Chapter 173: The Submerged

Aether stood in the middle of the empty room, looking around cautiously, and yet there really seemed to be nothing here. So then why could he not believe it, even after all the proof? Why did he keep rejecting the idea that this was just a hollow room?

He wondered, was this how the other people of the Drowned City felt… they knew they were dead, and wanted to believe so, but they just couldn’t.

Was this how it felt to be under an anchor?

Has he already fallen from the first floor? Could he even do this if he couldn’t even pass the first floor?

Be bit his lip.

…

“No, I already had an anchor, I couldn’t have attached myself to another…”

Really, what was the chance for everyone who had gone to the first floor to get attached to the same anchor… he didn’t believe it. Really, it was just their stubbornness. He refused to believe this was just an empty room because of what his past shaped him to believe. He couldn’t accept that he wasn’t in danger because he had gotten used to the feeling of danger.

…

And…. “I… I take responsibility for that.”

He frowned slightly before relaxing his body, and taking a step forward, and then another.

The sound of his footsteps echoed through the empty room, as if trying to challenge anything that was hiding inside the shadows of this place. Anything that would dare try to hide in his home, the place where he was one of the Lost.

He had taken a while to get to the middle of the room, and yet now, he was getting the second half done in seconds. He crossed without fear, without any doubt that he could be attacked if he continued.

He was focused on just getting across, not trying to figure out if something was sneaking behind him.

There was a path in front of him, nothing else besides darkness. When he looked back, the path was destroyed, destroying itself, destroying the past. Really, this was just like time, you can stand still, go forward, but never back.

In the end, he reached the end of the path, and when he looked around, he found himself on the other side of the room. He had done it, he had really gotten to the other side.

“What-” But before he could even talk, a form from the ground below him started to rise. When he looked up, there was a hole in the ceiling exactly the size and form of the platform he was on.

He sighed in relief after that. It was just an elevator. And one quite advanced, if he had to say so himself. They were rare even in his world.

Aether watched as the second room revealed itself to him… except, it was also completely empty.

Aether squinted his eye, annoyed by the sudden turn of events. What was he supposed to do, the same thing or something… I mean, there had to be something on this floor, right?

…

…

The room didn’t change.

Aether stood where he was, breathing evenly, his eyes fixed on the far wall. He waited for the usual signs, sound, pressure, something shifting under his feet. Nothing came.

Then, without transition, there were three figures in front of him.

They stood several steps away, spaced unevenly, not in a line and not in a formation he could recognize. He was certain they hadn’t been there a moment ago. There was no echo of movement, no trace left behind. The room hadn’t reacted to their presence at all.

They were shaped like people, but only in the loosest sense. Their bodies were tall and narrow, formed from a pale white-blue light that faded unevenly at the edges. Parts of them seemed thicker, more defined, while other sections thinned until they almost disappeared, as if their forms were incomplete or constantly adjusting.

They didn’t stand properly.

Their feet hovered just above the floor, never quite touching it, and when they moved, it wasn’t a step. It was a slow drift, forward and slightly sideways, as if the air itself resisted them. Their motion reminded him of bodies moving underwater, controlled, but delayed, each shift taking longer than it should have.

Their arms hung loosely at their sides. When one of them raised its arm, the limb bent too far, the angle wrong, the movement smooth but unsettling. The hand wasn’t fully formed. Fingers merged and separated, never settling into a final shape.

They had heads.

They didn’t have faces.

Where eyes should have been, the light was denser. Where a mouth might exist, the glow thinned. There were no expressions to read, no direction to their gaze, yet Aether felt certain they were aware of him.

He adjusted his stance slightly.

One of the figures reacted, not immediately, but a moment later. Its upper body tilted, mirroring the shift just enough to notice. The others remained still.

Aether’s eyes widened as he put his hands on his waist; the figure did the same.

He squinted his eyes. ’The bastard is mimicking me…’

But as he was focused on the one that was mimicking him, the other moved towards him… well, move was not the right word, it was more like they swam to him. He didn’t get it, what they were and how they swam in the air like it was water, like how did that make sense, one was a liquid and one was a gas. It shouldn’t work.

They each went to one of his sides, watching him closely, almost to the point their faces were touching. He had to say, he felt himself sweating slightly.

But really, he had other things to worry about, like how the figure that kept mimicking him.

It couldn’t mean anything good.

…

And soon the other two also started to follow every action of his, each time he moved his hand, they did, each time he moved his legs, they did, each time he… moved, they also did.

It was… cool but at the same time weird.

…

’Are you going to kill them already? Why are you letting your opponent learn you, Brat?’

…

Aether sighed, raising his arm, with his blade falling right in his grip. “Do you think I’m dumb? I know, I wasn’t born yesterday, I just wanted them to be close. It’s not the first time I fight something that tries to mimic me.”

He locked his eyes on one of the figures and slashed his blade down. It had tried to get away, but dodging is slower in water than in air, and it’s easier to run than swim. So it had no way to dodge his attack. He wasn’t slow.

[You have killed a Reader Echo, The Submerged]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

’Makes sense, since it copied me.’

…

’Well, onto the next.’

Since the monsters were too close to him, they didn’t have time to dodge; that was the reason he had let them learn his moves, since even if they knew his moves, they wouldn’t have time to avoid them.

Truly, they were nothing compared to the last monster that had actually been able to copy him, his ways, feelings, and powers… sadly for him, it hadn’t copied his mind, his crazy ideas, and it seemed that they also havent done it.

Really, it was strange how he could kill one with a slash, even if he couldn’t do it to a Reader Fragment back in Frozen Crown, but at the same time, he had to remember he had not only ascended in Rank. But he had also reached Enlightenment, the strongest form you can be before ascending in Class.

So was it really that surprising?

Aether quickly reglected his blade, piercing one of the figures.

[You have killed a Reader Echo, The Submerged]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

He watched as the last one, who had a lot more time than the others, had already traveled a long distance… and wasn’t in range for a slash or a thrust…

’You know… my father used to love to live in the wilderness once in a while…” He raised his blade to his shoulder, pulling it back slightly as he slowly leaned back, more on the side where he was holding the spear. His waist twisted to the right side as he held his left hand in front of him.

He dug his left foot deep into the ground, like an anchor holding a whole ship.

“And this was the technique he used back then to catch fish.”

He threw his blade, his body moving forward with it, but not only because of the power and momentum he put inside of him, but because he was still attached to the blade with the chains, even if they were long.

…

[You have killed a Reader Echo, The Submerged]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

…

“This technique is much better than fishing.”

He chuckled as he heard the elevator signaling him that he could ascend once more.

He cracked his fingers.

“Alright, let’s get these other floors done quickly.”

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