Diving had always been great, but doing so as a giant aquatic serpent that none of the other marine life could see until it was too late was even better.
The only thing that mildly annoyed Thalion was dragging the ropes behind him, which would be needed to haul the crystal to the surface.
At first he hadn't been sure if that was necessary since he was quite large himself, but now that he had laid eyes on the crystal he was relieved to have brought them.
The blue crystal was shaped like a small sunken island with a diameter roughly equal to Thalion's entire body length.
The D-grade creature occupying the crystal was what Thalion identified as some sort of evolved giant barnacle.
Normally, barnacles filtered seawater with feathery appendages, but this over ten-meter-tall monster instead shot long, thin tendrils at anything that moved and dragged it in. The light and powerful aura emitted by the crystal naturally helped attract a constant stream of prey.
Thalion was currently at a depth that should have been impossible on Earth.
He had to be over ten kilometers beneath the surface, yet he barely felt any water pressure at all.
The area wasn't completely devoid of light either.
Perhaps it was because of his vision skill or the attunements everyone had received after entering the System, but he could see perfectly fine even if the surroundings were somewhat dimmer than the surface.
This was also the first crystal he had found and it was very likely that there were even larger ones deeper below.
Thalion also doubted that the evolved barnacle was one of the stronger D-grades.
Yes, those tendrils looked dangerous and might even be able to kill him if they ever managed to reach him.
Especially in this form, his offensive power was ridiculous and the barnacle had absolutely no way of dodging his attacks.
It looked more like a creature exceptionally suited to killing anything that couldn't penetrate its shell.
Even though it preferred smaller beasts that it could swallow whole, larger prey wasn't safe either.
The tendrils likely carried some potent poison that immobilized victims and allowed them to be torn apart without much resistance.
Thalion didn't expect the barnacle to possess many more abilities than that.
Keeping his distance, he slowly maneuvered himself until he was level with the crystal.
He didn't believe he could damage the crystal even with a direct hit, but there was no reason to take unnecessary risks.
The barnacle reacted incredibly fast the moment Thalion revealed his position and activated Myrelith's Tidal Lance.
At that point, however, it was already too late.
A powerful jet stream of water completely obliterated the barnacle and blasted it apart into what looked like a bloody cloud filled with fragments of shattered shell.
It was an exceptionally easy kill.
The display of power immediately caused every nearby creature to scatter from the area.
With the danger gone, Thalion began wrapping the crystal in the ropes he had dragged down here, which proved surprisingly difficult when one was this large.
Two sharp tugs on the line signaled the crew above and they immediately began pulling.
Meanwhile, Thalion swam beneath the crystal and pushed it upward from below.
Being this close to it, he could almost feel the power seeping into his body.
It felt like swimming inside a spring of pure energy.
His high-rarity skills likely amplified the crystal's effects even further.
The journey back to the surface took significantly longer than the dive down and the sailors all stared with wide eyes when they saw what he had brought back.
His serpent form had already shocked them and now, just as they thought they had grown accustomed to it, he returned with such a crystal.
Overall, Thalion was quite satisfied with this specimen.
It should be more than enough for his armor, though he would likely need a second crystal for the crown since he didn't want to cut this one apart.
Perhaps he should even secure a third one just in case something went wrong.
With crystals already this potent, there was no need to dive any deeper.
This way he could quickly eliminate the D-grades without having to engage in prolonged battles.
One blast was enough to kill them, which was extremely pleasant.
At this rate he could return to crafting very soon.
Once the crystals were finished, he could finally start leveling in earnest.
Thalion grabbed another robe while the sailors busied themselves securing the crystal to the rear of the ship so it could be dragged back to their base.
From there they would likely need a large number of people just to move it from the beach to wherever the shrinking formation was located.
He could already see that they might need to construct an entirely new formation given the size of this crystal.
Shrinking something this powerful might also come with its own risks.
It was a little annoying how much effort was required simply to transport the crystal home.
If Thalion still had a spatial ring, he could have simply placed the crystal into the spatial storage and moved on. He likely would have already returned by now, but instead he was on another dive.
At least finding the crystals was easy for him.
The combination of his two titles made it almost trivial.
All he needed was the faintest trace of mana and he could follow it straight to the crystal's location.
This one was slightly larger than the previous crystal, though its color was a much darker blue compared to the bright radiance of the first one.
What was truly extraordinary, however, was the D-grade beast circling around it.
At first glance it looked like a giant eagle.
Its feathers matched the dark blue color of the crystal almost perfectly.
Just as if it were soaring through the sky, the eagle circled around the crystal, which looked incredibly strange, especially when it occasionally began frantically flapping its wings as though it was drowning.
Something was clearly wrong with the bird.
Thalion had no idea how it even survived or how it had managed to reach D-grade in the first place.
It didn't look like it could move much faster than this, which should have made catching prey nearly impossible.
Slowly, Thalion began circling the crystal himself while keeping enough distance to remain invisible to the creature.
For over twenty minutes, nothing happened.
Then suddenly a fish appeared to see its opportunity.
The beast resembled a giant prehistoric tuna and shot toward the bird with astonishing speed, clearly intending to swallow it whole.
Yet just before the massive jaws could close around the seemingly helpless eagle, the creature unfolded itself from the inside out.
At first Thalion thought the eagle possessed the strangest skill he had ever seen.
Then he realized it had never been an eagle to begin with.
Instead it was some kind of black octopus.
Thalion knew that certain octopi could mimic other marine life, but he had never seen anything this perfect.
The creature had copied every feather flawlessly and had even adjusted its aura.
That last part interested Thalion far more than the disguise itself.
He suspected it wasn't a skill but rather a technique the creature had mastered through controlling its body.
Either way, the octopus's true size was nearly four times larger than its attacker.
The giant fish quickly disappeared beneath a storm of tentacles before being devoured alive.
With both creatures now close together, Thalion decided it was the perfect moment to strike.
The octopus sensed something was wrong when it felt the sudden movement of mana.
By then it was already too late.
Disengaging from its prey wasn't possible.
Myrelith's Tidal Lance tore through both creatures in a single attack, destroying the bodies of the high E-grade fish and the early D-grade octopus alike.
Just to be safe, Thalion examined both forms afterward.
Sadly, neither possessed any particularly useful skills.
The octopus, officially called an Abyssal Krakenling, mostly had abilities related to its tentacles. They either increased their resilience or allowed it to glide more efficiently through the water.
Since he still had a few free slots available, Thalion decided to keep the form regardless.
He didn't have high hopes for it, but there was no reason to throw it away either.
The Krakenling had clearly been intelligent and reaching D-grade in this ocean was an achievement in itself.
Perhaps some of its skills could eventually be adapted to work with the Eclipsari's darkness tendrils.
For now, however, he was still satisfied with his current strength and saw no reason to begin transferring abilities immediately.
That was something he could test later when he had gathered a larger collection of forms.
It didn't take long before the second crystal was secured with ropes and pulled toward the surface.
With both crystals safely floating behind the ship, they began making their way back to the base where Thalion could finally start working on them.
It would be one of his more demanding crafting sessions, but once the crystals and a few remaining armor pieces were finished, the armor would essentially be complete.
After a few months of tempering, of course.
Initially, Thalion intended to spend the return trip figuring out how they would transport the crystals into the base.
The things were absolutely enormous.
He might need to use his wyvern form or perhaps rely on the vines of the Primordial Bloodseed.
Before he could reach a conclusion, however, his thoughts were interrupted by a System notification.
The Third System Event has been scheduled for exactly six months from now
You will only receive a notification shortly before it begins
There is one additional mechanic this time
In previous System Events, many powerful contenders have proven their superiority throughout the new universe
Normally, contenders are selected from the same planet or from neighboring worlds
For this new trial, however, there will be several special difficulty versions
Everyone who placed in the top three of either the First or Second System Event will automatically be entered into one of these special trials
This same mechanic also applies to weaker participants, allowing them to face opponents of roughly equal power
As mentioned before, these rockhard versions will be significantly more difficult
To ensure that most of you don't decide to skip the event, I can already reveal that one of the rewards for first place will be a Transcendent Skill, along with several additional rewards that may be freely chosen
And to spark the greed of those who are still just a tiny bit afraid of facing other Chosen
The top twenty participants will receive the finest body-tempering materials personally selected for their affinity
In addition, every skill will be upgraded by one rarity tier with the exception of Transcendent Skills
Only E-grades may participate in this event
The sole exception is the special trial for those who placed among the top contenders of the previous two System Events
There, the level cap will be 185
If I have piqued your interest, we will see each other again in six months
The more Thalion read, the less he wanted anything to do with the upcoming System Event.
The second one had already been a complete disaster and he really didn't need another showdown with the Chosen.
He had no idea how many planets existed in the new universe, but if he was going up against nothing but the absolute elite, things would become very difficult.
Those participants had likely already advanced to D-grade, making it nearly impossible for him to claim first place again.
On the other hand, a Transcendent Skill would catapult him forward.
It would also help him secure a strong position in the trials of Integrated Space where he desperately needed information on how to remove the System's mark.
"Thalion! The Holy Goddess wishes to speak with you."
The announcement came almost immediately after they approached the base.
One of the elves was so stressed that he literally ran across the water toward them while waving both arms.
Twice he slipped on the waves before regaining his balance.
Well, this wasn't the worst time for a conversation.
"All right. Get the two crystals up to the base and move them close to a formation capable of shrinking them to a size I can actually use for crafting."
Thalion smiled, happy to dodge the part where they had to pull the crystals over solid ground.
The next moment he dissolved into red mist as Scarlet Maelstrom activated.
From somewhere behind him he heard one of the sailors mutter:
"He wants to craft with those things? What a monster."