Chapter 333: Algae Bog
As Coop descended from the upper levels of the Coral Forest, through dense shapeless clouds of mana, the visibility of his surroundings was severely reduced. Before long, he could only see the individuals on his immediate right and left, but the ropes they held onto extended into a washed out void of vague shapes and undecipherable features, above and below. The shroud of mana created a whiteout condition that they had to pass through before they reached the third layer of the mana well, some distance beneath the coral stages.
Hai Yun and her entourage stayed quiet, moving charily, not wanting to attract the attention of monsters before they could stand on their feet once again, and Coop followed suit. He was left with nothing but the ambient noise of the bizarre environment clicking, dripping, and shifting, the subtle sounds of boots finding traction on the coral rock edifice, suppressed breaths, and the friction of leather sliding on ropes, along with his own overactive imagination. Coop tried to focus on rappelling alongside grim-faced bodyguards, unable to detect where they would end up, but envisioning the type of horrors reserved for an odyssey. The next level could have been 10 feet or 10 miles away, for all he could see.
It didn’t take long before Coop was bombarded with a powerful smell wafting up through the damp fog, causing him to wrinkle his nose and check on the reactions of the others. The air was thick with the scent of soggy vegetation, but his companions seemed to expect the stench, not pausing in their descent whatsoever. It was an aroma somewhere between drying seaweed and damp piles of leaves: not exactly rotten, but clearly meant to be submerged.
While they descended further, the fumes of mana started to reflect a miniscule amount of color. A nearly imperceptible green reflected on the bottom of their feet, as if the edge of the domain was nearly at hand. No matter how hard Coop stared down through the vapors, it still seemed like hanging off the side of a natural limestone skyscraper in the aftermath of a damp blizzard. He found himself feeling thankful for the solid coral as it was the only anchor for his senses while they traversed between levels.
The third layer of the mana well represented a massive departure from the majestic coral structures up top. They bloomed and spread, building upon each other to create imposing configurations and epic towers, covered by other natural growth. The mana clouds seemed to have stripped the surfaces of the stacked coral, and as a result, the forms reflected a desire to quickly emerge from the top. The corals transformed themselves into pillars that climbed beyond the third layer with urgency.
Coop hadn’t been anticipating such variety within the strange domain, believing that they would simply be fighting on more coral platforms all the way down the mana well. Apparently, the dominant characteristics of the Coral Forest were drastically different as the elevations changed and they moved further away from the entrance and therefore the surface. His imagination drew a picture of an inverted mountain, leaning far to one side, and the hanging mana represented the end of the tree line. Depth and elevation were intertwined considering the mana well was essentially a deep sea environment, with vaporous mana replacing liquid ocean, but the variation still came as a surprise.
He glanced back up, feeling thankful for the lack of actual water and the pressure that would have come with it. A haze of light struggled to pierce the thick canopy of low-hanging mana clouds, refracting throughout, bright enough to make him squint if he took his eyes away from where his fingers slid down his rope. It was like a fog bank formed on the third level, floating up into the second where it drifted between corals and was caught among the stronger currents of the uppermost level.
Giant pillars loomed among the clouds, a lingering feature from the platforms up top where the corals had raced back toward the surface as the mana well dragged them down. Coop could catch glimpses of the neighboring columns if the fog shifted just right, making it seem like they were midway through a city built atop the clouds. Before Coop even put his feet down, he was already in awe toward the distinct habitats of the Coral Forest.
Hai Yun had led him to a series of ropes that allowed them to repel down the exterior of one of the coral pillars that climbed straight through the mana well. While they descended through the mana, Coop hadn’t been able to see much beyond his own nose, but it cleared up once they were a dozen feet from the ground.
Despite the vast open air, interrupted by nothing but sporadic coral columns, the fog made it seem like the level had a very low ceiling, merely eight feet above the surface. He felt like he needed to apologize to Derek and the other Adventurers even though he had never actually complained about the limited progress they had in conquering the mana well. The place was not exactly conducive to straightforward exploration and mapping. He shook his head as he glanced over his shoulder and took in the scenes.
Ambiguous light filtered through the haze, reflecting with an emerald green underlight that was unique to the algae that defined the third level. He had been briefed on the variety of habitats, but he still hadn’t been mentally prepared for how distinct they were. Corals no longer dominated the skyline. Shadows danced across the writhing surface as Hai Yun’s bodyguards detached themselves from their ropes, hopping off the coral, revealing the treacherous nature of the algal mats existing at this particular depth, and apparently nowhere else.
Coop let himself drop as well, and he nearly collapsed as soon as the floor flexed beneath his weight. What seemed like liquid mana sloshed just below the surface. Thin streaks of bright green and yellow mana smoke leaked from between the algae weave that formed the top layer, absorbing into the cloudy ceiling and dispersing into the white clouds further above, giving the white haze the minimal green and yellow color he had noticed on the way down.