Chapter 228: The Taste of Depths

Eighteenth day at sea... Now Later

The endless ocean stretched far and wide waves rising and falling like breathing giants. The sunlight shimmered across the water, painting everything in silver and blue. The ship drifted smoothly, creaking softly under the push of wind and waves.

"So, how far are we?" Razeal asked quietly, his eyes fixed on the horizon. His black suit fluttered in the salty breeze..

Yograj stood beside him, arms folded, the faint light in his eyes reflecting the vast sea before them. "Thirty minutes or so," he said, glancing up at the position of the sun. "Maybe less if the current stays strong."

"I see," Razeal replied simply, giving a small nod before turning around. He said nothing more.

He walked toward the middle of the ship and, to everyone’s dismay, stopped right there.

Then, without warning, the shadow beneath his boots rippled and expanded like ink spilled on canvas.

Out of it began to pour things.

Slimy, wet things.

Organs. Scales. Eyes. Gills. Entire piles of fish parts ..hearts, livers, and pieces of flesh, all glistening under the sunlight. They came tumbling out in heaps, splattering across the wooden deck with wet, sticky thuds.

The stench hit them seconds later.. sharp, salty, and nauseatingly metallic.

"Ughhh! He’s at it again..." Maria groaned, clutching a handkerchief to her nose. Her usually perfect posture slouched immediately as she leaned back in disgust. "I swear, this ship is starting to smell worse than a corpse pit!"

Razeal didn’t even glance her way. His black tendrils slid out from beneath his shadow, writhing like thin serpents as they began dissecting, sorting, and analyzing the organic mess with eerie precision.

He’d been doing this for days now.. catching sea monsters and large fish from the waters below, dissecting them, and storing their parts. He didn’t explain what for but he’s definitely doing it very intrestingly...

Aurora, who had been sitting nearby, sighed and fanned her face. "He’s been like this for four straight days," she muttered, watching another chunk of something unidentifiable flop to the floor.

"Don’t remind me," Levy mumbled, his arm pressed against his nose, his expression twisted in torment. "I can’t even eat without imagining this smell."

"Here, take this." Aurora reached into her soft pink purse ..a small, elegant thing that completely contrasted the brutal environment around them and pulled out a handkerchief. The fabric was embroidered, lightly scented with perfume.

But as she rummaged inside to find it, half her belongings came tumbling out ..combs, ribbons, small trinkets, extra hankies ..scattering across the floor.

She made a small, flustered noise and bent down quickly, but before her fingers could reach the first item, another hand was already there.

Levy crouched, silently helping her gather everything.

By the time she looked up, he was handing the small items back to her one by one, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Aurora blinked at him, slightly surprised. "Oh... thank you."

"There’s no need for thank-yous between us," Levy said with mock seriousness, smiling faintly.

Aurora tilted her head, returning a small polite smile as she began placing the items back in her purse. "I was just being courteous. Not saying it would have been rude, you know."

Levy nodded, pretending to consider her words. "Well, I just don’t like it.. but if you insist on thanking me so much," he said suddenly, the corners of his lips twitching, "then how about let’s split it."

"Split it?" Aurora blinked.

He coughed lightly, struggling to keep a straight face. "You take the ’thank,’ and I’ll take the ’you.’ Half each. Right?... I mean."

There was a moment of silence.

Aurora just stared at him, one eyebrow arching. "...Huhhhhh?"

The drawn-out tone of disbelief made Levy’s composure falter. "Ah.. nothing, nothing," he said quickly, waving his hands in front of him.

He coughed again to cover his awkwardness and pointed toward her hand. "Uh, your hanky."

Aurora sighed and rolled her eyes. " Yeah Yeah.. Idiot." She handed it to him anyway..

"Thanks," he said, trying not to grin as he took it and pressed it against his nose.

Maria, sitting at the round table nearby, had been watching the whole exchange. She made an audible sound of disgust, lowering her handkerchief from her face.. Looking very disgustingly as both of them..

It was hard to tell how much time had truly passed since they left port ..the endless blue all around had long blurred days together. Twenty days at sea already. Each day carried its own strange rhythm, a cycle of silence and conversation, boredom and Awkwardness.

Over that time, some bonds had grown.

Aurora and Levy, for instance, had grown unexpectedly close.. their interactions and small moments..

Maria, meanwhile, stayed as sharp tongued as ever, though her complaints had mellowed into habit more than hatred.

And then there was Razeal.. distant as the horizon itself.

He spent most of his time alone, usually sitting on the deck or near the ship’s railing, his strange black book open in his hands. Reading Dont know what..

He barely spoke unless necessary, and when he did, it was brief.. a nod here and there. Well he also helped Levy train a little during the evenings, and that was most of it.. Except doing some weird stuff.. as only started doing some weird as questionable stuff some days ago.. like dissecting sea creatures in the middle of the deck and shit disgusting like that..

Five minutes later.

Razeal stood at the very center of it all.

He had drawn a large circular formation on the deck by his own blood. It shimmered faintly under the afternoon sun, deep crimson lines carving strange, intricate runes across the wooden floorboards.

Inside that circle, he had arranged hundreds of objects the organs, silver or whatever coloured scales scales, and body parts of sea creatures he had harvested over the past few days. The stench was thick and raw, a mixture of salt and decay that made the air heavy.

Fish hearts pulsed faintly with leftover life essence. Thousands of gills twitched as if still trying to breathe. Thousands of iridescent scales glimmered under the light, forming patterns like mirrored constellations within the circle.

And in the midst of all that Razeal stood motionless, his eyes sharp and unreadable, concentrating with the precision of someone who had done this countless times before.

From afar, it looked like a ritual. A dark one of that.

Yograj finally decided to break the silence. He had been watching for a while, leaning near the ship’s railing with mild confusion. "So..." he began, walking toward him, "what exactly are we doing here?"

Razeal didn’t answer at first. His gaze remained locked on the array of blood and organs before him, as though measuring something invisible in the air.

Then, without looking up, he asked, "You told me that the people of Atlantis are also human-like? That the only difference is their scent, their essence that they can breathe underwater, and grow scales on their skin when submerged?"

Yograj blinked. "Um... yeah there are other differences but mostly that yes.. I did say that but.. What about it?"

Razeal finally turned his head slightly, the corner of his lips lifting faintly. "You’ll know soon enough. But for now... step back."

Yograj frowned, unsure. "Step back? For what"

"Just do it."

The tone in Razeal’s voice left no room for argument.

Though puzzled, Yograj didn’t said more as just took a few steps backward. The others.. Maria, Aurora, and Levy had already turned their eyes toward Razeal, sensing something unusual.

Even from that distance, they could feel the strange energy radiating from the circle. It was cold and sharp, yet heavy.. like pressure building before a storm.

Razeal took one final step back until his boots rested just at the outer edge of the blood circle. His fingers lifted slowly, his expression calm and focused.

A single drop of blood slipped from the tip of his finger.

It fell silently ..plop landing in the edge of the circle.

Instantly, the entire formation reacted.

The blood lines brightened, glowing with an eerie crimson light as if the floor itself had come alive. Dark mana seeped from Razeal’s body, swirling around him like smoke before rushing down into the circle.

The air trembled.

The temperature dropped.

Everyone felt it.. even though the dark mana was invisible to them, their instincts screamed of something weird was going on.

The wood beneath their feet vibrated as if the sea below them were answering the call.

"The ritual of the Dark Sup of the Sea..." Razeal’s voice was low, steady, and cold as he spoke, his shadow stretching outward in every direction. "...begins."

The next moment, the blood circle reacted violently.

All the arranged organs began to move.

Hearts twitched. Gills flexed. Scales shivered. Then, one by one, they lifted from the floor ..rising into the air, drawn toward the center of the circle as if by an invisible force.

"What?..." Levy whispered, stepping closer despite himself.

The floating organs began to spin. Slowly at first, then faster.

The blood that coated them mixed midair, twisting together like crimson threads forming a storm. Within seconds, the center of the circle had turned into a miniature tornado.. a whirling vortex of red and black.

Maria’s hand instinctively went to her dagger. "What is that freak doing now...?"

Aurora said nothing, her pink eyes locked on the spinning mass. Despite the grotesque sight, there was something mesmerizing about it ..the way it shimmered with both horror and beauty.

Levy leaned forward, unable to tear his eyes away. "What is this anyways?"

As if answering his question, the tornado’s rotation quickened. The floating pieces began to shred apart.. torn, crushed, and blended into a liquid that was quickly being consumed by the vortex itself.

The sound was like a distant grinding, wet and unpleasant, but rhythmic. Within moments, all the thousands of organs and scales were gone.. consumed.

Now only a spinning core of liquid remained.

It shrank rapidly, compressing tighter and tighter, until it was no larger than a cup’s worth of swirling darkness.. a mass of thick, black liquid floating midair, glowing faintly as though alive.

Everyone watched in stunned silence.

And then.. the spinning stopped.

The black liquid stilled completely, hovering motionless above the blood circle. Its surface shimmered once before it turned smooth, almost glass-like, with faint tendrils of white light weaving through it.

It looked like something between poison and divine beauty.... a contradiction in liquid form.

Razeal raised his hand slowly. The tendrils of his shadow moved again, splitting the mass evenly into five separate portions. Each portion formed itself into a small drop of liquid..

He waved his fingers once, and the liquid floated toward each of them one before Aurora, one to Levy, one to Maria, one to Yograj, and the last floating in front of there mouths ..

"Here," Razeal said simply. "Drink this."

There was a long pause.

"Huh? What?"

All of them froze as five small liquid floated just front there faces, each filled with a strange, thick black liquid. It hung there in the air for a moment before dropping lightly into their hands.

The smell hit them almost instantly ..something between iron, salt, and rotting seaweed.

"Ewww" Maria’s face twisted in disgust as she stared down at the vial in her hand. The liquid inside was dark, oily, and swirling with faint white veins that moved as if alive. "I am not drinking this disgusting thing," she said flatly, stepping back immediately and holding the bottle away like it carried a disease.

Razeal, standing near the edge of the blood ritual circle, didn’t even look up. "Shut up and just drink it," he said dryly. "It’ll help you breathe underwater once we reach Atlantis. It’ll also mask your scent, so the Atlanteans won’t sense you’re outsiders."

He lifted his own vial to his lips.. and without hesitation, downed it in one go.

The thick liquid slid down his throat like sludge, black and bitter. He didn’t even flinch.

The others, however, stared at him like he’d just swallowed poison.

Yograj raised his eyebrows slightly, clearly surprised but not bothered. Aurora hesitated for only a moment before shrugging. "Well... if it’s for that, might as well," she murmured.

Both of them drank their liquids.. calm and unbothered. Well, of course, they were immortal. Nothing much could kill them.. So they just don’t really care about anything

Maria, however, wasn’t convinced. She grimaced, her nose wrinkling as she eyed the strange potion. "Ugh... disgusting," she muttered. She looked toward Razeal, who was now wiping his mouth with his thumb like it was nothing.

He didn’t say a word, just gave her a look ..that silent kind of look that said ’you really want to test my patience?’

She sighed deeply, glaring at him for a long second before finally muttering, "You’ll throw me off this ship if I refuse, won’t you?"

He didn’t said anything at that..

So maria just clenched her jaw, shut her eyes tightly, and tilted the portion back. The thick, black liquid slid over her tongue.. cold, metallic, and absolutely revolting. Her entire body shivered at the taste.

Levy, watching this, grimaced too. "Damn it..." He hesitated for a few seconds, then forced himself to drink his share as well.

For a few moments, all was quiet.

Then..

"Blechhhhhh!"

Every single one of them.. except Razeal bolted toward the edge of the ship, gagging violently.

Maria dropped to her knees first, retching over the railing. Aurora bent forward beside her, coughing and spitting, her beautiful dark black hair falling into her face as she gasped for air. Even Yograj leaned over the railing, making a deep guttural sound of disgust before coughing harshly.

Levy wasn’t doing much better. His face turned slightly green as he clutched his stomach, spitting repeatedly over the side of the ship.

The sound of collective retching echoed over the sea.

Razeal just stood there, arms crossed, expression deadpan.

"What an overreaction," he said dryly, shaking his head.

Maria glared at him between breaths, her face pale. "Overreaction?!" she barked out, gasping for air. "You call this.." she gagged again mid-sentence, "this vile poison an overreaction?!"

She coughed harshly, spitting into the sea again. "I swear, that’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted.. ughhh it’s like swallowing death!"

Aurora leaned on the railing beside her, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "It’s... so bitter... I can’t even describe it." She coughed again, voice strained. "Why does it burn and freeze at the same time?"

Levy, in between dry heaves, managed to mutter, "Feels like my tongue’s trying to run away from my mouth..."

Even Yograj, after a final cough, groaned slightly. "Well," he said hoarsely, "that was worse than eating raw octopus..."

Razeal ignored them all. He simply turned away from the chaos, walking toward the ship’s railing on the opposite side. His dark suit fluttered lightly in the sea breeze.

"Quit crying," he said flatly. "You’ll thank me when you’re breathing underwater instead of drowning."

He stepped up onto the edge of the ship and looked down into the vast ocean below. The sunlight shimmered across the waves, but beneath it.. the water was endless and dark, like a bottomless void waiting for him.

He turned his head slightly toward them, his tone calm but sharp. "Wait for me. I’ll be back."

And before anyone could react.. he jumped.

A loud splash followed.

"Oiiiiiii boiiiii!" Yograj shouted immediately looking towards his direction. "There are sharks down there!"

But it was already too late.

The others gathered at the railing where Razeal had jumped, peering down into the depths, but saw nothing except blue water stretching endlessly.

"What’s wrong with him?" Yograj murmered..

Maria rolled her eyes, still pale but regaining some composure. "Leave him. His ass must be itching again..Mustve gone down there get.. get some scratches.. Well.." she said dryly. "I mean every few days, he has to find a new way to nearly kill himself. It’s like a hobby of his i don’t know.."

as also groaning, fanning herself with one hand. "Arghhh I think my stomach’s going to explode..."

She pulled out a white handkerchief from her space ring and started wiping her tongue with it, as if desperate to scrape away the awful taste. "Ugh... even this isn’t covering it."

Meanwhile, Aurora and Levy were too busy dealing with their own mess, trying to get rid of that bitter taste of the black water as they both also started felling strange.. like whatever that stuff was had already started taking effect.

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Ohhh, I’m getting pretty good at this now .. honestly, typing feels kinda cool 🤔. I’m starting to feel like a professional! It’s still a bit slow, though. The muscle memory is there, but I’m making a lot of mistakes... and my autocorrect function is gone 😫. Sigh.

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