The interior of the Aviaton was minimalist, to say the least. We had to sit on cold, hard metal, with a rope functioning as a seatbelt.

“How much are you charging for one?” Dawnbreaker asked, once we were squeezed inside. She sat tensely on Abelino’s lap, due to the lack of space inside, her unisuit covering every inch of skin.

I hadn’t been planning on wearing my full armor for the flight, but Dawnbreaker’s preparations convinced me to as well. After Evangeline’s seemingly nonsensical attempt at a betrayal, I figured it made sense to be cautious even around my allies.

I couldn’t help but play out a “who would win” battle in my head. Dawnbreaker could kill Abelino or myself. Abelino was actually in the worst position, because there was no room for clones in the Aviaton. But, Abelino already had clones all over the world. So in that sense, he was in the best position. Dawnbreaker and Abelino wouldn’t gain anything from fighting each other, because it was unlikely this clone could defeat Dawnbreaker.

My gamble was that even if they were acting purely out of self-interest, they would never want to harm the goose that lays the golden eggs. Nobody else could build an Aviaton. Sure, they could gain this one, but I could make hundreds, or thousands, given enough time.

“I know you’re running out of Mana Shards and coins,” I said. “It’ll have to be payments in favors. Or, you can pay me by finding new rune pattern blueprints.”

Dawnbreaker nodded her head.

We were flying out over the ocean now, and I could tell with Mana Sensing that we had left the North American Zone into the North Atlantic Ocean Zone. The South Atlantic Ocean Zone Lord had already been slain.

This was going to be a long day. If everything went according to plan, we would clear the North Atlantic Zone, the North and South Pacific Zones, the Arctic Zone, the Antarctic Zone, and the Indian Ocean. Liling had messaged Dawnbreaker to say that she would start with the Indian Ocean Zone, so one or two of these Zone Lords might end up being hotly contested.

Of the three of us in the Aviaton, Dawnbreaker looked the most tense. Likely because she had the most to worry about. Abelino controlled a whole zone, but he had clones who could look after things. For me, I only owned a few cities and dozens of towns, and with my wealth, I could ensure that they were well defended by mana shields. However, the number of towns and cities under Dawnbreaker’s control was staggering, and she was not around to help fight.

It was likely that several towns and cities would be lost because Dawnbreaker was with us.

I noticed Dawnbreaker staring at the few Mana Crystals that I had equipped inside my Aviaton. Each Mana Crystal was normally worth over a million coins, but the Merchant’s Faction was only selling them in limited quantities. Needless to say, they were a hot commodity.

Once the Aviaton was following a steady course, I took out the Zone Surveyor and slotted in a Mana Crystal.

Searching a full zone would completely drain the Mana Crystal. Over one million coins, down the drain.

It took a minute for the information to load.

“Abelino, let’s swap,” I said. “Dawnbreaker and I can fight underwater in our unisuits, but I doubt you would do well. You’ll have to learn how to fly this thing.”

Switching seats with three people in the tiny, flying cockpit was tricky, but we all had high Agility, and so we were able move around.

I showed Abelino the controls, and had him practice firing Mana Beads as we flew. With our new seating arrangement, Abelino sat on Dawnbreaker’s lap, and Dawnbreaker peered over Abelino’s shoulder, studying the controls as I explained everything.

***

From the surface of the ocean, there was nothing to indicate that this spot held a Zone Lord. The waves on the surface of the ocean were just as calm as any other part of the ocean.

Abelino parked the Aviaton just inches above the surface of the water, opening the roof so that Dawnbreaker and I could climb out.

“You are sure about this?” Abelino asked, as we readied ourselves. He had picked up the basics of the Aviaton fairly quickly, but he still seemed uncomfortable and slightly nervous.

I nodded. “Our goal is to use as few Mana Crystals as possible. Stay back and focus on not hitting us with those guns.”

With that, I dove into the water.

Dawnbreaker and I both had the skill, “Aquatic Respiration,” so we could spend an indefinite amount of time underwater. And we had enough Physical Resistance that the water pressure shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Dawnbreaker had her own set of improved senses, so she assured me she would be able to see under water as well.

The moment I dove down, Samantha made use of my unisuit. My suit was capable of growing two appendages from anywhere on my torso. It was basically a toned-down version of Dawnbreaker’s suit. My appendages couldn’t detach from my unisuit.

Samantha formed two propellers on either side of me, and I shot through the water directly into the depths.

What about the bends? I asked, surprised at my sudden descent.

Samantha replied.

Dawnbreaker kept pace easily behind me, and Abelino trailed behind us both, the Aviaton moving in a slightly jerky motion.

I had no easy way to gauge the distance. As light left us, we started encountering various sea creatures. Some of them reminded me of eels, with long, snake-like torsos and mouths that revealed a surprising number of teeth. There were schools of smaller fish—viperfish, according to the Schema. The schools of fish seemed to move with one mind, in large, zig-zagging patterns. As we descended deeper, we saw a school of viper fish descend on one unfortunate eel-like creature.

They devoured the eel in a matter of seconds, swimming away as soon as possible.

So far, the fish that we encountered were low-leveled. We made no attempt to hide our aura, so no monsters attacked us yet.

They were clearly watching, and waiting. But they were unwilling to descend with us into the increasingly murky depths.

The deeper we went, the higher levels we saw. At over 10 feet long, the Frilled Sharks we passed seemed to be straight out of some prehistoric age.

At first, as we descended, the water temperature had decreased as well. But now, as I could feel the water pressure building around me, and as I could just make out the mana signatures of what seemed to be a kelp forest on the ocean floor, I could feel a hint of warmth through my unisuit.

“We’re close,” I started to say. But Aquatic Respiration didn’t allow for communication. And our Communication Amulets couldn’t work unless you had a Communication Tower set up in that District or Zone.

So instead of speaking, I just pointed, and Dawnbreaker seemed to get the message.

As we entered the kelp forest, I realized the ocean floor was still deceptively far. We were surrounded by long, wavy strands of kelp that were each at least hundreds of feet long.

I gestured to Dawnbreaker, pointing silently around us, gesturing in a circle.

So far, our descent had been suspiciously easy. If I were to ambush someone, I would pick the kelp forest. We could barely see a few feet ahead of us due to the density of the kelp, and the mana density of layers upon layers of kelp limited my Mana Sensing as well.

But C-rank Mana Sensing was a game changer. I could sense the ambushers well in advance.

We were facing a wide assortment of creatures. Sea spiders, schools of fish, crabs, sharks, squids, jelly fish—they were all slowly closing in.

I gestured to Dawnbreaker again, and with wide eyes, I mouthed the phrase a lot.

Because it wasn’t just the local sea life that was gathering here. I could sense, vaguely off in the distance, a growing army.

If it were just me, this would be the part where I would rush forward in an incredibly fast blaze of Agility, killing the kingpen before the swarm could descend.

Dawnbreaker could keep up, but I couldn’t let Abelino lose sight of me. The Aviaton was just two yards away from me, and I knew any more distance would be pushing his vision.

If we kept up at this rate, we would be swarmed by tens of thousands of deep sea creatures.

Even then, these monsters would be hard-pressed to kill us. But the Zone Lord could use the opportunity to flee.

I gestured again for Dawnbreaker. My right arm, in a downward chopping motion, then formed a wide circle with my arms.

Dawnbreaker nodded, drew her sword, and released her martial energy, almost directly down.

A golden aura appeared from her sword. Compared to previous times I had seen her martial energy strike, this one felt softer, gentler. It was like a breeze—or, underwater current—that parted the kelp forest, revealing a horde of thousands of monsters blocking our descent.

Then a second, even more penetrating light came from Dawnbreaker’s sword.

The martial energy was just that—energy—unencumbered by the water around us.

With the second strike, over half of the monsters blocking our path had been killed.

I rushed directly into the half-dead swarm, with Dawnbreaker and Abelino right behind me.

A guttural roar sounded from the depths below us, and all of the creatures around us pounced.

The first to reach us was a school of tiny fish—too small to damage my unisuit, but enough to almost completely blind Dawnbreaker and Abelino.

Then, a ten-foot long shark body-checked me, trying to separate me from Dawnbreaker and Abelino.

Samantha put even more force behind my own propellers, and I stabbed the shark, killing it with a single blow.

Then Dawnbreaker was next to me. She grabbed my left wrist, and released her full aura.

I felt my own stomach sink and twist in fear at the weight of her aura, and the fish around us fled.

That was all the time we needed to finally reach the ocean floor, and the cave which held the Zone Lord.

Name:

Jarek

Level:

39

HP:

49/49

Physical Defense:

30

Strength:

30 (+5)

Mental Power:

14

Dexterity:

10 (+5)

Agility:

24 (+10)

Perception:

20

Luck:

22

Mana Pool:

141 (+10)

Mana Regeneration:

78 (+10)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

2,036,000

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master (C-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (C-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Aquatic Respiration (E-rank)

Polyglot (E-rank)

Soul Communion (D-rank)

Cursed Lightning (D-rank)

Spiritual Traveler (D-rank)

Soul Explosion (D-rank)

Mana Control (C-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (C-rank Low), Soul Magic (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Vampiric Blade (D-rank): +5 Strength, +5 Agility.

Bloodied Battle Robes (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Greedy Gloves (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Bonded Blades (D-rank): +5 Dexterity, +5 Agility.

Axillary Auxiliary Unisuit (B-rank)

Personal Mana Shield (E-rank):

Interdimensional Pouch (D-rank):

Missions:

Zone Offense

Renegade Bounty Hunter