River’s Servant – Part 2
After the greeting, the fishn drew closer.
Surrounding the boat—
Like a school of sharks circling a wounded whale.
I looked at them calmly.
Then one of the larger fishn traced letters into the river.
[Are you not afraid of us?]
I replied indifferently.
[You’re a little ugly, that’s all.]
“Kyat!”
“Kiiiii!”
“Kyakyak!”
The fishn opened their mouths wide, baring their teeth in what seed like a threatening display.
But under the flashlight’s beam, I could see their faces clearly. With [Bright Eyes], I could read their expressions through my inner vision and interpret them effortlessly.
[Amusent]
[Delight]
Those two emotions.
In other words, that bizarre sound was their laughter.
They weren’t trying to intimidate .
‘Still, their appearance is pretty jarring.’
Even among Arcane Seoul’s monsters, they ranked high in ugliness.
But you know what?
They were actually human.
Just like the hybrid bloodlines of the Arctic.
In Arcane Seoul, the definition of humanity was simple:
Can they produce offspring with normal humans?
And can those offspring go on to do the sa?
From a biological standpoint, both the Arctic hybrids and the River’s Servants of Lake Nasser were just different races within the sa species.
‘Magic mutations are terrifying, really.’
Maybe so specific gene produced unique mana, leading to forms like theirs.
While I was thinking that, one of the fishn waved a finned arm threateningly.
[Human. Would you like to visit our village? We’d like to commorate eting a human we can actually communicate with.]
[Sounds good.]
[Alright. Do not resist—just accept it.]
Splash.
The fishman splashed water at .
It evaporated into mist and swept over .
I cald my mind and accepted the mana wave.
A spell was cast.
No—this wasn’t a spell.
It was better described as divine power.
The air grew heavy.
Like I had plunged into the deep sea.
Through the dim, murky vision, I saw the fishman form letters.
[Don’t panic. It’s a River Affinity Blessing. Once you enter the water… Oh?]
I know. I get it.
No need to explain.
I didn’t even finish reading the ssage before I dove into the river.
Splash!
The water embraced
gently.
The world cleared.
The fog vanished, and even underwater, my vision was as clear as if I were on land.
I could breathe freely without an oxygen tank.
Movent felt effortless.
It truly felt like I had beco a fish in water.
[Where do we go from here?]
I couldn’t use Supre Fla underwater.
So I used a different trait.
[Ice Carving]
Ice spread from my fingertips.
English letters ford from shards of ice, floating up with the current.
The fishn stared at them in awe.
[This human has many talents.]
[He can control both fire and ice…]
[His soul must be strong. He can handle opposing forces.]
[He’s not one of the Osiris Temple, is he?]
[If he belonged to that selfish god’s cult, he’d have started attacking us on sight.]
[He’s an interesting human.]
Was it thanks to the River Affinity?
Or simply because I was inside the river now?
The fishn’s ultrasonic chatter ca through clearly to my ears.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any trait that let
speak back in ultrasound.
[Follow us!]
The fishn all turned at once.
Boom!
A shockwave erupted.
The fishn shot forward like cannonballs.
Waves rolled outward, as if the lake might split apart.
I couldn’t fall behind.
I moved too.
Even without a swimming trait, I had the Sky Harpy and Phoenix Boots.
If I could triple-jump in the air, then water was nothing.
Swoosh!
I followed after the fishn.
When I poured mana into my movent, I was even faster than they were.
And that was without using Acceleration.
The fishn turned to look at
and opened their grotesque mouths wide.
[Not bad!]
[For a human!]
[Try to keep up with this one!]
We raced through the water, constantly trading places.
I could’ve won if I wanted to, but I didn’t.
They were all level 5 or 6—barely above novice tier.
Beating them would’ve been pointless.
Like flexing on little kids.
Still, there was one obvious difference.
Huff, huff, huff.
[Monster…]
[That’s not a human! That’s a spirit! He must’ve been blessed by a water spirit!]
[One hundred percent, no doubt!]
By the ti we reached the village, the fishn were all out of breath.
I was the only one who wasn’t.
At the entrance of the village, I took a mont to look around.
There wasn’t much to see.
No grand structures. No bizarre architecture.
Just a network of intricately carved underwater caves.
In the ga, it was infamous for being hard to navigate.
The magic of the mist grew even stronger inside the lake, and the flashlight was the only way to make it through.
That’s why the negotiation route was more popular than the extermination one.
Talk things through with the River’s Servants, summon the River Goddess, then kill her.
[Human?]
[Why is there a human here?]
[Looks like the northern patrol brought him.]
[He has the River Affinity on him!]
The fishn guarding the outskirts approached.
At the sa ti, they signaled inward.
Through the clear view, I saw fishn deeper inside quietly retreating.
They were wary.
No surprise—how many tis had they been attacked by the Osiris Temple?
The mayor had acted like they were always on the receiving end, but the truth was the opposite.
[Patrol Captain. Why did you bring a human here?]
[Captain of the Guard. Isn’t he a strange human? He could’ve wiped out our patrol squad alone. But instead, he greeted us. He didn’t fear us or show any disgust.]
[Hmm…]
[I brought him because I thought he ca here looking for us.]
Sharp.
There could be several reasons.
This cave village was also a massive trap.
What if they brought
all the way here only to revoke the River Affinity?
That would be bad.
A great escape would be my only option.
Knowing the village’s location wouldn’t help
then.
[You make a fair point.]
The guard captain twitched his grotesque lips.
[Keep your enemies close—and those whose intent you cannot discern, even closer. Well done. You may go. I’ll take it from here.]
[Yes, Captain.]
The two of them spoke openly in front of .
As if it didn’t matter whether I heard or not.
The patrol squad headed back north, leaving only the guards behind.
The guard captain and his lieutenant were level 7.
Sa level as .
The two of them, along with their squad, surrounded , scanning
from head to toe.
[Human. Did you co seeking us?]
[Yes.]
I answered with frozen letters. Their eyes sparkled with curiosity.
[And your reason?]
What should I say?
I stared at the guard captain and his lieutenant.
I could feel it.
Their gaze, as persistent as if licking at my soul.
Both of them had the [Eyes of Truth] trait.
That ant I had to speak only the truth.
[I ca to receive a single drop of the goddess’s blood.]
[…What?]
[Blood. I need it for a reconstruction elixir.]
For a mont, they just blinked, mouths round with disbelief.
Then, they opened their jaws wide and roared with fury.
[How dare you!]
[To the goddess!]
[Rip him to pieces!]
[A vile human, just as we suspected!]
[You ca here with wicked intent—we’ll kill you where you stand!]
The guards spread their arms wide.
Water surged, and weapons were summoned from beyond the space.
Harpoons carved from giant fish bones.
Bone armor, bone helms, bone shields.
In 0.01 seconds, they were fully ard.
The lake roared in wrath, supporting their fury.
[For one who dares defy the sacred will of the goddess, there is only death!]
An overwhelming force.
It felt like staring straight into a hurricane.
But I remained completely unfazed.
Because I already had a flute in my hand.
I brought it to my lips and played.
An ancient magical artifact capable of calming typhoons and soothing raging seas.
In the ga, it manifested as a forced Peace Zone.
It worked the sa here.
The furious lake settled at once, and the charging fishn lost their will to fight.
[Huh?]
[Uhhh?]
[W-What is this?]
[What magic is this?! What kind of spell did you cast?!]
What do you an, what kind?
It’s the Manpasikjeok.
I waved the Manpasikjeok and ford letters of ice.
[What do you think? Shouldn’t this be enough to reach the goddess too?]
[Hmm, you…]
[Wait a minute. That artifact seems to affect you as well, human.]
[Of course. Mutual attack prevention. That ans we’re forced to talk. There’s no such artifact that only restricts one side.]
[Hmm.]
The guard captain still glared at
with suspicion.
But the hostility wasn’t deep.
The earlier attack was more of a show of threat than a true killing intent.
My Inner Eye said so. My [Understanding] trait whispered it.
If they were serious about killing , they would’ve revoked the River Affinity first.
‘No wonder they struggle to talk with anyone.’
But I understood.
They’d only ever been surrounded by people who wanted to kill them—
—whether for religious reasons or for profit.
[Are you saying you want to speak with the goddess… to receive her blood?]
[Exactly. Think about it. The goddess is level 8. You think I could steal her blood and live? That would be suicide.]
Negotiation through dialogue.
At this point, it was the only viable thod.
[But the goddess is—]
The lieutenant began to speak beside him.
[Lieutenant!]
The captain cut him off imdiately.
No need for that.
I already knew.
Before they could say anything else, I stepped in.
[I know. The goddess isn’t in her right mind right now, is she?]
[Human!]
[How dare you say such blasphemy!]
[Why? Is speaking the truth blasphemy? That’s how humans are. And you’re humans too, aren’t you?]
[This bastard!]
Seems I really hit a nerve ntioning the human thing.
The fishn raised their bone spears.
But the mana, the lake—did not move.
You don’t underestimate the Manpasikjeok.
It may struggle against level 9 divinities, but it worked just fine on mid-tier gods, high spirits, and ancient dragons.
[So, to speak with the goddess, we must first help her co to her senses.]
[What did you say?]
[Human… you an…]
[If the goddess regains her mind, I get the blood I want, and you get back your guardian and mother. Isn’t that a win-win for both of us?]
A ripple spread through them.
Their crushed-deep-sea-anglerfish faces all contorted in a visible mix of disbelief and hope.
[That’s possible?]
[The goddess can co back to herself?]
[Impossible! That cursed concrete wall’s been up for a hundred years! We’ve tried everything since—what could a single human possibly do?!]
[Still… we don’t know until we try.]
[You trust a human?]
[If it’s this human, maybe we should.]
[Yeah! I’ve never seen a soul so pure and powerful!]
[Soone with a soul like that wouldn’t lie.]
[At the very least, he’s not one of Osiris’s servants!]
Opinions were split.
A small debate ford on the spot.
It seed there was a bit of a misunderstanding, so I added a clarification.
[Just because I use this flute doesn’t an the goddess will imdiately return to her rciful and generous self.]
[Then what?]
[Her clarity will only be temporary. How could the River Goddess be whole when her river is blocked?]
I turned my head north.
Toward where Aswan likely was.
Toward the Aswan Dam.
The Aswan Low Dam, completed in 1902, and the Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970.
Those two dams were the cause.
Once Egypt’s traditional local deity and goddess of the Nile—
Anuket fell into decline, lost her na, and was reduced to a re high spirit.
Most likely, the conflict with Osiris had played the largest role.
[Then we must break through the concrete wall!]
[Let’s kill the humans!]
[Exterminate them all!]
[Break the dam and drown the city!]
[Only then will the goddess co back to life!]
Too extre. Seriously.
And they didn’t even have the power to do it.
The guard captain furrowed his brow and turned to .
[So what? Are you going to help us attack the humans? Even though you are one yourself?]
I could help.
But that would be stupid.
The fishn held an advantage over Aswan City in terms of raw power.
But zoom out to all of Egypt, and they were severely outmatched.
And it wasn’t just Egypt.
The Osiris Temple was the dominant religion across Africa. If Aswan got attacked, the entire continent would descend on them.
Inside the mist, the fishn had the advantage.
Outside the mist, the humans did.
That’s how the balance had lasted over a hundred years.
[We need a different approach.]
[Like what?]
[That’s sothing the goddess must decide for herself.]
In the ga, the extermination route was the most popular.
Killing her gave the best rewards.
You could also massively increase your reputation with the Osiris Temple.
The problem was, with my current strength, I couldn’t kill her.
‘Just get the blood and get out.’
If things went well, maybe I’d get so extra benefits too—but there was no guarantee the goddess would accept my offer.
Still, even in the worst-case scenario, I’d get the blood.
That was enough.
[Hmm…]
The guard captain fell into thought.
Then dismissed his bone equipnt back into the space beyond.
[This is beyond my authority. Co with , human. I’ll bring this matter before the Council officially.]
[Very well. Please convene them as soon as possible. I can’t stay here long.]
[The goddess’s recovery is the greatest hope of our kin. I’ll summon them imdiately.]
It didn’t take long.
Not even a day or two—
The Council was convened that very day, the day I arrived in the fishn’s village.
In a massive cave, fishn council mbers gathered, packed tightly together.
[So.]
A fishman with an enormous body spoke.
[What’s your thod for helping our goddess regain her senses? Tell us sothing concrete. If there’s a chance, we’ll support you with everything we have.]
Hopeful gazes fixed on .
There were suspicious looks too.
And even outright hostility from a few.
I accepted all those emotions and answered.
[It’s simple. We have to beat her nearly to death.]
[…What?]
[Beat her. Until she’s on the brink of death. That’s where it starts.]
A mont of silence.
Then—
A deep, icy stillness filled the air.
–TL Notes–
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