Picking up Girls With My System

Their vision blurred as the vortex engulfed them. There was no way of knowing where it would lead, but Arthur hoped it was toward the missing crew member.

It felt like when passing through a portal, but slightly worse, after what seemed like an eternity, Arthur and Sybille ultimately passed through the vortex, reaching an unknown place.

"Where are we?" Arthur asked as he looked at their surroundings.

Water was similar to the lake, but Arthur could tell it was seawater and one way deeper. From afar, he glanced at a big city with many buildings, just like any ordinary city in the land. What caught his attention was that it was not an abandoned city that somehow ended up beneath the sea but an actual working town with people living in it.

Well, not necessarily people. Arthur used his Emperor Eye to gaze at the city and saw its citizens — mermaids and tritons.

Arthur could not believe what he was seeing, and the first thing that came to his mind was Atlantis or something like it.

"Why would they take Samara away?" Arthur thought but could not find an answer, no matter how hard he tried.

"What can you see?" Sybille asked.

She noticed the strange looks on Arthur's face, so she wanted to know more about the situation. The city was far, so only Arthur had a way of looking at it.

"Mermaids and tritons took Samara; reason still unknown, but we must go there to find out," Arthur said.

The two of them made their way toward the city, using magic to fly inside the water, making it faster than actual swimming. On their way there, they did not see a mermaid or a triton swimming around. Instead, at least during that period, they gathered inside the city.

But even though no mermaid or triton was present, many huge fishes circled them, thinking of jumping and eating Arthur and Sybille alive, but all it took for Arthur to send them away was a small fraction of his aura.

"We are getting closer, and no one knows whether these creatures are friendly. We may assume they are not after kidnapping Samara, but who knows, maybe there is more to it than we currently know," Arthur said.

When they got close to the city, two males stood at the city's gate and easily noticed Arthur and Sybille. It was clear they were tritons, but they were on two legs and not with a tail.

The reason for it was the city itself! A bubble around it made it possible for everyone to live in the town like a city on land. There was no reason for these tritons to use their tails, as they were on solid ground and not in water.

Arthur believed they would attack them at first sight, but it seemed these tritons were more friendly than he thought and were surprised to see humans there.

"Holt. Who are you? And what is your business here? Also, are you two humans?" One of the guards asked.

No human had stepped inside that city, at least not without the tritons and mermaids' help. Arthur looked toward the triton who asked him that and said, "I am Arthur, the captain of a crew whose member went missing, and I believe the person is here. As for the human question, the answer is sort of?"

When Arthur mentioned another human, the guards quickly realized who it was and said, "oh, are you talking about Samara? She is fine, and one of us took her because she was born here."

"What? You are saying Samara is a mermaid?" Arthur asked.

"Correct. Can you two wait here while I check with the king to see if you can enter? I believe you two being friends with Samara is enough, but it's better to check, or else I could get in trouble later," the guard said with a chuckle, and Arthur nodded.

There was no reason to rush, and based on that exchange of words, these two tritons seemed kind and not enemies. Could Samara indeed be a mermaid and all of that was just a misunderstanding?

Arthur and Sybille waited for some time before the guard returned and said he should follow him toward the palace to meet with the king. When both of them went inside the city, the tritons and mermaids looked at them with eyes filled with curiosity.

They looked somewhat similar to humans without their tails, the only difference being their gills and skin color. Most mermaids and tritons had a blueish skin tone, but their hairs varied colors.

Inside, it was like any other city, with shops, inns, houses, and merchants screaming on the streets. Not only that, but Arthur saw plantations and cattle.

"How can plants grow here?" Arthur asked the guard, who pointed toward a tower in the middle of the city.

At the top of that tower was a big bright circle that reminded Arthur of the sun. Yes, that was it; those people made an artificial sun to grow their plants and brighten up the city during half of the day. An incredible feat, and Arthur was now sure that with the help of magic, one could build a town anywhere.

Arthur wanted to explore the rest of the city and see what goodies they sold there, but it would have to wait, as they needed to meet with the king. Also, what was with the Wind Lake-town having a portal there too?

"Are there other entrances to this place?" Arthur asked the guard.

He would understand if the guard was unwilling to share that information with him, but the most strange part was that the guard answered without problems.

"Yes. Our ancestors built many different entrances hidden around the world, but humans were not supposed to be able to read the runes, so how could you two be here?"

"Yeah, remember I told you we were sort of humans?"

"Oh, I see."

The guard could tell Arthur did not want to share that much about himself then, so he did not push further and kept silent while they went toward the palace to meet with the king.

"This is it. Beautiful, isn't it?"

Arthur looked up and saw the vast palace! Like most buildings inside the city, it was made of a blue-colored rock, with monster shells as part of the roof. An exotic design, but one Arthur believed fit well with them.

More and more guards were there, especially at the palace's entrance. Arthur scanned them using his superior strength and noticed most of them were rank one mages, with only one being a rank 2, and he believed that was their commander.

None of the guards asked any questions as to why these two humans were entering the palace; as the king shared with all of them, some guests would arrive, so no one interrupted them, but they did have some curiosity about who those humans were.

The insides of the palace were impressive too, and it was almost impossible to tell it was something built underwater; the quality of the ornaments and the furniture was astonishing.

Arthur and Sybille walked through some corridors but did not enter any of the doors they found. The guard led them to the throne room, where the king waited for them.

A big double door slowly opened, and there it was, the king. It was a triton with 6 meters of height and a massive body, looking thrice the size of those bodybuilders Arthur remembered from Earth. He had long white hair and a long beard too.

He wore scaled clothes and wielded a massive golden trident, and Arthur was impressed by that man, but what was more shocking was his strength — equivalent to a rank three mage!

Rank 3 mages were like legends in the most vital human continent of the world, yet in the odd place possible, Arthur found someone with that level of strength.

"This shows the world is a mysterious place."

Besides, the giant man was an ordinary-looking girl, and Arthur was sure that person was Samara, the girl they were looking for. He was even more certain of it after she looked at him and said, "captain! I am sorry I troubled you."

Arthur guessed Samara's identity but did not share it aloud.

"King," Arthur said, slightly bowing in front of the king.

There were more people inside the room, like guards and those the king trusted who had higher positions inside the city. When they saw the polite manner of Arthur, all of them had happy faces and turned more fond of the human standing in front of them.

"I am king Nehres Rulansath. May I know your names?" the king said.

Nehres had an imposing voice, and Arthur knew he was using some of his power to intimidate them. It might have worked with Sybille, who was way weaker than Arthur, but it did not work for him.

He stood up, making the king shocked, and said, "I am Arthur, a ship captain who came looking for my missing crew member."

The triton king laughed loudly and said, "what are you all waiting for? Bring some wine and food for my guests."

With just one word, the king made all the servants, who were watching, start to move and prepare a fart table. Arthur proved to be someone strong, and Nehres respected the strong, especially one on pair with his incredible power.

"We have a lot to talk about, Arthur. Please sit, you two," Nehres said, gesturing for Arthur and Sybille to sit, and they did exactly that.

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