The Achievement Junkie

As they dove deeper, the two guard hydras were joined by others. A small handful of hydras passed them to assume the now-empty patrol positions near the trench's entrance while four more one-headed hydras created a perimeter around Lunara. With two at the front, one on each side, and two at the back, the hydras made sure to show their strength in numbers and force Lunara's cooperation.

'Why so many?' Jack asked Lunara.

Lunara sighed, 'Because someone threatened to make heads roll…'

'Oh… I guess that's a fitting reason…' Jack scratched his head and went silent.

They rushed through the cold, dark water and no one stopped Jack from emitting his dim light. Rather, Jack had stopped casting the spell of his own accord.

After passing what Jack assumed was another few hundred meters, bioluminescent flora and fauna became more prominent. The deeper they went, the more diversity there was in the plant life, which baffled Jack and filled Lina with awe. Such a beautiful sight was something they hadn't found in the other trenches, instantly proving that the trench leading to Glacier Reef was completely unique.

'They've planted more…' Lunara quietly stated, for herself and the other two to hear. 'Before, these plants existed another thousand meters down… They're growing a lot…'

The party passed more and more hydras along the way as the lighting was no longer an issue. It was still dim light compared to the surface but it was more than enough to guide the way so deep in the ocean. Also, they started to see a return of wild life living in the hydra-made ecosystem. Both luminescent and non-luminescent creatures added to the surrounding beauty.

'Wait, Lina. After we meet with the Hydra Head, I'll give you all the food you could want.' Lunara already knew what her daughter was thinking, spotting the diverse amount of fish and feeling hungry herself.

'Okay…' Lina replied, not wanting to go against her mother on the matter. She still vividly remembered spotting those giant eyes of the Mantis Leviathan and feeling like she had become the prey of another. It was an experience that Lina would never forget.

They never stopped. Their escorts instead increased the pace, forcing Lunara to barrel downward to match their top speeds. It was sudden and easily noticeable but the party didn't question the abrupt change. Likely, there were some telepathic orders given to increase the pace for some reason.

After crossing at least a couple thousand meters, the solar of the water began to change. The harsh darkness was growing softer bit by bit.

'There's light so deep?' Jack asked.

Lunara explained to Jack and Lina, 'That's from Glacier Reef. It's a reef made of glowing ice and it lights up the entire trench floor.'

'Such a thing exists?!'

'Pretty…' Lina was entranced by the surroundings as the water grew colder and colder. For some reason, her body was feeling more at home the deeper they went. And the plant life was also changing the closer they got to the bottom, pulling Lina's curiosity further into a trance.

The water was now as bright as it was a few hundred meters below the surface, but the color was different. It was slightly green yet still blue. As they got closer and the trench walls began to expand further apart, Jack was also left in awe. The view was far beyond anything he had imagined.

Finally, they could make out the bottom of the trench, at least what looked like the bottom of the trench. But the trench floor was now wider than all of Federal City and Gilga combined, without question. And covering a majority of the trench floor was a vast stretch of soft, neon blue ice with no hard edges whatsoever. An astounding array of different natural structures and plant life spread across that glowing ice, which made the area nearly as bright as the surface. That light was also cast against the base of the trench walls as the ice structure was lifted just above the trench floor and the glowing underbelly of Glacier Reef was what created the most ambient lighting by far.

There was no welcome for the party. No verbal greeting or explanation by the escorts. Yet, the party felt as if nature itself was welcoming them to the most beautiful place in all Kartonia.

As they reached one hundred meters above Glacier Reef, the escorts changed course and swam directly over the large reef. This allowed the party to realize another fact about the beautiful scenery. Glacier Reef was far longer than it was wide. It went longer than their eyes could see.

They passed many different biomes existing on Glacier Reef alone, including what looked like a forest of giant, turquoise kelp, a tundra covered in swaying coral tubes and sponges far larger than any human, anemone-like creatures that were many times larger than the average Glacial Hydra, and more.

Another thing that startled the party was the number of Glacial Hydras in the area. There weren't dozens. They had already spotted a few hundred as they entered the area. Some hydra heads poked out of that kelp forest and even more were seen living inside of the countless Giant Anemones, which exited in various patches of Glacier Reef with each patch varying in different color and size. Such anemones grew larger as they got closer to the center of Glacier Reef.

They began to near what had looked like tiny structures of ice from the distance. Only now Jack and Lina understood their true size, which matched the skyscrapers of Jack's old world or even surpassed them.

It was as they eventually neared the structures that the escorts began to slow their pace. They reached a casual swimming speed as they entered what Jack assumed was what the hydras' more "industrialized" area. Countless buildings of different shapes and sizes dotted the vast central area with grid-like swimming paths carved into the semi-translucent, glowing ice. Experiencing the city with their own eyes was absolutely breathtaking.