Chapter 35: A normal day at the sea... dungeon 3
"Let me tell you all a little something particular about this specific dungeon, the Sapphire Sea," said Will as he guided the three knights and Sarah towards the shoreline. "You see, the Sapphire Sea isn't like most dungeons where you get stronger monsters the lower you go. Instead, the Sapphire Sea is based on an open-world premise where the further one is out from the shoreline, the stronger the sea monster they meet."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," said Will as they arrived at the center of the dungeon right in between the pristine white beach and the black rocky shore. "For the first 100 meters or so, you will most likely only encounter animals that can be barely considered monsters. Small fish and a few crustaceans. Maybe a squid or two. The point is that the first 100 or 200 meters are something like a safe zone where humans can enjoy themselves as you can see with all of the people swimming over there."
"Mhm."
"The next three hundred meters or so is where the F rank and E rank monsters start to appear. These lower ranked sea monsters usually come in packs of about 50 monsters to a hundred and don't pose much of a threat individually. I still don't recommend falling into the sea at that distance away from the shore. They will either swarm you and then devour you until only flesh is left or slam into you like an underwater battering ram and play with you until you are either beaten to death or drown."
"Oh... Okay. That's quite unpleasant to hear."
"Yes it does sound like a quite gruesome way to go, doesn't it? Don't worry. Most of the time we can fish you out of the water fast enough. After you pass the five hundred meter mark, you come to a sudden drop off in the sea where you can no longer see the bottom of the seafloor. At this state, any monster from F rank to A rank can suddenly surface and attack your ship or vessel. It is required for you to have at least multiple water and lighting mages with the strength of an A rank or an S rank mage of any element. Although, a mage specialized in fire would be preferred to be avoided."
"And why is that sir phantom?" asked Sarah with a curious gaze.
"Well you see," replied Will with a wry expression. "There was a case a few months ago where a group of S ranked adventurers tried to take down a sea leviathan. Everything was going well until their fire mage accidentally set their ship on fire. The adventurer guild had to send multiple adventurer parties to go rescue them later on."
"Oh... I see."
"Yep. So, we can either hunt for sea monsters in two ways. By fishing or netting."
"Excuse me?"
"Fishing and netting," repeated Will as he slowly took a net out from his bag and a long line of a string like substance.
"I know what fishing and netting is," replied one of the knights with a frown. "How the hell are we going to catch sea monsters with a net and a fishing rod."
Will gave the knight a bright smile. "Remember how I asked you earlier about whether you want quality or quantity? Fishing allows us to target specific high ranked monsters while netting gives us many low ranked sea monsters at once. There is a relatively harmless B ranked monster that often comes into the five hundred meter F and E rank monster zone to feed on a plant there. They are guaranteed to have water attributed mana stone that will almost nearly be guaranteed to be of high quality."
Will turned around and gave each of the three knights a good analysis. "Just before we head out, can you three tell me what your average strengths are?"
"I am B rank while the other two are C ranks who are about to become B rank."
"Perfect," said Will as he clapped his hands together. "Then you three can fish for the harmless B ranked monsters. I on the other hand will go for the netting technique and try to get massive amounts in a short period of time. Miss Sarah can give me some aid while I am at it."
The strongest and slightly more arrogant-est of the knights let out a frown. "How will we fish for the B ranked monsters? Can't they shatter normal fishing rods with ease?"
Will gave a nod."Indeed, these B ranked monsters might not be dangerous but they are strong as hell. But do not worry, I have special rods designed to not break under tremendous stress."
Will grabbed a few fishing rods out of his bag and handed three of them to the knights. "Here you go, handcrafted by myself. Made with enchanted elven wood and the interwoven silk of a C class spider monster."
"H-how did you obtain such rare materials?" asked the knight in disbelief. "You are only an E ranked adventurer.
Will let out a who knows shrug. "It was nothing really. I helped our resident S rank spider witch take care of her spider hatchlings while she went on vacation. In exchange, she gave me the silk. As for the elven wood, I helped an elf avoid certain death from the Flaming Dragon Slayer and he gave me the wood in exchange. The net I'm using is also made from spider silk, I'll have you know."
"I- I see."
"It's nothing much really," as Will inspected his fishing net to see if everything was neat and untangled. "Live in Genesis City for a year or two living like an unpaid slave and people will start giving you things for free."
Will put the net away in his bag and gave his four tag-along tourists a warm smile. "Now that I have explained once again to you guys, shall we head to my boat and take off into the sea?"
"You have a boat?"
"I took care of a fisherman's granddaughter for a week and he gave me a boat in exchange."
"..."
Weekly Power Status
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