The Challenge of the Masters

⊱⊰ 56: Under the Sea ⊱⊰

"So, is he going to pretend we're invisible throughout the whole trip?" asked Thelma.

Arisa shifted her gaze from her book and looked at the girl with a high ponytail. Thelma was glancing over her shoulder from her seat, examining the young merman taking a nap in an area not far from them.

"Let him be," said Garoh, who had sat in a corner to chat with Kazuya. "As long as he takes us to our destination, it's fine."

Thelma focused her eyes back on her device. "He could at least tell us his name and attempt to break the ice a little. It's been thirty minutes since we dived in the ocean and there's still an hour more until we reach the city. I kind of feel uncomfortable isolating him like this."

"Woah, it's only been thirty minutes?" asked Kazuya, changing the subject. "It will be a long journey. Will we really make it in time before Caris gives up her powers in public?"

Arisa's heart sped as Kazuya said those words, remembering that they were on a race against time.

"Tausa mentioned that she would do that after sunset," said Garoh thoughtfully. "We still have a couple of hours until then."

"Is that so?" Kazuya folded his arms, supporting his back against the transparent surface. "Still, the journey to that city is long. I can't believe that we still have an hour left. Any idea on how we can kill time until then?"

Garoh touched his jaw and as he explained to Kazuya a game he used to play with his brother in Lunara, Arisa returned her view to the book. She sighed, knowing that there was still more time until they reached their destination. She couldn't wait to see Caris again and hoped that she was okay as she was going through a lot for a girl her age.

As Arisa had lost her concentration on the chapter, she gazed up and met a group of fish passing by their transportation. Even though the beings outside the machine couldn't see the passengers inside it, the people inside of it could admire their surroundings by looking up or examining the transparent walls. Looking around, she felt as if she was inside a bubble that floated deep in the ocean.

Examining her surroundings, Arisa thought that their transportation wasn't so big. But compared to train that took them to other worlds, it was definitely more spacious, having leather seats filling one side of the area and a medium-sized table decorating the other side with its four chairs.

Arisa admired the view outside their transportation, losing herself in her thoughts. Ever since the ship left the port and traveled deep down into the sea, Arisa spent most of the time admiring the underwater world. In the first fifteen minutes, she only saw regular marine life like fish of various sizes and a small number of dolphin-like creatures.

As they slowly went down, even more, Arisa saw creatures that she hadn't seen in the Researchers' books before. Some had a monstrous look and were large, but they didn't seem to have an interest in attacking them.

It was not after the ship reached a small town that Arisa's heart pumped excitement and made her focus on the scenery for several minutes. She remembered being stunned when she saw various mermaids swimming around. She never thought they would look so diverse. Some had the typical appearance of a half-human and half fish, others had the upper part covered in fish scales and a face that didn't have many features resembling a human.

She remembered that some merpeople had a similar appearance as the young man that was guiding them. They had legs instead of tails. When she saw those beings in that town, Arisa remembered wishing that her grandmother was there. She couldn't imagine how she would react upon seeing a real mermaid. She was such a big fan of them.

Still having that small town flashing in her mind, Arisa realized that most of the buildings there were circular with several seashells decorating their surface.