The crab dived into the hole like it had done it a thousand times before, smooth and effortless.
I narrowed my eyes and my expression grew serious. "Let's go," I said to Steve without looking back.
Without waiting, I followed the crab down into the dark tunnel. Steve swam right behind me.
Before entering fully, I released my hold on the water bubble that had let us talk. The water rushed in with a loud splash, crashing through the hole and flooding it completely. Now, we were fully submerged again.
The crab didn't swim too far. After about ten meters, it came to a stop and just floated there, blocking the tunnel like a bouncer at a secret club.
Steve and I came to a halt right in front of it. I tilted my head, waiting to see what it would do next.
The crab slowly raised one claw, then the other, and waved them around with exaggerated slowness—like it was trying to give us directions. One claw pointed further down the tunnel.
Steve elbowed me in the side and gave me a look.
I sighed.
I kicked off the tunnel wall and swam deeper, passing the floating crab. Steve followed close behind.
As soon as we passed it, I glanced back and that's when the crab moved fast. It spun around, raised its huge pincers, and slammed one of them against the tunnel wall. With a loud crunch, a massive slab of stone shifted out from the side and slid across the tunnel behind us.
Boom.
Just like that, the entrance was sealed off. The flow of water from the pool above stopped instantly. We were cut off, locked in.
I stared at the rock wall, blinking.
'I guess that was the point of no return.' I thought.
The water here was darker, and the walls started curving and twisting, almost like roots growing in all directions. It was clear this wasn't a normal cave system. Something about the formation felt unnatural… or maybe carefully shaped.
I focused for a moment and extended my perception. I could feel slight vibrations ahead. Movement. Faint energy pulses. We weren't alone down here.
The crab passed by us again and continued swimming deeper into the tunnel.
Steve and I followed in silence, the water around us calm but heavy with pressure. I kept my perception active, feeling for anything unusual in the surroundings, every shift, every movement in the water.
The tunnel twisted and turned in strange directions. As we moved, we passed what looked like checkpoints, small openings with other crabs stationed near them. Some crabs just stared at us. Others raised their claws lazily, as if checking us in.
It was… weird.
What made it weirder was Steve. The deeper we went and the more crabs we saw, the more excited he became. He wasn't even trying to hide it, he was practically grinning.
I gave him a look.
He just nodded, still smiling like a kid at a zoo.
Eventually, the tunnel widened and opened into a large pool. We swam through the mouth of the tunnel and emerged into the open water. The crab floated upward, its claws moving slowly.
I paused just beneath the surface, stretching my perception out as far as I could. I wanted to get a sense of what was waiting above. And what I found… made me blink.
It was beautiful.
Without thinking, I shot upward and broke the surface, bursting out of the pool.
A glowing sun hung high in a wide, clear sky. Blue and golden light shimmered down onto the land. The air was warm and soft on my skin. Birds chirped somewhere in the distance.
It wasn't just a sky—it was a whole world.
Steve came up beside me, his mouth already open.
"What the—?"
He stared up, then looked around. "How the hell is there a sky inside a pool?"
I didn't answer. I was too busy trying to figure it out myself. "Did we get teleported?" I muttered.
The crab, now standing on land nearby, made a few strange clicking noises. It skittered left and right, making sharp clacking sounds with its legs.
I squinted at it. "Is it… laughing at us?"
It clicked louder.
"Yup. Totally mocking us," Steve said.
The crab didn't wait. It turned and started walking forward slowly.
We followed, step by step.
As we walked, I looked around in awe. We were in the middle of a vibrant green garden. Dozens of flower species bloomed around us, some of them glowing faintly. Tall, spare trees stood in small clusters, their branches waving gently in the warm breeze.
A stone pathway stretched from the pool, leading through the garden. We walked along it, the sound of our footsteps soft on the mossy stones.
There was a treeline ahead, like a wall of green. I tried to scan past it with my perception, but all I could sense was more trees. Still, it didn't feel hostile.
More crabs and natural beasts were scattered around the area. Some walked in pairs. Others seemed to be napping. I even spotted a creature that looked like a cross between a deer and a wolf, calmly grazing nearby.
I blinked again, unable to stop the question forming in my mind.
'Where are we?'
My curiosity got the better of me, and I suddenly flashed in front of the crab, cutting off its slow walk.
"Hey, can you speed up a little?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or do you want me to carry you?"
I stared at the massive crab. Its shell was deep crimson, and it stood a solid six feet tall. Its pincers looked strong enough to crush boulders, but I was confident. I had carried heavier things before. I could probably carry it too, though it might pinch me out of spite.
The crab paused, turned its head toward me, and waved its claws once. Then, without warning, it sprinted forward so fast it looked like it was gliding over the ground.
Steve laughed behind me. "Guess he doesn't want to be carried."
I chuckled and took off after it, enjoying the brief race.
After a few seconds, the crab suddenly stepped off the stone path and headed toward the thick tree line. My eyes narrowed. "Suspicious," I muttered, but I followed anyway. Steve came right behind me.
As we entered the trees, the world grew darker.
The deeper we went, the thicker the forest became. Roots tangled across the ground like sleeping snakes.
The branches above were so tightly woven together, not even a single ray of sunlight made it through. I had to keep my perception wide, using Essence to feel my surroundings clearly.
Then, all at once, the crab came to a halt.
It slowly walked forward and tapped on a giant tree, its massive trunk thick as a tower, with bark rough like stone and roots coiling deep into the earth. It tapped in some strange, rhythmic pattern, like it was knocking with a secret code.
I tilted my head, confused.
When it finished, the tree shook slightly. And then… two massive eyes opened on its trunk.
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Am I seeing that right?" I whispered. "It has eyes."
Even with my Essence spread wide, I hadn't sensed anything unusual about the tree. It had been hiding its presence completely. I quickly scanned it.
[Sequoia Gigantum – Level 167]
My heart skipped a beat.
'Level one-six-seven?' I whispered.
The tree's giant eyes slowly turned toward us, then back to the crab.
The silence that followed was long, almost five minutes passed with no one moving or speaking. Then, with a slow blink, the tree made a deep creaking sound. A line split down the middle of its trunk, revealing a door carved into the bark.
The crab sidestepped and motioned toward the open doorway with its claw.
I didn't hesitate. My curiosity was too strong to ignore now.
Whoever had set this up clearly had secrets worth seeing, secrets hidden inside a place supposedly controlled by the Holts. If this was a trap, so be it. I was already a prisoner in their world. What else could they do to me?
I grinned at the thought and stepped through the doorway.
Inside, a circular staircase spiraled upward into the tree's trunk.
We began to climb, step by step, our footsteps echoing softly on the wood. The air smelled fresh and earthy. It took nearly fifty meters of climbing before we reached the top, where a circular platform waited—etched with a glowing teleportation circle.
Steve let out a sigh. "What kind of lunatic builds this much security in a tree? Complete madness."
I whispered, "Keep it down. That lunatic might be the tree. It's alive, and we're literally standing inside its body."
Steve scoffed. "Creepy."
I turned toward the glowing circle and asked, "So… do we go ahead?"
He shrugged. "Well, I'm trusting you to protect me, sir. If we explode or something."
I smirked. "Yes, sir. I'll give it my best."