Pioneer of the Abyss: A Deepsea Livestreamed
Book 1: Chapter 78

Aqua

Elves are creatures similar to orcs in that they’re monsters made within dungeons and only within dungeons. They don’t exist outside of dungeons unless they break out of a broken dungeon. And they can’t reproduce, just like all other monsters from dungeons.

There technically are some civilizations on some uncivilized planets made up of elves, but those are just from elves who broke out of dungeons. They also won’t ever really grow much since monsters from dungeons aren’t capable of speech. Even if they are clearly intelligent in some way.

But again, the only monsters with enough intelligence to match or even surpass a human are the Ancient Monsters. Even if most Ancient Monsters aren't capable of speech.

And there’s only one of each Ancient Monster in existence.

One Kraken. One Abyssal Orca. One Phoenix. One Hydra. And so on.

Only one of each of the current twenty-four discovered Ancient Monsters in existence.

Although I don’t know if there’s any Abyssal Kraken or not. Probably not since my Bloodline is from two Bloodlines merging into one.

But I don’t have any proof for that theory. For all I know, the Kraken isn’t actually the strongest species of its type, and the Abyssal Kraken is.

That’s a matter for the Bloodline Researchers to study when I get back though.

I blink at the thought of those guys.

If I remember correctly, the Grand Chancellor had their head researcher killed after he went insane for some reason. At least, that’s what Rhett said.

So now they have a new head researcher.

Not sure what happened there, but it’s probably unrelated to me.

Anyway, the elf in front of me looks a lot like a really tall human with pointed ears. His eyes are closed, but all elves have vibrant green eyes and nature magic. So I don’t need to see his eyes to tell what color they are.

And unlike the orcs, who are always shown in medieval style dungeons or even caves and the like in dungeons, the elves are normally in more modern style dungeons like this prison. With more modern armor.

I look at the elf for a few more seconds before turning my attention to the hallway past him. Only to find more drowned elves along the way.

One thing that I find interesting though is the fact that the elves are all whole without any parts missing from them. Meaning whatever inhabits this place isn’t eating them.

My eyes stray towards some poison eerily similar to what I saw outside floating in the hallway. With bits of armor ripped off here and there that don’t seem to be from any of these elves.

Hmm. Or at least, they’re not eating them piece by piece.

I think back to those seahorses I saw outside.

They don’t have any teeth, and if I remember correctly from what I read when Rhett had me study up on aquatic life at one point, seahorses don’t have stomachs either. So they only eat things when they get hungry.

Like rapid fire eaters.

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Practically always eating.

Although their digestion is incredibly fast.

I continue swimming through the hallway as my mind wanders to the research I did.

There are a lot of very strange things I learned about aquatic life. Like how apparently male seahorses are the ones that give birth, not the females. And how some male anglerfish literally attach themselves to the females, parasitizing them and eventually merging with their bodies. Turning into a sort of singular creature.

Also, apparently great white sharks are terrified of orcas. Enough to flee at the first glance of there even potentially being an orca in the area.

My thoughts come to a halt when I reach the main area of the prison. Where I see numerous prison cells lined up in rows on three different floors of the prison.

But interestingly enough, inside of the prison I find a different type of monster. Ones that aren’t elves.

I find dwarves.

Which are often depicted in dungeons as being enemies of elves. So that kind of makes sense.

Dwarves are pretty much very short humans with pointed ears and rather wide bodies.

Pretty much the opposite of elves who are tall and skinny humans with pointed ears.

And these dwarves are all wearing prison uniforms, clearly denoting them as prisoners. With some cells missing dwarves.

I honestly can’t help but wonder what this dungeon was all about in the first place. Before it broke and the monsters inside drowned and turned into fish food.

Or seahorse food? I think seahorses are considered fish.

They have a single itty bitty tiny fin and can’t breathe outside of the water after all.

It’s just that seahorses don’t have scales. Instead having those bone plates I saw outside.

Anyway, technicalities aside, I still don’t see any living monsters in here. So I’m not sure what I’m looking for.

With that in mind, I continue moving slowly through the prison. Going to different holding areas very similar to yet smaller than the main prison that I first saw the dwarves in.

And it isn’t until about ten minutes of searching later that I finally find what I’m looking for.

In the cafeteria of all places too.

Lots of seahorses. And a massive cafeteria at that. At least four times as large as the one I remember from my high school days.

And, of course, the moment the seahorses notice me, they begin shooting out poison at me.

I let out a sigh before rushing to avoid the dozens upon dozens of poison bullets while activating Pressure of the Abyss and just swimming around. Letting the pressure itself crush all the seahorses with ease as I pass by.

These seahorses are all stronger than the ones outside. At least level forty.

Still not strong enough to give me much EXP or any REGEN stat points though. Unfortunately enough.

There should be stronger monsters in the kitchen. Considering that I can sense the mana growing denser in there.

Which I guess makes some sense.

From what I researched, seahorses like the cold. And while this ocean is apparently colder than the one I came from – I can’t tell personally as they both feel the same to me – the kitchen is no doubt going to be connected to the freezer room. Where all the cold foods are stored.

And I’m sure a prison this big would have an entire freezer room instead of just a couple refrigerators.

Something else I find curious about these seahorses though is the fact that they look like they’re attempting to headbutt me whenever I begin to get close. With some sort of pressured water appearing around their head along with a faint blue glow.

It’s just that when they move to do it, they end up crushed by Pressure of the Abyss. Making their actions more than a little pointless.

Probably another skill of theirs.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice some seahorses in the kitchen doing something… kind of disturbing.

It looks like they’re eating. Sort of.

They’re sticking their mouths to elf and dwarf corpses and literally sucking them dry of organs and blood. Leaving what’s practically just a skin sack with a skeleton behind.

And it’s disturbing as hell.

Enough that my viewers are once again freaking out about it with some saying they just lost their appetite while eating.

Of course, when I get close to the kitchen, the monsters stop eating as they notice me. But these seahorses are stronger than the ones in the cafeteria as they’re around level 45 to 48.

High enough level to actually pose somewhat of a threat with their poison and numbers.

And to give me REGEN stat points.

For the highest level ones at least. And only until I level up from the seahorses in the cafeteria, of which there were many.

Enough that it seems to piss of the seahorses in the kitchen when they notice them all dead.

How it took them that long to notice is beyond me. Especially considering all the annoyingly loud clicking sounds these seahorses have been making.

Most importantly though, the seahorses in the kitchen manage to survive in Pressure of the Abyss. Only slowing down drastically when inside the pressure.

Finally leaving me having to actually fight personally for once in this place.

Guess it’s time for a warmup before the big fella in that freezer room.