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Sound worked differently when you were inside water. It wasn't possible to tell from what direction it was coming or how far away it was. You probably would hear high-pitched sounds miss on land. And suddenly turn deaf to low rumbles that one would typically hear.
When on dry land, sound traveled in waves through the air. When those waves reached the ear, they vibrated the tiny audio bones in the inner ear. But while underwater, the sound waves didn't move through the air: they moved through the water.
Underwater, those sound waves didn't vibrate the audio bones in the inner ear. They went straight to the skull bones and vibrated that heavy bone that was behind the ear. Because of that, one would hear higher frequencies underwater but lose lower ones — and would get a disrupted sense of direction and depth.
And that entire experience turned chaotic when swimming inside turbulent, moving waters. The water sounds were so loud that nothing else was audible.
At that moment, Quinn was experiencing all that, as he was frowning through his swimming goggles. He was looking towards the center of the vortex and in spite of the moving water that reduced visibility, Quinn knew that the center of the vortex was the place he had to go.
But getting there was what Quinn was working towards. And it was the one thing he had been working on for close to two weeks.
After getting 'comfortable' —and Quinn used the word in the loosest way possible— in the vortex, Quinn realized that the water whirlpool wasn't the typical whirlpool formed in sea and oceans.
Typical maelstroms would suck a person or objects down and towards the center, where the pulling force was maximum. But this vortex wasn't like that. After going there every day, Quinn realized that the vortex was a thick water ring and not a swirl that sucked water.
Quinn realized this when he tried to stay in the vortex for a long continuous stretch. In that long stretch, Quinn realized he was going around in circles. Not moving inside or outside from where he was dropped into the water.
In the following few days after that revelation, Quinn tried to move towards the center of the ring, but soon found that to move laterally in the vortex was the true challenge.
The resistance inside the water due to the high speeds was so harsh that Quinn couldn't move side-to-side, and for a few days, all he could do was an experiment with water magic to move to the other side.
But today, Quinn had come prepared with an approach that would help him move laterally inside the water.
'Okay, let's start the test,' thought Quinn as he looked to his front and all he could see was water just like he did every time. The shades of blue were all Quinn saw when he was inside the water maelstrom.
Train tracks were the source of Quinn's inspiration; train track shifters, to be exact. A train track switch was a mechanical installation that enabled railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction or where a spur or siding branches off.
Quinn was treating the circular ring he was swimming in as a closed circular train track. Quinn wanted to create a temporary switch that would forcibly shift him to another 'track' closer to the vortex's center.
The flow of water was pushing Quinn forward, and he wanted to create an external force that would shortly alter the flow of the water, so he could create a relay from his 'track' to another 'track' to his side.
'Come on~, water magic!'
Calling upon his magic from the depth of his magic core, he gathered more and more magic. The magic within him rolled in waves as it got stronger and stronger. When Quinn thought it was enough, he released it in a single burst in front of him in the water.
An arctic blue burst of magic came out of Quinn and shot forward. The magic was supposed to push the water flow to the side so that Quinn could simply flow into that altered flow and inch closer to the center.
Quinn widened his eyes when he saw that instead of signs of water flowing sideways, the water in front of him blew up.
'Oooh, shiiit!' screamed Quinn, immediately curled his body into a ball and braced for impact.
Quinn knew what was about to come. He knew that he wasn't going to be blasted back. Oh, no; the circular flow of the water ring mixed with the disturbance he caused had created a random flow of water.
He entered the disturbed zone and was immediately spinned in random directions. It was like a ball spinning on multiple axes. Quinn lost control over his body as the water current spun him at high speed.
'I-I'm getting dizzy~!' stuttered Quinn after trying to regain balance, but the pressure around his body was too much for him to open up.
He injected magic into the safety insignia and teleported away from the whirlpool.
In the main room, Quinn stumbled as he tried to stand up.
"Oh, my, heavens, come on, world, stop moving," said Quinn as he closed his eyes, laying on the floor. He put a hand on his mouth and croaked, "Don't vomit. Don't vomit... just don't."
After calming down, Quinn stood up. Staying still for a second before taking a deep breath.
"I'm going to pee in there," muttered Quinn as he entered the water entrance.
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- (Scene Break) -
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For an entire week, Quinn struggled to form an altered flow that would allow him to create a shift and move closer to the center.
Every day, Quinn would go inside the water vortex at least two dozen times and repeatedly fail time and time again. Hundreds of bursts of water magic, each different from the last, were tested inside the harsh conditions of the vortex.
A lot of them blew up in his face. Many of the attempts caused him to slam into walls of water resulting from the magic reacting with the water. Some didn't phase the water, even a single bit. Others caused him to spin around so much that he was on the urge to vomit out his stomach's contents.
But after those hundreds of tests, Quinn slowly collected data and experience using water magic to control the turbulent water maintained by magic.
"In a way, this is similar to the first vault," thought Quinn. He recalled the snowflake icicle that had blocked his way for months. "The ice was resisting my magic, and now, this water's strong flow is resisting my magic."
Breakthroughs came naturally after many attempts. It was just a matter of time before Quinn could figure out how to alter the flow that would move him closer to the center.
'Come on, make way for me, magic,' said Quinn as he collected magic and changed its nature into water magic.
The arctic blue magic emerged in front of Quinn and grew brighter as it expanded in size before contracting into a tiny sphere. It shot forward and, after a bright flash, the water that was following its intended path suddenly shifted at an angle.
'Let's go!' exclaimed Quinn, and with a high swimming speed, he flowed into the altered flow and moved closer to the center.
'Yes!' celebrated his success Quinn. 'That was a solid three-meter shift!'
Quinn always dropped at sixty meters from the center, so he needed to create around twenty shifts to get to the center.
Gulping in a bottle full of water, Quinn felt the breath return to him and closed his eyes to focus, 'This is going to take time. Let's see if I can get to the center today.'
He wasn't able to get it done that day. Quinn spent around two to three hours every day inside the vault. Any more than that would take time out of his daily schedule.
He had to attend classes, spend time in the A.I.D office and complete requests, his two daily workout sessions, study magic in the library, practice using magic inside the Room of Requirements, and spend time eating and socializing.
If he spent more time in the vault, he would be reverting back to his second year, where he was spending too much time on other things.
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- (Scene Break) -
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It took another two days until Quinn was fast enough to cover the sixty meters in three-meter shifts before time ran out.
'One more shift and I'll be inside the center,' noted Quinn as he looked to the side. He could faintly see the boundary where the water ended.
The circular water whirlpool had a five-meter waterless wide center. Quinn saw it every time he fell into the water.
In fact, in the beginning, which was a few days ago, Quinn would try to get into the center without entering the water.
He would try to use the seize-and-pull spell to fasten himself to a wall or the ceiling, but they were too far away for Quinn to get any use out of them.
Transfiguring an object underneath while riding it using levitation also didn't work. The transfigured material would glow red and immediately vanish, and Quinn would drop into the water.
He had even tried to get a broom inside, but it wouldn't take flight no matter what, and once again, Quinn would drop inside the water. Because of that, he had lost the broom he had used since he was eight years old. The wood brutally snapped because of the turbulent flow, and the pieces flew away before Quinn could get to them.
The ward administration inside the expanded place was so extensive that Quinn didn't have a choice but to get to the center via the water. [1]
'One last time,' thought Quinn, gathering his magic and shooting it for the final time.
The water flow changed and was now aimed towards the center. Quinn naturally swam with the flow, and in a moment, his head emerged from the water.
"I did it!" exclaimed Quinn, but his eyes widened when he realized that with his exit speed, his body was going to enter the water from the opposite side.
"Oh, hell! No!" yelled Quinn and immediately killed his fall with Arresto Momentum. He stopped right in the middle of the center of the vortex.
He looked down and saw another triangular entrance on the floor, although this one also was filled with water. As he dropped, Quinn saw words appear above an edge of a triangle.
「<-~ TEHOM'S DELIGHT ~->」
Quinn stopped just above the entrance and stared at the words etched on the floor.
"There's another place after this?"
But then the words at the first gate flashed in his mind,
「The trials are long and arduous...」
"Ah, it was 'trials,' plural. Alright, that checks it out," nodded Quinn.
Then his eyes went to the name of the next trial.
"Tehom's delight?" Quinn tilted his head in cluelessness. "Who the hell is Tehom? Damn, another god or someone?"
But that wasn't the thing that Quinn was mainly concerned about. The other word was more concerning to him.
"Delight? Yeah, no way this is anything good or delightful." Quinn didn't for a second believe that the positive-sounding words in the title were anything but negative. "That just screams trouble," scoffed Quinn and shook his head.
He went silent and stared at the water inside the entrance.
"Should I go in?" contemplated Quinn. He had just spent a lot of time slowly shifting sixty meters, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to drop down into another trial. "Should I research 'Tehom' before going in? Or should I just go and see what's inside?"
He felt the insignia on his arm and was reminded of its existence.
"I have the teleportation insignia. I can always pull out at any moment," mused Quinn. It was the safety mechanism that would pull him out immediately the moment he activated it. "Yeah, I should check it out."
With a sharp exhale, Quinn released the magic holding him in place and sunk into the water. He felt the same tug as the last entrance and the momentary loss of sensation.
But this time, his sense of sight didn't return.
He could feel the water against his skin, his ears picked up sounds, he could smell some scent of water and taste the water as he gulped it down. But he couldn't see anything through his eyes. Darkness dominated his vision as he turned in the water, trying to see anything.
Quinn felt fear grip his heart as he looked around. Suddenly losing your sight wasn't a pleasant feeling. Quinn could feel his heart racing as, no matter what direction he turned, he didn't manage to see anything.
'Okay, this is freaking me out. I need to get out. I need to get out, right now!' thundered Quinn and activated the safety insignia.
The next second, he was back in the stone cave, and to Quinn's relief, his sight was back along with all his other senses.
"Oh! Colors, pretty colors, and light!" smiled Quinn as he stared at the crystal light sticking out of the ceiling. "Oh, I love sight."
Quinn placed his hand on his beating heart and took deep breaths to calm himself down.
"Yeah, what could go wrong, indeed!"
Even though Quinn hadn't gotten injured, he would have ended up extremely scared if his vision didn't return after he was teleported. At that moment, Quinn didn't think it would be another trial; he was just worried about his eyes.
"Delight, my ass," spat out Quinn in displeasure.
He looked back to check something and saw that the triangular entrance in the dome's wall still had the words Poseidon's Wrath etched into the stone above it.
"Aww! Don't tell me I have to go through the Poseidon's Wrath before I reach the Tohem's Delight?!" complained Quinn. He had completed the first trial, so he was expecting the door to change, but it didn't. "Will I have to go through every trial to get to the one at the end of the line? That sucks!"
Quinn only had completed the first of many trials.
Nonetheless, Poseidon's Wrath had been overcome.
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Quinn West - MC - I love to see.
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