Days passed as I continued to travel aimlessly amongst the endless ocean, constantly having to resist against enough water pressure to squash rocks. While it did wonders for my mastery of Colossus Scales, it was also very, very annoying and sometimes painful.

Still, I persisted. I came across multiple other slugs, all of which I happily ate. Although I'd refrained last time from using my devour skill, I used it the next times, making the process of killing these slugs much faster and safer.

I also came across multiple other lumbering giants. There was a whale the size of a warship swimming over me at one point, and I'd been forced to bury myself under the sand, hoping to god that the titan didn't notice me.

Thankfully, it didn't, or else I probably wouldn't be here to tell the tale. The worst thing was, that whale wasn't even the worst monster I saw.

There was a massive hammerhead shark that reeked of blood and had an aura on it that just screamed of danger and death. Its smell was probably what saved me, as I was able to smell it before I saw it, and successfully hid in time.

There were a bunch of other monsters that had me hiding from them, but they weren't quite as impressive as the whale and the shark. Nonetheless, I wasn't exactly just hiding.

Other than the slugs, I happily gobbled up anything and everything that looked like I might be able to take on, and since most things this deep down are blind, and I wasn't, it was usually pretty easy.

Well, pretty easy still implies that if I made one mistake, I would be the one becoming food, not them. Which is unacceptable, since everyone knows I'm the best thing to have ever happened to this ocean since the dawn of time.

... Okay, that's a lie, but at least I believe that. Kind of.

Anyways, as each day passed by, I got stronger. Although I sure as hell didn't feel like that, considering I still had to be extremely careful and hide every time I sense monsters too strong for me to handle, but at least the slugs and my other prey were becoming easier and easier to kill, so I guess that's progress...?

By the end of my first week in the deep, deep ocean, my status had grown quite a bit.

[Nameless] [Colossal Serpent (1st Stage)]

Age - 0 years

Evolution Progress - 30%

Mastery - [Serpent's Dance - 40%], [Devour - 20%], [Extreme Constriction - 70%], [Aura Manipulation - 20%], [Colossus Scales - 50%]

It was far from impressive everything considered, but things were at least coming along nicely. I was still ways away from going up a stage, but considering that during my time at the reef I'd only gotten like 2% progress in the entire time, I took this as a success.

Now, I was about ready to head back to the reef for a small break. I'd been in this place for what seemed like forever, and it was starting to stress my nerves.

There was only one glaring problem. I... was lost.

I'm a fucking idiot, I know, but I thought I would surely remember what direction I was supposed to go in to get to the reef, but even after an entire day of searching, I couldn't find my reef.

If I could panic, I would surely be doing just that now. Instead, I found myself having to constantly swim along the bottom floor in a straight line.

My line of sight was only around one or two kilometers long, far from enough to spot the reef from the distance I put between me and it during my week of stupidly aimless travel.

And so, with great reluctance, I found myself being forced to live in this place. Originally, I wanted to stay here for a week at a time, taking breaks in between, but I really should have remembered that I do not have a photographic memory, and even if I did, how the hell was I supposed to remember all the twists and turns I did during my exploring?

As I kept on grumbling inwardly, I still happily pounced on any and all slugs I came across, as I considered them quite the delicacy. They were relatively easy prey once someone figured out their few tricks, and I was happy to exploit their stupidity.

With my mood a bit improved from the few slugs and even a bus-sized crab, I considered the positives. I might be lost, but at least this place wasn't lacking in food for me to grow, and yet it was also quite empty overall. The perfect combination if you ask me.

Most of the serious threats I'd seen so far had come from above water, so I suspected that they either resided in the middle or surface of the water, and I had no real way of knowing which. Hence, I decided to postpone my exploration of the waters above, instead choosing to grind a bit more down here where it's nice and safe.

I might not be completely safe here, but at least this place wasn't as boring as the reef... Alright, I'm making excuses for my stupidity.

I continued to slither along the floor, nose buried in the sand, trying to sniff out any potential prey trying to hide in the sand. I'd caught a couple of clams like this, and although they were tough nuts to crack, their taste alone was very much worth it.

And, of course, it was just my luck when the floor collapsed under my nose, revealing a strange cavern.