Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 483: While They Hid, He Hunted

The humans grew visibly more tense as the hours passed and darkness approached. Between five and six in the evening, the Chel'Kari began forcing out anyone who didn’t have a ticket or enough coins to buy one.Far more humans had gathered in the waters around the island now, and they weren’t friendly. Many only needed a few more coins for a ticket, but no one was willing to give up their own. That led to shouting, arguments, and rising desperation.

It seemed not everyone knew about the kelp ball—but that was about to change.

Groups formed and began outright attacking the weaker ones, robbing them for the last coins needed to secure entry into the city. They were ruthless, not hesitating to kill their fellow humans.

Thalion considered intervening, but underwater his human form wasn’t very effective—and shapeshifting would expose him.

Then it began.

A thin man with long red hair and a face full of freckles was caught. He only had three coins, which wasn’t much, but it earned him even harsher treatment. He was beaten, spun around by torrents of water, and brutalized without mercy.

To make it stop, he told them everything about the kelp ball and the hideout.

What followed made little sense to Thalion.

Instead of using the information to hide, the group attacked the kelp ball directly, trying to destroy it with powerful skills. Several people inside were badly injured. Those nearby were mostly weak, and instead of fighting back, they fled.

Below, sharks and larger fish were already circling, drawn by the blood. The group’s aura must have been too strong for them to attack immediately, but they were waiting.

The tubs filled with building materials and harvested crabs were taken.

One man with a thick red beard even came up to Thalion and punched him three times. At first, Thalion didn’t resist. But when the man tried to take his mask, clothes, and sword, that crossed the line.

When no one was looking, a vine shot from Thalion’s hand, piercing the man’s body, while tore into his soul.

To keep the kill unnoticed, Thalion left a trace of blood within the corpse and used it to launch the body downward—where a large fish swallowed it whole in a single bite.

When the group returned to the island, they hadn’t even noticed one of their own was missing.

Thalion followed them for a while, watching as the Chel'Kari opened the gates and allowed the group to enter without issue.

That made him pause.

Was this all part of some larger scheme? Or did the Chel'Kari simply not care?

The destruction of the kelp ball only weakened the humans further. The only ones who truly benefited from that outcome were the Chel'Kari.

He would ask them later—after he had devoured the incursion pillar.

Returning to Rina and the remnants of the kelp ball, he saw everyone working frantically, trying to piece together what remained. Thalion had little hope it would succeed. Even if they managed to rebuild something smaller, blood had already seeped into the kelp.

He could see it. Smell it. Feel it.

And so could the predators below.

The chances of the humans remaining hidden were close to zero.

There was, however, one advantage.

No one noticed as Thalion sank deeper into the ocean—and when no one was watching, he shifted.

With his high level of camouflage, no one above would be able to spot him.

The sun dipped lower, and darkness slowly took over.

In the meantime, Thalion began clearing the area, snacking on a few fish and sharks. The challenge was to rely only on his bite and water control—using other abilities would ruin the element of surprise.

After tearing the third shark in half, the remaining marine life decided it was wiser to leave.

Thalion didn’t bother chasing them. The experience from such weak creatures was negligible. Instead, he waited for something stronger to approach the surface.

Patience was never an issue for him. Back on Earth, he had spent hours waiting in the same spot just to capture a single good image of a shark or dolphin.

Time passed, and the ocean grew oppressively dark.

Then the first signs appeared.

More and more marine life rushed upward, as if fleeing from something rising from the depths.

Thalion didn’t interfere. Those creatures wouldn’t pose much of a challenge. He was waiting—for something worth hunting.

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Now he understood why the humans had hidden in the kelp ball.

The ocean of New Earth wasn’t just dangerous.

It was a living nightmare.

Fish over five meters long, with rows of jagged teeth, rose from the abyss in small swarms.

Their scales were so dark they were almost invisible. One of these fish could likely swallow a human whole.

More concerning were the many sea stars actively hunting in the open waters. Each was the size of a school bus, propelling itself forward by moving several fang-like arms as if flying. Runes were etched into those limbs, likely enhancing their movement.

They primarily caught prey by grabbing it, but they could also fire powerful jets of water from their center.

Thalion counted over twenty of them in the area.

For the humans hiding in the kelp ball, that was actually a good sign. As long as the marine life was busy tearing each other apart, no one would pay attention to them.

The sea stars were around level one hundred and sixty—decent prey—but attacking them would expose him. Even if he could slip away afterward and rely on his passive skill to stay hidden, it wasn’t worth revealing himself for such a small gain. With his title, he could hunt them down later if he really wanted to.

If he was right, a single fang-arm from one of those creatures was worth eight coins. Given their size, they could even be cut into pieces and sold separately—far more profitable than what those annoying crabfolk offered.

In the end, the coins were just a made-up currency, only useful for staying inside the city overnight. The Chel'Kari weren’t losing anything.

A clever system for making money—but one Thalion disliked.

No… he might even despise it.

Sooner or later, those crabs would pay for it.

Or at the very least, their incursion pillar would.

After a while, something far more dangerous approached the surface—and, ironically, it was a giant crab.

This one was twice the size of the sea stars and had four additional hind legs that constantly moved up and down to propel it forward. With a powerful jet of water, it killed four sea stars in a single strike and immediately began devouring them.

That wouldn’t do.

Thalion planned to sell those later, and that wouldn’t be possible if the crab ate them all.

He didn’t dare identify it, but the sheer power radiating from the creature suggested it was close to evolving into D-grade. Even now, it seemed far from using its full strength. Each snap of its massive claws echoed like a steel door slamming shut.

While the crab feasted, Thalion slipped beneath and behind it, positioning himself for the perfect strike.

Its armor looked solid from every angle—but the creature itself seemed slow to react.

The problem with his current form was that, even with strong camouflage, the moment he used an active skill, his presence would be revealed.

So he didn’t hesitate.

The instant he had a clear shot, Thalion unleashed Myrelith’s Tidal Lance.

The attack was powerful enough to pierce even the crab’s shell.

The creature noticed the strike at the last second—but instead of dodging, it turned toward him.

A fatal mistake.

The shell might have been stronger than that of the turtles Thalion had fought before, but the beam struck directly into its open mouth—where its defenses were weakest.

No part of its body offered real resistance.

It exploded from within, torn apart in an instant.

A solid start to the night.

And things were only going to get better from here.

<--

Rina had a rough day, and the night proved even harsher.

Since many in their group had lost their tickets to those bullies—who had also damaged their hiding spot—they feared the worst. They had managed to repair the kelp ball as best they could, mostly by freezing the water, which made the inside cold and uncomfortable. The fact that far more people than usual were crammed inside didn’t help either.

At midnight, the larger beasts would rise to the surface. Those giants were close to reaching D-grade, and none of the humans present stood even the slightest chance against them.

So Rina lay in a corner, hoping for the best as the hours dragged on.

The shockwaves from the battles outside were no joke, and she prayed they wouldn’t be discovered. She was cold, exhausted, and worn down in every possible way.

The tutorial had been manageable, but this world was hell.

Since arriving, every single day they survived felt like a miracle. During the day, they tried to hunt—but every kill attracted predators drawn by the blood in the water. For someone strong enough, this could have been the perfect hunting ground. Rina, however, wasn’t. Most of the time, she had to retreat immediately after a kill.

Then there were the swarms.

Encountering one meant certain death if you couldn’t get out of the water in time. Some were made up of tiny fish no larger than sardines, others of massive predators over five meters long that could swallow a person whole. Some could even glide above the water for short periods, making them even more dangerous.

It also meant that boats or ice shelters—once reliable in the tutorial—no longer offered safety.

On top of that, stronger predators occasionally rose to the surface in unpredictable cycles. Most of them were giant squids that seemed to have developed a taste for human flesh.

And as if that wasn’t enough, there were even predatory birds hunting from above. They looked like some kind of seagull and treated humans as their preferred prey. They were mostly active during the day, which only made things worse.

Rina had no idea how this was supposed to continue.

What would come next?

If only they could stay in the incursion city—or find another island. But so far, both options seemed unlikely. No matter how far they swam in any direction, they found nothing.

Earning coins was just as bad.

On average, it took two people to gather enough for a single ticket. They were taking greater risks each day, while those damn crabs kept adjusting the prices. Items that had been valuable one day suddenly dropped in worth the next.

And those tickets didn’t even grant a room—just a place to sleep on a cobblestone street.

Rina was angry, desperate, and filled with growing rage, especially as more people died around her.

And then there were the bullies who made life much more complicated for everyone.

Which meant this might be the last night they could hide here.

Rina spent the night thinking while the ocean outside raged with violent battles. In the end, she came to a grim conclusion—she might have to take one of the sailor quests. They were dangerous, but at least they paid enough to secure a ticket.

When the sun finally rose, the fighting below had subsided. The group cautiously left the kelp ball, which had drifted close to the surface.

What they saw made everyone freeze.

A man sat cross-legged on the oceans surface.

A few meters below him, the remains of powerful E-grade beasts floated in every direction.

Rina was the first to find her voice.

“What happened here?” she asked, completely stunned.

The man wore a red mask, hiding his expression. What was his name again… Thalion?

She wasn’t sure.

He simply shrugged, as if it were nothing.

“As you can see, I can levitate. That kept me out of reach of those monsters. Quite the show, too. What do you think those body parts would sell for?”

It took her a moment to process his words. The stress of the past days had left her mind sluggish.

“I… I don’t know. This could give everyone multiple nights in the city. But how did you reach level one hundred and four just by watching them?”

Questions flooded her thoughts, but none of the answers made sense.

Maybe she was wrong.

She had to be.

Because otherwise, he would have gained multiple levels in a single night.

That was possible in F-grade.

But in E-grade?

Impossible.

What exactly had happened last night?