Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

'Ugh.' Mira groaned as she regained consciousness and started to examine her surroundings.

She immediately knew that they were still at sea as she was still surrounded by water.

Next, she started to observe her wounds as she was still in pain from the dolphin's attacks.

She looked down and saw that the hole in the side of her stomach was still recovering, but at least the hole was closed up. It also seemed like her broken bones were almost healed as well. Her biggest worry was that there were still internal injuries, but it seemed that most of them are almost fully healed.

Mira let out a sigh of relief as injuries at this level would only be a matter of time before they heal fully.

After Mira knew that her life wasn't in immediate danger began to observe her surroundings a bit more.

Right now, she was laying down on a raft made out of a large clamshell and various other bones to keep it afloat. Also, it seemed like although Maria and Celaine weren't right next to her, she could feel them swimming around the raft probably making sure no danger befalls her.

Mira felt content with having companions like Maria and Celaine who she can leave her back to. One might think she would be mad at them for ditching her, but Mira knew that she was the slowest swimmer or at least is the same speed as Maria, but Maria had a bit of a headstart.

If they were to try and fight it out in the water against the dolphin, their end would most likely not be good. Their best bet would be to try and fight above the water which would increase their chances of winning tremendously.

Luckily, their teamwork has vastly improved and there is no need to verbally talk about such things as they should already know or at the very least Maria should know.

"Mira! You're awake! Thank goodness! I don't know what I would've done if you died! I'm sorry for ditching you back there! I should've stayed back to help you defend against that dolphin bastard! I was only thinking that it would be more beneficial to fight above water and didn't stop to think that you might be in trouble before you can even reach that point! I'm sorry, Mira!" Maria saw that Mira had awoken and flew right into Mira's arms and started tearing up.

"Me too, Mira. If I had known that things would've turned out like this, I would've stayed with you to help out. Maybe we could've killed that thing if we all fought it together while staying underwater. If I did that, then maybe you wouldn't have been so hurt." Celaine also apologized with her head down.

"Hmm… Maybe we could've killed that dolphin underwater, but I think our chances of winning would've been less than 50%. Not to mention even if we did win, our injuries would most likely be much worse than what they are now if we fought it in the water. We hold a massive advantage above water and our chances of winning are probably around 80-90%. This was also my train of thought and it's only natural that the slowest yet strongest take up the rear guard. And who do you think I am!? Injuries of this level can barely be considered a flesh wound! I only passed out from exhaustion!" Mira explained which calmed the two of them down a bit, but they were still a bit reluctant to accept that.

"Anyways, did you two kill that dolphin?" Mira decided to change the subject.

"Of course! How could we not kill it after you did so much damage as well as fighting on our own terms!" Maria exclaimed while flexing her muscles with an overly happy grin on her face.

"I see. It's good that you two were able to finish that thing off. I would've been disappointed if you couldn't. Now, how long have I been out?" Mira asked.

"Um… It's hard to tell, as the time of day never changes, but I'd guess at most a few days. It didn't really feel that long." Celaine answered.

"Hmm… Not bad. My vitality and recovery speed is really impressive, especially after tempering it in magma." Mira muttered, feeling satisfied.

"I think we should just focus on heading towards our next destination at this point. I'm sick and tired of swimming through this damn ocean." Celaine made a suggestion.

"I agree, but I think that we should spend around half of our time swimming underwater. We may not be able to find anything amazing, but who knows how long we have until we find our next destination." Mira nodded, but still didn't want to give up the chance of finding aquatic treasures. After all, there is no ocean even remotely close to where they are back on the Western Continent.

"Fine…" Celaine and Maria reluctantly agreed as well.

After the three of them talked a bit more and Mira made sure she had both her scythe and trident, they started their monotonous but dangerous journey of swimming through this god-forsaken ocean.

***

On their journey through the ocean, Mira's group confronted many more difficulties, but none nearly as dangerous as the dolphin they encountered before.

They swam through the ocean with the intention of not killing everything on sight unless the enemy initiated it first, but this proved how ignorant they were.

Everything in the ocean was out to kill, even the plants. Even if they thought that a beast might not approach them due to their non-aggressive behavior, they'd still end up getting attacked!

But Mira felt like this was a good thing for Maria and Celaine as it forced them to be more decisive and ruthless in their attacks. It also made them hone in on their senses as there are quite a few aquatic beasts that can avoid their detection. Some of them can almost even bypass Mira's senses.

They encountered all sorts of aquatic beasts such as a Shadow Tiger Shark, a shark known for its stealthiness, a Bane Fish that secrets a toxic poison upon contact, man-eating plants that would use their leaves as tentacles to tie them up while slowly devouring them. This was only the tip of the iceberg as there were many more types of aquatic beasts trying to kill them, but luckily none were as strong as that dolphin.

They kept every corpse, plant, and even rock that they came across. For the most part, they had no clue what they were grabbing, but as for the plants, Maria could tell that most of the plants they grabbed were at least Earth-Grade, or plants that are generally used by Core Formation Cultivators.

They also guessed that the pearls might be Peak Earth-Grade or maybe even Heaven-Grade materials. They also gathered quite a few Mortal-Grade ingredients and materials which included various unknown rocks, aquatic herbs, and the skin or bones of the beasts they killed.

Right now, they are unfamiliar with the specifics of everything they grabbed like what their names are and what they are used for. Whenever they find out though, they should be able to make some quality stuff!

After 2 whole months of swimming through this damn ocean, the three of them finally caught sight of something different.

"Look, look! I can see something on the horizon!" Maria exclaimed while pointing ahead of them.

"Oh! I see it too! I wonder what our next destination will be?" Celaine wondered.

Mira watched in silence as they grew closer to this change in scenery.

When they got closer and were able to get a better look, the sight made Maria and Celaine's to a frozen ocean. Fuck!" Maria also cursed as memories of Mira putting her into a block of ice hearts drop.

"Damnit!! We just spent the last couple of months swimming in this fucking ocean, but now we have to deal with a frozen tundra?! Where's the wind?!" Celaine cursed.

"What's the saying? 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire'? Except we are going from an ocean to a frozen ocean... Fuck!" Maria also cursed as memories of Mira putting her into a block of ice resurfaced.

Mira, on the other hand, although her expression didn't change seemed excited. Unlike her two companions, a land of ice is like a second home for her and is a place where she can expect the most growth not only in cultivation but also in her Absolute Ice Dao as well.

"About fucking time!"