The Water Magician

Ryo had completely mastered both water jet and Abrasive Jet.

Hunting with magic had become significantly easier.

With that, an insatiable ambition for what remained unconquered was born.

Yes, that would be the sea!

About five hundred meters southwest of Ryo's house, there was the sea.

Michael (alias) had said that.

Once he got accustomed to water attribute magic, he could extract salt from seawater.

Although he had used quite a bit of his salt reserves for the fish sauce barrels, he still had enough for about six months.

That said, it was necessary to confirm just how good the salt from the sea was.

Moreover, there were also the delights of the sea.

He could definitely catch and eat river fish from the river.

It was something like piranha, though.

However, the sea offered the goodness of sea fish.

Perhaps he could also obtain shellfish, sea urchins, squid, and octopus... Well, he would probably need to dive to get them.

No problem, he had grown up in the countryside and was quite good at swimming!

Four hundred meters beyond the barrier to the southwest, a beach stretched out with white sand.

It looked just like the scenery he had seen in pictures of Phuket Island or Bali!

Of course, Ryo had never been to such a place... it was just an image from photos.

Images are important!

He lost track of time gazing at it, but suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Let's try to extract some salt."

First, he generated an ice barrel with a diameter of about one meter and an ice bucket to scoop seawater.

He scooped seawater with the ice bucket and poured it into the ice barrel.

Pour it in.

Pour it in.

Pour it in.

Once it was nearly full, he imagined removing the water from the ice barrel.

"＜Dehydration＞"

The water was removed, leaving behind white grains and a few colored grains.

He licked one of the white grains.

"Yep, it's salty. It's salt."

Success!

"What about this colored one... Oh, this is sand."

Because he had scooped seawater near the sandy beach, some sand floating in the seawater also ended up in the bucket.

"If I scoop water from a place that's not a beach, I should be able to get just the salt."

Since it was just a preliminary experiment, he disposed of the ice bucket and its salt into the sea.

He aimed for the rocky area visible in the north.

"I hope I can get some seafood."

Once he reached the rocks, he stripped off all his clothes and dove into the sea without hesitation.

Before him spread a wonderful world, just as he had imagined.

The water was clear, allowing him to see all the way to the bottom.

Colorful fish, corals, and other marine organisms that Ryo couldn't readily identify.

And then Ryo spotted it. A delicious-looking fish!

He surfaced for a breath and kicked off from the water’s surface toward the seabed.

In his right hand was his usual knife-tipped bamboo spear.

The fish appeared to be about fifty centimeters long, resembling a white fish found in Thailand.

He thrust the knife-tipped bamboo spear like a harpoon.

He struck true.

But at that moment... the world changed.

At least, that’s how it felt to Ryo.

The sea, which had been a paradise, suddenly turned into hell.

Ryo had been elated. And he had forgotten.

This was not Earth. This was "Fai."

Yes, it was a sea inhabited by monsters.

The moment he killed what looked like a Thai fish in the sea, Ryo became an enemy of this ocean.

The colorful fish fled, and Ryo had no choice but to recognize that the change in the world was not an illusion.

(This is bad, I need to escape.)

But it was too late.

When Ryo turned around, there was a swarm of fish called a bait ball.

The sardines formed a spherical shape to fend off predators like tuna; that was the bait ball.

While sardines might be cute, the bait ball forming in front of Ryo appeared to be monsters.

Yes, it "seemed to be."

Ryo had no idea what kind of monster it was.

The "Monsters Encyclopedia: Beginner's Edition" contained no information about sea monsters.

There was only one line:

"For information regarding monsters dwelling in the sea, please refer to the 'Monsters Encyclopedia: Marine Edition.'"