```
Among the reefs.
A huge conch shell shimred with magic radiance, and a female figure with light-green sashes that seed transparent but were not, covering the important parts of her body, was seated upon it. Her body, too, radiated with a strong magic aura.
The radiance of water-attribute magic.
"Were you looking for us?"
Upon seeing Liszt and Ach, the woman asked indifferently.
She spoke the Wind Language.
She didn't seem old, appearing instead like a woman in her thirties, with long erald hair cascading down her back. Her ears, forehead, shoulders, elbows, hips, and calves all had transparent fin-like structures, similar to Ach but with far more fins than her.
The most striking feature was the butterfly-shaped, gigantic fin-wings on her back, gently flapping and creating circles of water currents.
Overall, she was more enchanting than Ach, but less anthropomorphic; the abundance of transparent fin-like structures detracted from her beauty, and patches of her skin sowhat resembled fish scales.
Her colors leaned mainly toward green.
Ach had deep blue hair and blue pupils.
By comparison, Ach had only a few transparent fins, and her skin was snow-white, delicate, glossy, and even finer than a human baby's. Ach's higher degree of anthropomorphism made her conform more to human aesthetics, far surpassing the "elderly nixie" before them.
Nevertheless,
The nixie had a complete pair of legs, delicate and dainty.
One could imagine how delightful the scene would be if Ach also grew a pair of legs.
"Hello, I am a human knight. May I ask if you are a sea serpent/nixie?" Liszt, riding on Ros's back, greeted with an elegant smile, "The young lady with , she is also a nixie."
Ach wasn't very enthusiastic toward the nixie before her, offering only a simple greeting: "Hello."
The elderly nixie glanced at Ach, then turned to Liszt, "Young human knight, I am indeed a nixie. Are you here for a reason...? It has been many years since I've last seen a human, I haven't even paid attention to the passing ships of Sapphire."
"Sapphire?" Liszt's eyes lit up, "You know of the Duchy of Sapphire?"
"When I used to swim freely in these seas, Sapphire hadn't yet been established. Back then, apart from ancient sunken ships, there was not a single vessel at sea. It was Sapphire that brought a great number of ships, and since then these waters beca busy," the elderly nixie recounted stories that sounded centuries old yet she looked ageless.
Upon hearing this, Liszt's tone shifted slightly, "May I presu to ask, how many years have you lived?
"Over four hundred sumrs and winters, I can't rember exactly."
Over four hundred years old.
Truly a living fossil!
Based on Ach's adult age, nixies seed to have a lifespan of about four hundred years as well.
Liszt realized that the nixie before him was the one they sought for the Smoke Mission, and his enthusiasm grew, "It is an honor to et such a venerable nixie elder here. My na is Liszt Tulip, a viscount from the Duchy of Sapphire. May I have the privilege of knowing your na?"
```
"My na?..." The aged nixie raised her head, looking at the bright moon reflected on the water's surface, her mind wandering montarily, "Aphrodite Hektor Sinithia Thaesis Nemotemis Parsifoni... Sidairope Briseis."
"Uh."
Liszt's mouth twitched, wondering why every nixie had to have a na longer than two hundred characters: "Your na is very long, just like my sister's, who is nad..." he turned his head towards Ach, seemingly unable to recall Ach's full na.
Ach was quick to understand and promptly stated her own na: "My na is Tanaxistie Ulapapni Selaino Liukateya Forekus Buniseis... Cassandra Acherloides. But I have changed it to Acherloides Truth, and you can call Ach."
"Truth...you're a nixie magician?" The aged nixie was surprised for a mont, but after her gaze briefly drifted over Liszt and Ach, she appeared to understand, "I, too, once learned magic, but unfortunately, I only mastered a few simple spells."
With a common interest found, the conversation beca less awkward.
Liszt smiled and said, "Ach is a grand magician."
"A grand magician, such a young nixie grand magician is indeed rare," the aged nixie nodded lightly, "You may call Iris."
"Elder Iris."
"Nixies are born and raised by the sea, we don't have complicated worldly relationships like humans, you may simply call by my na."
Liszt, anable as ever, replied: "Alright, Iris."
Thus, the initial pleasantries had been dealt with, and the conversation gradually turned into Liszt asking questions and Iris answering them with her four hundred plus years of life experience. Although she remained sowhat aloof throughout, Iris did not show any annoyance at Liszt's questions.
Ach quietly listened on the side.
"Iris, I'm very curious about nixies, especially since my sister Ach is also one, but she is still very young and has much to learn. I hope you can help teach her," Liszt said, taking advantage of Iris's cooperative attitude to make his request.
What he really wanted was to lure this nixie to live within his own territory.
However, Iris responded, "Nixies need no guidance; each nixie has their own growth trajectory, experiencing all joys and sorrows the ocean has to offer, which is the essence of being a nixie."
Ach also said, "Brother, Ach wants to grow up on her own." Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire
Liszt was truly puzzled by the cold response between the two nixies. Logically, given that Ach was very kind and naive, and Iris's deanor also quite calm, one would expect a warr interaction between mbers of the sa species, even if not that emotional "seeing a fellow countryman brings tears to the eyes."
Yet from the start of their search for nixies, Ach had shown no enthusiasm for the unknown nixies.
Perhaps there is so quality about nixies which makes them naturally repel each other.
He planned to inquire further with Ach once they were alone since it wasn't appropriate to bring up directly. So, he changed the subject and asked, "Iris, we ca to this sea to explore an ancient ruin, could you possibly guide us to the direction of the ancient ruins?"
"Ancient ruins, you an the Fish Ugly Temple ruins."
"Fish Ugly Temple?"
Liszt heard a new term—'Fish Ugly' in Wind Language refers to 'a creature that looks like a fish but is very ugly'.
Iris stretched out her slender arm, delicate as a green onion, and pointed to the southeast: "Swim about fifty kiloters straight from here, and you'll find a square coral reef. From Coral Island, swim thirty kiloters directly south, and you will find a sea pit a hundred ters deep. The buried Fish Ugly Temple ruins lie within that silt."
After explaining, she added: "There is a powerful Necrofish Ugly guarding the Fish Ugly Temple; I advise you not to venture there lightly."
Reviews
All reviews (0)