'Aidos' Underground Crystal Cove.'
The duo was indeed in an underground garden with bright crystals lighting up the cove, simulating the light of the sun and making it so the plant life of the garden can grow.
Or rather, it was really the sun's rays that were being projected here via magic, spatial refraction, and a few other things Evan did not understand.
And like its name, the owner of this garden, was 'Aidos' itself.
On a side note, it was impossible to discover the entrance to this garden if you did not possess the 'Loved By Nature' title, so those people tailing Evan and Eliza would be unable to find this even if they tried from now till yesterday.
"This is a lot to take in."
"I would tell you to take as much time as you want but we've got other places to go."
Evan spoke as he pulled Eliza up from the ground and informed her that their next destination was even deeper underground, and they had to swim through the lake nearby to get to it.
Of course, the lake contained schools of aquatic monsters of various kinds, and some were pretty powerful too.
'Thankfully, 'that' monster would not attack anyone with the 'Loved By Nature' title.'
Evan remembered how many players who did not get the title in the game died when they tried to use this shortcut to get to their final destination and chuckled lightly.
'They should have just played the main quest to the level where they would be able to use the main entrance.'
Like so, he and Eliza spent the next half hour relaxing with the animals, before finally bidding them farewell and venturing towards the shimmering underground lake.
Standing in front of the lake, Evan stuck his hand into his inventory and pulled out two portable changing booths, before setting them up nearby.
"One of these days, I'm gonna have a look to see exactly what you have in your inventory."
Eliza spoke as she looked at the two foldable booths made of black cloths and enchanted to prevent skills that were used to see through obstructions.
'Laurene could still see through it with her mystic eyes though.'
"Nahh. I don't want you to see my 'Eliza Photo Collection: Volumes 1-5'."
"5 volumes?!"
The girl who was pulling out her swimwear from the spatial expansion pouch on her waist exclaimed in shock while Evan only gave her a teasing grin walking towards one of the booths.
"I just have one Volume, for now."
He dropped that line before entering the booth, leaving behind Eliza who only sighed softly before entering the other booth.
Evan was the first to re-emerge, less than five minutes later, wearing a pair of mid-length khaki trunk shorts and a short-sleeved rash guard.
Eliza came out not long after, wearing a light blue bikini and a black rash guard slung over her shoulder.
*SHUTTER!
The sound of a camera caught her attention and she turned to see Evan down on one knee while holding up the Polaroid camera in his hands.
"I shall title this, a 'goddess by the lakeside!'
Or should I use 'goddess by the garden'?"
He spoke to himself as he got up and shook the printed picture before tossing it over to Eliza who caught it and looked it over.
"Did you take picture-taking lessons? How come every picture you take looks so good?"
"Cus I'm a genius."
"That has nothing to do with taking pictures…"
Eliza heaved an exasperated sigh as she pulled out the Memoria from her pouch and then tossed the pouch to Evan who then placed it in his inventory.
She then put on the rash guard and zipped it up, but due to the nature of the clothing article, it accentuated her curves and Evan found his attention being drawn towards a certain area.
"Weird…you're covering up more skin yet it feels more erotic for some reason…"
"Can you stop ogling me and fill me in on what kinds of monsters we're to expect? Or is that part of the surprise too?"
"Lol, no."
Evan spoke before informing her about what she wished to know, including the Sovereign level existences that resided at the bottom of the 'lake' they were about to dive into.
"Something that powerful is here?!"
"Yeah, but It would not attack you if you have the 'Loved By Nature' title."
"How sure are you about that…?"
"120% Sure."
"That so…"
Eliza replied as she looked at the lake with a hint of fear, but the spirits around them who were inhabitants of this garden confirmed Evan's words to be true.
And like so, the duo jumped into the lake and played around with the water spirits there a bit, before equipping the enchanted artifacts that gave them the capabilities of an existence with a high-rank diving skill and diving against the waves underwater.ραпdαs `n?ν?| сom
◇ ◇ ◇
Immediately after Evan and Eliza dived underwater, a featureless humanoid figure surrounded by a light golden glow appeared in the middle of the Underground Crystal Cove.
|Hmm…|
The figure's body shimmered like a haze for a moment, before transforming into that of a beautiful 'woman' wearing a modest dress, with dark hair cascading down 'her' shoulders and to the ground.
'She' possessed a pair of multicoloured iridescent eyes that shone with amusement as 'she' stared at the lake in front of 'her'.
The instant 'she' appeared, all the living creatures in the garden, even the dozens of high-ranking spirits that did not show themselves in the presence of Evan and Eliza rushed out and gathered around 'her'.
|She poured a lot of life essence into my little garden. Even using up one of her skill charges. |
The 'woman' patted the mane of a Pegasus-shaped Legendary Level high-ranking spirit and looked it in the eye as 'she' asked.
|What do you think I should do for her? |
[Well, for starters. You can help her recover all her skill charges. She's going to need quite a few of them soon.]
[You can also order those monsters there not to attack them.]
|Yes, that is true. |
'She' replied as 'she' turned 'her' eyes upwards, 'her' gaze piercing through the roof of the cave, through space and dimensionality, seeing the two scouts of a certain organization looking for where Evan and Eliza disappeared to in the Giant Bear's cave.
|She's going to need it against those nuisances. |
'She' snapped her fingers afterwards, and Eliza's Child of Life Skill charges were all maxed out, and her 3 recovery chances were also refuelled too.
|And increase her maximum energy too. |
As 'she' spoke, Eliza's Energy stat level shot up from 64-99 in an instant, startling the girl who was swimming underwater.
'She' then moved to the lake and looked down at the water before issuing a command mantra to all the creatures living within it.
|Do not attack. |
|Now, as for Evan…|
The moment 'she' spoke Evan's name, 'she' felt a gaze on 'her' existence, causing 'her' to heave a sigh of exasperation as 'she' spoke.
|Fine, I'm going to let Evan progress without interference. |
Heaving one more sigh again, 'she' muttered one last line to 'herself' before disappearing.
|Why do you want him to have those lizards' powers anyway? |
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, Evan and Eliza who were swimming to the bottom of the lake were trying to rationalize Eliza's sudden increase in energy.
"Is this an effect of the title?"
"The title does affect the quantity and quality of your energy, but not by this much and not in such a short time frame."
Evan replied to the girl's question, no noise disturbing them as if they were speaking on the ground despite being underwater.
This was because of the chokers they had around their necks, naturally occurring artifacts enchanted the prowess of the skill: Dive (Supreme).
It was a support skill for underwater movement, which when ranked up would lessen the negative stat changes derived from underwater action. It made it possible to breathe and talk too, thus allowing normal communication.
Dive (Low) would only last for roughly 10 minutes, but Dive (Supreme) was worlds apart as it allowed the user to spend a full day in water, without breaks.
"My Skill Charges also refilled, even the backup ones!"
"This is far more than I expected…"
Evan replied, his tone laced with traces of shock as even he did not foresee this much benefit in the short term.
"Evan!!"
"Huh?! What's wrong?!"
"t-that!"
Eliza pointed towards the 'bottom' of the lake with a fearful expression on her face, prompting him to turn in that direction while rousing his energy but he could only see the spirits and other monsters swimming around.
He was unable to see the gigantic mass of life force that Eliza could see.
So much life force that it seemed to overshadow the life forces of the other existences in the lake, and that was ridiculous considering that Eliza could see the Life forces of some Legendary level existences.
The boy was about to ask something else when a deep voice suddenly rang out in his head.
[You…you're a hero, yet you possess the scent of a demon. Why?]
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