The arrival of the Leviathan had halted all of the Kraken’s advances as confirmed by Dhaga and the orcas. They did some brief scouting a short distance from the Leviathan only to find no hostile forces. Given that the nagas didn’t expect their guardian to return, it was no surprise for the Kraken to be wary as well. For the time being, the Kraken and its followers were content with inaction which bought some valuable time for the naga forces.

  I hope Azi is doing fine. There are many who need her healing and she’s just one naga.

  Cridror then teased Dhaga about his feelings towards Azi. The naga couldn’t deny it but, in a way, he felt he was betraying Soce with his feelings. He and Cridror were returning to the Leviathan when they felt a few presence leaving the Kraken camp. They joined with Acro and Ray who shared the same concern of why the Kraken was sending so few followers against them. Their conversation with the Leviathan earlier confirmed the worst of their fears as the guardian’s time and power was limited. The Leviathan was summoned through an unorthodox method so it couldn't use its abilities freely as it usually would. The Kraken could be suspecting such a thing so Dhaga and the orcas had to actively conceal the Leviathan’s limitations.

  There are eight of them. We’ll have to take on two at a time if we want to stop them from reaching the guardian.

  Agreeing with Ray’s assessment, Dhaga chose to take on the two Kraken followers at the left flank. As he got closer, he could make out two stingrays swimming near the seafloor. Before he could get any closer, the stingrays suddenly vanished from sight.

  Do they have camouflage abilities?

  Dhaga quickly swam to where he last saw the stingrays but he couldn’t sense their presence. He looked everywhere but nothing stood out. Knowing that each wasted minute would see the stingrays get closer to the Leviathan, the naga calmed himself and closed his eyes.

  I hope this works, Seiluxr.

  What made Seiluxr such a powerful sorceress was her ability to master new spells. She not only focused on the powerful spells that were commonly associated with sorceresses but she also invested time on spells that were more situational or far more niche. She stated that mastering different spells added to her arsenal of spells, making her more versatile in most cases. Because Seiluxr had studied spells since she was a child, Dhaga also had the chance to learn a few spells with her. While he failed to grasp the more powerful spells, the naga did pick up a lot of supposedly weaker spells. Now that he recalled what he learned, Dhaga wondered if his sister had a treasure trove that was simply overlooked.

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  Current sense.

  As a naga, Dhaga never had to worry about the currents too much. His tail was powerful enough to get him anywhere he needed to go while his body shape allowed him to cut through currents relatively easily. Unless he was caught in a whirlpool, he wouldn’t need to exert much effort to get to his destination. Therefore, he always assumed that the current sense spell was useless. Yet, it was the perfect ability against underwater camouflaged foes as they would disrupt the current of the ocean that wouldn’t be viewable through a naga’s eyes.

  Where are you two hiding?

  Few minutes later, Dhaga killed off both stingrays. Neither resisted much because they hadn’t expected him to find them. During the brief chase, Dahaga realized another one of his follies as he learned how useful the spell was for combat as well. While it was true he could navigate through the currents just fine, the ability to swim with the current allowed him to gain additional speed without exerting more of his stamina. In essence, he had discovered a way to gain more maneuverability with little cost due to the very low mana cost of current sense.

  Time to get back to the guardian then.

  Dhaga was about to swim towards the Leviathan when he detected something with his current sense. He checked a few times before he believed what he sensed. The entire sea floor was covered by creatures that could camouflage as well as the sting rays with all of those creatures heading straight for the Leviathan. After a short debate of what he should do, Dhaga chose to seek out reinforcements as he was certain he couldn’t do it alone. The creatures on the seafloor were fairly slow so he could get help before they reached their target.

  If I have to guess, those must be crabs. At least, they move similarly to crabs and there are a lot of them. I can swim much faster than they can crawl.

  The naga soon arrived at the temporary camp where the naga forces were resting. Azi had done a miraculous job as all the nagas appeared well rested and ready for more combat. As he searched for someone who could help, the sorceress selected by the red orb swam up to him.

  “You look distressed! I’m certain I can be of help!”

  The sorceress was called Naha and she was apparently a student of Seiluxr. Dhaga did wonder why he never heard about her but this wasn’t the time nor place. Knowing she was an orb owner, he went straight to the point regarding the enemies he sensed on the seafloor. Based on his observation and description, Naha agreed that the creatures were likely crabs. She offered to join Dhaga, claiming that her wide area spells would be very good against all the crabs as she could wipe out many in a single blast. Hoping that they would be done quickly, Dhaga agreed and led the way. When he activated his current sense, he realized that the crabs were also capable of using the currents to speed their journey towards the Leviathan. The massive lead he thought he had on the crabs was no longer there.

  We got to stop them before they get even closer!