I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 236

All around me, the water swirled violently. I remained in the center of it, dancing like a leaf in the wind, going where I wanted, no matter how much the water tried to pull me. I had started this life in the water, and one could say that the water didn’t affect me at all. Using Osmosis and Water Jets, I could put water in and out, causing myself to achieve a balanced buoyancy regardless of how chaotic the water moved.

That’s how I was able to see that while the lake looked timid on the surface, just under the surface was a powerful suction force that threatened to swallow anyone who entered. All the water was swirling around in a vortex at the bottom of the lake. My senses struggled to reach that far, but I had the vague sensation of some kind of entrance into another world. I confirmed this by dropping a sentinel and allowing it to be swallowed. It survived the journey, although the connection was almost immediately severed.

Even if I trusted Tiffany enough to jump into the lake didn’t mean I wouldn’t pause and investigate to make sure I knew what I was getting into. From the best I could tell, it appeared that what I was getting into was some kind of hidden portal. I could sense a place beyond that portal, and my immediate thought was that it gave me the same feeling I got when I jumped into Schrodinger’s Box. By my best guess, Tiffany had taken me to an entrance that led to a hidden realm.

I would have tried to ask Tiffany for clarification, but from the moment we hit the water, she had fallen unconscious. The only reason she hadn’t already fallen into the portal was that I was holding onto her, but this also wasn’t a great state. Tiffany couldn’t breathe underwater, and her body was being buffeted by the current of water. I might have been steady, but even if a pole was steady, the flag could be torn apart in violent enough winds. Having already gotten her evolutionary circuit destroyed along with her injuries, I realized I had to make a decision fast.

On the one hand, I could probably swim us away to some shore. Those following us had jumped in right after us, and I had watched as the three men fell unconscious and were swallowed up by the vortex. This was one of the reasons I predicted it was a portal in the first place. If it came to just avoiding them, then we had succeeded.

However, this portal appeared to be something the Stride family uniquely knew about. Tiffany had been reluctant to guide me here, and now three others had already entered from another family. In short, there was probably some secret here, and I would much rather claim it than allow it to be taken by the Blanche family or the Strides. In the same way, my visit to Schrodinger’s Box and my exploration of the Infernal Wolf Caves gained me benefits, I had a feeling this place could have some gains as well.

After coming to my decision, I stopped resisting the pull and allowed the currents to bring me in. I kept my arms tightly around Tiffany just in case the portal tried to send us someplace different. I had already encased her in a membrane, so that she had a small pocket of air around her head, so the portal should see us as one entity, but just in case the membrane didn’t survive the journey, one could never be too careful.

The light was the first to go. I couldn’t see anything, but from my life in the pond, light was one of my least useful senses. I used them all to try to get a feel for the act of moving through portals. Perhaps, one day, I’d be able to create my own portals if I could ever work out the method. As we traveled, I was able to feel my body being stretched apart. It was a familiar feeling, just like when I had been pulled into the box. I allowed myself to be pulled, and soon I found myself in a new place. The water was calm and warm. I could feel a light source above, although it was dim. I could also feel other life around me. Small fish, plankton, and other microorganisms. It was a familiar world, one I hadn’t experienced in a long, long time. And yet, I wasn’t alone. I could feel Tiffany, a large, warm presence nearby. We really had transferred together.

I headed for the surface. As I swam, I used Osmosis to pull the water through my body, increasing my speed. I moved far faster than I could just by kicking. While I did this, I allowed my senses to spread. There was a potent life force in the air around me. The life energy of this world was much denser than where we had come before. If I just allowed myself to passively absorb energy as many paragons do, I could accumulate a day of energy for every hour here.

I broke the surface, coming out into a thick, humid environment that was much warmer than where we had just left. However, the world was darker, with no sky above us, but instead some rocky ceiling so far up that I couldn’t even make out the details. The light was provided by glowing algae. The entire pond seemed to be illuminated in a rich bioluminescent green, but it wasn’t the only thing glowing. I could see glowing mushrooms dotting the shoreline, casting a soft, ethereal green light. Everything was covered in moss and vines that also gave off their own glow. This really was like a paradise beneath the Earth.

I carried Tiffany to the shore and laid her gently on a bed of glowing moss. I checked her over. She was still unconscious, but her breathing was steady. The membrane I had created had held, and she was safe for now. I still didn’t know what this place was, but I knew it was dangerous. The three Blanche men were here somewhere, and who knew what else would be in such a rich environment.

[You have lost -1 HP.]

“Hmm?”

I had to check my body before I realized that I had contracted some kind of brain-eating amoeba inside the water. I quickly turned my cells against it, and the amoeba were all destroyed. Of course, I kept some parts of it and developed an immunity. When I was done, I checked Tiffany as well. She had contracted the same amoeba. I used my immunity to clean her system as well. Although it sounded bad, this was only really dangerous for a mortal. The most evolved could resist for a time; however, the longer they remained here, the more it would eat their brain, inducing insanity.

Either way, Tiffany was weak and unconscious and probably didn’t need to be invaded by any alien pathogens at the moment, so I helped her develop an immunity to the brain-eating amoeba. She needed all the assistance she could get to wake up. That’s when a thought struck me. I reached into my luminal space and pulled out a certain scroll. This was none other than the scroll Tiffany had stolen. I had relieved her of it some time prior. I had never planned to allow her to walk away with it, so while we were close in the treasury, I had swiped it. It was quicker than convincing her to hand it over of her own volition.

However, this was the first chance I had to glance at it alone. From what I had heard, it had some properties that could be used to fix Erika’s coma. If it could help Erika, perhaps it could be used to help Tiffany out of her current situation. I opened the scroll and then read the contents. My face slowly shifted from curious to unpleasant. I then put the scroll back away.

“These… fucking… skills!” I cursed.

“Mmm…” A moan brought my attention to Tiffany, whose eyes fluttered open.

When she glanced up at me, she let out a gasp, covering her chest, which naturally was well outlined by her soaking wet clothing. I didn’t look her way, and after a few moments she finally calmd down and collected herself, although she still help her arms wrapped around her chest.

“It’s you…” She spoke in a matter-of-fact voice as she looked around and took in their situation. “It appears that we made it.”

“Make it? Where did we make it?” I asked.

“My family discovered the portal to this place many years ago. However, we’ve sent several expeditions inside, and only one person has ever made it back out.”

“Was he half-mad?” I suggested.

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess, did he give you any answers?”

“All we could get out of him is that this appears to be the ruins of some fallen nation. This is an Antecedent ruin.”

I knew there would be something in here worth finding. I couldn’t wait.