Chapter 87: Spirit of the Water(2)

"She's here."

Luke stood up and also looked down. He then heard Nash exclaim.

"I could feel someone similar to Grandpa below!"

Luke nodded. Now that they'd confirmed Mira was indeed below, all they had to do was dive down.

"Okay then, Nash-"

Swoosh!

Luke stopped talking when a spear made out of water suddenly passed by an inch away from his face at a terrifying speed. Nash saw this and gritted his fangs. He then looked at where it came from and saw a pale man and woman with cyan hair and eyes and had a weird tattoo on their shoulders, holding water spears while looking at them with wariness. Nash growled at them.

"You! How dare you harm my dad!"

Luke stared at the man and woman with cyan hair for a while before patting Nash to calm him down. He then looked back towards them.

"We have no intention of harming you, so please remain calm."

The woman then gritted her teeth at Luke and pointed her spear at him.

"Then what are you doing on top of an esteemed beast? Are you going to hurt him and make him your trophy? Are you going to catch him and sell his tentacles? Is that it? You greedy humans!"

Luke was silent for a moment. He forgot.

'I forgot that merfolk worship and revere Krakens.'

Although Krakens are seen as destroyers of the seas, for the merfolk, it is the opposite. Krakens destroy ships because they protect the ocean and the merfolk. Ships passing through the oceans may be carrying dangerous weapons and chemicals, or there may be fishermen and hunters planning to hunt merfolk, which is why passing ships that trespass on their territory is discouraged. For the merfolk, the act of a Kraken destroying ships to protect them is very heroic. Thus, Krakens are the heroes of the sea for them and the destroyers of the seas for humans.

Luke sighed and looked down at Plankton.

"We are not harming him. In fact, he and Nash are very close. "

Luke sighed and saw Plankton waving his hands towards the merfolk. The Merfolk saw this and calmed down. They then flinched when they felt an immense amount of mana fluctuating in the air. They then saw a small black beast glaring at them. The merfolk took a step back from the immense pressure and gulped. This is the first time they have ever seen a legendary beast that lives on land.

Luke saw the merfolk's nervous faces and sighed. He then patted Nash's head to calm him down.

"Calm down, I am fine."

"Huuu....."

Nash sighed and calmed down. The mana fluctuating in the air was gone and the merfolk finally managed to breathe. But they could still feel Nash glaring at them, so they decided to behave and shut their mouths. Erdene finally confirmed that things had calmed down and addressed the mermaid and merman standing in the water in front of him.

"Plankton brought us here to meet Mira. I am Erdene, the Wood Spirit; now, bring Mira here."

The mermaid and the merman gasped and bowed towards them with nervous expressions.

"We are very sorry! We are rude to you and your companions!"

Luke waved his hands to make them stop bowing and sighed.

"No worries. By the way, my name is Luke and this is Nash. I sincerely apologize for his previous behavior."

The mermaid turned to face the man, who introduced himself as Luke and the black beast as Nash. Nash is still glaring at her. This made her anxious.

"My name is Marina and this is Trent, my brother. We are the princess and prince of the Mer Kingdom."

"....So both of you are royalties?"

Marina nodded in response to Luke's inquiry.

"Yes, and we are here because we sensed the esteemed beast approaching. We went to the surface and greeted him."

Luke nodded as if he understood. He then asked them.

"Is the Spirit of the Water down there? Can you take us to her?"

Trent and Marina looked at each other before nodding.

"Follow us."

Marina and Trent then sunk into the water. Erdene, Luke, and Nash followed behind them with an air bubble on their heads. Plankton also follows behind them in his miniature form. Marina and Trent's legs became a mermaid tail and gracefully swam down the ocean. They then swam down towards the deep and cold part of the ocean. Dolphins and other kinds of sea creatures greeted them on the way.

When they finally reached the deep sea bed, they then saw an aquatic kingdom filled with merfolk and sea creatures. The castle in the middle is made of pure gold and it shines brightly under the sun, causing Luke's eyes to squint while looking at the golden castle.

'Holy shit... That's pure gold!'

Luke looked at the golden castle with amazement. This is the first time he has ever seen such a large amount of gold before. He suddenly had the urge to bite it to see if it was real, but he might be seen as a greedy human planning to take the gold from the merfolk's eyes.

This is undeniably true considering his nature, but it still hurts to be called greedy in the face, you know?

Marina and Trent then guided them towards the castle. While on the way, Luke could see houses made from rocks or coral stacked on top of each other. The Merfolk noticed them and were surprised at first, but soon nodded energetically when they saw Plankton waving at them.

"Wow, dad! This is awesome!"

Luke agreed with Nash's remarks while looking around. They then finally arrived at the castle. The Mermen knights then bowed towards Plankton, Marina, and Trent, but they looked at Luke, Erdene, and Nash with suspicious stares. Marina saw this and warned the guards.

"Don't look at them like that! They are the esteemed beast's friends!"

The guards flinched and bowed down towards Luke and the others. Luke just sighed and followed behind Marina and Trent. They eventually arrived at what appeared to be the throne room. Luke then gasped when he saw a woman in her late forties sitting down on the golden throne while holding a golden trident in her hand. Despite being in her late forties, her blue hair still shimmers healthily under the sun and her looks and aura are no joke. If elves are called the prettiest in the land, next to her? They'll look like squids.

'Man, if she were in my past world, she'd be a superstar with that face.'

While Luke was admiring the woman's face, Marina and Trent bowed down towards the woman.

"Mother, we have brought the esteemed beast with his friends."

The woman then speaks slowly. Her majestic aura and voice really scream that she is the queen, the ruler of the oceans.

"Friends?"

"Yes, mother, one of them is a legendary beast, Nash and the Spirit of the Wood, Erdene, and there is, Uhm..."

Luke suddenly felt like a nobody after seeing Marina's thinking face, figuring out what she should call him. Luke sighed and introduced himself.

"My name is Luke Viscellete from the Reece kingdom. Nice to meet you, Ruler of the Oceans, Queen Lir."

"So you know me?"

"Well, yes."

Erdene then stepped in and spoke to the Queen like she was just a next-door neighbor. Being old and powerful really helps in situations like these.

"Hey, I want to meet Mira. Bring her out."

Luke sighed at Erdene's rude tone. But he couldn't help it. Being old and powerful must have made all of his respect for people go down the drain, no matter what status they had. But surprisingly, Lir didn't take it to heart and nodded.

"Very well, as you wish."

Lir then comes down from her throne and leads the way. They then passed through a large door that seemed to lead towards the backyard. When the door opened, Luke then saw a large dome covering the big backyard. There seemed to be air inside the dome and Luke could see the Merfolk and children in their human forms, all practicing spear arts. They each have a wooden dummy in front of them and are holding a wooden stick. And a woman with dark blue hair was watching them from the side with a serious expression. She must be Mira.

Luke and the others then entered and Nash deactivated the spell. Lir, Marina, and Trent all transformed into humans and walked towards Mira, who noticed their arrival. Lir then addressed them and introduced them to her.

"Lady Mira, there are-"

"DENEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

Luke and the others flinched when they suddenly heard Mira screaming. Even the merfolk that was training in spear arts stopped and looked at Mira with surprise. Mira then leaped forward with her arms opened wide towards Erdene. Fortunately, Erdene was quick and grabbed Mira's chin, causing her to stop moving. Her serious and majestic aura that Luke saw earlier had completely faded. Erdene sighed and looked at Mira with a frown.

"I see that you are still lively as ever Mira."

"Dene! I miss you! Give me a kiss!"

"Stop it, you are creeping me out."

"Awww, come on! Just one kiss?"

"Hell no."

Erdene then let go of Mira and kept a distance away from her, which made Mira very upset.

"It's been a long time since we've met, but now you are ignoring me? I'm sad Dene. So sad."

"Stop acting like a damn child. You are just as old as me, so stop it."

Luke, Nash, Marina, Trent, Lir, and the merfolk all looked at this childish interaction with a blank stare. Are these people... Spirits that are more than a billion years old? They act like teenagers.

"Haa, stop these childish acts. I need to speak with you."

"Okay!"

Mira smiled at Erdene and led the way inside the dome to a... fancy mansion. The group then entered and sat down in the living room. A maid then comes in with a pot of tea and pours it into their cups. Mira drank her cup and then asked.

"So, Dene, why are you paying me a visit?"

Erdene elegantly put down his cup and said with a straight face.

"My forest got destroyed."

"WHAT?!"

Mira slammed her hands into the table, causing a dent in the metal table. Erdene ignored this and kept talking.

"And I almost died and drowned."

"What? Whaaaaaat?!"

"But thankfully, this brat right here saved me just in time and freed me from my stone form. He also helped me find a new forest. The forest is quite messy, but it looked fantastic when we cleaned it."

All eyes then landed on Luke, who Erdene pointed to. Luke just frowned. He then heard Mira's shaking voice.

"Who... Who did this?"

"Dark Eye. They are a bunch of lunatics who suddenly invaded my forest and sprayed withered souls everywhere."

Lir then asked in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"Did I just hear you say... withered souls?"

Erdene nodded and pointed at Luke again.

"This brat also helped me get rid of the withered souls with the help of his friends."

"A-amazing...."

Lir, Marina, and Trent looked at Luke with amazement, which made Nash proud and made Luke frown deeply. He then heard Mira's dark voice.

"So, what did he ask you in return? To meet me and the mermaids?"

Mira then stared at Luke. She was not glaring or anything, she was just staring. But those stares carried a heavy amount of pressure, which made Luke feel uncomfortable. Mira then flinched when she heard Erdene speaking.

"He didn't ask for anything. We came here because I wanted to. Don't pressure the kid."

"I-is that so...."

Mira then looked at Luke with a weird stare. She then asked again to make sure.

"Are you sure he didn't ask for anything?"

"He asked for nothing."

"Wow... Aren't humans greedy and materialistic bastards? How is he different?"

"I don't know either."

Mira then stared at Luke again. She looked at Luke like he was some sort of alien from Mars. She then stopped when she heard Erdene asking her.

"Mira, the Dark Eye, is on the hunt for Spirits. It is good that you are still fine, but I am kind of worried about those three idiots. Just where are they?"

"I don't know either. They change their locations every time so it's hard to track them down. By the way... Did you just say the Dark Eye is looking for Spirits?"

Erdene nodded.

"Yeah, when they came to my forest, they seemed to be prepared, which caught me off guard. You should be careful."

"He... Hehe...."

Crack, craaaack

Mira then cracked her fists while emitting a murderous aura. She appeared to be enraged.

"Black Eye, black sheep, Dark Eye, or whatever the hell they are.... I'll kill them all. Those little shits dare to challenge us Spirits and decided to resort to petty tricks? Unforgivable."

Luke gulped at the immense murderous aura that Mira was emitting. She looked scary. Thankfully, she seemed to have calmed down when Erdene asked her about something.

"By the way, I don't remember mermaids training in spear arts. Is it your doing?"

Mira smirked and spoke in an arrogant tone.

"Ha! Those petty humans only know mermaids and mermen as gentle, soft, singing jukeboxes. Well, news flash! This is a new era! They don't sing soft lullabies on cliffs and act weak anymore! Hell no! I trained them to break bones! I trained them to split apart the ones who dared to underestimate them. They don't need the protection of Krakens now and can personally shred those little bastards to death! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

Luke covered Nash's ears while looking at Mira, who was laughing maniacally. Hearing her curse and talk like that is bad for children.

"Dad? What are you doing?"

"Shush, you don't need to hear this."

'If Nash's mother was still alive and witnessed her son using curse words, she'd definitely squash me to death.'

Erdene saw Luke covering Nash's ears and shakes his head while sighing. No matter what angle you look at, Luke acts like Nash's father. He then speaks to Mira, who is looking at Nash and Luke with fascinated eyes.

"I expect you to lend us a hand when we need it, right?"

Mira looked at Erdene and smiled.

"Of course! You can count on us, Dene! Right Lir?"

"Yes, we can't let evil people harm our kingdom. Especially our ocean."

Marina and Trent nodded. They also noticed Luke, who was tending to Nash. This person has the support of two legendary beasts and two spirits. How can they say no?

They then started to speak to each other and share some stories. Luke was simply listening to them and petting Nash on the side. He then stopped when he heard something beeping.

Beep! Beep!