6 cycles passed in a blink of an eye, the whispers that bugged Cetas growing in duration.

Before, he could only hear a word or two, but now.. The whispers spoke in two sentences or more.

Additionally, the Dread that he felt seemed to slowly grasp at his entire being.

His heart constantly stops, not with the help of the peculiar nature of the depths but rather, due to the intense feeling of Dread that he experienced.

It was akin to the feeling of suffocation, only much more lethal.

Nevertheless, Cetas continued to follow the direction of the whispers.

No longer can he summon his Zeal, as some unknown force merely vanished it in an instant.

So, Cetas was completely blind.

"████████████████████████████████████████"

Hearing the terrifying whispers, Cetas felt his temples itch.

But he paid it no mind, continuing to swim towards a new direction.

Am I getting closer?

No one can tell for sure. His sense of direction was already messed up.

Again, another cycle happened.

This time, Cetas’ bones vanished.

Cetas immediately became as soft as pasta. The slow currents down below made him seem as if he were part of the sea itself.

He waited 30 seconds before he regained his bones.

A distressing thought came upon him.

That took longer than usual..

The whispers resounded again.

"████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████"

Cetas shook his head, brushing off the unsettling feeling.

However, he brushed it aside for now and continued on his path.

After a few minutes had passed, the next cycle happened.

His skin disappeared, revealing his red muscles in the darkness.

Pain immediately swept his body.

Argh!

Cetas gritted his teeth, enduring the immense numbing cold induced.

He suffered torture longer than the last cycle, making him squeal and tremble in pain.

Alas, his skin returned.

His thoughts were bothered by an observation that he had noticed.

Is my time to regenerate getting longer?

No.. It can’t be..

If this were true, then Cetas was put in greater danger.

What could be the reason?

As he swam, he began to think.

Could it be that whatever’s protecting me is slowly dwindling in power? But why? As soon as I followed the direction of the whispers, the cycles seemed to get longer and longer.

Also, the ravings became louder, and the Dread is more potent.

No..

Realization hit Cetas.

Then, he remembered certain words that the Prophet of Perfection said before.

’You shouldn’t tread on a Drowned God’s prison..’

A Drowned God..

He racked his brain in order to gain answers from the knowledge that the Historian has given him. But alas, he couldn’t find anything.

Is the treasure that I’m meant to find in the prison of the Drowned God?

If so, it’s our only chance at waking up!

Yet he felt something amiss.

Cetas wanted to trust that feeling, he really did! But.. the cost of going back now meant another long cycles of torture, and eternity at whatever place he and Elishia was in.

I’ve dove too far, I can’t turn back!

So, he continued going on that path until.. The next cycle occurred.

Cetas almost didn’t notice it since he lost connection with all of his senses.

At that time, he felt weirdly empty.

He was still not accustomed to the darkness, yet a peculiar sensation arose.

He could not hear, smell, touch, see, or taste at all.

It was as if Cetas had only existed in nothingness.

He could no longer feel his body, control his actions, summon his Zeal, and much more.

He lost everything.

He floated around the darkness, not knowing that he existed at all.

In the next minute, he remained afloat.

It seemed like eternity.

Just then, he regained his complete senses. But what met him was not the usual darkness, but rather a faint light hitting his eyes.

The cold of the depths vanished, replaced by a comforting warm that hugged his body.

Additionally, he smelled something burning.. He couldn’t figure out what it was.

When he opened his eyes, Cetas no longer found himself back at the depths.

He was at a tunnel of some sort, a passageway it seems.

The walls were earthen with roots protruding out of its stable walls. Layers of torches were casted in the walls, as if magically floating yet not afloat at the same time.

It looked trippy, almost confusing to ponder.

Yet, Cetas didn’t focus on that matter at hand.

I..

Finally!

I made it out!

But where?

He looked around, finding nothing but a long stretch up ahead.

Behind him was a dead end, making him only look forward in anticipation.

But before he could walk forward, Cetas felt a difference within him. Not inside of his body, but a difference in Zeal.

This! I’ve gained a Flourish, however, it is not attuned to any of the Origins yet.

Previously, when he first obtained his Flourish, Cetas already chose an Origin Zeal by letting the current in his Soul guide him.

But how? How did this happen?

This is not in line with the knowledge that Jones and the others have told me.. Is there perhaps another method?

Cetas shook his head.

It’s better to ponder about this later, I have to move forward.

He set the new change in his Zeal aside, looking at the tunnel ahead.

He activated his Zeal and manifested Sands of History.

But, similar to before, the grain vanished in thin air.

As expected..

His moment of joy was suddenly stopped when a gripping feeling encased his heart.

Dread!

The potency of which he felt Dread was much stronger than when he was at the lightless depths. Now, wherever Cetas was, every direction around him seemed to vibrate in its curse.

Cetas took a knee, gripping his chest tightly.

Nevertheless, Cetas pushed through and stood up, taking a step forward to the tunnel in front.

Whatever the treasure that the Prophet of Perfection sought, he had a feeling that it was down here.

The sensation of Dread enveloped him the further he made it through. Additionally, he no longer suffered the cycles.

But with that gone, Cetas lost the ability to regenerate.

Although he hadn’t noticed it yet, a tear of blood slowly trickled down on his cheek.

From the insides of his body, pressure emanated—akin to the pressure of the Depths in his memories.

I have to push through..

The air got heavier around Cetas, making his steps feel similar in turn.

After a few moments of walking, he slowly struggled to lift his foot up.

Additionally, his other eye began to bleed.

He moved forward for another 100 steps, and finally, Cetas his eyes bleeding.

"..."

Cetas raised his arm up with great struggle, wiping away the blood from his eye and cheek.

However, it never seemed to dissipate, so Cetas just let it be.

The scenery eventually changed around him, the torches grew dim and the roots became numerous in number.

One could even say that the earthen walls were slowly being replaced with its wooden splendor.

It reminded him of a familiar scene.

Back when he was at the Historian’s farm, he experienced traversing above the roots in order to avoid the Decay flooding the ground.

Yet, the current situation contrasted with that of its withering nature.

The roots around Cetas’ teemed with life. Although it was not quite noticeable, the roots emanated with such life that Cetas could feel its energy clashing with the Dread around Cetas.

Perhaps this was what sustained Cetas; sanity and gave him life..

Alas, he couldn’t know.

As the light from the walls soon turned dark, a faint light replaced the darkness in the distance.

It shone with a lime hue, radiating slightly in the tunnel.

By now, Cetas’ nose and eyes bled continuously. However, upon seeing that glimmer of light in the distance, he held some hope in his heart.

That’s.. That’s the treasure!

He quickened his pace, jogging towards the faint light.

Whatever their way out, it had to be the one in front of him!

Alas, the further he entered the darkness, the heavier Cetas felt.

The Dread in his heart never became better, only growing deeper as the time passed.

Additionally, he felt a sort of malice in the air.

A wrathful, livid malice.

But still, Cetas’ jog turned into a quick sprint.

Although the air weighed down on him, he forced his body to push through.

Whenever he took a step, he left a trail of blood behind him, caused by the droplets from his face.

So close!

The light grew more radiant, replacing the darkness with its graceful shine.

Upon stepping on its lime hue, Cetas felt his heart easen.

The weight lessened when he traversed in the light, as if its brightness gave him the same energy as the roots pulsated.

This made it easier for him to head towards its direction.

Now Cetas traveled at a great pace.

Even the blood seeping down from his face slowly retracted. The Dread in his heart grew peaceful.

It’s warm.. So warm..

When he finally made it to the end of the tunnel, what greeted him was a verdant brightness.

His eyes took a while to adjust but once it did he noticed a clearing of roots in his surroundings.

The room at the end was moderate in size, covered by roots with a few leaves growing on them.

In the middle, a singular root cascaded town, shaped in a curve as its edge pointed up.

And above that edge, the lime radiance glowed ever-so bright.

It sparkled, emitting a glittered glow.

In the surroundings particles of the similar hue glowed and dimmed in a few seconds, filling the entire room with firefly-like lights.

The scene was picturesque to behold.

Even Cetas was left in awe.

However, keeping his mind resolute, Cetas slowly walked towards the brightest light.

His energy bursted with life as soon as he entered the room, making him feel that he could run a hundred miles and jump a hundred meters in the air.

He got closer and reached his arm towards the light.

Upon touching it with his fingertips, something inside of him brewed.

Particularly his Zeal..

The Flourish that he had saved up flowed similar to before.

But instead of him gaining control and choosing his own Origin, the Flourish moved on its own.

Cetas felt his Zeal grow uncontrollably, marking a newfound strength coming from within.

With that, he naturally learned what he gained.

[Increased Zeal Capacity, Sands of History..]

His eyes widened in surprise.

It was incomprehensible at first but soon, Cetas noticed what it was.

[Spark of Water, Fair Water Control]