Undersea adventure

Lorenzo reached out his hand to the churning sea before him, and as Mana gathered, a dark gold trident appeared in his hand.

Then the seawater began to part to both sides, forming two huge, surging walls of water, and a submerged stone staircase was revealed, stretching from the shore all the way to the entrance of the underwater stone temple.

Large numbers of fish were swept to both sides by the suddenly parted seawater and swam frantically behind the transparent walls of water.

Neptune, as its name suggests, symbolizes Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek mythology. He was the brother of Zeus and Hades. After overthrowing their father Cronus, the three brothers divided the world by drawing lots. Ultimately, Zeus became the king of the gods and ruled the sky, Hades ruled the Underworld, and Poseidon became the master of the sea, second only to Zeus in power.

There's an interesting story about Poseidon and Athena. They were both vying for the position of patron goddess of Athens (this name might be a bit of a spoiler). Poseidon gave the people of Athens the salt springs, while Athena gave them olive trees. After a unanimous discussion, the people of Athens decided that the olive trees were more valuable than the salt springs, so they chose Athena as the patron goddess of Athens.

Poseidon, enraged by this, retaliated by unleashing a massive tsunami.

However, Lorenzo felt that Poseidon's anger was quite understandable, since both olive trees and salt springs could be found in Athens. He wondered if the salt springs were a political donation or an entry fee, which was non-refundable if one lost. Anyone would think that this was a scam set up by Athena and the people of Athens against them.

Kanne leaned against the window, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.

"It's amazing that it can separate such a large area of seawater..."

As True Magic skilled in manipulating water, she naturally understood better than others just how amazing this True Magic was.

Ordinary water True Magic requires first capturing water flow with Mana, and then changing its shape and direction through imagination. Therefore, manipulating a river is enough to exhaust the Mana of many True Magic, let alone maintaining a sea of this size on both sides for a long time.

This not only requires immense Mana, but also the ability to maintain the stability of the water walls on both sides while withstanding the pressure of the seawater. Even the slightest deviation would cause the passage to be swallowed up by the seawater again in an instant.

"If I may ask, is Mr. Lorenzo also a very long-lived person, like Lady Frieren?"

Lawine couldn't help but ask Lorenzo.

"Of course not, I'm a legitimate ordinary True Magic, you can tell from my Mana."

Lorenzo said to Lawine as if it were a matter of course, after all, in terms of Mana in this world, he could indeed be considered an ordinary True Magic, although Lawine and Kanne clearly showed disbelief upon hearing this.

"Alright, let's go."

Frieren addressed the crowd.

They then flew from the top of the lighthouse into the divided ocean, with huge walls of water on both sides and the night sky above them split into a long, narrow shape, with the light of stars stretching along the passage to the seabed.

However, somewhat unsightly, the seabed was unsurprisingly littered with trash; it's best to just ignore it.

At the end of the stone steps was a platform paved with stone slabs, with toppled stone pillars on either side, their surfaces covered with somewhat disgusting barnacles and corals. The entrance was sealed off by two huge stone doors.

How do we get in?

Lorenzo asked Frieren, who was standing to the side, "After all, she is Flame's student. Even if she has never been here before, she should be familiar with some of the mechanisms and secret True Magic that her teacher often uses."

Frieren stepped forward, wiped the dirt off the door, and looked up to examine it for a moment.

"Use explosive True Magic."

Immediately afterwards, she took a few steps back, raised her staff and aimed it at the stone door. Mana quickly gathered at the tip of the staff, leaving no time for anyone else to continue trying to dissuade her. Then, a deafening explosion resounded between the two walls of water, and the platform beneath her feet shook violently.

After the smoke and dust cleared, the previously tightly closed stone gate had been blasted open, leaving a huge gap large enough for several people to pass through.

It didn't feel like an adventure at all; it looked more like they were there to forcibly demolish illegal buildings.

"Alright."

Frieren put away her wand, clapped her hands, and spoke to the people behind her.

"Based on my understanding of Flamme, if she wanted to build a ruin, she would never put on some nonsensical traps for outsiders to solve. So, the way this door opened was naturally by blowing it up."

"I hope that's really the case," Lorenzo thought, looking at Frieren was speaking so eloquently. After a moment's hesitation, he walked towards the gap.

Since the door is already open, it doesn't matter what the original correct method was anymore.

So the group went inside the gray and white building.

The interior of the building is remarkably well-preserved. Although the walls and floors are covered with a thick layer of dust, there are few signs of seawater erosion, and the air does not have the salty smell commonly found in the ocean.

It seems there must be some kind of True Magic here that isolates the seawater from the moisture.

"It's so small."

Kanne looked around, his disappointment barely concealed.

Although the building doesn't look particularly grand from the outside, its interior is far too small. Apart from the central hall, there are only a few rooms on the left and right sides, and you can see the end of it at a glance.

"Isn't it a good thing that the ruins are small? Wouldn't it be much easier to tell where there's something and where there isn't?"

Lawine clearly didn't understand what she was disappointed about.

"The most important thing about treasure hunting is, of course, the process."

"Kanne retorted in a serious tone."

"To traverse ruins, solve puzzles, outwit and outfight evil monsters, and finally, after countless hardships, find the precious treasure in the deepest part—that's what a true adventure should be, right?"

"The main gate was just blown open, what kind of adventure are you expecting?"

Lawine pointed out the reality without reservation, leaving Kanne speechless.

"Let's split up and search first."

Fern suggested.

The group quickly inspected all the rooms in the stone hall.

However, the room was full of broken wood and rotten stones, and there was nothing that could be called a treasure.

"Lady Frieren, are you really sure this is a relic left behind by Lady Flamme?"

After searching for a long time without finding anything that looked useful, Fern asked Frieren was rummaging through junk nearby, with a puzzled look.

Before Frieren could speak, another gentle female voice suddenly appeared behind Fern.

"Of course, these are things I left behind."