The moment of immersion didn't last forever, and it wasn't long before they received their rewards, and everyone scattered. As much as everyone had enjoyed the moment together, it was obvious to the trio that there was more going on at the lake. Not everyone had gotten the quest for the lobsters from Rob the Fisherman. Some had stumbled upon the quest while exploring, while others were tasked with it by other frog kin in the lake. However, even then, there was truly no reason for adventurers to do the quest. Not unless they really liked lobster meat.

  If it had been the real world, the party might have believed they were genuinely helping the villagers. Sure, they got more involved as the quest went on and they started working, but at first, there was no real reason to take the quest. Not unless they truly wanted the lobster meat, or as the party speculated, there was another quest that needed to be finished, and to complete that, they needed to help the farmers, just like the trio needed to do.

  “I think it's fine to assume that the last bit of the quest reward is the real reason behind people doing the quest,” Arctur continued, his voice sounding less bassy via telepathy. Although they could speak underwater, their voices carrying well at short distances; that option wasn’t ideal while moving.

  “Yeah, it’s a fair assumption to guess that renown is somehow linked to the event for the lake,” Alexion agreed.

  “Sounds like fun to me, means we get to spend more time underwater,” Adriana added while lazily swimming circles around the pair, her melodic, sweet voice never changing.

  “I guess we will find out once we complete a few more quests since Rob’s doesn’t give renown,” Arctur added.

  “That’s probably because he isn’t part of the actual lake area,” Alexion pointed out.

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” Arctur answered.

  “By the way, you guys noticed how we didn’t keep some of the information the other people talked about?” Adriana asked.

  “Uh-huh, probably talking about the event or something else we aren’t allowed to know just yet,” Alexion speculated.

  “Yup,” Arctur agreed.

  “By the way, Adri, how are you feeling? You seem fine, considering we didn’t have to pry you away from those guys,” Her boyfriend asked, and she felt a warm sense of happiness wash over her.

  “I’m doing okay, all is under control. You guys know, I have gotten better.”

  “Oh yeah, we know. We just have to make sure,” Her green friend answered, and she gave him a beaming smile.

  The trio continued upwards as they made good progress through the lake. They were angling themselves so they would come out around the same area that they had gone in. Of course, the lake was rather deep, and even though they had been swimming for a couple of minutes, they still had a while to go. Especially when blurs of movement swam right by them, putting them on alert.

  The move was yet another tactic used by the dungeon. If they had been in the real world, the three of them would have been either fully enhanced or with shields active and on high alert. However, from what they had already experienced in the lake area and the story from the other groups. The monsters in the lake tended to give a heads-up when they were about to engage. At least depending on the situation. If people had shields up, they would receive an attack to get them moving instead.

  The other way to spook the explorers or give them a visible heads-up was what the party had already experienced in the town. There, the monsters made themselves aware before attacking. Not all monsters made themselves aware, but a few always showed themselves so a party could be on the alert. The lake area was similar; the geese the party encountered before had made themselves quite visible before launching an attack. This was extended further underwater, where people's senses were further disturbed. Thus, the monsters also tended to also give warnings by passing near adventurers at speed, or missing an attack or two.

  It wasn't something unique to the lake or the town area. Though not said directly, it was implied by other adventurers that the other areas had ways to alert adventurers so as not to cause them too much harm. After all, the dungeon was supposed to be a training ground, and even if it challenged its explorers, it never truly wanted to see them killed.

  Usually, the party would have been on full alert while underwater, but knowing that the dungeon tended to go a bit easier on things, they hadn’t been. This made them thankful that the dungeon monsters gave warnings, as even though they were enhanced, if they had been attacked by monsters unexpectedly and with the power displayed, they would have taken significant damage. That being said, their first response was anger and a need to kill whatever had spooked them. Sure, they had been relaxed while swimming because they knew how the dungeon functioned, but when startled, one often did as trained.

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  In this case, it meant that everyone put up their shields. Even if they could move relatively well, especially Adriana, which would likely allow them to dodge attacks, activating their shields was an instinctive response. A move that was proved to be correct since a moment later, three blurs struck their shields. To be precise, two blurs bit down on Alexion’s and Arctur’s shield; the third had gone for Adriana in an unlucky move.

  The monster was a long, scaly, green creature with four legs, a long snout, and an even longer tail. It was suspended in the place by a blue glowing bubble of water. Its mouth was still open and glowing as it had just been about to bite down on the mermaid's shield. However, Adriana made a closing motion with her fist, and the gator turned into a red pulp as her magic squished it. After dealing with the attacker, she turned to look at her two friends, who were fine but still looking around for more enemies.

  Alexion saw the red in the water; the monsters had been invisible, which was why they had gotten so close, but he knew the mermaid had activated a field to sense any movements in the water, at least around herself. Meeting his girl's eyes, he knew what she was thinking, and made sure to remind her why they were there.

  “Dearest, I know you want to and can murder them all, but we are here to train, and want to, at the very least, see what they are capable of, so please hold back for now.”

  Hearing Alexion address her via telepathy, she met his eyes and nodded with a smile.

  The next attack wasn't as stealthy, and taking care of the monster would not be a problem. Whether it was intended or not, a glowing blue shark coming at you from the depths was incredibly visible. And the only reason it got so close was that Alexion wanted to see if it had any other moves. Which it ended up having, mainly just opening up its maw, which also glowed blue as an even larger one manifested around its face. At that point, the white haired storm elf had had enough, and a dual attack from him and Arctur flew toward the big fish. A pressurized blade of water and green energy cut into the shark, slicing it in half.

  After taking care of the shark, the rest of the fight was not a fight. The gators, which turned out to be called Stealth Gators, attempted another invisible attack targeting Arctur and Alexion. Except that by then, Adriana had them covered in her special water-sensing magic and told them the attack was coming. They let the gators strike again, trying to see if they genuinely had any other attacks, but the two creatures didn't try anything new and were swiftly taken down.

  The rest of the trip out of the lake went mostly without issue, though, in an odd combo attack, they were confronted by a single goose and shark duo. The goose was the same as they had seen when collecting mushrooms and was called a Wind Goose, while the shark was a Jet Shark. Sadly for the two, the trio was trying to get to the fisherman quickly, and Adriana tore them apart.

  Finally, they arrived at Rob's cabin again and found the man fishing. They had left the cabin early in the morning when Rob had been asleep, and it was now mid-morning, so the man was back at it.

  At the cabin, Alexion and Arthur were happy to leave the water. Of course, Adriana did not leave the water, since she couldn't really leave it. Well, she could leave the water; it's just that she would have trouble moving without using magic. The thing was that after she fully transformed, she had to spend a whole day in her full form before she could revert to her original form. As such, she lifted herself up in a wave of water to join the rest at the top of the dock.

  “Hey there, young lady, I see you've gone through quite a change since the last time I saw you!” Rob said cheerfully, still not a hint of lust as he looked at her, then he nodded at Arctur and Alexion.

  “Yes, I have! What do you think?” Adriana answered with a bright smile while showing off her tail.

  “First time I have seen a mermaid, so I think it's pretty great! I imagine it's plenty useful to be one underwater. Hopefully, it made getting the lobster meat easier; that is why you’re back, right?”

  “That it is, and yes, we do have it!” The mermaid answered happily, bringing a slice of the green red meat out of her ring.

  “Wonderful! Let's get cooking! Just wait for me out here. I will be right back.”

  Rob entered his cabin and emerged a minute later with a very simple, round grill. He set the grill up at the end of the dock, setting it aflame with a little bit of magic.

  “We have to wait for it to reach the right temperature before throwing the meat in, that’s part of the trick to cooking good lobster meat,” The fisherman said happily.

  Once the grill had been set up, Rob entered his cabin, bringing out a large metal platter. Adriana placed all the lobster meat they had gathered in the platter.

  “The other trick for good lobster meat is my secret seasoning!” He exclaimed before disappearing into the cabin for a few minutes and returning with the meat sprinkled with various herbs.

  By the time Rob returned with the seasoned meat, it seemed that the grill had reached whatever temperature the man felt it needed to be, and he threw the dozen large chunks of lobster meat onto its surface. The meat sizzled as it landed, and the party sat down to wait for it to cook.

  About an hour later, they were all sitting around the dock, feet dangling, or in Adriana’s case, tail dangling happily. They all had plates of meat, along with some bread and cheese provided by Arctur and some cool beer provided by Alexion. The group happily bit into the meat, finding it delicious and unable to hold back quiet moans of pleasure. Sadly, the meat was gone faster than any of them wanted to, and they were soon all quietly staring out into the lake, enjoying the view and the feeling of fullness and accomplishment.

  Rob was the first to break the silence. His sole sentence garnered everyone's attention.

  “I do appreciate you guys getting the lobster meat for me,” The fisherman said with gratitude.

  “No problem,” Arctur answered, patting his belly.

  “Well, you did cook it for us, so I think we can call it even,” Alexion added.

  “Yup! It was delicious!” Adriana answered happily.

  “I'm glad you enjoyed it. Though, seeing as you did so well, mind helping me with something else?” Rob asked, carefully testing the waters.

  “I don’t see why not,” Arctur answered.

  “Sure,” Alexion agreed.

  “What is it?” Adriana asked curiously, and Rob responded with his own question, a smile appearing on his face.

  “Have you guys ever heard of the Fish of Seven Colors?”