The word "lost" fit my current situation perfectly.

I couldn’t tell which way was forward or which was back, or even how long I had been here.

'At least an hour maybe?'

It probably hadn’t been that long. After all, this was still the Abyssal Sea. The longer I stayed, the heavier the pressure should become.

The real problem was what came next. I couldn’t just keep going in a random direction forever.

At the very least, I needed to figure out which way was down. I took a pen out of my pocket and let it float in front of me.

Then I focused on it intensely with my Tide Sense.

Since it had weight, it would definitely sink even the slightest amount, which would tell me which direction was which.

That assumption seemed to be wrong, though.

"...This isn’t some kind of zero-gravity space, right?”

The pen didn’t move at all. It seemed there wasn’t even the slightest current in the deep layer. Letting out a sigh, another thought suddenly crept in.

Is this really the deep layer?

Instead of the pressure increasing, it had decreased. And I couldn’t even tell up from down. The only reason I believed this was the deep layer was because the mid-layer said so.

But right now, there was no way to confirm that claim.

I took out other heavier objects like keys, but none of them moved either.

Then, as I was thinking through various possibilities…

A chill suddenly ran down my spine.

"—Wait. What is this?”

The pen was still there, floating exactly where I had left it.

That itself wasn’t the issue. I had already confirmed it wouldn’t move.

The problem was it was still intact.

‘How?'

Genuinely startled, I grabbed the pen.

The Abyssal Sea never showed mercy. Anything inside of it, living or not, would be crushed into a compact sphere.

But the pen, despite all the crushing force it should be under, was completely fine. It had been like that from the moment I took it out. It made no sense. It had just felt so natural that I hadn’t questioned it.

"..."

The shock faded and a cold sweat slowly ran down my back.

The Abyssal Sea was never a normal place. So of course, its deepest layer wouldn’t be normal either. I had been prepared for that.

But not for something like this. There was no way a place feared by the mid-layer, targeted by me, and inhabited by Outer Gods, could feel this comfortable.

Something was seriously wrong.

The suspicion hardened, but to turn it into certainty, I needed proof. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

After a moment of thought, I checked my own condition.

"Hooh..."

With a slight flick of my hand, a pressure blade, sharp enough to cut steel, formed instantly.

I was in perfect condition. To an unbelievable degree even. Like I could do anything. Almost omnipotent.

I opened my palm—and lightly cut it.

-Slash!

Watching the blood slowly spread into the sea, I gritted my teeth and prepared myself.

Back up there, the moment I bled, those things rushed in instantly.

Whether this was the deep layer or not, a reaction should have been natural.

But, just as I had half-expected, there was no response.

"That settles it…”

Letting out a sigh, I wrapped my hand with a bandage.

This wasn’t the deep layer.

Not by a long shot. If even my blood didn’t get a reaction, then it was practically certain.

I didn’t know what the mid-layer did, but it tricked me. Where the hell was I? Did it throw me into some kind of limbo?

There wasn't enough information. And even if I knew, it wouldn’t change anything.

In the end, what I needed to do was escape. The goal remained the same.

'Thought it was just a dumb blob of water, but it’s smarter than I expected.'

The mid-layer probably realized I was dangerous, whether I lived or died, and sent me here instead of the deep layer, trapping me somewhere I could neither live nor die.

But if it thought it could trap me in this weird place forever, then it was sorely mistaken.

I had already noticed something the moment I entered.

The pen not being crushed confirmed it, but the burdens here were incredibly, absurdly low.

'If all of the Abyssal Sea were like this…'

An impossible assumption, but if every place had this little pressure, then wouldn’t I be able to call myself an Outer God as well by now?

At the very least, something close to one.

With that thought, I extended my Tide Sense with all my strength. The range my Tide Sense could cover was large enough to contain two entire cities.

Next, I slowly began to move everything within that range.

"...”

It wasn't just reckless but outright stupid. There was a world of difference between perceiving a wide area and controlling everything within it.

Normally, just attempting it would crush my heart from the strain.

If I weren’t in this weird place—that was exactly what would have happened.

But my heart was still beating.

Without even the slightest pain.

"I should be thanking this place.”

A faint smile crept onto my lips as I pushed the currents even harder.

I felt my Tide Sense slowly, gradually filling completely.

*t*t*

[Jern, get a hold of yourself! Jern!]

Malo shook him desperately, trying to wake him.

The moment he jumped into the mid-layer, he collapsed, which wasn’t normal no matter how it looked at it.

[Dammit…!]

But Jern didn’t wake. No matter what it did, he lay motionless on the sandy ground as if dead.

As malo continued trying to rouse him, a low voice echoed through the dark sea.

[Created life, your master is safe…]

[...]

It was the being Jern had called the mid-layer.

Malo frowned at the word ‘master,’ but still answered bluntly.

[Well, from what I can see, he doesn’t look fine at all.]

[Of course. I said he was safe, not that he was fine…]

[If you’re playing word games, I have no intention of—]

[Your master is currently undergoing a test of qualification. Wait.]

[...Qualification?]

Malo hesitated, and the mid-layer continued as it looked at Jern submerged beneath it.

[In this world, everything slowly sinks. However, there are places where one can sink no further. If your master has reached the end of this sea, then he has come to the right place. I am at the deepest point of this sea. Below me is a realm that does not exist. Therefore, I am the deepest. The result of accumulated life.]

[What...]

Speechless at that matter-of-fact statement, Malo stammered.

[S-so—you’re not the mid-layer, but actually the deep lacer? The very end of this Abyssal Sea?]

[You could say that.]

[...You tricked us!]

[Not at all. I gave him exactly what he desired.]

The mid-layer denied it lightly and pointed at Jern.

[Look at your master beneath me. I am both the end and the bottom of the Abyssal Sea, but the end of the sea is not the end of the world…]

[...]

Still not understanding, Malo pressed further.

[Then—where are we now? If below the end of the sea isn’t the sea…]

[There are things beneath the sea. Things that must never rise.]

[...]

[That is why all who reached the very bottom are tested by the sea itself. That is what your master is undergoing.]

[What kind of qualification are you talking about?]

[Simple.]

The mid-layer nudged Jern, pushing him even deeper.

[The qualification of whether one can prevent that which must not emerge from emerging.]

For the first time in a long while, Malo felt a chill run through its fabric.

Because it understood, albeit a little, what that meant.

'This Abyssal Sea…could it be—'

Countless thoughts flashed through its mind, but it quickly realized this wasn’t the time for questions.

[That test Jern is undertaking…]

[Of course, it is a test he will fail. A task that even tens of millions of lives combined could not accomplish. There is no way a single human can succeed.]

The mid-layer replied before Malo could even finish its question.

[He’s lasted longer than expected, but in the end, no one can endure silence where eternity and a moment are indistinguishable. By now, he must be screaming in agony.]

[...Dammit.]

[So wait quietly. It will be over soon.]

With no choice, Malo stopped trying to wake Jern.

From the mid-layer’s words, it sounded like he was already suffering enough.

*t*t*

"This feels too good…"

The moment every inch of my Tide Sense was filled with my own current, I clenched my own fist, suppressing the overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

Right now, I might be the happiest person in this Abyssal Sea. I even felt like I could stay here forever.

With no burdens whatsoever, my Abyssal abilities were growing exponentially.

Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn’t that there were no burdens at all. The lack of a sense of time was a bit troublesome.

'No matter how I look at it, it feels like at least a year has passed…'

While thinking, it sometimes felt like I had blanked out for hours and other times like I had been manipulating currents for tens of hours, yet I had only just begun.

I even tried counting seconds in my head like my master said she did, but I couldn’t concentrate, so I gave up. Then again, a distorted sense of time wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

Still, with absolutely no stimulation, just playing around with seawater, felt a bit lacking.

Though in exchange, I had gained current control on a scale incomparable to before.

"—Wouldn’t be possible outside."

I smacked my lips as I manipulated an area spanning thousands of meters.

Controlling something this large was only possible because there were no burdens. If I tried this outside, I’d be crushed by the burdens in less than 3 seconds.

But being able to control such a vast area meant—

That when focusing on a small area, I could achieve tens of thousands, even hundreds of millions of times greater precision.

Even before, when I concentrated my Tide Sense on a small area, I could split a strand of hair cleanly in two.

Now that everything I could perceive with my Tide Sense was under my control, I immediately began experimenting.

"Let’s see."

First, I lightly plucked a strand of hair and tossed it into the air.

Then I concentrated my Tide Sense on an area the size of a fist.

Forming a thin blade with the currents, the hair split effortlessly. But I didn’t stop there. I split the halved hair again and again and again…

After repeating this several times, the fragments became too small to see with the naked eye. It had entered the microscopic realm.

This level of precision was seriously absurd. Letting out a hollow laugh, I remembered carving wood back when I first became a wizard.

'Should I try that now?’

It felt like I could create an incredible piece of art. So I looked around for something to carve.

But of course, there was nothing but water.

"No reason I can’t use water."

I gathered about a cup's worth of seawater and slowly froze it using Absolute Frost.

A round piece of ice formed. Then I began carving it, slowly and meticulously, down to the finest detail.

Wings and scales. Brain and blood vessels. Eyes and gills.

Before long, a silver flying fish made of ice took shape. It was so detailed that it would be indistinguishable from a real one if one colored it.

Satisfied, I put it into my pocket. Then, just as I was about to try sculpting a human form…

-Tremble!

Something inside my pocket shook strangely.

Wondering what was going on, I took out the carved fish—

[...]

"...?"

The flying fish was trembling and looking at me.

As if it were alive.

The faint flutter of its wing-like fins in my hand made it clear this wasn't my imagination. My expression twisted instantly.

"Wait, hold on…”

In a place where time had no meaning, I stared blankly at the fish for a while until I had no choice but to accept it.

It seemed…

I had just created life somehow.