Second World

'How deep is this bloody hole? I still see no bloody green glow,' Jet complained. They had been swimming down for some time. They felt the strong pressure from underneath as they went down, which hindered their movements and slowed their swimming.

Jack cast his Illumination spell to help Jet see their surroundings. Jet's senses had improved after becoming a beastmaster, including his vision, but it was still nowhere as good as Jack's Dragon Eye.

'I think I see some glows. There seems to be some kind of black fog obscuring the water. They are still far down there, but we should make it,' Jack said.

They continued to dive down. A ring of light suddenly appeared on the tunnel wall at their elevation. Both Jack and Jet were startled by the appearance of this light. This ring of light soon died down. They looked around, expecting something to happen. But nothing did. Jack turned to Jet who shrugged. Jack then pointed down, indicating for them to resume swimming.

  Not long after they resumed heading down, the vertical tunnel around them suddenly glowed. Jack saw innumerous rune diagrams along the tunnel. They were the ones producing the glow. They then felt extremely strong mana from under them.

'Shit, the energy that creates the vortex is coming!' Jet exclaimed.

'No way! It's only eight minutes,' Jack uttered, but he didn't dwell long on this unexpected situation. He looked around frantically. 'There!' He pointed.

Because of the glow, the wall of the tunnel became clearer. They saw some kind of an indentation on the wall nearby. They swam towards it. There was no time to think, they acted immediately on whatever option they found at this time.

They swam into the indentation and saw that there were several bar handles inside.

'Hold onto one of these!' Jack told Jet. The old dwarf didn't need prompting. He was already gripping the bar tightly.

The energy pillar that they saw before from the distance, appeared right outside where they were hiding. With how close they were, the light was blinding. It also felt blisteringly hot. Jack had a feeling if they were hit by this energy pillar, they would be instantly evaporated.

The energy dissipated and what came soon was as expected. The water started to swirl. So strong that it even sucked Jack and Jet who were hiding inside the wall.

'Hold tight!' Jack instructed. He slung one of his arms through the bar and used his other hand to grip his elbow, locking himself to the bar. Jet followed.

The sucking force became so strong that their legs were forcefully lifted. Their bodies were now hanging horizontally with their legs dangling outside the wall indentation.

Jack was in a better situation because of his high strength stat. Jet seemed to be truly struggling. His arm started to slip.

'Use your Beast Form and the Strength of the Wild!' Jack instructed.

Jet followed the advice. He activated the two skills. His attributes increased, allowing him to be able to resist the vortex's force and kept his grip on the bar handle.

<br/>After a long two minutes, the vortex receded. Jet was still agitated, so he was still gripping the bar tightly. Jack let go and peek out.

'I think it should be safe now. Let's continue,' Jack said.

'Are you sure?' Jet asked nervously.

'Hurry! We only have ten minutes before the next vortex… Or eight… I don't know! We have to move now!'

Jet understood that staying like this was not a solution, it was just that this handle gave him a safe feeling. He reluctantly let go and followed after Jack who had resumed diving.

The two subconsciously stayed next to the tunnel wall. The energy pillar just now was large but it didn't cover the entire space of the tunnel, so the area near the tunnel wall was not touched by the energy pillar.

As they continued to descend, Jet could also see the green glows now. 'I see it. It's not far anymore, we should be able to get it long before the next vortex.'

As soon as he sent the message, the rune diagram around the tunnel wall started shining again.

'What the f*ck! It is only one minute now! This is seriously cheating!' Jack complained.

'What should we do? Should we go back up there to that hole above?' Jet asked.

'We won't make it. Look, over there!' Jack pointed. There was another hole in the wall. However, this hole was directly opposite the wall where they were.

'Shit! Let's go. Stay near the wall!' Jack said and started swimming along the wall to get to that hole. They could have swum across to save time, but if they were caught in the middle when the energy pillar shot out, they were toast. So, they stayed close to the wall, but this increased the time they needed to get to that hole.

When they were halfway, the energy pillar emerged. It zoomed past right next to them. They felt its intensity greater this time.

'Go! Go! Go!' After the pillar weakened, Jack kicked at the wall and propel himself directly into the hole. They had to get there before the vortex formed. Jet followed his lead.

The water started to agitate around them. Jack was just about to reach inside the hole when he heard Jet's message, 'I can't make it!'

Jack looked back and saw the water start swirling. Jet in his panda form was struggling to resist the water, but it was soon apparent that he was losing. Not only that, small damage numbers started to appear above him. Apparently, being inside the vortex would cause damage.

'F*ck!' Jack was about to touch the bar handle inside the hole, but he flipped back and kicked the wall, shooting himself towards Jet.

He arrived and grabbed Jet. All his movement skills required foothold, which he had none at the moment. But he had a tool that gave him movement skills while in the air. He took out the Wind Jet scroll.

However, after he grabbed Jet, the vortex had already become stronger. They were swept away. When he activated the Wind Jet spell in the scroll, it propelled them towards the hole on the wall. Yet, the force of the vortex's pull counteracted the Wind Jet's power. The spell only pushed them half from the intended distance before it expired.

'Shit!' Jack cursed within. The vortex reached its full power and they were completely swept by its current. They were swirling inside the vortex, powerless as they were brought upward while their HPs kept on going down.

'We won't last two minutes like this!' Jet sent Jack a message.

Jack actually could survive, because his HP was way higher than normal, but he agreed that Jet won't.

In this predicament, he turned to Peniel, 'Peniel, is flying spell working underwater?'

'I can't tell, but I think it should,' Peniel replied.

Jack gave the matter a brief thought. He remembered his Float spell was working when he was resisting the pull from the sand whirlpool during the tournament. Water was less dense than sand, no sense that the same principle didn't work.

So he activated his Supreme Dragon Form. Two large wings sprouted from his back. Even after transforming, he still had problems controlling his movements, because he kept getting tossed within the vortex. So, he activated Gold Dragon Armor as well. Similar to the time when he resisted Broidrireg's sonic winds, this golden state allowed him to be more steady inside the vortex.

He flapped his dragon wings and willed himself in a direction. After an effort, he finally tore out of the vortex edge with Jet still in his clutch.

He continued distancing themselves from the ongoing vortex. He found out that the Vortex had carried them out of the sinkhole, they were back in the lake again. Jack stopped after a safe distance. Jet's HP was less than a quarter already when they escaped the vortex, it was slowly refilling now due to his beast form's body recovery.

The two looked silently at the vortex which was now slowly dissipating. The water was soon back to its calm state.

'Damn it! How are we going to get to that runic metal deposits like this?' Jet complained.

If Jack used brute force, he might be able to get to the first green glows they had seen, which should be the runic metal deposits. However, Jet won't make it. Additionally, Jack didn't think the mechanic in this lake was made to be solved using brute force. There should be a way to get down there for normal players.

'Let's observe further first,' Jack said. He sank to the lake floor and again meditated. Seeing that he had nothing to do, Jet went back to enjoying his leisurely swim.

*

Jack continued to observe while training mana manipulation as well as training his skills and spells' proficiency. It had been hours since they escaped the vortex. Jet was already getting bored of swimming around. He thought about going back up to the surface but he felt like an a*shole if he left Jack here. After what Jack had done to save him not long ago, the least he could do was keep him company.

'That's strange,' Jack sent a message, 'I've been monitoring the interval. All these hours, their intervals are always ten minutes. Why did it change when we go down there?'

'It's probably because we go down there?' Jet offered his opinion. 'Remember the glowing ring when we are in the tunnel?'

Jack thought about it. That's right. The energy pillar appeared not long after that ring of light. Perhaps the interval was shortened after the tunnel detected intruders.