Another three weeks went by in the blink of an eye, and by now, it’d been seven months since Marisol received the Water Strider Class—more than half a year since she became a bit more than human, and a less normal by everyone else’s standards.

  [Name: Marisol Vellamira]

  [Grade: E-Rank Mutant-Class]

  [Class: Water Strider]

  [Swarmblood Art: Charge Glaives]

  [Aura: 4,239]

  [Points: 12]

  [Strength: 6, Speed: 6, Toughness: 6 (+1), Dexterity: 5, Perception: 5 (+1)]

  [// MUTATION TREE]

  [T1 Mutation | Striding Glaives Lvl. 5

  [T2 Mutations | Basic Gills Lvl. 5Repelling Hydrospines Lvl. 6

  [T3 Mutations | Basic Apiclaws Lvl. 5Streamlined Wings Lvl. 5Basic Setae Lvl. 2

  [T4 Mutations | Basic Discharge Lvl. 4Basic Sonar Lvl. 4

  [// EQUIPPED SYMBIOSTEEL]

  [Ghost Crab Scarf (Grade: F-Rank)(Tou: +1/1)(Aura: -200)]

  [Remipede Earrings (Grade: F-Rank)(Per: +1/1)(Aura: -100)]

  … With more than a third of the Imperators out of commission, there wasn’t a lack of extermination missions to go around. Far from it. To that end, she’d gone on about ten of them—mostly in Depth Three—and they were all relatively high-rank missions against stronger bugs. A-Rank and S-Rank Giant-Classes. Since the battles had been tougher, it also stood to reason she gained a lot more points even after dividing the spoils of battle evenly between her and the Imperator siblings.

  A thousand and three hundred or so points. More than double what she got during her first three weeks of diving.

  She’d increased most of her attributes and mutation levels by a fair amount, though not enough for the system to increase her grade from E-Rank Mutant-Class. If the assessment were any accurate, she still wasn’t strong enough to take out the C-Rank Mutant-Class copepod alone, but she was probably on the higher end of E-Rank, which meant the wraith shrimp from a few months back should be no issue now.

  She was more than ready for her summons.

  First morning of her seventh month in the city. Victor tossed a pebble at her window from outside, but before the pebble could shatter the glass, she threw the window open and flicked the pebble back at him across the street. He slapped it away with his cane and a wry grin.

  “Get to Lighthouse Seven as soon as possible,” he said, waving at her absentmindedly as he strolled up the main street, turning his back to her.

  “And why not just send me a message with your Altered Symbiotic System?” she said, grumbling under her breath as she climbed out of the window. She was already prepared to leave bright and early. “I was awake. You could’ve spared yourself the trouble of coming here.”

  “I’m old-fashioned like that. I don’t like using the Archive for boring stuff like that.”

  “Then what you use it for?”

  “Restaurant reviews. Now get your ass up there quickly. I can afford to be late, but you can’t.”

  While he vanished with a puff of wind, she vaulted out the window and began skating up. At the same time, she looked at the status screen hovering next to her face. It’d been a while since she had to choose a branch mutation, but she tell herself a while back that she’d get one for her ‘Basic Gills’ mutation as soon as possible.

  [First Branch Mutation Selection available for T2 Core Mutation ‘Basic Gills’]

  [First Branch Mutation Option: Filtering Gills]

  Brief Description: Your gills will possess basic filtration capabilities, allowing you to breathe in murky water with higher levels of impurities without discomfort]

  [Second Branch Mutation Option: Flow Gills]

  [Brief Description: Your gills will evolve thin flaps that reduce drag caused by water passing through your gills, increasing your speed slightly and helping you conserve more stamina during underwater movement]

  [Third Branch Mutation Option: Darkwater Gills]

  [Brief Description: Your gills will have improved oxygen extraction efficiency, allowing you to breathe much longer in low-oxygen environments]

  she thought, humming as she hovered a finger over the status screen.

  the Archive added.

  More status screens popped up next to her head as she sped past a Guard checkpoint, now nearing the base of the lighthouse.

  [First Branch Mutation Selection available for T3 Core Mutation ‘Basic Apiclaws’]

  [First Branch Mutation Option: Laminar Apiclaws]

  [Brief Description: Your claws will become smoother and more blade-like, making your movements more aero and hydrodynamic while they are extended]

  [Second Branch Mutation Option: Serrated Apiclaws]

  [Brief Description: Your claws will develop serrated edges, making them more effective at tearing and sawing through tough materials]

  [Third Branch Mutation Option: Hardened Apiclaws]

  [Brief Description: Your claws will no longer be able to retract into your forearms, but in exchange, their toughness at maximum level will become thrice that of your toughness level]

  Marisol raised her brow at the third option.

  Marisol sighed, clapped her cheeks, and then forced a smile onto her face as she sped past the reception in Lighthouse Seven.

  [Basic Gills Lvl. 5 → Filtered Gills Lvl. 5]

  [Brief Description: You have evolved tiny slits on your neck that function as basic filtrating gills. You can now extract oxygen, filter out impurities, and breathe underwater for upwards of five minutes, after which you will have to begin holding your breath. Subsequent levels in this mutation will increase the amount of time you can breathe underwater. At max level, you will be able to breathe underwater for up to ten minutes]

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  [Basic Apiclaws Lvl. 5 → Laminar Apiclaws Lvl. 5]

  [Brief Description: You have grown sharp and smooth bones that can extend out of your elbows like blades. Their toughness is currently one and a half times that of your toughness level. Subsequent levels in this mutation will increase their toughness. At max level, they will be twice as tough as your toughness level]

  She immediately felt the flaps on her neck and the bones in her forearm shifting, twisting, mutating, but she paid them no mind. She’d check out her new and improved apiclaws later.

  By the time she skipped up the spiralling stairs to the top of the lighthouse, careful not to scratch up the carpet too much with her glaives, the Imperatrix and the council of Lighthouse Imperators were already scattered across the long rectangular table in the centre of the room.

  Hugo and Reina, the Third and Fifth Lighthouse Imperators, she immediately recognised—both were seated properly by the right of the table, backed by several of their lighthouse members standing behind them, including Helena, Aidan, and Bruno—but she didn’t know who the other three were. The hunchback old man with a dull steel sword, the bandit-looking young girl with swirling blue chitin patterns on her limbs, and the drowsy lady with four incredibly long shrimp antennae sat on the left of the table. Only the lady bothered to regale Marisol with a little smiling wave as she entered the room. The other two were either hunching too far forward to see her or leaning too far backwards, the chair nearly tipping off its legs.

  Gulping, Marisol paused by the door, and she didn’t return the knowing smiles Reina and Helena gave her as Andres beckoned her to take a seat at the end of the table. Somehow, Victor had sped past her and was already standing next to the Imperatrix. All eyes were on her right now. She to take her seat.

  “... Good. Everyone is here,” the Imperatrix said, standing by the other end of the table as Marisol sat down. Reina’s scorpion tail poked her back, making her squirm, and she glanced down with a frown to see a piece of candy being offered to her. “Now that we have stabilised the whirlpool from Rhizocapala’s surprise reappearance, we all have time to meet up like this. Lighthouse Imperators, report.”

  As Marisol pinched the candy out of Reina’s tail and shot the lady a discreet smile, the old hunchback—the First Lighthouse Imperator—began speaking.

  “Five of mine are dead to Kalakos,” he rasped. “I was the only survivor.”

  “Fifty-four cut to shreds by Eurypteria,” the second Lighthouse Imperator said, slamming her legs on the table as she glared at Andres. “Lighthouse Two’s fucked. We ain’t got no Imperators capable of divin’ all mornin’, afternoon, and evenin’ now.”

  “Thirteen initiates were killed by Rhizocapala’s barnacles, which popped up all across Depth Three when he activated his Swarmblood Art,” Hugo said, his spider legs scratching his back as he cracked his neck, looking calmly furious. “Thirty-four are still injured. They won’t be diving anytime soon either.”

  “The Harbour Guards are reporting even more intense Swarm activity outside the Whirlpool City,” the Fourth Lighthouse Imperator said, clasping her hands as she leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “Eleven Mutant-Classes have been subdued on their way to the city since Rhizocapala’s reappearance. Seven Harbour Guard fleets have been destroyed. That’s seven thousand men dead outside the city this past month.”

  “In terms of food and expirable consumables, the Whirlpool City is holding on fine internally, but certain wares and trades be allowed to move in and out by the year,” Reina said, sliding stacks of paper across the table with her scorpion tail. Most of the Lighthouse Imperators didn’t even bother picking them up, but the Second Lighthouse Imperator picked one up, and Andres plucked one off the table and perused it with a slow, steady gaze. “Most of our bioarcanic weapons, equipment, and aquatic artillery require maintenance, but the bioarcanic engineers from the Rampaging Hinterland Front are trapped outside the city. We are doing our best to keep the city running, but the longer we continue holding up ‘Black Storm’ and prevent movement in and out of the city, the weaker our defenses across the board.”

  “And I’ll speak for Matheo, who’s not here as usual,” Victor said, coughing into his fist as he emulated a lower, gruffer voice, “‘Nothing important to report. Will continue to keep an eye out across the Deepwater Legion Front. Lighthouse Six, Matheo out’.”

  Andres put his paper down as Marisol crunched down on her piece of honey-glazed candy quietly.

  The mood in the room had turned from sour to downright murderous really, quickly, and for her part… she had no idea all that had happened after she survived the encounter with Rhizocapala. She’d woken up in her room after five days of coma, and then it was silent. No news, no reports, no debriefing, nothing. Sure, she’d jumped into Depth Three a few more times afterwards with the Imperator siblings to take on patrol and extermination missions, but they didn’t know anything about what’d happened, either.

  As always, things in the Whirlpool City were moving along behind her back, and frankly, she’d had enough of it.

  “So,” she began slowly, “what am I doing here, and why am I sitting at the end of this table—”

  “This is just like what happened twenty-four years ago,” Andres said, cutting her off with a stern voice as he placed both heavy chitin fists on the table. She gulped again, shirking in her chair. “Before the Swarm God first appeared, there were several years, too, when the Four Leviathans all moved and acted as one. There’s no questioning it now. They’re planning something again in an attempt to break out Corpsetaker, the Greater Crab God of the Deepwater Legion Front.”

  Then he looked at each of them with his steely grey eye, and Marisol prayed she wasn’t going to be the receiving end of it.

  “Kalakos attacked and reclaimed Depths Seven to Eight,” he said, looking at the First Lighthouse Imperator, “then Eurypteria attacked and reclaimed Depths Four to Six,” he continued, turning to the Second, then to Hugo, “and then Rhizocapala took advantage of the chaos in the lower Depths to attack the Mutant-Class Extermination Team, knowing nobody from below would be able to support them. It was a well executed plan. If Victor hadn’t figured something like that was going to happen, we would’ve lost Reina, Marisol, and our three promising initiates down there that day.”

  the Archive explained.

  “I don’t think I gotta say this, but not even a one of ‘em can be allowed to breach the whirlpool,” the Fourth Lighthouse Imperator said calmly, and the Archive popped her name into Marisol’s head: ‘Claudia’. Her name was Claudia. “We saw what happened four years ago to the lower city when even just a single Mutant-Class managed to wash ashore, and we saw what happened twelve years ago when three Insect Gods managed to breach the whirlpool—and ye can guarantee they were weaker back then than they are now, twelve years later. Spare my Harbour Guards the painful deaths. The lot of ‘em are still reelin’ from the destruction of seven whole patrolling fleets, so those of us inside the city need to do our jobs properly.”

  The Second Lighthouse Imperator scoffed, tossed Reina’s report away, and crossed her arms. Marisol received another name in her head: ‘Maria’. “Easy for ye to say. the one who lost half of my lighthouse—fifty-four Imperator adepts wiped out in a single mornin’. If anyone needs to step up their game, it better be Lighthouse Four who sends me replacements from the Guards—”

  “Now, now. Lighthouse One also lost some of their elites in Depths Seven to Eight, and my Lighthouse Three also lost thirteen initiates,” Hugo said with a sympathetic smile, clapping his hands and spider legs together to shut everyone up. “There’s no need to point fingers. Reina. How goes the observation and investigations on Depths Four and below?”

  Reina narrowed her eyes, her scorpion tail coiling under her chair for another stack of papers. “No information whatsoever,” she said, shoving the stacks at each of the Lighthouse Imperators. None of them save for Maria and Andres bothered picking these ones up, either. “The combined efforts of Lighthouse One, Two, and Three have secured Depths One to Three with aquatic artillery and barricades, but anything below Depth Four is a mystery. The Swarm has a death grip on the rest of the whirlpool, and there’s a mist fogging up visibility, so none of our observation drones and bioarcanic constructs can see anything down there.”

  Hugo frowned. “Have you tried working with—”

  “The commercial diving companies’ private observation drones? We have. Nothing mechanical gets past the hundred metre mark after crossing the boundary between Depth Three and Depth Four. Something lurks in the mist, and I have no doubt it is one of the Four Leviathans running interference on all of our observation attempts,” she said plainly. “Right now, we have established heavily fortified forward outposts every three hundred metres along the walls of Depths One to Three, and we also have a temporary outpost right at the edge of Depth Three, but if we want to know what is going on down there, we need to send people, flesh and blood. Constructs and drones will not cut it.”

  “And that is exactly what we will do,” the Imperatrix said curtly, lifting his fists off the table, and Marisol suddenly felt her breaths returning to her; she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding her breath. “Between most of our initiates still recovering and half of Lighthouse Two taken out of commission by Eurypteria, it is imperative that Marisol Vellamira takes part in the reclamation missions from here on out.” Then he looked straight at her, and her breath caught again. “Now more than ever, your presence will be vital to stopping Corpsetaker’s plan. His Four Leviathans know this, which was why Rhizocapala targeted you. They intend to stop you from reaching the abyss.”

  Marisol pointed at herself. “The Four Leviathans are targeting… me?”

  “You and your Archive. They know you are the only active Flower Cape in the city, and they still fear the years when Victor Morina was still active as the ‘Chariot’, ranked sixth of the Arcana Hasharana,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to nod at the old man. Victor nodded back, a sly grin under his bandages. “They know you are his pupil. They can likely smell Victor’s aura rubbing off of yours. Whether it is true or not, they believe you could pose a threat to them—and that is exactly why you must take part in the reclamation missions from now on. They will make worse decisions if they subconsciously fear you.”

  “Besides, it ain’t like you’re that weak anymore. YOu can handle Depths Four and Five, at least,” Victor said, shrugging nonchalantly. “Who else are we going to send as vanguards to spearhead the reclamation missions, anyways?”

  “Not me,” Claudia whistled, leaning back in her chair. “I’ve still got an academy to run. I ain’t a combat specialist, anyways.”

  “I’ve gotta train up the initiates as well,” Hugo muttered, shaking his head as he glanced back at the Imperator siblings, “can’t be preparing for a death dive into enemy territory. I need to replenish our high-rank Imperators by training up our low-ranks.”

  “And I must mend my wounds,” the First Lighthouse Imperator said plainly—and Marisol blinked at the little water strider on her shoulder, wondering why the Archive wasn’t telling her his name. “I will patrol Depth Three to make sure nothing gets past, but that is the extent of how deep I can dive within the next few months. Kalakos… did a number on me.”

  The hunchback old man didn’t look like he was injured, but Marisol had learned not to judge by appearances in the city—mainly because of Victor—so that left only Reina and Maria who’d yet to say their piece.

  Andres, however, didn’t seem to see this as a discussion on whether or not Marisol should be diving. She going to be diving—and she wanted nothing more than to be part of expediting her journey home, anyways—so with another stern glare from him, all of the Lighthouse Imperators quieted down. Only Victor continued smiling, but that was just the default face for him.

  For Marisol’s part, she’d already said her piece a long, long time ago. She wasn’t going to be locked up and protected until the path down to Depth Eight was opened up for her. She’d carve her own path down, and if it meant spearheading the missions to reclaim the whirlpool, she’d do it.

  “... Hence, Lighthouse One, Three, Four, and Five will focus on shoring up defenses for the Depths we still have control over,” Andres said, nodding slowly as he saw the lightning in her eyes, and then he turned to look at the Second Lighthouse Imperator. “Maria. You will dive alone with Marisol to spearhead the Depth Four Reclamation Mission next week, and the rest of us will back you two up. Make your necessary preparations before then.”

  Maria shot a glare over at Marisol, but she didn’t object to the Imperatrix’s orders.

  Marisol, too, didn’t object—but that was more because the look she was being given didn’t feel like one an ally should receive, and less because she had no questions she wanted to ask the Imperatrix.