to be met with a gruff, rugged voice.

“About two months ago, I grew tired of the shores and decided to set up shop here.”

Turning around quickly, the group made eye contact with a behemoth of a man. Standing on two legs, each as thick as Mels tail, covered in leathery green skin and an elongated snout. His mouth curved up in, what this man may not have thought of as, the most horrifying grin they had ever seen on a sapient, showing off the many teeth on both upper and lower jaw. A solid two and a half meters tall, he struck quite an image.

The first to shake off the shock was Kelly, forgetting to hide her Charm, she stammered out “Who… w-what are you?”

The man’s head snapped to stare her down, looking into her eyes as a scowl played lightly across his face. Kelly was mortified, both at what might be perceived as an attempt to Charm him, and at the fact that it did not go unnoticed. Just as she was sinking under the water, contemplating making a break for it, the beast of a man barked a short laugh, wiping a tear from his eyes.

“A siren huh? That brings me back…” He said with a wistful expression. “To answer your questions, I am Rok, retired Adventurer-slash-Atlantean, and I am a Crocodile Beast-Man, Saltwater sub-species. That answer your question?”

Kelly could feel her face growing hot as he said the word siren, though she was unsure as to why. Something in his gaze, both playful and predatory as he reminisced.

Actively hiding her charm again, she apologized, only to have it waved off by Rok, being told simply “It’s all good.” After the awkward introductions were finished, Rok explained what the shop was: one of two shops he’d opened in this manner, one in the Reef, Dry Desires, and one in the nearest outwaters village, Wet Wishes. He’d opened them up to show off the different dishes he’d learned both above and below water. From their talk they learned that he was one of the rare few who was part of both organizations, and the even fewer who was A+ rank in both.

When asked why he chose these rather small towns, all they got out of him was some grumbling about political games and a muttered statement of “Momma raised a predator, not a pawn.” Under his breath. Deciding to at least try something, they were once again surprised by how little the meals all cost, the sort of price you’d find at any decent inn for animals the group had only heard of. Mel and Jacky decided to split a pig, and Delia and Kelly getting a recommendation of “I’ll just give you all some water buffalo then.”

After being served amounts of meat that they’d be hard-pressed to find on a Goliath Grouper, they sat down and continued getting to know Rok, coming to learn that he’d saved up enough to run these stores for decades after subjugating a rogue dungeon with his party. They were surprised at how barren the shop was, until they realized that he cut a pretty menacing first impression, and they assured him the town would come around. Continuing to chat long after they had finished their meals, mostly with the assistance of Rok, the four were seen off, splitting up to head to their respective homes, or in the case of Delia, inn.

~~~~~~

Rok started closing up shop when he realized that party of Atlanteans would be his final customers for the day. He smiled when he thought of that siren, she really did look like her. Unbeknownst to him, the expression sending a nearby child darting out of fear. Pushing himself out of his formation, letting it power down for the time being as he filled his lungs with air.

Drifting with the currents, he lazily exited the small town where he first picked up his Atlantean certification. Passing out into the Reef Proper, he felt the tingle on his skin as the mana kicked up in intensity. He never understood how Reef Towns got all those conflicting elements in the water to settle down as much as they did. He himself wasn’t at risk of the Burn, but he’d had one of his partners during his adventuring days deal with it. It was a nasty sight, watching his skin start to turn bright red, only to try and cast a healing spell on himself and instead cooking his chest, and everything in it. He didn’t listen when Rok told them not to get in the water, to wait until he made it to the Shore. He still blames himself for not being able to get him out, a Toxic Ringed Octopus grabbed the man before Rok could get out of the boat, and by then it was too dangerous for all of them to try and rescue him.

He shook his head to clear those thoughts, it wasn’t his fault the man tried to “just have a quick rinse, you do just fine” after watching him swimming beside the boat to keep watch in the Shallows. Lost in his thoughts, Rok swam right over the sunken Divers boat, thinking little of it besides remembering its location as one of the many wrecks he’s come across. Deciding to return this one home, he removed it from the bed of seaweed it rested in, seeing the two names Ret, Jeg, and their home, Gil. He knew of Gil, an island he'd stopped over once before, he wondered if the chief from then was still in charge. He would bring the boat back and see while he was there, before he’d go back to that quaint little town. Maybe he’d get to talk to that party again, the young ones are always so enthusiastic.

That siren was another plus, too.