"What did you see?"
Logan was also wearing glasses, so he could see the footage transmitted by the probe. Only Cleo didn't know what was going on, but his intelligence was clearly above average, and he quickly realized they had discovered something under the spring.
So, he had been observing the others closely and asked once he saw Ethan's look of surprise.
"It's hard to describe. I'm not sure what this thing is."
It appeared to be a massive plant, but it vaguely resembled a human figure. Ethan couldn't tell whether that impression came from the viewing angle or if his mind was simply making associations. To confirm anything, he'd have to see it with his own eyes.
"I'm going in. Do you want to wait here?"
"No, I'm coming with you."
Logan wouldn't stay behind, and with his abilities, he wasn't afraid of any danger below. Ethan's question had really been directed at Cleo. But the captain of the Eternal was not someone who would stay behind either, and he immediately expressed his desire to go down with them.
"The probe is actually quite fast, but it still took half an hour to reach the bottom. I have a way to speed up our descent, but it still won't take less than thirty minutes... Can you handle the breathing issue?"
Ethan's meaning was clear. He could provide the speed, but whether they could breathe underwater was up to them. He could cast underwater breathing on Cleo, but didn't offer it directly. This was a test to see whether Cleo, or an adventurer at his level, had the means to survive underwater.
As expected, Cleo said it wouldn't be a problem. He could handle such a small matter himself.
The three exchanged looks. Ethan sent a quick message to Diana through his glasses. In fact, his glasses had been in "voice mode" the entire time, so Diana had heard everything. She already knew Ethan was planning to dive into an underground cavern and that communication might be lost. The message was simply to keep her from worrying.
"If I don't hear anything within an hour, I'll come find you."
"Alright."
After setting the rescue window with Diana and finalizing preparations with Logan and Cleo, Ethan jumped into the spring first.
The spring wasn't very wide. The three of them had to jump in one by one with a bit of spacing between them. Ethan, who went first, didn't rush to activate his descent spell. Instead, he sank slowly, trying to sense whether there was anything unusual about the water.
"The temperature isn't high, but it's not uncomfortable. Oxygen levels are extremely high…"
Ethan had already activated underwater breathing. The spell had limits, if the water's oxygen content was too low, it would still leave a person short of breath. The essence of the spell was to isolate water molecules and extract the oxygen within them for breathing. In this spring, the oxygen content was so high that, in theory, someone could breathe without magic if they didn't mind choking on water.
"They say some people with great lung capacity can breathe underwater longer than normal. In this environment, someone like that might be able to stay underwater indefinitely."
It was all speculation. Ethan had never seen someone like that himself, and he wasn't interested in testing the theory.
As he slowly sank, he received signals confirming that Cleo and Logan had entered the water after him. Once Logan sent his signal through the glasses, Ethan used his water element control to lock onto both of them and then accelerated their descent.
If they just sank at a natural rate, it would take too long to reach the cave. Ethan had to speed things up with magic.
But it wasn't comfortable. Imagine being shoved down one of those giant water park slides. Now imagine sliding faster than the steepest section. That was what diving with Ethan's magic felt like. Cleo and Logan even started to wonder if they'd been tossed into an industrial washing machine.
It wasn't a fun trip. Even Ethan wasn't exactly comfortable. The tight space and rapid descent were suffocating. When he saw light below, Ethan sped up even more and burst out of the spring water.
As he experienced free fall, Ethan glanced up. The spring water was held in place by some invisible film, perfectly suspended inside the stone ceiling. It looked just like the spring they had entered from above.
"Feather Fall!"
Ethan's body was just that of an ordinary human. As he surveyed the scene, he didn't forget to cast a spell to prevent a deadly fall. The cave was much taller than he had expected. Jumping straight down from that height would be like diving off a ten-story building. Without any assistance, he'd end up as a smear on the floor.
Feather Fall was a simple spell, meant for precisely this kind of high-altitude fall. It wasn't difficult to cast and didn't use much magic. Naturally, Ethan had no trouble with it. The only inconvenience was that the spell required material components. Ethan kept feathers stored in his space ring, all collected from Paradise Island.
Floating down gently like a feather, Ethan was still airborne when water splashed behind him. Cleo and Logan had fallen through the spring after him. The two feathers in Ethan's hand transformed into white streaks of light, shooting toward his descending companions.
The moment the light struck them, both of them floated just like Ethan and began descending slowly.
Logan already knew Ethan was a magician. He'd never seen this specific trick before, but he wasn't surprised. The magician he knew always pulled out moves like this.
Cleo, on the other hand, was surprised. At first, he panicked, thinking he was being attacked. Then he realized Ethan had helped prevent him from crashing to the ground. He didn't ask what ability Ethan had used.
Adventurers in this sea were cautious. No one would casually reveal their abilities to someone who might be a future competitor. Even if Cleo didn't harbor any ill intentions, Ethan, with any amount of caution, wouldn't be foolish enough to drop his guard.
If the situation were reversed, Cleo would do the same. The fact that Ethan had helped him earlier had already shown that his moral standards exceeded those of most adventurers in this world.
The three of them drifted slowly before finally touching the ground. The Feather Fall spell ended upon landing, ensuring they didn't continue floating and mess up their footing during any future movement.
Ethan, who had cast the spell himself, still didn't fully understand the theory behind it. He used it mechanically, following the instructions in his book. Maybe one day, after deeper study, he could cast it without needing actual feathers.
Setting that aside, Ethan walked a few steps and picked up the probe that had landed nearby. A quick check showed that it wasn't damaged. This tool, built by Tony Stark, was very durable. He turned it off and stored it away before looking up at the strange plant in the distance.
"What the hell is that?"
Since arriving in this world, most things Logan had seen were still within the range of his understanding. He even sometimes felt like he was still on Earth, and only the sudden weather shifts reminded him that this wasn't the same place.
Now, though, he finally felt like he was in another world. The object in front of him looked like a giant plant. Countless vines extended from it to the top of the cave, covering the entire ceiling. These vines emitted a warm, comforting glow that lit up the cave like daylight. They were the source of light down here.
"Maybe a plant?"
This thing contained an incredible amount of vitality. Ethan looked up at the vines stretching across the ceiling and suddenly had a theory.
"Maybe... all the grass on the island is part of this thing."
Cleo remained silent. He frowned at the plant, deep in thought. After observing it for a long while, he still didn't speak.
"Maybe I know what it is. But it's not exactly the same as what I've heard about. I'm not sure if it's that thing or not."
"What is it?"
"The Fruit of Life."
Ethan blinked, then pointed at the massive object that would take at least a dozen people linking hands to encircle.
"You're saying this thing is called the Fruit of Life? Are you sure it's not the Tree of Life?"
Cleo shook his head. "That's why I'm not certain. The Fruit of Life I've heard about is a small plant. The main part is the fruit, and it's only about the size of a fist."
"Then why do you think this is the Fruit of Life?"
With such a huge difference, why would Cleo think they were the same thing? Ethan didn't believe Cleo was just guessing. There had to be a reason.
"Because the Fruit of Life is said to look like a person holding a giant fruit."
Ethan turned to look at the plant again. Its shape really did resemble a person cradling a large object—a giant sphere, with all the vines extending upward from it.
"So, this is a Fruit of Life... scaled up a thousand times?"
(To be continued.)
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