We step off of the wooden dock of the harbor, and onto the sandy beach littered with driftwood and seaweed that’s washed up in the tide. White seagulls call at us from above and the waves lap against the ground at her feet. Avoiding smaller mobs that look a lot like Saberfish, the four of us walk with an eager, up-beat pace. Every hour we’re getting a little bit closer to forming our guild and I get a little closer to discovering who’s behind the mutiny on the Shield.

Felix and Rin both seem a little distant, and every now and then I swear I see them glancing at one another, rolling their eyes, or just generally looking annoyed. The only logical explanation is that they’re having a private conversation with chat messaging and arguing about something. Maybe I’m just looking into things between them a bit too hard and I’m seeing things that aren’t really there, but something tells me that all is not okay between them. As Rubble and I walk behind them in silence, I glance at the big guy next to me and wonder if he has the same suspicions. I send him a quick message.

Aiden Rockwell: Hey. Do you think Rin and Felix are fighting about something? They seem off. Annoyed with one another.

Rubble Miller: Probably. Their relationship is off and on like that sometimes. I think that’s why they don’t publicly express their feelings for each other. One day things are good, the next they’re butting heads about something.

Aiden Rockwell: I see…

I guess that’s even more of a reason not to get involved with Rin. I don’t want to put a wedge in our party. I change the subject, and Rubble and I small talk awhile longer about nothing in particular, just passing the time as we search for the entrance to the Dead Bay dungeon and trying to give Rin and Felix all the space we can. Within another twenty minutes, we find a cave at the foot of a rocky bluff on the beach’s edge. The exposed stones and dark entrance of the cave mouth looks formidable.

“This must be it.” I say, stepping closer to look into the dark depths. Just barely, I can make out the glimmer of water. The cavern is flooded.

“Nope,” Rin says from behind me. “It’s a trick. Turn around.”

I do as she says. All three of them have their backs turned to me, facing the glittering water as they poke at the air and navigate their HUDs. I frown. “But all I see is the ocean.”

Felix takes a few steps to the side, points to the mouth of the cave, and then out at the sea. With him out of the way, I spot a wooden buoy bobbing on the waves about 200 yards out at sea. A bright red flag atop the buoy flaps in the wind. “That’s a marker for sailors to watch out for ship wrecks and reefs under the water. Also, you could just check your map instead of asking dumb questions.”

I feel like a dolt, but that doesn’t excuse Felix’s jerkish attitude. It makes me wonder if I’ve done anything to piss him off. Rin turns her head around, setting her violet eyes on me with a half-smile in attempt to pick me back up again.

Rin Akari: Sorry. He’s been moody lately.

Aiden Rockwell: … Is something going on?

Her expression contorts like I’ve reminded her of something that bothers her. I feel guilty, wondering if I’m poking my head into a place I have no place to.

Aiden Rockwell: I’m sorry...

Rin Akari: We’ll talk about it later.

I take a deep breath to wash away the anxiety. There’s hope. I haven’t completely stepped in lava just yet.

“What do we do?” I ask.

“Swim out there and touch the buoy,” Rubble says. “The dungeon will take over from there.”

With the four of us all partied up and the medallion in my inventory, I lead us into the water. As the cold waves reach my waist, a fit of panic tries to take hold of me. I wonder just how tiring swimming in full gear will be, but to my surprise It’s actually a lot easier than swimming in real life. I find myself bobbing up and down in the saltwater with almost no effort.

When I finish my swim to the raft, stretch out my right hand and touch it, the sky goes black all at once as a force pulls down on my feet like I’m tied to an anchor. My head goes under almost instantly, I gulp for one last big breath as instinct takes over, but soon realize that I can breathe and have to trust the amulet. It takes a great amount of will to overpower my human instincts, but I manage one breath after another and relax. I can’t even taste the sea. I fall towards the sea floor, watching link after link of a great chain that keeps the buoy in place rise past me. Below me, I see a whole field of shipwrecks stretch out all around, but I’m heading for a small clearing.

The seabed is mushy under my boots, but other than that I don’t seem hampered by the water at all. I can move freely. Broken wooden hulls, smashed masts, and sails, form a barrier all around me except for a single pathway forward. I look up and watch the others drop down to me through rays of light and bubbles in the water. It’s definitely a sight I could never experience in real life, and one that I’m stunned by.

When Rin lands she looks me over, then smiles. “What? You see a ghost?”

It’s strange, really. Her voice is a little distorted from the water, but I still understand what’s going on. I shake my head in a simple answer.

“Well then, let’s go!” She nudges me forward, and I take the lead.

I don’t really know what I’m getting into, so I draw my sword as we leave the clearing of shipwrecks and into the debris. We go up and down a hill on the seafloor, then step into a garden of coral. There are blues, pinks, purples, and every shade in between, casting a slight glow around them. A path is clear; illuminated and leading to a hole in huge double-deck battleship across the way. A flickering yellow glow emanates from the hole in the hull and the open cannon ports higher up. I take it as a sign that that’s where we're supposed to go, and resume our march with my sword in hand.

We pass through the reef with no trouble at all, and it feels uncanny, but I don’t question it and step from the soft sand of the ocean floor to the hard and creaky unevenness of the ship’s lower deck. Coral that’s punched through the ship’s hull illuminates the cargo hold with colorful glowing. There’s crates and barrels all around. The floor angles upward. A set of stairs waits for us on the far end of the ship. As I take another step, a water-garbled screech erupts from my flank.

A webbing-fingered man with gills on his neck on his neck shudders and launches at me. I backtrack in fright, stumble over and hit the deck. With rotting leather armor and a swinging rusted cutlass, I’m pretty sure the fish-man scared the piss out of me. Good thing we’re underwater, I guess.

(LV. 17) Sea-Walker Sentry

HP: 378/378

This man-fish hybrid is the first line of defense for his captain. Its screech alerts its companions.

“Crud,” I murmur.

I raise my shield, deflecting the creature’s downward slash, then roll and rise to my feet. I have to be careful not to get hit. I’m not the tank anymore! On queue, the water around Rin seems to vibrate as the seeing orb in her palm glows red hot. A fiery portal erupts in front of her as she tears down the barrier to this world, summoning forth a hound unlike any other. The Hellhound’s flames give off steaming bubbles, unhindered by the surrounding water. It’s howl is deep and terrifying as it surges across the room and claws our target in the back, demanding its attention.

But I’m only relieved for a moment. Two more of the fish-men come racing down the steps on the far side of the room—alerted by the first one’s screech. I let the creature have it as it tries to take out our new tank with ferocious swings of its sword, attacking it with one slash after another until it falls to the ground.

Even though I take a few hits, we deal with the other two with a speed and efficiency that surprises me. I know these guys are just warm-ups and the hardest fight is yet to come, but I think this new sword makes it so much easier. Maybe I feel this way because I’m not the tank anymore. Rin’s hounds are replaceable, while I am less so.

Once the fight is over, I’m three-fourths of the way to level sixteen. This is going to be a cakewalk!

“Time for break,” Rin says as she takes a seat on an old barrel. With a flick of her wrist, she dismisses her nearly-dead hound. “Gotta wait for the re-cast timer.”

I nod, and we all take seats on old water damaged objects around her that surprisingly hold our weight. We chit chat as our timers go down and my HP goes back up. When everyone feels relatively certain that were ready to go, Rin re-summons her minion and we continue onward, through the field of corals and up the creaky wooden steps where the other two sea-walkers came down.

A long hallway with doors on both sides greets us. Up ahead is one more flight of stairs, and I can see rays of sunlight peering down. It’s eerily quiet on this deck, and I assume it’s because we’ve already taken out the two creatures that were on this floor.

“Should we check out the rooms?” I ask. “Feels like this is the crew’s quarters.”

Felix shrugs. “We’re here for experience aren’t we? We should skip this paltry stuff and push on to the boss.”

Just Felix’s tone of voice irritates me. I don’t know what is up with him, but I kinda feel like he doesn’t really want to be here. “Even if we are primarily here for experience, we can still take the time to clear the dungeon fully just once. Besides, I owe Rin an Artifact weapon, remember?”

He literally glares at me, and I’m now 100% certain he doesn’t want to be here right now. I can only wonder why. “Fine,” he says with a sigh. “Go ahead.”

I bite back the bitter words on my tongue and trudge forward. Opening the first door on the left, I think to myself how if I wanted to work with jerks I would have just joined the River Raiders. But of course, I can’t say that if I want things to get better. I just don’t understand what’s changed his attitude so much. I remember how fun of a guy he was the first time we trained together on those Saberfish, so I guess I’ll just continue to keep my thoughts to myself until Rin and I have a chance to talk. Hopefully there’s something I can do to help elevate his mood. I’m sure he just feels stressed from the pressure of us begging him to be a healer, and the responsibilities of his side-job demanding his attention, too.

The inside of the first room is a mess; bunk beds toppled over, algae and seaweed are growing everywhere, but that doesn’t stop me from marching in and stubbing my toe on a chest buried beneath the green stuff. Holding my palm over it, the wooden box creaks open on rusty hinges as text fills by HUD.

A small store of wealth has been found.

The party gains:

1,300 gold.

(LV. 15) Sea-Raider’s Longbow: +15 Damage, +3 DEX

Rubble takes the bow, it being slightly better than the one he has now, and being the only one who can wield it, of course. The other rooms turn out to be a big disappointment and waste of time, but I try to keep my head up and not let Felix’s I-told-you-so attitude get me down. As we approach the steps to the next deck, the ceiling above creaks and groans. Dust slowly filters down from between the boards as something stomps on the floor above us.

“Whatever is walking around up there is big.” I say to myself.

The next floor is a battle deck, complete with a row of cannons on each side of the ship. It’s mostly open, other than wooden pillars that hold up the deck above us, and a few stacks of barrels. Every window hatch is wide open, and I can see that some of these cannons have seen use before the ship went down. There are scuffs on the metal, as well as a thin layer of gunpowder residue around the windows. I’m reminded that the developers of Libertas have an incredible sense of detail.

I try to lift my spirits as we duke it out with a different kind of Sea-Walkers. These men have unbuttoned vests with these tendrils of purple or pink goo sprouting from their bellies and elsewhere. Touching them stings and inflicts me with a short poison effect that drains my HP. I try not to look too closely at them as I hack away, because I don’t like it in any way, shape, or form.

When they’re out of the picture and my level-up attribute point has been spent, I search all the corners and crannies of the room and come up with nothing. Curiosity strikes me. Walking to a cannon I say, “I wonder if there’s anything inside this…” Climbing and straddling the massive gun, I poke my head out the window and bend over to look inside the massive barrel. All I see is rust and darkness inside the cannon.

“Ka-Blam!” The cannon lurches underneath me. I flinch, almost rolling out of the window, then curse when I realize it was Rubble’s voice. He lifts his foot off the cannon’s wheel and grabs his gut as he belts out in laughter. “You about ate sea-weed.”

“It would probably taste better than a cannon ball,” Rin chides.

“I’m just trying to be thorough,” I say. “I can totally see there being loot hidden in the barrels of a cannon. Go easy on me.”

“Say…” Rubble says, spinning around. “Where’s Felix?”

We all double take, glancing at one another as we realize he’s missing.