Ocean Master

As soon as Old Mak gave his consent, the pitch-black wall before them seemed to disintegrate out of the water, wiping away all traces of it in the process and granting Sebastian the opportunity to look inside.

When he looked, he was surprised as compared to the other parts of the cave that were brightly illuminated, this place was all dark.

Despite him hating darkness back on earth, he didn't feel any animosity from the cave so he relaxed and followed Tungsten in alongside Verni.

Of course, he felt a strong urge to activate his electroreceptor skill to check it out himself and understand everything but he stopped himself.

Thinking of the fact that not only him but virtually every shark in this cave had the same electroreceptors, perhaps him using it in the most important segment of the cave may seem rude.

He obviously didn't want to attract the ire of the old Great White Shark alpha just after coming to his territory. In Rome, do as the Romans do, he supported his logic with this quote.

With their entry, the pitch-black walls appeared again out of nowhere, slowly taking back their place in the entrance to the throne.

After the only passage outside was blocked, bright orange light suddenly lit up, illuminating this cave segment that was referred to as the throne by Tungsten and revealing everything to Sebastian.

Sebastian didn't have to look up to know it, after basking in them for so long, he recognized that it was another group of lanterns illuminating this place.

He felt grateful though, they did a lot in alleviating his worries as his eyes slightly darted about to observe his surroundings.

This segment of the cave was not much different from the other parts, the same red impenetrable rocky walls, the only difference was the arrangement and the sharks residing in here.

The segment was the biggest in the whole cave, it was in a square shape with what looked like 5 huge rock vertical platforms adapted for a shark at the very end and in this place hovered 5 sharks.

The platforms were placed differently according to status. 2 were at the very front, next to each other with one bigger than the other while the other 3 were arranged at the back of the first 2.

The 3 at the back were the smallest of the platforms, even smaller than the one beside the biggest platform in the chamber.

Inside this biggest platform hovered an enormous Great White Shark, it was the alpha of this family who Sebastian already met before now, Old Mak.

At the platform beside it was the other shark, Heareth who followed him through the teleportation portal for the rescue and was also a purple tier shark. The last 3 platforms at the back were also occupied by sharks.

Perhaps, it was because the enormous shark was all bloody then but seeing Old Mak now, Sebastian felt an instinctive sense of respect erupt inside his heart.

Seeing the alpha, Tungsten and Verni bowed their heads and called out respectfully. "Clan Head!"

Sebastian immediately reacted and imitated their greetings lest he was seen as rude, first impression always mattered.

The next moment, gray magic power erupted around Tungsten and the device that looked like an old typewriter with a large circle at its middle materialized in the water. Tungsten presented it before the alpha shark.

"Drop it in the junkyard". Old Mak ordered which Tungsten reacted to immediately. The shark went into a smaller chamber attached to this segment of the cave and dropped the device there.

After doing this, it came back and hovered before the alpha with its head still lowered slightly like it was waiting for an imperial verdict.

"Tungsten, you have done well in this mission despite the short time notice. You may go, but be rest assured that you will be rewarded for your effort".

"Yes, Clan Head".

Without saying a word, Tungsten turned and slowly swam out of this segment of the cave, disappearing in a few seconds.

After he disappeared, Old Mak finally turned his sight to this youngest student of his with a frown which made Verni only drop his head down further in guilt.

"Verni, you are allowed to go out adventuring but I've always warned you to never implicate your brothers in the consequences of your adventures".

"4 brothers died as a consequence of your actions". Old Mak paused after saying this to let the information sink properly into the young shark's brain.

Hearing this felt like a bolt of lightning suddenly descending from a realm higher and striking him to Verni, his body shuddered as he felt an even stronger guilt strike at his heart.

He's always known that there were consequences to all his actions, but coming from a family of Great White Sharks, he had this innate superiority complex that allowed him to engage in daring adventures day in day out.

He's suffered before, but having to see more brothers die again because of his actions seemed to have tipped the scales of guilt in his heart to the extreme.

Old Mak left him to submerge in his guilt for about a minute before he spoke again. "Verni…, it is good to go for adventures. Without it, we can never be this strong but next time, try going alone to not implicate your brothers".

"You are already 5 years old; you are big enough and more than strong enough to go out hunting by yourself". 

"Yes, Clan Head".

"Good!" The alpha shark nodded. "You will go meet the elders in the veteran chamber, you will be grounded for one week in the cave while going without food".

"This is the punishment for your actions".

Hearing this, Verni's face showed immense sadness but he didn't complain like before, this time he seemed to really realize that he was wrong.

"I accept".

With that, the Great White Shark turned, hauling his huge body along as he quickly swam out of the throne, leaving Sebastian there.

Throughout all the conversations, Sebastian was as attentive as a hawk as he absolved every information that he got with frightening gusto. After everything, all that he felt was awe.

The amount of intelligence, cohesiveness, and order already being displayed in this shark clan left him feeling excited and a little frightened.

"Th-this is just too unbelievable".

Amid his inner monologue, the voice of the alpha shark sounded again. This time, he was the one being addressed.

"Welcome, Megalodon Sebastian".

"…"

"Umm, what?"