After clearing another room, Kyle smelled water coming from the next room.
He walked through the cave and looked at the wide-open space.
‘This is the underground lake Boss talked about,’ Kyle thought.
In front of Kyle was a calm and dark lake, almost 300 meters wide. The ceiling was only about 30 meters high, but there were plenty of stalactites stretching almost to the surface of the lake.
Kyle could see a lot of ore in different places on the walls and ceiling.
The money buried in these stones was quite substantial.
As he silently looked into the lake, he couldn’t see any wildlife.
It was almost like there were no fish whatsoever in the lake.
“The Arrowanas should be here, right?” Kyle asked quietly. Shouting in this place felt dangerous.
Naturally, Kyle’s instincts were also constantly warning him of danger.
This was not a safe room.
“Yes, this is where the Arrowanas live,” Theodor said. “Most of the fauna has been eradicated by them. The lake looks dead, but it is filled with Arrowanas waiting for an opportunity.”
Kyle nodded silently.
“Can they sense my Soul if I walk on the water?” he asked.
“I can’t be certain. What I know is that they won’t attack anything as long as it is not inside the water,” Theodor said.
Kyle furrowed his brows. ‘He usually always talks about how much he knows and how sure he is about different things.’
‘But now, he is talking like he’s afraid that I would implicate him in case he’s wrong.’
‘What brought on this change?’
It was value.
Kyle’s value had increased tremendously in Theodor’s mind.
Theodor’s pride was no longer the priority.
It was difficult to admit when one was wrong or didn’t know something, but when it concerned important matters, people were often willing to do these things.
Additionally, Theodor also didn’t view Kyle as a dumb dwarf that he had to command like a child anymore.
Nowadays, Kyle did the right things on his own.
He worked without Theodor telling him.
He learned Spellcasting and techniques without Theodor’s commands.
He learned forging without Theodor forcing him.
Most importantly, Kyle was growing very quickly, and Theodor could see that.
This elevated Kyle’s position from a child to an adult in Theodor’s mind.
When something had to be done, the adult did things themselves.
If they didn’t have the physical means and only a child was available, the adult would give commands to the child. There was no exchange of information and cooperative planning between them.
The adult said what had to be done, and the child had to follow the command.
Why?
Because the child lacked experience and critical thinking skills. If the child had these things, they could naturally help, but in the overwhelming majority of cases, they just didn’t.
After all, they only had a couple of years of experience.
Yet, when there were two adults, they could work together in a group.
Plan together and decide on things together.
Theodor was no longer commanding Kyle.
He was no longer treating him like a child.
Instead, he was giving his knowledge and advice to Kyle so that he could make an informed decision.
That was why Theodor’s tone had changed so much.
“Do you think I should try?” Kyle asked.
“It’s up to you,” Theodor answered evenly.
Kyle furrowed his brows as he looked at the lake.
Then, he took a step forward, onto the lake.
His Soul kept him from sinking into the lake.
As soon as he stepped onto the lake, Kyle’s instincts told him that he was in more danger than before.
However, they did not tell him that he was about to be attacked.
“They can probably sense me,” Kyle said.
“Possible,” Theodor answered.
“I think they are simply careful,” Kyle added. “They can sense me, but to attack me, they would need to leave the water. I don’t think fish are the biggest fans of leaving water.”
Theodor didn’t answer.
Kyle took some more steps forward, but there was no difference.
His instincts didn’t tell him that it was more dangerous, and the lake looked just as dead as before.
A moment later, Kyle stopped.
He was about ten meters away from the shore. If the Arrowanas attacked now, he could easily jump back to the shore.
Then, he slowly took out his hammer and put its head underwater.
Nothing.
Kyle stretched it further into the water.
Still nothing.
Then, he pulled it out again and put it back on his back.
‘It’s probably because it’s made of metal,’ Kyle thought as he bent one knee. ‘Let’s test this properly.’
Slowly, he put his right arm underwater.
His instincts told him that he was in more danger than before, and yet…
Still nothing.
The Arrowanas didn’t move.
“Curious,” Theodor commented. “I remember them acting differently.”
“In what way?” Kyle asked as he pulled his hand out of the water again.
“They used to attack any biological matter that entered the lake.”
Kyle looked at the lake in thought. “Are you sure there are Arrowanas in this lake?” Kyle asked.
“There used to be many of them, but I’ve been dead for around 200 years,” Theodor said. “Maybe they are no longer here. Although we have seen an Arrowana in one of the tunnels. If there is one, there has to be another one somewhere. The underground lake is isolated.”
Kyle nodded. “I can feel danger coming from below the surface. I’m certain that there is something in there that can kill me, but I can also feel that it is careful. Based on my instincts, it should know that I am here, but it hasn’t attacked yet.”
Theodor didn’t comment.
Kyle stood up again and continued walking to the middle of the lake.
As he approached the middle of the lake, his instincts told him that he was approaching danger.
Kyle narrowed his eyes.
Suddenly, his instincts screamed at him.
He was being attacked!
Yet, he wasn’t being attacked from below the surface but from above.
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