The crystal-clear water, like glass, let me peer through the sea floor. And so it was amusing to see schools of fishes swimming past beneath me. Unlike human towns, the sea was very active under the moonlight.
I did not know I had seen nothing yet.
I watch the sea floor descend into a gentle slope, and empty sand gave way to many odd albeit beautiful things, as I reached a distance not normally reached by humans without a ship or a boat.
I huffed when I saw the colorful seabed, so teeming with life. Who knew the sea, hid a whole new world in its depths. I had not read of it in books, or heard of it around the fire.
Even Sir Roland had told me nothing about it.
Completely enthralled, I willed away my ability to float, and I promptly dropped to the warm embrace of the salty water.
The salt made my eye itch, but I could not be bothered with what I was seeing. It was a place where you can not differentiate stone from plant. Many times I thought I was seeing a bush or a shrub, and then touch it to find it was solid.
When on dry land, and rivers, stones were only black and grey. Here they were painted with so many colors.
Swimming all around me, seemingly welcoming me ss one of them, were fishes of all shapes, sizes and shades. And not only fishes but also strange living things.
There was one which was composed of a large jelly head and tens of tiny tendrils attached to it. It was foolish of me to touch it, since it stung me, and the sharp pain did not leave my fingers for minutes.
There was also one that I thought to be another of the oddly shaped stones, hugging the sea bed. It was a being composed almost entirely of five limbs which enabled it to move like a slow spider.
Perhaps the most ominous looking one of all, was a ball made of thin long spikes. This one I dared not touch.
Of course there was also water plants but they were the least interesting of them all. They weren't so different than their land counterparts.
I spotted my first Fishweed within the first ten minutes. And it was a patch of five, clinging to one broad flat stone.
The thought of having half of all my needed silver all in one place, immediately put me to work. As the man in the alchemist's shop has said, the shrub was a bit tough to dislodge. Its roots formed a small bulb which tightly clung to stone.
For a regular water mage, with time-limited spells, this would have been a problem. But I had all the time in the world, and with the help of an oyster shell I found nearby, I was able to carve them free.
While the roots had a bit of bulk, they were light and leaves were thin and long, making the herb easy to carry in large numbers even with one hand.
I found the next patch, not too far from the first. It was a small clump of three, but for some reason, were a lot easier to dislodge.
As I continued my search, I quickly realized, the herb wasn't rare at all. It wasn't exactly abundant either, but I could easily spot nearby patches just with a quick scan of my surroundings.
The price must be solely because of how difficult they were to get. Only those with water affinity could learn spells to access deep waters. And since alchemists will have to employ nobles for the tasks, the price had to be high for them to be attracted.
I kept finding patch after patch, and with the greatest of ease. It was like plucking berries in the woods, except that the berries were 10 silvers each.
Within less than half an hour, I had collected 25 of the herbs. I could possibly collect more, maybe even reach a hundred if I strip the area clean. But the collection was getting harder with both of my hands carrying the herbs.
I decided to swim back to the surface. Having a knife and a container would make things a lot easier, and I could easily get both from the tavern.
I couldn't fight the thrill as I made my way up. Bubbles came out of my mouth as I chuckled in the water. A hundred of these herbs and I could probably buy all the provisions needed for the journey, a full set of armor, and cover all the needed expenses in the foreseeable future.
I could even decide to do just this for a living. I could go from coastal town to coastal town to avoid suspicion.
I chuckled one more time, to how viable that option was.
In the midst of my ascent, my body froze. I didn't know what I saw at the corner of my eyes but I immediately whipped my head to my left.
About a hundred meters were I was, were fishes. Not like the fishes I had been seeing. Large fishes, maybe as large as I was. And there was something about their pointy snouts and fins, and sets of sharp teeth, that sent shivers down my spine.
They were swimming at a leisurely pace, until I decided to move again. In a burst of speed, they beelined towards me.
Panicking, I swam faster, until my head emerged from the water.
Panic intensified when I learned my palms did not have same ability as the soles of my feet. That was a stupid thing to overlook.
It took several seconds of turning and twisting, until I gained a footing on the water.
As soon as I was steady on my feet, I darted towards the shore. My balls greeted the whip of the wind and my pecker swung from side to side.
I heard a loud splash behind me. I did not dare look back to see what it was. Before I knew it, my soles were touching the grainy texture of the sand.
Needless to say, I did not return to the sea that night.
---
"21 Fishweed? Your master must have been hard at work yesterday. I hope he did not push himself," the young apprentice began freely showing me his friendly side, as soon as I placed the herbs on the water. It was quite unfortunate that I did not lose a lot during my flight, last night.
"As promised, ten silver for each root. That's eight gold and ten silver," he slid the coins my way.
I hastily grabbed it from the counter, "Not to worry my master is quite skilled. Although he did tell me about a bizarre encounter underwater..."
The apprentice curled his brow. "Bizarre encounter..."
"Uhmm... a group of fishes as large as men...sharp fin on the back... mouth covered with sharp teeth," I recounted with dread.
"Sea dogs, you mean?" he replied, "Yes, they are quite active here. Your master must have likely seen a pack...they do usually come in packs."
"Are they... dangerous?"
"Well, they are man-eaters. They're no different from wild wolves on land. They'll tear you apart," he answered, "Every other month or so, we'd lose a poor fisherman to the sea beasts."
I swallowed nervously.
"But I guess your master would have easily dealt with them, with a spell. They easily leave you alone if they find you're not easy prey."
"Yes," I chuckled as I went for the exit, "That's exactly what he did."