Stuffed into the eaves of a two story home was a bundle of reeds, loose threads, and fluff stolen from pillows and mattresses. These castoffs were carefully arranged into a bird’s nest. Beneath a pair of eggs was a small golden ring. Despite the fact that Deep Shore was located underwater, a population of birds had still managed to thrive there. The city itself had an immense bubble of open air within it, which gave the scavenging birds enough leeway to thrive on the scraps of the city’s inhabitants. They also seemed to be something of a delicacy for the aquatic races, just as things from the deep sea could be for humans. Catching seabirds was comparatively more difficult than catching fish or other seafood for them.

When dozens of body doubles were leaving the inn, Sage had one of them toss a stone as a distraction. That stone hid the Universe Ring inside. Then he used the Little Birdy techniques to get a bird to pick up the stone and drop it while in flight. The stone shattered and the ring was picked up and deposited within a different bird’s nest. Just in case the stone was noticed or marked he went through the extra level of misdirection. Sage did not intend to underestimate these foes so he used every trick he could think of to make it difficult to be noticed.

The dozens of body doubles were not Hoplites or Dragoons that could possibly be tied to him. Instead, they were people from the Inner World that had earned themselves life sentences in prison. He gave them all a deal, they would be sent to another world and if they could survive for 72 hours then the Human Seal he placed upon them would dissolve on its own and they would be free to stay there. The Human Seals made them all look like the same person, then he added an extra layer of disguise with the Little Birdy Mud Mask technique, and topped it all off with matching outfits. He also used the same mud mask disguise and outfit when he went to visit Blue Tiger. From there he brought a temporarily unconscious Blue Tiger into the Universe Ring and released the convicts one after the other. They were all given similar stones and told to use them to create noise distractions or cause conflicts between their pursuers and the other locals. The last dozen or so decoys were released at the same time clueless that one of them carried the stone with the Universe Ring inside it. Who could imagine that they carried in their pocket the place they were just standing inside of?

These convicts were at varying levels of strength, and most of them would have no chance of survival outside of Deep Shore city and in the Depths themselves. Even so, they could probably find a job of some sort in the city and slowly earn enough Spirit Stones to pay for passage out of Deep Shore. With the strict rules of Deep Shore if they managed to escape and didn’t learn their lessons then they’d pay for it sooner or later. For the ones that didn’t manage to escape and were caught by the Shadow Capes? They were already facing a death sentence before, so at least they got a chance to fight for their lives. It may be a little crude to force them to live by what is essentially the rules of nature, but there was something very pure about it. Those who were the strongest, smartest, or luckiest ended up surviving.

Sage used a link insect on the outside world to control a few birds and spy upon the Shadow Capes. After a couple weeks their search intensity drastically reduced and he had a Core Formation Cultivator that specialized in water techniques take the Universe Ring and carry it out of Deep Shore. This cultivator was someone that redeemed many treasures for the chance to leave the Inner World as he was part of a larger sect that had heard the rumors of there being a path to another world. Those who had fought with Sage thousands of years ago, in their time, had left behind the legend. Many had ended up leaving the Inner World at that time and their legacy’s remained behind. Upon hearing that there was another world beyond their own, there were many that became consumed with an overwhelming curiosity and did all they could to find that other place.

Upon entering the Depths, Sage had already worked on collecting information, which included the maps of the local area. Travel between cities in the Depths was most often done using Transportation Arrays, but it was expensive and the Shadow Capes had a heavy presence there. If someone were to use a Transportation Array it was said that the Shadow Capes always knew who left and where they went. Worse yet, they were said to have a hand in their operation because of a strange quirk. People could pay to make use of the Transportation Array more expensive for someone else. If someone wanted to catch someone else they could pay five thousand Spirit Stones to increase that person’s Transportation Array fee by five thousand Spirit Stones. Worse yet, the Shadow Capes only took jobs to track a target within a specific city. As soon as the target left they considered their job complete. If the target was to be followed in the new city they’d have to hire the Shadow Capes again. This practice seemed to be in collusion with the rulers of the Depths, so that clients would be incentivized to pay for their target to have more and more expensive Transportation Array charges, or the fee they pay to the Shadow Capes would be wasted.

It seemed utterly ridiculous, but Sage could only assume it was related to this place being used as a training ground. If someone could easily run away from their enemies it wouldn’t be nurturing a fighting will. Or, maybe the rulers of this place were just vicious and ruthless, wanting to earn money while also creating permanent citizens for themselves.

Whatever the reason, it also created a demand for undersea caravans, traveling between the cities of the Depths for those who couldn’t use the Transportation Arrays. It was especially bad because only after arriving in the Depths would one realize that the cost to leave was many times higher than it was to arrive. Those who were sent here to improve were expected to stay for a long period to grow and improve. If they couldn’t gather the funds to return then they didn’t deserve to. Or at least that’s the sort of thing Sage imagined those ruthless Sect and Clan leaders would do. They wanted truly powerful people, not failures that were sort of strong.

The water cultivator had already been given a long debriefing on the Inner World and he calmly boarded a structure mounted on the back of a large sea turtle. The turtle was controlled by a Beast Tamer, and Sage was tempted to speak with the old woman, but he chose to keep a low profile instead. Without any considerable danger presenting itself he chose to remain in hiding until they reached their destination. One of the problems with an undersea caravan was that safety was not guaranteed. It was also a long voyage and became something of a whole adventure on its own. The water cultivator joined in at least six battles over the course of the next three months, conflicts where all the passengers had to get involved with the defense. The huge turtle and the hired guards were not enough to hold off the myriad of threats they faced while in transit. They traveled through dark waters and bright shallows, navigating through an immense forest of kelp and seaweed before finally arriving at their destination. A beautifully colorful city hidden among an immense coral reef: Coral Shallows.